#writing fever

Zelda had it all planned out; the perfect sleepover was going to happen right here, right in her very room. It was going to be the greatest sleepover she, and her two sleepoverers were going to ever have!

At least, that was Zelda's hope. She never even had a sleepover before, if you didn’t count the times her cat snuggled up to her in bed. Or if you didn’t count those times out in the wild, cuddling up with Tri as she tried to get a brief respite from Null’s hunt for her.

Good thing she never was sleeping outside for long. She always had a bed back then, with an Ignizol echo nearby for warmth, too. And now that whole mess was all over with, she was back in her impeccably soft bed with the comfiest pajamas in all of Hyrule!

And the only trial this princess had to deal with now was to make sure that the “perfect sleepover” was to go off without a hitch. She had done her due diligence in sleepover research—snacks from various domains, a list of spooky stories curated by Impa and Lefte, various crafting materials, board games, and more.

She might've prepared a bit too much for the sleepover. But, too many options were far better than too little! They were going to have fun, Zelda and her friends, she was going to guarantee it!

A knock sounded on Zelda's door as she was going over her sleepover plans, ruminating over a checklist at her vanity.

“Yes?” Zelda called out as she hopped off of her stool. A guard opened her bedroom door, saluting at her.

“Princess!” The guard shouted, “Your friends have arrived at the castle! Your father—th-the king, I mean, he should be greeting them in the throne room right now.”

“Yes!” Zelda cheered, “Thank you for informing me, guardsman. I’ll be out in a moment.” She had to put her pajamas on, after all.

The guard than left, saying that he’ll inform her friends of that statement. After the door closed, she quickly changed into her sleeping garments, doing a little spin after once properly for the night's events.

The sun was setting, and her excitement only grew.

“Sir Catsalot, Head of Room Security,” Zelda addressed her cream colored cat that sat sleepily upon her bed, “I trust you'll be watching over us when the sleepover occurs, correct?”

The cat meowed back at their human, earning a few loving pets from the princess.

“Very good! I’ll be returning soon—watch over the room until then!”

Another meow from the cat, and Zelda was out the door.

She spun down the halls in glee, greeting the guards as she made her way to her friends—and to her father too, of course.

Entering the throne room, Zelda saw her friends chatting with her father, Impa, and General Wright.

“Zelda!” They cheered upon seeing her, with the exception of Impa and the General, who cried, “Princess!” instead.

“Hello!” Zelda waved as she skipped her way down the room’s red carpet, towards her father and her friends.

“You're wearing your silk pajamas!” Dohna giddily exclaimed, “Look! I'm wearing mine too.” And that she was, doing a small spin in her glee.

The king laughed, “Ah, how wonderful it is to be matching with your friend, my dear Zelda. It was a good idea to let them change before the sleepover party. Although…” he looked over at Link, who was wearing a simple white under tunic and trousers.

“Well, it’s a good enough sleeping outfit for anyone, I suppose!” The king laughed again, with the General joining in. Link looking like…well, how he always looked—slightly angry. So he was likely feeling just fine.

“Maybe we can get you some silk pajamas of your own, Link,” Dohna suggested, “But it won’t be easy! You’ll have to earn the comfort. I’ll have the soldiers create a trail just for you!”

Link looked extremely determined to earn said comfort, and a giggle escaped Zelda's lips.

Impa spoke up, “I hope you all will have a grand time, children,” she said, “I hope your ‘perfect sleepover’ will be as perfect as you imagined it to be, princess.”

“Thank you Impa,” Zelda replied, “and it will be perfect! I promise.” She aimed the last words towards her two friends, who looked excited.

Honestly, Zelda was getting more nervous from that excitement. Would this sleepover actually be as perfect as she promised? And if not, would her friends be disappointed with her?

“Follow me Dohna, Link,” Zelda then proclaimed, ignore her internal panic, “The perfect sleepover awaits!” Zelda did a spin, and trotted over to her room, the footsteps of her friends pitter-pattering right behind her. Not to mention her also telling the others goodnight, before she left.

Opening the door to her bedroom, she exclaimed, “Welcome to my room! Make yourselves at home here!”

“Ooo,” Dohna murmured as she looked over the room, seeing the various boxes and items strewn somewhat messily about. Link was already examining the boxes, finding things such as board games and snacks within.

“I see you’ve prepared quite a bit for our sleepover,” Dohna noted.

“Ha ha, yes, I did,” Zelda nodded, “Although, I think I might've done a bit too much.” It was definitely too much, now that she looked at it all.

Dohna set a hand on her friend's shoulder. “Nonsense!” She claimed, “It's just more opportunities for fun to be had.”

Yes, Dohna was affirming her! And judging by the way Link was going through the boxes and items, he seemed rather excited about the preparations Zelda made, too.

“Now then!” Zelda skipped over to her vanity, grabbing her notebook where her plans laid written, “Let’s get this sleepover started!”

The two looked over at her, until both of the girls attention shifted towards Link, who was halfway in a box, with a hexagonal chess board sitting atop his head. A very giggle-worthy scene.

“Do we want to start with chess?” Zelda asked, “I was gifted a three-player board for this sleepover specifically!”

“Oh! What fun!” Dohna clasped her hands in glee, “Although, I can’t recall the last time I played a game of regular chess…”

“Don’t worry!” Zelda assured her friend, “I can teach you both how to play as we go. Link, have you ever played chess before?”

Link crawled out of the box and set the board down on the floor. He shook his head no, before returning to the box and fishing out three bags full of chess pieces—a green one, a red one, and a blue one.

“Now,” Zelda started to explain as she took the blue bag, “three-player chess is a bit harder than two player, but I’m sure it’ll be fun!”

It was not very fun. It was okay, but trying to explain how the game and trying to remember how it worked—she had to go on a brief but fun hunt for the game's rule book—led to Zelda having a less than ideal time, personally.

But, it was definitely worth it. Link and Dohna seemed to enjoy the game—even though Link was the first to get out. And seeing Dohna’s eyes light up with as much glee as it did when she won was a blessed sight.

“Since you won the chess game,” Zelda said to Dohna, “Would you like to choose the next activity?”

“Oh, that sounds great!” Dohna replied, “But, I do wonder how I’ll be able to choose only one thing in this vast array of boxes.”

“Oh! Well, um…we have snacks! And various other things we could do instead of just board games.”

“It seems like our adventurous friend has already found some of those ‘snacks’ you speak off.”

Sure enough, Link was innocently munching on some thin pretzels, ones that Zelda helped make with the Royal Chef a few days prior.

