#hermit writes

It's heeere. As part of the 2024 @marveltrumpshate fandom charity fundraiser I got one of my fic turned into podfic by the amazing @film-in-my-soul.

And then I commissioned @drawinglinestoconstellations for the absolutely stunning and amazing cover art.

Aren't You Angry

"What's going on?"  Time's worried voice draws everyone's attention briefly away from the scene in front of them, but is quickly forgotten.  "Sir…she got knocked into me, all I was trying to do was keep her from falling.." Twilight's voice comes out calm and even toned despite the small mob that was starting to form around him. Legend at his side and looking just about ready to kill someone, but Twilights hand spread open against his chest is keeping him in place for now.  "Yeah right we know what your kind is like! Ruffians looking to take anything they want, outsiders like you swoop in and steal our goods, go after our women and ravage our homes before taking off!" The villager in front of Twilight is about two heads shorter but has puffed himself up. Hissing and spitting his words like a feral cat. "Don't think we haven't seen how you've been slinking around!"  "All that I'm guilty of, is looking for a good book and hoping to find some arrows for sale…I'm just a passing traveler.."  "A look like that and we all can tell you're nothing more than bandit scum." An old woman spits.  "Why you-" Legend shifts to go for her and Twilight catches him again. "He's been out there fighting monsters to keep you assholes safe!"  "Legend don't…"  "No! Fuck this bullshit!"  "What you want us to believe, a freak of nature like this is here to help!" Another man shouts.  Suddenly comments begin to flood the area.  "Marks of the devil!" "The look of a theif"  "Shifty attitude!"  Twilight pulls Legend closer and closer as he carefully tries to back away from the crowd. The anger of the villagers boiling up quickly before everyone's eyes and reaching a fast snapping point, as a stone comes flying out of nowhere and clocks Twilight in the side of the head. Grimacing in pain he curls around Legend a bit to make sure he won't get hit, but it also puts him in range as a woman grabs him by the ear and yanks him to the side, nearly throwing him off balance.  "Look at this he's even filed his teeth into that of a beast!"  "He's a danger!"  "Get out of our village!!"  "Enough!!"  A crack of deafening thunder splits through the sky. Stopping the riot before it can go further.  "You are speaking to a hero of the realm! And if you say one more word you'll be answering to me!"  The crowd parts to where Hyrule stands on the opposite end. Lighting crackling at his fingertips and the edges of his eyes. Sky not too far behind him looking just as pissed, but letting the traveler take the lead. Stalking forward through the crowd Hyrule and the chosen hero beeline straight for Twilight. The largest of them having curled in on himself to make himself smaller. Hand held to his head to try and staunch the bleeding that the rock had started, while also covering the ear that had been yanked on. Legend having finally gotten out of his grasp and protecting his other side.  "You're okay..I'll fix you up right away…." Hyrule whispers as he looks the cut over, careful not to touch because of the lightning still zipping between his fingers.  "I'll be fine..I'm sorry.."  "Don't you dare start with that…come..let's just get you back to the inn.." Hyrule murmurs carefully.  With a quick shake of his head Twilight straightens a slight bit. "Im…gonna find a place in the woods, I won't cause more trouble by staying.."  "We'll all…find a place in the woods." Time states as he finally makes his way over. His one eyed glare passing over every one of the stunned villagers.  "Has everyone gotten what they need..?" Sky asks firmly as he looks around at their brothers who are now circling Twilight. Pleased to get a chorus of nods.  "Then let's get back to Epona and get out of here.." Hyrule states carefully as anger continues to boil in his tone.

°•○•° "You don't have to use your magic, I'll be just fine." Twilight says with that soft kind smile of his.  Hyrule though is having none of it. Palm glowing a gentle gold as he hovers his hand over the cut until it's gone, even giving a light pass over the ear that had been tugged. Then promptly runs his fingers gingerly through Twilight's hair, glad when the wolf hero carefully leans into his touch.  

Twilight had been seat for all of two seconds, tucked up against a tree with his bag at his side when he found himself with a lap full of colorful clothes.

Four had been staving off a headache since they portal jumped that afternoon, and it looks like the beast with and anvil the hammer was winning.

So Twilight just gives a soft hum and rubs his head a slight bit. "How bad?"

"Ow.."

"Okay...what do you need?"

