Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

They can’t find Time and Legend.

Nine heroes step into the portal, but only seven come out, Hyrule the last to emerge. Time and Legend should be right behind him, but the portal slips away with a sharp flash of darkness and an unsteady fizz the moment the traveler stumbles through, no sign of them in sight.

Hyrule falls to the ground with a short gasp, and Four lurches back just in time to barely catch the traveler, eyes going wide as he finds Hyrule is shaking. Violently.

“S-something was wrong...” he chokes out as he clutches at Four’s sleeve, then falls unconscious.

That was days ago.

There’s been no sign of them.

Their group continues on through the wilderness, holding out hope that maybe Time and Legend were simply thrown in a different spot and they’ve merely been separated. Hyrule is unable to tell them much more about what had happened, just that he could tell something was off, and the mood is grim as they continue to search.

They reach a fork in the path they’ve been following, and while Warriors and Twilight argue about which direction to head in or whether to split up, Four hangs back a bit and looks for minish to ask if they’ve seen anyone matching Time or Legend’s description. If anyone would know of their whereabouts, it would be them.

He hasn’t been looking long when Wind suddenly lets out a startled cry from behind him, and Four hears several swords escape their scabbards.

He turns around in the act of unsheathing his own blade, and feels his stomach drop as he sees Dark Link himself appear, an unconcerned smile on his lips.

Multiple arrows and various other projectiles instantly whizz towards the shadow, aimed directly for his heart. But they fall harmlessly against a faint shield that winks into existence, Dark Link unharmed. Hyrule then lunges forwards and slashes at the shield, but is flung backwards with a shout, crashing into an unfortunate Sky. The rest of the heroes level their swords, but hang back, warily eyeing the barrier. Obviously he’s prepared for this encounter.

The Shadow tsks and narrows his eyes as they stand there, that same unnervingly familiar smile on his face.

“Really? Is that all you’ve got?” he chuckles.

“Lower that shield, coward, and we’ll give you a fight!” yells Wind, and rest of the heroes shout in agreement.

Dark blinks at them coolly, and his shield grows brighter. He looks like Time at the moment, and it makes Four’s skin crawl.

“You heroes are so quick to violence,” Dark Link says with an eye roll, examining a nail as Wild snaps off three bomb arrows and they all explode harmlessly against his shield. “I mean really. I merely came here to give you a little information about your missing friends.”

If it was possible for the heroes to become more tense, then they did so now, hands tightly gripping hilts, shields held more at the ready.

“Where are they,” Twilight demands, stormy eyes churning with anger.

Dark Link taps a hand to his chin, meeting the gaze of each of them as he scans the clearing. Four feels as if there’s a rock in his stomach as red eyes that are much too similar to someone else’s meet his own blue-grays, amusement in their shine. He feels only minutely better when they move on.

“I really couldn’t say for sure...” Dark finally drawls, pulling something from behind his back. He throws the items on the ground in front of him with a smirk, and someone gasps. “...but if I had to guess, probably the Sacred Realm by now.”

Four leans around to get a better view, and once he sees what the Shadow has dropped, the rock in his stomach turns to ice.

Lying in the grass is Legend’s distinctive blue cap, ripped and stained with bright splots of red. His bracelet lies next to it, as well as a couple of rings Four knows belong to the veteran. A few inches away lie some pieces of Time’s armor, bent and broken, and worse, Time’s wedding band, so slick with blood he can barely identify it. Their swords join the pile, also stained with an unhealthy amount of red, and the last item to land is a pale, creamy-colored ocarina.

Legend would never part with his rings or cap willingly, and that goes tenfold for Time’s ring. Four doesn’t know which of them the ocarina belongs to, but the fact that he’s never seen it probably alludes to its importance.

The implications of Dark Link having all of these items is grim, and Four feels a multitude of emotions swirl to life in his head. They’d already begun to lose hope, but this...

Dark begins to speak again and Four has to consciously shove the emotions in his mind back so he can focus on what he’s saying.

“—portal blew them to bits almost instantly,” the Shadow continues, flicking a bit of dirt from his tunic. “I honestly thought it would take more then a bit of dark magic to take down your two most experienced members, but apparently not.”

He shrugs.

“Ah well. They’re dead now. I suppose it doesn’t matter.”

“You’re lying!” spits Hyrule, with more venom then Four has ever heard from him.

He turns in surprise, and watches with the others as Sky has to physically hold him back from charging at the magical shield again.

“Your magic could never defeat either of them! They’re some of the greatest heroes ever, and you’re just a coward who refuses to fight us head-on!” Hyrule shouts. “Your magic could never!”

Four watches as Sky tightly grips Hyrule, the younger hero’s eyes bright with angry denial, the older’s dark with worry.

“How do we even know they’re actually dead?” says Wild with narrowed eyes. “You could’ve just stolen their stuff and covered it in blood. Told your dumb portal to spit them somewhere far away from us. We wouldn’t know the difference.”

They all turn to look at the champion, his logic giving them hope. But Dark Link’s eyes flash cruelly, and he grins at Wild.

“Believe me when I say this, little heroes,” he leers. “The Hero of Time and the Hero of Legend are dead. My usual portal magic destabilized, and the resulting whiplash killed them almost instantly.” He glances back at the traveler, still struggling. “But you probably already had a feeling that’s what happened, didn’t you Hero of Hyrule?”

Hyrule stills, and doesn’t meet the Shadow’s eyes, staring at the ground from where he’s bundled in Sky’s arms still.

“Go on, tell them!” laughs Dark Link. “Tell them about how when you went through you only saved yourself, how your magic was too weak to do more!”

Hyrule stiffens in Sky’s grip, the anger suddenly gone as his face pales. Four tries to catch his eye, but his head is lowered too far, hair falling in his face. Dark Link leans closer, red eyes seeming brighter, and his voice drips with false sympathy as his face shifts to look more like Legend’s.

“I’m sure the Hero of Legend would be so proud,” he says softly.

Wild tries more arrows. They still don’t work.

Dark Link then smirks over at Twilight, the rancher glowering with anger and terror that’s been growing progressively brighter the longer the Shadow speaks.

“Pity about your mentor as well. He carried quite a few regrets, I hear.”

The rancher goes very still, and tenses up even more tightly than before, looking like he’s about ready to either break down crying or kill a man. Four has a feeling it’s going to be the latter when he lets out an honest-to-goodness snarl.

“That’s enough,” Warriors snaps, face stony. Wind stands next to him, gaze surprisingly level despite everything going on.

“Why are you telling us this?” asks the sailor, voice angry. “Did you just come to gloat?”

Dark Link shrugs. “Perhaps. Maybe I felt like returning your friend’s things out of the kindness of my heart.” Four scoffs along with Warriors at that. “Or maybe I just wanted to be the one to tell you what happened, and see the looks on your faces. Maybe I’m just as confused as you are as to what truly happened and were hoping you had answers!”

He shrugs again.

“Either way, you all are extremely fortunate I can’t replicate the magic right now or I would kill you all where you stand,” he sighs, shaking his head. “A pity. But I suppose two in one fell swoop is nothing to scoff at... especially since it wasn’t even my fault.”

He looks directly at Hyrule, then laughs.

“Farewell heroes!”

One last grin shows on his face before he simply disappears with a small flicker of darkness, magic shield and all.

They stare in shocked silence a moment before Twilight lets out a wordless yell and sinks to a knee, eyes squeezed tightly shut. Silence reigns for several beats, then Hyrule sniffles and Twilight’s eyes crack open. The others turn to look at the traveler, still looking oddly subdued, and Sky pats his shoulder.

“I tried,” Hyrule says, voice thick. “I tried to save them, but I— the magic hurt, and I couldn’t focus, there was too much... I thought they were just being pulled somewhere else, and I could only manage enough to get myself through with the rest of you, I didn’t think they were de—”

His voice cracks and he shakes his head.

“I’m so sorry.”

Twilight closes his eyes again and nods wearily, understanding on his face.

“It’s alright ‘rule,” he says softly, voice grieved. “You did what you could.”

“Do we... do we really think they’re dead?” Wind asks in a small voice, and they all look at the bloodied items on the ground.

Nobody answers him.

Hyrule looks away, and Sky gives him a hug as Wild begins to speak quietly with Twilight. Four can’t seem to focus on the words anyone is saying, and he watches dully as Warriors goes over to the discarded items, and begins to clean the blood off, Wind joining him, a hand fisted tightly in his scarf while the other helps collect the items. Four stays where he’s standing, thoughts whirling so hard he can’t do anything else.

They should figure out what just happened and plan their next steps, but— now there’s shock setting in. They need to wait to discuss whatever it was that just happened. They need to... grieve.

Four lets out a slow, even breath.

They’re dead.

He sits down heavily on a rock, head swirling with so many emotions that he can only barely hold himself back from grabbing his sword and splitting right then and there.

A tear slips down his cheek as he tries to sort through the stream of consciousness thundering through his mind, fire roaring, ocean crashing, rocks slamming together, with a hurricane at the center of it all. Someone says something close by him but Four can’t reply, afraid if he speaks it’ll come out as a sob.

Legend and Time, both gone. And because of... what even? A portal gone bad? Dark Link’s magic?

Both?

He’s still not sure, and the confusion and emotion and shock all make him feel like he’s going to throw up.

Four’s head falls into his hands, and his shoulders shake as he squeezes his eyes shut, barely aware of the hand that settles on his arm.

They’re really gone.
 

Ages away, Dark Link appears in a murky room with a faint flash of magic.

One of the room’s occupants raises his head, the other lying unconscious nearby. His eye is trained steadily at the Shadow as he stalks closer, expression not changing even when a clawed hand grabs his bloodied chin.

“Your little protégé was quite devastated to hear about your death,” Dark states, flicking a bit of dried blood off the man’s face.

Time doesn’t reply.

Dark Link smirks and drops his chin.

“Not in the mood for conversation? Well, there’ll be plenty of time for that later.”

He grins, though it’s barely visible in the low light, and the Shadow disappears from the cell once again. Time pulls Legend closer once he’s gone, Dark Link’s parting message ringing in his ears and sending a curl of dread up his spine.

“Now that your companions believe you to be dead... we have all the time in the world.”

Chapter Text

It’s been fifty-two hours, forty-six minutes, and fifteen seconds since they’ve been put here.

Legend still hasn’t woken up.

Time swallows and shifts a bit from where he’s sitting against the wall, a slice in his back protesting at the movement. The chain around his arm clinks loudly in the enclosed space, and the cuffs bite at his already raw wrists as if to remind him he won’t be escaping any time soon.

He ignores the sting and runs a slow hand through the veteran’s blood-matted hair, silently begging the boy who’s face is pressed into his leg and breathing much too thin to wake up.

But Legend doesn’t move. Doesn’t flinch when Time runs a hand over the makeshift bandage on his forehead, doesn’t do anything but lie there as Time tries desperately to keep his worry from overwhelming him as the minutes continue to tick by.

The hairs on the back of his neck stick up all of a sudden, and Time raises his head, looking around.

The cell they’re in is dark, so dark that Time can barely see the blood he knows is still staining his hands, but he carefully scans the room anyway, the now-familiar creeping feeling of being watched trickling down his back.

Their captor only visited them once (nine hours three minutes and fifteen seconds ago), red eyes flashing with glee as he told them how devastated the other heroes had been to learn of their “deaths.” He’d promised to return shortly— though he hadn’t yet shown himself apart from that initial visit.

But Time knew he’d been watching them. Not the whole time, but he could feel dark magic seeping in, crawling down his spine, on and off ever since.

Fifty-two hours, forty-nine minutes, and twenty-eight seconds.

He still isn’t sure how this happened.

He and Legend had been last through a portal, trailing behind the others as they’d idly discussed items of some kind. But instead of the portal magic sliding around him like an oily mud as usual, it had stabbed into Time like a knife, ripping through every cell in his body and wrenching him away from the others with a pain so intense he’d blacked out.

When he woke up he was here, chained to the wall and bleeding, without any of his possessions except the clothes on his back and an unconscious Legend who looked even worse then Time felt.

He looks down at the teenager again, and his breath suddenly catches in his throat.

“Wake up,” he whispers, brushing some dried blood off Legend’s brow. “Please vet, wake up, I can’t...” His voice dies and he moves a hand to Legend’s throat, feeling his pulse.

Legend doesn’t move, thin breath still faintly rattling through his lungs.

Fifty-six hours, fifty-one minutes and thirty-six seconds.

Time presses his forehead against Legend’s, feeling a wave of despair sink into his stomach.

“Please Link.”

Chapter Text

Time wakes up to a groan.

His foggy brain immediately snaps into focus and he sits up straighter, looking down at the boy still lying on his lap. He’d decided getting some rest would be prudent and had fallen into a hazy sleep, but it had only been an hour (and eight minutes and thirty-nine seconds) since he’d drifted off.

Legend’s eyes are still screwed shut, but he lets out another groan, twisting his head slightly.

“Veteran?”

Legend’s eyes crack open.

Time can’t help the flood of relief that hits him at the sight of blue, even barely open as they are. The veteran gives him a bleary look, then opens his eyes a little wider, flicking them around at the room they’re in. He licks his chapped lips.

“Old... man?” he croaks.

Time sighs in relief, admittedly a little on the shaky side.

“Yes. Try not to move, you’re injured, and been out for quite some time.”

Legend experimentally shifts himself despite Time’s warning, wincing as he turns his head and accidentally rubs the makeshift bandage on his forehead.

“What happened?” he rasps.

Time sighs again, and goes to fiddle with his wedding band before remembering it’s no longer on his finger. Instead he hands Legend the small amount of water that was left for himself, helping him sip at it. Legend drinks it greedily.

“Dark Link. Tampered with the portal magic, dragged us here somehow. It’s been almost three days.”

Legend takes this in quietly as he swallows. “...The others?”

Time closes his eye.

“Think we’re dead.”

Legend closes his eyes again, then reopens them with a tired blink. “How do you know that.”

“Our Shadow. He decided to gloat.”

Legend takes a slow breath in and out, and Time can see him think that through.

“They’re smart,” the veteran rasps, a confident glint in his eye, “they’ll figure out we’re alive.”

“Oh I don’t know about that.”

Time and Legend stiffen. That wasn’t either of their voices.

Moments later a faint haze of magic oozes through the room, shining like a stain of oil, and suddenly Dark Link is standing there in clear view, smiling easily at them.

His appearance most resembles Time’s own face at the moment, but as it looked many years ago, back when he was a teenager with the heart of a child, fighting to stop the future. The familiar visage makes ice slip down Time’s neck, but he purposefully ignores it.

Dark Link no doubt chose his appearance for a reason.

“You certainly took your time waking up,” their Shadow hums as he looks at Legend. “I almost considered throwing a fairy in here.”

Time sees Legend grit his teeth and start to move, but he puts a hand on his arm to stop him.

