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Chapter Text

In canon there are 12 Links, 13 Zeldas and multiple companions and friends to pick from in some cases. I'll do a quick recount of each Link and the companions that join them in the story. Don't be afraid of the number of characters, they themselves know they're too many and will segregate in smaller groups that we'll explore later, little by little.

SKY fom Skyward Sword. Asthmatic softboy, 17 yr old. 157 cm/5'1.8"

Companions: Hylia, Groose and Black (Impa, to account for Four's missing companion).

MINISH from the Minish Cap. Strong shorty swordsmith, 13 yr old. Midget at 137 cm/4'5.9"

Companions: Jewel and Ezlo.

FOUR from Four Swords. Very pale polite young man, 14 yr old. 142 cm/4'7.9"

Companions: Little Red.

TIME from Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask. Traumatized childman (not manchild), 17 yr old. 162 cm/5'3.8"

Companions: Sheik and Impa (she's the only one that keeps her og name when repeated with another, lucky her).

LEGEND from Link to the Past, Oracle games and Link's Awakening. Traumatized veteran, 19 yr old. 153 cm/5'0.2"

Companions: Bluebird. He has no friends :(

WORLD from Link Between Worlds and Triforce Heroes. Toll (for a Link) strong man, how else can he totem? 20 yr old. 170 cm/5'6.9"

Companions: Hilda (Zelda) and Ravio.

HYRULE from Legend of Zelda (1986) and Adventure of Link. Feral brunet knight, 16 yr old. 150 cm/4'11.1"

Companions: Pink and Granny.

TWILIGHT fom Twilight Princess. Crazy strong rancher. 17 yr old. Sorta short, 162 cm/5'3.8"

Companions: Queen, Midna and Rusl (to account for Light's missing companion).

LIGHT from Four Swords Adventures. Pale bean pole with amazing legs, 17 yr old. 168 cm/5'6.1"

Companions: Red.

WIND from Wind Waker and Phantom Hourglass. Foulmouthed island sailor, 12 yr old. 140 cm/4'7.1"

Companions: Tetra, Linebeck and Arryl (to account for Legend's missing companion).

SPIRIT from Spirit Tracks. Chubby trainmaster, 13 yr old. 140 cm/4'7.1"

Companions: Phantom.

WILD from Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom. Feral former knight, 21 yr old. 153 cm/5'0.2"

Companions: Flower, Sidon and Teba (to account for Spirit's missing companion).

The Zeldas will usually stick together with the smaller extras, while anyone with the skill will form patrols, hunt and search parties. We're somewhere away from Hyrule so the princesses don't hold their political power, there's no immediate danger or need for a Hero anywhere. Still, everybody just wants to go home but don't know how, and hang out in the time being.

Chapter Text

WORD COUNT- 2,924

Pink looked at the conmotion around her, her knight (he still insisted on not being called Link) nowhere to be seen. Instead, she was met with a bunch of boys and girls screaming orders at each other while carrying boxes, packages and... was that a goat? It didn't matter, she had to find her knight as soon as she could.

"BEHIND!" Pink jumped out of the way just as a small blond boy in smith attire- Minish- rolled a barrel past her, "sorry, Pink".

"Minish, could you tell me...?" But the kid didn't stop with his task or gave any sign of having heard her. Understandably, since Light kept screaming at the sky for... someone's attention, Little Red shook a jingling box clearly filled with jewelry, the Loftwings screeched at one another, and many other sounds filled the air.

Pink huffed and looked around yet again. Bluebird passed through in her short blue dress while carrying a stack of sealed letters; Black and Hylia followed closely behind, the Sheikah woman carrying a chest on her shoulder, the blonde girl giving instructions about the letters they'd be selling.  They were clearly too focused in their tasks to help her. "Black, please don't fight with Ravio, the prices...hello, Pink! The prices are set."

"I must protest, milady." The blonde girl sighed in response. "I said no. Blue, help me out..." The trio kept walking and took their conversation with them. Pink sighed, and pulled her skirts quickly as a panicked-looking Spirit ran near her.

Standing in the way wouldn't get her anywhere, and would eventually cause more harm than good, and so Pink dusted off her dress, found a box too heavy for a single person to move it, and sat on it with a dignified move.

The sun was halfway to its zenith, the sky shone a bright blue with small white patches here and there, the soft morning breeze of the prairie was nice on her mahogany hair, and the evening seemed perfect for a walk along the stream that ran on the western side of camp. If only her companions had chosen any other day to move out...

Speaking of which, the blond heads of the Links kept moving and blurring around her. Time was dragging a wooden box towards the cart, where Linebeck tried to put the reins on the horse -Epona. Somewhere nearby, Flower, the princess with blue adventuring clothes, was carrying a folded tapestry or carpet of sorts, stopped and turned back towards a shaded figure. "Where did you want me to put this?"

"By the stream" Answered Midna from beneath her parasol, "The Zora will put it with the rest of the sales." After this, the Twili princess pulled her magical orange hair into a claw and lifted a couple of freshly-cut logs. Wild had been busy.

"What did you say?" Asked Flower, just as Epona neighed and pushed Linebeck to the ground. Midna turned her head and placed a hand on her ear. "I said...!"

"She wants you to take them to Sidon" Pink interjected before Flower could finish her question. "She says it's for sale."

The blonde turned to her, surprised. "Oh, thank you, Pink. Would you like to join me? If you're not busy, that is."

The brunette shook her head politely. "As much as I'd love to, I don't want to be in the way. But thank you for your consideration."

"Oh, you won't be in the way at all." Flower put her roll down and knelt in front of Pink. "I feel like something's bothering you. Are you sure you don't want to come with me? Sidon's a great listener if you need him."

"I know, but it's Hyrule whom I'd rather talk to... have you seen him?"

The blonde princess placed a hand on her chin as she tried to remember that particular brunet. Then sighed. "I'm sorry, I've been too preoccupied with the tapestries."

Of course. Queen had awakened them all at sunrise to give them their morning duties. Since they were moving, the essentials had been packed the night prior, but still, Pink's duties had been so simple and few that she was finished in two hours, which gave her too much free time.

"I understand," She said to Flower, and pointed at the tapestry. "Please, I've already taken much of your time. Sidon must be waiting."

Flower opened her mouth to protest, closed it and took the tapestry back to her shoulder. "Very well, I'll ask around. And Pink? Don't be so hard on yourself, we could use your help every now and then." The blonde smiled one last time and turned for the stream.

Pink frowned, she was right. Everyone was helping, except for her, who simply sat and waited for someone who wasn't even present.

It wasn't her fault, she thought. As a princess, she had never partaken in menial labor like her knight, or some of her fellow companions -although their circumstances had been highly irregular. She had received the proper education one would expect from a princess; etiquette, dancing, drawing, playing instruments, writing poems and weaving. It wasn't that she didn't want to help, but Pink didn't consider herself fit enough to be of actual help during all this conmotion. Besides, she wasn't even dressed to help out, with her royal pink dress and all. Flower meant well, but she chose her words poorly, and they stung.

Her knight understood, even if some of the princesses looked at her with mild disappointment or impatience. Goodness, even Jewel was looking at her over her shoulder this very instant! The girl was dressed as a smith like her Hero and carrying boxes towards the other cart.

Pink tore her eyes from the people around her and focused instead on her hair. The weeks on the road tended to ruin her perfect maple brown hair, but once they settled camp, the girls had time to properly care for their skin, hair and clothes.

"Milady, are you alright?" Pink's eyes shot up at her knight.

She stood up gracefully, ignoring the glances from the other princesses and focused solely on her knight. She then frowned. "I've been looking for you, knight" She slapped his shoulder lightly, causing the stiff knight to lower his eyes ever so sligthly.

"Forgive me, milady. Legend has kept me busy with the moving arrangements." Right, all Heroes woke up before sunrise bar Sky and Wind.

"I see, you are forgiven, knight" Just then, Pink glanced at his armor; the upper green tunic was torn around the chest and shoulders, the chest piece had a couple scratches on its metallic surface, the base chainmail was dirty but otherwise intact, and finally, the gloves and dark green skirt were stained with what must've been monster blood.

In spite of his appearance, Link stood as still as a statue, his expresison a cold poker face, his hands clasped tightly at his sides, his eyes the only clue to his inner thoughts. Typical Link.

"What did you want me for, milady?" Polite as ever. Pink smiled at him and waved a hand, signaling him to follow her.

Pink took her knight away from the camp and up one of the small hills that decorated the landscape. She climbed slowly and steady to the top while pulling her massive skirts. Tetra had rolled her eyes and told her to wear something simple because they were moving out today, she had ignored the advice, foolishly thinking that the men would change their mind after Sheik's report from the north.

A storm was brewing on the mountains even though Pink had seen only benign sheep-like cottonballs all morning. With a sigh, she sat on the hill and looked back at the camp with her knight at arm's length. She mused on her time traveling with this company, on the princesses she had met, the Heroes that joined them and the friends that tagged along. Not even in her wildest dreams she would've imagined herself traveling unknown lands practically on foot and with no personal effects. It was... nice in a strange way.

Finally, the princess' gaze settled on her knight, who sat stiffly by her side. The other Links said they'd never seen Hyrule being this composed. "I wanted to talk to you about Hyrule, our home". The knight frowned lightly.

"Are you sure of that, milady? Last time we spoke of such matters..."

"I know as well as you what happened." She interrupted the knight, not wanting to revive her... episode weeks prior. "And I assure you, my knight, that I am capable of dealing with this matter better than last time. Now, please speak freely."

In that moment, Link's demeanor switched. He sighed and slumped on the grass, pulling a knee up to a more comfortable position.

"I really don't think you should revisit that, I don't want you to feel sad." He said it nonchalantly, but Zelda knew better, and placed a hand on his shoulder. Link looked up at her from his resting position, brow knitted. She smiled.

"I can handle it. So tell me, my friend" Zelda returned to her original position and focused back on the camp. "What's on your mind regarding the matter of our homeland?"

While Link organized his thoughts, the Heroes back in camp had pulled a cloth over the big redhead's -Groose's contraption whose name Pink kept forgetting. Hylia chatted with him as her Loftwing picked her hair. Some of the older Heroes were screaming around a rack of swords like vendors until Wild came running, stumbled and broke the rack. That must've hurt, the sound of wood breaking had reached the hill.

The adults then threw their hands in the air, sat down while covering their faces, turned around, and showed other expressions of defeat. One of the blond ones, Time probably, turned to look at her and Hyrule, and waved a hand. Pink waved back.

"I've talked with the others" Said her Link, finally, "World wasn't happy when I brought it up. Legend said we wouldn't learn anything else until we find a place to connect with 'the gods', you know how it goes." Here he pulled his lips.

Zelda knew it, but prevented herself from making a face too. Even if they had encountered gods and spirits in their travels before, both this Zelda and her knight had their own beliefs apart from the others.

Two figures left camp towards town, the blue robes marking them as Linebeck and Arryl. Almost simultaneously, a third figure broke from the main group towards Pink and Hyrule, a stout figure that Pink could recognize immediately. Her handmaid, that people dubbed Granny.

The pair jumped up and ran down as fast as they could. Link's armor clanked lightly with each step and Zelda's skirt whispered on the grass when suddenly, she tripped. Hyrule caught her by the arm. "Princess! Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. Thank you." The older Impa finally reached them and caught Zelda's hands on her own.

"My child, where have you been? Everybody's so worried for you." Oh, really, that was fast. Maybe Queen was worried that she'd get lost if she left camp for more than ten minutes.

Brushing those thoughts away, Pink smiled warmly at her caretaker. "Do not fret for me, my dear friend. Link's taking care of me." The aforementioned nodded dutifully.

"Why, that calms my old heart." Impa squeezed her hands, they were rough, firm and warm. "Still, I beg you, child, do not wander far. The Heroes have sent for you two, and her Highness Queen asked specifically for you to return soon."

"I understand, my dear. Please tell her that we'll be back as soon as we can."

Just then, Zelda felt a hand on her shoulder as Link spoke. "Don't worry, Granny. We'll stay within range, and I'm more than capable of looking after our Zelda."

Impa smiled and hugged her. "I'm so happy to hear that. Excuse me." The older lady turned and descended back to camp slowly. The trail was low and so the woman descended easily until Minish ran to meet her and help her to one of the carts. Once she was sure that Impa was safe, Zelda clapped twice and went back up the hill to her previous spot.

As she climbed, her previous thoughts returned and her mood soured. "I cannot believe they sent Impa to check on us. It's not like we ran away."

Link sighed as he sat with a soft clank and took his gauntlets off to fix his ponytail. The air was warmer and his cheeks were turning red.

"We're just tense, you know how the bosses get when we all get together like this." Yes, keeping track of more than 30 people at once was a task.

And that was a particular line of thought that the pink princess had considered much. "I wonder for how long we'll be worrying about this same subject."

Link kept silent, but he placed a hand on her knee. "As long as it takes for us. It's been a while since we've found any shrine to the Triforce gods, but once we find one, you'll be the first to know, this I swear."

"Do not make promises you can't keep. We've been to shrines and temples before, what difference would it make to find an abandoned shrine now? We've been praying everyday for months, and nothing! How long do we have to wait? We have homes to return to! And home, our kingdom needs us... Without you, Hyrule cannot face another threat..!"

"Zelda" She blinked, Link was holding her hands, shaking them lightly. She hadn't noticed when she began raising her voice and her eyes watering. "It's okay, one thing at a time."

She blinked again as Link began breathing loudly and slowly, until her own breathing settled down. "Her Regency is doing her best in your absence, and as part of your royal bloodline, she possesses the divine wisdom. Your people isn't without aid, is that right?" Zelda nodded. "Ganon is dead, and according to Wind, without our Triforce pieces to call unto him, no supernatural threat looms over our land, am I correct?" The princess nodded begrudgingly. "See? I'd rather return home sooner than later, but if we took years to accomplish that, I will not fret for our land, and I advice you to do the same. Worrying for matters outside of our control right now won't do you any good, milady."

Link was right, she knew it, but the princess couldn't shake the feeling of helplessness that overtook her whenever she thought of home. She sighed and squeezed his hands while looking up at him, her closest friend.

"I am aware of it, Link. Alas, the dread I feel for our situation will not go away so easily... Forgive me for picking our most busy day to keep you from the work, maybe you should return to your brothers to facilitate the moving process."

"Nonsense" He frowned and took his hands away. "Your feelings are as important as everybody else's, and giving you peace of mind is a job as important as any other, my princess." He was frowning and his eyes sparked with fierce determination. "Do not apologize for expressing your feelings or seeking comfort in a friend. You know I will always answer your call, and not only because it's my sworn duty."

Zelda's heart swelled with love for her friend. She had always admired his strength and dedication, as well as the unwavering loyalty he posessed for her even before she had earned it all those years ago. And today, he was proving his loyalty once again by helping her through her personal issues in a way that few had been able to. Zelda smiled and stood up with his help once he noticed what she was doing.

"Thank you for your kind words, my knight. Few can see beyond the crown, and you, you are the one I'm most proud of calling my friend for it." She placed a hand on his shoulder. Link smiled warmly, took her hand in his and kissed her knuckles the way he had been trained to do.

"Any time, milady." And just like that he was back to his knightly demeanor, unwavering posture and blank expression. Zelda couldn't help but chuckle. "Shall we return to the camp, milady?"

Zelda shook her head as she stood side by side with her knight. "I don't believe I'll be welcomed by my fellow princesses at the moment."

Because I cannot help them, went unsaid. Link lowered his head just a fraction. She knew him well enough to guess his thoughts; they sent someone to fetch you so they clearly care. In her mind, she believed it, but her heart couldn't accept the sentiment. And her knight knew that as well.

"Then I shall wait by your side until it is convenient to return." Zelda smiled again, immensely grateful for the friend she'd found in the Hero of Hyrule.

Maybe the other princesses thought she was too lazy or incapable of learning how to help them move out, maybe the other Heroes were frustrated with how little she seemed to do in general, maybe she was downplaying their acts of kindness through a feeling of being inadequate; but with her knight by her side, she felt at peace. Let them finish the moving with her out of the way, that should be the best strategy.

Chapter Text

WORD COUNT: 3,041

Legend checked his paper, then the joke in front of him, then his paper again. He placed a hand against his temple, choosing to ignore... to postpone the lecture he longed to give Time. He knew better than to distract Wild from a task, especially when that task didn't involve cooking or patrolling.

It was too early to get a headache.

"So..." Headache 1 pried. Legend let out a long sigh before opening his eyes again. Wild, Time and Rusl were holding the weapons that Wild had dropped when he tripped and broke the rack some minutes ago. These weren't magical weapons that didn't rust or get damaged, for Din's sake. "I guess we have to save these in the Pad for later?"

Don't kill him, don't kill him, Sky will get sad if you do. Legend counted to ten before answering. "Yes, store those until Minish can look at them. Unless you can revert time on them?" Wild's face darkened momentarily, that was a bad joke. "Just put them away, and for the love of Din, if you break anything else talk to World, I'm trying to coordinate children h- Wind, put that down!"

He left the men behind just as he noticed Headache 2 lifting a package wrapped in what was clearly ofuda, protective charms. The kid jumped and his grip on the package faltered just enough to make Legend's heart lurch. He ripped the package from Wind's hands as soon as he reached him, examined the ofuda and put it back where it was, on top of the pile of magical artifacts. The pile itself should've been enough to deter the kids from nosing around, they were supposed to know better. Once he made sure the package wouldn't fall over, he turned back at the offending boy, who shrank in place.

"You're supposed to get the supplies in the cart, what are you doing here?" The kid didn't answer immediately and Legend checked his list again. Time and Rusl had finished counting the weapons, Midna was done moving the heavy stuff and was napping under her parasol, Twilight and Phantom were yet to return from the village two kilometers downstream (1.2 mi/6 560~ ft). The goat trotted by and Legend tensed, Tetra had assured him and World that her knots were top notch, and here was the goat free again.

They were behind schedule. As long as Twilight and Phantom were out there was no rush, but he was getting anxious.

"Well?" He turned back and fixed his gaze on Wind, well aware that few could hold his intense grayish eyes.

"Red said they were good and me thought I better help somewhere else. I was 'bout to call for World, I swear!" Legend sighed and brushed the pink bangs off his face, he needed a haircut.

"Red said you should help somewhere else, then." "Aye."

He smiled and placed a hand on the boy's shoulder. Wind shuddered as he was guided away from the magical pile. They stopped for a moment as Minish passed by with another barrel, Legend would always be impressed at the shortest Hero's strength. They walked some more as less and less people crossed their way, and they reached the grassy edge of the stream. There, the red Zora king was chatting amicably with Tetra, Ravio and Sky. The Hero sat on a rock with his feet treading on the water, while Tetra walked on the shallows, and Ravio sat on a red carpet surrounded by rupees that he poured into different purses while writing numbers down on a paper.

Legend let go of Wind's clothing, crossed his arms and waited expectantly until Sidon finished his story.

"...when Wild pulled his bow and shot not one of two, but three electric arrows at the Beast!" The Zora made a wide arc with his arms as if he was showing them what had happened. "It was amazing! I've never seen anyone shoot that fast or with such accuracy."

"Ha" Tetra interjected just as she leaned into the stream to pull a shiny rock from the water. "I bet I could shoot faster than that." Sidon knelt to pat her head and smiled, showing only one row of shark teeth.

"I bet you could, with practice. You know what? I'll help you! I believe that with enough practice, you may pull two arrows at once!"

"If you're done gushing over your weaponry" Said Ravio, catching the small group's attention and pointed at Legend without losing sight of the rupees in his hands. "The bunnyman wants to speak."

Legend shot him a dirty look before focusing on Tetra. "The goat escaped again..."

He was met with an impressive string of sailor curses, half of which he didn't understand or hear quite right at the girl hastily put on her sandals and ran back to what little remained of the camp. From here, Legend could see that Rusl had taken care of the goat and was doing his best to move it away from the expensive and delicate materials that were still to get packed.

"Is there anything else, my friend?" Asked Sidon.

"In fact, there is." Here he patted Wind's head with sligthly more force than necessary. "This young man is in dire need of assistance, and for this I can only trust you, Sage Sidon." The Zora smiled warmly, and what an impressive smile it was; three whole rows of teeth! Sidon practically jumped out of the water to meet him and pat Wind's head with far more care than Legend could ever muster.

"I'll be honored to help in any way I'm able." He then looked down at Wind. "What can I do for you, little sailor?"

"I want you to look after him and keep him fom trouble" Said Legend as he presented his list to the Zora, who checked it curiously. "He's done with his tasks for the day and..."

"Hey, I can speak for meself, you scallywag!" Yelled Headache 2. "Sidon, he'll surely make me dance the hempen jig sooner or later, I just wanted to look at the booty."

"That was clearly labelled as Danger." Wind turned to stick his tongue at him.

"Aww man" Sky finally chose to speak, turning around to look at them directly. "Legend, please tell me you didn't leave the cursed bracelet on sight." He didn't have his knight tunic on, instead wearing his usual Skyloftian cream shirt. Legend was pretty sure he and the others had told everybody to put on their travel clothes. He was sure he'd seen Sky wearing his knightly clothes this morning.

Ravio sighed heavily as he poured a handful of rupees in one of the purses. "I told you not to open that chest, but did you listen? Noooo. Just like World."

"Shut it." Legend rolled his eyes, to which the black-haired man shrugged, took four of the purses and threw them at him.

"Your part, as well as Time's, World's and Queen's."

"Where're ours?" Asked Headache 2.

Here, Sky spoke. "We'll be getting there once we're ready to sell." And pointed at the boxes and packages around them, "Isn't that right, Ravio?"

"Indeed."

"Well, if that's all, I have other people to talk to. Nice to see you again, Sidon, Sky, don't get in trouble, kid."

"What, no parting worlds for Ravio?" Legend didn't turn back as he left and only shot a quick insult that made the man gasp in mock offense. When it came to Ravio, both Legend and World had similar opinions about the Lorulean, although World did lower himself enough to be borderlne friendly with him from time to time. Legend didn't have the patience for that.

An hour later, all tents were up, the carts loaded, the sales prepared and the people accounted for, except...

"For the love of... we're five people short!" World threw his arms in the air after counting heads for the third time. The other 31 (plus a picori) were arranged in groups of 6 by the carts for easier count, making the missing spots all the more glaring. Sheik stood nearby with her Impa, both in Sheikah attire whispering to one another. Legend was confused too.

11 princesses, 11 Heroes and 9 companions. Twilight had arrived some minutes prior with news from the town and Phantom on his back, if Midna was awake she would've laughed at it. That meant Pink, Hyrule, Linebeck, Arryl and Teba were missing. Legend was impressed they'd managed to lose an entire Rito when Ezlo the picori sat comfortably on Minish' shoulder.

He turned around to speak to Time. "You think Wind will know where's his sister?"

"If he knew he would've already told us, but let's try, anyway." Said the blond, who turned to the nearest group sitting against the supplies cart; Wind and Tetra were on top of the cart, with Flower, Little Red and Bluebird chatting and making shapes with a string. "Excuse me, ladies, has someone seen Hyrule, Linebeck of Teba? Arryl and Pink are missing too."

Legend knew where two of those were, but before he could speak up, Tetra was already answering from her perch on top of the cart. "I bet Pink and Hyrule are smooching in town." The girl rolled her eyes but otherwise kept dangling her feet, and Wind made a face. Flower's face lit up. "They're at the hill, Granny told us."

The older Heroes looked up at the grassy hill, where the pair of glaring pink dress and deep green tunic were making their way downhill, they must've seen World and Time forming the groups, and Legend nodded satisfied. "That would account for two out of five, and it still leaves two fathers and one girl missing."

"Arryl's with Linebeck." Said Wind, and stuck his tongue out again.

Legend frowned. "Why didn't you say so earlier?"

The kid looked at him unimpressed. "'Cause you didn't ask til now, and I'll be damned if I know them exact location."

"Thank you." Said Time before Legend could protest. "If you see any of them, please tell us, excuse us." Wind saluted, the girls nodded and returned to their activities. Time took him by the shoulders and pushed him away from the group to the rest of the current managers. World was pacing like a caged lion, brow knit in concentration; Queen surveyed the groups with a graceful posture, which should've been kiling her back and neck in Legend's opinion; Sheik was nowhere to be seen, but Impa was in her place, scowling in annoyance at the missing people that failed to report back.

Legend kept silent and let Time explain, he'd already been talking all morning and needed a break. But Impa had other plans. "Legend, go ask Twilight if he knows anything. If not, at least he can help you track them."

"Can't Sheik do it?" Impa's eyes were enough to make him turn for Twilight's group; and there was only one place where he could be.

Legend had to lean down in order to see the five figures under Midna's parasol; Twilight was already sitting next to the Twili princess, who used his lap as a pillow. "Hello. I hate to interrupt this tender moment, but have you seen Linebeck, Arryl or Teba?"

Twilight glared at him, pressed a finger to his lips and signaled Midna wildly. Minish chuckled while making squawking sounds until Ezlo slapped him on the cheek with his tail. Red put her book down and gave the Ordonian an unimpressed look before answering. "I don't think so. When was the last time you saw them?"

Legend had to think that through. He didn't know where every single person was at any given time in spite of running task management with other three, since the group ranged from the ages of 10 to 100-something. But, had he seen that particular grumpy eagle-feathered archer or that sly seadog? What about that small island girl? Had it been Red's or Little Red's long ponytails that went missing, he would've remembered right away where he saw them last. But half the group wore blue, their resident Rito was apparently easy to miss when he went flying, and even if Legend had truly seen Linebeck this morning, he'd been so preoccupied with the moving...

"Ugh, you must be kidding me." Red glared at him. Her green eyes were so intense they could rival with Legend's own gaze. "You don't remember where they are. Why was Pink missing?"

"Well, excuse me, princess. I've been running around all morning making sure we don't leave anything behind. For example, I prevented Wind from unleashing unspeakable horrors upon us from a cursed bracelet..."

"I am not talking about your responsibilities as a manager" Red stood up, looming over him as best as she could beneath the parasol. Gods, she looked so much like Din, but with murderous intent included. "I am talking about your responsibilities as a friend."

"Excuse me?" Legend cocked an eyebrow.

"You know that she... no, I don't think you know that much about Pink," What was up with Red? Pink was already accounted for and there wasn't any reason to mention her. "When it comes to physical work, she doesn't have much to go with. Didn't you give her something to do? Didn't you make sure she was feeling useful?"

Legend frowned. Pink's name wasn't on his list, it was on Queen's; she'd claimed her girls all for herself to give work to. At least the little setback wasn't his fault, so he looked up at the redhead with renewed confidence.

"If you want to complain, I think you should talk to Queen, she took the princesses' management after all."

Red opened her mouth, but Twilight interjected... growled. "By Ordona will you two shut it?! Midna only sleeps five hours a day, at noon!"

Legend shot his hands up in surrender and shugged. Red turned around and apologized quietly, then grabbed Legend by the tunic and dragged him some steps away. Light looked up curiously from another group. "Don't worry, Light, I'll return your girlfriend in one piece."

Light nodded and went back to whatever he was doing. Meanwhile, he focused on Red again: the woman was taller, but Legend was already used to people looking down at him. "Okay, I am sorry that I didn't keep track of one of you girls, even when it wasn't my responsibility."

"What if it was Bluebird that went missing?" She asked, leaning her head to one side. Legend suddenly felt a burst of anger.

"Bluebird is more than capable of taking care of herself. I will not accuse her of..." "Of what? Of not pulling her own weight? Of... of being useless of something from that vein?" The amount of frowning that Red was giving him was impressive.

"Careful, you don't want wrinkles on that pretty face of yours." The redhead chuckled but kept her face. "You better focus on caring for your own face, bunny."

Legend recoiled, more surprised than anything. "Are you threatening me?" The princess shrugged.

"Take it as you want, but Light can attest I don't play around." She then left, faltered and looked back. "We're not done here."

"Indeed, princess" The woman then sat again under the parasol to keep reading. Legend huffed as he brushed his hair one more time in confusion. Women.

Speaking of which, he still needed to find...

"They're back!" As on cue, Teba landed near Light's group and Arryl descended from his back. Sheik ran to meet them, knelt before Arryl to check on her and sent her back to her brother.

That made two more. And by now Hyrule was escorting Pink to a group where Sky, Groose and Hylia were making bird noises, for some reason, didn't matter. But Linebeck...?

By the time Legend reached the ninja-clad blondie, the Rito was halfway through a briefing of his sightings. "...from the north, as you predicted. I'll give it a few hours before it reaches us, til night at best."

As Legend drew closer, Teba glared at him... no, he wasn't glaring, it merely was the feathery brow that kept confusing Legend. "Excuse me, Sheik, Teba. We're still missing Linebeck, and I'd like to ask you about it..."

"Yes, I saw Linebeck in town with Arryl." Legend motioned for them to sit down. "Thank you. Apparently he went there with the girl as soon as he was done with his tasks in order to buy... something, I didn't quite understand what he said. After exchanging words he let me take Arryl back. He said he'd return with the townsfolk."