The smallest hero waists no time in getting comfortable. Curled up in the farmers lap like it's a perfectly built nest and making grabby hands for the wolf pelt still resting on on the bigger males shoulders. So with a soft chuckle he carefully undoes the clips holding it in place and pulls it off. Ploping it over four who practically purrs, hanging onto the fluffy bundle like it's a stuffed animal and burying his face in the soft fur.

"Do you want silence, or a distraction?"

"Distraction please....can you read?" Four mumbles into the fur.

He gives a soft chuckle. "Apparently headaches give you mind reading abilities, anything in particular you'd like too hear?"

"Not smart..brain can't handle the thinking."

Twilight gives another chuckle and starts reaching into his bag. Ever greatful for the magical thing as he starts digging around for the right bundle. "Perfect, I actually just picked up some new books."

"...didn't you pick some up last time?" Legend questions as he looks over.

"Yeah, but already read them and these had some new stories." Twilight grins.

"Shouldn't...we not be picking up books? For you know...timeline sakes?" Warriors questions carefully.

"Let's be real Timelines fucked! Go crazy go stupid." Wild announces unabashedly.

"Well..I wouldn't say fuck...hmm." Time stops mid sentence and contemplates his words for a moment. "Yeah no..no it's fucked.."

Wind just about snorts his water and is left in a laughter filled coughing fit as he topples off his log.

"Okay okay but like, still, how have you already gone through the last batch of books?? You got like five of them in my world!" Legend questions as he turns his attention back to Twilight.

"I read on my watches when I'm not doing something else!"

"We were in my world only a few weeks ago!"

"Soo??? Most of them were informal texts anyways those are fairly easy to breeze through." Twilight says with a shrug.

"You actually read informational stuff..?" Hyrule questions with a tilt of his head.

"Ehh, only certain things really but yeah! It's fun to learn new things."

"You'd like his herbology books they're super helpful." Wild pipes.

"..mm....speaking of when brain working again I wanna borrow that blacksmithing book you found when we went too Wilds hyrule." Four murmurs from under the wolf pelt.

"Which one?" Twilight asks with the tilt of his head.

"The old one...?"

He lets out another small chuckle. "Again which one?"

"..it's green?"

"Oh that one!"

"How many do you have!?" Warriors questions further.

"He has sooo many." Four mumbles as he looks over at the captain.

"How many is so many?" Sky finally pipes up.

"Bet its not as many as Legend!" Wind giggles now that he can breathe again.

"Oh no. It's worse." Legend admits.

"It's not that bad is it?" Twilight questions.

"There's no way it's that bad." Warriros deadpans.

"He could fill a royal library...granted thats with the extensive collection he has at his house but with the two combined someone could drown." Legend says right back in the same flat tone.

"Okay now that's an exaggeration." Twilight frowns.

"Okay but seriously how many do you have..?" Hyrule asks as he crawls over to him and Four.

"Mmmmmm..."

Reaching into his bag again Twilight starts pulling them out, by the bundle. They're all carefully organized held together by leather straps made specifically for carrying books. Though some are just bundled with twine.

There's herbology, agriculture, culture in general, blacksmithing plants and animals and even books on things the rest of them are interested in as well as many more. And of course, various story books both big and small. Even some that look like they've never properly been published.

Overall once the majority is layed out Twilight gives a sheepish little chuckle while rubbing at the back of his neck.

"...What is your definition of a nick or a scrape?" Legend asks. 

Twilight raises an eyebrow a bit but thinks on it a moment. "Well..a scrape is a scrape-"

"No no, don't brush it off. Show examples and explain how they happened." Legend says pointedly. 

The rancher raises his hands in a placating manner for a moment. Then carefully kicks off a boot, undoing the tie at the end of his pants so he can roll them up past his knee. "This one is from my journey, happened my first time falling into the Zora river…didn't know the currents and ended up rammed against the rocks rock, got a matching one on the opposite hip," 

He runs his fingers along the knot of scars running from ankle to knee. Nearly shuddering at the memory of how much it hurt. He'd been a wolf at the time and it scrapped the fur and skin right off of him. Then he had to limp around and find the rest of the bugs after Midna bandaged him up..that Giant bug had been a bitch, and the way it stretched when he turned human had burned like fire. 

"This is what I'd call a scrape..a bad scrape, but still a scrape.." 

