Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

His head hurts. That’s the first thing Wild is aware of.

The second thing he's aware of is the sound of dripping. Plop, plop, plop.

Water drips all around him. Each plop bounces back and forth off of unseen walls until every echo merges together into a quiet rhapsody of nature.

It’s a familiar melody.

Whenever there’s a torrential downpour back home, all Wild likes to do is sit and just be. He’ll find a small nook somewhere, close his eyes and just listen to the rain patter against the leaves, the trees, the grass, the rocks. He’ll breathe in the smell of wet soil and feel the cool wind brush against his sides.

He always feels alive in those moments where he’s reminded that he too belongs to the cycle of nature, that it treats him no different than it would an animal or a plant. Alive for now to bask in the glory of a storm but no stronger than the mountains that will one day erode under the water's weight.

But what he hears now… it doesn’t sound right. The more his brain wakes up and claws through the fog that had clouded it, the more he realises that he's not hearing rain. 

His fingers twitch as motor controls start to come back to him and he groans. The walls echo his groan back to him as he rolls over onto his side to gather himself. Instead of wet soil and earth, the strong scent of mildew fills his nose, and Wild finds himself pulling a face. 

Ew, mildew. Ugh, he hates that smell. 

It takes effort to peel his eyelids open but he manages it in the end. He blinks once, twice, and then stares blankly at the world that comes into view around him.

On either side of his crumpled body, stone walls rise up and up, stretching forward until they're joined together by row after row of looming stalactites. 

The rocky walls give off a faint green glow, softly illuminating the murkiness that hangs in the air. When he looks, he finds that the walls stretch out in either direction, the darkness settling to obscure his vision of what may lie ahead or behind him.

It’s quiet.

There are no sounds other than the soft drip of the water against stone. Honestly the longer he waits, expecting more but never hearing anything else, the more unnerved and worried he gets.

There had been a portal – he can't think of any other reason than a portal for why he feels as horrible as he does – so logically there should be voices, chatter, Warriors or Time calling out to get everyone together, something.

But there's nothing but the water. It’s… unsettling.

A bead of water slides off the end of a stalactite above him and lands right on Wild’s cheek, making him reflexively flinch in surprise. He scrubs at his cheek and shoves himself upright, pausing only to test his limbs for any pain he’s failed to notice thanks to the water and the headache.

Everything seems fine, so Wild swallows and calls out, “Guys?!”

His voice rings down the damp stone hallway but the only thing that responds to his call is his own mocking echo.

“Great,” he whispers to himself. “Just great. Start walking, Wild.”

With the order now in his mind, that’s just what he does, deciding on the pathway ahead of him and forcing his feet to move.

After only a few steps, he realises that his boots are sloshing through a thin layer of water, making stealth impossible. Wild looks down at the water that covers the ground with a frown and reaches a hand up to touch the back of his hair.

Damp but not wet. His tunic is the same. And yet the water on the floor around him starts to lap at the sides of his feet, insidiously inching higher and higher.

Oh. Oh, he does not like that.

Swallowing roughly, Wild picks up his pace, hurrying down the hallway without caring about how much noise he’s making.

A new sound bounces down the hallway towards him and he strains his ears to hear it better. A voice… a voice he recognises.

“Time!” Wild yells and nearly weeps when he hears Time call back again from ahead of him.

He flies down the hallway, nearly tripping when it smoothly rises upwards and the water falls in tiny cascades against the rocks. 

At the top of the incline, the hallway abruptly opens up into a wide circular room, and there Time stands at the far end of the cavern, one hand pressed against… what looks like a metal door of all things.

Immediately second-guessing himself, Wild squints through the low-light for a second look. No, that is actually a door.

The stone walls around it have been neatly and perfectly cut to fit it. Baffled, Wild looks around the room again and spots another identical-looking door on the far wall.

What the actual fuck? Not a cave then, but a dungeon.

Great.

“Time?” Wild calls, sloshing through the ankle-high water towards him.

Time turns, a flicker of relief bright in his eye.

“Are you hurt?” When Wild shakes his head, Time adds in a mildly hopeful voice, “Have you encountered any of the others?”

“No.” Wild tries to keep his voice flat but a treasonous wobble betrays him.

Trapped in some kind of cavernous dungeon that's possibly filling with water is one thing. Trapped in some kind of cavernous dungeon that's possibly filling with water and he's alone with only Time?

Yeah, that’s another thing entirely.

Why couldn’t it have been Twilight? Why did it have to be anyone other than Twilight?

Time pauses at the tone and looks back at Wild again cautiously, eyeing him up and down. The intent behind his gaze is clear and Wild bristles slightly under the judgement. “I only just woke up.”

“It was a bad portal.” Time offers ambiguously in reply but thankfully he backs off.

He turns to the door he’d been examining and Wild forces himself to take a silent breath, clenching his fists. He has to calm down and get his shit together. He really doesn’t want to deal with this, not in this cave and not while Time is watching him.

He gives himself a mental shake and then points all his attention to Time’s words.

“—not sure what’s beyond either door, but I don’t believe staying here is wise.” Time finishes, glancing over his shoulder.

Wild nods on rote, mind buzzing as he tries to guess what the start of the sentence had been. 

Time waits, a long second stretching about between them, and it takes all of Wild’s muscle memory to keep his face blank and calm.

Finally, with a sigh Time jerks his head to the door, stooping down slightly so he can dig his fingers underneath it.

“Ready?” he asks and Wild drops down beside him. “On three. One… two… three!”

They lift the heavy door upwards at the same time only to be nearly knocked off their feet by the torrent of rushing water that bursts through.

Water floods into Wild’s mouth and noise, icy and freezing as it forces its way inside him. Everything vanishes until all that is left is water, water everywhere. Panic bursts to the front of his mind, taking over all that the water has not yet touched.

Something grabs his arm and pulls so fiercely Wild worries that the force is going to pop his shoulder from its joint, but then his head breaks the surface. He coughs, spluttering violently, before he's jerked upright onto unsteady feet and pulled forward.

“Wild!” Time barks over his shoulder as he pulls him along at a sprint.

“’M good!” Wild yells back, spitting out the rest of the water that had invaded him.

Despite the reassurance, Time doesn’t let go of his arm as they run, for which Wild is quietly grateful for. He doesn’t know how Time’s managing to stay upright; he feels like his boots are catching on every single rock and bump in the floor. Even worse, the rushing water keeps slamming into his legs and knocking him off balance. 

The water swirls around their calves as they run, slowing them down and causing Wild’s toes to start to freeze over. All he can see are rising water and smooth cavern walls and this never-ending hallway, and he has to bite down on the fear and bile that climbs up into his throat.

He tries to push it down, looking forward, but he can't see anything past Time. 

“Where are we going?!” Wild yells, his voice barely audible over the rushing water as he’s pulled back down the hallway he’d woken up in. 

If Time replies, he can’t hear it; the roar of the water is too loud. But the ground abruptly curves upwards in a much steeper rise than before.

The numbness in Wild’s feet seems to affect his fingers too and he struggles to scramble up the incline before Time hauls him up over the crest of the rise like one would a kitten.

Instinctively he squawks in surprise but doesn’t complain when his fingers manage to clutch the top of the incline. Wild hoists himself upwards, ready to keep running only to slam into Time.

He bounces backwards, nearly falling into the pooling water below, and scrambles to catch himself on the wall.

“What is it? Why’d we stop?” He pants, pushing himself back up and looking forward. And then he sees it.

“Shit.” Time breathes, taking two steps forward so he can press his hands against the wall in front of them. Even when he shoves against it with all his strength, the wall doesn’t give, and Time slams his fist against it in a rare burst of anger. “Shit!”

Wild stares at the dead-end, taking in the soft algae that clings to the jagged parts of the walls. He follows the tufts of green and his throat goes dry when it reaches all the way up to the cavern ceiling.

“Time, look… it’s going to fill all the way up.”

Despite the fear that's still sitting heavy in his gut, Wild can't muster up any emotion to go with his statement. He just delivers the words flatly, with none of the horror they deserve.

Time curses again, fumbling with his armour. “Help me.”

He speaks sharply and Wild nods, letting a haze overtake him as his fingers find buckle after buckle of Time's plate. Each piece vanishes into Time’s pouch post-haste and he shimmies out of his chainmail, only to then pull on a strange blue-coloured tunic. It shimmers in the faint glow of the walls, magic softly rippling across the fabric.

Time resecures his sword to his back and fixes Wild with a determined look. “We don’t have much time. Do you have any equipment that allows you to breathe underwater?”

Now dread starts to bloom in Wild's stomach, growing stronger and stronger as Time's question echoes through his head the same way his voice echoes against the walls of this tiny tomb.

But Wild knows Time expects an answer, so he shakes his head mutely. He knows the gesture alone isn't good enough, but he can’t open his mouth, can’t un-trap his voice from where it sits caught in his throat.

Time’s jaw works as he grits his teeth, and he nods once. “I’m going to go find us a route out of here but I only have one Zora tunic.”

He digs through his pouch almost feverishly before grabbing Wild's hand and pressing something into it, forcing Wild's fingers closed around it. “If the water gets too high, I want you to use this and try to find another air pocket.”

Wild looks down at the thing in his hand. A golden scale, the size of his palm, shimmers up at him in the lowlight. There’s a loop of firm string attached to one side, turning the scale into the oddest necklace ornament Wild’s ever seen before.

“It… won’t give you much air,” Time says apologetically, “but it’ll give you some. Hopefully enough.”

Hopefully?

Wild bites down on the side of his mouth so hard he tastes blood. He forces himself to nod, and then forces his lungs to take in air because breathing is essential and he needs to keep doing it.

Something flickers across Time’s face, frustration maybe at Wild's continuing lack of speech, but it's gone before Wild can identify it. Time takes a deep breath and steps back towards where they’d come from.

“I won’t be long.” He promises. “Just stay here, okay? I won’t be long.”

And then he’s gone, vanishing into the flooded hallway. He’s gone, leaving Wild alone with water creeping up to his knees and panic squeezing his heart.

Wild clenches his fingers tight around the scale in his hand and wraps his arms around himself. His breathing rasps in his throat, too short and too fast.

He know he needs to calm down and get his breathing under control because if he keeps freaking out, he’ll just waste what little air he has left.

Naturally, his mind hysterically points out that there’s no way he’ll run out of air before the water takes him and what control he’d managed to regain breaks right there on the spot.

Out of everything, why did it have to be this? Why did it have to be water?

A sob tears its way out of his throat, emerging from his mouth as a tiny pathetic whimper. Despite how quiet it had been, the whimper bounces loudly around the stone walls as though it has no other goal than to mock him for his weakness.

Wild claps his hands over his ears trying to block out the noise but to no avail. The sound has already gotten inside his mind, and he drops to his knees with a splash of water, curling in on himself to hide from his shame.

The noises that rip their way out of him are pathetic. He sounds like a child cowering from the dark, not a hero who’s saved his realm in spite of death.

One part of him, the part of him that’s half buried in lost memories, takes over. It knows that he can’t act like this, can’t be so openly shameful even if he is afraid.

His legs force him up, knees locking into place as his spine straightens out and both arms are pinned to his sides. Even as tears drip down his face, Wild stares fixated on the hallway’s sloped ceiling in front of him.

Okay, okay. This has to be better, he can’t look weak when Time gets back. He just needs to shove this down. He cannot and will not be a liability right now.

The faintly glowing rock mocks him, shifting from a strange light green to a haunting blue and it takes all he has to not vomit right there as the paltry façade of strength he'd just scraped together shatters in a single colour change.

His body refuses to move, still frozen in place though whether it’s from the chilled water creeping around his legs or his long-forgotten muscle memory, Wild doesn’t know.

What he does know is that he’s utterly terrified.

“Please,” he croaks out, “Time, don’t leave me here.”

His pitiful whine taunts him as it echoes around the tiny cavern. Time doesn’t respond. He doesn’t appear out of the water so his presence alone can assure Wild there’s another living and breathing person with him. 

It’s just Wild and his panic, standing surrounded by smooth glowing rock and rising water. It's just Wild standing in a tiny tomb. Again.

He clutches Time's scale tightly, pressing the corners of it deep into the flesh of his palm, as his breathing turns ragged. 

Again, some part of him struggles for him to get this outburst under control. It’s one thing for Twilight to know, but he can’t let it consume him, not in front of Time and not in this situation.

He refuses to cower in front of Time because of this. It’s too stupid, too childish, and right now he can’t be a distraction. His fear is nowhere near as important as the two of them getting out of this dungeon alive.

Wild slowly sucks in a breath, feeling his lungs expand inside of his ribs. The air catches on his panic but Wild grits his teeth and keeps going, ignoring the way fear clips at his heels.

Get this back under control, Link, he orders himself, breathing out and then back in again. He closes his eyes to block out the blue and tilts his head back, continuing to breathe.

He’s just got to calm down. It’s not there, he’s not there, everything will be fine. Breakdown later, hide it now, just like he’d been taught.

He stands there, face aimed at the ceiling with his hands unable to stop shaking even as he grips the scale, and tries not to flinch as he feels the icy cold water just rises higher and higher.

Please hurry, Time.

The prayer escapes him unwittingly but he holds onto it, anchoring everything inside him to it. It’s a prayer that takes an eternity to be answered, almost swallowed by the steadily deepening water.

When Time finally does return, Wild’s still trying – and failing – to ignore both the freezing water that's now gently lapping at his stomach and the fear that’s twisting at his insides.

Even as he hears Time splash up and out of the flooded hallway, Wild doesn’t look at him because he can't tear his gaze away from the ceiling.

It’s the only thing in this tiny space that doesn't glow, meaning that it's the only safe thing for him to fixate on. If he looks down he’s going to see the blue again.

He really doesn’t think he’ll keep his sanity if he sees that, not like this, not with all the water everywhere, not with the visceral knowledge that this is where he’s going to die and there’s no coming back this time that is currently burying itself into his bones.

No Mipha. No Shrine.

Just water.

“I’ve found a route. There are enough air pockets that you’ll be fine swimming alongside me.” Time says.

He’s using such an odd tone of voice, the same one he’d spoken with before he’d left. Time’s being patronising but pretending that he isn’t. Now that Wild recognises it, the tone causes another round of shame to bloom in his stomach.

He’s being too obvious, he needs to get it under control, he just needs to get out of here and everything will be fine.

Time steps closer, eyebrows furrowed and one hand outstretched cautiously. “Wild, are you sure you want to do this?”

Wild swallows hard and nods, trying desperately to shove his panic back into the box it burst out of.

Panicking will do him no good; they still don’t know if the rest of the Chain are here somewhere in this flooding dungeon, and the last thing he needs to do right now is force Time to take care of him above all else.

Looking doubtful but thankfully still not pressing, Time carefully inches closer to the top of the flooded hallway and holds out a hand to Wild. There are no more words, just the quiet demand of his gesture.

We have to go, now, it says.

And that box Wild just stuffed everything back into breaks.

He’s not sure how he did it, when he did it, but he’s thrown himself backwards so hard he can feel the rough stone of the wall cutting through his tunic and into the skin of his back. His hands are already bloody, nails starting to break as he digs into the stone behind him.

A steady stream of babbling words fall from his mouth, words he knows he needs to stop saying and start ignoring, but all he can see is blue and all he can hear is water and it just gets worse and worse and worse.

“No, no, no, no, Time, I can’t. I can’t go back, I don’t want to go back, don’t make me go back in there, Time, I can’t please!” His breath catches on the last word, the sentence almost choking him even as it falls from his lips.

There’s nothing he can do to stop the litany of his weakness from bursting out of him like yet another frantic prayer, but he doesn’t want to die and he can’t go back in there but there’s no way out and he’s trapped just like he was in the—

“Link!” Hands grab him firmly, trying to hold him in place.

This he knows. The sensation of the Sheikah who carried his dying body are as etched into his soul as the heat of a Guardian’s beam is. He knows what they’re going to do, what they’re unwittingly subjecting him too.

But this time, Link can still move and he fights, kicking and scratching, doing anything he can to get away from the fate they want to inflict on him.

The hands try to fight back, not inflicting pain but grappling to gain control over his limbs, and Link snarls desperately like the cornered animal he is. At some point, he even resorts to biting down, but instead of soft fabric and flesh, his teeth sink into sturdy, unwavering leather.

“Wild!” Someone’s voice barks into his ear, commanding and strong and worried and just as panicked as he is… and with a moan, Link lets himself fall limp, hanging loosely in the Sheikah’s hold.

“Please,” He sobs, he begs, “please, I can’t.”

The hold shifts and Link’s ear is pressed to something damp but warm and soothing. The water should make him flinch back, but fingers gently cradle the back of his head as he’s held close, like something that matters, and he nearly breaks all over again.

“Wild,” a soft voice murmurs, layered with echoes, “where are you right now?”

What kind of question is that? The Sheikah should know the answer easily, why are they asking him?

He’s dead, he’s floating untethered, he’s drowning.

The grip intensifies and he hears a racing pulse beat against his ear. It’s life, so close by.

But Link is dying, he is dead, he is submerged, there is no life here, it doesn’t make sense. There’s nothing but the water, always water over him, under him, filling his mouth and nose and he’s not strong enough to get out of it.

He gasps, choking on the water, and starts to cry even though he knows his tears will be lost the moment they fall from his eyes. Yet another thing erased by the water.

“Wild, I need you to listen to me.” The voice interrupts him. “I need you to tell me where you are right now.”

Wild? What an odd thing to say.

He tries to raise his hands to sign shrine, but there’s something blocking his way. He freezes – oh Hylia the lid – but what his hands came into contact with… feels different. It’s not cold and unmoving like the lid, but warm and alive.

Wait. The heartbeat. The warmth. Life.

Eyes burning with tears and his whole body shaking with sobs, Link reaches upwards with both hands and grabs fistfuls of damp fabric as he tries to curl closer to the living, breathing person who stands beside him.

The embrace he’s cradled in tightens in response as soothing words are whispered into the crown of his head.

There still is water around him, he knows it, he can feel it, but there is also life. He can’t be in the Shrine of Resurrection, not if there’s life here. As he cries his panic out, some semblance of clarity returns in its absence.

“Time.” Wild rasps weakly.

Time lets out a relieved sigh, his chest moving against Wild’s ear as the air rushes out of his lungs. “Are you back with me, Wild?”

Embarrassment rising in his face, Wild nods. Fuck, well here comes literally everything he’d been trying to avoid.

“Sorry,” he whispers, praying the word will be lost somewhere between the fabric of Time’s tunic and the gentle splashing of the water.

“Don’t apologise.” Time says, tone nearing the one he uses to give orders. Despite the curtness, he starts rubbing circles in Wild’s back, not bothering to break the embrace. “Not for this.”

Even as warmth spreads through his chest, Wild can’t help but jokingly groan. Oh joy, with one single breakdown in the middle of a life or death situation, he’s managed to get Time to go soft.

He knows they need to go, or he at least needs to attempt to salvage what’s left of his pride, but Time’s arm tightens around him and stops him from moving. They stand there for a moment before Time asks, “What caused it?”

When Wild makes a confused noise – because hello, isn't it obvious? – Time expands. “I’ve seen you swim before. So is it the water or…?”

Ah. That.

Wild’s grateful he doesn’t have to look Time in the eye for this conversation. “I’m okay when I can choose to get in. Water’s not… the whole problem.”

“The Shrine?” Time asks delicately.

“It… was a lot of time to be underwater.”

That may have been the wrong thing to say, because Time just tries to pull him even closer.

“I’m sorry, Wild.” He says into Wild’s hair. “I am beyond grateful to have met you and everyone else, but… you deserve better than this. You deserve a better life than to have been chosen by the Sword.”

Wait, what?

“No. No, Time, you’re wrong.”

Now Wild does struggle to escape, forcing his fingers to release their death grip on Time’s tunic. He slides backwards and meets Time’s gaze head on, his chin held high.

“I will never regret being alive and I could never wish this on anyone else. This is my life, Time. There are many things I regret too, but I’m who I am because of it.”

Time stares at him as though he’s judging the sincerity of Wild’s words, and finally nods with a sad smile on his face. “I’m proud of you. We all are. Never forget that.”

Wild hates it when he does that, becomes so blatantly open and kind. He hates the warmth that always blossoms inside him in reaction just as much.

“Hnnnn, stop!” He slams his face into his hands, desperately attempting to hide the flush of red that has spread across his cheeks and up his ears, and hears Time burst out into laughter.

One hand pats his shoulder, pretending to be sympathetic but Wild knows he’s still being teased.

“Stoooooooooop!” He whines out between his hands. Not looking up, Wild leans his weight forward blindly, bumping into Time's side to push him away, and Time goes, the water sloshing around him as he moves.

“Okay, okay,” Time chuckles and, when Wild peaks at him, he’s got both hands raised in the air to show a truce. “You make it too easy sometimes.”

“Ugh, I wasn’t expecting that level of heartfelt sincerity here!” Wild protest, throwing his hands wide, and instantly regrets his words when the light-hearted air vanishes as reality rushes back.

Thankfully, Time doesn’t pause on the change. He straightens up, his teasing, cheerful expression gone in an instant, but his eye is still sombre. “No, you’re right. I’m sorry to ask this of you, especially so soon, but we can’t stay here, Wild. Do you think you can do this?”

Wild stares at him and tries not to sink into himself when he softly admits, “I… I don’t know. I really don’t know if I can.”

Shame burns through him but he can’t hide this. Because that is the unfortunate truth: he really doesn’t know if he can bring himself to follow Time into the water, not when the Shrine is still so close behind him.

Time grab one of his shoulders and tilts his chin up so their eyes meet again. “I will not let you drown, Wild. I swear it. No matter what happens, I promise you this. Please trust in me.”

It would be easier to ask Wild to do literally anything but trust. He’s never been good at doing that. Letting people in had once upon a time resulted in nothing but scorn and mockery.

He doesn’t truly remember it but somehow at the same time the faces of the knights who tried to tear him down have never really left his mind.

After waking up, there was no room to let people in, not in his Hyrule where survival is above all else. Plenty of people care about him back home and plenty of them are happy to see him, but no one wants a life story or to get close.

Only the bold travel for a reason; there’s no point getting chummy when you don’t know if your new friend will survive to the next stable.

But surrounded by the other heroes, Wild’s found his closely guarded trust has been challenged more and more often.

He’d let Twilight in, and he’d worked hard to ready himself for when he had to do so for the rest of the group, so maybe he can.

…And it’s not like he has much choice right now, so Wild decides to take the plunge.

“I… I do trust you, Time.”

Time’s lips quirk upwards into a smile, wide and sincere, and he squeezes Wild’s shoulder tightly as though he can etch his promise into Wild’s flesh and bone. Then his face smooths over into his well-worn calm leader mask, and he steps towards the way down into the flooded hallway.

Wild steels himself. The time for jokes and levity is over.

“I went back to the doorway that flooded this area and found the dungeon continues onwards. The hallway we’re in leads to empty rooms, so we’re going to end up in the unknown. I need you to tap my arm twice here if you need air, all right?” Time demonstrates, tapping the side of his upper arm.

Wild takes a breath. “Yeah, yeah, okay. Uh, are there any enemies?”

“Nothing I don’t know how to handle.” Time looks at him solemnly. “Are you ready?”

Well, when he asks like that… Wild tugs nervously at the hem of his tunic, then blinks as realisation strikes him.

“Wait a sec, I’m an idiot.” he says, shoving the scale into Time’s hands and yanking his champion tunic up over his head. He doesn’t have time to don all of his Zora armour but he’s used to quickly shimmying into the chest piece.

Water ripples just below his ribs as he tugs the chest piece into place and stows his tunic into the Slate, along with his weapons and quiver. No use losing arrows while swimming, though he does mourn the loss of its familiar comforting weight.

He holds onto the edges of the Slate tightly and takes a deep breath. Okay, they have to go now, so he can't keep stalling even though he really wants to.

Wild turns to meets Time’s gaze.

“Ready?” Time asks again, carefully lifting the woven necklace attached to the scale over Wild’s head so it sits around his neck.

“Ha, no.” Wild jokes weakly but reaches out with a shaking hand to grip Time’s arm, letting Time ease him into the water.

“Deep breath.” is all Time says – Wild automatically doing as ordered – before he tugs Wild underwater and into the hallway.