Legend didn't see the logic there. They'd sent Twilight and Phantom to announce their depart and thus last day to sell stuff. Since they'd been traveling for months, the group had collected all sorts of artifacts, some useful, some curious, some only worth as decor; the least useful to them were sold or exchanged. Linebeck already knew that Ravio would split their gains after selling all they could, so why shopping before he had the money?

He'd have to tell World, later.

After thanking Sheik and Teba, the pink-haired Hero returned to his fellow managers to report the missing people's whereabouts. When he reached them at the edge of the camp zone, he found them greeting a group of teens and young men from town.

World was giving instructions along the lines of "Don't try to steal stuff, we'll know if you do", which was rather effective when it was a tall muscular broad-shouldered man whose permanent scowl rivaled Legend's that spoke. Somewhere else, the princesses were fast on charming the customers into buying their poems and embroideries; if Legend remembered correctly, Pink had made a third of those herself. Sidon was at the stream, presenting the rolls of cloth and tapestries that had been made, bought or found along the way.

And as more people came from town, more and more Heroes and companions were up and about ready to talk the folks into buying stuff, the princesses did their thing with flashing smiles, and Legend slowly found a space between two chests to hide. His job was done and he'd earned his break.

Chapter Text

WORD COUNT: 3,288

Looking after children was a task she never thought would depend on her. Yes, she'd practically raised the princess by herself since her mother died. But this? The woman looked down on the girl sleeping on her lap and tucked the cloak around her to protect her from the cold winds of the field, careful not to let her slip from the horse, and thanked silently whoever spirit or god had blessed her with a distraction for Arryl, the youngest member of the group.The caravan had been focused in selling their wares, but thankfully the girl had found town children to play with one last time before they hit the road.

As of now, Wind's little sister lay sleeping peacefully on Impa's lap, not unlike Sheik when she was but a child sneaking out of the palace to explore the fields.

Sheik, how curious, not the name Impa would've chosen for her.

Her dapple gray horse threw its head nervously, and Impa pulled the reins to stop it before Twilight's Epona tried to do anything. If it angered the draft mare, who knew what she might do; a dangerous thing when the mare was anchored to the supplies cart. The cart was significantly emptier than in the morning after selling the perishables and some meat, but it was still a cart carrying people.

Black trotted by with a respectful salute on her way to Four and Little Red, that shared a bay pony next to the cart that carried the tents. Black, who was a permanent member of the patrols, had taken to her nickname rather quickly, leaving Impa to carry her name all by herself. And, if she could keep her name, why not her own Zelda too? Or any of the other Zeldas, for that matter. Pink, Red, Little Red, Bluebird. Those names, although telling on their usual clothing and temperament, felt too detatched for the sheikah, ironically. No matter how many months have passed, she couldn't get used to the color-coded names of half the princesses.

"Something in your mind, my friend?" Sheik appeared by her side on her light gray horse. The sheikah clothes fit her like a glove, but her long blonde hair flew behind her thrown by the stormy weather, tied on a braid like Queen's instead of being tightly hidden under the mask. It should be more practical to hide it with this wind.

Impa thought of smiling, but simply shook her head. "I'm just considering the nature of our names, that's all."

The younger woman leaned her head to the side. "Our names? Whatever you mean by that?" So, Impa began signaling each color-coded woman with her eyes.

The caravan order meant that the pair protected the cart supplies on one side while Twilight and Midna protected the other, with the Skyloftians and Teba watching from above. Behind them, Minish, Spirit and Phantom protected the back while World, Time and Hyrule guided the caravan. This left the princesses and companions surrounding the other two carts either on foot or on horseback. The arrangement meant that Impa could see perfectly all princesses that rode, walked or sat on the carts.

Once she was done pointing their names, Sheik chuckled. "Have you forgotten already?"

"No, I haven't" Said Impa, "But even if the Heroes chose their own titles, it ticks me off that the other princesses, being as royal as they are, have chosen such lowly nicknames. Respectfully."

Sheik slowed down her horse, followed by Impa until they were behind the supply cart and peeking inside it. There, Wind and Tetra were replicating the same string game from the morning, and Pink rested her head on Granny's lap.

"Everything alright?" Asked Sheik. "Aye, all hands hoay, cap'n... son of a biscuit eater, Wind! I told you to keep it steady!" The young pirate grabbed all the string that had slipped from Wind's fingers, made it a ball and threw it against the other side of the cart.

"It was tough to think of Pink's nickname." Said Sheik as they returned to their positions by the side. "The poor princess wouldn't take anything that suggested her mistake in splitting her Triforce."

Impa lifted a single eyebrow and briefly looked over her shoulder at the cart, the princess had kept her dress on, since all those layers would keep her warm once the weather worsened. A sudden chill made Arryl shudder and Impa pulled the cloak yet again.

"I believe you never told me how you reached an agreement."

The sky was a dull dark gray, just like Sheik and Teba had said. The storm was almost above them, and they'd soon need to set up camp on top of one of the hills to prevent puddles inside the tents.

"Picking titles didn't seem very fitting." Said Sheik after a minute of contemplation. "Tetra was the only one with a different name that she kept. Pink had a second name but she hates it and we've never learned it. And I had the name you gave me from training." Here the princess smiled and twirled a dagger on her hand.

"What of Hilda and Hylia?" The Sheikah looked at the horizon, to the far away treeline obscured by rain clouds and frowned. The rain would reach them in an hour at best.

"Hilda wanted to pay homage to her friend, and thus took her name and hair color." They glanced at the aforementioned princess, that had switched places with World and was now walking beside the horse. She'd tied her long hair in a braid, with the dyed purple strands contrasting against the golden blonde. "And Hylia is the reincarnation of the goddess, unlike the rest of us, who are simple descendants."

Impa's eyes shot open as she looked up at the blue Loftwing. "The actual reincarnation of the goddess? Does that mean she is... the first Zelda?"

"I don't think so. Her people was sent to the skies by Hylia in order to protect them from the Demon King, a story quite similar to Flower's. Besides, Hilda says that Lorule had wished their Triforce away to prevent the kingdom from abusing it, after which she and World wished for it again, which might've caused the gods to send Hylia to restore the balance in her future. And let's not forget that Pink's kingdom worships other deity."

"That, sounds too complicated, princess." Sheik shrugged, and glanced at the back of her hand, where the Triforce would be.

"Since when have the gods been simple?"

That was true. "Moreso, Phantom was quite eager to honor her skill." Impa sighed as she thought of the armor pieces saved in Flower's Sheikah Slate and the ones tucked in the weaponry cart, and how the young girl loved to show off and spar with the Heroes. "Queen was the only one of us to receive her official title and the accompanying coronation, and she absolutely refused the nickname of Dawn that would've made her match Twilight."

"Did she have a reason for it?"

"Midna." They couldn't see them from here, but Impa could imagine them perfectly, Twiligh rode a rowan stallion together, so comfortable in each other's arms, and rolled her eyes.

"Back then we didn't know who else was taken from their time, but Queen had a hunch of sorts, claiming she felt too much respect to do something like that. She didn't elaborate, but after meeting with the others, I finally began to understand."

Impa didn't. Dawn was quite a nice name to give a princess... pardon her, to a queen, and other than matching her time's companions, Impa couldn't see how the name would disrespect the Twili princess or her champion.

Well, she had her reasons, and the Sheikah wouldn't pry any further. "What of Flower?"

"She had a strong bond with a particular flower, the Silent Princess. Nevertheless, she wouldn't go as far as taking the flower's name."

"Jewel is a nice name for a girl."

Sheik chuckled awkwardly and her caretaker cocked an eyebrow. "I mean, it is, although that one gave us quite the headache."

Arryl shifted in Impa's lap again, this time more violently. The Sheikah sighed and looked at the cloudy sky that had darkened considerably in just a couple minutes. The Loftwings were descending to the front of the caravan, Sky jumped from his bird, too high to land safely, but opened a small sailcloth in the last second, saving him from breaking his bones. The other Skyloftians waited for their birds to land before they climbed down, and Teba followed shortly after.

The wind picked up and a string of pirate curses emerged from the cart. Tetra and Wind weren't fans of the weather apparently.

Up front, Hyrule and World made a sign to stop the caravan just as they were making their way up a hill. Twilight shot a chirp and Epona stopped dead on her tracks. Impa pulled her reins as well, and the caravan as a whole stopped to await orders. Impa exchanged a look with Sheik, that pulled her lips and lowered her head. "Please see what they're up to."

Impa passed Arryl to her princess and kicked her horse into action without a second thought. She stopped only once she'd reached the circle or riders listening intently to Sky and Teba.

"...in minutes." Said the Hero. "Groose's 'wing couldn't resist the gale and we had to call it."

Hylia stood sternly by his side. "It's true, the storm's worse than we thought, we should set up camp before the rain reaches us."

"And we must hurry." Added Teba with a stern frown as he crossed his wings. "The winds will be so strong that pulling the tents up will be nearly impossible."

World turned to the rest of them with his usual frown. "I say we listen to the sky people. That'll give us time to prepare a hot meal inside the tents."

"Understood." Interjected Impa. With that, the Heroes all nodded and turned to the rest of the caravan, and Impa returned to Sheik's side. Tetra had already descended from the cart and waited impatiently next to Minish and Phantom.

Impa pointed at the hill she'd just come from. "Bring the cart, a storm's coming and we must pull the tents asap."

"What? Which tents?" Asked Phantom as she turned to the back of her pony, to grab a leather strap fom her badly packed equipment.

"The big ones." Phantom turned at her with the biggest smile, and pulled the strap with all her might. The pieces of armor fell unceremoniously and scattered on the windy grass.

"What happened?" Twilight appeared from behind the cart, looking around like a madman, Tetra sighed and waved her hand at him. "Nothing to see here, wolf boy. Phantom's showing off."

The princess clapped in excitement and jumped off the pony before Spirit could try and help her down, walked into the supply cart, and nothing more. From inside, Pink let out a surprised yelp, and not a moment later, a young specter emerged from the cart and dove into the pieces of armor.

The Darknut armor, Phantom's favorite, came to life before their eyes. Twilight blinked, shook his head and turned to Impa and Sheik. "What's going on?"

Impa repeated the instructions, and between Epona and Phantom, they guided the cart up the hill and to the side as the group began setting the big tents in a tight semicircle. These tents were usually kept for cooking, crafting, keeping the weaponry and for the occasional sleepover when the weather was unforgiving, like tonight.

The wind picked up with renewed strength, sending half a canvas flying and thrashing so viciously that even Phantom's armor would have trouble catching it. Luckily, Flower had pulled out the Slate and froze the tent midair, allowing Light and World -the tallest- to pull it back down. On the other side of the improvised camp, Midna was having similar problems keeping the heavy canvas fabric at ground level with her magic hair.

Minish ran around the fabric nailing down as much tent as he could, the more they secured the better.

The Loftwings had taken cover beside the carts; and although Teba refused to lower himself to such level as the mounts, he had to admit he wouldn't be of much help, and was tasked with carrying chests into the tents so they had warm clothes to change to later.

Impa turned her attention to the last tent, where Time was playing his ocarina in order to deter the storm. He played Zelda's Lullaby, that Impa had taught him, as well as a melody that Wind taught him with his magic baton in hopes of calming the winds, but it didn't work.

"Just one more!" Phantom's echoes from within the armor reached Impa as they held down the last tent wall for Sheik to nail down. "And... there."

They let go, Impa huffed and she dusted her hands off and turned to survey the other tents. World and Legend were in the middle of the camp, unfazed by the gales that thrashed their tunics and dyed hairs as they bellowed for the group to chose tents. World saw her coming and cleared his throat. "Hello, we'll be assigning tents as well as patrol duties, we need to join some groups and break others to ensure we have the same number of people everywhere... Where's Teba?"

"With the old handmaid, in there." Impa pointed over her shoulder, and World nodded, pulling a note from his pockets.

Sheik appeared beside Impa with Arryl on her arms, now awake. "Hear that, Time? Teba and Granny are already set up."

"Oh, but we cannot let them out of this!" Protested Pink. The wind sent her hair flying around and the poor girl tried fruitlessly to take it off her face. "You know Teba will want to be present for the patrol planning."

"I can talk to the old bird!" Exclaimed Groose with a confident smile. "It can't be harder than dealing with Master Eagus."

Thunder clapped, and the rain poured on them. Most of the children and younger adults shouted and screamed as they ran for cover. Sheik practically threw Arryl into the nearest tent and returned with a cloak. "Here."

World clicked his tongue, but otherwise remained unfazed by the sudden downpour. Time shrank like a wet cat, Twilight blinked once and clung to Midna under her cloak, and Sidon; he glanced at the cloak that Sheik had brought, at the children scattering, and laughed heartily. The Zora lifted his arms to cover Pink and Groose, who was doing his best to keep his hairdo up.

Pink let out a sob but remained put. She must've been mourning her dress, as mud quickly stained the bottom of her skirts. The icy wind blew her hair and the princess trembled. Groose stopped focusing on his hair to put an arm around her, just as Black appeared from behind and threw her cloak at his head. "This should help."

As the black-clad Sheikah turned to World, Midna lifted her magic hand to cover the green-haired man, who sighed and turned to Impa. "See, now we have to go into the tents to..."

The man's usual frown morphed into bewilderment, his mouth fixed in confusion as he was looking at something behind her. When Impa turned, she felt her face making the same expression. This was a scene worthy of pulling all the confusion the Sheikah could muster.

"Wh...?" Pink tried to ask from somewhere behind her, but she couldn't formulate any words, and the Sheikah couldn't take her eyes off the spectacle on the prairie just a few meters from camp.

"Oh gods..." That was Flower's voice, dissapointed. And Impa couldn't blame her.

Sheik put a hand on her shoulder, and remained silent.

The Sheikah tried to inquiry and failed.

.

Wild was running naked under the rain.

He was shaking a ladle at the sky.

Naked.

Whatever he screamed the wind blew it away and nobody could understand him. But lightning shone and struck the skies above, too close.

"L... Link!" That was Flower, again. "Come back, Link! It's too dangerous!"

"Link! Please come here!" Yelled Sidon.

BAM!

Lightinig struck the hill, hitting Wild, and the Hero fell like a ragdoll. Pink screamed, Sheik gasped and pressed Impa's shoulder. Black ran for the fallen man, but Flower grabbed her arm. "Wait!"

"Wait for what, milady? He might still be alive..."

"Look!" Flower pointed at the body. Impa's eyebrows shot all the way into her hairline, as blue spirit light shone from within the Hero and surrounded his form. The light ignited in small flames around him like flower blooms, and from these, a glowing figure materialized and hovered around Wild. Then it vanished and the man stirred back to life, shook his brainless head, stood up slowly and ran back to camp. Before he reached it though, Flower rushed to meet him, grabbed him by the ear and dragged him into the nearest tent.

Sidon sighed and let his arms fall to the sides. "Hey, man, not cool!" He quickly lifted them again to cover Groose and Pink. "Sorry, I believe I have to talk with Wild." But he stayed put as a living umbrella.

"So, about that tent arrangement..." Said Midna, who didn't seem bothered by the rain, violent as it was. "Guess we'll just have to hurry before anyone catches a cold."

Time sighed and turned to Legend. "You still have the last arrangement list?"

The aforementioned pulled a crumpled paper and gave it to Impa, who was the closest and more covered from the water. She opened the list, written in a chicken scratch that she could barely read, barely. She looked up at the lovely couple that were Twilight and Midna. "You two, go look for Queen and Jewel, you'll be together with Sheik and I. Pink, go find Hyrule, that you'll get sick. Sidon, with her."

With this, Impa, Sheik, World, Time and Legend began making rounds across the five tents, checking who was where and if they needed to switch places. Midna took Pink to their own tent, at the time occupied solely by women, to get her changed, after which Hyrule came to retrieve her. The arrangements were set as to avoid as many fights as possible, and to ensure there was at least two responsible adults in each group. Nonetheless, some like Jewel and Ezlo decided to stay in other tents.

Impa hoped they'd survive the night as a whole, as Red didn't seem thrilled to share a tent with Legend, Ravio had been kicked out of his place by World for reasons unknown, and Time was unhappy with Linebeck.

Finally, Impa checked the last tent, the one designated to her, and stood by the entrance, overlooking her group. Teba brooded away from the central fire that Rusl was struggling to maintain while Groose did his best to entertain Phantom, back in her body and cleaning the armor. World was writing something down with Ezlo on his  broad shoulder, wide enough for the picori to pace around.

The wind howled and shook the tent's walls, but they endured.

"Aha! See? What did I tell you about the fire?" Rusl smiled satisfied at the fire, that was already warming up the air. Phantom left her armor and sat near the flames, and World took off his upper tunic to let it dry there. Teba almost smiled but made no move to come nearer. Impa waited a couple minutes until she was sure they'd be alright, took a cloak from the nearby chest and went outside to start the first patrol.

Chapter Text

WORD COUNT: 3,308

Light slumped on his bed roll at the edge of the tent, so near the wall that water droplets jumped and splashed from time to time in spite of their endeavors to keep it dry. At least he wouldn't wake up soaking wet next morning. Red sat next to him with a deep frown as she massaged her temples.

He silently looked up at her. She'd already taken off the rings that kept her hair straight at knee length. Without them, her natural red curls could move freely at their usual lowerback length, and her scalp could relax. Also, her riding dress had been replaced for an elegant velvet cape drapped around her shoulders and concealing the nightgown she changed into for the night.

He brought a hand up to her head and began combing his fingers through the fiery hair. She needed it after a long day of keeping it up; luckily, the days on the road meant she wouldn't need the rings anymore, and simple loose ponytails and braids would suffice.

But Red didn't acknowledge his help, and kept frowning at nothing.

A quick glance at Legend on the other side of the central fire was enough to guess his friend's plight. So, Light stopped combing and patted her arm instead, making the princess lay by his side with arms crossed and eyes fixed on the tent's ceiling. The other girls' furious murmurs and glances only made Red's frown darken. Hilda had stopped to look at them over her embroidery, while Hylia pretended to be absolutely interested in her pottage.

Light sighed and placed a hand on her arm, causing her to turn and settle on frowning directly at him instead. He smiled a little, more for her own benefit. "What's on your mind, princess?"

Red looked at the ceiling again. "Legend, who else?"

"I thought so. You've been grumpy since you talked to him. What was it this time?"

"Other than his usual attitude?"

He huffed quietly. "You mean the same I have all the time? And World? I don't see you disliking us as much."

Red chuckled and turned to him in order to pat his head affectionately. "Your grumpiness is charming, World's not so bad, and half of it is his natural resting face. But Legend's just annoying."

Light cocked an eyebrow. "Annoying how? The three of us are practically the same."

Red smiled warmly, so much so that the raging winds outside seemed to quiet down for a moment. The princess poked his nose twice. "You're the only you, Light, and I wouldn't change you for the World." His smile eased, and poked her nose in return.

"And you're the only Red I can stand, I wouldn't change you even for the Four Sword."

The princess shuffled to stand on her arm to lean over him and smile, some of her curls fell on Light's face, but he didn't mind it as long as they didn't make him sneeze. "Flatterer. I know how much you liked that thing." She said.

Light cocked an eyebrow and crossed his arms. "You think so?" Red leaned closer, her smile grew cocky. "I know so."

"Sorry..." Sky was hovering above them with an awkward smile plastered on his face like a kid.

Light sighed and sat up while Red retreated from above him. "Yes?"

"Yes, sorry. Black has her eyes on you two." The pair groaned lightly and rolled their eyes before sitting side by side facing the central fire. Black was shooting judgemental daggers at Red; Hilda and Granny cleared their throats and focused on their embroidery, but Legend simply stared silently at them over his plate. Light slumped on he ground again, but Red poked his side to make him sit properly.

They'd given up trying to explain they weren't dating or courting, but when half the Heroes and princesses around them were couples, it was difficult to change the general opinion, especially when their usual sterness toned down around one another. By the light, Tetra got even more annoying when she picked on Wind, who she'd been dating for three months now. No one was the ideal model of what a friendship, or a couple, should look like.

He didn't suffer alone, though. Time was also paired with Sheik. That he was engaged, never revealed his fianceé's identity and shared a deep bond with his princess didn't help him much. Minish and Four got away with it simply because they were young enough to be "just friends". But him, a grown adult? How could he just be friends with his princess? There must be something else there. It was infuriating to no end.

Only World understood him, and even he mistook their closeness from time to time. If Light ever suggested he was Hilda's boyfriend, he was sure he wouldn't wake up ever again, and Ravio would loot his body. He shuddered at the thought, Red turned to him and put an arm around his shoulders. "I've been practising a spell with Blue, would you like to see it?"

It perked Light's curiosity; Red was adept at magic but seldom used it, claiming her spells were for self-defense only. He clearly remembered the last time she'd used offensive spells, when aiding in his battle against Ganon.

"What's it about? A shooting trick? Something to use when riding?" The princess shuffled to sit directly in front of him.

"Sit properly for once." Light sighed but sat with his legs bent underneath so they were facing each other, and Red placed her bare hands on his shoulders. All emotion dissapeared from her face, muscles relaxed and eyes glazed over as she focused on her magic within. Depite this her green eyes bore into him and Light looked around, to her loose ginger curls, to the tent wall behind her, to his own hands, to Black prowling in the background, to Hilda that observed them curiously next to Granny, to Sky and Hylia that sat together by the central fire. Why didn't Black have her eyes on the only obvious lovebirds of the tent?

Suddenly, her hands warmed considerably, more than what was normal, and the heat extended through Light's shoulders to his chest, his belly, legs and feet, it travelled upwards to his neck and face until every single hair of him was cozy like a nice pot of Wild's stews. For a couple seconds it felt nice, and the it didn't.

"Too hot, too hot!" He swatted Red's hands away and backed off as the heat dissipated from his chest. He shook his head and turned to Red, that hid a small smile behind her hand. Light clicked his tongue and sat again, this time looking at Hilda, who was also giggling.

The blonde put down her work to smile at him. "I see the spell worked."

"Don't you say." He grumbled while straightening his back, and pulled his shirt to cool down. The woman sighed, and put down the embroidery to comb her blonde and purple strands, looking somewhat offended. He didn't really care, Light might've had a strong relationship with his Four Sword doubles, but he wasn't purely Reddie or Purple; instead, he had to balance when to spend energy on having tact and when to act efficiently.

And right now, he had to make sure the woman didn't... overly dislike him. He had to make a little effort. "It caught me off-guard, would you like me to smile and laugh like a child?"

Hilda's combing stopped, her face contorted into a frown as she fixed her eyes on him, and spoke through gritted teeth. "I'm just saying that Red put a considerable effort into that spell. There's no need to be rude about it, you've survived worse, am I wrong?"

Light squinted as impatience surged in his chest. His Blue side tried to be gentle, but Green was overly harsh and Purple somewhat cold; resulting in a dry attitude being the get-go for anyone who didn't pull its weight, took too much of his time unnecessarily, or simply got to his nerves; the latter was much more common in the constant company of all this people, including sensitive princesses. "So, according to you, barely surviving a forsaken desert makes anything else excusable? I'll forgive Red for anything, absolutely anything, including a slip in a new spell, but it's not your job to say how I should react. I don't go around pestering you for being sensitive, do I?"

Red's hand grabbed his shoulder, harshly. Her voice was as low as it was stern. "Light, apologize to Hilda this instant."

He whipped his head at her with confusion. "Why me...?" Her eyes glared at him like poison, with just one message. Do not protest.

His Blue side was reserved for people who deserved it, like his Zelda, who also lived with her own Green and Purple as default. Although it was her own fellow princesses that brought the Reddie side more often than not. She'd always be his childhood friend, but she wouldn't tolerate any disrespect, not even from him, not even if the recipient had earned it.

Light longed to slap her hand away, click his tongue and go back to his sleeping space to sulk. But he wouldn't dare; this was time for Reddie and Purple to work together.

He deflated and turned his attention at Hilda, lazily. Granny appeared dissapointed, while Sky looked away. Legend stared silently during the whole exchange. "I'm sorry, Hilda." He slurred, and Red slapped the back of his head. "I mean! I'm sorry, Hilda. I may be tired, but that's no excuse to treat you badly. Is that it?" 

He turned back at his ginger friend, that still glowered. The pressure on his shoulder decreased, and then she turned to Hilda. "Your turn."

"What? It was him that blew this up!" Red's glance didn't waver. The blonde turned incredulously at her companions. Hylia shrugged and Granny shook her head disapprovingly.

"You have to apologize too, Hilda. You know Light's harsh, and were I ever offended by his antics, I'd chew his head off myself."

"Her Highness is right on that one." Said Black, finally deciding to join the hostile exchange that had overtaken the tent. "She's more than capable of defending herself, and trying to take sides against such a close companion is unadvisable."

And that was the main reason for Red's usual friction with Legend. World knew how to work in team, and Time was dependable, but Legend? He was one true lone wolf, harsh and crass, barely civilized and prone to ignore people that he deemed useless, like Pink. According to Red, that is.

To be her friend was to have a guardian lioness. Hilda was aware of this, but between a dear friend and a beloved childhood partner, Light had sligthly more priority.

Hilda shot daggers at Light, so many that if looks could kill, not even a great fairy would've been able to revive him. Finally, the princess let go of her comb and placed her head on her hand, still glaring but less likely to jump at him. "I apologize for taking your beastly behavior at heart."

That was the best he would get, so he smirked. "Worry not, gods know I don't." Hilda hummed, picked her comb and resumed her hair treatment, completely ignoring him. Legend blew through his nose, put his plate down and stood up to stretch his arms in the air.

"Well," Said the blond, pink-haired Hero. "That was something else, I don't think I've ever seen Red glare at any of the girls like that, have you, Sky?"

The aforementioned jumped in place and looked at the short Hero with an awkward lopsided grin. "I... don't think so. But Hylia, you said that Red is just as strict as Queen and Sheik, right?"

"Yes, she helps to keep the order, like a big sister. But she's not the leader type." The girl snuggled closer to him. Light had to look away to avoid feeling nauseous. He met Red's face, who also showed unease. Legend walked to the central fire and the cauldron on it to refill his plate. There, he stopped to peer at Red in that particular way when he found something new.

Red held the veteran's gaze as he spoke. "Is that so? And here I thought you just liked to glare at everything that moves."

"You just happen to be a perfect aim for glaring." She grinned as much as she could, which was unnerving. Legend chuckled lightly before retreating to his original position. This was the first time in months that Legend had shared a tent with the older princesses, and the first time he'd seen their more private interactions first-hand.

His posture spoke clearly that he was finding something worth investigating in Red, and Light didn't like the idea.

"Alright, lovebirds, it's sleep time." Black clapped her hands a couple of times. "And I don't want any more fights, understood?" She walked to Sky and Hylia, and pulled them apart in one swift move, took Legend's plate from his hands and zapped Light's forehead. Hilda chuckled and put her half-finished embroidery next to Granny's before turning to open a chest full of capes.

Light turned back to his bed roll to pull it closer to the fire. Now that his little hiccup with Hilda was over, he noticed that the heating spell was working still, and turned to Red, whose roll was right next to his. "Your spell hasn't worn off, you said Bluebird taught you?"

Red had taken off her cape to stretch it over her own "bed", showing her short nightgown and white breeches, more akin to men's clothing than a princess', practical in the open fields they'd been living on for months now. The garments were a bit thin for the weather. She turned at him with a playful smile and began combing and braiding her long hair. "She said it lasts for a couple hours. I applied it on after we finished setting up the tent, but since I did it to myself I could control the temperature better."

The braid was taking too long, and Light decided to help. It wasn't the first time he'd helped making her hair up, and wouldn't be the last either. "Speaking of spells, how's riding going?"

Red looked back at him, almost shining from excitement. "I was just talking to Little Red about it. She wants to take lessons with me and Queen tomorrow morning, although her Majesty insisted we take Sky and Hylia too, given they only know how to mount Loftwings. I proposed..." They spent the rest of the evening talking about horses and all the steps Red would practice in the field tomorrow. She was so immersed on their talk that she promptly forgot about the spell mishap; that was exactly what Light had hoped for, and he listened intently to her explanations even when he couldn't ride to save his life.

She didn't extend the riding offer to him, and for that, he was grateful.

Light opened his eyes. His heart raced, his hands trembled and half-forgotten memories flashed before his eyes, melting through his fingers as he tried to catch the dream. One thing was certain; the back of his hand itched, and when he lifted it to his eyes, the Triforce tattoed on it gave off the dimmest light as if it had reacted to his fear. He let the hand fall to the ground as he focused on Red's dark silhouette before his eyes.

He must've been dreaming of the Four Sword adventure.

The man rolled to fix his eyes on the ceiling of the black tent and replayed the sensations left by the nightmare. Pain, escape, roll, attack, hide, hide, pain, torn in pieces.

