Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It was a pleasant day in Warriors’ Hyrule. The Links had been there for a few days and they had already cleared out the hoard of infected monsters. They were starting to get a little bit stir crazy though.

Artemis recognized this and came up with a plan that benefited both her soldiers and the castle itself. Last time the boys were left to their own devices, several fires had been started and an entire wing of the building had to be left uninhabitable for a month. She knew better this time.

Artemis rounded up her knights in training and went to find the Links. They were scattered around the dining hall eating breakfast, Wild taking the day off from cooking to enjoy a homemade meal by the palace chefs.

“I have a proposal!” She called out. Silverware stopped scratching against plates and nine pairs of eyes turned to look at her. “I want to propose a game of manhunt to you.” She certainly had their attention now. “My soldiers against yourselves.”

“I’m listening,” The one named Legend said. “Do we get to use our items?”

“Sure, it should make things interesting,” She admitted.

“Any surprise rules we should know about?” Asked Four. “If so I want to be able to figure out loopholes for all of them.” Artemis was prepared for this question.

“Yes, the normal rules of manhunt: hide until you are found and then once you’re tagged, you’re out. However, to make things more interesting, there is no ‘safe place’. I want to simulate attackers getting into the castle for my guards. Obviously, an intruder wouldn’t have that option. The last man hiding gets something from the castle.”

They immediately started shouting among themselves the ridiculous things that they would get if they won.

“Within reason of course!” She corrected. There were a few grumbles of disappointment, but determination at the challenge still shone in their eyes.

“Okay, last question,” Said Wind, holding his hand up. “What are the limitations of where we’re allowed to hide?”

“Anywhere within the castle grounds. I’m giving you an hour starting now. Good luck.”

Artemis watched the mad scramble that happened as the boys raced to see who could get out of the dining hall first. She turned back to her small group of soldiers and let them discuss how they would go about finding the Links. This would be an interesting day for sure and with how seriously they were taking it, they would be out of her hair all day.

As soon as Four was out of the dining hall, he grabbed the Four Sword and split. There was no use in trying to get all of his colors to agree on a hiding spot. It was best to just let them do their own things.

Almost immediately after separating, the four boys all took one look at each other and ran off in different directions.

Wild had a plan. He had noticed that there were multiple chimneys leading directly to the roof of the palace. He had originally thought of hiding in one of those, but then he realized that he could be cornered on both sides and he definitely didn’t want that.

The amnesiac finished climbing the last span of bricks and popped out of the top what he had assumed was the tallest chimney. It wasn’t, but at least he was on the roof.

Wild eyed his target. The highest tower of the palace. He planned on waiting out the game on the roof of that. Good luck trying to get him up there.

Finding footholds in the stones he began his climb. He had just reached the edge of the shingles when he heard the sound of guards down below. Wild must have taken longer than he thought to climb up here. Pulling himself onto the roof he peeked over the side. No one seemed to have seen him.

Perfect. He could hang out up here all day with nothing but himself and the sound of the flag snapping in the wind. It was a good thing that the Sheikah Slate had snacks.

Wind hadn’t gone very far from the dining hall. In fact, he had actually gone back into it.

Not through the door, of course, that would just be stupid. No, he had gone outside of the castle to the gardens that the hall overlooked.

Wind selected a partially open window near the ceiling and climbed his way in. He made almost no noise, but it didn’t matter. The people down below were all deep in conversation. Probably planning how to find them.

He almost laughed, but held it back, lest he give himself away. Wind would have to remember to be more careful.

The pirate cautiously inched his way from the window to the rafters crisscrossing around him. It was almost too easy.

In a normal game of manhunt, Wind would have found a trusty barrel to hide in, but he also knew just how competitively he took the game and how competitively the others took it as well.

It was going to go on forever. Luckily, he had a way to pass the time!

Wind eyed the swords on the guards’ backs and the helmets on their heads. He wondered just how much he could get away with pickpocketing them before they noticed.

The sailor laid low against and beams on the ceiling and waited as they plotted below.

Sky wasn’t really sure where he wanted to hide. He had never played this game before, although he did understand the concept of it. Maybe he should introduce it to the children of Skyloft. Would that cause a paradox? Eh, he didn’t really care.

As he wandered the castle grounds, a soft clucking sound came from his left. He looked over and saw a cucco pecking at the ground.

He loved these adorable birds!

The Chosen Hero made his way over and discovered even more of the tiny birds. He scooped one up in his arms and stroked it’s back. The cucco fluffed its feathers in pleasure.

Sky noticed a small structure within the confines of the cucco’s pen. There was a little hatch, most likely for the birds, and a larger door made for the access of Hylians. He pushed open the door and stepped inside.

The beady eyes of all the fowl inside locked onto him and all the noise in the room came to a standstill, but then the birds caught sight of the happy cucco in Sky’s arms and the clucking began once again.

Huh, a bit odd, but this place would do for a hiding spot. The Skyloftian closed the door behind him and made his way over to one of the corners. He wrapped his sailcloth around himself began to feel a bit drowsy. He closed his eyes and let the sound of bird squawks lull him to sleep.

Blue had ditched his brothers a while ago. He had no idea where he was going, but he knew that he was not going to lose to any of them! If there was one thing that Blue was, it was competitive. Okay, well maybe it was hotheaded, but then definitely competitive.

He had made his way to the basement of the palace in search of some out of the way nook that he could hide in.

Blue took a look around. It was all weapons. It figured that the storage of a warring kingdom would be dedicated to their armory and on any other day he would love nothing more than to try all of them out, but today was not any other day.

The walls of blades and other assorted weapons glinted back at him, revealing the bare stone beneath.

Blue punched the wall in frustration. It felt good to get his anger out. He did it again and again.

Suddenly, the stone underneath his fist gave way. Did he break it!? A section of the wall swung out and it was only then that Blue noticed the faint scratches on the ground indicating the path of the door.

Here goes nothing, he thought, as he stepped into the passageway and the door slide shut behind him.

Time had kind of been hoping for a chance to relax today. Granted, he could totally forfeit the game, but who in their right mind would do that? No, out of sheer stubbornness he was going to stick this through.

A day off from the boys would be nice though. The others always said that he was the ‘dad’ of the group, but that simply wasn’t true. He only looked out for them and made sure that they were okay emotionally and physically. Definitely not their father.

He passed by a lake a suddenly, an idea formed in his head. Maybe he could relax and hide at the same time!

