Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

1. Legend and Fable are twins, so Legend does have some light power

2. Wild and Flora haven't thought about if they want to date or not, since Wild is busy with hero things and Flora is busy with rebuilding the kingdom

3. Wind talks a bit like a pirate (influenced by Tetra)

4. Time, Warriors, and Wind all remember each other from the War of Eras and have explained that whole thing with the others

5. Dragons are important in my AU, since they warn of future events and help the races through other means too

6. Wild uses his own Master Sword, not Sky's (that stays with him unless absolutely necessary)

7. Hyrule and Time both talk to fairies and ask them for help, but Hyrule is the only one that can understand them (only in his fairy form)

8. Sky has asthma, and (maybe?) narcolepsy. Oh, and prophetic dreams. He's doing awesome.

9. Wind can usually tell when the weather is going to change, and sometimes it corresponds with his emotions (because he's the Wind Waker)

10. Wild can sometimes tell when the weather is going to change

Chapter Text

Wind and Legend walked a few steps in front of Wild and Flora. Legend had wanted to protect the hero of chaos and his Zelda, just in case, and he'd told Time that he also wanted to make sure that Wind didn’t do something dumb and hurt himself. He was still a bit surprised that Time let Wind come. Flora lifted the torch she held a bit higher in the air, its fire flickering off of the stone walls.

Legend hummed a song called Zelda’s Lullaby softly. He learned it from Fable, who told him that all of the children from the royal family were taught it. Well, other than him. For his own safety, he had to be taken into his uncle’s care. Not that he was complaining. He shook his head, remembering falling through the portal (because why should it be on the ground?) and making their way to Hateno nearby. As they had neared the village, they’d heard gossip about people getting sick when they neared the castle. They met with Flora, who explained the situation and said that she wanted to go search for what happened. The veteran himself had offered first, saying that he was the most experienced with magic and what it can do. Time had tried to offer next, but Wind had shouted to join before he could. When Time said no, Wind spent the next few hours telling him that he would be able to control the winds to send the “gloom mist,” as Flora called it, away. Eventually, Time relented.

Flora, and Wild next to her, stepped up closer to the two other heroes, pulling Legend out of his thoughts. Clearing her throat, she murmured, “this strange gloom keeps getting thicker… We’ve been descending for a while now… These tunnels are deeper than I originally thought. What could be down here?”

Legend raised his hand to the air, as if he was testing it. “I can feel dark magic,” he said, setting his hand down and continuing with, “it feels foreboding.” He shuddered.

“This’ weird. Did ya’ know this was down ‘ere?” Wind asked, nearly tripping down the stairs as he tried to look at her.

“No, I never imagined that all of this was under here. Well—when I was a child, I asked my father if there was anything below the castle. He said that there was, but seeing or discussing it was forbidden. No one in our family knew more about that. Though still, I can recall what he said. ‘No one must ever venture beneath the castle—not even one of us.’ He said this warning had been passed through our family for as long as anyone could remember,” Flora replied.

The walls at the base of the stairs glowed, but not like the luminous stone deposits Wild found across his own Hyrule. It was the same color, and seemed to be in the same formations, but it wasn’t exactly luminous stone. The floors were uneven and broken, and water flowed to the left of their unstable walkway. 

Flora paused before they continued into the next room, zoning out a bit. She blinked and shook her head, turning to the three heroes that ended up behind her. “People have been falling quite ill after coming into contact with the gloom drifting through these caverns,” Flora muttered, looking at the wisps of gloom drifting by their feet.

“It’s not concentrated enough to hurt us yet. It’s too misty here,” Legend added, swaying his hand through the gas and watching them separate.

“I agree. We should continue. I’m worried about it coming up from the castle. We don’t know what we’ll find, so we need to be ready for anything. Thank you all for coming with me. I’m sure we’ll find out what’s going on and be able to tell everyone else,” Flora continued.

They continued through the cavern, taking careful steps to avoid weird parts of the floor. Their steps echoed across the tunnel and off of the floor and walls. After a little bit of walking, Wild’s Master Sword began to glow blue. “Link!—” three heads all turned to look at her, “—Sorry. Wild!”

They all looked at the Master Sword. “D'ya sense something?” Wind murmured, sounding like Sky when he spoke to the sword. They knew she wouldn’t reply, since none of them had ever heard her speak other than Sky. Legend twisted one of his rings, glancing at the glowing sword.

“It must be sensing something! I knew we had a reason for concern. Ever since the end of the Calamity, the castle has fallen into neglect, but I never could have imagined that these tunnels were hiding here. We must be careful as we move deeper,” Flora told them, beginning to walk again.

Wild rushed forward a bit until he came across a fallen pillar. Flora, though carefully, ran over to where Wild stood and got down on one knee to investigate it.

“What is that?” Legend muttered, getting next to Flora and softly grazing his fingers over the eye symbol on the fallen pillar.

“These are ruins from an ancient civilization. I think I can see something written here… Might these ruins be…from the Zonai?” Flora murmured, leaning in closer. She stood again and rushed on ahead to another carving. “Yes, these carvings must be Zonai in origin! I’ve seen designs like this in my studies.”

“What in Zephos are Zonai?” Wind asked, raising an eyebrow. 

“Oh, I’m sorry. The Zonai are said to be a race that lived long ago, in the time of earliest legend. I believe after your eras though. They were said to possess godlike powers and had a prosperous civilization in the sky. Many history books tell us about the Zonai, but so far, none of them have given us the whole picture. There’s still much unknown about them,” Flora rambled, snapping a picture on the upgraded Sheikah Slate, now called the Purah Pad.

They all walked over to two large, geometrically sculpted statues of a figure on either side of a doorway. The statues seemed to depict only one figure, one with large ears and a snout.

“These statues! Could this be what the Zonai looked like? They look so different… and they have such large ears… How did these ruins from a civilization in the sky end up under the castle? It looks like the path goes deeper. Shall we go?” Flora questioned, turning to the three Links.

“Lets see what’s down here, then we can leave and find a solution. I feel the magic getting stronger. More evil,” Legend sighed, shaking his head and shaking out his hands, feeling nervous about going further.

“Oh don’t be such a baby, Legend! It’ll be fine!” Wind exclaimed, skipping ahead. The others quickly followed into a room with three Keese. They let Wild deal with them and watched as Flora ran up to ask him if he was hurt, glancing over him before he could answer. Legend and Wind shared a glance, asking silently why she would think that Wild of all people would get hurt by Keese. You had to try to get hurt by them. 

As soon as Flora glanced around the open room, they all braced themselves for Flora to go full scholar. The murals on the wall in front of them were similar in style to the carvings of the Zonai from the previous room.

“Look at these murals… It’s the written histories of the royal family…they include stories of a great war fought long ago. Said to be a conflict between allied tribes and someone only referred to as the Demon King,” Flora said, moreso speaking in general and not to anyone in particular.

Legend and Wind shared another glance. The Demon King. Who could that be other than Ganondorf? The figures fighting against the Hylians seemed to be Zonai renditions of Wild’s bokoblins and moblins, along with new winged creatures.

“Is it possible? Do these murals depict the same legend?” Flora murmured, running to the left to see more murals.

Wild backed up. “Is this the same Demon King Ganondorf guy you guys fought?” he asked.

“Yeah. He seems to be in a more humanoid form though. So not the one that Hyrule and I fought,” Legend answered. “Could it be the same or different than one of ours?” the Veteran wondered.

They watched Flora stop at a mural of a detailed Zonai sitting on a platform with their hands out to their sides. There were 7 comma shapes around them. There were also presumably clouds and some form of structure around them. What seemed to be Hylians stood below, looking up at the large figure.

“This is similar to the statues we saw earlier—a Zonai. And these figures—” Flora pointed to the figures below the Zonai, “seem to be Hylians. This depiction certainly suggests that the Zonai descended from the heavens.”

The next mural showed two detailed figures. One looked like the tall Zonai from the last mural, but from a side view. Their hair went down nearly to the floor and their right hand was out in front of them in a curved position. The other seemed to be a slightly shorter Hylian woman with long hair and some form of circlet. Her hand was in the same position, making a small circle between their hands, inside of where their wrists and fingers touched. Above the two figures, there were two stones like the ones before, facing each other in a detailed circle. There were carvings of Hylians with their hands up in worship above and below the two figures, along with a Zonai version of the Hyrule Crest above them. 

“It is said that my ancestors—the first of Hyrule’s royal family…were born from a union with gods who had descended from the heavens. Though with your Chosen Hero, I’m not sure of where the stories are…there seems to be a hole between your eras and ours where there’s no data. Moving on for now, these murals seem to tell a similar story, and if they’re accurate, then the gods mentioned were the Zonai. They must have forged a relationship with the Hylians at that time, working together to establish the Kingdom of Hyrule!” Flora rambled, quickly running to the next.

In the next mural, there seemed to be red tendrils below, behind, and in a wave above the Demon King, seemingly before becoming the Demon King, and the woman from the mural before. She was raised in the air, bent backward as a carving showed her comma stone being stolen and floating in the Demon King’s reach. 

“This figure… He seems to be stealing something of incredible power from the young kingdom. This all aligns with what I’ve read during my studies. And then this—” she ran to the next mural, “It shows the Demon King! And a fierce battle against him.”

The mural showed the Demon King, now the proper Demon King with horns, and bigger, with his hand up and a massive, open smile on his face. Red paint coated behind the bokoblins and moblins from before. The overturned Hylian figures clearly represented the bodies of the Hylians who were slain. There were Hylians in the red and just outside of it shown with swords and shields, ready to fight. Along with the bokoblins and moblins, there seemed to be some kind of wide-winged monsters, very different from Keese.

“If the creature depicted here really does represent the Demon King, then… Incredible! This mural must be the great war recorded in our royal histories! This is the Imprisoning War and the events that led up to it! This is a huge discovery!” Flora turned, bounding back up to Wild with a massive smile.

Wild snickered and took the torch while she dug the Purah Pad back out of her bag. She began to run and take pictures of all of the murals before she paused in front of a wall of stone that obscured the last few murals. Wild and Wind audibly cursed while Legend glared at the stone. None of them brought bombs. 

“We can bring back some bombs when we leave,” Flora told Wild, giving a silly smile.

“Yeah, I guess,” Wild replied with a pout.

“May I have the torch back?” Flora asked, taking the torch anyway. “Maybe we’ll find more answers farther ahead. Let’s go.”

The gloom wrapped around and clung to their legs, and Wind didn’t miss Legend’s shudder. The youngest hero headbutted the veteran and jumped up, ruffling his hair when Legend turned to look at him. Legend squawked and put Wind in a chokehold. Wild laughed and grabbed the Purah Pad quickly to take a picture.

As they walked through, the area turned less put together and more like a stone tunnel. On the other side, they quickly noticed a point floating, yet coming close to the floor. There was white, blue, then green light snaking up from something on the ground to around the point of the stone. 

“What is this place…? We must be extremely careful. Are we ready to go?” Flora asked quietly. 

Legend and Wind pushed ahead without a word, despite their shaking hands. Clearly something was incredibly wrong, especially shown by Legend and even Wind refusing to say a word. Legend felt the dark magic wrapping around him, clinging to his legs again. They all got closer, and saw where the light was coming from.

Two arms, both glowing green and blue, but one less bright. Their light converged and formed the spiral of light. The arms were positioned as though someone was still connected to them and reaching out, but it was just the arms. What they were holding onto though…

A mummified corpse, its dry, dusty red hair falling limply below it. It was in a similar position that the woman in the mural was. Bent over backward, some form of power holding it there. The dehydrated corpse stood at an odd angle, not lying on anything, but still bent backward and staying up by just its legs. The corpse wore jewelry on its arms and in its ears, but the most interesting part was the headpiece. Just on its (his?) forehead, the golden piece seemed to be holding something glowing a bit.

Speaking of glowing, there were two white stones, one on each of the hands. They all stepped a bit closer, and both arms popped off, falling in front of the veteran and the youngest hero. The stones came off and bounced over to the two heroes’ feet. It made no sense how one of them fell, since it definitely should’ve fallen the other way, but they said nothing.

“What…?” Flora murmured.

“Don’t touch it. I don’t know what it does or if it’s dangerous, but I can feel powerful magic,” Legend said suddenly, stopping the proceeding Flora and Wild.

Legend and Wind both bent down at the same time to grab one, and touched the fragile-looking stones. Wind did it because of course he had to touch the glowing, powerful object, but Legend didn't want to give the stone to the disaster magnet hero that they called Wild, and he was not going to put Flora in danger. She was busy running a kingdom and learning. Both stones were that odd comma shape, and as soon as they both turned the stones to themselves, they began to glow. 

The one that Wind held began to glow a bright blue-green, while Legend’s began to glow a brilliant white gold. 

—

A loud heartbeat suddenly echoed through the room, sending all of them staring straight at the corpse. It twitched, jerking upward a few times before falling limply down. They let down their guard for just a moment, until the corpse’s head jerked violently to the side to stare at them, its eyes reminiscent of the malice eyes that Wild had fought during his first adventure. The stone in the headpiece was clearly another stone the same as what two of the heroes held. 

Gloom erupted from its chest in giant tendrils, turning onto the veteran hero and the hero of wind. Luckily, they quickly got ready to dodge and fight, but not before Wild’s barreled straight through them and attempted to hit away the tendril of gloom. But instead of being knocked away, it ran down the sword and up his arm, sending the hero of the wild to his knees, gripping his injured arm. The Master Sword had gloom crawling across its divine surface. 

“ Wild! ” the two other heroes shouted, rushing to help him.

Another tendril shot toward the three of them, and Wild slashed at it. They all watched in pure horror as half of the Master Sword smashed into small pieces. One of them shot across the corpse’s cheek. It bubbled with gloom before it healed itself. 

“Oh, Hylia-” Flora began, her face pale, before she was interrupted. 

“Was that the sword that seals the darkness? A blade that shatters so easily against my power cannot save you from me…— ” the corpse turned to stare at Legend and Wind  as it jerked to stand, “ Wind and Legend, and you two, the Goddess’ descendent…Flora… and you, who carries that fragile sword, are Wild.”

They all stared in horror at the figure. Definitely the Demon King. Ganondorf. But it didn’t seem to be the one from Wind’s era or Legend’s era. Another version of Ganondorf. So how did he know their names? 

“Rauru placed his faith in you…and that was all you could do?”

“How do you…know our names?” Flora asked, her breathing unsteady.

Ganondorf simply conjured more gloom magic as Wind and Legend ran in front of Wild again, and instead sent it bursting up at the point. Everyone immediately realized that the point was the dead center of Hyrule Castle. He raised it, clearly causing the castle to begin floating, judging by the incredible shaking and the light rushing into the cave.

The floor began to collapse and Ganondorf freely fell, smirking. Wild collapsed to the ground, and Wind and Legend dropped down to him just near the edge. As Flora nearly began to talk, the ground underneath the two heroes cracked, causing Wind to fall and Legend to grab onto the younger hero. Wild and Flora both shouted, Wild diving after the two ancient heroes and Flora after Wild.

Legend managed to grasp Wind’s hand, the stones in their palms beginning to grow brighter and brighter. Wild tried to reach for the other heroes, but they disappeared in a flash of white-gold and teal.

“ WIND! LEGEND! ” Wild cried, trying to reach at them before he was abruptly stopped by one of the two glowing hands holding onto his uninjured arm. He thrashed, tears dripping down his cheeks. He wouldn't fail again. He wouldn't! Their already traumatized veteran and their youngest hero shouldn't have to endure even more than they already had. He looked up to Flora with tear filled eyes. Flora was seemingly in a similar position, the smaller arm holding her prison in the air. They both began to rise up, taking the two heroes from that era up and disappearing in a blast of white.

Chapter Text

The chain stared at the lifting castle, their expressions full of terror. They shouldn’t have let the four go down alone. The ground shook as the castle rose, red magic similar to the gloom plaguing the kingdom coming from a massive hole in the ground below the large centerpiece of Hyrule.

Large rocks fell upon the ground with green and blue magic tailing them. The four who went below Hyrule Castle were in grave danger.

— — —

Green runes swirled and squirmed through the air, surrounding the hero of the wild and his princess. Wild’s decimated arm was replaced by a glowing teal one with rings, bracelets, and other jewelry. Flora just had the jewelry and not the clawed hand, though it was on her left arm instead. The teal magic went through the middle of the jewelry on both of them like blood. At Wild’s shoulder, where the new arm connected to his body, thick and bright green markings were left behind. The arm stopped glowing and faded into dark grey, almost midnight black skin. 

Wild groaned, his neck in agony. He suddenly became aware of the cave he lay in, his head against rock. He also became acutely aware of the lack of clothes, other than his briefs. He shot up, his eyes wide. Flora groaned beside him, clearly disrupted from her nap against his body by his movement. Wild noticed that her hair was messier and down to her shoulders, and then became aware of his own hair trapped underneath his sitting body. How long had they been there? He also quickly looked away when he realized she was only wearing her undergarments. Not revealing, but still not exactly something he wanted to stare at, princess or not.

The room was filled with grey stone floors and walls, massive vines, almost like the Great Deku Tree’s roots, snaked up and into the walls. 

“Link, you’re awake!” Flora shouted.

Wild gave her a puzzled look. “Of course I am?” he asked, his head cocking to the side.

“I woke up a while ago, but when I tried to wake you up and you didn’t respond, I…was worried. But when I made sure you were still alive, I decided to wait here with you,” she told him. “Better to wait here than go off alone.”

He nodded and took in his surroundings again. He choked when he saw his arm, but Flora stopped him. She was about to say something when an echoing, deep voice came through the room. “Ah, Wild. Finally, you wake.” Wild looked over to Flora, temporarily ignoring his now glowing arm, but she seemed just as surprised as he was. “I’ve heard a great deal about you from Wind and Legend.”

“Who are you? How do you know them?!” Wild demanded, standing up. 

The voice ignored them, saying, “your wounds were severe… I am relieved to see you escape death.” Wild glanced over to Flora, who paled. He set a hand, his normal hand, on her shoulder in a show of reassurance. “Your arm, however, was beyond saving. I had to replace it, lest the injury endanger you further.”

A female voice, not Flora’s, followed. “The jewelry you, Flora, are wearing grants you the same abilities that Wild’s new arm will. There shouldn’t be any drawbacks to the new arm, but then again, this has never been tried.”

Flora and Wild looked at each other. They wouldn’t ask any other questions, since it seemed like the voices wouldn’t answer. Flora turned and gasped. Wild turned as well, and found the source of her surprise. 

The Master Sword, below the carving of the Triforce in her blade, was decayed and shattered beyond repair. Wild ran over to grab her and took her carefully out of the vines. Seeing the holes in the divine blade, the hero winced. First of all, the Master Sword was a sacred sword, said to be forged by the gods (and Sky but they clearly don’t like to include past heroes in their history), so their new foe was clearly the holder of immense power. Second of all, Sky would kill him. He still had his own Master Sword from his era, but Wild had promised the chosen hero that he would keep her safe while they all went underground.

Wild held her carefully and stepped to some vines blocking their way. He sighed, feeling sorry for the poor sword. Flora and Wild both watched as the blade chipped little by little every group of vines she hit.

“...do you think it’ll be okay? What if we fix it? I still have some divine power left…” Flora murmured, brushing her fingers across the flat edge of the decayed sword. Wild and her both knew that she didn’t have enough to even slightly fix the sword, let alone fully repair her.

In the next room, their eyes zeroed in on the somewhat large ring in the middle. As they stepped closer, a blue and green projection of two hands, seemingly Zonai hands, appeared. They stepped across the sand and onto a small plate of stone in front of it and gingerly showed their Zonai magic-infused hands to the hologram.

The teal magic flowed through the jewelry again and it glowed, turning into runes and engraving themselves on the sides of the ring. Now that they were closer, the ring revealed two dragons forming the circle. 

A glowing blue travel gate revealed itself on the sand and the deep chiming of a massive bell rang out through the space. Massive wheels on the walls began to turn, their intricate details  sending them into awe. Part of it seemed to be some sort of platform, but there was no way they’d be able to get onto the next part, since it was going the wrong way.

A door surrounded by four rune covered pillars opened, dust billowing out from the center. They walked up the stairs and through the door until they reached a small spot extending outward over some shallow-ish water. The circle in the middle glowed, almost like it was showing off the front of a diving board.

“You know how to dive, don’t you?” Wild asked, sprinting forward and making a flashy dive off of the platform before she could answer.

—

Flora followed close behind him, snickering at the dramatic flair that Wild always seemed to show off. 

They swam to the edge and pulled themselves up. They climbed up a small wall where the stairs collapsed and found themselves going through a small tunnel not unlike the one they went through before they saw the corpse below the castle.

The two of them dived off of another platform, and then off of the next, much higher platform. Once again, they crawled to the edge and saw two intricate looking, mostly dark blue green chests with several teal glowing points.

They tried to open them, and the hologram from before appeared. It disappeared in the blink of an eye, and the chests opened. Inside the one on the left, a simple, off white dress with a green underlayer and sash over the front was neatly folded at the bottom, along with a pair of short, but nice brown sandals. Inside the right one, there was a brownish-white mini toga with a dark green sash, an orange-brown belt, a rope connected to the toga, and a longer pair of gladiator sandals.

They quickly put on the new clothes, despite the dust. They jogged through a light filled doorway on their right and ran across the messy, broken floor until they stepped out into the light with a diving platform a few feet away. They expected to look up to see clouds, not down.

“Oh, Hylia. We’re on a sky island,” Flora murmured breathlessly as she turned to him with equal parts awe and terror in her eyes. 

“Wanna experience launching ourselves from a platform at least a hundred feet above water?” Wild asked, a manic look in his eyes. Flora was about to convince him otherwise and that they should find another way, but he hurled himself off the side and in her panic, she jumped right after him.

As they fell and Wild’s cheers echoed into her ears, Flora noticed the sky islands and shapes in the distance. She saw a massive sphere far in the distance and made a note to try to check it out just as she plummeted out of its view and past an island with a lake. They were rapidly descending to a larger lake on an island below them, and Flora pushed down her increasing fear of slamming into the water and dying on impact. 

On the large island below, there were other mini islands, and they all seemed to be connected at some points. She could see a massive stone temple and made another mental note to go there when they had a chance. 

In the distance, she could see two dragons. Two of the servants of the springs, she initially guessed, before she paused her thinking. Two of them were never seen together. The puzzle pieces clicked, and she gasped. 

Two dragons only ever heard of in myths and children’s tales. Zephyr and Aurelios, two dragons said to only fly above the clouds. The two dragons twisted around each other as if they were playing. Their serpentine bodies flowed elegantly through the sky, and she temporarily forgot about the lake below, but remembered when she glanced down.

She suppressed the urge to scream and turned her body from flat with her arms out to a proper dive. She splashed into the water, pulling herself up on a massive lily pad. 

The two of them swam through the water and onto the flooded stairs. While Flora wiped her arms off and hoped her dress would dry, Wild dried off with aggressive shaking like a dog.

“Try to not damage your clothes too much, please. They seem to be very old and I’d like to study them,” Flora told Wild.

“Yeah, once we get proper clothes, I’ll give them to you,” he answered, leading them through the light fog.

Oddly enough, the leaves and the grass were gold and the trees were an almost white light brown. Wild wandered off to the side and picked up a tree branch. 

“What are you doing?” she questioned, watching as Wild tested the balance of the branch.

“Weapon. I’d rather not use the Master Sword any more than we absolutely have to, and we don’t know what’s up here.” Flora nodded slowly and grabbed another branch a few feet away.

At the base of a nearby tree, Flora noticed a blue and yellow mushroom with a white stem. She walked toward it, and saw two more. She held them in her hands and gaped at the unknown flora, no pun intended. 

“Is it poisonous?” Wild asked from over her shoulder. Flora shrugged, so of course, being the wildest Link of the chain, Wild leaned over and tried to take a bite out of it.

“ Trying it yourself isn’t a good way to test that! ” Flora cried, holding the mysterious mushrooms away from Wild.

Wild only pouted and grabbed a few apples from a tree before he noticed an odd robot-like figure. It had green, geometric plates as its face, neck, body, and arms. The arms and neck were really just rings of the green stone plates with blue-green magic flowing through the center, almost like the magic from Wild’s new arm and Flora’s bangles. Its face had a bright red eye with an orange center, and the dark part of it went down in a stem and eyelashes like the Sheikah Eye. It had an odd horn, sticking straight up like a post in the ground.

It rushed at Wild, and instead of just attacking like a normal person, Wild backflipped into the odd motion he called a Flurry Rush , where he slowed down time and was able to land triple the amounts of hits he normally would. Flora also needed to look into that. The tree branch unfortunately snapped, but the figure lost its weapon as it launched backward. Wild grabbed the new tree branch and bashed it into the little robot. The magic flowed out of it and it disappeared into an odd circle of magic with orange and green plates surrounding it, almost just like the robot itself, and a dagger shaped horn.

The two of them walked into a small stone…gazebo? Flora wasn’t sure what it was. It was kind of just a little open shelter. Wild grabbed a wooden stick from inside and tested its weight, just as he had with the branch.

Flora led Link away to another shelter like it in the distance, but saw a half ring, like the one from before, and an odd shape just to the front and to the left of it.

As they stepped toward it, a small, circle screen on its chest lit up with a small symbol and it twitched a bit, releasing dust before its body extended. Though taller than the other robot, it was friendly. Its body was shaped more like little Zonai robot robes and it had a face almost like a snake’s. Compressed, with its eyes to the side slightly. It had two odd egg-shaped lights attached to its ears extending to the sides of its head, which also supported bulky plate earrings.

It glanced down at them and cocked its head to the side, and then to the other side. “Wild and Flora. I have waited for you,” it said as it went back to its normal position. 

“How?-” Wild tried again, before the robot interrupted.

Flora wondered what was up with these talking things on this island and interrupting them. Were the voices from before also Zonai? “Prince Legend and Prince Wind left something for you both in my care.” The robot extended a cream-colored shelf from its body, which held the Purah Pad. Wild and Flora stared at the robot for a moment. Princes? Them? Even though she wasn’t the closest to them, it seemed unlikely.

Flora rushed forward and grabbed it, quickly turning it around in her hands. “This is the Purah Pad,” it said, as if they didn’t know, and continued, “I am told it is an invaluable tool that will provide you with direction.”

The scholar booted it up and put their mushrooms, robot parts, and the Master Sword inside of the pad’s inventory. The camera unfortunately didn’t seem to be working, so she couldn’t take a picture of the odd robot before the two of them.

“I received it from the princes. I have now passed it onto you. My records indicate that the princes are waiting at the location marked on its map,” it told them as Flora looked at the map to see a glowing orange dot. Wild’s shoulders relaxed. “My message has been delivered.”

“Where are we?” Flora asked.

The robot paused, processing the question before it answered, “we stand in the Garden of Time.” It turned to the massive stone temple in the distance. “The Temple of Time is visible from here. It was used in the distant past. Many rites and ceremonies of the kingdom were held there. But no more. Now it is a lonely place. No one visits,” the robot, construct, according to the Purah Pad’s title of the old robot’s parts, replied, turning back to them.

The same hologram of an eye, runes, and two hands appeared in the half ring. They stepped away from the construct and lifted their hands to the hologram when they reached it. Pieces of the bridge, and then the entire bridge extended out to meet each other from where they stood and the opposite island. 

They ran across and found yet another glowing diving platform. Wild launched off of it with a cackle, while Flora made an elegant dive off of it. She didn’t want to die from hitting the water like Wild did, thanks. She noticed he came out of the lake with a frog in his hand.

“Where did you get that.”

Wild just smiled and said, “I landed on it!” Flora smacked her face with her hands and a sigh. She took the Hot-Footed Frog and put the poor thing in her pad. Wild dove out one last time and grabbed another, handing it to her. At least they’d be able to make an elixir if they found some monster parts. Did the construct horn count as a monster part? Flora would check when they had more, instead of just one. 

They crawled out of the water with Flora complaining about how her dress was once again soaking wet. A couple feet away, another Zonai Construct came at them. Wild threw his branch at its face and watched it knock the thing back. Wild grabbed another stick laying around and hit it twice before he backflipped out of the way, yet again. Flora really needed to talk to him about not acting so flashy during battle, but she knew she’d lose. He smacked his branch into it until it broke yet again, and then grabbed its fallen weapon as it launched back, hitting it until it died. 

Wild grabbed another mushroom, its horn, and the Zonai Charge. Zelda stared at the glowing sphere of magic again. A charge? What would it charge? She put them all in her pad and followed Wild up the hill to the right of the lake.

“What…are we doing?” Flora asked, taking deep breaths as she crawled up, meanwhile Wild tanked his way to the top. 

“Getting the advantage above anything below us!” Wild answered, tossing another Skyshroom at Flora once she caught her breath. He climbed up a tree and motioned for her to toss the Purah Pad up to him. When he did, he picked up two eggs and put them into the device. 

She followed her Link away from the enemies below and up more mini hills, putting more things into her slate before she saw what looked like a fluffy Eldin Ostrich. She tried to take a picture before she sighed, remembering that it was broken. Wild grabbed two more eggs from the top of a tree and put them in the pad before he walked over to two boulders on the ledge, above two constructs. 

He pushed the boulder down and hit both, but ran at them when they stood back up. One of them stood up straight and let out a siren call to other robots. Wild hit one of them with a breaking tree branch, killing it, and grabbed another tree branch Flora threw at him. He hit the one with the spear twice before it shoved the tip into his side. Wild glared and Flora threw a tree branch at it, killing it. Another one ran at them and grabbed another branch she threw and waited until it slashed to do another flurry rush. It broke, and he grabbed a wooden stick from Flora and hit it until it died. 

Flora checked the spot where Wild was hit, but started helping him grab the horns, charges, and fallen weapons from their foes. They walked further and noticed another Zonai Construct sitting by a campfire. They stepped up to the snake-faced construct and it turned to them.

“Hello. Were you lured in by the delicious smells?” Flora and Wild noticed the roasted Skyshrooms on the ground. “I assume so,” it continued, “ingredients are especially fragrant when roasted by a fire. They may also be tastier and more nutritious. I would not know.” The pair snickered.

“You- you’re roasting them?” Flora asked, gathering herself. She wondered why the steward was roasting them if there was no one to roast them for. Maybe Legend and Wind. That sent her thoughts spiraling. She wondered how they didn’t find her and Wild. They were explorer types, along with the rest of the heroes. Surely they would’ve tried to find them instead of just staying in the giant, layered stone temple. 

“Oh. You are unfamiliar to me. My apologies. Among my tasks is to explain anything that first-time visitors might require knowledge of. You may have questions about this place. Please rest assured that a construct can answer them. I recall that your question was about roasting food. I roast ingredients by placing them beside the fire.” Wild and Flora glanced at each other. Now that they’d asked, they’d have to stick there until the end. “I do not eat. But I am given to understand that it improves the taste. Our creators roasted ingredients in order to enhance their nutritional value. Do you have ingredients? I invite you to use this fire to roast them.”

When the construct was finally done with its speech, the two Hylians nodded and gave smiles before running off to the massive temple. They swam through the water in front of the broken stairs and pulled themselves up, walking up the stairs and crawling up the broken parts when needed. 

At the top of the stairs, a soldier construct stood before it caught sight of them. It began to float at them, Wild taking the lead. Flora’s main weapon was the bow, but they hadn’t found one yet. Until there were more monsters and less of a chance for Flora to hit her hero, she would stay back for help. The soldier held a sword and shield, but that didn’t matter to the hero before her, not since he joined the knights of Hyrule. 

The construct moved quicker than Wild expected and slashed the hero a bit, but he quickly recovered and waited for the construct to strike again. When it did, Wild once again did a flurry rush and grabbed the fallen shield and rusty broadsword. With one last hit to the robot with the sword, it fell, leaving its horn and charge.

They ran up to the entrance of the Temple of Time in the sky (Wild would have to tell Time about it, he’d probably be interested, right?). The same hologram in front of a gold and grey lock in front of the doors appeared and they held their Zonai hands up to the green projection.

They were expecting the door to open, or for something useful to happen, but they didn’t expect the projection to turn an angry red and burn the palms of their hands.

Wild cursed and shook his hand while Flora jumped back, hissing in pain from the wound. Wild’s new arm began to glow again, and they turned around to face the sky island. Yet another thing they didn’t expect was to see two goat-like figures. 

The male Zonai’s skin was a dark grey with a very goatlike face and either tattoos or jewelry of teardrops above and below his eyes. His hair, and his eyelashes, were a white-light grey color and his hair flowed around him, even longer than the woman’s. From what could be seen, his hair had undertones of bright gold, shown in his goatee as well. There were two thick pieces of hair taken to the front with Zonai cuffs as well. The Zonai’s ears were incredibly long and large, green tassels hanging from them. He had four gold horns, all stubby, but the front two were especially small, along with a closed third eye. He wore what looked more like a dark, navy blue shawl with gold accents than an actual top, but it was clasped together with a green shape, almost reminiscent of a face. He wore pants, but they were obscured by a sort of orange piece of fabric draped from some cloth connected to his pants. He wore brown, squarish jewelry on his clothes, arms, and neck. His white-gold secret stone was located on his right hand between the jewelry. He had a teal tint to his entire body which was slightly transparent, and his right arm was bright teal, unlike the light tint across the rest of his body.

The female Zonai had lighter skin than the other, but her hair was the same shade that his hair was. Unlike the other Zonai’s horizontal ears, hers stood straight up. Her hair was short, almost in a pixie cut with one wisp of hair curling out, all with blue undertones like her companion’s gold undertones. She wore a green Zonai headdress that reminded the two heroes of an owl. Her headdress had two holes on sides sticking out, where the earrings hung. She wore a large Zonai brace around her neck that had a spot for her purple secret stone. It continued down and around, ending in a green and brown Sheikah eye. Her clothes were tight and had a gap down her center, but seemed quite fitted to her. She had Zonai jewelry connected to her skirt, which was white, mauve, and green. She wore three brown Zonai designed cuffs on each arm. But the most interesting part was her scarf, which was floating around but wrapped around her arm and flowed down. It was navy blue like Rauru’s shawl with golden accents and an orange inside. It also had green crystals hanging from it. It reminded the two heroes of Warriors’ scarf. Her face had the same golden teardrop jewelry or tattoos, white eyelashes, and third eye. But she didn’t seem to have any horns. She had the same tint, but her right arm looked like the rest of her body. The jewelry on her left arm was the same color as the other's right arm, though.

“That door will open only to those with sufficient power,” the male Zonai told him. When both of them got into a defensive position, he said, “I’m sorry—I did not intend to startle you. It was us that spoke to you earlier. Your new arm belonged to me.”

“And those bangles that you wear, Flora, were once mine. I am Mineru,” the female Zonai introduced.

“And I am Rauru. Forgive us for appearing to you in this manner. Unfortunately, we no longer have physical forms. In any case, that arm and those bangles should allow you to open this door. It seems to have lost the power to do so,” Rauru told the two of them.

“You should be able to restore its power, but you’ll need to enter a place with sacred light. The shrines on this island will probably work just fine,” Mineru said, turning to a shrine, which really just looked like a big rock with a stone rim like Mineru’s scarf.

The top of the rock gained a blue and green swirl like the one coming from the arms keeping down Ganondorf. They turned back to each other, and the two Zonai disappeared before their very eyes. When Wild looked over to Flora, who was practically vibrating with excitement.

She bounded over to Wild, saying, “Wild, can you believe it?! A real live— well, not live, but you know—Zonai!” Her eyes were wide and a large smile was painted across her face.

“Why didn’t you ask them anything?” he asked, cocking his head to the side.

“Oh, well, I didn’t want to forget anything they were saying… Next time we get a chance, I’ll be ready to write everything down!” Flora answered, turning to the closest shrine and saying, “well, let’s go! The sooner we finish the shrines, the sooner we can get to your brothers.”

Chapter Text

Before they left, Flora quickly typed an objective into the Purah Pad, fittingly named “The Closed Door.” Flora was always one for making logs of what happened, rather than what Wild did, which was usually just running and doing things, then hoping he’d remember what they were. 

They ran back toward the cooking construct, but Wild grabbed Flora’s hand and started going left instead of right. “Wait, aren’t we going to the shrine?” she asked.

“Well, I mean, yeah… But we can’t just go there without more supplies, right?” Wild answered, giving a silly smile. Flora guessed that he really just wanted to explore. If Legend and Wind really were in the temple, then they were probably safe. They were both capable heroes, anyway.

They continued south until Wild spotted some ruins and a soldier construct. They went over to it, Flora hanging behind. She watched as Wild flurry rushed the construct until his rusty broadsword was almost broken. Thankfully, it didn’t break, and the construct died. Wild grabbed the fallen wooden weapon and grabbed another construct horn and Zonai charge, handing them to Flora.

He grabbed some spicy peppers nearby, six to be exact, and walked to the cooking pot in the ruins. He grabbed three of the peppers and tossed them into the pot, humming a little tune. Flora noted how similar the notes he sang sounded to one that sometimes she caught Time humming. A result of all of them spending so much time together, she was sure. 

“What song was that?” she asked her companion.

“Huh? Oh, just some song that Time taught me. Twilight and him apparently both used it to call Epona,” he replied.

Flora nodded. An interesting name, for sure. She felt like she’d heard it before. A dish was handed to her, the spicy aroma coming from it sending her back into reality. She put it into the pad. Spicy Sauteed Peppers, so it said. Useful for healing and cold resistance. When Wild asked for three more peppers, she obliged and got another of the same dish.

After he asked for five of the Skyshrooms, she just handed him the Purah Pad. He grabbed the mushrooms and tossed them into the pot, getting a mushroom skewer. Glancing at the snow a little bit away, he pulled out the two spicy dishes and handed one to Flora.

”Oh, Wild. I meant to ask, when I get my notebooks, can I ask you some questions? Both regarding your fighting style, your parries, and your dodges. I’d especially like to take notes of your Flurry Rush,” she said.

”Huh? Oh, sure.” Wild paused for a moment. “Hey, do you think my Flurry Rush is like my own Champion Ability?”

Flora blinked. Mipha’s ability was to heal, Daruk’s was to make a shield, Revali’s was to rocket into the sky, and Urbosa’s was to make lightning strike. All were quite useful in battle, just like the Flurry Rush.

”You may be right. Let me just…” she murmured as she typed a note of it in the Purah Pad, still balancing the food.

One she finished and they neared the snow, then they both ate the pepper dish. Wild could take spice pretty well, considering the things he ate. However, Flora did not. When Wild glanced over to her, she knew how bright red her face was and could feel the tears streaming down her face. They’d have to get in and get out pretty quickly if they didn’t want to have more spicy food. 

She brushed away the tears and followed him into the snow. They jogged through it, their movements slowed. Wild grabbed some more peppers and shoved them into the Purah Pad, which was in his possession still. They ran next to a river and found another steward construct. It was looking over three logs shoved together with some sort of device on the back.

“Confirming raft and Zonai device operational status.” It glanced at them, saying, “ah. Pardon my rudeness. Do you require a raft? The ones by the riverbank are ready for use. The Zonai device has also been inspected.” 

Flora stared at the device, then at the construct. “Zonai device?” she murmured. 

“Yes. This green thing is called a Zonai device. The one I am inspecting is known as a fan. It activates when struck to generate wind on demand. This river is meltwater. Falling into it will quickly sap your stamina. It is for this reason that I maintain rafts to cross to the other bank. I should mention that energy is essential for using a Zonai device. You will need an Energy Cell if you want to use one.” It glanced down at their waists.

“An Energy Cell? We don’t-”

“This is a problem. You do not seem to have an Energy Cell.”

Flora glared at the machine. That’s exactly what she was going to say, before she was interrupted. She heard Wild snicker behind her, so she stuck her tongue out at him. She turned back to the construct as it said, “it will be impossible for you to use any Zonai devices without an Energy Cell. Zonai devices are essential on this island. I will give you a spare Energy Cell.”

It gave Flora two odd things to put on their belts. They had the green Zonai eye and a sort of tail with eight points on the four sections of the tail, two on each side. Grabbing the actual battery type objects, she stuck it onto a sort of charger, which was sticking out from each point. She gave one to Wild, who hooked it onto his belt. 

“Energy Cells store the energy required to use a Zonai device. This energy will replenish automatically when the Zonai device is not in use. Be mindful of your energy reserves. It would be unfortunate to run out mid-use. The rafts by the riverside have been thoroughly inspected. They are ready for your use in crossing the waters,” the construct finished.

When it turned away, the hero and the princess turned to the freezing waters. “What’s our plan?” Flora asked.

“Well…” Wild hummed. That made Flora concerned. He had a plan? She was really talking to herself, not so much him. “I say, we get onto that raft in the water, activate it, and hope for the best!” There it was.

“...that isn’t a plan.”

“Yes it is!”

“Okay, fine. Not a good plan. But I suppose there isn’t a better plan.” Sighing, Flora and Wild ran over to the Zonai stone docks and hopped onto the raft.

Flora attempted to look for the switch while Wild walked in tiny circles. After a few minutes, Flora let out an angry huff and punched it, only for the edges to glow green. The fan started to spin and send them across the small river. Flora gasped and held onto it while Wild just cheered. 

When they reached the other side, Flora noted how the bright green stuff in Wild’s energy cell was a bit depleted and was recharging itself rather quickly. Interesting. They turned left on the shore and ran up some cold stairs, where they started to scale some rocks until they reached the top. The two of them ran over the rocks next to a waterfall and went behind it.

Wild climbed up the rocks, grabbing three Rushrooms and Flora followed, taking the Purah Pad and Rushrooms. They went to the top and turned right again, going the opposite way as the river beside them. They scaled some more rocks and reached a rather suspicious area. 

“We’re going to have to climb,” Wild told her, looking at the gap in the stone where freezing water was going by. 

“Absolutely not.” 

“What choice do we have? Just follow me.”

Flora eyed the hero and the water, but watched as he latched himself onto the rocks just above the water. He climbed across until he could stand on more rock below him, and Flora followed. She was much slower than him, her hands going numb from the cold rocks. 

They climbed up next to a waterfall, and Wild jumped across the remaining distance between himself and the stone platform above. She watched as he caught his breath and continued up, then Flora followed. 

When they both made it up, wheezing in the cold, they could see a shrine nearby. “Finally!” Flora cheered quietly, sucking up more air. They ran to the shrine, where flora noted that the stone rim around the giant rock had dragon heads. There was sand below the shrine and its entrance, along with another green hologram.

They held their hands up and watched the travel gate appear in the sand, then watched in awe as green magic made a doorway in the stone. Once it was done, it almost looked like fire with the way it moved.

Wild went into it first, followed by Flora. The inside was massive and Flora had no idea how it was possible. There were intricate stone designs everywhere. Rauru and Mineru appeared in front of them.

“Well, I must say, I didn’t expect you both to come to this one first. But it’s good you’ve made it here,” Mineru told them.

“I wonder why.” Flora glared at Wild. He was why they came to that one first. Oh well, it didn’t change much about their situation. 

Rauru chuckled, then said, “this is a Shrine of Light. Long ago, I filled these places with light that purges evil. I believe this light will restore the abilities your arm and your jewelry has lost. Now then, both of you, extend your hands.” 

Flora assumed he meant the ones with the magic, so she held out her left arm, followed by Wild holding his right arm out. Green, teal, and blue magic like the magic on the shrines and below the castle surrounded their arms, forming a rune in their palms. Both of them depicted a ray of light and a figure standing in the middle, arms up. It phased into their palms, making their jewelry glow for a moment before it went back to normal.

“What was that?” Flora asked the Zonai.

“That ability allows you both to ascend, which is why its name is Ascend. It allows you both to move upward through solid material directly above you and emerge on top of it. I believe you’ll find it useful in all sorts of places and situations,” Mineru explained.

“Now, use Ascend and receive the blessing from this shrine,” Rauru told them before they both disappeared.

Flora glanced at the Purah Pad at their location. “Gutanbac Shrine,” it said. They walked down the stairs and underneath some stone with circular designs. “Now,” Wild started, “how do we work this…?”

Flora stared at the stone above them. “We have to figure out how to work the ability, then maybe we can throw our arm up toward the ceiling and it’ll send us through?” she guessed. Wild nodded, snapping his fingers with a flick of his wrist. His arm began to glow bright green, then he flicked it up to the ceiling. Blue to green swirls surrounded him and he dove…up. She watched him disappear into the stone. For a guess, she was surprised to see it work exactly like she’d thought.

From the top, Wild cheered. Flora mimicked what he did and followed, swimming through the stone until she was half in the stone and half out. Blue magic pulsated out from her waist and she pulled herself out, staring at the stone as it went completely back to normal. 

“Purah’s going to freak out.”

Wild laughed and they walked to another ascendable stone spot and went to the top. Wild took out his nearly broken broadsword upon seeing another soldier construct, then started to run at him. Wild was shot in the shoulder with an arrow, but thankfully not too hard. He hissed and tossed the sword at its eye, sending it falling backward. He grabbed its bow and grabbed a wooden stick that Flora threw at him, hitting it until it died. He grabbed the horn and charge that it dropped and handed them to Flora. 

He took the Master Sword out of the pad and carefully sawed two pieces of rope connected to a bridge, then handed it back to Flora. The bridge fell between where it was and the next area, so they went below it and used Ascend. 

Next, they ascended onto a dark green platform and then up to the next, reaching the end. There were small stairs leading up to a half circle with two dragons, same as some of the other hologram spots from before. There was a stone centerpiece with a small window and Zonai runes, and four floating pillars around it.

They activated the hologram, and the stone piece in the middle dropped down, showing two statues between intricate stone carvings. The statues seemed to depict Rauru and the human woman from the carvings below the castle.

Runes rocketed around them, and two voices echoed around them. One deep and one higher, they both seemed to be in another language. Despite that, both could understand exactly what they were saying.

“You have done well to reach this place…”

“We offer this light that will cleanse you of evil.”

The green runes floating around them formed into a glowing golden sphere between their outstretched hands. It split into two and flew toward them. Sharing a glance and putting their hands around it, the sphere phased into their magic-filled arms.

Immediately, Flora felt a sense of calm wash over her, almost like a burden had been lifted off her shoulders. Red gloom magic came out of their arms like mist.

“May the Light of Blessing grant you the strength you seek.”

The floating carvings above them, similar to the Temple of Time’s, dropped down in front of them and they felt themselves drift away, almost as if they were asleep. 

When they stepped outside of the shrine, the two Zonai appeared once more, and the two dragons floating behind them in the distance.

“You both did very well getting through that shrine. And you’ve restored an ability. This is wonderful,” Rauru told them, giving a smile.

“He’s right. If you visit and complete two more shrines, you should be able to open the door to the Temple of Time. You may want to mark the shrines in the distance with pins on your pad. That way, you’ll never lose track of where they are. Its scope is quite handy,” Mineru added.

“Oh, right, I meant to ask! How do you know so much about the Purah Pad?” Flora questioned the two Zonai, who shared a quick glance.

“I’m sure you’ll learn that in time,” Rauru said, disappearing with Mineru.

Flora frowned. “Are they always going to be that vague?” she asked, a bit disappointed.

“No, probably not. Now, come on! I want to see what’s inside that giant tree trunk!” Wild told her while grabbing her arm and running back where they originally came from. Thankfully, the shrine seemed to pause how long the spicy food would work.

Somewhat near the cliff, Wild stopped below a wood platform and they both ascended onto it. They ran into the massive tree trunk, where a chest sat in the corner. They opened it and pulled out two matching pairs of greaves for the cold. Their Purah Pad called them “Archaic Warm Greaves.” 

“This would’ve been useful earlier,” Flora spat. What was with this place and being inconvenient?

“It makes for good practice in resource management!” Wild told her, uncaring of it. 

She huffed and put on the greaves, grabbing a Zonai charge from some construct ruins as he put his on. They ascended on top, and Wild took note of a circle of rocks, only missing one. He grabbed a nearby rock and set it into the space.

A little chime rang out and leaves exploded in the center of the circle, revealing a red korok with a leaf face. Koroks had no right to look so cute.

“Ya-ha-ha! You found me!” it shouted. It stared at them. “Huh? You’re not Hestu!” It paused for a few more moments before letting out a high pitched gasp and jumping up and down. 

It acted so much like Wind. 

“You’re Mister Hero! And Miss Princess!” it cried. “That’s why you can see me! If you see Hestu, please return this to him.” The korok gave Wild a Korok Seed. Wild glared intensely at it.

Flora stared for a few minutes before remembering why he hated it. In his first adventure, there were 800 of them. Flora prayed that there wouldn’t be as many. But then again, her prayers never seemed to work.

They carefully (well, Flora carefully) jumped down into the snow below and went toward some stone runways nearby. They had some odd bird-like things on them. They walked over to Rauru and Mineru’s ghosts, which sat on the ruined walls.

“Hm? Oh, the Zonai devices were the pinnacle of our technology. We built an advanced civilization with them and flourished for many, many years,” Rauru told them.

“If you can master them, I’m sure your adventure will be much easier,” Mineru added.

They walked over to two bird devices on two different rails. With the added weight on them, they started to move down the tracks. Flora planted herself in the middle, looking terrified, while Wild looked like he wished it would be faster. Both of them caught the wind and soared through the sky toward the Temple of Time, but they both put more weight on the left wing. Doing that caused it to turn left, now going toward the shrine closest to the large stone temple.

They both put their weight on the front of the device, letting the nose hit the stone. Wild grabbed a Rushroom and handed it to the princess.

“Shouldn’t we sleep? It’s been a while…” Flora commented, checking the time on the Purah Pad. It was a bit before 7 PM, but they’d had a long day of learning new information and walking.

“Are you tired?” Wild asked, sounding actually a bit surprised. “I mean,” he continued, “we just woke up after who knows how long, and it couldn’t have been too short considering the fact that our hair is a bit longer. Speaking of, do you have a hair band? I lost mine.” 

Flora snickered at him. Of course he managed to get distracted. “Sorry, I haven’t worn any hair bands in a while. You’re the only one that needs them,” she told him through her laughter. 

He grabbed another Rushroom and tossed it at her. She put it away and they started heading to the next shrine. Wild found a couple of arrows and another Skyshroom, so she took the mushroom and put it away as he ran at a soldier construct with a bow. He hit it with a stick a few times and grabbed its horn and some more arrows after it fell. The Temple of Time let out some more deep chimes, signaling the hour.

They continued and fought another construct and made their way to the edge of the island on a small detour, grabbing supplies as they went. Wild got another Korok Seed and they made their way up a broken staircase to the second shrine. “Ukouh Shrine,” the Purah Pad told them.

“Are you ready?” Flora asked.

“You’re asking me?” Wild retorted with a lopsided grin.

Chapter Text

Wild and Flora activated the shrine, just as they’d done with the first. When they entered, Rauru and Mineru appeared again. They extended their Zonai hands and let the magic form into the next rune, which showed the simple design of a hand.

“That is the Ultrahand ability. With it, you can move objects freely and attach them to other objects. You’ll be able to build many things using it. Anything you can imagine, really,” Rauru told them.

