Chapter Text
"This is certainly… an odd time in Hyrule's history. Could it be the far future?"
"Or the far past!" Sky's voice was brighter than the bioluminescent bugs crawling everywhere around them. "Thousands of years even before my time, there was a huge, high-tech mining facility on the surface."
They approached the coast. Their goal could be seen not too far into the distance, casting an unnatural night onto their surroundings almost as far as the eye could see.
"I do not believe speculating is of any use at the moment, as interesting a thought it may be. Traveller, do you believe any of these organisms to be of danger to us?"
"I… I think we'll be fine, as long as we don't… eat them?"
"Very well."
"Shame there aren't any damn trees in this Din-forsaken place! Then I could make us a boat and we'd be there in no time!"
Time sighed. "Patience, young one. And a lack of fear for… getting a little wet." And with that, he jumped into the lake and began to swim towards the colossal superstructure. Twilight followed, and then the rest.
About halfway across, they came upon a small island. "What is that?" Wars' attention snapped to a tall pole of metal, on which a large concave disc was affixed.
Wind pushed the pole, which bent under the force before springing back. "Oh, I gotta try this!" He jumped up, arms wrapped around it, and began to swing himself around.
Twilight's voice was stern. "Wind, be careful! You might-"
He fell to the ground, communications disc snapped from its bearing.
"What did you do?! We have no idea what that is, it might have been important!"
"Relax, goat boy! We haven't even seen a single other person around here. We've been travelling for days!"
"He's right, Twilight."
Twilight turned to Wild. Of all people, he expected Wild to agree with him.
"Look at all this stuff. It's in ruin. It's all rusted, broken, eroded… reminds me a lot of my Hyrule. If it's been left like this, chances are it didn't even work to begin with. I don't think it's gonna be missed, if there's even anyone left to miss it."
Twilight sighed. "We don't know that for certain. We don't know anything for certain. So please, just be more careful, alright?"
"Alright, goat boy…"
"And stop calling me goat boy." he snarled.
Four gestured to the broken girder. "This the entrance?"
"Looks that way."
"Remember boys. We know not what lies within. I suspect this dungeon will be unlike anything we have previously endured."
"Yes, old man, we get it!" Wind ran through into the next room.
"Exactly his point, kid!" Twilight ran after him. He entered the room just as the gate closed. "Wind, this isn't funny. Open the gate."
"…How?" Wind's voice betrayed a hint of nervousness.
Legend sighed. "C'mon Wind, there's obviously a button you can push or something."
"I-I can't see anything!"
"Nothin' out here."
"Hang on, the other side's opened!"
"Wind, stay where you are."
"Can't hear you!" Wind trotted off into the next room.
"Right. So the idiot's trapped in there, or we're trapped out here, we're soaking wet and we have no idea what to do now? Great adventure, guys!"
"Legend, maybe we just need to wait a little. Maybe the gate's just on some kinda cooldown?"
"Twilight is correct. We wait here."
Wild decided to quickly make a meal for the heroes. He'd caught some edible-looking… fish? a while back. They were black with purple eyes, and they put up quite a fight, but the two he'd caught would likely go well with some rice and spices from his slate.
He served a bowl to each of the heroes outside the structure, and they began to eat.
"This is… certainly something." Time struggled to chew through the meat.
Hyrule's face was scrunched. "Tastes a bit like seaweed? Only… meatier, and more… metallic."
Legend struggled less, although he still clearly wasn't enjoying it. "Bet Wind'd love this."
"That we can agree on."
They all ate most of their bowls, before Wild cleaned them off in the lake and returned them to his slate. While they couldn't see the sun due to the thick cloud barrier, after a while they could tell the sky was beginning to darken. The clouds' movements were quickening, and the first cracks of thunder could be heard.
"This gate ain't openin', and that blasted rain'll be comin' soon. We gotta go back."
"And leave him in there?!" Four shouted in disbelief.
"We don't have a choice, young one. We know by now the only places in which we will be safe are the shelters."
"We don't even know if there are any shelters in that thing!" Sky jumped in.
"We have no choice but to trust that there are. We can't help him unless the gate reopens."
Time began the swim back to the first island. They were cutting it fine; the clouds were darkening by the minute, threatening to crush them under the seemingly impossibly heavy rainfall.
They made it back to the last shelter just as the first drops of rain were beginning to land. It was a tight fit, but the eight of them managed to squeeze inside with enough room to breathe. It had been more difficult the night before, especially with Wind's kicking habit. They drifted off into a restless sleep.
As it had every morning, the loud mechanism opening the shelter door woke them all with a start. They all quickly rushed out, bar Legend who took a moment to complain, and began the swim back to the structure.
They were glad it was warm around here; their clothes and hair dried off quickly, so they weren't left uncomfortable or shivering. Upon making it back, they found that the gate was open.
"I think we all need to go through at once." Twilight observed.
"Should some of us stay out here? I feel like all of us being in there might not be the best idea." Hyrule offered nervously.