Time pulled the Zora Tunic from his bag and swapped it out with his armor. Next, he traded out his normal boots for the Iron Boots. He had debated whether or not to use his Zora Mask but decided against it. He hadn’t used any of his masks in years and He wasn’t about to today.

One impressive backflip later, Time was sinking to the bottom of the water with no effort.

He was going to win this game and show his boys how it was done. And he was going to get a nap done while doing it!

Vio laughed quietly to himself as his brothers rushed off. He waited until they were out of eyesight before slowing down to a walk. Spending all of his free time in the library had its benefits. One of these happened to be the location of a great hiding spot.

He quietly pushed open the door, mindful of the others inside, and made his way to the back of the large room where he knew that the history books were located. This was also where his spot was.

At the end of the shelf, another stack met with the first one to form a corner. If Vio was correct, which he usually was, there wasn’t anything behind the corner, leaving a space big enough for him to fit into.

The purple hero felt bad as he scaled the shelves to get to the top. He really hoped that he hadn’t stepped on any books. Once there, Vio gazed down at the rectangle of space hidden from the outside world.

It wasn’t by any means a very creative spot, but it was just obvious enough that he hoped the soldiers wouldn’t think to look there.

Bracing his arms and legs against the sides of the wood and the wall, Vio slide down carefully into his hiding place. It was times like these that he was enviable of Shadow’s ability to fade into his namesake and simply disappear.

No worries though. Vio pulled the first of many books from his bag. There was just enough light coming from the cracks in the shelves to read by. He had come prepared for a long stay.

Legend pitied the poor fools who went up against him. It wasn’t that they were bad at hiding, oh no. The Champion and the Traveler could disappear into the forest if they wanted to. He pitied them because they simply didn’t have the arsenal that he possessed.

The Veteran mulled through the possibilities in his head. Oh, there were so many options.

As he was walking, a small door set into the wall caught his eye. It was one of the castle’s many dumbwaiters used to bring food and laundry quickly between the floors

Legend opened the door and peered inside. The contraption itself was missing, on another floor most likely, and there were only the ropes that it hung on swaying slightly. That wasn’t a problem though, Legend had other ideas.

The Hoarder glanced down at his wrist and the bracelet from Ravio glinted back. A smirk formed on Legend’s face. This was almost too easy.

He waited by the dumbwaiter for a bit, not wanting to use up his magic too quickly and eventually heard the sounds of oncoming guards.

Without a second thought, Legend reopened the door and activated his bracelet. The dumbwaiter’s door clanged shut and the Vet winced at the sound, but he was little more than a painting inked along the shaft’s wall.

Red hummed to himself as he took a stroll through the forest. What qualified as the castle grounds was part of a very large wooded area and the hero took this to his advantage. Earlier, he had run away from the others, fueled by their passion to win, but now, he was content with just walking the woods.

Red wasn’t as competitive as his brothers. Hylia knew the shouting matches they could get into over the smallest of things. (This week’s topic was who left Four’s headband out in the rain. Blue blamed the rest of them for doing it, only to find out that he was the one who had done it). If he didn’t win, then that was okay with him.

A whimper sounded out from behind the red hero and he spun around. What greeted him was a bear cub that was very obviously hurt. A cry of concern tumbled from Red’s lips and he carefully made his way over, warry of the potential threat that was the mama bear somewhere.

The cub was favoring its front left paw more than its right and Red could see why. There was a nasty cut along the bottom of it, likely from stepping on thorns or a sharp rock. He dug around his bag and pulled out a roll of bandages and his emergency red potion, all without taking his eyes off of the animal.

Carefully, oh so carefully, the hero held the injured paw in his hands and wrapped the wound with a potion soaked bandage. Once he was done, the baby bear seemed much happier already and nuzzled its head into Red’s arms.

His laugh of delight was cut short as a much larger bear came ambling out of the nearby trees. However, instead of attacking as he expected, the creature gave him a look over and spotted the cub still in his arms.

It shuffled closer and Red gently put a hand on its head. Wild rode bears all the time, thought the red hero. How hard could it honestly be?

Warriors knew that he should be able to win this. They were in his Hyrule after all. It was actually because they were in his Hyrule that he was able to do what he was about to.

A little while back during the war, Warriors had to pose as a last-minute body double for Artemis. No one had noticed the switch (well, except for Impa, but she wasn’t playing so he was safe) and Wars was hoping to be able to pull the same thing off today.

His only problem would be if he ran into Artemis and her trainees were with her. That could get awkward, but he’d deal with it later. For now, he needed to steal one of her dresses and find the long blond wig that matched.

Warriors was grateful for his status as the hero in this era. No one questioned why he was going into more restricted parts of the castle. At last, he arrived at Artemis’ private quarters. The old wig was stashed in his room, but he had given the outfit back.

The usual Sheikah guards posted outside the door let him pass with a nod. He smirked to himself, it was almost too easy.

Shutting the door behind him with a soft click, Warriors gave the room a once over. He had been in a few times in the past, but the amount of clothes that women seemed to possess always astounded him. Sure Wild and Legend had more outfits than they knew what to do with and he himself had quite a few, but Artemis owned things that he had never seen her wear, ever, and there were multiples in different colors too!

He selected a simple dress akin to what she usually wore and headed back to his own room. The wig was where he had left it last, bundled in the bottom of the closet where he thought that he would never see it again. Guess he was wrong.

Warriors finished getting changed and out of the corner of his eye, he could see some of the trainees in the courtyard down below through the window. He really hoped that his acting skills would pay off.

Hyrule wasn’t exactly the top gremlin in the group. That spot belonged solely to Wild. However, he had worked his way up through the ranks, taking influence from Wind and Four, listening to the Old Man, and even just hanging out with Wild. He planned to use his newfound gremliness for the game.

Hyrule had never played manhunt before, but listening to the description of the game, it sounded an awful lot like his world. Hide from the monsters who wanted his blood, run when they saw him, and don’t let them catch you because then they’ll kill you. It sounded about right.

The trip into the forest was pretty quick and Hyrule did a search for what he was looking for, fairies. He spent as long as possible on this, not wanting to be caught in the woods unprepared once the hour was up.

During his collection, Hyrule could have sworn that he saw a flash of red that looked suspiciously like Red’s tunic, but he didn’t question it.

After some time, the Traveler had gotten a small swarm of the little creatures to follow him and he deemed that enough. He shrunk down to his fairy form and joined the others, no longer as small, and told them his plan.

