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Chapter Text

And that, my idiotic ladies and gentlemen, is how my beloved landlord was taken from me... ABSCONDED!!!

*Dramatic betrayal face*

What will past me do in the wake of such a tragedy you ask?

...Do some laundry. A bit of mending. Feed Sheerow. Check the lock on one of the cursed item chests. Ya know, important stuff.

What? Don't give me that look! I was out of socks! Which is also why I was mending, so that I'd have more socks! And I had to feed Sheerow, he's the leader of the household! And if the lock on that chest had broken, well... we'd ALL be dead, so you should be grateful I was able to muddle through my distress at losing Mr Hero, again, to keep everyone from becoming deaded.

*Sigh*

The amount of disrespect I face. Can't Zel make a decree or something?

...Ya know, that's not a bad idea–

FOCUS!

By this point in the tale of idiots, idiots, and a couple more idiots, you've met a solid third-ish of the main cast. Go you! Things are just now getting going, though, so keep your socks close, hold them tight, don't ever, ever let them go. You think I'm joking, but have you ever been without good socks? Nightmare fuel...

Anyways, I wanted to conduct a sort of experiment, if you'll do me the pleasure. Those of you who are utter idiots, should really hopefully have noticed, that each time one of our favorite Link hero types was introduced to us, one of the other Link hero types gave you idiotic readers a nice detailed description of them. Those of you who are only slight idiots, will have noticed that there was one of our beloved Link hero types who was never described.

THE TRAGEDY!!! *Dramatic lean and hand across forehead*

That, ladies and gents, is what I am going to give you now for your reading pleasure. The absolute idiots –which is far worse than being utter idiots, in case you were wondering– will have to go back and figure out which of our Link hero types this belongs to. The rest of you other degrees of idiots, will do no such foolish thing, and know exactly who I am talking about. Don't worry, I'll try and be as non descriptive as possible in my description so that we can root out the dumblings!

*Cough* *Cough*

He had thick short sandy blond hair, a soft, kind face, a stocky but muscular build, was an average height, and had bright blue eyes. He wore a cream long sleeve front lace up shirt with a small collar and blue embroidery, a light tan long sleeve over shirt with blue embroidery, and darker tan pants. He also wore dark brown leather boots, a chainmail tunic, green over tunic, a red and white sash held by a dark brown leather belt, elbow to hand fingerless leather gauntlets, and a piece of cloth worn as a cape held by a blue sapphire clasp around his neck.

*Happy sigh*

Justice has been served, and the dumblings have been found.

I hope you have fun in the next part! Nothing bad will happen, I promise. Hand on heart!

Well... I guess that might depend on what your preferred definition of "bad" is. Hm... oh well, toodly woodles! Auf Wiedersehen! Adios por ahora! Au revoir pour l'instant! Farvel for nu! Hyvästi toistaiseksi! Veloma aloha! ಇತ್ತೆಗ್ ಗುಡ್ ಬೈ! Амдыызында байырлыг! זייַ געזונט פֿאַר איצט! હમણાં માટે ગુડબાય! ߊ߲ ߣߌ߫ ߞߐ߫ ߛߌߛߍ߲߬! ⴰⵔ ⵜⵓⴼⴰⵜ ⵜⵓⵔⴰ!

...Your welcome :)

Chapter Text

One more quest.

One more quest was what Link said after he defeated Onox, and heard Twinrova's laughter, telling him that the true evil had yet to arrive. One more quest was what Link told himself when he woke up from his nap after faceplanting into the Sanctuary wall thanks to Yuga. One more quest was what Link proclaimed to Hylia when he saw King Tuft's sign asking for heroes to assemble.

One more quest... was supposed to be four quests ago.

Because ever since the first "One more quest", Link had officially retired... four times.

Link was done adventuring. He was done being dragged into world ending peril, after world ending peril, just because somebody new wanted to resurrect Big Bad G.

And if this new quest turned out to be another plot to resurrect Big Bad G, Link swore to f***ing Hylia he would find a way into wherever the f*** that pig's soul was kept and murder it for good. At this rate it would save him about seven to eight quests per decade, which would greatly help in his accumulation and organization of items.

For the moment though –as he floated through a dark nothingness on the way to hopefully a hot spring– Link took the time to create his plan for how he would approach this new quest. Which was really his plan for until the quest promptly took said plan and threw it out the window. If he was able to hold onto his plan for more than the first twenty four hours of the quest, he was surely guaranteed a smooth and straightforward journey.

He had never held onto his original plan for a quest for over twenty four hours. Not even close...

But it gave his mind something to think about other than the fact that he was on another quest. It let him think about how he was going to finish the quest, and get back to his retirement as soon as possible. It gave his rage at Hylia a temporary target rang to shoot at.

So, for this latest quest, he'll keep things simple and to the point. He'll get the information necessary, get a cool but probably cursed item to toss with the rest when he gets home, save whoever needs saving, probably kill Big Bad G for the fifth time, and find some nice exotic tea for Ravi to add to his collection.

...Pretty normal weekend to be honest.

He already knows the gimmick for this quest –which is very helpful– but what's not helpful... is the gimmick...

People.

Why did it have to be f***ing people.

Link could count on half of one hand how many people's company he genuinely enjoyed. Last he checked, none of those were the eight idiots about to make everything ten times harder by just existing. And that wasn't counting the four nightmares from his childhood smushed into a collective body... for now...

Hylia better have a bit of free time when he eventually kicks the bucket on one of these Goddess forsaken quests, because Link has a few choice words saved up for her. It was one of his favorite pass times during any part of a quest, to imagine every single thing he would like to say to that f***ing Goddess.

Today, he'd probably start with... YOU *****************************************************************!

That would cover today pretty accurately.

*****

Link stepped out of the portal and dropped a few feet to the ground, landing lightly. He immediately traveled a good ten paces away from the portal –as he was not going to be caught in a pile up– while he also inspected his new surroundings.

He was in a birch forest, with songbirds singing to each other from the trees, and bees buzzing nearby. There were no immediate threats, but that was about to change right... yep.

The middle aged man in full armor with odd facial tattoos and giant sword dropped out of the portal, and moved hastily out of the portal's drop zone. Smart. A minute later all eight of the ragtag men and boys were standing in the forest, and the portal vanished behind them, which was when their attention collectively landed on Link.

Good. Made his job easier.

The knight was stupid enough to speak first, "So–"

"Let me stop you right there, Pretty-boy," began Link, eliciting the most beautiful enraged look from the man. "There are exactly two ways which this arrangement can go. One, you tell me everything that you know that might possibly be of interest to this quest, and then stay the hell out of my way. Or two, you make everyone's lives more miserable by thinking that you're competent enough to be of use, and I ditch you in the back alleyway of the nearest settlement, and that's if I'm in a good mood. Hint, as of you knocking on my front door, my mood's been less than preferable for dealing with arrogant twats, so I'd recommend choosing option one."

The knight stared at him like he couldn't believe a single word that just came out of Link's mouth, and subsequently wanted to berate Link with every military lecture he could think of, at the same time.

Link stared straight back at him, holding his gaze, waiting for the man to make a move.

The middle aged man with the armor saved the knight from furtherly embarrassing himself, by responding to Link in a low, calm voice, "I believe we'll be choosing option three. Even if you did treat us to option two, we would simply be brought through to the same place as you by the next portal. We are also not the mere travelers that you have assumed us to be. I have witnessed each of these boys perform feats of skill greater than any of the average hylian. It would be unwise to think of us as less than."

Link scoffed, "Old Man, I know exactly who you all are. One look with the information that the kid explained before we all hopped in a hole through time and space, tells me that my earlier assumption is in fact correct, and you continue to prove it by the minute. So, again, option one, or option two? Normally I'd say I don't have all day, but on a time travel quest I really do, so... whenever you feel like it."

The older man's face stayed completely blank, but Link knew that he was contemplating things, sizing him up. The rest of the Links were standing in an unsure clump around him, mostly just observing and having their own thoughts about the situation, except for the short colorful nightmare, and the one with the shiny new Master Sword. Those two were bent double, apparently suffering from some post portal after effects. Must such to be them. One of the other boys, though, stood out to Link from the rest.

He was a young teen, and thin, but not the normal teen thin, emaciated thin. His loose threadbare, hole filled green tunic and leather bracers hid the worst of it, but Link knew that type of look. The look that a boy gets from pushing his body to physical extremes, without enough food, or sometimes any food to nourish it. The bloodshot eyes and dark bags from night after night of not just staying awake, but staying awake in fear. And the way that the kid twitched at the slightest sound from the forest around them, and shied away from the other Links... Link knew what did that to a boy, because that had been him. During multiple points throughout his quests, but especially during his first. He knew what it was like to be hunted...

Link would never have not been able to single that boy out from the rest, but on top of everything else making him stand out, he was staring directly at Link in a sort of awed trance. The same way that some people react when they learn that Link is the famous hero, only this boy had scaled it by a few times.

"I have a proposal for you," said the older man, bringing Link back to the issue at hand. "For the foreseeable future of this quest, we are all stuck with each other. In exchange for our knowledge of this quest, you give us a chance to prove ourselves to you."

Link sighed internally. He already hated this gimmick just as much as he thought he would.

"How long do I have to give you before you'll concede that I was right?" asked Link.

The man thought for a minute, "Three days."

"Three days?!" exclaimed one of the other Links, the young boy in a light blue tunic with a makeshift sling holding his left arm. "How're we supposed to prove ourselves in three days? That's no time at all!"

"You'd be surprised what can happen in three days, Sailor," said the older man softly.

"Do you accept... Legend?" asked the man with the wolf pelt and a definitely southern accent.

F***, it was starting to work, if only slightly. One stupid tick removed from the farm boy, he paid the tiniest bit of attention to what was said five minutes ago.

"...Alright, you've got yourself a deal, Old Man. Like I said, on a time travel quest I've got time to spare. Three days wasted won't set me back too much," pronounced Link.

The older man nodded once, then said, "It's nice to meet you, Legend. My nickname's Time. These are the heroes of Twilight, Wild, Four, Wind, Hyrule, Sky, and Warriors." He gestured to each of them as he said their name.

Hyrule. That was the boy's title–

STOP.

Do not get attached. You're ditching these guys after three days, remember? Getting attached never ends well... never.

...He flinched when Time said "Heroes"...

FOCUS.

Get the information that they have and use the three days to make a plan. Then leave them somewhere safe, and get the job done. Then go home...

Link –now Legend he supposed– firmly shoved thoughts of Hyrule away, covering his face in a familiar calm and cool mask of unfeeling as he asked, "So, what's the plan, Old Man?"

Time didn't hesitate, "We scout the area. Captain, you go south with Wind and Four. Twilight, you and Wild take north. Sky, you and Legend will go west, and I'll head east with Hyrule." He glanced around at everyone. "Any objections?"

"...Well," began Twilight. "I'm not saying that we shouldn't scout, but if you're just wanting a direction to go, there's a pretty big river that way." He nodded over his shoulder.

Legend was glad to see that the rest of the Links were just as confused as he was at Twilight's statement. There was no indication of there being a river anywhere near them. They were completely surrounded by birch forest for as far as the eye could see.

"How in the love of Nayru do you know that there's a river that way, Rancher?" questioned Warriors, acknowledging the stupid thing that they were all thinking.

"Uh, you don't hear it?" asked Twilight.

"Hear what, Twilight?" puzzled Four, his eyes turning purple.

Yep... definitely the same guy... But he was combined somehow, with the four colors inside of him?

"The river. It's pretty loud if you pay attention," responded Twilight.

The group collectively fell into silence to listen.

...Birds. Bees. Leaves blowing in the wind. What might be a squirrel a little ways away. Something rustling the nearby leaves of a bush. Nine idiots listening to the basic sounds of a forest, none of which included a f***ing river.

"I don't hear anything," stated Wind.

"Me either," said Four.

"Did you take a hit to the head in that battle we didn't see, Rancher?" asked Warriors.

Wind giggled, "Maybe I followed through on walloping him in the back of the head without realizing. He kept getting in the way, and it would have been so easy t–"

"That's enough," said Time seriously. He turned to Twilight. "You're sure that there's a river in that direction?"

Twilight nodded.

"Lead the way," prompted Time, and once Twilight had turned his back, he shot a quick look of disapproval in Wind and Warriors' direction.

The group followed wordlessly behind Twilight, who began leading them through the forest, most of them –including Legend– not bothering to hide how they still thought that this was a complete fool's errand. None of them seemed to want to speak up and oppose Time, though, and Legend had agreed to go along with them and their idiocy for the next three days, and didn't really care what it was spent doing, so long as he got the information that he wanted from them.

Legend followed at the back, a few paces behind the rest of them, and surveyed the groupings as they walked. Twilight was in front, leading, with Wild stoutly by his side. Time was a few paces behind them, and Hyrule hovered timidly off to the side. Next came Four and Sky, and at the back –before Legend– were Warriors and Wind, occasionally whispering with each other about how there was no river, and that they should check Twilight's head, only to be silenced by a look from Time.

Legend was very inclined to agree with them, but years of adventuring had taught him to expect the unexpected, and believe in the impossible, so he kept his judgement at an even: it's not improbable, but it's also not probable.

If Twilight's river really was real, Legend was going to have a lot more questions to ask. But if these really were other heroes of courage, with any similarities to him, he wouldn't be getting any real answers anytime soon.

What could be enhancing Twilight's hearing? There wasn't any enchantment that Legend had ever heard of that could do that... and Twilight was emanating barely any magic, especially in comparison to the rest of them. He definitely could just be crazy. Crazy was never out of the question for someone who claimed to be a–

...Was that? No. Probably just the wind. Anyways–

"Does anyone else hear that?" asked Sky.

"I was trying not to," muttered Warriors.

"I thought I was imagining it," whispered Wind.

"Finally," said Twilight. "That's what I've been hearing this whole time."

Time turned back to Wind and Warriors, fixing them with a one eyed stare.

"I'll believe it when I see it, though," pronounced Warriors.

"Yeah," said Wind quickly.

Time turned back around, and Twilight shrugged, leading them on.

The sound of fast running water only grew in volume and clarity as they went on, and Wind and Warriors chose to stay decidedly quiet.

A little while later, they stepped out of the birch trees and onto the bank of a large fast running river, with various sized rocks imbedded in its sides. Time once again turned to face Wind and Warriors, who were staring blankly at the river.

"...Sorry for doubting you, Twilight," said Warriors glumly.

"Yeah," echoed Wind. "Sorry, Twilight."

"That's okay," assured Twilight.

Time made a small *ahem* sound.

"And... sorry for calling you crazy," continued Warriors.

"And not taking you seriously," added Wind.

Time nodded and turned away as Twilight said, "Thanks, I know you were just joking."

They both nodded quickly, glancing at Time's back.

Suddenly, there was a large splash in the river, and the Link's attentions all snapped to Wild. He had jumped straight into the fast running water, but that wasn't what everyone was staring at. When he'd gone under the water and resurfaced, his hood had fallen back onto his shoulders, revealing his face –which until now– had been almost completely hidden the entire time.

To the entire group's credit, not a single one of them gasped.

Legend was used to scars. He had seen his share of grotesque scar tissue after burns, stabbings, bite marks, claw marks, and a few others he'd like to forget... But Wild's scarring? It was unlike anything he'd ever seen.

The entire left side of his face was covered in deep burn scars streaking across his skin. Winding and twisting to create depth, before spreading out in tendrils and harsh lines across his face and neck, with more disappearing below his collar. The left half of his face was a patchwork of mutilated skin and muscle. That half of his face was almost completely limp, including the corner of his mouth, which moved less, and differently than it should have. His long blonde hair tied back in a loose pony tail covered the top of his left ear, but if Legend hadn't seen the ear still present and attached, he would have thought it surely gone. Many of the scars traced back to the area around it, and deepened the closer they got. The ear itself –the part that Legend could see– appeared to be almost ground zero for one of the many explosions that would have given Wild these burn scars.

How he had even survived long enough to drink a potion, or release a fairy, Legend had no idea, because judging by the severity and extent of the scars, he should have died almost –if not– on impact with whatever bombs or lasers could do that kind on damage.

But he wasn't dead. He was staring up at them all, grinning widely from the middle of the river, soaked from head to toe. His smile was slightly misshapen from the left corner of his mouth not functioning like the rest, but if anything, it made the rest of his smile look even brighter. But as the seconds of silent staring stretched on, Legend saw the moment Wild realized what they were looking at.

It started in his eyes. Their pure shining happiness and exhilaration from the water dimmed, and a moment later his face began to drop. His smile faded, the warmth and joy gone, and in a matter of seconds, Wild was now staring back at them all in fear.

Legend didn't know what to do. The situation was devolving before his eyes, and he didn't know how to fix it. He should've said something, should've bridged the growing chasm between the eight Links standing on the bank of the river, and the scarred teen fighting against its current. But he couldn't. No words would come. And none came to the rest of the Links either. None that they shared at least. But thankfully, none were needed.

A second large splash broke the constricting silence, and Legend quickly blinked past the sprayed droplets of water, to see Wind bobbing beside Wild. The scarred teen blinked at the younger boy, and Legend waited for the sailor to say any of the words that still illuded him and the other Links, but the sailor didn't even need words to bridge the divide.

One moment he was smiling innocently at Wild, the next he had thrown a handful of water into his face.

Wild jerked back from the water hitting his face –taken by surprise– and when he refocused on Wind, the sailor was grinning at him deviously, failing to suppress a giggle, as he held his hands ready to deliver another splash. To anyone watching, the message was clear. Wind was offering a challenge.

Wild's face went from confusion, to recognition, to excitement, and finally, to glee. He sent a large splash towards Wind, and the sailor took it full force to the face, before returning fire with one of his own.

A bit of tension eased out of Legend's shoulders as the two became locked in battle, squealing and giggling as they navigated the deep and fairly fast current of the river, while firing off shots at each other and trying not to get hit. The rest of the Links were relaxing too, and Legend heard Twilight say a small prayer of thanks to the Goddesses. A quick discussion took place between Warriors and Time, during which the Captain picked up Wind's discarded sling from the ground, and at Time's advise didn't force the sailor out of the water to put it back on. Then the Captain called to the battling teens, "Come on, you two, you can fight on the way. We're going to follow the river further downstream to try and find a place to camp. If you can't keep up, though, you'll be stuck walking high and dry with the rest of us."

The only response Warriors got from the two teens was a cackle from Wind as one of his splashes nailed Wild in the face.

The remaining seven Links set out along the riverbank, Time and Warriors in front with the rest trailing behind them, and Legend still decidedly at the rear. He wasn't sure if Wind and Wild would be able to continue their game with the added rule of having to keep up with the group, but whenever he glanced over at the river, the two were still alongside them.

After a good half an hour of walking, Legend started to hear a new sound over that of the river and still battling teens. A waterfall.

Sure enough, the distinctive drop off of a cliff came into view, and then Warriors was calling, "Wind, Wild, there's a large waterfall up ahead. Let's get you both out and dried off."

The two teens made no move to exit the water, and Legend wasn't even sure Wild had heard what the Captain said, as he had dropped beneath the water's surface to dodge one of Wind's splashes.

"Wind, Wild," called the Captain, his tone and volume rising. "Get out now before you're carried over the edge."

Legend scoffed, "They're Links, idiot. In my experience we get thrown off of waterfalls just to take a bath."

"In your experience, huh," retorted Warriors, his worry still increasing. "Why's that? Because you're too good to take a bath like a normal person?"

"Nah," replied Legend, as the Captain's panic continued to grow. "Normally don't have time for it, and going over a waterfall's much more exciting."

"Exciting?!" said the Captain, still failing to get Wind and Wild to even acknowledge him.

"Very," replied Legend, which was when he realized he was grinning, and promptly reset his face to bored. "They'll be fine."

"They will not be fine if there's rocks at the bottom!" exclaimed the Captain.

"B**** please," remarked Legend. "Were you raised in a barracks? A river this size doesn't empty into a shallow pool. I doubt they'll get within five feet of the bottom."

"Language," muttered Time, which Legend pointedly ignored.

"You're sure?!" said Warriors, rounding on Legend.

Legend shrugged, his expression still bored, "Fairly."

"WIND! WILD! GET OUT OF THERE, NOW!" yelled the Captain in panic, running to the river's edge.

Wind shrieked as one of Wild's splashes hit him, and between giggles he called back, "Stop worrying, Captain! It's going to be the climax of the battle! You don't want to get out, do you, Wild?"

In response, Wild shot a powerful splash at Wind, and held up a thumbs up in Warriors' general direction.

"See," said Legend. "They're fine."

"Is no one else going to do anything about this?!" asked Warriors to the group at large.

"I'm actually with Legend," answered Twilight. "I've been over my fair share of waterfalls and I don't think they'll be hurt."

Everyone else nodded, although some still looked slightly concerned, so Warriors turned to Time, "And you?!"

Time hesitated, then said, "They're free to make they're own choice. I agree that it should be plenty deep enough, so they shouldn't be in any danger. Four and Sky can also jump and land safely if anything were to go wrong."

"See?" replied Legend.

"...All right, but you two be ready to jump if something happens," pronounced Warriors, gesturing at Four and Sky.

"Of course," agreed Sky.

"It's not gonna be necessary," muttered Four quietly.

"They're about to go," called Twilight.

Wind and Wild had almost made it to the drop, and Wild –who was further downstream than Wind– began picking up speed in the water. Warriors rushed to the edge of the cliff, and the other Links followed. When Wild reached the edge, there wasn't an ounce of fear in him, only joy. As he flew out into space and began plummeting through the air, his smile was brighter than the sun.

The Links watched in silence as he dropped through the air, landing in the water –some 200 feet below– and creating a large splash. About half a minute later they saw a blonde head of hair resurface, and start swimming for the shore. Then Wind dropped off the edge, the young teen seeming to hover in mid air for a moment, where he saluted them, before plummeting down to join Wild.

When both Wind and Wild had made it safely to the shore below, Time asked the remaining Links, "If anyone else wants to take that route down, go ahead. Everyone else can join me in walking."

"I think I'll take the drop," replied Twilight, and went to the edge of the river a little ways before the waterfall.

"Me too," said Sky, and joined Twilight at the edge.

"...Anyone else?" asked Time. No one else stepped forward.

"What's the matter, Mr Adventuring Expert," said Warriors. "I thought you fell off waterfalls to achieve basic hygiene?"

"Oh, I'm sorry for not living up to your standards, not all of us have the time for two hours of pampering each morning," retorted Legend

"Really? I'm not the one covered in fifty pieces of jewelry who won't get wet after claiming it was your hobby," replied Warriors.

"I don't see you stepping up to the plate, Pretty-boy."

"A Captain stays with his men, and doesn't ditch them in alleyways. I'm not at all scared of taking a dip, unlike some it see–"

"I AM NOT SCARED, YOU F***ING–"

"Enough," pronounced Time. "This isn't some contest. You can both walk down like civilized adults. Let's get moving."

Legend watched jealously as Twilight and Sky swam to the center of the river, before letting it carry them over the edge. He really hated cursed items. He would have jumped over that waterfall in a heartbeat to shut the obnoxious Captain up, if, it wouldn't result in him having to grow a pink tail, which he knew the Captain would be more than happy to share his opinion on once he f***ing strolled down. Walking down like a loser was going to suck, but he didn't care quite enough to waste magic on jumping down to dry land. He'd learned the hard way not to waste magic on pure convenience and luxury during a quest, especially the beginning of one. So walking down like a loser it was...

By the time they made it down, Twilight, Wild, Sky, and Wind were all back in the water –a large lake at the base of the waterfall– laughing uproariously at something Wind had said, and playing what looked to be tag. Their bags and weapons were set aside on the shore, along with most of their outer layers.

"Any objective for the rest of the day?" asked Warriors to Time.

"No, not unless something comes up. Go have fun."

Warriors hesitated, and Four –who was already taking off outer layers– asked, "Something the matter, Captain?"

"No. Well... it's just... I don't want my clothes to get soaked," replied Warriors sheepishly.

"Ah, so the pompous Captain doesn't want to get a little wet?" snarked Legend. He could tell that Warriors was fighting to not respond.

"Oh," said Four. "Sky's got an item that dries you off in seconds. You could go fully clothed if you want and be dry the minute you get out."

A minute later Warriors' chainmail, tunic, and scarf were folded carefully next to his bag, and he and Four were running to join the others in the water. Time took off his armor, and for a minute Legend thought he was going to swim too, but he instead chose a tree and sat down against it, using it as a back rest. He then pulled out a small book of paper and a couple pieces of charcoal, which he used to start sketching something on one of the pages.

Legend sighed, and chose his own tree a good ways away from Time and the other Link's things. It gave him a nice bit of shade, and a good view of the area. None of the other Links would be able to approach without him seeing them well before they became threats.

Legend dug through his pouch for a bit, and pulled out an old knife and sharpening stone. It was a knife that he'd been lucky enough to find on his first quest, and it had been of great use to him throughout the years. He hadn't used it on his last two quests for fear of it breaking –as it was very old and well used– so he'd brought it to repair and refurbish on this quest.

He hadn't been sharpening for long, when his eyes caught someone not so subtly approaching him and his tree.

Hyrule.

The small teen had been hovering uncertainly around the makeshift camp the others had made, but he was now crossing timidly towards Legend. He kept badly pretending to become interested in random things instead of Legend. A rock in the dirt. The unopened bud of a flower. Eventually, when he was about fifteen feet away from Legend, but didn't seem to have the courage to get closer, Legend called, "Kid, you're the worst actor I've ever seen. If you want to talk to me just come over and f***ing say so."

Hyrule blushed, and walked shily up to where Legend was sitting. After a minute of him standing there awkwardly, Legend sighed, saying, "Are you gonna sit?"

Hyrule dropped to the ground like a stone, and kept looking at Legend. Not just his face, though, his tunic, his sword, his shield, his pouch, his boots, his hair, his hands, the knife he was sharpening. He studied every inch of Legend that he could see, while repeatedly glancing away whenever he thought Legend had caught him staring.

"Spit it out, Kid," said Legend finally.

"...Um... are... are you really the Hero of Legend?" asked Hyrule quietly.

Legend laughed drily, "Nice joke, Kid. You really got me." He went back to sharpening his knife.

Hyrule stared at the dirt in front of him, his face red.

After a minute, Legend realized he'd been a little harsh, "That wasn't a joke, was it?"

"...No."

"Well, you should get better at your delivery," replied Legend absently.

"...Are you really the Hero of Legend?" asked Hyrule more confidently.

"Yes."

"..."

"That's it? That's all you had to say?" continued Legend.

"...Did you really kill Ganon three times?" blurted Hyrule.

"Four. History tends to get a little muddy when things happen in another realm," answered Legend plainly.

"Four times?!" whispered Hyrule to himself.

"You a fan or something? The tunic's a pretty good knockoff, and I'd like to know how you knew the exact sword to have someone recreate," said Legend, still sharpening his knife.

"I traded for the tunic off of a guy selling them in a village. Claimed that they were authentic replicas of the tunic that the Hero of Legend wore. And the sword... I got the sword from an old man living under a graveyard," explained Hyrule.

"...Huh. Fair enough."

"That's it? You don't even question it when I say an old man living under a graveyard gave me a magic sword?" questioned Hyrule.

"Rule Eight of Adventuring: Never question cryptic old men. Nine times out of ten they end up having something useful for you," answered Legend simply.

"What are the first seven rules?" asked Hyrule wide eyed.

"Trade secrets."

"Oh..." said Hyrule dejectedly.

"That it?"

"If... If you're the Hero of Legend, then why were you so angry when we showed up with another quest? questioned Hyrule.

"Because I'm f***ing retired."

"Then why–"

"Because Hylia doesn't care whether you want anything more to do with her f***ing quests or not. To her, retirement's for quitters. If you're ever considering it, the answer is don't. All it does is make the already exhausting heroic jobs that people will never stop giving you ten times more infuriating. Not to mention the all out quests themselves."

"Oh..."

"Anything else?"

"...Did you really wish upon the triforce at the end of two of your quests?"

"How the hell do you know that," snapped Legend, finally giving the teen his full attention.

"Z–Zelda told me," stammered Hyrule, flinching back from Legend's glare.

"A Zelda told you? And how exactly would your Zelda know the fine details of my quests, and then tell them to you for your entertainment pleasure?" questioned Legend.

"B–because she's– I'm– she's the descendent of your Zelda, and I'm your successor."

Legend froze.

Hyrule, the shy, socially awkward, terrified, emaciated teen, was Legend's successor?! Had everything he'd done been for nothing? Had the past seven years of his life not been enough to set the land of Hyrule on a course to give the next generations better lives? People were living under graveyards... Hyrule looked like he hadn't been apart of a form of civilization... ever. Somehow... Legend felt responsible. It was his job, after all. To bring peace to the land of Hyrule, and obviously, he'd failed. Or, at least was going to fail. What had Hyrule lived through because he hadn't done enough to ensure the land's prosperity? Why had another too young, too innocent boy been forced to finish what the hero before him couldn't? Why had a kid been forced to finish what Legend couldn't?

Legend felt a small vice begin to wrap around his heart, breaking through his armor. It was a feeling he'd let himself feel too many times before, and wasn't one he allowed anymore. He could fight it if he wanted to, to keep it from rooting inside of him, and taking a piece of him with it when it was inevitably torn from him.

He knew it would be a losing battle.

He knew that once he took the first step, there was no going back. Against his mind, his experiences, and the burning, aching hole inside of him telling him to run, to flee to the safety of solitude, and a heart of ice, against all of it, he stood up, putting away his knife and sharpening stone. He looked down at Hyrule on the ground before him, so full of life, and warmth, and fight despite everything that the world had done to him.

Legend took a single deep breath, and extended his hand, saying, "Come on, Kid, let's see what you can do with that sword."

Hyrule's eyes shone, and he gave Legend the sweetest shy smile he'd ever seen, as he gingerly excepted his hand up.

One lesson. That was all it was. One lesson...

*****

"And that's when the tide of the battle turned. We broke free and started returning fire. BAM! BAM! Two shots hit, but they only seemed to anger it more, and before long it was back on the offensive. Tentacles were everywhere! You couldn't go five feet without almost getting crushed, or worse... snatched up to be eaten!"

*Yawn*

"Who was that? How're you yawning?! This is the best part!" exclaimed Wind.

"Don't look at me," said Twilight.

"Four?" questioned Wind.

"Wasn't me."

"It was Sky," said Legend flatly.

"Dude, not cool," signed Wild to Legend.

"Sorry," admitted Sky. "All that swimming wore me out. Don't mind me, Wind, keep going."

"Food's almost ready," called Warriors.

"Right, now where was I..." began Wind.