The second the water closes around him, panic grabs for Wild’s heart and he freezes, clawing at Time’s arm. Thankfully, Time waits patiently, his free hand closing around Wild’s own in a show of support.

Finally Wild nods to him, gesturing to go and, when Time raises an eyebrow in question, signs, ‘We have to.’

With a nod, Time pulls him along and Wild kicks his feet to stay close, reaching up to grasp nervously at the scale around his neck.

The scale gives off a strange sensation, easing the pressure on his lungs and letting them draw out his breath for longer than normal.

Time seems to have an innate knowledge of how long the scale’s magic lasts because their first air pocket appears just as some of the pressure returns.

They surface, instinctively gasping for air, and Wild has to catch himself so his enthusiastic breach from the water doesn’t end up with him bashing his head against a stalactite.

He takes a second to pant, closing his eyes and trying to regain his bearings as Time treads water beside him.

“Are you okay?” Time eventually asks. He speaks softly but the air pocket is tiny and only just fits the two of them, so the tight space amplifies every word he says.

“Still no.” Wild laughs. It sounds manic even to his ears, so he chokes it back before it reaches full-blown hysteria.

Hylia above, they’ve barely even left the hallway, he can’t break apart now.

He reaches out to Time, who nods and leads the way forward. Despite the panic gnawing at his insides, they advance relatively easily as Time guides him through the doorway they’d opened and into the rest of the dungeon.

Wild hates that this place is beautiful. As they progress, the glow fades as parts of the rock have been replaced by intricate tilework of various colours and patterns. Many of the rooms they swim through have high vaulted ceilings that look painstakingly hand-carved.

Odd enemies float around, ones that Wild has never seen before: strange-looking see-through clumps that buzz with electricity and large clam-like things that chase after them at too slow a pace.

However, just like he said, Time seems to recognise all of them. He doesn’t bother to pause so he can deal with any of them, using his hookshot to knock the clams off balance and diving around the floating clumps with ease.

It stings a little, having to be ferried from room to room without being able to do anything to help.

To make things worse, every time they surface to get a breath of air Wild knows Time’s watching him to see if he’ll crack. It’s not like he can blame Time for that; the earlier breakdown had definitely thrown him off so Time’s concern shouldn’t be frustrating him.

But no matter how hard he tries to ignore it, Wild can’t deny that Time’s concern is frustrating him, even though he knows it shouldn't be. 

Sure, panic is intertwining itself with his guts and embedding itself into his bones, but he’s still here, he’s underwater and he’s somehow not having another breakdown.

This will not beat him. He will not be any more of a liability than he already is. He doesn’t know how many more worried looks and reminders of his shame he can take. He just wants to get through this so he can put it behind him and pretend it never happened in the first place.

Not exactly an easy thing to achieve because Time is nothing if not tenacious and Wild knows he’s deluding himself if he thinks he can escape dealing with it all.

But it’s a nice fantasy to hold onto as they go back underwater and enter a large room with high maze-like walls. Unlike the other rooms, here the glow of the rock is barely visible and the water is dark and murky, making it almost impossible to see what’s around them.

Time brings them up into a tiny air pocket. “I haven’t scouted this room yet. Do you want to wa—”

“No!” Wild cuts him off immediately. He can’t think of anything worse than treading water here just waiting for Time to return, not again. “I—I’ll be okay, I swear.”

“I don’t know if there’s anywhere else to breathe.” Time counters, voice bordering on curt. “And we don’t know the way through.”

In his mind, Wild hysterically pleads please don’t leave me here, but bites down the words before they can leave his mouth. Instead, he tells Time, “I know it’s a big risk, but it’s so dark. I…”

He cuts himself off before he can voice any of the worries bouncing around his head. What if Time can’t find him again? What if there’s something in the water and Time gets hurt? What if, what if.

“Okay.” Time says, pulling Wild from his spiralling thoughts. When Wild peers at him, he just nods, the previous terseness of his expression softened with understanding.

Fuck, of course Time still worked it out.

Wild takes his arm meekly and follows him back underwater, glad the murky darkness will at least hide his burning face.

Despite Time’s concerns, the maze doesn’t seem as bad as he thought it was. The few dead-ends they find are just shallow alcoves, easy to notice and avoid, and they find the small doorway out quickly.

They’ve got to be close to the exit of the dungeon now, right? Wild really hopes so. If this was a Divine Beast, they would’ve swam its length at least twice now.

Something moving in the murk catches his attention and he pauses, pulling Time to a halt so he can squint into the water.

‘What is it?’ Time asks, peering past him.

Wild waits a moment more but the movement has gone and the darkness has stilled, so he ducks his head, embarrassed by his jumpiness. ‘Nothing. I thought I saw something, but it’s—’

The water surges around them and Wild barely manages to hold onto his lungful of air as something slams into them at full speed, sending them tumbling through the water. Wild feels his arm rip free from Time's grasp but he’s still too busy pinwheeling uncontrollably to try to reach for him.

He catches himself as his side slams into one of the walls and winces as a jagged piece of rock digs into his shoulder, though it doesn’t break through Mipha’s armour or his skin.

Great, he grumbles mentally as he grabs onto the wall for support, now he’ll have fantastic bruising on both sides. He twists around to see if Time’s okay only to freeze as a strange skeletal creature glides in front of him almost lazily.

Wild risks glancing around but there’s no sign of Time anywhere in the murky, dimly lit water.

Okay. This is fine. 

He fixes his gaze back on the skeleton as it loops back around to pass by him again, its tail effortlessly pushing it through the water. One of its large glowing orange eyes is just as focused on him as his are on it.

Something predatory gleams in the depths of that thing’s eye and Wild shies back into the rocky wall, cursing his luck.

He rests a hand on the Sheikah Slate, even though he knows it won’t be helpful in this situation. The runes are notoriously unreliable when used underwater. Magnesis could work, but there’s no metal nearby.

He switches tracks in his head, looking at the skeleton again. He has no idea what this thing is called, how it behaves, and he doesn’t have any way to kill it.

Swords and spears would be too slow as the broadside of the blade will only drag through the water, and there’s no way he can fire off an arrow underwater either.

But he can’t stay here. His lungs are already straining for air. The scale’s magic is starting to reach its limits.

Where is Time?!

With a sharp pulse of its tail, the skeleton abruptly changes directions and charges for him. It cuts through the water towards him at speeds Wild knows he has no hope of matching if he wants to escape.

He reaches behind him, fingers patting the wall for the jagged edge that had caught his shoulder, and then tucks his legs up under him, feet flat against the wall.

Staring down the rapidly approaching skeleton, Wild has to remind himself to be patient. This is just like any other enemy; there will always be an opening, he just has to be smart enough and fast enough to take it.

The skeleton closes in, opening its jaw wide to reveal rows and rows of sharp teeth, and Wild kicks off from the wall hard, shooting along the skeleton’s underbelly. He can hear the muffled thud as the skeleton ploughs headfirst into the wall, but he doesn’t look back.

There’s almost no air in his lungs but he kicks upwards, trying to use what speed and force he has left to race for the surface.

The top of the water gets tantalisingly close before something again slams into his side and he’s thrown backwards into the depths once again.

His body begs him for air and instinctively his mouth opens to inhale greedily, but Wild finds himself choking at the influx of water against his tongue. He reflexively gasps again, drawing more and more water in, only to catch himself.

Wild slams his jaw shut in a mad attempt to stop breathing so quickly that the feeling reverberates around his skull. He has to take the chance, so he kicks upwards, desperately tries to push through the water to swim for the surface.

No, please Hylia he was so close, how did it get so far away?

At the edge of his wavering vision he can see another skeleton approaching – or maybe it’s the same one, he can’t tell. The monster takes its time, idly nearing him and watching him flail like a bear would watch a baby deer.

If he could, Wild would whimper, utterly terrified as his lungs burn and pain rips through his chest. His eyes sting with tears that are swept away by the water the second they fall from his eyes, an oh-so-familiar loss.

The skeleton turns towards him, tail swinging out to propel itself into another charge and—

The gleaming points of a hookshot burst through the skeleton’s head, tearing its skull clean in two. Time swims through the disintegrating pieces of the skeleton towards Wild, both of his eyes open and barely holding back panic.

He hooks an arm around Wild's waist, pulling him close and kicks up off the sandy floor, but Wild’s barely following anything that’s happening.

He claws desperately at Time’s arm, kicking and thrashing as his lungs continue to fill with water, but Time’s grip only gets tighter, his golden gauntlets bright against the water’s gloom.

Wild thinks he loses seconds, or even minutes. He's not sure. One moment they’re underwater and he’s dying, and then the next moment a hand smacks hard against his back and he’s coughing and vomiting up water, gasping for air.

“Easy,” Time tries to soothe, though the panic in his voice is just as audible as Wild’s panic is visible, “take it easy, Wild, just breathe.”

Oh, because breathing is easy?!

Wild would laugh if he wasn’t too busy hacking up half the dungeon from his lungs. He sobs as he coughs up more water, still clinging desperately to Time’s arm, then sobs as he tries to replace all the water with heavenly, beautiful, desperately needed air.

“Fuck!” He manages to rasp out eventually, slumping back into Time’s hold. His limbs feel heavy and a headache pounds against the back of his eyes. “Those things suck.”

“Desbrekos.” Time tells him flatly, as though that means anything to Wild. He leans his head against the side of Wild’s, the closest they can get to a hug right now. “I’m sorry, Wild. I didn’t know they were here. They shouldn’t be here.”

Wild weakly pats his hand. “’S'okay. The Shadow’s a dick.”

Time barks out a harsh laugh, the sound fraying around the edges, so Wild leans against him a bit more. “’M okay, Time. Promise.”

“There is no need to lie to me right now.” Time tells him, trying to angle himself better only to let out a hiss of pain, air whistling out through his teeth. They dip into the water slightly and Wild feels the way the surface rises up around his neck.

Behind him, Time tries and fails to muffle a grunt as he shifts his grip on Wild and kicks harder to bring them back up.

A new type of panic seizes at Wild’s heart and he twists, craning his neck to look over his shoulder. “Time—”

“I’m fine.” Time says quickly. Too quickly.

Wild wriggles some more, trying to slip out of Time’s hold but Time doesn’t let go. Frustration boiling beneath his skin, Wild doesn’t let up either. “You’re hurt!”

“And you’ve only just started breathing again!” Time actually snaps back, anger heavy in his voice.

Wild freezes, going still. He stares straight ahead at the rocky wall inches from his face, taking a second to bite back the stinging in his eyes.

The anger in Time’s voice says it all: no matter how hard he’s tried to ignore it, he really has been a dead-weight. And now he’s gotten Time injured, all because of this stupid, stupid fear.

“Wild.” Time starts again, quieter, but Wild just shakes his head.

“No. It’s fine.” He tries to pull away again and silently thanks Hylia when Time lets him go. After taking a second to gather himself, he turns but can barely bring himself to look at Time, not ready to see whatever expression is on his face. “I… I really am okay.”

“You just—” Time cuts himself off with a sharp inhale of breath and Wild cringes, glancing upwards to see Time shaking his head. “We both need to rest. You especially.”

Actually, you know what? Screw being meek.

Wild glares at Time, snarling out, “No, don’t you dare do that, Time. Don’t hide shit from me just because you think I can’t handle it!”

Time scowls back but when he speaks, he keeps his voice calm and steady. “That’s not what this is. I don’t know how much water is still in your lungs. I don’t want to push you.”

Wild sighs as all the fight drains out of him. “We can’t tread water forever. We can’t rest here, so we should keep going.”

“You really want to go back under so soon?” Time raises an eyebrow at him with none of the niceties the expression had previously held.

They both know the answer but Wild refuses to give him the satisfaction of admitting it.

He doesn’t care that his muscles are burning or that his head is aching or that his throat feels like it’s on fire. He need to move, to do something, do anything so he can’t see that worried look on Time’s face anymore.

“I do.” Wild says firmly.

Time sighs, world-weary and heavy, the way he always sounds when he’s angry with Wild but doesn’t want to show it. The sigh hurts more than his waterlogged lungs do, but Wild refuses to back down.

His stupid fear has already gotten Time hurt once. If Time won’t prioritise himself, then Wild will make him.

“Okay, fine.” Time says eventually, holding a hand out to Wild. “Deep breath then.”

The water below, while still murky and dark, has stilled, so Time moves quick, leading the way across the room towards yet another door.

The world beyond is very different from the cavern walls they’d expected. Instead of smooth, faintly-glowing rock, they’re faced with an inorganic hallway made of tile and stone but no walls.

Here the stone has been chipped away until all that’s left behind is an intricate detail almost like netting. When Wild peers out through the holes in the walls, he can see nothing but darkness with no sign of how far into the dungeon they are.

He wants to look some more, curiosity burning in his veins, but Time grabs his arm and tugs him forward through the door at the end of the hallway.

The room they swim into is just as intricately detailed as the hallway behind them, but much wider. Strangely enough, a staircase seems to be the feature of this room, submerged and connecting two floors together.

The room stretches far down below them, the details of the bottom lost to the gloomy darkness, while the top is softly lit, almost welcoming them upwards.

With a single glance between them, they both swim up, breaking the surface right near the top of the room. The ceiling is decorated with the remnants of the glowing rock, painting the surface of the water in eerie colours.

“Over there,” Time calls as he pushes forward, swimming cleanly through the water towards an open area that looks to be the top floor.

Wild follows after him, still taken by the strange designs on the walls, and yelps when Time practically heaves him out of the water.

“Hey!” He protests as he’s dropped unceremoniously onto the cool stone floor.

Time flops down beside him and sprawls out on his back, panting. “We need to rest.”

Unlike before, he’s more pointed in his tone, bordering on accusatory, and Wild wilts. Now is definitely not the time to argue.

He glances down at Time, narrowing in on a small row of dark patches just below his ribs. It’s obvious to him that Time is really the one who needs the rest, considering he’s lugged Wild across what has to be almost an entire dungeon.

Blessed Hylia, and what’s Wild done to thank him? He’s done nothing but act like a brat.

He pulls his knees up to his chest, staring out across the still water. “Hey, Time?”

Time hums gruffly to signal he’s listening, and Wild traces his fingers over the gauntlets of his armour, following the etched groove of Mipha’s handiwork.

He thinks about all the possible things he could say, starting and discarding sentences as the seconds start to drag out. 

Finally, Wild just says, “Thank you.”

It’s nowhere near enough to make up for anything. It’s barely even an apology. But he still feels Time reach up to rest a hand against his back, firm and unwavering.

They sit there in silence for a long minute, not speaking but just listening to the gentle sounds of the water moving back and forth. And then something new shifts.

Wild stiffens, tilting his head slightly as he listens for the sound. Something moves gently against the stone, barely audible above the water but still there.

Wild reaches back slowly to tap Time’s wrist and feels him roll himself upright so they're sitting shoulder to shoulder.

‘Left.’ Time signs as he carefully slides a hand into his pouch.

The sound gets closer and Wild lets his hand fall to the Slate, ready to pull a weapon out in an instant. He meets Time’s gaze, sees Time ready a hand.

There's a scuff right behind them, and Time whirls from signing ‘Begin!’ straight to launching himself to his feet, the Biggoron sword already in his grasp.

He heaves the claymore upwards, the blade carving a deep gash into a bokoblin’s chest and it falls back with a screech as red blood pours down its sides.

Wild throws himself forward, scrambling across the stone floor on his knees so he can stab a sword into its throat. With a weak gurgle, the bokoblin goes still and its corpse begins to dissolve around his blade.

A battle cry makes him jerk his head up just as Time catches a club against the flat of the Biggoron sword, stopping the blow from connecting with the back of Wild’s skull. Wild twists on his heel, slashing outwards in a deadly arc and his blade leaves a deep gash into the attacking bokoblin’s legs.

As he shoots to his feet and summons a shield, he catches sight of Time bashing the bokoblin’s skull in with the pommel of his sword before turning to engage a large heavy-set moblin carrying a shield and spear.

One of Wild’s lizals darts forward, trying to get at Time’s unarmoured side and Wild darts in. The lizal’s tongue bangs into his shield and it throws itself backwards to watch them with beady eyes.

“Move.” Time orders and Wild slides backwards as the moblin jabs its spear.

Time dodges sideways into the space Wild had been in and swings his sword up before heaving it down onto the shaft of the spear.

The wood shatters under the weight of the blow, snapping the spear in two, and Wild sprints forward to take advantage of the opening. He slides around the moblin’s gigantic shield to slash deep wounds into its stomach, then down to cut the tendons in the back of its leg.

The moblin staggers with a grunt, falling forward, and Wild takes off towards the lizal. Behind him, he hears the sound of Time’s sword burying itself into the moblin, hopefully finishing it off.

The lizal, eyeing up its chances, meets Wild halfway, jabbing experimentally for his stomach. Wild hops to the side, feeling the world snap to a honey-slow crawl as his magic ensnares the flow of time.

He races forward, slashing at the lizal’s now exposed stomach again and again and the moment time escapes his magic’s hold, it crumples silently to the ground.

“Normal blood.” Time says from behind Wild, sounding just as puzzled by the red blood as Wild feels.

“Maybe it thought the… uh what did you call those stal things again?” Wild turns around, snapping his fingers as he tries to remember the weird name Time had mentioned, and his eyes go wide. “TIME!”

His sword clatters against the ground as he throws himself forward, clearing the gap between them as quickly as possible.

Time startles, lifting the Biggoron sword up as Wild darts between him and the moblin that hurtles out of the shadows towards Time’s unprotected back with its spear raised.

Its first jab slams straight into the front of Wild’s shield, making him stagger backwards and bounce off of Time's shoulder. The metal of his shield creaks ominously, but Wild doesn’t get the chance to reach for something sturdier. He doesn’t even get to see the moblin’s next move.

All he feels is the shaft of the spear slam into his side before the force of the blow sends him flying. He waits for stone to strike skin but instead he hits the water hard and sinks in a flurry of bubbles.

Down, down, down Wild sinks, as though the water has taken hold of his ankles and is determined to pull him to the bottom of the room to drown him.

He thrashes, twisting around and trying to peer through the bubbles, trying to find the surface, trying to find anything.

His shield feels like an anchor, helping the water pull him down, and he fights to unstrap it from his arm. Eventually his arm slides free and he doesn’t stop to watch the shield fall into the gloom below. 

His lungs begin to burn for the second time in barely twenty minutes and Wild desperately wishes he could cry as he searches for the surface.

Where is it?!

Someone’s voice, long ago, whispers in his ears. A phantom’s arms are tight around him, shielding him from the panic he once felt.

“Remember, Link, if you’re ever lost underwater, follow the directions of the bubbles.” Mipha smiles kindly at him as she tows him back to the water’s edge. “Works like a charm every time, I guarantee it."

The scene is there and gone before he even realises what had happened, but Mipha's words ring loudly in his ears.

Even now Mipha is still looking out for him.

Wild glances around again, managing to find where the plume of bubbles have travelled and kicks upwards. Lungs screaming, he breaks the surface and gasps in a giant breath of glorious air.

“WILD!” Time yells and Wild twists around and around, looking at the unfamiliar room as he tries to work out where he was thrown from. 

“I’m okay!” He yells back, finally managing to locate Time, who's pulling the Biggoron sword loose from the moblin’s dissolving throat.

Time meets his gaze. A look of sheer relief passes over his face and his shoulders sag. “Giving me a heart attack, cub.”

The walls echo his short burst of laughter, and Wild can’t help but smile. Whispering a quiet thank you to Mipha, he starts forward. “Are you okay, Time?”

That gets him a familiar look, one that’s all exasperated and dry. “Are you really aski—”

Everything around Wild explodes.

He’s thrown upwards, his body spinning uncontrollably as the water around him bursts.

Something gigantic and dark launches up through the geyser of water and Wild screams when what feels like thousands of tiny knives bury themselves into his abdomen with more strength than a Hinox uses to grab its prey.

He barely has enough time to see the water rising back up to meet him and inhale a weak breath of air before they crash into the surface and whatever’s holding him charges down, down, down in another flurry of bubbles, bringing Wild along for the ride.

His hands slip against warm fresh and sharp bone that’s piercing into his skin, too deeply for him to escape. He tries twisting once in vain hope that maybe he's wrong, and nearly loses his lungful of precious air when a scream tries to tear loose from his throat.

Down, down, down he's pulled, his ears popping from the speed of the dive.

Wild holds onto Time’s golden scale, gripping it tightly in one hand, and desperately prays to whoever may be listening that the tiny scale will be enough to get him through this alive. 

Chapter Text

“WILD!”

The spray of water hasn’t even settled before Time is moving. As he sprints for the edge of the stone landing, he shoves the Biggoron sword deep into his pouch and slides a light blue mask onto his face.

Even though he’s had these masks for years and has gotten to intimately know their magic and abilities, the first stab of white-hot pain still makes him stagger and nearly drop to his knees.

His breathing turns harsh but Time does his best to ignore the feeling of his bones snapping and his organs shifting and forces his feet to move. He reaches the edge of the landing and dives into the deep as blade-like fins push their way out from the sides of his arms and webbing grows between his fingers.

The freezing surface rises up to meet him, the cold blocking out the last dredges of the pain caused by the transformation, and Time speeds downwards, carving through the water with ease.

A swirling trail of bubbles and blood rises up from the gigantic monster’s shadowy body. He grits his teeth, trying to block out the plumes of blood from his sight and kicks harder to push his body further and further into the depths.

The monster is fast, much faster than Time expected it to be, but he will not let it out of his sight.

As he nears it, the monster begins to let out a long, low growl, the water around it almost vibrating with the sound. Time bares his own newly pointed teeth at it and hurls one of his blade-like fins towards its side.

The sharp edge tears into the flesh along the monster’s slithering body, causing it to jerk sideways and almost collide with the wall. Time catches himself against the wall too as the monster shakes itself free, plumes of black blood seeping out of the gash in its side. 

Time snarls, furious at himself for not seeing this sooner. The Desbrekos and the normal-blooded monsters were just a distraction.

This beast, whatever its name may be, is the main event and he’s the idiot who ignored all the signs.

He kicks off of the wall behind him and shoots for the monster. It twists, trying to slide out of his way, but Time grabs on to the sharpened fin still stuck in its side and holds fast as it whips this way and that.

With his free hand, he reaches into his pouch and grabs his longshot. Now is not the time to show off. He needs to do this as quickly and efficiently as possible.

The monster dives again, its tail rippling through the water as it goes down deeper and deeper, but Time doesn’t let the dimming light dissuade him. He breathes in, aims carefully and fires!

The claws of his longshot streak through the water, burying themselves into one of the large spines near what he thinks is the monster’s shoulder. It thrashes again, a strangely muffled cry echoing through the water, but Time holds fast and reels himself forward.

Their fight is nearing the bottom of the main room now. Large parts of the flooring have fallen away, revealing a gaping abyss below the tile and rock. There is almost no light in the room beneath them and the monster powers towards one of the pitch-dark holes.

Time grits his teeth and fires his longshot again, snagging a spine right by the top of the monster’s head. As his boots scramble for purchase against its slimy skin, a large eyeball positioned atop the crown of the monster’s skull rolls around to fixate on him.

Despite the inhuman nature of the beast he stands on, there’s no denying the hate and, more importantly, the glimmers of intelligence that shine in the monster’s eye.

Casting it a hateful look of his own, Time leans forward the best he can without losing his footing and peers into the darkness ahead.

There!

Just like he’d expected, he can see a glimpse of blonde hair from the monster’s jaw. As the monster bucks again in an attempt to throw him off, Wild comes into view, hanging limply in the monster’s mouth. Rows and rows of sharp teeth are skewered into his body yet he never stirs, regardless of the sharp and erratic movements its making.

His heart climbs into his throat. Time rips one of his fins free, twirls it in his hand, and stabs straight down into the eyeball beside him.

The monster screams, flailing its giant head back and forth as wisps of black blood leaks out around the edge of the fin. Time twists the fin and the monster thrashes in response. Its mouth opens wide, revealing a yawning maw filled with razor-sharp teeth, and Wild tumbles through the water like a ragdoll.

Time doesn’t waste a second.

He rips his fin out of the monster’s eye and leaps off of its head, pushing himself forward so he can catch Wild. What he sees is horrifying.