“What about its weight?” Flora asked.

“You can lift really anything using it, regardless of weight,” Mineru answered. 

With a grin, Wild ran in front of her, flicking his wrist to activate the arm. He took a deep breath and reached his arm out to a stone slab, picking it up with a blue to green magic connection between it and his arm. He moved, which caused it to move as well. Flora gasped. Wild placed it between where they were and where they had to go.

Flora picked it up next, and the two of them continued, connecting it and another slab. Realizing that she needed to tilt it, she tested it by flicking her hand to the right. To her amazement, it turned that way. She flicked it up and it tilted up. 

They used the large slab to get a hidden chest, which held some spiked amber. They connected a wooden plank slab and a large stone hook, then set it on a rail. They got on and soared over the dip in the floor to the end.

They relished in the melodic voices as they got another Light of Blessing and went back outside. From where they stood, they could see another shrine to the south. Using Ultrahand, they got across a gap and made their way down, grabbing some apples. They passed the ghost Zonai, grabbing a stone axe and some wood.

Grabbing a few more things, and even two Sunset Fireflies, they went back to the ghosts.

Rauru, staring at a construct, murmured, “I see that they’re still at work even now.”

“Hm, well, that’s what they were designed for,” Mineru hummed. She turned to the two Hylians, saying, “we originally created the constructs to assist in our endeavors. All of us were fond of them.”

“Yes, though I never imagined they would continue to carry out their assigned tasks to this day. The fact that their labor no longer serves any purpose, yet they perform it still…it is disquieting to me.”

On that note, they left and made a careful jump across a gap in the island. They noticed a floating platform with climbable sides. Flora wondered why it was there. Wild swam across a small pond and got another Korok Seed from a korok under a rock in the middle. Flora went around and met him by a campfire nearby. Wild quickly grabbed a Restless Cricket and an old wooden bow by the small camp. 

Passing by the odd ostriches, Wild found a few more Rushrooms in a tiny cave. Talking to Rauru on top of it, he said, “I love this view of the Temple of Time. I always took a moment to appreciate it whenever I passed by here. The Garden of Time was quiet. The only sound to be heard was the time bell ringing in mornings and evenings. It was as if the whole place changed at its chime. Especially at night, when the sound signaled the emergence of fireflies. Those were glorious times.” Mineru stood next to him, listening to his ramble.

They moved on and grabbed some more arrows from boxes. Wild cooked two Hasty Mushroom Skewers and ate one. They ran up a small hill and found something called a Stambulb, along with some more eggs.

After a bit more walking, they found themselves above a camp of soldier constructs. He shot the scout in the eye after jumping off the small cliff and shooting it, then grabbed some more stambulbs as he dealt with the other constructs. He grabbed a fallen rusty shield as he killed the last of them. The stone chest in the center of the camp changed from glowing purple to glowing green. He opened the unlocked chest and grabbed an opal. Flora took it and put it into the pad.

They found some Stamella Shrooms at the base of a tree, then noticed a korok on a rock, sounding distressed. As they got close, they realized that it was stuck on its back due to the massive backpack on it. It was struggling, trying to get itself back onto its little feet, but couldn’t.

Flora ran over to it. “This is awful… Where’s my friend…?” it whispered

“Are you okay?” she asked.

“Huh…? Oh! Miss Princess and Mister Hero! I was traveling with my friend… But we got separated.” It let out an annoyed sound. “My friend is sending up a smoke signal. I can’t wait to catch up! I’m so tired though. I can’t move…”

The two Hylians turned to where the korok pointed and saw green smoke rising from a sky island connected to the one they were on by a stone rail. 

“Was that always there?” Flora wondered aloud. Wild let out a quick “I dunno” and shrugged.

Flora turned on Ultrahand and picked the poor korok up by its backpack.

“Can you connect those logs to that hook and put it on the rail?” she asked, pointing to the logs and hook. Wild did as told, then all of them (Flora using Ultrahand on the korok) got onto the logs and rail and started soaring. 

Once the korok she held got close enough to its friend, it shouted, “there’s my friend!” The other korok let out a relieved “you’re here!” When she turned to the korok who’d set up their camp, it said “reunited at last! Thanks! I’d like to give you something, but here’s all I have!”

Flora grabbed the two korok seeds it gave her and grimaced. They felt…weird. The gold was nice, but the odd smell made her quickly hand them to Wild, who immediately shoved them into the Purah Pad.

They used the same platform on the next rail, landing near a large lake on another, larger island. Wild dealt with a stray construct and passed by the bulky wooden stick it held. He was never a fan of two handed weapons. Stronger? Yes. Convenient for rushing into battle whenever he saw one? No.

Speaking of Wild, the princess had noticed his silence again. He always went silent whenever he was tense. Thankfully, the upcoming shrine would be their last, so they’d be able to see Legend and Wind again shortly. The two of them had enough survivor’s guilt, so they’d rather find the two other heroes as soon as possible. 

They dealt with two chuchus and grabbed the two mounds of chuchu jelly they dropped, along with some extra wood. But of course, there were two more. Thankfully, they were easy enemies. They went behind a waterfall on the edge of that particular sky island. They found a stray chest with amber inside and ended up in front of a breakable wall.

“Why do we always need bombs when we don’t have any.” Wild was glaring intensely at the wall. That was already two places they’d need bombs. They ascended near the third shrine and quickly ran up to it.

The “In-Isa Shrine” was activated, and they went inside as usual. They extended their hands when Rauru and Mineru appeared again. They seemed to be a little tired of the repetition too. The abilities were supposed to already be attached to their new attributes, so it was all unplanned. The magic they summoned formed into a sphere with a sword, the tip surrounded by a magical-looking circle. 

“That’s the fuse ability. It allows you both to fuse something nearby to your weapons or shields, which enhance them. No matter the weight of the object, it will fuse and will not add weight to the weapon or shield you are using,” Mineru told them.

“Oh, Flora, it seems you don’t have a weapon? Why not pick up that sword just ahead and you two can fuse a nearby object to it?” Rauru suggested. 

Once they disappeared, Flora took out a wooden stick from the Purah Pad. She wasn’t exactly comfortable wielding the two handed sword nearby. They both activated their magic pieces and put the tips of their wooden sticks against the large boulders in front of them. To their astonishment, the boulders shrunk and attached to the tip. True to Mineru’s words, the sticks were the same weight as they had been. 

They slammed the sticks, which were now hammers, into the cracked pillars blocking their way. Past them, they found some curious fruit on some branches. The Purah Pad called them Fire Fruit.

“‘A fruit that generates heat when struck. Cooked correctly, its heating properties improve blood flow and stimulate muscles to raise strength in high temperatures.’ That’s amazing! Who knew that something like this could be natural?!” Flora exclaimed, collecting all 18 of them from each of the six plants. 

Wild swiped one from her and drew his bow. He fused the fire fruit to his arrowtip, much to the amazement of Flora. The fruit quickly started to burn, so he shot it toward some leaves on the high wall surrounding a wooden platform that a chest sat on. They got a peculiar small key from inside and moved out, breaking another pillar with a chest on top. They got more arrows.

They went in front of a dark green door with a keyhole. They put the key into it and some ruins above turned bright green, opening the door. They went through and found themselves in front of some more leaves and rocks scattered around. A tall, almost cone-like object with the same materials as a construct sat in the middle. But immediately, it grew into an actual construct with three red eyes. It reached its sword up and used fuse on the rock nearby.

Wild took control of the situation, fusing another Fire Fruit to an arrow. He shot the leaves, which thankfully killed it quickly. They grabbed its horn, which was curvy and long. A “Captain Construct I horn,” the Purah Pad said. Wild grabbed its bow, which was dark green and orange. A “construct bow.”

The hero of the wild was clearly getting antsy, judging by him almost dropping the bow to give it to his princess. He took out his makeshift hammer and banged it into the cracked stone blocking their path.

They quickly made it to the hologram and collected the Light of Blessing. They welcomed the comforting feeling and found themselves back outside. Finally. 

The two Zonai appeared in front of them.

“Good, you’ve restored some power to the arm and bangles. The door into the Temple of Time should now open for you,” Mineru said.

Wild immediately started talking before they could disappear, saying, “so Legend and Wind are in there? That’s what a construct said. Are they safe?” Wild’s questions clearly stunned them for a moment, and the ghosts looked at him, then each other. Even Flora was a bit surprised at how quickly he was talking.

“Yes, you’ll find answers inside,” Rauru said after a moment.

“That’s not what I asked for. Are they inside and safe? ” Wild asked, enunciating his words. Now that Flora really looked at him, she noticed all of the little things showing his worry. His hands were shaking a bit and his eyes were narrowed in concern and suspicion.

Rauru and Mineru glanced at the Temple of Time, then the two dragons flying to the left of it, nearing the temple. “We haven’t been inside, but I’m sure you’ll find out,” Rauru decided to say. Glancing at her hero, Flora noticed the displeasure at the answer. 

The ghosts disappeared and they quickly broke open a breakable wall, getting more arrows from the chest. They went up to the top of the hill and found a korok rock on top of a thick tree. “We aren’t going to the temple?” Wild asked.

“Well, we can do a little more exploration and make sure we got everything, then we can head over there. Is that okay?” she asked in return. Wild turned to stare at the temple, then nodded slowly. 

They got the korok seed and continued away, dealing with another construct. Flora switched out her hammer for another wooden stick and fused the fallen Zonai charge to it. She wondered if it would do anything with the charge. Then, they started moving further away from the temple and across the island’s path. They saw two soldier constructs fighting two chuchus, but Wild ran in and dealt with all of them, only sustaining minor injuries.

The two of them continued and dealt with a construct camp, Flora helping too. Afterward, they used the cooking pot to make a couple elixirs and meals with varying abilities. They got a “Soldier Reaper” from a chest. It was a wooden stick with a construct horn fused onto it, making a blade. 

They went into a nearby cave, which the Purah Pad called the “Pondside Cave.”

“I wonder how the Purah Pad names these places? Were they already named? Is the pad just getting information from the area? This map was already here, so it had to have something put into it…” Flora rambled, looking through the Purah Pad.

Wild shrugged with a distracted look. Flora noted that for later. Silence and distraction for something odd was never really normal for Wild. She promised herself that she’d move quickly. They grabbed some “Brightbloom Seeds” from the plants on the walls. True to their name, they glowed slightly.

They killed some keese, grabbing their eyes and wings, then used their hammers to break an ore deposit for some flint. The cave got larger, and a glowing frog jumped across the ceiling. “It looks like a Blupee,” Wild commented.

Then he shot it four times.

Chapter Text

Flora stared, her eyes wide and her jaw dropped open as it let out a groan as it went limp, floating up and dropping an odd snowflake shaped crystal. A Blupee formed and ran away, disappearing. 

Behind her, Wild broke a wall and brought back some amber, a piece of flint, and a ruby. Wild broke another deposit and gave her the rock salt. She grabbed the crystal, recovering from the surprise. When she placed it into the Purah Pad, it called it a “Bubbul Gem.” An interesting name, for sure. 

“I…want to collect more of these,” Flora told the hero, pointing at the gem in the pad.

“Looks like something Kilton would like,” Wild added, killing another keese. 

More Brightbloom seeds, a giant Brightbloom seed, keese, and some ore later, they found an opal in a chest. They left the cave by another river and saw Rauru and Mineru watching more constructs work. 

Wild huffed and walked away, while Flora went over to them, sparing a glance to the distraught hero. “The Steward Constructs were the first constructs we built. Afterward, we crafted others suited to different roles. Culinary Constructs, Maker Constructs… you’ll find many of them still active here. Some became so skilled in their specialties that they surpassed our skills. We began to learn from them, instead,” Mineru told her.

“You should take time out to talk to them. They can teach you both things you may not know,” Rauru added.

They joined together back at the mouth of the cave. They ascended above and walked to another large tree trunk, climbing up and inside the hollow part. They cleared some leaves and picked up another Korok rock, getting another seed. 

They went back down and made a raft with fans, propelling them across. They both grabbed some more rushrooms and lit a cooking pot. They made an elixir and a few dishes. Flora made sure to write them down for later. She needed to learn how to cook. They continued on and broke through the ground after finding a breakable rock ground. They grabbed some mushrooms from inside and shot a korok balloon, getting another seed.

Flora was beginning to get a bad feeling about how many koroks there were. 

They ascended back up and grabbed some more supplies and frogs, then found some minecart rails and another soldier construct camp. Unfortunately for them, one of the constructs was a captain construct.

Thankfully for them, it didn’t take long to kill the constructs. Wild opened the unlocked chest after collecting the construct parts and got an opal. He grabbed a fallen construct bow, as well. Just as a better weapon.

“Wild?” Flora called.

“Hm?”

“Since we’re doing this adventure together, now… can you start teaching me how to use swords? I kind of know how to shoot a bow, but not really anything else.” Flora had wanted to learn how to actually fight since they met again after the Calamity, but Wild had been whisked away to meet the Chain shortly after.

“Oh, yeah, sure.”

With that out of the way, they ran into the “Mining Cave.” Quickly though, the cave got dark. So Flora took out a Brightbloom seed to test them. When she threw it, the seed sprouted where it landed and became even brighter. They grabbed some more seeds and started to walk past a construct when it stopped them.

“Please wait,” it said. “This cave is especially dark. You will need a light in order to proceed to the mining site ahead. Do you have any Brightbloom seeds?”

“Yes, we do,” she said with a smile.

“What a relief. You would not otherwise be able to see anything as you proceed. Brightbloom seeds grow primarily in caves. There was a time once when they grew here as well. This cave has been mostly picked clean of them. That is because it is especially dark. The seeds were often necessary. My associates often forget to bring Brightbloom seeds. I am posted here to provide a reminder. Use them to light your way if you are proceeding ahead. Watch your step.”

Once it finished, the two of them continued into the dark cave. They used Brightbloom seeds until they caught sight of an odd ore deposit. It was black on the outside, like other deposits, but it had ringed gaps in them that were more brownish with glowing cyan in the center. 

Breaking it and putting it into the Purah Pad, they could both see that the ore that came off was called “Zonaite.”

“‘An unusual mineral that has many purposes. Ancients extracted energy from it and refined it for the crafting of weapons and armor,’” Flora read.

They gathered all four pieces and caught sight of another glowing blue and yellow frog. Wild shot it once in the face, and then shot the ceiling with a Brightbloom. He hit the fallen frog two more times with his hammer and grabbed the crystal.

He broke more Zonaite deposits and made another small hammer after his larger one broke. With a total of 18 Zonaite, they continued on into an area with more constructs. Wild shot the ceiling with a giant Brightbloom seed. 

They got some more Zonaite and wandered over to a construct scooping what looked like more Zonaite out of lava. When it saw them, it turned.

“Hm? Apologies for taking a moment to notice you. I was focused on processing zonaite.”

“Zonaite?” Flora parroted.

“Oh? Are you unfamiliar with it? This—” the construct pointed to the zonaite pile, “—is the zonaite I mentioned. It is a unique mineral that can be mined far beneath the land below. There are trace deposits of it on this island as well. But they are limited to this cave. Our society flourished by processing this substance into other materials,” the forge construct explained.

“How did you process it?” Wild asked it.

“Zonaite is processed by smelting it in a furnace. It is thereby converted into materials with useful properties. A few such materials will be ready for your review shortly. Wait one moment.”

After a few minutes, the construct finished and focused its attention back on them. “Thank you for your patience. I will now explain what sorts of materials the ore can be processed into.” It pointed to a stone table with charges and glowing triangular crystals.

“Zonai technology is typically powered by Zonai charges. These occasionally solidify into a form known as crystallized charges. Converting zonaite into other useful materials in this way is called processing,” it told them.

“Thank you!” Flora said, making her way over to the table. She could see Wild’s relieved expression. She didn’t want to make him wait for so long, and she was starting to get impatient too, but there was so much unknown. 

“Please visit anytime you require processed materials.”

Even more zonaite later, they walked over to a mining construct mining an ore deposit. 

“This cave previously had ample resources. It is gradually yielding less and less. That is why I require support. But my requests have so far gone unanswered.”

Flora felt guilt forming in her stomach. There was no support left for the poor construct. 

“I must therefore continue to mine without resting.”

More guilt.

It wasn’t her fault, but it was still sad to hear something saying that. 

They talked to another mining construct near some minecarts and another rail.

“This is a minecart station. Excavated resources can be transported from here.” It paused. “Could it be that you have forgotten to bring Zonai capsules?”

Now they stared at it. “What are Zonai capsules?”

“Zonai capsules are a convenient means of carrying portable Zonai devices. It is unfortunate that you seem to have none. I will lend you a few spares.” It handed them three capsules with tiny fans inside. “The ones I gave you were fan types. You can deploy them at any time. They will generate wind when struck. Zonai devices are useful and come in many varieties. I always carry several with me for any occasion. Many neglect to keep a healthy supply on hand. I keep watch for such individuals. The spares I have you were the last ones I carried. Take care not to forget again. Remember that a device cannot be put back in its capsule. Think carefully before deploying one from your pouch.”

Walking to the minecarts and putting one on the tracks, Wild spoke. “Do they have to talk so much? I appreciate the conversation but they ramble more than Wind.” Immediately after saying the young hero's name, Wild’s brows furrowed. “Let’s keep going.”

Flora frowned, but opened the fan capsule and connected the fan to the cart with Ultrahand. They got in and activated the fan, going up to another island with an odd machine nearby. While Wild walked off with the minecart, Flora stopped to talk to Rauru and Mineru, who were floating on the edge of the island, looking at the large stone temple.

“The time bell that sounds from the Temple of Time rings at a set time each morning and evening. Along with the constructs, we woke to the sound of the bell. When we heard it in the evening, we knew it was time to rest. It also played its part in our traditional ceremonies. In a way, it was this place’s beating heart. The sight of the temple and the sound of its bell stir fond memories in me,” Rauru told the hylian.

After a moment where Flora joined them in looking at the temple, and the dragons nearby, she walked over to Wild. He was standing next to their minecart on a different rail, and she saw another backpack korok sitting inside. 

They got on and delivered the korok, getting another two korok seeds and Zonaite from a nearby chest. Staring at two rails, one of which was broken, Wild connected a hook to their cart and put it onto the unbroken rail. They got on and went across, then got a portable pot from another chest.

They dropped down to another sky island, went into the Pit Cave, and got yet another Bubbul Gem, along with some rubies and other gems. They went further into the cave until they surfaced on the other side in the cold. They put on their snow pants and continued. At the top of a hill, a glowing dandelion-looking thing sat still. Wild shot it and Flora caught it. Another korok greeted them with another golden seed.

How many of them were in all of Hyrule.

They found a cube of blocks nearby and another few off to the side. Wild, with a sigh, activated Ultrahand and rotated it until it could fit in the missing gap of the cube. Another korok appeared. Flora began to regret exploring. The more she found, the more she dreaded thinking of how many were across the entire kingdom. 

A couple constructs and ice chuchus later, they found themselves in a cave called the Bottomless Cave. Not concerning at all. They got another Bubbul Gem and discovered flowers called Bomb Flowers, which quickly lifted Wild’s mood. They found the bottomless part of the cave, which was just a gap in the ground which led to the clouds below. 

What dampened both of their moods, however, was a weird creature connected to the wall. Its body was a cream color and its face…head…mouth thing was green with teeth running down the inside of it. Flora guessed it was tracking their movements on sound, due to the thing not having eyes. They quickly ran past it, grabbing a shield with a “flame emitter” on it and ran away from another one of those things. 

They ascended up to escape and found themselves near the shrine in the snow. They cooked some more food and elixirs in a cooking pot nearby. After a bit more exploring in the snow, they found another construct camp and dealt with the two captain constructs accordingly, then got an opal from the chest.

“Flora, you are one of my closest friends, and you’re amazing. But. Can we please go to the Temple of Time? We can explore once we get my brothers back and make sure that they are safe,” Wild said, sounding exasperated.

“And Wild, my dear friend, who is also amazing, supplies are useful. And so is experience. But anyway, we’re heading back to that flying bird platform to go back there.”

Wild let out a relieved sigh, and so the two of them made their way over to it. Thankfully, it wasn’t too far away. And the two of them did agree that it was time to go get Legend and Wind. 

Upon noticing another island near it, Flora paused. “Do you mind waiting at the temple while I check out that island?” Wild slowly turned his head to her. “I won’t be long, I promise.”

Wild ran his hands over his face. “Get back quickly.”

They got onto their bird platforms, which Flora was just going to call wings, and went their separate ways. She landed on the island with a large lake, then saw a chest in the water. She pulled the wing out of the water where she landed and used Ultrahand to grab it, finding something called a large Zonaite. See? It was useful. She stared at the flying dragons nearby and started to move away before noticing Rauru and Mineru.

“You two separated?” Mineru asked, eyeing her.

“Only temporarily. He’s getting nervous,” she answered, feeling bad for making him wait.

“Ah, I see. Well, we find ourselves in a sea of clouds. It’s odd. It means we’re at a high altitude,” Rauru said.

“It’s really nice… scary to be so high, but nice,” Flora said.

“It is. As you heard from a steward construct previously, this land is the Garden of Time. It’s the site of the kingdom’s rites and ceremonies. Though, in my day, it was on the surface,” the dead king continued.

“Wait, really? But then how did it rise…? Why did it rise? So many questions…” Flora murmured, her head spinning.

Mineru laughed and told her to go find Wild. She complied, jumping into the lake below and making her way just below the area in front of the door. She saw a platform that looked like it detached and used it to ascend. A korok appeared, giggling, and gave her another korok seed.

So. Many. Koroks.

She ran up the stairs to the hero. “I told you I wouldn’t take long!” But upon seeing how anxious he looked, she gave an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry for making you wait…” 

“It’s fine… but let's go.”

They raised their hands to the projection again and waited anxiously. The doors shook open, dust streaming down into their faces.

Inside, intricate designs laced the stairs, the walls, the floors, and everything else. There were two large gears on either side of two familiar, glowing comma shaped stones, along with one behind it. Oddly enough, the stones were translucent, unlike the ones they found below the castle. Staring, or in Wild’s case, glaring at the stones, they stepped up in front of them. 

Flora grasped Wild’s hand, both to ground her and to ground the hero. Sharing a glance, they both touched the floating stones. Flora touched the one on the right, the white-gold one, and Wild touched the blue-green one on the left. They both began to glow brightly until they had to shield their eyes.

Chapter Text

When they cautiously opened their eyes, they found themselves in a grey area with white sand floors and dense clouds and fog surrounding them. Wild choked and Flora gasped when they both saw the two missing heroes. With the way they looked, it almost seemed that the two heroes were glowing from the inside.

Both of them wore matching outfits similar to Rauru’s, but dark green and fit to them. They both wore baggy green pants that matched the shawl-top and had green, brown, yellow, and white jewelry on their arms, along with simpler versions of the necklaces that Rauru wore. One of the necklaces held the comma stones they’d grabbed below the castle. Legend’s was white-gold still, but not glowing as much, and neither was Wind’s blue-green one. They also had a brown and green anklet with yellow crystals connected to the bottom. They wore short Zonai sandals that matched the brown of their accessories. Legend had lightning scars and various other scars were covering his torso, arms and legs, and Wind just had a large scar on his left hip and a few smaller scars. The mark of being a hero was scars, apparently. They both had greyish cream earrings shaped almost like chimes down from the bases to almost the tips of their ears. Both of them also had a brown circlet with a green Zonai eye in the center, along with white tattoos on their face, arms, and legs, and a singular gold tear tattoo under each of their eyes. Legend kept his signature blue hat and Wind kept his purple Spoils Bag. Oddly enough, as well, Wind had a streak of brilliant gold hair and Legend had a streak of radiant pink. Legend’s was almost like how his hair looked when it was bright pink, but somehow it was even brighter. Both streaks on them almost looked like they were glowing. Oddly enough, it looked like Legend had some sort of purple tattoo on his forehead, but it was hidden behind his hair. Legend’s right hand grasped Wind’s left, and their other hands just stayed by their sides.

“Legend! Wind! What’s going on?!” Wild desperately asked, but the two heroes (who they now realized were floating ) didn’t open their eyes. 

They were both breathing steadily before their unused hands extended out to the two, waiting to take their hands in their steady ones.

“What?! I don’t- come on, we have to get back!” Wild shouted at them, panic seeping into his tone. Flora squeezed his hand, unable to say anything. She felt like there was something lodged in her throat.

Realizing that they still weren’t doing anything, they disconnected their hands but were still touching shoulders. Flora extended her left hand to Legend’s and Wild extended his right hand to Wind’s. Flora felt an odd feeling of familiarity course through her body, but she didn’t understand what it was and why she felt it so strongly.

Their stones began glowing their respective colors, spreading over the two heroes. It almost made them sparkle. After a few moments, the color condensed and moved to their hands holding the two Hylians belonging to that era. As they moved from their arms to Wild and Flora’s, the two colors changed to the same standard gold color, still glittering in the light. The gold moved into their arm that held their new abilities. 

Their arms flashed gold, then went back to the glittering gold. They removed their hands from the other two, expecting them to wake up. The gold magic condensed on the piece of the jewelry right on the back of their hands. It formed into a rune and embedded itself into the jewelry, which glowed for a moment before displaying the new rune and change in jewelry. The copper brown jewelry gained Zonai-green tiles with gold flowing in the middle of it, the rune fading to a carving of the rune.

They looked back up at the two heroes, who were now rapidly disappearing.

“No, no no no, wait, wait! We have to get back to the others! You can’t leave!” the hero of the wild cried, taking a step toward them.

But they continued to fade until they were gone.

They blinked and found themselves back in the stone room. Flora stared at the back of her hand, but Wild let out a shaky breath, sounding near tears.

Rauru and Mineru formed to their right. Rauru murmured, “recall…the ability to reverse the movement of an object through time…” He glanced at where the two stones once floated. “And Legend and Wind have vanished as well…”

“You said we’d find answers. That construct said they’d be here. So where did they go?! ” Wild snapped at the two Zonai.

“...I hoped they’d be here, as well,” Rauru said simply.

“What you just saw… It’s a mystery even to me. Perhaps it was some sort of echo—one that reflects their sheer will,” Mineru told them.

Flora was surprised to see how sad Rauru and Mineru looked as well as her hero.

“You…you know them better than we realize…don’t you?” Flora asked quietly.

“Yes. We do. I’d hoped that we could see them again.” Rauru looked at the floor, and Mineru looked at the wall behind her, distant.

“Well what are we supposed to do now.”

Wild’s voice was hollow and shaky, and he’d sunk to the floor. Flora shakily stepped over to him and knelt beside him. She hadn’t known the two heroes nearly as well as he did, but the sight of the two of them, especially Legend, had her mind reeling and distraught.

“Your new ability should prove important,” Mineru replied, glancing at the gears. They were going the opposite way of where they wanted to go, if they were to use the middle gear to go up, but recall would be the best way to make it. 

The two Zonai disappeared, and the princess and hero sat on the floor for what felt like days. It wasn’t, but everything felt so…wrong. So out of place. So lost.

“...Let’s try that recall ability on those gears. Then maybe we’ll actually get answers,” Flora said, her voice surprisingly shaky as well. Wild simply nodded, and she pulled him up.

Activating this new ability, time completely stopped. Wild and Flora were the only two who didn’t seem to be affected. Flora motioned for the gear to their right to rewind, and they saw it start to go backward.

They ran over to it and jumped on one of the teeth, making their way to a center pillar. They activated recall on the one in front of them, then found a statue of the Goddess Hylia in front of two massive stone doors.

Walking past the statue, they saw two copper brown eye designs with two handprints in the iris. They were both on either side of the split between the doors. Giving a nod to each other, they started to push the door.

Flora pushed until she felt like she was going to pass out, but Wild continued to push, even though he was starting to look worse than her. She pulled him off, saying, “you can’t save them if you’re dead! Be patient, I believe we’ll get answers.”

Rauru and Mineru appeared again behind them. “This door stands as a test of your own overall vitality. You remain in a weakened state. You’re not yet strong enough to open it,” Rauru told them. Wild looked ready to punch him.

“However,” Mineru began,” there is one more shrine on this island. There, you can get another blessing. If you add that to the other blessing you received at the shrines and offer them to the Goddess, you will most likely find your way forward.”

Wild smacked his head against the stone door with a shaky breath. Flora called upon a small bit of her light power and healed the two of them, blinking at the headache forming behind her eyes. 

“Let me see the Purah Pad…” Mineru murmured. Flora took out the pad and showed her the screen. “You can fast travel to any of these blue marks—” she pointed at the one from the room they woke up in and the three shrines, “—here. I’d suggest you go to the one from where you awoke. You should find the last of this island’s shrines around there.”

With that information, they disappeared, only leaving a glowing dot on their map. “Come on,” she told the hero. They warped to the Room of Awakening, and Flora immediately noticed the gears. “Wait here, I’m going to see if there’s anything up on the top of here.”

She ascended above and made her way up into a massive tree trunk. She wondered what was up with them, since there were several. Inside, it had a small pond and a lily pad. She jumped down onto it and was surprised to see a korok immediately appear with a giggle and give her another seed. Nearby, she opened a chest and got three wings (so she was right!). She warped back into the Room of Awakening and was surprised to not see Wild.

“I’m up here,” he said to her left. She spun around and saw him in the opening of a cave. 

She nodded and used ascend to get onto a platform in front of the gears. She recalled the gear and stood on it until she could jump onto the other one, which was thankfully going the way she wanted it to.

She made it back over to Wild and the two of them went through the tunnel until they came out into a widened area with the next shrine and a construct. The “Nachoyah Shrine,” the Purah Pad called it.

They activated and entered the shrine. They used recall on two rafts to make their way backward and up a waterfall, then used recall on something that looked almost like a clock hand to make it and the other hand go the same way. When they immediately found the end, she could see relief wash over Wild’s face. They got the Light of Blessing and went outside and stepped over to the construct.

It told them about the crystal refinery that it worked at and told them that it could take their crystallized charges and turn them into more energy wells. When Wild told it to get producing, it said that it required 100 of the charges. Both the hero and the princess glared at it. That was so many!

When the construct was done talking, Flora opened the Purah Pad. She accidentally flicked into the album and gasped. She totally forgot about those pictures, including the one of Legend and Wind.

“Are you okay?” Wild questioned, turning to her. When he saw her face, he asked, “what is it? Are you alright?”

Flora clicked on the photo of Legend and Wind, then turned the pad to him. His face softened and he took a careful hold of the Purah Pad, looking at the picture. “Let’s go get them, alright?” she offered. He nodded, wiping his face and giving her a hug. At least those pictures had stayed.

Chapter Text

They went outside and used two wings to glide back down to the Temple of Time again. They flew off, and Flora saw Zephyr and Aurelios flying on the other side of the island, just below their altitude. Beautiful dragons. But Flora turned her attention back to the wing. She stepped carefully on the nose of the wing, sending it down to the temple.

When they made it there and into the temple, Flora stared at the Goddess Statue. She didn’t really like to see her, not after what happened during the Calamity. She hadn’t given Flora help then, so why would she now?

Wild noticed the look on Flora’s face, then grabbed her hand and squeezed it. They stepped up to the statue and, for the first time in her life, heard her voice.

“ You who have conquered the shrines and claimed their Lights of Blessing. In exchange for four Lights of Blessing, I will grant you power, ” She said. Flora’s jaw dropped open before Wild requested a Heart Container. Though before the ex-princess could say anything, the Goddess spoke up again.

“ And for you, my Daughter…A Vessel of Light. ”

“Huh?” Flora whispered.

“ I shall grant the power you seek, ” She replied. 

The Lights of Blessing left their bodies, and one red and gold heart container and a triforce-shaped, gold plated, white-gold container with the royal crest in the center descended in sparkling light. They both held the containers for a moment before they phased into their chests, shoving out gloom from inside Wild, and making the mark of the Triforce on Flora’s hand glow faintly.

“ Go, heroes, and bring peace to the world… ”

Flora was a bit surprised to hear herself being called a hero by the Goddess herself. She paused for a moment. Yes, technically that was right, now. Legend and Wind were the princes, while Wild and Flora were the heroes. Such an odd thing to think of. 

Wild grabbed her hand and they went back to the door, pushing and pushing until the doors finally opened. They still felt sick by the time the dragon carvings glowed completely green, but it worked. The doors opened, more dust pouring into their faces.

They walked out, and Wild’s arm and Flora’s jewelry glowed green again. Rauru and Mineru stood a few feet away. 

“Ah, good. I see you both have managed to open the door. You haven’t fully recovered yet, but that is to be expected—you were almost beyond saving,” Rauru said. Flora winced and grabbed Wild’s hand.

Mineru chuckled, and then said, “by visiting the shrines and receiving their blessings, you have mitigated some of the corruption’s effects. Both of you.”

Rauru continued, adding, “though our time together has been brief, I am so happy that we finally met…” 

The Hylians froze. “Wait, what?!” Flora began. “But, there’s so much unanswered! What about Legend and Wind, and where they are, and who you are to them?!” she cried.

“For now, I will just say that I loved the two of them like my own sons. You both are exactly as they said.” Rauru looked to the platform a ways away. 

“We’ve done everything we can for them. Now, it is up to you both. Good luck,” Mineru told them with a smile, the two Zonai fading into green light.

Now they were truly gone.

They both stood, staring at where they stood for a couple minutes. “Let’s go…” Flora murmured, leading the two of them down the stone path.

They had to use ascend only twice due to the broken path, but they made it there quickly, where they saw a golden ball of light floating above a small pedestal. As they neared, the recall rune on their arms began to glow as well. The magic pulsed, and then the broken Master Sword let out a few weak chimes in response from the Purah Pad.

She was glowing blue, and Flora pulled her out from the pad. Flora and Wild shared a glance before the princess put it into the golden light. The Master Sword, Fi, began to float inside of the ball as the Time Bell chimed.

Their heads spun as they heard recall activate, and they were met with an odd sight.

— — —

Legend and Wind stood near that same pedestal, tense. They were both missing the streak of glowing hair and some of the white tattoos, but it was still them.

Noticing the floating Master Sword about to fall, Legend ran to the pedestal with an “oh, shit.”

The Master Sword came out of recall and Wind ran over to them. “Oh shit indeed.” 

“Warriors would kill you if he heard you.”

“Well you won’t.”

“Fair enough.”

They sat for a few more moments, staring at the decayed sword.

“What’re we goin’ to do? Sky’s goin’ to freak out,” Wind murmured.

The Master Sword let out another weak chime.

“What the fuck- Sweet Nayru, I can hear her!” Legend exclaimed, staring at the sword with wide eyes. 

“Wait seriously?! I c’n hear ‘er, but she sounds like a voice underwater.” Wind added, staring between the older hero and the sword.

"…I don’t know what we’ll do, but we’ll figure something out.” Legend’s look hardened and he held the Master Sword by the handle and held it over the middle of the pedestal. Wind, on the other side of it, put his hand on the handle as well. They gave a quick smile to one another. 

— — —

When Flora and Wild trusted themselves to talk again, Wild yelled, “oh, Hylia, they’re safe!”

Flora wheezed with a small laugh, both from relief and the sudden yell.

The ground began to shake violently, and they looked off to the edge of the platform. Zephyr and Aurelios let out two mighty roars as they burst out of the clouds. Their serpentine bodies curled around one another in a double helix as they flew up.

Flora could see Aurelios’ cream scales and his glowing gold to pink hair. His massive blue horn came out of his forehead and curved backward, almost looking like the odd cap that some of the chain wore. His underbelly was the same shade of blue as his horn. His sharp, crystal-like spikes and talons matched the color of his massive horn, too. He was larger than Zephyr, but still seemed small compared to the Servants of the Springs.

Zephyr’s scales, though white, had ocean blue undertones and his underbelly had markings of ocean blue as well. His hair was a sparkling gold, and his horn was a silver rod sticking out like Farosh’s horn, but Zephyr’s had two pieces that divided off from the main horn and curled around into two swirls at the base of the horn. He had blue-green smoke twirling around it, similar to the smoke in the Lost Woods. His spikes and talons were blue as well, with the same smoke twirling around each of them. 

Past the two dragons, they could both see a massive cylinder of clouds rotating around like a massive storm. Where the dragons came from, the clouds parted and revealed the Kingdom of Hyrule below. They saw the floating castle with gloom surrounding it, and they saw Lookout Landing just in front of it.

“ Wild, ”

“Wind?!”

“ Flora, ”

“Legend?”

“ You must find us. ”

When they didn’t say anything else, Wild loudly swore. “Language!” Flora snapped. Wild let out a quick apology. “Let’s get down to Lookout Landing. Assuming your brothers stayed there, we can talk to them and Purah to see what’s been happening.” Flora glanced at Wild’s hair. “And get you a hairbrush and band.”

“Hey!”

“You asked for one yourself.”

“...yes, but still!”

They looked up to the sky where the dragons went and saw light coming from Aurelios. Gold, to white, to blue. Looking through the scope, they looked at the two dragons. Zephyr seemed to be playing with Aurelios, but the larger dragon just nipped at him.

When they were done gawking, they dove off of the island. “Try to get to that lake!” Wild yelled, pointing to the lake below them. Flora gave a thumbs up. They landed in the lily pad filled lake and pulled themselves out. They could see fallen rocks from the sky islands on the ground, along with some plants. They grabbed the fire fruit they saw, along with a bright fruit called a “Dazzlefruit.”

“Alright, let’s go to Lookout Landing!” Flora said, but when she looked around for Wild, she couldn’t see him. “Wild?”

“Right here! I got a horse!” Wild replied, sitting on a blue-grey horse’s back. 

“Already?”

“Of course! Get on,” he told her.

They started to ride off along the path in the direction of Lookout Landing and the castle. They found a small pot off the side in a log, and got a Korok Seed for breaking it. Little shits. They went past some bokoblins, which had different, sharper looking horns. 

They ran through some ruins and got another Korok Seed, running off to a cave. “Wild, we have to go see Purah and your brothers.”

“They can wait a little bit. Come on!”

Flora sighed and followed him into the Ranch Ruins Cave. They heard some monstrous grunts, and saw the source. A new monster. And an ugly one, at that. They fought it and grabbed a “horriblin horn” and some mushrooms called “Brightcaps.” Horriblin was the perfect name for it. Wild snagged a lizard called a Sticky Lizard and got another Bubbul Gem from the large glowing frog. They also found a traveler’s bow, which was much appreciated.

They got out of the other end of the cave and started to make their way away until Wild jumped into a well and came out with a couple “Glowing Cave Fish,” mushrooms, and some ore. 

They got on the horse again and started to make their way to Lookout Landing, only stopping for some more fire fruit.

By the time they reached the structure, it was around 9 PM. Immediately as they neared, they saw the two guards at the entrance gasp.

“Link? Princess Zelda?!” a guard named Drozer shouted. “You’re back! Wh-where have you both been?!”

“Last that anyway saw either of you or your other hero companions was when you went to investigate the gloom… And then the castle rose into the sky, and everyone’s been so worried about what happened to you both! Purah and your friends have nearly worn themselves out trying to figure out where you two went!” Burwar, the other guard, added. Wild and Flora gave each other guilty looks. How long have they been gone? Burwar turned into the landing, pointing at a large place reminiscent of a Sheikah building and Purah’s lab combined. “Purah is working in that large building over there. Your friends are off with the Monster-Control Crew.”

“Please, report to her right away. She’ll want to know you’re alright. We’ll let your friends know you’ve returned when they get back,” Drozer assured them, moving to the side.

They brought the horse inside, then got off and ran toward Purah’s building. A girl stood by the window before she ran over to them. She stared at them both. “That hair…those eyes! Duh… DUH… DOC! Doctor Puuuraaah!” the girl, Josha, yelled. “The swordsman! The princess! The swordsman and princess have returned!”

They heard someone running, then the sound of something crashing from behind the wooden door. The door slammed open, and Purah stood in the doorway, her hair and outfit all messed up. She took deep breaths in and out before she stared at the two, asking, “Okay… now where have you two been?!” She flipped her unopened fan out and pointed it at them. “Linky… princess… you two aren’t ghosts, are you?”

“Doctor Purah, please—”

“Hey…” she interrupted, looking at Wild’s new arm and Flora’s new magic bangles. “Those look interesting… Whew. One step at a time,” Purah said, putting her goggles up against her hair. “What exactly happened?”

“Well…oh, where do we begin? …hm.”

Flora gave her friend a short and simple explanation of what happened, leaving out unimportant details. She only spoke about the body, Rauru, Mineru, Zephyr and Aurelios, the Master Sword, the constructs, and the large Temple of Time.

“Hm…… So when you both, along with the two other heroes, went beneath Hyrule Castle, you discovered a mysterious mummy…”

“It knew all of our names,” Wild added.

“...that suddenly reanimated and knew your names. Legend and Wind fell into a fissure together and vanished. That must’ve been when the castle rose and the ruins fell…”

“The ruins? Oh, the ruins from the sky islands?” Flora asked.

“Yes. Then, later you woke up on a sky island, saved by the arms stuck to the mummies. You got the Purah Pad from an unusual creature, a construct. You learned that your new…attributes belonged to two people named Rauru and Mineru. The Master Sword disappeared, you heard the heroes’ voices, and found your way here…”

“Yes, all of that checks out,” Flora confirmed, nodding her head slowly.

“Then… Are you saying you came from up THERE?” Purah questioned them, pointing to the Great Sky Island. 

“Yeah,” Wild said.

“Rauru…I think that’s what the first king of Hyrule was named. And Mineru was his sister, I believe.”

Wild’s eyes narrowed. Flora guessed that he was wondering about Sky, and Wind. Sky was declared the first king of Hyrule with his Zelda, Sun, and Wind and Tetra guessed that they were going to be king and queen of New Hyrule, since Tetra was the last descendant from the royal bloodline in her timeline.

She looked at him, and hoped he understood the “ don’t make this timeline more muddy yet ” look she gave. 

“Are they one in the same? So much of this doesn’t make sense—yet. But I’m certain that mummy you found under the castle must be related to the Upheaval,” Purah told them. Now it was both of them that were confused.

“The…Upheaval?” Flora asked.

“That’s what we’ve been calling this whole…situation.”

“How long were we out?” Wild asked tensely, looking around.

Purah gave an awkward look and coughed. “...around three and a half months.”

Flora suddenly felt lightheaded. Wild looked even worse. “Oh Hylia, my brothers are freaking out, aren’t they?”

Purah smiled at them, but it was tense and apologetic. “Worse. Especially Time and Twilight.” Wild stared.

“Shit.”

Flora almost wanted to laugh at his reply, but she was equally stressed. 

“Well,” Purah continued nervously, “the mummy is probably connected to the ruins falling and the castle rising. Now, for the most important detail…you’re sure that you heard the missing heroes speak to you? And they gave you two a clear message to find them?”

“Certain,” Wild told her, still a bit pale.

“Well, if that truly was the heroes, then that means they’re alive!” 

Flora thought she sounded a little too excited to say that. That made it sound like there was a high chance they’d died. Looking at Wild, she could almost see the same thought.

“...hm… Maybe they’re trapped beneath the castle and need help…”

Upon looking at their (especially Wild’s) distraught faces, she immediately apologized. 

“Now, you two need to rest for a few days—”

“Please don’t tell me you just said that right after saying that two of my brothers could be trapped underneath the castle with that thing.”

Flora had to agree with him. 

“...well, you both look like you’re dead. Afterward, you can go meet with the search party up by the castle. I’ll let them know we’ve found you two, but they’ll still look for your brothers. I’ll write to Hoz, the captain, and you both can work with him to find the other heroes as quickly as you can. The mummy may still be lurking somewhere around there, which is concerning, but we have some more…pressing matters to deal with right now.”

“What pressing ma-” Flora began before Purah cut her off.

“Sleep first, questions later,” she said in a commanding tone.

Chapter Text

Just before they turned around, they heard Twilight’s voice echo out from across the settlement.

“ WILD?! ”

Twilight barreled straight into Wild (how did he get there so fast?) and Time was only a few steps behind him (how did he get there so fast???). The rest of the chain followed behind, but Twilight and Time looked the most…disheveled out of the Chain.

“Oh, Hylia above, you scared us,” Time wheezed, looking near collapse. 

Twilight stepped away, and only then did the princess and hero of the wild realize that his eyes looked a bit misty. “I’m so glad yer safe, cub. And you too, Flora.”

Flora gave a quick “thank you,” and the two of them froze when they saw Time look around, his face tense.

“Wild.”

The Chain looked at him, a bit on edge. Unsurprising, considering the abrupt change in the man's tone.

“Please tell me that Legend and Wind are either in the bunker or exploring out of our sight.”

Wild and Flora looked at each other, then the floor.

“ Wild. ” Time’s voice was wavering. “ Please tell me that Legend and Wind are either in the bunker…or exploring out of our sight. ”

Wild shook his head. Time’s tense look quickly switched to distress. 

“Where are they…?” Hyrule asked.

“We don’t…” Flora murmured, “we don’t know. We saw them in a sort of vision…and we heard their voices…so we’re pretty sure they’re safe.”

There was a beat of very awkward, very tense silence.

“What happened to your arm.”

Warriors didn't sound upset, but the deadpan tone made Wild and Flora pause.

“Gone,” Wild whispered.

“Gone?” Four questioned, staring at Wild’s new arm and the jewelry on both of them.

“I, uh…lost it.”

“How didja lose yer arm?! ” Twilight shouted.

How did Time and Twilight look even paler?

"That's- that's supposed to stay connected to you, Wild!" Hyrule gasped, rushing over to Wild and holding his new arm with wide eyes.

“A redheaded, gold jewelry-wearing mummy underneath the castle…”

All eyes turned to the two of them. 

“ Whose is it. ”

“It’s a new one, I think.”

More tense silence. Was this a pattern? Time looked about two seconds from having a stroke and dying. Twilight didn’t look too far behind.

“Where did you get that arm…?” Four murmured, creeping closer. His violet eyes were fixed on the arm.

“An ancient person named Rauru.”

Time choked, but he waved off Warriors and Twilight, who looked incredibly concerned.

“Can I butt in here? Where’d you hear Legend and Wind?” Purah asked them.

Wild glanced at Time, who was hacking up a lung. Well, rest in peace, Time. “Um, a second Temple of Time.”

Time doubled over and started coughing even harder somehow. At this point, Twilight and Warriors ignored Time’s hand waving to shoo them away. Warriors was patting the eldest hero on the back and Twilight was muttering about getting him water.

Flora glanced at Sky, who hadn’t said a word the whole time.

Uh oh.

The first hero was staring right above Wild’s shoulder.

Where the hilt of the Master Sword would’ve been.

“ Wild. ”

That was the third  time someone had said his name like that. Was this a pattern?

“ Where is Fi. ”

Wild didn’t say anything. Flora stepped up, saying, “...it um, ended up with Legend and Wind…”

“At least they’ll have a good sword to defend themselves with,” Four said, but Wild and Flora flinched. “They’ll have a good sword to defend themselves with, right?”

“Ganondorf……um…broke it,” Wild admitted, not looking up.

His and Flora’s eyes stayed glued to the ground. Someone fell. Probably Time. Twilight gasped their eldest's name and grabbed the fallen person. Yep, it was him. Even their leader, the one who was civil, at best , with the Master Sword, would freak out hearing about a divine blade being broken.

“ She’s broken? Wild please explain to me how the Master Sword can break.” Sky paused for a moment, taking a deep breath. But his eyebrows furrowed and he grit his teeth. “ HOW?! ”

“Sky, it was Ganondorf. We’ll be able to fix her when we find Legend and Wind, okay?” Hyrule whispered to Sky, pulling the seething hero backward.

Purah coughed, looking a bit awkward. “Alllllright! Now, all of you have to go and sleep, get clean, all of that stuff. Here, you two,” Purah told everyone, handing the two no-longer-missing people two bags.

Both of them held some clothes, soap, and some other stuff. “Purah,” Wild started, “me and Flora will go to the castle, get some information, and then we’ll come back and sleep. Okay? Okay.”

"Wha- No, we still have questions!" Four cried, his eyes flashing cerulean.

“Wait-” Purah tried, but Wild was already walking past his bewildered brothers, and Flora was jogging close behind.

The two of them had to walk a decent distance, getting three more Korok Seeds and going through another shrine to get another blessing. Someone next to the shrine, who was in some group called the Zonai Research Team, or something similar, looked astonished as soon as it opened and they walked inside. It was a combat training shrine, which Wild let her do. It taught her how to side hop, back hop, and parry to get an opening, but she couldn’t do the flurry rush that Wild could. It also taught her how to do a charged attack. At the end, they got a “Zonaite sword,” which apparently resonated with attached Zonai devices to increase its attack power. They fused it with a captain construct horn and put it away for future use.

They found a small stone monument, one that both Wild and Flora had made together. Flora saw to it that there were many others put around the kingdom as well.

“I dedicate this monument to the memory of the souls lost to the Calamity. -Zelda and Link.”

But beside it were two flowers that neither of them had ever seen. The one on the left had a long stem that turned into an arch, holding up several blue flowers with soft, almost fan-like petals with gold tips. The one on the right had a shorter stem and only one reddish-pink flower, but its petals were a bit tougher and more pointed, with gold tips as well.

“Oh, are you interested in those two flowers?” someone asked.

“Yes, actually. I’ve never seen them before,” Flora answered, turning to them.

“Well, I’m a botanist in charge of the new plants that sprouted during the Upheaval! I’m Sephie. Anyways, we’ve started calling them Gustias, which are a type of freesia and Radifrons, which are a type of saffron. The saffrons are less abundant than the freesias, but they’re always found together. They were originally only found by the Geoglyphs, but my team and I managed to get them to grow domestically,” Sephie explained.

“Oh, I see. What do they do?” Flora asked her, running her finger along the saffron’s petals.

“Well, the saffrons help with Gloom Poisoning, and the freesias seem to increase haste. Something interesting though, is that they are the only two effects in food and elixirs that can be used at the same time! How interesting is that?” the botanist replied with a smile.

Flora thanked her and the two of them continued, only later realizing that they forgot to ask what Geoglyphs were. They were probably caused by the Upheaval, as well. Some boy nearby was holding up a sign with Hudson, a friend of theirs, on it. He introduced himself as Addison, and they helped him hold and tie it up, receiving Rupees, food, and a sleepover ticket for the stables. 

They made some elixirs at the research team’s cooking pot, with their permission, and set off to the castle. They opened the massive doors with Ultrahand, surprising a guard, and continued along the path. Gloom flowed by in a weak mist, so that combined with the ruined castle made Flora’s hands shake. They got yet another Korok Seed, then moved into one of the guard posts, if Flora remembered correctly. They grabbed a soldier’s broadsword and spear with the odd decay markings that the Master Sword had, but the blades weren’t broken. 

They found Hoz at the top of the building, looking over the edge of the gaping maw where the castle once sat. Red mist flowed out of the hole and seeped into the air, making Flora cough. The ruined castle and the gloom made her skin crawl. “Hoz?” she asked, trying to shake out her nerves.

