Incomprehensible my good sir

Sky gasped. The deer startled.

THWIP!

No!

In a blink, the buck was gone, scattering the fallen leaves in its hasty escape. Sky's arrow stuck uselessly out of a clump of weeds where it had been standing.

Sky grimaced. He wasn’t sure if he was more disappointed in himself or relieved. Was it bad that he was more relieved? Why was he still angry?

What am I supposed to feel?

Wild seemed to take pity on him. "Ooh, tough luck Sky. Not bad for a first attempt, though. Wanna try again?"

The Skyloftian frowned. “I…”

No. Yes? The answer had to be yes. This was his challenge. Sky had asked for this, hadn't he? And Wild meant well...

"...How ‘bout we just focus on tracking the deer for now. Then we'll see," Twilight's even drawl smoothed over the knots in Sky's chest. He gave Sky a pat on the back, and guided him to stand. With all the confidence of an experienced tracker, the farmhand led his small group deeper into the woods after the deer.

Sky let the sounds of their boots lead him as he stared at the ground. He felt his brow dig lines into his forehead. What had he gotten himself into?

Engulfed in his thoughts, Sky didn't notice Twilight gazing back at him in concern.

>>><<< 

The group’s troubles had all begun the day of their town visit. While most of the chain had been daring Sky to drink the unholy substance known as milk, they'd overheard that the town was having a monster problem. It seemed there were more enemies from across time on the loose, and it was only natural that the heroes offer their help with the infestation.

Of course, that also meant they'd be staying the night outside. Again.

So long, nice cozy inn, Sky had thought. You were a wonderful dream while you lasted.

They met a few odd moblins from Hyrule and Wild's eras and quickly dispatched them. A few keese and an octorock or two followed, and that would have been it, had the woods not been far more infested than they'd first realized.

It happened in a blur. One minute, they were peacefully camped out in the woods surrounding the village. The next, Hyrule and Time were shouting in alarm as monsters poured into the clearing where the heroes slept. Teeth gnashed. Venom dripped. Monster claws bore down like a hailstorm. However, even in their undergarments the Links were heroes, and together they turned every enemy to dust.

Remarkably, they only had a few cuts, bruises, and a winded Sky to show for it.

The same could not be said for their bags. 

Half of the supplies they'd just bought from the town were completely ruined, the meat especially. The monsters had either torn apart or gobbled up all of it from the pouches the heroes had hung up in a tree, and the wreckage was now sprawled across the campsite.

Poor Hyrule was very put-out about the whole thing.

"Ugh, what a mess,” he groaned. “I used to be so good at this when I traveled alone. If only I'd seen the monsters just a little bit sooner..."

"Shoulda, coulda, woulda, Traveler. Can't change what happened, and I doubt even gluing the bags up there would have made a difference." Legend sneered at the big hole that had been ripped into his pouch. "Tch. It’s gonna take ages to stitch this..."

"You also weren’t alone on watch this morning," Time added with a grimace. "Please forgive my lack of attention, Hyrule. Don't pin all the blame on yourself."

Warriors's yawn turned into a smirk. He elbowed Twilight. "Sounds to me like the old man's fallen out of practice."

"We're all outta form, Captain, if the state of this camp has anything to say," Twilight flew to Time's defense. 

"I…"

Time chuckled. "He has you there, Wars." 

Warriors huffed, glancing between Twilight and Time. "Co-conspirators," he murmured.

"What do we do now, Time?" Wind said, grunting through a big stretch. "Go back to the village?"

"The people were already low on resources from these monster raids, though," Sky pointed out. "Won't we be cleaning them out?"

"But our patronage could help them buy more stock," Four mentioned, "and we did just annihilate their problem." He gestured to the monster bits still strewn around the clearing.

Time hummed. "Perhaps... Yes. Here is what we’ll do. Any items we can't normally get from the land: certain elixirs, spices, vegetables and the like, we'll buy again. The monsters failed to destroy our entire supply, thankfully, so we shouldn’t be in want of much more. But for everything else: meat, water, mushrooms, berries, we'll scavenge. Between 17 eyes there's sure to be something to find."

Legend kicked his destroyed satchel. "Stupid monsters, not even from this time period..."

"Do you think we'll ever find out why time's so messed up around here?" Wind wondered.

Time crossed his arms playfully. "Well that's rude."

Wind jumped, then rolled his eyes. "You know what I mean, Time!"

Beside them, Hyrule scratched his chin. "I suppose I could go find some berries and mushrooms," he said. "I can't cook them, but I know what will and won't kill us."

“A useful skill,” laughed Four. "I'll come help!"

"Shall I head back down to the village, Time?" asked Warriors.

The older knight nodded. "Yes, and I'll go with you. It shouldn't take too long to restore everything."

"Me and the kid will fix the camp and refill the canteens," said Legend, jerking a thumb at Wind.

"Aww, clean up duty???" Wind groaned. "Why me?"

"Because I said so, come on," Legend grabbed the sailor’s arm, leading him back across their mess of a campsite. Discreetly, he mumbled, "The faster we clean, the sooner we can go fishing.”

Wind's eyes sparkled. “Really?”

“Anything to make this lousy morning a little better."

With new incentive, the sailor ran to clean the camp as quickly as humanly possible.

Twilight came up to Time, Wild at his side. "I'll take a group hunting if you think it’s necessary, Time," offered the rancher. "Wild here claims he's pretty good at it."

"Because I am," Wild grinned.

"Good," their leader nodded. "Take Sky with you. We'll need anything you boys can find."

Sky's heart skipped as Twilight rounded on him. "Ready to go, Sky?"

Uh-oh. "I-I don't know how much help I'll be."

"Nonsense. You're an able-bodied hero like the rest of us, aren’cha? That counts for something in my book."

"...Mmm," Sky hummed.

Wild’s brow creased. "Do you just not want to go?" he asked, gently.

"N-no! I mean, yes, I want to help, it's just... I can't... I don't really know... how?"

"Wait, really?" asked Wild.

Twilight's eyebrows raised. "You never learned to hunt?"

Sky's fingers found the embroidery of his sailcloth and began to trace it. He shrugged. "...I never needed to."

Legend scoffed loudly behind them. "Oh yeah, forgot for a second you grew up in paradise." He tossed a snapped ice rod onto his bedroll with a bit more force than necessary. "Sure must be nice to never worry about food and famine up in 'Blessing-Land'."

"Legend," Twilight glared.

“Hey, I think I’m allowed to be a little grumpy today! The moblins just wrecked my equipment!” The irritated veteran started rifling through his magic pouch, scowl only deepening as he took better stock of the damage to it. “Ugh, right after I organized it all, too,” he started to ramble. “I don’t even know if I’m missing anything ye…oh great, the magic powder’s leaking…”

Sky's fist tightened around his sailcloth.

He knew those words were made of hot air. His friend Groose often grumbled such careless things while he was upset, only to apologize later once he’d realized what he’d said. Sky was positive Legend would do the same in a few hours.

But that didn’t fix the icy sting that pierced his heart.

Sky's mouth formed a thin line. "...Skyloft’s not a paradise, Legend."

The veteran’s scowl faltered when he caught Sky’s hardened stare. Several of the heroes looked up in surprise.

Ignoring the angry knots swirling in his chest, Sky exhaled, letting his gaze fall away into the distance. "I’ve heard tales of my ancestors having to hunt beneath the clouds, but after Skyloft was created, that lifestyle had to change. There's only so much space available on a handful of floating islands, so the people had to make do with whatever the sky soil could yield. They had to stop hunting because... well... there isn’t anything to hunt up there."

"...Nothing?" came Hyrule's hollow whisper. He looked far too familiar with the concept. 

Sky caught his spooked gaze and gently shook his head. "For hunting," he clarified. "There's plenty of vegetables, beans, and grain to use in a good season, and we've been blessed with many years of prosperity. The last famine was..." Sky's eyes grew stormy at the unwanted memory, "...a long time ago."

He thought he caught Legend staring at him oddly. He tried to ignore it.

"...There's no game at all, then?" Warriors interrupted the silence, much to Sky's relief.

"We don't eat Skyloftian animals," the young knight sighed. "Remlits and ringers are far too small, and much too cute. Loftwings..." Sky shivered violently. "Goodness no. They're sacred, a part of us. Doing that to our birds... o-out of the question. Closest thing I can think of to another animal are insects, but they're their own thing. Not much meat on them." Sky paused thoughtfully. "They're not bad in a honey fry, though...."

Wind gagged. "You eat BUGS?!?

"Hey, they're good protein," laughed Wild, sharing a wink with Sky.

Wind's face contorted. "No no no no, go back. You hate milk but you eat BUGS?!?"

Sky looked at him firmly. "I don't hate milk, Wind. Milk hates me."

Laughter bubbled up all around him, slowly melting the stiffness in Sky's chest. He felt himself chuckling with them as he cuffed Wind lightly in the head, messing up his hair. The boy shoved him, only pushing more laughter out of the Skyloftian.

Legend stayed strangely quiet.

"Wait a moment," Four piped up. "I thought you said you've been living on the ground for a while, now. All that time and you've never needed a hunting party?"

Sky shrugged. "Lots of folks are still in Skyloft, and even the people that aren't are still using our old resources. We don't have enough buildings for everyone on the Surface yet. Oh! But you should see the gardens my friends and I have started! Especially Zelda's. Did I mention she's a plant whisperer? I'd swear she made some secret agreement with the Kikwis if I didn't know how nurturing she can be. It really is quite beautiful!"

"What is, the garden or the woman tending it?" Warriors teased.

Sky blushed deep red. "C-can my answer be both?"

A few more laughs flickered around him.

Twilight tilted his head. "So none of you 'Loftians know how to hunt?"

"No... although, we should probably begin to think about it. The seasons are harsher on the Surface. It’s just… a whole different way of life. I suppose we've been putting it off."

"Well. No time like the present to learn, oh Chosen One," said the rancher, throwing his arm around Sky. "How's about me and Wild here give you a lesson?"

Sky blinked at them. "Y-you'd do that? For me? I really don't know, won't that delay us? I don't want to hold us up—"

"Yikes, Sky, you and deadlines!" Wild laughed. "You've got to learn to slow down and smell the wildflowers. There's a time and place for urgency, buddy."

He'd once believed that while on his quest, taking his time to help civilians or explore new regions as he sought the path to Zelda. That was before he'd been too slow. Before Demise.

But Wild could never know that.

So Sky offered the heroes a shadow of a smile instead. "A-are you sure?"

Twilight's arm grew firm on Sky's shoulder. "One hundred percent. Now c'mon, dawn's the best time to head out. Just stick close to us and we'll show you the ropes. Deal?"

Sky nodded, and with several farewells, the Chain split off to do their assigned tasks. Wild was already gushing about his favorite hunting bow as Sky’s sailcloth disappeared into the trees, leaving the wrecked camp behind him.

Legend watched them all go in silence.

>>><<< 

THWIP!

Another feathered arrow tumbled uselessly into the underbrush. A boar squealed in surprise a few feet away, quickly disappearing behind a curtain of tall ferns.

Sky held his head in his hands.

"Um... well... fourth time's a charm?" Wild tried to brighten the mood.

Sky groaned. It was true. He'd lost them the deer after two attempts, and now the boar, all because he just couldn't shoot the things. The Chosen Hero didn't really feel like smiling back at Wild now. He didn't really feel like a hero at all.

Sky could sense Twilight's thoughtful gaze bearing down on his back where he crouched.

"Wild," came the rancher's low voice, "tell you what: go collect that arrow and see if you can pick up some tracks. Chances are that pig didn't go far with all this groundcover to hide in. I'll be with you in a moment."

Wild caught on to the subtext. The young champion nodded and picked his way through the forest, slipping gracefully out of sight.

Sky flinched as Twilight settled down in the dirt beside him.

"So," the rancher said after a pause. "What’s really going on?"

Sky's heart leapt. "N-nothing. I just need more-"

"Sky. You hit our practice target right on the mark, first try. Don't you go fibbing to me about needing more shooting practice."

The young knight sighed, avoiding Twilight's gaze. Would it be worse to stay here, he wondered, or go back to camp by himself with no game?