It was black like Dark Link's essence, and only the embers and an occasional thunder gave off any light. The sound of breathing permeated the tent, calm and disorganized; some light snoring from Granny, a long deep sigh from Legend, the shifting of fabrics as Sky turned in place, the quiet mumbling of Hilda. He was where he was meant to be.

And he needed to pee.

He made sure the shifting of his bed roll was subtle; it wouldn't have been the first time the flop of a cover had sprung a Hero into action. He knew Sky was one to sleep off a hurricane, but Legend was something he didn't remember quite right. The veteran could either jump at the slightest shift in the air, or like Sky, be a rock til morning.

The warm air inside the tent was nice, but still he went for his traveller's bag and the cape inside. Light tiptoed around the rest of the sleeping figures to the front of the tent, and pulled the smallest piece to get his face out. The draft burned his cheeks and he pulled inside immediately, turning back to see if anyone had awoken. When nobody moved, he took a deep breath and walked out.

The rain had diminished to a ligh pour more annoying than anything, clinging to his clothes in what would become dew in the morning, and walked some ways away.

The silent figure of a wolf slipped between the tents, and another one, taller and slender, soon crossed in the other direction. The night patrols.Making his way down the hill, Light looked for a place to relieve himself, and did so promptly. His face might tolerate the chill, but his bottom didn't agree with it.

Soon he was running back to camp with the cape drapped tightly around him, careful not to slip and fall. As he made his way up, the silhouette of a dark figure observed him from behind a tent, and he waved at it. The figure nodded and approached, revealing itself as Black. The Sheikah wore her cape as well as a deep green hood underneath.

"Greetings" He said. "Everything in order?"

"Everything in order. Twilight reports that the storm won't be stopping any time soon, but we'll see." Light made a face. This would make the morning arrangements a pain, especially for Granny's old joints.

"What time is it?" He asked. The blonde warrior stared blankly over his shoulder before answering. "About halfway through the second to last hour of night."

Light leaned his head slightly. Just this and another patrol before dawn, leaving him with about an hour of sleep. "Thank you, I'll leave you to it." The woman dipped her head and walked past him to resume her rounds.

He entered the tent quickly and shut the canvas tightly behind him, to again tiptoe back to his roll. He stopped for a moment, making sure nobody had stirred, and sat back on his roll. The cold had awoken him, but some deep breaths and the air's warmth enveloping him should be enough to make him go to sleep. He laid down again and closed his eyes until he could relax.

Deep breath in, deep breath out, slower, in, slow, out, slower.

Twilight's howl pierced the air. He sprung up, every nerve on his body standing on end. Hilda yelped awake looking around. Red was already up and searching for her bow. Granny breathed sharply, and Hylia was pushing Sky around to wake him up. Light searched frantically until he felt the hilt of his sword, and tripped over his own sheets as he ran outside.

Twilight's howl was the alert. He howled again, and was cut short by growling.

Light ran out just behind Hilda and Red. In the half-light, figures moved about just as ready and sleepy as him.

The mark on the back of his hand itched, and he tightened the grip on his sword. They were being attacked.

Chapter Text

WORD COUNT: 3,131

Twilight sniffed the air for the umpteenth time, same drizzle, same miserable humidity sticking to him. The rain and wind plastered mud against his thick coat, clawing its icy fingers on his skin. But these same elements that attacked him mercilessly could also be concealing enemies. Which enemies? One never knew, Twilight had to be alert at all times, who knew when the gods would throw something at them.

At this time in the dead of the night, when the land slept and the nocturnal creatures sought refuge, when the clouded sky concealed the moon and starts and all that could be heard were the icy gales up high; at this time the chances of being attacked were slim, but never zero. For this reason, staying as a wolf was the best option. Smaller, faster, stronger, easier to miss in the tall grass.

His dark silhouette slid from shadow to shadow, listening to the sounds inside each tent. Deep breaths, a sigh when a kid found a more comfortable position, Hyrule's snoring, the shifting of someone in its bed roll. All quiet, next tent, repeat four times.

When he was done, the wolf hummed in satisfaction, although his throat produced a low gruff instead. He crept away with his belly grazing the soaked grass, partially and momentarily unhappy with his animal form. Wolves were social animals with close-knit families from what he learned in his adventures with Midna; but they were wild animals nonetheless, and their shows of affection and bonding were, rough to say the least. Midna wouldn't let him forget the time he bit her with slightly more force than intended when he'd tried to "kiss" her the wolf way.

She'd forgiven him three minutes later, but the memory was embarrasing.

He stopped for a moment to smell the dirt path they'd taken during the day. Earthly, wet, muddy. Nothing new there, he sneezed and kept going.

The shadow reached the next hill to look out into the fields. The loud shifting of grayish grass in the night and the howls of winds up above were sounds so familiar to Twilight, so similar to the Hyrule field he'd traversed with Midna and Epona almost a year ago. To search and rescue the kids, to defend the sick Zora prince, to kill Ganondorf and avenge his Midna. The fields didn't hold happy memories, but they'd been necessary in the making of happy memories along the way.

His tongue lolled off and his tail wagged lazily in the cold night wind. Only a couple more days going east, through the woods, through a couple villages and to the coast, where they'd confirm the rumors of a temple to the Golden Goddesses still in use. Maybe they'd finally be able to contact the gods and be sent back home. Maybe, it wouldn't be the first time they found the places abandoned or overtaken by different beliefs.

Twilight closed his mouth and turned for the camp. Black's figure crossed the space between tents to check on the carts, the shapes so dim and small that only with his wolf senses he could detect her.

He had to head back and hear her report, the dampness on his ruffled coat was getting to his skin.

Twilight froze halfway to camp, as a renewed fire overtook him. The wind had changed directions and a foul smell reached his nose, a familiar smell he'd recognize everywhere, monsters. The back of his paw itched where the Triforce was marked.

He dashed for the intruders on the south side of camp, letting out the loudest, most blood-curling howl he could muster. Too urgent and too aggressive to be considered a howl, more like a war cry.

His paws skidded on the wet grass as he intercepted the monsters, lips curled and flashing bright teeth. A light shone on his face, but he stood his ground. The monsters let out terrified cries and the smell of fear slapped Twilight in his nose. He took a moment to appreciate it; a furious mass of disheveled mud and fur as big as a man, shining bright teeth, pink gums and shining blue eyes as the only signs of color in his black figure.

He threw a second bellow, causing a monster to cower in fear. Another one moved its arm, a motion he'd seen many times before.

Jump to the side, dodge the arrow, move forward.

His teeth caught the chubby arm of a monster, and pulled, threw his head around as the creature screamed. He let go, jumped back around, a metallic shine to his left, a sword swinged for his head, dodge and jump on the monster, throw it back. He leaned forward to see the face of the intruder, some sort of bokoblin, he smiled knowing how it must look like for the creature. He longed to sink his teeth on whatever had dared to threaten his family.

A thud to his right, look up. A dead bokoblin with a bow on its hand, Queen's Light arrow on its chest. The monster under him kicked him away. Another one blew a horn, Twilight pulled his ears back and turned in search for his next prey.

"Stand down, we got this." Wind called fron the side, sword in hand. Twilight blinked.

So focused was he on the intruders that he'd forgotten the commotion in camp as Heroes and princesses woke ready to fight. Now, half the group was up and ready to defend itself. The Heroes advanced with swords brandished, cutting anything and everything in the way as the princesses shot light beams and magic arrows. The monsters blocked and attacked as best as they could, but in the dark, messy battlefield that this had become, the smell of monster blood, fear and hide was disorienting.

Twilight wasn't done here, he needed to help, he had a bokoblin to execute. The growl surged deep form his chest as he searched for the monsters. They were few even after the horn had been blown, more would come soon.

A gentle hand pressed on his head, he jumped in surprise. Minish recoiled with fear in his eyes, Twilight closed his muzzle and pressed his ears. Don't fear him, he's your big brother.

"Twilight, you're hurt." The wolf smelled himself, but there was only monster blood on his chest and side. He shook his head and dashed for the fight before the others killed all the bokos themselves. He barely heard Minish's protest shouts as he ran for the nearest monster, that had taken a regular arrow to the arm. He jumped face first, his teeth ready to tear apart.

He bit and pulled until all he caught was the purple smoke of a dead monster and ashen mud on the grass. On to the next monster.

But there were no more monsters, the fight was over. The wolf panted, energized from the battle, just like old times. His head moved around and his ears pointed in all directions; the wind kept blowing, the others were panting too and congratulating one another for their quick reflexes. Wild patted his head and offered him an apple to eat. He huffed offended and kept searching, there was something else here.

The stench invaded his nose, preventing him from smelling anything other than the putrid blood and grimy hide of their clothes. Twilight had to sneeze several time before the smell was barely not-overwhelming. His sides and throat also ached from all the growling he'd done in just a couple minutes.

"It's over, you grumpy mutt." The sweet voice didn't deter him to look out, until Midna crouched by his left side to graze her hand against his wet neck. FInally, he turned to lock eyes with the Twili. Her smile made his heart jump, and he sat, leaning on her touch. "See? Not so difficult to stop once you quit panting."

Black was exchanging words with the others about the lack of monsters until now, and Twilight pointed an ear towards them. Midna sighed and slapped him lightly in the forehead. "Will you stop it?" We're done here, go wash yourself, you're covered in blood."

But he wouldn't go to sleep, and there was no way of communicating so as a wolf. He stood up with the intention of joining the others to hear the report, but Minish practically materialized in front of him. He held a red potion in hand while pointing at Twilight's right side. "Twi, you're hurt."

"Hurt? I can't believe you." Sighed Midna, as she attempted to grab the potion.

"Not so fast." Minish stepped back, keeping the potion off-reach, and pointed at Twilight's side again. "Look at that, we can't let him move."

Twilight's ears shot up, and sniffed how own side. Only monster blood, there was nothing else. Meanwhile, Midna stood up to round him and share Minish's perspective. She gasped and reached for Twilight's shoulder and neck, where he couldn't see. Her hand hovered over him without touching. He let out a low whine, causing her to look up, just as concerned as the smith. Her hand stretched towards the kid. "Give me the potion."

The kid's grip tightened on the bottle. "Do you know how to do this?"

"Dear, I've saved this dumb mutt more times than swords you've helped make. Give me the potion. Now."

Twilight's sides still ached, although those didn't seem to be the issue. The sudden fight had spent him, and as Midna examined the mysterious wound, he sat. "Stand up!" She demanded, but it had been some exciting five minutes of sudden adrenaline and killing monsters, and Twilight didn't feel like standing up. He was sleepy, he just had to yawn...

A searing pain shot from his clavicle, it ran like lightning up his neck and behind his right ear. He pulled his arm up to feel, but Midna kept him in place, pouring healing potion on the wound. The contact burned, but he had to hold steady, if only for his own health. 

Every second lasted a minute, and every minute lasted an hour as the potion slowly did its magic. But pouring it directly was only half of the story, both knew it.

After spending half a bottle on his neck, Midna moved his head, slowly up and to the side, and put the bottle to his muzzle. His mouth shape made it awkward to drink, so the Twili was careful in spilling as little as she could, and he himself drinked slowly while trying to not lick the bottle like a dog. The pain on his neck receeded, but didn't go away.

When the bottle was empty Midna put it aside to look directly at him, holding his wolf face gingerly and looking into his eyes. "Do not transform until I tell you to."

She then hugged him, and lifted his body, hefted him like a wet sack of smelly potatoes. Twilight yelped in protest and did his best to not squirm in her arms, but the position was awkward and his body didn't agree with the treatment. "Oh, will you stop squirming? We'll be there soon."

And indeed they reached their tent soon.

Using her hair, the Twili pushed the fabric away, lit a lantern, fixed Twilight's bed roll with extra pillows and laid his smelly furry body on it. She looked in the chests they'd pulled down, huffed dejectedly and sat next to him. Her bright orange eyes shone in the dim light of the tent. They were alone; Queen, Tetra, Sheik and Four were still out, doing gods know what. Not that he complained though.

"Can you turn back into human?" Right, Twilight's paw warmed as he called the sacred power, and Midna's hand took the leg, petting his wrist scar, where the chain used to be.

The magic snapped, and his vision filled with hundreds of black Twili particles, his body twisted in an almost liquid fashion, and when he opened his eyes, he was a man again, laying on his side with his hand clasped in Midna's. His sleeping clothes were covered in dried mud and monster blood, torn in places where he hadn't noticed the weapons had grazed him. Having a thick fur pelt had its advantages.

Midna's hand went for his neck, and she made a face. "It still looks bad. You need to rest."

He chuckled. "Nonsense, I don't feel tired anymore, and there's still work to do..." He attemped to stand up, but her hands held him in place with an iron grip. Before he could react, the princess has already tearing his ruined shirt open. "Hey! What are you..."

"Quiet. All the dressings are in the cart and I'm not planning on leaving your sorry wolf butt all by yourself." Twilight chuckled as he watched Midna tearing the fabric into long sections that she spread between them.

"Aww, you're that worried about me?" He cooed.

She responded by throwing a particularly bloody rag at his face. "No, you're gonnna play Hero and get yourself killed if I don't physically stop you."

Still, Midna showed great care when helping him up to clean the blood -his blood- off whatever clothes survived her treatment. The wound was almost closed, and it bled little unless he strained the skin by turning his head or stretching his right arm. At one point Tetra returned, twirling her cutlass lazily, shot them a glance, winked, and returned to her business of checking all three chests.

"What are you doing?" Asked Twilight in spite of Midna's slap to his head.

The pirate queen slammed the chest closed as she turned around. "If there was a bunch of them monsters, there's gotta be more out there. We're searching them hills, but I need me spyglass."

"It must be in the supply cart." Suggested Midna. "Go check it, and please bring us some proper healing items. If I dress the wound with this he'll drop dead in no time."

The girl nodded and resumed her search, leaving the two alone yet again in the tent. He sat right across Midna, doing his best to not move his head and break the clots that were forming. But, as he watched Midna under the single lantern in the warm tent, he forgot about his wound. Her wild ginger strands stuck in all directions from a severe case of bed hair, though it didn't bother him; she lacked her usual accesories, and only her cape and skirt protected her from the elements. And not for the last time, the Ordonian wondered how truly thick the Twili skin was.

He lifted a hand to her smooth face, wondering how it felt so perfectly even, not too warm, not too cold. Her lips curled in a smug grin as she shuffled closer to him. "What's on your mind, mister Hero?"

He kept feeling her cheek with slow moves, then her long hair. It wasn't soft like a Hylian princess, or rough like his own bird's nest, but it was the perfect balance between coarse and smooth, with a unique, addictive sandy texture. He kept brushing it, and leaned forward to place a kiss on her temple. "That I'd be lost without you." Midna hummed contently. "I see."

She took his face away from hers, only to kiss him square on the lips. He hummed back, pulling her as close as he could, hugging her back with one hand, and brushing her hair with the other. One of Midna's hands slid from his face to his shoulder, the good one, while the other brushed the little stubble on his jaw, and he smiled on the kiss. She enjoyed his stubble as much as he enjoyed her hair, a fair trade.

She kissed him again, and again, faster each time. His lips, jaw, nose and cheeks. He laughed under the attack, softening his grip on her and trying to push Midna's face from his. "S-stop it, it tickles!"

"It's my revenge." She claimed, took his hand away and resumed the kissing attack, making him lean back as much as he could. "This... is for... every... time... your dumb beard... scratches... me!" She said in between kisses. Midna had a natural albeit unfair advantage in being taller, and all Twilight could do was cower before her might until he had to support his own weight on an elbow, with Midna's dusk-colored hair brushing whatever milimeter of face wasn't being kissed.

Until finally, by mercy of the gods, Midna stopped to lift her head with wide open eyes. He followed her sight, and all laughter abandoned him. Queen, dressed in her Sheikah outfit, stared blankly at them, arms crossed, eyebrow lifted, lips pulled in disapproval. "I was told," She said with no inflection in her voice. "That Twilight was wounded, and that he was being treated. Now I see what Tetra meant by 'treated'. You didn't blind her, did you?"

Midna clicked her tongue, sitting upright and leaving a sad, patched up, pathetically shirtless Twilight to compose himself in presence of the princess. He cleared his throat, noticing for the first time that Queen carried dressings and other healing supplies in her hands.

"Please," Grumbled Midna as she combed her hair as best as she could. "I believe there's little we could do to blind her. Jewel on the other hand..."

Queen sighed heavily as she walked in, sat next to her, placed the items on the bed roll and checked Twilight's wound with an unamused face. "If you do anything to traumatize the younger girls, I'll personally send you to the dungeons."

"Haha. You think some bars could contain me? Don't make me laugh, princess." Queen chose to ignore her friend to clean Twilight's wound and prepare a salve with the items she brought.

"Forgive us, princess." Said Twilight, only for Midna to slap his arm. "Don't apologize for being interrupted, I was about to even the scales."

"Sorry." He mumbled, this time at Midna, who rolled her eyes and took his hand as Queen threw some healing herbs in a bottle containing one of Wild's elixirs, shook the contents and dabbed a dressing with it.

Twilight sighed in boredom and looked around, doing his best to tune in his dulled wolf senses. "What happened? Are they still looking for monsters?"

The Hylian woman heaved a sigh as she began covering the wound with fresh linens.

Just then, Groose rushed inside with his red hair undone and wet like a cat, his eyes moving frantically. "What is it?" Midna stood up, calling his attention. The Skyloftian took a moment to catch his breath while pointing out.

"It... there's, there..." A deep breath. "A pack of Moblins coming for us." So much for happy travels, huh?

Chapter Text

WORD COUNT- 3, 672

Sky's arrow pierced the air, landing square on a boko's chest. The creature staggered back, just for Hyrule´s sword beam to finish it off. He turned around, bow ready, searching frantically for enemies in the night. Around him, Heroes just as disheveled as him searched for danger.

His arm was aching, so he lowered his bow with a sigh. It seemed that all monsters were killed. Near camp, Midna's lean figure knelt beside a black mass, probably Twilight. Farther down, a kid hovered around the imposing figure of Phantom. And close to himself, Light held a fire rod with an almost dissapointed stance.

The taller Hero turned to him. "Is that it?" Sky shrugged and searched for one of the leaders. The shapes of people around him blurred together in the windy night, with no stars, moon or lanterns to light the way. Sidon and Twilight would no doubt be able to see in the dark, but Sky was no animal.

"Sky, Light." Wild approached in his dark clothes and carrying a fire spear of sorts. Light immediately tensed and turned to him. "You know what? I'll go look for one of the Sheikah, those women know their way in the dark, bye."

And he left before Wild could say anything. The Hero stopped midstep, and turned awkwardly to Sky. The phantasmagoric red eyes, white hair and gray skin had given Sky his fair share of jumpscares in the past, but he'd gotten over it. He couldn't say the same about Light, Time or Legend. Wild swinged his arms a bit, unsure of what to do now. Sky had to roll his eyes and smile afffectionately.

"You wanted to say something?" That seemed to bring him back to reality.

"What? Oh, right! Right. Uh... World said we need to survey the area. You know, those bokos blew their horns a lot, and I don't see any reinforcements."

Sky grimaced. "I know exactly what you're talking about, so, he's forming patrols now?"

"Yep." Wild popped the last letter.

"I can't fly my Loftwing in the night, and unless we have night vision, we can't see much." He was pretty sure only Twilight and Sidon could see anything at this time.

"Ah, but they're not the only ones that can track." Wild smiled, moving a finger in fornt of his face. "You see, I wear this." He pointed his whole black outfit. "Not just because it makes me extremely handsome, but also because I can see in the night. As for you, well, whoever gets to track needs someone to save his bottom. And that lucky someone's you."

Fair. "Lead the way, sleeping beauty."

Wild took him east, the same direction of the woods. He never said his clothes made him faster too, and the phantom-like Hero had to stop here and there for Sky to reach him. It was fairly easy with his glowing eyes, but annoying. Luckily they didn't have to walk much, and stopped until the lights of the camp were but specks atop a windy hill. Wild shuddered and pulled out his Pad.

He took off his tunic and shirt to change it for a Rito cloak in under a minute. Impressive timing. Wild turned to him, and frowned.

"You're not cold?" He asked increduluously as he scanned Sky's simple Skyloftian clothes, and he simply shrugged.

"It's chilly, but not terrible." Sky pulled out his knight sword to have something to do with his hands. "You should see the winter nights of Skyloft. The lake freezes and the very air turns into hail. I guess it's a given from living in the clouds."

Wild shook his head and took out an ice spear. "Whatever, sky boy. Let's get this over with. We're going north until we reach Hyrule and Rusl."

The pair took off left, slowly combing their surroundings. Wild's spear didn't give off much light, thus hiding them from possible enemies. This also meant Sky had to rely on Wild's indications whenever he found rocks or holes where he may fall, and on his own senses not used to the dark. He'd always had help in dark places, mainly from Fi.

Sky's grip tightened on his knight sword, adapted to look like the Master Sword. It didn't mold to his grip or had a perfect balance like his own sword, but it worked nonetheless. On his side, Wild didn't seem to have any qualms about the equipment he used; even a farming hoe was a deadly weapon in his hands.

"So," Said Sky after some minutes of walking in silence. "Why are we meeting Rusl and Hyrule? Where's Twilight?"

"He was injured during the fight, had an ugly slash on the neck. Honestly it was a miracle it didn't cut any important vein." Both grimaced. Sky placed a hand on his own neck, remembering a time in the Earth Temple, when those armored lizalfos had ambushed him. He'd lost a shield and 20 years of life fighting those off, thank the goddess for Fi's company back then.

"What about Hyrule and Rusl?" He asked again.

Wild stopped to check a puddle in the ground before continuing. "Hyrule is a survivor from the same crop as me, he'll know what to do. And Rusl knows his way around child-like teammates, according to wolfie."

Sky lifted an eyebrow, surprised by the claim on Hyrule. The brunet Hero seemed quiet, and from what Sky had seen, he was just as polite and level-headed as Four, that extremely composed kid who rivaled Fi herself in detatched amicability. Sky wouldn't believe that that same Hyrule could be as feral as Wild, who ate rocks by accident and enjoyed burning things a little too much.

Slowly but surely, they made their way in a wide arc around the camp's current territory with no enemy sightings. Sky was almost dissapointed, and quickly scolded himself mentally for that. He should be relieved that this was it, and that he'd soon return to bed for a much needed rest. The voice at the back of his head -a voice that spoke in Fi's signature droning-, pointed out the very low chance of a second attack, given how long it had taken these monsters to reach them when there had been none the previous evening; the storm must've pushed them closer to the towns and to their very visible camp.

Now that the worst of the rain had passed, they shouldn't find any more trouble.

Wild slapped an arm to his chest stopping him in place, glaring to something in the distance. Sky squinted at the darkness, trying to make out the dark shapes against a marginally lighter background. He spoke too soon. A bunch of giant round shapes were making their way towards them.

Wild crouched to the ground while pulling out the Pad to zoom in the targets, and Sky grimaced, having identified the moblins. Those big pink pigs. "Those are a pain to deal with." He whispered to Wild, that frowned even more and proceeded to pull out bow after bow.

"How do you deal with those?"

"Jump over them, attack from behind. If you break the shield they'll rage." Wild hummed for a moment until he pulled a bow he was happy with.

"And how many bombs till they die?"

"Never enough." The darker Hero clicked his tongue as he pulled the bow's string a couple times to test the strength.

"Never enough? I'll need some distance. Can you help me jump?"

"What for?" Sky dared ask, and immediately regretted it. Wild's knowing smile was unsettling by itself without the demonic coloration of his outfit or the rockets materializing around them. If Wild had an idea, it would either work perfectly or fail spectacularly, no in-between. He had to swallow the knot in his throat.

"Just trust me on this one. Hold on and let me jump on your shield. When I do, take cover." Then stood up and backed a couple steps. Sky didn't like this, but he'd rather act now ask later.

So he held steady with his sturdy shield on his back, and gave a thumbs up. All he heard was a couple steps, a weight on his back and then nothing. The telltale green of Wild's rocket shone for a couple seconds, and Sky looked up. The rocket was small, but powerful enough to launch Wild into the air, where the Rito specter shot him forward and towards the unsuspecting monsters.

Arrows rained mercilessly on the moblins barely close enough to make out individually. The bomb arrows struck one after the other, fired too quickly for a human being to do it, and somehow, when Sky looked up, the small figure of Wild shone with the light of the explosions, moving inhumanly fast and producing arrow after arrow. The explosions came to an end and smoke rose from the wailing cluster.

Wild returned to his side with the paraglider and dusted his hands smugly, smiling from ear to ear. "How was that, sky boy?"

"Let's see what you did." And turned to the clearing smoke, his smile dropped; a third of the moblins had died, but the rest roared enraged and charged. They'd lost their shields. Sky bit back a sharp comment, grabbed Wild's arm and ran back to camp. Wild let go, just to whistle and trot by his side. "Wht- wha're you..." He tried to ask, but running and talking required too much effort from him. Wild's whistling would only attract the monsters further.

The black-clad Hero pulled something from the Pad and threw it at him, that had fallen to a light trot before his lungs could protest. Sky examined the object, a kebab. He frowned unamused, although Wild's face was serious.

"It should help you recover. Now bye, we have to tell the others... ZELDAAA!!"

And ran off, almost doubling his initial speed. Sky grumbled mentally and kept running to his much slower pace with the grunting of enraged monsters on his heels. He didn't dare look back in case he tripped. 

The stomping grew closer, too fast for him to reach camp before the beasts. In the last second, Sky closed his eyes and jumped to the side. The ground shook as three moblins ran by him, trampling the grass and splashing mud everywhere. More monsters ran by, none giving him even a side glance as they made their way towards the source of light. Sky let his head fall, and stayed on the ground, unwilling to move.

At this point everybody should've heard the stampede or heard Wild's screams. He just had to recover, it wouldn't take long.

Sky laid on his back among the wet grass, doing his best to breathe. Every intake was too short, too little air even when he opened his mouth wide. His lungs burned and wheezed with every breath, his legs refused to move and his heaving chest weighted on him, pinning him to the ground. He hated the surface air, too thick. He'd never get used to it.

He opened his eyes to the clouded sky. Was it his imagination or was it barely lighter? He stopped gasping so heavily and resorted to long deep breaths, forcing his lungs to take in as much air as possible. It was a conscious effort as he sat to look at the camp. Swords shone and arrows flew, but the pig pink moblins were too much for the group fighting blindly in the night.

Well, he'd rested enough. Sky examined the kebab, and ate a single meat piece before storing it away and running to help his friends.

Sky reached the first moblin just as it fell forward to explode on black smoke at Time's feet. "Hello, Sky. Are you joining us?"

But Sky never anwered. In fact, he turned around to face another moblin that came charging to him, gritted his teeth and readied his stance. The moblin's spear hit him up front and he fell backwards, just to roll around and stand again, and lift his sword skyward, more out of custom than necessity. The moblin charged a couple meters before stopping and turning around.

It was still enraged, spitting foam, nostrils flared and eyes bulging out of its face. It charged yet again, and just like last time it ran past Sky. He lashed his sword in the last minute, producing a pained screech from the brute. It stumbled a bit.

Time's bow tensed and he lifted his hand. "It's mine." He growled.

He twirled the sword in his hand, reveling in the moment as the moblin turned around a third time. It didn't charge though, but advanced slowly with its spear ready to strike.

Lightning cracked the clouds above. The snapping shook the air itself, but Sky didn't move. He'd just noticed the dreadlock-like dark stuff coming out of the moblin's head like grass, a thing he hadn't seen in his own moblins, and cracked a cruel smile. "Nice hair."

And charged forward, sword up above his head. The moblin ran to meet him with a roar. Sky was ready, he jumped, dodged the spear head, ran it up, jumped again and struck just as more lightning clapped far above.

His ears ringed as fire singed the breath from his mouth and electricity buzzed around the moblin's darkening form: not even a groan escaped it as it finally exploded into smoke. Sky fell to the wet grass and sighed as he forced himself to move; there were other monsters to deal with.

Time was shooting ice arrows to a moblin practically inside one of the tents. The brute had its back and side covered in frostbite as it threw its spear around to fight off the other Heroes. Sky smirked as he ran towards his next target.

He lifted his sword again as he ran to the creature's discarded shield, jumped up and lashed his sword, sending a blazing strike to its back. The monster wailed just as Sky pinned his sword to its neck. The creature dissapeared a second later, and he rolled to stand right away. Wind and World stared at him, Sky gave a calming grin and turned immediately to the next target.

Two moblins charged together at Sheik. The ninja blinded them with Deku nuts just to appear behind them and give Flower an opening to shoot a Light arrow. They could handle themselves, so Sky looked to the center of the camp.

Lightning struck so close that his lungs vibrated in his chest and the air filled with the smell of burnt grass and leather, though Sky had little mind for these events beyond the vague memory of a thunderstorm so many months ago.

The Hero clenched his sword and pointed it skyward. A roar behind him made him turn, and in the dim light of morning he could barely make out the silhouette of a mass flying towards him. The wooden plank made contact and pulled the air form his lungs as he went flying to the other side of the camp. HIs body hit the ground and rolled like a ragdoll.

