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This new Hyrule was vast and quite empty, the eight Links gathered.
Sure, there were plenty of animals and vegetation, there was plenty for them to eat, but there were barely any people.
They had met two, a traveling Rito bard named Kass and a traveling doctor.
The doctor offered no information, but was polite enough.
Kass, though, had offered to sing them the songs of old.
They were obviously songs about and for the hero of this Hyrule.
"Link? Well, he's probably on Hyrule field. He's been spending much time there."
Kass had been kind enough to point them in the right direction and off they went.
Twilight had been the first to hear the familiar sound of construction work and then, underneath those sounds, was the humming of a familiar song.
Glancing at the castle and its town, both slowly being rebuilt it seemed, and with the directions Kass had given them…
He gave Time a look and both slowed down, letting Warriors take the lead.
"What is it, pup?"
"I think I know where we're going and you're not going to like it…"
Time's eyes hardened a bit and Twilight shifted. "It's the ranch… I can hear the family song being hummed. Either this Link is helping out…. Or the Goddess seems to have a knack for shoving our family into facing Ganon."
Time let out a shuddering breath and looked ahead, steeling himself.
"If I ever meet Hylia, me and her are going to have some words."
Twilight nods, feeling the exact same. His ears twitched, the sounds of construction slowing to a stop as someone called for lunch.
"There is construction going on but they stopped for lunch."
Time nodded again and took the lead, nodding to Warriors.
"So how are you going to do this?" Legend piped up.
"We'll take it slow, we don't want to overwhelm the hero." Time listened to their response half heartedly as they got closer…
And then his heart dropped.
He knew there was construction but…. The ranch seemed to be in ruins, though much larger than before. To see his home in such a mess…
Twilight nudged him roughly and moved his focus to the cook and that's when he knew….
Next to the cook, to Link, was Epona, the horse gently nosing at the boy causing him to laugh.
'When will Hylia leave my family alone…'
The others glanced at each other, fully catching onto what was happening.
And when Link looked up, the colored drained from his face, a flash of recognition as he stared at Time.
One of the other men noticed and looked at the group, whispering to Link but the boy shook his head and stood.
Everyone seemed on edge as he walked over to the group.
"We are sorry to bother you while you're eating but… would you happen to be Link?"
"I…" he stopped and licked his lips. "I am… and I already know who you are."
Time blinked in surprise.
"You're the Hero of Time, my ancestor…" his voice was soft, and questioning.
Time looked over the boy's face, eyes tracing the scars. "I… suppose I am. I believe there are some things we should talk about."
"Not without me, you don't!"
They looked at the man who had been whispering to Link before as he walked over, arms crossed.
"Bolson-"
"You may be some hero, but I don't trust you to talk to my son alone," Bolson growled.
"That is perfectly fine sir, preferable in fact."
"Why don't you all sit down, I cooked more than enough," Link offered, shooting Bolson a sharp look before leading the group back.
The Links could feel the workers eyes on them as they all sat around, Epona immediately nosing at Time and Twilight.
Time chuckled and gently pet her neck. "Hey, girl. Beautiful as ever, aren't you."
Epona pushed her head against his, the other men slowly relaxing as they watched Epona.
Link smiled a bit and started filling bowls and passing out plates. "This is hearty radish stew with skewered Hylian Bass and Enduring fried greens."
Legend raised his eyebrow, looking at his bowl and plate.
"Those are quite the names for a lunch," Time says, already eating.
Link nods a bit smiling big. "It's what I feed Bolson and the crew when they work. Helps to keep stamina and health up."
"Link likes to mother cucco us. Ever since his first home in Hateno, he would make sure we had more than enough food," a young man pipes up, before holding his hand out. "I'm Karson, Link's uncle."
Time shook the man's hand with a nod. "A pleasure." He turned to Bolson, nodding to him. "And you're Bolson? Link's father?"
Bolson leaned back against a crate, nodding. "Not biologically, of course, but what do you do when a teenager with no memories runs up and buys the house you're demolishing?"
"No memories?" Legend pipes up, eyeing Link.
Link nods a bit, as he sips on his soup. "I was injured during my first battle with the Calamity, so I was put in a healing sleep."
"Unfortunately, Link lost all his memories while he was healing. He's been regaining them slowly." Karson shoots a smile at Link who smiles back.
Time fought back a smile as he watched the two. It was obvious that they were very close, and it warmed him that his descendant had at least this small family to love him.
“Link!”
Everyone looked up to see a Rito.
“Papa Teba!”
Papa?
Link hopped up, racing to them, hugging the Rito and nuzzling into his feathers.
“I missed you, my little hatchling.” Teba held Link close, sighing softly.
Time looked at Bolson in question.
“Link has many people who are family to him. Teba is a Rito warrior. You’ll notice but Link is a family boy.”
Time smiled a bit more, hope seeping into him.
“If you hurt him, not even the Goddesses will help you.”
Everyone looked up in shock as Bolson stared at them.
“Link is a strong boy but too trusting. If I find out that you hurt him, I’ll hunt you down with the help of Zelda and everyone else in his family.”
Legend bristled but Time cut in, stopping any other confrontation. “I perfectly understand. We will do our best to not hurt him. And if we do, we’ll make it up to him.”
“You better-”
“Time! I want you to meet Papa Teba!” Link pulled Teba over, beaming as the older Rito chuckled.
Time blinked out of his memories as Wild shifted, head against his shoulder. He may be home, but neither he or Wild could sleep.
He normally wouldn’t allow this but call him sentimental.
Malon smiled softly as she walked to them, baby bump still small, fireplace lit, giving her a soft glow. In her hands were two cups of warm honey milk. “My sweet boys,” she muttered softly as Wild sat up. She had taken the information to heart, to her, Wild was her son, just like Twilight, or really all the boys.
Wild took his cup with a soft thank you, sipping on it.
Malon smiled and kissed his head, humming Epona’s song as she sat next to him. Wild curled up against her and Time’s heart swelled.
That was his wife and son.
He would do anything to protect them, and the boys.
Anything.
“Time!”
Old man!”
“Come on, don’t give up!
“We need a fairy!”
“Someone get Wind out of here!”
“NO! I’M STAYING!”
“Come on, old man, don’t leave us…”
“There’s so much blood…”
.
.
.
.
.
“DAD!”
FlamingPotatoArson Sun 22 Nov 2020 08:04AM UTC
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