Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Link couldn’t say he was entirely surprised to find himself suddenly at the bottom of a dry river bed near a town, he’d experienced weirder anomalies during his adventure. He stared up at the weathered stones of the bridge above him and contemplated his life choices. First he needed to find out where, and possibly when, he was. He also wasn’t entirely sure on how the locals would react to a stranger wandering into town. He also knew his assortment of rings, magic bracelets, and the medallions around his neck made him a prime target for idiot thieves. The less attention he drew to himself the better, he quickly took check of all the items he had on him before starting to plan. He sat up and he dug out a ring that he held onto for this kind of occasion. It was one of his odder rings, but rather than turning him into a monster like others he owned, this one just changed him into some Hylian guy he’d never met.

When the jeweler in Holodrum told him that the ring would turn him into “something” with an extremely confused expression on his face he had to test it out. He, of course waited until he was out of town to try on the ring, but hadn’t felt the usual magic disorientation that came with the other rings. If anything he had just felt slightly taller and when he went to investigate what he’d turned into in a river he only found a Hylian boy staring back at him. The boy had messy brown hair, brown-green eyes, tanned skin with a smattering of freckles across it, and a small rounded nose. He also wore a simple green tunic, brown pants, worn brown boots, and simple brown arm bracers. Overall it was an unremarkable change in comparison to previous experiences and at first he’d contemplated simply selling the ring, but something inside of him screamed at the idea of getting rid of something potentially useful. Though he couldn’t fathom what use it would have at the time.

He however found the ring to be incredibly useful when he returned to Hyrule. Even though Zelda had cleared his name, some of the knights of Hyrule saw him as a criminal. So the game ring became useful for supply runs to Kakariko, he could even walk through the front gates of the castle without anyone batting an eye. In short whoever the ring turned into, never stood out much, so much so that the guards of the castle never batted an eye when he never gave them a name. He never used the ring to cause trouble, he wouldn’t want the poor soul whose face he was borrowing to be charged with something he’d never done. Once again he donned the ring and got used to being slightly taller, he crawled out of the ravine only to realize he was closer to town than he thought. The town was just much smaller than most towns he’d ever been to.

He cautiously walked into town, keeping his guard up and immediately noticed that most of the villagers were as cautious of him as he was of them. He didn’t think too much of it, since he was a stranger walking into their town. That was until a boy came running up to him grabbing his hand in a surprisingly strong grip, “Link!” He froze, there was no way this kid should know his name. He'd never even met this kid… unless the poor soul he was disguised as shared his name and also lived here. The kid didn’t know that the ‘Link’ he knew was someone else entirely though. So when the boy looked around and leaned closer with a hand to his face, as if to tell a secret he played along.

He kneeled down, his knees disagreed with the movement, and lent the boy his ear. The boy whispered into his ear and he had to stop himself from flicking his ear at the tickling sensation of his breath. “There were a bunch of scary looking adults here looking for you. Of course I told them nothing, they could’ve been part of the Cult of Ganon after all.” The Cult of Ganon… that was new information to him but if the pig was involved we would be burning all his plans to the ground. One thing was certain that this ‘Link’ was in danger and he wasn’t gonna sit by and leave him to his own devices, they would likely be looking for him too judging by the fact that he was here. 

He needed to find ‘Link’ first. He pulled back from the kid, pulling an apple from his bag and placed it in the boy’s hands. “Thank you, I’ll stay safe.” I’ll keep him safe, went unsaid. The kid’s eyes widened as he got up to leave, he didn’t pay it too much mind. He quickly retraced his steps out of town and jumped back down under the bridge. It was a convenient place for him to remove the ring without drawing too much attention and the ring would hinder his ability to use his magic items as needed for finding someone in unknown territory.

He was about to slip off the ring, when his ears picked up the sound of a sword being drawn. Whoever drew their blade was slowly, quietly approaching him. They certainly were familiar with stealth, but the rabbit within Link screamed whenever he was being “hunted.” He acted as if he hadn’t heard them at all but slowly, carefully reaching in his bag for his fire rod. The ring was mostly off his finger, he would just need to dislodge it to actually use the fire rod. He rolled the ring further off with his fingers, he really didn’t want to risk losing it but he valued his life more than a ring. He heard the person approaching step just into reach and heard the distinctive sound of their blade swinging.

Link took a step forward to pivot, he swung his fire rod to meet the person's blade. He froze when he saw the face of the person attacking him, it was the same person he was currently disguised as. He internally screamed, he could definitely understand why this guy was attacking him, Link was quite literally wearing his face. His attacker quickly recovered from having his swing blocked and quickly went in for the attack again. Link stumbled back, hitting the stone structure of the bridge, and he hurried to get the damn ring off his finger. Link ducked down and managed to get the ring off right as the sword swung, hitting the stone just where his head was moments ago. He pointed the fire rod at his attacker and poured enough magic into it to make it crackle to life.

His attacker froze, getting into a defensive position and Link could tell he was preparing to activate some magic by his energy. His attacker stopped when he got a good look at him and his face turned shocked since they were no longer copies of each other. “How?” Link could tell that he likely had more questions by how his mouth was trying and failing to form words. At least his fire rod got him to back off for now, hopefully after explaining himself there would be no hard feelings. He slowly kneeled down, goddesses his knees hated him, to pick up the ring and tossed it to ‘Link.’

“The ring turned me into you,” he saw that ‘Link’ had a lot more questions for him now but he continued before the other could speak. “I found it when I was overseas in Holodrum, around 5 years ago. No idea why it turns me into you specifically, but I was using it because you happen to stand out less than I do and frankly as of right now I have no idea where I am.” ‘Link’ stared at him, likely looking over his clothes and the plethora of magic items and nodded, looking a little numb. Link watched as he put on the ring he had tossed him and… nothing happened, he honestly didn’t know what he expected. He held up his mirror shield so ‘Link’ could see his reflection.

“I don’t know what I was expecting.” ‘Link’ said when he saw no changes to his appearance before removing the ring and tossing it back to him. Well it seems that they had reached an impasse at least, so Link lowered his fire rod completely and sat himself down on a raised stone. In response ‘Link,’ goddesses he really needed to address that soon, sheathed his sword. “My name is Link and you are?” 

“Yeah, I gathered that when I went into town. Some kid came running up to me, scared me since my name is also Link.” ‘Link’s’ eyebrows shot up into his hair and he simply shrugged in response. “Speaking of said kid, he said some guy’s were looking for you and something about the Cult of Ganon.” The kid flinched but he continued anyway, “so I was on my way here to find you because if Ganon is coming back again the master sword will find its permanent resting place in his forehead.” 

The other Link choked out a laugh in surprise before his face twisted in thought. “You fought Ganon before?” He said with wide eyes.

Link rolled his eyes, “yes, three times in fact, bastard just won’t stay dead.”

“You’re the Hero of Legend.” The other Link said in awe. Link hummed in response, he never really kept track of his hero names over the years… wait. “I grew up hearing stories of your adventures.” What the fuck? How? 

“Okay, call me Legend because calling you Link has been giving me a headache. But now I’m going to have an even worse headache because how do I have a ring that turns me into you, when I’m apparently a fairy tale in whatever era this is?” Legend began rubbing his temples and he could see Link looking dumbfounded by the idea too.

“How should I know you found the ring.” Legend threw his hands up in exasperation, Link flinched at the moment but relaxed when Legend just huffed in defeat and rubbed his hand down his face. Yes, he was being dramatic but not even the Three could stop him. “But calling each other Link is confusing, so you can call me Hyrule if that helps.” 

“Hyrule?” He questioned, no judgement in his voice.

Hyrule looked nervous, “it’s the only title I have, I kinda stumbled upon being the hero while I’m exploring.”

Well that won’t do. “Do you wield a sword?”

“Yes?” Hyrule looked confused.

But Legend continued on, “have you slain monsters?”

“Yes.”

“Do you love Hyrule?”

“Of course.” Hyrule looked offended by the question.

“Would you risk your life for the greater good?”

“Yes.”

“Sounds like you’re a pretty damn good hero to me.” Legend said simply, leaving no room for argument. Oh boy, Hyrule’s eyes lit up and he was clearly trying to keep his face from breaking into a grin. This kid really looked up to him and Legend really didn’t know what to do with that information. “Anyway what’s with the whole Cult of Ganon thing, because frankly if they’re after you they’re probably after me too?” Hyrule shrunk at that, which felt horrible, but he needed to know things if he was gonna help the other hero.

“Well they’re followers of Ganon, but you probably guessed that. They’re people who hunt me, since Ganon cursed me. They need my blood to resurrect him.” Legend felt cold, that was so much worse than Agahnim. He wasn’t sure how to respond but he knew he felt an entirely new form of rage against Ganon. He definitely couldn’t have this kid go running into danger if the people looking for him were on Ganon’s side, but Legend already had an idea brewing.

“How good are you at outrunning people, just in general?” Legend asked out of curiosity and Hyrule looked baffled.

“I’ve run from monsters but why people?” Hyrule asked cautiously.

“Because the people looking for you aren’t monsters, most monsters don’t talk and form groups.” Hyrule nodded in agreement. “That means they won’t be as easy to escape from, lucky for you not even the knight of my era can manage to catch me.” Hyrule looked baffled and concerned by that admission but Legend waved off his concerns with the simple explanation of “Ganon” which seemed to make the boy frustrated.

“So here’s the plan, I’ll disguise myself as you and give them the slip while you get somewhere safe. We can meet up somewhere safe after.” Hyrule contemplated the idea adding that there was a cave not too far east that would be safe but otherwise it was dangerous. Legend wasn’t too concerned about monsters, even if the ring dampened his magic he could still use his sword but as a failsafe he always had his Magic Cape which turned him invisible and invulnerable.

Once the plan was decided on they both crawled out of the ravine, looking exactly alike. They carefully made their way away from town moving silently through the barren landscape to sneak up on their potential presuirers. Legend found himself shaken by the darkness of the sky and the ruined landscape, cursing himself and any god that would listen.

“It’s not your fault.” Hyrule’s whisper broke the silence and brought Legend into focus. He wasn’t sure how the kid knew what he was thinking but scoffed under his breath in response. “One of my Zeldas, Aurora, was put into a deep sleep for hundreds of years. But there were handmaidens that guarded her chambers for all those years and they kept records of Hyrule’s history during that time. Death Mountain erupted 20 years ago and Hyrule’s just beginning to recover. Aurora and Dawn have been working hard to make it better, I just happened to travel to Hyrule at the right time.” 

Legend took a moment to process all that information and it was hard to wrestle with something that he simply couldn’t fix. It was the last bit of Hyrule’s story. “You’re not from Hyrule?”

“I traveled from Calatia, things are only slightly better there. I mostly came to Hyrule because of the stories from your adventures.” Hyrule looked bashful in admittance.

“Always been meaning to travel there eventually, but that’s useful information since we can always use Calatian to communicate if need be.” Legend had learned a lot from traveling outside Hyrule, mostly that other countries were also unfortunate victims of Hyrule’s bullshit. Learning other languages had uses and he started learning on his very first adventure with ancient Hylian. He’d always felt happy when the natives in Holodrum and Labyrnna complimented on how quickly he was picking up the languages, speaking of which. “You’re Hylian is pretty good if it’s not your first language.”

Hyrule flushed and his mouth gaped for a long moment before he seemed to collapse in on himself. Legend was concerned for him before he caught a giddy smile on the boy’s face as he turned away, ah right he’s technically the kid’s fairytale hero. It’s a good thing he didn’t outright break him. Eventually Hyrule gathered himself enough to respond, “thanks I had to learn it on the fly. I didn’t meet many people on my first adventure so it was oddly a friendly moblin that helped the most.”

That was something, Legend could think of a handful of friendly monsters. Though he included the “demon” that cursed him to have greater magical storage during his first adventure, because as far as curses went that was mundane. Then of course there was Dimitri, so having a friendly moblin was hardly far-fetched. He nodded and commented on wanting to meet said monster eventually. 

They kept up a quiet conversation for sometime before they stumbled across the group that was looking for them. Legend was suddenly glad about offering to be the runner because they were all heavily armed, but Legend had out run Hyrule’s best knights before. He cast a quick glance at Hyrule and they both shared a nod, before Hyrule took off deeper into the underbrush.

Legend took that as his cue to jump out of their hiding spot and begin approaching the group. He needed to get closer to get their attention before giving chase, getting closer also gave him the chance to observe the people out to get them. He instantly latched onto the tallest of them, his heavy armor meant he’d be the easiest to outrun. The second tallest was definitely a knight, either a deserter or brainwashed, but definitely had a build that screamed endurance. The third tallest would also be hard to outrun forever but was definitely stronger than the other two, not a knight though.

There were two other knight types: one had longer hair and lots of scars, the other seemed tired on his feet with a white cape tucked around himself. The second wouldn’t make it very far after him with how dead on his feet he was, but the first looked like he was itching to explore, he’d be difficult. The last two surprised him they were just kids, one just barely reaching the tallest man’s hip in height. They’d have difficulty keeping up with him due to their short statures, but kids had more than enough energy to make up for it. Why in Loria’s name there were kids in the group was beyond him.

A loud shout broke him out of his thoughts, it was the kid with the blue shirt and he was staring directly at him. Legend stood up his legs tense, keeping his eyes glued to the group, his instincts screaming not yet. Legend hated the fact that he was a rabbit, but the rabbit had never failed him when it came to danger. The group seeped surprised at his appearance, the armored man raised a brow and Legend noticed his scarred eye. The sleepy knight perked up, finally some semblance of awake. The tall knight with the blue cape stepped forward though and the sturdy man followed slightly. Some words were exchanged that Legend didn’t quite catch but the kid who’d spotted him jumped into action, followed by the rest.

The rabbit in him jolted and naturally he followed, bolting through the empty woods without hesitation. He heard shouts and the thuds of feet following him, but he kept running. He mentally geared his mind toward the direction of the cave Hyrule mentioned, while continuing to weave through dead trees. He didn’t bother looking back, he could still hear a few following him. Inside him the rabbit still pushed him forward, something else was chasing him now. Not a monster but a hunter. He felt some relief seeing the bridge that Hyrule mentioned but the rabbit’s anxiety pushed him forward. Something large and dark jumped In front of the bridge.

Legend kept running, his mind spiraling to alternate options. Hyrule mentioned the water was tainted, poisoned, so swimming was a no go. His roc’s cape could get him across but he’d lose speed and he couldn’t use his pegasus boots at the moment. There was his magic cape, but in the end he’d have to work past what was blocking his path. His rabbit instincts froze and his legs locked with them, he stumbled to a halt, his legs locking. 

The beast blocking his path was a wolf, he suddenly felt small. Hunted. Part of his mind screamed to grab his sword, something to protect him. The other part wanted to run, to hide, burrow away till the predator gave up the hunt. He took a step back keeping his eyes locked on the wolf’s bright blue ones, he hadn’t even realized that the wolf was simply standing in front of the bridge, it made no move to attack but its ears were back. The wolf let out a howl and Legend took another step back only to stumble and fall. 

Blood rushed his ears and his breath caught in his throat as he lost his footing. He distantly felt pain in his hands and side as he hit the ground. He tried to look at his surroundings but his vision blurred and his ears rang. Panic overwhelmed his thoughts and he scrambled to get upright, the wolf was gone and Legend’s breath stuttered. 

He looked at his surroundings to find the predator, someplace to hide, anything. He panicked further when he saw that the wolf was now right next to him, he scrambled back fearful of the jaws that could easily reach his throat. The wolf’s ears pinned back and Legend flinched, bringing his arms up to protect himself. Then deep blue filled his vision, blocking his sight entirely.

He heard someone speak, muffled and distant. Then he felt hand prying his hands away from his face, it was the tall knight. He was saying something but the words swam in his ears, then the knight pulled Legend towards him. Legend braced himself for the worst but the man simply held him against his chest, his breath was steady and his hand ran through his hair. Legend choked in a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding and eventually he found himself relaxing and matching the man’s breathing.

Legend could feel the man chuckle, “you back now?” The question wasn’t mocking, but the knight almost sounded relieved. “Sorry that Wolfie frightened you, but trust me he meant no harm.” The man said pulling back but he took Legend’s arms and examined them carefully. Legend realized quickly he was looking for any injuries, it was odd that he wasn’t completely off guard by a knight. He found himself looking over the man while he was focused, the style of his hair and clothes screamed city boy. His eyes held a different story, they were deep blue but held weight under them, the man had likely faced more than any self important knight in his era had.

Before Legend could respond one of the other knights, the one who looked one swift wind away from falling asleep. Once he reached them, he pitched forward gasping for breath. That’s when Legend saw the sword on his back and felt an entirely different form of dread than finding out that Ganon could be back. The Master Sword, that means the whole group wasn’t hunting Hyrule. No, they were looking for another hero to help them with some time breaking adventure to save Hyrule. Legend wanted to curse the gods but particularly whatever caused him and these others to be transported through time.

The sturdy tall man, Legend could now see he was wearing a wolf pelt, caught up with them. He set about helping the knight with the Master sword up, when he caught Legend’s eye he almost seemed remorseful for a moment. The knight with the blue scarf stood up, pulling Legend up with him. Legend knew there was probably no point in trying to run now, but perhaps at night he could slip away to meet with Hyrule. Though he still wasn’t certain about the man holding the master sword or any others in their group.

The knight with the master sword, removed the sword and in its sheath from his back presenting it to him. “Sorry for scaring you but she told me you’re the hero of this time when Wind noticed you. It’s nice to meet you, Link, she says you’re the Hero of Legend.” Legend was a bit stunned by the man’s pleasantness, his rabbit instincts saw him as safe. He carefully took the sword and drew it. He was expecting the golden blade that he’d reforged only a few years ago, but he was met with pristine silver. He had to upgrade the Master Sword to use it to beat Ganon, it had held little power otherwise. This Master Sword was new, unworn by time and defeat, it chimed mournfully in his hands.

He quickly sheathed the sword and placed it back into Sky’s hands, the echo of the sword’s voice in his head telling him the man’s nickname. By the three, that whole group were a band of idiots all named Link. The other two introduced themselves as Twilight and Warriors. Legend frankly wasn’t sure how to respond, perhaps if this was his own era, his own home he would’ve loudly cursed to any god willing to listen but currently he was in a different time wearing another Link’s face. Thankfully the three seemed to take his silence as stunned processing of the situation at hand.

Before Legend could say anything the rest of the group showed up with Hyrule with them, the boy was awkwardly being dragged along by the boy with the blue shirt. Wind, if Legend remembered correctly. The kid tan skin, sandy blond hair, and dark green eyes and his face quickly screwed up in confusion at the sight of him.Legend saw the captain stiffen at the sight of Hyrule and Legend could begin to see the others becoming confused by the fact that they currently looked alike. He needed to think quickly, he prayed to Zelda to lend him a braincell in a moment of weakness. Play dumb Link.

“Thank the goddesses you found my brother.” He said with exaggerated relief and Hyrule looked befuddled for a single moment before he continued on, “the town folk made it sound like some group of people were hunting him down. It was an absolutely terrifying thought after I just got here from Labrynna.” Okay maybe he was playing into the story too much but being in an entirely different country would give them wiggle room with their stories at least. Hyrule seemed to finally get the idea he was setting in place too. The unfortunate group of heroes just looked more confused.

Legend quickly moved over to hold Hyrule’s face in his hands, pretending to check his well being. This kid definitely had a baby face. Hyrule started slightly but managed to recover, making almost look natural by patting his arm. He could feel the muscles in Hyrule’s face jump under his hands and he knew the kid was trying not to laugh. So Legend decided to perform a little more, pulling some inspiration from Ravio. He sighed dramatically and flopped all his weight into Hyrule’s arms, who thankfully caught him.

He spoke in exasperation, “you would not believe how worried I was.” He could feel Hyrule’s chest jump slightly with withheld laughter and he had to give props to him for his poker face. Hyrule awkwardly patted his back, nodding his head with an impressive look of remorse. Legend could feel the others staring at him, but he could tell they were more baffled than anything. He heard a faint but familiar chime and Sky confirmed to the group that Hyrule was also another hero.

It was the scarred knight in blue who broke up their ‘reunion’ with a question. “Wait if you’re both heroes then what’re your names?” He could tell the knight was asking more out of sheer confusion, he supposed it made sense if they were ‘twins’ then they both wouldn’t be Link. But before they could both agree on an answer they both answered on habit.

“Link.” “Link.” They both responded at the same time, well they were doomed. Warriors’ eyes narrowed in suspicion, while the scarred knight just looked nonplussed. Legend could have laughed at Wind’s bewildered expression if he wasn’t internally panicking.

“You’re both named Link?” The tall man in armor asked, his face was neutral but his voice gave away his hesitance. Sky next to him looked like he was personally about to question the Master Sword on what was happening. Before Legend could think of an answer Hyrule spoke up.

“Our parents couldn’t tell us apart?” He said with a shrug of his shoulders and Legend nearly choked on his own laughter. There was no way they’d believe that. Legend caught a glimpse of the kid with the multicolored tunic’s face and was surprised that he seemed genuinely concerned.

“That’s definitely a lie.” Said Twilight but his tone came off more scolding than angry. 

Warriors heaved a loud, pained sigh and he just looked incredibly tired as he rubbed the bridge of his nose with one hand. “You say that Twi but I have a twin sister named Linkle.” He was joking right? The others seemed to be staring at the man, asking the same question with their eyes. All of them except for the one in armor who just nodded in acceptance, as if he’d met the other man’s sister. 

“They are both heroes according to Fi.” Sky said meekly, but from the look on his face he was still processing everything. It didn’t take long for the rest to fall into resigned acceptance. “How is that even possible?”

Legend could easily bluff his way out of that one, he stood putting an elbow on Hyrule’s shoulder and leaning against the boy. It was definitely something he wouldn’t be able to pull off without the ring, since he was shorter than the other hero. “Well he’s been here fixing up Hyrule, I’ve been traveling outside of Hyrule for the past...” He paused to think for a moment on all his adventures out of Hyrule, did Lorule count? He might as well include it to be safe. “For about 7 years now. You would not believe the troubles that come about in other countries.”

Hyrule nodded along, “Hyrule has been isolated from other countries, except Calatia, for the past 20 years. We were always inspired by old stories from other nations, so when I decided to travel to Hyrule. My brother decided to go overseas to see Labrynna, Holodrum, Subrosia, and Hytopia.” Legend was a bit surprised by how much the kid knew of his adventures but wasn’t surprised that he didn’t know about Lorule.

Sky almost seemed excited when he looked at Legend, “oh that must mean you haven’t fought Ganon too.” Legend scrunched up his nose at the man, how has he not fought Ganon? The bastard literally couldn’t stay dead, he had to take him down three times already. Well they didn’t need to know that.

“Sorry to burst your bubble but the whole trubble stirred up in Labrynna, Holodrum, and by proximity Subrosia was caused by Ganon’s evil mothers trying and succeeding to revive him.” He questioned if twinrova were actually Gonon’s mothers or grandmothers but either way they were horrifically old and terrible influences. Sky deflated at his admission and Twilight patted him on the back.

The short one with the multicolored tunic spoke up, his voice horribly flat, “we had to tell him who Ganon was?”

Legend’s elbow slipped from Hyrule’s shoulder in shock, Hyrule managed to catch him before he planted his face in the dirt. Legend didn’t bother to gather himself upright, his legs ached, but he could tell that he and Hyrule were looking at the man with similar expressions of shock.

“How?” Hyrule said meekly. “What the fuck?” Legend said louder at the same time.

“Language” said three voices, responding on instinct. Legend responded to them on his own instincts, flipping the three of them off. Hyrule signed but still held him upright.

Chapter Text

Legend and Hyrule were introduced to the rest of the group and were given their own nicknames to boot. Time had wanted them to travel to meet Hyrule’s Zelda in order to get an idea if there were any odd monsters for them to take care of. Hyrule seemed to pause at that idea but mention the cave they’d meant to meet at to take shelter for the night. It was hard to tell what time it was due to the darkened sky but Time didn’t argue with him because apparently he just had a very accurate internal clock.

“I honestly don’t even know if both my Zelda’s are at the same castle.” Hyrule said airily and Legend wasn’t sure if he was accounting for the fact that he had a Zelda as well. Legend hid his surprise by digging through his bag, but he found what he was looking for fairly quickly. He really shouldn’t be using the Cane of Byrna as a walking stick but he really didn’t want to dig for one of his Canes of Somaria.

“You have two Zeldas?” Wind asked, staring up at Hyrule with bright eyes.

“Yes.” Hyrule nodded, “Dawn is the current heir to the throne, but Aurora was in a cursed sleep for 200 years. She tends to travel a lot, since Hyrule has changed a lot in that time.” Nope the kid just happened to have two Zeldas. He had to think of a way to nudge his sister into this story that wouldn’t cause her to outright murder him. Well at least he wasn’t the only one who’d traveled overseas during his adventure, he’d probably have to get Ralph in on what was happening too.

Legend hummed, “I met a Zelda too, the Oracle of Light, in Labrynna and Holodrum. She was there because she foresaw something terrible happening to the other Oracles.”

“Three Zeldas?!” Wind shouted. Legend, however, didn't give him much time to question them further before continuing.

“It was the Oracles of Seasons and Ages that wound up being in trouble. Din and Nayru are safe now though. I’m fairly certain Zel was just considered an Oracle as well since Hylians are rare overseas but her ancestor Raven was a knight under Queen Ambi.” Technically Raven was both of his and Zel’s great-grandfather but he could stretch the truth a bit.

“Din and Nayru…” Time hummed, “as in the Goddesses.”

Legend froze at that because frankly he hadn’t thought long and hard on the Oracles and their names. Din of course had power to control the seasons, a power he had borrowed and fixed over the course of his travels in Holodrum. Naryu controlled time allowing one to travel freely through time, he had only needed to travel between two points in time and never abused that power further. Farore the Oracle of Secrets was a mystery to him though, he had told her many secrets over the course of his two adventures and he wasn’t entirely certain of what she had done with that information.

“No..?” Legend questioned but even he could tell he wasn’t confident in the answer. “I honestly never thought about it.” He added on weakly, but Time seemed to accept his answer with a mumble that sounded suspiciously like ‘its best not to question the machinations of the goddesses.’ He wasn’t wrong either.

“I’m more concerned with telling you two apart.” Wild said, he was looking at a block he held in his hands. “If anything I can let one of you borrow some jewelry or a cloak.” What? Both he and Hyrule looked at him in confusion, but with a click from the block an ornate circlet manifested in his hand with a glow of blue light. So that thing was magic and held items, he really wanted to get a better look at it. Hyrule had the same idea apparently because they both approached Wild with intent on the block in his hand rather than the circlet.

Wild seemed shocked by their sudden approach and raised the block above his head but both he and Hyrule were the same height as the knight. The two of them didn’t bother to reach for the block though but just gave the knight twin looks of disappointment. A quick glance at Hyrule’s face told Legend that the boy had a very effective pleading look. It was Twilight who enacted mercy on the knight by grabbing them both by the back of the collars and pulling them away.

Legend huffing, balancing his weight a little more on the Cane of Byrna, as he dug through his bag. Then he pulled a bright red cloak out of his bag, its bright gold embroidery shining despite the minimal light. He tucked it over his shoulders with familiarity, “problem solved right?” Wild nodded but Hyrule stared in awe at the cloak.

“That has very powerful magic in it.” Huh so the kid could sense magic too. A few others looked at the cloak with sudden interest.

He nodded, “yeah it turns me invisible but also prevents me from being damaged by traps. I can use other items with it but it drains my magic a lot. I got it in Hytopia.” Which was an absolute lie, he stole it from the king’s grave, but Hytopia specialized in magic clothes.

“That’s just cheating.” Wind said with a deep frown, and Legend couldn’t help but laugh at his expression.

Time sighed, “we should get a move on before it gets too late.”

Hyrule nodded in agreement and moved to the front of the group to lead the way, Legend moved to follow using his cane to keep pace. Warriors put a hand on his shoulder and looked at him with a worried expression. Legend brushed him off, his aches weren’t any they could help with.

It didn’t take them too long to reach the cave and Legend was immediately glad to get off his feet. He sat down on the stone floor and quickly realized one thing that would get in the way of getting comfortable. Fucking pants, he contemplated digging through his bag for a spare tunic but he didn’t feel like messing with the rings magic at the moment. He watched the others set camp, noticing Twilight and Wild struggling to get a fire started. He decided to have mercy on their poor souls, digging through his bag and tossing an ember seed on the wood pile.

“What the-?!” Twilight shouted as he dragged Wild away from the sudden flames.

“Ember seeds.” Legend answered him, popping a seed in his mouth. The spice of it clung to the back of his throat but he could feel his body heat up and the pain in his joints ease with the heat. “They’re good for starting fires and surprisingly spicy...” He pulled the bag away from Wild when he reached for it out of curiosity, “they only grow in Labrynna and Holodrum so I don’t have an unlimited stock.”

Wild nodded at that and when he turned away to the fire, Legend handed a seed to Hyrule who had been looking over his shoulder curiously. Four who watched the entire interaction mounted “subtle” and Legend, like the very mature teenager he was, stuck his tongue out at him. Hyrule popped the seed in his mouth and his eyes lighting up at the flavor. What a surprise that he was unaffected by the spice. Legend practically took a deep dive into a river when he first tried one. It was Dimitri who’d sparked his curiosity to try them.

Everyone began to settle down and Hyrule sat down next to him. “I can’t believe that they believed us.” Hyrule said in Calatian and Legend huffed in response.

“We’re heroes of courage and not wisdom for a reason.” Legend responded simply in Calatian as well. “We should probably get some details in our stories straight so they don’t have reason to question us further.”

Hyrule thought for a moment, “I’m 18.” It was a good detail to start with but Legend froze as he processed the information. This “kid” was older than him. Legend had obviously been frozen for too long because Hyrule looked at him in disbelief. “Don’t tell me I’m older than you?” Hyrule said with a pitch of laughter in his voice.

Legend smacked him in the gut, his ears turning pink with embarrassment. “I’m 17, shut up!” He hissed and Hyrule wheezed. When Hyrule managed to catch a breath he laughed loudly despite Legend smacking him in his embarrassment. His chiming laughter caught the attention of the others.

“What are you two up too?” Warriors questioned from where he sat, his scarf wrapped around Wind.

Legend wasn’t sure how to answer so he pulled the most absurd information he could think of from his adventures. “We were just catching up and I told him how I accidentally got engaged to a tree.” Hyrule doubled over with laughter, there were a few explanations of confusion. Wild choked on something he had in his mouth, Sky was trying to help him because Twilight was too busy laughing.

Time, the poor man, looked like he’d gone through the 5 stages of grief and aged 10 years in a moment. “Please, elaborate.” The man asked.

Legend sighed. “When I was in Labrynna I had to prevent a witch that had possessed Nayru from killing the Maku tree and I couldn’t exactly fix time without her help. She was dead set on waiting for 400 years to marry me because you know time travel.” Time at least seemed to recover mentally after his explanation, if not just looking extremely tired.

Hyrule’s laughter had petered out to pitiful gasps for breath, his head tucked into Legend’s shoulder. Legend had enough of him and shoved him over where he curled up on the rocky floor, trying to catch his breath. Legend took his cane which he’d rested beside his legs and bopped the other hero on the head with it.

Wild whistled, catching all their attention, “dinner’s ready.” Hyrule and Legend shared a confused look, making their way over to the fire behind everyone else. When they approached Wild the knight winced for a moment, “sorry I forgot to ask you two your preference.”

“Preferences?” They both asked a little bewildered.

“You know what food you like, but don’t worry if you don’t like this I have some back up meals stored away.” He gestured to the block sitting on his hip, so it stored food too.

Legend shrugged, “food is food, as long as it isn’t rabbit meat I’m fine.” He wasn’t going to elaborate why he didn’t care for rabbit meat but Hyrule nodded along with his statement. So Wild handed them both a bowl filled with warm soup and ushered them to try it. He failed to catch Time and Warriors sharing a concerned look.

It smelled fantastic but they shared an apprehensive look, then looked over the others who were already in the process of eating. Wind gave them a curious look and Legend became nervous. This wasn’t about trying new food, no he’d traveled enough to experience many different types of food during his travels, he supposed he’d simply gotten used to Gully’s mother or Ravio making food for him over the past few years. Accepting the bowl from Wild just cemented in his mind that he was once again on another adventure.

Hyrule was watching him curiously, he wasn’t sure his reason exactly but he could take a wild guess from what he’d seen from this era so far. So with a heavy heart he tried the soup, it was good, it reminded him of the time he’d spent at Sir Raven’s home. “It’s good.” He complimented Wild and shortly after his approval both he and Hyrule settled in with their meals.

After food was finished and dishes were set aside for cleaning later, Hyrule warned them against cleaning since the water wasn’t clean. They allowed the fire to dwindle and the others debated on watches while setting out their bed rolls. Legend and Hyrule found themselves with nothing to do, neither had a bedroll but Legend had a very warm blanket villagers in Holodrum had gifted him. Legend never had much time for settling down to make ‘camp.’ He preferred being up in trees or in tree hollows themselves. He’d gladly accept the blanket in Holodrum since the seasons had been unpredictable at the time, and it staved off the chill of Holodrum’s winter incredibly well.

The blanket had always been something he’d easily been able to completely bundle himself into as the people of Horon Village likely intended for him to use it in his own home. The outside of the blanket was in four quadrants, one for each season, while the inside was lined with Moosh’s fur. When he expressed surprise at the light blue fur the villagers had laughed about how the giant bear had landed in the village at the end of every winter and they spent the entire day freeing him of his winter coat. Legend could see it happening, with the seasons being out of whack when he’d gotten Moosh’s help his tunic had nearly gone from green to soft blue with the amount of fur he shed. He had no idea how they managed to turn that fur into fabric but it’s likely a craft they’d learned over the years, to prevent Horon Village from being overrun by fluff.

Legend dug the large blanket out of his bag, the colors on it had dulled over the years but he’d done his best to prevent it from becoming threadbare. He and Hyrule could easily share the blanket while also having room for Wind and Four to bundle in too. He elbowed Hyrule as he unraveled the giant blanket and he watched as Hyrule timidly brushed his hands against the blue fur. Hyrule gasped in awe before shoving his face in the soft fur.

“That’s quite the piece of work.” Four said, he was overlooking the quilted pattern with his gray eyes almost looking purple. Hyrule was too busy marveling at the soft inside of the blanket to realize that he was making cheerful chiming noises as he was attempting to bury himself in the fabric. Time’s face looked incredibly soft looking at Hyrule, but Legend wasn’t going to read into that much.

“The people of Holodrum made it for me, it definitely came in handy with the seasons being all over the place.” Four looked at him confused but Legend answered his question before he could ask it. “Din the Oracle of Seasons was captured and it caused Holodrum’s seasons to go berserk. It wasn’t uncommon for me to step right out of midsummer straight into 8 feet of snow.” Four looked horrified by that and Legend shrugged because he’d already solved Holodrum’s problem and Din was safe.

Eventually they all settled in for the night, Legend completely burrowing himself in the blanket so that no one would be able to see him. Hyrule had his back against his, making himself a physical wall between him and the others. Legend took off the ring and sighed in relief that he was no longer wearing pants. He carefully removed his magic cap and the outer layer of his tunic, knowing the reds would mesh together. He took off his hat hiding it in the red fabric before getting his pegasus boots off and hiding everything in his bag. Then he settled in for sleeping, fully aware of Hyrule getting himself comfortable behind him.

“I’m part fairy.” Hyrule said in Calatian, it almost sounded like an apology. That information did explain the odd lilt to his laughter and the chiming noises earlier.

Legend hummed in response, “Zelda is my older sister.” He responded, it was only fair. Hyrule’s fairy blood was a secret that shouldn’t be shared with anyone, so he shared his own form of secret. Hyrule likely had heard stories about the royal family’s reluctance towards male heirs, and judging by how his back stiffened for a moment before relaxing he was right. “Go to sleep.” He said as an end to the conversation.

They both slept peacefully through the night, but Legend jolted awake when he felt someone shaking Hyrule’s shoulder. He heard gruff laughter, “is Legend even in there?” It was Twilight, he slid on the ring and unearthed himself from the blanket. He shot a tired glare at the man when he laughed at him. Judging by how Hyrule’s curly hair was mused into something more similar to a bird’s nest he probably looked the same, if not more tired and a lot more grumpy.

Wild had made them breakfast and shortly after eating they left the safety of the cave to make their way to the palace. Legend was a little apprehensive about meeting Hyrule's princesses especially since they two of them had the same face currently. Hyrule, however, seemed excited to potentially see one if not both of his princesses. It didn’t take them too long for them to see the castle looming in the distance. Hyrule picked up speed with excitement, the others attempted to keep up with him but Legend managed to keep pace with him.

When they finally entered the palace they were quickly met with a short girl with curly brown hair wearing a lovely pink dress. She seemed to restrain herself from running up to Hyrule and hugging him, but the hero quickly moved to hug her. Hyrule picked up the short girl and swung her around, the two could easily be mistaken as siblings. After Hyrule put her down, he seemed to suddenly remember the situation he was in.

With much embarrassment, the lady smiled sweetly at Hyrule as he introduced them poorly. “Umm… Dawn, this is my twin brother.” Hyrule said gesturing to Legend first and he waved in response. Dawn seemed surprised for a moment but was then beaming at him, and it clicked in Legend’s head, she’s Zelda. “And these are, uhh, other heroes of Hyrule?” E for effort Hyrule, you tried your best, but at least Dawn seemed used to it.

Warriors and Time quickly took over the rest of the introductions and explanations on why there were multiple heroes of Hyrule gathered in one place. Their explanation was cut off when someone else entered the room and Legend felt like he swallowed chu chu slime because she looked like his sister. He could instantly see minor differences like the curve of her nose or the fact that her hair didn’t seem to have the troublesome cowlicks that caused Zel’s hair to flare out beneath her tiara, but it was the streak of pink in her hair that mimicked his own that stuck in his mind the most.

“Aurora!” Hyrule cheered, “I’m glad we caught you. These are other heroes, they're all named Link so we’re our hero names.” He could see Aurora stare at him with barely concealed suspicion, it was all in her eye. Now that he thought about it Dawn’s smile was strained too. “And this is my twin brother, Legend.” Hyrule put extra emphasis on his name and Legend couldn’t help but roll his eyes. Hyrule’s admiration for him felt odd, especially since he’d never really seen himself as a hero.

Aurora’s eyes widened, it was a small tell, but Dawn gasped before approaching him. She took his hands in his own, “we’ve heard so much about you.” Right, his title was more accurate than anything in this era. What was the normal way to respond to this? That was a hopeless endeavor because unfortunately for everyone in the room he was Link.

“Well hopefully he didn’t tell you anything bad, though I doubt much could top the fact that he licked a rock on the way here.” Dawn looked surprised and Legend heard Hyrule make an affronted noise before something green hit him on the face. Legend pulled it away from his face and the fabric matched the color of Hyrule’s tunic, it was a cap. Free real estate he shrugged internally pulling the cap onto his head. Hyrule had only liked a rock out of curiosity because of Wild but they didn’t need to know that.

Dawn laughed, “personally I’d love to know more from the source. If anything you all are welcome to stay the night before you resume your travels tomorrow.” It’s like she expected that they wouldn’t stay longer, then he’d remember what he’d learned from Hyrule when he first got here. It was probably best if he didn’t stay in one place.

Dawn and Aurora had dutifully separated Legend and Hyrule under the guise of catching up with their heroes. Legend immediately felt a tug of familiarity as he was led down the hall, though Hyrule had simply called it the North Palace, Legend knew this as Hyrule Castle. He knew every nook and cranny of this place, so as they walked past it Legend slipped into a secret corridor. He slipped off the ring and quickly put on his boot, his red tunic, and his teal cap.

Once he was back to his normal self he slipped back out the corridor, quietly sneaking back up to Hyrule and the Princesses. Then as he rejoined them he hit Hyrule in the back of the knee with his leg causing him to stumble. He caught Hyrule from falling, by shoving his green cap back into his hands. Hyrule let out a startled squeak causing the Princesses to turn and see Hyrule hunched over with surprise while Legend acted like nothing happened.

“Nice to properly meet you princesses.” He said with false charm and he could feel Hyrule leveling him a bewildered glare. The two were probably surprised that he looked more like Aurora especially when he had a pink streak of hair as well. Dawn to his surprise just helped Hyrule upright, pulled a handkerchief out of a hidden pocket and wiped the dirt off his face. Oh how he envied her hidden pocket.

Once Dawn was done with her musings, Hyrule stood with a stiff smile. “Excuse me for a moment Princesses.” Then he shifted onto one foot and kicked Legend in the back of the thighs. Legend who’d had expected retaliation, jumped forward with a bark of laughter. He heard a muffled cough and saw Aurora covering her face to hide her laughter, while Dawn seemed to be overjoyed. These two really had a soft spot for Hyrule.

They were eventually led to a sitting room, where a fire was already set and an older woman was setting up tea. Legend immediately knew that she was likely these girls’ Impa, he was familiar with the wizened hands that held no tremor. The Princesses settled down in their designated seat and Legend chose to set himself down in the third plush seat in the room. The room suddenly felt as if he’d metaphorically dropped poison out of his pocket right after giving everyone tea.

Hyrule looked at him with wide weary eyes and Legend simply cocked a brow in response, leaning his head on his hand. Aurora cleared her throat, “that was my brother’s seat.” Legend felt a little weary at that, taking heavy note on the usage past tense but something about her tone prevented him from moving.

Aurora accepted tea from Impa and took a sip before continuing. “He was the one who caused my poisoned slumber.” Legend felt a slight rage at that, he could understand why Hyrule was weary.

He accepted the tea Impa offered with a brief, “thank you granny.” The old woman huffed at that, he hid his smile in his tea because his era’s Impa did the same. “Anyway, fuck your brother.” Legend said frankly before turning to Hyrule, “please tell me you grave robbed him.” Hyrule choked on his tea but refused to answer, a fellow grave robber in crime.

Dawn cleared her throat, “if I may ask, why are you pretending to be Link’s twin? How are you even able to achieve that?” Legend answered the second question first by holding up the ring for the princesses to see before putting it on. They both looked shocked before he took the ring off again.

“I found it in either Labyrnna or Holodrum, hard to say when or where exactly since rings can quite literally grow on trees there. To answer your first question we both initially thought the rest of the heroes were out to hunt him.” Legend said gesturing to Hyrule, “and that they could potentially have some link to Ganon, which if they were they’d wouldn’t be here. Anyway we initially planned to give them the slip but things happened and now the potential to mess with them is funnier.” He shrugged.

“You’re doing this to mess with them? You’re certain of their story?” Aurora asked and Hyrule nodded too, Legend looked at him confused.

“Do I need a better reason to mess with someone, it’s not like it’s a harmful prank?” He asked and all three gave him a look of shock. “Anyway Sky has the Master Sword, and not just anyone can just take that sword.”

Hyrule raised his hand like a child in class, “is it really that special of a sword?” Legend froze, slowly turning his head to Hyrule.

“Pardon me?” Legend said weakly.

“The Master Sword, is it that special?” Legend put his hands together and brought them to his face. He was internally screaming, mostly at himself because where the hell had he managed to hide the Master Sword for this kid not to have found it.

“What, pray tell, did you fight Ganon with?” Hyrule looked at him wide eyed before pulling out the sword on his back. Legend examined it and was surprised by how imbued with magic. He slumped dramatically into the chair he was sitting on, yep he fucked up. The Master Sword was in shambles when he first found it so he’d decided to upgrade it when he had to use it a second time. He sighed digging through his bag and pulled out the Master Sword before tossing it to Hyrule.

“Take a look for yourself, though it’s different from the one Sky has since I upgraded it.” Hyrule marveled at the sheath for a moment before drawing the gilded blade. Hyrule looked awestruck at the blade and he could see even the princesses look surprised by the blade.

“It’s filled with holy magic.” Hyrule said airily.

Legend nodded, “it’s the blade of evil’s bane. It was specifically made to repel and seal away Ganon. I should have returned it to its pedestal in the Lost Woods.” Hyrule wilted at that.

“I don’t know where that is.” Well then. Legend sighed, he couldn’t really blame Hyrule for that.

“Well then it’s probably not the best idea for me to go showing her off to everyone then.” Legend gestured for Hyrule to return the blade and when he did Legend swiftly shoved it in his bag.

They spent a little more time conversing and the two princesses mentioned concerns of a gleeok escaping a dungeon, which was bad news because gleeok would be much worse to deal with outside a dungeon room. Legend watched Hyrule from where he was seated comfortably between both princesses, the two obviously cared deeply for him. Even Impa snuck Hyrule snacks by placing them on the saucer his teacup rested on.

The two eventually bid the princesses goodnight and when they started on their way back to the other heroes. “Your princess adopted you.” Legend said giving no room for it to be a question at all.

“No, hey haven’t, I don’t visit often so I’m sure they just missed me.” His guy was clueless, the two almost acted the same way his Zelda did around him. With the exception of the bickering that regularly occurred between him and Zelda.

“They took you in like you're a stray cat. No matter what, they’ll always let you settle down here.” He said seriously, Hyrule looked conflicted by what he said. Hyrule pushed forward down the hall and Legend worried that he’d said something wrong. He reminded himself that despite everything Hyrule was still almost a complete stranger to him. No matter how fun being ‘siblings’ was they would eventually part ways. Just like everyone who came before.

The rabbit in Legend nudged him for a chase. Legend decided to humor the rabbit by shoving his shoulder against Hyrule’s, stealing the green hat right back out of his hands, before darting forward a few feet. He looked back at Hyrule with a condescending smirk and watched with glee as the others' faces twisted from confusion to a smirk of his own.

When the other hero started to chase him, Legend jumped into action with a bark of laughter and a gleeful kick of his feet from the rabbit. The two tore down the hallways of the castle, Legend darting into hidden corridors and once jumping completely over Hyrule’s head to make the chase more interesting. He didn’t need his pegasus boots for a chase like this. Eventually when he reached the door that led to where the other heroes were resting, he put back on the ring before slamming the door open. The others jumped to their feet, a few drawing their swords in surprise but Legend didn’t have an opportunity to explain himself before Hyrule tackled him to the floor.

Legend retaliated by elbowing Hyrule in the gut, he heard Wind cheer with laughter. “They’re gonna take each other out!” The kid said with excitement and he heard a smack, someone slapped the kid on the back of the head. Legend managed to wrestle one arm free to flip off the general direction where he heard Wind and the kid cackled.

“Alright, alright break it up.” He heard Twilight say before he felt Hyrule lifted off of him, then he felt himself being lifted. Twilight was holding them both in the air by the back of their tunics like they were misbehaving kittens. Legend shared a look of bewilderment with Hyrule, before Legend crossed his arms and looked as disgruntled as possible. Hyrule quickly followed to mimic him, but Legend found his expression more hilarious than anything.

Legend felt someone digging in his bag and immediately went to snap at them but Twilight refused to release him. He saw Warriors and Wild pull out his blanket from Holodrum and spread it open, he wanted to scream in mutiny, but the two along with Twilight bundled them both into the blacket. By the time the three were both done they were trapped, Legend tried to free himself but knew it was a futile effort when he encountered one. It seemed Hyrule too had accepted his fate while Wind and the others laughed at their suffering.

Warriors and Twilight wiped their hands of the crime they’d committed and shook each other's hand in solidarity, while Wild held his slate out with its back facing them. Wild’s expression was focused and Legend really wished he knew what the man was doing. Wind took a leaping dive at them just to add to their suffering and Legend had enough.

“Wake me up when the world is ending.” He said with a flat tone before closing his eyes and going limp, pretending to be asleep. He felt Wind poke his cheek but he refused to react.

“Holy shit, that was faster than Sky falls asleep.” Wind whispered, but it was closer to a shout right next to his ear. Legend still refused to react, forcing his ears to stay still. Some of the older heroes scolded Wind for his language but others chuckled quietly.

“We should follow his example and sleep, we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow.” It was Time that said that. Great, they were just gonna leave them there. He didn’t feel Wind’s weight leave them and instead felt the boy settle into the slight space between the two of them. Legend wasn’t sure when he dozed off but when he woke up the others had freed Hyrule and he was the only one remaining in the blanket.

It seems that they took his statement on waking him rather literally because, from what he could tell looking out of his blanket fortress, the only one remaining asleep was Sky. He emerged from his slumber to be greeted by a quiet cheer from Wind about how he lived and Legend acted on his instincts to ruffle the boy's absolute mess of bed hair. He set about getting himself ready, ignoring Wind’s protests against him.

They eventually got themselves ready, woke Sky, and bade goodbye to the princesses before setting out. Hyrule with Legend’s assistance started them off in the direction the gleeok was sighted in. With a moment of thought Legend decided to ask, “Alright who’s fought a gleeok?” The others seemed to freeze, Wind raised a hand.

“What’s a gleeok?” Wild asked.

“Two headed dragon—“ Legend started.

“They can have up to four heads.” Hyrule interjected, “you have to cut off their heads to kill them. When you cut off a head they’ll float around trying to kill you until you cut off all the heads.” Legend nodded.

“You forgot about the part where the detached heads try to revive its body, and when its skeleton starts attacking you too, but yeah that’s a gleeok.” Legend added and Hyrule stared at him with wide eyes.

“The gleeok I fought was very different.” Wind grumbled, a frustrated scowl on his face.

“The ones I’ve fought never tried reviving themselves, or the skeleton thing.” Hyrule said with confusion.

“Could just be the fact that the gleeoks in Holodrum are different.” Legend said simply, truthfully he’d only fought one gleeok. At least if Hyrule had fought multiple gleeoks they weren’t as much of a pain as the one in Holodrum.

“Is there anything we should prepare for in advance?” Warriors questioned them and he had a good point. It’s likely if they prepared for Legend’s form of gleeok then they would be covered on most bases but…

“Kid, what were your gleeoks like?” Legend asked.

Wind looked surprised for a moment, “it was two headed but one was fire and the other ice…”

“Ah the good old use the opposite element to take it down right?” Legend was reminded of Trinexx on his first adventure, Wind looked shocked that he put that together so quickly but nodded. “Alright, that's easier to handle with fire and ice rods or anything similar.” Wild pulled out a collection of clearly elemental arrows and Twilight took a few, others refused having their own or other options.

“As for my gleeok, the worst you have to deal with is potential shockwaves when it jumps. So if you’ve got defensive magic you're fine, but otherwise you’ll probably need a roc’s feather.” Four sounded off on being cleared on that, while Wind and Time had defensive magic. That’s not enough; he only had 3 roc’s feathers and his roc’s cape. Hyrule mentioned having a jump spell but that relied on magic.

He shuffled through his bags pulling out his Pegasus seeds and pulled out a small handful which he promptly shoved at Time. “Pegasus seeds they’ll speed you up, but they’ll also be able to temporarily stun the heads, won’t work on the main body though.” Now for the roc’s feathers. He looked at the remaining group and decided that Sky, Warriors, and Twilight would likely be the best off with the roc’s feathers. He gave the three their feathers and put on his own roc’s cape and once they were all prepared they set out.

It didn’t take them too long to find the gleeok, it had two heads but it was very quickly identified as different from Wind’s gleeok. Hyrule and Legend couldn’t tell if it was either of theirs though, at least they were already prepared for the potential worst case scenario. They elected to split into two groups to focus on one head each. Legend was paired with Wind, Twilight, and Warriors. While Hyrule was with Sky, Time, and Four. Wild was supporting them from a distance.

Legend loaded his slingshot with mystery seeds and shot at the heads. The three seeds spread out, hitting both heads at once. The gleeok roared with rage, one head spitting fire balls while the other snapped at the other group of heroes. Legend’s group scattered to avoid the fire, he saw one of the heads focus on Wind but an arrow hit it in an eye before it could act. Its head flailed back, Warriors using the opportunity to slash at the soft underside of its throat.

“Get its head back down!” Legend shouted. Wind quickly responded by pulling out a long rope with a hook on one end, he threw out the rope and it easily tangled around the gleeok’s neck. Twilight immediately grabbed hold of the rope to aid the smaller hero in pulling the head down. Legend saw the gleeok’s jaws open to spit flames onto the hero but he plunged his sword through the dragon’s mouth fixing its jaws together on his blade. He was horrified to find the monster’s wound dripping black.

Warriors seemed to catch the unusual blood and shouted, “Black blood!” Twilight and Wind immediately released the rope they were holding and began to assist Warriors in cutting through the gleeok’s neck. Legend was horrified, gleeoks weren’t usually this hard to cut through. He found himself locking his gaze on the gleeok’s one burning eye, the rabbit screamed run. He jumped away sword in hand, just barely escaping being burned. Warriors stumbled back, while Twilight pulled himself and Wind back.

Legend jumped, the roc’s cape pulling him high in the air and he slashed his sword against the top of the gleeok’s neck. The head fell but stopped before hitting the ground. “Keep it from trying to reattach!” He yelled, he landed on his feet shooting pegesus seeds from his slingshot. One hit the head, stunning it which allowed Twilight and Warriors to attempt holding the head in place. The other seed hit Wind, who with the sudden boost of speed rushed to aid the others with their head.

The boy took a running jump at Sky, leaping off the man’s back spinning in the air, cutting the top of the gleeok’s other neck and that head fell too. Wind landed on his feet away from the other group, Legend could see the others relax as the heads dissipated. Legend’s instincts were still on edge so he turned to watch the body and he watched as the skeleton now freed of flesh moved. He shouted while digging through his bag.

He watched the skeleton stand and knew it was going to charge, Wind stood in its path and the boy seemed to realize it. The boy stiffened, not out of fear but anticipation, he likely knew running too soon would put the others at risk but he wasn’t aware of how fast a gleeok could be. He pulled out his switch hook and gripshot, he ran toward the others and launched the switch hook’s claw just as the gleeok lunged. He felt a twist of magic and knew he only had a moment, his eyes caught gold and he released the gripshot’s claw in that direction. He was instantly pulled towards Time, who responded quickly by grabbing him and running.

Legend saw blue fill his vision and quickly realized it was Time’s shield magic. He looked past the layer of magic to locate the gleeok skeleton and saw the others trying to take it down. That’s when Legend’s eyes saw a glint of black hiding in the dragon’s rib cage. Time’s shield disappeared and he was still carrying Legend, he’d probably assume he was injured. The others were cautiously taking swings at the skeleton, Wild had joined them with a large sword that looked designed for smashing stone.

Legend started slapping Time’s metal gauntlet to get his attention, “Totem Time.” He demanded.

“What?” Time asked his milky white eye showing itself as the man stared at him from the edge of his vision. He was trying to keep attention on his surroundings while running but Legend needed him to work with him.

“Totem Time!” Legend said with frustration before remembering that Time had no idea what he was demanding. “Just put me on your shoulders, I can see it’s weak point but I need a boost!”

Time kept moving but lifted him up above his head, “warn me if you think you’re going to fall.” The man said seriously, as if to give him no option otherwise.

Legend snorted, “you don’t gotta worry about that old man, just worry about yourself.” Legend hooked his feet under the man’s armpits and felt him keeping his hands on Legend’s shins for support. The man traded his claymore for a short sword and a shield while Legend pulled out his oldest bow and his remaining stock of silver arrows.

He drew the first, twisted his body to aim while Time avoided a swipe from the Gleeok’s tail. He fired when he had a clear shot but cursed as the arrow sailed just below the clot of blackened blood holding the bones together. He needed more height, he shook one of his legs free of Time’s grip and he could feel that white gaze on him again. He ignored the man, placing a hand on his head to force his gaze forward while he planted his freed foot on Time’s shoulder. Shifting his weight forward while he twisted the other to lock his foot behind Time’s arm gave him the height he needed.

He notched another arrow, waiting for the right moment as Time rushed backwards to avoid the gleeok’s claws. Legend had to place his hand back on the man’s head for balance, he wanted to be mad but it’s not like he’d done anything like this before. “Keep your back straight, shoulders locked, legs moving.” Legend offered the man and he immediately changed his posture, which gave Legend a steadier platform.

Legend notched his bow again, pulling the string taut and waiting for just the right moment. Once he saw his mark, he released the string and watched as the arrow logged itself in the blood clot. The light magic of the great fairy that had been trapped in the dark world burst forth from the arrow. The gleeok’s bones shuddered and fell, blackened blood pooling around the remains. Time halted in place instantly and Legend remained firmly planted on his shoulders.

The others who had been fighting the skeleton looked worse for wear but overall fine. Once the realization that the monster was actually dead now set in, Warriors quickly set about taking stock of everyone. He quickly realized that Legend and Time were missing from the group, the older hero seemed to be at a bit of a loss with Legend almost standing on his shoulders.

It was Wind that spotted them first, “that was so cool! Why are you on Time’s shoulders?” The kid said running over to them. Legend took the opportunity, before they all crowded around the two of them, to wiggle his other leg free and jump off of Time’s shoulders.

“Totem Time.” Legend answered the kid simply, he really didn’t want to explain beyond that. The rabbit in him jumped in panic, so he pushed Wind before jumping back into Time. He heard a few explanations and Time firmly grabbed his shoulder. Before any of them could scold him a black portal opened up right where Wind had been.

“That’s ominous.” Said Hyrule and Legend couldn’t help but agree, the damn thing was leaking dark magic.

“I’m surprised you could sense it.” Wild wondered, he seemed to be examining Legend but purely out of curiosity.

“These portals are what’s been leading us through various eras.” Warriors explained, “Whatever has been making them is behind the black blooded monster.” Legend could believe that. The monster and the portal reeked of the same magic.

“So Ganon’s goons are still high on the list of probable causes.” Legend said simply and Hyrule snorted. Legend couldn’t help the thought that had become commonplace in his mind since his second adventure, this might as well happen. Without much other thought he stepped through the portal and he heard Hyrule scramble to follow at his heels.

Legend was grateful to see that wherever the portal decided to drop them off was much brighter and alive than the era of Hyrule’s home. He could tell that Hyrule was immensely surprised by how vibrant the grove they were in was compared to where they had just been. The others filed through the portal and when the last person came through the portal snapped shut behind them.

“Who’s Hyrule is this?” Time asked, gathering all their attention.

“I get the feeling my nickname is going to get very confusing.” Hyrule mumbled a little distraught.

“It already is,” Legend responded, taking in his surroundings until his eyes locked on the tree in the center of the grove. “Still better than Link. Point is you can either let it cause you suffering or have fun with it.” Then he turned to the southwest, spotting a familiar tower. “Well damn,” he spoke loudly, “we aren’t in Hyrule at all.” He paused for dramatic effect allowing the others to question him. “We’re in Labrynna.”

“You seem rather certain of that.” Warriors pointed out.

“One ember tree, which grows ember seeds.” He said pointing to the tree at the center of the grove before completely turning around to point at the tower. “Second, the lighthouse Queen Ambi had built to prevent shipwrecks along the coastline because of the Sea of Storms. Which is conveniently where Lynna City is.” Legend explained.

“Wow this is the first time we’ve been transported out of Hyrule, other than Wind’s era.” Four exclaimed, his eyes gleaming a warm red. Legend cocked an eyebrow at him wondering why Wind’s era would be so different from the rest. He was also concerned about what brought them to Labrynna in the first place.

“Most people here don’t speak Hylian at all, so it would probably be best to find Ralph first.” He said as he began walking towards the path to Lynna City, a few of the others began asking questions on who Ralph was. Before he could answer them he saw a familiar blue cloak and bright red hair. Speak of the devil and he shall appear and judging by the rush Ralph was in the heroes were in for a treat.

“Ralph!” he shouted, getting the man’s attention. The red head whipped around and his face revealed a barely concealed storm of rage.

“Link! Of course you're here.” he shouted as he approached them, Ralph didn’t even seem to notice the group he was with. Legend could sense them growing apprehensive about Ralph’s behavior but Legend waved them off. Legend realized that in hindsight the others couldn’t understand a word Ralph was saying, even if they knew basic Labrynnian, Ralph had a rapid fire way of speaking that made him a pain to understand.

“What are you doing, dawdling about? Hordes of monsters have suddenly shown up from nowhere in the northwest near Symmetry City. I have no time to go after them myself since Din and Nayru could be in danger. I’ve wasted enough time as it is, bye.” And as quickly as he appeared Ralph was off again.

“What just happened?” Wild asked.

“He gave us a lead on what to do next, he can understand Hylian too. He just chooses not to speak it.” Legend responded. Twilight, bless his polite soul, turned to where Ralph had been to shout out thanks only to be left with his jaw hanging open because Ralph was long gone. Legend almost wanted to laugh at his plight but instead he chose to push Twilight’s gaping jaw shut. “That’s just how Ralph is.” It really was how Ralph was, dead set on keeping Nayru safe and being surprisingly helpful to Link despite insisting on doing everything himself.

“Is it a good idea to leave him by himself, where he’s run off too.” Warriors questioned and he wasn’t entirely wrong to be concerned. Ralph wasn’t just a civilian though, he could easily match Legend in a spar and he survived months in Labrynna’s past.

“He’s fine, he can handle himself.” Legend stated, then he thought for a moment. Getting to Symmetry City would be a task, the easiest route was through Lynna City than taking the river north. “How many of you can swim?” Legend asked, “we have to head up river and I have a friend who can help but that still may require multiple trips.”

In the end Hyrule couldn’t swim at all, Warriors and Wind didn’t have any items that aided in swimming so they wouldn’t be able to get far. Time had a tunic that allowed him to breathe underwater and Legend wanted to argue with him that walking along the ground underwater did not count as swimming. Twilight and Wild both had tunics, and Four had flippers. Legend was cursed and he did not want to find out how the curse interacted with the ring’s magic.

Legend sighed, he would have to call Dimitri and work things out from there. Last he’d seen the young dodongo he was just big enough to carry both him and Ralph at the same time. He pulled out Dimitri’s flute and played the familiar chipper tune, the others looked at him in a mix of surprise and confusion.

“Link! You’re back!” Dimitri appeared from the south, the other heroes were immediately on edge. Legend ran towards the dodongo throwing himself on Dimitri’s snout, being careful to avoid his broken horn. He reached around his head to scratch at the scales on the side of his face, he’d gotten bigger since he’d last seen him.

“Dimitri, it’s been so long. I heard there’s been trouble near Symmetry Village, if you don’t mind helping my friends and I get there.” He asked standing up, scratching absently at the scales on the tip of Dimitri’s snout. He took a good look at the dodongo, he would definitely be able to carry him, Wind, and Hyrule, but Warriors would likely be too much.

“Of course, I’ll help. It’s been so long since we’ve been adventuring together.” Dimitri chirped and Legend couldn’t help but grin at him.

“Well no time like the present then.” Legend said leading the way Dimitri falling in step to one side. Hyrule carefully placed himself to Legend’s other side.

“That’s a dodongo?” Hyrule questioned, but it was more of a statement. Legend could understand his confusion though, he’s fought enough dodongo to understand. The simple truth was that Dimitri didn’t belong in Labrynna, Ganon’s followers had likely brought him here with intention to make him a formidable foe.

“He was poached,” Legend responded quietly, gesturing to the broken horn on Dimitri’s head. Legend had saved him from being brutalized by moblins when they first met. “He’s not a threat in the slightest.” Legend stated, his voice gave no room for argument. The conversation thankfully didn’t manage to reach Dimitri, the dodongo too focused on a butterfly that landed on his snout.

“So how is your… friend doing to help us, Legend?” Wind questioned him. Sky, and Wild seemed more curious about Dimitri than weary like the others. Which made Legend realize that the three had never encountered a dodongo before.

“He’s great at swimming.” Legend answered.

“Dodongos can swim?” Twilight questioned more to himself than anything and Legend really didn’t want to think about that. So he left Twilight’s question unanswered. Legend led them through the quieter parts of Lynna City and a few villagers waved as they passed, completely unbothered by Dimitri. Legend wasn’t surprised by that, Ralph had been taking care of the dodongo since he’d returned to Hyrule after defeating Ganon the second time.

When they reached the river that led north Legend jumped on Dimitri’s back and held out a hand for Hyrule to join him. Hyrule hesitatingly crawled onto Dimitri’s back behind him and Legend was about to help Wind up but the kid decided to take matters into his own hands by crawling up Dimitri’s tail. Legend thought about scolding him but Dimitri seemed to find the kid entertaining. The others prepared themselves for a swim, while Dimitri entered the water, floating easily despite the added weight.

Warriors whistled and Legend threw him a spare pair of zora flippers he’d long lost use for. The man entered the water after removing his scarf and putting the flippers on. It didn’t take long for the rest to join them, “alright it's best you stay behind us, the River Zora aren’t that friendly, you shouldn’t encounter any cheep-cheeps as long as you don’t dive that deep.” He thought he heard someone ask what a cheep-cheep was but he ignored that, nudging Dimitri forward.

Their swim was uneventful, Wind filling their travels with stories of sailing across the sea. Legend had to resist a shudder at the thought because the last and only two times he’d gone sailing had resulted in him getting struck by lightning and shipwrecked. It didn’t take them long to reach the stretch of land just south of Symmetry City, the others pulled themselves out of the water and began to dry off. Legend looked around before spotting something hiding in the bushes.

“I’m gonna see if the locals know anything about the monster situation.” Legend stated walking towards the bushes.

“Are we that close to town?” Wild questioned and Legend shook his head. He crouched down near the bushes, keeping his weight balanced on the balls of his feet so that he could easily get back up.

“Did you guys happen to see monsters nearby, we’re here to get rid of them?” Legend asked, holding his hand out to the creatures hiding in the bushes. A small white nose appeared to sniff his hand before, one white rabbit hopped out of the bushes. He heard Wind gasp loudly and Legend shot the kid a glare, causing the boy to cover his mouth. The rabbit was on its back legs, ready to run. “Don’t worry they’re with me.” He whispered as if it were a secret and the rabbit's ears flopped down as it relaxed.

Soon after the first relaxed, several others appeared out of the bushes due to curiosity. They chittered and stamped their feet in frustration as they told Legend about the monsters. It wasn’t long before Legend felt a presence looming behind him, his rabbit instincts didn’t alert him to run, so he looked to see Time standing over him. That explained the looming at least, the man was a giant, but that didn’t explain the intense expression on his face as he stared at… the rabbits.

“You’ll scare them off standing around like that.” Legend stated and almost instantly the man sat down beside him. A rabbit looked at Legend curiously and he shrugged in response. Legend watched as Time seemed to turn to stone as the rabbit came up to him to investigate, putting its paws on his legs so that it could reach out to sniff his hands. Legend wanted to laugh at the man as his eyes lit up when he placed a cautious hand on the rabbits head.

Legend did laugh when the others joined Time in fawning over the rabbits. Warriors sat down beside Time and spoke, “I thought you were gonna ask the locals about the monster problem.”

Legend rolled his eyes, “I have.” He gestured to the rabbits, “they’re just north of here.” Legend immediately felt multiple eyes on him.

“You can understand animals normally?” Twilight question and Legend squinted at him because of the phrasing of the question. Now that he thought about it he couldn’t think of how or when he’d suddenly started understanding animals, he was certain he couldn’t before his first adventure. Then he felt the rabbit inside him stir and it almost felt like it had given him a swift kick right in the head and suddenly it made sense. If he could talk as a rabbit of course the rabbit allowed him to understand animals as a Hylian.

“Didn’t realize it was odd, I could always understand them. Thought it could just be something in Labrynna and Holodrum though.” He lied with a half hearted shrug. Wait… did that mean they couldn’t understand Dimitri.

“Well we all have odd things going on with us.” Four said and everyone else hummed in agreement, effectively ending the conversation. They didn’t spend much longer with the rabbits, since the prospect of monsters nearby urged them to make sure that the monsters weren’t attacking anyone, Dimitri followed them.

They heard the monsters before they saw them, they were fighting someone. They all immediately hurried to help whoever they were attacking. Legend saw the monsters just in time to see Ricky kick one into a tree. That was concerning because Ricky never kicked an opponent unless he was really in trouble, he then saw Zelda in Ricky’s pouch and he screamed internally. He saw two moblins approaching Ricky from behind, so he grabbed Dimitri’s tail. Dimitri responded by curling into a ball and Legend lifted the dodongo over his head and threw him at the two monsters about to attack Ricky.

The other heroes immediately charged into battle, Legend followed behind going to check on Ricky and Zelda. They were both thankfully alright and Legend set out to help the other dispatch the monsters. He felt Zelda tentatively prod at his mind in warning before speaking to him, “why are you disguised as that other person you’re traveling with?” She asked patiently, not expecting him to respond quickly.

“It's a ring I found ages ago,” He started, pausing to focus on cutting down a monster that was about to attack Wild. “These guys are all heroes, we’re all named Link, the ring just happened to make me look exactly like Hyrule.” He paused again to focus on not getting his head cut off by a lizalfos. “We’re pretending to be twins because it’s funny… They call me Legend.” He added as an afterthought and he could practically feel Zelda rolling her eyes at him.