"...got..an example from while traveling with us..?" Legend pushes with a confusing gentleness. 

"Uhh…I don't..think it scared? Don't  actually know, hard to look but I had a road burn from one of the mornings when we got jumped and I went flying?" He says as he pats the back of his right shoulder. 

Hyrule timidly gets up and moves over to him. So Twilight lets him look so no more tension is created. 

"...theres…some uneven scarring..think you, might even have something in there..?" His delicate fingers prod a bit at something that does make the wolf hero wince. "Y-yeah..that….that's a rock or something."

"Ah..well shit, not the first time that's happened, I'm fairly certain I've got arrow pieces in me in other places.." Twilight says with a slight grimace. Getting another horrified look from the group. "That has not happened while with you guys..I let you know about arrow wounds because I've learned my lesson especially when I can't reach them." 

"...so you don't count those as a nick..?" Legend presses. 

"No, I count that along the lines of being stabbed..but if it's just a shallow graze as one flies by? That's a nick." He explains. 

"And if it's a sword..?" Warriors asks. 

"Oh a knife..or a claw…?" Wind adds carefully. 

"Depends on how deep it is." He says honestly. "I've been taught enough about medicine that I can care for minor wounds, so if I can care for it on my own, I do so." 

"Buddy I've cleaned up some of your wounds that have gotten infected." Warriors says in a very tired and stressed tone. 

"Those times I genuinely didn't know they were there." 

"One was on your dominant arm!!" Wars snaps. 

"Ah- yes, no lie, I really didn't know about it and there's a reason why." Twilight admits. 

"Oh.." Wild manages in a small voice. 

"Yeeah…that, that reason…" Twilight sighs before untying the laces of his shirt so he can easily expose his shoulder. "You guys have seen this one before.." He murmurs as he taps the thick jagged and uneven scar on his shoulder. They are all well aware it goes all the way around. "Because of this one, I have nerve damage in the entirety of my left arm, so I don't always notice injuries I take in this arm because I can't feel all that well." 

"...is that..why you trained your right arm..?" Four asks quietly. 

"...no…..that was something else. I can still use my left arm just fine, you've seen that, though I get tremors and phantom pains that can sometimes make my grip unsteady. So I guess yes, training my right arm helped compensate for that. But it's really only bad weather and extreme over use that messes with it. And the dead spots are in random places and not near as bad as they were." 

"They've…gotten better..?" Hyrule asks softly. 

"Yeah….my Shaman friend has a treatment he does on me whenever he can that helps a lot." Twilight says as he looks back at the teen and gives him a smile. 

Though, they all know very well that they've never been to Twilights Hyrule. Meaning that for almost a year now at least, he hasn't had any of the treatments his friend would do for him. 

"...How..did that scar happen…?" Wind asks very quietly. 

Twilights ears flick a bit as he picks up the question and looks back to the kid. Biting his lip a moment with those sharp teeth if his. "My uh….my arm was cut off." 

"..cut…you mean your arm was cut right..?" Legend asks hopefully with a horrified tone to his voice. 

Twilight slowly shakes his head a bit. "No, Vet. I mean removed….severed in one strike at the crowning start of my journey." 

"What the fuck?!" The vet exclaims as he leaps to his feet. 

"How the hell do you have an arm at all!" Four asks just as loudly. 

"Uhhh…spirit..? Or well…more like mini God? It happened in the spring if Ordon. I was…drowning and bleeding out? so I don't actually remember how it got reattached? Ordonia did their best and they also pour as much of their magic into it as they can when they can so that's helped a lot too, but the human nervous system is complex…combined with scar tissues from such severe and hastily healed injury? I'm just thankful I still have use of it at all…"

"What the fuck…no seriously what the actual fuck!?" Legend manages. 

Twilight lets out a heavy sigh. "Legend, compared to a lot of the shit the rest of you have been through, this is really not that bad.."

No beta no read over no nothing here we fucking go. Hyrule after downing WAY to much fucking caffeine because you can not convince me that stamina elixirs aren't just artificial expresso shots. Or a monster mixed with a five hour energy

@whatcouldpossiblyg0wr0ng

Warriors world officially sucked worse than his own. Apparently since their last visit a rip in time had grown unstable and split into his Hyrule. Again. In fact it was through that rip that they'd gotten there! From Hyrules world! The event leaving half of his castle town displaced into a battlefield where further rips had monsters from his world spilling out like a rapidly drowning boat. 

