Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"Dang, Legend, that's a lotta rings. What're you gonna do, propose to a pretty girl?" Warriors casually leaned against a tree, cleaning the mud off his chainmail as he watched Legend dig through his inventory.

"You wish you had anything half as powerful as one of these bad boys. This one"—he held up a small, unseemly golden ring—"can turn you into a Likelike."

Warriors cocked his head in confusion but Hyrule, from where he was sitting nearby, started laughing.

"What's a Likelike?" Warriors asked, eyeing it suspiciously.

"Why don't you put it on and find out?" Hyrule goaded, waggling his eyebrows with a splitting grin on his face.

" No , y'know what, actually, I think Time, Twi and I were gonna go have a strategy meeting to discuss what we were gonna do about that big horde of enemies that's only a day from where we are now . So I’m going to go do that and you guys can try on whatever magical jewelry your hearts desire," He decided, scurrying casually away from the duo. Legend and Hyrule laughed, the former stuffing the ring at the bottom of his box before sifting through it idly, eyeing Hyrule.

"Speaking of strategy—actually, y'know what, never mind."

"Legend? What is it?" Hyrule asked, scooting closer to his predecessor.

"Nothing. But here, I want you to have this—erm, these. I know some kids in the villages would make friendship bracelets for each other, but I only have rings, so how about a friendship ring... or three." He smiled shyly, holding out three jewel-studded rings. 

"Legend, I—" Hyrule leaned back slightly, eyeing the rings. "I could never. They're—they're beautiful ."

And they were. Their bands were smooth, polished gold, so pure and so clean and so positively vibrating with magical power that they looked like they were still molten. The jewels were even more splendid, though, they were all deep blues, like the sea, but captured inside a gemstone. And that wasn't just poetic, no, they really sparkled like water, a deep, seductive blue in their depths that slowly faded to something brighter and more saturated. just beneath their surface, flecks of silver and amber flickered like minnows or spots of sunlight on the water. They seemed so powerful, so alive .

"I insist, Hyrule. They're hardly the nicest rings I've got. Besides," he looked to Hyrule, unbridled affection clear in his startlingly bright, blue eyes. Eyes brighter and clearer and more splendid than any magic gem on any magic ring. "I want you to have them."

"Legend, I can't ."

"Sure you can," he insisted, grabbing Hyrule's left wrist gently. He slipped them onto Hyrule's index, ring, and pinky fingers because his bracers were fastened around his middle one.

They were warm to the touch, like human body temperature, and they filled Hyrule with a surge of vitality, like when he put on his own blue ring. But these, they were different somehow. They fit perfectly: snug, but not overly so. He moved to take them off, but Legend placed his hands over Hyrule's own, watching his successor's hands intently. 

"Please, Hyrule. Keep them on. Always. For me."

And how was Hyrule supposed to say no to that.

Hyrule felt awful for the rest of the day.

Yes, Legend was trying to be nice—and he really was—but Hyrule couldn't just accept three rings like this. Three! It was too much. Hyrule just had to make it up to Legend somehow. But what could he do? What skills did he even have? He could do magic, but Legend had more than enough magic; he didn't need any of Hyrule's. He could use a sword? What good was that going to do. He could explore and get into wacky adventurous shenanigans? No, but... perhaps? Wild had said that some of his favorite memories with the group were from messing around with Hyrule off in the woods. Maybe Hyrule could make it up to Legend by going on a wacky mini-adventure with him? But no, Legend hated going anywhere without a map and they were in Hyrule's Hyrule (Hylia, they needed a better name for it) where there... weren't any. 

He sighed. What do you do to be nice to the guy who has everything?

"Hey, Hyrule, you good? You're just kinda staring off into space."

"Hmm? Yeah, Sky, I'm fine. I just—"

"What's on your mind?"

Sky knelt down next to where Hyrule was sitting in a small patch of knee-length soft grass specked with small pink and white wildflowers. Hyrule twiddled some between his fingers, absentmindedly braiding them into a small chain. One of the stems broke, loosening a few other strands, and he flopped onto his back in frustration.

"Legend just did something super nice for me and I don't know how to repay him and it's been eating at me all day. He's got everything a guy could want!"

Sky smiled fondly, stretching out his legs and resting back on his arms. "Have you considered the idea that you might not need to? He loves you. It's clear as day. What makes you think he wants you to repay him?"

Hyrule sat back up, slouching forward over his crossed legs with the flower chain back in his hands. 

"I don't... I don't think Legend wants me to do anything. I just want to. I feel so guilty ."

"Can I ask what he did?"

"He gave me these!" Hyrule held out his hand, deep blue sapphires—no, they were too vibrant to be mere sapphires—positively alight in the afternoon sun.

Sky leaned in, eyes wide as his shield. " Woah . I have got to ask him to give me one I can propose to Sun with."

Hyrule laughed, lowering his hand and fiddling with them, twisting them around his fingers. "Yeah, but... he just casually gave me them. They're far nicer than anything else I own. And three of them, to boot! I have to do something! "

Sky remained silent for a moment before speaking. "Yeah, honestly, I don't blame you. That's insane. I totally get that you feel you need to do something. You got anything in mind?"

Hyrule flopped onto his back again, spreading his arms out. "I just said, I don't know! "

Sky pursed his lips for a moment. "How about you make him a flower crown? You've got the beginnings of one there already. I can help gather flowers if you want." He smiled hopefully.

"A flower crown? Please. This is Legend we're talking about. The last thing he'd want is a dumb flower crown. And it's still not enough."

Sky's hopeful smile grew confident. "I think he would. Believe me, the stoic types that you're afraid to give affection to are the ones that need it the most. I think a flower crown would be perfect."

"You really think so?"

Sky nodded, now beaming. "I do. I'm gonna grab some flowers for you and get Wind to distract Legend so he doesn't find us." He winked and headed off, a skip in his step.

Hyrule let a breath escape him. He supposed it couldn't hurt, right? He began twisting more flowers together, trying to pay more attention to their shapes and colors to give it some semblance of coherence. It was surprisingly therapeutic. He smiled to himself. Maybe Sky only told him to make the flower crown because he knew it would help him clear his own head. Either way, Hyrule was lucky to have Sky. Maybe he should make a flower crown for him, too.

Sky returned a few minutes later, a mischievous grin on his face and bushels of wildflowers in each hand. He plopped down next to Hyrule, laying the flowers in the grass. 

He rocked back and forth a little bit before speaking up again. "Anything I can do to help?"

Hyrule paused for a moment. "You can sort the flowers by type?"

"Sure!" Sky beamed and got to work sorting the flowers and—after watching Hyrule pick the leaves off them before using them—began cleaning the stems as well. 

It was nice. Just the two of them sitting in the small clearing in a companionable silence. Hyrule smiled. He just wanted to share a moment like this with Legend. They had one earlier, when Legend was organizing his rings, but it wasn't the same kind of relaxed camaraderie he had with Sky. He couldn't put his finger on why, though.

"I think Legend would be content to just spend time with you," Sky suddenly spoke up, jarring Hyrule from his thoughts. "I mean, the guy's got everything , but have you heard him talk about his adventures? I think spending time with him would be perfect."

Hyrule paused for a moment, having long finished Legend's crown. He'd hidden it on the other side of his leg and started work on one for Sky as well, as a bit of a thank you. "I wanted to go on a lil' adventure with him. Like I do with Wild," he mumbled, his voice small.

Sky's face, on the other hand, positively lit up. "Hyrule, that's a lovely idea!"

"No it's not! Legend won't go anywhere without a map and there aren't any."

"That's not true." Sky leaned back fully, staring at the clouds above. "He won't go anywhere without you ."

Hyrule pouted good-naturedly. "Now you're just saying things to make me feel better."

Sky laughed. "It's true! Promise. If you ask Legend to go on a little adventure with you, I'm sure he'll say yes."

Hyrule looked up at the sky. "But it's already mid-afternoon. We won't have time for any real fun before sundown."

Sky leaned in conspiratorially and winked. "I'll cover for you. Now go shower Legend with affection!"—he pushed Hyrule's shoulder playfully—"You both deserve it."

Hyrule stood up, tying off the last of his flowers. "Fine, fine, you win," he surrendered with a smile. "But first—" he dropped the second flower crown onto Sky's head and ran, Legend's clutched in his left hand. Sky's laughter rang out behind him like a bell, bright and clear.

It wasn't very hard to find Legend. Sky had said that Wind would be distracting him and, well, it was hard to miss Wind's particular brand of distraction.

Hyrule found the two, Wind halfway up a tree with Legend's equipment bag and what appeared to be half of his clothes. How Wind managed to steal Legend's most prized possession was beyond Hyrule, but the kid was a mad genius who was far too easy to underestimate—and he knew it. Hyrule was starting to feel bad about letting Sky help him. Oh well, he better make this worth it then, he decided, steeling himself and walking forward.

But before he could say anything, Legend spotted him and called out, "Hyrule! There you are! Wind stole all my sh*t! Blast him with lightning or something!"

Hyrule froze, looking up at Wind uncertainly. Wind had done this because Sky had asked him to and Sky had only asked him to because of Hyrule. He’d been trying to do Hyrule a favor and Hyrule would only feel worse if he blasted him with lightning. No, no lightning.

"Um, Legend, I actually wanted to ask you something," he muttered, fiddling with the flower crown behind his back.

He was shocked out of his wits when Legend, upon hearing Hyrule, stopped in his attempts to chuck rocks at the chuckling Wind and turned to face him, looking genuinely interested.

"Yeah? What is it?"

"I, um... I wanted to go on a walk with you and, you know, hang out a little. To thank you for the rings and all." He looked off to the side, blushing furiously.

Legend's face softened, though, and he smiled. "I'd love to."

"But Legend ," Wind called down in a singsong voice, hookshot still clenched in his free hand, "don't forget to stay safe!" With that, he dropped Legend's sword, just barely missing his head as Legend dodged out of the way, letting his Master Sword hit the ground with a smack .

"Watch it, Wind! You'll take someone's eye out like that!"

"Sorryyyyy," Wind drawled, clearly not sorry.

Legend scooped up his sword with a glare, Wind still holding the rest of his items with a cheeky grin. 

"Aight, let's get outta here," Legend huffed, grabbing Hyrule's free hand in his own. The traveler found himself dragged into the woods, grinning bemusedly.

An explosion sounded out behind them, Legend letting his lip twitch up in a smile. "What he doesn't realize," he started, his smile growing, "is that he has no idea how to use any of my items and they really are rather dangerous." Hyrule laughed at that. Leave it to Legend to let Wind get bitten for his hubris. "Now, what did you want to ask me?"

Hyrule froze for a second, letting Legend's hand fall from his own. "Oh, oh, um, the question was if you wanted to go for a walk with me and hang out and stuff. I didn't have anything else I wanted to say." He paused for a second. "Aside from thank you, that is."

He held out the flower crown, gently placing it on Legend's head, who audibly gasped, eyes wide and face so soft and touched . Hyrule felt a mad blush slide up his neck, and he struggled to keep calm in the face of his idol looking so happy because of something Hyrule did. The flower crown was lovely, though Hyrule wouldn't have admitted it. It had a base of small white flowers that came in clusters all swirled around into a circlet, boughs of little floral stars sticking off in odd directions. he'd wrapped a cord of braided grasses around it in a spiral for sturdiness and so he had somewhere to stuff the stems of the small pink, yellow, and indigo flowers Sky had grabbed for him. He'd make sure that the pink ones he used were the same shade as Legend's bangs, using the others for Sky's crown. He used only the brightest blues he could find, though, the ones that might match his eyes, though realistically, Hyrule knew that no flower could possibly be as bright as Legend’s eyes. The yellows were a whole array, packed close together and looking like gold in the sunlight. They had been the perfect colors, tying Legend’s whole appearance together and complementing his bright eyes, sparkling with happiness. Legend was beaming. He looked happier than Hyrule had seen him in a long while.

Legend slipped his hand back into Hyrule's, and the two walked down the path, swinging their hands idly between them. He spotted a hill between the trees in the distance and almost dragged Legend off to go see what he could see from on top of it but stopped himself. Legend was happy. He was happy. This was nice. He stuck to the path. Hyrule couldn't be sure how long they'd walked for—he'd never been very good with time—but the sun was inching closer to the horizon, the world taking on an otherworldly golden hue—but just barely. It reminded him a lot of when he was hanging out with Sky earlier. It was weird to think he'd been so scared to spend time with Legend. There was a sort of energy to him, something pulsing under his surface that gave him a density , an intensity , that he other heroes didn't have. Hyrule was relaxed, yeah, but he didn't quite feel... right.

He was torn from his thoughts by a sound catching in his ears, a distant rustling that he'd recognize anywhere. 

An ambush.

Not one that had begun, no, not the heart-stopping crashing of enemies diving out from every bush and hole and log in sight. It was the subtle, building, uneasy, suffocating feeling of presences around them, closing in, breathing, seething, hissing, growling.

Hyrule drew his sword.

Legend reached for his hip, but stopped dead, staring down in disbelief.

He looked to Hyrule, shock clear in his eyes.

They both had the exact same thought at the exact same time.

F*ck.

And just like that, the ambush sound that Hyrule had been anticipating, the loud, crashing one, began, enemies pouring out of the bushes and onto the trail, gathering in front of and behind the two, blocking their escape to either direction. The woods were thick to either side and they didn't doubt that they were packed with monsters as well. It looked to be the standard: Bokoblins, Moblins, and Lizalfos, but they appeared to be Wild's variety. Legend brandished his sword in front of him, his back to Hyrule who held his own weapon, a slight rippling heat echoing down its blade. A Lizalfos rushed at Legend, but he bashed it across the face with the pommel of his sword, stunning it and kicking it backwards. The other enemies began inching forward, warier. The duo stood stock still, unmoving in their battle ready positions for one, two, three, and, as if telepathic, the two leapt forward in exact sync, swords outstretched and battle cries ripping from their throats.

It had begun.

Hyrule dashed forward, a Moblin staring down at him, a cruel gleam in its eye. He swung his sword, slashing it forward, and in the split second before contact, flames burst forth, the monster engulfed in a halo of fire. He smiled. He had been practicing his timing.

He skipped backwards, eyes scanning ahead for the next enemy to make its move. To his surprise, it was the Moblin again, melted flesh now running down its face and the savage spark in its eyes only brighter. It spun the club it was holding in its hand before rushing forward. In a swirl of blue, he leapt up, dodging over the brutal arc of its weapon and driving his blade into its head, the skull cracking under his weight.

A fountain of black blood poured forth, shooting into the air as Hyrule dove backwards.

Of course they were infected.

He glanced behind him, watching Legend backflip over the swing of a Lizalfos' blade, lunging forward and driving his sword into its ribs. A Bokoblin snuck up behind him, club at the ready, but a swift kick from Legend, who wasn't even looking, disarmed the monster and sent it reeling backwards in shock.

Legend rolled backwards, away from the sputtering Lizalfos and glanced around, his right hand opening and closing and his sword grasped firmly in his left. He and Hyrule found themselves back in the center of the circle, back to back, now breathing heavily and only a half a dozen enemies downed, the woods swarming with more.

"I'm not used to fighting with only a sword," Legend grumbled, his shield clearly missing from his back. "I just wish I had something in my other hand."

Hyrule thought for a moment before holding his sword behind him, hilt extended towards Legend. "Take it. I've got some other stuff on me. Besides," he grinned a grin that Legend could hear , "I don't need a sword to fight."

He felt the sword leave his hand and let lightning flicker over his fingertips, arcing between them and sending static shivering down his spine. Warriors had asked how he got his hair to be so poofy. Here was his response.

The two dove into battle again, Legend holding the Master Sword normally in his left hand and gripping Hyrule's backwards, the blade along his forearm. He flipped and spun, pegasus boots sliding across the ground with all of the speed of the creature for which they were named. His blades spun and spiraled around him, arcing and dancing through the ranks of the enemies, fireworks of ink bursting in his wake.

Hyrule, on the other hand, used Jump again, launching himself fifteen feet into the air. From up there he could scan the area and—oh, there weren't even that many enemies. Some of them were infected, sure, but it was only a cluster of a few dozen. Hyrule could actually expend his magic pretty freely considering all they had to do after this was rush back to camp and let the rest of the Links pick off the stragglers. There were a few Bokoblins, Moblins, Lizalfos, nothing new, and a strange blue light a little farther in the distance. Hyrule sure hoped there wasn't a Wizzrobe out there; they were a pain to deal with.

All this only took barely a second, the rest of his time in the air was spent raining bolts of lightning down upon his enemies—and the ones Legend was facing—paralyzing them enough for Legend to get hits in easier. Hyrule, on the other hand, landed in the center of the circle, crouching with one hand down and the other stretched out to the side. Whoever said Hyrule wasn't one for theatrics clearly didn't know him very well. There was a Wizzrobe out there? Well, how about fighting fire with fire. But not actual fire, because this Wizzrobe was flashing blue, which probably meant ice. Either way, Hyrule had magic beams of his own. Whipping his Magical Rod from the pouch on his hip, he fired blasts off into the fray, careful to avoid the Wizzrobe in the woods. He didn't want to get it coming after them until they'd dealt with most of these enemies first.

Legend and Hyrule met back in the middle again, back to back, now clearly sweating. They circled, slowly turning to face the enemies the other had been fighting. 

"How are you holding up?" Hyrule asked, twirling his rod between his fingers.

"Pretty good, but they're better. I think they're getting used to my movement patterns."

Hyrule nodded gravely. The smart ones were the worst. 

"Whaddadya say? Switch spots?"

Legend grunted in affirmation. "And you? How's your magic?"

"It's fine. I've got a good amount left, I'd say."

"I'll trade ya, sword for a rod?"

"Deal."

Now facing a fresh batch of enemies, familiar sword back in—no, this was the Master Sword, Legend's sword. Was that... on purpose? Hyrule didn't doubt it. He grinned and dove into the fray, the sunset gold blade of the Master Sword weaving through the air like it was weightless. He cut into the ranks of the enemy, fire blazing down the unfamiliar blade so much brighter than it did from his own sword. He was really liking this whole Master Sword thing.

He launched a fireball forward, the inferno blasting a few Bokoblins backward and boiling a few others to a crisp. What he didn't see was the Lizalfos that had snuck around the blast and rushed at him, cruel, curved blade in its outstretched hand. Hyrule dove backwards, but not fast enough to be out of range. No, the blade sliced forward, the shimmering silver tip streaking straight for Hyrule's stomach—almost exactly where his scar was.

He remembered the aftermath of that wound, the hazy, dizzying battle to finish off his shadow, the days he spent on the ground afterwards, pouring healing magic into his abdomen and sleeping, wrapping his tunic around his midsection to stem the blood flow, surviving only off the rations he'd had with him on the time until he was well enough to move again.

He didn't know if he'd be able to survive another like that, not if there were other enemies around to finish him off. Sure, he had his shield spell, but he was still casting fire when the blow came.

He wasn't going to survive this, was he.

He thought to Legend, the flower crown that had fallen from his head quickly after the fighting started now laying trampled beneath the feet of the enemies. He was glad he had gotten the chance to thank him. The last moments they had spent together, walking in the woods together, they were nice.

He would really prefer not dying, though.

The blade rushed at him, and he braced for the impending impaling, his thoughts only of his friends, his brothers, and how he wished he'd only had more time.

Then, it just stopped. Upon touching his tunic, the blade made a horrific sound, a screeching one of steel being crushed to the point of shattering, the sword splintering into a spray of stars.

Hyrule felt nothing, maybe a slight pinch, but that could have easily been the straps of his belt; he wasn't sure.

The Lizalfos looked just as surprised as he did.

He didn't remember casting Shield , nor did he have any items that could do that that he knew of. Except?

A glance to his left hand confirmed it. A row of small blue gems, gleaming like galaxies.

Legend had saved him.

He disintegrated the Lizalfos with a wall of lightning, sending it flying backwards into a Moblin. He turned to face Legend, to thank him, but Legend wasn't looking, too busy blasting a Bokoblin with his rod.

Hyrule felt a breath escape him, his sweat chilled and his bones vibrating from the adrenaline.

But he also felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up on edge.

The Wizzrobe.

He turned to face it, sword readied, when he froze, eyes wide in shock.

That. That wasn't a Wizzrobe.

A hulking mass of metal stood before him, six tentacle-like legs lined with what looked like plate armor holding it aloft, and a swiveling turret on top, a blinking blue light mounted front and center.

That. That was a Guardian .

A red line of pure energy fired from that blue light, quivering in midair, darting about like a hummingbird in flight. It shot straight past Hyrule and pointed directly at Legend, the small crimson bullseye reflected eerily in his bright, brilliant blue eyes.

A beeping sounded out, and Hyrule was faced with an impossible decision: Legend or the Guardian. Should he rush after Legend, push him out of the way, throw up a shield to block the attack? Or should he head for the Guardian? Toss out a Thunder spell to fry it and prevent it from doing anything else?

He may have been a touch confident when he assessed his magic ability before. He certainly did not have much now. If he wanted to keep a reserve to get them to camp without him passing out, he'd probably have to limit himself to one spell now. If that spell was Shield , Legend might be safe, but the Guardian would just fire again and then they'd both be screwed. If he went after the Guardian, though, he could incapacitate it enough for Legend to get to safety and maybe deal a few hits.

The Guardian it was.

Rushing forwards, he dove under the metallic monstrosity, spinning around and sliding on his back. Once he was directly beneath it, he shoved his hands upwards, jamming his jolting fingers into the gaps in the shell where its legs came through.

He felt the energy building within the Guardian, a great roiling mass of ether gushing out of a central core and zeroing in on what must have been that blasted blinking blue light. Hyrule sucked in a breath, focusing on the spell. Separate the positive and the negative. The light and the dark, the soft and the sharp, the cold and the warm, he pulled them apart, loosely, like loosening a tangle of string. It pulled, the two forces welling up, begging to come crashing together again like a powerful tide. He waited, letting the power, the energy, build inside him. But, from where his fingers were clutching parts and machinery and wires and whatever else was even in these things, he could feel that he was a hair too late. All of that pent up tension writhing inside of the Guardian rushed out, sucked through the eye and fired like an arrow from a bow.

Hyrule didn't know what happened. He couldn't see the beam. He didn't know where it went. What he did know, was that he had a job to do.

With herculean effort, he pulled himself up, pressing himself against the bottom of the Guardian. He was the source of the charge. It would try to get to the ground as quickly as possible. But first, it would have to get through the Guardian, and that meant getting through all of whatever it was he was holding onto.

When the pressure became too much, his lungs feeling like they were about to collapse under the weight of holding the two forces apart, he exhaled, channeling each force in . If they wanted to be together so badly, they'd have to do it inside the Guardian because they weren't getting through Hyrule. No, just like that cryptic scroll had said, his spirit had to be unbendable. And no matter how powerful that charge was, or what else it could burn through, it would never be able to so much as crack the unbreakable Hero’s Spirit.

So it surged forwards, out each arm, and into the Guardian, crashing, blasting, bursting, exploding, like waves crashing into rocky cliffs and fire blasting from bombs and ice crystals bursting from Legend's ice rod and the explosion of a hammer slamming against the ground.

The Guardian was ripped to smithereens, shrapnel blasting outwards and shredding everything that was still standing to ribbons.

Luckily—or possibly not so luckily—Legend wasn't among those who were still standing.

What Hyrule hadn't seen was the arc of blue thunder that fired from the Guardian's eye.

What Hyrule hadn't seen was the sheer terror on Legend's face.

What Hyrule hadn't seen was the split second of peace that crossed his features.

What Hyrule hadn't seen was the beam blasting across Legend's face, cutting over the bridge of his nose.

What Hyrule hadn't seen was the rippling aura of blue magic that had briefly surrounded Legend shattering.

What Hyrule hadn't seen was Legend falling backwards, crimson tears running down his cheeks, a bloody gash across his face.

What Hyrule hadn't seen was the very last thing Legend ever saw.

What Hyrule did see was the blue sky that appeared above him after the Guardian vanished.

What Hyrule did see was many of the enemies from the ambush laying dead on the ground.

What Hyrule did see was Legend, laying among them.

He had pulled himself to his feet, but it didn't last very long as he fell back to one knee again. That, too, didn't last, Hyrule rushing forward, tearing across the battlefield, and sliding to his knees at Legend's side.

"Legend? Legend! F*ck, please, Legend answer me. Say something, anything, please. " Hyrule shook Legend's shoulder rolling him flat on his back and freezing, a rough gasp shredding his throat when he saw Legend's eyes . Oh, Hylia, his eyes. He always had such beautiful eyes. Bluer than any of the flowers that Hyrule had picked for him. Bluer than any sapphire or sky or ocean or magic ring.

"LEGEND!"

No.

No.

No. No, Hyrule, you worthless piece of pathetic garbage, you are not going to let it end like this.

As much as it pained him to move Legend's head, he did, tilting it back and placing his ear over Legend's mouth. His pressed two fingers to where his neck met his collarbone.

A faint butterfly breath batted against his ear, strangled and in pain. A weak, fluttering heartbeat tapped against his fingertips.

It was go time.

Kneeling at Legend's head, placing it oh so delicately in his lap, he held his hands—his shaking, bloody hands—over Legend's head, a weak, flickering white light thrumming on the pads of his fingers.

Life was his favorite and his least favorite spell. He loved having it, having the power to save, to give, to renew, to nourish, to heal. The warm, bursting feeling inside him of coming home, of what home was to someone who didn't even have one.

But he hated it. He hated it so, so much. Because he only ever had to use it in times like this.

There wasn't much left inside of Hyrule. His magic, his energy, his strength, his happiness and his anger and his frustration and his sadness, and his courage, everything inside of him was laying in a pile of black blood on the battlefield floor or still arcing through the metal of the Guardian's innards or smoldering on the wooden handle of a weapon or rippling through the air and setting his hair on end.

There wasn't much left inside of Hyrule that could be poured into Legend.

Except, of course, his love for the veteran himself.

And there was plenty of that.

So in it went, in white rays and spiraling tendrils and arcing beams and soft glows and silver spirals and warm halos. In it went, fluttering onto Legend's face like snow and falling over his eyes like silk cloth and threading into him like a healing suture and collecting like fireflies on the bridge of his nose.

And the blood stopped gushing down his face quite so fast and the great crimson burn looked near scabbed over and Hyrule felt his eyes roll back into his head and he knew no more.

Chapter Text

Legend felt consciousness tickle the corners of his mind, calling him into the waking world. He complied, tugging against the last vestiges of sleep and waiting to be pulled into wakefulness.

Except, it never happened.

He wasn't swallowed by light or greeted with the morning sky or... or anything at all. Where was he?

Was he still awake? Was he dreaming? Koholint had felt so real. This was just... limbo. Was it some new, sick, twisted form of nightmare?

Dimly, he was aware of some sort of sensation, something grounding him, calling him into reality. He followed it. It started as a tingling sensation, but then solidified into something constant, something real. It was four somethings sliding across his scalp. They were soft and welcoming and familiar somehow. He focused on them more, zeroing his attention in on them. Fingernails, four of them, slowly sliding across his scalp and toying with his hair, picking out little flecks of... something and simply soothing and grounding him.

Now letting sensation return to his body, he was aware of blankets piled on top of and swaddled around him, one of which was something that felt like Twilight's wolf pelt. He could hear—distantly—a crackling fire, and he could feel the soft, warm blankets and the gentle head scratching, and he could smell a faint floral aroma and the homey scent of burning wood and the rich air of the forest, and he could taste a distinct dryness in his mouth. But, he still didn't quite feel awake. Nothing quite felt real. Because he couldn't see anything.

Suddenly, he was acutely aware of a presence on his face, something firm and tight and pressed against his eyes, his eyes and it needed to get off so he could see . Yes, that was the problem, he was blindfolded . No wonder he couldn't see and everything was wrong. Yes, this needed to come off and right now.

He began to move his hands, trying to maneuver them up to his face, but he was suddenly set upon by a stiffness and soreness that gripped his shoulders and arms and core and everywhere and burned . He felt so weak and his arms refused to move but dammit , he needed to get this blindfold off. He tried again, moaning unconsciously as he shifted.

"Legend! Are you awake?"

Sky. That was Sky.

Farore, that was Sky .

Hyrule wasn't the one petting Legend, it was Sky .

Suddenly he felt claustrophobic. He was wrapped up, tied, bound down by the blankets and the blindfold and his soreness and Sky was too close and the heat from the fire and the blankets were suffocating. He needed to get out , out into the air and he needed to be able to breathe . 

He began to shake and writhe and squirm, the hand leaving his head in a rush. He needed out .

"Legend! Legend, calm down!"

He moaned, trying to take off the blankets again.

"Okay, okay, sweet Hylia, I'll take them off. Just stop squirming."

Legend obeyed instantly, freezing in place and tensing so Sky could take everything off .

He felt two strong hands peel back the blankets and cool, fresh air flooded over him.

It wasn't nearly as relieving as he had hoped.

He brought his hands up to his face, finally, yes freedom, and felt his fingers brush against the rough fabric of bandages and pain blasted through his face like a battering ram.

What?

Soft, firm, calloused hands wrapped around his hands, guiding them down.

"Legend. Please breathe. Breathe with me."

Oh. He was hyperventilating.

His chest was rising and falling in raggedy spasms and sending searing pain through his abdomen. No wonder he couldn't talk earlier; he was barely able to breathe. He felt his hand being gently guided towards—oh, it was pressed against a chest, Sky's chest. He could feel the strong tunic and the worn leather strap and beneath it, the familiar crunching of chainmail. It moved up and down, slowly, smoothly, exaggeratedly. He felt a warm, partially gloved hand let go of his other hand and place itself gently on his own chest.

"Breathe with me, Legend."

Legend complied, trying to match his own breathing with Sky's, and he felt some of the muddiness and dizziness that had been plaguing his awareness begin to fade.

"Alright, Legend, what's the last thing you remember?"

That was... honestly a really good question. 

There was Hyrule. Legend had given him those rings—his strongest defensive ones. Anyone wearing them would be near-impossible to kill. It only made sense for their healer to have them. Of course, being the best friend Legend had ever had didn't hurt either. He'd given them to Hyrule—basically shoved them onto the kid's fingers—and then there was Wind and his stuff and Hyrule and the flower crown and Hyrule's flustered smiling face and the way a blush would creep silently up his cheeks and the sparkle in his hazel eyes when Legend was proud of him and the little skip in his step when they were holding hands. They'd gone for a walk and everything had been fine until—

Oh, that was why Legend was so sore. That hadn't been the worst battle in the world, but Legend—like the f*cking idiot he was—forgot to ask for his items back. He knew Wind would have given them to him if he'd asked, but he let the kid keep them because he was a horrible person who wanted Wind to blow himself up. How could he be so f*cking stupid ? He should know by now that every time he went anywhere without his items, the sh*t hit the fan and he was off on another wacky harebrained adventure without any equipment to speak of.

This... wasn't a wacky adventure, though. It was a battle, and one they fought hella well... right? He remembered Hyrule shooting into the air and raining lightning down from above and lending him his sword and later his rod and blasting their enemies with hellfire and making Legend so f*cking proud of this kid and Legend could still feel the grin that crept over his face when he'd handed Hyrule the Master Sword instead of his other one. He'd poured a lot of time and effort into making that blade as powerful as it was. From the shouts of glee he'd heard after giving it to Hyrule, the kid was enjoying it. He remembered a mechanical whirring, a beeping, a... a Guardian and he'd squinted because the red beam of light was shining right into his eyes and he saw Hyrule diving under it and knew it was going to be okay so he was turning to stab the Moblin that was after him and there had been a flash of blue and white.

That was the last thing he could remember.

Aside, of course, from the searing pain that had exploded over everything. He was burning up, his brain was melting —Din above, what the f*ck had happened to him?

"Is Hyrule alright?"

Sky sighed. It was not a good sigh. No, a very bad sigh, the kind that made Legend's breaths speed up again. He wanted to look around, to see Hyrule, to know he was alright and there but he still couldn't see anything.

"He should be fine. We found him passed out next to you. We spotted the lightning and figured things weren't going particularly well on your little adventure. By the time we got there, the monsters were regrouping. They—I think they thought you two had died. I—We all did, for a moment. Warriors rushed on over, though, and discovered that you two were actually alive and, well... the other monsters weren't around much longer. Time and Twilight managed to carry you two back to camp. I've got the last watch shift, and then it'll be morning. Hyrule has no injuries—not a single one. His clothes aren't even torn. He probably passed out from trying to heal you. He's stable, but he needs time to recover his magic."

Legend nodded, and tried to sit up. Exhaustion and soreness kept him down until he felt Sky lifting him gently by the shoulders and then a lump of blankets was pressed against his back. Legend hummed his thanks, turning his head towards the sound of the crackling fire and waiting for its flickering orange light to come into view.

It didn't.

Damn, he needed to get this bandage off. He reached up, but felt a stern slap on the back of his hand, startling him.

"Sorry, sorry," Sky apologized from somewhere to his left, "but please don't touch them."

"I'm fine, Sky," He moved his hand back up to his face again, reaching for the bandage. "I—" his motion was abruptly halted by strong fingers wrapped around his wrist, holding it in place. 

"Legend, keep your hands off those bandages or so help me I will get Wolfie to sit on you."

"But Sky, I can't see anything with them on.

Legend really wanted to see the look on Sky's face, but part of him already knew what it was. Pity. It was f*cking pity. Not only was it bad enough in and of itself, but it meant that something worth pitying had happened to him.

"Sky. Answer me honestly." He inhaled a breath that took a lot longer than it should have. "How bad is it."

Sky sighed. Legend resolved that the next time he heard Sky sighing like that, he was going to stab someone. He'd only heard it twice and he already knew he hated it with a burning passion.

"I don't know. As I mentioned, Hyrule's unconscious and nobody else is really that familiar with how to treat injuries, especially ones in sensitive areas like this one. I honestly don't know."

Legend felt himself crumple, sinking further into the blankets. "I... I wanna see him." Dear Nayru, his voice was so small and so broken. This was pathetic. He was pathetic.

He heard a noise to his left, a sort of pained exhale. Fabric rustled and he heard Sky suck in a breath between his teeth. "Neither of you are really in a condition to be moved right now. Well, actually, Hyrule should be alright. Here, one sec." He heard footsteps quickly flicker to somewhere behind him. He was alone now, with only the flickering of a fire he couldn't see. There was nothing, nothing beyond the fire and the blankets and the ground. Where was everyone? Was Wind wrapped up in Warriors' scarf in that little Wind Burrito™ thing he did? Was Wild sprawled over the form of Wolfie? Was Hyrule sleeping curled up in a little ball? Were Four or Time suspiciously absent from the camp? He just wanted—he just wanted to know . He couldn't picture the campsite at all, considering they hadn't set up yet when he'd left with Hyrule. Did the campfire have a small ring of stones around its edges? Where was his bag? His sword? Had Wild cleaned up and put away the pot or was it still sitting by the fire? He was struck by how little knowledge he really had. Nothing but what was directly within arms reach. He couldn't wait to get the bandage off.

He heard footsteps reapproaching, slower and heavier—yes, he could feel the way the earth shook minutely beneath him—and Sky's breathing, growing behind him until a rustling sound, like something being laid down, and an extra set of breathing lungs made itself known to him. He turned, twisting sideways and facing him—he thought, at least, he couldn't tell for sure which way he was facing—and held out a hand, holding it hesitantly in the air. 

Yes, there was definitely a person here, he could feel the breath tickling his hand. He lowered it down, gently placing it on the form's chest. He felt the ties of his tunic, the strap that held his sword seemingly somewhere beneath. Under the few layers of thin fabric, he could feel the straps of Hyrule's leather brace. Legend slid his hands up, feeling a collarbone and the steady, slow, pulse of a heartbeat. 

Legend sighed. It wasn't in relief, no, it was more... worry? Confusion? The thought hit him that this could be a total stranger wrapped up in Hyrule's clothes and he might not even be able to tell the difference.

Legend moved his hand to where he approximated that Hyrule's hair might be, but felt his fingers touch down on Hyrule's peacefully closed eyelids. He jolted his hand up, terrified that he'd been too rough. When Hyrule didn't stir, Legend relaxed, his hand now falling onto a puffy burst of of feathery hair. He petted it, slowly, gently, feeling the way the strands sifted through his fingers with just the least bit of resistance. It certainly felt like Hyrule, but Legend now found himself wishing that he'd touched the traveler more, familiarized himself with the feeling of his hair and his face and him so he could touch him and know . But the truth was that he didn't know. He touched a face that felt like what he figured Hyrule's would feel like based on what he remembered seeing, but how was that in any way accurate or helpful? Maybe his hand? Legend would surely be able to recognize Hyrule's hands, right?

He placed his hand gently on the ground, dragging his fingertips through the dust until they bumped into a blanket. He slid them farther down but no, now that was far too far down. Maybe back up, then. No, still nothing. There was a rock. Where was Hyrule's hand? Was it next to his side? No, that was just his tunic. Where?

He heard a rustling, and felt fingers curl around the ridge of his hand, rough pads gently pressing into his palm. He flinched for a second, but then let his hand be guided into a smooth but rough but oh so familiar palm.

This was definitely Hyrule.

And Legend felt all the strength and fear and everything rush out of him all at once. He melted, the arm he was leaning on crumpling under him. But before he could fall, a small gasp sounded behind him and two strong hands that he was already getting sick of feeling caught him, lowering him to the ground.

"Do... do you want me to leave you with him for a little bit?"

Legend felt that slight burning at the bridge of his nose, the tightness in the center of his forehead and the roughness of his throat that all foretold a cry, but no tears were made. Legend's face was so... numb that he honestly had no idea how much of it he even had anymore.

He nodded and the blankets around him shifted, creating a little nest for him and Hyrule, before a small satisfied hum sounded and the footsteps quieted, now leaving him with the fire and Hyrule's quiet breathing. The two boys laid there on their backs, Hyrule sleeping peacefully and Legend scooting closer, pressing himself against his successor's side. He made to curl into Hyrule's side, but he accidentally rolled too far, his face pressing into Hyrule's side for the briefest of moments, sending flaming daggers of pain slicing across his face.

Every muscle in his body tensed and he subconsciously furrowed his brow in pain but that only jostled the wound further, sending more pain searing through his skin. He sucked in a ragged breath, wheezing slightly in his throat and shuddering with the spasming of his diaphragm. It hurt, it hurt, Din, Farore, Nayru, Hylia, someone anyone please make it stop make it stop it hurts it hurts please, please no more I can't breathe I can't breathe I can't see I can't bury my face into Hyrule's tunic because it hurts and everything's tense and screaming and crying and please please I beg of you anyone anyone anywhere let me breathe give me peace let me think let me let me let me let me—

He whimpered, his hand squeezing Hyrule's own in what probably would have been a white-knuckled grip and he shook, his back shuddering in silent sobs. He wished he could cry, but he didn't even know if that was possible anymore. Breathe, Legend. You're the Hero of Legend. You've suffered far worse and made it out okay. You can handle this one, too.

But Hyrule—

Hyrule's right here. You can feel him. Real and warm and present and alive. It hurts, but it won't forever. You can do this.

But there was something different. Something that made Legend unable to shrug this wound off like he had so many others, something that made him tuck his knees up to his chest and squeeze Hyrule's limp hand tighter, something that made him shake and beg to the universe to let him cry. Something that made him feel like a small child again, staring down in horror at a limp corpse in a dark hallway.

Because for the first time, Legend couldn't let his eyes sharpen into a determined expression when the fighting got rough and he couldn't quirk a cocky brow when everything went south and he couldn't roll his eyes at his own stupidity and he didn't even know how bad it was. The way ahead, the way to go, what was next, it was always there, so firm and clear and solid. He had to save the princess or wake the sage or fight the monster or beat the dungeon or wake the damn fish or get the Triforce, but now... now he couldn't see the way ahead.

He couldn't see anything.

So forgive him for feeling hopeless in a world that was an empty, hostile void of the unknown broken only by the limp, unconscious body of his very best friend.

At some point he fell asleep, but he wasn't sure. He couldn't say when it all faded to black because, well, there was an awful lot of black going on. At some point, someone tapped him on the shoulder. Was he awake? He heard birdsong and plates clinking and wanted so dearly to open his eyes and see the bright sunlight streaming through the canopy and the group all gathered around the campfire, but, when that instinct, that unconscious, taken-for-granted, eighteen-year-old reflex kicked in, the simple habit of waking up and opening his eyes, attempted to reveal to him the world around him, a bomb arrow taken directly to the face tore him from the sweet haven of his sleep and smashed him into the ground, grinding his face into the floor with the crushing memory that no he cannot see and no he will not be able to until Hyrule wakes up. Also, Hyrule was unconscious and he hadn't stirred or woken up yet and it was Legend's fault and holy Hylia please wake up, Hyrule, I can't face this alone.

He tried to drown out everything, to focus only on the feeling of Hyrule's hand in his own and his torso pressed against Hyrule's side and the blankets covering both of them and don't think about the blindfold and listen to Hyrule's breathing, not the talking and the clinking and the murmuring and the eating .

"Hey, Legend." That was Sky's voice. And there was a way, a very specific way that Sky said the word "Legend" that sounded so gentle and hopeful and casual and... not pitying. It just sounded curious and vaguely pleased, like he suspected that Legend was already conscious and had saved Sky the trouble of waking him, but not in a bad way, in the kind of way that let him pretend that everything was okay, for a moment.

Legend turned his head, the bandages pulling uncomfortably at his hair, and he faced in the general direction of where he figured Sky was.

"Hey, good morning! Want some breakfast?"

It sounded so natural, so genuine. He didn't bring up anything that had happened last night and didn't even sound like he wanted to. 

Legend nodded.

"Alrighty. Wild made some oatmeal. Do you wanna eat it by the fire with everyone else, or stay cozy over here?"

That was... a good question. He was comfortable here, but as he thought about it, what he wanted most at the moment was to increase his circle of awareness, to hear other voices and get a sense for something that was happening and not stew in a corner. The din was loud and grating and he didn't want to hear it clamoring in the background, but maybe it would be a little more manageable if he were a part of it, if he could match each spoon clinking to the person causing it and speak to people who were awake and there. He could use something familiar, something normal. Yeah, he was blindfolded, but he could manage sitting down and eating oatmeal with his brothers. That seemed reasonable.

He tried to sit up, still feeling stiff and sore, but a—now rather familiar—partially gloved hand wrapped around his wrist, gently, and paused for a moment, like it was about to pull Legend to his feet. He nodded and then it tugged, Legend leaning into it, and finding himself standing up in a rush, head dizzy and fuzzy in the kinds of places that made him think this vision would have gone black from the head rush.

He dipped out of consciousness for a moment from standing so quickly and came to pressed against Sky's chest, strong arms holding him up.

He pushed back a little bit and Sky complied, the warmth leaving him. He swayed for a moment on his feet—or he thought he did—before he realized that while he knew the general location of the campfire, he had no idea where any obstacles like bags, dishes, or logs were. He took one step forward, his foot sliding cautiously across the ground, toe first, not catching on anything, before he took another tentative step forward. 

"Here, I've got you," Sky offered, placing a gentle hand on each of Legend's shoulders and, after waiting a moment, gently guiding him forward. Legend complied, drinking in the ability to move through the space knowing he wouldn't hit anything, and felt Sky tug his shoulders for a moment, signaling him to stop. They pressed down gently, and Legend began to sit, one hand feeling behind him for a seat. he felt the rough bark of a log and—using his hand as an anchor to indicate where it was in his concept of space—he managed to sit down alright.

The casual conversations he'd been tuning out quieted slightly and a chorus of greetings rang out.

"Hey, look who's up!"

"Good morning, Legend!"

"How'd you sleep?"

"It's good to see you up and about."

"How are you feeling?"

Legend nodded slightly, acknowledging their greetings. Time to test how well he knew voices. Four, Wild, Twilight, Warriors, and Time? Was that right? Did Wind say anything? Breathe, Legend, it's fine.

"Yeah, I, um, slept pretty well, thanks to Sky, anyway—" he wanted to nod to the caped hero, but wasn't exactly sure where he was so he just quietly bobbed his head before continuing "—I'm feeling pretty good, all things considered," he chuckled as naturally as he could manage, gesturing to his face with his free hand.

There was a bit of an awkward silence as people tried to decide how to respond to that. Legend saved them the trouble.

"But anyway, enough about me. It sounds like I have some people to thank for cleaning up my mess yesterday. So, thanks for coming to grab us, guys. I don't know what I woulda done. I mean, probably nothing because I was unconscious, but you get the point."