“Then they can call me Fable.” Zelda responded simply and Legend wanted to cheer and hug his sister but that would have to wait. His thoughts weren’t as quiet as he thought because he could hear Zelda’s laughter in his head. It didn’t take them much longer to finish off the remaining monsters and the only main injuries were Sky’s leg. They would have to go back through Lynna City for Legend to get a magic potion from Syrup for him.

Sky wouldn’t be able to swim back but that gave him an idea, he pulled out another flute that made a more airy tune when he played it and Moosh appeared. The giant blue bear dropped out of the sky with a sleepy greeting. “Sky can ride Moosh back to the city.” Legend stated and the other heroes starred in surprise at Moosh.

Legend watched for a moment as Wild and Wind approached the bear from behind seemingly daring each other to pet him, Wild reached out his hand disappearing into the blue fur. Wild’s face lit up with wonder before he fully submerged himself in the fur, Wind seemingly feeling left out did the same. Twilight, who seemed weary of the bear, attempted to get them out of their fluffy prison but his face immediately melted when he felt Moosh’s fur. Moosh remained unphased and incredibly sleepy despite what was happening behind him.

Zelda, no Fable, decided to make herself known, jumping out of Ricky’s pouch. Her hair was tied back in a ponytail and her blue dress that Legend had altered to have pants. “Hello heroes, I’m the Oracle of Light, Zelda, but you can call me Fable. It's fantastic to finally meet your brother Link.” Legend really loved his sister, she’s fantastic and puts up with his stupidity way too much.

The other heroes introduced themselves and Legend snuck his way over to Hyrule to inform him that Fable knew, he looked understandably shocked. Legend greeted Ricky, who ruffled his hair with his boxing gloves still on. Eventually they made their way back to Lynna City to find that Ralph and the other Oracles were already there. Legend greeted Din and Nayru. When he made eye contact with Farore she brought a single finger in front of her smirking mouth, her glasses glinting ominously. He… He was not going to think about that, he’d lock it away in his mind along with Lady Maud and then one day he’d die.

His attention was taken by Wind who shouted, “who’s that a statue of?” Oh no, there goes the ruse. He turned to the statue that he knew Queen Ambi had built of him and was a mix of surprised and horrified when he saw the statue. The paint had thankfully faded due to age and thankfully his features weren’t too different from Hyrule’s. The statue's hair however was clearly once black, he’d forgotten that he’d dyed his hair black before traveling overseas.

“Well that is actually a statue that my ancestor Queen Ambi commissioned of the hero Link after he saved the Oracle of Ages 400 years ago.” Ralph answered in perfect Hylian, with a smug look on his face and Legend really wanted to strangle him.

Instead of violence, Legend chose dramatics instead. He threw his head back, “I asked Queen Ambi not to make those.” Then he fell forward on his knees, before dramatically planting his face in the dirt like a child throwing a tantrum. He groaned like his soul was leaving his body and he heard Hyrule and Fable openly laugh at his antics. Life could be worse he supposed.

Chapter Text

Wild wasn’t sure what to think about Legend and Hyrule. The two were similar in many ways. Their alertness when traveling through the wilderness, the way they jumped at the slightest noise, and their caution towards people. The two also had an odd feeling about them that reminded him of how the air changed whenever the dragons were nearby. He was told that the two had more magic than the rest of them but Wild had few experiences with natural magic.

It was similar to how Time reminded him of Koroks. He reminded him of the little glimmer of light running through the grass, the clattering sound that was similar to the wooden wind chimes of Luralin Village, and the laughing cheer whenever he caught one of them. He couldn’t place exactly why Time made him think of Koroks but the thought tickled the forefront of his mind whenever he thought of the man. Time also reminded him of the Great Deku Tree. His presence seemed old, patient, and protective. He had a tendency to loom over others without realizing but it was never to intimidate.

The two were also wild in a way similar to Twilight or more accurately Wolfie. Wild in a way that Wolfie growled and snapped at strangers that were too curious, but how he acted more similarly to a dog otherwise. When he found out the two were one in the same, he sat staring at Twilight unresponsive for a solid five minutes trying to process. Hyrule and Legend weren’t wild like wolves though, they’re behavior went against that and that’s how Wild noticed their differences.

Though they looked so alike that the rest had difficulty telling them apart, more often than not Legends wore a green cap that seemed second nature for him to wear. Wild could tell the smaller differences between the two. They were both curious about new surroundings and potentially exploring, but where Hyrule was prone to wandering without explanation or much thought, Legend held a bone deep caution to him. Legend also had a weariness that seemed to slouch his shoulders and sink the undersides of his eyes. Legend also relied on an odd cane to walk with on occasion, as if his joints ached from old battles.

They knew that Hyrule had two adventures under his belt, and Legend had at least three but possibly more. He was vague about the details of his adventures and they never pushed him to tell, but Wild occasionally heard him absentmindedly hum a mournful tune that seemed to echo the sound of waves on the shore. The song always reminded him of the moment he woke from the Shrine of Resurrection, choking on water as an unknown voice called for him to wake up.

Hyrule on the other hand chimed when he laughed, a sound that reminded him of fairies dancing over his cooking pot. Hyrule’s demeanor reminded him of deer, the way his ears flicked towards noises… ah Blupees. The two were like Blupees in the way that magic clung to them like a second skin. How they seemed to blend in but also stand out from their surroundings. How they always seemed on edge, ready to dart away at a moment's notice.

Wild blinked out of his thoughts, casting a glance at Legend who still looked pale where he was bundled up in Sky’s sailcloth sitting between Ralph and Fable. Hyrule was faring better where he was draped over Legend, almost looking like a wilted flower. Wild had made them all a meal earlier and recalling what Legend had said about ember seeds being spicy, he added a small amount of Goron Spice to their meal. As it turns out ember seeds and Goron Spice were different types of spicy. And Goron Spice happened to disagree with both of the twins.

While Wild had been cooking Legend had briefly used some gust seeds to make a quick trip around Labrynna to restore his seed stock. The other three oracles had left when Wild wasn’t paying attention, after they bade Legend their farewells. When he returned Wild had their meal ready, which both twins had accepted with gratitude and soon after they started eating Legend had started coughing violently. Sky and Twilight followed the younger hero when he ran off to the river flowing through the city. Hyrule in the meantime had a coughing fit, his face horribly red while Warriors patted his back.

Soon after losing his stomach in the nearby stream and Ralph scolding Wild profusely, Legend managed to shut him up by mentioning that they had only been traveling together for three days. If someone had asked Time he’d probably give the exact time they’d met the twins down to the second. Wild did feel guilty over making the two sick, so after Legend had pulled a green apple from his bag looking sorely disappointed on it beginning to turn brown, Wild offered to make them something with the apples.

He’d never seen green apples before, but after a quick taste he found they were much more tart than his red or golden apples. With the help of Legend peeling and coring the apples, which the other hero did swiftly with a small knife that seemed crafted specifically for the task, Wild began to make an apple pie. Fable had offhandedly mentioned that Legend quite enjoyed honey, apparently Holodrum had an apple farm that grew the green apples but also kept bees.

With that information Wild pulled some honey candy from his slate and offered some to Legend and Hyrule. The twins took a candy but seemed hesitant on actually trying them, he could blame them really. To his surprise Ralph snatched one from his open palm and stuck it in his mouth with a roll of his eyes. He didn’t react much at the taste, simply saying he didn’t care much for sweets. Though his actions gave Hyrule enough confidence to lick the candy he’d been holding. He immediately let out a surprised chiming noise then popped the rest of the candy in his mouth, seemingly melting at its flavor.

Legend took his reaction as an opportunity to try the candy as well, he didn’t react as much but he at least seemed happier to have something with a better flavor in his mouth. Fable smiled softly, gently rubbing Legend’s shoulder. Ralph seemed tired of having the candy in his mouth and elected to crunching whatever was left of it down.

Once he was finished with the candy, Ralph finally decided to speak, his mannerisms almost reminding him of Flora. Though he was more like Flora before he’d managed to save her but his manner of speaking reminded him of Revali. “I thought you were retired.” Ralph verbally jabbed at Legend, much to the shock of Hyrule who had his head resting on Legend’s. Wild took a moment to process what he’d said, though his Hylian was perfect, he had an odd accent that was likely due to Labrynnian being his first language.

Legend huffed, “it’s not like I personally asked the goddesses to hand me more world saving bullshit on a silver platter.” Ralph scoffed in response and Wild threw a concerned look at Fable, but she seemed more entertained by their bickering than anything. “If Ganon happened to be behind this, I personally dig him a new grave and make sure he can’t get out of it this time.”

Ralph shook his head but before he could speak Sky spoke up, “I hope you don’t mind me asking you Ralph, but what happened to your ears?” Ralph looked confused by the question and now that Wild took a closer look at him, his ears were round. They didn’t look like they’d been damaged or cut like the ear Wild had on the scarred side of his face, but the man’s other ear was covered by long hair so it was hard to tell.

A few others looked concerned for the man, but Twilight looked like he was about to start laughing. Legend looked like he wanted to scream at the heavens in disappointment and knowing him he was very likely considering it. Ralph, however in a surprising show of properness asked, “Whatever do you mean?”

Sky paled slightly, “it’s just your ears are so short, I was worried that something happened to them.” Twilight was laughing now, Legend let out a tremendous sigh and Fable seemed to be hiding her smile behind her hand. The three of them definitely knew something the rest of them didn’t.

“I beg your finest pardon?” Ralph said in exasperation, he looked like he was about to give Sky the scolding of a lifetime too. Wild pointedly kept his eyes on the food he was cooking, to avoid being caught in the crossfire.

Legend took mercy on them all though, “he’s human not Hylian, their ears are just like that from birth. If anything, we're the odd ones in Labrynna.” Ralph huffed and sat back down with his arms crossed. Sky looked sheepish and Wind scowled at Twilight for laughing but the man surprised them all by simply remarking that he’d been raised by humans. Ralph seemed exhausted but chose to let the conversation end.

Wild chose to save Sky by handing Legend and Hyrule slices of apple pie. Wild carefully gauged their reactions, he enjoyed knowing the foods his brothers’ liked. Actually he just enjoyed cooking food for others in general, learning recipes from people as he traveled across Hyrule had become a hobby for him. He enjoyed seeing people's faces light up when they had a taste of his cooking, he enjoyed being the person that gave Flora her first meal in 100 years. So he watched carefully as Legend and Hyrule took their first bites of the pie.

Hyrule had a baseline for his reaction because of the honey candy, but Legend’s reactions toward the meals he’d served so far had been subdued. Not bad but not great either, as if he didn’t really bother to taste what he was eating. Perhaps like his brother, Legend would have a preference for sweets, but less towards the sugary sweet variety. Legend took a bite of his pie and immediately his long ears fluttered, it was a surprising motion and Wild suddenly realized how expressive the twins’ longer ears were. Legend must really like apples, so he probably gravitated to the flavors of other fruits too.

Hyrule also seemed to be enjoying the pie too, but he didn’t make the chiming noise that he’d made with the candy. Wild couldn’t place why Hyrule made that kind of noise while perhaps the oddest sound he’d heard from Legend so far was a shrill squeak of shock. Wild absently tasted the pie he made and was surprised by the difference in flavor that the green apples had made compared to the red. Where the apple pie he’d made before was usually almost honey sweet, with some spices to add to the flavor, the tartness of the green apples cut down on the overall sweetness but almost made the pie more delectable. One thing was certain, Wild had to get his hands on some of those apples himself to experiment more.

Wild swatted away Wind’s hands from snatching the rest of the pie, but placated him with a slice of his own to eat. He also offered Fable and Ralph a slice too but both refused, Fable quietly telling him to save the rest for later while quietly gesturing to Legend. She seemed to care a lot for him, something about her made him think of what he could recall of Mipha, but her care was more sisterly. It didn’t take long for the twins and Wind to finish their meals. Shortly after they did, a dark portal opened up nearby.

“That’s what you all have been traveling through?” Ralph asked incredulously and Wild could understand him. The portals were definitely something that screamed ‘one way ticket to your ultimate doom’ more than ‘this way to continue on your quest.’

“The portals are linked to whatever is causing the monster outbreaks, they’re our best bet at finding a solution.” Time answered on all their behalf and Ralph didn’t argue but he certainly didn’t seem happy about it.

“We’ll keep an eye out on monster sightings for the foreseeable future. And Link, I’ll give Ravio a heads up if we happen to cross paths.” Fable said giving Legend a hug, “it was also truly wonderful to meet you Hyrule, you both best take care of yourselves.” That almost sounded like a threat and Legend huffed at her. Wild wanted to ask who Ravio was but Twilight squeezed his shoulder and smiled fondly as he gestured to the portal with a nod. Right, they didn’t have much time before the portal made the choice for them.

Wild entered the portal with Twilight just before the twins and was surprised to find he recognized their surroundings, “My Hyrule.” He stated, pulling out his slate to see the map loading back up. He immediately felt dual presences behind him, he glanced to see Hyrule and Legend peering over his shoulders.

“That thing has a map?” Legend questioned and Wild nodded, showing him the slate’s screen more clearly now that it was fully loaded. He noted that they were just below Satori Mountian at the edge of Dalite Forest, they were just a half a day away from Outskirt Stable. Wind seemed to have already spotted the stable judging by his shout.

“It’s the Sheikah Slate, its ancient technology. Aside from the map, it stored items and materials, and can also warp me to shrine locations.” Wild explained to the two, allowing Time to take the lead in gathering them in the direction of the stable.

“That’s definitely magic.” The two both concluded, which surprised Wild. He didn’t have much experience with magic compared to the rest of them but Sheikah Tech and frankly these two hadn’t encountered a guardian, Divine Beast, or a shrine yet.

“It’s technology, this is just a small part of Sheikah Tech.” Wild responded simply.

Legend scoffed, “even if it's an item that's created to make the use of magic easier, that doesn’t stop it from being magic.” Hyrule nodded along with him and Wild sighed, moving to join the others that were leaving knowing that there was little point in arguing with the two of them. Thank Hylia they were halfway across Hyrule from Purah’s lab otherwise the twins would have an argument to end the eras with her.

As he caught up with the others he noticed the twins lagging behind, Hyrule gesturing to the peak of Satori Mountain. Knowing the two could sense magic, could they perhaps tell if Satori would show up tonight? If so perhaps he could make a trip to see the Lord of the Mountain tonight, especially if the twins decided to investigate.

They reached the stable by the early evening and while Wild set about cooking, Warriors set about getting them beds at the stable. Soon Warriors announce they were two beds short for all of them, which led to Wind bunking with Sky and the twins together as well. They all set in for an early dinner, before traveling for the night. Wild knew it was for the best as traveling through Central Hyrule took a long amount of time and had few options for safe places to rest.

After finishing their meal Wild noticed the twins slipping back towards Satori Mountain, so Wild told Twilight that he was going to follow them to make sure they didn’t get lost. The older man looked disappointed but didn’t argue, the twins were new to their group so they still weren’t familiar with the rules that the oldest of their group set in place.

Wild managed to catch up with the twins on the other side of the bridge leading away from the stable, when he called out to them Legend was fiddling with a ring on his finger. Since when did he have that? Perhaps it was just a nervous tick of his. He offered to show them the best way up the mountain so they wouldn’t be out so late causing the others to worry. He also wanted to make sure the twins didn’t have an accidental run in with the stalnox near Rutile Lake.

They made their way up the mountain, Wild leading them up the gentler slopes of Satori Mountain, since the twins struggled with climbing. They reached the plateau near Rutile Lake and Wild was surprised to find that the Stalnox bones were missing. In its place was a large monster camp, the three hid in the bushes and began plotting their way forward.

It all went wrong when Hyrule asked about the red barrels in the monster camp. Wild explained they were explosives and immediately Legend pulled out an odd horn looking item with a devious look on his face. “So what you’re saying is that we can blow this place to the ground?” Wild heard a disappointed voice in his head that sounded remarkably like Twilight, which he ignored because Legend was speaking his language.

He pulled out his fire arrows offering Hyrule some but the other pulled out his sword and with a swing of the blade a beam of fire flew. The flames struck the first group of barrels causing them to explode, monsters screamed as the explosion caused them to go flying. Wild and Legend ran in opposite directions to flank the camp shooting fire arrows and ember seeds into the camp. Wild could spot Hyrule in the center of camp sending beams of fire out into camp, Wild also saw a black moblin raising its club to hit Hyrule. Before he could call out a warning a giant pillar of circular flames consumed the moblin.

When the moblin fell Wild caught a glimpse of Legend wearing his magic cloak holding a red staff with a flame-like top to it. Legend immediately disappeared and more pillars of flame erupted from Legend’s side of the camp. Not to be outdone, Wild immediately swapped to using his bomb arrows. Explosions demolished the remaining monsters on his side of camp and when he looked back to check on Hyrule he was shocked to see him snap his fingers and lightning came down to strike the remaining monsters.

Wild stared at the charred remains of the monster camp, no monsters remained and Wild wanted to laugh. He walked up to Hyrule, who looked uninjured but exhausted. Legend met up with them also holding two bottles, one was empty but the other held a purple potion. Hyrule took the other potion and immediately downed it. Hyrule immediately looked less tired on drinking the potion and Wild felt curious on what kind of potion it was.

“Magic potion.” Legend answered before he could ask, “it restores magic.” Legend also took on their surroundings and whistled.

“Are the others gonna be mad if they found out we did this?” Hyrule questioned and Legend raised an eyebrow seeming unconcerned by the situation.

“Definitely, but if we aren’t out long they won’t even know.” Wild answered.

“If anything we can just blame Warriors.” Legend said and they both looked at him in shock, which he rolled his eyes in response too. “I let him borrow my other fire rod when we were in Labrynna, he left camp before any of us did, and he has horrible magical control.”

“His magical control can’t be that bad.” Wild said in defense of Warriors.

“It is that bad.” Both Hyrule and Legend responded and Wild wasn’t sure he could argue further with them. Sorry Warriors but it was two against one and he didn’t know anything about magic.

“You have two fire rods…?” Hyrule then questioned a little hysterically after a moment of thought. Were fire rods rare?

“I bought this one from a merchant who made them, he sold them for exorbitant prices too.” Legend answered as if he weren’t talking about a potentially rare magic item.

“And you just bought it?!” Hyrule asked a little more hysterically. Then Wild suddenly remembered the state of his era and realized that rupees were probably rare and very valuable in his time, perhaps the other countries Legend had been to faired better economically.

“Of course,” Legend scoffed, “who knew when I’d end up needing them.” Nope, Legend was just a hoarder. Wild was suddenly very curious about what numerous other items Legend had hidden away in his bags.

“Of course you bought it.” Hyrule sounded so tired when he said that. Yep, Hyrule definitely was more frugal with his spending.

Wild saw a blue glow at the edge of his vision as the sun dipped below the horizon. “Oh Satori is here.” He said starting in the direction of the peak, knowing that they wouldn’t have much time before Wolfie came looking for them.

The twins moved to catch up with him and Hyrule asked, “who’s Satori?”

“He’s a spirit, Lord of the Mountain.” He said gesturing towards the glow that enveloped the peak. “When we get to the peak you’ll have to be quiet because Satori and the Blupees startle easily.”

“Blupees?” Legend asked but Wild just smiled and continued up the path to the peak. He heard Legend quietly ask Hyrule the same question, perhaps assuming that they were something found in Hyrule in general but Hyrule made a noise of confusion in response.

They eventually worked their way to the top of the mountain, Wild leading the twins through a split between the peak that was flooded with a blue glow. The air was charged with old magic as Wild turned to the twins with a finger to his mouth, before he turned to lead the way to the pond that sat under Satori’s tree. The twins crept quietly behind him as Wild hugged the rock wall leading them closer to the bushes that surrounded the pink blossoming tree.

He could tell the two held a quiet awe for the massive tree and once they were hidden in the bushes, Wild pointed in the direction of the pond. There in playing the waters, that had pink petals sitting on its still surface, were glowing blue bunnies with owl faces and golden laurel antennas. The Lord of the Mountain loomed over them with its horse-like body and twin faces watching over the smaller spirits.

Wild heard Hyrule make a low chime of surprise and turned to see both the twins leaning precariously to get a better look at the spirits. Both their ears were fluttering with curiosity and Wild was about ready to pull out his Sheikah Slate to get a picture of both of them. Before he could however he saw Hyrule lean his arm on Legend which caused Legend to pitch forward with a shrill alarmed squeak. Legend tumbled down, rolling feet over his head until he landed on his back, disturbing the still water below.

Several Blupees jumped away but didn’t disappear into blue sparkles. Satori moved to see what the disturbance was and Wild was concerned that Satori would end up kicking Legend off the mountain. It had happened to Wild before when attempted to ride Satori the first time, and it was definitely an experience he didn’t recommend. Hyrule made a quiet noise of concern and Wild stopped him from rushing out to help Legend because he definitely would get kicked.

Satori surprised both of them by just stopping to observe Legend with its two faces. Some Blupees also got closer to observe what had just fallen into their pond. Legend laid there stiff as a board unsure what to do. Satori bent its neck down to get a closer look at Legend causing him to stiffen further.

“Hello?” Legend said weakly, Satori seemed to accept the weak greeting, straightening its neck and wandering away from the hero. Wild let out a sigh of relief and beside him Hyrule also seemed to release the breath he’d been holding. The Blupees seemed emboldened by Satori’s reaction drew closer to Legend.

“Wild?” Legend whisper shouted as he realized the Blupees were getting closer. “Wild? Wild?!” His voice got quietly louder as the Blupees got closer and Wild could easily help him by simply leaping out of the bushes but he’d never seen Blupees ever approach people willingly. Hyrule made a chiming noise that sounded more similar to an alarm next to him. Wild could tell he was also uncertain how to help Legend, but Wild placed a hand on his shoulder to prevent him from tipping forward the same way Legend had.

A Blupee jumped onto Legend’s chest causing him to freeze as the spirit sniffed at him with its owl-like face, its golden antenna twitching curiously. Wild watched as another Blupee nudged at Legend’s hand resulting in the hero finally relaxing. Wild couldn’t believe it, the Blupees liked him. He felt Hyrule lean further forward next to him and Wild decided to be mischievous, surely if the Blupees liked Legend they would definitely like Hyrule too.

Wild pushed Hyrule forward causing the boy to tumble into the pool in a similar manner to Legend, landing on his back right next to his brother. Few of the Bluepees even reacted to Hyrules tumble despite the rather loud alarmed chime he let out when he fell. Hyrule laid stiffly as Satori observed him and Wild watched in wonder as the Lord leaned its head down to “kiss” Hyrule’s forehead. The act almost seemed revenant but the Lord left the twins quickly to the will of the Blupees.

Wild withheld a quiet cackle as he pulled out his Slate to take pictures of the twins as they began to become surrounded by Blupees. “This is where I die ‘Roolie,” Legend stated dramatically and WIld had to keep himself from chuckling. “Tell Zelly that my death was a valiant sacrifice for the sake of all things good in the world.” Legend finished running his hands along a Blupee’s head, his face looking mockingly morefull. It was as he was being prepared for his own funeral. Hyrule hummed and whispered the nickname Legend had called him to himself before responding.

“If you die does that mean I can keep all your items?” Hyrule asked rather seriously and Legend made a mock noise of offense before he actually seemed to consider the question.

Legend hummed, “Actually the items I got in Labrynna and Holodrum I already promised to return to Ralph just in case something happens there again.” Then he thought for a moment, “you’ll probably have to fight Ravio over the items I bought from him. That man will do anything for rupees. Otherwise the rest of my items already have your name on them, so have fun.” Legend finished scratching the neck of the Blupee that was sprawled out on his chest.

“What?” Hyrule questioned before he thought for a moment. When he realized what Legend ment he let out a chiming laugh. “We have the same name!” Hyrule chirped as he laughed and Legend snorted in response.

Wild got distracted from watching and taking pictures of the twins when he felt a wet nose press against his elbow. Wild turned to see Wolfie’s bright blue eyes staring at him, the wolf opened his jaws to bark and WIld in a moment of panic dropped his Slate to clamp the wolf’s jaws shut. The wolf’s blue eyes stared at him with immense disappointment, but Wild just pointed at the twin that were laying in the pool below them.

Wild almost laughed when he tuned back into the conversation the two were having. “Leg! Leg! You did not just call me that! That is not a nickname!” Legend shouted quietly as he attempted to kick Hyrule without disturbing the Blupees around the two of them.

“Ledge then?” Hyrule asked very honestly and Wild had to hold a hand over his mouth to keep himself from laughing.

“That’s not better!” Legend complained dramatically and Wild felt that Legend didn’t really have the heart to truly oppose him. Then their peace with the spirits broke when Wolfie stepped forward to get a better look causing a twig to snap. The Blupees jumped into full alertness that they hadn’t done when the twins had disturbed their peace. The spirit scattered and fled causing the blue glow that enveloped the mountain to fade almost instantly. Wild sighed in defeat and he heard the twins let out an assortment of disappointed complaints at having their new friends flee.

Wolfie at least looked incredibly sheepish at breaking the peace. When Legend noticed what had broken the silence he immediately stiffened in fear, Wild recognised that he looked as if he was ready to run at any moment. Hyrule who was between the Legend and Wolfie also looked shocked by the sudden appearance. He stepped back towards Legend, putting his hand on his blade.

Wild knew he had to interfere, so he rushed forward and in a questionable moment of brilliance he shoved his hand in Wolfie’s mouth. Both the twins looked at him in shock and Wild could feel Wolfie’s disappointed gaze boring into him. “Don’t worry he’s friendly, he helped Twilight on his adventure. He usually asks for Wolfie’s help whenever one of us gets lost.” Wolfie practically spat his hand out and barked at him, before growling and turning to the path that led down the mountain.

Legend snorted and Wild suddenly recalled that he could understand animals, so he moved to flank Legend’s other side as Hyrule watched him with curiosity. “You can understand Wolfie can’t you?” He asked but he had a feeling he knew the answer.

Legend nodded, “he called you an idiot for sticking your hand in his mouth.” Legend looked like he was pondering something despite the answer. Wolfie huffed at them and gestured with his head to the path ahead.

“Well it's not like I would do that with any normal wild animal.” Wild responded sheepishly and Wolfie leveled him with a flat stare. Legend eyebrows furrowed and Hyrule looked nervous about the situation in general.

“He doesn’t talk like a normal animal.” Legend whispered to himself and gradually approached Wolfie. Hyrule and Wild watched in confusion, Wolfie stood stock still at his approach likely to prevent Legend from being scared by him. Wild was not expecting Legend to reach out as if to pet Wolfie and Wild was about to warn him against it, but nothing happened when Legend ruffled the thick fur on the back of Wolfie’s neck. Wolfie did growl a bit in response but Legend just laughed.

Then the man paused, “wait those markings…” Wild could practically see Wolfie flinch, Hyrule also came closer to investigate the wolf. “You can turn back on your own right?” Legend questioned and the wolf looked gobsmacked before barking awkwardly in response. Hyrule made a noise of confusion and Wild wasn’t sure if he should be horrified that Legend connected the dots.

“Is the wolf alright?” Hyrule questioned and Legend sighed.

“The wolf is Twilight. I’m assuming he got caught up with some dark magic during his adventure but he says he’s able to turn himself back.” Legend responded as if it wasn’t completely unusual for Twilight to be a literal wolf and Hyrule reacted as if he hadn’t just been told an extremely well kept secret. Wolfie growled at him and Legend scoffed, waving him off. “Why would I tell everyone that you turn into an overgrown dog? Not my magical problem so unless you are stuck there’s not a point.”

Hyrule nodded along with him, “I’ve come across my own form of transformation spells during my adventures, so I won’t tell either.” Though he hadn’t turned back, Twilight did seem incredibly grateful for their promise to keep his secret.
“More importantly,” Legend said, pointing to Wild. “You don’t seem surprised by any of this.”

Wild shrugged, “I already found out?” He wasn’t certain the best way to explain how he knew that Twilight was Wolfie. “His future self…? Helped me during my adventure, so after I joined the others, I talked to Wolfie like I had during my adventure… then he transformed into some guy.” WIld finished blandly and both the twins chuckled, Wolfie huffed disappointed.

“So he’s just some guy.” Hyrule said with laughter in his tone. The wolf growled but turned away from them to start his way down the mountain. Legend held Wild back from following him immediately.

“So how do we prevent him from finding the burned down monster camp if he already hasn’t seen it.” Wild blanched, that would be a problem. “The other option is blackmailing him.” Wild gave Legend a flat stare in response to that and Legend just raised his hands in mock surrender.

Somehow they manage to avoid the remains of the chaos they caused as they made their way down the mountain and back to the stable. The moon was high in the sky when they made their way back to the stable. The twins began to lag behind from exhaustion and Twilight transformed back to his normal self after they crossed the bridge.

“Alright sleepy heroes, it's mandated bedtime, per some guy’s recommendation.” Twilight said with a sharp grin on his face, he was never going to let that go was he. Wild gave him a sharp stare but he only got his hair ruffled in response. Twilight entered the stable and dragged Wind off the bed that he was saving for the twins and dropped him into the iron sleep induced cuddling that Sky would submit to him too.

Time was still awake and watched them curiously as they got ready for bed. Hyrule, who had begun to drag his feet by the time they made it back to the stable, immediately face planted on the empty bed as soon as Twilight moved Wind. Legend, who had been dragging on much worse than Hyrule, didn’t wait for Hyrule to give him space on the bed before flopping himself across Hyrule. Hyrule let out a small grunt at the sudden weight but didn’t bother to move his brother.

Twilight chuckled at the two of them and began to dig through Legend’s bag for the large blanket he had. Twilight spread out the blanket over the two of them. Legend didn’t even bother to move and when the blanket fell over him the only sign that he was there at all was his hands sticking out from cover of the blanket. Wild laughed at the two of them and took a moment to take a picture of them with his slate, which resulted in snatching the pillow from under Hyrule’s head and throwing it at him.

Time sighed before picking up Wild and throwing him in one of the empty beds. Twilight laughed at his expense before wrapping him up in a blanket to keep him from running off. Time chuckled before throwing Twilight a sharp look, Twilight laughed but gave in by settling himself into the last empty bed.

What they all missed was Legend hook shotting Hyrule’s pillow back just so that he could throw it at Time. “Don’t think you’re exempt from hero mandated bedtime at the recommendation of some random guy.” Time looked incredibly confused by what Legend said but Wild, Hyrule, and Twilight started laughing at the comment. Time huffed and tossed the pillow back to Hyrule before settling down in his own bed.

Legend didn’t bother to move from where he was laying across Hyrule and Hyrule didn’t seem bothered to have him laying across him. In the morning, the two were still laying in the same position, Legend’s hands barely sticking out from the blanket. Wild questioned where he suddenly got so many more rings but the thought quickly left his head when he heard Canni telling Time about the wildfire that broke out near Satori Mountain overnight. Hopely blaming Warriors would work well enough for them.

Chapter Text

It had officially been one week, three days, 4 hours, and 32 minutes since the twins had joined them on this journey across time. They had spent almost 5 days of that week in Wild’s era. Warriors had taken the graceful fall on the twins and Wild’s behalf when they had gone to investigate the “wildfire” that had broken over the first night. It wasn’t the Captain’s first time taking the blame on the behalf of mischievous younger heroes. That was something both he and Wind were extremely familiar with, it would only likely be used against the twins once they had traveled longer with all of them. 

Traveling through Wild’s Hyrule always brought challenges that were mainly the result of there being a vast amount of area between safe areas to stay in for the night, coupled by unpredictable weather depending on the region, and the occasional difficult enemy that stood directly in the safest pass of traversal. The twins first reaction to seeing a guardian had Legend cursing the fools who decided giving beamos legs was a good idea. Time was inclined to agree with him, at least bombs took care of the beamos in his era but Wild’s guardians were a far harder task to deal with. 

They also discovered that Legend and Hyrule were very familiar with Lynels too, just not Wild’s brand of Lynels that had both of the twins having quite the fit over how much worse Wild’s Lynels were. None of them really had a point of reference on what Lynels were worse but they certainly weren’t going to fuel the fire that burned under the twins. 

Traveling through Wild’s Hyrule eventually caused all of them to drag along eventually, usually starting with the shortest two heroes. Wind was unaccustomed to traversing long swathes of land, while Four simply had trouble keeping pace for prolonged amounts of time due to his short stature. Thankfully Warriors was very good at noticing whenever a change of pace was needed, Time hated the fact that he was all but shoved into the position of leadership for their odd group but having Warriors around was a blessing from the Goddesses.

Warriors was better suited for leadership due to his experience commanding soldiers, but he’d refused Time when he had insisted that the other take command. Time couldn’t argue much with the man on his decision because when he shut down his request by explaining that all of them weren’t soldiers, Time knew it was best not to push the man. He had only experienced a fraction of what Warriors had during the way, but he knew well enough the decisions the man had to make. The “sacrifices” he had to reason with to prevent more from falling. So Time allowed himself to become the leader of the group even if he hated the idea. 

It was three days, two hours, and fifty-four minutes of traveling through Wild’s Hyrule, heading in the direction of Rito Village, after patching themselves up from battle that Hyrule insisted that the cloth used to clean his wounds be burned. The camp filled with silent confusion at the boy's insistence but before Warriors could tell the boy the supplies could be cleaned for later use, Legend had snatched up anything that had touched his brother’s blood and threw it in the flames. He fueled the flame further with two Ember Seeds, his furious expression kept anyone from stopping him. Time prevented them from digging into that further, they all had their secrets and there was no point in insighting Legend’s rage over the matter.

It was six days, eight hours, and seven minutes in Wild’s Hyrule just on the approach to Strock Lake when Warriors pointed out that Legend was lagging behind. The twins seemed much more accustomed to traveling for long periods of time, but much like when they first met Legend was now using an ornate cane as a crutch. Time recalled that in the morning Legend had begrudgingly dragged himself off the ground they had camped on for the night and had been in a rather sour mood all day. Hyrule was fussing over him as if he was injured but Legend eventually snapped at his brother as the pain he was in wasn’t something that could simply be healed. 

Wind took everyone’s attention when he noticed the lake up ahead, the cliffs surrounding the lake were rather steep but Wind insisted on teaching Hyrule to swim. Grabbing the boy’s hand and dragging him towards the water, Twilight and Wild were quick to join to prevent the boy from becoming too enthusiastic or straight up pushing Hyrule in the water. Warriors ever the mediator attempted to coerce Legend into joining them but the other shrugged him off by stating that he already knew how to swim. Warriors artfully changed tactics by noting that the water would likely at least relieve the soreness in his feet. Legend however responded with little humor in his voice and a dark look in his eyes that he and water didn’t mix.

Warriors didn’t prod further after that, leaving Legend to his own devices which he seemed to take to assisting Four with weapon maintenance. Time recalled that Legend had no qualms about the water in Labrynna but then again he was rather insistent on riding his dodongo friend than actually swimming. He also hadn’t been very insistent on Warriors or Wind returning the zora flippers he had lent them, when Wind had asked about it he remarked that he couldn’t use them anymore. Not that he had a better option or other flippers that he could use, but that he couldn’t use them at all. It was an odd distinction but both the twins were odd in their own ways. 

While Wind, Twilight, and Wild made attempts to teach Hyrule to swim, Sky gathered their shed layers and boots to keep them a safe distance from the water, Legend watched them with keen but tired eyes. It wasn’t as if he felt left out. No Time and Warriors knew that look very well. That look had been on an old friend on the Captain’s face during the war. There was no saying what caused the look on Legend’s face but Time had a feeling he was coming to terms with being on a new adventure.

It must be quite the whiplash for him. He had likely expected to come to Hyrule after so many years being separated from his brother, both of them on their own adventures that had likely resulted in changes for the both of them. Time understood that to some extent, after all seeing how the people he’d known had changed after he’d slept for seven years was certainly an experience. Once the initial relief and joy of being reunited had worn off the differences between the person they once knew and who they are now were likely becoming clear. 

It was likely the same for Hyrule too. Legend was vague about the number of adventures he’d been on, the number seemed to sit vaguely around three or four. Time had an idea that he’d likely been through far more than that. It was just a hunch of his based on the number of items he seemed to have stowed away, some being duplicates if not more than that, but it was also in how his body seemed much older than he was. It must be unusual for Hyrule to have a younger brother that was suddenly seemingly much more responsible and experienced. They had only found out that Legend was the younger twin when Wind had pestered the two of them and Legend sat begrudgingly silent while his brother poorly hid his laughter.

The two together were quite the pair of trouble makers, instinctively bouncing off each other’s antics. Legend generally started their shenanigans and Hyrule seemed to follow along with great humor. With the Legend’s sudden flare up of what was likely old adventuring pain, he’d been in too bad of a mood to start their regular shenanigans. Hyrule seemed torn between trying to help Legend in some way or starting something himself to improve Legend’s mood. Wind, the ever instinctive big brother, played a good part in distracting Hyrule.

It was one week, three days, three hours, and 52 minutes in Wild’s Hyrule when they began to approach Rito Stable, with Rito Village looming behind it. Travel had slowed significantly between Legend’s aches which only seemed to get worse and the few run in with monsters along the way. Truthfully they had all slowed down since they had begun to run low on potions and the increased chill in the air due to the freezing nature of Wild’s Hebra Region. So Time and Warriors allowed for more frequent breaks, one such break had Warriors insisting he shed his armor before they got to the much colder portions of the region.

The sight of the stable and the prospect of proper beds to spur the heroes forward. As soon as Time’s internal clock struck the fourth hour of the day, a dark portal opened in front of their path resulting in multiple groans of disappointment.

“I was hoping to see Kass and Teba,” Wild sighed and Twilight patted him on the back. Sky and Wind were also immensely disheartened since they had been excited to see Rito Village.

Hyrule made a noise of confusion, “can we not just spend the night at the sable and come back in the morning?” They had only experienced the portals twice before so far and the one that had taken them to and from Labrynna had been far milder than the usual portals they experienced. Four would definitely attest to that, as both the portals hadn’t left him with a prolonged migraine that he usually got. They actually had no idea how the portal would cause the twins to react.

“Unfortunately, no.” Four responded flatly. “Usually if you try to avoid the portal it’ll keep following you, worse case scenario it opens up right under your feet.” Time could tell that the smith was definitely not looking forward to the headache that awaited him on the other side of the portal. 

“Could Wild at least have the time to get to the stable to get us some potions?” Legend asked quizzically and Wild seemed to actually consider the idea, pointing out that he could teleport to Rito Village to buy some supplies. Time knew the drawback of that though, it would increase the potential of them being separated when the portal decided that it wasn’t going to wait. They did need supplies and though Wild’s slate had almost unlimited storage, he was using up supplies for nine people now.      

The decision was made for them however when Wild was about to teleport to the shrine. Legend jumped suddenly, seemingly on instinct, right into Twilight and seconds later the portal was beneath their feet. Time landed on his back and carefully rolled Four off of him, he was grateful he wasn’t wearing his armor otherwise the smith would have worse things to worry about than a headache. He carefully laid Four on his and grabbed the nearby end of Warriors’ scarf to cover his face. Then he set about taking in their surroundings.

He felt a deep sigh escape his body as he took in the towering trees surrounding them. Their canopy blocking the light of the sun, but the light that did sneak through seemed to glitter like stardust on bright green leaves. The towering trees beckoned entry to a place he once called home. The familiar pull of magic was welcoming but held an underlying threat, one far too dangerous for those traveling with him. The forest protected its own and although he was once one of those to be protected he’d long outgrown the woods’ familiar shelter. 

He took another moment to observe his brothers. Warriors was checking over Four, who was still partially hidden by his scarf. Wind and Sky were helping Hyrule, who looked horribly pale. Twilight was helping Wild out of a tree, thankfully he looked unharmed by the odd landing place. Legend was laying on the ground by him, his arm slung over his eyes. So his reaction was probably between Four’s and Hyrule’s. Time took a mental calculation of the light filtering through the trees and realized they should get moving sooner rather than later.

“We’re in my era, it looks to be five, thirty-two in the morning, we should get moving soon if we want to get to the ranch before evening.” They could make it there before the afternoon at a normal pace but he didn’t want to test Legend. He saw Legend peer at him from underneath his arm as if he’d said something odd, but Wind let out a whopping cheer that distracted him. Hyrule looked slightly better but was leaning against Sky, Warriors elected to carry Four while he was still recovering.

Legend wasn’t one to accept help willingly but he at least accepted Time’s hand, the most they would likely have to worry about were peahats. That gave Time an idea that would potentially kill two birds with one stone if it worked. He easily recalled the phrase that Legend had used before because it had stunned him so much when had, so he tightened grip on Legend’s arm rather than releasing it. Legend gave him a confused look but Time tested his luck anyway.

“Totem Time?” Time asked and Legend scowled at the question. 

“If you think you’re being sly about the fact that I’m slowing everyone down you’re not.” He hissed between his teeth, but Time refused to allow his expression to change.

“Actually I was concerned about running into peahats and since you’ve proven yourself to be quite the archer, I figured I’d at least give you a vantage point.” Legend looked even more unamused by his explanation.

“Peahats?” He scoffed, “you’re really concerned about peahats?”

Time nodded, he had no idea what they were like in the twin’s era but they could be quite the pain to come across in his era. “They're about the size of a fully grown tree and it’s much easier to shoot them from a distance rather than attempting to get past their blades, which are about as long as they are tall.” Legend looked absolutely gobsmacked by the idea, the boy seemed to actually consider his proposition. Time may be digging his own grave by continuing on but Legend did seem like the person that would take solving as many problems as possible. “Well I figured it would kill two birds with one stone by keeping an eye out for peahats and making sure you don’t have to walk across Hyrule Field.” 

Legend seemed to think for a moment, “I hate you.” He said in a defeated tone but then paused for a moment to pull a green set of clothes from his bag. Time was going to question how the boy was planning to change but Legend did a fast spin and suddenly he was wearing a completely different set of clothing. Time almost choked at how familiar the clothes looked. Legend was wearing a short light green tunic that had a darker undershirt, brown arm bracers, a dark green scarf, and a light green curled hat.

Legend seemed to realize the stunned looks they were all giving him, “Kokiri clothes, they magically enhance bows.” He stated as if that explained anything that just happened.

“Are you even wearing pants?” Wind asked speculatively but Legend waved him off before gesturing at Time to pick him up. Time chuckled but didn’t dare mock him as he picked him up and placed the kid on his shoulders. One thing was certain Malon would find Legend incredibly entertaining. 

Wind gasped at the two of them, “you’re doing it again! I need to know about it!” The boy jumped at Time’s heels begging to know more about Legend’s ‘Totem Time.’

“Die mad about it kid.” Was Legend’s only response. Time had to prevent himself from outright laughing at Wind when he gasped in offense, he did see Warriors giving him an exasperated smile though.

Time didn’t bother to give the others much more time to comment on the situation because once he was certain Legend was settled on his shoulders he set out towards the ranch. He really missed his wife… and knowing her she could likely sort out the situation between the twins much better than any of the rest of them could.

When Time had set his pace he immediately realized something about Legend, the boy was light. He could tell the twins were on the thinner side but Legend almost seemed to feel lighter than Wild, who was basically the same height as the twins. He refused to think too much further on that because if there was truly any concern, Malon would definitely be sneaking the two snacks throughout the day. She had done the same thing to him when he’d suddenly become a permanent fixture to the ranch after she’d found him sleeping with Epona in the barn. He probably had never been as thin as the twin but he didn’t really keep track of how much he’d eaten throughout the day, even with his impeccable track of time. 

Time was brought out of his musings when Twilight shouted, which was followed promptly by several curses. Time didn’t bother scolding them for the language because he saw the two peahats ahead of them, thankfully they hadn’t been remotely spotted. They were quite the distance away from the peahats but it was their sheer size that had caused them to be spotted so far out. It was Legend who shot an arrow at the peahats first, the arrow splitting into three and though the initial shot missed both peahats the two spit off arrows hit their marks easily. 

Time made a mental note to himself to never allow Wild to be able to wear any of Legend’s magic clothes. Wild was already capable of firing multiple arrows at once and Time did not want to find out how magical clothes made that worse. The peahats immediately reacted by spinning their way towards them, thankfully they were a ways out and did not seem infected. Legend shot several more arrows in quick succession and rather quickly the peahats were dead. 

Silence filled the air, but Time could feel Legend lightly beating the top of his head with his fist. “Old man,” Legend said in a serious tone and Time made a noise of acknowledgement as he began to press forward again. “Your peahats are an abomination to the natural order.”

“Aren’t all monsters that?” Wild questioned and Time found himself laughing. Legend was still lightly beating his head, but Time found the action more entertaining than anything. He’d done the same thing to Warriors when he was younger, but he supposed that just came from the odd brotherly affection that occurred between heroes. 

It was thankfully just the cusp of the afternoon when the ranch came into view and Time let Legend off his shoulder. The boy stood a little stiffly once his feet were on the ground and Time knew he would have to find an excuse to keep the boy from helping out around the ranch for the rest of the day. It didn’t take Time long to see his wife, he immediately rushed to greet her, she laughed when he kissed her on the cheek. When he looked back at the group Legend looked stricken, like he’d recognized Malon. No, it was more like a vague recognition similar to how he’d seen Romani and Cremia. 

When Malon greeted them Legend’s face immediately became blank, which thankfully Malon brushed off his neutral greeting for making a gest at him for the similarity to the clothing that Legend was wearing and the clothes that he had worn when he was younger. Time sighed good naturedly but immediately set about giving the others chores, he didn’t even have to address Four before the short hero was off to the small forge in the barn. 

Malon seemed to clue in that Legend needed a break and asked the boy to help her with lunch, Wild offered his assistance too. She brushed off his offer knowing that he regularly made their meals and though they helped out whenever they could, at the end of the day Wild was a much better cook than any of them. He deserved a break and thankfully Twilight managed to steer him away by asking him to help with the horses. 

Malon shot her husband a knowing look as he led the others into doing chores around the ranch while she led Legend inside the house. It was a little surprising to see that the two new heroes that had joined their group were identical twins. She also noted that Legend was using an odd staff as a walking stick, while his brother seemed fine. Likely something that was the result of their adventures, she knew her husband had his bad days too.

“Why don’t you make yourself comfortable dear?” She asked when they entered the house and the boy gave her a look of confusion. 

“I thought we were making lunch?” He said wearily, but Malon let out a cheerful huff. 

She put her hands on her hips and leaned forward to get a better look at the boy. He had a smattering of freckles across his face on closer inspection. “Well lunch can wait a little bit longer and you look like you need to sit down for a bit anyway.”

Legend scoffed in response, “it's not that bad.”

“Perhaps not, but there’s no need to push yourself. Link has his bad days too, and though he’ll still mind the horses on those days, he finds that relaxing. And if he tries to force himself to work, I threaten him with handling the cuccos.” When she said that Legend sat down in her father’s armchair without much argument. She set about heating some milk for the boy to drink and noticed him staring at the white mask that hung on their wall.

“That’s from Link’s travels, he said he helped reunite a young couple on the evening before their wedding. That mask was something of a tradition in that land he was in, a symbol of two people dedicating their lives to each other. They gave it to him to show their gratitude.” She explained as she walked over to give him the glass of warm milk. She noticed him fiddling with the ring on his hand and wondered if perhaps if had gotten stuck on his finger, that occasionally happened to her.

So she set down the mug on the side table and gently took the boy's hand, she carefully removed the ring from his finger. Legend barely managed to tell her to wait before the ring was off and as soon as she blinked there was no longer a brown haired, brown eyed boy in the armchair. Instead his hair was blonde though the tips were stained a dull pink, his skin paler and hands felt far rougher, and his wide violet eyes stared at her in shock. The only things that hadn’t entirely changed in his appearance were the long ears, the button nose, and the paler freckles that were barely visible on his face. 

Before she could ask anything she heard someone enter the house. She turned to see her husband looking pensively into the room, he wasn’t looking at them but staring at the back wall meaning he hadn’t seen their new guest considering his limited sight. “Link, hun.” He hummed in response but didn’t shift his gaze, meaning he’d forgotten why he’d come into the house in the first place. Malon laughed a bit internally because there was likely only one reason he’d come inside, “The sugar water is on the counter dear.”

Time blinked, “right.” He turned to the kitchen and Malon couldn’t hold back a short laugh. Time moved to exit the house but shortly before he exited he turned back sheepishly, “thank you Malon.” Malon shook her head fondly before turning back to the boy sitting in their armchair looking like a spooked foal. She wasn’t sure why the boy had been hiding his face but it wouldn’t be the best for her husband to find out suddenly.

“Alright dear, why don’t you drink your milk before it gets cold and then you can explain everything.” Malon said calmly and Legend nodded warily not taking his eyes off her.

Time watched as the others set about doing their chores on the ranch when he felt a tap on his elbow, he turned to see Hyrule looking a little lost. “What should I do?” He asked quietly, seeming a little confused. Time remembered the state of his Hyrule in comparison to Labrynna.

“Do you know how to tend horses?” He asked calmly, the boy’s eyes widened and he shook his head. Time sighed internally realizing perhaps it was best to try a different approach, he did have to check on the visitors that came to the ranch. “Wait here for a moment, I need to get something from inside. I’m sure you’ll enjoy what we’ll be doing.” Hyrule looked confused but didn’t argue, he looked a little awkward standing by himself without anything to do. 

Time sighed, hopefully resting at the ranch would improve Legend’s mood. Although the twins had caused quite the number of antics in their first few days with them, the sudden shift had caused both to become rather muted. He walked back to the house, not too surprised to see that Malon wasn’t in the kitchen. She had likely convinced if not forced Legend to sit down. He stepped into the entryway of the house and paused in the doorway, he could vaguely see Malon at the edge of his vision… He was forgetting something, why had he come inside in the first place?

Malon quickly reminded Time on what he’d obviously come into the house for, how he managed to keep his head on straight was beyond him. He didn’t overstay his welcome in the house, especially because Malon would definitely throw him out of the house if he did. He took the sugar water and thanked Malon before he left the house. He didn’t take long to rejoin Hyrule and gesture at the boy to follow him.

Hyrule didn’t start up conversation as they made their way to a quieter corner of the ranch, Time gently moving aside the bushes. Allowing Hyrule to have space to duck under his arm to see the guests of the ranch. The boy gasped and let out a chiming noise that had Time smile. He wasn’t going to press the twin but it was likely both had a very clear connection to fairies. Lucky for Hyrule fairies were a common guest on the ranch, mainly because of their fondness for Time. 

The fairies chimed in greeting causing Time to chuckle when Hyrule chimed in return, but he couldn’t help but huff when the fairies swarmed around his face. “Alright ladies, let me set out your sugar water.” Time could practically hear the fairies laughing fondly at him as he poured out the sugar water for them. He pointedly and maybe with a bit of internal humor gave the remaining sugar water to Hyrule. He certainly didn’t watch Hyrule from the corner of his eye to see him take a sip of the water.

He laughed with the fairies when Hyrule let out a delighted chime at the taste of the water. It wasn’t a surprise considering the twins' fondness for sweets that Hyrule enjoyed sugar water, it must have something to do with being fae. He certainly knew that the Kokiri also enjoyed sweets, Time regularly was coerced into bringing sweets that Malon had made to Lost Woods. Mido’s fairy was particularly insistent on him visiting, though Mido would vehemently deny ever wanting him to visit. 

“Link!” a bright yellow fairy yelled, getting his attention by flying directly in his face, a darker purple fairy following shortly behind. Hyrule looked startled by the fairy’s boldness and concerned at why the fairies were trying to get his attention. 

Time chuckled, holding a hand out for the two of them which only the purple fairy took his offer. “Tatl, Tael.” Then Time carefully peered into the long grass to see glowing orange eyes peering at him worried. “Skull Kid.” He greeted warmly and the child startled, his wooden joints creaking as he jolted to life. “What brings the three of you here?” he said warmly. Skull Kid and the fairy siblings weren’t uncommon visitors at the ranch and Link enjoyed whenever they came. Especially when they assisted him in scaring Ingo off the ranch.

“There’s a giant club wielding moblin in Kokiri Woods!” Tatl shouted with an irritated chime, while Tael more meekly tacked on, “We tried to trick it into leaving but we got blown away.” Time was alarmed by the news, he was about to ask about the safety of the Kokiri but Skull Kid answered the question before he had the chance to ask. 

“Everyone in Kokiri Forest is safe, they’re playing hide and seek.” Time sighed in relief at that, Kokiri were fantastic at playing hide and seek, the moblin even with potentially better intelligence wouldn’t be able to find them. Time wanted to help but the Lost Woods wasn’t a place he could simply ask his brothers to go into for their own safety. He would have to go by himself. 

Time placed a hand on Hyrule’s shoulder, “I’ll have to go to Lost Woods to make sure the Kokiri stay safe, I can’t ask anyone else to come due to the enchantments on the woods. We’ll have to go tell the others.” 

Hyrule gave him a serious look, “what kind of magic is on the woods?” Time hesitated to answer, he knew personally how stubborn they all could be when they wished to. Unfortunately for him, Skull Kid decided to answer the question.

“Lost Woods causes anyone who enters the woods without a fairy to become lost, when they do they’ll turn into a stalfos or a skull kid.” To Time’s dismay, Hyrule’s will seemed to become more set in stone when he heard those words and Time knew there was little he knew he could do to convince him against coming with. 

Hyrule grinned and kneeled down to look Skull Kid in the face, “well it’s a good thing that I’m part fairy then right?” He said as if he wasn’t telling a monumental secret. Tael and Tatl floated around his head in alarm, as if to inspect Hyrule. Even Skull Kid who had been rather shy the entire time jumped up and put his hands on Hyrule’s face, turning the boy’s head to get a better look at him. Hyrule laughed the entire time.

Time sighed, “We’ll at least have to tell the other’s we’re leaving before we go anywhere.” He would have to hope that the others would at least hope that the others would have the kindness to tell Malon if they were gone for too long.

Malon took a moment to absorb what Legend had just told her about the ring and why he was wearing it. She could tell that he refrained from telling her everything but that likely had to do with details that Hyrule was keeping secret. She knew from experience the degree of selflessness that her husband had but this kid seemed to have that selflessness in spades. She wouldn’t push him on telling her everything, she could however force him to take a little bit of care for himself while he was here. 

“Well then, how about before we start getting food put together, we get you cleaned up?” Malon asked kindly and Legend winced slightly at the question.

“We?” He questioned. “I’m perfectly capable of cleaning myself up.” Malon sighed, these boys and their inability to take proper care of themselves. 

“Well hon, I was thinking that a good soak would help with those sore joints of yours. And I was gonna help you with washing your hair, since those hands of yours are looking unwilling to cooperate with you.” She may have been a bit blunt but that was the best way to minimize arguments. She could tell that although he looked uncomfortable with being called out, he seemed torn on accepting help. “Tell you what, I’ll give you time to think about it while I get the water ready.”

She left the boy to his own devices, perhaps it was a bit devious of her to have slipped the ring into her apron to keep him from roaming off to help the others. She set up a bath for the boy, making sure the water wasn’t too hot and making sure that everything needed for cleaning was within good reaching distance. Everything was usually to the left of the tub so that it was within sight of her husband, but things could always be returned to their places. It wasn’t an uncommon occurrence for Link to inevitably knock something over anyway. 

She walked back into the main room to see Legend holding the empty mug to his chest, his knees drawn up with his feet on the armchair as if they were shields. He looked rather small like that and Malon couldn’t help but think he looked like Link when he was much younger and still struggling to find where he belonged in the world. She knocked on the doorway with the back of her knuckles to alert Legend.

“The bath’s ready now.” She said simply, allowing him time to voice his decision as she took the empty mug from his hands. He grumbled under his breath, taking his time to unfold himself to get out of the chair. Malon couldn’t help but wince when she heard his knees pop. 

He sighed with a barely concealed wince as he stood up, “I would appreciate it if you helped wash my hair.” He said in finality, as if slightly uncomfortable by the situation. Malon told him where the washroom was and told him that she’d come to help him in a moment. That would at least give him time to get settled on his own before she came in. In the meantime she took her time to clean out the mug Legend had used and set it aside to dry. 

When she finished what she was doing, she went to the washroom and knocked on the door waiting for a response before entering. It didn’t take long for Legend to respond to her knock and when she entered she was surprised to find the boy holding the pink ends of his hair with a disgruntled look on his face. What was truly surprising was that his hair was likely as long as hers. He looked up at her, releasing his hair with a sigh.

She chuckled, “it almost seems like your hair isn’t usually that pink.” 

He groaned, sinking further into the water, “I try to keep it blonde.”

Malon hummed, “well if you have the dye on hand, I can help you dye it back.”

Legend huffed, “Isn’t that kinda pointless if I’m not gonna be looking like myself most of the time anyway.”

“Perhaps, but it's something that matters to you doesn’t it?” Legend sighed but didn’t argue. Malon took that as a sign to start working, she carefully gathered his hair, it had already been wet. She started to clean his hair, starting with the ends and she took the opportunity to change the subject. “I remind you of someone,” she paused when he stiffened, “you don’t have to tell me but you looked fairly shocked when we first met. 

Legend was quiet for a long moment as Malon gradually worked her way up to cleaning his scalp. He leaned his head against the side of the tub and Malon was concerned that he was going to fall in for a moment before he started speaking. He soberly told the story of a boy lost out at sea who washed up on an island in the middle of nowhere. The adventure he told was bubbly and bright despite his forlorn tone, he told her about the people of the island and a girl who wanted nothing more than to see the world beyond the sea.

He paused his story when she washed the suds from his hair and when she set about putting in the conditioner, he told her how the story ended. How he woke the Windfish and the dream, along with everyone in it disappeared. How he woke up shipwrecked in the middle of the sea, only to be fished out by a friend from another country when he received no notice of him returning to Hyrule. Malon quietly took his hand in her own.

She felt a slight bit of anger for the gods that seemed to decide on constantly putting their heroes through such experiences. She heard much of Link’s adventures over the years and Termina had haunted him for many years. For a long time it had been how little he’d been able to help the spirits that reside in three of his masks and how every repeated cycle left everything he’d done reverted to the chaos that Majora had caused. It had taken him years to heal and even still he grew restless whenever there was a full moon.

She gently tipped his head back to wash his hair again, “I’m sure you’ll find them again someday.” She truly hoped that he did find them again.

Unexpectedly Legend sighed, “I’m just tired of having to save the world whenever I travel the world.” She hummed in response.

“Well you can relax whenever you stop by here.” Malon said and Legend hummed. She left to  allow him to take more time to soak in the warm water and start getting food set together. Eventually Legend joined her in the kitchen and sat down on a stool helping her with peeling and cutting vegetables. 

Eventually as when the stew was closer to ready, she watched as Legend began to doze. She told Legend to go rest in the sitting room and rest. Shortly after Talon returned home with Uncle Ingo following quickly behind. When Talon looked confused by the guests sitting in his chair Malon quickly explained that he was a relative of Link’s and quickly changed the subject by asking what prompted Ingo’s visit. Her father explained that they could use the extra set of hands around the ranch.

Ingo however stuffed his nose in a way that caused his mustache to become crooked, “frankly you should have sold this place long ago.” Malon sighed in response, this after all had been a long running argument between her father and uncle since she was a little girl. Thankfully for both of them Link usually scared his uncle enough to prevent him from mentioning the topic. She knew Ingo would likely go on a tirade considering Link wasn’t here to shut him down.

Unexpectedly Legend stood from his seat, “pardon my intrusion in the conversation sir.” He started and Malon was surprised by his sudden politeness. He pulled out a small trinket that when Talon got a good look he looked stricken, Malon was equally surprised when she looked over her father’s arm to see that he was holding a royal crest.

“I’m her majesty’s niece, she asked Link to protect me while traveling to come visit her.” He said coolly, “it may be out of place for me to say, but I don’t believe you have any say on if this ranch gets sold or not.” Ingo sputtered, his face turning red with barely concealed indignation and Malon really wanted to laugh at her uncle.

Talon scratched thoughtfully at his own mustache before returning Legend’s royal crest. “I do hope you haven’t met much trouble on the road and that your stay here has been good so far, little miss.” Legend nodded amicably and before they could converse further Ingo stormed out of the house.

Once he was gone Legend laughed, “good riddance.” He quickly explained to Talon that he wasn’t actually the Queen’s niece but more likely a more distant relative due to time travel. Malon pitied her poor father for never being able to quite wrap his head around Link’s various adventures. When Talon asked about their other guests he was rather blindsided by the fact that they were all time travelers. Her father at least swiftly recovered wishing them all safe travels and allowed Legend to once again steal his seat as he went to go check on the ranch. When Malon went to check on the stew she found it was ready and just needed to cool slightly before being served.

She filled a bowl with stew and passed it to Legend. The boy looked confused but she bade him to eat then go to bed. When he was finished eating she led him to what was Link’s room, she watched as he faceplanted on the bed and almost immediately fell asleep. Malon was glad she had placed the blanket over the footboard of the bed in preparation for something like this happening. She tucked Legend in and prepared herself to deal with the rest of the boys.

“Are you sure it was best to leave your armor behind?” Hyrule asked Time as they approached the entrance of lost woods. When they had left the Lon Lon Ranch Time had only collected his biggoron sword and a few other items he may need before notifying Warriors and Twilight that he was leaving. The two didn’t fight him when he mentioned that his destination was Lost Woods, though he was certain of finding his way through the woods, it would be difficult to guarantee their safety too. Even with Tael and Tatl’s help.

“Yes, if anything it will only slow me down against the monster. As for you, are you certain that you’ll be safe against the woods’ magic.” Hyrule hummed, Time knew he could likely sense the protective magic that clung to the very air around the woods. Hyrule nodded before muttering under his breath, Time was about to ask him what he’d said but in a blink of light Hyrule shrunk. In his place was a small green fairy, Time instinctively held his hand out and on closer inspection he could see Hyrule in the fairy’s dim green glow.

Tael, Tatl, and Skull Kid who were alarmed by his companion’s sudden change all moved closer to get a better look at the fairy in his palm. He eventually waved them off of Hyrule, telling them that it was best for them to get to Kokiri Woods sooner rather than later. Skull Kid immediately darted forward with Tael and Tatl following closely at his heels. Time followed them more slowly allowing Hyrule to flutter by his face.

“Don’t tell me your brother can do the same thing?” Time questioned, he wouldn’t dare tell the others that the twins had fairy blood. He had earned the trust of many Great Fairies during his adventures for a reason. 

Hyrule paused in the air, his wings stuttering. Time couldn’t see his face but he was very familiar with how fairies acted. “I don’t think so, I only gained the ability to take this form after my second adventure. It was a spell that was taught to me… though Legend is very skilled with magic, he doesn't seem able to cast spells directly.” Ah, so their perchance for magic had likely manifested differently. Though all things considered he couldn’t be entirely certain how directly related to fairies the twins were. With how long the twins had been separated during their adventures they likely didn’t even know each other’s full capabilities.

“Well I look forward to seeing both of your potentials.” He said marching forward through the familiar twisting path of the woods. “You should be careful Club Moblins tend to create gusts of wind when they swing their clubs.” Hyrule chimed in response and Time took that as confirmation. 

“The magic of the woods’ clings to you.” Hyrule commented and Time chuckled.

“This is where I grew up after all.” Time chuckled, “you may hear Malon call me Fairy Boy on occasion.” Hyrule chimed good naturedly at that, commenting that he was also technically a fairy boy, causing Time to laugh.

When they came across the clearing of Kokiri Forest, Time immediately spotted the club moblin and it too spotted him. He nudged his old slingshot and a bag of deku nuts into Skull Kids hands and told him to run as he braced himself to jump out of the way of the mobin’s first swing. Though his armor allowed for more protection, he was grateful he hadn’t bothered with it as it allowed him to dodge the mobin’s swing and close the distance much easier.

At least Kokiri forest was much more open, unlike the narrow corridors of the Sacred Grove. As he closed in on the moblin, it raised its club to strike him but a deku nut struck its face stunning it momentarily allowing him to cut a deep wound into its exposed torso. He quickly realized that he’d lost track of Hyrule but before he could think on where the small hero had gone the moblin had managed to swing its club. He had managed to get his sword between himself and the club, but he still went flying backwards from the blow.

The wind had been knocked out of his lungs and his arm stung from the reverberation of the blow up his sword, but otherwise he was fine. He’d dropped his sword and it had flown out of his reach. He didn’t have time to collect it though because the moblin was closing in, so he ran to where he knew the triplets’ hid some spare deku sticks and collected several of them. He readied himself to dodge another swing from the moblin.

When its club hit the ground he jumped and swung the stick down as hard as he possibly could, right when he did Hyrule appeared above the moblin’s back. He plummeted down with his sword aimed to strike the back of its neck. Time’s deku stick hit its head first, the power behind the blow causing the stick to break instantly, just as Hyrule’s sword buried itself into the monster's neck. Time stepped back, readying another stick in case the monster was somehow still alive.

The monster didn’t fall and prepared to swing its club again despite Hyrule’s sword buried in its neck. Hyrule fell off the monster, unable to free his sword before doing so. Another deku nut hit the beast and Time broke the second stick swinging at its arms. He took the opportunity to fall back pulling out his bow, Tatl seemed to realize what he was planning and started fluttering about the monster’s head shining bright red. Time readied an ice arrow and shot the monster, freezing it solid but only for a moment. 

He heard a fierce hiss aimed toward him and saw Mido hiding in the bushes nearby with his sword, Time quickly gathered his sword and turned back to see Hyrule raising a hammer against the frozen moblin. He seemed to be aiming the weapon directly at where his sword was lodged in its neck. The boy would be too short to strike the spot on his own accord and Time didn’t think he would have the time to give him a boost. Much to his surprise, Hyrule lept high through the air and easily struck the back of the back to the monster’s neck. 

The ice shattered with the blow and the monster was surprisingly still alive, Time quickly moved in to cut the monster down finally. Thankfully with his final strike it finally fell. Time sighed with relief as the monster went down and the pain from what was undoubtedly a large bruise on his back set in. Hyrule retrieved his sword and wiped it clean of the black blood, before standing beside him his hands glowing soft pink. Time immediately relaxed as the healing magic healed his bruised arm and back.

A loud choir of cheers erupted from the Kokiri and Time chuckled, kneeling down to greet his small older siblings. Fairies also fluttered about his head chiming their greetings to him as he accepted hugs from his siblings. He was happy to see Saria again and found it entertaining to see Hyrule awkwardly interacting with the Kokiri. His internal clock informed him that it was getting late, and he certainly didn’t want to have to spend the night trekking across Hyrule Field. 

After bidding his siblings goodbye and making sure he’d gotten his slingshot back from Skull Kid. Time, perhaps still under the influence of his child-like siblings, decided to ask Hyrule for a race back to the ranch. The boy surprised him by being very quick on his feet, he was likely still slower than Legend but Time had to pull out his barely fitting bunny hood to keep up. They were both out of breath when they reached the ranch and thankfully the sun was only just dipping below the horizon. Time nonetheless ushered Hyrule inside before the guay came out.

When they entered the house the main room went from loud banter to dead silence, Malon got a good look at him and immediately looked disappointed. Twilight looked distraught, Warriors looked unsurprised if not slightly exasperated, while Wild and Wind cheered. Time finally got a good look at Hyrule and the boy was covered in dirt with leaves stuck in his hair. Time quickly realized that he must look exactly the same.

Well it’s a good thing that Time didn’t particularly care about his image as the “leader” of the group. Malon put her hands on her hips and told the two of them to wash up before they had dinner. Time didn’t argue but as he passed Warriors, he pulled a stick from his hair and flicked it into the back of the man’s head. Warriors reacted instantly, standing up in one swift motion and tackling Time, hauling the larger man over his shoulders. 

The younger heroes streaked in surprise as the usually dignified knight hauled Time off like an unruly child. They tended to forget that despite Warriors’ generally relaxed demeanor he was still a soldier, a soldier with a history of manhandling unruly young heroes. Warriors only released him when he dumped him, still clothed, into the waiting tub. Hyrule laughed and jumped in the water after him.

It was a tight fit with the two of them and Warriors had left them to get them clean clothes. Time found it entertaining and for a moment thought is this what it’ll be like when I have kids? Before he scrubbed that thought from his mind as he untangled sticks from Hyrule’s hair. Once they were mostly clean and changed into clean clothes they joined the others for dinner.

They had mostly finished eating and when Time noted the absence of Legend, Malon commented that he was resting upstairs. It sounded like the boy needed the rest, Wind who had been revitalized by Time’s antics pressed them for what had happened when they’d wandered out of chores for the day. Time quickly explained how an old friend had guided them through Lost Woods to help deal with a monster that had wandered a little too close for comfort to the Deku Tree’s grove. He carefully left out any mention of Hyrule turning into a fairy but did comment on his skill with magic.

Eventually they all called it a night, Hyrule going upstairs to join his brother. Malon gave him a familiar look as he stared out the window. “I’ll only be out for a little while, I’ll take the old man with me.” It was a full moon and although he knew it was unlikely that the moon would fall, his skin practically itched at the thought of not keeping watch. Even if only for a little while.

Hyrule woke up to shifting beside him, he immediately noticed that it was likely the middle of the night. Legend had quickly realized that he’d woken Hyrule up and whispered, “go back to sleep I’m just getting some water.” But something nudged at Hyrule’s senses, something powerful.

