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Chapter Text

You wake up still disoriented with no memories. You look around you to see a familiar yet unrecognizable room, which wasn’t your own. You sit up and feel a sharp pain in your side, you hiss in pain. You lift your torn t-shirt and see a bandaged wound. You have no recollection of what that could be. You slowly rise from the bed and see the small cottage before you. You slowly make your way downstairs being careful of your surroundings. You observe the table and the weapons displayed. A pretty silver and red spear catches your eyes. The weapon is so familiar. Suddenly you hear voices, your anxiety spikes. You quickly grab the spear and hide in the small space under the stairs, behind some crates. The door opens and you have to cover your mouth to not gasp out loud. You don’t see one, or two, or even three but eight men walk through the door. Your vision being partially blocked you only notice that some may not be men yet. You hear steps leading up to the second floor.

“Oh shit.”

They all stop and look towards the loft.

“Is she dead?”

The man comes down the stairs and you see him shake his head.

“Worse. She’s gone.”

You hear the voice of a boy.

“I knew it! She’s a ghost!”

“No, she’s not, stop it.”

Who were these strange men? Did you get kidnapped? Was this some sort of weird blond cult?

“Guys, where’s my trident?”

You bit your lip trying not to make a sound. You then saw the face of one of them. It was a boy with some sort of makeshift green headscarf. His eyes locked with yours. Your eyes widened and you felt your heart rate pick up.

“...Um,”

The boy gestured to your hiding spot. You had a strong grip on the trident. An older one moved one of the crates. Sixteen eyes laid upon you. You didn’t hesitate before attacking while yelling. But unfortunately, you can’t use a spear like a mass. The man before you barely had the time to catch the trident. Once caught, you slam full force into him, pinning him to the wall. The boy who outed you stayed put and pushed the youngest behind him. Your forearm lodged into the man’s neck. He looked around your age, he had soft facial features, short fluffy blonde hair and the bluest eyes ever. He smelt of lilies. He had an armor plate on only one of his shoulders.

“Unhand Wars you freak!”

You looked over at the voice, it came from a man that was extremely similar. He had a pink streak in his hair. You looked at all of them. They all looked related. You definitely thought you were kidnapped by a cult.

“Dude, you can’t say that.”

That voice came from a man with a white and blue cape.

“She is choking Wars to death!”

“Nah, I'm fine honestly.”

You put more strength in your arm interrupting him.

“Okay, maybe not..”

The pink streaked boy threw his hands in the air.

“Miss, can you unhand our friend please?”

That voice came from the only brunette. You shook your head, determined. The adrenaline rushing through your veins must have been strong enough to power a divine beast.

“Twilight, can you get her please?”

Said the pink streaked one, you started to dislike him. The biggest one made his way to you and pulled you away from the one named Wars. He was a bit intimidating to look at. As soon as he grabbed you, your first instinct was to start screaming. Wars went back to the others while you fought your way out of the bigger ones grip.

“How do we make her stop?”

The smallest one said panicking. Twilight put his hand over your mouth creating muffled screams.You tried fighting and kicking your way out, but he was really strong. Even so, you managed to land a couple hits in his gut. His scent was so musky, you felt as if you walked into an animal den.

“Stay away from that psycho.”

Warriors shook his head.

“I have to check her injury.”

The pink streaked one face palmed. The one with the white and blue cape patted his shoulder. Wars made his way to you slowly. You stopped kicking, Twilight sighed in relief. Warriors put his hands in the air, a sign of surrender.

“I’m not going to hurt you, I just want to check your wound.”

You stopped fighting for a moment, he got closer and lifted your torn t-shirt. You tried very hard to steady your breathing but with a hand over your mouth you struggled. Your chest rose and fell rapidly. But then, Twilight’s grip loosened. You took the opportunity to plunge your sharp canines into him. Twilight yelped and dropped you. The pink streaked one pulled him away.

“Legend, I'm fine! I don’t think she is though!”

“Why do you care! She just bit you! Like a wild animal!”

You were panting on the floor, you glared at Wars who just so happened to back away. The one with the white and blue cape came closer.

“Hey, hey... We’re just trying to help you.”

Before he could say anything else you landed a kick right in his face.

“Sky!”

Legend pulled him away as well.

“You are a monster, we should’ve let you die in the forest.”

You glare into his blue eyes and spit in his face. He gasped loudly.

“I will fight every single one of you off if I have to.”

