Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It was the soft shuffling of fabric that snapped Twilight to focus. Bleary eyes searched for the disturbance in time to spot Wild sneaking out of camp.

Twilight frowned, okay, why was Wild being sneaky this time? Wild getting up in the middle of the night wasn’t exactly uncommon, the damn kid had a weird ass sleep schedule that none of them could make heads or tails of. Whenever they had thought they had finally figured it put—low and behold, Wild does the exact opposite of what they thought he’d do!

That also includes his actions when the sun was up too.

Sometimes, Twilight questions if Wild is even Hylian with the impossible shit he gets up too that it’s not even funny. He’s sure Wild is going to make him grow grey hairs twenty years early.

Still, Twilight quickly chucks a pebble at Warrior who jerks awake, hand instinctively going for his sword before sensing no actual danger.

“Hey,” Twilight whispered.

Warriors’ sleepy gaze sharpened, “What?”

Twilight stood, “Wild’s wandering, I’m gonna follow.”

He didn’t wait for a response, instead, he hurried after Wild. Twilight shifted into Wolfie once he was sure Warrior could no longer see him. This way, Twilight could track Wild far easier.

When Twilight DOES find the kid, he doesn’t know what to do other than—exhale.

Honestly.

Wild had shoved on that ridiculous Bokoblin mask, even while in Twilight’s own Hyrule, the brat managed to sneak in despite how the mask looks nothing like these Bokoblins. Twilights inclined to say that it is because his Bokoblins were probably the dumbest of all Bokoblins they’d encountered but still—

But to Twilight bewilderment, Wild, unlike every other time they’d found the kid doing this, immediately starts slaughtering the group of six.

Twilight is so dumbfounded that he doesn’t move from his spot until Wild had killed them all and was now simply repeatedly stabbing the final kill over and over with a blank-ass look on his face.

A look that said: dead inside.

A pretty good Legend impression if Twilight is being honest.

Twilight exhaled again and shifted back from four legs to two. Hands-on hips, lips pursed, brows scrunched, Twilight waits for Wild to acknowledge him.

Nope.

Wild was doing some serious dissociation.

A frown pulled at his brows in worry.

“Wild.”

Said Hylian finally blinked and paused his motion of stabbing the poor dead monnster to stare up at Twilight, “Huh?”

“What are you doing?”

Again Wild blinks and he looks down at the Bokoblin his sword was currently impaling to the ground. A second blink before his brows shot up, “…Huh,” he repeated. He turned to Twilight with a sheepish expression, “Whoops.”

In a burst of frustration, Twilight ruffled his hair and said, “Wild—we talked about this!”

“Yeah,” Wild squawked in return, “and about a hundred other things—I’m stressed, okay?!”

“Stressed?!”

“For the love of Hylia, Twi! Let me get it out of my system!”

Twilight yanked Wild back to camp by his ear.

Chapter Text

Wild had been with the group for approximately zero portals—a newbie if you would.

So, at this point, Wild has only known the group for a handful of days and not that close to any of them. Sure, he’s gotten to know Hyrule and Twilight, he’s fond of Sky and his sleepiness, Time and his penchant for taking lead, Legend and his nonchalant attitude about most things despite how he might sound when actually saying something…

That point is: Wild hasn’t had a chance to really get to know them on a personal level.

So when he steps through the portal, wavering on his feet at the nausea and overstimulation that hits him, it takes a moment to notice it was just Legend cussing up a storm. He’s taken aback by the thump that comes from behind him.

He turned and blinked, biting back the urge to vomit his breakfast to stare, eyes wide, down at Sky.

Sky, who was unconscious.

Wild fell to his knees, both because of his worry for Sky and the fact he’d actually vomit if he didn’t sit his butt down that instant, “Is…he alright? He passed out!”

Legend, who had finally stopped cussing but now searching the surroundings—Wild guessed to see if anyone else was close by—waved a hand in a dismissive gesture, “Oh, don’t worry about him. He just does that sometimes.”

“Oh,” Wild slowly lay down on the ground, taking deep breaths to fight the nausea, “Imma just…lay here…if that’s okay.”

Legend stopped short, concern creasing his brows as he turned to look at the duo laying on the ground. Sky was fine, he always was after a portal but—Wild hadn’t done this before. He knew Four was also affected quite a lot, his sense of balance and he got all heady.

Wild’s face had a pale-green hue to it.

Legend grimaced, “You do that, I’ll keep watch.”

Chapter Text

Wild sniffled and Time stiffened awkwardly as the thought of oh no is she crying? came to mind.

Time turned, pausing his motion of sharpening his sword to take a moment to watch Wild. Her back was to him, her feet dipped into the slow-moving river they had taken refuge at to rest their bodies for the night. Twilight and Warriors had taken the chance to patrol to make sure no monsters were in the area leaving just them at their camp.