“There’s something outside, I want to check on it.” That immediately got Legend’s attention and after a moment he seemed to sense the powerful magic too. He told Hyrule to lead the way after picking up his back and Hyrule grabbed his sword too. The magic was familiar but it was so old and powerful that it made it hard to determine why it felt so familiar in the first place. 

The two of them carefully snuck their way downstairs and out the front door. They immediately spotted the man that was the source of the power and even from a distance they could tell that he was a giant. Even sitting he was likely easily taller than both of them, he had white hair and silver armor. For the meantime he hadn’t seemed to notice them being fully fixated on the full moon. The two approached as quietly as possible but the giant still seemed to notice them just before they got too close. 

Hyrule was shocked to see that the man looked almost exactly like Time, but he had markings on both sides of his face and both his eyes were solid white. “Be not afraid, little ones.” The giant said, his voice overlapping with Time’s.

“How do we know you haven’t possessed the old man?” Legend countered, setting Hyrule on edge. The giant’s magic didn’t seem to be overwhelming Time’s thought, it was almost as if they were coexisting within the same body. 

The giant hummed, “it would be more accurate to say that he is merely borrowing my face for the time being. I am simply keeping watch so he can rest.” The giant said, pointing towards the moon. Hyrule wasn’t certain what to make of that, it was hard to consider that the moon itself could be a threat but if the giant was standing guard in Time’s place then there was likely history there.

“So Time can turn back whenever he wants?” Legend questioned and the giant nodded in response, setting them both somewhat at ease.

“Who are you anyway?” Hyrule asked, sitting down next to the man. His power reminded him of a Great Fairy fountain, in how it seemed to radiate off of him.

“My name has long been lost to time but the people of Termina remember me as the Fierce Deity.” The god hummed and if Hyrule listened closely he could almost make out the faint tune of a song.

“If you're a Deity what exactly are you the god of?” Legend asked as he took the time to also sit down next to the god.

“I’m afraid I can no longer recall that either.”

“Then how did Time, or Link find you?” Hyrule questioned.

“He was given my mask after healing Termina.” That seemed to set something off for Legend.

“What do you mean he healed Termina?” Hyrule watched Legend’s face as he asked, it was almost as if he were solving a dungeon puzzle.

“Link went out of his way to assist all the people in Termina, he gained various masks as rewards for his actions. Despite the fact that he often had to undo his own actions in order to save Termina, the happiness in the masks for the deeds he had done remained.” 

“Healing isn’t the same as saving. If Link hadn’t gone out his way to help everyone in Termina would you have shown up?”

The deity paused in thought for a moment, “It is unlikely we would have crossed paths if that were the case.”

“Then why did you stay, even after Link saved your homeland?” Hyrule questioned, afterall it seemed unusual for a god to simply leave their home even if it was safe from further harm.

“When I first met him he was entirely too young, but he was also too old for all that he had experienced. Physically he was only a child but his mind was torn by the knowledge of adulthood, of a future that would never come to be in this time.”

Legend seemed to deeply consider that for a long moment, “I may be wrong but perhaps that has to do with what kind of deity you are, perhaps you’re some kind of god of healing.” Hyrule could agree with that idea because of the man’s similarity to Great Fairies. Hyrule found himself comforted by his presence and found himself dozing against the man due to his presence. The deity himself seemed deep in thought in consideration of what Legend had posed to him.

Legend watched as Hyrule began to fall asleep against the deity and decided to leave the two of them to investigate a presence that was pulling at the back of his mind for some time now. It reminded him of Fable in a way, so he wasn’t too surprised when he came across a cloaked figure near the entrance of the ranch. Legend immediately knew that she was Zelda from this era. She seemed to recognise him on first contact too.

“I don’t suppose that you would happen to be my niece?” She asked with humor in her voice and Legend internally wished that he had been a little harder on Malon’s uncle. Legend didn’t bother to pretend that he wasn’t guilty of straight up lying, but presented his royal crest to the woman and explained why he had lied in the first place.

She looked at him fondly, “Well I suppose at least Link isn’t the only one who refuses to allow that man to sell this ranch.” That was interesting. Either the Old Man complained about Ingo enough that the queen herself had caught wind of his grievances, or he had simply gone straight to the source of power to complain about one man. Whatever the case was Legend really liked this Zelda already for her quiet support of Time. 

“Well I certainly wasn’t going to let the bastard get away with thinking he was in charge of the place.” Legend responded blithely causing the woman to chuckle. Now that he got a better look at her he realized her hair was almost an orange blonde and her eyes were almost red. She in turn seemed to look at his pink hair with a sad fondness. 

That caused Legend to have the sudden realization that this woman was likely another one of his ancestors. Though it was hard to consider how she may be related considering what he knew of Sir Raven’s life. Though with the idea of time travel being involved and the fact that none of the others had mentioned a fallen hero made Legend really want to curse time travel for being absurdly confusing.

“It may be outside my authority but would you come in for tea or something like that?” Legend asked her.

“I’d hate to overstay my welcome.”

“I really doubt that you could do that.”

Time blinked awake when the Fierce Deity removed his own mask from his face and told him to get the young one to bed. He took a moment to question what Fierce had possibly meant when he felt a weight leaning against his shoulder and looked to see that Hyrule was dead asleep against him. He carefully gathered the boy up in his arms, making sure not to disturb the boy’s sleep in the process. 

When he approached the house he was surprised to see the sitting room lit up by candles. When he entered he was even more surprised to find that Malon was holding what appeared to be a sleeping Legend, though it was hard to be certain with how bundled up he was, and Lullaby who had seemingly come in for tea. It wasn’t too uncommon for Lullaby to come visit on occasion, she and Malon shared gossip that tended to go around Castle Town.

“Long time no see, I suppose you won’t be staying the night.” Lullaby shook her head in response.

“I was just looking into a rumor Ingo was spreading in Castle Town, but it appears that he was simply trying to garner attention.” Time sighed, of course Ingo was trying to cause trouble for them again. He almost wondered if the people of Castle Town still took his ravings with any seriousness anymore. 

“You two should get your kids off to bed.” Lullaby jokes, causing Time to sigh as Malon laughed. Time bade her goodbye before going upstairs with Malon to set the twins to bed. 

The next morning Malon borrowed the twins to help with clothing repairs while the others went with Time to get supplies from Castle Town. Legend seemed to take up the project with ease after putting on a set of rings that seemed to support the joints of his fingers. Hyrule seemed to take some more time to get the hang of the practice but was a quick learner nonetheless. 

Malon sighed with exasperation when she found Link’s shirt that he’d worn yesterday, the back was threadbare with little holes in it. She was at a loss with what to do with it, Legend waved a hand at her and she passed the cloth to him with a bit of exasperation towards her husband. She may have pestered Hyrule into telling her what had happened to the two of them the other day.

Hyrule told the two of them about the little adventure the two of them had, occasionally pausing when he struggled with a difficult patch of stitching. Legend seemed to half listen to the story as he worked on attempting to fix Time’s shirt. Eventually time passed much faster for them all than they initially realized because the front door opened and Legend frantically moved to get his ring back on.

Time came around the corner to greet them, picking up his shirt that Legend had dropped in the process of putting his ring on. He made a noise of surprise when he looked at the embroidery Legend had stitched in place on the back. 

“I may have gone overboard.” Legend said meekly. Malon stood to get a good look at the way Legend had repaired her husband’s shirt. She was pleasantly surprised to find that the largest hole was mended with a horse that looked strikingly like Epona and she was in turn surrounded by three fairies. One was yellow, one purple, and the last was blue.

“Well ain’t that fitting for you fairy boy.” She said as she elbowed Link in the ribs. Link seemed to agree, he grinned widely before he pulled Legend in for a bone crushing hug. Legend fought against him for a moment before he managed to get his head free to mouth to Hyrule ‘save me.’ Hyrule just mouthed back ‘perish’ to his twin and Malon fought her laughter at the two’s antics. Time eventually released Legend when he had stopped struggling and Malon did laugh when the twins stuck their tongues out at each other.

Chapter Text

It had been around two weeks since the twins had joined them, and Twilight felt the need to curse the portals that were sending them across time for deciding to separate them now. Twilight pulled at the Twili magic to transform back to himself, but found that he couldn’t. He cursed internally at whatever had him stuck in this form, but a shrill shriek cut him out of his thoughts. His nose immediately caught Legend’s scent and without further thought, he went sprinting through the woods to save his brother. He had a lingering thought that perhaps Legend could be affected similarly to him.

Twilight ran as quickly as he could through the undergrowth to get to the aid of his brother. If Legend was in a situation where he couldn’t defend himself, at least Twilight’s wolf form was a weapon in its own rite. He saw a bulblin lifting its club to strike at a small cornered animal and without hesitation lunged for the monster's throat. The monster went down quickly, its blood wasn’t infected, but Twilight still did what he could to spit its blood from his mouth. 

He slowly turned to the animal the monster had cornered so he didn’t startle it further, once his nose cleared of the monster’s scent he could distinctly smell Legend. Legend, who was currently a very stressed and mud soaked rabbit. Somehow, that made so much more sense with how quick Legend was on his feet, but also how he’d reacted to seeing his wolf form for the first time. Twilight lowered himself to the ground and put his head on his paws, to allow Legend the opportunity to relax and approach on his own accord. 

Twilight wasn’t sure how long he waited for Legend to calm down, and in the meantime he carefully looked over the rabbit turned hero for injuries. It was hard to tell if he was alright with how covered in mud he was, Twilight likely wouldn’t even be able to tell what color his fur was if it wasn’t likely brown. Then again, Wild and Four always insisted that he looked green. Legend did eventually calm down and notice him, approaching him with very stilted hops. He’d likely hurt one of his legs, if not more than one, judging by his hobbling. 

Twilight lifted his head in preparation to help Legend as he got closer, and he was about to ask where he was hurt when Legend flopped himself down on his forelegs. With a moment of hindsight, Twilight realized that Legend was surprisingly calm about being turned into an animal, but considering how he’d reacted to finding out he was Wolfie, this likely wasn’t the first time this had happened to him. 

He gently nudged Legend with his nose and only got the sound of grinding teeth in response. Twilight huffed, “Is it alright if I pick you up?” The only response he got was Legend kicking his back leg. Twilight sighed, the sooner he could find the others the sooner he could get Legend help for whatever injuries he had and Sky had the Master Sword which would be able to turn them back. 

Twilight gently nudged Legend with his nose until he could get the rabbit in a good position to pick him up as carefully as possible. He carefully lifted Legend off the ground and was glad to receive little complaint when he did so. He couldn’t make out the scent of any other heroes in the vicinity but he at least knew these woods so he at least knew of the next safest place for them to rest before trying to find the others. 

Unfortunately for him that place was Ordon Village, hopefully he would at least be able to slip into the spring by the village to get Legend clean of some of the mud he was covered in. The next best bet was to hope that the light spirits of Ordona or Faron would be able to help them turn to themselves. Twilight carefully moved through the woods being cautious of any sounds that indicate monster activity as he moved in the direction that Ordon lay in the woods.

Before Twilight could get far he heard the familiar sound of a crossbow firing, his ears ticked trying to find the source of the sound and find cover as well. Before he could achieve either of those things he felt a sharp pain erupt from his hind leg. He yelped from the pain causing him to drop Legend who whined as he hit the ground. Twilight knew he wouldn’t have much time to find cover and he certainly would have a harder time in a fight with an arrow in his upper leg, so he moved to stand over Legend to protect him from whatever monsters were nearby.

Twilight watched the undergrowth carefully and growled in warning at the approaching monsters that were coming towards the two of them. His growl caught in his throat for a singular moment when Ashei, Shad, and Rusl emerged from the shadows of the woods. Ashei was holding the crossbow that had shot him while Rusl was holding a sword, Shad hiding behind the two of them despite his height. Twilight immediately recalled Auru mentioning that the Queen had asked their group to investigate the Sacred Grove which meant they would be in the woods around Ordon. 

Twilight was mentally planned out how to get away from them with Legend safely and carefully moved himself over Legend in a way that he hoped would hide him from view. His action seemed to draw the attention of Shad who let out a loud gasp and without much care for his own safety attempted to reach for Legend. With a fierce growl from Twilight and Rusl grabbing the man to pull him back while questioning the man’s sense.

“You don’t understand Rusl, that’s a rabbit! They’re sacred animals.” That’s right Shad was quite the history buff, unfortunately Twilight wasn’t completely fond of the man since he’d once questioned Twilight’s fashion sense, but Twilight also supposed he had mess with the man more than enough to make up for that. Afterall telleporting an entire cannon across the map after getting the man’s help finding said cannon certainly said more about him than Shad. Midna had found it hilarous though.

Ashei lowered her crossbow to better observe him but Twilight knew that he was no less safe from her, “seems odd for a wolf to be protecting a rabbit, especially a live one.” Twilight admittedly likeled her a lot for her bluntness. He couldn’t say he was particularly close to her, but between he bluntness and the silence that pervaded him during his adventure they had come to an odd understanding of each other. Twilight may have taken her to meet Yeto and Yeta on Snowpeak after his adventure was over, but Shad would never find out about that. 

“Stop taking like I’m just some fucking animal.” Legend spoke startling them all. He could speak even as a rabbit? His small form was huddled between his front paws looking exeptionally annoyed for a small muddy rabbit. His voice was a little higher pitched and squeakier than normal but Twilight figure that was due to his form. Shad looked awestruck at the potential of meeting a mythical creature. Twilight suddenly felt like he’d missed out on showing him what Oocca really looked like.

“Then why are you hiding under a wolf?” Ashei asked and Rusl looked a little gobsmacked at the fact that she was attempting to talk to a rabbit at all. Twilight really wished he could talk too but unfortunately he would have to leave the conversation to the rabbit while being his big scary dog. In this case literally. If there is one thing that Twilight did know about Legend in the short time that he’d known the twin, it was that he was increadibly good a bullshitting.

Legend carefully stood up under Twilight, pointing a tiny paw at the three humans with an odd air of authority for a small bunny standing under a wolf. “I’ll have you know I’m a sacred beast that serves the Oracle of Ages, sent across time to assist heroes of various eras in finding a source of great infection.” Holy Hylia was Legend capable of bullshitting. It certainly helped that he didn’t entirely lie when he was bulshitting but it certainly helped that Legend was a talking rabbit. Absurdity truely was a heroes best friend.

Legend huffed, “Unfortunatly I’m not able to defend myself so the Oracle of Seasons asked her sacred beast, the wolf, to protect me. Which was going well, until you fools shot him.” Well Legend certainly did know how to scold adults in a way that caused them to look like kids who’d been caught with candy after dark.

Shad seemed to be furiosly writing in a notebook, “and who are the heroes you’re looking for in this era?”

Legend snorted, which sounded incredibly odd coming from a rabbit. “He’s Link of course.” Twilight really wished Legend had come up with some other name because the look on Rusl’s face was complicated to say the least. Ashei didn’t seem surprised but Shad looked slightly miffed, but in the words of Legend he could die mad about it. 

Ashei decieded to act, handing Rusl her crossbow befor firmly grabbing Shad by the back of the coat. “Take off you coat.” She said firmly and Shad attempted to argue but was silenced by a firm look from Ashei. She took his coat and set on the ground with its inside facing upward. “I apologize for harming your guardian, but I had no way of knowing he was different from a regular wolf. In the meanting you can borrow my companion’s jacket so that you don’t have to be carried in the jaws of your friend while we guide you to the nearest village.”

Legend hummed in acceptance of the offer while Twilight watched as Ashei cautiously approached his side. She carefully reached for the bolt in his side and he braced himself for its removal, Legend informed her of his intellegence despite his inability talk. She swiftly removed the bolt, Legend stood on his hind legs and asked if he was alright, and he barked in response. He would be able to get to Ordon if they went at a slow pace, and Legend relayed his words.

“Surely you don’t think that it's a good idea to lead a wolf to Ordon Village, Ashei.” Rusl whispered to her as she took her crossbow from her. Twilight pointedly pretended that he couldn’t hear the conversation as he carefully lifted Legend using the sleeves of Shad’s coat. Twilight found it hard to classify the thing as a coat at all, due to its short length and sleeves. 

“If it were a regular wolf, no, but if what the rabbit says is true, there’s no doubt that Her Majesty would like to meet them both.” Shad nodded along with the idea, and Twilight knew Rusl wouldn’t be able to argue with her on that either. Who would have thought being a talking rabbit would come in handy.

Twilight stayed a little ways behind the group as they set out towards Ordon, partially for their comfort and partially because of his sore leg. When he heard Legend chuff to get his attention, “so what’s the deal with you and the guy with glasses?” Twilight pointedly ignored him, hoping he would drop the question. Legend huffed, pressing further, “you obviously don’t like the guy for some reason, so what’s the deal?” 

Twilight couldn’t think of a way around the question, so he growled around the cloth in his mouth about how Shad had insulted his hero’s tunic when they first met. It was extremely petty of him to dislike the man over something simple, and he knew that, but Midna hadn’t helped him in the slightest with that. She was quite fond of whispering mocking remarks about the man to him when she figured out that he didn’t like him much. Legend was quiet for a long moment and Twilight practically expected to remark on how shallow he was, but to his surprise he simply said, “that man wouldn’t survive a day in Hytopia.” That was something so horrifically vague that Twilight couldn’t really fathom the true meaning behind, but it nonetheless wanted to make him laugh.

Hyrule was shocked to feel incredibly small when he fell out the portal, his wings fluttered to life on instinct to prevent him from falling. He took a look at his surroundings and his instincts told him to fly when he heard a rustle behind him. Before he could fly to safety, he was surrounded by glass, and he yelled in offense as a cork lid closed off the exit of the bottle. 

Before he could feel fearful of the thought of being captured, he saw a very familiar face staring at him through the glass of the bottle. The small boy had a wide grin on it as his dark green eyes stared at him. “Wind!” He yelled at the boy, slamming his hand against the walls of the bottle, “Let me out of here!” Wind’s grin fell into a confused squiggle as his eyebrows were pulled downward. Wow, Hyrule knew the boy was expressive, but it was something else to see on this scale. 

“Hyrule?!” Wind shouted in surprise, then when Hyrule nodded in response, the boy lowered the bottle to open it. Hyrule flew out of the bottle when it opened and playfully hit the boy on the nose in retaliation for his capture. Wind blew a raspberry at him in his own form of retaliation, causing Hyrule to laugh in response. “How are you a fairy?” Wind asked with excitement, his eyes sparkling with curiosity, holding his hands out for Hyrule.

Hyrule landed on his open palms with a laugh, “it's a spell.” He said as if he was sharing a secret code with Wind. “I’m part fairy and the spell just allows me to change shape. It’s a secret to almost everybody.” He enjoyed referencing his old friend from his first adventure, and he held back a laugh as Wind’s face twisted in confusion.

“Who else knows?” Wind said with a pout, likely disappointed at being left out.

“Legend does.” Hyrule started off, causing Wind to frown even deeper.

“Of course Legend knows! He’s literally your brother, who else knows.” Wind said with a severe face, and Hyrule couldn’t help giggling at his little tantrum. Oh, if only Wind knew who Legend actually was. 

“Okay, okay. Time knows too.” That only caused Wind to groan dramatically.

“Of course Time knows. It's like he knows everything.” Hyrule hadn’t really known Time long enough to comment on that, but Time did seem to know many things. Legend also seemed to know many things, though, he seemed to be able to solve most puzzles with his eyes closed. “Can you change back?” Wind whispered, and that was quite the question. Hyrule hadn’t really thought about turning back, especially because he’d never had a problem switching between forms before.

He still felt for the magic that caused his form to change, and he found nothing. It was likely that the forced transformation could have worn out his magic reserves, but he felt surprisingly fine despite that. He thought for a moment on what the cause could be, reaching out his senses hoping to find a nearby fairy fountain or even Legend. His senses found a distinct well of light magic first. “I don’t think I can change back for now, but I feel fine. There is something similar to a fairy fountain a few leagues from here, though.” 

Wind hummed his face in the turmoil of deep thought before he gasped, “is Legend stuck as a fairy too?!” He whisper shouted in Hyrule’s face, and Hyrule swiftly shook his head.

Wind looked quite baffled at Hyrule’s immediate denial of his question, and Hyrule scrambled to create a good explanation. “I was only able to transform after I learned the spell for it, I don’t think Legend’s really had the opportunity to learn spells since the magic he uses is infused to the items he has. That’s for the best really, since I can’t exactly use my weapons in this form, it's actually a relief that I don’t have to go exploring on my own like this.” 

That admission seemed to give Wind an idea. Hyrule watched him curiously from his perch on Wind’s palm as the boy pulled a hand away to dig through his bag. His tongue snuck out of his mouth as he concentrated on the endeavor of finding something in his bag with one hand. Legend really did make that look easy. Wind’s face immediately brightened, and Hyrule had to flutter off his hand as he raised his found item in the air with triumph. Dun dun dun dun, Hyrule thought to himself as Wind posed. The item he was holding was a tiny hammer, just the right size for a fairy, oddly enough. 

Hyrule carefully took the hammer when Wind offered it to him. Wind gestured to Hyrule to test out the hammer with a smug but excited look on his face. Hyrule flew away slightly to give himself space from Wind for whatever the hammer did, then he swung the hammer down. To his surprise, the hammer left his hand grew exponentially larger before hitting the ground with a large thud, then shrunk back down returning itself neatly to his hand. 

Hyrule froze for a moment, processing what had just occurred, before turning to look at Wind. Wind looked at him expectantly, and Hyrule looked at him amazed. He gestured swinging with his empty hand before pointing to the hand that was holding the hammer, his face alight with excitement. Wind nodded furiously, causing his fluffy hair to go wild, laughing a bit at Hyrule’s excitement. Hyrule let out a cheerful chime, flying a swift ring around Wind’s head.

“I am never giving this back.” Hyrule pledged as he flew in front of Wind’s face, causing the boy to cross his eyes. Wind laughed merrily in response, and Hyrule bopped him on the nose, before fluttering in the direction of the light magic. Wind ran to catch up to him, and for a short while they played an odd game of tag, that involved Hyrule flying a short distance before Wind attempted to catch him. 

Eventually, Hyrule warned Wind to stop when they came across a large gap that showed the evidence of once having a bridge cross it. Wind thought for a moment, “I think that’s too far for my hookshot to reach, but if I use my grappling hook… Hey, ‘Roolie can you make sure the end of my grappling hook wraps around the pole on the other side?” Hyrule could certainly try. He stowed the hammer away in his bag and flew across the gap to wait by the pole. 

Wind swung his grappling hook for a moment before throwing the metal end through the air. Hyrule caught the metal end and struggled under its weight for a moment before managing to circle the post, hooking the metal over the rope end that Wind was still holding. Hyrule landed on the post for a moment to catch his breath as he watched Wind tie the end of the rope to the post on the other side of the gap. 

Wind cupped his hands around his mouth, “You’ll have to come back to untie this end when I get over!” Hyrule gave him a thumbs up before realizing that Wild quite literally wouldn’t be able to see that. Before he could think of a way to confirm with Wind, the boy was already standing on the rope bridge they had just made. Hyrule marveled at his impeccable balance as he worked his way across with an extremely focused look on his face. 

Hyrule went on alert when he sensed the familiar dark magic that came from infected monsters, and he was shocked to see what appeared to be a flock of keese flying towards Wind. He knew that Wind wouldn’t be able to defend himself properly without falling. Hyrule pulled out his borrowed hammer and rushed to defend Wind. He took out a large portion of the keese with the initial swing, but those that were infected were only knocked back by his swing. Wind managed to shoot down a few that he’d stunned.

This method of battle went on for what seemed like an hour, and Hyrule’s arm was tiring from swinging the hammer to keep the keese away from Wind. Wind thankfully managed to make his way across rather quickly, despite his occasional release of arrows. Once Wind had gotten his feet on the ground on the other side of the gap, Hyrule put away the hammer and dove into the boy’s orange scarf. It was a bit dizzying to hang on as Wind swung his sword around to defeat the remaining keese, but this was a better alternative to having to fly abound trying not to be eaten by monsters. 

Wind eventually stopped moving and carefully snuck a finger into his scarf, “coast is clear if you want out.” Hyrule chimed in response, flying out of his place in Wind’s scarf. He suddenly remembered what Wind had mentioned about his grappling hook, and he flew across the gap to untie the other end, so Wind could retrieve the rope. Hyrule managed to fly back just as Wind put his grappling hook away. 

“We should really get a move on before more monsters show up.” Hyrule urged, and Wind nodded seriously. There was little doubt that they would be able to handle themselves if anything else happened, but there was certainly a reassurance that came with traveling as a group. Hopefully whatever the source behind the light magic would be able to help them in some form or another. 

Twilight was surprised when they made it through Ordon Village without much fuss, he could see that Bo was taken aback by a wolf entering the Village. Overall, Twilight was left much to his own devices as Rusl, Shad, and Ashei had taken Legend into Rusl’s house to clean him of mud. Shad had been obviously upset when he saw how muddy his jacket was. Twilight resigned himself to laying on the front porch, keeping his weight off his wounded leg. 

He was dozing with his head on his paws, pointedly ignoring the curious whispers of the kids of the village. He knew it was best for him to pretend to be sleeping so he didn’t cause unnecessary trouble. Twilight was only using his hearing to keep track of his surroundings, so he was shocked when he heard a squeal right next to his ears right before he was smacked on the head with a tiny hand.

The blow hadn’t hurt in the slightest, but he reared his head back to see who had hit him, only to have his gave met with the soft blue eyes of Luci. His little sister seemed completely unfazed by him, reaching out her tiny hands and grabbing roughly at his muzzle. Twilight clamped his jaws shut to prevent her from sticking her tiny fingers between his teeth, carefully swinging his head to get out of her grip. She cooed at him, giggling cutely, and Twilight had a small moment to wonder where Colin or Uli were before she attempted to grab him again.

Twilight playfully snapped at her tiny hands, managing to pull her into the space between his outstretched paws. In an overly familiar motion, he pushed his nose into her belly and blew out air into it. She shrieked with laughter, her little hand batting harmlessly against his head. He only had to jolt his head back again when she managed to shove a finger into his nose. In the time he took to turn his head away to sneeze, she had managed to crawl onto his back. It was so much harder to handle toddlers without hands. 

He heard a chittering laugh from his side and tried not to wince at his pulled fur when he turned to look. “Aren’t you the softy?” Legend made the question sound more like a statement than a question, but Twilight was too busy staring at him. He was pink, not even slightly pink in the way that he was slightly green. No, Legend was solid pink. “I can hear you thinking.” Legend huffed, and Twilight was grateful for Luci pulling his hair as a distraction.

He managed to get the little girl laying over the space between his paws, which took much coaxing while he was trying to keep her tiny hands out of his mouth. Why was she so insistent on sticking her hands in his mouth? She seemed to notice Legend, and rolled onto her belly to attempt to crawl towards him. Twilight wasn’t sure she would be gentle with him, so he decided to trap her by laying his head on her back. 

She whined slightly at not being able to get to her new interest, but to his surprise in a rather suspiciously practiced stretch, Legend came just close enough. Twilight had really wished he had hands after watching Legend stretch and yawn widely, only to end up laying completely flat with both his front and back legs splayed out. By the Spirits, he really wished he could pet Legend. Luci who could barely reach Legend’s head laughed with delight as she brushed the fur on his head. 

It was Colin and Ilia that showed up next, they must be quite the sight to see. A splayed out pink rabbit being pet by a delighted toddler, while said toddler was being held hostage by a large wolf. Before Twilight could think of an easy, peaceful way to remove himself from the situation, Luci once again shoved a finger into his nose. How did she keep managing that? He thought as he valiantly failed to fight another sneeze in response to Luci’s actions. Legend let out a chuff at his suffering, and Twilight leveled a glare at the rabbit, who only raised a brow in response. 

To his further surprise, Ilia and Colin had approached in the time he’d be distracted. Colin managed to sneak his little sister from his paws. Though Twilight was disappointed at losing Luci’s weight on his paws, he was so proud of Colin’s bravery. Unexpectedly, Ilia ran her hands along the marking on his head with a troubled expression on her face. Colin pulled on her with his free hand to attempt to get them all to safety, but as Twilight met Ilia’s gaze, his heart twinged at the familiar look on her face.

That look was something Twilight had more recently seen on Wild’s face whenever he was stuck in his own memories. It had become familiar for Ilia too when she first struggled to get her memories back. Her eyes cleared for a moment, before widening when she met his gaze. “Link?” Twilight couldn’t help but perk to attention at the mention of his name, and he could even see one of Legend’s ears raise slightly at the question. There was no way Ilia had actually recognized him in this form though… right? Colin also seemed shocked.

“You’re quite the insightful one, aren’t you?” Twilight was this close to finding the nearest mud puddle to drop Legend in after he spoke. Twilight suddenly hated the fact that he could speak at all. Judging by Ilia and Colin’s shocked faces, they weren’t expecting the rabbit to speak either. Legend had adjusted himself so that all his paws were tucked under himself, causing him to look more like an oddly colored loaf of bread. 

“What do you mean by that?” Ilia managed to choke out. She suddenly looked immensely worried about him.

“Exposure to unusual forms of magic can cause odd reactions for Hylians, in some cases it causes us to change into a form that protects us from the negative effects of the magic, but is rather annoying overall to deal with. It’s not too difficult to reverse, but sometimes requires outside help.” Legend explained simply, and Twilight could tell he was glossing over some information.

“You’re really Link?” Colin questioned meekly, and Twilight found himself nodding instinctively in response before internally cursing himself. Luci giggled in Colin’s arms, reaching to pet him, oblivious to her brother’s struggle to hold him. Before Colin or Ilia could question his state further, a shout caused his attention to be pulled to the center of the village. Talo and Beth were attempting to stop Epona from heading directly toward Rusl’s house.

Twilight couldn’t help himself from jumping to his feet and rushing towards his horse, it had been so long since he’d last seen her with all their traveling. It must have caused quite the fright for everyone to see a wolf running towards the horse, but she didn’t even halt her stride towards him. When they were face to face, Twilight greeted her by pressing his muzzle against her snout, his tail wagging furiously. Epona completely unbothered by his change in form, as usual, greeted him calmly, much to the surprise of everyone.

Legend watched as Twilight ran to the horse and internally cursed the man for deciding to startle the local livestock, only to be shocked when the horse was completely unfazed by his wolf form. Smart horse. Twilight’s friends, who were just left in their places after suddenly being told that the man was temporarily a giant dog, were left reeling in the wake of his excitement. There was a quiet pause before the girl burst out laughing with an utterance of “only Link would be that excited to see his horse.” The boy also seemed to get a laugh out of that before they both left, to ease the tension caused by an overly excited wolf. 

Legend sighed from his place on the porch, he was loathing the thought of getting up and forcing Twilight to help him find a solution to this mess. His ears perked as he heard the door to the house open and the blonde man from before exited. Legend pretended like he hadn’t heard the man, choosing to watch Twilight suffer as a small child attempted to climb on his back. 

“I suppose you and your friend will be leaving to look for Link soon?” The man asked, and Legend could sense a turmoil behind his word, but Legend still hummed in affirmation. The man sighed as he sat down next to him, “I just wish the boy didn’t have to do all the work himself again. His last journey changed him, I’m worried that this time he won’t come back.” Legend took a moment to process his words, this man wasn’t worried that Twilight wouldn’t be able to handle whatever they ran into. No, was worried about how him fitting himself back into their quiet village.

“He still came back, though.” Legend responded after a long moment, he could feel the man’s curious gaze on him, but he refused to meet it. Watching as the kids took turns attempting to shove Twilight over, he gathered his thought. “I’ve traveled various different countries, I always had a place to call home. Somewhere I could return to at the end of the day, but after traveling for so long, the quiet, peaceful atmosphere of home feels too small. It makes me want to run to the furthest point of the world and find my way back.”

“It’s hard to just sit still and wait for tomorrow when you already know what’s outside your door. It’s also hard to come back when you know that there’s no one there waiting for you to come back.” Legend heaved a sigh at that, he knew Ravio was likely keeping his house from falling apart while he was gone, but the merchant still had his own home to return to. “But your Link has everyone here waiting for him, he knows that, so eventually he’ll come back.” 

The man seemed to think on it, and Legend could practically feel the man reach out on instinct to pet him before stopping himself. “I never thought I’d see the day when I get advice from a rabbit.”

Legend chuffed at that, “what can I say, sometimes I have important things to say.” He stretched out before hopping off the porch. “Thanks for allowing us to stay for a short while, but we should really be on our way.” Legend didn’t wait to hear what the man said in response, choosing to hop toward where Twilight was still being pushed around by a bunch of kids.

He shouted at the wolf to get a move on before finding himself running to keep up with the man. He let the wolf lead the way to a place where he insisted they would be able to be turned back to themselves, at least. When they came across the pool that was saturated in light magic, Warriors was already there standing over Wild and Sky, who were dead asleep. The soldier looked like he had hauled both of them to this place, Legend did not envy him for that in the slightest.

Legend also caught a glimpse of a young looking deku scrub carefully holding something small in its hands. Legend couldn’t before Wind came bursting into the clearing with a fairy fluttering around his head. The boy surveyed the clearing before deciding to ignore Wolfie and Warriors, going to investigate the deku scrub instead. At least, Legend wouldn’t have to worry about being pelted by a deku nut if the kid was in the way. 

The fairy that had been flying around Wind flew directly towards Legend before chiming with delight. “You’re pink!” Legend blinked before standing on his hind legs to get a better look at Hyrule, who was currently a fairy. He didn’t have much time to question that before a bright flash of light flooded his vision. He didn’t have any time to cover his eyes before a body came crashing down on him, thankfully he was Hylian again so he hadn’t been crushed, for the most part. He managed to struggle enough to get the ring on despite the weight on him.

When his sight cleared, Hyrule was back to normal, sheepishly apologizing for landing on him. Legend just shoved him off playfully. He looked to the one end of the clearing where the deku scrub was, only to see Wind looking startled by Time, who was holding Four under the armpits like a cat. Legend certainly wasn’t going to look into that further as the man set the small hero on the ground. Warriors however was checking over Sky and Wild who looked disoriented at waking up. Whatever had effected them all must have left those two asleep, while Wind and Warriors were relatively unaffected. 

Twilight clapped his hands together to get all their attention, “now that we’re all here, my home isn’t too far from here.” Wind cheered and Twilight began to lead the way back to the village. Hyrule stuck beside him as they took up the rear of the group with Sky.

Hyrule laughed a bit after a while before speaking to him in Calatian, “you have a pink streak in your hair.” The goddesses never had any mercy for him, apparently, because somehow the ring couldn’t even save him from his pink hair now. If it didn’t fade eventually, he would definitely have to get Ravio to look at the stability of the magic in the ring… or he could just tell the others the truth, but something in his gut twisted at the thought.

It didn’t take them long to get back to Ordon Village, and it didn’t take long for the residents to greet Twilight. While Time was introducing them all to the Mayor, Legend was plotting. Twilight had not so subtly ruffled his hair five times as they made their way to Ordon and Legend was frankly tired of his shit. Hyrule didn’t take much persuading to get in on the plan. 

When they approached the river in the village and Twilight reached to ruffle his hair again, Legend kicked the back of his knees. Before the man could attempt to get up, Legend grabbed both his wrists and Hyrule grabbed his feet, and they both swung the man before releasing him right into the river. Wind cheered, “Yes, anarchy!” Before he tackled the back of Time’s legs.

The man stumbled at the unexpected attack, Legend shared a look with Hyrule before they went to grab the man. The only problem was Time, armor and all, was a lot heavier than Twilight. Legend let out a frustrated huff as he, Hyrule, and Wind attempted to drag the man to his watery demise. Then Legend caught Sky’s eye, Wild was next to him, but he was busy getting pictures of the chaos. “Sky help us.” Sky pointed at himself, confused at being called to action. Legend groaned dramatically, because it was only a matter of time before Time stopped tolerating their shenanigans. 

“Aren’t you tired of being so nice all the time?!” Legend said, and he almost regretted asking it because the devious smile on Sky’s face was terrifying. Sky walked over as if he hadn’t been asked to aid in usurping their designated ‘leader.’ He smiled sweetly down at Time, much to the man’s confusion, and watching Time’s face morph to horror as Sky grabbed his legs was hilarious to watch. The four of them tossed Time into the river right as Twilight surfaced, and Twilight’s face turned from annoyance to horror as he watched Time fly towards him.

“Oh he’s dead.” Wind said neutrally as they watched both Time and Twilight go under the water. 

“Time comes for us all eventually.” Hyrule responded sagely, causing Wind to bend over with laughter. Legend was far from done, however, he smacked both Hyrule and Sky’s sides before gesturing subtly at Warriors who had been talking to the Mayor before anarchy had begun. Both of them nodded in response, and Legend gestured at Sky to go ahead of them.

“You got power bracelets, right?” Hyrule nodded, grinning broadly at whatever Legend had planned. “Alright then it's Totem Time.” He had told Hyrule about Totem Time after the many incidents with, so Hyrule lifted him easily over his head and charged towards Warriors. Warriors looked alarmed at their approach, and Legend noticed Four standing beside him, hopefully the small hero wouldn’t ruin their plan.

When Legend was within distance, he shouted, “launch me.” Hyrule responded immediately, throwing him at Warriors, the man didn’t fall as Legend latched onto him and began to tangle him up in his scarf. Four, the absolute menace, decided to join them by kicking the back of his knee. After Warriors went down, Sky and Hyrule were on him like flying tiles. Much like with Time, they grabbed the man and ran towards the river. Sky was huffing as he struggled to keep up with them, but when they got to the river, they had enough momentum to simply throw Warriors into the river. Right on Time and Twilight.

Sky bent over to catch his breath while he was laughing at Time and Twilight going back under with the weight of Warriors landing on them. Wind and Wild joined him in laughter as Time, who seemed to have given up on attempting to escape the river, floating to the surface on his back. Warriors and Twilight seemed more keen on arguing with each other than avenging themselves. Wild took mercy on the eldest of their group by wading out far enough to grab him and drag him to the shore.

Time didn’t bother getting up, choosing to lay down on the shore. Wind, who seemed to want to annoy Time further, sat down on the man’s chest as if he were a log at camp. Time didn’t react to the kid sitting on him, so Wind seemed to push the man further by planting his palm on Time’s forehead and leaning his weight on it. Time did seem annoyed by this, and in what seemed like a moment of mercy, Sky picked up Wind. He wrapped the boy in his sailcloth before outright betraying Time by laying on the man’s chest and promptly falling asleep. 

Legend wrapped an arm over Hyrule’s shoulder, as he bent over to laugh. Wild was taking pictures of Time’s plight, and Time just responded to all the chaos by saying. “Tell my wife I love her.” Causing Legend and Hyrule to laugh harder.

Rusl watched as the group that had come into Ordon threw his son in the river, followed by two other men. He watched as the two boys that looked like twins, with the longest ears that he’d seen on a Hylian, had laughed at the chaos they had caused in their small group. He watched as Link put the man, who was still in the river with him, into a headlock. He thought of Link when he was a small boy, pouting with his ears downturned, as he wondered why he was the only one in their little village that was different. 

Link had obviously found himself a family in this odd group of Hylians, something he never seemed to find in Hyrule. Rusl felt hopeful that Link would be able to stick with these men for a while, but he couldn’t help being comforted by what the rabbit had told him earlier. Eventually, Link would return home. 

Hyrule was showing Legend the hammer Wind had allowed him to borrow, he watched in curiosity as Legend examined the item critically. They had settled down in Twilight’s treehouse for the night and for the most part everyone had fallen asleep. Legend was more experienced than him with magic items than him, so he thought it was best to have him get a good look at the hammer before they got too busy.

Legend however seemed to gain a personal interest in the hammer and mentioned wanting to test it for himself, before he pulled a spare boot from his bag and threw it with deadly accuracy at Twilight’s head. Twilight cursed as the boot made contact with his head and woke him, he attempted to retaliate by throwing the boot back, but Legend caught and stored it in his bag. Twilight hissed at them, trying not to wake everyone up, but Hyrule had no doubt that Time was awake and just pretending to be asleep so he didn’t have to deal with them.

“I need to borrow your demented pine cone.” Legend said, and Hyrule raised an eyebrow in question of what he was possibly talking about. 

Twilight sighed in response before getting out of bed and muttering, “this better be worth it.” After they left his house, Twilight led them to a clearing with a spring that was rather similar to the one that had cleared the magic that had affected them. Twilight pulled out what Legend had called his “demented pine cone” and Hyrule couldn’t help but think that it was a rather accurate name. “Alright, so what are you planning?” Twilight asked.

“First, Hyrule, hold this,” Legend said as he handed Hyrule a small red orb, that Hyrule could tell was saturated in light magic. “That prevents me from being turned into a rabbit when exposed to dark magic, so don’t you dare lose it.” Legend gave him a serious stare, and Hyrule nodded, holding the orb tightly. “Anyway, Hyrule got a magic hammer from Wind, and I wanted to see if I could use it as a rabbit.”

“Well, that certainly seems like somethin’ worth testing.” Twilight yawned out, and held out his magic artifact for Legend to take. The moment Legend took hold of the item, he shrunk down to a small pink rabbit. Hyrule held out the small hammer to the rabbit, and it certainly was a good size for him to use.

Legend fumbled to get a good grip on the item, Hyrule and Twilight watching inquisitively as he seemed to struggle. Legend eventually huffed with frustration, holding the hammer oddly, “In hindsight I forgot the most important thing when it comes to handling items…”

“And that is?” Twilight questioned.

Legend held up one tiny paw, “thumbs.” Legend said with a pout. Though Twilight was nice enough to cover up his laughter in response to Legend suffering, Hyrule couldn’t hold himself back. To think that the hero he had grown up looking up to would forget something as important as thumbs. “Har har, laugh it up.” Legend rolled his eyes, holding out a paw to prevent Twilight from petting him as he laughed. “I will bite you.”

In a surprising form of dexterity, Legend managed to throw the hammer at Hyrule, it missed. Hyrule had mercy on him by giving Legend his item back. When Legend was back to his Hylian form with his hair being slightly more pink, he threw Twilight’s item at him, before proceeding to grab a green bottle from his bag. He grabbed Hyrule by the front of his tunic, pulling his head downward before dumping the contents of the bottle on his head. 

Hyrule sputtered and reeled back in shock, before he could entirely recover, Legend pushed him in the spring water. “There now we match.” Legend said, swinging the bottle he was holding in his hand. Hyrule was confused, but Legend held his mirror shield so that Hyrule could see his reflection and the tips of his hair were now bright green. Twilight laughed at the two of them.

“Alright, we should be headin’ back to bed, before Time comes to drag us back.” Twilight’s accent certainly got a lot thicker when he was tired. They couldn’t argue with his logic, though, so they all headed back to Twilight’s house.

In the morning, when Hyrule and Legend had been roused for breakfast, it was Wild who questioned them, “Why is Hyrule’s hair green?” Hyrule glared at Legend, as if to say, ‘yeah, why is my hair green?’

Legend was unfazed though, “well Hyrule was so impressed by my pink hair that I used Hytopian hair dye to make his hair green, since red would blend in and blue wouldn’t suit him, because I’m a good brother like that.” Legend had the most smug expression on his face, that really made Hyrule want to throttle him.

“Why do you only have blue, red, and green dye?” Four questioned.

Legend shrugged, “it's a Hytopian thing, I never really questioned it. That, and it’s not too hard to make other colors if you know how to mix the dye properly.” Hyrule almost questioned why Four was so interested in the dyes, but then he stared at Four quadrant colored tunic, and felt it was best to hold his tongue. He could live with the green tips for now, much like Legend said it surprisingly suited him.

Chapter Text

Warriors could easily blame the war for his perceptiveness, it was an unfortunate side effect of having to watch his back against friends and foes. So it didn’t take too long for him to notice the holes in both Hyrule and Legend’s stories. He wanted to write off the things he noticed as his own paranoia and the fact that they all tended to be vague with the stories of their adventures. Something about Legend’s behavior specifically tickled a part of his brain that reminded him of Ravio.

Ravio was certainly an eccentric companion that Warriors had met during the War of Eras, and though he wasn’t the only one like that, he had always spoken of a “Mr. Hero” that could easily be classified as his polar opposite. To Warriors, Legend easily fit that criteria. Ravio was stingy with his money, weary of battle, clumsy, and though he seemed friendly on most occasions, could be quite callous when the occasion called for it. Legend, however, despite his seeming tendency to hoard items wasn’t too bothered by loaning them out, had little care for the amount of rupees he spent, was assured in battle, and despite his callous behavior was oddly kind.

Warriors hadn’t the foggiest idea of what Ravio looked like, but he had a hunch that he would look oddly similar to Legend, Lorule was a reflection of Hyrule after all. He supposed that the connection between Ravio and Legend shouldn’t have been enough for Warriors to really question the discrepancies between Hyrule and Legend’s stories. Ravio had never said that Mr. Hero had a sibling, but considering how little Legend talked about himself, he likely never told the Lorulian. No, it was the fact that Lorule was a reflection of Hyrule that caused Warriors to question in the first place.

When they had first met the twins, Legend had stated that he’d come to Hyrule from Labrynna to see his brother again after a number of years apart. Legend, however, would have had to have been to Hyrule to have gone to Lorule in the first place… at least he was fairly certain that was the case. Either Legend was lying to his brother about how long he’d been in Hyrule or there were more lies between the two than they all realized.

Warriors wanted to mentally slap himself for immediately jumping to potentially malicious conclusions, because all the things he made note of could easily be explained by the fact that it had been several years since the two had seen each other. He was on a similar boat with Time, the man was a child the last time they’d fought together. A tug at his scarf pulled him out of his spiraling thoughts, and he couldn’t help but smile at the pointed frown on Wind’s face.

He found himself ruffling Wind’s hair by instinct, causing the kid’s frown to deepen. When he finally glanced at the road ahead of them, he felt suddenly grateful that Wind had stopped him from absentmindedly walking right into a portal. He took a mental head count of their group and after gaining confirmation that they were all ready to step through the portal, they did so. Only to find themselves in the middle of a battlefield, surrounded by enemies.

Warriors responded immediately by cutting down several of the enemies in front of him at once, thankfully they weren’t infected. Unluckily for them, Warriors was experienced in handling hordes of enemies. Time and Wind also had experience, but less so than him. Which caused him to have a hunch that they were now in his era. Time and Wind began to aid him in clearing away the monsters so that the rest of their group could safely leave to portal.

Warriors commanded Time and Wind to take up a triangle formation with him around the portal, so that the others would have time to prepare themselves before engaging in combat. Wind only griped slightly about him going into “captain mode,” but followed orders nonetheless. What Warriors didn’t account for was a Big Poe appearing behind Twilight shortly after entering the portal. It whisked away an item out of Twilight’s bag, and began to flee.

“Item Thief!” He roared, Wind was quick to react, shooting the Poe with an ice arrow that managed to freeze it. Wild then took it down with a blow that shattered the sword he had been using, he only managed to make a frustrated noise before defending himself from a dinozolfos. Warriors recognized the item that the Poe had dropped, and made a quick decision as he watched Wild’s shield shatter.

He removed his shield and ran towards Wild, “Champion!” He shoved his weapons into Wild’s arms while pushing them both out of the way of the dinozolfos’ tail swing. “Don’t break these.” He said with a smug grin, handing off his sword and shield to the man before running to retrieve Twilight’s item. He heard a shout of protest from Wild and what was likely Twilight calling him a bull headed idiot, but he was too busy weaving around enemies to be sure.

When he was finally at the item, he jumped on it, feeling it charge with lightning magic. With a practiced motion, he jumped with the item before slamming it back down to the earth, causing a shockwave to form with the blow, taking down multiple enemies with the spinner. Then he began working his way back to the group, taking out enemies along the way. Most of the monster forces had dwindled, and they only had one commander left. Warriors moved to deal the final blow to their last commander by jumping up with the spinner, he grabbed the spinner midair before slamming it down on the dinozolfos’ head.

After he’d finished off the commander, the remaining monsters stood no chance against them. Warriors stepped off the spinner as the last monster fell, only to nearly jump out of his skin when Twilight grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him. “How in Ordania’s name did you pull that off?” Warriors wanted to shake off Twilight’s grasp, but Twilight was known for his strength for a reason.

Warriors leveled Twilight a flat look, “what’s gotten into you, Rancher? I just fought with the thing like I normally do.” Twilight looked gobsmacked at being brushed off, and Warriors was almost concerned that the man didn’t know how to use his own items. Warriors batted at Twilight’s elbows to get the man to release him, before gesturing to the spinner.

“It’s not even that hard to use Twi, how have you been using it?” Twilight looked embarrassed at the question, but with the quiet gawking of the other Links it would be difficult to escape the question. While Twilight was busy questioning his life choices, Wild snuck up next to him to hand him his weapons with a quiet thanks. He didn’t mind lending his sword and shield to the scarred hero, especially when it came to battle. His weapons could be replaced, but even if the champion had cheated death once, there was no need for him to do so again.

Twilight did eventually work up the courage to jump on the spinner, gaining a short burst of momentum before almost immediately losing it. Warriors couldn’t help himself, he clasped a hand on Wild’s shoulder as he bent over in laughter. Twilight’s shoulders rose up to his ears as he turned with embarrassed rage coloring his face red.

“Shut it, Wars! It's always worked better on sand or rails for me.” Twilight snapped in indignation, and Warriors had enough graciousness left in him to stop laughing. He offered Wild a thankfully pat on the shoulder for lending him temporary support before he practically waltzed over to Twilight. Gesturing for him to stand on the spinner, while he offered him support.

“Well, I’m beginning to see the start of your problems. For one, you’re as stiff a board the moment you step on the thing. Secondly,” he paused taking his hands away from Twilight’s grasp only to watch him wobble in place for a moment, before offering his support again. “Your balance is horrible.” Twilight huffed in frustration, jumping off the spinner and running a hand through his hair.

“Even if I did improve on that, it still doesn’t explain the bull shit that you just pulled. You’ve never fought that wildly since the moment we started traveling together.” That caused Warriors to pause, he simply fought how he usually did a moment ago.

“I think I have an idea of why Warriors is being weird all the sudden.” Hyrule said tentatively, and judging by the expression of his twin next to him, they had likely been discussing this since the moment the battle was over. Warriors was curious what they would say, especially since the two of them were rather adept with magic.

“Your era is full of magic, and it’s everywhere.” Hyrule said with awe, before pausing to think of the best way to continue. Legend sighed, pinching his nose.

With an exasperated groan, Legend took over for his brother, “first I would just like to say you are an abomination when it comes to using magic.” Legend said as he leveled Warriors with a flat stare, Warriors wanted to be offended but judging by the look on Hyrule’s face he easily agreed. “To put it as simply as possible, Wars not only has ass magical control, but because his era is so charged with magic, he’s basically siphoning and using ambient magic to fuel the bull shit he just pulled. That’s why he doesn’t do that in our eras, because he couldn’t even if he wanted to.”

Well that was quite the revelation, but in a way it made sense. Tune, Mask, Tetra, hell even Agatha, and Ravio had hinted that they’d never experienced fighting like they had in War of Eras. Warriors had brushed it off at the time as the fact that they were thrown into a literal war, but Agatha and Ravio had little to no combat experience before being thrown into the war. He had been extremely concerned for Agatha, but the young lady seemed delighted to show off the brilliance of her bugs in combat. While Ravio, who had similar magic items to Legend now that he thought about it, had an assortment of magic items to aid him.

While he was busy processing, and apparently Twilight was too occupied himself to notice, Wild had left his side to test the spinner himself. The two only realized when Wind and Sky shouted as the champion fell almost instantly after jumping on. Judging by the cracking sound when he landed, he’d likely broken something too. Both Time and Twilight joined him when he sighed in exasperation. Warriors brushed away the others so that he could assess what Wild broke, while Twilight put his item away. The lack of reaction from Wild almost made him consider that he hadn’t hurt himself at all, but he also knew better to trust their odd bunch’s pain tolerance.

After assessing the damage Wild had done to himself, and brushing away Hyrule’s attempts to heal the scarred hero before he could determine if the bone needed to be set, Warriors determined that it was just a mild fracture. He once again brushed off Hyrule’s healing, deciding to brace Wild’s leg instead. “We’ll brace it for now, but it’s best to have it looked at by a professional before we use any healing items.” Hyrule looked about to argue, “I know we usually just heal the injury, but that when we don’t have a better option. So, for today we’ll head to my house in the city, and I’ll send for a doctor to have Wild’s leg looked at.”

“Sounds like a good idea to me, I can carry Wild in the meantime. We also don’t know if we’ll run into more trouble on the way there, so you best save your energy for now, ‘Rule.” That thankfully got Hyrule to conceded on the ordeal, instead he assisted Twilight with getting Wild on his back. The rancher had little trouble with carrying Wild, but he still had to be mindful of his injury.

Once they were ready, Warriors lead the way to Castle Town. Thankfully getting to town was uneventful, getting through town was a different story. “Four, I mean absolutely no offense when I say this, but you may want to hold onto my scarf or someone so you don’t get lost.”

Four looked at him blankly, “I take full offense to that, it can’t be that bad in town.”

“It is.” Time and Wind answered on his behalf. After realizing the odd looks they were receiving, they both shrugged.

“Time travel.” Time said blandly.

“Wars’ whole era is pretty fucked when it comes to the time thing.” Wind echoed, causing a few to scold him for his language. The boy ignored their scolding and grabbed a tight fistful of Warriors’ scarf with a determined scowl on his face. Four seemed shocked that the boy actually conceded with his advice without any argument, but Wind knew firsthand what getting lost in his era of Castle Town was like. Thankfully for Four, the twins decided to take up either side of him, with Twilight and Sky behind them.

“If any of you get lost, look for me or Time. We’ll be the easiest ones to spot.” He warned, Time had the benefit of being taller than most people in general, but his older style armor stood out against most knights in his era. Warriors himself had his scarf to add to his ability to stand out, though Legend and Hyrule had argued that it was more like a cape, which wasn’t something he could really argue against. It had originally been a scarf, but the combination of two young heroes constantly using it to strangle him and it getting quite damaged by the end of the war, led to the queen having a new scarf made for him.

Pushing that thought from his mind, he led the way into town. He technically owned two houses, one was smaller and on the outskirts of town, it had been his home before he’d become captain of the army. Normally he would lead the way there, but it had nowhere near the space for eight other heroes. It barely had enough room for Linkle and two young heroes on a good day. Linkle often referred to it as his “bachelor’s pad,” but it made due for what he could afford when he was simply a field medic.

After the officially taking over more official duties of being a captain after the war, he had bought a house closer to the castle. One that seemed like a small manor, and he often received comments on for how spacious it was for a single man, but the space had never been entirely meant for him. The extra space allowed for his grandparents, parents, and his sisters to stay comfortably within the city for more than a day at a time. That and a part of him hoped that maybe one day his little brothers would be able to visit without them all having to share a bed, something that would be difficult now, especially with how big Mask grew up to be.

Of all their group, Twilight and Legend seemed the most unbothered by the crowds of Castle Town. When Sky asked them how they were possibly used to so many people, Twilight stated that his Castle Town was basically exactly like this. Legend on the other hand shrugged and said, “this is nothing compared to Horon Village during the harvest festival.” Which was certainly an event Warriors was interested in seeing if they ever had the opportunity, especially as Legend did elaborate on the event when asked.

It was a celebration that involved lots of food, dancing, and music. When Wind scoffed at the idea of dancing, Legend easily countered him by stating that he’d danced with the Oracle of Seasons, Din herself, during the festival. That was an interesting statement on its own right, since it seemed that most of those with the heroes spirit were also born with two left feet, and though Warriors had been formally trained in dancing for royal events, he doubted he would be much competition for whatever Legend had up his sleeves.

The final thing Legend elaborated on for the Horon Village Harvest Festival, was when those who suffered from the poorest harvests for the year would go to every other farmer in the village dressed in shawls and beads, wearing a horse mask asking for spare crops. He explained it as a way to give those who had struggled for the year stores for the winter, and the belief that in their generosity to the misfortuned that they would have good luck for the year ahead. From how Legend described Horon Village he could easily see it being a small tight-knit farming community, compared to the larger but more spacious Lynna City.

Legend’s tales from Holodrum actually kept them quite on track as they eventually arrived at his house in the city. Wind looked shocked, “I don’t remember your place being this big.”

“Well, I had to make space for when I had unexpected guests, such as a group of mischievous heroes.” He said, ruffling Wind’s hair. “The only other people that come her are my family, and a few groundskeepers because I would probably kill all the plants here if I did it myself.” That caused a few chuckles at his expense.

Time huffed and looked at him with a crinkle of a smile in his eye, “well you don’t suppose we should prepare ourselves for meeting Linkle then.” He sent a humorous look to the twins in his group, and Warriors internally didn’t want the two to meet his sister out of fear for the chaos they would cause.

Warriors shook his head, “unlikely knowing her, she’s likely either at our grandparent’s farm or lost somewhere in Hyrule itself. She’s much like our resident travelers and the champion in a way.” He said to prevent anyone from fearing for his sister’s potential safety. Frankly, she did not need to worry in the slightest, considering she had managed to get herself wrapped up in the war on a completely different front line from him. That and she was good friends with a cucco, and those birds are a beast to deal with in their own right.

He led the way inside, telling the others to take off their boots, the last thing he wanted to do was create trouble for which ever sister decided to come and clean his house while he was gone. He really should get his family something while he was in his own era as thanks for taking care of the place while he was gone. Warriors was in the process of directing Twilight to a chair to sit Wild down in, when he caught the eyes of his sister Lydia in the doorway.

His heart sunk as he saw tears in her hazel eye, the redness in her face told him that she’d likely come here to isolate herself in whatever grieved her. He felt Time clasp him on the shoulder, causing his to start slightly. “You should go find your med kit, captain, we can get settled in while you do that.” He was truly appreciative that Time gave him an out, so he took it with a nod to the older man. As he left the room, he gently took Lydia arm, guiding her into the kitchen and pulling her into a hug.

Though he and Linkle were the youngest of all their siblings, Lydia was only two years older than them, so the three of them had been close growing up. He allowed her to take her time to gather herself before pulling out of the embrace. He gently wiped the tears from her face, “What happened?”

Her breath shuddered for a moment as she attempted to gather her words, “Her Majesty has a ball planned for tomorrow evening, and Sir Alan plans on breaking our engagement publicly at the ball. He has found another woman that holds his interest.” Warriors took a moment to process what she had told him. He had technically been the one to introduce the two of them, it was no secret that he often brought his sisters as his partners to most ball. Partially to avoid potential suitors, mostly because his sisters’ company made the balls significantly more bearable for him.

Lydia and Sir Alan had gotten along quite well when they had first met, and Lydia had been ecstatic when he had asked for her hand a year after their first meeting. His blood boiled at the thought that he’d strung her along for so long only to find another person that suited his fancy. If it weren’t for the laws and his position in the army, he would be halfway to the man’s manor with his sword in hand.

“So, how are you gonna fuck this guy over, then?” They both jumped at Legend’s unexpected inclusion, and Warriors wanted to sneer at him for eavesdropping, but his questions stopped him in his tracks.

“What do you mean?” Warriors asked hesitantly.

“I didn’t exactly mean to snoop in on your conversation, I just figured I’d get you medical supplies so you two would have more time to talk, but I have good ears.” He said with a gesture to his longer than normal ears, and Warriors knew he could argue with him. Legend, Hyrule, Wild, and Twilight were some of the first in their group to pick up on unusual sounds. “Anyway, this guy obviously wants to announce the breaking of their engagement to publicly humiliate your sister, so how are you gonna humiliate him right back?”

Warriors wasn’t usually one to drag himself into political conflict, but he could see Legend’s point, he certainly didn’t want Sir Alan to drag his sister’s name through the mud. Lydia seemed slightly emboldened by Legend’s question, “you have an idea to get back at him?” Oh, the smirk that crossed Legend’s face was devious. Warriors could easily say it went to the top of his list of expressions to watch out for, right by the look on Sky’s face when Legend had managed to convince him to help the twin throw Time in a river.

“Well that’s the easiest part, you dress up in your nicest dress, and tell him you wish him the best in life with the girl he’s into now.” Warriors was about to ask how that would possibly help, but Legend continued, “he wants to humiliate you after all, so wishing him the best in life with your head held high, while showing him exactly what he’s leaving behind will be the exact slap in the face he needs. Don’t waste your time mourning a life with a guy who has fickle interests, when you could easily find someone better than him.”

Warriors could get behind that plan, but he could easily foresee one problem. Though nobody would bat an eye at him showing up for a ball the Queen had planned, the problem would be finding someone to come with him. “I don’t think I have time to find Linkle or ask any of my other sisters to come as plus one.” He sighed, he could go alone, but that would mean getting hounded by noblewomen all night.

“I can go.” Legend offered, and Warriors leveled him a disbelieving stare. Legend rolled his eyes, “Please, I’ve been to Hytopia and the fashion standards there aren’t very set on gender. I’ll have you know I look great in a dress.” Warriors supposed he couldn’t complain, especially if Legend was offering to come along, though he suspected the younger hero wanted to personally witness his sister taking gown her former fiancée with words.

“We should check on the others before they also decide to eavesdrop, but we can go out to shop for anything we may need before it get too late tonight. I still need to have a message sent out to a doctor for Wild.” It didn’t take him too long to gather his med kit, and his sister took the moment to wash her face. When they finally rejoined the others, Sky and Twilight seemed to have found and won over two of his three cats. Beatrice and Charlotte were enjoying being pampered by the two heroes, while Madeline, the ever judgmental void, watched over them with distaste. Warriors did notice her excepting a scratch on her chin from Time though.

After ensuing that everyone was properly bandaged up, and show the rooms they could borrow for their stay, Warriors found himself dragged out to town with his sister and Legend. It wasn’t too surprising that she had caught on that his company consisted of heroes, after all she had met Tune and Mask before. He had managed to get a letter to the postman for the doctor in town, before he was dragged into a boutique that Legend seemed to think was reputable.

He found himself standing in a corner, out of the way, watching as Legend and his sister discussed dresses. Lydia would hold one up, that Warriors knew was considered the height of fashion amongst the ladies in the court, only for Legend to scoff and tell her she would drown in a dress like that. Warriors couldn’t help, but agree. He always thought his sisters looked better in simpler style dresses, compared to some of the more complicated designs.

Eventually, Warriors felt that the two of them had drawn the interest of the shopkeeper. Legend had sent his sister to try on a dress he’d picked and joined him in waited, when the shopkeeper waved them over. She was older, her hair streaked with gray, but Warriors could tell that she was likely kind by the smile lines around her mount. “It’s not every day that I see two boys coming to help a lady pick out a dress, pray tell, what brings you boys in today?” Warriors wasn’t one to lie, in fact he was terrible at lying, but he knew how quickly word could spread in Castle Town.

Legend was far more shrewd than he was, however, “He’s her brother, and I’m a distant cousin.” He said, introducing them to the older woman. “Don’t need the word spreading around town, but her fiancée decided that he’s better off with some other dame, so we're making sure he gets a proper slap in the face before he’s out of her life for good.” He whispered to the older woman, while leaning over the counter to get closer to the older woman.

The shopkeeper slapped her hand on the table and barked out a short laugh, “sounds like you two boys are fighting just the right battle to me. Tell you what, I’ll cut you boys a deal on the dress and any jewelry you see fit to match, so long as you come back to tell me how the bastard reacted.” That’s when Warriors realized that Legend had intended on bartering on his behalf.

“Well, I was looking at this cape, I was wondering if it would be possible to dye it dark blue, I have some Hytopian dye left that you could use to dye it too.” Legend asked, and the shopkeeper looked over him critically.

“Sonny, if you happen to have a bolt or two of Hytopian silk, I’ll do that and give you the cape for free.” Legend looked outright shocked, but the woman held out a hand to keep him from arguing. “Hytopian silk is hard to come by here, and is often only used for by tailors to make clothes for those in the royal family,” she paused casting a glance to his scarf, “or the hero himself.” Warriors sighed, it was frankly his own fault for deciding not to take off his scarf before leaving.

The older woman laughed, “don’t worry there lad, you can consider my lips sealed, so long as you come back here to buy more dresses for your sister.” She ended up with four bolts of silk from Legend, and when she marveled at how many he had, he shrugged her off.

“Well, that’s an easy enough thing for me considering I have five sisters, though I doubt my twin will ever willingly wear a dress. I suppose my mother’s birthday is also coming up soon.” The shopkeeper laughed at his admission and mentioned looking forward to seeing him again, at the same time Lydia had come out from the powder room in the dress Legend insisted on her.

The dress was simple, the main color being green with the underskirt being rosy pink. The dress paired well with her hazel eyes and auburn hair, and the shopkeeper even seemed impressed with Legend’s choice. “Hey, do you mind if I borrow those earrings, that necklace, and that hair pin for a moment?” Legend asked the older woman, and she raised a brow before offering Legend each piece of jewelry.

Legend led Lydia to a chair to sit on, and offered her the earrings and necklace to put on while he worked on her hair. He tied the fronts of her hair into braids that met at the back and stuck the hair pin in the part where the braids met, before stepping back, looking rather smug with his work. Warriors could easily say he deserved to be smug just this once, the jewelry he’d picked was once again simple, the hair pin having pink jewels carved to look like a flower, while the necklace and earring were simple emeralds.

“My, my, lad, you have quite the talent for putting a look together.” The shopkeeper commented, and Legend simply replied that he’d learned a thing or two from traveling to Hytopia.

“How much for everything?” Warriors asked, not wanting Legend to out himself as being from another era, or get caught out for too long.

The shopkeeper thought for a moment, while his sister carefully removed the borrowed jewelry to return to the lady. “Go change back into your regular clothes so I can get your dress wrapped up, dear.” The shopkeeper asked his sister sweetly, she then took account of all the items that they were planning to buy, Legend handing over the cape he’d found and some bottles of dye. “30.” She eventually stated.

Legend looked absolutely stunned for a moment, before Warriors set out a large bag full of rupees to the woman. The lady stepped away to gather packaging for their items, when Legend wearily asked, “so by 30 she actually meant…?”

“30,000 rupees?” Warriors questioned back, and Legend looked absolutely gobsmacked. Ah, right, Warriors often forgot how absurd the inflation was in his era. When he’d had to rent items from Ravio he had been confused when the man initially said the prices for rental was only 100 rupees. Ravio had quickly recovered, jacking up his prices to 10,000 rupees, only to be even more shocked when Warriors actually paid for the items.

Tune and Mask had complained constantly how expensive the apothecary could be. Which reminded him to leave some rupees for Twilight to borrow when he went out shopping tomorrow. Warriors would have to stay behind to wait for the doctor to arrive, since he was basically the only person among them that actually lived in his era. It’s also why he often paid for everything outside his era.

“Note to self, don’t let you anywhere near Ravio.” Dear Hylia, Legend was the infamous Mr. Hero, Time would absolutely die for that information. After all, Time had been attached to the bunny hooded merchant from the moment he, pretty much literally, got dropped into the war.

“That bad?” He questioned, as if he didn’t know the man in question.

Legend’s face went through a myriad of emotions in a single moment, “he’s a scam artist and a fucking freeloader.” Legend hissed pointedly, “I had to save his world, and he fucking rents me the items I needed to save his world, and he took over my house to turn into his shop. Then every time I’d pass out in a dungeon, his stupid bird would take everything I rented before dragging me back to my house. Where I’d have to rent his stupid fucking items again, eventually I managed to buy them, but that’s not the point.”

Warriors certainly wasn’t expecting to have poked a preverbal dragon with that question, but now he had even more questions. Legend had a house? In Hyrule? How many secrets was he keeping from them? From his own brother? Before he could think of asking any of those questions, his sister returned with her new dress. So he shelved those questions for his future self to deal with.

“Link, please tell me you didn’t spend too much on this?” Lydia asked, but he shook his head, telling her not to worry at the price. He had actually saved up a number of rupees, since Zelda considered his travels to be part of his duties, and paid him regularly. Coupled with the prices for things in most other eras being significantly cheaper, he still hadn’t spent much, despite paying for most things. So he wasn’t too concerned with indulging a bit for a special occasion.

“Come to think of it, Legend, I know you already mentioned having a dress, but how do you intend to blend in per se?” Warriors as asked, and Legend waved him off lazily while he added two fans to their purchase, which Warriors couldn’t help looking disappointedly at him for.

“Well, that’s actually really simple Wars, since Hytopian fashion is slightly different from most Hyrulian fashion, I simply intended to be the foreign princess of Labyrnna, Ambi. As for the fans, they’re very important for directing a person's gaze. People can’t see you break character, if they can’t see your face… you know just in case.” He added on the end, casting a worried glance at his sister.

That sudden gesture suddenly reminded Warriors of how young Legend was, a fact that was easy to forget considering how experienced he seemed to the rest of their group. Though, Warriors could easily classify both the twins as “dungeon rats” with how easily they took to puzzles. Hyrule’s methods often involved trial and error, while Legend could take one glance at most puzzles and immediately know the solution.