You said, still panting. You tried so hard to keep up a tough façade. You just hoped they couldn’t see how your limbs were trembling. The door opened, another one came in. He looked at the scene in shock.

“What on Hyrule happened here?”

The man was taller than the others, he had a scar along his eye and down to his throat, though you were sure the scar continued down south. The man had a blue symbol on his forehead. He seemed much older. The boys pointed to you.

“Time! She is a monster!”

Legend yelled out, still wiping his face. Time looked at the others. Either injured or scared.

“Are you serious? You are all heroes!”

Time knelt to your level, the others tried to stop him.

“Are you alright? You seem terrified.”

Shit, shit, shit.

“Who are you? Where am I?”

“You are in Hateno Village-”

“Are we in Japan?”

They looked at you confused.

“What’s jap-an?”

Said the youngest one, still hiding behind the second youngest.

“No miss, we are in Hyrule.”

You laughed awkwardly.

“Ha, good one. Is this geek con?”

You might as well have said gibberish. Their confusion grew.

“Uh, no. This is Hyrule Kingdom. I am Link, and so is he, and him, and him, him as well. We are all Link.”

You shook your head and looked around, everything seemed to be medieval. They definitely kidnapped you.

“Did you kidnap me? If so, why did you bring me to a renaissance fair?”

You saw Time’s eyebrows raise while his eyes widened.

“My goddesses, you thought we kidnapped you?”

“Well that explains her reactions..”

Said Sky, holding his hand against his early bruise. Time shook his head.

“No, miss, we found you unconscious in the woods. A bokoblin was attacking you. We brought you inside so you could heal.”

You shook your head ignoring them.

“Bokoblin, Hyrule, Links! What on earth is going on? Are you high?”

Time seemed offended.

“I would never partake in such activities!”

“Did I walk into some weird role playing game? If so, I am not interested.”

“Miss, maybe you might have a concussion.”

Said the brunette.

“I hate to break it to you weirdos, but Hyrule isn’t real. It’s a game from Nintendo! It’s make believe!”

“Nintendo?”

“Maybe she’s high.”

“No, this is my home.”

Said the one in the blue tunic, he seemed the most familiar. You looked around at all of them. They all seemed so familiar. What if you were dreaming? You pinched your skin. Your anxiety rose once again.

“What the fuck.”

The one who spotted you covered the younger one’s ears. You slowly got up, Time offering a hand just in case. You made your way outside, desperately craving fresh air. But the environment only made your heart rate faster until all you could hear were loud thumps. You looked around you only to see a picture-perfect Hateno village like on your switch. You felt your vision get dark and you fell to your knees. You felt a hand on your shoulder, it was Link from Breath of the wild. The others looked at him wincing.

“I’m not supposed to be here..”

He nodded, you looked back up at him.

“You’re not supposed to be real.”

“I don’t think I can agree with that.”

“You think therefore you are.”

Wild tilts his head in confusion. He looks back at Time and gestures to him to come. Time kneels down.

“Miss, are you alright?”

“I need to bathe, and I need new clothes.”

That’s how you ended up in the inn’s bathtub. Scrubbing all the dirt, sweat, tears and blood. You wound stung when you first dipped into the hot water. But the heat soothed your sore muscles and tense limbs. You spent thirty minutes crying and trying to process what the hell was happening. You left the inn clean and in hylian armor. It wasn’t made for your body type, in some areas the fabric sagged and in others it was too tight. But it was better than nothing. You saw Twilight waiting for you. Your brows furrowed.

“Are you supposed to be my babysitter?”

A corner of his mouth tugged into a smirk.

“I’m just here to keep an eye on you.”

“Are the others too scared of me?”

Twilight inhaled a deep sigh as he followed you across the village.

“You were, quite... feisty. We didn’t really expect that.”

“So they sent the beefcake, got it.”

He raised a brow smiling.

“I’ll take that as a compliment”

“Don’t flatter yourself.” You looked down at his hand, your bite marks still prominent. “Sorry about that.”

He shrugged.

“I’ve gotten far worse. I was more impressed than hurt to be honest.”

Finally you made it back to Link’s house - well wild’s house, you need to get used to saying that now -. All fifteen eyes stared at you. You took a seat at the table leaning back and with one leg over the ever. You tried your best to act tough, you even crossed your arms over your body. Time cleared his throat, breaking the uncomfortable silence.

“May we ask you some questions?”

You nod, you decide not to speak to not betray your confident façade.

“What the heck is wrong with you?!”

Time glared at Legend.