“Sorry, but I’m in the middle of something. …Huh?” Hoz gasped and stared at them, the exhaustion in his face dissipating. “P-princess Zelda?! Link?! You’re alive! And all in one piece, it looks like. Does that mean your friends are safe too? Legend and Wind? What a relief!” Hoz exclaimed.

But when Flora and Wild looked down, he frowned. Flora spoke up, saying, “I’m sorry, but their location is still unknown. We know that they’re alive and they spoke to us a while ago. We’re here to help with your search.”

“Ah, well, it’s good you both are safe. I hope we find those boys soon. They both looked mighty dependable. We needed some good news, so I’m glad to see that you two are safe and here to help. The sheer amount of gloom has gotten overwhelming. We’ve been dead in the water, but we’re continuing to try to work.

“CAPTAIN! It’s Legend and Wind!” a nearby guard shouted, pointing toward a pillar of the castle, thankfully not floating with the rest of it. They stood on top of it, staring off toward them. Wild looked to already be planning to go over there, making his way to the edge. 

“Legend and Wind! They’re safe!” Hoz gasped. 

The two missing heroes stared at them, but they didn’t move. Before Wild and Flora could make their way over to the two other heroes, they glanced at each other and held hands, the same way they did when Wild and Flora got recall. They started to glow gold before disappearing in a sparkling flash. All that was left were two tiny gold balls floating off into the sky. 

The princess and hero (well, technically they’re both heroes now) stared at where they disappeared, jaws dropped open. Why did they leave? The other guards seemed to be having a similar thought as they too stared at where the heroes once stood.

“Wait… What…?” Hoz muttered. “Did…did you two see that as well? You both saw Legend and Wind turn into light…right?”

Flora, and seemingly Wild too, could only nod, so Hoz continued. “Well then… This…this is an emergency situation! Why would they leave without saying a word to us…? We need to let Purah know about this as soon as possible! Considering…what we just saw…I think it makes sense for us to withdraw, but it will take a bit. Please, you must tell Purah about what happened here as soon as possible.”

“We’ll let her know,” Wild said curtly, and so the two of them set off. They got three more koroks and a diamond in a chest before Zelda warped them to the shrine near Lookout Landing. 

When they reached Purah, she asked, “well? Did you find anything?” Flora and Wild told them the whole story, now exhausted. They both regretted not sleeping before. “You’re telling me… that Legend and Wind were at the castle, and then they transformed into LIGHT and flew off?! Aha…ha…I’ve gotta say. Your stories are always so wild! But…if you’re telling me that’s what you saw, then I’ve got to believe it. Sounds like we need to change our approach. Since they flew off, maybe we should redirect our efforts and dig into the Upheaval.” 

“But-” Wild sputtered, clearly distressed.

“ For now, at least. They’re heroes too, so I’m sure they’ll be okay. I’ve already got a few regions in mind to start exploring. I bet we’ll pick up clues about where they flew off to as we look around. Can I see the Purah Pad for a sec?” Once she was handed the pad, she looked through it for a few moments before saying, “It’s a little worse for wear and your missing features, but…seems to be functioning fine. Map, map, map…aha! Oh, right. I forgot that before we can look at your overall map of Hyrule…we need to add map data from right around Lookout Landing, since you don't have any right now. And for that, we need our Skyview Tower.”

Josha ran toward all three of them. “Oh, Josha, perfect timing,” Purah said. “What’s the status of the Skyview Tower right now?”

“Let me see…” she turned to the massive tower. “Outwardly, the structure looks to be complete. Oh! But the travel point is still undergoing final adjustments!”

Purah frowned. “The travel point needs tweaking… Sounds like I better get cracking. Sorry about this, you two. I’ll fix it up quickly, so just hang tight,” she told them.

“Oh, don’t worry. You can’t be everywhere at once, Purah,” Flora replied.

“Yes, yes, I know. But, in the meantime, why don’t you rest up? You must be pretty tired.” She glared at them. “The emergency shelter is just the spot for you both. It has free beds and a kitchen, so it’s well stocked for getting some rest and rejuvenating yourself. If you want more info…talk to the soldier who’s watching over everything from the center—right where the emergency shelter entrance is. If you need your clothes repaired or just want new clothes, you should go to Mub’s shop. I’ll be over by our Skyview Tower, so when you’re ready to head out, just let me know.”

“Thanks, Purah,” Wild murmured, smiling a little.

“No problem, Linky. Oh, by the way, your brothers are down in the shelter, but they’ve been tearing themselves to pieces since you left again. Wait for them, talk a little bit, and come to the Skyview Tower.”

Flora and Wild nodded, then made their way to the guard in the center of Lookout Landing. “Oh, Princess Zelda and Link! We’re glad to have you back. My name is Scorpis. I have been charged with managing Lookout Landing. If you have any questions about the place, any at all, come right to me. I will answer as best I can.” Scorpis told them.

“Oh, thank you!” Flora gave the man a smile, which he returned.

“Now please, allow me to open up the emergency shelter.” As he said that, he turned and looked down at the Triforce symbol on the ground. He slammed the butt of his spear into it and shouted, “HEY! It’s ME! Open up!”

The plate with the Triforce unscrewed itself, the second layer following. It went into the side of the ground, and the two of them stared at the new hole. They’d definitely improved the issues with the opening while they were gone.

“Wonderful job!” she complimented.

“Oh, thank your friend with the colorful tunic. He helped with some of the metal plates causing issues,” Scorpis replied. Must’ve been Four. “Anyway, this underground vault used to be an emergency shelter for the…oh. Right. You already know that…” the guard murmured sheepishly. “But, uh, now we’re making constant use of it. Feel free to make yourself at home in our vault. Use any equipment you want.”

The pair made their way down into the shelter and took in their surroundings. When they left, it was still in development. Now, it seemed to be done. They saw Robbie’s wife, Jerrin, and Sky sweeping dust away from a wall, three beds where one man was lying down seemingly sick, another was awake but resting, and Time was fast asleep in the last. Hyrule was carefully watching over all three of them. They decided not to bother him. Warriors was standing next to some man looking at a map marked up with red ink. Four and another man were polishing weapons and gear, faces grim. Twilight was cooking next to another man, who was watching him work. The last space just had three members of the Zonai research team looking through stuff.

The two of them went to change into new clothes, the “Hylian Set,” as many shopkeepers called it. Wild needed a new cloak anyway. The red and green tunic made Wild’s heart stutter, the same colors as the veteran’s chosen clothing. Minus the pants and style, of course. They washed up, brushing and washing their filthy hair. They met each other back in the main area, then started deciding where to go first. 

Wild and Flora walked over to Jerrin and Sky. “Hey, I know those faces!” she exclaimed. Sky glanced up, took a deep breath, and gave them a quick smile before returning to work. “And any face I know is the face of a friend.” A bit naive, but she meant well. “Please, you two. Help yourselves to anything in this shelter. It’s all yours to use as you see fit. But don’t you dare go making a mess of this place and kicking up dust! I spend so much time cleaning in here, and there’s still endless amounts of dust. Where does all this dust even come from anyway?” Jerrin grumbled.

They passed Hyrule with a wave, then accidentally bumped into a man. By the look of his style and the smell of sea salt, Wild guessed that he was from Lurelin Village. “So, you guys are Link and Zelda! Or, uh, Wild and Flora, as some people are calling you. Some of the soldiers were just telling me. As a simple man from Lurelin, I’m a little starstruck. We don’t see a lot of celebrities back home!” he rambled.

“Oh, celebrities? I’m not sure-” Flora quickly started before Wild started talking.

“Lurelin, huh? I haven’t been over there in a while. How is it?” he asked.

“Well, it used to be a popular resort, thanks to its sandy white beaches and gorgeous views of the sparkling sea. Then we got attacked by pirates. Now, no one’s living there, let alone running the shops…” The man’s attitude dampened, and Wild gave him a quick smile.

“Is everyone alright? I’ll try to get over there and help out when I get a chance.”

“Really? You will? Well, no one’s been seriously hurt, but we’ve all been scattered and some of us were hurt. But, hey, if not for the pirates, my wife and I wouldn’t have come here. I’m grateful to be able to see the charms of Lookout Landing. No matter where you go, Goddess Statues look the same. I find that comforting,” he admitted. 

With a short goodbye, the two of them wandered over to Warriors and the other man, who were looking at a marked map. “Hm?” the other man murmured as he caught sight of them. “Oh! It’s you, Link and Zelda! Pardon me for being lost in my work here. This map tends to get all my attention. When I’m out on a deployment with the monster-control crew, I spend hours poring over our maps. As such, I’m the most knowledgeable in Lookout Landing about Hyrule’s various peoples and their towns and villages.”

“Hm, yes. Many of the aforementioned towns and villages have been deeply affected by the Upheaval,” Warriors murmured. “The monster control crew, usually with all of us going out with them, patrols every day, gathering information from everyone…everywhere.”

“There’s been an increase in the number of unfamiliar monsters since the Upheaval as well. Be careful out there,” the man told them.

“Unfamiliar monsters?” Wild asked, looking over to Warriors.

“Yeah. None of them seem to be any of ours, unless they’re enemies that we haven’t fought from Wind and Legend’s time. There are versions of monsters that have the same names and characteristics, but they’re versions of these monsters adapted to this time,” he answered.

Wild nodded slowly, then they headed over to Four and their partner. Four glanced up for a split second, his eyes gleaming blue. “Oh, Wild, you’re here. Both of us have been nose down, so we don’t really know anything that’s going on around us half of the time. But this gear’s pretty involved, because of that stupid fucking gloom, so we’re going to be sitting here while we work on these.”

“I’m sure you’ve heard, but when the Upheaval happened, all of the weapons decayed. We’ve both poured so much energy into trying to fix them, but it’s been no use,” Four’s partner added, not looking up from his work.

“What did happen to decay them?” Flora asked.

“Well, just before the Upheaval, gloom started to pour out of the ground. It clung to all of our gear, pulsing like it was alive. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was. All of us watched as the weapons and some armor rotted to pieces in front of us. Honestly, at a time when the castle can float, most people have given up trying to make sense of most things. Oh, and you’re welcome to the weapons over there,” Four added, his eyes flickering red in the lighting. “They won’t last as long as your normal weapons do, not that they last long anyway—” back to blue eyes, “—but still. They should work. At least it’s not too bad if they break.”

They walked over to the kitchen area, talking to the man behind Twilight. “Oh, hey, you’re a fresh face to me. You may scoff, but I know a new face when I see one. I can say that because I’m a newcomer too! My name’s Burmano, and they put me to work with this guy for cooking! Apparently his name is Twilight. Interesting name, huh? But anyway, when I get to cooking by myself, I want to say something fancy like,” he posed, “‘for today’s menu, we have a fruit and mushroom mix that’ll rev you right up!’ Yeah, I was really looking forward to saying that, but…I’m plumb out of apples! If I don’t have my most important ingredient, say goodbye to rich, full flavor.”

After a moment, he sniffed. Wild motioned for the Purah Pad, which Flora gave him. “Do you-”

“Mmm… My nose is detecting an aroma, a sweet, tangy, pleasant aroma. Could it be? Do you have an apple?” Burmano exclaimed. 

Wild repressed a sigh. “Yeah, here. Take this,” the hero of the wild said as he handed the other man an apple. 

“Wow! You’re really generous! I’m giving you first crack at some grub. Hold on a sec!” A moment later, Burmano went over to a spare cooking pot and made them both some food. “I’m calling it ‘Burmano’s special fruit and mushroom mix!’ Looks tasty, doesn’t it?” he asked as he handed them both some fruit and mushroom mix. “I like to make a big deal out of it, but…anyone can make it. All you need is an apple, a mushroom, and a pot. You should try making some!”

With that, Burmano ran off. Wild tapped Twilight on the shoulder, since he was staring blankly at the cooking pot, evidently waiting for the next step. “Huh? Oh, hey, Cub. Hey, Flora. How’re you two feelin?” he asked.

“Better than before, at least. How are you feeling?” Wild asked next.

“Well, I’m fine now that I know you two’re safe. What happened up at the castle?”

“We saw Legend and Wind,” Flora began before Twilight turned to them.

“You what?!”

“Well, we saw them, they disappeared into two gold balls, then floated away. I dunno what’s going on there, but we’re planning on talking to some other people, then we’ll figure out what to do from there.” Wild shrugged, then laughed awkwardly at Twilight’s bewildered expression.

“Well- just- a’right then. Jus’ let us know b’fore you leave, ‘kay? We’ll come with ya once we decide where t’ go,” Twilight told them, shaking his head in disbelief with wide eyes.

“Of course,” Flora replied, giving Twilight a quick pat on the shoulder.

“Oh, right, meant t’ ask. Why ain’t ya getting back into your champion’s tunic? Yer always talkin’ about how comfortable that thing is.” Twilight turned back to them.

Wild sighed and looked down, his face filled with (exaggerated) sadness. “It was partly destroyed under the castle. And I couldn’t get into anything else, since the slate didn’t have anything in it when we got it back.”

“Ah, sorry ‘bout that, Cub.”

They walked away, talked a bit to other people in the shelter and helped around. They washed up and used some extra beds in another room to sleep. Now they were exhausted. After a bit, Time woke up, shortly followed by Wild and Flora. The pair walked over to him, apologetic looks on their faces. “Sorry for making you so worried…” Wild apologized.

“Yes, I’m alright. Thank you both. How are you two feeling? I shouldn't have let you two go off without support again.” Time was rubbing his face, clearly still a bit exhausted.

“Time, if I may, you passed out. We couldn’t make you come with us in good conscience. And it seemed like you needed your rest, from what we’d heard,” Flora replied with a reassuring smile.

Time sighed and shook his head, but gave them a smile anyway. “Hyrule told me that Purah wanted all of us back at the Skyview Tower, so let’s get the others and make our way over there.”

With a nod, Wild and Flora gathered half of the chain while Time and Hyrule gathered the other half. They left the shelter and blinked away the tears that pricked up when the brightness of the sky overloaded their eyes.

The Chain walked over to the large tower where Purah was inside, screwing a couple last things in as she muttered, “if I put this here, then that goes there… No, no, that’s not quite it. Aha! That should do it." She turned around. “Oh, you’re all here? I assume everything’s been talked out?” Purah asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Yes, everything’s been solved,” Time told her with a small yawn.

“Did you sleep well?” she asked with a small grin. Wild and Flora, behind Time, heard multiple members of the Chain snort or fight back a laugh. Time gave her a look, and she relented. “Alright, alright. Well, I just wrapped up here myself. The travel point is working fine now. Or, well, it will be once you do your part. Wild, come here.”

Wild walked up to Purah, and she handed him a new paraglider. Well, the same Champion’s Tunic fabric, but with a new frame. The poor old thing was about to break, so he was glad to have a replacement. She handed another to Flora with the Gerudo Champion fabric. “Thank you,” Flora whispered, staring at the design.

“Alright.” Purah turned to her study. “We’re ready Josha! Pull the switch!” she yelled.

From the study, she waved and nodded. She flipped a large switch on the side of the building, turning the veins in the Sheikah tech to turn from orange to blue. Four beams of light lit up on the corners of the tower as the inside of it glowed orange. The hatch at the top of the tower flipped open and a massive flare shot out to the sky. Several other towers across Hyrule followed close behind, doing the same. The hatch flipped shut once more.

“All of the Skyview Towers have now been activated!” Josha shouted.

Purah gave the young Sheikah girl a thumbs up, then turned to Wild. “Okay, Wild! Your turn!”

“My what?”

He tensed when he heard members of the Chain either stifling laughs or just laughing outright. Flora just looked confused and gave him a shrug. Purah laughed and pointed to the Sheikah terminal. “Go hold the Purah Pad over that terminal.”

Wild did as told, the terminal shining blue in response to the pad. The travel gate in front of the doors of the tower glowed blue, as did the inside of the tower. The hatch opened once more, and he gave Purah a wary look.

“Oh, don’t worry. The Skyview Tower is now active on your map. Now, you can use this travel point whenever you please. All of the other towers should do the same, but let me know if there are any issues. But anyway, the Skyview Tower’s primary function is to survey the area and make a map, which your Purah Pad is missing. Your group, including you, Flora, are the only ones who have what it takes. I trust you the most with it, since you used it all the time for your last adventure. Now, it’s time for our very first test launch— I mean… our first test. Just step onto the glowing circle inside of the tower, then come back to me when you’re done. I’ll be observing from the research lab.”

Wild stared at Purah. That was a lot of information. The easy way to say it, was to just say that the Skyview Towers make the maps, and Wild was the one she trusted the most. But Wild relented. The “test launch” part concerned him. But Purah probably wouldn’t kill him.

Probably.

“Oh, also. I’ll brief you on the search for your missing brothers, and then I’ll update your map to show the places where the Upheaval caused the most havoc,” Purah told him before walking away to her lab. 

Wild got the Purah Pad from Flora, then stepped onto the blue circle and froze when six guardian arms came up from beneath the floor. His gaze flicked from arm to arm. One of them grabbed his left arm, then three more grabbed his other limbs. 

Oh.

Right.

The guardians and other Sheikah tech had been deconstructed for un-possessable materials, like to be used for these Towers.

Another attached a glowing Sheikah device with a cord wrapped around its base. The final arm stuck the end of the cord into his Purah Pad. He felt the platform he stood on start to shake and heard something inflating below them, then immediately became aware of what was going on.

He prayed to Hylia.

Wild was rapidly sent up through the center of the tower, then shot out. The cord unraveled, connected to the tower. When Wild wasn’t accelerating to the skies anymore, he pulled out his Purah Pad and started to move the camera around the land below him. The camera on the back glowed blue, taking the information through the cord and back down. The cord went from orange to blue, and Wild checked the map.

On it, he saw Central Hyrule colored in with roads, travel gates, and everything else that was important. Thank Hylia it wasn’t difficult to get Central Hyrule filled out like it was on his first adventure. That was a nightmare. He could at least see the light and dark grey contrast to locate places like the Korok Forest, Zora’s Domain, Rito Village, and other areas.

He was a bit surprised to see the map bring itself to display the sky, then color a few tiny islands. Practically nothing compared to the Great Sky Island south and a bit east of Central Hyrule. He started diving down back to Lookout Landing, taking notice of how high up Hyrule Castle was. When he reached the ground, he pulled out his paraglider and stumbled out to his laughing brothers.

“What the fuck, you couldn’t have warned me?!” he snapped, no heat in his tone.

“Sorry, Wild. We wanted it to be a surprise,” Sky admitted, letting out a few more not at all hidden chuckles.

Wild glared, but they went back to Purah. “Welcome back! That was some good gliding up there, Wild. I expected nothing less.” Wild glared at her too. “Oh come on, that was good. But anyway, did you get a proper map scan?”

“Yeah, here,” Wild answered, handing her the Purah Pad. 

Flora skipped behind Purah and peeked over her shoulder. “Oh, good job, Wild! Everything’s filled in perfectly,” she told him with a smile.

“Yeah, good. That map is crucial to our search. There are Skyview Towers in every region in Hyrule. You’ll want to visit them all. Now, let’s get back to the Upheaval. It’s affected more than just the castle. Reports of other strange phenomena have been coming in from everywhere. ” Purah put a pin on where Rito Village stood. “The first report comes from Hebra to the northwest. Rito Village, specifically. Then, Eldin to the northeast, Goron City. The Gerudo are reporting troubles in Gerudo Town to the southwest. And finally, Zora’s Domain is having troubles in Lanayru to the east.”

“What’s going on in each of them?” Flora asked. Purah gestured to the Chain.

Sky stepped up first. “I’ve been helping in communications with the Rito. There’s a massive blizzard overtaking the area. It’s causing troubles with food and communications, since the bridge between their village and the area surrounding it broke. They can’t fly high enough to find what’s causing the blizzard and stop it.”

Then Time stepped forward. “I’ve been working with the remaining Gorons. Yunobo dug up a different type of Rock Roast that they’ve been calling Marbled Rock Roast. It’s been sort of taking up their minds and making them just want to eat that and not do their jobs or communicate. The elderly, the children, and the few other Gorons that haven’t eaten it are the only ones who are communicating with us. The afflicted Gorons are also becoming aggressive toward those who don’t eat it or are visiting Death Mountain.”

Four and Twilight turned to Wild and Flora. “It’s been exceedingly difficult to talk to the Gerudo, but from what we can tell, the massive sand shroud covering the desert has caused them to retreat to an underground bunker. Gibdos have been popping up everywhere, some even with wings, and they take hardly any damage from all of the Gerudo’s weapons. Plus, quicksand and fissures are causing a number of disappearances, since those who try to enter or leave can’t see because of the storm,” Four informed them.

Finally, Warriors turned to the duo with Hyrule following. “Hyrule and I have been working with the Zora. Sludge coming from the islands above that supplied them with pure water are now sullying their water. Many Zoras are dying or getting close to dying from the sludge obstructing their gills and slowing them down. Dorephan is recovering elsewhere while he recovers from the sludge, and his throne room is being used as protection for the other Zoras.”

Flora and Wild stared at each other and the others. How had everything become so terrible in just a few months? “What about Sidon? How is he?” Wild demanded, looking a bit frantic.

“Oh, as far as we know, he’s okay. He’s trying to purify the water near where the sludge is pouring down,” Hyrule answered.

Wild sighed in relief. “What about Riju, Teba, and Yunobo?” Flora asked.

“Riju’s okay. She’s trying to hone her lightning abilities, but she’s retreating back underground to the bunker through a secret tunnel, from what I know,” Four replied.

“Teba’s alright. He’s working to find the cause of the blizzard and is trying to lead Rito Village so that they’ll be okay. His son, Tulin, is trying to go to the heart of the blizzard though. He believes that he can get there. But he hasn’t gotten hurt yet, and Teba is trying to keep him from going, so he should be fine by the time we get there to help,” Sky answered.

“Yunobo’s refusing contact. The only way we get anything from the Gorons is one of the unafflicted ones sneaking out and sending us information,” Time added, looking more tense than the other two.

Flora nodded grimly. Purah stepped toward them. “I can’t say for certain, but…I’ve got a nagging suspicion that we may find out more about Legend and Wind by looking into these phenomena.

Chapter Text

After they spoke for a bit longer about the regions, Josha turned to Purah, saying, “hey, Doc… I don’t know if this is helpful, but I heard something weird the other day… It was something about someone who might’ve seen the two missing heroes at Rito Village in Hebra recently.”

“Really? Yeah, that is pretty weird. Generally speaking, I don’t put much stock in hearsay. But, this time, it does sound like it’s something worth looking into. Oh, by the way, we’ve asked the Lucky Clover Gazette—the newspaper group—to help us in the search for your brothers. There’s nobody who knows more about the going-on in Hyrule than them. They’re just by the broken bridge to Rito Village. If you go there, you should speak with the editor. I’m sure she’d help out in some way, too. If you ever need my help, I’ll be here directing a variety of investigations into the Upheaval’s many chasms and new ruins, along with the different villages. I’m sure one of them might have someone who knows what happened to Legend and Wind.” Purah explained.

“The chasms?” Flora asked.

“Yeah, they’re holes to the Depths. It’s a really dark area underneath Hyrule practically covered in gloom. You should talk to Josha if you have questions,” Purah answered.

Purah walked into her lab as Josha began to run down the stairs. 

Time glanced around at the group. “Alright, we should take a day or two to recoup and get supplies. Which region should we go to first?” he asked.

“I think we should go to the Rito first. They’re running low on food and it’s only going to get colder. The longer we wait to get there, the colder it’ll get,” Sky said.

“I want to go to Zora’s Domain, but yeah, it’s probably smarter to go to Hebra first,” Wild admitted. Multiple agreements sounded around.

While the Chain started to prepare to spend the night in the bunker again, Flora and Wild walked over to a tall, white Rito in front of the Skyview Tower. He wasn’t there before. “Well, look at this. You’re the one I saw flying around the sky,” he observed, turning to Flora. “You must be his partner. Anyway, it’s great to meet the first one to ever be launched from a Skyview Tower. A real historic moment. What are your names?”

“I’m Flora, and this is Wild,” the princess told the Rito.

“Hm…Flora and Wild, you say? Hold on there…really, your names are Flora and Wild?” They nodded. “Hey, buddy… you’ve got the same nicknames as the princess and that famous swordsman. Ha, good for you! Pretty big names to live up to though.”

The two of them stared at the Rito. They noticed a few posters with their faces on them, so he should’ve recognized them. Oh well.

“I’m Penn, by the way. I work for the Lucky Clover Gazette. I’m writing an article about this event, so folks everywhere will know about the Skyview Towers being activated! I’d better get to work. Our newspaper is short on staff, so I’ve had to flap all over the place to cover the news. Hey, we could use another reporter! You should join us. You both seem like the brave type and all—that’s what it takes. Our newspaper is based in Hebra to the northwest. You’ll find it near the bridge that leads to Rito Village. Stop by if you’re up for the adventure of a lifetime…in the newspaper biz! Say, are you two with that group of six that helps the monster control crew?” Penn rambled. Wow, he was a talker.

“Yeah, we are. They’re my family,” Wild answered.

“Oh, nice! Definitely the brave types. Until then… Soar long! ” Penn exclaimed, flying away in seconds. 

“Well, he was a talkative person,” Flora commented. 

“Definitely,” Wild agreed dryly.

They walked toward some weapons which seemed incredibly decayed, like the Master Sword. Wild, still holding the Purah Pad, took out a wooden stick and put it down, grabbing the hilt of one of the swords.

“You interested in a sword?” a bored voice asked.

“Yes, actually,” Flora replied.

“There we have a soldier’s broadsword, a knight’s broadsword, and a royal broadsword. They’re a bit worn, but they’ve got some life left in them. Feel free to take them. Each sword handles differently, so it’s wise to try out different types,” he said, not looking at them as he swung his sword.

“Oh, thank you!” Flora told him, grabbing a royal broadsword.

“They’re a little worse for wear, but they’re fine swords, just the same. Take good care of that one.” Wild shifted. Four would definitely be giving him a lecture about taking care of his swords if he was reminded. 

“I need to keep practicing so I can someday become as fine a swordsman as the legendary Link!” the man exclaimed with much more enthusiasm.

Flora poked Wild in the side with a smile. They went to where Josha had been running and found her with Robbie, another familiar face. Robbie turned to them and said, “Hey, you two— you’re actually back! It’s been a long time! Yeesh, do you have any idea how worried we’ve been about you? Purah told me everything! Is it true you’ve got the Purah Pad? Purah and I worked together on the design, but I’m the one who put it together, you know. We should’ve called it the Robbie Pad, technically speaking.”

Beside him, Josha looked incredibly annoyed. “Come ON, Goggles! Have you even been listening to me?” she asked.

“Oh! Uh, yes! Sorry, you were saying?”

They must’ve been arguing before Wild and Flora came in. Whoops.

“I was SAYING—” Josha continued, “—that I want to go investigate the Depths! Look, if you’re not gonna listen to me, I’ll go and jump into a chasm myself!”

“No way, no how! You can’t do that! The Depths are far too vast for you to explore on your own. And we’ve only barely begun to look into them,” Robbie rebutted.

“It’s been a few months since we disappeared, correct? How much have you explored?” Flora asked.

“Hardly anything! It’s far too dangerous and we only recently found a way to get in and out reliably!” Robbie answered, but he wasn’t done. He turned back to Josha. “I’d love to go gallivanting around down there too—who knows what wonders are at the bottom of those chasms! But , no matter how wondrous they may be, it’s far too dangerous for you. I’m not about to allow our young prodigy to go wandering around somewhere so unknown, so foul! If anything were to happen to Purah’s favorite student, it’d be the end for me! The END!” 

“But I need more on that figure! If we have more info on it, then it should help us better understand the Depths!” Josha snapped back. Flora really felt for Josha, she did. She’d been there before.

“What figure?” Wild asked, interrupting her thoughts. 

“Oh, Swordsman! Sorry, I didn’t mean to leave you two out of the conversation. Let me get you up to speed. I’m the head of Depths research. Our survey team brought back some artifacts from a journey into the Depths. One of them caught my eye,” Josha explained. She pointed to a piece of stone with a figure carved into it. It was small compared to the board it sat on, but it looked like there was more to it. “This piece of slate. Specifically, the image depicted on it. See that figure standing on two legs with one arm raised up? Well, I have a theory.”

Flora and Josha stepped closer to it while Wild and Robbie stood a little ways away. “What’s your theory?” Flora asked. Now she was in her element.

“I think it could be evidence that a mysterious people once lived in the Depths. That’s why I want to go down there—so I can see if there are any more depictions like this one. I want to see for myself!” Josha told her.

“Hm, I see…… Well, it’s certainly interesting…and a good theory, at that.”

“Oh, great. There’s two of them.” Robbie looked over to Wild with an exasperated expression behind his goggles. Wild just shrugged with an amused smile.

“Yeah. But Goggles here says it’s too dangerous, and he won’t let me go,” the girl murmured, her head down.

“Josha, come on now…” Robbie started.

“What about if we go down there? We can see if there’s anything else about the figure on that slate,” Flora offered.

“Flora, the Purah Pad’s camera is broken. If we find something that we can’t carry back, we can’t do anything,” Wild told her.

“I’ll come with you two and fix it on the way down. That way, we can take pictures when we’re down there. There will be lots of monsters in the Depths though. So I’ll be counting on you to keep me safe,” Robbie said.

Flora nodded, and Wild sighed. 

“Sounds good, then. Let’s see…I guess we should enter through the chasm to the south of Lookout Landing. I’ll go on ahead. Once you’re ready and rarin’ to go, come find me there.”

“Wait! Hang on-” 

But Robbie was already sprinting out of Lookout Landing. For a man over 100 years old, he was fast. Surprisingly fast.

Four stepped out of the bunker and was nearly pushed right back down by him running by. They looked at Wild with a surprised look. Wild shrugged with a small smile.

“Looks like he’s gone… I’m sorry you both got roped into all of this, Swordsman, Princess. Goggles means well…but when he wants to help me, he leaps before he looks,” Josha said.

“Oh, I know. He’s always been that way,” Flora added.

Josha nodded and laughed a little. “Here, maybe this will help you out, at least.” She handed Flora ten Brightbloom seeds, which she set into her Purah Pad. “Oh—” Flora looked up at her, “—and take this too.” Josha handed five arrows to Wild, who put the arrows in his quiver.

Just as the two of them were about to leave, Josha stopped them. “The chasms are pretty deep, so light from the surface doesn’t make it down there. It’s pitch black! But, if you attach a Brightbloom Seed to an arrow and shoot it, it’ll light up the area. Definitely a useful trick down there! Now, you’ll want to head straight out of Lookout Landing’s southern gate. You’ll find the chasm Goggles used just outside. I don’t know too much about how your camera works, but I’m counting on you to bring me that picture. Oh, and please look after Goggles for me!”

With a wave and a smile, the two of them walked out of Josha’s area and started to leave toward the southern gate. Flora made a quest on the Purah Pad called “Camera Work in the Depths.” They took their horse and made their way to the edge of the smoking chasm, grabbing more Dazzlefruits and another Light of Blessing. Flora could tell that Wild was glad none of his brothers came out to stop him from leaving.

“Go on,” he muttered to the horse. He fed it an apple and pushed it toward a small herd of horses. It nuzzled Wild, then trotted off. 

“He was a good horse…” Flora said, patting Wild on the shoulder. They looked back to the chasm.

The chasm itself had blood red mist wafting up from inside and there were pools of gloom around and outside of the massive hole. And true to Josha’s word, the bottom of the chasm wasn’t even in sight. 

Flora’s foot accidentally grazed the gloom, and a sickly-sounding voice rang out. “N-no! Travelers, don’t do it! If you touch that, well…” Flora and Wild turned to the voice, moving away from the gloom. The man was sitting in a tent, pale and tired looking even from so far away. “It’ll sap your strength,” he said, “and you’ll end up like me…too sluggish to move…”

Flora yelled thanks to the man, then moved over to a little overhang above the chasm where another scientist was peering over, murmuring something about Robbie. “You said something about Robbie?” Wild asked.

The man jumped and nearly teetered off the edge, but Wild grabbed the back of his shirt. “WH-WHOA! HEY! What’s the big idea?! You can’t just walk up behind someone who’s standing on the edge of a chasm!” Wild apologized, but he wasn’t finished. “My colleague who works with me on the Zonai Survey Team is down there. What would happen if I slipped and fell on him, huh? HUH?!”

“Sir, please, it was a mistake. Our friend Robbie is down there, and we heard you say something about him,” Flora explained, putting herself between the hero and the researcher.

He huffed. “Don’t startle me again! Anyway, I’m deep in my investigation work at the moment.” The man, rather than saying anything about Robbie, looked back over the edge.

Wild rolled his eyes, then dove off the edge. Flora followed closely, her paraglider in hand. Of course Wild didn’t have his out yet. The researcher started to yell, but his voice got quieter and quieter as they descended. 

The walls were covered in a thick, gooey layer of bright red and seemingly glowing gloom. They dropped down above a small campsite, where there was a little fire, a lit Brightbloom, and a small hot air balloon. A man stood in it, peering out into the darkness. “How far did Robbie go?” he murmured.

“Um, excuse me?” Flora asked, tapping him on the shoulder.

“Wha- Oh! M-my apologies, Princess. Oh, and you too, Link. Er, uh, Flora and Wild, now. Right?” The poor man was stumbling over his words, clearly a little surprised. Robbie had probably told him that ‘Zelda and Link’ were mainly using ‘Flora and Wild’ with their companions.

“Yes, you’re right. It’s a pleasure to meet you!” Flora gave him a soft smile.

“Oh, it’s a pleasure to meet you too. I am Ponnick, from the Zonai Survey Team. Robbie told me to guide you two to him once he arrived. But…he rushed along with such haste that I didn’t bring enough brightbloom seeds, and now I’ve run out. …So I lost sight of him,” Ponnick explained.

“Do you need any right now? We’ve got extras,” Wild offered, grabbing the Purah Pad.

“Oh, thank you, but I’m happy to stay here in the light. I’d rather not go further in just yet.” 

“Okay, then.” Wild handed the pad back to Flora.

“I thought—” Ponnick continued. “—he was taking a short walk over to that glowing area over there.” He pointed to a glowing orange…not quite pustule, but close enough, that was surrounded by thick vines. It reached up to the top of the Depths. From what Flora could see, there was a little floating stem of magic, similar to the magic used for Ascend, but it went from orange to bright green. Then Ponnick pointed to a small campfire near it. “Then he just kept going…and going…” he turned to another, farther campfire. “And last I saw him, he was heading way out there, off to the west.”

Flora stared out to the last campfire they could see. Of course he kept going. Because of course. He’s Robbie. Why did she think otherwise?

And off they headed to the glowing root with a goodbye from Ponnick. Wild threw a Brightbloom seed just to see a little better, scaring away a couple of bugs seemingly native to the Depths that gave off a little bit of light.

Arriving at the base of the root and stepping onto the white sand below the magic stem, they noticed the familiar green projection of two hands. The Purah Pad called the thing “Nisoij Lightroot.” What an odd name. Ponnick didn’t seem to know what they were, but Flora would try to find out anything about the Depths once she could.

“Hey, I don’t think we can reach that.” Flora turned to Wild after saying so, but he gave her a blank look.

“No. No we cannot.” 

Flora raised her left hand to the projection, trying to assess how to reach it. Wild followed, unaware of what she was doing, but happy to help nonetheless. The hologram dispersed and the magic went into the orange pustule before white light began to descend down the vines holding it.

It seemingly went into the orange ball, then it began glowing. They shielded their eyes as light surrounded them, turning the Lightroot bright white. More magic began to go down the vines into the ground in waves, making the ground a sea of light for a few moments. 

Once they could safely open their eyes, they found sand surrounding the ground around the whole Lightroot. Small, lush ferns surrounded the vines. From the gap in the vines showing a small part of the orange pustule, a cylinder of light came down and enveloped them in a gradient of gold to blue. A travel gate was formed in the center of the sand. 

The Purah Pad let out a small chime and they pulled it out. On their map, which now showed the Depths as well, a circle of the map was filled in. Rather than the blue and brown of the surface map, it was colored with purple, white, and a little bit of black. “The Lightroot dispelled the darkness and brightened the surrounding area,” the notification read.

They stepped over to a small table with a notepad on it beside the first of Robbie’s campfires. “Hey, you two!” it read. “It’s REALLY dark down here. Not one bit of light gets here from the surface. Even with my goggles, I can hardly see. I really should have brought some Brightbloom seeds with me.”

“He didn’t bring any of the seeds with him?” Wild asked, not quite surprised, but something similar.

“You aren’t really shocked, are you?”

“Not really, actually.”

“As one of the few sources of light, the glowing root growing down from above has piqued my curiosity. I’m not sure what it is, but it looks harmless enough. This place is roughly under the shrine on the surface. Hmm…” After finishing reading that note, Flora pulled out the Purah Pad and swiped up to the surface map.

“He’s right, it’s in the same spot!” the ex-princess exclaimed. 

“Woah, is it? I wonder if the Depths are more connected to the surface?” Wild wondered aloud, looking around at the darkness out of the reach of the Lightroot.

“Anyway,” the note continued, “I’m off to the glowing root I see shining west of here, so you both better hurry up and get moving!”

They walked off toward one of Robbie’s campfires, seeing another Lightroot in the distance. When they came across a long pool of gloom like a river in their path, they climbed up onto a rock and hopped off, using their paragliders to reach the other side.

Wild grabbed one of the Depths bugs, carefully holding it to not hurt it. It had four pairs of wings, two feathery antennae, cool coloring, and oddly enough, a glowing white bulb on its tail, letting out light. He managed to snag two more as they were flying away, quickly putting them in the Purah Pad in Flora’s outstretched hands.

“What does it say about it?” Wild asked.

“A Deep Firefly… it says that they’re multi-winged insects that live in the Depths. Apparently, they ‘excrete luminescent elements that can be cooked into an elixir, which will add a faint glow to anyone who consumes it.’” Flora answered with a hum.

“A faint glow? Huh, interesting…” Wild murmured.

They ran off to the second of Robbie’s campfires, which was only a few feet away. “Hey, you two! Still alive? Looks like this place is swimming in gloom!” the note read.

“I know I shouldn’t question it, but I really wonder how he’s survived this long.” Wild sighed. And honestly, Flora had to agree. 

“Don’t worry, I do too. He’s done such dangerous things since before the calamity, but he always ends up just fine. I’m inclined to believe that he made some sort of item to keep him from getting injured,” she told him.

Wild nodded. “Get too close to that stuff and you’re asking for trouble. If a guy didn’t have any Brightblooms, it’d be curtains!” it continued.

Flora stared at the note. Glancing at Wild, he was doing the same. “D-didn’t he say that he didn’t have any???” Flora asked, putting a hand against her forehead.

“Yep- yes he did,” Wild confirmed, exasperated.

The note continued with, “then again, it’s my first time down here, and I haven’t kicked the bucket… So I’m sure you’ll be fine. I’ve just spotted something of interest through my goggles. It’s shaped like that figure Josha wants us to find. I’ll be continuing to head west toward one of those glowing roots I see ahead. See ya soon!”

With tired sighs, they started walking into the darkness in the direction of the slightly glowing orange Lightroot in the distance. They found two bomb flowers and caught sight of little creatures walking around in the darkness. They grabbed another bomb flower and continued before noticing what seemed like a torch on some kind of white bone thing. They tossed a Brightbloom and heard around five noises of alarm, turning to the little creatures from before.

Awfully flat and green, they quickly waddled over to the pair. One of them let out a little distorted roar before launching at them. It missed, and Flora grabbed a weapon, as did Wild. After disposing of all five, they grabbed what they left behind. A couple Zonaite and Brightblooms. Odd.

They continued to the Lightroot, realizing that the bone…torch…thing was a display of a monster camp. There were a few monsters covered in gloom, mining away at Zonaite deposits. They ran in an arch, deciding to stay away for now. They grabbed something called a Puffshroom that spreads a cloud of fine spores, according to the Purah Pad. They grabbed a few more, then threw a Brightbloom seed again.

They ran around some gloom, but then heard the telling scream of a bokoblin. They spun around, seeing two gloom covered ones running straight for them. Luckily, it was just two and not the whole camp. But Flora’s heart suddenly dropped. “You don’t think they can be black blooded too, do you?” she asked, looking at the hero with wide eyes as they both pulled out their weapons. 

“By Hylia, I hope not.”

With that, they started attacking the bokoblins. One of them hit Wild, and he let out a groan as he felt like part of his life got sapped out. Then, Flora got hit once as well, feeling the same way. A bird monster covered in gloom spun toward them, but they dodged. They shot it, but one of the monsters at the camp sounded the alarm.

They quickly grabbed the dropped Zonaite, bokoblin fang, and bokoblin horn, then retreated toward the Lightroot. “Iayusus Lightroot,” it said. They noticed Robbie next to a campfire looking at them and the Lightroot with an odd expression, but they just activated it first.

Once it was done, the map connected the two lit areas into an odd ovular shape. They felt their life get returned, though they were still hurt. How odd. They walked over to Robbie, who just screeched, “what?!”

“What was what?” Wild asked smugly.

Flora smacked him on the shoulder, but she laughed. Robbie just stared at the Lightroot. “Look at how bright that thing got! That light down in this dark is downright refreshing. Hm… In fact, it’s so luminous, it’s almost like… Like we’re on the surface! Just standing near it makes me feel so much better. How strange.”

“Oh, so that’s what that was…” Wild muttered, glancing at the Lightroot.

“But anyway! You’re finally here! I need to show you what I’ve found. This statue—” Robbie pointed at a large statue that somehow they didn’t notice. “—It’s standing tall on two legs, one arm raised high… It looks an awful lot like the figure Josha showed us on that piece of slate, don’t you think?”

“It really does… But what could it mean……” Flora murmured. Wild snickered next to her. Nerd.

“Anyway, hand me your camera so I can fix it. How curious, the camera is one of the Purah Pad’s basic features,” Robbie said.

“Perhaps it was broken somehow? I believe it fell down with Legend and Wind, but somehow the construct on the Great Sky Island had it,” Flora guessed.

“Hm, perhaps. Here, give me that Purah Pad for a second, all right?” Robbie held out his hand. Flora gave him the Purah Pad.

He looked at it for a few moments before exclaiming, “well! There’s the problem! Your camera is locked. And so’s your Hyrule Compendium. Hang on. If I remember correctly… You press this while you pull this, and then you tap that, and… Done!”

Flora took the Purah Pad back and Wild peeked over her shoulder as the Hyrule Compendium loaded. “Aww…all of my old pictures are gone,” Wild complained.

“Unfortunately, yes. The only data that did stay were those pictures you took beneath the castle. Any data from the Purah Pad before then is gone. Including the old runes that we put into it from the Sheikah Slate,” Robbie answered apologetically. 

“What?!” Wild exclaimed, groaning. Then he sighed, saying, “at least I left those scrapbooks with all of the pictures from it with my brothers.” The scrapbooks in question were actually made by Flora. The first one was just pictures from Wild’s adventure (mostly selfies of him in the middle of dangerous battles.) and the second was still growing with pictures from his adventure with his brothers.

“Well, at least you can take better pictures now?” Flora said, her words coming out as more of a question than a statement. Wild sighed, but nodded.

“Now you should be able to use both the camera and your Hyrule Compendium without any issues. If something’s not working, come to me and I’ll fix it for ya. So! Go capture a picture of that statue! This is a good chance to verify that it’s working properly. Test it out. Experience is the best teacher, after all! Once you’ve captured the image, come back here. I’ll want to see how it looks,” Robbie instructed.

Wild opened up the camera and took a quick picture of the large statue. After observing the picture for a minute, he deemed it good and handed it to Flora and Robbie. “Oh, good job, Wild!” Flora complimented.

“ Stupendous! ” Robbie shouted, surprising the two of them. “Looks like you’ve captured it well. I’m sure Josha will be satisfied with this. Lighting up that immense root… Getting us a picture of the statue… You both have just started helping us research what’s down here, but soon enough we’re going to have even more to investigate. Well then, it’s time I head back up to the surface. See you at Lookout Landing. Don’t make Josha wait too long for that picture!"

And off he went.

Chapter Text

Flora opened the Purah Pad and grabbed Wild’s hand, swiping up to the surface map and clicking on the Skyview Tower’s icon. She clicked to Travel, taking a deep breath as she felt her body take itself apart.

She and Wild, still holding hands, materialized back at Lookout Landing’s Skyview Tower. Penn was back to standing next to the tower. They walked back to Josha’s office. Somehow, Robbie was already there. “Hey! You!” he yelled.

“We’re right here…” Wild muttered, rubbing his ears with a frown.

“Show Josha the picture you took of the statue. The figure matches up pretty well—and it looks darn cool too!” Flora clicked on the picture and handed the Purah Pad to Josha.

“This is it! This does match what’s on the fragment! Thank you both! Just like on the slate, this figure must be showing people of some sort, whoever they were! Which confirms my theory—that people lived in the Depths! I’m sure we’ll find more traces of them if we keep searching.” Josha told them, cheering.

“They must’ve been the people to name the glowing plants in the Depths!” Flora exclaimed.

“The glowing plants?” the young researcher asked.

“Yeah! When Wild and I activated them, they lit up part of the Depths. Our Purah Pad called them Lightroots, but I didn’t know if you came up with the name or if it was something else.” Flora answered.

“Some of our researchers tried to activate those, but we couldn’t find a way to,” Josha murmured.

“We saw the same holograms that were on those up on the Great Sky Island. It probably has to do with my arm and Flora’s jewelry,” Wild theorized.

“This is…A BIG, BIG, BIG DISCOVERY! Now, what’s next?! The possibilities… There’s so much more to research… Oh, but before I focus on that… There’s something I want to give you as thanks for helping with this stage of my investigation. Our earlier surveys of the Depths found all of this. What do you think it’s for?” Josha asked, handing them five Zonaite. “I feel as if these contain some kind of strange power—like maybe it’s energy for something. Anyway, they might help you in your search for your fellow heroes. So hopefully you find them useful! But thank you, that fragment has helped us see the Depths in a new way. Now we’re closer to understanding one of its mysteries! I’m going to sift through everything that our surveys have brought back from down there. Maybe there are even more fragments that I can piece together! Goggles! Heroes! Thank you so much for going to investigate the Depths for me!” Josha exclaimed, giving Flora, who was the closest to her, a hug.

“Of course! Let me know if you find anything of note, please?” Flora asked with a smile.

“You got it, Princess!”

Wild took notice of an unassuming well nearby and decided to jump inside, because that was normal. Inside, he swam against a small current and grabbed some Brightbloom seeds and one Giant Brightbloom seed. He broke through a rock wall and crawled through the small hole. Inside, he grabbed more seeds and opened a chest to find a Royal Claymore. 

They met back up and went back down into the shelter and cooked some food. Flora paused when she heard him hum a song that her mother used to sing to her. She’d heard Legend hum it below the castle, as well. “How do you know that song?” she murmured.

“Oh, I’ve heard you hum it sometimes and Time’s played it on his ocarina before. Oh, and I’ve heard Legend humming it. Why?” Wild asked. 

“It’s something that my mother used to sing to me. I just haven’t heard someone else play it in a while, that’s all,” she replied.

He looked over at her. “Let me know if you ever want me to stop, alright?” he asked.

She nodded and smiled. They cooked a bit more, then moved to collect everyone and went back up to the top. They gathered around the front of Lookout Landing after talking with Purah.

“So, what’s our plan?” Hyrule asked.

“Well, we were planning to go to Hebra and help the Rito, since they’re needs are the most dire at the moment. But unfortunately, we no longer have a horse, and I’d assume that none of you do either,” Flora said.

“No, we went everywhere on foot,” Twilight said.

“Well, there’s some more horses over there, and actually…wait. Hey, that one is the one from earlier! Hell yeah!” Wild cheered.

“Language…” Time sighed.

So all eight of them made their way around where the horses were.

“Okay, I’ll go get ours from earlier, but there’s not enough horses for everybody to get their own,” Wild said.

“I’ll share with someone,” Four offered.

“Yeah, same here,” Hyrule agreed.

“I’d, um, rather share. Horses kind of scare me,” Sky admitted sheepishly.

“Four, would you like to go with me?” Time asked. Four nodded.

“Sky, you c’n go with me if ya want?” Twilight offered.

“Yeah, sure. Thank you!” Sky smiled at him.

“Well, Hyrule, you’re with me. Is that alright?” Warriors questioned.

“Mhm, thanks!”

Time pulled off some of his armor and sat it where he was crouched. With that, they creeped toward the horses, crouching in the grass. Twilight, Time, and Wars hopped on the back of their chosen horses, desperately holding onto them until they calmed. Twilight, unsurprisingly, took it the best, holding his legs around the animal’s torso and his hands on either side of its neck without hurting it. Time was doing relatively well, holding his hands on the horse’s neck and his legs were held around the horse. Warriors was doing…decently. His grip was a bit loose in his legs and his arms, but he was hanging on.

After a moment, all three horses were tamed and Wild was sitting on the old one, handing it an apple and petting it. “Alright, come on everyone!” Wild cheered, giving his horse an apple.

“Let’s head out. The sooner we can get to Hebra, the sooner we can help the Rito,” Warriors directed. 

The others got on the horses and Flora put Time’s armor in the Purah Pad. And off they went. But not quite toward Hebra. Wild made it known that he wanted to explore a bit so that he wasn’t quite rushing into the unknown. 

It was fair enough, so off they went. They managed to get a good amount of stuff from their expedition, like another Bubbul Gem, more blessings (which they got more stamina for), and got the Climbing Gear and Rubber Armor. But finally, finally, they made it to New Serenne Stable. They noted the odd, lighter lines in the grass. For some reason, Flora and Wild felt a pulse of recall magic as they looked at it.

“Cado!” Flora exclaimed, seeing the Sheikah man next to a donkey. 

“Hm? Ah, Princess Zelda! Link! I’d heard that you two and two of your fellow heroes had gone missing. I’m thrilled to see you alive and well! But…” Cado paused, counting all of the Links. “You’re still missing two? Where are they? Legend and Wind, if I’m correct?”

“You’re right. They’re still…missing.” Wild looked down. Twilight and Flora set a hand on each of his shoulders.

“Ah, I’m sorry. Since that is the case, I encourage you to go and speak with Lady Impa. She is right over there.” Cado turned and pointed to a stone structure in the glowing grass lines.

“What is she doing here? Is she not still the Chief?” Flora asked incredulously. Impa was the Chief, and she was over a hundred years old! Why was she all the way over here? Unless Flora was wrong. Quite a bit of things had changed after the Upheaval.

“No, the position of Chief was moved to Lady Paya,” Cado answered with a smile.

“Oh, really? We’ll have to go see her, then,” Wild said.

“Yes, she’s been worried about you both. Now, I believe that Lady Impa may have some useful information that relates to the search for your missing friends!”

Flora nodded, then they all moved to register their horses. The stableman waved as they approached. “Welcome to my stable.” He paused and looked at Wild and Flora before saying, “oh, Link, Princess! Sorry for not recognizing you sooner. You look a bit different nowadays. We had a stable update while you were gone, but we’ve made a sort of member system. Do you and your friends want to become members?” he asked.