At the end of the day, half their group were still children, which is why Warriors asked Time to be in charge of their group. Yes, he had experience handling children in battle, but he had more experience commanding soldiers. The war often put him in situations where he had to accept losses for the sake of victory, and in their group losses weren’t acceptable at all. Part of his mind whispered that he was getting old for considering teenagers children even though he was almost 26.

Legend’s acts of kindness came in the form that reminded him of a younger version of Time, something that seemed halfhearted and incredible awkward, but they inevitably wholeheartedly meant. “Fine,” he sighed, “but we’ll have to get up early tomorrow to pick up your cape.” At this point, Warriors just wanted to go home, steal his cats from Twilight and crawl into bed with a book he’d been meaning to finish.

He allowed himself to become the designated bag carrier, while his sister and Legend discussed things on the way back to his house. Warriors made a mental note to pull out his more formal set of clothes out for the morning, that and to wash his scarf. It wasn’t too long before they got back to his house, not wanting to be out in Castle Town when it got dark out, but gathering some things for dinner before they returned.

The house was relatively quiet when they returned, Warriors and his sister set about making dinner. Warriors couldn’t say he was the best cook, especially without a recipe to go off of, but his mother hadn’t raised him to be a heathen. Cooking was practically a family event for his family, everyone crowded into his mother or grandmother’s kitchen, doing what they could to help. Warriors enjoyed the moment cooking with his sister and pushed his thoughts from the day to the back of his mind.

After dinner, Twilight expressed disappointment when all his cats chose to sleep with him, honestly with the way Twilight was reacting he was surprise the man didn’t already have cats of his own. The man sis just enjoy the company of any animal he encountered, though, and Warriors doubted that any other beast could truly compare to Epona in the Ranchers eyes. When he questioned Sky about not wanting the cats to sleep with him, he responded with “Remlits become violent after the sun sets.” Which was ominous, but he was fairly certain only applied to his home of Skyloft.

Perhaps it was for old time’s sake, but after Warriors had made sure that his scarf was clean for tomorrow and his formal wear was ready, both Wind and Time were at the door to his room. Warriors chuckled and held his arms out for the two of them, only to be tackled to his bed by the two of them. Time remarked about him being out of shape, and he wanted to push the man out of his bed because he was over twice the size he’d been as a kid. Wind cackled at the idea that the two of them could finally take him down.

Warriors had always wanted a brother growing up, aside from his father, he was the only man in his house. In a way, Warriors had gained two brothers during the war, and perhaps six others with the odd group he was traveling with. Perhaps he would have to discuss the things he had discovered with Time at a later date, especially since he had been very captivated with the rabbit hooded merchant when he was younger. Warriors quickly fell asleep with the familiar weight of his brothers nearby, he had a passing thought of hoping that Time wouldn’t accidentally crush the two of them while they slept. He had a habit of splaying himself over the two of them while laying on his stomach when he was younger, and the best way to wake his was rolling him off the bed entirely.

Warriors woke up slowly, and immediately noticed that Time and Wind were both already awake, leaving him to continue sleeping. Warriors dozed in bed before jolting awake with the thought, I’m late for work. Once his jolt of panic settled down, he realized how stupid he was being, because he was technically relieved of his duties until the defeated the source behind the black blooded monsters. So he settled himself back down in bed, hoping to rest a little longer, before he would have to be social again. Then he jolted awake a second time, fully pulling himself out of bed, after realizing that he had to prepare for the ball that was this evening.

When he finally stumbled downstairs, he was greeted by Legend and Hyrule, who were both sitting on his couch, discussing what looked to be a red bodysuit that Hyrule was holding. They both looked up when he entered the room, and Legend greeted him with, “welcome back to the land of the living.” Warriors grunted, accepting the coffee his sister offered him.

He was about to ask where the others were, but Hyrule answered his question before he could ask, “Time and Wind took Wild to the doctors, since I guess a letter came in saying that he couldn’t come here today. Twilight took Sky and Four with him to town for supplies, Four mainly wanted to find a forge for a project. Legend was looking for the dress he was going to wear tonight.”

Warriors hummed in response, taking a long drink of his coffee before he let his curiosity get the best of him, “and what's that you’re holding, Hyrule?” He questioned as Legend pulled something that seemed to be solid gold, glittered brightly, and was also covered in feathers out of his bag. Legend frowned at the thing in dissatisfaction before shoving it right back in his bag, and frankly Warriors was too afraid to ask what that thing was.

“It’s a Tri Suit, from Hytopia. The clothes there have magic woven into them and that in outfit in particular increases that amount of magic you can store, but also makes it easier to avoid enemies. The effect works far better with three people wearing it, but I only have one. Here Hyrule, the visor.” Legend explained as he pulled out a red head piece that had a dark faceplate, and promptly handed it to Hyrule.

“Why are you even giving that to Hyrule in the first place?”

“Because he’s coming with us. Although, you do kinda have a point, the red doesn’t suit him.” That was hardly the point Warriors was intending to argue about, but he was still shocked when Legend reached for the garments, and they almost immediately turned green. Hyrule was also shocked, looking over the freshly color changed clothes, that matched the tips of his hair. Warriors suspected that Hytopia was an odder country than Legend entirely let on.

“How?!” Lydia questioned, with surprise.

“Hytopian fabric, especially the magic kind, has a tenancy to naturally shift to three different colors with a little magic prodding. Even if the clothing isn’t originally one of those colors, it still can be changed to red, green, or blue.” He explained, as he finally seemed to find what he was looking for, which happened to be a soft pink dress that had puffy sleeves and a wide skirt. He quickly changed the color from pink to a soft blue.

“What magic does that have?” Hyrule questioned as he admired the fabric.

“Floating.” Legend barely explained. “Anyway, it may take longer for the three of us to get ready, so if you could go pick up the cape I got, that would be great.” Warriors had to admit that Legend was right, even though the ball was this evening, preparing for it properly would be an ordeal that would take all day.

Legend watched as Warriors left the house, leaving him with his sister and Hyrule. “Do you think you’ll need any help with getting ready?” Legend asked wearily, it felt like the polite thing to ask, but also she was a lady, and likely wouldn’t appreciate their help for the most part. Lydia chuckled at his awkward offer, right, this lady had likely spent most of her life dealing with the oddities that came with knowing a Link.

“Thank you for the offer, but I think I’ll be fine by myself. I’ll ask you two if I do need anything, though.” She said, and with a quick thought, Legend pulled out a small green bottle, offering it to her. She looked confused, but took the small bottle anyway.

“A Hytopian signature, glitter. It is both fantastic and horrible. It’s called glittered because it looks like fairy dust, and sparkles like jewels on your skin. But it’s horrible because it sticks to everything, and you won’t be able to rid yourself of it for months. A perfect weapon for revenge.” Legend said, and Lydia laughed and thanked him before leaving the two of them to their own devices.

Legend and Hyrule both went back to the room that they had borrowed for the night, Legend helping Hyrule into the Tri Suit, before removing his ring and placing it in a small sachet. “So, how are you planning to explain your appearance if you’re planning to go as yourself?” Hyrule questioned, seeming suddenly nervous before meekly continuing. “I mean, maybe it’s best to tell them?”

That caught Legend’s attention, “you trust them?” He questioned with a neutral voice, wanting to know Hyrule’s opinion before saying anything that could possibly affect his opinion.

“Yes,” Hyrule answered instantly with a concerned expression on his face, “you don’t?”

Legend sighed, “I do, but I also have a hunch about all this.” He gestured vaguely at their surroundings, and Hyrule looked confused. Legend sat down next to Hyrule, making sure to look him directly in the eye. “Don’t you think it’s all of this is a little odd? The fact that there are multiple heroes traveling across time without much consequence? The fact that I conveniently have a ring that makes me look exactly like you for some reason? Surely there’s a point to all of this in some way?”

Unfortunately for both of them, neither had any answers for any of those questions. They sat for a moment in silence, Hyrule quietly spoke up, “surely nothing bad could come from at least telling them something?”

Legend sighed, thinking of a small island in the middle of the ocean that no longer exists. “Would it truly make a difference if they knew who I really was? Because at the end of all this, we’ll never even see each other again.” Legend couldn’t bear to see Hyrule’s reaction to what he said so he looked at his hands in his lap, missing how stricken his successor look, before a determined look crossed his face.

“You don’t know that for certain, all of us, we’re Link. It’s kinda our whole thing to defy how things normally work.” Hyrule stated, taking Legend’s hands and forcing his predecessor to look him in the eyes. Legend only looked forlorn and chuckled weakly.

“If you somehow figure something out, I’ll throw this ring into Death Mountain.” Legend said showing him the transformation ring, but his face showed no humor still. “I’ve learned it’s best to never get your expectations too high, because all dreams come to an end eventually.” That sentimentality hurt Hyrule, and he almost wondered what happened to have caused Legend to think that way. Hyrule had traveled to the country he was nicknamed after on a dream that filled his head, based on Legend’s adventures.

Yes, when he was younger, Hyrule had maybe imagined Legend to look more like Time or Warriors, but he was quietly thrilled to find that Legend was more similar to him than he could have imagined. He was so happy to have the opportunity to get to know Legend better, especially with how easily they got along with each other. Hyrule would simply have to show Legend that he was wrong in some way, but Hyrule was certain he could figure that out. That was how he had gotten through both of his adventures, by being the most trying, over and over again until he eventually succeeded.

Legend stood up, leaving Hyrule to stew in his thought, he wasn’t certain how to continue the conversation. Thankfully, he had an excuse to leave the conversation where it was, since he had to get ready for the ball that would be happening tonight. He laid out his dress, but also pulled out his hoop skirt and corset that paired well with the dress. Then he sat down to work in front of a mirror to make sure he dyed his hair the proper color of red.

Hyrule sat quietly the entire time he dyed his hair, and Legend was beginning to get concerned with how he was acting. Though, he didn’t have time to question it because when it sounded like Warriors returned to the house, Hyrule shot to his feet and ran out of the room. Legend was shocked by how quickly Hyrule had left, that for a moment he was terrified that Hyrule had gone to out their secret. He wanted to believe that Hyrule wouldn’t do that, and he tried to keep his calm by beginning to put on his makeup.

It wasn’t long before Hyrule returned, almost slamming the door open before quickly shutting it firmly behind him. Legend felt like he was practically clutching his proverbial pearls with how shocked he was by Hyrule’s behavior. Hyrule grinned wildly at him, before fanning out the cape that he’d gotten from Warriors, “we have a ball to get ready for, what do you need help with?”

Legend wasn’t sure how to respond to that, it was almost as if Hyrule was pretending that nothing between them had just happened. That threw Legend for a loop, but he was too afraid to ask Hyrule what he was planning. “I could use some help putting my corset and hoop skirt on?” He answered with confusion.

Hyrule lowered the cloth he was holding, “What’s a corset? What’s a hoop skirt?” Legend supposed he couldn’t be too surprised by the fact that Hyrule didn’t know what those were, it was highly unlikely that Dawn would have told him. He knew the younger Princess wore a hoop shirt simply by the shape of her dress alone.

“You know how Dawn’s skirt always seems so wide, without losing shape?” Hyrule looked confused, but nodded, he’d likely never bothered to think about it. “A hoop shirt is basically just a skirt with thin but sturdy metal rings in it that are made to keep the shape of a skirt, without adding extra weight. As for a corset, it’s generally used to make a person’s waist look smaller, but they can make for decent back braces.”

“Huh.” Was the only response Hyrule had, before fumbling with his hands for a moment. “So how…?”

Legend snorted, “you get the easy part of just tying both shut, though I need you to pull the corset ribbon tight.”

“Wouldn’t that hurt?!”

“Only if it’s too tight, and don’t worry, I’ll tell you if it is.” Hyrule looked a little in over his head, and if Legend hadn’t been to Hytopia he probably would’ve been in the same place. Granted, Fable and Ralph had introduced him to corsets after his second shipwreck, they had helped significantly in his recovery. Turns out, being struck by lightning twice wasn’t great for your nervous system.

With Hyrule’s hesitant and fluttering help, he got into the dress, and after ensuring the skirt was properly over the hoop shirt. He settled into finishing his makeup and hair, he carefully styled his hair into bangs that would more similarly match Ralph’s. Though it was unlikely the people here knew much about Labynnian royalty, he would rather make himself look similar to the two people he knew in the royal line to make the disguise more believable. He couldn’t exactly make his ears shorter, but he could hide their tips in his hair.

When he was closer to finishing, Hyrule piped up, fiddling with the visor of the Tri Suit in his hands, and Legend finished his hair by tying it into a braid. “So, how exactly am I supposed to come with you, especially dressed like this?” Hyrule gestured to himself, the green costume didn’t stand out, and although Legend wasn’t entirely certain of his plan, the magic clothing had always surprised him.

Legend walked over to him, carefully putting on the visor so it wouldn’t pinch his ears. “Well you are going to turn into a fairy and hide in the collar of my cape the entire time, the hammer Wind let you borrow may come in handy. The reason for the suit is so you don’t run out of magic as quickly.”

Legend fixed his cape into place, normally it wasn’t something he’d think about wearing, but both Ralph and Ambi had caped with tall collars. That and the tall, stiff collar would be a convenient place for a fair to hide in. Making sure his appearance was up to his standards, he went downstairs to meet with Warriors and his sister. He was surprised to find Warriors and Time sitting on the floor with Wind, who was holding a familiar blue coat. The rest of their group seemed unsure what to do, though Sky’s sailcloth had been wrapped around Wind’s shoulders.

Legend had thought he had managed to get all the clothes he had pulled out while looking for his Peach Dress away, but apparently the coat from his Linebeck’s Uniform had slipped his notice. He had always wondered why the outfit had been named after a specific person, but judging by Wind’s expression, he knew exactly who the coat had been named after. He knew that expression all too well, after all.

Wind looked up from where he was sitting as they entered the room, his face twisting in confusion before he eventually realized who he was. Wind shot to his feet in a motion that Legend could only wish that he could repeat, it seemed that Warriors and Time thought the same thing as they both struggled to get to their feet after Wind. Wind shoved the coat towards him with a stern expression, “where did you get this?”

Legend gently took the coat from him, in a manner that was more reminiscent to Fable than anything. “I got it in Hytopia, I never learned about the man the outfit was named after.” Wind looked crestfallen at that admission, and by the goddesses if there was anything Legend was weak too, it was sad kids. Gully was first-hand evidence of that. “Considering we’ve been teleported to Labrynna, there’s a chance we could end up in Hytopia. If we do, I’ll get you the outfit tailored just for you, in the meantime you can hold onto this.”

Wind looked surprised, “but what if you need it? Didn’t you say something about your outfits being magic?”

“Yeah, but that one only lets me see what’s in chests, so it’s hardly any use to me now.” When Wind absorbed what he said, he looked downright furious at the jacket. Legend could’ve sworn he heard the boy mumble about how if that crusty old man could tell what was in chests, he could’ve saved him from so many rupoors. Okay, Legend really wanted to know who this guy was, “I do have a condition, though.” Wind looked at him with suspicion, “you have to tell me more about your friend.”

Wind frowned begrudgingly, “I can live with that. By the way, how the heck did you make your hair longer.”

“Wig, you’d be surprised how realistic Hytopian fashion is with their hair.” Legend gestured for Hyrule to give him his bag, and he quickly found a fluffy white mustache, which he promptly stuck to Wind’s upper lip before he could react. Wind put his hands to his face, turning towards the rest of the group while wiggling around his mouth, but the mustache stayed firmly in place. 

Time chucked, “well, at least one of us managed to grow facial hair in their old age.” Which got them all laughing, Wild took a picture and showed it to Wind so he could see what he looked like.

Wind, after taking a good look at himself, slouched comically, pointed at Time and gruffly spoke. “Listen here you whippersnapper.” That had them all laughing, Legend made sure to reign in his laughter just a bit, so he wouldn’t ruin his makeup. At least with Wind’s antics, Warriors and his sister looked significantly more relaxed. Speaking of which, though it was likely a little early for the ball to start, it likely wasn’t a good look for them not to be on time.

It seemed Lydia had the same idea, approaching him, “I wasn’t certain what to expect when you said you’d be joining us, but you certainly know how to dress yourself.”

“What can I say, I look great in a dress.” Then he leaned closer to whisper, “that, and I’ve never been particularly fond of pants.” That got a nervous chuckle out of her, but Legend chalked up her nerves to what would be happening tonight. “How are you doing?” 

Lydia thought for a moment, sorting through her emotions, “I’m terrified, I’m hurt, but I also think I’m looking forward to putting this all behind me.” 

“And that’s the best thing you can do, because I’m gonna be honest, I’m pretty sure your brother was ready to kill the man for you.” 

“If it had been Linkle, he likely would be dead.” Well, wasn’t that an interesting bit of information, apparently Warriors was the more reasonable twin. Legend was both interested and concerned about potentially meeting her. Hyrule also seemed to realized it was time to leave soon, sneaking away from the group to transform, before hiding himself away in Legend’s collar. 

The trip to the castle was uneventful, and when they arrived, Warriors formally greeted the Queen, while also introducing them to her. Warriors very carefully hinted to the Queen about his current travels, and the heroes he was traveling with. Artemis gave a curious glance to him, to which he carefully hid his face to those arriving so that he could send her a conspiratory wink. 

Legend quickly realized why Warriors was weary about coming alone, he was likely the only reason that the women were keeping their distance. He felt Warriors stiffen beside his as he likely spotted the man they were expecting, Legend didn’t want them to draw attention to themselves by openly gawking, so he redirected. “Let’s dance, Link.” Legend smiled as he hooked his arm into Warriors. 

Warriors looked surprised for a moment, before realizing the idea he had. Legend had spotted a quick glance of the man’s features, so he would be able to fish him out of the crowd, hopefully even as they were dancing. Legend followed Warriors into the middle of the floor, they both made a formal bow, before Legend fell into the familiar flow of dancing. He couldn’t help but hum the familiar tune of a Labrynnian waltz, despite the music playing.

“You’re surprisingly adept at dancing, princess.” Warriors said with a suave smile, at least he was playing the part well enough. Though, Legend could tell that he was less familiar with bullshitting than he was, especially since he had tacked on ‘princess’ as an afterthought. 

“Well, my dear knight, my brother would be quite cross with me if I hadn’t learned.” Legend caught a glance of the man, and tapped Warriors on the shoulder with his fan before waving it in the direction. Warriors smartly turned them in the dance so that he could get a look without seeming suspicious. Warriors could see him approaching Lydia with a woman at his side, and Legend quickly feigned being tired so they could leave the dance floor. 

Honestly, Warriors was grateful for Legend’s presence, if only because he was preventing him from crossing the hall quickly. They reached Lydia just in time to hear the end of Sir Alan’s about how he was beaking off their engagement to marry a more suitable woman for his status. Warriors couldn’t see his sister’s face clearly behind the fan for a moment, but she snapped the fan closed to show a sweet smile on her face.

“I’m glad that you managed to find a lady that suits your ego, Sir Alan, hopefully you’re graceful enough not to toy with her heart with your fickle tastes, like you have with mine. I wish you both the best in life, but I feel mine will certainly be better without you in it.” Warriors heard Legend choke beside him, and he could easily tell that the younger man was trying not to laugh at how red in the face Sir Alan was. Losing his temper with his sister would only make him look worse in the eyes of the guests, who were already whispering about the scene he had caused.

Sir Alan opened his mouth to speak, but Warriors swiftly cut in, “I believe you’ve said enough to my sister for one night, since she’s no longer your fiancée, there’s no reason for you to waste her time any longer is there?” Legend kept up quite well, playing the role of supporting lady, by offering Lydia a handkerchief. 

Sir Alan scoffed, “I see you actually brought an actual date with you, Captain Link, rather than relying on your sisters to keep you company.” Warriors wanted to snap at the man, he did not like the look he was giving Legend. Legend, however, had different ideas.

“I’m Princess Ambi of Labrynna, and friend of the Oracle of Ages. I met Captain Link on his travels, and his stories of his own time made me wish to see the time for myself. Captain Link was kind enough to humor my curiosity about other eras, and invited me here with the aid of the Oracle of Ages.” Warriors had to pause for a moment of how solid of a story that made out to be, and it wasn’t entirely implausible either. Everyone in Hyrule knew of the War of Eras and the strange people it had brought to this time, so what was one curious princess to that. 

“Well, certainly a princess like yourself is can find better company?” Oh, Warriors really wanted to make the man’s smug face well acquainted with his fist.

 Legend tilted his head and smiled thinly with his fan held to his chin, “and you consider yourself to be better company?” Warriors barely caught himself from choking out a laugh, it was as if Legend was barely holding back from murdering the man with words alone. Something caught Legend’s attention, though, “Captain Link, I believe Queen Zelda wishes to speak with you.” Warriors was hesitant to leave, but he knew that Legend could handle himself. 

Legend watched Warriors leave, and proceeded to lead Lydia to a more secluded area of the hall. He had a bad hunch about Sir Alan and though he didn’t want to be right about said hunch, he also knew it wasn’t best to pretend that he had the thought in the first place. “Do you remember what I said earlier about glitter?”

Lydia nodded, but looked confused. “Yes, but what does that have to do with everything?”

“I have a bad feeling about your former fiancée, I could be wrong. I’m going to get a breath of fresh air, but tell your brother that if he finds someone that look like they got in a fight with a fairy and lost, that he’s free to punch them.” Lydia looked concern, and looked like she wanted to argue. Legend assured her that he would be alright, moving his hair aside so she could see the glowing green fairy hiding under his hair. 

After getting an understanding nod from Lydia, Legend exited the main hall out onto a balcony. He breathed a sigh of relief at the fresh air, and felt very grateful that Hytopian fashion basically required dresses and skirts to have pockets. He pulled out a small jar of glitter and dumped some into his gloved hand, before tucking the jar away. In his other pocket was a roc’s feather, something that would allow him to easily jump over the balcony railing. 

Legend heard the door to the balcony open again, and Legend wanted to sigh at potentially being right. He turned carefully to politely pretend to greet whoever came out, only to me unsurprised to see Sir Alan and two other men in the doorway. “Well, little princess, what a surprise to find you all by yourself. Shall we keep you company?”

Legend turned up his nose, turning his head to look out into the night sky. “I hardly need company from the likes of you.” Legend wanted to snort when the three became visibly mad, by his denial. He pretended to be afraid when the men began to approach him, he could hear Hyrule ring in caution when his back hit the railing of the balcony. 

“You lot are certainly the best example of nobility, aren’t you?” Legend sneered at them.

“You think you’re pretty brave, don’t you?” A man chuckle.

“Not particularly.” Legend said with a smirk, before he brought his hand full of glitter to his face. He blew the bright, sparkling concoction onto the men, before jumping from the railing. Hyrule shrieked in his ear as the plummeted, but Legend simply pulled at the top layer of his skirt. The magic activated, and he almost became weightless, floating to the ground much like a feather. 

Hyrule fluttered around his face, causing Legend to chuckle, “were you really that worried?” Hyrule huffed, putting his hands on his hips, and putting a mighty pout on his face. Legend heard footsteps, however, telling him that they had little time. “Well now it's your time to shine, go hide so you can properly ambush them, while I distract them.” Hyrule hesitated for a moment, before fluttering away.

Hyrule was weary of leaving Legend by himself, but he also knew that whatever he had planned would likely work out best in the long run. He hid himself in some bushes, and prepared himself with Wind’s tiny hammer. He watched in shock as Legend dramatically fell to the ground, tossed one of his heels a bit a ways away. In a way, he was setting himself up to play the damsel in distress. 

Only two of the men showed up, both chuckling at the state that Legend was in. Hyrule couldn’t exactly make out what they were saying to Legend, but he felt a rage build up inside him at the thought of his brother in danger. He flew out of the bushes and swung the hammer in a larger arc, not expecting it to burst into flames. The men screamed as the hammer narrowly missed them, he swung the hammer again, and once again flames raged in the arc that he swung in.

He felt himself return to his normal size, and his wings retract, but the hammer was still a flame. One of the men yelled in fear, “what are you?!” and Hyrule took a page out of Legend’s book to respond, “your worst nightmare.” The magic in the area exploded around him as he prepared another swing of the hammer, causing a large burst of fire to erupt around him. Hyrule allowed the men to flee in fear, as he rushed to help Legend.

Legend looked surprised by the burst of magic Hyrule just used, “what was that?” Hyrule frankly couldn’t explain what he just did, and in a moment of clarity he felt fear for the item he had borrowed from Wind. It was covered in soot but appeared to be fine, and Hyrule shrunk at the thought of how mad Wind would be if he had found out what happened.

“I probably shouldn’t tell Wind that I almost lit his hammer on fire.” Hyrule said meekly, and Legend nodded in agreement. Then his face twisted in thought for a moment in thought, before he looked Hyrule in the eye.

“You realize this is Wind we’re talking about, right? He’d be more mad if we didn’t tell him about this.” Now that Hyrule thought about it, Legend was right. They didn’t have much more time, before Warriors came to their rescue, yelling out orders to other knights. After Warriors had  assured that they were safe, he told them that all the three men had to be arrested, and Artemis would be dealing with their punishments personally.

Warriors sighed in relief when they finally returned to his house, the four of them were exhausted from the day’s events. Lydia ate the light meal that Wild had prepared while they were gone, and fled to her room, likely to sleep the rest of the day off. Warriors had managed to talk with her a bit before she went to bed, and she mentioned going to visit their parents the next day. He knew she would definitely be in good hands then.

He himself found himself fleeing to his room, he waved off Time and Wind’s concerned looks, he was just wanted some time by himself to relax. He quickly dressed down into more comfortable clothes and put on his sheer, fur lined, blue robe on, before he sat down to remove his makeup. He was about to start the process of cleaning his face, before he thought about the fact that Legend had also been wearing makeup tonight as well. 

Though the veteran of their group seemed to have a bottomless bag of items, Warriors doubted that he carried around anything to clean his face. He sighed as he got up from his desk seat, setting supplies on his bed, before going to the twins’ room. When he got to the room, he knocked on the door, he was confused to hear what sounded like someone falling on the floor. He opened the door to see Legend wearing a long dark green tunic, standing over Hyrule on the floor.

“Something the matter?” Hyrule questioned from his place on the floor, as if he likely hadn’t just been thrown on the floor by his twin. Warriors in turn pretended like he likely hadn’t caught the two of them in a middle of a fight. He mentioned to Legend that he had supplies to properly clean his face, and the teen lifted a hand to his face only to cringe in realization that he still needed to clean his face. 

“Can I come too?” Hyrule inquired as he got up off the floor, the older twin reminded him of Time when he was younger to some extent. He led the two to his room, and began going through the process of removing both his and Legend’s makeup.

“Surprised you wear makeup, Captain.” Legend jabbed. Warriors was honestly though he would make a remark about his night robe too, but then again, Legend had been wearing a dress a few hours ago. 

Warriors sighed, “it would be unfavorable for me not to look my best at all time, as the hero of Hyrule. Especially, when involving Her Majesty.” He chuckled fondly, “I’m used to it, though. Having five sisters, means I was often the subject to their experiments. How exactly did you learn?”

Legend hummed, “Princess Styla, she’s the princess of Hytopia and she’s rather persistent. A small price to pay in exchange for her creating an alternative outcome to her father’s witch hunt.” Somehow, whenever Legend answered a question, he always ended up with more questions alongside the answer. He was almost on the same level as Time with his often cryptic way of speaking. 

He didn’t have anytime to ask more questions, because he heard a knock on his window. His window on the second story of his house. He whipped his head around to see his twin sister waving at him through the glass, “Linkle!” he shouted as he opened the window. She crawled through, as if she somehow hadn’t managed to hoist herself up to the second floor.

“How in Hylia’s name did you-?” He began to question as he peered out the now open window, only for a large red claw appeared in the window frame. Warriors could see the twins jump at the sight of the monster claw, only to be confused when a relatively normal looking man appeared in the window frame. At least Linkle had somehow convinced the dragon to forgo wearing his armor. “Volga?”

“The fiery one said you were back, so I’ve come to fight to the death.” The dragon growled, and Warriors had to roll his eyes. He couldn’t expect any less from the dragon, it was a miracle that he hadn’t sieged the castle, again, to battle him.

“Our ‘fight to death’ will have to wait till tomorrow, I’ll hardly be worth fighting half-awake and without any of my equipment.” The dragon grumbled, but didn’t argue, he still crawled through the window like he owned the place. Linkle laughed at his expense.

“What exactly is going on?” He heard Hyrule whisper, followed by “no idea” from Legend. Linkle took notice of the twins and practically tackled him.

“So, I leave you on your own for one week, you go missing, and know you're back to adopting kiddo heroes.” She really was never going to let him live that down. He pushed her off him, but she fought against him. The scrap eventually resulted in him getting pushed onto Volga. She cackled at his embarrassment, he regretted ever telling her that he was attracted to Volga. The twins meanwhile looked confused by the entire situation. 

Warriors gathered himself together, “Linkle, Volga, these are other heroes from another era: Legend and Hyrule. Legend, Hyrule, this is my sister Linkle, and the main resident of Eldin Volcano, Volga. He’s also a dragon.”

Hyrule raised his hand like a child in school, “so he’s a friendly monster?” 

“More neutral than anything… Ganondorf couldn’t manage to control him, and Cia only barely managed to.” Warriors sighted. Both the twins looked intrigued by the information.

“Ganondorf pursuit of power was not based on challenging oneself, but crushing those he considered weak. What is the point if you have no one to challenge your might?” Volga hissed, Warriors had heard plenty of how much he despised Ganondorf and Cia. He had been tasked with slaying Volga, after he had been sighted in Eldin Caves after the war. What he hadn’t been expecting was the dragon nursing his various old wounds from said war, Cia’s brainwashing having driven him to the point of harmful overexertion. 

Warriors had managed to convince most of Hyrule’s council against slaying him after finding out that his main food source was King Dodongos, a fact he would never tell Legend, but a swarm of King Dodongos would be far more annoying to deal with compared to one dragon. It was also the fact that Lizolfos, Aerozolfos, and Dinozolfos had become less of an overall problem with Volga involved. All three species of monster tended to follow the strongest of their kind, and to all of them Volga was that. 

“Basically, Volga’s just become the weird cryptid dragon man that lives in the Eldin Region, and no one bothers him.” Linkle cut in, with of confusion from said dragon man. The twins overall took Volga’s “friendliness” fairly well, and Warriors did warn them that Volga would probably attempt to fight them too tomorrow. 

Warriors woke up when his sister elbowed him in the gut, and he roughly rolled her up in a spare blanket for her crimes. He hadn’t even remembered falling asleep the night before, but waking up with two younger heroes and his sister in his bed wasn’t an unfamiliar occurrence. The dragon he nearly tripped over the tail of as he got out of bed was definitely a new thing. 

Speaking of said dragon, he would be insisting on a “fight to the death” as soon as he woke up, and Warriors needed at least two cups of coffee before that happened. When he went downstairs, he caught Lydia as she was about to leave, she gave him a questioning look. He only mouthed ‘Linkle’ with a sour look on his face, causing her to chuckle before she said goodbye. Warriors mentally mapped out a place in Hyrule Field that would do well for a duel as he set about making a simple breakfast.

“Well, at least one of us learned not to burn food.” Time said as he entered the room, Warriors looked up at him and couldn’t help but scoff at how the center part of his hair seemed askew. It made Time seem younger than he was, but his age was always confusing. When he was only eleven, he had confused the hell out of Warriors by saying “I was seventeen a year ago.” 

“You probably don’t know yet, since it happened after the war, but Volga is still alive.” Time cocked an eyebrow, before running a hand through his hair, setting his part back in place. “He’s no threat to Hyrule, but he’ll be insistent of a ‘fight to the death’ today, since I’m back. Don’t know why he calls it that, since no one ever dies.”

“Ah… I suppose you can’t expect a dragon to adhere to Hylian standards, either.” That caused Warriors to snort as he handed Time a piece of toast with an egg and cheese on it. “I’m surprised no one has pushed you to slay him.”

“He’s the reason we don’t have a bigger King Dodongo problem.” Time grimaced as he thought about that. Though other boss monsters may be more annoying to deal with, King Dodongo were a nuisance that had overrun Eldin Cave to the point that they left the Eldin Region entirely.

“I suppose you already have a plan for today, then.” Warriors nodded, battling Volga wasn’t something he dreaded. The dragon could actually be decently reasonable with delaying their battles too, it let him go all out in a spar without really having to worry about his opponent after all. What he was not expecting was for Linkle to join them downstairs, only to inform them that Volga had left through the window in his room and would be expecting him on the battlefield. Of course, he couldn’t use the front door like a normal person.

Legend wasn’t sure what he was expecting when Warriors and his sister led them to a battlefield. He had vaguely informed the others of the dragon that regularly challenged him to duels, and Legend felt that the only thing keeping the group from being more cautious was how calm Time was. Wind on the other hand was almost vibrating with barely concealed excitement. The dragon himself showed up by flying over head, before plummeting to the ground in a burst of flames, leaving behind a giant man in dragon hide armor to step out of the fire.

His spear was longer than Time was tall, and Legend realized that the burn wounds on Warriors’ arms were likely from previous battles with the dragon. Warriors was easily one of their most skilled fighters, right up there with Sky and Four, but watching him in his own era was something else entirely. The Triforce mark on the back of his hand seemed perpetually light up with light, along with the blade of his sword. That’s when something clicked in his head.

Legend looked at Time and Wind, “you two knew. You knew he fought like this, regularly.” Wind blinked, taking a look at him, then the battle before the information seemed to click in his head too. His mouth flapped wildly for a moment, before he looked pleadingly to Time for help. Time head tilted back and forth, like a pendulum of a clock, as he considered what to say.

“The War of Eras was an oddity in its own right, many people from various points in time were dragged into it unwittingly. The fact that they way battles played out differently than normal for us was something that I never considered.” Legend could tell the older man was attempting to be vague, but he could read between the lines well enough.

“You two fought like this?! And you never bothered to think that it was strange.” He pressed, but Time looked him dead in the eyes, with both his own open.

“If I recall correctly, you mention previously that you try not to think too deeply on the odd occurrences during your own adventures.” Legend threw his hands up in the air with frustration, but he couldn’t exactly argue with the man’s logic. Sky gave him a friendly pat on the shoulder in consolation. 

The battle ended when Warriors barely managed to get the point of his sword right at the dragon’s throat. From there, they both took a step back and lowered their weapons. Warriors seemed exhausted, but the dragon was only looking for his next battle, he pointed his spear at Time who didn’t react.

“Wars, how long has it been since the War of Eras ended?” Time asked as if there wasn’t a dragon pointing a weapon at him.

“Five years, why?” Warriors looked confused, but also not too concerned. 

“Well then, since I was eleven during the War of Eras, I would only be sixteen now. Therefore, I’m far too young to accept your challenge, Volga.” That string of logic was so horribly confusing that Legend wanted to rip his hair out, and for the most part everyone else seemed to agree. Other than Linkle who was too busy laughing, “Wind, however, is nineteen. I’m sure he would be thrilled to accept.”

Wind sneakily snuck on the white mustache, Legend definitely forgot to get back from him, before shouting. “Fuck, yeah!”

“Fuck, no!” Warriors countered.

“Oh come on, Linky, let the kid have some fun.” Oh, boy. Linky, they were never letting that one go.

Warriors glared at his sister, “I should have eaten you in the womb.”

She stuck her tongue out at him, “but, ya didn’t.” 

“Is nobody gonna stop Wind and Wild?” Sky questioned.

“Wild, no!” There goes Twilight.

Chapter Text

The battle between Volga, Wind, and Wild had ended when Wild had broken his sword. He had ducked under a swing of Volga’s spear, and with alarming speed landed several hits on the dragon before his sword shattered into tiny pieces. Legend hadn’t really interacted with Four much, but he could honestly relate to the smith absolutely losing his mind. With zero regard for his safety, Four ran up to lay into Wild for breaking his sword. 

That’s how they ended up eating lunch in the garden outside Warriors’ house, with Four using the flames from Volga’s mane to forge Wild a new sword. How the tiny smith managed to convince the dragon to simply lay there while Four did his metalworking. Time had busied himself with a notebook, that Legend knew he used to write to his wife with, Sky had fallen asleep against his shoulder. Wind was laying in the grass next to him and Hyrule, fiddling with the coat that Legend had let him borrow.

With Warriors, Twilight, and Wild nearby that’s how Legend, who had nothing better to do, overheard Wild ask, “so, what seasoning did you use with breakfast today?” Seasoning, Legend scoffed internally, it had been very obvious that Warriors hadn’t used any seasoning at all. What he had made was at least edible, so Legend couldn’t complain. Sorry Hyrule, but there’s a reason you are no longer allowed to cook.

Warriors looked confused by the question himself, “Wild, I didn’t use any seasoning. I just made toast with eggs and cheese.”

“That!” Wild exclaimed, shocking both Warriors and Twilight.

“Cheese?” They both questioned the scarred hero, sharing a look of concern.

“Is cheese that big of a deal?” Hyrule questioned, and Legend shrugged. It hadn’t tasted unusual from what he could recall, but he had little experience with whatever they were discussing. It seemed that Wind was on the same boat as them too. 

“There isn’t cheese in my era.” Wild stated, and Warriors and Twilight looked downright heartbroken by the idea. 

Warriors took a wrapped block from his bag, and with a knife he pulled from his boot, he cut a thin slice which he offered to Wild. Wild, like the heathen he is, didn’t bother to take the piece from Warriors, instead opting to attempt to eat it straight from his hand, like a stray dog. Warriors taken aback by Wild’s behavior reeled back, and retaliated by throwing the slice of cheese directly at Wild’s face. The yellow square stuck to Wild’s face as Warriors huffed in vexation, Twilight was covering his mouth in attempt to contain his laughter. Wild didn’t even attempt to peel the slice of cheese from his face, somehow managing to eat it directly off his own face, much to Warriors’ disappointment. 

“Hey, Wind, you got an item that takes pictures, right?” Wind nodded his head, but looked confused. “Well, I figured you’d want to memorialize Wild getting slapped with cheese in case Wars does that again, with the added benefit of not having to outrun Wild.” Wind grinned mischievously, pulling out his pictobox and giving Legend a quick tutorial on how to use it. 

Legend aimed the lens at Wild, only to be shocked to see the scarred hero frozen in place with a blank look on his face. Warriors looked concerned, but Twilight just appeared resigned, as if this wasn’t an uncommon occurrence. Though, Wild quickly blinked back into motion, with a look of awe on his face.

“You alright, champion?” Warriors asked carefully.

Wild nodded fiercely, “that’s cheese.” Both Warriors and Twilight shared a concerned look of confusion at before nodding at Wild.

“It is cheese, buddy.” Twilight said in a manner not too different from the way Granny Impa would console Zelly when she was having a rough day. 

What they couldn’t have expected was Wild grabbing Twilight by the collar of his pelt and shaking him fiercely, “you don’t understand, that’s cheese. It doesn’t exist in my era now, but it did 100 years ago.” Oh boy, another one of them that time traveled, Legend knew Time was on that list even with his propensity to be vague because why else would to be called the Hero of Time. 

Before Twilight or Warriors could respond to Wild, the scarred hero stole the remaining block of cheese from Warriors’ hand and shoved the whole thing in his mouth, somehow managing not to choke in the process. That’s when Legend took a picture, when Wild heard the shutter of the pictobox click, his head snapped towards Legend. He could help but feel that Wild’s gaze was eerily similar to the fucked up beemos in his era. Legend knew he had a few moments before Wild did pounce, so he passed Wind back his pictobox and openly shook out the photo with the other hand. 

The rabbit inside him jumped into action when Wild stiffened just before lunging. Unfortunately for Wild, Legend was already sprinting to the edge of Warriors’ yard, Hyrule hot on his heels. He could have fun and let Wild chase him around the yard, till Wild wore himself out, but Legend had other plans. He had mentally plotted out the way through a portion of Warriors’ Castle Town while they had gone out shopping, so he used that to his advantage to get further into the city.

He slowed down so Hyrule could finally catch up to him, “why did you have to run all the way out here?” Hyrule wheezed out as he caught his breath, Legend sniffed the air, catching a scent that would likely lead to where he was thinking of going.

“No reason. Come on.” Legend led his way to a shop that had a similar smell to the cheese that Warriors had been holding. Twilight likely had a more keen sense of smell to him, but Legend was found that he could easily identify the smell of various food. Herbs and fruit especially. Cheese frankly had a smell that could pass for aged milk, and no one in their right mind sold that.

Entering the store proved his suspicion correct, but he couldn’t have expected so many types of cheese. Hyrule was struck by the same awe too, but Legend suddenly felt out of his depth on his plan. Hyrule gave him a questioning look, and Legend punched him lightly in the shoulder.

“What? Wild’s always cooking for us, might as well.” Legend hissed in defense of himself, as he walked to the counter. The shopkeeper looked at them, then blinked in confusion, likely due to how similar they looked. “Hey, is it possible to get a sample of an assortment of your cheeses?” 

“That’s an odd request,” The man stated offhandedly, “hope you don’t mind me asking why?”

“A friend.” Legend hesitated for a moment, he knew the others had mentioned Wild having memory issues. He’d never bothered to ask why or the extent, it wasn’t his business anyway, but telling some random person about it felt wrong. “He got a bad head injury a few years ago, lost a bit of who he was in the process. Got really into cooking in the recent years, but suddenly rediscover cheese, so I figured it’d make a good gift.”

The man looked forlorn at what he said, and Legend almost panicked, “he’s lucky to be alive, the war wasn’t so kind for many other men. Tell you what, I’ll put you together a package of a little bit of everything for 5000 rupees, but afterward you go to the bakery down the road. I hear the Captain would ofter buy things for his battalions there, may jog a few memories for the boy.”

5000 rupees, he said that, as if that was cheap. Legend had the money, but he was gonna kick Warriors in the shins for the absurd prices in his era. He severely doubted he was gonna be able to buy much at said bakery, with how few rupees remained in his wallet, but the man didn’t need to know that. 

“I’m surprised you could pay for that.” Hyrule whispered with a shocked expression. Legend just returned the look with a tired one of his own, which caused Hyrule to look meek. “I’ve just never really had more than 300 rupees at a time.” Legend sighed, he really wanted to just point a finger and blame Ravio for crashing his era's economy, but Ravio’s prices weren’t even that bad.

“Well, it looks like we're almost on the same boat then.” Legend conceded, throwing an arm over Hyrule’s shoulder. Before patting him on the shoulder and going to browse the shop while they waited.

Hyrule stood in place, as he watched Legend wander the small shop. He couldn’t help, but think about how contrary Legend was. He argued that it would be pointless for him to get attached to the others, since they would likely never see each other again after this was all over. But at the same time, here he was getting a gift for Wild. 

Even if he disguised it as something that would inevitably benefit himself, it was still an unnecessary act of kindness. And something about that twisted his stomach, the fact that Legend’s kindness would be masked by Hyrule’s own face. The fact that Legend didn’t care about that. Hyrule knew he would have to do something in return, something that would prove that this all wasn’t pointless. 

Hyrule would have to plan more on that later, as the man had gotten their rather large box together, and he caught Legend’s attention so that they could leave. The walk to the bakery the shopkeeper had mentioned was short, and Legend had mention that they could at least get something for themselves. 

When they entered the bakery, they were both surprised to see the familiar face of Warriors’ sister. They both greeted her, but unexpectedly the baker cut in, “So, these two are some of the new little heroes Link has adopted?”

“We’ve heard that twice now.” Hyrule said in confusion.

“Sorry, you two, this is our older sister Lillian. The whole Link adopting heroes, was a joke our family had when he often found himself looking after two younger heroes, Mask and Tune. Tune, I believe, goes as Wind now, but it’s unfortunate that Mask isn’t here too.” Well, that explained a bit, but Legend had a hunch about who Mask was.

“I’m pretty sure Mask is travelling with us, he’s just a lot older now.” Both the women perked up at that statement. “I’m pretty sure he’s Time, now. I mean, earlier today he asked Link how long it’s been since the war and when Link answered he said that he would only be sixteen, despite the fact that he’s older than Link.” Legend wanted to pull his hair out with how confusing it was to say his own name when talking about another person. 

“That sounds like something Mask would do.” Lillian responded, “it must be odd for Link to suddenly be younger than he, but then again, he was an absolute menace as a kid.” That caught both Legend and Hyrule’s attention.

Legend immediately leaned against the counter with a mischievous smirk on his face, “do tell.” Hyrule was too curious himself to stop Legend, and both of Warriors’ sisters seemed all too delighted to entertain them.

They both admittedly lost track of how long they had been talking with Warriors’ sister, but eventually Hyrule felt the need to tell them they should probably return before the others began to look for them. Legend sighed, and when Lillian dropped a box of pastries in his arms, he attempted to fish out what remained in his wallet. Watching Legend wilt as he was scolded for attempting to pay was certainly an experience, but the said they goodbyes and Legend led the way back to Warriors’ house. 

While they were walking, Hyrule suddenly had a thought, “you’ve used the ring before this, right?” He asked while bumping shoulders with Legend.

Legend gave him a bland look and scoffed. “I had to figure out how it worked somehow. So, yes, your point?”

Hyrule hummed, “well, the first thing you did in my era was walk into town. Seems like an odd thing to do regularly. Don’t tell me, I’m gonna get in trouble for something I didn’t do in your era.”

Legend snorted, “No. My various adventures have led to some people to have negative opinions of me. Can’t really be helped, people like to gossip. That, and not many people believe that some kid saved Hyrule, especially when my first wish on the Triforce fixed all the things Ganon’s followers had done.” Legend sighed and shrugged. “I mostly use it to get groceries in town without having to bother with other people being, well, people.” 

Hyrule could easily believe that, although they had a forced attachment to each other due to the ring, it was very easy to tell that Legend was not a people person. He was rude on most occasions with them, but when it came to talking with regular people he was very to the point. Hyrule couldn’t say he was necessarily rude in those case, more that he simply knew the best ways to converse, and leave a conversation behind. 

Even in the short time they had been traveling together, Legend would occasionally leave camp for several hours or simple not speak for long periods of time. Hyrule supposed that they all did at times, even Wind would go quiet at time, and none of them would really notice the silence that enveloped them at time. 

Then a though struck Hyrule, “have we never actual spoken with Four?”

Legend stopped in his tracks, “what? What do you mean, of cou-?” He cut himself off midsentece, thinking with a blank look on his face. “How, how have we never actually had a conversation with him? I mean, I’ve been avoiding it, but-”

“Why, have you been avoiding Four?” Hyrule questioned with a stricken look on his face, and Legend grimaced.

“I may have accidentally grave robbed him.” Hyrule looked at his childhood hero with disbelief. “Look I was like 9, maybe 10, and the Palace of the Four Sword seemed like just another dungeon, but then I happen to meet the guy that is the owner of the Four Sword and suddenly realize a whole lot of things you probably shouldn’t exactly know about the guy. So, yeah, I’ve been avoiding him.”

“Are they bad things?” Hyrule questioned.

“Probably not, to be entirely fair the Palace of the Four Sword was in the Sacred Realm, which was royally messed up by Ganon being there. It’s just that they’re his secrets to tell, not mine, just like you being part fairy.” Hyrule supposed that made sense.

“Okay, but you need to talk to him eventually, the others are gonna notice.” Legend hummed and agreed. 

When they made it to Warriors’ house, asked them to swap boxes, so that he would have the cheeses. Hyrule was confused, but complied. When they both entered the house, Wind exclaimed about them being back. Causing Time and Warriors, who were obviously worrying, to perk up. Before either of them could think about scolding them, Legend walked over to Wild and dropped the box right into his lap.

Wild looked confused, before opening the box, and immediately acting like he had received a precious object. He pulled out a stack of papers that had been tuck in with the cheeses, like they were fragile. “Huh, the old man included recipes.” Wild looked at Legend, with a gobsmacked expression.

“You can read this?” Right, they all had different writing. Legend shrugged, and waved his hand in a so-so manner.

“You learn to pick up on patterns, after learning so many languages. Anyway, it’s a small token of appreciation since you’re stuck cooking for us all the time.” 

Hyrule chose the moment to pipe in, “Warriors’ sister also gave us some pastries.” That had everyone’s attention, Wind and Time making the first move to snatch what they wanted. Surprisingly, Four was the third one at the box, Hyrule attempted to question him on what he was grabbing. The small hero, was however, gone before he could finish the question. Wind tried to console him, saying that the smith had been working on a sword for Wild the entire day, but Hyrule had a hunch that Legend wasn’t being the only one avoiding things.

Hyrule briefly overheard Warriors ask how much the gift for Wild had cost him, but Legend shrugged the man off by saying he hadn’t paid as much as he probably should have. Twilight was the next to catch his attention though, “Wild, you should go easy on the cheese. You don’t even remember if you’re lactose intolerant.” Hyrule had no idea what that was, but Wild didn’t seem to care much either.

“A small price to pay for cheese.” Hyrule chuckled at the scarred hero. Now that he thought about it, Wild would be extremely helpful with his plan for Legend.

“Hey, Wild, do you think you could help me with something later?” Wild nodded before shoving a small slice into both his and Legend’s open mouths. Hyrule hadn’t realized that Legend was behind him, he also hadn’t realized how different cheese tasted. Though he had learned a lot about how food tasted, thanks to Wild. 

“Huh,” Legend said out loud. “Now that I think about it, I have tried this before. They call it something else entirely in Holodrum though, and it’s a bit more… robust there.” Hyrule sighed, of course Legend would have tried something without really realizing what it was.

They all found out the next morning that Wild was in fact lactose intolerant, but the man seemed to have no regrets despite the situation he put himself in. Combined with the fact that Four was still working on the blade he was making for Wild, they wouldn't be returning to their hunt too quickly. Warriors at least informed them that there wasn't any sighting of unusual monsters. Hyrule had also discovered from Sky that Four had been using Volga as a makeshift forge, because when he had gone to the blacksmith in town he had been mistaken for a child, which could explain the mood Four had been in. As for what he had planned with Wild, he would have to wait until they were back in Wild's era before gaining anything on that.

Chapter Text

If you asked Link, now currently going by Legend, what he expected from yet another adventure, he would simply have to say not fucking this . A voice that sounded a lot like Zelda, nicknamed Fable, replied with surely it can’t be that bad? Well, that made one tiny bit of good news, Fable was still able to nag him. Legend thought as he lay on the ground having lost his sword, after trying to get an infected sky sword soldier off of a totem armor. The Drablands truly lived up to their name, he thought as he struggled to regain consciousness.

How did this even happen, you may ask? Well, he really wanted to blame Warriors and his absolutely ridiculous Hyrule. I mean, the man says he received a report of a potentially troublesome camp of monsters, and he completely fails to clarify that by his standards a “camp of monsters” is not a group of 5–7 monsters. Noooo, it had to be a fucking army of monsters that took over an entire FORTRESS. Don’t worry he said, the small ones only take a two hits max he said, it’ll be a cakewalk he said. He failed to consider that it would remain the case when they’re all infected. 

Their siege of the monster infested fortresses hadn’t been much of a problem, especially with Warriors, Linkle, and his dragon friend, Volga, leading the charge. Though the mass infestation of black blooded monsters had made things slightly more difficult, it really didn’t make much of a difference when there was a dragon helping them burn things to the ground. Linkle, Wild, and Hyrule also made for a terrifying trio that almost matched the dragon in firepower.

The main problem was that none of them, other than Wind and Time, truly accounted for how different fighting in Warriors’ era would be. They were unaccustomed to how much magic was in the land itself, and how seemingly every attack they made would release said magic. Legend had found himself easily being able to sustain the use of his magic cape and his assortment of other magic items, while assisting the others from the sidelines. 

Despite the challenges presented, they had all handled themselves well, until they had become close to taking control of the fortress and the keep boss showed up. It really had to be a horrific type of Gibdo that let out a bone chilling shriek that cause his muscle to lock in place, before poison spewed forth from its body. Not even Legend’s magic cape could defend him from the thick poison gas. Warriors and his sister managed to take the damn thing down before anyone else could be harmed by the twisted thing. Legend wasn’t entirely aware of what had happened, since he was too occupied trying to get fresh air into his lungs. 

That was until a portal opened up under their feet and took all the magic right out from under Legend’s feet. The rabbit kept him alive though, like it always did, It screamed for him to flee. Though he was struggling to get his bearings, he managed like he always did. The cacophony caused by the others becoming alert to their new surrounding, and rushing to cover those affected most by the portal, rang in his ears. 

He saw the golden armored Sky Soldiers and the vast open air that surrounded them, and immediately knew they were in the Drablands. He knew the ones on the Totem Armos would have to be dealt with first, since the Armos itself wouldn’t self-destruct till it lost its rider. Legend ran towards Time, yelling for Totem Time, and the man responded immediately, hoisting Legend onto his shoulders. Taking down the mounted solders was the easy part, avoiding the self-detonating Armos was not. At least he had managed to knock down the last soldier, before an explosion threw him off Time’s shoulders and onto a lower platform.

He vaguely heard, Time shout his name, and was relieved that the man was alright, but found that the magic exhaustion and pain in his lung kept him from getting back to his feet. He really needed to get back to the others to make sure that they all didn’t get hurt doing something stupid while they were in the Sky Realm. Then he noticed the rouge Sky Soldier approaching him, and he cursed his own rotten luck as he fumbled for his sword, which he quickly realized was likely still where Time was. 

Before he could think of a way out of the situation, with Fable helpfully providing her own helpful thoughts, a dark projectile hit the monster. Whatever it was, felled the monster instantly, and Legend found himself sagging with exhaustion and relief. He blinked for a long moment, Fable prodding his mind awake, only to open his eyes to see a familiar purple rabbit hood staring at him. 

“Rav.” He groaned out. He wasn’t surprised that his Ravio could recognize him while he was wearing the ring. He had once walked into his own home with the disguise on after getting groceries and nearly got bludgeoned by one of his own shovels because Ravio had thought he was a thief… not that Legend was above stealing.

“Mr. Hero.” Ravio responded, sounding worried, his hooded cloak folding in a way that caused the rabbit face to look concerned. Sheerow fluttered around his head in a manner that was dizzying to follow, and Legend, recalling that the others still needed help, moved to get up. Ravio let out a startled shout, “don’t you dare think of moving, mister, or I’ll charge you double.” 

Legend groaned as he slumped back to the ground, letting Sheerow work it’s weird ass magic. “I’m traveling with others, and they’re not exactly in the best situation right now. So if I’m not allowed to help them, who will?” Legend asked with a pointed look up at Ravio, the bunny hood wrinkled. Legend crossed his arms, fully expecting Ravio to pull his cowardly charade on him, but he knew it was bullshit, Ravio had gotten roped into Hytopia’s craptastic adventure with him. Fable had too, but that was mainly the fault of Hytopia’s bogus standards for a “hero.”

“And you think, I can help?” Ravio pressed and Legend stuck his tongue out at him. He fished out what little remained in his wallet and detached his item pouch to offer to Ravio. Ravio greedily went for the wallet first, though he had had his hood covering his face, Legend knew that he was disappointed by the meager remains. “I suppose I could give you a discount since you're offering me your items too.” 

“I bought those from you fair and square, I want them back.” Ravio chuckled.

“Alright, borrowing then.” Ravio corrected with a slight whistle of air escaping his front teeth. “Well, I guess I’ve got some hero work to do in your place,” Ravio started, patting him on the head. “Now, don’t you dare more, or I’ll charge you extra.” Legend let out a dramatic groan, but sank further into the ground anyway. 

Legend closed his eyes and strained his ears to listen to the sound of distant fighting. He had little doubt that Ravio would manage to help the others quite well, despite all his griping about being dragged into Hytopia’s problems, Ravio managed himself quite well. His skill with magic items outweighed Legend’s own, he was horrifically crafty, and he could easily outrun Legend without Pegasus boots. Sheerow fluttered and chirped as it flew around him, and Legend could feel the tension in his lungs gradually ease. 

The rabbit alerted him to the fact that he was being watched, and Legend’s eyes shot open out of fear that it was a monster. Instead, his met with pitch black ones, greyed skin, and straight white hair. Legend groaned in disgust as he relaxed again, Sheerow squawking at him shrilly for moving. “If you try to lick me, I’ll punch you in the throat again, consequences be damned.” 

The man’s white lips pulled upwards in a thin, devious smile, and he leaned his head on his hand from where he was sitting above Legend’s head. “You have quite the way of thanking the person who saved you, a pity my master asked me to babysit you, I could have caused quite the bloodshed.” He failed to clarify who’s blood he would be spilling, but Legend knew there was a very thin line for this guy. 

The only reason he followed Ravio was the fact that he was basically Lorule’s Master Sword, making the merchant his “master,” that Ravio had gone out of his way to ask Legend to fix him when he was quite literally split in two, and the fact that Ravio hadn’t gone through with his threat of selling him. Legend rarely regretted many things that he’s done or experiences, but fixing this guy topped the list. Especially since, much like Ravio, he’d become a freeloader in his house. Just another weird demon to keep Majora company, since Ravio refused to touch the mask with a ten-foot pole when it disappeared from its hook on the wall.

Legend didn’t have much time to think further on his presence, before he heard the sound of approaching footsteps. “Ghirahim!” Sky roared, as he swung the Master Sword to strike the Lorulian sword, which Ghirahim caught in between his fingers without much effort. Sky’s face was thunderous, and if looks could kill, Ghirahim would be shattered into tiny pieces with no hopes of being repaired. Warriors behind him were also ready to strike, likely the only thing holding him back was the Master Sword held between Ghirahim’s fingers. 

Ghirahim’s licked his lips in a way that made Legend’s skin crawl, “Sky Child.” Legend blinked, recalling what Ghirahim had first said to him after he became ‘conscious’ again: You aren’t the Sky Child. Ravio had tried to save Lorule on his own, but when he found a broken sword, he had to scramble for an alternative method. The sword had only offered a suggestion to find a hero to solve his problems, and Ravio took that advice a little too seriously, in Legend’s opinion. 

“Surely you won’t interfere with my master’s will to keep this boy safe?” Ghirahim said in a mocking tone as he pushed Sky back, before snapping a thin black sword into existence and parrying Warriors with the blade. Sky looked absolutely thrown by what he had said.

“You’re here to protect someone?” Sky asked cautiously, both he and Warriors ready to strike at him again.

“Of course.” Ghirahim answered, gesturing to Legend with his sword, which he took personal offense to and flipped him off. “Though I could easily disembowel you both, I doubt my master would be keen on it.” He added with a flick of his hair and a bow that caused the shining dark cracks that ran across half his face and chest to show more clearly.

“I would not!” Ravio shouted as he pushed his way through the group, Warriors looked shocked, doing a double take looking between Ravio and Ghirahim. “Unfortunately for me, he’s the Lorulian equivalent of the Master Sword, and he wouldn’t allow me to sell him.” Legend panicked over Ravio very clearly mentioning the Master Sword, since by all the others’ knew neither he nor Hyrule had touched the blade. Wait, but the only one who really seemed to know what was going on were Sky, Warriors, and from the look of it Wind and Time. Which meant that Warriors’ adventure was involved.

Legend let out a loud sigh, “You really got up to a lot of evil bastard shit before I fixed you, didn’t you?”

“It’s like you know me so well.” Ghirahim grinned sinisterly. 

“You fixed him!” Sky and Warriors both yelled.

“Yes, okay! Lorule is weird alright, just because it's a dark reflection of Hyrule doesn’t mean that everything that existed there was evil. I mean, look at Ravio, he’s literally my reflection and the evilest thing he does is scam people.” 

“My prices are completely fair.” Ravio tried to argue, but Legend ignored him.

“So, when he came to me with an evil looking sword that had seen better days, sure I was hesitant to fix it. But if it was important for some poor idiot who may need to save Lorule in the future, then it’s the least I could do. I’m not just going to let the fate of an entire world get fucked over because I was scared of a freaky sword, but I do regret it because he’s an asshole.” 

Wild snuck around the fortress that Sky, Warriors, and Time had created and stared down at Legend curiously. “I may not really understand what’s going on, but why are you still laying on the ground?”

Legend pointed to the bird fluttering around him, “Sheerow is healing me, and Ravio will charge me extra if I move, even though he already took what’s left of my rupees.” Ravio let out a choked noise of offense, but Legend once again ignored him in favor of petting Sheerow who has landed on his stomach.

“You’re basically already healed, so you’re free to get up now!” Ravio moved to stand next to where he was laying down.

Legend hummed, “I don’t know, the ground is surprisingly comfortable. That and you seemed to be doing well enough filling in for me, maybe I could actually get a vacation if you filled in for me.” Ravio squawked in offense.

“Oh, no you don’t,” Ravio said as he dumped Legend’s item bag directly on his stomach, “and don’t think I’ll drag you with me like the time you slipped on ice in the Ice Caverns and refused to get up afterward.” Legend let out a small oof as the bag hit his stomach, and momentarily mourned the loss of Sheerow’s presence. 

“Hey, even though you would think I’d have lost all my dignity and pride by this point, some of it still remains. It’s not my fault I didn’t have my Snowshoe Ring, so I wouldn’t slip on the ice.” Legend argued, crossing his arms, which didn’t help him look intimidating from his spot on the ground. When he had slipped on ice in the Drablands for the first time, he had lain on his face, contemplating his life choices. Usually he didn’t have to worry about his long moments of contemplation being interrupted, but he had lain there long enough for Ravio and Fable to be concerned for his wellbeing. 

“You have a ring that keeps you from slipping on ice?” Wind interjected.

“Kiddo, I’ve got a lot of rings, that one’s hardly special.”

“That’s definitely cheating.” Wind mumbled under his breath with a frustrated expression. 

“Alright, can we stop ignoring the fact that Ghirahim is here.” Warriors stated.

“How do you even know him anyway?” Legend countered.

“The War of Eras, he aided in the revival of Ganondorf,” Legend looked at Ghirahim and mutter of course he did before Warriors continued, “I also happened to have met Ravio too at the time.” 

Legend tried to fight down the panic of in the new information that Warriors knew Ravio, trying to reassure himself that Ravio was very meticulous about keeping his hood on around basically everyone in Hyrule except him and Fable. “Well, that explains why Ravio looked like he wanted to throw Ghirahim into the Dark World after he first materialized. And why you tried to sell him twice.”

“Yes, that.” Ravio sighed, “you didn’t even attempt to help me!” He complained, flailing in a way that caused Sheerow to mimic him, squawking as it frantically fluttered its wings. 

“Not my sword, not my problem.” Legend responded nonchalantly as he pushed himself to finally sit up.

“And yet you complain constantly about us living in your house, the audacity.” Ravio griped.

“That’s because he’s a freeloader, and you turned my house into your shop.” Legend countered on instinct alone and immediately felt dread as the threads of the story behind his disguise began to unravel through Ravio’s sheer presence alone. 

“You own a house?” Time questioned, and Legend had really fucked himself over, hadn’t he. How in the Goddesses name would he explain this without blowing his cover. You’re still pretending to be twins with Hyrule? Fable questioned in his mind, and he mentally shoved her away from his brain, because if she was gonna be unhelpful, she had no business judging him. It is my entire business to judge you, Link. She responded cheerfully, still being unhelpful. Just say that your house is on the border of Hyrule and Hytopia, you did need time to recover after you shipwrecked on the way back home. Her tone was full of sorrow at the reminder. 

Ralph had sailed to find him after Fable had sent him a letter saying that he had failed to return to Hyrule. He had found him, and the mermaid suit was the only reason he hadn’t drowned, but Ralph fished him out of the sea and returned him to Hyrule. Even if he couldn’t drown, the weeks out at sea had taken their toll, and then there was the guilt that consumed him after Kololint faded from existence. He had meant to retire then, which is why he took an apprenticeship with the blacksmith to fill his off time when the orchard didn’t need his full attention. Then Yuga showed up, and he couldn’t turn a blind eye to his plans, then what was supposed to be a vacation turned into an unwilling witch hunt. 

Thanks Zel, he mentally responded, I can always rely on you to be the smart one. “Yeah, technically I returned to Hyrule four, wait maybe five years ago. It's on the north most part of Hyrule, just on the border of Hytopia. I settled down there for some time after I shipwrecked when returning to Hyrule, then I had two more adventures.”

“So, you could have reunited with Hyrule at any time?” Twilight asked, looking hurt, and Legend winced. He knew how much Twilight cherished family, so he could entirely understand his response, but before he could explain himself further, Wind interjected. 

“How long were you out at sea?” Wind said with a shockingly serious face, and Legend suddenly recalled one of the nicknames he was often called. “Sailor.” Legend couldn’t say how much experience Wind truly had with sailing.

“Probably two weeks before, Ralph fished me out of the sea. I don’t really remember too much since I was struck by lightning before my ship fell apart.” That cause them all to look horrified, Ravio looked slightly resigned, having heard bits of the story before.

“How did you not drown?” Wind whispered, with a horrified look on his face.

Legend finally stood up, wanting to leave this entire conversation behind, “can’t.” It was the only answer he could manage, shaking his head and beginning to lead the way to the portals to exit the Drablands. “Let’s get out of here, before more trouble comes to find us.” Twilight brushed his shoulder and gave him a look that Legend read as an apology, which he was grateful that he didn’t voice. 

Legend began to lead the way, relishing the quiet that had overtaken the group. Ravio scrambled up beside him to walk with him, and began to ramble about how things had been left at the house. Legend was only half listening and glad that Ravio didn’t push him to respond, he only fully began listening when he started to ramble about how Gully seemed to come by every day to ask if he had come back yet. 

Gully had been oddly fixated with him from the moment he started his apprenticeship. His mother had been one of the seven maidens that he had saved during his first adventure, and when she first insisted on him coming to the forge Gully was just slightly over seven years old. He seemed to take it upon himself to make sure he would not only wake up on time, but also followed him around like a freshly hatched cucco. In many ways, Wind reminded him a lot of Gully, especially in how the boy seemed to mature after awakening as a sage. 

He was so focused on Ravio’s usual ramblings, he completely missed Hyrule catching up to them. He also missed Wind griping about Ghirahim in general, to which the sword must have threatened on turning back into a literal sword, because Ravio’s rambling completely stopped to tell the sword not to do that. Legend couldn’t really blame him either, whoever the sword was made for obviously wasn’t Hylian, since the blade was easily as tall as a Hylian. 

“If he does turn back to a sword, just let Wild haul him around. It’ll be his own fault if Wild manages to break him.” Legend casually added, much to the sword’s offense, though from the look on Wild’s face he was highly intrigued with the offer. Ghirahim seemed to take note of Wild, and stepped away from him with a disgusted look, causing Hyrule to laugh, startling Legend slightly. 

Legend brushed off his own jumpiness, caused by him getting comfortable with Ravio being around. “Right, Wind, it looks like I’ll be getting you that coat I promised you sooner rather than later.” Wind looked confused for a moment, but that began to practically shake in place with excitement. “Unfortunately, we’re in Hytopia, where the worst crime you can commit is being unfashionable.”

“Well, you seem to be enthusiastic about being here.” Sky commented in a cheerful tone, the man really had a strange way of being sarcastic. 

“If I had it my way, I’d pretend that my entire adventure here was a fever dream. But, Ravio and Fable ended up, wrapped up in Hytopia’s troubles because their very standards for what a hero looks like.” Legend took a long look at their group, and sighed with dread at the realization that Time and Four were basically the only ones that would escape the hero treatment because of their hairstyles.

“What kind of ‘look’ does a hero have here?” Hyrule asked nervously, and Legend suddenly was back when they first met, and Hyrule doubted himself on his heroism.

“Pointed ears, thick sideburns, and side-parted hair.” Legend monotonously answered, using his fingers to list what he said. Legend watched them all take a look at each other before they all seemed to consecutively realized the two outliers in their group, Warriors specifically, seemed to go through the five stages of grief in a few moments. “Theoretically, we should be fine, unless Styla got cursed again. Speaking of, Ravio why the hell are you even in the Drablands.”

Ravio squawked when Legend turned on him, but Legend knew it was more from surprise than anything. “Princess Styla is fine, I did travel here for business. But I realized we were running low on aurora stones, especially since I used some to make a gift for Pr- Hilda…” Ravio cut off the last portion of the sentence, which Legend likely knew involved her coronation as Queen, but he was still likely weary of giving away too much about being from Lorule.

Legend had scoured the Drablands many times, mostly because he never wanted to step in the damned place ever again, but he also pilfered several of the items that belonged in the Drablands. Which Ravio and Fable entirely knew about, but gave up trying to stop him after he actually managed to return to town with a pair of fire mitts, Hytopian magically teleportation be damned. The fact that Ravio was out here with the aurora stones, did give him a funny idea that involved the Captain though.  Who said Wind was the only one who needed an outfit. 

He just needed to get Ravio in on the idea, “Well, I did promise Wind a Linebeck’s Outfit, but since we’re here the others can look through Madam Couture’s catalogue too. Granted, they’ll have to pay for the outfits and materials themselves, especially since I’m fresh out of rupees.” Even with Ravio’s hood up, he knew the man’s eyes were glittering at the potential of making a profit, hell the hood’s ears even seemed to rise off his shoulders. Legend had to hide his grin behind his hand as Ravio went into customer service mode.

