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"Do you ever think about how weird it is that this is my first time getting to know you two but you already know me?" Rudder questions, crossing his arms behind his head as he leans back in his chair. "And then, like- I'll already know you guys the next time we see each other but you won't know me. Or each other."
"Yeah, it is kinda weird." Spear nods. Forest shrugs.
"I'm pretty used to wacky time stuff by now. 'Sides, there's no guarantee that we aren't gonna meet again at some point that's in all of our futures."
He hops up to sit on one of the stone railings lining the balcony they've claimed for their afternoon snack and lays down flat, dangling one leg off the outside edge.
Fuzz scratches at his neck, making an odd growling sound not entirely at home in a Hylian throat. Forge offers him more tea, which he accepts, shifting awkwardly in his seat as he takes it.
"What's wrong?" asks Painter. "Bugs?"
"Ah, no, it's just a...bad itch." Fuzz says, taking a sip of his tea. Feathers stares out at the landscape, nary a thought in his head as Clover sneaks a cookie off his plate.
With the buzzing of wings, Faerie alights on the railing and then slips down to the floor. Most of the group jolts; Forest, the only one in any vital danger from such a reaction, doesn't move a muscle.
"Have a good flight?" he asks, adjusting his head's position on the pillow of his forearm.
"Oh yes, quite lovely." Faerie replies. He takes Forest's empty place at the table and smoothly pours himself a cup of tea, snagging one of the soft biscuits as well.
"Really this place is quite nice. Thank you, Thistle."
The boy had handed him the sugar cubes.
Spear nods, gesturing out at the view. "You can see all the way to the ocean from here on a clear day."
"Such as today," smiles Faerie. "Your era is beautiful, Spear!"
Forest scoffs. "Only from a distance."
"You've only seen the kingdom at war," Spear reminds him, "you wouldn't have any idea how it looks under normal conditions."
"Aren't you going to ask him to come down?" Forge asks curiously, eyeing Forest's position on the railing. Spear shrugs.
"He's done it enough I'm not worried."
"And that's supposed to make us feel better?" questions Painter.
There's a loud clatter from the courtyard below; the ensuing burst of concerned questions drifts up to the balcony as well.
"Sir Link! Are you alright??"
"That was a nasty hit, can you move?"
"Oh goodness! Sir Link, that shield didn't hit you did it?"
Thistle frowns. "I thought you were Sir Link."
"I am." says Spear. "There just happens to be more than one."
Forest's teeth glint sharp in the sun as he grins.
Four years ago
"Get back here!"
Elowen cackles, ducking under the patrolman's grasping arms. He darts down the street, weaving between people and stalls. The patrolman's shouting fades behind him, blending into the background noise of the market.
There's an alcove up ahead he can hide in- Elowen slips around the corner, crouching behind a handful of stacked crates. The patrolman jogs past a minute later, panting heavily, and Elowen chuckles to himself, tinkling faintly in the shadows.
Someone clears their throat. Elowen's spirits plummet.
Ah, rot.
"Link, I know you're in there."
Elowen stays still except for his hand, sneaking towards his bag for his masks. If he can just reach the Stone Mask-
"Don't even think about it. Come on, Impa wants to talk to us."
More like beat them into the ground for four hours and call it training. Elowen scoffs. "Like I'd listen."
"Aha! I knew you were there!"
ROT!!
He bolts for the street but the Captain's arm whips out, colliding with his chest and knocking him down in a puff of dust. Elowen coughs, spitting dirt back onto the road as he sits up.
"Nice try, kid."
"Ughhh!" Elowen groans as he's hoisted onto his feet. "Do I have to?? I'm better than the knights, why do I have to go to extra battle classes? I've done more battles than any of them, especially that insufferable rotting twink and his stupid scarf!"
Captain shrugs, plucking a stray leaf out of Elowen's hair. "And that still disturbs me, but Impa's the one leading the army right now, I'm sure she just wants to give everyone the best possible chance of survival."
The castle courtyard is barren except for a small handful of knights and the annoying scarf boy. Captain raises his arm and waves.
Impa stalks in a few moments later, looking pissed. Instinctively, Elowen hides behind Captain's legs.
"Link!" Impa shouts.
"Yes!" call at least five separate people, all snapping to attention. Impa stops short, a split second of confusion passing over her face before she sighs.
"I meant Ash. At ease, the rest of you."
Elowen tugs at Captain's sleeve. "Who's Ash?"
The scarf boy detaches from the other soldiers and trips on a loose cobblestone, stumbling to catch the end of his stupidly long scarf under his foot and eat-
"That is not what happened!" Spear says, clamping a hand over Forest's mouth. He's immediately bitten, but doesn't take his hand away.
"Regardless- where's 'Ash' come from?" asks Painter. Spear shrugs.
"There were too many Links, we had to have nicknames. I used a spear with an ash shaft so that's what they called me."
"Couldn't they have just used your last name?" Fuzz asks. "You're a noble, so you've probably got one."
"What's a last name?" frowns Thistle.
"It's like how Forest's girlfriend is Malon Lon, or how the King in your time was Rhoam Hyrule."
"Rhoam Bosphoramus Hyrule," Thistle corrects. "Can't leave out the middle bit, people get annoyed at you."
"Okay, well Rhoam is his first name, Bosphoramus is the middle name and Hyrule is his last name. It says what family he's from."
"Oh. We don't really do that back home."
"Commoners usually don't have them unless two people share a first name," Fuzz explains. "But nobles care about who your parents are so you get a family name that says who you belong to."
Spear nods. "My family are guardsmen, but we're also minor nobility so we have a last name and a coat of arms. My name is Link Vinca, but there was another noble boy named Link Varian so I couldn't just be Link V."
Forest bites him again and he lets go.
"Man, Forest, you really didn't like Spear at first huh?" Feathers asks, having tuned back in at some point. Forest shakes his head and sits up on the railing.
"Nah. He was always up on his high horse about being the best of the soldiers, chosen to carry the power of the Master Sword into battle. Rotting annoying."
The group looks to Spear, who nods. "I had a lot of growth to do- I felt invincible, and our enemy used that arrogance to send dark versions of myself against me."
"He got better after that." admits Forest. "But it took ages to get there so I spent the first half of the war hating his guts."
He laughs and the half-glamoured streaks of color left stained into his skin shimmer into view for a moment. "Remember when you used to lecture me about children not belonging on battlefields?"
"Ugh, don't remind me." Spear looks mildly ill. "I was what, three years older than you?"
"Yep. And now I'm older than you were and you're eighty-nine."
Spear doesn't dignify that with an answer.