Neither of them reply to the Shadow’s words.

“Still not in the mood to talk?” he tsks and strolls lazily closer. “I’m willing to answer your questions, you know.”

Time glances at Legend, who gives a firm shake of his head, then looks back up at Dark Link.

“What is it that you want with us?” he asks levelly, ignoring Legend’s small groan. They need information, and though this is no doubt some sort of trick, perhaps they can at least get something before things inevitably go south. “Why go to the trouble of faking our deaths?”

Dark Link hums again, examining his nails.

“Simple,” he says, as if they really should have figured it out by now, “if nobody knows you’re alive, nobody knows you need saving.”

He slides closer, just out of reach of Time (who isn’t moving anyway, Legend is still resting on him), and sneers. Time meets his gaze steadily.

“Why not just kill us?” he asks.

It’s a dangerous question. But if they know what’s going on, they can formulate a plan to get out of here, and their Shadow is obviously in the mood to talk.

Dark Link’s sneer morphs into more of a smile.

“You’re a lot more fun if you’re still alive. It gets lonely around here with nobody but brainless monsters to talk to, sometimes I want a response other than just a snort or two,” he shrugs. “A man gets bored with no stimulating conversation.”

His smiles grows.

“But if you really want to know... I must confess I’m rather fond of the more negative emotions in your hearts. They’re lifeblood to me,” he grins, something starving and feral in his eyes. Time feels his stomach flip. “Your pain, your anger, your fear... they only make me more powerful. It’s why I faked your deaths, all those ugly little emotions from the other heroes will power me for weeks.”

He leans down towards Time.

“But I find myself in need of a more steady supply to accomplish my plans, and the feelings are much more powerful when they’re closer, not eras away. And besides, the most reliable way to get such strong emotions...”

He lunges forward and drags Legend away before Time can even try to stop him, slamming the veteran against the wall with his claws tight around his throat.

“...is to make them yourself.”

Time shouts as he lurches to his feet, yanking against the chains on his wrists and ignoring the harsh sting of his wounds at the movement.

“It’s a great bit harder to get emotions out of dead heroes, wouldn’t you agree?” Dark Link growls, tightening his grip.

“Let him go,” Time snaps, his heart in his throat as he watches Legend struggle in the Shadow’s hold.

Legend is not at full strength. He only woke up minutes ago after being unconscious for days, and hasn’t had anything to eat or drink except for the little Time’s managed to get down his throat. The veteran is unable to do much other then weakly claw at the hands holding him, a murderous glare on his face as he struggles.

Time can only watch as Dark Link ever-so-carefully presses his claws into Legend’s neck, small droplets of blood welling where they prick.

“Afraid I can’t do that Time,” Dark Link says mildly, ignoring the sounds of Legend beginning to choke. “You know, you may have been the hero I came from, but this one has much more spunk to him. He’s the most fun out of your successors, I think. Much better then the goatherd.”

“Let him go.”

Dark Link lets Legend choke for another few moments before abruptly striking a fist into his ribs, wrenching a pained wheeze out of him. Time jerks in his chains, but then the Shadow drops Legend, leaving the veteran to gasp for breath on the floor.

Dark Link’s smirk is wide as he opens his mouth to speak again, but is interrupted by a sudden wheezy laugh from Legend, which turns into a cough as he lifts himself up on a shaking elbow.

“I’m not his successor,” Legend rasps, meeting the Shadow’s eyes, “For an enemy th-that... supposedly knows all about us, you sure are ignorant.“

Dark Link raises an inky brow. “Oh am I?”

He stalks over to Legend and yanks him up by the front of his shirt before he can resist, pulling a dagger out and resting it over the veteran’s neck.

Time feels his heart lurch.

“You know, I only really need one of you,” the Shadow says in a low voice, and Legend winces as the dagger bites into his skin. “One hero’s sorrow is plenty enough for me, and will only be more powerful as he’s forced to watch you die.”

Time forcibly shoves down the emotions threatening to overtake him as blood trickles down Legend’s collar.

“Leave him alone,” he says, voice cold. “Or are you too much of a coward to pick on someone your own size?”

Dark Link glances over at him with narrowed eyes, and Legend takes the opportunity to whip a leg out and knee him right in the gut.

The Shadow curses and stumbles, and Time silently cheers, but Dark Link recovers so quickly Legend doesn’t have time to do anything else before the dagger is back at his neck. The Shadow’s eyes flash as he lowers his stance, and he stabs the weapon into the teenager’s side without another word.

“Veteran!”

Time feels his heart stop as Legend is dropped to the ground, and Dark Link smiles as he lets out a choked gasp. Legend curls in on himself, and Time is clenching his fists so tightly he’s nearly broken skin.

“Oh calm down, he’s fine,” their shadow hums at him, twirling his knife. He chuckles and kicks Legend in the ribs, making him cough. “We’ve barely even begun.”

And that’s when Time realizes he’s just toying with them.

Fury crashes over him to mix with the fear for his fellow hero that’s already there, and he snaps both eyes open, giving Dark Link a glare that would make most men and monsters run the other way screaming.

The Shadow merely smiles.

“It hurts you to see him like this, hm?” Dark Link directs at him, only continuing to smile as Time strains against his chains. “It’s a shame your other two successors aren’t here.”

Time takes in a steadying breath.

“He is not my successor,” he says in a low, low voice. He’s hoping it’ll reduce the leverage Dark Link has, but the Shadow sees right through him. Legend may not be his successor but he’s still his.

One of his boys.

Whom he’d go through hell or high water for, who are already as precious and as close to him as Malon is, whom he would gladly take all their burdens on himself if it meant that they didn’t have to suffer even a moment longer.

And Dark Link knows it.

“Oh, but isn’t he?” the Shadow says, then plants a boot on Legend’s back as he leans in close to the downed veteran. Legend lets out a small noise that’s a mix between a wheeze and a grunt, and Dark Link’s smile never leaves his face.

He grabs Legend’s chin and lifts it to the side, forcing him to meet his eyes.

“Do you recall the legend of the hero before you?” he asks as the veteran rasps through his abused throat. “The Fallen Hero, poor soul. Doomed your world to Ganon’s hatred, all because he was too weak to even put up a fight.”

Legend glares and tries to reply, but it turns into a cough.

Dark Link smirks.

“That hero was none other then the one sitting right over there. The oh-so-glorious Hero of Time.”

Time’s heart skips a beat. Legend meets his gaze, and the disbelief that’s bright in his pain-clouded eyes cuts him straight to his core.

That’s impossible.

...That’s impossible.

He never failed.

He may have come close, so close, he may have nearly sent the entire kingdom to ruin when he pulled the blade, evil may have ruled for seven years as he slept and he may have nearly died when he fought Ganon and numerous other instances, but he never, never, failed.

...Right?

“Can’t be,” Legend manages to get out, obviously thinking along the same lines as Time. “Fallen Hero fell. As in died. Time’s sitting r-right... right over there, he can’t... he’s not dead.”

Dark Link shakes his head almost amusedly.

“Out of all the heroes, I would’ve thought the two who’d passed through time the most would understand. The flow of time takes many paths,” he says, finally leaving Legend on the ground and turning to Time. “In one, you go on to father the bloodline of the Hero of Twilight, trying your best to save him from your own fate. Another you abandoned, leading to the Hero of Winds’ flood.”

He leans close in to Time’s face, mouth twisted into a malicious smirk.

“And in another, you fail. Leading to the Hero of Legend’s doomed hellscape.”

Time can feel what color was left in his face drain away, hears the stuttering breath that Legend takes.

Dark Link must be lying. There’s no reason for Time to believe him, no reason at all, and he said that he wanted negative emotions from them, yet he can’t help but feel in his gut that every word he’s spoken so far has been absolutely true—

He has to be lying.

Then suddenly Legend is on his knees, snatching the dagger from Dark Link and stabbing him in the back.

Dark Link snarls, whipping around and striking Legend with enough force that he’s thrown against the wall. He hits it with a sickening thud and a cry that sinks into Time’s stomach, then Dark Link grabs the veteran by the collar before he can hit the ground, leveling the dagger at his neck.

“Don’t do that again,” he hisses, then digs the weapon across Legend’s cheek.

New blood mixes with the old that was there, and Time sees Legend grit his teeth against the pain, refusing to give Dark Link the satisfaction of hearing him cry out again.

“This discussion isn’t over,” their shadow spits at Legend’s face.

Then the veteran is thrown across the room into Time, and Dark Link abruptly disappears from the cell without another word.

Legend hits him with a agonized grunt, and it’s only due to Time’s quick reflexes that he doesn’t crack his head against the wall. His blood smears across Time’s shirt, staining the already dirty fabric even more, and Time’s heart is in his throat as he tries to get a good look at him.

Legend’s greenish undertunic has a concerning stain near the middle where he was stabbed, and a line of blood drips steadily down his cheek, mixing with those already trailing down his neck. The scrapped-together bandages Time had wrapped over his forehead fell off at some point, and the wound underneath doesn’t look much better then the rest of him. His left arm sits at an angle that isn’t natural, and his eyes are squeezed shut as his breath rattles in his throat.

“Veteran?” Time asks urgently, worry thick in his voice. Legend swallows, takes a stuttering breath, then raises his head, wincing as he grabs at his arm.

“That’s... going to b-be a problem,” he rasps, and Time helps him shift into a better position, where he ends up leaning heavily on the old man’s shoulder with a bitten-back groan.

Time takes one look at Legend’s bad arm and realizes it’s merely dislocated, rather than broken like he originally feared. It’s still a problem, but a less serious one at least. He runs a careful hand over the veteran’s arm and shoulder, and Legend bites back a whine.

“F-fix it,” he bites out, and Time sighs.

“Veteran, you’ve got other more pressing injuries, we should bandage them before we try to—”

“Please,” Legend whispers, and the lack of snark immediately makes Time pause. A long, measured breath escapes him, and he changes his position, holding Legend’s arm down as he prepares to slot it back into place.

He gives him no warning and snaps it back in with a sickening pop, Legend crying out and jerking against his hold. He doesn’t look much better after it’s fixed.

Time then assists him in wiping some of the blood off his face and neck, and tears the cleaner part of his shirt into makeshift bandages for the stab on his torso. He wraps it tight as he can, then tries his best to bandage the rest of his injuries so Legend won’t die from blood loss. He’s already dehydrated from being unconscious so long.

Once it’s all done Legend curls against him in an odd display of vulnerability, face pressed against his arm and eyes squeezed shut.

His exhaustion is evident in even that small movement, and Time gently pulls an arm around him, running a hand through his hair. It seems to soothe them both a bit, and Time just watches him a moment, comforting himself with the sight of Legend’s chest going steadily up and down. He then sighs and relaxes against the wall himself, a particularly bothersome injury on his ribs twinging as he does so.

For the first time in a while, their little cell is quiet again.

Time watches Legend shift the slightest bit, looking at the much-too-young face twisted with pain and still sporting several unsightly smears of blood. A couple old scars are visible despite the mess, old nicks and burns from years of adventuring that stick out more fully with how pale he is at the moment, and Time swallows as he looks at them all, unconsciously placing what enemies must have caused them.

Was it really him who failed Legend’s world?

“Old man?”

Time starts a bit at the rasped question, watching as Legend opens his eyes and gives him a stern look through the blood still drying on his face.

“Yes?” he replies, voice weaker than he likes.

“Wasn’t your... fault.”

Time starts, and looks away from Legend, guilt sitting in his stomach like a rock. “But I—“

“Never blamed you...” Legend continues firmly, voice still faint from Dark Link’s abuse. “Knew... knew you tried your best. You were only a kid. S’ pig’s fault. Not... yours.”

And then he says something that makes Time freeze.

“Always kinda... l-looked up to him, in a way. Fallen hero.”

He stares at Legend in shock for a moment, but the veteran simply averts his gaze, a small blush coloring his blood-stained face. Time feels the weakest of smiles tug his cheeks, and he gently squeezes Legend’s good shoulder. He feels a little spark of hope when Legend leans into the motion.

“We’re getting out of here, vet,” he says firmly, new determination flooding through him even as the guilt for failing a world rots in his stomach. “No matter what.”

Legend gives the faintest of nods, a steely look in his eyes.

“No matter what.”

Chapter Text

Their group is an utter wreck.

It’s been nearly a week since they last saw Legend and Time alive, and only a few days since Dark Link tossed their missing teammates’ bloody items at them. Four feels like he’s been wrenched apart ever since, torn between trying to sort out his feelings about all this and keep everyone else from falling apart too.

Neither has been going terribly well.

Things have moved quickly and at the same time slow as molasses since they saw the Shadow, days crawling by in a muddle. The heroes have all responded in their own ways to the circumstances at the moment, some better then others, and Four... Four just wishes he could do more to help.

Hyrule is a disaster. He’s withdrawn into himself, refusing to sleep or eat despite Wild’s efforts, and ceaselessly studies Time and Legend’s items as if he’s trying get an explanation out of them. He just keeps going despite anyone’s efforts towards getting him to stop, and glares at them if they’re too insistent. He hasn’t collapsed yet, but based on the pallor of his face Four has a feeling it won’t be much longer.

Wind has responded with tears and a disbelief that rivals Four’s own, but has stuck desperately to Warriors’ side, trying to convey the same unaffected air the captain has somehow been pulling off. He’s mostly succeeded, but Wind’s bleeding heart does break past the stoicism on occasion, and he collapses into the captain or Sky’s arms when it’s just too much, nearly taking Four down with him if he listens to his cries for too long.

Warriors has barely reacted at all.

He’s been the calm leader through all of this, guiding them with an eerily steady hand, and without him Four is pretty sure the heroes wouldn’t be functioning a bit. He keeps them moving and coherent, and takes care of details most of them have forgotten. Four is a little afraid that the captain is simply refusing to deal with his emotions on the matter, but he’s a bit of a hypocrite in that regard, so he’s left it alone. Somebody has to keep them going.

Sky has been the designated comforter, his own shock somehow blotting out his usual emotions and leaving him a steady shoulder for almost all of the rest of them to cry on. He hasn’t so much as shed a single tear yet, though he’s wiped away plenty of the other’s. It hurts a bit to see him so blank, and Four is worried. He isn’t sure when it’s finally going to hit the Skyloftian, but once it does he knows it’s not going to be pretty.

Twilight has spent nearly the entire time as a wolf. Whether to actually find a trace of Dark Link or just avoid talking about everything Four doesn’t know, but he’s barely seen him since it happened. They only saw him once since the Shadow, when the rancher stumbled into camp and mindlessly ate something before disappearing again before anyone could stop him, and Four misses his friend’s steady presence.

