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Chapter Text

And that, my idiotic ladies and gentlemen, is how my beloved landlord was taken from me... ABSCONDED!!!

*Dramatic betrayal face*

What will past me do in the wake of such a tragedy you ask?

...Do some laundry. A bit of mending. Feed Sheerow. Check the lock on one of the cursed item chests. Ya know, important stuff.

What? Don't give me that look! I was out of socks! Which is also why I was mending, so that I'd have more socks! And I had to feed Sheerow, he's the leader of the household! And if the lock on that chest had broken, well... we'd ALL be dead, so you should be grateful I was able to muddle through my distress at losing Mr Hero, again, to keep everyone from becoming deaded.

*Sigh*

The amount of disrespect I face. Can't Zel make a decree or something?

...Ya know, that's not a bad idea–

FOCUS!

By this point in the tale of idiots, idiots, and a couple more idiots, you've met a solid third-ish of the main cast. Go you! Things are just now getting going, though, so keep your socks close, hold them tight, don't ever, ever let them go. You think I'm joking, but have you ever been without good socks? Nightmare fuel...

Anyways, I wanted to conduct a sort of experiment, if you'll do me the pleasure. Those of you who are utter idiots, should really hopefully have noticed, that each time one of our favorite Link hero types was introduced to us, one of the other Link hero types gave you idiotic readers a nice detailed description of them. Those of you who are only slight idiots, will have noticed that there was one of our beloved Link hero types who was never described.

THE TRAGEDY!!! *Dramatic lean and hand across forehead*

That, ladies and gents, is what I am going to give you now for your reading pleasure. The absolute idiots –which is far worse than being utter idiots, in case you were wondering– will have to go back and figure out which of our Link hero types this belongs to. The rest of you other degrees of idiots, will do no such foolish thing, and know exactly who I am talking about. Don't worry, I'll try and be as non descriptive as possible in my description so that we can root out the dumblings!

*Cough* *Cough*

He had thick short sandy blond hair, a soft, kind face, a stocky but muscular build, was an average height, and had bright blue eyes. He wore a cream long sleeve front lace up shirt with a small collar and blue embroidery, a light tan long sleeve over shirt with blue embroidery, and darker tan pants. He also wore dark brown leather boots, a chainmail tunic, green over tunic, a red and white sash held by a dark brown leather belt, elbow to hand fingerless leather gauntlets, and a piece of cloth worn as a cape held by a blue sapphire clasp around his neck.

*Happy sigh*

Justice has been served, and the dumblings have been found.

I hope you have fun in the next part! Nothing bad will happen, I promise. Hand on heart!

Well... I guess that might depend on what your preferred definition of "bad" is. Hm... oh well, toodly woodles! Auf Wiedersehen! Adios por ahora! Au revoir pour l'instant! Farvel for nu! Hyvästi toistaiseksi! Veloma aloha! ಇತ್ತೆಗ್ ಗುಡ್ ಬೈ! Амдыызында байырлыг! זייַ געזונט פֿאַר איצט! હમણાં માટે ગુડબાય! ߊ߲ ߣߌ߫ ߞߐ߫ ߛߌߛߍ߲߬! ⴰⵔ ⵜⵓⴼⴰⵜ ⵜⵓⵔⴰ!

...Your welcome :)

Chapter Text

One more quest.

One more quest was what Link said after he defeated Onox, and heard Twinrova's laughter, telling him that the true evil had yet to arrive. One more quest was what Link told himself when he woke up from his nap after faceplanting into the Sanctuary wall thanks to Yuga. One more quest was what Link proclaimed to Hylia when he saw King Tuft's sign asking for heroes to assemble.

One more quest... was supposed to be four quests ago.

Because ever since the first "One more quest", Link had officially retired... four times.

Link was done adventuring. He was done being dragged into world ending peril, after world ending peril, just because somebody new wanted to resurrect Big Bad G.

And if this new quest turned out to be another plot to resurrect Big Bad G, Link swore to f***ing Hylia he would find a way into wherever the f*** that pig's soul was kept and murder it for good. At this rate it would save him about seven to eight quests per decade, which would greatly help in his accumulation and organization of items.

For the moment though –as he floated through a dark nothingness on the way to hopefully a hot spring– Link took the time to create his plan for how he would approach this new quest. Which was really his plan for until the quest promptly took said plan and threw it out the window. If he was able to hold onto his plan for more than the first twenty four hours of the quest, he was surely guaranteed a smooth and straightforward journey.

He had never held onto his original plan for a quest for over twenty four hours. Not even close...

But it gave his mind something to think about other than the fact that he was on another quest. It let him think about how he was going to finish the quest, and get back to his retirement as soon as possible. It gave his rage at Hylia a temporary target rang to shoot at.

So, for this latest quest, he'll keep things simple and to the point. He'll get the information necessary, get a cool but probably cursed item to toss with the rest when he gets home, save whoever needs saving, probably kill Big Bad G for the fifth time, and find some nice exotic tea for Ravi to add to his collection.

...Pretty normal weekend to be honest.

He already knows the gimmick for this quest –which is very helpful– but what's not helpful... is the gimmick...

People.

Why did it have to be f***ing people.

Link could count on half of one hand how many people's company he genuinely enjoyed. Last he checked, none of those were the eight idiots about to make everything ten times harder by just existing. And that wasn't counting the four nightmares from his childhood smushed into a collective body... for now...

Hylia better have a bit of free time when he eventually kicks the bucket on one of these Goddess forsaken quests, because Link has a few choice words saved up for her. It was one of his favorite pass times during any part of a quest, to imagine every single thing he would like to say to that f***ing Goddess.

Today, he'd probably start with... YOU *****************************************************************!

That would cover today pretty accurately.

*****

Link stepped out of the portal and dropped a few feet to the ground, landing lightly. He immediately traveled a good ten paces away from the portal –as he was not going to be caught in a pile up– while he also inspected his new surroundings.

He was in a birch forest, with songbirds singing to each other from the trees, and bees buzzing nearby. There were no immediate threats, but that was about to change right... yep.

The middle aged man in full armor with odd facial tattoos and giant sword dropped out of the portal, and moved hastily out of the portal's drop zone. Smart. A minute later all eight of the ragtag men and boys were standing in the forest, and the portal vanished behind them, which was when their attention collectively landed on Link.

Good. Made his job easier.

The knight was stupid enough to speak first, "So–"

"Let me stop you right there, Pretty-boy," began Link, eliciting the most beautiful enraged look from the man. "There are exactly two ways which this arrangement can go. One, you tell me everything that you know that might possibly be of interest to this quest, and then stay the hell out of my way. Or two, you make everyone's lives more miserable by thinking that you're competent enough to be of use, and I ditch you in the back alleyway of the nearest settlement, and that's if I'm in a good mood. Hint, as of you knocking on my front door, my mood's been less than preferable for dealing with arrogant twats, so I'd recommend choosing option one."

The knight stared at him like he couldn't believe a single word that just came out of Link's mouth, and subsequently wanted to berate Link with every military lecture he could think of, at the same time.

Link stared straight back at him, holding his gaze, waiting for the man to make a move.

The middle aged man with the armor saved the knight from furtherly embarrassing himself, by responding to Link in a low, calm voice, "I believe we'll be choosing option three. Even if you did treat us to option two, we would simply be brought through to the same place as you by the next portal. We are also not the mere travelers that you have assumed us to be. I have witnessed each of these boys perform feats of skill greater than any of the average hylian. It would be unwise to think of us as less than."

Link scoffed, "Old Man, I know exactly who you all are. One look with the information that the kid explained before we all hopped in a hole through time and space, tells me that my earlier assumption is in fact correct, and you continue to prove it by the minute. So, again, option one, or option two? Normally I'd say I don't have all day, but on a time travel quest I really do, so... whenever you feel like it."

The older man's face stayed completely blank, but Link knew that he was contemplating things, sizing him up. The rest of the Links were standing in an unsure clump around him, mostly just observing and having their own thoughts about the situation, except for the short colorful nightmare, and the one with the shiny new Master Sword. Those two were bent double, apparently suffering from some post portal after effects. Must such to be them. One of the other boys, though, stood out to Link from the rest.

He was a young teen, and thin, but not the normal teen thin, emaciated thin. His loose threadbare, hole filled green tunic and leather bracers hid the worst of it, but Link knew that type of look. The look that a boy gets from pushing his body to physical extremes, without enough food, or sometimes any food to nourish it. The bloodshot eyes and dark bags from night after night of not just staying awake, but staying awake in fear. And the way that the kid twitched at the slightest sound from the forest around them, and shied away from the other Links... Link knew what did that to a boy, because that had been him. During multiple points throughout his quests, but especially during his first. He knew what it was like to be hunted...

Link would never have not been able to single that boy out from the rest, but on top of everything else making him stand out, he was staring directly at Link in a sort of awed trance. The same way that some people react when they learn that Link is the famous hero, only this boy had scaled it by a few times.

"I have a proposal for you," said the older man, bringing Link back to the issue at hand. "For the foreseeable future of this quest, we are all stuck with each other. In exchange for our knowledge of this quest, you give us a chance to prove ourselves to you."

Link sighed internally. He already hated this gimmick just as much as he thought he would.

"How long do I have to give you before you'll concede that I was right?" asked Link.

The man thought for a minute, "Three days."

"Three days?!" exclaimed one of the other Links, the young boy in a light blue tunic with a makeshift sling holding his left arm. "How're we supposed to prove ourselves in three days? That's no time at all!"

"You'd be surprised what can happen in three days, Sailor," said the older man softly.

"Do you accept... Legend?" asked the man with the wolf pelt and a definitely southern accent.

F***, it was starting to work, if only slightly. One stupid tick removed from the farm boy, he paid the tiniest bit of attention to what was said five minutes ago.

"...Alright, you've got yourself a deal, Old Man. Like I said, on a time travel quest I've got time to spare. Three days wasted won't set me back too much," pronounced Link.

The older man nodded once, then said, "It's nice to meet you, Legend. My nickname's Time. These are the heroes of Twilight, Wild, Four, Wind, Hyrule, Sky, and Warriors." He gestured to each of them as he said their name.

Hyrule. That was the boy's title–

STOP.

Do not get attached. You're ditching these guys after three days, remember? Getting attached never ends well... never.

...He flinched when Time said "Heroes"...

FOCUS.

Get the information that they have and use the three days to make a plan. Then leave them somewhere safe, and get the job done. Then go home...

Link –now Legend he supposed– firmly shoved thoughts of Hyrule away, covering his face in a familiar calm and cool mask of unfeeling as he asked, "So, what's the plan, Old Man?"

Time didn't hesitate, "We scout the area. Captain, you go south with Wind and Four. Twilight, you and Wild take north. Sky, you and Legend will go west, and I'll head east with Hyrule." He glanced around at everyone. "Any objections?"

"...Well," began Twilight. "I'm not saying that we shouldn't scout, but if you're just wanting a direction to go, there's a pretty big river that way." He nodded over his shoulder.

Legend was glad to see that the rest of the Links were just as confused as he was at Twilight's statement. There was no indication of there being a river anywhere near them. They were completely surrounded by birch forest for as far as the eye could see.

"How in the love of Nayru do you know that there's a river that way, Rancher?" questioned Warriors, acknowledging the stupid thing that they were all thinking.

"Uh, you don't hear it?" asked Twilight.

"Hear what, Twilight?" puzzled Four, his eyes turning purple.

Yep... definitely the same guy... But he was combined somehow, with the four colors inside of him?

"The river. It's pretty loud if you pay attention," responded Twilight.

The group collectively fell into silence to listen.

...Birds. Bees. Leaves blowing in the wind. What might be a squirrel a little ways away. Something rustling the nearby leaves of a bush. Nine idiots listening to the basic sounds of a forest, none of which included a f***ing river.

"I don't hear anything," stated Wind.

"Me either," said Four.

"Did you take a hit to the head in that battle we didn't see, Rancher?" asked Warriors.

Wind giggled, "Maybe I followed through on walloping him in the back of the head without realizing. He kept getting in the way, and it would have been so easy t–"

"That's enough," said Time seriously. He turned to Twilight. "You're sure that there's a river in that direction?"

Twilight nodded.

"Lead the way," prompted Time, and once Twilight had turned his back, he shot a quick look of disapproval in Wind and Warriors' direction.

The group followed wordlessly behind Twilight, who began leading them through the forest, most of them –including Legend– not bothering to hide how they still thought that this was a complete fool's errand. None of them seemed to want to speak up and oppose Time, though, and Legend had agreed to go along with them and their idiocy for the next three days, and didn't really care what it was spent doing, so long as he got the information that he wanted from them.