“Ha!” Dohna laughed at Link’s visage, “It seems that the snacks are quite tasty, eh, Link?”

Link nodded as he started to munch on yet another pretzel.

Zelda snorted. Then she suggested, “Would you like a smoothie? I have many smoothies.”

“I’d love one! Do you have any smoothies made with Warm Peppers this time?”

“Of course I do!” Zelda quickly fetched three Golden Piping-Hot Smoothies, “They’re made with Golden Eggs too!”

“Golden Eggs!” Dohna repeated with a gasp, “Those are hard to find!”

“No kidding. Link, would you like a smoothie?”

The swordsman nodded, confident in his spice tolerance. Too confident, one might say, but he managed to drink the whole thing. Even if his face was a tad concerningly red and wet.

The group then partook in a few more games, a few snack breaks, and some crafting activities too. Origami was a wonderful thing that Zelda was glad she stumbled upon in her research of activities they all could do.

During the fun, Zelda even set up a—modified—Gizmol to play music throughout the night. Although, upon seeing the wind-up automaton, the other two wanted to see the rest of her mechanical contraptions.

Unfortunately Zelda only had one Clockwork Key, and had to explain with deep sadness in her heart that it was a one-of-a-kind item, so only one automaton could work at a time.

That did not stop the twos drive to battle a Roboblin. So a brief battle did then commence, before going back to the regular sleepover activities. Zelda would have to get Dampé to fix it, after how badly the poor automaton was pummeled.

The rest of the night passed by without much sadness, the trio of friends enjoying their time with one another. And as the night went on, the sleepier they all became. But Zelda wanted to do at least one more game before she could put this sleepover to rest.

“There’s this card game I found,” Zelda began, an air of mystery in her voice as she fished out a small, rectangular box from the box pile, “One that came from a faraway land.”

“What land is it?” Dohna asked, which was a good question. Zelda looked over her notes, and after a solid minute, realized that she did not write down where this game had originated from.

“It appears the origin is unknown, to me,” Zelda sighed, “However, we can ask Impa about it tomorrow.”

Zelda dusted off the small box, then opened it from what she figured was the “top” of it. She gathered the three to sit in a circle as she dumped the colorful cards onto the carpet floor.

“This game is called ‘Uno,’” Zelda stated, “And from what I've been able to gather, it means ‘one’ in its mother tongue.”

Dohna hummed and nodded as she looked at the cards, with Link grabbing all the green cards he can see.

“And how do we play ‘Uno?’” Dohna asked as she held up a card.

“Well, to win, you need to get your cards down to zero. But, you have to say ‘Uno!’ once you get down to one card.”

“Ahhh, that’s how you deduced that ‘uno’ means ‘one.’”

Zelda beamed with some pride at Dohan’s recognition of her reasoning. Link seemed to approve of it too, if his surprised yet determined look was anything to go by.

Zelda then explained the rest of the rules to her friends, before shuffling the deck—to marginal success—and dealing the cards with the side “Uno” etched onto them facing upwards, seven cards for the each of them. Zelda looked at the rule pamphlet that Minister Lefte had diligently translated for her, satisfied that she’d done things mostly right so far. She'd taken the role of dealer prematurely, but that shouldn't affect the actual game too much.

Zelda looked up at her friends, who were examining their cards with great interest. There were still face down, however.

Zelda got their attention, then said, “You can look at you cards now, but! You can’t let anyone see what they are underneath the ‘Uno’ side, alright?” The two muttered an agreement, and everyone took their cards.

There were no yellow cards in Zelda's hands, but she had at least had two of each other color, with an additional Wild card!

“Everyone understands what their cards do, yes?” Zelda asked. Link was squinting hard at his cards, before then grouping them all into one hand and gave Zelda a thumbs up.

“I…suppose,” Dohna murmured, “Can I take a look at the rules you have there?”

“Of course!” Zelda gave her the pamphlet, “You’ll also start first, since you're to my—the dealer's—left.”

“What joy!”

Zelda then flipped over the top card of the draw deck, with a yellow “one” card starting it off. Did Zelda have any ones, at least? No, she did not, but things could change in her favor before her turn arrived. She wanted to save her Wild card for a while longer.

“I’ll play…” Dohna slowly drew out a card from her hand, then quickly slapped it down on the discard pile. “A yellow seven. I believe it’s your turn now, Link.”

Link slid out a card and set down a green seven. Good, Zelda could save her Wild.

“A green five,” Zelda said as she placed down her card. Next, Dohna placed a green eight, then Link with red eight.

“You don’t have to change the color every time, you know,” Dohna told Link. Link looked at her with a fire in his eyes, like she had accidentally set off a kind of challenge in his mind.

A challenge he had lost on his very next turn. His sullen face was perhaps not entirely congruent with the fact that they were playing a simple card game. It seemed that, just like Zelda, he held no yellow cards in his hand. Dohna had played a yellow eight, and Zelda was forced to play her Wild.

“I chose blue!” Zelda announced. She had blue Reverse and a blue Skip card, her only non-Wild action cards in her current hand.

Dohna smirked, “Well, if you're so confident with blue, then how about you prove it!” She slammed down a blue Reverse, and Zelda had to hold back her immediate smirk.

Zelda retorted, “I’m very confident with blue,” as she then slapped down her own blue Reverse. Dohna gasped at the card unexpected to her.

Dohna glared at the card Zelda played for a moment, before placing down a blue three. Link sadly placed down a blue one, Zelda skipped Dohna's turn, and Link played yet another blue. And so, the game went on in silence, with no more actions cards being played for a while.

The Uno game was going well, for everyone but Zelda, having somehow reached ten cards now. Her luck with games during this sleepover wasn't going that well, even if she played as smartly as she could. Honestly, it was a bit frustrating. But it was still fun, and her friends were having fun, so it was all worth it. A little frustration was all worth it if everyone ended up happy in the end.

“Uno!” Dohna shouted, triumphantly holding up her final card. Link had three more cards, and Zelda was nowhere near winning.

Link gave Zelda a look of regret, before he played a red skip. Zelda gasped at the betrayal, but a smile still tugged at her lips. Mainly because even if she was feeling not the greatest during this game, Link being so dramatic over it definitely elevated her mood.

But now, the fate of the game was held within Dohna’s fingers. If she had a red or a Wild card, then she would win the game.

Dohna looked at the card in the pile, then at her, and back again. After a few seconds of debate than kept both Link and Zelda on edge, Dohna sighed, and drew a card.

