Chapter Text
“Shit, here we go again!”
“Wind, no cussing!” Time hissed.
“Why not?? Everyone else cusses!”
Hylia had a cruel sense of humor.
She loved to dump the Chain into new Hyrules with little to no warning, opening portals on a whim and forcing the Chain into it. They hadn’t stumbled into a new Hyrule for almost a year though, so it was odd to be in a new one now. The thing was, this Hyrule wasn’t new. Not to Twilight, anyhow. There had been a cub in this world once, his cub, and Twilight was almost certain this cub was the hero.
They seemed to be near central Hyrule, based on the way the trees looked and the castle in the distance. “We should head to the nearest town.” Twilight reasoned, pointing to the castle and surrounding town. “Maybe someone there knows where the Hero is.”
“Yeah, hopefully. Come on team.” Warriors said, hauling himself up off the ground and heading off in a random direction. The others followed, bickering with each other as they did. It was familiar to Twilight in that they’d done this same thing many times before.
The town seemed more like a city than village. It had to host at least 10,000 Hyrulians, and chances were somebody here would know of Link. “It would be less suspicious to split up.” Warriors said, thinking to himself. “Maybe a few head to the castle and the rest ask around the town?” He looked back at the rest of the Chain for confirmation. Twilight spared them all a glance as well. They all nodded.
“I can go to the castle.” Time volunteered. “And you two are coming with.” He added, gesturing to Wind and Four.
“What? You don’t trust us?” Wind asked, screwing up his face to show his offense.
“No, it’s not that. You’re the best sympathy garners.” Warriors said.
“Well, I wouldn’t put it like that-”
“Ah, hell yeah! I’m a sympathy garner!” Wind said, pumping the air before leaning over to Four to whisper something that Twilight only made out thanks to his exceptional hearing, “What’s a garner?” Four and Twilight both got a chuckle out of that.
“Alright, you three go off. Have fun.” Sky said. The trio turned and headed towards the castle.
“Twilight and I can go to the local tavern.” Warriors offered.
“Alright, I suppose Legend and I will ask around at the market.” Sky said with a shrug. “C’mon.” He added, looking at Legend. The vet rolled his eyes but followed Sky.
Twilight and Warriors, headed to the tavern. Twilight knew of the cub, of course, but the last time he’d seen the boy he’d only been just that- a boy. Chances are the kid was no longer one, unless he was a hero like Wind, which was unlikely.
The tavern, named The Headed Dragon, was already pretty lively, though the sun was only just starting to set when the pair entered. Hyrulians of all races were drinking and laughing. Twilight approached the bartender. “I’ll have a cider, and I believe my brother will have a beer?” He looked back at the Captain, who nodded. The bartender sighed, going to start on their drinks. Soon enough, two tankards were set in front of Twilight.
“You wanna start a tab?” The bartender asked, his voice raspy, most likely from overuse.
“No, I’ll pay now, thank you.” Twilight said, pulling out the coin purse and rifling through it for rupees.
“Say, I haven’t seen yall around here before.” The bartender said. “You travelers?” He asked.
“Yes sir.” Twilight responded.
“Any reason yall are here in particular?” When Twilight hesitated to respond immediately, the man added, “Apologies for bein’ nosy. We get a lot of travelers ‘round here, though not so much since the recent war.”
“War?” Warriors butted in, looking at the bartender.
“Damn, y’all must be far from home.” The bartender said gruffly. “The war between the Zonai and Hyrule? The Faroshi chief and king only recently brokered a recent ceasefire, since the chief finally figured out he wouldn’t win anything against Hyrule. Damned savages, the lot of em, but none as bad as the Faroshi.”
“Who are the Zonai?” Twilight questioned.
“They’re the name we gave to the tribal groups near Hyrule’s borders. The Naydrish and Din are much less trouble, neither are stupid enough to attack us, but the Faroshi aren’t that smart.” The man responded, “and their chief is a damned traitor too, some Hylian that decided to run off with ‘em when he was a youngin. Real shame too, his dad was in the Royal Guard y’know?”
“Who is this chief?” Twilight asked.
“He goes by ‘Link.’ Stupid name if you ask me.” The bartender muttered. Twilight and Warriors both stilled at that. “Anyhow, pay up and I’ll pass along yalls drinks.” Twilight nodded, pulling out the rupees and sliding them to the man.
“Where do the Faroshi live?” He asked, trying to keep his voice casual.