A few minutes later, the fairies took off toward the palace in a tight huddle. Hyrule watched them go. He wasn’t with them. No, he’d be staying in the woods as a fairy hidden among the trees. He hoped that the swarm he had sent off would be enough of a distraction for the guards to try chasing it, thinking that he was inside.

Green knew exactly what his brothers would do. You spend years inside of the same head with three other people and you get to know them pretty well.

Blue would obviously try to out-compete them all and end up doing nothing productive.

Red would go for a much gentler approach, but would probably get sidetracked.

And Vio, actually Vio could go one of two ways. He would either outsmart everyone or he would call everyone’s bluff and make them think that they were outsmarting him. It made Green’s head hurt to think about it too much.

The green hero’s plan was much simpler. He was just going to stay Minish sized and hopefully find some of the little creatures while he was at it.

He activated the magic in the earring that hung from his left ear. The familiar sensation of growing tiny surrounded him as the forest floor came closer and closer.

Taking in his new surroundings, Green set off, looking for any signs of Minish in Warrior’s Hyrule.

Twilight was the last Link out of the dining hall. He played manhunt all the time with the kids back in Ordon Village, it was one of their favorite games. It also meant that he knew how to cheat. Well, technically he wouldn’t be cheating since items were allowed.

Whenever he was the seeker, Twi would use his shadow crystal to shift into his wolf form and sniff out the children, changing back before he got too close. The same worked for when he was hiding, smelling whoever got close and then bolting from his spot.

The team had found out about his alter ego as the lovingly named ‘Wolfie’ earlier in their adventure together, but he didn’t think that the castle guards here knew about it.

Actually, Midna had helped Warriors in the war, so she could have spilled something. He wasn’t too sure. Either way though, he would have more advantages as Wolfie than a Hylian.

The Rancher halted his train of thoughts as the warmth of the sunlight hit him. He had made it out of the palace. Grabbing the crystal around his neck, Twilight let the magic envelop him. In his place stood a huge wolf who promptly ran off into the forest.

Chapter Text

Artemis gave her trainees the good to go. The soldiers had been trying to come up with some sort of plan for the past hour, but she knew that it wouldn’t do them any good. The stories that she had heard from the other Links about their prison escapes and hiding in plain sight made her think that the guards would have a challenge.

That was the point though. Let the soldier get some training, while also keeping the Links busy. Artemis was pretty sure that a group of bored Links could probably end the world and she wasn’t too keen on testing that thought.

Her plan was to wait here and go over some of the documents that she had been putting off. Artemis would act as the “jail” she supposed. The guards were supposed to bring the boys back to her when they found and caught them.

Artemis vaguely wondered how long that would take as the trainees filed out of the room.

A figure slipped down from the ceiling and waved to her. She waved back to Wind as he too left the hall, trailing behind like a shadow. She chuckled to herself, the soldiers were so underprepared for what they were about to face.

The six guards had decided that their best course of action would be to split up into pairs. They would be hopelessly outnumbered in a one on one situation and going as a full group would be impractical, but they stood a chance as duos.

Alys eyed her partner, Dorian if she remembered correctly. She had only joined the army this month and had not expected this to be one of her first training exercises.

A flash of motion caught the guard’s gaze and she resisted the urge to look up.

“I just saw some movement on the roof,” Alys murmured. “Don’t look now, but I think that one of them is up there.”

“Got it,” Dorian responded in agreement. “We should head up there then. Are you afraid of heights?”

“No. You?”

“Nope, let’s go climb on the roof then!”

A long trek up lots and lots of stairs later, the two knights were hit with a roadblock.

“How did he even get up there?” Alys wondered out loud. Dorian merely gave her an exhausted shrug, too out of breath from climbing all the stairs. They had gone up to the highest point that the castle had to offer, the tallest tower, and couldn’t figure out how to exit it. If there really was someone on the roof, then they should be right above them.

“What if we broke a window?” Suggested Dorian. Alys gaped at him. “Not the whole thing! Just the latch, then maybe we could swing it out enough to get out.”

“Okay, fine,” She conceded. Taking her sword, the trainee wedged it between the window frame and where it attached to the stone. A moment later, they both watched in horror as the entire bottom half of the window went crashing down the roof.

“That will work too,” Her partner said, brushing past her out the new hole in the wall. Once the two were both out, they looked up at the roof of the tower. The Link with long blond hair and scars was leaning back against the flagpole, apple core in hand.

“It took you long enough,” He told them. “Nice entrance too by the way. Usually, reckless destruction is my thing, but even I was more graceful than that getting up here.” Alys watched as the apple core disappeared with a flash a blue and he stood there with a smug look on his face.

“Let’s get him!” Cried Dorian and the raced for handholds on the tower walls. The Link above only laughed. Alys made it up to the roof first and scrambled to get over the lip. The caped man only gave her a cheeky salute and she watched as he literally jumped off the side of the tower!

Alys hauled herself up as Dorian was getting onto the edge. The two watched as the retreating figure snapped open a paraglider from nowhere just before hitting the ground.

Damn, so close.

Quinn and Tristan had been searching for over an hour already and they had yet to find anybody.

“Maybe we should take a break back at the guardroom?” Suggested Tristan. Quinn agreed with him. They shouldn’t have tried to skip out of so many conditioning days. A trip to the guardroom and a cold glass of water later and they were ready to go.

Suddenly, a section of the wall swung open, nearly hitting Quinn and knocking him off his chair.

“Fuck!” Came the startled cry from both the knight on the ground and the stranger standing in the new doorway. He pushed himself off the ground and joined his partner in chasing the kid down the hidden corridor. The Link had an all-blue ensemble and chin-length blond hair held back by a headband.

All too suddenly, the hallway ended in what appeared to be a blank wall.

“Aw, what the hell! Come on!” Yelled the Link as he slammed into it. “There should be a door here!”

Oh well, it was good enough for Quinn. He reached forward and tapped the guy on the shoulder.

“Tag. Come on, you have to come back with us now.”

The guy muttered profanities under his breath about everything from the passageway, to them, to his brothers as Quinn and Tristan led him back to the guardroom.

Artemis looked up from her papers to see two of her trainees leading Blue into the dining hall. He did not look happy at all! After noticing that he was the first caught too, his rage seemed to intensify.

“Good work you two,” She told the boys. “I’ll look after Blue for now. You all still have 11 more to catch after all.”

Quinn and Tristan looked rather disheartened at this. She didn’t blame them, it had been over an hour and a half before the first Link was caught after all. The morning was still upon them.