No. No he couldn't go back, not empty handed. Legend was still cleaning the camp, and as petty as it was, Sky didn’t want to prove the veteran right. He had to show he could be useful on the Surface, and not just for Legend or himself. The immigrants from Skyloft were counting on this skill. Skyloft couldn’t sustain them forever.

Oh, but those eyes... those soft, remlit eyes...

"I couldn't shoot them either, my first time."

Sky's thoughts slid to a halt as he looked back at Twilight. The rancher’s eyes were scanning the distance, dusted with the same reverence he always wore when he watched the sun go down.

"You see animals as I do, Sky,” he said. “You see them as living creatures. They have spirits and a function in this world, just as we do. And when I was a boy, asked to shoot those spirits... I couldn't do it. Not the first time. Nor the second. Nor the third."

Sky studied the rancher in surprise. "But then... how did you learn how to hunt?"

"By listening to what my... well, Rusl's his name, but he might as well be my pa... he told me something I'll never forget." Twilight turned his gaze to Chosen Hero. "You are not weak because you can't shoot an animal. You are strong in kindness, and in empathy. And this world needs those kinds of people. 

"But," he held up a finger, "there's also an order to this world. We're stewards of animals, but we're also part of the food chain. You can't tell a wolf—a meat-eater—to start eating carrots and expect her to still feed her cubs. In hunting, we take one life to feed another, but we do it with respect, just enough to get ourselves and our own loved ones those kinds of nutrients when needed. Understand?"

Sky nodded slowly. The stone of guilt still hadn’t left his stomach, but he supposed it did feel a tad lighter. To think that Twilight, probably the strongest of all his heroic successors, had once had the same problems that he was having now… it was something to ponder for sure.

As if the rancher could read his thoughts, Twilight slapped his hand down on Sky’s shoulder. "Hey, I’ve got an idea! You don't have to keep hunting today if you don’t want to—we can practice more later. For now, there's plenty of fruit trees around here that you can help us glean. And nobody's gonna be upset when you come back with a big helping of sweets!"

Sky withered in relief. Finally. Now that was a way to be useful!

“Sounds good to me,” he smiled back at the rancher.

Twilight then turned to a nearby tree, and to Sky’s confusion, raised his voice:

"And nobody's gonna complain when WILD, who loves hanging around like a keese in a belfry, stops EAVESDROPPING and agrees to cook whatever Sky finds!"

Sky jumped to his feet as the tree rustled, dropping Wild unceremoniously onto the mossy earth. Twilight just laughed.

Wild popped his head out of a clump of ferns. “Hey, it’s not my fault you’re easy to listen to. You’re like a storyteller. Back me up, Bird Man!”

Sky cracked a smile. “You’re also easy to please, ‘Tree Guy’.”

Twilight laughed harder as Wild made a face. “I see you’re feeling better, Sky,” squinted the champion.

The Chosen Hero took a deep breath, taking in the mirth of the young men around him. His friends, he reminded himself. “Yeah,” he caught Twilight’s eyes. “I… I think I am, actually.”

“Good,” said the rancher. “Wild, you figure out where that pig went off to before you became a fly on the wall?”

“North a ways, and it’s slowing down,” Wild rolled his eyes. “Are you coming with, Twi?”

Twilight hesitated. He glanced back at Sky, as if unsure of leaving him behind.

“Go,” Sky said. “I can handle myself. Promise to keep being patient with me during my next hunting lessons?”

 The rancher’s face brightened. “I’ll get you there, Sky, don’t you worry. We’ll take things one step at a time.”

“Um… speaking of time?” Wild nodded his head to the north.

“Right, right. We’ll meet you back here soon, k’ Sky?” Twilight waved, and in a blink, the two hunters were gone.

Sky took another breath, turning his eyes to several bright red fruits hanging from the trees around him. “Ok.

“Apples. I can do apples.”

>>><<< 

Sky hummed a merry tune as he slipped another shiny red fruit into his magic pouch. I’m not giving up, he repeated like a mantra. This isn’t quitting. He shifted his balance on the tree branch he stood upon and gracefully hopped to a thicker bough. The warm, morning glow of sunlight washed down his back like a gentle river, filling his weary bones with comfort.

He exhaled deeply.

This isn’t slow. It’s measured. I just need to treat it like my quest:

Do all you can. One day at a time.

He reached skyward, plucking a beautifully rich apple from its stem. “That’s all you can do sometimes, Link,” he muttered, studying the waxy surface. A part of his brain flickered to life as he traced the apple’s skin, momentarily distracting him from his troubles.

A line here… a few carved edges… I’d need my fine whittling knife for that shape, but the inside’s softer and lighter than the outer layer…what beautiful natural contrast. Maybe…

A familiar hissing noise nearly drove him from his skin.

Sky fumbled with the apple, holding his breath as he dropped it and caught it again with just three fingers. Heart thundering, he slowly trailed his eyes away from the fruit and down to the forest floor.

What had first seemed like shifting leaves suddenly shivered into a sickly lizard green. Wood became scales. Moss became claws.

Before he knew it, an entire group of lizalfos had shed their camouflage scales, gurgling to each other as they sniffed the ground below their talons. Their eyes—far more complex than Sky had ever seen them—swiveled in all directions, completely independent from one another. The monsters gripped their self-made spears with confidence, pointing out the numerous boar tracks still scattered below the tree. It seemed that Twilight was no longer the most experienced tracker in these woods.

Sky’s heart leapt to his throat. Those eyes… any moment now they would swivel upwards and see him. He wasn’t exactly hidden with his bright white sailcloth reflecting the sun like a beacon.

A beacon… a distraction!

Trying to ignore his body’s rampant protests of self-preservation, Sky moved like a whisper, swapping the apple for his scattershot.

They still haven’t seen or smelled me. That boar must stink—but for how much longer?!?

He didn’t wait to find out. Silent as a Sheikah, the Chosen Hero aimed his upgraded slingshot at the farthest apple tree he could see. Without so much as a countdown, he fired.

A hailstorm of deku seeds rained through the air, creating a cacophony as they crashed into the leaves of the tree several meters away. A few apples dislodged from their branches, splatting all over the forest floor.

In a tangible wave of alarm, the lizalfos screeched, bolting towards the distant trees and throwing their spears into the underbrush. In an instant, Sky was once again alone.

His knees buckled. The knight gripped the bough he now straddled like his life depended on it. Too close. That was too close. Could he have fought them all? Perhaps, but he knew better than to push his luck on a breed of enemy he’d never battled before. Whose era were those things from, anyway?

That question died as another thought replaced it.

Twilight and Wild.

Sky stood up on the branch in a panic. Did they know this kind of lizalfos could use camouflage? Would they even notice the sneaking creatures before it was too late?!?

The Chosen Hero pinched his nose as his brain scrambled for the answer.

Warn them. I need to warn them, but I’ll never catch up—not without being caught myself. Warn them, warn them! Need to send a message, something to send it along, something, something like—

Sky smacked his forehead. “My beetle!”

 In a flash, Sky had pulled another object from his bag, this one glittering gold in the forest light. The shimmering, ornate beetle clicked excitedly as Sky wrapped the magic contraption around his wrist.

“All right, little guy, time to do your thing!”

 Aiming his forearm in the direction of the lizards, he let the beetle fly.

Sky swooned as his reality swirled around him. He could still feel the rough bark of the tree beneath his left arm where he’d steadied himself, but his sight became blurred and warped. Double vision came and went, and suddenly, his eyesight was shifted far from his body.

Out of the eyes of the mechanical beetle, he saw trees whipping past its wings. He could still feel his wrist tilting as he steered the beetle through the forest, but the dizzying sensation of flying away from his own body was impossible to ignore.

Ugh... I can't believe I forgot how odd this feels...

Through the beetle’s shell, he could feel the vibrations of the lizalfos’ squawks. They were far closer than he’d have liked them to be.

And not a crowd I’d like to run into. Up, up, my little friend. Take me skyward.

Sky tilted his wrist gently, and soon he was zipping through the forest canopy into the open air. He tightened his fist, pushing the Tough Beetle as fast as its wings could carry it.

A glint caught his borrowed eye. Tilting his sight downwards, he saw a tail vanish into the ferns. The monsters were on the hunt.

Running low on time. Gotta keep going…

The beetle began to sputter the faster Sky pushed it. Even with upgrades, its power didn’t last forever, but he couldn’t afford a do-over. Frantically, he extended the beetle’s jaws, feeling for the slightest vibration of a bowstring or sword. Ornate eyes scanned the foliage in desperation.

The beetle’s wings sparked.

No no no! Please, Hylia, let me do this one thing!!! Just a little farther…

A Hylian’s deep drawl suddenly shook the beetle’s underside.

There!!!

Sky jerked his wrist downwards, sending the beetle spiraling into a dive. As he crashed through the canopy once more, Twilight and Wild rushed into view, their backs turned towards him.

Sky clacked the beetle’s jaws together as its wings sputtered and sparked. Wild’s ear flicked.

In a flourish faster than the human eye, Wild spun around, his shield crashing up to meet him.

CLANG!

Sky shouted in alarm as white filled his vision. His consciousness slammed back into his own body, sending him tumbling out of the tree and into a patch of bushes.

“Uugh…” he wheezed, holding his throbbing head. Wild certainly had an arm on him. It probably hadn’t helped that Sky had been flying at top speed, either.

Gingerly, Sky crawled out of the net of foliage, still blinking away his whiplash. The others were on the alert now, at least. That was good, but he couldn’t just leave them there. He’d be a lot slower than the beetle, but perhaps if he knocked back a stamina potion and began running…

A twisted sound rang through the air, shattering the sky like a poorly tuned trumpet.

The woosh of powerful wings beat somewhere above the Chosen Hero, and for a moment, a brief, hopeful moment, Sky imagined his Loftwing soaring to his rescue. Instead, two dark, leathery wings ripped open the forest canopy, and a face that wasn’t a face trumpeted down at him in rage.

Sky fumbled for his sword as ebony talons raced for his heart.

>>><<< 

“A bear.”

“Yup.”

“A bear.”

“That’s what I said.”

Twilight stared at the younger hero in disbelief. “You shot a buck. While riding a bear?!?”

Wild waved his hand. “I mean, the buck was more of a happy accident, really. I was just riding along, and this huge buck jumps out at the same time, and I’d been out of food for a while, so I thought, ‘eh, why not?’ and shot it. Had to share it with Bongo, though.”

The rancher blinked, silently, and several times in quick succession. “You named the… no. No. Of course you named the bear.” He pulled his fingers through his dark blond hair and cuffed Wild in the shoulder. “Not three days have I known you and in every one of them you have lived up to your nickname.”

Wild held up his thumbs. “I aim for consistency.”

“Pft-! Now don’t you make me laugh, Champion. We’re supposed to be trackin’ that—"

“HYAH!”

At near inhuman speed, Wild flung around, pulling out his shield just as something crashed into it. A mechanical wonder the likes of which Twilight had never seen erupted off the metal surface, showering them in a glittering storm of iridescent sparks. The machine—a beetle, by the look of it—flipped wildly before dissolving into the air, disappearing without a trace.

They stared at the empty air in stunned silence.

“What… the heck was that?” Wild finally muttered.

“Not any monster I’ve ever seen,” said Twilight. “Those sparks, though… that magic…”

“They felt familiar somehow,” Wild nodded. “Yeah, I got that, too. But why? Where did it come from, all the way out here? Who could have—"

Their eyes widened together. “Sky.”

“But then—”

“Trust a rancher’s hunch,” Twilight muttered, drawing his sword. “A message without a messenger is rarely a good omen.”

The forest seemed much darker now. The trees were tall and restrictive, hiding unsettling secrets within their long shadows. Every twig snap, every waving fern could be an ambush just waiting to happen. Twilight and Wild stepped closer to each other.

Wild drew his bow. His fingers hovered over his slate and quiver, twitching nervously over his arsenal of arrows.

Ears pricked. Blue eyes danced from shadow to shadow. They were alone in darkness.

Sky. Where is Sky? What happened to him? Twilight bit his lip. Why did we leave him I never should have left him he’s barely the same age as I am… is he younger? He’s engaged but I never asked—

The trees shifted.

