Chapter Text
The land they stepped into was unlike any they had ever seen. Hylia usually liked to drop them into forests or on cliffs, but this time they were dropped in front of a large spring, in the crumbling remains of some ancient structure. But the more they looked, the more unsettled they became. Time and Warriors stepped forward to the edge of the stone they were on, looking out over the spring to take in the world around them. The light was dim- enough to see of course, but not very far. They were surrounded by cliffs, with odd looking mushroom-like trees, as well as a few other stunted trees with rough trunks, and others with thin, spindly branches.
“Where… are we?” Warriors asked, his voice quiet.
He didn’t notice Sky had walked up beside him until he spoke up. “Where.. is the sky?” he said quietly, shuddering as he looked up. There seemed to be a ceiling of haze, but no sign of a sun or moon.
Each of the Chain was disconcerted for different reasons. There was no sky, no wind, no sun to set. It seemed like a land frozen in time, with no signs of life to speak. Time’s eyes lingered on a floating blue light, stepping along the edge of stone to get closer.
Twilight helped Four to his feet and looked toward Time, following his eyes to the floating light. The hair on the back of Twilight’s neck was standing on end. He walked closer, making sure to keep his steps audible to avoid surprising him. “Is that.. A Poe?” he asked, recognizing the light from his time spent in the Twilight.
“I was wondering the same thing,” Time said, crossing his arms. He was reluctant to get any closer, not wanting to fall into the water. Steam rose from the warm water, creating an eerie effect. Nothing about this place seemed right. Time didn’t even know where to begin directing his boys. He looked around them, his eyes following a path along where they were to more stairs and cliffs. Maybe if they got to higher ground they could find some sort of vantage point to take in where they were left.
He cleared his throat to get the attention of the others, opening his mouth to speak before he heard a noise above them. Eight hands found their way to eight weapons just as a thin shape went streaking by.
There was a splash as it hit the water, and moment’s later a person with blonde hair surfaced, shaking the water from his hair. He swam over to the Poe and collected it, unaware of the eight pairs of eyes on him until he turned around to swim back to hard ground. He stopped in his tracks, staring up at the armed people staring back at him. No one seemed to know what to do for a few beats before the young man swam over and hauled himself up onto the ledge, wringing out the bottom of his shirt. It was a bright blue with white accents, with a sturdy leather pauldron resting on his left shoulder and buckled around his torso. He also had a colorful quiver strapped to his waist, paired with a green and orange bow with odd protrusions, and a long orange spear with a dual-pronged orange tip. His shield looked oddly small, with the same protrusions as his bow.
Time attempted to get his attention with a polite, “excuse me-” but was thoroughly ignored by the blonde, who scooted back from the edge and pulled off his leather boots to unceremoniously dump water out of it. He repeated this with the other boot, while the Chain looked around each other as the blonde boy sitting in front of them pulled his boots back on. It was only then that he stood up and dusted off his pants. When he turned back to face them, he was chewing thoughtfully on a banana that seemed to have appeared from nowhere, bracing his elbow on his arm crossed in front of him. He seemed to be appraising them, judging their reactions as his eyes flitted from one man from the next.
𓆩✧𓆪
Link had planned only a quick stop to the Depths. He just had to collect a few resources and then he could return topside. It wasn’t necessarily that he hated the Depths- their eerie quiet could feel almost comforting at times when everything else felt too loud. It could be its own kind of peaceful… when it wasn’t making your skin crawl, that is. That said, it isn’t exactly somewhere that civilians could even get to. The only people he ever saw down here were Yiga posing as Zonai Researchers thinking they were being slick. These guys, though… If they were Yiga, they must be part of some new tactic. First of all, Yiga never traveled in groups like this. There was never any more than three, maybe four. And there wouldn’t usually be more than two Blade Masters, but at least two of these guys seemed too big for a standard Yiga member. One of them looked like he’d be at home in Lurelin- why did his tunic look familiar?- and one would fit right in at Hateno. There was something similar about this man in particular, but his costume didn’t look anything like the standard Yiga disguise. None of theirs did, honestly. Not to mention Yiga only used Eightfold Blades, and none of their weapons looked like either a standard Eightfold Blade or long blade.
The most glaring evidence of them not being Yiga was their lack of reaction to the banana he was eating. Most Yiga would have broken out into a cold sweat by now. Only one of them looked at the banana a little too long, but there was a nervous look in his eyes. Nothing like how a Yiga would typically react. But if they weren’t Yiga… Who were they?
Just as Link was wondering this, his eyes fell upon the hilt of one of their swords. There was no way he could mistake that blue-purple, or the crosshatch of leather making its way down the hilt. The guard flared out from the base of the hilt like wings. Link grabbed the slate attached to his hip, to double check that the Master Sword hadn’t gotten stolen from him somehow.
The same man from earlier decided enough time had passed to try again. “Excuse me, but my group and I aren’t from around here, and seem to have gotten a bit… lost. Can you help us? Maybe point us in the way of a city or town?” he asked cautiously, clearly not sure what to make of the smaller blonde in front of him.
Link couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow. “…A bit..?” he said, more incredulous than inquisitive. This time he took a moment to actually process what the large man- presumably a Blade Master, if they were indeed Yiga despite evidence to the contrary.
One of the shorter men gave a huff of annoyance as he crossed his arms. “Can you help us or not?” he snapped, looking over at Link with narrowed eyes.
Link sighed, reaching up for his spear, which caused the others to step back, their own hands finding their weapons. Without warning, and quicker than the chain could process, Link swapped his Zonai spear for a decayed Gerudo scimitar, adjusting his stance and sending it flying toward Sky, who unsheathed the Master Sword fast enough to knock its trajectory off course. The Chain each let out varying gasps and shouts, and when they looked back toward Link he had his own Master Sword in hand, the point aimed directly at the group, a Hylian shield on his arm.
”Who are you, and where did you come from?”