“If you want to take your rage out on something, I would suggest doing something less destructive, but scream all that you want,” Artemis said as she caught the smith attempting to smash a bench with his hammer.

Blue grumbled, but obliged by sitting down and face planting onto the table. He didn’t pick his head up, but she could hear muffled screaming coming from him.

Robin and Katelyn were going nuts. The longer that they looked, the more that whoever was following them took. At first, it was just little things such as some coins or a letter from a pocket, but now, Robin was missing their helmet and Katelyn’s sword had disappeared long ago.

“Seriously, how did they even get my helmet without me noticing!?” Complained Robin. “It was literally on my head!” The pair had taken to trying to watch behind them at all times, but even that strategy had failed them once the bigger items were stolen.

Suddenly, a coin plinked onto the floor by Katelyn’s boots and she picked it up. The sound of muttered cursing came from the direction of where the coin had fallen. Robin looked up and they saw a figure, presumably one of the Links, hidden among the rafters. The glint of a familiar helmet sat upon his head and there were two swords sheathed on his back.

Of course, they would have missed when he took their stuff, neither had thought to look up! Although Robin did have to give the kid props, he had still managed to swindle them of their things without either noticing.

No longer trying to be stealthy, the Link dropped down from the ceiling into a roll and began sprinting away from them.

“Come on!” They yelled and started chasing after the boy, but Katelyn started going the other direction.

“I know a shortcut to cut him off up ahead,” She called behind her. “Keep going and we can trap him between us.”

Robin nodded and picked up the pace. A flash of blond hair could be seen in the distance. The sound of their boots against the stone floor was the only thing that they could hear. Robin lunged out with their hand and attempted to tag the Link, only for him to expertly dodge and spin away, right into the waiting Katelyn who had popped out of a side hallway not a moment too soon.

“Tag!” She said.

“Uhg, fine,” The thief said in defeat. He held a hand out for her to shake. “Good game.” She took it and when they pulled away, the Link held up a shiny gold ring between two fingers.

“Hey! That’s my engagement ring!” Cried, Katelyn.

“You should really watch your stuff better,” Scolded the kid. “Otherwise, someone might take it from you.” Robin rolled their eyes and put a hand on the guy’s shoulder.

“Alright, let’s go. Back to Zelda with you.”

The sound of the door opening made Artemis look up for the second time that morning. Wind decked out with a knight’s helmet and two swords was being led into the hall by some of her soldiers who seemed to be missing those exact objects.

“Oh come on Wind,” She scolded. “Give them back their things.” The sailor sighed, but did as he was told, taking off the helmet and unsheathing the extra weapon, he then began emptying his pockets. She watched in amazement as he pulled out a hefty bag of coins, multiple pieces of paper, a small dagger, a pocket watch, and a handkerchief.

“Hang on, I’m not done yet.” He told them as he grabbed his bag and rooted through it. Out came a notebook and pen, a couple of waterskins, and a bracelet.

“That stuff isn’t even all ours,” Commented Robin.

“I know. I took some of this while you guys were all leaving the dining hall,” The kid told them. “I just happened to pick your group after you split up.”

“Anyways, back to work Katelyn and Robin, there are ten more to catch. Wind, Tetra had mentioned that you were helping her set up the new kingdom of Hyrule last time she was here. Would you mind looking over something with me and giving your opinion on it?”

“Sure why not!” The trainees took this as their cue to leave and go back on the hunt. Those poor people had no idea how long this game was going to take.

Tristan and Quinn were still riding high after their win against Blue. The first knights to catch a Link, now that was an accomplishment!

Suddenly, the sound of a slight crashing noise came from down the hallway. Peering around the corner, Tristan could see the door of the dumbwaiter slipping open and an exhausted-looking figure coming out. The Link hadn’t noticed him, so he quickly pulled his head back and turned to his partner.

“There’s one in the hallway and he looks pretty tired!” Whispered the trainee excitedly.

“Alright! Let’s get him!” Agreed Quinn quietly. They both crept over to the corner of the hallway and Tristan could hear the Link muttering something to himself, but he could only pick out the phrases ‘magic levels’ and ‘too low’, whatever those meant.

“Now!” Cried Quinn and the duo sprinted forward and the guy immediately spun around and smirked. Huh, that was not the reaction that he would have thought two opponents running at you would warrant.

Just as suddenly as he thought this, Tristan went crashing down and Quinn fell on top of him. The floor beneath their feet had become solid ice. The Link twirled an elemental rod in one hand as he cackled like a maniac.

Every time they tried to get their footing, the slippery ice would send them tumbling again.

“Well, it was nice seeing you, but I have to go now,” Called out the pink-haired man as he walked away. “Have fun ice skating or falling, your choice!”

As Tristan and Quinn attempted to scoot their way off the ice, the sound of mocking whistling drifted further and further away before stopping altogether. And to think of how well they had done the first time!

Katelyn and Robin weren’t doing so well. They had gotten lucky that Wind had not only been following them but had also slipped up in doing so. Trying to find a Link that didn’t want to be found was much, much harder in her opinion.

The sound of footsteps came from down the corridor and Robin grinned at her, but it quickly faded as Zelda rounded the corner. She gave them a nod as they saluted her and then kept walking.

“I thought that we had one there,” Admitted Robin. “I didn’t realize that she had left the dining hall.”

“Me either,” Katelyn confessed. “Although I thought that she was wearing a different dress than that.” Suddenly, realization dawned on Robin’s face.

“Oh Hylia! Zelda was!” They cried out. “That was probably a Link!” 

Shit! It was most likely their Link too since he looked the most like the queen! She quickly ran in the direction that the imposter Zelda had gone, but there was no one to be seen. Katelyn let out a groan of frustration.

It had taken them another hour, but Dorian and Alys had finally caught back up to the scarred Link. After paragliding from the roof, he had run away through the gardens and toward the woods on the castle grounds.

Alys had suggested taking the more dangerous route down the roof and Dorian agreed. If they wanted to find him, then they couldn’t let the Link get too far ahead.

It was much more difficult to time their jumps from rooftop to rooftop, but somehow, the pair managed and they were able to cut down on the time taken to get to the gardens. Some more searching later and the figure of the person that they were tracking could be seen in a tree. He probably hadn’t expected them to get down from the roof so fast.