They were all sitting around a fire on the bank of the lake at the base of the waterfall, listening to Wind's dramatic stories while Warriors claimed to be working on cooking "Food". Legend had his doubts.

"Come and get it while it's hot," said Warriors.

"Captain, how is a guy meant to accurately tell a story if he's constantly interrupted?" asked Wind, although he was quick to get in line to be served.

"I'm sure you'll find a way, Sailor," said Twilight. "There's always after dinner."

Legend got in line at the back with Hyrule, and watched as Warriors ladled what was one of the most depressing looking "Foods" Legend had ever seen into his and Hyrule's bowls. It was probably best described as a pudding full of odd lumps. It tasted bland, stale, and stuck to the inside of your mouth and teeth. Two bites in Legend was looking for the closest place to dump it. He would more than prefer to go hungry for a night than eat the abomination plaguing his bowl.

"Uh, Wars... what is this?" asked Four, observing a bit of it in his spoon.

"Hardtack pudding," answered Warriors between mouthfuls.

A quick glance around the campfire showed that Warriors was the only one actually eating the stuff... besides Hyrule. F***, now Legend knew for certain just how bad Hyrule's starvation was. Bad. There was no other explanation for how the teen was shoveling down Warriors' "Hardtack pudding" without even the faintest sign of a grimace. Time was picking gingerly at the stuff, and Sky was eating small spoonfuls, managing to keep a fairly polite expression, but Legend could tell he was struggling. Twilight kept stirring the clumpy mush as if he expected it to improve with time, and all Wind seemed to be able to do was stare into his bowl in sad acceptance, but not actually eat it. Wild was staring into his bowl as if the contents of it were a crime against food –which they were.

When Hyrule finished his, Legend subtly passed him his bowl, and took Hyrule's empty one in return. Normally he would have never given such an excuse for food to someone he didn't plan on killing in the near future –to put them out of their misery– but in Hyrule's case any "Food" was better than nothing. Legend would slip him something better later, but hopefully this would at least fill his stomach, no matter how unpalatable it was.

A familiar –normally unwanted– feeling came across Legend. He was being watched. A quick glance across the fire showed Wild looking at him. When Wild saw that he had Legend's attention, he signed quickly, "I know that you can understand Fairy Sign, but can you speak it back?"

"Yeah, I can. Why?" signed Legend.

"If we go fast enough, nobody but Time and Hyrule should be able to understand us, even though I've been teaching everyone today."

"Okay, so?" questioned Legend. No one else was really paying attention to them, still trying to deal with the disgrace of a meal in front of them.

"Well... no one really seems to like Wars'... food. So, do you think he'd mind if I passed out something else?" signed Wild tentatively.

Legend raised an eyebrow, "Kid, if you've got something that's even half good, that's 50% better than what's making us all choose between the f***ing trenches of edible food, and starving ourselves until someone learns how to cook good enough for basic hylian needs."

"But... do you think it'd make him feel bad? He spent time cooking for us."

Legend made a show of looking at everyone around the fire, "Wild, no one cares if it makes the Captain f***ing feel bad, he just served us a crime against food. If you can somehow save this culinary disaster you will be regarded at a f***ing saint." Wild still looked unsure. "Kid, the bar couldn't be lower. If you give me something that genuinely tastes good, I will teach all of these stupid idiots how to understand and speak sign by the end of the week."

Wild's eyes widened, "You promise?"

"I swear on the name of the f***ing Goddess, Wild. Blow me away." signed Legend.

Wild blushed, "I don't have a whole lot on me, I've been meaning to restock for a few days now..."

"Wild, shut the f*** up and show me what you've got. Believe me, you can't do worse than what we already have."

"...Do you like mushrooms?"

"Yes?"

Wild hesitated, then pulled the strange rectangular device off of his hip and looked at it while he tapped it a few times. Then he stood up and hit the thing again, this time causing something to appear in his hand in a stream of bright blue lights. He handed the thing to Twilight –who stared at it in awe– before he began making his way around the fire, pressing his device at each person, and handing them what appeared in his hand. When he got to Legend, Legend held his hands out expectantly, and Wild gave him a wooden skewer with sauteed meat and mushrooms on it. When he sat back down in his spot again, no one was even considering wasting another thought on Warriors' "Hardtack pudding", they were all instead wolfing down Wild's meet and mushroom skewers, while he ate his own, grinning widely at how much they all seemed to like it.

"Wild!" exclaimed Wind in between bites. "What've you been doing all this time?!"

"This is really good, Wild," said Sky.

"Where did you learn to cook?" asked Four wide eyed.

"You've been holding out on us, Cub," proclaimed Twilight.

"It's very good, Wild," stated Time.

"Why didn't you say you could cook?!" questioned Warriors, his bowl of hardtack pudding completely forgotten.

Wild beamed around at all of them, but looked expectantly to Legend.

"Kid, incase it wasn't clear, you're never not cooking ever again," said Legend. Wild's smile only grew, so Legend turned to Hyrule, asking, "What d'you think, Hyrule? Has Wild earned the title of group cook?"

Hyrule nodded vigorously, not wanting to take the wooden skewer –that he was trying to get every last bit of food off of– out of his mouth to respond. Wild stood up again and started tapping on his device, repeating his path around the fire. Everyone held out their hands patiently, and a minute later they were all eating large slices of nut bread, praising Wild's culinary expertise for all they were worth.

The sun finished setting a short while later, and Time said, "Time for bed, everyone. I want you all well rested for whatever the morning brings. Thank you again for dinner, Wild, it was delicious."

Everyone started unpacking bedrolls and turning in for the night, which was when Legend realized that he was expected to sleep in this group, both him and his items unprotected. He started looking around quickly, looking for some sort of out, an excuse to stay awake, or sleep away from the group, but all he saw... was Hyrule.

The kid was stuffing a bundle of mismatched blankets and a pillow under a bush at the very edge of their camp, which Sky and Four had just given him. Legend suddenly felt like a stupid, sensitive child. If that kid could sleep in this group of strangers, using borrowed blankets and a pillow from the other heroes, then Legend could grow the f*** up and get over his trust issues.

But watching another young, scarred, terrified, emaciated teen in a green tunic with Legend's f***ing sword, burrow under a bush to sleep, that was like reopening a wound that had never come close to healing. Before he even realized what he was doing, Legend was walking over to Hyrule's bush.

"Hey, Kid," he said, and Hyrule looked up at him from the ground. "You sure you're gonna be warm enough with just those? It's kinda cold tonight."

"I'll be fine," replied Hyrule defensively.

"Like f*** you will," responded Legend, and reached into his pouch. He pulled out an old, worn bedroll, but didn't offer it to Hyrule, he just dropped it on the ground in front of him. "Take this. It's my old one that I never use. My current one's much nicer. And to be clear, this isn't a gift, it's on loan to you until I want it back. It's been taking up too much space in my bag." Hyrule stared wide eyed between the old worn bedroll on the ground, and Legend standing over him. "Take it and get under your bush before I change my mind," added Legend.

Hyrule picked it up reverently and crawled under his bush as Legend turned to leave.

Before you f***ing ask, Legend's bag was not bottomless. Definitely not...

Legend went back closer to the fire, but set up his bedroll away from the others. Some of the other Links were taking off their outer tunics and chainmail before settling in to sleep. F***ing idiots. Legend was breaking a whole host of his own rules by letting his guard down with these guys, but there was no way in hell he was ever going to take off his tunic. Do you know how many times that thing has saved Hylia from meeting him? Too f***ing many.

"Before everyone fully turns in," called Time to the group. "We need to set up a watch rotation. We can do three shifts now that there's so many of us, but I want to hear everyone's age. No exaggerations, and Wind, before you start, it's not because any of you aren't capable, many of you are simply children, and the last thing any of us want is your brains to not develop properly because you don't get enough sleep. Captain, would you start us, please?"

"Of course. I'm 23."

"21," said Twilight simply.

"15," replied Four.

"17," signed Wild.

"...16," came Hyrule's voice from under his bush.

"20," responded Sky.

"...14," grumbled Wind.

There was a pause of silence. "...Legend?" asked Time.

"You don't have to worry about me being at risk of brain damage based off of whatever f***ing number you choose, Old Man. I've already sustained as much as humanly possible," assured Legend.

Time sighed, "Legend, how old are you, please?"

"...18, but if you deem me f***ing too young I will–"

"Language. And you're not too young. My cutoff point is you have to be 18, the remaining four of you will be assigned other jobs as they arise," said Time. "Any volunteers from those eligible for tonight?"

"I can take first," responded Twilight.

Wild waved his hand in the air to get their attention, then signed, "Can I be allowed to take watches? I can't sleep most nights anyways, so it'd be silly to make someone else stay up. I'm right on the edge of your age rule, and it'd give me something to do."

Time thought for a minute, "Alright, Wild, which shift do you want?"

"Can I double with Twilight and then take the remaining two?"

"You can stay awake and alert for that long?" questioned Time.

Wild nodded surely.

"Okay, but if you ever start to get tired, wake the Captain and he'll take over for you. This is about protecting the group, not anyone's pride."

Wild gave him an excited thumbs up.

Legend sighed and climbed into his bedroll, leaving his bag under his shield directly beside him, along with his sword. He took the Cane of Byrna out of his bag and shoved it into his bedroll with him. So long as he was touching it, he could feed magic into it at a moment's notice to defend himself. Then he started the task of trying to fall asleep surrounded by eight armed strangers. Stupid f***ing gimmick. It didn't help that the first night of a quest was always the hardest...

He'd already broken his own deal for this quest. He'd told Time three days, but promised Wild he'd have the whole group understanding and speaking Fairy Sign by the end of the week. The two remaining days of his agreement were enough time to accomplish that... yeah not a chance. *Sigh* Whatever. He'd figure it out in the morning. Which was assuming he lived until the morning. Out of all the ways Hylia could have chosen for him to die, being murdered in his sleep by other supposed heroes of courage from across time was not one of the ways he'd betted on her picking. She did like her jokes, though...

He wondered what Ravio was doing... He wondered how far through time and space he was from Ravio, and everyone he knew back home. Ravio would send a letter to Zel tomorrow morning, informing her that he was gone on another quest. At least she wasn't involved in this one... What if Ravio had already sent that letter a millennia ago? Or no one Legend knew was going to be born for another century? He had no way of knowing, which was part of the reason why he hated time travel quests so much. If for some stupid reason he got stuck in a time that wasn't his own, no one would ever know what happened to him. All that would remain would be stories... legends of Hyrule's lost hero, passed down through generations, until people wondered if he even existed. Until people wondered... if he was even real. But now that he knew that it was all for nothing, that Hyrule would enter into a state of decline despite all of his efforts, was carrying on even worth it?

Yes.

He always kept going, no matter the odds, or the probability of death, or the physical toll, or the loss of those he wasn't good enough to save... He never stopped. Never gave up. At this point he wasn't even sure he was capable of stopping.

So no matter what new horrors Hylia threw at him, no matter what forces of evil and darkness corrupted the land, no matter what princess needed saving, no matter what sorcerous needed to be defeated, no matter what realm needed its light restored, and no matter what Ganon resurrection plot needed to be foiled, Link, the Hero of Legend, will get it f***ing done.

Chapter Text

"ZELDA!"

Legend was up in a flash, Cane of Byrna in one hand and his sword in the other. He whipped around searching for an enemy, hovering in a low crouch, ready to fight or run at a moment's notice. What he saw was a camp full of nine boys named Link, all wide awake and looking around in confusion and fear, save for one.

Sky.

He was lying on his back in his bedroll, flinching and jerking as he muttered incoherently. The scream must have come from him, which the others realized too, as Time and Warriors hastened out of their own bedrolls and to Sky's side. They tried to wake him, but he didn't react in the slightest, continuing to mumble and twitch.

"Wild, report," said Time quickly, as Warriors started quickly checking Sky for any injuries.

Wild was sitting at the edge of their camp wide eyed, staring at Sky in bewilderment and terror. He'd been on watch for the second two thirds of the night.

"I don't know what's wrong with him," signed Wild, his hands shaking slightly. "Everyone was sleeping fine, and then Sky started twitching. I thought he was just dreaming, but then he started mumbling and moving worse. I didn't know what to do, and was about to wake someone, but then he screamed..."

By this point Twilight and Four had lighten lanterns, chasing away some of the darkness of the night from their camp.

"Does anyone know how we could wake him?" called Warriors to the group, his military persona on full show.

"You don't," answered Legend plainly, drawing everyone's attention to him.

"What do you mean we don't?" responded Time seriously, as Sky continued to flinch and mumble.

"To put it simply for you, he's having a prophetic dream," stated Legend.

"How do you know?" asked Twilight.

"...Because I've been told what it was like when I had one," relented Legend, gaining various wide eyed stares.

"Do enlighten us, please," said Warriors, still trying to wake Sky.

Legend sighed, of course this happens on his first night with these people, "One night Ravio woke up to the sound of mumbled talking coming from my room. Me. He thought I was just talking in my sleep or something, but then I apparently screamed, so he came running into my room thinking that someone had broken into the house and was actively trying to murder me. Don't give me that look, it's a more common occurrence then it should be. When he got there, I was apparently acting about how Sky is now. Nothing he tried could wake me up, if anything he said it made me more agitated. So Captain, I wouldn't try that smelling salt if I were you, you have to just wait the dream out."

"What was your dream?" questioned Wind.

"None of your business," snapped Legend.

"How long should we expect to wait, Legend?" asked Time.

Legend shrugged, "No idea."

It thankfully wasn't long. A few minutes later of tense silence save for Sky's continued mumbling and twitching, he suddenly sat bolt upright, screaming, "NO!"

He looked around at them all wide eyed with terror, getting mostly mirrored expressions back. He was gasping for breath and shaking slightly, and accepted a bottle of water gratefully from Warriors. When he'd calmed down some, Time asked softly, "Sky, what did you see?"

Sky didn't question how Time knew that it was a prophetic dream, he just began speaking quietly, his voice shaking, "So much blood... So much pain... You were... all there at some point. Zelda... Zelda was scared. And then there was this... dark figure with red eyes. He'd overpowered Zelda... was gonna strike her with– sword... the blade– couldn't– too slow– too late–"

Sky dug the heels of his hands into his eyes, his face scrunched and contorting in fear, anger, and shame –if Legend was correct in his read. Sky's whole body shuddered, and his breathing worsened, getting even shorter and more irregular than it had been. Warriors began making slow circles with his hand on Sky's back, and after a minute, his breathing evened out a little, and he let his hands fall slowly from his face. He stared into the glowing embers of the fire with hollow eyes as he continued, his voice grating, although it shook less.

"It cut to the blackness from inside one of the portals... There was this ticking... clock I think... Louder, louder, too loud... ringing through my head... Stopped... Darkness left... Girl! Young girl– too young! Sobbing– body in the grass– too young!" Sky's voice grew louder as it filled with emotion, and tears started running down his face.

"Kicking, screaming– DON'T! Not ready– give her time! Older woman... took her away... so much blood... Cold stone... clinking... chains?... Shackles digging in... cold laugh of amusement... Running– hiding– Sword hilt... burning hands– fighting– wasn't me– IT WASN'T ME– DIDN'T WANT TO! COULDN'T STOP!" Sky's screams echoed through the night. Nothing and no one dared to interfere. He was shaking badly again, but after a moment he kept speaking, as if the dream was replaying in front of him.

"Low booming laugh... over screams of monsters... carnage... So many voices screaming... glowing red eyes getting closer– brighter– More sets of eyes around the first... screaming– more– more– So much! Too much! Too many!" Another tremor shook Sky's body, but he regained what little composure he had left and continued speaking. "Something... it's different... not right, not ours, not any of ours, we're making it worse! Chains... so many– too many– suspending bodies... blurry... darkness... Dropping– they're dropping– I drop– Then... voice... woman's voice... saying... 'I'm so sorry, my children'..."

No one dared interrupt Sky as he spoke, all transfixed by the haunting recount of his dream, the only sound being that of the nearby waterfall. When he finished, the silence hung in the air, heavy and constricting, only broken by an owl in the distance. Legend had heard plenty, though.

He started by chuckling quietly to himself, then it grew to a cackle, then to all out hysterical laughing. Everyone was staring at him like he was completely mad, but at this point he didn't really care, and they were probably partially right. When he was finished with his laughing he said, "Well, doesn't that all sound fun?! Thanks for the heads up Sky, really appreciate it. I'll see you idiots bright and early in the morning, but until then I'm off the clock, and since sleep is apparently the only peace I'll be getting for the next six months to a year, I'd recommend not keeping me up."

He then promptly replaced his sword beside his bedroll before climbing in and returning the cane to its previous position. Judging by the sounds of the rest of the camp, they were all settling back in to try and sleep again too, except for Time, who relieved Wild of watch, and began a quiet but short conversation with Sky. By the sound of Wild moving through the camp, it sounded as if he scaled a tree to pass the remainder of the night in. Warriors made a quick round to everyone –except, wisely, Legend– checking to make sure they were fine, and giving them a schmoozy military assurance speech about how they would discuss the contents of Sky's dream, and form the best course of actions to be taken in lieu of it, first thing in the morning. Legend doubted many of them would be able to get back to sleep after such a horrifying account of what was to come for them, and a younger, less experienced version of Legend would have been right there with them, but the current Legend? Waking up in the middle of the night to terrifying accounts of all of the ways that you're going to suffer in the coming months, was a pretty normal day on the job. Literally just a trailer to his life.

Before too long, Legend began drifting off to sleep. Years of compartmentalization in the face of extreme stress and fear, probably. That and having basically trained himself to fall asleep on command, since you never know when you'll get a break on a quest, and it's normally not in optimal mental or physical conditions for a peaceful siesta.

Despite his efforts, though, his stupid hero mind couldn't let go of two questions, which echoed unbidden through his mind.

Whose body was the young girl dragged away from against her will? And why had the "Older woman" taken the girl away?

*****

The morning following Sky's prophetic dream was a mostly solemn affair. Everyone rose early –mostly because Legend was pretty sure hardly any of them slept, the idiots– and sat quietly around the campfire, over which Wild was cooking breakfast. It was obvious what they were all thinking about, but no one seemed to want to be the one to bring it up, especially to Sky. His usual kind, cheerful self was overshadowed by what Legend was pretty sure was worry. He sat staring into the fire, plucking slow tunes on a golden lap harp, not looking much better than when he had just finished recounting his dream.

Warriors was unsuccessfully trying to keep the group's spirits up with some classic military bulls***. The only one of them he succeeded on was Wind, but he was also the only one who didn't seem too bothered by the contents of the dream. Naivety? Stupidity? Way too much courage? Legend wasn't sure, but whatever it was he was glad it gave him a source of entertainment for the morning. Wind managed to convince Warriors to play a game of ultimate tic tac toe in the dirt, betting rupees for stakes, of course. By the time Wild had finished cooking breakfast, Wind had won three of the nine boards, and Warriors had won two, but neither had gotten three in a row.

Amateurs.

Wild circled around the fire distributing pancakes with sweet cooked down wild berries on top, and in a matter of minutes the group's mood had lightened some.

"Anyone gonna grow a f***ing backbone and talk about the Lynel in the room? Or are you all just planning on moping until it all plays out before you?" asked Legend.

"Language," scolded Time.

"What's a Lynel?" questioned Wind curiously.

"A big scary man-horse with horns," signed Wild. "Not to be underestimated, or approached, unless you know what you're doing."

Wind gave an apologetic smile, and Hyrule translated, before Warriors said surely, "We'll evaluate the situation with the information available, and create a plan of how best to proceed. As new information surfaces, we'll adjust accordingly."

F***ing military crap.

"Did you have something you wanted to say about Sky's dream, Legend?" asked Time.

"Yeah," responded Legend. "Once my three days with you are up, you accept option one, and I'll take care of things. No need to involve eight more people than necessary."

"But Sky said that we were all there at some point," replied Four. "That means that we're all tied to this no matter what anyone wants. You're the one who said that it was a prophetic dream after all. Unless you're saying that we can change the future to make the events of Sky's dream not happen?"

"That's... no. The events of Sky's dream can't be changed, unless you've had other dreams like that that didn't come true?" inquired Legend to Sky hopefully.

Sky shook his head, "I've dreamt the future all my life, normally just still images or a short clip of something happening. But I've always forgotten that I dreamt them until they play out before me. The only time I've had a prophetic dream that I remembered was the night before my quest started. And... everything in that dream turned out to be real."

F***.

"Guess you're stuck with us after all, Veteran," said Warriors.

"What did you just call me?" snapped Legend,

"Veteran. You keep acting like you're better than the rest of us, and far more experienced when it comes to quests. I've encountered more than a few army veterans who treat younger soldiers similarly," explained Warriors plainly.

"That's because I am–"

"I think it suits you," said Twilight, shrugging.

"You wanna f***ing go, Rancher?" retorted Legend.

"Language," informed Time.

"Is that a challenge?" inquired Twilight seriously.

"Ooh! Ooh! My bet's on Legend. I think–"

"If it needs to be. I'd wipe the floor with–"

"Enough," stated Time, interrupting Legend, who had interrupted Wind.

"F***ing kill-joy," muttered Wind quietly.

"If you're correct that everything from Sky's dream will come to pass and we're stuck with each other for the duration of it, we need to be learning to work together, not fighting each other," scolded Time, fixing the four of them with a hard stare.

"Whatever, Old Man," said Legend grouchily. He rose from his place around the fire and headed to the lakeside to wash his and Hyrule's bowls.

"Hey," called Warriors. "We're your commanding officers and your elders. We expect a little respect from you."

Legend held up a choice finger in the Captain's direction as he began washing the dishes, and there was wisely no response.

"Captain, I believe we've found a good job for the younger members of the group who can't take watches," informed Time.

"What's that?" asked Warriors.

"Dish duty."

*****

"Aaaauuuuuuuuhhhhhhh."

"Wind, shut up, we have five left," said Four in exasperation.

"Aaaaaaaauuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhh."

"The more you complain the longer it'll take," signed Wild.

"What'd he say?" questioned Wind.

"He said–"

"To shut up and keep drying. Take this one," responded Four, cutting off Hyrule.

"It's soo wet!" said Wind, scrunching up his face. "I just got another towel and now it's gonna be damp and useless again. Four, there's still soap on it!"

"What?! No there's no– oh... You were distracting me!"

"Was not! You're just not good at washing apparentl–"

"Is this one okay?" asked Hyrule, holding up a dripping bowl for inspection.

"That one looks good Hyrule, good job!" praised Sky, who had been the adult left in charge of the children.

"Hah! The kid who's never washed a dish in his life is doing better than you, Four! Ouch!"

Wild had poked Wind with a stick, "You've dried almost one dish for every two Four's washed."

"What'd he say?" asked Wind.

"He sai–"

"Dry this," retorted Four, shoving the offending bowl back at him.

"Oi! Can't you see I've already got one from Hyrule? You'll have to wait. Wild only accepts perfection in the drying of his things, something that you wouldn't underst–"

"Isn't that a drop of water running down the last one you finished?" observed Hyrule timidly.

"S***!" exclaimed Wind, taking a swipe with his towel at the offending drop.

"Language," came Time's voice distantly from camp.

"You put me on f***ing dish duty I can say whatever the f*** I want, Old Man," muttered Wind, eliciting a giggle from Hyrule.

"Don't let the Captain hear you," signed Wild, stowing another finished dish in his slate.

"What'd he–"

"He said to hurry up and learn f***ing sign language, Wind," replied Four.

"Language," sounded Time's voice from camp.

"You can't understand him either!" exclaimed Wind.

"Yes I can!"

"Wild, sign something, and Hyrule, tell me if Four's wrong," demanded Wind.

"Uh... Four, there was still a bit of stuff stuck to the last skillet you did."

"Now, what'd he say?" questioned Wind.

"...Nothing worth repeating, this is a stupid test!" retorted Four.

"Hah! You can't understand him either!"

"Yes, I can!"

"Then what'd he say?!"

"To shut up and keep f***ing drying!"

"Language," called Time.

"I'm done," announced Hyrule happily.

"Great job, Hyrule," affirmed Sky. "You can head back to the others. This might still be a while."

"F***ing finally," sighed Legend, and got up to leave the lakeside with Hyrule.

"Langua–"

"Hey! Why does he get to leave?! He could help finish drying!" blurted Wind.

"Because Hyrule's–"

"Are you saying you need help, Wind? That you can't finish it by yourself?" questioned Four, cutting off Sky.

"No! I don't need anybody's help, especially yours, Four! Go enjoy your time with the grown ups, Hyrule, you wouldn't be able to compete with my prestige of dish drying in a million yea–"

"Is that another wet spot I see?" inquired Four.

"WHAT?! WHERE?!"

"I didn't want to say anything!" signed Wild with a wide grin.

"WHERE IS IT?! WHAT'D HE SAY?! I GOT EVERY INCH!!!"

*****

Legend all but dragged a giggling Hyrule by the collar back to camp, he'd gone and sat by the young dish washers because he'd needed a break from the pompous Captain, not because Hyrule had been nervous or anything. They'd almost made it back to camp when Hyrule suddenly exclaimed, "Portal's coming."

Legend stopped dead in his tracks, "You can sense when they're near?"

"Yeah?" responded Hyrule timidly.

"Huh, makes sense given there's so much natural magic radiating from you."

"...Shouldn't we tell the others about the portal?"

"Oh yeah, suppose they'd like to know." He turned back towards the lake. "Portal's coming, idiots!"

The only response that he got was a resounding, "F***!" from Wind, followed quickly by a "Language," from Time, then Sky calling, "Be there in a minute!" Time, Warriors, and Twilight all rose hastily from their places around the remains of the fire, and began packing up the camp. They were efficient, and in a matter of minutes the camp was looking almost just like it had when they'd arrived, and the group of nine boys were lining up to take a trip through reality.

The portal appeared just like Hyrule said it would, and Legend marched into it in front of everyone else, eliciting a squawk of indignation from a certain Captain, before all elements of the normal world were replaced with the void of the portal.

*****

The moment Legend emerged from the portal, he registered one thing above all others.

He was in a f***ing dungeon.

Cold stone under his boots. Drafty, stale air. Eerie quiet. The constricting vice of fear, and the overwhelming urge to run.

Standard dungeon MO.

Twelve weird stone dragon-fish statues also filled the room. Probably important for the dungeon's overall theme. As long as that theme wasn't a f***ing water temple, Legend really couldn't care less.

The rest of the Links piled into the room a moment later, and the portal promptly blinked out of existence behind them.

"Cool," said Wind, breaking the silence. "A dungeon!"

"'Cool'?" remarked Legend drily. "You think dungeons are 'Cool'?"

"Uh, yeah? Dungeons are always cool. They can be a little rude and try to kill you, but other than tha–"

"This is a dungeon?" questioned the Captain. "It looks like some sort of weird, old, underground fortress."

Legend raised his eyebrows in exasperation, "Yes, this is a f***ing dungeon. Old, cold, worn stone covering every surface. No sign that the outside world exists. Century old air and dust. Probably some mold in the corner, and a host of monsters, traps, and puzzles through your choice of door."

"Um... guys?" said Hyrule timidly.

Wind gasped, "I can ditch the stupid sling again! You can't keep my sword arm useless in a dungeon, Captain."

"Wind, you already used your arm way too much yesterday without the sling. You need to keep it on," stated Warriors.

"Actually, Captain," began Time. "Wind's right. He needs to be able to defend himself inside of a dungeon. Inhibiting his sword arm would put him in greater danger than the risk of him reinjuring his shoulder."

Warriors sighed, "If you say so."

"YES!" exclaimed Wind, and practically tore his sling off. Warriors had made him put it back on after swimming the day before.

"I've never seen a dungeon like this before," commented Sky, observing the room as his post portal effects finished wearing off. "Is this a normal style for you, Legend?"

"Guys–"

"Yeah, pretty basic. We should know the theme once we see a few more rooms."

"A theme? What do you mean a theme?" questioned Warriors.

"How idiotic are you? The theme of a dungeon? This your first time or someth– WHAT?!"

Wild had run up to Legend and waved his hands in his face. Once he had his attention, he signed, "Hyrule has something to say."

Legend sighed, "What, Hyrule?"

"I, um... I know this dungeon," said Hyrule quietly.

"Elaborate, Kid," responded Legend flatly.

"I... I've been through this dungeon before... on my first quest."

Hyrule's words hung in the air for a moment, before Legend held out his hand and said, "Fantastic! Map. Compass. Item. We should be out before lunch."

Hyrule turned a deep shade of red as he stared at Legend's outstretched hand waiting for the requested items, "I... uh... I probably have the map and compass somewhere..."

"Well, get looking, Kid. It'd save me a lot of trouble knowing the layout of this place."

Hyrule walked a short way away from the rest of the group, and started digging through his pouch. A minute later he gave up and dumped the whole thing out on the floor and started sifting through things. Legend waited rather impatiently on Hyrule, while the self appointed group leaders discussed things, until eventually, Hyrule looked up at Legend and said quietly, "I... I don't have it..."

"You don't have the item?!" questioned Legend in horror. If he were Hyrule in this moment, this would be one of his worst nightmares coming true.

"No, I have the item, I just don't have the map or compass..." answered Hyrule.

"Where are they?!" continued Legend.

"...They're most likely in one of three caves..." responded Hyrule.

"Did he actually just say one of three caves?" questioned Twilight in disbelief.

"You wouldn't be so surprised if you'd seen where we found him," muttered Four quietly.

"Okay, Hyrule, just... item, please," said Legend.

Hyrule hesitated.

Legend gave him a flat stare, "Kid, these portals keep us perpetually stuck together for the foreseeable future. I'm not gonna steal your f***ing item. Even if I did, you could probably lift a finger and knock me out with your insane magic stores."

Hyrule thought for a moment, then handed Legend a small candle with a red flame burning a perfect wick.

"This thing? Really?" said Legend, looking at it skeptically.

Hyrule nodded.

"How old were you when you came through here?" continued Legend.

"...12."

That sure caused a commotion among the adults, except for Time, who was as non responsive and blank faced as ever. Legend really did not want to hear them talk about how horrible and cruel it was for a twelve year old boy to be forced into a dangerous quest from the Goddess, so he turned on his heels away from Hyrule and strode through the nearest doorway.

"Veteran!" came an annoyed Captain's voice.

Legend pointedly ignored him and focused on the task at hand.

Two more of the weird statues. Five strange blue haired monsters wielding boomerangs. Let's see how they like the edge of a sword.