“What?! She’s a psycho!”

Legend slammed his fists on the table. You realized he wasn’t as physically strong like the others, you could probably take him on. That thought soothed your anxiety, a bit.

“What’s your name?”

The youngest one asked.

“Y/n.”

“Y/n, you may call me Time. That’s Wind, Four, Wild, Sky, Hyrule, Warrior, Twilight and Legend.”

You don’t answer, the silence makes them nervous.

“Do you have any memories from before arriving here?”

You try to think, it’s difficult, your mind is hazy.

“I can’t really remember..” You scratched your brain, were you on the bus? Chilling in your bed? Or maybe you were at your finals... You grimaced at the thought of missing your finals. “I was.. Maybe...” Your fingers met your temples as you shook your head. “I don’t know.”

“How convenient, I bet Dink sent her!”

Legend crossed his arms avoiding eye contact at all cost.

“Double income, no kids?”

They looked at you confused.

“What does that even mean? No, we’re talking about Dark Link. He's been opening up portals around our universe, making us meet and,”

“You could say he’s linking you up.”

“We still have- What did you just say?”

Wind snorted in his corner. Legend shot him daggers with his glare.

“Like Legend was saying. Dark Link, or Dink, opened portals in our universe that’s how we all met. We all come from different eras in time.”

When Time spoke, everyone listened without interrupting.

“Our hero of the sky is the first in our timeline. He is the chosen hero.”

You look over at Sky, he smiles politely but it doesn’t reach his eyes. You feel guilty about kicking him.

“Why did you say Hyrule doesn’t exist?”

You looked over at Four. He looked a bit stressed, maybe the information was too much to handle at that age.

“It doesn’t exist in my world, not like this.”

They glared at you, wanting more information. You sighed.

“In my world, you’re more of a story. Like a fairytale.”

You didn’t wish to explain it further, they might freak out and all start existential crises. Even if you did try to explain, they wouldn’t completely understand, which would freak them out even more.

“Are we stories passed down by the royal family?” Said Four.

“Or fairies?!” Said Wind, his eyes gleaming with hope.

“...no.”

He shrugged. You tried to find the right words to not freak them out. But there’s no point in beating around the bush!

“The royal family you know has never existed in my world. There are some royal families but they serve no real purpose anymore. Oh and Fairies don’t exist.”

Warriors grimaced.

“How about witches? Magic? Demons? Goddesses?”

Those questions were asked by a couple Links at the same time. Your answers were stressing them out.

“Witches were an excuse to burn smart women, magic doesn’t exist. Demons and gods are religious things, which is up to personal belief.”

They all sat there frozen for a solid minute thinking.

“What does that mean for us?”

“You think therefore you are.”

Wild furrowed his brows.

“Why do you keep saying that?”

“It’s Renee Descartes.” You looked around at the confused faces. “He was a French philosopher and scientist. His theory was that if you think, you exist.”

That seemed to comfort some. Wind still looked confused.

“What’s a french?”

You were not about to teach them about the Roman Empire and everything that came from it and after it.

Chapter Text

After dinner, the heroes tried to find the appropriate sleeping situation for everyone. Wild insisted you take his bed. Legend didn’t want you anywhere near him or the younger ones, even though Wind was very curious about you and if he could, he would watch you sleep. Legend started bickering with Twilight and Time trying to get you kicked out. All of this was too much for you and your exhausted brain. You stepped outside the cottage that was far too small for ten people. You sat near the cliff.

“Intense imma right?”

You turned your head to see Warrior. You felt a bit anxious after what you did to him.

“I’m sorry for choking you.”

The Hyrule Warrior hero sat next to you, his legs hanging off the cliff.

“You were in an unknown place, with unknown people and injured. I would’ve done worse. I’m just happy you didn’t strike my face like Sky.”

Warriors chuckled, you didn't. He stopped laughing and scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

“I want to go home.”

Wars froze not knowing how to respond. Suddenly Wild and Legend came out. Legend was still bickering about you.

“Y/n, you’re sleeping in my bed.”

Wild tried to stand his ground. You slowly got up and took rupees out of your - well his - pockets. He looked down at them.

“I’m going to sleep at the inn.”

You slowly started making your way to the inn. The links went back inside.

“The trash took itself out!”

Wild pushed Legend.

“She went to sleep at the inn. I doubt she’ll change her mind.”

Wars scoffed, “You didn’t even try.”

Twilight stood up making his way to the door.

“I’ll go with her.”

