Work Text:
It was a calm day and the Chain of nine Heroes had decided to take a short break at the edge of the forest before they’d travel through the wide field that opened up before them. Four was reading while Hyrule was checking through his medical herbs and such. Sky was napping in the shade of a birch. Legend was keeping eye on his brothers while doing slight repairing on Wild’s tunic. Wild, Twilight, Warriors and Wind were deeper in the forest practicing their archery skills.
Time finished the letter he was writing to Malon and stretched a bit. “I’m going to check on the others. Wild might want to do some food before we head forward.” He told calmly while getting up. Four, Hyrule and Legend simply nodded without taking their gazes off of their current work.
Time gave out a signal whistle for coming over just to let the four know he was approaching them. They had lots of whistles for different things but this one had been created after few accidents. Each of those had been when one of them had been practicing with a weapon or another while being unaware of someone heading his way. Luckily most of those situations had been easy to deal with due to quick reflexes and luck. Unfortunately, few had been close of ending up into death.
Suddenly a close by bush shook and Time turned towards it. The forest around him wasn’t giving any warning of the situation but he was still curious to see what would come out of there. Yet, before whatever it was in the hiding could come into sight, another sound caught his notion.
The Chain’s leader recognized the sound of flying arrow but he wasn’t fast enough to avoid the strike. He screamed when the projectile found an opening between the armor’s plates and dug deep into his shoulder. The thing that had been in the bush freaked out and dashed out of its hiding. Time didn’t get to see what it had been as it already knocked into him and crashed him into the ground.
Time growled as he pushed himself upwards. The arrow had snapped in the impact with the rough surface. He yanked the rest of the arrow out of the wound while hoping his boys actually had a potion or few along just in case.
“So, whose arrow slipped in its path?” The Old Man queried while raising his gaze up into Wild, Warriors, Wind and Twilight. He had already heard them scream his nicknames as they dashed to see what had happened.
“Not mine.” Wild straight off stated out as he checked the snapped end of the arrow. “I mark my arrows.” He told while pointing at the used feathers. “These are certainly from bought ones.”
“Not mine either.” Wind shouted in shock. “I was shooting them straight up for height practice.”
“I wasn’t shooting even one damn arrow, Sprite! I was there to supervise everything!” Warriors half shouted while trying to see the wound.
“Not mine either.” Twilight replied while feeling worried of the amount of blood that was already messing the armor. “I was shooting fruits while making sure we kept the temporary camp behind us.”
“Alright.” Time nodded in acceptance. “Then, where the hell did it come from?” He half questioned while being ready to head back to the camp to get either a potion or Hyrule.
Suddenly they heard running steps heading their way. Soon a duo with bows and arrows dashed into the area. “Oh dear Goddesses! I’m so sorry!” One of the two men shouted when they saw the situation. “We were hunting for food but the damn deer got spooked and…” He explained as swiftly as he could.
“It’s fine. Accidents happen.” Time replied with a slight smile and shook his head. “We got potions and a healer at our camp. I’ll be fine.” He told calmly while getting up.
“Um….” The other one of the two hesitated before sighing heavily. “You’re not.” He partly apologized before already digging out a purple blue potion. “The arrows we use are enhanced. A normal potion or healing magic won’t fix the situation.” He explained while offering the drink. “Our fault so we fix this.”
“That’s not a normal potion.” Warriors pointed out while being ready to decline from the offer on his little brother’s stead.
“You’re right. It’s not normal one.” The first man nodded in confirmation. “This is made for the enhanced arrows of ours. The damage itself isn’t deadly but the enhancement keeps the wound open and the bleeding heavy.” He explained sorrowfully.
“This potion takes the enhancement off and heals the wound correctly.” The second guy told while still keeping the bottle towards Time.
“Alright. Thank you.” Time replied while accepting the offered potion.
“The enhancement is strong one so I highly suggest drinking the whole bottle.” The one having shot the arrow stated out firmly when their victim had only taken a gulp of the potion of sorts.
Time shrugged and bit winced at the pain in his shoulder before drinking the rest of the thing. The guys accepted the empty bottle back with a slight nod. “We’re seriously sorry about this.”