Wild flat-out refuses to believe they’re dead and barely speaks to any of them, mindlessly cooking more food then they’d eat even under normal circumstances. When he isn’t cooking, he slips away from camp for long periods of time and comes back with suspiciously red eyes, but refuses to say anything on the matter, only leaving again if it comes up.

Four just doesn’t know what to think.

He’s distraught of course, and angry, and devastated. Legend and Time were his teammates, friends— family in more ways than one. Losing them is like... like losing a limb. The guilt alone from not being able to do anything to help them is a crushing weight, and Four knows he isn’t the only one struggling with the lack of information and closure as well.

It hurts, it’s painful, and he doesn’t know what to do with it.

And yet there’s something that’s lingered in the back of his mind throughout all of this. The intellectual part of him whispering that this isn’t right and there’s something we’re missing here and it’s big, but he’s barely keeping himself together as it is, and is terrified that if he thinks about Time and Legend and the fact that they’re gone too hard he’ll utterly shatter.

So he focuses on the others.

So far everyone’s just been tiptoeing around each other, keeping strangely silent about the incident or what they’re going to do next. There’s been a few sharp words, but no real fights, yet, anyway. They’ve discussed a few minor plans, but nothing further, and took care of a small group of monsters the other day, but none were black-blooded. And there’ve been no enemies to fight since.

Nobody knows quite what to do or say, and Four is just waiting for when someone inevitably snaps.

It actually happens later then he thought it would.

They’re all quietly picking at the stew Wild mixed up for the night, conversation either stilted or nonexistent. Twilight has finally reappeared to Four’s relief, and the rancher reflexively tightens then loosens his grip on the bowl in his hand as the others silently eat.

Then Warriors clears his throat, and they all wearily turn to him.

“We should get moving again tomorrow,” he says in a firm voice. “Properly moving. We can’t stay in this area forever, and there’s been no more monsters to fight, no sign of the Shadow. And we also need to find some way we can inform—” his voice falters ever-so-slightly, and he clears his throat. “...Inform their families.”

Twilight glares into his stew.

“So we’re just going to move on?” he says in a low voice, not looking up as he speaks. “Leave the old man and veteran’s bodies to rot out here somewhere?”

There’s a sharp intake of breath from next to Four where Wind is seated, and the clearing goes deathly quiet. Wild actually slips out of camp, though Four is pretty sure he’s the only one who notices.

Warriors snaps his head towards the rancher at his words, and Four sees a flash of the anger and grief that he’s kept so carefully locked away. But it’s quickly reigned back, and his expression stays neutral.

“No,” he says calmly, much too calmly, “he said there was nothing left. There are no bodies, rancher. There’s nothing more we can do here.”

Twilight actually lets out a growl, and a crack forms in his bowl, stew dribbling along his fingers.

“Are you suggesting we just leave them?” he snaps, and Warriors levels him with a firm look.

“There’s nothing to leave.”

Twilight is suddenly on his feet and glaring mere inches away from Warriors’ face, fire in his eyes as Four watches the situation feeling utterly helpless.

“This isn’t the army, captain,” he hisses, shoulders taut as a bowstring. “We can’t all just move on at the drop of a hat and forget. Some of us actually cared for them.”

Warriors’ calm facade breaks at the same time Twilight’s bowl does, and a dangerous light enters his eye as stew spills to the ground.

“You think I don’t care?” Warriors says in a voice downright icy with anger. Four sees the steel in his eyes as his fists clench, and unconsciously scoots a little closer to Wind. The sailor scoots closer to him as well. “Time was like a father to me, to you, to all of us, as well as my brother at the same time, and Legend—”

He suddenly chokes, and Four feels his gut churn. Warriors looks horribly fragile, raw pain in his voice as his eyes glisten.

It’s a look Four has never seen on him, and it... scares him a bit.

“Legend was my brother.” he says thickly, staring to the side. “The two of them meant more to me then nearly anyone in my life rancher, and if you have the audacity to think I didn’t care for them at all just because I’m trying to stop us from falling apart then you—”

His voice wavers, and he shakes his head, words exhausted.

The clearing is silent again.

Four looks around at all the heroes’ faces, some blank, some screwed up with emotion, a few a mix of the two, and feels his mind scratch at him again like pebbles on bare feet that there’s something we’re missing!

Twilight breaks the silence with a sigh, a thin, shaking thing.

Four looks over at him and feels his throat tighten at the sight, Twilight looking unusually small where he stands. The rancher seems utterly drained, every speck of the anger that was there moments ago now nothing but a heavy weariness that sinks into him as he sits down. His head falls in his hands, and Four hears his breath hitch.

“I’m sorry captain,” he whispers. “That was cruel.”

Warriors shakes his head at the words, matching Twilight’s exhaustion.

“Forget it. It’s fine.”

“It’s not,” Twilight insists, his voice thick.

Warriors lowers his head.

“You two were close. Closer then I was, in a lot of ways,” he murmurs. “I understand why you’re angry.”

“Time was my ancestor,” Twilight says in a choked whisper, quiet enough that not everyone hears. Warriors’ eyes widen, but Four already knew, having pieced it together ages ago. “I... I didn’t think it would happen like this. And Legend...”

He seems like he wants to say more, but he can’t find the words, and Sky sets a gentle hand on his arm.

Four sees Warriors swallow.

“He was too young,” he whispers. “Much too young. And Time... I understand. Losing... losing family, it never gets easier.”

And Four’s head suddenly snaps up, a realization hitting him like a bolt of lightning at Warriors’ quiet words. That’s what’s been bothering him about this. He’s an idiot.

Why didn’t he realize it before?!

”They’re not dead,” he blurts out, the others startling at his voice.

Sky breathes out slowly from across the fire and gives him a gentle, sympathetic look. “Smithy, none of us want to believe it. But there’s so much evidence towards—”

“No there’s not, we’re ignoring the biggest piece of evidence!” Four interrupts, getting to his feet. He makes a beeline for Twilight, who is staring at the stew that he’s spilled, and grabs his arm. The rancher looks up at Four and wrinkles his brow, eyes exhausted and bloodshot.

Four looks at him and almost smiles, hope warming the icy grief that had previously surrounded him.

“Twilight is still here.”

The others stare at him, confusion written in every line on their faces.

“What does that have to do with anything?” Wind asks in a small voice.

But the rancher has caught on to what Four is insinuating, and realization flits across his face.

“No, no wait, he might... you might be right,” Twilight says slowly, not quite daring to hope yet. “I wasn’t just close with Time, I’m... I’m his descendant. He’s my ancestor, but he and Malon don’t have any children yet... they...”

He jerks forward suddenly, running a disbelieving hand through his bangs.

“Sweet Ordona in spring, why didn’t I think of that? I’m still here and they don’t have kids but they have to at some point because he’s my ancestor which means—!”

“He must still be alive,” Warriors breathes.

Four can almost see the despair that had clenched around their group start to lose its grip at his words. They all exchange looks, hope sparking to life in varying shades of blue as they individually think through Four’s logic and realize he’s right.

“Truly?” Sky whispers after a long minute of silence, some of his usual emotion leaking back into his voice.

Twilight gives him a nod.

The Skyloftian exhales, then abruptly sinks forward and presses his face to his knees, and Four hears a muffled sob come from his direction. Wind quickly hops off his seat and goes to his side, giving the overwhelmed knight a tight hug as a few tears drip down his own cheeks.

“What about Legend?” whispers Hyrule.

His voice is raspy and oddly flat, and Four belatedly realizes it’s the first thing the traveler’s said to anyone since the day they saw Dark Link.

The hope on Warriors’ face dims, but Four sees him stubbornly try to keep it alive.

“The Shadow wouldn’t kill just one of them, it doesn’t make sense. It serves to reason that if Time is alive then Legend is as well. He’s probably put them somewhere, and two prisoners are better than one,” he finishes gently, looking at the traveler with fierce resolve. “We don’t have any reason to believe he’d kill only Legend, so we’re going ahead with the assumption that he is alive.”

Hyrule doesn’t look terribly convinced, but he gives a small nod anyway.

“So wait, then where are they?” Wind asks a bit shakily as he wipes some tears off his face. “Just because they’re alive doesn’t mean they’re okay.”

“The Shadow must have them,” Wild says quietly, having at some unnoticed point slipped back into camp, “I’d be shocked if they were okay.”

There’s an uneasy pause in the discussion.

Twilight is the one to break it, the grief in his eyes now turned to a steely determination.

“But they’re alive. And that’s all we need right now,” he says firmly, then stands up. He looks around at them all, meeting their gazes individually, and when he reaches Four he gives him the smallest of smiles.

There’s a chance now. Aside from just desperate hopes and pleas, there’s a real chance they might be alive.

You’re giving them false hope, a bitter part of Four murmurs, but he swallows it back. Whether he’s right or not remains to be seen, but they can’t continue on like they have been. They need this hope.

And as shaky as it is, based on a desperate logic, they all cling to it like drowning men, and Twilight raises his head, looking fierce.

“Now we just have to find them.”

Chapter Text

Time is starting to lose track of his namesake.

He thinks it’s been over a week, but he’s not certain. Somewhere over a hundred hours have passed, but Time doesn’t know if it’s closer to one fifty or two hundred, or more, even. It’s been fourteen hours, fifteen minutes, and eighteen seconds since Dark Link last visited them, but not knowing the exact total number of their imprisonment is bothering him. It shouldn’t, not really, not with everything else going on, and yet...

...it does.

Time breathes slowly out, looking at where Legend is now chained on the opposite side of the room from him. At some point Dark Link must have realized they were handling things much better by being able to sit together, and he’d quickly remedied that little issue. They don’t discuss it, but Time dearly misses the comfort of physical contact that doesn’t involve pain, and he knows Legend does too. Especially since now they have to attempt to tend to their own wounds.

Legend bites back a hiss as he shifts a little in his chains, and Time closes his eyes. He’s been keeping a close eye on Legend, and the veteran hasn’t gotten much better during their imprisonment, only growing more exhausted and beaten as the days drag continually onward. But he’s still hanging on and fighting back when he can.

They both are.

Dark Link has visited them several times since the visit he spouted off Time’s various legacies, sometimes to gloat, occasionally to talk about how distraught the other heroes are, sometimes going off on odd tangents about other things. He obviously wasn’t kidding about wanting someone to talk to, and sometimes he doesn’t physically hurt them at all, merely striking at them with words and alluding to secrets he’s probably hoping will have them snapping at each other’s throats.

They don’t work, though. Time and Legend only have each other at the moment, and their Shadow can’t take that away from them.

Even if they don’t talk much anymore.

They still fight back though, in small ways. Not talking seems to bother Dark Link, so they often refuse to speak, or give short answers in response to cruel words. They resist wherever they can, refusing to play their Shadow’s games, holding back screams if possible.

It’s not much, but it’s something.

(Time hasn’t found a way to really get under his skin yet, but it’s only a matter of time. He’ll figure something out, he’s sure, and then hopefully more of his ire will fall on him instead of Legend.)

Despite their resistance, or maybe because of it, Dark Link still takes great pleasure in toying with them, verbally and not. He always strikes them where it hurts, ripping screams from their throats with a knife or his claws, beating them within an inch of their lives with glee bright in his eyes. Sometimes he sends in a few monsters to do it for him, but it’s almost always their Shadow himself, a smile that looks unnervingly like Time’s accompanying him as he drags a knife along one of their arms.

But Time has noted that he’s almost careful in his torture. He leaves them just uninjured enough to make them still strong enough to continue to react when he does it again, inflicting injuries just barely non-life-threatening, right on the edge of lethal.

He did say he wanted them alive.

Time exhales and sets his aching head back against the wall. He’s not sure how that helps them though, or how to move forward right now. Survival for him and Legend is the only thing he can really focus on.

They’ve talked of escape on and off, when they’re certain their captor isn’t listening in, though they haven’t gotten anywhere. And ever since the reveal of their... connection, conversation between them has been strange. Apart from their initial short discussion, they haven’t brought it up, sticking only to discussion of escape, and banal topics to keep their minds off of things... when they can still speak, anyway.

But despite their deft avoidance of that particular subject, Time wouldn’t say there’s any strain between them. In a lot of ways, he and Legend have grown closer in their imprisonment, patching each other‘s wounds when they can, providing a distraction to make the time go by, supplying something to rest their heads on other then the slimy walls when they’re not chained on opposite sides of the room.

If it hadn’t come about in the manner it did, Time would almost call it nice.

Legend coughs from the other side of the room, and Time quietly sighs. They badly need to get out of here. Their escape plans haven’t gone anywhere, and while he’d hope on the others for a rescue, they don’t even know they’re alive.

Why would they look?

Maybe they’ll figure it out, his hopeful side whispers past the pain, and Time huffs a quiet laugh.

Even if they do, they don’t know where we are. They don’t know anything.

We can’t rely on them.

Which means Time has to figure something out. Even though he’s certain something in his foot is broken and his lip is crusty with dried blood, and just the thought of doing more than sitting here makes him feel dizzy.

But thinks he does, for quite a long time. There’s not much else to do, after all.

An indeterminable amount of time goes by as Time quietly thinks, letting Legend rest across from him. The silence is broken only by his and Legend’s raspy breathing, until suddenly Dark Link appears in their cell once again with a loud snap that makes them jump.

Time and Legend grimace in tandem.

“Hm, we might have to take that foot off if it keeps swelling,” Dark Link says as he looks at Time’s boot, and Time doesn’t question how he knows his foot is swollen. He just rolls his eyes.

And gets a kick to the shin for his trouble.

“Don’t get funny with me, Link,” he says in a flat voice as Time sucks in a breath. “I’ve been very patient with you so far, and I’d hate to break that streak.”

Time doesn’t deign that with a reply.

Dark Link shrugs, then doesn’t hesitate to jump straight into a monologue about how cruel the goddesses and the kingdom are, and how horrible Time’s legacy is or something like that. Time, quite frankly, is sick of the spiel, and combined with his exhaustion, it’s not very hard to tune him out.

He turns his thoughts to Malon instead, a distraction he loves to dwell on. Her soft red hair and bright eyes, gentle touches of which he treasures each and every one of. He wishes more than almost anything that he could see her right now, hold her in his arms.

He hopes she doesn’t think he’s dead too.

The Shadow must realize eventually that he’s not getting anywhere with Time, and Time falls out of the daydream as the darkness turns to Legend, a smirk on his face.

He begins talking about something Legend had done, a horrible decision he’d had to make. Legend stays quiet, but behind his blood-stained hair, Time sees his eyes harden.

But it’s not until their Shadow says something about an island that Legend pales quite dramatically. Which is impressive, considering he was already the color of paper. Legend holds back any further reaction, but Time feels his heart rate pick up as Dark Link smirks, a glint in his eyes like that of a cat who knows he’s caught his prey.

“You don’t w-want to talk to me any more? I’m hurt,” Time interrupts, wanting to get Legend out of whatever is going on, but Dark Link ignores him and continues.