Legend slipped easily into a fighting stance as one of the monsters approached him, drawing his sword and shield. A moment later, one energy ball fired out of each of the two statues, neither towards him. Huh. Random energy balls... wonder what happens if you get hit? The monster raised its arm and threw its boomerang straight at him, which Legend side hopped to avoid. He then did a short and efficient approach towards the creature at an angle, and used his last step to launch himself into the air, swinging his sword to decapitate the thing from above. It dissolved in a plume of black smoke, and Legend pivoted to find his next target.

What he saw were eight more targets than there should have been, clogging up the small space.

Absolute f***ing idiots.

The first of the other Links into the room quickly handled the remaining four monsters, and an unlit bomb appeared in the center of the room upon the last monster dissolving into smoke, causing Sky to jump –he'd been standing almost right next to it.

The small room of the dungeon was overly cramped with Links, all of whom were having to dodge the random energy balls, which only made the arrows of annoyance shot at one another even sharper.

"Legend," began Time. "We understand that you think you're capable of handling this on your own, but you're a part of a team now. We don't know what dangers lie in wait in this dungeon, and any of the monsters could be enhanced, which is something you've yet to experience."

Good to know, there are enhanced monsters on this quest, whatever that f***ing means. Probably a living nightmare.

Warriors apparently got passed the invisible talking stick, "We need to make a plan of action and work together as a unit. No one gets separated, and we watch each other's backs."

"You're absolute f***ing idiots, you know that?" retorted Legend.

"Language," scolded Time.

"There's no way in hell that nine fighters can get anything done in these small rooms without getting in each other's way. Besides, Pretty-boy here's never been in a f***ing dungeon before, and I don't think he's the only one. Let me handle this. It's what I do. I'll come back and get you all once I'm through," responded Legend.

"And when you get in over your head and need backup?" questioned Warriors.

"I do not require f***ing back–"

"Language. We're staying together as a group. End of discussion," stated Time.

These people honestly think they have power over him. Can they really get much more stupid?

Legend turned away from Time and Warriors and took the right archway out of the room, blatantly ignoring anything they yelled after him.

*****

"Watch it!"

"You watch it!"

Legend leaped out of the way of a boomerang, landing in a roll and springing back up, swinging his sword around towards his target. About halfway through its swing, his arm was hit, rendering the whole swing a waste of energy. Another sword impaled the monster in front of him –which was his intended target– from the other side, and when it dissolved, Legend was left looking at the bright blue eyes of the sailor. A glance over his shoulder showed the too kind smile of Sky, an apology already on his lips. By the looks of it, he'd backflipped to avoid something, and his foot had hit Legend's arm. Legend gave him a scowl, causing him to wisely keep the fluffy apology to himself.

If he wanted to apologize, he could be a bit more aware of his surroundings, and not run into people.

Wind gave Legend a smirk at having killed the monster despite Legend telling him to stay out of the way. Legend treated him to a similar scowl to what Sky had gotten.

"Clear," called Warriors. "Everyone present? Any injuries?"

"I wish I f***ing wasn't," muttered Legend darkly.

"Four rolled into me. Got a cut and a bruise from my armor," responded Time.

Warriors nodded, "Four, drink a potion and–"

"I know how to treat a scratch, Captain," replied Four. Everyone was starting to become a bit touchy after five rooms had taken them in what Legend was pretty sure was a complete circle. They were now on their sixth room.

"This door appears to be locked. Would someone have left the key nearby?"

"Yeah, that's how dungeons work, Captain," remarked Legend. "We'll find the key in a few rooms."

"Excellent. Four, if you're recovered we'll carry on to that objective. Everyone form up," called Warriors in a military command voice.

Legend rolled his eyes and strode straight through the archway into the next room.

*****

"Have we been in this room already?"

"Maybe?"

"It's hard to say. All of these rooms look basically the same."

"No they don't. The blocks and statue placements have been different in all of them."

"Really? I could've sworn I've seen this layout before."

"Nah, this one's new."

"This is definitely not new. We've seen this room at least two times."

"Not we haven't!"

"We definitely have."

"Whose side are you on!"

"The side of finding the next actual new room?"

"This is a new room!

"Would you all shut up, please, I'm trying to think."

"What a concept."

"This is thinking. I'm thinking out loud."

"Yeah, well you're not helping anything."

"Am too! I would've already had it figured out if you hadn't interrupted my thought process."

"Yeah, right."

"Well I don't see you coming up with any brilliant solutions either!"

"Because you won't shut up so I can think!"

"Guys, that's enough."

"...Uh, where's Wild?"

"Ah f***."

*****

"Found him! –WOAH–"

"You good?"

"Yeah, fine, I just hate those stupid energy balls."

"The feeling's mutual."

"Wild, you can't just wander away from the group like that."

"You guys were arguing about whether or not we'd been in that room before. You couldn't agree, and I couldn't remember, so I went to look through the previous rooms we've been in."

"What'd he say?"

"He sai– ya know what, it'll be good motivation for you to learn fast."

"Hey! Not fair!"

"I'd like to know what he said, if that's okay."

"Basically we were arguing about whether we'd been in that room before, so he went to check the rooms leading up to it."

"Oh, that makes sense."

"Yes, it was a well meaning action, but please don't do it again, Wild. We need to stay together and not have anyone going off on their own where they could run into trouble without backup."

"But we just went through these rooms, he knew that there wasn't anything difficult in them."

"That's not the point."

"But it's true!"

"Can we please try and make some progress here? For all we know there's dozens more rooms before we can get out of here."

"He's right. Move out everyone."

*****

"We've already been in this room three times."

"No we haven't!"

"Twelve blocks split into two rectangles of six, twice as far apart from each other as they both are from the walls of the room on three sides, two giant worms to fight, and a bomb in the center of the room when they're defeated," recited Four.

"Oh... huh."

"They're called Moldorms," whispered Hyrule, so timid and quiet that Legend wouldn't have heard it if he wasn't standing right next to him.

Wind groaned, "We're f***ing lost. We keep going in circles."

"Language," reprimanded Time.

"We are not lost," stated Warriors.

"Ya sure?" questioned Twilight.

"Yes. We haven't gone through that door yet," assured Warriors.

"Wars, we've already been in that room four times," said Four, burying his face in his hands.

"We certainly have not. Come on, I'm sure this is a new room."

Chapter Text

"Aaaaauuuuuuuuuhhhhhhh." Wind flopped down of the stone floor. "We have been through the same f***ing rooms fifty thousand times!"

"Language," scolded Time as always.

"He's right, Wars," said Twilight. "We're getting nowhere."

"What did I f***ing say would happen?" remarked Legend

"Language."

"Alright, this isn't working," acknowledged Warriors. "But you going off and doing everything yourself wouldn't have gotten us anywhere either. You haven't offered up any bright ideas on how to find a new room."

"If I had it's not like you would have listened," retorted Legend.

"I would have if you made a valid suggestion, but no one did, so I lead the group to the best of my ability," responded Warriors.

"Knowing that does anyone have a suggestion of how to proceed?" questioned Time.

Silence.

Then Legend caught sight of Wild signing out of the corner of his eye, but he wasn't signing towards the group at large.

"This is a dungeon you came through on your quest, right? Do you remember how to get to the next room?"

"...Yes," signed back Hyrule.

"Why haven't you said anything?" asked Wild.

"Why would they want to hear what I have to say?" responded Hyrule.

"Because you know this dungeon. Why wouldn't they want to hear what you have to say?"

"...I'm not like them."

"What do you mean?" questioned Wild.

"They're all... heroes," signed back Hyrule.

"You're a hero too."

"No. I'm not. They all see it just as much as I do. They don't need my advice, they're far more capable than I am."

Wild gestured towards the rest of the Links, who were making no progress in coming up with a plan, "Hyrule, we've been going in circles in the same eight rooms for hours. You know where to go, of course they need your advice."

"...They've been doing a lot more wrong then just where to go."

Wild turned back to the rest of the group, putting his hands to his lips. He let out loud high pitched whistle, which effectively drew the entire group's attention to him.

"Hyrule knows where to go, and other things that we've been doing wrong this whole time," signed Wild.

"What'd he–"

"Hyrule knows where to go, and other things that we've been doing wrong this whole time," repeated Legend, cutting off Wind.

"Oh for the love of the Goddesses," said Four, burying his face in his hands. "Wars, you never asked the guy who did this dungeon when he was 12 where we should go?!"

"...No? I thought it would be straight forward! And if he knew where to go wouldn't he just say so?" responded Warriors.

"Hyrule?" questioned Time. "Is there a reason you haven't spoken up before now?"

"...Didn't think you'd want to hear what I thought," said Hyrule quietly, his face a deep red.

"Why would you think that?" asked Sky kindly.

"...You're all" –Hyrule waved his hand at them– "...heroes."

"Wait, are you saying you're not a hero?" asked Wind.

Hyrule shook his head, staring at the stone floor, "I'm just a traveler."

"Bulls***," stated Legend. Hyrule's gaze snapped up to his. "You're just as much of a hero as everyone here, if not more so. You saved your kingdom, probably a princess or two, and you still choose to fight everyday no matter how hard it gets or the toll it takes on you. You are a f***ing hero."

Hyrule stared at him wide eyed. Hell, everyone was staring at him wide eyed. Sky had that gross sweet look on his face. He did not think this through...

"What?! It's the truth, no need to get all funny about it," remarked Legend hastily.

"That was really sweet, Vet," said Sky, still with that f***ing gross look.

"Oh, shut up. Here, Kid." He tossed Hyrule his candle with its perpetually burning red flame. "Show us what you've got."

Hyrule caught the candle, but didn't meet any of their gazes. He stared into its flame, visibly building up courage, before looking up and saying, "Every time we're about to enter a new room, I'm going to look and see what's inside. Then I'll call out one or two names. Whoever I ask for will come with me into the next room. Everyone else stays behind until we say it's clear. I'm gonna pick purely off of strengths in battle, which I've been observing for all of today."

"Anything else you didn't say because of a stupid self confidence excuse?" asked Legend bluntly.

"...Please don't question anything I say about this place or who I pick. And don't underestimate this place or get cocky if things seem easy. It's much more dangerous from here on out."

Warriors nodded, "Take it seriously, don't get cocky, you're in charge. Where do we find the first new room?"

Hyrule pointed straight at Warriors.

"Me? How am I how we find the next room?"

"It's behind you," said Hyrule simply. He crossed the room to the wall behind where Warriors was standing and placed a lit bomb at its base. Everyone scrambled back, and when the bomb exploded it revealed an opening in the wall.

"What the f***?!" exclaimed Wind.

"Language," informed Time.

"How did you know that was there?" demanded Legend, both annoyed and impressed.

Hyrule just shrugged, and placed his back to the wall directly next to the opening, sword and shield drawn. He quickly glanced around the corner and into the new room, before calling, "Legend and Four."

Legend and Four took up mirrored positions to Hyrule on the other side of the opening, which was when he said, "Three red Goriya and three blue. Remember that the blue are stronger than the red, and they can only throw their boomerangs if they're facing you, but they turn fast."

Legend and Four nodded, and Hyrule promptly stepped off of the wall into the opening, pushing off of his back foot and running into the room.

Legend ran into the room after Hyrule without hesitation, Four hot on his heels. Hyrule headed straight for the closest enemy straight on, so Legend angled right, trusting Four to be smart enough to take the left side.

Dodge. Dart in. Dodge. Dart in. The blue monster dissolved, and not even a beat later Legend was off and running to his next target.

The fight was over fast. Really fast. Probably two or three minutes. It was a game changer not having three other people in your way when you're trying to fight, and Hyrule and Four were efficient in their extermination of the monsters, too.

Actually competent fighters, who would've thought it possible?

Not Legend.

"Clear," called Four as the last monster fell. The other Links funneled into the room.

Hyrule placed his back to the wall next to one of the archways leading out of the room. He quickly glanced around the corner, then thought for a minute, before saying, "Wind."

The sailor glowed, immediately straightening up to his full height, and marching to take his position on the wall across from Hyrule, not quite suppressing his grin of excitement and smugness.

Warriors had started fidgeting, "Are you sure that–"

"Captain," said Time seriously. "We just agreed. Hyrule's in charge, and he's picking based off of the skills best suited for the next room. If you give him a moment I'm sure he'll explain why he chose Wind."

Hyrule reddened under the expectant stares, but responded with, "There's three Dodongos in there. You have to be really fast to place a bomb close enough in front of them that they'll inhale it, but you don't get hit by them or the explosion. I chose Wind for his speed, and, I'm assuming, experience with explosives. I didn't want three for this one cause we'd be at risk of blowing each other up if we misplace a bomb."

Time nodded, as did Warriors, while Wind bounced up and down with excitement, a look of glee plastered on his face.

"Go!"

Wind was almost through the archway before Hyrule, and the rest of the Links crowded the opening to watch. The two made quick work of the tree Dodongos, having only one misplaced bomb by Hyrule, but Wind was on the other side of the room, so it didn't effect him at all.

This was starting to feel too easy...

"Wild. Sky." The two took their positions. "It's just a room full of Keese, but there's a trap before each doorway. If you move fast and don't hesitate you should be fine."

"What kind of trap is it?" asked Sky.

"...It'll make the most sense if I just show you."

Hyrule suddenly sprung around the corner and began sprinting into the room as if there was something chasing him. The moment he set foot inside of the new room, the sound of grating metal screeched through the dungeon, and two nasty spiked looking contraptions slammed together behind Hyrule's heels. If those spikes hit someone, they'd go straight through their leg, maybe both legs...

Wild and Sky blinked wide eyed at the trap as it slowly retracted back out of sight, but Hyrule was already fighting the Keese inside of the room, waiting for them. Wild took a quick breath before throwing his body forward, sprinting through the doorway, where the trap slammed shut behind him. Sky watched it retract back, his shoulders set and his eyes fixed, before taking a deep breath, and running forward. The trap didn't allow time for hesitation or doubt, which Sky wisely blocked out and cleared the strip of danger, before running to help the other two with the swarm of Keese flying around the room.

A few short minutes later, Wild cut down the last remaining Keese, and Sky called, "Clear."

Unlike the previous rooms, none of the other Links filed through the opening into the room.

"Oh, you f***ing babies," remarked Legend, and shoved past Twilight, before breaking into a run. He sprinted towards the stretch of floor he knew would trigger the spike trap, and felt his heart rate skip a beat as it accelerated past normal levels. Thanks f***ing rabbit curse. He knew that there was no room for hesitation or doubt inside of him, just like with Sky, so he shoved the frantic rabbit fear down as far as he could, and focused on looking straight ahead, and pounding his feet into the stone floor. He crossed the threshold, and the spikes slammed shut behind him, before retracting back along their invisible track. He slowed to a stop on the other side –now in the room with Hyrule, Sky, and Wild– before turning back to face the other Links.

"Anyone else got the balls to make the tri–"

Wind took off running, racing through the opening, and when the spikes slammed shut, he had even a little time to spare. Okay, Hyrule's assessment had been dead on. The sailor was f***ing fast.

As the spikes retracted after Wind, Legend decided to test a theory. He waved his arm in front of the thing's detection field, and as he suspected, nothing happened. Before it reached the end of its path to reset, he stepped fully in between the two traps. Nothing happened, until they reached the far walls, and a small click signaled their reset. Then they shot forward, and Legend jumped back just before he was impaled between them.

"If you're too scared to come through the real way, go while it's resetting," explained Legend.

The trap clicked back into place, and Four sprinted forward, causing it again slam shut. This time though, while it was resetting, Time, Warriors, and Twilight hurried through.

Legend cocked a smirk at the Captain, "You enjoying your first dungeon, Pretty-boy?"

"It's been very... educational," pronounced Warriors, a little shaken from the terrifying spike trap.

"Now everyone's through," began Hyrule. "I want Twilight and Time for the next room. I don't remember what's in it, and I can't check cause of the trap, so just kill whatever's inside, and I'll call out instructions if it's something unique."

Ah, yes. There was another spike trap before the archway leading into the next room. Why wouldn't there be?

Hyrule sprinted through the trap and into the new room beyond without a moment's hesitation, and Time and Twilight followed while the trap reset. A few minutes later they came running back through, and Hyrule held up a key for the rest of them to see.

They fell into a pretty steady rhythm after that. Hyrule called out one or two people that he wanted, and they dealt with the monsters in the next room quickly. Then Hyrule was back against the wall to glance into the next room, and call out the next pairing. Only minor injuries were sustained, and none of the monsters were "Enhanced" like Time had mentioned they might be earlier. It wasn't until the point in the dungeon when they were supposed to collect its special item, that things started to get weird.

Hyrule stared down in confusion at something in his hands in the darkness of a cramped room below the rest of the dungeon.

"What is it, Hyrule?" asked Legend.

"It's... It's the same–... It's... mine."

"What do you mean it's yours?" inquired Time from a little ways back.

"It shouldn't be here, because... I have it." Hyrule turned back to them and showed two identical candles, both burning red flames.

"Wait, this is the same dungeon that you came through years ago, that gave you your candle, but there's another one here?" questioned Wind.

Hyrule nodded.

"But, does that mean–"

"Quiet," interrupted Legend. "I need to think."

How were there two candles? It would make the most sense if they had just gone back in time to before Hyrule came through here as a kid... But more monsters would had to have moved in before he showed up. Not too unlikely. But all of the doors would have been unlocked, and the walls bombed to reveal the openings... because they've just spent the day clearing the place out. There's no way for that to be reset before kid Hyrule shows up. But if they're not here before he came, how is there another candle, and everything in place as if it's never been touched since construction... There's no way–

"Hyrule, can I see the two candles?"

It was Four, eyes glowing violet in the light from the candle's flames.

Hyrule passed them over, and Four said, "I need more light. Can we go back to the room above?"

Hyrule lead the way out of the dark and cramped room.

Once in the normal light of the dungeon, Four held the two candles up close to his violet eyes, studying them intently. Legend approached him and asked, "What're you looking for?"

"Differences," he answered simply. "Hyrule's is older. More used. It's got dirt on it and a bit of the metal is scratched. The one we just found is perfect. No dirt, marks, or anything. Exactly how I would have imagined Hyrule's looking when he first got it."

"And that tells you?" prompted Legend.

"...That it makes the most sense for it to be Hyrule's from before he found it. But it can't be, because we've just blown holes through the walls and opened all of the locked doors leading up to this point. On top of killing all of the monsters."

...Many stupid points removed from the smith.

"That's what I came up with, too," replied Legend. "Hyrule, when you came through as a kid was the dungeon opened up as if someone had been through before you?"

"No," answered Hyrule surely. "It wasn't."

Four stared harder at the candles, as if they held the answers to the problem.

"So, do we leave the new candle?" asked Twilight.

"Incase kid Hyrule needs it to progress to create this present? I don't know..." pondered Four.

"If it's a question of changing the course of time to an outcome we cannot predict, we should endeavor to avoid it at all costs," stated Time. "Hyrule, what would the ramifications be if you weren't able to complete this dungeon?"

"...Bad," murmured Hyrule quietly.

"Then that settles it," continued Time. "We leave the new candle. We have Hyrule's, so it won't effect our progression."

"But the course of time is already changed, right?" questioned Wind. "We've been through the dungeon, opening all of the locked doors and blowing up the walls. You can't un-blow-up walls!"

"He's right," agreed Legend. "And we can't be here after kid Hyrule came through, because then everything would have been open for us."

"Alternate timeline?" signed Wild.

Legend shrugged, "Always an option, but begs the question of why we're here. Why send us from another timeline of events, to change the course of this one?"

"I don't think we're going to solve this puzzle now," remarked Warriors. "I say we leave the new candle, and get ourselves out of here. We can't change what we've already done. If you're right in your theory, then this timeline's already different anyways."

Four sighed, "...Hyrule, put this one back the way you found it."

"There's also the map and compass," reminded Legend. "We took those too, so if we're replacing the candle we should return those as well."

Time thought for a minute, "You're right, Legend, we need to return the map and compass as well as the candle. Hyrule, could you put the candle back and then lead us back to where we found the map and compass?"

They made pretty good time returning the map and compass to where they'd found them, and all studied the map for a minute before leaving it behind, to ensure they wouldn't get lost again. Their journey through the dungeon continued, but whenever Legend glanced over at Four, his face was set in a hard line, and he was often muttering under his breath, eyes still a violet purple.

Another handful of rooms after the one that lead down to the candle, and Hyrule was once again looking to see what the next new room held. This time, though, when he looked back at them, his eyes were wide, and some of the color had drained from his face.

"Hyrule? What is it?" asked Legend.

Hyrule swallowed, "Wallmaster. And three Bubbles."

Legend, Four, and Time all stiffened.

"What's the plan, Hyrule?" asked Time seriously.

"...We need to kill the Wallmaster until it drops a clock. Then I can use that to freeze it in place so that we can all get through. Since you guys have experience with them, Legend, I want you with me killing it until it drops a clock. Four and Time, try to keep the Bubbles away from us. You should be able to hit them away with your shields. If Legend or I get hit, though, switch out with us until it drops a clock," explained Hyrule seriously.

"Where will the Wallmaster come from?" inquired Legend. He really did not want to get sent back to the beginning of this dungeon...

"The closest corner of the right hand wall when you walk in," replied Hyrule.

Legend nodded. He remembered every Wallmaster room he'd ever been unfortunate enough to experience, too. They kind of left a mark on your soul.

"Ready?" asked Hyrule.

They nodded. Hyrule turned the corner and ran into the room, Time, Four, and Legend on his heels.

Legend hated Wallmasters. They were scary as s*** and a pain in the ass. Hyrule's plan was good, though, and the fifth time it dissolved to one of their swords, a small clock was left in its place. Hyrule snatched it like it was a piece of gold, and a moment later the Wallmaster froze in place halfway through reemerging from the wall. The Bubbles froze too.

Legend rounded on Hyrule, "How many of those can you get me?!"

Hyrule blushed, "They only work in the room you find them in, and they activate when you touch them. I haven't found a way to transport them without triggering the power."

"Have you tried gloves? Using an item to carry them? Spells? Runes? What about–"

"Leave him alone, Vet," said Twilight chuckling. "Which way from here, Hyrule? Is there another wall to bomb?"

Hyrule shook his head, and walked around the large U of blocks in the room, pushing against a few, until one moved back. When it did, it triggered the opening to a downward staircase to be revealed in the corner of the room.

Sky whistled. "How do you always know which walls to bomb and which blocks to push?"

Hyrule shrugged, before descending down the stairs, the rest of the Links hurrying to catch up.

A quick trip through a dark, cramped, Keese infested basement passageway later, and Hyrule was calling, "Warriors. Sky." from the staircase leading back up to the dungeon proper. Once they were all safely inside of that room, another bombed wall revealed yet another opening, but this time, Hyrule didn't call out names.

"This is the final boss room. Aquamentus. Basically a big green dragon with a horn on its head, and it shoots three fireballs at a time," explained Hyrule. "It's a pretty straight forward fight if you stick to the basics and don't get cocky."

"So who do you want for it?" asked Wind excitedly, obviously hoping to be picked.

Hyrule thought for a minute, "Sky and Wild. Sky, our job is to get in close and use our swords in between when it shoots its fireballs. Wild, your job is to provide a steady stream of arrows to its face. When Sky and I have retreated to dodge the fireballs, you can use other types of arrows, but know that it's immune to fire."

Sky nodded and took a firmer grip on the Master Sword. Wild gave an excited thumbs up and materialized a bow in his hands from his magic box. Legend had more than a few questions about how said magic box worked, and how he could get his hands on one.

"Go!"

The three ran into the room, and the remaining Links crowded the opening to watch.

Not even a minute into the fight, Legend knew something was wrong.

Hyrule had said that this would be a basic, straight forward fight. The big green dragon was only supposed to shoot fireballs. Three fireballs at a time, but still, just fireballs. It wasn't supposed to charge at unnatural speeds, snapping long pointed teeth, about half the size of Legend's arm. It wasn't supposed to slash long gnarled claws at you, as if you were an annoying bug it was trying to swat. It wasn't supposed to drip thick black blood, when Sky landed a small hit on it, before having to narrowly dodge certain pointy death.

What the f*** was happening.

"It's got black blood," called Sky towards the rest of the Links watching through the opening, as if that wasn't obvious, and cleared up the matter.

According to the looks on the rest of the Links faces, it did.

"Anyone wanna fill me in on what exactly that means?" asked Legend.

"It's enhanced," replied Four. "It's stronger, faster, smarter, and a lot harder to kill."

"Think of your worst nightmare when facing a monster, and that about sums it up," added Warriors.

"Charming," said Legend drily.

Twilight flinched as Hyrule was almost run through on a claw, "Is there anything we can do to help?"

"No," stated Time bitterly. "There isn't room. We'd just get in each other's way when trying to dodge and find openings. We'd have to switch out."

He was right, but it f***ing sucked just watching.

Sky had gotten two decent slashes in, but was currently limping from a burn wound to his leg. Hyrule had stabbed the dragon in one of its legs, but gotten a cut from shoulder to opposite hip from the claws attached to said leg. The cut was gone the next time Legend glanced at Hyrule, just a long rip through his tunic remaining... Wild had shot the thing multiple times in the face, effectively distracting it from one of the others for a short time, but causing it to charge straight at him. He was sporting a gash down his calf. Each of the dragon's wounds were dripping the black blood substance, and each wound the Links managed to inflict, only enraged, and further empowered the creature.

"I don't like this," informed Warriors, as if saying the words out loud would help solve the situation.

"Yeah, no s***," said Legend absently.

"Language," scolded Time. "If they need to tap out they'll let us know."

"They need a plan," mused Four. "They're just throwing themselves at it like it's a one man fight, instead of using each other to create openings."

"How're they supposed to make a plan mid battle?" asked Wind.

"A good leader can come up with a plan even in the middle of a fight," responded Four. "Problem is, none of them are used to doing that. They've only ever fought alone."

"Captain?" inquired Time. "What would you have them do?"

Warriors thought for a moment, "Have one or two distract and draw fire so the third can move in to attack. But it's risky getting anywhere close to it with those teeth and claws."

"The third person would have to get really close to do any major damage," remarked Twilight. "But only that level of an attack has the chance of taking this thing down."

Wind fidgeted in place, "I hate just sitting here!"

"The feeling's mutual," grumbled Four, tracking the battle with blue eyes.

Sky had landed a stab wound, but taken a cut to his sword arm. Hyrule had managed two small slashes, but received a burn on his hand in return. Wild had landed close to a half dozen more arrows over the dragon's body, but gotten a slice down his shoulder.

Legend's eyes snapped from Link, to Link, to dragon, to Link, tracking the battle. The dragon was currently trying to eat Sky alive, with its mouth full of long sharp teeth attached to its extra long scaled neck. Hyrule was dodging a round of fireballs it had sent in his direction to keep him at bay, and Wild should have been firing on it.

Wild should have been firing on it...

Legend's gaze moved to the scarred teen on the other side of the room from Sky and the dragon. His brow was furrowed, and he was staring at the dragon as if it were a puzzle he couldn't quite solve. He was studying its legs, its neck, and its tail, seeming dissatisfied with each. Then his eyes narrowed, and he nocked an arrow to his bow, but didn't immediately fire it like usual. He took his time, aiming it at the constantly in motion dragon, and didn't aim for the face or belly. He aimed for the side of its front leg.

The arrow flew, and hit home –although Legend wasn't sure what the point of it was. It did hardly any damage, even though Wild expertly placed it in between scales to get it to imbed at all. Then, as Sky dodged yet another snap of teeth, Wild took off running across the room, switching his bow for an ornate, golden halberd. As he neared the dragon, he took a running leap, using the arrow in the dragon's front leg as a step, which he pushed off of and onto the dragon's back. The dragon immediately lost interest in Sky, and began flailing wildly, but Wild's seat on its back held firm. He took his halberd and brought it from over his head down into the dragon's back, apparently in between its scales, as the thing roared in pain.

Wind started cheering, and Four's face split into a red eyed smile. Wild grinned back from the dragon's back, and Sky allowed himself to slouch against the wall, breathing heavily. Legend let out a tense breath, and started thinking through whose wounds to treat first.

Then the dragon swung its long neck around, and grabbed Wild in between its jaws, flinging him across the room like a paper weight into the stone wall, where he crumpled limply to the ground.

It was only due to Legend's place at the front of the Links cramped into the bombed opening, that he was the first into the room.

Black blood gushed from the wound on the dragon's back –where Wild's halberd was still imbedded– but the creature was only made more vicious because of it. It made to charge at Wild's limp form. Legend set himself on an intercept course.

He intercepted the dragon about halfway through it's charge towards Wild's limp form, and rolled quickly in front of it, slicing up at its under belly. His present goal wasn't to take the thing down, just to get it focused on someone else besides Wild, who still hadn't moved from where he lay in a crumpled heap at the base of the wall.

Legend's plan worked, and the dragon switched its focus to him.

S***.

He dodged, leaping sideways and into a roll as a long claw sliced through the air for his face. Then the dragon's mouth snapped forward, nostrils flared, and teeth dripping saliva. Legend backflipped out of the way, landing in time to see another set of claws swiping towards him.

Legend vaguely registered that Warriors was kneeling beside Wild. If he called out something to the others, Legend didn't hear it. His world had narrowed completely to the snarling, snapping, clawing dragon trying to rip him to shreds.

Another dodge left a tear through the sleeve of his tunic, and a thin cut underneath. Too slow.

A phantom sword shot through the air, hitting the dragon in its side. A moment later Hyrule was darting in to try for a hit. Legend got to breathe for a second.

A quick glance around the room showed Twilight helping a limping Sky towards the opening in the wall. Sky had a hand on his chest, and was breathing heavily. Warriors was still kneeling beside a motionless Wild, and Legend didn't have a good enough angle to see what he was doing. Back in the opening leading into the room, Time was holding Wind against his chest as the young sailor thrashed and argued, trying to get free to join the fight or help at all. Four was standing one foot in the room, one foot out, fidgeting. His eyes kept darting between Sky and Twilight, Warriors and Wild, and the dragon currently focused on Hyrule.

They needed an actual plan to take this damn dragon down five years ago.

...It really did like shoving its mouth into your business to snap its teeth at you...

"I have a really stupid idea," called Legend to anyone listening.

"Just what we could use right now, Vet," remarked Twilight irritably.

"Hey, I said it was stupid, not that is wouldn't work," replied Legend.

"Spit it out already!" called Hyrule, leaping out of the way of a clawed swipe from the dragon.

"You keep it distracted. Twilight, just get Sky out. Four and Wind come here," commanded Legend.

Four and Wind hurried over to him, Wind bouncing from foot to foot in anticipation.

"Take these." Legend handed them each an ice rod from his pouch. "I need you to freeze the dragon in place. Try not to miss and watch where you aim."