"No. All of us going in there is the best way to locate Wind. For anybody to stay out here would be to risk facing the hazards of this world alone."
And with that, they travelled through the gate.
The first thing they saw was a shelter immediately opposite them. A relief; Wind had somewhere safe to stay the night.
The next was a giant black-and-green spider falling from the ceiling. Less of a relief.
Four groaned. "Ewww, why does it move like that?!"
"Why is its back moving like that?!" Twilight added. He cautiously moved closer before the spider did a backflip and ran away as fast as its legs could take it.
"…Well that happened."
"Looks like up is the only way for us to go."
The climb up was unlike anything any of them had experienced before. According to Wild's slate it wasn't even noon, but their surroundings were dark enough to make it a struggle to see.
Twilight broke the silence. "Careful. Lizard over there."
"Ha, you mean lunch?" Wild shot an arrow directly into the lizard's head, which bounced off unceremoniously and caused the lizard to turn towards him.
Legend scoffed. "You know that doesn't work, idiot. Gotta hit it on the body a few times."
"I can't now it's facing us." Wild looked around and had an idea. He picked a pebble up off the ground and lobbed it as hard as he could at the lizard. He hit it square in the forehead with enough force to make it flip over, and took the opportunity to fire five arrows into its body.
The noise it made sounded almost like gears screeching to a halt as its jaw hung limp and its limbs stopped moving.
"Lunch time!"
"Try to prepare it quickly. We still have yet to find Wind."
"Relax! There's a ceiling above us, and we're way too high up to get flooded. We have all the time in the world." Wild prepared a fire and tried to cut the lizard into pieces, but his knife was struggling to make it through the tough flesh. He pulled out a meat tenderiser, which barely made a dent.
"Need something bigger?" Time passed him the Megaton Hammer with a smirk.
"Now that's awesome." He quickly got to work. It was practically breaking apart the flesh, leaving it with the texture of a raw steak. Once cooked it went down about as easily too, the ever-present metallic taste masked by copious amounts of spices.
They continued their upwards climb, travelling through narrow pipes and across questionably-built platforms until they reached a room with no floor; the only way to get across was via the poles hanging down from the ceiling.
Legend looked around. "Dead end?"
"No, look." Four pointed to the edge of the ceiling. "There's a path up there. We just need to be… careful."
"Yep, careful, don't look down, got it." Legend approached the edge of the platform before pulling out his hookshot and grappling over to the first pole, then to the second.
"Is there anybody who doesn't have a hookshot?"
Four, Wars, Hyrule, and Wild raised their hands.
"Legend, come back!" Time called out.
"What's up?"
"There's eight of us, but only four hookshots. We need to go two at a time."
Legend let out a sigh and held out his hand to Hyrule. Twilight took Wild, Time took Wars, and Sky took Four, travelling across the gap. Twilight and Time's hands were very calloused, providing an easy grip for Wild and Wars respectively. Four and Hyrule, however, struggled.
"Your hands are so sweaty…" Four complained.
"Sorry, kid. Just hang on tight. We're nearly there."
Hyrule slipped from Legend's grasp. "Rulie?!"
He managed to cling back onto the pole a further distance down. "I'm alright!"
"I'm coming down!"
Legend gently slid down the pole. Its surface was rough, making it easier for him not to slip and fall directly on top of Hyrule, dropping them both to their deaths. He did his best to dispel the thought.
He wiped his hand on his tunic, but it wasn't quite dry yet. It was as good as he could manage, so he reached it down to Hyrule, who desperately grabbed it.
"Ready to go?"
"R-ready!"
They swiftly moved over to the next pole. "You alright?"
"Yeah!"
Eventually, all four pairs made it to the end of the room. The path forwards was straight up, leading to a ledge going in the opposite direction.
A green crackle appeared out of nowhere, causing most of the Links to jump.
"That can't be good." Legend observed.
Another. The entire structure began to shake.
"I get the feelin' we should hurry."
"Agreed. Get up these poles as fast as you can. We shall regroup at the top."
The journey up the room was a struggle; they had to jump across some very questionable gaps, and no death would be more certain than falling. They were so high up by now they could barely make any details out on the ground below, a fact which still scared them all despite the darkness.
Wild was the first to the top, followed shortly by Hyrule, Four, and Legend.
The green sparks were becoming more intense. The static electricity in the air was making everybody's hair stand on end.
"Guys, hurry! I'm not sure we have much time!"
Twilight made it, followed by Sky, then Wars.
"Time!"
His hand gripped the corner of the ledge, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief. A sharp snap of lightning knocked most of them off their feet.
"TIME!!" Twilight looked down. He'd managed to grab back onto the pole. He reached his arm down and pulled Time over the corner.
"Old man, I'm-"
"No time, we need to go. Look, a shelter."
The heroes turned around to see the soft glowing light of a shelter sign at the end of the room.
It was a straight shot, but the floor was uneven. As they weaved their ways around the raised sections and poles, the lightning notably increased, knocking them all down. They scrambled to their feet, and squeezed into the shelter.