Legend followed at the back, a few paces behind the rest of them, and surveyed the groupings as they walked. Twilight was in front, leading, with Wild stoutly by his side. Time was a few paces behind them, and Hyrule hovered timidly off to the side. Next came Four and Sky, and at the back –before Legend– were Warriors and Wind, occasionally whispering with each other about how there was no river, and that they should check Twilight's head, only to be silenced by a look from Time.

Legend was very inclined to agree with them, but years of adventuring had taught him to expect the unexpected, and believe in the impossible, so he kept his judgement at an even: it's not improbable, but it's also not probable.

If Twilight's river really was real, Legend was going to have a lot more questions to ask. But if these really were other heroes of courage, with any similarities to him, he wouldn't be getting any real answers anytime soon.

What could be enhancing Twilight's hearing? There wasn't any enchantment that Legend had ever heard of that could do that... and Twilight was emanating barely any magic, especially in comparison to the rest of them. He definitely could just be crazy. Crazy was never out of the question for someone who claimed to be a–

...Was that? No. Probably just the wind. Anyways–

"Does anyone else hear that?" asked Sky.

"I was trying not to," muttered Warriors.

"I thought I was imagining it," whispered Wind.

"Finally," said Twilight. "That's what I've been hearing this whole time."

Time turned back to Wind and Warriors, fixing them with a one eyed stare.

"I'll believe it when I see it, though," pronounced Warriors.

"Yeah," said Wind quickly.

Time turned back around, and Twilight shrugged, leading them on.

The sound of fast running water only grew in volume and clarity as they went on, and Wind and Warriors chose to stay decidedly quiet.

A little while later, they stepped out of the birch trees and onto the bank of a large fast running river, with various sized rocks imbedded in its sides. Time once again turned to face Wind and Warriors, who were staring blankly at the river.

"...Sorry for doubting you, Twilight," said Warriors glumly.

"Yeah," echoed Wind. "Sorry, Twilight."

"That's okay," assured Twilight.

Time made a small *ahem* sound.

"And... sorry for calling you crazy," continued Warriors.

"And not taking you seriously," added Wind.

Time nodded and turned away as Twilight said, "Thanks, I know you were just joking."

They both nodded quickly, glancing at Time's back.

Suddenly, there was a large splash in the river, and the Link's attentions all snapped to Wild. He had jumped straight into the fast running water, but that wasn't what everyone was staring at. When he'd gone under the water and resurfaced, his hood had fallen back onto his shoulders, revealing his face –which until now– had been almost completely hidden the entire time.

To the entire group's credit, not a single one of them gasped.

Legend was used to scars. He had seen his share of grotesque scar tissue after burns, stabbings, bite marks, claw marks, and a few others he'd like to forget... But Wild's scarring? It was unlike anything he'd ever seen.

The entire left side of his face was covered in deep burn scars streaking across his skin. Winding and twisting to create depth, before spreading out in tendrils and harsh lines across his face and neck, with more disappearing below his collar. The left half of his face was a patchwork of mutilated skin and muscle. That half of his face was almost completely limp, including the corner of his mouth, which moved less, and differently than it should have. His long blonde hair tied back in a loose pony tail covered the top of his left ear, but if Legend hadn't seen the ear still present and attached, he would have thought it surely gone. Many of the scars traced back to the area around it, and deepened the closer they got. The ear itself –the part that Legend could see– appeared to be almost ground zero for one of the many explosions that would have given Wild these burn scars.

How he had even survived long enough to drink a potion, or release a fairy, Legend had no idea, because judging by the severity and extent of the scars, he should have died almost –if not– on impact with whatever bombs or lasers could do that kind on damage.

But he wasn't dead. He was staring up at them all, grinning widely from the middle of the river, soaked from head to toe. His smile was slightly misshapen from the left corner of his mouth not functioning like the rest, but if anything, it made the rest of his smile look even brighter. But as the seconds of silent staring stretched on, Legend saw the moment Wild realized what they were looking at.

It started in his eyes. Their pure shining happiness and exhilaration from the water dimmed, and a moment later his face began to drop. His smile faded, the warmth and joy gone, and in a matter of seconds, Wild was now staring back at them all in fear.

Legend didn't know what to do. The situation was devolving before his eyes, and he didn't know how to fix it. He should've said something, should've bridged the growing chasm between the eight Links standing on the bank of the river, and the scarred teen fighting against its current. But he couldn't. No words would come. And none came to the rest of the Links either. None that they shared at least. But thankfully, none were needed.

A second large splash broke the constricting silence, and Legend quickly blinked past the sprayed droplets of water, to see Wind bobbing beside Wild. The scarred teen blinked at the younger boy, and Legend waited for the sailor to say any of the words that still illuded him and the other Links, but the sailor didn't even need words to bridge the divide.

One moment he was smiling innocently at Wild, the next he had thrown a handful of water into his face.

Wild jerked back from the water hitting his face –taken by surprise– and when he refocused on Wind, the sailor was grinning at him deviously, failing to suppress a giggle, as he held his hands ready to deliver another splash. To anyone watching, the message was clear. Wind was offering a challenge.

Wild's face went from confusion, to recognition, to excitement, and finally, to glee. He sent a large splash towards Wind, and the sailor took it full force to the face, before returning fire with one of his own.

A bit of tension eased out of Legend's shoulders as the two became locked in battle, squealing and giggling as they navigated the deep and fairly fast current of the river, while firing off shots at each other and trying not to get hit. The rest of the Links were relaxing too, and Legend heard Twilight say a small prayer of thanks to the Goddesses. A quick discussion took place between Warriors and Time, during which the Captain picked up Wind's discarded sling from the ground, and at Time's advise didn't force the sailor out of the water to put it back on. Then the Captain called to the battling teens, "Come on, you two, you can fight on the way. We're going to follow the river further downstream to try and find a place to camp. If you can't keep up, though, you'll be stuck walking high and dry with the rest of us."

The only response Warriors got from the two teens was a cackle from Wind as one of his splashes nailed Wild in the face.

The remaining seven Links set out along the riverbank, Time and Warriors in front with the rest trailing behind them, and Legend still decidedly at the rear. He wasn't sure if Wind and Wild would be able to continue their game with the added rule of having to keep up with the group, but whenever he glanced over at the river, the two were still alongside them.

After a good half an hour of walking, Legend started to hear a new sound over that of the river and still battling teens. A waterfall.

Sure enough, the distinctive drop off of a cliff came into view, and then Warriors was calling, "Wind, Wild, there's a large waterfall up ahead. Let's get you both out and dried off."

The two teens made no move to exit the water, and Legend wasn't even sure Wild had heard what the Captain said, as he had dropped beneath the water's surface to dodge one of Wind's splashes.

"Wind, Wild," called the Captain, his tone and volume rising. "Get out now before you're carried over the edge."

Legend scoffed, "They're Links, idiot. In my experience we get thrown off of waterfalls just to take a bath."

"In your experience, huh," retorted Warriors, his worry still increasing. "Why's that? Because you're too good to take a bath like a normal person?"

"Nah," replied Legend, as the Captain's panic continued to grow. "Normally don't have time for it, and going over a waterfall's much more exciting."

"Exciting?!" said the Captain, still failing to get Wind and Wild to even acknowledge him.

"Very," replied Legend, which was when he realized he was grinning, and promptly reset his face to bored. "They'll be fine."

"They will not be fine if there's rocks at the bottom!" exclaimed the Captain.

"B**** please," remarked Legend. "Were you raised in a barracks? A river this size doesn't empty into a shallow pool. I doubt they'll get within five feet of the bottom."

"Language," muttered Time, which Legend pointedly ignored.

"You're sure?!" said Warriors, rounding on Legend.

Legend shrugged, his expression still bored, "Fairly."

"WIND! WILD! GET OUT OF THERE, NOW!" yelled the Captain in panic, running to the river's edge.

Wind shrieked as one of Wild's splashes hit him, and between giggles he called back, "Stop worrying, Captain! It's going to be the climax of the battle! You don't want to get out, do you, Wild?"

In response, Wild shot a powerful splash at Wind, and held up a thumbs up in Warriors' general direction.

"See," said Legend. "They're fine."

"Is no one else going to do anything about this?!" asked Warriors to the group at large.

"I'm actually with Legend," answered Twilight. "I've been over my fair share of waterfalls and I don't think they'll be hurt."

Everyone else nodded, although some still looked slightly concerned, so Warriors turned to Time, "And you?!"

Time hesitated, then said, "They're free to make they're own choice. I agree that it should be plenty deep enough, so they shouldn't be in any danger. Four and Sky can also jump and land safely if anything were to go wrong."

"See?" replied Legend.

"...All right, but you two be ready to jump if something happens," pronounced Warriors, gesturing at Four and Sky.

"Of course," agreed Sky.

"It's not gonna be necessary," muttered Four quietly.

"They're about to go," called Twilight.

Wind and Wild had almost made it to the drop, and Wild –who was further downstream than Wind– began picking up speed in the water. Warriors rushed to the edge of the cliff, and the other Links followed. When Wild reached the edge, there wasn't an ounce of fear in him, only joy. As he flew out into space and began plummeting through the air, his smile was brighter than the sun.

The Links watched in silence as he dropped through the air, landing in the water –some 200 feet below– and creating a large splash. About half a minute later they saw a blonde head of hair resurface, and start swimming for the shore. Then Wind dropped off the edge, the young teen seeming to hover in mid air for a moment, where he saluted them, before plummeting down to join Wild.

When both Wind and Wild had made it safely to the shore below, Time asked the remaining Links, "If anyone else wants to take that route down, go ahead. Everyone else can join me in walking."

"I think I'll take the drop," replied Twilight, and went to the edge of the river a little ways before the waterfall.

"Me too," said Sky, and joined Twilight at the edge.

"...Anyone else?" asked Time. No one else stepped forward.

"What's the matter, Mr Adventuring Expert," said Warriors. "I thought you fell off waterfalls to achieve basic hygiene?"

"Oh, I'm sorry for not living up to your standards, not all of us have the time for two hours of pampering each morning," retorted Legend

"Really? I'm not the one covered in fifty pieces of jewelry who won't get wet after claiming it was your hobby," replied Warriors.

"I don't see you stepping up to the plate, Pretty-boy."

"A Captain stays with his men, and doesn't ditch them in alleyways. I'm not at all scared of taking a dip, unlike some it see–"

"I AM NOT SCARED, YOU F***ING–"

"Enough," pronounced Time. "This isn't some contest. You can both walk down like civilized adults. Let's get moving."

Legend watched jealously as Twilight and Sky swam to the center of the river, before letting it carry them over the edge. He really hated cursed items. He would have jumped over that waterfall in a heartbeat to shut the obnoxious Captain up, if, it wouldn't result in him having to grow a pink tail, which he knew the Captain would be more than happy to share his opinion on once he f***ing strolled down. Walking down like a loser was going to suck, but he didn't care quite enough to waste magic on jumping down to dry land. He'd learned the hard way not to waste magic on pure convenience and luxury during a quest, especially the beginning of one. So walking down like a loser it was...

By the time they made it down, Twilight, Wild, Sky, and Wind were all back in the water –a large lake at the base of the waterfall– laughing uproariously at something Wind had said, and playing what looked to be tag. Their bags and weapons were set aside on the shore, along with most of their outer layers.

"Any objective for the rest of the day?" asked Warriors to Time.

"No, not unless something comes up. Go have fun."

Warriors hesitated, and Four –who was already taking off outer layers– asked, "Something the matter, Captain?"

"No. Well... it's just... I don't want my clothes to get soaked," replied Warriors sheepishly.

"Ah, so the pompous Captain doesn't want to get a little wet?" snarked Legend. He could tell that Warriors was fighting to not respond.

"Oh," said Four. "Sky's got an item that dries you off in seconds. You could go fully clothed if you want and be dry the minute you get out."

A minute later Warriors' chainmail, tunic, and scarf were folded carefully next to his bag, and he and Four were running to join the others in the water. Time took off his armor, and for a minute Legend thought he was going to swim too, but he instead chose a tree and sat down against it, using it as a back rest. He then pulled out a small book of paper and a couple pieces of charcoal, which he used to start sketching something on one of the pages.

Legend sighed, and chose his own tree a good ways away from Time and the other Link's things. It gave him a nice bit of shade, and a good view of the area. None of the other Links would be able to approach without him seeing them well before they became threats.

Legend dug through his pouch for a bit, and pulled out an old knife and sharpening stone. It was a knife that he'd been lucky enough to find on his first quest, and it had been of great use to him throughout the years. He hadn't used it on his last two quests for fear of it breaking –as it was very old and well used– so he'd brought it to repair and refurbish on this quest.

He hadn't been sharpening for long, when his eyes caught someone not so subtly approaching him and his tree.