"How does this thing wor–" Wind flipped the rod over in his hand with a little too much force, and ice erupted out of the end, freezing a section of the floor. "Cool!"

"Any day now!" called a frustrated Hyrule, ducking under another attack.

Four and Wind went into action, running around the room to freeze the dragon from all angles to have the best chance of it not breaking free.

"Is there anything I can do to help, Legend?" asked Time from the doorway.

"Be ready to run in if this goes horribly for me," said Legend casually.

Time nodded seriously.

"Legend!" it was Four, having just frozen the last of the dragon's legs to the floor.

Showtime.

...Also known as potential death time. They usually went hand in hand.

The dragon was frozen to the floor just like Legend had wanted it to be, and Hyrule was bent double a short distance away, catching his breath. The dragon was flailing and pulling, trying to break the ice around its feet and legs. Legend knew that he only had a few short minutes, if that, before the dragon broke free, so there was no room for second guessing his utterly stupid idea.

He approached the dragon slowly from the front, gauging the distance between them. For this to work, and Legend to walk away with all of his limbs, there was little to no room for error on his part. When he judged the distance to be what he needed, he stopped, and pulled out his bow. The dragon wasn't paying him hardly any attention, as it was just focused on getting free from the ice. He nocked an arrow, an fired it into the dragon's face, not even waiting to see it hit, before switching to his sword. The dragon roared in pain and annoyance, and jerked its long neck towards Legend, teeth bared and snapping.

The dragon's snout stopped twelve inches from Legend's nose.

Because its feet were frozen to the floor, that was as far as it could reach. So it snapped its teeth at him in rage, but all it cleaved was air.

Legend took a small step forward. If he was going to back out, now was the time. But the image of Wild's body crumpling to the ground was still fresh in his mind, and he and the Captain still hadn't moved from that spot. Hell, Legend didn't even know if Wild was still alive. His body was run through on those teeth before being thrown into the stone wall... Stop. Don't go there. He's gonna be fine, so long as you kill the dragon that did it.

Legend took a deep breath to steady himself, gripping the hilt of his sword like a vice. He could hear the ice starting to give. If he thought about doing it he wouldn't be able to do it so just do it alre–

He lunged forward, driving his arm into the dragon's snapping mouth, and his sword up into its skull, angled towards its brain.

The dragon's roar consumed his senses, until white hot pain erupted through his arm, originating from just below his elbow. He bit back a scream, and drew his arm back as quickly as he could, leaving his sword imbedded in the monster. Legend stumbled back, clutching his left arm to his body, a long, gnarled dragon tooth stuck through it. The dragon roared and writhed, before finally dissolving into black smoke, leaving Legend's sword to clatter to the floor.

Sweet, merciful silence hung in the air for a few surreal moments, before multiple pairs of boots descended upon him.

"THAT WAS THE COOLEST, MOST BADASS THING I'VE EVER SEEN!!!" informed Wind as he skidded to a halt in front of Legend, his face plastered with an awestruck smile.

"Gotta hand it to you, Vet," came Twilight's voice. "That was gutsy."

"I can't believe that worked," remarked Four. "It was so stupid yet kind of genius."

"That's how I get most things done," replied Legend tensely, cradling his arm while he fought through the pain.

"Hyrule?" came Time's voice.

Legend whirled around to see Hyrule hurriedly placing a lit bomb in front of the far wall, and then running through the opening it made.

"Hey!" Legend forced his body after Hyrule, ignoring the searing pain in his arm.

What he found on the other side of the new opening, was a C of blocks, and four of the weird statues, all positioned around what he knew the moment he saw it was a shard of the triforce. The magic radiating off of it was unmistakable, and even if it wasn't, Legend knew the golden texture of the thing far better than he should. The one thing he didn't know, was which piece of the triforce it was a shard of, but that wasn't overly important right now. What was, was Hyrule staring at it and having an internal meltdown play across his face.

"Kid, talk to me. What's going on up there," began Legend.

"...It's–... I can't–... I can't leave it! But I can't take it either!" blurted Hyrule.

"Why can't you leave it?" asked Legend, although he was pretty sure he knew the answer.

"Because it's completely vulnerable here! We've just killed every monster and cleared every obstacle stopping anyone but a Link from just walking in and taking it!" explained Hyrule. "We even left them the map, compass, and item! So I can't leave it, but if I take it, then I won't get it when I come through here for it if that hasn't happened yet in this timeline! If I don't have that shard, Ganon wins. If anyone else, who would most likely be loyal to Ganon, gets it before I do, I won't be strong enough to scale Death Mountain, so Ganon wins."

S***. Legend was afraid he'd say something to that effect.

"...Wha–"

"And the portal's gonna be here any second, so I don't exactly have time to try and find a solution."

"What?!" exclaimed Legend. "You felt a portal coming and didn't tell us?"

"I was a little preoccupied thinking about this," responded Hyrule in frustration.

"Hyrule, Legend," came Time's voice from the opening, and Legend almost jumped. "We could use you both out here. Wild's in bad shape and–... Please don't tell me that's what I think it is."

"If what you think it is is a shard of the triforce, then you'd be right," replied Legend casually.

"Time, are they coming? What's taking so long in here anywa– OH MY GODDESS, TRIFORCE."

Thanks for that, Wind, really helping the situation.

"Did someone say triforce?" came the rancher's voice.

Nah, why not? Lets just get everyone in here to see.

"Uh, Hyrule?" questioned Wind. "That is a shard of the triforce, isn't it?"

Hyrule nodded.

That was about the time Four entered the room, "Oh, s***."

"Language," reprimanded Time.

"No, I think he's actually dead on," stated Legend. "We can't take it, and we can't leave it. Also the portal should be arriving any second."

"Double s***," whispered Wind.

"Language."

"Not helping, Old Man," snapped Hyrule.

Now sure, Legend hadn't known Hyrule for very long, but he was pretty sure that the kid didn't exactly snap at people on the daily to hourly basis that Legend did. Especially not at Time.

"Does anyone have anything beneficial to solving the problem that they would like to share?" asked Legend.

"...We can't guarantee a positive outcome, so we have to choose the path with the least detrimental repercussions, and hope that those left with the consequences of our actions can rise to the task set before them," proclaimed Time.

...Chill, Old Man, this wasn't supposed to be an exposition dump, no matter how wise that was.

"Hyrule?" prompted Legend.

"...Taking it is the best option. I can't let it fall into the hands of Ganon, or some random person who stumbles upon it. I'll still have a fighting chance, no matter how small, of winning without it, so I just have to hope that what I have is enough without it," stated Hyrule.

He crossed to the shard and picked it up, instantly becoming surrounded in a glowing light and pulsing power, before the shard faded into his hand.

"Guys," came Warriors' urgent voice. "There's a portal out here!"

They all hurried back to the boss room, or, in Legend's case, stumbled along clutching his arm with a yellow and brown splotched dragon tooth sticking through it. Once he was through the opening connecting the two rooms, Legend saw Warriors and Sky beside a still unconscious Wild, laying in almost the same position he had been after sliding down from being thrown against the wall. There was also a concerningly large pool of blood beneath him, and a silent, pulsing, black portal hovering a few inches from the ground in the center of the room.

Time spoke first, "Captain–"

"I can't move him, yet," stated Warriors.

"Sorry to burst your bubble, Captain, but if we don't move him the portal will," reminded Legend.

Warriors gnawed on his lower lip, "He has puncture wounds from two of those teeth, which are still in him because the teeth fractured, probably when he hit the wall." He let out a tense breath. "He has bits of the broken teeth inside of him. If we move him it'll make everything worse, and I'll have to try and get them out fast before he bleeds out internally. Which I am not qualified to do."

"We have to move him anyway," pronounced Four, face set in a hard line. "If we don't, the portal will drop him on the other side."

"What if there're monsters on the other side, or nowhere suitable for us to treat him?" questioned Twilight tensely.

Warriors shook his head, "Then you'll all have to guard me, him, and someone to help me, while I try my best to get the broken teeth out."

"I have steady hands," stated Four. "If you instruct me in what to do I can do it."

Warriors nodded, "Someone help me get him positioned."

Legend started forward.

"Not you, idiot," remarked Warriors. "Someone who doesn't have a dragon tooth through their arm."

Stupid ancient dragon teeth. They probably broke inside of Wild because they were so old and brittle.

After a minute Twilight had helped position Wild in Warriors' arms, which was when Legend felt the pull of the portal spike, and he stumbled towards it.

"Everyone go through in order of least injured," called Time. "Be prepared for a fight, but also to help the Captain get Wild somewhere safe. Four, you stay at the back with them."

Everyone nodded hurriedly and formed up. Determination etched in each of their faces.

They were not going to lose a frien–... They were not going to lose a companion today.

They went through the portal.

Chapter Text

Time's boots landed on thick grass as he stepped out of the portal. He had been the first to go through, as he'd not seen any combat against the dragon. His goals were simple. He needed to establish a perimeter, and find the best place for Warriors and Four to operate on Wild. There were no immediate enemies, so he scanned the landscape, as the bright sun assaulted his eye.

When his eye adjusted to the blinding light, he was met with the sprawling, green, cow filled back pasture, of Lon Lon Ranch.

He was home.

He should have been happy. He should have been over the moon at being home. He'd feared that he might never make it back, after all. But he couldn't let himself sink into that joy, because he might not be when he so desperately hoped he was.

Time could be home, yes, but he could also be years before or after his home, or in an alternate timeline of events, based off of Hyrule's dungeon. He couldn't worry about that right now, though. He needed to get Wild to the house as fast as possible. Even if it wasn't his time, Malon or Talon would allow them to treat Wild there. The only real cause for concern was if Ingo was in charge again. That might get messy...

Time moved away from the portal to make way for the rest of the boys.

That was the calf that he'd delivered last spring, while Malon was taking milk into town... The strip of fence that often needed repairs was fixed, just like it had been when Time left... He could just see the section of roof on the nearest barn that he'd redone last month...

Twilight and Wind stepped out of the portal, weapons raised. They sheathed them as their eyes adjusted to the bright sun, and Twilight said worriedly, "Time, shouldn't we be trying to find a place for Wild? We could try those barns. Or see if someone's home in that house?"

"Relax, Pup, Wild's going to be fine. Welcome to Lon Lon Ranch," responded Time.

Twilight stared wide eyed at him, as Sky and Hyrule came through the portal, followed by Legend. A moment later Four emerged, with Warriors holding Wild just behind him.

"He woke up during the portal," informed Warriors, and Twilight hurried to Wild's side.

"Bring him this way, Captain, quickly. This is my home, Lon Lon Ranch, we have supplies in the house," explained Time quickly.

Time led the way through the pasture quickly, heading toward the gate closest to the house. Warriors followed behind as fast as he could, his brow knit with worry and tension, while Twilight kept pace with him, murmuring to Wild to keep him calm, and make sure he knew what was happening. The rest of the boys flanked protectively around them, despite the peace of the cow pasture.

Once when Time glanced back at them, he took in how rough they all looked, barely suppressing a wince. Sky was limping badly with a nasty looking burn wound on his right leg, and he held his right arm in his left against his torso –it had a long bleeding cut down it. Hyrule's tunic was ripped from his right shoulder to opposite hip, but Time didn't see any injury. He must have taken a quick sip of potion at some point during or after the battle. Hyrule also had a burn on his left hand, the only show of it affecting him being a slight tremor through that arm. Then there was Legend, with a gnarled dragon tooth sticking straight through his left arm, just below the elbow. He held it against his body with his right hand, but his face was set in a mask of unfeeling, and his stride was steady. Legend also had a tear through the right sleeve of his tunic, and a cut with a slow stream of blood underneath. Wind and Four looked like they'd been in a scuffle, which had been from them dodging and darting around the dragon in order to freeze it to the floor of the dungeon. Twilight and Warriors didn't have any physical injuries, but both had Wild's blood drying on their hands and staining their tunics, Warriors with far more then Twilight. On top of the injuries, every one of them was covered in a layer of dirt and grime from the dungeon, and looked disheveled and tired. But each of them soldiered on, marching stoutly around Warriors and Twilight with Wild, stubborn determination felt in every step.

When they reached the gate of the pasture, Four ran past Time and undid the latch, holding the gate open for them all to quickly pass through. Time trusted him to close it properly, and continued hurriedly towards the house.

He took the few steps up to the front porch in a single stride, and practically threw the door open, not even waiting to see the inside of the house before yelling, "Malon!"

Upon reflection, knowing that this very well might not be his time, he shouldn't have called for her. He'd never be able to forgive himself if he'd vastly misjudged the time period that they were in, and a young girl saw the state they were all in, especially Wild.

"Link!" came Malon's voice, and a moment later she ran from further in the house, into its main room, which the eight boys were pouring into behind Time.

It was her.

It was her. She was real. She was his. She was here. She was safe... He was home.

Malon's eyes swept over the scene in an instant, and her eyes widened for less then a second, before hardening, and the sweet, gentle woman he'd known his whole life, transformed into the fearless warrior.

"Bring 'im this way. Set 'im on this table here. You there, there's sedatives in the cupboard. Second from the left on the bottom. Fetch me some rags, boy, they're in that closet. Someone get the water boiling. You, sit down. You'll be a greater hinderance then help before we get ya seen to. Link, get my kit, and you, tell me why there's still two giant teeth stickin' out of 'im," commanded Malon.

As she issued orders to the boys she cleared the large, stout, wooden dining room table in mere moments, and helped Warriors and Twilight transfer Wild to it. All of the boys jumped to their assignments as soon as she issued them, but they all looked up when she called Time Link, and it took some a moment to realize she hadn't been talking to them. Time quickly grabbed her medical kit from one of the kitchen cupboards and handed it to her, realizing that there had almost never been a time when this kit had been used that he wasn't on the receiving end of it.

And he wished he was now. He wished horribly that he had been the one to take the blow to threaten his life... not Wild's. But instead he had just had to stand back and watch as Wild's body was thrown into the stone wall of the dungeon, to slide in a crumpled heap to the ground. Even then he didn't get to enact revenge, or help the situation in anyway, because there wasn't room, and the boys in front of him moved first.

Well, he'd done his share of not getting to help today. It stopped now.

"Help me get his tunic off," ordered Malon to Twilight. Then to Warriors. "Start talkin', knight, while there's still life in us all."

"Is this the right sedative?" asked Sky, holding up a small bottle.

"They're dragon teeth. He was grabbed by the dragon from its back and thrown into a stone wall. The teeth fractured inside of him, which is why I haven't removed them," explained Warriors in a tense military cadence.

"Yes, that's the right one. Are you trained in field medicine?" questioned Malon at Sky.

"Yes, Mrs," replied Sky.

"Then knock 'im out already," said Malon, as she and Twilight carefully removed Wild's tunic, not wanting to damage it anymore than it already was, or cause Wild unnecessary pain.

"Here're the rags," informed Wind, holding a stack of folded cream clothes.

"Set 'em on the chair there, dear, and go outside with your friend once he's got that water boiling," responded Malon.

Time knew the reason she wanted the younger ones out, but he also knew how Wind responded to being treated as less than the rest of them.

"I'm not leaving Wild!" retorted the sailor.

"Wind," stated Time seriously. "You and Hyrule go outside. They need space to be able to work. Four, you stay, we'll need your steady hands."

Wind stared furiously up at Time, and opened his mouth to argue, when Legend grabbed ahold of his arm and started dragging him towards the door. One look from the vet to Hyrule had the young teen following behind, although he looked anything but happy about it.

"Water's boiling!" announced Four, and carefully brought over a steaming pot.

"You've got steady hands?" inquired Malon.

"Yes, Mrs, I'm a blacksmith. I'm not the best at sewing, though," replied Four.

"If you can get the shards out of 'im I'll do the sewing," assured Malon.

"Just tell me what to do," said Four.

Malon, Warriors, and Four worked miracles on that table, with Time, Twilight, and Sky assisting when needed. They successfully removed every broken shard of dragon teeth from inside of Wild, and Malon sewed the wounds closed with the steady hands that only come from experience. They needed the wounds to be closed so that when they released a fairy she didn't have to worry about stitching them shut herself, she could just focus on putting all of her energy into the damage underneath. The first puncture wound had been on the left side of Wild's abdomen, just to the side of a fresh line of new pink skin, which Warriors told them was where Wild had been impaled the day he met him. The second wound site had been the right side of his chest.

When they had finished, and the fairy had done her work, Malon, Warriors, and Four went to go clean up, while Twilight and Sky wrapped fresh bandages around Wild, and Time dabbed red potion onto the gash down his calf, and slice down his shoulder. They would give him another potion to drink once he woke up to help with the blood loss, and anything minor that the fairy had to leave, but Time wanted to prevent further blood loss from his lesser injuries too, and he was still knocked out from the sedative, so best to get it over with now.

When Malon, Warriors, and Four returned, Time, Twilight, and Sky left to wash the blood from their hands too. Upon reentering the dining room, Time saw Warriors and Four standing around awkwardly, while Malon started putting things away and returning the room back to normal.

"You'n the rest of your companions can all take turns using the bath. Goddess knows you all need it. If any a you don't wanna wait, though, there's a pond out back with a fair bit of shrubs that give privacy," informed Malon. "An' help that other boy treat his arm with the tooth in it. If you need any potions just ask. We've got plenty."

"Thank you for you hospitality, Mrs, and helping us treat Wild," said Warriors, and Four nodded.

"It's my pleasure, boys, now go'n tell your companions where they can bathe. I want every one of you freshened up and respectable before dinner, ya hear?" responded Malon.

"Yes, Ma'am," chorused Warriors and Four, and left to go outside to find the others, followed by Sky.

Twilight stood beside where Wild still lay on the table, his brow still knit with worry as he watched Wild's chest rise and fall steadily.

"You go on too, dear," said Malon gently, putting a hand on his arm. "He's alright now. He just needs rest."

"...I can't leave him alone," stated Twilight quietly. "I couldn't imagine what it'd be like... waking up from this alone in a strange place..."

"I'll stay right here with him, dear," assured Malon soothingly. "He won't be alone when he wakes. But you need your rest too. Goddess only knows how long it'll be before you boys get some again."

"But–"

"No buts, you need your rest same as he does. You'll be no good to anyone without it. Go," insisted Malon.

"...Thank you for everything," responded Twilight, before giving Wild's sleeping form one last look, and heading for the door.

Time waited silently until he heard the front door close behind Twilight, before looking to Malon. She met his gaze with eyes full of worry and sadness that she'd hid from the other boys, "Oh, Link... why are the Goddesses doing this to these poor boys?"

"I don't know," he responded quietly. "But they're like me, Malon. All of them. They're all heroes of courage named Link."

"I was afraid you'd say that. But that don't make it right. Where were y'all before coming here? And are you still being taken by portals?"

"Yes," answered Time. "We're all tethered to the portals, and we have no control over when they come or where they take us. We just spent the day in one of Hyrule's dungeons from his first quest. The dragon that did that to Wild was the final boss."

"...But if one of you'd already been through once, why was there still a boss to fight?" questioned Malon, her brow furrowed in thought.

"We don't know. Everything in the dungeon was as if we were the first ones to come through, but according to Hyrule that's how it was when he came through, too. We don't know how or why, but we tried to leave things as unchanged as possible, though there was only so much we could do."

"Which one's Hyrule?" asked Malon.

"The third one who left. Thin, with the ripped green tunic," answered Time.

Her face twisted, and she said quietly, "How did that boy beat a dragon that did this much to all of you, if they're all heroes like you like you said?"

"It was enhanced," responded Time. "We've been facing monsters with black blood. It makes them stronger, faster, smarter, and much harder to kill. And with that fight we could only have a few fighting it at a time because the dungeon room was too small."

"I see... Do you know your objective for this quest?"

"No. We just go wherever the portals take us and fight whatever we can find. Usually enhanced. Or we collect another Link. We just picked up Legend three portals ago."

"Which one's Legend?"

"Red tunic. The one that dragged the youngest out with a dragon tooth through his arm," responded Time. "We call him the veteran."

"Why's that?"

"He's very experienced with adventuring. Even made me feel like I didn't know a lot when going through that dungeon. I think he's seen far more quests from the Goddesses than any one person ever should," replied Time.

"What made you realize that?" inquired Malon gently.

"...I know what makes a man react the way he did to a quest showing up at your door."

"But he could only be..."

"18. That's the most disturbing part."

"Sweet Hylia," whispered Malon.

"There's also... something that you should know... about one of the boys."

"Later," stated Malon, recomposing herself. "You need rest just as much as the rest of them. I'll stay here with Wild. You take your turn in the bath, and if you want something to keep your hands busy when you're done you can go muck out a couple stalls for me."

"Thank you for helping him," responded Time. "Will you be okay cooking for so many? I can send any of the boys to help you."

"I think I can manage. If I need any extra hands I'll holler. Now go, and take a carrot so Epona knows you still love her," said Malon with a warm smile.

Time offered her a small smile in return, and went to their room to change out of his armor.

*****

Hyrule's gaze jerked to the side from where he'd been sitting atop a wooden fence, and he watched Legend descend the steps from the front porch of Time's house, carrying something scrunched in his hands. Legend had refused help from the others in dealing with the dragon tooth through his arm, and not even accepted a potion from Malon, instead drinking one of his own. Hyrule selfishly wished he'd been offered one. Warriors had said that any of them could ask for one from her, but Hyrule would never dare ask for one.

He wouldn't be a burden and take precious potions from her. She had already helped save Wild, which was more then any of them could hope to pay back. Hyrule would try to... but he wasn't sure what he could do to pay her back. Taking her potions definitely wasn't it, though.

Maybe Legend knew what he could do to help pay her back.

Legend knew everything.

Hyrule still couldn't quite fathom that the Hero of Legend from countless myths and folklore, was the guy about twenty feet away from him, turning the corner around the side of the farmhouse.

But he was Hyrule's best bet at coming up with some was to repay Malon, so Hyrule hopped off of his spot on the fence, and jogged after the veteran.

When he caught up with him, Legend was skirting through a thicket of shrubbery and bushes, through which Hyrule could just make out what looked to be a small body of water.

"What'd you want, Kid?" asked Legend absently.

"Um... what're you doing?" questioned Hyrule timidly.

"Why do you care?" replied Legend defensively.

"I don't!" said Hyrule quickly, worried he'd offended him.

"Good... Give me your tunic."

"What?!"

"Give me your tunic," repeated Legend. It wasn't an ask, but it wasn't an order either.

"...Why?" asked Hyrule.

"Kid, have you seen it recently? That dragon just about ripped it in half, not to mention the other two dozen tears and holes that it already had. Hand it over."

"What're you going to do to it?" questioned Hyrule.

"Fix it," stated Legend.

Hyrule looked down at his tunic. It really was in bad shape. But it'd been in bad shape for years. It was his original, and only tunic. Zelda had mended it for him on more than one occasion when it'd gotten really bad... like it was now. But just, giving it, to Legend? What if–

"Hyrule, I already gave you this talk. I'm not going to steal your f***ing s***. If I did, there's nowhere for me to run where a portal won't find me, and you can incapacitate me with your stupidly large magic supplies anytime you please. Hand it over before the wind finishes ripping it in half," said Legend.

Hyrule hesitated. Legend's reasoning was good, but he didn't just want to hand over his tunic. It did need to be fixed at some point though...

"Oh, for f***s sake. If you're that paranoid you can watch everything I do to it. Happy?"

It felt wrong. It felt so wrong, but Hyrule carefully pulled his tunic over his head, and handed it to Legend.

Legend took it from him with surprising care, before turning around and dropping it into the pond.

"Hey!" exclaimed Hyrule.

"Kid, there's more dirt than fabric on that thing at this point. And you– ah, why the f*** not."

Legend suddenly stepped behind Hyrule, and shoved at him, hard, catching him off guard, and sending him face first into the pond.

Fear gripped Hyrule's heart like a vice, jolting it up into his throat. This was it. He was going to die here. The hero he'd looked up to, idolized, and listened to every bit of history –true or not– that he could find, had tricked him into trusting him, just to betray him here. They were a decent ways away from the others. They might not even hear him scream, if Legend managed to keep him under the water of the pond. Would they even come if they did hear him scream? He wanted to think so. To hope that since joining them, they had come to value him even a little. They wouldn't make it in time even if they did come. Hyrule had no chance of escaping, much less beating, the Hero of Legend in a fight. He'd done pretty well against him during their sparring yesterday, but Legend had surely been going easy on him.

Out of all the ways he'd imagined himself dying, this was without a doubt one of the most laughable. He felt shame fill every bone in his body at how naive he'd been, and how easily he'd lowered his guard, and how he'd allowed himself to be lulled into trust.

He'd failed. Hylia, Zelda, and his entire kingdom had trusted him, believed in him, to keep not only the triforce, but his blood from Ganon's loyalists. He might have failed all of them, but he was not going to go out without a fight.

Hyrule resurfaced with his eyes squeezed shut, coughing up water as his feet made purchase on the murky bottom of the pond. His eyes stung, but he forced them to reopen despite it –needing to see how Legend was going to follow through on murdering him. He felt something hard hit his forehead before splashing into the water just in front of him.

When his eyes focused, he saw Legend at the pond's bank, scrubbing vigorously at something blue, while red radiated out from it.

...Legend hadn't just turned on him and tried to kill him.

...He wasn't about to die, and fail everyone.

...So why had he done that? And what had he thrown at him?

Hyrule looked down –as he fought to regulate his breathing from the adrenaline– and saw a small rectangular object floating in front of him. He tried to pick it up, but it slipped right out of his hand.

"What is this?" he asked as slowly as he could, trying to make his voice sound normal.

Legend's hand stilled in his scrubbing, and he looked at Hyrule in disbelief.

"You're joking, right? This is another one of your jokes?"

Hyrule stared back blank faced at him.

"...That's soap, Hyrule. Soap. You rub it on yourself without clothes in the way to get clean. Can you do that?" asked Legend, as if that was something basic that everyone did.

"...I guess? But why?" questioned Hyrule.

"Why? Because Malon wants everyone to be not covered in a layer of grime, or in your case a few thousand, before dinner. If I sent you to the bath I think you'd clog the drain, so you're going to bathe here."

"This is what they meant when they said Malon wanted us clean?" questioned Hyrule.

"Yes. If you give me your other clothes I can wash those too," offered Legend absently.

Hyrule immediately started removing layers.

"Not here!" exclaimed Legend. "Go behind those branches, the water should still be deep enough."

Hyrule shrunk in on himself at having done something obviously wrong, but waded over to the area Legend pointed to, before throwing Legend his discarded clothes.

*****

Far too long later, Legend finally allowed Hyrule out of the pond, after he'd all but scrubbed himself raw trying to pass for "Clean". He'd realized during the process that he had in fact seen soap before, it'd just looked different to Legend's, and being a luxury item, he couldn't remember ever having a need to use it.

After what he'd just experienced of it, Hyrule now classified the stuff somewhere near the plague.

Legend gave him a simple cream tunic and brown pants to wear, saying that his needed to dry, and have about five dozen holes and tears fixed, too. Hyrule didn't challenge him, just accepted the clothes and started away from the Goddess forsaken pond as fast as possible.

"Could you go ask Time if they have a clothes line somewhere?" asked Legend, carrying a bundle of Hyrule's wet clothes in his arms back towards the front of the house.

"What's a clothes line?" questioned Hyrule.

"Not important. Just go ask," replied Legend. "And you might want to start with your name. You look pretty different without your normal clothes and all that dirt gone. Not to mention your hair."

"My hair?"

"Yeah, Kid. It's blonde. Which is a little different to the brown it was just a little bit ago."

"I have blonde hair?!"

"Yep. Dirty blonde if you wanna get technical, but give it a few more washes and who knows."

Hyrule started fidgeting with his hair.

"It looks fine, Hyrule. You match with the rest of us. Now go ask Time about the clothes line before your things get permanent wrinkles," said Legend.

Hyrule jogged off away from Legend, around to the main area of the farm.

"Holy Hylia!" Hyrule turned towards the sound of the voice, and saw Wind running up to him, a wooden sword in his left hand. "Hyrule, is that you, buddy?"

"Yeah," replied Hyrule, feeling his face redden. "Legend made me take a bath in the pond."

"Woah, I wish my hair changed color like that!" exclaimed Wind, practically bouncing around Hyrule to see his hair from all angles.

"Not like that you don't, Sailor," called Warriors from where Wind had run from. He was in a fenced off area, with a wooden sword identical to Wind's in his left hand.

"Do to! You wanna come spar with us, Hyrule? It's really fun knocking the Captain on his ass. He gets this funny look and everything!" pronounced Wind.

"I could say the same things about you, Pirate," retorted Warriors.

"Um... thanks, but Legend told me to go ask Time if they had a clothes line anywhere," responded Hyrule.

"Boooorrrring," stated Wind. "Well, if you decide you want a bit of fun in your life, come join me in wrecking the Captain's ego."

"Hey! You've only beaten me two more times than I've beaten you, and you cheated on the first one!" called the Captain.

"Did not! And that was lightwork... child's play! I won't go easy on you this time!" yelled back Wind, and took off running back towards Warriors.

Hyrule turned away as Wind took a running leap at Warriors –swinging his wooden sword towards the Captain– and headed into the nearest barn. He had no idea where Time was, but he'd seen Four and Twilight go into the various barns throughout the ranch earlier, so they must have been allowed to look inside, and maybe Time was doing farm things in one of them.

In the second barn Hyrule checked, he found Four working intensely on something, his body blocking it from Hyrule's view. Four's head whipped around at the sound of the door, but he relaxed when his eyes landed on Hyrule.

"Thank the Goddesses, I thought you might be Wild," said Four, turning back to what he was doing.

"Isn't he still resting?" asked Hyrule. If Wild had woken up Hyrule wanted to see him as soon as possible.

"Hopefully," replied Four. "Nice hair. I thought it was strange that the rest of us had blonde hair but you had brown. Guess it was just the dirt. Do you know where we are in the bath rotation?"

"No," said Hyrule, approaching Four tentatively. "Legend made me bathe in the pond."

"Smart," commented Four absently.

"What are you doing?" asked Hyrule timidly.

Four shifted to reveal the giant glowing red blade that Warriors had brought back to the stable after his first interaction with Wild. It was sitting on a large metal table that Four must have moved to the center of the barn, which seemed to be mostly used for storage.

"The binding on this thing was awful," informed Four, as if he were revealing a shameful bit of information, while he continued working on the binding around the hilt. "And the enchantments are all lackluster. They work, but don't set this thing on a wooden surface unless you don't want it anymore."

"Uh..."

