Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It’s their fifth day in the wilderness when Wind declares they’re doomed.

“We’re gonna die in this Hyrule!” He whines, falling to his knees as he throws his head back and screams at the thick ceiling of trees above their heads. “The Heroes of Courage! Defeated for lack of civilization and in the middle of fucking nowhere!”

“Wind!” Sky scolds next to him, hands on his hips. 

“Gimme a break! I’m on my ground-death, Sky!”

Time sighs heavily behind them, pausing once more his steps to turn back and see the rest of the group. The others follow his lead wordlessly, Warriors being the unspoken chosen one to step in and pull Wind off the ground by the arm.

“You’re exaggerating.” The captain tells their youngest, reaching out to ruffle Wind’s hair and looking unfazed when his hand is slapped away by the grumpy teen. “Come on, where’s your sense of adventure, Sailor?”

“Back where I left the last fucks I had to give: at the bottom of the river we were spat out days ago.” Wind replies, ignoring Sky’s exasperated ‘Wind’ along with Time’s own warning glare.

“Same,” Legend says dryly from the side.

Wind jumps at the validation. “See! I’m not the only one!”

“It is odd that we haven’t seen any form of civilization since we arrived in this Hyrule.” Four pipes in from Time’s right. He tilts his head to catch the sight of their smallest hero, propped on a boulder. “I mean; there’s life, clearly, because of the wildlife we have seen so far, but hylians? Or any of the other races that vary from Hyrule to Hyrule? Nothing .”

“I’ve got to agree that it feels like we have been just roaming around aimlessly.” Sky supports with a small wince, rubbing the back of his head as he looks around the woods around them. “We haven’t seen a single dirt path in the five days we’ve been walking.”

“Are we even sure we’re in a Hyrule?” Wind huffs, arms crossed over his chest.

Sky nods. “There’s no doubt about that. Fi confirmed it as soon as we arrived.”

"Well, I can confidently say that this Hyrule is a goddess damm nightmare." Legend deadpans, angrily crossing his arms over his chest as he leans against a tree.

“It’s not so bad, I actually like it.” Hyrule speaks up animatedly. Time arches an eyebrow to where the traveler is crouched next to a small puddle and shares a grimace with half of the group when Hyrule turns to face them, a brown and yellow frog held between his hands. “Also, I found this little guy.”

“Heh, cool.” Wind snickers, grumpiness set to the side in favor of taking a closer look at the frog, his grin growing wider when the frog croaks at him. 

Legend follows Wind’s lead with narrowed eyes instead, giving Hyrule a suspicious look from the side as he eyes him and the frog in his hands carefully.

“Right?” Hyrule grins, clearly excited and proud, and something on his expression seems to click for Legend.

“Oh, no, no. I see you.” Legend hisses, scrunching his nose in disgust when Hyrule turns to him with frog and all, eyes wide and looking genuinely confused. “Drop it. Now.”

“What? Why? It’s our dinner!” Hyrule argues, his intentions finally in the open, and he startles so badly at their joint cries out of ‘No!’ that he loses his grip, ultimately dropping the frog. “Aw, look what you guys made me do!”

“Sorry not sorry. I’ll just stick to my dry rations, thanks.” Four shudders, a small grimace on his face as he watches the frog leap back to its puddle.

“I believe none of us are there just yet, soldier.” Warriors tells him, offering the traveler a pat on the back.

“What are we going to eat though?” Wind whines. “I’m starving.”

“Grab an apple.” Legend tells him flatly.

“I’m sick of apples! It’s basically all we have been eating for days!”

Legend shrugs. “Food is food.”

“Oh, so now food is food?” Hyrule cuts in, annoyed, and crosses his arms as he glares at Legend.

The vet spares him a roll of eyes. “No offense, Roolie, but you kind of have bad taste buds.”

Hyrule gasps. “Full offense!”

The entire group goes off after that and Time allows himself ten seconds to rub the bridge of his nose, praying to his wife for patience, before he whistles sharply to get the chain's attention. 

“Alright, all of your complaints and commentary have been heard. We’ll settle camp here and brainstorm for a new plan of action together over dinner —”

Hyrule opens his mouth, finger already pointing at a new puddle a few feet from them where Time can hear some frogs croak.

“That will not be frog related in the least.” Time deadpans. Hyrule lowers his hands with a pout. “We set camp here; so claim a task for yourselves and get to it. The sooner we settle, the sooner we can plan our next move.”

They spread their tasks with little to no objections and soon enough everyone is on their own assignment, either chatting — like Four and Sky — or complaining — like Legend and Wind — to the nearest companion they had.

Time is in the middle of his own task when his name is called. He turns, catching his protege’s walking towards him with a look that is already giving Time a headache.

“Let me scout ahead,” he says and there it is: the headache. Twilight is quick to continue when his gaze goes flat. “I won’t go far, I promise. You and I both know it will be a great advantage for us if I’m able to shift and get a better look around here. Get our bearings straight.”

“We’ve been over this, Pup.” Time sighs, keeping his voice leveled as he looks at his protege. “We don’t know what’s out there. Just like we haven’t seen any signs of civilization, we haven't encountered any monsters. Generic or infected. We don’t even know the different types that might lurk around this Hyrule.”

“I’ll be careful, Time.” Twilight promises, shoulders and jaw set in determination. 

“I can come with you.” Time offers but Twilight only furrows his eyebrows and shakes his head.

“I won’t get a wide range of the terrain if you come and you know it.” Twilight argues, an odd look crossing over his face as he stares at the neverending woods on his right before he turns back to Time. “Come on, just trust me. I won’t be long, I promise.”

Sometimes Time wonders if this entire quest is just a trial for him to practice on how to be a parent before he’s, eventually, due.

Or if it is just Hylia’s horrible humor telling him to not even try.

“If you die, you drag your own transparent ghost-ass back to the ranch and explain to Malon yourself what happened.” Time tells him sternly, narrowing his eyes when Twilight beams. “One hour, Pup.”

Twilight purses his lips. “Two.”

Time’s eye turns into a slit. “Half an hour.”

“Three.”

“Ten minutes.”

“Three and a half hours.”

“Goddesses, Rancher! Do you even know how to negotiate?” Legend shouts, making them both turn. Half of their group is quick to divert their eyes — Sky, Hyrule, Four — while the other half just keep on staring, looking entertained — Legend, Warriors, Wind. “Just let him go already, Old Man!”

Time rolls his eye, sighing heavily through his mouth before waves Twilight off with a “One hour and a half.”

Twilight only grins, throws him a two-finger salute while ignoring the ‘I call dibs on Twilight’s bedroll if he dies’ from Wind, along with the argument that follows, and off he goes.

It takes the rest of them relatively a short amount of time after Twilight’s departure to get the camp settled and it’s not long before Time finds himself sitting on the ground near the campfire with the rest of his companions.

Now, all that remains is to decide who will be the chosen cook for tonight.

Ten minutes later, Time’s barely able to bite down the amused grin that threatens to break through his lips as he steps out victorious from his battle.

“I should have gone with tic-tac-toe.” He hears the vet grumble under his breath as he glares at his own thumb in betrayal.

“Better luck next time, Vet.” Time pats him on the back with a chuckle before he turns to the rest of the competitions, eyes resting on the still on-going thumb-war between Sky and Warriors. 

The captain seems to be two tries away from being the winner when the sound of footsteps sets them all on edge at the same time.

Time’s shoulders tense as he straightens his back, catching from the corner of his eyes as his fellow heroes do the same. Instead, they listen; the footsteps are light and short enough to be an animal but firm enough to be considered hylian.

They all share a look with each other, wordlessly considering the idea of investigating the sound before it could vanish. It’s the first thing close to hylian they have heard in days but their paranoia from the lack of civilization has them hesitating.

In the end, the decision is taken from their hands when the footsteps abruptly turn into a run, heading their way.

Time’s jaw sets tightly as he unsheathes his sword, the sound of his companions doing the same making him tighten the hold around the grip before raising his sword high.

It’s fairly anticlimactic when the shape of a young hylian pops out of the bushes, mumbling curses to himself while hopping on a leg as he tries to untangle some of twigs and leaves that had stuck on their long hair.

“Oh, so you are hylians!” He cheers when he finally spots them, looking oddly unaffected by the several sharp swords still aimed his way. The stranger grins, pleased, as he puts his hands on his hips and he tilts his head at them. “Wasn’t sure for a second there, since I didn't expect to see anyone in these parts. Are you here looking for the treasure too?”

From the corner of his eye, Time sees Wind perk up.

“Did you say treasure?” He asks, his jaw dropping low along with his sword when the stranger nods.

“Uh, no. No, we’re not.” Warriors cuts in, pulling Wind back by the back of his tunic to keep him in place before he slowly sheaths his sword. The others follow suit, Time included. “We’re just — passing by. Exploring.”

Wind squawks loudly next to him, shoving Warriors hard on the side with his elbow and clicking his tongue in annoyance when the captain barely feels it through the chainmail. 

“ As if! Talk for Hyrule-self — !”

“Wha — you mean me?” Hyrule frowns, displeased. “Why are you dragging me?”

Wind, naturally, ignores him. “We're not exploring. What we are is fucking lost! Forsaken and doomed and completely lost!”

“Here we go again.” Four mumbles under his breath, exasperated, and Time can’t help but share the sentiment.

“Oh, I can help you out with that,” their visitor says with a kind smile before he pauses and furrows his eyebrows slightly. “Before that, though, quick question: What do you think of bananas?”

Time’s got to admit, it’s not the oddest question he has heard in his life, but it’s still an odd one. And while the others seem to share his thoughts, they look to be bored enough to answer instead of questioning the purpose of the question itself.

“Not a fan of it.” Legend deadpans.

“Feels weird on my mouth but they are better than starving, I guess.” Hyrule shrugs, smacking his mouth open a few times as if he had just tasted one.

“Best weapon of choice to throw at your sister when she’s being annoying and not get scolded for it because you can just say you were giving her a snack!” Wind shouts in one breath.

Warrior scowls with disgust. “Bad experience once. Never again.” 

“Their peeling method is one of the easiest ways to open a fruit but it’s also the dumbest because as soon as you peel a little lower than half, the damn thing falls off at the slightest move!” Four spats angrily, smacking the back of his hand against his palm as demonstration. “It’s ridiculous!”

“What’s a banana?” Sky asks quietly to Warriors, tilting his head in bemusement when the captain puts a hand over his mouth and waves the question off.

“I prefer apples.” Time offers dryly with a shrug.

The stranger looks every single bit delighted by their answers.

"Cool. Second question: Is anyone hungry?"

Several hands are raised.

“So it’s not magic.” Legend concludes at the end of their guest’s explanation while holding said guest’s odd square shaped item between his hands. “It’s ‘technology’ .”

“All the sheikahs I know have said so.” Their impromptu cook says with a shrug from his spot next to the pot he had taken out from said ‘nonmagic’ item. “I stopped fighting them on it after a while. It’s their stuff and I use it for free, so who am I to define it?”

“I still call bullshit, though.” Legend clicks his tongue, giving back the square — Slate, they called it? Yeah, slate — to its rightful owner.

“Oh, one hundred percent.” Their cook grins crookedly. “You’re welcome to fight Purah on it. She’s in Hateno, in a lab that’s on top of the hill. Ask around if you lot pass by but I’m sure you won’t miss it.”

“I'll keep that in mind.” Legend hums, tapping the edge of his chin in legitimate consideration.

“Hey, not to imply that this magic or technology talk isn’t interesting or anything.” Warriors speaks up, looking over their guest’s shoulder to take a peek of the food on the pot, before arching one eyebrow. “But I’m more curious about your name.”

The rest of the group perk up at the words, their curiosity sparking almost at the same time now that the topic has been brought forward. Even Time feels himself leaning closer, elbows on his thighs as he waits for an answer.

For his part, their cook for the night just blinks in surprise before he grins and says, “Oh, sure. You can call me Champ. Many do.”

Sky hums from his seat on the log, dropping his chin on his hand as he leans forward. “Is that short for something?”

The cook shrugs. “Champion, I guess.”

Legend snorts, arms crossed as he sits on the ground and leans against the log Sky sits on. 

“Humble. What mighty beast did you slay to get that name?”

Champ half turns to meet Legend’s unwavering gaze with a stare of his own, voice playful and yet ominous as he says, “Wouldn’t you like to know?” 

“I do! I definitely do!” Wind shouts, waving his hand to catch Champ’s attention. “Is that how you got those scars on the left side of your face?”

Time sighs heavily through his mouth as several voices shout “ Wind! ” with different levels of shock.

“Oh, it’s alright. I get that a lot from the kids from my town.” Champ reassures them with a chuckle, throwing an understanding smile at Wind. “They are not but they do make me look rather heroic, don’t they? The kids can’t resist them. They actually ask me regularly if I’ve gotten a new scar whenever I come back from one of my journeys.”

“You travel a lot?” Four asks, pausing his assigned task of peeling the carrots given to him. He arches an eyebrow when Champ nods eagerly. “How do you not get lost? This land feels so massive .”

Next to Four, Hyrule nods in support and reaches for the mostly peeled carrot in the smaller teen’s hand.

“We’ve been walking for days and all we’ve seen are these woods.” He explains as he cuts the vegetable in chunky pieces before he adds it to the bowl of minced vegetables next to him. “You’re the first hylian we have seen, actually.”

Champ furrows his eyebrows at the information, looking confused for a second before his eyes widen and a small ‘ah’ leaves his mouth.

“You guys aren’t from around here, are you?” He asks slowly, a small concerned frown on his lips when all of them shake their heads. “No wonder why — Wind, was it? — said you were doomed. You were a little doomed.”

“Ah-hah!” Wind shouts out proudly, jumping off his seat and raising a hand up in victory before he blinks and lowers it in bemusement. “Wait,  really?”

Legend scoffs next to him, rolling his eyes as he takes a hold of Wind’s tunic and pulls him back down roughly.

“Is there a specific reason why you say that?” Time asks urgently, sparing a glance around to see any signs of his protege and only growing more anxious when nothing comes. “One of our own left a little over half an hour ago. Could he be in trouble?”

“Oh, no, no.” Champs reassures quickly, confidently, before he pauses and grimaces. “Well, depends: does your friend have a good sense of direction?”

“Almost annoyingly so, yeah.” Warriors huffs.

Champ hums, looking thoughtful. “Which direction did he go?”

Time points to the direction Twilight had gone and immediately relaxes with relief when Champ's expression relaxes.

“He should be fine.” He declares before he goes back to his cooking, throwing all of the vegetables Hyrule had minced into the pot. “These woods are too dense and thick compared to the ones near towns, which is one of the reasons why not many venture through. Not even monsters dare to come here.”

“Not even monsters ?” Wind gapes, practically beaming with curiosity. “ Why? ”

“Well, for one, local folks believe that these woods are cursed,” Champs says with a shrug, sparing a quick glance around them. “An old ancient tribe used to live here. They were called the Zonai.”

He pauses and throws them a look. “Have you seen some ruins the past few days? Some resembling the image of a dragon?” At their collective nod, Champ continues. “Those are the last of the remains. Of their entire existence, really.”

“What happened to them?” Sky asks quietly.

Champ hums with a thoughtful grimace. “No one really knows. Legend says they just vanished one night.” 

“ You said that?” Wind teases in a low voice, poking at Legend’s ribs with a finger as he muffles his snickers with his other hand. Legend spares him a flat look before he smacks Wind’s forehead with the heel of his hand. “ Ow, hey! ”

Champ snorts but clears his throat when Wind sends him the stinky eye. “Trust me, your friend will be fine.” He reassures them firmly, waving Wind over and passing him the duty of stirring the soup as a peace offering. “If he went straight, it shouldn’t take him long to find the path that leads to the stables. It’s hard to miss it once you follow the path.”

The entire group relaxes almost in synchrony and while Champ looks amused by it, he keeps his thoughts to himself. 

“I can guide you all to the stables once your friend is back, if you want?”

Time shares a quick look with the group. Most seem okay with the idea, with only Warriors and Legend looking skeptical and Sky just looking thoughtful.

“Thank you for the offer but I think we’ll be able to find our own way now.” Time replies in the end, offering a small but genuine smile. “We’ve taken so much of your time already and, while we appreciate your help greatly, we don’t want to take advantage of you.”

“It wouldn’t be an issue for me, truly, but I respect your decision.” Champ nods, offering a grin that tells them there are no hard feelings. “Then I guess this is where we part ways.”

“What? You’re leaving? So soon?” Wind gasps as he looks up from the pot, looking genuinely disappointed.

Champ’s smiles softens. “I am, yeah. The soup is about ready and the sun is about to set. That treasure isn’t gonna find itself, you know, and my partner gets restless when I take too long on these kinds of hunts.”

Time chuckles. “They worry for you. I believe that’s natural.”

Champ snorts as he stands up and starts stretching his limbs.

“I mean, yeah, but it’s mainly because she’s missing out on all the fun. She usually joins me but she’s healing from a broken ankle back at home right now.” He chuckles and sighs pleased once he cracks his neck just right. “That’s what she gets, though, for ignoring my tips when she tried to shield-surf for the first time.”

Wind’s eyes seem to spark at the words. “What’s — ?”

“Don’t.” Legend cuts in, throwing Wind a look that makes their youngest flatter with an angry pout.

Champ laughs with sympathy, reaching out to ruffle Wind’s hair before he says, “Maybe I can show you next time? If you guys stick around long enough for us to cross paths again, of course.

“Anyway.” Champ continues before any of them could reply. “I’m off. You can keep the pot, by the way, or just leave it here. I have a bunch of them in storage and it’s kind of a local tradition to leave one behind for the next traveler to come.”

“This Hyrule is so weird.” Wind mumbles not so quietly to Four, who facepalms with a flush when all of their eyes fall on them. Champion's included.

Though, he looks more proud than offended by the comment.

“Oh, you have no idea, Wind.” He cackles before he bids them farewell with a quick two-fingers salute and disappears right from where he had come from. 

"Alright, real talk.” Legend speaks up as soon as Champion is out of their sight and ears. “Hands up if you agree this forest really is cursed."

Several hands are raised.

"Hands up if you believe we just encountered a ghost."

The same amount of hands stay up.

"Hands up if said fact will stop you from eating the ghost's soup."

All the hands are lowered.

"Atta, my men. Four, pass me the bowls. If we die in a cursed forest, we might as well do it with a full stomach."

"Hear, hear!" Warriors shouts from the side while Wind cheers loudly and Four helps Legend with the servings.

Their group is in the middle of teasing Hyrule for his vegetable chopping skills, all of them with bowls in their hands, when Twilight finally comes back. Unscratched. Unbruised. Alive.

“Should I be worried that I just heard ‘Hyrule’ and ‘soup’ in the same sentence?” Twilight asks as a greeting, grinning with goodhearted amusement at the light cheering that goes around the camp at his return.

“He lives!” Wind shouts, head thrown towards the sky as he drags his vowels for as long as he’s able to. Which is ten seconds. “Hooray!”

“The prodigal son returns, now we can start to feast!” Warrior cheers, raising his spoon high in celebration.

“As if you hadn't shoved down half of your share already.” Twilight snorts, rolling his eyes when Warriors winks at him.

“Found any trouble?” Time asks as soon as his protege sits next to him. He sighs through his nose when Twilight shakes his head.

“None at all,” Twilight says, nodding in thanks at Four when the smith hands him a steaming bowl. “I wasn’t actually on my way back here. I smelt the soup a few miles back and I thought I could ask whoever was cooking some of it to bring back to you lot but it turned out it was you guys all along.”

“What? Didn’t trust us to cook a decent meal?” Legend asks and smirks when Twilight sends him a flat look. “Good, because we definitely didn’t.”

Twilight blinks. “What? Then who cooked the soup?”

“A wild hylian.” Legend snorts.

“Who was a traveler!” Hyrule exclaims with a grin.

“ And a treasure hunter.” Wind shouts, the soup on his bowl swinging dangerously. “With the coolest scars!” 

“ And amazing cooking skills.” Sky hums animatedly around his spoon. “He was very nice and fun too.”

“Quite the interesting fellow.” Warriors says with an amused chuckle. 

“Who’s still arguably a ghost.” Legend adds from the side, several heads around the camp nodding their agreement.

“With a vendetta against bananas.” Four shrugs nonchalantly. “Which I can respect.”

Time finally takes pity on his descendant and his growing bewilderment and offers, “A hylian named Champ,” before taking another bite from his bowl.

“Ok.” Twilight mumbles slowly, eyebrows furrowed as he takes in the information. Time gives him a look, watching in silence as Twilight’s gaze grows distant the more he stares at the soup between his hands, expression unreadable.

“Everything okay?” Time asks, keeping his voice low for the others not to butt in. Twilight blinks twice before he turns his head to meet his gaze.

“Oh.” He breathes out softly before the frown disappears and he nods. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

Time believes him but he also knows there’s something else behind his reaction. He doesn’t push, though; he trusts Twilight enough to tell him in his own time and terms.

“Oh, by the way.” Twilight speaks up, turning towards the group with a proud grin. “I found the end of the woods and even some — ”

“Stables?” Legend cuts in and grins when Twilight frowns in confusion.

“How —? ”

“Champ.” They all echo jovially and Twilight does a poor job to hide his petulant pout behind his bowl.

Chapter Text

Sky has seen worse maps.

“ — keep going until we reach Bridge Hylia. After that, it’s all straight.” Sky grimaces as he holds up the hand-drawn map the stable man had given him and squints at its content. “We’re going to walk past, uh, Scout's Hill? And after that the path breaks in two; we’re supposed to go East to reach Proxim Bridge.”

“And then we’ll finally reach the next stable?” Four asks and a tired sigh leaves his mouth when Sky winces.

“It’s all straight for a few hours before we reach and pass through the Dueling Peaks and then we’ll reach the stable.”

Everyone in the group groans.

“No sense dwelling on it, heroes.” Time sighs, looking, likewise, disheartened by the journey ahead but doing a better job at hiding his emotions than half of the group. “Is everyone packed and ready?“

“Aye, aye.” Wind grumbles, rubbing the last of his sleep off his eyes while tightening his grip around his bag’s strap across his chest. “As much as I can at this ass hour in the morning.”

Next to Wind, Twilight arches an eyebrow. “It’s eight in the morning, Sailor.” He tells him, gaze turning amused when Wind clicks his tongue and waves him off. 

“ I said what I said. ”

“I really fucking hope that whatever we’re here for really is in this Kanteno town.” Legend grunts, waving off, yet again, the correction someone makes on the town’s name. “Whatever. Our last member should be there, right? The Hero of Fucking Massive Hyrule and What Not?

“We can’t be sure,” Four says, a troubled look on his face. “The locals that passed by and even Anly, the stable man himself, just said that was our best bet. So, crudely, we’re moving based on rumors.”

“It’s the best we’ve got, though.” Warriors argues somberly, a frown on his lips as he crosses his arms over his chest. “They already told us the castle is a no go.”

The entire group goes silent at that, the small bits of information they were able to get from some guests and the staff on Lakeside Stable still running through all of their minds.

Near hylian annihilation. Mass land destruction. 

‘My hate never perishes…’

Sky’s stomach twists as takes a deep breath through his nose and holds it. It hardly calms his heart hammering inside his chest, fighting in vain against the loud echo of Demise’s curse.

‘…it shall ever follow your kind…’

Calamity. Calamity. Calamity —

‘…dooming it to wander a blood-soaked sea of darkness for all time.’

“Should we have asked more about that?” Four asks, looking around the group. “You know, to get our facts straight. Know what we’re dealing with, maybe?”