There was some laughter and forceful exhales of amusement at that. He just wanted to send a message: It's okay, I'm okay, I can handle this. You don't need to walk on eggshells around me; I'm fine talking about the battle. And, of course, that he was legitimately grateful for them coming to pick his half-dead ass off the ground. 

"Speaking of that 'mess' yesterday," a voice from somewhere at his left that sounded like Four started, "what on Earth happened ? you guys barely even had any equipment but it was a massacre ."

Legend let a smile creep onto his face.

" Well, "

He let the story of the battle roll of his tongue, convincing himself he was closing his eyes on purpose to envision the battle better, emphasizing Hyrule's absolute badassery . He talked about their teamwork, their synergy, their pyrotechnics, and how they had everything on the run until a Guardian showed up.

At that remark, gasps echoed through the audience, Wild speaking up. "Legend, a Guardian blast did that?"

He nodded slowly, suddenly aware that there was an audience in front of him that he could neither see nor read. He had no idea what anyone's facial expressions were. "I... think so?"

The Links were all dead quiet. Only one, hushed, " how are you not dead " broke through the shocked silence.

Legend squirmed, not liking the feeling of eyes on him he couldn't see , and held up a hand, the rings on his fingers still snug and warm. "I, uh, have rings and tunics and stuff that have magical defensive abilities. And Hyrule healed me so much he passed out, so that must've done something."

The group was silent, and Legend had no idea if they were nodding or looking around awkwardly or what.

He couldn't wait until he could take the bandages off.

He couldn't wait until Hyrule woke up.

"Hey, Legend, your oatmeal's ready," Twilight said, his voice shockingly near and causing Legend to jump slightly in alarm. He took a steadying breath to collect himself and then nodded.

There was a moment of awkward silence. 

"Oh, uh, I'm... holding the bowl. Where do you want me to put it?"

Oh.

Legend tentatively raised his hands as if to take the bowl, only he had no idea where it was. After a short hesitation, he felt it settle into his hands. It was warm, but not hot. Did they specifically wait until it was colder so he didn't get burned? He wasn't sure if he should be touched or angered by that.

He felt around a moment for the spoon before he took what felt like a scoop of oatmeal and brought it somewhere near his face. Was it too hot? Should he blow on it? Did he look like an idiot? Was the spoon not actually in front of his face? Was everyone staring at him?

He put the spoon back down—luckily he knew where the bowl was because he was holding it with his other hand—and let his back slouch a little. It was like all the wind had just been knocked out of his sails. Talking he could manage, walking was something that he could reasonably get help with because his face was literally wrapped in bandages so of course he couldn't see anything , but eating? He couldn't get help because it would involve getting fed and that was embarrassing and demeaning for both the feeder and the one getting fed.

Maybe he just wouldn't eat anything.

He'd lost his appetite anyway.

What he did want to do was crawl back under the blankets and grab Hyrule's hand and go back to sleep because it's okay to not be able to see when you're sleeping and then he wouldn't have to worry about if he was getting stared at because nobody was saying anything .

"So Warriors," Time started, making Legend eternally grateful, "do you think that that was the extent of the horde that we heard about?"

There was silence for a moment.

"No, I don't think so. That hardly qualifies as a horde. Wild, you know your Guardians better than anyone. If there's one, are there usually more?"

Another moment of silence. Legend never thought he'd hate being unable to see people's facial expressions so much. 

"Well, there are certain areas that Guardians are basically limited to. If you're in one of those areas, then yeah, you'll run into some. They don't really coordinate their attacks together, they just kind of stay evenly spaced out. But it's pretty easy to draw the attention of a lot of them at once if you're not careful."

"He'd know," Twilight added. Legend guessed that he was probably smirking based off his tone of voice, but again, he wasn't really sure. He had no idea what was going on anymore. He'd thought maybe being with the group would somehow, he didn't know, make him feel more connected and aware of his surroundings. But instead, all he felt were eyes on him. Okay, then. No more groups. Let's crawl back into that blanket cave now. Except, how to go about getting there?

"I, uh," he started, voice small. Instantly, all conversation broke off and he could feel their eyes on him. That was too fast. They had been watching him. They were all focusing on him. He wanted to be ignored, dammit. He wanted to be able to slink away silently but he couldn't because he had these bandages wrapped around his face and he needed help so he couldn't sneak off alone no matter how much he wanted to. 

"I'm actually pretty tired. Taking on all those enemies without any of my stuff took a real toll of me. I think I'm gonna head back to bed, actually."

There was silence again. Was something wrong? What was it now?

" Oh! Right, um, we were nodding." Oh. Body language officially sucked ass. "Here, want help getting back to your bedroll?"

He nodded.

Okay, maybe nonverbal body language wasn't that bad.

Legend leaned to the side slightly, placing his bowl on the ground and standing up. He felt Sky's hands on his shoulders again—he was still trying to decide how much he hated this part—and took careful steps forward, getting steered away from the fire. 

"Alright, here you are, back at your bedroll."

"Thanks, Sky. Really."

"Of course, Legend. Let me know if there's anything else I can do for you."

"Why?" slipped out before he could stop himself.

"What?"

"Why? It's not like it's your fault. It's not like I'm your responsibility. Why are you helping me?"

"Because the only reason this happened to you is because you gave your best protection rings to Hyrule, isn't it. You gave him three . He doesn't have a scratch on him, but you? If you're allowed to be a stupid, self-sacrificing idiot, then I am too. Now, in order to fulfill my stupid self-sacrificing quota for the day, I have to help you out fifteen more times so if you have anything you need, tell me, okay?"

He couldn't help but laugh at that. "Thank you."

"Anytime, you big doof."

Legend knelt down carefully, feeling for his little hollow in the blankets and Hyrule's hand. He curled up, occupying the space comfortably and threading his fingers through Hyrule's. He wished he could close his eyes, the mere act of letting his eyelids flutter closed a familiar ritual, but instead just... continued his existence. His weird, dark, empty existence.

He heard whispers, mutterings and voices trickling over from the fireplace. Things that sounded like:

"Is he okay?"

"Why didn't he have any of his stuff?"

"What are we gonna do for the rest of the day?"

"Well, we can't go anywhere without Hyrule and Legend. However, we can and should scout out the area. Treat this as our home base and have everyone else split into teams to sweep the area. This is our battlefield and we'll want to know it well."

"That makes sense. What should the teams be?"

"Well, there's seven of us. Maybe one of us should stay behind to guard the camp and the other six can split into pairs."

"That works."

"Who's staying behind?"

"I'll do it."

"Wind, no offense, but you're not exactly..."

"Finish that sentence. I f*cking dare you to finish that sentence, you—"

"Wind, back down."

"You want me to WHAT? He started it!"

"The fact that you're blowing up over this is only proving Twilight even more right. Maybe you should go with—"

"I'm guarding the f*cking camp and none of you f*ckers are stopping me."

"Guys, chill. Wind has a point. He's just as much a hero as any of us. I don't see why he can't guard camp."

" Thank you, Sky"

"Wind, you can guard camp if you promise not to touch anything that doesn't belong to you."

Oh sh*t .

Dead silence.

Did they know?

They'd asked earlier why he didn't have any of his stuff.

Did they actually just not know?

"I swear on my life."

Okay. Wow. This got very heated very fast. The others seemed to agree with his sentiment and remained silent as well.

"Well, that's settled. Wind, you're guarding camp."

"Four, who do you wanna go with?"

"Um, I don't mind either way. Twi?"

"Sure. Wild, you wanna go with Warriors?"

"But he won't let me have any fun!"

"Exactly. I guess that leaves Time and Sky"

"Works for me."

"Alright Four and Twilight, Warriors and Wild, Sky, you're with me. We'll head out in a little bit."

And that was that. There was rustling and clinking and chattering and moving and Legend just tried to let it all wash over him while he pretended he had closed his eyes on purpose and that there was nothing on his face . This was a choice. He could take it off any time he wanted to. He's just not doing it right now because he doesn't feel like it. Yes. That.

He heard a rustling next to him. Someone knelt down by his side.

"Hey, Legend, you gonna be okay? It's just gonna be you and Wind and..." he trailed off.

"And what, Sky?"

A sigh. "You're not... upset with each other, are you?"

"What? Wind did nothing wrong. He was just playing around. If I'd asked for my stuff, he'd have given it back. But I didn't because I wanted him to burn his eyebrows off or something stupid while I was gone." Oh. Haha. Burnt eyebrows. "It's my own damn fault. I don't see why Wind should take the blame."

An exhale.

"Maybe you should tell him that."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Damn it was really hard to not furrow his brow because he knew how much that hurt but not making facial expressions was hard .

"He thinks this is his fault. He's probably going to try to make it up to you while we're gone. I'm glad you don't blame him, but don't blame yourself either, okay? You were shot in the face by a Guardian. That was the Guardian's fault. Nobody else's. You hear?"

Internally, Legend scoffed. If he walked onto a battlefield without any weapons and got hurt, that was his own fault. It was good to know that he had to tell that to Wind, though.

"Sure. You should probably get going before you hold Time up."

A sigh. "Okay. And Legend? I love you. We all do. This isn't going to change that. Nothing can. Okay?"

Legend paused. He honestly couldn't tell if he was being patronized or not.

"Okay."

With a rustling noise, Sky padded off, preparing for his day trip.

After a few more minutes, the camp was silent, calls of "seeya later!" and "no forest fires!" ringing out through the woods.

Chapter Text

What was Legend supposed to do all day? Sleep? That was... a painful idea. The thought of laying down and not seeing. It was a thing that had to be done and everyone did it on a regular basis, but it meant something different now. It meant laying down and accepting defeat. And Legend never accepted defeat. Ever. 

So. Game plan. Wait for Hyrule to wake up. Honestly a pretty solid plan. And in the meantime? What kind of stuff did he usually do in meantimes? He couldn't organize his items—he just did that yesterday—but he could maintain them? Polish his rings and clean the Master Sword? But... he'd need to see if they were dirty or not in order to polish them. Journal? Haha. Funny joke. Mend or embroider his clothes? Embroider, no, he'd need to see the patterns. But mend? He did have a tear in his other surcoat. Maybe he could try to patch it up? It was worth a shot. Sitting here and staring blankly into space—no wait, he couldn't even do that—sitting here and being a tiny ball of general discomfort was not an idea that was particularly appealing. Yeah. He could try some sewing. It was second nature by now and he would be able to feel how far he was from the tear easily. So that was a plan.

Suddenly, the thought of continuing to lay in his bedroll was simultaneously extremely appealing and disgustingly abhorrent. What was he doing sitting here doing nothing? He was the Hero of Legend! He was already holding up the group by making them unable to continue forward and he wasn't helping them scout. He was a perfectly able-bodied hero who was going to do something productive. 

But also, there was that near-crippling fear. What if he couldn't actually mend his tunic? What if he was actually useless? If he didn't move, he could pretend he was able to do whatever he wanted, but chose not to. He could still hold onto hope.

But dammit he was getting antsy. He hated being a layabout.

Sewing it was, then.

He sat up. Okay, pretty standard. Now to find his stuff. He felt around, but couldn't feel the familiar straps of his bag. Actually, if he was going to be spending all day here, he might as well familiarize himself with the area. He turned, now on his hands and knees, and was about to start feeling around before he realized that Wind was still there at camp. 

Was Wind looking at him? Where was he? 

Legend did not like this.

He supposed he could just say something and see if Wind responded. That made sense. He had other senses to rely on.

"Wind?"

No response.

Dead silence.

What?

Was Wind beating himself up like Sky had said and ran off into the woods? And Legend couldn't even go looking for him because... haha... looking.

"Wind? You there?"

Was he just not saying anything because he knew Legend couldn't see him? That would be rude .

Well, if Wind wasn't around, then Legend could explore the area to his heart's content without feeling like an idiot. So, he embarked on the most humiliating quest of his career. Crawling around blindly on his hands and knees. Lovely.

There was Hyrule, who was still sleeping soundly, and the pile of blankets, cloaks, and furs that had seemingly been donated. Legend wondered if he could identify them all from their textures alone. There was a pelt that was definitely Twilight's. There were two other cloak-like garments, though. He knew one of them had to be Warriors' scarf and the others Sky's sailcloth. But which was which? A thrilling mystery. Truly one for the ages. 

What the f*ck was wrong with him?

Okay, yeah his face was wrapped in bandages so he couldn't see. That was a problem. Was Hyrule awake yet? No?

Well.

Warriors' had embroidery along the bottom in the shape of the Hylian royal crest. Sky's smelled like sunshine and daffodils.

Legend hated everything.

Okay, so it looked like there was a little pile of Hyrule's bedroll, Legend's bedroll, another one—Twilight's? If he slept as Wolfie, he wouldn't need it—and the collection of various garments. Oh wait, there was another one. Wait, whose was this? It... was this one Sky's? It, too, smelled like fresh air. It was just about the same length as the others. The texture was... just as fabricky as the other two. Though Warriors' scarf was slightly softer and plushier than Sky's. The Mystery Garment was more rough than either of them. And it had a hood? Oh, it was Wild's. Thrilling.

Okay, he was over this. Where the f*ck was his equipment.

"Wind, I know you can hear me. Where's my sh*t."

Silence.

What the actual f*ck.

Was Wind okay? Had he been patrolling the camp and got ambushed? Were there enemies? Sh*t, Hyrule was still unconscious. Would Legend have to fight like this? Where was everything?

Was this how he was gonna go? Murdered by monsters because he was blind and defenseless? Him? The Hero of Legend?

He was really starting to hate that title.

He was really starting to hate a lot of things.

But no, he'd already done this. He did the self-loathing and the hopelessness and the being-done-with-life thing already and he was not interested in going back there. No. This wasn't Koholint. Nobody was dead. Legend didn't kill anyone. He'd suffered worse physically and emotionally and came out fine. He could handle this.

Unless, of course, literally anything hostile in the history of Hyrule appeared.

Then he was screwed.

And, knowing him and his luck, he wasn't about to catch a break anytime soon. Nope. He was willing to bet money that in a matter of minutes, there would be something here trying to kill him.

A bush rustled.

Legend really hated being right.

Okay, options. One: hide himself and Hyrule under the blankets. Two: yeah, he didn't have a whole lot of options. He had to stay next to Hyrule to protect him, and all he had were blankets. So hiding it was.

Pulling Twilight’s pelt over himself and hating everything , Legend listened for any sound that may indicate who—or what—was approaching camp.

"Legend?"

Of course it was Wind.

He flipped the blankets off of him, facing in the direction he'd thought he heard the sound from.

"Wind, Where the f*ck were you? I thought you were supposed to be guarding camp!"

An indignant inhale. Coming from a little to the right of where Legend was facing. "I was! I just killed a bunch of—"

He cut himself off abruptly, and Legend heard a sound of pure frustration—something between a groan, a sigh, and a scream—echo across the campsite.

“I just killed a bunch of Bokoblins that were headed this way! Why does everyone have to constantly assume that at any given moment I’m—”

He suddenly went dead silent, Legend listening carefully for footsteps in the underbrush. Had Wind heard something? Were there monsters?

"Legend, I am so f*cking sorry ." 

Oh. Wind had probably realized something and then made some sort of facial expression. Was it pity? It better not have been pity. 

Wind’s voice wasn’t even.

"This is all my fault and if there's anything I can do to make your life any easier, please tell me. I don't know if I'll ever be able to forgive myself, but I—"

"Wind, this isn't your fault."

"What are you talking about? Yes it is ."

Legend sighed. "If I had asked for my stuff back, would you have given it to me?"

A pause. "Depends on how you asked."

"If I said, 'Wind, I have to go now, give me my stuff so I don't get killed,' would you have?"

Silence. A small sniffle.

"Wind?"

"Oh! F*ck, sorry, I nodded."

"Oh. Um, anyway, yeah. So you would have given me my stuff back. It was careless of me to neglect to bring it with me. I was fully aware that I didn't have it and I had every opportunity to get it. You gave me my sword , which I would have left without. I don't blame you, Wind. This wasn't your fault."

"I'm doing the verbal equivalent of a nod," Wind mumbled. His voice was still kind of far away, like on the other side of camp. 

Legend chuckled. "Just say 'okay,' you idiot. Now get over here. And bring my stuff."

Footsteps pattered across camp. Rustling. They grew louder.

A thud. "Here's your bag. And here's—" a gentle clanking "—your sword and shield."

Legend reached out and felt the familiar hilt of the Master Sword in his hands.

Oh, Hylia, that felt good. He knew he wouldn't be able to use it, but just having it was... unspeakably reassuring.

"Thanks, Wind."

"Oh, and here," Wind added, a small clunk signaling that he'd placed the item in front of Legend.

He reached out, feeling. His hand closed around wood... a stick?

"It should be long enough to act like a cane. You know, to feel the ground in front of you so you can walk around without tripping over anything. Hopefully you won't need it very long."

Legend ran his hands down it, feeling its length. He nodded.

"Thanks, Wind."

"Of course."

Legend began digging through his bag for that surcoat and his mending kit before a thought came over him.

"Wind?"

"Y-yeah?"

It was hesitant. There was a flicker of fear there. He still thought Legend was upset with him.

"How are you doing?"

Evidently, that was not what Wind had been anticipating, judging by the peculiar sputtering sound that came from his general direction.

"Um, fine?"

"No, you're still frustrated, aren't you. About this morning."

Wind made a sound that Legend assumed was accompanied by an exaggerated slouching of his shoulders.

"Of course I'm still upset about it! Did you see what they—"

He paused.

"Did you hear what they said about me? They acted like I was... like I was..."

"Helpless?"

"Yes! Exactly! What do I have to do to be treated like an actual hero around here! Was actually killing Ganondorf not enough for them! I've been on three quests! That's second only to you! Why do they treat me like this?"

"Because they love you or something, I guess."

"If they loved me, then wouldn't they respect my wishes? Give a single solitary f*ck about what I think?"

"I... I don't know, Wind."

"Legend? What's wrong?"

Suddenly conscious of the state of his body, he realized that he'd been slouching down, his head facing his feet defeatedly. 

He hadn't noticed until now.

Legend knew exactly what was wrong. But should he tell Wind? Wouldn't he just be belittling his struggles? But clearly, the kid didn't want to be treated like the weakest in the group. F*ck it. Legend had some stuff he needed to say and Wind was his captive audience. If he was gonna rant, this was as good a time as any.

Or at least that was what he told himself.

What came out didn't really sound like the start of a rant. It sounded a lot more like:

"I guess I'll get to understand what you mean pretty soon, huh."

"Legend, what do you—oh." It sounded closer. And there was rustling. Wind must have sat down, then.

There was silence for a moment. A quiet chittering of birdsong chorused in the trees. It was peaceful and still. Companionable. Like that last walk with Hyrule. There was a tension in the air, but it was a soft, understanding kind of pressure. One that pushed them together rather than pulled them apart. It was nice.

"But it shouldn't last too long. Actually, here: from this day forth, I'm gonna treat you like the hero you are. If... if I haven't been already. I'm not actually all that sure. Have I been?"

Legend wished he could see Wind's face. He just wanted to know , to see . Was he smiling softly? Bittersweet? Conflicted? Was he biting his lip in worry at breaking the news to Legend that he was being terrible? Was he just thinking about it and trying to remember? Was he giving Legend a raised eyebrow as if it should be obvious? As if he should know ? He reached for his bag and began rummaging around absentmindedly as Wind spoke. He hated this. He hated not knowing. He knew everything, once. He was the most knowledgeable, the veteran . But now, he couldn't see what was right under his nose. Haha. See. He once bragged that he had traversed so many dungeons that he could do it with his eyes closed.

He now doubted the validity of that statement.

"You've been fine, Legend, actually one of the better ones. I guess it's cuz of that whole "rough tough save the world kinda guy" thing you've got going on. And that's not a bad thing at all! I'd take blatant indifference over suffocating overprotectiveness any day." He sucked in a short breath. "And I'll offer you that same courtesy. I'm not gonna treat you any differently than I had been before."

That was... really touching, honestly. Because, yeah. Sky had guided him to and from breakfast. Legend needed it. And Sky wasn't weird about it either. He was gentle, but frank. And the oatmeal had been a good temperature... probably. They were being kind to him, but it was the kind of kindness that makes one's shoulders tense imperceptibly and their exhales grow minutely heavier. 

Legend tried to smile. He wasn't sure how genuine it was. "Thanks, Wind. I mean it."

His hands paused in their rummaging through his bag. Evidently, they had found what they had been looking for. He traced his fingers along its edges. Smooth, cylindrical, glass, a wide metal top and bottom. A wire handle. His lantern. Why did he reach for his—

Oh no.

This was... worrying. Legend didn't know exactly why, but something about this was very very off and very very wrong and as he held it in his hands and faced it and held it up at about what he thought eye level should be, he sucked in a breath and let it out and they were both too steady and too forceful and—

Legend did not like this.

Wind broke the silence. Suddenly, aggressively, like he'd seen exactly what was going through Legend's mind and he was determined to try and help.

"Well, it can't be very fun sitting on the floor all day. Do you wanna try walking around a little? If you practice doing all that stuff while it's just the two of us, you can impress the others with your astounding competence once they get back."

That was actually a really good idea.

"Why does it sound like you're speaking from experience?"

Another silence. What was he doing ? Fiddling shyly with his hands? Looking off to the side and blushing? Crossing his arms in indignation? Deflating and about to launch into a tragic backstory? Readying himself for the regaling of an epic tale? What was he doing? What kind of a silence was this? Tense? Companionable? Patient?

"I snuck off a lot with Wild last time we were in his Hyrule. He helped me practice riding my horse a bunch so they'd actually trust me to ride on my own and not need to squeeze onto Wars' horse like we did back in Twi's Hyrule."

Legend did remember that. It had worked , too, with everyone being so impressed with Wind's amazing affinity for horses, especially one of them in particular, that they thought it would be a crime to not let him ride on his own.

Legend nodded. This sounded like a pretty solid plan, actually.

He placed the lantern down gently on his bag and felt around for the stick Wind had handed him. It was smooth and sturdy, and long. This was good. Using it as balance, he pulled himself up to his feet. His core still ached, making the motion sluggish, but this was the kind of powering through pain that he did near-constantly. It was second nature by now. Somewhere next to him, he heard the patting of hands on pants.

There was a blind woman in Kakariko Village, Legend recalled. She'd had a cane that she tapped on the ground in front of her to get around. And a dog, too, that she had on a rope and it would lead her down the correct paths to get where she wanted. He was a good dog. Very smart. Legend smiled softly to himself. If need be, he had a good dog, too. 

He held the stick out in front of him, tapping it experimentally on the ground. Dust, dirt, small stones. The same texture as any well-worn trail. He stepped forward, confident he wasn't going to smack his face into a tree. It was a good feeling. He stepped forward again. More dust. He worked his way around the campsite, trying to get his bearings. There was a log, and another. Judging by the way they were angled, the fire pit must be to his right, then. 

He was liking this. Compared to not having the stick, that is. The general situation skill sucked.

He worked his way around, feeling out the edges of the clearing, a border signaled by the soft crunching of leaves. Another step forward, and his face was full of pine needles and sticks.

What the f*ck?

There wasn't anything there! The ground had been completely normal. 

"Legend, that's a bush." There was a smile in that voice. A soft, teasing lilt. They were on the same side, here. Somehow, getting picked on was reassuring.

"How was I supposed to know?!"

His anger was dramatized, his frustration comedic. It didn't hurt so much when it was a joke. A game. They were just playing a game, the two of them.

"Why don't you put on a blindfold and try to do any better!"

Wind laughed at that, but then stopped.

"Actually, that kinda sounds like fun."

Legend rushed to turn to face the voice, losing his balance for a moment. 

"What, exactly, about this is fun?!"

"We'll make a game out of it!"

"Aren't you supposed to be watching camp?"

"Easy, we'll take turns doing the—"

Another silence. Legend hated silence now, he decided. Well, it wasn't silence because there were birds. But they weren't telling him what Wind was doing with his face and his hands and his posture so they were worthless.

"Oh. I'm sorry, Legend, I—"

"Don't worry about it."

A sigh—was it one of relief?—left him.

"We can still play, though."

The perfect retort entered his head. But would it be crossing a line? What did Wind look like? Did he seem receptive to teasing at the moment? Would it be—no, he wasn't going to baby Wind. They made an agreement.

" This is exactly why they were hesitant to let you watch camp."

The response was immediate, natural. It was okay.

"Oh, shut up. It's gonna be fine ."

"If you were older than me, I'd say that you're a terrible influence. But instead you're just a gremlin."

"Maybe that's because you're the terrible influence."

Legend felt his free hand settle on his hip as he leaned on his stick. A smirk quirked at his lip. "If it's my influence you're getting, I think we have nothing to worry about."

Five minutes, a stick, something that Wind had apparently fashioned into a blindfold, and a few more bushes in Legend's face later, the pair was adequately incapable of sight.

"So, Wind, care to regale me with the specifics of how this game works?"

"Honestly, I didn't get that far. I was kind of hoping we'd just figure it out."

"I mean, we can't exactly laugh at each other's antics because how are we supposed to know what the other person's doing?"

"What if that's the game? To try and find the other person."

"But if we touch each other, then who wins?"

A pause.

"You gotta touch 'em with your stick to win!"

"... Is this just your excuse to beat me up for teasing you earlier?"

"No, this is your excuse to beat me up."

Okay. Maybe Legend could get behind this. Not that he had anything against Wind, but this game, as stupid as it sounded, might actually be fun.

"There is no way in hell this is going to end well. I'm in."

Now this was a grin Legend could hear .

"Alright, go! "

Okay, so Legend was in one corner of the camp, on the other side of the fire pit from where his stuff was. Wind was somewhere over there. He'd need to be quiet so as not to get caught. Wind would start heading his way any minute. And he'd have to tap his stick on the ground to navigate, which would be audible. Really, all Legend had to do was stand right here, point his stick in the direction of where he heard Wind last, and wait for him to walk into it like Legend had with the bushes. He couldn't feel it if it wasn't on the ground.

Perfect strategy.

So, he held his stick outstretched and tried his very best to be silent. He wondered if he could chuck something in the woods to throw Wind off. No, he needed him to head right for where he actually was. But if he knew where Legend was, he could anticipate and swing at Legend's kneecaps. Unless he tricked Wind into thinking he was farther back than he actually was. Brilliant.

He crouched slowly, feeling around for a rock he could toss. He found a good-sized pebble and gingerly closed his hand around it, carefully rising back up to his feet. A quiet scraping sound could be heard from a little ways across the camp. It seemed like it was growing closer. A clunk of wood on wood. Wind had reached the logs. Legend licked his lips. He should wait a moment longer before throwing the rock, just to make sure that Wind was convinced that he was in the woods. Yes.

A quiet tapping along a log. He was getting close. And... now!

Legend cast the rock over his shoulder and held out his stick, pointing it towards the tapping sound. 

A crashing rustle shuddered the branches behind him, their needles tickling the back of his neck. 

Wind's tapping paused. Then he veered off course, the sound now heading off to one side. Was he going to try and flank Legend? But Legend was in the middle! He'd have to move to intercept Wind now. Maybe if he waited for him to get into the woods where it would be impossible to move silently? It was a real conundrum.

His strategizing was paused by the loudest yell he had ever heard, accompanied by a rustling of branches and a snapping of twigs. In the previously near-silent clearing, the shout was ear-splitting. Doubly so because Legend had been listening so carefully.

"F*CKING SH*T I AM GOING TO MOTHERF*CKING MURDER WHOEVER DECIDED TO PUT A HYLIA FORSAKEN MOTHERF*CKING—"

"Wind, that's a bush."

Legend carefully angled his stick towards the voice. 

"LEGEND, DON'T YOU F*CKING DARE I SWEAR TO—"

His rant was cut off by a quiet moaning. 

Hyrule.

HYRULE.

There was a rustling and confidence to the steps that followed it that suggested that Wind had removed his blindfold. And maybe... maybe now Legend could, too! And Hyrule was okay!

He tapped his stick on the ground, hurriedly tracing a path as best he could towards where he figured that the sleeping bag pile was.

"Legend, stop! "

He froze in place as best he could at the sound of Wind’s voice, panting heavily. 

What was going on what was going on what's going on what's going on what's going on is Hyrule okay is he okay is he hurt what's going on what’s going—

"A little to your left."

A tap. A step.

"More."

A tap. A step.

HYLIA DAMMIT LET ME GO SEE HYRULE ALREADY!

"Now follow the sound of my voice. Slowly."

One fastest slow walk in history later, Legend found himself kneeling on his bedroll again. His stick lay abandoned by his side and his hands gently flittered over the now moving, moaning, alive form of his very best friend in the whole of every world he's ever seen. And that's a lot of worlds.

He could barely bring himself to speak.

"Hyrule?"

Hyrule sucked in a breath. He tensed under Legend’s hands, freezing. Were his eyes open? What was his F*CKING FACIAL EXPRESSION.

Then... in the smallest, softest, most awed voice Legend had ever heard:

"Legend?"

Oh, oh, ohhhhh, oh, the sound of that voice. That soft, hopeful voice. Legend had missed that. He'd missed it so much that now that he could hear it it was like a candle in the darkness. Something to latch onto. Something undeniably safe. Yes. Yes. Yes, oh yes, he was okay he was okay and he was here and alive and Legend didn't kill him and everything was okay oh, Hylia, he wanted to cry.

Legend didn't hesitate. He threw himself over Hyrule, lying diagonally across him with one arm shamelessly stuffed into his hair and the other somewhere , he didn't know, he didn't care .

"Legend!"

Arms wrapped around him. Familiar arms. Warm, safe, sturdy, leather-covered, familiar arms.

After not nearly long enough, they moved to his shoulders, gently trying to push him up.

"Here, Legend, lemme get a look at you."

"Mm mm."

"Legend, please? For me?”

And how could Legend say no to that.

So he loosened, and let Hyrule push him gently back.

And there was a gasp.

And it was a gasp that did not mean very good things.

Legend just wished he could see the expression on Hyrule's face.

Hyrule, however, knew exactly what the expression on his face was.

Sheer, unadulterated horror.

Chapter Text

Legend's face was a mess of bandages. They wrapped around his head from his forehead to his cheeks. His bangs were carefully hanging over the cloth, but the rest of his hair was beneath it. And the bandages . Slivers of red were beginning to seep through the areas where there were fewer layers of cloth. Slight, angry red irritations could be seen peeking out from under the slightly dusty white cloth.

Hyrule's breathing hitched. If he hadn't added that final burst of painkilling magic right in the center of Legend’s forehead, he'd probably have been writhing in pain for the past... however long it had been. Every time Legend made a facial expression, it would have been like rubbing salt into the open wound. Was Legend that good at schooling his face or had he just hidden the pain?

Sweet Hylia.

Wind stood behind him, looking on with a red bandana pushed up into his hair and a relieved, but also worried, expression plastered on his face.

Hyrule made a jerking motion with his head and Wind nodded, reaching forward to guide Legend off of Hyrule.

"Alright, move over and let me see what I can do."

How long had he been out? How long had Legend been blind and in pain?

Legend moved off to the side obediently. Too obediently. He sat cross-legged, his face turned slightly to the right of Hyrule but his posture showed that he thought he was facing him.

This was wrong .

He sucked in a breath and reached forward.

"Wait, wait, wait, slow the f*ck down, Hyrule. I know Legend really needs to be looked at, but you were passed out for almost twenty-four hours. Are you sure it's a good idea to be using magic?"

"Only twenty-four hours? It should have been a lot longer." He furrowed his brow.

Why had he woken up so fast? Draining his energy like that wasn’t good for him at all. Before his body could restore his magic, it always had to heal. Why hadn’t he had to—

The rings.

"Legend, why the f*ck did you give me those rings!? You knew what they did and still you—"

He froze. Legend had flinched. He'd flinched in response to what Hyrule had said.

What was he doing?! Legend didn't need blame! He probably already blamed himself far too much for this. Oh, heavens above. He'd saved Hyrule's life with those rings. And here he was—

"I'm sorry, Legend. That was horribly uncalled for. I—Those rings saved my life. A Lizalfos stabbed me. Straight through the gut. I was casting Fire so I couldn't use Shield and... I really thought I was done for. But when his sword hit my stomach, it shattered . It was amazing, Legend. You saved my life. Thank you. "

Legend leaned back, his shoulders falling slightly and his lips parted minutely in shock.

Hyrule wanted to see his eyes.

Those beautiful blue eyes that were brighter than any flower anyone could pick, that sparkled brighter than any gemstone, that were deeper than the ocean and bluer than the sky. He needed to get those bandages off.

"Wind, I'll be fine. Legend gave me these rings that contain powerful protection magic. I'll be just fine."

Wind sputtered for a moment, gesticulating nothing in particular. "But you're just gonna make yourself pass out again!"

Hyrule looked at Legend.

"Or maybe I never woke up in the first place. I won't say anything if you two don't."

"Hyrule, how are we supposed to account for Legend's miraculous healing if you do heal him?"

"Potion?"

"We don't have any!"

"A potion dealing merchant came by?"

"Hyrule! "

"...Legend? Why aren't you saying anything?"

Legend knew exactly why. Because he was horribly conflicted. On the one hand, getting healed by Hyrule was exactly what he wanted. He could get the bandages off and his eyes fixed up and he'd be able to see again and he'd be able to look at Hyrule's peacefully sleeping face and all would be right with the world. But Hyrule would overexert himself and pass out again and then Legend would be left with a horde of frustrated Links and no Hyrule to stand by his side. But if he didn't let Hyrule heal him, Hyrule would be forced to look at his bandaged face and he'd be able to do something but he'd have to not and Legend had a feeling that that would hurt Hyrule more than anything.

"My lips are sealed. I heard Beedle was in the area. Besides, Wind, you were out patrolling. You didn't see anything."

"Beedle's not even in this Hyrule, but fine. I'm out patrolling. But I'm not leaving you two idiots unattended."

"Because three idiots is so much better."

"I'm telling you, you're a bad influence on my poor, impressionable, young mind."

The moment of mirth passed and Legend felt a slight pressure on either side of his face, gently sliding, feeling for one end of the swirl of bandages around his head. It found it, a slight jostling signaling the end was free. The bandages loosened minutely, but there was a pause.

"Legend, promise me you'll keep your eyes closed after I pull these off. They're probably really sensitive, especially your eyelids. And I don't want air touching them just yet. Promise me you'll keep them closed."

Legend nodded, Hyrule's hand sliding slightly along the side of his head.

The bandages began to unravel, loosening and loosening, a gentle pain pulling at where they came free of some of the lesser burns. 

Legend felt like his vision should have lightened slightly from the lack of cover.

Then came the moment where the bandages had to be peeled off of the worse burns, the wet, deep, thick, burns that Hyrule very carefully removed the bandage from. 

It took every ounce of willpower in his body to school his expression into perfect neutrality, eyes shut and brow level. 

The last of the bandages fell away, and Legend heard Wind suck in a gasp.

Hyrule, on the other hand, didn't gasp. He didn't pull back in alarm. He simply bit his lip and examined the wound. 

This was not a normal burn.

He should have guessed, considering the horrific mishmash of scars criss-crossing Wild's body that supposedly came from the same source as this one.

Oh dear. He wasn't familiar with treating Guardian burns.

He held his hands up, splayed on either side of Legend's face. Light collected on the tips of his fingers like morning dew, soft tendrils of silver curling out from the beads of starlight. They poked and prodded and everywhere they touched, a little flicker of light skittered across Legend's face, softening harsh reds and causing little droplets of blood to creep back into the vessels from whence they came. The smooth skin of Legend's cheeks crept in over the softer reddish burns, pushing them forward over the scabs and the wounds. Hyrule bit his lip and sweat collected on his brow, rolling down his face. Wind pulled the bandana off his head, folding it up and wiping away Hyrule's sweat. A slight discoloration and wrinkling flickered across one of the scabs like crumbled tissue paper. Hyrule mouthed the word water . Wind scurried away.

Breathe.

The soft swirls of light poked and prodded intelligently, Hyrule's fingers twitching like those of a deft puppeteer. They scurried across the bridge of his nose, a slight reddish marking appearing where Legend's brow momentarily twitched in response. They ghosted along his ears, traced his cheekbones, and danced along the small patches of hair that were left of his eyebrows. The deep, angry, turbulent red receded, leaving only the ripples on a pond. Wind returned and held a waterskin to Hyrule's lips. He drank greedily, eyes never straying from where they were trained on Legend's face. Wind wiped at his sweat again.

Legend probably wouldn't need bandages after this. 

Now it was time for his eyes themselves.

Green potion, he mouthed, licking his lips.

Wind scurried off again.

Gently, leading with the wrist, Hyrule pulled his hands towards the front of Legend's face, fingers following and silver arcs of precise energy trailing along delicately. They settled on Legend's lashes like snowflakes and Hyrule sucked in a breath.

Hyrule wasn't lying when he told Legend to keep his eyes closed so as not to irritate them, but, well, this part would probably be easier if his eyes were open.

But Hyrule knew he wouldn't be able to heal properly if he let himself remember that these were Legend's eyes . His beautiful, blue, deep, bright, sparkling, playful, intelligent eyes that shimmered like the ocean on a clear day. No, it would be better for everyone if Legend just kept them shut.

The healing magic drifted down, filtering through his lashes and it began to seep in under his eyelids like silver water.

Hyrule closed his eyes.

Breathe.

He could see, in his mind’s eye, the slight glowing of energy beneath Legend’s skin. There were two spheres, his eyeballs, and spiderwebbing fibers of vision that flickered back into his head. The delicate patchwork of nerves seemed intact, actually, almost perfect. But his eyes themselves, the surface, the lens, the iris,  the — Hyrule didn't know how eyes worked! —were horribly, unspeakably —No. No. He had to fix this. He had to try.

Wind wiped at his sweat. Steadying hands pressed into his shoulders. He'd been swaying. He needed to do this. It was precise, and delicate, and it was easy to do far more harm than good but it was honestly hard to get much worse than it was now.

Breathe.

The surface of his eyes. Perhaps, not a precise stitching healing, but a smooth, blanket pressure. A simple acceleration of the body's natural healing processes. The kind he'd poured over Legend in the aftermath of the battle. That. Okay, so was everything as lined up as it could be? His eyelids were in the best condition they could be, all things considered, and should function properly. Okay. One last push. You can do this, Hyrule.

He moved his hands forwards and the tendrils pulled from Legend's eyes like silver tears and wove together into a spiderwebbing net between his fingers. It pulsed with light and it glowed until it was a blanket of shimmering light. He pulled it apart, smooth, like taffy, and held one in each hand, a small patch of healing that he gently, oh, so gently, laid over Legend's eyes and pressed forward, letting it sink into his skin.

The light vanished.

And Hyrule passed out.

Legend felt the last of the healing magic subside, the gentle, soothing pressure lifting from his skin. He could taste the faint metallic residue on his tongue and he could smell the warmth that still hovered in the air. 

He heard a quiet groan and an “oh sh*t” from Wind. He heard a hurrying and a rustling and a thumping.

“…Hyrule?”

“Oh, uh, he passed out. I caught him before he hit the ground, but he’s still out cold. ”A nod.

“Can I… can I open my eyes now?”

A moment of silence. This was it. His last blind silence. The bandages were off. Hyrule had healed him.

“I… don’t know. Hyrule said to keep them closed after he took off the bandages, right? Should we put them back on?

“Why? I don’t think anything’s bleeding anymore.”

“Yeah—it looks great, actually—but he didn’t want air touching your eyes just yet, remember? Let’s play it safe and—hey, I  just said not to open them!”

“… T-they’re open?”

Legend felt his heart rate accelerate, pounding painfully against the inside of his chest. His breaths shuddered and a thick, heavy, slimy bile seeped into his stomach, making him feel sick. His hand crept up, unbidden, fingers quivering, to his face. They touched his nose, and slid across his brow, brushing against his eyelashes, which were up.

It was dark. He needed something bright, something he could see in this darkness . Where was the sun? He couldn’t feel its warmth on him. Was it overcast? What time of day was it? Where was his lantern? His fire rod? Something, anything, where—

“Legend, calm down! You’re freaking out!”

“YES, I’M FREAKING OUT! WHAT THE F*CK DO YOU EXPECT ME TO DO?!”

“Breathe, Legend. We’ll figure this out.”

“FIGURE WHAT OUT, WIND? HYRULE’S PASSED OUT TWICE ALREADY AND WE DON’T HAVE ANY POTIONS OR FAIRIES. THERE’S—“

“Legend! The first time Hyrule passed out, he took you from the brink of death to stable. Now, having just woken up and probably with a fraction of his usual magic, he managed to turn the massive burn on your face into a faint pink scar. I don’t see why he can’t take another crack at it once he wakes up again.”

No, no no no Wind didn’t understand. Legend could tell. He could tell when Hyrule did the healing that this was it. He didn’t know, but he could feel it. Maybe he was just going nuts. Maybe Wind was right; why couldn’t Hyrule take another shot at it? Or they could find a great fairy or something. Maybe some of the others would be able to help somehow? Time—

Time only had one eye. Judging by how faded his scar was, it had been a while.

And he still hadn’t found a way?

Legend wasn’t b—

bli—

No. He could see. He had to. Maybe his eyes just needed to adjust or maybe they just weren’t very sensitive right now.

It was dark.

“Wind, can you h-hand me my lamp?” That didn’t come out evenly, not by a long shot. No, it was horrible and weak and quiet and stuttery and oh Farore was this what Legend had been reduced to? After everything, was he just a—

No.

One thing at a time. The lamp.

“Um… sure?”

“Can… can you light it for me?”

“Legend, are you sure that that’s—“

“Just do it. Please.”

A sigh. “Okay, but don’t burn yourself.”

A rustling. A clanking. A skritching sound. A fizzing.

The scent of burning lamp oil.

Legend faced the sound, scanning desperately in front of him. 

“Where is it? Is it lit?”

“Yeah, I’m holding it in front of your face.”

Legend’s hand rose towards the space in front of him but he heard a metallic creaking quickly pull it away.

“Watch it! It’s hot!”

“Please, Wind.”

He felt contact on his hand, foreign fingers touching his own and guiding them to a familiar metal handle. The same lamp that lit his way on that fateful day that he first met Fable in the dungeon of her own castle.

He was glad she wasn’t here to see him now.

He lifted his arm, the nostalgic weight of the lamp following behind and clanking slightly. His hand came to a pause right in front of his forehead. The lamp should dangle beneath, placing the flame right in front of Legend’s eyes.

He could feel the heat steeping into his face and the way his eyes seemed to itch and dry out from the flame.

This isn’t happening this isn’t happening no this is impossible it can’t happen no not to him he’s the Hero of f*cking Legend he can handle anything he’s almost been killed more times than he can count he’ll be fine he can handle this he’s got this it’s gonna be okay think about all of his items for a moment. There’s the Magic Cape and that would have protected him during the battle but he hadn’t been wearing it. Rods wouldn’t help, nor would boomerangs nor hookshots nor longshots nor switchhooks nor bows nor arrows nor slingshots nor anything but rings maybe rings Legend had a lot of rings did he have any healing ones?

Yes, actually! He had one that healed him slowly over time. That could help, right? It never stopped healing him unless he was in perfect condition. Surely, it would help!

He reached with his free hand for his bag. The one still holding the lamp drifted over as well, subconsciously trying to shed some light onto his endeavors. 

After a moment of fumbling, Legend managed to procure a familiar, smooth, wooden box. He flicked it open, trying to envision what he would see.

There were a lot of rings in this box, weren’t there. He began to run his fingers over the smooth, metal bands and crisp, clean jewels. It wouldn’t be too hard to find the right one if he could tell which colors any of them were—blue stones for defense, red for attack, et cetera—but color and Legend weren’t on very good terms at the moment. Would he actually need to ask for help with this? 

He took stock of his situation. After noting his own hunched shoulders and racing heart rate, he determined that at this point he couldn’t afford the luxury of pride. A quiet, sick, lingering, nagging thought tickled at his subconscious, spurring his heart ever faster and inviting in a crawling desperation. But no, that was a thought he refused to entertain. He wouldn’t even put it into words, clinging to the childish notion that if he didn’t think about it, then it wouldn’t come true.

“Hey, uh Wind, can you sift through here and pull out all the rings with golden bands and purple gemstones?”

“Uh, sure,” he offered. The box vanished from Legend’s grip and a quiet, metallic sliding sound signaled that the sailor had started sifting through the assortment. “What do they do?”

“Varies by the ring. One of them in particular heals me over time and I figured it was worth a shot.”

The slight rattling noise stopped.

“You have a ring that heals you and it was just sitting in here?!”

“I forgot I had it.”

“How did you forget you had it ?”