Link placed down another red card, leaving two left in his hand. Zelda thought hard about what possible cards he could have in his hand, and what cards Dohna could have. Zelda still didn’t have a yellow, but she did have a card she pulled earlier that she kept for later use…a Wild Draw Four. The first one to be played this game.

It would be risky to play it now, especially if she was called out on having a playable card in her hand. But, the others could possibly not remember that they could call her out on that. Although, they could also question her on why she didn’t play it earlier…

Time was of the essence, and if she spent too much time thinking, that could spell trouble for her. She had to make her decision.

“Draw four, Dohna!” Zelda played the card and awaited her friend's response. Her friend gasped sharply, appearing offended—which did make Zelda feel bad—but she didn't challenge the card, drawing the four cards she was cursed with.

“I can’t believe you would do this to me,” Dohna huffed as she drew, “Now Link’s going to win! No offense, of course.” Link gave her a nod, before turning his gaze to Zelda.

“…Oh! Right!” Zelda snapped her fingers, “The color is green, your color, Link!”

Link confidently placed down his next card, a green nine; he had a smug smile on his face as he held up his final card.

The issue of what card to play next bore heavy on Zelda's mind. She knew for a fact that Link didn’t have a yellow, but neither did she. Hopefully, Dohna had that in mind as she played her card, but Zelda? What should she do for this turn…

Dohna then suddenly spoke up, getting Zelda out of her own head.

“Aren’t you supposed to say ‘Uno’ once you have one card?” She questioned, “And I believe that the penalty for not doing that is to draw two cards, no?”

Link looked shocked, and pointed over at the rule pamphlet, that was still at Dohna’s side. She gladly gave it over to him, and Link stuck his nose right in it.

“Well,” Zelda said, “That's correct, but we don’t have to play by those—” Link held up a hand, stopping her. He sat up and gave the rules back to Dohna.

“Next time,” Link told the two, voice scratchy as he spoke. He grabbed two cards, and now Zelda was a bit less worried about the game ending so soon.

The game went on, and Zelda was slowly chipping away at her cards, and gaining more info on what her fellow players don’t have. For one, Dohna definitely doesn’t have a red. Even with the with the four cards Zelda made her draw, only two of them seemed to be reds; one of those reds was also a Skip card, so only one more red Skip was in play.

Link could have some yellows in his hand now, but he ran out of blues already. Zelda had at least one of each color—except for the titular yellow, of course.

And then, at last! Zelda got down to a singular card.

“Uno!” She cheered. Then, her gaze shifted towards Dohna, who held two cards in her hand. With a smirk, she placed down one of her own cards.

“Uno,” Dohna said.

Sweat was pouring down Zelda's face. If she didn’t win, then Dohna would. Not like that would be a bad thing, Zelda had to remind herself, but she felt a competitive urge to win.

It was rather late in the night, with only a few lamps scattered about, barely setting the room alight. Perhaps that aided in the tension. Or perhaps she was simply tired from the time and all of the activity beforehand.

Link set down a green six, and all Zelda could feel was dread. With the best poker face her sorry state could manage, she looked down at her hand.

A blue one.

She drew a card with a shaking hand, gaining a yellow card at last. She only looked at Dohna after calming down as much as she could in the span of two seconds. Zelda had to remind herself that this was just a silly little card game; a silly little card game, and nothing more.

Dohna had to draw a card herself, and Zelda nearly cheered.

A quiet, soft voice sounded out, “Uno.”

Link had set down a green Skip, and Zelda felt ill. Which was stupid, she reminded herself, but the reminders didn't help to change her mood.

“Uno,” Dohna said as calmly placed down her card with the most serious expression Zelda had seen her have all night. A blue Skip.

Zelda had a choice to make. She always had a choice to make. She could play her blue card, or her yellow card. Her yellow Skip.

She had to deduce the cards her opponents had, and quickly. Dohna played a blue Skip, what was the chances of her having another blue? And Link, he also had poor luck in gaining yellow cards, but what if gained a yellow earlier, like Zelda had?

The yellow Skip was the safest bet, to her, but even if she survived to the next round, could she even win?

Somehow, that realization that her chances of winning were rather slim, helped lifted a weight off her chest. She became one with the world, and knew only one purpose—to have as much fun as she could. This, and her friends’ enjoyment, was all she needed for the perfect sleepover. How blind she had been before…

“Zelda?” Dohna called out her name, taking Zelda out of her enlightenment.

Zelda blinked a few times, then a small grin reached her face.

“Sorry Dohna!” Zelda giggled, “Uno!” She flung her yellow Skip down towards the discard pile, the card barely landing on it. She quickly fixed the pile so that all the cards were aligned with each other. It had been bothering her before, but now she had to fix it.

Dohna had pouted at Zelda’s play, and after Zelda had fixed the cards, the two girls looked over at what Link would do next.

Link drew a card. He played it and…!

It was a Wild card. A Wild! If Link called out “blue,” than Zelda could win this! She could actually win this!

Zelda gave Link the most pleading eyes she could muster, hoping, praying that Link would somehow understand the exact color she needed.

“The rules state that any card-play suggestions to other players causes the suggester the draw two cards,” Dohna stated plainly, a faint smile on her face.

“I’m not saying anything!” Zelda retorted, “Link can do whatever he wants!”

Link nodded, then said, “Green.”

Zelda almost swore. She grumpily drew a card instead. Yeah, she was losing, one hundred percent she was.

“Time to win, Dohna,” Zelda nearly sighed out.

Dohna laughed. “It appears so, huh?” She played her final card…a Wild Draw Four.

“I’ll say that color’s red, now,” Dohna announced, even though she already won—choosing a color Zelda did not have. “Lets see which of you wins between you both!”

Link drew four cards, and he still ended up winning against Zelda, in the end.

“How did I lose so badly?” Zelda questioned to herself, “Did I use up all my luck on my adventure?”

“Maybe!” Dohna laughed, “Maybe not. But I had fun, but that might be because I had all the luck tonight.”

“Hogged it,” Link stated. Zelda laughed, it did seem that Dohna hogged all the gaming luck tonight. Well, for at least a few of the games, at least.

“I had fun too!” Zelda cheered, “I think this was a great sleepover too!”

Link corrected her, “Perfect,” he said in an even more scratchy voice than earlier.

“It seems like someone should go to his voice therapy lessons, hm?” Dohna pointedly stared at Link, who looked at her directly in the eyes and shrugged. Zelda giggled again.

“But yes, it was—” Dohna yawned, “—the perfect sleepover.”