“Southeast of here, o’er in the Faron region. Damn shame too, the Princess can’t go to pray at any of those springs with the Zonai near all of ‘em. Hylia only knows how long we can wait before the Calamity comes for us.” The bartender said, handing the pair their tankards.
They both thanked the man, before sitting in an empty booth in the corner. “Well, we have some information.” Warriors said, voice just loud enough to be heard over the buzz of the tavern.
“Yes, I suppose so.” Twilight said, staring at the table. “But it doesn’t make sense.”
“What doesn’t?”
“The hero is a Hylian. He… He wouldn’t join some savage tribe, let alone become their chief.”
“Well, he can’t be that bad can he?” Wars responded. “We just have to find him and hope this ‘chief’ doesn’t hate our guts.”
“He will.” A man said, walking over and sitting at the booth uninvited. “I’ve seen him on the field before, guy’s a fucking menace. He’ll tear your throat outta your neck without a second thought, and I’ve heard he eats the throats for breakfast.”
“That can’t be true-”
“Oh but it is. One of the captains of the royal guard was mailed back to the castle once. But not all of him, only a hand. The tribe ate the rest.” The man said.
“And how would you know?” Twilight asked, voice sharper than intended.
“I fought in that war, I’ll probably fight again once it starts back up. The guy wields a Hylian sword, but he doesn’t fight like a Hylian. He plays dirty. And he’s an animal.”
“Don’t say that about peo-”
“No, I mean he’s a literal animal.” The soldier emphasized. “ I saw him on the field once, at the battle of Lake Hylia. I didn’t get a good luck, but what I did see was is this; he’s got stag horns, and long pointy ears, and- and one of his arms don’t even look right, like he got it torn off and attached a Guardian’s arm to it instead.”
“Hm.” Warriors frowned at Twilight’s hum. “Interesting.”
“You’re safe from ‘im if you don’t enter ‘his land.’” The guy put air quotes around that. “Hopefully the kingsguard assassinates the beast soon.” He stood, walking away from their table.
“I hear he can turn into a dragon!” A younger soldier, maybe just older than Wind, said, butting in. “A big one too! Man, what I’d give to see that one day. Assuming he’s not trying to kill me.” He said before going back to his conversation with his companions.
“Well that was comforting.” Warriors whispered. Twilight huffed but looked up upon hearing the door open and seeing his brothers lingering outside. The pair in the tavern stood and met the rest of the Chain outside.
“We talked to the king. He… doesn’t seem to have a great relationship with this Hero. He was convinced we were spies for about thirty seconds before finally deciding we were from very very far away.” Time said.
“Yeah, we got about the same sentiment from the market.” Sky said. “You?” Six pairs of eyes looked at Twilight and Wars.
“Yeah, pretty much the same thing.” Twilight said. “Apparently he’s some animal chief of the Zonai. They painted him in a… not so great light. Said a ton of stuff like that he turns into a dragon or eats his victims.”
“Alrighty! Soo, should we go meet him?” Wind asked, not at all deterred by this information. “We know he’s to the South of here, right?”
“Right. Let’s leave tomorrow though. It’s not safe to travel at night.” Time said. The others agreed, and they found an inn. After being given the keys to their rooms, they bid each other good night. Time, Twilight, and Warriors ended up sharing a room, since Twilight didn’t mind curling up on the floor in his wolf form.
“Do you believe all that shit they said about the Hero?” Twilight asked the other two before going to sleep.
“I’d prefer not to.” Time said.
“Same here.” Warriors added.
“Right. Good. Um… Night, I guess.” Twilight mumbled before pressing the pendant around his neck and transforming. The wolf curled up in a ball, and fell asleep for the night.
—
The next day, Twilight stayed in his wolf form, inclined to follow the scent of the Hero once they were closer to Faron. The Chain left Castle Town with the sun’s rise, and set off to the South east after renting some horses from the stable.
It took a day and a half, but the trees finally began to shift from forest to jungle. It was in full bloom, and the lush canopy covered the floor of the rainforest in shadow, protecting the group from the sunlight. Twilight finally detected a familiar scent, and jumped at it immediately, tail wagging as he followed it.
“I think he found something.” Wind said, dismounting his mare.
“Whoa, really, you think?” Legend quipped.
“Uh, yeah, I do.” Wind said.
“Will you two stop fighting ever?” Hyrule whispered.