He goes on for several minutes about this island and its residents, looking less like Time and more like Legend as he talks, the veteran’s ears flattening the longer he goes and the more is said.

“Yes... it was all very tragic,” Dark Link sighs, now looking entirely like a shadowy Legend, coal skin and red eyes. “All shattered because of you, ruined by the dreamer. If only you’d gotten to see that girl one more time... now, what was her name..?”

Time can see Legend shake, and a dangerous glint enters his eyes.

Dark Link snaps his fingers with a little aha.

“Yes, yes, now I remember,” he laughs, looking at Time with a triumphant leer. “Redheads are popular among you all it seems. Her name was Marin, wasn’t it?”

And then things fall apart.

Legend completely snaps at the name, launching himself at their shadow with an enraged shout and tears in his eyes. His chains are just long enough so that he can maneuver himself, and he uses every inch.

Time jerks to his feet despite the pain, and watches as Dark Link fails to avoid the fist Legend swings at his jaw, a spark of surprise in his eyes as his head snaps backwards with a crack.

But he reacts almost instantly afterwards, dodging Legend’s next weak attack and drawing his sword in the same movement.

Time’s heart lurches into his throat as he strains forward, ignoring the blood he can feel welling from where his wrists are scraped. He shouts a warning and Legend stumbles backwards when he sees their shadow’s blade, but Dark Link lunges forward and the veteran’s weak dodge isn’t enough.

The sword plunges directly into Legend’s chest.

It comes out the other side with a spatter of blood and a noise and choked scream that would haunt Time the rest of his life.

He thinks he might scream as well.

Dark Link yanks his sword out with another sickening noise, and his face twists up in a sneer. He kicks Legend, stalks away with a scoff, and makes Legend’s chains disappear with a snap of his fingers before disappearing himself.

Time catches Legend when he falls, Legend letting out a pitiful sort of cry, and tries desperately to staunch the bleeding any way that he can. But it’s too deep of a wound, near and through too many important things, and Legend’s breathing is rapidly fading into nothing but weak gasps.

He meets Time’s eye with an equally angry and frightened look in his own, and Time clutches him reassuringly as he bleeds out in his arms, trying to give him some semblance of comfort in this horrible, dark place.

“It’s okay,” he rasps as Legend weakly gasps for breath, even though it’s not. “It’s okay, Link.”

The light in Legend’s eyes is fading, and Time is fully in the throes of panic when Dark Link abruptly reappears. Time snaps his head in his direction and feels overwhelming anger flare inside him, fierce protectiveness and grief for the boy half-dead in his arms trying to choke his last words through the blood drowning him.

He opens his mouth to scream at the Shadow when half a red potion is suddenly thrown at his face.

Time scrambles to catch it, and stares in disbelief, but the Shadow leaves as quickly as he’d returned, without so much as looking at him. Time continues to stare for only a couple seconds before tilting it down Legend’s throat.

There isn’t time to worry about tampering or even the reasoning behind being given it, and Legend chokes on the potion, red dribbling down his chin.

But it works.

Some must get down his throat, because it staunches the bleeding and draws close the wound enough for Legend to survive.

Legend lets out a choked cough as it finishes, eyes wide with shock as he sucks in a gasp. The moment Time makes sure he no longer has a gaping hole in his chest, he bundles him into his arms, the two of them both breathing shakily at the close call. Legend buries his head in his shoulder, coughing up blood in small sobs, and Time silently runs a hand through his hair, neither of them caring about the mess he’s smearing around.

“Ti-Time—” Legend chokes out, voice still half a sob.

“I know,” Time soothes, his own voice breaking. “I know.”

They have to get out of here.

...

Later that day, as the veteran lays shivering in his arms from equal shock and blood loss, Time swears to himself he won’t let it happen again. Even if it means ensuring Legend’s survival over his own.

He owes it to Legend, and his world.

And so while Legend shakes and shivers and fitfully rests, Time works in earnest on a plan, even as he wonders at the empty potion bottle on the bloodstained floor.

Chapter Text

“We just have to find them,” Twilight had said, in a voice that had made it seem like it’d be easy.

It’s been days since Four’s realization, and there’s been nothing.

No leads, no trails, nothing to go off of and absolutely no clues. There hasn’t been anything, and as Four watches Twilight pace angrily around the clearing where the portal had originally spat them, he feels the now-familiar hopelessness begin to clench at his heart again.

What if his theory is wrong? What if Twilight’s continued existence is merely due to some strange reality-warping paradox of some kind? What if Malon was pregnant, but hadn’t told anyone yet, and their shadow had been speaking the truth? And what if he had killed Legend?

What if they really are dead?

A hand settles on his shoulder, and Four looks over at Sky, who gives him a gentle little smile. Four tries to return it, but doesn’t really succeed.

“Any luck?” Sky asks softly, and Four shakes his head.

“Nothing so far,” he murmurs. “Twilight hasn’t scented anything, there’s no sign of them here. We’ve checked as best we possibly can, I just don’t think there’s anything to find. We would have found it by now.”

Sky‘s face falls, but he doesn’t reply as the two of them watch Warriors survey the clearing, face wrinkled in concentration. Four watches him and the others search, taking a break himself, and swallows back a sudden lump in his throat.

Is he just giving them all false hope? Dark Link had seemed almost as confused as they were about everything, which wasn’t a good sign. He could easily have lied. But it’s impossible to know for sure, and Four doesn’t have a very good grasp on their enemy’s motivations apart from pure hatred for all of them.

He just doesn’t know. And he’s had these same thoughts so many times and turned them over in his mind so much lately that his head hurts and he just wants to stop thinking about it but he can’t.

“I still think they’re alive,” Sky says suddenly, in a quiet voice.

Four looks over at him, and Sky gives him a smile, a heavy one, full of grief and hope.

“I can see you worrying, smithy,” he continues, and gives his shoulder another squeeze. “But I really think they are. It feels right.”

“And if they’re not?” Four asks in a small voice, smaller than he wants it to be. “Feelings don’t mean anything here, Sky. What if I’m wrong? What if I just gave us false hope, and we’re all just chasing useless threads that won’t matter in the end?”

Sky sighs, and looks at the grass under their feet. “Then… we’ll grieve, I suppose. Properly. But you know how we all are. We have to check every nook and cranny, explore every option before giving up. You gave us an option Four, when we thought there wasn’t one, and you know we’re going to keep at it until there’s really no hope left,” Sky says with another little smile.

Four merely nods, not really sure what to say to that. But when Sky gives him a little side hug, he leans into it, and they stand there in silence a moment, Four feeling exhausted in pretty much every way possible.

He should probably cry. It might help.

But he doesn’t really want to, so instead he goes back to thinking about what they might have missed, what else they could do, what options they can pursue.

There must be something.

Twilight kicks a rock where he’s looking and yelps, grabbing his foot and glaring at the offending stone. Four wonders if he’s about to kick it again, but then he just sighs, and turns to look in the other direction.

Four sighs too, and looks around at everyone else. Warriors is still looking around, a furrow to his brow, appearance more unkempt than usual with dark circles under his eyes. Wild and Wind are poking around the edges, Wild talking quietly to the sailor as they search, and Hyrule is near the middle, sitting in the grass and staring at it like its offended him.

Warriors finally wanders over to where Four and Sky still stand after a little while, a hand on his chin, and Four watches the calculating look in his eyes with a spark of interest. He’s known Warriors long enough to know that that look means he’s got a plan of some sort forming in his head.

“Maybe we’re looking in the wrong way,” Warriors suddenly mutters to himself, and Four raises an eyebrow.

The captain walks forward, looking around at where the portal that supposedly killed Time and Legend used to be, and gets to a knee, still looking thoughtful.

“Traveler, you can sense magic, yes?” he asks, and Hyrule nods from nearby. “I know it’s been a while, but is there any trace of the portal still here?”

Hyrule stands and comes forward, and lowers himself to the ground next to Warriors, placing a hand on the flattened grass. “Barely anything,” he reports after a moment. His face creases. “I can just tell there was something here. And that it was different than the normal portals… darker. But that’s it. No trail or anything.”

Warriors nods. “I figured as much. Rancher?”

Twilight sighs, and stalks over, the circles under his eyes looking especially dark in the warm sunshine. “I’ve already checked all over Captain, there’s nothing to find.”

Warriors hums and looks around. “Maybe.”

Twilight’s eyes narrow. “What are you thinking, Captain?”

Warriors looks between the rancher and Hyrule, looking to gather his thoughts before he speaks to Twilight again.

“You can See things as a wolf, right?” he asks. “Things hidden to a normal person’s view?”

Twilight gives him a slow nod, still looking frustrated as he shifts his weight. “To a point. But only so much, and I’ve already checked all around in here.”

“But not with Hyrule helping you,” Four realizes, catching onto what he thinks Warriors’ idea is. “You think they might be able to trace the magic if they work together?”

Warriors nods, and Four sees desperation in his eyes.

“It’s the only idea I’ve got left. We’ve tried everything else I can think of.” He turns towards Twilight and Hyrule. “Is it possible for you two to do that?”

Hyrule and Twilight exchange glances, then make the same little shrugging movement.

“I don’t know,” Hyrule says, but his voice is thoughtful.

“I think it’s worth a shot,” Twilight says determinedly. “…We’ve got nothing more to lose at this point.”

Warriors nods, and almost looks hopeful again. “Well, go ahead and do whatever you need to.”

The two darker-haired heroes nod, and Twilight grabs his necklace and falls into wolf form. Hyrule, after a moment of consideration, places a hand on Twilight’s forehead, his palm over the eye-like mark in his fur.

They both close their eyes, faces scrunched with concentration, and Four watches them nervously as the minutes stretch on.

A bird chirps somewhere above them, sunlight shining through the leaves as Wind and Wild eventually reappear from where they were searching further out. They join Four and Sky’s sides in silence, and what feels like ages go by, Four’s stomach twisting with tension. Neither Hyrule nor Twilight makes any move to quit though, so neither do the other heroes.

Time stretches on, and Sky murmurs what sounds like a prayer under his breath. Wild closes his eyes. Four swallows.

Waiting.

Watching.

Then Hyrule and Twilight suddenly stiffen, and Four feels his breath catch, anxiety clenching at his gut.

The two simultaneously open their eyes, and Four isn’t the only one who startles at the identical icy blue they’re both colored in. Their irises glow as they scan the clearing, and Four freezes as they trail over him, hair on his neck standing up. They turn as one to look at a spot on the ground, and before anyone can ask if they’ve seen anything, Hyrule swings himself onto Wolfie’s back and they plunge together into the bushes.

“Rancher wait!” Four shouts, and Warriors takes off after them, yelling for them all to follow.

They all bolt into the undergrowth after the two, branches and thistles catching at their clothes and attempting to slow them down. Four ignores the sting of a branch scratching across his cheek as he desperately tries to keep Twilight and Hyrule in sight, the slightest glimpse of a grayish tail the only thing to go off of.

Twilight is running at a breakneck pace, slowed only marginally by Hyrule on his back. Four worries they’ll lose them, but either Twilight isn’t as far gone as he thought, or the goddesses are watching out for them because he always stays at least a little bit in view.

Warriors keeps pace from next to Four, face determined, and the others are close behind, even Sky who would usually go at a slower pace pushing himself at a sprint through the trees.

They go in a winding path, deeper and deeper into the woods as the sunlight gets blotted out by thicker foliage. Twilight and Hyrule still careen along, but Sky is rapidly fading, and he’s not the only one, their group slowing the farther they trek.

Four’s legs are burning and his chest is tight, and he can feel a stitch forming in his side. Stopping doesn’t even occur to him though, and he pushes on, the same as his brothers. They can’t lose them.

We can’t give up.

It feels like hours before Hyrule and Twilight abruptly pull to a stop, and Four drags in a gasp, leaning on his knees for support as he and Warriors stumble into a clearing behind them.

Where a small portal of deep purple and black meets them.

Elation sweeps through Four’s chest even as he gasps for breath, a smile pulling at his cheeks as he gazes into the swirling darkness.

A portal. Hidden deep in the woods.

Dark Link was here.

As the others finally reach the clearing, Hyrule and Twilight’s eyes suddenly fade to normal, Hyrule drooping where he sits on Wolfie. He quickly slides off of Twilight’s back, and the rancher slips back into hylian form, looking a bit dazed as he leans against a tree.

“That was… a lot,” he pants, shaking his head. His eyes take a moment to focus, but the moment they do, Twilight snaps his head towards the portal, purple light falling across his widening eyes.

“This must be it,” Hyrule says in a breathless voice, then his face twists up in a cold fury. “This must be where he is.”

“Let’s go,” Twilight says with an equally dark edge to his voice, and Four stumbles to their sides as they start towards the portal.

“Wait,” Warriors speaks up breathlessly, moving to block them. “Not yet. We don’t know what’s over there.”

“We know what’s over there, it’s Time and Legend!” Hyrule says sharply, still facing the portal. “They can’t wait Captain!”

“I know. But we need to rest first, and prepare,” Warriors says in a tone brokering no arguments. “If the Shadow is on the other side and he has Time and Legend at his mercy, we’re going to need every advantage we can get. And that includes being well rested, and having at least some semblance of a plan for saving them. He doesn’t know we’re onto him yet. We can take a moment.”

Twilight and Hyrule exchange looks, and Four feels the pull to go through the portal and save their brothers grow so thick his head spins a little. But he also sees Warriors’ logic as he looks around at their exhausted group, sleepless nights filled with grief and endless searching having worn them all down nearly to the bone. Sky collapsed the moment he stumbled into the clearing, and is still on the ground, wheezing.

They won’t be any use to Time and Legend in the state they’re in.

“He’s right,” Four agrees quietly. He puts a hand on Hyrule’s shoulder. “We’ll be able to do more if we take some time to rest first.”

Hyrule squeezes his eyes shut.

“That might not be time they have,” he says in a voice that breaks at the end.

Twilight merely lowers his head, but he steers Hyrule away from the portal after a moment, putting an arm around his shoulder as they both sit down.

“I know,” Warriors says quietly.

There’s sharp pain in his voice, and Four knows that Warriors wants to race in there just like the rest of them, find their brothers and get them back. But his logic wins over his emotion, and the agony in his eyes is enough that nobody else tries the portal.

Four goes to see if he can help Sky or anyone else with anything, but he looks back at Warriors once, and sees him staring at the swirling depths for a moment, the glow making his eyes look almost purple as he watches it.

Four sees his fists clench before they fall flat again at his sides, and his scarf sways as he turns away.

“I know,” he repeats in a whisper.

Chapter Text

He doesn’t know how long it’s been.

Time is too drained to even try and keep up with the time anymore, saving what little energy he has for other more important things. His normally immaculate inner clock is sluggish along with the rest of him, and as silly as it is, he misses knowing even the milliseconds as they tick by.