"The weight's all off, too. I seriously have no idea how Wild fought efficiently with this thing. The whole left side of the blade was basically just a hunk of enchanted metal. I'd be amazed if it ever had a decent edge. Well, maybe a few centuries ago it did, the thing's ancient after all, but it should serve Wild well now... there!" Four stepped back from the table, admiring his work for a moment, before he turned to Hyrule. "Would you mind helping me move it? It's a bit cumbersome for just one person, and, ya know... wooden barn?"

Hyrule agreed, and the two carried the massive blade out of the barn and into the yard, where Time spotted them from one of the pastures, and headed their way.

"Where're you two taking that thing?" he asked as he approached.

"Somewhere Wild won't find it," answered Four. "I want it to be a surprise for when he's back on his feet."

Time nodded, "You can hide it in mine and Malon's room. Last door on the right in that small hallway. I'd check to make sure he's not awake before taking it through, though."

"Thanks," responded Four, and started forward again with the blade.

"Wait!" said Hyrule, halting Four. "Time, Legend wanted to know if there was a clothes line anywhere?"

"There is, where did you see him last? I'll show him where it is," replied Time.

"He was coming back from the pond, that's where I left him."

Time nodded and left in that direction, and Four and Hyrule continued lugging the giant red blade towards the house.

*****

A short while later, Four and Hyrule descended back down the porch steps, Wild's blade safely stowed in Time and Malon's room.

Four took a moment to scan the farm for other Links, while Hyrule hovered behind him. Wind and Warriors were sparring in a small pasture. Twilight was lunging a pinto mare in a round pen, while Time observed from the other side of the fence, a hint of a smile on his lips. Sky was asleep on the ground, propped up against a round bale, and Legend was sitting under a tree at the edge of the ranch, bent over something in his hands. Hyrule's clothes blew gently in the breeze on a clothes line between two barns a short distance away.

"Come on, let's go spar! I've been itching to show the Captain who's boss!" said Blue excitedly. "What about Sky? He did a lot of fighting in the dungeon and that dragon fight was awful! We should help get him inside to a bed where he can rest," sympathized Red. "We should ask Time if there are any chores that we can help with," reasoned Green. "I need to read up on divergent paths, temporal displacement, and brush up on theoretical physics, then I ne–" "WE KNOW, VI," chorused everyone except Red, including Four. You've been reminding us about every two minutes, thought Four, knowing that that was all that was needed for the others to hear him.

"Do you know what Legend's doing over there?" asked Four to Hyrule.

The young teen shook his head.

"Come on, we can tell him that the bath's open. He's not doing anything physical like the others to make the effort pointless," responded Four.

Four set out across the yard, his eyes set on Legend and his strides firm, leaving little room for argument from the colors. They instead filled his head with grumblings, and in Vio's case, ramblings, about why each of their preferred pass time should have been chosen.

Legend glanced up at them as they approached, but went right back to focusing intently on the blue object held in his hands. As they got closer, Four realized it was fabric.

"What're you up to over here, Vet?" asked Four.

"Fixing things," replied Legend absently.

"What thing–" the words died in Four's mouth as the fabric in Legend's hands shifted, and Four saw the pattern embroidered on its front. "...Is that Wild's tunic?"

"You got something to say about it?" asked Legend defensively.

"No," stated Four, and sat down beside Legend. After a moment, Hyrule sat down too.

Four took a closer look at what Legend was doing, "I wouldn't have thought of you as someone who embroiders."

"Tunics don't fix themselves," said Legend, his brow furrowed as he moved his needle through a complex pattern to replicate the exact stitching that should be on one of the sections of tunic that was torn by the dragon teeth. Four could see three large rips in the fabric –two from where the dragon teeth had impaled Wild, and one that he'd had in his tunic since meeting them– that Legend had sewn shut.

"How did you get the blood stains out?" asked Four suddenly, remembering the state of the tunic when it was taken off of Wild.

"Practice," answered Legend.

A Red stab of sadness pierced Four's heart, but he knew that Legend hadn't meant it that way. He'd gotten much better at getting blood stains out over the years too, but there was always still a tinge to the fabric, not like the fabric of Wild's tunic now, which all looked identical in color.

"You'll have to show me how you get it looking that good sometime," remarked Four.

"You'd be better off asking Hyrule," replied Legend. "That tunic was covered in a lot of things, but there wasn't a spec of blood on it."

"Really? What's your secret, Hyrule?" asked Four.

"Uh– P–Practice," stammered Hyrule, suddenly nervous.

"...We can ask Sky if he can dry it once you're done, Legend, though we'll have to get him awake first," said Four, quickly changing the subject.

Legend nodded, still bent over his work.

"It's gonna be a great surprise for him after he wakes," continued Four.

"When," stated Legend.

"When?" questioned Four.

"When he wakes up."

Four glanced over at Hyrule, and the teen shrugged. Vio again reminded everyone of his need to read up on temporal and theoretical somethings, so Four finally caved and let Vio take control to pick out a book from their pouch, and settle in to read. Hyrule tried stubbornly to stay awake watching Wind and Warriors spar in the distance, but before long his eyelids were drooping, and one of the next times Four glanced up, he was dozing against Legend's shoulder.

*****

Pain.

Wild floated through his muddled mind, trying to piece together reality, so that he could come back to it.

Pain. Floating. Hard surface? Cold... why would he be cold? He was never cold waking up in Zoras Domain. They had water beds... he never woke up cold. He never woke up on a hard surface either... unless he hadn't made it there... He could be anywhere... anywhere meant danger... someone could be in danger because he couldn't wake up!

Wake up! His body wasn't responding to his commands. He couldn't move. He couldn't fight. What good was he if he couldn't fight? Had he failed again? Was he back in the shrine? Was this how he would exist here for another century before he could try again?

No...

NO!

Wild's body clenched, before it was wracked with harsh, grating coughs. Over the sound of it he could just make out someone's voice, talking to him soothingly.

The voice was gentle... Mipha? No... she was... dead. Zelda? It didn't sound right... he missed Zelda... he needed to get back to her...

The coughing finally subsided, and by the time it had, Wild had forced his heavy eyelids to open, revealing the woman who had been speaking to him. He had never seen her before, but she had a kind smile, and made him feel safer just by being there.

"There, there, dear, you're alright. My name's Malon. I'm Link's... I think you call him Time? I'm Time's wife, and you're in our house on our farm. You're safe here, Link," said the woman gently.

Wild just blinked back at her. Time's wife? He was in Time's time? But they had been...

It started coming back to him. The dungeon, the dragon, nothing was working, they were getting nowhere, he needed to take it down before someone got seriously hurt by it... pain. He couldn't remember much after that. Cold... voices... the Captain... Warriors was there... got him out... got him here... saved him... didn't try to kill him...

"You remember everything, hun? Everyone keeps asking after you. They worked real hard to get ya here and taken care of, so you can rest for as long as you like."

Wild wanted to say something. Anything. Thank you, can I see them, are they okay, where are they, is the dragon dead... but nothing would come.

Malon seemed to realize his plight, "Would you like a glass of water, dear?"

He nodded, and she briefly disappeared from his vision, before reappearing with a glass in her hand. She helped him to slowly sit up, which was when he realized he was on top of a dining room table, with a kitchen just adjacent to it. He drank the water slowly, but his throat still wouldn't work, and the words wouldn't come.

Malon searched his face in obvious worry, then her eyes widened and she whispered quietly, "They're like me... all of them." She then raised her hands and signed, "Do you speak like this?"

Wild wasn't sure, still feeling pretty groggy, but he thought he felt his face light up as he signed back, "Yes, this is how I speak most of the time."

She smiled warmly at him, "The other boys wanted these to be near you when you woke up."

She pointed to the space on the large wooden table next to where Wild sat, and he saw his Champion's tunic, folded neatly, with his slate on top of it. He tried to reach for his slate and felt a spike of pain, instead accepting it gratefully when Malon handed it to him. Wild checked his inventory, weapons, food, everything was the same as it had been. He then looked down at his tunic, and Malon handed it to him. Wild let it come unfolded in his hands, and saw that it looked brand new, how he'd always imagined it looked the day that it was given to him. He ran his thumb over the area of fabric that should have been a gaping blood soaked hole at his abdomen, and found only a thin, almost invisible, line where the two edges of fabric had been resewn. When he checked the top –where he he'd been impaled on the right side of his chest– he found the intricate embroidery perfectly redone to match the other side. There wasn't a lingering tint or stain of blood anywhere on the fabric of the tunic. Even some of the old stains that Zelda had spent hours trying to get out were gone.

"Who fixed it?" he asked Malon in astonishment.

"Well, I don't know for sure, but the one you all call Legend came and took it, after I nearly beat him senseless for not explaining why, and then he and two of the others came a little bit ago and left it here next to you. They'd almost left when the young teen ran and got your... item off the counter and put it on top," responded Malon.

"Young teen?" questioned Wild.

"Hyrule, I'm pretty sure. He looks real different cleaned up with a different tunic on."

"Hyrule? CLEAN?!"

"Oh, just wait'll you see his hair!"

*****

"Wild!" Wind sprinted across the length of the small house, skidding to a stop beside Wild. He was sitting in a chair at the large wooden table, which had been set for ten people.

Wild smiled and signed something quickly at Wind, which after only a beat of silence Malon translated to, "He wants to know where you've been."

"Oh! I've been kicking the Captain's ass in sparring! Once you're better you've gotta come take a turn," said Wind excitedly.

Wild nodded happily before Wind felt two large hands take hold of his shoulders and start steering him away.

"Hey!" he exclaimed, and looked over his shoulder to see Time. He tried to resist, but the old man was too f***ing strong. Time steered him two spaces down from Wild at the table, before giving him a light shove onto bench.

Rude old man.

"Find a seat, everyone. We're short two so you'll have to get stools," pronounced Time.

Four and Sky quickly returned with two stools, and squeezed them next to the two wooden benches on either side of the table. Malon started to pick up a giant pot of soup to carry from the kitchen when Twilight ran to her aid, insisting on letting him carry it. Before long they were all sitting around the large wooden table, Time at the head, Malon at the foot, and the rest of the Links crammed on the sides, three to a bench and a stool on each side. Malon's beef vegetable soup was delicious, and they each got a piece of bread that she had made the day before with fresh farm butter.

It was a rowdy dinner –as all dinners should be– and where Wind had been expecting Malon to be all serious and boring like Time, she was right there with the rest of them, joking and laughing. Wind didn't notice it until later on, but he realized that she had been slowly making her way around the table in conversation, not missing a single Link, and spending time talking to each of them. She asked all kinds of questions, but she also knew every question not to ask. Not once did she ask one of the Links about their quests, or Twilight about the markings on his face, or Four about why his eyes changed colors, or why Legend hadn't removed any of his gear, or Wild's scarring. She asked about everything else, all of the other things that made them unique, and after half paying attention to her talking to Sky, Wind was pretty sure that by the end of the meal she would know more about one of them then they knew about each other combined.

The dinner eventually wound down, though, and soon they were all crashing in the small living room, taking advantage of every inch of the space in front of the fire. Currently, the couch included Sky, Time, and Wild, who the adults had insisted get a place on the couch, and not the floor. The floor consisted of Four, Wind, and Hyrule. Warriors and Legend had both brought over the stools from dinner, and no one had dared take the lone armchair, leaving it for Malon and insisting she take it.

"Time, I can go and feed the horses. You all take the night off," said Twilight, standing beside the couch.

"Oh, that's very sweet of you, dear, but I can do it. You boys need the night off more than I do," replied Malon.

"Really, Malon, I'd like to," responded Twilight.

"Give it a rest, Rancher, you don't have to earn your nickname every hour of the day," remarked Warriors.

Twilight shared a quick glance with Time, before the old man said, "If you want to do it then go on, and I'd appreciate it if you checked that mare's hoof that I was telling you about."

Twilight nodded, saying, "Sure, see you all in the morning if I don't catch you before you turn in."

With that the rancher left, and Wind, Warriors, and Time started teaching Hyrule how to play a card game, while Legend and Four bent over a book about three times too large, discussing something seriously, and Malon and Wild had a signed conversation about something. Sky just dozed in his spot on the couch.

...Man, Wind really needed to learn sign language. Occasionally one of the others would chime into Wild and Malon's conversation with something, or agree with something they said, while Wind was left completely out of the loop of what was being discussed!

It was just wrong, your honor... wrong. In every definition of the word "Social", Wind was being disrespected.

A short while after Twilight left, there was a small high pitched whine from the front door of the house, followed by a soft thud against the wood.

They were not loud, nor threatening sounds, but Wind is not exaggerating when he says that every single Link in the room either snapped their head to the door, sat bolt upright, leaped up from where they were sitting and into a fighting stance, or, in Legend's case, all of the above and drew his sword and shield, which had still not left his back the entire evening.

Wind was personally in the sit bolt upright and snap head to door group, thank you very much.

The only one of them who didn't react to the sounds was Time. The blank faced bastard just set down his cards, and took a leisurely stroll over to the door. When he opened it, they were all met with a gigantic grey dog with blue eyes, and blue earrings.

HOW IN THE NAME OF HYLIA DID THIS DOG HAVE EARRINGS, BUT WIND DIDN'T?!?!

"Do any of you know this wolf?" asked Time casually.

Wild's hands started moving at about ten gestures and symbols a second. Wind didn't understand a word of it, but he was starting to get dizzy just watching. Time did, though, and gestured to the dog, inviting it in. The big dog took exactly one step, before an arrow thudded into the floor between its front paws. Everyone whipped around to see Legend, another arrow already nocked and the string drawn tight, his frame tenser than the bowstring, and his face white as a sheet.

"What the f*** was that for, Vet?" exclaimed Wind.

"That dog takes one more step and he's dead," said Legend, his voice hard and grating as he spoke.

"Do you know him?" asked Time seriously.

"No, but you're all mad if you trust a wolf enough to just waltz into your house," replied Legend.

Wild's hands were going again, but Legend kept his eyes locked on the dog in the doorway.

"It's just a dog, Legend," said Four.

"No, it's not," said Malon suddenly. "It's not just a dog for you, is it?" She rose from her chair and started crossing slowly to where Legend was standing, as if he were an animal ready to bolt. "Somethin' horrible's happened to you with dogs. I saw the way you was eyeing Bo from across the yard earlier."

She was close to Legend now, her face full of sorrow and empathy.

"...You've been hurt by them... on a quest no doubt. Which one was it?"

The entire room was pin drop silent, and as still as if they were frozen in time. The only one not effected by it was Malon, who waited patiently for Legend to respond.

"...First."

"I'm so sorry that that happened to you, dear," said Malon quietly, and placed her hand on Legend's shoulder, not on the bow still drawn and pointed at the wolf in the doorway. "You don't have to explain anything to us if you don't want to. I think I can honestly say that everyone in this room knows the feeling of a horror that still haunts you... though none of you should."

"...We should have a word for it," whispered Sky, but through the silence everyone surely heard it.

"A word?" questioned Malon gently, turning to Sky.

"To let others know that something's a trigger for us. We just say the word, and everyone knows not to question how or why it's a trigger. I know that a lot of my triggers from my quest don't make sense, and even if they do, they're not from things I enjoy retelling," explained Sky.

"I think that's a wonderful idea. Anyone have any suggestions for the word?" asked Malon.

No one said anything for a minute, before a lightbulb of genius switched on in Wind's brain.

"Quest Thing," he pronounced.

"'Quest Thing'?" echoed Four.

"Yeah, because they're something bad from our quests, and 'Thing' can mean anything!" replied Wind.

Wild signed a serries of motions, "What'd he–"

"'So, Legend has a Quest Thing with dogs?'" translated Time.

The vet nodded stiffly.

"Alright, since Wild knows this wolf and that he's friendly, Legend, is there anything we can do to help you?" asked Malon softly.

Legend shook his head.

"Is it alright if we let him in so long as he doesn't go near you?"

Legend thought for a moment, his eyes still on the wolf with his bow still trained on it.

He nodded once.

Time again gestured the dog in, who had somehow had the brains to stay perfectly still in the doorway after Legend's first arrow, but now plodded slowly into the room. He made straight for Wild, and rested his head in his lap, which Wild began stroking rhythmically. After a minute Wild looked up at Legend and made a single sign.

"Wha–"

"'See?'" translated Hyrule.

Legend had lowered his bow slightly, but the arrow was still pulled taught. Malon turned back to him, her hand still gently on his shoulder, "Can I get you somethin' to drink, hun? Maybe a nice cup a tea?"

Legend flinched, jerking away from her touch as if he'd just realized it was there, and walked off hurriedly towards the front door, taking the path around the couch to not get near the dog, and plucked his arrow from the floor as he left out the front door. Time –who was still standing beside the open door– didn't stop him.

Sky started to rise from the couch, but stilled when Time said, "Don't. He needs space. He'll come back when he's ready."

"Not if the dog's here he won't," commented Warriors.

Time looked to Wild with the big dog, who it was obvious was making Wild feel better from his injuries and blood loss, "He can stay for a little while, Wild, but then we should all turn in, and I want Legend to feel comfortable sleeping here. We've all had a long day."

Wild nodded, and the dog woofed softly, as if it understood what Time had said.

The rest of the evening passed uneventfully, and all too soon Time was telling Wild that the big friendly, fluffy dog that he had aptly named "Wolfie" had to leave for the night. Malon insisted that Wild be one of the lucky two who got to sleep in the guest bedroom on an actual mattress. What a concept. As a full time adventurer, Wind often forgot that the Hylian race had constructed such wonders of luxury.

Sky ended up getting to share the bed with Wild, which left the rest of them to camp on the floor, couch, or armchair in the living room. Warriors laid claim to the couch, the f***ing bastard, prattling on about seniority, seniority, chain of command, blah, blah, blah.

Despite the bulls*** that the Captain used to lay claim to the couch, a miracle from the Goddesses managed to occur. Hyrule laid down to sleep just out of arms reach of Four, not choosing to sleep as far away from the group as possible while still being in the group. Now sure, the living room may have been quite cramped on space, but this was still the f***ing win of the century.

Wind drifted off to sleep that night thinking of fluffy dogs, dragons, how the f*** horses and cows were real things, and every way that he planned to enact his revenge for each match he'd lost against the Captain in the coming weeks.

Chapter Text

Twilight awoke to the happy chirps of early morning birds spreading the day's gossip, and rolled over onto his back. The soft clink of a cup caught his ear from the direction of the kitchen, and he craned his neck to see who was up so early. Time and Malon were moving carefully around the kitchen, and it was Malon whose cup had alerted Twilight to their presence. She was making a cup of tea.

Twilight sat up carefully, and gingerly maneuvered to his feet, standing up on his bedroll on the floor of the cramped living room. He tiptoed quietly over the other bedrolls laid out on the floor around him, all still with sleeping figures in them. Well, mostly sleeping figures. Legend was a little too still to be sleeping, and Hyrule was stiller than a statue. Legend... last night had gone horribly wrong on that front. Twilight had just wanted to comfort Wild as Wolfie. He knew how much his wolf form meant to Wild, and he thought it would cheer him up while he recovered, on top of keeping him still. And it had... after Legend nearly shot him on the spot for being a dog... He wasn't sure how to proceed with it. Tell them all? Or at least tell Legend that he was the dog? No... Legend had proven himself to be a competent hero and fighter, but trusting him with one of Twilight's biggest secrets? Too soon... and who's to say that he wouldn't hate Twilight once he knew, or be scared of him, since he could turn into a giant grey wolf at anytime, which was a reflection of himself. He would just have to hope that he could get Legend to trust his wolf form with time. Maybe Time had some ideas...

Twilight made it out of the living room and into the kitchen, where Malon gave him a warm smile, and whispered, "Link– I mean, Time, said that you got up early. Is there anything I can getcha?"

"Thank you, Malon, but I'll wait and eat with the rest of the boys," responded Twilight quietly.

She nodded with another smile before turning away, and Twilight shot a glance at Time. The old man blinked his single eye back at him, his expression blank. Twilight unconsciously cocked his head in a silent ask, and Time shook his head a fraction of an inch.

He hasn't told her yet... she doesn't know that he's her great, great, grandson.

"You two'd best be outa here," whispered Malon, turning back to Time and Twilight. "The animals don't feed themselves, and the last thing we need is a flock of angry cuccos after our gullets."

Twilight nodded, trying to keep a straight face and failing, while Time looked almost bored, but gave Malon a kiss on the cheek before heading for the front door, Twilight behind him.

Once they were outside and a little ways away from the house, Twilight asked bluntly, "So you haven't told her?"

"No," answered Time. "Haven't had the right chance."

"Right... about last night–"

"You shouldn't be transformed around the group anymore. I know you had no way of knowing that that would happen, but that situation escalated too quickly, and your secret would have been revealed to everyone had Legend aimed a little higher," said Time seriously.

"I know that it was close, but I can't not transform during this entire quest! It's a part of me, and it's useful too, not to mention what Wolfie means to Wild," responded Twilight.

"I didn't say you couldn't transform, just that you shouldn't near the rest of the group."

"...What if Legend grew to trust me?" asked Twilight. They were almost at the horse's barn.

"That would take a lot of time and dedication on both of your parts. Those types of wounds don't heal easily," stated Time.

Twilight fell silent, and focused on helping Time with the morning chores.

*****

A few hours later, everyone was crammed back around the dining room table, steaming stacks of banana waffles piled on plates in the center of the table with pitchers of maple syrup, which everyone was digging into. About halfway through the meal, Hyrule suddenly looked up and –with his mouth stuffed full of sweet, sticky waffles– said, "Portal's coming."

Chaos broke over the table, and Twilight knocked over a pitcher of syrup in his haste to keep Wild from jumping out of his seat. He was doing good in his recovery, but was nowhere near full strength yet, still dealing with the effects of extensive blood loss.

Time, Warriors, and Sky were all up out of their seats in mere seconds, and hurrying around the house gathering everyone's things, stuffing bedrolls into bags and tunics into people's hands. Legend just kept eating his waffles, all of his gear already on him, although he did pull out Hyrule's tunic –which looked brand new– from his pouch and tossed it to him. Hyrule and Wind had entered into a mad rush to eat as many waffles as possible before the portal arrived, shoveling food into their mouths like their lives depended on it. Four was staring at his waffles with a depressed look on his face, before he got up an slung his sword and shield onto his back, then disappeared into the back part of the house. He returned a minute later, lugging Wild's giant red blade behind him.

Wild sat up like an alert deer when he saw it, and most everyone paused to watch the exchange.

"I've been meaning to get this back to you," began Four. "But I haven't had a good chance until yesterday to work on it. Warriors brought it back after you met, and I've repaired it to be as good as new. I know you're not recovered enough to use it yet, but once you are I expect many dragons to meet their end by this blade."

Wild accepted the claymore, and dematerialized it with his slate, before signing something to Four. The scarred teen then materialized his sky blue tunic in his hands, but didn't put it on. He just looked at it, a lifetime of memories and emotions playing across his eyes.

"How did you get that tunic, Wild?" asked Twilight. "Originally I mean."

Wild signed something, and Legend translated, "'Got it when I became the hylian Champion... The others from the other races... didn't make it...'"

"I'm sorry, Cub," said Twilight quietly, and helped Wild put on the tunic, handling it gently.

"Wait, so you're a Champion? What does that mean?" questioned Wind between mouthfuls of waffles.

Wild nodded, and Legend translated more sign into, "'It was one of the highest ranks in the army. A decorated honor given to the best warrior from each of the five races in my Hyrule.'"

"Wow, hear that, Captain? Wild outranks you! He's a Champion," called Wind.

"Wind, this is not the time, stop eating and make sure you have all of your things. And get your sword and shield on!" replied Warriors seriously.

"Ugh," remarked Wind, and made a show of getting up grumpily from his place at the table.

Twilight needed to get his own things, so he looked pointedly at Wild and said, "You stay right there." Before leaving to get his stuff.

In a matter of minutes from when Hyrule told them about the portal, the nine boys transformed back into heroes, and all awaited the coming portal. It didn't keep them waiting long, and blinked into existence in the middle of the kitchen. Malon had been almost completely silent as they prepared for it, but now went around to each of them, hugging some, kissing others on the forehead, and with a few of the less touchy, just a hand on the shoulder and a warm smile. She went to Time last, and the two shared an embrace, before she stepped away and said, "Go on, now. You take care of these boys, and get them home safe." She then turned and pointed a finger at each of them. "That goes for all of you. Take care of each other, and be kind to one another. This quest isn't meant to be fought alone."

They all nodded, and Time said, "Wild, I want you at the back. In the off chance of a fight, get a safe distance away as quickly as you can, preferably to a vantage point if there is one, and give us bow support. That goes for every fight until you're a hundred percent healed."

Wild didn't look happy about it, but he nodded and walked to the back of the group.

"Everyone ready?" called Warriors.

A chorus of yesses, yeps, uh huhs, and Wind's, "Hell yeah!" filled the room, before Time lead them through the portal. Twilight went through just beside Wind.

He wasn't worried at all. If anything he wanted something to fight to blow off some steam after not getting to help in the dragon fight beyond getting Sky out, but like Time said, it was very unlikely that they would portal straight into a fight.

They went through the portal.

*****

The stench, snarls, and screams of monsters hit Wild's senses so suddenly upon exiting the portal that he had trouble focusing for a second, but when he did, he saw that they were completely surrounded on all sides by a hoard of monsters in a large clearing of a forest.

"Nope!" yelled Wind over the din. "Not again! You stay the f*** away from me, Rancher. Never again!"

With that Wind took off into the hoard away from Twilight and the rest of the Links, sword and shield raised in anything but fear.

"Wild!"

Wild spotted Time easily in the chaos, the large armored man towering above the monsters and the other Links, who were beginning to spread out to fight the hoard. Time swung his giant sword, sending three advancing Bokoblins flying through the air, before hurrying to Wild's side.

"Stay close. Use a sword if you have to, but don't push yourself. There's a large tree at the edge of the clearing that should give you a good vantage point."

Wild started to nod, when Time suddenly lunged around him, his blade cleaving the air inches from Wild's body. Wild's hand flew to his slate at his hip in the same moment that he spun, and a Guardian Sword materialized in his hand. His eyes were met with Time obliterating four strange looking Bokoblins who had charged at Wild's unprotected back after the portal vanished. Time was brutally efficient, and Wild was soon following in his wake as he carved a path through the hoard.

"Go," barked Time when they reached his tree of choice, a path of blood and fallen weapons behind them that was quickly being filled by more monsters.

Wild scowled. He knew that this was the plan he'd agreed to, but he hadn't actually expected them to portal straight into a giant hoard of monsters! He felt fine. Really. It wasn't adrenaline. He hadn't almost fallen over when trying to dodge a machete swinging for his face when Time was busy. Nope. If Time was busy and didn't see it, it didn't happen.

Time stared straight back at Wild's scowl with a look.

Wild's composer faltered.

Time pointed a single finger up, his eye boring into Wild while red and black blood dripped off of his sword to the ground.

Wild started climbing.

He'd made it about six feet up when Time left the bottom of the tree to lunge towards a group of Bokoblins racing towards them. There were eight in total. Time's giant blade managed to hit five in its first swing, drawling their attention away from Wild. The other three... not so much. They charged the tree, probably seeing Wild as easy prey.

...They were right.

Wild knew he was nowhere near full strength. What would have been, should have been, an easy ascent up a large, sturdy tree, was frustratingly difficult. His muscles weren't working right. They felt like heavy, limp appendages, and even just supporting his weight was a constant struggle, much less defying gravity and moving up.

...This was not looking good.

He reached up for the next branch, willing his hand to just hold on, and be strong enough to help bare his weight upward. It held –which was good– but it did nothing to stop the three Bokoblins mere feet from the base of his tree.

...This was probably gonna hurt.

The lead Bokoblin leaped, jumping unnaturally high and slicing its sword down Wild's leg. He cried out in pain, the sound coming out all warbled and disjointed, and his body started shaking as he tried to maintain his weak hold on the tree. Hot, sticky blood began dripping from the wound, running down his leg and onto his boot. Bad... Bad... Bad! He needed that. He didn't have enough as it was, and his muscles were only feeling more and more like heavy jello.

The other two Bokoblins it seemed, were not as athletic as the first, and resorted to just jumping weakly below him and swinging their weapons haphazardly. The first one was coming back for round two, though.

Bad, bad, bad.

Think, think, think!

...Time was a fair distance away fighting the other Bokoblin friends...

Wild reached for his slate, panic shooting through him as one of his feet lost its grip and started sliding down the tree at the loss of his hand holding him up. An axe blade nicked the bottom of his boot. Wild wedged his foot into the tree bark, praying that it would be enough to support his weight as his hand fumbled with his slate. An arrow materialized in his hand as the first Bokoblin took another running leap towards him.

Wild dropped the arrow.

...The world exploded beneath him.

Wild clutched the tree and squeezed his eyes shut as heat enveloped him. Fire from the explosion licked up his boots, scorching a path up his legs. He didn't move, he didn't react, he just put all of his focus into holding on. After a few moments, the stifling heat began to dissipate, and Wild slowly pealed his face from the tree bark to see what he had accomplished.

Scorched black earth spread out around the base of his tree, the trunk of which was black, but hadn't caught fire. Fallen weapons were all that remained of the three Bokoblins attempting to reach Wild, and he saw Time cut down the last blue one from the group he'd been fighting.

...Time had a burn up his arm, and scorch marks on some of his armor.

...Woops.

Time turned to face where Wild still clung to the tree as the Bokoblin turned to smoke. The look he gave Wild was... murderous...

Wild wrenched his wide eyed gaze from Time, and redoubled his efforts to get up the tree, just incase the old man decided a verbal reprimand wasn't enough.

"Wild–"

Wild climbed faster, despite the way it made his head spin and his vision swim.

"Wild!"

Time knew he was trying not to listen to him, but at the moment Wild was just trying to keep himself from falling out of the tree. He'd made it to a high enough vantage point to start actually contributing to the battle that the rest of the Links were waging, though, so he needed to start helping them as best he could. Whatever Time had to say could wait.

"Wild, I know you didn't have many options there, but dropping a bomb should not have been your first course of action."

Wild pulled out one of his bows and nocked an arrow, condemning his traitorous head for not letting his eyes focus on anything.

"You shouldn't have been put in that situation this early in your recovery, but please do not do that again. And never when someone else is near you."

Wild drew back his bow string, even through his hands refused to function properly.

"...Wild?"

...

"Wild, did you hear what I said?"

"...Yes."

"Good. I'll try to stay nearby for if you need anything. You can whistle to get my attention, before dropping more bombs."

"...Fine."

"Thank you."

Wild's head was finally starting to clear, and he was able to focus on the battlefield before him. What he saw were the eight most skilled warriors he'd ever seen –even more skilled than some of the Champions– tearing through the giant hoard of various colored, dressed, and acting Bokoblins, as well as a handful of Moblins wielding clubs.