Time shook his head with a slight smile while feeling the wound healing. “Like I said, accidents happen. We just gotta be more careful at the next time.” He simply told calmly. “And I’m sorry if I’m the one whom scared your food away. Can I somehow make up for it?”
The duo glanced at each other before they both shook their heads. “You took the arrow. That’s way too much already.” The other one of them replied. “Yet, thanks for the offer.”
“We should get going.” The first one told and nodded towards the way they had come from.
“You’re right.” The second man nodded. “Gotta get back to our camp. We strayed too far from there for my liking on our food hunt.” He shrugged with a slight smile. “Sorry about having shot at you.”
Time just gave a dismissive sound and action. “Safe travels.” He simply said before already starting to usher his boys back towards their own camp.
“Likewise!” The duo replied before heading their own way.
Warriors kept glancing behind them until the duo was out of sight and hearing. “I don’t trust them. Something feels off.”
“It was just an accident, Wars. It happens.” Time replied calmly before shrugging without pain this time around. “If you worry so much, I’ll let Hyrule check things.”
“Better to be safe just in case.” Twilight nodded while equally feeling like something wasn’t right in the whole situation.
“Freaking hell, Old Man! What the fuck happened?!” Legend screamed out and jolted his brothers into the situation. Even Sky snapped awake and gasped when they saw the five Links return to the camp.
“Just slight accident. Nothing too bad.” Time replied while trying to calm and soothe the situation down. “The wound’s already healed so no worries in there.” He continued when Legend already brought out one of his red potions.
“Can I check things? Please? Just in case?” Hyrule nearly begged while already initiating his magic. It wasn’t the healing one just yet but just to give a full check up on his leader.
“Just let me get the armor off so I can get it cleaned.” Time replied before already starting to explain the situation through.
“I can clean it for you.” Four suggested once the armor was off and Hyrule had started his work.
“Thank you, I would fully appreciate that. Still, it’s—“ The Chain’s leader started but the Smithy already shook his head and showed to shut up.
“It’s no big deal. By the time Hyrule’s ready with you, I’ve already handled your armor. Quicker that way.” Four explained while already fetching the needed things and starting to work on the armor.
“I’ll handle something swift for the rest of the road until we camp for the night.” Wild suggested as he started to go through his Slate for needed ingredients.
Hyrule worked calmly and precisely with the magic. “Can’t find anything out of ordinary. And the wound’s healed too.” He told after having untapped from Time’s magic. Getting a connection into other one’s magic eased the Traveler’s work and lessened the need of magical stamina. Plus, the Chain’s leader had similar magic with him so it made things lot easier for him.
The given info calmed everyone out and things returned back to normal. Wild served the simple Seafood Fried Rice as it was swift, simple and still very much filling. After that Time put the armor back on and they continued forward to get through the field before nightfall.
The nine Heroes kept the pace fast enough to reach the other end of the wide Hyrule Fields. Yet, they still took it easy while doing slight foraging on the way. They set the camp just beyond the first few lines of the forest’s edge. Time deemed it safe and sound due to what the woods told him. Even the night went past calmly with Warriors, Twilight and Legend having kept the night shifts.
When the morning rose, Time wasn’t feeling too well. It started off by feeling slight stiffness which he put down as having slept in bad position. Only some hours later he stumbled roughly while feeling dizzy and weak. Sky and Wild swiftly caught him from crashing into the forest’s ground. Before he could say a word, the Chosen Hero had already given out one of the signal whistles to get everyone to come over as they had bit spread around while picking their own paces while keeping eye on the ones ahead of them.
“Time, what’s wrong?” Four queried worriedly while watching how the duo was pretty much holding their leader upright.
“I… I-I think I’m coming down with something…” The one eyed male whispered weakly.
“I think you’re having a fever.” Warriors told while placing his hand onto Time’s forehead. “Your body temperature’s always bit higher than anyone else’s but I think it’s lot more so than normally.” He pointed out while already starting to get the heavy armor off of his little brother.
Time didn’t fight back which only further proved that he wasn’t feeling well at all. “There’s a good spot for a camp little ahead from here. You think you can make it to there?” Legend told while feeling like it was bit too far for the Chain’s leader to make it without full support or being carried.