Wild sucked in a breath, catching a ripple of camouflaged scales in the distance.

“LIZALFOS!”

Electricity scattered through the air as Wild launched a volley of shock arrows. Twilight yelped as the empty air shimmered, revealing an entire pack of the snarling monsters. The three lizalfos hit with Wild’s arrows seized and flopped to the ground, only for others to crawl over their bodies and replace them.

"Surrounded. Not again!" Twilight growled.

"These are from my era!" shouted Wild. "Use long range weapons. If they get too close duck under their chins, it's a blind spot!"

Twilight snapped up the flat of his blade, deflecting a crudely made arrow. 

"Oh, and they’ve got arrows, too!" Wild shouted, sending his own arrows back at the lizard archers.

The rancher rolled his eyes. "You don't say." 

A gaggling noise sent a creep up his spine as foliage shifted behind him. Twilight ducked just in time for the scaly green arm to slice through the air above him with its blade. Taking advantage of Wild’s advice, Twilight angled his sword skyward and stabbed.

The monster garbled and melted to smoke.

Another lizalfos charged at him, spear outstretched. Before it could take its revenge, Twilight beaned it with a crossbow right between the eyes. 

'Nice!" shouted Wild, who had somehow gotten his hands on a lizalfos spear and was now skewering enemies with their own weapon. "Now watch—"

"WILD!" Twilight yelled. His crossbow bolt shot past Wild’s head and straight into the talon of an attacking lizalfos. The monster's weapon dropped from its injured hand, not a moment before Wild’s spear cut through its jaw.

"Pay attention!" shouted the rancher.

"Sorry!" Wild flung out his slate. "I just meant, watch this!"

A new item materialized in the champion's hand. It was beautifully cyan, glowing in the shadows of the forest, and looked an awful lot like...

Oh boy.

"Say hello to my little friend!!!" Wild shouted, chucking a full-fledged bomb at a particularly dense cluster of enemies.

Twilight was blown back by the force of the blast.

Ears ringing, he saw the champion already back on his feet, swirling his spear and grinning madly. He danced under and around his pursuers with practiced ease, dodging so that the enemies crashed into each other with their large, heavy heads. 

"He's downright crazy," murmured Twilight.

Wild got a few more shots in with his bow before switching tactics. A lizalfos roared and tore past the few remaining monsters, charging at top speed at the champion, but Wild was ready.

His shield came down in a perfect parry, dazing the enemy. Before Twilight could blink, a golden magical field descended around the monster from all sides—Wild’s slate magic—freezing it in place. He then began slamming on the monster like a madman until his spear snapped in half.

“Wild, what the heck—”

“LAUNCH!”

The magic ended as quickly as it had appeared. The monster shot back into the forest like a cannonball, taking out another lizard along the way.

Only two lizalfos remained.

Twilight glanced at Wild, who was grinning unsteadily from ear to ear.

“Pretty cool, right?” said the champion.

“I honestly don’t know whether to be afraid for you or of you,” Twilight replied.

Before Wild could even laugh, a wail pierced their ears. They whipped around, only to see a monster finish blowing a horn for reinforcements. Twilight swore and shot it through the chest.

Wild was quick to dispatch the last monster, but the air was already shifting. Twilight felt every hair on his body stand on end as the atmosphere sent chills down his spine.

No. That’s impossible.

He knew that feeling. But how could it be? That realm had been sealed away forever…

The trumpeting sound ringing through the sky only confirmed his suspicions.

“Shadow monsters…”

Wild tore his gaze from the sky and stared at the rancher. “What? What does that mean? Is it something from your era? Twilight, what’s wrong, you’re paler than normal—”

“DOWN! Take cover!!!”

Twilight shoved Wild behind a tree just as several hissing arrows thudded into the bark.

The giant wing of a shadow kargarok tore through the tree line, opening up the clearing for the shadow bublin archer on its back. Another shadow bird flanked the first, swooping and tearing into the earth with massive, angry talons.

As their mournful, trumpeting cries filled the air, Twilight saw fear in Wild’s eyes for the very first time.

“What… what are those things?” he whispered, watching the shadow onslaught. “Why does everything feel so… cold?”

Twilight gripped his shoulder, offering his steady touch to the young knight. “They’re normal monsters corrupted by even darker magic. I don’t know how or why they’re here, but I’m gonna see to it that they never bother anyone again.” He drew his crossbow, the shadow crystal around his neck pulsing with magic. “Stay here. Stay hidden.”

“What?!? But—”

“You had your turn to show off. Now it’s mine.” He offered him a small smile.

Wild’s eyes flicked to the creatures. “…Fine. But you better be awesome. And I’m firing arrows if you miss.”

Twilight nodded. “Deal.”

The leathery kargaroks dove for Twilight as soon as he ran out from the trees.

Twilight shot the crossbow to distract them as he dug into his magic pouch, willing a new item into his open palm. If only the Captain could see me now, he nearly laughed. In a flash of silver, a giant chained ball materialized in his arms, and with all his might, the rancher began to swing.

Faster… Closer… Faster!

The dangerous momentum of the ball and chain and the force of the first beast’s dive were a disastrous combination. With a mighty crack, the kargarok’s head slammed into the earth, furrowing the soil with its great mass.

Wasting not a moment more, Twilight put the heavy weapon away and sprinted for the beast’s back. He vaulted upon its saddle, punching away the bublin archer still sitting there as he passed, and launched himself at the second beast still swooping low in the air. He was just in time to grab one of the kargarok’s spines, and hoisted himself upon its back, right in front of its rider.

This second corrupted bublin screamed, ready to jam one of its arrows into Twilight’s back and regain control of its mount. Twilight caught its arm, ushering forth all his strength to keep himself steady. Gripping the screeching, writhing kargarok with only his legs, he punted the shadow bublin straight off the back of the beast. It fell to the ground with a satisfying THUD.

The glint of an arrow caught his eye. As if in slow motion, the black arrow from the first archer tore through the atmosphere, its metal tip aimed right for him…

…until another arrow cut it off.

Wild, his bow drawn and body completely exposed, stood determined in the clearing.

Twilight’s heart sunk as he watched the grounded kargarok limp into the skies again, trumpeting right for the champion.

“YOUR SHIELD!” shouted the rancher. “WILD, PARRY WITH YOUR—"

He wasn’t given the chance to watch. The kargarok beneath him trumpeted and writhed, twisting its neck to shake the rancher off.

“S-steady… steady, darn it!” he swore, grasping at its jagged spikes.

But the monster would hear none of it. It shot into the sky, Twilight clinging to its back uselessly. It stalled motionless in the air, then tore into a spiraling dive.

“Grr… You wanna play tough?” he growled, baring his teeth against the wind. “Then let me show you my fangs!”

The kargarok snapped out its wings to prevent a collision with the battle below. That was all the opening Twilight needed. He drew his sword and stabbed downwards, striking the corrupted beast between the shoulders.

The creature trumpeted and lost control. Twilight wailed on its back as they descended, slashing and spearing, until beast and hero slammed into the ground in an explosion of purple smoke.

Twilight gasped as the collision knocked the wind from his lungs. As if he weighed nothing, his body flailed across the clearing, rolling him like a tumbleweed into another figure.

Dazed, the rancher grasped for his sword.

“Wait! Wait!” Wild held up his hands. “It's just me! I got the other archer, we just need to—”

The world turned over as a giant black talon crashed into Twilight’s torso.

“AAGH!” both heroes shouted, each pinned to the ground by a foot of the remaining kargarok. The beast trumpeted victoriously down at them, half of its spiraled, faceless head still bashed in from the ball and chain.

Twilight gasped as the trees shifted around them. Three spears pointed in their faces, held by three lightning-scarred—and very disgruntled—lizalfos.

“Aw, c’mon, I thought I killed you guys already!” Wild groaned, his wide eyes betraying his unspoken fear.

Twilight felt a rush of magic pulse in his chest as the kargarok leaned back to strike. He could still win. If he transformed into a wolf now, it might surprise the monsters enough to give them an opening. But how to explain such a blessed curse to Wild?

The talons tightened, and Twilight realized he was out of time.

Wolf of nothing. Fine. Wild, forgive me for this shock—

“TRAAAAAAAWWWWW!”

Twilight’s plans were shattered by the sound of another trumpeting wail.

“Oh no…” Wild breathed, watching a third kargarok spiral into view above them.

The creature pinning them down jerked its broken head skyward, clinging possessively to its prey.

 The new kargarok didn't seem to notice its challenger. Instead of attacking, the creature flapped wildly, spinning in tight circles and snapping its neck from side to side. Almost as if it had a rather annoying itch. 

A flash of blue and red flickered from atop the monster's back the closer it spiraled.

 Twilight's eyes narrowed. "Wait a second..."

Wild beamed. "No way... Sky?!?"

 The Chosen Hero yanked the bright cyan whip he'd wrapped around the monster's neck, pulling it into a sudden downwards spiral. The beast lost control, and plummeted straight for the other kargarok, who screeched at the oncoming challenger. It threw itself from Wild and Twilight's chests, claws extended at the other beast.

The giant birds collided with a thunderous crash, and Sky jumped.

The lizalfos, too distracted to see the body of a hero skydiving right for them, panicked beneath the battling creatures. Twilight and Wild rolled to their feet, blocking them in. Then...

The fwoosh of a sailcloth.

The glimmer of a sword.

"KEH-YAH!" shouted the Chosen Hero, driving the length of the Master Sword straight through a monster's head. 

"YES!" cheered Wild, running after a second lizalfos with a tree branch. Sky locked the third monster in a fierce sword fight.

Trying not to focus on Sky's gasping breaths or Wild’s... unconventional weapon choice, Twilight turned back to the corrupted kargaroks. He was just in time to see the injured beast shatter into splinters of shadow, leaving Sky’s mount to trumpet victoriously over a cloud of smoke.

And that's the last victory you're gonna have. 

The rancher wasted no time on theatrics this round. He drew his bow. He lit the fuse. In two thwips! of a bowstring and two BOOMs! of an explosion, the final kargarok knew no more.

 “HECK YEAH! GO TWILIGHT!” Wild shouted, grabbing the exhausted Sky before he could fall over.

“Did… we win?” rasped the Skyloftian.

“I’ll say,” Twilight smiled. He limped over to his ramshackle companions, offering another arm for Sky to grasp onto. “But we would have been in quite a pinch if you hadn’t pulled all those stunts back there.”

“Ha, you’re one to talk, Twi!" the champion cut in. "And they call me ‘Wild’. You guys were insane!!!"

Sky nodded breathlessly. “Hff… thanks… Used to… big birds… You two ok?”

“Better than we were a minute ago,” said the rancher, rolling his stiff shoulders. He gazed fondly at the other heroes. "You boys are really somethin’, you know that?"

“You... were really cool, too” Sky grinned. “And Wild’s fast.”

"Barely faster than that beetle thing of yours—on which I call dibs!" Wild added quickly.

Sky laughed.

Twilight cast his gaze around the clearing, finally able to get his thoughts in order as his adrenaline wore off. A frown wormed its way onto his face.

"Those creatures shouldn't have been here."

"Don't I know it," said Wild, growing serious. "I'm no biologist, but even I know my era's lizalfos are highly evolved from what they used to be, big swivelly eyes and all." He twirled around a finger. "And this forest looks nothing like the ones I've explored. By all accounts, my monsters shouldn’t even exist in this time period."

"Oh...” Sky suddenly grew sheepish. “You already knew… I didn’t need to warn you about the camouflage, did I?”

Wild’s eyes widened. “What? Nonono, that was a big help! Especially because Rancher here was distracting me with conversation.”

The two heroes turned to Twilight, expecting a witty comeback. Instead, the farmhand remained strangely quiet.

Sky’s features hardened. “Twilight. Are there more out there?”

“…H-hmm? Ah, no. No. It’s just…” His blue eyes washed over the bright sky, half expecting another monster to fall from it. “Those shadow kargaroks and their archers. They aren’t just from some vague era. They’re from one point in time. A very specific point… but how could…?”

“Same way that Hinox from earlier showed up,” Wild shrugged. “Either the goddesses are testing us, or this is why they brought us here in the first place.”