“We still could.” Wind shrugs, throwing a look over his shoulder to where the Lakeside Stable is, merely a few feet from where they all stand.

Time shakes his head with a heavy gaze. 

“For most of us, this might be our future, but it is their past,” he says and Sky pretends not to see the glance sent his way. “I don’t think it’s our business to open old wounds. Even one hundred years old ones.”

Sky swallows thickly and nods, biting the inside of his cheek as he looks away. His stomach is yet to settle but it’s a losing battle as long as he continues to even think of the implications of the royal castle being gone.

His bloodline, legacy, descendants — gone.

“They told us what’s important,” Twilight says, coming up behind Sky. “The princess and the hero protected their kingdom; somehow twice . We’re yet to see the rest of the country but I’m sure that, despite the scars we might see on it, life has been able to thrive and breathe easier now thanks to them.”

The knot inside Sky’s stomach loses some of its tension at Twilight’s words and it completely untangles the moment the rest of their group voice their agreement.

The dread inside his chest is quickly replaced by warmth at the reminder that blood is not the only legacy that had been — will be — left behind; the men and young men in front of him are living proof of it.

And, not for the first time, Sky can’t help but mourn for both of his legacies — blood-bound and spirit-wise ones — for they deserved more than what he left them. 

Nothing but hatred-based curses.

He hopes that, when the time comes and the truth comes out, they’ll be able to forgive him for the pain and suffering they all had to endure because of him.

Waving away his personal turmoil, Sky takes a deep breath before sighs and clears his throat. He offers a small smile when everyone’s gaze settles on him.

“I know I have said this before but times like these make me wish Fi’s dowsing could work on each other.” He chuckles, his attempt to change the topic being weak and forced at best but the others are kind enough to humor him.

“We can’t help sharing the same spirit,” Hyrule says with an easy smile, looking happy to remind them all of said fact.

Legend rolls his eyes, arms crossed. “Yeah, because then how on Hyrule would we have fun but by tearing apart whatever woods or town we’re lost on to find your ass whenever you decide to fuck off, huh?” 

Hyrule gasps. “I don’t fuck — get lost that much!” 

Four snorts loudly.  “Hyrule,” he says through snickers. “You joined us two weeks ago. ”

Hyrule crosses his arms while arching an eyebrow.

“Yeah, like a day or two just before Wind. What about it?”

“Wolfie’s have to look for you ten times in that time,” Four says and barks a laugh when Hyrule’s jaw drops in shock. “Are you saying you didn’t even notice?”

“I did.” Twilight deadpans and Sky has to swallow his own snickers, knowing that it always falls on Twilight to drop whatever he’s doing to look for Wolfie, since he’s the one the wolf answers to, so Hyrule could be found. Again.

“You guys just have really cool things in your Hyrules, alright!” Hyrule shouts out, trying to cover his steady rising heated cheeks behind an angry pout. 

Legend rolls his eyes. “I stand with my point that, if it weren’t so counterproductive because of sneak attacks and such, I’d have put a bell on you by now.”

“ Hey! ”

“In his defense, he’s getting better at staying on the path.” Warriors steps in, coming to Hyrule’s rescue. He pats the eighteen-years-old’s shoulder with a grin. “But only because we put him in front of the line.”

Hyrule groans but willingly goes along with Warriors when the captain starts walking, taking the initiative to start their trek.

Sharing an amused look with the rest of the group, Sky follows the pair, happy to acknowledge the way hope filled his chest more than dread does.

With his companions by his side, he’s sure he will be able to face whatever his Hyrule will show them.

“Hey, how old do you think this Link will be?” Wind asks, from the spot on top of the broken fountain he had claimed for himself the moment Time had said it was time for a break. “They’ve got to be younger than me, right?”

Right below him, Sky takes another bite of his apple before he looks up from the map resting on his thigh, turning his body towards Wind. Spread out on the small spot they claimed as their resting space in the middle of Bridge Hylia, he catches the others pausing their own tasks to do the same.

“Wind, not this again.” Four complains, throwing his head back in exasperation.

“What? I’m just asking!” Wind defends himself, throwing his hands in the air. Sky tilts his head, bemused, when the teen doesn’t look bothered when his half-eaten apple slips from his grasp at the action. “I’ve been dealing with being the newbie for a week now while also being the youngest! If the new guy is younger than me, I’m killing two birds with one stone.”

Time, who catches Wind’s snack in mid-air with blank stare before it could fall off the edge of the bridge, just hums.

“You have given this a lot of thought, huh?” he asks, throwing the apple back to Wind and ignoring the way the teen grimaces once the apple is back in his hands. Sky bites down his grin.

“Of course I have!” Wind scoffs, taking two bites of the apple, begrudgingly finishing it off. He jumps off the fountain before he says, “Don’t get me wrong, I just hope they are at most one month younger than me; younger than that would just be depressing.”

Sky sighs sadly at the thought, the rest of the party looking like they share his sentiment.

“Fourteen is already depressing as it is.” Time grumbles under his breath, setting his hand on Wind’s head, and Sky can’t help but wonder if the action is more for his comfort than Wind's. 

“Bet they are older than Sky but younger than the old man.” Legend declares before taking another bite of his apple. Next to him, Warriors rolls his eyes. 

“What a weak bet. Everyone could easily be younger than the old man.”

“Excuse you.” Time deadpans and grunts unimpressed when he’s widely ignored.

“Well." Hyrule speaks up while crossing his legs on the ground and dropping his chin on his hand. “ I think he’ll be older than Legend but younger than Twi.” He blinks when Four, sitting across from him, shakes his head. 

“Nah, he’s probably older than Twi but younger than Warriors.” 

Hyrule furrows his eyebrow before he narrows his eyes, confused.

“But Warriors  and Twilight are the same age.” 

Four shrugs. “Well yeah, but Warriors’s older.” 

Twilight huffs. “By two months!” he says and grimaces when Warriors throws an arm around his shoulders with a smug smirk. 

“Older than Warriors but younger than Sky.” Time says stoically, unfazed by the wide look half of them throw his way. 

Probably seeing where all of this was going, Legend takes the matter into his own hands by pulling out a notepad out of his bag, along with a pen.

“Alright, bunch of pot-breaking gremlins,” he says, clicking his tongue dismissively at the several offended cries he gets for his call-out. Sky, wisely, stays quiet. “Set your bets. I want to get rich by the next portal-trip.”

“Oh ho ho! I hope all of you have rupees to spare, because I’m winning this one.” Warriors laughs as he takes the pad from Legend and writes down his entry.

Four arches an eyebrow at him. “Says the one who said Twilight was eighteen.”

“Alright, that one was hardly fair.” Warriors scoffs before passing the notepad to Hyrule next to him. “How was I supposed to know he was twenty-three like me? Rancher’s cheeks were and still are deceiving.” He pauses before he adds, “ And pinchable, like Wind’s.”

"Hey!" Both Wind and Twilight reproach before Wind tilts his head at Twilight, looking thoughtful.

Four, ignoring them, hums with a nod. “Ok, you’ve got a point there. His cheeks are deceiving.” Pause. “And very pinchable.”

“No, they’re not .” Twilight huffs, annoyed, before he whips his head to the side with a glare that freezes Wind on the spot, stopping his not-so-sneak-attack on Twilight’s cheek. “Wind, don’t you dare .”

“Oh, come on!” Wind shouts and throws his hands in the air. “Suffer the curse of having round cheeks, Twi! If I have to, you too!”

“Never!” Twilight hisses before he grunts when Wind throws himself at him, twisting and rolling on the ground for a hot second before Twilight comes out victorious with Wind’s head trapped around his arm, the teen’s nose near his armpit. “Four, come here. What was that about my cheeks?”

“Nope.” Four shakes his head and runs to the other side of their resting spot to hide behind Time, his grip tight around the notepad.

“He said they were round and pinchable,” Time says blankly, ignoring both Twilight and Four’s betrayed look by taking another bite. “Five minutes, heroes. Remember this is our first break, we still have a long way to go.”

The group voice their acknowledgement before they all settle back down, resuming whatever they had been doing before the topic had taken their attention away.

Sky hums when Legend’s notepad finally reaches him from his left. He shares a smile with Time before he writes down his guess and reads the others.

Legend - 25

↑ Chosen ↓ Old man

 

Cap - 17/18

↑ Smithy  ↓ Roolie

 

Hyrule - 22

↑ Ledge  ↓ Twilight

 

Four - 23 + 7 mo

↑ Twi ↓ Wars

 

Time - 23/24

↑ Warriors ↓ Sky

 

Sky - 19 

↑ Roolie ↓ Legend

“Hey,” he calls softly to Twilight when he finishes, catching the rancher’s attention by tapping his shoulder. Sky holds the pad up as an explanation when Twilight turns to him. “Your turn.”

Surprisingly, Twilight grimaces. 

“Do I have to?” he asks, looking pained. Sky frowns, confused, before he shakes his head.

“No if you don’t want — ”

“Of course you do!” Wind shouts, still trapped around Twilight’s arm, despite his constant squirming. He shouts out in victory when Twilight finally, and subtly, looses his hold. “Stop trying to escape everything, Twilight!” 

The teen grumbles as he takes the pad from Sky’s grip, writing down his entry before walking away.

Twilight, for his part, just gapes at Wind’s back. “I’m not escaping anything!” he shouts, huffing in exasperation when Wind blatantly sticks his tongue out at him from the other side of their impromptu resting spot.

“Sounds to me that someone’s scared to lose.” Warriors teases from the side, whistling with faux innocence when Twilight shoots him a glare over his shoulder.

“Consider it a bonding experience.” Sky hastily offers the moment Legend joins in by making cucco’s noises behind the broken fountain.

Even then, Twilight still doesn’t look concinvenced but something in his expression tells Sky there’s more than plain annoyance in the back of the rancher’s gaze.

Sky furrows his eyebrows, concerned. He’s fully aware that the topic of ages can be sensitive for most of them, with the little they all have shared about themselves, but he didn’t think Twilight would be one of them.

“Twi.” Sky calls but quickly swallows the rest when Twilight wordlessly takes the pad from his fingers and writes his entry down.

“I hope.” He hears Twilight whisper sadly when he finishes, probably to himself, and Sky pretends not to notice the way the rancher stares a second too long at whatever he had written before he sighs and gives the pad back.

Sky sneaks a glance at its content.

Wind - 14 + 9 mo

↑ no 1  ↓ me

 

Twilight - 19

↑ Hyrule  ↓ Legend

Sky bites the side of his lip, still worried by the odd exchange, wondering if he should speak up, but Twilight takes the decision off his hands when he pushes himself off the ground at the same time their unofficial leader does.

“Sky.” Time calls, offering his hand to pull him off the ground. Sky takes it and Time waves away his ‘thank you’ with a nod. “Lead the way?”

Sky hesitates, throwing one last look at Twilight before he nods and brings the map back up.

He will ask him later.

“Hyrule, look at me.”

“I am looking at you.”

“No, seriously, look at me.”

“Legend, you’re going to trip if you continue walking backwards.”

“Hyrule, don’t look away. Legend, keep him focused.”

“You don’t need to tell me twice, Fancy Pants.”

“ Oi! ”

“Guys, what are you doing — Oh! Is that a cave? ”

"Four, no!"

"A cave!?"

“And there goes Hyrule.”

“And Wind.”

“Good job, Legend.”

“Oh, fuck off — You two, get back here!” 

“Ugh, I can’t feel my legs .”

“I can’t feel my arms . You're not exactly lightweight, Sailor.”

“How dare. I’m filled with pure muscle.”

“You’re full of shit, that’s what you are.”

“Legend!”

“With all the apples I’ve been eating, I might as well be!”

“Wind!”

“No, no, no. By Hylia , you’re dense; we need to go West .”

“If I’m dense then you’re dumb as fuck . The four-years-old draw map we have says North.”

“Are you kidding me? We just came that way — ”

“Guys.”

“Like hell we did. Besides, this might be a short-cut. It seems to lead to the same place.”

“Guys.”

“No, it doesn’t! Did you ever read a map during your war? Or did you leave all of that to the princess who probably had the braincell between the two of you?”

“ Guys.”

“ Hey! We both have brain cells! Artemis’s brain cell is just smarter by birth.”

“Oh, I don’t doubt that for a second.”

“What is that supposed to mean —! ?”

“ Guys! ”

“ What do you want , Four?”

“The map is upside down.”

“Oh.”

“Ah, that — yeah, okay. You know what? Here, Sky, it’s all yours again — Oi! What was that for¡?”

“Hah! Serves you right — ! Shit, Sky! Why are you smacking me for!?”

“Holy Hylia — !”

“Wind.”

“ — what is that¡?”

“ Another cave¡? ”

“Hyrule, for Hylia’s sake!”

“It glows! ”

“Touch it, touch it, touch it!”

“Wind, don’t run — Hey, no! Hyrule!”

“Guys, we don’t have time — Four, not you too!”

“Touch it, touch it, touch it!”

“The bridge is right there, guys! We can literally see the Peaks from here, come on!”

“Touch it, touch it, touch it!”

“For Hylia’s sake!”

“Sir! Uh, sir with the one eye, are you okay? Hello? Are you looking for someone to chat with? Because you’re standing too close to the edge of the bridge.”

“What is that — Oi, I’m not a cat! Put me down, Old man!”

“Sorry, Sailor. Three times is the charm.”

“Come on, it’s a gigant hollowed tree — ! Time!!”

“Hah, says he’s not a cat but hisses like one — Farosh! And bites like one!”

“Careful, Cap. He might have rabies.”

“That’s for dogs, you uncultured swine.”

“It’s for all warm-blooded animals, you dumb shit.”

“Pft! Twilight! ”

“What? He called me a swine!”

“Uh, what’s a swine?”

“Forget the swine. What’s a ‘dog’ ?”

“What’s a ‘cat’ ?”

“What’s the meaning of ‘life’ ?”

“Four, please .”

Sky knows that this is far from their longest journey on foot but he’s also aware that, for most of them, it’s been a while since they all walked large distances like this one.

Or, in some cases, even walked at all.

“This is ridiculous!” Wind continues to complain at the back of the line. “We’ve been walking for more than half a day and we’re barely half way there!”

If Sky’s not mistaken, it has been around an hour or so since the teen started complaining. It’s hard to tell, though, when Wind seems to complain at every inconvenience they come across every ten minutes.

“How are you guys not tired? Even Aryll would get tired and let me tell you, that girl can run for miles.”

“Might be our endurance or stamina.” Sky replies shortly, keeping his annoyance at bay, knowing the root of his irritation isn’t Wind himself nor his complaints. “You’ll get better at it when you get older.”

“Oh, come on! I have to wait until then? Lame . I wish we could travel by boat , it would be way easier and faster.”

“There’s no route to our destination by water, Wind.” Sky reminds him.

Wind groans. “I know but I’m so tired and my legs hurt —! ”

“By Farosh’s love, Wind, pipe it down already! ” Legend snaps, turning around abruptly to glare at the teen. Sky sighs internally as he closes his eyes, resigned. “You’re not the only one suffering, alright? And you yapping around does little to make this hell easier so will you just shut it already ?”

“Legend!” Time barks sharply, whipping his head back to glare at the vet, who scoffs shamelessly.

“What? I’m just saying what everyone’s thinking!”

At the lack of arguments against Legend’s comment, Wind looks downright heartbroken.

Sky’s chest tightens at the sight of it, growing anxious when Wind is quick to hide his embarrassment and shame behind an angry scowl. “Wind, wait — ”

“Oh, yeah!? At least I’m not being a grouch who complains like an old man! ”

“You literally just complained about your legs hurting.” Four deadpans, looking unfazed when Wind whips at him, betrayed. “What? You did. I’m just stating facts.”

“Oh, don’t look too smug there, Vet.” Twilight warns, glaring at Legend when the other starts to grin. “Your snark and sour mood doesn’t help either.” Legend’s grin disappears and a frown takes its place. 

“At least I try to keep my complaints to myself .”

Twilight rolls his eyes. “Oh, really? I never would have guessed.” 

“What? Am I not allowed to be in a shitty mood after walking an entire day in an unknown Hyrule?” Legend scowls, taking a menacing step toward Twilight.

“You are but you’re not allowed to drag everyone else with you.” Twilight says, straightening his back to tower over Legend. “We are a team; we support each other, not tear each other apart.”

Legend scoffs. “Well, hooray, teamwork! Maybe this new hero will be the missing piece to this keese-shit teamwork we’ve going on. I mean, if he’s even still around — !”

“He’s not dead!” Twilight hisses to Legend’s face and the vet’s looks as stunned as Sky feels at the pure rage that drips from Twilight’s lips.

“Wha — ?” Legend splutters, regaining his posture. “ What? I never said that! ”

“Then what did you say, huh? What did you try to say?”

“Maybe that this Hyrule is fucking massive and we had little to no idea how to cover all of it to find him in the first place? By Farosh, Rancher! What crawled up your ass and died ?”

“Ok, alright. That’s enough.” Sky steps in, putting himself between the two before they could get any closer. “Both of you, take two steps back. Now.”

Fifteen tense seconds pass before they follow Sky’s command. Sky steps back with Legend, holding him back just in case by putting his hand over the vet’s chest, before he throws a look over his shoulder. He sighs when he sees Warriors behind him doing the same with Twilight.

Sky sneaks a glance past the still fuming Twilight, where Wind and Four are quietly talking to each other, seemingly apologizing by the way Four brushes Wind’s bangs back to meet the teen’s gaze and Wind sniffles not-so-subtly.

He sighs in relief when Hyrule joins them not a second later, pulling Wind to his side and hugging him close when the teen hides his face behind his arm.

“Come on, Legend.” Sky says as he turns back to meet Legend’s heated glare with a sharp look of his own. “Help me refill the canteens by the river, it shouldn’t be far.”

Surprisingly, Legend does with minimum complaints and limits himself to flip Twilight off on their way out. Sky sighs when the rancher clearly holds himself back from flipping Legend back but only because of the hard gaze that Time had set on him.

“We’ll be by the fire over there, Sky.” Warriors tells him, nodding towards the other side of the path they were on with his chin, where the small but clear sight of an on-going campfire is seen. “Shout if you find any trouble.”

Sky nods and waves them goodbye, dragging Legend along by the shoulder.

He lets go of him once they’re off the path and Legend starts walking properly instead of dragging his feet. They walk in silence for a while but it’s not long before Legend finally cracks under the imaginary pressure only he feels.

“What? You aren’t going to lecture me?” He snarls and Sky frowns to himself before he looks over his shoulder to meet his friend’s gaze. Whatever retort had been on Sky’s tongue it’s gone at the shame he sees clouding Legend’s eyes.

“I don’t believe that’s my place.” Sky replies with a small frown. “Besides, if you are asking me that, it means you already know that you did wrong.”

“Of course I know!” Legend shouts before he groans, pressing the heel of his hand against his forehead. “I know, I know! It’s just — I’m so frustrated, Sky! We’ve been walking the entire day and it feels like we’re just walking aimlessly! We don’t even know for sure if the hero will be in that Kanteno town!”

“Hateno,” Sky corrects idly. 

“Kanteno, Hateno! It doesn’t matter because we don’t know how on Hyrule we’re going to find this hero or if there’s even a hero to find!” Legend groans loudly, pressing both of his hands against his face. “It had never taken us this long to find one of our own! Why is this one different? What are we missing?”

Legend clicks his tongue, kicking some of the stones near his feet hard enough to hit a tree. “And then Twilight just — Hell! What was that about?”

“I don’t know either, to be honest.” Sky admits with a small wince. “But listen, Legend, I get it — all of it, believe me, I do, but we’ll work it out, alright? I promise.”

“How can you be so sure?” Legend practically whines and Sky’s gaze softens as he reaches out to squeeze his shoulder in reassurance.

“Trust me, Ledge.” Sky says softly with a smile. “We will, ok? Have some faith. If not on Hylia, on us .”

Legend sighs and drops the topic with a nod, still clearly upset but less tense now. Sky spares him a concerned glance before sighing through his nose, looking away to focus back on their surroundings as they start walking once again.

“Come on, I think we’re close now,” Sky says, pursing his lips as he looks around. “I hear it close by, so maybe if we — ”

“Hold on.” Legend whispers, catching the back of Sky's tunic. Sky stops short on his tracks, hunching his shoulders out of instinct.

“What? What is it?” Sky asks, lowering his voice to Legend’s level and frowning when Legend doesn’t reply.

Instead, the vet hunches and nods to Sky to do the same. Trusting his friend, Sky does and follows Legend until they reach the end of the woods and see the shore of the river, where a small camp of both bokoblins and moblins lay unbothered.

That’s what Sky calls good news and bad news.

“I heard the river too but also something else that didn’t sound right.” Legend explains, crouching down behind some bushes before nodding towards the monster camp with a frown. “Guess it was them.”

“They look like they’re napping,” Sky says with a small frown while counting the monsters that laid near the campfire by the shore. “We could probably sneak past them without them noticing.”

“Yeah, but they have a look out right there,” Legend says, pointing at the lone bokoblin that stands on the small wood-made tower next to its sleeping companions. “Will be hard to sneak past them since the shore is practically bare; no rocks or even ruins to cover behind. I don’t think we can — ”

The rest of Legend's words are lost when the familiar sound of a faint but sharp snap catches their attention. Sky barely has time to see the arrow that had struck the look-out bokoblin, right between its eyes, before the creature disintegrates and the tower is left empty.

“Nevermind, we can.” Legend hums, pleased.

Sky blinks, baffled, before he asks, “Uh, what just happened?”

“The bobobklin that would have been a pain in our asses just died.”

Sky spares Legend an exasperated glance. “Yeah, I saw, but how did it happen?”

“Uh, probably done by them.” Legend nods towards their right, where the sight of a small hylian size hooded-shadow steps out the wood’s edge, merely a few feet from them, and heads straight to the remaining sleeping monsters.

Sky stares as the hylian man wraps something around each foot on one of the bokoblins. It’s too far to see exactly what it is but both him and Legend wait patiently for the eventual reveal.

Which is worth it the moment the hooded-hylian steps back and their chosen bokoblin starts screeching and growling when it’s lifted off the ground uncermously by whatever is tied around its ankles.

Sky slaps a hand over his mouth when the bokoblin bumps the back of its head against the ground in one of its tries to break free before its lifted higher in the air by — balloons?

Sky hears Legend muffle snort next to him and Sky would have joined in with a laugh of his own, the sight before them being too odd on its own to not consider it funny, but he's able to contain himself by tightening the pressure of his hand around his mouth.

The prankster below them, still in the middle of the monster camp, does not.

His laughter — loud, scratchy, but joyful and young — rings louder than the still floating bokoblin’s complaints. It echoes around the shore and it does what the angry bokoblin couldn’t: wake up the rest of the camp.

“Oh, shit!”  The prankster shouts. Legend’s quick to echo him with his own curse, unsheathing his sword at the same time he sprints forward without a second thought.

Sky chokes in bewilderment at the sudden turn of events before he runs after Legend, barely making it in time to cover the vet's back and parrying the swing that had been aiming to his head with his shield.

“Oh, hey, it’s you guys!” The prankster shouts out happily, the hood on his head falling to his shoulder and finally letting Sky see his face. Champ smiles boyishly as he meets Sky’s gaze over his shoulder. “Did you guys see what I did?”

Legend scoffs loudly, now on the other side of the camp where he’s fighting off one bokoblin and a moblin at the same time.

“We did!” He shouts, replacing his sword in a swift move with his ice rod and freezing the bokoblin’s leg before dodging the moblin’s club. “I’m still debating if you’re a genius or just a madman!”