“I have better ones. Why wear a healing ring if I never get hurt?”

“Sorry, but have you seen yourself lately?”

“No, as a matter of fact, I have not.”

A hurried, panicked, inhale.

“Oh sh*t . Sorry, Legend, I—”

“It’s fine.”

It was not fine.

The sliding and clanking continued, a ring occasionally depositing itself into Legend’s hand where he’d run his fingers over its surface, trying to construct a mental picture of the object and determine if it was the one he sought. After a few minutes, his efforts came to fruition.

“This one’s it!”

“Looks like a magical ring of healing if I’ve ever seen one.”

Legend slipped it onto the index finger of his left hand, the familiar warmth sliding down his skin. He waited for the peripheral tingling sensation that accompanied the ring’s healing magic. 

It never came.

That didn’t… did it mean that… that…

Legend recalled a curious question he once found answered in a tome seemingly as old as magic itself.

He had wondered if healing magic could restore lost limbs—asking for a friend, of course—thank Hylia he hadn’t actually needed it, but it had been close—and upon finding the ancient manuscript, had discovered that magic would cover the severed end with a layer of smooth, flawless skin rather than regenerate the limb. It could, however, reattach a limb that had been recently removed as long as both parts were present.

Healing magic couldn’t fix everything. It would get to a point and then stop. If the ring wasn’t healing him, that meant there was no more healing to be done.

Which meant that—

No.

That thought—that terrifying, traitorous, horrifyingly likely notion—resurfaced with a cruel, gleaming smile.

No.

No, dear Nayru, please no.

A hand touched his shoulder, startling him into reaching towards his sword. 

“Woah, chill, it’s me! I was just wondering, now that Hyrule’s unconscious again, do you wanna try walking around camp some more? Sitting here can’t be very fun.”

Oh, right, Legend wanted to appear as competent and composed as possible for when everyone got back. Because they would be back.

Don’t think about it don’t think about it don’t think about it don’t think about it yes a distraction sounded lovely.

“Yeah. That.”

“Would you like a hand up?”

“I can do it. You should watch camp.”

“O—okay. Sure, I can do that. The camp is being watched.”

Legend nodded, feeling around for his stick. His hand closed around it and he pulled himself to his feet, steadying his breathing and raising his chin. He could do this.

He crept along, stick tapping and helping him construct an imaginary scene of the campsite. There was an assortment of logs surrounding the fire pit to one side of his sleeping bag, but what was to the other? Continuing along, he managed to find another bedroll. Whose was it? Was that irrelevant information? Probably. Should he continue practicing walking? Definitely.

It was Four’s. Nobody else was that tiny. 

Legend continued to hate everything.

Once he felt his mental picture was sufficient—this campsite was huge . They’d really gotten lucky when they found it—he began heading back towards where he recalled his bedroll was. 

Crunch.

Those were leaves.

There weren’t any leaves between here and his bedroll. There weren’t .

He took a tentative step backwards, not daring to continue.

Where was he?

He turned around, tapping experimentally. It felt like normal campsite dirt, but there should be more of it in front of him. But there were only leaves. But Four’s sleeping bag was just to his—

That was more dirt.

Where the f*ck was he?

Where was a bedroll? If he could find one, he could use it as an anchor to orient himself. 

So should he just pick a direction and walk?

That was a terrible idea. Maybe he should find the leaves again and trace the edge of the campsite? That might help him get his bearings. There were the leaves, and he’d go left, the direction of where his bedroll was.

Alternating between the crunching of leaves and the quiet patting of dirt, he traveled a few more steps before getting smacked in the face with a branch.

That hurt. Without the bandages to keep the sharp twigs out of his eyes and the inability to see the branch coming and consequently flinch in time, he got two eyefulls of branch.

But hey, scrunching up his face in pain didn’t hurt, so hooray, he could make faces again.

He had a feeling that that would be a curse rather than a blessing. The last thing he needed was for everyone to know how he was feeling because they were not good feelings . Maybe he could just pretend it still hurt to make faces. Keep that pesky lingering panic and soul-crushing fear from bleeding out and showing on his face, yes that sounded like a plan. 

But f*ck those branches hurt.

Wind had made no comment.

Where was Wind?

It didn’t matter. Legend had it handled. So tracing the edge of the campsite was a bad idea. That was okay. All he had to do was find the fire because the fire made noise. He could get back to his bedroll from there.

So he paused and he listened. And he heard the campfire crackling to his… behind him?

No, that didn’t make any sense. He was on the other side of the campsite. If he was facing the bushes, then no, wait, of course the fire would be behind him.

Wait, but it was daytime. Why was the fire burning? Was it the wind in the trees instead? Was he just going nuts?

Where the f*ck was he?

He turned back around to face what he thought the campsite was. Okay, the game was over. Time to take off the blindfold, right? How did he do? Where was he really? When came the part where he got to laugh with Wind about how far off his estimations were?

Legend really wanted to get back to his bedroll.

But wait, that was the problem. He couldn’t curl up and stop and block out the cruelty of fate because he couldn’t get back to his bedroll.

He had no idea where he was anymore. Heck, he had no idea what direction he was even facing and it wasn’t like he could read a compass or use the sun . If only there was something that he could follow or feel or hear or sense to get him back to his bedroll. Some sort of anchor. But no, here he was, adrift in the void, doomed to be lost in the turbulent sea of… the campsite.

Legend was full of hate. This wasn’t news, but the sheer quantity of malice that he felt welling up inside him, drowning out idle thoughts of when dinner was and what a nice temperature it was, was getting concerning. Heroes weren’t supposed to hate so much, were they?

But f*ck it. If heroes weren’t supposed to hate, then whoever was in charge of these things should give them a little less to hate.

Legend wanted nothing more than to curl up and sit down.

He was lost.

In a campsite.

Absolutely pathetic. Worthless. A bli— a worm, crawling in the dirt.

“Wind?”

“Yeah?”

That was from his right what the f*ck where was he?

“Where’s my bedroll?”

“Do you want me to tell you or guide you there like Sky did?”

“Telling me is fine.”

“Okay so turn to your eight o’clock and head forward a bit—oh and scoot to the left a little to go around Time’s—yeah there you go. And keep heading forward some more”—what the actual f*ck—“and now turn to your right. There you are. Hyrule’s right in front of you.”

As far as Legend’s mental map was concerned, he was very far off into the forest by now.

How had he gotten so horrendously turned around so quickly? And in the campsite, no less?

How was he going to travel like this?

How was he going to fight like this?

How was he going to be someone anyone could tolerate like this?

He was always so crass and flippant. His sole redeeming quality was his experience. If that was useless… then what good was he? He had his arsenal, though. Would he become an item clerk for the other heroes?

Could he get any more pathetic?

At this point, what was the purpose of traveling with the group anymore? No, Hyrule could still help him. 

Hyrule…

Maybe it would be best to stop thinking of him as a… as a brother. Start thinking of him—of them all—as traveling companions, nothing more. Because… because… 

Well, it depended on how long they would continue to travel together.

Legend wasn’t sure how long that would be anymore.

But no, they had to find a great fairy. It wasn’t permanent. 

It wasn’t .

Legend knelt down, feeling his bedroll in front of him. He’d need a way to get back here if he intended to have any modicum of independence. Something, anything, an anchor of sorts.

An anchor…

Legend felt around for a moment before he registered the familiar hilt of the Master Sword. And this would actually work extra well because he’d easily be able to find both his bedroll and his sword. Genius.

Feeling the ground in front of him with his free hand and finding it to his satisfaction, he returned his grip to his sword, holding it blade down. He raised it into the air and slammed it into the dirt, feeling the blade sink cleanly into the soil. He nudged it, testing it. It was firm. Good. 

Rifling through his bag once more, he found the small pouch that contained his sewing and embroidery equipment. 

After a moment, his fingers found the familiar floss that he had picked up the last time they were in Sky’s world, intending to add a decorative trim to his cap. It was even still rolled up nice and neatly. At least he thought this was it. He had no idea what color it was, so he couldn’t tell for sure. But that wasn’t what was important. 

Tying one end to the hilt of his sword, he pulled off the paper tie around the center of the embroidery floss and stood up, grabbing his stick with his free hand, and began inching away from the sword.

Oh he liked this. A constant, an anchor, a stick to check the path ahead and a string to lead him back. Brilliant. He felt a swell of pride within him.

It didn’t last very long.

Getting excited over a stick and a string. Really? This was what he needed, now? To be tied up like a dog?

Pathetic, his mind spat. 

He’d long lost the will to disagree with it.

But he could walk, now. And know where he was .

That was good.

He moved forward, the string sliding through his fingers as he stepped away from his bedroll. This was working . And wow it was a lot longer than he thought it would be. He must have stretched at least halfway across the campsite by now. 

The string suddenly stopped, and he felt a knot of dread rise in his stomach. Oh no. Was there—there was. It had gotten tangled. 

That was okay. He was good at untangling embroidery floss. 

It didn’t take him long to amend that statement. He had no idea what was going on with this knot. At this point, he’d pulled apart some of the threads of the floss and—yeah. This was a hopeless disaster.

Hah. Hopeless disaster. Funny.

Should he really call Wind? Again?

Could he do anything by himself anymore? Clearly not. F*ck this. F*ck all of this. Following the string back to his bedroll, he pulled the knot as tight as he could, condensing it into as little floss as he could. Then he wrapped the floss around the blade and tugged, his hands pulling away smoothly. And again. And now to tie a new knot. There. Take that , you stupid f*cking piece of string. Hah.

He began moving away from the sword again, only a little faster than was strictly necessary at the moment, feeling his small knot slip through his fingertips. He continued moving forward.

And it was still going . This floss was a lot longer than Legend remembered. Oh, wait no. He’d just passed the end. It had slipped between his fingers.

He knelt down to pick it up.

F*ck, where was it?

It should be right in front of him, right? He just dropped it. But no, it wasn’t here. Right, the elasticity of the floss would cause it to jump forward a little as it pulled free of his hand. So it was a little farther. In which direction, though?

He could just check the—

Legend hated everything. He really, really did. Because it honestly seemed like everything hated him so why not make the feeling mutual, right? 

He wondered if there was a way to kill Hylia. He could probably manage. Or he could have, before. Maybe this was a preventative measure. He was just too powerful before, wasn’t he. Crafty piece of sh*t goddess. Maybe she shouldn’t have sent him on so many f*cking quests after all. 

But that was beside the point.

String.

Legend wasn’t going to ask Wind for help. He wasn’t . He was going to find this f*cking piece of string if it was the last thing he did.

The last thing he did, huh? Would that mean there wouldn’t be any more things to do after that? That sounded nice. Nothing he needed to do. He’d need to look into that. 

“Here.”

F*CK, Wind was really close by.

“Sorry! Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you. Here’s the string, by the way. Might I point out that this is a brilliant idea? Because it is.”

“Of course it is; I came up with it. Now gimme that,” Legend snatched the string from Wind.

If he wanted to make sure he didn’t drop it again, he could always tie it to his wrist. Hah, talk about being chained up like a dog. But anything was better than Wind stepping in to take care of him. At least this was self-imposed.

Besides, if he was going to suffer, why not just straight up suffer , right?

It wasn’t hard to fasten the string around his wrist. Legend was good at tying knots. 

There. Now he could always find his way back to his bedroll. And he wouldn’t ever lose the string. Genius. He wondered if he could reach the fire pit with it. Winding it around his elbow, the string running up and down his forearm as he walked, he managed to get back to his bedroll. Now, if Hyrule was to his left, then the fire was to his right. He placed his lantern next to his sword, in the direction of where he figured the fire was. He began moving that way, his forearm growing tired from the repetitive, unfamiliar motion of tapping his stick on the ground, and the string sliding off his arm. 

Where were the logs? Had he headed the wrong direction? Again? No, here they were, they were just a lot farther from his bedroll than he remembered. Now he had a sense for distance, too. His world was growing, his understanding expanding. Maybe he’d get better at this. It had only been a day and he’d come pretty far from the confusion of the early morning. 

He was suddenly reminded that he had yet to eat today.

He ignored it.

“Hey, Legend, I’m gonna do another sweep of the surrounding area. Make sure there aren’t any more Bokoblins trying to sneak up on us. Are you gonna be good while I’m gone? I’ll be quick.”

“Take your time.”

Footsteps grew quieter, vanishing into the rustling brush.

Legend was alone.

That was… probably not what he needed at the moment. Being alone gave him a kind of freedom that he was not particularly fond of exploring at the moment. 

At the moment.

He wondered what else was in his radius. He began moving along, keeping the line taught. He leaned slightly away from it, feeling the pressure of the string on his wrist like a beacon, pointing home. Somehow, that made him feel freer. He had his log by the campfire, a lot of bushes—he had put his sleeping bag at the edge of camp yesterday—Hyrule, Four, and Sky’s sleeping bags, and a chair-sized, very uncomfortable rock inside his radius. 

A stirring. A moaning. Hyrule was awake again? Already?

Wrapping the string around his hand as he walked, he returned to his bedroll—his arm that had been using the stick was now thoroughly sore, especially considering the battle he’d fought was it really only yesterday?— and knelt down by Hyrule’s side.

He was definitely waking up.

“Legend?”

“Hey, ‘Rule. I’m here.”

“How are you doing?”

Now we don’t have time to unpack all of that.

“Fine, fine, how are you ? You just passed out for the second time today!”

“I’m fine. Your eyes…” He trailed off. Yet another invisible face.

Something brushed against his cheek, causing him to jump.

“Sorry, sorry. I didn’t mean to—sorry. Can you see?"

Legend sighed, but air was the only thing that left him in that moment. All of that barbed, twisting fear and hatred and… and hatred stayed bottled right up.

“I… No. I can’t.”

“Not even this?”

“Not even what?”

“Okay… so that’s a no, then”

“You sound surprised by that.”

A beat. A small silence. Legend absently wondered if he had any knives.

“I thought the second round would have done it, but I tend to be a little optimistic about my magical prowess. It shouldn’t be surprising.”

“Do you have any ideas?” That was not supposed to sound so hopeful and begging.

A beat. Another silence. Legend didn’t have any knives, not that he could think of. He had no shortage of swords, though. 

“Great fairies are powerful healers and there are so many different ones in so many different Hyrules. I don’t doubt that one of them will be able to help you. And if we stumble across a library, I can definitely research some eye anatomy, too. You’ll be able to see again.”

That… should have been everything he could have wanted to hear. But it wasn’t. He couldn’t see Hyrule’s face, but he had an inkling that his successor was…

No.

Hyrule never lied.

There was a crashing sound in the forest. Voices. Footsteps. Lots of them. 

“Time! There you are! I’m so sorry. Whatever I did, I’m sorry. I’ll do anything. Just please never put me with Warriors again.”

“I’m not that bad!”

“You’re awful ! You wouldn’t let me do anything !”

“What do you mean?! We did that stasis launch with the fire rod!”

“Okay, you have a point because that was pretty awesome but also you wouldn’t let me do that cool move with the lightning—”

“You would have gotten yourself killed!”

“I had the Thunder Helm!”

“How is that supposed to protect you from electricity?! It’s metal !”

“It’s magic! ”

“I take it you two had a successful trip?”

“Oh yeah. We cleared out loads of monsters. Warriors got hit, though he’s pretending he didn’t because he’s a stubborn—”

“I didn’t get hit!”

“That’s exactly what I mean.”

“How are you doing, Legend?”

F*ck, Sky was right next to him.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you. I see you got the bandages off.”

“Mhm.”

There was a silence. The kind of silence that told him that Sky and Hyrule were looking at each other. That Sky was mouthing “can he see?” and Hyrule was shaking his head no. He was right there and they were talking behind his back. 

"Hyrule," a confident voice sliced through the campsite, "I'd like you to come with me for a moment. I need to talk to you."

Oh. Oh, Legend saw how it was. They were going to talk about him behind his back, weren't they. There was literally nothing else that Warriors would need to pull Hyrule aside for. And of course they wouldn't discuss it in front of him because apparently everyone loved keeping him in the dark.

Haha. Dark.

But no, Legend wasn't going to let everyone go talking about him behind his back. No, Legend wasn't going to let them lie to him because he would have no way of finding out the truth for himself. Well, joke's on them. 

Legend began sifting through his bag. There was one piece of fabric with a very unique texture that—there it was. Yes, complete with the gold trim and everything. His Magic Cape. Pulling it free from his bag and holding it close to his chest, he heard Hyrule stand up and make his way towards Warriors' voice.

"I'll be right back."

Oh, don't worry about being back, Hyrule. Take your time.

Legend let his head sweep over the campsite subconsciously. Right. He had no idea if anyone was looking at him. They'd notice if he went invisible, wouldn't they. That wouldn't be helpful. But how to ensure that nobody was looking at him? 

He could crawl under the blankets! Then they'd just think he's asleep. Yes. Perfect.

Burying himself under the layers of cloth generously donated by his companions, he shifted until he could no longer feel the fresh evening air on his skin. 

Luckily, he'd fastened this cloak so many times that he didn't need to see the brooch anymore. Deft fingers linked the ties together, pulling the hood up over his head. 

He only had so much magic, so he'd have to make it to where Warriors and Hyrule were with expedience.

He listened for a moment, trying to catch Hyrule's footsteps. 

"How about we go for a walk?"

A walk, huh? As if. But now he had a direction. 

Inhale.

Exhale.

Inhale.

Invisible.

Feeling the tugging of the cloak slowly draining his magic, he smoothly extracted himself from his sleeping bag and swiped his stick, making fast tracks in the direction of Warriors' voice. 

A tug. On his wrist. 

His string. How could he have forgotten? Without it, he wouldn't be able to get back to camp. But with it, he wouldn't be able to get to Hyrule. Well, getting back was a later problem. 

Besides, his sword was bound to come in handy.

Pulling the string rhythmically, he managed to dislodge his sword from the soft earth and pull it towards him, coiling the string around his wrist. 

And there, the familiar handle back in his left hand. 

He felt much better already.

But he'd lost valuable time. He'd need to pick up the pace. He should be walking by the campfire now and—yes, there was a log, this was promising. And there was Hyrule's voice, just ahead. Good, good.

If he had anyone or anything he felt like thanking, he'd thank them that the Magic Cape allowed him to pass through creatures and enemies unharmed so he didn't have to worry about bumping into anyone. 

"Is this about Legend?"

Legend slowed, not daring to draw too close. It had hardly been a minute, but he still didn't want to risk wasting valuable magic in case the conversation ran long. But how was he supposed to tell if he was in plain view of anyone or not?

He felt around with his stick.

There was a small evergreen shrub. He reached out with his hands. It was a dense bush with thick needles that, if Legend managed to push past the outer layer, he'd probably be able to hide inside. Whyever lady luck decided to grace him with her presence now was beyond him, but he wasn't going to look this gift horse in the mouth. With one swift motion, he dove inside.

The rustling and snapping was horrendous, but Legend had yet to deactivate his cloak. If he played his cards right, they'd think him some sort of animal and leave him be.

The voices grew louder, questioning. Legend meticulously controlled his breathing. Confusion, resignation. They moved farther away again. 

Legend sighed and relaxed his concentration on the cloak, feeling the magic no longer leaving him in a steady trickle. 

"Of course it's about Legend."

"I was afraid you'd say that."

"Give it to me straight, Hyrule. The battlefield is no place for wishful thinking. I need to know if I should be planning an expedition to a fairy fountain or a battle formation that accommodates a blind soldier."

"I—I, well, I don't know exactly what's wrong with his eyes, aside from a lot , but I'm sure that if we—"

"Hyrule. Please. I know how much you care about Legend. It breaks all of our hearts for him to have to suffer like this, too. But you need to stick to the facts and only tell me what you know to be true. This is a matter of life and death. Not just for us, but for everyone in settlements that these monsters might target."

"I—I'm sorry. You're right. I just—"

"I know it's hard. Take all the time you need. But please try not to speculate."

A silence.

A shaky inhale.

Oh, Hylia.

"Legend is currently blind."

Ow.

That. That hurt a lot more than Legend had thought it would. He had ardently refused to think it, clinging to a blind, desperate hope that denial would somehow make it better.

It had only delayed the inevitable.

Legend felt sick.

Blind.

A curse. 

Blind.

A sentence.

Blind.

A wound, a handicap, a disability, rendering him useless, worthless, a burden.

"His eyes didn't react at all when I changed their exposure to light. No pupil dilation, no nothing. There's nothing more that I can heal. The tissue has repaired itself and scarred over, but it's lost its functionality. And I don't know how to return it."

An affirmative grunt from Warriors.

"I—There's fairy fountains in my Hyrule, sure, but my Great Fairies have grown weak from years of ruin. They can only provide basic healing and don't have nearly as impressive forms as any of yours. And getting Legend there? They're—they're not an option."

Another quivering inhale. 

"I've hit him with the strongest healing magic I know of in his world. Our Triforce... isn't exactly usable right now, either. As far as I know—" A shaking exhale. Oh, Hylia , that sounded like a sob.

"—Legend is blind. For good."

Chapter Text

"—Legend is blind. For good."

And everything collapsed in on itself.

Legend fell to his knees, sucking in a breath that wheezed, a shuddering gasp that rang out, a sound of pure fear and sorrow and horror. 

Twigs crashed and snapped as his knees met the earth and he coughed out a sob.

He felt dizzy, his head spun, his hearing went blurry if that was even possible, everything ached, his head, his stomach, his eyes, Hylia, everything hurt.

And more than anything, his heart.

Hyrule had lied to him.

"Legend?!" 

Sh*t, he'd been spotted. 

He wondered how many of his emotions were showing on his face, clear as day. He wondered what Hyrule had seen in that moment. 

"Legend, sh*t, I'm so sorry, I—"

He'd heard enough.

Suddenly aware of the sword in his left hand, he cleared a swath of branches that were to the side, feeling a tear slide down his cheek as he felt the cool invisibility of the cloak wash over him once more.

Legend ran.

The snapping of twigs rang out like thunder in his ears with the crashing of the underbrush. He vaguely heard branches and trees rushing by him, and he stumbled on the uneven ground. He held his right forearm in front of him, as if it could somehow protect him, and he felt the sudden slam of a tree, its rough, sharp bark tearing into the skin on his wrist as he slid off to the side of it, not having met it head-on. He felt one of his rings stop the bark from digging too deep and another begin to cool the wound, the gashes already closing and healing but not his eyes, no, the healing magic wouldn't ever touch his eyes, never again.

He continued, stumbling and making a horrendous racket, but hey, he was invisible, so that was bound to help. 

He heard the distant shouts of Hyrule and Warriors behind him. If they alerted Twilight, then he'd be on Legend in an instant, invisibility be damned, but luckily he and Four were still out on patrol.

His foot landed on a small stump, twisting his ankle and sending him careening to the side, now limping but never stopping. A faint healing pressure began weaving through his joint.

Blind.

He crashed into a small sapling, his shoulder twisting uncomfortably but the accursed healing magic never stopping flowing, flowing everywhere but his f*cking eyes.

Blind.

He took another staggering step forward, now stumbling more than running, but the ground never met his foot, sending him plummeting forward and down, his shoulder smacking into dirt, soft, sloped dirt—a river gorge, most likely—and he tumbled down, spinning and twisting and falling and thoroughly caked in fresh, loose, aromatic soil. 

Blind.

A smashing pain across his back alerted him that he had touched down into the ravine's bottom, hard stones stabbing into his back and he felt something crunch. Something began to seep into his tunic but whether it was blood or water was beyond him at this point because all he could think was blind.

BLIND .

WHY DID IT HAVE TO BE F*CKING BLINDNESS?!

His turbulent, shifting, dizzy, spinning world gradually began to slow. Awareness filtered back in as he registered the quiet rushing of water and the cool, soothing trickle running along the side of his face. He was laying on his back, head having slid off the bank where it had landed and was now partially submerged in a small eddy. The rest of his body lay, twisting, aching, and vibrating with gentle healing magic, sprawled on the edge between water and land, rocks, moss, and dirt stabbing into his back in equal amounts. He felt a tightness around his wrist and remembered that he’d been tied to his sword.

He still felt the gentle drain of the cloak in the edges of his consciousness and shut it, no longer siphoning his magic into invisibility. He was sufficiently alone, he figured.

He debated getting up but one painful, futile attempt resigned him to the ground. 

With herculean effort, he turned his head towards the sky, or at least the direction he figured up was, and stared blankly ahead.

He felt his eyelids flick shut, sealing themselves neatly closed.

He slid them open. No change. No slight lightness, no nothing.

Closed.

Open.

His breathing began to race.

Open, dammit!

His heart accelerated.

Closed.

Open!

His breaths grew shaky and painful.

Closed.

He felt a gasp escape his throat.

Open?

Warm water slid down his cheeks, a gentle, prodding headache nestling itself in the bridge of his nose.

Legend cried.

And he sobbed.

And he let the shaking overtake his body.

And he screamed.

A broken, strangled cry.

F*ck , that was bound to draw everyone closer.

Did he want to be found?

He certainly wasn't going to be able to make it to camp on his own. No, he'd gotten horribly lost in the campsite . Making it back alone was out of the question.

But then there was the question: did he even want to go back?

Look at him— haha look —he was useless, a hindrance. There was no way to get his eyesight back. If he went back with them, he'd only tear them down. As Warriors had said, he was breaking their hearts. They had nothing to gain from having him in their party anymore.

He would only cause them pain.

Unless, of course, he strategically removed himself from the equation.

But he couldn't just disappear and run off. He was stupid, yes, but not stupid enough to think they wouldn't wear themselves ragged looking for him. No, they'd never give up unless they found confirmation that he was okay... or otherwise.

Thinking, he began to unconsciously unwind the string from his wrist, twisting it around his fingers. He couldn't exactly leave them a note—it wasn't like he could write like this—and his chances of surviving out here alone were… yeah they were zero. 

Why not save them the trouble of having to look for him? Why not let them find him?

No!

Oh? Who might this be, kicking around his head? Some part of him hadn't been consumed by hatred and self-loathing yet? 

It shouldn't take too long now.

No! You can't do this to them. Imagine how Hyrule would feel, crying over your corpse. He'd tear himself to pieces from grief!

And Legend staying wouldn't do that? Hyrule had worn himself ragged trying to heal him. The kid had passed out twice in the span of a day. No, his presence would be a wound. A constant stabbing pile of salt in the wounds of everyone's guilt complexes. It wasn't like it was a secret. If Wind blamed himself for this, Legend could only imagine how Hyrule felt.

Why force them to live with a walking reminder of their failure? A walking reminder of the cruelty of fate?

Why not just...

Footsteps.

He froze.

Quiet footsteps, an interesting cadence. A four-legged animal, then. Panting. Quiet, but unmistakably beastly.

It looked like Legend's deliverance had come.

He didn't waste time with the cloak, suddenly finding the energy to pull himself into a sitting position and stare unseeingly forward, the perfect target for an easy meal.

The footsteps sped up, padding against the ground with a vicious, starving cadence. They rushed closer and closer, the panting growing louder and louder, animalistic, rabid.

They stopped, coming to a halt mere inches from Legend, a curious nose sniffing at him, analyzing, calculating.

A whimper.

Of f*cking course it was f*cking Twilight because the universe and everyone that inhabited it was secretly part of the "Let's make Legend's life a motherf*cking nightmare for fun " club. He wasn't hungry or rabid, he must have been f*cking terrified for him.

Legend would have started crying if he wasn't already.

A strange, otherworldly sucking sound echoed out and the panting was silenced, instead replaced by Twilight's heavy, exhausted breathing.

"Legend, are you okay ? What happened to you?"

Legend let his brow fall low over his eyes, a gaze of pure fury and hatred and are you for f*cking real clearly plastered on his face. He angled it in whatever direction he figured Twilight was in.

"Okay, yes, maybe it was a stupid question, but last time I saw you, you were climbing into your bedroll for a midmorning nap, still bandaged up. What's happened since then?"

Legend opened his mouth to speak, but a small squeak slipped out, a wheeze sliding through his tight, sore throat. Yeah, he wasn't exactly the most fond of talking at the moment. 

"Sorry, you don't have to speak if you don't want to. Just nod or shake your head. Are you in need of medical attention?"

A slow movement from side to side.

" Really ."

He held up his right hand, pointing to the healing ring he'd slipped on earlier.

"Protection magic or something?"

A nod.

"Okay. Do... do you wanna go back to camp?"

A pause. An image of Hyrule's face splashed through his mind, blurry, unfocused, but undeniably him. Blind . A vigorous head shake.

"Okay… Does anyone know you're here?" 

A small head shake.

"Legend, did you actually run away ?"

He opened his mouth to protest, before closing it, sinking his teeth into his lower lip.

"Legend, I—" a sigh. "I'm sure you had your reasons." A slight smile almost crept into his voice as he continued, "they can be... yeah, I've got you. No worries. It's just us for now."

Legend cocked his head, holding up four fingers questioningly.

Twilight chuckled. 

"We split up. I sent him back to camp to give our report and get the others for backup. That was, ah, quite the scream."

Legend felt his shoulders rise, tears flowing freely down his face. He pulled his hood over his head and tucked his knees to his chest.

"There's no need to be ashamed over it. We've all been dark places. And this is... it's scary as hell—but I guess you don't need me to tell you that. But it's okay. It'll get better. There's always hope."

Hope? Hope ? No, not anymore. Not for Legend. How could he have ever been so naïve, so f*cking foolish as to think for one second that there was hope for him .

He was shaking his head no without even realizing it. It grew faster, more frantic, and he pulled his soaking cape tight around himself.

"Woah, Legend, breathe for me. Just breathe."

As if it was that easy—hah—as if anything could be easy anymore.

"Alright, Legend, I'm gonna break my number one life rule and let you pet me. I'm gonna turn back into Wolfie now, okay?"

There was a rushing sound and Legend found his face full of thick, familiar fur. Instinctively, his hands found their way into its tufts, his palms pressed against, the warm, living, breathing body of his friend.

And he breathed.

He felt his heart rate slow and his breathing even and his hands rake through the thick, coarse fur of Wolfie's hide. 

Wolfie's weight settled into Legend's lap and the two sat in silence, breathing together.

Time passed. Who knows how long it was, really. It was strange, the way time passed. It all felt blurred together, not quite real. When he thought back and tried to remember the events of the previous day, his mind would search for an image, something to place him back there, to set the scene, but there was nothing. Nothing save the surroundings he subconsciously imagined based on what he knew. Without visuals that he could tie the time to, it was all just a stream of noise and feelings, sounds and sensations that just happened , leaving Legend lost and feeling like a rock in a stream, with time rushing around him, but not really moving through it at all.

Wofie shifted. Feeling around, Legend managed to discern that Wolfie’s face was angled towards him. Probably questioningly. He sighed, flipping back his hood.

Where to even start?

“So, uh, Hyrule woke up after a little while. He managed to heal me enough to, well—” he gestured to his face helplessly “—whatever this looks like. But when I opened my eyes, I, uh, I couldn’t see anything. Hyrule seemed surprised, so I asked him what was wrong and he, he told me that it wasn’t permanent. He told me that I could get it back .” Wolfie shifted, pressing himself further against Legend as the veteran’s hands tightened in his fur. “But I overheard him talking to Warriors. And he said that—” He wrapped his arms around Wolfie, squeezing, leaning over, and burying his face in the coarse fur, muffling what he said next, making it unintelligible.

He lifted his head slightly, turning it to the side and sucking in a breath. 

“How am I supposed to be of any use like this, Twi? How am I supposed to live like this?”

Wolfie only whined, nuzzling Legend’s shoulder with the side of his head.

“I—I… I’m filled with so much hate, Twi. I just… why did this have to happen to me? After everything I’ve done, after everyone I’ve saved, why is Hylia punishing me? ”

Wolfie whined again, trying to press even closer against Legend. He felt his hands tighten in the fur even more and he wondered if his knuckles were white.

“I hate everything. Everything, Twilight. I’m not even exaggerating. But most of all, I think I just hate myself.”

Wolfie shifted, wriggling out of Legend’s grip and slipping through his fingers, leaving the veteran adrift in the void once again.

The sucking sound rang out once again, dampened by the brook’s rushing. It was Twilight himself, pelt, chainmail, sword, and all, suddenly barreling into Legend and holding him in his arms, his face pressed into Legend’s shoulder, the brunet’s soft locks tickling his cheek. Strong, leather-covered arms wrapped around his midsection, holding him tight and squeezing. His still-wet clothes clung to him, cold and clammy, but Twilight’s warmth seeped through it all, melting the shards of stabbing ice that had been sharpening themselves in Legend’s soul. The rancher’s breaths weren’t quite steady, no, they seemed worried, but his chest rose and fell, helping Legend’s own breathing steady out as well.

Legend didn’t hug back. 

Instead, Legend let the hot tears rush down his face even more, his nose so clogged up that he could barely breathe—Hylia above, he was ugly crying —and he—f*ck it—he let his face fall into Twilight’s hair, taking in his scent. He, well, he smelled a little bit like a dog. Legend didn’t know why he found that funny, but he did. It was weird. Twilight was strong and tall and wore chainmail and wasn’t Hyrule. It was really weird hugging someone who was Not Hyrule. Heck, it was really weird being hugged in general. It wasn’t exactly a thing he did often.

It was nice.

He lowered his arms from where they were still raised in shock and placed them on Twilight’s back—oh, his sword and shield were still strapped to his back—and moved them to his shoulders, soaking up his warmth and feeling Twilight’s breaths on his neck.

Why was Twilight wasting his time on Legend? He had far better things to do than hug a worthless, blind, pathetic worm.

But here he was, doing it anyway.

Legend wasn’t even nice to hug. He was wiry and awkward with physical affection, especially with non-Hyrule persons, not to mention that he was filthy, sweaty, and soaked.

“Why are you being so nice to me?” slipped out, voice cracking even through the whisper.

“Because I… I love you, Legend. You’re like a brother to me. No, you’re more than that. I don’t know how exactly, but I do know that your happiness means just as much to me as Time’s or Wild’s or anyone’s. You don’t deserve this. If I could trade places with you, believe me, I’d do it in a heartbeat. But I can’t. So I’m going to stay by your side through this. No matter what.”

Legend felt his breaths shuddering. “I don’t deserve you, Twilight.”

“No, Legend,” Twilight’s voice was firm and warm and close. “You deserve better. But I’m going to give you everything I can. We all are. You deserve the best and we’re going to do everything we can to give that to you.”

Legend had no idea how long he’d been crying for at this point, but he figured he wouldn’t be stopping for a while now, his chest heaving with sobs.

Twilight pulled back, his hands firm and warm and grounding on Legend’s shoulders.

“First things first, let’s get you out of those clothes. They can’t be comfortable.”

Legend felt his head nod and pulled off his boots and socks. He then reached for the fastening on his cloak, pulling it off and feeling Twilight take it from him. The sounds of dripping water and flapping cloth rang out until the sudden rustling of leaves informed Legend that Twilight had probably placed the cloak on a low-hanging tree branch. Legend took off his belt, laying it on the ground next to him, and began to shimmy his surcoat off his shoulders.

“It’s a miracle you managed to sneak away in that . Bright red and gold? Really? You’d be better off wearing what you are now.”

“It turns me invisible.”

“... I’m honestly not sure what I was expecting, but I really shouldn’t be surprised by that at all.”

“No, you really shouldn’t.”

Twilight’s fond chuckles grew louder with his footsteps and soon, he was back by Legend’s side. Legend peeled off his soaking tunic and, upon dropping it, heard it flop onto the ground next to him with a squelch. Ew.

There was a sound of clinking metal and rustling fabric and soon, Legend found a dry tunic laying over his legs, residual warmth still clinging to it. Twi must have taken his off. Well, Legend didn’t exactly have a whole ton of options, so he felt around for the opening at the bottom and pulled it over his head, grateful for the large holes at the arms and neck.

“Legend…” Twilight sounded concerned. Oh, Legend knew exactly what he was going to say. He was putting it on backwards, wasn’t he.

“I got it, I got it.”

“What? No, you’re fine. But… Oh, don’t mind me. I just could have sworn we cleaned the blood off of your tunic, but now that I think about it, we never actually did. Some friends we are, huh. Leaving you in bloody clothes for a whole day.”

“It’s fine, really,” Legend replied once he managed to stick his head out the top of the tunic. “I didn’t even notice. And believe me, I’ve had worse.”

Twilight hummed. “Yeah, you probably have, actually. And to think that you’re still younger than I was when I started my own quest. It’s pretty—”

“Sh*tty.”

“I was going to say amazing. But yeah, I guess that, too. You’ve just been through so much while so young. It was hard enough on the village kids who got kidnapped for a little while. But you…” He trailed off, only the quiet laughter of the brook and the sighing of the trees filling the space left by his voice. “It’s one thing that you managed to survive all of that, another altogether that you actually won every single time , and here you are, going on yet another quest. I don’t know half of what you’ve been through—and that’s okay—but I don’t doubt that you can and will get through this, too.”

“But that’s just the problem, Twi. There’s nothing to get through . There’s no end in sight. Ha. But this isn’t going to just stop, Twi. There’s no monster I can fight that will make this go away. There’s no light at the end of this tunnel. Literally. Twi, I don’t know if I can just take this. Not this. Anything but this. I just want it to stop. When can the game be over? When can I have some f*cking rest ?”

“Right now. Lean back.”

“What?”

Firm hands landed on his shoulders, guiding him gently backwards into what felt like—was that Twilight’s lap? But he’d be lying if he said it wasn’t comfortable and oh, the warm, soft pelt that Twilight always had wrapped around his shoulders was now falling over Legend’s face and the thick fur was pressing gently against his closed eyes and he could pretend, just for a moment, that everything was okay and that his eyes were just closed and he could open them any time he wanted, but he wouldn’t because this was nice. He managed to arrange the pelt in such a way that it still pressed comfortably against his eyes and warmed his torso, but there was a small raised wrinkle above his nose and mouth that allowed fresh air in.

Yeah.

And then Twilight began to hum.

Three notes, descending slowly. It was somber and quiet. Heavy, but not oppressive. Like a warm hand on a defeated shoulder in a dark moment. As it continued on, it grew lighter, more melodic, the notes drifting higher and shifting into new melodies. 

It sounded like healing.

But not the healing magic that stirred and vibrated and tried to fix him but couldn’t . This was a different flavor of healing. He wasn’t okay. Not by a long shot. But that was okay. At least for now. And Legend could let himself be, even if just for a moment.

After the notes continued for a while, ending by trailing up, higher than Twi could reasonably hum, which was not nearly as funny as it was endearing because Twilight was trying for him and it was… 

Legend didn’t have the words.

And then, he felt a familiar tugging. A soft, gentle pulling. Twi wasn’t… he wouldn’t dare .

He was.

He was touching Legend’s hair.

First Sky, and now this? Why couldn’t these people keep their hands to themselves?!

“H-hey!” he tried to protest, but it was muffled by the pelt.

He heard a chuckle in response. “Hey, you just pet me for the better part of an hour. It’s my turn, now.”

“I didn’t agree to this!”

“Yeah, but it’s nice, isn’t it.”

Twilight was running his fingers through Legend’s locks, gloves presumably removed at some point earlier, and rough, calloused fingers sliding across his scalp and sending a warm, flickering softness down his spine. It was nice. 

He made no comment.

When Twilight’s humming resumed, the song had shifted to something far more hopeful and peaceful. Something calm and quiet. Melancholy, maybe, but there was still a definite promise that things would get better.

It was the last golden rays of twilight slipping over the horizon. The sun was going away now, but it would be back. And the night was calm and quiet.

Legend mumbled something that he thought might resemble a thank you. 

With Twilight’s soft humming, warm pelt and lap, and the gentle fingers carding through his hair, picking out bits of mud and leaves, Legend felt the warmth of sleep take him.

Twilight sighed.

It seemed that Legend was finally asleep.

Needless to say, he was sufficiently worried. He was under no illusion that Legend’s pain would just go away after a nice nap. He cast his eyes across the treeline at the edge of the ravine, ears trained. Nobody had come looking for them, which was odd, but welcome. It was getting rather late, though, and his namesake was quickly approaching. They needed to get back to camp. 

Carefully pulling the pelt from Legend’s face and seeing that the blond was, in fact, fast asleep, he let a breath escape him. 

It would be a pain to carry Legend all the way back to camp while also bringing all their stuff, not to mention that the veteran was a light sleeper from years of travel and fighting. The nightmares the kid must have; Twilight couldn’t imagine.

He brushed Legend’s bangs from his eyes, careful not to disturb the scar tissue. Hyrule’s healing abilities never ceased to impress him. The glow that fell from his fingers always reminded Twilight of that of the Light Spirits. Absently, he wondered if they’d be able to heal Legend. He doubted it. They were, well, light spirits. Legend and light weren’t exactly on the best of terms at the moment and Twilight wasn’t particularly familiar with their healing abilities, only that the hot springs helped, as did the fairies that inhabited them.

It was a pity that his Great Fairies, the only beings he knew who might be able to help at all, were, well, out of the question.

But one thing at a time. Placing his hands under Legend’s head, he managed to carefully extricate himself from beneath the sleeping hero.

He could probably carry Legend bridal-style in his arms—he’d carried goats that were heavier—but he wasn’t sure how to carry Legend’s stuff as well. His clothes he could probably toss over his shoulder, but his sword? Upon inspecting the item, he noticed a beautiful, deep blue thread tied around its handle, quite a length laying coiled in small knots on the ground nearby. That was… odd. Twilight supposed he could slip the sword in his belt, but then he’d have to balance all of that while climbing out of the ravine. 

He supposed he better get started.

After a lot of finagling, he finally managed to fit all of their miscellaneous belongings onto his person while still leaving his hands free. Then came the moment of truth. 

Crouching by the veteran’s side—he was so peaceful when he was sleeping, and so young. Veteran. He was far too young to hold such a title—he slipped his arms under the blond’s shoulders and knees, slowly rising to his feet.

Twilight scanned the offending slope, weighing his options. There was one spot in the river, a wide, clear pool, where the slope lessened. If he cut across it sideways, he should be able to manage getting Legend up to the top.

Probably.

Clutching the sleeping hero close to his chest, Twilight began picking his way up the steep bank, occasionally sliding backwards a few paces because of muddy patches, but without too much struggle, he managed to reach the top of the gorge.

Now that they were away from the rushing of the river, Twilight could make out the faint din of camp. Legend really hadn’t made it very far, though Twilight supposed that was a good thing. His legs were starting to burn.

As he neared the sound of the voices, someone—it sounded like Warriors—spotted them and the Links rushed over, worried.

“Is he okay?”

“Where are his clothes?”

“He just vanished earlier.”

“Why is he soaking wet?”

“Can I get him to his sleeping bag first? He’s getting heavy.”

A chorus of sorry’s rang out and Twilight made his way to the large pile of garments that had been designated as Legend’s bedroll. Gently, oh so gently, he knelt down and laid the sleeping hero down in the heap, nestling him beneath Sky’s sailcloth and wrapping his own pelt around Legend.

He sat back on his heels and sighed.

“Twilight… is he okay?”

“Physically, he’s uninjured. Well, nothing new anyway. But emotionally? This is taking a toll on him. A big one. I think… I think he’s mostly just worried about being a burden to us.” He gingerly brushed the bangs from Legend’s face.

Wind straightened from where he was standing slouched by Warriors’ side, piping up helpfully. “Yeah, he is. I promised him I wouldn’t treat him any differently than I had before and he… he seemed really touched by that. He’s still the Legend we know and love. I saw that for myself today. He was so resourceful in trying to figure out ways to get around the campsite without his vision and we were able to banter just like old times. We shouldn’t treat him like he’s some sort of invalid.” Wind sucked in a breath, puffing out his chest. “He’s going to need help with things. Simple things. And it’s gonna be hard for him to ask. He’s going to try and do it himself and he’s probably not going to do a very good job of it, but we have to let him try first. He managed to find workarounds that I never would have thought of. Wait until he asks for help before stepping in. Oh, and don’t sneak up on him. It scares the sh*t out of him.”

Sky nodded, chipping in as well. “Yeah, I’ve done that. What if we like, made extra noise when we’re near Legend? Just so he can place us better.”

“When you’re in regions where bears are found, you’re supposed to make a lot of noise so they can hear you coming and you don’t accidentally sneak up and startle them,” Wild added in a way that immediately informed the entire group that he had never done any such thing. “But, uh, I know what it feels to wake up one day, scarred and confused. And as I learned about my past… I can’t relate exactly to what he’s going through, but I know how it feels to have a life split between a before and an after, how it feels to… to feel like a failure. To think that the you that was was so much better than the you that you are now. Stopping the Calamity, it was my purpose, it was the reason I was there. Without it, I would have been lost. I think… we should make sure he has a role in the group. Twilight, you mentioned he was worried about being a burden, right? We should make sure there’s always a task for him to do. Something to make him feel useful. Needed .”