Time grimaced a bit at the info before already feeling tad ashamed as he shook his head for an answer. Yet, he soon yelped in shock as the Captain swiftly picked him up into his arms. “We got you, little brother. You know this.” He told softly while nodding his thanks to Wild as he put Time’s armor into safekeeping into his Slate. Legend still felt uncertain of the situation but he showed the way to the small clearing of sorts.
Soon enough they had settled down and Time had curled up underneath couple of blankets, Warriors’ scarf and Sky’s Sailcloth. He was still bit trembling but at least he was getting bit of sleep. The others stayed close by to keep eye on him.
After couple of hours the Chain’s leader woke up slowly and groggily. He felt even worse than before with nausea. Wild brought in simple and easy to eat food which Time would’ve any other day eaten willingly while being sick. Now, though, each and every bite he took, came right back up. Sadly, the same reaction was with all possible drinks of hot chocolate, hot water with lemon and honey as well as with just simple water. He couldn’t get anything down that would actually stay where it was supposed to be.
Time was feeling even worse with guilt and remorse getting mixed into feeling sick. He hated to fail eat those amazing meals Wild did for them. Sure, no-one was blaming him for wasting the Champion’s efforts and ingredients since he was sick but it didn’t help his mood. He just felt awful both physically and mentally.
The Chain did all they could to help their oldest brother get some sleep. At least rest could help him to heal. Music, calm stories, braids and running their fingers through his hair were doing a lot for his mood and aided him to nap.
Unfortunately, things just kept going worse. At the evening, when Time woke up again, he started to cough roughly while feeling like his lungs would come out with the action. Yet, that wasn’t all as he was coughing out blood. And it wasn’t just with droplets. He was spitting and gagging it out while feeling like bleeding internally.
The eight Links were freaking out as their leader’s condition had gone from bad to worse. Hyrule tried to figure out what was going on but he couldn’t find the fault no matter how he checked. The others were wracking their brains through for any answer or info about similar situations.
Suddenly they heard the distinctive sound of poof indicating for the Yiga’s members having arrived. The moment the Chain saw the two leaning against close by trees, they already drew out their weapons to defend Time and to take their enemy down. Yet, before they could actually attack, the duo took their masks off while smirking cruelly and revealing to be the same guys whom had “accidentally” shot an arrow into their oldest brother.
“At ease now.” One of the two Footsoldiers said calmly.
“At least if you wish to save your old man there.” The other one shrugged and smirked wickedly. “It’s a fun thing when you mix poison and potion in right amount.” He laughed and his smirk widened at the shock and horror their opponents showed.
The first one nodded nearly eagerly. “We got the antidote, though.” He told while letting his gaze go through the group before them. “And we’ll exchange it. One life for another.”
“Give us the Hero of Wilds and you can save the gramps there.” The second one stated out with a shrug. “Old guys like him shouldn’t even be in places like this.”
“Exactly! The old and frail should be in the pension house.” The first one pointed out wickedly.
The other one laughed and nodded in agreement. “Or better yet, be dead by now.” He mocked eagerly before shrugging. “Couple of more hours and he’s dead anyways. One frail body less to worry about. Let the young and strong live.”
Time’s eye twitched at how he was talked about. He growled and slowly stood up even though he wasn’t feeling even one bit steady with his feet. “Old and frail, huh?” He nearly snarled while drawing out his knife. His rage and hatred towards the duo was aiding him to push his sickness to side for the moment.
The Chain snapped their gazes back into their oldest brother in worry and fear. “Sprite, you shouldn’t be—!“ Warriors started but he flinched and shut up on the moment his little brother’s gaze fell into him. He gulped once and nodded in understanding.
“How about I make a better offer to you?” Time growled as he turned his gaze back into the duo. “I fight alone against you two. See how old and frail I am. If I win, you give the antidote. If I lose…” He shrugged and smirked. “These eight will certainly tear you two apart.” He nearly mused before getting serious again. “Either way, you’re not getting the Hero of Wilds. If I’m going to die, I’d rather die fighting.” He snarled before already moving towards the duo.