Champ grins crookedly as he bangs his sword hard against his moblin’s shield, stunning it momentarily. He takes the advantage by kicking the monster on its leg, making it stumble and fall on its knees.

“Many call me a mad-genius!” He shouts back as he delivers the final blow on the monster, the force of his attack throwing the lifeless body of the moblin slide all the way down to the river before it disintegrates. 

Sky’s lips twitch in amusement at the same time Legend barks a laugh. The sound of it takes Sky by surprise for the briefest moment, being so long since he had heard Legend genuinely laugh like that.

“You’re insane!”

“That too!”

Sky finally allows himself to smile as he dodges another kick from his moblin. Maybe all that Legend needed was a good venting session with swords and monsters.

“Damn, Sky! Leave something for the both of us!”

And, alright, maybe Sky needed it too.

“What the hell happened to you two?”

“We vented.” Legend replies proudly with a wide grin, still panting from adrenaline as he rests his bloody sword on his shoulder. He couldn't really get any dirtier than he already is, really. “Unavoidably crossed paths with a camp of moblins — non-infected, by the way —, took care of them, dropped some of the tension we had and bam! Now you all have me in a good mood.”

Their companions only frown at him, gaping with different levels of shock and bewilderment before they all snap their eyes to Sky, looking for some kind of sanity.

Sky laughs breathlessly as he clumsily wipes the rest of the bokoblin’s blood off his face. 

“What Legend said.”

“Betrayal!” Warriors gasps in mock outrage, before standing from his seat on the log and reaching for his sword. “This is so like Legend, taking all the fun for himself, but you, Sky? Painful betrayal .”

Sky offers him a shrug with a sheepish smile, chuckling to himself as he steals the spot Warriors had left next to Time. He nods in thanks when Twilight, on the other side, passes him a wet cloth to clean himself.

“And where, exactly, are you going?” Time asks, fist pressed against his cheek as he arches an eyebrow at the captain.

Warriors turns and waves his still sheathed sword up and down as answer.

“To vent, obviously!” Warriors explains, scoffing in exasperation when no one gets his weak charade attempt. “We get rid of monsters and we vent our frustrations out. Win-win.”

“I want to vent too!” Wind shouts, followed by Hyrule and Four. Even Time looks tempted. 

Sky blinks in surprise when Twilight stays quiet, expecting him to be one of the first ones to have an ache to vent his frustrations out based on the argument from earlier. 

Twilight blinks back at him, confused, before he says, “Oh, I’m good. Now. Earlier I was just — ah, it doesn’t matter, I’m okay now.”

Sky furrows his eyebrows together, not really believing it but keeps his thoughts to himself. His friend does seem to be better; more calm and less tense than when Legend and him left, but there’s still something lingering on the rancher’s eyes Sky can’t quite place.

“You two better have left some for the rest of us.” Warriors scolds, bringing Sky back to their still on-going ruckus, his glare turning flat with exasperation when Legend smirks smugly.

“We did not." Legend replies and holds a hand up before anyone would start shouting again. “But Champ did say there were some lizalfos a little further down, on the path within the peaks we gotta cross either way. You can vent with them.”

“Wait, you saw Champ?” Four asks, eyes sparkling as turns to Legend. “As in, Champ ‘I don’t trust bananas’ Champ?”

Hyrule looks up with a gasp. “Champ ‘The Traveler’ Champ?”

“Champ ‘Treasure hunter’ Champ?” Warriors follows, tilting his head with his lips pursed in faux nonchalance.

“Champ ‘Resident Ghost’ Champ¡?” Wind shouts, looking two jumps away from vibrating on the spot.

Time hums calmly, a curioused eyebrow raised. “Champ ‘The Cook’ Champ?” 

Everyone turns to Twilight, who blinks back at them all with a single eyebrow raised.

“I don’t know the guy.” He reminds them slowly and looks bewildered when Hyrule reaches out to pat him on the arm, as if comforting him. “ What —? ”

“Yeah, that Champ.” Sky answers, getting half of their party’s eyes back on him. “It was, uh, quite the odd encounter, actually.”

“The guy’s insane.” Legend deadpans before his lips into a grin and he pulls out all of the octoballons Champ had given him from his satchel. “Insane but brilliant. Hey, Wind, if I show you something wicked, will you accept it as an apology for earlier?”

Wind purses his lips, gaze narrowed. “Depends how wicked.”

“Come here and lemme show you.”

“Vet.” Sky starts but holds himself back at the bark of laughter that erupts from Wind as soon as Legend ties one of the octoballons around Wind’s ankle, only growing louder as the vet finishes tying the rest of them, three on each foot. 

“This is so cool!” Wind shrieks once Legend, with Warriors help, had carefully lifted the sailor off the ground and made sure he wouldn’t smack the back of his head against the ground as gravity took its toll. “Time! Time, look at me! I’m floating! Upside-down .”

“That you are, Sailor.” Time chuckles, gaze soft. “Careful with those hands, though.”

“Huh?” Wind asks at the same moment he smacks Warrior’s face with one of said hands.

“ Wind! ”

The laughter that rings loud around the camp eases out the rest of the tension on Sky’s shoulders, finally allowing him to sag them in relief.

Which only grows bigger when he catches from the corner of his eye both Legend and Twilight bumping their shoulders together, sharing a small hushed conversation between them before Twilight ruffles Legend’s hair through his cap, making the vet grumble with faux annoyance.

The sight of his companions enjoying themselves, some even bending forward with tears in their eyes from laughing so hard at Wind’s tactics, makes him realize that maybe none of them had needed a fight against monsters or anything of the sorts to feel better. Lighter. 

Sky’s pretty sure what they had needed all along was just a good laugh.

“Hey, wait. Did you guys refill the canteens?”

“Oh, shit .”

As the group erupts into, yet again, another argument, light-hearted and playful, Sky makes a note in the back of his mind to thank Champion next time they cross paths.

Chapter Text

Four had been enjoying the day so far, so, really, he should’ve known something like this would happen, but that doesn't mean he’s going to take it without being grumpy about it.

“You know what? I blame Legend for this.”

“The hell did I do?" Legend huffs a few feet from him, looking up. Four meets his glare straight on with one of his own.

“You have been complaining about Wind’s chattering the entire journey so, really, you should’ve noticed the moment he ran off.”

“What? That doesn’t make any sense! Are you telling me you suddenly went deaf so you didn't notice his lack of noise yourself?”

“Not deaf, just — you know.” Four purses his lips as he looks away, arms crossed, and grumbles. “Sometimes you guys get annoying so I block your voices.”

Four forces himself to swallow his mild amusement at the small twitch Legend's left eye does.

“Oh, but I’m the one at fault for not noticing Wind’s disappearance right away.”

Four nods petulantly.

“Glad you’re finally taking responsibility for your actions.”

“I’m going to smack you, Four.”

Four doesn’t reply. He limits himself to raise both of his fists and bounce on his feet.

“No one is smacking anyone.” Time speaks up, stepping in between them and sparing them a tired but sten look that has them both drop their shoulders. “And no one is blaming anyone. We’re a team, we all should’ve noticed the moment Wind ran off.”

Four sighs, scratching the back of his head as he looks around. “Should we stay here, though? I mean, what if Twilight doesn’t find him?” 

“Smithy, this is our Rancher we’re talking about.” Legend rolls his eyes and crosses his arms over his chest. “He probably found Wolfie by now. If they can find Roolie in whatever Hyrule we are, they can find Wind here.”

Time shows his agreement with a nod. 

“Besides, I doubt he could have gone far off the main road,” he says, walking towards the other end of the small clearing they had climbed earlier next to the main road. “Until then, we cover this area just in case.”

“And if Twi or Wind don't come back before sunset?”

“We re-group and start over with a new plan.” Time smiles over his shoulder, meeting Four’s worried gaze. “At ease, Four. They’ll be fine and, as long as we don’t lose sight of the others, we should be fine as well.”

“Oh, I can see them, alright.” Legend snorts, pointing across the stone bridge below them. “Though, what the hell are they doing escapes me.”

Time doesn’t turn around, already having moved on to look at the path on his side and satisfied the group is on sight, but Four does, his curiosity winning him over.

He frowns at the sight of the rest of his companions still where he had seen them last, on the other side of the main road, past the nature-made stone bridge in between, looking down the edge of their spot.

“I’m going over there,” Four says over his shoulder, respecting the Chain’s rules, before he waves off Legend’s faint reply and hops off from the small hill.

His curiosity only grows stronger as he crosses the bridge and still none of his companions have noticed him. Or they have, most likely since they are all trained warriors in their own right, in which that case: rude .

“What are you guys doing?” Four asks as soon as he’s within earshot, tilting his head to the side as only Sky and Hyrule turn to greet him. Warriors staying deep focused on whatever his eyes are set on.

“There seem to be remains of a camp on the far edge of the surface below us, near the river,” Sky says, nodding at Four and welcoming him with a smile before he turns his head and points at the spot in mention. 

“Warriors suspects it could have been a bokoblins’ or moblins’ camp, so we’re debating whether or not it’s worth checking out.”

Four hums and looks towards where Warriors stands near the downhill edge, arms crossed.

“Black blood?” Four asks.

“With our luck? Always a possibility.” Warriors grumbles, rubbing his jaw as he keeps his eyes on the abandoned camp alone. “It’s also the first camp we see made by monsters since we arrived at this Hyrule.”

Next to Four, Hyrule sighs.

“Does that mean there might still be monsters spread around here?” He asks, shifting on his feet as he looks around the ocean of hills around them. “I know Wind can handle himself like any of us but I still worry that we’re not there as back up.”

While Four feels the same way, Hyrule is the last one to have a right to say that.

“Don’t let Legend hear you say that, Traveler.” He says with a grin, chuckling under his breath as Hyrule flushes and huffs. “Or he will smack you for hypocrisy.”

“Yeah, I know .” Hyrule groans, pouting as Sky pats his shoulder.

“Wind will be fine.” Warriors reassures as he finally turns around to face them. “I say we check it out once we find Wind. It does look abandoned so I don’t see the harm of putting it off for now until we’re back to our full number.”

Four nods, his two cents on the topic ready at the tip of his tongue, that he ends up biting when a loud explosion somewhere near them shakes their ground, making him stumble and fall to the ground.

He barely has time to roll to the side when a big shadow suddenly descends from above.

Four winces from the floor as said shadow takes the shape of a hylian man and lands on top of Warriors instead, the collision making them both topple over and roll down the hill to the surface below, almost reaching the river nearby.

“By the Three! Are you two okay?” Sky shouts as he scrambles off the ground, pulling Four with him and steadying Hyrule as he makes his way down and joins the two fallen hylians. “Warriors! Wars! Can you hear me? Are you conscious?”

“Unfortunately.” Four hears Warriors groan, laying face down with a full grown hylian on top of him. “Someone get him off me. I think I have my liver up my throat.”

Both Four and Hyrule step forward and carefully roll the hylian man off Warriors, letting Sky step forward and help their captain sit up properly.

“What the hell was that?” Warriors curses out, a deep frown on his mouth as he groans and leans on Sky. “ Who the hell — ”

“Sorry! Sorry, my bad.” The hylian man between Four and Hyrule slurs out, turning himself away from their supportive hold, the hood on his shoulders skewed, but still miraculously covering half of his face. “I’m sorry, are you okay?”

Four briefly wonders if the man is the right person to ask that when his cloak is smoking.

“Am I okay? Sir, you look and smell like a meat skewer.” Warriors replies, seemingly forgetting of his own aches as he takes in their newcomer.

“My friend’s right, hey .” Sky calls, squeezing Warriors shoulders and sparing him a look to make sure he could hold himself up before he steps around him and holds out his hand for the stranger. “Sir, let us help — Champ?”

“Champ?” the rest of them echo, gasping in recognition when the hylian shakes his head and his hood falls off.

“Uh, yeah? What’s up?” Champ replies idly, snapping his fingers a few times in front of his own face. 

He bumps the side of his own head a few times before any of them could stop him and then he blinks, his eyes settling. 

“Hah! Almost got me there, Concussion, but not this time!”

Four subtly leans to Hyrule. “Did he just fight off a concussion?” he asks him in a hushed tone. "And won?"

Hyrule just sighs deeply.

“Please don’t fight off a possible concussion.” Sky speaks for all of them with a wince. “Champ, please, sit down.”

“Psh, I’m fine.” Champ laughs it off, waving his hand offhandedly and definitely not noticing that he’s swaying to the side dangerously until Sky holds him upright.  “See? It’s all good, Sky — ”

Champion stops short as he blinks, bewildered, and stares at Sky’s face for an entire second before his face lights up.

“Sky, hey!! Hi, how’s it going?" He cheers with a lopsided grin. "It's been a while since I last saw you."

"It's been a day and a half, Champ."

"Ah, so a long while then."

“I don’t know whether this is hilarious or just plain worrying.” Four smacks his lips, hands on his hips as he stares at the blabbering Champ and their ruffled Sky. “What happened to you, either way?" 

Champ perks up even more when he turns and meets his eyes. 

“Ah, I'm glad you ask, Five.”

“Four.” He corrects idly, brushing off his nickname's technicalities.

“Four!” Champ cheers, not noticing the way Sky manhandles him and holds him up, throwing one of Champ’s arms around his own shoulders. 

“You see, it all started when I didn’t want to play with my little sister and ended up getting lost in the woods, where, ironically, was the day I found the — ”

“I meant just now.” Four cuts in, an amused smile on his lips as Champ blinks again and then mumbles a small ‘oh’, glancing back to the small hill he had fallen from. 

“Ooh! Oh, yeah, right, that . I found a treasure.”

“Another one?” Warriors asks from his spot on the ground, one arm around his ribs while he uses the other one to wave Hyrule’s glowing palms off. “How many treasures does this Hyrule have — ? Hyrule , buddy, stop it with the magic. I said I’m fine.”

Hyrule scowls and smacks Warrior’s hand away not so gently. “You’re not the assigned medical expert in the group, are you, though?” He shoots back, sitting on his knees next to Warriors as he glares at the captain. “And I'm not healing you, just measuring the damage so stop being a stubborn ass for a minute.”

Warriors can only gape at their unofficial resident doctor. “Excuse — ? Soldier .”

“Warriors, stop fighting him.” Sky sighs as he walks over with Champion and lowers their acquaintance next to Warriors, keeping a hand on his back to support him. “A full grown hylian man fell on top of you, let Hyrule do his thing.”

Champion blinks in confusion for a hot second before he gasps sharp enough to choke on his own. 

He waves off Sky’s exasperated fuss to throw a look between the hill and Warriors a few times, connecting the pieces, before his eyes widen in horror and finally settle on Warriors.

“Oh, shit, did I fall on you?” He asks hastily, eyes wide with shame and guilt.

Warriors blinks in surprise. “Oh, uh, I mean, technically yes — ”

“ Fuck .”

“Woah, hey! It’s fine, seriously, you’re the one who fell off the sky and was smoking!”

“Still is.” Four supplies nonchalantly as he idly pats away the rest of the smoke from Champ’s cloak.

“I mean, yeah, but I’m used to that.” Champ groans, ignoring the collective ‘excuse you?’ the rest of them say out loud and instead reaches out to Warriors, hands hovering anxiously above his chest. 

“Besides, the fall was, like, just a few feet high, far from my worst. So, just tell me where it hurts. Is it the ribs? Lower back?”

“Like I said, I’m fine —”

“His right shoulder is stiff and the right side of his hip is slightly bruised.” Hyrule cuts in, pointing at said places on Warriors body before he sighs and smiles, relieved. “It’s nothing bad, though. Now I can agree with him that he’s technically fine.”

“ I told you. ”

Champ makes a face as he bites his lower lip, still looking both guilty and remorseful. He seems to be so deep in thought that he doesn't even notice when Hyrule's hands start the same process they had done with Warriors.

“Still, you shouldn’t travel like that.” Champion says. “I have some potions on me that will help you, hang on.”

Warriors waves him off. “It's fine, we have potions of our own, you don’t need to waste yours.”

“You do?" Champ blinks, surprised, before he snorts. "What am I asking? Of course you do. You guys seem like you’re professionals — Oh, Hyrule, hi!”

"Yeah, you definitely lost to that mild concussion from earlier and got a few bruised ribs as a bonus." Hyrule shakes his head and finally lowers his hands, patting Champ on the arm. "You need a potion yourself."

"Nah, I'm fine — "

"How about you both drink a potion?" Sky cuts in with an exasperated smile as he stares at Champ and Warriors with a look . "For my sake more than yours, really."

Warriors sighs but nods reluctantly. "Alright, I'll compromise. Pass it over, Roolie."

Before any of them could blink, Champ takes out of his slate four red colored potions and shoves them into Warriors hands. He only smiles sheepishly when four startled pairs of eyes stare at him.

"For my peace of mind more than yours, really." Champ chuckles and cheers when Warriors groans in defeat and accepts them with a nod.

"Why so many, though?" Warriors asks and arches an eyebrow at Champ's shrug.

"For later or inventory. Believe me, I have a lot of them, it’s fine."

"Fine, but I don't see your potion ready to drink."

Champ chuckles as he raises one of his hands in mock surrender before he takes one more potion out of his slate.

"Bottoms up!" He cheers playfully, bumping his potion against Warriors and making the captain snort. He smacks his lips once he empties it. “Huh, alright, point for you, Hyrule. I did need a potion.”

Hyrule limits himself to sighs through his nose with a smile, shaking his head in mild exasperation.

“And Legend says only we have the Hero Complex because of our shared spirit.” Hyrule jokes under his breath, chuckling to himself, but it only makes Four pause and stare at Champ, tilting his head in thought.

Whatever thought was meant to form from that is brushed off by Warriors tapping his leg from his place on the ground to catch his attention.

“Four, did you hear this madman?” Warriors huffs and throws an arched eyebrow at Champ who shrugs at him wide eyed. “He just said he mines with his sword ."

Four takes a double take.

“Excuse you?” He splutters in disbelief. "You mine with what now?"

"Not all the time!" Champ defends himself, now looking self-conscious with a new pair of judging eyes on him. "Just when I don't have a drillshaft at hand! How else am I supposed to get the rubies and stuff?"

Four scrunches his nose in outrage.

"Is that what you were doing before? Trying to unbury the treasure with a sword?" Sky asks before Four could step in and strangle their companion, tilting his head with curiosity.

Champ tilts his head back to him, blinking confused for a hot second before he lights up and snaps his fingers.

“Ah, right, that ." Champ clicks his tongue in mild annoyance. "Nah, I was trying to unbury it with a bomb but I denotaed before time because a frog behind me stratled me when I stepped on it by accident.”

Sky splutters, “I’m sorry, did you say bomb?”

Hyrule raises his hand. "Wait, how close were you to this bomb?”

Four just chokes out, “A frog? ”

Champ ignores them all.

“Here’s a pro-tip for you, guys: just go for the treasures that can be unburied with a shovel. Because those buried in a bunch of rocks either it takes two bombs to break it free or it’s a napping talus.”

Warriors frowns. “A what now?”

“A shovel.” Sky supplies kindly.

Warriors scowls. “No, not that — ”

“We were lucky, though, that I accidentally used one of the small ones, otherwise my left side would match my right side and you, Sir Captain, would have some broken bones on you — ”

This time, Warriors forcefully cuts in by raising his hand and nearly shoving it into Champ’s face.

“Wow, wow! Back up, that was a small explosion?”

Champ snorts. “Hah, yeah, I know. Pretty lame, right?”

“What? No, that’s not what I — ”

“Ooh! I see. Do you want to see the big ones?”

“Do I want to — ?” Warrior trails off, a look crossing over his face before he hums and taps his chin. “Huh, do I want to…?”

“Hey, no.” Hyrule smacks his uninjured shoulder and levels him a warning glare when the captain whines. “You can’t join our Supervised club. Stay in your own club, Supervisor.”

“That’s not fair, just switch with me this one time, Roolie.”

“Heck no! I also wanna see the big one!”

“ Roolie! ”

“You know what? Seems like both of them are okay.” Four mumbles as he drops his shoulders and meets Sky’s eyes over Champ’s head. “Think you can handle them alone?”

Sky tilts his head to the side. 

“Are you going back to Time and Legend?” he asks and at the nod Four does, he hums. “No problem, seems like we’ll probably be right behind you soon either way.”

“Sound good.” Four pushes himself off the ground, dusting his trousers before he sneaks his way out the group, not really wanting to get in the middle of the on-going explosion argument.

Sky waves him off with a smile that Four returns as he starts climbing back up to reach the stone bridge. 

When he doesn’t find either Time or Legend on the spot he had left them on, Four decides to walk back down the main road again, doubting his companions would have gone further up the road.

Four doesn’t even try to keep his smug grin down when, after just a few minutes of walking, he catches sight of four figures standing next to the road.

His grin only grows when he strategically reaches them and quietly sneaks into Legend’s blind spot.

“I can see we’re back on being eight, huh?” he cheers, hands behind his back and unapologetically laughing at the shriek that escapes Legend’s mouth.

“Fuck off, Four! You know I hate it when you do that!”

Well, duh. That's the reason why he does it.

He doesn’t say that to Legend though.

Four raises one hand as both surrender and an apology before he steps to the side and nods at Wind, who is still standing between Twilight and Legend with a pout.

“So where was he?” Four asks.

“I’m right here, you know.” Wind snaps grumpily. Four arches an eyebrow at him, hands on his hips.

“Alright. Where were you?”

Wind clicks his tongue and whips his head to the side with a frown. Four rolls his eyes while Twilight sighs.

“I was just telling Time and Legend, actually. He was near a hidden shrine off the main road, a few feet away from Fort Hateno.” He says and Four arches an eyebrow, mouthing 'shrine?' to himself.

Twilight doesn't notice. “I found him arguing with a hylian man there named Calip.”

“What were they arguing about?” Legend asks. Twilight shrugs with a grimace.

“I honestly didn’t get much. By the time I found Wind I had to carry him out of there when he looked ready to pounce at the poor man.”

Wind scoffs and throws his hands up in the air. “Well, his theory had no basis whatsoever! Someone had to set him straight!”

“And that was more important than catching up with your team?” Time asks with a hard stare, arching an eyebrow at Wind, almost as a challenge.

One which Wind, wisely, doesn’t take. Instead, he ducks his head, hearing the reprimand behind the question.

“Sorry,” he mumbles with a small wince. “Won’t happen again, sir.”

Time huffs faintly. “At ease, Hero, raise your head,” he says and sighs when Wind only peeks out of his bangs to meet his eye. “Wind, look at me properly.”

Wind groans but does as told, pressing his lips together to form a thin straight line as he holds Time’s stare.

“What’s our number one rule?” Time asks, hand on his hip.

“Never allow Hyrule to be in charge of cooking for the group.”

Time pauses. “Well, yes, but I meant the other one.”

“No pranks allowed after eight at night, doesn’t matter if it is eight at night somewhere in our own Hyrules.”

“That’s number five.”

“Oh, uh, then…” Wind narrows his eyes as he looks up at the sky. “Uh, don’t use the Master Sword to cut the grass?”

Four facepalms at the attempt while Twilight sighs and Legend cackles.

Time, for his part, only shakes his head.

“If you wander off, let someone know first.” Time ends up answering, flickering the teen on the forehead with two fingers and making him pout.

“I can take care of myself.” Wind grumbles as he rubs his forehead.

“You know it’s not about that.”

Wind sighs and drops his shoulders, accepting defeat.

“Yeah, I know.”

Time clamps him on the shoulders before he turns and heads back to where they had left the others.

