#fourxshadow

They had stayed in the village for a day or so, and the thought of embarrassing their fellow heroes over who they liked was still lingering in the backs of Sky and Warriors’ minds. It was tempting to just spring the question on one of the others, but as fun as that would be, they would only want to do it with just the two of them and their potential victim.

Legend just so happened to be all by himself at camp, settled under a tree with a scrap of paper in his lap. Perfect.

“Hey dumbass, what are you doing?”

“None of your business dipshit. Now, what do you want?”

“Funny you should ask my little pink friend,” Warriors smirked, sitting next to the Veteran hero and getting as close as possible, “Who are you writing to? Someone at home missing their salty snarky hero?”

“Oh, fuck off,” he replied, shoving the Captain away.

“No, come on, I’m curious. Who has captured the heart of our resident grump?”

He heard mumbling, too quiet to properly decipher, but it had to have been a confession. Sky approached then, a soft yet mischievous smile on his face.

“Someone has to have caught your interest, yes? Is it, perhaps, the one that we saw the last time we visited your home?”

Legend’s face erupted in a blush, but he kept his eyes on his paper, not looking at either hero. Warriors smiled.

“Was the guess correct then?”

“Fine you assholes! Yes, Ravio is my partner! Happy?”

He pouted, and it was adorable, but Sky had a feeling there was more to the story.

“You sound truthful, but I believe I see more than just one letter in your hand. Care to share who the rest are for?”

Legend buried his face in his hands, curses flying from under his breath. Warriors was laughing at the response, Sky joining him and sitting on the other side of the flustered veteran, jostling him slightly.

“Both of you are terrible,” he sighed, but spread out the four papers he had been writing on.

One of them had already been finished, Zelda’s name at the very top. The second had only been partially written and addressed to someone named Ralph. The last two were still blank, but Warriors snatched them anyway much to Legend’s annoyance.

“Give those back you dick!”

“Maybe if you tell us who your partners are, it’s obvious by the number of letters that you have more than one. So, who is this Ralph fellow?”

Legend groaned, leaning back and staring up at the clouds with an annoyed face.

“He’s someone I met on my adventures that just so happened to catch my interest, okay? He’s a big jerk, but he’s enjoyable to be around.”

“Sounds like someone else I know,” Warriors eyed Sky, smirking.

The hero rolled his eyes in response.

“What about the other two? I know Fable is your sister, but the other two are still blank.”

Legend covered his face with a silent scream, the two tormentors laughing at his expense. Sky started poking his arm, almost begging him to start talking.

“Fuckin’ Ravio ‘n Marin.”

“Aw, cute. I hope we get the chance to meet them someday and hopefully get the chance to tease you more.”

Warriors cackled, Legend taking a swipe at him and causing the taller hero to drop the paper. Sky got to his feet, pulling Warriors up and away from the now embarrassed and irritable veteran hero.

-

The next chance they got was on the road, wandering along a set path towards an unknown destination. Twilight was near the back of the group, leading Epona along by her reins while looking lost in thought, a small smile on his face. Sky eyed Twi from a few feet in front, Warriors nudging him to enact their plan. Sky nodded, slowing down enough to walk next to the ranch hand.

“Hey, how are you holding up back here?”

“Hm? ’m doin’ alright, why do you ask?”

“You just looked lost in thought. What were you thinking about?”

At this Twilight sighed a fond smile on his face.

“Just the person that I know I’ll be goin’ home to.”

“Oh? And who would that be if you don’t mind me asking?”

Twilight’s smile grew, a light blush dusting his cheeks. Epona took that moment to bump her head against Twilight’s with a huff. Sky chuckled, Twilight looking annoyed yet fond as he turned to Epona, patting her on the nose.

“Someone I met during my adventure, but we didn’t really interact much until after.”

“Will we ever meet the person who stole your heart?” Sky asked with a smile, Twilight blushing profusely.

“I’ll tell ya what, Sky,” Twilight smiled, turning to face the other, “if we ever find ourselves in my era’s castle town, I’ll take ya to meet my partner. If I know him well, and I hope I do after two years of being together, I think he’ll want to talk to you and ask a bunch of questions.”

“Oh? About what?”

“He’s a researcher, completely enamored and fascinated by the sky people, which are a tribe that lives in the sky. I’ve been up there a few times myself.”

“Was it-”

“No, it wasn’t Skyloft,” he looked apologetic, “But it is pretty cool up there, a whole city made up of this race of people I never even knew about.”

“You’ll have to show me one day, I’d love to see it,” Sky smiled, Twilight grinning in return.

--

Warriors was only slightly annoyed that he missed the chance to tease Twilight about his partner. Only slightly though. So, of course, he decided to go and bother a different member of their group by himself. Wind just so happened to be the closest at the time.