“Does it cost anything?” Four questioned him.

“Nope, the only thing that costs anything from me is to register your horse. But our stable uses the Stable Association’s membership system, so you’ll need to register if you want to use it. May I ask for the rest of your names?” The man pulled out a notepad.

“We only need five, since we’re sharing and F- Zelda is also with the stable. The one with the colored tattoos is Time, the one with the wolf pelt is Twilight, the one with the blue scarf is Warriors, and you know who Zelda and I are,” Wild replied.

“Alright…” After a few moments of waiting, he said, “you’re all signed up. Now, would you like me to tell you about the stable system?”

Wild nodded, and the man explained a bit about the network of stables, registering a horse, and pony points, which was a reward system for using stable services. “Now,” he finished, “do you want to register your horses?”

“Yes, please,” Flora accepted.

“Normally, when you register a horse, we charge 20 Rupees, but…we’ve got a special promotion going on right now, so you can register your first horse for free!” With that, a couple members of the Chain nodded in satisfaction. That was useful. “First, I’ll give you these forms and you can fill in your information.”

The four members of the Chain with horses grabbed the forms. Thankfully, they didn’t require much. They just needed their names and their horses’ names. Time named his light blue horse Navi, Twilight named his chestnut horse Eponi, Warriors named his grey horse Tempest, and of course, Wild named his blue horse Neighru. Wild wrote his own and Twilight’s while Flora wrote Time’s and Warriors’. While, according to Wild, they already had translation guides for each version of Hyrulean, it would take a bit for all of the writing. Better to make it efficient, she guessed.

“Alright… So we have Navi, Eponi, Tempest, and…” The stableman fought back a laugh. “And Neighru. Spelled N-E-I-G-H-R-U.”

With that, there were snickers and sighs from the group. He handed the four registered members Pony Points Cards and put two points on each card.

"Ah, wait a moment..." the stableman hummed. "It seems that you, Link and Princess Zelda, have already entrusted us with some horses. Princess, you seem to have two, and Link, you have two as well. Princess, we have your white horse, Storm, and your golden horse, Paladin. And for you, Link, we have your brown horse, Catherine, and your giant horse, Phantom."

"Yes! Less work for me!" Wild cheered. Flora quickly pulled him away. She said goodbye for all of them, then they went through another shrine. Then, they ran off through the grass toward Impa. Her hat was different, wearing a simpler hat rather than the larger Chief hat.

“Impa!” Flora shouted, hugging her dear friend.

“What a surprise it is to see you both here after all this time, Link and Zelda.” She turned to their brothers and gave them a nod. “Well, Wild and Flora. Now, I heard you and two of your brothers had gone missing. It is certainly a relief to see you back, and in one piece—more or less. And your two missing brothers! Where are they?” Impa asked.

Wild looked down. Flora spoke up instead. “Their whereabouts are still unknown, unfortunately. We’re looking into their locations.” 

“Ah, they still have yet to return? They’re both quite the characters.” Impa seemed a little sad. The elder had told Flora once that Legend and Wind’s loud and snarky attitudes were like a breath of fresh air, since most were so respectful and quiet around her. “In that case, we must use all available means to search for them. Zelda, Link, when your brothers went missing, something else happened all over Hyrule. I’m sure your brothers told you.”

“Oh, the chasms and the ruins? Yes, we’re aware,” Flora said.

Impa blinked. “No, the Geoglyphs.”

“Oh.” Flora flushed a little. Wild snickered. “Wait, we forgot to ask about those! We meant to ask, but we were preoccupied. What are they?”

“During the Upheaval, huge pictures appeared out of nowhere, images that sprawled across fields and hills. We are calling them Geoglyphs. I understand they have been found in locations across the kingdom. Cado and I are traveling from region to region in hopes of seeing them all. I noticed this geoglyph from a distance while I was standing on high ground. Examining it up close, I could not make out what it depicted. I thought I might have a better view from up in the sky. I took to the air in the balloon Purah gave me, but then, alas…the wind struck and completely sheared the balloon off the base,” she explained.

“I see… Wait. You’re okay, right? No injuries? How high were you when this broke???” Flora asked rapidly, looking between the separated base and balloon and Impa. 

“I’m alright. Have no worries,” Impa replied. “I have just racked my brain for ways to reattach the two parts, to no avail.”

“Oh, I got it.” Wild picked up the fallen balloon with Ultrahand, then connected it to the top of the base. Impa stared at the fixed balloon. 

“You…you fixed my balloon. Well, thank you, Wild. I apologize, but there is no room for all of us. Wild, Flora, would you two come with me to look at the Geoglyph? I feel that it is important…to you both, specifically.”

“Yes, thank you. I feel something from the recall ability that we’ve gained,” Flora told her.

“Recall? Hm. Does that have to do with your new...accessories?” the old Chief asked, glancing at their Zonai magic.

“Yeah, we saw Legend and Wind for a moment and they gave us this ability,” Wild answered.

“Ah, I see. Well then, shall we go?” Impa paused after taking a step. “I nearly forgot… Would you both mind doing one final thing for me?” She turned to the small bundle of wood beneath the balloon. “Light a fire there and the balloon will start to float. Then we can be on our way.”

Wild and Flora nodded, then Wild lit the tip of an arrow on fire and got into the base of the balloon, Flora right behind him. The ex-princess waved to the other heroes and Wild lit the wood on fire.

They rose and rose until Impa murmured, “too high up… I feel faint…”

“Are you alright? Do we need to go down?” Flora asked, putting a hand on the woman’s shoulder.

“No, I’m alright. Finally, we can see it. The Geoglyph. Well done, you two.”

The two of them couldn’t help but think that the Geoglyph looked like Rauru. It was blocky and most of the patterns were very geometric like the rest of Zonai architecture, but Rauru was a Zonai king with long ears, a goatlike face, and many earrings, just like the Geoglyph figure’s head. “Where do you think these came from?” Wild murmured, kicking his feet off the edge of the base. Flora hated that he was sitting so close to the edge where he could fall, but the hero just pulled out his paraglider and smirked.

“I read something in the village’s old literature—a passage about what the ancients called Dragon’s Tears,” Impa answered.

“Dragon’s Tears?” Flora parroted.

“Yes. ‘Where the Tears rest upon the earth, we marked down the images to which they gave birth.’ Poetic, is it not?” Impa asked.

“...Dragon’s Tears… None of the other dragons fly around here, as far as I’ve seen. Especially not Zephyr and Aurelios.” Wild glanced up at the sky and noticed the two dragons in question were slowly gliding in the direction of Hebra too. They were a bit lower down than they were when they last saw them, and Zephyr was gliding in a circle around Aurelios.

“Zephyr and Aurelios? No, they’ve been in the sky for millennia,” Impa said, a bit surprised. Wild pointed up at the two dragons. Impa gasped.

“But yeah, I don’t know if it’s literal or not. I mean, those two were just circling around the temple up on the Great Sky Island.” Wild stared at the dragons.

“They’ve only been spoken of in legends……” Impa blinked and shook her head. “I believe this Geoglyph is one such image that the old passage meant. But even from this vantage, its meaning is no clearer to me,” she told them.

Wild and Flora stared at the Geoglyph. They both missed Rauru. They didn’t see him for long, but he was a guide nonetheless. And he was a lead to Legend and Wind. 

“If the literature is correct,” Impa continued, “one of them should be quite close—near the Geoglyph, or even within its borders.”

Flora stared down at the Geoglyph. “One of the eyes looks filled in…” she muttered, pointing down to one of the Geoglyph's eyes.

Wild and Impa stared at the eyes. She wasn’t wrong. The Geoglyph’s left eye (or the right eye for them) looked to be filled in. “Would you two look around? This could be the clue we need to discover your brothers’ whereabouts. If you would like to examine the Geoglyph from ground level, you can float down with your paragliders. Zelda, you do have one too, don’t you?” Impa asked.

“Yes, we all have one. Do you have a way to get down?” Flora questioned the woman.

“No need to worry about me. I can manage a simple landing.” Flora stared at her. That didn’t really help her nerves.

They jumped off the balloon and made their way to the eye until they saw a small pool of liquid in the center of it. Recall pulsed from both of them again, and the water turned bright gold, the same color of the rune. It recalled into a small teardrop and they felt Recall be activated, taking them into the vision.

— — —

A sphere of golden light concentrated itself, growing massive for a moment before Legend and Wind appeared. They were still holding hands. They fell slowly into the grass, Legend lying over Wind. Ouch. The two of them were unconscious. Their glowing stones dimmed, still their same colors but no longer glowing brightly. 

Footsteps neared. “What?” a Hylian woman’s voice sounded. She ran over to the two heroes, a familiar figure just behind her. “Oh! Oh dear!” she exclaimed, setting her tattooed hand on Legend’s right shoulder. The veteran’s ear twitched and he groaned. Wind did the same from beneath him. 

—

Legend groggily looked up to see a Hylian and…a Zonai, if he remembered correctly. Goddesses, his head hurt. The woman had dark skin, white tattoos scattered across her arms and legs. Symbols of the Triforce, Sheikah eyes, and Hyrule’s Crest were depicted across her skin. She had four under eye tattoos as well, making her green eyes pop. She had a white, cream, and mauve cloth dress decorated with brown, orange, and white jewelry on her dress, her arms, her neck, and her head. She had large, sphere-shaped earrings on her surprisingly long ears. Her light blond hair cascaded down her back and across the ground, a single laurel wreath across her head. On her single necklace, a golden secret stone lay at her throat.

The Zonai had greyish-green skin, and long cream hair and eyelashes. His hair had undertones of gold, and some of it was held with two light brown cuffs, separated from the rest of his hair. He looked almost goatlike, and had tear tattoos around his eyes and on his nose. Both of his long ears had several tassel earrings along the bottom. Oddly enough, he had a third eye and four small horns. He wore a navy blue shawl with gold accents connected with a green stone in the image of a face. His pants were also navy blue, and was covered by a dark apron connected to beige fabric around his waist. The man was decorated in green and brown jewelry, though it was concentrated on his shoulders and his apron. 

Wind punched Legend with a wheeze. Legend’s eyes widened and he scrambled back, accidentally elbowing Wind in the stomach causing a yelp from the hero. Legend grabbed Wind’s arm and pulled him back with him, pulling out his dagger from his sleeve and shooting up to stand. Wind followed, losing his annoyance and pulling a dagger from his boot and pointing it at them.

“Where are we?” Legend demanded, his eyes narrowing. Sure, he knew he was being a bit defensive, but he just woke up to two people hovering over his face while he was unconscious. That's creepy.

“We didn’t mean to startle you. I’m sorry,” she apologized, but continued when she saw their still-apprehensive expressions, “it’s okay. My name is Sonia.”

Legend glanced at Wind, who looked at him, and they both looked back at her. They lowered their daggers, but kept them in their hands. 

“I’m Wind, ‘n he’s Legend. We’re heroes on a mission t’ investigate some problems with the Princess of Hyrule, Flora,” Wind explained, sure to leave some information out. Legend has to admit, that kid is sometimes smarter than himself. 

“What an unexpected answer,” the Zonai said simply before he continued, sharing a glance with Sonia before they both turned back to the heroes, “we are the king and queen who founded Hyrule, after all. Or at least we were the last time I checked. And I do not remember any heroes like yourself.”

What? “You two founded Hyrule? And you’re the king?” Legend asked incredulously. No, Sky was the one! Legend would know, considering everyone has been to Sky's era, where they are clearly founding Hyrule.

The Zonai hummed in agreement, making a slight nod. “My name is Rauru. King Rauru of Hyrule.” 

“King Rauru…and Queen Sonia?” Legend’s eyes narrowed once again, thinking. “But that must mean—” Legend froze.

Din's tits. How did they forget?!

“What?” Wind asked, staring at the older hero.

“Oh shit.”

“What?!” Wind paused. “Oh shit. Oh fuck.”

Rauru made a face at their language, and Sonia just let out a surprised chuckle.

Legend felt a horrible feeling crawling through his body. “ Wild! ” they shouted in unison, a horrified look crossing their faces before the memory ended.

— — —

Wild and Flora blinked, gasping once they were back near the stable. The tear crystallized and went onto the screen of the Purah Pad. Flora pulled it out and they stared as it coated the screen before sinking into it. The screen went from the map to the bottom of the Adventure Log, making itself a new section for them to watch again.

“Cub? Are ya back?” Twilight asked.

“Huh?” he muttered, a bit dazed. They actually looked alive! Not like what they’d seen back at the castle. But they’d met Rauru! And he was alive, and he still had his arm, and he didn’t know Legend or Wind’s names!

“Are you alright? Do either of you need a red potion?” Time asked, his brows furrowing.

“We saw… When did you all get here?” Wild started before he changed the subject.

“Well we saw you both jump down here, then you just stood there and didn’t move for a bit,” Four answered.

“Are you sure you don’t need healing? I’m high on magic now, you don’t need to worry,” Hyrule told them.

“No, no, we’re alright…” Flora said. “We saw…we saw Legend and Wind.”

“Again?” Warriors asked.

“Yeah, but they looked… It looked like right after they disappeared. Here.” Wild took the Purah Pad from Flora and handed it to Time, clicking on the recovered memory. 

They watched the memory, and Time gave the Purah Pad back with an exhausted look on his face. “How far back do you think they went?” he asked. Wild turned to Flora, who whispered something to him. “ Wild? How far back do you think they went? ”

Wild went pale and looked down.

“I’ll guess the amount of years, and give me a thumbs up to go up, thumbs down to go down, or a nod to say I’m right. Okay?” Time’s voice sounded a bit strained.

Wild nodded.

“Ten years.”

Thumbs up.

“Twenty.”

Up.

“Fifty.”

Up.

“ One hundred. ”

Up.

“ Two hundred. ”

Up.

“ Three hundred! ”

Up.

The Chain’s faces were gradually looking more and more panicked.

“ Five hundred! ”

Up, yet again.

“ One thousand! ”

Up.

“ Two thousand! ”

Up.

“ Ten thousand! ” 

Time’s voice was wavering. He sounded like he was about to have a heart attack.

Wild nodded. “Somewhere a little before then, I think…” he whispered.

"It had to have been before the tapestry of the Calamity was made, so before then..." Flora added, her voice steadily growing quieter as she continued.

The Chain looked horrified.

Time looked like he was about to combust.

There was a beat of silence before their leader set his hands on Wild’s shoulders.

“Wild—“ Time began again, his voice shaking, “I am about two minutes from having a total meltdown. I am incredibly glad you both are safe, and this is not your fault, but I am going to run over this hill—“ he pointed to the hill just above Rauru’s head, “—and scream at the top of my lungs. I am probably not going to be attacked. I will be back…soon.”

With that, Time ran off over the hill that he’d pointed to.

“That was the calmest pre-breakdown talk I’ve ever heard,” Four murmured, staring at where Time was running off.

“Oh it’s not going to be calm in a minute,” the captain said, rubbing his face with his hand.

“What do you mean?” Twilight asked, even more concern etching itself into his voice.

Before anyone could get another word in, an absolutely blood curdling scream rang out from over the hill. The others, and especially Twilight, immediately went on high alert. Warriors quickly grabbed Twilight’s arm when he began to reach for his shadow crystal.

“Captain, let go.”

But Warriors wasn’t having it. “Do you trust me?” he asked.

“I do.”

“Then trust me when I say that he’ll be back unscathed in less than two minutes. He did this when he was younger too, and I’ve learned that it generally makes it worse if you interrupt him. He started doing this once I got it through to him that snapping at people wasn’t a good way to deal with stress or anxiety.” Warriors glanced out to the trees. “See? He’s on his way back.”

True to his word, Time was making his way back to them.

“Is everything alright?” Impa asked out of nowhere.

Flora handed her the Purah Pad and clicked on the memory. Once it was done, she muttered “over ten thousand years.” Impa’s eyes widened. 

“Time, what-” Sky started before the man in question waved a hand to silence him as he arrived.

“It’s fine. I’m fine.” 

He did not look fine.

Impa took a deep breath. “The Geoglyphs, the literature, the Dragon’s Tears…and now, a vision of the lost heroes. What if these are all connected? Let us continue to examine the geoglyphs. They may contain further clues that lead to your brothers,” Impa said.

“We will.” Warriors patted Time on the shoulder, who still looked like he was about to pass out.

“You know,” Impa continued. “According to the literature, there is something to do with Geoglyphs in the Forgotten Temple. If you’ve forgotten, it lies at the bottom of a canyon in Hebra. I think we should make our way there soon.”

“We’re on our way to Hebra. We’ll stop there to see you and what’s there,” Flora responded. In the Purah Pad, for main quests, she titled one “Impa and the Geoglyphs,” and the other, “The Dragon’s Tears.” Fitting names, as always.

Chapter Text

They walked back to the stable to grab their horses, and Wild walked over to one worker sweeping the ground. “Hello. Welcome to Rito Stable.” Before Wild could ask, she sighed and said, “no, that’s not right. I meant to say ‘New Serenne Stable.’ Yeah…sorry. I just moved over here from Rito Stable, so I keep saying the wrong name.”

“Rito Stable?” Wild asked.

“It was a stable much like this one, but in front of Rito Village to the west of here. The big cold snap shut it down though. I think it was replaced by a newspaper company or something. Hebra was always cold, but it’s gotten really bad. If you go to Rito Village, you need to prepare for extreme weather. Oh, by the way, please take this.” The woman gave him a spicy elixir.

Wild thanked her and walked toward the rest of the Chain, who were talking to each other by their horses. He started feeding Neighru as Flora walked over to a woman near a broken wagon.

“Oh, a customer?- Oh! Princess Zelda! My apologies!” she exclaimed.

“Oh, no, it’s alright. I’m finding that I prefer to just be called Zelda,” she admitted. She was no longer a princess, stuck to rules and limits of what she could and couldn’t do. Now, she could finally research freely without her father’s judgement.

“If that’s alright with you, P- Zelda. Welcome to New Serenne Stable. I’m kind of in the middle of something, but if you’d like to use the stable, you can go up to the counter,” she told her, grimacing at the broken wagon.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“Aha, well, since you asked… After a long and tireless search, I found a wagon to call my own! Look at this beaut!” She balled up her hands and pulled them to her chest, excited. But then she frowned a bit and turned to Flora. “Okay…yes. Clearly it’s a fixer-upper. But I can replace the missing wheels using building materials from the stable. Then I just have to catch a wild horse to hook the wagon up to, and I’ll be set!”

“I can help you, if you’d like!” Flora offered.

“A-are you sure? You don’t have to…” the woman murmured.

“No, I’d like to help. I’ll get it all fixed up for you. What’s your name?” 

The lady’s eyes beamed. “I-I’m Zumi. Thank you so much!”

Flora smiled. “Of course! I’d love to help.”

With that, she set Wild off to get a horse and she made a side quest on the Purah Pad. “Horse Drawn Dreams,” she called it. She supplied the wagon with wheels, passing Twilight, who was hugging and babbling to a black Hylian Retriever. 

Once she finished, Zumi stared at the fixed wagon. “Huh? Wha?! It’s…fixed? Thank you so, so much! It’s like a brand-new wagon, with wheels and everything! Now I’m only one step away from my dream of having a horse-drawn wagon…” she muttered, about to say something else.

“No, you’re already there,” Flora interrupted with a cheeky smile as Wild rode over with a wild horse. He hopped off and led the horse to Zumi.

“Wha-” she began before she caught sight of the horse. She gasped. “Did you catch this angel for me?” she asked Wild. The hero just pointed at Flora. “Did you ask him to catch a horse for me?!” she exclaimed.

“I did, yes. All yours!”

Zumi looked about ready to explode.

In a good way.

Not like how Time did.

“You’d really part with such a wonderful horse?” Zumi asked her. Flora nodded. “Thank you! Wow, who knew stuff like this really happened? I’m so, so happy! I’ll just go ahead and put a harness on it.”

“A harness?” Wild asked, his curiosity piqued.

“A harness is a piece of equipment that you can put on horses you own. They’re given out now as a reward for pony points. It’s the first prize you can get. With it, you can connect your horse to a wagon or an item you need to take somewhere.” After explaining, Zumi put on the harness and connected it to the wagon. “I can’t believe it! A wagon of my own, and a beautiful horse to pull it. I can’t thank you enough, Zelda. To think I started with that old piece of junk, and ended up with this! Amazing… It’s all thanks to you!” She hugged Flora tightly, whispering another small “thank you.”

“I’m glad I could help you, Zumi,” she replied, hugging her back.

“Here, I’d like you to take this!” Zumi held out a Silver Rupee.

“One hundred- no, I can’t take that from you!” Flora gasped.

“I’m begging— no, I’m forcing you to take it! Please! It’s all I can do to thank you.” She grabbed Flora’s hands and placed the Rupee in them, closing her hands with the money in them.

“Thank you…” Flora’s eyes glimmered a little.

“I’ll call this wagon Zelmi! To commemorate you! I promise to look after Zelmi for as long as I live!” Zumi exclaimed.

Flora felt a laugh bubble out of her chest. “Thank you, Zumi. If you ever want to send me a letter, send it to Hateno and put my name on it,” Flora instructed her with a smile.

With a wave, Flora walked over toward the rest of the Chain.

Time was staring up at the sky, where the sun began to set. "It's a bit early now, but maybe it would be best to try and sleep now. That way we can be in actual beds in a safe area," he said. 

"What time is it?" Wild asked.

"7:37," the eldest Link said, turning back to the stable.

"That's a smart idea 'n all, but how're we gonna pay fer it?" Twilight questioned, digging through his pockets. "I don't have any money right now."

"Hey!" the stableman called. "Don't mean to intrude, but y'all can stay here for free for the night. It's the least we can do for all y'all." When the Links tried to refuse such an offer, the man simply shook his head and repeated his last statement.

Well, a bed is a bed. 

— — —

That morning, Wild cooked the stable food as thanks. Fantastic as always. A simple breakfast, since they didn't have too many ingredients, but a good breakfast nonetheless.

Once breakfast was done—and they thanked the stableman again—they all got on their horses and rode off toward a Skyview Tower and Hebra. On the way up to the tower, Wild and Flora stopped the horse upon seeing a large, familiar figure.

Hestu!

The poor thing was cowering behind its hands. Wild tapped him on the shoulder and he whined, “those trees over there… So scary… Shalaka…”

Readying their sharp weapons to deal with the trees, which Warriors called Evermeans, they creeped toward them. They dealt with the two problem trees, and Hestu looked up. “Shalakala?” he murmured.

Wind would find Hestu awesome.

“The scary things are gone! Hello Mr. Hero and Ms. Princess!” Hestu greeted.

“Hello, Hestu!” Flora parroted. Wild looked uncomfortable. Ah, right. The 800 Koroks. 

“And you have friends! My name is Hestu!” The others waved with varying emotions. “I’m the musician of Korok Forest, up northeast. I’m known for my maracas AND my dancing!” Hestu introduced. “Thanks for your help! Sha-shaka!” he sang. “To show my appreciation, I’ll do a little dance for you and make your pouch bigger! But…my maracas aren’t working anymore. The Korok seeds inside are all gone. How am I supposed to dance now? Shoko… The children of the forest must have taken them again. If I had even one Korok seed, I could sing and dance and use my powers to help you.”

“We have some, if you want them. I don’t,” Wild grumbled.

Flora smacked him lightly on the arm. “Korok seeds make a really great sound when you put them in maracas! But the seeds spilled all over the place when I broke my maracas… And I think the children of the forest took the seeds while I was in a panic. I can smell that you have Korok seeds… SHALAKA! So which stashes do you want more slots in?” Hestu asked.

Wild and Flora asked the massive tree musician to give them more slots in several stashes, and each time, he shook his maracas and danced with three little Koroks, colored sparkles erupting from his maracas at the end of his dances. 

“I’m in the middle of traveling! I’m thinking about heading east next. There’s so many monsters these days that traveling is dangerous. What I’d like is to find somewhere I can relax… I like lively places. Sooo maybe I’ll go somewhere lots of people hang out!” he announced, running off.

They got back on their horses and Wild, being the archer of the group, shot a Blupee a few times. 

Legend would kill him if he saw the act. Legend had a fixation for rabbits.

He and Flora ran into a cave, going through a shrine but freezing when a pool of gloom formed itself nearby. It grew several hands with eyes on the palms, and upon seeing the two of them, screeched.

With beating hearts and wide eyes, they rapidly ascended above the cave to escape them. They explained the enemy to the Chain, whose faces turned grim as they explained Gloom Hands. Scary fuckers, they were. 

They made their way to Lindor’s Brow Skyview Tower, which was made on a tall island in the middle of a lake. Who decided on that??? Wild shot himself to his possible death once again (Flora told him to stop saying that) and saw Zephyr and Aurelios gliding through the air nearby. Were they following all of them? None of the other dragons had ever done that.

He used his paraglider to make his way over to an oddly shaped sky island, and after a few minutes of looking around, he heard someone call his name. He looked around before sheepishly realizing that it was coming from his slate. One of his brothers must’ve been wearing Wind’s pirate charm without him realizing.

“Where are you?” Warriors asked.

“Oh, I went onto a sky island. I’ll be down soon though.”

“Be quick, alright? The sun is setting and we need to get on the road.”

Wild agreed, but stopped him before he could end the call as he realized that he needed to activate a hologram.

“Can you send Flora up and tell her to go southwest? There’s a hologram here and I can’t do it without her,” he said. Warriors relayed the message, and he heard her before he saw her. She was screaming, but Flora was standing next to him after a moment.

“That was terrifying.” 

“So I heard.”

“Can we do it again?”

Wild laughed. 

They activated the hologram, and it made a magic green ring at the end of the path. It almost looked like a diving platform. “Hey, guess what we’re doing again!” 

Flora groaned.

The Purah Pad chimed, and the name of the island appeared. “Courage Island.”

They dove through the sky through each ring, moving along with the wind to dodge rock and make it through until they landed in a pond. A green crystal formed, grew, and then implanted itself into the ground. The green finish dissolved away and formed a shrine, the frame rising from the ground. The familiar spiral of magic formed above the shrine.

They turned to a construct. “Welcome,” it said. “This is the site of a ceremony to rest your courage. Courage is demonstrated by diving headlong through the sky.”

“Is it now?” Flora huffed.

“Yes. No challengers have visited this island in a long time. I am glad you have come. I witnessed your dives a moment ago. You seem to have come prepared. Now then. Let us commence with the dive ceremony. Are you prepared?” the construct asked.

Wild raised a brow, interested. “Dive ceremony?”

“Could it be that you do not know of the dive ceremony?” Oh great, here it goes. “My apologies. Allow me to explain. The dive ceremony is a trial that tests your courage. It is a rite by which Zonai youth come of age. The starting position is the sky island far above here.”

“I can’t possibly see Rauru doing this…” Flora whispered to Wild.

Wild shrugged. The construct continued. “The challenger leaps from there. They must pass through all the rings in a set amount of time. I wish you luck in formally overcoming the trial. Those who succeed receive a special outfit to mark adulthood. Go on. Show me your courage. Will you both be doing it together?” it asked.

“Yes, we’ll both do it together!” Wild announced. 

“Wild!” Flora gasped.

“Ah! I perhaps forgot to mention one thing. I require one Zonai charge as an offering. Since you will be doing it together, I only require one instead of two. Our custom since long ago has been for participants in the ceremony to offer a Zonai charge to the island. No Zonai charges have been provided for many years. We are in short supply. Your cooperation would be appreciated.”

Wild handed it one of the Zonai charges. “Here you go,” he said.

“Then follow me to the starting position. Your task is to pass through all of the rings in 35 seconds or less.”

With that, the two of them made it to the top and redid the test, finishing in 21 seconds. Wild cheered. Flora trembled.

“Your time is 21.64. I have borne witness to your courage. I have here the marks of your maturity. You both have earned this,” the construct said, handing them both a shirt called a Glide Shirt. It had cloth connected between the torso and the arms, allowing them to have more control over how far they could travel while gliding.

Wild did it one more time to win in less than 20 seconds, but Flora happily stayed at the bottom. He finished in a whopping 18.87 seconds. It gave him something called a Large Zonai charge. Well, that was useful too.

“Please tell me your names to put in my record.”

“I’m Wild, and this is Flora,” Wild supplied.

They went through the combat shrine, which helped Flora with archery, and used Zonai charges for a large machine, which spat out portable devices. Five of them, to be exact.

They made their way down to the surface again and went through two more shrines, along with helping Addison and making it to the Tabantha Bridge Stable. They traveled back to Lookout Landing and got Wild a Heart Container and a Stamina Vessel while getting Flora another Vessel of Light.

They went back to the Tabantha Bridge Stable and they each got a pony point, earning them a towing harness. Wild overheard a conversation between a Rito woman and walked over.

“All right, then. I’ll take them!” she told the Hylian stable worker. They both turned to him. “Oh! Link, it’s a pleasure to see you again. Do you need to speak with Banji? Apologies—we were caught up in our conversation. Times are tough for us, but I’m sure you’ve heard. Merchants aren’t able to reach the village because of the blizzard. We’re fortunate the kind folks from the stable are sharing their supplies with us. It’s thanks to them that the children still have full bellies.”

“How’s Teba? I heard from someone that he’s the Chief now?” Wild asked.

“Yes, that’s correct. Kaneli stepped down from being our Chief. Teba’s taken charge, but the poor man is so stressed because of the blizzard. Tulin is trying to convince the Chief to let him investigate the blizzard, but he’s still just a boy,” she told him, frowning.

“Oh, the Rito have been such good neighbors to us. We’re just returning the favor and helping however we can. Let me know if there’s anything else you need, all right? I can arrange to have it sent here, and then pack it up for you to carry home.” the stable worker told her.

“Words cannot express my gratitude.” The Rito woman hugged her, and Wild let them have their moment.

“Alright, Wild. What’s our plan?” Sky asked.

“Well, we’ll go along the edge of the canyon—” Wild began.

“Is that safe?” Warriors interrupted, staring at him.

“As long as you don’t get too close to the edge, yeah!” Wild grinned. Time and Warriors sighed. 

“Cub, ya need t’ be more careful. Yer gonna get yerself hurt thinkin’ like that,” Twilight grumbled, glaring at him.

And so they went. Wild accidentally scared a woman, launching her sand seal plushies everywhere, but they got 50 Rupees for picking them all up. They spent a while longer riding, making the whole trip a few hours, but Flora and Twilight helped pass the time by rambling about random flora (heh) and fauna facts. 

They made their way down the canyon and to the entrance of the temple. They saw Cado kneeling by a chained-down balloon, Impa nowhere in sight. “Oh, hello everybody!” he greeted once he caught sight of them. “I am so pleased that you’ve come here as well. To be honest, Lady Impa deduced that there is something related to the Geoglyphs here. It took some effort for us to get up here, but we managed it. But then Lady Impa grew impatient. The moment I took my eyes off her, she went deep into the temple all by herself.”

Flora laughed. Wild laughed for a different reason. “Impa-tient…” he’d muttered, making Four groan and smack him in the head.

“Once I finish mooring the balloon, I plan to hurry after her.”

Taking note of the monsters on the floor of the temple (and the lack of evil guardians), they traveled along the wall and pillars. Wild grabbed a good bow and a Chillshroom, and all of them carefully went along the walls until they reached a high hole in the wall, which they went through. They got another shrine and walked along the monster-less floor. 

Impa stood on a raised platform, murmuring about something. “Lady Impa?” Hyrule called, catching the elder’s attention.

“Ah, you’re all here. Good. As I said before, I believe there is something related to the Geoglyphs somewhere within this temple. I am searching, but so far, it has been in vain. The chambers here are enormous, so it will be a difficult task at best. Where could it be…” she said.

The Chain moved into the innermost chamber, where the massive Mother Goddess Statue was lying on her side, fallen. Sky gasped. Oh, right. This was the one from his era. Uh oh. The chosen hero ran over to the massive statue, putting a hand on it and whispering something.

They saw a door behind it, and they made their way over to it, Sky still glancing at the statue. It was clearly Zonain in nature, based on the carved runes and the green, circular parts of the door.

Walking into the preserved stone room, they took note of the beige stone lotus flower in the center of the room. There were seven stones surrounding it, divided by lighter stone. It looked sacred, in some way. In the corner, there was a small stone with three odd flowers growing around it. The flowers seemed a bit similar to her favorite Silent Princesses. With an orange stem and yellow leaves, the flower itself had black edges of the petals. Orange stripes came out from the inside of the flower, one for each petal. Oddly enough, there was a single Gust Freesia and Radiant Saffron.

“Is this a grave…?” Flora whispered.

“Who would bury someone alone in the back of a temple?” Four asked, eyes glinting red as his voice became tinged with sadness.

“Why wouldn’t one bury the dead with their family?” Time asked, voice soft as he brushed some dust off of the stone and closed his eyes in a short prayer.

With a quick prayer from each of them, they walked inside the next room. They were on a raised area, looking down on a layered map of Hyrule with thirteen lighter stone tablets with images carved on them. A small figure of the castle sat in the center of the map. There was a large stained glass image of two hands clasped together, almost like they were arm wrestling. Wild couldn’t help but laugh a little thinking about something like that in a sacred temple. It was probably not a sacred arm wrestling competition, but it was funny to think about.

They hopped down below. Looking around, they realized that the thirteen carved images on the wall were in a sort of order, and corresponded with the images on the model. The first of the images was the same as the Geoglyph they’d seen.

“Ahhh. This place…” Impa hummed from where they’d jumped down, startling them all.

“Lady Impa, let’s head down. We must investigate up close…” Cado told her.

They made their way down, looking at the Chain, then at the walls. “There, upon the walls…” she continued. “Are those not…Geoglyphs?! Hm. What could this mean? I believe the one we saw first was the Geoglyph on the left edge of the wall,” Impa told them.

“Yes, I believe that going left to right along the walls makes an order. They’re scattered across this map, and that one of Rauru—” Time stared at the carving with furrowed eyebrows. Impa looked confused. “—is in the same spot in Hyrule as it is on this map,” Flora added.

“Hm… As for the next painting…if this is correct, then according to the floor map, it is near Rito Village,” Impa said.

“It’s a good thing we’re going that way, then,” Warriors hummed, taking note of everything on the map. 

“I can hardly believe what my eyes behold. Who could have guessed this old ruin still held such secrets? It is said that the Geoglyphs appeared all over Hyrule during the Upheaval when your brothers went missing. Hm. How are they connected to these images here… There is no time to dawdle! Let us hurry and investigate the remaining Geoglyphs,” Impa snapped, readying herself to leave.

“Oh! L-Lady Impa…” Cado stammered. “Perhaps you should rest a bit before such a trying journey.”

Impa ignored him. Cado sighed. “If any of you happen to see a Geoglyph during your travels, I urge you to investigate this matter as well. If more strange visions are waiting at the other Geoglyphs, just like the one you both already experienced, well… Perhaps they will provide clues that could lead us to your brothers,” she said.

On the slate at the front of the room, Flora read, “A tear with a tear.” How odd. Then again, everything was odd now. 

The first Geoglyph was Rauru, then some sort of large structure, maybe like a castle, then what looked like the Purah Pad, then what seemed to be a Molduga. The next few showed what looked like a man kneeling, then what looked to be a woman facing the side, another of Rauru but facing the side, and then a curved blade like a scimitar. The final five Geoglyphs seemed to display the Triforce, but in the style of the other Geoglyphs, what looked like the monstrous form of the Demon King, then another comma stone, the headstone and flowers that were in the last room, and finally, the Master Sword.

“Alright,” Warriors said. “Let’s not take up camera space if we need it. I’ll write down the order of these images and approximately where they are. I’ve seen them around Hyrule, but chances are, we’ll all forget once we start looking.” He glared. Talking from experience, maybe?

"Uh, hey, quick question?" Sky piped up. The Chain, Flora included, looked up at him. "What's with this goat guy? Rauru, you said?"

"Oh, yes. He was the founding king of Hyrule," Flora informed him before she paused. Wait a goddess-damned minute. 

"Foundin' king? Wouldn't that b' Sky?" Twilight asked.

"Yeah, we've been wondering about that for a while now, but no clue yet," Wild said. Sky looked more than a little confused. "...we'll figure it out later, yeah?" The Chain nodded as Wild clicked on the icon for the shrine near the stable.

They all warped to the Tabantha Bridge Stable (much to Twilight’s sadness; he didn’t want to leave the horses out all alone), and called their horses back with the stable. No one had any idea how it worked. Not even Wild and Flora. They’d tried to ask how their horses arrived so fast, once, but all they got was a laugh and a dismissive wave of the hand. 

“Isn’t one of the Geoglyphs just west of here?” Hyrule asked.

“Do we want to just get them all as we find them or do we want to go in order?” Warriors added.

“I’d like to get information on them as soon as possible, but we can do a vote,” Time said.

With that, they did a vote. Sky, Four, Hyrule, Warriors, and Flora voted for going in order, but Time, Twilight, and Wild voted for getting them as they went.

“That’s a’ight. It ain’t like it’s detrimental. Let’s get the Geoglyphs in order,” Twilight said.

Chapter Text

Wild met a well enthusiast who asked him to find well locations for her in the stable’s well. But hey, he got a decent bit of money for each of the ones he did find. They called their horses back and began to head to Rito Village. They all sold some resources to get money so that they could buy other supplies or Snowquill sets. Well, other than Sky. Since he was working with the Rito and going back and forth with them, he already had the full set. 

“Why didn’t any of you have a horse before now?!” Wild exclaimed, staring at the chosen hero once he realized that none of the group had stable memberships before they left Lookout Landing together.

“I just hitched a ride with others going to Rito Village,” Sky had admitted. “All of us did.” Wild sighed and shook his head. Then, Sky yawned.

The sun was beginning to set. “Great,” Warriors sighed, “we already get to spend our hard earned money. Why can’t my paycheck be sent through the mail???”

“That would be because they can’t send that many Rupees at once, Captain,” Time chuckled, patting the man on the back. Warriors didn’t say anything, but Sky made his way over to the stableman and paid for all of them. 

Hey, at least they had beds. Good thing the stables were all relatively close to one another.

— — —

That next morning, they woke up to the wonderful sound of the stable beginning its affairs. Oh, and Twilight yelping after being punched in the nose by a grumpy Sky. That was funny. According to Wild (after her high concerns over the chaos), this was a daily affair to see who could get away from Sky and who couldn’t. Apparently, Twilight was a little more “tank the hit as best as you can” than “dodge as far away as you possibly can.” Well, hopefully he'd be fine.

And so they went, dodging the holes in the Tabantha Great Bridge and helping Addison. Wild and Flora did some quick training with a Rito and a Goron, who Time and Sky both greeted by name. They helped a horn-playing man named Eustus who got stuck in a hole. Apparently, he was a member of the Stable Trotters, a music troupe that performed around stables after the Upheaval.

They rode away, and after about an hour, Sky called, “hey, Flora?”

“Yes?” she responded.

“Since you’re a hero now, shouldn’t you have a hero title? I mean, all of us do, so I think it’s only fair that you do too!” he exclaimed, smiling.

“Oh, really? I’m not sure if I count-” she began.

“Of course you do. You’re off on an adventure to save Hyrule and rescue someone, aren’t you? In this case, we’re on an adventure to save your Hyrule from the Upheaval and rescue Wind and Legend. You two are the proper heroes of this era,” Warriors explained.

“Well, yes, I suppose so,” Flora admitted.

“What about the Hero of Light? You do have sacred light, after all,” Hyrule added.

Flora frowned. Sacred power that she didn’t get until too late. 

Sensing her discomfort, Wild spoke up. “Maybe something more suited to now? Like uh, the Hero of Flora? I mean, our names are tied to our titles, so hers should be too, right?” Wild offered.

Flora turned a little so he could see her, and gave him a grateful smile.

“That fits, as well. The Hero of Flora, it is,” Time decided.

Cheers filled the air for a moment, and Flora blushed a little, embarrassed at the attention. Back when she was a princess, she was used to attention. But now, getting it from heroes of Hyrule and because of her and what she was doing, rather than because of her title, made her feel a bit lighter.

When it got colder, Wild and Flora put on their warm greaves, Sky pulled on his Snowquill Headdress, Four, Time, and Warriors drank spicy elixirs they’d made at one of the stables, Twilight pulled his wolf pelt a little more snug around his body, and Hyrule just used fire magic to keep himself warm. It was already feeling much colder than it should be in Hebra at this point in the year. They found another shrine, then made their way to the stable being used for the Lucky Clover Gazette as the moon rose. Flora glanced up at it.

Oh.

How wonderful.

It was a Blood moon.

It was a damn good thing they were going to spend the night at the stable. Based on Wild's mail sent to her about Time's avoidance of the full moon, the man would most likely be out of it for the rest of the night if they continued.

“Which stable is this?” Hyrule asked. They’d been to so many similar stables, it was hard to tell. 

“It was Rito Stable, but it got replaced by that newspaper company, remember?” Wild answered.

Wild got off his horse and walked up to a stableman, followed by Flora. “Welcome to Rito Stable, Link and Princess Zelda.. Er- no, sorry. It’s the Lucky Clover Gazette now. It’s good to see you both again. And hey again, Sky. Unfortunately, the stable closed down once the blizzard froze up all of our business. I thought I’d try to help out around here, since I don’t have anywhere else to go, but I’m not much good at it. I just learned the terrifying way what happens when you burn a Hylian pine cone…”

“What happens?” Wild asked. Twilight glared at him. ‘No fires,’ he mouthed to Wild. Flora snickered. She knew how fire-prone her hero was.

The man ignored them. “Perhaps due to the abnormal weather, there’s been an explosive increase in Hylian pine cones. They’re oily on the inside and burn really well. Too well, in fact. I tossed one onto the fire for kindling, and the force with which it burned whipped up a whirlwind! Which in turn sent all of the freshly printed newspapers flying far, far away…” he grumbled. “If you find a Hylian pine cone of your own, whatever you do, don’t throw it in a fire!”

They went into the stable as red and black particles began to fill the air. Once Penn, standing behind a woman, noticed them, he whispered “shhh!” Well, more like an attempted whisper. “Traysi, our editor here, is getting ready for our big hero investigation! Well, after the blood moon.” Penn looked out of the stable.

“Can we stay here until the night is over?” Flora whispered.

Penn nodded, and they sat down on the floor. Time shuddered and ran his hands over his ocarina. Flora and Wild laid down. Wild said that he was used to passing out from these and told Flora, just in case. The others paced around.

The sky turned red and it felt like they put on glasses with red lenses. It was so wrong. Wild and Flora passed out at exactly midnight.

— — —

The red moon glared in their vision.

Legend and Wind stood on a field with their backs to their vision, holding hands. They stared up at the moon, just over the castle.

“Witness the blood moon’s rise.”

Monsters appeared in forests across Hyrule, looking at their surroundings.

“When its red glow shines upon the land…”

More monsters appeared in outposts.

“…the aimless spirits of slain monsters return to flesh.”

Newly formed monsters followed their boss bokoblin leader.

“Just as they did in a war long past.”

The boss bokoblin roared, the blood moon shining on it.

“The world is threatened once again.”

— — —

Wild and Flora shot up, panting. “Sweet Nayru, I wasn’t that creepy, was I?” Flora asked, remembering her blood moon visions in Wild’s first adventure.

“No…” he murmured. “You sounded tired, but…alive. They sounded……” Wild didn’t finish.

“Who?” Warriors asked from where he was sitting next to Time, whose eyes were unfocused as he stared at the floor.

“Legend and Wind. We heard their voices and saw them for a moment. We only saw them from the back though,” Flora murmured.

“Did they look okay?” Hyrule asked them, his voice a bit quiet.

“They looked fine, but they were just…standing in the middle of Hyrule Field somewhere. I don’t get it,” Wild huffed.

They talked a bit longer before deciding to try and sleep. Well, other than Time. Wild had told her that i f he slept during full moons, then it was either light or fitful sleep. He didn’t sleep at all during blood moons in Wild’s era.

— — —

They didn’t leave until around noon the next day, since Warriors forced Time to take a nap. “You’ll be more helpful if you’ve had at least four hours of sleep!” he’d yelled. While Time was napping on the hardwood floor (was that also a hero thing? They could just fall asleep in the weirdest places?), they talked to Penn.

Traysi was still working on…whatever she was doing. “You’re here about our newspaper, right? Then you can talk to me too. I’m next in charge. I gotta say, you did a good job finding us out here. Some go right on by. It’s pretty unusual for a newspaper to be run out of a stable. Traysi cheated the previous owner out of this place.”

The group’s faces all morphed into discomfort or distaste. Cheating someone out of ownership? That was low.

“You see things like they are, don’t you? Hmm… Hey, do you all want to be reporters? Shine light on the truth? Expose the evils in our world? I could put in a word with Traysi for you…” Penn said, before Traysi stood up.

“HEY! QUIET!” she snapped. “Don’t you listen, Penn? I told you I was busy, but you keep bothering me! And another thing—I bought this place from the owner after we came to a fair, mutually beneficial agreement. Could you stop telling people I cheated him out of it?” 

The Chain, plus Flora now, stared between the Rito and the Hylian. Wild had met Traysi back in Gerudo Town during his first adventure, and he felt like he remembered her being pushy. Clearly she hadn’t changed.

“I… S-sorry, Traysi. But there’s new applicants for reporter jobs. I wanted you to know…” Penn murmured.

“New applicants?” she asked, her tone changing. She turned to the group. “Hmm… Hang on… You lot look like… Ah!” Her eyes bugged out of her skull. “Hey, sorry, Penn. But could you…give me and these guys a second here?”

Penn left, and it was just them. 

“All right,” she began. “How about you give me the whole story, heroes. You too, Princess Zelda. I’m the editor of the Lucky Clover Gazette here, if you couldn’t tell. So, don’t worry. I know everyone involved with this story. Purah asked us for help digging into what’s happened to the two other missing heroes. Now, tell me everything. What exactly brought you here?” 

Wild and Flora explained the story for the hundredth time. They were both starting to dislike repeating the story over and over again. Wild didn’t like to be reminded of how he couldn’t save Legend and Wind.

“Interesting… So that’s why she’s asked you to investigate places seriously impacted by the Upheaval. Well, coming here was a great call! What I mean is, we’re getting tips from all over Hyrule. So many, in fact, that it’s all been hard to keep up! And among those tips, we’ve been hearing about someone who looks like the missing heroes appearing in all sorts of places. I was about to assign Penn to chase those leads, but he could use some more people to help out. I won’t tell Penn who you all are. It’s better if no one knows you all are involved. What do you say? Think you all could work with him as we investigate? Of course, I wouldn’t ask you to do this for free—though that’d be nice. Wait just a second. I’m going to get you a little incentive from the back.” 

This was going on for a lot longer than they thought it would take. She pulled out two outfits.

“Here we go…Ta-daaaa!” she announced. “We only have two, but we can give the rest of you a good pay and materials for helping out. But these are the full sets of Froggy Armor! With that on, it’s easy to cling to wet surfaces—no slipping! You work with Penn to chase down all these news stories, then I’ll give you this armor. Piece by piece, all yours. A pretty good deal there, everyone… Anyway, that’s my offer,” Traysi finished.

“No slipping? That’s useful…” Wild murmured, remembering all of the painstaking times he’d had to wait for the rain to go away and for the rock to dry for him to be able to climb it. “Yeah, sure, we’ll do it.” It would take time, obviously, but anything was better than having to sit in the rain for hours so that he could climb to where he needed to go.

“Cub- what? We need to—” Twilight started before he was interrupted.

“Penn, you can come in!” Traysi shouted. Once the Rito came in, she said, “starting now, these guys are your partners!”

Penn glanced at all of them. “Well, if our editor here says you’re in, then looks like I had you two sized up right. And members of the monster control crew, too! Traysi really knows how to pick ‘em!”

“All right, you two. Here’s what you’re going to do—visit every stable for leads. Penn, you’ll head this all up. Stables bring in people, and people bring in details. And details are what we need. Now…get me some news!” Traysi instructed, waving a hand as she turned back to her work. 

Penn nodded and went outside, looking around and muttering to himself.

“Alright, let’s go!” Wild announced, walking outside toward the bridge to Rito Village confidently.

The other heroes could do nothing but follow behind him. Upon seeing the bridge...or, well, the broken bridge, the group paused. Well, crap.

“When did the bridge break?” Sky murmured, staring down at the destroyed bridge. 

“How are we going to get over?” Four asked, staring. 

Hyrule snickered. “Hey, Wild. Didn’t the stableman say that throwing a pinecone in a fire would make a whirlwind?” he asked.

Wild raised an eyebrow and smirked. “I’m listening.”

“No. No fires. We’ll find another way,” Time said, giving his signature Look.

But it wouldn’t work this time. 

“What other choice do we have? Make the Rito wait longer? Or make it there now?” Wild asked, a smug look on his face as he and the others began to take their bags off of their horses backs.

Time sighed. “You both are so lucky we have no other options.”

Chapter Text

Hyrule and Wild cheered. Grabbing a pine cone and ushering away a woman standing by a campfire, Hyrule tossed one in. The pine cone combusted, making a massive updraft that made their hair and clothes whip around them. All of them used the few seconds of updraft to fly up and make it over the broken bridge. Their bags weighed them down a bit, but not enough to worry them.

Rito Village always had a little bit of snow lying over it like a veil, but Wild and Flora never thought that they’d see a day where Rito Village was totally blanketed in snow, completely silent. There were no Rito as they walked along the bridges. Sky looked sad, but it seemed that none of the others had seen Rito Village. They looked horrified. Flora shivered as she tucked her clothing a little closer to her numbing body.

As they stepped into the actual village, they winced as the wind whipped through the desolate village. The Goddess Statue at the base of the village had icicles pointing down from her wings and arms. A flower crown on her head was wilting and frozen, sending the group an uncomfortable feeling that spring would never come. She granted the pair of heroes a Stamina Vessel and a Vessel of Light, and they started up the snow covered steps.

Walking through the freezing snow, three familiar Rito girls were talking about singing, but they were shivering a little. Notts, Genli, and Molli, if Wild remembered correctly.

Turning to them, Notts said, “you got here just in time! Hi again, Mister Sky!” The Chosen Hero waved.

“We’re about to practice our song,” Genli added.

“It’s called the Song of the Stormwind Ark,” Molli finished. “We’re all going to sing it together to save our village from the Upheaval!”

“The Song of the Stormwind Ark?” Flora asked.

“Yeah. Are you gonna listen to our song?” Notts questioned.

“Let’s hear it,” Four told them.

“Yay! We love an audience, so we’ll give it our best for you!” Notts exclaimed. She counted them down, and all three began to sing.

“ Once, a god fell from heaven, stilling the Hebra winds.

The heavens grew lifeless, just as the air below thinned.

With the world in upheaval, we pledged to help the lord.

A line of ships soaring, built as a passage skyward.

The god ascended to heaven, leaving behind an ark.

Its winds brought us new life, thanks to its great, divine spark. ”

Once they stopped, Genli looked up at them. “You know, this song is about the ark that saved Rito Village a long, long time ago. Something bad happened then, just like it’s happening now.”

