Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Wild didn’t really remember the beginning of his current quest. Traveling with eight other heroes while chasing a shadowy being infecting monsters with black blood.

However, he couldn’t get over this niggling feeling in the back of his head that something about this was wrong.

It started with a tingling in his sword arm. A strange numbness that would travel up his arm from his hand when they faced the shadow. After Twilight had been injured though it had become more constant. It would ache as he held his sword, the one Four had made him made it worse!

He kept it to himself though, it was likely just nerve damage from when he died during the Calamity that kicked off his first quest.

Wild frowns as he stirs the pot of food, first quest? ?He shakes his head and tunes back into the other’s conversation as they chatter around the camp about various things. It's nice, relaxing even. Not like how he has so much stress at home, having to be the only knight proper left in Hyrule, responsible for training others when he barely understands how he fights himself.

Watches were soon established and Wild lays down as Twilight watches over them, first on watch tonight. He fell asleep easily, his mind drifting in a black void so similar to the one he remembers waking to when he was still in the shrine of resurrection.

*A bright light shines in the darkness, flickering against stone walls. Link is following Zelda as they walk down a set of stairs beneath the castle. When the narrow passage opens into a wider one he smiles as Zelda gets excited about the murals on the wall. He takes the torch from her as she fumbles with the slate, no it's different, something Purah made her when the Sheikah tech had been scrapped after most of it started breaking down with the Calamity gone.

Eventually they continue on, a few kesee make a nuisance of themselves. Then another steep passage into a wide room with a strange figure in the middle. Swirling green energy spirals toward a pillar suspended from the ceiling.

As they approach there’s the clattering of a small stone, Zelda crouching to pick it up and then the mummy moves.*

Wild jolts awake, breathing harshly as he does. Twilight is by his side in moments, rubbing his back and making soft comforting sounds to calm him down.

“There you go, easy, easy. It was just a dream. You’re fine.”

Wild’s breathing evens out as Twilight continues to calm him down. Eventually Wild catches his breath and sends Twilight a wane smile in gratitude.

“Thanks Twi.”

“Don’t worry about it, we all get nightmares at times.” Twilight looks up and notes the position of the moon and stars. “I need to wake Legend for his shift, want me to stay with you when I’m done?”

Wild considers it, but Twilight looks exhausted and he’s too wound up to lay back down. “No, but thanks. I’m going to stay up a bit.”

Twilight nods and heads to his bedroll before promptly falling asleep.

Legend grumpily takes a seat by the fire, glancing at Wild curiously before the other hero decides to join him. Dropping onto the log set up as a makeshift bench, Wild pulls out his slate and starts pulling out some fruit and offering it to Legend.

“Thanks.”

The two sit in silence, nibbling at the fruit for several long minutes.

“So you must have had some nightmare to still be awake after this long.”

“Yeah.” Wild takes a bit of fruit and chews it before continuing. “It was weird. Most of my nightmares are from my adventure. The monsters I fought, my missing memories, something more familiar but twisted into something worse.”

Wild takes another bite, considering. “But this one felt, not wrong, but different.” Wild furrows his brow in thought, “It's confusing, everything’s so fuzzy.”

“Maybe it has to do with something you were going to be doing before you got swept away to this quest.”

“Maybe.” Wild chews his cheek as he considers it. “What was I doing when I got dragged on this quest?”

“Don’t know, your memory’s always been spotty, hasn’t it?”

“I guess.” Wild rubs his head as a headache begins to form. His arm aching terribly as well. “I think I’m going to try and lay down to sleep. My head’s hurting.”

Legend watches as Wild moves to lay down, humming a soft song that sounds familiar to Wild, but he can’t place it.

“Sleeper’s wake, Dreams will fade, Although we cling fast,”

Wild lays down, the soothing lullaby helping him drift back to sleep. He thinks briefly how odd it is for Legend to be singing a lullaby, but he’s out cold before he can think more about it.

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

Time has become a blur for Wild as they fight a horde of monsters. He doesn’t remember even getting here, to this place. He thinks they might be in Twilight’s era, or maybe Time’s. Didn’t they just leave the ranch?

He slices through another bokoblin before parrying a slash from a lizalfos. He pivots into a stream attack by another lizalfos, slicing forward as the black tar-like substance comes at him. For a moment instead of a lizalfos with poison spit it's a mummy flinging a thick viscous gloom at him as he slices it in half, the Master Sword burning in his hands. His arm aches and spasms and he’s down on one knee from the pain, his other arm coming up to grip his forearm.

“Wild!” *”Link!”*

His names overlap as he looks up.

Above him is a canopy of green with stars dotted between the leaves where they leave gaps. He blinks, weren’t they just in the middle of a fight?”

“Hey, you’re awake.” Hyrule leans over him with a smile. “You took a nasty blow to the head in that last fight, we thought you might never wake up.”

Wild frowns, why was Hyrule so happy about that scenario, shouldn’t that have been an upsetting thought?

“Sorry, I should have been better.” Wild struggles to sit up, Hyrule helping him as he looks at the others.

“Does your arm hurt?”

Wild looks over at Hyrule, the healer looking at him for an answer.

“Huh?”

“Does your arm hurt, that doesn’t look good?”

Wild looks down at his dominant arm, its covered in black/red burns, withered in a way that is deeply wrong.

“What?” Wild reaches for it, his gaze turning to the others, none of them seem overly concerned that WIld’s arm looks nearly mangled. Horrified and panicked he looks up at the calm faces of his brothers, a choked sound of distress in his throat as he reaches and grasps his arm. Fabric meets his fingers and he looks down once more, arm completely normal and covered by his sleeve. His head throbs.

“Wild?” Time is kneeling in front of him. “It's going to be okay. You’re going to be okay.” A lilting song soothes Wild as Time speaks.

It's a combination of a wolf’s howl and a small flute, maybe an ocarina? It's gentle and soothes WIld’s rapidly beating heart as the woods and camp around him blur. His headache is getting worse though and Time helps him to lay down, no, that’s Warriors. What happened to Time?

“Relax Champion, It's going to be fine. We’ll see you when you wake.”

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

Wild’s head hurts as he trails at the back of the line of heroes as they march through the woods the next day. His arm hurts too, but he’s gotten used to that.

He rubs at his temple and tunes into the conversation.

“A captain, a knight, the smith, a mere traveler, from the forest, from an isolated village, from over the seas, from above the skies, an average nobody.”

“If we keep giving him this impression he’s gonna be afraid of our brethren in the cradle.”

“But, how does he know our names?”

Everyone in the group stops and turns to stare at WIld.

“Wild? What do you mean, he doesn’t know our names.” Sky looks concerned.

“No one told him.” Four looks at the others, just as confused.

“He’s just a mindless beast, isn’t he? Can’t even speak.” It's Hyrule this time.

“A big nasty boar with weird yellow eyes.”

Wild’s head hurts more and he closes his eyes as his hand rubs his forehead. Had he told them that? He doesn’t understand, everything was fine the last several months as they traveled. Was it months, why does it feel like less than that?

“Wild?” He looks over at Four who called his name. “What were you doing before this quest?”

“Oh, yeah, that’s a good question!” Wind bounces and gets up close to Wild.

“Wait, weren’t we talking about Ganon?” Wild’s head is pounding and his eyes ache from the sunlight through the trees.

“No, we were talking about what we all were up to before this quest.” Sky gives him a concerned look, “Are you sure you’re okay?”

Wild holds his head at Sky’s question. “I don’t know. I think I should sit down.” He stumbles, Twilight catching him and lowering him to the ground.

“Cub?”

“My head hurts. My arm hurts. I keep forgetting things.”Wild curls up as he’s lowered to the forest floor. “I don’t know what’s happening.”

“Wild.” He looks up to see that Twilight has been replaced by Warriors. “I need you to breathe with me, okay?” He leads Wild through several long slow breaths until he’s calm and his head hurts less.

“Thank you, Wars.”

“It's fine, I’m glad I could help. Now we have a lead on the black blooded monsters and their leader, the shadow.” Warriors stands and holds out a hand for Wild. For a moment he blinks and the hand doesn’t look hylian, but another blink and it's normal.

“Let’s go.”

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

They’d been walking through the forest for what seems like forever before finding this cave with red/black whisps of smoke coming from deep inside. It seems to swallow in light as they stare into it.

“There is a lot of dark magic seeping from that cave.”

Hyrule nods in agreement to Legend’s statement as the heroes study what can only be the entrance to a dungeon.

“We should be careful going in, who has a light source?” Time moves to the front as Wild pulls out a torch and hands it to him before a spark from Hyrule lights it. “Keep alert, we don’t know what could be down here.”

One by one each member of the chain follows Time into the depths as they descend into the cave. Smoothly cut stairs and rough hewn walls mark their passage before the light spreads out and reveals a large cavern with a swirling energy rising from a dark form.

“What is that?”

The other’s all crowd on the landing overlooking the open space, jockeying for a better view even as Twilight, and Warriors try to lead them down the stairs. When they reach the bottom they are met by a figure, it stands menacingly and indistinct. It's bent backwards under a strange glowing hand.

Wild draws his sword as it looms, it takes him a moment to realize it's the Master Sword in his hands, not the sword Four made him. He looks for Sky, worried that he has his sword, but the others are gone.

“What?”

“Rauru placed his faith in you and that was all you could do?” The voice from the figure is raspy as tendrils of reddish black ooze writhe toward him. Wild tries to block it, but he has no shield, the sword is engulfed, blackening and decaying.

Wild’s eyes widen as fear grips his heart at the site. Sky will be so upset with him if he hurts the Master Sword again.

“Was that the sword that seals the darkness? A blade that shatters so easily against my power cannot save you from me.”

“It's not,” Wild looks down to see the Master Sword broken nearly to the hilt. A sob catches in his throat at the sight.

His arm burns.

“Link!”

Wild whirls to see Zelda, torch in hand as the floor falls out from under her. He lunges, broken sword tossed aside and burnt arm outstretched to grab her hand. He misses her and watches as she fades in a glow of gold before he’s jerked to a stop. He looks up, hoping to see Time, or Warriors, or one of the chain, but it's the hand from the figure, the glowing one. It rises quickly tearing up into the sky, dragging him with it.

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

“Wild?”

With a groan, Wild opens his eyes to a bright white space. He sees Sky leaning over him with a gentle smile and feels tears pricking at his eyes as he remembers the state of the Master Sword.

“Sky! I’m sorry I broke it! I didn’t mean to, I didn’t.”

“Shhh, shhh, it's alright, it's not your fault. I don’t blame you. None of us do.” Wild finally is able to look around and see the other heroes, all with somber expressions as they look at him in clear worry.

A sob escapes him as he takes them all in. “What happened, where did you all go?”