Zelda yawned as well. “And now,” she told her friends, “it’s time for the sleeping part of the sleepover!”

They all cheered, sleepily, sending each other into a fit of giggles. Zelda got out the sleeping bags for the three of them—her cat was to keep her bed warm—and they all got into the bags, drifting off to sleep.

Out the window he went, quiet as a mouse. Hopefully no one would notice he was gone, and that he would be back before morning came. But there was an entire forest nearby to explore, and he felt like he could-no, should explore to his heart’s content. The wilderness called to him, beckoned him in. That’s what he kept repeating to himself in his mind anyway, as a way to reassure himself, that as a hero who had saved Hyrule, sneaking out at night and potentially worrying the other heroes wouldn’t be a stupid thing to do. Zelda would’ve thought otherwise, and he knew that, but tried not to think about it too much.

The forest was mostly quiet, save for things like the chirping of birds and crickets. The faint rustling of trees was like music to his ears. There was a light breeze, which felt nice against his face as he ventured further into the forest. He tried his best to walk in as straight of a line as he could, to more easily find his way back. He really wished his Sheikah Slate worked properly in this time, maps made everything much easier. But then he would have to go searching for those towers, and while as fun as they were to activate, took up far too much time, much more than he and his group were currently willing to spare.

Wild was suddenly on edge. That odd shapeshifting, Lizalfos-looking, portal opening thing was still out there. Not to mention the black-blooded monsters that thing infected. Wild sighed as walked, now paranoid and frustrated. After a few moments of that, he finally gained enough brain cells to figure out that he should probably head back. With another sigh, which was more of a groan, he spun on his heel, turning around to make his way back to the inn.

Soon enough, something in the air…shifted, he couldn’t tell what. An oddly familiar yet unnatural feeling enveloped his senses as the sky started to turn into an odd shade of pinkish purple. The few clouds up in the sky, only a slightly lighter shade than the sky itself, swirled around above him, as the space in front of him split. Wild felt his heart drop and his breath leave his body as the rift continued to grow. Green glowing light bleed out from it, lighting up the trees and grass and him. Something was happening, something bad, and it was targeting him. He stumbled back, he had to, he had to get away and yet. And yet. It was calling to him. It was scaring him, the world behind the rift hated and loved him all the same.

Wild had to escape.

Wild tried to breathe, in and out, slowly, calmly, he looked for a way out. Trees, there were only trees and more trees and bushes and grass and even more trees-slowly, in and out, his breathing, his breath. He was alive, and he was going to make sure he would stay that way, bright green portal notwithstanding. The portal was growing bigger, quickly, but not as quick as Wild’s mind was when it was panicking. Maybe that meant that panicking was a good thing. Wild almost stopped panicking completely once he realized how stupid that thought sounded. His panic swiftly returned when a white boot stepped out of the portal. When matching white gloves also came out, Wild went to get out his sword and shield, fumbling with his slate as the person emerged from the rift, it closing behind them soon after.

“Excuse me?” The person asked, their words 

echoing, despite the conditions for that to logically happen simply not existing here. Wild stiffened, having only gotten his sword out. But he knew deep within his soul that it wouldn’t be very effective against the higher being standing before him. Yet his grip tightened despite that. He wouldn’t run away, not now, he would try his best to fight this being off if he had to. And if that failed, he would retreat, tactically.

The being was dressed in an odd black and white outfit, having tan skin and white hair. Their bright green eyes, glowing body, and their crown that was literally on fire were very clear signs that this person wasn’t anything he’s seen before. Not to mention the hovering. And the portal they just came out of. And the weird voice-and Wild needed to start focusing on the situation at hand.

The being raised their hands up defensively, “Hey, put down the sword, I’m not looking for a fight,” they said, “I’m just. Looking for someone, yeah.”

“Uh huh,” Wild dumbly nodded, keeping his eyes on them.

“Right, okay, let me just-“ they looked around, suspicious at their surroundings, “-okay, don’t tell anyone you saw me, or that you saw this. Actually, it doesn’t matter, forget what I just said.”

Wild nodded again, watching as a ring of light came out of their waist, enveloping them as they donned a more hylian appearance. They had even odder clothes on in this form, baggy and worn. Their skin was paler and their hair was pitch black. They looked like death in the form of a teenage boy.

“Are you Death?” Wild asked blatantly. Listen, he was curious, he need to know this. The being raised an eyebrow at him, confusion evident on his face. “Like,” Wild scrambled to rationalize his less than rational thought process, “I don’t know, you seem scary? And corpse-like? Are you dead? Am I dead-well, no, I can’t be dead, that would be silly, ha. But are you?”

“Well I am the Ghost King, king of ghosts,” they said plainly, with a shrug, “Name’s Danny, Danny Phantom, and that’s really all you know about that. Listen-“

“Aren’t you like, twelve?” Wild knew they probably weren’t twelve, but this ‘Ghost King’ guy looked pretty young.

“What? No! I’m not twelve, I’m like-“ they pouted, like a twelve year old, snapping their fingers in thought, “older than you!”

“Oh yeah, I’m-“ Wild stopped, wondering if it would be smart to tell the Ghost King that he’s technically one hundred and seventeen years old. “I am at least seventeen! And I look like it as well.”

“You’re the same height as me.”

Wild looked at the ghost, glared at them, walking a bit closer to them. He placed his hand on top of his head and moved it forward, towards the Ghost King’s head. His hand brushed against their hair, but it clearly didn’t reach the top of their head. Wild grinned, well, wildly at the sight of being taller than them. They looked unimpressed.

“You’re the one acting like a twelve year old you know,” Danny scoffed, pouting.

“Says the pouter.”

“Look, can you just help me find this guy, since you’ve clearly calmed down now.”

“And why should I?”

“I’ll make your afterlife terrible otherwise.”

“Fine, I’ll help, gosh,” Wild was probably going to help anyways, he liked helping people. He just wanted to be annoying. “So, who and why?”

“Great! So, I’m looking for this guy named Link,” oh no, “Clockwork-he’s a time ghost, don’t worry about him-told me that he was hoping around other times with other guys also named Link.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“Well-okay, you’re annoying so I’m just going to ignore that-“

“Time isn’t real.”

The two stared at each other, and Wild both wanted to punch himself in the face, and thought he was the funniest man alive. Danny seemed to think the same way too, with their bewildered expression suddenly turned into one holding back a lot of laughter.