A flash of sunlight off of a blade caught Wild's eye, and he adjusted his bow to find a target in the area. What he saw was Hyrule. The quiet teen was incredibly light and nimble on his feet, darting in fast to deliver strikes, and favoring stabs. He was surrounded on all sides, so there was only so much Wild could do, but when a blue Bokoblin with a machete took a swing from the traveler's blind spot, Wild's arrow imbedded in its throat. Wild nocked another arrow without even thinking, aiming for another one of Hyrule's assailants, but Hyrule suddenly turned, catching the four monsters approaching his unprotected back in a quick swipe of his sword. Wild adjusted quickly, firing two more shots into the monsters surrounding Hyrule that should have been overwhelming him, but weren't. He readjusted his focus at just the right moments, almost as if he had a sixth sense aiding his spatial awareness.

Hyrule was handling himself fine, so Wild scanned for another Link to aid.

The Master Sword was practically a blur in Sky's hand, finding the opening in every monster's guard in calculated, graceful movements. Wild fired four shots around Sky. Two hit their targets in the eye, one in the throat, and another in the hand of a Bokoblin who had grabbed Sky's white cape. The Master Sword decapitated the unfortunate monster not even a second after Wild's arrow hit. Sky's reflexes were beyond impressive, and he was surprisingly light on his feet, which he demonstrated by backflipping out of the way of an incoming swing. An arrow took care of that bastard a moment later.

Sky didn't seem to need his help either.

Wild's eyes found Legend next. He was earning the namesake the Captain had given him, his shear level of experience shining through as he fought. He had his sword in his left hand and a glowing red rod in his right, which was streaming fire into the faces of any Bokoblin foolish enough to get within range of him. Wild fired off a couple shots at the black blooded Bokoblins who weren't instantly dying to the fire like their red blooded friends, making sure to take advantage of Legend's fire to light his arrows on the way to their targets. Despite the giant hoard of monsters surging at him from all sides, nothing caught Legend off guard, and he was fast and agile, on top of being incredibly scrappy.

...Maybe one of the younger Links needed help?

Wild scanned the forest clearing for Wind, and found the sailor racing between battles, somehow the fastest out of all of them, running around the battle and cutting down stray enemies. Wild shot seven arrows through and around Wind's sword swings, but he didn't need it. He had the nimbleness and agility that only comes with youth, and a bouncy spring in his step that the others lacked. He also hadn't fallen into patterns and habits like the rest of them. He didn't just adjust his fighting to each scenario and enemy, he adapted, and came up with new ways to attack the problem, or, in this case, the Bokoblin, making it difficult for Wild to predict his next movement and shoot without fear of hitting him.

He had a couple nicks and scrapes, but he was doing just as well as any of the others.

Maybe Time needed backup?

The old man had stayed pretty close to Wild's tree like he said he would, and was using his giant claymore to plow through enemies. Wild shot three offending Bokoblins in the eyes, two in the throat, and he sunk five arrows into a black blooded Moblin approaching Time's blind spot before the old man finished it off, and gave Wild a quick nod of thanks. Then he was right back at it, every swing of his sword deliberate and expertly placed and timed. Because of his large stature and sword, all of his movements were big, unless he was on the defensive, then he seemed to be able to dodge, duck, and block with detailed precision, while using the least amount of time, space, and energy.

...Okay, surely one of the others needed some assistance?

Wild easily found Four in the hoard thanks to his bright colorful tunic, but paused before firing any shots. The best way Wild could easily describe Four's fighting, was a tiny, colorful ball of death. He was light footed and nimble, but because of his size many of the monsters were targeting him, expecting easy prey. Bad mistake. He was scrappy, and fought in very close quarters to his opponents, which caught many of the monsters off guard immediately, as well as Wild. He held his bowstring taught, watching, learning Four's fighting style and habits, and when he was sure he wasn't going to hit the little smith, he fired a shot, which sailed right past Four's head, and into the throat of a Bokoblin. He kept going, hitting more of Four's assailants, and learning how to adjust his shooting to such a close quarters fighting style. It was fun, a new challenge, but after he hit five targets in a row directly in the eyes either around or through Four's sword swings, he figured he should probably check on other Links, as Four was having to move to different parts of the hoard to find more enemies.

*Sigh* Next–

A strip of royal blue scarf whipping through the air signaled the Captain's location. Wild didn't even have to adapt to his fighting style, he somehow knew it inside and out already. Warriors' fighting was traditional with few exceptions, so textbook accurate that they could have written an official book on sword fighting based on it.

...Army... right, that's why he knew it so well. It's what he was drilled in too.

Wild fired off shot after shot without thought, hitting all of his targets dead on through and around Warriors' fighting, but he wasn't really paying attention or thinking about it. His mind was wondering to the few fragments of memories he had of his time in the army, and how those sword moves had been forcefully made his entire life. He was supposed to be what Warriors was... a great Captain in the army. Wild hated thinking about almost every memory he had from that time in his life, but he couldn't argue with the results they had been trying to achieve. Warriors was every bit as formidable an opponent as the other Links, and his skill and precision were impressive, admirable even.

Wild pulled his gaze away after he wasn't sure how many shots he'd hit home.

He scanned the battle again, firing off the odd shot, before his breath caught, lodging in his throat as he watched a Bokoblin with a rusty axe approach Warriors' blind spot, while three other Bokoblins fought him from the front. The tip of Wild's already nocked arrow flew towards him across the battle, only for him pivot, decapitating the axe wielding Bokoblin with a single short swing from his sword. Wild exhaled as his arrow thudded harmlessly into the trunk of a tree behind the monster's puff of smoke, his heart working to regulate itself, only to see Four's colorful body go flying through the air above the battle, crashing into a tree. He hadn't even had time to process and aim in the smith's direction, before Four was up and running for the Moblin whose club had found its mark.

Wild breathed in and out again, feeling slightly faint, when an undoubtably familiar snarl caught his ear.

...He was in a hoard of nothing but snarling monsters... why–?

Oh.

It wasn't a monster.

It was Twilight...

*****

He really should've been careful what he wished for...

A snarl came from behind Twilight, and he rolled on instinct, pivoting in the same motion that brought him upright to face his newest enemy. A Bokoblin, green, wielding a machete and wooden shield, with four blues and another green flanking it. The blue ones only held sticks as weapons. They were still Bokoblins, but they were different. They had snouts, arrow-shaped tails, three fingers, and a single horn coming out of their foreheads. They wore rough, tattered, mismatched clothes, but each had a belt with a small scull as the buckle. The lead green snarled again at Twilight, raising its machete in obvious challenge, while its cronies salivated at Twilight as if he were a piece of meat they couldn't decide how to butcher.

He snarled right back at them, sinking lower than necessary into his fighting stance, and unconsciously baring his unnaturally sharp canines at them.

...He was glad the others were all busy with their own battles...

The lead Bokoblin screamed, and it and its cronies charged. The lead green swung straight for Twilight's head, but he dodged, pivoting away and swinging his sword for one of the blues. It blocked with unnatural speed, sending a jolt through Twilight's arm, although the force of his strike almost cleaved the Bokoblin's stick in two. Another blue took a shot at his ribs, and he slammed the elbow of his shield arm into his side to block the blow, at the same time the other green's machete came for his throat. His shield was busy, so he had no choice but to strike with his sword, attempting to disarm the Bokoblin in the same maneuver that was also saving his neck. It didn't work. The move had been improvised as he wasn't used to fighting machetes, and the Bokoblin's grip held firm. He did –thankfully– still manage to redirect the blade away from decapitating him.

The sound of quickly displaced air behind him alerted Twilight to the lead green's next attack, and he rolled around one of the blues, intending to use it as a meat shield, and performing a Back Slice for good measure, seeing as he had a free opening. Black blood gushed from the wounds, and dripped from his sword onto the forest floor.

Well, crap.

The blue screamed in rage, swinging wildly for Twilight with its stick in a barrage of fast, hard strikes. Twilight was forced to retreat, taking the brunt of the blows he couldn't dodge on his shield, as the other four Bokoblins flanked on each side, surrounding him again. The lead green called out a series of snarls and odd sounds to the others, then what sounded like a command. Two of the blues –on opposite sides of Twilight– charged, while the others shifted to cut off his exits. Twilight held his ground, waiting until the two blue were right on top of him, and turning to face the one just ahead of the other. It swung for him just as he expected, and his shield met its stick mid swing in a Shield Attack, knocking the Bokoblin off balance. He didn't wait even a second, before leaping up over its head and performing a Helmsplitter, just as he heard the second blue's stick cleave the air where he'd been standing. He came out of his flip and kept going, stabbing through the guard of the green who was trying to block his escape, just as white hot pain erupted across the back of his right shoulder and upper back, the force of the blow, combined with a kick to the back of his knee a moment later, sending him careening forward.

Straight into the black blooded green he'd just enraged by stabbing.

His stumble knocked him into the green, and through the pain across his back and shoulder he didn't think fast enough to keep himself from going down. He hit the ground with the Bokoblin beneath him, and adrenaline and fear spiked through him as his brain realized the position he was in. On the ground, with a thrashing black blooded Bokoblin wielding a machete beneath him, and its five friends above them, currently moving to attack his completely exposed back, which was already burning with pain.

He missed his simple ranch life sometimes...

The only thoughts passing through Twilight's mind over the panic, were to get something between himself and the five enemies above. Then he could deal with the one on his level. He grabbed onto the front of the Bokoblin's battered clothes beneath him, and threw all of his weight to the side, clenching his hands around the material, and pulling. He knew he was throwing away his advantage of being on top, and giving it to his opponent, but he was betting on– yep. A squelching thud sounded from above him, and the green Bokoblin –now on top of him– writhed and screamed, due to the machete that Twilight could see imbedded in its back.

Now to get free, and back on his feet.

Just as Twilight was about to make his next move, an arrow streaked through the air, hitting the Bokoblin on top of him in the back of the head.

Wild.

It squealed in pain and rage, and Twilight didn't waste his opportunity, planting his feet on the ground beneath him, before thrusting his hips upward, and kicking his right leg over his left shoulder in the same continuous motion, rolling with his created momentum, and throwing the Bokoblin off of him. He came out of his roll to see that when he sent the Bokoblin into a roll, it had pushed Wild's arrow further into its skull, and a moment later it dissolved into black smoke as Wild's arrow dropped to the ground. Twilight had no time to celebrate his unintentional success –with Wild's help– as the five remaining Bokoblins –now even more enraged– lunged for him. He leaped up to face them –done being outnumbered on the ground– and only just had his feet underneath him, before one of the blues swung for him, and he pushed off into a backflip, gaining him both a dodge and extra distance. He utilized the small gap he'd created immediately, grasping his sword in both hands and holding it up by his shoulder, the blade facing skyward. He held the position for as long as he dared while the five remaining Bokoblins rushed him. He wasn't used to doing this move on so many enemies...

At the last possible second, Twilight threw himself forward, leaping towards the Bokoblins and swinging his sword with as much strength as he could muster with a shorter build up than usual. The force of his strike and the technique he used in his Jump Strike sent the five Bokoblins flying backward, and exposed two of the blues to have –thank the light spirits– normal red blood. Twilight didn't wait for them to recover, and leaped forward again, bringing his sword down through the heart of the lead green where it lay on the ground. He smirked as it dissolved into smoke around his sword. Time had named it the Ending Blow for a reason.

As he rose and turned, two more arrows hummed through the air, striking the red blooded Bokoblins before they regained their feet, and turning them to smoke. All that remained were two black blooded blues, and the first one up took one step towards Twilight, only for a boomerang to hit it square in the head, followed by Wind's sword through its middle. A quick exchange between Twilight and the last blue left him joining the sailor in a quick surveillance of the rest of the Link's battles.

Only Hyrule, Sky, and Time were still fighting the main hoard, the others, much like Twilight, had cleared out their area of monsters. There were only a few stragglers on the outskirts of the forest clearing, which were quickly being taken care of by Four, Legend, and Warriors. Wild was still offering bow assistance to Hyrule, Sky, and Time whenever there was an opening. The forest clearing was covered in smears and pools of both black and red blood, as well as all of the monster's dropped weapons from when they fell.

Wind and Twilight ran to help with the remaining monsters, and before long the forest was still and quiet, the only remaining life in the clearing being the nine Links.

"Well, that was fun!" pronounced Wind, as they regrouped in the center of the clearing.

Four raised an eyebrow.

"Ya know, for a bunch of retired heroes of courage, that wasn't half bad," mused Legend.

"Did he just compliment us?" asked Twilight.

"Sounded like it," said a breathless Sky with a smile.

"I didn't say it was good, just that it was decent for a bunch of retired guys," retorted Legend.

"Who're you calling retired?" questioned Wind, reeling back in dramatic offense. "I'm in my peak adventuring years, thank you very much."

"I think what Legend is trying to say is that for those of us who haven't been on a quest in a while, it's impressive that we've still got it," deduced Four.

"Well, I agree. That was an impressive performance from everyone. It's obvious that we're all incredibly formidable fighters on our own, but our ability for teamwork is still lacking. We were lucky that those were all easily defeated foes, even when enhanced. Against greater adversaries we would not find ourselves so easily victorious," stated Warriors.

"Break down the battle later, Captain. We have wounded," said Time calmly but seriously.

Time, Warriors, and Sky moved throughout the group, assessing injuries and offering any assistance needed in treatment. Mostly they just proscribed a few sips of potion. The most severe wound was a gash down Four's arm, which Sky cleaned, before Four downed half a potion.

"That was some incredible shooting, Wild," said Twilight, trying to distract him while Time inspected a gash on his leg he'd gotten trying to get out of the hoard and up a tree.

Wild signed something, and Twilight was happy when he at least recognized the words "I", "You", and "The".

"He said, 'It was pretty easy. The hardest part was predicting your next moves so I didn't hit any of you guys,'" translated Hyrule, who was standing a few feet away, having just told Warriors four times that he didn't have any injuries.

"Easy?! You call that kind of shooting easy?!" questioned Twilight.

Wild shrugged, then accepted a bottle of potion from Time.

Time took a quick assessment of the group, and upon seeing everyone's wounds seen to, said, "We should find a place to set up camp. Does anyone have any knowledge on a good direction to go?"

No one did, so they decided to head north, most of the usual pairs falling into a steady march, while the loners walked at the back or off to the side.

*****

"I'm concerned for the group's safety," admitted Warriors, keeping his voice low.

"I know," said Time simply, his face blank, and his strides steady.

"It's obvious that we've been fighting lesser enemies. Those fought at the beginning of a quest. But what of when we're faced with greater foes? Had that portal not taken us to just outside your home... I don't like to think what might have happened," continued Warriors, his eyes on a constant sweep of the forest ahead of them. "These boys aren't soldiers, Time, they're not used to following orders and having the trust needed to fight in a group."

"They're heroes," stated Time. "They only follow orders from their closest companions, if even then. They lack trust because the life of a hero teaches them to, and there's no point in working in groups when you're Hylia's chosen hero, and only you can achieve the goal before you."

"But we're all Hylia's chosen heroes, we all lack trust, and we're all being forced to take on this quest together," replied Warriors in frustration.

"Exactly," responded Time. "We're all coming from relatively the same place, just varying degrees of extremity, and different experiences shaping us."

"How are we meant to help them when we don't know what those experiences were?" questioned Warriors.

"Patience," answered Time. "Patience with each other. Never undervalue their reluctance. Within this group any mistrust has most likely been caused by very real breaches of it in the past. You of all people know the scars betrayals can leave."

Warriors flinched, but didn't argue.

"No cooperation or genuine effort in learning how to work together in combat will be achieved in this group until there is trust. Don't ask them to run before they can walk," continued Time.

"...What about in the war? You and Wind adjusted pretty fast to fighting with the rest of the army," countered Warriors.

"We were young. We didn't have the scars some of these heroes bare, and we were still the vast minority. We were still revered as Hylia's chosen heroes, and treated as such on the battle field. We weren't surrounded by piers of greater or equal strength, who had a high likelihood of killing us should they want to, if we lowered our guard."

"Alright, you've made your point. How do we get them to trust each other?"

"Time."

*****

Wild walked doggedly at Twilight's side as the group traversed the forest. He was tired. And cold. Unnaturally so. Blood loss, probably. That was what the others had said yesterday. He wanted something to do. Walking was boring. He kept trying to drift to the side of the line of heroes, wanting to look at a flower or mushroom, but each time Twilight dragged him gently back to walking. Walking... Walking... Walking... His muscles didn't feel right. They were tired, and felt like boulders. He didn't like it. Walking was usually enjoyable. His favorite days were when he did nothing but wander. But now every step was a struggle, an effort, each heavier than the last. Despite his fatigue, his hands couldn't keep from fidgeting, so he pulled out his slate. Everything was the same as it usually was. He hooked it back on his hip.

Wild wished he could talk to someone. Scratch that, he wished he could sign with someone. His throat was not up for a full conversation, and his mind had been a little fuzzy since waking up in Time and Malon's kitchen yesterday. Words and social cues were a lot on a good day. Today was... not that.

He glanced around the procession of Links. Time and Warriors were talking in the front, giving off the "Don't bother us" energy of a bee hive. Whatever they were discussing was the honey, and on a normal day Wild would have been thinking up the best –or most fun– way to nab the prize. But today? He'd be lucky if he made it to wherever they decide to set up camp on his own two feet.

Sky was the next Link behind them, and was humming a high, bouncy tune, even though his feet were dragging slightly. Wild liked Sky now, despite his Master Sword obsession. He was nice. But he didn't know much sign yet. He was trying to learn. Wild could tell he really tried to pay attention whenever he was teaching the others, but there was no chance of having a conversation with him using it for some time. Four was walking a few paces to Sky's left, and the oblivious Skyloftian didn't seem to realize that the little smith was muttering intensely under his breath, his face knit with the concentration of someone trying to solve a vexing problem. He was giving off the "Don't bother me" energy of a hornet's nest. Wild had had enough pain and suffering over the last twenty four hours, thanks.

Next came him and Twilight, with Hyrule off to the side. The traveler wandered up and down the line of Links like a lost puppy trying to find a warm place to sleep. He flitted through the trees like a summer's breeze, yet was as on edge as a mouse in a wolf's den. He was by far the best at signing, besides Time, but walking at a steady pace following behind Sky was hard enough. If Wild tried keeping pace with Hyrule he was likely to end up in the dirt. If he didn't run into a tree or trip, the exhaustion brought from not doing those things, and keeping pace with Hyrule would see Wild passed out on the ground.

Wind was making his rounds, talking with everyone about something, except for Wild, and he was wisely avoiding the live nests of Four, Time, and Warriors. Wild knew that Wind wanted to talk to him, he just didn't know how. He'd already tried earlier –near the start of their trek through the woods– and Hyrule had had to translate everything Wild said, which didn't make for an enjoyable conversation. Wind had vowed to learn sign language after that, and begged Legend –who was decidedly at the very back of the group of Links– to teach him. Legend had given him a flat stare, and signed, "F*** off."

Wind had watched his hands as if they told the instructions to find buried treasure, and asked in awe, "What does that mean?"

Legend didn't even take his gaze off of the forest ahead of them, he just said, "No."

Wind's face had lit up, and he'd ran through the rest of the line to Sky, saying excitedly, "Ask me to tell you what my deepest, darkest secret is!"

"Uh, what?" replied Sky in bewilderment.

"Come on, Sky, ask me to tell you what my deepest, darkest secret is!" pleaded Wind.

"Um... Could you tell me what your deepest, darkest secret is, Wind?"

The sailor, with the most serious grin plastered on his face, had signed an almost perfect replica of Legend's, "F*** off."

Sky just smiled and nodded like a good sport, beautifully oblivious to what was actually happening. Wild had nearly tripped over a protruding root in his struggle to contain his laughter, and Hyrule had had to hold onto a tree as silent tears ran down his face. When Wild finally recomposed himself, he'd glanced back at Legend, seeing the undeniable hint of a smirk of chaos. Wild knew that smirk all too well, it was the same smirk he got after setting in motion something truly magnificent. Whether Legend had intended to or not, he'd created a monster.

Wild tapped Twilight on the shoulder, then pointed to himself, before gesturing over his shoulder with one hand, and making a talking motion with the other. Twilight glanced back at Legend, who was walking with a firm distance between him and the others, and nodded, smiling warmly.

Wild fell back until he was alongside Legend, but the vet didn't acknowledge him in the slightest. Guess if he wanted to talk to someone to keep himself awake and distracted he was going to have to put in the work.

"Thank you for fixing my tunic. I don't let many people even try cause they'd just mess it up," signed Wild.

"I was already washing and mending Hyrule's things," replied Legend simply, as if Wild didn't know that Legend had gone out of his way to get his tunic from Malon, and that the embroidery wasn't incredibly complex, unlike Hyrule's tunic, which didn't have a strand of embroidery to speak of.

"...You really think Wind's not serious about learning sign?" continued Wild awkwardly.

"I think that he thinks he's serious. Teaching that kid's going to be a nightmare, and I'd really not like to start while walking through a random forest."

"'Going to be'?"

"I promised you that I'd get all of these idiots speaking and understanding sign by the end of the week. I don't intend to break that promise."

"...Are you still going to try and leave us once you've done that?"

Legend didn't respond for a minute, but then signed, "I don't think the portals would let me."

"But would you? ...If you could?"

Legend's expression hardened, and after a moment he said, "If I thought it would keep you safe."

*****

Four marched along with the group without complaint, despite having to take almost two steps for some of their singles. He was fine with it, though, since his mind was running circles around the puzzles and mysteries of this quest that continued to expand.

"You thought they were going to lessen? This is a quest from Hylia, you know she likes to make things as confusing as possible for us. Quests are like little in home movies for her," ranted Blue. Everyone was a little agitated ever since Vio wouldn't shut up about temporal variants and branch timelines after talking with Legend last night. "Because you all aren't taking this seriously. By our even existing in this time, a time where we have no way of knowing where in time we are, we are changing it. It's already branched in ways we have no chance of predicting. You can't undo us being here. It's–"

"WE KNOW, VI," screamed everyone.

"Knowing the ramifications of what we're doing, and being able to change them, are two different thing," reasoned Green. "We don't get to choose where in time or space we're sent. The portals do."

This argument had been going on all morning, and all of last night, and if Four had to guess it would probably still be going on tomorrow morning, if not sometime into next week.

While Vio was busy rambling about all of the temporal disasters they were probably causing, Four was still stuck on the why. Why were they being sent to each point in time. Why were they sent to an impossible time in Hyrule's era, but then Time's present directly after. There was no way it was random, but if it wasn't random that meant that someone was pulling the strings, creating the portals. Whoever that was was getting to play God with their lives. They could kill all of them at a moment's notice if they wanted, or save them, like sending them to Lon Lon when Wild was injured. "But they helped us save Wild, surely that means they're a good person. They're looking out for us!" said Red.

It was definitely possible, but there was something else at play. Why send nine heroes of courage to one of Hyrule's dungeons in an alternate reality? We didn't even do much. All we did was go through the dungeon, something that Hyrule is more than capable of doing on his own.

"A twelve year old Hyrule wouldn't have been able to beat that dragon. Three of us struggled to take it down, and that was after Wild was down, and Legend had his stupid idea," remarked Green.

...But how did it get there in the first place? How are any of these monsters becoming enhanced? And how are they being moved through time? There were two different types of Bokoblins in the hoard earlier, which Four was willing to bet were from two different Link's eras. And not all of the Bokoblins were black blooded. Some were normal. And only the final boss –the dragon– in Hyrule's dungeon was enhanced.

Something wasn't right... There was something that they were missing...

*****

They finally stopped walking and set up camp in a small clearing in the forest. Time and Warriors had been wanting to find some sort of water source if they could, but their luck seemed to be running dry. Twilight had started to leave their forming camp when Warriors stopped him and asked where he was going. He said that he was going to patrol the area surrounding their camp, and to not worry about waiting for him if he wasn't back before dinner. Warriors had shot Time a glance, and the old man nodded once, giving his approval. Then Twilight was gone, lost among the trees. Before long they had a fire going, and Wild was instructing Legend and Wind how to cut the vegetables while he stirred a large steaming pot. Hyrule sat a little ways away, watching, his mouth watering at the smells coming from the pot, which only continued to grow.

Before long Wild started chopping a large piece of meat into cubes, and Hyrule kept trying to think of what animal could have given suck meat. The biggest animal that wasn't a monster that he'd ever seen were those weird "Horses" and "Cows" on Time's farm. Did people eat those? What would one taste like...

Wild was about halfway through cutting the meat and adding it to the pot, when an excited bark came from the edge of their camp. Hyrule leaped up, his sword and shield drawn in an instant as he spun to face down the monster, his heart rate spiking.

The only monster there was the giant grey wolf from last night, wagging its tail excitedly.

"Wolfie!" signed Wild happily, and hurried to meet the huge wolf like it was one of his oldest friends. If what he'd said last night was true, Hyrule supposed it was.

Wild ruffled the hair on top of the wolf's head affectionately, signing, "You hungry, boy? Dinner's cooking now, but I've got a gourmet bone with your name on it!"

The wolf woofed, and fell in at Wild's heel as he turned back towards the fire. That was when Wild saw Legend.

Every line of the vet's frame was rigid, and the knife he had been using to chop vegetables was gripped in a white knuckled fist. He was still seated by the fire, but he was poised to bolt at a moment's notice. His eyes were wide and locked on the wolf, fear shining bright. He spoke through gritted teeth, "I thought we'd established the meaning of a Quest Thing."

"We did," stated Time, shooting a disapproving look at Wild and Wolfie.

Wild scowled, raising his hands to sign, "He's harmless! Wolfie wouldn't hurt a fly... unless it was evil."

"What'd he s–"

"Later, Wind," snapped Warriors, although Hyrule was pretty sure he couldn't understand sign yet either.

Time's gaze didn't lessen, but Wild stared defiantly back, until Time said, "We made an agreement, Wild. Quest Things are to be taken seriously, and not questioned. If Legend wants him to leave, he leaves."

Everyone turned to Legend. The vet studied the wolf for a solid minute, and its blue eyes stared back at him, awaiting judgment. Finally, Legend stood up and walked robotically to the edge of camp furthest from the wolf, muttering, "He can stay."

It was a tense evening after that. Wild finished dinner and gave Wolfie the large bone from the meat, which he chewed at Wild's feet, while the rest of them ate steaming bowls of stew. Conversation was short at best, a mixture of trying to interact and talk about Wolfie to prove if he was indeed harmless, and talking of anything but Wolfie to try and lighten the mood. Neither worked much.

Hyrule himself wasn't opposed to Wolfie being there, he just didn't like it much either. He was a predator, no doubt a terrifying one when he wanted to be, and Hyrule just couldn't get past the rows of sharp, bone crushing teeth. None of the others seemed to have that problem. Wind adored the big wolf, and Four, Sky, Time, and Warriors all petted him at some point. He was smart, too, like Wild had said, and left about ten feet between himself and Legend at all times, on top of moving slowly, with no sudden movements, and being incredibly gentle and polite with the other Links. He'd tried to approach Hyrule, but seeing the moment his eyes jumped wide, and his hand twitched towards his sword, he had thankfully kept his distance.

"Time to turn in, everyone. We had a big battle today, and no way of knowing what tomorrow will bring. I can take middle watch," informed Time.

Wild immediately raised his hand, but Warriors said, "Not tonight, Wild. You're still recovering. Let the rest of us handle the watches."

Wild looked ready to argue, when Legend suddenly spoke, his voice tight, "I'm taking first."

Time nodded, "Sky, would you take third?"

Sky hesitated a moment too long, but agreed, and before long they were all climbing into bedrolls. Hyrule unrolled Legend's old bedroll to the left of Time, but even though he left a considerable gap, he could hear the quiet conversation that took place between him and Warriors.

"I know that Twilight can handle himself after seeing him in the battle this morning, but are you sure we shouldn't go looking for him? He could have found more monsters, or been ambushed. It's never a good idea to be patrolling at night when you're alone," reasoned the Captain.

"Your concern is noted, Captain, but like you said, he's capable. He asked me about it earlier, before he left, and I told him to be back by middle watch at the latest, which is why I volunteered for it. If he's not back by the time I'm supposed to wake Sky, I'll wake both him and you, and the three of us will go searching. Legend or Wild would then take Sky's watch until we return," said Time quietly.

Warriors responded with a curt, "Understood," and returned to his own bedroll a couple places down.

Hyrule turned to glance over at Wild, and saw the Champion lying on his back, with Wolfie laying directly next to him, his head resting on Wild's chest, while Wild absently ran one hand through Wolfie's fur. The other hand was signing to Four, who had picked up on understanding Fairy Sign incredibly quickly, but was still having trouble speaking it back. Hyrule sighed and rolled over, putting his back to the wolf. He instantly regretted it. His skin crawled, and anxiety spiked through him. He was back on his other side –facing towards Wild and Wolfie– hardly a minute later. It was more doable on that side, but there was still some primal instinct telling him to run, to hide from the predator.

He wanted to.

He wanted to give in to his instincts and run as far and as fast as he could away from not only the giant wolf, but the eight heroes around it, too. Running felt safe. It was what Hyrule knew. He didn't know how to be with others. He didn't know how to trust.

But he wasn't going to run.

Time had given him the choice to run that first day, the choice to let the fear control his life. But he'd stayed. He'd chosen to stay then, and everyday since, putting his life in their hands. He wasn't about to let a stupid wolf ruin that.

Hyrule clamped his eyes shut, fighting to control his racing heart beat, and fear infested mind as the camp and forest sounds quieted around him.

Chapter Text

Zelda's pure laughter rang out over the breeze like a bell, chasing the flowers swirling through the air. Sparkling rays of sunlight shone across her long golden hair, illuminating her already bright face, so that even in the nearly blinding daylight, she looked almost ethereal. She smiled at him, warm and sweet. Happy. They were standing atop the statue of the Goddess on the Surface, Link's back to the open air, and Zelda's to the stonework. Her hands came up, and she playfully spun him around, just like she used to when they played together as kids. When his body turned away from hers, and he blinked his eyes back open, a scream caught in his throat.

Darkness spread out beneath him in a bottomless pit, inching, crawling its way up. Its way out. It infested anything and everything that it touched, leaching the land dry of life and light. Then the scratching started. The clawing. Monsters of every shape, color, and size, all dragging themselves from the pit, following after the life sucking darkness. Something was wrong with the monsters. Their eyes were black, and soulless, with dark veins branching out from them. Their hands were shriveled, and leached of color to a lifeless onyx. The monsters clawed and climbed over one another like zombies, using the bodies of others simply as foot and handholds to ascend steadily out of the pit.