“Wild, we weren’t there. We couldn’t be there.”

“You need to wake up.”

“Wake up and save her.”

“Zelda needs you, sword or no.”

Wild looks around as the chain stare at him with sad eyes. He doesn’t understand. “I don’t, what about the shadow, our quest?”

“Cub, there never was a quest, none of this has happened, not with us.”

“We don’t exist, you need to wake up and stop dreaming.” Legend’s harsh tone isn’t interrupted as the others look away from him.

“But, I know you, you’re heroes, even if we aren’t from the same times,” Wild can feel tears dripping down his face. “We still, we still spent so long together!”

“I’m sorry Wild, Link, none of this happened. The quest, the time travel, you need to wake up.”

‘Sleepers wake, dreams will fade, Although we cling fast, Was it real, What we saw? I believe…’

That haunting tone, none of the others seem to be singing. Wild looks around frantically as his vision seems to blur.

“No, please, I can’t do this on my own, not again!”

‘Lost in dreams, We sleep on, Tossing and turning, Stay with me, By my side, Never leave…’

“Please.” Wild sobs as one by one the others fade away until only Legend remains.

‘What if the worst comes? If someday this sweet reverie ends, We too, our memories, for real, Fade us by…’

‘Dream with me, By the sea, We watch the waves crash, Hold my hand, Think of me, And I’ll Fly…’

When Link opens his eyes they’re full of tears that he tries to wipe away before noticing his arm. Covered in gold bands and blackened, sharp nails that had lightly caught his cheek are stared at in horror.

Chapter Text

Link jolts awake, gasping and clutching the sheets as he stares into the dark room. Beside him a dark haired form grumbles and shifts before rising up slightly on an elbow to look at their partner.

“Link? What’s wrong?”

Link takes a few steading breaths as the person beside them shifts to sit up more and wrap an arm around the strawberry blonde beside them.

“Sorry Rav, I, I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“It’s fine, what’s got you so tense though?” Ravio leans into Link, pressing on him as Link centers himself in the touch.

“I, I had a Dream.”

“Oh? That sounds like more than just a dream though.”

“It was a Dream, Rav. There, I was travelling with others, other heroes. We were chasing these black blooded monsters but there was this one kid, we called him Wild. Something about him wasn’t right.”

“Was he not a hero?”

“No!” Link barely stops himself from growling. “I, sorry.” He relaxes a bit. “No, I think he’s why we were all there, in the Dream. He kept having fits, episodes or something. There were flashes of his life at times. Rav, he’s been through so much. And, I think he lost an arm at one point, maybe right before everything that started the Dream.”

They sit in silence, leaning into one another for comfort.

“Rav, I, I think he needs help.”

“Then we should help him.”

“How do we help him?”

Link sighs, turning into Ravio and burying his face into his partner’s neck. “The Dream is a clue. We were time traveling and all of us were from different eras.”

“So you need to find a way to time travel?”

“Yeah, sort of. I already know a way, or rather a person that can help.”

“Then we should get in touch and ask for their help.” Ravio falls back into the pillows, pulling Link with him. “But we can do that in the morning. Right now we should rest, prepare ourselves.”

Link sighs, but snuggles into his partner. “You’re right. In the morning we can send a letter.”

The pair soon fall into a light sleep, both still worrying about the coming day and soon to begin adventure.

***********

Link slowly wakes up, a deep ache in his heart from the Dream. Slowly he sits up and looks around his room. The cloth walls separating his bed from the others that had come down from Skyloft are a familiar sight by now and Link can hear the sounds of others waking to begin preparing breakfast and to begin building more permanent structures.

Sighing he gets out of bed and dresses for the day. Leaving his tent he waves to the cook and accepts a bowl of porridge. Looking around he spots Zelda and Groose already seated at a table and makes his way over to them.

“Link, you’re up!” Zelda stares at him in shock then looks to the sky to check the time. “It's just after sunrise!”

“Morning to you too.”

“Sorry, it's just you’re never up this early without someone dragging you from bed.”

“Zel’s got a point Birdbrain. You do tend to sleep in a lot.”

Link sighs and pokes at his food. “I had a Dream. I think Hylia needs me to go on another quest. One to help someone in great need.”

Sky closes his eyes and winces as he remembers the painful sound of shattering steel and the sight of burned flesh.

“Oh, Link.” Zelda’s tone is soft as she reaches across the table for his hand.

“Do you remember His last words?”

“I do.”

“I think that someone far in the future needs my help. It feels like He is returning and, I can’t let my successor face that alone.”

Zelda is quiet and Groose frowns.

“Well, you don’t have to go alone. We can come with you!” Groose it's looking ecstatic at the idea, even if it feels a bit forced.

“I won’t be able to go.”

Both men turn to Zelda, surprise in the face of one and resignation in the other’s face.

“I thought as much.”

“Groose, you should plan to go. We will all be fine here until you return, but we must continue to build and My presence is keeping the monsters away from here.”

“Right.” Link hangs his head. “We should get ready then.”

“We should be able to use the Gate of Time. I want both of you to take your Loftwings with you. I feel you may need them.”

Link nods.

“Now eat up Link, you won’t do anyone any good if you don’t eat.”

Link smiles a small sad smile and eats his breakfast quickly. He has a journey to prepare for.

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

Link is sprawled out on the deck of the King of Red Lion’s staring up at the sky above. A few clouds drift above him and he uses the Wind Waker in a lazy hand to push and pull them around and create strange shapes.

With a heavy sigh he closes his eyes and lets his arm fall back to the deck.

“How in Oceasus’ name am I supposed to help with this?”

Groaning, Link pulls himself into a sitting position and shifts to start raising the sail and head for Windfall Island. He knows Linebeck frequents there and that means Ciela would be there as well.

It takes a few hours to reach the island and he is not disappointed to see that Tetra and her crew are in port.

“Link!” Tetra grins down at him from the deck of her larger ship. “What brings you here?”

“I was looking for Linebeck, I need to ask Ciela for a favor.”

“Huh? What kind of favor?”

Link considers his answer and motions for Tetra to join him on the dock instead of continuing by shouting. Once on more solid ground, Link answers.

“I had a weird Dream. I think I need to get to another time, similar to the War.”

“There’s another hero that needs your help then?”

Link nods. “He’s had it rough and he’s starting a second journey. It nearly killed him.”

Tetra frowns. “You aren’t planning to go alone are you?”

Link blinks at Tetra’s stern frown.

“I mean, I sort of was. I doubt Linebeck will want to come.” Link smiles at Tetra, “But I wouldn’t say no to more help though.”

Tetra nods, “We can both ask Ciela then. See how many of us can go through.”

“Speaking for your crew?”

“I’m their captain, if they don’t want to come then they can babysit Linebeck until we get back.”

Link laughs at the two head off to see if Linebeck is in port.

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

Link is mucking out the stables as the sun rises when Malon comes out, a shawl wrapped around her shoulders to ward off the chill morning air.

“Link?”

“Sorry, I wanted to get an early start”

Malon steps closer, resting her hand on his on top of the handle of the pitchfork. “Is that why your bag is packed by the door and your armor set aside next to your bags?”

Link looks at their layered hands and then up to meet his wife’s gaze.

“He needs my help. I can help him, but,”

The pitchfork clatters to the floor and Malon pulls Link into a tight hug.

“Oh Link.”

The two hold one another for several long moments. When they finally pull apart, their arms are still around their partner loosely.

“Who is this person that needs your help?”

Link takes a deep breath at the concern in his wife’s eyes.

“He’s another hero, one that has already barely survived one journey and now he teeters on the brink at the start of a second.”

Malon hums, “Take Him with you then.”

Link pinches his lips as he knows exactly who He is and he had not been planning to take Him with him.

“I will.”

“Link,” Malon leans into Link’s chest, “I know you don’t like Him, but if this boy really needs you so badly then having Him will only benefit you both.”

Link closes his eyes and rests his head on Malon’s head, “I know, you’re right.”

They stay like that until the rooster crows to mark the new day. When they pull apart they walk hand in hand back to the house and Link dons his armor and takes the bag he keeps Him in from Malon.

With all of his things packed and fixed in place he reaches for the blue ocarina.

Malon stops him with a hand on his cheek.

“Promise me you will come home.”

Link nuzzles Malon’s hand, kissing her palm as he looks down at her with all the love in his heart.

“I promise. I will come home to you.”

Then he leans down and the two kiss, slow and gentle. It's not a goodbye, it's a promise.

When they pull apart Link brings the ocarina to his lips and plays a familiar melody.

As the notes drift around him he opens his eyes to a white void. It reminds him of the sacred realm, but something is different.

Turning around he sees another figure. It looks so much like him, but taller with white hair and cold empty white eyes.

“Are we called to battle once more?”

Link stares, but nods.

“I see. I will need a form of my own for the fight to come.” The being tilts its head as if listening for something.

“Shall we go into this fight together as comrades?” it holds out a hand and Link hesitates, but eventually takes it. As the song crescendos the void fades and the pair continue on their way.

**********

Link ducks behind a boulder as the monster patrol marches past. They’ve been making their way all morning to the fountain hidden by their mother nearby. This patrol had slowed them down , but now they were free to continue.

Link hurriedly darts from hiding spot to hiding spot until they reach an odd opening in the side of a hill. With one final glance around they duck inside and after a few feet they find themselves beset by tiny glowing lights as fairies swirl and dance around them.

Link smiles as they make their way toward the fountain at the heart of the cave where a young looking woman is lounging. She is dressed in fine clothes that appear to made of flower petals, Grand shimmering wings spread from her back as she smiles at Link.

“Link! You’ve come to visit?”

Link nods, though an air of sadness is carried about them. “I have, but I also came to ask for your help.”

“Oh!” The fairy holds out her hands to them and beacons them toward herself.

“What would you ask of me?”

Link steadies their heart and matches their gaze to the fairy’s.

“I had a Dream. Another hero in the future needs my help to stop an incalculable evil, but I have no way of reaching them.”

The fairy straightens at their request. A concerned frown marring her face as she takes up their hands.

“I see. That is a great burden.” She studies them for a long moment. “I am unsure how to get you to where you need to be. However I know of a way to get you to when you need to be.”

She squeezes their hands reassuringly before letting them go and drifting back over their fountain, toes just touching the surface.

“If you accept your birthright. You will be able to join this one in need in their quest. However, know this. In order to reach this far-flung future you will leave behind all that you have in this world, in this time.” She holds out her hand to him, expression stern. “Is that a sacrifice you are willing to make?”

Link watches her and considers. They have not had a moment's rest since they defeated Ganon. His cult had hunted them for their blood as an ingredient to bring back their lord. Truthfully the only ones that would miss them are Dawn and Aurora.