Sky stopped him.

“You’ve already watched her today, I'll do it.”

“Are you not afraid of her?” Hyrule asked.

“...No! Not really.” He crossed his arms.

“Shouldn’t I go with her? To tend to her injury?”

Sky disagreed with Warrior.

“I’ll come get you if anything happens.”

In the inn room, you set your things down, you didn’t tell Wild but you may or may have not bought things with his money. Basic necessities, like a hairbrush, a toothbrush. Also some chapstick. You tried to look for some deodorant but ended up settling on a perfume, not ideal but better than anything. You spread everything on the bed trying to see where things could fit in the various pockets. A knock was heard. You went to open it only to see a man with a bruise on his chin. You felt immense guilt.

“What are you doing here?”

Without further explanation he comes into the room and sets his sleeping bag on the floor next to you. You close the door, you know he won’t leave even if you ask him. You simply look at him, leaning in the doorframe.

“I’ve come to keep an eye on you.”

He smiled at you before continuing unpacking, which didn’t take long since he only had a sleeping bag. He hummed a tune which sounded awfully familiar - knight academy theme - you wondered if they had background music in their worlds.

“I don’t need a babysitter, I’m grown.”

He sighed at your stubbornness.

“You’re injured, pretty badly. That bokoblin did a number on you.”

You decided to ignore him. You didn’t really know what to say. While laying in the bed, you felt weird not sleeping in your own bed. Plus with the events of the day, your mind didn’t seem to shut off. You thought about how weird everything was. The worst part was realizing, everything seemed to be out of your control. How on earth was it possible to end up in a world with every single reiteration of Link? Shouldn’t there be the future Links from the future games? Did your world have the power to create different eras and timelines in the Zelda franchise? Or was it that the master sword simply didn’t choose the next swordsmen yet. Maybe this is just part of the multiverse, like spiderman. But if that was the case, you were an anomaly and you feared you might slowly disappear. Back at home, you never had to worry about the multiverse, you could imagine it in the comfort of your bed and everything you knew. Maybe when you woke up, you would be in your room once more, with your cats and family. But you couldn’t deny the lingering feeling of being trapped, like a defenceless animal. Your exhaustion took the better of you, finally allowing your body to rest. But your peaceful slumber was short lived. You felt as if something was stabbing you. You quickly sat up, your hand clinging to your side. You bit your lip to keep in a groan of pain but you didn’t really manage. Sky woke up from the sounds, he had a hard time but when he realized you were in distress he hopped out of his sleeping bag.

“Y/n? What’s wrong?”

You buried your face in the pillow and groaned in pain. Sky nodded before running to the house. He tried to be quiet but since he ran into a small house where eight people slept, it wasn’t possible. Hyrule, Four, Wild and Warrior woke up in panic.

“Wars you gotta come with me. Something’s wrong.”

He nodded. Hyrule followed behind without them knowing. Back in the room, your head was still buried in the pillow. You were sweating profusely. The boys bursted into the room. Warrior started examining your injury.

“It’s infected..”

“How do you disinfect it?”

“I don’t have any health potions.”

“Can I try?”

They turned around, Hyrule was peeking in the doorway.

“Roolie!”

They stepped aside letting the hero pass. He lifted his hands over your injury and concentrated in magic into the area. After a couple minutes, nothing seemed to have happened. They looked down at you, confused and frightened. You struggled but managed to speak.

“Alcohol, get me the strongest..”

They looked at each other wondering where they would find that. Hyrule and Warriors left to find some. Sky stayed by your side, he held your hand but you were too weak to grip his.

“I’m sorry you’re in so much pain.”

Sky pushed a strand of your hair back behind your ear, he was a bit shocked for a moment. He observed how flat your ear was. It made sense why he wasn’t able to see the tips of your ears before. You slowly sat up on the bed, leaning against the frame. Link helped you.

“You’re too nice.”

“I’m a hero.”

You breathe in and out, letting the air leave your body slowly.

“I’m sorry for hurting you.”

Sky smiled softly, cupping your cheek and shushing.

“I’ve survived way worse. Concentrate on your breathing.”

For some reason, you felt like you were giving birth because of how he was handling the situation. A part of you hated how you needed someone’s help, especially a man. But another part felt happy that your comfort character was, well, comforting you. The two others came back with a recipient you hoped contained alcohol. They handed it to you and you poured it on your wound. It stung so bad, you made your lip bleed from biting it so hard. Your grip on Sky’s hand tightened so much it made him grimace.