“Yeah,” Twilight nodded. “And like Wind said, we need to make sure we don’t treat him any differently. We can’t lie to him or talk about him behind his back. He’s blind, not deaf.”

“Nothing hurts more than betrayal,” Four added, crossing his arms. “He’s a smart guy. He’d figure it out. And it would hurt him more than anything. We’re all he has right now and we need to work as a team to help him cope.”

Warriors rubbed his chin in thought. “If we end up on a battlefield, we’ll have to make sure we can accommodate him. I’m not sure how, but with all of his skills, weapons, armor, and who even knows what else, I’m sure we can find a formation that still allows him to fight. There will definitely be an adjustment period, but he’s still an asset to this team. With experience, magic, and an arsenal like his, I have no doubt that he’ll never be a burden on us.”

Time started talking then, voice low, but soft. “When I lost my eye, there was definitely a period of adjustment. I had to rely heavily on Malon for a while, but I learned to live without it. Legend can, too. You boys, you’re the best support system Legend could dream of. He’s lucky to have you. All of you. This isn’t the end of his story. Not by a long shot.”

Sky stepped forward, determined. “We can’t let ourselves become burdened by guilt, either. This wasn’t our fault. Could we have all taken steps to have prevented it? Maybe. Legend blames himself for this, and you’ll all probably think he’s nuts and that it’s your fault instead, but it’s not . We didn’t burn him, a Guardian did. Saddling needless guilt on ourselves isn’t going to help anyone. Let’s focus on making this adjustment as easy as possible for him.”

“Yeah! He was using a stick I found in the woods to help him get around,” Wind smiled impishly, “but I’m sure we can do better than that.”

“Oh easily ,” Sky chucked. “I bet I could carve him something real nice.”

Wind shot up straight, his eyes lightning up in excitement. “You know those canes with the swords in them? Like it’s a cane but then you pull off the top and it’s a sword! ”

The group laughed at that, Sky waving his hand dismissively. “I might be good at woodcarving, but I’m not that good.”

“Please,” Four rolled his eyes, “nobody wants a wooden sword. What do you think, Sky? You make the handle and sheath and I’ll make the blade?”

The last murmurs of laughter were abruptly cut off, the group staring at Four in disbelief.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“I cannot wait to see the look on Legend’s face when he gets ahold of this.”

“Oh, he’ll be a menace .”

“He already is!”

“You said it.”

After a moment of laughter, Warriors crossed his arms in thought. “I know some blind people have dogs that can lead them around. If that wolf comes back here, I wonder if it’d be able to. It’s certainly intelligent enough. I’m sure we could work out an understanding. But then we’d need a leash… do you think it would let us put a collar on it?”

Twilight felt the blood drain from his face as three voices chuckled out in unison, “no way in hell.”

Hyrule had remained silent the entire conversation, and it wasn’t until Twilight was attempting to avoid eye contact with everyone that he noticed. He was sitting cross-legged on the ground, his hands on his ankles, and he stared at the ground in front of him. 

“Hyrule?” he asked, the brunet’s head snapping up, clearly only just now coming back to reality. “What are your thoughts?”

“I’m going to get his eyesight back.”

Warriors didn’t try to hide his confusion. “But you said it was impossible.”

Hyrule’s shoulders tensed. “Did you see what that did to him? Besides, I was being too pessimistic. Too close-minded. This isn’t the only Hyrule out there! There are loads of others with stronger Great Fairies and different kinds of magic and if worst comes to worst, I’ll just find a way to get our Triforce usable again. I told him he was going to get his eyesight back. That’s not a lie. I’ll make it true.”

Twilight and Sky glanced at each other, neither attempting to hide the looks of worry on their faces.

Time knelt down by Hyrule’s side, placing a firm, steadying hand on his shoulder. “I admire your conviction, but what Legend needs most right now is our support. We may not be able to do much in the way of magic in this Hyrule, so how about for as long as we’re here, we focus on helping Legend, alright?”

Hyrule nodded, avoiding eye contact. Time rose to his feet. “Alright, while we’re all here and talking, we should decide on a course of action.”

Warriors stepped forward, into the center of the circle they had been loosely standing in. “The original plan was to intercept this horde of monsters before they reach the nearest settlement, which is a little ways away, but we unanimously decided not to wait for them to get any closer. We all saw some scattered about when we patrolled, I’m sure, but we have no idea how big the main horde is. Now we have two options: keep pressing forward and cut them off here, or return to the town and defend it there.”

Time stood up, arms crossed contemplatively. “There were a lot of enemies, roughly the same density throughout the whole area. They were all moving in the same direction, though.”

“The town.” Warriors nodded. “I noticed the same thing.” The others, Twilight included, nodded as well. “It’s less like a river of monsters and more like a flood . They’re just sweeping across, unconcentrated enough to make them near impossible to stop with a force as small as ours.”

“Do you think they know that?” Twilight couldn’t help but ask, shifting his weight to the side.

“It’s possible, but doubtful. What’s more likely is that they don’t even know where they’re going, they’re just roaming the land in search of something to burn.” Warriors spit the last word out with disgust.

Four furrowed his brow. “Could it be possible that they’re running away from something?”

Warriors shook his head. “Unlikely. They weren’t moving with nearly enough urgency to suggest a threat to their safety.”

“Then what do we do ?” Wind asked, pursing his lips. “Are they even heading to the town?”

“It’s the only thing in that direction. I’m certain that once they find it—and they will find it—that it won’t take others long to be drawn to the sounds of fighting.”

“Then, do you think that we should head back and fortify the village? Prepare to defend it against attack?”

“We don’t have a choice. This all may be wishful thinking affecting my perception of the enemy’s movements because I just… really don’t want to go after a horde with our group in a state like this, but it’s the best I’ve got.”

Time nodded. “It seems perfectly sound to me. We’ve done some reconnaissance and determined that, if it really was the same density throughout, that there is no horde. We’d just be fighting blindly while the monsters who aren’t directly engaged in combat with us go on to attack the town anyway. It makes sense.”

“I guess that works out for us, then,” Wind chirped, hopping a little in place. 

“That’s exactly why I’m so worried.” Warriors glared at something Twilight couldn’t see. “Things so rarely do.”

Chapter Text

Legend opened his eyes. He sat up, rubbing them blearily, and gazed around the campsite, blinking in the bright morning sunlight. Wild was by the cooking pot, making breakfast and chatting with Hyrule. Smiling, the veteran made his way over, sitting on a log by the fire, the scent of omelets wafting through the air.

“How’d you sleep?” Wild asked, slapping Hyrule’s hand away from the food.

“Really well, actually.”

“That’s great!” Hyrule clapped his hands, smiling warmly. “I’m glad you managed to get a good night’s rest. I know how hard it’s been for you lately.”

Legend nodded, humming in response as he scanned the campsite. Sky was fast asleep under a tree, but nobody else was in sight.

“Hey, where is everyone?”

Hyrule and Twilight turned to each other and shrugged.

“I’ll go look for them.” Hyrule stood up, brushing off his pants and heading into the woods, calling out their names.

Legend nodded in response, resuming conversation with Wild.

“Breakfast time!” the Champion interrupted, passing a bowl to Time, who nodded gratefully.

Legend made his way over to his bedroll to grab his dish. Wild served him a crepe and he sat down next to Hyrule, who took a bite of his pie and hummed happily. 

“Legend?”

Legend turned to face him, one eyebrow raised. “Yeah?”

“Legend!”

“What?”

Hyrule’s face suddenly melted into one of pure shock, his eyes quivering in terror.

“ Legend! ”

A great bursting rang out through the camp, a flare of white filling Legend’s vision. Distantly he heard a scream.

Whipping around to look behind him, perched above the clearing fog, he could spot the heartless, swiveling eye of a Guardian.

He could still see it, frozen timeless in his memory, the Guardian perched on its thick, armored, spider-like legs, the head spinning around before pointing at him, the piercing blue eye blazing straight into his own, a flash of red momentarily blinding him.

No.

Drawing his sword, Legend rushed at it, diving through the smoke with a cry.

He blinked furiously, the grey fully encompassing him. Swatting with his hand, he managed to clear away enough that he could make out a wide, green pasture in front of him. The grass swayed in a tranquil breeze and before him, somewhere, not a spark of red or a note of song, but an idea, a concept, a name, but nothing more, but it was there, just a vague shape, a distantly familiar sensation, but she—

Legend sucked in a breath; everything was black.

He sucked in a bigger breath, stole it, clawed at the air, desperate, dear Din did he need the air, heaving, choking, gasping—sobbing probably—coughing, until he managed to force out an exhale. It might have been a scream, he wasn’t sure. 

He blinked furiously, trying to clear his head of the staticy cotton that drowned his senses. It must have been especially overcast that night; there wasn’t a speck of starlight or sliver of moonshine in the sky. There wasn’t even a fire—which felt horribly irresponsible as there were enemies nearby.

There was also a hand running up and down his back, smooth, soothing motions. A gentle sssh, sssh, accompanying it.

Realizing only just now that there were tears on his cheeks, he made to rub them off with his sleeve, but the cloth was suspiciously missing, his sleeves stopping at his elbows. 

What?

He ran his fingers through his bangs, pushing them back over the crown of his head. He then dragged his hand down his face, trying to clear away the residual sleepiness and moisture, when the heel of his hand met soft, sensitive, scar tissue that it finally clicked.

He was blind.

But just for a little w—

No. 

No, no, Hyrule had lied to him. Had given him false hope. Told him… told him that he’d be able to see again.

He didn’t think Legend would find out.

How long did he expect to keep his little lie going for?! If it was permanent, then how long was Hyrule going to spend pretending it wasn’t before he finally broke the truth to Legend?

Did he not think Legend could handle it?

Well, if that was Hyrule’s reasoning, he supposed it was right.

What Legend did could hardly be called handling it .

Legend had run away.

He never ran. Not from anything.

Except from this, he supposed. Whatever this even meant anymore.

Well, apparently he didn’t do a very good job of running away, anyway.

He sighed, letting his hand slide gently down his face, his fingers finding his eyelashes. 

His eyes were definitely open. Open but unseeing.

Nayru, if Twilight hadn’t found him…

He didn’t want to think about that.

He felt Twilight’s pelt around his shoulders and Sky’s sailcloth beneath him. He must have gotten carried back to camp. Just wonderful. And he wasn’t even in his own clothes. Or Twilight’s tunic, for that matter. It hadn’t fit particularly well—granted, it was supposed to be worn by someone older and more muscular than him, as well as over a layer of cloth and chainmail. What he was wearing now fit far better, the sleeves coming down to his elbows, the neck wide and with a small slit in the front. He pressed his nose to his shoulder, taking a whiff.

Hyrule.

Legend felt some of the tension slide from his body, like a valve had been opened but immediately shut off.

“There you go, you feeling a little better?”

Oh. Oh the hand rubbing his back had a person attached to it.

What a novel idea.

It sounded like Four.

“Yeah. Thanks. Um…” Legend straightened, listening for a moment. Hearing nothing but the quiet crackling of a campfire and the occasional rustling of branches, he slouched, continuing. “What time is it?”

“It’s early morning. Very early. The surrounding area is just starting to lighten and the stars are thinning out, I’d say. I have last watch and I’ve been at it for a couple hours now.”

Legend hummed in response.

Four remained silent for a little while before he finally spoke again. “Nightmare?”

Legend groaned. “Less of a nightmare, more of a dream.”

“I guess that’s better, then.”

“No. It’s not.”

There was a silence that Legend took for confusion.

“At least with a nightmare, you can be glad that you woke up. Real life seems good by comparison. All dreams do is remind you about what you can’t have.”

A small hum. “You do have a point.” A beat. “Do you wanna talk about it?”

Legend probably rolled his eyes. “What’s there to tell? My imagination forgot I was blind.”

A small inhale, the hand on his back lifting minutely. It returned after a moment, rubbing again.

“I’m sorry, Legend.”

“Don’t be.” Legend made a rough sound akin to a groan and returned his hand to his hair. “Nobody had faces. Not really. I could tell who it was and what they were doing, but it was like I knew it in my head but I couldn’t see it.” He sucked in a breath. “I’m just disappointed that I didn’t realize it sooner. It didn’t even make any sense, people appearing and vanishing and I didn’t even question it—”

“But does it even matter? In dreams, stuff just kind of happens. It’s not like that’s actually you in there. I bet if you thought through it, you could find tons of things that you wouldn’t have done had it actually been you. That’s just how dreams are. They always feel so real in the fading seconds when you wake up, but they quickly become nothing more than vague notions.”

Legend’s hand left his hair, falling limp to the ground. “If only it were that simple.” he felt his hand tense, fingers curling into a fist like they were squeezing something invisible. “I wish I had nightmares instead.”

Four hummed. Legend didn’t even know why he was telling the smithy this. It wasn’t like he was in any position to help. He had no idea about the living hell that Legend’s life always became in the fleeting moments that clung to sleep every time he woke up. He guessed that he had a pretty surefire way to tell dream from reality, now. Mentally, he scoffed. It still felt like a low blow. A spit in the face. Not only was he now completely blind forever but every night, he’d be met with the pleasure of having that oh-so-important ability he’d always just taken for granted dangled over his head, taunting him. It only added insult to injury. He already couldn’t find solace in sleep, dammit, but here he was, with yet one more thing to look forward to every time he just wanted to get some rest. Lovely. Four had no idea what he was dealing with and no, Legend didn’t feel like explaining it to him. 

Trying to lighten the mood and knowing he was beyond help, Legend changed the subject.

“What have you been up to, then? While on watch.”

Four shifted and Legend could hear papers rustle. Four left a short silence that was quickly growing longer. Was he debating his answer? Why? It was a simple question! Though, Legend supposed, if he was waiting until his watch to work on it, perhaps it was something he would rather keep secret. Legend could respect that. It wasn’t his business.

“Nevermind. You don’t have to answ—”

“I’m working on a little pet project of mi—”

They both froze, having spoken at the same time. Legend felt a small laugh escape him and Four sighed as well, the tension broken. 

“You go first.”

“Oh, I was just telling you that you didn’t have to tell me, but then I guess you kind of did anyway.”

“Well, I guess you’re not getting any details, then.” His voice had a teasing lilt to it. Were they bantering? Legend could do that. That was familiar.

“I mean, if I really wanted details, it’s not like I’d have any trouble getting them.” Oh. Wait. That was his old attitude. He wasn’t exactly in a state where he could go around forcing information out of people, especially not heroes and especially not heroes as cunning as Four.

Four chuckled in response. “I don’t doubt that. I guess I’ll have to try my best to stay on your good side.”

Legend opened his mouth, but no sound came out.

“Look, I’ll just say it now so you don’t get weirded out later. When Twilight carried you back to camp, Wind went off , telling everyone not to baby you or anything. You should have see—heard him. We all agreed that you are the same Legend you were before. You’re going to need a little more help than you used to. And that’s okay. Some of us would probably be goners by now without you, so we owe it to you. But we’re going to try not to suffocate you, either. It’ll be a hard balance to maintain, but we’ll try our best.” Legend felt his face heat up in a blush and his shoulders steadily rise, his lips pressing together. He had no idea what to even say to any of that, so he let Four continue. “And the look on Warriors’ face—er…”

Legend let out a breath, the tension sliding from his shoulders. “You’re allowed to talk about your sight around me, you know. If you see something worth talking about, then talk about it. Whatever happened to not babying me?” his grin turned wry. “Now what’s this about Warriors’ face?”

Four continued talking, his momentum building again as he spoke. “Oh, he looked so excited. He did that weird evil genius face that happens whenever he gets a good idea—”

“Oh, that would explain why I’ve never seen it.”

Four couldn’t help but laugh at that, the chuckles hijacking his words as he spoke. “—and you could just tell that he was getting all excited with his tactics-nerdery about how to maximize your effectiveness in battle.”

“Well don’t let him think too hard. I wouldn’t want him to hurt himself.”

Four sputtered a bit at that. “ Hylia above, Legend you are brutal! The poor guy can’t even fight back like this!”

“Why? Because you won’t step up to defend him?”

Legend could hear the grin that was doubtless plastered on Four’s face. “Why should I?”

“And you say I’m the brutal one.”

“He wouldn’t need defending if you weren’t such a menace.”

“I can’t deny it.”

The two lapsed into a comfortable silence.

“Are you going to go back to sleep, do you think?”

“I doubt it. I fell asleep before Twilight dragged me back here and I don’t remember waking up until now. I’ve been out for a while.”

Four hummed. “You have.”

Legend felt a pain slice through his stomach from the inside out, and he was suddenly reminded of how empty it was.

“We got anything to eat?”

“Oh right, you missed dinner.”

Legend quietly declined to mention that he had also missed breakfast that morning and dinner the night before, instead letting Four think for a moment.

“I’d need to wake Wild.”

Oh, right. They were in a monster-heavy area. When that was the case, it was common practice to keep all strongly-scented items, food included, in Wild’s slate where they left no odor.

“You don’t have to—”

“No, he’ll have to get up in a bit anyway. He and Twilight are going to run out and scout to try and estimate how fast the monsters are moving. We need to know how much time we have before they reach the town.”

Legend’s stomach felt like it was trying to invert itself. “I thought we were going to… I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.” Judging by his tone of voice, the irony of that response wasn’t lost on Four, either. “There isn’t a main horde to go after. When we were out scouting, we only found a consistent distribution of enemies. Trying to fight them out here would be pointless. They’re too spread out. We’ll have to wait until they converge on the town. Wild and Twi are going to run out and see how long we have to get there and set up a defense.”

Legend felt his face scrunch up in confusion. “A consistent spread of enemies? And not super concentrated?”

“That’s right. Why?”

“What kinds of enemies were they? All from different worlds, right?”

“Right again. What are you thinking?”

“When enemies flow out of a point of origin, they’d grow more and more concentrated as you near that point. Whenever enemies are evenly dispersed over a large area… that always means they’re native . Foreign or otherwise special monsters always come in clusters.”

“But how could Guardians be native here? They’re exclusive to Wild’s Hyrule.”

Legend’s hand found its way to his chin. “I don’t know… we’ll have to see what Twi and Wild can figure out.”

“Speaking of which, let’s get you something to eat.”

Legend heard the rustling of Four’s movement growing more distant. He figured he should probably move to the fireside if he was going to be having a proper conversation and eating food. His lower lip found its way between his teeth. Navigation. This was what he and Wind had been practicing for. He could do this. His fingers brushed against his boots where they sat next to his bedroll and he pulled them on. Feeling around, he managed to find his sword. Twilight had resheathed it and wound the floss around the handle, it seemed. He heard Wild wake up somewhere behind him. Drawing his sword, he drove it back into the ground, unwinding the floss and tying it back around his wrist, sure to use a slipknot this time to make it easier to take off. He could do this. 

Did he need his stick? Better safe than sorry. He felt around, but no familiar wood graced him with its presence. Where was it? He’d taken it with him when he went after Hyrule… 

Oh, it was still in that bush.

It didn’t matter. He could do this. He could hear the fire ahead of him. Wild was starting to stand up, it seemed. Four was quietly asking him about food. Letting the floss slide through his fingers once more, he picked his way towards the fire, tapping one foot in front of him carefully with every step and trying to remember the placement of the logs. There was one within his radius, right? He felt his foot meet wood.

Damn, he was good.

He sat down just in time to hear Four and Wild moving closer.

“Hey, Legend. It’s good to see you awake! What do you feel like eat—hey what’s this string?”

Legend held up his wrist as an explanation. “It’s so I can find my way back to my bedroll by myself.”

“Wow okay that’s actually really clever.”

Legend opened his mouth to reply, but Four beat him to it with a laugh. “Don’t sound so surprised!”

Wild sputtered. “I’m not—”

“Wow, Wild. I hope you don’t serve your food as cold as your betrayal. ”

Four couldn’t help but laugh. “ Hylia , Legend, did that Guardian burn off your conscience, too?”

“Bold of you to assume I had one.”

“Oh he’s just a big softy,” a fourth voice joined the conversation. Had Four woken up Twilight, too, or did the rancher somehow sense that Legend was trying to be cool and materialize to ruin his fun?

Definitely the latter.

“Am not!”

“Oh, you are.”

“I don’t know, Twilight, Legend’s been pretty ruthless all morning.”

Legend could hear the smirk dripping from Twilight’s voice as he spoke. “Does someone need Wolfie to come and soften him up a little? Last time—”

“ No, Twilight, don’t you dare.”

“Yeah, try anything and we’ll let Warriors put a collar on you.”

Legend couldn’t hold back his laughter. “Warriors what? ”

“He wanted to put a collar on Wolfie so you could use him as your seeing eye dog!”

“That is amazing . What did you say?”

“Oh, we shot him down immediately. But that still begs the question on if Wolfie here plans on coming out. I’m sure as hell not covering for you every time Legend needs a hand.”

“I appreciate the offer, but why would I need Twilight to be a wolf to help me?”

There was silence. He imagined they were looking between each other helplessly.

“I mean, Sky did a fine enough job yesterday morning and Wind gave me verbal instructions just as well. What’s Wolfie gonna do?”

“Well once Twi and I get back from our scouting, we’re gonna have to be on the move again, right? He can guide you down the trail and stuff.”

“Okay, but it’s not like I can have him on a leash. Besides, why would I? Wolfie can’t say ‘hey, watch out, Legend, you’re about to run into a bush,’ but one of you guys can. Let’s just save ourselves the trouble and just let me hang out with people who can actually talk to me. It’s not like I can enjoy the view .”

“Okay, I guess you have a point.”

“Of course I have a point! This is why you guys should involve me in decisions that kind of… oh, I don’t know, involve me?”

“Okay, enough bickering, you two. Wild, want to leave some breakfast food for everyone else and then we can set out?”

“Alright. I have those omelettes I made last night. I’ll leave them with you guys. Legend, are you gonna want something else to eat, too?”

“I’ll take more food. What do you have?”

Legend heard a whistle that he could imagine being accompanied by an eyebrow raise and Wild began rattling off a very long list of various foods.

Legend had to cut him off. “Okay, okay, I get it. I’ll have a meat and rice bowl, please.”

“Sure.” There was a sound that could only mean that Wild had summoned it from wherever his Sheikah Slate kept his stuff.

Instantly, its smell began to permeate the air. Legend held out his hands and bit his lip to try and stop himself from drooling.

The bowl made its way into his grip, the warmth of the food—how did the slate keep things hot?—bleeding through the ceramic. Legend carefully laid it in his lap before realizing he had nothing to eat it with.

“Here.” Four was evidently trying to hand him something.

“You realize I have no idea where ‘here’ is, right?”

“Oh. Okay, well, hold out your hand.”

Legend did so and was met with a pair of chopsticks that he quickly began eating with. This time, hunger overcame any sort of anxiety over if he’d actually be able to eat it properly.

Apparently Legend had given himself too little credit before. He absolutely knew where his mouth was. And it was now full of delicious food. Yes. 

It didn’t take him long to polish off the bowl.

While he’d been eating, Wild had handed seven omelettes to Four and Twilight had apparently shifted back into his wolf form.

“Stay safe, you two.”

“Same to you.”

And with that, the sound of boots and paws on fallen leaves faded into the forest.

Eventually, Four broke the silence.

“Didn’t you have a stick before? Wind mentioned you using it to get around.”

Legend felt his face heat up a little at that. “I uh… lost it.”

“No worries; it was just a stick. You deserve a proper cane. We were gonna keep it a surprise, but if you’re gonna be using it, we might as well take your input. How was the length of the last one? The weight?”

Legend puffed his cheeks, letting air slide out of his mouth. “Oh, jeez, I have no idea. I’ve only used the one and I was too busy trying to get used to having one at all.”

“Well,” Legend heard Four stand up and pat himself, probably brushing dirt off, “how about we find out?”

“Oh… sure.” Legend placed the empty bowl on the ground next to him and stood up, taking a step towards where he’d heard Four. He froze when he felt the tugging of the string on his wrist.

Ah.

Undoing the slipknot, he unwound the thread from his wrist, tying the end into a large bow that would be easy to feel and resting it on his seat. He stood, straightening Hyrule’s tunic on himself. 

“Here,” Four started from somewhere a few feet ahead of him, “wanna follow the sound of my voice?”

Legend felt his fingernails dig into his palm slightly as he slid his foot carefully forward, feeling for anything in his way.

“There are no obstacles between us, I promise.”

Legend’s only response was to nod, gradually taking more and more confident steps. Every time he took a step forward, Four took a step back, guiding him through the campsite until Four was evidently satisfied with his placement.

They spent a good portion of the morning there, Four grabbing sticks and branches of varying lengths and thicknesses, cutting off the excess boughs with his sword, and handing them to Legend, who carefully poked around the area and gave his feedback. It was nice. Four took Legend’s comments seriously, trying to accommodate his preferences as best as possible, but also experimenting enough to make sure they didn’t get pigeon-holed. Legend felt like he was getting outfitted for some sort of special weapon and didn’t doubt that the smithy had done custom work before. 

“Try this one.”

“Which—augh!” Legend fumbled with the branch that Four had unceremoniously tossed at him, catching it once he recovered from his shock. “Oh, you asked for it,” he threatened, swinging it forward in a horizontal slash.

“How tall do you think I am? ” Four laughed, and Legend heard the crunching of the smithy’s footsteps in the dried leaves of the forest floor shuffle backwards. Legend felt a grin usurp his focused expression as he stepped forward, turning away from Four and lowering himself to the ground, swiping out in a modified spin attack aimed at Four’s shins. It didn’t connect, the tip of the makeshift weapon smacking into what sounded like a small tree. He didn’t hear Four step backwards this time, though he did hear a light crinkling behind him. He spun around to face it, confused and incredulous.

“Did you just jump over me?!”

Legend heard laughter, so he presumed himself correct.

“Your face! ”

“Oh, shut up,” the veteran pouted, fond.

“Make me,” Four responded, and Legend heard the crackle of deadfall as the smithy hopped backwards, excited. 

But he’d made his fatal mistake. He was still laughing, and though they were nothing more than light chuckles, they were audible. Audible was all he needed.

Legend stepped forward, ready to oblige, when his foot landed sideways on a small stump and he stumbled, leaning on his stick for support. 

And just like that, the illusion was broken. Where Legend had carefully constructed a mental assumption of what the area probably looked like—it was a habit he’d gotten into without realizing it at first—it all suddenly shattered. Where he could pretend, for a moment, that things were normal—which was weird considering he was still definitely blind and didn’t even have an excuse to pretend he wasn’t—he was suddenly cast back into that void, shifting shapes looming around him, invisible obstacles hiding in plain sight. Where was Four? What did their little battlefield look like? Was the path between him and the smithy clear? What was the terrain? Had Four grabbed a weapon? If he had, then Legend was defenseless. He had no way of telling if there was a strike coming, where from, or anything at all.

He stopped where he stood, his shoulders slumping and the stick hanging uselessly from his hand.

Uselessly.

Useless.

Four’s footsteps neared, a large branch snapping beneath the smithy’s weight. Legend sucked in a breath, raising the stick defensively.

His heart raced, but his breathing remained steady.

What could he do? He couldn’t rely on items—they were by his bedroll—and even if he had them, he didn’t want to hurt Four. He didn’t know the terrain well enough to move anywhere. He couldn’t just ask Four to stop, no, never.

So he waited.

And he listened.

He opened his mouth slightly, breathing through it rather his nose so it was quieter.

Crunch, crunch , snap , it was nearing, circling to his right. Smart. His weapon was in his left hand. But if, in the split second when Four was within range, he gripped it with his right hand as well and struck across in a backhand slash, he might be able to land a solid blow before Four could react. 

Hell, if he wanted to, he could add a bonus layer of deception and pretend he thought Four was somewhere else. If he could get the smithy to underestimate him, he’d have an extra advantage. He moved his head as if tracking a sound, but purposely reamined trailing just a touch too far behind where he heard Four’s footsteps. Luckily, pointing his face in the wrong direction wouldn’t actually be detrimental because he didn’t have to be facing a sound to hear it. Legend tried not to smile. He had to keep his poker face straight.

Four’s footsteps grew closer and Legend struggled to determine how far away he was. If he waited too long, Four would be able to land a hit, but if he moved too soon, he’d miss entirely and lose the element of surprise. Legend couldn’t blow this. He couldn’t . He had to prove that he was still competent. To himself more than anything. 

Redoubling his concentration, he made a point to stare confidently at a location that he was sure Four was not in. He could see the smirk that Four was doubtless wearing as the smithy inched closer. Should he aim high or low? If he swung too high like he had before, Four would just duck under it and if he swung too low, he’d just jump into the air again. A diagonal slice, though, like something he thought he'd seen Sky do once, would mean that Legend couldn’t go wrong as long as he moved fast enough. He’d been at this for who knows how many years now, saved more kingdoms than most people would ever see and had ample rest to recover physically from the battle. He could manage this.

Four’s steps grew frighteningly close. If any time was the right one, it was now.

Like an explosion from his Bombos medallion, he snapped into action, his improvised weapon hurtling through the air, his right hand joining his left in an underhand swing that angled upwards, and he threw his weight into it, trying to increase his reach as far as possible.

“ HOly— ”

Legend felt the wood connect with something—by the sound, it was made of wood as well—but that something gave under the power of Legend’s swing, and he heard heavy footsteps stumble backwards.

“Are you trying to take my head off?”

“Oh, sorry, I thought you were taller than that.”

“The short jokes don’t work if I take pride in my size.”

“I believe you mean lack thereof. Anyway, keep telling yourself that if it helps you sleep at night.”

“Don’t get too cocky; this fight isn’t over.”

“Oh, but it i— look out behind you! ”

Legend had no way of telling if Four was actually looking or not, but Legend sincerely hoped he was.

All he heard was mad laughter from Four. But that was exactly what he needed. Four was not only distracted, but making noise. Legend moved forward, stabbing his stick forward into where he figured Four’s abdomen was. His stick was batted away to the left so he went with the motion, turning to his left and using the momentum to enter a spin attack. He didn’t feel it connect with anything and found himself now thoroughly thrown off-balance and disoriented. 

On second thought, that may have been a mistake. 

Trying to regain his balance, he was met with a firm tap of a branch on his back. He raised his stick in defense, but instead got bonked on the top of his head. He had no idea where Four was anymore and was still dizzy. He did spin attacks all the time! Why was he getting thrown off now? As frustrated as he was, he knew that he relied on his sight a great deal when performing spin attacks, careful to move his head in such a way to minimize how dizzy he’d get. He… had not done that this time. Wow. Technique made a difference. Who would have thought. 

He was broken from his train of thought by being bonked on the head again. He struck forward, only to be met with nothing, save another bonk. He swung his stick to the side, wary about trying another spin attack, and was met with a poke at his ribs.

“Okay, okay, jeez, I get it! Stop it!”

“No, this is payback for you almost removing my head from my body! ”

“You asked for it when you picked a fight with me. What did you honestly expect?”

“I’m not sure, but I certainly wasn’t disappointed. You totally had me convinced you didn’t know where I was.”

“That’s what you get for underestimating me.”

“Honestly, you’re not wrong. You’re definitely a force of nature in your own right.”

Legend sighed a little at that. “Yeah, but I was still helpless at the end there.”

“Are you for real? Legend, you just learned to walk , which is already impressive because it’s been, what, a day? Then I drag you out into the middle of an unfamiliar forest, hand you a stick, and if I had been one second slower, I’d be unconscious on the ground. And this is your starting point . Legend, you’re only going to get better from here.”

“I… but this was a controlled environment, dead silence, no ranged weapons, only one opponent, and—”

“ Legend. It’s been a day . Give yourself a break. This doesn’t have to be the last time we do this.”

Legend felt an inkling of hope flicker in his chest.

“I have no idea how you expect me to spar while blind.”

“You just did.”

“That wasn’t a spar, that was a sneak attack. And there’s no way you’re going to underestimate me like that again.”

“I guess you’ll have to come up with something new, then.”

“I—” Legend let the rest of what he was about to say escape in a breath. He wasn’t used to being pushed like this. He’d felt out of his depth before, sure, but this was different. It had been a long time since he’d really felt, well, inferior. And he most certainly did now. There was a new dominance hierarchy being established in Legend’s head, one that now placed him solidly below Four. 

But Legend, deep in his heart, was nothing if not a fighter. And however small it was, Four’s legitimate terror at Legend’s attack was something he would happily hold onto.

Somehow, there was still hope for him.

Yesterday, the concept of having hope had seemed so foreign to him. Had it really only been a day?

He couldn’t help the small smile that slipped onto his face, despite it all.

They returned to camp, Four measuring the dimensions of the stick Legend had liked best and marking them down. Probably.

Legend sat back down on his log, finding the large bow in the string and returning it to his wrist.

“Uh, Four?”

“Hmm?”

“What time is it now?”

“The sun’s almost completely risen by now. It’s actually probably about time to wake everyone for breakfast. Do you think you could manage?” That was a sly smile that Legend could hear .

“I could probably think of something .”

He heard Four’s quiet laughter. “No fire.”

“No promises.”

Ignoring Four’s chuckles, Legend followed his string to his pack—Wind and Wild were right; he was a genius—and began rifling through it. 

He had a lot of options if he wanted to terrorize his sleeping companions. He could bang shovels together, throw one zora flipper at every unconscious Link and still have plenty to spare, unleash an earthquake—oh look, a flute. That seemed sane. 

Sane wasn’t really his style, but he digressed, pulling out his ocarina and letting a grin creep across his face. After spending so much time not feeling like himself , he’d found solace in the one thing that he could do just as well with and without his sight: be a horrible, snarky a**hole. So, if he knew anything about anything, it was how to make a terrible high-pitched screech on basically all of his musical instruments. He’d gotten them and learned specific songs , but nobody had ever actually taught him proper technique . Marin hadn’t been kidding when she said he sucked at playing his ocarina.

Judging by the moaning, hissing, and complaining he received upon unleashing his ear-splitting screech, he figured he’d adequately woken the group. 

“Come on, guys! It’s breakfast time!”

“Legend?”

That was Hyrule. Hyrule . It felt like it had been ages since he had last spoken to—

That last time they had, ah, spoken hadn’t gone particularly well. But could Legend really blame him? Bad news was hard to break, especially news that bad to someone he loved as much as Legend. From what Legend had heard the day before, it honestly sounded like Hyrule didn’t want to admit it himself, either. Legend could forgive him. He already had, really. Not only was it impossible to stay mad at the kid, but Legend couldn’t really blame him in the first place. Yeah. They were okay as far as Legend was concerned.

“Good morning, Hyrule! How’d you sleep?”

“Uh, fine, fine. You?”

“Pretty well, actually.”

Legend wasn’t entirely convinced that either of them had actually told the truth in that interaction, but he was fairly certain nobody in their group ever answered honestly when asked how they slept.

Legend followed the string to his bedroll as Hyrule finished waking up, putting his ocarina back with his things. On the way to the campfire, he found himself once again the center of attention. More attention than he’d like. He sat down in his usual seat once more, feeling the eyes on him—but Four said they’d agreed not to baby him, right? Was he just imagining the eyes? Why had it been so much easier that morning? There weren’t even that many more people now. Legend sighed, trying to keep his breaths as even as possible. 

Four passed out the meals, Legend happily eating his own without too much struggle. He could feel the shape of the omelette with his fork and from there the rest was simple. 

"What's that on your wr—"

Hylia , if Legend had to answer that question one more time—

Luckily Four stepped in, explaining it so Legend didn't have to. He was grateful.

Relatively normal conversation bounced between them during breakfast, and it sounded to Legend like he had Wind to thank for that.

He desperately wanted to talk to Hyrule, but didn't actually know where the brunet was sitting. He debated waiting until after breakfast, but no, that was stupid. He just wanted to hear Hyrule's voice. Sooner rather than later, if he could.

He opened his mouth, sucking in his breath and preparing to call Hyrule's name into the void, to see if he couldn't figure out where the traveler was sitting, but stopped, his breath hitching somewhere in the back of his throat.

He let it out as quietly as he could, closing his mouth and letting a small sigh escape his lips.

Conversation quieted. They were looking at him.

Now was not the time to be scared. Why was he scared? He was the Hero of f*cking Legend! He could talk to his family over breakfast !

Just spit it out!

"Hyrule?"

That was supposed to come out a lot more casual but forget it, he was only getting more and more uncomfortable and could really use Hyrule's soft voice at the moment.

"Y-yeah?"

Legend heard Hyrule's voice from—how far away was he because it couldn't be as far as it sounded, also wow, Hyrule sounded more nervous than Legend felt . Which was saying a lot.

F*ck, did Hyrule think Legend was mad at him?

"Hyrule, I uh, I don't think I ever properly said thank you."

He heard something akin to a sputter. "For what ?"

"For saving my life? And, uh." He sucked in a breath, holding it for a moment, before letting slide out through his nose. "For healing my face. It doesn't hurt at all anymore, and I can still move it with complete freedom. And I think you managed to save my eyebrows, which is honestly impressive, because I have no idea how they're still on my face. I don't blame you for this, Hyrule. Not at all." Legend felt his confidence grow as he spoke, now realizing that he hadn't actually properly addressed the whole group since, well, the battle. He'd come a long way in a few short days. He should say something.

"I don't blame any of you for this. It's unfortunate, but I'm not gonna let this hold y —us back." He sighed a little. "Four told me about what you guys were saying while I was out and, I… I can't believe you wanted to put a collar on Wolfie , Wars!" he addressed he Captain, only now realizing he had no idea where Warriors was sitting, his hand hovering in the air, finger outstretched and prepared to point at—he fisted his hand and let it fall to his side as he spoke next, looking in a random direction. "I'm just kidding. I mean, don't put a collar on Wolfie, but—in all seriousness—words cannot express how... touched? flattered? honored? Well, I just said words couldn't express it," he chuckled to try and save his steadily deteriorating train of thought, "how overwhelmed with love I am that you, you all—" he felt another breath leave him, and he grew increasingly frustrated with how ineloquent he was. "You're some of, no, you're the most amazing people I've ever met and I am constantly in awe of your kindness. Thanks for, uh, keeping me around, I suppose."

"Legend, what kind of stupid thank you is that?! Of course we're keeping you around!"

"Exactly, you're not even thinking twice about it. I'm glad you still want me."

"Of course we still want you!"

"Yeah! And that's what I'm thanking you for! Fine, I take it back, you're all the biggest idiots I've ever met!"

"Well you're half right. We certainly are big. Bigger than you, kid."

" I'm not a —oh, you're on," Legend was now abundantly aware of where Warriors was sitting and turned to face him, standing up and cracking his knuckles.

He heard someone else rise to their feet behind him and place a hand on the top of his head.

"Kid," the owner of the voice—Time, he could tell now—proclaimed, and Legend could imagine that the Old Man was holding his other hand over his own head for comparison.

Wind laughed, his voice ringing out from somewhere to his left. "Legend's officially a kid! Take that!"

Legend heard Sky's voice from somewhere near Wind declare kid , his hand probably on the sailor's head as well.

"It doesn't count when you do it!"

Legend felt the hand leave his head—why did he miss having it there?—and heard footsteps rush over to his left.

"Kid."

"Hey! No! Take it back! Take it back! "

Legend heard “ kid” a few more times, but over Wind's shouting and the group's laughter, he couldn't tell who was being proclaimed as such. He sighed, pulling his foot up onto the log he was sitting on and resting his chin on his knee. There went the shred of competence he'd felt after sparring with Four that morning. He felt his face drift in the direction of where he'd heard Hyrule's voice earlier, somewhere to his right, but didn't hear anything and the traveler was definitely out of arm's reach.

Was it weird to say that Legend missed him? Hyrule was right there but Legend felt so distant from him. Anyone he couldn’t touch felt miles away and if he couldn’t hear them either? It was like they were in a whole ‘nother world.

Hyrule must blame himself for what happened to Legend, right? It would explain why he was so scared talking to him before. But how could Legend explain that he didn’t care even if it had been Hyrule’s fault. 

He just… missed Hyrule.

Breakfast happened. Twilight and Wild returned, Legend letting their voices fade into the static rushing in his ears. If they’d come back, then that meant that the group would be on the road again. Legend should start packing up his stuff. Then, if he finished early enough, he could make sure he got the chance to walk with Hyrule. That sounded like a good idea, right?

Resting his dish on the ground, he stood slowly to his feet, his new stick firmly gripped in his left hand as he tried to ignore the eyes that were definitely on him. He heard the conversation quiet. Should he say something? Probably.

Wordlessly, he began coiling the thread around his palm, working his way back to his bedroll, a rigidity to his shoulders that he pointedly declined to acknowledge. 

If he wanted nothing more than to just be a part of the group again, then why was he self-isolating like this? Why did he tune out their conversation? When did they become… them ? A them somehow different from him.

Why did he feel like he just didn’t belong anymore?

It made sense—they could all see but he couldn’t—but… they made such an effort to make him feel welcome. They said they wanted him. That it was obvious. They weren't trying to exclude him, really. They weren't doing it on purpose, Legend knew that much.

For some reason, it still hurt.

Legend’s breaths remained smooth and slow, but as he rolled up his bedroll and fastened its ties, he noticed how much deeper they’d become. His eyelids felt heavy. Not like they did he was tired, but they were lowered to a half-lidded melancholy state that he didn’t have the heart to fight.

Actually, if he wanted to, he could just close them completely. It wouldn’t make a difference, either way. Wow, look at all the expressive freedom he had now! Or something.

Haha. Look.

His nails found their ways into his palms. 

He missed Hyrule’s face.

Chapter Text

Hyrule looked up from where he was packing his bag. Across the campsite—but not too far away—he spotted Legend, methodically feeling around the area and placing things in his pouch one by one. A lantern lay by his side, unnoticed, as he stood to his feet, brushing the dirt off his—well actually it was Hyrule’s—tunic. Legend’s hadn’t dried much overnight and was still damp, so Hyrule had offered up his own. Twi’s fit him poorly, to say the least, and he was sorry enough of a sight as it was. With Legend wearing the brown tunic that Hyrule usually used as an undershirt, the traveler elected to wear his own red outfit. The veteran suddenly seemed to realize something, running a hand through his hair, and knelt back down, feeling the ground around him. 

It was wrong.

It had been wrong ever since Hyrule woke up the day after the battle. Legend’s blank, empty stare, the lost expression on his face, his lack of confidence, his timidness. His pupils were faded almost entirely into his irises, a misty film covering his eyes and muting their colors like blotted out watercolor. His eyes, his brilliant, shimmering, alive eyes that sparkled with every shade of blue from Holodrum to Labrynna to wherever else Legend had gone and whatever else those beautiful eyes had seen, his eyes that were deeper than the oceans and vaster than the skies and more vibrant than the brightest feathers on the bluest birds. 

Now they were just—

Dead.

A milky white stone at the bottom of a stream, stagnant as the world goes rushing by, unseen.

And it was wrong.  

Legend had cried and it was wrong, Legend had run and it was wrong, Legend had been carried back to camp, weak, small, unconscious, looking every bit the eighteen-year-old he was, scars peeking out from the meager covering of Twilight’s tunic, a long white streak down his forearm, an ivory blotch on his thigh, rippling feather-like ferns peeking out around his neckline. Hyrule had pulled off Twilight’s evergreen tunic, Legend limp and pliable and wrong in his arms and the lighting scars—Hyrule would recognize them anywhere—wrapping around his torso like he’d been caught in the roaring grip of the skies themselves, his seared side a silent memory never spoken of. There was no way Legend’s choice of high-necked tunic was accidental, not with the terrifying swirl of ghost-white foliage that licked at his neck, not with the soul-shattering proximity of the arrow scar to his heart. He hadn’t had his magic rings forever and it showed.These were scars Legend had hid from them for so long and now Hyrule could just see them and it was wrong.

 But worst of all was the pink burn that covered the right side of his face, cupping his cheek and sliding over his nose, wrapping around his opposite eye, the shiny, rippling skin peeking out from under his wilted pink bangs. A twisting shape, like lightning, wavering and branching and feathered at the edges, wound across the center of the scar and over the bridge of his nose, curling up around the other side of his left eye. This scar was plain as day, open for all to see.

And it was wrong .

Everyone was going out of their way to be nice to Legend and it was wrong . Everyone was accommodating Legend and it was wrong . Legend was weak and it was wrong . Legend had inched across the campsite while holding onto a piece of string and it was wrong . Legend had gotten uncomfortable and it was wrong . Legend hadn’t looked anyone in the eye and it was wrong. He was making up systems to help him adjust and it was wrong. He was accepting it and it was wrong. and Legend was feeling around the ground for his hat that was hanging on a branch nearby and it was wrong.