“Or both,” Sky murmured thoughtfully.

Twilight lingered on his companions’ faces for a moment before shrugging. “Well. All I can say for certain is that the village is a whole lot safer with those monsters gone. I don’t wanna jinx us, but I get the feeling this was finally the last of them.”

Wild suddenly went rigid, smacking himself in the head. “Aww!”

Twilight stood straighter. “What? What is it?”

“I never got to ride a demon bird!”

Sky balked at him. “Wh… why would you want that?!?”

“Don’t ask,” Twilight sighed. “He’s ridden a bear before, Sky.”

The Chosen Hero blinked. “A bare… what?”

“A bear,” said Wild. “Like… the animal?”

"Oh." Sky scratched his head. "...What's a bear?"

Twilight and Wild locked eyes. Barely a moment passed before their composure slipped completely, giving way to wide grins. Chuckling, and more than a bit relieved they were all ok, the two heroes sandwiched Sky between them in a lopsided hug.

“Wh-what? What did I say?” Sky smiled, still very confused.

“Something very ‘Sky’” Wild laughed.

“To think,” said Twilight, “the same young man whose heart’s too big to shoot a deer and has never heard of bears, just wrangled a giant beast he’s never seen before and mercilessly slayed some monsters to save our butts.”

Sky’s face flushed in embarrassment. “I-I… well… you killed most of them, so…”

Wild snorted. “Just say thanks, featherhead.”

“…Thanks,” Sky murmured. “…And nice hair, Wild.”

Twilight barked with laughter as the champion pulled a large, broken stick out of his tangled hair. Wild examined it with exaggerated surprise before holding it high in the air triumphantly.

“Behold! A new weapon to mark our courage!”

Wild swung the stubby stick around like a dagger, pretending to stab Sky mercilessly in the side and accidentally tickling him in the process. The Chosen Hero snorted with laughter, failing to escape the brotherly onslaught.

“All right, all right, break it up, you two,” Twilight grabbed the heroes, pulling them apart by their tunics. His eye twitched as the move jerked his sore ribs. “We’ve had quite a skirmish, but we’ve still got a job to do. You got those apples, Sky?”

The Skyloftian winced. “I… did. But then the kargarok tossed me, and my adventure pouch… well. Let’s just say I have some items to recover.”

Wild patted him on the back. “Want some help with that?”

“…Yeah. Help would be good.”

Twilight steered the heroes back out of the clearing. “Then let’s get going, boys.”

Sky turned back to him in surprise. “Really? But what about the hunt?”

Twilight shrugged. “There’s plenty of animals in these woods. I’ve got time to track another. In the meantime, I’d rather not let either of you out of my sight!”

He tousled their hair, sending a series of loud protests ringing through the trees. With lighter hearts and a closer bond, the three heroes finally made their way back into the forest.

>>><<<

Masterlist | First | Chapter 5 | Chapter 7 (coming next week!)

Author’s note: Legend will remember that. >=)

Ooooh Twilight and Sky are such a good duo, and this was a very fun exploration of them (and good battle writing practice, haha). The next chapter is a direct follow-up to this and I am SOOOO stoked to post it; This chapter and Chapters 7, 9 and 12 are my absolute favorites, and I had so much fun with everything in between! Things are picking up!

Extra Note: I am a children’s book/family friendly author, so please keep all comments Safe For Work (no swearing please!) I want to do my best to make this a place for everyone. Cheers!

The sun had barely risen over the cloudless horizon, and already the air was inching towards the sweltering atmosphere of Lanayru Desert. The problem was, the air wasn’t dry. That he’d gotten used to from the few years he’d lived on the Surface. Instead, humidity rolled through the mid-morning sky like waves of invisible mist, sticking to every seam of Sky’s clothing and clogging his breath. His head swam as his high-altitude body tried to process the new climate. He’d never felt a heat wave like this before... except for, of course, in Eldin.

Sky grimaced. Funny how his fireshield earrings let him walk clean through the hearts of active volcanoes, but did nothing for above-average heat spells. Go figure.

Twilight let out a long whistle. “Feels like it’s gonna be a scorcher, boys.”

“Bring it!” Wind grinned, trotting past the rancher to get a better view of the vast, grassy hills before them. “We’ve had way hotter mornings out on the Great Sea!”

“Sounds delightful,” Legend grumbled.

Four pulled a face. “Sounds miserable.”

“It should!” Wind grinned. “That’s how we weed out the lily-livered. Only the toughest of sailors can brave the harsh days and frigid nights out on the water!”

Sky watched as the young sailor strutted around, puffing his chest out like a proud Loftwing. He smiled, letting Wind’s not-so-subtle boasting distract him from the heat a while.

If the rest of the heroes could handle the weather, then so could he. He had to. This was what the quest demanded, and he’d sell his precious carving tools before he let himself slow down the rest of his new team.

 And besides, Sky thought, the village can’t be that far away… can it?

>>><<< 

He was wrong. Very wrong.

Unlike Sky had hoped, their trek just kept going. Hyrule was a vast region, and the others seemed used to it. Every time Sky figured they would stop for a while to breathe, they kept walking, and the small breaks they did take were usually just quick checks for danger or direction. No village appeared over the horizon, no matter how hard Sky stared.

A cold dread seeped into his burning body as he began to understand what was happening. Yesterday was a test of courage. All those unusual monsters were proof of that. But today appeared to be a test of endurance. A test of stamina.

Sky shuddered internally. Oh joy.

This was probably the farthest he’d ever walked all at once without stopping, he realized. Skyloft certainly wasn’t this big, and even on his quest for Zelda, when he’d pushed himself to his limit, he’d had his bird, Crimson. He’d had Skyloft.

And I still was too slow.

Sky couldn’t force that thought back down as his gaze shifted over the other heroes. Wild and Hyrule led the group side by side, talking merrily about the places they’d explored. Neither boy looked like he’d broken a sweat.

Warriors and Twilight weren’t far behind, marching in long steady strides with Legend right beside them. Time stretched his arms and wiped his forehead once, but he never faltered. Four hung back to walk alongside the older knight, but certainly not for lack of energy—his small stature simply wasn’t made for striding.

Then that left Wind, who was… all over the place. His boyish excitement still hadn’t run out, it seemed, and he was bouncing through their ranks, asking as many questions as he could get away with. Sky had trouble keeping up with most of the answers. His chest was acting up again, and with each minute, he could see Time’s back getting farther and farther away.

Didn’t Wind live on a water-bound island? Wasn’t he tired, too? Why was Sky always bringing up the rear?

He wheezed involuntarily, drawing a glance from Time.

Panic struck Sky’s heart like a knife. No! Can’t let them see. Can’t be slow! Set an example…

Sky smiled brightly at him, fighting down the urge to cough.

Time stared at him a moment longer. He looked ready to say something, but whatever it was going to be was lost as Four pulled Time back into their prior conversation. Time nodded and turned away from Sky, resuming his discussion with the smith.

Sky let their words wash over him, desperate to ignore the dizzy ache settling through his body and his heart pounding in his ears.

Too slow…

>>><<< 

Their break for lunch went by far faster than Sky had hoped. The heroes plopped themselves down under the shade of some stray trees, happy to snack on some of Wild’s mushroom and potato skewers. They stretched their aching limbs, resting just long enough to regain their energy and wipe off their sweat.

Sky leaned his back against one of the trees, limbs pulsing and shaking. By now he could feel the familiar, nasty slickness of spit trailing down his throat, threatening to creep into his weak lungs. He downed some water, trying to subtly swallow the gunk away. He wasn’t about to start a coughing fit in front of the others; that wouldn’t do here, not when he was supposed to be an example for them. Time may have been made their leader unofficially, but Sky was still the Chosen Hero. The first of them all. He couldn’t let them down.

Too slow… Too slow…

He didn’t realize he’d fallen asleep until Time shook his shoulder.

Sky jolted, sending spit down the wrong part of his throat. He hacked on instinct. The ugly sound made him go cold with embarrassment, and he forced himself to be more subtle.

Time stared at him in concern, Hyrule frowning over his shoulder along with the others.

Warriors studied him like a bug under a magnifying glass. “Are you all right?”

Sky waved him away and stood quickly, trying to smile it off. “H-ha. Sorry. Spit went the wrong way. I… wasn’t out for very long, was I?”

“Only a few minutes...” said Time slowly, his gaze never leaving Sky.

“And boy, what a sleep,” Legend added. “You were still sitting up and everything. I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone conk out so fast; were you going for a record or something?”

“Legend,” Twilight frowned.

“What? I’m genuinely curious.”

Despite his dizzy head, Sky found a true smile on his lips. That’s just like something Groose would say. “Oh, it’s just another one of my many skills, Veteran. I hope you’re not too jealous.”

Legend’s eyebrows rose, obviously not expecting that comeback. He chuckled to himself and shook his head. “Jealous? Of you? Fat chance, Bird Man.”

Sky grinned, but could still feel several eyes on his back as they packed up lunch. He focused on keeping in his cough to distract himself.

And of course, a sip of stamina potion when no one was looking didn’t hurt, either.

Once they set out again, the air only got hotter. As the day slumped past, many of the men decided to put away their armor, preferring comfort over defense. The only monsters they’d come across so far were basic chu-chus and other tiny enemies, nothing to warrant the mighty regalia of a knight’s outfit. Blasted by heat, most of the others simply slipped into a quiet daze as they let their feet carry them at a steady pace.

The key word there being “most.”

Sky kept falling behind.

His body felt numb and fuzzy with fatigue. His hands and feet were swelling and throbbing as his lungs struggled to keep time with his heart. He was certain his boots had gotten smaller.

Memories of his quest filtered through his mind, unbidden.

You were too slow, hero. Too slow! Too slow to save—

A grunt drew his attention. Wind, who’d been so bubbly that morning, was now strangely quiet. He’d fallen back to the end of the line with Sky, eyebrows notched in a sour grimace. His glazed eyes stared holes into the path before him as he gingerly moved his feet… feet that no doubt were causing him as much pain as Sky’s.

Ah. So I was right about him earlier, Sky thought. Poor little fledgling…

He quietly cleared the phlegm out of his raw throat, breaking the silence between them.

“So, what’s it like traveling an entire ocean?”

 Wind's ears perked up. "Huh?"

"I have... well, maybe not experience, but I've gone sailing on the Surface with a friend of mine before. He's a captain, actually."

 Sky's question worked beautifully. Wind's exhaustion was quickly swept to the side in favor of a big, dimpled grin. "No way."

Sky nodded. "Yeah. A mechanical captain from an age long past. It's sort of hard to explain, but there are these stones that act as windows to the past, and they can turn one of the deserts in my era into what it used to be: an ocean. It's beautiful. But to be completely surrounded by water for days on end... isn't that scary?"

 Wind shook his head firmly. "No! Well, maybe a little at first, but that was because of my quest. But on a ship with a crew, it's like journeying with a big family. Every day something new could happen, and there's always something to do on the boat. I like shooting the canons at monsters, personally. "

Sky found himself grinning. "Canon's have no right to be that entertaining."

"As long as you're not the one being shot out of one,” Wind agreed. “I got lucky with my pirate’s initiation. They only shot me from a giant catapult. But from the stories I’ve heard on the sea? Some guys across the ocean have some insane pastimes, heh.”

“Wait, wait, a giant… what did you call it?”

“A catapult? You know,” Wind cupped his hand and swung his arm forward forcefully. “Big wooden thing that you wind back and release, throws whatever you put in the barrel? Like a cannon but with less gunpowder.”

Sky blinked in amazement. That almost sounded like… No. It couldn’t be. “You’re not talking about—I can’t believe I’m saying this—the Groosenator, are you?”

Wind pulled an odd, pinched expression, somewhere between deep thought and utter confusion. “What? Wait lemme think, why is that… Oh! Yeah, actually I think my Grandma had an old school book that said something about a lot of early inventions all having this one guy’s name tacked onto them? Hey, and that goosen-something you mentioned…”

“Groosenator.”

“Bless you. But yeah! I think that was the earliest catapult or something?” Wind gasped as a thought hit him. “WAIT! Do you know the guy who made it?!?”