Sky coughed mud and grass while pulling his arms under him to stand and glanced at the direction of the attacker. The moblin had taken advantage to charge before he could get ready. He gasped and rolled too slow too late. The spearhead struck him square in his shoulder, rolling him a few meters. He cried in pain as the metal head imbedded and pushed him through the ground. Then it threw him another couple meters and fell lifelessly.

A potion, he needed a potion lest he bleed out. His arms weren't responding, his chest ached and throat sputtered as he tried to breathe. His sword nowhere to be seen, lightning striking above him, thunder shaking his very core and his vision so blurred that even the grass in his face danced and spun. The distant roar of the moblin reverberated nearby, and Sky didn't care.

Still, he could think a bunch of things. Fi should be suggesting health potions. Everything happened so fast. Huh, Wild would scold him for not eating the whole kebab he gave him. Sky thought of frowning and slowly moved his hand to his pocket, he had some food, and he felt so terribly hungry right now... Fi, where was she? Whenever he was too hurt to move or keep going, he could always rely on the sword spirit to help him out. "The likeness of you surviving without my aid is that of a 98%", she'd say. Sky chuckled and gurgled.

No, he could do this. Fi wasn't here anymore, and he could do this alone. He was the Hero chosen by the Gods! And so, Sky placed first one hand on the ground, then the other, and hissed beforehand. His muscles tensed and protested as he shifted to stand on his hands. Blood dripped from his face, his arms and chest. Huh, just like that time in Eldin, he thought.

Then he took a sharp breath and lifted his head to the side, blinking furiously to try and focus. The moblin was nowhere to be seen and Light held his fire rod thing in a hand. Funny. Then he pulled a knee, a hand, and shook.

Up, you dummy! He forced himself to stand and for his legs to steady. He fell backwards and his bones groaned and cracked uncomfortably, but Sky rolled on his belly and pulled himself up once more. Nothing that a good health potion couldn't heal. Besides, he'd seen worse.

There was no sword nearby. But he didn't need one, he had his arrows and his shields.

Sky stood with his shield up front and scanned the hill. Light spoke with concern, but he didn't pay much attention besides a quick question for his sword.

One of the tents shook as a moblin flew out of it straight into the night. A disheveled Midna walked out of it, hair on end, magic buzzing around her, a sword shining in her hand. The Master Sword.

He approached immediately. "Where's Twilight?" "The dumb mutt is out, here, he said you guys would need it."

Time froze for a moment as the Sword fell on his hands. Same weight, same design, same figure, same metal. Same spirit... Tears fell from his eyes as he clutched the sword to his chest. It was warm to the touch, like that time when he'd lost and reunited with her in Eldin. He shook his head to focus, they were in he middle of a battle.

A hand patted his shoulder and he turned to the taller woman that watched him concerned. "Hey, buddy, are you alright?" He blinked and sniffed but held her gaze.

"Honestly...? Not so much, but it can wait." The Twili nodded with resolution and turned around with her wild hair shaking and thrashing, ready for action. "Tell me, kid. How many of those ugly things are out there?"

"Too many, but I'm not sure how many are still alive..." A single roar called from their right, out of the camp site. Sky gritted his teeth and twirled the sword in his hand as he and Midna ran towards the sound while doing his best to ignore the jealousy in his gut. This had been his sword, but it'd been relinquished for a reason. She now belonged to Twilight, and he was simply burrowing her. She couldn't even talk to him and brief him on these monsters.

Still, he knew how to move.

The moblin was surrounded by two Heroes and one princess, but it refused to die. He heard Midna shout, and saw Impa herding the furious spirit of Phantom into a tent, the Sheikah had an ugly cut on her thigh. A chill ran down Sky's spine as he walked among blood and mud puddles. His ribs protested with each step, but he refused to stand down. Midna growled by his side.

The moblin charged and Light parried the attack as best as he could, but the beast ran him through the mud easily in spite of Bluebird's attacks. The princess yelled in protest before preparing another attack. Time's arrow grazed the monster's back.

"Hey, ugly!" Sky cried as thunder rumbled about. The monster turned in surprise at him, and Sky gave him the biggest smile he could muster. His grip on the sword tightened, giving him the confidence to stride forward. "Nice hair!" The monster belowed at him and charged. He was ready.

The Hero pointed the sword skyward. She moved seamlessly in his hand like no time had passed at all, as if they'd never parted ways. He knew the lightning would come to meet her. Sky ran, leaped on the moblin's spear, jumped up with the sword above his head just as lightning struck. BOOMMMM

The explosion snapped his very core: his ears ringed, his skin shivered and his every hair stood on end as a second later, hot fire ran through his arms to the sword hilt firmly imbedded on the monster's face.

It exploded into ashes and he fell to the ground with a heavy sigh. The pain of his injuries burned like Demise. Red potion, he needed one.

He forced his hands to unclench and let go of the sword. His white fingers burned as he tried to flex them and make blood flow again. He breathed deep and frowned, looking down on the singed grass that swirled underneath him.

Sky checked then the sword by his side and touched it, the leather handle was soft and warm to the touch. Then noticed his own hand and the handle imprinted on his glove and fingers, again, he hummed.

"Sky..." He looked up at Time, that had taken a couple steps back and stared as if he'd seen a dragon. Sky leaned his head to the side curiously and stood up to talk. His legs gave in, the world tilted and Sky fell unconscious.

Chapter Text

WORD COUNT - 3, 509

Her magic was too weak to help, and her fighting skills were almost non-existent; but if there was something that Little Red could do, it was mending clothes, talk and listen.

Flower let her hands fall to her sides with a defeated sigh and Jewel looked up from the shirt she was fixing. Sky's body remained as hurt as before, but the young man smiled encouragingly. Hylia had given him as many red potions as humanly possible, and Wild had pulled a fairy from his pouch. This, coupled with healing magic and first aid had gone about for the last couple hours. He was no longer in mortal danger, but his body was strained.

"I'm fine, guys. Please, don't worry about me, get on with packing..." Sky suffered a cough attack, aching, wet and painful to hear. He winced and whined loudly, and Hylia ran to his side to soothe him down with more red potion. Little Red sighed and pulled her long ginger hair off her face, she hadn't had the opportunity to fix herself a proper ponytail in all morning.

A couple steps to her right, Twilight was stretching slowly under Midna's directions, shirtless and covered in weird bandages. The Twili queen had said that his shirt was beyond saving, and Pink had proposed making him a new one. She had talent for those things.

On the far side of the tent, Time carefully stitched Light's shoulder after receiving an arrow scratch. Minish held a frozen sword to the side of his bandaged head while World handed red potions around.

These boys, Little Red rolled her eyes softly and pulled the shirt up. It had a big ugly hole on the side, they'd have to get extra fabric to fix it. Well, at least the shoulder was back in place with a cute new leaf embroidery.

Rusl came into the tent with a red tired face, and sat between Little Red and Pink with a heavy sigh. The brunette princess put down the coat she was working on to look at the man with curiosity. "Mister Rusl? What news you bring?"

"The carts and the horses are fine, but I don't think we can move today..."

"You're not serious." Little Red frowned up at the man. "We're a day away from the town. If Sky doesn't get any better we should have a way to move him as fast as possible"

"He needs to stop pretending first. He is not fine." Grumbled Flower as she stood up from her place and came to sit in front of the trio, took Little Red's shirt and examined it. "This is a nice pattern. Is it traditional of your kingdom?"

"Not precisely," Said Pink. "I taught her how to do these swirls here, and here."

"They were a nightmare to learn." Said the ginger. Her Hyrulean style was mainly blocky and with very gentle curves here and there similar to Jewel's and Minish's, but Pink had been a great teacher, extremely patient and gentle.

"If only I could think of a way to use these skills to help Sky..." Said Pink, and lowered her head slightly. Flower had her eyes fixed on the shirt, but bit her lips nonetheless, how much time had she been trying to help heal Sky? Rusl make a face and placed a hand on their backs. 

"It's okay, princesses, we can't be good at everything. Don't worry about the things you can't control." The women grimaced, and Pink returned to her coat while Flower looked away at the other injured men. Little Red sighed and stood up while patting her place for Flower to take it instead. She clearly needed something to distract her, and Little Red had to stretch her legs.

She didn't notice how stuffy was the air inside the tent until she stepped outside. Fresh air, as well as the pale light of morning and the cold wind. Just outside, Phantom was chatting with Arryl as they cleaned a damaged armor under Tetra's watch. The princesses (technically, Tetra was no princess and she hated being called so) stared grimly at the dents and marks on the metal, while Arryl tried to cheer her up.

"... and the seagull stole it, the whole thing! Oh, hello, Reddy." The girl giggled, Phantom mustered a polite smile and returned to her task of polishing the dirty piece. Her long hair was tied in a ponytail and she wore her train clothes; it wouldn't matter if she got oil stains on those.

Little Red sat next to them and grabbed a shoulder plate the size of her torso, she huffed a little. "Hello, Arryl. Goodness, how do you carry this thing around?"

"Sheer willpower." Mustered Phantom, not looking up from her work but offering an oily rag. Little Red lamented briefly how she'd stain her riding pants, but it was either that, or staining a dress. Arryl sighed dramatically and leaned towards her as if Phantom couldn't hear what she said.

"She's mad that her favorite armor is ruined."

"It's beyond ruined!" Snapped the aforementioned princess, throwing her oily towel at her feet. "Look at these dents, look!" Little Red looked. The arm piece had an irregular rim and sunken round shape right in the middle.

"Can Minish fix it?"

"Only if he could reverse time, I'm missing the rim here! and this hit? Impossible! I'll have to steal from the next Darknut we find" Phantom sighed and kicked the piece away. Arryl and Little Red exchanged glances, and the girl crawled to Phantom's side to hug her. The princess closed her eyes and leaned her head on Arryl's. "It was my favorite armor. It was the first armor I ever used after being ripped from my own body."

Little Red flinched. "Well, at least you could still go places." And shuddered. Phantom shot her a sad look.

It didn't matter that Four had killed... or sealed Vaati, she still had nightmares about him coming down to snatch her again. She still had nightmares about that... that loathsome palace. Red had spoken of a similar encounter. She hadn't been taken as a bride, lucky her. Maybe Vaati had learned from the last time he'd attempted kidnapping.

...That was, if they'd both been kidnapped by the same Vaati, and Little Red's came first. But they had no way of knowing that, and as far as Little Red was concerned, that was one experience she didn't want to share or have in common with Red; all they could agree on was being the redheads with a curiously air-headed Hero as a childhood friend. Yes, that was a nicer thing to have in common.

"All righty girls, time to go! And I don't wanna see yer long faces all day, bright'n up!" Tetra yelled, or more accurately, barked at them.

Arryl yelped and grabbed the closest armor plate. It slipped through her oily fingers and clattered with the other pieces. Phantom sighed as she began piling up armor pieces. Little Red had seen her do this so many times that she knew how to place them. Chest plate, shoulder plates, helmet, greaves, boots... each piece, broken or intact, was placed in a nice pile on top of a thick fabric that Phantom then wrapped and tied with a leather cord.

Minish brought a horse for the armor and helped them heave up the package. Well, he helped Phantom and Tetra pull it on; Arryl and Little Red weren't strong enough to help there. Instead, the redheaded princess went inside the tent again to check on Pink.

By the time they were done, the sun was up in the sky. The injured stayed on Epona's wagon while the rest walked or rode around them, with the Loftwings flying in small low circles since Hylia wouldn't leave Sky's side for anything.

Little Red shared her pony with Four, but she'd rather make conversation with Phantom and Arryl, that rode on a bay horse to her right. The blonde princess scowled at Spirit walking by their side while Arryl hummed a little tune.

"Say, Reddie, why's your Link so formal?" Asked Arryl while pointing at Four, who had his arms wrapped casually around Little Red. The boy smiled but acted as if he didn't hear the question, not that Arryl was making any effort to hide her curiosity.

"I don't know." She replied, and turned to look at her Hero over her shoulder. "Four, why are you so formal?"

The blond hummed quietly. He combed his fluffy hair for a moment and looked at Arryl with a calm smile. "Ever since I was a child much younger than you, my grandfather instructed me in the ways of nobility, given our family profession as trusted blacksmiths, as well as the fortunate coincidence of the princess being my same age. The cards were dealt in such a manner that it was only natural for us to grow closer and for me to adopt the proper education expected from the associates of royalty... I hope that was a clear explanation?"

By the time he focused on Arryl again, the girl had already decided that Phantom's hair was far more interesting and was in the process of braiding it. Phantom and Spirit giggled as the girl looked up in confusion. "Huh, you're talkin to me?"

Four blinked, sighed and shrugged. "Forgive me, Arryl. I was born with no younger siblings, and my interactions with commoners are sparse and limited."

"He says he can't speak normally." Interjected Spirit. "And that he's stuck-up form birth."

"Spirit! Don't be mean." Phantom crossed her arms and scowled.

Four simply grinned and Little Red patted his hand. "It's okay, Phantom, he doesn't get offended easily."

"And I know that my brothers do not speak with ill intent."

"Your brothers, that band of uncivilized survivalists." Little Red mused on the words, her friend shrugged non-commitally with a grin.

Four was born with no siblings, but he considered the other Heroes his brothers. Little Red wondered about the weeks that Four had been traveling with the Heroes. Did he feel as close to them as Little Red herself felt to the princesses? Did he feel more at home around them than around his own childhood friend? She wouldn't mind if he did, because she understood. In Little Red's case, it was because she knew all the other Zeldas were kin from the same royal bloodline; the Triforce shining on most of their hands was proof enough of it.

Maybe it was the same for the Heroes. Maybe they were all blood-related. She should ask, and she had an idea of where to begin.

"Phantom, once you said that you knew our birth order." The blonde princess chuckled awkwardly and looked away. Arryl suddenly stopped braiding and made a face.

"Eew, I don't wanna know who marries who! I know my big brother likes Tetra, it makes me sick. It's weird! I don't wanna hear it, Spirit, help me down. Please."

The trainmaster stopped the horse to a halt and helped the girl down. Once she was on the ground, the girl made a beeline to Linebeck, that walked beside Ravio, Wind and Time, and threw herself at his legs. The man did little but stumble a bit and pat her head without interrupting his conversation.

"Oh well." Said Spirit as he pulled the reins for the horse to move again. "What was that about knowing the births?"

"Oh, you see..." Phantom cleared her throat. "I know that Tetra's my direct ancestor, and that she's the founder of New Hyrule, so..."

"Ha!" Little Red let out an unladylike laugh, only to clear her throat and chuckle in amusement. "Excuse me. Heheh, you mean, that Wind and Tetra will indeed end up married."

Phantom briefly hid her face behind her hair. "Please don't tell them I know. I don't want to make things awkward for..."

"For granny and grandpa." Said Spirit while smiling widely. Phantom hissed and leaned on her horse to smack the Hero in the head, and all he did was whistle loudly. "Hahaha, yeah, got it, sorry."

Little Red hummed pensively as she relaxed and leaned on Four's chest out of custom. "It must be strange to meet your direct ancestor. As far as I know, Red and Jewel are the closest to me, but we can't decide who came first."

"What do you mean?" Asked Phantom with a deep frown.

"I mean, that even though our lands dealt with the same threat and our Heroes were involved with the Four Sword; our history is much too sparse to construct a precise timeline." She could hear her fellow princess' scoff and dismissed it with a wave of her hand. "Think about it. Other than Tetra, you can't follow your genealogy much farther. Who was queen before her? Can you follow your lineage til the family of... what king was it?"

It was Spirit who spoke in a low voice. "Hmmm, it was... Rhoam... no, Gust... Rho-hans... no, waitwait, I have it in the tip of my tongue..."

"King Daphnes Nohansen Hyrule." Said Phantom. "The King of Red Lions that helped Wind during their adventure. He was the king that wished Old Hyrule away."

Well. If that wasn't dark. Little Red looked up at the cloudy sky as Four patted her arm mindlessly. The air was now heavy with pessimism and Little Red's mind couldn't move on from the current train of thought. What if Link hadn't saved her and Vaati had taken over, would her people have searched for the Triforce to wish the land away? No, that was preposterous; Pink's land had been under the claws of Ganon for centuries before Hyrule was sent on a quest to kill it; that same demon had corrupted an entire realm before Bluebird's hero killed it again; Flower's land had been ravaged by the Calamity forces for an entire century until the hero awakened. And what of all those historical wars where no hero had risen, as far as they knew?

In retrospective, the fact that Wind and Tetra's ancestors had wished the kingdom away had been an error of judgement when a new Hero could've eventually risen to the ocassion.

A soft thumping reached them from the left, Queen rode beside them, as regal as always on her sheikah clothes and the black overo stallion that held his head proudly. The woman stared expectantly at Little Red, that quickly straightened her back as if she hadn't been using her friend as a pillow. "Yes, what is it?"

"Your riding lessons, remember?" Oh right. The girl turned to look at Spirit, still walking beside the horse that Phantom rode.

"Hey, Spirit, Phantom. Would you like to take riding lessons with Queen and Red?"

The young hero gave a wary glance at Queen, while the other blonde's face lit up. "You meant it? I haven't been able to ride in so long..."

"If you hadn't noticed," Said Spirt with a wide grin. "You're riding right now, princess."

Phantom scoffed and leaned forward a second time to smack him in the head. The orange-blond hero laughed and backed away from the horse. "Sheesh, calm down, I'm just teasing."

The princess chose to ignore her Hero and focused on Little Red. "I'd love to join you two, if you don't mind."

"Not at all." Said Queen as she prompted her horse to move. "Follow me."

Four patted Little Red's arm one last time before jumping off the horse to approach the other Hero and loop and arm around Spirit's. He turned elegantly to look at Little Red. "Take as long as you need, princess.. Spirit and I will be looking after Sky in the meantime."

Spirit groaned but let himself be dragged away. Little Red smiled contently and kicked her horse to a ligth trot after Queen with Phantom by her side. They left the road  a dozen meters behind them, with another horse joining them shortly after.

Red rode a chestnut arab, its coat almost as red as her dark ginger hair. Both rider and mount held their heads up high and floated more than trotted. Queen's overo snorted amicably at the other horse, who ignored it completely. The women greeted each other and turned to Phantom and Little Red.

"First, we'll be evaluating your jog to ease you into the ride."

"Once we cover that, we'll move on to some trots, understood?"

The girls exchanged looks and sat straighter. Little Red rolled her shoulders expectantly. Her horse was a rather stocky pony not suited for elegant riding, but shed make do with what she had. This wasn't about elegance as much as it was about technique.

Phantom kicked her horse into motion first, cantering a comfortable distance away, turning around and jogging back. She jogged in circles, approached the small group diagonally and rounded them a couple of times with a decent performance. Her posting was good, as she stood and sat in rhythm with the horse, even when she missed the gait rhythm a couple times. Little Red declared that the blondie was used to faster gaits.

"Good." Said Queen, and Little Red swore she could hear the smile in her voice. "Can you do a half-seat?" Phantom pulled the horse to a stop, her face visibly paler, almost matching her ghost form. She opened her mouth once, twice, gave up and shook her head. Red hummed.

Little Red gulped. Half-seat was a difficult thing to master, and these mounts were everything but purebred royal horses. Heck, she'd bougth this pony 3 months ago from an old farmer who was planning on killing ot for being too soft for work!

Her pony shook its head, she soothed it with a couple pats. They could do this.

Queen looked at her expectantly, and the younger ginger kicked her horse into action. "I can do this, yes. We can do this, it's no big deal..." She whispered as she caught up to the leaders of the caravan far to her left and turned around.

She straightened her back. This was nothing, she could perform a simple tro... jog in front of the oldest Zelda and only queen.

Little Red unclenched her fists and took a deep breath. Then, gave the signal and her pony started moving.

Learning how to ride was an essential princess skill that survived the pass of time almost as well as embroidery and reading. She knew the motions almost as well as Four knew how to brandish a sword.

She moved with the horse, making sure it held the rhythm. One-two, one-two, up-down, up-down, up-down. Unmoving shoulders, rely on your legs and follow the pony's movement, up and down. The jog was slower than a common trot, but for her, this was child's play.

Little Red motioned her pony to jog in circles, approach her little group and round them, just as Phantom had done before. When she was done, the girl returned to her place beside Phantom, between the older princess and queen.

Red smiled, Queen nodded in approval. Phantom leaned over to her with eyed wide as saucers. "Wow, Reddie! You're a natural!"

Little Red smiled brightly, with her heart leaping and warmth spreading from her chest outwards. "Thank you. I've been riding since I was four, but I wouldn't call myself a natural... That might be Queen's or Red's title."

The adults locled eyes with one another. A wicked smile spread across Red's face, sending uneasy goosebumps down her back. Queen simply squinted and kicked her horse into action.

The pair of adults managed their horses flawlessly as they began a trot faster by the second, that then turned into a canter, making a wide arch on the grass in front of them.

"You know," Phantom nudged her horse closer to Little Red as she spoke. "I thought they were supposed to teach us something."

Little Red shrugged non-commitally. "I bet that they're talking about Pink. She spent most of yesterday sulking, until I pulled her away from Hyrule after the attack and gave her torn clothes to mend. It took her mind away from her troubles."

"Pink." Phantom's voice was dry. "The one who doesn't do physical labor. She was sulking since yesterday, when we were packing. Gee, I wonder why."

"Maybe she felt out of place." Little Red hummed. "She looked taken aback when I asked for her help, and then said something about doing a good job with what she could, little as it was. I kept asking her questions, and she got happier."

The blonde frowned as they glanced at the adult princesses, riding one next to the other and performing gaits of medium difficulty. To their right, the caravan walked the long dirt road in moderate calm. She leaned on her saddle to the ginger, a mischevious smile curling on her lips. "So, have you talked to Four yet? About your feelings for him"

The way Little Red whipped her head around was most comically.

Chapter Text

WORD COUNT- 3, 138

"Why would I talk to Four unprompted?"

Those were the first words uttered by the reddie princess. It was comical, honestly. Red hair, red face, red voice as she tried fruitlessly to hide her embarrassment. Phantom was ready to throw herself out of her own body to hover around her friend "like a pest", in the words of World. But she refused! She couldn't simply let her body fall to the wet ground carelessly, it would cause Bluebird too much trouble to clean her.

And thus Phantom did the incredibly selfless act of staying inside her body and only show her emotions with words. "Ugh, come on, Reddie! He likes you! And not like a friend."

Reddie frowned and grew even hotter as she glanced at Phantom over her shoulder. The blonde made sure to smile as widely and threateningly as possible, eyes fixed solely on her target.

"My personal relationships are none of your concern, given that there's no evidence of direct correlation between us two."

The blonde deflated visibly, but her eyes kept their intensity. "No what? We're talking about the royal family of Hyrule, and as far as I'm concerned, I could be your great-great-great grandmother. Or you could be mine and my entire existence depends on you! Please tell me that you have at least some feelings for him...!"

Little Red closed her eyes for a moment. Phantom knew she was itching to roll her eyes, but it was much too "unladylike", as if Phantom's nobility cared for such a thing in her time.

"Queen and Sheik are being courted by foreign nobles, Twilight is clearly very much in love with Midna, the moon will fall before Bluebird looks in Legend's direction, and World has more chemistry with his sword than with Hilda. Me not liking my own hero romantically is pretty much a 50/50 chance, of which your existence would depend as much as on unnamed ancestors marrying commoners or dying tragically before ascending to the throne. So no, Phantom. I'm not courting Four yet, and I won't even consider it until I'm 100% sure that I can have a deep conversation with him without risking throwing him into one of his episodes, because I'm aware of some of his trauma, and he won't talk to me like he used to as the pain of trying to rescue me left him with scars that come to the surface whenever I ask him to open up and without him I cannot even begin to let go my own trauma born from those months locked in and I-"

A sob interrupted Reddie's tirade, she covered her mouth as tears threatened to roll down her face.

Phantom kicked her horse to close in and practically jumped on the ginger's horse to hold her tightly. She combed her hand through Reddie's hair and just let her breathe.

"...I thought you two were close?" She commented. Reddie sniffed.

"Yes, it seems so. Only because we've been ignoring the incident." The young redhead nudged further into Phantom's embrace. "We can talk about everything and anything for hours... except about the most important thing."

Big Red and Queen were approaching fast with concerned expressions on their faces. Phantom glared and shooed them with a hand. They got the message and pivoted to the caravan.

Phantom leaned her head on Reddie's shoulder, never once stopping her hand on the red hair. "You two aren't the only ones that went through a traumatic experience. Look at me, I quite literally died in the broadest sense of the word. But you know what kept me together through the ordeal?" 

This was enough to perk Reddie's attention. Phantom took the reins and stopped the pony in its tracks, and slipped down its side, her working boots splashing on the puddles and her legs growing cold as the pants absorbed the grass dew. She turned to her ginger friend with fire in her eyes.

"Determination. Yes, I lost my body, but that wouldn't be my last, I wouldn't allow it. Oh, nonono." She extended a hand for Reddie to take and get off the pony too. She squeezed the hand. "All I wanted was to get back my body, take that worm of a chancellor and sentence him to death myself. Why do you think I'm always ready to battle in my armors? Because I will not let anybody take control of my life ever again."

Reddie blinked in surprise, jaw hung slightly open. "Zelda, Reddie. You, Big Red and Jewel are the only ones who faced the demon Vaati as far as we know. Do you know what that means?" She leaned closer, glaring deeply with a wide grin on her face. "It means that you and your Heroes faced something that nobody else has ever faced, and you endured. You survived the ordeal and came out victorious. And nobody can take that away from you."

"But Phantom... I'm a mess! I cannot even revisit those memories without crying like a helpless girl." The tears finally ran down her big green eyes. Phantom's heart broke at the sight. She brushed the tears away.

"You were a helpless girl, and you suffered. But you're still here, your Link's still here. Vaati is locked away, and all that's left for you is to heal." Then she shrugged. "I mean, there's only so much a single god-like wind mage can do against the Force of a 12 year old, isn't it?"

A little smile appeared on Reddie's face. This encouraged Phantom to keep talking; she took both of her friend's hands in hers.

"It hurts. And you have to learn to live with it. Do I tell you how I helped Spirit? I told him: you wake up every morning and yell at the gods 'I am alive, for hell's sake! And I'm gonna make it everybody's problem!' It's working."

Reddie chuckled. "And you think that'll help me?"

"Mhh, I can't tell. Spirit has me... and Four has you. Hey, don't put on that sad face; it's good news! You are not alone, and there are others who can understand your experiences. Take advantage of it for a change, Jewel and Big Red have their own beef with that wizard...! You keep talking to Four, and if he stays in denial..."

She let go to punch her own palm and smiled wickedly. "...I'll punch some sense into his thick skull."

Reddie chuckled. "I know you will." But the next second, her smile vanished. "Please don't, he already has so many braincells."

"Can't promise anything."

Shortly after, the adults returned. Maybe they remembered their neglected charges, or got bored of competing against each other.

Phantom made sure to let them know how dejected she felt, and how much Reddie needed their support in these trying times!

The women managed to not roll their eyes, which was a feat on itself.

Only after Queen apologized, did Phantom shut up and let them resume the riding lessons. They jogged a bit, although it was clear that Reddie's horse wasn't built for dressage. A shame.

It did run, though.

In the time it took the caravan to reach the woods, Phantom and Reddie had broken into all the gaits they could replicate in their untrained mounts, canter, short runs and a couple of jumps.

Queen refused to let them race and tire their mounts, even though they wouldn't be able to run once they entered the woods, and now was the perfect time to try it. The brunette didn't relent, and Phantom pouted.

"I think I'm done here." She commented. Big Red glared at her. "What? We're done, right? We did gaits, we trotted, you corrected my 'awful' rein holding, and we ran out of things to do "

Big Red exchanged a glance with Queen, who sighed in defeat. Phantom's grin was so wide her cheeks protested, she turned to Reddie and made a salute.

"Remember what I told you. Bye!"

The blondie rushed to meet with the rest of the caravan, that had stopped on the side of the road under the treeline shade. She took her horse to Wild and Hyrule, that were currently patting the horses as they checked they were tied correctly to some low branches. The brunet was the first to notice her, and turned with a soft smile.

"Good morning, my lady. Do you wish to leave your horse with us?"

"Why, thank you, sir knight." She smiled in return, accepting his hand to help her down, and handed the reins. "My steed requires the upmost care. I do trust you'll treat him as if he were your own child."

Hyrule bowed deeply at her while doing his best to not laugh. "Of course my lady. From now on, Link Jr. the Upteenth shall be renowned amongst the steeds in my care. The highest among the highest, divinely cared for even!"

Phantom nodded sagely with her eyes closed, deep in thought. "The gods shall reward your efforts, my dearest knight. You'll be remembered as Link Jr. The Upteenth caregiver... perhaps, if I feel generous."