(Time hopes the others are doing okay wherever it was they had landed.)

Surprisingly, Wild had declined the others’ offers to join the patrol. Instead, she had taken to happily frolicking in the river and—Time would never even try to deny how cute that had been the watch in action.

Time shifted his gaze back to his sword to continue caring for it. For a while, the only sound is Wild kicking the water, Time sharpening, and the wind in the trees.

Then she sniffled again, and Time hesitated a beat before setting his sword down as Wild raised a hand and rubbed an eye with a heavy sigh.

Time finally stood and approached. He cleared his throat awkwardly, Wild’s ear twitched so he knew she was listening. He crouched and she looked at him from the corner of her eyes.

“…Something upset you and as your parental unit, you can talk to me.”

A beat, then Wild twisting her entire upper body to look at him with an incredulous look, “Okay, one, I’m not upset. I just have something in my eyes. And two, who even uses the term ‘parental unit’?”

Another beat, this one full of awkwardness where the two stared at one enough.

Time felt heat creep onto his cheeks but—her eyes said a different story, “Wild.”

She just squinched at him, “Time?”

“You don’t have to put on a brave face for me.”

The squinch grew, “I’m not? Like I said, got a lash or something in my eye?”

Time knew she was lying, so after a beat where he realised she didn’t have any plans to tell him, Time nodded, “Alright then. Just know any of us would gladly lend an ear if you need it.”

“Okay?” Wild got this confused but understanding look, as she awkwardly added: “I’ll keep that in mind….thanks.”

Chapter Text

With a cheeky grin, Wild offers Warriors the first bowl of dinner, “Patience will be rewarded, young one, now—drink your soup.”

Warriors frowned as he takes the bowl, “Wouldn’t it be eat?”

Wild did a full-body pause before twisting his upper half to look at Warriors in pure confusion, a clear what? on his face. Eat? What in the name of the Goddesses did he mean by that?

Wild is also kind of thankful none of the others were part of this conversation, all too busy with their own ones, because whatever this conversation was—was weird.

“What,” He stared, “are you talking about?”

“It’s soup,” Warrior peered down at his bowl with a determined pull of his brows, “Soup is a dinner item; therefore, you eat it?”

There was a long pause where neither said anything, just kind of stared at one another. Wild wondered what the hell he should say in response to that.

Finally, he settled on: “Yeah, but it’s a liquid? So…you drink it.”

Was that a hard concept to grasp? Why would anyone think you would eat soup? Was Warriors trying to be funny? Did he genuinely think you ate soup? Was Warriors kinda dumb when it came to anything other than women and his knight related topics? He certainly couldn’t cook for shit—Wild was sure someone could have used Warriors attempts at cooking as a torture method…

So many things to unpack…

Another beat where Wild barely managed to muffle the snort as Warrior frowned at him. Said knight looks unimpressed at being laughed at before he himself cracks, a grin spreading across his face.

They snicker, soon for some reason, they find themselves snorting with laughter.

“What the fuck are you both laughing your heads off about?” Legend butted in and the duo turned to see everyone had stopped their own conversations. It just made them laugh harder.

“Sooooup~,” was all Wild could get out.

Chapter Text

They stared. In shock, in horror, in fascination.

…they felt a lot of things in that moment.

Between the three of them, none said anything—couldn’t say anything; not when they watched as the copse of trees burnt with no end in sight.

“…At least it was only a small forest of trees, right?” Wind asked hesitantly. His uncertainly was clear both on his face and voice.

A beat of silence where they listen to crackling and popping of the wood burning away. They were a hundred yards away from the collection of trees, far enough away to be safe, yet…they could still feel the heat of the small forest fire.

“What are the others going to say when they see this?” Hyrule muttered in terror.

Wild and Wind paled, feeling the blood drain from their faces.

More silence, then…

Wind turned to look at the other two, “So…do you guys ever think that maybe, sometimes, we’re being a little reckless?”

Wild scratched the back of his head sheepishly, “…I mean…I always thought we just knew how to have fun, but now that you point it out…”

“We’re so totally in trouble,” Hyrule teared up.

As if those words were magic, Time’s voice echoed across the clearing.

“Wind! Hyrule! Wild! Get your butts here this instant!”

“SCATTER!” Wild shrieked and they all ran their separate ways.

Chapter Text

Sky yawned.

“—Do you know how reckless that was?”

Time’s voice was the first thing Sky heard and he blinked his eyes open in confusion to see said hero scolding Wild.

But what was new? Sky mused although he wonders what the kid did this time. Sky blinked, mostly tuning out Time’s voice as he watched him scold Wild, whose head was bowed just enough for her fringe to cover her eyes—which, Sky’s weirdly confused about.