Molli turned to the green Rito girl. “Hey…that Stormwind Ark… Is it really real? I’d be so happy if it was!” she exclaimed.

“It definitely is! Papa told me it’s always watching over us, high in the sky,” Genli replied.

“We could sure use its help with this awful blizzard…” Notts grumbled. “Most of the adults aren’t around anymore because of the weird weather. Well, if we don’t have the ark, and we don’t have the adults, it’s up to us kids to take care of the village!”

“We’ll help however we can,” Four said, determined.

Notts nodded. “Practice is over for today. Genli, you’re in charge of food. And, Molli, we’ll need you to make arrows. We’ve all got jobs to do, so let’s do ‘em! If you guys decide to help, come to me and I’ll tell you what to do!”

With agreements, all three Rito girls ran off.

“Maybe we should split up. Sending all eight of us to see what’s going on could be a bit too much,” Warriors hummed. The new hero nodded in agreement. She would not allow failure again.

“I’d like to come with you both. I want to help the kids, but I really want to get to the root of the problem,” Sky told Wild and Flora, a hardened look on his face.

Warriors nodded, saying, "it may be smartest to send those in contact with each region along with you two. Maybe another one of us too, just for safety."

“If we're agreeing on that, I’d like to go as well,” Time said.

“Alright. We'll figure out where you four need to go, and you can go there while the rest of us stay here to help around the village, alright?” Warriors asked, and agreements sounded around the heroes.

They walked into the Swallow’s Roost Inn, spoke to Kotts, and went through another shrine. Wild and Flora bought Snowquill Headdresses, Sky bought the Snowquill Tunic, and Time bought both a headdress and a tunic. They gave Molli a white chuchu jelly when she asked for one, and they made their way up to Revali’s Landing, where they saw Tulin, Saki, and Teba. Tulin had definitely grown in the few months they were gone. His feathers had grown, and he looked slimmer and taller. His head crest was styled as well, and he just overall looked older, no longer like a fledgling.

Flora felt a wave of sadness wash over her again as she thought of Revali and the other champions, but was grounded when Wild put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. They walked toward the three.

“That’s not fair at all! You know I can handle it!” Tulin shouted. Teba looked like he was fighting a migraine, even from behind. “Checking out that huge cloud wouldn’t be hard! I could even do it alone!” Teba groaned, a pained look crossing his face. Tulin continued, saying, “if we don’t do anything…the village—” But then he stopped. His eyes widened as he scooted to the side to see all eight of them.

Wild blinked, a smile crossing his face. He suddenly began waving dramatically, much to Flora's surprise. 

Thank Farore for quick reaction time.

“Huh? Is that you?” He flew over his parents’ heads and landed in front of them. “It is you! Link!” Tulin’s face lit up and he hugged the Hero of the Wild. “And Zelda and Sky! And the other heroes!”

“Link, Zelda!” Teba echoed, the Great Eagle Bow shifting on his back as he walked toward them. “They told me you both were missing. It’s good to see you doing well.” The Rito Elder put a wing on Wild’s shoulder. “And Sky, it’s good to see you again.”

“It’s very nice to see you again,” Saki said with a smile.

“Do you both remember my son, Tulin? He’s grown taller, though perhaps not yet grown up.” Teba glanced over to his son, his tired look returning. Tulin frowned and glared.

“Well, maybe I would if you didn’t treat me like a hatchling all the time!” he snapped back.

“As long as you still think you can take on the world by yourself, you’ll always be my little chick,” Teba replied. It didn’t help, but it was the thought that counted. Tulin didn’t take it well. Flora felt her heart twist. Perhaps, in another time, her father would have been like that.

“What, you think I can’t? I’m already fully-fledged, you know! You’ll change your tune when I ace today’s scouting trip!” Tulin shouted. His tone grew flat as he turned away. “You all can keep wasting your time treating the Song of the Stormwind Ark like it’s real, but not me.”

“Listen, you—” Teba tried to say, but Tulin was already launching himself off the platform against the bitter winds. The elder sighed. “Unbelievable. Tulin wants me to let him go find what’s causing the blizzard, and he’s having trouble hearing ‘no.’”

Time nodded sagely. “I understand.” The rest of the Chain glared at him and Flora fought back a snicker.

“The Song of the Stormwind Ark…three Rito girls sang it for us, and Tulin mentioned it. What is it?” Four asked.

“It’s an old folk song here in Rito Village. Long, long ago, when we faced a different sort of Upheaval, the village was saved thanks to a great flying ship. Or so claims the song that’s been passed down through generations,” Saki explained.

“It’s a song for children, mind you. Few adults still parrot it as if it were true. Still, every now and then, you get reports among the Rito of a flying ship. Combine that with the blizzard caused by this Upheaval, and it seems less far-fetched,” Teba sighed. He turned toward the massive stormcloud. “Even if the Song of the Stormwind Ark is just a children’s rhyme, I suspect that there is something lurking high in the sky. But the air is so turbulent now that no Rito can fly close enough to look into it. This is why I say we need to make careful preparations to find the truth, but Tulin… He thinks we cling to that song out of cowardice. But these are Rito matters. You came for some purpose, yes?” he asked.

“We actually came to help you guys out,” Wild corrected. “Legend and Wind, who went down below the castle with us, are still missing. From what I’ve heard, everyone else around Hyrule is having troubles too.” He looked down. Flora looked away, picking at her fingernails.

“What?! This is terrible news. If your brothers’ disappearances and the strange phenomena around the world are related somehow… Hm. We Rito would ordinarily love to contribute to your search. But this abnormal blizzard shows no sign of stopping, and food has grown scarce. Even Naydra is steering clear of the storm. She normally passes through them or plays in them. The other Rito are growing increasingly nervous over the dragonsigns. Everyone I could spare is already out researching the blizzard or scavenging for food,” Teba admitted, looking pained again.

“My husband hasn’t been able to leave the village much since becoming the village elder,” Saki told them, frowning.

“I wish there was something I could do… I’d like to come with you, but I have to stay here. Are… all eight of you going?” Teba asked, glancing at each of them.

“No, some of us will stay behind to help the village. The ones going will be Wild, Flora, Sky, and I,” Time said, before he paused. “Wild and Flora are the names we use for Link and Zelda, I apologize.”

Teba waved a hand. “It’s no problem. Thank you all for the help. I’m not the one you want, talking about where to go next. You should try asking my friend Harth. He has many sources of information, so he might already have a lead about your brothers. He’s in the lodge near the two bonfires out that way.” The elder pointed to two large bonfires. “Though, perhaps you all should sleep. It’s still quite cold, but it may be best.” It hadn’t been long since they’d slept, but a quick nap wouldn’t hurt.

— — —

Later, before the four left, Warriors stopped them. “Do you have red potions? Medical supplies? Water? Enough food?” he asked.

“Yes, yes, we’ll be alright,” Time replied, swatting at the Captain. After a few more minutes of Warriors fussing, all four of those leaving started gliding their way toward the two bonfires, using a large spire to rest on, which made the flight less tiring. 

They went around a Wizzrobe, then helped Addison. If they could make him get out of the cold, they would. Unless he was chugging spicy elixirs, then he was just facing the cold with nothing, and that wasn’t safe. The four of them went into the cabin near the bonfires, and spoke to Harth, who was relieved to see that Wild and Flora were okay. The Rito told them of Tulin’s impressive power, which was almost like Revali’s, but going forward rather than up. He praised the young Rito, since none of the other Rito could pull it off. “Even stern Teba acknowledges that Tulin’s skill is a cut above,” he said. He let them all know that he went with Gesane and Laissa on a trip for food and told them that they were on their way to Hebra South Summit Cave.

Flora stopped them to look at a book called “Rito Records of the Stormwind Ark”. The legend said, “one day, the winds that ought to blow in Rito Village ceased. Then the heavens grew stagnant, and the earth fell to ruin. The villagers looked skyward for a solution. They saw a figure pierce through the unmoving grey clouds and descend swiftly toward them. Believing no ordinary being could fall from the heavens, the villagers called this figure a god.” Flora guessed that it was a Zonai, before they had all come down to the surface, and she wrote it down in a notebook she’d bought. 

“And the god stood atop a hill day after day, longing to return home to their island in the heavens. The villagers, forgetting their own troubles, tried to carry the god home on their proud wings. Yet who could say how far it might be, the place this god came from? The Rito took flight in turn, each hoping to reach that place above the clouds… Alas, none had wings strong enough. Seeing this, the god told the leader of the village that returning to the heavens was possible if the Rito gathered materials. Their spirits high, the villagers set about doing so. The god nodded upon seeing the tall pile of materials. This, they understood, would be enough. The god poured a strange power into the pile, and several small boats were assembled,” it continued. “ It must’ve been Ultrahand, ” Flora guessed. 

“Cautiously,” the legend continued, “the villagers boarded. The small vessels began floating up into the air. With the god leading them, the boats rose higher and higher, soon passing through the thick clouds. The vastness of the heavens took the villagers’ breath away. Floating islands dotted a clear blue sky. The villagers rejoiced songfully and then, with reluctance, returned to earth. One day, winds at the village roared back to life. In shock, the villagers looked to the sky. Floating above them was an enormous ship that the god had sent in gratitude. Numerous oars on both sides began to move like wings, soundlessly churning the skies…” As Flora read, she wondered if it was truly a legend. As Teba had said, with everything going on, it wouldn’t be too much of a surprise to know that it was true.

“Air blew across Hebra once again. The skies cleared, and blooming flowers rose from the ground. The god had given them the blessing of wind. This ark that saved the village from catastrophe came to be known as the Stormwind Ark. So ends the story of the Stormwind Ark that saved the village long ago.” Once Flora finished writing, she had a page full of notes. She’d have to consult with Purah.

Once Flora was done reading, they left the cabin and began to go toward the Skyview Tower nearby. After that, they would go find Tulin and find the source of the storm. In and out. Hopefully. 

As Wild launched up, he noted Zephyr and Aurelios making their way to the massive stormcloud as well. He got Flora up and they went through another quick shrine, passing over a massive, blocky construct. It didn’t exactly look friendly. They grabbed a blessing from a shrine atop a cliff, then made their way to a bonfire in front of a cave. Harth had mentioned something about a bonfire in front of the cave that Gesane, Laissa, and Tulin had gone to.

They saw Laissa in the mouth of the cave, who told them that Gesane and Tulin had gone farther into the cave to scavenge for food. She didn’t show them the way, saying that she had to keep an eye on what the group of three had gotten, but mentioned something hopping on the walls. Another glowing frog, perhaps? 

Fusing a ruby to a magic rod they’d gotten from a shrine, Wild was happy to announce loudly that he and Hyrule both had fire rods. Useful things, certainly. Not many in the Hyrulean army had used them, but she'd seen them work.. After some walking, they found the frog and got another Bubbul Gem. 

Soon after, they found Gesane muttering something about Tulin. When he caught sight of them and they explained what they were doing, he told them that he flew after a flock of monsters they’d caught sight of from inside the cave. He said that Tulin told him that he was going to follow them back to their nest and flew off alone before he could stop the young warrior. 

He let the group of four know that they saw the monsters by the lone cedar tree on Talonto Peak. They ran off to follow him, hoping that he didn’t get hurt. They grabbed some Ice Fruit, helped Addison again (how did he get so far with a new sign so quickly?!), and they started to head toward the peak of the mountain. As they neared the top, they noticed what looked like a massive path of islands going up like a staircase through the clouds, heading for the blizzard. 

When they caught sight of the boy and went toward him, he snapped, “stupid monster!” He stamped his foot, and all four of them noticed the Rito’s missing bow. 

“Tulin?” Sky asked. “Are you alright?”

“Wha— Sky? Link? Zelda? Where did you come from?!” he exclaimed.

“Ahem, this is Time.” Wild gestured to the eldest. “And what happened?”

He stammered. “Oh, uh, you see… That rotten monster took my good bow!” he shouted, pointing toward one of those winged monsters. The same one they’d seen in the Depths. Thankfully, this one wasn’t covered in gloom. “See? That’s the bow-napper!” True to Tulin’s word, his bow was held in the monster’s talons. “I’ve gotta get it back! Help me out, Link?” he requested.

“You guys stay here. We’ll head out and deal with that thing really quickly,” Wild said, readying his own bow. 

“Really?! Thanks!”

“I’m not so—” Time began before Flora stopped him.

“If I may, I believe that Wild and Tulin are capable. If they need help, we can go in, but we don’t need to spend more energy than we have to before all of this,” she said. Time sighed, then nodded.

“Didja know I can blow a strong gust of wind anywhere I feel like? I’ll do it for any of you, too. That way, we can glide anywhere we need to. Link, I’ll give you a boost so that you can glide over to where that monster went. Just tell me where to point the gust, and I’ll make it for you!” Tulin told them. 

Wild nodded and threw himself off the side, telling Tulin to send him forward. He blew a large gust of wind, sending him rocketing forward. “Nice one!” Wild shouted. He and Tulin landed on a platform below the monster and Wild drew his bow, aiming and shooting true. It hit the target, dropping Tulin’s bow. The young Rito caught it with a victory shout, telling Wild that he owed the hero. “Without you, my bow might’ve been lost for good!”

Three more Aerocudas, as Tulin informed him, started flying toward them with bokoblins hanging from their talons. Great. They were working together. “ Support! ” Wild shouted, unsure if any were black blooded. Normally, Wild would’ve attacked them on his own, but it was better to be safe than sorry. Especially since he was weaker than he was before. Thanks, Demon King.

The other three heroes jumped off, heading toward them as the bokoblins rushed in. After some attacks and stabs toward one of them, Wild confirmed that they were black blooded. “Black blood!” Wild informed his friends as they dropped down.

Wild focused on the blue bokoblin with Sky while Time worked on the other red bokoblin and Flora and Tulin shot at the Aerocudas. Once they finished, Tulin dropped down in front of the group. A few scratches here and there, but mostly uninjured. “We did it!” Tulin shouted, giving each of them a high five. He looked at the monster skull torch, then said, “I think this might have been a hideout for those monsters.”

“Well, we’ve eradicated one of them, then. We can—” Time began, before all of them froze.

A chime in the air. Tulin, Wild, and Flora looked up to the sky. Time and Sky drew their weapons again. But nothing happened. It faded. “Hmm? Was that the wind? It couldn’t have been! There’s no way. Must’ve been something else!” Tulin theorized.

“What could’ve done that? What was it for?” Sky asked.

“Heyyy! Tulin! Zelda! Heroes!”

They all looked to where the voice came from, revealing two Rito flying toward them. One was Harth, and the other was Gesane. “That was some impressive teamwork, everyone!” Harth complimented as he landed.

“Aw! You saw that, Harth?! Talk about embarrassing. I…didn’t listen when Gesane tried to stop me. I thought I could handle it.” Tulin looked down, ashamed. “But I just ended up losing my favorite bow to those stupid things. I thought I was fully-fledged, but there’s probably no way I could’ve gotten it back on my own,” he admitted.

“I bet now you see why we were treating you like a small chick,” Harth replied softly.

“Yeah. You were right—” Tulin turned his head to look at the heroes. “—it really is important to work as a flock.” He turned back to Harth. “I think I finally get what Dad has been trying to tell me all this time.

“Is that all there is to the story? It seems unlike you to let your bow be taken, Tulin,” Gesane said.

They all turned to Tulin. Gesane was right. Flora wasn't too close with Teba and Tulin, but from what she'd heard from Saki...it was very unlike Tulin to let the bow leave his talons.

“Oh, yeah, funny story about that! There was this whole thing with one of the missing heroes. You know, one of the ones on the missing posters that Link and his friends are always with. Legend and Wind, I think.”

“Wait, what? What happened? Which one? Where is he?” Wild asked, surprising Tulin with the sudden rush of questions.

“I dunno. I just saw the one with curly hair. I spotted him getting attacked by a monster. It was such a surprise that I dropped my guard and it stole my bow.”

“Wind got attacked?!” Time shouted.

“But I guess he was fine,” he continued, “because then he zoomed up above that cloud,” Tulin said, shrugging. “He looked a little weird…but he seemed okay.”

“What?” Harth asked. “The missing hero flew above the cloud?! How can that be?”

Flora knew that Wind had some wind related items, but Wild had never mentioned that any of them could fly! Legend might’ve had something for it, being the Veteran and all, but it was the same problem of him never doing it before! That, and apparently Legend hadn’t even been with him! They were together during the blood moon and in the Dragon Tear Memory, so why would they separate at such a time?

“But how???” Sky asked, holding his head in his hands. 

“Hmm… Seems like a stretch, but we’re not going to get to the bottom of it sitting around here. Link, Zelda, and their friends came out here looking for Legend and Wind. You should go with them, and investigate the cloud you say the heroes soared into,” Harth told Tulin.

“Huh?! But I thought I wasn’t allowed,” Tulin said, surprised.

“I got a report before coming here. We think it’s likely that the blizzard is coming from inside that cloud after all.” They all looked to the massive, swirling stormcloud as Harth spoke. “I want to see for myself as soon as I can, but the strong winds make any approach from the sides impossible. The only way in is through the top, but… There’s not a Rito currently alive capable of crossing this stormy sky and making it all the way there. Well. Except for one.” Harth smiled and looked at Tulin. “I’m talking about you, Tulin. Only you have the skill and training to create gusts at will. ‘Tulin will be the finest Rito warriors of all once he understands the value of working with his allies.’ You know who said that to me? Your old dad, Teba.”

Tulin blinked, his feathers ruffling. “Dad said that?” he whispered. Flora gave the young boy a soft smile.

“Yep. And I’ll make sure he knows what you accomplished here today. Now it’s time you go with Link to find the missing heroes and whatever’s causing this blizzard!” Harth exclaimed.

“No problem. The five of us together have got this!” Tulin shouted, pumping a fist in the air. “I saw your friends up on the sky islands near Hebra Peak. Let’s check there first” he said, turning to the heroes.

“Heroes, Princess, and Tulin! We’re counting on you!” the older Rito said, flying off back toward Rito village. Wild gave Tulin a fist bump.

“Good job, Tulin!” he told the boy.

“You both did quite well. I’m proud,” Time added. Sky and Flora said their compliments, too, then they headed off toward Hebra Peak.

Chapter Text

Following some ancient Rito ruins (which Flora already began documenting), they made their way up to the peak. The style in architecture wasn’t much different, but it still seemed much older and more worn. As they neared the peak, the stairway of ruins grew more solid to them, no longer obstructed by the snow. 

They fought a few constructs on the way up, but they were no match for the five. Flora herself was beginning to grow more confident with a bow. They walked through the snow, slowly but surely. Snow boots would be so useful. Wild used to have them, but they were on the slate before it was wiped. They made it to the peak, but the journey in front of them was still long. Another Rito stood on the base of the ruins, complementing Tulin on his abilities and telling them that he’d watch for their return. 

They glided across the air, climbing and ascending to make it further and further up. It was harder for Sky and Time, since they couldn’t fly or ascend, but they made it up with Tulin’s help. Every time they were close to falling, they managed to make it there just in time. No pun intended. The Purah Pad, once they got high enough, called the collection of floating ruins the “Rising Island Chain.”

“Hey, guys! It was around here that I saw Wind. But now…I don’t know where he could’ve gone,” Tulin informed them. Before anyone could say anything, he looked up and his eyes got big. “What IS that?” he asked, looking toward a flying boat. It had oars on the side, and a sail on the front and top. It was clearly Rito architecture. Flora gaped.

He flew down, and they all followed him. “Look at that!” Tulin exclaimed. “It’s a boat!”

Even she knew that Wind would be all over it.

Another chime echoed out around them, and gold tinged their vision.

“ Come... ”

The loud, deep voice came from the cloud.

“ Come… ”

All of them stared in shock at the storm.

“ to me… ”

The gold faded, and Tulin asked, “whose voice was that? Was it coming from somewhere up there?”

Thunder boomed distantly as lightning flashed in the cloud. Sky flinched. From the thunder, they could see pieces of the silhouette of a ship in the clouds.

A ship in the clouds?! And it had oars!

Flora pulled out her notepad and began reading her words. A god, probably a Zonai, fell down. The Rito couldn’t bring them back up, but the god instructed them to make tiny ships. There were small ships flying around the storm. The god sent down a giant ship with oars to churn the winds in gratitude. 

Whether or not the actual story was true, there was a massive ship with oars in the clouds with smaller ships around it right in front of their very eyes! Flora took a picture of the massive thing, to the clear amusement of her peers.

“Whoooa… Do you see that thing inside the cloud? Is that another boat? But it’s huge. There’s tons of those little flying boats too. You know what it reminds me of?” Tulin asked.

“The Song of the Stormwind Ark, right? ‘A line of ships soaring, built as a passage skyward.’ Those are the smaller ships. And, ‘the god ascended to heaven, leaving behind an ark.’ Even if the story isn’t true, there are small ships and a massive ship in the sky!” Flora exclaimed.

“You’re right,” Time murmured, his eyes furrowed as he stared at the ships.

“This whole thing is just like the Song of the Stormwind Ark… Could that children’s song really be true after all?!” Tulin's eyes were wide in shock, and he blinked a few times. Under his breath, he softly sang the tune. 

“With everything going on, I wouldn’t be surprised,” Sky said.

“You heard that strange voice too, right? I’m sure I heard it say, ‘come to me’!” the young Rito added.

“It sounded muffled to me, but I could still make out some of what it said,” Time told them.

“It was muffled to me, too. Do you think it’s because we’re not the heroes here? But then why would Tulin hear it…” Sky murmured.

“I heard it clearly,” Wild, Flora, and Tulin all said.

“It’s like it was calling us up there. If you two could still hear it, then it’s still probably a call to you, too,” Tulin replied. “I don’t see anything around here that would lead us to Legend and Wind. Maybe they went over to that ship? Would they do that?”

“…I wouldn’t be surprised if Wind did, but Legend…hit or miss. Though Legend wasn’t with Wind, so without his voice of reason, I wouldn’t be surprised.” Time tapped his foot against the ground, racking his brain. “However, Wind is a very capable and smart hero. He would either go there out of curiosity or the immediate need for shelter, seeing as he was attacked and he has no cold protection, or he would steer clear and wait for one of us. He could really do either of the two.” the eldest hero stared up at the large ship, mouthing words that he didn't say aloud. Flora could understand that.

“Well,” Tulin said, “nowhere to go but up! Come on!”

They continued until they reached a platform just above the small ship’s top sail. Wild hopped down onto it, and it went down before launching him up with a surprised shout from him. He glided over to a shrine, and Flora made her way over as well. The others landed on the other platform without the shrine, since they had no need to go to the shrine. The shrine, oddly enough (and to Flora's mild irritation), was filled with more of the tiny ships. At least the two of them were getting used to being launched by them.

— — —

Continuing with Tulin’s help, they were able to reach some more ruined…ruins, more broken and tilted than the other ruins. As they continued and climbed, Wild was glad that Time left his armor. It wouldn’t have worked well with the Snowquill Tunic, and it would’ve made it much harder to climb. He was a little slow, but that was fair enough. He’d mentioned the cold messing with his joints before. Wild sighed, knowing that Time was perfectly fine with putting anyone else first, regardless of anything, if he was concerned. Especially with members of the Chain.

When Twilight got sick, Time missed a few days of sleep and a few meals, choosing instead to stay with Twilight in case he got worse. Wild couldn’t blame him, he’d be terrified of losing someone else.

Like Legend and Wind.

Just as Wild’s thoughts began to grow dark, two roars echoed out near him. Two dragon roars. Squinting through the wind and snow, he could see the shapes of two dragons with familiar horns. Zephyr and Aurelios again? Were they following them?

“What…are those the dragons from the legends?!” Tulin gasped, staring at them.

“The what?” Sky asked. Time looked just as confused.

“Yeah, Zephyr and Aurelios. They were on the Great Sky Island, but…what are they doing here? They broke through the clouds and revealed Hyrule below, but I didn’t know they were following us,” Flora hummed.

“I noticed them a bit ago from a Skyview Tower. Supposedly, they’ve been above the clouds for millennia. Apparently, that’s true,” Wild told the group.

“Do you think it’s because you’re heroes?” Sky asked.

“I don’t think so… I mean, I’ve never seen them before now. I don’t know why they’d follow us now,” Wild answered.

Tulin blinked. Sky and Time stared. “Well, I suppose that’s not the most odd thing I’ve heard,” Time sighed, shaking his head to clear the confusion, Wild guessed. “We’ll have to talk about that later. We have to deal with this blizzard first.”

They launched off boats and glided around enemies, choosing to not deal with them and get themselves more tired than they had to be.

Sky was doing well, since he was used to the thin air. The thicker air of the surface had always made it hard to breathe, which he later learned (from Flora herself!) was called asthma. He was surprised to learn that it just happened to some people. He’d fallen asleep a few times, so they let him take a couple small naps to not exhaust himself.

They still made sleepyhead jokes every once in a while, but not nearly as often once Flora started thinking of reasons why he was so tired all of the time. Flora had landed on something still being studied called narcolepsy. Wild, admittedly, still didn’t really know what it was.

After fighting a few Aerocudas and taking their dropped eyes (Sky steered clear of touching them) and wings, they broke through a layer of cracked ice to access another ship. They continued launching and gliding from ships. Turns out, diving headfirst into the ice from around a foot or two away didn’t hurt him at all! Didn’t stop Time from having a heart attack the first time, though. (Wild laughed. Sky and Flora pretended not to.)

(They still did.)

As they rose through the clouds, they felt the cold biting them even through their clothes. It had been merely a chill through most of the sky islands thus far, but it was getting worse. Tulin seemed mostly fine, save for a few shivers, but everyone else was beginning to shake ever so slightly. 

Wild had to drink one of their several red potions when he was stabbed in the shoulder with a Captain Construct’s spear, but they were doing surprisingly well so far. The cloud above was still churning deathly cold winds, but they were getting closer. The sound of thunder and ships’ oars were gradually getting more loud and clear. Small ships that they came across were starting to move. 

After they were in view of yet another shrine, Tulin commented, “this is my first time flying this high. The air’s pretty cold up here, huh? How are you guys doing?”

“I could do without the cold, but I feel like I can breathe better…” Sky murmured, a soft smile on his face. He still looked tense, but not as tense as before.

“Of course you do, Sky. You’re from Skyloft,” Wild laughed. “But it’s not too bad. Cold, but we’ve got stuff for it. It’s getting a little harder to breathe, but it’s not too bad either.”

“I agree with Wild. I’m not as used to the cold, or to dealing with thin air, but it’s alright so far,” Flora agreed.

“I’m doing alright. The cold’s not getting to me thus far, and the air isn’t causing me trouble yet,” Time said.

With that, Wild and Flora went into the shrine and everyone shielded themselves from the bitter winds, which were always the worst part of the cold, using the shrine as cover. As long as something could block the wind, it would be fine.

Once they left the shrine, they realized that they had to go from ship to ship with nothing between them. They were right next to the source of the blizzard, slowly making their way to the top. All of them were starting to feel the cold whipping through their clothing. 

As they glided, Wild paused in his movement forward as he felt a familiar presence. He couldn’t help but compare it to the feeling of Revali beside him as he activated Revali’s Gale, or while he was attacking Vah Medoh with Teba. 

They were reaching the top of the cloud, and as they reached the top circle of ships, all of the winds whipping around them just…stopped. It was still cold, but it wasn’t freezing. They weren’t pushed around the air against their will. It was…calm. Wild's eyes widened in wonder. Of course, it made sense that the air would calm above the source, but it was one thing to hear about it, and another to experience it for himself.

They reached the hole in the top of the storm, and started descending onto a massive ship with intricate designs and massive oars, churning the freezing winds around them. 

Two final roars from Zephyr and Aurelios pierced through the sky, almost like a goodbye. The Servants of the Springs had never been so interactive with Wild or Flora. Those three had always just stuck to their areas and watched over everyone in their domain. Why were these two so different?

As they landed on the massive ship, they noticed six raised gears around the centerpiece of the ark. The ornate centerpiece almost looked like a flower with six petals corresponding to each of the gears. Below the puzzle door, the platform wasn’t solid, but was instead a grate with traditional Zonai geometrical designs instead of straight bars. Behind each of the raised gears, there were smaller ones going into the Stormwind Ark’s floor. They were standing behind the gear on the right of the hologram ring, as Wild and Flora decided to call them. The Purah Pad loaded the name of the place, and called it the Wind Temple.

“Oh, it’s your first actual temple!” Sky exclaimed. He wasn’t wrong, since Wild’s only puzzle dungeon experience was from the Divine Beasts. Apparently, they didn’t entirely count as dungeons.

“Looks like we’ll have to activate the gears to open the center. That’s the obvious solution, at least,” Time said.

Oddly enough, the set of gears to the left of the hologram spot had gold light coming from beneath, like it was activated. “Wow… So this is what was waiting for us in that huge cloud. This is the Stormwind Ark from the kid’s songs…” Tulin’s voice faded out as he looked to the left.

Turning that way, the four heroes gasped upon seeing a familiar figure with sun bleached curls.

“Wind!” Time shouted before the others could utter a word. 

The single missing hero in question didn’t react, instead choosing to walk forward toward the hologram ring, then went past it and onto the centerpiece of the ship. The Rito and the heroes ran over to where he was, but as they reached the edge of the locked opening, a massive gust of wind blasted through the grate. All the group could do was shout the hero’s name in warning as they stumbled backward. When the gust slowed and all it faded into a steady stream of cold wind, Time sunk to the ground, catching his breath.

“Well…” Tulin started shakily, his breaths still coming too quickly, “this proves it. The blizzard that’s been pounding Rito Village is coming from there.”

But the heroes didn’t say anything. Sky and Flora nodded, but Time and Wild just continued to stare. Did Wind just…disappear? They knew that Legend had some sort of cloak that made him invisible, but not Wind, and Legend wasn’t even there.

After a few moments of…silence and recouping, Wild and Flora walked over to the hologram ring. A travel gate appeared behind them, and all of the raised gears moved down. Only the glowing one worked, which they expected. The gears rose again.

“I think we do have to find a way to activate those,” Tulin said. Then he sighed. “But the source of the blizzard has gotta be right under that hatch!”

For the third time, a chime rang out. Their vision once again became tinged with gold, and they looked to the sky. 

“ Brave fledgling… ”

“I’m not a fledgeling…” Tulin grumbled. 

“ There are still five locks securing the hatch on the deck. ”

The voice sounded much clearer now, even more than before.

“ Use your power to release all five locks and the hatch should open. ”

“Ah, so it is that kind of puzzle,” Time hummed, his breaths a bit shaky. Flora pulled out the Purah Pad as it dinged. Five glowing yellow dots appeared on the map of the large ark. It had three floors, the base floor that they were on and two basements.

“ Heed my words… ”

“You got it, Mystery Voice!” Tulin replied. “Alright, the source of the blizzard messing up the village has gotta be under this hatch. So once we open all five locks, it’ll open! We’re so close! C’mon, guys. Let’s go figure out how to open up those locks.”

“Though, we should be careful. I recall Legend and Wind talking about people in dungeons who act like they need help and turn out to be the boss,” Time warned, eyeing the sky warily.

“Hey, come look at this!” Sky called from the grate.

“Be careful, Sky,” Flora warned, even as she and Wild walked over as well. "What is it?"

"Hm, there's something in there." Wild jumped from Flora's side. When did Time get here? And so quietly too.

"It looks like ice. It's oddly shaped though..." The skyloftian stood back up, popping his back. "Maybe we'll find out later, though."

Wild saw Flora make a quick note and take a picture through the grate, before they all stood and decided where to go first.

Afterward, they began to head to the back of the massive ark (while Flora took a few pictures of the ship, unsurprisingly), where one of the five points came from. They used Ultrahand on a lever, opening the door. Once inside, they quickly fought a construct and grabbed an opal from a chest. Tulin stared at it, entranced, until Flora put it away.

“Hey,” Sky called from the other gate. “This lever’s missing the handle.”

After a few embarrassing minutes of having no idea what to do, Wild realized that they could just connect one of the fallen icicles to the base of the lever, making an Ultrahand-able lever. Once they gained that knowledge, they silently connected the icicle and flipped the lever, shuffling into the room with silent embarrassment. 

Inside, a large machine connected to a gear on the wall sat. There was a sort of fan sticking out, and Tulin piped up. “Hey, look at that! Is this for one of the locks? It’s kinda shaped like a windmill. Didn’t the voice mention using my power? If I make a gust into the fan, then maybe it’ll work!” The Rito did as he said, and the fan spun with green light glowing from behind it. The other gears began to spin, and a carving lit up with a deep chime. Once Tulin finished pumping wind into it, the gears continued to spin. “ One of the locks has been opened, ” the Purah Pad informed them.

“Hey, it did work! We gotta find the other four!” Tulin exclaimed, running out. 

They ran toward the center of the ark, and the sound of an Aerocuda catching sight of them invaded their ears. Once they disposed of the flying monsters, Time pointed up toward the top of the part of the ship they came out of. “Let’s check up there. It would be good to be thorough."

Using the large fan’s updraft, Time pulled out his paraglider and led them to the massive roof of the building they came from. They fought some Aerocudas and noticed the massive trapdoor on it. It was honestly about the size of one of the massive doors to get onto the path going to Hyrule Castle. After collecting the fallen Aerocuda parts, Wild and Flora each opened one of the doors. 

Looking down into it, they saw a fan at the bottom and a bunch of lasers in between. “Uh, what’s our plan here?” Sky asked, shifting a little.

“Jump down and dodge the lasers, then try to find a doorway inside without hitting the fan!” Wild replied, jumping down before anyone could say anything. They all followed closely, thankfully not speeding down straight into the blades because of the fan making them descend slower (though, by Hylia it was cold), and they made it into a small alcove. Tulin yet again used his power to open another lock. 

“Three more to go! We can do it!” And with Tulin’s encouragement, they left the room, dodging the lasers once more. Time murmured something about regretting having all five of them jump down at the same time. Killjoy.

Once they reached the top, Sky hopped off the side, diving into some more thin and cracked ice. He landed in the frigid water below, and quickly made it to shore and ripped himself out, shivering. They turned yet another lever, opening another door. What was with this place and levers? They grabbed a Zonaite shield from the chest, and noticed another key through the bars in the wall, looking into another room.

They left the room (though it took Sky and Time a bit longer to get out without Ascend), and fought a construct. There seemed to be more enemies the more keys they unlocked. They made their way off the side of the ship, using the smaller floating ships to get onto an island of ancient Rito ruins. Flora grabbed ahold of a Large Zonaite from a chest, and the other three heroes carefully watched the cannon on the side of the ship.

They began to make their way into a passage on the side of the ship, until the cannon, which was previously looking around sporadically, caught sight of them. They heard the telling sound of Aerocudas seeing them, but they ignored them until they made it inside the ship. 

They made their way over a gap in the floor, thankfully quickly. They turned a lever, opening another door to get outside, and they thankfully didn’t have to jump over the pit again to get out. They quickly fought a Captain construct, though Wild got batted to the side. Time, of course, insisted he drink a red potion just in case. “Better to be safe than sorry,” he’d said.

They made their way up a level and connected a piece of ruins to an almost fan-like device. When it was spun, it opened the next door, but only for a moment. Wild spun it, and they made their way up the ladder onto the edge of the platform, where Flora used recall, getting them through while it was open.

They activated yet another key. Two to go. “We just have two left. We have to go,” Time told them, his face stone cold. Pun intended.

“We’re almost done!” Tulin exclaimed, excited to stop the blizzard plaguing his home.

The door beside them opened, and they left through it. They went to the other side of the ship and jumped off, repeating the process of going to the island of ruins, then making a run (fly?) for it as the cannon shot at them. 

They broke the icicle teeth blocking their way inside, getting a sapphire from a chest. Then, Flora used Recall on a massive toothed gear, allowing them to carefully ride on it to the other side. They opened the game and Wild shot an icicle from the ceiling upon noticing the need for a connector to open a door using gears. Tulin unlocked the second to last key. Just one left.

“Just one left, and then we’ll be done…” Sky murmured, determination in his eyes.

Wild glanced at the map. “We haven’t been able to—” Then he paused. 

“Wild?” Sky asked. 

“I’m gonna fly under the ship.”

“You’re what? ” Time demanded, raw confusion in his tone. “No, that’s unsafe. We’ll find a way to get to the bottom floor.”

“If I may,” Flora began. “I do believe that Wild may be right. We have access to the travel gate, so if we’re wrong, we can just teleport back and admit we were wrong.”

Time sighed, pinching his nose bridge. “Alright, but I’m coming with you.”

“I’d like to as well, actually,” Sky added.

Time just sighed.

With that, they carefully jumped off the side and made it under the ship, and Wild was correct. A bottom floor that held the last key. They fought a construct, then Wild and Flora put themselves in front of the key. “Tulin?” Wild asked, stepping back to offer a place in front of him to work.

Tulin nodded with a determined smile, then activated the last key. 

“That’s it… We’ve unlocked them all.” Time stared at the key. 

“We should be able to open up the hatch on the main deck now,” Tulin told them.

“Well, then. Let’s go! I'm still curious to see what's underneath the grate.” Sky began walking toward a doorway with some stairs. So the bottom floor wasn’t disconnected. They made their way up, where Tulin shot a construct in the head three times. Good on him.

They made their way to the top floor of the Wind Temple. They made their way over to the hologram ring, where Wild and Flora shared a nervous smile. What they were nervous for, they weren’t sure, but they were nervous. Then again, there were always bosses at the end of these sorts of things.

They held their hands to the projection, and it dissipated as each of the raised gears went down. The center hatch’s outlines glowed green, opening shakily. Inside, it almost looked like a snowy stormcloud was inside. The group of five stepped over to the edge.

Chapter Text

They only had a second to realize that it was a bad idea to go to the edge as the cloud exploded, sending all of them flipping into the sky. With screams from all of them, and following Tulin’s movements to get right side up, the wingless members of the group realized that they were flying perfectly fine without wings or paragliders. How could the wind be so strong that they could mimic flying without wings?

All five of them dove toward the center as something from inside the hatch roared. For a moment, Wild wondered if it was some sort of evil dragon. Time had told stories of an evil dragon named Volvagia. But no, the icy monster flew out, its toothed pincers snapping as it looked around with its five yellow eyes. Its body maneuvered well, using its four pairs of small wings, despite the three large, spiked circular sections of the body, and its spiked tail flicked around like a mace. The large segments of the creature’s body not covered by spikes had cracked ice showing something purple inside. It almost reminded Wild of a bug or a crab. A mix of a bug and a crab, actually.

“ Oh, Nayru— ” Tulin shouted. “ I’ve heard legends of something called Colgera! I think I’ve heard that it mimicked an ancient sage’s abilities or something! Uh, the weak spots look like those purple things! ”

“ Hasn’t Wind told us stories of a boss monster named Molgera?! ” Sky called.

“ Yes, but that was in sand! ” Time yelled back.

“ It must be what’s causing the blizzard! ” Tulin called, glaring at Colgera. 

“ Well let’s kick its ass! ” Wild whooped.

“ Wild!— ” Flora yelled, but Wild was already diving over to it. 

“For Wind,” he thought. If it was made in Molgera’s image, then Wild would kill it for Wind. As he moved forward, his companions behind him, its small eyes turned on him. 

Sky moved off to their right, confusing all of them for a moment. Until Sky whistled, catching Colgera’s attention. He dove out of the way as the massive monster shot toward him. Wild, realizing the plan, quickly shot an arrow with a Fire Fruit attached at one of the sections. It smashed through, and Colgera screamed. Flora dealt with a second one. Just the one by the tail was left. When the scourge of the Wind Temple realized this, it tried to spin around. But Time, using his longshot, got onto Colgera’s head and grabbed one of the pincers, tugging on it and irritating the monster. It was enough of a distraction for Tulin to shoot through the last section. Unfortunately, it escaped before Tulin could pierce the center.

It summoned a portal as it launched Time off, and Wild saw Time slam chest-first into the side of one of the spikes it shot out, but Colgera went through its portal and disappeared. It summoned another portal nearby and shot out of it. It went by them, but Tulin was a good shot. He shot an arrow to the heart of the section, breaking through it.

Colgera screamed, going through another portal.

“ Is it over? ” Wild shouted.

“ There’s always a phase two! ” Time replied, wincing as he put a hand to his chest. 

“ Time! What happened? ” Sky asked.

“ I think I broke a few ribs when it threw me, but we don’t have time right now. I’ll drink a red potion when it’s over, ” the old man yelled over the wind, his chest rising and falling in an odd rhythm. Hypocrite. If Wild had to drink a red potion for being smacked over a rock, then he was going to make Time drink one as soon as he could.

Just as Time finished speaking, a portal appeared just to the side of them, and Colgera flew out, summoning a massive tornado in front of them. It began to fly around below them, creating several more. 

“ Stay clear of the tornados! ” Tulin called.

“ It looks like Colgera regenerated its weak spots! ” Flora informed them, diving down below Colgera and answering her theory. Yes, Colgera did indeed regenerate them. Because of course it did.

It roared once it noticed her, and summoned six tornados. With shouts of surprise, the group began their dive below the massive spirals, and Wild came to the quick realization of “Hylia above, I’m going to get hit.” But before he could see what painful end the tornados could give him, he felt a gust of wind down his back, and his mind reeled from a phantom sensation he couldn’t place.

— — —

A gale created by a long-dead champion, done to aid him in his journey.

— — —

The gust of wind against his back as their youngest hero pushed him out of the way of a lethal attack with his baton’s magic.

— — —

He was brought back to the present when a few of Colgera’s spikes detached and shot toward them, one of which hitting Sky. With a shout of pain, he started to fall, until he put his legs through the handles of the paraglider and flipped himself upside down to bandage his wrist.

“It’s not funny if Sky’s hurt, it’s not funny if Sky’s hurt,” Wild told himself, trying not to laugh at Sky attempting to stay still while bandaging his wrist. He was attempting to steer with his legs, so as to not fall, but it was…mildly entertaining.

“ Status? ” Time shouted, his voice strained. It wasn’t good for him to still be flying.

“ Broken wrist, but I’ll try to keep distracting Colgera while you guys take care of him! ” Sky yelled in reply. Not good for him to keep fighting in the air either. But Sky finished his makeshift splint and tied it to the handle of the paraglider.

Just as Sky finished, Colgera began to fly straight toward them. They wouldn’t be able to dodge in time. They should’ve kept fighting instead of asking questions. “Act first, questions later,” Legend had always advised.

But as they tried to escape while Colgera got nearer and nearer, a roar broke through the massive blizzard around them. A dragon’s roar. Through the top of the cloud, they saw Zephyr pass over. Aurelios followed with another roar. Colgera shot up, distracted by the dragon’s roars. Wild, Flora, and Tulin managed to get all of the three weak spots in the bit of time the dragons gave them. “Thank you,” Wild whispered to the dragons’ passing figures.

Colgera screamed, thrashing wildly. The side of it lightly hit Wild and Tulin’s side, thankfully only causing some bruising, and Flora was cut by one of the spikes that were launched out in a last ditch effort. 

Colgera slowed in the air, gloom spraying out of it as it attempted to fly out of the cloud, but the boss bent and went limp as Zephyr and Aurelios let out a roar. It fell toward the Stormwind Ark as beams of light came from its body, until it exploded in a ball of red light. 

Golden light and dust appeared where Colgera once flew, and the blizzard’s wind barrier began to slow and disappear, revealing the blue sky and the sun shining down on them. 

A gold-lacquered heart and triangle descended down toward Wild and Flora. Time and Sky fished out three red potions, motioning for Wild and Flora to go touch them. A Heart Container and a Vessel of Light.

Before they could, they noticed an ice spire in the center of the ship. The ice began to melt, revealing a familiar, glowing white, comma-shaped stone. Wild and Flora stared, eyes wide. The stone sat floating above a white stone lotus flower with green and gold Zonai stamen. The flower itself seemed to be on some sort of intricate pedestal, with more white stone along with ancient Rito architecture. 

The two heroes from that era held the Heart Container and Vessel of Light, feeling their injuries fade away and be replaced with newfound strength. Tulin had gone up to the edge of the pedestal and was staring at the stone with his head tilted in a confused manner. Time and Sky stood up, rubbing their now uninjured bones. They stood between the young Rito and the two heroes from that era. 

When Wild and Flora walked up next to Time and Sky, who were staring at the stone in confusion. The stone suddenly shrunk to about the size it was when Wind and Legend found theirs. It shot forward in front of Tulin’s face, who let out a surprised yelp. He raised his wing up to touch it, and once he did, it let out a chime. They all felt themselves be surrounded by light, finding themselves standing on white sand. They were surrounded by rocks and fog. As they all opened their eyes, they noticed runes in the fog. 

“ Tulin… My brave fledgling… ”

“I know that voice…” Tulin murmured, blinking once he saw the figure before him. “It’s you… You’re the one who’s been guiding us?”

The Rito had white chest feathers, which probably went up to his face too. His face was obscured by a green Zonai mask with a gold nose, earrings, and eyes. It looked surprisingly similar to the Vah Medoh Divine Beast helm. His wings had black feathers with some white feathers, making a pattern. He wore a white cloth draped over his waist with what looked like an odd version of the Hyrulean Crest on it. He had two brown armored shoulder pads connected with a cord of brown beads. Hanging from the cord on the Rito’s right shoulder was a satin white and gold cloth with the same symbol that was above each of the keys for the temple. There were a couple other designs, like the triangles Wild and Flora had seen on the two Zonai and the missing heroes. Wild and Flora couldn’t help but be reminded of the blue champion’s clothes that each of the champions wore. Both heroes noticed the green comma stone hanging from one of his two ankle bands.

“ Yes, ” the Rito continued. “ I am your ancestor from a time long ago. I proudly served Hyrule’s first king. ”

Sky’s eyebrows furrowed. Wild tapped the Skyloftian’s hand and shook his head ever so slightly. “ Questions later, ” he mouthed.

“ I was a Rito warrior and a sage with control of the wind. Where you fight— ” the Rito sage raised a wing to Tulin. “ —the winds follow… I would expect nothing less from my descendant. You make me proud. ”

Tulin’s face lit up, and he smiled. The heroes couldn’t help but feel like they were intruding on an intimate moment. Whoops. 

“ That monster you defeated, the source of that intense blizzard… It was summoned by the Demon King. As a matter of fact, it combined the abilities of mine and another sage's. No doubt done to dissuade you, ” The Rito’s light tone changed into a more bitter one.

The Demon King. He had been on the murals below the castle, and Wind and Legend had both fought against Ganondorf. But Wild didn’t know what to expect, since both of them had also been horrified to see the mummified Ganondorf. 

“ He thought it could stop you from obtaining the stone you just found—my Sacred Stone. ”

A Sacred Stone, huh? Well, at least they were close to the name. Secret, sacred, close enough. Sacred Stones did sound more captivating, though.

“Demon King?” Tulin asked. “Sacred Stone?”

“ This is a lot to learn all of a sudden, I know. But listen while I tell you what happened in the past. A tale of the Imprisoning War and the mission our people must accomplish! ”

Wild and Flora turned to each other with wide eyes. More information about Legend and Wind, they hoped. 

They all felt a vision overtake them.

“ Years ago, when the kingdom of Hyrule was still young… ” he narrated.

Ganondorf, as the Demon King, stood with his back away from what they could all see. A red glow emanated from him. They could see eight people facing him. 

Rauru was in the front, Mineru was to his right, and Legend and Wind were to his left! Despite the two green masks resembling dragons over their faces, they were easy to recognize. However, Wind had bandages covering his torso, and Legend had a couple bandages scattered around his body. They were facing the Demon King? Unsafe if they were injured. Four other people stood behind them. A Rito, a Zora, a Goron, and a Gerudo. 

“ A great evil, the Demon King, descended on the land. He sought to wipe out anyone who opposed him. ”

The vision changed to show Ganondorf facing them, his eyes blazing red. His glowing red hair cascaded down his back, his horns as slate grey as his skin. His clothes almost looked like blazing embers crawling up his body, his jewelry the same inky black as his clothes, all with burning red accents. 

"Ganondorf..." the Old Man's voice growled, just barely heard by Wild.

“Yes. But Rauru— ” Time drew back a bit at the name as the vision showed all of the eight from before turned to them. “ —the first king of Hyrule—requested my aid, as well as that of six other warriors. ”

The vision yet again changed to show all of the group, standing determined as they prepared to fight, from what it looked like. Legend and Wind were holding hands, and their open hands were squeezed into fists.

“ To help in the fight, Rauru entrusted us with amazing artifacts. Sacred Stones…objects that amplified our formidable abilities. I carried one into battle as the Sage of Wind. It was thrilling to fight alongside my fellow sages… ” 

The vision focused on the Rito sage, his bow drawn. 

“ Yet we were still no match for the Demon King’s overwhelming power. ” 

The Sage of Wind’s voice shook ever so slightly. The vision changed for a second to show the Demon King smirking, his eyes blazing as his Sacred Stone sat glowing on his head. Then it turned back to the Rito sage, who sat injured. He was on one knee, attempting to hold himself up with one of his wings. 

“ His magic was staggering, and I was unable to slip past his defenses, no matter how hard I tried. ”

The vision panned out to show all of them injured. Rauru and Mineru were the main focus, but the heroes’ attention was mainly drawn to Legend and Wind. They were holding hands still, but they were both on one knee, masks dirtied and spattered with gloom.

All four of the heroes stared at each other, eyes wide. Would they be okay? Would the Demon King spare the two heroes?

“ In the end, King Rauru and his sister realized that we would not be able to defeat the Demon King. ”

The vision got closer to the two Zonais’ faces.

“ To save our world, King Rauru and Mineru sacrificed themselves and sealed the Demon King away. ”

Tulin stared at the ground below, thinking. “So that was the Imprisoning War…” he murmured. 

Then, the vision changed to show the Sage of Wind standing on the Stormwind Ark, before it became ruins. 

“ The rest of us survived that climactic battle, and I would soon receive a visitor with a request that would define the future of the Rito. ”

The sage walked away from the hologram ring, toward where the heroes would stand if they were there too. A familiar boy walked up to him. Wind. He looked mostly unscathed, except for a few bandages. He was a bit dirty, too, but seemed alright enough.

“ It was one of the seven sages—the Sage of Gusts. We had spoken before, and we’d worked together for some time to build up our abilities’ power. ”

“ The Demon King’ll come back, ‘nd the magic binding him’ll be undone, ” Wind told him. “ When that time comes, two heroes named Wild ‘nd Flora’ll fight ‘im, along with some other heroes,” he told the sage, his face abnormally stone cold. Wind took a deep breath in, and his face softened and revealed his weariness. “They’ll only succeed with the Rito’s help. Please, summon yer winds and support ‘em.”

“ It was clear what part the Rito would play. ”

“ It will be an honor to defeat the Demon King. I swear to you both that when the Demon King returns, the Rito Sage of Wind will awaken once more, ” the Sage of Wind promised. “ And you can count on the full support of the Rito! ”

The missing hero smiled ever so slightly, looking at least a bit more relieved.