Hyrule's face almost cracked at this, but he held it like a champion. He bowed again, impossibly deep. "You are most gracious, my lady, I couldn't ask anything else from such a gracious leader as yourself."

"Gracious indeed!" She smugly pushed some hairs from her ponytail over her shoulder. "There are no better riders on this side of the world."

"...which is worrying to say the least." Wild intervened with a lopsided grin. "I mean, we don't even know how low the bar is in this unknown land."

Phantom scoffed and waved a hand dismissively. "I shall prove you wrong, boy." With this, the three finally let go and laughed. Or, in Phantom's case, she cackled like a cucco.

When she finally calmed down, she left the two adults and made her way to the settling caravan in search for fresh prey.

There! A wicked grin crossed the blonde's face as she made her way through a couple of carts and talking adults to one particular rock where another blonde sat. Like Phantom or Reddie, this princess wore casual clothes, smith clothes, headband and everything. If that wasn't an obvious indicator, the way she shook her legs and fidgeted with her hair even as she was engrossed in a piece of parchment was a dead giveaway to who this was.

Phantom rounded the spot and approached quietly from behind, which was easy, given the other princess's distraction. The loose hair spread down her back like a golden cape even brighter than Phantom's, whose blonde was lighter like a ghostly version of most princesses'.

Phantom breathed to contain her giggle, and...

"YAHHHH!" Jewel screeched and jumped a meter (3 ft.) in the air. Her reaction was most comical and Phantoms doubled over in laughter.

"Phantom! Don't be like that!" Each word was punctured with a slap to the head, while Phantom protected herself half-heartedly while giggling.

Jewel soon stopped, but the scowl remained. She sat with a dignified huff and grabbed the parchment from the floor. "Unbelievable!"

"Oh, what're you doing?" Phantom leaned over the writing to check an improvised list in Jewel's language, which was foreign to her.

"For your information," Jewel scoffed. "It's a will. I can feel it in my bones, the gods demand their monthly pay in blood... And I'm not strong enough."

Phantom grimaced while keeping the dramatic air. "I'm so sorry. Should I tell Queen about it? Surely she will tell the others to forage for funerary flowers, you like carnations?"

Jewel looked up from her "will" to smile gratefully. "I'd appreciate it, thanks. But no, just healing herbs. Also, one of Flower's elixirs, that would be golden."

Phantom blinked in surprise. "Already? But she refilled our supplies last week!"

"Bluebird had a tough week and took all the caraway."

"Ouch." Phantom had been blessed with mild pains, though not as harmless as Hylia's (perks of being a goddess incarnate), and Blue... she was a wild guess between a nice summer walk and the full concentrated power of the sun.

The girl sat on the wet grass by Jewel, who had gone back to checking her list. The ghost girl leaned on the leg she wasn't shaking.

"So, flowers for your funeral."

"I don't have any particular preference. Bring me whatever the girls think is pretty."

"You speak as if you weren't one of us."

"I'm almost a year older than I appear."

"You dare compare yourself to Flower's might?!"

Jewel hummed non-commitally before returning to her reading, and Phantom stared intently. A little frown and the way the girl pulled a lock, how her eyes focused too intensely on a particular part of the parchment before moving on to an entirely different section, and how the corner of her eye trembled.

"Hold on, Jewel. I'll bring you something for your headache."

Jewel's thanks felt as something far far away as she closed her eyes and focused on her divine power. The sudden, thunderous pain of tearing her spirit apart from her body was secondary to the feeling of weightlessness she learned to focus on instead.

Phantom didn't need to open her eyes to know her body had slumped like dead weight next to the other princess while her spirit flew up and about, rounding Jewel a couple of times before settling in a tree branch above her head. There, she scanned the caravan.

Over the months she'd been travelling with the others, Phantom had given many a princess enough jumpscares to last a lifetime. Spirits! Jewel, Bluebird and Reddie had bawled their eyes out in fear the first time Phantom had pulled her ghost trick.

The way Jewel casually pushed her body in the other direction with a leg proved how far they'd come from their first hiccup. Phantom made sure to be very vocal about her antics, and everybody knew about them.

The ghost girl hummed with contentment and scanned the group. The birds stretched their wings after rounding the group during the morning, the horses grazed, their boring adults talked over their lists, the fun adults joked around, the kids killed time by playing or rummaging through one of the smaller chests... there!

Phantom's spirit jumped off the branch silently and floated towards her blue-clad target.

She flew like second nature, inclining her body and using her hands to tread through the air, swift and elegant as if she was swimming. She halted by pulling her body upright in front of Bluebird.

The older princess sat on a cart with an atlas in her lap and a map in her hands. The book had been crazy expensive, but worth the payment.

"Hullo!" Phantom chimed in. Blue yelped and shot her eyes up at her.

"Oh, it's just you, Phantom. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

The ghost girl ignored the question to peer at the map, scribbled around the margins in Blue's Hylian. "Ohhh, don't tell me you lost another map."

The woman smiled sheepishly. "You know how it is. But luckily, I remembered the notes I wrote on it." She waved a quill dramatically in front of her. Phantom chuckled. "So, why are you here? Bored? Tea? Hiding?"

"Not this time." In a moment, the girl switched to a serious demeanor, trying to seriously convey the seriousness of the matter. Seriously. "Would you have anything for headaches? Jewel is suffering in silence and I cannot let it pass."

Blue raised an eyebrow. "Would you like a herbal tea? I know Sheik has a stash of exotic teas..."

Phantom shook her head. "She'll need something stronger. In her own words, 'the gods demand their monthly pay in blood'. Caraway, she says, and you took it all."

"Oh, gods. This is serious. I thought I had another couple of days to resupply..."

Phantom shrugged. "It is what it is. Don't you have a schedule or...? You lost it too."

Blue smiled sheepishly once more. Phantom sighed and rolled her eyes, lowered herself to be level with her and crossed her arms. "Okay, so you have anything for her or not? If not, I'll go ask Flower for an elixir."

"Huh? But Flower's not our cook."

Phantom stared, and patted the woman's head. "She's in charge of our girlie supplies, remember? We told you last week when you spent yourself thin because of the sparring."

Blue rolled her eyes with a slump of her shoulders. "Right, the sparring. But yes, I do have some healing spells prepared. Lead the way."

Phantom didn't need to be told twice. She pushed her form up and back to the edge of the caravan, passing through a very surprised Granny and over the heads of Arryl and Tetra.

The trip back was much shorter, and she rounded Jewel's head like a headless cucco until Blue reached them. The ghost girl extended her arms around the other triumphantly. "Behold, our savior the Bluebirdie!"

"You didn't have to." Jewel smiled up at the specter. She placed down her parchment and greeted the other princess, that rushed to her side with her hands already glowing a pale golden light.

Phantom saluted. "It seems like my job here is done." And flew in the direction of the boring adults still talking logistics. She hovered around their heads and finally settled on Queen's shoulder like an imp. "Hi, we'll need to restock our painkiller supplies, it's urgent."

The older princess nodded and turned to one of the guys, World. The man didn't look up from his scribbling but nodded once and added a note to Queen's name. She immediately pulled out a list of her own with names of herbs, roots and foraging items while turning away from the group.

Phantom stuck to her side as she summoned Flower and showed her the list dedicated to 'specials'. "Make sure we have enough of these. If not, write down what you need and give it to the foragers."

"Ohhh can I go? Can I?" Phantom asked and floated between the women with the biggest puppy eyes she could make.

Queen's face was stone cold. "You don't know the first thing about survival- and no, your armor doesn't count. If you really want to help out, round the group and tell them to get ready for further instructions. We're about to enter the woods."

Phantom sagged visibly, but did as she was told. Her ghostly shape rounded the edge of the trees to call every person she saw. While doing so, she briefly considered returning to her body to exercise a bit, and dismissed the thought immediately. She'd have plenty of time for exercising when they reached the deeper woods. For now, the girl entertained herself by passing through and freaking out surprised victims.

Chapter Text

WORDS- 3, 823

After reaching the woods at noon, the caravan stopped to rest, giving Groose an opportunity to leave watch duty on his magnificent contraption, the Mini-Groosenator 2. He trusted the Links and Zeldas to not mess around with it.

He just wanted to walk around, and maybe speak to Teba. He hadn't had many opportunities to talk to the bird man, and he still had questions that neither his Link or the others could answer.

Unfortunately, Teba seemed to be missing. Maybe he was resting on a tree nearby, or checking on the kids with Linebeck, or spending time with the Zora king. Whatever the reason, Groose didn't seem to find the birdman.

Instead, he found his Impa, Black.

The woman rested atop a tree branch overlooking the group with a hundred-yard stare, one leg pulled to her body and the other swinging lazily, her figure hidden by her namesake -the black cape that covered her arm and lower face-. If Groose didn't know any better, he could've sworn she was half remlit. But he knew better; Black wasn't just half remlit, she was the whole package.

He poked the leg swinging at arm's reach above him. Black kicked her hand away and looked down impassively. "Is anything on fire?"

"Wha- of course not! I just want to talk. Anything on fire, the nerve of some people... Hey! Watch the hair!"

His grumbling stopped when Black stepped on his head to jump down with her arms crossed under the cape. "Quiet. I know better than mess with your hair. So, talk, you said."

Groose huffed one last time and checked his hairdo. Perfectly in place.

"Well, I was looking for the birdman, Teba. What do you think of him? How do you think the Goddess came with the idea of bird people?" He leaned closer and subtly lowered his voice. "Do you think they could have some connection with the Loftwings? Y'know, since nobody else seems to know them..."

Black sighed deeply, letting her arms fall to the sides, and looked around, always the watcher.

"Honestly, I wouldn't know. My tribe recalls few sightings of such birds prior to Skyloft's upheaval. Her Grace must've sent them all to your people for as long as you needed them."

Groose hummed aloud while crossing his arms. "Interesting... No 'wings, but there's giant birdmen and not everybody knows about them. I wonder what happened..."

Black tilted her head and noted with a flat voice. "You could always ask."

The redhead stared for a moment, snickered while covering his mouth. "Do you think I haven't tried? It makes him uncomfortable. I only know that Rito are supposed to be descendants of the Zora... but both races live in the same land with the Wild Link."

"Then why not ask our hero?"

"Bah, that's unbecoming of me." While speaking, Groose combed his hair with an air of self-importance. "If Link won't tell me anything directly, who am I to go around questioning the others? You've seen how they play around, they already have enough going on in their own times for me to add pressure."

The Sheikah cocked an eyebrow. "That's considerate."

"Of course it is! It's me we're talking about, Granny..." He punched her shoulder lightly, she pushed back with a little smile on her face before turning once more to scan the group. Groose turned too.

Phantom's specter flew around, going from person to person in that floaty way of hers as if she was looking for someone. The redhead chuckled fondly, that plucky girl was fun to hang out with, her enthusiasm matched his own Zelda when it came to the defense of people they loved; his Zelda with cutting words and an attitude, Phantom with her armored gists and an attitude. Huh, was the personality inherited too?

During her search, Phantom passed by to perch on his shoulder momentarily. When she didn't find her target she pouted and moved away without a second glance to him or Black. Oh, well, children.

"So, Impa, Black. You are a ninja lady like the other Impa, the scary one and her Zelda... Sheik?" The woman made no move to show she was hearing, but he continued nonetheless. "Do you think I could learn some moves too? Just in case."

He joined his words with choppy motions and swishing noises, and briefly contemplated how useful the ninja moves would've been in protecting Zelda back then... and he let the thought pass. It was no use thinking about something that resulted well in the end, when he'd done all he could with his minimal knight training; the weeks spent with Granny had helped him a great deal when talking to him. Well, that was when she wasn't sweeping the floor with him in their Skyloftian game.

Groose froze mid-swing and turned to the woman with a wide smile.

"I think I know why you'd always beat me at lofter peck."

"Enlighten me."

Groose pulled a small pouch out of seemingly nowhere and shook it. The muffled wooden clanking of small pieces came from within. "Care for a round?"

The Sheikah cocked an eyebrow, and swiftly sat on the ground cross-legged. Groose grinned in excitement and joined her, spreading the rectangular wooden pieces between them.

Each was the size of his pinky finger, flat, painted in Loftwing colors and a carving on each side; a wing or a tail. "All right, take your pick."

"...blue tails." Black then grabbed all the pieces that had the color and symbol face-up.

"Green wing." Groose took all the corresponding pieces. They repeated this exchange two more times, leaving a couple of lonely pieces remained and each had a handful of colored pieces in their hands. Then, they placed one piece of each chosen combo side by side.

"Remind me again, now we build our hand?"

"Now, now." Groose tilted his head as if he as talking a to a kid. Actually, he was teaching the game to the young one so the elder could become a master and best him at his own game. "We don't, this isn't tornado. No, instead we mix our pieces again for peckin... HEY!"

Before he was done with his explanation, a cold shiver struck Groose from head to toe, and the silvery mass of Phantom sprouted from his chest, rounded him and sat on his shoulder with a sigh. He glared at the ghost for a moment and reached a hand to pat her leg, which passed right through.

"What is it, kid?"

"Queen wants you rounded up" The girl drawled while glancing at the lofter peck pieces and combed her ponytail. "Await further instructions, she says."

"Your Grace." Black stood immediately without as much as a whisper from her clothes. When Groose looked down, his and her pieces were back to the pouch. He hummed amused before addressing Phantom.

"Why the long face? Not enjoying the chance to float around?"

"I would!" Phantom threw her arms in the air and leaned on the ginger's head. "But I wanted to forage too, and Queen didn't let me."

"Aww." Groose made a show to pat the air above him, not caring that he couldn't aim for her head, and stood up.

Most of the group was already gathered in a wide, loose circle around Queen and Time's general area, while Flower handed out short lists. Groose leaned over his Zelda -Hylia's shoulder to peek at the list; most were food items, a couple medical and a handful or unknown plants, all divided by category in the lingua franca they've chosen for 36 people to understand. Thank the Goddess he hadn't been there to help invent it.

"You'll pick a partner who knows what it's doing. Spirit, looking at you." Said Time, while the kid in question stuck out his tongue, Phantom giggled. "And don't lose time chasing bugs that you won't use in potions. Wild, Hyrule, looking at you."

A ripple of amused chuckles and expressions passed through the group, and Groose caught himself covering his smile. Not a second later, Queen spoke up in her regal queenly voice. "Remember to stay close. If you need to go further into the woods, use your partner as a reference for the direction you came from. We cannot afford to launch search parties while moving. Minish, Jewel, looking at..."

"It was her fault!" The smithy cried in bewilderment, but nobody believed him.

Flower cleared her throat then. "Everybody, take someone to accompany you... And no, Wild, you cannot join another hero. We won't be stopping till dusk, and if you as much as try to dig into a fox den again..."

Hylia sighed deeply. "I'll stay." Groose placed a hand on her shoulder and Phantom hopped down to hug her from the other side. She hadn't rested since the attack, being too busy caring for their Link -Sky- despite the considerable amount of healing magic in the group.

"Don't worry, Zel." He said. "Link is the greatest knight I know. He'll be over this quickly. In the meantime..." He leaned in with a mischievous smile. "Let's go. Do you want me to look for a partner for you?"

Hylia blinked and a smile slowly crept into her face. "Oh, and who do you have in mind, great founder of 'Grooseland' and expert survivalist?" He flinched, being reminded of their first week on the surface; granted, nobody knew much about foraging, but Groose had the advantage of one Granny and several months worth of knowledge, didn't he? ...maybe, claiming to be an "expert" had been too much of a stretch.

He patted his friend's head and walked around in search for lonely foragers. "Just about anyone who can keep up with you."

They approached a small group of Links on the younger side, discussing loudly and unintelligibly among themselves. Although the only thing Groose understood was whatever Wind shouted before clinging to Hylia like his life depended on it.

"That's it! I'll prove it to y'all, I can win with me eyes closed!"

Four judged in silence. Minish facepalmed. Spirit rolled his eyes, "Wind, you have to shut your mouth, not your eyes." The sailor stuck his tongue out.

"Whatever, Hylia, will you join me for foragin?" Zelda blinked in surprise before ruffling the kid's hair.

"Of course, Wind. But why...?"

"It's a bet." Said Minish. "We'll see who can keep quiet the longest."

Hylia and Groose exchanged glances. Seriously? The Links, playing the silent game? Were they being truly blessed with a week of silence?

Hylia turned to the kids with a frown. "And who else is playing this?" The children showed various amounts of excitement, and Groose trembled in fear.

The rules were simple. Each Link would go forage with a partner he didn't know very well, which is why Groose had ended up with World.

Another rule, not part of the game but just a general rule. No one was allowed to wear just green. Luckily, that didn't mean absolutely anything to World, who wore a dark green shirt and red tunic.

The partner was a witness so the Hero wouldn't cheat and talk to himself, so Groose wasn't allowed to make conversation with him... but it didn't mean he wasn't allowed to talk to World.

"So... about Ravio. Is he your brother?" World gave him a dirty look without stopping. Groose held his hands in a pacifying manner. "Sorry, dumb question. I mean, is he your twin? A long lost brother from your own land?"

World blew through his nose while checking out a bush. He waved for Groose to come closer and pick some flower buds. World nodded, holding one finger up and shaking his hand in a so-so way.

Like a twin, then. "Are you two blood related?" A shake. The pair stood up to keep walking through the underbrush. A mild clank made Groose look over his shoulder; one of the carts had wobbled over a tricky part on the path, he shrugged and continued, trailing before World.

The hero was one of the tallest and strongest Links, but he barely reached Groose's shoulder and his back was half as wide as his. Still slim as a twig.

"What else do we pick?" The list was shoved on his face for Groose to read. He... didn't recognize half of those. Thankfully it included small pictures.

"I see. Do you recognize these?" World glared for a moment, and rolled his eyes. The redhead didn't take it at heart, the hero reminded him of Black, or a sleepy Sky.

He offered the list back, and World shook his head, tapping his temple. He remembered. So, Groose read again, and picked some leaves from a low branch to stash them in his pouch. A handful of marigolds, some basil and apples.

World whistled. Groose turned back at the caravan, he could still see it, and approached the crouching hero, which held a satisfied expression. He wasn't smiling, but wasn't frowning either. He pointed at some weeds in the ground.

"What? Can you eat those?" World rolled his eyes again and pulled. Oh, it was potato. A very small potato plant. He offered it and Groose stashed it away. "You have a keen eye, World. How did you find this?"

The hero shrugged and turned away. Groose hummed and looked back. The carts had disappeared into the woods, and he positioned himself with his back to them.

"They're moving, dude. If you keep searching here I won't go looking for you, got it?" The blond huffed, approached Groose, passed by his side and reached the road, then turned back. Groose walked some meters parallel to the Hero and gave his back again. The caravan had left them behind, but this way they wouldn't get lost any time soon.

World passed by him again to inspect the next patch of woods. Some meters ahead, the telltale orange of Link's beetle flew through the canopy.

Groose huffed. What he's give to have an artifact like that, able to move by your command and collecting anything small enough.

"If Link isn't careful, Flower will steal that machine to pull apart."

World snorted through his nose.

"Have you noticed that your hair stays dyed at the same length, no matter how much you cut it?" The hero froze in place and slowly, ever so slowly, looked up with a pained expression. He pulled some of his longer, jaw-length bangs. The lime green, just like Legend's pink, stood consistently halfway through the front and shoulder-lenght side bangs.

World deflated and went back to check a small bush. Groose snickered and brushed his own hair.

"If you want to, I can help you upgrade it. Your hair is perfect if I say so myself. Some down-gel and stash seed oil should do the trick." While speaking, Groose brushed his impressive hairstyle. Indeed, World had very short hair with freaky long bangs that could be modelled into a replica of his. 

For some reason, World blanched.

"Ha! I'm kidding, World. I know you Heroes simply aren't blessed with fashion taste. But, I think you could use some pumpkin seed oil to spice up your life a..." World burst out laughing. The redhead stared bewildered as the Hero pressed a hand to his ribs.

Groose checked over his shoulder. No caravan and no obvious sign of the road from here. He picked a pebble and threw it at the blond, who dodged it instinctively.

Once the blond calmed,.Groose tilted his head. "You've been to the desert?"  A nod and cocked eyebrow. "Maybe a dumb question, but, does the name 'Gerudo' ring any bells to you? Personally?"

World shook his head with a sweeping motion. Never? Another curious expression.

"I've been meaning to create a settlement in Lanayru, 'Grooseland'. Link's been helping me, but honestly? The dude has no survival skills. He's only told me what Fi taught him... and that's how I learned of the Gerudo fireflies."

World didn't react. "I mean, most of you guys have badass desert warriors from the southwest, right? The Gerudo. And that's where Lanayru is at, deserted, with only Gerudo fireflies." He crossed his arms tightly.

World clicked his tongue in thought. He pulled moss from a tree trunk to smell it, grimace and throw it away. Groose picked it up. Hmm, too humid to eat?

"Come on, man, don't leave me hanging! Don't you guys know your timelines already?"

World glared intently at a tree root covered in fungi. He compared the mushrooms to his list and slowly picked an orange thing, twirled it on his palm, and produced a line of cloth to save it for later. Only then he stared up at Groose and made a pinching motion with his fingers almost, almost touching.

Groose snorted and rolled his eyes. "Of course you don-" He gasped. There, hidden in the canopy above, was that what he thought it was...?

"World..." The blonde's eyes followed his finger, and brown eyes shot open in shock. The pair held their gazes for a moment as smiles creeped on them.

World made a pilling sign- a totem sign-, Groose nodded and knelt. The tall Link didn't give it a second thought as he -picked up Groose with suspiciously practiced ease, heaving him up.

One minute he was standing up, the next one he bumped his head on a branch and was now surrounded by oranges on all sides. Orange, yellow and greenish citrus all around him. Groose grinned and yelled down. "I'll throw them!" He received a pat on his thigh as confirmation right before he began picking as many fruits as humanly possible.

The result was two men carrying oranges on a pink hat that World possessed... for some reason, and now the pair stood dumbfounded in the middle of nowhere.

Groose knew the direction of the caravan, he swore! "But maybe if we hadn't been so distracted... Oh! We're doomed World, we're lost."

World nudged him and whistled softly. Groose blinked, turned as red as his hair, cleared his throat, and let out a shrill whistle that cut through bush and tree alike. Now, to wait... Oh, no, there it was.

Groose's Loftwings was already circling their area, and he whistled again. He didn't glance back, but he was 200% sure that World was rolling his eyes all the way into his skull.

Yeah yeah, he knew it, he was a genius.

Legend compared their list to the items they'd brought, hummed and signed it before dismissing them.

World and Groose made their way to the supplies cart, still in movement, gave their orange hat to Ravio, and jumped in with his help. He'd been busying himself by making rations, and was currently surrounded by bags of seeds, packages of dry meat and small piles of foraged goods including coriander, parsil, nuts, garlic, mushrooms, limes, truffles, a bottle of various insects (gross), flower buds, pitifully small pumpkins and even some berries.

"My, my, look at what you got here!" Ravio stopped his work to grab one fruit and smell it with delight. "We were low on orange vinegar, after all. Do you know how well this sells in the coast?"

World glared at his doppelganger. "Why, Mr. Hero? Are you mad at me for looking after our friends?" The black-headed man placed a hand dramatically on his chest. Groose liked him.

On cue, Ravio then fixed his green eyes on him. "If Mr. Hero here won't accept the gains, I could give them to you, my friend."

Groose glanced at the blond hero beside him. "I don't know... I could use that money to buy something for World." His smile turned playful. "I could get that starch seed oil I was talking about earlier to model his hair after mine..."

World whipped his head around, eyes bulging in panic, body tense like a bow string. Ravio laughed heartily and patted World's back until he pushed him away.

"Oh, what an idea, my ginger friend." Ravio gave his widest smile to Groose while writing quickly on a note by his side. "I'll make sure to save a small amount of rupees specifically for hair products..."

World bolted to Ravio's side, clinging from his purple tunic and shaking his head viciously. "Mhh, what is it Mr. Hero? You think we need to save more in case we run out of it?"

World bit his tongue back, but the shaking increased, and he shook Ravio's arm in a desperate attempt to save himself from the fate of sharing Groose's hair. That, of course, was a shame.

Ravio smiled down at the blond hero and patted his head as if he was a little pet. "Aw, do not worry, Mr. Hero, so far only your green dye is permanent." The black-headed man leaned forward with a conspiratorial grin. "But I know how to replicate the recipe to make red dye..."

World yelped and groaned, jumping away of Ravio as if he was acid, tucked his arms in and slid to the farthest corner of the cart to sulk and pull his green dyed bangs.

Ravio and Groose laughed loud and intensely until their bellies hurt. Finally, the giggles stopped and Groose leaned against the cart's wall. He looked up at the tent cover above his head and the canopy shadows playing on it. He looked down at Ravio as he sat up, still surrounded by pouches and bags, having gone back to his job of placing handfuls of herbs in three equal piles.

The merchant in purple glanced at World and extended a hand while separating truffles with the other. "Come on, Link. Sulking in the corner will do you no good." The hero hissed. "Aw, don't be like that!"

World grabbed a nearby hand-sized pumpkin and hurled it at Ravio, who tilted his head to avoid the projectile, sighed and crossed his arms. "Link."

The hero hissed once more and waved his hands, probably speaking in his own sign language. Ravio rolled his eyes when World turned around and curled into a ball.

Groose raised an eyebrow. "Did we go too far?"

"No, he says he's just tired."

"Uh-huh."

"Really, this is how we usually talk." Ravio was back at his task wiring stuff down and separating the oranges on three small piles. "Link's like a coconut. Tough on the outside, fresh on the inside, but not for everybody. It takes some time to get used to his prickly antics."

Groose hummed. On the one hand, it sounded similar to how he himself and Link talked after they became friends. They were awkward once they returned to Skyloft thanks to Stretch and Due 1, who had been more than ready to go back to their usual routine. But then they spoke with director Kaepora and the three of them  settled down in a new dynamic.

On the other hand, he didn't know what a coconut was. There was much of the surface he didn't know about, apparently. Including his new settlement.

"Hey, Ravio. You know a lot, right?"

"Depends on what you mean by 'a lot'. I'm a man of the trade, there's always a possible customer in everyone and I especialize in finding out what they need so I can sell it... Which means I must have conversation topics ready at all times." Ravio never looked up from his job, as he moved on to the insect bottle and held it at eye level.

"So, you must've seen Gerudo before."

The black-hearted man blinked and glanced at the ginger with a quizzical look. "...can't say I've had the pleasure to meet many in my own land. But yes, I've heard plenty about the warrior women."

Groose perked. If a merchant as talkative as Ravio knew about Gerudo, he was on the right path. But he couldn't risk going on a tangent, he had to be concise.

Groose thought hard. He looked out to the mounted kids following their cart. Flower chatted amicably with Ezlo, the Minish perched on her shoulder, probably answering her questions. Behind them, Teba walked beside Midna, that rode her Link's Epona. Hyrule passed by, threw a bunch of snails inside, refused to elaborate, and left.

"I believe you're eager to talk, my ginger friend. Why do you ask?"

He turned to Ravio with a huff. "Because I'm planning on building a settlement in Lanayru. All I know about the desert is what Fi told Link, including Gerudo fireflies."

Ravio tilted his head curiously and placed down the insect jar. "There are no Gerudo people in your time, just insects, while everybody else has the people but not the insects. It seems terribly coincidental."

"Yes, and nobody else has Loftwings."

"Mhhh, all lands are different. Some share stories or locations, others people, some in a clear self-contained timeline, but for each similarity there are three differences. Anything else that separates your time from others?"

Groose recalled the first weeks when the Skyloftians descended to the surface and began building settlements. He'd taken to explore the sand seas Link had described, and to examine the timeshift stone trinkets. If not for the ruins everywhere, those things were a dead indicator that someone had lived in the desert way before them. And the ruins depicted funny android drawings and colorful plants never seen before. The colors reminded him of Wild's voe clothes.

Did the Gerudo live in the desert before Skyloft was raised by the Goddess? Would Ravio know about the timeshift stones or the funny androids?

He opened his mouth, but was promptly interrupted by the cart halting, and hollering outside. He jumped down to see what was wrong.

Little Red triumphantly held some plant over her head, shaking her arms in delight and joined by other princesses.

"What...?

"Oh," Ravio interjected. "It seems like her Highnesses have found blood moss!"

"Blood what?"

The merchant chuckled. "A common moss where I come from, native to bogs; somewhat rare in Hyrule. It is incredibly absorbent and is used to treat bleeding wounds, hence the name."

"Wrong." Groose yelped at Big Red's sudden appearance. "It gets its name from it's other use."

Groose narrowed  his eyes and tilted his head. "Oh, yeah? What other use?"

The princess held his gaze as her cheeks slowly flushed. "It's... private. Just know that unless you're cut in half, you'll never see this moss ever again."

"That... doesn't really answer my question."

World cleared his throat and gave Red a forced smile, he placed a hand on his chest and shooed the princess away. She needn't be told wise.