Sky smiled. “Yeah. He used to bully me in school but we’re pretty great buddies now. He’s actually been a big help with building our Surface settlement… when he’s not off getting distracted by his ‘latest stroke of genius’ and shooting me out of the ‘Groosenator Mark II like a test dummy.” Sky rubbed his neck. “Yikes.”

Wind's eyes blew wide. “So you’ve been shot out a catapult, too?!?”

 Sky bit his lip to keep his laugh contained. "Yeah, several times actually. And I’ve shot a canon AND been shot out of one. I have… many types of friends."

Wind blew out a puff of air. "That's amazing. Who knew we had so much in common! Islands, catapults, friends that sail..."

"...A hero's spirit," Sky added, putting a numb hand on Wind's back.

"And you're Tetra's ancestor... Ha! She'd probably flip if I told her. You two seriously need to meet."

Pride swelled in Sky's chest, overtaking his exhaustion for a moment. "You said she was the captain?"

"The best on the ocean," said Wind. He closed his eyes fondly. "She's brave and quick, and she'll do anything for the men that fight at her side. She sort of inherited the crew when her mom died, so they all look out for her even though she's in charge. They’re basically her family. I'm just the newcomer."

"Just the newcomer?" Sky pressed. "The way you talk about her and the crew, you seem a bit more than just that." 

"Yeah... well..." Wind scratched his head. He blushed when the older hero nudged his shoulder. "Hey, don't make this mushier than it needs to be, Sky."

"Then tell me more about her," the Skyloftian pressed. "What should I know if I'm going meet her?"

"...Well… we both like to spar."

"Hey, that sounds fun!" Sky smiled, thinking about all the sparring he'd done with his classmates in Skyloft. The thought of crossing swords with his great-something granddaughter sent warm sparks swirling through his chest. "I really hope I get to see her, and all the Zeldas, too," he sighed. "I just hope..."

Wind tilted his head. "What?"

It was Sky's turn to blush. "I just hope we'll get along, you know? That she doesn't think meeting her ancient ancestor will be weird."

"Weird? No way! She may be tough on the outside, but she's really great once you get to know her. She'll love you, Sky."

"If you say so."

Wind paused to consider something. Slowly, his face lit up with a big, twinkling grin. "Hey! Now that I think about it, you two actually balance each other out really well."

"We do?"

"Yep!" Wind winked. "You make the perfect team. Your all sweet and she's super sour!”

 Sky couldn’t help it. He let out a deep, sharp laugh, surprised by Wind’s blunt honesty.

This proved to be a horrible mistake.

His laughter erupted into a coughing fit, seizing his diaphragm and refusing to let go. All at once, Sky’s held-back phlegm was finally free. It surged from his ragged airways in a full force assault, drowning him where he stood. His chest spasmed, but no air came in. His head swam. There was thunder in his ears and a fire in his lungs, pounding, burning, suffocating him with overloaded senses. Air was water. Up was down. All at once the world was spinning, and the ground came swirling up to meet him.

Strong hands grabbed him before he could break his nose, but he was sure he’d bruised his knee on a rock. His throat tightened on him, and he wheezed. He couldn't swallow. Everything was too hot, too humid. He couldn't breathe.

Too slow too slow too slow!

Something smelling of a garden was shoved beneath his nose. It was clear. Sweet. Cold.

Skyloft.

Sky opened his mouth, inhaling the mint leaf’s fumes greedily as the powerful scent forced space back into his airways. He coughed up a disgusting amount of phlegm. He could taste salt running down his chin and nose, tears escaping his eyes with his body’s effort to clear his system. His heart thudded against his chest, his stamina long since spent. Limply, he let himself sink back into the arms of whoever had caught him.

A faint smell of pumpkins tickled his nose. He coughed weakly, too exhausted to even clear his lungs correctly. Someone ran a cool cloth over his face to clean it.

“Sky?!? Sky?” Wind’s jarring voice sounded from somewhere nearby. “Captain, what was that?!? What happened? We were just talking, and—!”

“Some kind of respiratory illness, perhaps” Warriors murmured right in front of him, wiping the water-soaked cloth across Sky’s cheek. “Bring the crushed mint a bit closer to his face, Champion. Twilight, sit him up straighter—don’t hold him so tight—there. Let him breathe.”

Numbly, the Skyloftian registered Wild’s hand on his rattling chest, moving the crumpled sprig of mint toward his mouth and nose.

“Sky,” Hyrule whined, sounding heartbroken. “Ugh, I knew there was something wrong earlier.”

Time consoled the traveler with a small pat to the shoulder. Sky then heard the path shift as the older knight knelt before him.

“A group is only as fast as its slowest member, Sky, and none of us have a problem slowing down. We are not made of clockwork, and it’s hot. If you ever feel ill, you need to tell us. You know that.”

“I know,” he rasped, chest catching fire all over again. Pain and embarrassment swirled within his eyes. He couldn’t move his body. “M’sorry…”

Too late. Too slow. Not enough.

Sky clenched his fist over the mint.

I’m so sorry.

For more than you know.

“All right, that’s enough of that,” Warriors cut in. “Time, I’m making an executive decision. We’re resting. Village be darned, we’ll find it tomorrow.” He eyed Wind, who was swaying on his feet, looking miserable. “All of us are resting,” he clarified.

Sky felt himself being lifted up and placed against another tree, all the while drifting in and out of consciousness in his exhaustion. Wild’s mint sprig was still tucked into the neck of his sailcloth, mixing its fresh scent with the lingering traces of Zelda’s perfume. Sky closed his eyes and breathed.  

“Oh, Sleepyhead…” she would have whispered to him, teasing his hair with her soft fingers. He could practically feel her curled up next to him.

Someone shifted by his side, and Sky jolted out of his half-dream.

Oh. Right.

Wind was leaning against Sky, arms crossed over his knees and his chin tucked behind them. He looked utterly spent, and there was little doubt that Sky looked even worse.

 "Sky."

The Chosen Hero looked up to see that the camp had already been set. The sun hung low in a late afternoon haze, its long shadows and golden glow joining with that of the firelight. How long had he been resting?

"Sky?"

His eyes snapped to the rest of the heroes. Time and Warriors, in particular, were staring at him with intense study and concern. The two of them looked scarily similar.

He'd seen that look on Gaepora a few times, too.

"Uh... yes?" Sky asked innocently. He did not want to have this conversation again.

"Kindly explain what just happened," said Time. It wasn’t a request. 

Sky sighed. He pulled a bottle out of his pack, the green liquid inside glowing faintly. He downed the rest of his stamina potion in one gulp, and the effect was immediate.  The cool, minty, earthy taste of the potion soothed his ragged throat, settling in his stomach like a refreshing drink of spring water. A buzzing sensation spread across his body, reaching even the tips of his fingers and ears. It didn't take much longer for it to chase his exhaustion away.

With the weight on his chest gone, Sky took a massive breath, gulping down clear air like a fish would gulp water. He sighed in relief. 

Meanwhile, Time and Warriors were still waiting for an answer. 

I guess there's no escaping it now...

"This is normal, for me," Sky began. He held up a hand before anyone could butt in. "My people… our bodies aren't built for this kind of air. We've lived in the clouds for countless generations, where the air is thinner. Found out pretty fast that anyone who spends time on the Surface has to adjust. Even then... some of us have a harder time than others."

"And you didn't think to tell us this before our massive walk through the hot sun that was obviously bad for your health?" Legend frowned.

"I-I..." Sky's heart began to pound. He had no good excuse and he knew it, but he had to give them something. "I'll get used to it."

"Sky—"

"Please," Sky interrupted Twilight. "I've done it before. I've already been living between Skyloft and my Surface for a few years now. The atmosphere here is just... thicker than I'm used to. My body will adjust. That's my burden and I'm at peace with that. But you all shouldn't need to slow down because of me. We have a quest to learn about and supplies to gather. If we're to succeed, little things like this are irrelevant—"

"Stop that."

It was Warriors who'd interrupted him. The captain’s ice blue eyes pierced through him, and Sky couldn’t look away.

"I'm not a fan of leaving people behind, Sky, and if you think you're an exception to that rule, then you’re mistaken, ‘Chosen Hero’ or not," he said. "Rest is not irrelevant. It makes you stronger, more alert and ready for the next battle. So, from now on, wherever we go, we go together, and if anyone needs rest, we will happily sit our butts down until everyone is fine to move again. Ask any one of us and he'll tell you the same. Mask especially."

Time hummed. “You never did let me forget that lesson back in the day, did you?”

“And I’ll continue to do so until something on Farore’s green earth finally succeeds in ending me. That goes for all of you, here me?” Warriors said sternly.

All around him, every other hero was nodding along.

"No hero left behind."

"You won't help anyone by running yourself into the ground."

"Let us look after you."

"No shame in that."

"We've all been there."

Sky clenched his fists, taken aback by the wave of caring. He didn't deserve it, he knew he really was slowing them down, but... it was very kind of them all to offer their support.

And the captain, Warriors, he was a good man. A kind leader, like Pipit or Eagus. Listening to his advice was the least Sky could do to show his respect for his character. And if it meant finally taking a break, well. Who was he to complain? 

Sky hummed his thanks to the captain, letting his shoulders droop. He really needed to brew more stamina potion if his was already wearing off. Or was he just that tired? That probably wasn't a good sign.

"Can we get you anything, Sky?"

"Hmm?" Sky blinked, looking up at Wild. "Oh. No..."

Wild gave him a stare sharper than a Loftwing's.

"...Maybe some food?"

"Done."

"Can't argue with the cook, Sky," mumbled Wind. "Ev'body knows that."

Sky studied the young sailor. He was still curled up next to Sky, but something about the way he shifted his ankles made Sky frown.

His feet, Sky remembered. He must have callouses from this much walking. I would know. Ouch. He shifted his own boots.

But why not tell anyone he was hurt? Unless...

Unless he's just like me.

Maybe the other heroes did understand his burden. 

Sky tried not to lament the implications of that as he rifled through his pack for another potion. He could bear some aches, but the thought of his successors hurt in any way was greatly upsetting to him.

Wordlessly, he held out the red potion to Wind.

Sky could practically see the cage slamming shut around the boy.

"What’s that for?" asked the sailor under his breath.

"I would hope you know what a potion is."

Wind rolled his eyes. "Well, duh! But why are you giving it to me?"

Sky subtly glanced at the sailor's boots. "I've found that it helps us islanders cope with prolonged, non-relaxing strolls along the Surface."

"I-I don't know what you're talking about."

The Skyloftian raised an eyebrow. When he was sure none of the others were looking, he reached down and flicked one of Wind’s toes.

The sailor yelped. He glared at Sky through tear-speckled eyes, only to come face-to-face with the potion.

"Barnacle blisters, Sky, OK!" he hissed. "So I'm a little sore, sue me. I'll be fine."

"Your feet need this."

"No they don't. I've toughed out way worse before, and I'm not letting you waste a potion on my stupid feet. I can handle it just like the rest of you."

Sky stared at him for a moment longer, then sighed. He hated to use this card, but he knew it was exactly what Zelda would have done for him... what she continued to do for him. Her wisdom was not to be taken lightly.

So he shrugged, "Fine. Then I'm not telling Wild how to brew more stamina potion for me."

"What?" Wind shot up. "Sky, you can't do that—"

"Why? I've been through worse. And I can be just as stubborn as you. Why waste someone else's time, anyway?" Sky looked down. His regret was real as he mumbled, "I've already slowed you down enough today."

Wind growled. "So? It's never a waste of time when you care about someone! Everyone would be MORE than willing to help you if you would just let—" Wind froze as those words finally registered in his head.

Sky held out the potion again, a bittersweet smile appearing on his face. "We really are a lot alike, you and I."

Wind stared at him for nearly a minute before swiping the red potion from Sky's hand. "I'd hate you if I didn't like you so much," he mumbled, taking a sip.

Sky wheezed with laughter and pulled him close. 

"And you better tell Wild about the stamina potion," Wind huffed, passing back the bottle. "If you don't, I'll know, and I'll personally help him shove it down your throat."

"It's a promise," Sky chuckled. He took a sip of the red potion for his own aching feet, and before he knew it, he was nodding off with his arm around the sailor.