The vision faded, and they were back in the foggy realm with the dead sage. 

“ And now you know about the Imprisoning War and the mission I accepted on our behalf. You’ve saved Rito Village, but there’s more to do. The Demon King will soon recover his full strength. ”

Tulin and the group of heroes stared at the Rito sage, faces grim.

“ Tulin, my brave fledgling… You must take up my Sacred Stone and honor the Sages of Gust’s request. Fight the Demon King with the heroes Wild and Flora. ”

He shot one wing to the sky, disappearing in a flash of golden light, and bringing them back to the Stormwind Ark.

The Sacred Stone still floated in front of Tulin’s face. “So it’s my mission to fight the Demon King with you both?” he asked with a small frown. He stood still for a moment, and the two heroes feared that he would deny. But he spun around instead, a massive smile across his face. “Link! This is so, so amazing!I can’t believe my ancestor gave me such an important mission—and it involves fighting alongside you, Zelda, and the other heroes to save the world!” Then his face turned a bit more serious. “If we don’t do anything, then the world is gonna be in big trouble. I can’t let that happen… I’ll do this! I’ll happily take this Sacred Stone!” he announced.

The Sacred Stone, hearing his announcement, began to glow green as a rune became inscribed on it. It glowed for a moment longer, before embedding itself and turning darker. Tulin braced himself, and it flew to his ankle and formed a band, just like the ancient sage’s. He turned back toward the four heroes, focusing on Wild and Flora. Time and Sky stepped back, whispering about the vision and their missing heroes. 

“I am the Sage of Wind! Look! Check out what I can do now!” Tulin exclaimed, flipping out his wing. A teal, spectral version of Tulin with glowing white eyes formed and flew past them, making a gust. He flew up, then landed beside Tulin. 

Tulin himself hopped in front of Wild and Flora. He extended both of his wings. “Link, Zelda. Hold out your hands.”

Wild and Flora each held one of his wings. Tulin grasped their hands. “I, Tulin, the Sage of Wind, swear to fight by your side until the end!” he swore. The spectral Tulin made a chime and turned into a little ball of teal light, going into Tulin’s Sacred Stone.

He began to glow a sparkly light green, saying, “take this! It’s proof that I’m with you!” He stood in a steady stance, like he was bracing himself, with one foot back and the other just below him, his wings squeezed around their hands. They both did the same. The green light concentrated, then split and moved down through Tulin’s wings. The light transferred over to their right, magic arms. 

Tulin let go of their arms, and all three of them relaxed. The green light sparkled until it concentrated into the rings on their pinky fingers. It made a Zonai stone band around the previously clay-colored ring. It colored the main part of the ring a more vibrant orange, before a carving of the same rune from Tulin’s Sacred Stone engraved itself onto the center, where there once was an empty orange circle. The rings let out a pulse in unison, before the spectral Tulin appeared behind them both. 

Tulin laughed. “You can use that ring to call on my power anytime, all right?” he asked as the spectre disappeared.

“Hey, we did really well during that fight for being surprised like that!” Sky grinned. Wild noticed Time staring at where Wind stood in their vision. Over 10,000 years prior. And Legend wasn’t with the boy. Wild felt another wave of grief fall over him. 

“Well, let’s head back to the village and tell Dad!” Tulin exclaimed.

Sky, noticing Time as well, set a hand on the older hero’s shoulder. “Hm? Ah. Yes, let’s head back to Rito Village. I’m sure the others have noticed that the blizzard’s gone,” he said.

Chapter Text

Teba walked back out to Revali’s Landing, wading through the snow once more. Link’s four friends that stayed had begun to help the village fledglings with the shops and the resources. Four was helping Molli make arrows, Twilight was helping Genli with food, Hyrule was healing one Rito who came back injured from a fight with more Aerocuda, and Warriors was dealing with anything else that needed to be done.

As he stood on the landing, he couldn’t help but think of Link and the Great Champion Revali. Both excellent archers who’d stood here before and after the Calamity. Before he could fall too deep in his thoughts, however, he noticed the snow beginning to fade. “Hm?” he hummed. He shielded his eyes as he watched the sky get clearer. The snow blanketing the village began to melt at record speed, turning the trees and ground back to a luscious green and revealing the intricate Rito architecture once more. He gasped once he caught sight of the silhouette of a massive ship up in the sky. A couple other Rito flew above, looking around in shock.

— — —

The group of five made their way back to Rito Village, happy to see the snow no longer suffocating the beautiful village. Once they made their way back to Revali’s landing, they saw Saki, Teba, Harth, and the remaining four heroes waiting for them.

“You guys!” Harth shouted. “You did it!

“Yeah! Turns out it was easy once we started working together!” Tulin said.

Saki turned to her husband. Teba hummed and nodded slowly. “This was no small feat,” Teba told his son with a smile.

“I still can’t believe the Stormwind Ark from the children’s song was real,” Saki hummed with a shake of the head.

“Me neither,” Tulin agreed. “You could’ve knocked me over with a feather!”

As Tulin said that, Saki stepped back and Teba stepped up. He took the Great Eagle Bow, Revali’s old bow, from his back and displayed it to his son. “For a job well done, Tulin.” The Rito Elder said, looking proud as he handed the trophy to Tulin. 

“Wait, what?! This bow meant so much to you…and to everyone…and now you’re giving it to me?” he asked, his eyes huge.

“It was always my intention to give it to you once you came of age as a warrior.” Teba delicately handed the bow to his little warrior. 

Wild, soon before departing to go beneath the castle, had brought each of the Champion’s weapons to their descendants. As much as he wanted to keep them close to him, he really wanted the second generation champions to have them, and think of how far they’d come. After all, they’d really just stay on the weapon holders in Hateno. Tulin deserved Revali’s bow. He really did.

Tulin took the bow carefully. “Dad…” he murmured. Then his face became filled with a hardened determination. “Thank you. I’ll prove to you I’ve become a warrior worthy of carrying it!” Teba nodded once, a smile on his face as Tulin set the bow on his back. 

After the three Rito left, Tulin turned to Wild and Flora. “Hey, guys? That kid in the vision my ancestor showed us…didn’t they look just like one of the missing heroes to you?”

“What.”

All four of the other heroes turned to stare incredulously at the group. Tulin didn’t seem to notice. “Do you really think it’s him? I mean…it seemed like a long, long time ago… There’s still a bunch of unanswered questions.”

“Actually, Tulin…we found out that they could’ve been sent that far back. We found two Geoglyphs, and both showed the two of them way back in the past. We aren’t sure if they made their way back here, or if…” Wild didn’t finish.

“Really? Oh, I’m sorry… Well, I’ll go look into it personally, since we saw them on the Stormwind Ark. Next time you see me, I’ll have more information about Legend and Wind. So check in with me sometimes, okay?! And remember—with my Sage’s power, all of us can keep working together no matter what!” Tulin reassured them, before flying off back to the Stormwind Ark. 

“Wait, Cub, what happened up there?” Twilight asked, looking incredibly lost.

“Well…” Wild began, and he told the other heroes about the Tulin’s claim of seeing Wind, the Wind Temple, seeing Wind before they disappeared, the keys, Colgera, the ancient Sage of Wind, and the Sacred Stone.

By the end of it, Warriors and Twilight looked stressed, Four looked very confused and was aggressively scribbling in his notebook, and Hyrule just stared blankly at them.

“Look, we’ll talk to Purah about it soon, but for now, let’s head down and figure out where we’re going to go next,” Time sighed. “We left the horses back at the newspaper building, so let’s go take them and leave.”

But before they left, they noticed Impa and Cado standing on the path. “Impa?!” Flora gasped, surprised to see her friend. It hadn’t been very long since the blizzard ended!

“Oh, hello heroes. We meet again. Cado and I came here to see a Geoglyph. Sadly, we were thwarted by the blizzard and grounded nearby. After it finally calmed down, which I’m assuming you did, so thank you for that, we made our way to this village. We plan to get on with finding that Geoglyph shortly,” she told them. 

“Ah, right! There’s one here too!” Flora remembered. 

“Two, actually. One in northeastern Hebra, and one in southern Hebra. Have you found either of them yet?” the elder asked.

“The map in the Forgotten Temple showed a Geoglyph shaped like a castle,” Cado informed them.

“Ah, right. We haven’t found either of them, yet,” Flora said. “Though, now I plan to investigate.”

“We intend to investigate that Geoglyph as well,” Impa replied. “Though the one in Northeastern Hebra looked like one of the later ones. Are you all going in chronological order or looking into them as you go?”

“We’re going in order. It’d be easier to get the whole picture without having to piece it all together out of order,” Hyrule answered. Impa nodded.

With that, they got another Stamina Vessel and Vessel of Light from a Goddess Statue and left, making their way back to grab their horses. Once they did so, and greeted Traysi, they headed off to the north, where the Geoglyph Impa and Cado were searching for should be. 

On the way, they saved a trapped pair of Hylians inside a cabin, who were surrounded by bokoblins. The woman was looking for a professional shield surfer (which Wild considered himself), but they left and made their way toward the Geoglyph that Impa had told them about. 

Strangely enough, when they made it to the Geoglyph, it was teal.

They once again split apart to search for the Dragon’s Tear, and called the others over to cover for them while they went through it. They activated Recall and felt themselves be pulled in by the memory.

— — —

Wind and Legend overlooked Hyrule, puzzled. It was clearly still Wild’s Hyrule, but there were changes. The Dueling Peaks were still one massive mountain, and Death Mountain was still spewing smoke. Wind had to admit, it looked pretty cool.

“Huh…” he murmured. “So we’re right. This ain’t the world we were— uh, we are used to,” he said, looking over the small cliff they were on. They stood on the Great Plateau, which was also surprisingly (yet not too surprisingly) different. 

“This is so odd… A time so far in the past, it became legend…” the veteran hummed. Wind smirked, and Legend just shoved his head down. Wind yelped. With a scowl, he turned to Rauru and Sonia, making sure to look a little less mad as he turned.

“So it’s really true?” Wind asked. “This ‘s the era of Hyrule’s foundin’??” He stared back out at the rest of Hyrule. But if this was Hyrule’s founding, why weren’t they in Sky’s era? Wind was so confused. He knew when to admit it. Timelines. And for once, it wasn’t caused by Time.

“Both of your presences here are just as strange to us, Wind. But if you both have Sacred Stones…and they reacted to touching each other, then your story makes sense. You, Legend, seem to have the same power as I do. Light power. Though, I must ask, are your names truly Legend and Wind? They are quite odd,” Rauru commented.

The two heroes held their Sacred Stones up, staring at them. Legend turned back to the two monarchs. “You’re right. Our names are both Link, along with our friends like Wild. So we came up with nicknames based on our titles. I’m the Hero of Legend, so I’m called Legend. He’s the Hero of Winds, so he’s Wind.”

“Your names are all Link? Has the name become common?” Sonia asked, puzzled.

“Eeehhh?” Wind squeaked out, moving his hand in a so-so motion. Not exactly common, but common for heroes, apparently.

Sonia shook her head and turned to Rauru. “Though, I must say, I believed them right away. You needed the Sacred Stones as proof, Rauru?” she asked before turning to Legend. “I can sense your light power, and a small bit of my time power within you. Though, I know that Hylia and Farore’s blessings give you more light power. And although I cannot feel much light or time power within you, Wind, I can feel the blessings of Farore and Hylia within you as well, which gives you a small amount of light power. Additionally, I sense that you, Legend, and I share a blood connection.”

With Sonia’s words, Legend drew back a bit. “You share a what?!” Wind exclaimed, his eyes wide. Why didn’t Legend tell anybody? The Veteran tried to stammer a response for a moment, before he looked defeated and sighed.

“I can feel something between us, but other than that, I just kind of know. But my light power isn’t really that strong, or concentrated,” he said.

“Ah, I see. In any case, you had said that you needed to return to the era you came from as soon as you possibly could…” Rauru said.

“Yeah, somethin’s happenin’ back there and we’re worried ‘bout our friends. We need t’ get back there, but we dunno how. I’ve ne’er worked with time power,” Wind sighed. He raised his hands to his face. He was the Hero of Winds and not the Hero of Time for a reason.

“The only time I’ve ever used time power was only because I used an oracle’s harp. I thought that, and her, were the only things making the time power, not me,” Legend added, looking down. The two heroes had to bite back laughter as they took notice of Sonia elbowing Rauru in the side, and him rubbing his side with a small pout.

She stepped up toward them, and they pushed back their humor. “Now, dears, you don’t need to solve all of your problems all at once. You both could come back to the castle with us and we can keep thinking,” Sonia offered.

“We can’t just—” Legend started, wide-eyed, before Sonia grabbed his hands. 

“We’ll tell everyone that you’re a distant relative of ours, since it is true, after all, and we can call you and Wind brothers.” She smiled at them, her hair flowing in the wind behind her. She could certainly pass as a goddess, if Wind didn’t know better.

A better goddess than the ones who flooded Hyrule.

“I mean, if yer good with it, it’d be nice…” Wind murmured. 

“It would be wonderful to have you both. We’ll get you both fresh clothes, too. I’m sure answers will come to you both. Wisdom takes time,” she said.

“We do better in the courage department,” the two heroes said, sharing a laugh. It was true, after all. 

“Hm, I wonder… Mineru… She may have some idea of how to get you both back,” Rauru suddenly said, looking up to the sky with that thinking tic of putting his hand on his chin.

“Mineru?” Wind asked. 

Rauru looked back at him, replying, “yes… She knows far more than anyone about our people, the Zonai. And like us, my older sister has a Sacred Stone. We’ll call on her for help.” 

The memory faded.

— — —

“Well, that was quite nice…” Flora commented. She…didn’t know what to say about the blood connection. If that was the case, then she was related to Legend. Was that perhaps why she felt more of a connection to Legend? How was she to bring it up?

Thankfully, Wild seemed to know how to say it. “Legend shares a blood connection with the royal family?!” he shouted, catching the attention of every single Link in the Chain, who stared at him. Then, all hell broke loose.

“He’s part of the what?!” 

“Oh, Hylia, all the times we’ve criticized the royal family…” 

“He does it too, idiot!” 

“Why didn’t he tell us?” 

“He doesn’t tell us anything about his personal life.” 

“Is that why Fable ‘n him always seemed t’ be laughin’ at us?!” 

Once the two of them reigned in the conversation, they handed the Purah Pad to them. They watched the memory, and then they were ready to move on. 

“Oh, right. I meant to ask. Does anyone have any idea what the whole…timeline thing is?” Sky asked. “I mean, they went back to Hyrule’s founding, but that still looks like Wild’s era, and I’m not a goat person.” With that ending, Sky made a quick check of his hands, then nodded in satisfaction. Did…he think they didn’t see that?

“A Zonai,” Flora corrected. “But yes, I see your point. My theory is that Wild and I are much, much farther into the timeline than you are, so the kingdom of Hyrule must have fallen at some point. Zonai, who might’ve been higher in the sky than you, descended down one day and found someone or something that mentioned Hyrule. They remade the castle, and lived in it. Though, I did not see Hyrule Castle, so they must have settled elsewhere.”

All of them nodded. Then Wild spoke up. “So, what’s the deal with Sonia then? Her name isn’t Zelda, but she’s related to Legend. Legend is part of the royal family, before her. So she has to be his descendant somewhere, right?”

Flora paused. Four piped up. “What if she’s like Tetra? She’s not technically named Zelda, but she’s related to them. What if Sonia is the same? If Hyrule really did fall, then maybe the Zelda of that time managed to escape, and continued the royal bloodline. Either that, or the royal family possibly could have discovered the tradition again if they did the same with renaming Hyrule.” He quickly wrote something in his notebook.

“But she don’t have the light power the rest o’ the Zeldas do. If she’s related to ‘em, why don’t she have it? She should really have light power, not time power, right?” Twilight asked. Four angrily scribbled out what he wrote previously.

Flora stared. “...you’re right. King Rauru had light power, not Sonia. The Zonai could have been blessed with sacred light power from Hylia, but…” She didn’t say anything else.

“We’ll speak to Purah about it later. Let’s go before we get stuck here for the night,” Time said, staring at the sky. “It’s not too late now, but if we get distracted by something else for too long on the way to a stable, then we could be caught outside.”

“That’s never been a problem for us before, though?” Hyrule asked. Time glanced at Flora.

“...well, I will be alright if we have to,” she told them, a bit embarrassed. 

With an apprehensive nod from Time, they grabbed their horses and rode off. They made their way to the massive Pikida Stonegrove Skyview Tower, and quickly activated it. They left the tower, making their way toward the stable not too far away. While they traveled, they caught sight of a flying, three headed dragon, but with white horns and wings. Hadn’t she heard stories of dragons named gleeoks? Perhaps that was what they were. They made their way safely past it, Flora and Wild went through the shrine, and then they spoke to a man who mentioned the hidden Great Fairy and the musical troupe that Eustus mentioned being a part of.

They got another pony point and got the Malanya Bed reward. Odd, but they’d take it.

“Should we head back to Lookout Landing and talk to Purah?” Flora asked. They were getting a lot of information, and she wasn’t sure how much of it she’d be able to retain.

Agreements sounded around her, and they all went back to Lookout Landing. They gave her a wave and went into the emergency shelter. While the others went to sleep, Flora and Wild noticed something amiss. Jerrin was standing in front of a broken wall, shaking a bit.

“Jerrin?” Zelda asked softly. 

“Oh! Link, Zelda! You both scared me… You both should probably avoid this area,” she told them, glancing at the hole in the wall.

“Why’s that?” Wild asked her, turning to the hole.

“Sometimes I hear a creepy voice coming from this hole—it almost sounds like a demon growling or something. No one else claims to hear it, but I certainly do. Between you and me, I kind of worry I awakened some demon when I busted up this wall. And my even bigger worry is that the demon has it out for me now… Robbie, Granté…my beloved family…goodbye forever,” she sighed, looking down.

When she didn’t speak again, the two heroes silently went through the hole, only walking a few feet before both heard a growl. They froze, and heard a voice.

“Hear me.” 

It repeated that short phrase as they broke through the rock. It was in a small alcove of the Royal Hidden Passage, just to the right. They broke through, finding a horned statue. Wild glared at it. They stepped up to it, and black smoke began to seep out around the base of the statue. 

“Ahhh… So there are some who still pay me homage.”

Flora gasped. “You can talk?!” she asked incredulously.

“You don’t say. You both can hear my voice?” it asked. The two of them nodded. “Now, that is a surprise. What were you praying for? Long life? Wealth, like so many of your kind?” Before either of them could answer, it kept talking. “Whichever it was, you came to the right place. A dealer in life and power… That was me, once. Alas, my life-for-money bargains didn’t sit well with the Goddess Hylia.”

“I wonder why…” Wild huffed, staring at the Horned Statue. 

“She turned me into this stone statue long, long ago. Even then, I continued my bargains as a statue in a village. Still, the Goddess did not like what I was doing.”

“Oh, great,” Flora murmured. “The reason why she didn’t help me get my powers was because she was focused on a statue she didn’t like.” Wild gave her a consoling pat on the shoulder. 

“I was banished from the main street to the outskirts of town, scorned and neglected. But that was not enough for Her. Again I was sent away. I spent time trapped in a pond, with only fish for company. And finally…here. Perhaps another might have learned a lesson from this. But I have not.” Wild nearly laughed from the bluntness, and he might’ve if the situation wasn’t a bit concerning. 

“So…why are you calling out?” Flora asked.

“I have been biding my time for the moment when someone who can hear me appears. Someone such as you two. I’m sure we can reach a beneficial agreement. I have dealt only with fish for too long. And fish make terrible deals.”

Okay, now this was unfairly funny. Wild snickered. Flora grabbed Wild’s hand and squeezed, trying not to laugh. This was very unfair. “So…why are you telling us this?” Flora asked, calming herself.

“Shall we strike a bargain?”

The two heroes looked at each other, their faces going a bit grim. “What kind of bargain?” Flora asked, a bit suspicious. 

“Hold still, and don’t fret. I’ll take care of everything. This won’t hurt a bit.” The heroes gave each other wide-eyed looks. That sounded concerning. But before either of them could say a thing, two balls of light pulled themselves from their chests, making them both feel a bit light headed for a moment. They went into the statue, who paused. “Interesting, you both are tied. Fa ha ha… My touch as subtle as ever… Note how I took that essence from you without leaving a mark.”

Flora stared at the statue as Wild rubbed his chest. “Please give those back,” she said.

“Fa ha ha… Did you think I’d deceived you? Perish the thought. I hope that ours will be a long and profitable relationship.”

The two heroes looked at each other, then back at the statue. “You took…those from us without explaining what you were going to do and why. Forgive us for not trusting that. Could we please have those back again?” Flora asked again, her tone betraying her discomfort.

“Well then. I sense that you must stay true to the Goddess’ wishes, so I cannot change your essence. But you, boy…would you like your heart back, or do you wish to change it to stamina?“ 

“Uh, I’d like my heart back,” Wild answered, looking a bit annoyed. 

“A wise choice. Now, remain still.” With that, their “essences” came out of the statue and went back into their chests. They sighed in relief at feeling their power return. But then they turned to stare at the statue again, discomforted. “You look skeptical. Not to worry. Money and life are all as one to me. If you wish to do this again, then first you must sell me either type of essence for 100 Rupees. If you want to buy an essence back, the price rises to 120 Rupees. Before you cry foul, know that you may choose which one I return to you: a Heart Container or a Stamina Vessel. I’m eager to help tamper with your essence anytime you want to return and pray here.”

Now holding that knowledge, they walked out and back through the hole in the wall, where Jerrin was still shaking. “I broke the wall and angered the demon…” she moaned in dread, looking at the ceiling. “And I’ll be paying for it with my life…”

“It’s fine, we went inside the hole,” Wild told her.

“You what? You went inside the hole? Did you find the demon?! Is…is this goodbye for me?” she asked them.

“No, it was just a statue. Everything is alright,” Flora assured the woman.

“Wait. A demon…statue was in there, you say?” They nodded. “I know a bit about those,” Jerrin said. “Want to know what I know?”

“Yeah, sure,” Wild said. Better to know from an outside source, he guessed. 

“‘A dealer in life and power, touched by the wrath of the Goddess, fallen to ruin.’ Then that must mean the Horned Statue is an entity who deals in life and power! Which would make the dais the place where it was enshrined, back when it was still a god. So the voice I heard was the forlorn Horned Statue… As there is the Goddess of Light, then it follows that she would have an opposite—the Horned God. Like light and dark, one cannot exist without the other—their power manifests through the other’s existence. Knocking a hole in the wall? That was fate, no doubt about it. I can’t go in there, but I’ll keep this area spick-and-span. And I’ll be sure to greet the Horned Statue from here too. Oh, and thanks, you know? Take this,” she rambled, handing them a Red Rupee. “It’s Robbie’s spending allowance for next month, but now it’s your spending allowance.”

Flora snickered. There was something so funny about Robbie having a spending allowance made by his wife. Jerrin thanked them, and they walked away to sleep. That went on a lot longer than expected.

They crashed into the beds, falling asleep nearly instantly. It’d been a long few days of chaos, and they really needed to sleep.

Chapter Text

When they woke up and left the shelter, they noticed a new person talking to Josha. The rest of the Chain didn’t seem to recognize him either. He was asking for a chance at something, but Josha was apologizing.

“I’m sorry, Tauro. You’re not the right one for the job,” she said. Upon hearing the man’s name, the rest of the Chain, except for Flora and Wild, seemed to have a realization.

“C’mon, don’t say that! You’ve got to let me cast my line into the depths too,” he retorted. “I’m capable of deciphering some Zonai script—who else can tackle that stuff?”

“I mean,” Josha hummed, “your skills would be super helpful to me… You’re the one in charge of the Zonai Survey Team, after all.” Ah, the rest of the Chain must have heard of him, even if they hadn’t seen him before. “But aren’t you heading up the Ring Ruins investigation in Kakariko Village, anyway, Tauro? That’s where your focus should be. Those fallen ruins are huge and exciting! Big enough to see from Lookout Landing! So, please, finish your work there before asking to join in new research.”

Wild and Flora turned to each other. Ring Ruins? Big enough to see from Lookout Landing? Flora turned, and noticed that there was a massive ring shaped thing up by Kakariko Village. She hadn’t noticed it, since they were distracted! 

“But!-” Tauro tried. “But to read firsthand Zonai history… That bait’s just too juicy to pass up!”

Turning to the side, Josha noticed the Chain listening into their conversation. “Ah, heroes! Princess!”

Flora looked down. “Please, just say heroes.”

Josha nodded. “Heroes!” she tried again.

“Uh, someone else is here for the job? Already? And…the princess?” Tauro asked. He sighed. “I guess it’s a lost cause. I’ll head back to Kakariko Village and…just stare up at those Ring Ruins.” he muttered. He trudged away.

When he was gone, Josha turned to the group. “Tauro is an amazing person. And he’s a first-rate archaeologist, too! But he loves Zonai research so much that he’ll bolt from a project to chase any new discoveries. I’ve been looking for someone to help with my investigation of the Depths. I mean, you’d all be best for the job…”

Wild turned to the others, who shrugged. “We’ll help, then.”

Josha perked up. “Thank you! Having you heroes help out is such a relief. We’ll explain all the details to you. Come with me!” She walked over to the now completed slate in the back corner of her room. “So, remember that fragment I had? The one that showed a single, mysterious figure? I found more fragments among the things our survey team brought back from the Depths. And guess what? They fit together like puzzle pieces! Ta-da! Just look!”

They stared at the finished slate in awe. All of that had been done in the time that they were gone?! “That’s amazing, Josha!” Flora gasped. 

“I know! This scene shows that there’s a whole series of statues down there, like the one you found for me last time. But what really caught my attention is the way they’re oriented. Each figure is pointed toward the next one in the series. Until it ends with that last statue facing a final destination—a building that looks like a temple!” the young Sheikah exclaimed.

“The ears on that figure in front of the building… It looks like a Zonai! Could it possibly be Rauru?” Flora asked, turning to Wild. He nodded. 

“Exactly! And then there’s that strange hand symbol that seems to be responding to whatever the Zonai is doing,” Josha added. Oddly enough, it looked like Ultrahand. “I’m pretty sure if you follow the gaze of each of those statues down there, you’ll reach that structure. 

“I’m also betting that the temple-like building holds something of Zonai origin. I’ve heard that the Zonai wielded mysterious powers… I wonder if this correlates to those powers. But of course, all of that is still just speculation on my part. Sooo…that’s where you all come in! 

“I want you to find the temple structure depicted in the mural. Initially I figured I could just go myself, so I gathered a bunch of Brightblooms and supplies. But they pulled the “kid card” on me and said I couldn’t go into the Depths. So…here.” After her rant, she handed them ten giant Brightbloom seeds and ten arrows. 

“There’s the added bonus that checking out the Depths might provide us with clues to help find your missing heroes. So if it all works out, maybe you’ll snag some mysterious power for yourself AND gain clues about the heroes! Nothing but good things, right? Thanks for your help with this, heroes!”

She then ushered all of them out without any other words exchanged.

They quickly made their way to the Hyrule Field Skyview Tower, storming through the monster forces that had made their home around the tower. Only a few of them had black blood, so it wasn’t too hard to exterminate them. Wild once again shot himself into the sky and scanned the area, then they all made their way over to the chasm in Central Hyrule.

“Have any of you guys actually been into the Depths?” Hyrule asked tentatively. “Because I haven’t.” The Chain, other than Wild and Flora, denied ever seeing the Depths.

“We have, actually,” Wild murmured.

“What? When?” Twilight asked.

“Back before we left for Hebra,” Flora answered. Well, that much was kind of obvious.

“While you were supposed to be resting?” Time asked, giving them the Look.

Before Time could say anything else, they reached the edge and Wild flung himself into the massive chasm.

“WILD!” members of the Chain shouted. Flora jumped in next, and in a panic, the others did too. Once they made it down to the Depths, Twilight grabbed Wild and snapped, “why would you do that without explaining anything?!”

“Relax, relax,” Wild sighed. “It’s fine. I knew what I was doing.”

“...but we didn’t,” Twilight whispered. Wild, noticing Twilight’s worried expression, hugged the Rancher. 

“I’m sorry, but still. You know me,” the Hero of the Wild said with a goofy smile. Twilight smiled back and nodded.

“Yes I do. Now, let’s get going. I don’t like the look of this place,” Twilight hummed, looking around.

The rest of the Chain nodded, and they walked off until they found the statue that Wild and Flora had originally found. They followed the way it pointed until they reached another nearby one. Flora took note of where they were, and Wild grabbed a few blue wisps called “poes.” Most of the Chain grimaced when they heard what they were called. Oh, right, their poes were evil. These ones were small and just floated there, thankfully.

After an annoying amount of time walking, and walking, and walking, and grabbing things, and walking, fighting a massive thing called a Frox and getting its fangs and nails, getting another Lightroot, and walking until they finally reached something. It seemed to be some kind of base, but it looked to be in disrepair. They walked over to it, and Four cleared his throat once he noticed a notebook. 

“‘According to…Koh…this location will be destroye… Glory…o Master K…ga,’” he read.

“Oh no…” Wild groaned. 

“What? Is something the matter?” Time asked.

“Master Kohga. Looks like we’re dealing with Yiga. But I thought Kohga was dead,” Wild admitted.

“Dead?” Flora stared at her hero.

“Yeah, he fell down a hole because of his own attack, and the hole looked really, really deep. I thought he died,” he answered. 

“We’re going to have to deal with more of those assassins?” Sky asked. Wild nodded.

“Could they have gathered in the Depths after the Upheaval?” Warriors questioned him.

“I mean, maybe? They could, if they tried hard enough I guess,” Wild said.

They found themselves walking into an area called the Grove of Time, but continued away. They ran from another Evermean tree, then fought a camp full of gloom covered monsters.  

“Hey, guys?” Hyrule asked. The Chain turned to him. “Do you see that?” The Traveler pointed out toward something that looked like a large temple or building adorned with lights. Zonai architecture, possibly. 

“Oh, that may be what we’re looking for!” Flora gasped. “Let’s go!”

Flora ran toward the large structure, and the rest of the Chain trailed behind her in varying degrees of excitement. They soared over to the area, and the Purah Pad called it the “Great Abandoned Central Mine.”

They walked inside and noticed two people standing next to a hologram in front of a deactivated construct. Flora was about to go talk to them, but Wild stopped her. “Careful of Yiga,” he signed. She nodded. 

“Hello?” she called. The man next to the construct gasped.

“Ah! I didn’t think we’d see anybody else down here! Though I imagine you could say the same to us, huh?” he asked sheepishly.

“Yes, we could,” Wild responded flatly.

“...uhhh… You’re here to investigate too, right? Y’know, since you took the Yi— Er, I mean, the survey-team interview?” Wild’s gaze sharpened and he grabbed Flora’s wrist, making a quick sign to his brothers to be on guard. “Because we definitely took that interview too. That’s why we’re here. Yep…”

“Oh!” Sky called with a smile. Wild stared at him. “You took the interview with Tauro, right?” The chosen hero gave him a quick glance.

An act.

Genius, Sky. They would’ve taken the interview with Josha, not Tauro!

“Huh?- Oh! Um, yes, we did! So uh, take a look at this! Our latest discovery nearly knocked us off our feet.” He gestured to the construct. “We found this weird device with these wavering green letters on it, and this strange statue! We think it’s one of those living stone constructs. Pretty sure it’s supposed to move too. Well, I say that…but it’s all just conjecture on my part. Truth is, we’re in a bit of a panic here. If we don’t figure out how this thing works soon, we’re going to be in big trouble,” the “researcher” sighed.

“Oh, yeah. With Mido, right?” Time asked. Ah, good, he’s in the act too. “He’s been hounding me lately.”

“ Yep! ” the man hissed. “With Mido!”

“Oh? Did you pass the interview too?” the woman asked, putting away her notebook as she took notice of them. “They obviously did. Why else would they come strolling into a place like this? Ugh, why’d I even bring it up?” she muttered to herself with a scowl. “Anyway, sorry. This text we’re investigating looks incredibly important, right?” she asked.

“Oh, yeah. We came ‘ere t’ help y'all out,” Twilight added.

“Oh, good. The text claims that this stone statue should be able to grant us an ‘ancient power.’” She gestured to the construct.

“An ancient power?” Four asked.

“...why is a child- Never mind. That’s right. This peculiar stone statue is nothing less than one of the fabled constructs.” Four glared at her. “I, um…In fact, I have some writing here that explains this so-called ‘ancient power’ in detail. It reads, ‘this ability will allow you to commit any structure you create to memory. Any object committed to memory can be instantly reproduced.’ Just think of it! If we could instantly recreate anything we’d ever made…the Yi— Er, I mean, the survey team’s, uh…investigation of this land would be swift and unstoppable!”

Did they send the most klutzy Yiga down here? Because wow, they were not good at pretending they weren’t Yiga.

“The text further claims that this construct should be able to grant us that power. Oh, we just have to wake it up!” she continued. 

Wild and Flora each gave each other a look. Well, if they activated the construct, the Yiga couldn’t do anything anyway. They didn’t have magic Zonai stuff. The two of them activated the hologram and a travel gate appeared. 

“Authorizer verified,” the construct said. It extended outward, and the closest researcher gasped and yelled that it was moving. Great job, captain obvious. The rest of the Chain looked equally as surprised though, so they couldn’t say much. “Conferring Autobuild to authorizer now. Please utilize it as you explore and excavate the Depths for zonaite.” Blue and green magic built up around their hands, just as their other abilities had back on the Great Sky Island. The orb showed two hands reaching out to one. Odd. 

“Did I…see what I thought I saw?” the man asked. “Did that thing just…give you the power we’ve been researching?”

“That’s incredible! C-could you give us a demonstration? Let me see what the text has to say. Hold on, um…like I said earlier, ‘this ability will allow you to commit any structure you create to memory…’ and ‘any object committed to memory can be instantly reproduced,’” the woman recited. 

“I know just what to use it on! As luck would have it, both of our vehicles just broke, and we’ve been struggling to put them back together again.” The man turned to look at two broken platforms on wheels. “The one on the round pedestal lost a wheel…and the one on the square pedestal has fallen to pieces. But I think if you put the wheel back onto the first one… You should be able to use your power to repair the second in no time flat!” the man announced, looking back to Wild and Flora. “So come on, let’s see it in action! Fix ‘em up quick!”

Wild and Flora nodded, and the two of them brought the rest of the Chain to the broken vehicles. “Take out your weapons. I don’t trust this,” Wild said quietly. The Chain nodded and pulled out their weapons, not quite clearly on the defensive. 

Flora fixed the wheel on the first vehicle, and Wild attempted Autobuild. He activated the ability and saw the machine on the screen of the Purah Pad. Though oddly enough, Flora looked at him and gasped, then wrote something in her field journal. Once he clicked on the machine on his Purah Pad, the broken pieces began putting themselves together until it landed on the ground, fixed.

“Woah…” the man gasped. “It’s like I’m seeing double! Built in less than no time flat too. This is exactly what I was hoping for. Thank you, ancient power!”

“And Wild and Flora,” Hyrule murmured.

“The texts were right, after all!” the other researcher exclaimed. 

“I’ll say. That power’s incredible. Oh, Maaaster! ”

Now the party starts. 

The two “researchers” disappeared into red talismans, and an annoyingly familiar voice rang out around them.

“Well, look at that… The legends were true!”

Behind the group, three people appeared in more red talismans. Two in scrawny red suits with the familiar Yiga mask sporting an upside down eye, and the distinct outfit of Master Kohga. It was really honestly just the standard Yiga suit with cream and blue frills, and a cream and gold neck piece. Of course, his mask had to be more grand, so it had several appendages coming out from it, and a sort of…comical looking antenna with a black pom pom on the end. 

Kohga stretched a bit, before he faced the group. He complimented his two Yiga henchmen, then laughed. “Good job too, strangers. Credit where credit is due. Yes, credit where credit is…”

Kohga paused.

“Never thought I’d see you again, Kohga,” Wild said dryly.

“If there’s one foe I’ll never forget, it’s the man who cast me from my Gerudo Desert hideout into these very Depths! It was you! And you, ” he turned to Flora, “the princess…why are both of you here?! I live for vengeance. Both upon you, the no-good princess, and upon my sworn enemy! That means you, Link and Zelda! And you all,” he pointed dramatically to each member of the Chain, “have been causing me a whirlwind of troubles too! Stop stabbing my henchmen! Don’t try to tell me you’ve all forgotten! And, Link, I know you haven’t forgotten me! We are bound by fate, you and I! Hear my name and tremble in fear!

“What’s with this guy?” Four muttered. “This sounds like an enemies to lovers romance.”

“Why would you put that thought in my head. Some thoughts are not meant to be said,” Hyrule huffed, staring at Four. The Smithy just shrugged.

“And I thought Legend was dramatic…” Warriors whispered.

“I—” the Yiga continued, “—am the leader…of the Yiga Clan!”

“...We know?” Twilight laughed, albeit a bit awkwardly.

“Don’t interrupt me!” he snapped, stamping a foot. Twilight raised his hands in surrender. Kohga cleared his throat. 

He and his two yiga slapped their hands together above their head and leaned to the group’s left like they were making arrows with their body. The Yiga are weird. 

“The strong!”

They turned to the other side.

“The Depths-defying!”

They spun and pointed skyward.

“From the ashes, rising!”

Kohga posed and the two Yiga sent red talismans shooting at him like confetti.

“ MASTER KOHGA! ”

“...nice to meet you?” Hyrule said, though it sounded more like a question.

“Yes, yes, thank you. You’re my favorite.” Hyrule’s face scrunched up. “Anyway, I saw it all. I saw the moment you obtained the ancient power we’ve sought for so long! The highlight of all the musty old texts we’ve found in this land! It remembers objects you’ve assembled and can instantly reproduce them…”

“Does he just repeat everything?” Time asked with a sigh.

“You get used to it,” Wild answered.

“He’s very incompetent. It’s a wonder how he caused any trouble for us in the past,” Flora admitted.

“AHEM?!” Kohga called. “I’m still talking! Anyway! A long-lost ability from the distant past! So you… You— You’re cheating! ” Kohga began to stomp his foot, and the group could almost see the steam coming from his ears. Sky, Four, and Hyrule visibly fought back the laughter bubbling up. 

The leader of the Yiga paused to seeth for a moment, before he and his henchmen began to stomp over and over again. “Here we are, working ourselves to the bone to build things by hand…and you can just whip them up in an instant! THAT’S NOT FAIR! ” 

The three Yiga paused.

“You know who could’ve used that power? The one we worship and revere—the Magnificent One!”

Wild’s eyebrows furrowed. “The who?” he asked, his tone grim.

“The Magnificent One, obviously!” Kohga replied with a laugh. Wild and Flora heard the Chain sigh. In the few moments they’d come to know him, they were already annoyed. Shocking. Truly shocking. “Ahem, if we offered the power to him, he would have crushed you two and your friends! But you just walked up and snatched it away! Now I’m gonna snatch it back!”

Kohga disappeared, then appeared again in the middle of a field. He made a large Zonai truck with spikes on the front appear below him, then he dropped into it. He turned on the lights and shouted at them to prepare themselves. He formed large blue barriers around their little arena so that they couldn’t leave the fight.

“If he made that vehicle without the…abilities you both have, that is a bit impressive,” Time admitted.

“Dunno how he did it, but it is kinda impressive,” Twilight agreed.

“He’s an idiot, but this is interesting,” Four added.

“Alright, let’s scatter. He can’t run us all over!” Sky said with a smile (because that totally didn’t sound grim at all, Sky.), and so the group split. They heard Kohga’s screech of anger, but before he could attempt to chase any of them, Wild shot him in the mask. 

With a scream, the leader fell, and the member of the Chain closest to him started to slash at him. “Why does his back end stick out of the ground?!” Four called. “ That’s not how the ground works! ”

“I don’t know! As far as I’m aware, that’s the only way he falls!” Wild replied with a laugh.

“ THAT DOESN’T MAKE SENSE! ”

After a minute, Four circled around to them. “Only got the chance to kick the shit out of him for a little bit, sorry.”

“You kicked him? I’m surprised you didn’t use your sword,” Wild hummed.

“If I sliced open his suit, I would be traumatized.”

…oh. Wild never thought of that scenario. Ew.

After a moment, he appeared with a new truck, but fell rather quickly again. He then summoned another truck with a board above it, but why would that stop them?

“Want to practice your archery?” Wild asked Flora. She shrugged and laughed. Wild handed her the bow, and she fused a keese eye onto her arrow. “What’s that for?” he asked.

“Well, the Purah Pad says that it hones to the target, so this should get Kohga off rather quickly,” she answered with a smug grin. She let loose the arrow, and heard Kohga’s squawk of indignation as he was launched off of the truck. It sounded like Time had it covered.

They shot him off his truck once more, and he appeared with a new version again . With rockets. Oh, Hylia. 

He shot toward Wild and Flora, but they launched out of the way just as Kohga crashed into his barriers. He fell backward, swaying a little, and the two heroes slashed at him until he made one last effort. And of course, failed. 

He teleported back by the construct, and the heroes made their way up to him. 

“Urgh! You pesky little…PESTS! Why won’t you stand still and let me squish you?” Kohga huffed. “Well, fine! I suppose I can let you off easy for today. You all think you’re so smart…but I’ve already found a whole bunch of ruins down here! I saw your little trick there. You both used your weird hands to get that construct going. I’ll grab that power you cheated me out of for MYSELF, off at the Southwestern Abandoned Mine! Then the Magnificent One and I will guide this world to its miserable end. And there’s nothing any of you can do to stop us!” Kohga announced. Another vehicle appeared behind him, but this time, it was a wing with four fans on it, along with some kind of…stick? Neither of them had seen the stick before. He got on, grabbed the stick, and started to fly away, yelling for them to not follow him.

“...did he jus’ tell us not t’ follow ‘im after he told us right where he’s goin’?” Twilight asked, thoroughly confused.

“Based on what we’ve seen from this guy, I’m not surprised,” Four said. 

“Um, they’re a group of assassins, right? They weren’t all that good normally, but it seems like he’s even worse. Aren’t leaders of organizations supposed to be really good at what they do?” Hyrule asked sheepishly.

“Yes, they are supposed to be. Master Kohga is…a sort of exception,” Flora answered. A chest appeared nearby, and they got a Huge Crystallized Charge, worth 100 normal charges. 

“Wait, Flora, you said that he caused you issues in the past? Like, before the Calamity?” Sky asked.

“Huh?” Flora blinked. “Oh, yes.”

“…he’s still that hyper after 100 years? I mean, good on him, but…he didn’t use technology to make himself younger like you said Purah did,” Sky replied, shaking his head with a small chuckle. “Sure, Robbie is hyper, but he’s clearly aged. Kohga has…not.”

Both Wild and Flora paused. The Chosen Hero wasn’t wrong…

Chapter Text

“Excuse me,” the voice of a construct interrupted. It was the same one they’d activated earlier. “Thank you for repelling the trespassers. I hope you will pardon me for listening in on your conversation. That man mentioned an abandoned mine to the southwest. I suspect that he is referring to the former Gerudo Mine. That place flourished with activity long ago like this one. Ore was constantly unearthed and refined,” the construct explained.

“Ah, the Gerudo Desert is known to house many precious gems. That’s why they’re very prominent in their architecture and culture,” Flora added. She would have to look into the Gerudo Mine. Perhaps she would find more information on Gerudo history?

“Correct. There are statues that point the way to the Abandoned Gerudo Mine. Follow them to reach that destination. I recommend you begin by making your way to the light you see over there.” The construct raised a mechanical hand to point to a Lightroot that didn’t seem to be too far away.

“Oh, thank you." Time gave a polite smile, and walked a little ways away to look at it.

“One more thing before you all set out on your journey. There is something I would like you to have. Please speak with my associate whenever possible.” The construct turned to another construct, which none of them saw before.

They made their way over to it, where it also said, “thank you for driving out the trespassers. I will no longer need to hide in order to avoid detection. There is another reason that it is good you have come. I see that you have the ability to Autobuild. That means the Schema Stone I carry is for you.”

“A Schema Stone?” Flora asked.

“Yes. They depict schematics of things such as Zonai vehicles,” it replied. Odd thing to have, but very helpful. "Please wait while I prepare the necessary parts for you to test this Schema Stone.” With that, the construct began gathering parts into one pile nearby. Once it was finished, it said, “Schema Stones can help you to build things you have never before imagined. I hope that you will find this one useful.”

“Thank you!” Hyrule said to the construct before the Chain fixed up the device.

“Uh, how do we want to do this? Not all eight of us can fit on there…” Sky told the group. All of them stilled.

“...um. Excuse me, construct?” Flora called to the retreating construct.

“How may I be of service?” it asked, making its way over to them.

“Do you happen to have any more of these machines? Or some way to fit all of us on it?” Time gestured to the wing as he spoke. “Kohga used it perfectly fine, so I assume we can all use it if we just get more.”

“Ah, yes, my apologies for not detecting the issue. Give me a moment,” it replied, leaving.

After a few minutes, it came back with two more wings and sticks, along with several fans. Flora put together the two other machines with Autobuild. Though once she used it, Wild’s eyes widened and his eyes narrowed like he was looking closer at her. “Flora?” he asked.

“Yes? Is…is something wrong?” she replied with a nervous chuckle. What could’ve happened in such a small amount of time?

“Your eyes are…no they’re still green but they have like…a layer of purple over them???” Wild’s voice clearly portrayed his confusion, and he awkwardly pointed to her face. That attracted the attention of the other members of the Chain (was she like an honorary member? Even though she wasn’t a Link?), who looked at her and gave similar looks of surprise and confusion.

“Oh!” Flora exclaimed, feeling excitement run through her. She clutched the Purah Pad in her grip, and she felt herself grin. “Right, I noticed this earlier, but I didn’t have a chance to mention it before Master Kohga and the Yiga interrupted us. You, and apparently I, too, get a purple sheen over our eyes when we use Autobuild. Actually, I’d like you to try the other abilities too. On the Purah Pad, I noticed that Autobuild’s icon is purple, and the others have different colors. I want to see if the other abilities have different colored effects on our eyes.”

With that explanation, Wild nodded. He activated Ultrahand, and just as predicted, a layer of red-orange came over the Hero of the Wild’s eyes. Flora nodded slowly and wrote it down. Following Flora’s instruction, Wild tested out each ability until the new hero was satisfied. In conclusion, all of the abilities, when used, would caused a layer of the ability’s color to appear over the user’s eyes. She’d have to look into it when they weren’t doing anything too important. 

Clearing her throat, she made groups for each of the wings. Wild, Twilight, and Time would be in one, Flora, Sky, and Warriors in the second, and Four and Hyrule on the last one. 

With Wild’s wing in the lead, they made their way to the distant Lightroot. Everyone gathered around the sand, the Chain staring in confusion at the plant. “What is this?” Hyrule asked in awe.

“It’s called a Lightroot, and we can activate it with the Zonai magic. Here, let us show you. Wild?” Flora asked, stepping up to the center and offering her hand. Wild snickered, but stepped up anyway. 

They raised their hands to the hologram at the base of the lightroot fruit thing, and shut their eyes.

Wait. 

Did they tell the Chain to do the same?

…

Too late.

In a few moments, they heard the cries of pain, and someone yelled that they were being blinded. Four, if Flora had to guess.

The area brightened, and then went back to normal. A travel point was made, and the area was downloaded into the Purah Pad. 

“Okay, that was nice and all, but really?! No warning for losing my eyesight?” Four groaned.

“Eugh, I have to agree with Four,” Warriors added, wincing.

“My apologies- I forgot to tell you all,” Flora apologized with a sorry smile. 

Wild snickered. “I didn’t.”

Flora whacked Wild on the back of the head. Deserved. “Thanks, pup. Thanks,” Twilight wheezed. Wild shrugged. Because of course he did. 

“ Well, now that we’ve gotten that dealt with, let’s go back to Lookout Landing. We’ve got a lot to talk to Purah about.”

“Oh- oh no she’s absolutely waiting for us to give her a heads up and any information isn’t she? Ohhhh…she’s going to be so mad!” Flora rambled, clicking aggressively through the Purah Pad. She grabbed Wild and Sky’s hands, who grabbed the others. She clicked on the Skyview Tower’s icon and clicked to teleport. 

Once they made it there, Time grabbed her arm before she sprinted off. “Let’s all at least get some rest. We’ve been dealing with the Depths for two days, and the Rito situation for several. Not counting the days we traveled, but the two days we spent helping them and the day down there…three days. Not too long, compared to what some of us have to deal with often, but still not great.”

“Wild, does your Hyrule happen to make people insomniacs like you?” Four asked, wide eyed. None of them were really tired. That was concerning. 

“Oh, no. I put energy elixirs in your food.”

…

“Wild, that’s illegal.”

Sky was right.

Did Wild drug all of them?!

Flora put her head in her hands.

Time stared at the wild one with both of his eyes (Flora would have to ask what was up with his white eye. Was that offensive?) wide open, and Twilight just sighed and put his head in his hands like her, sitting down.

“We’re going to sleep. And Wild, you’re sleeping on the floor.” Time grabbed Wild, and dragged him to the shelter. Everyone filed down, and made it to bed. Either on the floor with Wild or on the beds with Flora and Time. 

— — —

In the morning, Twilight took over cooking. He was still paranoid over the whole drugging thing, Flora guessed.

Once they were done eating breakfast, Flora and Wild deviated from the others and went to Josha’s office. 

“Hey, Josha!” Flora greeted.

“Huh? Oh! I’ve been waiting for you guys! You look pleased…could it be? Did you find what was in the temple?!” Josha gasped, grabbing Flora’s hands with wide eyes.

“Yes! We followed the statues to the temple, and found an ability called Autobuild! It allows us to instantly replicate anything we’ve built, and it’s tied between Wild and I! Anything I build can be replicated by him, and anything he builds can be replicated by me!” Flora rambled.

“We also got something called a ‘schema stone’ from a construct, remember? It’s like a blueprint for things we can make with autobuild,” Wild added.

Josha looked ready to combust. Flora knew that she did too, actually. “An ability like that and schema stones?! So there really was a Zonai temple with a mysterious power… Hm…that may also mean that some of the things collected from the Depths may give us other clues… Wait just a sec!” The young Sheikah ran off, digging through some of her stuff while muttering before she grabbed something with a triumphant shout. 

She ran it over to the two heroes and handed it to Flora. “It’s another schema stone!” Flora exclaimed, turning it around in her hands. A hot air balloon. Convenient!

“Yes! And it’s for a hot air balloon, I believe. We’ve got a broken balloon just over there!” She pointed to a broken device that looked like Impa’s balloon. “It technically belongs to Goggles, but it doesn’t really matter who fixes it. Could you try?” she asked.

“I’ll do it!” Flora said, maybe just a bit too quickly. Maybe too loudly too, because both Wild and Josha looked a bit surprised. Her cheeks dusted in pink. “Sorry.”