Hyrule.

The small teen had been hovering uncertainly around the makeshift camp the others had made, but he was now crossing timidly towards Legend. He kept badly pretending to become interested in random things instead of Legend. A rock in the dirt. The unopened bud of a flower. Eventually, when he was about fifteen feet away from Legend, but didn't seem to have the courage to get closer, Legend called, "Kid, you're the worst actor I've ever seen. If you want to talk to me just come over and f***ing say so."

Hyrule blushed, and walked shily up to where Legend was sitting. After a minute of him standing there awkwardly, Legend sighed, saying, "Are you gonna sit?"

Hyrule dropped to the ground like a stone, and kept looking at Legend. Not just his face, though, his tunic, his sword, his shield, his pouch, his boots, his hair, his hands, the knife he was sharpening. He studied every inch of Legend that he could see, while repeatedly glancing away whenever he thought Legend had caught him staring.

"Spit it out, Kid," said Legend finally.

"...Um... are... are you really the Hero of Legend?" asked Hyrule quietly.

Legend laughed drily, "Nice joke, Kid. You really got me." He went back to sharpening his knife.

Hyrule stared at the dirt in front of him, his face red.

After a minute, Legend realized he'd been a little harsh, "That wasn't a joke, was it?"

"...No."

"Well, you should get better at your delivery," replied Legend absently.

"...Are you really the Hero of Legend?" asked Hyrule more confidently.

"Yes."

"..."

"That's it? That's all you had to say?" continued Legend.

"...Did you really kill Ganon three times?" blurted Hyrule.

"Four. History tends to get a little muddy when things happen in another realm," answered Legend plainly.

"Four times?!" whispered Hyrule to himself.

"You a fan or something? The tunic's a pretty good knockoff, and I'd like to know how you knew the exact sword to have someone recreate," said Legend, still sharpening his knife.

"I traded for the tunic off of a guy selling them in a village. Claimed that they were authentic replicas of the tunic that the Hero of Legend wore. And the sword... I got the sword from an old man living under a graveyard," explained Hyrule.

"...Huh. Fair enough."

"That's it? You don't even question it when I say an old man living under a graveyard gave me a magic sword?" questioned Hyrule.

"Rule Eight of Adventuring: Never question cryptic old men. Nine times out of ten they end up having something useful for you," answered Legend simply.

"What are the first seven rules?" asked Hyrule wide eyed.

"Trade secrets."

"Oh..." said Hyrule dejectedly.

"That it?"

"If... If you're the Hero of Legend, then why were you so angry when we showed up with another quest? questioned Hyrule.

"Because I'm f***ing retired."

"Then why–"

"Because Hylia doesn't care whether you want anything more to do with her f***ing quests or not. To her, retirement's for quitters. If you're ever considering it, the answer is don't. All it does is make the already exhausting heroic jobs that people will never stop giving you ten times more infuriating. Not to mention the all out quests themselves."

"Oh..."

"Anything else?"

"...Did you really wish upon the triforce at the end of two of your quests?"

"How the hell do you know that," snapped Legend, finally giving the teen his full attention.

"Z–Zelda told me," stammered Hyrule, flinching back from Legend's glare.

"A Zelda told you? And how exactly would your Zelda know the fine details of my quests, and then tell them to you for your entertainment pleasure?" questioned Legend.

"B–because she's– I'm– she's the descendent of your Zelda, and I'm your successor."

Legend froze.

Hyrule, the shy, socially awkward, terrified, emaciated teen, was Legend's successor?! Had everything he'd done been for nothing? Had the past seven years of his life not been enough to set the land of Hyrule on a course to give the next generations better lives? People were living under graveyards... Hyrule looked like he hadn't been apart of a form of civilization... ever. Somehow... Legend felt responsible. It was his job, after all. To bring peace to the land of Hyrule, and obviously, he'd failed. Or, at least was going to fail. What had Hyrule lived through because he hadn't done enough to ensure the land's prosperity? Why had another too young, too innocent boy been forced to finish what the hero before him couldn't? Why had a kid been forced to finish what Legend couldn't?

Legend felt a small vice begin to wrap around his heart, breaking through his armor. It was a feeling he'd let himself feel too many times before, and wasn't one he allowed anymore. He could fight it if he wanted to, to keep it from rooting inside of him, and taking a piece of him with it when it was inevitably torn from him.

He knew it would be a losing battle.

He knew that once he took the first step, there was no going back. Against his mind, his experiences, and the burning, aching hole inside of him telling him to run, to flee to the safety of solitude, and a heart of ice, against all of it, he stood up, putting away his knife and sharpening stone. He looked down at Hyrule on the ground before him, so full of life, and warmth, and fight despite everything that the world had done to him.

Legend took a single deep breath, and extended his hand, saying, "Come on, Kid, let's see what you can do with that sword."

Hyrule's eyes shone, and he gave Legend the sweetest shy smile he'd ever seen, as he gingerly excepted his hand up.

One lesson. That was all it was. One lesson...

*****

"And that's when the tide of the battle turned. We broke free and started returning fire. BAM! BAM! Two shots hit, but they only seemed to anger it more, and before long it was back on the offensive. Tentacles were everywhere! You couldn't go five feet without almost getting crushed, or worse... snatched up to be eaten!"

*Yawn*

"Who was that? How're you yawning?! This is the best part!" exclaimed Wind.

"Don't look at me," said Twilight.

"Four?" questioned Wind.

"Wasn't me."

"It was Sky," said Legend flatly.

"Dude, not cool," signed Wild to Legend.

"Sorry," admitted Sky. "All that swimming wore me out. Don't mind me, Wind, keep going."

"Food's almost ready," called Warriors.

"Right, now where was I..." began Wind.

They were all sitting around a fire on the bank of the lake at the base of the waterfall, listening to Wind's dramatic stories while Warriors claimed to be working on cooking "Food". Legend had his doubts.

"Come and get it while it's hot," said Warriors.

"Captain, how is a guy meant to accurately tell a story if he's constantly interrupted?" asked Wind, although he was quick to get in line to be served.

"I'm sure you'll find a way, Sailor," said Twilight. "There's always after dinner."

Legend got in line at the back with Hyrule, and watched as Warriors ladled what was one of the most depressing looking "Foods" Legend had ever seen into his and Hyrule's bowls. It was probably best described as a pudding full of odd lumps. It tasted bland, stale, and stuck to the inside of your mouth and teeth. Two bites in Legend was looking for the closest place to dump it. He would more than prefer to go hungry for a night than eat the abomination plaguing his bowl.

"Uh, Wars... what is this?" asked Four, observing a bit of it in his spoon.

"Hardtack pudding," answered Warriors between mouthfuls.

A quick glance around the campfire showed that Warriors was the only one actually eating the stuff... besides Hyrule. F***, now Legend knew for certain just how bad Hyrule's starvation was. Bad. There was no other explanation for how the teen was shoveling down Warriors' "Hardtack pudding" without even the faintest sign of a grimace. Time was picking gingerly at the stuff, and Sky was eating small spoonfuls, managing to keep a fairly polite expression, but Legend could tell he was struggling. Twilight kept stirring the clumpy mush as if he expected it to improve with time, and all Wind seemed to be able to do was stare into his bowl in sad acceptance, but not actually eat it. Wild was staring into his bowl as if the contents of it were a crime against food –which they were.

When Hyrule finished his, Legend subtly passed him his bowl, and took Hyrule's empty one in return. Normally he would have never given such an excuse for food to someone he didn't plan on killing in the near future –to put them out of their misery– but in Hyrule's case any "Food" was better than nothing. Legend would slip him something better later, but hopefully this would at least fill his stomach, no matter how unpalatable it was.

A familiar –normally unwanted– feeling came across Legend. He was being watched. A quick glance across the fire showed Wild looking at him. When Wild saw that he had Legend's attention, he signed quickly, "I know that you can understand Fairy Sign, but can you speak it back?"

"Yeah, I can. Why?" signed Legend.

"If we go fast enough, nobody but Time and Hyrule should be able to understand us, even though I've been teaching everyone today."

"Okay, so?" questioned Legend. No one else was really paying attention to them, still trying to deal with the disgrace of a meal in front of them.

"Well... no one really seems to like Wars'... food. So, do you think he'd mind if I passed out something else?" signed Wild tentatively.

Legend raised an eyebrow, "Kid, if you've got something that's even half good, that's 50% better than what's making us all choose between the f***ing trenches of edible food, and starving ourselves until someone learns how to cook good enough for basic hylian needs."

"But... do you think it'd make him feel bad? He spent time cooking for us."

Legend made a show of looking at everyone around the fire, "Wild, no one cares if it makes the Captain f***ing feel bad, he just served us a crime against food. If you can somehow save this culinary disaster you will be regarded at a f***ing saint." Wild still looked unsure. "Kid, the bar couldn't be lower. If you give me something that genuinely tastes good, I will teach all of these stupid idiots how to understand and speak sign by the end of the week."

Wild's eyes widened, "You promise?"

"I swear on the name of the f***ing Goddess, Wild. Blow me away." signed Legend.

Wild blushed, "I don't have a whole lot on me, I've been meaning to restock for a few days now..."

"Wild, shut the f*** up and show me what you've got. Believe me, you can't do worse than what we already have."

"...Do you like mushrooms?"

"Yes?"

Wild hesitated, then pulled the strange rectangular device off of his hip and looked at it while he tapped it a few times. Then he stood up and hit the thing again, this time causing something to appear in his hand in a stream of bright blue lights. He handed the thing to Twilight –who stared at it in awe– before he began making his way around the fire, pressing his device at each person, and handing them what appeared in his hand. When he got to Legend, Legend held his hands out expectantly, and Wild gave him a wooden skewer with sauteed meat and mushrooms on it. When he sat back down in his spot again, no one was even considering wasting another thought on Warriors' "Hardtack pudding", they were all instead wolfing down Wild's meet and mushroom skewers, while he ate his own, grinning widely at how much they all seemed to like it.

"Wild!" exclaimed Wind in between bites. "What've you been doing all this time?!"

"This is really good, Wild," said Sky.

"Where did you learn to cook?" asked Four wide eyed.

"You've been holding out on us, Cub," proclaimed Twilight.

"It's very good, Wild," stated Time.

"Why didn't you say you could cook?!" questioned Warriors, his bowl of hardtack pudding completely forgotten.

Wild beamed around at all of them, but looked expectantly to Legend.

"Kid, incase it wasn't clear, you're never not cooking ever again," said Legend. Wild's smile only grew, so Legend turned to Hyrule, asking, "What d'you think, Hyrule? Has Wild earned the title of group cook?"

Hyrule nodded vigorously, not wanting to take the wooden skewer –that he was trying to get every last bit of food off of– out of his mouth to respond. Wild stood up again and started tapping on his device, repeating his path around the fire. Everyone held out their hands patiently, and a minute later they were all eating large slices of nut bread, praising Wild's culinary expertise for all they were worth.

The sun finished setting a short while later, and Time said, "Time for bed, everyone. I want you all well rested for whatever the morning brings. Thank you again for dinner, Wild, it was delicious."

Everyone started unpacking bedrolls and turning in for the night, which was when Legend realized that he was expected to sleep in this group, both him and his items unprotected. He started looking around quickly, looking for some sort of out, an excuse to stay awake, or sleep away from the group, but all he saw... was Hyrule.

The kid was stuffing a bundle of mismatched blankets and a pillow under a bush at the very edge of their camp, which Sky and Four had just given him. Legend suddenly felt like a stupid, sensitive child. If that kid could sleep in this group of strangers, using borrowed blankets and a pillow from the other heroes, then Legend could grow the f*** up and get over his trust issues.

But watching another young, scarred, terrified, emaciated teen in a green tunic with Legend's f***ing sword, burrow under a bush to sleep, that was like reopening a wound that had never come close to healing. Before he even realized what he was doing, Legend was walking over to Hyrule's bush.

"Hey, Kid," he said, and Hyrule looked up at him from the ground. "You sure you're gonna be warm enough with just those? It's kinda cold tonight."

"I'll be fine," replied Hyrule defensively.

"Like f*** you will," responded Legend, and reached into his pouch. He pulled out an old, worn bedroll, but didn't offer it to Hyrule, he just dropped it on the ground in front of him. "Take this. It's my old one that I never use. My current one's much nicer. And to be clear, this isn't a gift, it's on loan to you until I want it back. It's been taking up too much space in my bag." Hyrule stared wide eyed between the old worn bedroll on the ground, and Legend standing over him. "Take it and get under your bush before I change my mind," added Legend.

Hyrule picked it up reverently and crawled under his bush as Legend turned to leave.

Before you f***ing ask, Legend's bag was not bottomless. Definitely not...