“Hey there, Sailor,” he laughed, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and digging his other hand into a fist, messing up the golden locks.

“Oi, knock it off ya jerk!” Wind yelled, laughing as he threw Warriors off of him, ducking below another attempt at a grab, and launching himself onto Warriors’ back with a triumphant yell.

“Payback time, bitch!”

Wind proceeded to return the favor, Warriors laughing and running around trying to dislodge the other hero from his back. He could see Time watching them fondly, a hint of mischief in his gaze. Eventually, they both tired out, collapsing in a heap on the ground panting and laughing. As the laughter petered out, Warriors leaned on his elbow, face in his hand looking at Wind as the sailor laid on his back.

“I’m curious about something, Sailor.”

“Oh? About what?” Wind asked, craning his neck to look the other in the eyes.

“D’you have anyone waiting for you at home?”

“I mean,” Wind scrunched his face in thought, “there’s grandma an’ Aryll an’ Tetra an’ her crew. Is that what you mean?”

Wars shrugged.

“Sort of. I meant more like,” Warriors leaned over Wind more, blocking the sun with his shadow, “anyone stolen your heart while you were traveling around?”

Wind made a gagging noise, rolling away from Warriors only to sit up and push the Captain over onto his back.

“No way! That’s gross!”

Warriors laughed.

“So the fair pirate captain hasn’t stolen your greatest treasure yet?”

Wind made another gagging noise, covering Warriors’ mouth with both hands and sitting on his chest.

“Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!”

The muffled laughter eventually was contagious enough to get Wind to relent and laugh a bit himself. There wasn’t much else to tease about, Warriors only knew the bare minimum about the young sailors travels from the hero himself. Anyone he met during the War of Ages from the sailor’s era never talked about their Hero of Winds enough for him to make any connections either. So Wars surrendered, rolling to get Wind off of him and maybe crushing the sailor a bit with his body for good measure. He only laughed as they started to wrestle in the grass again until Time called for them to hurry up. 

---

Hyrule they asked during his watchshift, knowing the traveler hero was less likely to say anything when everyone’s eyes were focused on him. When the Traveler was settled next to the fire, peering out at the quiet peaceful night blanketing them all, Sky got up. He made sure to make some noise so as to not startle the other hero, bumping Warriors with his foot as he walked toward Hyrule.

“Hey Traveler,” Sky spoke, Hyrule humming in acknowledgement, “mind if I sit with you?”

“Go ahead, but shouldn’t you be asleep?”

Sky shrugged, taking a seat on the log next to Hyrule. He sighed as he sat down, feeling the heat of the fire on his skin that wasn’t covered by his nightclothes.

“So, what’s up? I’m sure you didn’t pry yourself out of your blankets and bedroll for no reason.”

Sky chuckled.

“You got me. I was merely curious about something.”

“May as well say it, then and hope I have an answer for you.”

“About your adventure, do you have anyone waiting for you once this is over?”

“How do you mean?”

“Romantically, if you don’t mind,” Warriors spoke up, causing both heroes to flinch in response.

Sky leveled a tired glare at him, the Captain smirking in lieu of a response. He could hear Hyrule shifting uncomfortably next to him over the quiet crackling of the fire.

“You don’t have to respond if the question makes you uncomfortable. We won’t push you for an answer,” Sky spoke softly, hoping that Hyrule would be at least somewhat less anxious.

“I, uh, I don’t mind answering it’s just,” Hyrule paused, sighing and running a hand through his hair, “it’s hard to explain I guess.”

Sky watched as Hyrule gathered his thoughts, Warriors got up and sat near the log they were seated on. 

“Take as long as you need, traveler,” Warriors spoke, a small smile making its way onto Hyrule’s face.

“I guess… technically my Zeldas are waiting for me back home, but we don’t like each other in that way. Romantically I mean,” Hyrule explained, his hands waving around distractedly as he spoke, “It’s like… we enjoy spending time together, and we want to see each other be happy. I don’t really live at the castle, but I always have a place to stay there if I want to. But I don’t really want or care to have any sort of romantic relationship… it just isn’t appealing to me I guess.”

Warriors nodded, humming to himself as he stood back up. Sky watched him as he brushed imaginary dirt from his sleep pants.

“I’ve heard of that before,” Warriors said, smiling softly at Hyrule, “and I’m glad that you’re happy where you’re at regardless of romantic attraction.”

Hyrule nervously chuckled, scratching the back of his neck.

“Thanks Captain, I appreciate it.”

With that done, there was no real reason to stay up, so Warriors retreated back to his bedroll. Sky soon followed, after hugging Hyrule tightly and wishing him a good watch shift.