“Come on, let’s get back to the others.” He says and turns his head to meet Four’s eyes. “Anything to report from their end, Four?”

The question itself makes Four snort.

“Oh, boy. Get ready for this one.”

“I keep telling you! Champ is insane!” Legend says as soon as Four finishes updating them, his grin wide as he laughs. “Damn it, what I would have given to see Pretty Boy’s face for myself.”

“Ooh! You think he gave some bombs to Warriors? Some of the big ones? Oooh, I hope so!” Wind bounces as he walks, looking excited while Time just looks drained.

“All of them were alive and with four limbs each right?” He asks Four, voice flat and eye staring ahead.

Four hums and shrugs. “Last time I saw them.”

“That’s not very reassuring.”

Four pats his leader on the back in comfort, silently telling him to drop it for his own good, before he looks over his shoulder, catching sight of Twilight following a few feet behind them, lost in thought.

“Hey, Twi.” Four calls quietly, falling a step behind to match Twilight’s pace and walk beside him. When Twilight hums, Four continues. “I was wondering about something."

Twilight nods. "What is it, Four?"

"Why did you call the glowing thing a ‘shrine’?”

Twilight blinks and arches an eyebrow. “Because that’s what they’re called?”

Four frowns. “And how did you know that?”

The question makes Twilight pause briefly before he shakes himself quick enough.

“I overheard some of the locals talking about them on the last stable,” Twilight says, voice tight. “That’s all.”

Four bites the inside of his cheek and swallows his own doubt at his friend’s words, unable to brush off the uneasiness that has lingered since Twilight snapped at Legend a few days back.

From the corner of his eye, he can see stone bridge from earlier, Warriors, Hyrule, and Sky crossing it with no Champion in sight.

“Twi.” Four calls out one last time quietly as all of his companions finally meet on the other side of the bridge. “You’re okay, right?”

Twilight furrows his eyebrows together as he turns his head to meet, for the first time, Four’s eyes.

“Of course, Four.” He answers truthfully and his lips curve a little as he adds, “I mean, a little tired from all the walking but nothing out of the ordinary.”

Four can’t help but smile back, his own shoulders finally relaxing.

Now that Four can trust.

His suspicions and worries can linger in the back of his mind, he doesn’t care. He trusts all of his companions, his brothers, to ask for help when it gets too much.

If Twilight believes he can handle whatever he’s going through by himself, Four will trust him and stand by his side as a silent supporter.

“Well, hopefully we won’t have any more detours and reach Hateno Town soon.” Four hums, stretching his arms up before he raises his voice and says, " Or any more random explosions ."

" Hylia above, please ." Warriors whines, leaning on Sky's for the threathics of it.

“Four mentioned you found a monster camp,” Time says.

Warriors grunts. “We did, yeah, but nothing worth reporting. We briefly checked it out with Champion even after he told us it had been abandoned around a year ago or so.”

Time nods, satisfied.

"He also gave us directions for Hateno Town," Sky says. "We are pretty close already, no more than two or three hours away."

“He also said to keep going straight from here and only straight, because if we take a wrong turn, we either end up in a beach that’s behind the mountains.” Warriors grumbles, still rubbing his lower back through all his chainmail with a grimace. 

“Or we‘ll just circle back and be back where we started near Fort Hateno. Both alternatives sound exhausting, though, so, for everyone's sake, no one wanders off.”

All of their eyes fall on Hyrule, who jumps.

“ Hey! ” He complains, hands on his hips as he scowls. “It wasn’t me this time!”

Everyone present winces and looks away. 

“Sorry, Roolie, force of habit,” Four says before he, along with the others, throws his stern look at Wind, who whistles in faux innocence, avoiding all of their eyes.

“Champ also said that we should try to make it by sunset,” Sky says, tightening the strap of the master sword across his chest. “Could be dangerous to stay on the road at night.”

Time nods, face somber as he straightens up. “Then we better be going. Anything else that he said that might be important?”

Hyrule raises his hand. “There’s only one inn in town, so we won’t miss it, and if we’re able to choose the soft beds, to do it without hesitation.” 

“ And not to trust merchants on the road that ask or ramble about bananas on our way there.” Warriors adds.

Four snorts. “Wow, and I thought I had a serious vendetta against bananas.”

“Congrats, you’re both weird.” Legend teases with a smirk, dropping his arm on top of Four's head and leaning on it obnoxiously so.

Four spares him a flat look before he smacks the back of his hand hard against Legend’s stomach, not even fighting the victorious grin that splits his face when the vet doubles over and wheezes.

“Legend, don’t fall behind.” Time warns as they all start to walk away but Four sees their leader bite down a grin when Legend curses at them and flips them off with his finger.

Four's got to admit, the day turned out better than expected.

Chapter Text

Warriors takes a deep breath as soon as he steps out of the inn and meets the early-morning air of Hateno Village.

He rolls his shoulders back before he stretches out his limbs, one by one, careful to not spill any of the coffee he had just grabbed from the inn’s small dining area.

It's pleasurable beyond measure when none of his muscles ache other than the familiar dull sting from the stretch.

He's even surprised to notice there’s no trace from yesterday's incident. Champion had been right about those soft beds; they really did the trick and were definitely worth every rupee.

Warriors sighs through his nose as he takes one of the chairs on the lone table near the corner of the inn's deck, where the view of the village is clearer.

No kids are outside yet, unlike they were yesterday when they arrived; running all over the place, with their cheeks flushed, sweaty, and stretched from all their laughs. That alone had told them all that the place was quite the lively town.

Warriors’s reminded of that as he waves and nods back to some of the villagers and workers that greet him on their way to start the day. None of them know him but their hospitality is as heart-warming as the coffee in his hands.

Idly, he looks behind his shoulder to catch a glimpse of the tower way up hill, its faint but still clear strange structure spiking once more his curiosity but still not being enough to actually regret his decision of not joining Legend and the others.

‘Someone needs to keep an eye on the youngsters, anyway.’ He had said to Time before their unofficial leader had joined Legend, Twilight and Sky outside the inn.

Warriors had waved them off from the entrance, watching them cross the bridge and walk past the town's arch before they had completely disappeared from his sight as they started their climb. They had left before dawn and, if Warriors had to guess, probably wouldn't be back until dusk.

Warriors smacks his lips together before he drops his chin on his open palm, elbow on the table. It’s been a while since they had a day for themselves, even longer since they didn’t have to fight monsters every five hours or so, but it’s still hard to fully relax and even harder to think of something to pass his time with. 

He’s half-way through his morning drink before he hears the deck’s door open once more.

"There you are." Four says groggily as a greeting, yawing long and loud as he drags his feet and sits on the chair next to Warriors with the gracefulness only a teenager still half-asleep can have: none.

"Here I am." Warriors hums, arching an eyebrow at the way Four all but drops his face on the table. "You know you could have gotten a few more hours in, right? We all agreed yesterday to rest for today."

Four grunts against the table's surface.

"Wind kept smacking me in the face in his sleep.” He grumbles, turning his face to meet Warriors’s eyes. “I request a new sleeping buddy.”

Warriors had been already shaking his head before Four could finish his plea.

“No can do. You drew the short stick.”

“Wars.” Four whines, bottom lip sticking out.

Warriors shakes his head once more, his resolve not wavering in the slightest.

He has experience when it comes to little brothers and their manipulative tactics. Just because the number of little brothers has been multiplied by five, if he counts Twilight’s three months (which he does, no matter how many times Rancher complains about it), doesn’t mean he’s not prepared to deal with them.

“Pray for better luck next time.” Warriors says, taking another sip from his coffee to hide his grin. “Think of it this way, you could’ve been paired with Legend like I was."

"He's not so bad."

"He talks in his sleep."

"That's still better than being smacked awake by a fourteen years old's greasy hand."

That’s fair, Warriors doesn't really have much to complain about Legend's sleeping habits other than the occasional gibberish the vet mumbles in his sleep.

"Fine, then you could've been paired with Sky and be cuddled to death in this summer heat like Hyrule was.”

Four snorts and rolls his eyes.

“You say that as if Hyrule doesn't go along with it willingly ." Four clicks his tongue, finally raising his head from the table and wordlessly reaching for Warriors’s coffee.

Warriors allows him to take the barely half-filled mug with a roll of eyes, knowing that even if Four knew about the other mugs filled with coffee in the dining area, he would’ve still stolen Warriors’s either way.

“Where is Sky, by the way?” Four asks after he takes a sip from his stolen coffee. “And Legend, for that matter. I didn't see either in their beds or the dining area.”

“They went uphill along with Time and Twilight earlier today, a little before dawn,” Warriors says, tilting his head and pointing at the tower with his chin. “Vet's curiosity for Champ’s ‘whatever-the-heck-is’ slate came back as soon as he spotted it yesterday night and heard the rumors of it from the townsfolk.”

“Translation: Legend went up to fight the creators of the slate.”

Warriors snorts but doesn't deny it, which makes Four smirks smugly around his mug.

“It surprises me more that Sky joined, honestly," he says, lips slightly pursed in confusion. “He's usually the last one to rise when we have a day off.”

“True but I’m pretty sure Sky went along just because of where the tower is,” Warriors says. “You know how he is; the closer he is to the literal sky, the better.

“And Twi and Time are both ranch boys at their core, so…” Warriors trails off with a half-hearted shrug. “It’s not a surprise they were up and moving before the crack of dawn.”

“Hm, true.” Four nods but a troubling look settles on his eyes as he glances at the tower, a small frown on his lips.

Warriors arches an eyebrow. “Everything alright?”

He watches Four hesitate, biting the edge of his lower lip with poorly hidden anxiety for a few seconds before he sighs and drops his shoulders.

“Talking about Twilight, have you noticed anything wrong with him recently?” He asks, fingertips tapping the side of the mug. “I mean, haven’t you felt something is — ah, I don’t know, off about him?”

“Yes.” Warriors answers truthfully, not being one to hide his concerns when asked. “Of course I have. I’m pretty sure everyone has.”

“Right?” Four shouts, ears turning red at the head-turns he gets from the passing villagers below. “Ah, sorry. Right, but he, like, won’t say what’s wrong , you know. I asked him about it yesterday, after we found Wind, and he just…”

“Waved it off?” At Four's nod, Warriors sighs through his nose. “Yeah, sounds like him.”

“Wars, do you think he’s okay?” Four asks, voice small. “He says he's fine but — is he really ?”

Warriors pounds the question over, sharing Four’s worry since it’s also his own. It hadn’t been hard to see the small change in Twilight's behavior since they arrived at this Hyrule and it hadn’t been long before it became noticeable.

Warriors had asked Twilight himself about it, after the small fallout Rancher had with Vet, and the only thing he had gotten out of him was a small sad sigh and —

‘Not yet.’ Twilight had whispered, hunched over as he had covered his eyes and rested his elbows on his knees. ‘Not right now, Wars. I’ll apologize and explain, I promise, I just — not yet.’

He had looked utterly lost, enough to make Warriors's chest ache; their souls' bond clearer than ever. In the end, he had limited himself to drop the topic, offer a pat on the back, and keep a close eye on his brother.

“He will be.” Is what Warriors settles with, reaching out to ruffle Four’s disheveled hair. “He will come to us when he’s ready. Until then, we’ve just got to trust him.” 

Four sighs but Warriors can see his shoulders dropping in what he hopes is something close to relief.

“Come on, let's wake the others and get something to eat,” he says, flicking the teen playfully on the ear before he pulls himself off the chair. “I’m sure some shops must be open by now.”

Four mumbles a half-hearted agreement, dragging his feet back to the inside of the inn, and Warriors follows close behind.

He only lingers on the door for a moment to spare one last glance at the sheikah tower. He pauses, stares, and narrows his eyes as the familiar pull he has been experiencing as of late settles inside him once more.

Warriors arches his eyebrow at the tower before he looks behind him, down to the dirt path below, and then the bridge. He sees no one out of the ordinary and hears nothing but the town and its people waking up.

Warriors frowns, bemused, before he waves it off and steps inside.

A minute later, Warriors can barely focus on anything else as he tries to keep up the sudden breakfast argument between their youngests. He doesn’t even acknowledge the loud thump coming from above that hardly shakes the small inn until the hostess herself talks about it.

“Did he land on the roof again?” He hears her sigh, catching the way she shakes her head in exasperation from the corner of his eye. “How many times do I have to tell him to land on the deck instead?”

“He likes high places.” The hylian man besides her chuckles. 

The hostess huffs. “Just call him over, will you? I’ve got some favors to cash in from him.”

“Aye, aye.” Her partner says before he opens the inn's deck’s door. “Hey, Li — !”

" — blink and they’re gone!" Four shouts near Warriors's ear, deafening him halfway through. “Warriors! Did you hear me? I said that Hyrule and Wind just ditched us.”

“They what?” Warriors frowns and turns to Four. “What ever for?”

Four crosses his arms and gives him a look . “You weren’t listening so they decided to go get breakfast themselves.”

“And you let them?” Warriors arches an eyebrow.

Four arches an eyebrow back at him.

“Would you rather be three men down instead of two?”

“Fair point.” Warriors clicks his tongue. “Let’s catch up with them then, I’m sure they haven’t gone far.”

“Who? The traveler who gets lost every two hours and the pre-teen who just yesterday almost made it into a missing person poster?” Four deadpans and grunts when Warriors reaches out to ruffle his hair.

“Yeah, them.” Warriors chuckles, growing slightly rougher with Four as the younger teen grumbles in annoyance. “Come on, Smithy. Today you’re my second in command.”

“Oh, joy .”

Warriors stares at the community's cooking pot with a frown, tapping the side of his finger against his lower lip. 

He’s pretty sure he had followed his mother’s veggies soup recipe, all the way up to the point where the pot should be left alone so the soup can simmer on its own heat for a little while before serving, yet he still feels something is missing…

From the corner of his eye, he catches Wind crouching next to him.

“Did you throw a pumpkin in there?” He asks and Warriors bites down the grin on his lips at the sight of the teen copying his posture; finger pressed against his own chin while narrowed eyes contemplate the pot.

Warriors’s got to admit that the sailor can be quite endearing when acting his age.

“I did not.” Warriors replies, arching an eyebrow down at the sailor. “Why?”

“Smells like it.”

“What? No. You’re messing with me.”

“I’m not. I swear it does.”

“That makes literally no sense. I just used what you guys brought.”

“But it smells like pumpkin!”

Goddesses, Warriors takes it back. He always seems to forget how all kids are gremlins to their cores .

Especially those with the Hero’s spirit he calls 'brothers' .

“Wind, you didn't even buy a pumpkin!”

“That’s why I’m asking —!”

“What sword is that?”

It’s thanks to all of Warriors’s training and experience that keeps him from jumping on the spot, startled by the sudden question spoken right next to his ear. Unlike Wind, who yelps and falls on his butt. Warrior makes a note inside his head to train with him soon to sharpen his reactions.

Warriors whips his head to the voice’s source and barely manages not to head bump with the kid that he finds there, big brown eyes meeting his own blue ones. 

Warriors has the sudden thought that this kid must be pretty good in staring contests.

“Pardon?” He asks, shifting to put space between them and to keep the kid out of the hot pot’s reach. “My sword…?”

The kid nods his head eagerly as he points at the sheathed sword on Warriors’s hip.

“Ah, well — ”

“Psh! That’s nothing, kid!” Wind shouts, roughly bumping his shoulder against Warriors, making him grunt more out of annoyance than pain. “You should see mine.”

“You have a sword¡?” The kid shouts and Warriors swear his eyes start to sparkle. “That’s so cool! How come they let you have one? My grandpa told me kids can’t have one.”

Wind rolls his eyes. “Of course I do, because I’m not a kid. I’m fourteen.” He replies dryly and scowls when the kid arches an eyebrow and eyes him from head to toe. “ Oi —! ”

“Mama says lying is bad,” The kid says with a small disappointed shake of his head. “You shouldn’t lie about having a sword.”

Wind gapes. “What the — ? But I do! It’s just in my room at the inn!”

The kid narrows his eyes, arms crossed over his chest. “ Hm, very convinience .”

“Convenient.” Warriors corrects him under his breath.

“Convenient!” The kid repeats, beaming with pride when Warriors nods in approval.

“Warriors!” Wind huffs, sparing him a brief betrayed look, which Warriors blatantly shrugs off, before he turns back to the kid. “Listen here —”

Warriors slowly turns back to the cooking pot he left behind, checking its contents while keeping an ear on the argument behind him.

“I left for ten minutes.” He hears a few minutes later and he looks over his shoulder to catch sight of Four and Hyrule both walking around Wind and the kid as if they were bokoblins. “Why’s Wind fighting with a kid half my size?”

“Youth’s dumbassery.” Warriors replies nonchalantly with a small shrug.

From the corner of his eye, he catches Hyrule sniffling the air before he leans forward, eyeing the pot with an odd look.

“Hey, did you put pumpkin in — ?”

“Tch! I bet you have never seen a sword like mine !” Wind shouts, saving Warriors from a small headache only to offer him a bigger one created by the Hero of Wind himself, truly.

“Nah-huh! No way, because I have seen all kinds of weapons in all of Hyrule!” The kid shouts back, throwing his arms out to emphasize his words.

“Hah! Yeah, well, mine is not from your Hyrule —”

And that’s Warriors’s cue.

“Oh, wow! In all of Hyrule? How? Tell me more.” He asks in one breath, grabbing Wind by the shoulders before shoving towards Four, ignoring the way they yelp as they collide harshly.

The kid doesn’t even spares Wind a glance before he’s beaming brightly once again at Warrior’s interest.

“Ah! My friend shows them to me when I ask!” The kid says, bouncing on his feet. “He has an entire collection, it’s so big because he’s old." 

Warriors tilts his head, slightly curious about the hylian. “Is he a warrior or a soldier?”

The kid tilts his head back at Warriors and purses his lips in thought.

“Hm, I don’t know but I know he’s, like, the Champion because he’s the best of the best and he’s — Oh! I can show you! He’s in town!” The kid gasps, snatching Warriors by the sleeve and tugging him forward. “Come on! Come on!”

Warriors’s eyes widen in surprise as he stumbles over his feet to stand up and follow. He vaguely hears Wind’s ‘Oi! Now where are you going¡?’ before he’s pulled into a small crowd bustling in the small space between the shops and residential area of the town.

Eventually Warrior ends up in front of a small hastily put-on stage that makes him frown because he’s fairly convinced that hadn’t been there yesterday when they arrived.

“Champ!” The kid shouts out happily and Warriors’s suspicions are proven right as soon as he catches sight of Champion a few feet from them, on top of the stage.

Warriors offers a wide grin as soon as Champion’s gaze settles on him and feels both fond and smug the moment Champ beams once he recognizes him. 

“Why am I even surprised at this point?” Warriors asks himself as he watches Champ mumble some things to the hylians around him before jumping off the stage, making his way over.

“Hey! I was wondering if you and the rest had skipped town already without saying goodbye,” Champ says with a wide grin.

“Us? I’m surprised you’re here and not somewhere out there digging up a treasure.”

“Ran out of bombs.” Champ shrugs, nonchalant, and Warriors can’t even ask if he’s joking before he kneels down to greet the kid between them with a wide grin. “And where, exactly, did you run off to, little man? You missed rehearsals.”

The kid gasps, hands flying to his cheeks.

“Oh, no! Macy’s gonna kill me!” he says before he takes off only to stop mid-run to shout, “Oh, oh! Mr. Cool Sword wants to see your weapons by the way! Show him my favorites!! Please, please, bye!”

“Mr. Cool Sword?” Champ teases, cheeks puffs as he tries and fails to muffle his snickers that spill over as soon as Warriors smacks the back of his hand on his shoulder.

“Fun kid there," Warriors says, nodding towards the kid who had now joined a small group of children his size, their conversation too quick and far for him to hear. He grins when Champion huffs with poorly hidden fondness.

“The first time I stepped into the village, he basically ambushed me by the entrance as soon as he saw the windcleaver I had on me at the time.”

Warriors tilts his head and rubs his chin as he tries to remember a weapon of said name, going as far as consulting his mental-weaponry knowledge but still coming up blank. 

“Can’t say I recognize the name.”

Champion’s expression brightens at the same time it turns playful.

“Ah, so you did want to see my collection.” 

Warriors crosses his arms over his chest. “I can't say it didn't pique my interest. Kind of comes with the job description.” He shrugs off Champion's questioning glance with a wave of his hand. “How are you, by the way? Any lingering spells from yesterday’s incident?”

“Shouldn't I be the one asking you that?”

“Considering you were the one who had a concussion and was smoking? No.”

“Ah, right, that’s, uh, a fair point.” Warriors laughs, grinning earnestly at the sheepish look on Champ’s face. “I’m fine. Nothing a good night of sleep couldn’t fix — Oh, wait! Did you request the soft bed at the inn like I told you guys?”

Warriors nods and stands straighter, flexing his arms for show. “It did wonders. I feel like I’m eighteen all over again; ready to take over the training ground with just a sword.”

“Right?” Champ cheers, looking as if he could relate to the scenario which makes Warriors pause the briefest moment, “I told you, those beds are the best in the Necluda state.”

“Because you have tried all of the beds in the Necluda state to claim so?” Warriors asks, his curiosity over Champ growing with every little thing he finds out about him, drawing him in. It’s an invisible pull Warriors can’t quite place, yet feels oddly familiar. 

“You mentioned that you traveled a lot, right?”

Champ nods, looking proud. “Been doing it for years now, since I turned seventeen. I’ve visited almost every spot in the country thrice by now.”

The statement makes Warriors frown in confusion. “Really? You look awfully young to travel such distances.”

Champ arches an eyebrow. “How old do you think I am?”

Warriors thinks it over, squinting his eyes as he looks at Champion from head to toe. “I’d have said around sixteen, to be honest — ”

Champion snorts. “What? No way, by sixteen I was already — ” He pauses, considers a thought and then waves it off. “Doesn’t matter. No, my twentieth anniversary just passed a few weeks ago, actually.”

Champion does a small pause before he adds, "Technically speaking, of course."

"Of course…" Warriors trails off, bemused, but still bites down a grin as he teases, “but to be fair, you do look young, despite the scars.”

Champ grimaces. "It's the cheeks, isn't it?"

Warriors coughs to cover his snickers.

"If it is any consolation," Warriors says, patting the younger hylian on the back. "One of my brothers is the same. When I first met him, I thought he was way younger than he actually was."

"What — " Champion frowns. "But if he's your brother, then didn't you meet him when he was a baby?"

Warriors freezes and kicks himself in his mind.

"Uh, he's my long lost brother," Warriors explains hastily, spatting the first thing his brain could muster. "Long story. Happy ending. So far. Anyway , so baby face but still an adult, huh?"

Champion huffs. “Says the one with the wrinkles.”

Warriors isn’t aware of the gasp that leaves his lips until Champion explodes in snickers.

“How dare you.” Warriors hisses in faux anger, shoving a finger towards Champion's still giggling face. “I'll have you know I'm at the peak of my youth."

"Your eyes say otherwise." Champ says and it's easy to catch the shadows that fall on Champ's gaze when Warriors has it countless times in his soldiers back at home, along with his brothers-in-spirit whenever things get too quiet too quickly.

Has seen it in himself too, whenever he manages to catch his reflection. There's a reason why Warriors avoids mirrors, after all.

"Meaning?" Warriors asks quietly, a small frown growing on his mouth when Champion dismisses the question with a quick wave of his hand.

“Nothing, really, it’s just — I thought — ” Champ furrows his eyebrows, looking troubled as he shifts on his feet and Warriors can’t help but feel concerned.