The two Yiga Footsoldiers glanced at each other before already smirking even wider. “This’ll be fun.” The first one mused.
“And easy.” He second one chuckled darkly. Right after that they already jumped into the air and vanished with the poof.
Time stopped and closed his eye. All he could hope for was that the duo wouldn’t attack the others instead of him. The moment he heard the sound of his enemies having appeared, he already dived off of the way to avoid the first one’s arrows. The second, though, had anticipated his actions.
As Time was up for getting back up to his feet, he crashed to his knees instead as he began to cough out blood. The laughter of the second Yiga Footsoldier was his only warning before the sickle already slashed at his arm. The one eyed male growled while attacking but his own strike failed to hit into his target as the guy poofed out of sight with a mocking laugh.
The Chain desperately wanted to go and help Time with the battle as the two Yigas were having way too much of fun with him. The oldest Link got struck with several arrows and ended up slashed quite a few times when the sickness struck and made it hard for him to avoid the dangers. Yet, he kept his eight boys off of the battle even though it wasn’t going well for him.
The Yiga, though, made a mistake as they just toyed with him and got bolder in their actions. Time waited exactly for that when one of them finally appeared right next to him with the bow. The Chain’s leader moved fast and precisely as he struck with his knife. The first one of the two freaked out that of badly of the deadly attack that he fled the scene on that second.
“Coward.” Time growled and locked his gaze in the remaining enemy of his. “You want to continue or are you going to accept defeat and give the antidote before fleeing?” The second Yiga growled before vanishing again. The one eyed male snorted and shook his head. “Stupid…” He mumbled as he waited for his opponent to appear again.
The Yiga poofed back into sight with bow and arrow ready while keeping the needed distance. Sadly, it sure as hell wasn’t ready for his target to move as swiftly as Time did despite his current condition or age. The guy screamed when the knife suddenly struck fast, precisely and powerfully into his shoulder. Only moments after having crashed into the ground back first, Time was already over him while pinning him to the ground.
“This old and frail grandpa just beat the shit out of you and your comrade.” Time smirked while yanking the knife out of his enemy’s shoulder. He hated the terror he saw in his captive but he kept reminding himself of whom the guy beneath him was. “So, death or answer? You know I’m not letting you poof out of here.” He growled out while unnoticeably loosening his hold on the guy.
Time knew part of him wanted to take the guy’s life but he never had been the kind of person whom killed without it affecting him. He knew they should’ve captured the current Yiga’s member and hand him over to the closest Knights and guards. Yet, the era wasn’t Wild’s and the Yiga didn’t belong into here. Their only crimes were against them at the moment.
“Drink green potion!” The Yiga screamed out and, much to his surprise, was capable of poofing the hell out of there. Time sighed heavily in relief and slumped fully. Yet, right after that he started to cough again which snapped his boys into action and to dash right to him. Legend straight off fished out the green potion while fully hoping the terror their enemy had felt had forced him to tell the truth.
Time took the potion nearly eagerly after the coughing fit had passed for a moment. He sighed a bit before slumping against Hyrule whom was right behind him. Without being able to explain the situation he just closed his eye and let the exhaustion drop him into sleep.
The eight Heroes freaked out even more about the situation while straight off checking for Time’s pulse. They slightly bit calmed down as they found it steady and strong. The Traveler carefully began to heal the wounds while Warriors, Legend and Twilight worked the arrows off of their leader. Eventually the Rancher gently picked his mentor up and carried him back to his bedroll.
The boys of Hero of Time’s didn’t sleep even one bit at that night. They were feeling way too worried for their oldest brother’s wellbeing and just wanted to make sure he kept breathing. None of them knew how he’d wake up or what his condition would be and that only got them even more concerned as the night moved forward.
Time woke up with a quiet whine at the next morning. The Chain gathered around him on that second as he slowly sat up before already yawning and stretching. “Sprite?” Warriors called carefully and bit gasped when the older male flopped against him.
Time hummed while still keeping his eye closed but he was bit smiling fondly. “Anyone got a chocolate lollipop? I’m pretty much craving for one right now.” He half whispered while searching for good position before opening his eye to look at his boys.