“Al-alright, that was good I’ll give you that,” they chuckled, “Anyways, I’m looking for this specific Link because they’re supposed to dead, and I’m supposed to like-do something about that. I think I have a picture of this guy that Clockwork gave me, hold on.” They stuffed their hand through their goddess forsaken chest, and rummaged around like their own body was a mere storage container. Wild was instantly jealous of them. Sure he had his Sheikah Slate, but it wasn’t a part of his body.

Wait, Danny had a picture of him. Oh no, they were going to kill him. He didn’t need them to say word for word that they were going to kill him, but Wild didn’t know what else they could do to him. He needed to be on his toes and hone his quick reflexes in order to survive this ordeal.

“Annnd-nope, that’s my thermos-here it is!” They pulled out a piece of folded paper, and just as they started to unfold it, Wild snatched it from their hand and shoved it into his mouth.

“Wha-WHY DID YOU DO THAT?!” Danny shrieked, hands on the side of his head, horrified.

“‘Cause,” Wild responded in a muffled voice, chewing the paper. Tasted inky.

“Okay, you are definitely the weirdest person I’ve ever met, an I know a ghost who whole personality is boxes, just boxes. Actually, I don’t think he’s that weird compared to some other fruitloops I know of-but that doesn’t matter, spit that out!”

“No.”

“You are acting like a twelve year old-no, even twelve year olds wouldn’t do this, you’re five.”

Wild gasped, photo smushed to the side of his mouth, in between his cheek and teeth so it wouldn’t fall out.

“You’re just mad I’m right.”

“Nah uh!”

“Then how about you spit that out, like a normal, seventeen-you’re seventeen right?” Wild nodded, “Right, like a normal seventeen year old would, or I’ll phase it out of your mouth by force.” Wild did not like sound of that. So he spit out the photo, the slobbery mess falling onto the grass. Even Wild was grossed out by what he had done. Danny clearly was.

“You’re going to have to unfold that yourself, I’m not touching that,” Danny looked sick.

“Yeah, that’s fair, I’ll do that,” why wasn’t the paper metal, then he could use his Sheikah Slate to pick it up. Good thing he had some spare gloves stored in it, so it was fine, it’s fine. He started to unfold the paper, Danny peering over his shoulder, both with matching disgusted expressions. Wild was right about the contents of the drawing. His face, blast scars and all, was right there. Wild looked at Danny. Danny looked at him. Wild wanted to punch them in face and run off, but they are a ghost. But Wild still slowly raised his free hand into a fist, retaining eye contact.

Danny began to speak, “So-“ Wild swiftly punched them in their face, and skittered backwards, trying to look for a way back to the inn safely. The ghost had stumbled back, clutching their face in pain.

“Huh, so you can punch ghosts,” Wild noted.

“You can definitely punch this ghost,” Danny rubbed their hurt nose, “Didn’t even get me a chance to speak.”

“Please don’t kill me.”

“I’m not going to kill you, that’s not what I’m here for.”

“Oh.”

“Bet you feel stupid now, don’t ya?”

“A little bit, yeah.”

Danny sighs, pinching their nose, not in pain this time, but annoyance. “So,” they started again, “what I’m trying to do is get you on the ‘Supposed to be Dead but Came Back Anyways’ census. Basically, the name’s a work in progress.”

“And…I’m supposed to do something about it?”

“Kinda? Look, just sign here, and I’ll get out of your hair.” They pulled out another piece of paper out of their chest, with already had a few other names on it in neat little boxes. Wild couldn’t read any of those names, but Danny probably could.

Wild’s face scrunched up, trying to think about what he should do next. They hadn’t really explained their reasoning for any of this, so he still didn’t trust them too much. Maybe this was some elaborate ruse to kill him.

“Will me signing this ‘census’ give me any benefits-will it give you any benefits?” Wild pointed accusingly at Danny.

“Well, are you dead?”

Wild groaned, “I’m not DEAD Daniel,” Wild threw his hands into the air in frustration, “Just use your stupid ghost words to explain to me what I need to do and why.”

“Okay,” Danny squeaked out, “But first off, name’s just Danny.”

“Uh huh.”

“And secondly, I’m doing this because there’s a bunch of ghost legal jargon where your name was already listed on both the ‘dead,’ and then also the ‘not dead’ list after you came back to life. You signing this will help fix that.”

“…Aren’t I time traveling right now?”

“Yes, but it’s still good to note down who had came back to life. Please just make my life easier, this is themost stress inducing part of my job I’ve ever done.”

Wild was starting to feel a bit bad now. So now, with a better understanding of the situation, he took the paper from Danny’s hands.

“Here’s a pen to write with,” Danny gave him a pen from their chest.

“Can all ghosts store stuff in their bodies?” Wild asked as he wrote down his name in the next free box, adding on his title of ‘Hero of the Wild’ in the same box, just to specify things.

“No, but I sure can,” they said with a big smile.

“That’s so cool.”

“I know.”

The two laughed a bit as Wild returned the paper and pen to Danny.

“Well, sorry for not explaining my motivations fully, I’m a bit…tired, ha ha,” Danny rubbed the back of their neck, clearly embarrassed.

“Yeah. Sorry for punching you.”

“Now I’m going to go take a nap. Or sleep for once.” A ring of light enveloped Danny yet again, returning him to his more ghostly form. Then he turned around and held out his hand, before cutting the space there, opening the bright green portal.

“See you in the Ghost Zone, Link! Eventually!” They waved as they stepped into the rift.

Wild waved back, “That sounds pretty ominous, but okay!” Danny laughed at that as he went all the way through, the portal closing soon after. Now Wild was left all alone in the woods.

He needed to get back to the inn.

It took him some time, but he eventually found his way back to the inn. In through the window, as quiet as a ghost, he was back in his room. He flopped down onto his bed, mentally exhausted. He would’ve rather been bored than have had dealt with…whatever that was. Not really, but Wild was certainly ready to go to sleep now, and pray that he wouldn’t have to meet that Ghost King ever again. Not because he was scared, but because he was a bit embarrassed about what happened. He acted a bit stupid there. But none of that mattered now. All that Wild had to do now, was to sleep.

ー

“Has anyone seen the champion yet?” Time asked, looking over the group that were all hanging around the inn’s dining room.

“Nope,” Warriors said with a pop, “He’s likely still asleep.”

“But I’m hungry,” Wind whined, “Captain, do you know how to cook?”

“I know how to make things edible and nutritious,” Wars plainly answered, receiving a few groans from various Links.

“We could just have the food they serve here,” Twilight suggested.

“Champ’s better,” Four retorted.