Reaching into their bag they pull out a small folded piece of paper. The princesses had been teaching them to read and write, it's something they are grateful for in this moment.

“I expected as much.” Link holds up the letter. “Could one of my sisters take this toe the castle and see that the princesses get it?”

The great fairy nods and one of the smaller fairies flutters forward and takes the letter from Link before bobbing in a bow and flying off to deliver the letter.

With a heavy sigh, Link reaches forward and takes their mother’s hand.

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

Link tightens his bracer as he stands in the yard outside the barracks. His bag of equipment sits by his feet as he waits for his companion.

After the Dream there had been some debate on who would go with him to the future where the Hero of Wild was in need of his help. In the end it was decided that Zelda had to stay. As the queen of Hyrule she had an obligation to her people. Impa had also opted to stay as with the hero being absent Zelda would need as much protection as she could get. That left Lana. Her ability to control the Gate of Souls and thus allow for time travel was seen as too important for this mission for her not to come.

Link had asked her to check on the other heroes from the Dream before they left though, which explained why he was waiting for her. He knew some of the others would have means to travel through time, but he knew the ones that didn’t would never forgive themselves if they couldn’t come just because they couldn’t time travel.

The clack of heeled boots on stone has Link looking up to see Lana approaching.

“So who else do we need to pick up?”

“Just the Hero of Twilight. The rest seem to have found ways to travel without our help.”

“Good.” Link bends down to pick up his bag, noting that Lana has one of her own. “And we aren’t going to mess with time too much to get you in trouble are we?”

It's been a concern of his since the war. As much as he’d wanted to check in on the others that had helped in the war he knew that doing so could lead to major problems.

“No, we should be fine with going from here to the Era of Twilight and then to the Era of the Wilds. After that I can only help others get home to when they left.”

Link nods, he had suspected as much, but it was good to have the restrictions confirmed.

Lana looks around the yard, an eyebrow raised in question.

“I’m surprised Zelda isn’t here to see us off.”

Link blushes as he remembers the farewell that he and Zelda had exchanged. Impa had left the room at the Queen’s request and left the two of them alone. She had then proceeded to kiss him hard and demand that if he ever wished for more that he would have to return to her. She had then left him and strode out of the room as he was forced to rearrange himself before he could head out.

“Uh, we had our farewells earlier and she’s busy with court stuff.”

“Ah, I get it.” Lana is smirking, “I am happy for you two though. Being engaged it must be terrible that you two will be separated for so long. Hopefully this quest won’t be as long as the war.”

Link nods. “Shall we then?”

Lana raises her hands and summons a gate of souls in front of them. The two step through and into a twilight forest with massive trees and a large shallow spring before them. Sitting on the edge of the spring is a stocky adventurer with a wolf pelt wrapped around his shoulders. He looks upset as he stares at the clear waters. His ear twitches as Link steps towards him.

When he turns, Link is left smiling as caution turns to surprise in bright blue eyes.

“Captain!”

“Hey there Rancher. Thought you might want a ride to help your cub.”

The other hero is quickly to his feet and making his way toward Link and Lana.

“Much appreciated.”

“Got everything?”

“Yeah, I was trying to ask Ordona if they knew a way to get to the future, but they told me to have patience. I guess this is what they meant.”

“Good to hear. This is Lana, by the way.” Link motions to his companion and she waves at him.

“It's good to meet you, Hero of Twilight.”

“Likewise, though you can just call me Rancher if you want, no need to be all formal.”

Lana smiles and nods. “I can do that.”

“Shall we get going then?”

“We need to pick up anyone else?”

“No, Lana says everyone else should be able to get to the Era of the Wilds on their own.”

“Yep, you were the only one that wouldn’t have made it on your own.”

“Lucky me you two thought to pick me up.”

Lana turns with a smile and once more opens the gate for them to make their way to the future.

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

The forge is in chaos as four heroes of light scramble about packing and repacking items while their shadow watches from an out of the way corner.

“Do we really need to bring all this stuff?”

Four sets of eyes turn to the dark haired hero before three go back to what they were doing. The one dressed in Violet sighs and steps over to Shadow.

“We really do. The era we are going to doesn’t have any blacksmiths we can borrow from. If we don’t take it or have a way to make it we won’t be able to help maintain weapons for the other hero or ourselves. Additionally we hope to be able to teach at least one person how to smith properly to improve things going forward, that means taking enough equipment to start a forge from scratch.”

“You’ll be back though, right, we can place orders to replace anything you need before we leave?”

Vio looks away at the others moving around the forge.

“There’s no guarantee that we can come back to this time.”

“A, a one way trip?”

Vio nods and looks back at Shadow. “You’re coming though, aren’t you?”

Shadow stares into the eyes of his heart and gives him a shaky smile. “Of course. You idiots need me to make sure you actually take care of yourselves after all.”

Vio takes and gently squeezes Shadow’s hand. “Why don’t you go pack your things then. We’re going to be a bit longer, then we’ll head to the castle to see Zelda before we head to the Minish Woods.”

Shadow squeezes Vio’s hand back before leaning in to peck him on the cheek before running into the house to gather his things.

Vio’s lips twitch up as he watches him leave. He then takes a shaky breath and gets back to packing up the forge. They may not be able to take everything, but they will take as much as they can.

Chapter Text

It's been a week since Link woke up on the Great Sky Island. He spent most of it on the island, but after spending far too much time searching for any evidence that Skyloft once existed there he’d finished the shrines and found, not Zelda but her echo inside the Temple of Time. It had nearly broken him all over again.

He’d moved forward though. Passing through the temple and reaching the end of the long bridge to nowhere. The altar at the end had beckoned for the sword to be placed into the glowing ball of light that reminded him of when Zelda had vanished.

With a deep breath he had placed the sword into it and then there was the sound of Recall activating and Link knew then, even before the vision of Zelda retrieving the sword was pushed gently into his mind, that Zelda was not to be found in this time.

The only way for a long dead king, the first king, of Hyrule to know so much about Zelda. For her to have left the Purah pad on this island without ever setting foot here. Was for her to be in the distant past.

Link had fallen to his knees as a great dragon of Light he had never seen before broke through the clouds to reveal the surface far below, tears streaming down his face as he tried to convince himself it couldn’t be true.

Eventually he had managed to calm himself down and leap from the platform into a large pound not far from Lookout Landing. He quickly made his way there and found Purah in a right state over where he and Zelda have been. She only calmed down when she actually took him in and realized he did not have Zelda with him.

That had been yesterday and Purah had already tasked him with helping the Rito.

“They need supplies Linkie and we can’t get carts through the blizzard.”

“I’ll go, I have the Purah Pad, I can carry more supplies on foot than anyone else.”

Purah had sighed, though she agreed none the less and made sure the pad was loaded with as much food as they could find.

Both of them knew it was a half measure. Something to buy time while Link investigated to find the source of the blizzard.

Now Link is at Woodland Stable and he’s met a man named Maestro who is trying to get to the Fairy Fountain nearby to draw out the Great Fairy Tera with the music she loves.

“I can help.” Link steps up, trying to force a smile.

The Great Fairies had helped him so much on his first quest and just as much since. He considers them friends and maybe if he can help them he won’t feel so broken at failing Zelda.

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

Hyrule is floating in a starlit void, eyes closed in sleep and brown curls floating around their head as if in water. From their back flutter a beautiful set of delicate gossamer wings.

Slowly they open their eyes in slow blinks, uncurling from the fetal position they had curled into. They glance around sleepily as bell-like giggles swirl around them.

“Eldest!”

“Mother! Quick!”

“Eldest is waking up!”

The small fairies all flutter around as Hyrule smiles at them and lets themself relax and float gently in the void.

“Mah, so you are finally away Quibling.”

“Tera? Is that you?”

“It is indeed. You have slept for a very long time.”

Hyrule shrugs, looking around then down at themself with a frown. “My clothes?”

“They did not survive, unfortunately. I have had others prepared for you though.” Tera swirls her fingers and a pile of clothes appear along with Hyrule’s sword and shield.

“We have kept your things safe while you slept. Please dress and then we can see about where you wish to go from there.”

Hyrule pulls the clothes to themself and begins to dress. Loose brown pants go on first, followed by a green under tunic with an asymmetrical hem at the bottom. On one side it's to their waist, on the other it reaches past their knee with two long points ending in jeweled beads. The neckline is a halter style with a mock neck collar. The sleeves attach under the arms but leave the shoulders bare, they end in finger loops to resemble their old leather guards.

The next layer is a sleeveless brown shrug with a hood lined in dark green. Their wings fit easily through a gap in the back made by the low back of the tunic and high back of the shrug.

There are no boots, but a set of belts made of woven vines secure their sword and shield in place. They can get boots later, maybe.

“Do you know where Wild, I mean the hero of this era is?”

“Hmmm, well let me think.” Tera places a hand to her chin as she sits quietly before smiling. “Oh, ho, seems he is rather close and getting closer. Hmm, I wonder if he is coming to visit me.”

“If he is then that will make this easier.”

Tera sighs and closes her eyes as she shakes her head. “Unfortunately I had to close my fountain after the awful mess that made all that racket a few months back. I had hoped being closer to people would make it safer for travelers, but I just do not know now.”

“What! Oh no!”

Just as Hyrule is about to try and offer to help, which they were going to do either way, but this is their little sister, there is the gentle, lively sound of a violin playing outside. Both great fairies close their eyes at the warm inviting tune.

“Oh, oh my, I think that is my dear sweet Violynne!” Tera springs upward and out into the world above the fountain. Hyrule can hear as she greets the musician and Wild, applauding them for coming out all this way to cheer her up.

Hyrule drifts up as well, wondering when would be a good time for them to emerge.

“Oh, dear Hero, you look as if something has you upset?”

“Oh, uh, it's fine Tera. It's, it's been a rough week for me.”

Hyrule grips their hands in front of their chest at Wild’s tone. Gone is the cheery optimism from the Dream. Replaced by something broken.

“I see, well. If you do not mind me offering. My Quibling might be able to aid you.”

“Quibling?”

Yes, they are older than I and have slept for a very long time. In fact they only woke recently. Would you like to meet them?”

Hyrule can picture Wild’s indecisive expression as he hems and hahs, ultimate he must nod as Tera is dropping back down and scooping them up only to burst forth once more from the fountain.

“Hah! My Quibling. I know they are small for a Great Fairy, but they are much more powerful than they appear.”

Hyrule looks up after shaking the liquid magic of the barrier from their curls to see Wild staring at them slack jawed and looking ready to cry.

“Wild!” With a quick flick of their wings they tackle Wild in a hug, knocking them both to the ground as they hold them tight.

“Rulie? Rulie is it really you?”

“It is, I’m sorry! I would have woken sooner but Mother’s spell had to be precise or I would be too late or too early.”

