Chapter Text
No other soul had seen it. On a patrol, they’d been so far away. Monsters. An ambush. Another comrade brought down.
Blood staining the cobblestones. The spiked spearhead that had torn through muscle and flesh.
Then he had come back to himself kneeling on the ground, cradling a body that was no longer present. As if nothing had truly happened. No evidence of the monsters that had come upon them, not that monsters usually left any sign in the first place.
It would not be the first time Shell Shock had made him see his worst nightmares. But it felt so real, and looked so vivid. Even now, he expected his hands to be stained bright red, yet they held no evidence of the incident. The sounds still echoed in his head, real as they ever had been.
Maybe Warriors was growing crazy.
Because every time Warriors closed his eyes, he saw Hyrule’s death.
A gaping hole in his chest. Sinew clinging hopelessly to broken ribs. The death rattle Warriors could both hear and see as blood poured from his lips.
When he opened them again, he could not take his eyes off of Hyrule, standing among the others, his very life returned to him.
His body growing cold in Warriors’ arms.
Warriors’ mind just could not keep up: Grieve a loss. Celebrate the life. Let himself break down. Wear the mask of normality. He could not keep his thoughts straight.
The only one that made sense now was to watch Hyrule. And that, he did. With eyes open or eyes closed, Hyrule filled his vision.
It made for a very long afternoon.
- - -
There was no chance to speak to the Traveler alone. They got to the inn for the night, bought the largest room available, and offloaded their bags and heavy armor. Dinner was a quieter affair than normal. Even more so after a few drinks from a near-somber bar. Now, everyone but himself slept.
How could Warriors sleep? If just closing his eyes was enough for the visions (flashbacks?) to overtake him, how much worse would the nightmares be?
Answer: very much worse. And unless he wanted to wake up screaming and scaring the life out of the other Heroes, then sleep would not be happening.
So instead, he lay there and stared at the ceiling. He listened to the sound of everyone around him. Of Wind and Time snoring. Of specifically Hyrule breathing in the bedroll beside him.
Gasping breaths as torn lungs tried their hardest-
In the dark of the room, Warriors was able to make out everyone’s things from the huge ‘pile-o-belongings.’ He saw Twilight’s bag peaking out from the bottom. His own greaves tucked against the wall. Sky’s garish coin purse tossed haphazardly in the corner. And Hyrule’s pack sitting at the very top.
Warriors turned his gaze away. He would not be going through Hyrule’s things. He was raised better than that. All he really wanted to do was talk with Hyrule. Alone. Just to get the insane question off his chest. Out of his head. Make sure he wasn’t… hmm.
“I’m… sorry…”
But what if something in there could help him figure things out? Some kind of crazy potent fairy that could bring you back from the brink of death. Fairies tended to like the Traveler most, right?
Especially completely made-up ones that could miraculously stitch together a mortal wound as if it had never happened, right? And could teleport you back to camp in the blink of an eye, right? Making you leave the very companion who had stayed with you to your last breath… right?
“...but don’t tell… them.”
Then, without a second thought, Warriors was on his feet, snatching Hyrule’s bag and ducking into the hallway. Now to look for an empty room. A pantry maybe. A closet. Just somewhere to hide away for a moment.
Fate seemed to be at his side tonight. Directly across from their shared guest room sat a door labeled ‘storage room.’ It was unlocked. He closed it behind him. Then, he unbuckled the flap of the bag and turned it upside down.
Tears rolled down Hyrule’s face. He’d never seen him cry before.
He only realized the gravity of what he was doing after all of Hyrule’s items crashed onto the floor.
It was the last thing Warriors would see him do.
Better to ask forgiveness if he was wrong.
The items were nothing new. A lantern. A boomerang. Some stamina potions that thankfully didn’t break when they met the ground. Warriors dug through them anyway. It yielded nothing.
Nothing that could explain away a resurrection as he’d witnessed.
Warriors, now wracked with guilt, wondered if he had gone too far. Riffling through the Traveler’s thing like he was a common thug? “You’re paranoid.” He hissed at himself. Maybe he could say he’d just wanted to patch one of his trousers? Hylia knew that boy’s clothing always had at least three extra holes.
He picked up Hyrule’s bag, accepting the fact that he’d really made a mess of things. At the very least, he could try picking things back up. Only, the ‘empty’ bag had a little more weight to it than it had any right to. Was something still inside?
A quick peek revealed nothing. But a quick feel of the lining told a different story. A little hidden pocket. With a little package inside.
It appeared as nothing special. No bigger than the length of his hand, wrapped up in worn, waxed parchment, tied with a fraying length of cord. It was something that Hyrule had tried to keep hidden. Why?
Should he sing? Offer sweet words of nothing? Lie and say everything would be okay?
Wrapped inside the parcel was just a little doll. One that looked exactly like Hyrule. How strange. Warriors lifted it closer to his face, surprised by the intricacy of the stitching.
“-Captain? I thought I saw…”
Warriors shot to his feet. He was caught red-handed.
In the doorway, with clothes and hair rumpled and messy from sleep, Hyrule rubbed his eyes. “What are you doing? He asked sleepily.