“Nope.” The sailor and vet replied at the same time.
Twilight huffed, continuing down the trail. The scent was familiar, yes, but also entirely different, and as such Twilight had to focus on the scent more than he’d have to if he was tracking a different brother.
“Have you found him yet, Twi?” Wind asked after about an hour.
“Clearly not! Do you see anyone else besides us?” Legend shouted.
“Well I dunno, maybe he’s hiding!” Wind replied.
“I highly doubt that.” Four muttered.
“You guys don’t know him! We haven’t even met him yet!”
“Okay well considering he’s talked about like a fucking animal-” Legend started. Twilight paused, finding the scent to pick up and hearing a new heartbeat nearby.
“For Hylia’s sake, will you stop your bickering! I think he found something.” Time said.
“Yeah yeah, sorry Time.” Legend muttered.
The Chain stepped into a clearing and a sword was immediately against Time’s throat. The rest of the Chain drew their weapons, staring at the owner of the sword.
The rumors had not been embellishing.
The Zonaite in front of them had long pointy ears, but these ears were coated in gray fur and were full of various jewelry and piercings. Two green stag like antlers sat on his head, and golden locks flowed down their back and did not stop until about halfway down. He barely wore clothes, his ‘shirt’ looking more like a shawl or some sort of cropped rip shirt than an actually tunic, just two pieces of black embroidered fabric that wrapped around his shoulders and were connected by an odd sort of pendant that almost looked like a face if one turned their head just so. He wore pants, thankfully, and even wore a sort of belt that had a sheath for the sword which he was currently holding to Time’s neck. The arm he was holding the sword with was black with rusty rungs circling it, and it connected back to his body in an odd geometric pattern along his torso.
The Faroshi’s scaled tail flicked as he spoke in a foreign accent, “If you are here to pick a fight, you know will not win.” The words sounded foreign and odd coming from him. Not at all like the Cub Twilight knew all those years ago.
“No, no, no fighting.” Time said, raising his hands quickly in surrender and glaring at the rest of the Chain to do the same. They all sheathed their weapons with varying amounts of annoyance.
“Why are you here?” The Zonaite asked.
“We’re here on a quest.” Time started.
“Oh, perfect, a quest!” The Zonaite pulled his sword away from Time, but flung his hands up haphazardly with no regard for if the sword happened to poke someone’s eye out. Time had to flinch back to avoid losing his other half of vision. “And who gave you this quest?”
“...Hylia.” Sky said hesitantly.
The Faroshi glared at him before laughing. There was no humor to be found in it. “Great! What is this divine quest, pray tell? Slaughter my people? ‘Claim back your land’, as is your ‘divine right?’ What in Farosh’s name could this great mighty quest be?”
Twilight whined a bit at the Faroshi’s hostility, and he noticed the Zonaite looked at him for a moment. “Wolfie?” He asked.
That was all Wolfie needed to pounce on the cub. The Zonaite laughed a little, falling to the ground at the tackle. The Faroshi hissed and seemed to bite back a wince. “Haash í?” The Faroshi asked, and though the Wolf did not know the meaning he licked the Faroshi’s face in response. “Khéš haʼátʼíísh biniinaa?” He asked, tone sounding annoyed and bitter but also light hearted. The Wolf tilted his head, moving off of the Zonaite. He seemed to only take that to mean the Wolf didn’t understand the human words, even as he stood and dusted himself off.
“You two know each other?” Time asked.
“Yes. What is he doing with you of late?” The Faroshi asked, his tail flicking in annoyance.
“He’s our brother!” Wind replied, kneeling next to the Wolf and petting him.
“That is not how it works.” The Hero replied.
“Is too.” Wind argued. The Sailor didn’t seem afraid of the new Hero, despite the kid’s earlier hesitance. That was good; at least one other member of the Chain had warmed up to him.
“Hylians and animals are not kin.” The Zonaite replied. “You do not believe other creatures to be as intellectually superior as yoursuch. You do not believe animals to have souls.”
“What? That’s a load of bull, of course animals have souls!” Wind said with a small laugh.
“Everything has a soul.” Hyrule said softly. “Even the plants and the trees.”
The Faroshi looked at Hyrule. “Yes.” He agreed. “You are not a Zonai in disguise, are you? I do not recognize you.”
Hyrule laughed a little. “No, I’m not. Just a traveler, like my brothers.”