So here he was. 3am. Desperately trying to help the nurses hold soldiers together that had ran into battle with no plan in an attempt to get ahead of things. 

He'd been using his magic since noon and very barely managing to keep on his feet with the magic potions Legend had been trying to keep in stock. The veteran in question currently unconscious after having drained his own magic supply taking out a mob that had tried to attack the base a couple hours ago. 

Four was down, the fall through time having been like a portal jump from hell leaving him disoriented enough he can't string a sentence together. So he was actually curled up with Legend. And the others were all out still fighting. 

Even if he wanted to, he couldn't sleep. He wants to be here for them when they get back..he needs to know if they're okay. 

Letting out a heavy sigh he reaches a shaky hand into his pouch and pulls out yet another stamina elixir from Wild. Popping the cork and slamming it down all in one go. 

With the barest hints of sunlight comes another round of potions. He can't even taste the nasty alchemical solutions anymore after having so many. And his stomach feels like he drank lizalfo acid, but that doesn't matter. As the dawn also brings the Fierce Deity carrying an unconscious Warrior's and a very out of sorts Wind. Quickly followed by Wild who frantically looks like he blew himself up a couple dozen times. 

So he slams an extra magic potion for good measure before rushing over to them. 

By noon there's a buzzing sensation washing over his skin. It's too hot in the tent with all the injured bodies, it's too hot outside because of the summer sun. So he spends three hours in a fitful sleep that's more akin to him forcefully holding his eyes closed before he gives up. Dragging himself back onto his feet and over to where Wild had been brewing potions since returning to base. 

The champion is gone now. And it looks like Legend is on his feet and gone. So it's just the captain and the sailor curled up with four in the nest of bedrolls and pillows they'd built in the corner of the tent. Warrior's looks like he still needs healing. So, Hyrule grabs up a couple red potions and uncorks another stamina elixir before heading over to do just that. 

A couple hours later and Warrior's has gone back out too fight. Wind is looking after Four who is slowly starting to comprehend things again. And Hyrule has no idea how long he's been staring at the two trying to put together one of Legends puzzles before a gentle hand is placed on his back. 

Just one of the nurses, he couldn't tell you who given that everyone is kind of blurring together. And maybe swimming a bit. But who ever it is places a hot cup of something warm and bitter in his hand. Pointing off to the back of one of the tent to let him know there's more if needed. 

Takes him a moment to realize it's coffee. Straight black coffee, so hot that it almost burns. Or maybe it does. Either way it's sharp enough to cut through the groggy fog in his head. So he has a couple more and somewhat manages to choke down some bread. 

One more hour, and that buzz won't stop. It's maybe gotten worse. And he's maybe on his tenth cup of coffee. And he maybe can't remember which way is north. Or were the exit is. 

For once he's thankful for having an iron stomach because otherwise he's fairly certain the burning roil in it would have made someone else throw up. But the time to dwell on that ends when Twilight comes in with an unconscious Time hoisted up onto his back. And Sky passed out on Epona. 

So, for a quick moment he sets down his half empty coffee mug. Uncorks and dumps the next round of potions into it. Then chugs the whole thing before stumbling off to help.

Thankfully it wasn't anything serious. Or was it serious? He can't remember because everyone looks too fucked up at the moment. 

"-Link?" 

Something touches his shoulder. Just a light careful little touch but it startles a yelp out of him. His head snapping up so quickly the world spins on its access and oh, he's falling. 

No wait.

He's not falling? 

Two big arms catch him. Least he thinks they do, he can't tell. That buzzing makes it really hard to feel. 

"Woah woah…easy there traveler." Twilight murmurs as he carefully sets Hyrule back on his feet. "You okay? You're shaking like a leaf."  

A small nervous sounding laugh comes rattling out of Hyrule before he can even attempt to think. "Hehe I think my heart just stopped? Oh hey..when did it get dark?" 

"YOU THINK WHAT?!" 

"Chillio dog boy it's fine." 

"The fuck it ain't." Twilight huffs before insistently places strong fingers against the vein on Hyrules wrist. "Oh- sweet mother of Faron..that's…that's not normal." 

"Normal? You really think my death would be fucking normal?" 

"Your heart didn't stop, you're not dying….least not yet. But this certainly explains why I thought I was hearing it from ten feet away. It's racing faster than a hummingbird." 