"Mr. Hero, you surely don't plan on taking away his blissful ignorance, now, do you?" Strange, Ravio was also blushing, but eyes fixed on World as if holding a silent conversation.

World tore his eyes away, instead zeroing on Groose, pointed at the princesses, then to his lower belly.

Groose... tilted his head. "Their monthly thing? Oh, that. I get it." World and Ravio stared. The ginger felt offended, did they think him that clueless?

Ravio sighed and shook his head amused, while World slowly let out a breath he'd been holding and brushed his hair awkwardly.

Groose crossed his arms. "What? It's not like it's a secret. Do you know how hard it'd be to hide something like that with our routinely flights? And in an academy with a single restroom? At minimum, the teachers must know what to do whenever Karane or Zelda ask for medical leave from flights."

The twin pair exchanged looks, while Groose sighed and watched the girls pull anyone within range and force them to join their expedition to collect more moss.

"So, how do you know about girly stuff?" He asked casually at Ravio. The merchant cleared his throat.

"My, I thought you would've guessed. I'm a simple man; if there's something you need, I'll sell it to you. As for World... I have no idea how he knows."

Both Groose and Ravio fixed their entire attention on World. The hero bristled and turned red as a tomato. He shook his hands, settled them, shook them again and threw his arms in the air.

Groose chuckled fondly, World sighed miserably, Ravio ruffled the blonde's hair. And the girls rejoiced.

Chapter Text

Word count - 3,720

After the initial chaos settled down and the girls stopped rejoicing, Jewel finally understood what was going on. She clapped enthusiastically from the cart's seat, and accepted Sidon's hand to climb down. She approached the small cheering crowd unusually calm and kept her distance.

Bluebird had healed her headache, but she didn't want to risk it coming back, and had been allowed to stay near the caravan.

Rusl walked by carrying rolls of moss enveloped in fabric. The girl beamed. "How much did you find?"

"Enough to last us months, I think." Rusl stopped to answer, placing the roll down and offering her a small sample. Jewel giggled in delight, sinking her fingers in the porous texture.

She quickly hid it in her skirts, followed the man to the supplies cart and took a seat at the front, where she'd be able to hear any gossip and take her part without fear of being trampled.

Of course, they dropped it all on Ravio to stash into neat little packages. Queen joined him after the merchant had dramatically complained that they were working him like a slave which, of course not!

Jewel tried to cheer him on. "Look at it this way," she said, "pretend you're giving us the supplies in exchange for protection, or something similar."

Ravio blinked slowly with a rare sarcastic smile plastered in place, and stood up to pat her head. "But my child, you know what they say. Without reason, no cat comes out."

She stared back, and commented in a flat tone. "Your translated words hold no meaning. Either get the right saying in Hylian or give up."

He smiled. "Sorry, what I mean is that I cannot possibly pretend to do a thankless job simply because I'm asked to. Bekorga mushuk oftobga chiqmaydi." Ravio pushed some black hair off his face. "I'm a business man, princess, I must get something in return."

She punched his arm. He laughed.

They travelled until the sun was halfway through the horizon, when they stopped the carts to let the horses rest and the people eat. Jewel immediately threw herself over the division to take her part as Ravio, Legend and Queen were already distributing rations and taking notes with Wild perched nearby, like a bird. As the designated cook, he took all the remaining supplies to store in his Purah Pad.

Jewel wanted one. You could store anything inside and it remained as fresh as the moment you put it in. Plus, it weighted nothing. And he had all his clothes and precious stones inside it! She needed one of those.

The young blonde got two hefty bags and quickly scurried away as to not be crushed by other eager princesses and a couple of Heroes.

She sat on a tree root on the side and examined the first bag. It was full of seeds, nuts, berries and plain cookies. The other held a couple oranges, apples and even a pear. She also got a package of lard, legumes and bits of dried meat.

The princess smiled to herself as she went through the contents, the forage session had been a total success with so many people contributing. Also, Jewel observed proudly the few snap pea-pods on the package, which she'd found and collected all by herself.

She happily bit into one and kept rummaging. She wrinkled her nose and pulled out some hard-shelled nuts. She hated opening those by herself. Oh well, she could always beg Minish to be her personal nutcracker. He never said no.

Jewel didn't look up when Linebeck sat cross-legged in front of her with Arryl taking a seat between his legs to examine the contents of her own bag. Jewel eyed the girl before offering a handful of berries. "I'll give them to you in exchange for some apples."

"Okay!" Arryl searched her bag, but before she could pull anything out, Linebeck caught her hands.

"Ha, as if!" He fixed Jewel with a cocked eyebrow and flat mouth. "Give us the citrus and no one will get hurt "

Jewel scrunched her nose. "But I like oranges!"

"That's not the point. I'm protecting the girl from scurvy!"

Arryl rolled her eyes at this and tried to free her hands. He let go, but shut the bag and pushed it behind him.

"But I'm not getting scurvy."

"Who says that?"

The younger girl stared blankly at the grumpy sailor. She blinked slowly, then waved around wildly. Linebeck didn't budge. "Your grandma is counting on me to keep your safe and sound Arryl. Now, princess, the oranges, please."

Jewel pretended to consider.

"Nope."

"Kid!"

"Live with the knowledge that your daughter ate apples instead of oranges." Jewel stuck her tongue.

Linebeck frowned and slowly leaned forward. "Oh yeah?" He placed Arryl away to keep the movement. Jewel leaned back with sudden dread creeping on her. "And if I chose to take the fruit by force?"

Jewel was aware of the low beating in her belly, and the risk she was taking with her next choice. But her fruits were in the line. She decided her eventual pain was a problem for future her.

She sprang to her feet with her bag clutched tightly. "Over my cold dead body!" She cried.

But she didn't get very far before arms wrapped around her middle and heaved her up and around. "Just gimme the oranges!"

"Never!" Jewel tried to slip away, but the man had the experience of months wrestling with children far rowdier than her. What was she compared to Wind vehemently refusing a bath?

Her bag was snatched and her body dropped unceremoniously on her bottom with a thud. She crossed her arms with a pout even after the thief had given back her bag with extra apples inside.

Jewel stuck her tongue out after dragging her feet back to sit on her previous spot. She hadn't moved as much as she expected, and yet she was already feeling Bluebird's spell fizzling out.

Some minutes later, Minish approached her small group with a light jog. Her smith beamed, causing her heart to jolt in anticipation; what excited him excited her by principle.

"Zel, got news." The small hero grinned. "Sheik and Red followed the bog path in search for more moss. Guess what they found."

Jewel exchanged glances with Arryl and Linebeck. The little girl spoke first. "Bugs?"

Minish chuckled. "Nah, that's Hyrule's specialty, no. We found a creek."

...Jewel didn't underst- "And Wild made enough soap for everybody."

It clicked and Jewel jumped up with a victory cry followed by an uncomfortable grimace. Arryl screeched too, and Linebeck sighed with relief. Minish turned on his heel to announce the news across the caravan. Words that rang and reverberated with a promise of deliverance way before reaching the port.

"Laundry day!"

The effect was immediate. Heroes shoveling rations in their mouths, Wild running circles with his Purah Pad in hand, princesses rushing to their chests, friends donning their capes and coats, the clanking of a possessed Knight's armor collecting colorful and plain bundles alike in two great baskets, Impa screaming orders, Legend dumping a bag of trinkets on the floor, the whooping calls of excited children, an accidental gale sweeping across the path and the shuffle of many people collecting every single piece of clothing, both garments, accessories and undergarments deemed in need of a good wash.

Jewel, wearing her riding clothes, scrambled towards the chests to pull out her favorite dress, gloves included. The thing was neatly folded and held in place with a braided chord braided especially for her. This had been the only way to ensure no clothes got tangled or lost, despite the chest's segmented boxes.
Jewel checked the dress, pulled out the gloves and briefly, un-ladylikely, sniffed them. They could wait til the port. She checked another set with a less regal dress, still good. The set of undergarments, yeah, that one needed to be washed.

Phantom passed by in the knight's armor that Wild had lent her, and placed one basket down. "Here." The girl's voice echoed from inside the empty armor. "Who washes clothes today?"

Jewel frowned and moved away as Hilda came to search for her own stuff in the chest. "Last time it was Tetra, Flower, Hylia and Hilda. I did it... three turns ago... My turn today." She grimaced.

"Uggggh!" The armor slumped and metal pieces rustled loudly with pieces brushing together in ways they wouldn't be able to, if worn by a physical person. The flickering embers of pink eyes inside the helmet shone sadly. "I think it's my turn..."

"What 'bout the Heroes?" Tetra asked after throwing her own bundle in the basket. "Can't bribe Spirit to do it for you?"

Hilda gave them a side-glance and walked away. The armor clanked as the princess inside gasped.

Jewel too turned to the pirate girl, aghast. "And let a boy near our dirty clothes? So improper, Tetra!"

The sailor rolled her eyes. "Just give'im the stuffy upper layer stuff you princesses like to wear and be done with it."

Jewel exchanged a mortified look with Phantom. She was close to her Minish, but not THAT close, and would never ask such favor of him. She knew Spirit and Phantom were closer, but she'd been... separated from her body during their adventure. There was no point of comparison between the two friendships.

After some more fumbling, Phantom gave up and took the basket with her. Tetra leaned on the cart by Jewel. "Y'know, me thinks that clipper doesn't really have a concept of privacy."

Jewel raised an eyebrow. "How so?"

"On one side, she doesn't care for personal space. On the other, the most random things fluster her."

Jewel hummed as she rummaged into the chest. She pulled out a pair of.leather gloves. "How do you know it's her and not her upbringing?"

Tetra shrugged and threw her arms in the air. "How do I know? I'm not foundin' a kingdom of uppity-tighty borin' scallywags, I'm lettin' me monarchy be people, savvy?"

The pair made their way into the forest, towards the river by Sheik's directions.

"Awww, Tetra. You're admitting that you'll one day found a kingdom of your own!"

The pirate girl turned red, pouted and crossed her arms, not before punching Jewel's arm. "I'm not sayin' I'm foundin' an entire kingdom with the kid, I'm simply sayin' what I want for the future of me people. A good land with good leaders."

Jewel raised both eyebrows with a sly smile. "But I never suggested you had to found it with Wind specifically."

She ran before Tetra could register what she said. She did catch the pirate queen's undignified squeal before ducking into the underbrush.

"Ye mangy mutt. C'mere ye wench!"

World leaned on the edge of the water with one basket on his side, and a small pile of reddish rocks on his other side. Jewel ran past other three heroes, snatching as many rocks as possible. "Mine!" She screeched with her prize in hand.

She ran and giggled all the way to the other side of the bushes, where the girls were separating clothes already. Jewel dropped the rocks with a triumphant smile. "Got the potash!"

The girl then doubled over as pain took over once more. Bluebird's warm hand suddenly worked her goddess-blessed magic.and the pain subsided again. Bless Bluebird.

Sheik, kneeling by the water, smiled up before taking a couple of rocks with her Sheikah-style bandaged hands and scrapped some with a knife. On Jewel's other side, Bluebird took a single rock and scrapped it against her undergarments on a rock underwater. The effect was immediate as the potash dissolved and made soap.

"Ohhh, gimme!" Phantom, back in her body, stretched a hand over the river, slightly too big to count as a creek. Jewel threw her some and knelt to take care of her own clothes.

She made sure to have her gloves on. She didn't want a repetition of last time, with red sensitive hands.

She moved efficiently though her clothes, scrubbing first the wet stones on the thicker materials before running the fabric over the stones and letting the current take away the dirt and soapy foam. She shook the garments and folded them on a basket before moving on with the next piece. Jewel continued on to the next batch; bigger and heavier dresses that required a little more care, yet not delicate enough to wait for laundry service at the town.

Bluebird hummed a tune by her side and Jewel smiled. She recognized most of the words, sung in their holy language. She joined in, and not a minute later Sheik hummed the tune too, albeit with a choppier tempo.

Red passed by and dropped a new basket near them, and stopped to listen. "Huh, those words..."

Sheik stopped her humming. "Do you recognize the language of the gods?"

The tall redhead crossed her arms and sat on a nearby rock. "The structure is somewhat familiar, but I hadn't connected it. My gods speak... differently."

Jewel raised an eyebrow. "Really? And here I thought that Phantom was the only one whose gods spoke gibberish."

"Gli Dei ti abbatteranno per questa mancanza di rispetto, ragazzina." The ghost girl grumbled dramatically and stuck her tongue out.

Sheik smiled. "Won't the gods get angry at you using their language to curse another?"

"Who said I cursed you?" Phantom threw a blonde strand over her shoulder as she doubled down on the petticoat she was scrubbing. "Maybe I asked the gods to grant you more wisdom."

Bluebird snorted. "No, you didn't."

A shadow passed over the princesses. Midna, wearing a wide hat, came by to grab some potash.

"What are you ladies talking about?"

"We're speaking the language of gods." Said Phantom with a shrug.

Red chuckled. "I'm sure she just cursed them."

"Pay them no mind, Midna." Sheik shook her head and lifted the dress in her hands, folded it and placed it in a basket. "They're but children."

Midna crossed her arms while chuckling. "Powerful children with the Triforce of Wisdom and the blood of your goddess running through them."

"The Force is different." Jewel protested, and puffed her chest. "It's the divine bloodline. Not my fault you lot have less divinity and need the Triforce to power up."

A wet pair of breeches hit her from Bluebird's side. The older blonde glared, yet couldn't hide her amusement. Jewel stuck out her tongue.

The twili patted Jewel's back. "Alright, I'll leave you girls to it. Can I have some more soap?"

As answer, Bluebird gave her more rocks, and Jewel went back to work.

Just a couple more dresses and she'd be done.

She swept some sweat off her brow and sat back on the short grass once she finished her last set of pants. The princess looked up at the bright blue sky. It had been almost an hour of continuous washing, but she was done. Now for the next part.

A soft breeze swept over them and the air cooled. Jewel closed her eyes to bask in the afternoon wind, when a shiver ran through her. She shot her eyes open, alarmed for half a second, until she remembered what the feeling was, as she relaxed again.

Flower and Tetra appeared on Phantom's side of the river, chatting about fishing or something. Well, Tetra was doing most of the speaking, while the older princess listened unblinking and asked with un uncharacteristically soft voice.

Jewel tilted her head, while to her side, Sheik took her basket and crossed the creek.

Flower felt different. Her divinity more present, her eyes glazed over with a blue sheen, her skin clearer and brighter, the marks in her forehead and cheeks shinier. Her step silent, her demeanor detached, her moves slower yet swifter.

Jewel glanced at Bluebird, who had her eyes fixed on their friend. She too could see the changes.

Flower's sudden change was normal and expected; it could be days, it could be weeks, but after some time, their scientist Zelda would stop gushing about birds and rocks so intensely. Her eyes would acquire a distant look, and her skin grow even colder. She was feeling restless, cramped in her own body.

Much like Jewel had felt for those months encased in stone, aware of the world around her yet completely cut off it.

She clicked her tongue and stood up, dusting her riding pants.

Sheik, Tetra and Flower were already taking the baskets to a clearing where to hang the clothes to dry. Bluebird, Phantom and her followed behind.

On the way to the clearing they spotted Arryl climbing a tree under Sidon's watch, and Sky messing with his harp next to Hylia. Something stuck it's head out of a burrow, Wild, shaking his dirty head and looking around like a lost kid. Jewel smiled and quickly flicked his forehead.

They reached the clearing. It was rather small but there were signs of a fight. Marks on the ground, couple of arrow nicks on the trees, and a couple of adults -Hyrule, Black and Time, cleaning their weapons off monster blood.

Jewel tried to ask, but Phantom beat her to it. "What happened? A fight?" The girl gasped and put her fists on her hips. "And you didn't tell me? Outrageous!"

Black glanced at the incoming group and dipped her head. "We took care of them swiftly, your Grace."

"Just a couple of lizard folk, my lady." Said Hyrule while running a cloth down his golden sword. Jewel caught the vile dark blood on the blade and hummed.

The men left the clearing before she and the other princesses hung their clothes on ropes that Black helped tie between branches.

Once that was done, Jewel slumped against a tree trunk next to Flower. The heat radiating off the princess skin warmed her side. Jewel glanced at her. The older princess had her eyes closed, still as a statue, not even breathing.

Had it been any other person, Jewel would've panicked. Not with this one, though. She knew her Flower and her oddities. One only needed to be close and attentive enough.

Jewel tilted her head to examine Flower's face and subtle changes. The small star-shaped mark on her forehead was usually half a shade lighter than her skin, but now shone bright.

The little specks on her cheeks that would be confused with sun marks whenever one managed to see them shone too, almost like tear-shaped makeup.

Little hairs in her eyelashes and braid turned golden here and there, as if she'd been sparkled with bits of golden dust.

Flower opened her eyes and turned to Jewel. With the move, a blue sheen reflected on her dilated pupils. Not for the first time, Jewel's back shivered unconsciously and her little hairs stood on end under the gaze of the divine.

The girl smiled. "You looking after us?"

"The monsters are few and sparse." The being Flower reported with an airy and layered voice. "They won't trouble us anymore. The forest is alive and our friends well. They found their own clearing and are hanging out..." She tilted her head, and Jewel knew she was listening in.

Jewel snorted and pulled her knees to her chest as she waited for her friend to tell her anything about their heroes and companions.

Some paces away, Bluebird ran between trees and bushes after Phantom and Tetra. The pirate girl shouted at the slowpoke and tripped, falling face-first on the ground. Blue slapped her back. "You're it!"

Sheik and Hylia -when- did she arrive?, observed from a distance, with the ninja princess perched on a thick branch. She glanced at Jewel and Flower before shuffling in place. If Flower was tranquil, they had nothing to fear. Maybe. Who knew what Flower considered danger in her current state.

"Some of our Heroes are about to get in trouble that won't affect us." The scientist princess finally spoke. "Others are patrolling. As for our companions, they're close by. Except for a handful, who want to practice their communication skills."

Jewel knit her brow. "Communication skills?"

Flower turned to her again, and for a moment, the blue light receded, the markings dulled and her golden hairs turned blonde again. The princess smiled. "We can understand each other by the grace of the goddess, which also acts as a beacon for our friends to understand each other. Stray too far and they'll get out of range. Some will attempt to look for similarities in our Hylians in case we get separated by circumstances... I should ask Groose what he's thinking of Impa's Gerudo. He feels rather focused."

Jewel shuffled in her place, pensively. "So Ezlo wasn't exaggerating when he called Minish and me magical beacons. I thought he meant our powers. All the heroes have something divine or powerful, as well as us have our bloodline." Jewel crossed her arms and leaned her head on them.

Flower brushed some of Jewel's hair out of her face, pulled the ponytail loose and took some strands to braid. "You didn't know? It seemed rather obvious that we were getting help. How else could we understand each other when we come from different times? We can't even form a proper timeline with how much of our adventures and histories has been lost to time. So many similarities and just as many differences..."

Flower ranted some more, to which Jewel tuned her out and closed her eyes. Her slim fingers thrummed to the rhythm of Flower's voice as the older princess made more braids. She mentioned stuff about their high languages used in philosophy and science, she recounted their first attempts at reading each others' Hylian variations, spoke of how they really should run experiments with their many polyglot members.

The details escaped Jewel, but she was content letting the other princess relax and act more... human. She gave it one or two hours before Flower was back to her restless, semi-divine state. She felt sorry for the older princess, who'd need to hold on for a couple more days.

Once they reached port, the girl was sure that Wild, Sidon and Teba would get her into a boat and far into the sea so she could unwind.

Chapter Text

The humid salty smell of the sea was of the many things that Rusl hadn't been able to enjoy until this adventure. Back then, all he had was Ordon, and that was all he ever needed. He did visit Castle Town from time to time, but compared to his quiet village, the buzz and chaos and cacophony of voices and colors and smells often left him overwhelmed.

The few times he'd experienced new airs had been sparse in-between, with his most recent -and unwelcome- experience had been the Twilight invasion crisis. Oppressive, dark air that made his skin crawl whenever he remembered the sickly chatter and skittering paws of monsters coming in the night for his children. The land corrupted and every step robbing him of his strength as he fought to keep moving forward, to Kakariko, to Castle Town, to the Castle courtyard...

The wind played with his hair, and not for the first time, Rusl had to shake his head and fight the oppressive clouds of his mind.

The children were safe, the shadows vanquished and Link was home. He was allowed to rest. And so, the man looked down at the land before him and breathed in the new, salty air of the sea.

Riding a horse atop a hill with the coast stretching beneath him, Rusl knew that he'd take his family to the sea first thing he returned home. The travel would be long, but with Link's help, anything was possible.

Because, who knew that some salt could be so, refreshing. Rusl couldn't help but compare the bay to Lake Hylia. The lake had been the biggest amount of water in a single place he'd ever seen. Vast and dark, crowned by the long columns of the bridge high above.

Now he understood why the fishermen and sailors that came by considered it a playground to relax.

Through the land arms encasing the bay, there was nothing but blue. The thinnest, faintest line divided the blue of the skies from the blue of the waters, so far and so enormous, he simply gaped.

The city outstretched through the bay as if embracing the blue and green waters and the white foam running faster than any horse, with sea birds honking and calling high above and among the fishing boats and ships. The sun played on the surface like excited children in the summer rain, splashing and rolling. A city had never seen so thriving.

A collection of turrets sprang from within the buildings, forming a vague ring around the more orderly section closer to the water, while the outer buildings showed a chaotic yet agreeable arrangement as a testament of how it had grown beyond it's confines in time.

Would Hyrule ever thrive like this? Under clear skies to wash away the last remnants of the Twilight?

He breathed in the salt as the caravan descended the hill towards the plains. It would take them a while to reach the city proper given the distance, time in which he nudged his horse closer to Linebeck and Arryl.

The girl reminded him of Beth, and it always brought a smile to his face. Just a couple more weeks at best, and he'd be back to Uli, Colin and his baby girl Syra.

Reaching the city was easy. Finding a place to park their caravan was more difficult. Rusl slumped on his saddle with a defeated sigh as he observed Legend, Wild and Time bickering with a guard for directions.

The magical range in the Heroes that allowed the group to understand each other didn't extend to anyone native to this world... time... land.

The man shook his head.

"What is it?" Asked Linebeck, arms wrapped tightly around Arryl, that whipped her head around to take in the sights of the tall rock buildings and arches, colorful banners and te varied collection of people walking by.

"Just thinking about the kids." Rusl pointed at the Heroes with his chin. Wild was mouthing something, Time crossed his arms and tilted his head. "We're lucky they speak so many languages."

Linebeck chuckled. "Just our luck to land in a place with a Hylian nobody speaks."

Rusl nodded in agreement. Nearby, Epona kicked the cobblestone street impatiently, and Spirit approached to soothe her.

The guard meanwhile was making wide signals, Legend threw a string of words, and Time flicked his forehead. They repeated some words, and the guard finally seemed to understand. They exchanged some more words, and the three Heroes returned to the group.

Rusl sat straighter in attention. Legend climbed up the closest cart and pointed them towards a side street. The caravan moved as one down a slopping street and through traffic towards a wide road with open buildings like barns, some filled with carts and chariots and farmhands or stable boys shouting hurriedly at each other while loading or storing away the vehicles. In others, the boys lounged atop crates or played cards with some occasional movement.

They took the caravan into one of the least crowded barns and descended. Rusl had to remind himself of the city protocol and moved out of the way for the boys to work unloading the carts. A poor boy tried to take the reins off Time's Epona. The mare almost bit his hand, and the blond Hero had to come take care of his mount.

The Loftwings settled just fine, with Groose's perching on one of the wooden beams supporting the ceiling. Rusl made sure to not stand under the giant bird.

Tetra slapped his back. Black surveyed from afar and glaring to anyone that came too close to the group. Hylia smiled while clinging to Sky's side as the kid limped to the side. Four pulled one of the stable boys aside to play charades as he tried to give instructions for taking care of the horses.

At some point Queen stood on a crate in Sheikah clothes and clapped her hands to call attention.

In a second everybody settled and the only sounds came from the other clients at the barn, their chirping and barking animals and a farmhand calling another.

"Because it's been a while since our last trip into a city." Queen exclaimed with a commanding voice. "Legend, Time, World, Sheik and I have made groups. Group 1 will be led by World to search for inns, bathhouses and laundries."

Many kids immediately shot their hands up enthusiastically. Legend grimaced and Time rolled his eyes.

"Group 2...!" Exclaimed the taller Hero and the group quieted down once more. "Will go to the market. Sheik will lead them from afar so you don't get lost."

Legend cleared his throat. "And group 3 will go to the port to look at ships. You'll go with Lineb-"

"Sorry, mate. Can't do!" Linebeck chimed in.

The short pink-haired Hero looked at him and scowled." You can't? You who know the most about ships?"

"Hey! I know me vessels too!" Said Wind.

"Why don't I lead them?" Tetra waved her hand.

Time raised an eyebrow. "We're trying to keep order here. Tetra, thank you, but you're too young to manage 12 people by yourself."

The pirate girl crossed her arms tightly, and winked. "You know me not, landlubber."

Linebeck parted through their small crowd to pat the girl's head. "Our pirate queen has as much experience leading as any of you fancy adults. You think crews are docile?"

Some of the Heroes thought about it, many princesses exchanged glances and shrugged. Rusl had no idea about boats and ports, much less about what Group 3 would have to do to "look for a ship".

Someone elbowed Rusl's side, he jumped and turned. It was Impa, Sheik's and Time's guardian; she pointed at some kids with her chin. Wind, Tetra and Arryl. "They should go, they know far more than any of us."

Rusl nodded. "Yes, I've lived in a village by the Lost Woods my whole life, and I've only ever visited Castle Town a handful of times. I'm not someone that Icould join the third group."

Four called World's attention and whispered to him. The tall Hero then turned to his fellow Heroes.

Time sighed. "Alright, Linebeck. Now, everybody start forming groups."

The three groups consisted of 4 Heroes, 4 princesses and 4 companions to keep it balanced. Rusl tagged alongside Linebeck at the back of the market group.

As Sheik said, she ran through the rooftops and balconies ahead of the group, stopping every so often to signal them. And Rusl was grateful for it, as the main street was bustling with activity.

Wild and Light passed by, and he instinctually grabbed the shorter Hero's arm. "Hey, where you going, kid?"

The boy gave him a wide smile that sent shivers through Rusl. The kid winked. "Just to make some quick money- legal! Of course."

Rusl glanced at Light. The taller boy shook his head vehemently. "We'll rendezvous at five where Sheik said."

The man let go, albeit reluctantly, and sagged as he watched the pair disappear in the crowd.

"Should we be worried?" He asked out loud.

Linebeck nudged his shoulder with a smile. "Only if you think they'll burn something down."

"They do have a... worrying fascination with fire, I'll say."

The sailor chuckled, patted his back and nudged him forward. They had few things to buy, yet each had something to do.

Both knew the world better than the princesses, yet the pirate? Sailor? The seafarer knew the port life much better than him, and so they wound through stalls and narrow passages in search for a good sale.

Pink led them into a sewing shop and was about to buy a set of needles before Rusl stepped in and made signs to the saleswoman.

Despite them understanding each other, the magical translation didn't extend to the people of this land, but Rusl had enough experience fighting with overrated salesmen. All he had to do was to keep pushing the same amount of rupees and screaming a number in disappointment until the woman gave in.

"No, it's 10." Rusl lifted all fingers at the saleswoman, that scowled at him and pointed at the sign. 17 rupees for an average sized mackerel. The woman spoke in unintelligible Hylian, and Rusl blew through his nose.

A hand pushed him lightly, and Linebeck stepped forward with a half smile. "Leave this to me, rancher." The sailor cleared his throat and spoke in... honestly, Rusl had no idea what language was being spoken, but it wasn't Hylian nor something the salesman understood.

He glanced at the rooftops for a moment, until he caught sight of a ninja-clad figure, and nodded. A princess was near, so Linebeck was purposefully speaking a non-Hylian tongue. But progress was progress, and in the end they got away with a bag of 12 rupee mackerels.

"What was that? I know it wasn't Hylian, because Sheik is nearby."

"Mhh? 閩南語 (Bân-lâm-gí) [1], the language of the sea."

"I thought everybody spoke Hylian in other worlds too?"

The sailor shrugged and snickered. "There are small variations from island to island not counting Rito or Goron. So, we have a language that all races and islands speak."

Rusl hummed as they made their way through a crowd in the middle of the street. So similar to Castle Town, so much people.

They reached an open plaza and the older man could finally breathe. He turned to Linebeck. "I've never heard of such thing. Don't you ever get confused? How do you manage?"

The sailor frowned and shook his head. "δεύτερον λαλέω ?"(Deúteron laléo?) [2]

Rusl blinked. "Sorry, is that other of your lan-" Linebeck cut him halfway, gripping his shoulders and squinting.

