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Link always wondered about his eight soul marks.
He remembers when he was young when the final soul mark appeared one day, he was eleven when a red telescope with little white birds on it appeared, that later his grandmother said were seagulls.
That's when seven soul marks became eight.
And one of his soul mates had just been born.
Linkle had always teased him about it, always bringing up his soul marks and how there were so many of them. “How are you even gonna find all of them? They could all be scattered across the world, you know!”
He never really paid his sister any mind. He was sure they would find each other eventually. It was rare for one to go through life without meeting your soul mate, and the case of that happening was low.
So he just added the new mark to the list of nicknames he had come up with for his soul mates.
Birdie, for the red bird closest to his palm, its wings spread like it was soaring through the air, free like a bird. Link sometimes wondered if this soul mate was carefree based on their mark.
Rainbow, for the weird… Rupee? Coin? Thing..? He wasn't sure, it was a multi colored coin of sorts in green, blue, red, and violet. This one always struck him as odd. And sometimes it would even split apart, a soul mate's mark changing was unheard of, outside when a mark would turn grey when the soul mate had died.
Melody, for the blue ocarina Link always thought this soul mate was a musician of sorts, so Melody fit for a nickname, it brought a comforting aura to it.
Pup, right below Melody was a brown dog or Puppy if you will, or it was… He still remembered the day when it turned from a cute puppy to a fearsome grey wolf with black markings on its head. He remembered panicking for a moment when he realized it was grey, in fear that Pup had died. But no, their eyes were still a piercing blue.
Bun, it was Bunny, a pink bunny to be exact, he heard rabbits were always a sign of good luck, but never had he heard or seen a pink bunny. Maybe pink was their favorite color? Maybe they had pink hair or eyes? Link didn't know, he had hoped to ask one day when they had finally met.
Dust. The green fairy under Bun's mark, green was a color Link wasn't sure he saw on a fairy before, they were always pink or blue. Dusts mark left little fairy dust behinds their wings, so Dust stuck as a nickname.
Bow, the one that concerned him the most, it was a bow and arrow fully drawn, with the arrow having a weird blue almost mechanical? Tip at the end. The background of the Mark was a crimson red. Like blood. He didn't know what that meant but he didn't like it. His fear only grew when he was 17, when the mark suddenly turned a deathly grey. Link panicked, wondering what to do, what could he do??? One of his soul mates was dead before he could even meet them!!! He had paced the halls of the knights training area, before a friend pulled him aside and told him to eat. Much to his relief the mark had somehow gained color again but it was different, the red background was gone and in its place was a deep blue, like water. He vowed that day he would give Bow a lecture of a lifetime for scaring him like that, he could only hope his fellow soul mates felt the same way…
And finally Little Seagull, the newest and most likely the youngest of the group, based on what his knowledge was about soul marks, sometimes new ones appeared when your soul mate had been born. This mostly showed up on babies and sometimes even kids, but very rarely on older teens/adults. Link had wondered where this one had lived, most likely near the sea based on the seagulls on his mark. He only hoped that wouldn't make it harder to find them.
~◇~
Link was 19 when the war started.
The castle was under attack and without much thought he grabbed a sword and shield and leapt out into the battle to fight.
He was just a soldier in training, sure but he was doing pretty well all things considered.
Well until he got to one keep, and met Volga.
He remembers the searing pain of fire licking his skin as he tried to block one of his attacks only to be knocked back, his field of vision going blurry.
He caught sight of his left arm.
His soul marks…
The burns covered most of them, almost all of them covered in angry red burns, the only ones spared were Birdie and Raindows, and Rainbow wasn't even fully spared, the bottom half of the weird coin was gone.
He could feel the panic rise in his stomach.
He didn't have much time before he was being attacked again, he had to act.
Steeling himself he rose and a bright yellow light blinded his vision again.
~◇~
Unfortunately, by the time he got treated for his wounds it was already too late for the Soul marks to be saved.