“How about we all wait a bit longer,” Time said, “It hasn’t even been half an hour since we woke up after all.”

They all muttered their agreements, and choose to occupy themselves with taking count of their resources for the time being. A few more minutes passed before Legend noticed something.

“Hey guys, I think I see the champ coming down right now,” Legend pointed at the staircase, and the other heroes scrambled to see their resident chef stumbling down the stairs.

“Are you doing alright?” Hyrule asked.

“You seem exhausted,” Sky added.

“Ye-yeah,” Wild yawned, stretching his arms, “Ghost problems and all that stuff.” He set out to make some food for his companions, who were looking at him with confusion and concern.

“Ghost problems?” A few of them asked at once.

“Is this place haunted?” Wind looked around with an excited grin on his face.

“Nope, but I sure got haunted in the woods out there,” Wild waved in the vague direction of where the forest was, “Now I’m going to make something to eat, want some?”

Sure, he was more awake than he normally would be, but he was still very tired. His movements and general thought process had slowed, but he was still going.

“We’re being surrounded!” Warriors shouted out. The Chain all bumped into each other, in a little circle.

Wait, surrounded? Circle? Ooo, that gave Wind a great idea.

“Ima do the greatest Spin Attack to ever Spin Attack!” Wind shouted, reading his sword above his head for dramatic effect.

“Please do not Spin Attack while we’re this close together,” Time wearily said.

“Do a Hurricane Spin Attack,” Four suggested, jokingly.

Wind could not process that was a joke in his current state. And even if he was aware it was a joke, he still wouldn’t have cared.

“HURRICANE TIME!!!” Wind shouted as he rushed towards the monster hoard, the worried shouts of his brothers fading behind him.

There were two ways to do a Hurricane Spin, Wind had come to find out. One was to charge up his sword with magic, of do a regular Spin Attack three times in a row. Both of which sent himself hurtling about until he either got too dizzy, or until he hit a wall. Thankfully, they, and the monsters were in a clearing, a good distance away from any trees. And the choice of which technique to use was obvious…since he had exactly zero magic.

Wind spun around once, cutting into a few monsters. Then, he spun around again, cutting into a few more. A few monsters cut into him, shallow cuts, but they definitely stung. Now, the final spin-at the complete arc of it, an orange hue started to follow his sword, and it felt as if it was the sword that was spinning him.

For a few seconds, Wind felt invincible. He basically was invincible, as the hoard that was surrounding him fell faster than a tree to a well-swung axe. These monsters weren’t black-bloods, but maybe this technique would’ve still worked with them as well. Maybe on that shapeshifting black-blood as well.

Those thoughts were all Wind could think about as he was wobbling about. He killed…almost all of the monsters, he could tell. So he was perfectly safe to wobble. And try not to throw up.

…

He threw up.

Wild was now alone, a few mushrooms in hand. He was just scavenging for them, wanting to make something nice for the three of them. The others had gone out to investigate a nearby dungeon, the three of them staying behind to keep an eye out for anything suspicious. They all promised to make sure that nothing bad would happen between the three of them.

And look at what happened when Wild broke that promise. He’d just tuned the other two out when they started arguing, because it’s not like it would lead to anything big right? Wild was a fool. He knows this well. He’s the greatest fool out of the group, surely.

That didn’t make it so he couldn’t fix the mess he could’ve stopped, however.

Food is the key to heart, as they say, and Wild already has some mushrooms quite literally in his hands, so he should make food with it, like he planned to. He also happens to have some rock salt in his Sheikah Slate. Salt-grilled mushrooms it is then!

Walking over to the cooking pot that was thankfully already set up, Wild gets to work, humming all the while. He notices Legend looking at him over to his left from the nearby log, head slightly upturned and eyes peaking through his fingers. His eyes were red and wet, clearly having been crying. A lot. Crying so quietly that even the moss he was sitting upon couldn’t have heard him. A skill no one should have to master, yet there Legend was. Wild’s heart stung at the sight, so he gave the veteran a little wave and smile to cheer him up, even only slightly, but the veteran immediately hid his face again.

Wild sighs and turns back to his food. He was a fast cook and this was such a simple dish, so he was almost done already. Looking up and over to where Hyrule is, he was still in the same position, but his head was up and looking away from the camp. Was he crying as well? Quietly as well? Was it a skill well mastered between the two? What had happened between them? Before all of this even? Who was in the wrong and who was in the right? Why did they have to be crying so quietly?

Well, Wild was definitely in the wrong for not paying attention to the other heroes. That was on him. But what in Hylia’s good name are they even fighting about? It was frustrating for him, to not know what was going on between his friends. His crying, heartbroken friends.

But now it was food time.

“Heeeey there Leggy boy,” Wild coos out to his nearby comrade. Said comrade looks up at Wild in confusion, a vague effigy of a smirk on his face. “Wanna have some salty shrooms? That have been grrriiiled?” The oddness of Wild’s current way of speaking makes Legend smirk even more, which was the intended outcome. Sometimes, random is funny. Sometimes.

“Yeah,” Legend answers as his voice cracks, “That’s fine, thanks.”

“No problem friendo,” Wild gives Legend a nice, hot plate of salt-grilled mushrooms. He prepares a plate for himself and a plate for Hyrule. There was a little extra, still in the pot, which was all going down Wild’s throat, obviously.

Holding onto Hyrule’s plate, Wild stands up and calls out to the pouting Link. He knows he was pouting because when the traveler turned around, he was indeed pouting. Hyrule says nothing and does nothing after that. Just blinks blankly at him. With his red, wet eyes.

Wild tries to call out to Hyrule again, taking a few steps towards him, “Heya Rules, you what else rules?” No reaction. “Food! Want some salt-grilled mushrooms? They’re salty~”

Hyrule mumbles something back before looking away. This was going to be harder than he thought.

“Mister traveler,” Wild speaks in a singsongy voice, continuing to walk closer, “it’s eating time~. You need lots of food to grow big and strong~”

More mumbling from Hyrule. A bit louder this time, but Wild still has no idea what he’s saying. Wild groans. He gets even closer.

“I guess you just like acting like a big baby, don’t you?” Wild jokingly scoffs, “And here I thought you were an adult-“

“SHUT UP!” Hyrule screams, whipping his head around. His face is contorted with rage, glaring eyes seething with a rage Wild had never seen from his friend before. Directed at him before. The fury was short lived, Hyrule’s face almost immediately turning into one of regret. But the image was now burned into Wild’s mind, a clear, permanent picture.

