Chapter Text
Time steps through the portal and into darkness.
It sprawls around him like a living thing, thick and cold. Each breath cloys in his chest. The air feels heavy and fetid, and for a moment he’s deafened by the sheer silence. Then Twilight steps out of the portal behind him, their shoulders bumping, and the next breath Time takes feels a little lighter.
“Woah,” Twilight says.
“Mm-hm,” Time agrees.
His boys come through the portal one at a time after him, each a little quieter than normal in the face of all the darkness around them. They clump together, instinctively putting their backs to each other as they survey the new terrain—though there’s not much surveying that can be done, given how little light reaches them. Time strikes up a torch and holds it aloft as the portal fades.
“Anyone recognize this place?” he asks.
A series of negatives answers him. Only Twilight admits, “It feels a little familiar here, like when my Hyrule was taken over by dark magic. But I don’t think this is my Hyrule.”
“We must be deep underground,” Hyrule observes, wandering to the edge of the torchlight. “And this cave is massive. I don’t hear any echoes.”
“I don’t hear anything,” Legend points out, his ears twitching nervously.
Wind steps up to Legend’s side, wedging himself beneath his elbow. “Yeah, and it’s creepy.”
“Twilight, do you smell anything?” Warriors asks, leaning over to light his own torch against Time’s.
Twilight reaches up to grasp the dark crystal around his neck, magic washing over him in fragmented black panels. In his place stands a thick-furred gray wolf, snout lifted. He sniffs the air for several seconds before pressing his wet black nose to the ground instead. Then his tail wags briskly, and he woofs once.
“Found something?” Warriors asks, and Twilight nods. “Lead on, then, Wolfie.”
Twilight leads them through the dark, his claws clicking against the stone below. The rest of them bring out wands or torches to help them find their way. Legend wanders a little ways off until he finds one wall of the cave. It stretches up and up and up—the ceiling can’t be seen, no matter how far Time cranes his neck or squints his eye. Warriors goes to the side opposite Legend, seeking another wall. He still hasn’t found one by the time he reaches the edges of the group’s sight and Time calls him back.
“Look,” Wind says, jogging out in front of Time to catch up to Twilight. The wolf has paused, tail wagging thoughtfully as he snuffles the ground. “It looks like a camp.”
Twilight shifts back as Time joins them. “There was a person here,” he says, “but I can’t tell you more than that. The scent is too old.”
The camp is small—only the remnants of a campfire and a strange, bulbous silver flower. Wind pokes the glowing bloom just to watch it bob back at him.
“The scent heads that way,” Twilight says.
More of those silver flowers grow sporadically from the stone in the direction Twilight indicates, lighting a broad and weaving path through the cavern.
“Did you smell any monsters?” Warriors asks, cocking his weight onto one hip as he surveys the path lit up in front of them. “This feels a little too obvious.”
“Like a trap,” Legend agrees.
“No monsters,” Twilight says, shaking his head. “Actually, I smell a forest.”
“A forest? Are you sure you’re not just smelling these?” Wind asks, poking the silver flower again.
“No, those smell different—metallic.”
“Maybe this path leads to the surface,” Hyrule suggests.
“I sure hope so,” Sky says, his arms wrapped around himself. His discomfort is palpable even without Time dipping into the soulbond they share and feeling it for himself, sharp and cold. “I don’t like this place.”
Hyrule hooks his elbow through Sky’s. “It’ll be okay. I’m pretty good at finding my way out of caves.”
“Like a keese,” Wind says cheerfully, “except not as much of a pain in my ass. I mean, most of the time.”
“Language,” Time says mildly. At the same time, he pushes a sense of quiet-peace-comfort towards Sky through their bond, and the younger man sends him a grateful look.
The eight of them make their way along the poorly-lit path. To Time’s relief, it slopes upwards, as though it might really lead to the surface. They’ve gone several hundred meters when the forest first appears, bushy treetops poking over the slope. The edges of the leaves are frosted in the dull silver light of the glowing flowers, which grow copiously in this area. Twilight picks up the pace, leading them eagerly towards trees.
The stone underfoot quickly becomes overgrown, thickly-furred with moss and yellow lichen. Tufts of ryegrass tangle the roots of the trees, leaning over small thickets of clover. The air is still and cold, but lush with the scent of growing things. Time looks up and finds only darkness. No sunlight feeds these plants.
So, how, then, do they grow so well?
“Look,” Four says quietly, kneeling next to Time. He brushes a hand over one of the tree’s roots, revealing the ground beneath. It’s solid stone. The tree has, somehow, rooted straight through it. “That creep you out any?”