The sides of Wild’s abdomen have been ripped and torn into, leaving behind a mess of broken flesh and tattered Zora scales that just barely cover the wounds. Blood clogs the water around them, staining it red.

His long hair drifts and sways, tugged back and forth by the mad currents, but the floating strands do nothing to hide his open, unfocused eyes that stare unseeingly at Time’s face.

Time cradles Wild close, pressing one hand against the back of his neck to keep him secured, and kicks his legs hard, pushing through the water as fast as he can. Wild sags against him, heavy and awkward, but Time refuses to believe that it’s too late.

He can’t be carrying a corpse. Not when he promise Wild he’d do everything in his power to save him from the one fate that terrifies him so much.

As he swims, one of his fingers finds the pulse point by Wild’s jaw, and Time waits, begging any of the Goddesses he hasn’t believed in for years to grant him this one miracle.

And for the first time in just as many years They grant his wish. Faintly beneath his finger, a heart sluggishly beats against Wild’s skin.

If he could cry in this form, Time would.

Something above him blots out the faint light. The monster charges down towards them, its whole body streamlined as it pushes itself through the water. Its jaws open wide, those jagged teeth barely visible amidst the gloom.

Time grabs awkwardly for one of his fins and hurls it upwards. The sharp edge clips the side of the monster’s jaw and it reels to the side in surprise.

As the blade slams back into the palm of his hand, Time pulls on the well of magic inside him. The water around them crackles as electricity arcs off of his fins and he charges for the monster.

It recoils and roars as volts of electricity rip into its sides and leave behind long jagged burns. The water swells as it curls in on itself and heaves its huge tailfin at him, and Time dives.

The force of its tail splitting the water collides with Time’s back but he pushes through it, trying to keep up his speed as he charges upwards.

Again the monster swings its tail and this time the displaced water slams into his side, throwing him into the deep. Time curls around Wild desperately and winces as his back crashes into the rocky wall, the rough surface scraping at the scales along his spine.

He holds Wild close and has to kick off the wall into a steep dive as the monster’s crazed charge sends it head-first into the same spot he’d just hit. Large chunks of rock fall loose, buffeting the monster’s body, and Time darts through the debris.

It’s obvious now that he won’t be able to shake this thing long enough to escape. His eye scans the rocky walls desperately, catching on every shadow and alcove.

Goddesses, how little time does Wild have left?

He feels the water shift behind him and throws himself sideways as the monster barrels past. Its wake pushes him back even further and the light above them shifts as he does.

It’s his second miracle in barely a minute.

There, illuminated by the shifting light, is a small dark opening in the wall.

Time races for it as quickly as he can. He glances over his free shoulder as another thud resonates throughout the deep cavern and sees the monster shaking itself loose of more rocks and debris once again.

There's so little time, he has to hurry before it recovers and spots them.

He catches the edge of the cave with one hand and pulls his precious cargo in, only to come nose-to-nose with another wall. For a second, he thinks he chose wrong, but then he glances up and sees the surface of the water gently glowing green and blue above him.

Time bursts out of the water onto a tiny rocky ledge, heaving Wild up beside him and laying him down. He leans away for a minute, curling his fingertips along the bone of his jaw and pulling with all his might.

The mask holds but only for a second and then Time collapses onto his hands and knees beside Wild, gasping for air as his body wracks with pain. Once again his organs shift and his bones snap as the magic of the mask seeps out of his body and returns him to being a hylian.

Bile floods the back of his mouth and Time heaves, doubling over. Nothing comes up – he hasn't eaten in hours – but the pain still keeps him there for a moment longer. Numbness creeps into his fingers and the mask slides loose, clattering to the floor.

He clenches his fists, squeezing his eyes shut. He doesn't have time for this. He inhales through his nose, forcing his lungs to expand, and then breathes out.

The moment his stomach gets under control, he staggers to his feet. Everything feels wrong, but he doesn't care. This cannot wait.

It doesn’t matter that his feet keep catching on the floor or that his arms feel heavy and wrong. He pushes through it all, scooping up a mouthful of water to rid his mouth of the vile taste on his tongue before he throws himself down onto his knees at Wild’s side.

He presses his ear to Wild’s chest and waits. That single moment stretches out for an eternity and Time hears nothing but his own panting. He stares up at Wild’s head, only able to make out the profile of his chin and lax mouth.

The golden scale Time had given him, the same one he’d promised Wild would be enough to keep him safe, hangs awkwardly off his shoulder, the tip of one end resting atop a pile of Wild’s waterlogged hair. In the eerie, ethereal lowlight of the cave, it almost seems to glow.

Beneath his ear, Time hears a soft lub-dub.

Now he does cry, uncaring of the tears that streak down his face. The heartbeat is barely there, Wild’s barely holding on, but he’s not gone. Not yet. Not if Time has anything to say about it.

He moves upwards, pinches Wild’s nose closed, and breathes air into his lungs. Out of the corner of his eyes, Wild’s chest rises and falls. It’s not natural; it’s uncanny and mechanical and wrong, but there is nothing else that can be done but this.

He tries not to look at Wild’s beloved Zora armour laying in tatters or the blood trickling down his sides to puddle on the cavern floor. He ignores the cuts barely visible on Wild’s palms – ones that no doubt match the wounds on his sides.

He just watches Wild’s chest go up and down and begs the Goddesses please for a third miracle.

His own lungs start to ache and each breath he draws in is shorter than the last. But Time doesn’t stop.

Please, Nayru. Please, Din. Please, Farore. Please. Don’t take him from us.

Water gushes against his face as Wild’s body jerks underneath him. Time freezes, staring down at Wild as he coughs again. Then his mind catches up, and he rolls Wild over.

“Hey,” Time rasps, his voice hoarse and strained, “easy, Wild. Easy, cub.”

He alternates between rubbing circles in Wild’s back and sharply patting between his shoulder blades as Wild coughs and hacks and vomits up all the water that had ended up inside him.

Wild's feet kick weakly with each shuddering cough as his fingers dig into the rocks around him. There's no coordination in his movements, but he's breathing.

Keeping one hand braced against Wild’s back, Time starts digging through his pouch.

It's a fruitless search and he doesn’t know why he even bothered to try. He doesn’t even have a single fairy. 

The Sheikah Slate, hanging pristine and undamaged at Wild’s hip, taunts him. It’s still not something he trusts or relies on, but this isn’t the situation to be picky so he reaches out and unhooks it.

It’s not as heavy as he’d thought. The screen lights up under his fingertips, illuminating the tiny cave with a soft Sheikah-blue light. Rows upon rows of plants and cuts of meat and insects and monster parts lay before him, all neatly organised, but this is not what he’s looking for.

Wild hacks out a painful cough again and Time quickly moves his attention to striking his back. The pool of water and spittle he’s coughed up is huge, a sure sign that damage has been done this time.

All the more reason to continue his search. Once he’s sure Wild’s going to keep breathing in between his coughs, Time looks back at the Slate.

It doesn’t take long to work out how to switch between the screens. A pitiful selection of meals is presented to him. Last night’s stew, a tiny array of mushroom skewers, and one measly green potion – stamina elixirs, as Wild calls them.

No red potions and no fairies.

Typical.

You would think a group of heroes called across time would be better prepared, but unfortunately you’d be wrong. If anything, now it’s harder to keep stocked up than it was when they were each by themselves.

Wild hiccups in a harsh breath, chokes on it, and rolls over slightly so he can prop himself up on one elbow and spit out a mouthful of blood.

His arm wobbles, all its strength leaving him as quickly as it appeared, and Time has to drop the Slate in favour of catching Wild before he slumps into the tiny puddle of blood.

The blood is worrying, and Time mutters curses under his breath as he carefully rolls Wild over to assess the danger. Wild’s head lolls into the crook of his elbow and he lies there weakly, still panting and coughing.

Time presses a hand to Wild’s forehead, frowning. The skin beneath his palm is too cold, though he can’t say he’s all that surprised. The water is freezing and this is the second time today he’s had to force it out of Wild’s lungs.

The potential for internal bleeding hasn’t vanished, not with the wounds that mar Wild’s sides, but in Time’s experience, internal bleeding presents itself in clammy and sweaty skin, not the icy-cold skin that rests against his hand.

Wild stirs slightly, head rolling against Time’s palm as his eyelids flutter, and Time shifts a bit so he can cradle Wild’s cheek.

“Wild, can you hear me?”

Tracks of water slide down the sides of Wild’s face as he moves his head back and forth. No, not water but tears.

“Hey, Wild. Look at me!” Time lets Wild’s head rest in his lap and cups his face between both hands, using his thumbs to wipe away the tears that run down his cheeks.

Wild’s lips move soundlessly. In the Sheikah-blue light cast by the Slate, his eyes are hazy and distant. One of his hands starts to lift off of the cold rocky floor but his strength leaves him almost instantly and it flops back down. His fingers twitch weakly.

Time rubs a thumb over his cheekbone, frantically trying to think of something to do to wake him from wherever… Of course.

He shifts closer, tapping a rhythm against Wild’s cheek. “Cub, Wild. Hey, where are you right now?”

The tears keep coming as Wild mouths words endlessly. Time’s words go unanswered. There’s only one trick Time has left, though he doubts he has any miracles left to ask for.

“Wild, please.” He tries not to beg, though he knows it definitely leaves his mouth that way. “I need you to tell me where you are.”

“—rts…” Wild croaks out, barely above a whisper.

When Time leans closer, straining his ears, the truth begins to unfold before him.

“It still hurts, it still hurts, why does it still hurt?” Wild hiccups again, seconds away from a full-blown sob. “It’s not supposed to hurt anymore, why didn’t the water make it better? Please, I just want it to stop. Please!”

Time stares at him as Wild continues his delirious plea, picking up speed as his voice starts to grow stronger. His words from earlier, the ones that had already shaken Time to his core once today, start to echo loudly in Time’s mind.

“It… was a lot of time to be underwater.”

Horror sinks into Time’s stomach. He rests a shaky hand against Wild’s hair, rubbing his thumb back and forth over his temple as Wild keeps babbling away.

It takes all his strength not to block his own twitching ears when, voice rising in a desperate whine, Wild cries out, “Please put me back in!”

In the Sheikah-blue light of the cave, he doesn’t look like the free-spirited, cheerful hero Time knows. Right now, Wild looks like the child he never got to be, the child who had to stare down his own death.

The child who deserves better than the fate he’s been handed but refuses to wish his pain on anyone else.

Time sits there, stroking Wild’s hair as his cries start to taper off, and tries to work out a way to get them both through this without letting Wild die yet again.

The wounds in his sides are a big concern, as the pool of blood is very slowly but steadily getting larger, soaking into the knees of Time's trousers. It won’t be long now before Wild will be in real trouble thanks to the blood loss, something that can’t be fixed in this tiny cave.

However Time has no doubt that if he tries to get Wild to swim out of here, then he will take water into his lungs again and drown, nothing more than a victim of his body’s muscle memory and a century of submersion.

The Zora tunic Time wears currently could work but Wild’s injuries and drownings will slow him down, marking him as easy prey for the monster outside.

Because that’s the other problem. Whatever that monster is, it’s fast enough to keep up with the Zora mask. Letting Wild swim back out there would be no different than if Time kills him right where they sit now.

So what Time is ultimately left with is a horrible plan but the only viable one. That monster needs to go, now.

He glances down at Wild, who has gone quiet. His eyes are still open though they seem to have lost some of the hazy quality. Yet another blessing that Time has been gifted today.

With a sigh, he realises that he really will have to start praying after this is all over.

Time shifts his hand from Wild’s hair back to his cheek, tilting his head slightly and tapping a rhythm against the bone. “Wild, can you tell me where you are?”

Wild’s lips part slightly. His fingers twitch again, hand lifting off the ground. Unlike before, he manages to reach up and clumsily grab onto Time’s wrist.

For a beat there’s nothing. Then Wild rolls his head into the hand on his face and murmurs, “Time?”

There’s almost no weight to his voice, as though he could slip away in an instant, but Time can’t help the smile that spreads across his face. “Are you with me?”

Wild blinks slowly, nose scrunching up as his eyes lazily take in the cave. “W… where are we?”

He lets out a small keen of pain, dropping Time’s wrist so he can wrap his arms around himself and try to curl up. “Why… does it hurt?!”

Time catches him before he can roll onto his side and scrape the wounds against the rock. “You’ve been injured. Don’t do that. Try and stay on your back if you can.”

Wild obediently goes limp as Time rolls him back over, eyebrows furrowed as he thinks. “I… what happened? There was a moblin and…”

“You got thrown into the water, you remember that?” Time tells him gently and Wild nods along.

“Something grabbed me?”

“Yes.” Time doesn’t say any more than that, focusing on resting Wild’s head against a slightly raised rock and pressing the Sheikah Slate into his hands. He sits back on his heels and reaches for the Zora mask.

Wild stares at him uncomprehendingly. “Time? What’s… why can’t I…?”

Time takes one of his hands, holding tightly. “Don’t worry about that for now. I need to deal with something before we can get you patched up.”

“I can come with you.” Wild protests. He tries to get his free hand underneath him to push himself up, but his arm doesn’t hold his weight and he crumples back down again.

What he says isn't much, not really, but it’s all the confirmation Time needs.

While those words are a sign of courage in the face of a deep-set fear, pushing through his panic like he’d done earlier after he’d broken into pieces in Time’s arms, that is all they are.

Because Time can see now that Wild truly does not know what will happen to him if he goes into the water in his current condition.

“No.” Time rests a hand on his chest to keep him in place, even know he knows Wild doesn’t have the strength to move anyway. “I need you to stay here.”

Some of Wild’s usual fire returns to his eyes and he grips Time’s wrist tightly as he tries to squirm free from where he’s being lightly pressed to the floor. “Don’t—fuck, ow—I already told you not to do that shit, Time. I know… I know I’m not much use here, but don’t you dare—”

“Do you remember what I promised you?” Time interrupts, applying the tiniest bit more pressure to Wild’s sternum in order to keep him in place.

“—think that I can’t, wait what?” Wild pauses, frowning at him. “I… what are you talking about?”

Time makes sure Wild meets his gaze before he speaks. “I promised you that I wouldn’t let you drown. I’ve already failed to keep that promise once. I don’t intend to fail again.”

“Time, what? I… I don’t… I didn’t…” Wild’s grip on his wrist loosens. His eyes flick between Time’s and the walls around them in confusion. “No, no, I…”

With a heavy sigh, Time carefully gets to his feet, Zora mask in hand. He shouldn't have said that, shouldn't have put his guilt onto Wild's shoulders so soon. He needs to focus.

For the second time today, he gives Wild a sad look as he steps back towards the hole in the floor, and for the second time today, he says, “I won’t be long. Just stay here, okay?”

Wild stares after him, still struggling to push himself upright. “No, Time, wait!”

Time turns away, placing the mask onto his face, and dives back into the water as the transformation rips through his body. This time the freezing water does nothing to block out the pain, but he forces himself to ignore it.

It doesn’t matter how much the transformations take out of him. He can’t fail now.

When he peers out of the tiny cave entrance, the deep is still and quiet. The monster has vanished, but Time isn’t fooled. He waits and watches for as long as he dares, before kicking forward to dart through the water.

Almost immediately there’s a surge below him and he has to corkscrew to the side as the monster’s gigantic body charges past him. It circles up and above, blocking out the faint light, its long, thin spines flared wide and its mouth agape with hunger.

One beat of its huge tailfin sends it shooting through the water towards him and Time crosses his arms in front of his face, electricity arcing around him as he braces for impact.

But there is no impact.

At the last moment, the monster jerks to the side of him, barely skimming the edges of his shield, and continues its charge. The behaviour doesn’t make sense – what could it possibly be doing, there’s no way around his shield not even from behind him – until it does.

The cave!

Time spins, dropping his shield and slicing the sharp edge of his fin into the monster’s side. Black blood spreads through the water and it roars, but it also doesn’t stop. He takes off after it, slashing deep into its flesh as he swims along the ridges of its rippling body, speeding for its head. 

The eye atop its skull comes into view and Time lunges, stabbing both his blades into it. With another loud roar, the monster bucks and dives, the very tips of its spines scraping the cavern wall.

Panting, Time goes to follow it, only for something to crash into him from behind. His head hits the rocky wall hard and he tastes blood, but he shakes it off, whirling around to face his attacker.

A Desbreko charges for him, its orange eyes brilliant in the gloom of the deep, and he rips his fins free and hurls them forward.

They carve through the Desbreko’s skull, splitting it in half, before slamming back into his hands. There is no time for relief; more glowing orange eyes light up the darkness. Shapes start to form, shadows against the backdrop of blackness.

He can’t see their bodies, not truly, but the suggestion of them is still there: the faint swish of spiny tails, the gaping of a tooth-filled jaw.

It’s a swarm, yes, but no true danger. Desbrekos are nothing but a nuisance.

The giant monster is the true threat.

Time grips his fins tightly, peering into the shadows, but he can’t see anything but the eyes that stare back at him. One Desbreko charges up from below and he twists, cleaving its body apart, only for teeth to close around his stomach – a near perfect replica of his last encounter with them.

With a snarl, Time twirls his grip on the fin and stabs backwards. The pressure of the bite gets worse and then lets go, but there’s no time to celebrate the victory. Another pair of Desbrekos shoot down towards him, their mouths open wide and their teeth bared.

Time throws one fin upwards and takes off into the water. He twists when a fourth Desbreko lunges out of the darkness for his neck and its chin slams into his shoulder. With his remaining fin, he slashes upwards, pushing the blade’s edge through bone until it gives.

The gigantic monster hurtles past him, its sudden appearance causing his heart to jump into his throat. Kicking his feet, Time takes off after it, almost swimming face-first into the jaws of a Desbreko.

Reaching inside himself and tugging on his well of magic, Time shoves a field of electricity out around him. The skeleton flinches back, sinking down below him but Time doesn’t chase it. He can’t waste the precious seconds he has on killing it.

He just kicks harder, trying desperately to catch up to the giant monster’s tail.

It’s so fast, much faster than it had been earlier, and Desbrekos are gliding into its wake, their eyes all focused on him.

This isn’t good. This is all too organised, too coordinated. Why isn’t the monster focusing on him?

He hurls his fins forward, cutting down three Desbrekos and speeds through the gap their dissolving bodies leave behind. A fourth gets too close, trying a charge, and recoils when his electrical field slams into its body. It shrinks back, shaking its head, and glares at him.

Time doesn’t even bother to acknowledge it, still straining to catch up to the true enemy. It’s too far ahead of him now, but he has to try!

The booming THUD of the giant monster colliding with the cavern wall echoes through the water. It coils in on itself, shaking its large head, before diving and vanishing into the deep below. Large rocks tumble down after it but Time doesn’t pause; he swims closer, squinting at the wall.

Please, please, please…

His sigh of relief comes out in bubbles. The tiny cave opening is still there, somehow untouched despite the monster’s weight crashing into it. The wall has a large crack in it.

There's no doubt it won’t be able to take much more damage, but for now Wild is still safe.

Rows of sharp teeth clamp down onto Time’s shoulder and he yells in pain, the sound garbled as it escapes his mouth. A Desbreko charges at him from the front as he’s held in place, eyes gleaming maliciously.

Cursing his stupidity, Time uses his good arm to throw one of his fins towards the oncoming Desbreko – nailing it right in its mocking eye – before blindly trying to stab the one biting down on him with his injured arm. It thrashes, teeth sinking deeper into his flesh, and he holds out his hand.

The fin he’d just thrown slams back into his palm and he stabs backwards again. This time the teeth give and he twists, slashing his arms out and away from his body, bisecting its skull. The wounds on his shoulder sting and blood drifts serenely through the water around him, but he can’t stop to assess the damage.

The gigantic monster’s shadow glides above him, three more Desbrekos swimming alongside it like an honour guard.

Time glares up at it as he pants. He’s been rationing his magic the best he can, but between his rapid use of the shield and the wounds that are stacking up, he's beginning to slow down.

It’s been a long, long time since he’s had to fight alone. He hadn’t realised how out of practised he’d become. But that cannot stop him, not here. This is not a fight he can afford to lose.

With a deep breath, he swims upwards as fast as he can, heading to cut the group off and provoke an actual fight. The Desbrekos break off, their tailfins pulsing through the water as they speed down towards him.

The giant monster doesn’t pause; it just continues to circle, almost as though it wants to watch the outcome.

His electric shield in place, Time meets the Desbrekos head on. The first flinches away from his shield, but this time he doesn’t let it run. He darts in close, carving through its body with two clean strokes before pushing off to focus on the last two.

They split up, circling around him. Time twists into a corkscrew, throwing one fin out. The Desbreko he’d aimed for also twists and the fin only catches the tip of its tail.

Shit, that’s new.

The moment his fin slams back into his palm, Time immediately throws both of them back out again. In his peripheral, the giant monster begins to climb. Cursing, Time flicks his attention back to the two enemies in front of him.

The swirling fins strike one Desbreko down, slicing straight through its spine, but the other one dodges again. It shoots towards him, mouth wide.

With yet another tug on his rapidly-drying well of magic, electricity crackles around him. The Desbreko narrows its eye at him and lowers its head.

The intent is clear. It starts to push through the field, head pressing against the current, its tail madly pushing through the water. Above them, the giant monster starts to dive.

Shit, no!

Time reaches out to catch his fins as they rebound back to him and kicks off, slashing straight through the Desbreko. Its bones crumple around him and he dives as well, trying to match the giant monster’s angle.

He already knows the outcome of what’s about to happen and tries to pull on every single piece of energy inside him to help him stop it. The muscles in his legs ache, the wounds on his head, shoulder and stomach throb with pain, his lungs burn from exertion, but he needs to be faster.

In front of him, the giant monster lowers its head and crashes its body into the wall above the cave. Rocks start to cascade, tumbling over each other as they fall towards the bottom of the abyss.

The force of the blow knocks the monster backwards and it hangs limply in the water, having seemingly stunned itself. Normally now would be the chance that he had been waiting for to finish it off but instead… Time stares hopelessly.

The cave has no doubt been destroyed. Wild…

Something brighter than the abyss catches his attention. There, barely moving amongst the falling debris, is a lump of blue and blond. Time doesn’t hesitate.

He dives, streamlining his body the best he can to close the distance, darting around rocks and sliding through the currents. Wild hangs suspended in the water, unmoving despite the chaos around him. Time barrels into him, knocking him out of the way of more debris, and pulls him close as he veers sharply upwards.

The force of the turn hurts his already strained muscles and he winces as pain flares along his sides. But he doesn’t stop. They don’t have much of an opening here; he can’t waste it on pain he can ignore.

Trying to manoeuvre Wild's limp body properly is hard – the bite on Time’s shoulder is giving him more grief than he expected – but he manages to press Wild into his uninjured shoulder as some last ditch effort to stop him from inhaling water. 

It comes a second too late. He can already feel Wild’s lungs and ribs moving beneath his palm, desperate for air.

Time silently begs him to hold on, kicking his feet even harder. They’re so close.

Please Nayru.

From below, the water starts to surge. Time grits his teeth and twirls out of the way, clutching Wild close as the giant monster rockets through the spot they’d just been in.

It flares out above them, spines spread wide and its body blocking out the light. The monster hangs there and then seems to tip forward, diving towards them with its maw open wide.

Wild bucks slightly in Time’s hold, his limbs twitching feebly as his body clearly begs him for air.

Please, Din.

Time throws himself sideways again, grasping for what’s left of his magic reserves for good measure. As the monster plunges past them, so close its displacement of water sucks Time in and then pushes him back, it screeches as his shield lacerates its side.

Seizing his chance, Time takes off again, ascending higher and higher. The gaps in the stone roof are so close now.

He refuses to think about how Wild’s gone limp in his hold or how his injured arm has gone numb or how his muscles and lungs are screaming at him to stop or how the last of his magic drains out of him leaving nothing but overwhelming fatigue in its wake.

Please, Farore.

They’re so close now. Only a few metres more and they’ll be out of this abyss!

The water beneath his feet swells again, the monster no doubt right behind them. As he kicks his feet, Time prays harder than he has ever done in his entire life.

Above him, something small shifts into the light. Time goes for his fin, ready to cut down whatever enemy is above them, but instead a gleaming hookshot goes flying over his shoulder. The chain pulls tight and Twilight shoots straight past him, his sword in hand.