Link tried to scream. He tried to scream over, and over again as the monsters climbed closer, and closer, until they were mere feet below where he stood at the mouth of the pit. But his throat wouldn't make a single sound, and he realized that he couldn't breath either. They were so close... they had reached the top, and the horrible, black, soulless eyes of the highest monster bore into Link's own. He didn't even know what type of monster it was. It reached its long, zombie arm with its black, shriveled hand up, stepping on the top of another monster's head to reach, and grabbed onto Link's boot.

He couldn't move. He couldn't scream. He couldn't move. He was helpless to the mob of monsters about to suck the life out of him...

The monster's long, gnarled claws dug into the leather of his boot, cutting deep, and he couldn't move. The monster started pulling, taking his foot over the edge for others to grab onto. The sea of black, shriveled hands reached up, grasping at air as his boot was brought into range. Link squeezed his eyes shut, waiting for the pain, for the abyss of darkness, for all of the light to be drained from his body, until he too had black, soulless eyes ringed by dark veins. Something gave a quick tug on his shoulders, and he felt himself spin back around.

Link opened his eyes, and light filled his vision. Zelda had her head cocked at him, with the look on her face that she got when his mind betrayed him and floated away into the clouds, leaving her stuck on land.

"Daydreaming again, Sleepyhead?" she asked, her voice joining the chirping of birds, and buzzing of insects.

Link opened his mouth, but nothing came out. He shut it again, remembering the horrors just behind him.

Zelda cocked her head to the other side. "You lost in the clouds again? This is no time to be lost. Time is of the essence. Each day they grow stronger. Power. Power is building. Time is breaking. There is no time to dream. No time to fail. You have to wake up, Link. You have to wake. Up–"

Sky sat bolt upright, taking in sharp breaths of the crisp night air. His heart was pounding, and a cold sweat clung to his skin. It took his eyes a moment to focus in the dim light from the smoldering embers of the fire, but he realized that Time was crouching beside him.

"I'm sorry," said Time, barely even a whisper. "I didn't mean to startle you."

Sky worked to control his breathing, but found the air thick and heavy, the same as it always was on the Surface. The same as it had been since the first portal took him.

"S'okay," he whispered back between breaths. "Wha's wrong?"

"It's your watch," answered Time simply, then took a closer look at Sky. "If you're not able, I can wake the Cap–"

"No."

Time didn't argue, didn't push Sky into explaining anything more, or prove that he was alright. He just nodded once, and got up to leave, only adding, "Wild gave Legend a bag of Honey Candy last night. Legend left them near the fire and said I could have them. They're still there."

With that the old man turned and walked to his bedroll, settling in among the other sleeping Links.

Sky buried his face in his hands, trying to erase the dream from his mind. Not only the nightmare of monsters and life sucking darkness, but Zelda too. His heart already ached each day, longing to see her, to be with her... He didn't want her tied to the horrors of that dream.

Sky raised his head, and a cool breeze swept through their camp, blowing through his hair. It was a chilly night, unlike the other eras they'd been in so far. Despite his still too fast heart rate, and the adrenaline from his dream, exhaustion clung to him like a disease, bogging him down. It'd been getting progressively worse with each passing day of life on the Surface, where he could never take a full, real breath of air. He knew from when others from Skyloft descended to the Surface that it wasn't something specific to him that he suffered from. They had given it the name "Reverse altitude sickness", and everyone from Skyloft who traveled to the Surface suffered from it. His was even a mild case now, since he'd dealt with the worst of it during his quest. He would have, should have, had it easy, but his lungs had been damaged during his battle with Demise. Electrocuted and burned by lighting. Lighting infused with magic, if Zelda's theory was correct, which they usually were.

Sky wanted nothing more than to fall back against his bedroll and sleep until the next portal yanked him awake, but he knew that he couldn't. He was one of the Links old enough to take watches. That was his contribution to the group, his job. He couldn't live with himself if he shirked his responsibilities and freeloaded off of the others just because some things were a little harder for him.

He would not be a burden to them.

Sky took as deep of a breath as he could, and forced his stiff, tired muscles upright. He picked up his pouch, shield, and the Master Sword from where they lay next to his bedroll, and slowly made his way to the fire in the center of their camp. The night air nipped at his face and hands, and a shudder passed through him before he made it to the dim glow and warm of the fire. It was little more than smoldering coals now, but it provided him with just enough to stave off a chill, so he settled down on the ground to keep watch.

A small bag of wrapped candies was there like Time said it would be, probably a peace offering from Wild to Legend. Sky glanced over to Wild's sleeping form to make sure the wolf was still there, but it was gone. He looked quickly to Legend, and saw the vet right where he should be, although whether or not he was asleep was up for debate. A quick scan of the rest of the camp showed Wolfie to be gone, but Sky was relieved to see that Twilight had returned from his patrol at some point during Time or Legend's watch.

He rolled his shoulders, fighting against his mind and body to stay awake and alert, but it was hard. Really hard. His body fought despite him, pulling him down into the sweet abyss of sleep. He jerked his head up when it drooped forward, shame coursing through him at his negligence. He forced his eyes to focus on the fire, where the small bag of candy sat nearby. What had Time said about it? Not much other than where the bag had come from. He hadn't even explicitly said whether or not Sky was welcome to have any. The old man could be cryptic when he wanted to be. But why would he tell Sky where the candy had come from, and that it was still there, if he didn't want Sky to eat any?

He wasn't worried about Wild being upset if he ate any. The Champion seemed to love sharing his food and culinary expertise with the group, even taking some pride in it. It was Legend who Sky didn't want to provoke. He wasn't scared of him in any sense of the word, but he didn't want to anger or annoy him. The vet hardly put up with them all civilly as it was, and the last thing that they all needed was him angry with one of them. Sky knew why the group had the issues that it did, but he wished that they could all be friends with each other despite it. He left the candies alone.

Sky jerked his head up for the fourth time, guilt burning his face despite the cold night air. Had it even been an hour? The sun had yet to start rising, and countless stars still sparkled beyond the foliage overhead. Sky's eyes wandered drowsily to the bag of candy, and his mind replayed the interaction with Time. He was too tired to figure out the old man's cryptic message, and at this point was willing to try anything to just stay awake in order to fulfill his responsibility to the group. Not to mention the danger that he was putting them all in by dosing off while on watch.

Sky reached for the bag of candy and pulled out one of the small spheres wrapped in brown paper. He untwisted the ends, revealing a small ball of crystalized honey, and popped it in his mouth, mentally promising Wild that he would help him find and gather the honey to make more. Sweet sugary goodness exploded across his tongue, and in mere moments his eyes were opening wider, and he felt some of the fog encasing his mind dissipate.

Hope blossomed anew within Sky's heart. He knew that he wasn't capable of staying awake past the exhaustion and heaviness of the air on his own, but with the boost of energy from the candies, he might just make it till morning. He carefully counted how many candies were in the bag, before looking to the moon. If he spread out the candies and didn't let his mind slip away into the rest he so desperately desired, he might yet be able to achieve this impossible task.

He would not be a burden to them.

*****

Dawn broke clear and bright over the world, chasing away the shadows and chill of the night. Sky sat stoutly by the remains of the fire, the bag of candy held in his hands. By the grace of Hylia, he hadn't dozed off since he started eating the candies, and even though his body was stiff, and each muscle felt heavier then the last, he had done it. Stubborn pride rivaled the shame of what it had taken for him to make it through the night, but he pushed it aside as the morning rays of sunlight brushed over the faces of his companions.

He had done his duty. Fulfilled his responsibility.

He had kept them safe.

Before long, Time stirred, rolling over onto his back. A few minutes later he sat up slowly, stretching his back. He turned to face Sky, his single eye making contact with Sky's two.

He gave an approving nod.

Sky returned it, the pride swelling to battle the rising shame.

Time slowly got up, quietly crossing to sit next to Sky, before saying softly, "Report."

"All's quiet. The only things that came near were an owl and a squirrel," responded Sky, matching Time's volume.

Time made no acknowledgement of his words, but glanced over at the bag of candy still in Sky's hands. "May I?" he asked.

Sky flinched internally. He only had five left. He'd been hoping to save them for later. For after a long battle, during another long trek, or to help keep him awake during his next watch. The quiet selfish part of him said that he needed them. That he didn't have enough as it was. But Sky was selfless to a fault. He gave Time a small, but genuine smile, and passed him the bag. Time popped one of the candies into his mouth without a word, before passing the bag back, and sitting quietly in Sky's company as the sun continued to rise, waiting for the other Links to wake.

*****

"Portal's coming."

Sky looked up from his bacon and scrambled eggs at Hyrule's announcement. Groans and grumbles sounded throughout the camp from the younger members of the group, and the older adults rose quickly to start breaking down camp. They were all packed are ready to go in short order.

"Be prepared for anything," called Warriors to the assembled group. "Everyone stays close to someone. No one goes off on their own or gets separated."

They went through the portal.

Sky emerged on the other side to the usual migraine, and sent up a prayer that they hadn't landed directly in another hoard of monsters. By the relative quiet save for the other Link's footsteps emerging from the portal, they hadn't. Wherever they were, though, it was cold, and the air was even thicker than usual.

Somebody groaned loudly. Sky was pretty sure it was Legend. He'd been incredibly grumpy and snappish at people all morning, and had dark bags under his eyes.

"It's mine," came Twilight's voice from somewhere a few steps ahead of him.

"Elaborate, Rancher," said the Captain. "Where are we?"

"We're in my Hyrule. This is a cave in North Hyrule Field," explained Twilight.

"Are there any threats? Enemies?" questioned Warriors seriously.

"Not unless you count giant block puzzles," replied Twilight.

Sky's migraine was lessening, and he tentatively opened his eyes, before slowly straightening up from where he had bent double from the pain. They were indeed in a cave, which explained why he was having to work even harder to draw in a breath. It was a large icy cavern that looked to be man made. In the center of the rectangular stone room that they were in was a large square of smooth ice –surrounded by a rough stone floor– with a pressure plate in the center, and three large metal cubes dispersed over the ice. At both ends of the room was an opening in the cave walls, with an intricate metal gate blocking the path. Behind the gate closest to them looked to be more similarly shaped rooms carved into the stone, with another floor of ice, pressure plates, and giant metal cubes. Through the far gate came flickering torchlight, and when Sky moved a step to the side, he saw a single chest waiting.

"Okay, we're in your Hyrule, and there are no threats here. Do you know when we are?" asked Four.

"Um..." responded Twilight, looking around with a furrowed brow. "We have to be sometime before or during my quest, because I came through here and did these puzzles. If we were after my quest the gates would be open and that chest would be empty."

"Or we're in an impossible time like Hyrule's dungeon, right?" asked Wind.

"There's no 'Or'. That's fact," grumbled Legend.

"Why's that?" questioned Warriors.

"Because unless we just want to sit here until another portal shows up, we have to start doing puzzles, which I'm assuming were not completed when Rancher came through," retorted Legend angrily. He really woke up on the wrong side of the fire...

"Yeah," said Twilight, rubbing the back of his neck. "There definitely weren't any already completed when I came through."

"Four," began Time, who'd been quietly observing until now. "What are the possible ramifications if we start completing these puzzles?"

"F***ing up the timeline!" laughed Legend in answer.

"Language," scolded Time.

Four nodded to Legend, "What he said."

Time sighed, turning to the rest of the group, "Does anyone have any ideas on how best to proceed?"

"Uh, is it not obvious?" asked Wind incredulously. "We do the f***ing puzzles!"

"Language."

Wild signed something.

"What'd he sa–"

"It wouldn't make sense to send us here without meaning for us to do the puzzles confining us," mused Four.

"He said he's with you," translated Hyrule.

"Oh, thanks, man!" said Wind, and Wild smiled.

"Are the portals dropping us into each place for a specific reason? To have us achieve something there? Because if so I don't understand this one. Yeah they were a little challenging, but I solved these puzzles just fine," said Twilight.

"Same with Hyrule's dungeon," agreed Sky. "It was challenging, sure, but he completed it fine on his quest."

"The dungeon, sure, but young Hyrule wouldn't have been able to kill that enhanced dragon on his own," replied Four.

"Alright, so we helped Hyrule out with the super-dragon, but you can't give weird black blood to an ice puzzle," countered Wind.

"The kid's got a point," relented Warriors to Time. "There's no reason for us to be here like last time."

"No reason that we can immediately see," said Time. "We didn't come across the dragon for hours. This may be leading us to something more."

"Can we stop f***ing prattling on about the nonsensical choices of the stupid Goddess and get on with getting out of here?" remarked Legend, rounding on them from where he'd been staring at the block puzzle.

"Take that back," snapped Sky. He could put up with a lot of things, but disrespecting the Goddess wasn't one of them.

"What, you still buy into all of the myths of her excellency's bulls***?" mocked Legend.

Sky took a step towards Legend. He didn't know the Goddess like Sky did. It wasn't his fault that horrible things had happened to him throughout his quests, and that he blamed them on Hylia. Sky knew all of that, but he would not stand for Zelda being disrespected in his presence.

Warriors inserted himself in the situation before it could escalate, stepping in between Sky and Legend. "Stand down, soldier. Legend, apologize to your teammate."

Legend scoffed, "I'm not f***ing sorry. That Goddess can go f*** herself for all I care."

Sky started forward, pushing past Warriors, but Time immediately blocked his path. "Stand down, Sky. Don't take this somewhere you'll regret." Time's voice was calm, but firm.

Sky hesitated. He wanted to defend the honor of his Goddess and fiance, but he knew that no matter his emotions, violence was not the answer.

He turned away, walking to one of the cave walls, which he leaned back against while he stared at the stone in front of his boots, and gave the fire of his emotions time to cool off. He heard Time having a quiet conversation with Legend, where the vet said nothing, but Sky couldn't make out Time's exact words. Then the old man turned back to the rest of the group and said, "If we're agreed that we should complete these puzzles, who would like to undertake the task of solving them?"

"I will! I will!" called Wind, jumping up and down with his hand raised.

"We're gonna be here for a f***ing decade," muttered Legend, which Sky was pretty sure Time pointedly ignored.

"Twilight's the obvious choice," said Four.

By this point Sky had looked up from the stone of the cave floor, but didn't trust himself to participate in the conversation without speaking his mind to Legend.

"How long did this take you the first time, Rancher?" asked Warriors.

"Longer than I care to admit."

Warriors looked at the puzzle, a naive look of confusion on his face. "Really? This thing doesn't look too bad."

"I'm sure I'd be faster doing it a second time," added Twilight.

"I'd like to see you try and solve it, Pretty-boy," challenged Legend.

"That'd be a sight," whispered Hyrule conspiratorially to Wild. The Champion chuckled.

"I'm surprised you don't already have it solved, since you're the veteran adventurer," replied Warriors.

"Oh, please, I'd have it solved before you figured out where to push the first block."

"Twenty rupees on Legend," whispered a grinning Wind to Hyrule and Wild.

"And how long do you think that would be?"

Legend glanced at the puzzle, a large, perfect square of ice, with a pressure plate in the center, and three large metal cubes. "I could solve it in two minutes, if that."

Warriors scoffed, "And you think I won't solve it in what? Ten?"

Legend chuckled, "I think it'd be a miracle if you solved it in thirty."

"Minutes?!"

"Minutes."

"You'd better hope you have a stopwatch in that magic bag of yours," said Warriors, striding towards one of the blocks.

"Uh, are you sure I shouldn't just–"

"Shut up, Twilight!" whispered Wind frantically, launching himself to the rancher and slamming his hand over his mouth. Wild and Hyrule followed quickly behind Wind while more rupees exchanged hands, and Wind whispered urgently to Twilight, "This is the best entertainment we've had in days!"

Twilight relented, holding up his hands. Four snorted, but passed a purple rupee to Wild. The smith was going in deep. Time watched the betting taking place out of the corner of his eye, but did nothing to stop it as he watched Warriors take up a stance to push behind one of the blocks.

Legend did happen to have a stopwatch in his bag –because of course he did– and stood casually at the edge of the ice, stopwatch in hand, and a smirk on his face. "Let's see what that fancy education has gotten you, City-boy.

"...Go!"

Warriors pushed on the block.

...It didn't move an inch.

He shoved at it again, harder this time.

The only thing that moved was his feet, slipping on the ice.

"Cut! Cut!" yelled Wind, hurrying over to Legend waving his arms. Legend raised an eyebrow, not bothering to wipe the smirk from his face. "False start!" continued Wind, before rounding on Twilight. "What the f***, Rancher?!"

"Language," reprimanded Time.

"Don't look at me!" said Twilight, raising his hands in innocence.

"Is this why we're here? Cause the blocks won't move?" questioned Four to no one in particular.

"Nothing looks wrong with them," said Twilight. "Shove over, Captain, let me have a go."

Warriors stepped aside, and Twilight walked onto the ice. He went to the same block Warriors had tried to move, and gave it a shove.

The block slid smoothly across the ice, thudding into the stone edge on the other side.

Warriors' jaw was about on the floor, and his face started turning red.

Hyrule handed Wild a yellow rupee.

Warriors moved to another block, his face scarlet, but determined. He called over the block to Legend, "Start the timer in three... two... one... NOW!"

Warriors shoved against the block.

It didn't move.

He shoved again.

It slowly slid across the ice, and gently bumped into the stone.

He moved to the next block.

*****

Sky really wasn't sure how long they all stood there, watching Warriors push giant metal blocks around a square of ice. Every time it looked like he was getting somewhere, he'd move another block, and you'd realize, no, he wasn't any closer than he was ten minutes ago.

Eventually, they all moved to sit down, and Wild built a fire with wood and flint from his magical box. They all sat around it to stave off the chill of the cave, and before long Wild was handing out apples for them to roast. All the while, though, Legend never set his stopwatch far out of reach. Sky still wasn't happy about what Legend had said about Hylia, but he didn't blame him for it anymore. He didn't blame anyone. Sky didn't know the half of what Legend had experienced in his life, and as one of Hylia's chosen heroes, he wasn't crazy for thinking her responsible, or at least partly, in whatever nightmares he'd had to live through because of fate, and destiny, that he hadn't asked for. Sky would be lying if he said that there weren't some days he was mad at Hylia too, for putting him and Zelda through what she did, so how could he lecture Legend on his feelings?

After a while, Wind started getting bored, so to keep the young sailor from bouncing off the walls, Legend relented to his beg of teaching him how to sign. It turned into a group lesson. Wind, Twilight, Four, and Sky were the students, and Legend, Wild, and Time were the teachers, with Hyrule offering pointers here and there. Four was by far the most advanced of them, and when Wild asked him how he'd learned so fast, he said that he used to use it with his Zelda when they were little, so that people around the castle couldn't tell what they were saying. His Zelda had apparently found a book on it in the castle library, which is how they learned. After watching Wild and the others sign for a couple days, Four had picked back up how to understand it, but he was still rusty on speaking back. Wind, Sky, and Twilight... were a different story. They were starting from scratch. Or, in Wind's case, less than scratch.

Time had been trying to teach Wind a sentence, and when he'd asked the sailor if he understood it, Wind had signed something back, which Four later explained to Sky and Twilight, had been, "F*** off."

At the time it happened, Sky didn't have the faintest clue what Wind said, all he'd known was that one minute everyone was calm and civil, the next Wild and Hyrule were on the floor laughing, tears streaming from there eyes, while Legend suddenly became really interested in watching Warriors' progress with the blocks.

Time's reaction had been priceless. He'd blinked, slowly, at Wind, his expression as calm and composed as ever. He'd then slowly turned his head to face Legend, who was employing an impressively good poker face as he watched Warriors shove yet another block to make no progress.

For at least a minute straight, Time hadn't said anything, just stared at the side of Legend's head. The most calm, serious, condescending stare of, "Really?" Only no words were needed.

And Wind, bless his heart, had been completely and utterly confused the entire time.

*****

Sky was trying to pay attention and learn. He really was. But it was hard. He was exhausted. The cave air was thick, and heavy. He'd lost a third of his night's sleep to being on watch, and his body was tired. He'd gotten incredibly lucky that today was a day of sitting around for all but one of them, and he was eternally grateful for that, but it didn't change the fact that his muscles felt like lead, and his mind was foggy. The more things Wild and Legend signed and explained to him and Twilight, the more drowsy he got. It was like classes at the Academy, where his mind wouldn't stay grounded on land, and kept floating up into the clouds. Only this time, it was both his body and mind, wanting nothing more than to slip away into the sweet release of sleep.

It was cold in the cave, even with Wild's fire. It made Sky think of his home. The... well... sky. He missed it. He missed Zelda, and Crimson –his loftwing– and Groose, and Beedle, and Pipit, and Fledge, and Batreaux, and Gondo, and Orielle, and Kina, and Gorko... he'd even admit he missed hearing Scrapper's complaints at having to help build the new castle on the Surface. He missed them all so much, but he also missed the sky. The free, open air whipping his hair back, and buffeting against his face.

The air in the cave was anything but the air from the open sky. It was thick, and heavy, and stale, and dank, and miserable. But it was cold, and it nipped at your exposed skin. That part at least, was comforting, in an odd way.

Sky just hoped it wasn't too comforting...

*****

He awoke with a jolt to the triumphant yell of, "DONE!" and heard Legend click a little button on his stopwatch.

He blinked his eyes into focus, and saw Warriors standing on the ice, a block over the center of the square, and heard metal shifting along a track. Sky himself, he realized, was propped up against the cave wall near Wild's fire, a blanket that wasn't his own wrapped snugly around him. The others were still there, in the same general spots they had been in around the fire, only Four being slightly off to the side reading a book.

"What was my time?" asked Warriors breathlessly, a sheen of sweat across his forehead.

"Four hours, two minutes, and twenty nine seconds. Subtracting the thirty seven minutes and fifty two seconds of breaks that you took, then it took you three hours, twenty four minutes, and thirty seven seconds," said Time.

"What the f***, Old Man!" exclaimed Wind, staring at Time like he was a freak of nature.

Legend just kept looking from his stopwatch, to Time, and back again. "You're six seconds off."

"You stopped your watch four seconds after he left the ice for his first break, and then two seconds after he left the ice for the break after that," responded Time plainly, as if that were obvious, common knowledge.

"How?" demanded Legend. "How do you know?"

Time just shrugged. "I guess you could say it's a Quest Thing."

...Sky had been under the impression that the term "Quest Thing" was for things that triggered trauma from their quests... not supernatural abilities... He sure wasn't hiding any super powers that he was aware of.

"Ya know what, I don't even wanna know," said Four, and shut his book, returning it to his pouch, before standing up and walking towards the now open gate.

"Don't even think about it, Smithy," began Warriors quickly. "I did not just spend three hours and... whatever, to let someone else get that chest."

Time shot a sideways glance at Twilight, who smirked.

"What're you hoping for, Captain?" asked Wind, catching on.

"A gold rupee at most, an orange at worst."

Wind and Time both subtly glanced at Twilight. He shook his head with a barely contained grin.

Warriors strode up to the opening in the cave wall surely, taking exactly one step inside of the torch lit room housing the chest that was to be his prize, before a gaping black portal materialized directly in front of his face. He nearly face planted into it, but instead jerked back so violently that he lost his footing and stumbled back a few paces, where his butt hit the ice from the puzzle. He'd also let out a small high pitched shriek, which was understandable, but Sky knew that there were Links who were not likely to let him forget it. As Wind leaped up from his place by the fire, his mouth already opening to rub more salt into the Captain's wounded pride, Sky felt bad for him, pitying the other man's misfortune. Problem was, there wasn't much of anything that Sky could do to stop it.

"What was that?!" exclaimed Wind.

Legend cackled.

"It startled me, is all," said Warriors, his face red as he righted himself from the floor.

Wild signed something to Hyrule, causing the traveler to stifle a giggle.

Time gave all of them a look, even Sky, before turning to Hyrule. "Why didn't you tell us a portal was coming?"

Hyrule paled under the eight stares that followed, hunching in on himself as he said, "Didn't feel it until the moment before it appeared."

Time gave him a long look, before saying, "Then our former knowledge of when a portal is near can no longer be relied on. We have to be ready for them to appear at any moment."

"Agreed," said Warriors.

"We can talk about that later. This camp won't disassemble itself," stated Four, moving back towards the fire.

"Wise words. Make haste everyone, leave nothing behind," called Time.

They had everything packed away into their magic, bottomless pouches in short order, and assembled to pass through the portal. It hadn't escaped Sky that none of them had bothered questioning how all nine heroes had magical, bottomless pouches. All, except for Sky, that was. Or Wild's magic box, which served as a much cooler alternative to a boring pouch.

Sky's body had protested when he told it to get up, but he'd pushed past it stubbornly, telling himself that through that portal was at the very least lighter air than in this cave, and at best, Skyloft.

"Everyone ready?" called Time.

They all nodded, Sky included, hope and excitement flooding through him at getting to leave this cave and its thick, stale air. But as his companions began disappearing into the black abyss before him, Sky felt a faint prickling through his veins, over his skin. It was foreign, but came from somewhere deep inside of him. It wasn't a new feeling. It had started after the end of his quest. He hadn't told a soul about it, not even Zelda... because it scared him.

It wasn't just foreign... it was wrong, and dark.

Sky's composure only slipped for a moment, but he was at the back of the line, so no one noticed.

He quickly began doing what he'd done for the past two years, imagining himself shoving the wrongness back, down, down, down, inside of him where it had come from. Where it belonged. That was yet another thing that kept him from ever feeling rested. For two years, he'd been fighting this force, keeping it buried, and hidden, out of fear.

Maybe it was the air in the cave. Maybe it was the lack of sleep because of his watch. Maybe it was being back on another grueling quest in a foreign land. Maybe it was pushing himself after all of their battles to tend to the other's injuries before even catching his own breath, because only he, Time, and Warriors were actually trained in field medicine. Maybe it was all of those things on top of everything else piling up to Sky's breaking point, he couldn't know for sure.

But what he did know, was that he was tired, and sooner or later, something was going to snap free.

The question was only when, and what the final straw was going to be...

He went through the portal.

Chapter Text

"This is my Hyrule."

The admission was automatic, robotic even. A fact of information that the group needed to know.

Nothing more.

Because spiraling to the what if's was not productive. It didn't help them form a plan, or figure out why they were here. It was just a distraction, and a potentially trivial one, if it was in fact his Hyrule.

"Do you know when?" asked Time.

"No, not for certain. We're a short march from Castletown, and I should be able to tell there. But I don't think we're in the war. Troops would be stationed here if we were."

Time nodded. "Four, Sky, can you walk?"

"As long as someone points me in the right direction I should be fine," replied Sky, clutching his head with his eyes screwed shut.

"Four?"

The little smith was being supported by Twilight, his face twisted as his arms clenched around his torso.

"I can carry him," said Twilight, looking to Time.

At that Four pushed Twilight away, righting himself despite the way he wobbled and the queasy look on his face.

"Four–"

The smith signed something stubbornly. Time nodded and turned back to Warriors, but didn't stop Twilight from hovering alongside Four.

"What'd he say?"

"I can walk on my own," murmured Hyrule, which seemed to satisfy Wind.

"Your lead, Captain," said Time. "But go with the caution that this may yet be an unknown time in your history."

Warriors nodded, and after double checking that he was sure on their location, struck out through the trees towards Castletown.

*****

"That's the north guard house," he informed Time.

"I remember."

"Right... sorry. I'll go have them let us in."

"Let them speak first. Make sure that they recognize you as you."

Warriors approached the guardhouse set in the high town walls confidently, walking straight up to the two soldiers on duty. As soon as they saw him they snapped to attention, and the one on the left said in a stiff military cadence, "Captain."

So he was a Captain. That meant that they couldn't be too far from his current time, right?

"At ease. My friends and I are just passing through."

"Of course, Captain."

One of them hurried to open the gate, the other was still stiffer than he should have been, but not at full attention. Warriors looked back to the trees, giving a hand signal while never letting the soldier out of his sight. The eight other Links spilled out onto the path in front of the guard house, fanning out behind Warriors.

"Will that be all, Captain?"

"Ye–"

"What is the date?"

The soldier blinked up at Time in confusion. "Pardon me, sir, I believe I misheard you."

"What is the date, soldier."

WHAT IS HE DOING?!?!

"Uh– the twenty third, sir."

"Of what month."

"Um... April."

"And what year?"

"...4572?"

Time looked to Warriors expectantly.

"It's– uh– just standard procedure, soldier. A new part of the aptitude test," said Warriors quickly.

The soldier nodded, the utter confusion leaving his face. "Yes, sir."

Warriors marched straight through the now open gate, wanting to get away from the soldiers before one of the other Links said something worse for him to have to do damage control on.

Once they were in amongst the bustling crowds of the city, Warriors rounded on Time, asking, "Why would you ask him that?!"

"Are we when we should be?"

"...We're eight days after I left."

"That's why I asked."

Warriors sighed, "You could have been a bit more subtle about it."

Time blinked at him.

"So it's been eight days. Great. What you should be explaining is why the f*** you have an aptitude test for dumb soldiers," said Legend.

"Language."

"The point of the aptitude test is so that we don't have dumb soldier," replied Warriors.

Legend scoffed, "It's so cute that you think those exist."

"My men are not dumb," stated Warriors defensively.

"Don't worry your little head, Pretty-boy. For once it's not your fault."

"Legend," said Time seriously as Warriors took a step towards him.

"So time has progressed eight days here. Wars, how long ago did we pick you up?" asked Four.

"Uh..."

"Eight days, two hours, thirty six minutes, and forty one seconds."

They all stared at Time in dumb shock, while the crowd of the city split around them like a river.

"Huh?!"

"He wanted to know how long since we left the Captain's time. That's how long," said Time simply.

"Not to the second!" exclaimed Twilight.

"We're getting off track," stated Four. "We now know that equal amounts of time have passed here as they have for us."

"That's good, right?" questioned Wind.

"Yes, but it also doesn't give us any answers as to what's happening with when the portals drop us," continued Four.

"We're not going to solve that puzzle today. We need a plan for here and now," said Time. "Captain?"

"We should speak to Zelda." It was the logical choice. His own personal desire to see her had nothing to do with his judgement in the decision. "She may be able to give ideas on why the portals are dropping us where they are, and she should be warned of the black blooded monsters."

"Goddess, I forgot you guys all have your own Zeldas," remarked Legend absently.

"A sound plan, Captain, but I don't believe all of us need to make the journey to the castle to speak with her. We should take advantage of the safety of city while we have it. The Captain and I will go and speak to Zelda. Twilight, you take everyone else and reserve us beds at the nearest hostel. Do you know of any nearby, Captain?" asked Time.