Wild is squeezing Hyrule now, tears streaming down his face as he holds the other tight. “It was a dream though, it wasn’t, how could it be real? There was nothing there when I, Rulie, how are you real?”

“Hey now.” Hyrule pats the back of Wild’s hair as he sobs into their shoulder. It takes a long while for Wild to settle down, still somehow skeptical of Hyrule’s being here, but unwilling to let them go and risk losing them again.

“I’m here because you needed me.”

“But it wasn’t real.”

Hyrule pats Wild’s back, “Yes, it was a dream, but it reached me, it might have reached others that shared it with us. I think at least two of the others were real. Legend and Time were both trying to wake you up. I know I hadn’t heard those songs at least, so maybe they brought those in.”

“Songs? What songs?”

“There were two, both had magic to wake people from deep slumber.”

“I don’t know anything like that.”

“Exactly, that’s what makes me think they must be real as well.”

Wild sits back, rubbing his eyes to clear out the gunk from crying so hard. Hyrule leans forward, a sparkle of pink magic to heal the puffy redness.

“Still, as real as they are, I don’t know if they can make it here, so I wanted to make sure you didn’t do this alone.”

“Thank you Rulie, you have no idea what this means to me.”

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

Time and Deity open their eyes to a dim forest with cloying miasma floating through the air. All around them are small forest spirits in a trance-like state. Turning Time sees the Great Deku Tree groaning about a stomach ache.

Frowning, Time steps up and sees something vile leaking from the hollow of the great forest spirit.

“I think whatever is causing that needs to be taken care of before we go to find Cub.”

“I agree.” Deity ducks as he steps into the hollow of the great tree and is met by a deep hole limed in ooze that is clearly toxic.

“What do you bet this is what’s causing the Deku Tree so much pain?”

“There is no bet. This malaise is evil. We will need to descend into the depths of the spirit’s roots in order to remove the source. Are you able to do so safely?”

Time leans over and looks down into the dark abyss. “I thought I could use my hoverboots, but that looks too far down for me to do safely. Woah!”

Deity scoops Time into his arms and leaps into the hole. Time is left grasping at the tall god as they plummet into the dark.

The landing is jarring and Time cringes as he thinks about the god’s knees. He can’t think on it long as he is set on his feet quickly.

Looking around the only light seems to come from the deity. There are more puddles of that sickly, decaying gloom. AS he is trying to see if there is anything else he sees one of the puddles moving before springing up into six large hands with glowing yellow eyes on the palms. They turn toward the pair and Time winces at the unholy screech they give before lunging at them.

The Fierce Deity wastes no time, sword drawn, he lunges back, slicing through two of the arms and turning to begin taking out the others. Time is on his heels, whacking the limbs, but staying aware of his feet so as to not step in the muck. Memories of Wild’s arm as this stuff ate away at his flesh haunting him as he continues to fight until the arms and hands are nothing but a smear on the ground.

Time stands back, catching his breath when Fierce shouts.

“It's not over!”

Time turns to the smear and sees it bubbling up into a mummified form that has him seething in rage. It looks almost identical to the being that attached Wild and Flora to start all of this off.

Readying his sword, Time is at the god’s side as he begins hacking the phantom to keep it at bay. After several minutes Fierce gets a good angle and lobs off the head. The creature dissolves, evaporating into nothing and clearing the cavity of any remaining gloom.

“That had to have been what was making the Deku tree sick.” Time looks up, sheathing his sword. “Now how do we get out of here?”

Time once more finds himself getting scooped up as Fierce launches himself into the air, clearing the height easily and landing them back in the hollow of the ancient tree.

Exiting into the forest, they are met with brighter light and colors as the little spirits go back to playing and laughing.

“It has been a very long time Hero.”

Time turns and smiles up at his old friend. “That it has, I am glad to see you still sprouting.”

“Hah, hah, hah! Yes. Though I must say I am a bit confused to see you here.”

“I had a Dream, the hero of this era needs our help.” Time motions to the deity beside him. “Would you be able to help us find him?”

“Hmmmm, let me see.”

The Deku Tree is silent for several long minutes as he stretches his senses out to see if he can find the hero of this era.

“It would seem he is close, though he may be on his way again soon. Maca?”

One of the little forest spirits skips over to them. “Yes, Grandpa!”

“Please add these two in finding the hero. I believe he is currently at the stable just down the path from the forest.”

Time nods and brings a hand down to invite Maca onto it so he can lift the little spirit to his shoulder.

“Thank you, Friend.”

“Of course. Do be careful though I sense much evil in the lands. It would behove you to be wary.”

Time and Fierce nod and let Maca Guide them from the forest.

“I know a shortcut! This way!” Maca enthusiastically points toward a branching path and up a hill to a tree with a terrifying face in it. “If you step into the mouth it will take you to the entrance to the Lost Woods and the edge of Minshi Woods. The path Grandpa was talking about starts there.”

The two share a look and step into the tree’s mouth, one by one. As laughter swallows them they emerge through a fog shrouded arch.

“This way, this way!”

They follow the lead of their little guide, steadily walking down a sloped path. At one point a chasm just off the road is rimmed in the same gloom that affected the Deku Tree and the pair steer around it in order to continue.

It's late afternoon when they reach a structure that must be the stable that The Deku Tree told them about.

“It seems Mr. Hero has moved on already.”

“Which way did he go?”

“Hmmm, that way!”

They turn west as the road splits, nodding to a few of the people outside the stable.

“Little One, are we getting closer?”

“Hmmm, yes and no. I think Mr. Hero must have gotten one of his horsies to ride.”

“Great.” Time frowns as he tries to figure out how they might catch up.

“Please don’t.” Time turns to Fierce as the tall god looks ready to scoop him up once more.

“I could easily help us catch up.”

Time has to acknowledge he has a point, even if he doesn’t like it.

“Fine, but I’m riding on your back, not being carried like a small child.”

The look the deity gives him has Time scowling, “I am not a child.”

Still when the deity crotches down, Time climbs onto his back. The god taking his knees gently in hand as Time grips the straps of his armor, tucking Maca safely against his front.

Once they are settled they are off. Fierce was not lying about how fast he is and soon they see a cart up the road and Maca is excitedly pointing at it.

“It's Mr. Hero!”

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

Hyrule looks back down the path at the feeling of something rushing after them. They aren’t sure what it is, but they draw their sword anyway and Wild is quick to pick up on it, drawing his own sword, though the rusted pitted blade is something that they are sure would have Four crying.

“What is it?”

“Something’s coming.”

“Any idea what?”

Hyrule shakes their head. “No, but it's powerful. And fast.”

The pair are soon on the ground, placing themselves between the cart and whatever is coming.

Soon enough a figure appears, running toward them in almost familiar armor.

“Time?”

“I don’t think it is?”

The pair look at one another as the figure gets closer and then skids to a stop a few feet from them.

The person certainly resembles Time, but he is tall. As tall as a giant.

“Put me down, you’re going to terrify them.”

Wild and Hyrule lean around in order to see Time getting put down from a piggy back position and helping a little korok up to his shoulder.

“Time! Maca!” Wild is grinning as he sheaths his sword and steps up to the pair and around the powerful being that had carried Time to them. “How, what, why!”

Time chuckles and lays a fond hand on Wild’s shoulder. “You needed help Cub. Though I must say I am surprised to see you here, Rulie.”

Hyrule shrugs, their wings flashing at their back. “Had my own way of getting here and wanted to help Wild.”

“So who’s your tall friend?”

“You may call me Nocturn, little one. I have come with my son to aid you.”

The three heroes stare at the god before Wild turns to Time.

“I thought you said your dad was a tree? I mean, he’s tall enough to be one, but you always made it sound so literal.”

Time makes a strangled choking sound, then wheezes out a breath at Nocturn’s claim on him.

“You know what, sure. I guess you do feel like that.”

Time rubs the marks on his face as Wild blinks at him in confusion.

“You aren’t really his father are you?”

“I have adopted him. I am as much his father as that makes me.”

Hyrule nods sagely, “Understood.” They turn to Wild, “We should keep on our way though.”

Wild seems to remember their mission suddenly and nods. “Right, right, the Rito need help.”

Wild looks at the other pair that’s joined them and then back to the cart.

“What are the chances the others are going to try and come if they can?”

Time and Hyrule share a look.

“Most likely pretty good. We should at least account for the captain.”

“Right, his whole quest was time travel.” Wild rubs his temples then pulls out a notepad and starts writing a note.

“Okay, head back to the stable, hand this to the stablemaster. He will get you two of my horses. Chester and Selene should be the right fit for you both. Then you can follow the road until you get to Thims Bridge. The road will fork again between Crenel Hill and Crenel Peak, take the right fork. After you cross Orsedd Bridge is another fork, go left this time. South of the Castletown ruins is Lookout Landing. Purah will be there. I want you to tell her what’s going on and that we need a few more Purah Pads.”

Wild had brought up the map and was showing it to Time as he explained their route from the stable.

“I thought it was a Sheikah Slate?”

“That’s what I had before. Purah managed to reverse engineer her own version. It's a little better, though I miss infinite bombs.” Wild snaps as a look of realization comes over him. “Oh, and tell Purah about the communication function that Wind’s pirate charm had. That was sheikah tech and worked with the slate. If we can get something similar for the pads, we can all keep in touch.”

“That sounds useful. Thank you Wild.”

“Nope! Thank you guys. I, honestly, until Rulie and I met up I was convinced it was all a fever dream or something brought on by the trauma of what happened.” Wild’s smile feels more forced at the admission. “I’m glad you came to help.”

“We’d best be on our way then. You two try and stay out of trouble.” Time hesitates before stepping up to Wild and pulling him into a hug. “We’ll see you both back at this Lookout Landing place when you finish with the Rito.”

Wild squeezes Time back, relishing the reality that his mind hadn’t made everything up.

When the two separated, Time and Nocturn head back along the road at Wild’s instruction to get horses.

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

Twilight, Warriors, and Lana step out of the Gate of Souls on a road that forks into three paths.

“This feels like the start of a joke.” Twilight looks around and spots the castle not far from where they are. “Uh, but that looks bad.”

Warriors and Lana turn to look at the castle as well. Lana’s eyes widening in shock and Warriors looking resolved.

“Looks like the start of Wild’s new quest was just as momentous as his first.”

“What happened here?” Lana’s gaze drifts to the ruins of the city that once sat in front of the castle. Where once roofs and walls would be visible are only foundations. “Castletown is, it's gone!”

Warriors sets a hand on her shoulder. “Sorry I should have warned you. Wild’s first quest started one hundred years ago when the Calamity struck and nearly wiped Hyrule off the map. It only survived at the outskirts.”

“I do see people though.”

Warriors turns to Twilight as he scans the ruins for any signs that they should go that way.