Hyrule turns away from him again, the mumbled sorry I’m so sorry he repeats on and on reaching Wild’s ears. But Wild can’t get himself to say anything back. Opening and closing his mouth like a dying fish. A foolish fish that managed to beach himself on a single piece of sand in the middle of the ocean.

Wild’s face was hot. His hands hurt from how tightly he’s clutching what’s supposed to be Hyrule’s plate. Food, food’s the answer to everything. Yes, Wild just needed to make more food. He was the cook of the group. He’s the cook, yes. That’s what’s he good at, cooking, cooking food. The answer to everything. The key to the heart.

Wild walks back to the cooking pot. He sets the plate off to the side and eats his own food, both on his own plate and from the pot. It needs it to be empty after all, if he wanted to make more food. The mushrooms are good, but they were more salty than usual. He can’t see them that well, but that was okay. Food is the key to the heart, and healer of the soul. Wild continues to eat. He’s a quick eater. He’s finished in no time. He’s still hungry.

An angry shout erupted from the left of Wild. Legend throws himself off of the log, and as Wild rubbed his blurry eyes, he could still see the veteran’s furious face as clear as day. But he wasn’t angry at him, no, thankfully no. Legend stomps over to Hyrule, hunched slightly forward, hands clenched into fists. Hyrule shot up, a less angry look on his face, fear and unease filling in for where the rest of the anger would’ve gone.

“You’re a fucking jackass, you know that?” Legend spits at Hyrule, jabbing his finger into the traveler’s chest. Hyrule sputters, anger consuming the fear that had previously held its space.

“You’re the jackass here!” Hyrule shoots back, “You’re the one who started all of this!”

“You know what? Yeah, I did, I know that DAMN WELL!” Legend grips onto Hyrule’s tunic, “At least I wasn’t the one to make Wild CRY! YOU DID!” No, they can’t fight now, Wild didn’t get to make his food, his great food, the key to the soul food. Hyrule’s tearing up, Legend’s tearing up, it’s all Wild’s fault.

No.

No no no.

He can fix things. He was going to fix things.

With a soft, quiet voice, Wild starts to speak, “Al-“ his voice cracks, “Alright you two, break-“ he coughs, “-break it up.”

The two don’t hear him, it seems, as Hyrule begins to snap back. Wild doesn’t want to hear it. He can’t hear his friends be so angry at each and not even know why.

Hyrule shoves Legend away, hard. He stumbles back, surprise quickly being overtaken by even more anger. Hyrule starts to yell, “Well, YOU’RE a DAMNED asshole who-“

“BOTH OF YOU! SHUT! UP!” Wild screams, jumping up and accidentally snapping his wooden plate in half in his rage. It was fine, he had more plates. Sky’s okay with making more plates. Wild had no more patience for these two, however. His throat hurts. Yet he continues, “I am SICK! TIRED! Of the two of you acting like THIS!” The other two flinch in fear, their anger for each gone, albeit temporarily.

Wild was fixing things. Wasn’t he? He had to be, he’s going to fix things.

“Look, I don’t know what bullshit you two were spewing at each other, but can’t you two at least TRY to talk things out like GOSH. DAMN. REASONABLE PEOPLE?!” His throat hurts, his cheeks hurts, he was hurting. But not as much as his friends were hurting. He’s going to fix things.

“This isn’t cute, this isn’t a funny little hoo-ha, people are angry, people are sad, because you two! Who just…can’t be a degree of CALM! Do you understand what I’m saying? Do you?!”

They both nod, but they don’t seem to really understand. Wild is so very frustrated. He hates being so frustrated. He’s going to fix things. He has to.

“Alright, the both of you are going to sit down, right now.” The two shuffle in place, nervously unmoving. Why. Why are they like this? “You two don’t have to sit together, just sit the FUCK DOWN!” Now they rush to their seats, on logs opposite to each other, Legend to his left, Hyrule to his right.

Wild sighs, sitting down and rubbing his temples. He speaks in soft voice like before, so he wouldn’t hurt his throat any further, “I’m sorry for yelling at you two,” he looks at the both of them, who both refuse to look at each other, “And for being rude and mean to the both of you. I shouldn’t have done that, I just-I had felt like I wouldn’t be heard if I didn’t. I was worried someone would get hurt.” Hyrule recoils in on himself, hugging his knees in shame. No, he can’t let them get sad. Food. The key to the heart.

“Alright!” Wild claps his hands, “You pouting mcpout are going to eat your…” Wild looks up at the sky, deeming it to be almost nighttime, “…dinner. Yes, dinner. Leg’, did you finish you dinner?”

“N-no, I haven’t,” Legend responds in a similarly soft voice, “I’ll…I’ll do that now.”

“Good! Now Hyrule,” Wild shoves Hyrule’s plate at him, holding it in place until the traveler finally straightens up and takes it. “Make sure you eat up! And after this, you’ll get to have some cake! Carrot cake! Cake that’s made from carrots.” Wild gives them both a deranged smile as he happily waves his hands as he goes on about carrot cakes. He feels a bit loony right now, loony and tired. He’s not even sure why he suggested carrot cake, but that’s what he’s making now. Carrot cake.

Some Endura carrots, goat butter, cane sugar, and Tabantha wheat. For cake, carrot cake-

“I’m going ducking insane,” Wild groans, running his hands down his face.

“Ducking?” Legend scoffs lightly, a soft smile on his tear-stained face.

“I think I’ve sworn too much today,” Wild shifts into a thinking pose, “Swearing too much can devalue the feelings swearing can bring.”

“Philosophy’s fun,” Hyrule mumbles as he eats.

“Don’t talk with you mouth full huU-ugh, no, I can’t say that,” Wild says as he puts the ingredients into the pot, “I sound too much like a mom.”

“Yeah, you’re not Sky,” Legend teases. They all get a good laugh out of that. A long moment of silence occurs between the three of them after that. It’s not a bad silence, but it’s not really comfortable either. Nevertheless, Wild gets to cooking. He hums the same old tune he’d always hum. He doesn’t remember why this tune was the one he always defaulted to. Was it important to him before, all those years ago? Maybe once this is over, all of this is over, Zelda would tell him. But that was a long way aways from now. Now, he was making cake for his friends. Carrot cake. He wouldn’t be able to eat this cake for a while after this. Or probably any cakes. Or carrots.

“I think I’m starting to dislike c-words,” Wild mumbles aloud, “They’re making me loose my mind.”

“Do you...” Hyrule trails off a bit, plate almost empty now, “Do you want to make something else?”