Wild’s gentle voice woke Sky up a moment later. Wind cheered as the champion passed them two steaming bowls of leftover pumpkin soup, and by the smell of it, Wild had even added some extra herbs and vegetables. 

"For the healing properties," the champion explained.

A freshly brewed stamina potion materialized beside Sky's pack, and Wild walked away, smiling. 

He already knew how to brew it, Sky realized, warmth spreading through his chest at the kind gesture. "Thank you," he whispered after him.

Wind sighed in delight. "I love it when Wild cooks."

Sky grinned, his gratitude for the heroes of the future warming in his heart.

"Me too, Wind. Me too."

>>><<<

Masterlist | First | Chapter 3 | Chapter 5 (coming next week!)

Author's Note: Get cared for, Sky!!! For such a sleepy guy he's got a huge fixation on efficiency and timeliness. Good qualities, but like anything else, they can be taken to an extreme. I looooved writing Wind, especially alongside Sky! They're one of my favorite duos, and quite similar! Both are islanders, start their quests for someone they love, "sail" across a large expanse, and are very expressive, positive, & caring people. And both of them are mischievous. Sky's responsible when he has to be but let's never forget that he broke someone's entire chandelier while trying to grab a shiny Piece of Heart. And Wind legally owns his own private oasis. >u<

Extra Note: I am a children’s book/family friendly author, so please keep all comments Safe For Work (no swearing please!) I want to do my best to make this a place for everyone. Cheers!

Okay, you’re not literally running for the hills.

You feel someone grab at the back of your shirt, that almost trips you up. You simply go limp, and suddenly being faced with your entire weight, they’re thrown off and they let go. You glimpse pink.

You would say that you’re running for the woods, or into the woods. Woods time. You love the woods. The woods are so great and awesome. Those look like pines. Your mind is abuzz. Maybe this is a weird side effect of a concussion that no one told you about before. Maybe it’s all a dream. That would make sense.

An inopportune branch drags across your cheek. Gah! It stings with dirt and grime. 

Your run stutters to an awkward forward hop through the well trodden path and you cover the scratch with your hand. No one expects the Surprise Tree. 

Your face is wet. When in the hell did you find time to spill water on your face? Why don’t you remember that? Did the freaking… the morning dew from the leaves get everywhere? Is there even morning dew? You wipe it off. Your palm is red.

Holy shit your palm is red. Holy shit, you’re bleeding. 

“Over here!” 

You turn sharply toward the voice behind you. Sounds like the guy with fur pelt. Sounds like the Hero Of Twilight. Weird to listen to him talking.

No, no it doesn’t. It only sounds like him if you still don’t have any signal. You just need to find somewhere different and you’ll get signal and you’ll call someone and you’ll go home and you’ll tell your friends about what an adventure you had and you’ll go back to your life exactly how it was before and nothing will have ever to change ever again. Yes.

Focus. Focus! The ground is barren dirt with the footsteps of many people long past. You weigh your odds: you, teenager of average physique, against nine guys, all strong enough to carry swords and wear real metal armor, along a linear path where your only tool is how fast you can run. 

The odds are not in your favor. 

You veer to the left, straight into the underbrush. You keep your hand over your face because you know that bleeding onto the ground makes you way easier to track. You’d say you have some basic knowledge of how that kind of stuff works. Woods stuff. Unless people can only track you that way if they have a dog. You didn’t see a dog. Oh, but Twilight Princess Link can transform into a dog. 

No! Anyway. You’ll have to find a place to stop. You’re sure you have a bandaid or something in your bag.

Running through the underbrush makes you very aware of why people usually hack through this stuff with a knife. You’ve grazed several spiky plants at this point, and you’re sure that your calves are gonna be a whole mess of tiny scratches. You don’t even wanna think about all the bugs there could be, roaming around invisibly just at your feet. You left your dang DEET in your backpack. And not even that, it’s hard to straight up watch for roots that poke out of the ground.

You’re stopped suddenly and for no reason. No, wait, Your shoe caught on a root poking out of the ground. You knew it. You knew it would happen the whole time. You tilt forward and fall off a cliff to your death. 

Actually, it’s more of a hill. A gently sloping hill on which you roll downward and you can’t gain your bearings at all. But it still hurts. 

“Egh- Ow- Ow- Ow- Ow-”

After an hour (a minute), you finally crumple into a puddle of limbs and torso and head at the end of your fall. Your backpack collapses next to you. Thank god it’s over.

You lie there on the ground for long enough to ponder how bad it would be to just not get up at all. Maybe it would be best to just let nature slowly reclaim you, and you’ll die peacefully of hypothermia on a cold night and once again become one with the Earth and universe. Your death will happen eventually either way. Or something like that.

But no, instead you slowly push yourself upward from the rocky dirt with a few sparingly placed patches of grass so that you’re sitting. You take a breath afterward, that was a lot of effort. Too much effort. You need to get more in shape. You look up at the sky. At the clouds floating by, carefree. You frown.

Just where are you? 

LARPers aside, you literally have no idea where you are, and you have no way to get back home. You doubt anything those weird guys say, but the pounding in your head that’s been there since you woke up lends some credibility to their claims, because at least they’re not lying about that. 

You’re definitely concussed. But how’d that even happen? All you really garnered from that was that ‘it was a miracle you survived,’ which doesn’t do anything except for make you anxious wondering about what the fuck happened. You have enough to worry about.

The decked out as fuck guy— okay. You have to call him something else. It’s a mouthful… or well, you’re not saying the words out loud- mind-ful? Yeah, that’s accurate. Your mind is full right now. Speaking of ‘mind-ful’, why would they even call mindfulness ‘mindfulness’ if it’s about emptying your mind. Word sound opposite of what word mean. You’re sure there’s a word for that as well. There’s a word to everything. Information is so vast. Mindfulness is also, like, impossible to achieve, so who cares anyway. You find the breathing exercises to be kind of embarrassing.

What shall you call him? Big ears? No, they all have— they’re all wearing elf ear prosthetics. Hm. Maybe… big as fuck scar guy. Yeah, that’s easier.

Anyway. Big as fuck scar guy was about to- oh god, he was about to tell you what happened, wasn’t he? And you interrupted him! And made fun of his ears even though they are big and you’re right! You don’t even know if these guys are bad, it’s not like they tried to do anything to hurt you while you were awake. One of them was like twelve, thirteen. How evil could he possibly be?

Very, actually. Very. Very evil. You know firsthand as someone who was twelve and also thirteen once upon a time. But that one didn’t seem particularly evil. Or even judgemental. He was just curious. All of them, they were all just curious, or cautious, or both. The same as you are. What if they were telling the truth?

Your sight starts to blur. This is so stupid. Why’d you even run? Why’d you have to be so emotional? Why couldn’t you just calmly sort it out like Link— like big as fuck scar guy said? Why were you so mean to them? Why do you always mess things up like this? What’s wrong with you?

With the back of your hand, you wipe the dirt off of your face. And also the blood off of your face. And also the- right. You should do something about that.

As soon as your backpack is in sight, you remember oh shit, your switch and your school computer! 

…actually, who cares about your school computer. It’s not like it’s any good. 

Wait, if it’s damaged then you’re the one that has to pay for it. Fuck! 

You shove your phone in your pocket. When you grab your backpack by the top, there’s a lot more resistance to it than you remember. It wasn’t this heavy before. Did those weird guys slip something in there? But why would they do that, who would slip something into someone’s backpack, why wouldn’t they just steal from it. There’s valuable electronics in there. Unless it’s because they… they slipped a bomb in there and planned on exploding you and… killing… you. No, no. No, that’s completely outside the realm of reality. If they did, you would’ve exploded already. And they wouldn’t have chased after you. And it would have been heavy before you fell down the hill or took off or even woke up. Though it does make more sense than you being isekai’d or whatever.

Before you can think about any of that at all, you look a little closer and see-

What the fuck what the fuck what the fuck is that. What the fuck. What IS that???

There is a giant ass cyclops spider-crab— aren’t those the same thing? Giant ass arachnid. There is a giant ass cyclops arachnid looking CREATURE that has a hold of your bag now. Why in the fresh fucking fuck is it strong enough to pull your bag away from you? What does it need that strength for? What does it need your bag for?? It doesn’t even look like it’s struggling!

The wise thing to do would be to run. But are you just gonna let it take your bag? You’d run if it was, like, a human. Or a coyote. Or a boar. Or a lion. Or a tiger. Or a bear. Oh my! Anyway you are not getting your shit jacked by a bug. That would be your lowest low. Even lower than going ‘made you look’ and running away. Though, maybe that’s your highest high. You got nine people with it, that’s pretty impressive. Ha ha. 

You kick the bug. Your shoe collides with a hard shell. Ow. 

You yell at the bug, “Get off of my stuff, you fuckin’ fiend!”. Nothing happens. You don’t even know if it has ears, why’d you even do that. 

You stop standing and let it pull on both your bag’s weight and your weight, instead— 

You land on your butt. That worked a little too well. The giant ass cyclops looking Arachnid Freak of Nature flies off of your bag, landing on its back and wriggling its legs around. You take your bag back for the second time, today.

In what you can only describe as a miracle, it manages to flip itself back over. It looks at you with its big as fuck cyclops eye. Your video game mind tells you to punch it in that eye, that’s its weak spot. Seriously, why does it only have one eye. Animals usually have at least two, if any, because of depth perception and what not. Are there any animals that have just one?

This one does apparently because it’s looking at you with it and oh god it’s mad it’s gonna attack you and you can’t defend yourself because you’re frozen in fear. Your emotions get the better of you yet again. Shit. Fuck emotions, all your homies hate emotions.

You flinch when it starts moving. It turns around and scuttles away into the wood into the bushes and the roots and the other insects. 

You watch it disappear into darkness. When it’s quiet for a bit too long, like the anticipation before a jumpscare in a horror movie, you slowly lean backward.

…

…nothing… happens.

Nothing happens. 

Nothing happens! 

You pump your fists up into the air. Yes! You win! You are so cool! Let’s fucking go! That was so awesome of you! You did something scary, and you didn’t die or fuck it up irrevocably! Yay!

You sling your backpack around to the front. Now, where’d you put your bandaids. Do you even have any? Oh, thank god, your switch is still fine. Your school computer is also fine. And your DEET! So many loose papers. Your folders aren’t even organized. 

The forest before you whispers. You still your celebration.

…let‘s… go..?

First the forest whispers. Then it rustles. Then it shuffles, like the stampede of cats again. Did those guys find you? Oh, god. You’ll have a lot of things to explain.

Something very old in the back of your mind jerks awake, the hair on your skin stands up.

Look up look up look up!

You jump and throw yourself backward. There is a big fucking thing descending upon you. The air displaced from the big fucking thing’s landing pushes you even further.

They do not find you. You wish they found you. You can’t believe you thought what you now know is comparatively a nothing arachnid was big. No. This is the Biggest. It stands on four legs instead of six instead of eight. Its exoskeleton is sharp, jagged, its teeth— pincers. Its pincers look like they would hurt. Will hurt. The other ones, crawling forth from the trees, surround the biggest. Probably their leader or their queen or something. And you pissed it off. That little fucker ran off and told its mom on you.

The wise thing to do would be to run. 

You’ve never been able to think on your feet. Your brain likes to pluck possibilities at its leisure, which leaves you frozen sitting and thinking on the kitchen floor at one in the morning instead of doing any work for school or otherwise or even just going to bed in an attempt to salvage what little hours of sleep you have left. When you try to do this with not even half as much time, your instincts are always wrong. 

Your first instinct is to escape. So, so, maybe you shouldn’t do that? Maybe you should fight. Fight it. Punch it in its one big stupid eye and win. 

A click emerges deep from its throat, and then its mandibles split open and it lets out a terrible screech, spraying you with spittle that sizzles and eats through the fabric of your backpack. If you hadn’t swung it out in front of you, your stomach would be—

Nope. Running it is.

-

“Over here!”

Link, the ranch hand, the Hero of Twilight, calls out to his traveling party. 