Instead he now had an ugly burn scar covering his entire left arm and hand.
He hated it.
He knew it didn't matter in the long run, it didn't affect the connection Link had with his soul mates.
But he couldn't keep an eye on most of them…
If one of his soul mates below Birdie and Rainbow were to die, or even change again, he wouldn't know! What if Bow almost dies again? What if they do die!? And if any of them did he wouldn't know! He would just be searching for someone who might just be dead!
That, and the triforce mark on his hand now didn't help.
He was the chosen Hero of courage.
He didn't know if he should be proud of that or scared.
~◇~
One would think Link would be done with any sort of magic portals after the war. And one would be right, if there hadn't been a glaring problem with monsters in Hyrule again coming from the said portal.
Plus there had been some sort of pull that Link had felt coming from it. Like he had to find out what was on the other side of that portal.
So, he stepped through the violet portal.
The feeling was nauseating, like he was being pushed and pulled in different directions in time and space.
He stepped out the other side with a muffled curse. After getting his bearings he looked around.
He was in a forest of sorts, it didn't look out of the ordinary, just a peaceful forest.
He walked for a bit, trying to figure out where he was. Link was sure he was somewhere else completely, maybe even in a different time, he wouldn't doubt it. Given his past experiences with the war.
He heard a twig snap and he turned around hand on his sword, ready to attack.
He was met with two other hyilans, the first one was small, his blonde hair coming to his shoulder while wearing a multi colored tunic of Green, Blue, Red, and Violet, strange.The other one with dirty blonde hair wearing a green tunic like his with a white cape over his shoulders. He pulled out a very familiar blade, one moment the Master sword was in the strangers (?) Hand, the next bright blue flames erupted from the handle and the man flinched back, dropping it.
“Ah!- Fi!? Whats-” The stranger looked up at Link, confusion on his face before realization. Link held his sword out towards the new faces, the short one had his own out, Link had to admit it was an odd sword that one had.
The one who had the Master sword raised his hands up. “Hey- let's just take a second to calm down here. I'm sure there's a reason for this. What's your name?” The tall one asks.
Link lowers his own sword, as does the short one before he answers. “Link, what about you two?” He watches as both of the men's expressions turn to surprise as they look at each other, a smile on the shorter one's face.
“We're named Link too, we came from our homes from a portal, I'm assuming you did too?” The short one asked. Now that Link thought of it, he felt a strange tug toward these two, it could have been a coincidence, but the short one had four colors exactly like one of his soul marks. Could it be possible…?
The taller one leaned over to the shorter one his voice hushed. “Smithy, don't you think he looks like the mark with a sword right..? The scarf he has even matches it..” Smithy? Look at Link before nodding.
“What are you two talking about?” Link asks he sheathed his sword before the tall one pointed at his left arm.
“Do you possibly have eight soul mates..?” He asked carefully, Link froze, he was spot on.
“...I did.. or I still do..” he answered, he did once upon a time, but ever since that first fight with Volga his arm had been scarred.
The short one grinned before pulling down the sleeve of his left arm and Link felt his breath before being taken away.
Eight soul marks, just like the ones he had… Link stepped forward getting a closer look. Everyone was there, aside from-
Rainbow.
“Holy shit, Rainbow!?” Link couldn't help but shout, the taller one, his other soul mate? Snorted before laughing, Rainbow just grinned at him.
“Nice to finally meet you Sword, never thought it would be like this though.” Rainbow said, Link turned to look at the taller one with a questioning look. The taller one sighed and pulled down his own sleeve and yep, there it is.
Almost the same as Rainbows arm however there was no weird red bird at the top, he caught sight of his own soul mark and felt a shiver run down his spine, his was a silver sword with a royal blue scarf wrapping around it. Much like the one he wore right now.
Link was speechless, these were his soul mates or at least two of them, were there the others somewhere nearby? We're they also heroes? Why did they have the same name?