The capped man bolted up as they approached, but didn’t leave the tree. This time, Dorian and Alys were prepared. She began climbing the tree, but Dorian waited patiently below for if he tried the paragliding trick again.

Once Alys had gotten close, the Link did indeed do just that and he took off with Dorian close on his heels.

A top of a hill was soon approaching and the Link let out a laugh. A shield materialized in his hand and he hopped onto it and Dorian watched as he began surfing down the incline with it. Not too long after though, a sharp crack echoed through the forest and the shield snapped into two pieces sending its rider tumbling down the hill.

All Dorian had to do was run normally and reach the bottom. At his feet lay a dazed Link.

“Tag,” He told the guy, helping him up.

The third interruption came as Dorian and Alys brought Wild into the dining hall. This one actually surprised Artemis, she hadn’t thought that the Champion would be found this early into the game.

“Really Wild?” She teased. “Caught so soon?”

“Blame my destructive habits,” He told her, holding up two shield pieces in response. She shot him a questioning glance. “I tried to get away by shield surfing and it would have worked, but my shield broke instead.”

“Oh, I see. Well, in that case, you can come join Blue and Wind. We’ve been having some great conversations about politics.”

Blue and Wind both looked dead on the inside after having to sit through an hour of that and they had been staring at a wall with no emotion, but upon seeing Wild, the Links had perked up a bit. The Champion went to go join his teammates and the trainees left to go find another target.

After the failed attempt at catching the pink-haired Link, Quinn was a little bit disappointed, but he and Tristan decided to mix things up a bit and check outside. At this point, the sun was nearing the afternoon and only three Links had been found.

“Uh, there are so many trees!” Groaned Tristan. “It will take forever to find someone at this rate!”

Whatever Quinn was about to say was cut off by the rapid noises of branches snapping and heavy, thundering footsteps drawing closer and closer. Out of the trees came a huge bear with a small Hylian dressed in red perched upon its back.

“Oh shit! Run!” was what Quinn decided on saying.

The sound of joyous laughter came from the Link and as they were running, he could swear that he heard the kid say: “the best defense is a good offense!” If so, Quinn wasn’t arguing with that. You can’t tag a person if the person is too dangerous to get close to.

The bear, being much faster than two Hylians, was quickly gaining on the knights.

“I have an idea!” Tristan shouted between breaths. “I’m going to try to get on the bear’s back and tag the kid that way.”

“That sounds like a terrible idea!” Up ahead, there was a chain hanging from a beam, the long-ago work forgotten. “Don’t you dare do it, Tristan.”

“I’m going to do it!” And he did, taking a running leap, Tristan grabbed the chain and swung in an arcing loop back toward the bear. The bear plowed by, but the knight didn’t stop. Tristan kept going into a pile of hay, disappearing deep inside the stack.

“Oh for the love of everything that’s good and holy,” Muttered Quinn. “Why am I doing this?” Taking a page from his partner’s playbook, he took and leap of faith, skipping the chain entirely and just barely clearing the bear’s back. Flying into the Link on board, Quinn’s momentum knocked them both off and the animal ran away, back into the forest.

“Aw,” Pouted the red hero. “I was having so much fun.” The Link’s mood brightened instantly through like a switch had been flipped. “Great job tagging me! That was really impressive and brave!”

“Oh um, thanks. Come on, you can help me dig my partner out of the hay.”

“Oh good!” Said Artemis, noticing her last two trainees approaching. “You two were the last two that I needed.”

Gathered around her were the four other knights, Wild, Blue, and Wind. Tristan and Quinn joined the group, bringing Red along with them.

“So, where were you hiding?” Asked Wind.

“I wasn’t really hiding,” Replied Red. “More of trying not to get caught.”

“He was riding a Hylia-damned bear!” Interjected Quinn.

“Nice!” Commented the Champion. “Was it on fire?”

“You can do that?” There was a dangerous excited gleam to Red’s eyes.

“Of course you can!”

Before the conversation could go on about flaming woodland creatures anymore, she cleared her throat. Everyone turned their attention to the queen.

“I want to make a rule change,” She told them. “Links will now be allowed to help the trainees search for their teammates. If you don’t get their help, then there is a good chance that this game will never end.”

Artemis divided the boys between the groups that the soldiers had made. Wild went with Dorian and Alys, Wind went with Robin and Katelyn, and the smiths went with Quinn and Tristan.

“Good luck. You’re going to need it.”

Chapter Text

Wild had his group lead him out of the palace. He was looking for Hyrule and he knew that the Traveler would never hide inside. Before they could leave though, a swarm of fairies came flying around the corner.

Dorian and Alys took one look at each other before running off after the swarm. The cook facepalmed. He hadn’t taught Hyrule how to make decoys for nothing! 

Continuing his path out of the palace, Wild really wished that he had a way to track people as some the others did. Unfortunately, both Twilight and Sky were still hiding, so he wouldn’t be getting any help from them. There was a way that he could hopefully find his friend though.

Grabbing a fairy from his slate, he released the creature and caught it in a cupped hand.

“I don’t know if you can understand me,” He told it. “But I need your help with something non-healing related. Would it be possible to locate fairy magic at all? I don’t want to catch any more of you, but I do need help finding someone.”

The fairy buzzed in his hand, then hovered for a moment before bobbing ahead, making sure that Wild could still follow. He hoped that this worked and that the fairy wasn’t just leading him on.

“So, did you get around to checking the grounds yet?” Asked Blue.

“Our search was cut short by a certain someone riding a bear,” Replied Tristan. “We didn’t actually get that far.” Red giggled at that.

“Did you see anyone while hiding or know where they might be?” Inquired Quinn. The colors thought about it for a second.

“I didn’t see anyone.”

“Me either.”

“But, OH!”

“What is it?”

“What about with the animals?”

“Is this just your excuse to see the animals, Red?”

“Maybe,” The red hero said sheepishly. “But Twilight likes animals too! And besides, the knights haven’t finished checking the grounds yet!”

With that decided, the group made their way over to the many pens and stables used to house the livestock. They decided to split up and make the search go quicker by checking different pens. Tristan started with the sheep and after finding no one there, moved on to help Quinn with the goats. Ditto there.

That meant that there was only one animal left that no one had checked. The cuccos. All four stared at the coup. Red and Blue had open terror on their faces and they refused to take another step closer to the birds.

“What’s so scary about some dumb birds?” Teased Tristan.

“Dumb birds?” Hissed Quinn. “Have you ever seen a cucco attack before?”