Or his friends. Or his companions. Or his brothers-in-arms, maybe. It’s hard to find a word to describe the kinship he’s found with the heroes that come before him and those that come afterward. Maybe brothers-in-arms is the closest. He’s never had much of a blood family to speak of, so he isn’t one to know who to give the title to or what it’s supposed to mean. But in the very least, he knows that ‘brother’ feels right. 

He makes the familiar transformation from a Hylian to a wolf, a beast of darkness and shadow. While a wolf, even if his sight is greyer and duller, the air of the forest bites sharper, and he can see just as well with his nose. He’ll let that guide him.

He trots forward. First it’s the kid’s footprints that almost glow compared to the undisturbed foliage around them. Then, a trail of blood droplets paints the ground, though not many. The kid’s not bleeding out in the very least. He cranes his neck upward, to see the culprit. An awkwardly placed tree branch. That would leave a nasty cut. 

Just up ahead, the trail they created turns to the left. He peers down the line of trees. There is a path of flattened plants and an absence of animals that dispersed in their presence. He follows it, knowing his brothers-in-arms are not far behind, knowing that they know who he is, and that he’s not just a wolf going where he pleases.

He never really had a plan to tell everyone about it. He was sure that many among them would react with less than hospitality toward what dangles from his neck. Using dark magic to transform can drive people mad. 

He follows it until he comes to a hillside where the trees grow thinner because of the angle.

The footprints stop here.

Link sheds the skin of the wolf, and he comes out on the other side clutching the curse solidified. It’s a little less startling each time, it hurts a little less. Though it exacerbates the dull pain in his side. He’s beaten death. Nothing he can’t handle. He hears everyone else approach from behind.

“They went that-a-ways,” 

He points with his thumb. Though their path is not nearly as easy to see now, the marks from where they clearly tumbled their way down the hill are obvious to anybody that knows what to look for.

The Hero of Winds frowns, squinting with the distance, looking into the area of woods that’s grey and desolate. The decay spirals outward. Evil has walked there, and it has taken life out of the land. “But that’s…” 

“A Gohma nest,” Says the old man, with a grave expression that leaves no room for mirth, as he’s had on more than usual these days.

The Hero of the Four Sword looks like he just appears behind him. He does this often. No one’s been able to figure out if this is a power of his he gained on his journey, or a skill he picked up somewhere, or just because of his… stature. “More of the Shadow’s minions?”

“Presumably.” The old man nods. “No monsters outside of the Shadow’s influence have thought to show themselves in this era, as of yet.” Link feels his eyes on him. Again, he’s beaten death. Nothing he can’t handle. 

The traveler’s words sound like a wince under his breath, “Let’s just hope it stays that way…” 

“Ugh,” The sailor shivers, and he sticks his tongue out. “I feel bad for them. I hated fighting that thing,”

The vet squints at their apparent destination. “They’re the one that decided to deceive us and run off right into the woods.”

Link raises an eyebrow. “Oh, and you’d have a better reaction?”

The chosen hero offers, “They were probably pretty confused waking up to nine boys and men, honestly,”

“They were very disoriented when they woke up.” The captain rests his hand on his chin. “They won’t be able to just walk away from that kind of injury,”

“But they did.” The vet looks nothing less than affronted. Now this, this is a common expression for him to have on his face. “Am I the only one that doesn’t think that’s weird? Are we to assume that everything is just a coincidence, now? For what reason would they lead us away from the Shadow other than-”

“Veteran,”

He stops speaking at the voice of the Hero of Time.

“While your input has merit, it’s unnecessary at this moment. We need to prioritize saving a person from danger over questioning their intent. Should they be innocent, would you rather have let them be killed?”

The mild chatter of the party fizzles to a halt. 

The vet opens his mouth. He closes it. Looks away. He hunches, glaring at the ground as he drifts toward the traveler. Link hears him mumble something like ‘that’s not what I meant…’. 

Funny hearing him talk like that, knowing what form he takes when faced with the magic of his curse.

The old man starts down the hill. Then the captain. then Link, the chosen hero, the vet, the traveler, smithy, the sailor…

“Hup!”

Then there’s the champion. A blur of blue and gold just gliding right past him and everyone else, feet planted on his shield. The sailor gapes.

“What??” He says it from his chest, and it pokes a hole in the tension. His eyebrows are up high enough to crease his forehead. 

Link chuckles, “Keep makin’ that face and it’ll get stuck that way,”

“But- b-” The sailor’s head bobs between the Hero of the Wild, already entering the forest, and said captain. “you can do that?!”

“He can do that,” The captain shuts down that idea quickly. It’s true that the last thing any of them need is everyone breaking their shields trying to surf. Though, Link was there when the champion tried to teach him. The captain wasn’t entirely successful.

And they wouldn’t have time to do that, anyways, because they’ve reached the end of the hill. 

The air of the woods before them is nothing less than dark and oppressive. The kind that puts weight on the chest, every muscle in the body coiling up to run, run, run. But the feeling is not unknown to any of them. Far from it.

Just a little up ahead on the trail is their very own champion, looking sternly down the end of his new sword on which a ghoma larvae is skewered. He lowers it, holding on with both hands, and he pushes the body off with his boot. He glances up at the group.

“Sword’s good,” He says, raising it up to prove that it is in fact not broken. 

Smithy eyes said sword. He has to appraise if it’s actually fine or not, because the Hero of Wild has a way with the destruction of swords and bows and shields, even if they’re newly made. It’s a talent at this point.

“Make sure it stays like that,” He says with a smile in his voice.

The champion doesn’t get a chance to respond, because more gohma larvae crawl out of the wood-work. Literally. 

Link stretches the band of his slingshot, hitting the creature right in the eyeball. It’s stunned still. That’s usually the weakness, when everything else is armored. It’s always either the eye or the back if he can’t just pummel it. He doesn’t this time, instead he just kicks it. It lets out a squeal. Its four little legs wriggle around rapidly, before it stops moving altogether. 

He hears the call of another, behind him. When he turns around, the old man is already cutting through it. The Hero of Twilight blinks. He- he surely had that. The old man knows he had that.

“It’s on my shield!”

The sailor cries out, as he rotates his arm to shake it off.

“Don’t worry, I’ll-” The captain cuts himself off, because now one latches on to his boot. The chosen hero spins in a wide circle to be rid of those swarming him, smithy grasps for the one on his back, the champion picks up the one crawling up the new sword and he throws it.   

The vet kicks away a larva that was intent on doing the same to him. He gives his attention to the Hero of Time, “There’s too many of them to fight, old man,”

Said old man sighs. Even Link will agree that it sounds like a jab. 

But that kid isn’t wrong. It is, indeed, too much. 

“This is true. We shall move ahead, instead of wasting time fighting an uphill battle.”

Link rolls forward, and this sends anything that might have attached itself to him flying back where it came from. He comes out on the other side running. 

“I’ll catch up to you guys!”

The traveler yells. Link feels the heat and smells the stench of burned bug before he cranes his neck to see it. When he does, the traveler is shooting flaming projectiles forth from his sword. Damn, these kids…

He runs ahead to catch up to them after all that can be done is done. The champion follows suit. Nocking three arrows that burn and sizzle, he releases them. They fly in a tall arc, and they explode whatever was left into ash upon impact. Unfortunate for whatever harmless forest creatures were caught in the blast, but impressive nonetheless. The force pushes a short burst of wind toward them. Link’s hair ruffles in his face.

“Whoa..” The sailor voices his awe, but that isn’t to say no one else has a similar look on their face. They’re all still for a moment as the smoke billows out from the ground.

“That surely took care of them,” The traveler remarks, an astounded smile resting upon his face.

The champion looks back at him. “When there’s no time to figure out how to defeat monsters, shooting a bunch of bomb arrows at them works just as well,”

Link reminisces upon all the times the Hero of the Wild completely made up something on the spot, or brute forced his way through a puzzle, as the traveler pats said hero on the back. “…sounds about right,” 

“Gah!!!!”

Now that voice, neither Link nor anyone else is familiar with hearing come from any member of their party’s mouths. The kid, from up ahead. 

“POISON! POIIIIISON!”

Just what in the world are they hollering about?

Link doesn’t have time to wonder, nor does he really want to at the moment. When it comes to the life of a hero, one’s gotta keep a tight grip on the thoughts. Wondering is for later. 

The captain and the old man catch the group’s eyes. They nod. Link nods. Everyone nods. They’ve all done this a thousand times over. 

Rescue is for now.

-

”POIIIIIISONNNN!!!” 

You yell, as you release another volley of DEET from your spot of ultimate tactical advantage up in this tree.

It was probably surely definitely actually happening, what you thought was happening and then thought couldn’t be happening.

Your eyes burn. These motherfucking piece of shit arachnid fucking spider fucking gohma are the worst thing ever invented. And yeah, invented. You would say that jokingly about rain or about an invasive bug or about sickness, like ‘oh haha imagine if someone invented this thing that sucked so bad and made everything worse for no reason’. Except in this case the gohma were invented and whoever did decided that they would be a good enemy to put in a Zelda game to suck so bad and make everything worse for no reason, a Zelda game which is also something that is real by the way. 

Like any normal person you did not think that video games were real, or that other dimensions were real, or that magic was real. As much as you would wish it into existence so that you could do anything and be anyone other than who you were right then, identity disturbance or something, it would not happen because that’s not how the world works. That’s not how the universe works. It doesn’t care about anything some random kid has to say and everything will keep spinning with or without you. Even if you saw magic happen right in front of your eyes, you would deny it. It would simply be too good to be true. 

Little did you know that all of those things actually fucking are they are real they’re so real that they can hurt you and you just ditched the chance to meet all of these really cool characters you think about and rotate in your brain all the time in favor of horrible death by big mama gohma and tiny gohma babies and maybe even falling because you feel your grip getting loose and your hand slipping from all the sweat you sweated. Swote?

And you acted like an insane person in front of all of them. You called the motherfucking HERO OF TIME from OCARINA OF TIME AND MAJORAS MASK an ‘anime hair elf man’. AHHHHHHH!

You would be the worst isekai fanfic protagonist ever and if this was a story you are sure that no one would want to read it at all. People read stories for escapism and for wish fulfillment and the like, they do not read it to watch someone fuck around and taunt their favorite guys with preschooler insults and then get lost and die. From a giant BUG.

“DEATH! Death to ALL bugs who DARE to cross me!!!”

You spray big mama gohma right in the eye as she tries to climb into your designated spot and eat you or kill you or whatever it is that she wants, enemies in Zelda just kind of attack you because they’re evil or something. It makes you wonder, maybe it’s only because you encroached upon your territory. Maybe Link was only ever poking his face into places where he wasn’t wanted, and that’s why everyone kept attacking him.

She screeches again. You are so done with hearing that screech. You could go your entire life without hearing or making any screeching at all and you would be happy. You’d be happy to survive this encounter, even.

But then again, maybe it’s what you deserve. Maybe it is this universe punishing you for existing where you aren’t supposed to. Actually, this universe probably doesn’t care that much either or even know that you’re here. Who makes up the empty void beneath Hyrule, again? Null? That probably doesn’t know about you, either. No one knows who you are or where you’re from or anything about your life other than that you’re kind of an unstable jerk that runs away from confrontation. What a way to be remembered. Might as well just accept it now. Don’t want to look like the loser that said shit and proceeded to be unable to take shit. 

“Hyah!”

What.

You open your eyes. They were closed? You open your eyes. What?

There’s a- you hear a dense thunk. You see the tail of an arrow, and also the shaft of an arrow, an entire fucking arrow sticking out of the seam between big mama gohma’s thorax and her head. She makes this awful, low clicking sound as she slowly turns her body to face whatever or whoever did that. You peer out over her, because of course you wanna know too. 

“Pick on someone your own size, why don’t ya!”

And well, that is fluffy pelt guy. That is the Hero of Twilight.

You always read things that were like ‘and their jaw dropped’, and you never quite understood it because you would envision the character’s jaw literally dropping. It was distracting. Someone’s jaw literally dropping would be a very bad medical emergency. 

Your mouth falls open. You think you understand it now. 

You thought that the most competent heroes who had saved the entire kingdom and world several times over combined wouldn’t be able to find someone that got turned around in the woods. For some reason. Or maybe they wouldn’t want to. For some reason. But they did find you. Because they’re real. And they’re heroes. And they’re here to save you. They’re here to save you! Of all people.