“Well, as it turns out, Link gathered quite a number of the materials required for crafting the outfits in Hytopia before leaving the country, so I could give you a reasonable price for whatever you may need.” Ravio said cheerfully, and Warriors who caught on to the merchant's intentions instantly shot him a look. Legend shrugged him off, before leaning against Ravio and asking for at least 20% of the profit, since he was the one who gathered the materials in the first place. 

Ravio waved him off, which Legend took as an agreement. He could argue for more, but he wanted to at least make sure he wasn’t flat out broke before they were dropped in another era. Even when Ravio sold off the apples and honey that came from his orchard, he only asked for 50% of the profit, which was more than enough for him. It did help that most errant monsters he took out dropped a few rupees every now and then. The most he spent was often on taxes and Granny Syrup’s potions. 

The trip to the portals at the end of the section of the Drablands was uneventful, with the aid of Ghirahim taking out many of the monsters on the way. The sword made things that required totem time mostly optional, creating clear platforms for himself to get to the height needed to activate switches. 

Legend noticed Time approach, despite his unnatural ability to stay quiet. “So, I’m assuming that this is where your Totem Time often came in handy?”

“You don’t even know the half of it, old man.” Legend started. “Totem Time does require three people more often than not.” Ravio finished for him, causing the others to look more curious about his adventures. 

When they reached the portals, Legend explained that they would have to return three at a time. It was best if he, Ravio, and Ghirahim went first so that they could tell the old man in the lobby that there were more people coming through the portal. The problem would be trying to get the last two people back, which Wild mentioned that he had a travel medallion that worked with his slate he could use. After a quick test, Legend did not want to take chances, it was decided that Wild would have to teleport twice. 

The three of them stepped into place on the triangles that made up the Triforce on the ground, Legend raised his sword to the air. In a blink he was in the marbled halls of Hytopia castle, he quickly explained the situation to the old man, before bumping the wall of the room. A purple ball fell from the ceiling and Legend began to balance it in the air with is sword while waiting, the ball started to play the familiar tune of Zelda’s Lullaby as he continued to bounce it in the air. 

Hyrule, Wild, and Warriors were the next to enter the hall. Wild swiftly disappeared in a string of blue lights, though. He heard Hyrule and Warriors ask what he was doing, and Ravio explained it as a Hytopian game to pass the time. Legend had actually first found the ball by accident, and only discovered the tunes it played when it was hit repetitively by accident. Keeping the ball up in the air got harder the longer you kept it up in the air, and the tune also played faster at the same time. Hyrule decided to join him, while Warriors kept a watchful eye on the portals.

Wind, Time, and Four were next. Likely to give Four time to recover from any effects of the teleportation before they had to go to town, Legend had an idea of why teleporting was so bad for him. He shoved the thought from his mind as the song sped up and Wind joined in on their game. Four didn’t seem too affected by the teleportation, at least from what he could see, briefly when Wind or Hyrule caught the ball with their swords. Time joined Warriors in watching the portal, Ravio was sorting through his large rupee embroidered bag.

Twilight, Sky, and Wild showed up right as the ball slipped past Wind’s swing, it popped open on the ground and exploded. A burst of glitter puffed in the air, showing that they had hit it 78 times, before rupees burst forth from where the ball popped. Wind cheered at his small prize, and bit Wild hand when he had attempted to reach past the boy to see what had happened. Legend only collected 20 rupees for himself, letting the other two split what remained. 

“What exactly was that?” Warriors asked, looking at a loss to what he had witnessed. 

Legend shrugged, and he could see Ravio shaking his head, “no idea, but it’s good for killing time.” It wasn’t uncommon for him to sit in this lobby while waiting for Fable or Ravio to finish doing something, while preparing to enter the Drablands. It's not that they took long, it was just that due to his prior familiarity, he didn’t need as much time to prepare himself for what could come. 

“Anyway, we should probably head into town before King Tuft or Styla, notice we’re here.” He said as he walked to the entrance to the lobby. Twilight hooked him around the neck with an arm, and Legend silently cursed the man’s strength. 

“Hold up there, pal. It’s almost like you’re avoiding something.” Twilight tone was teasing, but Legend really just wanted today to be over as soon as possible.

“I am. The king and Styla can be rather,” Legend thought for a moment to find the right word, “chatty. I don’t really have the energy to deal with that right now, so I’d rather leave that for tomorrow’s me to deal with.”

“You say that as if Madam Couture isn’t chatty too.” Ravio inputted unhelpfully, and Legend glared at him for his betrayal.

“They’ll be the ones dealing with her, not me. I’m frankly very close to pulling a page out of Sky’s book and taking a nap. Also, Warriors, fuck your era entirely.” That caused them all to chuckle, the mood finally lightening slightly.

“Alright, it has been a rough day, so perhaps we should focus on resting a bit before we look for more trouble.” Time interjected, on his side, which Legend was grateful for. Sheerow had healed his injures, but unlike a fairy or potion, Sheerow didn’t help with the exhaustion. Which now that Legend thought about it, he was likely still drained of magic. Hyrule also seemed dead on his feet too. 

Legend exited the lobby with the others following closely behind, Legend was so close to booking it to the front doors of the castle, when he heard a familiar voice call him. Legend sighed, and frankly he was considering becoming one with the floor, but Styla’s pale purple skirt filled his vision before he could consider that option further.

“Link! You’re here, too? Ravio said he was the only one who came.” Legend muttered about a sudden change in plans, and Styla grabbed his shoulders and kissed both his cheeks, which he heard a few chuckles and coos at. Legend was about to greet her, but she shoved a dress in front of him. “What do you think?”

Legend was at a loss for words at what was happening, so he gladly took the opportunity to admire the dress. It was soft pink, with a pale blue underskirt and lining, and was decorated by golden embroidery. “It’s lovely, but it really doesn’t seem like your style?” Legend questioned. Styla like large poofy statement gowns, something very common in Hytopia, but this seemed something that Fable would be more likely to wear.

“Good! It’s for Zelda, anyway.” Legend closed his eyes, pretending to contemplate the idea, but mostly to prevent his nosy sister from seeing the image of the dress in his head. 

“Well then, I think she’ll enjoy the surprise.” Legend offered, Ravio sighed and handed him 100 rupees. The two of them had been quietly betting on Fable and Styla’s relationship ever since they had first met the princess. Though the circumstances Styla faced were far less than anything that Fable had, she had still found a kindred spirit in the foreign princess. 

Styla exclaimed her thanks and kissed his cheeks again, before grabbing Ravio and lifting his hood slightly to do the same. Then she was gone as quickly as she arrived, and Legend deflated slightly in relief. Ravio chuckled slightly at his response, while lowering his hood back down. 

“So the princess, huh?” Twilight teased.

“That’s literally just a Hytopian greeting, buddy, so you better watch yourself.” Ravio nodded from beside him. “Let’s just go see Madame Couture and get the day over with.” Legend sighed as he began walking to the exit of the castle.

“How did you manage to get Ravio to pay you?” Time asked, and Legend was surprised by the question for a moment. Then he recalled that Warriors mentioned knowing Ravio, which meant that Time and Wind had met his Lorulian doppelgänger too. He also recalled Warriors’ sisters mentioning that Mask had a particular soft spot for rabbits, and was particularly attached to a man that wore a rabbit hood. In hindsight, he should've known that was Ravio they were talking about, but he hadn’t wanted to consider that at the time. 

“We made a bet, that’s all.” Legend responded, if Time knew Ravio he likely wouldn’t need much explanation for that. Time hummed and had a grin on his face that Legend only really saw on his face when Malon was involved. Legend squinted at the man, suspecting teasing on his mind too, and Legend decided to kill that before it became a problem. “So, you called Ravio, Rabbit, huh?” Time’s white eye opened slightly as he looked at him shocked, and Legend rolled his eyes. “I’m sure Ravio will be thrilled to see you again.”

Time chuckled nervously, and Legend didn’t give him much more consideration as he stepped into the practically blinding light that made up Hytopia’s town square. Not that other countries were bleak in comparison, it was just that Hytopia almost seemed artificially bright. The streets being almost polished to shine in the sunlight did not help either. It seemed that the others were shocked about how bright Hytopia was too. Legend wasn’t going to stop them from exploring, but he was more ready for a nap. At least when they got to Madam Couture’s boutique, he could have some fun with dressing up his fellow heroes.

Legend walked through the streets without much thought on where he was going, he pointedly ignored the man by the fountain whose clothes had no backing whatsoever. He did hear Wind point the man out, and try to hide his laughter with Wild. Ravio and Hyrule hovered beside him as he walked through town, and Legend finally acknowledged his “twin.” “You low on magic too?”

Hyrule nodded and failed to fight a yawn, “Yeah, the switch in eras almost felt like getting hit on the head with--”

“A flying tile?” Legend finished when Hyrule’s sentence was interrupted by another yawn.

Hyrule chuckled, “that is oddly specific, but I think so.”

“I despise flying tiles.” Legend responded, causing Ravio to snort. His roommate had heard plenty of his complaints about various monsters and traps. They reached the boutique, and Legend reminded them all that they could basically get anything they wanted, as long as they paid for it themselves.

Legend held the door open as he opened the shop and greeted Madam Couture, she in turn showed interest in the people he brought to the shop. He was shocked for a moment that she recognized him, but then again she’d seen him with green hair and she was a witch. That was the reason all her clothes were enchanted. Legend asked for a Linebeck’s outfit tailored specifically for Wind, but leaned over the counter and asked quietly about getting a larger version of the coat for when the kid grew up. It was hard to tell Madam Couture’s expression behind her dark glasses, but she easily agreed.

Rupees exchanged hands, and soon enough, Wind was stepping out of the changing room in his friend’s outfit. He had to remember to ask Wind about him later. Wild was the next to get an outfit, and Legend chuckled when the scarred hero cheerleader outfit, he also took note of Wild picking up Kokiri clothes as well. Legend then once again made a request of Couture, gesturing to Warriors in the process. After getting conformation, and pilfering items from Ravio, he began to shove Warriors to the dressing room.

“You owe me a favor on behalf of your sister, come on, Captain.” Warriors conceded after that, and Ravio approached him in a with a huff.

“What did you even force him into?” Time and Wind also leaned in to hear what he had planned.

“The Showstopper, of course.” Legend admitted with an evil smirk, and Ravio wheezed at the thought. “By the way, Wind, Wild, you may want to get your pictoboxes out.” Both heroes were confused, but complied. Just on time for Warriors to step out of the changing room. 

Time choked and Wind started laughing so hard that he couldn’t take a picture properly, but Wild picked up his slack. Warriors was in the glittering gold monstrosity of a suit, Couture gave him full pants rather than Legend’s preferred shorts. The gold feathered tailpiece feathered out behind him. True to the outfit’s name, the Captain was eye catching. He pulled off the outfit well, but it was the fact that it was hard to take your eyes off of him that was funny. 

Warriors looked him dead in the eyes, “I hate you.”

“No you don’t, I even asked for her to make you a Sword Master Suit, but you got to fork over your rupees.” Warriors squinted at him, but gave over his rupees and stepped back into the changing room. This time he stepped out in brilliant gold armor, with a wing crested hat on his head. The cape of the suit clashed horribly with his scarf, but the outfit made him look very much like a fairytale knight. 

“I’ll tolerate this.” Warriors said, and seemed to agree further when Legend explained its abilities.

When Legend turned to Hyrule to recommend him a Zora suit, to help with his swimming, Time stepped into the dressing room. He wondered what outfit possibly caught the old man’s eye, and nearly choked on his own spit when the Fierce Deity stepped out of the changing room. Warriors and Wind seemed equally as shocked, but then Legend realized it was still Time, he was just wearing the Fierce Deity armor. Something Legend completely forgot about, but was easy to determine by the fact that Time’s scarred eye was still closed, and his hair was still blonde. 

Hyrule nudged his arm and gestured to Time in confusion, “I’m gonna be honest with you, I completely forgot about that outfit.”

“I didn’t.” Ravio chimed in, “I recommended it to him, since I remember the Deity being friendly, but his power isn’t something that he should heavily rely on… not as much as the war at least.” Legend was glad for Ravio’s thoughtfulness. Although Time hadn’t used the mask for combat while traveling with them, he couldn’t help but wonder about the markings that remained on Time’s face. 

Hyrule did end up getting a Zora suit and a Tri suit. Four surprisingly stepped into the changing room and came out in the Cozy Parka, which was a smart choice, good for cold weather and ice. He also noted the smith getting a Lucky Loungewear. Legend also recommended the Cheetah outfit Sky, to help with running, but the hero took one look at the outfit in the catalogue and blushed bright red. 

“Hey, Leg, why aren’t you getting anything?” Wind asked, fiddling with the fake mustache on his face.

“I already have all the outfits here, and don’t call me Leg.” Wind only stuck his tongue out at him in response, so Legend ruffled his hair in retaliation. 

Legend sat back and watched as Wild pushed Twilight into the changing room, and laughed when he stepped out in the Swashbuckler’s outfit. The worst part of the outfit on Twilight was the curled fake mustache. Another unexpected pick was Sky in the Cacto Clothes, which caused them all tho laugh at how the chosen hero looked. Hyrule began to doze on his shoulder despite the chaos of the others looking at all the outfits available. Legend himself was beginning to struggle to stay awake himself. 

It was Ravio who nudged him awake after the others were done shopping, Twilight had lifted Hyrule onto his back. Legend sleepily followed Ravio to the inn in town, and noted that some of their group had left them, likely to gather supplies. Ghirahim was also gone, but Legend didn’t care what he was up to. Legend bade the others goodnight when they reached the inn, but Ravio led him to the room he had rented earlier in the day. 

Ravio forced him to sit down on the bed and carefully removed the finger. Legend sighed in relief as the transformation spell wore off, and Ravio pulled off his hood to look more closely at the ring. “You shouldn’t be wearing this as long as you have been, it’s not natural.”

“Rav, it can’t be that bad.”

“If this were your moblin, octorock, or like like ring, you wouldn’t be arguing with me.” Ravio said pointedly. “The fact of the matter if that even if there isn’t much difference between the two of you, transformation spells can have consequences. You should know that well enough, with your mermaid tail.” 

Legend stewed with the fact that he couldn’t argue with that information, but something in his instincts wanted him to argue. He couldn’t place why exactly, but he had a hunch about all this. Perhaps it had something to do with Ganon, that the hunch he had after defeating Knox in Holodrum. There had to be something more behind all this, and hiding the true power of the Hero of Legend felt like a linchpin he needed to keep. The problem would be explaining that to Ravio.

Unexpectedly, Ravio kneeled down in front of him, taking both hands in his own. “I say this out of my own selfishness, but I know that Zelda likely thinks the same: how much, Link? How much will be enough, Link? How much more do you have to sacrifice yourself for the sake of everyone else? “ Legend didn’t have an answer for that, but he couldn’t help thinking of the island in the middle of the sea. The one that no longer existed because of him, and he couldn’t let something like that happen again. 

Ravio seemed to realized what he was thinking too, “Link, you can’t keep blaming yourself for what happened to Koholint. You were only doing what you thought was right, and I know the people, that Marin, wouldn’t hold a grudge for that.” Ravio was only met with a familiar silence from the hero. 

Legend had rarely spoken to him when he was busy saving Lorule, and later he had found out that Legend had been mute for quite some time after his prior adventure. A muteness that he had gradually worked himself out of after his first adventure, only to be faced with the harsh truths of his fourth adventure, leaving him silent once more. He became much more talkative after Hytopia, mainly due to the need to communicate. Ravio hugged Link, which the hero practically squeezed the air out of his lungs in response. 

 “Get some rest, Link. I’ll do some touch ups on your items, no charge for now.” Legend snorted in response, but laid down and was asleep the moment his head hit the pillow. Ravio sighed fondly, and managed to get some blankets free to tuck Legend in, after removing his boots. He carefully removed Legend’s other rings, bracelets, and medallions from his person as well, he wanted to make sure they were all working like they should. 

Little did Ravio know that the hero that his hero was pretending to be family of had been eavesdropping the entire time. Hyrule had gone to ask Legend about Hytopia and Lorule, mostly because he wanted to be able to help cover up the holes in their stories easily. Rather than being left on the sidelines while Legend floundered with excuses. Ravio had mentioned another place, but Hyrule had never heard of Koholint in the tale of the Hero of Legend’s adventures. Judging by Legend’s silence, whatever had happened there hadn’t been good.

Perhaps Legend had failed to save that place in some way. Hyrule couldn’t imagine what he would do in that situation. He may have only saved Hyrule and awakened Aurora on a horrible mix of curiosity and horrific stubbornness, but he had only managed to succeed because he refused to give up. Even when facing himself. Legend seemed far too capable to fail, so perhaps Koholint had left him faced with a situation where he could only save the country at a horrible cost. 

Hyrule shook his head, he really shouldn’t jump to any conclusions on this. He could always ask Aurora and Dawn if they had more records of Legend’s adventure. Perhaps he could find out more from Legend in the future. One thing was for certain, Hyrule would rather fight his shadow again rather than watch Legend tear himself apart for his sake. Hyrule turned to return to his room and froze in place when he saw soulless black eyes peering down at him.

There was one thing Hyrule could say for certain, about Ghirahim, it was that the sword… person (??) made his skin crawl. Perhaps it was the fae part of him that wanted to flee the dark magic he was made of. Ravio also seemed to contain dark magic, but that didn’t alarm him as much a Ghirahim.

Ghirahim stepped forward, locking him in place with a hand on his shoulder and whispering into his ear. “You should truly be careful where you wander, I may not be savage like those brainless fodder that follow Ganon. I, however, can smell the blood curse he laid on you.” Hyrule shuddered at the sword’s warning and watched him carefully as he laughed mirthlessly. “My master’s light reflection is doing you a great service by throwing their scent off, but how long will that last?” Ghirahim’s white lips split open his a terrifying smile, before he liked his lips and let Hyrule go. 

Hyrule stayed frozen in place while he watched the sword enter Ravio’s room, after a moment he fled to his own room. His mind raced at the thought that this entire adventure could have been the result of his curse, or perhaps it was the fact that the infection made the monsters more powerful that put him more at risk. He wasn’t entirely sure if he could be grateful at Ghirahim’s warning, especially when it sounded like a threat more than anything. Hyrule sighed, collapsing into bed, at least his exhaustion from today’s everything would prevent him from being kept awake by his thoughts.

Chapter Text

Hyrule’s guard was up after his encounter with Ghirahim, but thankfully the sword seemed to avoid their group for the most part. Actually, Hyrule was fairly certain he was just avoiding Sky. The next morning, he was sitting down with Ravio and Legend, mostly telling Ravio about his own adventures. He briefly mentioned that he had grown up hearing stories about Legend’s adventure, and how he was grateful to travel alongside his hero. 

Unexpectedly, Time had come to sit beside, causing them to wonder why he was coming to sit with them. Though, Legend didn’t seem too shocked, as he counted the rupees that Ravio offered him as his cut of the profit he had made the day before. “It’s good to see you again, Rabbit.” The older man chuckled, Hyrule watched as Legend’s brows pitched at the nickname. Then Hyrule recalled Legend as a bright pink bunny, which suddenly made Ravio’s purple bunny hood much funnier.

Ravio took a long look at Time, and it was hard to tell what he was thinking under his hood. Eventually, Ravio gestured for Time to come closer. When he did, with a confused expression on his face, Ravio grabbed his head with both hands and began to furiously ruffle his hair. “You little menace, Kit, and here I was worried that I’d never see you again.” Legend seemed to choke at the nickname Kit, but Time laughed as Ravio continued to mess up his hair. 

When Ravio did stop, he leaned to look past Time and yelled, “Mr. Captain Hero, is this one still a menace?” Legend looked vaguely like he wanted a hole in the earth to open up and swallow him whole, while Hyrule could hear Wind start cackling. 

“He never stopped being one!” Warriors yelled back, causing Hyrule and Legend to laugh with surprise. Hyrule had witnessed what a menace Time could be, after all what kind of person beats a monster with just a stick. He wondered if Time was the one who gave Wild the idea, but Wild seemed to think of most things as a weapon, even the ladle Sky made for him. That was mostly used to fend off wandering hands while he made dinner, though. 

Hyrule hummed in contemplation, “I wonder if part of being a hero requires being a menace to society?” He directed his gaze to Sky, who as far as he was aware was the first of them, who looked sheepish and pointedly avoided meeting his gaze. He didn’t make eye contact with Sky for long, though, since Warriors snuck by to ruffle his hair. 

“What make you assume that we’ve all done something to be labeled as a menace to society?” Oh, the Captain was a hard one to pin down since he constantly made himself seem like a picture-perfect knight, but Hyrule had a hunch that he could be as troublesome as the rest of them. He wanted to bring the man down a peg, and it seems that Legend had the same idea.

“Pots,” Was all that he had said, and Time nodded, reaching over the table to shake Legend’s hand. Warriors choked and opened his mouth to say something, only to close it and pinch the bridge of his nose between his fingers. Hyrule cackled at the fact that he didn’t even bother to defend himself. 

--

Sky was uncertain what to think of Ravio after he had been on amicable terms with Ghirahim. It was hard to wrestle around the thought in his mind that the demon who had threatened to torture him had turned over a new leaf. Though he did have to admit that he looked much less intimidating without his usual white clothes and blood-red cowl. Instead, he now seemed to wear softer and brighter colors, his cowl being light purple and fading to pale blue, while the underside of the cowl transitioned from yellow to deep red. Overall, his appearance hadn’t changed too much, aside from the cracks that hinted at his true metallic form.

Sky was relieved that Ghirahim hadn’t shown his face all morning, however, that relief was cut short when he appeared while Ravio was speaking with Time. Ghirahim made a beeline for the rabbit cloaked man and dropped a bag that seemed full of stone in front of him.

“So that’s where you’ve been, you didn’t have to get so many aurora stones by yourself.” Ghirahim gave him a look that was hard for Sky to completely tell what he was thinking but seemed to read as ‘it’s not like you wouldn’t force me to do most of the work anyway’ for Ravio. The merchant seemed to ignore the look completely. “Since you’re here, you should socialize more.”

Sky almost choked at how chipper Ravio sounded, Warriors and Time shot Ravio a concerned look when Ghirahim outright grimaced at him. The demon pointed at Legend, “you expect me to put up with other heroes, when that one punched me in the throat when we first met.” Well, Sky hadn’t been expecting that, and Legend gave the demon a disinterested look.

“That’s what you get for trying to lick my face, you fucking weirdo. Honestly, what did you expect would happen?” Legend snidely responded, and Sky couldn’t help but feel avenged in a way for how frozen in fear he had been when he had first met Ghirahim. “Honestly, you’re just as bad as Majora.” Time seemed shocked by the name Legend mentioned, and Sky was suddenly curious on how Legend knew someone who could match Ghirahim. “And he’s just a mask stuck on my wall who regularly threatens to possess me and force me to wear pants.”

What in Hylia’s name? It was almost as if everything they were beginning to learn about Legend while in Hytopia was just supposed to be as downright confusing as possible. “Aren’t you wearing pants right now?” Wind questioned from where he had apparently snuck up on the group, his confused expression at Legend lasted for a moment before he was giving Ghirahim the stink eye. 

“Why would you even keep that mask?” Time questioned in turn, his shock had caused his bad eye to open slightly.

Legend shrugged his shoulders, “I’ve collected a lot of cursed things, and frankly I’d rather have Majora on my wall as decoration rather than possessing some idiot and causing chaos. As for the pants, due to unfortunate circumstances, I am forced to wear pants against my will.” Legend glared at Hyrule in particular when at the end of what he said, while Time seemed to be struggling to accept what Legend had said about the cursed mask.

“You lost a bet, didn’t you? But, what’s your big problem with pants?” Wind questioned, but Legend didn’t confirm or deny the first question. Hyrule seemed oblivious to Legend’s previous glare and spoke up before Legend could answer Wind’s second questions.

“Honestly, when I first started adventuring, I didn’t wear pants myself. My tunic was slightly too big at that time anyway, but Dawn insisted it would be more appropriate for me to get some when I got older.” That certainly made for quite the mind-boggling statement, why would Hyrule have a tunic that didn’t fit him as a child, but Legend seemed to be nodding in agreement.

“Good old dungeon magically enhanced tunics, great for saving your hide, but never quite fitting properly.” Sky was getting genuinely concerned for these two, and he realized that as this conversation started, Ghirahim had managed to slink away. 

“You two never bothered to buy clothes that fit you?” Warriors questioned, Twilight sharing a look of brotherly concern with him.

“Clothes are expensive, and my wallet only hold 255 rupees, so I usually only save for the things I absolutely need.” Hyrule answered first, which raised concerns. 

“I didn’t need to buy clothes until Hytopia. I usually found defensively enhanced tunics in dungeons, and frankly even if they didn’t fit well, they were far more useful than anything I could buy outside of Hytopia. As for the pants thing, most of the tunics I found were too big, so wearing pants underneath them was too bulky and restricting.” Legend’s answer was highly practical, which was to be expected for someone who had a number of adventures under his belt, but still very concerning. 

It suddenly became very obvious to Sky and likely to Twilight and Warriors as well that in all likelihood what were common things for all of them were likely luxuries for the twins. Sky couldn’t help but recall how desolate their era of Hyrule seemed, it was easy to forget with how different Hytopia and Labrynna were. The fact that Hyrule’s wallet held so little seemed to exemplify that. 

“What about Ravio, surely you don’t have something against pant?” Sky asked, hoping to potentially bring a brighter note to the conversation. Sky found it slightly unnerving, being unable to tell what Ravio was thinking due to the hood that he seemed unwilling to remove from his face. 

Ravio’s head tilted, causing one of the ears of his head to fall over his shoulder, “I’m wearing a robe aren’t I?” Which was such a non answer, but Legend seemed to find it hilarious.

Legend leaned back in his chair, clutching his chest dramatically. “Truly a man after my heart, surely you help me burn these pants when I get home.” Ravio wheezed, and reached to pat Legend’s hands in a theatrics manner.

“Sure thing Mr. Hero, I’ll make sure to send out invites to Zelda, Ralph, Princess Styla, and Hilda too. I’m sure it’ll be an event they won’t want to miss.” Sky was floored, it was hard to believe that Ravio so easily matched Legend’s theatrics. He glanced at Warriors to see that the man looked somewhere between amused and horrified at the two of them. 

Time seemed thoroughly entertained by this conversation and decided to chime in, “I’ve worn coveralls for years, even now. When I was younger, though, well let’s just say the Kokiri didn’t really believe in pants.” Warriors groaned loudly.

“You’re joking, you’re wearing pajamas under all that armor?” Legend leaned in to question the man, and Time chuckled as he confirmed his question. Legend cheered, before turning to Hyrule with a faux serious expression, “sorry, ‘Rulie, I’m disowning you. Time is my new brother now.” Hyrule look offended for a moment, before he broke into laughter alongside Ravio, Time joining them shortly after.

“Surely you wouldn’t want an old man like me over your own twin.” Time eventually argued.

Legend hummed thoughtfully for a moment, “I guess I’ll keep ‘Rulie. Though, you do remind me a lot of Sir Raven, though he does look a lot like you.”

Warriors looked extremely curious at that, “wasn’t Sir Raven a man you said lived before your time?”

“Around 400 years ago, yeah. He was originally from Hyrule and eventually planned to return. Probably a coincidence that he looks like a younger Time, though.” Yep, everything about Legend was just confusing, the boy seemed to think on that for a moment longer before forcefully shoving the though from his brain. “Anyway, we should probably find Styla to ask about local problems, before Styla finds us.”

Before any could comment on the Princess, who Sky didn’t think was a bad person, Ravio shot out of his seat, “you do not want her to come looking for us.” He scampered off in the direction of the castle, and Legend sighed before following.

“What’s so bad about the Princess finding us?” Sky asked as he moved to catch up with the twins. Legend cast him a glance, which would likely look more like a glare to anyone else, but Sky knew that Legend just tended to look pricklier than he actually was. It was almost as if he were theoretically wearing the cacto clothes at all times to keep people away. 

“Nothing bad, Styla is just spoiled. Not spoiled rotten, just spoiled.” That was certainly an odd start for Legend to describe the Princess, and he seemed to be thinking of the best way to characterize the Princess. “If she were to find us, we’d be spending hours testing outfits for her. She’s not used to getting no for an answer, but she knows not to push buttons. When we were first in Hytopia, Ravio and Fable made that mistake. I’m used to getting ready for the day and going, but those two were not. Needless to say, Styla wasn’t too away of Lorule’s customs and nearly took Ravio’s hood right off his head.”

“Is that bad?” Sky asked. Time, Wind, and Warriors all made quick mentions of Ravio never showing his face during the war, and actively hiding in his hood when pressed about it. 

“It’s not. Part of it is a mild belief in Lorule that wearing the mask of animals or monsters would bring salvation to Lorule. Ravio has absolutely no problem taking off the hood when he wants, but some people, especially from Hyrule would likely cause problems on seeing his face.” Warriors seemed offended by the idea, and Sky could tell he was likely about to sing Ravio’s praises, but Legend gave Warriors a look that stopped him in his tracks. 

Sky was startled to see Legend's eyes, seemingly so charged with magic that they appeared violet. “Lorule is a dark reflection of Hyrule, almost an exact mirror, right down to the people. People who, just like in Hyrule, go about their lives, trying to survive.” Sky processed what Legend had said for a moment, then the dots stuck in his mind. Legend calling Ghirahim the Lorulian Master Sword made it far more clear that Ravio was the reflection of the hero, of Legend most likely. Did that mean that Hyrule also had a Lorulian reelection, that Ravio had a twin too?

When Warriors and Time seemed to connect the dots too, both of them becoming tense with the realization. That’s when Sky realized that Ravio would likely have an appearance that would make him easy to mistake for a Dark, something both the older heroes had warned about. Sky petted them both on the shoulders, they both new Ravio, and from what Legend had said, at the end of the day the people of Lorule were probably just like Hylians. 

They all seemed to mull in their thoughts as they made their way to the castle. When they entered the castle, they found Ravio talking to a tall mustachioed man with his hair split in two, that Sky assumed was the captain of the guard. “Sir Combsly,” Legend greeted the man, and the man joyously greeted Legend back. Sir Combsly then produced a piece of artwork that unfolded to show the man lifting the King and Legend on his shoulder, in what Sky assumed was a totem. In the background of the image was Princess Styla looking gleeful, Fable covering her mouth in assumed laughter, and Ravio looking worried. Legend, in the image, actually looked a mix of surprised and gleeful, though his hair was notably bright green. 

Legend looked at the image with embarrassment, “You shouldn’t have, Sir…” then in a quieter tone he added on, “I don’t even have the wall space for this.” It was a little heartwarming to think that Legend’s first thought of the image was to hang it in his house, despite his embarrassment. 

Ravio leaned into Legend’s space to whisper, “you would if you took down that one sword, and all of your instruments.” Legend practically hissed at the man for the idea, but nonetheless allowed Ravio to take the image from him. “I’ll find a good place for it, I’m sure Fable will look forward to seeing it too.” Sky thought it was funny that Legend seemed to regularly dye his hair, so far they knew he had red, green, likely blue, black, possibly blonde, and pink hair. Sky had always secretly thought that Groose’s hair color was neat, but Sky wilted at the thought of changing his own hair. 

The only ones in their group that Sky figured could pull off a change in hair color would be Wild or Warriors. The former because he was fond of occasionally wearing the oddest outfits Sky had ever seen, the latter because Warriors just had that kind of face and confidence. Perhaps Four could pull it off too, the smith always had his own way of surprising them. Sky wondered if Legend was so comfortable dying his hair because in a way it made him look different from his twin. 

They soon found out from Sir Combsly that there hadn’t been many reports of monsters changes in the Drablands, which led them with the highest probability option of returning to the location they had initially shown up at. Legend also suggested the Den of Trial’s since he had fought shadows of himself there before. Eventually, though, Legend got a look on his face, something he had thought of caused him to grimace horribly. “We could potentially, very hypothetically find Lady Maud and ask her, since she lives in the Drablands.”

That struck Sky as odd, for someone to be living in the Drablands and even Ravio seemed startled by the thought. “Link, I don’t think she’d be thrilled if we invaded her fortress. She doesn’t exactly have the same standards as Hytopia and she wasn’t thrilled with us for breaking the curse on Styla.”

“Yeah, but I’d rather not go head-hunting through the Drablands and if anything we can have Ghirahim talk to her. I’m sure they’ll get along as morally questionable former villains. I’m sure they’ll have a nice tea party together and all that.” Legend’s voice dripped with sarcasm as he spoke the final words, but without any leads, it certainly seemed like the best option they had. Sky, however, was not looking forward to working with the demon, it seemed that Time, Warriors, and Wind had the same thought process.

Legend took a look at them and sighed at their trepidation. “Ravio, Ghirahim, and I can go see if we can find Lady Maud. Rav and I know our way around the Drablands and frankly the less people come, the more likely we won’t have any problems with Lady Maud.” Legend offered to their group, and the idea was met with its own concerns, but Legend did have a point. Due to their unfamiliarity, having all of them go would likely slow down any progress Legend would make normally. 

“What if you find the black blooded monsters in the area you go to?” Time inquired, which was a good point. How would they know if they needed back up?

Ravio spoke up, “I can send Sheerow to come get you, and she can even carry Ghirahim back if needed.” Legend muttered under his breath about how Sheerow was capable of carrying any number of items and even Legend himself, but Ravio couldn’t handle his own sword properly. That was a reassuring, but mildly horrifying train of thought. How many times had Legend been dragged out of a dungeon to safety by Ravio’s bird?

They entered the lobby that they first came to when leaving the Drablands, Ravio sent Sheerow off to collect Ghirahim. Sky wasn’t sure what to expect when Sheerow returned, but it was not Ghirahim being carried by the tiny bird by his waistband. If Sky’s opinion of Ghirahim hadn’t already diminished, it was thoroughly dashed when the little bird dropped the demon on the palace floor without any consideration. Both he and Warriors choked out a short laugh when the human looking sword face-planted on the floor. Legend looked unsurprised, which caused Sky to suspect that he had experienced that particular treatment before. 

After explaining the situation to Ghirahim, the group of three stepped on the Triforce tiled to be teleported to the Drablands. Sky watched as Four began to investigate the various books in the room, Warriors joining him out of curiosity. Sky decided to join Hyrule and Wind just in time to hear what the sailor was saying. “Legend got me the coat like he promised, but I still haven’t had the time to talk to him.”

“I’m sure you’ll get the opportunity, it’s not like this adventure is ending any time soon, right?” Hyrule answered reassuringly, and Sky chuckled fondly. Hyrule and Wind seemed to be quite different from the rest of their group, in a way they seemed to have chosen the path that led to becoming the heroes in their eras rather than being chosen by any other force. Sky could easily tell that both Legend and Hyrule had a fondness for kids, simply by how much they both seemed to humor the youngest member of their group. 

Sky joined them in waiting for Legend to return, “Well, on the bright side of things, Sailor, at least we don’t have to spend much time walking today.” Wind made a face at that, though the boy didn’t like being underestimated, both he and Sky weren’t used to traveling on land for long periods of time. Wind grouched about hoping they ended up in his era next, but Sky knew the boy was likely looking forward to seeing his family again. Eventually, they settled down against the wall of the lobby, and the three of them took a nap while waiting. 

Time took one for the team to wake the three of them, and though Sky wasn’t thrilled about being woken, he could tell that they needed to get a move on. Hyrule and Wind helped drag him off the floor, and they set out for the Ice Cavern in the Drablands. Ravio and Ghirahim elected to stay behind, so there wouldn’t be trouble with teleporting. The designated their groups and Sky could hear Legend griping about them having to go to the Ice Cavern while he went to say his goodbyes to Ravio. 

Ravio hugged Legend, which Sky could tell that Wild was getting a picture of, and when they parted, Ravio gave Legend what appeared to be a magic item. Sky wondered what it could be, perhaps it was something of Legend’s that the merchant could have borrowed. Judging by Legend’s confused expression as Ravio seemed to be explaining the item, and the glare Legend shot at Ghirahim, Sky had a hunch it was something that Ravio may have made. 

Sky was in the last group with Legend and Hyrule, so when Legend joined them he decided to ask, “does Ravio make magic items?” Legend gave him a look and sighed, Sky was surprised at how resigned he seemed.

“Yeah, he made all the items that I needed to explore the dungeons during my, fifth?, adventure.” Legend seemed to think for a long moment on what adventure it actually was, before seemingly giving up entirely, which was very concerning. “He initially rented the items to me, but eventually sold them to me. And now he uses my house as his shop, at least there’s someone there to take care of the place. Occasionally, he makes some new items.” Ravio was certainly an interesting person, certainly not entirely good, but certainly not evil. Legend seemed oddly fond of him, despite how much he complained. Sky supposes that he had a similar relationship to Groose. 

The Ice Caverns were certainly interesting, they worked through the puzzles on their own intuition and with some of Legend’s guidance. As it turned out “Totem Time” was more of a requirement than a suggestion. Sky soon realized that the teams that Legend had divided them into, made for the best totems between all of them. Legend and Hyrule had power bracelets to support Sky’s lack of them. Time was paired with Warriors and Wind, which worked remarkably well since the three had a long history of working together. While Twilight was working with Wild and Four, which worked since both the ranch hand and smithy were extremely reliable and Wild seemed to be having fun just having an excuse to sit on Twilight’s shoulders.

The black blooded monsters were a group of wallmasters and what Legend called keeleons. The wallmasters were a particular pain considering that they followed them everywhere and Legend warned them not to be hit by them, because they would need a fairy to help them if it did. While the keeleons floated above their heads, dropping bombs on them. While Warriors, Time, and Wind were distracting and taking care of the wallmasters, with some assistance from Twilight and Four. Legend had given Sky his spare fire mits so that he could properly take down the keeleons while stacked on Hyrule and Legend. 

Once the keeleons were defeated, Sky, Legend, and Hyrule joined the others in defeating the wallmasters. One of the wallmasters appeared above Wild, and Hyrule ran to defend the champion, piercing the wallmaster as it slammed down on Wild. Legend shouted as the two of them disappeared under the beneath the hand, slashing it from the top, when it perished it showed the two being protected by a shimmering shield. 

Wind shouted as he jumped back from another wallmaster slamming down in front of him. Legend charged at it with alarming speed, aiding Time in taking it down. After that one fell, they all stood firm with anticipation for another one to appear. Instead, a dark portal opened under their feet, dropping them into sand. Sky heard the sound of Legend cursing mixing with the sound of waves on the shore. Wind shouted with glee, “We’re in my era!”

Wind may not be the smartest person ever, but he certainly wasn’t stupid. One thing he could be completely certain about was that Legend was a lair. Not necessarily a piss poor one, but Wind spent a significant time around pirates, and he knew when to smell a lair. He knew that for some reason he was lying about being Hyrule’s twin, and meeting Ravio had further proved that idea in his mind. For some reason Hyrule was in on the lie though.

Wind had done a quick sprint around the island and found they were on Star Island in the northernmost part of the great sea. He looked up to see Legend passing around the edge of the island like a caged animal. He was a bit perturbed by how Legend seemed to hate being in the middle of the sea, but knowing that he had been shipwrecked twice made more sense. Wind didn’t have much more time to think about the twins much more when he heard his pirate’s charm chime. 

Wind pulled it out and winced as Tetra started to yell at him through it, “Link, where have you been?! I swear, if I have to tell your grandma that something bad happened to you, then I’ll find you and tie you to the hole of my ship and drag you across the ocean myself.” Wind winced and gave the others the stink eye, as they laughed at his plight. 

“I’m fine, Tetra.” Wind said with exasperation, “I can’t exactly choose where these fucking,” language, “portals drop us, we’re on Star Island by the way.” Tetra responded by mentioning that it would take her at least a day to get to them, and told him not to die until then, with a mild threat of shooting him directly into the Forsaken Fortress again. Then the connection cut off. 

“Well you guys heard Tetra, shut up, I know you did, we’re stuck here for the night.” Wind called to them, which was met with a few sighs of relief. Wind couldn’t complain himself, after that last battle they were all tired. He did know one thing for certain, he had to get some time alone with Legend, to talk about Linebeck at the very least. First they had to set up camp, Wind attempted to get Legend’s attention, but Warriors snatched him with his scarf. He was forced to sit down and be fussed over for some blisters on his palms he had gotten while avoiding the wallmasters.

By the time, Wind was freed from the clutches of the overbearing older brothering of Warriors, everyone was settling down for sleep. Hyrule and Sky were tasked for watch, which would make sequestering Legend away for a chat much easier. Legend also seemed to be refusing to fall asleep, immensely focused on mending some clothes. The clothes he was working on didn’t seem to belong to anyone in the group, so Wind assumed they were likely a gift for someone or a project for Legend to work on while he thought. Wind was leaning on the ladder thought, judging by the furrow in Legend’s brows. 

“Hey, Leg,” Wind started to get his attention, which he received a nasty glare for. Okay, he may have deserved that a little. “I gotta uphold my half of the promise, so let’s walk.” That got the prickly hero’s attention, and he stood up with a pop of his knees. Wind grabbed his wrist and dragged him to the other side of the island so that they wouldn’t have to worry about waking up the others while talking. Wind also wanted to avoid being scolded by anyone for staying up late. 

They walked to the northernmost point of the island, and Wind began to tell Legend about Linebeck. How he had met the man, very obviously cowering in the Temple of the Ocean King, the temple which had been corrupted by the demon Bellum and drained the life from anyone who entered. He explained how Linebeck was a coward, who pretended to be a great adventurer, who only cared about treasure and had only allowed Wind on his ship because of his interest in treasure. 

Wind could tell that Legend was likely mentally comparing the man to his friend Ravio, and Wind had made that comparison himself. Wind also knew that the reason Legend was so fond of Ravio was likely due to similar reasons Wind had become so fond of the sly old man he’d traveled with. 

He wove the tale of saving Tetra from the Ghost Ship and how Linebeck had to be kept onboard the adventure by Oshus, who was the Ocean King, offering to grant him a wish. He told Legend about how Linebeck would hide in a box below deck whenever Jolene attacked his ship, and that she had a grudge against him for stealing her greatest treasure, something he was completely oblivious about. How Wind had eventually gathered all the pure metals to have the Phantom Sword made, so that he could defeat Bellum.

Wind explained how the Temple of the Ocean King fell apart after Bellum’s defeat, how Oshus used his power to save Tetra. How Bellum faked defeat to and kidnapped Tetra, the chase of the Ghost Ship that followed, the destruction of Linebeck’s ship. Linebeck, saving his life and becoming possessed by Bellum as consequence. Wind paused for a long moment to contemplate how to finish the story.

He had paused long enough for Legend to nudge him, “it’s cowards like that who make the best friends, don’t they? ‘Cause they’ll always be there to save your ass when the odds are against you.” Legend said dryly, and Wind realized that he was likely very right about how Legend had come to know Ravio. Wind also knew that about Ravio, because of how often Ravio had been the one to save their asses during the War of Eras.

Wind chuckled weakly, “Linebeck used his wish to fix his ship, and Tetra and I woke up. Oshus told us that we were from a different world from them.” 

“You too?” Legend said absently, and Wind looked at him in shock. He wanted Legend to explain, but Wind had a feeling now wasn’t a good time, not with how Legend seemed weary of the sea. How he seemed to be avoiding falling asleep, Wind couldn’t say for certain, but he had a feeling it had something to do with his shipwrecks. Then Legend seemed to think deeply on something, “How the hell did he make an impact on Hytopia then?”

Well that certainly was a great question, normally would write it off as a myth or something, but the outfit was basically a carbon copy of Linebeck’s clothes. “Say, kid, you know Hytopia is north of Hyrule?” Wind squinted at the older hero in suspicion, but shook his head. “You said we were on the northern part of your Hyrule, right?” Wind nodded, what Legend was suggesting clicking in his head.

“Yeah, but we have to wait till tomorrow until Tetra arrives. There’s no way anyone can swim that far without knowing what’s out there, and you can’t even swim.” Wind grumbled, knowing that convincing Tetra would be difficult, even if he leveraged Linebeck knocking her over while she had been petrified. 

“Hyrule can’t swim, I can’t drown.” Legend clarified, which made Wind look at him in suspicion. “I’ve swam through the Sea of Storms in Labrynna before, and I bet we can make a decent way north and back before sunrise, too.” Wind was very suspicious of what Legend had planned, but it beat potentially arguing with Tetra. Also, what kind of idiot would he be to refuse an offer to explore beyond the borders of the Great Sea. 

Sky watched as Wind and Legend left camp. He shared a look with Hyrule, who technically wasn’t supposed to be on watch, but was anxiously awake due to Legend. Sky hoped that whatever conversation the two were having would calm them both down enough to get some decent sleep for the night. Although, Sky was never keen on taking watch, he was one of the group who hadn’t been injured at all during their previous battle. Legend had made sure of that. The ocean air was also a surprising relief for him. 

Sky focused on a carving of Wolfie, while Hyrule decided to sit down next to him. Hyrule seemed to be thinking of something, but was hesitating on voicing his thoughts, so Sky gave him the time to think by pretending to be very focused on his work. “You’re the first of us, right?” Sky almost choked in surprise at the question.

“I guess, I forged the Master Sword into what it is now and knew her spirit as well. The others mostly think I’m the first, since there isn’t really Hyrule in my era, just the surface.” Sky answered, he wasn’t entirely certain of anything that could have happened before Skyloft was established. He wasn’t entirely keen on being the ‘first’ hero either, because his mind always returned to Demise’s words. He had often wondered how the reincarnation of their spirit worked in the situation with the twins, though. 

Hyrule looked at him in awe, “it must be something for you to be able to see Hyrule throughout time, even if it hasn’t been established in your own time.” Sky chuckled and nodded, though he had felt trepidation on seeing the state of Hyrule’s era. “So, your era’s Zelda must be the first Queen of Hyrule.” That information caused his brain to short circuit. He supposed it would make sense that the Royal Family would be descendants of Sun, but that would mean… Oh…

“Sun and I are engaged…” Sky muttered with disbelief, feeling overwhelmed by the thought of being having met some of his own descendants. His supposed that explained why he felt so connected to the other Zeldas that he had met, but he suddenly felt like he missed out. He certainly felt the need to meet all of them now, and to tell them how proud of them he was. 

Sky suddenly became aware of Hyrule staring at him with an astonished grin on his face, the smile on his face was so teasing that it made Sky wish he could jump off the island they were on and free fall to the earth. His embarrassment must have been obvious, because Hyrule placed a hand on his shoulder and snorted loudly. He snorted too loudly it seemed because a stray sandal, that was likely Wild’s, hit Hyrule in the side of the face. The victim in question seemed unbothered by the slight against him, as he attempted to muffle his laughter with his hands.

“If it's any consolation,” Hyrule offered while trying to regain control of his laughter, “I accidentally became King of Hyrule, 2 years ago.”

Sky looked at the younger man, bewildered. Surprised that Hyrule could be married. “Accidentally? Did you marry Aurora or Dawn?”

“No! No. Not that.” Hyrule rushed to correct, “after Aurora woke up, there was some confusion with both her and Dawn being in line for the throne… and well since I saved Hyrule and Aurora, I kinda got caught in the middle of everything, and suddenly I’m the king.” Hyrule explained, rubbing the back of his head nervously, now it was Sky’s turn to tease.

“That doesn’t entirely sound like something you’d be on board with, I’m surprised you didn’t jump out a window or something when that happened.” Sky was only teasing, but Hyrule’s long ears dropped and he refused to look Sky in the eyes. Now Sky was fighting back laughter, “sweet mercifully Hylia, you actually jumped out a window?”

Hyrule wilted, “I was overwhelmed, and even if Dawn forced me to take lessons on being a ‘model citizen of Hyrule’ especially since I barely spoke Hylian at the time, I’m still out in the wilderness more than anything. Thankfully neither of them were too mad when I came back.” Sky stared at the younger man for a moment in disbelief, he had basically been adopted by the princesses of his era. He couldn’t help but feel proud of the two princesses for allowing Hyrule into their home, for giving him a home in Hyrule, when he wasn’t from the country in the first place.

Then it dawned on him, “does that make Legend a prince, since he’s your twin?” Hyrule choked on what Sky presumed was laughter.

“By the three, he would hate that.” Was that the only response that Sky got, but he frankly didn’t need anything more than that to know that Legend would find himself in quite the political situation when returning to his own time. Something he would no doubt complain about the entire time. Sky chuckled at the thought, staring out over the camp, before realizing it would soon be time to shift watches.

“Legend and Wind aren’t back.” Sky said with a bit of trepidation, “Wild is on watch next.” Hyrule hummed next to him.

“I’m pretty sure they went for a swim, I don’t think Wolfy would even be able to find them.” Hyrule responded, as he reached to pick up the sandal that Wild had thrown at him earlier. He gave Sky a devious smirk before throwing the sandal back at Wild, and he struck true, hitting the scarred hero on the back of the head. Wild shot awake, snapping his head in Sky’s direction, he was about to sell Hyrule out when he felt the younger heroes weight slump against him. He looked down to see Hyrule pretending to be asleep with his grinning face pressed into Sky’s chest. The little sneak.

He looked back up to Wild, who was rightfully glaring at him, and feigned guilt. He would get revenge on Hyrule when he fell asleep, the twins didn’t know it yet, but there was no escaping him when he was asleep. So Sky apologized to Wild and got up from his perch, carrying Hyrule to his bedroll. He wasn’t certain how Hyrule would react, but he would have to face the consequences of his actions by himself. The moment Sky got settled in, he was out. 

Wind watched as Legend walked into the water, before turning to towards him, he was holding the ring he always wore grasped in his hand, ready to be removed. Wind suddenly had the idea that the ring was held a large secret, luckily for him, he was a pirate. He would find out the secret behind that ring eventually. Before Legend took off the ring, he fell backwards into the waves, Wind rushed forward to save him from drowning. A glistening of pink stopped him in his tracks. Squinting, he tried to get a good look at what was beneath the waves, only to be splashed in the face by a wave of water. 

Wind sputtered as he heard Legend laughing at him, his laugh warbled in an odd manner. Wind wiped his face to get a clear look at Legend, who now had a reddish pink tail, that had purple mottled along the back of the tail. Wind was shocked to see that Legend had turned into an actual mermaid, unlike Joanne, who wore a mermaid costume. Then Wind realized something, “wait! If you’re a mermaid and Hyrule is a fairy, does that mean your mom was a fairy and your dad was a fish?”

Legend looked at him like he was a moron, before splashing him in the face with water again. “No, you dolt!” Legend shouted, then dunked his head beneath the surface, his tail curling with frustration. His head came back above the water, “this is a curse, I found it when I was exploring Labrynna.” Wind felt a little sheepish for thinking something as absurd as a fairy having kids with a fish. 

“So, if it’s a curse, is there something that’s weird about transforming?” Wind questioned, as he walked further, getting closer to Legend in the water. He was careful not to cross any of his boundaries, though, he had no doubt that Legend would splash him again if he did. 

Legend stared at him blankly, his mouth dipping beneath the water, “it’s unpleasant.” Legend blandness in his response told Wind a lot. From what he had figured out about Legend, he was very serious about the usefulness of everything he owned. So even if the curse was likely problematic, it’s usefulness likely outweighed the annoyance. 

“I can get why you don’t like swimming, then.” Wind offered, and Legend hummed in response. The sound reverberated oddly in the sound of the water. Wind put his hands on his hips, staring at his fishy friend, “well then, shall we swim?” Legend hummed again, sounding more affirmative this time.

So they set off, Wind sitting on Legend’s back. He used the stars to guide them to the north, Legend started off slowly, as if he was dragged down by the waters of Hyrule. The moment they reached the end of the mapped sea, he swam significantly faster, causing Wind to have to steady himself on the older hero’s shoulder. Wind suddenly knew exactly how Legend had managed to swim through the aforementioned Sea of Storms. 

Wind found it exhilarating, how quickly Legend cut through the water. It reminded him of sailing on his own, with the King of Red Lions. He knew there was little chance that they would actually find much beyond the border of Hyrule, but the simple idea of exploring something new overrode what little hope he had. Discovering new things was something he enjoyed the most about traveling to different eras of Hyrule. 

He filled the silence of their swim, by telling Legend more about his adventures. All while he charted the stars, he would change the direction of the wind, but he had no sail to worry about. The night made it difficult to see if there was anything beyond the horizon. He still looked through his telescope to try and spot anything. He was scanning the horizon while telling Legend about how he had to gain the recognition of the gods to become the hero. Even without Legend responding much while he was storytelling, he could tell how his interests were sparked by how his fins flared or his swimming would change. 

He stopped his story in its tracks, when he caught a glimpse of white in his telescope. Hope rose in his chest, he batted at Legend’s shoulder. “Ship! There’s a ship.” He didn’t want to get his hopes up too much, but when Legend changes direction and started getting closer to the ship. It was the S.S. Linebeck. When Legend got close enough, Wind jumped aboard without hesitation. It didn’t take long for him to spot the man himself, especially with the three fairies floating around his head. 

Wind wanted to rush the man, but he also knew he had a prime opportunity. He drew his sword and snuck up behind Linebeck before prodding him in the back, “Avast, ye hardies, show me to yer finest treasure.” Linebeck jumped him in place, and the three fairies around him chimed in alarm.

“Link?!” Celia shouted in excitement, which was followed shortly by Neri and Leaf. Linebeck stiffened further, before turning around quickly. He looked immensely offended by Link pretending to rob him. 

“You little…” Linebeck started, before he grabbed Wind and fiercely rubbed his knuckles into his scalp. Wind shouted as he was attacked, halfheartedly struggling against the man. Then he heard a splash from the side of the ship, and immediately remembered who he came with, still stuck in the water.

“Wait, my friend’s still in the water!” he said, as he broke free of Linebeck’s grasp and moved to look over the side of the ship. Legend had a hand on the side of the boat, keeping himself floating with it along the tide. Wind heard Linebeck shout about not telling him sooner that there was someone overboard, before the man was beside him, throwing a net over the side of the ship. 

Legend hissed as he was caught in the net, while Linebeck and Wind struggled to pull him onto the deck. Wind felt the three fairies pulling at the back of his collar to help him as he was half over the deck. He did know that, despite how Linebeck looked, he was much stronger than he seemed. He’d been shaken by the man enough times to know it. When Legend was nearly to the rails of the ship, Linebeck got a good look at him, and let go of the net in shock. Nearly sending Wind overboard with Legend, thankfully he grabbed the net again, and finish pulling Legend onto the ship. 

Wind flopped down on the deck to take a breather, though Legend wasn’t that heavy, he hadn’t been expecting Linebeck to let go of the net. After he recovered, he helped in untangling Legend from the net, while ignoring Linebeck muttering about bringing a mermaid onto his ship. When Legend was finally free from the net, he spoke, “hey kid,” he pointed to the horizon. “I think we should be getting back to the others, but I have to dry out before I get my legs back.” 

Wind looked to the horizon to see that the sun was rising, “Oh, we’re so fucked.” Linebeck smacked him on the back of the head and he realized he should probably explain a little. “Linebeck, this is Legend. Legend, Linebeck. Legend’s not a mermaid, he just has a lot of magic items and one makes him part fish.” Legend opened his mouth to argue, but shut it before laying down on the deck.

“Like I said, I’ll be back to normal when I dry out. ‘Till then I would prefer not to be on deck, since every time I’ve sailed, I’ve been struck by lightning.” Wind wanted to assure him, but he also remembered what Legend had said about being shipwrecked. Then he thought of a solution to getting Legend below deck, he ran down the steps to the lower deck to grab what he needed. Then he returned to the main deck, he laid down the hammock cloth next to Legend for him to roll onto. 

Linebeck was surprisingly quiet about helping Wind get Legend below deck and hanging from the rafters. Wind in the meantime was focused on noticing that Legend’s hair was very pink, he was also wearing a red tunic, then there were the rings. His hands were covered in rings, but were missing the signature ring that Legend usually wore. After the hammock was hung, Wind joined Linebeck on the top deck of the ship.

“You’ve been through a lot since saving the Ocean King, haven’t you, Link.” Linebeck said fondly, and Wind nodded. That’s when he noticed the dark purple scars from Bellum on Linebeck’s hands and face, and he felt the emotions welling up. He tackled Linebeck in a hug. 

“I thought I’d never see you again.” Linebeck hugged him back. Wind chuckled as Neri, Leaf, and Celia’s wings fluttering against his face. Linebeck pulled back, patting him on the shoulder awkwardly, causing Wind to laugh. Linebeck huffed and turned away, “anyway, your friend said you had places to be, so why don’t we set sail.” Wind cheered, and showed Linebeck the direction that they needed to sail. 

He told Linebeck tales of his adventures in the year after meeting him, and Linebeck told some stories of his own to share. As they sailed closer to where Wind knew the edge of the Great Sea was, he told Linebeck he was going below deck to check on Legend. When he made it down the stairs, he immediately knew Legend was back to normal because his foot was hanging out of the hammock. Wind quietly approached the hammock, and peered into see how Legend was doing. 

The person in question was dead asleep in the hammock, likely tired from swimming for so long, but Wind knew he was a light sleeper. He couldn’t say he was entirely surprised to find that ‘Legend’ looked only vaguely like Hyrule. He still had the long ears, upturned nose, and dusting of freckles. Otherwise, his hair was long, pink, and mostly straight. He was covered in scars and lightning feathers, his hands looked like they belonged to an old man, his face was a lot sharper than Hyrule’s, he was wearing enough jewelry to pass for a prince, and he wasn’t wearing pants. So he really did hate wearing pants. 

Wind carefully dug around in Legend’s belongings until he found the ring that he usually wore. He thought for a moment about shoving the thing in his pocket and letting ‘Legend’ figure things out on his own, but he saw the scar on the back of Legend’s hand. The same scar that sat on his hand, that Time, Twilight, Warriors, Sky, and Hyrule shared as well. Wind may not know the reason that Legend and Hyrule were lying to them, but he couldn’t deny the truth that the Triforce marks on the back of Legend’s hand made him one of them. Coupled with the various scars and his treasure trove of magic items, it was likely Legend was only really lying about his appearance. Wind sighted, he did owe Legend a favor for swimming all the way out here. 

With a silence and deftness that he had mastered when trying not to wake Warriors, Wind carefully put the ring back on Legend’s hand. In a blink of the eye, he once again looked like a copy of Hyrule, even if the pink hair stuck. That certainly caused Wind to have even more questions, which he would definitely have to nag Legend about later. He did know better to outright tell the others, though, Warriors was really paranoid when it came to that kind of thing. Though Wind would bet 200 rupees that Time, somehow, already knew. He would have to leave that for another time, though, for now he made sure Legend was comfortable, then returned to help Linebeck with navigation. 

Time sat staring at the north horizon, while Sky, Wild, and Hyrule avoided him. Legend had gone out swimming with Wind early in the night and even when they failed to return till morning, none of them had raised alarm. Hyrule implied that Legend had something that made swimming easier for him, though the younger twin seemed to refuse to touch water whenever possible. Time thumbed the dyed wood of Mikau’s mask, as the spirit within offered his own consolation for his worries. He supposed it wouldn’t be impossible for Legend to have something that either functioned like his own Zora tunic or something closer to when he wore Mikau’s mask. 

Warriors was patrolling the south edge of the island in his own worry, keeping an eye out for Tetra. Time would not envy the man if Wind didn’t return before she made way to the island, he personally had steered clear of the Pirate Princess as much as possible during the war. She would undoubtedly be enraged when she came to find them. Twilight had done the scolding of the three heroes who failed to say anything. 

It was Four who noticed a small white ship approaching from the north, it was faster than a normal ship, and steam seemed to rise from it. Time squinted against the glare of the sun to get a better look at the ship approaching their island, he slightly cursed his single eye for diminishing his vision. When the glare cleared up and the ship came closer, he was able to see Wind standing on the very front of the ship. The boy put his hands up to his face and shouted at the top of his lungs, a more grizzled looking man stood behind him looking bemused. 

It wasn’t long before the ship made it closer to the island, stopping a short distance from shore before dropping anchor. Wind was jumping overboard into the water before the anchor dropped, causing the man captaining the ship to shout at him. When the kid finally made it to shore, Warriors immediately snatched him up and began to ruffle his hair. Wind shrieked in response, but Time looked onto the ship for their other missing member.

“Where’s Legend?” Time questioned, causing Warriors to briefly pause his torture of Wind. 

Wind pointed at the ship, “sleeping below deck. More importantly, we found Linebeck!” The man in question, sauntered ashore in no hurry to save Wind from Warriors. Time was surprised to see three fairies floating around him, but despite his confident air, Time could tell he was weary. Wind managed to break free of Warriors’ grasp and joined the man to introduce them. After introductions, Wind insisted that they take Linebeck’s ship to meet Tetra. The man seemed extremely weary of the idea, but made no argument. 

When they boarded the ship, they quickly found Legend still snoozing in a hammock and Wind quickly crawled into it with him, before immediately falling asleep. Sky and Hyrule soon joined them after setting sail, the rest of them set about helping in whatever way they could. 

Legend wasn’t expecting to wake up with pale blonde hair in his face, and the vague sound of snoring dulling the sound of waves. He groaned as he shifted and stretched while trying not to disturb Wind. He startled when the hammock shifted, and looked to see Hyrule staring at him with a devious grin.

“Congratulations, you got out of being in trouble, because you’re an insomniac.” Legend gave him an unamused stare. He was too tired to recall if he actually managed to put the ring back on before falling asleep, but it seemed that their secret was still safe for now. “Anyway, I learned something when talking to Sky, Hyrule hasn’t been established yet in his era and he’s engaged to his Zelda.” Legend stared at him for a moment, before his brain connected the dots, Hyrule grinned deviously at him. “So, Sky is the first king of Hyrule.”

“No, you don’t know that.” Legend grouched, wrapping his arms around Wind and turning on his side away from Hyrule.

Hyrule cackled quietly, diving under the hammock to look Legend in the face. “Doesn’t change the fact that he’s probably the ancestor to the royal bloodline.” Legend groaned louder, which caused Wind to smack him in the face. “Anyway, technically you’re a prince anyway, since I am technically the King of Hyrule.” 

“You’re fucking what?!”

Chapter Text

Four really wanted to believe without a doubt that Hyrule and Legend were twins, who just happened to look alike. He really did, but internally he couldn’t help but see the parallels. It was the fact that they were almost exactly alike that unnerved him the most. Unlike Warriors and Linkle, who were also twins, it was the vast differences between the two and the fact that Linkle seemed to have avoided the “Hero’s Destiny” that didn’t bother him so much. Legend and Hyrule were different in personality but starkly similar in appearance. 

Four knew he was avoiding the two of them, but something stuck in the back of his mind about the two of them. The slight fear that perhaps one of them had gotten the Four Sword. That the ‘twins’ had originally been one. That left him with far more questions, ones that he didn’t entirely want the answers for. The one that constantly came up, and the one that made him wish that he was perhaps wrong on the idea that the two had been split by the Four Sword: Where were the other two?

Perhaps they’re in another country? Burning amber offered warmly from his chest. That was not entirely unreasonable, since they both are from beyond Hyrule. Cool, steady stone agreed from within his mind. There is a chance we simply haven’t crossed paths yet, even if they only said they were twins. The bending breeze added, but still maintained a seed of doubt and concern, as he wove through the body. We certainly aren’t going to get any answers by avoiding them all the time, the others will notice too. The unrelenting tide challenged, his waves beating into the others, who couldn’t disagree. 

Then they met Ravio. Ravio who supposedly looked like Legend under that hood of his, supposedly a dark version of Legend. It hurt to think that perhaps, maybe, that Ravio was like Shadow. He couldn’t help but see the three of them as three of four. He was definitely overthinking things, but that didn’t stop the thoughts from lingering in his mind. He knew that avoiding things would only make addressing his problems later much worse, he knew that far too well. Four just needed time to sort together his thoughts, so that he could have a clear conversation with Legend and Hyrule. 

He couldn’t help wandering around town when they were in Hytopia. When they were in the castle, Four had decided to read while they were there. That’s when he had learned about what Hytopians had called Doppels. They were apparently human-like statues that a person could have their conscience jump between. Four hadn’t seen what they looked like until he stumbled across a human-like statue tucked into a corner near the castle. When he got closer, he felt perturbed by the hollow eye sockets and open mouth. To his surprise, though, the statue appeared to be sparkling clean, despite its location. 

“Hey there, chum. You should probably just leave that thing alone.” Four turned to see who addressed him, only to be shocked to see a boy that looked vaguely like Hyrule and Legend. He had peach pink hair and rounded ears that told Four that he was human.

“Is there a reason that I should leave it alone?” Four asked, partially because he truly didn’t know and he wanted to know why the Doppel was here. 

The Legend look-alike, Wannabe Legend Blue offered, scoffed. “When that guy, who got recognized as the hero, showed up and took my place in saving the princess, he found this old thing that had probably been discarded by the King and the Doppel Master and started cleaning it up. After he started cleaning it up, all the townsfolk started coming every day to take care of it.” The Faux Hero said snootily as if what had been done was a bad thing. To Four, though, it seemed like something that Legend would do. After what was aptly named the cheese incident, it became very obvious that despite Legend’s prickly exterior, he was prone to going out of his way to help others.

That was something Four could easily understand, he supposed that they all could in a way. For Four, small acts of helpfulness had always been integral to his life. He had grown up helping his grandpa run the forge, running errands for him, helping Zelda when she decided to sneak away from the castle, and many other things he could think of. His first adventure was just him doing his best to help Zelda, Ezlo, the Minish… Saving Hyrule had just been something that had happened along the way. From what Hyrule had said about his first adventure, something similar had happened to him, and perhaps in some cases it had happened for Legend too. 

Four stared at the pink haired boy and let the waves of Blue’s anger wash over him, water against stone. “He must be quite the hero for the people to maintain this in his stead.” Four sneered coolly, causing the wannabe’s face to flush with shame. Four scoffed and decided it was best to continue exploring town. While he took in the sights of the town, staring at the fountain statue of three heroes stacked on each other's shoulders, he couldn’t help but think further about the twins.

Hyrule was a lot like Green: adaptable, unrelenting, and caring. He always seemed to gravitate to the color green, though the green in his hair was entirely blamed on Legend. Although he seemed to prefer the color red, his personality was far more similar to Blue. He was grouchy, stubborn, but incredibly loyal. Then there was Ravio, steeped in the color purple, but his personality was the polar opposite to Legend. There’s no way to be certain that the Four Sword would have split them similarly to us, Vio calmly stated. We don’t even know if they have the Four Sword, Red countered, hopefully. Four sighed, he wouldn’t change the fact that he had been split, but he certainly wouldn’t wish the Four Sword’s power on anyone else. 

They weren’t in Hytopia for too long before they were dropped on an island on Wind’s era. Sure, being stranded on an island or stuck on a boat with the person you have deliberately been avoiding, would likely be the best way to stop avoiding that person… but Four still persisted. Even when Legend woke from his night long swim with Wind, shouting at Hyrule loud enough for Wind to give him a black eye. Four simply watched from a distance as Legend emerged from below deck with the gem of his ice rod pressed to his face.  

Four definitely didn’t want to bother him then, because despite Hyrule’s snickers at the situation, Four did not want to be on the wrong end of Legend’s anger. Wind, who was still tired from staying up all night, walked his way over to Four and immediately laid out on the deck falling asleep in an instant. He envied how easy the younger boy fell asleep, but also knew he would definitely need the rest for whatever the day decided to throw at them. It wasn’t long before they met with Tetra’s ship, to which their small ship was given the pirate’s greeting. 

Linebeck took one look at Wind sleeping on the deck, rolled his eyes dramatically, before picking Wind up off the deck and hauling him to where the pirates were boarding. Four was honestly surprised that the man seemed capable of carrying Wind so effortlessly. They all watch as the man hauled Wind right up to Tetra. The captain of the pirates looked shocked for a moment, seeing Linebeck. Then she looked at Wind, who was slightly awake and very dumbly smiling at her, she scoffed fondly at him. Aww, he has a crush, Red cooed. Blue made a noise of disgust in response. Don’t be a party pooper, scolded Green. Four withheld a chuckle at his internal argument. 

Linebeck, noticing that Wind was finally awake, dropped the boy on the ground and crossed his arms. Wind made a muffled yelp as his face hit the deck, Four winced at his pain, Twilight and Warriors seemed shocked at Linebeck’s actions. Why does Wind even like this guy? Blue huffed. Why do we like Ezlo? Vio responded. As usual, their more pragmatic segment had a point. Ezlo, for all intents and purposes, was demanding, a bit condescending, and long-winded. Four had come to think of him as a grandpa during his first adventure, and when the Four Sword had split him, Ezlo had helped in his own way. 

He didn’t have the patience and understanding, but the firmness of his own Grandpa. Nonetheless, Ezlo peculiarity had allowed for all the colors to branch out from each other, without causing further divisions. His mental exercises for them were basically their own adventure and had certainly come in handy when they were unified. Ezlo had also helped steer Vio in the right direction when it came to learning about the source of Shadow’s power, and potentially bringing Shadow back. Even if he didn’t know much about evil magic, he knew much about magic in general, something that came from holding the Minish Cap for so long. They never really made too much progress on bringing Shadow back, mostly because finding a source of dark magic to support him was difficult. 