Hyrule looked away. He was the reason Legend was wrong . He broke Legend. But he was going to get him back. He was going to fix this. It was only temporary. It was only for a little while. He was the Hero of Hyrule. He could do this. He’d better do this.

It came time for the group to move out, Wind throwing Legend’s hat at his face and scaring him, which was wrong and Sky handing him his lantern which was wrong, and him looking-but-not-looking around the campsite with this horrible lost expression and it was wrong .

Wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong .

“Hyrule?”

Even the way he said his name now was wrong.

“Over here.”

Legend made his way towards Hyrule, tapping his stupid stick on the ground and it was wrong . He was a few feet away, facing too far to the left when he asked if Hyrule wanted to walk with him. Hyrule bit his lip and looked away, not bothering to hide how conflicted he felt. It wasn’t like Legend could see and it was wrong .

It hurt so much to have to watch him stumble around camp. Hyrule didn’t think he could bear guiding Legend down the trail for the whole day.

A walking reminder of his mistakes.

His failure.

But Legend wanted to walk with him. Didn’t Hyrule owe him this, at least? This would only strengthen his resolve to fix this. Hyrule could do this. For Legend.

“Sure.”

Hyrule regretted the word the second it left his mouth, the open hope and happiness on Legend’s face so wrong and the way he held his hand out a little to the left, clearly asking for it to be held was wrong .

Hyrule took it, clasping it in his own and Legend squeezed it and Hyrule felt his breathing break for a moment, catching on itself. He started walking, Legend following alongside him and tapping with that stick of his. In the corner of Hyrule’s eye, he could see Legend frown. He should be looking at Hyrule, lips pursed, one eyebrow cocked, a mentor figure, an older brother, a legend , confidently guiding his successor. Instead he just looked confused.

Hyrule felt another squeeze. 

Legend was waiting for him to squeeze back.

He sighed, trying to hide his anger and his self-loathing by squeezing gently, curling his free hand into a grip so tight it felt like it would burst.

Tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap.

Hyrule felt his fingernails carving into his palm. But no this was his Hyrule. He couldn’t risk drawing blood. But he itched all over, tense, jittery, wrong . He never felt this way around Legend. He hadn’t felt this way at all in a while.

Hyrule glanced ahead and behind, not seeing a soul between the foliage. They must have been giving the pair space.

“Hyrule, we need to talk.”

Hyrule inhaled sharply through his nose, his hand growing sweaty where it was holding Legend’s.

“You never used to be this… this around me. You’re acting like I’m… a stranger . I’m still me , Hyrule.”

But he wasn’t and that was the problem . He wasn’t the old Legend. He was unsure and shy and weak and everything Hyrule hated about himself, but it was wrong . He was supposed to be better than Hyrule. He was supposed to be the veteran , a hero , the living legend that Hyrule had idolized since he’d first heard the name. He had been everything Hyrule wished he could be, strong, confident, accomplished, competent, and his jokes were actually funny. Now, because of Hyrule , Legend was a walking manifestation of his own worst traits. He looked down into where Legend’s left hand clasped his right, the faded marking of the Triforce clear for all the world to see. Legend had gotten the relic of the gods, he was courage incarnate, but here he was, holding Hyrule’s hand and tap tap tap tap tapping his way down the trail and he didn’t even seem to think it was a problem! Everything was wrong and Legend didn’t seem to even notice or care! The brunet flexed his free hand, feeling the way his leather bracers slid over his skin, his Triforce marking—blood red—covered up, hidden. 

Even in this state, Legend was still braver than Hyrule.

Hyrule stopped walking, Legend feeling the resulting tug on his hand and stopping as well, turning to face him and looking just to the left .

Hyrule had to fix this.

This was wrong .

Hyrule moved forward, burying his face in Legend’s shoulder and wrapping his arms around the blond’s torso, feeling his adventure-worn form beneath his hands, warm and breathing and that familiar, unforgettable shape that he’d only had the pleasure of feeling a select few times. Now Legend accepted it openly, welcomingly, hugging back gratefully and it was wrong . Hyrule closed his eyes and pressed his face farther into Legend, trying to pretend it was the old one, the real one, the Legend he knew and loved, not this other Legend that Hyrule had reverted him to. 

It didn’t work. Legend stiffened minutely, running his arms down Hyrule’s back.

“Wait, what are you wearing? Where’s your— oh, right. Thank you, by the way. For the tunic.”

“Of course. Your stuff’s still drying from when we washed the blood off. I think Time’s carrying it.”

“So where’d this come from? I don’t recognize it.”

“It’s from, ah, one of my adventures.”

Legend laughed, pulling back and shifting his weight to one side. “Well obviously. So, what’s it look like? I bet you’re the picture of a hero. Even more than you already were, that is. I can feel the layers of armor under this one. And is that”—he felt the back of Hyrule’s head—“a hat? Hyrule, have you been holding out on me? What color is it!”

Legend looked so excited by the prospect, and hopeful, running his hands down Hyrule’s arms, playing with his baggy sleeves and feeling the texture of the leather armor underneath.

It was wrong . Hyrule had been wearing this outfit all morning! He shouldn’t need to tell Legend what color it was! And it shouldn’t have taken him this long to realize that Hyrule was wearing a hat! And Legend was asking because he was getting used to it and it was wrong and Legend was accepting defeat and it was wrong .

“It’s red.”

And Legend’s face just lit up at that, his hands hovering a few inches above Hyrule’s shoulders.

“You’re taking after me! I’m so proud...” he feigned a dramatic sniffle, wiping under his eye. “Once my tunic dries, we’ve gotta match.”

But Legend wouldn’t know they were matching and Hyrule could change tunics and he’d never even know and Wild would take a picture that Legend would never see.

Not unless he could help it.

They’d match. Legend would see his tunic.

He’d make it right.

“Yeah. Just you wait, Legend. You’ll get to see it.”

And Legend leaned back a bit, brow furrowed and eyes wide, his shoulders dropping in confusion. He looked betrayed.

“Hyrule…”

The brunet dug his nails further into his palm, trying to focus on the stabbing sensation and not his swirling thoughts. 

“I know you heard what I said to Warriors. But he was putting me on the spot. I’ve had some time to think since then, and this isn’t the only Hyrule. Other worlds have stronger magic and more powerful great fairies and a usable Triforce. I know there’s hope for you yet.”

Legend’s brow only creased more, his eyes flicking down and to the side. It was wrong!

“Hyrule…”

“What? Don’t you want your sight back?” Hyrule tightened his fist, his nails sliding across his skin.

“I…”

“Legend, do you like being like this?”

“ OF F*CKING COURSE I DON’T! ” 

But Legend didn’t even look angry as the trees shook with the mass exodus of birds that fled his cry. He just looked sad, heavy breaths tearing through his chest as he forcefully turned away, staring unseeingly at the ground.

Hyrule opened his mouth to respond, but heard footsteps down the trail and closed it again, stepping back and straightening his posture. Sky and Twilight turned the corner, waving at the pair and coming to a stop beside them.

“Is everything all good over here?”

“Yeah, Twilight, it’s good.” Legend’s face snapped to Hyrule’s in response to the latter’s reply, that confused expression plastered on his face again. 

Hyrule didn’t miss the way Twilight and Sky looked at each other and he didn’t miss the small steadying breath Sky took before he started talking. 

“Oh, that reminds me, Hyrule. I had something I wanted to ask you.” He jerked his head forward and this was a nonverbal cue that Hyrule couldn’t miss. Feeling like a scolded child, he tossed back a generic farewell and followed Sky, picking at the small indent he’d carved into his palm. Sky didn’t speak until they’d been walking for a little while.

“Hyrule.”

He didn’t respond.

“Hyrule, if I went for a walk with Twilight and he got hurt, would you blame me?”

“Of course not.”

Sky’s bright blue eyes—but not as bright as Legend’s used to be—turned to him in sympathy. “So then what makes you think that this is yours?”

“You don’t know what happened, Sky.”

“Then tell me.”

“I had a choice. Protect Legend or attack the Guardian. And I chose wrong .”

“You were the one who obliterated that thing, right?”

“But I was too late. It had already fired.”

“That blast sent out shrapnel that took out many of the remaining monsters and was how we knew to come after you. You saved his life, Hyrule.”

“But I couldn’t save his eyes and what difference does it make , Sky? Look at him. ”

“I am looking. I think you might be the blind one here.”

“ What? ”

“Hyrule, have you seen him? He’s been taking this so much better than I ever could have hoped. He’s learning how to live with it. And I know the thought of that upsets you. You look at what he is and what he was and it scares you that he’s fallen so far back. But he hasn’t . He’s still witty and clever and he’s still got all those stories and all those worlds in that big head of his and he hasn’t lost any of the million items in that pouch of his. And he’s still fighting. Even walking is a struggle for him right now, and he’s here, hiking alongside us . ”

Hyrule picked at the edges of skin that were beginning to stick up around the indents in his palm.

“He asked me what color my tunic was.”

“Why are you saying that like it’s a bad thing?”

“Because it’s wrong. ”

“Hyrule.” Sky landed a firm grip on his shoulder, making steady eye contact and forcing Hyrule to pay attention. “You need to listen to me. There is nothing wrong with Legend.”

“Sky, what are you talking about? He’s blind! ”

“He is. And so are plenty of other people and I'm sure they're doing just fine. You don’t need to fix him.”

“So what, then? Are you all going to lay down and just accept this? What if it can be fixed? What if he’s suffering for nothing ? What if we can make it better but we don’t because we didn’t even try! ”

“Well? Is there? In this Hyrule, is there a way to get his sight back.”

Hyrule broke the second layer of skin on his palm. He said nothing.

“Okay. So, for the time being, Legend can’t see. It doesn’t matter if there’s a way to heal him or not. Right now, there’s nothing we can do but help him cope until a better option presents itself.”

Sky didn’t understand. He just didn’t . Hyrule didn’t survive in his kingdom for as long as he did and save it twice by waiting until a better option presented itself . If he wanted something, he had to put his head down and get it. That was the way it had always been.

And that was exactly what he intended to do.

There was a moment of silence before Sky broke it again.

“If you wanna help him so bad, why don’t we do something nice for him?”

Hyrule glanced over, dubious. “What do you have in mind?”

“You heard, didn’t you.”

Legend heard Twilight sigh in response. 

“It was hard not to.”

Legend remained silent.

“We should get moving.”

A beat.

“Do you want me to hold your hand, or…”

“Whatever makes you feel most comfortable. My hand, my arm, that string… Wolfie?”

Legend worried his lip slightly as he reached out in the direction of Twilight, feeling the rancher’s tunic and chainmail, sliding down until his hand found a comfortable patch of fabric between Twilight’s armguard and the sleeve of his chainmail. He pulled himself closer to Twilight, holding the brunet’s arm against his side. Legend believed the technical term for this was “clinging,” but after the conversation with Hyrule, he was grateful for it.

The pair began moving and Legend opened his mouth to speak. Just yesterday, Twilight had done far more for him than he’d honestly deserved. If he opened up again, he didn’t doubt that the rancher would be as helpful and supportive as humanly possible. His mouth fell closed. He wouldn’t be able to handle the guilt if Twilight helped him again. Hell, he was already letting Legend cling to him. This was enough.

Twilight gently guided him as they walked, the gentle tapping of Legend’s stick on the ground mixing with the rustling leaves and quiet birdsong. Twilight pulled him around muddy patches in the path and led him down steep, rocky areas where the trail had eroded away. It wound lazily through the forest, an even mix of uphill and downhill making the hike a pleasant endeavor. That is, until they heard the sounds of chatter up ahead and Legend loosened his grip, simply resting his hand on Twilight’s arm for direction and tapping the ground for his footing. It must have been time for their lunch break.

Legend heard the rustle of grass beneath him and plopped onto the ground, trying to make sense of the sounds around him. There was Wild, whose greeting call came from the same direction as the smell of food, Legend’s left, and Wind and Warriors somewhere in front of him, their voices blending with the sound of cards slapping onto a pile. He could tell Wind was winning without even seeing their faces because Wind always won. Especially against Warriors. The guy may be in the military, but as a Captain, there was no way he’d be anywhere as proficient at cards as a footsoldier, let alone a literal pirate.

Hyrule was nowhere to be heard and Legend tried to ignore that in favor of attempting to pick out the strange rustling and snapping sound coming from his right.

“ Hylia, Sky”—that was a process of elimination he was particularly proud of, knowing for a fact that Time and Four had been walking behind him when they left camp and he hadn’t heard them since—“are you dragging a literal tree across the campsite or am I going deaf, too?”

Sheepish laughter that most certainly belonged to Sky echoed from his right and he mentally fist pumped. 

“It’s only a sapling,” was the reply, making Legend even more proud of himself but also incredibly confused.

“Okay then, what are you dragging saplings around for?”

A beat.

“It’s for a woodcarving project.”

Sky couldn’t lie to save his life. His tone of voice in this specific instance was the kind of sly confidence and honesty that meant it was a cleverly-constructed dodge that wasn’t strictly false. Legend knew that tone of voice well; he’d mastered the art of making it sound like a full truth.

 “Oh, fun,” Legend called on his poker face once more, continuing, “whatcha makin’?”

There was the pause. 

“Nuhhh-thing~”

Legend pouted, hearing the mischief in Sky’s voice and determined to thwart it. “Twilight, what’s he making?”

“I dunno, what is he making, Wild?”

Oh, Twilight was definitely smirking as he threw Wild into that particular line of fire. The rancher must be in on this, whatever this was.

“I dunno, Twilight, what is he making, Wind?”

Legend felt like he was listening to a very strange game of verbal ping-pong.

“I’d tell you,” Wind’s voice started, equally mischievous, “but then I’d have to kill you.”

Was everyone in on this? What was going on?

“I’d like to see you try.”

“Challenge accepted! The arena, Eldin Rat Screw! The time, sundown! The rules, a duel to the death!”

The temperature in the camp suddenly dropped a few degrees.

“Wind… you know I… I can’t exactly play cards like this.”

The forest was dead silent. Even the birds seemed to have stopped chirping.

“Does that mean that the unbreakable tie between Legend and Four in poker has finally been settled?”

And just like that, the tension was broken, Warriors laughing and pointing out that Time was a force of nature in his own right as well. When he played, that is.

“Hey, Legend, what if we played as a team? I’ll whisper the cards in your ear.”

“Wind, your poker face is actually garbage. You wouldn’t be any help at all.”

“What if Legend and Time teamed up against Four!”

“I’d pay money just to watch that.”

“But first, someone would have to goad the Old Man into playing with us.”

The chatter continued, but Legend drowned it out, trying to pick out Hyrule’s voice in the fray. He didn’t, though he did hear footsteps behind him. Time and Four must have arriv—

Legend was broken from his thoughts—and proven completely wrong—by the feeling of his hat being pulled from his head, a rush of cool air suddenly alerting him to how sweaty his hair was. Before he could open his mouth to protest, something was gingerly lowered onto his head. It was in a ring shape, like a circlet, and had a texture like branches, or grass. Invisible hands adjusted it, straightening it and pressing it dowards until evidently satisfied with its placement. The scent of dandelions and yarrow mingled with something slightly less familiar and Legend couldn’t stop his hands from feeling along the edges of what had been placed on his head.

A flower crown.

“...Hyrule?”

“I’m… sorry about earlier.”

Before he could say anything else, Legend shot to his feet, barreling into Hyrule and wrapping the kid up in his arms, squeezing him as tight as he could. Even under the extra layers, Legend could feel his rabbit-quick pulse—Legend would know what that felt like—gently slowing.

“I forgive you, Hyrule. You know I can’t get mad at you.”

The shaky exhale that came from the form in Legend’s arms only made him squeeze tighter, hooking his chin over the brunet’s shoulder.

They stayed like that for awhile, Wind and Warriors’ card game resuming—uncharacteristically quietly—as Legend rubbed Hyrule’s back in slow, soothing circles.

“Thank you, Hyrule. I love it.”

Legend let his eyelids slide shut and he tried to imagine what it must look like. It was certainly heavy, and he had definitely recognized the familiar texture of dandelion, though he was forgetting what yarrow looked like. The flowers were white, he knew that much, but he hadn’t seen it in awhile and all that came to mind was the blurry suggestion of white flowers, just like the faces had been in his dream last night.

“They’re, uh, meadowsweet that match the color of your hair. Well, I used dandelions as a base because they’re really easy to work with and also match the hem of m—the tunic you’re wearing. There’s yarrow in there as an accent, and I added some forget-me-nots to—”

Everything stopped and Legend sucked in a breath as his heart slammed, pounded against his ribcage. He could have sworn his vision flashed white.

What if he forgot what Hyrule’s face looked like.

Had he already forgotten?

What did it look like?

His smile? 

His eyes?

No, his hair was a gentle chestnut brown but sometimes it caught the evening light and shimmered gold around the edges. It was soft and fluffy and a few stray hairs always tended to dip in front of his face, so he was constantly unconsciously flicking his head to the side to keep them out of his eyes. Legend had always found it endearing. His eyes were like a clear forest stream, a multitude of fallen leaves in shades of gold and brown melding together like a kaleidoscope in a mosaic of earth tones, a few stray flecks of bright green slipping through around the pupil. His nose… it was a cute button nose that stuck out a little bit extra at the bottom. Right? He had freckles, a small spattering across his cheeks, and the shape of his face… it was soft, right? It was… no, Legend could see all the pieces, but trying to put it together was wrong somehow, blurry in places .

He’d never get to see Hyrule’s face again. He’d never be able to get any more detail than he already had. He could only lose it from here. How much had already gone? What if he forgot what it looked like entirely? What if he forgot what colors looked like? What if—

“Legend! Breathe!”

Legend was snapped to reality—but not quite, with no visual surroundings to ground him—to Twilight’s worried commands.

He suddenly registered the streams of water wobbling down his cheeks.

He was crying again.

He was crying.

Again.

In front of everyone .

No wonder Hyrule was so determined to get his vision back. Legend really was pathetic like this.

And he might forget…

Everyone’s faces.

Warriors’ smirk, Time’s knowing grin, Wind’s… everything, really, Wild’s I'm-about-to-commit-some-serious-mischief™ face, the mystery of Four’s ever-changing eye color, Twilight’s poor imitation of Time’s disappointed glare, ineffective because his face was always so soft and full of love, Sky’s endless smiles, and Hyrule’s beaming face, the sun crowning him in a halo of gold.

And that wasn’t all. Flowers. Yarrow, he was already forgetting. Meadowsweet, he could guess by the shape and Hyrule’s comment on its color. Forget-me-nots. How ironic that he’d forgotten their exact shade of blue. And what was next? Hibiscuses?

Would he forget Marin’s smile? The sparkle of the sun on the sea? The soaring silhouettes of seagulls? The call of adventure of sunbeams piercing through the foliage on a foggy morning, the endless beckoning of distant blue mountains, the regal spires of Hyrule Castle, Fable’s smiling face as she wore her favorite dress? Ravio’s sheepish grin?

Would it all fade away?

Like a dream?

“Legend!”

“Is he okay?”

“Did I do something wrong?”

“It wasn’t you, Hyrule.”

“What do you mean? He was fine before I started talking!”

“What’s going on over here?”

“Time! Four! Hi! Legend just kind of—”

It all blended into noise and Legend did his best to drown it out, one voice cutting through the fog.

“Hey, Legend, wanna sit down?”

He slumped to the ground at Twilight’s request, wordless, the salt of the tear tracks sticking to his face, tugging gently at his skin.

“Everyone, give him space.”

The voices quieted. A hand ran up and down his back in smooth, gentle motions.

“What happened, Legend?”

Still clinging to his guilt over having to ask more of Twilight than he already had, he said nothing, slouching and keeping his face glued on the ground. 

“No pressure to say anything. Here, it looks like Wild’s done with lunch. We’re gonna eat, and then we can get moving again, just the two of us, okay?”

Legend remained silent, accepting the bowl handed to him and eating it without noticing what it was. The area began to quiet as the rest of the heroes started clearing out. Twilight, Time, and Four spoke in hushed voices, Twilight eventually materializing at his side, gently taking his hand, and helping him to his feet.

Legend returned his grip to Twilight’s arm and the two returned to the trail, Legend tap tap tapping the ground once again.

Stupid stupid stupid stupid STUPID! Of course he only made it worse. Of course! How dare he think he could make this any better! His nails found their homes in the meat of his palm once again and he fidgeted and he scratched and he loathed as Sky walked a little ways ahead of him, his pace carefully matched.

The second he felt the wetness on his fingers, Hyrule knew that he had made a big mistake. 

“Do you wanna talk about it?”

“I… No, not quite yet.”

“That’s okay. Take all the time you need.”

“Thank you, Twilight, I—”

“Wait. Do you hear that?”

Legend stopped, quirking his head. A sound caught in his ears, a distant rustling that he'd recognize anywhere.

An ambush.

Not one that had begun, no, not the heart-stopping crashing of enemies diving out from every bush and hole and log in sight. It was the subtle, building, uneasy, suffocating feeling of presences around them, closing in, breathing, seething, hissing, growling.

But this time, Legend had his sh*t. 

Also new to this time, Legend didn’t have his sight. 

Which made things a little more difficult.

Okay, he was completely f*cking terrified.

His sword and shield found their ways into his hands and he was snapped into reality by the too-familiar sound of an arrow pinging off his mirror shield. 

Holy f*cking sh*t.

Behind him, arrows whistled from a bow and Bokoblins screeched in the distance. It wasn’t enough to hold them back, though, and he could hear the hissing of monsters closing in.

“Legend, get down!”

He did as instructed—it wasn’t like he had a choice—flopping to his stomach as he heard the clanking of metal followed by the whistling of something quickly moving over his head. Twilight must have pulled out his ball and chain. The sudden motion of diving to the ground had knocked Legend’s flower crown from his head and he was beginning to sense an unfortunate correlation between flower crowns and near-death experiences.

He heard the squeal of a Bokoblin get launched into the distance, followed shortly thereafter by the grunt of a Moblin. Legend had fought enough of those to know by sound alone that it hadn’t been killed. Estimating its location based on auditory cues, Legend slipped his fire rod from his pouch and launched a blast in that direction.

He was familiar enough with the stench of burning Moblin flesh to know he’d hit his mark.

“Nice shot!”

“Thanks for the cover!”

“Oh, hell, Legend, we’ve got incoming. Lizalfos at your two o’clock.”

“On it.” The whirring of the ball and chain slowed and Legend launched himself to his feet, shooting a wall of flame sixty degrees to his right. The screeches of the Lizalfos were all he needed to hear.

“Heads-up, I’m using bomb arrows.”

Before Legend could express how grateful he was for that warning, a blast shook the ground next to him, nearly knocking him over.

“Watch it, Twi! I thought you were supposed to be competent!”

“That wasn’t me!”

Legend raised his mirror shield, suddenly acutely aware of how vulnerable he was at the moment. It covered most of his body, but if an arrow came at him from behind, he was screwed.

“I’m going to try and take out those archers; just hang tight.”

Another blast rocked the earth, Legend struggling to maintain his balance.

“Is there anything I can incinerate?”

“No, they’re all hanging back and relying on arrows.”

“Then they underestimate my range. What direction are they in?”

“Straight ahead. I’ll cover you.”

“No need,” he answered, whipping his Cane of Somaria from his pouch and arcing it through the air in front of them, the familiar sound of a large cube planting itself in the ground right in front of them bringing Legend a wave of nostalgia. The cube shuddered from the explosions of the bomb arrows, but didn’t so much as chip under their force.

“Okay, that’s awesome.”

“Why thank you. Who am I immolating?”

“They’ve moved to your one o’clock”

“On it.”

Legend stepped out from behind the cube, unleashing a blaze of fire before ducking back behind its cover. Distantly, he heard the cries of Bokoblins.

“Sh*t, Legend, we gotta run.”

“What? Why?”

“Just do as I say!”

Legend felt Twilight’s hand snatch his own, tugging him violently and he complied, stumbling forward at Twilight’s behest.

Behind him, Legend could hear the screeching of a Lizalfos, but the angle of the sound placed them far too high in the air.

Aeralfos.

No wonder Twilight wanted to make a break for it. Their cover would be useless against airborne enemies.

“Twi, what color are they?”

“Uh, blue! Should I be worried?”

“Um, you’re going to want to run a little faster!”

Twilight obliged and Legend rushed along after him, keeping his death-grip on Twilight’s hand. His stick was long forgotten behind them and also probably on fire by now. His foot caught on a root and he stumbled forward, landing sideways on his ankle and sending a pang of hurt up his leg. There was no way this was going to end well. He continued anyway, limping along at breakneck speed, the healing magic gently repairing his twisted angle.

“They’re gaining on us! What’s special about the blue ones again?”

“These bastards are fire-breathing flavored!”

“Sh*t!”

“I’m sure we can take them, though. You’re a damn good shot.”

“That’s not what I’m worried about.”

A rush of hot air blasted across the right side of Legend’s face, his scars stinging from the heat.

“Is the whole forest on fire?!”

“Not yet!”

“Is that my fault?”

“Only partially!” Twilight skidded to a stop, Legend stumbling into him and latching onto his arm for dear life.“Sh*t, they’re cutting off our path to escape.”

“Where do you think everyone else is?”

“Probably on their way. But we’ve gotta get out of here.”

“No sh*t! Got anywhere in mind?”

“Can you put out fires?”

“Yeah, kind of. I’ve got a plan. Basically— AUGH, F*CK! ” Legend crumpled to one knee, an arrow buried in his thigh—yes, he could tell by feel alone and no that wasn’t a good thing. His head pounded from the smoke and the dizziness of getting dragged through the forest. He coughed, his hand flying to his leg, warm, slick blood coating his fingers. It had pierced straight through his leg and come out the other side. And from so far away… how?

Hyrule still had his rings.

Well sh*t.

“Okay, the plan probably isn’t going to work anymore.”

“What was it?”

“I was gonna use my tornado rod to blow the flames away and we were just gonna straight up book it cuz I have a spare pair of pegasus boots. But at this point, I don’t think we’ll be fast enough.”

“Take those out of your bag anyway,” Twilight ordered as he shifted, probably kneeling, and Legend heard the snapping of the wooden arrow shaft and felt the horrific, soul-shredding agony of it tearing out of the meat of his leg without warning.

“ F*CK! Twilight, you’re supposed to leave those in or I’ll bleed the f*ck out!”

“Believe me, you’ll want it out. You have the stuff?”

Legend held out the rod and spare pair of boots and felt them get pulled from his hands. The flames roared and trees crashed around them, sending whipping wind searing across his skin. The screeches of approaching monsters echoed around them.

“Alright, Legend, I apologize in advance for this.”

“What the—”

Before he could finish, Legend felt a small, rough, surprisingly heavy stone land in his hands and the next thing he knew, he was twisting and warping and shrinking and—HOLY F*CKING SH*T DID TWILIGHT JUST TURN HIM INTO A F*CKING RABBIT?!

“TWILIGHT I SWEAT TO DIN, FARORE, NAYRU, HYLIA, AND YOUR F*CKING MOTHER THAT I AM GOING TO—”

“Save it! This is the only way to get you out of here quickly!”

Legend tried to resist the urge to squirm out of Twilight’s grip as he was scooped into the rancher’s arms and unceremoniously flung over his shoulder.

Legend, now an unfortunate passenger on the insanity express, could register little more than an intense cacophony of sound, the wind tearing past them as Twilight sprinted forward, pegasus boots in full effect and the gusts of the nice tornado rod whipping around them, a welcome chill in the intense heat of the blaze, though tongues of flames still licked at Legend’s fur, the stench unmistakable. The lift from the rod catapulted them upwards, the pair shooting into the air before falling back to the ground.

“This thing launches you up?!”

“Did I forget to mention that?”

“Yes! Yes you did!”

Without wasting a second, a gust of wind tore around them once more, Legend feeling himself rise and fall, Twilight’s rapid crashing through the underbrush.

“If I angle this forward…” Oh Legend could follow that train of thought and he wasn’t entirely sure how to feel about it.

Another gust of wind arose, their pace suddenly doubling, before returning to their original breakneck speed.

“You’re f*cking insane, you know that?!”

“You’re alive! Stop complaining!”

“How the f*ck are we going to turn me back?!”

“Alive. That’s all I’m going to say.”

The mad dash continued, Legend’s headache roaring as he clung to Twilight’s pelt for dear life.

“Can you see if they’re gaining on us?”

“Why the f*ck are you asking me?!”

“Right, sorry, heat of the moment.”

“If that pun was intentional…”

“I think I have more important things to worry about right now!”

“Do you have any idea which direction you’re running in?!”

“This is the direction we were heading in before. Assuming they stopped to check out the massive forest fire, we should bump into Hyrule and Sky pretty soon.”

“ Hyrule?! Twilight, you can’t let him see me like this!”

“That’s that last of our worries!”

“ Please , Twilight!”

“What would you have me do? Need I remind you that you’re bleeding out! ”

They continued, only the death-agonies of the blazing forest for company, before Legend heard Twilight mutter, “I’ll see what I can do.”

Legend was as relieved as he could be while getting haphazardly tossed about on Twilight’s shoulder as the rancher sped through a forest fire while being chased by a horde of monsters. They must have been getting further from the fire, though, because Twilight wasn’t using the tornado rod so much. Distantly, he thought he could make out a note, hanging in the chaos. There it was again, pure and, clear, an ocarina for sure. Legend was suddenly very grateful for the enhanced hearing of his rabbit form.

“Twilight, I hear ocarina playing from your four o’clock.”

Twilight skidded to a stop, listening as well.

At that moment, the deafening roar of the fire was dwarfed by another unbearably loud static: rain.

A clap of thunder crashed overhead and all Legend could do was curl up and press himself against Twilight’s neck.

“That’s Time! It has to be!”

“So what’s the plan?”

Twilight paused for a moment, thinking. “We need to get you to Sky and Hyrule. Sky can change you back and Hyrule can stop the bleeding. Time and Four can handle the rest of the enemies by themselves.”

Legend only nodded and Twilight continued forward, moving slower presumably so he could spot Sky and Hyrule better. Legend felt hands on his back and complied as he was slid forward and gently cradled in Twilight’s arms, his wounded leg pressed against the rancher’s chest. It was then that he realized that he was shivering. The thunder and the pain and the adrenaline were really getting to him, huh.

“It’s alright, Legend, I’ve got you. You’re gonna be okay.”

“I’m not a child, Twilight,” he pouted, but his voice was soft, barely audible over the torrential downpour. The pair was soaked through, Legend’s fur limp and soggy.

“You’re younger than me, so I’d say that counts. Besides, you’ve achieved Kid Status according to Time, so there’s nothing I can do about that.”

Legend, against his better judgement, pressed himself against Twilight’s chest, feeling the sharp rise and fall of the rancher’s chest as he jogged through the woods, probably scanning for a flash of white or red. A hand slipped its way into his fur, but judging by how much it was shaking, Legend figured it was for Twilight’s benefit as much as his own and allowed it.

“I see them.”

Legend tensed, sucking in a breath.

“Alright, I’m going to put you down now, but I will be back very shortly, okay?”

Unable to do much else, he nodded, Twilight nestling him between the roots at the base of a tree.

Twilight’s footsteps, splashing in the puddles already collecting along the forest floor, grew steadily quieter. A crack of thunder sounded, and Legend pressed himself closer against the rough bark of the tree.

Blind, defenseless, immobile, bleeding out, a pink f*cking rabbit , and left all alone in the woods during a thunderstorm, Legend felt something inside him twist and tear and weep and his breaths began to wheeze in his throat.

Twilight was coming back for him.

Twilight was coming back for him.

Twilight was coming back for him.

Twilight was coming back for him.

Twilight was coming back for him. 

He had to be.

Nobody else save Sky would recognize him like this and he had no way of telling who anyone was unless he heard them speak.

All his hopes rested on Twilight, now.

Twilight, who’d comforted him and hummed to him and let Legend pet him until he fell asleep and carried him home. Twilight, who’d guided him down the trail and never once belittled Legend when he stumbled, always patient, always caring, Twilight, who carried him through the blaze to safety, prioritizing Legend’s safety over checking to see if his mentor was alright. Twilight, who was, even after everything he’d just been though, still trying to protect Legend’s secret.

Legend felt his eyelids slip shut as shivers wracked his small, soaking form.

It sounded like the rain was lightening up.

Footsteps approached, and Legend hoped against hope that it was Twilight and Sky.

“Of course I didn’t actually lose him! He just didn’t want Hyrule to see him like this.”

“Normally I’d scold him for being so ridiculous, but honestly, with the way the two of them have been interacting, he has a point.”

“I wish he didn’t. Now, he should be right over—here!”

“Well, he certainly is easy to spot.”

Legend felt hope swell in his chest, and he finally let himself relax, the tension draining from his small, shivering body.

Hands gently scooped him up as he faded from consciousness, his last recollection that of a solid warmth in his hand, the familiar shifting sensation of changing forms, and a soft voice remarking that he looked so peaceful when he was asleep, a gentle hum rumbling from the chest he was pressed against.

He was safe.

Chapter Text

Legend felt his eyelids slide smoothly upwards and, for once, didn’t start hyperventilating at the lack of visual stimuli. Was he actually getting used to this? Really used to it? 

He didn’t know how to feel about that.

Would he forget what it was like to see? Would he forget— no, not now, not first thing in the— actually what time was it?

Legend sat up, his sleeping bag sliding down his front and pooling around his waist. The motion wasn’t particularly painful, his leg mutedly aching as he moved. Hyrule must have gotten to it, then; Legend’s ring wouldn’t have healed it this quickly. Speaking of, as he was reaching down to rub at his leg, he noted that a familiar weight had returned to his hands. Curious fingers investigated, running over swirling metal, and confirmed that, yeah, he had his rings back. They weren’t on the same fingers they usually were, but they were there and they were definitely the ones he’d given Hyrule only three days prior. 

Hyrule.

Legend took a steadying breath.

“Good morning, Legend.”

Legend tensed at Time’s soft voice, raspy from disuse. The Old Man cleared his throat quietly, but said no more.

“Uh, good morning, Time. Uh, is it? Morning, I mean.”

There was a fond yet melancholy sort of hum, followed by: “the sun will be up in an hour and a half.”

“Jeez, my sleep schedule is trashed.” It was late springtime, too. Sunrise was early.

“I’m not surprised.”

Legend let himself chuckle at that. “Yeah, this is what I get for passing out before dinner every day.”

But Time didn’t laugh in kind, instead responding in a probing, suspiciously knowing, voice. “And why do you think that is?”

Legend felt an eyebrow creep up his face before he sighed, angling his face away from Time. “I guess it’s just exhausting. Doing anything. It takes so much effort and thought and it’s frustrating, you know? I just want to be okay again. Functional again. And then bam , I’m unconscious before we even start thinking about dinner.”

“Well, that’s another issue,” the Old Man’s voice was a touch awkward as he started, but gained certainty as he continued, “but I think I know what may be up with your sleep schedule.”

Legend perked up, facing Time fully. “Oh, do tell. Please, elucidate me.”

There was a bit of a tired scoff, but Time obliged. “People rely heavily on the cycle of day and night as cues to their body that it’s time to start getting ready for sleep at night or to wake up in the morning. If those cues were to break from the usual cycle, for example, switching to daytime in the middle of the night or having a night that lasts two days, it would wreak havoc on that rhythm that your body relies on. So having no cues at all?” Time trailed off and Legend could figure it out from there.

“My body thinks it’s always nighttime.”

Time hummed. “That’s just my hypothesis, but it would explain a few things, I think.”

“Yeah. Yeah, it really does. Thanks, Old Man.” Legend knew better than to ask how Time had learned this information, mostly because he already knew he wouldn’t get an answer.

There was quiet for a moment, only the distant chittering of keese above and the crackling of the campfire ahead breaking the silence of the early morning.

“For what it’s worth, I’m really proud of you.”

Legend straightened at that. “Eh?”

He heard a chuckle. 

“What for? ”

“Persevering.”

He pouted. “I don’t know what good that is. I’m still slowing everyone down and I can barely do anything by myself.”

Time didn’t respond at first, only shifting slightly. Legend heard him rubbing his fingers together slightly as he moved his hand closer to Legend’s head—which was weird—before Legend felt a steady pressure lower onto his shoulder, warm and firm. Did Time purposely make noise so he wouldn’t startle Legend? The veteran desperately wanted to search Time’s face for an answer, but could only conjure up an image in his mind. Time, marked and scarred, slightly asymmetrical bangs framing his face. When he’d lost his eye, did Malon have to do that so she wouldn’t scare him? Had he gained that scar and those markings before or after he met her? Hell, did he even get them at the same time? Time was an enigma, and though Legend had saved the world a few more times, the Old Man had been at it for a lot longer. All it had taken was their first meeting for Legend to tell that it hadn’t been easy on him.

“Legend,” Time spoke up, his hand squeezing the veteran’s shoulder gently, “we don’t care about any of that nonsense. You didn’t see when we carried you back here. How worried everyone was that you wouldn’t make it, how relieved everyone was when you stabilized. Oh,” his voice softened, “Twilight and Sky wouldn’t leave your side for a moment. You should have seen Wild trying to force Twilight to get some actual rest. If Wild hadn’t threatened to expose his little secret to everyone, I don’t think he would have.”

Shame and warmth blossomed inside Legend in equal measure. He’d worried them all so much with his stupidity, but it was nice, in a way, to know they cared so much for him.

“My point is,” Time moved closer and there he was, sitting right beside Legend with one arm around him, pressing the veteran against his side, “we’re just really glad you’re alive.”

Legend felt his breath hitch in his throat as Time held him closer, resting his cheek on the top of Legend’s head. He let it out, reaching behind and rubbing Time’s back.

“Come on, Old Man, you should know by now that it’ll take a lot more than that to kill the Hero of Legend,” he chuckled. 

“You boys are giving me so many grey hairs, you have no idea.”

“How many of those are because of Wild?”

“Not as many as you’d think, what with Twilight constantly mother henning over him.”

“Well, it looks like you’re about to get some more grey hairs because apparently Twilight is my mother hen, now.”

“Is it too much?”

Legend straightened. “No, not at all! Are you kidding me? I don’t know where I’d be without him.” 

Probably still in that ditch.

He let out a long, deep sigh that somehow only made him feel heavier.

“Being a mentor is rough, isn’t it.”

Damn , the Old Man saw right through him. Did he even count as Hyrule’s mentor? Either way, he was doing some hell of a job.

“I don’t know what to do about him. I just… I’m supposed to be… I don’t know what I’m supposed to be to him. I can tell, though, that I’m hurting him. Just by being here I’m hurting him and I don’t know what to do. ”

Time squeezed Legend again, and the veteran felt himself deflate a little more against the older hero’s side.

“I don’t think there’s anything to do.”

“Are you sure? He’s not himself lately. At all. I’m getting worried.”

“I think…” Time paused for a moment. Legend could hear and feel Time’s slow breaths as he thought, his heartbeat a soothing rhythm. “He’s in very deep denial right now.”

“No sh*t.”

Legend could feel the disappointment emanating from Time. “I wasn’t finished.”

“I… sorry. Continue.” 

“Denial is a common knee-jerk reaction to grief. It’s a natural part of the healing process.”

“Grief? But I’m still alive.”

“Yeah, you are, but people can grieve for all sorts of things. The loss of opportunities, places, a childhood, anything. We can’t bear it at first, so we deny it. We tell ourselves that it can’t possibly be true. We’ll believe anything.”

“You’re right. You should have heard him in the woods yesterday. He refused to believe my eyesight was gone. He sounded so dead set on trying to get it back. ”

“Bargaining. It generally comes after denial. Often, people experience anger first, though everyone grieves differently. Not all go through the same process.”

A moment passed, quiet and contemplative.

“So what’s next, then?”

A heavy sigh. “When people try to bargain and ultimately fail, they often fall into a deep depression. It’s from there that they reach acceptance.”

Legend shot up straight. “As if! I’m not going to let Hyrule fall into a ‘deep depression’ and I’m certainly not going to let him go through with whatever stunt he’s probably planning, either.”

“And how do you propose to do that? Yell at him until he stops grieving the loss of his closest friend’s sight?”

Legend opened his mouth, but was interrupted.

“This is something he needs to work through on his own.”

“But I’m not just going to leave him to his own devices!”

“So what are you going to do?”

Legend sucked in a breath, but let it out with a grimace. The last thing Hyrule needed was to be around him. It wasn’t like he could somehow prove to Hyrule how okay he was because he wasn’t okay. Every time he was near the other hero he ended up crying or breaking down or being pathetic . He wasn’t of any use to Hyrule in this state. It wasn’t like he was getting any better , either. Twilight had had to literally carry him out of the mess he made and then Legend made his life a whole lot harder by making him separate Sky and Hyrule and he didn’t even know what happened after that, but they all had to carry him back to whatever camp they’d made and he still stumbled around and needed his things handed to him and he wasn’t getting any better.

“I don’t know. I don’t know what I can do for him. Some mentor I am. How’s it that you’ve got this all figured out?”

At that, Time chuckled from his stomach, his shoulders shaking next to Legend’s own.

“You flatter me. It’s just trial and error, honestly. I understand your position.”

Legend felt his eyebrows knit together. “What?”

“Feeling helpless and confused when you see that your successor needs your help? Wondering why anyone expects you to have any modicum of authority? Believe me, I get it.”

But Legend only grew more confused.

“Your successor? I thought—”

“That it was Wind? I’m still trying to wrap my head around that, myself. I regard Twilight as my successor nonetheless.”

But… Legend thought he was Time’s successor. The hero before him was the Hero of Time. He knew this. The Hero of Time fell in battle. That’s when Ganon turned the Sacred Realm into the Dark World. That was a pivotal piece of history. That was…

He sighed.

“It doesn’t matter. I’m still not getting any better .”

“What makes you say that?”

“I’m useless! You didn’t see me in that fight, Time, Twilight had to carry me out. And I set the entire forest on fire—thanks for putting that out, by the way—and earlier that day, Four wanted to spar with me and he trashed me, Time. I’m not getting anywhere and I’m not going to.”

“Do you want to get better?”

“I—” Legend deflated further into Time’s side. “Hyrule asked me the same thing.”

“But I don’t think he meant it like I do. I mean, it’s been clear as day since the moment I met you—yes, you’re very good at hiding it sometimes, and occasionally you even manage to forget it yourself—but the fact remains, Legend, that you’re tired. ”

Legend slouched, his body weight now entirely supported by Time, whose warmth bled pleasantly into his bones.

“You can say that you ‘saved Hyrule’ however many times, but don’t think I don’t know what that means. How many ditches have you clawed your way out of? How many wounds have you had to sew up yourself, biting your belt to stifle your screams so the monsters don’t hear? How many times have you clung desperately to a dungeon ledge, an endless sea of black beneath you? How many times did you scream in agony as your muscles locked up, paralyzed, from the shock of an electric monster? How many times did you sit by a campfire in the silence of the forest and wish that someone, anyone, was there by your side? How much have you lost ?”

“Okay, okay, I get it, I get it. Adventuring sucks sometimes. What’s your point?”

“If you’re truly helpless, then you don’t have to be the hero anymore. You don’t have to get hurt anymore. You can finally get some rest .”

Legend stilled, only the thudding of his heart in his chest keeping time as everything slowed to a standstill. Did he want that? To be able to relax? To let everyone else handle everything? There were eight other perfectly competent heroes who could handle this. He could just… stop.

And finally live in peace.

But no, Hyrule’s face flashed through his mind, astonished at Legend’s rings, touched and baffled that Legend would even consider giving them to him, tensing up under every hug, his posture sheepish and slouching, his sleep far too light, his appetite… concerning.

Legend couldn’t damn Hyrule to that fate. Maybe he already had—he’d done his fair share of time travel but still didn’t have a clue how any of it actually worked—but he wasn’t prepared to sit idly by. Hyrule was alive and had hope for his kingdom. If Legend could do even that much, to set up something , some failsafe, anything to give Hyrule the best leg up he could, he’d devote his life to it.

“No.”

Legend felt something warm unfurl inside him.

“ No , I don’t want that. I don’t want to just sit back and let you all handle it. I’m here and maybe I’m not the best right now and maybe I won’t ever be but I have—I have my items and, though I’m not sure how much help I’ll be, I have to do something . I’m not just gonna sit this one out .”

“I’ve always wondered,” Time started, voice sober, “if that’s you or the Hero’s Spirit talking.”