"Yes, but I wouldn't send them to a hostel. Legend's got far too much jewelry, and as much as I'd love to see him robbed, we likely won't have time to deal with the ramifications of it."

"Pfff, I'd like to see a city twat's best attempt at robbing me. He'd get his ass kicked into next week."

Time sighed. "The nearest tavern, then?"

"Rancher, keep down this road, then take two rights, a left, skip a street, and another right.

"Will do."

"Why can't I come to the castle?" asked Wind.

That brought Warriors up short. Wind didn't remember the castle. Didn't remember Impa, or Zelda. ...He would just be a distraction for them. He needed to convince the sailor that staying with the others was the more exciting option. "You want to come? It's just going to be boring talk about the portals and black blooded monsters," replied Warriors.

"The portals aren't boring. Time travel's cool!"

"Wind, stay with the others," instructed Time.

The young sailor scowled.

"What're the rest of us supposed to do while you're gone?" asked Four.

"Stock up on any supplies you need, including extra clothes, and fabric and thread for repairing your tunic. The way things are going we're likely to be on the road with few stops into a city like this."

"And when we get bored?"

Warriors sighed, "You go back to the tavern and play cards, Wind, or see if someone will keep teaching you Fairy Sign."

Wild signed something.

"What'd he say?"

"Yep."

"What?"

"Keep practicing, Wind."

"Vet, sometimes I couldn't agree with you more, but some other times you make no sense what so ever," remarked Wind.

"Thank you."

"Wah?!?!"

"That's enough, you two. We'll meet up with you at the tavern later today. Twilight's in charge. Listen to him," said Time seriously.

"Stay out of trouble and stick to the main streets. Don't go down any back alleys or into any dodgy parts of town and you should be fine," instructed Warriors.

"I've got it covered," assured Twilight, standing up a little straighter. "Go see Zelda."

The group parted ways, Time and Warriors branching off and heading down a different street towards the castle, while Twilight lead the others based off of the directions Warriors had given him. Or, at least lead most of them. Time and Warriors had turned their backs for all of two seconds, before they heard Twilight yelling at Legend to stay with the group.

Warriors quickened his stride.

*****

Their journey to the castle passed uneventfully, all of the guards letting Warriors and Time pass without question, although they all looked at Time with apprehension. Apparently Zelda had kept the secret of him being Mask from spreading. When they entered the castle, a servant approached them, but before she could open her mouth Warriors said, "I need to speak with the Queen and General on an important matter. It's urgent."

"The Queen is in a meeting, Captain. I'm afraid you'll have to wait. Is there anything else I can do for you?"

"You can go right now and tell her that Captain Link is here with an urgent matter for her and the General. This takes priority over any other meeting she has. That's an order."

"Yes, sir." The servant gave a curt nod and hurried away.

"This way," said Warriors, motioning Time forward.

He lead the way to one of the small dining halls, and within seconds servants whisked into the room, leaving an elegant tea set, and an assortment of fancy finger foods. Warriors made sure to tell one of the servants to not disturb them, before sitting down with Time at the table. They waited, silence stretching between them, before Time said, "They redecorated since the war."

"Yes, everyone had too many bad memories with the old decor. A few months after the final battle they brought in these real posh people and had them redo everything. The castle was a nightmare for a few weeks," replied Warriors, glancing around at the room.

"I'd like to see the people you classify as posh."

"What?"

"You're posh, Captain. So for you to say someone else was posh must have been extreme."

"I am not posh. I'm–"

"You're incredibly posh, Captain," came a stern woman's voice. Impa was standing in the doorway of the room, wearing her Sheikah armor as always.

"General," said Warriors tensely, immediately standing up to attention.

"Sit down, Captain. The Queen is on her way," said Impa, crossing to their table, but not sitting down. She was inspecting Time, assessing every bit of him for threats, while he stared straight back at her. "Are you really him?" she asked suddenly.

"Who?" said Time simply.

"The green child from the forest who terrorized my troops with pranks and hardly spoke a word, but on the battle field could take down monsters three times his size like it was child's play."

"Yes. I'm him."

"Do you have proof?"

Time's blank expression never faltered, he just reached into his pouch and pulled out two items. The first was a small detailed metal. Mask's metal of honor, Warriors realized. The second caused his muscles to clench, and his stomach to twist into a knot. It was the Fierce Deity's Mask.

Impa looked at the two items, then back at Time. She reached her hand across the table to him, almost as if she wanted to shake his hand.

She slapped him across the face. Hard.

"That's for when you moved me and my tent into the mud by the river while I was sleeping."

"You did what?!" exclaimed Warriors, staring wide eyed at Time.

The old man smirked, and there he was. Mask. It was the same chaotic smirk he used to wear all the time when he ran around pulling pranks with Wind. The two were inseparable.

"That was one of your and Tune's tamer pranks if I remember correctly," came Zelda's voice. Warriors hadn't noticed her in the doorway. She could be freakishly quiet when she wanted to be. Sheikah sorcery or something. She looked every bit the royal General. A Queen who commanded armies. Warriors again stood to attention as she crossed to Impa's side, but she immediately motioned for him to sit. Her and Impa took their places at the table across from Time and Warriors, and when Zelda looked to him her face was full of concern and worry, her usual military persona still present, but not masking her true emotions as it normally did. It was the same worry she'd had during the war, that she only let show behind closed, locked doors.

Impa showed no such emotion, commanding in a strict military cadence, "Report, Captain."

So he did. He gave them all of the facts, the information, in a monotone, emotionless report. He started with when the other Links found him and took out his interrogators, and the questions that the interrogators had been asking him. He then continued on to the eight days since, going in chronological order, and skipping over anything trivial, focusing on the portals, the black blooded monsters, and how there were nine Links in total, assuming that they didn't pick up anymore. Zelda and Impa listened intently, never interrupting him. When he finished, they wore identical serious expressions. The talk of children's pranks was long gone.

"Where are the other Links now?" asked Zelda.

"By now they should have checked into a tavern in town, and gone to restock supplies," answered Time.

"Is there a way to tell from afar whether a monster is infected with this black blood?" inquired Impa.

"Not that we know of. They do act smarter, but there's no way to tell for sure if they're enhanced until you land a hit on them."

"Do we know what's infecting them?"

"No."

"And there's no way to cure them?"

"Not that we know of."

"I'll triple the guards," stated Impa. "And refortify the city's defenses."

"Even that may not be enough," said Time. "These monsters are unlike anything I've ever seen, and it speaks to their strength that they are a challenge for Hylia's chosen heroes. Normal soldiers will be slaughtered, even in larger numbers."

Impa nodded. "I'll make the necessary arrangements."

Zelda remained stately and serious even as she thought. "As for the portals, I don't see a pattern in their drop points. Putting you near or in groups of black blooded monsters seems to be a theme, but not consistent enough to form a predictable pattern."

"The other question is who," added Time. "Someone has to be pulling the strings, controlling the portals. If we knew who they are and what their motive is, we may find our end objective."

Zelda thought for a moment. "They'd have to be an incredibly skilled and powerful sorcerer. Creating portal after portal through time and space is no simple task."

"We too have come to that conclusion," responded Time. "But have thought of no way to figure out who that person is."

"Unless they reveal themself to you you may never know. When you complete whatever end goal they have for you, they may just send you all back to your own times. No explanation given."

"I hope that you are proven wrong, Zelda, but I doubt that the Goddess has much mercy left for us."

Zelda's tone shifted, although her military persona didn't. "...What happened to you?"

"I'm sorry?"

"What happened to Mask?"

Warriors looked to Time, the grown man, covered in armor and scars both hidden and not. He was hardly anything like the fearless little boy who used to run and play amongst the trees. Which wasn't to say that Mask didn't have his moments. There were days where he wouldn't speak a word, and would just stare, eyes unfocused, closed off to the world. There were days where he would explode with anger and grief, lashing out over the simplest things. Then there were the days where he would recite seemingly random events, but connected to a time of day, and always going in chronological order. Those were his bad days, but they were surrounded by giggles, and pranks, and songs, and stories... he still had the fight of a thousand storms, and the joy of youth. Not innocence, but joy despite the horrors the world had forced upon him. He wasn't the hard, stoic, cynical, man sitting beside Warriors now. Something had happened to that little boy, and Warriors' heart ached that he wasn't there to hold him, to let his tears soak into his tunic.

He hadn't been there for his little brother when he needed him most, and the hate from that burned inside of him. He hated himself, but he also found he hated the Goddess.

She was the one who brought them together, only to pull Mask away...

Time didn't answer Zelda's question, he just stared back at her with his singular eye, face hard, and unreadable. No one said anything, Mask's metal of honor and the Fierce Deity's Mask still on the table in front of Time.

He was Mask. But he also wasn't...

"Time," said the old man. "Time was not kind to him..."

*****

They'd talked for a while longer, focusing back on city defenses, anything they knew that could be a weakness of the black blooded monsters, all of the important stuff. They stayed far away from anything tied to the past, only talking of the present and future, until it was time for them to part ways.

"Captain," said Time. "We should go. We've stayed too long as it is."

Warriors nodded, and made to rise.

"Wait," said Zelda quickly. "I have to know... Is Tune one of the other Links traveling with you?"

He hadn't mentioned Wind during his report. When they'd met him, he'd just said that they picked up another Link, nothing more. It hadn't been a relevant piece of information to what Zelda and Impa needed to know, and he'd known that it would have taken them off topic.

"...Yes," admitted Warriors.

"Why didn't you tell us– Why didn't you bring him?!"

Warriors bit his lower lip, "He doesn't know you... not yet at least. He's... younger than he was in the war. He doesn't remember any of us, because for him it hasn't happened yet."

"How old is he?" asked Impa quietly.

"14. Assuming that joining this quest and meeting us hasn't broken the timeline, he won't be brought into the war for another two years," explained Warriors.

"...Can I see him?"

Warriors exchanged a glance with Time. Zelda hadn't been as close with Mask and Tune as Warriors had been. She'd been busier, commanding the whole of the Hyrulean army while also making sure that her duties as Princess were taken care of. But she'd still loved those boys. Where Warriors had fallen into more of a big brother role, Zelda had been almost a mother to them. Mask had connected with her less, favoring Warriors. He'd mentioned once that she reminded him too much of someone. But Tune had always liked her, even putting up with some of her mothering that Warriors knew he hated. He'd never stopped to wonder why...

"I'm sorry," said Time. "He's not the Tune you remember."

"You're not the Mask we remember," stated Impa coldly.

"But I remember you. He doesn't."

"Perhaps another time when the portals drop us here, Zel. When I've brought it up to him beforehand," added Warriors. "Or we could–"

"No. Go. It was foolish of me to ask that of you. If you don't think that him seeing me is a good idea or could change the timeline, I'll stay away."

She'd covered her face in the stoic mask that Warriors knew all too well, and as much as he hated it, he didn't think that letting her see Wind was a good idea. At least not yet.

"Thank you for your time and hospitality," said Time, and rose from the table.

"May the Goddess guide your way," acknowledged Impa.

Time froze for a second, then nodded once. It was an old saying that they had used countless times in the war, offering luck and good fortune.

...They could definitely use some now.

Warriors rose and stood at attention, "Your Highness. General."

"Courage be with you, Captain," said Zelda, every bit the army General. "Until our paths cross again."

He gave a short bow to her, before exiting the room, followed closely by Time. They made their way out of the castle and back into the bustling city as the sun began to set. As the guards closed the castle gate behind them, Warriors let out a sigh. Time raised an eyebrow.

"It's nothing," offered Warriors. Time gave him a knowing look. "Fine... I just... I don't know how to do this. I've never been on a quest without an army at my back."

"Captain, there's nine of us."

"Exactly."

"That's eight more than I've ever had, excluding your war."

*Sigh* "But they're all so... different. How am I supposed to get those nine boys to not be at each other's throats, or afraid they're going to be, when they're all so scarred and so different?"

"You've spent your time looking at how they differ, instead of how they are the same," stated Time.

"They're not the same! How are any two of those boys the same, excluding their name, title, and occupation?"

"Who would you like me to compare?"

"Any of them! I'd like to see you explain to me how Legend is the same as the rest of them."

"Legend was forced into adventuring when he was very young. Too young, the same as myself, Hyrule, Four, and Wind. He's lost people close to him, and had to fend for himself because no one else was strong enough to face the battles he fought. He saved his kingdom, Hyrule, not because of Hylia, or because of destiny; he did it because he loved the people in it, and wanted them to be safe. He didn't want to let them down.

"He wakes up everyday and chooses to fight with unwavering courage, knowing that each day could be his last. He chooses to stand up to evil again and again, battling everything from fetch quests to world ending catastrophes just to help and protect others.

"And if you want specific similarities, he's cynical like me, dogged like Twilight, loyal like Sky, scrappy like Wild, a survivalist like Hyrule, an intellectual like Four, chaotic like Wind, and egotistical like you.

"Need I go on?"

"...No."

Time sighed. "You're trying too hard, Captain."

"What?!"

"You're trying too hard. You're trying to solve this group like a puzzle in a dungeon."

"You know I never had those."

"And yet your brain still yearns to solve puzzles. You still have the brain of a Link."

"So what? You think I should do nothing? They'll be at each other's throats within a week."

"They may yet surprise you. You cannot force friendship and comradery, Captain. It has to grow on its own."

"Then what do I do?" asked Warriors.

"You be present. You get to know each of them for who they are. You do your part, and let them do theirs. You can lead them, but don't control them," responded Time.

Warriors sighed. "Since when did you get to be so wise?"

Time's face remained completely blank. "Since I got married."

Warriors burst out laughing.

"About that..."

Chapter Text

"Wind?"

"Wiiiinnnndd?!"

"Wiiiiiiinnnnnnddddd?!?!"

I'm dead meat.

"I think you're in trouble, Rancher."

"Wwiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnddddddd!!!"

"Shut up and start looking. I'll take that side, you take the other. If he's not somewhere in the square... you're really in trouble..."

Twilight watched Four start weaving his way through the crowd away from him. This square was massive, and full of busy shoppers. Sky, Legend, Hyrule, and Wild, had all already headed back to the tavern. Twilight had been chasing Wind around all afternoon, trying and failing to keep the kid from overspending or getting into trouble. He'd been doing good all things considered. As good as humanly possible at least. For the first time since Time and Warriors left, he'd turned his back on the sailor. It hadn't been more than two seconds, but that was all it took.

Wind was there one second, and gone the next. And if Time and Warriors got back from the castle to Wind being missing under Twilight's watch?

...He was so dead.

Twilight ran a nervous hand through his hair, contemplating enlisting more help from the other Links, but ruling against it. They needed to find him while the trail was fresh, before he could get too far. Besides, Legend would definitely snitch that Twilight had lost Wind if he found out. So Twilight took Four's advise, and started searching his half of the square.

He searched high and low. Literally. He checked in barrels, behind market stalls, atop wagons, in the fountain, everywhere that he could think of, but there was no sign of Wind.

"He's about this tall, with blonde hair, uh, a blue tunic, orange pants, a sword and shield on his back, blue eyes, a blue necklace–"

"Blue eyes? Twi, you expect them to remember his eye color?" questioned Four, having just materialized at his side.

"How am I supposed to know? Maybe he used his puppy dog eyes on them!" exclaimed Twilight.

"I'm sorry sir, I haven't seen him. I wouldn't panic, though, this is a big square and there're plenty of kids around."

"Thank you." Twilight turned to Four. "I'm panicking."

"Yeah... you're officially f***ed," said Four. "If this were anyone else... no big deal. Wind? End of the world scenario..."

"Two seconds, Four. Two seconds. I watch that kid like a hawk all day, and when I turn my back for two seconds he up and vanishes into thin air. ...How did you find me anyway? I thought you went back with the others?"

"No, I got distracted in a bookstore, and you were kind of screaming 'Wind' at the top of your lungs in the middle of a busy square. It's not a very common name."

"Oh... right. So what do we do now? I'm not gonna be the one to tell Time and Warriors that Wind is lost in Castletown!" replied Twilight.

"Well, I'm not telling them! You're the one they left in charge. I get out of this scot-free so long as I play my cards right."

Twilight groaned, burying his face in his hands, "What do I do? I can't just leave him."

"Let's check the surrounding streets and alleyways. He can't have gone too far."

*****

"So... he may have gone farther than we thought..."

They'd searched all of the surrounding area. Wind was nowhere to be seen.

"What time is it? Did they say when they'd be back?"

"No... it's 5:32 local time," said Four.

"...Maybe he went back to the tavern for dinner?"

Four gave Twilight a flat stare, "The sailor may love food, but given the opportunity to explore a whole city unsupervised? I think he'd choose fasting."

"Haaauuuhhhh! This is bad, this is really bad!"

"We established that a long time ago, Twi."

"What if you went and stalled them? Kept them from getting back to the tavern?"

"While you what? Started screaming again?"

"...He has to be around here somewhere! We didn't check that street, did we? That has to be the one."

*****

"Blonde hair, blue tunic with a lobster on the front, orange pants–"

"Blue eyes."

"Twi, no one's gonna have remembered his f***ing eye color!"

"But what if they did!"

"Uuuggghh. Sorry about him. The kid also has a long blue necklace? A sword and shield on his back?"

"Sorry, I haven't seen him."

"We are so doomed."

"You're so doomed," reminded Four. "I'm fine."

Twilight pulled at his hair.

Four sighed. Should he bring it up? If he left would Twilight just transform and find Wind without him? He definitely didn't seem to want to reveal his wolf form, but if they didn't find Wind before Time and Warriors got back Twilight was done for. Was he insecure about it? "Pfff, imagine being insecure about an abnormal magical transformation. Couldn't be you."

...Thanks for that, Blue.

"Anytime." "Of course he's insecure about it. He probably thinks that we'll be scared of him. A wolf isn't exactly a friendly animal in most people's minds," said Red sadly. "I want to know how he does it. Completely change his form from hylian to beast? The magic for that would be completely different from when we change to Minish size." "That's rude, Vio! Don't ask him that!" exclaimed Red. "Guys, we don't even know for sure that Wolfie is Twilight. It's just a theory," reminded Green. "Oh, I'm sorry, you think that every time Wolfie shows up Twilight just happens to leave the group a little earlier?"

Green sighed, "Just make a decision, Four."

Twilight had started pacing back and forth along the edge of the street they were on. Four hesitated, then shook his head to clear it, and strode up to him, grabbing onto his arm and dragging him into the nearest alleyway.

"Hey! Smithy, what're you doing?"

"Look," said Four, turning to face Twilight once they were out of earshot from the main street. "If we don't find Wind before Time and Warriors get back... things won't go well for you. We can keep searching normally if you want, but I honestly don't think we'd find him in a week. So if you want to transform into Wolfie and try to track his scent from the last place you saw him, I think that's our best and only shot at finding him."

Twilight stared at Four in dumb shock. His mind by the looks of it reeling from Four's casual admittance of knowing his secret.

The silent staring was starting to get awkward. "Are you gonna say anything? We're wasting time."

"How– why– why now? If you knew why not say so sooner, and– how do you know?"

"I know because I'm not stupid. Twi, what wolf has your blue earrings, blue eyes, and facial markings? You also wear a wolf pelt like twenty-four seven, you sometimes sleep in a ball, and you snarl and bare your teeth sometimes when you fight, which is... weird, by the way. Not to mention how you conveniently disappeared both times before Wolfie showed up, and reappeared once he was gone."

"...Do the others know?"

"Nah, I don't think so. Not unless you've told any. I'm sure Legend has a suspicion, but he's still pretty new to the group," said Four casually. "...Have you told anyone?"

"...Time knows, and Wild, although that was just me breaking the news to him that the wolf he's known his whole life is somehow me..."

"Hmm, yeah, that's kinda awkward. Anyways, we're wasting time. They could already be back at the tavern for all we know," remarked Four.

"You're not... freaked out by it?" asked Twilight sheepishly.

"I mean, a little, to be honest. But it's far from the weirdest thing I've seen," responded Four.

"And you don't... have any questions?"

"I've got about four million, but I know I'd hate answering them if it was me, so I'm keeping them contained for now."

"Hey, not cool." "You didn't have to be so on the nose. Four million? Keeping us contained? At this rate someone'll figure us out too." "Just don't let him go transform out of sight. I need to see how he does it." "No! Give him space!" "But I need to see how–"

Shut up!

"Do you want me to leave so you can transform?"

"Don't you dare let him out of your sight, Four."

It's not about you, Vio!

"Uh... no, it's okay. I don't mind now that you know."

Twilight glanced around the alleyway, and stepped deeper into the shadows away from the main street they'd come from. He then took hold of the cord attached to a black crystal hanging from his neck.

"I'm not sure what you were expecting, but it probably wasn't this."

He touched the crystal with the bare skin of one of his fingers, and shadows engulfed him. He fell forward onto his hands as the shadows morphed and shifted over him. It was like something out of a nightmare. Just as quickly as the shadows appeared, they vanished, leaving a giant grey wolf in Twilight's place, with his blue earrings, blue eyes, facial markings, and a shackle with a broken chain on his left leg. That chain was one of the questions Four was keeping to himself.

"I won! I won! It was an item! It was an item!" chanted Red. Blue was sulking, "There's no way he just found that somewhere. There's more to it than just an item."

The big wolf blinked up at him expectantly, and Four couldn't mistake the fear in his eyes.

"So it's an item," he said casually, trying to ease the tension. "I wasn't sure, but that's really cool."

He wasn't sure how, but wolf Twilight gave him a small, oddly hylian smile, before shaking his head.

"It's not an item? What is it then? A spell? Curse–?"

Twilight woofed. Which, man, that's a weird thing to say about a person.

"A curse? Really? ...That's kind of a stupid curse."

Twilight grinned, which looked rather strange on a wolf.

Green sighed, "Vio wins again." "S'not fair. He isn't still cursed! That was so an item," complained Red. "But how was he cursed? Who cursed him? How did it turn into a physical object that reverts him to his cursed state when he touches it? And how does he change back?" "We don't know, Vi, but if you waited patiently maybe you'd find out."

"Never mind all that, let's find Wind and get back to the others," said Four.

He turned away from Twilight and started heading out of the alleyway, when a bark sounded from behind him. He looked back and saw Twilight crouching down, almost as if he wanted Four to ride on his back...

He approached Twilight tentatively. "...You sure about this?"

Twilight nodded.

Four walked up to the big wolf and gingerly climbed onto his back. It was oddly comfortable, although there was nothing to hold onto. He made do with burrowing his hands into the thick fur covering Twilight's neck, and holding onto it tightly.

Twilight straightened up, shifting his weight from paw to paw, but never causing Four to become off balance. The wolf's energy had shifted. He was no longer grinning and barking. He was solemn and stoic.

"You okay? Am I too heavy?" asked Four.

Twilight shook his head, though Four wasn't sure if it was directed at him. Twilight then squared his shoulders, and trotted out of the alleyway.

That was when Four started to understand more of Twilight's fear of showing his wolf form.

The first person who saw them –a woman laden with shopping bags– screamed, and just like that, the entire street was staring at them. Four froze, his brain spinning trying to think of what to do. Twilight was already moving. He didn't startle at the scream. He just turned his gaze away from the woman, and loped off through the crowd.

That wasn't an abnormal reaction, then. That was how Twilight was used to people reacting to his wolf form. A Red stab of sadness and empathy pierced Four's heart.

People hurried to get out of their way, but not all were scared of them. Some of the posh city goers didn't even bat an eye, they just kept obliviously walking. Others still screamed, some ran, some cowered in fear.

Twilight didn't seem fazed in the slightest.

They did catch the attention of the city guards when they made it back to the main square, though. Two big burly guards approached them, hands resting casually on the sheathed swords at their hips. Four knew their type. They sauntered around thinking they were tough stuff, but in reality people were just scared of them.

Four could take them down in less than a minute.

"Nah, thirty seconds, if that," said Vio. "I could do it in ten," stated Blue coldly.

The guards looked at Wolfie, then at Four like he was some crazy lost child that lived under a bridge. "You the one making all of this commotion, kid?"

"You are not a kid," growled Blue.

"No, sir. They're the ones making the commotion. I'm just minding my own business," said Four.

"No need to be a smart ass, kid, it's not gonna get you any favors," replied the guard.

"I wasn't. I was just stating fact."

"Kid, you and your... dog, are causing a public disturbance. Are your parents somewhere nearby?"

"They're dead, f***er, not that they'd give a rat's ass about what you have to say," remarked Blue angrily.

"Nope. It's just me. Is that a problem?" questioned Four.

"No, I'm just going to have to ask you to come with me. The city has places for kids like you to go so that you're not wandering the streets."

"In your dreams, bastard." "Blue! He doesn't know any better. We do look like a kid." "Doesn't mean he has the right to f***ing treat us like one."

"Oh, that's okay, sir. I'm just passing through with my friends," said Four nonchalantly.

"Alright, but your dog still needs to come with us. It's standard procedure."

"Standard procedure my ass. He thinks he can just say whatever bulls*** he wants and we'll just obey it as the law because he looks all big and scary."

"No thanks, sir. He hasn't harmed or done anything to anyone. They're the ones you should be taking in for disturbing the peace."

"Kid, this is a busy square, I can't spend all day debating with you."

"If you don't have time for me you shouldn't be here. I'll happily go about my business and let you get back to work if you have more important things to do then harassing an innocent kid whose done nothing wrong."

"Just–... Don't cause anymore trouble. I won't let you off so easy next time," said the flustered guard, and turned on his heels, heading back to his post. The other guard followed quickly after him.

Four waved mockingly at their retreating backs, a smug grin on his face. "Idiots."

Twilight snorted.

"Come on, that dumb hunk of muscle is not going to be the reason we don't find Wind in time," pronounced Four.

Twilight woofed quietly, and trotted off through the crowd, Four still riding easily on his back.

*****

Twilight went back to the last shop he'd been in with Wind. The one Wind had disappeared just outside of. He stuck his canine nose to the ground, and was met with a bombardment of every sort of smell. Dirt, manure, leather, shoe polish, a cat, someone's tiny dog, every scent of perfume imaginable and then some, the smell of the food from nearby vendors and restaurants, the list went on and on.

...This was going to be harder than he thought.

Twilight thought back to earlier that day. When had been the last time he saw Wind? They'd left the shop with Wind pouting, after Twilight had stopped him from buying three useless "Adventuring tools" that would have just clogged up his pouch. Then Wind had... gone and sat on a nearby crate while proclaiming that Twilight was no fun and a kill-joy, and that Wind didn't need a babysitter. That was when Twilight had turned away, and said a quick two second prayer to the Goddess to please give him patience, only to turn around to an empty crate, and no Wind in sight.

He made a beeline for the crate, nose glued to the ground as he tried to distinguish Wind's scent from everything else.

Dirt... perfume... leather... cat... salt... salt? ...smoke... roasted apple... It was faint, and hard to focus on amongst every other smell, but is was there. Wind. Salt from the ocean, smoke from their campfires, and roasted apples from earlier today in the ice puzzle room. He sniffed around the entire crate, making sure that he had the scent distinguished from everything else, before trotting off through the crowd, following Wind's trail. He quickened his pace to his usual easy lope once they left the busy square and turned down a side street.

It was only a matter of time, now...

*****

"Uh, Twi?" said Four.

He'd just turned down yet another street in Warriors' never ending maze of a Castletown, following the scent of ocean spray, seagulls, and woodsmoke. The street that the trail went down was exactly the sort of street that Warriors had told them to stay away from. Dodgy. It was dirty and dingy, the buildings lining the street were practically falling apart, with broken windows and dim flickering signs. This was the undercity. The part of town that all of the posh nobles liked to forget about, and pretend doesn't exist.

Twilight suddenly stopped, startling Four and flinching his nose away from the ground. The air was full of the smell of drugs, the remnants of which were everywhere. It was becoming harder to be sure of Wind's scent, but it had definitely turned down this street.

What have you gotten yourself into, Sailor...

Twilight shook his head, and stubbornly put his nose back to the ground, plodding forward. They passed drunk, after drunk, after addict, after drunk, continuing to head deeper into Castletown's slums.

"Twilight...?" said Four uneasily.

He was having to go slower to make sure he kept Wind's scent, but that meant that Four was a passing colorful spectacle, especially to those under the influence...

One group of drunks started jeering, then another joined in. Twilight's animal instincts might not have been as good as an actual animal, but he could still sense Four's nervous fear.

Time had left him in charge, and he wasn't about to let these bastards anywhere near Four. He was the protector of his pack, and this was starting to escalate.

A growl started low in his throat, daring the drunks to get any closer. Their jeering continued, building, until one, reeking of alcohol, and bottle still in hand, stumbled out of the pack, making for Four.

Twilight lunged, snapping his teeth as his hackles rose, and he felt Four clutch his fur. The drunk man jolted back in surprise, and one of his friends hurried forward to drag him back. Twilight gave the retreating drunks a snarl for good measure, before turning back and shoving his nose into the dirt, regaining Wind's scent, before setting out again.

*****

The sun was just beginning to set when Twilight stopped suddenly in front of a tavern.

"He's in there?" asked Four.

It looked like a dodgy place, like everything did in this part of town. Definitely not the place a young boy should go alone. Twilight sniffed around the entrance, but didn't go in. He instead went to a pile of junk a few buildings down and sniffed it intently.

"What is it?" questioned Four.

Twilight just huffed, before trotting down the nearest alleyway, and crouching down. Four clambered off easily, and after another round of shadows engulfed the big wolf, the hylian Twilight was standing before Four once again.

"So?"

"He definitely went into that tavern, and was there for a while, because there's another fresher trail that leaves the tavern, and goes to that junk pile. But his scent was different when he left... I may have just been picking up other competing smells, or something still inside of the tavern, but... he smelled like blood, on top of his usual scent," said Twilight worriedly.

"So why aren't we following him? He's hurt!"

"Because I also picked up another scent that went in and out of the tavern. Wild."

"How on earth did Wild find Wind?" asked Four in bewilderment.

"No idea, but they left the tavern together, went to that junk heap, and then left down that street."

"...You don't think the others were looking for him, do you? Time and Warriors could have gotten back, realized we were all missing, and gone searching for us with the others."

Twilight's face paled. "What do we do?"

Four bit his lip, "We follow Wind and Wild's trail back. That's all we can do. If we're fast enough maybe we can catch them before they make it back to the tavern with the others."

A moment later Wolfie was crouching before him again, and Four quickly scrambled on. As soon a Four was situated, Twilight ran. He started forward so suddenly that Four lost his seat for a moment, getting a split second of airtime, before grabbing onto Twilight's fur and flattening his body against the giant wolf, holding on for dear life as Twilight tore through the backstreets of Castletown.

This was gonna be a long ride...