The Zonaite paused, looking at the Chain and counting them. “By blood?” He asked after a while.
“No, not by blood. By spirit though.” Sky replied.
“...Are you all quite sure you happen not Zonai? Perhaps the king has brainwashed you all.” The Faroshi said.
“Why do you think we’re not Hylian?” Time asked.
“...I suppose I was joking most.” The Zonaite whispered. “You do not share the values of traditional Hylians. You speak as though you are Faroshi. If switched to my native tongue I feel as though you would understand.”
“Hylian isn’t your Native tongue?” Warriors asked. “You speak very formally, like it is.”
The Faroshi glowered at that, his eyes darkening. It was then that the Wolf noticed one of his eyes was milky white rather than electric blue. “I do not wish to speak like it is my mother tongue. I speak formally due to its unfamiliarity. It is a harsh language spoken by evil Hylians. I only have kept it spoken as a necessarity.”
When the Wolf listened to the Zonaite speak, he could find small slip ups in grammar, but nothing that interfered greatly with the meaning. “Aren’t you a Hylian?” Four asked, before wincing at himself as though he hadn’t given himself permission to say that. That was nothing new with Four, though, it was something Twilight assumed was a nervous habit.
The Zonaite barked, “Barely.”
Warriors looked at the Faroshi, analyzing. “Well, you have two feet, and two arms, and two eyes and a mouth and a nose. I would say that at least makes you a Hyrulian.”
“I also hath antlers and ancient Zonai ears and a tail.” The Zonaite pointed out. “That makes me more savage than person in your people’s sight.”
“Twilight’s a person though.” Wind said, looking at the Wolf.
“That… is a wolf.” The Faroshi replied, looking at Twilight.
“Not always!” Wind replied. “Show ‘im, Wolfie!”
The Wolf growled briefly before shifting into his Hylian form. The Zonaite stared. “You are a changeling.” He whispered.
“Hm?” Twilight frowned.
“I thought I had imagined that. Child like imagination or whatnot. No one believed I whenst I told them.”
“Oh. Yes. Speaking of… What exactly… happened? Each time I saw you before, you were in Castle Town.”
“Yes, I suppose I was.” The Faroshi said softly. “It twas only a few months after your leaving that the ‘incident’ occurred. I had just come from the Lost Woods, and reports from the Deku tree claimed a great monster lay to the South. To acquire the sword I was after, I required to defeat this monster. Unfortunately, lynels are much quicker than they initially appear, and it immediately clobbered my arm off.” The rest of the Chain winced, but the Zonaite continued their story like he was discussing the weather, “The Faroshi found me, not the Hylians. They sewed a new arm to my lost one, an arm that supposedly came from an old chief. How it hast survived thus long I did not know. That aside, they healed me, and I was not inclined to leave them. They taught me their ways, treated me as a person rather than weapon. They are my family.
When I turned seventeen, the ceremony for adulthood commenced. During that, Farosh gave me this.” The Faroshi held up his hand to reveal a small glowing triangle. “She also passed along some other gifts, such as the non human features I possess as well as some magical components.” He continued.
“Is it true you can turn into a dragon?” Wind asked.
The Zonaite paused. “...No. Though it is a common missed conception. Magic is not associated with Hylians.”
“You have magic??” Hyrule asked, seeming a little excited at the prospect.
The Faroshi nodded. “Just some lightning and nature magic.” They replied.
“I have lightning magic too!” Hyrule replied.
“Hylians do not have magic. Except for the princess, though she has yet to unlock her powers from what I have heard.” The Faroshi whispered. “Hence why the king feels the need to invade these lands.”
“If she can’t unlock her powers there why do they think she’d be able to unlock them here?” Legend asked.
“The sacred spring. It’s how I ended up unlocking my own powers.” The Faroshi explained. “The Hylians seem to think it is their sacred spring though. Funny thing is, if the princess just asked, I would not be opposed to accompanying her to it, for what little is believed what would happen.”
“Hm. That is an issue.” Hyrule said. “My magic has always been innate.”
“As is mine.” The Faroshi said. “Of course, mine own is newer. It has only been mine for a year or two.” He paused. “I never did introduce myself, did I?” The others paused, then Time shook his head. “My Hylian name is Link. Chief of the Faroshi Zonai. I apologize for our unfortunate beginning meeting. I assumed you all to be standard Hylians.”