The monster below them roars in pain as small eddying plumes of black blood rise up around them. The current moves wildly with every thrash of the monster’s body and Time holds Wild close, trying to protect him the best he can.

Legend dives through the hole above Time, a powerful-looking tail pushing him through the water.

His face slackens in confusion and surprise when he spots Time, but the expression doesn’t last long. The moment his eyes land on Wild’s now limp form, that confusion is neatly packed away and tucked behind a look of intense focus.

‘Give!’ He commands, not even bothering to say any more – not that Time needs it. He holds Wild out, and Legend’s got his arms around him and has rocketed upwards before Time even sees him move.

Placing all his trust in Legend, Time flips around and dives, fins at the ready. Twilight has anchored himself to the top of the monster’s head and, as Time nears, he raises his sword and plunges it again and again into its eye.

The monster writhes and bucks, swinging its giant body back and forth, but Twilight withstands it all, unmoving in the face of the monster's rage.

He stabs down one more time then kicks off, flipping into the water. The moment its passenger leaves, the monster plunges downwards and vanishes into the deep.

Even with half his face obscured by his armour, Twilight’s look of confusion is plain to see. ‘Time?’

‘Long story.’ Time says, peering into the darkness beneath them.

Twilight shifts closer, shaking his head. ‘No, I can handle it; I know what this thing is. Where’s Wild?’

‘With Legend.’ Time frowns. While he appreciates now knowing whose era they’re in, Twilight’s tone has set him on edge. ‘That monster—’

‘I can handle it!’ Twilight repeats insistently and Time glares at him.

There’s a shift in the shadows around them and they scatter as the monster comes flying at them. In an instant, Twilight has his hookshot in hand, already raised and ready to fire.

‘Trust me!’ He almost orders. ‘Go!’

He doesn’t wait for Time’s response. The claws of his hookshot bury themselves into the monster’s flesh, and he’s expertly landing on its head once again, his sword raised and flashing in the lowlight.

Time pauses, torn by the choice in front of him. Then he turns and pushes up through the water, speeding into the main room.

There is nothing but confidence in Twilight’s posture. Regardless of how dangerous this monster is, Time can grant him the one thing he asked for: trust.

As the water lightens, Time glances upwards. Far above him, Legend’s rippling tail rests half in the water at the top of the room, so Time goes.

The moment he breaks the surface, he’s glad this was the choice he made. Legend hardly even spares him a glance, too busy leaning over Wild and pressing down hard in the centre of his chest.

“Help me!” Legend yells at him, cursing as Wild slips slightly off the stone landing. His tail rises to press against Wild’s legs, trying to shove him onto solid ground.

Shit.

Time scrambles over, helping him push Wild up onto the landing. “One second,” he tells Legend and pulls at the edges of the mask until it gives.

Legend stares at him, freezing mid-compression as the transformation tears through Time’s body for the fourth time. “What the fuck?” He breathes.

“Later.” Time promises – because there no way Legend will let him walk away without providing answers. “Tell me when.”

Legend blinks then nods, hoisting himself slightly up onto the landing. As Time shifts to take his position, he hears Legend muttering under his breath: “… Twenty nine. Thirty!”

Needing no further signal than that, Time leans forward, pinches Wild’s nose shut and for the second time in mere minutes, breathes air into his lungs. The moment he sits back on his heels, Legend is off again, shoving hard against Wild’s chest with all his might.

They both cringe at the audible snap of bone under Legend’s hands and Time pauses only to rest a hand on his shoulder when he snarls out a string of curses in response.

It takes forever. It feels like it’ll never end. There’s no point keeping track of how much time passes.

All Time knows is that he’s seconds away from telling Legend to switch places, offering to give over his role breathing for Wild, when Wild splutters and water dribbles out of the side of his mouth.

“Fucking thank the Three!” Legend pants as they move to roll Wild over. His arms shake, barely able to gather the force to push, and Time takes over, gently nudging Legend aside and using his hip to pin Wild in place.

“Don’t push yourself.” He tells Legend over the sound of Wild’s coughing, but Legend only waves a hand dismissively in reply.

“I’m fine, Old Man. Just hold him; I’ve got a fairy.”

Time glances at him out of the corner of his eye. “No potions?”

Legend’s mouth sets into a firm, bloodless line and he shakes his head, looking apologetic. “Used them all up on Four and the Captain. It was bad.”

Fuck. Time just nods, biting his lip hard to stop himself from pestering Legend with questions. Even though the urge to know what had happened is itching at him, right now there’s nothing he can do for the rest of the group here.

He just has to shelve his worry, put all his faith in them and their abilities, and trust that Twilight and Legend wouldn’t be here if the rest of the Chain were still hurt and in trouble.

With the pop of a cork, the tiny glowing fairy tumbles out of Legend’s bottle. She catches herself mid-fall, shakes her wings out and beelines straight for Wild, zigzagging up and down his sides.

There’s the sickening crack! as the ribs Legend had broken are set back into place, and a soft glimmer of healing light shines from the array of puncture wounds in Wild’s sides.

Wild lets out a tiny sigh and goes limp. The fairy pauses, hovering above his face for a second, her glow making his skin look even paler than it already is, before she flutters over to Time, who holds out a hand for her to rest upon.

“She did the best she could,” he tells Legend as the fairy chimes like a bell, “but he’s lost so much blood. She can’t replace it all and fully close the wounds, so we need to let him rest.”

In the ethereal light of the fairy’s shining body, Legend looks grim. He peers down at the barely-sealed wounds in Wild’s sides and hisses sympathetically.

“It’s amazing you managed to close these. They look horrible.” He tells the fairy, who chimes proudly in thanks. Legend smiles at her as he traces the ruined edges of Wild’s Zora amour with careful fingers, before reaching out and picking up one of Wild’s limps hands.

“Shit, he’s freezing.” He grumbles, rubbing Wild's hand between both of his own. Only a second later, he stops, shoving his arm all the way into his pouch and proudly pulling out his fire rod, which he lays carefully on the stone beside them.

Time lets out a near-silent sigh of his own as the fire rod crackles like a campfire, its aura of heat pressing through his cold skin and into his muscle and bones.

He’d almost forgotten what being warm felt like.

Even unconscious, Wild seems to agree: his coughing finally starts to ease into whistling breathes, and he sighs again, muscles loosening.

Both Time and Legend lean forward hopefully as Wild’s eyelids twitch and flutter, but the movement is brief. Wild stills again, slipping back into unconsciousness.

“I don’t like the way he’s breathing.” Legend murmurs and Time nods in silent commiseration. There is nothing more they can do for Wild here other than let him rest.

Clearly having come to the same assessment, Legend shifts his attention to Time. He uses his hands to push his body along the stone landing towards Time, his tail dragging through the water behind him. 

Time frowns at him. “I’m fine.”

“You look fine.” Legend sarcastically agrees. “But you also look like the remnants of a chew toy someone threw out. What bit you?”

He leans closer, one hand reaching out to gently measure the size of the marks on Time’s shoulder, but Time bats his hand away with practised ease. “Not the same thing that went after Wild, if that’s what you’re asking. I’m fine, Legend.”

Legend casts him a look – all doubtful and exasperated which is rarely aimed in Time’s direction – but it’s the fairy who decides to act, flying upwards so she can peer at Time’s face. No, not his face; his forehead.

He reaches up, wincing when his fingers find the graze he’d gotten from hitting the wall face-first earlier. The fairy jingles and Time shakes his head. “No, please you don’t need to worry about me. It’s nothing serious.”

“He’s lying.” Legend counters instantly, ducking under Time’s arm so he can threaten to poke the Desbreko bites on his side.

Time considers shoving him into the water, but the memory of what happened last time that had occurred makes him instead catch Legend by the wrist. “Legend, I mean it. I will be fine. I don’t want to trouble her any further—”

With a loud huff, the fairy lands on his nose, cutting him off as he goes nearly cross-eyed trying to look at her. She chimes loudly, an adorable but stern reprimand.

Legend coughs into his hand, trying and failing to hide his smirk, before he straightens up to address the fairy. “Wait, before you lecture him, I have a proposal for you.”

That gets the fairy’s attention and she glances curiously at him, completely ignoring Time’s protests. After a second of digging through his pouch again, Legend holds out a ripe berry and a small bowl of sugar water. “We’re asking a lot of you. Is this payment enough?”

The fairy flutters off of Time’s nose to take a ginormous bite of the berry, before she spins around Time, darting back and forth as the wounds that litter his body begin to close.

Time gives Legend a dry look. “We’re bribing fairies now?”

Legend stares back with equal amounts of exasperation. “I’m not carrying you and Wild out of here.”

It’s such a barefaced lie that Time actually chokes on a chuckle, shaking his head. He reaches out again to squeeze Legend’s shoulder, a silent offer of gratitude, and Legend nods back.

The fairy stops between them, her tiny form panting but proud. She dunks her head into the sugar water, drinking deeply before delicately taking the berry out of Legend’s palm.

“Do you need help getting out of here, little one?” Time asks. Holding her prize in both of her tiny arms, the fairy jingles a cheerful no and zooms off across the water, skimming along the surface.

They watch her go, sitting in silence and listening to the faint whistling of Wild’s breathing. The landing underneath them shakes slightly as a faint boom! echoes up from the depths, and Legend scowls into the water. “What is he doing?”

“Twilight? He said he recognised the monster and that he knew how to handle it.”

“Course he did.” Legend huffs, tail flexing with barely concealed nerves.

The dark ripples of the water twists Time’s stomach into anxious knots. He too wants to go down there so he can make sure Twilight’s okay, but he knows what would happen if he did so: Twilight would be furious.

Above all else, Time knows that Twilight wants them both to prioritise Wild. He can think of no other reason why Legend hasn’t thrown himself back down to join the fight than that. So now they have to sit here and wait for an unknown result.

And Time hates waiting.

He turns away from the water to rest a hand on Wild’s shoulder. Again Wild stirs, drifting closer to awareness. Despite the proximity of the fire rod, he’s still so cold.

Time reaches for the Slate, tapping at the screens. Most of the equipment he doesn’t recognise or know enough about, but it isn’t hard to work out how to summon Wild’s cloak, and he carefully wraps it around Wild, shifting Legend’s fire rod closer.

“What was the plan?” He asks Legend over his shoulder, pretending he’s not fussing as he tucks the edges of the cloak tightly under Wild’s body.

Maybe, if Wild wakes up warm and surrounded by something familiar, he… he’ll know where he is. Maybe this will be enough to keep his awareness.

Or maybe Time’s just a coward who doesn’t know if he can handle hearing Wild beg for the Shrine of Resurrection again.

Who can really say for sure?

“Find you two. Get you both out of here.” Legend doesn’t add any more but the look he gives Time conveys all that remains unsaid.

It's easy talking to Legend in this sense. Every conversation has a layer to it, the spoken and the unspoken, and Legend in particular excels at hearing both aspects. Sometimes listening to him and Warriors go around and around is exhausting, but now Time is grateful for it.

"I thought that might be the case."

Casting one last frustrated look into the water, Legend pushes himself backwards until his shoulder gently bumps into Time’s. Time leans against him slightly, pushing back with equal amounts of weight.

It’s never a big gesture with Legend. Whether it's because he's been too wary and guarded for too long or simply has never been that open, Time isn't sure. But Legend also doesn’t hide the intent behind the affection he does freely give, no matter the situation.

“Thank you.” Time tells him softly. He doesn't have to say anything else. Legend simply nods in reply, the layers beneath Time's words received loud and clear.

A soft groan interrupts their silence. Wild shifts under the pile of fabric, his hands grasping for the hems and pulling them closer. Legend leans past Time as Wild groans again and opens his eyes.

“Wild?” Time presses a gentle hand against his back. “You with us?”

“…Yeah. Think so.” Wild hums softly, eyes lazily taking in the wall in front of him.

He groans as he lets his cloak go and presses his hands into the floor, trying to push himself up. Legend swoops in to hook an arm around his shoulders and, with Time’s help, they manage to ease him upright.

"Oh. Hi, Ledge." Wild blinks hazily at Legend. “When did you get here?”

Legend stares back unimpressed, but as he opens his mouth, Time shakes his head, cutting off whatever sharp response he clearly wants to say. 

Enough has already unintentionally been put onto Wild's shoulders today. Better to cut that potential guilt spiral from both of them off before it can even begin.

With a near imperceptible nod of understanding, Legend changes tune smoothly and tells Wild with faux-seriousness, “If you do that again, I’m going to kill you.”

“I… I think I’d let you honestly.” Wild winces and places a hand against the wounds on his sides. “Fuck, it hurts.”

“Easy, Wild. Don't push yourself.” Time says. He shuffles forward, helping Wild lean back against his chest while Legend covers him up with the cloak again. “Legend used a fairy on you but you’re still badly hurt.”

Wild flaps a hand out of the cloak being piled on top of him, waving it persistently at Legend until he finally takes it with a teasing eye roll.

“Thank you,” Wild tells him, bright and sincere, before he glances up at Time. “Both of you.”

“You can repay me by not dying for a month. Or by accepting this, which is actually the only option I’m giving you.” Legend fires back without hesitation. He grips Wild’s hand back and holds something up for them both to see.

It’s a ring. The golden band and finely-cut red gem shine in the light of the fire rod.

Wild stares at it and, in the most obnoxious voice he’s able to muster, says, “Oh Hylia, another proposal?”

“Shut up, I hate you.” Legend whacks his shoulder lightly, struggling to keep his face straight. “This is a Zora ring. It will allow you to breathe underwater so you won’t drown. I really need you to put this on, Wild.”

While Wild isn't normally one to care about the layers of a conversation, the heavy emphasis of Legend's words doesn't go unnoticed.

Time can feel the moment Wild understands because his whole body goes tense and his face goes blank, smoothing over and locking any and all emotions away.

Legend’s eyes dart up to meet Time’s, confident and assured, so Time stays quiet and lets him guide the conversation. The only thing he does is wrap an arm around Wild's waist, holding him close.

"It's not going to be easy to get out of here," Legend continues, his tone softening as he talks, "but this is the best chance I can give you. This is the best thing any of us have to keep you safe."

Wild's expressionless mask shatters.

“H…how did you—?” He croaks out as his ears burn red. Shame, again. Time's heart aches for him. “Was it Twi? Did he tell you?”

“I’ve had my suspicions for a while.” Legend says. “I just didn’t want to say anything. But, yes, Twilight did confirm it before we came down here.”

Wild nods, dropping his head and staring pointedly at his lap. Ordinarily his fringe would hide his face but his hair is still water-slick and pushed back, so there is nothing to stop them from seeing the silent tears that start to fall.

Legend looks back up at Time, a tiny apology that he doesn't even need to give shining in his eyes, before he leans forward until his forehead presses against Wild’s, intertwining their hands together tightly.

For a moment it’s just the two of them clinging onto each other, and Legend whispers, “I’m sorry, Wild.”

Time wraps his free arm around Legend’s shoulders, holding the two close. They sit there in a pile as both Time and Legend pretend they can’t hear Wild’s quiet sobs, and offer him comfort the only way they know how to.

Sorry doesn’t feel like a strong enough word, but how else can you truly say that you’re sorry he’s stuck down here surrounded by the one thing that haunts him, has haunted him since he was given life again?

Another muffled boom! rings from below and Wild straightens up, pulling himself together far too quickly for Time’s liking.

“That was Twilight.” Time says before he can ask, casting another worried look at the water beside them.

Wild nods, apparently out of words for now, and holds out a hand wordlessly for Legend to pass him the ring. It sits innocuously atop his palm, glittering as the gem catches the light. Like many of the items they carry, its innocent appearance belies the magic held within it.

Pursing his lips, Wild slides it onto his finger, though it’s an awkward fit thanks to the gloves of his armour. In the end, he manages to get it to sit on the knuckle of his ring finger, though it's only really kept in place when he clenches his fist.

Time shares a look with Legend, who makes a face but nods. Despite the slipshod fitting, it’ll work.

There’s a splash behind them and Time turns his head to see Twilight pull himself out of the water. Passing Wild to Legend, he surges to his feet and hurries over, focusing in on the jagged cut on Twilight’s chest.

Twilight waves a hand at him, tugging the mask of his armour down past his chin. “I’m okay, it looks worse than it is.”

“What happened?” Time asks, ignoring the dismissal and moving closer so he can see the cut.

“The Morpheel is a lot stronger than the last time I fought it, no doubt the Shadow’s doing.” Twilight scowls. “I managed to use some water bombs to trap it under a bunch of rocks, but that won’t hold it for long.”

Time notes the name idly. “I assume it’s smarter than when you last encountered it too, right? It set an ambush for me.” He lowers his voice slightly. “And I think it’s focused on Wild. I don’t know why.”

“How bad is it?” Twilight’s eyes flick over his shoulder but he manages to keep his expression calm.

“He’s pretty badly hurt, pup. The… Morpheel, was it? It bit him, cutting up his sides. I got him breathing again pretty quickly the first time,” Time holds a hand up, cutting off whatever Twilight clearly wants to say, “and Legend got his heart going again. A fairy has managed closed the wounds but only just. He’s lost a lot of blood.”

Twilight looks between Time and Wild, and holds his breath for a moment, almost as though he's about to dive back into the waters behind them. In a voice that’s barely even a whisper, he murmurs, “Did you tell him?”

Here's the thing, Time had really wished that he'd been wrong back in that cave. He'd hoped above all else that the conclusion he'd come to as he'd listen to Wild plead and beg was wrong, that he just hadn't put the pieces together correctly.

But it appears he's out of wishes the Goddesses are willing to grant, because now he knows that he was right, even though he didn't want to be.

Time shakes his head, trying not to acknowledge the mournful look that sits in Twilight's gaze. What had put that look into Twilight's eyes?

He can't decide if he wants to know or not. 

“If you two are done nattering away over there,” Legend calls, “can we please work out how to get the fuck out of here?”

"Yes, Ledge, I'm totally fine, thank you for your concern!" Twilight calls back, flipping from solemn to sarcastic in an instant.

Time catches his arm as he goes to move, making sure Twilight meets his eyes.

He desperately hopes that Twilight understands all that he wants to say in that single glance – his failure to not keep Wild safe, his promise to keep the secret he never wanted to learn, his pride at Twilight and Legend’s initiative.

The edges of Twilight's lips ghost upwards as he nods and squeezes Time's hand. Then he pulls himself free and hurries over to sink to his knees in front of Wild, reaching out to cup Wild's face in both hands. “You okay, cub?”

Wild melts into the hold, his hands closing around both of Twilight's wrists as he nods. “Been better. Been a lot better. But I’m managing.”

“He’s going to use the ring.” Legend tells Time and Twilight both, eyes narrowed in a don’t push it kind of way.

While Time just gives him a silent look of understanding, Twilight smiles at him. “Thank you.”

“Yes, yes, you’re welcome. Now, what was that name you mentioned? Morph… something?” Despite his brusque tone, Legend can’t quite hide his tiny preen at the gratitude.

“Morpheel.” Twilight corrects. “It was created by Zant when he flooded the kingdom with the Twilight Realm. I killed it years ago but it’s different now. It’s smarter and stronger. And it regenerates.”

“Black blood?” Legend asks, all business-like, and he gets a series of nods around the room. “Fantastic. How do we hurt it?”

“How do you hurt anything these days?" Twilight sighs, not even able to put any cheer into his voice. "Its weak point is the eye on its head.”

Time steps forward. “Combat shouldn’t be our focus here. We are all injured and tired.”

Twilight twists on his heel so he can look up at him. “Wait, Time, we can’t leave that thing to run rampant. This lake, this temple, they're both important to the Zora.”

“I’m not saying we should leave it be.” Time chides him gently. “But we can’t handle it ourselves, not right now.”

Wild wilts, dropping his eyes back to the floor, and Time suppresses a wince at his words. It wasn’t intentional or even meant to be an insult, but he knows why Wild took it the way he did.

Still, he has a point to prove, hurt feelings or no, so Time locks his eyes on Twilight’s, silently asking him to understand. The ground beneath them rumbles again, and all the fight building up in Twilight’s eyes drains away as he glumly nods.

Legend primly snaps a hand out at him. “Map.”

“Seriously?” Twilight grumbles under his breath but he still stuffs a roll of thick parchment into Legend’s waiting fingers, watching as he eagerly unrolls it.

There’s a moment of silence before Legend peers over the top of the scroll and scowls at him. “Rancher, this looks nothing like the path we came in through.”

“I did tell you that the Zora have been excavating.” Twilight tells him dryly before glancing up at Time again. “It was originally a straight shot all the way through, but there have been lots of cave-ins recently. They had to carve new pathways in and out."

“As long as you know the way.” Time replies mildly. He nods to Legend. “Come on, we should scout ahead, make sure the route you came from is clear.”

Legend narrows his eyes at him, though a single glance at Twilight and Wild is all he needs to catch up.

He pushes himself to the edge of the landing, leaning back at the last second to grab his fire rod and stuff it into his pouch. “Let’s hurry then, Old Man. I doubt we have much time left before that thing breaks out of whatever Twilight trapped it in.”

And with that he’s sinking into the water. His tail flicks up, casting a spray of droplets in its wake, and he’s gone, vanishing below.

“Think you can stand?” Twilight asks Wild softly, gripping his arms.

“Should be able to.” Wild sighs, looping an arm around Twilight's neck. "I told you, I've had worse."

"Don't you start with that 'nothing keeps me down for long' shit again."

Suppressing a snort, Time bends to scoop up his Zora mask, securing it to his belt, before he heads for the edge of the landing. After the heat of Legend's fire rod, the water is colder than he remembers, so he pushes himself into it slowly, wincing at the ache that spreads throughout his body in complaint.

He kicks off to swim away from the landing, prepared to dive after Legend. In the brief seconds of privacy he’s able to give them, he can hear Wild sniffle behind him and Twilight murmurs something in response, low and inaudible.

He only means to glance back but the sight of Wild clinging to Twilight as Twilight holds him close, his own eyes squeezed shut as he presses his face to Wild’s hair, causes something in deep inside Time’s chest to ache, freezing him in place.

His earlier words mock him as he stares at Twilight and Wild. 

You deserve better than this.

It's such a futile wish, he knows it. He can't even promise it to them, knowing no matter what decisions he makes, there is no changing this future, their past.

A heavy heart helps him sink below the water, and he dives down and down, hoping to ignore his failure. The water darkens as he descends but Time's still able to spot the brilliant reddish-pink of Legend’s tail.

He’s poking around the broken flooring, squinting into the abyss below, but breaks away when he spots Time nearing.

‘Not wearing it?’ Legend asks, gesturing at the mask on Time’s hip.

‘Hopefully I won’t need to.’ The fairy’s blessing has helped a lot, her magic scabbing over the wounds he’d managed to accumulate over the past hour or so, but his whole body still aches and his innate well of magic is almost completely dried up.

Time nods towards the holes below them. ‘See it?’

‘Nothing.’ Legend doesn’t have to add how worried that makes him; it’s obvious from his eyes alone that he’s unsettled. He jerks his head. ‘Come on, the way out is over here.’

The entrance is not where Time had expected it to be, as Legend actually leads him more than halfway up the large circular room. And honestly if he wasn’t being guided, Time never would’ve noticed the way out at all.

Unlike the parts of the dungeon Time had found himself in after the portal, there is no neatly placed metal door here. Instead the wall has been bored into, leaving a small cavernous pathway through the rock, roughly the size of a Zora. The tunnel glows faintly as it twists out of sight.

‘It’s safe.’ Legend says when he sees Time’s face.

‘Look safe.’ Time wryly agrees, though any humour in him vanishes when he sees Legend stiffen. ‘What is it?’

‘Up! Now!’ Legend is already gone, shooting upwards so fast he leaves bubbles trailing after him. Time kicks off the wall and veers upwards, catching sight of it as he swims.

The Morpheel powers through the water, charging up from the broken floor and past them as it races for the surface. Time presses the Zora mask to his face, choking as yet another transformation shatters him into pieces and stitches him back together again, and takes off after it.

But it’s still too fast.

The Morpheel straightens itself out, honing in on two figures bobbing at the surface. For Time, theres nothing he can do but swim, pushing through the water as fast as he possibly can in a desperate attempt to close the gap.

Legend, however, breaks the surface. Time doesn't hear what he yells, the shout muffled by the water, but he sees the outcome.