“Takes one to know one?” Warriors tries to guess, understanding slowly dawning on him.

Champion smacks his lips together as he looks away and rubs the back of his neck, looking embarrassed.

“Yeah, something like that.” He mumbles before forcing a grin on his face. “Anywho, how about you stay and watch the show? I can show you my weapon collection afterwards, if you still want to see it.”

Warriors bites the inside of his cheek, uneasy at the abrupt change of topics, but realizes he’s no one to push on the matter, no matter how much his gut twists uneasily.

He barely has time to nod once before Champion cheers and walks off, heading back to the stage.

“Wait! What kind of show is this?” He shouts, bewildered, hands cupped on the side of his mouth.

“Stay and see! I think you’ll like it!” Champion shouts back at him, mimicking Warriors’s hands on his own mouth while still walking his path backwards. His grin grows wider and wilder the next second and adds, “You guys too! See me afterwards!”

Warriors blinks in bemusement, hands on his hips, and jumps as soon as Four’s familiar voice appears next to him.

Seems like Four doesn't need any stealth training. Good to know.

“Make it worth my time!” Four shouts, ignoring the scowl Warriors sends his way. “I actually wanna see this so-called ‘best weapon’ collection!”

Champion throws them one last look and seals their promise with a wink and a thumbs up before he disappears behind the crowd near the stage.

Warriors rolls his eyes and grumbles to himself, arms crossed over his chest as he looks at Four on his side and then turns his head to his left to find both Wind and Hyrule, both wearing matching grins.

Warriors looks between the three of them before he sighs, exasperation crawling back to his chest.

“Guys, what happened to our lunch?”

At the three wide eyed look the three youngest share between themselves, Warriors allows himself to smack his hand against his face so the sting from it could drown the urge to strangle one of them.

“Oh, hey, the show’s starting,” Hyrule hastily says as he pats Warriors on the back and pushes him forward. “Let’s get a closer look, hm?”

Warriors scowls, reprimand ready on his lips before the crowd’s loud cheering and round of applause steals his attention and then the parade of hylian-fashion kidnaps his entire focus.

“Oh.” Warriors gasps softly under his breath, eyes wide as he takes in the line of hylian men and women that parade across the stage and shows off the outfit on them. 

He’s even able to recognize some of them, two armors and a casual attire, being the same ones he has seen Champion wearing the times they had run into him in the past few days but in a different color scheme.

Warriors tilts his head and crosses his arms over his chest as he watches hylian after hylian, nodding in approval every now and then. He hardly notices the way his youngest brothers sigh in relief and share a quick and low high-five among themselves.

“When I said collection, I didn’t expect this one.”

“Well, I was going to show you my weapons collection.” Champs defends himself, arms crossed as he glances at Four next to him before he shrugs and nods towards Warriors’s general direction. “But the Captain technically did call dibs first and chose this collection instead.”

“I have no regrets.” Warriors declares as he crouches and studies every piece of clothing laid before him on the wide spread cloth, touching its texture and making mental notes in the back of his head to compare each of them carefully as he holds them out.

His eyes don’t even lift from his task as he adds, “Even captains can have their hobbies outside the battlefield, you know.”

“That’s a fair point.” Four hums, accepting defeat as he steps closer and starts scanning the clothing himself. “It’s still a pretty cool collection, to be honest. Are you into fashion as well, Champ?”

“Something like that.” Champ answers, joining the pair with a proud glint in his eyes. “In the beginning, my travels basically forced me to adapt myself according to the zone I was passing through, but, now, as the country evolves and grows, me and my friends are trying to encourage all of the country’s cultures to step out of their hometowns or lands and venture into each other’s, even for a visit, now that the paths and trails to travel on are safer than ever.”

Warriors feels himself smile and, from the corner of his eye, he sees Four doing the same.

“So you basically both entertain and educate people through these parades?” Four asks eagerly and Warriors chuckles to himself at the slowly-turning familiar violet shade Four’s eyes flash with whenever he dives into a topic he wants to know more about. “Subtly teaching them what to wear depending on the territory’s climate and the culture’s customs?”

Champion nods proudly. “Yup! Pretty much. I have some friends and business partners across the country that supply me with some of the outfits for me to promote them around.”

“A fighter, a cook, a traveler, a merchant, a treasure hunter, and a champion all in one?” Warriors jokes over his shoulder, grinning wide while throwing a playful wink at the blushing Champion. “You’re what in my town we call a jack-of-all-trades.”

“Don’t forget local-ghost.” Wind chimes in from the side, jumping on Champ’s back and hanging from his neck, lips turning into an easygoing grin when Champ instinctively hooks his arms under the teen’s thighs to support him properly. “That one is my favorite.”

“Ghost?” Champ questions, eyebrows furrowed in confusion but can’t ask anything further before Hyrule steals his attention.

At the same time, certain tiaras and circlets steal Warriors’s attention, the conversation behind him turning into background noise as he picks up the accessories one by one, admiring the clear handmade crafting on them and humming with delight at the well-state they seem to be in despite being, clearly, well used and worn.

It’s only because of his training that he idly keeps one ear open, only half-following the conversation.

“Ooh! So you live here.” He hears Wind say, a low but long whistle following close by. “It’s so nice!”

“Thanks! My house is past those odd-shaped houses.” Champ chuckles fondly before there’s some rustling and the sound of two feet landing on the ground. “See the bridge behind them? Cross that and you’ll find it. I live there with my partner, Flora.”

“Oh, she’s the one who broke her ankle, right?” Four asks next and Warriors manages to catch him stepping to the side as Wind rushes past him and joins Hyrule on the other pile of clothes and costumes across from him, where he gets to keep a lazy but clear eye on them. 

“It’s now just sprained, actually, after all the potions I’ve made her drink, but yeah, she’s the one.” Champ hums. “She’s sulking right now back at the house because I refused to carry her all the way to Purah’s lab up there earlier in the morning.” 

He snorts, sounding fondly exasperated before he pauses briefly and says, “Which reminds me, where’s — Legend, right? The one who said the slate was magic?”

“Oh, he went to the lab, like you told him to.” Hyrule answers, snickering when Wind picks up the bokoblin mask off the ground and puts it on. Hyrule picks the moblin’s mask for himself. 

"Oh, did Time and Sky joined him then?" Champion asks. “It’s weird not to see you bunch all together.”

“They did, yeah, along with Twilight."

Warriors doesn’t see Champ furrowing his eyebrows, but he hears his confusion when he asks, “Who’s that last one?”

“Ah, you haven't met him yet but he's the one with the baby cheeks I told you about." Warriors fills him in.

"Don't let him hear you say that." Hyrule jokingly warns with a grin, Wind snickering next to him.

"He's also the one who had been scouting ahead when we first met you, I'm sure you will meet him later,” Four says, ending the topic right there and then by holding up an odd-looking helmet before Champ could ask anything else.  “Now, the real question here: is this skull from the beast you slayed which earned you your ‘Champion’ nickname?”

“Hah, no way. I found this during one of my journeys.” Champ grins, taking it from Four’s hands before placing it on the teen’s head, cackling at the small complaint Four shouts when the helmet falls on his eyes. “I know it’s a lynel’s skull, though.”

“Huh, aren’t those some of the big ones? Four legs, two arms?” Warriors wonders outloud, the name of the beast sparkling a random conversation he’d had with Legend during their early days on the quest. “Also, where can I get one of each of these?”

He asks while holding up his arms, where two hand-crafted looking circlets hang from his forearm while holding the golden tiara with the diamond bits on it with his hand.

“Don’t forget grumpy and territorial. I’ll tell you which areas to avoid later.” Champ nods. “And those tiaras are from Gerudo town, which is all the way across the country.”

He grins when Warriors’s jaw goes slack at the news and then blinks when Champ pats him on the back. “Tell you what, choose your favorite and keep it. Consider it a gift for breaking my fall yesterday.”

Warriors gapes in shock for a brief second before a grin splits his face in two.

“Whichever?”

Champ nods, confident. “Whichever one you want.”

Warriors can’t help himself when he fist bumps the air in victory and keeps the sapphire circlet all to himself, dropping the other two on Champ’s hand.

“How do I look?” He asks, brushing his scarf back theatrically as he puts his hands on his hips and grins blindly. “Dashing? Marvelous? Outstanding?”

“Big-headed? Posh? Ridiculous?” Wind teases on the side, laughing behind the bokoblin’s mask.

Warriors spares him a flat look.

“You look great,” Champ says next to him, snatching Warriors's attention once more. He smiles sincerely as his eyes scan Warriors from head to toe, nodding approvingly. “Wise choice, actually. The sapphire really matches both your eyes and uniform. It’s a nice fit, Captain.”

Warriors blinks, astonished, before a grin breaks out of his lips.

“Now this is a hylian with quality taste and style!” He howlers, throwing an arm around Champ's shoulders before he ruffles his hair playfully. “I’ve got to say, my friend. You just keep finding new ways to surprise me every time we meet.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment, since many of my friends call it a flaw.” Champ huffs as he pushes Warriors’s hand off his head with a grin. “Like, there was this one time I showed Sidon, my friend, how to use the paraglider to get the ultimate dive and he was all ‘You cannot use the top of the palace as a platform, my friend, it’s not even flat —’ “

Champion cuts himself short the moment Four raises a hand.

“Sorry, not trying to be rude,” Four says, eyes focused and narrowed on something behind Champion, “but does your partner, by any chance, have blonde hair?”

Champ blink, bemused, but still nods.

"Short hair? Neck length?"

Another nod.

“And is she around your height?”

"Yeah, actually, fun fact: she used to give me so much grief for the two inches she had on me before we reunited. Now she only pouts and grumbles because of the two I have on her.”

“Fun indeed.” Four hums, ignoring the way Hyrule goes ‘reunite ?’ and Wind’s head pops out of the mask asking for gossip. “Also, she's hopping on one leg behind you.”

“She’s what!” Champ whips his head back and Warriors follows his gaze, immediately understanding the scandalized look that takes over Champ’s face at the sight of a young hylian woman hopping past the square shaped houses, clearly struggling.

“Flora, what do you think you’re doing?” Champ exclaims, marching towards her and ignoring the way she freezes. Even from a distance, Warriors can see her big bright green eyes widening in surprise.

“Why, I'm merely taking a stroll, my dear Champion,” Champion’s partner — Flora herself in the flesh — says sweetly, adding a smile that could fool anyone, even Warriors himself, if said smile wouldn’t remind him of Zelda’s own whenever she tried to hide something. 

Last time he saw that kind of smile, it had been when she had eaten his chocolate dessert and claimed innocence when asked about it. She still owes him that one. 

He makes a mental note to remind her next time they are dropped on his era.

“Really?” Champion deadpans as he reaches her and holds out his arms to support her, easing the weight she had on her clearly-still-healing ankle. “Wanna try a better excuse?”

“Do I get bonus points for the creativity of said excuse?”

“No.”

“Then I shall refrain, thank you.”

Warriors snorts, along with the rest of his party, and clears his throat in faux innocence when Champion throws them a halfhearted glare over his shoulder before he focuses back on his partner.

“What happened?”

“I grew bored.” Flora shrugs awkwardly, still trying to stay upright on one leg while holding on to Champion’s forearms. “There’s only a short amount of upgrades I can add to the slate without the proper tools that the lab has and our house lacks.” 

She sighs, a small pout on her cheeks that is chased away when Champion pokes her cheek.

“Uh-huh.” Champion mumbles, swiftly maneuvering himself and his partner until managed to get Flora on his back, her ankle finally off the ground for good. “And the real reason? There's no way you and slate and bored could ever be in the same sentence.”

Flora pouts and drops her chin on Champion’s shoulder before she murmurs, “I got hungry.”

Right on cue, four stomachs growl with agreement behind the couple, including Warriors's own.

“I think you weren’t the only one.” Champion chuckles while Flora giggles and Warrior notices only Four and him have the decency to look sheepish. “Who’s up for some late lunch?”

Five hands rise up at the idea.

“Guess that settles it.” Champ nods to himself, shifting to get a better grip on his partner before he tilts his head towards his house. "It's a good chance to show you around our house."

"I’m Flora, by the way, it’s a pleasure to meet you,” Flora says, smiling brightly at them as she waves at them from Champ’s back with a light blush. “Apologies for the unconventional meeting.”

“You should see our day by day if this is what you consider unconventional.” Four jokes, making Flora relax and sigh in relief, effortlessly waving away her worries.

“They’re part of the group I told you about.” Champ says, throwing her a grin over his shoulder. “The ones who I keep running into?”

“Oh! This is them?” She asks excitedly, hand over her mouth as she giggles. “Now it’s even more of a pleasure to meet you, though I feel I should apologize for any problems I’m sure my partner may have caused you during said encounters, even by accident.”

“He can mend himself by cooking that soup he did in the woods when we first met.” Warriors teases, ignoring Champion’s offended scoff.

“I had already offered to cook.” Champ rolls his eyes good-heartily, sending them a smirk. “Come on, follow me. It’s a good thing we’re close to the house.”

“Just please excuse the small contained infestation we currently have of weeds," Flora says sheepishly. "We haven't had the chance to do proper chores in a while with all of our traveling."

"That's an understatement.” Champion snorts. “You can hardly see the sign at it's entrance."

Flora shrugs. "It's not as if we needed it, most of Hyrule know who lives there."

"And know we do too!" Wind cheers, making the entire party laugh.

Warriors reaches to ruffle his hair, chest growing fond at the happy snicker that escapes from the teen out as he pretends to hate the random act of affection and, from the corner of his eye, he manages to catch a fleeting glance coming from Champion.

Judging by the way Flora's gaze softens, Warriors knows he wasn't the only one to catch it. The only difference between Warriors and Flora is that while Warriors opts turn a blind eye on it, Flora strokes her partner's cheek in what can only be taken as comfort.

It leaves him wondering what could she be comforting him for.

Warriors pretends not to see the small but grateful smile Champ sends her way before he turns back to face them properly, narrating about the endless possibilities for lunch and only hyping both Hyrule and Wind on while Four chats with Flora on the other side.

Warriors follows the group in silence, enjoying the chatter. Odd, he thinks, how it feels as if they were heading back home.

It’s hours later when Warriors finds himself back on the inn’s deck, appreciating the gentle and soothing atmosphere the town gained as soon as the sun had set, so unlike it had been during the afternoon when it was bustling with energy and loud noises.

While cradling a warm steaming mug of tea, provided once again by the inn’s hostess, he leans against the deck’s rail and he enjoys the change of pace. 

His gaze ultimately falls on the blue flames that continue to rage on gently within its container. Quite the odd thing but not the oddest he has seen. It makes him wonder how he hadn't noticed them before Wind had brought them up during their late-lunch with both Champ and Flora.

Warriors hums to himself as he takes a sip of his tea, eyes instinctively reaching for the tower just like they had done so earlier on the day. Nothing inside him either tugs or pulls at its faint sight and it makes Warriors frown.

“Odd,” he murmurs to himself, furrowing his eyebrows as he thinks back to the first few times he had felt such pull. The first one ever had been way back, when he had been still in his own era, right before the War of Worlds where some of their timelines had collided and he had met Wind and a younger Time for the first —

“No way.” Warriors straightens up, hissing when the movement makes him spill some of the tea on his hand. He grunts and scowls, annoyed from the incident and at being unable to shake the feeling that he’s missing something important.

Maybe he really should have joined the others that morning.

A loud whistle pulls him out of his thoughts, making him turn around just in time to Sky’s beaming smile and Time’s smirk as they reach the end of the town’s bridge, Twilight and Legend close behind.

“Look who decided to come back.” Warriors teases, pushing his thoughts to the back of his mind before greeting the group with a quick and playful two-fingered salute. “How was the trip?” 

The simple question makes Sky snort and Time sighs through his mouth. Warriors unapologetically barks a laugh.

“Vet started a fight?” Warriors guesses, smirking when Legend finally looks up with a scowl. 

“ Oi, uncalled for! ”

“Legend started a fight.” Time confirms dryly.

The guilty party huffs in offense. “ I did not! ”

“Of course he did.” Warriors laughs over the vet’s fruitless excuses, throwing a grin over his shoulder at Four as the teen steps into the deck. “Oi, Smithy, turns out you were right.”

Four arches an eyebrow back at him, tilting his head in question and all Warriors has to do is tilts his own head towards the fuming Legend below the deck for him to understand.

“Ah, so he did start a fight.”

“ By the Oracle's sake! ”

Warriors chuckles around his tea and stops Four from stealing his mug by pushing the heel of hand on his forehead, his tea ultimately being saved by Time asking Four to get their missing members as they made their way to the inn and then the deck.

The logistics of rounding up eight men and teens is always a hassle, something that Warriors had learned during the first day since he joined the party. It really doesn’t matter the distance among them they need to close, it takes a while .

But eventually they find each other once again together, sharing the same space with everyone within reach, and it’s only then when Warriors can ease the subtle tension of his shoulders he had been carrying all day long.

There are habits and patterns from his time during the war he’s yet to shake off even after all this time.

“Did you get anything about the hero of this Hyrule?” Four asks, sitting on top of the railing with Time standing next to him. Their leader doesn't bat his eye in the slightest when Four not-so-subtly steals his mug of tea from his hand.

“We didn’t get much before Legend started arguing with the professor about how magic and technology are not the same.” Sky replies, cradling his own mug with both hands, securing it firmly while suspiciously eyeing Wind sitting down next to him.

“Well, they’re not .” Legend huffs, arms crossing over his chest as he leans back on the deck’s rail.

In front of him, Twilight spares the vet a flat look before he says, ”Either way, Professor Purah said our best bet was to wait for the hero here in Hateno. It seems it’s around this season when he visits the town to rest up before heading back out.”

Sky purses his lips, the edge of his frown turning down with worry. “I think it’s important to mention that she admitted herself that she hadn’t had enough sleep for the past few days, nor her assistant, so her information might be somewhat unreliable.”

“So our chances of finding the hero are as slim as ever?” Four asks, groaning at the answer Time’s grimace wordlessly tells him.

“In summary, this has been the most impractical recruitment ever.” Legend grunts, dragging his hands over his face.

“At least we’re having fun and enjoying the journey,” Wind says and whistles under his breath when Legend sends him a glare. “Or not .”

“What if we explore around?” Hyrule suggests as he sits crossed legged on the bench against the deck's railing. “The town's not big but it’s still wide. We could cover more ground that way.”

“You just want to explore.” Legend huffs, gaze unimpressed as Hyrule shrugs and doesn’t deny it.

“It’s not a bad idea, though,” Sky says, idly giving in to Wind’s relentlessness by offering him his mug only to roll his eyes in exasperation when the teen makes a face of disgust after one sip. “We could go to the beach we saw behind the lab, remember? Its path was on its side."

"There’s a beach here?" Wind shouts, shoving the mug back to Sky’s hands before standing up on his chair. “I thought my nose was playing tricks on me! Holy shit!”

“Language.” Sky scolds by instinct, swiping some of the tea that spilled out of the mug from its side.

Wind waves it off and he seems to prepare himself to curse something even worse just to be a menace, when he catches Twilight walking behind him, heading to the deck’s door.

Wind takes advantage of his position to jump on the rancher’s back, limiting himself to shout ‘Twilight’ as warning before hooking his arms around his neck.

“Come on, Twilight! To the beach!” Wind cheers loudly.

“Gah — Wind! ”

Warriors arches an eyebrow at the scene, aware that Wind tends to jump into anyone’s backs at any given moment in time, all except for strangers and Four, since he would probably break him in half, but the scene still gives him a pause.

Ah, right, Warriors thinks, eyebrows furrowing together as the thought crosses his mind, Wind did the same with Champion earlier. 

"But why can’t we go right now? Wind whines, twisting his grip on Twilight’s wolf pelt. “The ocean is calling me!

"The sun has already set, Sailor,” Time says and smiles endearingly at Wind as he continues, “We'll go tomorrow first thing in the morning."

" Yes!! " The teen cheers, loud enough to be a shriek and finally making Twilight wince below him.

"Wind!” Twilight snaps as he glares at the teen behind his shoulder. “Either stop screaming in my ear or get off me!"

Wind squeaks like a mouse before he wraps his arms around Twilight’s head, as if the rancher would dare to drop him with the golden heart he has, and mumbles his apology on Twilight’s brown locks.

Twilights sighs and pats him on the thigh, wordlessly accepting the apology, and while the rest of the group continue to arrange tomorrow’s plan, he throws a longing glance towards the main path of the town.

Warriors arches an eyebrow. "Got somewhere else to go, Rancher?" he asks, catching his attention while stepping forward, sparing the same path a brief look. He sees nothing but the store owners closing for the day.

Twilight purses his lips, lost in thought for a second, before he sighs and shakes his head.

"No," he says, letting Wind slide off his back when the teen urgently pats him on the shoulder.

They watch him run back to the rest of their brothers, giving his two cents to their mini-beach-vacation, and Warriors’s about to open his mouth when Twilight says, "Hey, I’mma take a quick bath. Gimme a shout if anything comes up."

Warriors swallows his sigh before he nods.

"Will do," he says, patting his brother on the back as he passes by as encouragement and watches him go until he disappears behind the deck's door.

"Just gotta trust him, huh?" Four mumbles, walking to stand next to him with his arms crossed, eyes getting a warmer shade of red as the setting sun hits them the right way.

Warriors sighs and grabs Four by the shoulder, bringing him and himself back to the rest of their brothers.

"Let him be for now," Warriors says quietly, sparing the main path of the town one last look, eyes lingering a second too long towards the path that leads to Champ’s house. “Like I said, he’ll come to us when he’s ready.”

He says that and yet, Warriors isn’t above admitting to himself that he’s no longer sure who is he trying to reassure.

Chapter Text

Wind woke up before the sun itself did and made it everybody’s problem.

“We should have left you when we had the chance.” Legend continues to complain as he’s dragged along by Wind, grumbling under his breath when the younger hero’s tugs on his tunic become extra demanding. “I’m comin’! Jeez .”

“You’re too slow!” Wind whines — complains right back at him. “Didn’t you say you had some flying horse’s boots that made you faster?”

“Flying hor — ? They’re pegasus boots, you dimwit!”

“Who cares! Why aren’t you using them now ?”

“By Hylia! Wish granted, you gremlin, but just know that as soon as we arrive, I am tossing you to the water!”

Hah! Wind would like to see him try. He tells Legend as much, scoffing to dismiss the added threat sent his way about drowning him, which only makes Legend fume even more.

Wind barely notices Legend preparing himself to pounce at him, being stopped just in time by Hyrule pulling him back by the waist. Instead, Wind’s head snaps back to the front the moment a familiar sound reaches his ears.

He gasps loudly and runs past both Time and Warriors as he races down the rest of the path, his grin wide and blinding as the seagulls’ cries grow louder and the sound of waves crashing among themselves joins them effortlessly.

He ignores the calls from his brothers and idly acknowledges Sky’s ‘Don’t run downhill!’ if only because he stumbled at the top of the hill that leads to the beach itself.

Wind’s lungs burn by the time he reaches the shore, his breathing leaving him in short pants while his eyes squint at the rising sun that has finally come out of its hiding place.

It’s quite the sight, watching it rise as if it dug its way out of the ocean’s depth like it usually does in his Hyrule and, for a moment, he can almost hear Tetra’s voice.

If he concentrates hard enough, he can almost imagine the familiar touch of Tetra’s fingers brushing against his own like they often do whenever they manage to greet a new day together.

Short and brief, gone in a blink of an eye, but it never fails to ignite a fire inside Wind’s chest that lasts the entire day until Tetra does it all over again the next day.

