#il wind

Alt:

Engineer: He's actually more level-headed. He doesn't require much work to convince, but other Links are more eager to prove themselves compared to him.

The colors require no goading whatsoever. It comes from within. They sabotage each other to be the one to get the most whatever-the-current-thing-is the fastest.

One of the reasons Forest favors the boomerang is so he can yank others back with it and then use it to collect items quickly. And Ember is the worst…

Junior - He acts chill, but he wants to win. However, on a scale of Engineer to Four, he's on the Engineer side of the spectrum.

Wild - The Lucky Treasure Shop should never have given him free access to the treasure game… Is what I would say if he didn't already have enough of the rewards offered already in his pockets. Thankfully, he does try not to abuse the system, and the owner often gets free food. He's more into beating his own high scores in skill-based mini-games than gambling for luck. But he still pops in to try his luck with the chests on occasion. Competition against others? Ohoho, I can't wait to put him in a dungeon.

Mask - He loves games. He doesn't need much promise of a reward to play in the first place, but if you dangle something good in front of him, he absolutely will not give up until he gets it. Bombchu bowling may have wiped out all his cash, but he was determined to win.

Speaking of which, the same thing happened to Wind when he was given the opportunity to play what we like to call Sploosh Kaboom. (It's apparently called Squid-Hunt and is basically the Battleship board game.) He's sunk (heh) hundreds into that game trying to get a higher and higher score. His record is 11. (In this game, less is more. A perfect score is 9 and the previous highscore was 20.)

“I dunno. In his 20s, I guess. I never asked him.”

The engineer took a deep breath, held it, and let it out in a long whoosh. He rubbed his arms like he was cold and then shook them like he was trying to shake out some pins and needles.

“Are you ok?” the sailor asked him, somewhere between creeped out and concerned for the guy.

“Mhm,” the engineer’s voice cracked unconvincingly. “And you know Tetra?”

“Yeah, but, hey, you’re not gonna pass out or something, are you?”

The engineer’s face was looking a little green.

“Nope.” His weak tone of voice was not convincing.

“Hey, stop. Put your head between your legs. Guys? We need to stop! I don’t think this guy is ok.”

“Is he hurt?” a brunette asked concernedly.

“I don’t know. But he looks like he might faint.”

“I’m not… gonna faint… in front of you.”

“Yeah, let’s try to avoid that. Here,” the sailor motioned to a felled log. “Sit down. Keep your head between your knees. Deep breaths. You’ve got it. Do you need some water?”

The engineer began to shake his head, reconsidered, and took out a canteen he could sip from. He kept his head bowed.

The rest of the group had gathered around by now.

“Is he havin’ a panic attack?” a young voice asked, but the sailor didn’t see who.

The army captain approached and kneeled at the engineer’s side. He quietly spoke to him, and the engineer took the man’s hand when he offered it. The captain gave it a squeeze and kept talking to him. The sailor couldn’t hear what he was saying, but he did hear the engineer give a shallow chuckle and say, “No, it’s not that,” and “Well, it’s not every day you meet a historical figure.”

The captain paused at that, and his grip tightened for just a second, but then he continued his quiet murmurs while the engineer continued to take deep breaths.

Mask waved his hands at the large group surrounding them. “Step back, guys! ‘Tis not a side-show! Give them some space!” He started to lead them away, though he did look back at the engineer with a concerned expression.

After another minute, the engineer finally raised his head. “That was really embarrassing. Sorry, guys. Especially you, Hero of Winds. I shouldn’t have made any assumptions. Thank you for letting me see your shield in its prime.”

The sailor’s brows knitted together in confusion. “What are you talking about?”

“It means yer reputation precedes ye.” The sailor jumped as a voice sounded behind him. It was the child who had led the others away. How did he get behind him like that?

“Jeez!” the sailor gasped. “If you sneak up on me like that, you’ll have me in the same state as this guy.” He gestured to the engineer.

Mask grinned wickedly before his expression softened into one of concern as he turned to the engineer and the captain.

“How’s he doin’, Cap?”

The captain said nothing in reply, but the child didn’t seem to mind.

“Overwhelmed from meeting yer heroes for th’ first time, engineer?” the kid asked gently. The engineer nodded, and Mask gave the captain a brief but meaningful look.

The sailor was still confused. Mask glanced at him with a smirk.

“Ye still haven’t figured it out yet? Time travel? Heroes from different times? I’m sure some folk ‘ere have heard stories about heroes who came afore them. Did ye see how the pictograph guy looked at the tailed guy? He definitely knows him. And the mini-Link recognized the place the sky-guy said he came from, but looked surprised to hear it mentioned.”

The sailor frowned in contemplation. “Then…” His eyes widened, and he looked to the engineer. “You asked me how old Niko is. How old is he for you? ”

“I’ve also never asked. But he said he watched the kingdom being founded, so he’s definitely over 100.”

“100…” The sailor looked dazed. Then his eyebrows shot up, and he leaned forward eagerly. “ Kingdom?! We found land? Is this it?” He looked around the forest eagerly.

“Oops. Uh… spoilers?” The engineer went from excited to sheepish. “But I’m pretty sure this isn’t it. I don’t recognize it at all, and I haven’t seen a single train track.”

“Oh. What’s a train?”

The royal engineer just about started to vibrate at the opportunity to explain what trains were to his childhood hero. The captain sighed, and Mask quickly interrupted.

“Well, you seem to be full o’ energy again. How about we get back to the group? You can walk while you talk.”

Thankfully, the two agreed, and the four of them returned to the others.

The short teenager with the mousy brown hair noticed first and hurried over.

“Are you okay? Are you injured anywhere?” he asked, hands hovering over the engineer without touching him, uncertain if he should be feeling for cuts or broken bones or the like.

“No, I’m not hurt. I just made a surprising discovery and got a little overwhelmed.”

“What did you discover?” asked a tiny child who only surpassed three feet by a few inches. Mask had referred to him as mini-Link. He had a sword and shield strapped to his back like most everyone else.

The engineer looked at the sailor and smiled shyly.

“It turns out I know this one. Or I know someone who knows him anyway.”

The wild Link glanced uncomfortably at the red-haired hero whose story was woven into tapestries and whose Aspect he had worn like a second skin.

“Woah! That’s so cool!” Mini exclaimed. “How do you know him?”

“His friend is my roommate. I’ve heard a lot of stories about him.”

The child looked between them excitedly, but did not grasp the full implications of that. Most of the others did, however, and began to look around at each other curiously.

“In any case, I’m feeling better now, so we can keep walking. I’m sorry for holding us up.”