Work Text:
Hyrule cast Fire, grinning as he effortlessly tossed the flame between his hands. “Take this!”
He chucked the fireball at the Lynel, causing it to roar with anger. Hyrule wasn’t concerned, though— he had defeated loads of the beasts back in his own time. Surely the ones from Wild’s era couldn’t be much different, no matter how terrifying they appeared to be.
True, he was at a disadvantage due to losing his sword (well, it wasn’t lost, Hyrule just didn’t have it at present), but he had plenty of magic to use. It would be fine.
The Lynel drew its bow, aiming a greenish-yellow arrow at him. Hyrule recognized the variety to be a shock arrow, one of Wild’s favorites to use in the rain. It wasn’t raining today, though, and it didn’t look like it was going to. The weather was as clear and sunny as it could possibly be.
Hyrule laughed, casting Jump to send himself flying into the air. He could hear the sound of electricity buzzing as he soared upwards, avoiding the shock arrow’s path.
The Lynel roared again, this time drawing a massive sword. Hyrule could feel its eyes trained on him, watching to see where he would land. That made the traveler falter— was this beast really intelligent enough to adapt to his battle strategy?
He shook his head, casting Fire once again. This time, he threw the fireball into the Lynel’s face. It cried out, front legs collapsing from underneath it. He was coming down now, using the little forward momentum he had to aim himself closer to the beast. Hyrule landed neatly, swinging a leg up and over the Lynel’s back to attack it from behind.
The beast kicked and bucked as Hyrule burnt away the skin on its back, the heat from his Fire spell melting pieces of the Lynel’s white mane. The smell of burning flesh and hair filled the air. When it finally flung him off, Hyrule landed without so much as a scratch on him.
The Lynel roared, leaning its upper body low to the ground. Hyrule grinned, expecting it to keel over any second now. After all of that, any Lynel in his world— even the blue ones— would be dead.
Instead, it charged, galloping at full speed. Hyrule’s eyes widened, casting another Jump spell in the nick of time. While in the air, he threw fireball after fireball at the beast, hoping that they would be enough to take it down.
Hyrule landed with a soft oomph, narrowing his eyes at the Lynel. It had the massive sword in hand, running around the field to try and swipe at the traveler. He dodged, again and again and again, growing weary with the effort.
The Lynel made another lap. Hyrule narrowly dodged the massive cleaver that time, feeling the rush of air against the back of his neck. He shivered as goosebumps spread across his skin.
This wasn’t working. He needed something stronger, something more powerful.
His magic supply was doing alright. It was fine. He could handle it.
Hyrule raised a hand to the sky, making direct eye contact with the Lynel. “Thunder!” he cried, snapping his fingers simultaneously.
Lightning rained down on the Lynel. The beast shook and convulsed from the shock, but still did not fall.
Hyrule felt the pit of dread in his stomach deepen. How was it still alive? That spell was the most powerful one he knew; if that couldn’t take the beast down…
Desperately, while it was still down, he threw more fireballs at the Lynel. It whined and growled and huffed, but nothing more.
It stood back up, drawing the sword. Hyrule cast Reflect, expression pinched as the Lynel staggered back from the force of the impact. The traveler jumped back up on its back, burning the skin away with more force, more fervor. He could feel himself growing more desperate by the second.
And he was tossed off yet again, feet skidding in the dirt as he landed. The Lynel barely seemed affected by his efforts, not even that of his Thunder spell. Usually, that vaporized all enemies within the spell’s radius, but here…
…It barely did anything.
The Lynel drew its bow again, aiming straight for him. As the arrow flew, Hyrule dodged to the side… and was hit in the shoulder by another shock arrow. The Lynel had been firing in threes— Hyrule hadn’t been paying attention, why didn’t he pay attention-
Hyrule yelped, body convulsing as the electricity from the shock arrow fried him alive. The beast took that opportunity to strike, headbutting the traveler with the full force of a gallop. It sent him flying, body ragdolling as he soared through the air and back down toward the grass.
This time, Hyrule didn’t land on his feet. His body skidded in the dirt, beaten and bruised. As if to add insult to injury, the clouds began to roll, darkening the sky. Rain was coming, despite it being bright and sunny only minutes prior. Curse Wild’s Hyrule and its unpredictable weather.
The Lynel roared, aiming another shock arrow at Hyrule. He gasped— there was no way for him to dodge it. He could use Shield, or Reflect, or-
He could make one last ditch effort.
Hyrule didn’t waste any time, raising his hand up toward the sky. “Thunder!” he screamed, feeling the heavy drain on his magic stores as the spell was cast.
The Lynel was struck once again, the lightning stunning it. Hyrule didn’t care about defeating it anymore— he just needed to survive.
He stood up, limping across the field. Behind him, the Lynel was already snapping out of it, furious once again. Hyrule wasn’t fast enough. He gritted his teeth, ripping the shock arrow out of his shoulder and tossing it to the dirt.