"Mmm f-fairies works really similrat to humming hits hits h..ummin birbs it's berry hard for us to sit sit still." 

For a moment Hyrule stops to try and process what just left his mouth. Shaking his head a bit to try and clear it. Which must have been a bad ideas see as he definitely wakes up on the ground this time. Night sky spiraling above him. 

"Deep breaths buddy..you're okay…" Twilight murmurs again as he leans into view. 

Smacking his lips a bit Hyrule blinks slightly. "My mouth feels fummy…." 

"Yeahh…yeah you just threw up. Like a lot. What the fuck have you been drinking?" 

"Things!" 

Twilight levels him with his best impression of the stare. "What things?" 

"Uhhhhhhhh…last thing was a coffee with two stamina ichsers..and…gren….it's was all very gren…" 

"Dins tits no fucking wonder. How many of those have you had??" Twilight questions. 

Hyrule stares at his hands and he swears has a few more that usual. All the extra fingers making it a little difficult to count. 

"Mmn…a number?" 

"How long have you been awake..?" 

"When the fuck did we get here?" 

"Okay….let's..let's get you some water and make sure you don't have a fucking heart attack." Twilight says with a stressed whine as he carefully scoops the shaking fairy boy up. 

"Nuuu!!! I need to…what the fuck was I doing…?"

"You've been staring into space for the past two hours what you need is to be knocked unconscious." 

I would love to hear about disguises and balls, just another beast, and troll hunters.

(⁠◕⁠ᴗ⁠◕⁠✿⁠) also if u want someone to rubber duck with, I'm open!

I have no idea what rubber ducking is but whatever it is absolutely!!And same too you! So here we go!

Starting off with Disguises and Balls!!

It's inspired by this amazing post right here

Currently the plot is that there was an assassination attempt on Dot and the chain has manged to track down the origin of the assassin and have to sneak into a ball to get more information and either find the assassin or whoever hired them.

Legend is absolutely unhinged in this fic, full feral, and he's devised the perfect elaborate plan that involves him and Twilight dressing up and going to the ball because they can pull it off discreetly by disguising themselves as a couple that had been invited but were most definitely never going to show.

The fic is basically my excuse to let Twilight feel pretty while still having a fun plot. Also sort of kind of me playing around with gerudo Twilight in a way.

"Okay…so that's all worked out but we still don't know who to send in, let alone who can pretend to be this Adalhard fellow." Sky says as he rocks on his heels where he's crouched, still peering over the maps as he does. 

"Yes we do, in fact we have the perfect person." Legend states with a grin.

"Really?" Wars says skeptically. 

"Yes really." 

"One of us is perfectly capable  of playing an exotic gerudo lookin…tan..skinned redhead…" 

Warriors voice slowly tapers into realization as he and the rest of the group follow Legends' smug gaze to where it's settled. His eyes locked onto Twilight who has returned his focus to diligently fixing Times chainmail. The big guy being completely oblivious to their conclusions. 

"Yeah…yeah he would fit perfectly." Four manages as he blinks a bit. 

"Who would fit?" Twilight murmurs, still not looking up as carefully links the complicated metal loops together. 

"You would." Legend states in a playful yet matter of fact tone. 

"Hehe, very funny." Twilight chuckles as he keeps working. Legends words taking a moment to actually register to him before a look of confusion hits him. Finally looking up and over to the eight pairs of eyes now watching, some shocked, some excited, and some unreadable. "Wait what?" 

"You, you make the cut and you're going in there as Heir Adalhard." Legend says  

"No the fuck I am not!" Twilight blurts out as he gets a somewhat panicked look on his face. 

Next! Just Another Beast

This one is my friendly fire au. It's got the first chapter out and oh boy does it get worse from there.

Wr0ng and Neutral have both heard how cursed its going to get

It's absolutely fucked

Ummmmmmm

Lemme just bullet point a few things

The next few chapters is them just trying to find and catch up to Twilight while things rapidly go down hill, but they aren't the only ones looking for him.

Dink is also in the caves and takes an interest in Twilight because of the shadow magic.

After all the cave business and they've sorted everything out, they get a brief respite at the ranch

After the ranch Twilight starts to act a little weird and more and more unlike himself. Standoffish, snappy, even mean and uncaring. followed by bouts of confusion sorrow and guilt that just worsen as time goes on.