Legend was taken aback by that, pulling away slightly before remembering he wouldn’t be able to get a look at Time’s face.

“Quite frankly, I don’t see a difference. Whatever the ‘Hero’s Spirit’ even is, it’s a part of me. But I’m more than just some Hero’s Spirit. I mean, look how different we all are. We’re shaped by more than whatever we were born with, and we’re more than just the sum of our life’s experiences.”

“So then what are we?”

“We’re people, Old Man. We’re people just like anyone else.”

Legend heard Time let a long slow exhale out from his nose. “You’ve got a good head on your shoulders, kid.”

“Watch who you go calling ‘kid,’ Old Man.”

“And what are you going to do about it, kid ?”

“I’ll take out your f*cking kneecaps, that’s what.”

“Not so helpless now, are we?”

Legend felt his mouth quirk up and knew he’d been beat.

“Alright, Old Man,” he relented, settling against Time’s side, “you got me. Your kneecaps are still in danger, though. Mark my words.”

“If you insist. Try and get some rest, kiddo.”

Legend wasn’t sure what he mumbled when he faded into unconsciousness, but the gentle rumbling of Time’s side meant that it must have been something good.

   They were on the road again, as was their way, Legend having woken when Time stood up to get Wild to start on breakfast. Legend had finally switched back to his normal tunic, but Hyrule insisted on changing back to his usual attire as well. With that odd choice still hovering in the back of his head, it felt like a damper had been dropped over his entire day. It wasn’t long before Legend found himself tapping down the trail, new stick in hand, with Twilight and Sky by his side. They’d set out early, their plan was to get to the town before the monsters did, after all, but they were barely an hour in and Legend could already tell that he was greatly hindering their travel time.

His right hand resting on Sky’s forearm this time, he stumbled along, the trail having grown considerably more rocky, with outcroppings sticking out regularly where the earth had eroded away around it. 

“I hate these stupid f*cking rocks! Permission to roast them into magma and then cool them into a nice ramp with my ice rod so I could move faster than a Like Like ?”

Twilight and Sky chuckled at that, the latter speaking up. “We could always, ah, give you a lift ?”

Legend squinted at nothing. “What are you suggesting?”

“He’s suggesting that we do the ol’ shadow crystal strategy,” Twi added with what was probably an eyebrow waggle.

“Oh, we should have a code word for it! The Legend Fluffication Technique!”

“I’d really prefer it if we never did that again , thank you very much.”

“I mean, it worked, didn’t it?”

“Okay, but would it have killed you to warn me first? Do you have any idea how terrifying it was to hear you say ‘I apologize in advance for this’ and have no idea what was happening to me? I can’t imagine you would enjoy being transformed without your knowledge or consent. Not to mention how humiliating that is! To be scooped up and carried like an infant? No f*cking thank you. I’ve lost enough of my dignity as is. I’d like to retain some autonomy over what happens to me.”

There was dead silence as Legend let his words sink in.

Twilight sucked in a breath. “ Sh*t , Legend, I’m so sorry. I—I didn’t think about it like that. I’ll be sure to let you know if I ever plan on doing that again. And I’ll only do it in emergencies. I promise.”

“Thank you, Twi. Really, I appreciate that. And just in general, too. Please don’t do anything to me without my consent. It’s hard enough to figure out what’s going on as is.”

“Of course, Legend. I’m really sorry if we crossed a line before, I—”

“Nah, don’t worry about it. You did what you had to. I don’t hold that against you.”

A moment of silence passed before Sky spoke up. “Legend did have a point though. Earlier, I mean.”

The other two waited in silence for him to continue.

“I mean, we’re moving along and it’s really awesome that Legend can do this, but time is of the essence, here. We have to move faster than our normal walking pace if we want to get to the town in time to set up a defense.”

Legend tightened his grip on Sky’s forearm.

“Nobody would see. We have the sword and we’ll change you back the second we hear someone get close. And you can ride however you want. You can decide when to travel on foot and we’ll make sure to ask for permission before doing anything.”

Legend felt his shoulders slacken.

“You’re not giving me a choice, are you?”

“I don’t think we really have one, do we.”

“I hate this so much.”

He sighed.

“Alright, Twi, give me the f*cking necklace.”

“That’s the spirit!”

The small weight landed in Legend’s hands again and he was shrinking and twisting and the next thing he knew, he could feel pebbles beneath his small, rounded feet. His nose twitched and he lowered himself to the ground instinctually, suddenly feeling immensely exposed.

“Alright, Legend, who do you want to go with?”

“Uh, Sky please. Cuz he has the sword and all.”

“Sure,” the caped hero replied, “alright, I’m going to pick you up now, ready?”

Legend bobbed his head in affirmation and felt Sky’s partially gloved hands slip under his midsection, lifting him up as his hind legs hung back, dangling behind him. Before he knew it, he was being lightly pressed against Sky, who had one hand supporting him from beneath and another on his back, securing him in place.

“Is this alright?”

Legend took a moment to feel around, shifting his weight between his feet and stretching up, reaching towards Sky’s shoulder experimentally. 

“Uh, yeah, this is good.”

He felt Sky’s chest ripple slightly with laughter. 

“I’m glad! If you reach over my right shoulder, you should be able to touch the hilt of the Master Sword yourself.”

Legend hummed in response, curling in on himself and pressing tighter against Sky’s tunic, minding he didn’t get his fur caught in any of the leather.

“Shall we get moving?” Twilight’s voice sounded from somewhere that must have been Sky’s right.

“Whenever you guys are ready.”

And they were off, Legend finding a swaying rhythm in Sky’s movements. The pair definitely moved at a brisk clip, expertly treading down rocky ledges and warning Legend before jumping over muddy patches. 

“Say,” Sky started before long, “why is it that Twilight has an item that turns people into small pink bunnies, anyway?”

Legend tried to hold back his laughter, but Twi was admirably quiet.

“Oh, it doesn’t turn everyone into pink bunnies. Only Legend.”

Legend felt his fur stand on end.

“Hey, hold on a second!”

“Am I wrong?”

“We only have a sample size of two! We have no idea what anybody else turns into so we have no way of knowing if I’m the only one,” he huffed, nuzzling himself further into Sky’s arms out of embarrassment.

“Three, actually, and the other one was a golden wolf . The odds aren’t looking so good for you, Legend.”

“Wait, what was the second one?” Sky asked in honest bafflement.

Legend heard Twilight suck in a small breath. He held his own for a moment before cackling .

“Oh, you’ve painted yourself into a corner now, wolf-boy!”

“ Legend! ”

“Wait, I’m confused.”

“Yes! Good! Stay confused! Don’t ever think about this conversation again! Anyway, ” Twilight scrambled for a sudden topic change and they carried on, passing the time on the trail with jabs and anecdotes.

During a lull in the conversation, Legend caught a distant snatch of sound, his ears perking up as he peeked his head over Sky’s left shoulder, listening.

It was voices. Two, to be precise. 

“Wild and Wars are coming; Sky, change me back, change me back, change me back. ”

“Okay, okay, I’m doing it!” Sky answered, hurriedly placing Legend on the ground. He heard the distinct sound of the Master Sword being drawn and felt it pressed into his hands, stretching and warping him into his usual, hylian form.

“On your left,” Twi drawled, prompting Legend to hold out his hand. He was greeted with his stick and expressed his thanks just as Warriors and Wild drew near, calling out their greetings.

“Well, would you look at who it is!”

“Heya, Twi, Sky, Legend! You sure are moving fast! I thought we’d gotten lost ‘cause we hadn’t seen you in so long.”

Warriors wasn’t one to waste time. “Have you guys seen Hyrule? He was walking with us a while ago but then he said he was going to go ahead and completely vanished.”

“I told you, I’m sure he’s fine. He can hold his own. Besides, a little time alone never hurt anyone. I’m sure he knows what he needs. I mean,” Wild took a minute to gather his words, “it’s what he’s used to, being on his own. It would make sense for him to try and seek out something that’s familiar when he’s feeling conflicted. Either way, it’s better than him staring at me again. It was really weirding me out.”

“That doesn’t mean I have to approve of it. I don’t want him getting lost or injured while he’s out trying to do… whatever it is he’s trying to do. I’d prefer it if we could keep an eye on him.”

Legend worried his lip and debated contributing. Time’s advice from the morning still swirled around his head and he was eager for a second opinion.

“Wars, what does ‘keep an eye on him’ mean , though? Practically.”

Warriors started for a moment before seemingly collecting himself and continuing “I don’t want him to think he has to go through this alone. I don’t mean constantly having someone breathing down his neck, but I don’t want him to alienate himself, either.”

“I don’t know what we can do, though,” Sky started, the group sounding like they were starting to move again. Legend flinched a little at the sudden hand on his back—Twilight, probably—that gently ushered him forward, Legend placing his hand on the attached arm—yeah, definitely Twilight—and continuing to follow the conversation.  “I tried talking to him, but I don’t think he’ll see reason. Maybe Legend’s right. If we did track him down, what would we do once we found him?” 

“Should we keep Wolfie with him?” that was Wild’s voice. “He doesn’t need to say anything, but he’s scarily intelligent and great at comforting people when they’re having a rough time.”

Legend felt the arm under his hand stiffen and realized the implication as well.

“I haven’t seen Wolfie in a while, though,” Twilight started, “I don’t know if he’ll just show up and we don’t really have a surefire way of calling him.”

“I’m sure he’ll come if you go looking for him, Twilight, he likes you,” Legend added, trying to stay nonchalant. Was Twilight really willing to prioritize carrying Legend over looking for Hyrule? One of those things felt considerably more important than the other. Maybe he shared Time’s sentiment of giving Hyrule space? But Twilight was more likely to err on the side of overprotective, if he had to choose.

“I dunno.” Twilight sighed. “Look, if we don’t see him at lunch, I’ll see if I can get Wolfie to go after him, okay?”

There was a general agreement at that and the group continued on, Warriors and Wild ending up going ahead, probably because of some nonverbal cue from Sky or Twilight. Wild wouldn’t have left Twilight’s side in favor of Warriors otherwise.

Once their voices faded, Legend stopped walking and sighed. 

“Twilight, you don’t have to do this. Go look for Hyrule.”

“I stand by what I said. Besides, this is Hyrule’s world. He’ll be alright. My concern is the town. I’m not going to risk the monsters getting there first.” 

Twilight’s tone effectively ended the conversation, leaving Legend to wonder if there was more to the story than a run-of-the-mill desire to protect innocents. In their group, there usually was. It was never a nice one, either.

“Anyway,” Sky tried to diffuse the tension in the air, “are we going pink? ”

“Sky, I don’t care what code word you come up with, it’s not going to stick.”

“How about something that sounds stupidly mundane, like the weather, so it doesn’t even seem like a code word,” Twilight mused, “we ask Legend a question about the weather and depending on his response, we act accordingly.”

“That is the dumbest thing I’ve ever—okay wait a second.”

Twilight waited a second, no doubt smug as hell.

“Isn’t asking me about the weather stupid because, I mean,” he gestured vaguely at the air above him.

“That’s actually genius,” Sky butted in instead. “That way nobody will ask him that unless they’re in on it and it won’t ever be confused with a legitimate question.”

Legend opened his mouth and silently closed it again.

“You’re right, actually.” There was a sound that Legend took to be a high-five. “Now we just need to agree on what’s ‘turn me into a rabbit’ and what’s ‘get your filthy shadow crystal the hell away from me or I’ll set you on fire,’ ” Twilight joked, elbowing Legend lightly. Legend smacked Twilight’s arm while he blew the air out of his mouth in a sort of tired laugh.

“I guess I’ve always sort of associated rabbits with nighttime? Or darker weather, I guess. So rain can be to do the transformation shenanigans and sun means I’ll smite you if you try to.”

Sky laughed at that. “Sounds good to me!”

“So, how’s it looking?” Twilight asked.

Legend sighed.

“It’s pouring and I f*cking hate it.”

“That’s the spirit!” Sky called, and they were on their way.

They’d returned Legend back to normal by the time they reached the lunch spot, Legend listening intently for Hyrule’s voice. He didn’t hear it, but Hyrule always had been quiet, so he couldn’t be certain. Evidently, the traveler wasn’t there and Twilight relented and vanished to go look for him, er, look for “Wolfie.”

He returned while the rest of the group was well into eating. Judging by the calls of greeting from his companions, Twilight had found Hyrule.

Legend felt his heart rate accelerate at the thought of possibly getting another chance to talk to his successor, but tried his best to ignore it. Maybe the kid really did need space. Either way, Legend wasn’t going to initiate until Hyrule was ready.

He wasn’t.  

Lunch passed, Wild informing Hyrule that he was allowed to wander off as long as he made it back to the group for lunch and dinner. He didn’t hear Hyrule’s response, but considering Wild didn’t press him, he probably just nodded instead.

The days passed like that, the group speeding their way across the Hyrulean countryside, Hyrule himself going missing every time they weren’t eating or sleeping. When he was with the group, he went dead silent save the occasional mumble. He hardly made any sound when he moved and he never got anywhere near Legend. 

It was like he was trying to be completely undetectable for Legend, like they were… worlds apart.

And it hurt.

Legend tried, really he did, to give Hyrule all the space he needed, but while Hyrule might not have needed Legend, the same couldn’t be said for the other way around.

The people actively trying to fill that void, Twilight and Sky, were making a noble effort. Saying they failed would be an overstatement—Legend spent most of his day in the arms of one or the other of them; to say he derived no comfort from that would be an outright lie, not to mention that he’d stopped protesting quite so much when one of them accidentally started running their fingers through his fur. Of course, attempting to somehow replace Hyrule in Legend’s life was an impossible task.

Legend had all but given up hope on so much as hearing Hyrule’s voice again when a shockingly cheery “We’re here!” echoed through the forest. 

Twilight, who’d been holding Legend at the time, let him to the ground, Sky handing him the sword in what had become a routine, before meeting up with the rest of the group.

“Just around that hill is the town!”

There were exclamations of “finally!” and “we made it in time!” amongst the Links, Legend remaining silent.

The group started moving again, Legend electing to attach himself to Twilight, but being pleasantly surprised to hear Wind standing next to him, asking if he could guide him forward. Legend consented, placing his right hand on Wind’s shoulder as he heard the familiar bustle of a small town grow in volume.

“What town is this, anyway?” Legend heard Wild speak up from the front, “you never mentioned.”

“That’s because I don’t actually know.” There were a few shouted protests to that. “It was just a small settlement when I left. We hadn’t named it yet.” A mumbled acceptance arose.

Legend noted that the trail curved slightly to the left and presumed they were circling the hill Hyrule had mentioned. The sounds of the town grew louder and shouts of “Link! It’s Link! Link’s back!” rang out, doubtlessly jarring the rest of them as much as it did Legend. 

It was at that moment that Legend realized it would be his first time in public—like actual, human public—since he went blind. He didn’t know how to feel about that. His grip on Wind’s shoulder must have tightened, because he heard the sailor whisper, “if anyone gives you grief, I’ll invert their lungs.”

Legend couldn’t hold in his chuckle and Four seemed to have heard it as well, judging by his own sharp exhale. He could have sworn he heard the smithy mutter “damn straight,” from somewhere to his left and couldn’t help the warm feeling that blossomed inside him.

Chatter burst out around the Links, the townsfolk growing louder and louder as more came to investigate the commotion. Legend strained his ears trying to make out Hyrule’s voice, but it was lost in the din, though he did manage to glean that the town was named Impa Town. It was nice to know that his era had more of a legacy than a curse and a story. Eventually, they were ushered to an inn, dropping their packs and calling dibs on beds, where Hyrule blurted out some hasty excuse about seeing the local wise man before vanishing. Again. The usual chatter died down the moment he left the room and Legend wasn’t the only one who sighed. 

“Anyway,” Warriors started, his Captain Voice starting to leak through, “I’m going to try to find who’s in charge of this village to warn them and evaluate our defenses. Time, could you come with me? Wild, I think I’ll need you as well.”

There was a quiet grunt of affirmation from Legend’s right and a “what? Uh, sure,” from his left as Wind perked up, practically vibrating next to him.

“Ooh ooh I wanna explore the town! Four, come with me come with me come with me come with me!”

Four laughed, obliging, and Legend’s heart sank when he wasn’t invited. It wasn’t like he’d be much fun while out, and they’d probably be moving too fast for him anyway, but that didn’t mean it didn’t leave a sharp pang in his chest.

“I’ll make sure they don’t set anything on fire,” Sky chuckled, moving closer to where Wind and Four’s voices had come from.

That left Twilight and Legend.

“We still need to patch up some of our clothes from that fight, but afterwards, I’d be happy to help with whatever needs doing. Legend, who do you wanna go with?”

There was silence for a moment, but it was clear that Twilight was trying to make himself the attractive option. Legend gave in, sticking with Twilight as the inn emptied out. 

He let his breath escape him in the newfound silence.

“You good?”

“Yeah.”

Legend knew Twilight didn’t believe him, but he didn’t feel like explaining himself.

“Alright. Anyway, we can do whatever you want, but I’m just gonna start by stitching up this tear in Hyrule’s other tunic.”

Legend felt his breath hitch. “It got torn?”

“Just a little. I don’t think he was actually injured.”

A beat.

“I miss him.”

“I don’t doubt that.”

“I guess I thought… that our friendship—or whatever it was—was stronger than this.”

Twilight sighed.

“I don’t know, Legend. I wish I knew what to do.”

“Time mentioned he thought Hyrule was grieving for it. My sight. Which I guess makes sense, but—I don’t know.”

“None of us are strangers to grief,” Twilight hummed, the creaking of a bed signaling that he had sat down, Legend making his way over as well.

“I know that. But when I lost—when I was… grieving, I suppose, it was the people around me who pulled me out of it.”

“Yeah, I really don’t know why this is hitting Hyrule so much harder than you. I’m just glad I could help you.”

“I… I wasn’t talking about this. But I guess it’s the same thing.”

“I thought you usually traveled alone?” Legend could imagine Twilight’s curiously cocked head and felt his own face soften.

“Yeah, well, usually . I’ve had friends, unfortunate housemates , sometimes, and though they rarely traveled with me, they supported me nonetheless whenever I happened to return home, for whatever reason.”

Twilight hummed. It was sad and filled with too much emotion, the kind of hum that replaces words when one doubts their ability to speak.

They sat in silence for a moment, Legend flopping to lay on his back with his feet dangling on the floor while Twilight remained upright next to him, a faint rustle of fabric betraying the fact that Twilight was worrying it through his fingers rather than actually mending it.

“Who did… you lose?”

Legend sucked in a breath at that, the quiet knocking of his heels against the bedframe stopping abruptly.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to pry.”

“Then don’t.”

Legend’s voice wasn’t half as icy as it could have been, but he got his point across.

There was silence for a little longer, the rustling of the fabric stilling in Twilight’s hands.

“I just can’t imagine. I was eighteen and I wasn’t even alone and it was still—you amaze me.”

Legend huffed at that, a sort of tired scoff. “It wasn’t all bad. I feel like we always make our quests out to be these big awful things that scarred us forever and well,” he chucked, rubbing his right forearm, “maybe they did, sometimes. But that doesn’t mean they didn’t have their ups and their downs.”

“ You’re uncharacteristically optimistic. Did Sky’s softness rub off on you while he was carrying you?”

Legend didn’t rise to the jab.

“I dunno, it’s just—I guess I’ve gained—” he chuckled “—a new perspective. But I’m serious, too. Yeah, sometimes it sucked, but I heard the Old Man talking about it and he made it sound like it was all unspeakably miserable and that’s… that’s not the case. We meet people, we find places, and even if we lose them, they never really leave us, for better or for worse, I suppose. And aside from the bonus of smiting evil and saving the entire kingdom—which does feel pretty good, you have to admit—the journey itself has its perks as well. The wacky people you run into, the thrill of exploration when you bomb a weak cavern wall or finally get the item you need to figure out what’s across that one gap that’s been right there for ages and now you can finally cross it, and the sights. No matter how much it hurt, you can’t pretend it wasn’t beautiful.”

Legend let his arms fall from where they’d been gesturing in the air, flopping against the mattress. Twilight let out a weak “mhm,” and Legend waited for him to collect himself.

“It was beautiful. It really was.”

Legend couldn’t hold back his laughter at that. “I said ‘it,’ not ‘she,’ loverboy.”

Twilight sputtered. “H-hey hold on a second! My Hyrule is beautiful.”

“Yeah, but you weren’t talking about it just then, were you.”

“ You’d know.”

“I would.”

“Oh. Right.”

There was a pause

“I’m sorry about what happened to her, though. Whatever it was, you joke about it enough that it’s clear she’s always on your mind.”

Twilight sighed, fond.

“Sassy. More snarky, I guess. But she never left my side and, over time… she changed. She started caring more about me and told me more about herself and, well, she was all I had for most of it. Even the most different people in the world can find common ground, given enough time, and we—we had a lot, but she never ceased to amaze me, either. I… I’d never really thought about what would happen next. It didn’t even occur to me. She was just always there. Until she wasn’t.”

Legend rolled onto his side, pulling his feet onto the bed and curling his knees closer to his chest.

“Yeah. It’s like that.”

“How did you cope?”

“I started heading home, but changed my mind. I spent a little while with myself, thinking, but never really got anywhere. I bumped into my s—my Zelda, completely by accident, and she welcomed me back home like I hadn’t changed one bit.” He blew out a breath that clearly implied that he had . “I didn’t explain it all to her, and she knew better than to ask. She tried to give me space, but I actually preferred it when we were together, just… talking. And then f*cking Ravio —” he sat up in a hurry, about to launch into a rant, but smacked his face on the bunk bed—there was a bunk bed?!—and flopped back onto the mattress, clutching his forehead in pain.

“ Sh*t, OW! ”

“Legend, are you okay?!”

Twilight was laughing, though.

“That kid is nothing but trouble! I can’t even say his name without experiencing bodily pain! I swear …”

“You hate him that much?”

“Nah,” Legend continued, grabbing his ice rod out of his pouch and laying it on his forehead, “I mean, I did at first—well, I don’t know if I really did—but he was so different from her, this sleezy little coward who somehow idolized me. It was weird. But he kept… I dunno, making himself useful. I kept having to ask him for stuff and I started heading home more and more. He became familiar, comforting, a constant, reliable presence. And I knew he wasn’t going to go anywhere. Or I thought, anyway.” Legend shifted, readjusting the ice rod. “Turns out he wasn’t even from Hyrule. Or anywhere else on the map, but Lorule, another kingdom in another world. Once the adventure was over, it came time to seal the worlds off, to separate them—they shouldn’t have been together in the first place—but Ravio, for some Hylia-forsaken reason, decided to come back with me and Zelda. He asked permission from his princess, Hilda, but he came through the portal with us. I don’t think I’ll ever really understand why.”

Twilight’s voice was rough as he spoke. “And the princess?”

Legend paused before replying with a shrug. “She stayed home. She had to lead and rebuild her kingdom after everything that had happened. No one blames her for it. If anything, Ravio should have gone with her to help, but instead he decided to leave.”

Legend waited a moment, listening for Twilight’s reaction. The rancher’s ambivalence was clear, though sadness seemed to be the strongest emotion of the lot. Legend sat up—slowly this time—and his hand found its way to Twilight’s shoulder, which he rubbed lightly, albeit awkwardly. Twilight had helped him, more than Legend would ever be able to express. This was the least he could do.

“Hey, Twi, it’s gonna be okay.”

Twilight simply hummed in response and that only redoubled Legend’s resolve to help him.

“Twi, I mean it. I’ve… I’ve been there. It hurts like hell.” He paused for a moment. “You don’t get any real closure, so you keep wondering. It keeps coming back to you, even when you think you’ve finally gotten over it. It crops up when you least expect it and keeps you wondering, y’know? Was it really my fault? Was there anything I could have done? Did we ever have a chance? Did…” Legend sucked in a breath, “did she really love me back?”

Legend felt Twilight deflate under his hand. “Yeah, that exactly.”

Twilight took a collection of small breaths, as if about to say something but deciding against it, over and over, until he finally managed to get something out.

“Did you ever find anyone else?”

Legend froze, his hand stiffening on Twilight’s shoulder.

“No, I never did.” He waited another moment, sensing that Twilight wouldn’t be asking so many questions if he didn’t want to talk about it. “You?”

Twilight sighed. “There’s a girl from my village. Ilia, that’s her name, she… we were childhood friends. I liked her, she liked me, but I guess…” he slouched further down, to the point where Legend took the liberty of pulling Twilight against himself, letting the rancher rest his head on Legend’s own. “Well, the guilt was one thing. She never truly recovered from what happened to her when our village was attacked.” That explained his earlier insistence on making it in time. “But still, it’s different, after the adventure. The people who knew you before, they don’t recognize you anymore. I think it scares them. I wasn’t their Link. I wasn’t one of them anymore. They’d listen to my stories but they didn’t understand . They’d, they’d say “wow that’s amazing” or “that sounds so scary” but they don’t get it. They can’t . After a little while, I gave up. I didn’t belong there anymore. How could I go back to, what, herding goats? After everything that happened?”

Legend felt his brow furrow as he reached around to Twilight’s back, rubbing it in slow circles. “What did you do, then?”

“I looked for a way back to her, for a while. But there wasn’t one.” Legend waited for him to continue. “I wandered Hyrule, looking for… old friends, people I’d met along the way. I felt so lost. Until one day, I opened my eyes and there I was, stuck in my wolf form, lush, open fields for as far as the eye could see and there, next to me, looking just as surprised as I felt, was a half-naked arson child.”

And the mood was broken, the somber atmosphere shattered by Legend’s raucous laughter. Before long, Twilight had joined in as well.

“That’s the most perfect description of the gremlin I’ve ever heard!”

“If you think he’s nuts now, you should have seen him back on his quest.”

“I don’t doubt that. So you just babysat him while he was traveling?”

Twilight snorted. “If that’s what you want to call it. I didn’t do much babysitting.”

Legend hummed, letting Twilight rest himself back on his shoulder again. “So what happened?”

“Wild went off to go fight Ganon, as we all do eventually, and just as quickly as I’d come, I was gone, spirited away without so much as a goodbye.”

Legend couldn’t help but gasp a little at that. “So you’ve been on both sides, then.”

“I guess… I guess I have. Though I didn’t leave by choice,” he added earnestly.

“I believe you.”

“So I woke up in the middle of Hyrule field, my Hyrule field, just like the day I’d left. Hell, I was certain it had all been some wild fever dream.”—Legend felt chills clamber down his spine in droves and he shuddered, tensing up, his jaw locked and unseeing eyes opened wide—“until I met Wild. Properly. The relief I felt was just—Legend?”

“Nothing. It’s nothing. Keep going?”

“Uh, okay, if you’re sure. But yeah, the confirmation, that it was real , that he remembered me, it was indescribable.” Legend felt Twilight shift against him. “This is probably a weird thing to say to you, but I don’t know what I would have done without this adventure. I really don’t.”

Legend let that sink in.

“Do you have any idea what you’ll do when you get back?”

Twilight grew heavier against Legend’s side. “I try not to think about it.”

Legend pressed his head closer against the crook of Twilight’s neck and shoulder where it was nestled. “I’m sure whatever you do, you’ll be great at it. I mean, there’s more to the world than Hyrule. I don’t know about the neighboring kingdoms in your time, but there are some pretty crazy ones in mine. I’d say to give ‘em a shot if Hyrule ever feels too claustrophobic.”

Legend felt the muscles in Twilight’s back relax, really relax, under his hand.

“Thanks, Legend.”

“Of course, Twilight. Anytime. I mean that.”

The pair sat in silence for a while, Legend wrestling with himself. He swore he’d never talk about it. He never had. He hadn’t . Not to his Zelda, not to Ravio, not to Hyrule, no one . But, after the conversation they’d just had, Legend was willing to make an exception. Just a small one.

“Her… her name was Marin.”

Twilight hummed approvingly, growing heavier still against Legend’s side.

“Midna. Her name was Midna.”

“Legend?”

The veteran was woken by a gentle shaking of his shoulder. He felt around absently. He was laying on the bed, curled up against an evenly breathing Twilight, his legs dangling on the floor.

“Wild?”

“Good morning, Legend! We need your help with something.”

“What? What time is it?”

“Uh, okay I lied, it’s not morning, it’s actually pretty late, but we haven’t had dinner yet. I think most people are still out and about.”

“Okay,” he groaned, sitting up but ducking so he wouldn’t hit his head again—yes it still hurt. He pulled himself to his feet and stretched, losing his balance slightly before catching himself. “Uh, where do you need me?”

“In the main building thingy. I don’t remember what it’s called. Wars wanted your input on some strategy stuff and Time said it would be good to try and fix your sleep schedule.” There was a quiet tapping that sounded like Wild excitedly hopping from foot to foot.

“That makes sense.” Legend let out a yawn, reaching out for a nearby wall and scooting forward until he found one. He ran his hand across it until he found where he’d propped up his stick and turned towards Wild, signaling that he was ready to go.

“Alrighty, just follow me.”

Legend was about to open his mouth to ask how exactly he was supposed to do that when Wild started to hum. It was a cute off-key little thing, and Legend followed it easily.

He heard the sound of a door opening and was met with the scent of fresh air and the lazy chatter of townspeople. His tapping was no longer met with the dull thunk of wood, but the quiet thump of hard-packed earth under a little drop that Legend presumed was a sort of stoop. He felt around for a moment and then hopped down. Wild whistled, evidently impressed.

“You’ve really gotten the hang of that, haven’t you.”

Legend only shrugged, but felt the warmth build inside him nonetheless.

They walked along, Wild opting to talk instead of hum so that Legend could hear him better in the ambience of the outdoors.

“You’re amazing, Legend, you know that?”

Legend made a sort of scoffing sound, elbowing Wild lightly in the side. “So are you, stupid.”

Wild sputtered. “W-what? What makes you say that?”

Legend smiled to himself. “You don’t realize it— and I’m only going to say this once and you can’t ever tell anyone I told you this—but you’ve really helped Twilight. A lot. You’ve given him a purpose again. And even if he’s too shy to say it himself, that means the world to him.”

Wild stopped walking, his low footsteps quieting and his clothing no longer rustling as he moved.

“What the hell, Legend? You can’t just drop that on me!”

“Drop what on you? I didn’t say anything. Now keep walking, unless you want me to lead.”

Wild laughed softly at that and obliged, rambling about this or that as they walked so Legend could follow, the rolling static of a nearby river growing and fading, but the veteran could tell that Wild’s head was still in the clouds. The sun was warm and provided a pleasant toastiness to his dark-colored sleeves, despite the slight coolness to the air.

He smiled to himself.

They arrived in the hall, a building that echoed heavily and smelt of parchment and candle smoke with a steady breeze drafting in, presumably from open windows, Time and Warriors talking in low voices somewhere ahead of him.

“I brought Legend!” Wild shouted, causing his charge to flinch from the sound. “Oh. Sorry.”

He was interrupted by Warriors’ call.

“Legend! How have you been?”

Legend huffed a little. “Asleep. So what did you guys need my help with? I doubt I’ll be particularly useful.”

Legend could hear Warriors’ smirk as he spoke.

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that. Come here.”

Legend obliged, tapping forward, the hollow echoes resonating in the hall.

“Alright, stop there. There’s a table right in front of you. Put your hand on it.”

Legend did, feeling the edge and propping his stick against it before reaching forward, investigating. He stopped when his fingers brushed something strange. They were twigs. Lots of little twigs poking out of… dried mud? There were ridges and valleys and a flat clearing filled with small, evenly spaced rocks. He felt further along, a small river of sand winding its way around the clearing, by the twig-covered area, and eventually off the edge.

“What… what is this?”

“That,” Warriors started, his smile audible, “is a scale model of the town and the surrounding area. Wild spend all day on it and we cross-referenced it with a few of these new maps.”

Legend sputtered, his heart rate picking up slightly. “Wha—what? Why… why would you do this?”

“Why do you think, stupid?” Wild laughed. “It’s so you can help us strategize! You’ve saved the world more times than the three of us combined, so you’re bound to have some ideas.”

Legend opened his mouth, but closed it, speechless. He reached out again, gingerly running his hands over the forested areas, the hills, the valley, the river, the town, building a mental map in his head using his recollection of how long it had taken them to circumnavigate the hill.

“You guys…” Legend broke off, his chest silently heaving a little in what he hoped to pretend was laughter, his knuckles over his mouth. “You… you guys can’t do this to me.” His exhales shuddered as he leaned on the table.

“Actually, Legend,” Warriors started, no doubt grinning his full mad genius grin that Four had mentioned forever ago, “we just did.”

Time broke in, voice warm. “As sweet as this is, time is of the essence”—Wild snickered—“and I’d like to get a little more done today. Legend, where do you think you’d be best located?”

“Okay, so—” Legend leaned forwards over the model, collecting himself “—We’ve got this hill, which definitely works to our advantage.” He thought for a moment longer, trying to imagine himself in every place he felt. “We’ll want to keep me as far away from the river as possible because I won’t be able to hear anything over the sound. But…” Legend trailed off, running his fingers around the town, “because I can’t see when I fight, I don’t need to see to fight. You could put me somewhere with terrible visibility, like behind a barricade, in a ditch, or at a choke point, and it wouldn’t matter to me either way. It actually doesn’t matter to me if it’s day or night, though I assume we’re all going to fight together, in which case we are going to need the light. Now”—Legend heard the sound of chairs being pulled out and people sitting down. He stood up a little straighter, speaking louder. He gestured to the area by the hill they’d walked past to enter the town—“this is the direction the monsters will be coming from, correct?”

“Most likely, yes.”

“So, hear me out here…”

Four days. 

Legend hadn’t heard Hyrule’s voice in four days.

The town’s defenses were coming along nicely, and from what Twilight and Wild were able to glean, the monsters would reach them either tomorrow or the next day.

It was afternoon, allegedly, when Legend and Warriors were in that town hall building again, discussing the state of the plan. They were interrupted by Wind, who burst into the room, his excitement palpable.

He didn’t say anything at first, but his feet tapped excitedly and Legend could hear the floorboards creak under his weight as he bounced in place.

“Guys guys guys you gotta come here!”

“Oh?”

Oh, that was the most sly , knowing tone of voice Legend had heard in years. Warriors knew exactly what was going on, leaving Legend with the acute feeling of not being in on a secret. He didn’t bother to hide his confusion, stepping away from the table and grabbing his stick, tentatively making his way towards where he could still hear Wind hopping in place. There was only one way to find out what this was all about, right?

The two were oddly quiet on the walk over, Wind grabbing Legend’s hand. While it would make sense if he only did it to lead Legend, it legitimately seemed like he was doing it simply because he wanted to, swinging it between them like Hyrule had on the last day the two of them had really spent together.

The walk was nice; the air was chilled, but not enough to be uncomfortable under his layers. He recognized the route back to the inn by now and expertly navigated the slight dropoff underneath the door.

He stepped inside, the air clearly heated by a fire and the scent of cinnamon and apple wafting through the air. He was aware that the room was full, though most of its occupants were clearly trying to be quiet. 

“Is everyone here?” he heard Wind whisper next to him.

“Hyrule hasn’t arrived yet,” Four pointed out from across the room, and there was an awkward silence for a moment.

“I want him here.” Legend stated, breaking it. “I don’t know what this is, but it sounds important and I want him here. It’s been days.”

Noises of affirmation rippled throughout the room and they were broken into pairs, Time instructing them to fan out and meet back in an hour if they couldn’t find him. Wind was with Warriors, Time with Sky, and Twilight with Four.

Legend ended up with Wild for a change and the two set out. Wild asked some of the locals if they’d seen the traveler, but they all replied that not only had they not seen him that day, but not even since he first arrived.

“Did you guys even see him this week?”

“Yeah. He made it to breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day without fail. I guess it’s because I told him that it was the only thing he had to do to keep his free-range privileges.”

They stopped to talk to another townsperson.

“We’re wasting our time. Hyrule’s never been one for civilization. If he’s anywhere, it’s the woods.”

Wild sighed. “You’re right. Though with the clouds as thick as they are, it’ll be really hard to find him once the sun sets a little more.”

“Makes no difference to me,” Legend pointed out, shrugging.

The rushing static of the river grew louder as they neared its banks, and it was quite a formidable one at that, this particular section of rapids causing a spray of water that tickled pleasantly at Legend’s face. They paused under a nearby tree, Wild telling him to wait there while he climbed it to see if he could spot a likely hideout for Hyrule to be in. The sounds of grunts and rustling branches quieted as he ascended, leaving only Legend at its base. 

Did they even have a hope of finding him? This was Hyrule’s world, and he’d been hiding from enemies his whole life. In truth, their best bet would be to count on Twilight turning into Wolfie, but Legend wasn’t in his group. Granted, Legend didn’t doubt that Twilight had already tried. And if none of the townspeople had seen such a prominent figure entering or leaving town three times a day, he must have a secret route or ability that allowed him to sneak out undetected.

Dammit, Hyrule!

“Legend!”

He cocked his head, waiting for Wild to continue shouting from his perch at the top of the tree.

“I think I see a spot he might be so I’m gonna paraglide over there! Can you make it back to the town on your own?”

“Yeah,” Legend called in response, hearing the shaking of the branches as Wild kicked off, the quiet rustle of his paraglider catching the wind fading gently.

Legend let out a breath and rolled his shoulders. There had to be a way to find Hyrule. Should he be venturing out alone? Probably not. No, definitely not. But it was rare that he was actually unsupervised outside anymore and allowed to go wherever he wished—though they were all sweet about it, offering to go with him and he’d yet to decline. Besides, at this point Legend figured that if anyone was actually going to be able to find Hyrule, it would be him.

Pausing for a moment to take in his surroundings, he noted the river, still roaring at his back. He should be able to use it to place himself. If he just followed the sound, he’d be able to make it back here, and then to the town. Seemed straightforward enough.

So, steeling himself, the veteran stepped forward, tapping the ground cautiously with his stick and trying to listen for any sign of Hyrule. It was easy, as he walked, to pretend that it was actually bright sunny and midday, and that he wasn’t in any danger at all. Even still, his heart rate began to increase in both speed and volume, and though his hands didn’t shake—they seldom did—a chill ran down his spine, leaving him feeling breathless.

Dammit, he thought he was better than this.

He tried to focus on his breathing, straightening his posture and taking exaggeratedly confident steps. He could do this.

It was then that the stench flickered at the corner of his awareness and his uneasiness suddenly made a lot more sense. 

The stale, muffled yet somehow still sharp scent of a dead animal. Strange. Usually anything that died in the woods was quickly eaten up by something , and that was true in any Hyrule.

It grew stronger as he walked, and he actually flinched when he went to tap the ground and felt that it was higher than usual and moved , rolling stiffly over as he pushed it.

Legend crinkled his nose at the odor, but poked it a little more out of morbid curiosity. It was larger than a keese, but far smaller than any manner of bokoblin. It was about the side of a large… rodent.

Legend tried not to think about it. It wasn’t Hyrule so he didn’t care. Next.

He carefully stepped around it, pausing to make sure he could still hear the river—which he could—and continued, trying to shake off the chills that remained trapped in his shoulders, not truly making him shiver, but hovering on the brink.

The scent only grew stronger, though this time there was a definite bite to it—the sharpness of burnt fur and flesh. And now there was a new dimension as well. There was a presence . Legend had gotten used to the aura of dark magic—whatever transformation magic Twilight used really was some real nasty stuff—but he’d grown to recognize its specific… taste, per se. 

This was different. No, Legend would go so far as to say that this was new. This specific signature of magic was one he was certain he’d never felt before.

Legend reached for his pouch—which he always carried with him now—and retrieved a fire rod. The monsters weren’t supposed to reach the town for another day or two. If he was attacked out here… 

He should probably call for someone, just to make sure he wasn’t alone. In fact, he was opening his mouth to do so when he caught a snatch of voice.

He froze, the river merely a quiet ambience in the far-off distance and the stench strong , now, that added weight to the atmosphere suddenly suffocating.

But no, there it was, not too far away, but certainly quiet. A sort of muttering.

He wasn’t alone.

Legend closed his mouth, taking another step forward and recoiling when his foot hit, not the ground, but something small and light and a little squishy, but fragile. He stepped back and poked it, hearing the telltale scritch of flight feathers rubbing together. A small bird, then. 

Legend didn’t like this. He really didn’t like this. Usually he’d keep walking. Under nearly any other circumstance, he’d just keep moving forward. He’d traversed his fair share of haunted forests and undead graveyards. Something held him back, though. The scent was strong , stronger than it could be for only a handful of creatures. There were more. How many, he couldn’t say, but there must have been far too many to make staying here at all a good idea. He did a quick check. Items, yes. His sword was strapped to his back but he brandished his fire rod, deciding that this fight would at least start at long range. His most powerful protection rings were snugly affixed to his fingers. Okay. If he were to call for another Link, he’d alert whoever was out here as well. He might as well kill two bir—Legend thought to the small creature he’d just inadvertently stepped on—be efficient. He might as well be efficient about it.

“Hello?”

He called it as loud as he dared, squeezing his fire rod as he awaited a response.

“ Legend? ”

He gasped.

“ Hyrule! There you are! We’ve been looking everywhere for you!” 

Legend longed to do nothing more than rush forward and greet—and hug—Hyrule, but his instincts held him back. Something was up .

“Legend, what the hell are you doing out here alone in the dark?”

“I should ask the same of you!”

There was silence for a moment. Legend tried to ignore his shaking hands. He opened his mouth to say something more but was interrupted.

“Is anyone with you?”

Legend clenched his jaw, his shoulders rising.

“None at the moment, except for you.”

Legend heard Hyrule suck in a breath as if he were about to speak but Legend beat him to it.

“Hyrule, I miss you.”

There was a sharp inhale, and it sounded like Hyrule was rising to his feet from where he had—apparently—been sitting.

“I miss you, too, Legend. But don’t worry. I’ll get you back.” 

Legend sucked in a breath. When he exhaled, it wavered.

“But… but I’m right here.” He was acutely aware that his voice just broke.

“I’ll fix this.” Hyrule’s voice was steeped with resolve.

He clamped his mouth shut, trying to stem the emotion he could feel welling up inside him with a vengeance.

“Hyrule… you don’t need to fix anything.”

“Yes I do! ” Hyrule’s footsteps in the dead leaves started growing louder as he suddenly shouted, “you won’t look at me anymore! It’s always just a little to the left or you’re staring off into the distance and everyone always has to hand you things and—and your hair is pink again, all the way down to the roots and it didn’t start to fade for days and you didn’t even know! Your bangs are always in your face , now, too! You always used to brush them off to the side so you could see and your mirror shield is all smudged but you always kept it meticulously clean and never let anyone get fingerprints on it and you never say anything anymore, you always ask it like it’s a question , like you don’t know and—and you cry now and it’s wrong —you cry so much now. You used to be a hero. You used to be a legend. You’re not you anymore, there’s no more energy to you, you’re just there and it’s wrong. This, all of this, it’s not right. It’s NOT . It’s wrong. It’s so, so wrong. And you, you… YOU WON’T LOOK AT ME ANYMORE! ”

Legend took a step back, throat tight. Hyrule continued.

“I’m going to make this better.”

“Hyrule, please,” he rasped out, eyes wet. He needed to say this. “I just want you back. I know I might not be able to see you anymore, but I miss your… your voice, your scent, your touch. Please , Hyrule.”

His heart raced, hands growing sweaty. His teeth sunk into his lower lip.

Hyrule didn’t even seem to acknowledge what Legend said, instead biting out, “I’m going to fix this if it’s the last thing I do.”

And Legend snapped, tears finally bursting free and surging down his cheeks.

“IF LOSING YOU IS WHAT IT TAKES TO GET MY SIGHT BACK , THEN I’D RATHER BE BLIND FOREVER! ” 

As he spoke, Legend swung his arm for emphasis, barely noticing the roaring of flames that burst forth, the heat blistering against his skin before fading in the chill of the night.

Hyrule didn’t respond immediately. There was a pause, Legend unashamedly panting. He let his words ripple in the air for a moment longer before he opened his mouth to continue, but froze when he heard Hyrule muttering.

“No no no, this isn’t right, this isn’t how this is supposed to go , this—hey hold on a second this might be the only chance I’m going to—I might as well—I think I have to—”

Legend made to interrupt him but Hyrule beat him to it.

“You said you were alone?”

Legend took another step back, raising his fire rod slightly, less subconsciously than he’d like to admit.

Hyrule inhaled, slow, drawn out, steadying. He blew it out through his mouth, and Legend could imagine his successor’s shoulders dropping as he did so, closing his eyes in concentration as he usually did before a —wait .

“I apologize in advance for this.”