At the last moment, Twilight’s hookshot digs into the wall, pulling him and Wild out of the way of the Morpheel’s path.

Its prey gone but unable to stop, the Morpheel launches itself out of the water, body coiling in on itself as it tries to reorient itself before its massive body falls back down, sending waves of water out to swamp the room's walls. 

Furious, it writhes in the shallows, searching for them. From where they're hiding in the shadowy underside of the landing, Wild watches it move, his eyes narrowed and head tilted.

As he gets closer, Time realises he doesn't know what the expression on Wild's face means. It's not curiosity in his eyes, nor anger. He just watches the Morpheel with the focus of a predator.

Time reaches them first and Wild startles, blinking at him in confusion as he takes in the transformation. Twilight, however, doesn't pause. He presses both hands to Wild's back and shoves him into Time's arms.

‘Go, go, go!’ Twilight signs furiously as Legend locks their elbows together and pulls him down. Time just nods, grabbing onto Wild's arm and diving down after them.

The water around the surges as the Morpheel gives chase, its powerful body pushing it forward. If this was out in the open, they’d have no luck, but here there’s a place to escape to, and they race into the tunnel with seconds to space.

The Morpheel screeches behind them as its whole body slams into the wall, jaws snapping against the opening, hoping to grab one of them.

Time shoves Wild behind him, backing away from the dagger-like teeth, and feels Wild’s grip on his arm tighten.

The jaws stop abruptly as the Morpheel pulls back. The eye atop its head glares hatefully through the entrance of the tunnel before it’s gone, vanishing into the dark.

They stare after it, waiting an eternity, but it doesn’t reappear.

Both Legend and Twilight relax slightly while Time finds himself leaning heavily against the wall, but Wild doesn’t move, keeping his eyes focused on the tunnel’s entrance. ‘Can it follow us?’

Twilight and Legend share a grim look, which is enough of an answer in Time’s opinion. He tries to straighten up but pain flares throughout his body and he ends up back against the wall.

Wild floats in front of him, hands reaching forward but unsure where to touch. ‘What’s wrong?’

‘Just too much. I’m okay, it’s nothing.’ Time tries to bat him away, but the fussing draws Twilight’s attention.

‘Too much of what?’ He demands, pressing in beside Wild.

Legend glides over, sharply adding, ‘Doesn’t look like nothing to me.’

Time glares at them, bracing his hands against the wall. ‘The masks have powerful magic in them and it’s been a long time since I’ve used them this much. I’ll be fine.’

‘Wait,’ Legend holds his hands up, his eyes wide, ‘are the masks still hurting you?’

Twilight and Wild’s heads both instantly snap around to look at Time, who suddenly feels caught off guard.

‘Don’t you dare lie.’ Legend adds, pushing himself closer. ‘I saw what happened when you got out of the water and took it off. How many times have you transformed?’

‘I’m fine! It only causes some pain when I put it on or take it off, I'm fine right now.’ Time insists but the damage is done.

Twilight is bustling forward, worry etched onto the visible parts of his face, while Wild stares at Time, not in horror but in sorrow.

‘I… please.’ Wild says shakily. ‘Don’t hurt yourself to keep me safe. Please.’

‘That’s not what this is—’ Time starts to argue, but Twilight catches his hands, holding them tightly.

Neither of them can talk like this, but they don’t need to. For better or worse, Time always knows what Twilight is trying to tell him.

He looks away, staring down at their hands for a moment. The minute shake of his muscles is obvious in spite of Twilight’s steady grip.

Twilight doesn’t fight when Time pulls one hand free and grasps for the edge of his jaw, pulling the mask away from the skin of his face.

Time grits his teeth, riding out the pain of bones shifting and organs realigning. Everything screams at him as the mask’s magic tears back out of him, hopefully for the last time.

He comes back to himself leaning against Twilight’s shoulder with Legend and Wild supporting either side of his body. They all float there until Time’s limbs stop shaking, and then a little bit longer for no reason other than feeling each other’s presence.

Wild is the one who moves away first, reluctantly letting go of Time's arm. ‘Better?’

Letting out a bubble-filled sigh, Time considers denying it for just one petty moment. But he knows they'd never let him live that down, so he nods. ‘Yes, you little bokoblins.’

Twilight shifts back, no doubt smirking under his own mask, but Legend’s the one who takes charge. ‘We shouldn’t stay here. Better to get ahead of it so it can’t catch us off guard.’

He glances to Time, a million questions flashing in his eyes, and Time just nods in agreement, pushing himself off the wall. The consent is enough to urge them onwards, and Twilight lets Legend pull him forward.

Time holds a hand out to Wild. ‘Now, are you ready? Are you okay?’

‘No. But I want to be out of here more than I want to panic.’ Wild smiles weakly, reaching out to take Time’s hand.

The moment they have is brief, but Time still pulls him forward into a tight embrace. Wild clings back, still shaky and weak. Time tries to impress his promise, the one he’s failed twice now, into the hug, hoping above all else that Wild understands the apology he’s trying to deliver.

Then he lets Wild go and leads him down the tunnel, praying the exit won’t be far.

Chapter Text

Unlike the otherworldliness of the dungeon, the tunnel they swim through now is rough and coarse. There’s none of the swooping gentle architecture indicative of the Zora; this tunnel is new, still being chiselled into shape.

The rock around them carries the same faint glow that seems to be everywhere in this Temple. It doesn’t quite light the way forward but it means they’re not swimming through this tunnel with no light at all, completely unaware of what awaits them.

But what has helped more than the walls themselves are the small rocks Wild had handed out about thirty seconds into their swim. Roughly the size of Time’s palm, the surface is almost as bright as a lantern, gleaming a cheerful, odd bluey-green.

The size of the rock makes it a bit awkward to hold, but none of them are going to trade what Wild calls ‘luminous stones’ – which feels like a very obvious name, in Time’s opinion – for the natural heavy gloom they’d faced before.

Between the rock in one hand and Wild’s fingers clutching the other, the swim isn’t easy, but Time isn’t stupid. The moment Wild had handed the rocks out, he’d reattached himself to Time’s side, grabbing his hand tightly.

It’s obvious that, while he isn’t letting his panic show, the weight of Legend’s ring is taking more of a toll on him than he’s prepared to admit. Add the assortment of injuries he’s sporting to the mix, and it’s amazing he’s still moving.

But now Wild is starting to lag behind, the effort it takes to keep swimming forward blatant in the set of his jaw and the slight squint of his eyes.

He’s pushing himself too hard too soon. They all are.

But there truly is no other choice than to press forward. The way back leads to the Morpheel’s jaws. So Time just tightens his grip on Wild’s hand, not willing to exchange a free arm to swim with the knowledge that Wild is here and safe.

The glow of the walls ahead begins to brighten and Legend, now easily the fastest, speeds up a bit. In contrast, Twilight slows, holding his luminous stone out to Wild. With a curious tilt of his head, Wild takes it, dropping it back into the Slate.

Twilight raises his hands to explain. ‘When the Zora were carving a new entrance, they found an old reservoir under the lakebed, which flooded the Temple. They’ve been working on damming it but haven't made much progress.’

‘Is that where we’re heading?’ Time asks after he hands his own rock back to Wild.

‘Yeah. It’s huge, but it has a massive air pocket and actual solid ground to stand on.’ Twilight’s eyes crinkle slightly, a sign that he’s smiling. ‘We have to walk a tunnel that connects to the original Temple entry, then we just have to swim out into Lake Hylia.’

Wild peers ahead, where Legend is swimming back towards them. ‘What was it like coming in?’

‘Well. It was safe.’ Twilight says but his shoulders are tense.

‘Yep, it's not anymore. Guess the Shadow’s been busy.’ Legend counters dryly. While the frustration on his face is shared by everyone else, Time truly hadn’t expected getting out of the Temple to be easy. 

'All we can do is keep moving forward.' Twilight points out, pushing himself forward and Legend follows after.

Time starts to kick through the water, intending to keep pace with Twilight and Legend, but pauses when a careful hand touches his arm. Wild stares towards the tunnel exit, expression unreadable.

‘It’s going to be okay.’ Time tells him.

He wishes he could say literally anything else to give Wild the tiniest sense of peace, but he’s already broken his promise twice today.

His word means nothing to Wild anymore.

Wild doesn’t respond right away, still staring at the tunnel’s end. Finally he says, ‘I’m sorry that I can’t do more. Or anything at all. You’re all exhausted and I can’t even help down here.’

‘This isn’t about being helpful.’ Time argues. He tries to get Wild to look at him, but his gaze remains stubbornly evasive. ‘We’re doing this because we love you.’

‘I know.’ Wild finally raises his head, giving Time a weak smile. ‘Like I said, I just wish I could be doing more to help you.’

He swims forward before Time can reply, following Twilight and Legend into the cavern that awaits them.

Time sighs. Maybe one day they’ll get it into Wild’s head that their love isn’t transactional, that he doesn’t have to do anything other than be who he is because there's nothing to earn, but now is definitely not the time nor place to try.

He swims after them, only pause to stare at the cave that spreads out before him. For the first time, he truly understand why Wild was so taken with the Lakebed Temple in the first place.

The cave is huge, stretching high above them. Its walls glow brilliantly, more akin to the luminous stones than the rocks of the Temple walls. Yet their glow is even brighter still, almost close to the light of the sun itself. 

From the ceiling hang crystal-like stalactites that glitter as they reflect the light. A variety of underwater plant-life litters the ground: long tendrils of kelp, swaying grasses and even large hefty clumps of coral.

Bari drift serenely through the still water, their long tentacles graceful as they occasionally crackle with electricity. Dark shapes dart between coral shelves and beady eyes peer out at the group of heroes from the nooks and crannies.

And there, gaping open in the middle of the cavern floor, stretches an enormous crevice. When he looks again, Time spots another one further into the room, then another and another.

He stares at each of them, comparing their width to the size of the Morpheel’s body. He doesn’t like this. Every single one of the crevices look more than wide enough to fit the monster, allowing it to lie in wait, ready to ambush them as they swim passed.

Twilight points towards the end of the cavern, a good few hundred metres or so away. ‘There’s some dry ground all along the sides, but the tunnel we want is near the end, out of the water.’

‘Goes without saying,’ Time orders, ‘but avoid those crevices at all costs. Let’s not tempt fate.’

He pauses and raises his longshot as a bari idly floats closer to them. It crackles in response, little bolts of electricity arcing within its gelatinous body. They stay there in a stalemate, the bari cheerfully crackling closer until, as quickly as it started, the bolts of electricity vanish. Time fires his longshot and the claws tear through the bari, ripping it into pieces.

‘Oh, this looks like it’s going to be fun.’ Wild pipes up sarcastically, looking between the bari bobbing towards them and the abysses yawning out across the ground.

‘Don’t look down.’ Legend suggests with equal amounts of sarcasm, drawing his own hookshot.

Twilight leads the way across the room, carefully sidling around the edges of the closest crevice. He pauses halfway around the first crevice to slash his sword through a small dark shape that jumps up at them from a hole in the coral, cleaving a tiny fish with sharp teeth in two.

‘Skullfish. Just nuisances.’ He explains and Time nods. While the form is different, there are still some similarities to ones he once encountered, making them reasonably recognisable.

Now that one has made itself known to them, more and more skullfish pluck up their courage and charge. They shoot through the water with a surprising amount of speed, jaws permanently stuck open to reveal their rows of teeth.

Nuisances, Twilight calls them. Well, Time certainly finds them irritating. He wishes he hadn’t burnt through so much of his magic fighting the Morpheel and the Desbrekos. The skullfish he remembers would fall easily to the Zora mask’s electric shield.

But there’s nothing he can do about it now other than keep batting the stupid things away, as futile of an exercise as that is becoming. More and more start to appear, nipping at their legs, their backs, their arms as the fish begin to swarm.

Frustrated, Legend whirls and slam the end of his tail down onto a tiny school of skullfish, crushing them against the rocky floor, but more instantly take the place of those he just killed.

Trying to catch them in the claws of his longshot goes from a game of patience to a frustrating endeavour, so when Wild offers him a broadsword, Time takes it without complaint, letting Legend and Twilight focus on the bari while he cuts the small fish down.

But it isn’t until Time glances down to swat against a skullfish trying to bite his leg that he realises what’s actually happening here. Only inches away from where he floats sits the edge of a crevice, dark and threatening.

Time snaps his head upwards. Bari float overhead, tentacles crackling menacingly. Skullfish swarm all around them, nipping and pushing them backwards.

First the Desbrekos, now the bari and the skullfish. Once again, it speaks of coordination that these monsters should not be capable of possessing, almost as though they’re being lured to this spot by a siren’s call.

They have to move, he decides when he looks into the abyss behind him. It could just be his imagination, but he swears he sees shadows start to shift down below. His hand goes first for the Zora mask, still hanging on his belt as his mind races.

Can he handle another transformation? Should he take the risk if he can't? 

Someone grabs his wrist and Time whirls around. Wild shakes his head, eyes wide. It does little to dissuade Time’s line of thinking when all he can feel is the way Wild’s hands are shaking, weak from fatigue.

Time glances around them once more, weighing the odds quickly, and then he reaches out and yanks on the back of Legend’s tunic with his free hand. The moment Legend turns, eyebrows pulled down into a look of frustration, Time rolls his wrist out of Wild’s grip, twisting his hand until he’s the one now holding onto Wild.

Not giving Wild a second to catch up, Time shoves him into Legend’s arms and signs, ‘Move!’

Casting exactly one single look around, eyes barely lingering on the abyss, Legend instantly understands. With a powerful push of his tail, he takes off upwards and hauls Wild with him, which is great, because that’s the exact same second the shadows Time hoped he’d been imagining actually move and explode up from the abyss, shooting out of the darkness.

Two more fucking Desbrekos charge forward, opening their jaws wide. Time raises his longshot, gritting his teeth as a skullfish latches onto his upper arm and bites through his tunic into his flesh. He ignores the tiny flare of pain and fires.

The claws of his longshot shatter the skull of the first Desbreko, but the second speeds forward and slams straight into Time’s chest, shoving him back. As he goes down, pushed to the ground from the force of the blow, Twilight sharply swirls, bubbles faintly trailing in the wake of his sword as he cleaves it out in a perfect circle all around them.

The blade cleanly bisects a school of skullfish and carves deep into the Desbreko’s bony jaw, ripping it from its skull. It reels back in surprise and Time takes the opening, firing his longshot straight through what remains of its head.

As soon as the Desbreko crumples, the water clears. The skullfish vanish, darting back down into the coral. There’s barely any time for confusion though.

The sharpened points of a trident come down, missing Time’s head by inches, before a lizalfos’ jaws are snapping for his face. He braces one hand against the flat of the blade Wild had given him and shoves it upwards. The lizal’s teeth close around the sword, inches above Time’s face, and the edges of its fangs nick the side of his gauntlets.

Twilight stabs for the lizal but it throws itself back, moving through the water with an unfair amount of grace, its trident glittering in the ethereal cavern light. A second lizal speeds past it, its long tail and powerful legs pushing it through the water towards them.

Thinking quickly, Twilight raises his hookshot again but before he can fire, the water around the lizal bursts with a shock of electricity, freezing it in place.

Legend swoops down, swimming straight through the crackling field. His sword flashes through the water and he carves straight through the lizal’s throat. Black blood spills into the water as his blade cuts through its flesh, and the lizal starts to break apart, its trident sinking to rest on the sandy floor.

With a snarl, the first lizal rears back, preparing to charge, only to be ensnared in another field of crackling electricity.

Time glances upwards as Legend loops around, already moving in for the kill, and it clicks. A series of frozen sheets of ice bob along the surface and the water is clear and pristine enough to reveal Wild raising his bow, another shock arrow nocked and ready.

‘Come on.’ Legend gestures sharply. ‘There are more.’

‘Of course there are more.’ Twilight grumbles but they both take off after Legend, swimming around the edges of the crevice and dodging between the bari that try to ensnare them.

Ahead, something dives into the water, causing a deep plume of bubbles to rise, and two more lizals power towards them. Wafts of bari close in behind them, not moving any nearer but acting like a living wall, stopping them from turning back.

Time grits his teeth. They’re still being herded, but there’s nowhere else to go other than forward towards the end of the cave. Like it or not, they have to fight their way through.

It doesn’t matter that his body is tiring out, both from the time spent swimming and from his previous fights. They have to get through this.

Legend twists around with his ice rod in hand and sweeps it upwards. More and more floes of ice rise to the surface and Wild hops between them, easily keeping pace. Another volley of arrows fly overhead, plunging down into the water around the lizals.

All the arrows’ momentum vanishes the moment they hit the surface of the water, but then the magic stored in the arrowhead bursts into life, stunning the lizals and halting their advance.

Twilight and Legend share a quick glance, both immediately speeding forward. They dart around the bari, skirting the edges of their crackling limbs, and charge for the lizals.

Thanks to the speed afforded by his tail, Legend once again cuts straight through a lizal’s neck, leaving a streak of black blood to dissipate behind him, but Twilight’s blow is hampered by the water, burying deep into the lizal’s shoulder.

Shaking off the last effects of Wild’s shock arrow, the lizal recovers and lunges forward, its teeth snapping for Twilight’s throat. He catches its jaws against his sword but its strength still pushes him back and down.

Time raises his longshot, kicking up off the ground to get a better angle, and fires. The claws snap closed around the top of the lizal’s head, causing it to jerk back, and with one smooth flash of his sword, Twilight beheads it.

The crevice nearby them shifts, its shadows rippling, and Time eyes it cautiously before looking to Twilight and Legend. They’re hiding it well, but he can see the way their shoulders sag and how they try to hide their panting breaths.

Fatigue and exhaustion are their biggest enemies right now, even more so than the lizals and the bari. They need to get through this cave, no matter what.

‘Move.’ He orders. ‘Get to dry land. We need to cut this short.’

No complaints are voiced in response; Twilight and Legend have worked it out too. So, when the next wave of lizals – four this time, fantastic – swim up from the crevice behind them, there’s no movement to engage.

Instead, they all turn to flee. 

Despite instinct screaming at him to never turn his back on an enemy, Time secures his longshot to his belt and swims forward, fixing all his attention on the end of the cave. He keeps Twilight and Legend in his sight, watching as Legend keeps sending up more and more ice for Wild.

For a single blissful second, he pretends this plan will work, and then one of the lizals catch him by the ankle, its claws digging through his boot and into his skin, and the fantasy is broken.

It hurls him through the water with far more strength than Time had been ready for, and he hits a clump of coral hard. Pain shoots across his lower back and he winces, hands bracing against the bumpy surface as he tries to assess the damage.

Bruised, he thinks, but there’s nothing broken.

He looks back and quickly draws his legs under him, kicking up off the coral and into the water, the pain be damned. The lizal crashes face-first into the coral and shakes its head wildly, spitting out chunks from between its teeth.

It shoots up after him, eyes narrowed and focused. Time rests a hand on the sword Wild had lent him, angling his body slightly to hide it from sight, and waits, watching the lizal speed closer and closer.

At the last second he twists out of the way, whipping the sword out, and the lizal drives its head straight into the sharpened edge, cleaving its skull open.

Panting, Time presses a hand to his aching side, allowing himself a single second of self-pity before he has to pull himself together.

Below him, Legend catches the edge of a trident on his shield, parrying it aside with ease. Even underwater, he’s agile and precise in his movements, angling his sword perfectly to cut through the water and monster flesh alike as he flicks between the two lizals in front of him.

The swarm of skullfish have amassed around Twilight, giving the already faster lizal an advantage it doesn't need. No matter how many of the little fish Twilight cuts down as he tries to clear the water, more take their place, biting at his arms and legs.

Time glances upwards but no shock arrows come flying into the water to provide backup. Several pieces of a once intact ice sheets float listlessly atop the water’s surface. In the glittering light emitted by the stalactites, something swoops back and forth.

Shit.

An odd metallic echo rings out and Twilight tumbles down, his sword ripped from his hand. He twists to the side to avoid being impaled by the lizal's trident, and Time makes his decision.

Diving low, Time uses the broken clump of coral as a platform to shoot along the ground, swimming for the lizal’s legs. He braces his borrowed sword in both hands and swings the blade out with all his might.

It tears straight through the tendons in the back of the lizal’s legs and bisects a large shoal of skullfish in a single blow. He twists up, trying to keep the momentum of his movement, and brings the tip of the blade down, piercing the lizal’s head.

The blow doesn’t sink far enough and the lizal thrashes its tail, trying to knock Time off of it. He snarls back, straining as he tries to bury the blade down into its skull.

Hands close around the hilt of the sword atop his and Twilight shoves downwards with all his strength, pushing the blade straight through the bone and into the rock below.

Their ringleader dead, the skullfish scatter once again, clearing the water.

‘Thanks.’ Twilight signs wearily. In spite of his obvious fatigue, he still hurries to scoop up his fallen blade.

Time gives him a nod and scans the water again. Only then does he realise his mistake.

‘Help Legend!’ He gestures furiously to Twilight, who twists around in confusion before taking off as fast as he can.

Because the skullfish hadn’t cleared out like they’d thought, no. Instead, the swarm has moved on to follow the next available ringleader.

The two lizals in front of Legend press their advantage while the skullfish tear and bite, all working together to push him backwards towards one of the crevices. It doesn’t matter how skilled he is at fighting underwater, even Legend can’t hold out with the numbers against him.

Gripping the pommel of the sword Twilight had embedded into the rock, Time pulls back hard, trying to get it free but even with his golden gauntlets, he doesn’t have the strength left in him to dislodge it.

Cursing, he abandons it and swims after Twilight, shoving his hand into his pouch. A familiar hilt presses into Time’s hand and he pulls the Great Fairy sword from his pouch, kicking off the ground to follow Twilight.

As a child it had taken him both hands and all his strength to wield this sword, but now, even though his entire body feels like one gigantic ache, he’s able to cut through the skullfish with ease.

Twilight’s hookshot latches onto a lizal’s tail and he digs his feet into the ground, pulling hard on the chain and yanking it backwards. Time slashes upwards into the swarm that tries to take the lizal’s place, while Legend dives low.

The edge of the Great Fairy sword passes inches above Legend’s head as he plunges his sword into the lizal’s chest and twists, the lizal’s flailing going still, and Time cleaves through the skullfish bearing down on them.

With a flash of metal, Legend’s shield goes up right as the last lizal heaves its trident’s prongs down. The screech of metal on metal is agonising, even underwater, but Twilight’s second hookshot latches onto the shaft of the trident, ripping it out of the monster’s hands.

Taking the opening just given to him, Legend surges up and stabs straight through the lizal’s throat. Now the skullfish do flee, leaving nothing but black blood around them as the water starts to still.

Legend leans forward on his sword, panting, and Time notices a wisp of red rise from his side. Twilight drops down beside him, the two of them swatting at each other’s hands as he tries to see the wound.

Leaving them to it, Time tightens his grip on his sword as his adrenaline starts to fade. Only seconds ago the blade had been light but now it feels like its weight could pull his entire arm to the ground.

Everything aches. Fatigue feels like weights tied around his wrists and ankles, and presses down on his shoulders. But they’re almost there, almost to the tunnel. Just a little more.

He wonders if Twilight and Legend are ready for that, given how haggard they look. Though, he muses, he probably looks worse.

He turns to them, hand already outstretched to pull them up when something crashes into the water above, sinking down deep in a plume of bubbles.

Time’s head snaps up, his sword raised and at the ready for the lizal to shoot towards them. But it’s not a lizal.

Out of the corner of his eye, he thinks he sees Legend order him to go, but the sign isn’t necessary. He’s already moving: shoving his sword into his pouch haphazardly, and swimming upwards as fast as he can while Wild sinks deeper, hands clawing at the water as he writhes.

Time crashes into him, wrapping his arm around Wild’s waist and kicking upwards, but Wild doesn’t stop his thrashing. His nails scratch at the skin of Time’s arms, catching on the bites left behind by the skullfish as he kicks madly.

It’s a familiar panic. He’d done this before, barely even an hour ago when they’d been separated by the Desbrekos, but that time he had been drowning. This time he’s barely even been in the water for more than a few seconds. It’s not water filling Wild’s lungs that’s causing him to act this way; it’s pure panic and fear.

Time breaks through the surface, gasping in air, and hauls Wild upwards. Even as his head rises above the water, Wild doesn’t stop his fight, and now Time can hear what he’s begging, which is worse.