----

Warriors slung his arm around Wild’s shoulders, startling him from his thoughts as they were all walking aimlessly as a group. Wild looked over quizzically, Wars grinning at him. Sky then appeared at Wild’s other side, waving.

“What are you two up to?” Wild asked, raising an eyebrow as he looked between the two heroes.

“Well, my heroic friend,” Warriors began, pulling him closer, “We were just talking about your era and wondering who you’ve got waiting for you in that house you always talk about owning.”

Wild looked confused for a moment, looking to Sky.

“He means if you have anyone that you like back in your era.”

Wild nodded, understanding the question now. He thought for a moment, closing his eyes and letting Warriors’ arm lead him to keep up with the rest of the group. He opened his eyes then, looking sheepish.

“Well, uh, where do I even start?” Wild asked, causing Sky and Wars to look at each other in confused surprise, “There’s Sidon, Paya, Lasli, Aliza, Guy, Fyson, I have a thing with Aji, and there’s Bazz, Gaddison, and Rivan. And from what little memory I got back, I think I had a thing with Mipha and Revali.”

Warriors and Sky were slack-jawed at Wild’s answer. So many people, much more than they had expected. Warriors had pulled his arm off of Wild’s shoulders and was tempted to reach over and make sure this was real, but he stopped himself from doing something stupid.

“A-And you’re romantically involved with all of these people?” Sky’s voice was higher than normal as he asked.

“Oh, just romantically involved? Or just overall involved? Cuz overall that’s probably all of them, but for just like devoted to them? I think I was with Mipha and Revali, but I’m now mostly devoted to Sidon in that way. But uh, we’re all in agreement with an open relationship, just, ya know, communication is important.”

Wild shrugged. Seeming unbothered by the shocked expressions from both of his companions.

“O-oh, okay. That makes more sense,” Warriors said, Sky elbowed him in the side at his stutter.

“I’m glad that you’re happy with all these people,” Wars smiled, slinging an arm around Wild’s shoulders once again.

Sky chuckled.

“Yes, I’m also happy for you Wild.”

-----

“My romance life? Really?”

Four sighed at the two heroes looking at him expectantly. He mumbled something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like ‘these idiots I swear’. 

“Fine. I’ll tell you my love life if you’re so determined to find out.”

Four leaned back against the tree he had been sitting under, looking up at the branches for a moment. Sky and Warriors sat in front of him, Warriors looking quite excited to find out all the details. Sky just chuckled at the other’s antics then faced Four fully.

“I know that at one point I had what I thought was a crush on this girl I met on my third quest, but turns out I just wanted to be friends with her. Dot ended up being the one to date her,” Four laughed, shaking his head, then looked at the two eager heroes, “I’ve only ever had one partner and I don’t think I need more than him in my life. His name is Shadow and he’s a shit, but I love him.”

“Shadow, huh?” Warriors questioned, eyebrow raised with a smirk on his face, “So you’re into the bad boy type, the hard to get type.”

“About to be the ‘punch you in the face’ type.”

The sudden voice startled the two heroes as a newcomer appeared from around the back of the tree, looking very similar to Four if not for the dark purple hair, crimson eyes, and sharp toothed grin. Four sighed loudly, leaning against the tree again.

“Do you have to be so dramatic?”

“You love it, don’t even pretend otherwise.”

Warriors and Sky stared, slack-jawed at the new person who just appeared from seemingly thin-air. Sky caught Wars starting to reach for the knife in his boot and elbowed him. Hard. Warriors rubbed his side, a wounded look on his face when he shot Sky a look.

“So this is Shadow?”

Four nodded, sighing.

“Unfortunately.”

“Oh c’mon Rainbow, don’t be like that,” Shadow cried, dropping in front of Four and pouting up at him.

Four laughed, shaking his head and patting Shadow’s head. Sky smiled at the two, watching as they moved to sit next to each other, leaning on each other contentedly.

“You both seem happy,” Sky spoke.

“After everything, I think it’s only fair,” Four replied, grasping Shadow’s hand with a small smile. 

He never elaborated, but Sky figured it was a private matter and nodded to Wars that they should leave the two be. As the two heroes left, Sky saw Shadow kiss the back of Four’s hand before he disappeared once again, but Four seemed happy rather than upset. That was all that Sky wanted for his companions. 

------

“We already know the Old Man’s love life, Wars, do we really have to ask him?”

“Oh, c’mon Sky, you and I both know that there’s more to this story.”

Warriors was practically dragging Sky along up the path toward where Time was standing against a tree. He was watching them, smirking at their antics as they got closer. Sky was tempted to dig in his heels, just to make Wars fall and hopefully abandon the plan, but deep down he would admit that he was curious too. So he kept walking until they were face to face with Time.