“Well, I’ve heard the stories, but that’s all just a bunch of bullshit. You can’t possibly expect me to believe that these creatures are killers right?” The other three looked at him like he had grown a second head.

“Alrighty then,” Smirked Blue. “You can go in and check for any Links by yourself.” The trainee rolled his eyes and made his way over to the coup. Putting a hand on the door, all noise stopped within. He was getting a bad feeling about this, but he didn’t want to look like a coward, he was a knight of Hyrule after all!

Pushing open the door, every pair of beady eyes locked onto him, except for one fast asleep being held in the arms of an equally tired Link. Tristan bolted over to the man, grabbed his shoulder, and babbled out “Tag!” as quickly as he could.

Before he knew it, he was met with a now awake and very angry Link who just so happened to be in favor with the cuccos.

Quinn watched in both horror and awe as his partner came sprinting out of the coup faster than he had ever seen before, screaming “you were fucking right”, and with an entire flock of the birds behind him. A moment later, a grumpy looking Link was in the doorway with a cucco cradled in his arms. Almost immediately though, his mood brightened when he caught sight of the brothers.

“Hey, Sky!” Called out Red, giving him a wave. Sky waved back and gently put the cucco down.

“Can you believe that he woke me up?” He asked as he walked over to them.

“By the size of that flock, I’d say yes,” Blue answered. Quinn regarded Sky with the same respect and terror he associated with Linkle. Anyone who could control those hellspawn was a force to be reckoned with.

“Um, would you mind calling them off?” Quinn finally asked. “I kind of need my partner alive and I think that Tristan’s learned his lesson by now.”

“Oh, Goddesses yes! I’m so sorry about that! I really am a different person when I get woken up.” Behind him, the trainee could hear Blue mutter:

“We should just do that to Dark Link. Have him wake up Sky and boom, a one-hit KO.”

“So, you’re telling me that you saw Warriors, but that you didn’t realize it until it was too late?” Wind asked the guards. They both nodded. “And he’s also dressed as Artemis?” Again, more nodding. The sailor was impressed by Wars’ ability to disguise himself, either that or the soldiers’ stupidity.

He wouldn’t put it past palace guards of any era to miss some pretty basic things. The most obvious of these would be the fact that the Captain was dressed up as the queen. Now, Wind’s time period had only just established a kingdom, but even he knew what happened when there was a threat to the castle.

The royalty must be moved to a safe place and because of such, they have to be found first. The pirate told them this and was met with confused stares.

“How are we going to do that?” and “Is that even allowed?” were blurted out at the same time. Wind sighed.

“Listen. There was nothing in the rules about getting outside help, also this will force Warriors to break his disguise or play along like he is Artemis. Knowing him, he’ll choose the second option. As for the threat, leave that up to me.”

Wind led the soldiers to the guardroom and they waited. Soon, a handful of guards came in and the pirate raised the Wind Waker. He quickly played the Command Melody and they were all under his control. Weak-minded fools.

“All right, let’s go. We have a mutiny to stage!”

The swarm of fairies was fast, but Dorian and Alys were able to keep them in their sights as they twisted and turned throughout the hallways. They had lost Wild at some point, but they weren’t going back for him now.

The fairies led them through an open door and into a room that was very obviously a library. They flew away from the knights and as far back and high in the room as they could get.

“How are we supposed to get them now?” Wondered Dorian. The soldiers had gone as far back in the stacks as they could, but the ceiling was too high for them to reach by standing by on a chair or table.

“What if we climb up onto the tallest thing here?” Provided Alys. “If we can get on top of the shelves, then that might work.” The bookshelves were indeed high and Dorian and Alys might have a shot at reaching the group to look for any Links.

“Okay, after you then.” Alys began scaling the shelves, being careful not to ruin any of the novels.

“It should hold your weight if you’re wary of where you climb,” She told him. “In the meantime, I’ll see if I can get close to the fairies.”

The creatures in question had backed into the corner, huddled in a tight group. Dorian began hauling himself up as Alys made her way to the corner of the shelves.

“Ah, shit! There’s no corner!” Complained his partner.

“Try going as far to the edge as you can,” Dorian told her. “See if that helps.”

Alys did as she was directed and when she looked down to check her feet, she let out a whispered laugh.

“I think that we can forget the fairies for now. Hold my feet would you?” Before Dorian could stop her, Alys was already crouching down and he rushed over to grab her feet and keep her from falling. As he did so, she leaned back into the gap and was just barely able to reach the figure sitting down below.

The Link in purple smirked and put his heavy book in his bag. Dorian pulled Alys back up as the hero helped himself out.

“I was beginning to wonder how long it would take you to find me. Who else is out already?”

“Well, first was Blue, then Wind, then Wild, and lastly Red.” He counted off on his fingers. “I don’t know if the others found anyone else though.”

“Two out of three brothers isn’t bad,” Mused the Link as they climbed back down the stacks.

The fairy had brought Wild to a dense part of the forest before bolting off and leaving him all alone. He knew that he wasn’t alone though, something with fairy magic was in these woods, he just had to find it.

That was simple. Hyrule thought that he could out gremlin the Champion, but no one out gremlins the master.

Wild knew that the Links who had been found were allowed to help look for the others, but Hyrule didn’t.

“Hey ‘Rule?” He called out. “You out here? I got out, but I want to help you hide so that you can win the game, okay?”

A flutter of movement caught his eye and a fairy popped into view.

“Wild!” Hyrule said in a high pitched voice.

“Hey, Traveler!” The Champion held out his hand and the fairy flew over to stand on it.

“How did you get out already?”

“Let’s just say that I wanted to shield surf, but the shield did not want to cooperate.”

“Huh, that’s unfortunate, but I was kind of expecting an answer like that. I’d actually be surprised if the knights had just been able to catch you.”

“Me too! If they were getting too close, I was planning on using stasis on them, but I wiped out before I could do anything.”

“That sounds more like you. How are you helping me to hide? I had a pretty good spot, but I guess that it wasn’t that good if you were able to find me.”

“Oh no, it was a great spot and the diversion worked on the knights in my gr- area,” Wild had to stop himself from saying group. “They were convinced that there was a Link in the fairy swarm. Well done my apprentice.”

“Hey! I’m not your apprentice! If anything, I’m the master.”

“Oh really? Well, in that case, I have one word for you.”

“What?”

“Tag.” Hyrule stared at Wild for a second before shifting back to human form and putting his hands on his hips, betrayal showing across his features.

“What happened to helping me?”