Legend went back closer to the fire, but set up his bedroll away from the others. Some of the other Links were taking off their outer tunics and chainmail before settling in to sleep. F***ing idiots. Legend was breaking a whole host of his own rules by letting his guard down with these guys, but there was no way in hell he was ever going to take off his tunic. Do you know how many times that thing has saved Hylia from meeting him? Too f***ing many.

"Before everyone fully turns in," called Time to the group. "We need to set up a watch rotation. We can do three shifts now that there's so many of us, but I want to hear everyone's age. No exaggerations, and Wind, before you start, it's not because any of you aren't capable, many of you are simply children, and the last thing any of us want is your brains to not develop properly because you don't get enough sleep. Captain, would you start us, please?"

"Of course. I'm 23."

"21," said Twilight simply.

"15," replied Four.

"17," signed Wild.

"...16," came Hyrule's voice from under his bush.

"20," responded Sky.

"...14," grumbled Wind.

There was a pause of silence. "...Legend?" asked Time.

"You don't have to worry about me being at risk of brain damage based off of whatever f***ing number you choose, Old Man. I've already sustained as much as humanly possible," assured Legend.

Time sighed, "Legend, how old are you, please?"

"...18, but if you deem me f***ing too young I will–"

"Language. And you're not too young. My cutoff point is you have to be 18, the remaining four of you will be assigned other jobs as they arise," said Time. "Any volunteers from those eligible for tonight?"

"I can take first," responded Twilight.

Wild waved his hand in the air to get their attention, then signed, "Can I be allowed to take watches? I can't sleep most nights anyways, so it'd be silly to make someone else stay up. I'm right on the edge of your age rule, and it'd give me something to do."

Time thought for a minute, "Alright, Wild, which shift do you want?"

"Can I double with Twilight and then take the remaining two?"

"You can stay awake and alert for that long?" questioned Time.

Wild nodded surely.

"Okay, but if you ever start to get tired, wake the Captain and he'll take over for you. This is about protecting the group, not anyone's pride."

Wild gave him an excited thumbs up.

Legend sighed and climbed into his bedroll, leaving his bag under his shield directly beside him, along with his sword. He took the Cane of Byrna out of his bag and shoved it into his bedroll with him. So long as he was touching it, he could feed magic into it at a moment's notice to defend himself. Then he started the task of trying to fall asleep surrounded by eight armed strangers. Stupid f***ing gimmick. It didn't help that the first night of a quest was always the hardest...

He'd already broken his own deal for this quest. He'd told Time three days, but promised Wild he'd have the whole group understanding and speaking Fairy Sign by the end of the week. The two remaining days of his agreement were enough time to accomplish that... yeah not a chance. *Sigh* Whatever. He'd figure it out in the morning. Which was assuming he lived until the morning. Out of all the ways Hylia could have chosen for him to die, being murdered in his sleep by other supposed heroes of courage from across time was not one of the ways he'd betted on her picking. She did like her jokes, though...

He wondered what Ravio was doing... He wondered how far through time and space he was from Ravio, and everyone he knew back home. Ravio would send a letter to Zel tomorrow morning, informing her that he was gone on another quest. At least she wasn't involved in this one... What if Ravio had already sent that letter a millennia ago? Or no one Legend knew was going to be born for another century? He had no way of knowing, which was part of the reason why he hated time travel quests so much. If for some stupid reason he got stuck in a time that wasn't his own, no one would ever know what happened to him. All that would remain would be stories... legends of Hyrule's lost hero, passed down through generations, until people wondered if he even existed. Until people wondered... if he was even real. But now that he knew that it was all for nothing, that Hyrule would enter into a state of decline despite all of his efforts, was carrying on even worth it?

Yes.

He always kept going, no matter the odds, or the probability of death, or the physical toll, or the loss of those he wasn't good enough to save... He never stopped. Never gave up. At this point he wasn't even sure he was capable of stopping.

So no matter what new horrors Hylia threw at him, no matter what forces of evil and darkness corrupted the land, no matter what princess needed saving, no matter what sorcerous needed to be defeated, no matter what realm needed its light restored, and no matter what Ganon resurrection plot needed to be foiled, Link, the Hero of Legend, will get it f***ing done.

Chapter Text

"ZELDA!"

Legend was up in a flash, Cane of Byrna in one hand and his sword in the other. He whipped around searching for an enemy, hovering in a low crouch, ready to fight or run at a moment's notice. What he saw was a camp full of nine boys named Link, all wide awake and looking around in confusion and fear, save for one.

Sky.

He was lying on his back in his bedroll, flinching and jerking as he muttered incoherently. The scream must have come from him, which the others realized too, as Time and Warriors hastened out of their own bedrolls and to Sky's side. They tried to wake him, but he didn't react in the slightest, continuing to mumble and twitch.

"Wild, report," said Time quickly, as Warriors started quickly checking Sky for any injuries.

Wild was sitting at the edge of their camp wide eyed, staring at Sky in bewilderment and terror. He'd been on watch for the second two thirds of the night.

"I don't know what's wrong with him," signed Wild, his hands shaking slightly. "Everyone was sleeping fine, and then Sky started twitching. I thought he was just dreaming, but then he started mumbling and moving worse. I didn't know what to do, and was about to wake someone, but then he screamed..."

By this point Twilight and Four had lighten lanterns, chasing away some of the darkness of the night from their camp.

"Does anyone know how we could wake him?" called Warriors to the group, his military persona on full show.

"You don't," answered Legend plainly, drawing everyone's attention to him.

"What do you mean we don't?" responded Time seriously, as Sky continued to flinch and mumble.

"To put it simply for you, he's having a prophetic dream," stated Legend.

"How do you know?" asked Twilight.

"...Because I've been told what it was like when I had one," relented Legend, gaining various wide eyed stares.

"Do enlighten us, please," said Warriors, still trying to wake Sky.

Legend sighed, of course this happens on his first night with these people, "One night Ravio woke up to the sound of mumbled talking coming from my room. Me. He thought I was just talking in my sleep or something, but then I apparently screamed, so he came running into my room thinking that someone had broken into the house and was actively trying to murder me. Don't give me that look, it's a more common occurrence then it should be. When he got there, I was apparently acting about how Sky is now. Nothing he tried could wake me up, if anything he said it made me more agitated. So Captain, I wouldn't try that smelling salt if I were you, you have to just wait the dream out."

"What was your dream?" questioned Wind.

"None of your business," snapped Legend.

"How long should we expect to wait, Legend?" asked Time.

Legend shrugged, "No idea."

It thankfully wasn't long. A few minutes later of tense silence save for Sky's continued mumbling and twitching, he suddenly sat bolt upright, screaming, "NO!"

He looked around at them all wide eyed with terror, getting mostly mirrored expressions back. He was gasping for breath and shaking slightly, and accepted a bottle of water gratefully from Warriors. When he'd calmed down some, Time asked softly, "Sky, what did you see?"

Sky didn't question how Time knew that it was a prophetic dream, he just began speaking quietly, his voice shaking, "So much blood... So much pain... You were... all there at some point. Zelda... Zelda was scared. And then there was this... dark figure with red eyes. He'd overpowered Zelda... was gonna strike her with– sword... the blade– couldn't– too slow– too late–"

Sky dug the heels of his hands into his eyes, his face scrunched and contorting in fear, anger, and shame –if Legend was correct in his read. Sky's whole body shuddered, and his breathing worsened, getting even shorter and more irregular than it had been. Warriors began making slow circles with his hand on Sky's back, and after a minute, his breathing evened out a little, and he let his hands fall slowly from his face. He stared into the glowing embers of the fire with hollow eyes as he continued, his voice grating, although it shook less.

"It cut to the blackness from inside one of the portals... There was this ticking... clock I think... Louder, louder, too loud... ringing through my head... Stopped... Darkness left... Girl! Young girl– too young! Sobbing– body in the grass– too young!" Sky's voice grew louder as it filled with emotion, and tears started running down his face.

"Kicking, screaming– DON'T! Not ready– give her time! Older woman... took her away... so much blood... Cold stone... clinking... chains?... Shackles digging in... cold laugh of amusement... Running– hiding– Sword hilt... burning hands– fighting– wasn't me– IT WASN'T ME– DIDN'T WANT TO! COULDN'T STOP!" Sky's screams echoed through the night. Nothing and no one dared to interfere. He was shaking badly again, but after a moment he kept speaking, as if the dream was replaying in front of him.

"Low booming laugh... over screams of monsters... carnage... So many voices screaming... glowing red eyes getting closer– brighter– More sets of eyes around the first... screaming– more– more– So much! Too much! Too many!" Another tremor shook Sky's body, but he regained what little composure he had left and continued speaking. "Something... it's different... not right, not ours, not any of ours, we're making it worse! Chains... so many– too many– suspending bodies... blurry... darkness... Dropping– they're dropping– I drop– Then... voice... woman's voice... saying... 'I'm so sorry, my children'..."

No one dared interrupt Sky as he spoke, all transfixed by the haunting recount of his dream, the only sound being that of the nearby waterfall. When he finished, the silence hung in the air, heavy and constricting, only broken by an owl in the distance. Legend had heard plenty, though.

He started by chuckling quietly to himself, then it grew to a cackle, then to all out hysterical laughing. Everyone was staring at him like he was completely mad, but at this point he didn't really care, and they were probably partially right. When he was finished with his laughing he said, "Well, doesn't that all sound fun?! Thanks for the heads up Sky, really appreciate it. I'll see you idiots bright and early in the morning, but until then I'm off the clock, and since sleep is apparently the only peace I'll be getting for the next six months to a year, I'd recommend not keeping me up."

He then promptly replaced his sword beside his bedroll before climbing in and returning the cane to its previous position. Judging by the sounds of the rest of the camp, they were all settling back in to try and sleep again too, except for Time, who relieved Wild of watch, and began a quiet but short conversation with Sky. By the sound of Wild moving through the camp, it sounded as if he scaled a tree to pass the remainder of the night in. Warriors made a quick round to everyone –except, wisely, Legend– checking to make sure they were fine, and giving them a schmoozy military assurance speech about how they would discuss the contents of Sky's dream, and form the best course of actions to be taken in lieu of it, first thing in the morning. Legend doubted many of them would be able to get back to sleep after such a horrifying account of what was to come for them, and a younger, less experienced version of Legend would have been right there with them, but the current Legend? Waking up in the middle of the night to terrifying accounts of all of the ways that you're going to suffer in the coming months, was a pretty normal day on the job. Literally just a trailer to his life.

Before too long, Legend began drifting off to sleep. Years of compartmentalization in the face of extreme stress and fear, probably. That and having basically trained himself to fall asleep on command, since you never know when you'll get a break on a quest, and it's normally not in optimal mental or physical conditions for a peaceful siesta.

Despite his efforts, though, his stupid hero mind couldn't let go of two questions, which echoed unbidden through his mind.

Whose body was the young girl dragged away from against her will? And why had the "Older woman" taken the girl away?

*****

The morning following Sky's prophetic dream was a mostly solemn affair. Everyone rose early –mostly because Legend was pretty sure hardly any of them slept, the idiots– and sat quietly around the campfire, over which Wild was cooking breakfast. It was obvious what they were all thinking about, but no one seemed to want to be the one to bring it up, especially to Sky. His usual kind, cheerful self was overshadowed by what Legend was pretty sure was worry. He sat staring into the fire, plucking slow tunes on a golden lap harp, not looking much better than when he had just finished recounting his dream.

Warriors was unsuccessfully trying to keep the group's spirits up with some classic military bulls***. The only one of them he succeeded on was Wind, but he was also the only one who didn't seem too bothered by the contents of the dream. Naivety? Stupidity? Way too much courage? Legend wasn't sure, but whatever it was he was glad it gave him a source of entertainment for the morning. Wind managed to convince Warriors to play a game of ultimate tic tac toe in the dirt, betting rupees for stakes, of course. By the time Wild had finished cooking breakfast, Wind had won three of the nine boards, and Warriors had won two, but neither had gotten three in a row.

Amateurs.

Wild circled around the fire distributing pancakes with sweet cooked down wild berries on top, and in a matter of minutes the group's mood had lightened some.

"Anyone gonna grow a f***ing backbone and talk about the Lynel in the room? Or are you all just planning on moping until it all plays out before you?" asked Legend.

"Language," scolded Time.

"What's a Lynel?" questioned Wind curiously.

"A big scary man-horse with horns," signed Wild. "Not to be underestimated, or approached, unless you know what you're doing."

Wind gave an apologetic smile, and Hyrule translated, before Warriors said surely, "We'll evaluate the situation with the information available, and create a plan of how best to proceed. As new information surfaces, we'll adjust accordingly."

F***ing military crap.