“Here!” Wild half shouted the moment he got the treat out of his Slate. The Chain’s leader smiled bit wider at the thing before humming contently as he took it.
“Time? How are you feeling?” Sky inquired worriedly while feeling contradicted of the situation. The fact that the oldest Hero was actually wanting something to eat and seemed at peace was a wonderful thing. And yet, after everything that had happened he feared it was just sign of something being even worse.
Time hummed and bit stretched his shoulders before grinning as Warriors moved behind him. Soon enough his grin widened as his older brother began to give him a massage. “Feeling far better than yesterday. In fact, I’m actually wanting to eat something after this one.” He mused happily. “Other than that…” He shrugged a bit. “…feeling kinda exhausted both physically and mentally. And yet… Alive.”
The Chain sighed in relief and calmed down. “What do you want to eat? Just name it and I’ll do it.” Wild simply asked while already going through his Slate’s stuff.
Time blushed a bit and gave a short nervous chuckle. “Cheese omelet. “ He half whispered before giving slight sheepish look. “Though, I’m not sure that’s something for breakfast.”
“I’m on it!” Wild already shouted before waving his hand dismissively. “Any food works as breakfast.” He stated out and grinned. “Besides, you haven’t eaten a thing since last morning. You gotta be starved!”
Time chuckled a bit and shrugged. “Kinda.” He half mumbled while enjoying of the slight fussing over his boys were doing. It felt nice to be looked after with such simple actions as amazing food, massage, music and stories. He actually enjoyed of it while knowing how much it was helping the eight to know that things were all right.
They stayed at the given spot for the whole day just to make sure Time healed. Wild did fruit salad for dinner out of Time’s request. At evening it was simply hot chocolate made out of milk and white chocolates with few strawberries in there with snacks of slightly fried fruit pieces.
At the next day they finally continued forward. They arrived to a small town before unwillingly spreading out to handle information gathering, restocking and getting a stay at the Inn. Yet, Warriors, Twilight and Legend stayed by Time just in case. Sky and Four handled information gathering while Wild and Hyrule were on restocking. None of them took long with their tasks as they simply didn’t want to leave their oldest brother out of their sight for long.
Eventually they all were in the Inn’s biggest room. Time hadn’t taken more than that room for them to stay in for one simple reason: The Hero Pile of Support and Comfort. He really needed to give the hugs and reassurances to his boys and that usually was the best way besides the group hugs and such.
As the info and items were shared while having simple finger food snacks as evening meal, they learned to be in an era long after Wild’s time. The Yiga was still around and they had found a way to mix poison and potion. Yet, it wasn’t as powerful as the bad guys were hoping for it to be. The death usually was caused by the lack of getting anything eaten instead of anything else. The coughing of blood didn’t last long and even though it looked hellish, it wasn’t in such amount to cause actual danger.
The cure was already in everyone’s knowledge as it was simply either to get something eaten and wait for few days for things to pass or then to take a green potion. The healing part of the poison potion was still there as it fixed the normal damage the Yiga created but it needed a boost by the stamina for magic for it to beat the actual poison. Sadly, though, the poison avoided fairy magic and hence Hyrule hadn’t been able to detect it.
The Yigas did the same ruse on everyone. Claiming the easy attack of an arrow or a slash to have been enhanced and, as an apology, giving the so called potion. After that they had followed their target to watch the situation unfold before asking for whatever they wanted in exchange of the potion. For some they just gave actual poison, to some they just laughed and left the scene while very few gained the needed potion to heal. There wasn’t a pattern in what they’d do or what they’d ask for. It was pretty much random and fully up to the Yiga’s members to decide.
Once the food was eaten, the info shared and each of them having gained their fair amount of needed things they restocked on, Time finally gave hugs and apologies of having freaked his boys so thoroughly. After that they fully piled on him for the next few nights just to be certain he was safe and sound and fully with them.
The nine Heroes also made certain not to accept things from strangers unless it was bought by themselves from the markets and such. None of them had any intentions of ending up being fooled like this ever again. Still, the best learned lessons were those that were the hardest to go through. And this kind of situations only made them stronger and more tightly knit together. After all, they were a family of brothers instead of group of strangers.