It was an odd reaction, Wild was never one to just accept a scolding like this. Did whatever Wild do, was it really bad? Endangering?

Finally, Time’s scolding comes to an end and he heaves a sigh that Sky felt very much said done with all this bullshit.

Time ruffled his hair and sat down, throwing an arm across his face.

Sky leaned towards Wild,“Psst!...” no reaction, “Psst!” Wild raised her head and blinked at him with bleary eyes, “Dude, what’d I miss, I was asleep!”

Wild blinked again, “mmm…me too…”

Time’s head snapped back to them, a thunderous expression, “Wild!”

A look of pure fear appeared on Wild’s face, “I’m sorry!”

Chapter Text

The Hinox burst into smoke and Wild huffed, grimacing as he looked at how much mud he was actually caked in.

“Wild,” Said child turned to see Time sheath his sword, “You good?”

He looked himself over, “Just mud mostly, nothing serious.”

Time nodded, “You wanna tell me why you wanted to take the Hinox on…by yourself…at night when everyone else was asleep?”

Wild’s cheeks warmed and he fidgeted, absently tugging at some loose hair, “I…uh…”

“Wild,” Time had approached and knelt, a worried furrow of his brows.

“Did Twi tell you about…mh…my stress build up?” Wild hesitated.

“He did but he said you never really gave an explanation.”

Biting his lower lip, Wild began rambling, having no real idea on what he was trying to say, “Sometimes I just get like—like—this build of—of stress or something or another. It—it makes me antsy and need to move and I—and it’s happened since I woke up and sometimes it just gets so bad that I just—”

“Easy,” Time soothed, scooping Wild up into his arms. Wild went limp and clenched his fists into the fabric of Time’s shirt as he choked on a sob. Time gently rubbed his hands up and down his back.

“I hate it so much and dad says it's like a build-up of energy that I can never really use up. He said as I get older it’ll be easier to manage but—I, it’s so frustrating and—and—I don’t even know the right words to even express what I’m feeling.”

“How about we talk to the others and see about sparing more often to help you?” Time offered and Wild rubbed his eyes, sniffling.

“Thanks.”

When they arrive back at camp, Wild, embarrassed, noticed a few of the others were awake. He buried his face into Time’s chest to hide. Time gently rubbed his back again.

“You got something to say?” Time rumbled and Wild could hear the what-are-you-looking-at.

“…nope…” Legend.

Good because Wild really wasn’t feeling up to talking at the moment.

Chapter Text

Wild found herself face down in the dirt as she came back out of a memory.

“Cub?” Twilight asked softly, kneeling beside her.

With Twilight’s help, she’s back on her feet, albeit her body still felt like Chuchu jelly.

“What happened? How long was I out for?”

“Only a few minutes,” Twilight answered and Wild doesn’t protest when he picks her up, instead she buries her face into his shoulder, “We managed to keep the monsters away from you. Do you want to talk about it?”

Wild hesitated, “No…no I’m alright. I’d rather not.”

Twilight sighed softly, “Cub, you can’t always run from your problems. One day you’re gonna have to face them, or you’ll run yourself right off a cliff!”

“Falling to death doesn’t sound too bad,” Wild mused and she got a deadpan look from Twilight, to which she grinned.

“Really? Really?"

“I’ve done worse!”

“That’s not the point!”

Wild laughed.

Chapter Text

Wild could feel the blood rushing to their head the longer they remained suspended upside down. Wind was no doubt feeling just as shit with the situation they had unfortunately found themselves in.

They had landed in Legend's time and had an unfortunate run in with some people that really hated Legend for some reason or another--Wild was betting that Legend pissed them of either intentionally or not because this was Legend, he practically breathed insults--and so the group had gone after the two youngest (them and Wind) because they were the quote-unquote most vulnerable. Wild was sure they had heard something about the two of them being used as bargaining chips. 

Still, the only sound was the drip, drip, drip of some water that had managed to find a tiny crack to slip through, Wind and their breathing, and the flickering of the lantern that hung on the wall outside their shared cell.

Wild grunted in annoyance as they swung themself in an attempt to get enough momentum to reach their feet. They all failed.

Finally, they broke the silences between them, “This is, by far, the worst situation I’ve ever been in, in my entire life.”

Wind hesitated a beat, “…that’s a bit dramatic, don’tcha think?”

“No,” Wild turned to look at him blankly, “No, it’s not.”

Chapter Text

Even as Wild phases through the thick wall of rumble, tiny rocks and pebbles continued to fall before finally settling. He followed the sounds of coughing, Time cursed quietly under his breath.

Worried, Wild questioned, “Are you three alright?”

Twilight, Time, and Hyrule’s head snapped towards him as the dust finally settled.

“Cub!” Twilight sighed in relief and Wild barely withheld a wince knowing what was about to happen. Twilight moved forward but stopped short, eyeing his form, “…Wild?”