Linebeck must be like Wind’s weird uncle or something, Green supplied. It was a helpful nudge, as always, to get Vio from getting stuck in his own head. Four surveyed their group and it appeared that while he was stuck in his own head, Hyrule had attempted to be polite to Tetra. The only reason the boy wasn’t being thrown overboard by her pirates was Wind firmly attached to his legs, and Legend who was holding the pirates at a distance with a spiked red hammer. Four could tell it was likely one that Ravio made, judging by the faint purple rabbits carved into the handle. 

Four had only examined a few items of Legend’s, but he had noticed a pattern with them. The oldest items Legend owned had his name carved into them, or more accurately all their names. The ones made by Ravio have purple rabbits on them. Some had various symbols carved in them, some with three, others with four. He assumed those were something to do with Labrynna and Holodrum. Some were marked with a Triforce, which now Four knows he stole from Hytopia. The rest were marked with a type of flower that Four had never seen before, and he knew for certain that Legend was hiding the items, because he never used them or would shove them quickly back in his bag on seeing them. 

Four thought that the carvings certainly made it easy for Legend to organize his items, especially with how many he had. But as Red had suggested, perhaps there was a more sentimental reason behind the markings, but he mostly thought that because he thought the rabbit carvings were cute. For all they knew, that was simply how Ravio had made the items. As for the rest, those were definitely Legend’s own work. 

Hyrule was saved, unexpectedly, by a little girl with twin blonde braids. Which Four quickly realized was Wind’s little sister, who he often spoke about. Wind was quickly on his feet to greet his little sister, and he shot a betrayed look at Tetra. She brushed Wind off, saying that his sister had insisted on coming with to help her brother out if trouble ever came his way. It was honestly very endearing that Aryll was so dead set on helping out her little brother, and Four had a hunch that Tetra just liked her company. 

They honestly hadn’t spent much time in Wind’s era, they spent some time being coddled by Wind’s Grandma. They could never say no to the sweet old woman, especially when she seemed so relieved to have both of her grandchildren home. Also, sorry Wild, but she really does make the best soup. So, how screwed do you think they’ll be when they meet Gramps? Blue questioned in a way that sounded more like a statement. Four had to hold back a snort at the thought. Very, three voices responded in tandem. 

Yep, Grandpa would adopt them all on sight, no arguments allowed. Just like he had greeted them all after they had been split by the Four Sword, no questions asked, they were all his grandsons. Four had done his best to help his Grandpa out with the forge from that point on. His father had reacted similarly to his grandpa, but his father had also been busy with the repairs of Hyrule. That and the forge was much quieter than Castle Town, he could spend hours in the forge with minimal interruption. More often than not, the only ones interrupting any work at the forge was his father, Dot, or Erune who bothered them.

Four had attempted to talk to Legend when they were on Outset Island, but he saw the forlorn look on his face as he walked the beach. It seemed even Hyrule was hesitant to interrupt him. Four would talk with the other twin, but he seemed to be discussing something with Wild. Speaking of Wild, hopefully they ended up in Four’s era soon, so he could craft him a proper sword that wouldn’t break in half… hopefully, if Wild used it properly. He won’t, Vio hummed. Yeah, they couldn’t argue with that. 

In the morning, they set out to find their next lead. It took longer than usual since the Great Sea was so vast, and Four was certain they could all tell how antsy the twins were getting. Hyrule was likely weary of the water and the inability to wander off. Legend just seemed to hate sailing, Tetra tried to get him to help around the ship when he mentioned experience, only to send him below deck when the shipwrecks were brought up. Wind was clinging to Legend the entire trip, likely to distract their prickly member from his current situation. Four certainly wasn’t going to intrude on that, and Four didn’t want to make Hyrule more anxious either. 

We really need to stop finding excuses to avoid the two of them. Shut it, Red! For all we know, we’re just worrying about nothing, and causing ourselves more grief in avoidance. Vio is right, after we take care of the next batch of monsters, we should try to talk to them. That was a good start having a set objective, after all, Four couldn’t just ignore the two of them for another entire month. However, much for the way of the heroes, things don’t always go as planned, after defeating the next group of monsters a portal opens beneath their feet. Four’s head split in agony as he was forced apart at the seams, and he heard someone shout at him.

Legend hissed at the splitting headache that shot behind his eyes, the rabbit inside him jumped in alarm and saw several darknuts in the room. He quickly noticed Hyrule and Four were also in the room with him, and Four was curled on the ground in pain. Legend jumped into action to protect Four, while shouting a warning to Hyrule, who seemed to jolt into action. Fire dancing off his blade towards the darknuts, causing the armored monsters to go on the defensive. 

Legend lifted Four over his shoulder and darted out of the way of the swing of a darknuts blade. They weren’t the same type of darknuts that he faced in his own era, but their heavy armor was easy to recognize. He pulled out his magnetic gloves and used them to push the armored enemy back, so that he could find a safe place or a corner of the room to hide Four while he recovered. He ended up finding a stone alcove that he swiftly destroyed the pots placed there, and set Four down. Then he dug for his Cane of Somaria, and pressed it firmly into Four’s hands.

He tried to force Four to focus on him, “This will summon a block that’ll damage enemies if it’s broken, it’ll keep you safe while we take care of the monsters.” Four looked at him dizzily but nodded in understanding. Legend took a step back and waited a moment for the familiar red block to come into existence, before joining Hyrule in battle. Without the others around and Four needing time to recover, Legend slipped off his ring. Magic was far more effective against armored foes, rather than darting around to find the holes in their defenses. 

Legend pulled out his magic mallet first, dancing to the center of the darknuts, bringing the hammer down with a force that caused them to become stunned. Then he pulled out his ice and fire rods, to freeze half of them while scorching the rest. Two of them were in dark black armor, while the other three had blood-red armor. They didn’t appear to be infected, but that didn’t stop them from being fierce opponents. Legend quickly surmised that their weak point was their backs, mostly because they used their large shields to defend any attacks from the front.

Legend relayed this information to Hyrule, and swapped to using his magic mallet and tornado rod to stun the monsters so that Hyrule could attack their backs. These darknuts were persistent, though, his items only kept them stunned for so long. He found himself surrounded, and had to pull out his magic cape to avoid getting hit by the giant blades of the monster. Hyrule snapped his fingers, causing lightning to reign down on the darknuts, and two of the red ones fell. So, they were the weaker of the two. Legend pulled off his magic cape, and forced his sword into the gap in the back of the last red darknut's armor. It fell with the blow, leaving the last two left.

Unfortunately, Legend and Hyrule were both running short on magic, and the two black armored darknuts seemed to be defending each other's back. “Hey, ‘Rule, you have a shield spell, right?” Hyrule nodded beside him, “I need you to go defend Four, I’m gonna use a medallion, but I’m not certain that it’s safe to use around people. I’ve never met a monster that can survive the medallion spells, so I think it’s our best bet.” Hyrule nodded, darting to the corner of the room where Four was. He jumped easily over the block made by the Cane of Somaria, and Legend waited a moment before spinning the Bombos Medallion around his neck and lifting his sword in the air. 

The air became charged with magic, before the room shook violently. Explosions went off all around the room, before pillars of flames consumed the remaining Darknuts. Legend felt his legs wobble as the medallion drained his remaining magic, but he nonetheless stood firm, waiting until the flames cleared. He allowed himself to slump to the ground when the smoke cleared and no monsters remained, he sighed in relief, hopefully the rest of the dungeon wouldn’t require much magic. A glimmer of light came down from the ceiling and a chest appeared. 

Legend blinked for a moment at the chest, then realized that they were in a dungeon. He got to his feet, put back on the ring and shouted to Hyrule while approaching the chest. The block had been destroyed by Bombos, and Hyrule shot him a bewildered look as he emerged from the alcove, with a weary looking Four peering out from beneath him. Well, at least the smith was feeling better, Legend thought as he propped the chest open to find a small key which would be useful for later. 

“What was that?” Four questioned with alarm, Hyrule had already left the smith to his own devices to investigate the room. Though, he didn’t do so without shooting Legend a threatening smile beforehand. Ah, so there was no escape. Legend sighed, closing the chest to sit down on top of it, he may as well get some rest in the meantime. Four approached with his Cane of Somaria in hand, before handing it to him with thanks.

“No problem, and the explosion was my Bombos Medallion. It drains a lot of magic, so I try not to use it much.” Four looked surprised.

“It didn’t break afterward?” It was Legend’s turn to look at him with surprise. Four at least looked sheepish, “I never really had time to learn much about magic on my adventures, so whenever I came across a medallion, I used it by throwing it on the ground. I suppose the moon pearls would also disappear whenever they opened portals to the Dark World.” Legend stared at the shorter hero as if he’d multiplied before his very eyes, so the portals all over Hyrule that lead to the Dark World were likely Four’s fault. His treatment of magic items was far more appalling, though. 

“And you get mad at Wild for breaking his weapons.” Legend huffed, and Four looked offended for a moment before realizing what a hypocrite he was. Legend ignored a pointed look from Hyrule and let out a dramatic sigh. “Listen, Hyrule is gonna find a way to lock us both in this dungeon if we don’t discuss why we’ve been avoiding each other.”

Four looked sheepish, “was it that obvious?” Then he blinked for a moment before he pointed at Legend in alarm, “you’ve been avoiding me too? Why?” Legend pointedly looked away in shame, only to meet Hyrule’s judging gaze, and pointedly looked elsewhere. 

“Well, I mean,” Legend thought long and hard for a way to properly explain the Palace of the Four Sword, but no matter what he couldn’t shake the dreadful thought of the shades in the temple once having been Four. He sighed, “I may have, accidentally, pilfered your tomb.”

Four stared at Legend for a long moment, and he was almost tempted to wave his hand in Four’s face to make sure he was okay, before the small hero’s expression shifted in a way that made him look alarmingly like Wind. “You fucking WHAT?” Yeah, that was an understandable reaction. Before he could explain, Four was mumbling to himself with his head in his hands. “So, you did use the Four Sword!”

“What, no! That thing creeped me out as a kid.” Four squinted at him. “I mean, the Palace is in the Sacred Realm, which kinda became corrupted when Ganon got sealed there. Needless to say, you, or whatever was left of you in the sword, wasn’t exactly happy I was there. Anyway, I think you should explain why you were avoiding me?” Legend was really hoping that Four would explain, because he did not want to go into detail about his first adventure. 

Four looked like he was very close to losing his mind, understandably so. Legend was very concerned that Four was about to wring his neck, and he considered standing up to make it harder for the shorter hero to do so. “You and Hyrule look exactly alike, I thought that you may have used the Four Sword, but if you didn’t then how? Four’s tone was so serious, that Legend bit his tongue when he considered pointing out that there were only two of them, not four. He knew exactly what four was likely thinking when it came to the other “two” of them. 

It’s something he also shuddered when he thought about the four shades in the Palace, corrupted by Ganon’s darkness. He truly hoped that Four had a long and peaceful life, but the shades looked almost exactly like Four does now. Perhaps that was just because Four was short, and he looked a lot younger than he actually was, at least Legend hoped that was the case. He really wanted to look to Hyrule for some backup for this, but judging by the fact that he was no longer in the room with them, Legend assumed he fucked off to some hidden room. 

“We were never really twins to begin with.” Legend sighed, taking off the ring again, and holding it out for Four to examine. The smaller hero, focused on the ring, failed to see the illusion magic drop, as he examined the item. Then he looked up at Legend, blinking as colors danced through his dark eyes. 

“Why?” Four whispered.

Legend scoffed, “does it really matter, in the end? One day, this adventure will be over, and we’ll never see each other again. Does it really matter that you truly know who the Hero of Legend is, if you’ll never see me again? At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter, especially if it ends up helping someone else… That's the best I can do.” Legend mumbled the last bit under his breath, recalling the many people that he failed over his adventures. Legend cast a wary glance at Four, but his expression was hard to read.

Four took a step back before lifting his sword in a way that caused Legend to flinch, only for him to be blinded by a light from the sword. Legend didn’t have time to react before a small body collided with him, knocking him backwards off the chest. Legend yelped as his head hit the ground, and he was about to see why Four decided to tackle him after blinding him. Only to look up and see two Four’s staring at him, one with green eyes and the other with purple eyes. Oh, so that’s why there was four shades. He looked at the one on his chest and saw teary childish red eyes staring back at him, Legend’s hands hovered wearily over the small hero’s back.

“You might as well hug him, otherwise he’ll start crying harder.” Four, this one dressed in blue leaned over him with his arms crossed. Legend didn’t hesitate patting the red Four on the back then, mostly because he recalled how strong the blue shade had been in the Palace. 

“I have questions.” Legend stated, and the one in purple knelt down with a calculating look on his face.

“So do we, but first introductions. I’m Vio, short for Violet. The one who attack hugged you is Red, he was upset because you were disparaging yourself.” The one in blue huffed about Vio using large words, but Legend had gotten the gist of what the other two’s names were at that point. But he allowed Vio to introduce the other two, Green waved at him, when he was introduced. “Anyway, why would you even rob our grave in the first place?” Ah, so Violet was the one who got straight to the point, judging by how Green winced at his dry delivery. 

“I had to get through multiple dungeons in the Dark World to free the seven maidens, sages, whatever you want to call them. The Palace of the Four Sword was another entrance to the Pyramid of Power; it sits where Hyrule Castle does in the Dark World. There were several entrances, one held a cursed Great Fairy who upgraded my sword and gave me my silver arrows I needed to beat Ganon. Ganon was in the hole at the top of the Pyramid, and the Palace was to the other side. It seemed like another dungeon at first, but after every boss there was just a sword. After I collected all four, I was able to break the barrier at the center of the dungeon. When I entered the final room, the swords found their pedestals, then I fought you… all four of you, but they were shades. I assume that Ganon attempted to corrupt the Four Sword. I never used it after it fused together, because you guys scared me more than Ganon ever did.”

Blue chuffed, “we must have beaten the shit out of you.” Which received a scolding from both Red and Vio, but Green opted to smack Blue upside the head. 

“Yes, you did, but I was nine at the time. So you got your asses beat by a child. Anyway, that’s basically why I’ve been avoiding you guys like the plague.” Legend bit back, before cooling down again, absently patting Red on the back. Even though the ground wasn’t too comfortable, Red was light enough that he didn’t feel like he was being crushed by his weight, but he was also incredibly warm.

Vio sighed, then he showed off the ring that Legend had been wearing, “so how exactly does this make you look like Hyrule? I’m assuming it’s an enchantment on the ring itself.” Blue curiously peaked over Vio’s shoulder, and the longer haired brother allowed him to take the ring. Legend watched as Blue put on the ring and transformed into Hyrule. Blue blinked for a moment, then tore off the ring like it burnt him and cursed about how odd it felt to be tall. Right, Legend hadn’t mentioned that, it didn’t make much of a difference for him since he was slightly shorter than Hyrule, but Four was very short. 

Legend thought for a moment on how to explain the ring, before opting for his usual method of explanation. “Fuck if I know, I didn’t even know it turned me into Hyrule specifically until I met him. I got it somewhere during my travels in Labrynna and Holodrum, because enchanted rings are everywhere there, and they even grow on trees. Frankly, the fact that I found one that happened to turn me into ‘some guy’ wasn’t even that odd.”

“How is a ring that turns you into another person not ‘that odd’?” Red questioned, from where he had clearly gotten comfortable laying on Legend. His legs were kicked up and swaying, though Green seemed to be preventing him from kicking anything. His head was now resting on his arms that he’d folded up on Legend’s chest, and Wind didn’t have a chance against those eyes. It was honestly surprising that Four hadn’t used those against Twilight yet, but then again, Four always tended to act more subdued than the human magnet that seemed to be Red.

“Buddy, I have a ring that turns me into a Moblin… and others that turn me into an octorok, a like like, and one that turns me into a Subrosian for some reason. Comparatively, the Hyrule ring is pretty mundane… until you consider the fact that his era is like 500 years after my own.” Now there were four Fours staring at him as if he had suddenly turned into a painting right before their eyes. Violet put his face in his hands and groaned loudly, which mood. 

“You never stopped to question why that would even work?” Vio said so judgmentally, which, rude. Green looked like he wholeheartedly agreed, but Blue had an entirely different question for him. “Why the fuck would you keep something that turns you into a monster?!” So, Blue was the one prone to cursing. Which, fair, but he did not need another person judging his collecting habits. Fable, Ravio, and Ralph did that enough.

“Second question first; monsters don’t exactly attack you when you are also a monster, so they have their uses. Also, Subrosians aren’t monsters, they’re just rude little people that live beneath Holodrum.” Legend paused for a moment to consider the first question. “I didn’t really question the ring when I got it, especially since it didn’t seem too different from all the others I collected. Then again now that I think about it with time getting severely messed up with the Oracle of Ages getting kidnapped, though most of that involved me fixing things in the past so that my time didn’t get royally fucked, I never considered further in the future. Which if things were messed up further along the line, even if I fixed everything Veran caused…”

“Another hero would be drawn to fix the problem, like it always goes.” Green finished. “Man, that’s confusing.” That was the understatement of the century, but Legend still felt like he had experienced far weirder shit.

“Considering that we’re traveling with various reincarnations of ourselves, is it really that weird?” Legend pointed out, and received no response. Legend then took the opportunity to explain how him pretending to be Hyrule’s twin came to be, while trying to avoid the fact that Hyrule was cursed by Ganon. He could tell that the four heroes could tell that something was missing from the story, but didn’t push on the issue. They all had their secrets.

Green chose the moment to look around, “wait, where is Hyrule?” That was a good point, Hyrule had been gone for a long while. Either, he had gone to explore the entire dungeon without them, which how dare he? Or, he had purposely found a place to hide while they talked. 

As it turned out Hyrule had done the ladder, because he soon called out from a room hidden by an illusionary wall. “Are you guys done talking yet?” He walked into the room, took a look at them, and his eyes widened. He took a look at the four Fours, and he lifted a hand to count his fingers. “There are four Fours now… I guess that makes the nickname make a lot more sense.” Legend sighed, at least Hyrule absorbed that information easily despite having no prior information to go off of. 

“So, I guess we will probably tell the others about us not actually being twins now.” Hyrule stated, though he seemed calm about the situation, but Legend could tell he was a little put off by the idea.

Red piped up, getting up from his place on Legend alarmingly fast, “wait, wait, but don’t you want to see how long it takes for the others to find out.” Oh, so the innocent look was a facade, Red was actually just another little shit. Judging by the look Blue was giving Red, it wasn’t out of the blue for the red clad hero either. “I mean, the prank potential is unlimited, especially with the four of us.” Well, Legend had a favorite color now, he understood the assignment. 

Vio patted Red on the head, “sounds like a good plan. Multiple heads tend to be better than one. Speaking of which, I’m sure we can easily find our way out of this dungeon and find the others a lot easier together.” Well, Vio was his second favorite now, not that he could ever tell Ravio… speaking of which.

“Wait, so did you four think that Ravio was our triplet or something?” He asked, knowing that the Colors would understand what he was thinking. 

“We considered it, but he seemed more like someone else we knew.” Green answered, and judging by their reaction that someone was no longer with them. Legend supposed something similar had happened to Ravio when he had returned to Lorule when they didn’t know of a way to return to each other's world. At least, Legend had known that Ravio was still alive, but for Four’s case, it was likely his friend was gone for good. 

Hyrule looked nervous, “by the way, do you know how many rupees this is?” He questioned as he held up a large gold rupee.

Legend and the Colors stared at Hyrule with varying degrees of concern. “Oh, ‘Rulie,” Legend started grabbing hold of both his shoulders, with a mental reminder to himself to get this boy a bigger wallet. “That’s 300 rupees.” Hyrule’s eyes bugged out with surprise, before he looked slightly crestfallen. 

He visibly wilted under Legend’s hands, “it won’t fit in my wallet.” Yeah, Legend was definitely getting him a new wallet, consequences be damned. 

“We can hold onto it for you, until we can get you a new wallet.” Green offered, looking genuinely concerned for Hyrule, and thanked the Goddesses that they had the same idea as Legend. Hyrule really needed a wallet that would hold more than 255 rupees, who the hell decided that 255 rupees was a good idea for a wallet limit anyway. His first wallet had a limit of 999 rupees, and by the time he met Ravio he’d found one that held 9,999 rupees, which he needed for how much Ravio had forced him to buy. 

Hyrule let out a downtrodden thanks, and Legend sighed before moving beside him. He bumped into Hyrule’s side, “you can keep being pitiful later, we got a dungeon to solve. And I’ve already found a small key.” Legend gave the group of them a knowing smirk, the colors and Hyrule gave delighted smiles in response. Blue reacted first, hauling Red over his shoulder and running to the door, Red laughed the entire way over. Green and Vio ran to keep up with the other two. Hyrule and Legend had to fight back laughter as the four of them attempted to shove their way through the door at the same time. 

Legend and Hyrule ran to catch up with them. The next room seemed inconspicuous at first, then Legend noticed the slight rattling of the tiles on the floor. “Flying tiles!” Legend shouted, “use your shields to block them.” The colors immediately got into a formation that left all of their backs covered, while Legend shoved Hyrule off a tile that was about to rise. Legend was about to block one of the tiles himself, but another swept out from under his feet. Legend stumbled onto his back, and used his shield to defend against one, but another came, hitting him upside the head. 

Legend winced away the pain of the hit, he really hated flying tiles. Hyrule slashed another from hitting him, and Legend took the moment to get back on his feet. He danced along the remaining trapped tiles, noting the pattern of those remaining, there weren’t many left. With the colors covering each other, and the two of them working together, the room was quickly cleared. After the final tile was broken and the doors to the room slammed open, Legend let out a curse, “fuck flying tiles.”

“I think I get why you hate them so much now.” Hyrule griped, and from the look of it he two had been hit by a tile too. Legend gave a knowing look to Hyrule, before he looked to the pottery that remained in the corners of the room. He smirked before activating his pegasus boots to run to the corner of the room, he grabbed a pot and threw it in Hyrule’s direction. The other reacted quickly, slicing the pot in the air. Hyrule cheered as he picked up a small green rupee from the pot, and Legend swayed in mock despair. The colors laughed, as if they hadn’t gone on an assault to the pots in the other corners of the room.

There were two exits to this room, one that had opened when the floor tiles cleared, the other locked. Legend pulled out a sheet of paper, and marked the rooms they had just been through. “You’re mapping the dungeon?” Blue questioned.

“You don’t?” Legend questioned back.

“I usually just figure it out as I go,” Hyrule remarked, right as Vio answered for the colors. “We did during our first adventure, but when there were four of us getting through the dungeon at once… we got side tracked, a lot.” Legend could imagine, actually no he couldn't. He would probably stage a mutiny amongst himself if there was more than one of him. He barely tolerated living with Ravio.

“At least everyone in the chain is different enough that arguments are easier to solve.” Green stated, and Blue groaned as if he knew something they didn’t. Legend gave a questioning look to Green as Hyrule voiced his question on the “chain.” Green chuckled, “you know because we’re all Links.” Oh great, this one liked puns.

Two could play at that game, “har har, very punny. Anyway, let's go through the door that doesn’t require a key first.” There were no arguments with his suggestion, so they entered the southern door. The room had no monsters, and nothing tucked into the corners of the room. The only thing of note was that there were eight switches. Eight switches, six of them, and no blocks in the room.

Blue started cursing, but Legend dug through his bag. “Stop freaking out, remember the item I lent you earlier?” Red snuck in close to him, leaning against his arm as he pulled out the Cane of Somaria. 

“It summons a block, right?” Violet asked back, before he seemed to realized what Legend was getting to. “Ah, the block can be used to press a switch. Can it summon more than one?”

“Nope.” Legend answered, purposely popping the p as he handed off his cane to Red. “But, that doesn’t make much of a difference when you have two.” Legend said smugly, as he pulled out an identical looking cane from his bag.

“Of course… why do you even have two of those?” Green asked, holding an arm out in front of Blue. Blue looked like he wanted to snap one of the canes over his knee. 

“I found the first one during my first adventure, the other in Labrynna.” Legend answered back, as he summoned the first block on a switch. Red giggled as he ran off to place another block on a switch. Hyrule and Violet walked off to stand onto their own switches.

When Legend walked to get onto his own switch, he heard Blue hiss, “I’m gonna steal his kneecaps.” Green seemed to pretend to be sympathetic, “you can steal his kneecaps later, he needs them for now.” Hyrule, who also seemed to have also heard them, was trying to withhold his laughter. They all stepped on their switched, and something clicked in place further in the room. They all shared a look, before they moved to investigate the room further. 

Hyrule called them over when he found a small sliver cut into the wall. The smaller heroes seemed to discuss something amongst themselves before coming over. “We have a way of getting through, but the main concern is what’s on the other side.” Hyrule nodded in agreement. 

Legend sighted, getting close to the wall, he knew he had enough room to get to the other side. “I’ll go through, and then you guys don’t have to worry about anything.” He didn’t give them any time to argue before he pressed his hand to the wall and activated the magic in Ravio’s bracelet. He vaguely heard the others shout before the world distorted around him. 

Hyrule watched with the Colors as Legend’s body distorted, became flat, and merged with the wall. The painting of Legend on the wall blinked, before it shuffled into the crack in the wall, bending along the surface of the wall. “Did you know about that?” Green asked, looking dumbfounded, and Hyrule shook his head in response. 

They heard a muffled commotion coming from the other side of the crack, then silence. They waited with anticipation, before Legend came through the crack in the wall. When he turned back into his normal self, he doubled over with laughter, leaning against the wall to keep himself upright. Hyrule wanted to snatch the hat right off his head for whatever he was laughing about. “Care to share with the class what you found?” Blue seethed, hopefully the other colors would prevent him from committing murder before they finished the dungeon.

“The room was full of monsters, but there was a chest on another side of a pit. So, I just went straight over there, dropped a scent seeds, and watched as all the monsters ran right into a bottomless pit. The chest just had a bunch of blue shells in it.” 

“Oh, we’re probably in our era then. We usually trade those in for figurines.” Red chirped, and Legend handed the shells to him. He was completely confused what the boy meant, but he knew the idea behind collecting random things. Who knows, maybe they were just things popular in his era. He just knew he couldn’t comment on it because he had a Yoshi figurine in his house, whatever the fuck a Yoshi was. 

“Figurines?” Hyrule questioned.

“Yep, they’re like the carvings that Sky makes, but more accurate to what the subject. My favorite ones are of the Great Fairies, they’re very pretty.” Red chimed back, and Hyrule was overtaken by curiosity. It had been a while that Hyrule had met with his older sisters, and wondered how different they were in other times.

Green made mention that his favorite figurine was one that looked like their Grandpa, as they returned to the room they were previously in. “So, how’d your Grandpa react to, well, all four of you?” Legend asked wearily as he unlocked the door to the next room. 

“He’s our Grandpa.” Blue stated, as if that answered the question at all. “Grandpa Smith was happy to have more grandchildren.” Vio tacked on with a bland tone, which Hyrule wasn’t sure what to make of. Then again, Hyrule was beginning to notice that Violet just tended to speak with a lack of any enthusiasm, similarly to how Legend tended to lace his voice with sarcasm. 

Then Hyrule realized something, “wait, you four think that Legend and I were similar to you?” Legend gave him an exasperated look, while he was met with silence on the parts of the colors. Hyrule knew that there was a secret that had likely been discussed between the five of them, but that certainly explained why Four had been avoiding them. Hyrule sighed, “well at least that got sorted out then.” 

They entered the next room and were met with an inconspicuous room that had a small hole in the wall, and a structure in the room with a hole at the top and one hole on each side. “Well, it looks like we’ll have to be much smaller to continue onward.” Green stated, “we have a way to shrink down with magic, and if you don’t, we can help out.” Hyrule shared a look with Legend, and the other sighed before asking the Colors for details. 

In the meantime, Hyrule focused on his own spell. By the time he had turned himself into a fairy, the last of the Colors was disappearing into the hole at the top of the portal. Hyrule fluttered down to one of the holes on the side, the glow he emitted lighting up the inside of the structure. He was met face to face with Violet, who was still smaller than him despite the scale. He was more surprised to see that all the Colors looked more mouselike, with feathery tails tipped with their respective colors. Hyrule chimed in surprise, “I didn’t think you’d be smaller than a fairy!”

Green chuckled, “I never really thought about it, but the Minish are quite small.” He seemed about as surprised as Vio to see Hyrule with wings. Red zoomed over to him, ducking out of Blue’s reach, to grab hold of his hands. It was a little overwhelming how Red marveled at him, but at least he had the decency not to touch his wings. Hyrule was slightly fascinated by how different his hands seemed, the closest creature he could compare it too was Wild’s Blupees, but he also had small pointed nails. 

Hyrule truly wanted to question their change, but judging by the magic that remained on them from the change, the changes in their form had more to do with the spell itself. It was likely a spell they had used often enough that it had gradually changed them, perhaps it was the reason why they were so short. Not that he’d ever voice that suspicion, he had a will to live, after all. “Where’s Legend? He wasn’t outside when I flew down.” Hyrule questioned instead. 

Legend made himself known by sound first, grumbling something Hyrule couldn’t make out. He appeared from out behind the stalk of the small plant in the center of what now seemed like a room more than a portal, with a disgruntled look on his face. It was honestly a surprise they hadn’t noticed him sooner. Hyrule and Red barely managed to bite back laughter at his appearance. He looked slightly similar to the Colors, but aside from being pink, he had more rabbit-like features, with long drooping pink ears. Red was immediately on him, attempting to get a feel of his long ears, but had his hands futilely slapped away. He was easily twice the size of all the Colors and judging by his legs he could easily outrun, or hop, all of them. Hyrule couldn’t see his tail, but he suspected it was bunny-like as well.

“Well, that’s unexpected, we only started looking more like Minish some time after our first adventure.” Green remarked. “Never seen a Minish that looks like a rabbit, though.” Blue added on. Hyrule kept to himself about Legend’s pink bunny form, but judging by Vio’s expression, he was connecting some dots there. They had likely witnessed Legend’s change in form, despite Twilight’s attempts to keep the bunny hidden in his era. Four had been the tiny thing held in whatever Time had been turned into’s hands. If Hyrule had to take a guess, there wasn’t much the Colors could keep from each other when they became Four. Yeah, his nickname definitely made a lot more sense now.

Green, who seemed to take up leadership of their group, got everyone’s attention. “Shall we get a move on? Also, it’s probably redundant for me to say, but monsters are a LOT bigger for us now, even a chu chu can seem more like a dungeon boss while we’re like this, so be careful.” Hyrule already knew that, he had used this form to escape monsters before. He had a feeling that Legend would have no trouble taking that advice seriously too, since he was unable to use any items as a rabbit. Fleeing was a better option for them than fighting.

They exited the room that was created by the portal, and Hyrule could see Legend freeze for a moment because of how much bigger the room seemed. Green led the way to the hole that was in the wall, the hole itself was well carved out. Legend, who was slightly too tall for the hole, had to walk on his hands and feet, which he seemed rather comfortable with, but struggled to keep behind the Colors doing so. 

When they reached the end of the small tunnel in the wall, the Colors peered over each other to see outside. Red was practically laying on the floor, with Vio, then Blue, and finally Green with their heads stacked on each other. Hyrule chuckled, and slightly wished that he had a camera like Wild to get a picture. He instead flew up so that he could look over Green’s head. He heard Legend chuff out a laugh, before he felt a presence behind him and a long ear hit the top of his head. Hyrule bit back a squeal of surprise, but Red, who was at the bottom of the stack, did that for him. 

The Colors tumbled forward, causing Hyrule barely catch himself with his wings, he hesitantly lifted his hands to grab Legend’s ears and move them out of his face. Despite being at the bottom of the stack, Red somehow ended up on top of Blue. Vio was already picking himself up off the ground, and Green looked like he was trying not to laugh at all of them. Red was giggling as Blue pushed him off his lap, and Legend pushed Hyrule forward out of the way of the tunnel, causing Hyrule to mildly mourn the loss of his soft ears. 

The room they entered was small, but appeared to have a path leading to the upper part of the dungeon. They would have to move some things around for Legend and the Colors to get up. Hyrule flew up to get a better look at the higher level of the dungeon, and called out when he saw another portal on the top level. He heard a loud scraping noise and looked to find Legend looking shocked as the Colors were moving around blocks that were absolutely massive compared to them. Hyrule realized they were doing so to create a platform to get upwards.

“Those are some power bracelets.” Legend remarked, as the colors put together the platforms. Unexpectedly for Hyrule, rather than using the grooves carved in the walls to get the platforms so he could climb up further, like the Colors, Legend jumped straight up to the platforms, then to the upper level. Red had managed to grab hold of Legend when he landed on their platform, and yelped out a cheer as he launched himself to the upper level. 

The other Colors rushed to catch up, just in time to witness Legend aggressively squishing Red’s face, while scolding him. Which seemed to have little effectiveness on Red, since the small hero was using the opportunity to reach for Legend’s ears. Hyrule chimed in laughter, and decided to assist the smaller hero by grabbing hold of Legend’s cap and pushing it down over his eyes. It didn’t work too well considering the amount of hair that Legend had hidden in his cap, but it distracted him well enough for the Colors to launch a surprise attack. 

Legend squealed in surprise as the four heroes bowled him over, only to get the opportunity to pet Legend’s soft fur. The victim, in question, seemed to accept his fate for a moment, huffing in what was likely residual embarrassment of being taken off guard. Then, after humoring the Colors for a moment, he stood in his four legs with them still on his back, and started to the portal. The Colors were overtaken by surprise for a moment, before managing to help one another stay on Legend’s back. Hyrule bit back laughter as he watched, before he decided to join in on the chaos. 

Legend let out a slight oof, and paused for a moment when Hyrule landed on his back. There wasn’t much room left on his back, but the Colors certainly help with keeping them all onboard. Hyrule took the opportunity to play with Red’s hair, as Legend made his way over to the portal, slowed by them. When he finally made it into the portal, he stood up on his hind legs, causing them all to tumble off. “Alright, you lot had your fun, I’d like to be normal now.” Red had to be hauled off the ground by Blue and Green because he was laughing so hard, but eventually they were all back to their normal sizes.

Legend pointedly was ignoring his once again pink hair, somehow he only managed to last a week without it being turned pink again. “So, are you four just gonna stay split like that until we meet up with the others?” His question was likely to give the four of them a cover in case they did meet with the others while exploring the dungeon.

“Time knows,” Green answered first, and of course Time knew. Legend seemed to think the same thing by how clearly he rolled his eyes. “I don’t see why not.” Vio added, followed shortly by Red. “It’s a lot more fun to explore with more people.” Then Blue decided to tack on, “being split certainly helps with the abysmal headaches the portals cause.”

“Oh yeah, you definitely have more patience than I do. Honestly, I can’t believe you thought I shared a brain cell with Hyrule, I’d stage a mutiny in less than a week.” Legend mocked, and even though his voice was laced with sarcasm, Hyrule still felt slightly offended.

“Hey-“ Hyrule began in mock offense.

“It would be like trying to contain a group of moldorms.” Well that was just downright rude, Hyrule felt even more offended when Blue snorted. 

“So you’re saying you wouldn’t love me if I was a worm?” Hyrule said dramatically, as he fell against Legend, pretending to faint. Legend grunted, but held him up, giving him an annoyed look that caused Red to laugh.

“I will let you fall over.” Legend remarked, and Hyrule almost wanted to test him for a moment, but eventually decided that he did not want to eat the dungeon floor today. So, they set off once more to find their way out of the dungeon. When there entered the next room, it was filled with enemies that neither Hyrule nor Legend had ever seen. 

“Those are Hikkun and Nokkun. Both have to be hit to stun them. For Hikkun, you have to pull its shell apart after its hit to defeat it. For Nokkun, after it’s hit, you have to throw it for someone to attack it as it leaves it shell.” Vio explained. Hyrule could tell that Green, Blue, and Red were already readying themselves to attack.

So, without much more thought, they split themselves into groups of two in order to defeat the monster. Their groups didn’t stay separated, as Hyrule found himself helping Green pull apart a Hikkun shell, or slashing a Nokkun out of the air that was thrown at him by Legend. It was a mix of defending each other, and helping each other defeat the monsters. Granted, the monsters themselves weren’t much of a threat, aside from the difficulty to defeat them without help. After clearing out all the monsters, a key dropped from the ceiling. 

Violet could help but study Legend after everything that he had explained about himself. It was interesting that Legend lived in an era before Hyrule’s. At first, he had wondered how Legend had managed to convince Hyrule into pretending to be twins, but with how skittish the two had been with their group at first, often only conversing with each other in Calatian. Then, after observing them more, it was very clear that Hyrule looked up to Legend. Likely in a similar way, they had idolized his father for being a knight, before his first adventure. Not that they had lost respect for their dad after their adventure, no, they had just felt smothered by his dad’s attempts to keep them out of trouble. 

It was entirely likely that Hyrule had grown up with stories of Legend’s adventures, much in the same way Four had grown up being told stories about the first king of Hyrule and the Hero of Man. Odd that they hadn’t met him, but judging by the way Legend spoke of Sir Raven, there were likely heroes in the past that hadn’t been ‘Link.’ Though, speaking of Legend’s adventures that was something that was entirely vague, due to the two pretending to be twins, but now that that cat was out of the bag. “Legend, if you don’t mind, how many adventures have you been on exactly?” Red eyes glittered with curiosity at the question. 

Legend kept moving, solving the puzzle of the room they were in without much thought. But apparently he had to think about the number of adventures he’d been on. “It’s five, right? Six, including this one.” Hyrule answered, yep, definitely a fan of Legend’s, but Legend became remarkably still at his answer.

“Six, this is seven.” Legend said quietly, and Hyrule was aghast. Vio could tell that only Legend’s somber mood was keeping Hyrule from asking questions. Red also seemed to sense his mood, and approached to offer his usual comfort. Vio wondered if he lost someone, like they had lost Shadow. “No surprise you haven’t heard of my fourth adventure, it happened when I was returning to Hyrule. Koholint never truly existed anyway.” That sent a chill down Vio’s spine, he knew exactly the implications of what Legend had said. He smacked a hand over Blue’s mouth to keep him from saying anything stupid, because Legend just implied that his fourth adventure happened when he had been shipwrecked. 

“Do you want to talk about it?” Red asked, he was holding Legend’s hand. Vio knew he was doing, after all he had been the victim of Red’s ‘do you want to talk about your feelings’ talk. Especially since he had been the one of them who had known Shadow the best. They had all come to respect Shadow in their own way after the sacrifice he’d made to allow them to defeat Vaati. Though, for now, Red was taking his kinder approach, rather than his ‘you’ll talk about your feeling or else’ approach. At least Legend could actually escape Red. 

“I got trapped inside a deity’s dream, the island in the dream, it’s people… they felt real, but in the end we both had to wake up.” It seems that they all didn’t need any further context on what happened to the island within the dream. Red hugged Legend, which he begrudgingly accepted. 

For once, it was one of those rare occasions that Blue had the best solution to their current predicament. “Well, why don’t we get a move on so that we can crush whatever boss monster has hidden itself away in here.” Green slapped himself in the face with disappointment, as Legend barked out a laugh. 

“Bet ‘Rulie and I can take out the boss before you lot.” Legend countered, though his voice cracked slightly with residual emotion. Vio already knew that Red was likely planning to subject him to hot chocolate and cuddles when they arrived home. How they would explain that to the rest of their group, if they met up before then would be interesting. So, they explored the rest of the dungeon, solving puzzles easily. Legend and Vio were very good at that, while Hyrule seemed particularly good at finding hidden passages. 

They found 600 more rupees, that they halved between Legend and themselves. It made it so they would all leave the dungeon 300 rupees richer. When Hyrule questioned why the Colors didn’t want to split the amount further, they just explained that they shared a wallet. One boss key later, and the mulling over the question of how they, or Four, hadn’t explored this dungeon yet if it was their era, and they were at the boss room. 

They entered to find a giant turtle-like creature with three heads, Legend cursed. “Trinexx, red head is weak to ice, blue to fire. The blue head can also freeze the floor, gray head will try biting you when you least expect.” Legend explained, pulling out what Vio could tell was a fire and ice rod. Vio immediately took the fire rod from him, and passed it to Red. The change in Red’s expression would be alarming if he hadn’t experienced it many times before. Red soft face, split into an eerie grin and his eyes blazed. 

Vio turned back to Legend to see him watch the shift in Red with barely concealed horror. Vio distracted him from Red, immediately testing the fire rod on Trinexx’s blue head, a massive swirling pillar of fire that practically heated the entire room. “Do you have another ice rod?” Legend nodded dumbly, before handing over the rod he had in his hand. Vio handed this one to Blue, who begrudgingly accepted it. Thankfully, his use of the ice rod returned the room back to a reasonable temperature. Though Blue wasn’t that fond of long distance items, preferring to beat the tar out of his enemies up close and personal, the ice rod Legend had given him summoned giant hunks of ice that smashed into the monster's head. It was the perfect cross between distance and brute force that Blue would enjoy.

Hyrule and Red took on the blue head, while Legend and Blue took on the red one, Green and Vio spent their time distracting the gray head. Calling out warnings when it was set to attack the others.  Red and Hyrule were the first to defeat their head, unsurprisingly, making it much easier for them to walk around the room without having to worry about slipping on ice. Legend and Blue defeated their head shortly after, Vio figured now it would be his and Green’s opportunity to attack the gray head’s weak point, but the head withdrew into it’s shell before they could react.

“Brace yourselves!” Legend warned, as Trinexx’s large shell began to crack, they all brought up their shields to defend themselves. Its shell exploded, sending shards their way, and they had little time to brace themselves for Trinexx’s snake-like body to slither at them. Hyrule, who seemed to have a shield spell, and Legend, who was familiar with the boss, were on the attack immediately. Blue’s competitive streak was triggered by the two of them, and he discarded Legend’s ice rod for his ever familiar hammer. Vio wanted to smack him upside the head, for discarding Legend’s ice rod so flippantly, especially because the man was so particular about his belongings. 

Vio rushed to pick up Legend’s item, deciding to opt in helping the others by keeping his distance. He pulled out their bow to attack the monster, while keeping clear of it. Red had a similar idea, stunning the monster by using the Cane of Pacci to flip it on its back. Unfortunately for all of them, they quickly found out that the monster was infected. Green was doing his best to redirect Trinexx away from them. Despite the monster being infected, with the six of them, they made quick work of it. Once, it fell, it left a large puddle of darkened blood in its wake, which Legend pulled Blue away from touching. 

Legend stared at the blood with thinly veiled disgust, while Hyrule seemed sicked by the cloying magic it held. Legend turned to Red first, holding a hand out, “my fire rod.” Red tried to convince him against taking his item back by giving Legend his finest ‘puppy dog eyes.’ “You can have my other fire rod if you can steal it from Wars.” Legend offered, and Vio decided to take matters into his own hands. 

He pulled the fire rod out of Red’s hands, returning it and the ice rod to Legend. Legend put both items away, before pulling out a bracelet that looked oddly similar to the golden one that he wore on his wrist, though the gem inlaid in it was milky white. Vio recognized it as the item that Ravio had given Legend before they left Hytopia. Unexpectedly, he tossed the item right into the blood left behind by the monster, baffling them all. More unexpectedly, the dark magic that remained in the blood began to diminish until it was completely gone, causing the gem inlaid in the bracelet to become pitch black. 

When the magic was completely absorbed, Legend pulled the bracelet out with a rag. “Don’t tell me Ravio had an idea about what’s causing the infected monsters to show up all the sudden?” Green questioned, and Vio couldn’t help but think that wasn’t likely the case. Legend shook his head, proving Vio right to some degree. He watched as Legend stared at the bracelet, as if he questioned what it would actually accomplish. 

“As you may know, Ravio is much more keen on dark magic, especially when determining the difference between dark and evil.” Legend started, and Vio wondered what he would tell them about the item Ravio had given him. That was until Legend looked directly at him, “Have you four ever noticed that only one of you has a shadow?” Vio stilled, he could tell instinctually that his brothers were looking at their own feet before looking at his. Vio knew, he knew from the moment that they first split again after putting the Four Sword back in his pedestal. 

Whenever they split, only Vio ever had a Shadow. Dotty knew too, but she likely never said anything, because she too had seen the other side of Shadow. Vio could tell that his brothers, his counterparts, were looking at him with a mix of shock and empathy. Before any of them could act on the information that Legend had imparted on them, Legend tossed the bracelet to Vio. In his shock, he couldn’t manage to catch the object, instead it hit the ground beneath his feet. The bracelet didn’t bounce off the tiled floor like it should have, instead it hit the ground as if it had fallen into the swamp water of Castor Wilds. 

Shadow rippled around the bracelet, slowly causing it to sink. Before the item became fully submerged, a transparent gray hand littered with thin cracks came up from the shade right into the embrace of the silver metal. The room was still for a long moment, as they watched the hand sink back into the shadows, and Vio wasn’t certain what to expect, but nothing happened. Legend was the one who broke the silence, seeming weary, “it- he was a friend, right?”

“Not quite, but he sacrificed himself to help us.” Green answered for them, which seemed to be a good enough answer for Legend and Hyrule. 

“It’ll probably be a while before the bracelet to kick in, so why don’t we get out of here in the meantime.” Legend offered, as if he hadn’t just given the four of them a chance to bring back their fallen friend. Something Violet hadn’t managed to accomplish in over a year, Legend’s dark doppelgänger managed in a day. Vio wanted to be mad, he wanted to be jealous. And so, Legend found himself attacked by four almost identical brothers, before he could make an attempt at leaving the dungeon. Legend begrudgingly accepted the hug from the four, awkwardly patting them on the backs. He looked mildly grossed out by the very obvious tear stains Red was leaving on his tunic.

“Oh, it’s group hug time?” Hyrule said in jest, before joining the hug, much to Legend’s dismay. His hero shot him a look of ultimate betrayal, but unfortunately for him, Hyrule was bound and determined to make sure he felt a part of their group. Though he had been wary of the other heroes at first, treating them with the same cautious friendliness that he did townsfolk in his era. He had come to see all the other heroes as brothers, and Legend deserved to be a part of that, even if he attempted to keep everyone at bay by pretending to be Hyrule’s twin. 

“Alright, you all have been sappy for long enough, let’s get out of here?” Legend griped, lightly batting them all away from them. Red may have used Legend’s tunic to wipe his face clean before parting, causing Legend to pull his hood over his head in retaliation. Red giggled and fled to the portal that would take them out of the dungeon, his brothers and Legend chasing quickly after him. Hyrule laughed as he followed after them, running to pass Legend and tripping him up on his chasing of the Colors. 

Hyrule heard Legend cursing at him as he fled, entering the portal behind the Colors to escape his wrath. He was shocked when the light of the teleportation cleared to see a bright green world around him. It was Hyrule as usual, but the magic in the world seemed young, bright, and full of life. The air was filled with birdsong, and the grass seemed to hide an assortment of small insects. He saw something shining in the grass, and found a small circular stone that seemed to be deliberately split in half. 

Legend came up from behind him to investigate, making a noise of confusion at the small halved coin. “Oh! You found a kinstone.” Green announced cheerily, he approached to get a better look at the small green coin, Hyrule held the coin out to allow him to get a better look. Hyrule was surprised that Green pulled out a bag with a half coin design on it, and quickly dug through it to find a matching half. The two sides of the coins clicked together magically, spinning in the air before glimmering brightly and disappearing into the sky with a bright light. 

Legend and Hyrule stared into the sky in confusion, before changing their gaze to look at Green, who now had the other Colors behind him. Vio had his map out, pointing to a location on it, before acknowledging the “twins’” confusion. “Kinstones are good luck, they cause secrets to be revealed when a match is found.” He explained, causing both Hyrule and Legend’s interest to be sparked. “Anyway, we likely won’t find what it revealed today, but our home isn’t far from here, so it’s best to go there first. 

It was a disappointing revelation that they wouldn’t be able to look for whatever had been caused by the matching Kinstones. However, they could argue with the thought of going to Four’s home to rest after the fight they just had. The Colors shared a knowing look with each other before setting off in the direction of their home. Hyrule and Legend shared a confused look of their own before Legend shrugged and set off to follow them.

When they approached the small cottage on the hill, Hyrule was struck with how quaint it was. He also noted how smoke was coming up from the chimney on the side of the house, indicating that someone was home. “Huh, it almost looks like my house.” Legend commented, but the Colors who were ahead of them began to race each other to the front door. 

Red was the first one at the door and let out a resounding shout on entering, “Grandpa! We’re home.” Hyrule and Legend cautiously entered the house behind them, only to hear a clattering that sounded like lots of metal being dropped coming from the room to their right. Before they could express their concern to the Colors, the door to the room opened. In entered a short but stout man, with a tied up long white beard, his hair covered with a bandana, bushy eyebrows that almost hid his eyes and he was wearing a heavy apron covered in soot. The old man spread open his arms and rushed by the Colors. 

“Link!” He exclaimed, as he was hugged by his grandchildren, they didn’t even cause the old man to stagger in the slightest despite practically attacking him. It wasn’t starling that they didn’t mind the fact that their grandpa was even covered in soot, Four wore soot like it was a second skin. The man’s bright eyes stared at the two of them from under his thick brows, “more heroes, I see.” Had the other’s met him before them?

“Right, you two, this is our Grandpa, Smith.” Green introduced them, and Hyrule let out a meek greeting in return.

Legend, however, had other ideas. “Smith? Wait, so you were using the nickname Smith, because it’s quite literally your name?” He pointedly asked the Colors, they looked varying degrees of bashful and embarrassed at Legend’s realization. Four’s grandpa guffawed loudly at their reaction, ruffling Blue’s hair, much to his displeasure. 

“I mean, it helps that we are professional smiths.” Green answered nervously, and Legend sighed, defeated. Hyrule chuckled at his dramatics, but was startled when Four’s grandpa came over to both of them.

He was taller than Four, but still shorter than the two of them. He grasped them both firmly on the shoulders, Hyrule winced at how strong his grip was. “You boys can call me Grandpa Smith.” Hyrule could vaguely see the Colors colluding about something from over the old man’s shoulder.

“But you’re not even our Grandpa?” Hyrule responded nervously.

“You boys are Link, no?” They both nodded, surprised at how easily he caught on to who they were. Grandpa Smith nodded, “then you may as well be my grandsons too.” The old man turned away as if he hadn’t basically forced the two of them into his family, and went into a room at the back of the house.

Vio approached them where they were left in the entryway, looking baffled beyond reason. He did not offer any words of consolation, though, instead he offered, “get adopted, idiots.” The other three colors cackled at their plight, they had known this would happen from the moment they had gotten here, and they didn’t even offer a warning. 

“Have the others been through this?” Legend seethed. 

“Not yet.” Blue answered. Legend took a deep breath, with his eyes shut as he calmed himself, then his face split with a sly smirk. 

“Well, then we get to watch the Old Man, in particular, perish when your grandpa gets to him.” Oh, he was right, that would be hilarious. Hopefully, he could give Wild enough warning to get a picture. 

Four’s grandpa came out of the room he was in with a tray and various cups on it. So, Hyrule found himself sitting on the couch, with Red snuggled at his side, forcing him to lean on Legend on his other side. The drink that Grandpa Smith had given them was warm, sweet, and milky. Red had informed him that it was hot chocolate. Nonetheless, it was appreciated after spending the morning getting through a dungeon. 

“So, what’s the plan with finding the other?” Hyrule questioned, even if he really didn’t want to get up from the couch. It was Four’s grandpa that answered him first.

“You boy’s can go look for the rest of your friends tomorrow, you need the rest.” Hyrule had the feeling that even if he crawled out the window to leave the house, somehow Grandpa Smith would get him back down on the couch, whether he liked it or not. Four’s grandpa was certainly an interesting man in his own right.

“We can always as Dad to help look for them.” Green said with a barely contained yawn. Hyrule tried to fight his own yawn, but failed miserably when Legend yawned next to him. Blue continued for Green, who was fighting sleep, “our Dad’s a knight. So, he and the other knights could likely find the others pretty quick.” Red whined, stretching out against Hyrule’s side, “I don’t wanna merge back together yet. It’s nice to be split for a while.” The others hummed in response. 

“I’ll send word to the castle, if anything they’ll be taken to the castle for the night. There’s hardly enough room for them here tonight.” Grandpa Smith said with a deep chuckle, as he watched them futility fight off sleep. So, Hyrule found himself falling to sleep with Red laying across his and Legend’s lap, with Legend leaning against him too. The other heroes were capable in their own rights, so Hyrule supposed that they could just relax and let Four’s family take care of everything else. It was surprisingly nice to have others that he could rely on to take care of little things in his place. 

Chapter Text

Hyrule woke up to a crash, and nearly fell over, since Legend got to his feet before he could reorient himself.  He recalled that he was at Four’s house, Red had been rolled off his lap and onto the floor when Legend stood, but remained asleep despite that. He looked to see what had caused the loud noise that had woken up the two of them, but failed to disturb the smiths. He saw Legend cautiously approaching the form of the dark mirror of Four. He looked so much like Four, but his skin was sickly gray, his hair a deep purple, and his tunic deep black with silver embroidery. His hair and clothes seemed to float weightlessly, and darkness crept off his form, causing him to appear lost in a thick fog.

He was clearly disoriented, gasping for air, and clawing at his skin, which was fragmented with cracks that looked like shattered glass. “Forgive… forgive me, Lord Ganon I don’t want to go in the light anymore.” Hyrule froze at the shadow’s whispered plea, it wasn’t too surprising that his existence was caused by Ganon. No, he couldn’t help but think of the lone moblin, hiding himself away in caves, away from Ganon’s eyes. The phrase “it’s a secret to everybody” sounded like a plea more than an inside joke when they first met. Ganon was not kind to his followers, he did not care for anyone other than himself, those that followed him were disposable when they no longer served his purpose.

When he first stumbled across his moblin friend, they had both been startled by each other. The large monster had being sitting in the cave, scars littering its body, it had hesitated for its weapon for a moment. Then it tossed him more rupees than he’d seen before and croaked out the explanation of “it’s a secret to everybody.” Hyrule didn’t stay long enough to ask questions, the last thing he wanted was another fight. So, he grabbed the rupees and fled. When he had come across the moblin a second time, he had gathered enough courage to ask if he could stay a while, he had just finished his first dungeon and he had been exhausted. He had fallen asleep while the monster kept watch, more for himself than anything, only to be woken when the moblin deemed their hideaway no longer safe.

The third time they met, Hyrule had asked why the moblin bothered to keep him safe. He received the gruff response of, “you have better chances of defeating Lord Ganon than me, boy.” Hyrule had considered the moblin a friend from that moment on, he barely knew anything about the task he faced, or what he had been gradually piercing together. He had simply been drawn by the old magic contained in the dungeons, the moblin filled in some of the blanks. Mostly he had told him of Ganon’s greatest fear, The Hero of Legend. Contrary to what he often said about growing up with the tales, he had known little of Hyrule when he had ventured into the land. It had been the gruff, scarred, old moblin who wove tales of Ganon’s greatest enemy that had caused Hyrule to learn about Legend. He had learned some more from the books that Dawn had given him to help him learn Hyrule’s written language. He mentally started calling the moblin Storyteller, since telling anyone that he’d hear stories from a grizzled old moblin and lived to tell the tale was preposterous. 

Hyrule watched as Legend approached the shadow, in attempts to calm him down, and Hyrule felt the dark magic swell. The shadow of Four snapped its head to look at Legend, and Hyrule was taken aback by his white eyes. Eyes that rapidly filled with color, red and blue. Fear and anger. It was striking how they were almost the opposite to Four’s eyes, deep gray that seemed to reflect the colors on his tunic depending on his mood. Hyrule shouted a warning to Legend when he felt the magic about to burst in panicked retaliation. Legend managed to take a step back, but that didn’t prevent him from being consumed by the burst of magic. Darkness consumed Legend’s form, but just when Hyrule feared the worst, light broke through from the mark on the back of Legend’s hand. 

Hyrule had to squint as his eyes the light blinded him, and when he managed to get a good look at the situation after the light cleared. He saw the shadow stumbling out the door to escape, with a small pink bunny bounding after it. “Legend, wait.” Hyrule shouted in attempt to get the pink bunny from running off into Four’s unfamiliar Hyrule. Even if Four’s era didn’t seem too dangerous on the surface, Legend was defenseless as a rabbit. 

“What happened?” Green asked, as he seemed to have finally awakened in the commotion. Red was rubbing the sleep from his eyes, Blue had also fallen to the floor but was far more awake, Vio seemed to be observing what may have changed in the room. Hyrule paused, thinking of the best way to explain that Four’s shadow had finally become conscious, but he was also goddess knows where, because he thought he had been revived by Ganon. “So, your shadow woke up, but he was disoriented and fled, Legend went after him, but neither of us know anything about your Hyrule.” Hyrule explained in a hurry. 

That brought all the Colors’ attentions to focus on him, Red looked like he was close to crying. Green looked determined though, “we should split up, I’ll go to the castle to get the help of the knights, then I’ll head to Mount Crenel. Vio if you could take Castor Wilds and the Wind Ruins. Red you check with the Minish around town, then head to the Minish Woods and Lake Hylia. Blue can check Lon Lon Ranch, Veil Falls, and the Village of the Blue Maiden.” The Colors all seemed to agree on their plan, but Hyrule quickly realized a problem.

“Where should I go? Or who should I go with? I don’t know what your era is like.” That seemed to at least stop the four of them to give some consideration to what Hyrule should be doing.

Vio gave the answer that he was least hoping to get, “you and Legend can sense where each other are by your magic, right? You should find him first.” Hyrule could only sigh, since he walked right into that answer. The problem was that Legend in rabbit form did not have the same amount of magic radiating off his as he usually did, and so he blended in very easily to the bright, warm magic that seemed to be abundant in Four’s era. Hyrule chose not to press the issue, as he watched the Colors depart to the various sections of this era’s Hyrule Green had listed off. Well, he wouldn’t get anything done standing around, waiting for something, so he picked a direction and started walking. 

Green traveled with Blue, Vio, and Red into Castle Town, since the best ways to get to every other area in Hyrule was through town. They double-checked their items to ensure that they each had everything they needed. Vio got their pegasus boots and bow, Blue got their mole mitts and hammer, Red got their fire lantern and gust jar, and finally Green got their Cane of Pacci, Roc’s Cape, and boomerang. The Roc’s Cape was given to Green so he could navigate the Cloud Tops after he finished checking Mount Crenel. They split the bombs they had on hand between each other, since it would be useful for them all to have some. Some time after they split, Ezlo had crafted them extra Ocarinas of Wind, so they could each call Zeffa to return to Castle Town. 

They parted with Red first, who went straight for the bakery, starting with the Minish there. Hopefully he didn’t spend most of their money on pastries, he supposed at least they wouldn’t have to worry about lunch if that happened. Blue and Vio were next, splitting away from him to head to opposite sides of town. Green knew that Vio didn’t particularly like Castor Wilds, none of them really did, but he was also likely the one who would get through the area the fastest. He also knew that Vio was the most determined out of all of them to find Shadow.

Green waved them goodbye as he headed north to Hyrule Field, and asked Blue to extend all their greetings to Erune for them. Blue grumbled, but agreed nonetheless. Blue wasn’t the best choice for going to the Village of the Blue Maiden, but Red was the absolute worst choice to got there after he had, albeit accidentally, almost burned down the village. There was a reason he was only allowed to have their fire rod under supervision, the flame lantern was much less likely to result in friendly fire. 

Nothing out of the ordinary presented itself on the way to the castle, just the few octorock and crows as usual. Though, when he entered the castle garden he was immediately called out by someone, “Four! It’s about time we saw you again, what’s the rush.” Green startled at being called, only to see Warriors and Wind approaching him. Wind had called him out, and Warriors seemed to be in a great mood, likely from sleeping in an actual bed. Wind squinted at his tunic, but couldn’t say anything before Warriors started talking.

“Thanks for telling the Royal family about us so we could stay the night, but what were you up too?” Warriors asked.

“Oh, that. Legend, Hyrule, and I got dropped into a dungeon that I hadn’t explored before. So, once we got to my home, we all kinda knocked out for the night. It was my Grandpa who passed on the message to my dad, who’s a knight.” Green answered. Wind seemed slightly annoyed at the idea that he missed out on a dungeon, but Warriors seemed like he was more concerned for all their well beings. “We’re fine, we were just tired afterward.” He assured. 

“Why is your tunic green?” Wind cut in before Warriors could continue with what would likely turn into banter, which Green didn’t really have the time for. He couldn’t help, but panic slightly at Wind noticing the solid color of his tunic, and Warriors seemed curious about the change too.

“Well, my normal tunic got burnt a little. So, I’m wearing this while the tailor fixes my usual ones. I have tunics in solid colors of my usual one, I just prefer that one.” Green covered hurriedly and decided to swap topics. “What about the others, did they make it to the castle safely?” The two thankfully allowed the topic change off his tunic. It wasn’t too surprising, there had been some remarks about his fashion choices when they had first met. Though, those comments ended quickly when Blue had taken over and threatened the sanctity of everyone’s kneecaps. 

“Everyone’s alright, we all met up last night, with some help of the knights.” Warriors paused thoughtfully, “Let me guess your dad is the captain that wears a red cape with blonde hair, blue eyes, and a bit of facial hair, he practically had to haul Wind to the castle.” Green chuckled, that sounded about right. His dad was a kind man, but he knew when to put his foot down. Green knew that from experience when he had gone through his ‘stuck-up and uncooperative’ phase. Having to work with three other versions of himself to beat Vaati, had broken him out of that phase rather quick.

“Sky went to town, since he was excited to see early Hyrule. Time, Twilight, and Wild caught wind of a ranch being nearby, so they went to see that.” Green wasn’t too surprised by that revelation. Sky would get along swimmingly with Red if they crossed paths in town. Blue, however, would likely be too focused on the task at hand to bother with conversation. Speaking of which, he needed to get a move on himself. He panicked to think of how to escape the conversation to go find his dad, or Dot, or King Daltus. 

“Where are Legend and Hyrule? Why were you in such a rush to get to the castle anyway?” He simultaneously wanted to thank and curse Wind for being so perceptive. Think, Green, surely you can come up with something without Vio’s help. Then he thought of Legend and Hyrule… maybe that could work.

“Legend and Hyrule stayed back at my house just in case, but my brother didn’t come home last night, so Grandpa was worried. I was coming to ask dad if he’s seem him.” Green answered in a rush, hoping desperately to avoid more questions.

“Your brother, what’s his name? Or what does he look like? Maybe we saw him if he’s here.” Warriors offered, in what was likely an attempt to appease his worries, but Green was desperately hoping to avoid those kinds of questions.

“Well, we look pretty alike, since we’re twins.” Green was really digging his own and Legend graves, hopefully Legend would at least let him borrow one of his shovels so they could dig themselves out faster. Warriors seemed a little gobsmacked at the idea of two of them having twins, oh how surprised he would be if he discovered they were in a ways quintuplets. Wind’s face twisted up in what Green could assume was suspicious curiosity. Well, he was already in this deep, “he takes after our mom though, so his hair is purple and he has blue eyes.” Green only knew what his mom looked like from pictures his grandpa and dad had of her, she did not have purple hair, but they didn’t need to know that. Green was pointedly avoiding using his name, especially since Shadow’s appearance would stand out enough. 

Warriors pressed his fist to his chin as he thought, “definitely haven’t seen anyone like that.” He shared a look with Wind who shrugged and shook his head. Green sighed in defeat, about to tell them that he would still ask his dad if he’s been seen anyway. His dad would pick up on who he was looking for, even if he had to be slightly vague with details, if Warriors and Wind decided to come along. Warriors once again dashed his hopes of escape, he was starting to see why Vio found them annoying at times. Woe of the hero’s nature to stick their noses into everything. “What’s his name? Perhaps your dad mentioned him.”

Sweet merciful Hylia, why wasn’t Vio in his place. He could actually lie convincingly. Green, however, was told that his face tended to form into s grimace whenever he tried to lie. Blue couldn’t make eye contact to save his life when he lied. Red… Red was actually a fantastic lier, though they tended to ignore that for their own sanity. He was a similar liar to Legend, twisting the truth with a dramatic flair. Vio was so deadpan, it was hard to tell for him. Green knew Wind would be onto him the moment he lied, and he would be an absolute menace about it too. So, Green accepted the grave he was digging himself, “his name is Shadow.”

Watching both their faces twist in confusion was so nerve wracking. He knew they both hadn’t heard the name from anyone, no one really mentioned the shadow that caused so much trouble. So, Green dug his grave deeper, “His name is, actually, Link, too. Just like Hyrule and Legend, but that was mostly ‘cause our mom passed when we were born. He got the nickname Shadow because he’s sickly, and tended to stay indoors or out of the sun when we were little.” Green tried so hard to keep his face from twisting up, but perhaps he could write it off as worry. Wind and Warriors seemed worried too when he mentioned Shadow being sickly, which wasn’t entirely untrue. He looked the part due to his gray skin, and he was also very weak to the light. 

Warriors sighed, “if I had a rupee for every Link I’ve met, who had a twin with a similar name, I’d have three rupees.” Warriors was likely adding himself to that list, and Wind snorted beside him. “It isn’t much, but it’s strange that it’s happened thrice.”

“That’s like pointing out that only three of us are right-handed.” Green added on, hoping to add evidence to both his and Legend’s situations. Wind and Warriors looked at him in confusion, and Green blinked back at them. “Don’t tell me you haven’t noticed that Sky, Twilight, and Wild are right-handed.” It certainly was odd why a majority of them were left-handed, especially considering the fact that Sky, as far as they knew, was the first hero. “Actually now that I think about it, with how different we all are is it really that odd that three of us happen to have twins with a similar name?” Green pressed, he wasn’t really expecting an answer with how Warriors looked flustered by the question, but Wind gave him a surprising stink eye.

“Why didn’t you tell us about your brother sooner?” The boy questioned, like he was onto a deeper conspiracy. Green wouldn’t be surprised if Wind somehow knew about Legend’s true appearance. The kid was a notorious eavesdropper and had a tendency to pickpocket when he thought others weren’t paying attention. It also wouldn’t surprise Green if somehow Time knew, the man seemed in on all their secrets. 

“Well, unlike Hyrule and Legend, Shadow never really joined in on my adventures… he did trick Vaati so on my third adventure so that we had a way to defeat him and Ganon.” Green left out how Shadow’s actions nearly cost him his life, but perhaps his tone conveyed what had happened well enough. Wind and Warriors looked concerned. “If you two want, you can help my dad and the other knights find him.” The two nodded and Green finally took the opportunity to find his dad.

After getting a heads-up from one of the maids, he found his dad talking with Dot and King Daltus. Green, already feeling ragged from his conversation with Warriors and Wind, threw all decorum out the window and decided to throw himself on the ground by his father. His dad and King Daltus expressed shock, but Dot was clearly holding back her laughter. Green’s dad, after realizing he was alright, sighed in exasperation, before dragging his limp form off the floor so that he was leaning against his leg that he was kneeling on. 

“Care to elaborate on why you’ve decided to enter the throne room with such dramatics, Green?” His father chided. Now both King Daltus and the princess were chuckling, they were both far to used to Link and his family. His dad wasn’t even that mad considering that he called him Green rather than Link, he reserved calling any of them Link for when they were in serious trouble. Mostly because they would all respond to Link otherwise. 

“Just had a long chat with Wind and Warriors, who don’t exactly know about our ability to split.” He paused, it wasn’t that they didn’t trust the other heroes with the information. It was mainly the concern about how they would react, the townsfolk still had trouble understanding their situation. Not that they could be mad at them for that, when they had been split by the Four Sword there had been the chaos of people being dragged into the dark world, Shadow pretending to be them slighting his position as their hero, and then there were an assortment of accidents that they had caused while arguing with each other. 

His family, the maidens, and the Royal Family had been extremely patient with him during the entire ordeal. The Minish had help in their own ways, of course, but they were magic creatures by nature, so they had no trouble in understanding the nature of how the Four Sword had changed them. They understood from the beginning that the Colors were all still Link, but they were their own individuals as well. He could see Dot and King Daltus share expressions of concern, but he waved them off. “We just haven’t found the right time to bring it up, more than anything. All of them, the heroes we’re traveling with, have their own secrets as well, sometimes they aren’t always the easiest thing to share.”

His father gave him a look of barely concealed pride, though it hadn’t strained their relationship much, Green always felt the vague concern that the fact that they turned down full knighthood had disappointed him. “As for why I’m really here… Shadow is back. He’s not a threat, so far, but he thought he was revived by Ganon so he fled. We don’t know where to, but we split up to cover as much ground as we could.” Dot came forward, with her palms held upward, Green stood to meet her. She grasped both his hands in hers, folding their hands together. 