“I got out and we were allowed to help tag,” He shrugged. “I thought that this would be funny.”

“Let’s see if you think that this is funny.” Hyrule threatened him. Crackling around his hands were blue bolts of lightning. The scarred Link gulped and put his hands up in surrender before spinning on his heel and sprinting away. The sound of Hyrule crashing through the brush could be heard behind him.

Robin was absolutely terrified of the kid that they had been paired up with. Not only had he taken control of the group of soldiers, but he had done it with ease. They didn’t want to know what Wind planned on doing with them.

The Pirate halted the group in the courtyard and turned to face the trainees.

“Where would the queen be brought if she needed to be taken to a safe place?”

“Probably the safe room in the basement. There’s a web of secret passageways that Zelda could be taken out of if the room was ever under attack.” Answered Katelyn.

“Perfect!” He cried, a little too happy at that statement. “You two go wait there and hopefully our ‘queen’ should be brought down shortly.”

They hurried off with Katelyn to the designated safe zone and prayed to Hylia that Wind wasn’t about to do something stupid.

Oh, Wind was being so fucking stupid and it was fantastic. The idiot had managed to convince a group of soldiers to help him break down the drawbridge and lower all of the gates that closed off the castle from outsiders, screaming “This is a fucking mutiny!” the entire time. It was great.

Not only was Warriors now being escorted to the castle safe room because the guards thought that he was Artemis, but all outsiders would be banned from entering. The Pirate had just given him the biggest get out of jail free card and he hadn’t even realized it!

The Captain was still smirking to himself as the magically enhanced door was sealed behind him, locking him and a handful of trusted guards inside of the lavishly furnished area. Seriously, royalty were so well taken care of, it was crazy! There were several smaller rooms within the large one and it looked like there was enough furniture and provisions to allow a group of people to live comfortably for some time.

“Please wait here your majesty,” One of the guards told Warriors. “We’re going to do a perimeter sweep and check that you’re secure in here.”

“Of course, go right ahead,” He said in his best Artemis voice. He internally cringed at how it sounded, but he kept a smile on his face and let out a slight cough. “Sorry, I must have a little bit of a cold right now.”

The soldiers merely accepted this with a nod and left him alone. It was a good minute by himself before the Captain heard the sound of clothing moving behind him. He whirled around quickly and caught the hand that had been reaching for his shoulder.

“Tag,” Smirked the young guard who Warriors recognized as one of the trainees, Robin. “You walked right into our trap!”

“What trap could you have possibly…” He trailed off. Warriors thought back to Wind and his merry shenanigans that had seemed like nothing more than foolish endeavors at the time. “Of course, the sneaky little shit! He probably orchestrated the whole thing himself.”

“If you’re talking about Wind, then yes,” Said another knight, Katelyn, he thought. “This was all his idea.”

“Well, I guess I won’t be needing this anymore,” He told them, pulling the wig off his head and fluffing out his hair. “We should probably go tell the guards about our situation if we want to get out of here any time soon.”

It was well into the afternoon by now. Artemis had left the dining hall after being alerted to a situation with Wind and after clearing that up, had had to release a sheepish looking Captain from the safe room.

Honestly, these boys and their shenanigans. At least there were only five more left. All of the trainees had come in to check with her at some point to tell Artemis about who they had found.

Only Time, Green, Twilight, Hyrule, and Legend were left. All of them were strong contenders. Artemis remembered Time from when he went by Young Link and she had heard the stories about Twilight and Legend from her other comrades. Green and Hyrule were a bit of a wild card, but the boys had been to this era enough times for her not to underestimate them.

The Queen had no idea who the winner might be.

Her thoughts were cut off as a screaming Wild came barreling through the castle doors followed closely by an angry Hyrule with electricity crackling around his hands. They blew past her and continued down the hallways.

Nevermind, they were down to four.

Twilight had managed to keep himself concealed within the trees for the entire day and the warm sunlight was starting to make him drowsy. He was about to fall asleep when the sound of screaming caught his ears.

The wolf shot up instantly and bolted toward the palace. That sounded like Wild!

The clatter of claws and metal from his cuff scraped across the stone as he bounded through the passages, the noise getting louder around him.

At last, he nosed his way into a room and was met with quite literally, a shocking sight. Wild was wearing his stupid-looking rubber armor, while Hyrule zapped him with bolt after bolt of lightning.

“Are we even yet?” Screeched his Cub and it was then that Twilight realized his screams were that of laughter more than they were pain.

“No! I lost the game because of you traitor and…” The Traveler trailed off when he caught sight of Wolfie standing in the doorway. “It would appear that you can make it up to me.”

The Rancher tried to run away, but glowing chains of yellow trapped him in place as a faint ticking filled the room. The two friends shared a mischievous smirk, all past grievances forgotten. Hyrule walked over and booped Twilight on the nose.

“Tag, you’re out!” The chains around him vanished and the slight tap to the nose made his head move slightly.

“I hate you so much, Cub,” Said a very annoyed Rancher after he shifted back to Hylian form.

“Yeah, yeah, spare me the troubles. I’m making enemies left and right today, but it’s as they say, ‘Losers are fucking crybabies!’,” Wild told him.

“Who the fuck says that? And also, doesn’t that make you and ‘Rule crybabies too?”

“Nope. We’re beyond the limitations of mortals. Hyrule and I are gods.”

“And inspirational ones at that!” Chimed in the Traveler. The two high fived and walked out, leaving Twilight to wonder where in his descendants something went wrong.

Sky held the Master Sword out in front of him as he dowsed the area for Links. At some point, Quinn’s group had met up with Robin, Katelyn, Warriors, and Wind. The nine of them had trusted the Skyloftian with searching for the others.

At this point, there could be at least six left and they could be hiding anywhere.

“Okay, there are at least three signatures that I’m picking up that aren’t in our group. The first is coming from that patch of grounds,” He pointed to an area of forest with a lake in it. “The others are coming from the castle. There could be more out there, but they aren’t close by.”

Just when Sky finished telling them this, Dorian and Alys exited the palace with a Link in tow. He must be one of the people that the Chosen Hero had found.

“Hey, guys!” Called Alys. She waved to them and jogged over. “We found Vio and we ran into some of the others inside. Twilight and Hyrule are both out too.”

“That’s great! We found Sky and Warriors, so that means that there’s only three left to find,” Commented Quinn. “This is going way better than I thought.”