“Nope. I’m making…this, and then we’re each going to eat a third of it cut into threes, and then you two will talk through you problems. Like adults.” The last word comes out harsher than he intended, but the two didn’t react much, Hyrule continues to eat his food and Legend sits politely, plate clean, awaiting cake.

Wild tries to empty his mind before he does something bad to the food before him.

Wild cheers when the cake is finally done. He makes grabby hands at his fellow heroes’ plates, much to their collective amusement. Legend gives him his plate first, receiving three slices of cake, as promised. Hyrule next, receiving his third of the cake.

“I would’ve given ya one slice at a time, but then I’d probably eat the rest of it,” Wild laughed, scratching the back of his head. Chuckles came from the other two, who then focus on their respective plates of foods. Wild focus on his. His stomach churns as he begrudgingly eats the slices, one by one, slower than he normally would. He still finishes far before the other two.

Wild rests his head on his knees, closing his eyes. The small fire underneath the pot encourages him to sleep. Fire always made him sleepy. But he couldn’t sleep yet, he needed to fix things.

No. He didn’t need to fix things. They had to fix things. The ones who were arguing. Wild can nudge and prod them all he wants, but only they could make things right with each other.

He slows his breath. He relaxes his limbs. He’s wide awake, but his friends don’t know that. To them, Wild’s sleeping soundly. He hears the sounds of wooden utensils cutting through the soft cake, scratching the wooden plate. Sounds of them chewing and swallowing food, of their shoes’ slight movements against the short grass, of the soft breeze that barely moves their hair. A few minutes pass before anyone speaks.

“Legend,” Hyrule speaks up, “I’m…I’m sorry.”

Legend inhales, sharply, before speaking back, “Don’t be. We both know I started this.”

“But still-“ Hyrule pauses after his volume starts to increase, and Wild feels his worried gaze cast upon him. Hyrule lowers his voice, “Still, I went too far. We both know this.”

“You didn’t go far enough,” the words tumbled out of Legend’s, a sharp inhale stopping more from coming out. A few more breaths, and he continues, “I shouldn’t have said you weren’t worthy of a throne.”

A throne? Wild doesn’t move, but he yearns to inch forward, to perk up his ears. But they don’t need him right now, he’s done enough.

“I don’t even know why I asked you that,” Hyrule sighs, “I just suddenly remembered something …and want to ask you about it I guess.”

“…What did you remember?”

“I…there’s something that Impa, my Impa said at the start of my second adventure,” Hyrule takes a deep breath, in and out, “she said her and her family have been ‘waiting for a great king to come’ for generations, to save Princess Zelda.”

“So you feel pressured to be that great king?”

“A bit, a bit yeah. I…know I’ll be a king, eventually. I uh, really like…Zelda.”

“Oh. Ah. Now is not the right time for teasing.”

“I can tell by your face that you really want to,” Hyrule giggles, “but yeah, that’s…why I was concerned about being a king.”

“And you came to me.”

“Well…I figured you’d know more than Wild,” very true, Wild knows nothing about this stuff, “so I wanted to ask you. Because I…trust you.”

A long silence passes between them. Wild wants to speak up, but he can’t. He’ll mess everything up if he does.

“You…” Legend starts, “No, no I shouldn’t say you shouldn’t trust me. That’s not my choice to decide.”

“…I still trust you, you know that?”

“…I trust you too.”

Another long silence. Happier now.

“I’m a prince,” Legend drops out of nowhere. Well it felt like it was out of nowhere, and Hyrule and Wild couldn’t stop themselves from yelling.

“What?!” The two shout in unison, Hyrule yelping at Wild.

“You-you’re awake?!” Legend asks, befuddled.

“Ha ha, yeah, barely,” Wild awkwardly smiles  at the other two, “Bold of you to assume I was asleep. You know I snore.” He only snores sometimes, but that wasn’t important. “Anyways, you’re a prince? How that happen?”

Legend looks over at Wild, then at Hyrule, back and forth a few times before sighing.

“Zelda’s my half sister,” Legend said plainly, “I know the trails, and the tribulations that royalty have to go through. I’ve been through some of those things, but I’m grateful that I don’t have to. I just-“ Legend huffs out a small sob, not quick enough at covering his mouth. Hyrule tries to reach out to him, but Wild stops him. He shakes his head softly, ‘not yet’ his eyes tell the traveler. He nods back, retracting his hand and they both await Legend’s next words with bated breath.

“I don’t want you to go through all that pain. And you know me, I’m snarky, I’m the mean, rude one, I’m not good at sentimentality,” Legend runs his hands through his hair, “That’s why I just-waved you off and got so angry when you kept insisting on being a king. I said a lot of hurtful things I clearly shouldn’t have. I’m sorry Hyrule, I really, really am.”

“It’s okay Legend,” Hyrule smile softly at him, “I forgive you. It’s okay you got angry, I understand why you got angry. I know I shouldn’t have gotten angry.”

“No no, you definitely deserved to be angry Rules-“

“I didn’t deserve to HIT you!” Hyrule shouts, throwing his hands up in the air before running them over his face, “I hit you, you never deserved that.”

To both the surprise of both Hyrule and Wild, Legend starts to laugh maniacally at this.

“Sorry, sorry, I just-it’s fine. Don’t worry about it Rulie,” Legend smiles at Hyrule.

“I think you’re downplaying this a bit,” Wild interrupts, to his own surprise, “Even if you don’t care, Hyrule here definitely does.”

“But it’s fine-“

“I don’t think it’s fine!” Hyrule also interrupts him, “We’re not supposed to hit each other because of things like this! You can say you forgive me or don’t-that’s okay, but don’t tell me not to worry about when you’rethe one who got hurt. You just don’t want me to worry about you!”

Legend looks surprised at this outburst, before laughing yet again. Calmer now, gentler.

“Yeah, you’re right. I don’t want you to worry. I don’t like people having to worry about me, or having to worry about others.”

“Well, that’s too bad,” Hyrule says in such a way that makes the other two laugh. He laughs too, whether or not he understands why doesn’t matter. “Are you feeling okay Legend, does it still hurt?”

“Of course not, I’m fine-“

“But are you reeeeaaallllyy fine?” Wild dramatically learns over to Legend, who snickers before playfully shoving Wild away.

“Yes, I’m fine, really. It doesn’t even sting anymore. Hyrule’s not that strong.”

“H-hey!” Hyrule’s cheeks turn pink as he pouts. They all laugh.

The tense atmosphere that was here before was now long gone. Things were back to the happy way they were before, with a few more lessons learned.