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Link picks through the remains of the Bokoblin camp, taking the meat they were roasting over the fire and tucking it away into his inventory. He sifts through some leftover clubs and picks up the sturdiest-looking one, before marking the place down on his map for the next Red Moon. This one was near enough to the roads that it was worth clearing out whenever the monsters respawned.
He nods to himself, checks to see that he's running low on bomb arrows, and gets ready to teleport to the shrine overlooking Tarrey Town. That is, until the world seem to rumble a bit, and a portal opens up several feet away.
Link's drawing out his best sword instantly; a Royal Broadsword, found in pristine condition and gleaming in the light. A bow of the same ilk rests against his back, ready to be drawn. He falls into an attack stance, feels the hum of the Four Champions' power in the space between his ribs, and breathes.
Strangers step out of the portal, but a distinct quality is their blonde hair and curious eyes, and for a moment Link processes that they look quite a bit like each other. A little...like him.
Then he sees that they're armed, and tenses when they zero in on him. There's a short moment of silence where they all stare at each other, until one with a white cloak painted with light blue patterns makes a surprised sound and speaks. "Wow, this might be the fastest we've ever found someone."
"Hylia didn't waste any time, but the sooner the better." Another with a long, cone-shaped cap on his head grumbles, seemingly unarmed. Link's eyes rake over the group; he focuses on the tallest and most seasoned looking one, with a scar over one eye and a huge sword strapped to their back. Something about them radiates seniority and leadership. Maybe even the strongest of the bunch? They're all clearly a cut above average, just by the worn but polished state of their gear.
Two of them look young, younger than him, one dressed in blue a shade off from his own tunic, and another with a green headband and clothes patched in four distinct colours. Then one with a pelt and the mark of a hunter, close to the one that looks like their leader and staring back at Link, while another of the group looks startlingly normal and even soft.
The last one is dressed in well-polished armor and a deep blue cloak, and for some reason he feels like a soldier. They all look like Hylians, but there's something different about them, that doesn't smell anything like Link's Hyrule. They're not of this world, he just knows.
Leader guy steps forward, face set in a mild expression and hands loose by his side; Hunter guy follows instinctively, but none of them are showing open hostility.
"Hello. You must be Link. My name is Time." Time says, voice gentle, but Link still feels like the man could draw his claymore in a flash if needed. "We have much to tell you, will you please hear us out?"
Link frowns, fingers moving in an aborted motion to sign before faltering, and he settles for staring at the group instead, sword still raised.
"Ugh, should have known this couldn't be that easy." The one with the cap stalks forward with a sigh. "Listen, we're all Links, from another world and time, and the goddess herself commands that we travel together."
The sheer strangeness of the sentence freezes Link, and he just stares at Cap Guy for a moment.
"Stop staring, I'm tired and I want to sleep. We got dumped out here in the middle of camp." Cap Guy hisses, clearly in a bad mood. "You better start talking." Link scowls instantly, whipping out his Slate and typing furiously at it. Everyone tenses, only to stare at him, bemused.
"I'm mute. Also, you're crazy." The Slate belts out the words he typed out, in a voice that's difficult to distinguish between female and male. Apparently there had been much discussion over it a century ago, wondering how the voice could say the sentence typed in without it sounding disjointed.
A few words didn't quite make it through the Slate, and was theorized to be because they were new words, from after the voice's time. It was pretty useful, though. Cap Guy stares at him with wide eyes, and the one who might be a soldier lets out a cackle.
“Legend! To think you would be so rude!" Soldier(?) guy laughs, and Legend huffs an embarrassed sound but hisses out an apology, looking mortified.
At some point, Link had relaxed so far that his sword was now loose in his grip, and the group were now in various states of amusement at Legend's accidental faux paus. His mind shouts at him for the slip-up, but...something about them feels right. Like Hylia herself is judging them to be truthful.
"Okay. Say you're telling the truth. What else?" Link finds himself typing out, wary. He wants to go back and tell Zelda all about this, because maybe she could make sense of it, being marked by Hylia and all.
Time opens his mouth to say something when a voice cuts through the air. It's a little high-pitched, just a bit off, and it's singing about selling bananas. Link shoves the Slate back into its place at his hip and whirls around to see the voice's owner humming with a grin that's too big several paces down the nearby road. Link sighs, and ignoring the confusion from the other...Links, dashes towards the 'traveler'.
"Why hello there, good sir!" The definitely not a normal person cries when Link approaches. "Would you like any bananas?"
Link shakes his head a firm no, still somewhat amused by the lengths the Yiga Clan go to trick him. Sure enough, the banana seller's face twists into a snarl and poofs into the regular Yiga attire, complete with a bow.
Several shouts of alarm sound behind him, but Link has his shield in hand and deflecting the first two arrows, lunging in with his sword. The Yiga vanishes before he can, and Link whirls around to find that tell-tale gathering of light and sigils to guess their destination.
He swings; it catches the Yiga in the shoulder, but an arrow sinks into his arm at the same moment. Link bites back the cry of pain and yanks his weapon out to slam it down on the Yiga. Out of nowhere, another arrow shoots through the air to embed itself in the Yiga's leg.
Link spares a moment to see Legend nearby with a bow in hand before bearing down on the Yiga once more. In no time the Yiga accepts that he's outmatched and disappears in a scattering of bananas and rupees, which Link happily sweeps up. Unfortunately, he didn’t manage to get them to drop their bow. A shame, he had run out of their Duplex bows a bit ago, and didn't want to waste the two Silver Lynel bows he had.
"What on Hyrule was that!?" Legend chooses the time to exclaim, lowering his weapon and staring Link down. The rest of the group seems to be doing something similar, with Time in thoughtful consideration and the blue child looking awed.
"Bunch of guys mad that I killed their leader." Link types out awkwardly onto his Slate, grimacing at the arrow in his shoulder.
"Hey, I can help with that." The gentle-looking one drifted closer, hand outstretched. Link waves him off and proceeds to yank the arrow out with a sickening rip of pain, sick of the way it throbs in his arm.
There's a whole bunch of panicking, and Link ignores it in favor of downing a Heart Potion to stop the bleeding. He breathes out a relieved sigh as the pain fades away, the wound sealing itself up as he tucks the bottle into his inventory. When he looks up, everyone is staring at him again, and he makes a defensive face to effectively signal 'What?'
"We finally found the worst version of us in regards to self-preservation." Time deadpans, and the group huffs a laugh at some joke Link doesn't quite get. "Hylia save us."
"Like you're any better, old man!" The Hunter jeers, and the atmosphere is sucked free of all tension, and Link lets himself get drawn in for a long discussion about worlds, and yet another duty as Hyrule's Champion.