The realization that he’s lost something he’s come to rely on after so long would likely make him panic if he had any energy to do so, but Time is barely awake these days, and merely mourns it for a few moments.

He has no reference for anything. No sense of how long they’ve been here anymore, no clue when things have happened. The days blend together in a smear of pain and endless visits from Dark Link, and Time feels adrift in it all.

They could have been here anywhere from two weeks to a year as far as he knows.

He goes to scratch his neck when dried blood itches, and flinches as he moves his hand too fast, the broken digits on the end sending a sharp jolt of pain up his arm. Dark had promised to break the rest tomorrow, and possibly his wrist if he was in the mood.

Not that Time even knows how long it is until tomorrow.

He tries to shift a little the other way instead, feeling more dried blood flake when he moves his other arm up to brush his dirty hair out of his face. He holds back a groan, and glances at Legend who’s curled in on himself at the wall opposite him.

They’d been allowed some time together after his near death, Legend not even chained back up, but then Dark Link had lost his temper at something one of them had said (something Time doesn’t even remember anymore), and had dragged Legend out into a separate room entirely.

Time had only had distant screams to go off of what was happening to him, and spent the whole time frantic that Legend would be truly killed this time. He’d worked himself into a near frenzy when they’d abruptly stopped, and then the Shadow had come back to his cell, hands stained with Legend’s blood, and politely informed him not to worry so much.

“Surely you know I wouldn’t kill him,” he’d said in a soothing voice, wiping warm blood on Time’s shirt. “He just needed some… extra attention. Come to think of it…”

Darkness had gathered in his palms, and he’d grinned at Time.

“…I think you could too.”

And then he’d made Time echo Legend’s screams, in ways Time doesn’t want to remember.

That had gone on for what felt like weeks, but Dark Link must have gotten tired of walking back and forth between them, for Legend had finally been dragged back in, shirtless and covered in slashes and marks similar to Time’s. That was maybe a day ago, and either Dark Link had done something to him, or an injury had gotten infected, for Legend has barely moved where he’s curled against the wall, shaking and obviously feverish. It kills Time that he can’t do a thing for him, can only watch, only pray Legend’s state doesn’t get worse.

The incident with the potion comes to mind whenever Legend lets out an especially pained whimper, and Time can’t help his flinch whenever he hears it.

The only reason Legend hadn’t died then was because Dark Link wasn’t done with them yet.

He still wants them alive.

Legend lets out a quiet pained sound as he further curls in on himself, and Time swallows. Only just barely alive it seems, and he doesn’t know how long they have before Dark Link gets sick of having two prisoners to torture. Time desperately hopes it won’t be anytime soon. He has a plan now, albeit a weak one.

He just needs to be able to act upon it.

He and Legend had been trying, before things had gotten quite so bad, to keep a keen eye out for any kind of opportunity to reveal itself, even the smallest slip up on Dark Link’s side. They both knew even the worst of villains had their weaknesses, and it was only a matter of time before the Shadow made a mistake.

One that Time and Legend could hopefully exploit.

But Legend hasn’t spoken in ages, only replying to Time’s questions with hums and mumbles, and Time feels like he himself might faint if he moves too quickly. There’s a scrap of cloth wrapped around his hand where he’d been stabbed straight through his palm, and the old scar across his eye has been badly aching for the past long while, throbbing and making his head hurt.

He can’t remember the last time he ate anything. He doubts he’d recognize himself in a mirror. Even the thought of Malon barely cheers him anymore.

He just wants to get out of here.

A sharp snap of magic interrupts his thoughts, and before he knows what’s happening, Dark Link is suddenly in front of him and grabbing his collar, yanking him forward with eyes blazing. Time startles and meets his gaze, almost the exact color of blood and positively churning with rage.

“How did you contact them?” he hisses, and Time blinks at him.

He’d been dozing a bit, and between the exhaustion and general blood loss and pain and stress, his mind is, admittedly, a little on the muddled side of things.

“What?” he croaks, and Dark Link strikes him across the face.

“Do not play dumb with me, Hero of Time, how did you contact the other heroes?!”

Time ignores the snap of pain and the blood he can feel trickling from his nose, and flicks his eyes down at Legend. Neither of them have done much of anything in the past… however long it’s been. Except try not to die, but that’s a given. They certainly haven’t been contacting anybody.

“We haven’t,” Time says, and Dark Link snarls.

“You’re lying,” he spits, voice turning less human and more animalistic as he releases Time’s collar to grab his neck, “they know you’re alive, they’re coming here, there’s no way for them to have known unless you told them!”

Time feels hope bubble to life inside him even as the Shadow’s claws bite into his neck, and he sees Legend perk slightly where he’s slumped.

The others know they’re alive.

Time can’t keep the smirk that forms off his face. “Ah. Upset your master plan is coming unr-raveled, are we?”

He pays for that one. Dark Link slams him back against the wall, sending a crack of pain through his skull that makes his vision white out for a moment.

“Well then, if the other heroes believe you to be alive, I suppose I have no choice but to spoil their fun, don’t I?” he snarls as Time’s ears ring, and his heart gives a lurch.

Dark Link tightens his grip as Legend exclaims, and grabs his favorite knife, pressing it up against Time’s chest as he continues to choke him. Time kicks out, but the Shadow is expecting it and avoids the weak attempt, striking him then tightening his grip as he reels.

Time’s mind scrabbles for an idea, even as the lack of air starts to press on him, only making his thoughts fuzz more.

Dark Link can’t kill them now. Not when rescue is coming, when he’ll get to see his boys again, when there’s finally a flicker of hope there’s a reason they survived this long, he swore he’d protect Legend he has to see Malon again he can’t die now he refuses—

“I have no more use for either of you,” the Shadow’s voice cuts through the haze settling over Time’s brain, “not with seven other heroes walking right into my hands. Their anguish at believing you were alive and then finding your dead and broken bodies will be plenty enough to feed me for centuries.”

He pauses, his weapon pressed against Time’s chest.

“Any last words?” he says, suddenly and eerily calm in his rage.

That pause is the moment Time’s been waiting for.

He snatches desperately at the faintly beating spark in his chest, the one he’s been directing every scrap of energy he could towards lately, and looks Dark Link straight in the eye, even as his vision dims at the edges and Legend cries out on his behalf and the cold steel of the blade starts to sink into his chest.

“Din.”

And an explosion of fire rips itself out of him, holy magic he’s been saving for a moment just like this, blasted directly at Dark Link’s face.

The Shadow screams as the magic fire hits him, dropping Time and reeling backwards as he cowers from the light. The room is lit up in a bright, glorious flame, so bright that Time can still see it when he closes his eyes. Another guttural scream, one equally pained and enraged rings in the room, and an acrid smoke fills the air as Dark Link disappears in a pitch black flash, an oily stain on the ground the only sign he was ever there.

The room goes eerily and completely silent.

“Old man?” Legend’s voice asks.

The question trembles.

“…m’ alright…” Time croaks, lifting a shaking hand to his neck. It hurts when he touches it, hurts when he tries to swallow and hurts even more when he breathes. He’s sure a bruise is already forming, his breathing sounds horrible, and his nose is still bleeding but he’s alive.

And that’s all he can really ask for at the moment.

“Is h-he dead?” Legend rasps after a few further moments of silence, disbelief thick in his throat.

“…doubt it,” Time coughs back, managing somehow to get to his knees. “He’s… harder to kill than a cockroach. But we’ve bought… some time.”

He breathes in a ragged gasp, throat burning.

“Let’s not waste it.”

Time takes another ragged breath and lurches to his feet, the chains that had been holding him broken from his stunt. He feels dizzy from the magic he just expended, battered body unable to account for it like it usually would, and he has to lean against the wall for a minute as his head spins and he adjusts to the pain of standing.

But he pushes past it and stumbles over to Legend’s side in order to offer him a hand up.

Legend takes his hand, shaking and pale, and Time grips it for a moment despite the pain, both of them just reassuring the other they’re still alive.

“Okay,” Time whispers, then helps him up.

It takes Legend a long moment to even sit, and another several more long moments to stand, but they finally manage, shaky and uncertain. The two heroes support each other as they limp towards the door, which Time accidentally blasted off its hinges with his magic, and hope lightens his steps.

He glances back once at the blackened stain on the floor, and then the two of them exit the cell.

Chapter Text

If Time were less focused on finding a way out, he’d probably be more curious as to where exactly he and Legend are.

After they stumble out of their cell, they find themselves in a narrow hallway, the likes of which both of them are unfortunately familiar with. Dark, damp, probably infested with rats and keese and other small annoyances, not to mention the possibility of black blooded monsters lurking about.

The walls are slimy with moisture, and there’s a distant dripping sound echoing through the dungeon, along with a faint metallic stench that seems to permeate the very air. The hall seems to stretch on endlessly, and no matter how many corners they turn, no stairs or doors leading outside are anywhere in sight.

Time wonders if maybe there isn’t a way out.

They find where the dripping sound is coming from as they turn another corner, a small crack in the stone in the ceiling. The water looks clean enough, and Time stumbles his way over, Legend as well, and they take turns drinking from the thin stream. It’s not much, but it clears Time’s head a little at least.

Legend still looks barely alive, but Time thinks he might have perked up a little with the drink. He only wishes they had something more. Even half a potion split between them would do wonders right now.

A keese swooping at them snaps him out of his thoughts, and Legend startles as its fangs barely miss sinking into his head. The veteran hisses in annoyance as it dives for him again, and before Time can do anything, he swings his fist out, knuckles connecting sharply with the keese’s scaly body.

Legend stumbles, but his hit rang true, and the keese lets out a squeal as it falters.

Time quickly hits it then, knocking it to the floor where it disappears into blackish smoke. He shakes out his fist as it aches, wincing at the pain throbbing in his fingers. Keese are harder then they look, apparently. And that had been his good hand.

He meets eyes with Legend then, who is massaging his knuckles with a pained look on his face. He wobbles where he stands, and Time quickly pulls the veteran’s shaking arm back over his shoulder, where he slumps a bit in his hold.

“I miss my sword,” Legend murmurs, and Time merely nods in understanding as they continue on.

After the keese, the two of them stick carefully to the wall despite its unpleasant feel, ears pricked attentively for any sound of enemies approaching. Screeches of monsters occasionally echo in the halls, and whenever one sounds nearby, they pause until it fades, limping steadily forward as they support each other.

There’s a heart-stopping moment when the armor of a darknut rattles their way, and Time and Legend press themselves into a darkened corner, shaking from the chill and exhaustion and stress. The darknut walks right past them, heavy steps clanking, and Time and Legend don’t breathe until it’s safely gone.

It takes them both a minute to get up the strength to keep going.

Time gets more and more nervous, hyperaware of the fact that Dark Link won’t stay down forever. He doesn’t know how long they have, and at any moment he expects a shadow to leap out at them and drag them back. They’re not in fighting shape, and he knows if Dark finds them he’ll kill them.

They still pass no stairs, only the occasional empty cell, and the longer they go the worse Time’s unease and exhaustion get. Legend barely seems lucid anymore, and Time can feel his arm trembling from where it’s hooked with his own. He feels hot, feverish from injuries left to fester, and Time swallows.

At this rate, they may have to find somewhere in the hallways to hide and rest for a while.

A harsh shiver wracks through Legend, and Time swallows, wishing he had something to help him as they limp onward.

“Where do you… suppose our things are?” he rasps in an attempt to fill the unending silence.

Legend takes a minute to answer, looking dizzy.

“Probably… stashed them somewhere around here,” he murmurs tiredly, “if he has… has a base room or whatever we could check there, but if h-he’s gone through our bags and taken anything out…”

“We may have to go searching for quite a bit,” finishes Time in a murmur, and Legend nods.

“Exactly. And that might not be time we…”

He stumbles, and Time steadies him, looking at the pallor of his fellow hero’s face. Both of them are weakened by the long period of little movement and mistreatment, but Time knows Legend is definitely the worse off between them.

Dark Link seemed to enjoy the sound of his screams more for some reason.

“Perhaps a b-break is in order,” he quietly suggests, and Legend’s face darkens as he looks up at him.

“No. I’m not… waiting any l-longer to get out of this place,” he spits, and Time can’t help the minuscule smile that forms on his face.

Until an ear-splitting screech rings in their ears, and something leaps out of the shadows around the corner.

Echoes of screams and memories of a blade stabbing through Legend’s chest flash through Time’s mind. He reacts without even thinking, grabbing Legend and nearly throwing him out of the way. Whatever had screeched crashes straight into him instead of the veteran and throws him to the floor, and before he can do anything else there’s agony ripping down his chest.

Time screams as whatever got him screeches victoriously, but he shoves through the pain, kicking out at the monster. He can see it’s some kind of lizalfos, but that’s all he can make out apart from yellow-green eyes.

Better me than Legend.

Time jabs an elbow at its face, making it cry out as he pokes it in the eye. Legend is shouting something but Time misses it when the lizard nearly cleaves straight through his neck with a bloodstained weapon he can barely see. He tries to twist out from under it but the beast steps on his arm, pinning him, and warbles in triumph as Time finds he doesn’t have the strength to free himself.

He feels his breath catch with pain as the lizalfos raises its weapon high, but then Legend yells, and something slams into the monster’s head.

Time watches, stunned as Legend lurches after the injured lizalfos and repeatedly bashes its head with a stone he somehow procured, until the monster is stunned and he can swipe its weapon. The sword is wrenched into the lizard’s neck, and the beast finally falls still with a gurgle.

The sound of their heavy breathing is all that fills the hallway for a moment.

Then Legend drops the sword, and Time feels the pain he’d been barely ignoring suddenly pounce on him like a tektite, a thick, cloying feeling that makes breathing unimaginably painful as he tries to sit up.

“How bad,” Legend demands as he about collapses to his knees next to him, putting a shaky hand on his shoulder.

Time ignores the question and forces himself to sit the rest of the way up, making a small choked noise as a rippling agony runs through his chest.

“Time. How bad.”

He grits his teeth, puts a hand on the wall, and ignoring the blaze of pain that rips through him as he does so, tries to get to his feet. His vision whites as he lurches upward, and Legend grabs at his shoulder, just barely stopping him from falling.

Time gasps and puts a hand to his chest, breath stuttering at the increase in white-hot pain that meets him. Warmth meets him, and he lifts up his hand so he can look at it in the murk.

It’s soaked in red.

They both look at it in stunned silence for a second. Then Legend’s face grits into an fiercely determined look.

“No. No, we’re n-not letting this stop us. Come on Time, we need… to keep going,” Legend says in a thin voice, trying to tug Time’s arm over his shoulders, “we just… just have to find the others.”

Time can’t get his legs to do what he wants them to, and Legend only drags them a single step before he has to stop. His good arm shakes almost uncontrollably.