Linked stepped back and dragged a hand through his hair and he smiled at them. Before pulling his own sleeve back, showing the nasty burn scar and the two surviving soul marks.“Sadly, I don't think I have much to show you two.. I was caught in an accident with fire as you can see here a few years back..” He saw as their faces dropped and they looked at his arm, no doubt that was their soul marks near the top of his palm, but the rest were gone, replaced with red, bumpy scars in their place.
Birdie gave him a sad smile and patted him on the back. “That doesn't matter, you're still one of our soul mates.” Link smiled and thanked him.
He finally found two of his soul mates.
~◇~
Well, they found the rest of their soul group, turns out they were all named Link and Heroes of the past, and they had almost found everyone.
Almost.
Little Seagull had yet to be found to be honest they were being a pain to find.
Just where the hell were they!?
It didn't help that they were all scattered across time.
Link, Warriors, as he went by now, sometimes Sword or Blue. Had gotten to his soul mates, and was able to put faces to the marks.
Birdie, or Sky, was a kind soul, turns out he was also a knight. Just as Warriors once thought, Sky had a carefree nature. He also slept like the dead a lot, which also earned him the name bird brain. He also explained his mark a bit more, the red bird, is what he called Loftwings, who were like the other half of one's soul. Sky said that he had a red one named Crimson and said he was pleasantly surprised to learn his soul mark wasn't of that of a Loftwing.
Rainbow, or Four/ Smithy was a blacksmith, why was his soul mark not also a sword? Wars didn't know. Maybe it had to do with the fact the mark split into four. Also turns out Rainbow was not a kid as Warriors thought he was at first. Smith said that his soul mark was a kinstone, whatever that was, when Warriors asked why his mark split apart into four pieces, Four just smiled at him and told him he would tell him later.
They had found Melody with Pup. Melody or Time as they also named him was the oldest out of all of them, but also the most cryptic. He swears, stubborn old man. Pretty much the whole group had put him in the position of the leader. But he also had a childlike side to him. He was also right about Time could play all sorts of songs on the blue ocarina of his, it was quite soothing to listen to.
Pup was actually around his age, and definitely came from the country. Twilight was often keeping an eye on the younger ones of the group, and they often made plans with Melody. They also bantered and teased each other clearly trying to get a reaction. He would also joke with Twilight with dog puns, because of his mark, and even sometimes mockingly call him Puppy. Pup would always give him an unimpressed look before moving on with something else. Wars thought he was missing something.
Bun was not what Warriors expected. They found both of them and Dust together fighting off a group of monsters. Instead of the soft hearted person Wars imagined he was snarky and a bit of an asshole. But it was clear he wasn't just that at first. Despite Legend trying to convince them he was a cold person he actually had a soft bunny heart. He also had a bit of pink hair beside his ear and Wars teased him for it. He and Dust had a habit of always dragging Warriors into trouble.
Dust was a sweet kid, and also insanely good with magic, despite Warriors himself never really wielding any sort of magic, he could tell the kid had some sort of fay blood in him. That would explain his impressive control over his magic, he had traveled and gotten to know Proxi for long enough that he could tell the signs. The kid was also on edge when he and Bun joined the group, but quickly warmed up after a few days.
Bow was…. Well wild. Literally. He was a chaotic force to be reckoned with and almost shot Warriors in the shoulder upon first meeting. Scars littered the teens body and Wars wanted to rain hell on whoever did that to his soul brother, he and Twilight both. Warriors was glad that he wasn't dead. The group had given the Champion a scolding each, and told him about the heart attacks he gave the group. But everyone just seemed happy that Wild was alright.
Now.. They were hopping between eras looking for their 9th.
Seagull.
And for some reason they were being a pain to find.
Joy.
It had been ten portal hops since they found Wild and they still had yet to find and meet Seagull.
Everyone pretty much called them Seagull other than Bun, who called them Scope, of all things.