There was a determined look in her eye, one that Green recognized easily. It was a look that made the princess, who wasn’t much taller than he was, seem like she was looking down on Ganon without the slightest bit of fear in her eyes. “We’ll find him. We will bring him home safely this time.” Green couldn’t resist hugging her. He and Dot had been friends since the moment they could walk, the King often joked that they had been inseparable since the moment they had met. In a way, Link was inclined to agree, but having met Sky and knowing about Sun had added a layer to his understanding about how truly inseparable they were.

“What have you four planned so far?” King Daltus inquired. Green knew that he would mobilize the troops in Hyrule to search for Shadow without leaving Castle Town defenseless. So Green told him how the four of them had split up to start with the four closest corners of Hyrule, then they would regroup and go from there. He also informed King Daltus how he had bluffed with the two heroes that he had encountered so far that Shadow was simply their brother. He hoped that maybe the story would prevent the other heroes from outright attacking Shadow as a potential enemy. 

So, they planned and Green failed to notice slipping away for a moment. When she returned, her hair was tied up in a high ponytail with a bow, and her dress was almost the same as before, where the skirt of her dress had been was a pair of loose pink travel pants. Green immediately knew what she had planned, but she interrupted him, “I’m coming with you. Who knows, I may be helpful in convincing Shadow that he has no dark entity to follow.” Her words lefts no room for argument, and the King didn’t even seem like he would argue with his daughter. 

Before they could leave, King Daltus called his attention, holding out his hand with a small object between his fingers with a smile on his face. “May it bring you some luck, son.” Green recognized the gesture anywhere, red kinstones were hard to come by, but granted higher rewards to those who found a match. Four always had an excess amount of kinstones on hand for such an occasion, so Green easily found a match for the gesture of the King’s kindness. The fragments fused easily, and Green was grateful for whatever small amount of luck it would grant him or his brothers. Both he and Dot said their farewells before setting out to Mount Crenel.

Red exited the bakery with his newly bought trove of sweets in tow. He just had to share some with Legend and Hyrule after they found Shadow. He had a short chat with the Minish in the bakery, even if they hadn’t seen anything since they were indoors, they still would have felt his presence. They had sensed some dark magic, but they had little idea on the direction it had headed. Red couldn’t blame them, it was likely scary for them to sense that kinda magic so close to their homes. Red took a bite of one of the croissants he bought, wondering if he should check with the old sage in the library first. He didn’t have much time to think about it when he bumped into someone.

He despaired the loss of the pastries as they slipped from his grasp and fell to the ground, but the person he bumped into was quick to react and saved his treats. Red was caught between apologizing and thanking the person profusely, then he realized who he bumped into. “Sky!” Sky seemed equally shocked to bump into him, but smiled sweetly and handed over his pastry haul nonetheless. He seemed to observe Red for a moment, which made Red realize, well, he was wearing red. 

Red hoped to distract him, by offering him a slice of fruit pie. “Thanks for saving them, I was planning on sharing with everyone when we met up.” Perhaps Sky could help him search around town, but how to explain Shadow, or he could just resort to being as vague as possible. He really didn’t want Shadow to get attacked, though, especially not with the Master Sword. Think Red, you don’t need Vio to come up with an alibi for you all the time. “I actually came into town to find my brother, who was running an errand on behalf of my Grandpa.”

“Your brother?” Sky seemed awestruck, understandably so. Four talked in a way that could hint at him having siblings, that was the side effect of the possibility of being able to be four places at once despite being one person. “Did something happen?” Sky sounded so downright concerned, and oh, Red wanted to hug him. Actually, he would probably accept that hug.

“Oh nothing bad happened, Grandpa just got some things mixed up, and I wanted to find him before he ended up being walked in circles.” Sky hummed, he too likely knew the feeling of getting sidetracked for far too long, all too well. Then he looked to the bakery behind Red, then to the bag of baked goods Red had. A confused, but playful smile graced his face. 

“You’re in a hurry to find your brother, but you have enough time to buy bread?” Sky asked with a bemused tone. Red couldn’t help, but puff out his cheeks in response.

He reached for the pie that he had given Sky, “if you’re so opposed to me buying pastries for my friends, then I’ll gladly take that back.” Fortunately for Sky, and unfortunately for Red, the older man didn’t have to move the pastry too far to have it out of Red’s reach. Red huffed, giving up his attempts to get the pastry back when Sky took a delighted bite out of the pie. Red put his hands on his hips and pretended to be only slightly upset with the situation. 

That was until Sky took another bite of the pie, only to recoiled back in shock as his teeth clattered against stone. Red was concerned for him, until he realized that he’d just bitten into a kinstone. Perhaps he should have warned him… well, it was too late for that. Red giggled as he watched Sky remove the blue kinstone with a shocked expression, only to turn his sights on him with a look of betrayal that had Red snorting. “It’s a kinstone.” He managed to get out between his laughter. “They cause good things to happen.”

Once Red gathered himself from his laughter, he realized that he had a match for the kinstone piece that Sky had found. He managed to grab the pair with one hand, by feel alone, the curved teardrop shape was hard not to find. He clicked Sky’s piece together with his own while Sky was still reeling with confusion. Then he grinned brightly, while Sky watched as the pieces turned to golden light before disappearing into the heavens. “Maybe we’ll find something lucky later. Anyway, I should get a move on to finding Shadow.”

“Shadow?” Sky interjected before he could run off to the library.

“My brother!” Red corrected himself, but cringed when he realized that Sky would just find that more confusing after hearing his name. “We’re kinda like Legend and Hyrule, but our mom passed when we were born, so we both ended up being named Link. Shadow got his nickname because he burns really easily in the sun, so he usually wears darker clothes with his hood always up, and though we look alike he has dark purple hair.” Red scrambled to cover himself, but couldn’t help but panic further that he likely was causing himself and the other Colors further trouble. 

Sky, however, smiled sweetly. The same kinda smile he had whenever Wind fell asleep against him, or when he thought about his home, or when he watched from the sidelines as Legend and Warriors bantered. Red really wanted to hug him, but Sky had something to say. “How about we split up and look for him together?” Sky offered, and Red finally gave in. He gently set down the bag of pastries, before wrapping his arms around Sky’s midsection and squeezing. Sky wheezed in complaint, but hugged back without saying a word. 

Sky reminded Red of why he truly thought Link had been split by the Four Sword. Vio was analytical, and was right most of the time, it was true that Vaati’s curse was part of the reason that they had split. Red, however, had a feeling part of it was because Link’s heart was too big. He loved Hyrule, his Grandpa, his dad, Dot, the Minish. He loved exploring, solving puzzles, making new discoveries. Finding the perfect match to a kinstone, helping people with even the most mundane tasks, fixing things with his skills. He loved a challenge, he liked something that showed he was getting stronger, so that he could protect the people he loves. Link had too big of a heart, so it had been split so he could share his love more with the people he cared for. That’s the reason that Vaati’s plan to use them to fight each other failed, because Link had also loved himself. 

Red and Sky grinned at each other, before Sky ruffled Red’s hair. “Alright, let me go before I suffocate.” He wheezed out and Red had to stop himself from laughing. It was easy for the others to forget that, despite his size, Four was surprisingly strong. That’s what happens when you’ve been had blacksmith training almost your entire life. “Let’s get to finding your brother.” Red nodded, and finally got to stowing away his pastry haul before darting off to the library. Sky chuckled as the smith darted off, supposing that it would be best for him to start in the opposite direction of town. He found it odd that Four decided to wear a solid red tunic for the day, especially with how fond he seemed of the one that was split in four, but he supposed they all needed a little change once in a while. 

Blue knew he should have gone to Lon Lon Ranch first, but he despised the thought of visiting the Village of the Blue Maiden the most. There was too many people that lived there, they were always horribly pushy, and they had the audacity to push all their problems on other people, namely Link, and then acted like they never helped. The only highlight of visiting was seeing Erune, she was kind enough to make it worth the visit. She was also kind enough to know that they weren’t entirely fond of her home, not that she blamed them, and came to visit them at the forge often. Gramps had basically adopted her as their little sister, and Link had always mourned being an only child. 

Blue was already dreading coming to the village, the moment he entered it. The biggest advantage he had was that his height mad him easily ignored by most villagers, that was also the biggest problem. It made being trampled by the unforgiving adults fairly easy, so Blue made his way around the edge of town. Avoiding as many people and potential problems as possible, sure he should be asking around for Shadow, but he could do that later. He sighed in relief when Erune’s little house at the edge of town came into view, though he paused for a moment when he saw Erune sitting on her porch, looking troubled.

She saw him as he approached, and got up with her doll in hand. He felt a slight bit of fury that the adults in town may be pressuring her to give up the doll again. It didn’t matter if she was “too old” for the doll, what mattered was how much she cherished the doll. Four felt a kinship with her, simply because despite the fact that people in Castle Town knew how old he was, he was still often mistaken for a child. He was too short, he looked too young, he should act his age if he wanted to be treated like a teenager. Link had once remarked that he should simply grow a beard, then people would treat him like an adult… Dot had threatened to break into his house in the middle of the night to cut it off. He knew that Gramps would let her in too.

“Blue! What brings you here?” Erune asked, she looked around for his brothers, and Blue shook his head to tell her that they weren’t here. 

“They said hello, but we’re looking for Shadow.” She looked shocked, and Blue held his hands out to stop her so that he could explain further. “With the odd monsters that have been showing up recently, we’ve been traveling with other heroes from various times in history. One of them, had a friend that managed to figure out how to bring Shadow back. Shadow was a little out of it when he managed to reform and fled. We split up to look for him.” Blue explained, and Erune looked concerned. So, she hadn’t seen him, Blue couldn’t say he was too surprised, there were many places Shadow could hide, and he would think the most likely place would be the dark world. That would be best for them all to explore together, for now it was best to cover as much ground as possible. 

“It’s alright that you haven’t seen him, we’re just trying to look in as many places as possible before working together on the rest of the places he could be, we also got the knights helping.” Blue reassured her, with his arms crossed. He looked keenly at Erune, “Anyway, don’t tell me those blasted adults are telling you to giveaway old Rosie, again?” Blue probably looked like he was moments away from charging into town to berate every person he crossed paths with, and honestly he was very close. It wasn’t like it wouldn’t be the first time he had done exactly that. 

Erune didn’t look embarrassed like usual, though, instead she had a nostalgic look on her face. “Actually, I was thinking that perhaps someone else could use her more than me.” Blue opened his mouth to respond, but Erune continued speaking before he could. “I still love her, but I have more people keeping me company now. I have you, Grandpa Smith, and Princess Zelda. I think that someone could use having Rosie’s company more than me.” Blue was surprised with how sure she seemed with the decision.

“You’re really that sure, huh?” He said, still slightly gobsmacked by the situation. He supposed it had been two years since they had originally met, though she was taller than him, like Dot. He still tended to see them both as younger sisters, he was simply used to being shorter than most people. Erune nodded in response to his question and Blue smirked in response, “who knows, maybe Shadow could use Rosie’s company?” Blue joked, causing Erune to shove him in response. Blue only laughed at her attack, feigning injury. 

That was until Blue heard someone shout, in what sounded like them being they were being attacked. Blue turned to where the shout came from, and wasn’t expecting to see Twilight trying to remove beetles from himself. Beetles were hardly a threat, they could only harm Four when they were Minish sized, but they made it incredibly difficult to move around. Which was a problem when other monsters were involved. As it turned out, other monsters were involved, a pair of Keatons were approaching Twilight, silently with their daggers drawn. 

Blue didn’t think, he rushed to help Twilight. He ran over to the taller hero, grabbing the man’s arm to pull him out of the way of the Keaton. The foxes, however, were charging towards the both of them. So, Blue acted on instincts, turning his back to Twilight and leaning his weight into his stomach. He pulled Twilight forward, and threw the man’s weight over his shoulder. He wheezed as he hit the ground, the beetles attached to him flew from the impact, and so Blue drew his sword and spun. The beetles died on impact of his sword, and the Keatons growled as they were hit.

Blue slashed the closest one, causing it to fall, the other attempted to flee. Blue ran after it, rolling and slashing at it ankle, and it too fell. He turned back to Twilight, who was still on the ground, likely winded from being thrown. Blue supposed he should apologize for that, but it was better than him getting stabbed in the back. He walked back over to Twilight as Erune also approached, to see if Twilight was alright. Blue put his hands on hips and looked down on Twilight. 

“Are you done playing dead, or do I need to haul you back to my home?” Blue questioned and Erune elbowed him in the side, before asking if Twilight was alright.

Twilight let out a breathy chuckle, rubbing a hand on hid chest. “I’m good, I just wasn’t expecting to get my sorry hide thrown by someone half my height.”

Blue snorted, “You’re welcome.” Which he received another elbow in the gut for. When the four of them merged again, they would only have one person to blame for their sore side. “Alright, you’ve laid on the ground long enough. Up you get.” Blue said as he reached out to grab Twilight’s hands, the man chucked as he waved off Blue’s hands. 

“I think you’ve done enough for me today, and it’s not like you’d get me far up anyway.” Blue waited until he was upright, just so that he could push the man down again. Twilight laughed and fell over easily, a good-natured older brother response. Blue huffed, but allowed Twilight to get up on his second attempt of standing. 

“Twilight, this is an old friend, Erune. Erune, this is one of the guys I’m traveling with, Twilight.” Blue huffed out a quick introduction, and Twilight smiled at Erune in response. Blue could tell that he was easily going to treat her just like the kids in his own village, Four and Wind were often treated the same way by him. Which wasn’t a bad thing, but it could be annoying since it could often lead to the older hero coddling them. 

Then Twilight’s eyes caught the doll in Erune’s hand, and he got a fond smile on his face. “Well, ain’t that quite the doll. Perhaps while I’m here I’ll have to look for one for my little sister.” 

Erune looked at him in surprise, “your little sister?”

“Yep, she’s just starting to walk. Soon, she’ll be causing terror all over our little village. We don’t have dolls that fancy, as far as I’ve seen where we live. So, I may as well look into something while I’m here. It’ll make a good birthday present.” Twilight reminisced, and Blue realized that the reason that Twilight coddled him and Wind, was mainly because he missed his family. Yeah, that wasn’t gonna stop Blue from giving him shit for doing it. 

Blue knew he was fishing for information on the doll’s maker, but Blue had no idea on any doll makers. Erune’s doll was really the only one that he’d notably seen, but then again it’s not as if he’d gone out of his way searching for someone with that profession. Erune looked at her doll in contemplation, and Blue knew what she was considering. He nudged her in the side to get her attention, before having a silent conversation with her, and she smiled reassuringly. 

“Mr. Twilight, would you like to take Rosie, as a gift for your sister?” Erune asked, much to Twilight’s surprise and Blue glared at him, while waiting for his response. Twilight kneeled down to be eye to eye with Erune.

“Are you sure you want to give her to me? Seems like she’d awfully important to you.” Twilight was nice to offer her a chance to change her mind, but part of Blue knew that she was set on this. Blue also knew that the little Luci, would likely adore the doll when she got old enough. Honestly Blue wouldn’t be surprised if Twilight hadn’t gotten cute little dresses for her in Warriors’ Era, but then again Twilight was a highly practical ranch hand. Yeah, no he definitely had at least one cute dress stashed away for his little sister. 

“I’m really sure. If you had asked me a few years ago, I would have hesitated, but I have people I can talk to if I get lonely now.” Erune reassured, and Twilight took the doll from her as if it were a sacred treasure. It may as well be with, they were both going to have to find a way to keep it safe, because who knows when they would get back to Twilight’s era. 

Now that Blue thought about it, Blue would have expected to find Twilight exploring Lon Lon Ranch in his era, rather than all the way out here. So, he decided to bring it up, “what are you even doing way out here, Twilight?” The man looked embarrassed.

“Well, the Old Man, Wild, and I were out looking for the ranch that we heard about. Some odd monsters showed up, we got separated, and I figured finding any civilization would be the best bet at getting any information.” He rubbed the back of his head in what was likely instinct, something that Green commonly did when he was in a similar situation. Blue felt pity for him, since the Village of the Blue Maiden would likely provide him with no answers unless he was used to busy towns, with people who wanted nothing to do with anyone. 

“I’m headed back to the Ranch after this, so I can show you the way there, without you getting lost again.” Blue offered with his arms crossed, then looked to Erune. “Thanks for keeping Gramps company while I’ve been gone, hopefully we can figure out what’s causing all these problems, so I don’t have to keep worrying about the old man overworking himself.” Blue sighed, and Erune chuckled, she was far too used to his standoffish behavior. He could feel Twilight shooting him a questioning, if not teasing, gaze that he was pointedly ignoring. 

“It was good to see you while you were back, though hopefully the others will have time to stop by to say hello before you leave.” Blue hoped they could as well, but it wasn’t as if they would turn her away if she decided to visit. The Erune’s expression brightened and she dug into one of her dress pockets. “I almost forgot, but I meant to show you if you ever visited, since you always have a match.” She presented a blue kinstone piece, and she was right, they always had a match to a kinstone. 

The pieces fused and they watch with a smile as the light from the match dispersed, “hopefully that’ll bring you some extra luck on your adventure.” Blue was sure it would help, even if only a little. Kinstones had always helped him in their own little ways, but to Blue it was mainly the thought behind them that counted the most. He said his goodbyes to Erune and walked to lead Twilight to Lon Lon Ranch. 

Twilight easily kept stride with him, and Blue could tell he was mulling over teasing him. “She’s cute.” There it was, Blue sighed. He did like Erune, much like he liked Dot, but he had other things to worry about. Especially, when he was technically part of one person. Not that they were against each other pursuing other things from each other in life, it was simply that managing those things became very difficult when you weren’t four people.

So Blue counted his teasing with snark, “wow, it’s almost like you have eyes.” Twilight huffed nervously. “Erune is great, but we’re still kids. Got our whole lives ahead of us and all that, so there’s no point rushing into something.” Blue cast a glance at Twilight, who looked surprised by his maturity. Vio wasn’t the only one of them that could have moments of maturity, but considering his age, it was always surprising to older people how mature they could be. That’s what happens when you’re forced to sort out your problems by dealing with four different versions of yourself. 

Twilight hummed, “I guess I get that, I always thought I’d settle down with my friend Ilia when I was younger, but” he paused, trying to put his thoughts together, in some coherence. 

“Your adventure happened, you got smacked in the face with the world’s troubles, and keeping some things the same seemed nice when faced with so much changed.” Blue answered vaguely, and Twilight nodded dumbly in answer. “I get the feeling we all get that in some way, we’re just ass at talking about it.” That caused Twilight to laugh in surprise more than anything, well at least that solved the weird conversation tone. 

“I’ve got a few other things I need to do aside from what my visit to Lon Lon Ranch, so I hope you don’t mind me leaving you there.” Blue stated, though, Twilight would be helpful to have around, and could be level-headed in most instances. He tended to be a little too stab-happy when it came to potential enemies, which would be a potential problem if they did find Shadow. He was on the fence about Shadow, but he deserved a chance at life after what he’d done to help them. 

“Wait, Lon Lon Ranch? Like, Time’s Lon Lon Ranch? Isn’t your era before his?” Blue stopped in his tracks, and he really wanted to just say that perhaps the name of the ranch had stuck for goddesses know how long between their times. Then he remembered the names of the owner of the ranch and his daughter… Talon and Malon. The same as in Time’s era. Surely, it was just a coincidence, it had to be. Just people with the same names as their potential ancestors… who also happened to look the same as their ancestors. 

Blue was very aware that he was perhaps standing a little too still in his brain melting contemplation. Is this why Legend just pushes things out of his head, rather than thinking about it for too long? One thing was certain is Blue was going to have a major headache to push on his brothers when they met. He threw his hand in the air and yelled into the sky, “why does time travel have to be so damned weird?!” Twilight laughed, and Blue stomped off in the direction of the ranch, Twilight could get lost to the wilds of his era for all he cared. He could always change into a wolf to follow his scent. Blue ignored the sound of his wheezed laughter as he attempted to catch up with him.

Violet entered the Castor Wilds with a mild look of distaste, he was not looking forward to exploring the swamp. There were some shortcuts they had opened up on their first adventure that allowed them to traverse without having to get through the murky waters. For the rest of it, you needed pegasus boots. He was about to activate his boots to cross the first patch of swamp, when a noise from the north caught his attention. Instead, he found himself trying to pull the poor fool who attempted to cross the swamp out of the waters that were attempting to consume him. 

Violet managed to pull the person on solid land, with some effort, he doubted scolding them would add anything to the lesson they already learned about the swamp. Then his eye’s caught the square object at the person’s waist, and that prior thought flew out the window. He sighed as he caught his breath, and pinched his nose in a move reminiscent of Time and Twilight. “Wild, what, pray tell, were you thinking?”

Wild at least had the decency to look ashamed, “honestly, the swamps in your era look a lot less muddy than the ones in mine?” Vio looked at him deadpan as he shrugged after his explanation. He wasn’t wearing his usual tunic, but a skin-tight red suit with ornate silver decorations, that Vio recognized as Zora make. Though, he appeared to be wearing earrings inlaid with opal instead of the usual topaz.

“You can’t swim through the swamp, so just go back to town. I’ve got something to look into at the Wind Ruins past this area.” Vio didn’t feel like explaining further, much less creating any potential risk of Wild finding out he wasn’t Four, at least not exactly. 

Wild looked surprised, “I can still come with and help you out.” Wild sounded so sure of that fact that Vio’s curiosity won out over logic. He cocked an eyebrow at Wild, who grinned before pulling his slate off his waist. He pointed the back at the water, as if he were aiming his camera, and with a click of a button a blue pillar of ice rose out of the swamp water. “Cryonis. Works on any body of water.” Vio was definitely found that interesting, and he was aware that he was slightly corned, because insisting that Wild return to Castle Town would raise more questions.

“Why are you even attempting to explore Castor Wilds?” Vio questioned.

“Why are you wearing only purple?” Wild countered, and Vio couldn’t help glaring at him. “Sorry, Violet.” Wild corrected with a chuckle.

“I could ask you the same question with your current armor, why red? Since, blue seems to be more common for you. I have tunics in all the colors of my main one, as you could imagine, I used to wear green a lot.” Vio said with a slight bit of humor, but he wondered if it would come across in his tone. Red always said he was bad with adding tone to his voice, it’s why he and Blue got into verbal scraps often. 

Wild chuckled nervously and held his hands up in mock surrender, “I’m only here because I got lost.” That wasn’t too surprising. “I was looking into the ranch your dad mentioned with Time and Twilight, but now I’m here.” He shrugged with an unbothered look on his face, and Vio almost wondered how he managed to get here and potentially miss Castle Town in the process. But then again, terrain was more of an optional roadblock for their cook. 

“As for the armor, it’s Zora armor. The blessing the Great Fairies put on it help make swimming faster.” Then, Wild got a quiet reminiscent look on his face. The look that he got when he remembered something from the past that he knew so little about. “It was made by the Zora champion for me, originally it was blue, but red… it seemed fitting to remember her by.” Vio wasn’t sure how to respond to that.

“Honestly, I’m looking for an old friend at the moment. He was an enemy at first, more trouble than an actual threat, but he sacrificed himself to help us beat Vaati and Ganon. Something with the corrupted monsters managed to bring him back, but he was confused and fled.” Wild looked shocked at his admission, but it would be best for him to know the truth if he was going to help. He knew what Wild was going to ask next, so he continued, “he looks like me, but with gray skin, purple hair, and red eyes. He can make himself look more like a Hylian though, but that doesn’t cause too much change.”

Wild nodded, before taking a running jump to the first block of ice he’d created. Vio was almost concerned at how he would possibly manage to climb such a slick surface, but it seems that the ice that his slate “magically” created was an easy surface for Wild to climb. Not that he would outright mention the questionable magic qualities of the Shiekah Tech to Wild himself, even if he too questioned it. He knew that there were people in Wild’s era who would defend the technology’s magical qualities. 

Vio waited until Wild had created another block to jump too, in an odd form of icy stepping stones that he hoped he never had to personally experience. Wild looked back with concern to see if he was following, and so Vio activated his pegasus boots, running so fast and lightly over the murky waters as if it were solid stone. Vio turned back to see Wild looking at him stunned, with his slate in hand and his mouth hanging open. He recovered quickly enough, making his way over on his summoned ice blocks, before taking one final long jump onto solid land. “So, those are pegasus boots? I need a pair of those.” 

Vio stared at him, “no, no you don’t.” Wild laughed as Vio turned away to venture further into Castor Wilds, climbing up the vines that lead to the higher parts of the area. Wild followed him with his usual ease, but at least this path would allow them to avoid most of the swamp.

Vio could feel Wild’s eyes on him when they got to the upper portions of the swamp. “Is your hair longer than usual?” Wild questioned, and he wasn’t wrong. Vio had grown his hair out more than the other colors, he also had a paler complexion and was thinner and taller than the other. Vio had taken off what was usually worn as their headband to tie back his hair in a low ponytail, he was wishing that he had tied it into a bun to make the length less noticeable. Green was the closest in appearance to Four, only slightly shorter than they were together and with a sunnier complexion. Blue had the shortest hair, usually tying it up in a way that Red said made him look like a turnip, he was also the shortest and stockiest of them all. He spent most of his time hammering out metal when they forged, and terrorizing the knights otherwise. Red had at least convinced him into a less destructive hobby of knitting somehow. Red was not noticeable taller than Blue, his sunny skin muttered with many freckles, and compared to them all his features were softer and rounder. 

“I just used my headband to tie back my hair, I don’t want to be washing mud out of it later.” Vio responded, hoping his flat tone would cover his lie. Wild hummed in understanding, his hair was the longest out of all of theirs, though Vio suspected that Legend was close competition from the hair he’d noticed that was hidden under his hat. They headed from one platform to the next, Wild keeping his head constantly moving. It was his usual method of alertness, that Vio found commendable. He had never entirely needed to be that alert, relying on the other Colors to fill in for his blind spots. He supposed the only times they had truly needed to be that alert was during their first adventure, when they had limited time to save Dot, fighting through hordes of darknuts only to face Vaati. 

“What’s with the statue?” Wild questioned, his bow held facing the ground. Even though he didn’t seem ready for battle by how relaxed he appeared, Vio knew that he could fire off arrows with alarming speed. Vio cast a glance at the large statue that had a large, singular eye. It was barely visible on the next platform, that they wouldn’t need to go to. Normally, Vio would be more efficient with searching for a person, but Shadow was a beacon for dark magic, and Vio had learned from Ezlo how to sense magic to some degree. He could sense the infected monsters, not as well as Hyrule or Legend, but he could sense well enough that he was sure that he would tell if Shadow was nearby. 

“It’s an eyegore statue, they’re basically just statues most of the time. They won’t move unless you shoot them in the eye. We don’t need to go that way, so there’s no point in bothering with it, its only weakness is its eye anyway.” Vio explained, as he began to climb down, so that he could take the shortcut to the Wind Ruins. 

“What’s with monsters and eye weak spots?” Wild asked, Vio figured it was a rhetorical question, but found slight humor in answering him.

“I mean, I don’t like the thought of getting dirt in my eyes, monsters just have massive eyes that are convenient targets for arrows.” Wild looked mildly mortified by the though, then Vio realized that he likely hadn’t considered it much. With the scarring Wild had around the one half of his face, Vio often wondered how well he could see with that eye, there was little point in asking though. The only competition for Wild’s eyes was the hawk-like mask that Twilight had. 

They walked through the gap in the fencing that where Four had filled in a hole in the ground with a rock that had been blocking the path, when they were 10. Across the swamp once more, and Vio allowed Wild a moment to admire the statues that had been left behind by the Wind Tribe. He seemed particularly curious about the circular indentations in them that had been left in them when the kinstones that had once been resting there had found their matches. “Those once had kinstones halves in them, once w- I found the matches for them, they opened the path to the wind ruins.” 

“What happened to the stones?” Wild wondered, more to himself than anything. He took a step back to take a picture of the statues, before approaching Vio while fiddling with his slate. 

“They disappeared, all kinstones do when they find a magic. Their magic is dispersed and there’s a chance you’ll find a treasure later, or uncover a hidden passage, or it simply grants you good luck.” Wild looked enthralled by the idea, while Vio was thinking that it was an absolute pity that the others knew so little about kinstone and the Minish. 

Getting through the Wind Ruins was much more straight forward, aside from activating one armos statue so that it would move out of the way of the path it was blocking. At least, the path it was blocking for Vio, since Wild was far more keen on climbing the wall up. The next armos could be ignored, since a shortcut had been opened up years ago. Wild paused as they climbed up to the highest ladder, staring at the beanstalk that grew into the clouds above. “Where does that go?” Vio chuckled at the obvious answer to the question, simply by how the top of the sturdy vines disappeared into the clouds. 

“It goes into the sky, believe it or not, but there’s people who live up there. They have a temple in the cloud tops and everything.” Vio mused.

“Sky lives up there too.” Wild countered, and Vio supposed he was right. Judging by the Cook’s body language, he was barely holding himself back from exploring. Vio sighed, he wasn’t particularly fond of height, that was more of Green’s thing. He preferred to have his feet on solid ground, it wasn’t entirely thrilling for him when Vaati’s Tower of Wind’s collapsed from under their feet when Vaati was defeated. Vio never had the opportunity to find the mirror in the chaos and they had to get Dot out safely too. 

Nonetheless, Vio took the initiative and started climbing up the beanstalk. He made his way up a good way, before looking down at Wild, who was still on the ground looking gobsmacked. “Are you coming?” Wild blinked before nodding and starting to climb with his usual ease. Vio climbed up with no trouble, pausing to see how Wild was following. The Cook paused to rest every now and then, but Vio supposed he could also be admiring the scenery. Eventually, Vio was left waiting at the top of the stalk, standing in the stable cloud cover at the top, admiring the view of Hyrule that stretched out below them. 

When Wild did reach the top, he was out of breath, before looking at him alarmed. Right, he supposed it was unusual that he was standing on a cloud, he gestured at Wild to join him, stomping at the cloud to show that it was stable. Wild shook his head and laughed nervously, “remind me to never complain about you being bad at climbing ever again.” He took out his slate to get a picture of the view, and Vio chuffed at him.

“Climbing vines is a lot easier than sticking to a wall like a frog.” Wild laughed at his bland humor. Unexpectedly, he let go of the vine completely and fell to the earth below. Vio was worried about him for a moment before reminding himself that Wild had his paraglider. He sighed and pitched the bridge of his nose, before he began his climb down. When he reached the bottom, he shot a glare at Wild, who was sitting on the stone wall waiting for him. 

The continued through another activated armos statue, before the next became a problem. This one only moved to block the path ahead when it was approached, Vio was about to warn Wild to keep back so that he could deactivate the armos as usual. Before he could do, so Wild backed up to where the armos would move back to its prior position, before locking it in place with his slate. He grinned widely before sprinting to get into the path it had been blocking, Vio couldn’t help the small bit of envy he felt before he followed. 

The path was blocked behind them by the monster, but leaving the Wind Ruins was easier than getting to them. So, it wasn’t long before they made it to the stairs that led to the already explored dungeon. Vio could sense a faint trail of dark magic, and turned to Wild, “Well, I suppose now is a good time to get you used to dungeons. This one was already explored by me as a kid, but I feel like something may be lurking in there again.” Wild nodded with a firm but exited expression, so they ventured forward. 

Legend was royally fucked, he had run after the Shadow in an attempt to stop him from slipping away to a corner of the world to hide. He was so caught up on chasing Four’s Shadow that he hadn’t really realized that he’d been transformed. Now he was in the middle of some forest in Four’s era and he didn’t know the exact way back to Four’s house. He sat on his back legs and rubbed his face with his paws, trying to sort out his disappointment in himself. 

He crouched down on his four legs and contemplated the situation he was in, he didn’t exactly know how safe the woods were in Four’s era. He kept his ears pricked to listen for any sound, which is how he caught the smallest sound of rustling in the grass. Too loud to be an insect, but too small to be a monster. He carefully crawled through the undergrowth to investigate the source of the noise. To his surprise, he found little mouse-like people that looked a lot like Four when he shrunk to a small size. Minish, his mind supplied, that’s what Four called them.

One of the little people noticed him, and chittered with excitement. It sounded vaguely like a language, small and squeaky, it bounced against his ears oddly, causing them to twitch. The Minish who noticed him was covered in reddish stains that Legend quickly realized that it was berry juice, considering the small fruit that the Minish offered him. He didn’t recognize what type of berry it was, but considering that he had run off from Four’s house so early in the morning that he hadn’t eaten yet. Considering that it was a creature that Four trusted, Legend took the berry carefully from the Minish’s paw. 

The Minish chittered with joy as he chewed on the fruit, the others with it joining in on seeing him. They slowly approached, offering him fruit. Legend begrudgingly accepted pets from them, it was the least he could do in exchange for the food they were offering. They chattered with excitement as they pet his soft fur, their strange language chittering against his ears, in a way he couldn’t understand. He found himself laughing at their excitement, it reminded him of little kids would get excited over the littlest things. Their plant made clothes and little paws were all covered in berry juices. 

A quiet sound caught Legend’s attention, it was from something far bigger than any of them, but eerily quiet. As if whatever caused the slight noise, was intentionally being quiet. Oddly enough, it didn’t cause the hairs on the back of his neck to rise and it didn’t seem to bother the Minish either. He wanted to write the noise off as something that wouldn’t bother him, but at the same time, his curiosity was nudging him into looking into what caused the noise. He didn’t have much time to decide if he wanted to look for the source of the noise or not, since the cheerful chattering of the Minish died down and whatever was moving so quietly approached. 

Legend stood on his hind limbs with his ears upright to get a better idea of where whatever was coming was approaching from. The Minish also seemed to be alert to, but much like him, they showed little fear on what was coming. Fae creatures had a natural sense to people and creatures with ill intentions, and Legend trusted their senses. He was not, however, expecting to have a large hand scoop him up, with a loose grip on his torso. “Hey!” He couldn’t help himself from shouting in alarm as he was lifted, and the ground beneath his feet disappeared. 

Whoever lifted him up paused for a moment, “Legend?” A voice questioned, and Legend had to shut his eyes as he was turned to face whoever picked him up. And he thought standing at the top of the Tower of Hera and looking down was disorienting. He opened his eyes to meet with the single eye, and marked face of Time. He doubted staying silent would fool the man after he had shouted, and it wasn’t like rabbits were commonly pink either. That and Time seemed to be a horribly perceptive bastard by default.

“I don’t exactly appreciate being picked up.” Legend gripped, putting a paw to up to Time’s face. The man’s face quirked with a slight smile at his lack of intimidation. Legend fumed, but had to close his eyes as Time moved him again, thankfully to a more secure position. “Can you stop doing that!” Legend shouted as he fought the dizziness of being moved. Then Time pressed his fingers into the grove of his neck and shoulders, applying the smallest form of pressure as he scratched his neck.

Legend found himself fighting himself from melting into the arm holding him against Time’s chest. The man chuckled, “so, how exactly did you end up like this little one?” Legend huffed at the nickname, but it changed to a churring purr as Time massaged his neck. Curse Time and his unusual fondness for rabbits. 

“Dark magic, it was an accident more than anything. You know about Four’s shadow?” The man seemed surprised, but hummed in confirmation. The rumble of his confirmation reverberated against Legend’s side. “Well, with the help of Ravio, I managed to help bring him back, but he was a little confused about the whole ordeal. I tried to stop him, but as you may guess that didn’t go well.” Legend sighed, and Time’s hand returned to scratch behind his ears.

“Well, although this forest is young and rather calm, I think it would be best if we got you back to town at the very least. Do you have a way to turn back?” Time mused, and Legend realized that his things were still either at Four’s house or with Hyrule. 

“My moon pearl, it’s likely at Four’s house, but he’s likely looking for his shadow. Hyrule is likely helping to some degree, and though his Grandpa is nice, I doubt that he’ll just let us in and look through my things.” Legend sighed, other than that, he didn’t really have any other options.  

“Well, then perhaps we’ll just have to wait. I’m sure that the others may have a solution.” Legend knew he was referring to Twilight, but he had no idea how Twilight would be helpful considering how his demented pine cone potentially worked. At least he was much safer with Time, rather than on his own as a rabbit in a Hyrule he was unfamiliar with. 

Legend sighed, “it's not like I have any decision in the matter. I’m safer with you as it stands.” Time hummed again, he moved silently through the forest, it was almost as if he belonged in the forest. Perhaps he did, judging by how fond he seemed of the woods in his own time. Legend felt Time’s gaze on him and looked up to see the white eye gazing on him, he wouldn’t be surprised if somehow the deity could see him through that eye. 

“Though, I suppose you have more difficult decisions to consider.” Legend glared up at his blank eye, and was about to ask him what he was possibly referring to, but the man continued without his prompting. “I had to rely on the courage of others to succeed on my second adventure, and I grew reliant on their strengths for a number of years afterward. To the point that my reliance left their mark.” Legend didn’t have to be a genius to know that he was referring to the deity’s marks on the scarred half of his face, but he wondered what his intentions were with this entire conversation. “Sometimes the hardest choice a person can make is being themselves.” 

Legend froze, so Time was aware that he and Hyrule weren’t siblings. Legend wanted to argue, to deny what Time was saying, because it wasn’t as if he wasn’t being himself when he was with them. But… Legend had changed, he’d changed the moment that he woke up in the middle of the ocean with the Windfish flying over his head. He had known that from the moment that Fable begged him to stop adventuring, when he tried to heed he plea by taking up an apprenticeship as a blacksmith. When Hyrule had been threatened again, Legend couldn’t just lay his sword down and pretend that Hyrule wasn’t in danger. 

Legend could hardly remember what it was like being the foolhardy kid that once dreamed of being a strong knight, like his ancestors, like his uncle. The first slight had been finding his uncle bleeding to death, but he had fixed that after wishing of the Triforce. For a time, exploring Holodrum and Labrynna had reawakened his interests, his curiosity for exploration. Koholint had seemed the same way at first, but he just had to read that damn mural, he had to wake the Windfish. Then came Lorule, where the people wanted as much to do with him as he wanted with them, and Ravio who was good company, but was only in Hyrule temporarily. Hytopia, despite how absurd it had been, was fun and he was grateful to have shared that adventure with Ravio and Fable.

Now he was once again on a mission to save the world, nothing out of the ordinary. He had chosen his fun for this adventure in the form of pranking other heroes to believe that he was Hyrule’s twin, but he still couldn’t shake the realities of the situation. Hyrule would be in trouble whenever they were in his era, so the least he could do was divert some attention for him… but did that truly require not telling the truth to the others. Part of the reason he didn’t want to tell them was because of how much hope they all still had, something that had worn away in him over the years. There was no glory in being the Hero of Legend, only resignation to the hand fate had dealt him and everything that came with. The other part was the tiny part of him that still wished for normality, that reveled in the joy of being not truly known as the “hero.” The inner child that took joy in playing harmless pranks with a like-minded boy, who was far too humble for a hero. 

Legend hadn’t realized that Time had remained silent while he stewed in his thoughts until the noise caused by the bustle of Castle Town assaulted his ears. He flatted them against his body and realized that Time was fending off a cat that was far too curious at what he happened to be holding. Legend was incredibly appreciative that Time’s height put him far out of reach of the creature’s claws. Until Sky called the Old Man’s attention and he was soon assaulted by Sky insistence on petting him. He would have to get the Old Man back for his ultimate betrayal later, preferably when he had thumbs again, for now Sky did not need to know he was a rabbit. 

Hyrule knew he was supposed to be helping the Colors find their Shadow, but he really couldn’t believe how much Hyrule had changed over the centuries. Though he supposed his era wasn’t the best frame of reference. In other words, he was lost. Horribly lost. Perhaps not completely, since if he simply walked back in the direction he came long enough, he would potentially find civilization. Something led him this way, his instincts told him that there was something in the direction he was going. He wanted to believe it was Four’s shadow, but the part of him that was constantly hunted thought otherwise.

He trudged on carefully, until he came to a dais that once supported a tower. What remained of the tower seemed to scrape against the bottom of the clouds, and Hyrule could easily imagine that when it was in one piece that it would be close to touching the heavens themselves. There stood a figure at the base of the tower that Hyrule could have easily mistaken for the old man that had given him his first sword, if not for how odd his hands looked curled around his staff or that animal-like shape of his face. Hyrule thought he looked a lot like the creatures the Colors looked like when they shrunk, but this one was obviously old. 

His hair was long and white both in the back and front, almost covering his green robes. The only thing Hyrule thought was distinctive about him was the bun that sat coiled at the top of his balding head. The oddly large Minish hit his staff to the ground, then turned to where he was hiding, speaking sharply. “Are you going to stay hiding there forever? Youngsters these days have no decorum in introducing themselves.” His voice was snappy and demanding, in a way that reminded him of Impa when she tried to get him to bathe for the first time. 

Hyrule was embarrassed to admit that he jumped out of the bushes at being directly addressed by the old Minish, but he was also startled to meet his bead-like black eyes. “Umm… I’m Link.” The old Minish stared at him critically, his dark eyes made it hard to tell exactly what he was thinking. Hyrule realized that introducing himself as Link was likely a bad idea if he knew Four, but then again, introducing himself as Hyrule probably wouldn’t be much better. “And you are?” He attempted to redirect. 

The old man chuffed, “Well, I can tell you aren’t lying. I never thought I’d live to see that boy reincarnated.” Hyrule was startled by how quickly the old Minish caught on to who exactly he was, and it seemed he knew Four too. He stamped his staff on the ground, “Since you don’t know, I’m a renown Minish craftsman, Ezlo. I sensed trouble stirring here, and was concerned it could be someone attempting to bring back Vaati.” That didn’t sound good, and Hyrule could sense residual dark magic lurking around the tower, both old and new. “Seems, you sensed the same. Well then boy, since you’re here, shall we find the source of that magic?”

Hyrule nodded, then he stared at the Ezlo and realized that though the Minish was his size, he likely wouldn’t be much assistance for any monsters they came across. So Hyrule would have to defend him the entire time they explored the tower, he supposed it wasn’t much of a problem, he had escorted a boy home in a world full of monsters in his own time. It would make exploring much more difficult, though. Perhaps Ezlo thought the same thing because before his eyes the old Minish shrunk down to what was likely his usual size. Hyrule chuckled as he picked up the tiny creature, “and here I thought you were just a large Minish.”

Ezlo scoffed as he was placed on Hyrule’s shoulder, “Who do you think taught Link how to shrink down to our size in the first place? I would get him to help, but it’s hard to keep track of that boy these days.” That made sense, Four would probably have to have learned a fae spell from a fae, Hyrule had suspicions about the old woman who taught him his fairy spell, he knew better than to voice those thoughts. He suspected that Ezlo difficulty in finding Four was linked to the fact that he could split himself into four. 

“So, why are you so concerned about this Vaati?” Hyrule questioned as he entered the worn tower. As much as he wanted to explore everything there was to offer here, he had little doubt that Four would leave any stones unturned while he was here. So he ventured on the path that seemed most likely to lead upward. 

Ezlo was quiet for a long while as he started his venture further up the tower. He could feel a tug at the small hoops he wore on his ears, that Legend gave him, as the old Minish held onto them for balance. “He was once my apprentice, brilliant boy too, but he stole an item I had created in his lust for power. The item was meant to be a gift for the Royal family, a Magic Cap that could grant the wish of the wearer. It granted him power, but doing so he became a monster.” Hyrule was silent in response to Ezlo’s words, he couldn’t imagine how it would have felt to be betrayed in such a way. “The boy has had to deal with him enough during his three adventures, so hopefully whatever is behind this presence is not caused by him.”

“If it's any consolation, I’ve never heard of him in my history, so I don’t believe he came back after this era.” Hyrule remarked carefully, as he made his way up a barely intact set of stair. Thankfully, a small boost from his jump spell was all he really needed to get up the flight of stairs. He heard Ezlo hum in response to what he said, but otherwise he was quiet. Hyrule knew why, they were swiftly approaching the top of what remained of the tower and the source of the darkness that was plaguing this place. 

Hyrule was careful as they got closer to the source, sword at the ready for any monsters that may show their faces. As they drew closer to the source of the dark magic, Hyrule found it eerie that they hadn’t encountered anything yet. Not even keese, and those things took resident in any abandoned building, even unabandoned ones if you were unlucky enough. So, it was highly unusual for them not to encounter anything at all, which made Hyrule think they were walking right into a trap. Hyrule proceeded upward carefully, keeping purposely quiet as they approached the area where the monsters were likely lurking. 

When they got to the top of the tower, it opened to a large room with a missing ceiling. Hyrule was startled by the dark miasma that clouding the room. It didn’t seem harmful, but its presence made it difficult to see. He couldn’t sense anything that would indicate monsters being in the open room, all of it seemed strange. He carefully entered the room, prepared for any hidden monsters that could come from the shadows. Hyrule was tempted to pull out his candle or cast fire, but he knew that both options would only draw attention to himself, if there was anything waiting in the shadows to ambush him. 

When he approached the center of the room, he was shocked to find that the shadowy miasma cleared. In the center of the room, there was a dark version of Four, crouched on the ground over shattered glass. The glass seemed to be from a destroyed frame of a mirror that held a faint trace of dark magic. Shadow was crouched over the shattered glass, looking incredibly distraught.

Hyrule put his sword away, and sat down on one of the steps by the tipped over frame of the mirror. He set Ezlo down on the ground, and contemplated how to get the shadow’s attention without causing him to flee again. So, Hyrule took off the bracer on his left hand, the one that hid the mark of the Triforce, and tossed it on the ground near Four’s shadow. The shadow flinched, and Hyrule was suddenly staring eye to eye with Four’s shadow. The red encased in black stared at him, before locking in on the mark on the back of his hand. Hyrule took in the crack-like scars that ran across his gray skin and realized they looked like shattered pieces of glass. 

“You weren’t revived by Ganon or Vaati.” Hyrule stated, leaning his head on his hand. This furthered Shadow’s look of confusion, so Hyrule clarified. “Look at the bracelet on your wrist, it was created by someone in hopes that it would bring you back.”

Hyrule watched as Shadow finally inspected the silver bracelet on his wrist, and the blackened gem held in its grasp. His hair was straight like Four’s as far as Hryule could tell, with how it seemed to float as if submerged in water. It hung in his face, which made Hyrule wonder if that was why Four always wore a headband. He was so focused on his own thoughts that he almost missed Shadow speak, “Why…? Why would you go out of your way to revive me?”

That was quite the question, one that Hyrule couldn’t truly answer on Legend’s behalf. Could it have been something as simple as wanting to help Four… and considering Legend, it would be highly likely. “I think that’s the whole thing about being a hero, we don’t often think about why we’re doing something when it comes to helping people.” 

Shadow looked surprised for just a moment before, looking deep in thought, staring at the fragmented shards of the mirror. Then a determined look crossed his face, “I knew exactly what I was doing when I broke this mirror.”

“And yet, you still did it despite the potential consequences.” Hyrule replied seriously. “That seems to a common trait for heroes, too.” He laughed at the thought, and Shadow seemed contemplative. 

“You seem to be certain that I’m not a villain.” Shadow’s face curled in a devious grin that made Hyrule think of the moblin when he was trying to scare him as a kid. Hyrule didn’t have time to respond before Ezlo showed up behind Shadow, and wacked him on the head with his staff. Hyrule choked on a laugh, and watched with mild horror as Ezlo began to berate Shadow. 

Ezlo was smacking Shadow with his staff, like an irate bird would peck at someone with a hand in their nest, while Shadow miserably attempted to defend himself with his arms. “Young man! If you knew the things that Link looked into to try and find ways to bring you back…! I know enough about dark magic to know that it can have ill effects, even on those with the goddesses protections. Even if some hadn’t found the solution for him, Link would have spent years looking on his own accord!” Ezlo seemed to have tired himself out, more than being completely finished with nagging Shadow. Hyrule was almost wondering if he should leave, more out of fear at being the next target more than anything, but it seemed that the fear in Shadow’s eyes was more than enough to stop Ezlo in his tracks.

“Well, now that you seem to have some understanding of your actions, we should find Link. You’re coming with, and I expect no arguments.” Shadow opened his mouth, but decided against speaking and simply nodded. He shot a look to Hyrule, which he could only nervously respond to with a shrug. 

“Link said that he would meet up in Castle Town to reconvene, before searching further in Hyrule. I don’t know if we’ll make it back fast enough to meet him on foot, but I do know a warp spell.” Hyrule answered, and though summoning a tornado to get from place to place in Hyrule was useful, he felt like he shouldn’t clarify on how the spell worked before using it. He could face the consequences of that later, but he should also find Legend to get him his things back to him. 

“How odd, Hylians usually aren’t too skilled with magic that has no conduit. Well, it would certainly be best to get there faster.” Ezlo agreed. Hyrule shot him a nervous smile, and Shadow looked at him with suspicion as he pulled out his flute. He shot Shadow a wink, before playing the familiar notes on the instrument and they were swiftly swept up by the wind. Hyrule ears filled with Ezlo’s screaming, up until they were dropped outside of Castle Town, just north of Four’s house. “What a harrowing experience. What do you think you’re grinning for, young man?” Poor Ezlo looked so frazzled, and Hyrule had to cover his grin with his hand as the old Minish huffed. 

Shadow looked about ready to physically melt, Hyrule had little doubt he could. They didn’t have time to enter Castle Town before Shadow was bowled over by a very exuberant and crying Red. “Shadow! You’re back.” Shadow looked at a loss for word and the teary-eyed hero clinging to him, but he didn’t have much time to process before Red moved on. “Oh, Ezlo’s here too!” He hugged Ezlo and Hyrule was a bit surprised that they were basically the same height, that didn’t stop Ezlo from patting Red’s head.

“Tell your brothers I said hello, I should be returning to the woods now that I know there’s no trouble brewing.” Red pouted, but didn’t argue, likely knowing that the old Minish would stand out in town. “You should worry about getting to your brothers if you’re keeping your split secret from the others you’re traveling with.” He had a good point, who knows what everyone else was up too.

“We also need to find Legend still.” Hyrule sighed as Ezlo departed for the forest, which he envied him for. The woods in this era seemed very welcoming, perhaps it was because of the Minish. 

“What kinda name is Legend?” Shadow inquired and Red giggled.

“It’s kinda like how we all got our nicknames, since we were all Link.” Red clarified and Shadow looked startled, before looking at Hyrule with what was likely a keener realization at who he was.

“Of course there are more of you, like four wasn’t enough.” Hyrule and Red laughed at how disgruntled he was. Hyrule had a feeling he and Legend would get along well, despite the unfortunate start to them meeting. They entered Castle Town, and surprisingly, no one even flinched at Shadow’s appearance. Then Hyrule saw the potential disaster on the horizon. 

Green was to the north with someone who looked like Zelda, Wind, and Warriors. Blue was coming from the east, looking slightly drenched, Twilight was following, looking like he’d been dunked underwater. Then there was Wild and Violet coming from the west. Hyrule also took note of Time and Sky sitting at the fountain in the square. “Red, problem.” Hyrule said, pointing in the directions of the others. Red and Shadow got the idea of the situation rather quickly. 

Red, unexpectedly, stood up straight, put his fingers in his mouth, and let out a shrill whistle. It caught the attention of the other Colors easily, and with brisk excuses, they were swiftly on Red. Then in a flash of light, four became one, “a little warning would be appreciated.” Shadow grumbled, and Four turned to him in shock, likely still processing that Hyrule had found him. Then, within a moment, Four was hugging Shadow like he would disappear otherwise. 

“Well, it looks like you found your brother then?” Warriors asked as he approached them with a scrutinizing look on his face, Wild looked confused but didn’t say anything. Don’t tell him… Hyrule looked at Four who looked incredibly embarrassed and he really wanted to laugh at him. At least it wasn’t the worst lie ever, even accounting for Shadow’s appearance. 

“His skin is really gray, is he alright?” Wind piped in with a concerned expression on his face. Four and Shadow looked at each other, trying to think of an excuse.

As fate would have it, they both got saved by Dot, “he just has an iron deficiency, that’s all.” She answered gently, but her words left little room for any argument. Wind sheepishly apologized, and the others backed up so that Dot could talk with Four and Shadow. She hugged them both, and for once Shadow returned the hug, though he still seemed hesitant. 

“Do you really think they stupid enough to believe that?” Shadow asked seriously, and Dot looked nervously at Four.

“Yes, actually, most of them still think Hyrule and Legend are twins. As far as I’m aware, at least. Time probably already know, but that’s Time.” Four had a very good point about that, but speaking of which, Legend was still missing. Shadow looked at him confused when Four had pointed at him when mentioning his nickname. He mouthed his nickname to him with a questioning look, and Hyrule nodded sheepishly. Shadow just looked resigned to the fate of their horrible nicknames. 

Twilight, ever the worrywart, had the same idea it seemed, “where’s Legend?” Hyrule was about to say that he had gotten lost when they were looking for Shadow, but then Hyrule saw what Time was holding. It seemed like Twilight also noticed that Time was holding a fluffy pink ball as well, and shot the old man a mildly disappointed look. For once, he gets the taste of his own medicine. Hyrule pulled out Legend’s signature moon pearl out and tossed it into the alley between two houses, Legend jumped out of Time’s arms and disappeared after the pearl.

“Aww, you lost the rabbit, hopefully it stays safe.” Sky stated, and Hyrule had the feeling that Legend was an unwilling victim to many cuddles while Time was keeping an eye on him. Though, the others were also getting concerned about Legend’s absence, just as he appeared behind Hyrule with his hair once again stained with pink. A stark reminder of the green dye still stuck in the ends of his own hair. 

“What are you idiots freaking out about? Oh, you found Shadow.” He acted as if he hadn’t just been a bunny in Time’s lap. Shadow looked alarmed at his sudden appearance, but Legend just patted him on the head and smirked. Okay, maybe they wouldn’t get along. 

“What exactly were you up to?” Warriors questioned, it was easy to tell from his tone that he was more in the bantering mood than being serious. 

Legend looked unimpressed, then he pulled a dark piece of fabric from his bag, one that Hyrule had seen him embroidering with silver thread before they had dozed off the night before. “I was shopping, his hair is such a mess, I figure he could use a headband like Four’s.” Legend stated simply, as he handed off the fabric to a very confused Shadow. That was just Legend’s weird brand of thoughtfulness, very useful gifts veiled by his snark. 

Wind seemed to catch onto Legend too, teasingly whispering “softy” with a grin on his face and his hand over his mouth. Legend furiously ruffled his hair for that, much to Wind’s irritation. Then Legend stopped, looking to Time with a forced smile, the man looked back with a quirked eyebrow. He did not have time to prepare himself for Legend pulling out his curved Cane of Somaria, hooking it behind his knee and pulling. Time fell back onto the ground, much to all their surprise, and Legend stood over him with a victorious grin. “Payback, Old Man.”

“I may have deserved that.” Time conceded with a chuckle. He was helped off the ground by Sky and Warriors, who looked between the two of them with confusion. Time raised his hands to placate them both, as it seemed the two of them were now even. Warriors sighed with exasperation, far more familiar with the antics Time could cause when he felt like it. 

“So, now that we’ve got everything sorted, why don’t we get lunch at my house?” Four offered in an unassuming manner. Legend and Hyrule shared a look over Four’s head before grinning deviously at each other. 

“You two plotting something?” Warriors questioned, being as observant as always. Legend and Hyrule didn’t even have to look at each other to pretend to play innocent about the situation, they both knew that Four was setting the rest of them up for. 

“Four’s grandpa was just very welcoming to us last night.” They both answered sweetly, which got them the stink eye from Wind. They looked at each other, covering the side of their faces with their hand to mouth ‘get adopted idiots’ to each other. The rest of them were so fucked, but at least Sky and Wind would likely find the situation funny, if not endearing. Dot seemed thrilled to join them at Four’s house, but Time seemed to be the voice of reason for them.

“Will your grandfather be prepared to handle all of us, your father said that we could stay at the castle, since your house didn’t have the space.” That seemed to spark some reason in the other, and Wild began to raise his hand. Wild was likely about to offer cooking for all of them outside of Four’s house, but it seemed that Four had other ideas.

“We don’t have the space for all of you to sleep in beds, but the living room has more than enough room for all of us. As for food, I paid the bakery in town a very spendy visit. Sky already witnessed that. I figured you all would appreciate sleeping in actual beds while we were here.” Four countered, leaving them all looking embarrassed. It was hard to argue the prospect of sleeping in a bed after sleeping in the dirt for days at a time, and Wild was intrigued by the thought of trying new food. 

So, they headed to Four’s house without further argument, it would be entirely likely that they would still be sleeping at the castle again for the night. Four entered his house, pushing Shadow in front of him, and let out a resounding greeting of “Grandpa, we’re home!” The old smith appeared quickly as he was called, less covered in soot than the first night they had met. Legend and Hyrule fought their grins as he looked over their ragtag group, Four left them all to suffer as he went to gather the food he’d bought earlier. Dot following him to help, and Shadow trailing after them a bit more hesitantly, but with no objection from Grandpa Smith. 

It was hard to see the man grin beneath his thick beard, as he cleaned his hands off with a loose cloth from his apron. “Well, it’s good to see all you boys back safe and sound. I heard from my son that there was quite the lot of you, but it’s good to have so many grandsons.” The silence was loud, and only broke when Four reentered the room. Hyrule and Legend were holding onto each other, trying not to laugh, as the others looked to Four for help.

Four looked at the all of them, then to his grandpa, and then to the twin who were trying not to laugh. Then with a sly grin and a shrug, he offered the others no help whatsoever. “Get adopted, fellow idiots.” He said, gesturing with his head to Hyrule and Legend. Legend let out a fierce wheeze at all of their stunned expressions, while Hyrule started laughing so hard that he was snorting. 

Four whispered something to Shadow, who in a quick, but sly movement snatched Wild’s slate from his hip. Without much reaction to Wild’s protest, Four managed to get a quick picture of all their shocked expressions, while the twins broke down laughing at them. If Grandpa Smith was in the background of the picture looking incredibly smug, none of them commented on it. 

After much embarrassment and a few failed feeble attempts to correct Four’s grandpa, they all found themselves sitting around Four’s living room eating baked goods. Legend and Hyrule had the great amusement of watching Time fail miserably to correct the older man, while Wind and Four shared a look and a smug handshake. It seems the two were at least somewhat aware of each other’s grandparents and had a vague idea of how horribly the rest of them would be at saying no to said grandparents. Legend himself thought of his grandma and grandpa, though he hadn’t had much time to visit them between his new apprenticeship and two adventures, in his stead his uncle had travelled to help them with upkeep at their farm. 

Four, Shadow, Legend, and Hyrule were sitting on the floor, talking quietly to each other. Legend may have been subtly pressing Shadow for accidentally turning him into a rabbit, when Wind plopped down on the floor between Legend and Hyrule. He squinted at Legend, which almost caused Legend to flick him in the face out of spite, when he whispered. “I know you and Hyrule aren’t twins.”

Legend figured he probably couldn’t fool the boy for too long after transforming into a mermaid in front of him, Hyrule looked horrified. “How did you find out?” Four questioned for them, letting the younger boy in on the fact that he knew, while knowing that Wind would be the most likely to answer him without getting defensive. Shadow looked shocked but intrigues, and Legend could tell he was also keeping his senses on the rest of their group for eavesdropping. 

Wind looked at Four flatly, “I steal your guy’s shit while you sleep all the time, not the important things, though.” He tacked on the last part after Four looked at his sword with concern, they all knew that Four was very keen on keeping it out of others hands. Legend chuffed, because he knew that Wind pilfered things from them all the time, but at least he didn’t oust him as a fish-person. 

“So, what’s the catch for you not telling everyone else?” Legend bargained, Hyrule looked shocked for a moment, then he seemed to realized what he was proposing. Wind loved to prank the others, and he also liked to help with pranks. As of right now, Hyrule and Legend were on the boat of the longest committed prank on the others. Without realizing it, they all began to lean their heads into the little circle they formed.

Wind hummed, he was mostly pretending to contemplate his half of the bargain, but already had an idea of what he wanted out of the situation. He also likely wanted bragging rights for when they were eventually busted, “well, when you put it like that… I want to see how long it takes for everyone else to find out. But! I also want in on whatever pranks you two plan from now on.”

“Bold of you to assume we plan.” Hyrule countered with a chuckle. That caused all of them to look at him with shock, but he pointed the blame to Legend. Which although it was fair, he felt slightly betrayed at that, Hyrule caused enough shit on his own too. 

With all eyes on him, he draped his arm over Hyrule before addressing them, “it’s called bullshitting your way through everything. You should try it sometime, it’s surprisingly effective.” Four snorted and Wind leaned back with a groan. Hyrule looked at him with an expression that he read as ‘you can’t be serious.’ Unfortunately for Hyrule, he was very serious, “My life has already been so damned weird, I’m allowed to bullshit my way through things from time to time.”

Then their conversation was broken up my Shadow getting their attention, to Twilight who was looking at them with humor on his face. “What are you lot plotting, now?” Right, though Four was usually seen as more mature, the fact that he was in a huddle with Legend, Hyrule, and Wind was a recipe for chaos. 

Wind responded up first, saving all of them with his quick thinking, “Legend was just about to tell us about some of the other weird experiences he’s had on his adventures.”

Legend was impressed, by how quick he was, but bold of him to assume he’d fall in line nicely. “What makes you think I’ll just tell you, it’s not like I have a list?”

“I mean, there’s probably not much that would top getting engaged to a tree.” Four reminded with a nervous chuckle. Oh, the poor boy had no idea, but that wasn’t gonna force his hand. Time seemed like he was about to interject into the conversation, probably because he had a thing with talking trees or something. 

Hyrule seemed to get on the idea of egging him on too, however, “I mean I befriended a talking moblin, does that count as weirder.” That got everyone to look at him with shock. 

Legend scoffed, “please, ‘Rulie, I had a talking hinox beg me to spare his life and bribe me with rupees when I accidentally walked into his house.” Hyrule looked at him with a mix of concern and surprise, “I kinda just walked out after failing to tell him that I wasn’t just going to STAB him, but he kept offering me more rupees, and I felt bad about it. But, yeah, that’s not even a top five for me even if I excluded the tree and Hytopia.”

“You can’t just say that and not elaborate!” Wind huffed, and Legend finally decided to have mercy on their poor souls. “Well, excluding what you guys already know about… Subrosia would probably go last.”

“Why do you have to put an entire country on the list?” Wild questioned. 

“Subrosia technically is a part of Holodrum, more accurately it's below Holodrum. The people, Subrosians, are about Four’s height at their tallest…” He received a warning ‘hey’ for that, “but, I couldn’t tell you what they look like for the life of me. They wear robes that cover their entire body, and their eyes kinda glow out from the darkness of their hoods. They’re little jerks, but they enjoy their ‘hot springs’, which I will also never try.”

Wild looked concerned at that, “why not the hot springs on Death Mountain are extremely relaxing, the Gorons love them too?”

“Buddy, their hot springs are lava.” They all winced at that, but Wild oddly just nodded and mumbled something about ‘forbidden soup’ which he got smacked on the back of the head for. By Twilight, Time, and Warriors. He didn’t even look scolded by them, and that was somehow more concerning than anything else. “Anyway, four would probably be the time I helped a goat catfish some guy.”

Twilight choked, “you what!?” Ah, right, this guy had a goat shrine didn’t he. 

“I mean, Mr. Wright was already exchanging letters with Christine, the goat, I figured it wouldn’t be a big deal to pass on one to the guy. But, the picture of ‘herself’ in the letter, looked like some princess.” He was met with silence after he finished speaking, then he realized why they were likely stunned, “we already established that the talking to animals is just a normal thing for me.”

“How did a goat even write a letter?” Twilight questioned, and Legend did not have an answer for that. Technically, that had all happened within the Wind Fish’s dream, but he still counted it among the weird shit he’s experienced. He was almost tempted to bring up the dead-eyed smile of Anti-Kirby, but he didn’t even know what a “Kirby” was.

“Yeah, no idea on that. Well then, three would probably be… Mother Maiamai. She kinda looks like a giant cuddly pink version of an octorock, but with a little seashell hat. She said said that she was traveling between worlds and dimensions when she lost her kids, so I helped find them… all 100 of them. But, she upgraded the items Ravio made, once he let me buy them off him so…” He finished with a shrug, as if he hadn’t just told them about a creature that the rules of reality don’t entirely apply too. “Granted, after I didn’t have any more items for upgrading, she inhaled me and then spit me out to upgrade my spin attack. Don’t recommend.”

“How is that only the third spot?” Warriors questioned, with a horrified expression. Well, Legend wasn’t exactly looking forward to admitting what was in the top spot, but he’d already gotten this far. 

“Second would be the time I had to learn a song from a singing crocodile and his frog choir, so that I could wake up a flying rooster from the dead to get to another dungeon.” He was once again met with silence and stares. He shrugged, “honestly, that isn’t even the most hoops I’ve had to go through to get into a dungeon, that goes to the Mermaid Cave in Labrynna. Gorons there really love their minigames.” There were no comments, in processing this one. Though it was once again part of the dream, Legend still clung to the hope that Koholint existed. 

“Well, last but not least,” he hesitated, this one had happened on his first adventure, and thankfully the lady didn’t hate his gut for what he’d done. “I accidentally threw magic powder on a cucco and turned her into a human. She didn’t exactly find the transformation pleasant, but I never really figured a way to reverse it, so, yeah. In my defense, I was like 10.” He was still only nine years old, and so very fearful of the villagers selling him out to the knights.

Warriors clapped his hands together, “well, I think that enough tales of Legend’s adventures for one night. I think we all need to sleep, and I need a drink.” He said the last part quieter, but he could understand the innate fear of the feathered fury that came in the form of a cucco.

“Come to think of it, if you can understand animals, can you understand cuccos?” Shadow questioned, and Legend stared at him. The others looked horrified by the idea, except Sky, Hyrule, and Twilight. Twilight likely had an inkling of how cuccos talked, considering he could understand them in his wolf form. He had no doubt they wouldn’t run from him either, wolves weren’t threats to them. He wondered if Four could speak to them. Sky and Hyrule had minimal experience with that rage that could be unleashed by those birds.

A chill ran down his spine when remembering, but he decided to spare them by answering vaguely, “Unfortunately, I try not to pay attention to them. Well, I’m going to bed too, then.” It was for the best if they ended the conversation there. There was no good in him repeating the things that he’s overheard them saying, the only cuccos that had anything nice to say were the ones on his grandparent’s ranch. He and Hyrule stayed in the spare room of Four’s house for the night, while the rest of their group departed for the castle. If Legend woke up in the middle of the night, with his head clouded with thoughts and caught Four burrowed in his own bed with his shadow, then nobody needed to know. He did wish that he had a camera like Wind and Wild, though. 

Chapter Text

They spent a few days lazing about Four’s home, the short hero spending time catching his Shadow up on his current adventure and showing him around Hyrule. Everyone found something to do with the extra time exploring Four’s era, and the smith had at one point resented Hyrule with the figurines of his Great Fairies. Their shimmering gowns and insect-like wings caught his attention, it was interesting to see how they could easily show their power in an era that wasn’t struggling to stay out of Ganon’s shadow. He briefly wondered how the Great Fairy in the Dark Pyramid was doing, but he pushed the thought aside for the task at hand. 

Legend was currently borrowing the forge in Four’s home to make some enchanted jewelry. The bracelet that Ravio had made had done the monumental task of providing Shadow with a source of dark power that he could sustain himself off, but the light still burned him, and it was only a matter of time before the others realized that Four lacked a shadow. Creating an accessory with simple illusion magic to give Four a shadow was simple enough, he had enough experience with simple enchantment like that was easy enough. The problem came with Shadow, after all, he didn’t apply to the same logic as Hylians. 

Legend stared at his ring collection, comparing his selection of blessed rings to the ones that were cursed. There was a high chance that the even the mild blessing rings would likely have negative effects on Shadow, while the cursed ring could act as a blessing for him. Hyrule leaned over his shoulder, and Legend could sense his concern before he said anything, “Why do you have cursed rings?”

Legend sneered, “are you really that surprised? I have a ring that makes me look like you, and the cursed rings are your concern.” Hyrule glared at him and he snorted, “rings grow on trees in Labrynna and Holodrum, so it’s not like it’s entirely strange that some of them turned out strange with Ganon’s influence around.”

“That sounds like complete bullshit, there’s no way rings grow on trees.” Hyrule stated, “What do you even plan to do with cursed rings anyway?” 

“If we end up in either country any time soon, I’ll show you… if I happened to leave a Gasha Tree behind.” He added as an afterthought, he hadn’t exactly kept track of that kinda thing at the time. “They can also drop potions and rupees. That’s beside the point, the cursed rings are for Shadow.”

“First, you help him and now you’re trying to hurt him.” Hyrule said snidely, Legend glared at him from over his shoulder. 

“You really think that the blessing rings would be helpful to him and not harmful? He’s a dark being, not a Human or Hylian or any other being of light. The closest form of reference I have to outright dark magic are my cursed rings.” His explanation caused Hyrule to look pensive, and he finally sat down next to him. Legend didn’t get after him when he started perusing through his rings, if anything he’d know not to put them on with caution. “I do have the cursed tights, but I doubt that’d be something either of them want to deal with.”