The sailor spoke slowly. "δεῖ σύ δεύτερον λαλέω οὗτος." (Dei shú deúteron laléo oútos) [3]

When the Ordonian didn't answer, he tried one more in a different cadence and pitch, the one he'd used previously. "請閣講一擺" (Chhiáⁿ koh-kóng chi̍t-pá) [4]

Rusl's face fell. "I- I don't get it." He quickly turned around to scan the rooftops, as if it would magically appear a princess or hero. Nothing. Linebeck murmured a string of expressions he was sure were curses.

"Okay, Linebeck." The man stopped his mutters to look up. Rusl made sure to speak slowly and sign as best as he could. "We, have to look, for Link. Link. Zelda. Yes?"

Linebeck scoffed. "一碗田螺，九碗湯" (Jit wanh tsan lei, gao wanh teng) [5]

"Yes, that. Now come." Rusl turned to the streets, ignoring the looks he was getting. "Link? Time! Light!"

Next to him, Linebeck shouted what he assumed were the kids' names in his own Hylian. "Ανεμο! Αγριο!" (Anemo! Agrio!) [6]

They walked into a small plaza in a essential area, with benches surrounding a small circular fountain, a couple of trees, and a large building with a clock atop it's tower.

"你想要我們分開來，這樣可以覆蓋更多區域嗎?" (Transcription not found, help) [7]

Rusl looked up, confused. Linebeck had his arms crossed over his chest, curious, then got annoyed and facepalmed.

The sailor placed a hand in Rusl's shoulder. He looked unamused and drawled. "Qalbi. Fil-verità, inti titżaq fl-ilma." [8] Rusl frowned at the new phrase.

"What does tha- no, forget it."

The Ordonian cleared his throat and pointed at the clock, it marked 10:53. "See the clock?" He pointed intently. "We split up. You go there, I go there." He made a walking motion with his hands. "We come back. At 12, noon."

Linebeck clicked his tongue and threw his arms in defeat. He turned his back to Rusl and yelled again down the streets. "Kόκκινα, Τέσσερες, Μεσα!" (Kokkina, Tésserei, Mesa!) [9]

Rusl went his own way down the streets, through winding alleyways and into a throng of people heading uptown.

He called for every Link and for every Zelda, but it appeared he was lost. After some time he stopped by a bookstore and leaned on the shade with arms crossed. All he could do now was listen to the multitude, quietly leaning in the shade and brushing sweat off his forehead.

The Hylians mostly spoke that strange convulted language. A couple of tall tan women -Gerudo, spoke their own swift language.

There were also Zora, but their language with excess vowels was still different from Sidon's. Some Rito flew up in the sky, probably messengers, though Teba had said he couldn't make heads or tails of what they said.

So far they'd survived off playing charades and relying on Flower, Wild and Legend, the most polyglot characters in the group.

"οὐκ ἐκπειράομαι ἐμοῦ." (Oúk ékpeiráomai émoú) [10]. Rusl instantly perked up as he heard the sailor's voice down the street. He plunged into the throng towards the sound.

He almost collapsed against the crepe stall where Linebeck was bickering with a young woman. Before he could say anything, a little girl intervened and chattered something, calming down the saleswoman. Linebeck rolled his eyes with a clearly sarcastic drawl. "αη, μακάριος η παιδίου τὴν ἐλεήμων." (Ah, makários h paidíou thn éléhmon) [11]

The man turned to Rusl with a raised eyebrow. "καί?" [12] All the farmer could do was shake his head. Linebeck sagged, took him by the shoulder and dragged him away from the stalls.

"Linebeck?" The sailor grunted in acknowledgement. "Let's walk. Go there." He pointed at a shining building up the street with walls made of colored glass reflecting sunlight in all directions. He hadn't noticed it before, but now that he moved, it was impossible to miss. "Link loves shiny things."

Linebeck hummed and nodded.

The building was two blocks away yet they had no problem reaching it thanks to Linebeck, who twisted and turned his way around shoppers, carts and children yelling prizes and pushing cheap jewelry towards them.

They finally reached the entrance of the building and Rusl gasped. Not even the best markets in his Castle Town could compare to this.

The frame was of red wood carved into lace-like flowery designs painted with gold and silver. The columns were serpentine dragons and the window frames were dancing fairies. Yet these designs were only support to the colored glass windows designed into intricate figures like the scales of dragonfly wings held in place by wires is green metal.

Each window shone with a sort of translucent dust when sunlight hit it, covering the well-worn floorboards and his skin and clothes in a myriad of colors.

The open doors were like a portal into a magic realm where more color awaited them. Rusl was held firmly in place by wonder. Wonder and awe at the craftsmanship that took to transform some glass into art pieces like these. He could glance at sculptures, frames and many other things inside the store.

Link could wait a little...

A hand pulled him away from the colors and towards the glaring and dull sunlight.

"是你的錯 [13]. I told you to stick around the food stalls but noooo-"

"Line!" Rusl grabbed the other man by the shoulders and shook him lightly, relieved. All wonder about the glass store rushed to the back of his mind. "I understand you!"

Linebeck smiled widely and looked around at the rooftops. "I see no one. Must be a kid on the streets."

"Then we better move. It's well past noon and we should go to the meeting point." Rusl was met with a disappointed face. "What?"

"Rusl, my friend. We'll meet at the port at 5, not 1. What do you want us to do for another four hours without..."

The slim man stopped in his tracks to tilt his head and hummed, following a faint rhythm into a small plaza with Rusl closely behind. He was marginally familiar with the sound -the music, when some of the Heroes were showing off their instruments, or they joined a traveler of this land. He couldn't name the instrument to save his life, but he knew it was bells, and a drum.

The pair stopped in a small crowd surrounding a dancing lady in bright blue clothes shaking a ring of bells. And next to her, Light played the drum to the rhythm of the girl's feet. She twirled and rang her bells, did a flourish and finished.

The crowd applauded, and Rusl with them. Light stood up next to the girl and bowed with her. She grabbed a at discarded to the side and passed it around. Rupees jingled inside.

"I thought he's he with Wild." Rusl mused. "I think he would've wanted to see this... Oh, no, sorry." He shook his head when the girl approached. She tilted her head, ad chuckled.

Rusl froze in place.

The Hero of the Wilds took off his veil and crossed his arms smugly with a little blink. "Told you Light and I would get some rupees."

Rusl gaped. Linebeck let out a shrill laugh and patter the boy in the back, and commented something about looks, or music, or something. Whatever it was fell of deaf ears as Rusl turned to look at Light.

The taller young man gave him the faintest smile and shook his head. Rusl could only close his eyes and crumble in misery.

After he was heaved up and given enough time to process what was going on he glared at Wild with his natural fatherly demeanor reserved only for badly behaved children. He saw scared recognition in the boy's eyes.

"We've been going in circles around this place... FOR THREE HOURS-"

As apology for leaving the group behind, Light and Wild accepted to join them back in the glass store at Rusl's petition. He was a practical man, but he also had eyes and there was nothing preventing him from admiring the pieces exhibited inside the store and in the backyard.

Whale sculptures made of small mirrors combined with colored beads, books adorned with gemstone-like glass marbles composing the titles, headdresses and belts studded with iron rectangles each holding a different piece of blue and yellow glass.

The owner, a heron-like Rito, proudly showed them around offering exorbitant prizes for things that Rusl could easily find simpler and cheaper substitutes for. That however, wouldn't stop Wild from being physically restrained and dragged away from a collection of scarves with lavender glass spheres hanging from the edges. Light too had to be pulled away from a mosaic of multicolored blown glass figurines in spite of his protests that he would be able to get anything lower than 2000 the set.

"Yeah... Not happening, scallywag."

Rusl stared at the wind chimes for a long time. The kids back home would go collect shiny rocks from the stream, not so different from some of these.

"Hey, Rusl." Wild called over his shoulder. "You wanna buy anything? It's on me."

Rusl smiled back. "No, thank you. I already have gifts for my family." He was a practical man, why buy magical rings when Legend and Minish could make their own? Or why buy a Triforce-shaped paperweight when a book or glass was enough?

The teen shrugged and paid for his, Light's, and Linebeck's souvenirs, which were promptly put away in the Pad.

By the time they left the store, the streets had mostly cleared out, and whoever remained was resting in the shade or walking calmly.

Wild groaned. "Gee. I'm so hungry, I could eat an oct-" Linebeck quickly shoved a pear from a nearby stall in his mouth, that the teen happily gulped down, seeds and everything.

Rusl gave him a wide berth as they made their way to another plaza, where they finally sat down around the fountain to rest. Only then Rusl noted how hungry he was, and turned to glance at Light over his shoulder.

"Hey, does Wild still have some of those cakes?"

"I do!" The blonde kid opened his Pad to conjure a small fruit cake bar and passed it down.

The man ate the cake without batting an eye. Yes, fresh as ever. They sat in comfortable silence for a while, giving the man more time to muse about their little adventure. He glanced at Wild, now dressed in plain Hylian clothes with loose hair moving with the soft breeze. Next to him, Light drummed on his leg with an ocasional mutter. Rusl debated for a moment before leaning on his knees.

"So, Light. Wild. You guys speak more than just Hylian, right?"

The taller Hero squinted, clearly suspicious. "...yeah? What of it?"

Rusl shrugged and finished his cake in a single bite. "We don't usually get lost, but today we did. So, in the off chance we split from the main group again..."

"No problem!" Linebeck interjected with a friendly push of his shoulder. "Just write down a list of words in every language you know, I'll do the same, and we move from there!"

That..."It wouldn't work." Light leaned forward with a purple glean in his eyes. "Not only are our Hylians' writing systems a nightmare to compare, but other languages aded to the mix? There's a reason we made a sort of common language for us to write in."

"...and even then!" Wild said. "We only write the most basic things. Or do you want me to list you all the Goron idioms I butcher on a daily basis?" The teen shook his head and spit some of his own hair. "I mean, I use so many expressions badly translated to Hylian that is a miracle anybody here understands me."

Rusl chuckled and shook his head. Linebeck went on to suggest something about the gods that prompted the teen to squeak indignantly. Well, they still had plenty of time to find the others before they had to head for the meeting spot. In the meantime, Rusl didn't mind how the conversation was taking on a tangent about the best music. Wild had at some point pulled out a pair of maracas, Linebeck scoffed and tore them from his grasp. Light glanced at Rusl and winked. His eyes took on a green glean as he did so.

Such a strange group of people to travel with. And Rusl wouldn't have it any other wa-

"Damn you, you featherless duster! I'll make you eat those words!" Wild threw himself at the sailor. For a moment Rusl imagined it was Twilight wrestling with an unruly goat and smiled. Children, all of them, especially if leaving the adults stranded in the big city was going to be common. His words would be useless, but who needed language to be understood, anyway. Wild kept cursing the sailor as they rolled away with Linebeck doing all he could to keep the maracas to himself. Light sighed but remained firmly in place by Rusl's side with a soft smile. Yes, he didn't need to understand everything, just know the kids were comfortable around them enough to be so chaotic.

[1]. Taiwanese. Wind's lingua franca (not Hylian) in this version

[2]. Speak again?

[3]. You have to speak a second time. (It's necessary you say this a second time). Sorry, I used an online Bible to make do. My knowledge of even modern Greek is zero TnT

[4]. Please say that again.

[5]. One bowl of snail, nine bowls of rice. Idiom: not enough, trying to make do with too little, something lackluster.

[6]. Anemo= Wind. Agrio= Wild. Since internet wouldn't tell me the games' names in Greek, I used Translate and Wikipedia TnT

[7]. Do you want us to split up to cover more ground? Help. I used a standard phrase with no pirate-y format. Also, couldn't find a page that gave me the transcription ToT

[8]. Sweetie. Truly, you're splashing in the water. Idiom: getting nowhere. Lang of the gods, why not.

[9]. Kókkina= Red. Tésserei= Four. Mesa= Midna, following the logic of Mid-night.

[10]. You shall not tempt me/Don't tempt me. Again, I'm picking words from the New Testament. Help.

[11].  Ah, blessed be the merciful child. Sarcastic as it gets.

[12]. And?

[13]. It's your fault.

The struggle is real.

Chapter Text

When people split, Sidon knew automatically that he wouldn't be able to communicate with anyone, so he stuck to Legend's side like glue.

The short grumpy Hero paid him no mind as they moved swiftly through the streets picking items from his list at random stores. Sidon was eager to help carry stuff such as three cutlasses, five notebooks, fish bait, a necklace, some rings, a box of sweets, a set of carpenter tools and more. Some things made sense, while others escaped him.

The Zora trusted all Links to do a good job in taking care of the group, especially those like World, Legend and Time, the unofficial leaders.

"Is that all?" He asked. Legend kept his eyes fixed on his list and brushed some wavy pink bangs off his face.

"Yes, for now." He didn't elaborate any further, and Sidon let him be. It did no good to open seashells before their due time.

The Zora king would hear people chattering in their strange Hylian all around them, with a couple calling to him in an archaic version of his own language he barely understood. Yet no matter the street salesmen, Legend moved directly where they needed to.

If he ever stopped, it was to compare prices and analyze some jewelry. He had a thing for shiny things, not very different from Sidon's own Link.

Sidon leaned forward just in time to hear the saleswoman, a yellow lion fish Zora back down. "Hindi ako interesado. Ako ay mayroong nobyo."[1]

Legend faltered and tilted his head before he signaled the rings again. "Ity."[2]

The Zora girl raised her hand again, repeating her words. All Sidon understood was "nobyo" and "ena". The woman pointed at her collar and Legend pointed at the ring in exhibition.

Legend was losing his patience. "Azonao ve ilay tiako ho tenenina? Ity. Hoatrinona kay izao izany?"[3]

Sidon pressed his lips. He should intervene. "Hmm, excuse me?"" (Maafka saya) He said in Zora. It was far-fetched, but he held hope that at least their languages would have enough in common to help. "He wants to buy this ring." (Saya nak beli cincin ni)

The Zora woman regarded him with a cautious expression. "Buy-ee reeng?"" (Bilhin singing?)

He nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, please!" (Ya tolong!) The woman stared in confusion.

"Natutulog?""[4] And made a sign of sleeping. The Zora stared at each other for a moment before Sidon backed down, smiling sheepishly.

"I suppose that's as far as I go for today. We want to buy the ring." He repeated, since that was what the Zora woman understood.

Then, a tall Hylian man appeared and dismissed the Zora lady. He smiled sheepishly and pointed at the ring Legend wanted to buy. The Hero sighed and nodded. They left the stall not five minutes later with a handful of jewelry, while the apparent owner apologized profusely for the Zora girl's behavior. From what little Sidon understood, she wasn't an employee, but a relative that was looking after the stall while the owner went out. It somewhat explained why she didn't want to sell them anything.

Legend stopped and turned to him. "She was rather airheaded. Refusing to sell jewelry from a jewelry stand? Mmh. Your language sounds like hers."

The Zora tilted his head. "You think so?" He chuckled and shook his head. "I wish, but this is nowhere near my time, and the language is different... Even though some words are vaguely familiar, but not enough to understand one another."

The small Link hummed and resumed their shopping trip until 5, when they turned to the pre-established meeting point.

Minish waved his hand to greet them as they approached the reunion point in one big plaza near the cart's parking barn, atop a small hill overlooking the ocean. All Links were accounted for, as well as their Zeldas. The Sheikah appeared every so often to keep peace before vanishing again.

He scooted close to the kid and knelt by him. "So, what type of inn did you find?"

"A big modern one. Three rooms for ten people each. Is by one of those big pubs, and World already reserved it for dinner and tomorrow's breakfast. The owner is also well informed of the merchants coming and going. We should be able to find a boat to take us to the island in two or three days."

Sidon smiled and patted the kid's head. "I knew you could do it. You Heroes truly have a gift to find all we could need."

World gave some instructions before they all moved as one. With his height, Sidon quickly saw where they were going and notified Minish. "We're going down that street, probably to the pub you mentioned."

The short teen beamed and called his companions while Sidon began to move.

He was royalty, handsome and well-liked, and as such, the Zora king was used to people looking. Sidon was acutely aware that any Zora would notice his regalia, had he been wearing it. The jewelry was hidden in one of the chests, protected by unknown magic from Hyrule's and Legend's time.

When they reached the establishment, World and Sheik let them in little by little, while employees rushed to prepare tables for them.

Sidon was assigned to one of the outer tables with Sky, Pink, Wild and Flower. The two girls sat together, with Wild on his Zelda's other side. Sidon leaned in towards the brunette. "So, Pink. About those bathhouses...?"

"We're not that dirty!" Wild protested, only to be swiftly smacked by Flower.

"Yes you are." The princess glared at him with such intensity that the Zora's scales prickled. He sneaked a glance at the others. Pink nodded in agreement and Sky quietly sniffed his tunic with a frown. Only Wild seemed to detect the pressure in the way his shoulders tensed and his nails drummed nervously.

Sky hummed. "And why pray, are you the only one blessed with perpetual clean skin? Flower?"

"You know why." The blonde crossed her arms with a dignified huff. When her attention turned away from Wild, both him and Sidon relaxed, and exchanged a look. Wild passed a finger over his right hand, where Sidon's sage abilities sat. I still think it's unfair how only we get affected by her.

Sidon chuckled and patted Sky's head. "If only we were all incarnated gods, no?" He raised an eyebrow towards Wild. Would you really call it unfair when we got to witness a miracle?

Sky threw his arms in the air. "Hylia- my Zelda is THE Goddess incarnated, and she very much needs to bath like the rest of us. What type of goddess are you even, Flower?" Wild, on his part, sighed and let his head hit the table.

A waiter arrived hastily, placing a large jar and glasses before darting away. Soon, Sidon had a large plate of seafood and vegetables in front of him.

He ate quietly, doing his best to take small bites. And still, Pink and Sky made a point to not look in his direction when he ripped chunks off his meat. They also avoided looking at Wild, that ate just like a Zora.

Flower sighed and slapped her Link's head with her spoon. "You're a Hylian. Act like one."

"You parsley, you zucchini." He mumbled in return."[5] The princess slapped him again.

Sky couldn't help but snort. He immediately choked on his meat and Sidon had to give him a hefty slap on the back.

The Hero coughed and lay on the table miserably, barely lifting a trembling thumbs up. "Th- th'kyu..."

"No problem at all!" Sidon smiled.

Pink tilted her head as she pushed some fish through her plate. "I believe he's not yet used to seafood. And neither am I..."

"Wasn't your Hyrule Castle near the sea?" Flower asked with that gleam of curiosity in her eyes. Wild took advantage to wink at Sidon and shove a whole fish down, spines and everything.

Sidon squinted. He was gonna choke.

Meanwhile, Pink looked down at the table. "Not exactly, and you have seen the state of the surface water. We cannot fish anything edible."

Flower's shoulders slumped and she leaned back on her seat. But Sidon stared. "I'm afraid I've never been to your Hyrule, your Highness. If I may...?"

The brunette averted his eyes nervously. She gingerly took a strand of hair and twirled it. "I don't know if Wild or Hyrule have spoken about my lands... I believe it's common knowledge that the curse had taken ahold of them?"

The king nodded. Wild had compared Hyrule's world to their own right after the Calamity. Sidon had been too young back then, but he remembered the stories.

Pink took a deep breath. "You haven't seen our Zora, the river Zora, am I right? Well, they suffer from the poisoned waters, unable to communicate with us despite our best efforts. They're hostile and cannot be reasoned with... I personally suspect they have no semblance of civilization left, if my Link's and World's theories about their timeline are to be believed."

That... would explain the brunet Hero's first reaction to Sidon. His defensiveness, the long days it took to pry a word out of the kid, his reluctance to let go of his sword pommel.

Sidon dug a nail into the wooden table following the pattern. "I see. If the curse could affect an entire civilization, what would it mean for anything coming out of the water."

"We can't risk catching anything. Alive or dead." The princess looked up at Sky, that by now had recuperated.

The Hero picked at his fish, meticulously extracting spines off it. He was still slow.

"Sky?" The boy hummed distracted in Sidon's direction. "Are you having trouble?"

The Hero shook his head noncommittally, focused as he was. The Zora smiled and turned back to his own meal. He didn't need worry about spines and ground the fish flimsy bones with his shark teeth.

After dinner they followed the cobblestone path to a big inn with the back right next to the river. World had come near Sidon to point this out. "Your room is directly connected to the river by a trapdoor. This makes the place popular among Zora."

The king couldn't help the wide smile all the way into the inn and the bedroom. It was a spacious room with two windows, a simple yet wide wardrobe, a mirror and small table with a ceramic bowl of water; a screen folded in the corner, and most importantly, two beds facing each other, so big even Sidon could lay splayed on one with room to wiggle about. He checked. It was firm, with minimal creaking when he turned, and the sheets were soft on his scales. "I declare this bed worthy of royalty!" He announced to the small group.

Legend dropped head-first on the opposite bed, all the while grumbling miserably to himself. Sidon pitied him for a moment; it couldn't be easy to accommodate 36 people, no matter how many times he and the others did it. They'd made sure to place 4 Links, 4 princesses and 2 companions per room, since each room could only hold 10 people. The remaining 6 had to be moved around, and as far as Sidon knew, those lucky people had to pay an extra fee to be in the rooms, even if they wouldn't really use the beds.

Bluebird leaned over her Link. "So, sleeping arrangements...?" Legend simply waved her off.

Red, who had come with her hero, Light, rolled her eyes and stood in the center of the room. "Alright! Let's see how we're going to do this. Wild, Minish, Legend and Light, you'll be sleeping together because I'm not being kicked in the ribs in the dead of the night." Wild instinctively ducked his head in shame. "As for us girls, Jewel, Bluebird and I are sleeping on the other side. Granny and Sidon, you go with us, and that's 5 people."

The ginger focused then on the three remaining people. Teba, Flower, and Ezlo sitting on the blonde's shoulder. "The Rito sleeps standing, so there's no problem there. Ezlo, you're small enough to sleep in your kid's shoulder." Minish cheered. "And Flower..."

The blonde raised a single hand. A blue sparkle rippled on her eyes, and her hair shook with a subtle golden sheen when she shook her head. "I have no need for sleep."

Sidon tilted his head towards Red. "I don't think we'll fit if I sleep on your side." If the placing was correct, he'd be cramped with 4 other people, while the Links slept with room to spare. The heroes and princesses frowned and looked at each other.

Only then, Legend rose his head. "Red, with us."

She turned with a flat look that the pink-haired hero returned with equal disdain. "...why?"

"I want to talk to you about logistics. Light, can I borrow your girlfri-?"

"Shut up. Red, slap him in the face for me." The princess didn't need be told a second time to take off her glove and slap the shorter hero with it. The teen cried and pushed her. Instead of retaliating, Red glared and turned to Flower. "Smite him." The blonde regarded the trio with an empty stare, and that was the end of it.

They still had an hour or two before sundown, which many took advantage of to go to a bathhouse.

Again, their throng of teens, kids and adults had to be divided into smaller groups, each venturing out into the city. Sidon currently sat on a waiting room somewhere in the port with Minish and Jewel chatting by his side.

"...but I'd like to stick around for a bit longer." She mentioned with a sigh. Sidon instinctively patted her head to comfort her. The girl was still weak from the blood loss and suffering from cramps.

An employee approached and directed them to a different room. To say it was fancy was putting it mildly.

It was a wide hall with tall glass windows, lined with bathtubs where patrons washed leisurely, either sitting or lying on the edge with tables across or standing by the baths with small bowls of fruit, nuts or other snacks and drinks. Most were covered by screens, that trapped the steam inside or protected the dozing clients from the sun. On the edge, some Rito musicians played a soft tune. It was a sight the Zora wasn't quite used to yet, but it was the norm in this land, at least for the fancier bathhouses.

He was just happy to find a place big enough for him to sit, get cleaned and relax.

What got his attention was the presence of metal bathtubs on the opposite side of the yard, with space for three of four people at a time, and even one big enough for him.

He lay contently his back, with just his head tail and knees popping out of the water. Minish waded around and over him, checking the soaps and scented water bowls on each side of the tub. He'd already buried a knee or elbow on Sidon's belly more than once before an employee rushed in to place a table across the bathtub.

Minish shook his head and grabbed one of the bowls to sniff it. Sidon couldn't recognize the smell for the life of him.

"Cloves." Said the kid as he grabbed one and dropped some water in his blond hair. He massaged his scalp to get the smell in.

On a nearby bath, Jewel crossed her arms over the edge of her wooden tub and reached for pistachios on the table between them.

"Is it okay for a Zora to change waters?"

Sidon twisted to look at the girl with curiosity. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, that we're going to the sea." The girl frowned as she drummed on her tub. "You're a freshwater creature, are you not? Won't it hurt you to get in the water?"

The king leaned his head on the tub's edge. He checked each golden strand of Jewel's hair as she reached once more for a nut before receding into the warmth of her bitter water. From the smell it seemed like it was full of healing extracts.

"It won't hurt, but it'll most likely cause me some discomfort. My wife came from a saltwater community, but she adapted rather quickly to the Domain."

"Oh yes. Lona?"

"Yona."

Sidon sank deeper into the water with a sigh. He missed her dearly. Hopefully, she and father were doing their best at appeasing the Domain in the wake of his disappearance.

A quick jab to his ribs pulled him out of his musings, when Minish climbed over him -again-, to try and reach for a towel. Jewel sighed and jumped off her tub. "That's it, I'm getting out."

"So soon?" The kid asked, and Jewel pressed her lips in a regretful expression as she draped a towel around herself and an employee hurried to empty the tub (how, Sidon hadn't the faintest idea).

She grabbed the bowl of nuts with her. "I can only get a soak. Maybe next time, I'll get a proper bath."

That night, Granny slept enveloped in thick blankets between Sidon and Bluebird, that had Jewel clinging to the healer for dear life. Flower sat on a corner motionless, though Sidon knew she kept a close eye on everybody.

On the other bed, poor Minish and Wild had to scoot over to give the other three some space. Legend, bless his heart, had no tact, and that offended Red, again. Light gave them one long look with bright purple eyes and turned his back on them.

Given what Sidon had been told of their last interaction, he considered that four death threats and two attempts at smothering each other with a pillow was a success. He drifted off to sleep without a single shouting match.

[1]. I'm not interested. I have a boyfriend.

[2]. This.

[3]. Don't you understand? This. How much will it cost?

[4]. Asleep? As someone who knows a handful of languages, I know that by simple fact of sharing some words, two entirely different languages won't automatically be mutually intelligible. Tagalo and Malay are both Polynesian, but one has asian influence while the other has some hefty Spanish dabbed into it.

[5]. Combination of two Turkish idioms. To be parsley (meddlesome). Maydanoz olmak. To give off the taste of zucchini (be boring or bland). Kabak tadi vermek.

Chapter Text

Mortals always reacted to the divine. It was a fact plain and simple as it got.

Some understood it and bowed or fled in panic, other didn't understand and bowed or fled in a panic. Others felt it and tried to rationalize it, turned hostile, froze in place, or fell to their knees.

The reactions were varied, but always the same as animals and humans alike were exposed to immeasurable divinity.

It was easy to forget so after weeks surrounded only by Heroes, princesses and friends well-acquainted with her nature. It was easy to attribute the awe and reverence to the fact that they were 12 princesses moving in a single group at any given time.

But after exploring the city for three days, the blonde one was acutely aware of the effect she held over mortals.

The second day in the city had begun with Bluebird stirring awake before anyone else. She'd quickly checked on Granny, then on Red.

While the princesses spoke, Flower took note in the back of her mind how Impa and Black returned to their bedroom after their night surveillance. Hylia's magic brushed against hers and greeted her with warmth from the other room.

Each and every member of their group had its own magical signature. Some were faint, others loud and bright, some noticed her peering into their consciousnesses while others kept to their morning routines oblivious to her.

Ravio's, World's and Hilda's Lorulean-touched essences prickled away from her, two out of shyness, other out of annoyance. Hyrule's fairy magic rang like a bell. Ezlo's and Minish' magics stirred and the pair glanced briefly at her. Time's divine-touched wrath held up like an impenetrable wall without noticing her. Four's colored soul rippled under her touch, while Light's self-contained pieces bristled and shied away from her. Midna's and Twilight's rippled like a lake of tar.

Focused as she was on keeping track of the group, she barely noticed a warm, mortal hand brushing her shoulder. It was the magical signature approaching her that made her open her eyes and smile at Wild.

He had a small frown in place. Worry.

She squeezed his hand, and with quick blinking, she returned fully to her mortal condition. "I'm okay. Everybody's accounted for."

"I'll make sure of it!" Legend called from the bed while folding his night clothes.

Red shot him a tired look. Her long red curls fell free without the usual rings.

The blonde rose from her seat and approached her friend. "You're upset."

Red fixed her green eyes on her. "That, rabbit kept spewing nonsense, tearing my ear off until I practically smothered him with a pillow and the only thing stopping me was the thought of Bluebird getting sad. Of course I'm upset. I could've rid the world of this nuisance were it not for the love I have for our friends."

"Love you too!"

"Legend." Flower frowned at him. "Don't rile her up."

