Forgive me, the brainworms happened
The voice catches all of them off guard, but not for the reasons a voice yelling usually would. Tehre's no anger in teh tone, in fact, it sounds excited, thrilled even! None of the ire they’re use dto hearin from soldiers in Warriors’s world.
Therein lies the rub, however; they’re not currently in Warriors’ world, so why, by Hylia’s feathers, is someone calling out to the captain like they know him?
They’re in Skyview village for pities sakes! No one here should know anyone here except himself, but Sky is relatively certain that his ranking among the former knights of Skyloft hasn’t suddenly risen to captain, not with him being as absent as he’s been!
Yet, despite none of it making sense, there’s Master Eugus running along towards them, ne hand raised in a hail that has the heroes stopping, turning from their intended target of the towns freshly finished gathering hall and-
“Eugus!” Warriors calls out, voice warm as he steps around Sky to greet the man, greet him like he knows him, greet him by name as hands clasp the way two knights of equal rank are likely to greet each other, the way old comrades might after a long time parted.
Sky is officially confused.
“How are you, sir!” The captain continues, quite unawares of the confusion brewing behind him as he pulls back again, and by the goddess’ wings, the man’s beaming, all bright eyes and flashing teeth as he meets the eyes of the hulking swords-master and knight commander, giving him an apprising look over and shaking his head as he tacks on, “why you haven’t aged a bit!”
“I can’t say the same for you,” Sky’s old teacher declares with a guffaw, “is that silver in your hair, sir?”
Sky....hadn’t noticed, but then Warriors is touching at his forlock and chuckling as he absently smothes it back. It's hard to tell if there’s anything there, not when he’s got some of the lightest hair among them, but from the way he acts....
“Picked up a couple charges since we last fought together, the wee devils. I swear they’ve stollen a decade of my life with their madness.” But he’s beaming, brighetr eyes than Sky thinks he’s seen in a while from the man who’s usually so guarded, and while that should be good to see, relieving to see, the fact that it’s brought on by someone Warriors shouldn’t possibly be able to know already has him more confused than pleased.
“Don’t lie, Captain,” the swordsmaster sounds, knowingly, “you adore them.”
“Guilty as charged,” is laughed back, clear, rich, free.
What is happening right now?
Sky glances back at the other heroes. Some of them seem to have caught onto the fact that something is off, that they’re in the wrong world for this sort of thing, but the other half appear to either be taking it in stride or not in the least confused. In fact, Time’s lips are tugging into a hint of a smile and Wind’s staight up beaming as he watches the two men interact, watches as more of Skyloft’s former knightdescend upon them, voices loud from years spent calling across clouds as they shout greetings to a man who technically hasn;t even been born yet.
“Captain Link, long time no see!”
“Hoy, Captain, what brings you back here!”
And Warriors? Warriors is greeting them by name, is catching eyes and calling names as hands clasp and backs are slapped and the blue scarf dances with every motion as he turns from this soldier to that as though they were his own men, his own comrades, as though they’ve known each other a lifetime and not just teh few minutes that Sky’s seen them in the same space.
“Hey, Cap’n,” one of them asks at present, once the greetings seem done and over with and Warriors is stumbling slightly from another heavy blow to his shoulders by a well-meaning but frankly too forceful knight, “what are you doing back here?”
Warriors is all smiles, polished and bright as he answers, “ah, just traveling through time, you know me, how about all of you? On the surface now I see! That’s a mighty big change! Skyloft get too small?”
It’s well meant, but wry smiles appear on faces of men far from home and well out of their depth. It was hardest for them, Sky thinks, oyt of all of Skyloft’s people. Most of the former skyloftians had been running businesses and raising families on the day to day, but these men flew the skies from sun up till sundown, and it’s well known that the knights were all comprised of only the people closest bonded to their loftwings. To suddenly be away from them, to be grounded and away from teh sky that was more home then the land, well, Sky knows what hurt he feels for the absence of clouds around him, and he’d only been flying about a decade, and usually between classes and sleeping. He can only imagine how the people who essentially lived on their loftwings are getting on.
But they don’t scowl or scold for the insensitivity, handling it instead with the characteristic bluster of soldiers that Sky is learning is the case in every era.
“Goddess declared we return, and so we have.”
“Is that so?” Warriors turn to the speaker, nodding. “Well then-”
“Is the war over then?” Another interrupts, and is quickly joined by half of the rest, all eager to hear the answer, all while also souding their own questions.
“Did you beat that witch yet?”
“Tell me you chopped that demon’s tongue out in the end!”
They quiet at raised hands, the captain silent until the questions stop sounding, and then the man’s all charm again and grace, showy but genuine as he answers, “yes, yes, the wars over. Cia’s vanquished, and Ganon- her master, as well.”