Wind closes his eyes and swallows the still heavy sorrow of being so far away from home. He finds comfort in the sun’s rays as they hit his face, warming him up to the point he can feel the heat of his body on his cheeks before a chilly breeze has mercy on him and brings balance with it.

“For a moment I was scared you would beat Legend to it and drown yourself first, saving him the trouble.” Four’s voice snaps him out of his head.

Wind turns his head, catching his brother’s gaze over his shoulder and matching his grin with one of his own. Looking over Four’s shoulder, he can catch the rest of the group not far behind.

“Please, as if the sea would let him.” Wind jokes, turning back to face the sea. Four hums idly in response, looking at the sand around by his feet before he flops himself on it with an easy grin.

“Well, we’re here now. What’s next? Wanna build a sand castle?”

Wind scrunches his nose, turning around so Four could appreciate the disdain on his face properly.

“I'm not eight .” He huffs, crossing his arms over his chest as he glares at the older but shorter hero.

Four raises both of his hands in surrender but his grin takes a teasing edge.

“What? Too old to play on the sand?”

“I'm a pirate . Pirates don't play with the sand, they bury treasures on it.”

“You can be a pirate and still be fourteen, Wind.” 

Before Wind could reply, a slim but rough hand lands on his head, ruffling it mercilessly. He yelps, more out of annoyance than anything else, and blinks in surprise when meets Legend’s grinning face from the corner of his eye.

“Ready to meet your end?” He asks, grin turning into a smirk as he subtly sneaks his other arm around Wind’s middle, ready to be snatched. Wind makes a run for it.

"Only if you manage to catch me first!" Wind cackles, squirming his way out of Legend's hold swiftly but yelping in surprise when the vet's counterattack comes faster than expected. “Not fair! Now you’re using the boots!?”

Legend’s wicked cackling is answer enough.

Wind loses track of the time, too busy escaping Legend’s hands and laughing so hard in between that his cheeks hurt. All he knows by the time Legend manages to tackle him, a little further down from the shallowest part of the shore, is that the sea tastes the same in this Hyrule like it does in his own and his heated skin seems to melt at the ocean’s touch.

“Alright, I hope you learned your lesson, you gremlin.” Legend says, pulling himself, and Wind for that matter since his arms are still around his middle, off the water. He lets go of him when Wind splashes some water to his face. “Gah! Wind! ”

Wind snickers to himself and escapes Legend’s hands one last time, brushing the water and sand off his head as he flops next to Four and Sky, both of them too engrossed on the small sand castle between them to notice him.

Wind tilts his head when he doesn't catch the rest of his group except for Time, who’s in the middle of tossing a dry towel to Legend, who catches it with his face.

The small twitch Time’s lips make at the misfortune of the vet, tells Wind it had been intentional.

But Wind knows how to keep secrets.

“Hey, where did everyone go?” He asks, moving around enough to drop himself on top of Four’s hunched figure, ignoring the annoyed huff he gets in return. 

“Out exploring.” Sky answers him, sparing him an amused smile before he goes back to the sand castle, both of his undershirt’s sleeves pulled all the way up to his elbows. “Hyrule practically had to beg and you know how both Twilight and Warriors are too weak for anyone’s begging.”

Oh, doesn’t Wind know it a little too well, despite the fact he has only been part of the group for three weeks now. Or was it four? It’s hard to keep track of time with all the time-jumps they have done.

Either way, Wind decides to enjoy the reminder that, even if he hasn’t been with his brothers from the start, he can’t help but feel like he has . From the moment they appeared on Outset, Wind never, not once, felt at odds with any of them.

They felt like old friends, reuniting after a long journey. They felt like family. Home.

He has never told any of them of this, may the late King of Hyrule from his time forbid it, he would never hear the end of their teasing or cooing. He has enough of that already as the youngest of the group.

But it doesn’t make it any less true.

“Hey, squirt.” Legend suddenly appears, nudging him on the thigh with the tip of his foot. 

Wind tilts his head up, squinting his eyes from the sun but managing to meet his brother’s face along with the towel that has replaced the vet’s trusty hat before he’s attacked on the face by another towel.

“Ack!” Wind yelps in surprise, cursing under his breath as he moves the towel off. “What now?”

"Wanna try something cool?" Legend asks and Wind arches an eyebrow at him, skeptical.

"Squid balloon level?" He asks, recalling the last time Legend asked him the same question. The vet grins wildly and it's not long before Wind matches it. 

A burial later, Wind becomes a head facing the endless sea of adventures.

"I'm the sand guardian!! Guardian of the sand!" He shouts. 

Legend, next to him, piles more sand around him while cackling, "Jabun quivers before him!"

"Fuck off!" Wind shouts towards the waves and then sputters when some of the salty water gets on his mouth. "Bah, bleh!"

"Fuck you too, they say." Legend teases, recoiling when Wind spits the water left in his mouth to his direction.

“So much for a pirate who doesn’t play in the sand.” Four snorts, still a few feet away from them, and Wind catches him rolling his eyes when he sticks his tongue in his direction.

Wind’s smirk turns into a grin, only growing bigger at the taste of salt water left in his lips and the heat on his skin settling deep inside him, reminding him of home, home, home —

His grin stays but his cheeks stop hurting after that.

The sun’s at its peak by the time all of his brothers by soul present ditch him in the middle of the shallowest part of the ocean, only a few feet from the shore itself.

“You’re the ocean lover, I’m sure you’ll have more luck with this than any of us.” Legend had said an hour ago, ruffling his hair before he made his way back to their spot below the palm tree, where Time’s last-minute grill sat.

Which is dumb as shit, really. Just because Wind likes the ocean doesn't mean he’s good at catching the fish that lives in it.

Stupid Legend. Stupid Four while he’s at it, just because. 

He would follow up with Sky and Time too, just out of spite, but he respects both men way too much for that.

Wind sighs to himself as he looks down at his feet, unamused to find them deeply submerged in the sand after staying still longer than intended.

He grumbles and stabs the spear Sky had handled him to catch their lunch, quicker than he could’ve done with Time’s worn out fishing pole, deep into the ocean’s floor, making sure it stood rigid before he tries to dig himself out the sand by wiggling his entire body feverishly.

He’s able to break one of his feet free in under a minute and he’s so close to breaking his own record time with his second foot when a faint but nagging sound reaches his ears, distracting him.

With a small frown, Wind pauses his mission to look behind him and he manages to catch the sheer panic and shock in all of his four companions by the shore before his eyes follow both Legend and Time’s eyes, landing somewhere towards the path they had walked down to reach the beach.

Wind gets to see nothing on it since the next second something big, hard, and loud slams itself against him and physically plunks him out of his semi-prison only to tackle him and roll him a few times over until the ocean floor was no longer within reach and he no longer knew what was up or down.

Bewildered but ever so faithful to his instincts to adapt and overcome, Wind’s quick to trash against the waves that crash against him as he tries to find his footing once more and pull himself up on his own, just like he has done so many times before.

The uneasiness he feels when he’s not able to right himself as fast as he planned doesn’t have the time to root itself into his chest before a pair of strong arms wrap themselves around his middle and pull .

Wind’s head breaks out of the waves and he coughs out the water he had swallowed by accident, stumbling awkwardly as he kicks his feet to stay afloat.

"I've got you! You're okay!" Someone shouts above his head and Wind can’t really see with most of his fringe covering his eyes but he can literally feel whoever is holding him twisting and stumbling with themselves just to keep Wind above water. 

Wind purses his lips and scrunches his nose when some snot slides into his lips. That sounds familiar, does he know — ?

“You’re good! See? No drowning today so keep your keep above water, alright? I’ve got you, it’s okay!”

Oh. Oh, wait, he does . He does! It’s — !

“ Champ!? ”  Wind gasps and kicks his legs against the water in excitement when he gets a distracted ‘uh-huh’ . 

"Holy shit, that — that was — what even was it¡? " Wind wheezes, hastily spitting out the last of the water in his mouth. "You came out of nowhere! Hylia’s tits! "

“Wind!” He hears Sky shrieks from somewhere and by the sound alone he can picture him looking flushed and scandalized at his choice of words.

Wind ignores him, though, having more important topics to tackle. Like figuring out just what the heck just happened and how can he relive it. He’s so engrossed in his one-sided conversation to hardly notice the way Champ changes his grip on him and instead of dragging him by the middle, he hooks his arms under his armpits.

Halfway through their journey back to the shore, Wind throws his head back to meet Champ’s eyes but, with his hair still blocking his eyes, he’s only able to squint at the sharp sunlight that hits him head on.

Still, Wind beams brightly at Champ upside down, grin spread over his face to the point his cheeks start hurting once again. 

“Hold on, now that I think about it, that was shield surfing, wasn’t it?” He asks eagerly and cheers in delight when he hears 'Huh? Oh, uh, yeah' from Champ. "You've got to teach me! Now now now!"

"What the heck." Champ murmurs, uncertain, and the next second Wind’s being held up by one arm around his middle. Wind doesn’t have time to complain about the new arrangement before a rough wet gloved hand pushes the hair out of his eyes for him.

Wind blinks a couple of times at the bright clear sky above him before he shifts his gaze and meets Champ’s arched eyebrow.

“How much sea water did you actually swallow?”

Wind shrugs awkwardly, still wrapped under Champ’s arm like a sack of rice.

“No more than usual.”

“That’s worrying.”

“That’s my grandma’s middle name.” Wind jokes, his grin taking an edge that makes Champ blink.

“You’re kind of wicked.” Champ hums before he matches Wind’s smirk with an edge that promises Wind adventure.

Wind flashes him a wink. “I'll take that as a compliment!”

“I don’t know what you were told!” He hears Legend shouts from the dry part of the shore. “But whatever it was, you should definitely not take it as a compliment!”

Wind limits to flip his finger off towards the sound of his voice.

Champ laughs quietly to himself before he looks down at Wind he asks, “You are okay, right?”

Wind huffs a breath, allowing himself just this one to be manhandled into safety or whatever, but only if that will make the guilty shade in Champion’s blue eyes.

Which is what Wind finds truly wicked; how they are almost as blue as the ocean.

“Of course, I’m okay.” Wind scoffs. “Would be ironic if the ocean was the one to drag me to my grave.”

“Wicked and dark.” Champ whistles. “You’re quite the package, kid.”

Wind’s grin just widens.

“Another compliment in my books.”

“Are you two okay?” Sky asks anxiously, joining them in their last steps out of the ocean’s waves as soon as they are within reach, now back in the shallowest part of the shore. 

“Am I okay? That was the wildest thing that has happened to me since we arrived at this place!” Wind cackles, finally finding his footing and brushing both Sky and Champ’s hands off so he could face Champ properly. "You will teach me, right? Please, please   — "

"That's it. We've lost Sailor for real this time." Legend deadpans, pushing his sunglasses back down, laying back down on his spot below the palm tree’s shade. "Took longer than expected, not gonna lie."

Everyone ignores him but only because Four steps up first to humble Legend by lazily kicking some sand to his face.

"Are both of you in one piece?" Time asks as he joins the trio, sighing in relief through his nose when Sky nods at him.

“Both may have some screws loose but I highly doubt that’s a consequence of this incident.” Sky teases lightly, faking exasperation as he pats Wind’s wet hair with one hand and Champion's shoulder with the other.

Champ winces, biting the bottom of his lips as he says, “I’m sorry about that. Really.” He turns to Wind and adds, “I’m sorry to you the most for putting you in danger, Wind, despite it being an accident.”

Wind waves his hand in the air. “Oi, you say that as if I don’t live my every day surrounded by danger.”

Champ arches an eyebrow at him, skeptical, before a thought seems to pass through his head for his eyes widen right there and then ever so slightly.

“Right.” Champ mumbles, sneaking a glance towards Time, Sky, and then the other two by the beach, a thoughtful look settling in his face. “Either way, I’m sorry for the trouble. I’lll make it up to you all somehow.”

“Hey, it’s alright. The important thing is that no one got hurt.” Sky comforts with a squeeze on the shoulder. “Don’t worry yourself sick about it — ”

The rest of Sky’s words are lost as he cries out in both surprise and pain when Wind headbutts him in the stomach, making him slip and fall to the water.

“No! Don’t listen to him!” Wind shouts, waving his arms around to keep Champ’s attention on him only and not in Sky who’s complaining from the ground. “Make it up to me by teaching me shield-surfing! Come on, Champ! ” 

Despite Wind’s best efforts, Champ’s eyes still shift from him to Time and Sky, looking unsure.

Surprisingly, it’s Time who steps in.

“I've got to say, this is quite the sport now that I’ve seen it in action,” he says, leading down to pick up the forgotten shield that had ended up being washed up back to the shore. He brushes some of the sand on its edges as he hums. “The sailor might not be the only one interested in trying out.”

Five pairs of eyes widen at the same time at the statement.

“Really?” Champ whispers in awe before his face breaks into a beaming grin. “Oh, yes! I mean, of course! If you guys are up for it. Despite the first impression just now, shield surfing is pretty safe.”

“Your partner ended up with a broken ankle.” Four reminds them from his spot next Legend, hands cupped on either side of his mouth to be heard.

Champ purses his lips. “But only because she didn’t listen to me.”

“Still, broken ankle!”

“Four, what side are you on?” Wind shouts, turning to glare at the small hero.

Four smirks. “No one's. I just enjoy stating facts!”

Wind throws a seashell at him.

“Get yourself and your facts out of here!”

“Never! One of us eight needs to have the brain cell!”

“He’s got a point there.” Sky hums, snorting a laugh when Wind whips his head towards him in betrayal. “What? You just headbutted me, you little remlit. Win me back and then I will think of backing you up.”

“ Sky .” Wind wails dramatically, throwing himself at the older hero and wrapping his arms around his waist. “Sky, come on. Don’t forsake me now!”

“Hm, not persuading enough.” Sky says, walking away and dragging Wind with him as he refuses to let go.

“ Skyyy! ”

“You hungry?” Wind hears Time ask Champ as he’s dragged away. “We’ve got some crabs to snack on for the time being.”

Wind’s not able to hear whatever Champ replies to that but whatever it was, it has Time humming approvingly. Half an hour later, they have more than just crabs to nibble on, thanks to Champ’s magic brick.

Wind ends up building a sand castle.

But only because Champ, unlike Wind apparently, is so damn good at persuading .

“I can't believe you fell for Four’s trap.” Wind grumbles, gently patting the side of the castle’s entrance, being careful to not press too hard. “And dragged me into it too.”

Champion shrugs. “Playing in the sand is fun, though.”

Wind begrudgingly agrees in his head but he will be damned to say so out loud, especially with Four being just a few feet away from them, within earshot.

He’d had enough with the smug grin the older hero had sent his way when Champ had glued his butt on the sand, after introducing them all to the very basics of shield-surfing, and Wind had followed almost immediately with the promise of doing actual real shield-surfing as soon as Wind got the basics nailed down to a fault.

“Must be fun, huh?” Champ asks and chuckles when Wind tilts his head in confusion. “Traveling with your brothers, I mean.” He explains, nodding towards the others who stayed by the grill, only a few feet away from them.

Wind beams as he nods. “Oh, you bet. You’ve got no idea the places we’ve seen. It wasn’t until recently that I joined them but they keep telling me about all these places they went before I came around and I made them promise to take me there if we ever wind up in the same Hyru — place! I mean, in the same place!

“Oh! And I always make sure to write down every detail in my log, so I can tell Aryll all about it when I see her again.” Wind snickers, scratching his nose, slightly embarrassed. “She’s always nagging me about taking her along on my adventures, so I came up with the idea of writing them all there and that way she can read all about them while I’m away!”

Champ whistles, sounding low-key impressed, and it makes Wind puff out his chest proudly.

“Sounds like a good plan.” Champ nods. “Who’s Aryll, though?”

Wind blinks twice before he gasps, realizing his mistake.

“Oh, I, uh — she’s my - our sister?” Wind laughs weakly, rubbing the back of his neck to ease his nerves. He hopes Champ doesn’t notice. “She barely turned ten before I left with this lot, so, uh, yeah.”

Champion hums, smile turning soft. “Oh? Tell me more?”

His fear of spilling his, and the rest of the groups’, secret quickly gets overpowered by the desire to brag about his sister. She may be an annoying guppy, in his eyes, but she’s his annoying guppy.

And he tells Champ so. He talks about the day she was born and how he had cried for hours when he found out she couldn’t play with him right away and then, years later, he would cry for hours out of frustration and she wouldn’t stop playing with him and she would follow him everywhere .

He talks about the day he almost lost her to a giant bird and how he rescued her, adding some white lies here and there and omitting some other facts to keep the entire ‘Hero of Hyrule’ thing a secret.

The words leave him like butter and Wind can’t stop himself, being encouraged by the nods and chuckles from Champ as he tells him story after story along with the soothing wave of fondness that eases the homesickness inside him.

“I’ll never say it to her face but she’s actually pretty cool.” Wind chuckles, whipping his nose subtly to hide the way his voice cracks slightly. “You didn’t hear this from me but I miss the little rascal.”

Champ goes all the way to seal their non-official promise by zipping his lips together.

“Your secret’s safe with me.” He chuckles, ruffling Wind’s hair, gaze growing fond as Wind snickers and playfully tries to slap his hands away. “You know, it’s funny but you remind me of my sister.”

Wind gasps, excited. “You have a sister too!?”

Champ’s eyes are blue, blue, blue like the sea — fond and so sad.

“I had a sister,” Champ says softly, brushing Wind’s hair back quickly as if to get rid of any grief before it could even fall on Wind’s head. Some of it lingers either way. “She wasn’t quite the daredevil, like you, but the way you express yourself it’s …”

Champ trails off, hesitating, before sighing, shoulders dropping as he looks away to lock eyes with the setting sun and, if possible, his smile grows even sadder.

“You’re so lucky, Wind.” Champion tells him quietly, looking back at him, his smile a tad more genuine as he catches Wind’s wet eyes that he desperately tries to keep hidden.

Champ grants him safe haven by looking over his shoulder, where the rest of Wind’s brothers in everything but blood sit near the fire.

“So lucky I almost envy you.” He chuckles, shaking his head in disbelief.

Wind’s lip wobbles slightly before he quietly says, “Do you want one of my brothers? You can have Legend, he’s a grump but he’s fun to annoy.”

Champ’s eyes are blue, blue, blue like the sea — gentle and so bright.

“Can I have Sky instead?”

“ No way. ” Wind sniffles, taking advantage of the graceful exit to clear his throat. “He’s our emotional support along with Wolfie. No dice.”

“Wha —? Who’s Wolfie?” Champ laughs. “Just how many siblings do you have, exactly?”

“No, no! Wolfie is just our — uh, mascot? I guess?”

Champion snorts. “You guess ?”

“I don’t know! I never questioned it before!” Wind huffs before he turns around and shouts, “Hey, guys! Is Wolfie our mascot or like, what is he to us?”

“What the actual hell, Wind.” Legend sighs as he rubs the bridge of his nose, side eyeing suspiciously at Time when the older hero bursts out laughing to the point of wheezing for breath.

Wind blinks. “What? What did I say?”

Champ raises a hand. “Okay, hold on, I’ve got another question.” He says, ”What’s Wolfie? Is it, like, your dog?”

“Of course not! He’s a wolf, duh.” Wind answers proudly and puffs his cheeks when Champ snorts. “ Oi! What gives? ”

“I’m sorry but did you really name your wolf companion Wolfie ?” Champ chokes out, doubling over as his snickers grow louder. “Wow. At least I called mine Seth .”

Wind does a double take at the news.

“You have a wolf companion too!?”

“I used to, yeah, but I haven’t seen him in a while.” Champ says, scratching the edge of his chin. “He would always get in a mood whenever the sun set, which is why I called him Seth."

“Aw, man. You should’ve called him Twilight instead then.” Four says and Legend backs him up rather quickly. “Since you were already set on that theme.”

Legend snorts. “That would’ve been hilarious.” 

“Oh, oh. What if you change your wolf’s name to ‘Twilight’?” Wind asks, nudging Champ on the side with a grin, wiggling his eyebrows.

Champ laughs. “Hah, why would I  — ? 

“Because!” Wind whines, dropping his entire weight on Champ’s lap. “It would be the best prank!”

“How — ? Wait. Don’t you have a brother called … ?”

“Twilight? Oh, yes, we do.” Four replies, fingers pressed against his lips as he tries to contain his snickers and failing miserably. 

“Well, now I understand all the fuss.”

“I have a feeling you would get along with the rancher just fine.”

“Despite the sarcasm, I’d actually like to meet him.” Champ hums, rolling Wind off him and laughing at the yelp the teen makes out of surprise. “I think he’s the only one I haven't met, right —?”

Champ gets cut off by a beeping sound that makes them all blink in surprise and all of them gape when Champion takes out the magic brick out of his belt.

“Oh, Flora’s calling,” he says, fingers tapping the edges of the brick a few times before he hooks it back to its place and picks himself off the ground. “Sorry, I’ve got to go.”

“What? But what about our practice?” Wind asks, shoulders dropping in disappointment.

“Next time, I promise,” Champ says, offering a smile. “Maybe I’ll even catch you guys sooner than expected, hm?”

“We’ve been lucky so far, I don’t see why it shouldn’t happen again.” Legend jokes, waving his unfinished dinner on a stick offhandedly towards Champ.

“Fine but then we’ll also have a race.” Wind declares, raising his fist to seal the deal.

Champ hums before he couches down next to Wind, holds out his hand open, and says, “Come here. I’ll show you something cool.”

The statements makes Wind wonder if Champ’s definition of ‘cool’ is similar to his or even Legend’s and, after Champions teaches him a few cool hand gestures that look like a dance made for two hands, Wind’s left reassured  that it is.

“That was so cool ,” Wind breathes out, staring at his hand in awe before he beams brightly at Champ. “What was that?”

Champ grins brightly back at him. “A seal that only really cool people get to do.”

Wind gasps. "Do it again!”

Champ laughs but does as told, repeating the hand-routine for Wind to follow. In no time, Wind has memorized it by heart.

“It’s a promise, Wind.” Champ says when he finally steps back and waves them all goodbye.

Despite the sun setting and the sky finally losing its daylight, Wind still manages to follow Champ’s figure walking uphill, back to Hateno, with his eyes. He’s a speck of a hylian by the time he reaches the top of it when three figures enter his vision from the corner of his eye.

“What kind of timing is this?” Wind shakes his head at the three newcomers. “You just missed Champ!”

“What? Seriously?” Hyrule whines, looking around their small camp to ensure the truth in Wind’s words, shoulders dropping when he, ultimately, finds no Champ.

“Oh, no.” Twilight sighs with faux despair. “Whatever shall I do? I’m so sad.”

“You would be if you had actually met him.” Warriors hums, nudging the rancher with his elbow. “You’re probably just jealous you’re the only one that hasn’t at this point.”

Twilight rolls his eyes. “Sure. Whatever you say, Cap.”

“Say, Twi.” Wind calls out, walking closer to the trio, hands collapsed behind his back as he smiles up innocently. “Have you considered sharing your name?”

“For a ninth time?” Twilight deadpans, making both Warriors and Hyrule snort.

Wind shakes his head. “No, no. Your nickname. Twilight .”

Twilight arches an eyebrow at Wind, arms crossed over his chest.

“With who, exactly?”

“Well, you see, Champ was just telling us about this wolf he met and he had the coolest name — ”

“No.”

Wind doesn't flatter. “ — and you see, ‘Wolfie’ is such a basic name. So we were thinking — ”

“ No .”

“Aw, Twilight — ! Come on, don’t be greedy!”