"Did you have something you wanted to say about Sky's dream, Legend?" asked Time.

"Yeah," responded Legend. "Once my three days with you are up, you accept option one, and I'll take care of things. No need to involve eight more people than necessary."

"But Sky said that we were all there at some point," replied Four. "That means that we're all tied to this no matter what anyone wants. You're the one who said that it was a prophetic dream after all. Unless you're saying that we can change the future to make the events of Sky's dream not happen?"

"That's... no. The events of Sky's dream can't be changed, unless you've had other dreams like that that didn't come true?" inquired Legend to Sky hopefully.

Sky shook his head, "I've dreamt the future all my life, normally just still images or a short clip of something happening. But I've always forgotten that I dreamt them until they play out before me. The only time I've had a prophetic dream that I remembered was the night before my quest started. And... everything in that dream turned out to be real."

F***.

"Guess you're stuck with us after all, Veteran," said Warriors.

"What did you just call me?" snapped Legend,

"Veteran. You keep acting like you're better than the rest of us, and far more experienced when it comes to quests. I've encountered more than a few army veterans who treat younger soldiers similarly," explained Warriors plainly.

"That's because I am–"

"I think it suits you," said Twilight, shrugging.

"You wanna f***ing go, Rancher?" retorted Legend.

"Language," informed Time.

"Is that a challenge?" inquired Twilight seriously.

"Ooh! Ooh! My bet's on Legend. I think–"

"If it needs to be. I'd wipe the floor with–"

"Enough," stated Time, interrupting Legend, who had interrupted Wind.

"F***ing kill-joy," muttered Wind quietly.

"If you're correct that everything from Sky's dream will come to pass and we're stuck with each other for the duration of it, we need to be learning to work together, not fighting each other," scolded Time, fixing the four of them with a hard stare.

"Whatever, Old Man," said Legend grouchily. He rose from his place around the fire and headed to the lakeside to wash his and Hyrule's bowls.

"Hey," called Warriors. "We're your commanding officers and your elders. We expect a little respect from you."

Legend held up a choice finger in the Captain's direction as he began washing the dishes, and there was wisely no response.

"Captain, I believe we've found a good job for the younger members of the group who can't take watches," informed Time.

"What's that?" asked Warriors.

"Dish duty."

*****

"Aaaauuuuuuuuhhhhhhh."

"Wind, shut up, we have five left," said Four in exasperation.

"Aaaaaaaauuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhh."

"The more you complain the longer it'll take," signed Wild.

"What'd he say?" questioned Wind.

"He said–"

"To shut up and keep drying. Take this one," responded Four, cutting off Hyrule.

"It's soo wet!" said Wind, scrunching up his face. "I just got another towel and now it's gonna be damp and useless again. Four, there's still soap on it!"

"What?! No there's no– oh... You were distracting me!"

"Was not! You're just not good at washing apparentl–"

"Is this one okay?" asked Hyrule, holding up a dripping bowl for inspection.

"That one looks good Hyrule, good job!" praised Sky, who had been the adult left in charge of the children.

"Hah! The kid who's never washed a dish in his life is doing better than you, Four! Ouch!"

Wild had poked Wind with a stick, "You've dried almost one dish for every two Four's washed."

"What'd he say?" asked Wind.

"He sai–"

"Dry this," retorted Four, shoving the offending bowl back at him.

"Oi! Can't you see I've already got one from Hyrule? You'll have to wait. Wild only accepts perfection in the drying of his things, something that you wouldn't underst–"

"Isn't that a drop of water running down the last one you finished?" observed Hyrule timidly.

"S***!" exclaimed Wind, taking a swipe with his towel at the offending drop.

"Language," came Time's voice distantly from camp.

"You put me on f***ing dish duty I can say whatever the f*** I want, Old Man," muttered Wind, eliciting a giggle from Hyrule.

"Don't let the Captain hear you," signed Wild, stowing another finished dish in his slate.

"What'd he–"

"He said to hurry up and learn f***ing sign language, Wind," replied Four.

"Language," sounded Time's voice from camp.

"You can't understand him either!" exclaimed Wind.

"Yes I can!"

"Wild, sign something, and Hyrule, tell me if Four's wrong," demanded Wind.

"Uh... Four, there was still a bit of stuff stuck to the last skillet you did."

"Now, what'd he say?" questioned Wind.

"...Nothing worth repeating, this is a stupid test!" responded Four.

"Hah! You can't understand him either!"

"Yes, I can!"

"Then what'd he say?!"

"To shut up and keep f***ing drying!"

"Language," called Time.

"I'm done," announced Hyrule happily.

"Great job, Hyrule," affirmed Sky. "You can head back to the others. This might still be a while."

"F***ing finally," sighed Legend, and got up to leave the lakeside with Hyrule.

"Langua–"

"Hey! Why does he get to leave?! He could help finish drying!" blurted Wind.

"Because Hyrule's–"

"Are you saying you need help, Wind? That you can't finish it by yourself?" questioned Four, cutting off Sky.

"No! I don't need anybody's help, especially yours, Four! Go enjoy your time with the grown ups, Hyrule, you wouldn't be able to compete with my prestige of dish drying in a million yea–"

"Is that another wet spot I see?" inquired Four.

"WHAT?! WHERE?!"

"I didn't want to say anything!" signed Wild with a wide grin.

"WHERE IS IT?! WHAT'D HE SAY?! I GOT EVERY INCH!!!"

*****

Legend all but dragged a giggling Hyrule by the collar back to camp, he'd gone and sat by the young dish washers because he'd needed a break from the pompous Captain, not because Hyrule had been nervous or anything. They'd almost made it back to camp when Hyrule suddenly exclaimed, "Portal's coming."

Legend stopped dead in his tracks, "You can sense when they're near?"

"Yeah?" responded Hyrule timidly.

"Huh, makes sense given there's so much natural magic radiating from you."

"...Shouldn't we tell the others about the portal?"

"Oh yeah, suppose they'd like to know." He turned back towards the lake. "Portal's coming, idiots!"

The only response that he got was a resounding, "F***!" from Wind, followed quickly by a "Language," from Time, then Sky calling, "Be there in a minute!" Time, Warriors, and Twilight all rose hastily from their places around the remains of the fire, and began packing up the camp. They were efficient, and in a matter of minutes the camp was looking almost just like it had when they'd arrived, and the group of nine boys were lining up to take a trip through reality.

The portal appeared just like Hyrule said it would, and Legend marched into it in front of everyone else, eliciting a squawk of indignation from a certain Captain, before all elements of the normal world were replaced with the void of the portal.

*****

The moment Legend emerged from the portal, he registered one thing above all others.

He was in a f***ing dungeon.

Cold stone under his boots. Drafty, stale air. Eerie quiet. The constricting vice of fear, and the overwhelming urge to run.

Standard dungeon MO.

Twelve weird stone dragon-fish statues also filled the room. Probably important for the dungeon's overall theme. As long as that theme wasn't a f***ing water temple, Legend really couldn't care less.

The rest of the Links piled into the room a moment later, and the portal promptly blinked out of existence behind them.

"Cool," said Wind, breaking the silence. "A dungeon!"

"'Cool'?" remarked Legend drily. "You think dungeons are 'Cool'?"

"Uh, yeah? Dungeons are always cool. They can be a little rude and try to kill you, but other than tha–"

"This is a dungeon?" questioned the Captain. "It looks like some sort of weird, old, underground fortress."

Legend raised his eyebrows in exasperation, "Yes, this is a f***ing dungeon. Old, cold, worn stone covering every surface. No sign that the outside world exists. Century old air and dust. Probably some mold in the corner, and a host of monsters, traps, and puzzles through your choice of door."

"Um... guys?" said Hyrule timidly.

Wind gasped, "I can ditch the stupid sling again! You can't keep my sword arm useless in a dungeon, Captain."

"Wind, you already used your arm way too much yesterday without the sling. You need to keep it on," stated Warriors.

"Actually, Captain," began Time. "Wind's right. He needs to be able to defend himself inside of a dungeon. Inhibiting his sword arm would put him in greater danger than the risk of him reinjuring his shoulder."

Warriors sighed, "If you say so."

"YES!" exclaimed Wind, and practically tore his sling off. Warriors had made him put it back on after swimming the day before.

"I've never seen a dungeon like this before," commented Sky, observing the room as his post portal effects finished wearing off. "Is this a normal style for you, Legend?"

"Guys–"

"Yeah, pretty basic. We should know the theme once we see a few more rooms."

"A theme? What do you mean a theme?" questioned Warriors.

"How idiotic are you? The theme of a dungeon? This your first time or someth– WHAT?!"

Wild had run up to Legend and waved his hands in his face. Once he had his attention, he signed, "Hyrule has something to say."

Legend sighed, "What, Hyrule?"

"I, um... I know this dungeon," said Hyrule quietly.

"Elaborate, Kid," responded Legend flatly.

"I... I've been through this dungeon before... on my first quest."

Hyrule's words hung in the air for a moment, before Legend held out his hand and said, "Fantastic! Map. Compass. Item. We should be out before lunch."

Hyrule turned a deep shade of red as he stared at Legend's outstretched hand waiting for the requested items, "I... uh... I probably have the map and compass somewhere..."

"Well, get looking, Kid. It'd save me a lot of trouble knowing the layout of this place."

Hyrule walked a short way away from the rest of the group, and started digging through his pouch. A minute later he gave up and dumped the whole thing out on the floor and started sifting through things. Legend waited rather impatiently on Hyrule, while the self appointed group leaders discussed things, until eventually, Hyrule looked up at Legend and said quietly, "I... I don't have it..."

"You don't have the item?!" questioned Legend in horror. If he were Hyrule in this moment, this would be one of his worst nightmares coming true.

"No, I have the item, I just don't have the map or compass..." answered Hyrule.

"Where are they?!" continued Legend.

"...They're most likely in one of three caves..." responded Hyrule.

"Did he actually just say one of three caves?" questioned Twilight in disbelief.

"You wouldn't be so surprised if you'd seen where we found him," muttered Four quietly.

"Okay, Hyrule, just... item, please," said Legend.

Hyrule hesitated.

Legend gave him a flat stare, "Kid, these portals keep us perpetually stuck together for the foreseeable future. I'm not gonna steal your f***ing item. Even if I did, you could probably lift a finger and knock me out with your insane magic stores."

Hyrule thought for a moment, then handed Legend a small candle with a red flame burning a perfect wick.

"This thing? Really?" said Legend, looking at it skeptically.

Hyrule nodded.

"How old were you when you came through here?" continued Legend.

"...12."

That sure caused a commotion among the adults, except for Time, who was as non responsive and blank faced as ever. Legend really did not want to hear them talk about how horrible and cruel it was for a twelve year old boy to be forced into a dangerous quest from the Goddess, so he turned on his heels away from Hyrule and strode through the nearest doorway.

"Veteran!" came an annoyed Captain's voice.

Legend pointedly ignored him and focused on the task at hand.

Two more of the weird statues. Five strange blue haired monsters wielding boomerangs. Let's see how they like the edge of a sword.

Legend slipped easily into a fighting stance as one of the monsters approached him, drawing his sword and shield. A moment later, one energy ball fired out of each of the two statues, neither towards him. Huh. Random energy balls... wonder what happens if you get hit? The monster raised its arm and threw its boomerang straight at him, which Legend side hopped to avoid. He then did a short and efficient approach towards the creature at an angle, and used his last step to launch himself into the air, swinging his sword to decapitate the thing from above. It dissolved in a plume of black smoke, and Legend pivoted to find his next target.

What he saw were eight more targets than there should have been, clogging up the small space.

Absolute f***ing idiots.

The first of the other Links into the room quickly handled the remaining four monsters, and an unlit bomb appeared in the center of the room upon the last monster dissolving into smoke, causing Sky to jump –he'd been standing almost right next to it.

The small room of the dungeon was overly cramped with Links, all of whom were having to dodge the random energy balls, which only made the arrows of annoyance shot at one another even sharper.

"Legend," began Time. "We understand that you think you're capable of handling this on your own, but you're a part of a team now. We don't know what dangers lie in wait in this dungeon, and any of the monsters could be enhanced, which is something you've yet to experience."

Good to know, there are enhanced monsters on this quest, whatever that f***ing means. Probably a living nightmare.

Warriors apparently got passed the invisible talking stick, "We need to make a plan of action and work together as a unit. No one gets separated, and we watch each other's backs."

"You're absolute f***ing idiots, you know that?" retorted Legend.

"Language," scolded Time.

"There's no way in hell that nine fighters can get anything done in these small rooms without getting in each other's way. Besides, Pretty-boy here's never been in a f***ing dungeon before, and I don't think he's the only one. Let me handle this. It's what I do. I'll come back and get you all once I'm through," responded Legend.