“Cursed tights?” Hyrule asked, looking more concerned than before.

“How I ended up needing to save Styla in Hytopia.” Legend answered without offering further explanation, Hyrule gave him a concerned look. Legend pointedly ignored his concern, not wanting to explain how or why he had a pair of Cursed Tights with him. Not that he’d ever worn them, it just seemed like a waste not to get them with all the other outfits he had. “Anyway, first order of business is making Four an illusion for his shadow, since he currently doesn’t have one.”

Hyrule gave him a judging look for how much he was being ignored, before agreeing with him. Legend worked on forming the metal for the accessory, while Hyrule worked on bringing the spell together. Legend could tell he wasn’t entirely familiar with creating spells without instruction, judging purely on how often Hyrule paused to compare the magic to the items that Legend had laid out. Legend wasn’t capable of creating magic of his own accord either, relying on the magic that was in the various items and outfits he owned. He had, however, seen Ravio craft a number of magic items while he was staying in his home.

The first attempt Hyrule made, Legend took one look at before tossing it into his ring box. Hyrule huffed at him, “if it was that bad, why not just throw it back into the fire?”

“That,” Legend gestured to his trove of rings, “would leave residual magic in the metal, and just make imbuing the magic into the next properly harder than it needs to be. You were pretty close as is, but if Four needs to wear it for long periods of time, it could have side effects if the spell isn’t entirely right?”

Hyrule looked at him critically as he began to smelt the next ring. Legend almost missed his gaze completely with how much he was focused on getting the band the right size, Four had tiny hands. “Are you having side effects from wearing that ring all the time?” Hyrule asked, almost causing Legend to jolt with surprise.

He hesitated for a long moment, “I haven’t noticed anything out of the usual for me, but that’s not much to go off. I have been cursed several times, have been effected by an assortment of magic, and have injuries that never healed right, so it’s hard to tell if the mild spell on the ring if doing much. The spell on it is definitely wearing out though.” He paused, feeling nervous by the tension of the situation, “Maybe I’ll be concerned when my hair starts turning brown.” He said, with an attempt at humor, shrugging his shoulders. 

Hyrule ruffled his hair in a manner that suggested that if he weren’t currently working on molten metal, he would be in a headlock. Legend shoved him away with his elbow, and without much further conversation, they managed to get the ring for Four made. While they were quietly celebrating their success, Four entered the forge, shooting them a questioning look. Legend hadn’t been startled by his entrance, Four and his Grandpa had made it clear that without any experience in the forge, you weren’t allowed to step foot in it without their supervision. So, he just tossed him the ring they successfully made, “for your lack of shadow situation.” 

“Oh, yeah, that could be a problem eventually.” Four hesitantly put on the ring. Although seemingly nothing happened, when he stepped closer to the light of the forge, a shadow spread out behind him, splitting under the various sources of light in the room. “What else are you two planning on making?” He reached for the rings Legend had out for samples, only to have his hand slapped away by two people. They both received a slight glare for that, before Four took a breath to calm down. 

“Sorry, not sorry, but those ones are cursed.” Four gave him a judgmental look for that explanation, and Legend was starting to get miffed that everyone was questioning his decision to keep the random things he found. “Anyway,” no, Legend was not going to explain shit to Four, because he was petty like that. Four seemed to get that memo quickly judging by the silent, but very exaggerated eye roll, “the cursed shit is to reference on for Shadow, since he’s a being of darkness and all that jazz. Blessings are more likely to harm him.”

“Why are you trying to help, Shadow, and how?” Four suddenly looked more curious than anything.

“Because he gets burned by light, right?” He’s a useful ally for us to have, no matter the context of the situation, and he’s currently limited on how much he can help us. So, basically, a favor for a favor. He’s already clearly gonna help us where he can, so why not make it easier for him?” Legend said simply, Zelda had often scolded him on his ‘favor for favor’ mentality. It was just something he’d gotten used to over the years, usually the small favors he did for people at least got him a few rupees, if not something more useful. One man’s trash was often another man’s treasure. 

Four and Hyrule shared a look with each other over Legend’s head when he returned his focus to making the next item on his list. Four sighed, picking up his apron from the hanger near the entryway, Legend was borrowing his Grandpa’s apron. “Well, it’ll be a while ‘till the others get back from exploring town, so I may as well help out too.” Four had the idea from Hyrule’s look that this was Legend’s usual behavior, unfortunately for Legend, Four was used to being helpful wherever he could be. He was little, but he was a smith, most problems he could solve with his hands and his own ingenuity. 

They set to work making Shadow items that would help him, quickly deciding that multiple accessories that would resonate with each other to create a stronger effect. This also made it so if one or two of the accessories was lost, that Shadow wouldn’t be completely blind sided by the loss of his defenses. It also allowed Hyrule more room for error in the various items they were making, so that they wouldn’t have to perfect the creation of one item. They weren’t as experienced with making magic items, but the three of them working together, certainly made completing the job easier. 

By the time they had finished, the sun was setting, so they moved from working in the forge to starting to make dinner. Four and Legend could make food that was edible, but they had to forcefully kick Hyrule out of the kitchen after he nearly burned the stew they were making. Legend had learned how to make it from Impa, Auntie Impa, to be specific. She stayed in Holodrum to travel with Din and keep her safe. It reminded him that although Hyrule was likely between the seasons of Spring and Summer, Holodrum was likely in the midst of Fall. The harvest season, hopefully luck would be on their side and they wouldn’t miss such a big event. 

Legend put back on the disguise ring when he heard a commotion from the living room as the others returned from their exploration of Four’s Castle Town. He vaguely heard Hyrule complain about being kicked out of the kitchen, and Wild responding with, “That sounds like a personal problem.” Before the Cook entered the kitchen, Four muffled a chuckle at Hyrule’s expense. Legend stepped aside so that Wild could taste what they had worked on so far, and he seemed vaguely surprised with their success. 

Legend shrugged at the questioning look Wild gave him, “I was traveling with a group of troubadours when I was traveling in Holodrum, we split chores all the time. Auntie Impa cooked most the time, but I wasn’t gonna waste food by making it taste terrible.”

“I thought your Impa was an old lady?” Wild questioned bluntly, and Legend wondered if he had a death wish. That old lady could likely hold her own well enough, she wasn’t just the Princess’ handmaiden, she was her protector. 

“Yes, that’s Granny Impa. Auntie Impa is younger, the name is more of a title than anything. She travels with Din to keep her safe. I call her Auntie, so it's less confusing.” He had nearly called that Impa ‘Granny’ when they had first met, by habit, and he had never feared for his live more than that day. She scolded him enough that he could easily imagine what having an aunt could be like. 

Wild blinked in surprise for a moment, lost in his own thoughts. He mumbled, “I should probably ask Impa about that.” Legend figure it had something to do with his vacant memories and shrugged, he hadn’t bothered to ask about it himself. He could hardly remember the names of most people in Kakariko Village or in other towns he’d visited. He refused to admit that he’d resorted to descriptive names for most people, it’s not his fault the “Bee Guy” never told him his name. Legend wondered if Hyrule had the same problem. 

They settled into Four’s living room to eat with the other, and the three of them who’d spent most of the day in the forge spent their time listening in on the others’ adventures in town. Shadow had spent most the day with Dot and Four’s dad, and he seemed worn out, from where he was leaning against Four. It was Wind who decided to broach the top, “So, is Shadow coming with us?” Four tensed, and Legend could tell he was thinking about a way to explain that Shadow was more attached to him than just being a ‘twin.’

Hyrule was the one who tried to help, nervously speaking up, “I mean, I don’t see why he wouldn’t be able to. I brought Legend with me.” Hyrule added as if he hadn’t killed Ganon three time to get roped unwillingly on this adventure. Legend glared at his ‘twin’, who blatantly ignored him. Fair, but Legend was still pissed. 

Warriors sighed loudly, rubbing his temples, “you four are gonna make me look like the asshole brother for not bringing my sister along.”

Wild seemed curious by his admission, “Did you want to bring her along?” His question was genuine, but Warriors shot him a disgusted look for speaking with his spoon in his mouth. Wild slyly grinned back at him.

“No, because I already have enough problems dealing with you, Hyrule, and Time.” They all shot a confused look at Time, wondering what he’d done to deserve Warriors’ ire, but the man shrugged and said nothing. 

He did seem to have his own concerns about the situation, though, “Do we even know if he can come with? Legend and Hyrule seem to have their own peculiarities with their adventures.”

Legend shrugged, “most of my adventures happened because the Triforce threw me into another country after sensing darkness brewing there, I don’t see why Shadow could come along.” He continued to eat before realizing that the others had stopped talking. He looked up to see them all staring at him with various looks of befuddlement, concern, and exhaustion. 

“The Triforce, sent you to another country? After sensing darkness there? How did you even know about that happening?” Twilight questioned, he sounded like he easily had more, but stopped himself from laying them all out at once. The others also held back to hear how he answered.

“It spoke to me?” Legend responded simply.

“The Triforce can speak?” Hyrule piped in, and Legend waved off his confusion.

“Yes? I mean it spoken to me multiple times. Was a normal day, like usual, heard someone speak to me in my head. Basically told me the usual ‘the world is in danger and you’re the prophesied hero to save it’ mambo jumbo before boom I’m suddenly in another country. Spent a great deal of time in Holodrum traveling with a wandering troupe at first, and then Knox kidnapped Din. You can probably guess how things went from there.” Legend explained. 

“I thought you left your home country to explore the world?” Wind scrutinized. 

“I did, there are plenty of other countries other than Hyrule. Holodrum and Labrynna happen to be far overseas from Hyrule.” Legend started, and Hyrule cut in to help him, much to his surprise.

“We were in the northern part of Hyrule when we were in our era. It’s a lot more populated and less overrun by monsters compared to the southern parts. There aren’t even towns in the southern part of Hyrule, so you have to rely mostly on landmarks to find your way around.” They all were silent at Hyrule’s explanation.

Wild nodded in understanding, “the Great Plateau and Central Hyrule are still like that in my era. The Plateau is mainly because all the entrances to it were destroyed during the Calamity, and Central Hyrule was because of all the guardians and monsters that were around the castle. Most people are content in the town that exist now, but we’ve been trying to make it somewhat safe so it makes trade between the different regions easier.” Legend assume the ‘we’ he was referring to included his Zelda, but the notion was surprising coming from him.

“It’s strange to think of how much just the geography of Hyrule changes between eras.” Sky sighed wearily, and Legend couldn’t help but agree with him to some extent. 

“Huh, so Calatia is west of Hyrule?” Twilight asked, Legend and Hyrule both nodded in response. “Labrynna and Holodrum are to the east, Hytopia to the north, and in my era there’s the Ordana Provence to the south, what about Subrosia?”

“That’s beneath Holodrum, you could say it’s like a volcanic cavern beneath it.” Legend responded, he wouldn’t tell them how to get there unless they absolutely needed to. Hylians and Humans weren’t allowed there, and Rosa had broken their rules by ‘showing’ him the way there. She wanted to save Din, though, and she couldn’t do that on her own.

“Well, perhaps it's not a matter of if Shadow can come with, but if he wants to come with us.” Time stated, to redirect the conversation that they had been having. “It is no small responsibly the quest that we’ve been tasked with, after all. We’d be asking Four to allow his brother to be put in harms way too.” Legend wanted to scoff at Time’s words, they all knew that, some far better than most. 

Shadow spoke up finally, “I’m coming with, if this has something to do with Vaati or Ganon, I have a bone to pick with both of them.” Oh, Legend had a feeling that he was gonna get along with Shadow very well. 

“Get in line, we all have a pone to pick with Ganon.” Legend stated with a degree of sarcasm, but none of them could really argue with him. Well, Sky could, but he doesn’t count. “Anyway, you’re gonna need some kind of weaponry if you’re coming with.”

“I could always use bombs?” Shadow suggested.

“No.” Four interjected, and judging by the stressed look on his face, he had plenty of prior experience with Shadow and bombs. Shadow didn’t look guilty in the slightest when he shrugged off Four’s exasperation. “I can make you a good enough sword tomorrow.”

“What exactly were you and Legend making all day, then?” Sky asked, and Legend could tell he was simply curious.

“Magic accessories.” Legend answered and he could already foresee the comments about having so many already, and so on, “I dabble in making them occasionally, I’d prefer not to get out of practice. You never know when they’ll come in handy.”

“I kinda get that, otherwise I’d find the masks Kilton gave me a lot weirder.” Wild commented, and Legend was slightly curious about what he was referring too. Until he pulled out a patchwork, stuffed Lynel head. “They prevent monsters from attacking me, to some extent.”

“I’m guessing that Lynels don’t buy that shit for long, do they?” Legend and Hyrule questioned at the same time, the shared a look of pity when Wild shrugged in response. Twilight looked exasperated at Wild’s response. “Why would you even attempt to get that close to a Lynel if you’re not fighting it?” Hyrule tacked on, and Legend was quickly beginning to realize that the three of them were likely the only one who fought Lynels regularly. 

Wild pulled his slate from his him, pulling up an image of himself standing in front of a charging Lynel, “to get a good picture.” He said as if it was the most normal thing in the world, Legend suddenly understood Twilight’s exasperation. Hyrule looked unsure how to respond to that, and Legend was on the same boat because why would Wild be dumb enough to stand in the middle of a pack of Lynels of all things.

“Anyway,” Legend interrupted, not wanting to broach the topic of Wild’s questionable sanity. Not that he was any better, with his general reaction to anything happening in his adventures being ‘this might as well happen.’ “We should probably get Shadow some travel things soon, since we have no idea when the impending portal of doom may show up.” He got a few chuckles for his description of the very thing that was causing this adventure in the first place. 

It didn’t take them long to settle down for the night, most of them departing for the castle. Hyrule went with the others this time, but Legend felt antsy. So, he went to the forge, he knew that Four could easily craft something far better than him. He could tell that by the observations he’d done when Four had decided to help him early, he knew there was really no helping that, since he’d only been an apprentice. He’d never truly had the time to commit himself fully to the craft, paired with his horrible habit of oversleeping. He couldn’t help but think of what could have been, though. Days spent being dragged out of bed by Gully, toiling over something more tangible than defeating the evils in the world, but inevitably he couldn’t turn his back on the people. He could hardly sleep when he found out that Yuga had taken Gully and Granny Impa alongside Seres and Zelda. 

He mulled out his thoughts over heated metal, when Grandpa Smith joined him. “You’re very good at your craft, boy.” He remarked, with a fond smile in his eyes, his actual smile hidden behind his beard. The smile reminded him of his own Grandpa and his Uncle, too. Though Legend had to withhold a shudder as he couldn’t help recalling his Uncle bleeding out in the bowels of Hyrule Castle. That didn’t matter anymore, his Uncle was still alive, he just spent most his time helping his grandparents manage their farm. 

“Thanks, I never completed my apprenticeship, though.” Legend replied, Smith gave him a look that betrayed his curiosity. He however hummed, seeming to notice that Legend was inevitable, comparing himself to two masters of their craft. 

“The person who taught you did well by you then. Link hadn’t completed his own apprenticeship when tasked with crafting the Four Sword. He also had much more assistance with the making of that blade, than what it required for any normal blade. No doubt, that Shadow’s blade will need to be no different for it truly to be useful to him. Link has already gone off to seek the wisdom of the Minish who helped with the crafting of the Four Sword. In the meantime, we simple men will simply have to do our part to make the finest blade we can.” The old man smiled as he offered Legend his assistance. 

Legend opened his mouth to say something, but his mind was unhelpfully blank, so his jaw snapped shut on instinct brought on by the years of struggling to find words to say. Legend eventually nodded to Smith’s offer, his years of experience would no doubt be valuable. He couldn’t help but think as they both settled into the craft, Legend once again settling into the role of assisting the master craftsman, that perhaps being seen as a ‘simple man’ wasn’t so bad. He was a little too tired of being a hero for so long, for the constant tests of his worth, of his courage, his dedication. Though he doubted he could ever turn his back to those who needed his help though. 

Legend woke up in the bed in Four’s spare room, with the the faint sound of chittering in his ear. He wanted to flick his ears at the whisper of of the sound, but realized that it sounded faintly familiar to the little creature that had given him berries when he was a rabbit. He could vaguely feel them shifting the rings on his finger, the rings that he’d basically worn since he’d returned to Hyrule. The ones that helped with the lingering pain of his fried nerves, something that couldn’t truly heal after being struck by lighting twice. He couldn’t stop himself from stopping the ring’s movement on his finger with his thumb.

He slowly sat up after hearing the startled chattering from the little people, but when he glanced around to apologize, he found the room remarkably empty. He almost wondered if he had imaged what was happening when he was half asleep, and somehow the rings that had fit for years had suddenly become loose. The lingering magic in the air made him second guess himself, perhaps they were simply creatures that were very good at hiding themselves. Undoubtedly an extremely useful skill for creatures their size. 

His musings were interrupted by an offended shout from what sounded vaguely like Wind coming from outside Four’s house. He made sure to double-check the assortment of rings on his fingers before he ventured outside to see not only Wind, but their other travel companions grumbling at the sight of the portal. “I think I can understand why you called it the impending portal of doom now.” Shadow remarked nervously, as Four passed him what was likely the finished blade that he and Grandpa Smith had started the night before. 

It seems that Legend wasn’t the only one that suspected sudden, unwelcomed teleportation because Time and Warriors presented their newest member with a travel bag that was likely very well stocked. Perhaps not as unnecessarily as Legend’s own travel bag, but well enough to serve a ‘usual’ adventure, if this could even be called that. Shadow didn’t have a shield, but Legend trusted him more with his spare mirror shield over Wild. It was the one that had been returned to him by the Tokay that had found it, polished so keenly after it had been found that it reflected magic. It was the only Tokay that hadn’t gone by their usual ‘finders keepers’ rules. 

“You can always change your mind, we won’t think any less of you if you do.” Sky remarked in his kindest voice. He was right, but Legend didn’t want to be dragged into his sappiness at the moment. He wanted to get through the portal and find out where it decided to spit them out next.

So, Legend walked past Shadow, bumping his shoulder and subtly placing the rings he’d made in his hands. He winked at Shadow’s confused expression, before pressing on as if nothing happened. “Well, we might as well get this shit over with,” his remark was met with a few errant complaints about language, but he ignored them. “The only places we haven’t been are, as far as I’m aware, Sky’s era and Holodrum. And, though, I would love to see Hyrule before it actually became Hyrule, I’m pretty sure we’re right in time for Holodrum’s harvest festival if we end up there, so any bets on where we end up?” He piqued their curiosity at his bet, but Legend was not expecting Hyrule to walk up to him with a mischievous smile on his face. 

Legend instinctively took a step back at Hyrule’s approach, before realizing that he was just getting closer to the portal. Suddenly, Legend had a keen idea of what Hyrule had planned. He opened his mouth to tell Hyrule to stop, he had bets to gather. Wow, Ravio was rubbing off on him in the worst kind of way. Hyrule grabbed his shoulders with his short internal distraction and cheerily remarked, “Why don’t you find out for us, then?” Before pushing him back through the portal. 

Legend briefly wondered what he’d done to deserve such betrayal, but then again, he had nagged Hyrule about his magic when crafting the rings they made for Shadow. So, he did deserve some retribution. He was immediately greeted by balmy warmth, the melodic sound of waves rolling against the shore, and sand stuck in his hair. For a moment he wished, in the next he wondered if he was completely wrong and they were in Wind’s era again, but he looked back to view the land and spotted the familiar ship stuck in the desert sand and realized he was in Holodrum. He stuck a hand in his bag for the Rod of Seasons, though he truly hoped the seasons weren’t royally fucked this time, he’d prefer having the ability to change them as needed on hand. 

A breeze flowed through his mind as the old voice of the Maku Tree greeted him back to Holodrum. Legend was internally greeting the older tree back as the others stepped through the portal. “A desert? By the sea?” Twilight questioned. Legend was a little too distracted by his pleasant conversation with the Maku Tree, and getting a feel for what may be wrong in Holodrum through the old guardian of the land to realize the others had joined him. 

He started when Time lightly touched his shoulder, “Legend? You didn’t land wrong, did you?” Legend felt the Maku Tree chuckle at the break in his concentration, and wished him well before breaking their mental connection. 

Legend shook his head at Time, “no, I’m fine. The Maku Tree was just saying hello.” They all blinked in surprise, and Time’s face went blank. It didn’t take much for Legend to guess why Time reacted that way. “Not the one I was engaged to,” he heard a confused ‘what’ from Shadow, and briefly saw Four shake his head, “the one here is kinda like a wise uncle. Which I was right, we’re in Holodrum. Slightly east of Horon Village, just gotta be careful of the quick sand to get out of here… or I can call Dimitri to swim us to the neighboring shore.”

“You’re asking us if we want to deal with quicksand or a short swim?! Like the answer isn’t obvious.” Wind gripped as he made for the water, Legend had to admit that the heat of the desert made the idea of jumping in the water very pleasing. He pulled out Dimitri’s Flute and played the tune that the dodongo loved, Time tapped him on the shoulder after he finished. The man didn’t have to say anything for Legend to get the idea that he didn’t feel like shedding his armor for a short swim. 

Dimitri had grown since he’d first met the small monster, so he would definitely be able to carry the armor clad man. Said monster met them on the shore and greeted Legend by licking his face, which meant having his almost his entire head in the monster’s maw. Shadow stared at the dodongo in surprise, before leaning closer to Four to whisper, “if he gets to keep a dodongo, does that mean I can keep my dragon?”

Four blinked for a moment, “right, I didn’t actual slay that dragon, did I…? If you can find a good reasoning on how you befriended a dragon, sure, I guess. Warriors has a dragon friend, so it wouldn’t be that weird anyway.” Four looked resigned as he answered back, in a low tone. Legend would curse his good hearing for all the accidental eavesdropping if some of the things he overheard wasn’t so damned interesting. 

Judging by the look on Time’s face, he had overheard the same thing. Shadow had zero regard about responding to Four’s acceptance with a loud, “fuck yeah!” The sudden volume from the shade startled Sky, Twilight, and Warriors. Wind met with an echoed shout of the same phrase, which received several scoldings. Legend chuckled lightly at their excitement. Shadow had to join him and Time on Dimitri because he had no idea how to swim. Hyrule had learned quite a bit, but stuck close to Dimitri and Wild. 

The temperature cooled significantly as they got away from the desert, and they were met with the warm oranges that engulfed Holodrum in the fall. Then Legend caught the sound that was obviously someone in combat, he pushed Dimitri to swim fast. The others caught on to the urgency and started moving to the shore quickly. Legend saw Din’s troupe camped out nearby the entrance to Horon Village, and almost as soon as they made it too them the sound of combat stopped. 

Legend surveyed the field and saw that the last monster in combat had fallen, and that the man who’d felled it looked oddly familiar.  “Din! Is everything alright?” Din smiled, as if here caravan hadn’t just been attacked by monsters, and the soldier began to make his way over to them. Something about his armor was familiar to Legend, he couldn’t quite place why, but it looked very old-fashioned. 

Din patted him on the head, which made him feel like she was treating him like a kid, “don’t worry, Link. My sister thought there might be some trouble that would come our way, that you wouldn’t be able to help with, so she asked for some assistance.” Legend blinked at that vague explanation, but by then the mystery soldier had made his way over. Legend finally recognized why it was familiar, it was Labrynnian make… old Labrynnian make.

He put together who the helpful estranged was, just before he lifted his helm. Legend didn’t have to look at the others to know they were shock, Hylians were uncommon to come across in other countries. Legend made sure that they knew that, but the man before them looked like Time without the scar over his eye and the marking. Din waved to him, but gestured to the troupe heading to the village, likely so they could start setting up. “Remember, you owe me a dance, Link!” Legend waved her off, to focus on the soldier. 

“It’s good to see you again, Link.” Raven started, and Legend was almost surprised that he was recognized, until he remembered that he’d used the disguise to walk right into the front doors of Ambi’s castle. The disguise clearly hadn’t fooled the only other Hylian in Labrynna, but that didn’t explain how the hell he was currently in the present. Then again, Din had mentioned Nayru being behind this. 

Legend put his face in his hands, groaning into them, “fuck time travel.” He lifted his head to greet Raven, who looked amused by his exasperation, “it’s good to see you too, Sir Raven. Though, I wasn’t exactly expecting you to jump out of the past, please tell my Nayru will put you back once this is over. Not that I’m not glad to see you, I just don’t want to think about the repercussions of you not going back right now.” Ceasing to exist was high on his list of concerns, and Raven likely put that together quickly.

He chuckled, “I have my plans on going back, yes. Nayru just had concerns about the safety of her sister, when there was no guarantee when you’d return. Especially, with the odd happening as of late. Ralph stayed in Labrynna to protect Nayru.” Legend snorted at Raven’s tacked on comment, they both knew how ‘devoted’ Ralph was to Nayru. Joking aside, Ralph had become quite skilled over the years, mostly due to their regular sparring. 

Legend could admit that it was reassuring that Raven was here to defend Din, was reassuring in the face of the fact that he had no control on where he would end up in his era. He was snapped out of his thoughts by Wind jabbing him in the back, “why does he look like Time?” Wind hissed, none to quietly. Legend took a quick glance over their group to absorb the various perturbed and confused looks. He refused to think about how Raven lived in an era 400 years ago, which was roughly around the era of the Fallen Hero. The Fallen Hero that he and Hyrule refused to acknowledge was Time. 

“Fuck if I know, it probably just a coincidence.” Legend brushed off, and he could see Time deflate slightly at his answer. Coincidences happened, as often as you met a Goron that happened to have the same name as you, or when you saw a familiar face with a similar name in a different era from your own. The world was just weird like that. 

“Are you sure it’s a good idea to leave one of your friends to protecting an Oracle on their own?” Warriors asked, and Legend could tell he was thinking about the situation from a rational standpoint. Rationally, he did have a point, especially when they had little idea on what they were actually facing. However, this was Raven, the man who had fought off Queen Ambi’s army with one hand.

“He helped me take down Veran, he’ll be fine. He kinda became a hero in his own right by the time I was born. Goddesses forbid I hear another rant about how I have to live up to being named after his squire.” Legend explained, and Raven coughed to cover up a laugh.

“You were named after my squire?”

“Yeah, that’s one of the tiny changes that happened after fixing everything that Veran broke.” Raven was clearly trying not to laugh at this point, and Legend found humor in the inside joke he had with the man, who was also his ancestor. 

“Your squire was named Link?” Wild questions, clearly trying to probe for what the man found funny. 

Raven gave him a look and Legend shrugged in response, he may as well die of embarrassment now, rather deal with the constant pestering. “Truthfully, I never took on a squire, but when a young Hylian boy appeared from nowhere and helped save the Oracle of Ages… it was easier to say he was my squire, since Hylians stand out in the lands of humans.”

It wasn’t a straight answer, but it was certainly enough for the others to connect the dots. Hyrule snorted as he connected the pieces of information, but it was Four that spoke out first. “You were named after yourself?!” Four’s mumblings about paradoxes were overshadowed by Hyrule laughing. Jokes on him, this technically means that he was named after Legend too. Get named after your time traveling ‘twin’ idiot. 

It was Time who sighted, “fuck time travel.” He said it with such weight, that Legend was almost curious about the bullshit he was put through, but he could easily agree with the sentiment. Oddly enough, Sky nodded along with the sentiment rather than mentioning Time’s language. Apparently, the goddesses had a thing for sending heroes through time, he didn’t even want to think about Warriors’ situation. 

It was Wild who decided to point out to Hyrule the fact that he was named after his ‘twin,’ causing the hero to stop laughing. Raven shot him a questioning look, which Legend shrugged in response too. He mouthed to the man, ‘Ganon again, probably’ causing the man to look tired on his behalf. “So, if Sir Raven is a hero too, then could he end up coming with us too?” Wind questioned, and that gave them all pause. 

“I doubt that I could be considered on the same level as the heroes of old. I don’t think my fate will be that tied with all of yours.” Sir Raven answered. 

“You caught on to the situation pretty quick, or did Nayru give you a heads-up?” Legend pointed out, and Raven confirmed that it was the latter situation. 

Four seemed to have been thinking on the conundrum that Wind and Raven had presented, “I don’t think that Sir Raven could be considered a ‘destined hero,’ no offense.” Raven chuckled, but urged him to continue his thoughts out of his own curiosity. “Well, when I was younger, before crafting the Four Sword, I was told of the Hero of Man. The hero who was given the Picori Blade to defeat and seal a number of monsters that infested the land. I thought it was odd that we hadn’t encountered him, but if we consider the possibility that there are other heroes other than the ‘goddesses’ chosen’ then it would make sense that there could be a number of heroes that we may never meet or take part in our quest.” Four rambled, but what he was trying to get at made sense. 

“Perhaps you have a point, but there isn’t too much of a point in mulling over it too much. I’ve never considered myself to be much of a hero anyway.” Raven said with humor, before turning to Legend, “in the end, I believe that Din won’t be letting us keep her much longer. We all may as well enjoy the festivities.”

“Yeah, we get to Legend fail at dancing in front of an audience.” Twilight snickered, and Legend just gave him a flat, humorless look.

“You owe me 600 rupees if I make you eat those words.” Legend dared, he could see Warriors pointedly looking away, because he knew that Legend was at least coordinated enough to dance. What he didn’t know is that Legend had spent several months traveling with Din’s troupe in the past, and he had challenged both the Subrosian and Goron Dance Halls. Speaking of which, “by the way, Din and the others may end up attempting to pull you guys into assisting with their performance. So, I suggest you pull out any talents you may have out of your asses to save your skin. Wild, Auntie Impa will probably pull you aside to help with cooking.” 

A few of them would be saved by their own musical talents, and joking aside, Twilight and Warriors had strength on their side. Even just being capable of lifting another performer would add to the spectacle of the show, Legend had a feeling that Twilight would be kidnapped by the villagers, though. Legend had no idea about Raven, but he knew the man had far too many tricks up his sleeve to be taken off guard. Legend learned far too many tricks to be taken off guard, that and the troupe knew him, so he would likely be dragged on stage first. Hyrule was likely going to be the second one to be dragged on stage, but Legend had little doubt that he could improvise something. 

Shoving his thoughts aside, Legend walked into Horon Village with confidence, bidding goodbye to Dimitri who leaves for warmer waters. The autumn reds, oranges, and yellows were complimented by pastel streamers and cloths hanging from the trees. The troupe was already starting to play a cheerful tune that complemented the bright atmosphere of the town. Legend was greeted by a few townspeople, before he heard a shout, “Uncle Link.” He was shocked for a moment before he realized what kid had shouted it. It was Bipin and Blossom’s kid.

“Uncle?” Hyrule questioned, looking at Legend with understandable confusion.

“His parents asked me to name him, hoping he’d grow up strong. He was sickly when he was little and they didn’t have much to help pay for medicine, it was the least I could do.” He knew he was getting some surprised looks from that admission, other than from Raven. It made sense, too, his adventures in Labrynna and Holodrum happened when he was still a hopelessly enthusiastic kid. He had changed in the two adventures that had followed. 

He greeted Bipsom cheerfully, laughing with Blossom when she stressed about how much of a troublemaker he was. He was about to comment about how a little bit of trouble never hurt too much, but he was smacked on the back of the head with a broom before he could get a word out. He heaved a sigh, “good to see you too, Maple, how’s your grandma?”

Maple huffed, “I’ll have you know that I’m no longer her apprentice, and you’re welcome for taking care of Ricky all this time.”

“Congratulations. You love Ricky, so stop complaining, and no, I’m not giving you the Rod of Seasons even if I don’t have a use for it.” She huffed, but Legend just pulled a card out of his past self’s repertoire and stuck his tongue out at her. If she really wanted to get back at him for all the items she’d lost to him, she should learn to fly straight. Bipsom giggled and copied his gesture to Maple too, causing him to laugh. The young witch would huff about it, but at the end of the day they’d still be friends.

As Legend suspected, Wild was soon assisting Auntie Impa, who complained about him and Hyrule being too thin. Neither of them could argue with her. Time and Twilight had been roped into helping the villagers set up the last few things. Four, Shadow, and Wind were set about exploring and helping out where they could. Warriors watched with humor as Sky sat down with the troupe to begin playing his harp, rather than napping, before striking up conversation with Raven. Legend supposed the two had some degree in common, both being knights, though Raven serves Queen Ambi. 

Legend in the meantime introduced his ‘twin’ to the troupe and prepared with them for the inevitable show. Hyrule was designated in assisting with set up, since he couldn’t cook to save his life, and Legend doubted his stills in anything else the troupe could throw at him. Eventually, he did join the other musicians with his flute, joining in on the music as it began to ramp up. Din always danced last, but that didn’t mean that Legend wouldn’t be roped into the other shows as usual. 

He didn’t pay to much attention to the audience as he was roped into balancing plates on dowels from the tip of his sword, much like he had in the past. He overheard surprised cheers that sounded familiar, and he winked at Wind as he swung his sword, tossing the plate in the air and catching it in his hand. He chuckled when he heard Wind say something about ‘showing off.’ Soon the dancers take the stage, and the leader of the troupe calls to the village’s attention for Din’s dance. 

Legend waits offstage, until he’s queued on. Din is a magnificent dancer, and so she deserves center stage for a little while. When Legend overlooks the crowd, he’s a little surprised to see Farore lurking at the edges of it, but he supposes it isn’t too unusual for her to want to see her sister’s dance. It isn’t long before he too is dragged on stage, Farore’s eyes met his, and much like in the past she winked at him. He knew better than to point out the Oracle of Secrets from a crowd, he had no doubt that she’d go back to hiding away in the Maku Trees after the festival was over. 

He brushed off the number of people that were watching, and easily joined Din in dancing. He saw a passing glance of Warriors pushing Twilight’s jaw shut, though the captain also looked surprised. Ballroom dancing certainly lacked the same degree of flair that folk dancing had. Unexpectedly, Time had joined Hyrule and Sky, starting to play a cheerful tune that seemed to come straight from his childhood. Legend was surprised to see a Deku Scrub, Goron, and Zora join the band in playing, but he quickly realized that they were spirits in the same way the old Deity was. Most likely, aside from them guiding the tune of the song with Time, most villagers would be unaware of their presence.

After, having his fill of dancing, and as the town began to quiet down for the evening festivities, Legend thumbed his own old brown ocarina. He knew with the right tune and just a bit of magic it would resonate with all the other instruments in his bag. He had no doubt that the others were all familiar with the tune by now, it was a habit that Ravio and Fable reminded him of. With the peaceful lull of Horon Village and the distant echo of waves, he could easily think of Mabe Village. He almost wondered if he’d gotten better at playing the ocarina over the years.

He could tell Hyrule, Sky, and Time were waiting to see what he decided to play, no doubt it wouldn’t take them much to join in. But he already had all the instruments to play the Ballade of the Windfish, in its true form, as a song of awakening. He quickly played the tune on his ocarina, far quicker and upbeat than he usually hummed the song. As soon as he played the notes, the other instruments joined into form the song. First the horn, followed shortly by the cello, then the organ and the marimba, the bell, then the drums, harp, and triangle. One adding on to the tune, until they collected into a bright, cheerful tune that drowned out the ocarina. He wondered if the people in Koholint had a chance to hear it before the Wind Fish woke. 

There was a final cheer from the villagers as the instruments whisked themselves away as soon as they were summoned. Notably, none of their group was as enthusiastic, likely no wanting to break the moment of him playing the song in full for once. He admittedly disappeared into the crowed after that, until he crossed paths with Raven again. The man looked at him with a different understanding to all those years ago. No, years for him, perhaps not as long for Raven. “You’ve changed.” He stated, not negatively, just a fact.

“Well, I’ve had 3 other adventures after saving Labrynna, not including this one. It’s not like I could always stay the same, I’d be too predictable otherwise.” Legend responded, that gave the older man pause.

“Never though of stopping?”

“Have you?” He responded slyly, causing them both to laugh at each others expense. He knew that in several years, Raven would return to Hyrule, and be greeted with his own battles to fight there. Hyrule in that time certainly needed that kind of help from Raven. 

“I suppose it does make sense that you are my ancestor, then.”

That’s when the eavesdropper decided to make himself known, “I thought you said that Sir Raven was Fable’s ancestor?” Wind questioned, before covering his mouth at dropping his cover. He attempted to meow, to pretend as if they didn’t know he was there. Legend and Raven both gave him a questioning look.

“I did say that.” Legend stated, before realizing what he’d just admitted, and what Wind was now connecting the dots on. “Fuck.”

“You’re a prince?!”

“Shut your mouth, you cretin, it’s only a technicality.”

“Technically, you’re still a prince.” Wind whispered this time, and oh, Legend was definitely dying his hair bright blue. The perfect color to match his bright blue tunic. 

Chapter Text

Link remembered the first time he had one of the transformation rings identified. “Moblin Ring” the jeweler had called it, he had been told it would turn him into a Moblin. He had thought it was a grand joke at first, surely nothing like that really existed, but another part of him remembered the cranky bat demon that cursed him. It supposedly halved his innate magic stores, but oddly enough, his magic items seemed easier to use afterward. The world was full of strange things, so how strange would a ring that allowed you to turn into a Moblin be. 

Most of the rings he found were useful in their own way, so the Moblin ring fell to the wayside for more practical rings. Defensive rings, attack rings, ones that boosted his items abilities, one that helped with swimming, one for ice, all more useful than one that turned you into a monster. But Link had one major flaw, that being his curiosity. When the Octorock, Like-Like, and Subrosian rings fell into his hands, he recalled the Moblin ring hidden away in his box. He mind itched at the idea of a magic item that could turn you into something else.

Trepidation was the only thing that prevented him from acting on his curiosity sooner. How did they really work? What are the drawbacks? The greater attack and defensive rings had drawbacks that Link understood, they would be too powerful without those drawbacks. His prior adventure had made him more weary about jumping headfirst into something, without any consideration.

Then he found the ring that baffled the jeweler, another transformation ring, that was for certain. The First Generation ring is what the jeweler had called it, which had Link trying to fathom what that name actually meant. What did it transform the wearer into? The jeweler and his two talking snakes couldn’t tell, only that he would become “something.” That was the final nail in the coffin that Link’s curiosity had been digging the grave for. 

So, he found himself sitting by a river away from town, with his amassed collection of transformation rings at the ready. He hadn’t traveled to Holodrum at the time, so he had no idea what a Subrosian was. He was interested to find out, but he eventually decided that sticking to something that he could recognize first would be the best idea. He did shove the Like-Like away in his box with the rest of his rings, though. He did not want to find out what it was like to be a Like-Like.

He couldn’t say he was scared, no, he knew well enough what being afraid was like. He was nervous, though. Just put the ring on, look at himself in the water, then take it off before something bad happened. That was his plan, surely nothing would go horribly wrong. Knowing him, it was only a matter of time before his curiosity bit him in the ass. He slipped on the Moblin ring and though the shifting of his features felt strange, it wasn’t painful. When he looked at his reflection in the water, his only thought was, ‘yeah, that’s a moblin.’ 

He did not have time to take the ring off, since a group of monsters appeared from the brush. He stood up to ready himself for battle, only for his sword to slip out of his hand. He internally cursed, only for the monsters to walk past him without a second glance. Right, technically he was a monster right now. He waited until the monsters left to take off the ring, when he did, he patted himself down and found that he was still the same as he remembered.  After thinking for a moment, he realized that the monster rings could be useful in a pinch to avoid run-ins with monsters. 

Next he observed the Subrosian ring and the First Generation ring, he decided to try the Subrosian ring. He found himself staring at the reflection of a short hooded figure, with large, bright eyes staring out from the darkness of the hood. He couldn’t really make out what he truly looked like, nor could he tell what he looked like based on feel. Well, Subrosians didn’t seem to be monsters, but he couldn’t tell exactly what they were. He pushed the thought aside, after all, he knew nothing about Subrosians. 

Now to see what lay in store for him with the final ring. How bad could it possibly be if it had managed to stump the jeweler? The other two rings didn’t seem to be that bad, and as far as he could tell, had no negative outcome. It’s not like he’d find out by mulling over it all day, so he put on the ring… and waited. There wasn’t any strange squashing or stretching feeling that came with the other rings… he just felt the same? He looked over himself and found himself more confused. Maybe it just turned him into a human? But the fact that he could flick his ears, snubbed that idea. Humans didn’t have mobile ears. 

He, finally, looked at his reflection and found himself more confused. “It turned me into some guy?” There wasn’t much of a difference between the fluffy brown hair and his currently dyed black hair. Though whomever he transformed into had slightly darker skin, darker freckles, and brown-green eyes, there wasn’t a stark change. Just another rough looking Hylian kid. Perhaps for a brief moment he hoped, maybe the kid was like him. That idea was squashed too, he didn’t want anyone to have to deal with the same problems he had. 

After trying the ring on for the first time in Holodrum, he hadn’t given it much further thought until he was in Labrynna. He hadn’t really needed any of the transformation rings, however he was stuck in the conundrum of getting into Queen Ambi’s palace, as one of the only Hylians in the country.  But, at least the ring gave him an idea. He had needed to sneak into Ambi’s palace, and now he looked like someone else. If he just used one of those human hats that covered their ears, getting through wouldn’t be much of an issue. 

Most humans wouldn’t give him a second glance, but the knight at the Queen’s side had sharp eyes. He wasn’t easily fooled, but he didn’t act to stop Link, it seemed he was aware of how strangely Nayru was acting. Aware of Veran’s deceit, but unable to act out to keep his lady safe. Link managed to free Nayru, but Ambi was possessed in turn. Link had a new ally in the form of his own ancestor, one that aided him in stopping Veran. Link, no Legend, woke from the dream made of old memories and sighed internally. At least he had one night free from the hauntingly pleasant island of dreams.

Though the harvest festival in Holodrum lasted at least three days, the next morning was quiet and slow. The chill of the morning causes most to stay in the warmth of their houses, or in Wind’s case, thoroughly burrowed under a pile of blankets. The feast would be prepared this evening, and in the late evening the sharing of crops would commence. In the meantime, Legend took his time to relax as Raven fished and the others slept in. He had his feet dipped in the water as he talked with the older man about how his horse was doing, how his adventures had never stopped. Though Raven wasn’t a hero chosen by the goddesses, it was easy for him to wrap his head around what Legend had been through based on his own travels. 

The others gradually woke, but only Time came to join them in catching breakfast. The conversation steered away from adventures, to Hyrule. As Time was closer to the period Raven lived in, he had a better grasp on the state Hyrule would be in when he decided to return. Legend occasionally interrupted with additions that he knew from his history, which Labrynna has an extensive library on. Their quiet conversation was interrupted when Legend heard a squeaky voice nearby, he recognized the voice speaking to Din, so he excused himself to greet another friend. 

He could tell the others were curious as he approached Din and the short hooded figure talking to her, the large bow on top of her cloak made her look only slightly taller. He almost stopped in surprise at seeing Rosa again, only because she stood just slightly below his waist now. He knew he was several years younger last he saw her, but he hadn’t thought he’d grown much since then. I suppose it was easier to notice when interacting with a race of people much shorter than you, though he was glad to have avoided the Tokay on their trip so far. 

Rosa greeted him usually, mentioning that he couldn’t go on a date with her today, something to do with ‘girl business.’ Not that he was planning to argue with her, but based off the chuckles from the other heroes, someone had caught wind of what she’d said. “You planning on giving the Goron’s tips on how to improve their Dance Hall finally?” He asked mostly in jest, but truthfully, much like her, he preferred the Subrosian Dance Hall. 

“Don’t get me started on those rock heads! Oh, I attempted to steer them in the right direction, but they challenged me to a dance off. Me!” Her voice pitched dangerously with her increased frustration, but Legend had to hear about this. He had suffered at the hands of the Goron Dance Hall, he would not admit how many rupees he handed over just to get the restored key to the Mermaid Key in the past… and the present. It seemed that Din was invested too. “Needless to say they were no match for any Subrosian, a child could beat them.”

That had Legend laughing, Rosa enacting revenge on his behalf once again. Though the first time had been scolding the shame into a Tokay well enough for it to give him one of his shovels back. Sure, the Subrosians tended to be little jerks, who ganged up on him to throw him out of their Dance Hall if he made the smallest mistake. But they didn’t charge him for entry, and they acted like nothing happened whenever he re-entered the Dance Hall. So, he had respect for the little jerks, even if they regularly called him a dork when they thought he wasn’t listening. He only really disliked the little thieves that stole his belongings, sucks for them that he knew where they buried their treasures. 

Din laughed as Rosa explained how she’d bested the Goron’s at their own game, and made her richer by repaying her for their loss in ore chunks. Well, at least richer in Subrosian terms, since rupees held no value for them. Legend never really got it, but who was he to question someone else’s society, ore chunks weren’t exactly hard for him to find. He had at least one shovel for that purpose. “Oh, get this Link, there’s a new prize at the Dance Hall.” That only mildly got his attention, because surely it wouldn’t be anything he would need. “It’s a rare ore that may be useful for your little weapons.”

Well, damn, that may actually be useful. Especially, with all the new equipment that they made for Shadow. Sure, he and Four made the best equipment that they could manage, but nothing could really compete with magical ore. He’d upgraded his uncle’s old sword and the Master Sword with magic ore. He fixed Ghirahim too, but he still debates on how ‘good’ an idea that was. “Well, it looks like I may have to pay the Dance Hall a visit. Maybe my friends could help, but I’m pretty sure they’d get thrown out the moment they set foot on the dance floor.” 

He heard several gasps of offense at that. Unfortunately for them, they did not know how the Subrosian Dance Hall worked. Sure, there was a prize after every dance, but you had to complete multiple dances, which got progressively harder, to get the real prize. They didn’t need to know that yet, though. Legend wanted to see how far they could make it. There was also a chance that the shop in Subrosia could have some useful things, and that would require giving the ore chunks he had over to someone to buy anything that may be useful. Perhaps he could ask Raven to tag along for that alone, it would be funnier that way. Perhaps, like him, their inability to move on from one task until it’s complete, would cause Legend extreme entertainment for the day.

Technically humans, and by the Subrosian’s complete inability to tell the difference, Hylians weren’t allowed in Subrosia. But, due to the sheer fact that Subrosians never really left their homeland, and humans never tried venturing there, no Subrosian knew what a human looked like. By consequence, they also didn’t know what Hylians looked like. Of course, they could tell that he wasn’t a Subrosian when he’d traveled there, and they were rude little shits about it too, but Subrosians weren’t violent by nature. So, unsubtle name-calling, most often directly spoken to him, was the limit of what he experienced. Rosa, by all accounts, was practically a saint among their kind, but the bar is very low by his standards. He supposed he should warn the others, especially since Twilight would likely be easily irritated by the Subrosians, but where was the fun in that.

“Thanks for the heads-up, Rosa, maybe you could guide me and my friends to Subrosia?” Rosa peeked past him to look at the other heroes. He really didn’t need help finding one of the handful of portals leading to Subrosia, just like he didn’t need help finding any of the portals to the dark world. The cracks that lead to Lorule were a different test of his memory, even if he remembered where they were, some were smack in the middle of a high cliff face. He did not have the same climbing skills as Wild, and he doubted his bracelet’s magic would work like that. 

“Funny looking lot, aren’t they?” Rosa commented, and Legend had to fight rolling his eyes. Even by Hylian standards, he supposed they were odd. She thought for a moment before making her decision, “Maybe, if you go on another date with me?” He could already tell that the others were gossiping about that question. He actually liked Rosa’s little dates, they were pleasant strolls along the shores of Subrosia, filled with the latest gossip Rosa could provide. Unfortunately, with the others involved, a task at hand, and the ever looming potential of being thrown into another era, Legend wasn’t certain he had the time. 

“I don’t know if I can make a date this time, Rosa, especially with my companions’ lack of dancing skills, and potential of sudden unexpected traveling.” He whispered the dig at the other heroes to Rosa, but he knew at least one of them still heard his comment. He was, however, anything but prepared. “Hopefully, this new bow I got you while I was in Hytopia will suffice, and I’ll get back to you on the date.” Din chuckled at their usual banter, and was surprised when he offered her a matching accessory for her. Rosa adored Din, so giving them matching accessories had been an idea lurking in his mind for years, thankfully their visit to Hytopia made the execution easy. 

“Fine! But, I expect you to get back to me on that date! The boys at home are so boring.” Rosa eventually agreed.

Legend snorted, “I expect your finest gossip, when I can find the time.” 

Rosa ventured off to say her goodbyes to Din, which would likely take a while, so he decided to fill the others in on what Subrosia was like. He didn’t get very far before Raven spoke up, “setting off on another adventure?” His voice was full of humor, but Legend caught the glint of concern in his eyes. 

“You could always tag along for a bit.” Legend offered with a smirk, but he had a hunch that Raven wouldn’t come with them. Judging by the soft smile that crossed the older man’s face, he was correct. Legend felt slightly sad, knowing that this would likely be the last time that he ever encountered his ancestor in the flesh. 

“I shouldn’t stray too far from my current task, I’m sure our path may cross again in some odd way.” Raven said with his own smirk. Right, the man was sharper than he ever let on, he likely knew that he was his descendant a long time ago. 

Legend shook his head, “no offense, but, goddesses, I hope not.” Raven chuckled at his exasperation, knowing exactly what he meant. He really didn’t want to have to fix a messed up timeline a second time. Raven patted him on the shoulder as left to join Din, at least Legend knew that the Oracles would be in safe hands.

“Don’t you think that’s a bit rude of a goodbye, if you’ll never see him again.” Wind whispered, poking him harshly in the side with his lip twisted in a scowl. Legend snorted, partially at Wind’s face.

“Oh, I saw his face plenty enough growing up. My gramps could go on for days about the honors of being the descendant of such a valiant knight.” Legend said with some decree of fondness, but mostly he had hated those lectures growing up. Mostly because of how often he’d heard them, but he had always wanted a simpler life than knighthood would allow. Look at where that got him; thrice a hero, honorary knighthood in Labrynna, semi-ambassador status on behalf of Lorule, but the knight of Hyrule still stood on guard any time he stepped foot in the castle. 

Wind’s face morphed from a scowl to a mischievous smirk, but he spoke almost too innocently when he asked, “I thought Sir Raven was Fable’s ancestor?” Legend felt himself bristle as the boy caught his slip up. Sure, Wind already knew, but he was a conniving little shit. Legend really needed to fulfil his promise of dying the boy’s hair blue. He hazarded a glance at the others, who seemed to give him space to say farewell to Raven. Of course, Wind had to be an eavesdropping little shit. Legend wasted no time putting the kid into a headlock and rubbing his knuckle into his wild hair.

Wind shrieked in retaliation, but Legend could tell he was overexaggerating just a bit. Playing into what was happening, as if to make it seem more like banter. “Listen here you little shit, you heard nothing. I know you’re already in the loop enough on my bullshit, I don’t you telling everyone I’m related to Zelda.” Wind huffed and let out a groaned ‘fine’ before Legend released him, and with a movement Wind didn’t expect, Legend dumped a bottle of blue hair dye on his head. Wind, shrieked in outrage, grabbing at his head. Legend cackled as he pointedly turned around, so Wind would be able to see his reflection in his mirror shield. Wind yelled as he got a good look at his reflection, and the boy grabbed the edges of his shield to shake him. Legend laughed as he thought, good, knock the little guy down a peg.

The group came over, well mostly Warriors did, to break up his and Wind “spat.” Legend rolled his eyes at the older man before gesturing over the others to give them a brief refresher of what Subrosia would be like. He was part way though through his explanation when Wild asked if it was as hot as Death Mountain, and he couldn’t answer. Death Mountain was hot in his era, sure, but the real issue was the fact that the mountain was perpetually spitting out boulders. Which in hindsight, Hyrule mentioning that it had erupted completely sometime before he was born made a lot more sense. He gave a pointed look to Hyrule, because technically as far as Wild knew, he hadn’t been to Death Mountain.

“Death Mountain has been dormant since it erupted, how bad could it be?” Hyrule asked, a bit meekly. Legend had experienced many different environments, and frankly he just got used to it. Subrosia was extremely balmy at worst, as long as no one tried the “hot springs” they would be fine.

“Most people, traveling up Death Mountain, have to use fireproof potions to survive the heat in my era.” Wild responded frankly, with a slight air of curiosity towards what should be their era.

“Fireproof potions? That seems a bit excessive of a name, why not just call it heat-resistant?” Shadow questioned and Legend saw where he was coming from, potions had very simple but specific names. There was a reason for that, too, because if you needed a potion for something specific, the name was the easiest indicator for how it would help.

“No, I mean heat-resistant potions work for Gerudo Desert and maybe the lower parts of Death Mountain. But, if you don’t have a fireproof potion or armor going further up the mountain, you’ll, well,” Wild finished the sentence by making a sound similar to a fire starting, making a gesture to match, which was easy to get the meaning from. Hyrule and Legend found themselves staring at Wild in shock, and were Time and Sky nodding along with him. 

“The Eldin Region is the same in my era, so I had to get magic earrings from the dragon, Eldin, to survive the heat.” Sky added, and Legend really wanted to study those earrings. Hyrule seemed to know what he was thinking and stopped him with a firm grip on his arm. 

“I’m so glad Mount Crenel isn’t that bad.” Four sighed, Shadow looked concerned next to him. Right, light was an issue, but frankly Subrosia likely wouldn’t be a problem. Twilight seemed equally shocked, but Warriors seemed pensive about something. Legend had a feeling it may have something to do with how confusing the War of Eras was. 

“I don’t even want to know how that works, and no, surprisingly I do not have a ring that prevents me from spontaneously being lit on fire. But, Subrosia isn’t that bad, it’s completely underground, so the only heat and light comes from the lava. There is a fairly normal beach, but so long as you don’t go take a dip in the ‘hot spring’ you’ll be fine.” At least he’d already explained why the hot springs were forbidden.

He thought for a moment on what else to tell them, before realizing something rather important. “Also, rupees hold no value to Subrosians, they use ore as currency. Which isn’t too hard to find, if you have a shovel.”

“Which, you have like 5 of.” Wind said, like the cheeky little brat he is. Fine, two can play at that game.

“I’ll only let you borrow one, if you manage to get through one round in the Subrosian dance hall.” Legend offered, knowing the kid would suffer. Wind squinted, Legend figured he probably had a shovel stowed away somewhere, but to back down on a challenge that would allow him to use one of his many coveted items, even if it was a shovel, would be hard to refuse. Then he thought back on the two pains in his back when he first went to Subrosia. “Oh, yeah, and watch for the Strange Brothers. To put it simply, they’re con artists, but I know where they hide their spoils if needed.” 

“Why do I get the feeling you’ve stolen things from them?” Hyrule questioned when he mentioned the two offhandedly, with an eerie smile on his face. Legend turned to him, with a shrug.

“They stole my roc’s feather from me first.” He responded with a chipper tone, blatantly ignoring the fact that he had two roc’s feathers and the one that had been stolen had been upgraded to a roc’s cape. Legend wasn’t above holding grudges, he just happened to remember them for important people like Ganon, or the Tokay. Not that he hated the Tokay, he just didn’t trust them not to steal his belongings. 

“I find it hard to believe you, of all people, got swindled.” Warriors commented under his breath, unfortunately for him, Legend heard. His shins would survive this day, because the thought of him suffering at the hands of the tiny Subrosians was too good to miss out on.

“I was 11.” Legend stated, placing emphasis on his age. His adventures before he turned 15 happened when he was more naive and still had hope for something else in life. The gods had snuffed out that hope on their own accord, and he’d become far less trusting since. Sometimes he played along with things, because he already knew how to get himself out of most situations, but Ravio could attest to how little he trusted him when they first met. Granted, the Lorulian setting up shop in his house hadn’t helped.

Hyrule didn’t bat an eye when he mentioned his age, neither did Wind nor Four. Legend didn’t fail to notice the looks from their older members, he doubted Time had a similar luxury of being at least a teen when he started out, judging by how often he mentioned how long it had been since his last adventure. Twilight, Sky, and Warriors however failed to hide their grimaces. Legend wanted to ignore those looks, they reminded him of his family’s concerns that his body ached like he was at least 30 years older than he was. How Fable scolded him for running off to save the world constantly, he really couldn’t help it on most occasions.

So, he pivoted, ignoring their concerns, by changing the topic. “It may not be that important, but there are some monsters that are different here. Like goombas, thwomps, cheep cheeps, and podoboos.” There were others he could think of that he wasn’t highly concerned about facing outside a dungeon, they would be annoying more than anything because the items they required to defeat. “The most likely ones we could encounter in Subrosia are podoboos because of all the fire, but any ice weapons should do the trick easily.” He heard Warriors sigh at his blatant redirection of the topic, but didn’t do anything to stop him.

“What’s a cheep-cheep?” Wind questioned, “it sounded like you were just saying sounds.”

Legend could only shrug, since nobody exactly explored dungeons in Labrynna and Holodrum, he basically came up with names for some monsters as he went. He never said they were good names. “Cheep cheeps are a fish-like monster, usually you only encounter them underwater. Thwomps, however, aren’t really something that you can fight. I call them thwomps because they’re living platforms that try to crush you when you walk under them.”

“You mean a trap?” Four clarified, as if he knew what a thwomp was.

“I wish, those assholes have eyes, and get real angry when they fail to squish you. There was also head thwomp, which was a boss I had to throw bombs in the top of it head of.” Legend begrudgingly said, recalling what an absolute pain it was to fight that damn thing. Twilight raised an eyebrow at him, almost like he wasn’t expecting him to admit he had trouble fighting a boss. “Fucker would only actually take damage if the correct face shows after a bomb explodes on its head. It was an absolute pain to get the timing just right, but at least it dropped more bombs if it didn’t land on the right face.” 

Legend never considered that monster to be difficult to beat or particularly dangerous, especially since the room it was in made it easy to hide from its attacks. It was the fact that harming it was completely left to chance that annoyed him to no end. The others seemed to get the idea of how frustrating such a monster could be, granted, he had no idea if they ever encountered something similar.

It wasn’t much longer before Rosa was ready to guide them to Subrosia, though Legend had to pay her in many compliments. One rather convoluted walk and, for once, an uneventful step through a portal, and they were in the volcanic caverns of Subrosia. “Wow, I thought we’d have to go through a cave or something.” Wild commented, and he just shrugged in response. He didn’t really know how the portals to Subrosia worked, they were more similar to the ones to Lorule, rather than the Dark World. But he couldn’t exactly pretend like he understood those, either. 

The portal had put them north of the beach, nearby one of the many volcanos in the caverns, southwest from the Temple of Seasons. The dance hall was mostly to the north and would require navigating some cliffs, which would also have to be navigated to get to some of the buildings in town, because of lava. He would have to explain to Four if he wanted to visit the smith shop. Rosa bade them a quick goodbye before scurrying off to the beach. 

“There are a few other portals that lead here, but welcome to Subrosia. There’s a smith west of here, but I doubt they’ll allow you to help much without any payment, and there’s lava that makes it difficult to get there easily.” Legend pointed out to Four, and unsubtly handed him a bag of rock. Carrying around a bag of rocks was probably something more expected from Wild, but he had told them that ore was the currency here, so it’s not like they should really be that surprised. 

Four pocketed the ore for the time being, the others could argue about fairness, but Four would be the one who would be putting the metal he eventually won to good use. That and it didn’t hurt for him to empty his current supply of ore for anything he would eventually win in the dance hall. “This way to the dance hall.” He said, pointing the way, as the others took in their surrounding. Legend was used to ignoring the Subrosians ‘comments’ about him, but he could practically feel Twilight’s eyebrows twitching at some of their remarks. The only thing holding him back was probably a mixture of Time and the fact that the Subrosian barely reached his knees. 

It didn’t take too long for them to reach the dance hall, and Legend mentally prepared himself for the chaos that was about to unfold. There was no fee for entering in the competition, he may not have made a slight dig at the Gorons for that specifically. He didn’t hate them, but he certainly didn’t appreciate how many rupees they had pawned off him with their many, many minigames. He absolutely refused to mention goronaid in front of Wild, that was not a rabbit hole he was willing to fall into, nor did he really want to think about. 

“The dance hall is more of a follow the leader game, there’s a Subrosian, who is the instructor, on a platform in the middle of the hall that’ll give you indications on how to move. The catch is we’ll be confined to a square around the platform in the center. However, you can’t go out of line, step on anyone’s toes by moving too fast, cause anyone to bump into you by being too slow, and you absolutely aren’t allowed to make the wrong moves. All of those things will get you kicked out, and the dance gets faster the longer you go on.” Legend explained, before asking if anyone had any questions.

Sky tentatively raised his hand, and Legend quirked an eyebrow at him. He was a little sheepish when he asked, “why did you even end up doing the dance hall the first time?”

“I needed a boomerang.” Legend said with a shrug, and they all gave him a look. Okay, he may have multiple boomerangs, but that was just rude. “I didn’t exactly have a pack ready to go when the Triforce decided to toss me into another country. Before you ask, the Goron dance hall was because I needed the key for a dungeon, and I needed to do it twice, because the key wasn’t exactly in the best condition in the present.” 

No, he wasn’t going to think about how the Gorons in the past had a decrepit key to pass onto their descendants, when he had the restored key in his house… somewhere. Ravio hid it from him, after he’d made what his doppelgänger described as his ‘I’m seconds away from burning something with a fire rod’ face. Which was not only descriptive, but probably accurate, unfortunately Ghirahim hadn’t caught onto the idea yet. 

“Though, I don’t really need the help… I’ve considered an incentive, I will allow anyone who makes it past three rounds in the dance hall to borrow ONE of my items for an entire day, with some exceptions.” Legend said, the idea was devious, mostly because he doubted they would make it that far. The exceptions mainly involving items he didn’t have copies of, because he wasn’t going to risk his magic cape or Cane of Byrna to someone else's hands. That and he didn’t want to deal with anyone using scent seeds for something too stupid yet. 

Wind looked downright ready to make him eat his own boots, while others, namely, Sky and Twilight, still looked nervous about the situation. So, Legend decided to up the anti, “I mean, if you do make it that far, you could always take something to prevent someone else from getting it.” He mostly said it to get Twilight, Time, and Warriors more interested, because they would probably not agree to Wild or Hyrule having a day access to one of his fire rods.

Without much further waiting, Legend ventured down the stairs to the dance hall. He greeted the instructor, which as far as he was aware was the only other female Subrosian he knew, not that he could really tell. She went over the instructions for the dance, and soon they were all in position on the square dance floor. Surprisingly, when the dance started, nothing went awry immediately. That was until Wild and Hyrule bumped into each other, and in no time they were swarmed by Subrosians and promptly thrown out the hall. Legend was surprised when they didn’t make a reappearance, but he realized he had forgotten to tell them that they could reenter the hall.

The next to fall was Twilight, who moved the wrong direction and was promptly punished for the mistake. Then Sky, who perhaps in the nerves of watching his fellow heroes get manhandled by tiny, cloaked figures, attempted to move to help, only to be tossed out himself. Legend wasn’t so surprised that Warriors was holding his own, Time was surprising, though. Wind’s face was twisted with concentration. The next to fall was Four and Shadow, who ended up smacking each other in the face when posing. That was six down and leaving four left.

Wind ended up sabotaging himself in an attempt to trip up Warriors, and he was quick wrangled and tossed out like those before him. Legend had to keep himself from laughing, so he didn’t mess up, but he saw Warriors visible relax that the last ‘kid’ had been kicked out. Time was a wild card, though, who knew what he would end up asking for. Luckily, for Legend, he didn’t have the courtesy of finding out. By the end of the second round, the two were starting to get tired, and the beginning of the third round proved too fast for them to follow. 

Legend technically had two rounds left, but at least the prizes would line his pockets to replace what he’d given Four. He’d also done more than four rounds in the past to get one of his flutes, an odd prize at the time, but one he didn’t regret. As soon as the fourth round finished, and Legend collected his prize, he bade the instructor farewell. He had bragging rights to redeem, even if he had history with the dance hall.

He exited the dance hall, to find the others sitting around looking defeated, they gave him a look of concern. He allowed them to think he’d been defeated for just a moment, before presenting his prize with a flourished bow. There were some cheers and a few groans, before Legend decided to hurt their pride just a little, “you do realized that you guys could’ve walked back in at any time, right?” Oh, the looks of surprise were priceless, though, he had some mercy since he’d gone through the same thing years ago. “They really don’t care, it would’ve been like nothing even happened. Found that out myself.” He clarified.

“Well, you got the ore, so let's get a better look.” Four said, he looked a little miffed by the entire situation, but Legend handed the ore over. It wasn’t quite like the ‘master ore,’ that he’d aptly named from Lorule, but he could tell that the quality was similar enough. If the master ore could return the Master Sword of his era to a similar state of its former glory, then perhaps this ore could at least take Shadow’s sword from ‘well-crafted’ to minorly magical. It would certainly be useful with the shadow’s true nature, then. 

He didn’t have much time for speculation, since he caught the strange brothers approaching them, and he really didn’t want those two bagging their prize. He spoke a warning to the others, to make sure they kept track of their belongings. Sky, who was leaning over Four’s shoulder, moved to see what he’d pointed out, blocked Legend’s sight from them. He wanted to hiss at the man, but didn’t have any time to react before a portal opened beneath their feet. 

Now Legend could curse the portals for their horrible timing, and for splitting them up. It was just him and Sky in a rather overgrown, lush forest. That wasn’t what caught Legend’s attention first, it was the magic that did, it was young and vibrant. His own era had magic in the land, but it was something that was constantly clawing for survival due to the long reign that Ganon had in the Dark World. The land that had once been the Sacred Realm, before Ganon was sealed away there. Legend could tell the the Sacred Realm hadn’t even been touch in this era, and he could tell by the fact that they were definitely standing on a portal to it.

“Oh, looks like we’re on the surface.” Sky said, looking up to the dense clouds above them, and Legend blink as he processed that. The surface, not Hyrule, right the others mentioned that he established Hyrule. Legend refused to acknowledge that he was the first king, for his own sake. Then he noticed something on Sky’s back, or more accurately a lack of something.

Legend paled, “um, Sky…” the older hero looked at him confused and looked more concerned at seeing his expression. “You wouldn’t have happened to lend your sword to one of the others?” Legend asked, a little hopefully. Though, that hope was quickly dashed when Sky’s own face paled, and he reached to grab at the empty space over his shoulder. Legend ran his hands through his hair, and he really felt like screaming. Sure, he had his own Master Sword in his bag, but he did not want to explain how he got that. 

“Maybe she just ended up with one of the others…” Sky said, weakly, they both had little confidence in that. Actually, now was a superb time to scream, consequences be damned. 

Four and Shadow stared in the direction that Sky and Legend had been, before they ended up where ever they currently were. After processing that they were both on their own, they shared a look and Shadow wilted a little. “Sorry, Link, I’m still not used to the whole being tangible thing anymore… do you mind?” Four blinked, and he couldn’t really blame Shadow. He was grateful that everything had been mild so that Shadow could adjust, but he supposed that there was only so much energy Shadow had without a true source for his power. 

“Go ahead, at least we're separated from the others, so you can get some rest for now. You can take the night watch, if we don’t find the others by then.” Four considered splitting to cover more ground, but in unfamiliar territory that could be trouble. He had more than enough experience on the trouble he could get himself into by splitting up. Shadow sunk into the ground at his feet, and Four felt a degree of nostalgia at watching his shadow darken, at least they could be on the same side this time.

He was about to venture off to find the others, when a branch snapped. He turned quickly, a hand on his sword, only to find Twilight staring at him. The older hero was unsurprisingly shock, which told Four that he’d seen what Shadow had done. He panicked to think of a way to explain himself, but something in Twilight’s face stopped him, he almost seemed sad. He didn’t have much time to pull himself together before Blue’s thought slipped out of his mouth, “fuck.”

Warriors sighed as he took in their surroundings, they had been separated, again. Wind was faux pouting about being stuck with the adult, but they all knew he was full of shit. When push came to shove, Wind would go into “big brother” mode on Time any day of the week, and it was terrifyingly affective. First they needed a plan, the area they were in didn’t seem too dangerous, but they could never be too careful. They were about to set off when they heard a scream in the distance that caused them to pause.

“That sounded like Legend.” Wind stated, “but it didn’t sound like he was in danger?” They all shared a look, because it definitely sounded like frustration, more than anything. Which could really mean many things, knowing the overprepared hero.

“Well, it at least that gives us an idea where someone is.” Time stated, and without much further agreement, they decided to head in the direction of the scream. 

Wild and Hyrule peered over the edge of the island they were on, only to see more endless clouds below them. “How long do you think we’d have to fall to see the ground?” Wild asked a little too seriously, he had his paraglider to stop his fall.

Hyrule looked at him, gobsmacked, “why is that your first thought?!” Wild shrugged, he couldn’t exactly say he’d fallen from higher places, because he really didn’t know how high they were. Well, if they had no way to get anywhere for now, Wild could at least make them some lunch and maybe a few potions. Sky would probably find them eventually, this seemed like it could be his era. Hyrule was at least relieved that he drop the idea of jumping off their safe haven, for now.