“Yeah, Rancher!” Legend joins in, his cackle telling everyone he’s just in for the chaos. “You already have, like, four nicknames! Including ‘Rancher’, by the way!”

“Wha — No! I don’t care. I chose this one, so it’s my nickname!”

“Technically, the Master Sword chose it for you.” Four hums and Wind’s unable to keep his laughter in.

“Four, I love your facts.”

“Told you.”

“I’m not sharing my nickname — ”

“Hey, is that food I see?” Warriors asks, waving off the argument as he steps closer to the camp. “Please tell me the one who cooked it was — ”

“Our favorite local ghost?” Legend smirks, taking a big bite of his own share. “Take a guess.”

“You better have left something for us!”

“We did,” Sky says before Legend could reply and start the upcoming bickering they all saw a mile away. “Sit down and eat before it grows cold.”

“I want the blue crab!” Hyrule shouts, jogging to reach Sky and cheering when he’s passed his dinner.

“Dibs on the red one,” Warriors says at the same time Twilight calls his own preference, being also the red one. 

The two look at each other for the briefest moment before Warriors shoves Twilight back hard, making him stumble, and runs up to snatch the red crab out of Time’s hands before Twilight could grab him.

“Ha ha!” Warriors cheers for two whole seconds before he’s tackled. “Ack! Time, control your protege!”

“I see nothing.” Time deadpans and picks up the extra red crab they had on the grill.

Wind burst out the giggles he had tried so hard to keep inside but he knew it had been a lost cause since the beginning, especially when all eight of his brothers were in proximity.

And he really shouldn't have expected anything else, he thinks in the back of his head as he stares at the scene before him and his chest grows warm as he realizes how much peace it brings him to see these heroes, these hylians he calls brothers, together.

He’s well aware that they don’t fill the hole inside him, for that one is shaped like his home back in his Hyrule, but that doesn’t mean that they're not family.

Because they are. Always will be now that Wind’s got to meet them.

He’s not eager for the hole his brothers will, unknowingly, leave behind once they are done with this quest and are back at their respective times and Hyrules but —

“He actually showed you guys how to shield-surf? That’s it. Hyrule, I’m never chaperoning you again. Don’t take it personally.”

“That's fine. I don’t even want to explore anymore if it means I miss out on Champ! Did he say when he will come back?”

“When Twilight decides to share his nickname with Wolfie.”

“Oi.”

Until then, Wind enjoys the moments that someday will turn into memories.

“Twilight, you are now Twilight The Second.”

“ Oi! ”

Well, ‘treasures’ , Wind thinks giddily, will fit them best.

Chapter Text

“Kakariko.”

“Kakoriko.”

“ Kakariko .”

“ Kacarico .”

“Kah-kah-ree-koh.”

“Kah-kah-ree-koh.”

“Yes! Kakariko!”

“Kajarico!”

Warriors throws his hands up in exasperation, all of his previous bravado when he had volunteered to help their youngest with his spelling flying away after just seven minutes into his mission.

Twilight will give it to the captain, he lasted longer than he expected.

“I give up. It’s impossible.” Warriors complains, cracking his neck to release his stress.

“ Kaka-wuss .” Legend snickers under his breath and not-subtle-at-all high-fives Wind when their youngest cheers for the dumb joke.

“Kaka-wuss!” Wind echoes with a cackle.

“Stop corrupting him.” Sky says, sending the vet a disapproving stare that Legend waves off with a scoff.

“You can’t corrupt what’s already corrupted.”

“Hear, hear!” Wind cheers loudly before he throws himself on the closest victim, that being Hyrule’s back, making them almost toppling over.

“Wind!” Hyrule shrieks, startled.

Twilight sighs through his nose as he tunes out the rest of bickering and scolding that follows. Instead, his mind wanders off as he slows down his pace and pulls himself a few short feet back from the others.

It’s been two whole days since they left Hateno and, between detours and mandatory breaks, Twilight’s chest eases the slightest bit at the sight of the Dueling Peaks Stable he manages to see from their spot.

It’s still a good few hours until they’re able to reach it, as Twilight can barely make out the top of its horse-like figure’s head, but the sight of it tells him he’s a step closer to Kakariko.

Nothing at all reassures him that he will find his protege there. He’s — well, they all, really — moving forward based on a villager’s best guess when they asked about a fellow hylian named Link whereabouts.

But Twilight’s moving on pure instincts. He’s got a hunch about it and he’s pouring all his hopes on it.

This time. This time.  

This’s got to be it because if it isn’t —

Twilight bites the inside of his cheek hard at the thought, bringing himself back to the present before his mind could latch on to the possibility of failure.

They had just exited Hateno’s Fortress and, just like it did days ago when they first had encountered it, the guardians’ skeletons that lay around it still brings him an awful feeling of dread.

Unconsciously, his eyes land on a particular spot where several deactivated guardians seemed to be gathered, their formation similar to the hunters’ when they’ve finally cornered their prey.

Twilight’s memory’s not the best, even less so when it has been years since he was here last, but emotions have always been something that latched on to him until they rooted themselves inside his very own soul.

It happened with Ilia, his family, and village when all was said and done. It happened with Zelda, in the middle of the desert with too much despair in their hearts and not enough relief. 

It happened with Midna, when she left.

And it had happened all over again, years ago, when he’d watched a young scarred hylian frozen in the middle of a field, surrounded by these very same rusty guardians that towered over him, unmoving.

Twilight’s chest tightens at the memory, biting down hard on his cheek as the image of his protege’s usual bright and jovial face had turned stoic and emotionless before he had gasped for air that kept being stolen from him by imaginary raging waves, and whatever ocean he had been drowning in, it had followed him back through his eyes. 

Twilight remembers the chilling shiver that had gone through his spine at the sight of his protege, the boy he tucked under his wing, falling to his knees and wailing on the spot, surrounded and watched by darkness and the liveless stares from the stars above.

Seventeen. The hero of this entire land had been only seventeen years old and he cried alone in the middle of night in a deserted field filled with echoes of the hunters, the hunted, and the fallen.

He’d been almost eighteen of age when he had declared himself ready to face the parasite that just kept on feeding off his land — and his princess —, draining its very core even after hundreds of years.

              ‘I won’t let you down, I swear on what’s left of my honor and the master sword itself —”

Almost eighteen when he prepared himself and his weapons early in the morning, through shaky hands and shuddering breaths, before heading straight towards the castle.

              ‘I’ll win this fight, so you just…’

Almost eighteen before Twilight was forced to leave him to fend for himself.

Alone. ‘You just stay close and watch.’ Again.

Twilight’s nightmares of that morning had always been constant ever since it happened and he had gone back to his own time and Hyrule, but they had intensified and been reshaped ever since he arrived at his protege’s Hyrule with the rest of the Chain.

Not that Twilight had been remotely surprised when they did after he had proved to himself he was back to Hyrule he almost considered as his own.

              ‘— those farm ruins near Castle Town? I bet it must have been nice. Being a farmer, I mean. I don’t - I know my father was a knight and I followed his footsteps but …’

Twilight shakes his head, trying to brush away the memories that start flooding his head. Don’t think about it.

              'I think - I think my grandfather was one, from my mom’s side. It’s vague but I could swear —’

Don’t think about it. His hand curls itself into a fist, fingernails digging deep into the leather of his glove, craving — aching — to pierce through it and make him bleed.

              'Hey, Seth, when this is all over, do you think I could —?’

Don’t think about it. Don’t think about it. 

              'If I survive this —’

“Hey, what’s that up there?”

Twilight’s breath hitches at the question, snapping him out of his head in a flash. From the corner of his eye, he catches the entire group turning their heads towards where Hyrule’s pointing, somewhere up above in the sky.

He takes advantage of the sudden commotion to calm his erratic heartbeat down.

“Is it a bird?” He hears Warriors ask and watches him tilt his head to the side from the corner of his eye.

By his right, Legend clicks his tongue. “Since when do birds look like that?”

“Uh, the Rito?” Wind offers and it makes half of them go ‘huh?’ . “Birds but not really.”

Warriors spares the sailor a deadpanned look.

“Amazing explanation, really.”

“Doesn’t look like it has wings, though.” Hyrule points out.

Legend huffs. “Alright, it’s a bokoblin then.”

“Now, that’s just dumb.” Four rolls his eyes, sticking his tongue out when Legend nudges him.

“It looks like a hylian.” Warriors offers, squinting hard at the figure as he scratches his head. Four and Legend share a look. 

“Now, that’s dumber.” 

Warriors flips them off wordlessly. 

“Why would a hylian fall from the sky though?” Hyrule asks, hands on his hips, lips pursed skeptically.

Sky hums. “I can think of a couple of reasons.”

Four taps the edge of his chin as he tilts his head and says, “Looks like flying to me, to be honest.”

“Maybe they are just falling with style?”

“I'm not sure but it definitely looks like they know what they’re doing. Maybe it’s a sport in this Hyrule, you know, like the shield-surfing Champ did.” Sky suggests eagerly. “ Maybe they’re paragliding, like I do when I use my sailcloth.”

Wind gasps and bounces on the spot. “Or me! Like I do with my deku leaf!”

Twilight frowns at the conversation, some of the words ringing something inside him loud enough to peak his interest and turn towards where his brothers had gathered.

Several miles away from them, almost hovering above the Bubinga Forest, the figure of a hylian falling and heading straight to the ocean of trees, makes Twilight’s stomach turn uneasily for some reason.

“Twenty rupees that’s our favorite local ghost from the haunted woods,” Legend says, already taking the money out from his pouch.

Warriors snorts, placing one hand on his hip as he smirks. “Oh, you mean our one and only unofficial member?”

“Wait, is that a thing?” Wind chimes in, voice filled with hope. “If we don’t find the hero of this Hyrule, can we reclute Champ?”

Sky scratches the side of his cheek. “I don’t really think that’s a thing.”

“ Can we turn it into a thing?” Warriors sing-songs, nudging Sky on the side as if he had the final say.

“I, personally, wouldn’t be against it.” Four grins, eyes taking a greener color on them as he turns away from the sun. “I say we vote if we don’t find this Hyrule’s Link by the end of the week.”

Legend raises his hand. “Seconded.”

“Multiplied by three!” Wind shouts.

“Four.” Hyrule adds with a sheepish chuckle.

“Five!” Warriors says, grinning playfully as he grabs Sky’s hand and raises it up, cheering when Sky doesn't fight him on it.  “Six!”

“The possibility of Champ being part of this chain officially or otherwise won’t really matter if said hylian falls to his death before our eyes.” Time tells them stoically, tilting his head up towards the still falling figure. “If it is even Champion to begin with, of course.”

“Can't deny that. Whoever they are, they are getting awfully close to the ground.” Warriors hums, eyebrows furrowed together in light concern. “Should we step in?”

"I still think they’re falling with style.”

“That’s still falling, Legend.”

Legend shrugs. "They will die with style then."

For the second time in the day, Twilight brushes off the rest of his companion’s bickering and instead takes a step forward. Two, three. 

Twilight’s entire world goes deaf as he witnesses the hylian before his eyes shift in midair only to take out his bow and shoot consecutive arrows towards the other side of the woods while falling.

He recognizes the move and the faint but clear cheer of victory that quickly follows. He recognizes the carefree laugh he’s only able to hear thanks to the beast inside him as the figure takes a paraglider off his back and starts descending to the wood’s core.

“You know, Legend might win this time.” He hears Four say behind him, his words sounding so far away. “I think that really is — ”

‘Link. ’ Twilight’s brain supplies and the memories he had held back earlier crashing against each other like waves, punching the breath out of his lungs and leaving him both dizzy and aching. ‘Link, Link, Link —!”

“Cub.” He mumbles without realizing, the nickname leaving his lips like a forgotten promise. It’s suddenly hard to swallow and even harder to even acknowledge Warriors faint and muffled questions sent his way.

Twilight takes a step forward. Two, three.

“Twilight, hey, where — ”

Twilight doesn’t waste a second . He takes off towards the main direction he had seen Link descend, ignoring the way the rest of his companions call out to him in both shock and alarm. He doesn’t have the luxury to stay back and explain.

Twilight hardly notices the moment he transforms into his beast form as he nears the forest’s entrance, his sprint turning into a run as he trusts both his nose and instincts to guide him through the end of the dreadful guardians graveyard to dive straight into the heart of the forest.

Twilight doesn't falter because this time. This time —

Link’s in the middle of picking up the korok’s seeds he had earned from the tiny wood spirits’ challenge when a bone-deep familiar sound makes him pause on his tracks.

He furrows his eyebrows, bewildered by the familiar sensation of safety instead of the one of dread he’s more used to when it comes to his strolls through the woods, especially so near the monsters’ camps that surround the guardian’s graveyard outside the forest’s entrance.

Link turns his head from left to right, straightening up and throwing his shoulders back as he scans every corner around him along with the sudden change in the air.

It’s more disconcerting than reassuring the way there’s not a single ounce of dread spilling inside his chest, not even when an unfamiliar hylian man steps out from the trees’ shadows.

“It is you.” The stranger mumbles under his breath through pants, swallowing thickly as he pulls himself up properly once he gathers himself. Not once does he look away from Link. “By the Three, it’s really — I have been looking everywhere for you.”

Link instinctively raises an eyebrow and quickly scans the hylian man from head to toe for any Yiga signs he might have on him, but nothing sets any of the usual alarms inside his head. Besides, it’s hardly a strategy of the Yiga to make the first move in their so-called ‘ambushes’.

Only one option left then.

“Ah, you need help with something?” Link asks with a small but still genuine friendly smile, already knowing the answer. "Lay it on me, I'll see what I can do."

It’s not uncommon for villagers and townsfolk alike looking for him at any hour of the day. Most of them don’t know about his predestined title and the rest of them don’t believe him when told, but either matter because all that the people need to know it’s that he’s Link.

Link from Hateno Town, partner of the scholar Flora and close friends with all the main leaders in Hyrule. Link who cooks his new recipes for the entire town to try once a month and who more often than not you can see sliding down a hill on his shield.

Link who has battled against lynels with soup ladles and won only to lose against his closest friends when they scold him for fighting lynels with a soup ladle in the first place.

The sense of belonging that the people in Hyrule provide him without meaning to it’s one of the reasons why he never turns away from someone in need of help.

They remind him he's more than a title. There's more of him than a sword and a destiny.

However, the hylian man before him shakes his head and waves away his offer of help with a blinding smile and a laugh.

“Still the same old selfless kid who can’t resist helping anyone who asks, huh?” The stranger asks, stepping closer to nudge Link on the ribs. Link blinks and stumbles slightly at the unexpected above average strength.

“Uh,” Link says, eyebrows slightly furrowed as he tries to think on what to say. “I guess?”

“Yeah, of course you still are.” The tattooed man mumbles, words growing softer as he grabs Link by the shoulders and stares at him with a grin that screams affection and relief. “Look at you. You’ve grown so much.”

“You, uh, think so?” Link mumbles, looking down at himself, bemused.

The hylian man chuckles almost giddily.

"I shouldn't be surprised, really." He says. "It has been a while."

"Yeah, right…" Link trails off, eyes shifting to the side in bewilderment. Was this another one of Beetle’s pranks?

“I missed you, you know.”

Link whips his head back to the stranger, breath hitching at the confession and stomach twisting uneasily at the fond smile on the man's face.

“I’m so glad you’re okay.”

It becomes eerie, the way this man, this stranger , speaks to him like an old friend.

“I wish I hadn’t left.”

Like they are family reuniting.

“But I’m back and I’m so happy to see you.”

Which hits a little too close to home and Link’s here for none of that .

“Listen, I think you might have confused me with someone else,” Link says, clearing his throat awkwardly as he steps out of the stranger’s hold and adds, “I can help you find whoever you’re looking for. Hateno Town’s not far from here, I’m sure someone over there has seen your, uh …”

He trails off, waiting for the stranger to supply the missing information but instead he only gets silence. Link blinks and frowns lightly as he watches the stranger’s shoulders tense up.

“Neighbor?” Link tries to guess, pursing his lips when the stranger’s lips turn into a frown. “Friend?”

“More than just a friend.” The stranger mumbles, eyebrows furrowed with almost the same amount of confusion Link feels at the moment. 

Smacking his lips together, Link keeps trying. “Alright then, so, uh, your partner?”

The way the stranger’s nose scrunches up in disgust tells Link that’s a ‘no’.

“Oh, a relative then? Maybe a brother?” Link laughs, snapping his fingers in victory when the expression on the stranger eases up. “No wonder you were all worked up. When was the last time you saw him?”

“Shouldn’t you know that better than me?” The stranger asks, eyebrow arched as he shifts on his feet.

It’s Link’s turn to frown. “Why would I?”

“Because you were — you are —” The stranger groans, scowling deeply when all Link does is blink at him. “Alright, you had your payback or laugh or whatever this is, but that’s enough. Stop playing already.”

Link purses his lips. “I’m just trying to help.”

“What are you even talking about? Don’t you recognize me ?” The stranger asks and Link’s chest tightens at the desperate edge the stranger’s voice cracks with. “Look, I know I must have hurt you but I didn’t — I didn’t mean to leave like that — “

“You’re not listening to me.” Link cuts him off, just barely holding himself back from matching the stranger’s desperation. “I don’t know who you are .”

Link has seen what broken hearts look like, both in his quest and the memories he managed to regain during and after it. 

He has seen Zelda’s heart break several times in his memories in front of silent statues while drenched in water. He has seen people crying their hearts out over the devastation of Hyrule when Calamity first struck and he had done nothing but run past them with his princess in toe.

All of those hearts still come to haunt him to this day in his sleep, ringing loud in his head until he’s left breathless and soaked in his own sweat.

The look the stranger gets at his words leaves him oddly the same way and the familiar guilt he always gets from those nightmares starts creeping its way inside his chest.

“What?” The stranger breathes out in disbelief. He stares at Link, as if waiting for the end of a joke that Link fails to see, and his face completely crumbles when Link steps back away from him. 

“No, no, hey— hey.” The stranger calls, voice growing slightly desperate. It makes Link’s chest tighten uncomfortably. “Cu — Link, it’s me. Look at me, you must recognize me.”

“I’m sorry,” Link says, swallowing thickly and pushing down the odd urge to comfort the stranger before him. “I truly don’t know who you are but I know I’m not who you’re looking for — “

“Yes, you are .” The stranger says, just a level short from shouting. “I don’t know how long it has been since I left but centuries can pass and I would still recognize you because who else could do anything remotely as stupid as that stunt you just pulled but you ?”

Link scrunches his nose, offended, but before he can open his mouth to defend himself, the stranger rambles on.

He takes the words out of Link as he starts to enlist several moments of his quest, spatting details that Link hasn’t shared even with Zelda.

Link doesn't know who this hylian is, he knows that for sure. He has no recollection of him and he can’t even blame his amnesia from years back since he has been able to recover most of his memory to this day.

This stranger has never been in Link’s life and yet —

“ Enough! ” Link hisses, narrowing his eyes as a warning while his hand slowly reaches for his knight’s sword over his shoulder. “How do you even know about all that?”

The strange man watches his every move and yet he only rolls his eyes. 

“Because I was there with you, Cub!”

Link scoffs at him. "I'm sure I would remember a hylian man being with me at the time."

"Yes, you would, except I wasn't in my — Oh my Hylia, wait… "

Link blinks, bemused at the odd pause from the stranger before his eyes widen the moment the hylian man inhales sharply, leaving him choking on his own spit. 

“Um, deep breaths.” He tries to comfort, keeping safe distance from the wheezing stranger. 

“Holy shit, holy shit .” The odd hylian mumbles incoherently once he gets his breathing under control. “Hylia, I’m a moron . I’m an absolute goddess damn idiot. ”

Link smacks his lips together, tilting his head. “I mean, sure, you’re an odd apple but no need to be so harsh,” he says with a halfhearted shrug.

The hylian man groans and moans miserably, half of his face hidden behind his gloved hand.

“Just hold that thought.” He grumbles before the air shifts and a familiar sound that touches Link’s heart strings leaves him stunned long enough to miss the shadow-like particles that fill his vision for what feels like an eternity before leaving as fast as they came.

Link blinks thrice; once to allow his eyes to settle and two more to process the sight of the wolf that has replaced the hylian man he had just been talking with.

“Hylia above.” Link gasps in both shock and awe. He doesn’t feel himself moving until his knees hit the ground and his hand holds the large muzzle of the only reason that he had kept himself sane throughout his quest. “ Seth .”

The name leaves his lips like coming home after a long journey and Link’s chest aches .

“You are an absolute goddess damn idiot — Oi!”  

His predecessor nips at his thumb and looks completely unfazed when Link shoves him lightly on the chest, begrudgingly. 

“Well, you are! ” Link defends himself, swallowing the knot on his throat to send a weak glare to his old friend.

It had clouded his mind for weeks back then whenever he would see his friend roll his beast eyes in such a human-manner before he had found out the story that bound them together through the Forgotten Temple. 

It’s both eerie and comforting to witness it again.

Now that he’s aware who he’s talking to, it’s easy to recognize the shadow magic that surrounds his vision and, once it vanishes, he’s no longer facing a stranger.

“You get a pass this time, but watch it.” His friend, who he had considered a mentor soon after meeting him in his quest, huffs like the gruff Link had grown to know even with his words being slightly muffled with the way Link squishes his cheeks together, not having moved an inch. "And it’s Twilight now, actually."

Link arches an eyebrow, the name ringing a single bell that he dismisses idly. 

“Twi — What? ‘Seth’ wasn’t creative enough for you?”

Twilight arches an eyebrow back at him. “The name’s fine in my beast form, which I’m not in right now .”

“Yeah, fucking clearly.” Link huffs, narrowing his eyes at him before pointing at his mouth. “So those fangs I see are just for show —? Ow, hey!”

“Don't push your luck, gremlin. I’m still your mentor.”

“Who I didn’t know could shapeshift .” Link grumbles under his breath before he blinks and points at Twilight’s forehead where the dark marks he’d had as a beast had stayed on his skin. “Oh, duh. These should have been a giveaway way earlier.”

Twilight snorts. “You’d be surprised how much they’re not .”

“So this was always a thing? Why didn’t you ever do this around me back then?” Link asks instead, ignoring the small seed of hurt that settles inside his chest and threatens to grow as the memories of his mentor slowly starts coming back to him. “We could’ve communicated with words instead of growling and grunting.”

“I wasn't able to back then.” Twilight explains briefly, finally brushing Link’s hands off as he shifts on his knees to stand up. He pulls Link up with him by grabbing him by the arm.

Link goes along with it wordlessly. "What do you mean?"

“Remember how I couldn’t follow you into certain places? Me not being able to shift into my hylian form was another divine limitation.”

Link clicks his tongue with a frown. "That's not fair. Who set those limits? Point me at them, I just wanna talk."

Twilight barks a laugh. "You really haven't changed, huh?"

“Apparently but you have.” Link nods towards his mentor, waving his hand at his entire figure. “You talking and being hylian is messing with me. How am I supposed to mix your hylian version with your beast one?”

Twilight chuckles. “It’s still me, Cub, no matter the form.”

“Is it though?” Link grumbles, eyeing him skeptically before he clicks his tongue. “This is going to be hard, isn’t it?”

Twilight shrugs with a confident grin. “You’ll get used to it.”

Wild narrows his eyes at him. “You sound oddly cheery when just five minutes ago you were at the verge of crying when it seemed I didn’t remember you.”

“Key word: ‘seemed’.”  Twilight shrugs. “But you did. You remember a part of me and that's enough for me.”