It does, as a matter of fact, though Time is careful not to let the unease show in his face or ebb across his bonds with the others.
“Magic?” Hyrule suggests, crouching in front of Four.
“It would take a hell of a lot of magic to do something like this,” Four says, gesturing to the wide expanse of forest around them. By all accounts, it looks like a forest that might be found on the surface—except for the stone soil and utter lack of sunlight or water.
Hyrule nods. “I don’t sense anything malevolent about it, though.”
“Yeah, well, you can’t always trust your senses.” Legend stops beside them, frowning, his arms folded over his chest. “Just keep cautious. We don’t know what lurks down here.”
“This is awesome!” Wind exclaims, already halfway up a nearby oak tree. He balances on one of the highest branches, squinting into the distance. “The trees go all the way over to that stone ridge over there.”
“See any way out from up there, sailor?” Warriors asks.
Wind twists this way and that. Several leaves scatter out of the tree and litter the ground below him. “Nope.”
Sky lets out a long, slow exhale.
“But, uh—the path is still going up,” Wind adds hastily. “And it curves a little. There’s probably something that way if we keep going.”
Time glances at Warriors and Twilight, who both shrug. “Alright,” he decides. “Let’s try to go a little further before we make camp for the night.”
Wind shimmies back down the tree, and they resume their trek through the endless underbelly of whatever world they’ve stumbled into. They make it to the stone ridge within a few minutes; it’s rather steep, curving away from them in a loose semi-circle. A strange, dim green light emanates from it between patches of moss and loops of vines.
“Nobody touch it,” Legend says, coming to a halt some distance from the ridge.
“Cucco,” Wind says, and darts forward to touch it.
“Wind.” Warriors catches him by the shoulder, hauling him back. “Wait. We don’t know if it’s dangerous or not.”
Legend approaches the green stone, eyeing it suspiciously. He nudges it with his toe, first. Only when no magic blasts out to strike him does he reach forward, feathering his fingertips over the rock. “I guess it’s fine,” he grudgingly allows, after several seconds.
The rest of them crowd around him, studying the ridge. It isn’t terribly high—maybe five or six meters at best. They could scale it, given a little rope and a grappling hook. Or, Time considers, studying the evenly-spaced grooves in the stone, by hand, if we were desperate enough.
“We could wedge a grappling hook in there,” Warriors says, pointing. On top of the ridge are tall spicules of stone, glowing with that same deep green light. If this place isn’t man-made, it’s at least man-modified; there are too many repeating patterns to think otherwise. “Haul ourselves over.”
“Or we could go around,” Four points out. “We don’t know for sure that the way out is over this.”
Sky hums contemplatively before saying, “But the path keeps sloping up on the other side.”
“Whatever you guys want.” Four shrugs. “I just want to make sure we think about all of our options.”
“Guys,” Hyrule says.
“I think at least one of us should scale it, anyway,” Warriors says. “We can get a better vantage point from up there to pick our path.”
“I gotchu.” Wind kneels, beginning to rummage through his pack for his grappling hook.
“I’ll go up,” Legend volunteers.
“Guys,” Hyrule says, more loudly.
“Uh, no way,” Wind says, dancing away from Legend with his grappling hook in hand. “It’s my hook, I’m climbing with it.”
“Wind,” Legend warns.
“You’re babying me again!”
“I’m not.”
“You are!”
“I’m—”
“Guys!” Hyrule snaps, yanking all of them to attention. Under the weight of their combined gazes, Hyrule shrinks into himself a little. When he speaks again, his voice is meek. “The rock is breathing.”
Time’s eyes rivet to the stone. After several long seconds it sees it—a subtle rise, and then, many seconds later, an equally subtle fall.
“Well,” Time says.
“Shit,” Twilight agrees. “How about that.”
“Maybe we should go around,” Four says.
The rest of them quickly agree, after that. There’s no sense in driving a grappling hook into a massive stone hill that may or may not be alive. They hike north, around the wide curve of the ridge. At one point they reach an outcropping, and stop to study it.
The outcropping has talons.
This is not ideal.
“It’s a gods-damned dragon,” Legend says, and draws his sword.
“Wait! It could be a friendly dragon,” protests Sky.
“Have you ever met a dragon?”
“Three, actually,” Sky says, frowning at Legend. “And they were all very helpful. Maybe this dragon will be, too, if we don’t wake it up by stabbing it.”
“Guys,” Hyrule says.