"And when you get in over your head and need backup?" questioned Warriors.

"I do not require f***ing back–"

"Language. We're staying together as a group. End of discussion," stated Time.

These people honestly think they have power over him. Can they really get much more stupid?

Legend turned away from Time and Warriors and took the right archway out of the room, blatantly ignoring anything they yelled after him.

*****

"Watch it!"

"You watch it!"

Legend leaped out of the way of a boomerang, landing in a roll and springing back up, swinging his sword around towards his target. About halfway through its swing, his arm was hit, rendering the whole swing a waste of energy. Another sword impaled the monster in front of him –which was his intended target– from the other side, and when it dissolved, Legend was left looking at the bright blue eyes of the sailor. A glance over his shoulder showed the too kind smile of Sky, an apology already on his lips. By the looks of it, he'd backflipped to avoid something, and his foot had hit Legend's arm. Legend gave him a scowl, causing him to wisely keep the fluffy apology to himself.

If he wanted to apologize, he could be a bit more aware of his surroundings, and not run into people.

Wind gave Legend a smirk at having killed the monster despite Legend telling him to stay out of the way. Legend treated him to a similar scowl to what Sky had gotten.

"Clear," called Warriors. "Everyone present? Any injuries?"

"I wish I f***ing wasn't," muttered Legend darkly.

"Four rolled into me. Got a cut and a bruise from my armor," responded Time.

Warriors nodded, "Four, drink a potion and–"

"I know how to treat a scratch, Captain," replied Four. Everyone was starting to become a bit touchy after five rooms had taken them in what Legend was pretty sure was a complete circle. They were now on their sixth room.

"This door appears to be locked. Would someone have left the key nearby?"

"Yeah, that's how dungeons work, Captain," remarked Legend. "We'll find the key in a few rooms."

"Excellent. Four, if you're recovered we'll carry on to that objective. Everyone form up," called Warriors in a military command voice.

Legend rolled his eyes and strode straight through the archway into the next room.

*****

"Have we been in this room already?"

"Maybe?"

"It's hard to say. All of these rooms look basically the same."

"No they don't. The blocks and statue placements have been different in all of them."

"Really? I could've sworn I've seen this layout before."

"Nah, this one's new."

"This is definitely not new. We've seen this room at least two times."

"Not we haven't!"

"We definitely have."

"Whose side are you on!"

"The side of finding the next actual new room?"

"This is a new room!

"Would you all shut up, please, I'm trying to think."

"What a concept."

"This is thinking. I'm thinking out loud."

"Yeah, well you're not helping anything."

"Am too! I would've already had it figured out if you hadn't interrupted my thought process."

"Yeah, right."

"Well I don't see you coming up with any brilliant solutions either!"

"Because you won't shut up so I can think!"

"Guys, that's enough."

"...Uh, where's Wild?"

"Ah f***."

*****

"Found him! –WOAH–"

"You good?"

"Yeah, fine, I just hate those stupid energy balls."

"The feeling's mutual."

"Wild, you can't just wander away from the group like that."

"You guys were arguing about whether or not we'd been in that room before. You couldn't agree, and I couldn't remember, so I went to look through the previous rooms we've been in."

"What'd he say?"

"He sai– ya know what, it'll be good motivation for you to learn fast."

"Hey! Not fair!"

"I'd like to know what he said, if that's okay."

"Basically we were arguing about whether we'd been in that room before, so he went to check the rooms leading up to it."

"Oh, that makes sense."

"Yes, it was a well meaning action, but please don't do it again, Wild. We need to stay together and not have anyone going off on their own where they could run into trouble without backup."

"But we just went through these rooms, he knew that there wasn't anything difficult in them."

"That's not the point."

"But it's true!"

"Can we please try and make some progress here? For all we know there's dozens more rooms before we can get out of here."

"He's right. Move out everyone."

*****

"We've already been in this room three times."

"No we haven't!"

"Twelve blocks split into two rectangles of six, twice as far apart from each other as they both are from the walls of the room on three sides, two giant worms to fight, and a bomb in the center of the room when they're defeated," recited Four.

"Oh... huh."

"They're called Moldorms," whispered Hyrule, so timid and quiet that Legend wouldn't have heard it if he wasn't standing right next to him.

Wind groaned, "We're f***ing lost. We keep going in circles."

"Language," reprimanded Time.

"We are not lost," stated Warriors.

"Ya sure?" questioned Twilight.

"Yes. We haven't gone through that door yet," assured Warriors.

"Wars, we've already been in that room four times," said Four, burying his face in his hands.

"We certainly have not. Come on, I'm sure this is a new room."

Chapter Text

"Aaaaauuuuuuuuuhhhhhhh." Wind flopped down of the stone floor. "We have been through the same f***ing rooms fifty thousand times!"

"Language," scolded Time as always.

"He's right, Wars," said Twilight. "We're getting nowhere."

"What did I f***ing say would happen?" remarked Legend

"Language."

"Alright, this isn't working," acknowledged Warriors. "But you going off and doing everything yourself wouldn't have gotten us anywhere either. You haven't offered up any bright ideas on how to find a new room."

"If I had it's not like you would have listened," retorted Legend.

"I would have if you made a valid suggestion, but no one did, so I lead the group to the best of my ability," responded Warriors.

"Knowing that does anyone have a suggestion of how to proceed?" questioned Time.

Silence.

Then Legend caught sight of Wild signing out of the corner of his eye, but he wasn't signing towards the group at large.

"This is a dungeon you came through on your quest, right? Do you remember how to get to the next room?"

"...Yes," signed back Hyrule.

"Why haven't you said anything?" asked Wild.

"Why would they want to hear what I have to say?" responded Hyrule.

"Because you know this dungeon. Why wouldn't they want to hear what you have to say?"

"...I'm not like them."

"What do you mean?" questioned Wild.

"They're all... heroes," signed back Hyrule.

"You're a hero too."

"No. I'm not. They all see it just as much as I do. They don't need my advice, they're far more capable than I am."

Wild gestured towards the rest of the Links, who were making no progress in coming up with a plan, "Hyrule, we've been going in circles in the same eight rooms for hours. You know where to go, of course they need your advice."

"...They've been doing a lot more wrong then just where to go."

Wild turned back to the rest of the group, putting his hands to his lips. He let out loud high pitched whistle, which effectively drew the entire group's attention to him.

"Hyrule knows where to go, and other things that we've been doing wrong this whole time," signed Wild.

"What'd he–"

"Hyrule knows where to go, and other things that we've been doing wrong this whole time," repeated Legend, cutting off Wind.

"Oh for the love of the Goddesses," said Four, burying his face in his hands. "Wars, you never asked the guy who did this dungeon when he was 12 where we should go?!"

"...No? I thought it would be straight forward! And if he knew where to go wouldn't he just say so?" responded Warriors.

"Hyrule?" questioned Time. "Is there a reason you haven't spoken up before now?"

"...Didn't think you'd want to hear what I thought," said Hyrule quietly, his face a deep red.

"Why would you think that?" asked Sky kindly.

"...You're all" –Hyrule waved his hand at them– "...heroes."

"Wait, are you saying you're not a hero?" asked Wind.

Hyrule shook his head, staring at the stone floor, "I'm just a traveler."

"Bulls***," stated Legend. Hyrule's gaze snapped up to his. "You're just as much of a hero as everyone here, if not more so. You saved your kingdom, probably a princess or two, and you still choose to fight everyday no matter how hard it gets or the toll it takes on you. You are a f***ing hero."

Hyrule stared at him wide eyed. Hell, everyone was staring at him wide eyed. Sky had that gross sweet look on his face. He did not think this through...

"What?! It's the truth, no need to get all funny about it," remarked Legend hastily.

"That was really sweet, Vet," said Sky, still with that f***ing gross look.

"Oh, shut up. Here, Kid." He tossed Hyrule his candle with its perpetually burning red flame. "Show us what you've got."

Hyrule caught the candle, but didn't meet any of their gazes. He stared into its flame, visibly building up courage, before looking up and saying, "Every time we're about to enter a new room, I'm going to look and see what's inside. Then I'll call out one or two names. Whoever I ask for will come with me into the next room. Everyone else stays behind until we say it's clear. I'm gonna pick purely off of strengths in battle, which I've been observing for all of today."

"Anything else you didn't say because of a stupid self confidence excuse?" asked Legend bluntly.

"...Please don't question anything I say about this place or who I pick. And don't underestimate this place or get cocky if things seem easy. It's much more dangerous from here on out."

Warriors nodded, "Take it seriously, don't get cocky, you're in charge. Where do we find the first new room?"

Hyrule pointed straight at Warriors.

"Me? How am I how we find the next room?"

"It's behind you," said Hyrule simply. He crossed the room to the wall behind where Warriors was standing and placed a lit bomb at its base. Everyone scrambled back, and when the bomb exploded it revealed an opening in the wall.

"What the f***?!" exclaimed Wind.

"Language," informed Time.

"How did you know that was there?" demanded Legend, both annoyed and impressed.

Hyrule just shrugged, and placed his back to the wall directly next to the opening, sword and shield drawn. He quickly glanced around the corner and into the new room, before calling, "Legend and Four."

Legend and Four took up mirrored positions to Hyrule on the other side of the opening, which was when he said, "Three red Goriya and three blue. Remember that the blue are stronger than the red, and they can only throw their boomerangs if they're facing you, but they turn fast."

Legend and Four nodded, and Hyrule promptly stepped off of the wall into the opening, pushing off of his back foot and running into the room.

Legend ran into the room after Hyrule without hesitation, Four hot on his heels. Hyrule headed straight for the closest enemy straight on, so Legend angled right, trusting Four to be smart enough to take the left side.

Dodge. Dart in. Dodge. Dart in. The blue monster dissolved, and not even a beat later Legend was off and running to his next target.

The fight was over fast. Really fast. Probably two or three minutes. It was a game changer not having three other people in your way when you're trying to fight, and Hyrule and Four were efficient in their extermination of the monsters, too.

Actually competent fighters, who would've thought it possible?

Not Legend.

"Clear," called Four as the last monster fell. The other Links funneled into the room.

Hyrule placed his back to the wall next to one of the archways leading out of the room. He quickly glanced around the corner, then thought for a minute, before saying, "Wind."

The sailor glowed, immediately straightening up to his full height, and marching to take his position on the wall across from Hyrule, not quite suppressing his grin of excitement and smugness.

Warriors had started fidgeting, "Are you sure that–"

"Captain," said Time seriously. "We just agreed. Hyrule's in charge, and he's picking based off of the skills best suited for the next room. If you give him a moment I'm sure he'll explain why he chose Wind."

Hyrule reddened under the expectant stares, but responded with, "There's three Dodongos in there. You have to be really fast to place a bomb close enough in front of them that they'll inhale it, but you don't get hit by them or the explosion. I chose Wind for his speed, and, I'm assuming, experience with explosives. I didn't want three for this one cause we'd be at risk of blowing each other up if we misplace a bomb."

Time nodded, as did Warriors, while Wind bounced up and down with excitement, a look of glee plastered on his face.

"Go!"

Wind was almost through the archway before Hyrule, and the rest of the Links crowded the opening to watch. The two made quick work of the tree Dodongos, having only one misplaced bomb by Hyrule, but Wind was on the other side of the room, so it didn't effect him at all.

This was starting to feel too easy...

"Wild. Sky." The two took their positions. "It's just a room full of Keese, but there's a trap before each doorway. If you move fast and don't hesitate you should be fine."

"What kind of trap is it?" asked Sky.

"...It'll make the most sense if I just show you."

Hyrule suddenly sprung around the corner and began sprinting into the room as if there was something chasing him. The moment he set foot inside of the new room, the sound of grating metal screeched through the dungeon, and two nasty spiked looking contraptions slammed together behind Hyrule's heels. If those spikes hit someone, they'd go straight through their leg, maybe both legs...

Wild and Sky blinked wide eyed at the trap as it slowly retracted back out of sight, but Hyrule was already fighting the Keese inside of the room, waiting for them. Wild took a quick breath before throwing his body forward, sprinting through the doorway, where the trap slammed shut behind him. Sky watched it retract back, his shoulders set and his eyes fixed, before taking a deep breath, and running forward. The trap didn't allow time for hesitation or doubt, which Sky wisely blocked out and cleared the strip of danger, before running to help the other two with the swarm of Keese flying around the room.

A few short minutes later, Wild cut down the last remaining Keese, and Sky called, "Clear."

Unlike the previous rooms, none of the other Links filed through the opening into the room.