With a frantic prayer murmured toward the sky, Hyrule cast his Fairy spell. The world grew around him, and he flew on tattered wings away from the Lynel and into the forest nearby.
Giant drops of water spilled from the clouds, threatening to drown the tiny fairy. Desperately, he landed on a tree branch, mumbling prayer after prayer that he wouldn’t be found.
The Lynel didn’t find him. In fact, it didn’t even try. As soon as Hyrule had left, it calmed down, wandering around the field once more.
The traveler let out a shaky breath, releasing the spell. He immediately transformed back, snapping the tree branch he was sitting on. Hyrule hit the ground with a wet smack, snapping his left arm in two.
He let out a strangled noise, biting his tongue in an attempt to keep from screaming out in agony.
With the little magic remaining, Hyrule cast his Life spell, panickedly fusing together the broken bone. Nausea washed over him in waves, the world seeming to spin around him.
His lips felt warm and wet. Gingerly, Hyrule lifted a hand to touch, pulling away with red-stained fingertips. His heart sank.
He was bleeding. That was decidedly bad.
He reached up again, smearing the crimson fluid across his face. More leaked from his nose, coating his lips, chin, and hand in cursed blood.
Hyrule fell back, hitting the ground. He was dizzy, likely from the sheer volume of magic he’d released in such a short span of time. He could hear the way his heart pounded in his ears, pulsing rapidly. He was tired, so, so tired, and his eyes attempted to slip shut.
“Hyrule!”
He forced his eyes open again, blinking dazedly. Was… was someone here to save him?
Legend rushed into his vision, grayish-purple eyes wide with panic. “‘Rulie,” he whispered, shaking his head. “Okay, you’re okay. Stay with me, alright?”
“Lege…” He was so tired. Sleep beckoned him, tugging at his beaten body. Still, he was bleeding. “Blood…”
Legend quickly wrapped Hyrule’s limbs close to his body, lifting the traveler with a soft grunt of effort. “I know, I know. You have a nosebleed.” Legend ran through the woods, Hyrule in his arms. “It’s just from magic overuse, okay? You’re alright.”
Magic overuse… Hyrule let that mull over in his mind for a few moments. It made sense, he supposed, considering… well, everything. It sucked, but ultimately wouldn’t kill him as long as he let himself rest.
His blood, on the other hand, was still an issue. “Blood…” he mumbled again, hoping Legend would understand.
“I’ll burn everything it touches, ‘Rule.”
That, finally, satiated the traveler. He let his eyelids flutter shut, giving in to the darkness.
The last thing he was aware of was Legend shouting at him.
Hyrule groaned, shifting uncomfortably. He felt as if he had been tossed off a cliff, his body sore and achy.
“Wake up, ‘Rulie,” Legend coaxed. His voice was soft, locked in a tone reserved for Hyrule and Hyrule alone. “C’mon, open your eyes.”
“Lege…?” the traveler mumbled, cracking his eyes open. It was dark, Legend’s form dimly illuminated by a campfire.
He smiled. “Welcome back. We were pretty worried.”
“Oh…” He let his eyes fall shut again. “What happened?”
Wild’s voice piped up. “You decided to try and take on a Lynel,” he answered.
“Without a weapon,” Legend clarified, hissing. “Dumbass.”
“...Did I win?”
The veteran snorted. “No. You did get yourself beaten within an inch of your life, though.”
“...Oh.”
“Yeah, oh,” Legend echoed. “When I found you, your nose was bleeding from all the magic you used up trying to kill the Lynel.” He paused, pressing his lips into a thin line. “You also healed a broken bone without setting it first.”
Hyrule felt his stomach churn. He glanced at his arm, and— sure enough— it was bent at an odd angle, the skin an angry reddish-purple. He shrank in on himself. “No…”
Legend nodded. “Yeah. Now that you’re awake…” Legend leaned over Hyrule, pressing his shoulder down. Warriors kneeled down by his arm, holding the limb with both hands.
“No!” Hyrule repeated, a little more frantic. “No, no…”
Legend ran a hand through his hair. “We’ll make it quick. We’ve got a red potion with your name on it after we’re done.”
The traveler whimpered, but didn’t fight back. Legend and Warriors exchanged glances. “Okay, Hyrule, take a deep breath…”
CRACK!
Hyrule screamed, kicking his feet as tears poured from his eyes. His breaths came in huffy pants, desperation clinging to his gaze as he stared up at Legend.
“Almost done,” the veteran assured. “Just stay still. It’s okay.” Hyrule let himself fall limp, giving Legend and Warriors full control.
CRACK!
Legend immediately got off of Hyrule, grabbing the red potion. It was fed to the traveler slowly, giving the sobbing boy time to catch his breath in between sips.
With the bottle empty, Legend ran another hand through Hyrule’s curls. “You alright?”
Hyrule nodded quietly, throat sore from screaming. Now that it was over and done with, he was exhausted once again, and his eyes slipped shut.
This time, Legend made no move to stop him. “Sleep well, ‘Rulie,” he murmured, smiling sadly. “Sleep well.”