Legend gasped, stumbling backwards, fire rod now clutched to his chest, shoulders raised. “No. No, no, wait, Hyrule, Hyrule don’t. Please. Wait, don’t . Don’t do it. Whatever it is, please, don’t do anything, not to me, not without my consent, I—Hyrule please, please , I’m—I’m begging you, I—”

He was interrupted by words of ice.

“Legend. doesn’t. beg.”

And Hylia, he hadn’t realized how close Hyrule had gotten but suddenly two fingertips were jabbing into each of his shoulders and Legend opened his mouth in shock before his entire body was on fire , his muscles locking up and suddenly wrenched from his control, a pained gasp breaking from his throat as his arms shot straight out without his consent. A cry bust from his lips. It was like striking an electric chuchu with a poorly timed hookshot strike, but this was calculated somehow. Legend was paralyzed, but he wasn’t being actively harmed by the shock, merely incapacited but his lungs felt like they were full of cotton and his heart twisted and pained like it was vibrating in his chest.

One hand was pulled from his chest, the other remaining in place, the current never wavering from where it surged within him, all of Legend’s control over his own body lost, and he felt a presence on one of his hands, sliding his rings from his fingers.

“Hyrule,” he managed to gasp out, only now realizing that Hyrule was shushing him quietly and seemingly had been for a while, “what are you—”

“Shh, shh, don’t worry, Legend. It’s going to be okay.”

No it f*cking wasn’t! In what world was this okay? Now completely panicking, his hyperventilations tore through his aching, contracting chest, like his veins and muscles themselves were all being individually folded in on themselves. The warm bands of his rings smoothly slid from one hand, leaving his fingers feeling cold and exposed—far more exposed than he’d felt in a while —as he scrambled for something— ANYTHING— to say that might stop Hyrule, stop this madness, this, this—

“I love you,” he croaked out, voice hoarse and shattering more with every syllable.

His rings were pulled from his other hand—and he tried to stop them, to stop him , to close his fist, to move, to do anything —but he couldn’t, nothing was happening, his muscles, his body, was no longer his own, he was well and truly paralyzed by the current wracking through his veins.

The comforting, familiar weight on his fingers was lifted, sliding over his fingertips and he wanted nothing more than to scream because what the F*CK was Hyrule DOING?!

He registered a hand, soft and warm and calloused and Hyrule’s resting on his cheek.

“I love you too, Legend. And that’s about to become very, very useful.”

The hand vanished from his face and a sharp pain on the back of his head was the last thing he registered.

“I take it you guys didn’t find him either?”

Sky shook his head.

“Were you able to find Wolfie?”

Four sighed. “Yeah, but he wasn’t able to pick up Hyrule’s scent. He definitely didn’t walk out of town normally.”

“What about you,” Twilight started, “weren’t you supposed to be with Time?”

Sky nodded. “Yeah, but we split up to cover more ground. He’s probably back at the inn by now.”

Twilight hummed in understanding. “I don’t know if it’s even possible to find him, not in his element.” He hunched his shoulders, muttering. “Come on, Hyrule, give us something to work with.”

An ear-shattering, soul-wrenching, agonized scream ripped through the forest.

“ Oh, sh*t. ” 

“You just had to say that!”

“We don’t have time for this! Four, get the others!” Sky ordered instead, sprinting towards the sound, Twilight on his heels.

He could only hope they’d make it in time.

Legend’s consciousness returned, his only awareness that of his eyes searing, the skin ripping itself apart and vaporizing to ash, like being blinded all over again, drawn out and slowed down in endless, infinite torment. He was vaguely aware of his throat, raw and shredded from the strangled cry that tore through it with a vengeance, his body nothing but a writhing victim of the deepest torments of hell , a thunderous roaring of fire and lighting and plasma and something tearing around him, deafening him to everything but the quiet ssh, shh, it’s going to be okay that echoed somewhere in his mind, only terrifying him more.

Sky ran.

He couldn’t breathe but dammit, he didn’t care. His chest heaved and wheezed, Twilight’s form rushing ahead of his own, but Sky stumbled along anyway, desperate. An eerie red glow leaked from behind a stand of trees like a spray of blood, redoubling his drive to tear forward through the forest on Twilight’s heels. The figure ahead of him pulled away, though, the stress and the fear only exacerbating the spasming of his lungs, leaving him to gasp and wheeze and limp across the forest, chasing the ghost of Twilight’s shadow.

Twilight stood, paralyzed by horror at the sight before him. Legend lay, on the ground, unnaturally stiff and shrieking like a banshee, Hyrule leaning over him, hands hovering over the veteran’s face, blood-red lightning crackling over his fingertips and dancing around Legend’s brow like dagger-sharp, twisted marionettes. Hyrule’s eyes were focused, an insane, single-minded concentration to them that burned with a sort of emptiness. Legend’s eyes poured blood, the thick syrup sliding down his cheeks and sticking his hair to his neck in dark, slimy clumps. Illuminated by the red glow lay an assortment of small woodland creatures, squirrels and—dear Hylia , Twilight wanted to throw up— rabbits and so many birds and—was that a deer?— all with their faces either burned, charred, or seared off entirely, yet some looking almost normal, staring lifelessly into the darkness.

Do something!

Twilight longed to take action, to dive forward into the fray and stop this madness , but he couldn’t move , the thundering of the magic pounding at his ears. He couldn’t help but flinch from the sound, covering them and curling in on himself in pain. He couldn’t tear his eyes away, though. Bile rose in his throat until the magic came to an abrupt stop, the forest suddenly dead silent and black as pitch, the only sound that of a single smooth, controlled inhale and long, focused exhale.

And light blossomed, bursting forth, spiraling out in perfect silence, swirling through the air between Hyrule’s fingertips and Legend’s eyes. The glow was a perfect, clean, intense, sterile white, devoid of all the shimmering undertones that usually made this display so beautiful. The graceful arcs and swirls that usually looped outwards now wavered in their straightness, no movement wasted as they flowed from their origin to their destination. In the eerie light, Hyrule’s face glistened with a sheen of sweat, the liquid pouring down his temples and dripping off his chin, his hair plastered to his forehead. His breaths heaved, his chest rising and falling in quick, even motions, the light from his fingertips never wavering. Instead, the blinding glare only brightened, Twilight squinting in its intensity.

It was sustained for a few seconds that way, the silence hovering in the air along with the suffocating weight of magic, the only texture in the brilliant void the vague shadows of tree trunks in Twilight’s periphery. The radiance challenged that of even the Light Spirits in Twilight’s own time.

Twilight didn’t know what to do anymore. Legend now appeared to be sleeping peacefully, and Hyrule was, evidently, healing him. Twilight couldn’t stop him now, could he? Hyrule looked like he knew what he was doing and as much as Twilight abhorred what Hyrule had done only seconds before, it appeared he was now reversing it. If he prevented Hyrule from finishing whatever it was he was doing now, all of the pain he’d inflicted on Legend would have been for nothing.

How did he have enough magic for this?

Evidently, he didn’t.

This was made abundantly clear when Hyrule doubled over in pain, the magic flowing from his fingertips now laced with threads of red. He only let out the smallest of grunts, however, pulling himself back up straight and continuing. The temperature raised steadily, the air around Hyrule’s hands wavering with heat, the slight sheen on his face now dribbling with blood.

Twilight clenched his fists, paralyzed by indecision. What should he do? As horrified as he was, there was a chance, a sliver of hope, that this could actually work . He hated himself for daring to prioritize Legend’s eyesight—which he’d proven he could live without—over the safety of both of them, but Hyrule had already committed and who knew what would happen if Twilight stopped him now. The blood never ceased from where it slid down Hyrule’s face in sheets.

Hyrule could cast Life . That spell, at its essence, traded Hyrule’s magic for healing, for life energy. So then, Twilight realized with a start, could the reverse also be possible? Was he trading his own life for magic power, which he then converted back into healing energy?

If that was the case, then Hyrule was actively killing himself trying to heal Legend. The reddish tint on Hyrule’s face thickened, the magic pouring from his fingertips now bathed in a crimson aura, streaks of pulsing, infinite blackness shredding the neat threads of pure white into jagged arcs of color , flecks of bright green, shimmering gold, and deep, deep , shimmering, sparkling, iridescent impossible blue bursting inside the beams. Blood poured from his face, running beside his eyes, now a mirror image of Legend. 

Hyrule heaved, his breaths raspy and rattling in his chest, his hands shaking as he poured and he poured and Twilight felt a deep aching pull on the very recesses of his soul and stared up in shock and horror as a thin thread of red flowed from his own chest, winding through the air and into Hyrule’s hands. Twilight’s head felt faint as he realized what exactly Hyrule was doing . He caved to one knee, nausea rising within him, and stared up in awe, Hyrule bathed in red and somehow still on his own two feet.

The realization clobbered Twilight over the head like a bulbin’s club, and the nausea swelled within him.

Hyrule had been practicing .

Twilight, vision blurry and hands shaking, was struck with the realization that there was nothing he could do . He’d had his chance to act and he’d forfeited it, standing idly by and choosing to be complicit in… this.

Heaving breaths rang out next to him.

His head snapped up, making brief eye contact with Sky, who immediately surveyed the scene—Legend bathed in crackling arcs of now mostly red and black with flickers of other colors bursting from Hyrule’s hands and pouring into Legend’s blood-soaked face, The glow clearly illuminating the piles of dead animals surrounding the pair, Hyrule’s eyes now very clearly leaking streams of crimson, Twilight gasping for breath on one knee, the aura of magic thick around him—and took action, sprinting towards Hyrule.

As he passed Twilight, color burst from his own chest as well, and he staggered, nearly falling to the ground entirely, the colors arcing towards Hyrule who pressed his advantage as long as he had it, a final supernova blossoming forth, but Sky continued barreling into Hyrule, tackling him to the ground and effectively bringing his twisted spell to a screeching halt, all parties involved gasping for air on the ground, save Legend, who remained laying perfectly still on his back, rich blood pooling around his limp head.

Chapter Text

Legend woke up.

Well.

Fatigue clung to him, thick and heavy, sleep unfurling around him as he awoke. Everything ached. Everything . A dull, throbbing pull on all of his muscles, resisting any sort of movement. He turned his head slightly from side to side, now registering that he was in a bed, presumably in the inn, and noting a familiar tug at his hair. He furrowed his brow in confusion and was met with the sensation of a heavy pressure on his face. Bandages again? One slow, numbed slide of his hand to his face registered the rough texture of cloth against his fingertips. Bandages indeed.

He moaned quietly, more out of the effort of waking than any sort of pain, and shifted slightly, the bed giving beneath his weight unfamiliarly. Usually when he woke up, there was someone nearby, right?

“Alright, where am I this time.”

“Legend! You’re awake!”

Wind’s voice. To his right.

“Allegedly. What, uh, happened to—”

Pain. Pain and lightning and thunder and searing plasma and eerie whispers and the roar of magic and agony and a hand on his face and—

Legend shot upright with a gasp and immediately regretted it, doubling over. He wasted no time, though, saying: “Wind, where the f*ck is Hyrule—what did he do to me— is he okay? ”

“Uhh—” Wind audibly squirmed as Legend pressed him “—Hyrule is in the bed next to you, the one to your left.”

“ Is he okay. ”

“I mean he’s not dead.”

Legend was not soothed by this in the slightest. Instead an all too familiar uneasiness rose within him.

“Then how is he?”

“I don’t really know. I wasn’t there when you guys were brought in and Hyrule’s usually the one who answers those kinds of questions. He’s breathing fine, he has a normal heart rate, and his injuries are minimal.”

“His injuries? Wind, what happened to him?”

“I just told you, Legend,” he repeated, calm, “I don’t know. You’ll have to ask either Sky or Twi. They’re the ones who brought you two back here”—of course they were—“but they’re fast asleep now. Believe me, they need it. I’ll let you know when they wake up, okay?”

Legend was placated by that, but just barely, sulkily wiggling back under the blankets. 

He laid in silence for a moment, his face angled towards the source of Wind’s voice.

“Wind, am I looking at you?”

“Huh? Uh, yeah, basically.”

“Basically?”

“Yeah. Give or take a little. Your face is wrapped up in bandages, you know.”

“I—yeah. Right.”

“Why? What’s gotten into you?”

“Nothing,” Legend replied, brushing his bangs to the side of his face, the limp hair running through his fingers.

There was a pause.

“My hair’s gone pink again, hasn’t it.”

“I—yeah, actually, how did you know?”

Legend slipped further beneath the blankets.

“Hyrule mentioned it.”

Legend heard the thunder of a chair clattering to the floor, a rush of fabric signaling Wind’s brisk rise to his feet.

“So it was him! He can’t just be completely absentee for the entirety of your recovery so far and then just waltz in, make you self-conscious again, undo weeks of work, and then try and get himself KILLED! ”

Legend’s skin screamed under his bandages from the panic that burst inside him as he dragged himself into an upright position again.

“He did WHAT?! ”

Wind backpedaled, the quiet tapping of the toe of his boot on the ground betraying his nervousness. 

“I was not supposed to say that, I should not have said tha—”

“You said he was in this bed, correct?” Legend flung his blankets off and rose to his feet, barely aware of his body through the numbness and the soreness.

“Yes?” Wind squeaked, his quiet footsteps circumnavigating the bed to stand by Legend’s side. “Legend, please think about this first, okay? He needs time to rest.”

Legend ignored him, sidling forward until his outstretched hand met the mattress, feeling around for Hyrule’s limp body. He was met with a shoulder—folded and creased fabric draped over it. Someone must have changed his clothes to what felt like Wild’s tunic. Probably because his own had been stained by blood, if he’d been injured. On second thought, Legend wasn’t wearing his usual outfit either, a thin, simple tunic he didn’t recognize draped over himself. He pulled back, reaching for where he estimated Hyrule’s face would be, running his fingers lightly over Hyrule’s loose, fluffy locks. 

But the moment of softness was heavy with his still-racing heart. Reaching out for his shoulder once again, Legend began shaking his successor awake.

“Hyrule. Hyrule, wake up.”

There was a quiet moan and Legend froze, never removing his hand from Hyrule’s shoulder, merely loosening his grip.

“Hyrule? Please wake up.”

Legend could pinpoint the exact moment Hyrule reached awareness, the traveler’s whole body going rigid as he sucked in a gasp, making the same mistake as Legend and shooting upright, Legend needing to hold him up and prop him up on a pillow.

“Legend? Legend! Did it work? Can you see?”

Ignoring Wind’s quiet muttering that of course he can’t see, stupid, his face is all wrapped up, Legend spoke, softly.

“That’s not important right now. Hyrule, can you put my hand on your cheek?”

Legend felt Hyrule’s rough yet somehow still so very soft hands close around one of his own, raising it towards the left side of his face, speaking as he did so. “Oh, your bandages. We’ll have to get those off right away so we can—”

The second Legend felt his fingertips connect with Hyrule’s cheek, he cut Hyrule off by pulling his hand free and winding back before sending it sailing through the air and smacking into Hyrule’s face.

Slap!

The room was dead silent for a moment before Legend went off.

“I DON’T GIVE A FLYING F*CK IF I CAN SEE OR NOT! Now you listen up right the f*ck now because I’m only going to say this one f*cking time.” 

“Hyrule,” he continued, “look at me.”

“How could you tell I was—”

“Because I know you, Hyrule. You were looking down and to the left and biting your lip but that’s not important right now. Listen to me. That day, when I gave you my rings, I knew the risks involved. I knew exactly what I was doing. You said the rings saved you, right? That day, I made the decision to sacrifice my eyesight for your life. And I would do it again and again and again and again in a heartbeat, Hyrule. I’d sacrifice my eyes, my ears, my arms, my legs, my heart, my lungs to keep you alive and well. I regret nothing . Nothing save the fact that I couldn’t convince you that you are worth more to me than life itself.”

Legend took a moment to breathe, listening to the quiet friction of Hyrule rubbing his own, probably stinging, cheek.

“Legend…”

“Yes. Yes, that’s me, Hyrule. Legend. The Hero of Legend. That’s me.”

“ Legend ,” the traveler gasped, leaning forward into his predecessor’s chest, pulling him into a sitting position on the bed. 

Legend sucked in smooth breaths—as even as he could make them—Hyrule’s shaking form pressed against his chest, muttering incoherently as Legend held him, running his hands gingerly through his hair.

Their moment was broken, however, by Wind’s voice, starting both of them into a flinch.

“Now hold on a damn second!”

Legend felt Hyrule press closer against him out of shock and welcomed it, holding him tighter.

“Legend, I thought you were supposed to be the smart one!”

“I beg your pardon?”

“Don’t you realize that Hyrule feels the same way?! He’d also give his life to keep you safe. He also thinks you’re more important than life itself. He also regrets nothing . You idiots are too f*cking selfish to realize what you’re doing to each other. WAKE THE F*CK UP! SELF AWARENESS TIME! Legend. If Hyrule had actually ended up dying last night and there was a way to trade your life for his, would you?”

“In a heartbeat. Without question.”

“Okay. Let’s pretend that actually worked. Hyrule. If you woke up and that same option was presented to you, what would you do?”

“I’d sacrifice my life to bring Legend back.”

“Don’t you see? You can’t just do sh*t like this and think you can get away with it! Hyrule. Hyrule, look here”—Hyrule squirmed and Legend loosened his grip slightly to let him turn his head comfortably—“Legend means the world to you”—a nod against Legend’s chest—“but you also mean the world to Legend! If nothing would hurt you more than Legend’s death, then nothing would hurt him more than yours! This sh*t goes BOTH WAYS! You self-sacrificing dumbasses are so ready to die for each other but HERE’S a novel idea: STAY THE F*CK ALIVE, WHY DON’T YOU! Hyrule… Hyrule, would you really condemn Legend to life in a world without you in it? Imagine if he did that to you. How cruel would that be? Now, Hyrule. Apologize for trying to get yourself killed. I know you said you weren’t sorry, but I sure as hell hope you are now.”

“Legend, I—” Hyrule squeezed in closer, muttering, “—I’m sorry. I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry I wasn’t fast enough and I’m sorry I went after the Guardian instead and I’m sorry that—”

Legend sucked in a breath, cutting him off. “Hyrule, it’s not your F*CKING FAULT. ”

Hyrule shot up, pulling away.

“Yes it IS! ”

“Fine.”

Legend inhaled, pausing for a moment before shooting the air out from his nose.

“Fine. Fine. Y’know what? Fine. Hyrule, you think you’re the reason I’m blind?”

The answer was immediate.

“Yes. Of course.”

“You really think so?”

“ Yes. ”

“Then I forgive you.”

A broken gasp. 

“Legend, you what? ”

“I forgive you. And I still love you. I never stopped, really. If it really is, somehow , your fault, then I forgive you. ”

And Hyrule just broke at that, collapsing back against Legend’s chest, his arms around his predecessor’s torso, shaking with sobs. Legend combed his fingers gently through Hyrule’s hair, leaning forward to press a soft kiss to the crown of Hyrule’s quivering head, his hair still smelling faintly of blood and decay.

Legend felt the warmth of tears seep into his tunic and his nose stopped up a little as well, Hyrule warm and solid and real in his arms.

“I’m so glad you’re alive, Hyrule. I’m so glad.”

“Legend, Legend, Legend, Legend , I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, I wasn’t there, I haven’t been there, I—”

“It’s okay. You’re here now. And that means more than anything.”

Hyrule shuddered against Legend, the vetaran pulling a nearby blanket over the pair.

“I missed you, Rulie.”

“I—I m-missed you, t-too, Legend.”

It was at this point that muffled sounds registered in the corner of Legend’s awareness. He focused his attention behind him, making out a quiet sniffle and a… muffled… squee?

“How long have you guys been there?” Legend turned around to face them properly, their shuffling and breathing obvious now that he’d identified it.

“Since you woke us up with all that shouting! Y’all were screaming loud enough to wake Sky up.”

“Me? They could have woken Fi with all that noise.”

“But, in all seriousness,” Wild broke in, his voice sober and sharp—a tone they’d never heard from him before, didn’t think he was even capable of, “everything Wind said is right. Dying is against the rules. I don’t care who or what it’s for. Dying is against the f*cking rules. That goes for everyone.”

The room was dead silent, noises of affirmation rippling throughout.

“Yay! Nobody is dead!” Four called, diffusing the tension. Legend couldn’t help but chuckle at that, muttering thankfully under his breath and imagining Hyrule’s wide eyes staring up at him, a gentle smile slipping onto his face.

“Um…” Hyrule’s quiet voice cut in, the room going quiet.

“Yeah? What is it, ‘Rule?”

“Can we… can we take your bandages off?”

Legend started a little at that. “Uh, sure. If you think now is the right time.”

“I think it is,” his successor mused, a gentle pressure nagging at the side of Legend’s head. 

The bandages began to unravel, loosening and loosening, a gentle pain pulling at where they came free of some of the lesser burns. They peeled off, unwinding around and around, the air cool and sharp against the sensitive skin that—Legend now noted—covered either cheek, not only his right, reaching up over his eyes and stopping just before his hairline. He sucked in an inhale at the chill, eyes dutifully closed as the last of the bandage pulled away, leaving only his soft, sensitive face in the biting air.

“Alright, Legend. Whenever you’re ready”

Legend sucked in a breath, heart racing. He tried to fight hope—what if it didn’t work, if he was getting worked up over nothing, if it was just a dream, fake, fading, leaving only the pain of emptiness in its wake—but he couldn’t stop it, welling up within him, warm, bright, bubbling, blinding, even. He sucked in a breath, a small smile slipping onto his face.

He almost chuckled to himself, sliding his eyelids open, smoothly, swiftly they opened, flicking wide like nothing in the world, his eyes staring out ahead into the great open—

He glanced left.

He glanced right.

He closed his eyes and opened them again. 

Nothing.

Legend shrugged.

“Nothing.”

“ Nothing?! No, you can’t be serious! After all of that?!”

“Hyrule!”—that was Wind’s voice—“don’t use your magic now, are you mad! Check with a lantern or something.”

There was a clinking as someone handed Hyrule a lamp, a scritch signaling its ignition.

The heat poured over Legend’s face, warm and suffocating, his eyes prickling from the energy until it was quickly pulled away.

A small, determined gasp.

“No pupil dilation. This… let me just—”

“I said no magic! ”

“ I NEED TO SEE! ”

The room was silent for a moment, a rustling signaling Hyrule’s hands rising to either side of Legend’s head.

A second passed, then two, dead silence, Legend tense, Hyrule’s shaking breaths echoing out loud—far too loud—in the void of sound. 

His breaths sped, getting shorter, quicker, tighter, wheezing , like screams in the silence.

“Rule—”

“ NO! ”

The cry was deafening, Legend flinching from the sound, Hyrule continuing, a torrent of no ’s rushing out, broken, agonized, mourning , Legend reaching forward to hold him, to do something , but there was a rippling of bedsheets and Hyrule’s gasps drew farther away, his feet padding onto the wood floor, stumbling away.

There was a muffle, cries, suppressed shouts and Twilight’s gentle Hyrule, Hyrule breathe .

Legend could only imagine that Hyrule had made a break for it, Twilight grabbing him to try and stop him before he could vanish again.

But there was an all-too familiar crackle of electricity, a taste of static in Legend’s mouth and a strangled cry, someone stumbling. 

Wild’s voice cut in, then, cold and sharp, that strange new timbre like a dagger in the fray: “ Hyrule .”

The effect was immediate, all sound in the room freezing save the quiet rustle of someone rising to their feet.

Wild’s voice melted, though, warm and soft. “I’ll come with you, okay? It’s rather stuffy in here anyway. Let’s go outside.”

There was no more sound than that, simply two pairs of footsteps quieting behind the creak of a door.

Hyrule didn’t make it halfway down the street before collapsing, falling to his knees and curling in on himself, Wild crouching by his side, hand ghosting above Hyrule’s shoulder, unsure. 

He stayed there, Hyrule shaking and shivering, neither saying a word, but Wild slowly lowering his hand onto Hyrule’s back, rubbing it smooth and gentle. He pulled a warm cloak from his Sheikah Slate, draping it over his quivering friend with all the softness he could muster. It was a bit of a cool day, but Wild was wearing his Hylian set, having given his Champion’s tunic and tunic of the wild to Hyrule and Legend respectively, so he was comfortable.

Hyrule’s breaths steadied out, barely, just enough for him to squeeze out “ destroyed destroyed I destroyed it all all of it gone gone gone gone— ”

“Breathe, Hyrule. It’s going to be okay.”

“No it’s NOT! ”

“Okay, maybe not now, but it will be.”

“NO, no it can’t be. Not now not ever. I’ve ruined everything.”

“Hyrule, talk to me. What happened.”

“ I DESTROYED IT! ”

“What did you destroy?”

Hyrule heaved his next breaths, wheezing from his throat, only one word making it out:

“N-nerves.”

Wild stiffened.

Nerve damage?

His Zelda had mentioned that, examining his scars one day, saying it was a wonder that there was no nerve damage. He’d asked if that was a good thing. She’d affirmed earnestly. Nerve damage, she’d said, was—

Was… 

Irreparable.

“There’s no hope. Not anymore. I ruined it. I’ve ruined it all. I’m so f*cking STUPID! ”

“Hyrule, there’s always hope.”

“NO! NO THERE ISN’T! I CAN’T HEAL HIM. NOTHING CAN!”

“I’m not talking about healing him, Hyrule. That’s not the kind of hope I mean. Maybe you can’t fix his eyes, but did you hear even a word of what he said to you?”

“I—”

“He loves you. He forgives you. He does, he really does. And you probably don’t think you’re worthy of it, that he doesn’t know what he’s talking about, but after spending all this time blind, he knows exactly what he’s forgiving you for . I’m sure the hardest part now is for you to forgive yourself. Doubtless, it seems impossible, but we all already have. And we’re not going to leave your side.”

Wild pulled himself to his feet, extending a hand down. Hyrule looked up, the hood of Wild’s cloak covering most of his face, and stared blankly at Wild.

“He’s lasted this long and he gets better with every day that passes. With you by his side, he’ll be improving in leaps and bounds, you’ll see!”

“I—I can’t face him like this.”

“Maybe not right now. But I can promise you that he doesn’t hate you. He didn’t say any of what he said with the expectation of getting his sight back. Okay?”

“Mhm,” Hyrule hummed, still not taking Wild’s hand. “Do you, uh, wanna stay here for a bit, actually?”

Wild’s face softened.

“Of course. As long as you need.”

Hyrule scooted back, his spine against the wall of a nearby building, Wild taking a seat by his side.

They sat like that for a moment, Hyrule still with Wild’s hood low over his face, curled in on himself.

“I’m stupid.”

“You’re not.”

“No, Wild, don’t just contradict whatever I say. Only say something if it’s true. ”

“But it is , Hyrule. You’re not stupid and you’re not hopeless.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Then tell me.”

“What?”

Wild leaned forward, trying to get a look at Hyrule’s face. “Tell me what happened, Hyrule. I think you need it off your chest, more than anything.”

“I—I don’t know…”

“I don’t need all the details. I don’t need much at all, really. But I think you need to get it out. You spent all those days by yourself and I can’t imagine what it must have done to you, with all that pain bottled up inside.”

“It… I…” Hyrule sighed. “Okay.”

“When we got here, I went to see the wise man. To see what he knew.” He laughed bitterly. “But the eye is such a complex organ and so much of our information was lost as is—there’s hardly any books at all, let alone ones on something like eye anatomy.

“So, after a lot of wandering around, the village, the forest, I, I was thinking, y’know, how did people find this stuff out in the first place? Who wrote those first books? I mean, they must have looked at actual eyes, right?”

Hyrule unfurled a little, no longer curled in on himself as he told his story.

He’d walked, headed into the woods, and he kept seeing these animals, random little rabbits and birds, and they’d be looking at him, and he just—the way they looked at him with their sharp, intelligent eyes—if it’s okay to kill an animal to eat it, surely it’s okay to kill an animal to heal his friend, right? So he managed to get this rabbit, which was really helpful, to see how all of it worked, but inside the eye itself, he couldn’t quite figure out how it all went together. So it made the most sense, he supposed, to try and do what the Guardian did to Legend to some of these animals, and then try to undo it, right? Trial and error was the only method that would be at all reliable given his resources, but the problem came when he couldn’t tell if their eyes were working or not if they were dead, so they had to stay alive through the entire process, which was its own struggle.

It sickened him to his stomach, but it was the best way. It really was, because, well, he couldn’t use people , obviously, and there weren’t any books or anything, so field research was all he had. It was the only option.

And so he burned them.

He burned them all.

And then he unburned them.

He healed them, all sorts of different ways, and managed to find out what exactly had happened to Legend the first time.

The Guardian had blasted off all the tissue on the surface of his eyes, so when he’d tried to heal him, he’d ended up filling all of that with just generic tissue, but that wasn’t right at all, it was like blindfolding his eyes themselves, so he found out that how to reverse that was just to remove the tissue again. But, of course, he had to fix it and add new tissue, and that took some practice, and it also involved leaving the tissue raw so he could build up again and that required a extensive practice. 

And of course, there was the… excess that kept building up because once he’d used a subject, he couldn’t just leave it in pain, he had to put it out of its misery, but the trouble came listening to all of those final breaths, right. Where does it go? That energy, that force , there’s something inside them, everything, really, and where does it go? Some of these animals, they were so lively —though he figured out how to solve that later—and that energy, because, well, he kept running out of magic. Luckily, he’d been starting to get pretty creative and… wondering things. If he could exchange his magic to heal, then, whatever that healing is, it should be possible to convert that back into raw magic, right? So, he tried it, healing them at the end, letting the magic flow in, and then, switching , letting it flow out . And, and it worked.

He invented his own kind of magic. 

And that was great because it let him do a lot more in any given day and the loss of life wasn’t so bad anymore, what with the energy coming back to him in the end, anyway. And their bodies would return to the earth or get eaten by some other animal and there was no waste , really.

He actually learned a couple of other really neat things, he told Wild animatedly, like when someone gets shocked by an electric monster and they freeze up is actually because electricity can control muscles, so if you shock someone just right, you can cause a more specific, localized effect. That’s how he managed to get Legend’s rings off, he explained, hands now shaking where he had been gesticulating, the weight of what he’d done beginning to crystalize in his mind. 

What exactly he had done to Legend.

But he didn’t have a choice .

He couldn’t fix Legend’s eyes if his rings were on and they had cut down how much time he spent unconscious last time he over-exerted his magic, so it made the most logical sense. 

He’d managed to figure out which muscles he could shock just right to get his arms to move straight like they did—it only took a few hours of practice on his own arms—so when Legend stumbled across him in the woods that night, Hyrule was low on magic by then, a little, but he’d just finished up on this deer—their eyes are so big —and Legend had stumbled right in, all alone, and Hyrule had a decent amount of magic left in him, so—

Hyrule broke off, unable to continue his story. Wild reached around him, wrapping an arm around Hyrule’s stiff shoulders. The brunet’s hands quivered as he wrung them, his fingernails biting into his palms as he kneaded his fingers together. Wild gently placed his free hand over Hyrule’s own, trying to calm them, but it didn’t help, the traveler diving back into his story, the hood slipping back a little as he spoke, the abject horror on his face now clear as day.

“I decided it was a brilliant idea to unheal what I’d done because all I’d managed to do was build up this layer of useless gunk the first time around so yeah let’s just sear it off his face, godesses above what is WRONG with me?! How could I let this happen—do this MYSELF, with my OWN hands, to Legend?! The only person who ever really, truly managed to… to—”

He waited in dead silence for a beat.

“He was the person who made me feel safest. Or just any amount of safe at all, really. And I—”

He curled in on himself again, head in his hands, sobbing.

“ How could I MAKE THIS HAPPEN?! ”

Wild sat in silence, rubbing Hyrule’s back with his free hand, still covering Hyrule’s squirming fingers with his other.

“You still healed him, though, right? I mean, you did end up undoing all that burning you did. It’s like when someone gets shot with an arrow and you have to push it all the way through, you know? You were making it worse because you wanted to make it better. You didn’t do it to be cruel, right?”

“Of course I didn’t want to hurt any of them! But what does it matter, Wild, I didn’t make it better. I destroyed the nerve attached to his eye and there’s no fixing that . You’re still missing the point, though, because I hurt Legend, Wild, I hurt him so, so, bad. His screams , Wild, you didn’t hear his screams. ” He sucked in a wheeze, “ I can still hear his screams. ”

Hyrule doubled over on himself, balling his fists in the hair by his ears as if covering them.

“I’m not saying what you did was right, Hyrule. It wasn’t.”

“I KNOW THAT, WILD! I took Legend and I paralyzed him and I burned him and I seared his face off and all I did was make it WORSE because I hit his NERVES! Stupid , stupid, STUPID, Wild, don’t you see now, how stupid I am?! How despicable, how, how utterly broken I am.” 

He brought his left hand down, rubbing the back of it over and over with his right, faster and faster, before staring at it in shock for a moment.

Hyrule always kept the backs of his hands covered—that wasn’t news—but they’d had to pull off his bracers when they’d brought him back and cleaned him up. The triforce emblem on the back of his hand was red—nobody knew why, but they’d figured it had something to do with the state of his world, that he hid it out of shame for what had befallen it—but the way Hyrule looked at it in that moment, with guilt and fear and self-loathing welling up in his eyes, a shocked betrayal, a how could I do this clear on his face, as he rubbed one shaking thumb over the crimson triangles, had Wild no longer knowing what it represented.

“Wild, if I had died healing Legend, I would have deserved it.”

Wild shot straight up, all thoughts of triforces forgotten.

“ Don’t you f*cking dare go there, Hyrule . You made a mistake. A big one. But you realize what you did was wrong and you’re not going to let it happen again.”

“Yes. There’s a way to make sure that that never happens again.”

“ Hyrule! ”

Wild moved forward, kneeling in front of the traveler and gripping his shoulders firmly in each hand, staring into Hyrule’s eyes. His wide, agonized, anguish-filled eyes, his brow wavering and starry dewdrops collecting on his cheeks as he warred with himself.

Wild stared into Hyrule’s eyes, dutifully ignoring the rest of his face, the eyes of his brother who he’d gotten in and out of scrapes with since the day they met, the horrified, regret-filled, hopeless, lost eyes of Hyrule. 

“Hyrule. You are worthy of life. And you are worthy of love and forgiveness. And you have it. All of our love. It’s unconditional, Hyrule. That means no matter what happens, you can never, ever lose it.” Wild tried to grin. “You’re stuck with us whether you like it or not, ‘Rule.”

Hyrule’s tears welled over, running down his cheeks and sparkling on his scars and markings like mother of pearl.

“Hug?”

Wild didn’t need to ask twice, Hyrule diving into his arms and curling up, sobbing into his chest. Wild hummed, a slow, lilting tune that waltzed from high to low like a bird in flight, swirling through the air with grace. The soft vibrations of Wild’s throat rumbled pleasantly against Hyrule’s face, slowing his breathing ever so slightly.

Wild carefully began sifting through Hyrule’s hair, tugging gently at some of the longer strands and weaving them together, ever so slightly, until a braid began to form. Wild didn’t get very far before he ran out of hair, but he managed to tie it off with a nearby blade of grass, playing idly with his handiwork. 

“I tried so hard,” Hyrule muttered at last. “So hard.”

“I don’t doubt that.”

“I really tried my best. I practiced and practiced. I wanted it to be perfect. I wanted to help him. I managed to reconstruct them, almost perfectly, and I was working my way along, I’d run out of magic, though, and there was nothing nearby I could use at the time, so I used my own life force—which I’d figured out I could do—but Twilight came and Sky did, too, and I had to keep them away and so I started drawing on them, too—only a little! I didn’t want to hurt them!—But then Sky came running at me so I pulled as much as I could and then, well, I didn’t have a chance to get it all into Legend before Sky tackled me and that’s probably why I’m even awake right now.”

He sighed.

“I don’t know when I hit that nerve or if a final burst of magic could have fixed it, but the fact remains that I alone am responsible for the permanent loss of his sight.” 

“But you saved his life. You did. He would have died two weeks ago if not for you.”

“He wouldn’t have been out there if not for me.”

Wild sighed.

“I’ve done my fair share of if’s and maybe’s, too. Sometimes you think you’ve finally figured out the one thing you could have done differently to change everything, but nobody knows what would have happened after that. Dwelling on hypotheticals gets you nowhere, believe me, Hyrule, I know . All we can really do is move forward.”

“But what does that look like, Wild? Moving forward? You were talking about hope earlier, too. For me, practically, right now, what does all of that even look like? I don't think it even exists for me.”

“It does, Hyrule. Moving forward looks like deciding you're not going to die. If nothing else, because it would hurt Legend so , so unbelievably much. It looks like walking back into that inn with me later and watching Four, Wind, Sky, and the others give Legend that special present they made him. But most importantly, it looks like acceptance. Acceptance of what happened, to him and to you. Acceptance of what you did, of how you felt, and how you acted. And it looks like, eventually, after a long road of hatred and hardship, it looks like forgiveness. Self-forgiveness.”

Hyrule hummed, snuggling closer.

“And where are you, Wild?”

He chuckled softly. “Haven’t quite reached self-forgiveness, yet.”

“You’ll reach it,” Hyrule insisted, “I know you will.”

“And so will you, ‘Rule. So will you. Let’s get there together, yeah?”

Hyrule hummed.

“Yeah.”

“How about you, Legend? How are you holding up?”

He sighed, fully aware every eye in the room was trained on him.

“I thought I was saying the right things. I really meant them, too, and I thought… I thought I was finally able to get through to him.”

“You did,” that was Time, his stoic voice a comforting timbre, “you did get through to him.”

He sighed.

“I apologize, Legend. I realize now that my advice may have been… misguided.”

“Don’t sweat it, Old Man. I don’t know if it could have turned out another way. Sky, Twi, you were there, apparently, right? I don’t think there was any stopping him.”

Sky hummed thoughtfully, but it was Twilight who spoke.

“I can’t say for sure, but he was definitely beyond reason by the time we got to him.”

Legend pulled his knees closer to him where he sat on the bed, leaning forward on them. “I’m just glad he’s alive.”

Assent washed through the group, Four’s voice breaking in next.

“They didn’t make it far. You can actually see them if you lean out the window, but let’s give them some privacy. Crowding him now is the last thing he needs.”

The fact that Hyrule was still nearby—and supervised—brought a glimmer of relief to Legend’s endlessly weary heart.

The room was quiet for a moment, snatches of Hyrule’s shouts filtering in through the open window.

Legend heard the shutters quietly creek shut, those inside shifting audibly.

“Legend,” Sky started, discomfort clear in his voice, though he tried to mask it, “do you want to change back into your usual tunic? We managed to clean it up real nice.”

“Oh, sure,” he replied, sitting up more, “am I wearing yours?”

“Ah, no, actually, it’s one of Wild’s.”

“Alright, I’ll have to thank him when he gets back.”

Legend gingerly rose to his feet, waiting for someone to tell him where his tunic was.

“Here you go,” Sky pressed the worn, familiar fabric of Legend’s tunic into his hands, “you can go into the other room; the door’s straight forward and then a little to the left.”

Legend expressed his thanks, heading forward until his outstretched hand made contact with the wall and feeling his way along it until he was met with a doorframe, stepping through and closing the door behind him. Feeling along the side of the wall, he discovered that it was a small room, about the size of a closet, and had no windows. Nice.

As he changed, he couldn’t help the flicker of unease that rose within him. Nobody had any qualms with him wearing Hyrule’s tunic for a day, so why did Sky seem so eager to have him change now? The tunic he’d been wearing wasn’t even Sky’s and they had all night to gossip about him so they couldn't just want him gone. Besides, he could still hear them. So why?

He ran his hands over the garment he’d woken up in, feeling nowhere any sort of texture or stiffness that might indicate there was blood on it and it seemed normal enough. The only real difference was that his own tunic had a higher neck and long sleeves.

Did Sky want him to cover something? But Hyrule’s tunic had a very wide neck and short sleeves, too.

What could he possibly have now that he didn’t have before? 

Legend ghosted his fingertips over his cheeks. They were still a little raw—he presumed most of the healing magic had gone towards his eyes, not his skin—but they stopped at his jawbone, his neck feeling completely normal, complete with the slight, rippling lightning feather that curled up from his back.

His arms, then?

Most of Hyrule’s magic had been centered on his face, but there was that horrifying paralysis he pulled that was concentrated on his arms—actually, though, what the f*ck, Hyrule. Maybe it had some effect? But, he mused, running his fingers over his arms, he didn’t feel any sort of burn on his arms and scars had never really bothered the other heroes that much, all of them leaning in curiously the first time Wild’s had been on display. No, there was something else. And Legend was determined to know what, he decided, pulling on his red top layer. He thought for a moment, weighing his options. He had to figure out what had bothered Sky so much, so first he’d have to figure out where it was. He already had scars on his right forearm and his neck, so the only other area that would be visible on the other tunic but hidden with his would be his left arm. 

So, ever so casually, he rolled his left sleeve up to his elbow, exposing his forearm. He probably looked weird with only one sleeve rolled up—he certainly felt weird with only one arm bare—but if anyone brought it up, he’d just roll his other sleeve up as well and then gauge their reaction.

He would have grinned a little, but he was too uneasy to be impressed with himself.

Hyrule and Wild returned a little while later, Legend idly running a cloth up and down the face of his mirror shield and feeling it slide across the polished metal smoother and smoother as he did, the motion therapeutic long after he was sure it had been thoroughly cleaned.

There was shuffling and quiet chatter and the slow flip of cards on a table as the door opened, all motion stilling as two pairs of footsteps landed on hard wood.

Nobody said anything, probably quietly nodding their acknowledgement and continuing on with what they were doing, the flipping of cards continuing after a short pause.

The footsteps grew louder, working their way over to Legend, one pair pausing but the other continuing, the bed dipping down next to Legend.

“Legend, I—I’m so sorry. I, I know you said you forgave me, but that doesn’t change the fact that I was… I was horrific and what I did to you… It was wrong. So, horribly, unbelievably wrong. I don’t know how you can find it in your heart to… to…”

He trailed off, and Legend waited a moment before realizing that Hyrule couldn’t find it in himself to continue. Legend’s voice was stern as he spoke.

“Hyrule. That was scary.”

A quiet, torn gasp.

“That was really, really scary. You didn’t sound like yourself and you didn’t act like yourself and I had no idea what was happening to me, but I was honestly more scared for you than of you.”

Legend reached forward, feeling, his hand settling on the side of Hyrule’s face, his fingers wrapped around the back of his successor’s neck.

“But everything I said still stands.” He let out a weak laugh. “You’re just so reckless and ridiculous and you got so caught up in your own head like you do sometimes, and that’s who you are.” His voice sobered. “You made a mistake. But you’ve now realized that.” He took a breath, his voice softening, “I don’t hate you for what you did to me. You were lost—and again, that doesn’t make it right—but, I still love you, Hyrule. I’m not going to abandon you.”

He heard a sniffle and half a sob, Legend wiping a tear away with his thumb—was Hyrule’s face always this texture?—and continuing to speak.

“Just don’t ever f*cking do that again, okay? Don’t do anything to me without my consent, yeah?”

A full sob broke out, the tears streaming faster down his face, a stream of promises flooding out, most of them unintelligible, but he collected himself enough to say: “I promise, Legend. I’ll never, ever try to hurt you or do anything to you without your consent. I promise, I swear on my life —I swear on yours.”

Legend nodded.

“Alright then, Rulie.” He smiled a small, wavering smile, “maybe we’re not okay right now. But we will be. We can heal from this.”

“I hope so,” Hyrule agreed.

Legend slid his thumb over Hyrule’s cheek, though, broadening his radius and now noticing the changes in texture between rough and soft and the strange, raised veins by his jawline.

“Hyrule, what happened to your face, though?”

“Huh?”

Legend reached behind him for his mirror shield, holding it out to Hyrule who pulled it from his hands curiously.

“Woah. That is definitely new.”

“What’s it look like?”

What did it look like indeed.

It was the first time Hyrule had gotten a good look at his own face in a while, but he knew instantly what had caused this. A dark splotch, like an uneven tan, stretched over the right side of his face, ghosting over his left cheekbone as well. A streak of almost scaly skin, like an old, bad burn, curled around the left side of his right eye, but instead of a dried yellow it shimmered a faint gold, another flicker reaching up the far right of his face like a sideburn, catching the afternoon light with an iridescent sheen. Rippling over his cheek, forking beneath his eye and sending one tendril towards his ear and another towards his iris, was a faint pattern of lighting, a glimmer of blue on his skin like abalone, sometimes nearly white, sometimes a brilliant azure, flecks of green sparking within. Curling over the bottom of his jawline were dark, spiderwebbing cracks, almost, inky veins that creeped out like knotted old tree branches, thin as a hair but clambering up towards his cheekbone like ivy.