"Oh, you f***ing babies," remarked Legend, and shoved past Twilight, before breaking into a run. He sprinted towards the stretch of floor he knew would trigger the spike trap, and felt his heart rate skip a beat as it accelerated past normal levels. Thanks f***ing rabbit curse. He knew that there was no room for hesitation or doubt inside of him, just like with Sky, so he shoved the frantic rabbit fear down as far as he could, and focused on looking straight ahead, and pounding his feet into the stone floor. He crossed the threshold, and the spikes slammed shut behind him, before retracting back along their invisible track. He slowed to a stop on the other side –now in the room with Hyrule, Sky, and Wild– before turning back to face the other Links.

"Anyone else got the balls to make the tri–"

Wind took off running, racing through the opening, and when the spikes slammed shut, he had even a little time to spare. Okay, Hyrule's assessment had been dead on. The sailor was f***ing fast.

As the spikes retracted after Wind, Legend decided to test a theory. He waved his arm in front of the thing's detection field, and as he suspected, nothing happened. Before it reached the end of its path to reset, he stepped fully in between the two traps. Nothing happened, until they reached the far walls, and a small click signaled their reset. Then they shot forward, and Legend jumped back just before he was impaled between them.

"If you're too scared to come through the real way, go while it's resetting," explained Legend.

The trap clicked back into place, and Four sprinted forward, causing it again slam shut. This time though, while it was resetting, Time, Warriors, and Twilight hurried through.

Legend cocked a smirk at the Captain, "You enjoying your first dungeon, Pretty-boy?"

"It's been very... educational," pronounced Warriors, a little shaken from the terrifying spike trap.

"Now everyone's through," began Hyrule. "I want Twilight and Time for the next room. I don't remember what's in it, and I can't check cause of the trap, so just kill whatever's inside, and I'll call out instructions if it's something unique."

Ah, yes. There was another spike trap before the archway leading into the next room. Why wouldn't there be?

Hyrule sprinted through the trap and into the new room beyond without a moment's hesitation, and Time and Twilight followed while the trap reset. A few minutes later they came running back through, and Hyrule held up a key for the rest of them to see.

They fell into a pretty steady rhythm after that. Hyrule called out one or two people that he wanted, and they dealt with the monsters in the next room quickly. Then Hyrule was back against the wall to glance into the next room, and call out the next pairing. Only minor injuries were sustained, and none of the monsters were "Enhanced" like Time had mentioned they might be earlier. It wasn't until the point in the dungeon when they were supposed to collect its special item, that things started to get weird.

Hyrule stared down in confusion at something in his hands in the darkness of a cramped room below the rest of the dungeon.

"What is it, Hyrule?" asked Legend.

"It's... It's the same–... It's... mine."

"What do you mean it's yours?" inquired Time from a little ways back.

"It shouldn't be here, because... I have it." Hyrule turned back to them and showed two identical candles, both burning red flames.

"Wait, this is the same dungeon that you came through years ago, that gave you your candle, but there's another one here?" questioned Wind.

Hyrule nodded.

"But, does that mean–"

"Quiet," interrupted Legend. "I need to think."

How were there two candles? It would make the most sense if they had just gone back in time to before Hyrule came through here as a kid... But more monsters would had to have moved in before he showed up. Not too unlikely. But all of the doors would have been unlocked, and the walls bombed to reveal the openings... because they've just spent the day clearing the place out. There's no way for that to be reset before kid Hyrule shows up. But if they're not here before he came, how is there another candle, and everything in place as if it's never been touched since construction... There's no way–

"Hyrule, can I see the two candles?"

It was Four, eyes glowing violet in the light from the candle's flames.

Hyrule passed them over, and Four said, "I need more light. Can we go back to the room above?"

Hyrule lead the way out of the dark and cramped room.

Once in the normal light of the dungeon, Four held the two candles up close to his violet eyes, studying them intently. Legend approached him and asked, "What're you looking for?"

"Differences," he answered simply. "Hyrule's is older. More used. It's got dirt on it and a bit of the metal is scratched. The one we just found is perfect. No dirt, marks, or anything. Exactly how I would have imagined Hyrule's looking when he first got it."

"And that tells you?" prompted Legend.

"...That it makes the most sense for it to be Hyrule's from before he found it. But it can't be, because we've just blown holes through the walls and opened all of the locked doors leading up to this point. On top of killing all of the monsters."

...Many stupid points removed from the smith.

"That's what I came up with, too," replied Legend. "Hyrule, when you came through as a kid was the dungeon opened up as if someone had been through before you?"

"No," answered Hyrule surely. "It wasn't."

Four stared harder at the candles, as if they held the answers to the problem.

"So, do we leave the new candle?" asked Twilight.

"Incase kid Hyrule needs it to progress to create this present? I don't know..." pondered Four.

"If it's a question of changing the course of time to an outcome we cannot predict, we should endeavor to avoid it at all costs," stated Time. "Hyrule, what would the ramifications be if you weren't able to complete this dungeon?"

"...Bad," murmured Hyrule quietly.

"Then that settles it," continued Time. "We leave the new candle. We have Hyrule's, so it won't effect our progression."

"But the course of time is already changed, right?" questioned Wind. "We've been through the dungeon, opening all of the locked doors and blowing up the walls. You can't un-blow-up walls!"

"He's right," agreed Legend. "And we can't be here after kid Hyrule came through, because then everything would have been open for us."

"Alternate timeline?" signed Wild.

Legend shrugged, "Always an option, but begs the question of why we're here. Why send us from another timeline of events, to change the course of this one?"

"I don't think we're going to solve this puzzle now," remarked Warriors. "I say we leave the new candle, and get ourselves out of here. We can't change what we've already done. If you're right in your theory, then this timeline's already different anyways."

Four sighed, "...Hyrule, put this one back the way you found it."

"There's also the map and compass," reminded Legend. "We took those too, so if we're replacing the candle we should return those as well."

Time thought for a minute, "You're right, Legend, we need to return the map and compass as well as the candle. Hyrule, could you put the candle back and then lead us back to where we found the map and compass?"

They made pretty good time returning the map and compass to where they'd found them, and all studied the map for a minute before leaving it behind, to ensure they wouldn't get lost again. Their journey through the dungeon continued, but whenever Legend glanced over at Four, his face was set in a hard line, and he was often muttering under his breath, eyes still a violet purple.

Another handful of rooms after the one that lead down to the candle, and Hyrule was once again looking to see what the next new room held. This time, though, when he looked back at them, his eyes were wide, and some of the color had drained from his face.

"Hyrule? What is it?" asked Legend.

Hyrule swallowed, "Wallmaster. And three Bubbles."

Legend, Four, and Time all stiffened.

"What's the plan, Hyrule?" asked Time seriously.

"...We need to kill the Wallmaster until it drops a clock. Then I can use that to freeze it in place so that we can all get through. Since you guys have experience with them, Legend, I want you with me killing it until it drops a clock. Four and Time, try to keep the Bubbles away from us. You should be able to hit them away with your shields. If Legend or I get hit, though, switch out with us until it drops a clock," explained Hyrule seriously.

"Where will the Wallmaster come from?" inquired Legend. He really did not want to get sent back to the beginning of this dungeon...

"The closest corner of the right hand wall when you walk in," replied Hyrule.

Legend nodded. He remembered every Wallmaster room he'd ever been unfortunate enough to experience, too. They kind of left a mark on your soul.

"Ready?" asked Hyrule.

They nodded. Hyrule turned the corner and ran into the room, Time, Four, and Legend on his heels.

Legend hated Wallmasters. They were scary as s*** and a pain in the ass. Hyrule's plan was good, though, and the fifth time it dissolved to one of their swords, a small clock was left in its place. Hyrule snatched it like it was a piece of gold, and a moment later the Wallmaster froze in place halfway through reemerging from the wall. The Bubbles froze too.

Legend rounded on Hyrule, "How many of those can you get me?!"

Hyrule blushed, "They only work in the room you find them in, and they activate when you touch them. I haven't found a way to transport them without triggering the power."

"Have you tried gloves? Using an item to carry them? Spells? Runes? What about–"

"Leave him alone, Vet," said Twilight chuckling. "Which way from here, Hyrule? Is there another wall to bomb?"

Hyrule shook his head, and walked around the large U of blocks in the room, pushing against a few, until one moved back. When it did, it triggered the opening to a downward staircase to be revealed in the corner of the room.

Sky whistled. "How do you always know which walls to bomb and which blocks to push?"

Hyrule shrugged, before descending down the stairs, the rest of the Links hurrying to catch up.

A quick trip through a dark, cramped, Keese infested basement passageway later, and Hyrule was calling, "Warriors. Sky." from the staircase leading back up to the dungeon proper. Once they were all safely inside of that room, another bombed wall revealed yet another opening, but this time, Hyrule didn't call out names.

"This is the final boss room. Aquamentus. Basically a big green dragon with a horn on its head, and it shoots three fireballs at a time," explained Hyrule. "It's a pretty straight forward fight if you stick to the basics and don't get cocky."

"So who do you want for it?" asked Wind excitedly, obviously hoping to be picked.

Hyrule thought for a minute, "Sky and Wild. Sky, our job is to get in close and use our swords in between when it shoots its fireballs. Wild, your job is to provide a steady stream of arrows to its face. When Sky and I have retreated to dodge the fireballs, you can use other types of arrows, but know that it's immune to fire."

Sky nodded and took a firmer grip on the Master Sword. Wild gave an excited thumbs up and materialized a bow in his hands from his magic box. Legend had more than a few questions about how said magic box worked, and how he could get his hands on one.

"Go!"

The three ran into the room, and the remaining Links crowded the opening to watch.

Not even a minute into the fight, Legend knew something was wrong.

Hyrule had said that this would be a basic, straight forward fight. The big green dragon was only supposed to shoot fireballs. Three fireballs at a time, but still, just fireballs. It wasn't supposed to charge at unnatural speeds, snapping long pointed teeth, about half the size of Legend's arm. It wasn't supposed to slash long gnarled claws at you, as if you were an annoying bug it was trying to swat. It wasn't supposed to drip thick black blood, when Sky landed a small hit on it, before having to narrowly dodge certain pointy death.

What the f*** was happening.

"It's got black blood," called Sky towards the rest of the Links watching through the opening, as if that wasn't obvious, and cleared up the matter.

According to the looks on the rest of the Links faces, it did.

"Anyone wanna fill me in on what exactly that means?" asked Legend.

"It's enhanced," replied Four. "It's stronger, faster, smarter, and a lot harder to kill."

"Think of your worst nightmare when facing a monster, and that about sums it up," added Warriors.

"Charming," said Legend drily.

Twilight flinched as Hyrule was almost run through on a claw, "Is there anything we can do to help?"

"No," stated Time bitterly. "There isn't room. We'd just get in each other's way when trying to dodge and find openings. We'd have to switch out."

He was right, but it f***ing sucked just watching.

Sky had gotten two decent slashes in, but was currently limping from a burn wound to his leg. Hyrule had stabbed the dragon in one of its legs, but gotten a cut from shoulder to opposite hip from the claws attached to said leg. The cut was gone the next time Legend glanced at Hyrule, just a long rip through his tunic remaining... Wild had shot the thing multiple times in the face, effectively distracting it from one of the others for a short time, but causing it to charge straight at him. He was sporting a gash down his calf. Each of the dragon's wounds were dripping the black blood substance, and each wound the Links managed to inflict, only enraged, and further empowered the creature.

"I don't like this," informed Warriors, as if saying the words out loud would help solve the situation.

"Yeah, no s***," said Legend absently.

"Language," scolded Time. "If they need to tap out they'll let us know."

"They need a plan," mused Four. "They're just throwing themselves at it like it's a one man fight, instead of using each other to create openings."

"How're they supposed to make a plan mid battle?" asked Wind.

"A good leader can come up with a plan even in the middle of a fight," responded Four. "Problem is, none of them are used to doing that. They've only ever fought alone."

"Captain?" inquired Time. "What would you have them do?"

Warriors thought for a moment, "Have one or two distract and draw fire so the third can move in to attack. But it's risky getting anywhere close to it with those teeth and claws."

"The third person would have to get really close to do any major damage," remarked Twilight. "But only that level of an attack has the chance of taking this thing down."

Wind fidgeted in place, "I hate just sitting here!"

"The feeling's mutual," grumbled Four, tracking the battle with blue eyes.

Sky had landed a stab wound, but taken a cut to his sword arm. Hyrule had managed two small slashes, but received a burn on his hand in return. Wild had landed close to a half dozen more arrows over the dragon's body, but gotten a slice down his shoulder.

Legend's eyes snapped from Link, to Link, to dragon, to Link, tracking the battle. The dragon was currently trying to eat Sky alive, with its mouth full of long sharp teeth attached to its extra long scaled neck. Hyrule was dodging a round of fireballs it had sent in his direction to keep him at bay, and Wild should have been firing on it.