Hyrule and Time approached when they seemed to realise the same thing—his form was transparent.

“What happened,” Hyrule fret, hands reaching out only to stop short, “Are you—Can I touch—”

“No,” Wild shook his head, “I’m…not really here. But I’m alive.”

All three breathed a sigh of relief.

“Where are you then?”

Wild hesitated, “I got stuck on the other side of the rockfall. Saw my body, I think I took a hit to the head. Thankfully like this, I’m not affected by any inflictions my body has.”

Twilight immediately got to work tugging at the rocks at the top of the landslide. Time moved to help.

“Can you tell me about your injuries, were you conscious enough to feel you getting them?”

“I don’t know—it happened quickly. I got knocked out too quickly to really feel anything.”

Hyrule frowned, worrying his bottom lip.

“It’s fine, Roolie,” Wild smiled, “Can’t die, remember?”

Hyrule gave him the stink eye, “But you could be seriously hurt,” the brunet shook his head, “Can you pass back through and tell me what state your body’s in?”

Wild hesitated a beat before nodding, “Alright.”

So, like he was asked, Wild phased back through, hearing Twilight mutter something about “What can’t Cub do?”

Time snorted softly.

What Wild saw was, ehhhh—he was really thankful he had spilt from his body when he had because wow, he would have been brought back around by the sheer fact he was kinda impaled by a piece of timber. He was definitely going to have a concussion too…

What a day.

Ugh, what was he supposed to tell them?

He went back, grimacing and all three paused to look at Wild.

“Got a piece of timber sticking out of me.”

Hyrule spluttered and reached out, both hands going to Wild’s face—no doubt to squish his cheeks, that was what Hyrule loved to do when Wild downplayed his injuries—but his hands just go straight through him.

A beat where Hyrule groans and glares at Wild.

“Sorry?”

"Sorry my backside."

Chapter Text

Four watched in mild horror as Wild continued to crackle with a wild look in their eyes as the grass burnt around them, catching a stray tree alight. The final cries and screams of the monsters in the camp Wild has set on fire were…

Four is horrified—aghast—by the sight alone! Adding the sounds too…

Four was shocked still, all four colours shocked silent at the sheer sight of Wild laughing.

He had never seen Wild like this before—none of them had seen them like this—it was easy to see Wild had at least a few screws loose, who wouldn’t with what Wild had been through, but…

Four is simultaneously intrigued by what exactly Wild is truly capably off.

Four also knows this event likely wouldn’t have happened had Four not been taken off guard and downed. It had happened so fast that—that Four hadn’t realised what was happened until it was far too late.

Wild had seemingly appeared out of nowhere, a livid look in their unnatural blue eyes and sliced straight through the Moblin that had attacked Four, severing its upper body from its lower.

Four had known Wild was powerful even while stuck in the body of an eight-year-old—his divinity playing a large role in that—but…

More than a few screws loose, Vio muttered.

You could say that again, Blue hissed in disbelief.

Guys! They're looking at us! Green chirped in worry, pay attention!

Wild was looking their way now, that crazed look still in their eyes as they moved through the fire towards Four. Said flames licked at Wild’s legs and seemed to not do anything, not even caught the fabric of their leggings alight.

How are they doing that? Red asked.

Not now! Vio hissed.

Wild stood a few from them—they were thoroughly smothering with monster blood and it stank to high hell. Four hopes the others find them soon because he has absolutely no idea what he’s supposed to do.

Wild just blinks at him, face now void of any emotion

“Wild you okay there buddy? Seriously, you’re starting to scare me.”

Wild blinks again and shakes their head as if coming around and Four breathes a quiet breath of relief.

“I’m fine,” Wild answers although they look around in confusion, then at their hands and body, then to their burning surroundings, “Huh.”

“Well, you don’t look fine,” Four has to say and Wild looks at him with wide horrified eyes.

“What did I do?”

“…About that….”

Chapter Text

Something that Wild would never get used to is the motion sickness the portals brought them. But Wild's at least thankful that they're not the only ones affected by it. Four got nauseous and a bad headache, Sky pretty much passed out as soon as he stepped through to the other side, Twilight got ravenous.

As Wild sat on the ground, leaning back against a tree that they had thankfully stumbled up next to, Wild took a moment to breathe. Their cheeks felt scorching yet like all the blood had drained from their face. Their stomach churned and their limbs trembled.

Fucking portals.

Hyrule squat before him, "Wild?"

They whimpered and Hyrule reached out, letting his magic ease the sickness, even if just a little. A happy sigh escaped.

Then Wind came barreling up, "Hey, you look like you’re going to throw up!”

Hyrule threw him a dirty look, "Yeah—and your commentary is really helping them.”

Wind didn't even have the decency to looks apologetic.

Bastard.