“I um.” Any excuse died on his tongue. He turned slowly as if the extra time could truly prolong the fate of his guilt. “I just…” With a sigh, he raised his hands in surrender. “I’m sorry, Traveler.”
Hyrule opened his mouth to speak, but froze when he caught sight of the doll still in Warriors’ hand. His eyes widened; he seemed instantly awake. “W-why do you have that?”
“The doll?”
“Yes.” A hand reached out. Hyrule’s whole frame had tensed up. “Please give it back.”
Given any other situation, Warriors would have easily complied. He knew better than to pursue the game when ‘keep-away’ was doing more harm than fun. Yet something in Hyrule’s tone only gave him pause…
It lasted long enough that in the brief quiet, the sound of Hyrule’s death rattle echoed in his ears.
The body went still after releasing a final breath. Moss-colored eyes stared up at nothing.
Decision made, he pulled the doll closer to himself. “Why is it important? What is it?”
“It’s mine.”
Never once had Warriors seen his companion so possessive. “Can we please just talk first?”
“Captain. Give it.”
“No. Not until you answer my questions.” He commanded, his Captain voice coming out.
Hyrule then leapt for it, and Warriors barely pulled it high enough into the air in time. Whatever this thing was, or did, was not important to him. What was important was the fact that it was valued. It was leverage to get an explanation. He could not miss his chance.
“What happened today?”
For what it was worth, the Traveller looked truly confused. “What do you mean? Why have you been acting so weird this afternoon?” Hyrule shot back.
“You know. You have to know!”
“Well, I don't!” Hyrule cried out, throwing his hands in a defenseless way.
Surely Hyrule would not truly mess with him like this, would he? Did Warriors have to spell it out? “You died. I held you as you bled out! I deserve an explanation for that! I deserve to know how you went from cold and lifeless in my arms to suddenly upright and fine. You can’t just walk away and expect me to be fine, Hyrule. I know what I saw.” He hissed before he could catch himself. Stray tears burned their way down his cheeks. It wasn’t often he had the time to grieve. “Tell me I’m not crazy, please.”
The silence that followed was near-deafening. Hyrule didn’t meet his eyes. But there was no denial. No surprise.
“-don’t tell…”
Finally, the Traveler spoke. “It’s the doll. Somehow. I don’t know.” He rubbed his knuckles. “If I, well, die, it brings me back. As if nothing ever happened. Then it… disappears and I just have to find it again. It’s never hidden very far, even in everyone else’s times.”
Warriors felt relief. It had happened. Which was both painful and sobering. Hyrule had literally died then somehow came back. But he’d come back, and that was what truly mattered. “Why couldn’t you tell me?”
All he could do was shout and yell as his own frame shook, calling on any deity that would listen to please take him instead of one of the boys-
“I didn’t know, I swear! I mean, I know that I died once I come back. But I can never quite remember what happens before. I’m sorry. I don’t remember much of today between breakfast and then coming back.”
The doll in his hands seemed to grow heavier as he learned more about it. He hated what it stood for.
His hands trembled as he carefully drew the other’s eyes closed.
He slowly offered it back to Hyrule.
The teen gently accepted it.
“...How many times?” Warriors asked low.
“Twice. Since we met. The others don’t know. They can’t know.”
Warriors nodded. It was quite the burden of knowledge.
“It’s a curse as much as a blessing,” Hyrule continued. “I mean, it's the reason I'm still here. I just can’t stand to look at it knowing what it means… it works even from a distance, so that’s why I just keep it tucked away in my bag.”
Then he blinked. And any trace of Hyrule vanished. No body in his arms. No blood stuck to his clothes.
“I wish that I could just… I don’t know. Hate it a little less, I guess?”
A singular thought popped into Warriors’ head after that. He took a moment to mull over it. Well, he’d come this far, hadn’t he?
Warriors returned to camp, alone. Half-present, half-caught up in memories (in a nightmare?).
He saw Hyrule sat beside Wild, a mischievous grin on his face.
“I think… I know something that might help with that.”
- - -
All Time had been trying to do was let his absent boys know that they were missing breakfast. The owner let him know there were some kids in the storage room. It was easy to put two-and-two together. Though he hadn’t meant to walk in on… whatever this was.
Strewn about the room were dozens of fabric squares, no bigger than a few inches each, in a variety of shades. In a corner lay what looked like Hyrule’s bag with all the contents spilling out.
The two gremlins who had been giggling before he’d opened the door sat in the middle of the floor and had grown still upon his entering. Their eyes were wide. Both were dressed in their nightclothes.
A little doll that looked strangely like Hyrule sat in between them. Hyrule himself held what looked like a miniature cloth version of Time’s armor, while Warriors held a sewing needle and the face of regret.
“What are you doing?”
Hyrule pursed his lips. His cheeks burned red. He looked toward the Captain for an answer.
Warriors looked down at the doll and then back at him. “...Making outfits.” He said in a monotonous voice.
Time did not have a proper response. The two simply stared at him, seeming to not have a proper explanation.
At least a full minute passed in nothing but silence. He couldn’t take it anymore.
“Just don’t forget breakfast.”
Time left back to the mess hall. Maybe he needed to invest in a parenting book after all.