“No harm no foul, friend.” Time said. “I’m Time. This is Twilight, though it seems you two know each other already. Then we have Warriors, Four, Wind, Legend, Hyrule, and Sky.” Time pointed to each of them, and they waved.
“Those are some of the oddest names I hath heard prior.” Link whispered.
“It gets complicated if we use our given names.” Time explained.
“How so?” Link asked, his ear flicking as he listened to Time.
“We all have the same given name.” Four said.
“Is that why you call yourselves soul siblings? You all share a name?”
Twilight laughed a bit. “You actually aren’t far off.” He said. “We mean it more literally though. You know the legends of heroes, right?”
“I would hope so, considering the Deku tree ist convinced I am one.” Link replied.
“Well he isn’t wrong.” Twilight said. “We’re all heroes too, though. So our given names are all Link.”
“...That doesn’t cause discomfort or such amongst you?”
“It did, at first.” Time said. “But the Master Sword gives every hero a new name.”
“This?” Link asked, pulling the sword he’d pulled initially back out.
“Fi!” Sky said, rushing to it. Link growled, clutching the sword close to his chest.
“You’ll startle her.” Link said with a frown.
“She knows me.” Sky replied. “We were friends during my journey. If you give her to me, she can give you your title.” Link bit his lip, showing off a sharp canine as he did, before handing the sword to Sky and then touching the metal. The sword hummed and glowed, and the name Wild resonated with all of them.
“Hm. That’s actually what my Zonai name translates to.” Wild said softly.
“What’s your Zonai name?” Wind asked curiously.
“Rikunchigaru.” Wild said. “Most call me Riku though.”
“Do you like Riku or Wild better?”
“Well, Riku translates to ‘link’ or ‘connection’, so it would be odd forst me to go by a such name. Wild feels odd too though…” The Faroshi hummed, thinking. “Chigaru.” He decided finally.
“Chigaru.” Time repeated. “Very well.”
Chigaru paused. “Hyrule, correct?” They asked, looking at Hyrule, who nodded. “You wouldst not happen to have healing magic, would you?”
“I do! It’s actually my most practiced.” Hyrule said enthusiastically.
“Can you heal this?” Chigaru lifted one of the pieces of fabric on his top to show a large gash filled with a black goop. “There is another on my leg. The healers cannot seem to dispel them.”
“Ah. Yes, I can. Sit sit.” Hyrule said.
The Faroshi obliged, sitting against a tree and watching as Hyrule set to work, and the teen’s hand accidentally brushed through the other’s hair as he worked. “Sorry!” He said quickly.
“I do not mind.” Chigaru mumbled. “It does not hurt.”
“Well I know, but you seem the type to value your personal space.”
Wild laughed at that. “Quite the opposite.”
Wind approached the pair, eyeing Chigaru carefully. “Can I pet your ears?” Wind asked after some time.
“Wind, you can’t-” Legend started.
“Sure.” Chigaru said, tilting his head forward. Wind knelt by where Chigaru sat, running his fingers through the fur, and Chigaru’s tail began to wag. Wind laughed.
“They’re very fluffy.” The sailor commented. Hyrule brushed his own hand through the fur before setting back to work.
“They are.” He agreed.
Wind scratched behind Wild’s ear, and the Zonaite let out a long sigh that almost sounded like how Twilight did when he was pet in his wolf form. Twilight also approached Chigaru, scratching behind his other ear. The Cub let out a low toned grumble then, leaning into Twilight, who sat next to him. The cub’s head landed in Twiilght’s lap, and Twilight kept petting the cub. The Zonaite would hiss or wince occasionally as Hyrule worked, especially when he began to work on the wound on the leg, which was large and swollen and infected. “How have you not been limping this whole time??”
“‘s ádiní da.” Chigaru mumbled.
“Hylian please.” Hyrule said.
“‘m used to it…” Chigaru mumbled again, his tail thumping against the jungle floor as Twilight continued to pet him.
“How long have you had these??” Hyrule asked.
“Few moons…” The Cub replied.
Hyrule huffed as he worked. Once he finished, he took a step back, seemingly expecting Chigaru to rise. Chigaru didn’t, and instead the Cub stayed in Twilight’s lap, his eyes fluttering. “You can rest Cub, it’s okay.” Twilight said softly. The Cub’s eyes slid shut and he fell asleep almost immediately.
Twilight was wrong in his initial assessment. The rumors he had heard in the tavern had definitely embellished, and this was still his Cub.