Shovel repair shop

For the second time in his life, Wild woke up alone, in an unfamiliar place, with no memory of how he had gotten there. He wasn’t even wearing any clothes, but his arm- the one that the skeletal figure underneath the castle had burned- wasn’t right at all. It was glowing, along with some glyphs creeping up his shoulder, but it wasn’t even his arm. It responded like it was his, and he could feel it, but it was like a stranger had somehow grafted it to his body.

A calm voice spoke to him, telling him that his arm hadn’t been the only thing that Wild had nearly lost. The champion’s head whirled, taking in too much information at once. So much had happened so fast, and he had only been awake for less than a minute without any time to remember what had gone wrong before.

His arm- the Demon King- the Master Sword- Zelda-

He had to find her.

First things first, he had to get out of this… room? Cave? There were roots and vines everywhere but they didn’t quite obscure the stone foundation. Wild didn’t really care, especially when he saw what was lodged in some vines a few feet away.

The Master Sword looked fine, if you ignored everything below the hilt. Wild had seen how the gloom had shattered the blade, but when he drew it, nothing could prepare him for what he gingerly held in his hand. It was barely more than a dagger now, the metal jagged and corroded by the concentrated evil.

The Blade of Evil’s Bane, forged countless years ago and wielded by heroes across the ages… was broken.

Wild had broken the Master Sword.

Sky was going to kill him.

That terrifying thought was more than Wild could handle, and he fell to the ground, collapsed under all of the stress.

“Wild.”

He had been powerless to stop the return of the Demon King, he had lost Zelda-

“Wild, you have to breathe.”

He was a failure to his friends, his brothers, his kingdom-

Something like a cold hand landed on his shoulder, trying to ground him in the present. “Wild, please listen to me, you have to breathe.”

Wild gasped, recognizing the voice before he turned around. It wasn’t the one who had told him that they had saved him, it was none other than-

“It’s just me,” the voice said, low and soothing. “It’s Sky.”

Clutching the sword close like he could hide it, Wild whirled around, coming face-to-face with the spirit of the Chosen Hero.

Sky smiled, making up for the lack of warmth in his blank teal eyes. His mouth didn’t move, but Wild heard his words in his mind. “Hey, I’m right here. No need to panic.”

Easy for him to say, when he was still two seconds from seeing the Master Sword and tearing Wild apart. Wild gripped the blade tighter, wincing as the twisted metal dug into his palms.

“Careful, you’re going to hurt yourself,” Sky said, frowning until Wild eased his death grip on the broken blade. He just stared sadly at it, and Wild felt like he was about to scream.

“I’m sorry,” Wild sobbed, setting the sword on his lap since his hands were shaking too much. “I didn’t mean to break it, I swear, I know you’re mad-”

“Mad? Why would I be mad?” Sky asked, too gentle to bear. “You did everything in your power to stop that guy, and so did she. Her final act was to save you, because you were trying to save your Zelda.”

“But I- I still failed,” Wild protested, though it was weak. “I tried to use it against something it could never stop, it’s all my fault-”

Sky pulled Wild into a sudden hug, a soothing chill surrounding him. “Nothing was your fault. You couldn’t have known that the Demon King would be so strong.”

Wild was still, too tired to argue.

“Now, there ain’t much I’m scared of. But Ma’s spoon is one of ‘em.” Twilight answered, looking ahead to the house in the distance.

“Then let’s hurry before she feeds us both to the pigs.” Time kicked his spurs in, hurrying Epona onto the farmhouse.

The sun was low on the horizon, fireflies dancing in the tall grass near the barn when they arrived home. They dismounted and untacked the horses before assuring there was plenty of hay in the stables for them for the night. It was a fairly long distance back to the main house, but they put a pep in their step to get there before the sun was completely below the far-off horizon. Time opened the door, calling out that they were home as he kicked off his boots near the door.

“And y’all are late for dinner!” Malon called from the kitchen, “Ever’one else is already eatin’! Come and sit and I’ll get some plates.” She continued to mumble under her breath as Time and Twilight shared a look and hurried to the full table.

Time took his seat at the head of the table quickly, Twilight sat next to him. Malon set plates in front of them both, overflowing with hot food. As she began to turn away, Time grabbed her hand, pulling her down to him. “I’m sorry we’re late, darlin’. Deliveries ran longer than we planned.” He planted a quick kiss to her cheek before letting her stand again.

She huffed, “It’s always the same excuse with you boys. Deliveries ran late, business took too long.” She took her seat across from Twilight before looking down the table at the near quiet men. “I’m sorry y’all had to hear all that. It’s none of y’alls business and I shouldn’t have made it so. I’ll deal with my son and husband later. Eat up before it gets too cold, now.”

An awkward cough came from the other end of the table, “It’s no trouble, Mrs. Malon, really.” Hyrule smiled too her before continuing his food.

Wild nudged Twilight from next to him. “How’d Epona do today? It’s her first time goin’ out since she had that fall.”

Twilight shrugged, “She did aight. I didn’t wanna push her too hard. Another reason we were gone so long today.”

Wild nodded, shoveling more corn into his mouth. “What ‘bout you, old man?” Food fell out of his mouth as he spoke, “You think you can take me with ya next time you’re doin’ deliveries? I got business in town.”

Warriors scoffed from across the table, “What could you possibly have business in town doin’?”

“I do have a life outside of here, ya know?”