The pink-haired hero attempted to frown at her with gray-blue eyes. She held his gaze until he was forced to look away with a roll of his eyes and some unfamiliar string of words, most likely a light-hearted curse in old Labrynnan or Zora.

"What did he do?"

Red's eyes shot poisonous daggers. "Apparently, he wants me to join their cult."

"A leader like them?" The blonde lowered her voice, lest Legend or Light interrupt them. Red pressed her lips together, sighed and dragged her outside the room.

Once out, the taller princess crossed her arms, she really didn't want this. "Let's not kid ourselves, Flower, we're crown princesses, we're meant to lead people. Just... not them. The Heroes, and other princesses."

Flower lowered her eyes for a moment. "Do you know why he's suddenly asking?"

Red dragged a hand through her hair with a long sigh.

"I believe it happened the night before the last raid. Light and I shared tent with Legend. There was a misunderstanding, hurtful words thrown around, I did my best to keep peace between Light, crass as he is, and Hilda, who isn't used to his rough exterior." She dropped her arms in defeat. "I- suppose he, Legend, saw it as a good leading quality, and now is trying to recruit me for damage control." She rubbed her face.

Flower hummed to herself. Legend, Time and World were the main Heroes in charge of leading, as well as Impa and Queen. A trigger-happy closed-off veteran who cared more about his artifacts than people with no concept of reality. A child-man, man-child... of dubious age with the power of the gods as his fingertips. A secretly fashion addict with the amicable disposition of a hinox and eternal nanny of his cheerful lookalike. A probably dead Sheikah leader and Sage, enabler and maybe even executioner of terrible tortures in the name of Sheik. And an invaded queen that'd definitely been dead, if not after lending the power of her Triforce, then when she'd been puppeteered by that devil.

Between the five of them, their people skills were awfully lacking.

And then there was Red, Despite the lack of details, Flower could imagine what a discussion mediated by Red looked like. She wasn't unkind, but neither was she precisely nice. She got things done.

"I suppose it has to do with how you manage people." She mused out loud. "The five of them make sure we know where to go and when, but they themselves don't carry all responsibility." Flower thought of their other companions, the ones that'd been there to join the heroes and princesses in their journeys. "Ravio manages finances, and is a merchant at heart; Wild stores all our extra equipment, luggage and supplies; Impa, Black, Twilight and I are always ready for reconnaissance..."

"Phantom is our best security measure so long as we have armors in hand." Red pursed her lips. "I see what you mean. But I'm not the friendliest princess around here, I made it clear to Legend last night. But still..."

"You must have something he values."

Red closed her eyes with a sigh so pained that the blonde pitied her. It was clear as day Red didn't want to deal with Bluebird's hero.

That afternoon, Flower escorted Bluebird and Ravio to buy their girlie supplies. As their main healer, the other blonde was the most knowledgeable on plants, powders and anything with healing properties. Ravio was there to bargain. And Flower was security.

In the evening she spent her time with Wild, just the two of them, away from the chaos of their companions. It was nice to pretend they were back on Tarrey Town, if only for a few hours.

She was marginally aware of Wild's touch on her ivory skin as he rested his head on her lap. Her fingers moved instinctively through his long hair, following an invisible path carved by long days resting in the sun. She moved to the rhythm of her beating gem and her Hero's breathing, since he breathed for them both.

And as the hours stretched, the princess' mortal mind slowly slipped until nightfall. She waited wide awake, counting the seconds until it was time to leave port, when she'd finally let go and be in her own skin.

They left the inn first thing in the morning, having been given a couple of hours before sailing to explore the port. They went in pairs and trios, Flower joined by Groose and Rusl. People turned their heads, dogs whimpered, cats scurried away and children gawked at her.

She appeared mortal, but the divinity bled out of her like a beacon, a great godly sign of an immortal being under a flimsy guise of humanity.

They passed by a store with blown crystal, sculptures and mirrors, and she checked her reflection. Still human, still a woman, still very normal green eyes. The illusion granted by her half-life was godly in nature, perfect and flawless, it wouldn't fall unless she chose to shed it.

Rusl whispered by her side. "Would you like to take an alternative route?"

The less crowded alleyways, the more suspicious and dangerous streets that most avoided. A respite from the attention her divinity wasn't used to or willing to take. She nodded, and Rusl slipped an arm around her shoulders, guiding her through a shady side street.

The change was immediate. The shining sun snuffed by the tall building wall, the cool salty breeze from the ocean turned damp with forgotten garbage, the air heavy and quiet. To any mortal, such loneliness would've caused its danger sense to flare up. But to trained men like Rusl and Groose, a couple pickpockets were child's play.

Her escort stopped in its tracks and she absentmindedly followed suit, turning her attention to her surroundings. Four, on the other side. The lowly mortals were eyeing her and her escort. She regarded them. Weak mortals, they'd fall in battle if they chose to engage. Flower sighed as she stepped in front of Groose and Rusl who stood some distance behind. The first criminal lunged, and she scowled at him with piercing blue eyes that had seen the land be born and grow beyond recognition. She flashed her fangs, hard as granite and white as her divine pelt. Her skin glowed with divinity pulsing to the rhythm of her stone heart. The blade broke in a thousand shards against her marble skin, and the mortal fell to the ground to cover his face. She regarded him disinterested, and walked by, not gracing him with a second glance. The rest of the gang scurried away like ants.

To Flower, the little ants that crawled and skittered and sparked across the lands far far below unbeknownst to her were of little consequence. So many had come and gone without her taking notice. Why would it be any different now that she walked among them once more? The creature The princess couldn't be bothered by the swift lives of mortals nor their plights, minor and inconsequential as they were. The Alight One Zelda couldn't be harmed in any way that mattered by mortals, much less killed.

Should her body be hurt, her divinity would return to its original shape, the great one high up above the heavens. If it were for her, she'd wait a while maybe a century or two- to return to the world of swift and flickering mortal lives, but she wouldn't put her beloved through that pain again. So, each of the few time her body had been killed, she'd returned to her beloved as fast as her immortal soul could.

They crossed the streets. When had they done so? Right, when they avoided the busy crowd with its loud murmurs, bright shades and whispered cries in the presence of her divine step. She'd dismissed the fact once the lowly mortals had fled in terror from her wrath. The wrath wouldn't come, though. Why bother with mortal specks?

They reached the docks, and the sounds, the colors and the smells came crashing tenfold. Flower tuned out the buzz around her and focused solely on her steps, one after the other. Groose placed a hand between her shoulder blades as silent support. Rusl kept a hand on her shoulder.

Her boots stepped on wooden planks. The glare of the sun reflected on the water bothered her no more than the rats crawling between ships. The suspicious glares of strangers stung as much as the wooden splinters on the thick sole of her boots. The ships and galleons and man-o'wars swaying on the water beside her were as mighty as  the waves crashing on them, as the seagulls hanging on the winds above them, as the sturdy barnacles firmly planted on their undersides.

"We're here." Flower blinked. Groose proudly pointed at the ship they'd be sailing on, with the flickering and swift yet undying souls of three Heroes on deck and two of her godly kin.

She smiled at the ginger. "Have you ever sailed?"

The man stared at the ship with uncertainty. The man whose existence had been defined by the heavens and his feathered half in an endless sea of clouds and goddess light. Of course he's never sailed.

"Can I be honest with you?" He asked. Flower nodded with a warm smile. "I'm afraid of the ocean."

The princess raised an eyebrow. Weren't both the sky and the seas alike? Vast extensions of the sublime where time and distance lost meaning?

"Why would you be afraid of the ocean?" She asked. "It's only water."

Rusl snorted while Groose trembled. "You don't get it, Flower." The ginger answered. "It's, different. Too deep... who knows what could be there! It's too much, even for the Great Groose."

"I agree." Rusl said, on Flower's other side. "Nobody really knows the seas, not even the Zora, from what Link and his brothers have told me. It's simply too big, and the further in you go, the bigger everything is."

Groose turned pale and his pupils trembled. He bled the faintest whiff of dread. "Gods forbid we find a sea serpent, or worse. A kraken."

Kraken. Kin of her soul. Akin in shape and size to her divine being, akin in lowly nature to her half-life. An equal mixture of greatness and simplicity.

She raised both eyebrows, patting the man's hand. "Worry not, Rusl. Tetra said that the island we're going to isn't far away, so I don't think we'll find anything bigger than dolphins."

Groose scratched his head. "What's a dolphin." The princess couldn't help but giggle as they reached the ship.

They walked across the plank and into the deck. Tetra and Wind discussed with the captain, the girl claiming her expertise at sea, the boy agreeing with her, and the skeptical man hired to take them to the island.

Her unnaturally sharp senses caught Twilight above them, climbing the ropes next to Hyrule. The feral hero looked better in his casual clothes, earthy brown and green instead of the chainmail and bright green tunic that marked him as Pink's knight. Huh, how come she hadn't noticed Twilight's agility, with how readily he turned and balanced on the ropes?

Flower looked at the deck again. Sidon passed by with two chests in his arms. Phantom followed behind with a pout, her soul confined inside her mortal body. Flower wagered she wished to stash her body in the lower decks and help around encased in armor.

Phantom's soul. A thing so pure, ripped apart from her body, dead in the mist basic sense of the word. And yet, the girl prevailed. She was a fighter, like Red, Queen, Sheik and Tetra. She was tough as Jewel, Hilda and Little Red. Kind like Pink, Bluebird and Hilda. If the girl could keep ahold of her soul by mastering the separation, then Flower could be strong enough to master her own soul.

Her soul. That fragmented, splintered, spread thin yet whole and strung together by the vastness of gods-touched stone and cold and lightning.

Heroes and princesses slowly poured into the deck while she waited with Groose and Rusl.

They were physically strong and already organized, but Flower still had to ask. "Can we help?"

And Tetra had been clear.  "You landlubbers will only get in the way. Sit and wait."

And so they stayed out of the way. Groose wanted to teach them a strategy game with wooden pieces called "lofter peck", but she didn't really understood the rules. Rusl kept scratching his head, but he grasped the game better than her. "So, you go first when you have red heads."

"It depends on the number." Groose had scattered the pieces atop a barrel. "Heads come before tails, and colors go in order; red, blue, green, yellow. You compare your number of red heads, red tails, blue heads, and so on."

Flower frowned. She was good taking care of the girls' supplies and helping out with her advanced scientific knowledge. She was good organizing, not at keeping track of birds and colors for a strategy game. Or so she liked to think.

But before she could wonder more about it, the rest of their group was aboard, the plank taken away and anchors raised as the captain, first mate and crew prepared to set sail.

Tetra stepped on a barrel and whistled to call them. "Avast ye, you scallywags! We're leaving for the Isle of Misty Tides. Anyone that can row go down so we can leave port. The rest of ye, enjoy the view!"

She stared at the land behind them, the dark outline of the continent where they walked for months, an unknown yet faintly familiar land. Familiar how?

The princess The creature in mortal guise closed her eyes and expanded her awareness up into the clouds and even higher into the heavens, gently tapping the seal between mortal and divine realms. Up there, the younger self roamed unaware, stripped of her memories, lobotomized of her mind. Barely the remnants of will attached to immeasurable divinity. A force of nature rather than a person.

The older self opened her eyes. Skies blue as the crystalized spines on her back, seas vast as her existence, foam white as her pelt, light golden and misty as her mane.

She couldn't pity the younger self in it's simple existence. It had been for the greater good. And because of it, the older self had her memories as well as her immortality. Oh, how long the days felt confined in her small, mortal body.

The steps on the wood behind her were familiar, and rang of home.

Zelda turned around, eyeing Wild over her shoulder, and smiled warmly at him with open arms to envelop him, as he did the same, catching her, holding her for the first and the umpteenth time in his embrace.

"I know what you're thinking." He whispered against her hair. She breathed in his scent, his self and soul, the devotion in his words and his skin.

"I need to stretch for a bit." She answered back. His arms squeezed ever so lovingly and let go.

His blue eyes shone with love, deep as time itself and young as a newborn fawn tethered to its mother. Devoted, ever adoring, willing to break and die and destroy gods for her.

He pressed a hand to her cheek. "Promise to come back soon." She felt his doubt, the almost imperceptible tremble in his voice.

The princess huffed, did he think her so detached of her half-Life as to leave him behind a second, third time?

Her half-life didn't hold feelings or needs of the flesh as it used to. She ate when given the option, slept when circumstances forced her to, dressed and washed as routine to keep track of the days.

But to her beloved and to her own immortal and fragmented soul, his affections were a must, a need so deeply ingrained in her being, her godhood needed the devotion, her ivory flesh needed his touch, her divine blood needed his unyielding spirit, her princess-hood needed his heroic-ness. The cycle deeper, older and greater than even herself dictated so, that the soul of the mortal reincarnated countless times through civilizations past, be inextricably tied to her vastness sprinkled with the ground dust of her mortal soul.

Fragmented yet whole. Broken but repaired. How fitting.

And so, when her beloved Link asked her to return, she, despite the hard rock skin under the illusion and the stone gem beating in her chest, her self no longer a simple one that could fear death and ruin, kissed his lips tenderly. She held him with firm hands, pulling him close as he'd held her mortal guise in the fall after the Demon Dragon"s demise.

The kiss ended too soon, and she spoke. "I promised I'd return to you no matter what, did I not?" He hummed. "All you have to do is call, and I'll answer."

She kissed him once more before parting, plummeting towards the cool waters and ripples parted by the ship's bow.

She'd thrown herself over the rails, falling into the ocean. No fear or dread came, neither relief, surprise or anger. No, the being in mortal guise observed the light filtered through distorted currents and savored the ripples curling all around her.

The illusion granted by her half-life was godly in nature, perfect and flawless, it wouldn't fall unless she chose to shed it. And right now, she wanted to shed it.

Whips of light escaped from her pores, vibrant threads criss-crossing her skin, eyes bleeding eternal existence as her inside swelled with power more and more like a bubble, until it popped.

The explosion was immediate, burning the illusion away, expanding in infinite power under the waves.

Up and up, curling, dancing, floating away towards home, a space in-between. Not all the way into the unreachable heavens, not at the bottom of the skies where mortals roamed. Her half-life cried the urgency of staying close into her flight. Close to the surface, close to her beloved.

Water slipped through her stone scales, salt adhering to her crystalized spines, breeze playing with her golden mane. The dragon flew high, up and up until the boat where her beloved walked was but a speck on the vast blue waters.

His soul sang underneath her, and she sang in response.

Because she cared not for the flickering mortals in their awe at her self, not their prayers or their curses when they witnessed her power, for she was divine and godly, yet a goddess only for the eyes of her beloved.

As she climbed and curled towards the clouds, the creature was marginally aware, in the back of her mind, of the awe-ful eyes on her and the admiration from her companions. Yet she was acutely aware of the adoring look of her other half, the one tethered to her whole, fragmented, vastly otherworldly soul.

Because she knew one truth that prevailed for her entire existence and eons before it.

Mortals always reacted to the divine.

3,680.

Chapter Text

Despite never being on a boat, the amount of people suffering from sea sickness was impressively low. Wind scanned the place once more. Four laid on the floorboards like a wet rag with a face just as sickly colored, with Jewel gripping his hand and murmuring soothing words. Bluebird and Hilda curled against one another, the healer glowing with magic while Hilda growled with eyes closed. Midna had retreated under the moment they sailed. And... that was it.

On the other hand, the Skyloftian trio peered into the sea with awe. Wind had seen the Lanayru Sand Sea only once and had checked Sky's boat. It did not compare to being able to grasp the vastness of the ocean, open sea for miles and miles not limited to the small radius of a magic stone. Hylia and Groose had never been on a boat before, but the three of them managed just fine.

The kid jogged to the trio and poked Groose with an inquisitive look. "How come you're not dead?"

"The Loftwings," Groose had told him, "once you get used to the drop and sway when they rebalance with your weight, nothing else can destabilize you."

Hylia laughed when some sea water sprayed on her.

He supposed it made sense. The kid leaned on the rail and looked at Hylia. The wind played with her long golden blonde hair and yet it never flew on her face or mouth (just one of the many reasons that Tetra kept hers in a tight bun.

"What do you think?" He asked.

The goddess incarnate beamed at him. "It's magnificent... I understand why the Goddess would risk everything to protect the world." She blushed. "I mean, I knew She'd protect the world She loves, I'm... I'm Her, after all. But seeing it with my own eyes..."

She inhaled deeply the salty air and leaned on the feeling of fresh water drops and sun shining upon her.

Wind chuckled and nudged her with his shoulder. "Let's see if you keep thinking that when we have to cross a storm."

"Oh." Hylia tilted her head. "Would they be worse than Skyloft's thunderstorms? I've seen storms from the ground, and they're not very impressive."

Wind raised an eyebrow.

Hylia smiled again and leaned on the railing. "We lived in the sky. Thunder clapped upon us, above, down, all around, the Wrath of the Gods. Rain is so thin down here, always falls from above. In the skies, water clings to you when you cross the clouds. Wind thrashes you like a helpless ragdoll. The air... It's not air as much as electricity and water and raging tornadoes." Hylia sighed. "It fills you with awe and humbles the spirit."

"Humbles it?" Wind asked. The woman spoke of absolute hell like it was admirable.

She raised an eyebrow. "We think ourselves the masters of the skies. Storms are there to remind us we're only mortal, that it's the love of the gods that keep us going. We flourish in the sky by the grace of the gods, not our own wits. I love the skies for their calm and for their rage."

"I see. Storms at sea are vicious. Even a vessel big as this is at the mercy of waves the size of castle walls!"

Hylia humed to herself and looked at the sky, following the seagulls. And up far above them, a golden string of light floated through the clouds following their ship.

"I thought you guys were playing the silent game. Who won?"

Wind's eyebrows raised all the way to his hairlime. "Blow me down! I forgot about it!"

Hylia laughed. She patted his head and ruffled his hair. "I get it, we had a couple of hectic days." She expression soured. "Ravio snores almost as much as Groose."

Wind turned around. Hilda was still curled next to Bluebird. He made his way to the pair and knelt beside the women. Both wore their casual clothes, with pants -he honestly didn't understand why the women insisted on the long skirts, mainland customs, possibly. Blue nodded at him while humming softly their Lullaby. Hilda cracked open an eye and forced a small smile. "Hey, Wind."

"You girls are good?" Hilda made a weak attempt at kicking him. "You know, there are a couple remedies for seasickness you could try, if you're up to it..."

"MhhhhI don't want to mooove." She groaned.

"Oh no, you don't!" Blue crawled away, using Wind and a barrel to stand on shaky legs and pulled her friend's arm. "What do we do?"

Wind pointed at the open sea. "Stay out of the sun and look at the horizon. If you need to throw up, do it. I'll bring you some ginger in the meantime."

He made his way to the aft deck, where Tetra was conversing with the captain. The Gerudo stood with her arms crossed and back turned to port, eyes on the rigging and Legend and Linebeck checking the lines once more. "...in Davy Jones' Locker.  They ought to work a good fortnight on debunking, savvy?"

They'd been lucky the old lady knew an obsolete seafaring language, which so happened to be Wind and Tetra's Goron. How was it possible, nobody knew, and they weren't about to complain.

"Understood, girl." The woman sighed and ran a hand through her bright red hair with white hairs here and there, before she fixed her eyes on Wind and raised her chin. "All hands on deck, boy?"

Wind huffed. Captain Tasnim was tall like Wild's Gerudo, but her disposition was closer to Time's seafarer Gerudo. All Wind knew was that he liked her.

He crossed his arms. "We got three landblubbers 'bout to kick it. Ye won't happen to have any ginger on you?"

The captain raised an eyebrow. "يد واحدة ماتسقفش (Yad Wahed Matsa’fash)[1]. You'll find everything you need below deck."

Wind returned not a minute later, red in the face and eyes downcast. "I, the crew doesn't speak Goron."

The Gerudo captain made an exasperated gesture before following the kid below deck for his supplies. He gave Hilda and Blue their pieces and returned to Tetra's side.

They sat on the railing with their backs to the ocean, so close their legs bumped against each other.

She sighed. "Ye know what they say. Sea, fire and woman, the three evils. Seasickness, what a drag."

"And woman, don't forget the true villain." He added with a chuckle. It earned him a punch in the arm.

"Ye scurvy dog, be serious. You and me, we're old salt. Pirate queen and Hero. Ye keep yer wits about ye or end up like Spirit over there."

He rested his head on her shoulder. "Of course, of course. Wouldn't dream about being something me descendant will eventually learn about, heh."

Tetra leaned on him for a moment. Twilight climbed the riggings with Arryl close behind him. Teba rested near the crow's nest with the assigned guard. A cabin boy was pestering World about his boomerang. All was well.

"Link. Ye think we can really do it? Found a new Hyrule?"

Wind sat straight. "Let's speak mouth to mouth [2]. Yer a natural leader, I can't make me own sister listen to me. And lord have mercy, we're 14! We got time to figure things out."

Tetra huffed and crossed her arms. "I know! I mean, Spirit and Phantom live 100 years in the future. We've seen their land. How do ye build that in 100 years?"

Wind blew through his nose. "I s'ppose that's for future us to figure out, don't ye think?"

The girl chewed her lip. "I guess. They have them railroads, remember those lines we found near New Outset?"

He smiled. "At least we know what those will be for. No need to worry."

"Learning in suffering, lad. We check what demons they seal and polish them rails. That cockiness will get ye marooned."

Wind smiled. "So you do care."

Tetra rolled her eyes and punches him again. She then took his hand. "'course I do, kid. Only ye can keep up with me."

He closed his eyes. It was rare to have a moment like this, so he cherished them dearly.

A recurrent thought sprang in the back of his mind. If Phantom's existence was anything to go by, he and Tetra had plenty of time together ahead of them. He smiled before swatting the thought away.

Later on, when the waters had taken on a deep wine color, Wind made his way below deck to the sleeping section -whose name he couldn't remember for the life of him, where some Links (Light, Twi, Time, Legend, Wild) were discussing with Linebeck, Impa and Groose.

"So." It was Light who spoke. "I had the Gerudo that lived in the Desert of Doubt. Their leader let me in because of the crisis, Gerudo Desert? Never had it as far as I can tell."

Twilight leaned back on his seat. "At least you had some. You, Time, you say you had pirate Gerudo?"

"In Termina."

Wind made his way to the same crate Linebeck was leaning against and climbed it. The man ruffled his hair without looking away from Time and Twilight.

The Ordonian closed his eyes. "...well damn, thanks for the input!"

"I had a couple too." Said Linebeck. "Jolene, she's something else... Mh, I'm looking forward to seeing her again."

Legend raised an eyebrow. "The only Gerudo I know of weren't exactly welcoming." He pointed at Time with his chin. "Twinrova."

The word alone was enough to sour the mood. Time crossed his arms tightly. "Witches."

"Rova." Wild spoke up.

"Excuse me?"

"Rova is the word you're looking for. It means 'mage', at least in my time. 'Twinrova' sounds like a bastardization, I only ever heard the term Pirova, the mage."

Groose clapped once. "That's right! You're the expert on Gerudo here. What's all that about being only women?"

The blonde hero shrugged. "It's what their gods wanted, I guess. They had a field trip the day the Demon Dragon died, though. Riju practically dragged me and Zelda from scholar to scholar."

Twilight sighed. "Ah, yes. Everything returns to that one man, or beast, or whatever. Speaking about it is a seven-headed beast, no thank you."

Wind tilted his head. "Line. How long have ye been going about the same stuff?"

"Today? Just half an hour. We started with the sea, boats, pirates, and it went from there."

"Strange."

"Everything flows, nothing stands still." The man commented. "That's how conversations work..."

"Lanayru was once a coastal land." Groose pointed around. "But Lin- Sky said we might be the first ones chronologically, though nobody else knows the stones. I'll say it's safe to assume that whatever I do in Lanayru Province won't survive till the next hero in line, and so I'm not worrying about legacy or fancy titles and whatnot. Then you also have your own Lanayru." He pointed at Wild. "On the other side of the continent."

"10,000 years is a long time to rename places."

"Right, whatever. I was already planning on using the timeshift stones for agriculture, until we figure out how to grow things without them... That talk with you was eye opening."

Wind looked around. The heroes exchanged glances with one another. A small wiggle, a silent huff, frowning...

"Line?"

"Hush."

"Speak to me." He asked in their lingua franca, Bân lâm gí.

Linebeck twirled his mustache before answering in the same language. "Your friends know a race of 'thieves from the desert' in the same place your redhead friend over here wants to establish his own land. You can't be that clueless, boy."

Wind frowned. "Yes. But he doesn't know the details, and neither do we just because three people here talk freely to them. What does it have to do with anything? People we know move around, and the next in the timeline tells you what happened then. Spirit is a walking proof I don't have to worry about G- Him again, but there are still demons to kill."

The man groaned softly, no longer listening to Groose as he tried to pry information out of the Links. "I believe your brothers are worried about telling him more about this plan of founding a land of his own. All we know is that these Gerudo could be his legacy. A people whose only male happens to be the bane of their land. From what I gather, this majorly desert people haven't had the best relations with your kingdom."

Wind's gut twisted uncomfortably. The evidence was there, but nobody wanted to address it directly once they connected the dots. It had all begun when they first mentioned the Gerudo in front of Sky. Wild had said only good things, that made Time whirl in place. Their first discussion on other races. Wind had tuned it out until he heard the name Ganondorf.

Sky had gone quiet after that conversation. Then they met Groose and it all made sense.

Be the first in line, found Grooseland (Wind genuinely expected it was a joke), and a thousand years later you have a race of warrior women who births one male per century. One that, in many Links' experience, was anything but agreeable.

Of course they avoided discussing Gerudo like the plague. Or the Triforce holders for that matter, then moment World began connecting the dots to predict when they got which piece in each era.

And they kept dancing around the subject. Courage for the Hero, Wisdom for the Princess, Power... stolen.

"Is it bad I pray for something to happen and interrupt this?" He asked, and Linebeck shot him a stern look.

In the meantime, the original conversation carried on. Impa pursed her lips. "I'd rather not dwell on such matters, Time. There's a chance we'll need to search Zora Domain and Rito Village. Why shouldn't we then move on to Gerudo Desert?"

Wild perked. "Flower's back."

On cue, the floorboards above them groaned and the whole thing tilted. The hero zipped out of the room with Wind hot on his heels. He'd never seen Flower's dragon form up close.

By the time they reached the deck, there was nothing but a ball of light, fading into the figure of a young woman, Flower. As the light went out the world darkened, and only then Wind noticed the black clouds and the rumbling of brewing storm. The frigid air hit the boat and sprinkled icy water on him. Captain Tasnim shouted orders to and fro in her own language.

Flower would have to wait.

Wind called her. "Captain?"

"Stretch your legs as far as your blanket extends. You below deck are gone- you going. اغلق ذلك الشراع!" (Aighlaq dhalik alshiraei!) She bellowed to a younger Gerudo that ran up the mast and calling back with "Nam ya katbin" or something similar.

And so, Wind did as instructed and exiled himself with the other Heroes and princesses. Arryl sat between his legs with a dramatic sigh. "You're not helping?"

"Can't do." He said. "Cap'n may speak our Goron to us, but right now she's runnin' around making sure we don't sink."

It must've been an hour or so before one of the Gerudo sailors ran downstairs dripping water behind her with hair disheveled and eyes bulging, stammering and muttering frantically to the first person she found, Sidon, to come upstairs with her.

They needed extra hands to hold the ropes, Time, Wind and Wild helped through their control of the lightning and winds. The kid fought the enraged seas with his Wind Waker to the best of his ability with help of Time's song, while their third member made heavy use of his Rito powers (Revali's and Tulin's) to redirect wind to the sails.

It was a grueling task that lasted for an eternity or so in Wind's opinion. All he knew was numbing ice, blinding light and deafening roars. He couldn't feel his face or his fingers, and he was pretty sure that if not for Midna's magic he would've fallen overboard five times by now. This was the wrath of the gods, of nameless beings of rage and destruction that toyed with their vessel, testing whether it would break into a million pieces or prevail through the waves tall as mountains.

Up, up to the black void of the heavens. Down, down to plunge into the bottomless maw of the ocean. Up and down, shaken side by side, hair whipping his face, water piercing his skin, cold soaking his bones 

And yet he remained firmly in place, waving his Waker in tandem with the sacred melody to calm the waves.

Wind's Requiem and Song of the Gales, one after the other again and again in an endless loop amidst the hungry darkness of clouds coiling above with thunderous lightning and waves gathering and pulling with their death-like grip.

A mighty shake, the upheaval under his feet, loud groaning and snapping around him. Up and down, moving with the boat, hold his ground when the boat plowed through another wave-

He was falling again overboard. He kept waving the Waker desperately, directing the winds to slow his fall and give Midna enough time to catch him.

Splash

Ice stabbed him and the blackness blotted out all sound. It pulled the air out of his lungs and he shook. Up, where was up.

A current strong like the arm of a mighty god threw him around like a ragdoll.

He was underwater in a storm. Wind had fallen.

[1] Speak mouth to mouth. Greek idiom similar to "speak face to face".