Time sinks back down to the floor, and Legend is unable to stop him.

“We’ve got t-to be close old man,” Legend nearly begs as they both end up back on the ground, “he said the others were— were coming, we just have to m-meet them halfway, come on.”

Time breathes out slowly, breath hitching with the amount of pain radiating from his chest.

He doesn’t have to see it to know it’s bad. The lizalfos tore him straight across from his upper chest to his stomach. There’s a slim chance that if he wasn’t already dealing with such a large amount of exhaustion and injury then he’d be able to shake this off and press onward, but his body has decided its had enough.

He’s reached near this point before, magic drained, covered in wounds, exhaustion making his vision hazy. But there was always a backup when it happened. An extra fairy, a last vestige of strength he somehow managed to draw on, one more drop of potion.

He doesn’t have anything left to give this time.

“I don’t… think I’ll be joining you…” Time croaks, then breaks into a wet cough that makes him taste blood.

“I’m not leaving you,” Legend growls as Time somehow ends up leaning on him, a clammy hand tightly holding to his own, “not after all of that. You said… said we’d get out of here, so that’s wh-what we’re doing.”

Time breathes in shakily, and to his horror, feels a familiar coldness begin to sink into him. He knows what that means.

He’s not making it out of here.

He swallows back blood, and meets Legend’s gaze.

“I’m sorry, Link,” he whispers.

And watches as the barely-held-back panic in the veteran’s eyes suddenly breaks free.

“N-no! You can’t! I won’t let you!” Legend hoarsely shouts, and Time clutches the hand in his, trying to be reassuring. “Not after a-all of this, w-we— we found out I’m your goddess-forsaken successor you can’t— can’t up and leave me with th-that! I won’t let you! You die in my timeline don’t die in this one!”

Time looks up at Legend— his successor, he’s one of his— and tries to smile, to give the boy in front of him some sort of reassurance as he sees a panicked tear drip down his cheek.

Somewhere in the back of Time’s mind he registers that Legend crying is a sight rarely seen, and the fact that he’s seeing it now must mean things are even worse then he thought.

“Time, please,” Legend whispers, a whimper in his voice. “What a-about Malon? Y-you can’t…”

He chokes on the word, and swipes an angry wrist across his face, blood and tears smearing together. Time looks at him once more, taking in every detail of the boy he never even thought could have existed a few months ago, coated in blood and dirt and tears. Born of a failure he can’t even remember.

“Le… Link,” Time breathes, and Legend clutches him, “you… n-need, to… get…”

Something metallic bubbles in the back of his throat but Time swallows it down.

“I’m…” he whispers, and Legend stares at him, blue eyes near identical to his own bright with fever and tears. Time feels his own blue start to slide shut before he can finish, and the grip on his shoulder tightens.

“Old man no, please,” he hears Legend beg, but his eyelids are physically too heavy for him to keep open. There’s something damp on his cheeks as well, now. Why does it hurt so much?

He hadn’t wanted to go like this. He doesn’t want to die in a sewer, he doesn’t want to leave Legend alone. He wants Malon. He wants Navi.

He wants home.

Legend lets out a noise between a whimper and a sob, and Time doesn’t let go of his hand, even though it’s nearly impossible to hold on.

“Tell…” Time gets out in the barest of whispers, “M-Ma…”

He can’t finish.

Time breathes in, then exhales a hitching sigh, body stilling as his breath leaves him. He hears Legend’s already panicked breathing speed up.

“No, no no no Link don’t, please, please—”

Time wants to reassure him but he can’t think through the cold haze his brain has fallen through. Legend suddenly presses his forehead against Time’s and chokes back a sob, and Time feels something wet land on his face.

“Goddesses please… don’t take him too.”

Time truly doesn’t want to die. He has too many people still left in this world to want to pass on to the next. Too many things left undone, secrets he hasn’t spoken of, conversations he hasn’t yet had… regrets left uneased.

But he stopped having a say in what he wanted a long time ago.

He makes one last desperate effort to open his eyes, to get back up and keep going for the sake of the boy crying against him, but his energy is gone.

He’s given all he has.

I’m sorry Malon. I love you.

He wishes he could’ve seen her one last time.

The pressure on his forehead is comforting as awareness truly begins to leave him, and he finds it’s the only thing he can really focus on. The pressure abruptly shifts to his stomach, but Time barely even registers it as his world darkens.

He hears a desperate scream and falls back into nothingness.

Chapter Text

They’re alive.

Four repeats it like a mantra in his head as he, Twilight and Hyrule slip down a dark hallway to where they tracked the Shadow, heart in his throat the deeper into the place they get.

The hidden portal, after they’d finally gone through, had spilled them out into an unknown time, a thick, marshy field greeting them. Hyrule and Twilight (as Wolfie) had been able to pick up the trail of Dark Link’s magic individually this time, and they’d set off through the marsh, fighting off the occasional monsters that crossed their paths.

After losing the trail more than once, having to double-back multiple times, tensions and fears rising more every day, they’d finally, finally, after much too long, tracked the Shadow to his hiding place.

It’s some abandoned dungeon, bigger than the castle itself in Four’s time, but apparently smaller than several of the others. The magic trail is too confusing for Hyrule or Twilight to follow once they sneak their way in, so they begin to methodically search the place, splitting up whenever they reach a new floor. All agree to keep to that area until they’re finished combing it for Time and Legend, and Four has to force himself not to rush.

Warriors near constantly reminds them that Dark Link likely knows they’re here, and to remain vigilant and careful in their search. Nobody goes off alone, and weapons remain drawn.

Four pairs himself up with Twilight whenever they split up, partially because he’s missed hanging out with him, and partially to reassure himself that Time is still alive (if Twilight is alive then Time is too), and the rancher seems glad to have him, a tired smile appearing on his face when he joins his side. Hyrule tags along with them, since the numbers are uneven, and the three of them scour the dungeon for their missing brothers.

Four’s not sure how long they’ve been at it, but they’re deep in the heart of the fort now, slain monsters in their wake as they steadily descend further and further down. There’ve been a sizable amount of monsters here, most infected, but no sign of the Shadow himself. Just monsters that have been empowered by his magic, and signs of his presence in other alarming ways.

It makes everyone uneasy.

They’re currently trekking through a particularly slimy-looking hallway, lit up only because of Twilight’s lantern and a rare dim torch on the wall. Aside from that, this place is as dark as death itself.

Four tries not to think about the sharp metallic stench in the air.

“You good, Hyrule?” Twilight asks after they’ve been going for a while, his voice seeming loud in the silence. Hyrule wipes a hand across his brow as he speaks.

Four looks over at him, and can’t help but be concerned at how pale he seems, eyes sharply scanning the hall in front of them. He has a funny feeling that if Hyrule had fur, it’d all be standing straight up on end. The hair on his own neck certainly is.

“Yeah. Lots of dark magic in this place,” the traveler replies quietly, then swallows and looks at the wall. “This area especially.”

“Does that mean we’re close?” Four asks him, and Hyrule gives a weak shrug.

“Maybe. I’m not sure. We might just be near some more monsters or something.” He looks hesitant. “There’s a bit of something else, though. Not dark magic, more... something else?”

“Like what?”

Hyrule shrugs. “I don’t know. It just feels different. Warm?”

Four thinks on that a moment. Warmth? In this cold, dead place?

His heart suddenly skips a beat.

“Is it possible it’s—”

Twilight’s head shoots up, and Four cuts off his words when a wave of... something hits all three of them. They all snap their heads in the direction it came from as it abruptly fades, then make tense eye contact.

“What was..?” Four asks in a small voice, even though he feels like he already knows.

“I heard a scream,” Twilight whispers, face white. “It sounded like...”

He sways a little, holding the wall to keep himself up, and terror strikes Four’s heart.

No.

No no no no no—

Hyrule bolts, and Twilight stumbles after him, switching to wolf form. Four scrambled after the two, his chest tight and breath thin, and he clutches a hand in Twilight’s fur as they run.

He’s not gone. He’s still here. He’s not gone he’s still here he’s fine which means they’re fine oh goddesses please—

They tear down the halls, nearly slipping on the slimy floors and damp bricks, and Hyrule only pales more the further along they go. Twilight’s steps are fast, but not as quick as they sometimes are, and Four has to loosen his his grip on his fur when he realizes he’s almost tearing it out.

He’s here he’s alive Time has to be okay—

They barely keep up with Hyrule, the traveler sprinting so fast he’s like a green-brown blur, face white and expression equally fierce and panicked. Four’s emotions are swamping over him in a way they haven’t since they first thought Time and Legend died, and it makes it hard to run, his legs shaking, mind whirling, throat tight as he clings to Twilight.

Then they skid around a corner, and there they are.

Four nearly slams into Hyrule he stops so abruptly, and then gasps, Time and Legend collapsed on the floor ahead of them. The sight of the two heroes after he’d nearly resigned himself to never seeing them again is almost overwhelming, and elation starts to rise in his chest, before he’s abruptly slammed with horror as he really takes in the scene before him.

A dead monster of some kind is fallen to the side, bleeding greenish blood on the floor. Lying a foot or two away from it are who must be Legend and Time, almost unrecognizable, the veteran collapsed on Time’s chest, eyes closed. Injuries both old and new mar his face, and he’s deathly pale, as is Time underneath him.

They both look gaunt through their torn clothes, and there’s so much blood on them, there’s blood on the floor, the hallway reeks of it, and—

Neither of them are moving.

“No,” Hyrule rasps.

Twilight lets out a choked noise as he transforms back and bolts to the two heroes’ sides, and Hyrule and Four are right behind him, heart thudding in Four’s throat.

“Old man, veteran?” the rancher says in a sharp, terrified voice, hesitating, then pulling Legend off of Time as carefully as possible. “Can you hear me?”

Neither of them move.

“Vet?” Hyrule whispers, taking him from Twilight as the rancher moves to inspect Time.

Four kneels beside Hyrule as he looks at him in panicked dismay, and the traveler places an ear on Legend’s chest, ignoring the blood and listening intently for several tense moments.

He eventually lets out a breath choked with relief, and nods at Four, Four almost collapsing with relief himself. One alive.

He quickly turns his attention back to Time again, and scrambles over when he sees Twilight in a full-blown panic.

“I— I can’t tell—” Twilight gasps, and Four swallows back his terror and gently pushes him aside.

Time is cold and pale, his chest soaked in warm blood, shirt ripped nearly to shreds. Four rapidly peels what’s left of his tunic out of the way to check the severity of the injury, and Twilight starts yanking supplies out from his pouch so they can hopefully stop him from bleeding out—

There’s no wound.

Four stops, realizing suddenly that there’s no new blood coming from Time’s chest. Yes there’s blood, loads of it, and countless other injuries, but it’s not still spilling out of him. It’s just what was already there. Four furrows his brow, and leans closer, squinting. It’s barely visible due to the blood and faint light from Twilight’s lantern, but he finally sees a long, dense line of barely-healed scarring slashed across his chest where the blood is thickest.

There’s no huge open wound in Time’s chest like any of them expected.

Four stares, then lowers his head to Time’s face and blinks in astonishment. Time is a mess, pale, gaunt, bloodied and bruised, but when Four clasps his wrist, he manages to find a thready pulse.

He’s alive.

He’s... okay.

Time’s breathing is raspy and so faint Twilight hadn’t noticed it through his panic, but Four picks up on it when he lowers his ear to his mouth, and pulls back and stares again. Time doesn’t even look to be in too much pain.

“He’s alive,” Four whispers in amazement, and Twilight’s shoulders give a violent shake as a choked sob escapes his throat.

They’re both alive.

Four swallows. “He... the wound this blood came from, it’s... how..?”

Twilight shakes his head. “I don’t know,” he says thickly, astonished, carefully wiping some blood from the scab. His hands are shaking like he’s been electrocuted. “This is definitely fresh, but I... he’s fine. It’s like... this looks like he had healing magic used on him, but that’s impossible. There’s no way there was a fairy down here, and Time doesn’t have healing magic as far as I’m aware, and Legend...”

“Guys.”

Four turns back to Hyrule, hearing something in the traveler’s voice.

“Now what’s wrong?” he asks quickly, ignoring the fact that everything is still wrong really, even with the discovery of life still in battered bodies, and the traveler pulls Legend a bit closer to himself.

“There’s something wrong with him,” Hyrule whispers, a hand resting on Legend’s chest. He cautiously pushes some hair out of the veteran’s face. “Not just the injuries. I don’t...”

Legend’s head lolls on Hyrule’s arm and the traveler’s breath stutters.

“It’s not... physical exactly, it’s like— it’s like he’s got something missing,” he trembles out, hand never leaving Legend’s wrist. “I don’t... he’s alive, he’s still in there, he’s just... something isn’t there.”

“But... but what’s he missing?” Twilight asks, face creased and worried. “Did the Shadow..?”

Hyrule shakes his head, but looks incredibly lost, running a slow hand over Legend’s bloodied forehead. His fingers are shaking a bit as he brushes some more hair out of the veteran’s face, and he lights them up the slightest bit with magic.

And all the pieces suddenly click in Four’s head.

“Legend’s magic,” he realizes, and catches Hyrule’s eye. He knows the traveler will remember the same day he does a couple weeks back, when Legend had tried to learn Hyrule’s healing spell and couldn’t quite perform it. Apparently his innate magic was just wrong for it, even though he had the theory down perfectly. “That’s it, isn’t it? Legend must have used his magic to heal Time, but...”

“Legend doesn’t have barely any magic,” Hyrule breathes. “Not for this sort of thing. He must have forced it, but healing a wound like that with what he’s got, all in one go in the condition he’s in... he must have been desperate. Going that far... it should have killed him.”

He breathes in a careful breath.

“It still could.”

Four exchanges horrified looks with Twilight, and Hyrule looks back down at Legend.

“I’m going to try to give him some of my magic,” he says in a low voice. “A green potion won’t be enough. Legend ran himself dry and then some. Mine won’t be a replacement, he’ll have to regain his own naturally. But this should... keep him alive.”

“Can it wait until we’re somewhere more secure or does it have to be now?” Twilight asks in a voice clipped with worry.

Hyrule bites his lip. “It needs to be now.”

Twilight breathes out, looking between Legend and Time with an uncertain look on his face.

“Okay,” he says tightly. “Okay. Someone needs to get the others so we can get out of here. I’ll go find the captain and sailor, and then we can contact the other two with his pirate charm.”

“Rancher, you can’t just go by yourself,” Four says as Twilight tries to shift Time’s head onto his lap. “What if you run into trouble? You won’t have any backup.”

“Well what else can we do?!” Twilight says despairingly, clutching at his bangs. “There aren’t any other options!”

Four looks around at their group, Twilight desperately trying to think of a plan as Time’s head lays unmoving on his lap, Hyrule clutching Legend, his face pale and drawn with worry.