Wild should have been firing on it...

Legend's gaze moved to the scarred teen on the other side of the room from Sky and the dragon. His brow was furrowed, and he was staring at the dragon as if it were a puzzle he couldn't quite solve. He was studying its legs, its neck, and its tail, seeming dissatisfied with each. Then his eyes narrowed, and he nocked an arrow to his bow, but didn't immediately fire it like usual. He took his time, aiming it at the constantly in motion dragon, and didn't aim for the face or belly. He aimed for the side of its front leg.

The arrow flew, and hit home –although Legend wasn't sure what the point of it was. It did hardly any damage, even though Wild expertly placed it in between scales to get it to imbed at all. Then, as Sky dodged yet another snap of teeth, Wild took off running across the room, switching his bow for an ornate, golden halberd. As he neared the dragon, he took a running leap, using the arrow in the dragon's front leg as a step, which he pushed off of and onto the dragon's back. The dragon immediately lost interest in Sky, and began flailing wildly, but Wild's seat on its back held firm. He took his halberd and brought it from over his head down into the dragon's back, apparently in between its scales, as the thing roared in pain.

Wind started cheering, and Four's face split into a red eyed smile. Wild grinned back from the dragon's back, and Sky allowed himself to slouch against the wall, breathing heavily. Legend let out a tense breath, and started thinking through whose wounds to treat first.

Then the dragon swung its long neck around, and grabbed Wild in between its jaws, flinging him across the room like a paper weight into the stone wall, where he crumpled limply to the ground.

It was only due to Legend's place at the front of the Links cramped into the bombed opening, that he was the first into the room.

Black blood gushed from the wound on the dragon's back –where Wild's halberd was still imbedded– but the creature was only made more vicious because of it. It made to charge at Wild's limp form. Legend set himself on an intercept course.

He intercepted the dragon about halfway through it's charge towards Wild's limp form, and rolled quickly in front of it, slicing up at its under belly. His present goal wasn't to take the thing down, just to get it focused on someone else besides Wild, who still hadn't moved from where he lay in a crumpled heap at the base of the wall.

Legend's plan worked, and the dragon switched its focus to him.

S***.

He dodged, leaping sideways and into a roll as a long claw sliced through the air for his face. Then the dragon's mouth snapped forward, nostrils flared, and teeth dripping saliva. Legend backflipped out of the way, landing in time to see another set of claws swiping towards him.

Legend vaguely registered that Warriors was kneeling beside Wild. If he called out something to the others, Legend didn't hear it. His world had narrowed completely to the snarling, snapping, clawing dragon trying to rip him to shreds.

Another dodge left a tear through the sleeve of his tunic, and a thin cut underneath. Too slow.

A phantom sword shot through the air, hitting the dragon in its side. A moment later Hyrule was darting in to try for a hit. Legend got to breathe for a second.

A quick glance around the room showed Twilight helping a limping Sky towards the opening in the wall. Sky had a hand on his chest, and was breathing heavily. Warriors was still kneeling beside a motionless Wild, and Legend didn't have a good enough angle to see what he was doing. Back in the opening leading into the room, Time was holding Wind against his chest as the young sailor thrashed and argued, trying to get free to join the fight or help at all. Four was standing one foot in the room, one foot out, fidgeting. His eyes kept darting between Sky and Twilight, Warriors and Wild, and the dragon currently focused on Hyrule.

They needed an actual plan to take this damn dragon down five years ago.

...It really did like shoving its mouth into your business to snap its teeth at you...

"I have a really stupid idea," called Legend to anyone listening.

"Just what we could use right now, Vet," remarked Twilight irritably.

"Hey, I said it was stupid, not that is wouldn't work," replied Legend.

"Spit it out already!" called Hyrule, leaping out of the way of a clawed swipe from the dragon.

"You keep it distracted. Twilight, just get Sky out. Four and Wind come here," commanded Legend.

Four and Wind hurried over to him, Wind bouncing from foot to foot in anticipation.

"Take these." Legend handed them each an ice rod from his pouch. "I need you to freeze the dragon in place. Try not to miss and watch where you aim."

"How does this thing wor–" Wind flipped the rod over in his hand with a little too much force, and ice erupted out of the end, freezing a section of the floor. "Cool!"

"Any day now!" called a frustrated Hyrule, ducking under another attack.

Four and Wind went into action, running around the room to freeze the dragon from all angles to have the best chance of it not breaking free.

"Is there anything I can do to help, Legend?" asked Time from the doorway.

"Be ready to run in if this goes horribly for me," said Legend casually.

Time nodded seriously.

"Legend!" it was Four, having just frozen the last of the dragon's legs to the floor.

Showtime.

...Also known as potential death time. They usually went hand in hand.

The dragon was frozen to the floor just like Legend had wanted it to be, and Hyrule was bent double a short distance away, catching his breath. The dragon was flailing and pulling, trying to break the ice around its feet and legs. Legend knew that he only had a few short minutes, if that, before the dragon broke free, so there was no room for second guessing his utterly stupid idea.

He approached the dragon slowly from the front, gauging the distance between them. For this to work, and Legend to walk away with all of his limbs, there was little to no room for error on his part. When he judged the distance to be what he needed, he stopped, and pulled out his bow. The dragon wasn't paying him hardly any attention, as it was just focused on getting free from the ice. He nocked an arrow, an fired it into the dragon's face, not even waiting to see it hit, before switching to his sword. The dragon roared in pain and annoyance, and jerked its long neck towards Legend, teeth bared and snapping.

The dragon's snout stopped twelve inches from Legend's nose.

Because its feet were frozen to the floor, that was as far as it could reach. So it snapped its teeth at him in rage, but all it cleaved was air.

Legend took a small step forward. If he was going to back out, now was the time. But the image of Wild's body crumpling to the ground was still fresh in his mind, and he and the Captain still hadn't moved from that spot. Hell, Legend didn't even know if Wild was still alive. His body was run through on those teeth before being thrown into the stone wall... Stop. Don't go there. He's gonna be fine, so long as you kill the dragon that did it.

Legend took a deep breath to steady himself, gripping the hilt of his sword like a vice. He could hear the ice starting to give. If he thought about doing it he wouldn't be able to do it so just do it alre–

He lunged forward, driving his arm into the dragon's snapping mouth, and his sword up into its skull, angled towards its brain.

The dragon's roar consumed his senses, until white hot pain erupted through his arm, originating from just below his elbow. He bit back a scream, and drew his arm back as quickly as he could, leaving his sword imbedded in the monster. Legend stumbled back, clutching his left arm to his body, a long, gnarled dragon tooth stuck through it. The dragon roared and writhed, before finally dissolving into black smoke, leaving Legend's sword to clatter to the floor.

Sweet, merciful silence hung in the air for a few surreal moments, before multiple pairs of boots descended upon him.

"THAT WAS THE COOLEST, MOST BADASS THING I'VE EVER SEEN!!!" informed Wind as he skidded to a halt in front of Legend, his face plastered with an awestruck smile.

"Gotta hand it to you, Vet," came Twilight's voice. "That was gutsy."

"I can't believe that worked," remarked Four. "It was so stupid yet kind of genius."

"That's how I get most things done," replied Legend tensely, cradling his arm while he fought through the pain.

"Hyrule?" came Time's voice.

Legend whirled around to see Hyrule hurriedly placing a lit bomb in front of the far wall, and then running through the opening it made.

"Hey!" Legend forced his body after Hyrule, ignoring the searing pain in his arm.

What he found on the other side of the new opening, was a C of blocks, and four of the weird statues, all positioned around what he knew the moment he saw it was a shard of the triforce. The magic radiating off of it was unmistakable, and even if it wasn't, Legend knew the golden texture of the thing far better than he should. The one thing he didn't know, was which piece of the triforce it was a shard of, but that wasn't overly important right now. What was, was Hyrule staring at it and having an internal meltdown play across his face.

"Kid, talk to me. What's going on up there," began Legend.

"...It's–... I can't–... I can't leave it! But I can't take it either!" blurted Hyrule.

"Why can't you leave it?" asked Legend, although he was pretty sure he knew the answer.

"Because it's completely vulnerable here! We've just killed every monster and cleared every obstacle stopping anyone but a Link from just walking in and taking it!" explained Hyrule. "We even left them the map, compass, and item! So I can't leave it, but if I take it, then I won't get it when I come through here for it if that hasn't happened yet in this timeline! If I don't have that shard, Ganon wins. If anyone else, who would most likely be loyal to Ganon, gets it before I do, I won't be strong enough to scale Death Mountain, so Ganon wins."

S***. Legend was afraid he'd say something to that effect.

"...Wha–"

"And the portal's gonna be here any second, so I don't exactly have time to try and find a solution."

"What?!" exclaimed Legend. "You felt a portal coming and didn't tell us?"

"I was a little preoccupied thinking about this," responded Hyrule in frustration.

"Hyrule, Legend," came Time's voice from the opening, and Legend almost jumped. "We could use you both out here. Wild's in bad shape and–... Please don't tell me that's what I think it is."

"If what you think it is is a shard of the triforce, then you'd be right," replied Legend casually.

"Time, are they coming? What's taking so long in here anywa– OH MY GODDESS, TRIFORCE."

Thanks for that, Wind, really helping the situation.

"Did someone say triforce?" came the rancher's voice.

Nah, why not? Lets just get everyone in here to see.

"Uh, Hyrule?" questioned Wind. "That is a shard of the triforce, isn't it?"

Hyrule nodded.

That was about the time Four entered the room, "Oh, s***."

"Language," reprimanded Time.

"No, I think he's actually dead on," stated Legend. "We can't take it, and we can't leave it. Also the portal should be arriving any second."

"Double s***," whispered Wind.

"Language."

"Not helping, Old Man," snapped Hyrule.

Now sure, Legend hadn't known Hyrule for very long, but he was pretty sure that the kid didn't exactly snap at people on the daily to hourly basis that Legend did. Especially not at Time.

"Does anyone have anything beneficial to solving the problem that they would like to share?" asked Legend.

"...We can't guarantee a positive outcome, so we have to choose the path with the least detrimental repercussions, and hope that those left with the consequences of our actions can rise to the task set before them," proclaimed Time.

...Chill, Old Man, this wasn't supposed to be an exposition dump, no matter how wise that was.

"Hyrule?" prompted Legend.

"...Taking it is the best option. I can't let it fall into the hands of Ganon, or some random person who stumbles upon it. I'll still have a fighting chance, no matter how small, of winning without it, so I just have to hope that what I have is enough without it," stated Hyrule.

He crossed to the shard and picked it up, instantly becoming surrounded in a glowing light and pulsing power, before the shard faded into his hand.

"Guys," came Warriors' urgent voice. "There's a portal out here!"

They all hurried back to the boss room, or, in Legend's case, stumbled along clutching his arm with a yellow and brown splotched dragon tooth sticking through it. Once he was through the opening connecting the two rooms, Legend saw Warriors and Sky beside a still unconscious Wild, laying in almost the same position he had been after sliding down from being thrown against the wall. There was also a concerningly large pool of blood beneath him, and a silent, pulsing, black portal hovering a few inches from the ground in the center of the room.

Time spoke first, "Captain–"

"I can't move him, yet," stated Warriors.

"Sorry to burst your bubble, Captain, but if we don't move him the portal will," reminded Legend.

Warriors gnawed on his lower lip, "He has puncture wounds from two of those teeth, which are still in him because the teeth fractured, probably when he hit the wall." He let out a tense breath. "He has bits of the broken teeth inside of him. If we move him it'll make everything worse, and I'll have to try and get them out fast before he bleeds out internally. Which I am not qualified to do."

"We have to move him anyway," pronounced Four, face set in a hard line. "If we don't, the portal will drop him on the other side."

"What if there're monsters on the other side, or nowhere suitable for us to treat him?" questioned Twilight tensely.

Warriors shook his head, "Then you'll all have to guard me, him, and someone to help me, while I try my best to get the broken teeth out."

"I have steady hands," stated Four. "If you instruct me in what to do I can do it."

Warriors nodded, "Someone help me get him positioned."

Legend started forward.

"Not you, idiot," remarked Warriors. "Someone who doesn't have a dragon tooth through their arm."

Stupid ancient dragon teeth. They probably broke inside of Wild because they were so old and brittle.

After a minute Twilight had helped position Wild in Warriors' arms, which was when Legend felt the pull of the portal spike, and he stumbled towards it.

"Everyone go through in order of least injured," called Time. "Be prepared for a fight, but also to help the Captain get Wild somewhere safe. Four, you stay at the back with them."

Everyone nodded hurriedly and formed up. Determination etched in each of their faces.

They were not going to lose a frien–... They were not going to lose a companion today.

They went through the portal.