Before either of them could say anything, she spun on her heel and walked over to the balloon. The other two followed, and Flora readied her ability. As it had done before, the two needed objects rose and fitted together, then glued themselves to one another. 

Josha’s gasp was huge, and when Flora looked over, her eyes looked about ready to pop out of her skull, and her jaw was dropped open. “I…I…I can’t believe it! You rebuilt the balloon in an instant! This…this goes beyond scientific explanation!” She turned to Robbie. “Gog…gles…” Flora was worried that she was going to pass out. “GOGGLES!” she shouted, catching them all by surprise.

“Wha- What are you yelling about, Josha?” he asked, before turning to the balloon.

…

“ Inconceivable! My balloon! It’s fixed!” he gasped.

“This must be the mysterious power the Zonai had… I never thought I’d see such a marvel with my very own eyes. This is amazing, Flora! Thank you, thank you both! Please, take this. I’ve been saving it for a special occasion.” Josha ran over to her desk, then grabbed something and handed it to Flora. A Large Zonaite. 

“Thank you, Josha!” Flora exclaimed, looking at it. She set it into the Purah Pad.

“I still haven’t been able to figure out what that is, so you can have it. Judging by the light, it’s gotta be Zonai in origin. Just let me know what it does when you figure it out, okay?” she requested. Flora nodded. “I’ll keep researching the Depths. Maybe I’ll find something useful for you guys! Like a clue about Legend and Wind, maybe.”

“Let us know if you figure out anything about them, alright?” Wild asked, a tense smile on his face. Josha nodded. 

The girl retreated into her office, and Wild pulled her over to a well. “What’s up, Wild?” Flora asked. “Is it about the others? Or Legend and Wind?”

Wild opened his mouth…and then closed it. “Not what I pulled you over for, but yes I’m worried about the two of them. But anyway. What was up earlier?”

Huh?

“What do you mean?” Flora questioned him, looking around.

“…the whole thing earlier? I mean, it doesn’t have to be anything, but you seemed a little…off,” he told her, an odd look of concern crossing his face.

“What? What are you talking about? There’s nothing wrong, ” Flora snapped, feeling a little betrayed. How could he think there was something wrong?

Wild’s hands shot up in a gesture of surrender. “No, no, that’s not what- never mind. I was just worried because you seemed on edge. I thought I should ask.” After a moment of awkward silence, Wild continued. “We should probably tell Josha about the Yiga, actually. I forgot to mention it.”

Flora nodded and walked past Wild, who followed behind her. “Josha,” she called. “We have one more thing we’d like to mention.”

“Hm? Oh, yeah? What’s that?” she asked, turning to the pair. 

“Master Kohga, the leader of the Yiga Clan, was down there trying to get Autobuild as well. He pulled us all into a fight, but then flew off,” she explained briefly. Better to not begin rambling.

“What?! No way! Kohga was there? Ooh…this is dangerous. Gotta regain my composure… Alright, so as we all know, Master Kohga is the leader of the Yiga Clan. It’s odd that he was down there though…we haven’t seen him in a long time.” She paused, then looked behind her at Wild, who was raising his hand. “Yes, Swordsman?”

“During my first adventure, he fell down a pit in our fight after trying to summon a final attack. I figured he died, but it must’ve been a way into the Depths,” he explained quickly.

“Hm…the Yiga Clan is a group that schemes against Hyrule, so I wouldn’t be surprised if they tried to use whatever’s down there against us. And of course, Kohga’s had it out for you both, and probably your other heroes,” Josha hummed.

“He did seem rather upset with the other heroes. He shouted at them to stop stabbing his henchmen, if I remember correctly,” Flora added, going quieter when she spoke about the stabbing bit. She’d have to ask the other heroes about it.

“I see… I wonder if he’s learned anything about the other heroes? But, the main point is that he’d do anything to put an end to your lives. Despite all of what we’re looking into already, we can’t take our eyes off this threat. Besides, there’s a chance that Kohga knows something about the missing heroes,” the Sheikah girl said.

“Yes, the two of them were sent back to the era of the Zonai. Rauru may have had something carved for them. If so, there’s a chance that Kohga could find out something about them. Though, I hope that we find the information first,” Flora hummed.

“Wait, what?! So…how are they here? I’ve heard from Purah about the sightings of the two but……huh?!” Josha exclaimed, eyes wide.

“We believe that they may have found a way back here. Though, they do seem to not be actively looking for us too, as we saw Wind at the Wind Temple, and he did not react to our presence,” Flora explained. Josha blinked, then grabbed a journal and began to write. 

“Well…if you all decide to go after where Kohga said he was going, I’ll continue my research from here. If you find any artifacts or clues to anything , please let me know,” Josha said hurriedly. But then she looked up. “Actually, do you know about the Forest of Time south of Hyrule Field?”

“Yes, indeed we do. Or, well, I do,” she answered.

“Well, there’s a chasm there—as I’m sure you know. Anyway, I’ve gotten reports of another series of statues found at the bottom. Weirdly enough, they’re different from the other ones that you showed me. Just like the other ones, they point somewhere too. It seems to be near where you got your Autobuild ability,” she explained.

“Really? Where do you believe they lead?” Flora asked.

“Well, from what I’ve heard, they lead farther southwest into the Depths. I’m not sure where they go, but I bet there’s a destination far beyond that building worth seeing. If you go check it out, let me know. But until then, I’ll keep gathering info, so be sure to stop by and check with me sometime,” Josha answered.

Flora nodded, pausing for a moment. “I see. We’ll make sure to visit you at some point soon,” she said after a few minutes.

Chapter Text

The pair walked out silently, and Flora made a quick stop to talk to Robbie. He asked them to visit him in the Hateno Ancient Tech Lab to upgrade the Sheikah Sensor. Yeah, well, they were a bit busy. Oh well, they’d have to make time. The man took his balloon and flew off. Good luck to him?

Wild went down into the shelter while Flora took the Purah Pad and spoke to Hestu, who was singing about the shop at Lookout Landing. She extended the inventory of her Purah Pad, then made her way down into the shelter as well.

The Chain was scattered around the shelter, all seemingly preoccupied. She felt a bit bad taking them from what they were doing, but they had to talk to Purah. She’d totally forgotten, and she felt horrible. A lot had happened since then.

She gathered each member of the Chain, allowed Wild to deviate and dive into a well (at least he came back with money and a royal claymore somehow ), and began to make their way up to Purah.

However, because she was with a group of heroes who were a bit…lacking in the wisdom department, they all got distracted by a Goron and Hylian pair who seemed to be bickering.

“You’re a Goron. You should know the way to Goron City. How in the name of Hylia did you forget?” the Hylian man asked. Sky’s face contorted a bit, for some reason.

“Lay off! I’m embarrassed enough as it is!” the Goron huffed. “Besides, it’s not that I forgot. When I left the city, there was still lava everywhere. I didn’t know Death Mountain would stop erupting, the lava would cool, and new roads would form!”

“You don’t have to tell me there was lava everywhere. It used to be so hot that Hylians couldn’t step foot on the mountain without fire-resistant gear. Even if I wanted to take a trip that way, I couldn’t,” his companion sighed.

“Hello, Kairo,” Time greeted, acting as though their entire group hadn’t been eavesdropping. “Is something the matter?”

“Hey, Time,” the Goron—Kairo—greeted tiredly. “We’re just having trouble getting back to Death Mountain. Fortunately, the lava’s cleared. Unfortunately, it changed a bunch of paths. But…at least we have directions now. Some of us Gorons who aren’t…weird are praying for Volvagia to keep Death Mountain calm,” he explained.

“Though, for all of you, be careful of Death Mountain. The red haze around the summit looks worryingly like gloom. Try not to get too close,” Scorpio directed, making eye contact with all of the Hylians and the Goron. 

The Hylian nodded, and he and Kairo walked off out of Lookout Landing. He’d mentioned stopping at a bistro, most likely up near the city. 

Oddly enough, they noticed a large stone monument in the corner of the landing, and the group stepped over to them. As they neared, Flora realized that the lights, the scripture on it, and the overall designs looked Zonai in origin.

Flora stepped up to the person closest to the ruins, and he turned around. “Don’t tell me,” he started. “Based on your stature, physique, and jewelry on your arm…you must be the princess. Am I right? And the one standing beside you is Link. Though, you go by Wild and Flora right now, right? Well, anyway, Purah has told me so much about you.”

“Oh, yes. With the group here, we go by Wild and Flora for convenience,” she explained.

“Hm, I see. I’m Wortsworth. My research specialty is ancient Hyrulean. And,” he continued before she could say anything, “by ancient Hyrulean, I don’t mean the text found in the Ring Ruins, but something different.”

“Yeah, and what’s that?” Four asked.

“It’s what we call the language used at the time of Hyrule’s founding. Traces of it are still present in our speech today. You see the difference, I trust,” Wortsworth said, a single eyebrow raised. “You were the one to make the Zonai Survey Team, princess.”

Flora laughed, saying, “well, some of it. But the scripture of the Zonai era is quite old, so I haven’t gotten much time to look.”

Wortsworth nodded, then turned back to the monument. “The stone tablet that fell from the sky is inscribed with ancient Hyrulean. If I can manage to translate the text…it may be key to understanding a moment in time from ancient Hyrule. I can translate this, but my notes are back at the research lab in Kakariko Village. I’ll be heading there to check this text against my notes and proceed with the translation. I’ve already copied down what’s inscribed here, so I’ll be getting back to the village. If that piques any of your interests, you should come to Kakariko Village so I can share what I’ve translated so far. This inscription has tremendous archaeological value. It’s a bridge connecting us to the distant past. I aim to unravel its mysteries. And the sooner I get started, the better.”

Once the researcher was done with his spiel, he walked off toward the mini stable with a wave.

Now to get back to the point. 

“Alright, I believe it’s time we visit Purah,” Flora said. Looks of embarrassment and shame came across most of the Chain’s faces. 

They made their way up to Purah’s office and knocked. A couple crashes sounded from inside before the door opened.

“Zelda!” Purah shouted. “I would’ve thought you’d be back earlier! What happened? Tell me everything!”

Flora laughed. “I know, I know. Let’s go inside. And grab a notebook.”

The group pushed inside, finding seats around the room. Sheikah tech and Zonai artifacts were littered around the office, and tools were scattered across various tables. Purah dropped into a chair in one of the few gaps on the table. She set her notebook down and prepared to write. “Tell me everything,” she said simply.

So Flora explained as much as she remembered. The first Geoglyph, which she showed Purah and explained the (supposed) timeline, the situation with the Rito and the broken bridge, the Stormwind Ark, Wind, Colgera, the next Geoglyph, Kohga, and the Autobuild ability. The other heroes butted in a few times to talk about things she missed, such as the Forgotten Temple and Legend being related to Queen Sonia, or legends that they’d heard.

“…hm, I see, I see. So…as for the timeline. The current theory—” Purah stood up and pulled out a Sheikah scroll. She opened it and revealed a giant chalkboard, then set it on a shelf. “—at some point the three timelines converged. Now, at some point, the kingdom of Hyrule fell. And you’re all guessing that the Zonai, who may have been higher in the sky than…Skyloft descended down and found remnants of the kingdom. Right? How far up was Skyloft?” she asked Sky.

“Well, it was higher than the cloud barrier. So…maybe about 1,500 meters?” Sky guessed. 

“Wait a moment,” Flora hummed. She pulled out the Purah Pad, and after a couple taps to the device, she got the coordinates of the main part of the Great Sky Island. “The Great Sky Island that Wild and I explored is about that height too. I know that there are islands higher in the sky than that island, so the Zonai may have been higher,” she said.

“Ah…I see. Well then, the Zonai probably saw remnants of Hyrule and called the country Hyrule like they saw. And clearly there were still Hylians, so the bloodline may have continued. But, you mentioned that Sonia did not have light power, but had time power. But Rauru…a Zonai, had light power. Most interesting!” Purah exclaimed, running between her notebook and her chalkboard. 

“We know that somehow, Legend and Sonia are related. So clearly she is his descendant,” Warriors added. “Could there be a chance that Hylia took away the power in the Blood of the Goddess and gave it to the Zonai? Either to protect the power or to punish them for letting the kingdom fall.”

Before anyone could reply, Time sat up straighter with a surprised look in his eye. “There could be a chance that she manipulated the power to turn from light power to time power.”

“Time power? I know I don’t know a whole lot ‘bout Missus Hylia ‘n all, but last I checked, she didn’t have anything t’ do with time,” Twilight retorted.

The eldest Link looked conflicted, but not deterred. “In my second adventure, there was a mention of the Goddess of Time. There wasn’t much information about her, but when I spoke to a deity, it mentioned Hylia being his sister goddess. I asked him about her, and he said that I already knew of her and that she was well known in Hyrule, as far as he remembered,” he explained.

“So the Goddess Hylia and the Goddess of Time could be the same goddess?” Hyrule asked, eyes wide. “Then that could mean that Hylia somehow intervened and changed the Blood of the Goddess to have time magic instead of light magic!”

“And—” Wild looked at Flora with impossibly wide eyes, “—it could be part of the reason that Flora had so much trouble awakening her powers before the Calamity!”

Flora and Purah’s jaws dropped and stared at Wild. “Assuming that Rauru and Sonia continued the royal line, the Blood of the Goddess, which held time power instead, combined with the light magic that Hylia gave to the Zonai… There’s a chance that by the time we reached the Calamity, when Flora was praying for her magic to come to her, it may have been increasing both powers at a slower rate than increasing one of the two types of magic quicker,” Purah explained, her hands moving quicker as she wrote the more she spoke.

“So Legend and I are both related to Sonia! The royal line may have disintegrated when the kingdom first fell and the names were changed to keep the surviving members from being targeted by whatever made the kingdom fall. In the murals below the castle, there wasn’t a castle, same as the memories. But there were Hylians. So her name was Sonia rather than Zelda and she was given time power rather than light power, then met Rauru, who had light power, and began the royal line again. So during that era, the Zonai made a new castle elsewhere and Rauru and Sonia continued the line until I came along, and my light power didn’t appear when it was expected because it was increasing both powers at once, rather than one at a time,” Flora rambled. 

With that revelation, the entire group sat in silence for a moment. 

“Hey, now that I'm thinkin' about it, I dunno if this is useful, but I found somethin’ odd while I was helpin’ out the Rito,” Twilight hummed.

“What was it?” Purah asked.

“I found somethin’ on the side of the town. Y’know, like below the shops and stuff. I was lookin’ fer any sticks down there b’low the snow fer arrows ‘n some rocks came loose next t’ me. I moved ‘em outta the way and saw some sorta script. Here, I wrote ‘em down here.” Twilight handed a piece of paper to Purah from his pocket. “It don’t look like the writing in this era, so I think it’s prob’ly that ancient writing I’ve heard ‘bout from some of the Zonai researchers.”

Purah took it from him, and while Flora could see that the writing was a bit messy and there were a couple circles over certain characters with question marks, she also knew she didn’t recognize the writing.

“Hm…I’ll hand it off to Josha. From some of the Zonai writing I’ve seen, it looks a lot like it,” Purah murmured, setting it on her desk. 

After another moment of silence, Four coughed. “There’s one mystery that I think we really need to figure out,” he said.

“There’s a lot of those,” Wild sighed. “Which one in particular.”

“Wind and Legend.”

Everyone paused. “That’s…exactly what we’re trying to do?” Hyrule retorted, but it sounded more like a question.

“Well, yeah, obviously.” Four’s eyes seemed blue for a second before he moved his head and they looked more purple. “But the whole situation between them being in the Zonai era and seeing them here. From what you two have told us, they fell into a pit and disappeared in magic. Then, we saw the memory of them over 10,000 years ago. And now, you both—” he turned to Wild and Flora, “—have said that you saw them in the blood moon thing in the present, you saw Wind in the Wind Temple, who disappeared, and then you saw them in the memory of the Imprisoning War and the aftermath.” After a moment of writing, he lifted his notebook and showed them all the writing. Flora and Purah didn’t understand it, but the others clearly did. “So the real question is…where are they? You’d think that they’d come talk to us, or even look at us if they were here, but they haven’t. They’ve completely ignored us here. In the memories, they were concerned about us and acted normal,” he explained.

“Actually, they look a little weird when they’re here. They were too stiff in the blood moon vision, and they looked a little…wrong,” Wild said next.

“Wrong? How so?” Purah asked. She made another section on her whiteboard. 

“Well, as Wild said, they looked too stiff in the vision. Wind also seemed a bit taller in it, though it may have been the perspective. Tulin saw him, apparently, and he flew up above the clouds, and you know that Wild and I saw them both disappear at the castle. We called out to Wind on the Stormwind Ark, but he didn’t respond and disappeared after walking onto the source of the blizzard that blew us away. His hair was less curly, and he seemed paler than he was when we went below the castle, but it may have been the light,” Flora said. Purah’s eyes furrowed and she stood. “Purah?” she asked.

“If I remember correctly…I’ve seen records of something that sounds oddly similar,” she hummed. After a few moments of rummaging through a nearby bookshelf, she let out a quick “aha!” and pulled it out. “Puppets!”

The Chain just stared at her. “Huh?” Hyrule asked. “Like…sock puppets???”

Purah just snickered. “No, no. That’s not what I mean. Have any of you ever seen look-alikes that look like people, or people you know, that aren’t actually them?” she questioned them.

“I mean, I interacted with my own shadow, but I don’t think that counts,” Four admitted. Some of the other Links mentioned dark versions of them who just had the same appearance, but all dark with red eyes. 

“Actually,” Time murmured. “Legend and Wind have both mentioned people in dungeons that claim that they need help, then turn out to be bosses.”

“Aha! Exactly! Those who look like regular people, but aren’t. Usually, the mastery of the mimicry can be seen in the amount of discrepancies in the figure. Sometimes its eye color, height, skin tone, hair, and so on,” Purah explained. She opened the book at a random spot and flipped through the pages until she reached the right one. She pushed aside some of the things on her table and pushed it toward the group. “Mimicry. A certain type of ability that has been rarely used in history as far as we can remember. Like I said before, the level of mastery appears in the discrepancies. If you find one or both of them again, let me know of any odd things you notice. And you should go to Kakariko, since I’ve heard some interesting stuff from there,” the scientist hinted with a quick wink.

The Chain left the office and gathered down by the shelter. “Well, what’s our plan now?” Four asked.

“Perhaps we can begin to make our way to Kakariko Village? I believe it’s time we go visit it and see those Ring Ruins. Have any of you seen them?” Flora glanced around at the heroes, who didn’t answer or shrugged. “Well then, I suppose that’s our next stop.”

“Oh, quick thing,” Hyrule began. “What do we want to do with Legend and Wind’s stuff? We left it here, but I feel a bit bad letting them gather dust in the shelter. That, and the two of them have some pretty important stuff in there that I don’t think we should let stay out in the open,” he said.

Four opened his mouth, then closed it. Opening it again, he said, “maybe we could take them with us and use some of the stuff in there?”

“…you’re suggesting we dig through their things?” Warriors asked.

“I’m not happy about the suggestion either, Captain. But on the other hand, they've got a ton of items that we could use against monsters. That, and the two of them would probably understand,” Four replied.

“…I know Wind would probably be fine with it, but Legend?” Sky hummed.

“Actually, before all of this, Legend was saying that I could use some of his stuff if he was ever taken out in battle and if it was necessary,” Hyrule piped up. “I think this counts as necessary.”

Warriors sighed and looked over to Time. In response, Time said, “Hyrule may be right. This counts as an emergency, and as long as we safely divide items, then it should be alright.”

“Well, if I’m outnumbered, then let's go.”

Chapter Text

The group made their way down into the shelter and in a small corner. Time and Hyrule walked off, and after a few minutes, came back with both bags. Wind’s, though a bit dusty, was a deep blue with seagulls embroidered (done by both their Veteran and their Sailor) on it. Legend’s was just a simple brown with golden designs. There was a bunch of embroidery on Legend’s bag, like hibiscus flowers and various items he’s gotten through his adventures. Because where’s the fun if it’s unassuming?

Four sat down, and the others followed. The eldest and the healer set down the two bags in the center of the circle they made. The two of them joined the circle, and they all sat in silence.

“So…” Four hummed. “Who wants to have what?” After a moment when no one answered, too nervous to dig through their brothers’ bags, the Smithy sighed.

“ I say we take Wind’s Skull Hammer, ” Blue started.

“ For once, I agree with Blue, ” Vio added.

“ Wind has said that we can mess with it! Back before all of this, ” Red said.

“ Alright then, Skull Hammer it is, ” Green agreed. Better to have it. The poor hammer was getting some cracks and needed repairs anyway.

“I can take Wind’s Skull Hammer,” Four offered. They took a moment to dig through Wind’s blue bag, dragging the massive hammer out. They paused to balance it, then set it next to their own multicolored bag. “Let’s look at Wind’s stuff, then Legend’s. Who wants the telescope?”

“I can take it,” Sky hummed, delicately taking the item that Four presented.

And so they continued. They’d found a few fun things, and found a note from Legend when they started in his bag. Four had pulled it out where it was sitting on top of Legend’s bag. It was in the written language they’d all made to compensate for their different written Hylian. It wasn’t perfect yet, but it was easy enough to read.

“What’s it say?” Twilight asked.

Four cleared his throat, then began to read it. “‘If you’re all reading this, I’m guessing something’s happened beneath the castle and you’re digging through my items. You can technically touch most of it, but be careful. Some of those items are incredibly dangerous. I’ll make a list of the rings you can take and how to activate them. Anyway, do not touch my lamp (I’d rather no one break it), my instruments, and do not under any circumstances touch the Rod of Seasons. I’ve labeled that one already. The only way any of you can touch it is if it falls out. Other than that, steer clear. I mean it. It was handled by an Oracle who could control the seasons, and I almost accidentally caused disaster with it. The only ones I trust with even picking it up are Time, Twilight, and Four. Sorry. But my point stands. The only reason I keep it with me is to keep it from Rav. Hope to see you lot soon. I’ve got a bad feeling, but there’s nine of you not including me. I trust that you guys can fix it. -Legend.’” 

There was silence for a moment. So he knew that something was going to happen? 

“…at least he gave us permission,” Sky murmured, staring at Legend’s bag. 

“Well, I suppose we should begin,” Time responded, pulling out a few items.

Once they were finished, each of them had gotten between four and six objects, and the rest stayed in the missing heroes’ bags. Sky had gotten Wind’s telescope and Legend’s magic boomerang, Titan’s Mitt, and magnifying glass. Four had gotten Wind’s Skull Hammer, Deku Leaf, and Phantom Sword, and Legend’s Hookshot, Switchhook, and Tornado Rod. Time got the bombs and bombchus, and also Legend’s Magic Powder.

Twilight got Wind’s fishing rod, even if it was a bit small, and Legend’s magic mirror, magic hammer, and magnet gloves. Hyrule got Wind’s Hookshot and boomerang, along with Legend’s magic cape. Warriors had gotten Wind’s pirate charm and mirror shield, and Legend’s ice and fire rods. He claimed he used them in the war, so he was less likely to kill someone. Wild got Legend’s bug net, Zora flippers, Mirror Shield, slingshot, Sand Rod, and Bee Badge. And finally, Flora got Legend’s power bracelets, Book of Mudora, Cane of Byrna, and his bow. 

The rest had stayed in their bags. They wouldn’t take all of them, for fear of breaking anything. 

Flora stood up first, her expression a bit tight. “...Perhaps we should get going now.” The rest of them followed suit. She sounded…stressed. Then again, they all were.

“ Maybe we should talk to her? I don’t want her to be sad… ” Red murmured. Green could feel his counterpart’s pout, and elected to talk to her later.

“ It’s not like we have privacy here anyway. Most of our secrets have come out, so might as well get her used to it, ” Blue huffed.

“ Unfortunately, ” Vio added, “ Blue’s right. ” As Vio said that, Blue’s triumph filled their space. Red seemed upset though.

“ It’s not a bad thing that our secrets aren’t really secrets anymore! Like with Twilight! Sure, we were kinda iffy with him for a few days but not anymore. And besides, it’s nice that we don’t have to worry about keeping everything all locked up. It releases stress! ” Red ranted.

“ Well, we should check on her no matter the reason. It’s not good for any of us to keep emotions hidden. We should know that much. And besides, Wild has told us about how she hides her emotions because of her title. Zel does the same thing, you know. ” 

To this, the colors were silent for a moment. Blue said he wouldn’t deal with it, Vio opted out, and Green just laughed awkwardly. Thankfully, and unsurprising, Red offered to take care of it.

While Wild went up to talk to a few people (Twilight came down and said he was apparently looking for someone’s missing horse after he fixed their stable? They figured it was the older man who had a small stable at the entrance of Lookout Landing. His cherished horse’s name was Spot, if they remembered correctly), Four, now directed by Red, walked over to Flora. She was staring at the Goddess Statue, her face unreadable.

“Oh, Four. Is there something you need?” the Hero of Flora asked tiredly.

“Well, no, I just wanted to talk to you about something,” they admitted.

Flora nodded, then said, “I should hope Wild isn’t causing any trouble.” Four just blinked at her. Though, it was a valid question to ask about their wild child.

“No, no, not that we…uh, the Chain and I, know of. At least, I don’t. But I just wanted to ask if everything is alright? You seem a little out of it,” Four explained, softening their smile just a bit. It would be better to not seem pitiful. Four, all of Four, hated pity.

The new hero looked surprised for a moment, but stayed quiet. Then, she spoke up softly. “I’ve just been thinking a little bit too hard.” Four nodded, aware of this feeling (which was met with irritation from the three other parts of Four). They sat down on the steps leading up to the statue, and Flora followed.

“Anything you want to talk about? I mean, you don’t have to actually talk if you don’t want to. You can sign, or write, or draw… There’s a lotta options. Most of us have a hard time talking verbally about our problems, so you can do whatever you want to feel comfortable,” they said in response.

Flora paused, toeing the tracks in the floor with her boot. Then she nodded. “Do you have any paper that I could borrow, by chance?”

The smith nodded and pulled a spare journal out of their bag. They had a ton of spares anyway. They went through journals way too quickly (they needed one for each of them, and one for Four, of course). “Keep it,” they told her. “We have a lot.” Then, he pulled out a book for their combination-language. It had each character for convenience. “And use this. Most of us have different written characters, so we made this to understand each other. It has each of our characters and…well, I’m sure you can figure it out. We’ll make another for you. But you can stick with some smaller sentences? If you want. Might be easier.”

Her eyes widened, and she pulled Four in for a quick hug with a quiet “thank you”. She pulled out a pencil from her boot. 

“ Does she use her boot to store pencils rather than daggers? ” Vio wondered.

“ I guess it makes sense. They make boot straps for knives, so maybe they made straps specifically for pencils, ” Green hummed in reply.

“ Convenient. Maybe we should put that in our other boot. Just to keep one on hand, ” Blue commented. “ As long as we give it a pocket. If we get the lead on our socks, I’m going to freak out. ”

Flora took a few minutes to sketch, and also write. After a few minutes of the Colors talking with the background noise of pencil on paper, Flora cleared her throat. She carefully handed the journal over to him.

“ Felt I had to get my power. Couldn’t unlock it and my friends died, so I felt like I failed everybody. I’d sent Link with the Sheikah to the Shrine of Resurrection, and I waited for 100 years. ” Below it was a sketch of Flora, back when she had long hair and was still called Princess Zelda, with her hands over her chest with the Triforce on her hand. Her eyes were closed and tears ran down her lead face as what appeared to be black magic swirled around her.

“ When Link defeated it and I saw him, I knew how much I missed him. We went to his home, and felt sad. If I’d just been able to awaken my power, the kingdom would be okay, my father and friends would be alive, and Link wouldn’t be so scarred. I had nightmares, and I distracted myself with research. ” The sketch of Zelda showed her standing and holding Wild’s hands with her own. A research desk sat behind her, and there were eyes among the shadows that were as dark as one could make a pencil drawing. 

“ When I heard of the gloom coming from below, I was scared another calamity would come. I was happy when Legend wanted to come, but Wind coming made me scared. He was just a boy. We found murals of the Demon King and found two Sacred Stones, but the Demon King woke. I cannot describe how I felt when Wind and Legend disappeared and when Link jumped after them, even with his arm hurt. ” The next sketch showed a depiction of what Four guessed happened beneath the castle. Wind and Legend were falling, yet holding onto each other. Wild was diving after them, a damaged arm held out to the two heroes. Four wanted to ask, but no, he wouldn’t interrupt this. And Zelda was standing on the last remaining part of the platform that Ganondorf must’ve broken.

“ I woke to see Wild asleep and was scared he’d died. Once he woke, we visited shrines around the island. We saw Wind and Legend in a vision when we got an ability, and we saw them again when we sent the Master Sword away. I was so scared for them. We know that Legend and Wind have been sent back in time, and the Demon King may be making puppets of them to deceive the kingdom of Hyrule. ” Wind and Legend had their eyes closed, holding hands while the Master Sword was depicted behind them. On the right side of the sketch, darkly shaded and faceless versions of them were in the same position with the broken Master Sword behind them. If Four had to guess, that was what Ganon did to the sacred blade. 

The last page of her story just held a few lines and a simple sketch of the Triforce. “ I need to save them, but I’m no hero. I’ve been trained since I was small to pray and wait for my powers. I can’t fight very well, and I’m not as brave as you all. I want to fit in. ” 

Four just sat there and stared at the drawing for a moment. When they got the courage to speak, they murmured, “I think you’re more brave than I am.” Flora seemed surprised to hear that, but didn’t say anything. “Even after everything, when you heard about the gloom, you wanted to go in. Even if it was a second calamity, you were willing to go look just for the safety of your kingdom, even though you don’t consider yourself a princess anymore. I think you fit in as a hero perfectly.”

“But with everything that happened… How can you see me as a hero when I let all of you down? Wild…his arm was burned beyond repair. And now Legend and Wind are in the past, and we don’t know how to get them back. If I had just been more careful or more prepared by waiting a bit-” said Flora, before Four interrupted her.

Vio prodded at Red, who slipped back and let Vio be in control. “Then it would’ve still happened. Maybe it would’ve been worse. You made a good call by bringing Wind and Legend down. If the two of them grabbed those stones before you two did, I think they knew that something might go wrong. You two are the heroes of this era, so they made the conscious decision to keep you and Wild out of danger.”

“I just feel terrible for separating everyone,” she whispered. Then, she looked at Four with watery eyes. “What if we never find a way to get them back?”

Four bit their lip as Green took control. “Well, the Goddesses will probably find a way to shove us back together. We still have the main black blood quest, so… And besides, those two are more determined that most people I know,” Four laughed breathily. “And I thought I was stubborn.”

“ You are. ”

“ Don’t be annoying, Blue, ” Green groaned.

“ Guys! Pay attention, ” Red snapped back, his irritation flooding their shared mind.

“Yes, I suppose so.” Her head had moved down to stare at her lap, but she turned it back to them. “Thank you, Four. I owe you,” she said.

Four just shook their head. “No, don’t worry about it. It’s kind of a common occurrence in the Chain, so we don’t expect anything in return.”

The Smithy stood up, and with a small wave, walked away. 

— — —

“Wild?” Flora called.

The hero in question had apparently just finished adding another horse to his roster. “Yes?” he asked, standing a bit stiffly.

Flora frowned and looked away. “I’m sorry for snapping earlier. You didn’t deserve that. I was just…stressed, and I felt terrible for Legend and Wind. But that’s no excuse. I’m sorry.” Wild seemed surprised and blinked, then pulled her into a quick hug. She handed him a small cake, saying, “most of us already ate, and I figured you’d like this.”

“Thank you!” Wild gasped, conflict already forgotten. He scarfed down the food, and with his mouth still full, he asked, “whe’ a’ we leafin for Kakawiko.”

Flora snickered. “Soon, soon. But I do have a question. Finish your food first.”

—

“Alright, alright, I’m done,” Wild said, coughing. 

Sighing, Flora said, “alright then. I’d like to know if there’s anything Four likes as gifts.”

Wild looked puzzled, but shrugged. “Any metalworking. But uh, the Rito don’t really have that. Or the Sheikah.” Suddenly, his face shifted from his “thinking face” to realization. “Oh! But the Gorons do! So we can go ask them when we save their home!”

“Hm, that’s going to take a long time…” she murmured. “Well, it will have to do. Thanks, Wild! We’ll get going shortly, so get ready.”

Chapter Text

In the morning, the group made breakfast and got Flora a bedroll, then prepared to go to Kakariko Village. After around two hours of travelling, they found two ladies in…odd getups. One outfit was decked in designs of lobsters and crabs with swirls of blue and orange, while the other wore green and red clothes decorated with magic jars and plants.

Interesting combinations, for sure.

They called themselves fashion-forward types, and asked if they were searching for Misko’s Treasure. Wild gasped, and he quickly started talking about the legends with them. The women told him and the group of Misko’s “unparalleled fashion sense” and that they collected rare outfits from all over the world and hid their pieces throughout Hyrule.

Wild murmured to the confused group, while one of the women was looking for something in her bag, that he had once collected all of them (earning the question of “so that’s what you were doing while I was holding Calamity Ganon off?” from Flora) but that he’d lost them during the Upheaval. He’d laughed awkwardly and said, “anyway, maybe the gods stuck them back in different areas for him to find."

The woman showed him a spot on his map where “a piece of a ‘fairly wild’ outfit that apparently filled the wearer with power (she was astonished by his Purah Pad, but didn’t touch it) that was just southeast of the castle. Another was part of a “‘quite stylish’ outfit that let the wearer quickly climb cliffs that was east of New Serenne Stable. The last she said was just south in Hyrule field with a “part of an outfit that was ‘very snappy’ and supposedly keeps the wearer safe in lightning.

Finally, the woman said something about the Great Fairies, and then they separated.

“Well,” Wild began. “I know about the climbing cliffs one. The fairly wild one…may be part of the barbarian set. I don’t know about the lightning one. Maybe the rubber armor, though? Definitely not the Thunder Helm."

“The rubber armor is the fish head one, right?” Hyrule asked. Wild nodded.

They traveled a little farther, and carefully went past a monster camp. Smoke rose from a nearby stable in the distance, so they continued on. It became cloudy, but no rain came, much to the group’s happiness. Rain was fine, unless you were trapped in it and there was nowhere to hide. Then it sucked.

They found smoke coming out of a well, and Wild went down. 

When he came back about ten minutes later, followed by some guy, he said that he got trapped inside when his ladder broke. 50 Rupees later, they reached the Wetland Stable. They went through the shrine, and then talked to Penn.

He told them about how the missing heroes supposedly took some farm tools and never returned them. Weird. He told them that a man by a raft would have more information, so they went over to him. “Hello, sir?” Flora called.

“Sorry, I’m a little- Princess! I’m so sorry! How can I help?” he asked, panicked.

“Please, don’t worry about it. We heard that you saw the missing heroes?” she responded. Wild was honestly holding onto any hope for information, but of course these people would rather frolic about and panic rather than help.

“Oh, yes, I heard that you guys work with Penn from the newspaper. I’m Izra. I didn’t really want this to get out, since I don’t want people to think I’m saying bad things about heroes… But…they borrowed our stable’s farm tools and haven't given them back,” Izra said.

“Odd. Sure, maybe they’d take them for a short time, but to not give them back without saying anything? It’s unlike them,” the old man hummed.

“Yes, well, it was a long time ago, but I think they said they needed them for something at Floret Sandbar. It’s around the river bend and then a good distance after that. I’d take the raft there myself, but after all that stuff fell from the sky,” he motioned to some sky ruins, “I’m having a hard time getting down the river. So you might say I’m in a bind. I know we could clear up this mess if someone could take me downriver to Floret Sandbar on the raft…” Izra sighed.

“Hm? That’s my plant sanctuary…” Flora hummed. Oh, right! Flora had made a little sanctuary for plants, hadn’t she? What were Wind and Legend supposedly doing there before the Upheaval? They’d stayed at that stable a while back, but those two had just gone off to deal with some monsters, right? Well, Wild didn’t really trust his memory.

“I’m okay at using rafts, so I could do it,” Hyruled offered.

“Can I go too? I wanna see if we can find anythin’ down there,” Twilight added.

“Alright, well, I guess I can go and you two can come with,” Wild said. 

“Alright, we’ll stay here and tend to the horses. Good luck, you guys,” Four said, walking away with Flora and the others.

“Alright, let’s see what we have here,” Wild said with a clap. 

He connected some stuff to the raft, and off they went. Izra gave them directions, and the other two gave him quick calls for rocks or sand that would block their path.

After a surprising amount of time, they made it. Something in the sky came straight toward them, and the group began to panic until they realized it was Penn. Apparently, the Rito had been circling around for facts when he found them on the raft. 

And then someone yelled out at them.

Magda.

Or Flowerblight Ganon, as he called her. She screamed that the place was for flowers and plants and that they would rue the day they trampled on them. Izra told her about the situation, and she admitted that it was her that had them. Flora had told her that it was her plant sanctuary and that they were taking care of it together. She said that Wind and Legend had gotten her tools while they were traveling through one day, and she meant to return the tools after finishing their work. 

“But the heroes—well, they say they went missing,” Magda told them as if it was great gossip.

“Not anymore,” Wild said. “Those two, Zelda, and I went missing. Zelda and I are back.”

“Well, why didn’t you say that?!” Magda snapped.

May the will of the goddesses keep Wild from throwing her into the water.

“Because we just got back, and because you just said that they were still missing, ” he growled.

Poor Izra tried to stop Wild, and then got pulled in to help her. May the goddesses save him.

Only when Penn left and they still stood there did they realize that they didn’t have the Purah Pad. Well shit. “So…how d’we wanna get back?” Twilight asked.

Wild sighed and put his head in his hands. “We have to run back.”

The group sat in silence for a moment. Twilight wasn’t all that fast as a Hylian, Hyrule couldn’t run long distances, and Wild’s stamina was still a bit questionable. “Well…better get a head start if we wanna get there in time.”

— — —

After what felt like ages, they made it. Flora immediately started apologizing for forgetting to give him the Purah Pad. In the meantime, apparently some of the others disposed of a monster camp nearby. 

“So, what was the story with Legend and Wind?” Four questioned.

Hyrule sighed. “Apparently the two of them gave some angry lady down the river tools for a project between Flora and her. The whole gloom thing happened after that, so obviously they weren’t returned.”

“Oh, Magda! How is she doing?” Flora asked.

“Psychopathic as ever,” Wild huffed.

“He means she was fine,” Twilight exclaimed, grabbing Wild by the collar and setting him behind himself.

“Well, with that out of the way, should we keep making our way to Kakariko?” suggested Warriors, who was looking off to the giant Ring Ruins.

“Well, I don’t know if we’ll have the time. Unless we want to make it there in the middle of the night, that is,” Flora said. 

“Let’s stay at the stable for the night. We can make our way there in the morning,” Time directed.

The group, for the rest of the day at least, helped out around the stable until nightfall. Thanks to their help, they got a free night.

Good, they were still broke.

—

That morning, they did their normal morning activities and went through the shrine, and set off for Kakariko. Besides a sunshower, it was a decent trip. As they neared the village, avoiding various monsters (both flying and walking monsters, because of course), Wild noticed a long, serpentine creature flying through the air.

“Flora, look!” Wild gasped. The other members of the Chain watched the dragon as they continued, their eyes wide. 

Zephyr and Aurelios roared, their voices carrying from above the clouds, and when Naydra replied with a roar, they could only assume that it was a greeting. Even though the two dragons were much higher in the sky than Naydra, they still greeted each other like they were nearby one another.

“I don’t believe I’ve ever heard any of the Servants of the Springs roar,” Flora murmured, her voice betraying her awe. She pulled out the Purah Pad and took a picture, then pulled out her notebook and started to scribble down notes. 

They entered the village (where Wild grabbed a couple red and blue frogs called Sticky Frogs, and the group steered clear of the wandering cuccos) and stopped their horses in front of Impa’s- well, Paya’s Hall now. A couple village cats rubbed against their legs before leaving, much to the excitement of Twilight. Dorian was standing nearby, looking at…oh! Paya and Tauro!

“Good grief. It’s Lady Paya’s duty to take care of the village…but whenever I take my eyes off her, she’s elbow-deep in some trivial new problem. I…” Dorian sighed. 

“Ah, Dorian. It’s good to see you again!” Time called out to the Sheikah.

“Hm? Oh, hello, Time. Hello heroes- Is that really you…? P-princess Zelda? Link?!” Dorian gasped. His eyes were practically bugging out of his skull. It was honestly kind of funny. 

Wild noticed Naydra moving down toward the land, but just…continued even when she should’ve hit the ground. He’d have to check that out later.

“Hello, Dorian,” Flora chuckled, her face a bit red. “Yes, we’re back. It’s a pleasure to see you again.”

“Yes, to you too. It’s been quite some time! You gave me quite a shock. I didn’t expect to see you both appear in our village. And I know the rest of you have been busy with the other races. I suppose I’m just surprised that you're here now, while our chief is…well, ignoring her responsibilities. I’m her assistant, but she won’t listen to anything I say! All of these Ring Ruins have her full attention,” the man lamented. Wild saw Flora toeing the dirt with her boot, her mind clearly absent. However, Dorian didn’t seem to notice. “She’s under the Ring Ruins over there with the Zonai Survey Team. I wonder…maybe seeing you two will remind her of her responsibilities as chief. Would you all do me a favor and stop by to see Lady Paya?” he asked.

“Yeah, sure. We’ll head on over there now,” Twilight said, before Dorian raised a hand.

“Actually, I think this would be useful to you. In Lady Paya’s Hall, she has a book of the Zonai Survey Team’s Three Big Ideas. It may give you some info on the situation in Hyrule right now,” he said.

Flora nodded, and she directed the group to the large house.

“You okay?” Wild murmured to Flora. 

She nodded, then whispered, “he just…sounded like my father for a moment.” Wild nodded. He had a few memories of the man, back before the Calamity, and Dorian did sound a bit like him.

They stepped inside, and Flora searched through the ground floor of the house until she found the book. The team’s goals were labeled by tabs. “Survey shrines, survey chasms, and ‘our team’s purpose,’” she murmured. 

She flipped to the “survey shrines” and cleared her throat. “‘The mysterious ruins that appeared due to the Upheaval—with strange, dome-like protrusions—we’re calling shrines.’ Well, I suppose we guessed right on the names. ‘They are believed to be from the Zonai civilization, but exact details regarding these shrines are unknown. When observing shrines as well as fallen ruins, take note of their shape, the sky above, and the surrounding environment,’” Flora read.

“Hey,” Sky hummed. “Do you guys think one of us could go into the shrines too? Or just you two? You guys are the ones that open the shrines, yes, but maybe we could go in?”

Wild blinked at him. “…that is a very good question,” he commented.

“We’ll test that later. Keep reading, yeah?” Four said, looking at the pair.

The Hero of the Wild nodded and stepped over to the book. “‘Large holes appeared all over the world after the Upheaval. They release gloom and are known as chasms. Gloom is physically harmful to people. Direct contact should be avoided. If the effects of gloom are making you feel ill, evacuate from the chasms immediately. Before entering any chasm, be sure to ask permission from Josha, the leader of the chasm surveys.’ Hey, we know her!” he exclaimed with a silly smile.

Flora snickered, with a quick “yes we do.” She switched to the “our team’s purpose” page, and cleared her throat again. “‘We of the Zonai Survey Team were founded and tasked by Princess Zelda to study ruins and ancient documents. Through the lens of archaeological understanding, it is her hope that we will uncover the deep history of Hyrule. Due to the Upheaval, many ruins from the Zonai civilization came crashing down from the sky. We have known very little of the Zonai, but we may now have evidence that their culture once flourished in the sky above. Our chief executive is Tauro, the first individual in the world to find a clue to deciphering Zonai scripts. Our current surveys are wholly focused on learning more about the Zonai civilization. Research results are shared out to specialists at the base in Kakariko Village.” She shut the book and stepped back, shaking out her hands.

“Flora?” Warriors asked, his eyebrows furrowing. 

“Careful, pretty boy. You’re going to get wrinkles,” Legend would have said.

Flora jumped up and down before spinning around to face them. “Tauro was elected as the chief executive! I only just started making the team when we went below the castle, so Purah, Paya, and I never got a chance to get someone! Ah, I’m so glad we got someone for the job! Oh, oh! And he was at Lookout Landing talking to Josha about the Depths! And she complimented his abilities! I’m so glad we found a good person for the job!” Flora rambled, twirling around. 

The Chain snickered, but congratulated her. She dismissed herself to the upstairs, saying that she had left something there the last time she was at the village. She had, so it wasn’t a lie. She ascended the stairs (rather than using the ability, though she could have), and took her father’s signet ring off of the desk. She’d left it right there the last time she came to Kakariko.

Her father had given it to her just before she left for the Spring of Wisdom, saying that the ring represented the kingdom. If she succeeded, she would keep it and the ring would be a reminder of how she saved her kingdom.

She still got to keep it, even after she’d failed.

Flora shook her head, and she caught sight of Paya’s diary.

…

It wouldn’t be too bad to take a peek, right? 

She tiptoed (even though she knew nobody would hear) over to the book and kneeled down at the table. Paya’s cat just snuggled her, not judging her nosy choices. Unfortunately, the Sheikah tradition of kneeling made her knees hurt, but it was tradition, and she wouldn’t disrespect them just because it made her knees sore. Though, it wasn't just the kneeling that made her uncomfortable.

The first entry was just about how she became chief, and that Impa had become obsessed with old books. She wrote how the chief’s hat may be too heavy to bear. Then, that it literally was, and that it made her head hurt. The next was the entry about the Upheaval and how the ruins fell from the sky into the village. She wrote of how the air grew stagnant, how weapons decayed, and how ruins fell from the sky shrouded in dark clouds.

Paya wrote about the five Ring Ruins that fell and a chasm that opened near the village. She wrote of her concern and with Impa leaving with Cado, but that Impa said that the situation was exactly why she had to go. Paya saw some heavy mission in her eyes, and bid her farewell. Apparently, the book Impa read had the 13 symbols from the Forgotten Temple.

In the third entry, she said that she told Purah about the Ring Ruins. Paya had apparently made arrangements with the survey team as soon as she could, which was a smart move.

The next few lines made Flora’s blood drain from her face, and she knew from her sudden lightheadedness that she looked pale. “‘I returned home to greet them, and that’s when the Hero of Winds and the Hero of Legend arrived at the village,’” she whispered. “‘I remembered them from when the other heroes visited the village several months ago. My grandmother had greatly enjoyed their presence, from what I remembered. But something was different. They seemed almost like dolls of themselves…the same outside, but no spirit within. I could not hide my uncertainty. They forbade anyone from entering the broken and partially floating ruin. And then they left. Just like that.’”

Flora quickly pulled out her notebook and began copying what she wrote. Sorry, Paya, but the others would have to know about this. The rest of the entry spoke of how she didn’t mention the village’s condition, or say anything to the residents of the village. From what the new hero knew, she could say that was unlike the two. Wild had told her in letters that Wind was the one who often boosted morale and kept them calm, and Legend had a soft spot for Wild’s Hyrule, considering the situation in his and Hyrule’s versions of the kingdom.

The next entry was filled with information about Tauro and his achievement in the translation for Zonai writing, and how she named the ruins the “Ring Ruins.” She expressed relief that the villagers were treating her well and that they embraced her decision to coexist with the Ring Ruins. According to her journal, some of the villagers offered to help with the research, and the others offered to patrol. She wrote about how Dorian’s daughter, Koko (a very sweet girl, as far as Flora remembered), began to make souvenirs called “Ring Garlands.” Paya wrote that her village seemed to regain its vigor.

In the final entry, she said that it was her job as chief to research the ruins, and that her way of fulfilling her role was going to be slightly different than her grandmother’s. “Gone is the chief who sits in her hall with quiet wisdom. That is what the village needed of her then, but no longer.”

Now that was an excellent way to word that, Paya.

She’d compliment the young chief, but…that would reveal that she read the chief’s journal.

Absolutely not.

As a final note, she wrote that she must keep moving forward so that she can greet Impa with a triumphant smile. Flora wondered if she’d told Dorian of the way she wanted to lead, as it seemed that the man still expected the “quiet wisdom” that Paya wrote about.

She knew that Paya would be an excellent chief, no matter her way of leadership.

Chapter Text

They made their way over to a man standing a little ways away from Paya and Tauro, who asked them to take pictures of the scripts in the four other Ring Ruins, since apparently he was afraid of heights.

…Why would someone’s obsession be something in the sky if they’re afraid of heights?

And of course it was up to them to do the work.

Goddesses above, Wild sometimes hated people. Conquer your fears! Wild was afraid of his lack of memory, so he sprinted through a guardian-riddled castle just to get one. Wild quickly noted the look on Flora’s face (she was up looking for…whatever she was looking for, for a good while. How hard was it to find stuff in the upstairs of the hall? It was tiny!), then they made their way over to Tauro and Paya, who were talking to one another.

“The Ring Ruins are the most intriguing ruins I’ve researched. Especially this one, the way part of it floats up there. You had the foresight to focus on all of these special ruins and invite the survey team to take a look right away. I’m impressed, Chief Paya!” Tauro exclaimed.

“Oh, no, I…I’m no chief. I just couldn’t refuse my predecessor when she decided to pass the title to me rather suddenly. I’m really a chief in name only, since I still have a great deal to-” Paya tried to say, but she was interrupted.

“Oh, come on, Paya! We all know that you’re going to be a great chief,” Wild huffed, frowning at her. 

The girl startled, then her eyes widened as she noticed the Hero of the Wild and the princess as she spun around to face them. “M-master Link?! Princess Zelda?!” she gasped. “I’m so happy that I get to see you again. I’m overjoyed that you both and the rest of your group are all safe.”

Wild and Flora looked away. “Well, actually, Paya…” Flora murmured. “Wind and Legend are still missing.” 

“What? Oh, I’m…I’m so sorry.” The chief seemed distracted, making a glance up at the Ring Ruins. 

“Is everythin’ a’right, Missus Paya?” Twilight asked her.

“Well, that just…confuses the matter more. You see, I actually met with the heroes just a day or so after the Upheaval. Wind and Legend came here to Kakariko Village.” Paya turned around to look back up at the floating Ring Ruin as she said, “they ordered us all to stay far away from the Ring Ruin that floats above us, no matter what. I saw her myself—the missing heroes, right before my eyes.”

“Was there anything odd about them?” Warriors questioned the chief.

“Yes, actually,” she responded with a surprised look on her face. “They looked the same on the outside, other than their clothes, but they looked… Well, I don’t know how to describe it. One could say they looked soulless. I’m also not quite sure how they managed to make it here in a day, as they did not have horses,” Paya answered. Four, Warriors, and Flora were quickly writing down what she was saying, 

“Why do we need three different notes of the same thing???” Wild wondered. Wasting paper, if they asked him.

“They left as soon as they arrived. I wasn’t able to ask either of them anything more about those unusual instructions. Now, I’ve never met them, but they are heroes, right?” Tauro asked.