They don’t have enough people to do what they need, Legend is fading fast, and Time is completely unresponsive. They need a solution now...

...and Four might just have one.

The smithy takes a deep breath, gets to his feet, and slowly unsheathes his blade.

“I have a solution,” he says, and Twilight looks at him hopefully. He hates to do this now with the way his emotions are at the moment, but the truth of the matter is they need more manpower, and this is the best solution to their problem. “Please don’t freak out. I promise I’ve done this before.”

And before the rancher can ask what he means, Four raises his sword and closes his eyes. A flash of kaleidoscopic light explodes into the hallway, lighting it like a beam of sunlight through a crystal, splitting into different colors, and Four becomes his namesake.

All four pieces of him stand in the dark hallway, and Twilight stares.

And then Red falls to the ground and wails, the anguish at the past weeks’ events Four had been keeping mostly under wraps now on full display.

Green gets to one knee and allows him to sob into his arms, looking grim, and Vio goes immediately to Hyrule’s side, studying Legend with a clinical sort of worry. Blue whips around away from the rest of them and punches the wall, an enraged shout escaping him as he kicks the body of the monster nearby.

Twilight continues to stare.

Green pats Red on the back and meets the rancher’s eye, giving him an exhausted but determined look.

“This is the solution?” Hyrule asks hesitantly as he looks at the still-sobbing Red and furious Blue. Green nods, giving Red one more consoling pat before standing and joining Twilight’s side.

“Yes. Twilight can take Red so he’s not alone to find the others, and the rest of me will stay here to help protect the old man and veteran,” Green says with a firm look towards the traveler. “And you.”

“I’ll explain this to you guys later,” Vio puts in as he places a hand on Legend’s forehead. “But at the moment you need to get going. Our collector needs this now, and we need to get him and Time out of here as soon as possible.”

Twilight nods, having apparently gotten over his shock (or perhaps shoved it to the side for now), and gently eases Time’s head from his lap to Green’s.

He looks at his ancestor a moment longer, face tender and pale as he brushes bloody hair from his eyes.

Then he stands, tunic stained with blood, and barely hesitates before turning into a wolf and gesturing for Red to get on his back. Red violently hiccups, wipes some tears from his eyes, then does as he says with a small, determined nod. And without further ado they bolt back the way they came.

Everyone’s attention immediately returns to Legend.

“Okay,” Hyrule breathes, and motions them back a bit. Vio stays close, fingers pressed to Legend’s wrist, but Green scoots back from where he’s got Time’s head on his lap. The old man seems stable enough for the moment, but he doesn’t want to risk anything. Blue stalks over as well, face cold, but he stands next to Green and watches silently as Hyrule closes his eyes.

The traveler rests a hand on Legend’s chest, the other gently holding his head, and begins.

A soft light shines from his palms, a gentle blue color. Hyrule grunts and it shifts slightly, fading from blue to a more green tone as his face creases further. Vio stays silent as he monitors Legend’s pulse, but his face grows more grim as the minutes tick by, hallway glinting with light.

He stiffens abruptly and looks at Hyrule, an emotion as close to panic as Vio ever gets shining in his eyes.

“Traveler,” he says urgently, and Hyrule grits his teeth.

The light suddenly gets brighter as it goes from spring green to bright gold, sharp and powerful as it spreads through the hallway. Hyrule is shaking as he splays his fingers, glove on his left hand glowing, beads of sweat trailing down his face as the light gets even brighter, but Vio’s face remains grim.

Come on Traveler...

Green and Blue have to look away from the shine it’s so bright, and they look at each other instead, both worried in their own ways. Blue inches closer as the light nearly grows blinding, and Green feels him press against him a little.

Then the glow fades, and Hyrule sags, whole body trembling as he lowers his head in exhaustion.

Vio sets a hand on Legend’s chest, the other still clutching his wrist, and all four of them silently watch him, waiting for some sign of life, of movement... anything.

The moments slip by without even a twitch, and Hyrule‘s face grows more and more despaired as the other’s hearts sink down to the bottom of their chests.

And then Legend’s eyes crack open.

Hyrule chokes on a relieved sob, a tear escaping down his cheek. Legend flicks his exhausted gaze onto him, and his eyes crinkle at the corners just a bit.

“‘Ru...le?” he whispers, and the traveler lurches down and hugs him.

Then promptly passes out.

Legend looks both alarmed and confused, but Vio smiles a bit as he pulls Hyrule off of him, giving him a reassuring glance. “He should be okay, Veteran. He just used a lot of magic.”

Legend slowly blinks at him, then flicks his gaze towards Green, then over at Blue as well.

“Wh... at?” he rasps, and Green chuckles in spite of himself. The noise is only a little hysterical.

“It’s a complicated explanation. It can wait until we get you and the old man out of here,” Vio says, and Legend freezes, face stricken.

“Ti-Time— w-where—“

“Whoa, it’s okay vet,” Green assures, putting a hand on his arm. With some effort, he tilts the unconscious man in his lap up so Legend can see him. “You healed him, he’s just unconscious now. He should be fine with a bit more healing and some rest. He’s okay.”

Legend stares at him, eyes flitting across Time’s face, stuttering when they reach the blood soaking his chest.

“Legend?” Green asks quietly.

The veteran continues to stare at Time, something shaken only growing in his gaze, an emotion that none of them have ever seen so blatant on his face.

And then his eyes well with tears.

Green, Blue, and Vio all exchange panicked looks, and Legend lets out a small, violent sob, his shoulders shaking with the force of it.

“Are you okay, vet?” Vio asks, wondering if he’s in pain. He clutches at his wrist, and brushes a hand over his forehead. Legend is warm. Hot, actually, which is bad. “What’s wrong?”

Legend lets out another sob, sounding much too young when he finally manages to speak.

“I-I, there was just... his h-heart, I—”

Green slides Time over to Blue’s lap without a word, then leans down and hugs Legend, letting the older boy cry into his arms. Legend weakly clutches at him in a very un-Legend-like manner, clinging to him like it’s the only thing remotely holding him together, and Green silently rubs his thin shoulder.

He shoots a glance at Vio, who looks like he’s trying to catalogue what injuries Time and Legend have sustained, and Vio meets his gaze as Legend cries, eyes holding the same terrified question Green knows his and Blue’s do as well.

What exactly did Legend and Time go through?

“Do you think you could manage a potion?” Green asks Legend after a few minutes, and the veteran breathes out a shuddering breath before giving a tiny nod. Blue starts rifling, and Vio moves his hand from Legend’s wrist to instead hold his hand. Blue hands Vio the potion he unearthed, and the violet fourth of the smithy waits for Legend to calm down a bit more before helping him sip it.

Legend manages maybe a quarter before he sinks back down, looking exhausted. A couple of the scratches on his face have healed, and there’s a bit more color in his cheeks, but he still looks thin and drained, and unusually small.

He falls limp again shortly after, eyes slipping closed, but when Green lurches forwards, Vio waves him off.

“It’s fine. He needs the rest.”

Green blows out a breath and nods, and an uneasy silence falls over the hallway.

Blue shifts a little, looking down at Time in his lap, ashen and unmoving, and Green hears him swallow. He puts a hand on Blue’s, and the other lets him, returning the squeeze he gives it.

“We found them,” Green says quietly, though he’s not quite sure which of them he’s trying to reassure. “They’re alive. They’re okay.”

“I don’t think they’re okay,” Vio mutters, and Blue scoffs.

“No, you think? What gave it away, the gallons of blood all over the floor, or the fact that the veteran of all people was just bawling his eyes out?” Blue snaps, voice oddly fragile. “Or maybe because they’ve been in the Shadow’s clutches for the past few weeks obviously being tortured?!”

“But they’re alive,” Vio interrupts before Blue can keep going. “And a little while ago, we didn’t even have that.”

“We just have to keep them that way,” Green whispers, his voice unusually weak.

Blue looks away.

His shoulders start to shake, almost imperceptibly, and Green, still holding his hand, gives it another gentle squeeze.

The silence comes back yet again, but this time it’s punctuated with the sounds of the three of them trying to hold themselves together. Thinking about it now, Green is regretting not picking a different member of himself to go with Twilight; Red’s unabashed emotions would probably be good for all of them. Hopefully they’ll be back soon... he’d like to be whole again.

It’s exhausting being split when he’s like this.

Several long minutes go by, the three of them tensely listening for anything approaching. An occasional screech echoes off in the distance, but never so close that any of them have to do anything. Blue gets up and patrols a little on and off while they wait, but nothing enters the hallway, and none of the three unconscious heroes move.

Green starts working on cleaning away some of the blood on Time so they can see more of his injuries in order to tend to them, even though with every gouge and lash revealed he feels increasingly sick. Some are so serious he’s shocked Time didn’t die from them alone. It’s a miracle he’s breathing with the state he’s in. And even though it’s terrible seeing them all, knowing about the injuries is good. Even if they make him want to throw up.

What did Dark Link even want?

Green fights back a shudder, and Vio starts to do the same with Legend, cleaning blood and tending to a few injuries he can manage, and they work in silence. Time’s barely healed injury seems the most dire, and so Green focuses on that, cleaning the blood off and carefully wrapping it. Warriors will probably want to take a look at it, so it’s a bit temporary, but hopefully it at least staves away infection.

It’s a while before a mumble hits Green’s ears, and he looks over at Legend, who’s face is screwed up. He twitches a little, and when Green tries running a comforting hand through his hair, Legend’s eyes flicker open, looking dazed.

Then panicked as he seems to realize where he is.

Legend abruptly jerks, and a strangled gasp tears itself from his throat, weakly struggling when he realizes someone is holding him.

“Whoa, whoa veteran, it’s okay!” Green says as Legend looks around frantically, “it’s okay, you’re safe. It’s just us.”

Legend breathes in shakily, the wild look in his eyes not entirely fading as he looks around at them all. His gaze is cloudy, cloudier than it should be, and more worry adds itself to the lump in Green’s stomach. Legend looks sick, and he swallows as he glances at Time.

“Legend?” Vio asks.

Legend swallows again, and squeezes his eyes shut before replying.

“You came,” he whispers, like he can’t quite believe it.

“Yeah. We did,” Green replies quietly, almost unable to believe it himself, and Legend shakily exhales, leaning against him.

“Are you feeling any better?” Vio asks.

“‘M alright,” Legend says in a weak, shaky voice, and Blue snorts in disbelief.

Green himself merely raises an eyebrow, but doesn’t push, offering the veteran some water, which he gladly takes. He sips at it slowly with Green’s help, and for a little while the sound of Legend drinking is the only noise in the hallway.

“You... th-thought we were d-dead,” Legend croaks once he’s finished, and Green swallows.

“We did. But we figured it out.”

“...H-how?”

“It wasn’t too hard. Time is Twilight’s several-greats grandfather,” Vio explains with almost a smile, and Legend’s eyes widen, then he gives a small hum in response.

“And since Twilight didn’t disappear off the face of the earth when you guys disappeared, he obviously had to be alive,” Blue huffs, interrupting whatever Vio was going to say next. “We just guessed for you.”

He clears his throat and looks away.

“Glad we were right.”

Legend gives him a tiny smirk as his eyes close again.

Pawsteps suddenly pound from down the hall, and they all turn to see Wolfie return, Red still on his back. They both light up at the sight of Legend awake, his eyes reopened, and Red nearly launches himself off of Twilight to go hug him.

Vio stops him from fully tackling him, but Red still gives Legend as big of a hug as he can.

“Vet you’re okay,” he sobs, and Legend almost smiles. Twilight slips back into hylian form and gets to his knees, putting a warm hand on Legend’s shoulder.

“Hey veteran,” he says, voice thick. “Gave us a scare these past weeks you know.”

Legend gives a small shudder. “Sorry,” he whispers.

Red moves over and lets Twilight engulf the veteran in a careful hug, Legend breathing shakily into his sleeve.

“Don’t apologize vet, it wasn’t your fault,” Twilight whispers, and they hold the embrace another couple seconds, Twilight running a comforting hand through Legend’s hair. “I’m just glad you’re alive. Spirits I’m glad you’re alive.”

Legend squeezes his eyes shut like he’s desperately trying not to cry again, but he nods, and after another minute, Twilight gently releases him.

“Captain and sailor are coming, we ran ahead to make sure you all were okay,” the rancher says, cheeks damp. “But they’ll be here in a bit. Wind said he’d contact Wild too, so him and Sky will show up soon as well. We should probably try to get going before Dark realizes we’re here.”

“I’m certain he already knows,” Vio mutters under his breath.

“And how exactly are we going to get going?” Blue snips with a raised eyebrow. “We’ve got three people who can’t walk by themselves.”

Legend doesn’t even argue the point, merely closing his eyes, and Twilight looks around with a sigh.

“Well... let’s start with you, Vet. You think you can support your weight at least a little?” Twilight suggests, and Legend gives a dizzy nod.

Green helps sit him up with Twilight’s help, but it takes them a long while to get his feet under him. By the time Legend is shakily vertical, footsteps pound down the hall, and they all look over to see Warriors charge around the corner with hope and fear equally bright in his eyes.

He freezes at the scene in front of him, taking in the dead monster, copious amounts of blood, multiple Fours, unconscious Time and Hyrule, and finally Legend, horribly pale and bloody and thin, whom Twilight is holding up.

Legend meets his eyes and Warriors bolts, engulfing the veteran in a hug as Twilight relinquishes his hold, the two clutching each other in a tighter grip then either of them would likely ever admit.

“Goddesses Ledge,” the captain says wetly, and Legend buries his head in his shoulder. Warriors rests a hand on his bloodstained hair, and Green hears someone’s breath hitch.

He scoots back to give them some space. He’ll get his turn at some point, and the two obviously need a moment.

Seconds later he sees Wind round the corner, and watches in warm amusement as his eyes grow huge at the sight in front of him.

“VETERAN!” Wind practically screams, then launches himself at Legend with so much force he probably would’ve fallen over but for Warriors’ support. Legend’s face twists with pain but he doesn’t push Wind back, hugging him in return. “You’re alive you’re alive you’re alive you’re alive oh Legend—” Wind sobs into his chest, and the three of them sink into a tight hug, not a dry eye amongst them.

Until Wind abruptly pulls back with a gasp, face soaked with tears.

“Wait, where’s Time?!” he asks frantically, and Blue pointedly clears his throat. The sailor looks over at him, and the color drains from his face, the relief replaced with horror.

He goes over to Time’s side, and drops to a knee, studying him with an expression on his face that’s nothing short of distraught.

“Is... is he okay?” Wind asks in a horrified voice, and Twilight hesitates.

“I don’t know,” he replies quietly. “His wounds shouldn’t be life-threatening as long as they’re treated, the worst one is already mostly healed. But... we don’t know everything that’s been done to him. Or Legend. There might be internal damage.”