“Agreed. Why don’t we split up and try to find our missing friends,” Directed Warriors. “I can take a group to check out the lake and Sky can take a group into the castle to try and find the rest.”

With that settled, Warriors took Blue, Vio, and half of the knights with him, while Sky took the remaining guards and Links.

“Let’s finally end this!” Cheered Katelyn.

“There’s definitely someone in there,” Remarked Blue. He stared at the lake with its calm waters and murky depths. “Probably not Green, but Time and Legend have enough crap between them that it would definitely be possible.”

“Do any of you have items that would let you stay under?” Asked Robin. All three Links shook their heads.

Suddenly, Vio’s face lit up and he grabbed Blue’s bag.

“Hey! Give that back!” His brother continued to pull items out, ruining the careful organization that Blue had created. The purple hero shuffled through Blue’s hammer, bomb collection, and kin stones, before yanking something out of the bag.

“The magnetic glove? How is that supposed to help us get underwater?”

“It’s not,” Replied Vio. “It’s supposed to bring whoever’s underwater to us. Time wears a full suit of armor and Legend has more than enough jewelry. I would be worried if it was Green, but I don’t know how he would be down there.”

Curse Vio and his smartness, it was making Blue look bad. He snatched the item from his brother’s hand and walked over to the edge of the water. Activating the glove, Blue latched on to an object far below the calm surface. He really hoped that he was actually pulling in a Link and not some monster from the deep.

The sensation of being pulled by something woke Time from his nap. A quick look told him that he was being yanked by some invisible force through the water.

“What the hell?” He tried to say, but only bubbles came out. Right, he couldn’t do that here.

Murky blue gave way to clear sunshine as the surface loomed overhead. A few seconds later and he was pulled onto the banks by a very surprised looking Blue and a smug Warriors and Vio.

“He did tell you that it would work,” The Captain teased as Blue put away the odd glove with a grumble. Time got up and brushed the wet hair from his face as Vio put a hand on his shoulder.

“ Time to go help us with finding Green and Legend,” The smith said.

“Hylia, Violet! You’re just as bad as Green!” Groaned his brother.

A look of horror dawned on Vio's face when he realized what he’d said.

“Goddesses, I just made a pun. Don’t you dare tell him!”

“Well, as fun as this has been,” Cut in the Captain. “You can save the blackmailing for later. We’re not done yet and we only have about an hour before the sun goes down. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to have to look for them in the dark.”

Murmurs of agreement were spread throughout the group.

“If it helps,” Said one of the trainees. “Quinn and I saw Legend in the castle earlier. He was hiding in one of the dumbwaiters. It’s a long shot, but he could still be in the area.”

“It’s worth a shot. We can see if the Vet slips up at all.”

Legend slipped on the magic cape and watched from his vantage point as Sky, Red, Wind, Wild, Hyrule, and a wolf Twilight entered with a handful of soldiers. It was certainly quite the search party.

“You’re sure that this is the room?” He could hear Wind asking. Twilight shifted back and gave him a nod.

“His scent is strongest here,” The Rancher said. “Be careful though, I also smelt a lot of magic. I wouldn’t be surprised if he set up a trap.” Oh, Legend had absolutely set up a trap. Several of them to be exact. A sharp cry from Wind told him that the first had been set off already.

The Sailor was quickly trying to break his feet out of the ice that was creeping up his legs. Legend had left the nice ice rod concealed on the floor for just that reason. He watched as Wild handed the kid a flame blade from his Slate to melt away the trap, but the ice came back just as quickly as it was cleared, leaving the kid stuck. Ha! The fun was just getting started.

Next was the Quake Medallion. It knocked over everyone, but Twilight who managed to put on his iron boots and trudge over to deactivate it. Before he had managed that though, the chaos had caused Hyrule and some of the knights to fall into the bug net and get stuck. The Traveler turned into a fairy to escape, but the others weren’t so lucky.

Almost immediately after, Legend set off the final trap. Reaching into his pouch, he pulled out a jar with bees inside. Golden bees to be exact. Throwing off his cape, he threw the jar like one would a bomb and immediately ducked for cover behind a statue in the corner.

The result was chaos.

Wild had created a red force field of some sort and him, Sky, Red, Hyrule, and the remaining knight were all crammed underneath. The bees angrily attacked it as they were all stuck in one place. Legend laughed at their misfortune before quickly stopping when the noise had gone suspiciously quiet. He looked back over at his teammates. Someone was missing.

The Hoarder whirled around and was met with a glare from Twilight. It wasn’t as bad as one of Time’s, but he was getting there. In his hands, he held a new jar with all of the insects trapped inside.

Before Legend could escape, he was yanked backward by the Rancher.

“I’m keeping these now,” He told him. “I have a friend who will probably want them.”

The hunt had gone on into the night. It had gotten kind of cold outside, so Green ventured into the castle and waited in the dining hall. After some time, the other Links came in to eat dinner and discuss with each other.

“Where could he possibly be?” Questioned Sky. “I tried to find him by sword dowsing, but Fi kept saying that everyone was right here.”

“Same with me,” Said Twi. “I couldn’t pick up a trail with him.”

“How hard should this be!” Grumbled Wind. “He’s the last one left and we’ve been searching for forever.”

The last Link? Well, in that case, it was time to do the one thing he had always wanted to do. Ever since the fight on Death Mountain, Vio had always been the most dramatic out of the four. It was time for that to change.

Green crept carefully onto the table and waited for a good cue. It came in the form of Blue muttering:

“Please just fucking show yourself!”

The green hero quickly set off a small bomb that would do nothing more than create smoke and immediately grew to full size in the resulting cloud.

“You summoned me!” He cried out.

The end result was glorious. Several people had fallen out of chairs, the full extent of curse word vocabularies was being used, and Green was pretty sure that Warriors had accidentally stabbed Legend with his fork.

He loved playing games with his family.

The boys had left through a portal yesterday. Artemis could still vividly picture Green dramatically standing on a table laughing while his teammates had various stages of heart attacks around him.

Vio had congratulated him and begrudgingly handed over his title as most dramatic in the family.

She herself had kept her promise and given the smith his reward. She wasn’t surprised when the Link asked for the Gale Boomerang. According to his brothers, that was Green’s preferred weapon and a super-powered boomerang that he would be unable to make in a forge sounded pretty good.

It was the only one they had, but Artemis knew that they would need it in their upcoming battle. She hoped that he would use it responsibly, but after the events of Manhunt, she had no idea what she expected anymore.