“Most of the dragons I’ve met have been unfriendly, too,” Time says, “but that doesn’t mean they all are. Maybe we should give this one the benefit of the doubt.”
“I’m just saying we should be prepared for if it tries to eat us,” Legend argues.
“Argorok is the only dragon I’ve ever met,” says Twilight, “and he was a pain in the ass to defeat. It took me weeks to grow back all my hair.”
“Guys,” Hyrule says, more loudly.
“Okay, but are we sure it’s even a dragon?” Four asks. “I, for one, have never seen a dragon that big before. That’s completely excessive.”
“Yeah, that dragon is way bigger than Valoo,” Wind says. “Maybe it’s some type of molgera.”
“Or a twinmold,” Time offers.
“Oh for fuck’s sake, guys!” Hyrule yelps. “It’s awake!”
The vast green ridge moves, then, shifting with a susurration of scales slithering over stone. A low rumble shakes the air around them. The foremost portion of the ridge begins to lift—up, and up, and up, until it twists and snakes around to reveal the dragon’s head. Its face is triangular, sloping down to a delicate muzzle with a spray of fine golden whiskers. A mane of equally golden fur encircles its throat and the topmost arch of its neck, and crowning its brow are two glowing green antlers. A pair of piercing blue eyes glare down at them, the pupils swollen wide.
“Oh, Hylia’s tits,” Legend swears, and Warriors kicks him.
“Hello,” Sky says, bowing politely. “My name is Sky, and these are my brothers. We’re sorry to intrude, but we—”
The dragon splays its jaws, revealing vast spicules of teeth, and roars so hard Time’s bones shake.
At once, the thick moss carpeting underfoot turns to thorns. Dense brambles rear up, separating them from each other. Time swears and reaches for his sword, slicing through the bracken that bars him from his closest brother: Four. But before he can hack his way through, thick vines lash up and ensnare his arms. They drag him back into the brambles, and he hisses as wicked black thorns scrape across his cheeks and yank his hair.
“Time!” Four shouts, clawing his way through a thatch of thick brambles to get to him.
Time yanks at the vines encircling his wrists to no avail. They only coil tighter around him, and even more spring up to grasp his chest and legs. They pull him down, forcing him further into the thorns that blanket the ground below. Around him, Time can see his brothers enduring much the same thing: the world around them has become a furious thicket intent on trapping them.
Far above, the dragon’s head looms; its eyes are ominous, unfeeling wells of light.
“There, on the right flank!” Warriors orders from somewhere behind Time. “Strike there!”
A flaming arrow delves through the darkness and impacts the dragon’s right side, hidden still from Time’s view—but Warriors’ judgement must have been true, because the beast bellows in pain. It whips its head back around, nostrils flaring, as it seeks out whoever shot it. Then it lurches forward, jaws splayed wide. But before it can bite down, Legend lunges in from its right side and spears his halberd into the delicate flesh beneath its tongue. With a great shriek the dragon rears backwards, slinging its head from side to side and spraying thick gold blood.
“Well done,” Warriors praises, clapping Legend on the shoulder before drawing his own bow. “Aim for its eyes next, if you can; if we blind it, we’ll have the advantage.”
“I think we already do,” Wind cackles. In the dragon’s distraction, he’s scaled its flank with his grappling hook. He now balances precariously behind its shoulders, his eyes bright with fierce excitement. “Watch this!”
Wind runs forward with impeccable balance, beginning to clamber up the dragon’s neck towards its head. Before he gets very far, however, someone else swarms up and over the dragon’s opposite side. Time doesn’t recognize them—they’re draped in a black cloak, their hair and face hidden by a heavy hood. Sky shouts in alarm, hacking furiously at the thorns surrounding him. “Wind, look out!”
The newcomer grabs the back of Wind’s tunic, plucking him off of the dragon’s neck as though he were a mere whelp; she then shoves him down the dragon’s back. “How dare you!” she snarls, her voice thick with rage. “How dare you lay a single hand on him!”
“How dare we?” Wind squeaks, drawing his sword and holding it defensively in front of him. “Lady, this thing attacked us!”
The stranger hesitates, her face dipping slightly further into the shadows of her hood. Then she squares her shoulders again, reaching behind her to grasp the hilt of her sword. “And he’ll do it again if you don’t leave at once; I certainly won’t stop him. In fact, I think I’d rather like to watch him eat every last one of you.”
She draws her sword to level it at Wind, and Time’s breath freezes in his lungs because—
Because that’s the Master Sword.
“Now go!” the stranger commands, her voice unwavering.