“I think they’re clearing rubble and preparing to rebuild.”

“We should head toward the ruins then. We might be able to get more information there about what’s happened and where Wild is.”

The trio quickly set off with a destination now in place. It takes them almost an hour to reach the ruins and it's obvious there are signs of rebuilding.

“Ho there, what brings you lot here?”

Warriors steps up with a friendly smile. “We were hoping we could help out. We’re monster hunters that have travelled a ways to get here and thought our skills could help with any monster problems you’re having. Is there someone in charge I can talk to?”

“Monster hunters you say? I guess Hoz has been looking to expand the monster control crew, but he’s at the castle leading the search and rescue team for the princess and her swordsman.”

Warriors tenses at the information, but does a good job hiding it.

“I suppose if you still want to help out you can check in with Purah at Lookout Landing.” He motions to a palisaded enclosure with a large telescope pointed at the castle.

“Thank you sir. We’ll check in with her then.”

Warriors motions to Twilight and Lana to follow him as they head into the structure to look for Purah.

“Wars.” Twilight’s voice is kept low, not wanting to make anyone suspicious. “Isn’t Purah that kid scientist that Wild mentioned?”

“I think so, but didn’t he say she wasn’t as young as she looked?”

The pair frown and shrug as they enter through a large door and are met with a young sheikah girl with large glasses studying some documents and a map. She looks up at their arrival with a frown.

“Can I help you?”

“Are you Purah?”

The girl blinks at Twilight’s question.

“Noooo, I’m Josha. Doc’s on the second floor keeping an eye on the castle to see if she can spot anything that might help us locate the princess and Mr. Swordsman. Why are you looking for her?”

“We were told that if we wanted to help in the search we should talk to her. Our mistake, we weren’t really given a description and were just pointed this direction.” Warriors smiles disarmingly and the girl blushes lightly at his charming grace.

“Well, if that’s the case you can just head out that way and turn right. There’s a big staircase up to the second floor. Doc’s probably in her lab right now.”

“Thank you for your help.”

Lana nearly rolls her eyes as she follows after Warriors with Twilight at her side.

“And he wonders why Cia started a war to get her hands on him.”

Twilight chokes on a laugh at the muttered comment.

As they head up the stairs and knock on the door they hear some scuffling and shouting before the door is flung open, nearly smacking Warriors in the face as a tall curvy sheikah woman stumbles out. Her glasses are askew as she straightens, she fixes them before taking them all in with a curious look on her face.

“What are a bunch of antiques doing knocking on my lab door?”

“Antiques?” Warriors mutters in offense as he looks down at his green tunic, blue scarf and armor.

The woman stands tall, cocking her hip and waving a recorder at the three. “Even by my standards your outfits are out of date by millenium.

“Are you Ms. Purah?”

“I am.” The woman looks Twilight up and down, raising a brow appreciatively. “What a rugged wildman such as yourself looking for me for?”

Twilight flushes deep red, stuttering and flustered as his brain grinds to a halt at the flirty tone from the woman in front of him.

“I think you broke him.”

“Twi, Twi, you alright there buddy?”

Lana smiles at Purah. “We can in hopes we could help with any monster problems you’re having. Though we heard about the missing Princess and her swordsman on our way here. We were directed to ask you what we can do to help?”

“Well, you certainly do look like you can fight. The monster control crew can always use more people that know their way around a sword. Though, your gear is far more pristine than anything I’ve seen in weeks.”

“What?”

“The Upheaval. When the ground shook and the skies split open to reveal floating islands,” Purah motions to the sky where unnoticed sky islands are floating far above them. “It also unleashed waves of gloom that ate away at anything metal, specifically weapons.”

Purah taps the recorder to her chin as she looks them all over once more. “I know I called them antiques, but seeing weapons and armor in such good condition is a bit suspicious.”

“Miss Purah!”

The group turns to the stairs where a young man with a rusty and decayed halberd has rushed up and sloppily come to attention.

“What is it Scorpis?”

“Uh, we’ve got a couple of strangers that just came in on Link’s horses.”

“What? How is that even possible? Malanya’s protection means that only the person registered to them can check out a horse.”

“I don’t know. But one of them is a giant and, well you know Link’s really big horse? He makes it look normal sized.”

Purah blinks in confusion. She then turns to Warriors, Twilight and Lana. “Excuse me, I seem to have something urgent requiring my attention.”

As Purah makes her way to the stairs, the others can hear her muttering.

“Honestly he’s been back a day. How is there already so much chaos.”

Twilight shares a grin with Warriors at the comment. They may not know where Wild is, but they at least now know he’s no longer missing.

As the small group reaches the top of the stairs, Warriors and Twilight stop and stare, because in the middle of the plaza is a familiar figure.

“Time!”

“Mask?”

Warriors and Twilight glance at each other before hurrying past Purah to greet their fellow hero.

“Great so they know the horse thieves.”

The pair come up short when they finally notice the giant of a man next to Time. They’d overlooked him due to the horse he is on looking average next to him, but as they take in the others around the plaza and Time in closer proximity, the white haired blank eyed giant stands out a bit more.

Warriors comes up to a stop and stares. “That’s!”

“Captain, good to see you, you too Pup.” Time looks back at the giant. “And yes he is exactly who you think he is. He wanted to help.”

“My son and I are happy to be of service. The little wildling has gone on ahead with the fairy prince and has asked us to speak with one called Purah.”

“Yes, that.”

“Wildling I get, but who's the fairy prince?”

“Hyrule.”

“I guess that explains the magic.” Twilight studies the giant, looking between him and Time curiously. “Is this really your dad, thought you said you were raised by a tree?”

“Apparently he adopted me without my permission.”

“You didn’t know?” Warriors is grinning at Time mischievously as Lana and Purah finally make it to them. “He sort of let everyone know during the war not to mess with you. He was a very proud dad as well.”

“What war?”

“Uh.” Warriors’ eyes widen and he turns to see a frowning Purah glaring at him, Time, and the others.

“You must be Purah? Wi, I mean Link sent us to introduce ourselves, pass along a message and a request.” Time hands over a piece of paper Wild had given him for Purah.

Taking it, Purah flips it open and quickly reads through it.

When she finishes she’s holding her forehead with one hand while the other crosses her chest. She looks very done with everything. “All of you to my lab now.” She turns and strides back up the stairs before any of the hero’s group is moving.

They quickly hurry after her and follow her into a cluttered room covered in books, papers and diagrams.

“Alright, so Linky explained in his note that these two,” She motions to Time and Nocturn, “Are the Hero of Time and a being called the Fierce Deity, though you’re going by Nocturn.”

Nocturn nods at the introduction.

“I assume then that you two,” She waves the recorder at Warriors and Twilight, “Must be heroes from other eras, because the note mentioned he’s travelling with the Hero of Hyrule and expects other heroes might show up looking for him.”

“That seems right so far.”

“His note also mentions a shared Dream that he completely neglected to tell me about! I mean really given all the head trauma that boy has had you would think he’d be more willing to tell me when he thinks he’s hallucinating or having suspected psychosis!”

Purah is breathing heavily when she finishes raging at the idea of Wild not keeping her fully informed.

“Okay.” Purah takes a few deep breaths as the three heroes and their companions glance amongst one another. “Okay, it's fine. I know now. I can do something. Right! You!”

Purah turns to them and waves her recorder about. “We have several things we need to get done. Linkie has the Rito handled, but we have no idea what’s going on with the gerudo, gorons, or zora. From the rumors I’ve heard the zora are dealing with some sort of gunk getting in everywhere and the gorons are just not doing any work.”

“That’s odd, gorons love to work.”

“I know! That’s why we’re concerned. Anyway the gerudo we haven’t heard anything from. A massive sandstorm has parked itself over the desert and getting past Kara Kara Bazaar is a struggle. In addition to that just getting through the canyon is a trial because it's experiencing extreme temperature fluctuations.”

“We also need to send someone to the depths to get Robbie so he can get to Hateno and use the sheikah forge he made to produce more Purah Pads. I’m going to work on this communication aspect. It would help if I could see the charm your one friend has, but he isn’t here.”

“Yet. Lana thinks that the rest of the chain are making their way to this time.”

“Chain?”

“It's cause we’re a bunch of Links.”

Purah blinks, her thoughts completely derailed at the fact that they call themselves that and they are all named Link.

“Who came up with that?”

The three heroes will not meet her glare, clearly none of them want to admit to being in on the horrible pun.

“None of you are allowed anywhere near the Gerudo Desert.” Purah grumbles about Riju and her terrible seal puns. It's clear she isn’t quiet enough as Time’s ears twitch and he grins in a way that has Lana groaning.

“Alrght! All of you know who will be best suited for each task we need to get done. Obviously at least one of you three,” Purah points specifically at the heroes, “Needs to be here in case another one of your kind show up here. Someone has to go to the depths. And finally I need someone to try and get in contact with the gerudo.”

The heroes look among themselves and their companions.

“Captain, you’ll stay here. Lana can go with Twilight to the gerudo.” Time turns to Purah. “I can go with Nocturn to the depths, though I’ve never heard of such a place. So any information you have would be helpful.”

“Josha’s been doing more research into the depths and would be the best person to ask for details.”

With a nod from Time the group split up to their assigned tasks, getting maps and directions so they can get on their way.

Chapter Text

Wind, Tetra, and her crew appear in crystal clear waters to the faint scent of smoke in the salty sea air.

“Zuko! What do ya see?”

The pirate in the crow’s nest scans the horizon, focusing on the shore nearby before spotting dark smoke curling out of what once was a fishing village.

“Village looks to have been attacked. I can make out some strange beasties wandering about. It doesn’t look good Captain.” Zuko finally spots the source of the monsters and calls down. “I see a ship, flying the boko colors.”

Tetra frowns and leans over the edge of the ship.

“Link, I want you to take Gonzo, Nudge, and Senza ashore with you to clean up the beasties on shore. The rest of us can man the cannons and take out the ship.”

Wind nods and maneuvers close enough for a rope ladder to be lowered and the men Tetra had ordered board his ship.

It doesn’t take long for the two ships to get to shore. As Tetra’s ship opens fire on the boko vessel, Link and his group go ashore and start taking out the beasts that had ransacked the village.

The fight is long and exhausting, but the crew comes out with barely more than scratches. After finding a single boko in a well they round up and watch the boko ship sink and burn.

“Oh me oh my, I do say I must thank you for chasing off those roughians.”

“It was no big deal.”

“It was too a big deal you layabout!”

Tetra swings ashore and strides over to Wind and the members of her crew accompanying him.

“You three, clean yourselves up and take some potion.”

Tetra turns to Wind, happy to let him take the lead with the locals.

“Um, well anyway. We were happy to help either way.”