That until they landed in an era with a great ocean.
Blue waves as far as the eye could see, islands in the distance and seagulls flying and singing in the air.
Seagull had to be here.
They managed to get a ride on a boat and they sailed off to one of the smaller islands, called Outset.
The day went on without much fuss, aside from Bun's grumbling and general sour mood. But Dust seemed to keep him company, soon enough they docked on the small but cozy island of Outset.
People were already gossiping about the sudden arrival of eight men, whispering about soul marks and a kid named Link.
Hmm.
As the group were getting off and settled, some recovering from sea sickness, Wars looked around, some villagers stared and kids pointed at them, so the normal. But there was one thing that caught Warriors eye.
A teenager, dressed in a blue tunic with a white lobster on the front, with wavy blonde hair and green eyes.
Warriors immediately felt a familiar sort of tug towards the boy and started walking towards him. The boy grinned as his right hand rubbed a spot under his sleeve.
He knelt down in front of him and held out his hand, his shoulders were tense, what if this wasn't Seagull? What if this was just some random kid and their final soul mate was still out there, waiting to be found? His breath stilled as the kid offered his arm and pulled his sleeve up.
Eight soul marks.
Instantly he felt himself relax a smile taking place on his face as he traced each mark until he got to his.
A shiver went down his spine, even with seeing his own mark on the others it always sent a shiver through his body. He looked up at the boy.
“There you are, Little Seagull. We've been searching everywhere for you.”
~◇~
After a small talk, Warriors stood back up putting a hand on Seagulls back, before facing the group, who had long stopped and were looking at them by now.
“I found them! They were hiding here the whole time!” Warriors announced to the group. Everyone immediately grinned and made their way over to meet their last soul mate.
The kid quickly became the center of attention, with Rainbow shouting. “There you are! About time!” Seagull grinned running over himself jumping for joy, “Hi! Nice to finally meet you all! Where have you all been!?
Melody stood in front of Seagull, before putting a hand on his shoulder and smiling. “We've been searching for weeks. Glad to finally meet you Seagull.”
Bun looked over Seagull and hummed, “I thought you'd be smaller, guess I was wrong.” That earned Veteran a scoff and a shove on the shoulder. Birdie smiled, opening his arms to Seagull, he grinned and hugged Sky tightly, practically shaking with excitement.
“Oh, we finally found you! I can't tell you how much we've been searching for you.” Seagull pulled back with a confused look, Time shook his head. “We'll explain when we settle down.”
Seagull got Sky to show him his soul marks and got to see his own soul mark. “Woah. That's why you guys are calling me Seagull!? My actual name is-”
“Link?” Eight different voices answered and Seagull looked shocked, Twilight patted his back. “Same here kid, same here.”
“Wait… YOU'RE ALL NAMED LINK!?”
The kid looked stunned, Warriors and a few others couldn't help but laugh.
This was going to be a long discussion.
~◇~
Bonus:
“Okay… Okay.. So you're Flicker, and he's Feathers, and that makes you Bow?” Wind pointed to Wild.
Wild grinned and nodded “Yep! That's me!”
Wind then got a look on his face before giving Wild a hard punch on the arm, the cook let out a yelp.
“What was that for!?” The Champion yelled holding the place he got punched.
“For scaring the shit outta me! Your mark went gray for hours! I thought you were dead!” Wind shouted back, “That's payback for making me go through that!”
Wild looked to the others for help only to be met with glares and other knowing looks. “I- come on guys! I didn't even remember it! Well- I do now… But still! It wasn't my fault!!!”
Twilight gave his successor a pat on the back, “We know, Champ, you just scared us, that's all.”
“Some of the worst hours of my life…” Sailor grumbled, Hyrule just wrapped an arm around him. “Look what's important is that we found each other! Now we can focus on the task at hand.”
Everyone agreed with Traveler. What mattered was that they were together and safe.
That's what mattered.