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It was over. The last of the black-blooded monsters had been slain. It had been a little touch and go for a bit, no one had expected the Lizalfos to drop out of a portal right behind them, but they had adjusted and finished the fight.
Sky scanned the group, checking for any major injuries. Everyone looked to be ok, Hyrule was already starting to make rounds and pass out potions. He took a deep, shuddering breath, ignoring the squeezing feeling in his chest. Breathe Link, breathe, he told himself, closing his eyes and trying his best to focus on filling his lungs with air. He couldn’t have an attack, not here, not now, far away from home and the healers who knew how to help him. He hadn’t even told the rest of the group about his… condition, he didn’t want to be seen as weak. The squeezing in his chest got tighter and tighter, and Sky’s breaths became more and more shallow as he attempted to put air into his lungs. The air felt like molasses, and his chest constricted painfully, forcing the little oxygen that was there out in a gasp and he fell to his knees, trying to gulp down air to no avail.
“Sky? Sky, are you alright?” Sky could hear someone speaking to him, but he couldn't tell who. His surroundings started to dim, ears filled with the sound of his own desperate struggle for air. He could distantly hear people shouting his name, hands on his shoulders, but the battle was already lost, and Sky’s surroundings went dark.
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Sky woke up slowly, groaning as he reached up to rub his eyes. He seemed to be laying in a tent, and tried to remember how he had gotten here. “You’re awake! How’re you feeling?” Opening his eyes, Sky was met with the face of an excited but concerned Wind staring back at him.
“Uh,” Sky racked his brain, trying to figure out what had happened. They were fighting some moblins when those lizalfos showed up out of nowhere… was he injured? No, they had all finished the fight just fine, then why…
“Oi! Move over, let me check on him. Who’s the healer here?” Blond hair was replaced by brown, and Sky’s vision was filled with the kind eyes of Hyrule. “Hey Sky, you gave us quite a scare! How do you feel now?” A scare? What did he… Oh shit! He had an attack in front of the whole group!
“I’m sorry!” Sky blurted out, sitting up so fast Hyrule had to jump back to avoid a forehead collision. “I’m so sorry, I thought I had it under control, I didn’t mean to-”
“Woah woah woah, hold up for a second there Sky.” Twilight put a hand on his shoulder. “While it probably would have been smart to tell us about your asthma beforehand, you don’t need to apologize for it.”
Sky looked up at him, confused. “Asthma?”
“Is that not what you have?” Hyrule blinked, “That looked like a textbook asthma attack to me, but if there's something else I don’t know about then I apolog-”
“I… What’s asthma?” Sky could not recall a time where he had been more confused. What in Hylia’s name were they talking about?
The whole camp was silent for a few beats. Hyrule was the first to speak up. “I, um, asthma is a condition that causes difficulty breathing, often after exercise. Some common symptoms are shortness of breath, tightness of the chest, and wheezing while exhaling.”
Sky’s jaw dropped. “There’s… there’s a word for it???” His mind was racing. This was something others had too? It wasn’t just him? He wasn’t just weak?
“No Sky… you’re not weak for having asthma.” That was Time. Oops. Looks like he said that bit out loud. He was going to have to sit through a Talk later, wasn’t he.
“The rest of us have all heard the term before, maybe it was identified and named after your time?” Four chimed in, sparking a discussion on the differences in medical knowledge throughout their time periods. Sky continued to sit in shock, running this new information through his head.
“I’m guessing you don’t have an inhaler then?” Sky turned to Hyrule and just shook his head, having never heard the term before. Hyrule smiled. “That’s alright. I’m sure we can pick one up for you, most of our eras have them, it shouldn't be too hard to get our hands on.”
“Thank you…” Sky whispered, still in shock about this entire situation. Not only did the rest of the chain not view him as weak for his condition, but it actually had a name in their eras! And they had ways to treat it without spending hours with the healers! Shaken from his daze by the delicious smell of Wild’s cooking, Sky smiled. And for the very first time, he wasn’t afraid to just breathe .