“Yes, yes, again, thank you from the bottom of my heart. However, while most of the villagers managed to get out unscathed when those pirates struck, they’ve been scattered across Hyrule.” The flamboyant man looks sadly around at the village.

An older man that had come up with the first nods in agreement. “Unfortunately I don’t see many of them coming back given the state of the village at the moment.”

“I can certainly help rebuild things, but I may need a bit of help.”

“What kind of help?” Wind looks over to Tetra as if asking permission, she nods. “We came here looking for a friend of mine, he’s sort of like a brother, but I don’t know where to find him. I doubt he’d be happy with me if we left you high and dry. We should be able to help before we head on.”

“Windy,” Tetra pats his shoulder to stop him. She then looks at the two men. “Look, Windy and I can go on ahead and leave our crew here to help. We won’t want to leave the ships unattended and they’re also a good deterrent for any additional pirates that may come banging in.”

“That is very kind of you. If you don’t mind my asking, who is this person you are looking for?”

“His name’s Link. I’m worried about him and I think he needs help.”

The two men exchange a look before the flamboyant one goes to open his mouth though, Wind cuts in.

“And we’re good without any bananas.”

The man chuckles and props a hand on his hip. “Well I suppose the fact you expected that means you can’t be all that bad. And you did help save the village. Unfortunately no one has heard from Link in months. Last anyone saw him he was with the princess heading under the castle to investigate gloom that’s been making people sick.”

Wind slumps, some of the wind taken from his sails.

“Can ya give us directions to the castle then? We’ll be joinin’ the search for ‘im.”

“Of course I can!” The flamboyant man, soon introduced as Bolson, gives the two directions through the forest to the bridge of Hylia and then up to the castle.

As Wind and Tetra begin making their way toward the first stable along their journey, the rest of the crew begins listening to Bolson’s instructions for rebuilding the town.

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

When Sky and Groose fly through the Gate of Time, they are expecting to come back out in a temple that at least is close in appearance to where they left from. What they come out in is a dark and dim ruin.

Looking around Sky can’t help but frown at the toppled statue of the Goddess.

“Is this what the Temple looks like in the future? I know you said we were going far into the future, but it's like we’re underground.”

Groose is poking around behind the statue of the goddess.

“That’s weird, there’s a room back here.”

“Really?” Sky, curious about the changes, hurries over and they both poke their heads into the large round room behind the base of the fallen statue.

“Huh? And there’s another one?” The two wander in and look around.

“Do you think someone added this stuff on when they added the roof?”

“Probably.”

The pair make it to the other side of the first room and then cross into another and look down to see a map.

“That must be Hyrule as it was when they added on these extra rooms.”

“What’s Hyrule?”

“Oh, it's what people in the future call the surface. I think the name comes from the Goddess, Hylia.”

“Oh, I guess that makes sense, cause she rules over the surface land?”

Sky nods as he studies the map. “What are those strange glyphs scattered over the map?”

“No clue, was kinda hopin’ you knew.”

“Maybe Wild will know something.” Sky turns to leave, “We should head out. See if we can’t find a clue on where Wild is.”

“Right.”

The pair head back out to the main chamber where Crimson and Pomp are waiting for them. Mounting up the birds take flight and head for an entrance at the far end. As they fly out they see a couple of bokoblin camps. The monsters also take note of the pair and throw rocks and fire arrows at them. The loftwings dodge easily, but Sky is already grabbing his sword and diving down to dispatch them.

“Link! You okay?”

“I’m fine.” Sky is wiping his blade on a cleaning cloth after slaying the monsters sullying the temple to the Goddess.

Mounting back up on Crimson the two continue on their way and out the entrance into a deep canyon. Landing on a pillar they look around with mouths open at the site of the temple nearly buried.

“What, How is it buried like that?”

“I don’t know, but that explains the roof.”

“Yeah.”

“Come on, we should head up and out.”

Groose nods and the pair fly up with the aid of their loftwings. When they crest the canyon side they see a sea of green grasslands spotted with a few trees and a large glowing rock with a horse and cart next to it. Sky motions to the cart and the pair sore over, landing a dozen or so feet from the cart where a figure in a hook is standing, sword in hand but relaxed.

“Sky!”

Sky is already rushing over as Hyrule smiles at him.

“Rulie!”

Sky goes for a hug when Hyrule jumps out of the cart, but stops when he sees the wings.

“What?”

“Long story, but I am, um, well I was a young Great Fairy. Not so young anymore.” Hyrule is still beaming. “Wild is going to lose it when he sees you.”

“Where is he by the way?”

Hyrule jerks his thumb at the glowing rock structure. “He’s in there. It helps him to rebuild his strength to complete the shrines so we’ve been stopping at any we come across.”

“There was one in the Sealed Temple when we were down there.” Sky looks at the shrine, his eyes showing conflicting feelings. “How is he?”

Hyrule sighs, “He thought we were just a dream, a figment created by his mind when he was healing after his encounter with Ganondorf.” Hyrule scratches the back of his head then turns to Groose. “Who’s your friend?”

“Oh, this is Groose. Groose, this is the Hero of Hyrule, we call him traveler or Rulie for short.”

“Doesn’t he got a name though?”

The heroes chuckle.

“You can also call me Link, but all of us heroes share that name, so it's best to use nicknames.” Hyrule taps his fist into his palm, “Oh, and Time is here. He brought a friend of his going by Nocturn, but I think he’s also called the Fierce Deity. I think he’s an actual god or something.”

“Time’s here? I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, his quest involved time travel I think.”

“Yeah, by that logic I wouldn’t be surprised if Legend makes it as well.”

Before either can continue the shrine hums and they turn to see Wild stepping out from a glowing portal in the rock.

When Wild looks up and sees Sky he smiles, “Sky!” Then he looks horrified and is down on the ground as if begging. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to break her!”

Sky inhales at the admission of what he already suspected from how that Dream ended.

“It's not your fault. Ganondorf is the one that broke Fi.” Sky sees Wild’s arm and knows that Fi did everything she could to protect wild from that monster.

“By the way, nice arm.”

“Huh? Oh, yeah. A ghost of an ancient king of Hyrule gave me his when mine was beyond saving. Wait until you see the neat tricks it can do.”

“I’m sure it's going to be interesting.”

Wild looks back at Groose and loftwings. He raises an eyebrow. “How many can each of those carry?”

Sky smirks, “We can each take a passenger.”

Wild is grinning back, now once more on his feet.

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

Legend blinks and the next thing he sees is a blue and coral landscape covered in brown, fowl smelling gunk.

“Ugh, that does not look good.”

Turning, Legend sees that Ravio has also made it and is covering his nose with his oversized sleeves to try and ward off the smell.

“Yeah, but I think Wild said his Zora are friendly, and I’m pretty certain that’s where we’ve landed ourselves.”

“Should we head down there then?”

“Probably. I think Wild would want us to help them with all of this before we go looking for him.”

“Lovely.” Ravio does not look like he wants to go down there, but he lets Legend lead the way and soon the two are making their way across a bridge and down stairs to where a muck covered statue is obscured.

“Ravio, I know you have a rod that makes clean water or something that can clean that.” Legend’s hand is out waiting for Ravio to hand over the appropriate tool. Which he does with a put upon sigh.

A quick splash and the statue is revealed to be Wild sitting on the back of a large Zora as if he’s riding into battle.

“Okay, that’s new.”

“Oh, you cleaned the statue!”

Both men turn to see a Zora woman with green scales and a manta ray head.

“I must thank you for that. I know that my fiance was distraught when he learned it was covered in muck, especially with news from the castle about Sir Link missing with the princess.”

Ravio and Legend share a look.

“Just trying to help out.” Legend tries to look relaxed. “By the way, is there anything we can do to help? My husband is an artificer and I’m something of an adventurer.” Legend motions to the statue. “I also know that guy, Link, and he’d be upset if I didn’t at least try and offer my assistance.”

“Oh, a friend of Link’s.” The Zora woman seems to hesitate for a moment before deciding on something. “I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to let you see what you can do to help. Sidon, the Prince of the Zora is currently near the summit of Polymus Mountain at Mipha Court. If you head up there you can speak to him directly and see if there is anything you can do to help. Though he is rather busy purifying our waters as best he can.”

“We’ll head up that way. Maybe we can figure something out to help.”

The two follow Yona’s directions to the area where Prince Sidon can be found. It takes several hours of hiking, at the end of which Ravio is wheezing and bent over.

“Come on, almost there, you can rest once we get to the court and can talk to the prince.”

“How are you not out of breath?”

Legend quirks a brow, “Practice. Though my joints are starting to ache. I’ll be hating this tomorrow.”

“Ugh!”

Legend grins and hauls Ravio to his feet before the pair continue on their way to the court. Just as they reach the top Ravio is finding a nice rock to sit on while Legend heads over to talk to the tall, red Zora that must be Prince Sidon.

“Hey, sorry to interrupt, but I was hoping my friend and I might be able to help you out with your muck problem.”

“Hmmm?” The zora turns from where he is purifying the water and looks curiously at Legend. “Not to be rude, but I’m not sure a Hylian would be able to help with this problem.”

Legend places his hands on his hips. “I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeves. Do we have any leads on where this stuff is coming from?”

Sidon looks cautious, but shakes his head. “I’m afraid not. Though if anyone were to know it would be Jiahto. He’s been researching some ancient Zora ruins.”

“Ok, I might be able to help with that, bit of a polyglot. Where can I find him?”

Sidon looks surprised at the claim, “He’s over at Toto Lake, west of here above the Domain.”

“Got it. I’m going to leave my husband here, I’ll travel faster on my own and he might be able to come up with something that can help sort this mess out.”

“Oh?” Sidon looks over at Ravio, the man is already nose first in a notepad as he seems to be muttering about something to do with water and the muck all over the place.

“Yeah, he’s an artificer, makes some amazing contraptions and magic devices. I’m sure he can come up with something, and as long as we can get him the materials he can make it.”

“I see, then yes, please leave him here, I will ensure he is kept safe.”

Legend nods and heads off to see a Zora about some ancient ruins.

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

Time looks down over the edge of the chasm where Robbie is supposed to have gone and winces as he considers how to get down with dignity intact.

“If you’re wanting to head down you can use a balloon. I have a spare one you can borrow.”

Time turns to the researcher that has walked over to him.

“Thank you. Can I get a bit of instruction on how it works? Purah asked us to fetch Robbie.”

“Oh, of course.”

As Time listens to the researcher showing him how to pilot the balloon, Nocturn is standing patiently nearby. He soon turns his head toward a distant mountain with a faint blue glow and frowns.

“We’re all ready to go Nocturn.” Time notices the serious gaze, as Nocturn seems to study the glowing mountain.