“—me go, let me go, please no I can’t!” Wild flails, almost shoving them back under, and Time grunts.

“No, hey, Wild, it’s me!”

He grapples with Wild to hold him still, working on pinning his limbs to his sides. It takes more effort than Time expects, not only keep a hold of Wild but also keep them both afloat.

More than once he dips down, water creeping up his neck and over his jaw and he has to kick hard to rise back up.

With a desperate high whine, Wild goes limp against him, choking out one last pitiful whimper of, “Please no more.”

This is not any easier to hear than it was the first time. There is not a single world, a single timeline where Time thinks he will ever be able to stand hearing Wild beg for his life like this.

“It’s okay, cub,” he pants, holding Wild tighter. “You’re okay, you’re not there. I know you think you are but you’re out. You got out and we’ll make sure you never go back in. I promise you that.”

“Time.” Wild gasps out. “I’m sorry, I—I don’t… I can’t…”

“Where are you?” Time demands, and for the very first time since he started asking, Wild manages to answer him. He speaks slowly, voice catching in his throat but he still speaks.

“The dungeon. We’re in the dungeon. Not… I’m not in the Shrine.” He takes a shaky breath. “You said that I… I got out.”

“You did get out, Wild. And we will get out of here.” Relief nearly sinks them again and Time kicks harder, refusing to let Wild go when he squirms.

Wild cranes his neck, trying to look at him. “Are you hurt?!”

The déjà vu makes Time laugh and he loosens his grip, letting Wild tread water beside him where he flutters anxiously, eyeing up every single wound he can possibly see.

Time reaches out, one hand cupping Wild’s face. “Hey, look at me.”

It takes a long moment before Wild does, painfully shy and embarrassed, but Time has always been able to wait him out. “We’re okay. Both of us. You hear me? I’m exhausted but I’m okay, and so are you.”

Wild nods so quickly Time worries he’ll give himself whiplash. “Y-yeah.” He closes his eyes and takes another deep breath. “We’re okay. I can… I can do that.”

Almost instantly his eyes snap back open. “Twi and Legend!”

Oh, here he goes. Time shakes his head, amused but touched all the same. “They’re fine too. Just a bit tired, it was a tough fight. But they’re—”

“MOVE!” Twilight roars at them, bursting out of the water.

Time doesn’t ask for more information. He doesn’t even pause. He grabs Wild’s arm and starts swimming. He has never heard that tone come from Twilight before but he has no doubt about what caused it.

There’s a patch of dry ground relatively nearby, large enough that he’s certain if they get to it they’ll be fine. Something reddish-pink moves below and Time nearly slams right into the edge of a long ice floe that rises to the surface.

Legend, you’re amazing!

He clambers onto the slippery ice, reaching back and hauling Wild up after him. In the water below, the Morpheel rockets towards them, its tail pushing it up out of a crevice.

“Go!” Time yells, sprinting across the ice.

After all the swimming he’s done, it almost feels strange to run, feel his lungs and muscles burning as he pants for air. And as useful as Legend’s ice rod has been, it has its drawbacks.

The slippery surface makes his feet skid and he dangerously overcorrects, nearly pulling Wild back into the water with him. Wild yanks him back upright and onward, their feet pounding over the last few metres.

Behind them, the Morpheel breaches the surface. Ice shatters, water surges.

Time’s thrown off his feet, launched forward by the ensuing wave and the blocks of ice. Instinct has him pull Wild close, twisting so Time will be the one to hit the water first.

The impact with dry ground knocks the air out of him, as does Wild’s weight crashing down atop him. His neck snaps back, head slamming into the rocky floor, and Time moans as stars burst in front of his eyes.

But there’s still danger nearby so he forces his lungs to work the way they’re supposed to and tells his headache to fuck off. He gets an elbow underneath him and looks back the way they came as the Morpheel crashes back into the water.

If they hadn’t just been in the water themselves, the spray would’ve soaked them to the bone. Time spits water from his mouth, wiping his face as he watches its tail flare up into the air and smack angrily against the surface before it dives.

Beside him, still half collapsed across Time’s stomach, Wild stares at the Morpheel with that same intense look he had before, like a predator watching its prey.

Time blindly grabs for his arm. “Wild, are you okay?”

Wild blinks, startling back almost as though he’d forgotten Time is beside him. “What? Oh, yeah.”

He glances back to the water, where the Morpheel’s shadow circles in the distance, one hand almost unconsciously falling to the wounds on his sides.

It seems to have decided to wait and watch, rather than immediately charge for Twilight and Legend, which is exactly like what it had done earlier with Time, allowing the Desbrekos to try to overwhelm him. 

“It’s still here.” Wild pushes himself to his feet, hunched over but still upright. “Twi and Legend… they can’t face it alone.”

“You can barely stand.” Time tells him, keeping his voice clipped, only to immediately eat his words when he also tries to get up.

His vision tunnels, going fuzzy and black, and his head pounds. Sucking in air through his nose, Time grits his teeth, riding through the waves of pain. Saliva floods his mouth but he ignores it, forcing his lungs to inhale and expand in an even rhythm.

When his vision clears, he’s halfway back to the floor, leaning heavily on Wild.

“Time?!” Wild tries to temper his voice but the fear still gets through.

“’M okay.” He groans in response and he can just imagine the look Wild gives him.

“You are not.”

His traitorous body agrees as the nausea inside him surges. He doubles over, gagging. He can barely even able to hear Wild’s voice over the loud tattoo of his heartbeat in his ears, unable to do anything but focus on coughing up bile and keeping his insides… inside.

“Okay, down you go.” Wild tells him when the fit passes and Time finds himself on his back, staring at the glittering ceiling above.

Wild peers down at him, worrying his bottom lip between his teeth, and gently probes the back of Time’s head, whispering apologies whenever his fingers cause a spark of pain to shoot down Time’s spine.

Time jams his eye closed again, finding the darkness helps the pain just a little, though there isn’t much he can do to hide his sigh of relief when Wild's hand leaves his hair.

“Congratulations, you’ve got a concussion.” Wild says flatly. He starts to speak, but cuts himself off, right as an odd sound reaches Time's ears. 

There's a loud clang of metal against metal, and his eye flies open. Another lizal leaps away from Wild’s spear, beating a large pair of wings to keep itself airborne. Wild glares at it as he readjusts himself to stand between it and Time.

The lizal cocks its head, darting back and forth as its wings beat the air, and raises its shield cautiously, but Wild stays where he is, patiently waiting. 

With a snort, it soars upwards amongst the stalactites, weaving back and forth. Abruptly its wings flare out once and then it dives down towards them, streaking through the air, a wicked blade aimed right for Wild’s throat.

The gleaming head of his spear catches the light as Wild twirls it, batting the lizal’s sword aside. He spins the spear again as it tries to disengage, whirling it around and stabbing out. The spearhead nicks the lizal’s side and it squawks.

But Wild isn't finished. He kicks the spear upwards and straight out, slashing right through the webbing of the lizal's wing. It crashes to the ground with a pitiful squeal and hurriedly scrambles to get back onto its feet as Wild advances on it.

They circle each other carefully, Wild’s eyes narrowed in concentration. With another snarl, the lizal strikes first. It feints, jabbing towards his chest then changing the angle, sweeping the blade towards his legs. Wild darts back, letting the lizal keep the offensive.

The lizal’s sword whistles as it cuts through the air towards his face and Wild ducks low, the spear twirling between his fingers. He slides backwards, out of the range of the sword, and the shaft of the spear thumps into the flat of his forearm.

Chittering, the lizal swings at him again. Wild darts to the side and something in him changes. He starts forward, his grip on the spear loosening, the shaft sliding through his grip.

Then his hand closes tight around the very butt of the spear and he whirls in place, jabbing the blade straight through the lizal’s throat.

The lizal’s blade clatters to the ground as it dies, leaving Wild standing there breathing heavily while Time stares at him.

Those are not the spear forms Time knows are taught to soldiers. Those look like traditional Zora spear forms. How long has Wild known how to fight like that?

"Sorry. Thought I got rid of all of those already." Wild pants over his shoulder, offering Time a weak smile. The moment his breathing starts to even out, he turns back to look at the cave, scanning for more danger.

Whatever he sees makes him tense up. “Oh shit.”

“What?” Time demands.

It’s a bad idea, but he eases himself up onto one elbow. The Morpheel is still circling in the distance, still watching, still waiting. The behaviour is still concerning but not new, so Time keeps looking.

Flashes of metal glint below the surface. Legend darts between a lizal and a Desbreko, his sword a blur as he deflects blow after blow. Time pushes himself up further, ignoring the way his vision starts to go fuzzy and unfocused.

He needs to know what’s going on. 

More trails of red move in Legend’s wake – no doubt blood, given the onslaught of the lizal’s blade and the Desbreko snapping at his unguarded side. He looks exhausted, even from here.

And then Time’s gaze catches on something else and he feels as though he can’t breathe.

Further back, close to one of the crevices, Twilight hangs unmoving in the water. Already Time considers and dismisses a variety of options: he’s not dead, not just watching Legend struggle, not checked out for some reason.

What… what is happening?

The water around him shifts, rippling slightly, and it clicks.

Oh, Goddesses please no. The bari.

A group of them float around Twilight, almost invisible thanks to the distance and Time’s wobbly vision. Whenever one of them stops discharging electricity, another one bobs forward to take its place, keeping Twilight frozen in an endless loop. 

Time’s been caught by those before, he knows what the shock feels like. It rips all control over your limbs away from you, leaving you hanging there, unable to do anything as the electricity streaks up and down your body.

But here in this cave there had been more important things to worry about, and Time had stopped even considering the bari a threat. They hadn’t even been worthy of being called a nuisance like the skullfish.

Foolishly, Time had thought the only role the bari had was to herd their group, and this is the result of his arrogance.

“Twilight…” He rasps out.

“Stay here.” Wild says, striding forward and raising his Slate.

Time stares after him, utterly confused. “Wild, wait!”

A shimmering block of ice bursts up out of the water in front of them, and Wild scrambles up the side of it with surprising agility, perching on top like a bird about to take flight.

With another swipe of his Slate, two more blocks appear in front of him, and he’s off, hopping between them.

Time curses, struggling to get to his feet. His stomach revolts, and he crashes hard onto his knees, but there’s nothing left for him to throw up, leaving him with the disgusting taste of bile sitting in the back of his mouth.

Slamming a fist against the ground, he pushes himself up onto unsteady feet and takes one step forward, then another. Everything wobbles and sways in a manner that does not help his stomach, but he squares his shoulders, fighting through it.

Before he can even consider the logistics behind diving in his condition, Wild stops darting between his summoned blocks of ice. He stands atop the latest one, swiping at his Slate, and his beautiful golden spear is replaced by a more mundane grey one.

The Sheikah Slate gets clipped back onto his waist and he hefts the spear up, peering into the water around him. The spear’s tip raises into the air, catching the light, and he hurls it into the water at full force, burying the head of the spear into the lizal’s shoulder.

Its mouth opens wide, no doubt screeching in pain, and its onslaught falters.

Legend moves.

He whirls around, the powerful muscles of his tail crashing into the lizal and slamming its head into the ground. Even from where he stands, Time has no doubt that blow likely shattered bone. The lizal doesn't get back up; it just floats there limply as its body begins to dissolve. 

Without a pause, Legend swings his sword out, cutting a deep groove into the Desbreko’s skull as it charges for him. It rolls through the water, trying to reorient itself, but Legend moves before it has the chance. 

In a single neat blow, he severs its spine as he carves downwards between its ribs. It has barely even begun to dissolve properly before he's off, speeding towards Twilight and raising his hookshot.

The whip of silvery chain flies through the water and cut into the bari’s body. As the claws close around its head, digging deep gouges into it, he reels the chain back in and fires again and again and again.

Eventually Twilight goes limp and sags forward, crashing right into Legend’s shoulder. Time can't see anything that Legend might be doing, how he's checking on Twilight, but he can see the way Legend eases Twilight’s head up, trying to provoke a reaction.

Wild peers down at them from his perch on the ice block and lets out a sigh so large that Time can see his shoulders slump, before he turns to give Time a thumbs up.

Relief nearly knocks him back onto his ass. Time takes a deep breath and presses his hands to his face, hoping to erase the image of Twilight stuck there as electricity crackles through his body.

That had been too close. He'd been too over-confident and everyone else has had to pay the price for that.

Get yourself together, Link, he scolds his mind, forcing his hands away from his face. Now is not the time for this. Now is the time for focusing. Now it's not one but three members of their little group who are badly injured, and there's no saying what injuries Legend has sustained that Time can't see. 

But as frustrating and muddling as this concussion is, he’s not dead. He can get them through this if he thinks and plans carefully. They’ll likely have to change their—

The Morpheel turns and all of Time’s attention snaps to it.

He watches as it shifts away from where it had been circling above one of the far crevices and begins to glide almost lazily through the water towards Twilight and Legend.

Like it or not, up until now it had never shown any aggression towards anyone other than Wild and, while Time hadn’t wanted to test that, he had been relying on that behaviour to go unchanged. However it appears his favour with the Goddesses has run out and he’s being punished for his arrogance yet again.

“No,” Time mutters under his breath as it drifts closer. “Shit, no.”

He can’t just watch but the moment he tries to move forward, reaching for the Great Fairy sword from his pouch, the back of his head sparks with pain.

With a moan he staggers and goes down on one knee. Only determination and anger prevents him from ending up back on the ground.

The sparks of pain start to catch, flaring around the inside of his skull and ricocheting down his spine until all he feels is an inferno burning into him. But still he gathers himself and tries to get back up.

He doesn’t have for this! Twilight and Legend don’t have time for this!

Forcing his eye open, Time struggles to stand, struggles to think of something he can do in his condition.

The Morpheel powers closer to Legend, who’s trying his best to lug Twilight to safety. But they’re too far away and it’s too fast for Legend to outswim, especially carrying Twilight's weight.

From his spot on the ice block, Wild taps at his Slate, dropping a few arrows by his feet and raising his bow. He nocks arrow after arrow, letting them fly, but the Morpheel doesn’t even twitch as they stick into its side.

It closes in, its jaw opening and revealing its dagger-like teeth. Legend pulls Twilight behind him, struggling to cover him with his body like a shield.

Time starts forward, ready to dive into the water, concussion be damned, when Wild makes a decision for him instead. 

He straightens up on his ice block, swiping at the Slate. A new ice block appears, further away than the others he’d summoned and in the opposite direction of the Morpheel.

This block of ice seems too far to jump to, but Wild stares at it, his fists clenched tightly by his sides. Even from where Time stands, he can see the way Wild's whole body shakes as he takes a deep breath. 

And then he dives, plunging into the water.

The Morpheel straightens out, its head twisting around as its spines shudder and quake. It rockets around Twilight and Legend, its gigantic body passing by them and buffeting them with its currents, and then it speeds off towards Wild, who’s swimming for his new block of ice.

Both Legend and Time watch, baffled, as Wild pulls himself up, swiping at his Slate again. Two more ice blocks appear close by him, and he turns to face the Morpheel.

It races for him, diving low and pushing its body up, gathering speed. Seconds before it breaks through the surface of the water, Wild leaps.

There’s a second where it feels like he hangs in the air, the Morpheel’s giant spines missing him by inches as it shatters the block of ice he’d just stood on. Then Wild slams into the side of the next ice block, hauling himself up onto it as the Morpheel crashes into the depths.

Time stares, a whirling eddy of emotions raging inside him. Everything crashes against each other: anxiety, anger, worry, fear.

Legend surfaces, holding Twilight close, and swims to the rocky edge Time stands on. “Here,” he pants, trying to lift Twilight up, “I can’t. I need you to take him.”

Swallowing back another load of nausea, Time bends down, hissing as his vision whites out. He feels wet scales beneath his palms and grabs onto Twilight, lifting him up and onto dry ground.

Twilight groans as Time lays him down, his eyes half-lidded and hazy. Aside from the cut on his chest from his earlier encounter with the Morpheel, the only sign of any new injuries he's sustained is the twitching and shaking of his limbs.

Time presses his fingers to Twilight’s neck, relieved when his pulse still beats steady and evenly. Twilight shifts against the pressure, eyes fluttering slightly.

“’M okay.” He mumbles, providing exactly no reassurance with his words.

The Morpheel launches itself into the air again – much closer to their little patch of land – and Time and Legend freeze.

They watch as Wild once again leaps out of the way, scaling the side of the ice block. The Morpheel thrashes as it lands in the water, its tail stirring the currents as it powers for another dive.

“Legend!” Time bends over the edge, holding his hand out and Legend gratefully reaches up.

The effort to pull him up nearly makes Time vomit up his stomach, but they manage to land in a groaning pile of limbs, wet hair and mermaid tail. Legend curses, pushing himself up onto his elbows and shoving at Time’s side. “Move!”

Time staggers to his feet obligingly, watching as Wild leaps again out of the Morpheel’s path.

As he jumps, there’s a familiar faint pause as a tick tick tick rings in Time’s ears, the indication that Wild is using his champion ability. Time watches, waiting for him to act. 

But nothing happens.

Wild does not draw his bow and let a salvo of arrows fly as he leaps. Instead, as quickly as it started, the ticking stops and he smacks into the side of the newest block of ice.

Legend rolls over onto his stomach and sweeps his ice rod out. Frost speeds along the surface of the water, cracking and snapping as it solidifies into a long, thin platform. “Get your ass over here!” He roars at Wild.

Wild throws a look behind him, watching the Morpheel power through the water, ready to make one last charge. He tenses, shifting his weight, and stares it down, watching as it comes closer and closer, its maw opening wide.

In the glittering light of the cavern’s walls, the sight of the Morpheel tearing through the surface of the water is almost as beautifully fascinating as it is horrifying.

Wild jumps forward a second before it smashes through the block of ice he’d been perched on, and skids onto the platform Legend had made, slipping sideways but catching himself at the last second.

His feet pound against the ice, the Morpheel crashing back into the water behind him. It writhes angrily, trying to push itself forward to catch up, but Wild's given himself a handful of seconds to sprint for safety.

And those precious seconds are all he needs.

As the Morpheel speeds after him, Wild sprints off the ice and straight into Time’s hold, nearly knocking them both over. Time grabs onto him, feeling the way his heart is beating a mile a minute in his chest, and looks out at the water.

With a frustrated flick of its tail, the Morpheel slows and turns, vanishing back into the deep below.

The moment it vanishes into the crevice, Time glares at Wild. “What the hell were you thinking?”

“You said that it’s focused on me.” Wild pants, keeping his words short and sharp. “So I took a gamble and it worked. It kept Legend and Twi safe.”

When had he…? Time had said that to Twilight earlier, but he hadn’t realised… “You heard that?”

“Was I not supposed to?” 

Wild tries to straighten up, ready to push away from Time, but his face goes bone-white and he pitches forward so fast Time almost doesn't get the chance to catch him. They crash to their knees, Time trying not to gag on more bile as the force of the thud sparks a chain reaction of pain in his head.

The moment he can see again, he frantically cups Wild’s face, opening his mouth to demand Wild tell him what’s wrong, though he cuts himself off when he sees the blood on his hand, staining Wild's cheek.

Time pulls him closer and carefully peels back the tattered edges of his Zora armour to see the bite mark on his sides. The fairy had managed to barely seal the wounds, leaving angry red flesh behind, but now they've torn, reopening and letting fresh blood slowly seep down his sides.

While not as deep as they once had been, the wounds are still deep enough to be trouble.

“Shit.” Time growls. “Legend!”

“Yeah, I see it.” Legend doesn’t even try to push himself over to them, just chucks a roll of bandages in Time’s direction.

It says a lot when Wild doesn’t even protest as Time wraps them as tightly as he can around his ribs. He leans into Time’s side completely silently, the only noise an occasional hiss of pain.

“I think we should rest.” Legend says once Time’s finished. “Rancher can’t walk yet anyway.”

“Fuck off,” Twilight groans, slightly more coherently than before, “I said ‘m fine.”

“Stand up then.” Legend suggests primly and gets a middle finger in response.

A rest, in Time's opinion, sounds utterly amazing. 

He wants to say he helps Wild over, but really the two of them act as each other’s support, leaning heavily against each other’s shoulders. By the Golden Three, he swears they only have one functioning body between them now.

He eases Wild down next to Twilight, who obligingly lets Wild scoot into his side, and rests a hand on Twilight’s forehead, frowning as he feels the tremors still shaking through Twilight’s body.

“Rest, pup." He says quietly. "We can afford a little time.”

Twilight manages a nod. “There’s a spring nearby, blessed by the Light Spirit Lanaryu. It’s a safe place and fairies tend to flock there. That’s where Sky was herding the others too when Ledge and I left to come here. We’ve just gotta get there, then we’ll be fine.”

It sounds idealistic to assume they’ll be able to get there with not a single problem, but they’re all running low on energy. Being a little idealistic most definitely can't hurt.

“How far away is it?”

Twilight hums, waving a hand towards the walls beside them. “The tunnel’s nearby. Like I said, we walk for a bit, swim out of the Temple entrance and across the lake and then we’re good.”

It’s close now, then. Time nods, stroking his thumb across Twilight’s brow. “Good. Then rest a bit while we can.”

“Ugh, you rest.” is all Twilight can manage to fire back, but he lets his hand flop onto his stomach, staring up at the ceiling. “Ow. That fucking sucked. How you holding up, cub?”

“All of this has sucked.” Wild mumbles in agreement, bumping the sides of their heads together. “I never want to see any more water again for the rest of my life.”

“Pretty sure you need it to survive.” Twilight hums thoughtfully.

Wild makes a pssh noise, waving a hand dismissively. “Pretty sure that’s quitter talk.”

“Back me up here, Old Man!” Twilight protests, eyes crinkling as he laughs, but Time raises his hands, shuffling away from the two. They both boo him.

Wild sighs, trying to curl into Twilight’s side without rolling over onto his wounds. “You know—ow fuck, ugh—the Temple’s real pretty though, Twi.”

Twilight grins. “Thought you’d say that. Once the Zora get the water levels under control, we should come back so you can get some pictures for Flora. Bet she’d like those.”

Wild snickers. “Don’t think you’re getting out of being there when I show her.”

Time turns away from them, moving towards Legend. They hadn’t had time before but now the painful collection of sword cuts and skullfish bites he’s managed to accumulate are obvious. He's wrapped the largest ones of the bunch, and uses his teeth to pull a bandage around his upper arm tight.

Time rests a hand on his shoulder, studying the bandages to see if they'll hold. “How bad is it?”

“Had worse.” Legend huffs dismissively, though he still moves tenderly, favouring his hip as he shuffles and leans back.

Before Time can ask another question or even let out a noise of sadness – because sometimes he forgets how young Legend is and just how much he's had to face – Legend grabs a handful of scales around his thigh and pulls.

His whole body goes tense beneath Time’s hand, and he bites down hard on his lip as the tail starts to give way in his hand.

Time gapes as the scales shift and change, flaking away as Legend pulls and leaving his legs and bare feet behind. The skin is red and raw, almost like he’s been burnt by the sun.

Legend stays quiet through it all until he holds what looks like a limp, scaly blanket, but he’s almost drawn blood with the force used to keep his noises of pain to himself.

“Hey, Ledge.” Wild says from Twilight’s shoulder. “What the fuck.”

“What?” Legend shoves the scales into his pouch briskly and pulls out his socks and boots, very intentionally not looking at any of them as he does so, but the red tinge to his ears give him away.

Time grips his shoulder tighter. “Legend.”

“Don’t.”

“Legend, did that hurt you?”

“No.”

“Really? Because it sure looked like it hurt you.”

“You’re seeing things.”

“My concussion isn’t that bad.”

Legend whirls around and squints at him. “When the fuck did you get a concussion?”

“Irrelevant.” Time deflects just as fast. “But Legend—”

“Fuck, I knew you’d do this.” He grumbles, throwing his hands up. “Yes, okay! It hurts to put the tail on and take it off! But that’s why I kept it on, so I’d only have to do it a limited number of times today! Unlike somebody!”

Twilight waves a hand to get their attention. “He wore some kind of flippers to get down here, and only put the tail on when we realised how flooded it was. I did not see that before, I’m not taking any blame for this.”