And - okay. Big Mama Gohma jumps off of the tree and leaves it freaking swaying. You tighten your grip on the bark at the sight of the ground, which is very far away from you. You’d at least break a rib. Or a limb. Or a skull. Just the one.

You hold on securely enough with your hands gripping a branch above and your legs wrapped around the even bigger branch below. You are the most scared you’ve ever been. But still, you stretch your neck a bit to see the fight. The bossfight.

The one in the blue tunic and the- the Hylian hood. His hood is down. That’s Breath of the Wild Link. Holy crap, that’s Breath of the Wild link. Wow, he grew his hair out. It’s even longer than it was in Tears of the Kingdom.

The one who looks like the Hero of Men is probably… the guy from the Minish cap. And Four Swords, because that’s the Four Sword in his hand. And his tunic is the four colors of the Four Sword. But he’s not in four. 

Woah, they’re all moving incredibly fast. It’s a blur. You catch- oh, is that the original Link? From the original Legend of Zelda, not from Skyward Sword. Where is his hat? Holy crap, you actually talked to the Link from Skyward Sword, and he asked you if you were from… Skyloft. What’s the jump in logic there. 

The kid in the blue tunic- is that Wind Waker Link? Ah!!! Wind Waker Link!!! With a battle cry Wind Waker Link jumps over a wriggling little larvae that had attempted to trip him up. He pulls out his boomerang, and- woah holy mackerel he just took out five of the larvae at once!

Holy mackerel? You’ve never said that. You’ve never said that before. Why did that happen. And okay. Okay, there is the guy with pink edges. And completely pink tuft, you did not notice that beforehand. That must be the guy from all the fuckin’ games, like, ever. Wasn’t he in four? Or five? Or six? His hair must be pink because that’s how it was in A Link to the Past. Do A Link Between Worlds and Triforce Heroes count, is he also from those? 

That’s Hyrule Warriors Link again. If you ever had any doubts about their abilities to swing a sword, no you don’t. Gone, completely. It’s like watching a figure skater. Makeup and all, he’s got, like, a bit of a smokey eye going on. It might actually be a lot actually, considering you can see it from all the way up here.

Then there is who must be the Hero of Time and Termina. 

He fights like……. a video game character. 

Okay, well, that’s not really how you meant it. 

He fights like- like every swing is so practiced and like he knows where his arms and his legs and where everything all has to be in order to get a good hit in. Like how moves are in action games with everything animated so smoothly and whatnot. 60 frames per second. Whatever. You’re not very good at metaphors. Hero Of Time Fight Good And It Cool To Watch. There, that’s all you had to say.

It’s actually the Hero of Time who deals the final blow. He stabs it in the eye because you were right, the eye is the weakness. You remember Ocarina of Time, you remember being scared shitless of the Gohma boss and it took forever to beat it and then you eventually replayed it and you thought, why was this ever hard for child me. This is the easiest thing in the universe, it goes down in like two hits. You feel a bit like that child again, your heart and mind buzzing with pure, unfiltered excitement. Emotion so overwhelming that you feel it physically crushing you, if it goes on it’ll surely squeeze tears out.

“You can come down now,” He projects his voice up toward you. His voice, that he has. He’s saying words. To you.

“Uh…” You groan in a ghastly way. 

The Link from Wind Waker grins up at you. ”Don’t worry, it’s all the way dead!” And he gives the corpse a good kick. It twitches, and he jumps back with a yelp. Everyone including you zeroes in on the sound, it seems. But then the Link from Hyrule Warriors says something to him, placing a hand on the boy’s shoulder, and the boy lowers his sword. 

“We have red potions and we have fairies. We’ll give them to you if you need them.” The Hero of Time speaks again.

You slowly bring your hand up to the cut on your face. 

Right. That.

Oh god. The infections you could get from that alone. What if bacteria got into your blood and then you went into sepsis. And died. In the woods. With no hospital and no doctors apart from a bunch of medieval men. 

You need to stop being so slow to realize anything at all. It’s embarrassing. You’re like a little worm wriggling around on the sidewalk after it rains in front of the nine coolest people you’ll probably ever meet, just objectively. Would you still love me if I was a worm? 

Focus!!!

You hear someone click their tongue.

“Look, it really is dead. See?” The Link from A Link to the Past and Oracle of Ages and Seasons and Link’s Awakening and maybe even A Link Between Worlds and Triforce Heroes but you are not sure, draws his sword again, twirling it in his hand for a moment, before he leans over to tap the corpse of big mama gohma once, twice. It doesn’t twitch the second time. “Dead. Deader than dead. So, it’s safe to come down now. And then we can all just sit together and have a nice calm talk about what happened, and walk away from it all…” He begins to pace in a slow circle. That is, until he points an accusing finger at you. Objection! Hold it!

“Unless there is a reason you want us to remain here, in the middle of the den of evil.”

‘Den of evil’, huh? 

They definitely share a vocabulary with the series.

For someone that went through four, maybe five games, he looks pretty young. Just a bit older than you are. One would think he’d be the de facto leader just because of sheer experience, but no that honor goes to the Hero of Time. You guess it mirrors Ocarina of Time’s treatment in real life as one of the first games that really cemented Zelda’s reputation as a three dimensional game as video games moved away from 2D, and also how almost every game made after it mentions it in some way. As a legend in the Wind Waker, as a prayer in Breath of the Wild, and then he’s literally just in Twilight Princess. The Hero’s shade is literally just him. That gold shoulder plating looks familiar.

What were you thinking about. Right. This guy. The Hero of Legend. Every game guy. That’s what you’ll call him for now. Every game guy has every right to be suspicious of you. He’s seen so much shit, and he’s gotta think that you suddenly… appearing… must be a trick… too…?

But wait, they still haven’t told you what happened because you were being a jerk an interrupted them. They haven’t told you the what. Or the why. Or why all the fucking Links from everything everywhere all at once are all here, you haven’t even thought about that yet. Why are all of them here? Together? And what, they’re not even a little bit suspicious of each other? With how many iterations of Dark Link or Shadow Link or Echo Link there have been? Where is Link from Echoes of Wisdom, anyway? Where’s Link from Spirit Tracks? All of the other nine of them are here. Why aren’t they questioning each other just as much as this guy is questioning you? Do they all know each other already? How??

“What— what happened??”

You blurt out. 

“What?” Says every game guy, and the ‘t’ is sharp.

“What happened.” You repeat. “I want- I want to know what happened. Because, like— I woke up to a bunch of weird guys with swords, and you all were like,” You lower your voice an octave. “‘oh that was a really bad fall, it was a miracle you survived, uh, I’m not gonna tell you my name but where is your house and where are you from?’ and then you start chasing me and then I had to fight that… thing, and I’ve never seen a bug so big before, like holy shit is this the fuckin’ carboniferous period or what, I still don’t know what happened or where I am or why I’m here or why you’re so suspicious of me or where all of- why all of you are here, and you’re here talking about the ‘den of evil’, like, what does that even mean? What does it mean???”

You throw your arms out in front of you. And you actually make eye contact with every game guy. His mouth is slightly open, his finger lowered. The fire and the certainty gone. 

Before you can break eye contact, you slide forward off the branch below, because you forgot that you were holding onto another branch with those arms. You suppose that’s one way to get out of a conversation.

You hear the wind whistle in your ears, and you see your whole life in fleeting flashes. You squeeze your eyes shut in preparation for the pain, and then the nothing.

You’re stopped. You’re plucked out of the air. You’re floating. You’ve died, and now you’re above your body. 

…you open one eye.

Black fur, dark green, dirty blond hair—

It’s the Hero of Twilight. Again. 

You’re not dead. You’re alive. The Hero of Twilight has hoisted you up by your armpits, your legs dangle just above the barren dirt that would have killed you. 

Maybe it wouldn’t have killed you. It’s more likely you would have broken your arm, or something. But you did fall forward instead of backward. You could’ve landed on your head. And broken your skull. Or broken your neck. Or at least gotten a worse concussion. That would have been bad. Really bad. 

But it didn’t… happen. 

No, right now you’re being held by the Hero of Twilight from Twilight Princess. Link from Twilight Princess is holding you. Like how one would hold a cat. Behind him, you see the Hero of Time, The Hero of… wars… seriously, what is he called in the context of that naming convention? And the Hero of Legend all with their arms out also. Further behind him, still, you see the rest frozen in a run. Well, not frozen. They’re all just still. Whatever. The impulse is stronger than ever to touch the pelt around his shoulders. Touch it. Touch the pelt.

He slowly, gently, sets you down, and you don’t give in to your impulses. 

No, instead the darkness bubbles in the corners of your vision. It might be because of the concussion, but it might also be because of the metric ton of DEET you inhaled. Yay pesticides. You only take a step backwards, instead of falling, throwing your arms out again to make your center of gravity bigger this time. 

“Op-” Says Link from Twilight Princess.

”Ah-” Says Link from Every Game. You’re not going to list all of them in your head every time. Says The Only Link With Pink In His Hair.

“Careful,” Calls out Link from The Legend of Zelda, the originals. Where is his silly hat. You’ll riot.

“Don’t pass out,” Says Link from The Minish Cap and Four Swords (or is it Four Swords Adventures? Does it matter?)

“Uh oh,” Says Link from Skyward Sword. You aren’t as surprised hearing those words come out of his mouth as you are at the others.

“I can’t see!” Says Link from Wind Waker, but you can’t see him either so you can only hear him. No surprise here either

“Don’t crowd them,” Orders Link from Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask, and he ushers everyone backward.

“Did that thing poison you?” Except for Link from Hyrule Warriors, who questions you. Interrogates you. While looking down at your poor melted backpack. 

You feel like you should shape up and fix your posture and fix your face and report exactly what happened one hundred years ago. Nope, you mean one hundred seconds ago. Or so. It would be best to refrain from those types of jokes around the guy that it happened to even if it’s only in your head. In your head can become out of your head quick if you’re not careful. Said guy is turned around and crouched near the ground. Go figure. 

You breath in, and you close your eyes, and you do stand up straighter, actually, waving your hands around again. That’s worked twice so far when it comes to getting others to stop talking. Your arsenal of strategic moves only grows— flapping your hands, falling limp, and going ‘made you look’. You’ll be a hero yet.

”I’m fine. It’s fine. What happened,”

You stare at them with wide eyes. You feel a little like the guy running around looking at the ground, except not really at all because they’re going to tell you really soon and you won’t have to travel around trying to match up the world to twelve photos and then some. 

The Hero of Time gestures at Wind Waker Link. He says something like ‘I’m afraid I am out of fairies’ but you can’t hear him because he’s turned around.

Wind Waker Link looks up from where he was quietly pondering the sparse foliage, it seems. What an odd change of pace. And he bounds over, rummaging around in his bag until he pulls out a bottle with a light in it. No. A bottle with a fairy in it. He literally just said it was a fairy. That’s what he said. Just because you don’t want to hear it doesn’t mean that’s not what he said. You need to snap out of it. Or snap into it, that would be more accurate. It’s all real and it’s all happening and you can’t be left behind everyone else. He hands it to him who then unseals the bottle and holds it out at you. 

The fairy (you never thought you would think that in your head about anything that is flying and small) whirls around you. The pounding in your head, the burning of your eyes, the aching on your chest, and also in your chest, the burning in your muscles and the cut on your cheek all disappear with that fairy as it flies up, up, up, and away. Into the canopy. Free. Beyond the canopy is the sun. And it’s not the same sun that every human has seen since the beginning of time. Not even one other human from your home has seen it. Or you suppose some have seen it. You’ve seen it. But none of them have felt it. None of them have felt the midday heat of this completely alien main sequence star, on this completely alien ground. ‘Alien’ isn’t a word you associate with Zelda (except for that one time in Majora’s Mask, you guess), but that’s what it is. Alien. In the classical sense.

Don’t the fairies disappear after they heal you, in the games? You can’t remember. It was probably to save on animation costs.

Link from Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask, The Hero of Time, an older and wiser Hero of Time who wouldn’t be someone dressed as him and really in character, because you can’t play the look in his eyes, tells you this with his mouth and his voice that he has now.