“Okay, spill it Old Man,” Warriors started, hands on his hips, “You were young once and I know for a fact that you’ve got some other people who were on your radar in the past.”

“Ah, is that what this is about?” he asked, shaking his head with amusement, “Young heroes with nothing better to do than to pry into an old man’s history, eh?”

“If you don’t start talking, then I can start embarrassing you in front of everyone else in our party,” Warriors looked smug, Time’s face falling from amused to resigned.

“Fine you dumbass,” Time rolled his eye, sighing heavily, “There were a few when I was younger. Back during my first adventure, I accidentally got engaged to a Zora princess and-”

“I’m sorry, but how do you accidentally get engaged?” Sky asked, brow furrowed as he tried to figure out the answer to his question.

“You know, saving her from a monster. Regular hero stuff,” Time shrugged, “but anyway. Later on, I met Sheik and well…”

Time trailed off, looking away from the two heroes with a slight pink tint to his cheeks. Wars was smirking while Sky smiled at the sight.

“I knew it!” Wars yelled, poking Time in the chest, “You can’t hide anything from me ya lil shit! When you first met Sheik in my era all those years ago, I knew something was up! You couldn’t even look at ‘em!”

Time hid his face in his hands, the tips of his ears starting to turn red from the onslaught. Sky giggled, shaking his head.

“Look, okay, they were really cool and mysterious and I was young and dumb. I dunno what you want me to say.”

Warriors and Sky both laughed at the admission, causing Time to crumple to the ground and sit against the tree, face still hidden behind his hands. When they had recovered from the laughter, Sky knelt on the ground, sitting on his legs and facing Time.

“That’s not the end of this tale, is it.”

Time shook his head, finally removing his hands and showing off his pink embarrassed cheeks. 

“Zelda too. She just seemed so strong and amazing, I wanted to get to know her better, but things happened and then I felt like I couldn’t talk to her that way anymore.”

“That part I didn’t know,” Warriors stated, moving to sit next to Time with his back against the tree. He put an arm around Time’s shoulders and brought him close in a small hug.

“I’m sorry that happened to you.”

“It’s in the past,” Time said, a small smile on his face that wasn’t quite happy, “besides, I’m sure you have some ideas about the other ones.”

Warriors’ kind smile turned positively gleeful, his eyes lighting up as he retracted his hand from Time’s should to clap them together. Sky smiled too, the excitement of the captain positively infectious. Time shook his head.

“I ended up in the War of Eras sometime after the first fight with Cia I believe. I met quite a few people and yes, some of them I thought about getting closer to.”

“Names? Perhaps?” Warriors’ smile looked positively shit-eating.

“I think I met your Sheik and Impa first, Captain, if you don’t count Darunia and Ruto. I thought the same thing about your Sheik as I did my own, but it was obvious that they were not interested. Impa was pretty, but intimidating enough that my crush ended quite quickly.”

“Glad you didn’t act on your crush on Impa, cuz I would’ve fought you for her,” Warriors laughed, knocking a shoulder into Time’s shoulder, earning a chuckle.

“I was about to say,” Sky giggled.

“Anyway, I met Agitha and Midna next. I’ll admit, I thought that Agitha was cute and that her bugs were fascinating, but we never interacted much beyond that. And that’s the extent of my crushes when I was there.”

“Ah, I forgot that you didn’t meet the rest of the travelers after that,” Wars nodded, “I was gonna say that I thought you’d have crushes on Tetra and Marin, and potentially Ravio and Medli.”

“Ah, we’ve met them while together,” Time looked thoughtful, “I think you’d be right about some of them.”

“Oh?”

Time didn’t respond, getting up and starting to walk away. Warriors and Sky joined him, following behind him and waiting for an answer, only to see Time smiling at them both.

“I’m afraid that this is the end of our little chat,” Time laughed, breaking into a run.

Warriors tried to call after him, but there was no response. And he wouldn’t respond to any further prodding no matter how much the two heroes tried.

-------

Sky sighed, sitting next to Warriors on the log they had rolled over near the fire. The group had finally stopped for the night and he figured that now was the time to talk since everyone else was asleep.

“Successful prodding for information, hm?” Sky asked, leaning on a hand propped up by his knee. Warriors nodded.

“Legend has Ravio, Ralph, Marin. Twilight has Shad. Wind doesn’t seem interested in anyone at the moment. Hyrule also isn’t interested in anyone. Wild has several but is with Sidon. Four has Shadow. Time has Malon, which we both knew, but it was fun to poke at him a bit.”

“Heh, yeah that was pretty fun,” Sky leaned back, now propping himself up with his arms behind him, “What do we do with this newfound knowledge, Captain?”

At this, Warriors turned to face him, eyes alight with mischief.