“Traitor.” Legend hisses at him before pointing a finger at Time. “And don’t you start.”

Time raises his hands, the picture of innocence, and files away the teasing potential for later. There’s no point jabbing at Legend for being hypocritical when Time would do, and actively has done, the exact same thing.

He changes tracks, deciding to stay focused. “Do you need to rest? The bari must’ve—”

Legend cuts him off with a shake of his head, sliding one of his many rings off his finger and holding it up so the green gem catches the light. “Blocks electrical attacks.” He looks remorseful. “I’ve only got one.”

I'm sorry I couldn't do more for Twilight, he doesn't say and promptly breaks Time's heart.

It takes all his strength to keep that reaction from showing on his face, but Time's proud that he manages to do so as he tells Legend, "I'm glad you have it then."

"What about you?" Legend reaches up, trying to prod at the back of Time's head. "And don't give me some bullshit about being fine."

If he didn't think that rolling his eye would probably make him try to throw up his guts, Time would do it. "Had worse." He teases lightly. "Nausea's passing. Vision's not great, but I can manage that and the pain."

Legend leans over the side of their little outcropping and scoops up a chunk of ice that had broken off from the Morpheel's attack, shoving it into Time's hands. "Come on, we're laying down too."

"Finally." Twilight grumbles, raising one arm and waving his hand at them. 

Legend's legs are apparently no more stable than Time's are, so they collapse in a heap onto the cavern floor, wriggling until no one's leaning on anyone else's major injuries.

Time rests his head on the ice block as he leans against Twilight's free side, paying close attention to the way the tremors have started to ease.

"Twilight, I hate this place." Legend grumbles as he settles in next to Wild.

"Yeah, it's a little annoying right now." Twilight agrees calmly. "In my defence, I really wasn't planning to come back down here any time soon, not until King Ralis asked for my help to clear some of the monsters out."

Time hums. "Does that happen regularly?"

"Often enough." Twilight huffs. "Seems like there are always new hordes popping up out of the woodwork every few months."

It's been a while since Time's era has been that unstable. Aside from the stalchildren – which no one can work out the root of in order to eliminate permanently – most of his time has been peaceful for years. Perhaps he's forgotten that struggle and gotten too used to that level of peace.

After a few minutes of silence, Legend speaks up, picking his words carefully like he doesn't want to break the peace that's settled over them. 

"I think that it’ll be able to follow us out. We should probably talk about that.”

Time watches Twilight's chest rise and fall as he sighs. “I’d been trying really hard to not think about that honestly.”

Someone shifts – Wild, based off the hiss of pain Time hears. “What makes you think it’ll get out of the Temple?”

Twilight takes over. “I’m sure you’ve noticed. A lot of my Hyrule is unstable. The ground I mean. The Gorons keep track of the sinkholes that pop up, but there’s only so much they can do.

"And the lakebed was built on top of a reservoir. I don’t know why it ended up like this but the best the Gorons and Zora figure, the new part of the lakebed is breaking apart, revealing pockets and tunnels left over from the old one.”

“Ah.” Time says. “This cave.”

“Uh huh. This cave and all the other ones, they’re more than likely connected.”

Twilight pauses, hesitantly before admitting, “And there are crevices in the lakebed too. New ones that have broken open in the last few months. The Zora haven’t mapped them yet. They’re worried it’s still too unstable, but that means we have no idea what connects to what.”

He shifts, moving to sit up, and they all rise with him.

Twilight keeps one arm around Wild as he meets Time’s gaze, apologetic and subdued. “Legend’s right. It will be able to follow us. I’m sorry, I should’ve said something sooner.”

“No, there’s nothing we can do to it, not as we are now.” Legend immediately argues. “Come on, you’ve had to have noticed it too. Every single thing we’ve run into hasn’t been put here to stop us; it’s been put here to wear us down.”

When Time thinks about it, turns the words over in his mind, he realises Legend’s right. The monsters they’ve faced have been strong but not as strong as some of the black-blooded enemies they’ve faced.

But why though? Why make them run a gauntlet while being chased by a monster he doesn’t even know if they can kill?

What’s the Shadow trying to prove here?

There’s an answer right in front of him, he knows it, but every time he tries to reach for it, his mind slips and loops back to the start. Time presses his fingers to his forehead, resigned to the headache that pounds against his eyes.

All the questions he’s trying to answer now are irrelevant in the grand scheme of things. The main thing to focus on for now is escaping the Temple and the lake alive.

“When we get out of the Temple’s entrance, one of us needs to get Wild out of the water.” He starts.

“Wha—hey!” Wild instantly protests but Time holds up a hand.

“No. On top of the blood loss you’ve already had, you’re now bleeding again. And you’ve inhaled water three times. If the three of us have been run down, what does that mean for you?”

There’s nothing he can possibly argue with, but Wild still sets his jaw, defiant to the end.

Twilight talks over him, stopping whatever argument is about to start. “You should go, Time. You’ve been here just as long and you’re nearly as injured.”

He flicks his eyes to Legend. “Vet and I will hold it off for as long as we can. Give you two time to get out of the water.”

Legend nods immediately, pulling his socks on his feet. “When we were coming in here, you told me the entry’s unstable. If we time it right, we can bury it under rubble with a few bombs. There's no guarantee that'll deal with it for good, but it'll buy us the time we need. Besides no one's stupid enough to come down here until it's gone."

“Other than us, you mean.” Twilight laughs, but Time can see he’s already sold himself on Legend’s plan.

“Is there a crevice in the entrance to the Temple?” He asks.

Twilight nods, spreading his hands wide. “Huge. Not sure when it happened but the floor’s collapsed. If it’s going to ambush us, it’ll be there.”

“And if it doesn’t?” Wild asks, startlingly sharp. “If it catches us in the open water, then what?”

Legend grimaces. “Then it’s a sprint, simple as that.”

“It’s too fast for any of us and it doesn’t matter how hard you hit it, it starts regenerating in seconds.” Wild points out.

There’s something about his voice, about the way he talks, but Time can’t focus on it even when he tries.

“You think I don’t know that?” Legend bites back. Even as Twilight raises a hand, he doesn’t back down. “If that’s really what ends up happening, there’s nothing else we can do.”

As soon as the words leave his mouth, Legend wilts, cursing quietly under his breath, before he shoves himself upwards and bats away Twilight’s hand. “We’re wasting time. Can everyone move?”

Wild watches him sadly as Twilight staggers to his feet, legs shaky but not failing him. Time reaches out and rests a hand on Wild's back.

He’s not entirely sure what he’s trying to say in that gesture, whether it’s an apology for not being able to guarantee anything more, a reprimand for pushing, or even comfort as they prepare to walk to their deaths, but it’s all he can give Wild now.

Wild spares him a tiny smile before they too struggle upright, and Time takes a moment to check the bandages around Wild’s abdomen, frowning at the spots of blood already starting to stain. He wants to deal with them, but there are no supplies left.

All they can do is push forward and pray they’re fast enough.

Lanterns in hand, Twilight and Legend lead the way, walking up a curling incline towards a dark hole hidden in the wall. Surprisingly these walls do not glow and the light of the cavern behind them fades fast.

The air inside is stale and mildewy, and the lantern-light casts odd shadows against the rocks. More than once Time trips, staggering when his boot catches against a hidden lump in the floor, but he rights himself and keeps going, pulling Wild along after him.

When Legend turns, eyebrows furrowed, Time just shakes his head. There’s no point stopping again. No matter how much Twilight slows down, his legs shaking, or how often Wild drifts, his grip on Time’s hand weakening, it's obvious that if they stop now then they’ll never get moving again.  

The lantern-light causes his vision to swim and wobble, messing with his already compromised depth perception and making his headache even worse, but Time focuses on putting one foot in front of the other.

He promised Wild that he wouldn’t let him drown down here. Between that promise and the determination to see sunlight and breathe in fresh air, his legs keep moving forward.

The tunnel likely isn’t as long as it feels, but when the walls start to move outwards, abruptly opening up into a large room carved out of faintly glowing rock, Time can’t quite hide his sigh of relief.

Extinguishing his lantern, Legend sits on the rocky edge, pulling his boots and socks back off, while Twilight squints into the water. Time joins him, staring into the murky depths.

“Can’t see much.” Twilight mutters, frustrated. “Do we want to risk it?”

“There’s no other option.” Time says back reluctantly.

He turns as Legend slides on his scales, gritting his teeth against the pain of the transformation. Wild sits beside him, uncomplaining as Legend grips his hand tightly, clearly apologising the only way he can think to do so.

He doesn't stop staring blankly at the water below, even as Legend muffles a curse as the transformation finishes. It's worrying. Even at his worst when Wild had been begging to be put into the Shrine, there had not been that level of resignation in his eyes.

Twilight straightens up, stowing his lantern as well. “I don’t think there’s much point scouting. Are we all ready?”

“Stop asking me that.” Legend groans, shoving himself into the water with a splash.

When Twilight looks at him, Time gestures to the water. ‘Give us a second.’

“See you two down there.” Twilight says cheerfully, squeezing Wild’s shoulder as he dives in.

Time sits down next to Wild, pressing their shoulders together. “Are you ready?”

Wild manages the ghost of a smile. “I think you’re going to have to stop asking me that.”

The smile slips away and he sighs. “I… just want this to be over already. I feel like I’m… I don’t even think I’m scared anymore, but I don’t feel anything else either."

Wrapping an arm around his shoulders, Time pulls him close and rests his chin on top of Wild’s head, closing his eye. Wild grabs a fistful of his tunic, pressing close. He doesn’t fall apart like he’d done before, just holds on the best he can.

They’re both too exhausted for tears now.

“I just can’t get it out of my head. I know Legend’s ring works but…” Wild mumbles into Time’s shoulder, “I can’t stop thinking, you know, what if this doesn’t work. I-I mean, what if this my last breath of air? What if I go under and I don’t come up?”

Time frowns as his breathing starts to race, faint dredges of fear making themselves known.

“Match my breaths, Wild, you’re panicking.” He breathes in purposefully and feels the way Wild struggles to copy him.

They sit there for a second as Wild wrangles with his fear.

“I will do everything in my power to make sure you don’t drown.” Time tells him once he’s calmed a bit, asking the Golden Three to ensure this is the one time he can keep the promise. “I won’t leave you to that fate, I swear it.”

Wild lets out a strangled sob and nods. They sit there a moment longer before Time sighs, opening his eye and patting Wild’s back softly. “We should move. Come on.”

Wild grips his hand tightly, Legend’s Zora ring pressing into his fingers, and they slide into the water. The rush of freezing water makes Time’s head hurt so badly he can feel it in his teeth, and Wild floats beside him until he can get his bearings again.

Swimming, putting it politely, sucks but he can't do anything but grit his teeth and bear it.

The abyss opens up beneath them, stretching from one end of the room to the other. Something shifts in the shadows below, and Time moves them along faster, hurrying towards where Legend and Twilight are floating, mid-way towards a large archway.

‘You made it.’ Legend jokes, his eyes fixed on the abyss underneath them.

So they can all feel the Morpheel’s gaze then. That shouldn’t be relieving, but it is.

Time gives him a short nod, not even bothering to communicate anymore, eye flicking to the large archway at the end of the room. When Twilight follows his gaze, he gives a quick nod in return.

The exit is literally in sight.

Time tugs Wild forward slightly, inching towards the archway, and apparently that’s all it takes.

The Morpheel charges upwards, spines flaring as it darts through the water. With a huge pulse of his tail, Legend takes off after it, hookshot in hand. Twilight presses his hands flat against Time and Wild’s back, shoving them forward. Nothing needs to be said, no words need to be exchanged.

Clutching Wild’s hand tightly, Time pushes forward, bee-lining for the way out. Behind him the Morpheel roars and currents buffet them, but Time doesn’t stop, even when Wild slows slightly.

Like it or not, that is the plan. He will not look back, even though he desperately wants to.

A wave of water crashes into their backs, nearly slamming them into the high wall, and Time twists around, pulling Wild close. He has a second to see the Morpheel’s giant body charging closer with its mouth spread wide before Twilight reels himself on top its head and stabs down into its eye.

It thrashes madly but doesn’t change its trajectory, powering for them. Twilight twists his sword sharply and it bucks upwards with a screeching roar.

Keeping one arm locked around Wild’s, Time kicks off the wall, diving underneath the Morpheel’s body as Legend streaks past, dragging the edge of his sword in a long, deep gash through its side.

The Morpheel charges upwards and Time sees his chance. He pushes Wild ahead of him, forcing him down through the archway and into lighter waters.

Visible even at the bottom of the lakebed, sunlight dapples the surface above them. Wild moves upwards and Time matches his pace as they kick for the surface.

Time hears a loud boom behind him, but he can't stop to look. He has to have faith that Twilight and Legend's plan worked and that they'll surface soon enough. For now, he just swims, moving up and up.

Fresh air greets them like an old friend when their faces break the surface, and Time breathes in deeply. There’s still the smell of lake water and mildew, but he can hear birds and insects chirping. A light breeze presses against his skin and he sighs, opening his eye.

Wild floats beside him, head tilted back towards the early evening sky, a beautiful soft orange, and his eyes fixed on the sun. He doesn’t say anything but already there’s life returning to his face and lighting his eyes up.

They’ve both yearned for the sky, the sun, the world.

Time laughs a bit, reaching over to grab Wild’s hand, and gets an actual smile back. In the sunlight, he can see how pale Wild has become, but the tension in his body has started to ease.

“Come on, we need to get you out of here.” Time pulls him close, twisting around as he tries to find the nearest shore. A series of wooden bridges bob gently nearby, connecting a few small islands to the rising shore of the lake.

Picking one of the closest bridges, Time leads Wild forward. 

As they swim, familiar figures move onto the bridges. Wind waves both hands over his head, almost jumping as he yells something at them. Sky stands beside him, but in contrast he’s oddly still.

Something’s wrong.

He sees Wild look upwards and follows his gaze, spotting Sky’s beetle hovering above them. Dread starts to pool in his gut as his gaze snaps back to Wind.

Wild rips himself free of Time’s hold and pushes himself away, weakly swimming back the way they came. Time twists, trying to grab him, but Wild lashes out with one foot, barely missing his fingers.

“Wild! What are you doing?!”

“If this doesn’t work, you have to put on that mask again.” Wild yells over his shoulder as he moves further and further away. “Please. Don’t let it regenerate!”

Even though he hears what Wild is saying, Time doesn’t understand. 

Wild glides to a stop and turns back to face him. The intensity in his eyes is startling.

“Trust me.” Wild begs.

It’s the first time he’s asked Time to do so, asked him to return the trust he’s has so willingly placed in Time to keep him safe.

And despite the fact that Time hasn't been able to keep his promise, Wild still trusts him.

Everything is moving too quickly for Time to keep up with, as though he’s chained back by the concussion that throbs against his brow, but if there’s one thing he can do, it’s this.

“I do trust you.” Time tells him and Wild smiles, soft… and apologetic.

And then the water around Wild explodes.

For the second time today, Time stares in horror as he is thrown upwards, launched like a ragdoll into the air.

The Morpheel shoots upwards through the geyser, its body coiling and its spines pressed closed to its skin. No doubt its jaw is open wide, ready to clamp down on Wild’s body.

At the peak of the ascent is where it happens.

Wild twists against the backdrop of the orange sky, suddenly aglow with Sheikah-blue light. He raises a bow, his arrows burning blue, and Time feels his magic spread outwards.

His ears ring, filled with the ticking of Wild’s magic as, almost faster than Time can see, Wild lets salvo after salvo of ancient arrows fly.

The arrowheads bury themselves into the Morpheel’s eye over and over and over, too fast for it to even roar in pain.

Something slips. The ticking falters.

Another volley of ancient arrows find their mark and then Wild’s magic ricochets back to him, leaving only silence in Time’s ears.

In the sky, Wild’s bow slides through his fingers as he goes lax, falling limply towards the water below.

The Morpheel screeches as it slams back into the water and Time is already moving, pressing the Zora mask to his face as he dives through the water.

He only has seconds to get this right. He promised he would.

He speeds along the curve of its body, pushing himself faster than he’s ever moved before. The spines taper away, the flesh smoothing slightly, and Time spins, carving the blades of his fins straight through the Morpheel’s eye.

It thrashes, weaker than before, and Time whirls one last time, ripping his fins free and stabbing them all the way down to the hilt.

Black blood gushes from the wounds and clogs the water as the Morpheel goes limp, its body starting to disintegrate around the blades stuck in its eye.

Time pushes himself back, clapping one hand over his mouth so he doesn’t breathe any of it in, and swims out of the plume. 

Even as he glances to the surface, he knows it’s futile to hope. Wild isn't there so Time dives forward, shooting back through the water as he desperately searches.

The Morpheel’s giant body dissolves slowly, blocking most of Time’s view, but there's nothing underneath it, or hidden by its giant tailfin. He twists violently, frantic as he scans the water around him.

There! A little ways above, Wild floats unmoving with his arms outstretched. The evening sunlight catches on the strands of his hair, shining gold.

It would be a breathtaking sight if it wasn’t so horrific.

Time races for him, snagging his arms around Wild’s chest and shooting for the surface. Beneath his hands, Wild’s chest doesn’t move. It doesn’t try to suck in water or expel what may have already been swallowed. He can’t feel anything.

They break through the water’s surface, Time heaving Wild up to get his head into the air but there’s no splutter or inhale. Instead, Wild’s head lolls, falling back against Time’s shoulder.

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

Time holds him close as he looks around trying to find the nearest shore. Someone waving catches his attention.

Wind stands in the shallows, again waving both arms over his head. Behind him, Hyrule, Sky and Warriors are rushing to the bank as fast as they can, while Four cups his hands over his mouth and bellows, “OVER HERE!”

Say no more. Time readjusts his hold on Wild and swims for them.

Wind and Sky splash into the water to meet him, and Sky hooks his hands under Wild’s arms, hauling him onto dry land.

Time clambers after them, reaching up with one hand and wrenching the Zora mask free. He nearly face-plants back into the water, but someone shoves their body in the way, catching him.

“Don’t you dare, Sprite.” Warriors grumbles, getting one of Time’s arms over his shoulders. Hyrule takes his other side and they help Time stagger onto land.

His knees give out the moment grass bends under his feet, and he nearly brings them both down with him. Warriors kneels by his side, rubbing a hand into his back as the aftereffects of overusing the mask combined with a concussion rip through him.

Time gags once, even though he has nothing left to bring up. His arms feel like a single piece of hay, seconds away from snapping.

“On your count, Sailor.” Sky says firmly, and Wind starts counting.

When his vision manages to focus, Time watches as Wind presses down hard against Wild’s sternum, his rhythm much smoother than Legend's. Like it or not, this is something he's done before.

Sky and Hyrule – when had he gotten over there, what? – sit beside him, faces grim.

Time presses up against Warriors’ hand on his back, trying to get back to his feet. “L-let me help.”

"You sit your ass down." Warriors hisses in his ear, actually shoving Time flat against the muddy grass. A wave of pain spikes at the movement and Time bites down hard on his lip.

“Wars—” Four calls, jogging over to them, but Warriors shakes his head.

“I appreciate the concern, smithy, but he doesn’t look like he’ll be going anywhere by himself.”

Once he’s sure he’s not going to throw up or pass out, Time pushes upwards. A hand presses against his spine threateningly but, realising Time's not trying to escape for now, Warriors helps him roll onto his back, letting him see them properly for the first time.

Time stares at the white sling hanging around Warriors’ neck. The side of the fabric is wet, showing enough to reveal a splint wrapped tightly around his forearm.

Four looks better at least. The only remnant of whatever injury Legend had alluded to is the impressive black eye he’s sporting.

“W-what happened to you?” Time blurts out.

“Darknut tried to take my arm off.” Warriors returns with equal levels of bluntness and sticks a finger up in front of Time’s eye. “Follow.”

“’Lready know I’ve got a concussion, Captain.”

Warriors gives him a bland look and gestures to the array of bite marks in Time’s tunic. “Would you like me to start on these, then?”

Time tries to knock his hand away but Four catches his wrists and pins them to the ground beside his head. Time squirms but Four doesn’t let go. Damn the smithy's strength.

“Listen to me, I’m fine.” Time snaps. “A fairy healed these! You have to worry about Wild."

With direct, unwavering eye contact, Warriors raises a finger and gently pokes one of the marks on Time's stomach, and he has to bite down on his lip to prevent the whine of pain from leaving his mouth.

"You look fine." Four agrees airily, then glances to Warriors. "I don't want to risk it, Captain."

Grimly, Warriors nods. "When the rancher gets here—"

"If you're going to get Twilight to carry me to the spring," Time interrupts snidely, "then know that I'll be waiting until he can get himself there."

Both Warriors and Four start, though neither of them release their hold on Time's body.

Fuck, of course they'd see through that. Ugh, it was worth a shot.

"What happened to Twilight?" Four whips his head around to look at the lake.

Any remnants of the Morpheel have sunk far below the waves and the black blood has dissipated, leaving the water calm and serene. Two figures slowly swim towards them, Legend’s bedraggled hair bright in the sun.

"For fuck's sake." Warriors says flatly, sitting back on his heels and tilting his head towards the sky. “Just one day, please.”

“Captain!” Wind yells over his shoulder, panic in his tone, and Warriors is gone, sprinting for his side. The all too familiar crack of bone echoes in Time’s ears.

Oh, please no.

Time flails again, trying to get to his feet, but Four just pins him back down. The force isn’t really necessary, Time can already feel his strength fading, but he has to get to Wild.

“Old Man, could you just—ow, hey! Time, stop!”

“Let me just—” Time manages to wriggle onto his side and stares at the scene in front of him.

Wind presses hard against Wild’s chest, his face red as tears slide down his cheeks. With every push, his arms wobble, but he snarls and keeps trying, yelling out, “Thirty!”

Sky bends forward on command and Wild’s chest rises as he breathes into his mouth. Warriors and Hyrule crouch by Wild’s head, murmuring to each other.

Splashes echo beside them as Twilight pulls Legend onto dry ground, the two of them collapsing into a heap.

As Legend yanks the scales off his legs, Twilight sees the scene in front of him and goes pale, his legs nearly giving out underneath him.

“No,” he whispers, “no, but… Legend’s ring. It was—why didn’t it work?!”

He stumbles forward, Warriors rising to meet him with a hand on his chest. It’s telling that Twilight doesn’t even have the strength to push him aside.

“Wars, get out o—”

“He’s not wearing it.” Warriors says softly, his eyes moving between Twilight and Time. “Not now.”

“It… it didn’t fit properly.” The words tumble out of Time’s mouth almost unconsciously. “But he was… he had it on when we got out. I…”

Even though everything hurts and his mind aches, he scrambles to piece together what happened until the image of Wild falling limply towards the water resurfaces.

Time chokes, wrenching one hand free from Four’s grasp and pressing it to his mouth. The ring would only stay on properly if Wild kept his fingers bent, not all that hard to do as long as he stayed conscious.

But the smile Wild had given him seconds before the Morpheel attacked him, apologetic but resolute… that smile won’t leave Time’s head.

He hadn’t allowed himself to think about what happened yet. Everything had gone too fast.

Now, he watches Sky breathe more air into Wild's lungs, Time tries to work out how long Wild had been planning to kill the Morpheel. 

And how long had he been prepared to die so he could achieve that goal?

Time has to put the pieces together, because he should've seen this. Wild is not subtle by nature, he cannot have missed this. 

Wild must've been all but screaming at him to listen while all he had done was futilely promise him the same thing over and over and then do nothing to stop it from happening again.

I won’t let you drown. I won’t leave you to that fate, I swear.

Goddesses, he’d been blinded by those words, so blinded he’d missed this.

He has to think, he has to… he has to—he can’t look away as Sky breathes for Wild again. Yet Wild doesn’t stir, the water too deep in his lungs.

Fuck, no matter how hard he tries to concentrate, he can’t draw his gaze away from Wild, who lays there on the muddy bank with an almost peaceful look on his face.

Time sits there, still soaked to the bone, staring into the very face of his failure personified as the chaos unfolds around him. He can’t even move, can’t tear his eyes away from the scene in front of him.

He watches as Wind and Sky, tears staining their faces, keep trying to bring him back while Hyrule’s hands twitch, sparks of magic curling around his fingertips.