Potions stashes go missing, weapons start malfunctioning and falling apart or just straight up go missing.

Worst of all monster packs with mini boss level beasts keep ambushing them all at random points in the night and Twilight is almost always strangely absent

>:3 its a very fun one that I hope to get back into soon. But it's also very vary dark and absolutely horrific.

Here's a little of what I do have of the second chapter

"...What the fuck just happened?" The Sailor finally pipes in. "Seriously what the actual fuck just happened I turned around and Hyrule was on the ground and Legend was chasing Rancher like a mad man!? What fucking gives!" 

"Wind…just take a deep breath I'm sure there's-" 

"You're sure there's what old man?!" Legend snaps. "A fucking explanation that's better than what happened? Rancher just nearly cut Hyrule in half! Don't you dare try and treat him like an innocent teacher's pet right now." 

Time shoots a harsh glare towards Legend as a look of horror crosses Wind's face.

And finally!! Troll hunters Again is just a troll hunters fic!

It takes place after the movie as horrifyingly cringe as it was it left for some lovely angst potential.

Jim goes back in time, and redoes things but this time lets Toby have the adventure of being the troll hunter. He's there with him every step of the way and goes through every possible extent that he can to make sure History won't repeat itself.

Couple key points I've established:

He still has the amulet Krel made but only uses it in extreme emergencies until later on. It allows him to travel through time in small doses.

Jim remembers absolutely everything and is understandably a little fucked up because of it and boy does he sound confusing sometimes

Toby gets his hammer sooner >:3, come on he's war hammer he's gotta have his hammer. Jim rigs the system so he gets it.

It's kind of a fic/chat fic because of how often these teenagers use their phones and Gods I need to binge watch tales of Arcadia again and get back into it so I can work on this fic because a love it alot. So many interactions go differently but all of the best relationships are still there and GAH!! HHHHH

Here's a clip

It's about and hour and half later that he makes his way back over to Toby's. The sky now completely dark as he climbs the steps to Toby's door. Listening quietly to the door for a brief moment. 

"This! Is the most sacred of mantles, and honor to have bestowed upon you. Now would you Please Stop Throwing things at us!" That familiar educational tone sounds all too familiar along with what sounds like canned goods hitting the wall. 

"Hell no! Hey hey back up big guyaaAAAA!!!" 

"Got you." 

Jim quietly opens and closes the door before making his way silently across the floor boards. Taking a brief moment to collect himself for the upcoming act before stepping to where he can actually see them and be seen. 

"What in the world!?" He exclaims loudly to draw their attention putting on his best look of shock and confusion. 

Arrrg currently has a hold of Toby, though the teen is upside down. The big gentle giant looks at Blinky who is beginning to freak out now. 

"Arrrg! This is precisely why I said you should keep watch!" Blink says in a panic. 

"Oops..sorry." Arrrg says with a small frown. 

"Put me down, put me down!" Toby shouts as he wiggles around until the big guy lets him go. Followed by Toby crawling quickly across the room until he can hide behind Jim. "These crazy monsters came out of nowhere!"

"How dare you, we are not monsters. We are peaceful trolls!" Blinky says in an offended tone. 

"Trolls?!" Toby exclaims. 

 "Yes.." Arrrg says with a nod. 

"Like...hobbit level die in the sunlight trolls or Hilda level sentient rocks that go dormant during daylight?" Toby asks as he slightly steps to the side of Jim but is still mostly behind him. 

"Ah...well..some of both I suppose?" Blinky says in a confused tone. "What is a Hobbit and a Hilda?" 

"Hobbit is a movie, Hilda is a cartoon...is it like..living stone but can't go in sunlight..?" Jim 'guesses' to move the topic along before looking to Toby. "Why are you using me as a human shield?" 

This is ridiculous!

Sky pulls himself upright as he looks around their little camp. Seven companions fast asleep and breathing peacefully. If only he could join them. It was well into the night, and he hadn't been able to fall asleep at all. 

He wasn't even having breathing problems, which is what usually might cause a problem. But air was coming to him just fine. So why for the love of Hylia did his chest feel like it was being constricted?! 

Sighing heavily he readjusted his shirt. Tugged at it and stretched it to try and loosen its hold on him. It did nothing. Then he pulled it off and tugged off the undershirt underneath. Still no luck. 