Or mental, is the unsaid.

“Wait, how did Time..?” Warriors begins to ask, but he’s interrupted by Legend collapsing in his arms.

Warriors quickly snatches him before he hits his head on anything, and Legend’s head lolls against his shoulder, face slack.

“Idiot pushing himself,” Blue mutters as Red and Wind gasp. “Shouldn’t have stood up.”

“He feels feverish,” Warriors murmurs, adjusting his hold to better hold Legend, and then check his pulse. “Is he sick?”

“I saw some injuries he has that look infected,” Vio says in a grim voice. “Not everything, but... it’s not pretty.”

Warriors mutters a curse. “That’s not good.”

“Let’s just get him and Time out of here,” Twilight says a little thickly, and the others nod. “We can meet up with Sky and Wild on the way. We need to go.”

Green swallows, and finishes tying a bandage around Time’s hand. He thinks he and Vio got Legend and Time fixed up enough to be moved, hopefully, but they’re in bad shape, and if Dark finds them, or anything else happens...

His breath shudders a little.

They just need to get out of here. That’s all. Then they can help them more.

“Wait— Four why are there four of you?” Wind says abruptly, eyes going wide, and Vio steps forward to briefly explain. Warriors in He meantime, lifts up Legend into his arms, making sure he’s comfortable where his head rests. Then he goes over to Twilight and murmurs something, and Twilight nods, still looking like he might join in with Red’s crying.

Warriors then kneels beside Time, and sets a hand on his forehead for a long time.

Then he exhales, straightens, and shifts Legend so he’s holding him with one arm and his sword with the other. Twilight carefully hoists up Time, the look on his face suggesting he’s not as heavy as he should be, and Wind and Green both struggle to lift Hyrule, the lanky boy a bit too big for them to easily carry. But they manage, somehow. At least he doesn’t have any injuries to avoid bumping.

Blue and Red move to the front of their group as they get going, Blue looking fierce and grim, Red still shedding quiet tears. Vio’s in the back, face like stone, and Green feels similarly. They all want to be one again, but it’s not an option right now.

Soon. Soon.

Green looks at Legend and Time, barely dragged back from the grave, and gives a violent shudder.

Alive.

They’re alive.

We just have to get them out and keep them that way.

It’s quiet as they shuffle along as fast as they can, only some dripping sounds and an occasional distant noise of something moving around. Green feels what he swears are eyes on him, but every time he turns to look, there’s nothing. Blue does it even more, head swiveling near constantly, and Vio finally tells him to knock it off.

The only thing that jumps out at them is a handful of keese that appear from the ceiling, but they’re quickly disposed of, all of them anxious and terrified of anything further hurting Time and Legend. Time still hasn’t moved an inch, and all Legend does is occasionally shiver in Warriors’ arms, face sweaty.

Green studies Time a little as they walk, his hair bloody and limp in his face. He wouldn’t think he was alive if he didn’t know better.

He swallows. Time looks so weak like this, like a shell of himself. Not like the leader they’ve come to depend on, the strong figure in impenetrable armor who wields a claymore with ease, who’s stern, but kind, and mischievous and loving and brave.

Right now he just looks battered. Broken. Like a toy thrown out that can’t be fixed.

We will fix it. We will.

“Hey!”

Everyone who can draw a weapon draws it, and Wild screeches to a stop as he comes around a corner and nearly gets stabbed through the neck by Blue.

“Whoa whoa it’s just me!” Wild yelps, clutching something to his chest as he backpedals. Blue huffs, and draws back. “Geez, relax. I know we’re antsy but you guys don’t have to— oh.”

Wild’s face goes white as his gaze locks on Time and Legend, and Twilight steps a little closer so Wild can see.

“They’re alive,” Twilight reports tightly, and Wild’s eyes dart across their faces, and then he slowly nods. There’s a terrified kind of relief and fear on his face, and Green thinks he sees tears in his eyes. “Not doing well, but alive.”

“O-okay. Okay,” Wild says shakily, then swallows. “They’re alive.”

“Yeah. They are,” Twilight reassures thickly.

“I wish we had some fairies,” Wind says in a quiet voice as Wild leans over and looks at their found brothers. “That would fix them up.”

“I know,” Green murmurs in reply. Fairies don’t require the patient to be awake and able to swallow, but potions very much do. They won’t be able to do much for Time and Legend if they stay unconscious. And Hyrule won’t be in any shape to heal for who knows how long.

Wild swallows again, then seems to shake off the worst of his horror at the situation and holds up what he’s got in his hands. It’s hard to tell in the dark, but it looks like Time’s bag.

“Me and Sky found a room with all their things locked in it, we thought maybe we’d found them at first, but I’m glad you guys did. Sky has Legend’s stuff, but uh... I ran ahead of him. He’ll catch up,” Wild says a bit sheepishly. “I got impatient when Wind contacted us, and Legend’s stuff was scattered around more.”

Warriors looks disapproving, but he nods, and with that their group gets going again, Wild switching with Green to better help Wind carry Hyrule. Green moves to help the other pieces of himself guard their group, and they hurry through the slimy hall, heading back towards the stairs that will lead them up and eventually out. They have a few floors to get through, but it won’t be too hard going back up. Or at least it shouldn’t be.

They killed any monsters they saw on the way down. It shouldn’t be too bad.

They come to a wide open area, more room than hall, and finally join up with their last Link, Sky appearing from a side passageway with a bag in his hand. They’re finally all together again.

Green wraps an arm around his middle, pain and hope in his chest, and knows he isn’t the only one who has the thought, seeing several of the others blink a little more than necessary. It’s been weeks since they’ve all been together.

Sky’s a bit out of breath as he joins them, holding Legend’s bag, obviously full. He looks relieved as he looks around at them all, but he goes even paler than Wild had when he sees Time and Legend.

“Blessed goddess,” he whispers, and touches Time’s head, then sets a hand on Legend’s cheek like he’s reassuring himself they’re really there. “What... happened to them?”

“We don’t fully know. Legend woke up briefly, but he didn’t say much,” Vio speaks up, Sky doing a small double take at the sight of multiple Fours. “We just found them in the hallway, unconscious. I think... I think they were escaping, but got stopped.”

“We thought they were dead,” Red says in a whimper.

Heavy silence falls over them, only broken by a soft moan from Legend.

“Gods, we were almost too late,” Twilight whispers, looking wrecked, and horrible guilt appears in Warriors’ eyes. He was the one who’d convinced them all to wait.

“But we weren’t,” Wild bites out, a spark back in his eyes that’s been absent recently, his hands clenched at his sides. ”So let’s stop talking about it and just get out of here.”

“Right. We... can discuss this later,” Warriors manages to say, voice a little off. “If we must. We need to get them out of here and get them healed. As soon as possible.”

Green opens his mouth to reply, but then Blue shouts in warning.

They all whirl towards where he’s pointing, weapons drawn, unconscious heroes pulled to the back, the colors moving to the front. Wind gives Hyrule to Wild and joins them, and the shadows in front of the group move.

Or lurch, really, unsteady as they build. Roiling and hazy, yet strangely thick and viscous, shifting like billowing thunderclouds, with two sudden uneven spots of red shining from them, bright and furious.

Red that’s familiar. Red that’s terrifying.

Twilight snarls.

Green’s heartbeat triples, and they all freeze, and watch in horror and anger and maybe some fear as a vaguely humanoid shape that looks like it was half melted and then pushed back together lurches up from the floor.

It’s a monstrous form coated in black, thick and barely holding onto a human shape. It lurches, making an awful sound, and darkness spurts from it and drips onto the floor, squelching and oozing like it can’t keep itself together. Someone gags at the sight.

The oozing figure stares at them with hateful red eyes that won’t stay in one place, and Green raises his sword with a swallow.

Dark Link.

“YOU!” Blue roars, and only doesn’t lunge forward because Green snatches him back.

“Does he seen more of a mess than usual?” Vio murmurs as he looks at the shadowy blob, and Wind glares.

“Doesn’t matter what he looks like. He’s not stopping us,” he nearly spits, looking ferocious. “Get out of our way!”

The melted figure continues to glare, and churn in place in front of them.

“...Captain?” Green asks slowly when it still doesn’t move, looking for direction, and Warriors holds tighter to Legend, swallowing.

And before he can speak, Dark Link lets out an unholy scream and lunges at them, surprisingly fast.

Blue and Green both fling their sword up to block him, but Sky is faster, leaping forward with the Master Sword shining. She flashes and the blob reels back, still screaming in fury.

It tries to strike again, avoiding Sky, but this... sludge it’s made of is almost hard to miss. The shadow keeps lunging for where Time and Legend are held, but the colors and Wind and Sky keep him back with everything they’ve got.

“You...” it snarls in a phlegmy voice, shadows dripping as it shambles briefly out of range. An arm sludges away and then reforms in a spurt of darkness, shoulders shuddering as they attempt to keep their shape. “You... HEROES...”

It throws its head back and screams again, a sound of pure, ragged fury, and a sword appears from the mess, reddish and black.

Dark surges forward in a churning mess, mouth huge, eyes flashing, darkness sharpened into claws. The colors leap away from the attack, Wind jumping in to help them with his sword swinging. The Shadow sweeps away, half collapsing to avoid the strike from Wind, and then he bursts back up from ground and bites Vio’s arm.

Vio cries out and Blue hacks at the blob, sending him away after a moment. Vio reels back with a gasp, a faint sting hitting the other colors as he clutches his arm, and Dark Link lunges for Wind this time.

Wind swings his sword, but right before he strikes him, the darkness falls to the floor in a puddle. Before anyone can do anything, it splits into several pieces, all of which lunge for Twilight and Time.

“No!” Red cries as they all run, and Twilight’s face twists in a ferocious look.

He slings Time over his shoulder, and snatches something out of his bag with the other hand. One piece of shadow strikes at his leg and makes him shout, but then he pulls out a metal ball, and swings it with one arm.

It slams into several shadowy blobs, and they’re sent flying, making it easier for the others to attack them. One nearly strikes Warriors’ neck as it pulls back, but the captain lunges away, an arm around Legend and a furious expression on his face as he slices at it.

Legend’s eyes flicker then, face a mix of terrified and angry when Dark Link screams again. Warriors’ mouth moves as he says something to him, but Legend seems to fall limp again before he can finish.

Green lunges for another blob, sword flashing in the dim light. The rest of him is fighting all the shadows back, and everyone else is doing what they can, Twilight and Warriors keeping weapons ready, Wild somehow shooting arrows with Hyrule slung on his back. They finally beat back all the darkness with their combined efforts, but it just reforms again into one big mass, head at an unnatural angle, body lurching in a nauseating way.

Green stares, disgusted and angry. He sees now that Dark Link is like an oily mass of every ugly thought and deed in their hearts given shape, the solid figure they’ve met before buried in nothing but rage and burning, soul-deep hatred.

Everyone flinches back.

“I... despise...” Dark snarls, eyes blazing like an eruption in death mountain as he looks at them all. “...You. HEROES. Curse e v e r y goddess alive... for having m e be chained to such miserable beings!”

He nearly howls the last words, and Sky steps forward, face cold. Dark Link doesn’t move away, his fury outweighing any caution.

“I will not... be... stopped,” Dark Link continues in a furious voice that turns to a discordant screech, raising a palm up. “I WILL NOT BE STOPPED!”

A ringing sounds goes out, and darkness starts to build in other corners of the room, monstrous shapes that aren’t yet fully formed. Many, many monstrous shapes, too many for them to fight and keep their wounded or themselves alive, and the colors exchange panicked looks.

“We need to leave!” Warriors shouts, but Dark Link is blocking their path, and the melted viscous stuff that is currently his face gives a ferocious, manic grin.

“You will STAY,” he hisses, and then Sky lunges forward with the Master Sword.

Dark Link dodges, slicing at Sky with his own weapon. Sky avoids it, but another lightning-fast strike makes him cry out. Sky clutches at his side, but he turns his stumble into a roll, and is back on his feet so fast it takes Dark unawares.

The Master Sword strikes his side, shearing through the thick darkness.

The Shadow shrieks, enraged and pained, and Sky throws him to the ground, Dark landing with a squelch. Sky stands over him, sword blazing, panting and furious with a look on his face that honestly frightens Green a bit.

“Go back to whatever abyss it is you crawled up from,” Sky spits, the Master Sword’s light making it look like his eyes are glowing.

“I’m not finished with you!” Dark screams, eyes crazed as his form churns and spits below Sky. He can’t seem to break loose with the Master Sword so near. “I will kill you all in the most painful ways imaginable! One by one you will watch as I tear each of you to pieces! I’ll do to you all what I’ve done to the Hero of Time and Legend, I will do it those you love! I will gut your families and slaughter your children, I WILL NEVER REST UNTIL—”

Sky stabs down, and Dark splits into pieces and disappears with an enraged shriek that’s so loud the walls seem to vibrate.

“Go!” Twilight shouts, the monsters around them having taken shape, and their group kicks into gear, sprinting through the darkness. Green sees shadows skitter into the corners of the room as they run, and knows somehow that Dark isn’t dead, but it’s enough for now.

He won’t be bothering them again anytime soon.

Sky stumbles beside him, and Green steadies him, alarmed at the blood on his side.

“I’m fine,” he breathes as he clutches at it, and Blue leaps back to stop a darknut from taking their heads off as they pause. “It’s not like Twi’s was, I’m fine.”

Green nods and they keep running, Vio clutching his arm, Wind wiping at a scratch on his cheek. Wild drags Hyrule along on his back, the traveler still dead to the world, Warriors carries Legend, shivering and sick, and Twilight limps faster than should be possible, Time looking dead in his arms.

They just run.

Fighting past monsters, covering each other’s backs, back up through dozens of darkened rooms with the smell of blood sharp in their noses, making sure nothing gets through to Time or Legend.

Nobody stops even after they finally burst free out of the dungeon into an early-morning fog, soft sunlight just barely filtering through. They fight back through the marsh and hurry towards some woods off in the distance, putting as much space between them and whatever is left of Dark Link as quickly as possible.

And once they’re a safe distance away, and find a good spot to camp, everything that’s happened suddenly hits all the pieces of Four again.

They stumble, barely noticing what the others are doing, and Four merges into one again, and promptly collapses into Sky’s arms, overwhelmed.

They’re out. They’re all out.

They’re safe.

Sky hugs him, even with his injuries, and suddenly Four is sobbing, overwhelmed from splitting and then merging with such sharp emotions, terrified at what they found in there and still have to do to help Time and Legend, but mostly just so relieved he feels sick.

They’re alive.

Four doesn’t even care about his embarrassing display, and violently cries into Sky’s shoulder as he lightly rocks him, Sky’s own tears dampening his hair as Time and Legend are carefully set down, finally free and safe back with them.

They’re alive.