He watches as Twilight falls to his knees by Wild’s head, pressing a shaking hand to his forehead, while Legend hobbles over, his face ashen and pale, even allowing Warriors to put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

He watches as everyone else has to fix the consequences of his actions and his failures.

Wind pushes down hard and water gushes out of Wild’s mouth.

An echoing sob, bordering on hysterical, rises up from everyone as Sky rolls Wild onto his side before moving so Hyrule can take over. He presses his hands to Wild’s side, magic flaring, glowing brighter and brighter as night begins to fall.

No… not night…

Time starts to wobble, feeling the world start to fall away from him. Hyrule’s gleaming magic is the last thing he sees before his vision goes dark and he collapses.

He remembers floating, supported by water. Everything had felt lighter than air.

There had been pain, relentless and inescapable, but… but he remembers it ebbing away as the water began to fill everything.

That was good. That was what the water was meant to do.

It had been familiar. It had been right. There had been no reason to fight against it. He had been safe.

He still feels safe now, but everything is heavy.

That weightless untethered feeling from before has gone and now every bone in his entire body feels like it’s made of lead, pinning him to the ground.

There’s a strange sound, as familiar to him as the water all around him had been. His ear flicks as he idly listens, his mind wandering as it tries to work out what he can hear.

Plop, plop, plop.

Faster and faster, the sound echoes in his ears.

Oh. It’s water… but not.

He lays there and listens to the sound, memories blooming in the front of his mind.

Muscles trembling, hands heavy, body cold but in control. Streaks of faint grey and large blurs of violent pink, everything numb yet in agonising pain at the same time. Cold toes, cold fingers, wet fur, warm breath against his cheek.

As they unfurl before him, the memory of the water he’d been floating in starts to soften, smudging around the edges as it starts to slide through his fingers.

Instinctively he tries to recall it and bring it forward, but as though a hand had been placed upon his shoulder, something kindly stops him, holding him in place as the memory drifts further and further away.

Oddly, he doesn’t miss it. He thinks that he should, because he’s supposed to want to remember things.

For a brief moment, he considers fighting to keep the memory, but he doesn’t even remember what it was about.

A smell reaches his nose. A soft mixture of wet soil and life, something he knows intimately.

Oh, it’s not water he’s hearing. It’s rain.

He loves rain. Rain is a safe thing, something that reminds him he’s alive and that he’s lived another day.

He smiles, or at least he thinks he does.

A boom of thunder rolls overhead, resonating all the way into his bones. The rain continues to fall, pattering loudly as it bounces off of rocks.

Eventually he realises that, despite hearing rain, he doesn’t feel wet. He doesn’t know why discovering this makes him feel relieved.

Instead of wet, he’s warm. There’s nothing but warmth, seeping into him from all sides. Something firm rests beneath his cheek and ear, rising and falling in an even, consistent rhythm. Below that there’s the sound of beating and of life.

Wherever he is, it must be good. There is life here, warmth here. The rise and fall and the beating – a pulse, his mind whispers – are familiar. He knows he’s felt these and been comforted by them before.

Between the rain and the warmth, he feels safe.

Fingers gently brush through his hair, making his mind want to sink further and further into the warm embrace of sleep. He moves closer to the thing he’s resting against, ready to drift again.

Unfortunately the fingers stop, staying where they are, as someone murmurs, “Wild?”

Oh. Yeah. That’s him, right?

Wild squeezes his eyes closed even tighter, pressing himself into the warm pillow beneath him. It moves, a chuckle reaching his ears, and the hand in his hair shifts to his cheek, gently pushing him back. “Are you with me?”

Ugh no, he doesn’t want to wake up. He’s comfortable here, floating in the warmth and the hazy softness. But the voice keeps calling and the hand keeps prodding and he’s slowly pulled out of the safety he’d come to in.

He doesn’t like it.

The further forward he’s pulled towards consciousness, the more the warmth seeps out of his body, leaving pain in its wake.

First it’s his muscles.

An ache spreads all the way through him, all the way down to his bones. It's a familiar ache; he knows what overexertion feels like.

Then it’s his sides.

Dozens of shallow wounds up and down the sides of his chest start to burn, rapidly igniting as he becomes aware of them.

He whimpers, trying to shift away from them but as he shifts from one side, the other side ignites, becoming utterly inescapable.

And lastly is his chest.

Every time he breathes in and out, the front of his chest protests sharply. This is no mere ache. If his sides are a crackling fire, the pain in his chest is an inferno, spreading deep into his lungs and all the way up his throat.

He whimpers again, clutching tight at the pillow beneath him. The voice says something, but he can’t hear it. The hand moves, but he can barely feel it.

All he feels is the burning pain.

The pillow shifts, cradling him close as he’s lifted up and up. His arms fall to hang uselessly by his side, wrapped up in something warm that he can barely feel over the pain.

Cool glass presses to his lips as his head is tilted slightly, and liquid slides into his mouth.

Water, his mind whispers sleepily before the liquid even touches his tongue.

And Wild panics.

No, no, no, no.

He tries to spit the water out but there’s still more flooding into his mouth. He must be surrounded by it.

Hylia please, his air.

It’s only a matter of time before it reaches his nose, filling his lungs entirely.

Blessed Hylia if you can hear me.

He clamps his mouth shut tight, but there’s still water inside, trying to get into his throat, his lungs.

Please, not again.

“Wild!”

His eyes fly open as hands clasp his face tightly, keeping him in place.

Someone stares back at him. Not his own reflection on the surface of the water in the Shrine, but an actual living, breathing person.

Vivid tattoos. A scar bisecting one eye. Blonde hair and a worried frown. A face he knows well.

“Time.” His voice, when Wild recognises it as his, sounds awful, hoarse and raspy.

Time smiles, shoulders bowing under some unseen weight, and his thumb strokes across Wild’s cheek gently.

“You’re okay, cub, just breathe.”

Breathing sounds like a fabulous idea but he’s underwater, he can’t breathe.

Whimpering, Wild reaches up, trying to grab onto Time’s hands, his wrists, anything to pull himself out of the water.

“Hey, no, no.” Time’s brow creases. “Wild, everything’s okay.”

Wild shakes his head, still scrambling for air. At some point his voice unsticks from his throat and he rasps out, “No, ‘m drowning, Time, please!”

Time’s hands fall away from his face, leaving so quickly Wild almost cries, and then he’s pressed against Time’s chest. His heart beats against Wild’s ear as his arms close around Wild’s back, holding him close.

This is familiar… he’d just been listening to this. This is what had been safe.

“You’re not drowning,” Time murmurs, his chest rumbling against Wild’s cheek. “Wild, listen to me. You’re not drowning, cub. We’re out now, you’re safe.”

“There was water…” Wild starts, though he can’t remember the details. They’ve already fallen hazy in his mind.

“It was a red potion.” One of Time’s hands returns to its place in his hair, shifting through the strands in long smooth strokes. “Just a red potion. You nearly bled out and we’re trying to strengthen your ribs again. There’s no water. You’re safe, you’re out.”

And Time has never lied to him, not about anything that truly matters. Nothing he says now is a lie.

Wild lets all the fight drain out of him, leaning into Time’s chest. Everything still hurts but he’s safe. Time said he is, so he has to be safe.

“Sleep, Wild.” He thinks he hears Time tell him and has enough awareness to think ‘way ahead of you’ before sleep claims him.

Things drift. The flow of time drags and speeds up, completely uncaring about how he feels about it. He doesn’t really know if he wakes again. He doesn’t know what is reality and what is a dream.

Everything around him is dark and gloomy, all stony walls and murky water. Something moves in his peripheral but no matter how hard he looks, he can never quite see it properly.

He catches sight of it again and turns, only to see Four and Warriors sitting beside him, hotly debating something. At some point, Warriors raises a splinted hand, working to thread a needle while Four shakes his head in disagreement.

Wild wants to know more, amused by whatever they seem to be arguing about. He opens his mouth to ask, but they’re gone. There’s only shadow and faintly glowing walls.

The wounds on his sides burn every time his rib cage expands and Wild chokes on a sob. He rolls his head to the other side, praying for the familiar faces of those he loves, but there is nothing but stone all around him.

The walls shake and tiny bits of rock fall down onto his face. He whimpers, unable to move, unable to do anything but lie there in pain, completely alone.

He… hadn’t been alone before, though, right? He tries to think, tries to remember. A warm hand against his chest, his face, his hair. Someone’s eye, sad and solemn.

There had been someone here but where are they now? Did they leave? He tries to get his arms to lift, his legs to move, but nothing works.

A glow, not blue but a speckle of colours, fills his vision. Hyrule leans into the light, his hands lightly pressed against Wild’s stomach.

Legend sits beside him, nose red and eyes watery. He talks with a wobbly voice, though whatever he’s saying doesn’t reach Wild’s ears.

Wild almost cries at the sight of them, stopped only by the fact that tears do not seem to want to fall.

He drinks in their visage, the sounds of their voices as they quietly talk back and forth, smiling as Hyrule says something and Legend squawks.

Hyrule turns to face Legend, one hand raised playfully, and as quickly as he appeared he’s gone.

There’s nothing but glowing rock and pain. That's all there ever has been. 

“No.” Wild chokes, hot tears sliding down his face and into his hair. “Please, I don’t want to be here anymore!”

It hurts. The pain is worse now. But there’s no one else here, just Wild and the pain and the water.

The walls shake again, more rocks raining down onto his face. He’s going to die in here, in pain and completely alone. He’s going to drown in here.

Someone shifts beside him, a shadow rising. Wild tries to grab for whoever it is desperately but his arms can’t reach.

“I won’t be long. Just stay here, okay?” Time steps back, vanishing into the darkness.

“Time! Please, don’t!” Wild sobs desperately. “Don’t leave me here!”

“Sssh.”

Someone strokes his hair, wiping the tears off his cheeks. Wind lays beside him, pressed into his shoulder with Sky at his back. Their eyes are red-rimmed and darkened with shadows. Sky sniffles even as he wipes another tear from Wild’s face.

“It’s okay, Wild.” Wind promises softly, hiccupping as he clings to Wild’s shoulder.

Rolling over, Wild reaches for them and his palms slam into rock. He whimpers as he feels the flesh of his sides tear. Blood pools beneath him and he slips, collapsing atop it.

Time… where had Time gone? It’s been too long, he’s been gone forever, what if he’s hurt?

Ignoring the way his sides feel like they’re about to rip open, rending him apart, he decides to move forward.

Time needs him.

No matter how he tries, he can’t seem to get his feet under him, so he crawls on his hands and knees. The floor gives way beneath his hands abruptly, water taking its place, and he barely stops himself from falling in.

He stares down at his watery reflection. He thinks of drowning.

No, no, no. He can’t. He can’t go in there.

But he remembers Time stepping back into the darkness, back into the water.

Time needs his help, right?

Doesn’t he?

Time lays beside him, his head resting in Twilight’s lap. More than once, Twilight swipes angrily at his face, scrubbing away tears.

He speaks in a low voice to Time, who speaks back, but whatever Time says just makes Twilight angrier. More upset.

Even as Wild reaches for them, they’re gone and his fingers slide into freezing water. Time… he’d gone this way, Wild remembers that.

There’s nowhere else to go.

He dives forward, bubbles gliding along his arms and up into his hair. The rocks around him are gone. He sees nothing but darkness all around him. His lungs burn but he has to find Time.

Something moves.

Below him? Above him? He doesn’t know.

Wild ignores it.

Lungs aching, wounds screaming, he swims forward, frantically looking.

Teeth flash up, flying for his throat.

“Wild!”

Wild tears his eyes open, gasping for air. Someone’s hand cups his cheek and Time leans over him, propped up awkwardly on one arm, a pile of blankets caught around his waist.

“Look at me.” He commands.

And Wild grabs onto those words like a lifeline.

He’s here, Time’s here, he doesn’t understand but he doesn’t care.

Wild rolls into him, curling close like a child would, and feels Time wrap an arm around his back. He grabs a handful of Time’s tunic, pressing against Time’s chest and sobs when he hears his heartbeat.

“You’re okay,” Time murmurs into the crown of his head, his words barely audible over Wild’s tears. “You’re out, Wild, you’re okay, we’re both okay.”

It’s been a long time since Wild’s broken like this, crying every little thing out. He feels drained and empty when his tears finally slow… but better.

The feeling of Time’s hand carding through his hair is sleep-inducing, but he doesn’t want to sleep, doesn’t want to end up back there, in the cave, in the water, in the Shrine.

He just clings to Time, listening to the sound of his heartbeat until his hiccups finally stop.

Finally, Time shifts back so they’re lying side by side. He studies Wild’s face for a long moment and asks, “Where are you? Are you with me?”

Soft fabric, not cold rock, sits below him, and more blankets are piled on top of him and Time both, almost like a nest. When he gathers his courage to look around, he’s greeted by not by glowing walls but beige canvas.

Oh, a tent, one of the few they carry but hardly ever use.

The canvas is thick but not enough to block out the sounds of insects chittering and the breeze whistling through the trees. Rays of sunlight rest on the outside of the canvas, their warmth seeping through the fabric and stretching down to caress Wild’s face.

He breathes, relishing in the sensation of cool air fill his lungs. The faint scent of wet earth and rain lingers in his nose.

He’s not underwater. He’s not trapped underground. He’s out.

“I… I think so.” He answers finally.

Time raises an eyebrow at him. “You think so?”

“No, no, I am.”

Wild lets his body go limp on the blanket pile, trying to calm his racing heart and taking stock of his body. Everything still aches… but it’s not as bad as he remembers it being. It’s duller, more healed then.

Time settles beside him, tugging the blankets up over Wild’s shoulders. “Keep those on. You’ll be on bed rest for another day at least."

“How bad was it?”

Maybe it’s a dumb question. Well, no, there's no maybe. It’s definitely a dumb question, but he still wants to ask it all the same.

He remembers enough, even if escaping the dungeon itself is all dreary and sluggish in his mind, as though he was moving through honey. But he… doesn’t remember all of it.

Time’s face twists but the expression is gone too fast for Wild to identify it. He sighs. “What exactly do you want me to say? By the Three, where to even start.”

Ooooh, that is not a good tone.

Time raises a hand, ticking off on his fingers as he talks. “It took several red potions to keep you from going into shock from blood loss. At least two fairies have done their best to strengthen your ribs after Wind broke them, but they still have to heal naturally. And—”

“I drowned.” Wild finished for him, rolling over to stare at the canvas above him.

He remembers that now. Letting arrows fly, his concentration slipping, hitting the water and feeling it fill his lungs.

At least it had been quick.

Time doesn’t reply, but he doesn’t need to. It’s all over his face.

Wild closes his eyes. “I’m sorry.”

The air in the tent changes, but he doesn’t care.

“What are you apologising for?” There’s an odd tone in Time’s voice, somewhere between antagonistic and surprised.

“I… I put a lot on you.” Wild starts carefully. There’s just so much so he just picks a spot to begin with. “And you… you would’ve killed yourself trying to keep me alive and I couldn’t do anything to help you. Hylia, why would you—”

“Do not ask me that.” Time commands, a faint hint of anger coming through now.

He sits up, almost looming over Wild now, but just as fast as it had appeared, his anger cools, leaving him looking hurt.

“Wild, I didn’t do anything to just ‘keep you alive’. Listen to me. I love you, do you understand? Whatever I gave was because I wanted to, not because you think I had to.”

Tears burn in his eyes and Wild presses his hands to his face, pushing the heel of his palms against his eyes until he sees starbursts of colour.

Why does Time always do that? Why does he always strip everything down, make it sound so simple?

“Don’t you get it?” He rasps out. “That’s the whole problem.”

Time’s hand rests gently on one of his arms, not to pull it away but just to remind Wild he’s there.

“What is?”

He wishes he could sit up, because now this conversation is going so many places he doesn’t want it to and he can’t talk seriously while he’s laying down, but there’s no strength left in his body. And he really doubts Time will let him up right now.

Arms flopping back onto the blankets, Wild looks at Time, begging him to understand. “It could only have ever been us that ended up down there.”

Please don’t make me say any more. Please get it. Please.

The fervent prayers are in vain though. It’s clear from the look on Time’s face that those words alone are not enough.

“What… what are you talking about?” Time asks.

Fuck. Okay, coherency, don’t let him down now.

“Time, we’re the only ones who could’ve killed that thing.” Wild sighs. “In any other situation, out of any one of us, we’re the ones who had the best chance to kill it.”

Time pauses, his brow furrowing. He starts to shake his head, opening his mouth to deny it, so Wild cuts him off. 

“I know how it sounds,” Wild rambles, “but listen. If I told you that there was an enemy that could only be fatally damaged in exactly one spot but could also regenerate its health in seconds, who would you send to kill it?”

He waits, praying, as Time looks away from him, shifting so Wild can't see his face. 

"Don't make me answer that." He forces out eventually, but he’s realised it too. He just doesn’t want to admit it.

But there’s no point doing that. Wild knows he’s right.

He spent the whole escape thinking about it, turning the pieces of the puzzle over and over in his mind, and this is the only way he could get them to fit.

How do you kill something like the Morpheel? How do you kill something that has only one weak spot and regenerates its health almost instantaneously?

For most people, it would be impossible.

But for Wild, all it would take is getting airborne.

And for Time, with his assortment of masks? Well, Wild hadn't worked out a confident answer, but he'd been pretty sure of his assumptions.

“You’d send me, wouldn’t you?” He challenges Time, daring him to answer.

There's the sound of a choked breath, but Time remains stubbornly silent. Wild paws for his hand, suddenly desperate.

"Come on, please! Just, at least ans—"

"Yes." Time says, finally turning back around so Wild can see the sorrowful look on his face. "I would. But that doesn't mean—"

"It means everything!" Wild exclaims, trying to hold onto his frustration. He tries to push himself upright, finds that his body still refuses to support him, but he needs Time to listen to him, so he pushes forward regardless.

"Anywhere else, we would’ve been its biggest threat. But I can’t fight or even breathe underwater, so everything fell to you, Time, don’t you see? We weren’t down there by accident.”

And finally Time gets it. Really gets it.

In a heavy voice, he says their fates out loud. “We were down there because we were meant to die.”

Wild can't stop his tongue, everything finally pouring out of him. “You would’ve killed yourself to keep me safe and the Shadow knew that. Even though you outsmarted it, that’s still what—”

“I didn’t.” Time cuts him off, oddly toneless. His eye has fixed on a point on the canvas behind Wild's hair, his face pale.

“W-what?”

For a long, long second, Time doesn’t reply, doesn’t move, doesn’t say anything. He just sits there, face ashen. Eventually he looks at Wild, swallowing roughly. His eye is impossibly sad.

“You are right, but not entirely. Because we were already dead. If it wasn’t for Twilight and Legend, we would be dead."

He reaches out, grasping Wild’s hand tightly, and Wild can feel the way he’s shaking. “I didn’t outsmart the Shadow, Wild, don’t you see? You’re not the one who should be apologising; I am. I—”

“If you say something like ‘you should’ve done better’, I’m going to sic Wars and Wind on you.” Wild threatens.

He manages to get one arm under his body and shoves himself upright, only for his vision to spin. Okay wait no, maybe this was a bad decision.

He wobbles sideways, but Time catches him and pulls him close.

From this position, he can feel the way Time lets out a sad chuckle. “Actually, I was going to say that I should’ve been paying more attention, because then you would’ve trusted me with everything.”

“But I did! I do!” Wild protests. He tries to look up at Time’s face but apparently sitting up had used all his energy because the most he can do is roll his head against Time’s shoulder.

“You trusted me with a lot.” Time agrees, rubbing his hand up and down Wild’s arm. “Even though I failed to keep my promise to ensure that you wouldn’t drown, you trusted me with your life. You trusted me with everything but your plan. Why?”

Oh.

That.

Uh.

“Uh…”

Wild looks around for literally anything else to talk about. He had not expected to be ambushed about this so soon.

Time just waits as patient as ever as he flounders, considering a manner of escape routes regardless of how illogical and stupid they are, before finally caving.

Swallowing, Wild stares at his hands. “I told you. I put a lot on you. Too much, really. And I saw what you were doing to keep me alive, and there was nothing I could do to help you. So I…”

“Took a gamble?” Time proposes mildly and Wild lets out a little laugh.

“That’s one way of putting it. I just…” He tries to get his thoughts in order. “If you didn’t have to worry about me, you wouldn’t have gotten so badly hurt.”

“And we’re back to this.” Time sighs against his forehead, but the sound is affectionate.

Wild tenses, waiting for the reprimand he's been dreading ever since he worked out what he had to do.

But instead, Time tightens his grip and topples backwards onto the blankets, pulling Wild down with him with an embarrassing yelp.

Wild tries to roll free, but one of Time’s arms traps him like a vice, keeping him pinned as Time blindly grabs for the pile of blankets around them.

“Uh… what are you doing?” Pain starts to ache in his chest and along his sides so Wild reluctantly stops wriggling, letting Time get comfortable.

Beneath his ear, Time’s chest rises and falls as he sighs.

“Wild, we could go in circles for hours as I try to get it through your skull that my decisions are my own and the decisions I made in the Temple I made because I love you, not because I had to.”

He loosens his grip a bit, letting Wild slide onto the nest beside him, and tucks the blankets tight around him. Wild looks at his face, seeing nothing but sincerity and tiredness.

“Or,” Time continues quietly, “I can let Twilight do that later when I can enjoy the show. Your choice."

It's not like Wild hasn't heard that spiel from Twilight before anyway, but Twilight's anger isn't anywhere near as scary as Time's so the decision is an easy one. 

Still…

"I'm sorry." Wild whispers.

Time gives him a tired smile. "I know you are."

"No, not for hiding the plan from you," Wild manages to tug his hand free from the cocoon of blankets Time's made and waves it around. "I'm sorry I asked you to put the mask back on. You were hurt too."

It had been the one thing he hadn't wanted to do, not after watching Time writhe in pain while they were in that tunnel.

But he couldn't think of any other failsafe and he knew there was a chance he wouldn't be able to kill it alone, not when his fingers were going numb and everything was so cold and—

"I put the mask back on because you asked me to trust you." Time interrupts, raising an eyebrow. "Sound familiar?"

Wild splutters. "That's not the same thing!"

"Isn't it?" Time smiles, shaking his head. "Wild, I didn't ask you to trust me to get you out of the Temple. I asked you to trust in me, regardless of where we are. And you did. No matter how scared you were, you trusted me above it all."

He props himself up again, resting a hand on Wild's cheek. "I knew you wouldn't ask me that, not unless you had a good reason. So I put all my trust in you too and I made my decision, knowing the cost. That is not something you have to ever feel guilty for."

"But didn't it hurt?"

It feels so childish, saying it out loud, but he hasn't been able to get it out of his head. His plan had required Time to be in pain, go through something that was utterly horrific. And Time had still done it.

Time shrugs.

"It's not the first time I've overused those masks, cub. Yes, it hurt, but it was worth it." He casts a weary smile in Wild's direction. "The only drawback is that I am also on bedrest, because neither Wind or Warriors will let me get up either."

Wild snorts at that, hiding his smile in the pile of blankets under him. He's seen their special brand of mother-henning before. Watching Wind of all people yell at Time for trying to walk on a broken leg had been a very eye-opening experience. 

"Now," Time settles back beside him. "What's the choice here? Am I lecturing you now or are we leaving it to Twilight and going to sleep instead?"

“I… I don’t know if I can sleep.” Wild admits softly, then hurries to clarify. "Don't you even start though, that's not what I'm saying."

Time laughs now. "I was worried for a moment there. I hadn't expected you to go with that. What's the problem?"

It's amazing how quickly he switches from jovial to serious. Wild swallows, face flushing red as he quietly admits, “I don’t want to end up back there again.”

It sounds… so stupid saying it out loud. Dreams are just that and nothing more, and he shouldn’t be afraid of them.

But he doesn’t know if he can take seeing the cave, the darkness, the water, the Shrine again.

Face soft with understanding, Time holds an arm up and Wild scoots forward into his embrace, grabbing onto his tunic again. Everything around him is warm and safe.

“If you start to dream, I’ll wake you.” Time says as he starts running his fingers through Wild’s hair again. “I promise.”

One day, Wild will make sure that Time knows he has never let him down. For now though, he just nods, putting all his faith into Time’s words, and lets himself drift into sleep, knowing he’s safe.