“Oh, looks like Satori is on the mountain today.”

Time turns to the researcher. “Satori?”

“Yes, he’s the god of Mount Satori. It's a sacred place. If you get the chance I highly recommend going there to see it.”

“I’ll see if we can stop by then.” Time turns back to Nocturn. “Are you coming with me?”

Nocturn nods and turns to settle onto the balloon so Time can guide them into the chasm.

“Good luck!”

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

Vio blinks awake to darkness. Not true darkness, though it is rather close. Dim light from blossom shaped lamps lights the area and Vio can make out a tree above him and the faint sound of calm water.

“Fuck, why is it so dark?”

Vio turns at the groan and instead of seeing Blue, he sees a strange, glowing blue creature looking at him curiously.

“It's not that dark you wimp, learn to use night vision.”

“Shadow,” Vio sits up and looks over to see Shadow floating near Blue, clearly teasing the other if the swipe from Blue was anything to go by. “Stop teasing Blue and see if you can find Red or Green.”

“Eeeeh! You are so cute!”

“Found Red!” Shadow must have a shit eating grin on even if Vio can’t see it clearly.

“I’m here too.” Green steps around a pillar, rubbing his head. “Where are we?”

“No clue.” Vio looks around, squinting into the darkness. He then looks up and grumbles. “Deep underground maybe. Unless the clouds are extremely thick and blocking out the stars and moon entirely.”

“Nah, Vi’s right, we’re underground, deep underground. And there is a lot of darkness down here, we’ll all want to be careful finding a way out.”

“Alright, let’s do a check of our things.”

“We should also see if our elemental magic works properly as well.”

Green nods to Vio’s suggestion, “That too, first belongings, then magic.”

The group begins checking their bags, all larger on the inside thanks to minish magic.

“I have everything I packed.”

“Same.” Blue pulls out his hammer and gives it a few swings before resting it on his shoulder.

Vio frowns, “I have everything as well.”

“All my things are here.” Green crosses his arms at Vio’s frown. “Is something wrong?”

“Not wrong, but I have notes added to my notebook. It's in Ezlo’s handwriting at first then changes a few times. It's updates on what’s been happening over the years we spent slumbering.”

“Why do you think it changed?”

Vio looks up at Red, he doesn’t have the heart to tell him why he thinks Ezlo passed on the notebook he had used to keep track of the world’s goings ons, but the concern on Red’s face shows he likely already suspects.

“Minish aren’t immortal, for as long lived as they are, they can die of old age. We must be very far into the future for Ezlo to have needed to pass on his copy of this notebook.”

The air is solemn after Vio’s admittance. The scholarly hero pulls out a stick of charcoal to make a note that they have awoken. The reply is nearly immediate, an acknowledgement and a final update that the Hero of the era is heading to Hebra in the north.

“Looks like Wild is heading to Hebra in the north. Our current note taker is asking where we wound up so they can get us a good map to send us to the best place for us to help.”

The others look around and call out details of where they are as Vio makes notes in the notebook. When he inhales sharply, Shadow is the first to reach his side.

“What’s wrong?”

“We’re in a place called the depths. He says the sooner we can get out the better. He thinks we’re in a place called Blupee Burrow, due to those rabbit-like creatures Red’s been cooing over.”

“Right, so which way is out?”

Vio looks down and sees a map slowly taking form. “He’s drawing a map, give it a moment.”

After a few more minutes the map has been drawn, crude as it is it provides a few landmarks for them to use as a guide. The last part is an ‘X’ in red and an arrow pointing up.

Vio looks up and squints into the dark above them, then turns to Shadow. “How far up is the ceiling?”

Shadow squints as well then kicks off the ground and flies up into the air until the four on the ground lose sight of him. It takes a while for him to come back down.

“Higher up than the Tower of Winds.”

“Lovely, how are we supposed to get up there?” Blue is looking over the map in Vio’s hands.

At the confused looks from the rest Vio clarifies. “The exit is on the ceiling.”

Silence as they all consider that.

“So,” Red hugs the Blupee they had picked up, “I saw some minish portals in one of the caves.”

They all consider this.

“Do we risk there not being portals on the surface or stay here where it's apparently very dangerous to wander.”

Green looks around the small lit area. “So we have plenty of water, but who knows what is edible, if anything.”

“Staying means a slow starvation then.”

The others nod.

“So you guys all shrink down and I’ll carry you out. We will find a portal on the surface to change you back.”

“Right.” Vio gets to his feet and hands the notebook to Shadow. “This has the map marked. Please keep a look out for anything dangerous.”

“We’re counting on you Shadow.” Blue nods and then follows Red to a cave, the others quick to do the same.

As the heroes take turns shrinking down, Shadow settles in close to the cracked jar and waits for the minish sized heroes to make their way over to him.

“All accounted for?”

A choir of ‘yes’s and Shadow is standing and floating from the cave then up toward the ceiling as he follows the directions from the map.

Chapter Text

Before leaving Lookout Landing, Twilight had helped Karson and Lester build a small, but proper stable. He’d then gone out into the field and caught a couple of horses for himself and Lana. Even if Wild had offered up use of his own, he couldn’t possibly have enough for all of them.

The pair of horses proved handy though as it took them a little more than a day on horseback to reach Digdogg Suspension Bridge and the entrance to Gerudo Canyon pass.

Of course, Twilight also hadn’t planned for monsters to be on the road in quite the numbers and strength they encountered.

“Those are not keese.”

“Nope, and I've never seen anything like them.”

“Should probably take them out to make the road safe for travelers.”

The pair decide that Lana can handle the flying monsters while Twilight takes out the bokos on the road. Surprisingly the fight is over quickly. The flying monsters were surprisingly weak, easily taken out in a single shot. While Twilight had more trouble with the bokos, once Lana had knocked out the fliers she’d helped him make quick work of them.

Now the pair are standing before the massive wall of ruins that had fallen and blocked most of the canyon off from travelers.

Steeling themselves, the pair walk up to the guard to see if they can get through.

“The pass is extremely dangerous to those unwary." She eyes them suspiciously. “How do I know letting you through will not result in your injury or death?”

Lana steps up with a smile. “I’m a sorceress, I know several spells for keeping someone cool or warm, depending on the climate. Purah asked us to check on the Gerudo and warned us about the dangerous temperatures in the canyon.”

The guard raises a brow and looks the pair over once more.

“I see, well in that case, let me see this magic and you may pass.”

With a few quick spells, the guard lets them through, telling them to be careful of the monsters.

Entering the canyon, they opt to stay on the road as they make their way through. They spot monsters near the cliff a ways off from the road after about half an hour.

“Should we do something about them?”

Twilight hums and considers it. “You’ve got an ice spell, right?”

“Of course.

“I think they’re fire based lizalfos. Hitting them with ice should kill them pretty quick.”

Lana raises a brow, but quickly casts a spell to hit both with a blast of ice that has them poofing out like a doused fire.

“Huh? That worked really well.”

“I told you. Wild mentioned once in the Dream that some of his monsters are elementally based and the fire and ice monsters are easy to take out with the right opposing element.”

“Do you think all the monsters out here will be like that?”

“Only one way to find out.”

The rest of the trip through the canyon was much of the same, They would find monsters off the road and dispatch them quickly as they moved along. In one cave guarded by two lizalfos was a man that thanked them for the help before running toward the exit of the canyon. He mentioned he had some friends that he’d been separated from and if he saw any if he could help them get back as well it would be a great help.

Lana had sighed at the request, knowing a hero will always help and there is nothing she can do to stop her companion. At a split in the road they keep low rather than forking to the high road.

“Wild always mentioned travelling through the canyon to get to the desert, never mentioned a high road.”

Eventually they come across another traveler and help him out with some water from their canteens. Once they see him recovered and heading to the exit they continue on, only stopping when they come to a river.

“Huh?” Twilight scratches his head, “This wasn’t here before?”

“I think they added the other road because of this. We’ve been told the upheaval changed the landscape in places. This is probably one of those things.”

“Great.” Twilight scratches his head before the two turn back to take the high road over the canyon.

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

As the balloon sets down in the depths, Time and Nocturn disembark. A man wearing the uniform of the research team greets them, though he looks confused.

“Hello? Can I interest you in some bananas?”

“No thank you. We are actually here to talk to Robbie, Purah sent us to get his assistance with something.”

The researcher sighs, “Well he’s run off ahead. He was supposed to just go as far as that glowing root thing, but I thought I saw him run off to the West after he arrived at the root. I don’t have enough bright blooms to follow after him though. Not that I could keep up with him if I did.”

Time nods, “Thanks, we’ll head out and find him.”

“Great! Did you bring enough bright blooms, I have extra if you need them?”

Time hesitates and the researcher must realize he doesn’t know what a brightbloom is.

“Bright blooms are a plant that emits light. They aren’t much, but they light an area up as well as a torch would.” The researcher hands over the seeds he has in a small bag. “If you throw them they burst and flower, that’s when they emit light.”

“Thank you.” Time takes the bag and turns toward the strange glowing root.

“Let’s get going Nocturn.”

The god nods and the pair head into the dark. Every now and then Time will throw a bright bloom seed and light up the area around them. At one point doing so alerts a nearby monster camp.

The fight is short, but intense and one bokoblin gets a lucky hit on Time as Nocturn finishes the rest off.

Inspecting the wound in the dim light, Time hisses.

“Is everything alright?”

“One of them hit me, I think some of that gloom got in the wound.”

Nocturn frowns and looks around. “We are not far from the root. Let us make haste.”

Time can’t even try to protest as he’s scoped up and carried to the glowing root. Once there, Nocturn sets him down gently and studies a strange glowing disk of energy that appears under the center of the root.

Reaching out his hand, Nocturn seems to focus and then the root is lighting up, the area around them getting brighter and Time, while still injured, doesn't feel as drained as before.

“That,” Time looks around curiously at the lit area.

“It is a Lightroot. They are used to purify and push back darkness. It is an ancient magic that has long been used by lesser gods to keep evil at bay from mortal habitation.”

Time blinks at Nocturn, looks up at the now brightly glowing root and then to his previously infected wound.

“Huh?”

Time gets back to his feet after making sure his wound is sealed. “We should get back to tracking down Robbie, who knows how far he’s gotten as we stood around here.”

“Indeed.”

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

It takes a couple days for Wind and Tetra to make it to the stable Bolson had told them about.

“Ugh! My feet are killing me!”

Wind pats Tetra on the back as she slumps against the stone fence leading into the stable by Lake Floria.

“Please tell me there isn’t more walking after this.”

Wind winces, “Sorry Tetra. This place is pretty vast, but we should be able to rest here safely. I’m going to see if I can’t find some information, I’ll buy you a bed to rest in.”

Before Wind can run off Tetra grabs his arm, “How are you not exhausted?”