They were beautiful, in a way, but so very foreign. They looked wrong on Hyrule’s otherwise simple face. He’d always had shadows of freckles alighting on his cheeks and the brilliance of the forest shimmering in his eyes, but it was subtle. His appearance had always been the plainest of the group and it worked , in a way. But now, these new otherworldly markings that marred Hyrule’s suddenly unfamiliar face, they didn’t belong. 

Hyrule wasn’t sure how to describe it.

“It looks like the healing magic he used,” Twilight offered, Hyrule’s eyes flicking to his in curiosity.

“It almost looks like he’s tanned on his cheeks, though more his right than his left, which wouldn’t be surprising considering how bright and hot it was. Some of his skin is shining, though, looking almost like gold, which there were flashes of in the spell, along with blue, which there’s a slight marking of on his cheek. But as you cast it, Hyrule, parts of it turned black. I don’t know exactly what that was but I don’t ever want to see it again.”

Hyrule nodded.

He was startled by Legend’s hand returning to his face, running his fingers over it curiously before he finally spoke.

“I guess we’re matching now,” he offered, a warm expression settling on his face, his eyes once again full, but still not quite bright or shining like they were, flecks of amber and green wobbling inside them as they pointed off in any old direction, irrelevant to the smile that graced his lips.

“Welcome to the club,” Wild added, laughing. “The Old Man and I were getting lonely before you two joined the gang.”

Hyrule looked to Legend, who’d angled his head so he was facing somewhere halfway between him and Wild, presumably to best hear both of them. Somehow, though, Hyrule could still tell that Legend’s attention was on him. The two shared a smile, chuckling despite themselves.

Until, that is, Legend perked up, tilting his head to the side.

“Do what now?”

“Wait, you heard that? Did your hearing get better when you lost your sight?” Warriors sounded legitimately intrigued.

“No, not really I don’t think. It’s less that I’m better at hearing and more that I listen more, I think. My ears aren’t going to magically develop better now that my eyes don’t work. I mean, I still use them the same amount—it’s not like you can turn your ears off —so I think I’m just subconsciously filtering out less sound.”

“Huh. That’s actually pretty cool.”

Legend shrugged, but Hyrule could tell he was flattered.

Quiet footsteps pattered into the room and Hyrule could spot Wind standing behind Warriors, hopping up and down excitedly, something long and wooden clasped in his hands.

“Let’s go outside for this.”

“Uh, okay?” Legend rose to his feet, Hyrule standing by his side.

Hyrule sucked in a breath as Legend slipped one of his hands into Hyrule’s own, and Hyrule’s heart raced. Carefully, he pulled Legend along with him, the veteran’s free hand outstretched and tracing the wall whenever it was within reach, hopping down the stoop with a practiced ease that made a small warmth bloom inside Hyrule.

Once Legend was standing in front of the inn, the rest of the heroes around him and Hyrule, Wind came forward.

“Hey, Legend,” He started, sidling around the Captain, “you know that stick you tap the ground with when you walk?”

“...yeah?”

Hyrule watched, a smile threatening to break out over his face from the curiosity clearly building on Legend’s own.

“Well that’s a piece of sh*t! ” Wind shouted, startling Legend, confusion and mild concern flickering over the veteran’s features.

“Use this instead!”

Hyrule let go of Legend’s hand as he realized what Wind was doing, Legend raising his hands and scrambling to catch the item Wind had deposited in them, his brow furrowed. 

It was the first Hyrule had seen of it, though he hadn’t really been paying attention before. It was almost as long as Legend was tall, only a handful of inches shorter, and was smooth, polished wood, engraved with swirling markings. Hyrule leaned in, watching as Legend’s fingers wound over it, tracing ridges and spirals up and down its length. They traced the arc of a wave and then paused, continuing along a small sea of rolling arches that then rose into the ridges of mountains that cascaded over one another until a scalloped pattern that resembled a bird’s wing, a stray spiral of ivy reaching around the circumference of the cane—a real, proper cane—and he followed it, his fingertips ghosting over an oddly familiar shape, the same one Sky wore on his cloak and Warriors had embroidered on his scarf and that they’d proudly called the Royal Crest, one that Legend clearly recognized with a smile. He stroked the triforce emblem and arcing wings, warmth and nostalgia blossoming on his face.

“When did you—”

He ran his hands up the length of it, reaching a wide area where protrusions almost like wings reached out, swirling into a sort of hilt in front of a smoothed area that he gripped comfortably, holding it out with ease and feeling the balance, obviously pleased. He ran his hand over the end and cocked his head as his fingers ran over a brilliant blue thread, a thick one woven from a shimmering azure embroidery floss and eight others of all different colors, though primarily blue and green, all braided together and wrapped around and around in a small notch that fit it perfectly, a slipknot at the end fastening it around the handle. Resting one end of the cane on the ground, he unwound the end, realization sparking in his expression as he slipped his hand through, fastening it around his wrist. He unwound a little, then, pulling his hand farther away from the handle of the cane and reminding Hyrule of that string he’d always have tied to his sword. 

A pang of guilt rose inside him at the thought of how much he had hated the string when Legend clearly unashamedly used and appreciated it before. He watched the way the veteran held it in his arms, with all the care in the world, both his sleeves rolled up, revealing—oh hell it was still there. Everyone could see it. He'd had a feeling when Wind had mentioned it, but why did Legend have his sleeves rolled up? He never did.

No, this wasn't the time for this. This was Legend's time. This was about Legend.

Speaking of Legend, he wrapped the wrist strap back around the handle, holding the cane out before him, tapping carefully at the soft ground, feeling out the small, scattered stones. 

Tap, tap, tap .

His smile only grew and Hyrule couldn’t stop his own lip from quirking up as Legend tap tap tapped his way forward and back a little, childlike awe clear on his face, the other heroes stepping aside when he drew near.

“I can’t—I don’t— when did you make this? Sky, did you carve all of this?”

“I did,” the caped hero beamed, “and Twilight braided the cord. Apparently Ordon’s big on textiles.”

“With all our goats and sheep? Believe me, you learned to weave in that village whether you liked it or not.”

“I—I’m lost for words. You didn’t have to—”

“Oh, we’re not done yet,” Four broke in, almost giddy with excitement. Legend couldn’t help his laugh that wavered with nervousness.

“You what? ”

“You feel that small metal button on the handle?”

“M- metal ?”

“Yep! Metal.” 

Legend was incredulous as he felt around, holding the middle of the cane with his right hand, his left thumb finally settling on a small round, metal bump.

“Yeah?”

“Alright, now push it.”

Legend’s face was sheer bemusement as he pressed it in, starting as his right hand moved, still gripping the wood. He pulled, his hands drawing apart as sheer confusion and a dawning realization burst on his face, his hands gliding farther and farther apart, always remaining on the same angle, though, as he pulled and ran out of arm, his hands stretched wide from where he’d gripped the cane in the middle. Carefully adjusting his grip upwards, Legend continued to pull, drawing—what he had no doubt just identified—a sword from its sheath.

“Holy sh*t.”

The group burst into laughter, Four beaming and Wind hopping excitedly next to him. 

The tip finally came free, Legend carefully holding the sheath out in Hyrule’s direction, and the traveler realized he was supposed to take it from him. He did, Legend holding the blade aloft, awe clear on his face, his eyes growing dewy as it all finally clicked. He ghosted his fingers down, carefully tracing the flat of the blade, gauging its length and thickness.

“Go on, give her a swing!” Wind called.

Everyone stepped back, Legend’s eyes wide.

“You’re not gonna hit anyone, I promise,” Four explained, “we made the blade exactly the length of the sword, so you should be used to the reach, though we went for a rapier design to make it lighter, as you will be using this all day and a thicker blade would be brutal. ”

Legend sucked in a breath, letting out only a quiet squeak as he bounced the blade in his hand, feeling its weight and balance, before raising it up and arcing it down in a slash.

He couldn’t swing it again, though, his free hand over his mouth as tears finally broke from his eyes, running down his scarred, red cheeks.

“Y-you guys…”

“You’re a badass, Legend!” Wind started, drawing closer once it was clear Legend was no longer going to swing the sword, “it’s what you deserve.”

“There was no way we, in good conscience, could just sit by and let you use a stick as a cane, okay, it wasn’t going to happen,” Four’s smile was bright and clear.

Legend held the sword carefully down, not wanting to accidentally hit anyone, and Hyrule gently took it from his hands to resheath it, Legend complying.

With both his hands free, they came up over his face as he sobbed, swaying dangerously. Wind smashed him with a hug, everyone else joining soon after, Hyrule standing to the side, Legend’s sword cane still clutched in his hands. 

This.

This was how he could have helped Legend.

The veteran didn’t need his sight. That much was obvious. How could he need it when he had a support network like this? He really would be just fine.

Another pang of guilt rose in Hyrule’s gut but he forced it down. He was going to make it up to Legend. He was going to be the best he could possibly be. For Legend. 

He was broken from his thoughts by a hand reaching out and snagging the loose sleeve of Wild’s tunic that he was still wearing, dragging him into the hug.

Spare arms wrapped around him, and he was one of them, right there with them, all pressed together and listening to Legend’s overwhelmed sobs.

Legend coughed a little and the hug split up—group hugs involving everyone always got pretty uncomfortable very fast—and Wild declared that they simply had to take a picture. Legend protested, rubbing carefully at his eyes, and Hyrule looked down at himself, shoving the sword cane at the nearest person—Warriors—and running inside. 

He emerged a few moments later, wrapped up in his own clothes, worrying the fabric he held in his hands, and moved towards the group, Wild trying to figure out how to get everyone in the Sheikah Slate’s frame. Hyrule tried to quietly scoot to the edge of the cluster of Links, but Time shoved him towards the center, where Legend was, flicking his chin upwards.

That was an order.

Embarrassed, Hyrule sidled into what he now saw was an empty spot—left open for him —and as he got close, Legend’s arm wrapped around him, the veteran gasping as he registered the clothing Hyrule was wearing. The traveler took his chance, quickly slipping Legend’s hat over the blond’s head and feeling Legend smash into him in a crushing side-hug as he held his sword cane in his free hand, beaming with the knowledge that they were matching—perhaps a bit more than they’d like, but matching all the same, right down to the tears sparkling in their eyes.

The quiet snap of the Sheikah Slate’s camera was drowned out by the crying of battle horns.

Chapter Text

The horns blared in the distance, every hero flinching at the too-familiar call.

“Holy sh*t.”

“ Now? ”

“Everyone!” Warriors shouted, breaking free of the group huddle, “to your stations, now!”

Immediately, the group split, every hero heading in a different direction, Wind tossing his pendant to Warriors and taking off north with Wild towards the hill, Twilight and Sky running south towards the river. Four grabbed Legend's hand and pulled him east towards the entrance to the town and Warriors ran west, into the forest where Hyrule had spent his time the past few days.

"Uh," he started as the group split, only Time remaining by his side, "what am I supposed to be doing?"

"You and I are guarding the north edge of the town. When the enemy attempts to go around our little barrier, half of them will end up heading our way. It's our job to eliminate them." He paused for a moment, looking at Hyrule critically. "Though with the state you were in last night, I now wonder if adhering to this plan is wise."

"It is," Hyrule insisted, straightening. "I can handle it. Promise."

Time said nothing, only narrowing his eye before turning away, heading north after Wind and Wild. Hyrule sucked in a breath. He'd done enough harm. It was time to make up for it.

Hyrule rushed through the town on Time's heels, now finally getting to see the defenses his brothers— could he still call them that? —had been working so hard to set up. There was a trench dug around the east face of the town, about four feet deep. Behind it was a wall of tree trunks that had been sharpened into deadly points, stuck up on an angle to impale any creature foolish enough to try and leap over the small moat. The barricade wrapped around the town, but as he rushed through the streets, Hyrule could spot an opening in the front, right on the road to the town—where Legend had been heading.

"There's no gate!" He called to Time. "It's wide open!"

"Precisely," Time explained as they passed the end of the barricade, now running along the outside edge, "we couldn't set up a barricade around the whole town—we didn't have enough time—so if it was closed in the front, of course they'd just try to run around it. By leaving the front wide open, we create a false weakness. The enemies rush in, thinking it an easy victory, and then, well," he smiled a wry grin, "that's where we put Legend."

Hyrule gasped. "On the front lines? Are you mad?! "

Time didn't answer the second question, instead explaining, "He has the biggest arsenal of all of us. He can rain fire like no other. Putting him in an area with a steady torrent of monsters always straight ahead? He can't miss. It's the best place for him."

Hyrule nodded, but a pit still sunk in his stomach.

"If you insist."

Time suddenly ground to a halt, the screeching of Bokoblins already audible ahead. Time drew his bow, knocking an arrow that glistened with flame. Hyrule raised his hands, calling magic to his fingertips.

"Hyrule," Time started, glancing over, "stick to your bow and your sword today. You just overexerted your magic last night. I won't have you passing out on me."

Hyrule steeled himself. "I'm not out of magic. And I can get more."

Time frowned, about to shut him down, but was interrupted by an explosion that shook the trees, scattering any stray birds foolish enough to remain behind.

It had begun.

A flash of fire rose above the tops of the buildings, the screeching of monsters echoing off the nearby town. Hyrule clenched and unclenched his fists, biting his lip. Another plume of flame rose, the sounds of monsters finally drawing closer. More explosions shook in the distance, and Hyrule glanced up the nearby hill nervously. Through the foliage of the nearby trees, he could just make out a wooden watchtower, Wind and Wild perched atop it, firing arrows into the fray relentlessly. Time never wavered in his stalwart stance, bow at the ready, but Hyrule couldn't stop fidgeting, wringing his hands in his bracers.

Finally, the first flash of red turned the corner and Time drew his bow effortlessly, letting loose his arrow, a blast of fire rippling outwards and sending the front of the wave stumbling backwards. Hyrule called his magic to his fingertips, Time knocking another arrow. The smoke cleared and Bokoblins stumbled through, beady eyes locking onto the heroes and rushing forward with clubs raised. Time fired again, once again pushing them back. Fire or Thunder ? He glanced to the side at the barricade. It was made of wood. Too much fire and it was done for. He squinted ahead at the Bokoblins that rushed through the smoke. They weren't wearing any metal, so he'd be better off using lightning magic on better armored opponents. Time didn't seem to have any qualms with using his fire magic, though, and some of the Bokoblins had definitely caught fire. It would be more effective than Thunder in this case, then. Hyrule flexed his fingers, ready to shoot forward a blast of fire but froze. 

Time fired another arrow. 

Hyrule’s heart rate tripled and his spine turned to ice. 

Fire. He knew how to cast Fire , right? Why was he getting mixed up now? He stared at his hands. Had he spent so much time learning to blend it with Thunder into a simulated Guardian laser that he had forgotten how to use it normally? He certainly couldn't do the combination technique now, it was like casting both spells at once and he didn't exactly have a ton of magic to spare at the moment. Time fired again, glancing over at Hyrule, fatherly concern clear on his features. Hyrule scowled and drew his sword. They'd gotten within range anyway.

Time exchanged his own bow for his sword, slicing through the ranks of the approaching Bokoblins. Hyrule rushed forward, driving his blade into the throat of a Bokoblin with a smooth crunch. He kicked it off the end of his blade and watched it exhale its last, his heart skipping a beat in memory of the birds and the rabbits and the deer . He sucked in a breath, steeling himself. 

These were monsters. They were trying to kill him. It was different. He was snapped from his contemplation when he spotted the Moblin before him, club raised high over its head. Without thinking, he dove forward, plunging his sword into its gut. His mind flew back to that fateful battle with Legend, the way Legend had dual wielded effortlessly, sword in one hand and rod in the other. This rod didn't actually require he use his own magic, the power stored somewhere inside. He reached into his pouch, drawing it free in an instant and using his free hand to send a blast towards a Bokoblin trying to strike Time from behind. The Old Man looked over in shock and nodded his gratitude before decapitating another, passing out of view. Hyrule tore his sword free of the Moblin and dove backwards as it fell forward, swiping at a Bokoblin that came at him from behind.

As he turned to strike it, he spotted a Lizalfos that had slipped past him, running towards the end of the barricade. Hyrule sucked in a breath, rushing forward and firing a blast of magic at its back. Another Lizalfos tried to stab him through the side, but he parried its blade with his free hand, driving shimmering energy through its face. 

He froze as a shadow passed over him, silhouetted in the golden glow of the afternoon sun that was quickly drifting towards evening, another Moblin, this one winding up with a spear. Hyrule's eyes went wide in shock, both hands occupied with his current foe, the spear pivoting and swinging back towards him, giving him no room to maneuver. The cries of Bokoblins farther away betrayed Time's position, not close enough to get to him in time. Hyrule sucked in a breath, but didn't flinch, staring the Moblin straight in the face as the Lizalfos crumpled at his feet, not fast enough for him to parry the strike in time.

Wild fired another barrage of bomb arrows at the torrent of enemies below, three consecutive explosions bursting on the ground.

"It's so cool that you can fire three arrows at once," Wind started, shooting his own into the fray, "and you don't even need to use magic to use fire arrows! I feel cheated."

"Yeah, but you can use any old arrow as a magic one, while these are a pain to get ahold of. I have to steal them from enemies most of the time."

"Oh yeah, sometimes you get into their fortresses and the pots are just full of arrows. It's great!"

Wild made a face and Wind pouted, taking a moment to lean over the edge of the watchtower to see if any monsters had decided to break off to the west of the hill and attack the town from the back. As of yet, none had. "What's up with that face? If you don't break into enemy fortresses, then how do you steal their arrows?"

"I normally just grab the ones they're firing at me."

Wind froze for a second, whipping back around to face Wild. "Wait, so when you need arrows, you just run around getting shot at and hope for the best?"

"Basically," he replied, firing another volley.

Wind grinned. "I like your style."

"Great, so can you help me out a little, here? I thought you were supposed to be firing, too."

He huffed a little. "Using magic arrows would drain me pretty quickly and regular arrows aren't doing much."

"Every enemy we take down here is one less the others have to fight. It's definitely worth it, even though it doesn't feel like it."

"You're right," Wind sighed, looking down at the town.

He did a double take, spotting a Moblin winding up an attack, Hyrule trapped in combat with another monster.

Wind grinned, drawing his bow.

Hyrule flinched at the sickening crunch that burst out above him, crimson blood pouring around him. He stared up in awe at the arrow embedded in the neck of the Moblin, the creature staggering backwards and collapsing. Hyrule stumbled away as well, looking up at the tower and watching Wind give a cheeky salute. He smiled to himself and rushed forward again, tearing through the enemy ranks alongside Time.

Another blast of fire surged forth and Legend felt his hair get blown back from the shockwave, the wind washing over his face and his burns itching from the heat. He ducked behind the small wooden barrier he and Four had for cover, hearing the other hero rise to his feet while his own magic recharged, twisting the rings on his fingers. The others must have returned them to him while he was unconscious, and he was more grateful than he let on. He was not interested in taking another arrow out of nowhere again.

"They just keep coming!" Four called from his left, another blast of fire rushing forward.

"Good!" Legend replied, hearing another wall of flame tear through the enemy. The stench of burning flesh rose around him, discomfort rolling through his gut. These were monsters. He wasn't in the forest. Four was right here. Everything was fine. Everything was fine .

He heard Four duck down next to him and rose to his feet, one fire rod in each hand as he waited for their hisses to draw closer. That's right, lure them in. Give them a false sense of security. Look, it's wide open. Absolutely nothing is going on. Nope. Their screeches and cries rose in volume until he was sure the whole breach was filled with them.

"Sorry, fellas, but you really oughta watch where you're going! " he shouted, thrusting his hands high and letting rolling waves of flame rush over the enemy.

"Roasted," Four laughed in between blasts, "in more ways than one."

Legend chuckled, too, ducking down and letting Four take over.

"Oh sh*t," Four bit out. Legend huffed.

"Do you people know how undescriptive that is? Seriously, I'd like a little more to work with here."

"Fire Wizzrobe."

" Oh sh*t. "

That meant their barricades were in danger, as well as their only cover. Not to mention that Wizzrobes were often resistant to the kind of magic they used.

"Can’t you shoot him with an arrow or something?"

"He keeps appearing and disappearing. I can't get a shot in before he moves again. He keeps hiding behind the barricades."

"There's gotta be something you can do before he burns everything down!"

Four sucked in a breath between his teeth. "There is."

"Then what are you waiting for? Do it! "

"Fine, but don't shoot any more fire until I say so." Legend opened his mouth to protest, but was met with the sound of Four vaulting over their cover and plunging into the fray.

Legend groaned, clenching his fists.

Where was Four? What was he doing ? Was he okay? Did he need help? If enemies did approach through the opening, what was he supposed to do if not use fire? Is it really that hard to just explain things to him? Seriously , people.

Legend heard the whistle of a fireball drawing near and dove backwards as his wooden cover burst into flames, if he was to guess by the splinters and ash that pattered against his face. Now entirely exposed and still unable to use his fire rod for fear of hurting Four, he was left no choice but to go to the defensive, using the Cane of Somaria to summon a cube that he ducked behind, hearing the quiet ping of arrows off its crystalline surface.

He heard panting grow near and pulled his sword cane from where he'd strapped it to his back. He pressed the button, feeling the spring compress, unhooking whatever contraption held the sheath and handle together, ready to draw it and strike, when a sharp whistle met his ears, causing him to stay his hand. Hylia, was he glad they came up with that idea.

The panting became clearly identifiable as Four's and the smithy's breaths grew near, ducking behind the cube.

"I think we got him."

"What do you mean we ? You just ditched me!"

"A— my bad. Anyway, we shouldn't have to worry about any more of those."

"Good. Should we go back to blasting them with fire?"

There was a pause during which Four presumably peeked out from around the cube.

"Yeah, we're clear."

"Alright then," Legend stowed his canes, brandishing his dual fire rods as the whistling of arrows rushed by.

He sent another wave of flame crashing forward, ducking back behind the cube to avoid being struck. He heard the telltale rush of a boomerang leaving a hand and frowned.

"Four, what the hell are you doing with a boomerang ? What happened to your fire rod?"

"Some of the stragglers are slipping by and I don't want to set the village on fire, okay?" he responded, two more boomerangs flew forth, Four audibly snatching the first from the air.

Legend blasted another wall of fire forward, hearing Four toss out two more boomerangs.

"How many of those do you have?"

"Four!" Four laughed, catching another one.

"Only four? I have six," Legend laughed, ducking back behind the cube as another arrow pinged off of it.

"You are actually the worst ."

"I love you, too, Four."

The smithy laughed, but it didn't last long.

" Sh*t , I think they've learned."

"What?"

"They're not coming this way as much. They've started ignoring this entrance entirely."

"So what do we do?"

"I think we have to go outside the barricade and fight them there."

Legend sucked a breath through his teeth. "Are you sure?"

"Don't worry, Legend. We've got this. I've got faith in you. Besides, you have your rings back. Don't those make you practically invincible?"

"Give or take," Legend muttered, twisting them around his fingers, "but I would rather not be surrounded."

"So what do you want to do? Sit on the sidelines and wait? "

Legend paused. And then he sighed.

"Fine."

Wind glanced around after picking off a straggler that tried to sneak past Hyrule while he was engaged with a Lizalfos. "Wild, they're not going through the breach anymore."

"Then where are they going?" he wondered aloud, turning to face the same direction as Wind.

The sailor looked around. "I don’t know, but it's starting to get late. Do you think the battle will continue past nightfall?"

"I sure hope not," Wild mused. "We'll lose our sight advantage and it's a lot easier for them to find the town than it would be for us to find a stray that sneaks in."

"Wild, they've started breaking off to the west!" Wind shouted suddenly, pointing to the side.

"Wars, they're headed your way!" Wild called into his Sheikah Slate, the Captain replying back with his affirmation.

Warriors stood in a clearing, trees scattered before him, yet stumps littered his immediate vicinity, a scar left from the defenses the town had constructed. He'd have to be careful not to lose his footing on the uneven terrain. At this point, though, it was unlikely. Considering how much he'd been pacing back and forth since the battle began, he'd probably memorized the whole field by now. But no, Wild and Wind had said that everything was going perfectly according to plan. He had to trust his allies—his brothers . He smiled to himself a little.

The first flickers of torches appeared in the forest, Bokoblins leading the charge. Staying in the clearing meant he had the unfortunate disadvantage of a lack of cover. But then again, he wasn't exactly trying to be subtle. He drew his sword, slowly, inhaling as the blade pulled free from its sheath. He lowered it in front of himself, steadying his stance and admiring the amber glimmer of sun on the polished metal. 

With the tip of his sword he traced a line down, down, down, from the zenith of the sky above straight down to the beady glowing eyes swaying between the trees.

The very front of the wave broke through the woods and Warriors charged at them, a battle cry tearing from his lips. He'd taken on entire armies nearly single-handedly. This was child's play. 

He bombed and weaved through their ranks, his sword a golden streak dancing through fountains of crimson. He ducked beneath a Moblin's swing, slashing its legs in a low spin attack, simultaneously hamstringing the Lizalfos behind him. He backflipped out of it, diving to the side to dispatch a group of Bokoblins intent on taking him out from behind. The ranks of the enemy closed in around him and he rolled his shoulders. It had been too long since his last good fight . Another spin attack pushed them back, but in the corner of his eye he spied a few shifty Lizalfos trying to slip past him. Not on his watch. Thrusting his sword forward, he ripped an opening in the swarm, firing an arrow at their cowardly backs before turning around to face the horde before him.

" Come and get it. "

Twilight flicked his bangs from his face as he completed a spin attack, Sky expertly disarming a Moblin and diving to the side, slipping his blade through the openings in a Lizalfos' armor.

"Twi, do you feel off at all?"

"Not particularly," he replied, firing a bomb arrow at a group of enemies getting a little too close to the barricade, "but I think you got hit with a hell of a lot more of Hyrule's crazy spell than I did."

"Is that why they stuffed us in the corner of the map? There's hardly anyone here." He sliced through a group of Bokoblins, knocking them back. "I thought Time and Hyrule were originally supposed to take the south."

"I'm not complaining," Twilight replied, driving his blade through the fallen Bokoblins, finishing them off, "The sooner we finish up here, the sooner we can get to the breach and help Legend."

"Bold of you to assume he needs it," Sky laughed, watching another plume of flame rise over the buildings as he finished off a Moblin.

"Wait," Twilight stood up straight, one hand raised.

Sky blocked a stray spear with his sword, his head cocked curiously.

"Bulbos. I'd know that sound anywhere."

"Bulbos? Those pig things?"

"I'm more worried about the bulbins that ride them. We're about to get fire arrows."

Sky's head snapped to Twilight's, the latter taking out a nearby Lizalfos. "The barricades!"

"Exactly."

"But how do we stop them?"

Twilight pulled a beautiful white boomerang from his pouch, a slight pulsing breeze swirling around its graceful shape.

"I sure hope you're good at putting out fires."

Sky grabbed his gust bellows, pushing back a couple of Bokoblins with the blast that rushed from its mouth.

"Let's hope we don't need it."

The duo rushed forward, Twilight bombing those they passed before they skidded to a stop, a stampede of bulbins rushing towards them, beady eyes flashing in the light of the fires that burst from where Legend and Four had been stationed. The green bulbins atop them flickered into view as they lit their arrows, the first volley sailing over where Twilight and Sky were sprinting. Twilight twisted, launching his boomerang upwards. It arced through the air, the tornado that rushed around it knocking the arrows from flight and putting out some of their fires, leaving them smoldering on the ground. Sky rushed forward farther, firing his whip out and snatching a few bows from the bulbins that held them. The remainder fell prey to the bomb arrows Twilight shot their way, bulbo parts flying through the air as Sky flinched.

"Ew."

Twilight shrugged as a burst of Legend's flame erupted behind him, startling him, the blast ruffling his pelt and hair as Sky chuckled.

"Damn, Warriors is kicking some serious ass down there," Wild remarked, sending another volley of arrows into the horde. He'd blasted away most of the foliage that had obscured his vision of the approaching enemies, giving him better visibility. It seemed like they were finally thinning out.

"Is that jealousy I sense in your voice?"

"Of the Captain?"

"Yeah," Wind grinned, "this is nothing. You shoulda seen us in the war!"

"Oh right, I keep forgetting you guys knew each other."

"Yeah!" Wind called, sniping a few Lizalfos off the barricade. "I'm a war hero! "

Where he expected Wild to laugh in disbelief and roll his eyes, instead the Champion only paused for a moment, murmuring "of course you are" before continuing with another barrage of arrows.

"Wild? What's gotten int—holy sh*t are those rocks walking ?"

Wild rushed over, peering over the edge of the platform.

"That's a Talus. They range in ability and strength. This one looks pretty normal, though, so it's not going to blast fire at us or anything. You always have to hit the ore on their back, but sometimes it's in a really inconvenient spot, making the battle a huge pain. I'm mostly confused as to why it's walking around instead of laying still. They're ambush attackers."

"So should we be worried?"

Wild looked down at the fighting, blasts of fire shooting up around the area in front of the breach, explosions sending a horde of bulbins careening to a halt. Hyrule and Time worked their way through a slew of monsters, Warriors moving enemies down in droves.

"Probably not. It looks like Twilight and Sky are heading towards it and Twi knows how to beat them."

"If you insist," Wind responded. "I don't like being sidelined like this, though."

"Sidelined? We're on watch, thinning the crowd, and sniping anything that tries to get into the town. We're really important, actually!"

"You know Wars only put us here because he knows we’re the ones most liable to set everything on fire by accident."

Wild only laughed.

"That too."

"Actually, speaking of fire," Wind started, flinching as the platform swayed beneath his feet, a crack splitting one of the beams as smoke began to rise, sending the two into a coughing fit.

" Sh*t! " Wild regained his balance, moving towards the higher side, the temperature rising and the crackling of the flames an unwelcome ambience. "When did we get hit?"

"It must have been when we were distracted by that Talus!" Wind shouted, stumbling away from the flames that leapt up beside him, an ear-splitting snap signaling the end of one of the main supports, the tower lurching to the side and dropping down a few feet.

Flames licked at the wooden planks, curling over their edges and casting their tongues to the sky, greedy claws clamoring upwards into the orange sky.

"Abandon ship!" Wind called, leaping from the tower with his deku leaf held aloft. Wild followed suit, heading towards breach to join the fray as Wind floated towards Warriors. The champion stared back as the tower crumbled to ash, engulfed in flame, a pit twisting in his stomach.

Warriors struck another enemy, ducking under the spurt of blood that rushed forth. The bottom of the sun just kissed the tops of the trees and he couldn't help the pang of worry that rose in his chest. He really didn't want this battle to continue past nightfall. They were holding off the enemies alright, the formation holding up admirably well, but there didn't seem to be an end to them. Sure, they were thinning out a little , but it wasn't enough to promise a near end to the battle. Why were there so many rushing towards this place with such a vengeance? Warriors parried a Lizalfos' blade, driving his heel into its gut and slashing at a Bokoblin to his right, frowning. The idea was that there would be a group of enemies that tried to raid the village, and then others nearby would be drawn by the sounds of the fighting. This was more of a frenzied torrent. Sure, neither group was expected to have particularly good tactics, but the behavior was wrong and it set Warriors on edge, despite the fact that he was holding his own just fine. Something was drawing the monsters to the area. He didn't know what it was, but if it was strong enough to draw such a large horde, he shuddered to think what else might get attracted as well.

He plunged his sword into a Lizalfos' abdomen absentmindedly. The enemies he'd been facing had been a mix of things, primarily from Wild's time, with many of the Moblins from Hyrule's, but there were a few scattered from Twilight, Sky, and Wind's eras as well. He still didn't know exactly how they made the switch between words, if it was at the behest of that shadow every time, or if they aimlessly traveled through, but either way, there were a lot of them. He made to remove his sword from the Lizalfos, but he'd been careless when he struck, and it was now pinched between the metal plates of its armor. Another Lizalfos from his left rose its blade and Warriors reached for the dagger on his hip, but the one he'd stabbed was also winding up for a final blow. Warriors ducked his head, trying to gain as much protection from his pauldron as possible. This was not going to be pretty. 

Out of the amber-drenched sky, a battle cry split the air and Wind dropped out of nowhere with a flourish, slicing the offending Lizalfos in half.

"Now's not the time to get caught up in your own head, stupid!"

"You can't call me that," Warriors protested, wrenching his sword free, "I'm your superior! You have to call me Captain ."

"I can call you whatever the hell I want, actually ," Wind taunted, knocking back a Moblin, "because you're not my commanding officer anymore. And," he added, beheading a Bokoblin, "I've officially saved the world more times than you. So if anyone should be the superior, it's me. Besides,” he struck the Moblin in the head, finishing it off, “I’m the one with a ship. I’m the real captain here.”

Warriors laughed, striking a Bokoblin, "Tetra would kill you if she found out you were trying to usurp her.” He grinned patronizingly, “you can be my superior when you need to shave , baby face."

"That's rich coming from you, pretty boy . I don't even think you own a razor."

"What, is this three foot razor blade not good enough for you?" Warriors asked, knocking a wave of monsters back with a spin attack.

"I would pay money to see that!" Wind replied, the two back to back, laughing.

Legend was very confused.

He and Four had rushed forward, out of the breach, Legend sending out a shockwave with his bombos medallion to clear the area. He'd fought alongside Four, the smithy calling out enemy locations and blocking nearby attacks with ease, but the fight was going suspiciously well. It was just the two of them, but the monsters never got too close for comfort, not pressing in from all sides as they could easily do. It should be the easiest thing in the world for monsters to just... walk around them considering Legend wasn't blasting quite as much fire as he had been and Four seemed to spend most of his time defending Legend.

This was only exacerbated by the clanging of swords that echoed around them. According to the battle plan, there shouldn't be anyone else in the area and if something had gone wrong, he felt like he'd know about it. Moreso, Four wasn't acknowledging the others, though if they were his allies, he'd no doubt be talking to them. Four called for Legend to use his fire rod at very specific times and never asked him to send a jet of flame in the direction of the peculiar fighters. And they were fighters . The clatter of swords against shields was clear as day, and it would explain why none of the monsters were encroaching in on them.

A resounding crack split the battlefield and Legend flinched.

"What the hell was that?!"

"The watchtower’s on fire ! Sh*t , Wild's coming this way."

"He's not that bad," Legend teased, but he knew that wasn't the reason. It seemed Four had a little secret he didn’t want anyone to know and he didn't think Legend would notice. Well. The sounds of fighting from the mystery soldiers stopped, and he heard footsteps all rush behind him—he couldn't count their number in the din of the battle—but only one set of footsteps was by his side now, the other fighters nowhere to be heard.

It seemed Four had a couple of friends.

"Incoming!" came a shout from above, Legend huffing in frustration.

" What's incoming? Should I set it on fire?" he called up, raising his fire rod jokingly.

"Please don't!" Wild laughed, landing next to them. "I've already come in, but there's a Talus on the way, too. Big stone monster."

"Weak spot?" Four asked, circling to Legend's other side, the three making a triangle, back to back.

"The ore on its back." There was a sound of a sword swiping through a group of enemies, Legend shrinking back between Four and Wild. He sent a blast of fire forward, no longer needing to worry about hitting any of the mystery fighters.

There was a thundering that shook the earth and Legend tensed up, his grip on his fire rod tightening.

"Here it is!" Wild shouted, a grinding of rocks sounding from above Legend. He angled his head upwards, feeling dust fall onto his face. Was it just looming over them? What was it doing with its arms? Did it even have arms? "Big stone monster" was not a particularly descriptive phrase.

"Legend, shoot at your five o'clock!"

He did and felt Four snatch his wrist and wrench him backwards. He complied, stumbling, when he heard a colossal crash from where he had been standing and flinched from the shock.

"Holy sh*t!"

"Wild, do you have a plan?!" That was Four. By the sound of it, he was parrying the strikes of some of the monsters near him. He must have asked Legend to blast fire that way to clear the area so they could get to safety.

"Working on it!" was the rushed reply. "The ore is on top of it, but angled towards the back! Taluses always face the person they're fighting, so one of us needs to be a distraction and the other can climb onto its back and hit its weak point!"

"We'll be the decoys!" Four called in response, and Legend found himself getting dragged along by the wrist as another impact shook the earth behind them.

"For the record, I did not agree to this!"

And so they ran, Legend getting pulled across the battlefield by Four, who occasionally gave him directions to launch fire in. Rubble sprayed around them with every impact, the thunder of its movements only drowned out by Wild's grunts.

"How's he doing?" asked Legend, sending a rush of fire forward at Four's behest.

"He just fell off again. I have a feeling it's supposed to be going slightly better than this."

"I'll say! I'm very much not a fan of this current arrangement."

"I mean," Four paused to impale something, "it's working . We're running the Talus in circles and also clearing out anything that gets close. Wild keeps hitting its weak point but it won't stop knocking him off. With enough time, we should manage to take it out."

"How much time do we have , though? We've already been fighting for a while and running in circles like this—" he paused as he was jerked back, rubble spraying his face as a shockwave thudded in front of them "—isn't sustainable. Sooner or later, we're going to get hit."

"We'll just have to hope Wild can finish before then. I've only seen its ore deposit about twice this whole time, so I'm not sure what we can really do about it."

“Time!” the Old Man threw a glance Hyrule’s way, “the watchtower caught fire!”

They both watched as flames consumed the wooden structure, scarlet and ochre ash fluttering around the pair, still smouldering. Silhouetted against the blaze, two figures could be seen launching themselves into the air, drifting away.

Hyrule’s head snapped to Time’s, trying to read the Old Man’s face to determine how worried he should be about the new development. Time’s expression never changed, though, and he silently returned to fighting.

That didn’t bode well, did it?

Damn, the enemies just kept coming. Hyrule had been so careless . So stupid . He’d drawn blood about a week ago and there had been that big fight where the forest caught fire and Legend got shot and he still hadn’t learned his lesson. This was his own damn kingdom and there he was, running around bleeding like a madman. Was he trying to get everyone killed?

Hyrule tensed, striking another bokoblin through the head.

He knew one thing for certain.

Any casualties in this battle were on his head. 

His alone.

A shudder shook the ground and Twilight flinched, his head snapping to the side. Sky followed his gaze, his vision falling on a huge boulder with arms of connected stones. It swung at something on the ground, a blast of fire erupting nearby. Was Legend fighting that thing? A flash of blue flickered into view atop it and Sky could see Wild rise to his feet, striking a dark outcropping a few times with his sword before being flung off, swiping uselessly at the air.

"Wild!" Sky looked to Twilight. "That idiot! He always underestimates Taluses because there's no way to tell how difficult they are just by looking at them—at least not that we've found. He just keeps hitting them until they go down, but he can't do that anymore. There are others relying on him now. He can’t afford to take things so lightly in battle!"

Sky looked back to the Talus, another burst of flame pushing back a small group of enemies. A few Lizalfos, though, started rushing in towards the breach, though, and Sky sprinted towards them without thinking. If that really was Legend fighting the Talus, then who was guarding the breach?

He arrived at the opening in the barricade, about to reach for his bow, but no , behind the Lizalfos was the town and if he missed the enemies, he could risk harming an innocent townsperson. Skidding to a stop, he thrust his sword aloft as three of the monsters rushed down the main road. When he felt the familiar hum of the magic reach its apex, a warmth reverberating through the blade, he struck it down, a disc of ethereal light tearing forward, vaporizing the monsters before dissipating in a spray of sparks.

He heard a clatter behind him and spun around to see Twilight, shield raised, holding back a blow from a Moblin. Sky deftly skipped to the side, finishing it off with a swift strike to its ribs and watching as it fell before them.

"We have to guard the breach while they fight the Talus! We can't risk any of the monsters getting inside."

Twilight nodded, drawing his bow and stepping back, Sky positioning himself behind the pelted hero. On either side of them were houses—though they'd been evacuated by now—and in front of them stretched the barricade, sharp and stalwart, the wide open entrance a gaping maw into the chaos.

Twilight sent forward a barrage of arrows, explosions wracking the already pock-marked earth. Sky raised his sword skyward once more, the eerie blue light collecting on its edge casting shadows over Twilight's focused gaze. The smoke cleared and a stray Bokoblin rushed forward, it and its posse swiftly struck down by Sky's holy beam.

"How long can we keep this up?" Sky asked, blade held high.

"I have about thirty bomb arrows left," Twilight mused, knocking another, "so I'm halfway through them. If I run out, we'll need a definite change in tactics."

"I believe you mean when you run out," Sky pointed out. "There's no end to them in sight."

Twilight looked over at Sky to reply, but froze, doing a double take. "Sky, your sword isn't glowing."

Sky started at that, staring up at his blade. "Oh," he laughed sheepishly, "it has to be straight up and down." He corrected it from where it had been angled too far left, cerulean light running up the blade like inverted rain.

Twilight's eyes narrowed, a dubious expression on his face.

"Sky, if you're feeling light headed, you need to sit out. We can't risk you getting injured—or worse."

"I'm fine," he replied, steeling himself. "I know my limits."

Twilight let loose another barrage of bomb arrows as a burst of flame shot up behind the Talus ahead. "No, you don't . You've never dealt with this kind of magic before. You have no idea how much you can handle."

Sky didn't respond, instead swiping his blade out, another wheel of light mowing a swath through the enemy. It continued far enough to splash against the Talus' ankle, Four making hurried eye contact with him before dragging Legend out of sight, another stone arm crashing down.

Legend let himself get wrenched forward once again, resigned to perpetual confusion and occasional fire. Though now, he had the added bonus of bomb arrows thundering somewhere to his left, only adding to the chaos and whirlwind of sound.

" Sh*t , what's it doing now."

"Four, I really don't like the sound of that."

" F*CK! "

Legend felt small hands press into his front, shoving him backwards. He stumbled back, Four falling on top of him, the pair diving to the ground.

Rubble cascaded around them, a stone smacking Legend in the shoulder but ricocheting off his protective layer of magic with ease, pebbles praying across his face, and Four grunting in pain.

The Talus continued to groan and shift, Wild's cry of " Four! " betraying that something had befallen the smithy.

"Four?" Legend scrambled to his knees, running his hands over the smaller hero. He seemed alright, his arms and torso intact, nothing feeling wet at all. His head moved slightly as he moaned, but all seemed otherwise in good working orde— there was a wet spot. Legend felt around, hands ghosting over Four's leg before smacking into stone. Exploring further, he was able to determine that Four's left leg must have been crushed by a boulder that that thing probably launched at them.

"Are you okay? Four! "

"I'm... fine," he managed to bite out, Legend frowning dubiously, "can you get it off?"

"Yeah, hold on," Legend rose to his feet, resting one palm on the stone. "Wild! Distract it! I need to get Four out of here!"

The champion called back in compliance, Four protesting. " Hey! Don't take me off the field!"

Legend did his best scowl. "Four, right now, you're my eyes. You've been pulling me out of harm's way this entire time. How do you expect to do that if you can't even stand ?"

There was a small groan, the smithy clearly at war with himself.

Legend ignored it, pulling on his titan's mitts and slipping his fingers beneath the boulder, carefully raising it from the earth. He heard the squeal of a Bokoblin behind him and tossed the boulder in that direction, hearing the satisfying crash of it splintering into rubble on the ground.

"Alright, Four," He slipped his hands underneath the smithy’s armpits and knees, easily scooping up the teen who grunted from the pain, "get us out of here. Which way to the breach."

"We're not going back to the—" Four froze for a moment, thinking. "Actually, yes we are. It’s straight ahead. Run for it, but jump now to get over that—yeah, there you go."

Legend complied, rushing forwards, the smithy in his arms clearly trying his best not to let his discomfort show—and failing.

"I'm going to whistle so they know not to blow us up," Four muttered, and upon Legend's nod, he let out a sharp whistle, the blasts that shook the earth ahead ceasing.

"Alright, Legend, It's about to get real dicey with all these craters on the ground. Head to your eleven o'clock, yeah, okay run straight, and to your two o'clock now, very nice," Legend weaving in between invisible obstacles, Sky and Twilight calling out in alarm.

"Holy Hylia, what happened to him! Is he going to be okay?"

"I'll be fine!" he called, clearly not fine. In a lower voice, he continued. "Legend, we have to go to the first house on your right, okay, I'll guide you there."

Legend frowned, not one to ignore Sky and Twilight's calls, but he sent a curt nod their way, assuming they saw it and continuing with Four's instructions. He'd make sure the smithy didn't do anything stupid.