Nothing on and still his chest felt heavy, and his back felt tight. Yet he was breathing normally! 

Frustration bubbled up under his skin as he rubbed at the growing ache in his chest. Taking deep measured breaths just to reassure himself he's fine. He'd been having this issue the whole day, Dins tits this wasn't even even first time this week, but it just wouldn't go away. It even felt like his heart was banging heavily against his finger tips, but one quick check of his pulse confirmed once again, that nothing was wrong!

So why? Why wouldn't the aching stop? Why did it feel like something was being dug under his shoulder blades? Or like a mallet is being lightly but repeatedly smacked against  his chest. 

They weren't even in a fight today. He's not bruised, they hadn't been running, the temperature had been pleasant all day. So why? 

Hot tears of frustration start to roll down his cheeks as his breaths turn shaky. His hand rubbing circles over the aching part of his chest with an open palm. Pressing and massaging in some desperate attempt to bring himself relief. That squeezing sensation worse even as he tries to sit up straight. Then for a little while he even tries laying back down. And while it doesn't make it worse, it doesn't make it any better either. So back into an upright position he goes as he desperately rubs at his eyes and his chest. Trying to get the tears to stop before he wakes someone up. 

His attempts are almost completely in vain, as a startled yelp escapes him when something is draped over his shoulders. But thankfully it comes out strangled and breathy. Only serving to make the tears worse as he slowly looks up. Concerned unnaturally blue eyes almost glowing in the fire light as they look down at him. 

Sky soon realizes that it's his sail cloth that startled him as Twilight completely bundles him in the soft material. The much bigger hero carefully sitting down behind him and pulling him into a warm hug. The pressure of being held making the aching in his chest somewhat tolerable. Which only serves to make it harder to stop crying as he turns so he can just sob into his brother's chest. 

The rancher doesn't talk right away, just rubbing his large hand along Sky's back until he's calmed down some. "...are you having problems breathing..? You sound fine but, the way you were rubbing your chest…" 

"..It just aches….it's ached on and off all day, and for no fucking reason and I'm just…just tired of it…it's been going on here and there for weeks now.." He manages quietly through shaky breaths. "Just this stupid aching that sometimes spikes into agony…but goes away quickly enough there's no point in making a fuss…" 

"Is it just your chest..?" Twilight asks softly as he starts carefully running his fingers through Sky's hair. 

"..back too…right along the spine.." 

"..where's the aching concentrated? Can you tell?" 

Sniffling Sky rubs his eyes and tries to focus inward. Taking a couple of deep breath. "..e-earlier it was on my chest..but now it's..moved a little more onto my back. It..it feels like I've got hands wrapped around my ribs that are just..steadily squeezing from the back to the front. With something being dragged along my spine, and occasionally sharply shoved under my shoulder blades." 

The rancher listens carefully before letting out a soft hum that rumbles in his chest beneath Sky's ear. His fingers carefully pressing at Sky's back through the sailcloth. "You do feel pretty tight…maybe if I loosen your back up a bit it'll help…? You've been pretty tense lately…" 

Sky gives a small but quick nod. Willing to try anything at this point. So carefully Twilight sits him back up. Moving the sail cloth so he can easily massage Sky's back. 

At first it just hurts, especially whenever those calloused thumbs find knots in the tight muscle, or brush over a sensitive scar, but he's still as careful as he can be. Slowly turning the hero of sky's into clay and to both of their reliefs even getting a few pops out of his back. The heavy pressure slowly easing away until all he's drawing in are deep unweighted breaths.

It's not until The bigger hero is carefully wrapping him back in his sail cloth and laying him down, that he realizes just how heavy his eyelids have gotten. Twilight making sure he's tucked back into his bed roll before carding those large gentle fingers through his hair. 

"Get the fuck away from me you Picaroon! I do not need your fucking help." Wind screeches as he flails his arms, trying to both shoo away and half heartedly clock the captain so the older hero will leave him alone. 

"You're bandaging it all wrong…also what the fuck is a Picaroon?" 

"You! You're a picaroon! And I know how to bandage a cut for fuck sakes I went on a journey too remember!?"

Legend let's out a heavy sigh as he watches the two blondes fall further into their bickering. His ears ringing ever so slightly when Wind's voice hit those high notes of frustration and vague insult.