“I doubt that one, bud.” Wind pipped up from next to Warriors. The bickering kept up between the rowdy bunch until the plates were empty and bellies were full. Legend and Wild stood and collected the plates from the table and placed them in the wash bin.

“Thank you again for having us for dinner, Mrs. Malon. It’s a pleasure as always.” Hyrule thanked her as he pulled on his boots.

“Oh, nonsense. I can’t have y’all not eatin’ properly. Then nothin’ would get done ‘round here!” Malon clapped her hand on the young man's back, sending him stumbling slightly.

Legend laughed from behind him, “We’ll see you all at sun up.” He called as he closed the door behind him.

Malon’s smile fell as soon as the door closed, turning to face her husband and son still at the table.

“So, not only do you two show up late.”

“Mal-“

“I’m not finished.” She put her hand up. “But then ya make the ranch hands clean up dinner?” She looked between the two men. Twilight was looking down at the table and Time anywhere but her.

“I’ll take care of the dishes, Ma.” Twilight stood, his chair dragging across the wooden floor and making his way to the wash bin.

“And you?” Malon’s eyes drove daggers into Time’s face.

“I’ll give the boys half the day off tomorrow. I’ll deal with the rest of their chores.” Time spoke up.

“And their pay?” Her arms crossed, tapping her foot.

“We can still pay them for a whole day’s work. Ain’t their fault.”

“Damn straight it ain’t.” She nodded, seemingly satisfied with his answer. “Now, don’t be late comin’ to bed too.” Though her voice still held an edge, he could have sworn he saw a smile on her lips as she turned towards the stairs.

He shook his head, laughing to himself before standing. “You did good today, pup. I’ll see you in the morn.” He put a hand on Twilight’s shoulder before making his way up the stairs himself.

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“Howdy, boys. Hope you all slept well.” Time clapped a hand around Wild onto his shoulder as he overlooked the stables.

“Glad to see you still breathin’ old man!” Warriors laughed from the other side of the stables, shoveling the floor clean.

Time laughed lightly, “I think if anyone could do me in, it’d be her.”

“Well, ain’t that the truth.” Wild laughed. “The smith is gonna be stoppin’ by sometime this morn to check horseshoes and get us some new ones.”

Time nodded, letting Wild go so he could take a bag of feed from a struggling Wind. “That’s good to hear. Some of them are startin’ to need a new set. Make sure y’all get your own horses checked. I’ll foot the bill.”

Hyrule and Sky shared a look. “You sure ‘bout that, Time? Covering everyone is gonna be expensive.” Sky spoke up.

“I wouldn’t of offered if I didn’t mean it, son. Your horses go through a lot of work here, probably more than you lot do.” A few chuckles rang out, “So it’s good to be sure they stay healthy.”

“Dad! The smith is comin’ down the drive!” Twilight shouted from the house.

“Well, speak of the devil.” Warriors says, burring his pitchfork into a bundle of hay.

“One more thing before we get started with that. The sooner we get done with the smith, the sooner you boys are done for the day. So, I’d get a move on if I were you.” As soon as the words were out of Time’s mouth Wind was taking off towards the smith.

“Good thing Four is a damn good blacksmith. Because I don’t plan on being out here until sundown.” Legend says as they all make their way towards the man.

“Didn’t know I needed a whole damn welcomin’ crew! But since I got one, y’all can help carry this all up for me.” Four dropped heavy bags to the ground from his horse. The sound of metal-on-metal rattling inside of them. He hopped down off of his mount next, taking his hat from his head and wiping his forehead. “It’s good to see ya, Time. You ain’t been ‘round the last few times I came by.” He shook the taller man’s hand before they began walking back to the stables.

Behind them, the group of men and boys struggled to pick up the bags of metal tools and horseshoes.

“How did he just throw ‘em around one-handed?!” Wild whisper yelled towards Wind.

“Hell, if I know! I cain’t even get one!” The boy whisper yelled back, trying to put his back into lifting a bag.

They eventually got the bags to the stables, where Four was looking over the horses. “Yeah, it looks like these four all need a new set, the rest could just use a few new ones if any.”

Time nodded, “Do whatcha need to, smithy. The boys will help you however ya need.”

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It was true, Four was fast. He got through with the horses in just a few hours. The sun was just reaching the middle of the sky as he carried his bags back to his horse. Malon came out of the house with a small bag of food for him, extending it to him.

“Before ya even try to argue, I knew you wouldn’t stay and eat. But you got no excuse to not take this with ya for later.” She shoved it into his hands before he could get a word out. “Now take care of yourself, Four. You know you’re always welcome here.” She gave him a soft smile before turning back towards the house.

Time shook his head watching the event before he approached Four himself. Four put his food into one of his bags, throwing it over the back of the saddle before turning towards Time. Time extended a bag of rupees towards him, which Four took, stashing it into his chest pocket. He mounted his horse quickly.

“Things are lookin’ up for ya, smithy. Don’t let the past wear ya down.” Time spoke, looking up at the shorter man.

Four’s eyes widened ever so slightly before he adjusted his hat on his head, meeting Time’s eyes. “I plan on goin’ with y’all this winter.”

Time sighed, “I had a feelin’ you’d say that.”

“I have to fix things. We all do.”

“Those kinda thoughts are what get kinder and wiser cowpoke killed.”

Four hissed under his breath, “Inaction is gonna get us all killed, Time.”

Time shook his head. “Seekin’ vengeance is what’s gonna get us killed.”