“Yes, they’re both heroes who wouldn’t just…do that. Legend is curt, yes, but for situations like this, he wouldn’t just appear and disappear without any careful instruction. He’d at least try to explain a little. Wind wouldn’t do that either, although he’s more ‘to-the-point’ when things are happening too quickly and too badly. But, he is not the type to just forbid you from doing something and then disappear without another word,” Four informed the two of them.

“All of us can confirm that. It’s entirely unlike them. We believe we may know what’s going on with the two of them, but that’s for later,” Time said.

Tauro nodded, then said, “we thought it was to protect the villagers from harm. This ruin does look like it could crash down at any moment. That’s what Paya and I suspect, at least.”

“But still, I know you both would not misspeak. I know you all would not misspeak, especially on a matter of such importance. How confusing…” Paya seemed to think for a moment, before she shot up with wide eyes. “Oh! My apologies, Master Link, Princess Zelda, and heroes. I was so pleased to see you all, I completely forgot common courtesy. Please allow me to introduce Mr. Tauro,” she said, gesturing to the man. “He is an esteemed member of the Zonai Survey Team. Princess, Great Aunt Purah and I wanted to apologize for not including you to elect the chief executive of the team, but you were still missing at the time.”

“Oh, it’s such a pleasure to meet you! I’ve been looking forward to seeing who would be chosen! You definitely seem capable of the job, from what I’ve heard. Thank you for joining our team!” Flora’s face glowed with excitement, and she shook the man’s hand.

“I’m glad you think I’m capable, Miss Princess,” Tauro said, fidgeting with his necklace.

“Please, just call me Zelda. But I’ve already heard quite a bit of your accomplishments. Where are you from?”

“Oh, I’m from Lurelin Village, Miss Zelda. Well, before it was invaded,” he answered.

“We plan on helping out with that, don’t worry,” Wild butted in, giving a smile. Tauro smiled back, and patted him on the shoulder.

“Pleasure t’ meet ya, Mister Tauro,” Twilight said with a friendly smile. 

“Nice to meet you too, hero. Who’re you?” the Zonai researcher asked.

“‘M called Twilight, since I’m the Hero o’ Twilight,” their Rancher responded.

“Well, you seem the strong type. You’ll have to help with the Zonai ruins at some point, yeah?” Tauro offered with a charming smile. Twilight let out a barking laugh and gave him a strong handshake, saying they had a deal.

Bros. 

Time and Wild shared a glance, then a silly smile.

“Oh, please don’t worry! I’ve heard a lot about his achievements! We saw him down in Lookout Landing not too long ago!” Tauro started shaking his head a little at her. He must not want Paya to know about him trying to get two very, very different Zonai jobs. “Um, so I know that the Zonai Survey Team is in wonderful hands!”

“Ah, I’m so glad you understand. I invited him here to investigate the ring ruins that fell on our village. He has incredibly deep knowledge of the Zonai civilization… He’s even familiar with Zonai script! He is truly an incredibly talented individual!” Paya exclaimed with a smile to the princess.

“Oh, Twilight actually found some ancient scripture in Rito Village. We’d offer to let you see it, but we left it with Purah. Though, she may send it back soon and we can share it with you,” Four piped up, glancing at their Rancher, who was in a deep conversation with Tauro about their various strength achievements. Somehow, apparently the old man got dragged in.

Again, bros.

Though, maybe not Time. The old man looked back at Wild with an expression that could only mean “help me,” even though Wild rarely saw it directed at him. Usually it was Warriors that saw it. Wild guessed it was because it revolved around Twilight. Wild shrugged with an apologetic smile.

Tauro noticed the conversation, and asked Twilight about the script. The Rancher shrugged and said, “I ain’t all that good with scripture. Farm chores and fightin’, yeah sure. But I ain’t all that in-tune t’ scripture. It was hidden b’hind a couple o’ rocks, though. Dunno if that’ll help. But it was ‘bout two or three lines carved into the stone.” He shrugged, but Tauro just gave him a hard pat on the back that would probably send Wild stumbling.

But of course, Twilight didn’t even falter. Just barked out another laugh. 

Tauro laughed too, then turned back to the floating Ring Ruin. “It’s clear that the floating Ring Ruin that we were forbidden to explore is a unique and incredibly valuable find,” he said. “Several more Ring Ruins with such a shape have fallen down around the village. Most have broken apart in some way. What’s fascinating is that a stone slab with writing was found at each site. Deciphering the text showed that each slab contains rather interesting content, including mentions of ‘sages.’ There’s still so much we don’t understand…” Tauro turned to them, continuing with, “I think that perhaps the ruin floating in the air also has a slab that makes a mention of the sages!”

“Oh, the ancient sages?” Flora asked. “We actually spoke to one of them in a vision after we saved the Rito.”

Paya and Tauro’s eyes widened and they just stared at the hero. “What?” Tauro stared at her, his face conflicted.

“Yeah, he told us about the Imprisoning War after we killed the monster causing the blizzard. Tulin touched a Sacred Stone, and we saw the ancient Sage of Wind. He told us about the imprisoning war, how it ended, and a bit of other stuff. We also saw Wind in the vision, but he looked normal,” Wild answered. 

“Really? What’s a Sacred Stone?” the chief questioned them.

“The ancient sage actually mentioned that the Sacred Stones amplified their abilities. The other sages in the vision also had them,” Sky replied. “Is there a way that we can get to the floating ruins?”

Tauro kicked the dirt lightly, then said, “well…it would go against the heroes’ direct orders. If only I could meet with them again,” he lamented. I’m sure I could persuade them to change their minds. In any case, I’m having trouble squaring your story about the two heroes with the heroes we met. If everything is alright, why won’t they just show themselves?”

Time nudged Wild’s shoulder, then shook his head when the hero looked over to the elder. Wild could only guess that he didn’t want to spread the theory of a puppet around if it was wrong.

“They must have some reason!” Paya exclaimed. “Until we find out the heroes’ intentions, we have no choice but to trust them and leave that ruin alone.”

“We’ll send information to you as we get it,” Warriors said with a smile.

“And let us know about anything you get, okay? Any information should help,” Four added. 

Paya nodded, and the group said their goodbyes to the pair. They spoke to a man named Calip, who was way too cocky and irritating to a group of powerful heroes who were saving the world. He called them amateurs (even though he should’ve heard them being referred to as heroes), then waved them away.

“Sorry, Princess Zelda, but it is far too dangerous for one such as you to investigate if those heroes said nobody could,” he said with a…well, not charming, but an attempted charming smile.

Flora just gave him a tight lipped smile. “Right. I believe I am fully able. I often did hands-on experiments with the divine beasts back when they were operable.”

“Heh…ehe… Um…well, uh…”

“Well?” Four asked.

“Sorry, you uh, still can’t enter. Until we’re told it's safe by those two, no one is allowed. They looked, uh, experienced.”

Thoroughly irritated, the group decided to not deal with him and his…terrible logic for any longer, and instead migrated over to a large tent-house-Ring Ruin and noticed Wortsworth standing in front of a drawing of the monument they’d seen earlier.

“Ah, heroes. Too curious to stay away, eh?” he asked. 

Beside Wild, Twilight leaned over to Sky and murmured something about their piece of the Triforce being more curiosity than courage sometimes. And honestly? Wild had to agree. Sure, he didn’t have the mark of the Triforce, but come on. 

Flora laughed and nodded. He turned to the drawing. “This is a picture of the stone tablet that fell from the sky at Lookout Landing. I managed to decipher the inscription on it using my notes on ancient Hyrulean I had in storage at this research lab.” He slid a journal over to Flora.

“‘Ones held y honore als hochmayde to kyng Rauru ond quen Sonia, thaerafter to his suster ond to prince Legend ond Wind. Her on thames grete stan ond twelf mo withalle make y endite min time with the roial familie. So michte heore remembraunce preserven for the sake of them on whom oure hope raeste,’” she read. Wild fought back snickers as her face contorted into more and more confusion. “I can make out some of the words, but not all of them.” She began copying it into her own journal.

“Yeah…there’s not much to go on, but you can clearly read the names of King Rauru and Queen Sonia, the founders of Hyrule. The names ‘Legend and Wind’ are also clearly legible elsewhere in the text. The author finishes by saying that she will write about the royal family’s daily lives in 13 segments. It certainly seems to be a royal diary left behind by a chamberlain or someone of equivalent station. The part that catches my attention are the third and fourth names mentioned—Legend and Wind. There’s no other record of anyone by either of those names in any of the other texts we’ve unearthed so far, which are odd. Perhaps, since your other heroes are supposedly from other eras, people were named after you all. Though, they are the only records of those names…” Wortsworth explained, muted but clearly passionate. The Chain gave each other wide eyed looks. The more information about the monuments and the missing heroes, the better.

Before they could say a word, he continued with, “the only instances of those names are the missing heroes and these two, which date all the way back to Hyrule’s founding. What’s written here must be the start of a firsthand account of Hyrule! And did you notice the number 13 there? That means there are 12 more stone tablets to be found. If a royal chamberlain really left these…it’s an interesting perspective on the day-to-day life of the era. One which the history books don’t mention. There’s so much we could learn here of the king, queen, or even the two men named Legend and Wind. 12 tablets left…fascinating. If you happen to find any more stone tablets on your travels, get some sort of visual evidence of them and show it to me. I’ll make sure there’s a nice reward in it for you all,” he offered with a small smile.

Time stepped up to the man, and gave him a firm handshake. “Thank you for telling us about this, Wortsworth. We’ll make it worth your time.”

They stepped out, and Wild just about collapsed. After a panicked Twilight asked what was wrong, he just said, “he talked too much.” Four snickered and agreed, and the rest of the Chain awkwardly laughed.

(He did talk too much.)

“Oh, Flora,” Sky called. “Could you try to tell us what the scripture said? Because…uh, I don’t think any of us understood. Other than the names, but you get what I mean.”

“Hm? Oh, of course!” Clearing her throat and opening her journal, she began. “Ones held in honor…als hochmayde, don’t know what that means…to King Rauru and Queen Sonia, thereafter to his sister and to prince Legend and Wind. Here…perhaps…on this great…stone?...and on twelve more withalle make and…I’m not sure what endite means…my time with the royal family. So…michte…here, or heroes, remembrance preserve for the sake of them on whom our hope rests.”

Wild blinked, and glanced around at the others, who also looked lost. Different levels of lost, for each of them, but still lost.

Laughing nervously, Flora said, “yes, it is very…confusing. Many of the words can be guessed, but the words that cannot be given the same treatment make the whole text rather…confusing. Many of my notes should be with Purah, so we could go back there once we finish up here in Kakariko Village.”

“Oh awesome, I was planning on rummaging through some caves in Hyrule field.”

The Chain turned to him. “And uh, why?” Hyrule asked.

“Well I lost all of my armor sets and weapons and shit, so I’m hoping I can find my armor again,” Wild explained with a simple shrug.

“...and why exactly would they go from your Sheikah Slate to caves?” Warriors asked.

“Purah Pad now, actually. But I originally found all of them in caves so…I dunno. Maybe it somehow got back.”

“It may be best for us to split into two groups,” Time hummed. “One to help Flora, and one to help Wild.”

“Oh, perhaps that would be smart. Who would like to stay with me?”

In the end, they decided to just split them into an even two. Sky, Four, and Time would stay with Flora, while Twilight, Hyrule, and Warriors would go with Wild. 

With roles decided, the group set out around Kakariko.

Wild went over to the clothing shop, curious to see if they were selling any new clothes. It’s been months since he last visited, so maybe they’d have something different? Honestly, he’d put any amount of Rupees into clothes. He was worse than Flora, he knew. But still.

Stepping inside, he immediately noticed two new sets. The Radiant Set (they only sold that in Gerudo Town’s Secret Shop!), and one that actually looked like the clothes the Sheikah wore! Along with the standard stealth set, though. Before he could mention them and ask the prices, he noticed Claree, the shopkeeper, half-asleep.

“Claree?” he hesitantly asked.

“Huh? Oh! Link, you’re okay! Welcome, I’m glad you’re safe. Sorry, I must have drifted off. I’m just so tired lately,” she sighed.

“What happened?”

“It…it won’t really help to talk about it, but my grandmother’s really sick. I’m running the shop while my little sister is looking after her. We’re sort of getting by, but we’re both so exhausted. I’m sorry to say, but the prices of our clothes have drastically increased for Grandmother’s treatment. It’s just for now though. As soon as Grandmother is healthy again, I can set our prices back to normal,” Claree ranted. Once she was done, she stood up straight. “But um, we have new things in stock since you last got here. We’ve put in the Radiant Set that Gerudo Town began providing, and our traditional clothing because of the requests from travellers. Though you can only get Cece-brand fashion southeast in Hateno Village.”

Wild hummed. If he could find Claree’s house (not in a creepy way!), then maybe he could try to help. Though another thing she said caught his attention. “What’s Cece branded clothes? I’ve always seen Hateno as a farming village, other than the dye shop?”

“Oh, you haven’t heard? Oh wait- I’m so sorry, I forgot you haven’t been here. It’s a fashion phenomenon that’s getting attention all over Hyrule. My sister wants to go there to study fashion, but…well, you know. Anyhow, she’s a designer that moved into Hateno and is spreading her designs across the country. I’ve heard from travelers that she bases the designs off of an ancient trend from the kingdom’s founding. I’m…not sure if it’s true though,” she explained.

“Really? What kind of patterns?” he asked. Were those women they saw on the way to Kakariko wearing Cece clothes?

“Well…there’s two main types. Ones covered in lobsters and crabs, and ones with magic jars and herbs. The magic jars are the only reason I can believe the ancient trend, because those haven’t been seen in millenia. They’re usually a combination of two colors. Blue, orange, green, and red. The patterned objects are usually white or gold, depending on the colors of the outfit,” Claree described. “Sometimes there’s a hat or jacket combined.”

Wild snickered. “Interesting choices.”

“Certainly. It’s interesting enough for Lasli to want to study, but I have my doubts. But, well, I suppose I’ll have to get used to it.”

With a wave to Claree, he left. So…her grandmother. He’d visited her once, and he thought he remembered where it was.

After a few minutes of walking, he spotted a woman sitting beside a fire.

“What to do? At this rate, Grandmother’s health isn’t going to…ugh. And Claree’s so busy running the clothing shop… I’ll just have to do it myself. I’ll find a cure for my grandmother,” she huffed from where he walked up to her. Ah, so this was Lasli.

“What’s wrong?”

Lasli yelped, and spun around to look at Wild. “Link! You’re back! I’m glad to see you unhurt. Sorry about this… My family has been having some issues lately.”

“Want to talk about it?” Wild asked, sitting across from her on the wooden railing of her cover.

“You see, it’s my grandmother. She got too close to that nasty gloom stuff, and now she’s sick and bedridden,” she admitted.

“There’s gloom around Kakariko, too?”

“Yes, a chasm opened up northeast of here,” she answered. “My grandmother was cleaning up East Hill for the survey team when she first noticed the chasm… We know now that the chasm’s a source of gloom, but she had no idea. When she tried to take a look, she got exposed.

Hm…could that have been where Naydra went? He would be surprised to hear a divine deity would go into the Depths, which reeked of gloom and darkness, but spirits were…strange.

“Porridge is about the only thing she can keep down right now too,” Lasli continued. “I’ve been trying to mix in ingredients that could help with gloom sickness… But none of them have had any effect. I need to cook a porridge that will make my grandmother better, and I need to do it soon.”

“I’ll see if I can help. What’s the recipe?” he asked.

She quickly took out a notepad, scribbling down the instructions. When she handed it to him, he took a quick read over the ingredients. Hylian rice, fresh milk, and wild greens. Wild, with a wave, headed out with the promise that he’d help however he could.

This gloom was a nightmare, and he wanted to help.

Chapter Text

Wild meandered back to the others, who’d all gathered in the inn. The sun was beginning to set, and some of the others had apparently dropped some Rupees to pay for some beds. They’d have to double up, and some of them would get the floor, but that had happened before.

Time turned to him when he’d first walked in, greeting him. He’d been waved over by Flora, and Four was with her.

“Oh, look who’s back,” Four chuckled.

“Ha ha, Four. Hi,” he greeted in response.

“Glad to see you didn’t get lost!” Flora said with a smirk.

“Yeesh, you too? Stop rubbing off on Flora, Four!” Wild stuck his tongue out at the Smithy, who just laughed.

“Hey, you need to be teased a bit. You’re the last one in, after all.” To Four’s comment, Wild just pouted and sat down on the bed.

“You’d never believe what happened when Four and I came in here to pay for this!” Flora sighed, laying down beside him.

Wild’s ears got hot, but he just attributed it to the amount of them here. “What?”

“Well, someone had greeted us, and I was originally skeptical because he looked like a traveler. He had the backpack and everything! And he said that one bed was 10,000 Rupees! When he realized it was Four and I, he immediately backtracked and said it was a joke. Then he said he didn’t even work there. Apparently the owner had asked him to keep an eye on the inn, because he’d gone to make up the beds in the team tents and that he’d be back, but he didn’t. So we went looking for him instead, and went on a whole mini adventure to find him! When we did, we had to get a Hearty Truffle! It was a whole situation. But, the good news is that we got him up, and now we have a Sticky Elixir. Here, by the way.” She handed him the Purah Pad.

“We also found a notebook with stuff about a flower growing in the ring ruins, called a Sundelion. Apparently people thought it was extinct. It was growing next to a Gustia and Radifron. They’re using that plum orchard a little ways away to try and cultivate it,” Four added.

“A Sundelion? What’s it look like?” Wild asked. He felt like he was asking a bunch of questions lately.

“We’re not sure. Actually, would you both like to come with me to look?” Flora questioned them.

With two agreements, they told the others and headed out. Wild had visited the plum garden a few times, and knew right where he was going. He led the two of them to the garden, where a familiar golden flower was growing in a boxed off area from the plum trees.

“It’s the flower from the Forgotten Temple…” Four murmured. “That must be the Sundelion.”

“The name fits. There’s a researcher there, so let's go talk to her,” Wild said, already stepping toward her.

Her posture was hunched, but she seemed entranced by the flower. Not even turning to them, she said, “this area is off-limits. I’m borrowing the plum garden for my Sundelion cultivation.”

“Is the Sundelion the golden flower there?” Flora asked.

“Yes, it’s- Oh! Princess!” Flora wilted a little. “This Sundelion is a new species of plant. We found the first one on ruins that fell from the sky. I believe that means they grow on the sky islands. I’m still in the middle of my investigation, but early results indicate that they have some sort of relationship with the gloom,” she explained.

Wild stood up straighter. “What kind of relationship?”

She smiled. “I believe that I can prove they might help those suffering from gloom exposure or aid our research of the Depths! In any case, it’s rare to find them on the surface, so I’m using the village’s plum garden to see if I can cultivate them. Gloom isn’t my area of expertise. Luckily, there’s a specialist on the survey team. I consult him on gloom-related matters.”

“So they might be able to cure gloom illnesses? And they can be found on Sky Islands? Interesting.” Four turned to Wild. “Maybe we can go look for ourselves soon.”

The researcher’s eyes widened. “Go to the Sky Islands? How do you suppose you’ll make it there?”

Wild shrugged. “We have our ways.”

“Well, if you find anything about Sundelions, could you let me know?”

They agreed, and with a goodbye (and a photo of the flower), they left. When they made it back to the inn, the others were all settled in. Twilight and Sky were talking about having to follow a bunch of Cuccos for the woman at one of the shops, and Hyrule and Time explained that they just had to deal with some monsters at the Ring Ruins to bring back some shopkeepers. Thankfully, when asked, the two of them said that they weren’t black blooded.

Small victories.

It didn’t take long for all of them to pass out, asleep.

— — —

The next morning, Time woke them up bright and early, much to the irritation of most of the others. Though, unsurprisingly, some of them were happy to be up. Twilight, Hyrule, and Wild were up the earliest, talking about who knows what.

Flora herself? Oh, she was exhausted. Better off than Sky, who was glaring so hard at the ground she was sure he’d bore a hole into the Depths. That seemed to be what he was trying to do, at least. It wasn’t working, but she had to admit that she wouldn’t be surprised if it did.

Well, until Wild handed him a cup of tea. He was still slow to process himself being awake, but it went a little quicker.

“Well I’m glad to see you awake,” Flora hummed, laughing quietly.

Sky’s head turned to her slowly, and he blinked a few times, then squinted. “Whuh? Oh, hi, Flora.”

Flora fought back snickers, looking away. “Good morning, Sky. How did you sleep?”

Sky stared back at the ground. “Uh…well, thanks. ‘M still tired though.” He rubbed at his eyes, and let out a heaving sigh. Flora nodded at him, breathing a smaller sigh. “What’re we doing today?”

She hummed. “Well, I’m pretty sure we’ll be splitting off today. You, Four, and Time will be coming with me to look through my notes, and the others will go cave diving with Wild.”

Sky’s face scrunched up, saying, “I don’t know how they’re willing to go through caves with Wild.”

Flora laughed softly. “I don’t know if they’re exactly willing.” Sky snickered in response, and he set down his cup to keep from dropping it.

After some time, the group had changed into their standard day clothes. Well, except for Time, who changed into his armor. She wondered how he traveled so well in it. Perhaps she would have to ask. Well, when he didn’t seem so…intimidating. 

Before they left, Flora made her way over to Lady Paya. She was once again staring up at those Ring Ruins, murmuring softly about them.

“Lady Paya?”

She startled, and spun around. “Oh! Princess! I’m so sorry. These ruins have certainly captured my attention, and they do not want to let go.”

“Oh, please don’t worry about it. I wanted to come tell you that we’re leaving.”

“Are you? I am very sorry I have not been here to lend you more hospitality, but-”

Flora quickly (and disrespectfully, a small part of her brain snapped) interrupted her. “No, no! It’s alright, Lady Paya. Unfortunately, things are going quite a bit haywire around Hyrule, and we’re working to uncover history and fix everything, and we do not have much time.”

Lady Paya nodded. “If you need any help, I am happy to send any capable Sheikah warriors to your aid. And, if I may, I would prefer you just call me Paya…”

Flora blinked. “I’m so sorry-”

“No no please don’t apologize!”

“I just-” She paused. “We’re going to go nowhere with this. I’m sorry, I will start calling you Paya. And, if you’d be willing, could you just call me Zelda or Flora? It seems we both would prefer our titles to not be used.”

Paya nodded, an apologetic smile appearing on her face. “Okay, P- Zelda. I’m sorry. It will take some getting used to, as I’m sure you could guess.”

“Oh, definitely. I don’t blame you. I would too!” Flora was silent for a moment. Was there anything else for her to say? She hoped not. Well, if anything, there were always letters. “I believe that’s all…”

“Oh! Don’t let me keep you, Zelda. As I’ve said, I am happy to send any warriors to aid you if you require any help,” Paya said.

“Well, thank you very much, Paya. I may reach out to you about that if we find any troubles. The village looks wonderful, and I’m sure you will do amazing at leading it. I will let you know of my findings if you let me know of yours?” Flora smiled at her, tilting her head slightly.

Paya nodded with a matching smile. “Of course! I am happy to help. Please, be safe. Where do you plan on going next?”

Flora hummed. “Well,” she said. “We plan on splitting up for a little while, so that I can look at my notes and Wild can cavedive-”

“Cavedive? Is…is that safe?” Paya interrupted, her eyes impossibly wide.

“Knowing him?”

Paya laughed, covering her mouth. She shrugged.

“So I will look at my notes with some of them, and Wild will go cavediving with the rest. Then, we plan on going to Goron City. I’m…pretty sure the next Geoglyph is that way too, so we plan on investigating that,” the hero explained. She would have checked her notes, but she left that and the Purah Pad with Wild.

“Ah, I see. I have heard strange things about the Gorons there. Please, be safe. We will always be here to welcome you,” Paya said. She took Flora’s hand in hers, and looked worriedly at her.

“We will be back. I will send you letters, if that would make you more comfortable? I’m sure I need to start writing some to others as well, anyhow.” Flora smiled at Paya, who sighed, even as she smiled back.

“Then I hope to see you soon.”

They parted, and Flora made her way back to the Chain. Wild waved. “Welcome back! So, I was thinking of testing the teleportation again on the Purah Pad?”

“Huh? Is there something wrong with it?” Flora asked.

“He thinks that there’s a possibility of your Purah Pad having trouble teleporting many people at once, especially after such a long period of unuse.” Four tapped the end of his pencil on his notebook, a concentrated look on his face as he stared down at the notebook. “I’m inclined to agree.”

Flora struggled not to stare at him. This was such a different person than the one who comforted her a week ago. She…wanted to ask him about it. But now wouldn’t be a good time. But she really hoped Four didn’t just comfort her for show. That didn’t seem to make sense for him, but…

“So?” Wild asked, pulling her back into the discussion.

Flora tapped her chin. “Hm…I haven’t thought about it. Perhaps… How did the Sheikah Slate work when you first woke it up after your slumber?”

“Uh, I mean, it seemed to work fine? It was missing all of its map data and ruins, but the teleportation seemed okay. Might’ve been easier since there was just me teleporting around after it was asleep for 100 years.” Wild pulled out the Purah Pad, holding it and going to the map. “But now it’s been asleep for 10,000—” Time looked away. “—and there's ni- eight of us now.”

Four handed her his own notebook. Purple, with gold trim. Oh! And a nice pencil. She wondered where he got it. “I think there’s a chance of us being scattered around where we choose to teleport. For example, if we were to go straight to the shrine by Lookout Landing, I’d say there’s a high chance of us ending up nearby alone, rather than all of us at the shrine itself.”

A diagram had been drawn on the sheet. An oval was drawn in the middle with a door-like opening near the bottom. A shrine? Likely. Around it, eight figures were drawn. They were simple, but easy to tell apart. Bobbed hair? Flora. Sky’s had the sailcloth, Four’s had pin-straight hair, Time’s had plates on his drawn form to mimic armor… Well, that was besides the point. They were all evenly split in a circle around the shrine. Circles were drawn over them all in groups of two, with what Flora assumed to be Four’s written characters.

“Says ‘or in groups,’ by the way,” Four said, eyes green.

…Now wait a moment. 

Flora could’ve sworn his eyes weren’t green before.

Perhaps she would ask later.

“Flora?”

Flora startled. “Oh, sorry, Four! I believe you may be right. There’s a chance it would have trouble teleporting eight people, let alone after being deactivated for as long as it was. Hm… Would it even be safe to test it?”

“I’m willing to test it. If it doesn’t work, I’m willing to be sent to the Aether if it means you guys get an explanation,” Four laughed.

“Four I don’t think that’s a good thing-” Hyrule interrupted. “But I guess I’m good to try.”

Once the others agreed, Flora held up the pad with one hand, grabbing Wild’s with the other. They ended up making a little chain of holding onto one another, feeding into the Chain joke. Oh well, it was funny for a reason.

“Them poor horses,” Twilight whispered before Flora clicked on the Kyononis Shrine, just north of Lookout Landing.

They disappeared into blue wisps.

—

Flora felt herself be pulled back together, fighting back nausea as she stumbled. Wild grabbed her arm from next to her to keep her from falling.

“Are you okay?” he asked, looking over her in concern.

“Does that happen every time?!” she gasped back. She’d never teleported with that! They all just…disappeared into blue lines!

“I mean it was a little weird this time but yeah, usually,” Wild answered. He looked around. “Hey, the others aren’t here. I guess Four’s hypothesis was right.”

Flora blinked, then shook her head. She immediately regretted it as her vision danced in front of her eyes. She gritted her teeth, and stood up. She looked around. True to his word, none of the others were near them. That, and the shrine was a little ways away.

Wait…

“Hey I think Sky’s over there! Is he okay?” the new hero asked. She pointed a little ways away, where Sky was crouched over.

“Let’s go find out!” 

With that, Wild went running off in Sky’s direction. Flora grumbled, but started running after Wild.

After a minute or two, and Flora was running out of precious breath, she reached Sky and Wild. Oh! And Four! He, uh, didn’t look so good though.

Wild was poking him with a stick. “You alive?” he asked.

“Wild,” Sky sighed.

“What?!”

“Don’t poke Four with a stick.”

“I’m alive, fuck off…” Four grumbled from below. “Fuckin’ hate teleportation. Hate it. Sucks.” Sky sighed and shook his head. 

“Ohhh right! Sorry, Four! Forgot teleportation makes you sick,” Wild laughed.

Four let out a pathetic little groan. “Thought it would be fine, since it wasn’t dark magic. Nooope. This isn’t fair.”

Flora looked between Wild and Sky, who looked sympathetic but not concerned, and Four, who was lying face down on the stone. That couldn’t be comfortable. “Does this happen every time you teleport?”

Sky hummed. “Well, Four always has trouble going through portals. Sometimes it’s worse than others. Sometimes he’s just nauseous, sometimes he throws up, and sometimes he just passes out. I haven’t noticed a pattern, and I doubt the Smithy has, but maybe someone else has?”

“Oh, I’m sorry, Four. Perhaps we can find another method of quick travel…” Flora said. “I suppose we should head to the shrine then? It seems some of the others are already there.”

Wild perked up, looking over at the shrine. “Wait no way? Oh! GUYS! HI!!”

Time and Hyrule, who were at the shrine, jumped a bit and looked over. Hyrule waved, and Time visibly shook his head. Sky picked up Four, and all of them wandered over to the shrine, where Twilight and Warriors just made it. Hyrule frowned, looking at Four. “This warping makes him sick too?”

Sky set Four on the ground, and Four began staring into space. “Looks like it,” Sky said. “Fell as soon as we got fully…formed again?” Sky patted his chest. “Yeah, fully formed.”

Flora hummed. “If Four already has troubles with your portals, then I suppose it would make sense that warping would do the same as portals.”

Time nodded, and looked at Lookout Landing. “Then perhaps we should refrain from using the Purah Pad as a way to travel unless necessary, or if we’re going entirely across Hyrule and don’t have much time to spare.”

“Well, now that we have that solved,” Warriors said. “Should we split into our groups? For those of you with Flora, do you have your translation books?” Four gave a shaky thumbs up, Sky nodded, and Time agreed. Warriors sighed, and stepped up to Flora. He handed her a small blue crystal on a yellow rope. “This is Wind’s Pirate Charm. It can connect to the Purah Pad to call it. Just call if you need anything.”

Flora sputtered. “Well, I shouldn’t take Wind’s-”

“We don’t have another way to communicate.” Wild shrugged. “Best we can come up with. If I take the Purah Pad, then I can get your calls and I can store what we get.”

She sighed, but carefully held the stone in her palm as she handed Wild the Purah Pad. “Be safe, you four. I will call if we find anything or if we need anything.”

“We’ll be a’ight, don’t worry ‘bout us.” Twilight gave Flora a consoling pat on the shoulder, and the group of four exploring the field walked off.

“Well, then I suppose we should go into Purah’s office, hm?” Flora asked.

Sounds of agreement came from around her, and they began walking back to Lookout Landing.

Chapter Text

Hyrule was glad Wind wasn’t here.

Wait.

No, wait!

Not what he meant!

Hyrule was glad Wind wasn’t here to explore Hyrule Field with the Chain. He was tired enough, and they’d had to take several breaks already.

Wind would’ve been seething. Warriors had already grumbled something about his boots, and Hyrule himself would be inclined to agree if he cared more about his boots. 

Sure, he’d walked during both of his adventures, traveling across Hyrule in worse conditions, but…caves?! Really?! Wild was willingly, happily even, going through the caves with few complaints. Hyrule preferred walking across the dirt, not climbing. 

Caves are fine. Dirt is fine.

Climbing is not.

Twilight tapped him on the shoulder. Hyrule glanced at him questioningly. “Y’alright?” he asked. 

Hyrule nodded. “Feet hurt.”

Twilight paused, and gave him a confused look, tilting his head to the side. Hyrule didn’t know many dogs, but he still wasn’t sure how they didn’t realize he was Wolfie earlier. “But didn’t ya walk durin’ both of yer adventures?”

Hyrule hummed with a small shrug, picking a mushroom out of the ground and tossing it to Wild, who gave him a dirty-handed thumbs up. “Across dirt and stuff. Went through some caves and dungeons… But this is climbing.”

“Oh, right. Don’tcha have that jump spell?” Twilight asked, tilting his head at Hyrule again.

“Well, yeah, but that wouldn’t really work well here. I’d either get launched into the ceiling or slam into the wall. That spell is hard to adjust even a little.” He reached up to pat Twilight on the shoulder. “It was a nice thought, though. Thanks.” He smiled at the Rancher. 

Twilight shrugged. “Well, I tried.”

“Hey!” Wild’s voice echoed through the cave. “You guys are lagging behind! C’mon! We don’t have all day!”

“Oh, hush, Wild. We do have all day,” Warriors sighed. Continuing, he said, “we just have to be back by sunset. Which won’t be the case for several more hours.”

As Twilight and Hyrule caught up to Warriors and Wild, they heard Wild say, “uh huh, right, and how do you know the sun isn’t setting now?”

Wars turned to the two of them, and pointed at Wild. He looked equal parts unamused and incredulous. “Did you two hear that?”

“Loud and clear, Cap’n.” Twilight chuckled, whacking Warriors on the back while acting as though it was merely a pat. For Gorons, maybe. “Ya know it ain’t even close t’ sundown, Cub.”

Wild huffed, and looked pleadingly at Hyrule. “Come on, ‘Rulie! You gotta admit I have a point!”

Instead of dignifying a response, Hyrule just laughed and walked past them. “I don’t even know what you’re trying to prove!”

Wild groaned loudly, stomping to follow him. Unsurprisingly, Warriors and Twilight could be heard sighing and laughing as they followed behind the two younger heroes. Well, this wasn’t too bad. As much as his hands and feet hurt, and his poor tunic was covered in thick red, purple, and black blood, he enjoyed being a hero if it meant being with everyone else.

— — —

Sky whistled softly along with the song Time played on his ocarina, balancing one of Flora’s notebook and his own translation book in his lap. They’d managed to find about half of the words they needed, and the time both crept and sped along. Four sighed aloud from where he was standing.

“You all can take a break-” Flora began, before Four sharply raised a hand.

“I’m happy to do this. I’m just needing to translate.” He stretched back, his spine popping loudly. Time frowned, and Sky winced. “Has anybody called the others in a bit?”

“Wars said they had it covered, and- Oh! While I’m thinking about it! They found something interesting at that coliseum to the south…west, I think?” Sky blinked, and nodded. “Yeah, the southwest.”

Time sat up, and glanced at Sky. “And what was that?”

“Some giant three-headed dragon was inside. Hyrule said it reminded him of a Gleeok from his era, but it had one eye on each head and had glowing yellow necks and manes, and lightning on their heads. Also looked more intimidating than his own, from what he told me,” Sky answered, shrugging slightly. “I’ve never heard of Gleeoks. Hyrule said Legend had mentioned one in his era once or twice.”

The eldest Link narrowed his eye, making his “thinking face,” as they called it. He snapped his fingers, looking back up at the three of them, who’d turned to look at him. “Wind has mentioned a Gleeok before. His second adventure, if I remember correctly.”

“Really? Hm. Well…then we’ve got three experienced ones, only one of which is present. These Gleeoks, along with other new monsters came from the Depths, so perhaps we will be able to find information on them.” Four tapped his pencil against his translation book. 

Before they could say anything else, Purah hopped down the stairs, her shoes clacking loudly as she descended. Josha followed, grinning, behind her. “Aaand I’m here! Josha and I, unsurprisingly, managed to uncover what the words Twilight found say!” She cleared her throat. “‘Heroes from Above, hear mine plea. Duel the Conquer Worm of Snow, and thee shalt learn more of the path thee seek.’ So…seems there’s something up in the mountains.”

“And, I believe I have some information about that!” Josha grinned, brandishing a book. Flora perked up. “The Conquer Worm was a term used to describe a beast of the sand, called Molgera. It was sealed in a Wind Temple. Sound familiar? You all told us about Colgera, the scourge of the Wind Temple made by the Demon King! Now, Molgera was a beast of sand, not snow, but Molgera was a created monster, so I don’t see why it would matter too much.”

“So you believe the Demon King made it in the image of the ancient version of Molgera?” Flora hummed. “It seems plausible. The ancient Sage of Wind could send bursts of wind forward, but Colgera could create massive cyclones too. There’s a chance he took inspiration for his own creations. So it seems his Conquer Worm of Snow, a Snow Molgera-”

Sky snickered. “Snolgera.” Four snorted, and everyone else looked over at him in amusement. His ears went red. “Sorry, sorry, go on.”

Flora took a deep breath, her lips twitching into a smile shaking with hidden laughter. “A-anyway, it seems this Snow- Snolgera, even, was made in the image of the Sand Molgera from ancient times. Colgera may have been a specific type of Snolgera meant to cause the blizzard in Rito Village. Colgera was made of ice and sectioned off into three parts with purple cores, and had many eyes, two pincers, and bug-like legs. The Molgera of the past was more like a spined snake with the head of a manta ray and a mouth that opened horizontally. I have heard from legends that it was accompanied by smaller worms with small spines, multiple eyes, and a mouth that opened vertically, like a Hylian’s. So there is a chance that the Snolgera we’ve been informed of will look similar. Perhaps Colgera was just named that way because…. Oh, I’m not quite sure why Colgera looks so different compared to Molgera.”

“I know that the architecture on the Stormwind Ark looks quite a bit like the Rito architecture in Wind’s era. I know that Wind’s timeline is the only of the three to have Rito,” Time added, his face creased in thought. “So perhaps what Molgera really looked like was lost to time until someone managed to actually find something about it. I believe that Wind had fought Molgera in his first adventure.”

Four nodded. “Made a whole sea shanty about it, right?”

“Indeed he did.”

Sky smiled. “That’s our conductor.” He shook his head. “Anyway, I think Time might be right. I mean, there’s hardly anything about one another in our eras, so it’s not a stretch to assume that Molgera’s appearance was lost. Maybe not its name, but the appearance being forgotten makes sense.”

“So the Demon King probably heard of Molgera, and perhaps some old description of how it looked. Then, he created Colgera to stalk the Wind Temple and create the blizzard, and named it after Molgera,” Four concluded. “But will the Snow Molgera look like Molgera itself, or a snow variant of Colgera?”

“I guess we’ll have to find out?” Sky said. “But we’ll have to go to the Gorons first before any of that.”

“We’ll have to be careful.” Time’s tone changed to a far more serious one. “The Gorons are not in their right heads. We’ll have aid from those unafflicted. There’s a group of them that I’ve been communicating with for updates.”

Flora turned to Time, and Sky could see the concern written on her face. Right, she didn’t know much at all about the whole…uh, situation. “Unafflicted?” she asked.

Time simply nodded. “Yes. The Gorons uncovered an odd form of Rock Roast, and have been acting aggressive and addicted since. Yunobo is the leader of Yunobo Co., and has been rather demanding when it comes to operations. Some of the Gorons believe it has to do with that…that mask he wears.”

Purah cleared her throat. “I wouldn’t be surprised if the mask had something to do with the Demon King. Whether directly through the puppets’ manipulation or force, you’ll all have to figure it out.”

Time nodded again and looked at Flora. “I have ties with the Gorons who are still in their right minds. They’ve been utilizing and blocking the underground tunnels beneath and around Goron City. The other Gorons know that the tunnels are blocked, but not exactly why. I have a hidden way inside. We will use that. They do not like me, since I have been trying to stop them, but the others do. We will be safe.”

Flora looked uncertain, but nodded. “If anything,” Four added, “we can warp out of there. I don’t like it, but better to be safe than sorry.”

“Agreed. Now, should we get back to trying to translate this text Wortsworth found? We’re pretty close now, right?” Sky asked, cracking his back. 

— — —

Wild whistled in front of Twilight, who was trotting along behind him. Somewhere along the line, he’d switched forms. Hey, cut him some slack, there were a lot of annoying monsters in the field. They’d managed to find four pieces of four different armor sets. Wild seemed excited to find his stuff, but disappointed they were all spread out again. Oh well.

He’d been talking about them the whole time, plus some information about the other sets. He had the Fierce Deity boots, apparently, and the Barbarian Armor. Twilight found he wasn’t a huge fan of the Barbarian Armor. Made him anxious.

Warriors stepped up next to Twilight. He looked up at the Captain questioningly. “So, plan on changing back before we get to Lookout Landing again?”

Oh. Twilight hadn’t thought about that.

He shifted back. “Good idea, Cap’n.”

“Think they’ll have figured it out by the time we get back?” Twilight just tilted his head at him. Warriors sighed, saying, “the text.”

Twilight’s mouth formed an O. “Right. Forgot ‘bout that.” He hummed. “Prob’ly? I mean, Flora knows that stuff real good, ‘nd Four’s pretty good at language translating. Time and Sky? Well, I dunno. Prob’ly just there fer moral support, honestly.”

Warriors snickered, and nodded. “You’re likely right.” The Captain walked off to talk to Wild, and Hyrule was lazily wandering between them all. Being alone again shoved him back into his thoughts.

This whole situation was so odd. First the castle starts leaking gloom, then Wild, Flora, Wind, and Legend go beneath the castle, and suddenly chaos unfolds. The castle rises into the sky, ruins begin falling, and sky islands are revealed by the parting clouds. Months pass, and now Wild and Flora are back, one of them missing an arm. Well, using an arm that isn’t his. All of that, plus sightings of Wind and Legend coming from all around Hyrule, and disappearing randomly. Strange behavior.

It was all so…aggravating! It made Twilight want to claw at something. Anything, really. Of course, he wouldn’t consciously snap at any of the Chain, but it all just made him mad. He shook his head, clearing his thoughts again.

They’d all find a way to get those two back to them, and Twilight knew it. They stepped into the settlement, and he eased. It was always nice to be back in Lookout Landing. Sky met them outside.

“Oh, hi everyone! Welcome back! I’m heading back to Purah’s office, are you all coming?” he asked.

“Yes. We don’t have much to share, but I’m sure you all do,” Warriors agreed.

Sky led them to the office, where the others all were. They all waved.

Time looked all of them up and down. “I am glad all of you seem to be uninjured.”

Hyrule nodded, saying, “just a few scratches here and there.” He sat down. “Thankfully it was pretty easy to get all we got. A few fights, some black blooded, but nothing much.”

Sky’s brows furrowed. “Black blooded? We haven’t seen too many of those yet…” he hummed.

“Knock on wood,” Twilight said, completely out of habit. He would bet he looked sort of surprised with himself. He felt surprised with himself. 

Sky looked confused. “Huh?”

“It’s a, uh, term my village uses. It’s sorta like a ‘say it and you’ll make it happen’, but knockin’ on wood makes it invalid,” Twilight explained, his ears probably a bit red. Well, that was embarrassing.

Sky nodded, knocking three times on the wooden wall beside him. Time cleared his throat. “What did you all find? I heard that you found a Gleeok, but was there anything else of note?”

Wild grinned. “Weeeellll, I got some of my armor back! My Barbarian Armor and my Fierce Deity Boots!” Time coughed, but shook his head.

“Well, it’s good that you all are back with some of your missing armor. We’ve uncovered some important information regarding the ancient Zonai text,” the eldest continued.

Warriors smirked. “‘We?’ I should hope you helped.”

All Time did was give him an unamused look. “I’ve been writing letters to the Gorons since everything’s gone strange. Yes. Believe it or not, I can read sometimes.”

“Sometimes.”

“You made me more fluent in your Hylian than my own, Captain.”

Twilight put a hand up. “So what was it y’all found?”

Flora perked up, and grabbed her notebook. “Well, first off, we deciphered what you found! ‘Heroes from Above, hear mine plea. Duel the Conquer Worm of Snow, and thee shalt learn more of the path thee seek.’ We believe that it’s a type of Molgera, but suited for snow. We find it pretty interesting, since the Molgera was only ever known in the Era of Winds. That, and the Stormwind Ark features quite a bit of ancient Rito architecture and art patterns that could be dated back then. Of course, the Zonai made the ark for them, so it was sometime between that era and ours, but nonetheless, its similar patterns tie it back there!”

Warriors looked confused. “Molgera? That’s the name of one of Wind’s dungeon bosses, right?”

“Yep!” Purah agreed, popping the P on the word. “We think that the Demon King found records or something similar about Molgera, and made Colgera the main enemy, or dungeon boss, of the Stormwind Ark. Then, we think something might’ve appeared about its appearance, and the Demon King made another Snow Molgera, Snolgera if you will, to hide whatever there is to be learned. Or there’s a possibility that the Snolgera was already there as a test.”

Wild nodded followed by a small shrug. “Sometimes there’s tests for stuff. Like I had to get the Thunder Helm from the Yiga Hideout before Riju and I could chase Vah Naboris.”

“We were discussing going to deal with the Gorons, then seeing what we can find there,” Time explained. “I have a way to get around Goron City without getting thrown off the mountain.”

Twilight’s cub blinked. “Thrown off the mountain?? Why would they do that?!”

Time sighed. “I’d recommend you sit down.” Twilight’s group sat down, staring expectantly at Time. Of course, most of them knew part of the situation. Not the whole thing, but still a good part of it. Time cleared his throat. “I explained a small bit to Flora, but I believe you should all know the whole situation.”

Twilight stared at him. “The whole situation? Is there something you weren’t telling us?”

“It seems the situation is escalating.”

Everyone shared nervous glances.

“Why did it suddenly get worse?” Warriors whispered. He looked troubled.

Twilight cleared his throat. Under their gaze, he said, “could it’ve been b’cause we got one of the sages? Does that mean it’s gonna get worse every time?”

Four nodded. “Seems like it.”

Hyrule tapped his foot on the floor. “Wars and I got letters from the Zora. The sludge has gotten worse.”

“We can’t check with the Gerudo, b’cause of the storm,” Twilight admitted. He hoped they were all okay.

Sky hummed. “I might have an idea, but Time, what was it you wanted to tell us?”

“What did I want- Oh. Right, I apologize.” Time took a deep breath in. “The Gorons afflicted have grown more aggressive. As most of you know, the Gorons uncovered a type of Rock Roast. A strange type, to say the least. Since they’ve uncovered it, they’ve grown obsessed with it, and have been showing aggression. The new Rock Roast, Marbled Rock Roast, is far too hard to chew for the elder and young Gorons, and some of the Gorons in between have chosen not to eat it due to the…effects. It seems that after we defeated Colgera and freed Hebra from its blizzard, the Demon King strengthened his hold on the other three locations, as he didn’t have to hold all four any longer.”

Josha nodded rapidly. “It would certainly make sense! Since he only has to hold three places, he can put some more power into those three!”

“Then it looks like we need to make a plan for this, right?” Sky asked. “So, since Twilight and Four are the only two with the Gerudo, maybe they could go check on them and meet us at the stable by the volcano?”

The Hero of the Wild grabbed the Purah Pad off of his belt, swiping a bit until he apparently found what he was looking for. “You do realize how far those two places are from each other, right?” He turned the pad around to show the map. Or, well, the mostly empty map. He zoomed out and dragged his finger from the upper right to the lower left of the screen.

“I mean, if anythin’, y’all could get that Geoglyph up there and do some lookin’ around. Oh, and get that plan from Time. We just gotta check on ‘em.” Twilight shrugged. “Shouldn’t take too long if we plan it well?”

Hyrule shook his head. “I’m not so sure that’s a great idea. If things are getting stronger, then there’s a chance you two could get injured, and we wouldn’t be able to reach each other in time. Especially with the sandstorm in the desert. We’ll have no way of getting you out of there. As much as the situation is…worrying, I don’t know if we should risk that. Risk being separated. This whole thing isn’t what we’re used to facing with one another.”

The room went silent for a moment. Hyrule looked away.

A sigh came from one of the walls. Four. “As much as I agree, the sandstorm is the main reason we want to check on them. I’d rather not be separated, but none of you would be able to safely make it through the storm without equipment. You’d all just be waiting at the edge. Then all of you would just have to wait there until we got back.”

Warriors shook his head and put it in his hands. He took a deep breath, and sat back up. “It might just be all we can do right now. We’re unequipped to attempt to go with you both to the desert, and it would be a waste of time to sit at the edge for you to return. While I don’t like it, perhaps it would be best for you both to meet us at the base of Eldin.”

“There’s a stable just by the base of the mountain. Don’t worry, it’s hard to miss. It splits the path between Death Mountain and the Korok Forest,” Flora explained. “Do you both have a map?”

Twilight nodded. “Yeah, we all got one when we started reachin’ out to the other races.”

“Good, you might need it.” Wild tapped his foot against the floor a few times. “Try to steer away from any monster camps. There’s more black blooded monsters than before, and the Demon King is bumping up his abilities.”

Time stood. “Perhaps we should visit the Rito again. Their bridge is still broken, so there may be a way for us to help rebuild it.”

“Oh! Karson’s been looking for work! Let’s bring him with us!” Wild said.

“And how exactly are we going to do that without putting three people on a horse?” Wars asked.

Wild paused. Then his face lit up. “I have a towing harness in my slate! I can attach it to my horse’s bridle, and then I can attach a cart to it! I know there’s one outside of Lookout Landing.”

—

Time watched Wild coax Karson into the…well, rickety cart he’d attached to the back of one of his horses. Though, Time had to admit that he didn’t quite like Phantom, as he was named. A rather massive horse, with black fur and a bright orange mane. Of course, it couldn’t be Ganondorf’s horse, but it really could be. It looked alarmingly similar, minus the armor of course, and it was about as big as it was during his adventure.

Of all the horses.

Apparently that one was the most likely to be better about pulling the cart, since it was his strongest horse. Especially since they’d packed wood and tools into it. Still. Time had thoughts.

He shook his head and walked over to Twilight and Four, his armor clinking to alert the two other heroes. Twilight looked up at him, and Four continued to assess the map. “Time? Is everything okay?” his pup asked.

Time nodded. “Yes, I just wanted to check up on you both. Do you have everything you believe you’ll need? Food, water, protection against the sandstorm?”

“Yeah,” Four answered without looking up. “We’ve got everything we used to bring, and more now.”

“Good.” Time glanced at the sky. “It’s still midday, so you both should be able to make it to Outskirt Stable before sundown.” He paused. “If you hear anything about Legend and Wind like we did at Wetland Stable, don’t go. Try to collect information, but don’t handle it yourselves. If they are puppets of Ganondorf, then they may attempt to attack you.”

“Not plannin’ on it, don’t worry, Time.” Twilight grinned at him. “We’ll check in on the Gerudo, and make our way over to y’all in Eldin. Shouldn’t take all that long if everything goes as planned.”

Four hummed. “Honestly, even if we get caught up by monsters or the storm, we’ll probably just be a few hours to a day behind.”

“I’m glad to hear it. Say goodbye to the others and head out, and you should be able to make it with some time to spare. Do you have Rupees?” Time asked. Four gave a thumbs up. “Good.” The three of them walked back to the group, and Time patted the two of them on the back.

“Heading out already?” Wild asked, frowning.

“Sorry, Cub. We want to make sure we make it to the stable in time, and get a head start,” Twilight explained.

— — —

Once they all said their goodbyes, Twilight and Four took off southwest. And now it was time to go to Rito Village again!