He pauses before he quietly admits. “Like I said, I'm just happy to see you, Cub.”

Link tilts his head to the side. “You called me that earlier too.”

Twilight hums. "I sure did." 

"It's new.”

Twilight snorts. “Hardly. I used to call you that somewhere at the start of your quest, you just couldn't understand me at the time.”

“Why 'cub'?” Link asks, head tilted to the side with curiosity. Twilight smirks at him, hand on his hip as he arches an eyebrow at him.

“Oh? Are you telling me you don’t remember that time when a mama bear mistook you for one of hers — ?”

“Oh, Hylia, no. Not that one.” Link moans, leaning away, crossing his arms in the air as if to block his mentor’s story. 

Twilight barks a laugh. “And I had to come to your rescue —”

“I regret asking.” Link huffs, weakly kicking his mentor’s foot as reproach before a thought crosses his mind and then his lips spread across his face in a grin. “Wait, wait, I distinctly remember a certain wolf ready to pick a fight with said bear once it found me."

“Of course I picked up a fight.” Twilight scoffs without an ounce of shame. “She tried to steal my cub.”

“ Your cub?” Link teases, nudging his mentor on the side.

Twilight doesn’t budge. “I said what I said. Fight me on it, I dare you.”

Links snorts with amusement, raising both hands in mock surrender. 

“I always knew you were a softie behind all the gruff.”

“Yeah, well, I had to keep you on your toes somehow.” Twilight waves his hand in the air before carefully but swiftly pulling Link closer by the neck. “Whatever, just — come here already, will you?”

“An extreme softie, I see.” Link teases but does as told, humming and squirming as big arms wrap themselves around him. Insintcly, Link turns to the side until his forehead ends up being pressed against his mentor’s thick tunic, right above his collarbone.

Link can feel the chainmail below it, along with the belts and hidden armor that he’s able to feel when Twilight pulls him closer. His shoulders drop then and he leans forward without noticing, sinking a little bit deeper into the embrace.

“What…” Link mumbles to himself, dazzled at the way his heart drums hard inside his chest.

He takes a breath, hoping to ease his heartbeat but it does little to calm the way his lower lip starts wobbling dangerously. He blinks, startled, and shudders the breath he had taken at the same time his eyes start to sting.

Through it all, Twilight just holds him tighter and Link’s —  

Link’s seventeen with just a few things to his name and even fewer memories, scared and alone until the shape of a strange large wolf appears in the middle of a blizzard and keeps him from freezing to death.

Link’s seventeen, hurt and delirious after a battle gone wrong, the faint memory of fur pressed against his sweaty skin following him the entire way through his hazy moments of consciousness until he properly woke up in Zora’s domain: rested, cared for, and safe with the only friend that had stuck with him through his journey in a way none had before.

Link’s almost eighteen, a little wiser, a lot stronger, and beyond ecstatic as he finds old records left behind in the Forgotten Temple along with the tales of past heroes like himself from ancient times. He’s almost a man in age when he finds his most trusted companion staring at the stone carved silhouette of the Hero of Twilight in the hidden chamber inside said temple.

Link’s eighteen and a few months old when he finds himself back in the Forgotten Temple, curled under the Hero of Twilight’s towering and stoney presence. Alone.

The despair he had felt back then resurfaces in the present and Link’s hands move on their own. He’s only aware of his fingers grabbing a handful of his mentor’s tunic tightly when the older hero hums almost approvingly.

Link wets his lips, the knot on his throat making it hard to swallow as memories of a warm body surrounding him underneath clear starry nights, in the middle of an open field, feeling utterly safe and content —

“You’re…” Link starts, eyebrow slightly furrowed as he tries to describe what his body does by instincts. “This is going to sound ridiculous but you’re still so warm.”

“Yeah?” Twilight asks quietly, dropping his chin on top of Link’s head, and Link can hear the smile on his face.

Link shudders a breath and exhales a small, “ Yeah .”

Twilight hums, clearly pleased, but Link’s fighting against his own tears as they threaten to fall and his body just gives in to the comfort he hadn't known he had ached for who knows how long. He gives in and —

“Nevermind.” Link whispers, dazzled, after what feels like an eternity, uncaring of the way his voice cracks as he buries his face deeper in his best friend’s chest, tightening the hold he had on his tunic. “Nevermind, this isn’t hard at all.”

Twilight sniffles sharply but says nothing. Instead, he only tightens his hold around Link, pulling him closer. Neither of them mention the tears that drench Twilight’s tunic nor the ones that wets Link’s hair, some of them sliding down his temple.

“I hadn’t — I didn’t realize.” Link croaks out, shame and guilt weighing in his voice. “How much I have been missing you — Seth — Twilight, I’m - I’m sorry…”

His mentor shushes him gently and helps him ride out the feeling of guilt by stroking the back of his head with slow and long motions, distracting him effortlessly.

“It’s alright, Cub.” Twilight whispers, not once ceasing the motion that comforts Link to the bone. “There’s nothing to be sorry for. It’s alright.”

The words snap something inside him and Link’s sobbing before he’s even aware of it. All of the sudden his vision blurs, his throat tightens along with his chest, and his voice cracks in a way it hadn’t done since he relived a core memory of his family before the Calamity.

Link curses under his breath as the tears keep falling and there’s nothing he can do to stop them. Giving in to his body’s desire, he sinks deeper in his mentor’s embrace and allows himself to feel what he had denied himself for years now.

Two years. Two entire years without —

“Don’t go.” Link whimpers, his fingers twisting Twilight’s tunic to the point of wrinkling it atrociously. “Don’t - don’t you dare to leave again.”

“The Goddess herself will have to drag me away.” Twilight says, voice hard as steel. “And I won’t let her. Not again.”

Link stays quiet and buries his face in Twilight’s shoulder. He rather not think the lengths their Goodness could go to to shape their destiny and, instead, basks in the small mercies said Goddess has sent his way despite the nagging feeling inside him telling him to not let his guard down.

But wrapped in Twilight’s arms, Link does anyway.

“Twilight,” Link calls softly, voice wrecked. “Just — just stay close, alright?”

Link feels Twilight shudder a breath before he hums and whispers, “I won’t leave your side, Cub,” against his hair, lips brushing against his hairline to seal his promise.

Link, like a champ, takes what can and tucks it inside his chest.

Swallowing thickly, he shudders a few breaths until he’s only left sniffling faintly, tightening one last time his hold on his mentor’s tunic before he forces himself to let go.

“You said you missed me. Earlier, I mean.” Link croaks out, clearing his voice awkwardly as he pulls back slightly and cowardly avoids his mentor’s gaze as he says, “Did you, really? I just — I always thought you just — ”

Left him without a second thought. Foresaw the failure awaiting for him.

Gave up on him.

Link clicks his tongue, frustrated with himself, and struggles with the years-old dread that he had buried deep inside him the moment he came out victorious with his princess in hand and he had only been greeted by the day’s twilight.

Back then, Link hadn't allowed himself to rest after the battle, ensuring Zelda’s safety and recovery first by traveling to Kakariko where he knew she would be safe before throwing himself into an exhausting and vigorous search.

It took weeks of hardly any sleep and food before Zelda had caught up to him and practically begged him to rest. Not stop, just rest and allow her to shoulder his burdens.

But how could he, when with each passing day that went by his insecurities and doubts regarding his worth just grew. How could he, when the one who could make him feel like he was worthy of the hero spirit inside him abandoned him before he could prove himself.

How could he, when all those emotions had been big, dark, and too raw for Link to handle on his own and was stubborn and devoted enough to not let not even an ounce of them become a burden to his princess.

Instead, he had opted for the easiest solution and buried every memory, every good feeling, every emotion related to Seth — related to Twilight , in hopes to keep all of those dark thoughts away.

And now, it’s kind of heartbreaking how he could have reached such solution, when a single touch of Twilight pressing his forehead against his own easily evaporates and extinguishes every single bubble of doubt that had threatened to drown him in his lowest moments.

“Of course I missed you,” Twilight says, laughing in disbelief and if there was any possibility of such a fact not being the ultimate truth. “I was with you from the start, kid. I watched you stumble, win, fail, and get back up. I was there by your side in every fight and, by Hylia, I bowed to be so too in every single one to come because…”

Twilight trails off for a moment before he takes a breath and says, “Because beyond the spirit that we share, you became part of my family, Cub, and it tore me up inside to leave you behind, you must know this.”

Link swallows the whine that threatens to leave his lips and sighs shakily as he leans towards the touch of his mentor’s forehead against his own.

“I know now.” Link mumbles, mostly to himself, before he sighs and pulls back, gathering every ounce of strength inside to raise his head and meet his mentor’s eyes properly this time.

The amount of fondness and pride he finds in Twilight’s dark blue eyes is what finally sets his heart at ease and eradicates any lingering doubt he could’ve had inside him.

“Good,” Twilight says softly, running a hand through Link’s hair affectionately before he steps back, leaving only one hand on his shoulder. “Now, were you doing anything important? Because I kind of need to talk to you about something.”

Link sniffles, getting rid of the last of his lingering tears with the backs of his hand before he arched an eyebrow at his mentor.

“What about?” He asks, grimacing when some of his own snot made it to his mouth.

“Well, for starters, there are some hylians you should meet.”

“They better not be my replacements.”

Twilight snorts. “No one could replace you, Cub.”

“Hah, sap — ”

“Because no one is as chaotic and stupid and reckless and — ”

“And the moment’s over, jeez . What happened to the softie that just hugged me like an octorok?”

Twilight hums, smiling innocently before he throws himself at Link and catches him in a headlock.

“Regret!” Link hisses as he slaps Twilight's forearm in a weak attempt to escape. “Get off — Twilight ! Not fair!”

Twilight couldn't grin wider even if he tried. “What? You asked!”

“You know that’s not what I meant!”

“Uh-huh, too bad. This comes from older hero and brother privileges.” Twilight teases before he laughs and lets him go only to pull him back by throwing an arm around his shoulders. 

Link instinctively leans to the touch and bluntly ignores the way the edge of Twilight’s smirk turns softer.

“Come on, you wilding, they should be close.”

Link hums, enjoys the familiar sense of belonging, and lets his mentor set their trek towards whatever awaits them both.

It takes a little over twenty minutes to exit the heart of the forest and by the time Twilight’s able to see the edge of the wood’s entrance, his protege grows restless.

“How can they be hylians that I’ve never met? I have met everyone , Twilight. I’m telling you, there’s no way.”

Twilight hums, amused. “Trust me, you haven’t met this lot.”

Link huffs an exasperated breath. “Who are they then and where did they come from?”

Twilight purses his lips at that question, unsure how to answer.

Swallowing the reality of your wolf companion being a hero of the past like yourself had been, relatively, easy to do considering all the other things his protege had to experience during his quest.

But adding seven more heroes to that? Twilight’s never been the best when it comes to explaining this entire new collective quest, which is why it had fallen on both Time or Sky to explain the details of it to whatever new hero joined their party.

Reason why he opts to say, “You’ll see,” and leaves it like that.

He laughs at the flat look he gets in return but he doesn’t elaborate on his answer.

“Hilarious, Twilight.” Link rolls his eyes, clicking his tongue in annoyance before a thoughtful look flashes across his face and sends him a side-look.

Twilight arches an eyebrow at his protege when silence stretches long.

“Something on your mind?” He asks, an amused smile on his face as he watches Link dropping all pretense and instead squints hard at his face. “Still not used to seeing me as a hylian?”

Link shakes his head and narrows his eyes. “No, it’s not that. There’s something bugging me in the back of my head.”

“Those are lice.”

He gets a punch on the arm for that one.

“ That was one time .” Link hisses, the back of his ears and neck bright red. “And no . I mean as in, I feel I’m missing something? Like, something I know but I can’t really place it?”

Twilight purses his lips, scratching the side of his cheek. “About me?”

Link nods.

“Twilight,” Link says but to himself. Twilight tries not to squirm under the unblinking stare. “I could have sworn I have heard that before…”

Twilight isn’t able to ask what he even means by that, when the sound of chatter and familiar bickering reaches his ears.

He turns towards their right and it takes less than a few seconds for him to get a view of the rest of his brothers walking towards their general direction, unaware of their presence just yet.

Barely able to contain the grin on his face, Twilight places two of his fingers on his mouth and lets out a long loud whistle, catching the group’s attention.

He laughs at the shouts of surprise and the complaints about his sudden disappearance as his companions draw closer as a group, and he’s grinning from ear to ear once they meet in the middle.

“You! How dare you leave us behind like that?” Warriors glares at him, hands on his hips. “What part of ‘take a buddy with you’ rule you didn’t understand?”

“I’m sure he had his reasons,” Sky says, coming to his rescue. “Right, Time?”

“Did he?” Time deadpans, leveling Twilight a look that has him swallow nervously.

“Well, you see…”

Twilight’s cut off by Wind, who gasps so loud that has eight heads turn his way.

“No way, is that who I think it is?” He asks, almost vibrating on the spot and the rest of the group follow their youngest gaze. Twilight doesn't turn, knowing who he will find.

“Oh!” Four says cheerfully. “So you finally met — ”

“That’s right!” Twilight cuts in, reaching out to grab Link by the shoulders one more before he ruffles his hair affectionately, grinning widely at the laugh he gets as reward. “Look who I finally found! Say hi, everyone.”

The group stares at the display and Twilight doesn’t blame them, but he takes a double take at the happy and almost giddy smiles that are sent towards his protege.

“Hi, Champ.” They all echo as a group, some of their voices being louder than others with different levels of excitement but all of them sincere.

Link, to Twilight's shock, confusion, and utter bewilderment, waves back cheerfully.

"Hey, guys!" Link laughs as he squirms his way out of Twilight's hold and steps closer to the group. "How’s it going?”

“Great now that we can have our race!” Wind cheers and Twilight’s thrown into a loop as he watches the two blonds do a handshake that’s more than just a handshake.

              “A hylian named Champ.”

What in the Three Goddesses’ names…?

              “— yeah, that Champ. It was, uh, quite the odd encounter, actually.”

Twilight blinks, gaze shifting from one brother to another. His eyebrows furrow themselves together the more his confusion grows.

              “— you see, Champ was just telling us about this wolf he met —”

              “Champ didn’t —”

              “— it was Champ who —!”

There’s no way. There’s just no way that he —

              "You just missed Champ."

              “You’re probably just jealous you’re the only one that hasn’t met him at this point.”

“What the hell?” He mumbles before whistling loudly to get the entire group’s attention. “Back it up. What did you just call him?”

Eight different gazes share a look among each other, including his own protege’s as he stands in the middle of the group, before they all settle on him.

“Champ.” It’s Warriors who answers, arching an eyebrow, bemused by the question. “What else would we call him?”

“What else?” Twilight splutters. “What — How in the fuck knuckles — You!” He snaps in the end, pointing a finger at his protege who blinks, startled. “You’re Champ?”

“Unless there’s another hylian man running around with the same title given by the very own royal family, then yeah.” Link shrugs nonchalantly.

Twilight blinks once, out of surprise, and then twice at the sudden urge to strangle something.

“Who’s he supposed to be if not Champ?” Warriors asks, leaning on Twilight’s protege’s shoulder too casually. Twilight’s eyes twitches slightly and he’s not entirely sure what sets him off.

“Link!” He shouts, outraged, throwing his hands up before he uses them to point at his protege. “ He’s Link! The hero of this land. The Link we were looking for weeks! My protege , Link!”  

Seven pairs of eyes stare unblinking at him for a solid heartbeat before they fall on the hylian in the middle of their group.

Link salutes them with a two-fingers greeting. “Hey there.”

The silence that follows lasts three solid heartbeats before the last of their collective sanity drops and chaos erupts.

“Woah, woah, woah, back the fuck up — !”

“Hold the fuck up...”

“No fucking way.”

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me —! ”

“Are you fucking serious — ?”

“ — right under our fucking noses?”

Link whistles under his breath. “Those are a lot of ‘fucks’,” he says, impressed and mostly to himself, since he’s bluntly ignored by the rest of the group.

“How did we miss this?” Sky breathes out, hand running through his hair as he spares a fleeting look at Champ before he looks over his shoulder, where the Master Sword rests on his back.

“Does Hylia enjoy making a fool out of us? Is that it?” Legend hisses, glaring at the sky as he shakes a fist at it. “Laugh at me face , I dare you!”

“I can’t believe we met him so many times and it never crossed our minds?” Warriors mumbles, hand over his forehead. 

Twilight crosses his arms over his chest with a scowl.

“Yeah, well, he’s my protege, so technically I met and knew him first.”

Once more, eight pairs of eyes snap themselves towards his direction and Twilight’s nose scrunches at the attention.

“What — ?”

“Why do you sound so smug about it?” Four narrows his eyes at him, lips pursed.

"What? I’m not, I'm just saying ."

Legend snorts loudly. "Wow, didn’t take you for the jealous type, Rancher.”

Twilight splutters. “I’m not — !”

“Oh, oh, I see it.” Hyrule nods. “It’s alright, Twilight. We can’t always win at everything.”

“Wha — I didn’t — ! Hold on, how did I lose exactly if I knew him first?”

“There he goes again.”

“No one likes a sore loser, Twi.”

The urge to strangle something comes back stronger than before.

“Hold up.” Four speaks up, raising a hand that miraculously shuts everyone up. “Does this means that you literally missed several reunions with your protege for the past few weeks by accident?”

Silence settles heavily upon them, waiting for Twilight’s answer that comes out as a sheepish but annoyed mumble.

“Shut up, Four…”

“Holy shit! ” Warriors shouts, slapping a hand over his hand as he blinks in surprise at his own outburst. “Sorry, but, what — what! ”

“ I’m pissing myself .” Legend wheezes, holding his stomach as he bursts out in giggles. “I can’t. I can’t — “

“ Twilight! ” Hyrule cries out, one hand over his chest, looking sympathetic. “Legend, stop laughing! He must feel pretty embarrassed already.” Thanks, Rulie.

“Talk about bad luck.” Warriors shakes his head, clearing his throat to hide the laughter his entire body starts shaking with. Twilight sends him a nasty look.

“ Shut up .”

“Well, better late than ever, right?” Sky tries to comfort with a kind smile, reaching out to pat him on the back.

“You missed me several times?” Link asks with a pout.

“Five, if you want to be exact.” Four hums, hands on his hips. Link glances at him, jaw wide open, before he snaps his attention back to Twilight.

“ You missed me five times? ”

“And you actually dared to say you didn’t care if you missed Champ every time.” Warriors snickers, holding his stomach as he leans on Legend, who goes with it only because he’s too distracted trying to get his breathing back under control.

Link gasps. “You said that?!”

“I didn’t know you were Champ!”

“Outrageous!”

“ Cub! ”

“Wait, wait!” Four cuts in, one single eyebrow raised. “Is that the reason why you’ve been weird these past few weeks? Because you missed your protege?”

There’s the briefest silence before Twilight hisses, “ Shut up, Four .”

Link gasps louder than before, as if the little shit hadn't heard Twilight say so himself just half an hour ago.

“ Aw, Twilight! ” He coos, teasingly nudging him on the ribs. Twilight shoves him away with a glare.

“Stop.” He huffs and groans when his annoyance seems to only fuel every single one of his brothers. “ Old man, help me .”

“ Aw, Pup .” Time says, micking Link and adding a ruffle on his hair, as if he were a kid. 

Twilight feels himself flush with embarrassment. “ Time! ”

“Who cares about Twilight’s grumpiness!” Wind howlers, face bright red as he waves his arms towards Link. “Are you forgetting the fact that Champ is a Link¡? ”

There’s the briefest pause among them before all of their voices echoes once more around the woods.

“Shit, you are right!”

“I knew it! I called this shit on the third meeting — !”

Warriors scoffs at Legend. “No, you didn’t, you liar!”

Legend shrugs. “In my mind I did!”

“Thank you, Hylia!” Hyrule praises at the sky, doing a small dance on the spot as offering. Sky joins him happily.

“I’m not gonna lie,” Four says. “I was ready to give up on whatever Link was coming and just kidnap Champ instead somehow without any of you noticing.”

Legend drops his arm on his shoulder and conspirationaly says, “I would have backed you up, no worries.”

Four smirks. “ Noice .”

“Wait, wait!” Warriors shouts out, taking one large step forward to smack the back of his hand against Legend’s chest. “You! Take the notebook out!”

“What are you going on  — ! Oh! Oh, you suckers, I hope you’re all ready to lose!”

Twilight rolls his eyes before he deadpans, “None of you won.”

“Hush you!” Warriors waves him off, missing the way Twilight scowls at him and flips him off. Instead, he snatches the notebook from Legend’s hand and curses under his breath. “Damn it! I lost!” 

“What? Why? How old is he then?” Legend asks hurriedly, snatching his note right back.

“He’s twenty!” Warriors complains loudly, waving his hand towards where Link stands.

“What!? The fuck he’s not! No way .”

“He is! He told me himself.”

“I did, yeah.” Link chimes innocently from the side.

“ See!? ”

“Fuck!” Legend curses loudly before he blinks and whips his head towards Link. “Are you sure ?”

Link pauses and taps his chin in thought. “Well, I mean, technically…”

Legend snaps his fingers in victory. “Ah-hah! So there’s hope!”

“No, there’s not!” Twilight rolls his eyes, stepping in.

“Time passed during a nap counts?” Link asks and at the shake of head he gets from Twilight, a few confused arched eyebrows, and the ‘so-so’ tilting hand from Time, he shrugs and says, “Then yeah, no,  I'm twenty.”

“So I won?” Sky asks with a grin. “I was the closest one to guess it right.”

Twilight scowls. “So was I.”

Legend crunches his nose at him. “You don't count,” he says. “In fact, you’re disqualified because you already knew him beforehand.”

“What? That’s not fair! Traveling through time and space is not something linear, you know — !”

“Champ, how could you be older than me?” Wind screams in betrayal, grabbing Link by the tunic and shaking him with all his might. “I trusted you!”

Link limits himself to pat his head in comfort.

“There, there.”

Time has to step in and forcefully pry the sailor off their newest member, pushing him towards Sky as he supervises the heated argument between Warriors and Legend that had ignited just then.

“Welcome to the chain,” Time says calmly but the edge of his tone is fond as he waves a hand towards the chaos in front of them. Wild smiles widely and nods.

“Not sure what it is exactly but I can tell I’m going to like it here.”

“I’m sure you will.” Twilight sighs and gives in to the smile that had been threatening to overcome his face for a while now. He throws his arm over his protege’s shoulder and says, “Let’s grab Sky so he and Time can catch you up to date.”

Time arches an eyebrow at him. “You didn’t explain anything to him?”

Twilight smiles sheepishly. “You guys just do it so well.”

Link huffs as he tilts his head towards time. “Ridiculous, right? I tried to nag him about it while we walked but he wouldn’t budge.”

He then throws a halfhearted glare at Twilight, poking the side of his cheek with one single knuckle just to annoy him, before he blinks and his eyes brighten the way they always did whenever he would recover a memory during his quest.

“Oh!” He gasps in awe before he grins widely. “Hah! Warriors was right, you do have baby cheeks!”

Twilight blinks. Once, twice, and by the third time, his eye twitches.

It takes less than ten seconds to finally get Sky to join Time so they could both catch Link up to speed with their quest, but only because he no longer had any argument to moderate between Warriors and Legend now that Twilight had tackled the captain to the floor, engaging him into a wrestling match that ignited a new bet amongst the rest of the chain that was left behind to watch gleefully.

By the end of the explanation, Link is offered a new nickname that comes with eight brothers. 

Wild, like a champion, accepts it all in a heartbeat.