“Huh, well might be a couple of things. I mean I do have to man my own ship at sea most of the time. Then there’s all the dungeons I went through, like the tower of gods. I mean sure I get tired going at the same pace as the others, but uh,”

Wind stops at the murderous glare coming from his companion and backs away.

“Were you about to call me slow!”

Wind bolts as Tetra rages, though it burns out quickly when she slumps from exhaustion in the middle of the path to the stable. She even earns a few concerned stairs from the other travellers as Wind waits by the entrance, eyeing her warily.

Determined she’s fine for now, Wind walks up to the inner counter and gets the attention of the stable master.

“I’d like to get two beds for tonight.”

“That’ll be forty rupees.”

Wind pulls out his wallet and hands over the money.

“Thanks. Um, hey you wouldn’t know where I could get a horse do you?”

“Sorry, we don’t have any wild herds out this way. Your best bet to get a horse would be to walk to Highland Stable and catch one from the wild herd out that way.”

Wind Sighs, “How far is it to that stable?”

“About the same distance as to Lurelin from here.”

Wind slumps. It had taken them a little more than 2 days to get here from Lurelin and Tetra was flagging fast. They needed at least another day for her to recover before they tried the same distance again if they didn’t want it taking an entire week.

Then he jerks up, Wind had just remembered that Wild has a bunch of horses, at least two, right. Maybe he could borrow one.

“Um, hey, so my brother has a couple of horses registered with you guys, do you think I could borrow one? I just don’t think Tetra’s gonna make it to Highland Stable if we go on foot.”

The stable master looks at Wind, a frown on his face, then over at Tetra, still laying in the middle of the path where she landed herself earlier.

“Look kid, we really aren’t suppose to loan out horses unless it's to the propr owner unless we have permission from the owner.”

Wind deflates, so much for that idea.

“However, where are the two of you headed?”

“Trying to catch up with my brother. Last I heard he was near the castle. But folks are saying he’s missing.”

Curious, the stable master tilts his head, “What’s his name, I can reach out through the stable network and see if anyone’s seen him. If you’re lucky he might be able to give permission to loan out his horse.”

Wind perks back up at that and nods. “Please! His name’s Link!” Wind stops for a second, remembering something. “And I don’t want any bananas! He told me I should mention that if I don’t want kicked out of a stable here if I ever swing through or we were separated.”

The stable master only looks slightly mollified by that.

“Look kid, I know Link and I doubt you’re his real brother.”

“Not by blood, more like a found family! Um, it's kinda complicated.”

The stable master continues to look at Wind suspiciously. “Look, Link once tried to stable a bear and a stalhorse. I can handle crazy.”

Wind squints at the stable master, then nods assertively. “Okay, well, my name’s Link also. I met the Link you know in Dream. We were traveling through time with seven others and we were all as good as brothers. When I woke up I knew he needed help so I came as quick as I could to try and help him.”

The stable master is staring at Wind with wide eyes, finding it hard to believe, but not seeing anywhere in the story that felt like the kid was lying.

“guess the only way to know for sure is to put out a message and see if anyone’s heard from Link lately.”

“Thanks!”

Wind rushes over to Tetra and helps her into the bed he got her, even as she grumbles and swipes at his head for treating her as if she’s fragile.

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

As Sky lands Crimson outside of Snowfield Stable, Link hops out of the cart and skips over to the counter to have his horse put away and return the cart.

“Link1 I hope you aren’t going to try and stable, whatever that creature is.” Varke eyes the large bird warily.

“I doubt Sky would let me. Anyway I need to stable Butterscotch. Sky and Groose are going to fly me to the Rito instead.”

Varke raises a brow but nods and goes to register the action and get Wild his pony point for the interaction.

“Oh, looks like there’s a message from this afternoon. Seems a boy claiming to be your brother showed up at Lakeside Stable and is trying to get permission to borrow a horse.”

Wild freezes before slamming his hands on the counter with a wide smile. “Do you know his name?”

“Says here he’s going by Wind, but claimed to also be named Link.”

Wild’s jaw drops open and he turns to the others he had arrived with.

“Sky, Rulie, you’ll never guess who just showed up in the South!”

The two look at one another and then walk over to Wild.

“Who is it?”

“Wind! He’s trying to borrow one of my horses.” Wild pauses. “He can by the way. He should take Peaches. She’s the sweetest horse I have and will be easy for him to guide if he sticks to the roads.”

Varke raises a brow.

“He’s not really ridden a horse before, so it was pretty smart of him to think of it.”

“I’ll include the last bit as well. If the kid can’t ride well it's best if he has someone show him how.”

“Thanks you guys are the best.”

It takes Wild a minute for the next bit to register though.

“Wait, you guys can send messages through the stable network!”

“Sure can.” Varke is grinning. “How do you think we get horses all over the place so quick?”

Wild blink, raises a finger, stops and then lowers it. “Fair point. I’m going to need more horses though.”

“You can have up to ten.”

Wild nods in thanks as he counts on his fingers.

“Can you put out a message for me. I want to keep an eye out for my other brothers.”

“You’ve actually got more than the one. Honestly I shouldn’t be so shocked.”

Wild shakes his head. “It's not by blood.” Wild motions to Sky and Hyrule. “These two are two of them, Sky and Hyrule, though they’re real names are Link and Link.” Wild keeps on, grinning at the flabbergasted look on the stable master’s face.

“I already loaned some horses out for Time and his dad, so Woodland should have a description of them.” Wild then goes on to describe the rest of his brothers, hoping that if someone sees them they can let them know they can borrow a horse as well and which one is best suited for each one.

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

Legend grumbles as he dodges around another sticky mound of sludge. It's been a couple hours since he left the prince and Ravio at Mipha Court. He’s glad he had asked for directions before leaving, because for as straight a shot as this trip is, the muck all over the place is making it more difficult than he expected.

Cresting another hill he sighs at seeing the lake he’s looking for. Spotting a zora guardsman, he makes his way over to them, scrambling up onto the chunk of ruin that they are standing on.

“Hey, I was sent to talk to Jiahto about some ruins they’re researching?”

The zora looks at him, cautious as she sets a second hand on her spear.

Seeing the slight readiness has Legend raising his hands to placate her. “Sorry, I should introduce myself. I’m a friend of Link’s, I’m going by Legend. I’m trying to help out since I was coming through and saw all this gunk. Doubt Link would appreciate it if I just left you to it without trying to help you out.” Legend pauses before remembering something. “Also no, I don’t like bananas.”

“I suppose that should be a relief, but I doubt you can do much. However if you’re here to speak to Jiahto,” The guard motions to a cave a little further around the shore. “He’s in there studying the ruins the cliff collapse revealed.”

“Thanks.” Legend hops down from the ruins and heads for the shallow cave. Once there he sees an older zora studying a broken slate carved into the wall at the back. He’s surprised to see that the ancient script is actually a dialect he’s familiar with from the sea zora of his own time.

“Stand upon the land of the sky fish… A droplet… The watery bridge…”

“Huh! Who are you and how can you read ancient zora script!”

Legend sighs as he turns from the slate. “Hobby. Anyway, any idea where the rest of this thing is?”

“What, no if I knew I’d have the whole thing translated by now.”

Jiahto squints at the hero as Legend stands with his hands on his hips. Both are scowling at one another as they study the other.

“Who are you though, and why are you here?”

“Prince Sidon sent me to help you out in researching. I’m a polyglot, so I thought I could help out.”

“Hmph, well I can’t argue that your hobby is helpful, but without the rest of the tablet it won’t do any of us any good.”

Legend drops his hands to his sides and starts looking around before noticing a blue slab of rock sticking out of some muck closer to the shore.

“Huh.” Pulling out the same rod he used on the statue he splashes the slab and reveals the missing piece of the tablet. “Found it!”

Jiahto comes over and frowns at the large single piece.

“It's upside down, lovely. If it was in smaller pieces I could at least have Dunma move them around so they are right side up.”

“Eh, don’t sweat it.” Legend pulls out a pair of gloves and slips them on, with a tap they glow lightly and he reaches for the slab.

“Hey! What are you doing!”

Legend picks up the slab like it weighs nothing and carries it into the cave to line it up and put it into place. It takes a bit to maneuver it into place, but eventually he gets it and the tablet is more or less whole.

“That, amazing! How on earth did you manage that!”

“Power gloves.” Legend regards the tablet now that it's whole.

“Stand upon the land of the sky fish, and behold its lofty view. Among the floating rocks you see, a droplet waits for you. Through this droplet, shoot an arrow with the mark of the king. Do this task, and you shall reveal a most wondrous thing. See the watery bridge's resting spot with your own two eyes...that which connects the Zora to the people of the skies..”

“Love it when they can’t just tell you what you need to do. Always gotta use this poetic bullshit.”

“You say that as if you do this sort of thing often.”

“Comes with the job. I’m gonna head back to the prince. Have fun studying the ruins. If you find anything else, let me know.”

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

When Shadow reaches the bottom of their way out he stops and stares up at the dark hole in the ceiling of this place. The gloopy evil gunk all around has his skin itching just looking at it and he shudders to think what would happen if he touches it.

With a deep breath he steels himself and starts toward it. They have to get out of here if they’re going to find this Wild kid.

“Shadow, is everything alright?”

“Yeah, I just don’t like the look of this stuff. It screams ‘Evil’.” Shadow is in the hole now, heading up in a straight line, though he begins to notice the walls getting closer as the hole narrows.

That’s when some of the evil gunk seems to reach out for him.

“Whoa!” Shadow starts weaving around as he continues up, but he’s getting nervous as the tendrils seem to get denser and harder to dodge.

“Shadow!”

Suddenly a swirl of wind forms a nearly solid shield around him, covered over shortly by flames that burn the evil sludge and keep it at bay. Taking his chance, Shadow puts on some extra speed and pushes through. With a silent sigh of relief he pops out into bright daylight and stops a good dozen or so feet above the well the gunk is spilling out of.

The shield dissipates and shadow looks around in awe at the beauty of the land they now find themselves in.

“Oh wow! This place is beautiful.”

There’s a light weight on Shadow’s shoulder as someone settles there. “It is, isn’t it. Not a bad place to end up when all of this is over and done with.”

“No, doesn’t look like there are a lot of people though.”

“Just means more choice picks for where to set down roots.” Weight from Shadow’s other shoulder turns out to be Green as the unofficial leader makes himself comfy.

“We should find a minish portal. Can you ask our friend where we might be able to find one?”

Shadow turns to the notebook and starts writing the question. He floats away from the well and lands while he’s at it.

“Looks like there’s one behind the stable due south of here.” Shadow puts the notebook away.

“Let’s go then. The sooner we get back to full size the sooner we can look for Wild!”