A cheer sounds from the men.
Like they know what he’ talking about.
How do they know what he’s talking about?
“We knew you had it in you captain!”
And on it goes, they’re chatting, standing tehre and chatting. Warriors is asking after their families, naming off people Sky’s known all his life, asking after things that Sky didn’t even know. Since when did Hauk have a bad shoulder? How has he never known that Toby was sweet on Pipit’s mum back in the day?
(Which, yuck? That’s his bets friend’s mum?!?!?!?!)
Yet there’s Warriors, talking to them, chatting with them, and then-
His mum. Sky freezes up. How does Warriors know his mum?
The men all quiet some, the joy in their faces fading. The captain is much the same, oddly grave after his own question as he searches the faces of the men before him.
“She’s well enough,” Eugus sighs out, smoothing back dark hair with a sigh, “theres bad days and good,” and the captain’s nodding, knowing, like he somehow understands that too.
Ow does Warriors know his mum though? Sky wants to interrupt and demand answers, but at the same time knows better After all, he’s the hero now, he’s a knight himself in their eyes, albeit still young enough of one that they’re not yet ready to greet him with open arms. He’s young enough to still be given a hard time here and again, something all new knights must deal with, hero or no, and he hardly needs to make trouble when his stance is already iffy.
He’s the hero, but he’s also that dumb kid they all watched grow up. He killed a god, but they’re the ones who taught him how to fly and wield a sword. He brought them here, but they’ve also caught his ass falling off the island a thousand times over the years. It’s...complicated, awkward and while everyone is trying to be kind about it, he knows it’s wierd for them all to hae to justify those two people, the hero and the student, with one another.
He doesn’t need to go acting like a dumb kid right now.
“And the babe?” Warriors asks again, grave still as it sounds.
One of the soldiers chuckles. “he’s a man grown now, captain, hardly a babe.”
“That long?” Warriors huffs, surprise clear on his features as he glances them all over. “My heavens, you’ve all aged well!”
Laughter sounds, not near as light and loud as before, but it’s well meant and genuine just the same.
“She named him after you, Captain Link” Janka speaks up, leaning against Toby’s back to better address the captain around his brother. “Said she wanted to honor you.”
Warriors pauses, blinking dumbly at the men, bravado shattering as he stares betwixt them. “But...but I-”
“What happened, happened,” the sword-instructor's hand lands heavily on the captain’s shoulder, squeezing slightly. “But without your help, Skyloft would have burned twenty years ago. Every honor we can offer, it’s deserved.”
Except Warriors looks sick, looks genuinely ill, one hand raising to his mouth and eyes shutting tightly against something he doesn’t speak, instead just breathing heaiy for a moment before raising his head again to look over the men who are all near twice his age, some twice his size, and looking at him like so many students at an instructor.
Twenty years ago, they’d said. Sky....Sky hadn’t even been born yet, and most of these men would have been only teenagers themselves back then, early twenties at the eldest. It makes sense, in a way, that if Warriors had, somehow, been here back then, with his strength and skill with a blade, with his charm and charisma, that they’d have seen him as someone to look up to, to follow commands from as long as the ‘captain’ title was tacked onto the front of his name. That they still do so speaks to the depth of respect they must have borne for him.
But what was he doing here, and why did Eugus say that Skyloft would have burned if not for him?
“It wasn't your fault, captain,” Toby sounds, softly, wary, like he isn’t certain about himself, despite having children nearly Sky’s own age.
Warriors just sighs again, shaking his head. He doesn't answer the claim doesn’t say much of anything except, “where might I find them? Talon’s family?”
Talon. His dad the father who died before he was born. Sky finds himself frowning, brows tugging tight together as he stares at the brother who suddenly seems like a stranger, like some mythical figure, level near to the First Hero rather than just another hero among the many they travel with.
Why does Warriors know his parents though? Know the father Sky never had the chance to?
“Well,” and suddenly a few setes of eyes have trailed to him, are lingering on him as one man gestures his way, “his son’s right there behind you.”
The captain turns, slowly, hlatingly, and stares.
Sky finds himself starting back.
The captain’s face is so grey he looks near faint, and there’s a terrible look in his eyes all of a sudden, like he’s staring at some ghost.
“Link Jr.” one of the men chuckles dryly, “takes more after his mum, of course, but there’s its of Talon in him just the same.”
Warriors isn’t even blinking.
“Captain?” Eugus questions, concern bleeding free in his voice, “is something-”
“I am so sorry,” Warriors whispers. Whispers to him. Whispers to Sky.
“For what?” He finds himself asking, feeling lost and confused and foriegn in his own home, among his own people, in front of a brother who somehow seems better at home here than himself.
Royal blue eyes drop, lids falling and a heavy breath sounding out from teh soldier. “For killing your father.”