“Fuck, fuck fuck fuck...”

This sting felt much better than the infection pain. The others looked at you worried. Sky tried to ignore how tight you held onto him, he would most likely have crescent shaped dents in his hand after this.

“I’m fine, I-”

You were panting, you let go of Sky who sighed in relief. Hyrule looked down at his hands disappointed in himself. He questioned his powers, how could he not heal you? Somehow, alcohol was enough to soothe you. Warriors stepped closer examining your wound.

“Maybe you should’ve let me take a look when I wanted to.”

Warriors was right. You just left it in that old bandage that soaked in sweat and then bathwater. Not to mention some goat soap. He wrapped up your wound. The innkeepers were nice enough to give you two a new room. It took some bickering around for Sky and Wars to decide on who should stay. Hyrule had to pull Wars away to stop the argument. The new room had a more comfortable bed.

“Is there anything I can do?”

You looked over at Sky, you felt bad.

“You’ve already done enough, I hurt you again.”

Sky glanced at his hand and smiled. He sat on the bed next to you. He smelt like bergamot and pear. You picked at your nails and avoided his gaze. Your fever was less strong, but you couldn’t help but still feel delirious.

“Unless you have ibuprofen of course.”

You chuckled to yourself, imagining the confusion on his face. The back of his hand met your forehead. Your eyes meet his, though he isn’t looking into yours. The hero of the sky truly is one of the prettiest Links. You feel your cheeks heat up, or maybe that’s just your fever playing tricks on you. His hand fell down your face to cup your cheek, - what is happening? - he smiled at you.

“I understand the feeling of wanting to go home.” His calloused thumb caressed your cheek. “I miss my home very much as well.”

“...skyloft.” Your voice barely above a whisper.

“You know of it?” His eyes widened.

“Your... your story is very popular in my world.”

His smile only grew wider. Sky let go of you, distancing himself and yawned while stretching. Right, it was still night time. You felt your exhaustion take the better of you once again, especially with that fever not letting you think clearly. You felt as if you were in a dream. Maybe you were, because when Link got up to go to his sleeping bag, you caught his sleeve. Link’s eyes met yours once more, you didn’t need to speak for him to understand. He crawled into the soft bed with you. Heat radiated from his body, not allowing the cold to affect you. It was strange, the feeling of sleeping next to a video game character who you thought up to this point was fictional. But he could feel things, think, smell, speak and breathe. Just like you, he was a living being, like the others. His existence made you realize that this isn’t just some silly game, he isn’t just a fantasy. But those thoughts made you even more tired, your heavy eyelids seemed to have forced themselves shut. The early sun rays cascaded over your face, waking you up slowly. It was different from waking up to a blasting alarm in a completely dark room, you enjoyed it very much. You felt a weight on you. You looked around only to find Sky nudged into your neck with his arm around you, his hand on your wound, seemingly trying to protect it. Even in his sleep he is a knight. You sigh before slowly removing yourself from his warm embrace. He didn’t wake up, most likely a deep sleeper. He did replace you with the pillow you slept on. The cold air hit you violently making you miss his arms. You made your way out of the inn, it must have been early, only the farmers were outside. You basked in the sun rays for a moment before the Hateno lab caught your eyes. You started making your way up there, the path was way easier on switch. After around fifteen minutes you finally made it, but of course you were panting. From the lab you could see a big part of Hyrule. From the village, to the Dueling Peaks, to the skyview towers scattered across the map - well world -, Lanayru mountain and if you looked hard enough you thought you saw the tip of the castle. It was breathtaking, which was bad since you were still catching your breath. Your attention turned to the lab, you heard a noise. You recklessly got closer, the door was already opened and you simply had to push it. No one was in there. You entered the lab, wasn’t Robbie or Purah supposed to be here? There wasn’t even Symin. You observed everything the room had to offer, you tried reading some of the books but it wasn’t in English. Suddenly you heard the door creak, but when you turned around, nothing was there. You started getting an eerie feeling and decided to leave the lab. You closed the door behind you, but you still felt like something was staring at you. You look at the top of the lab and your heart freezes. You see a figure dressed in black, its red eyes glared at you. You took a step back but your nerves made you trip over your feet. The creature just glared at you, though you thought he had a smile on its face. Upon further examination you came to discover that he looked very similar to Legend. The creature appears in front of you in the blink of an eye, you try to crawl away but the pain in your side doesn’t allow you to go very fast.

“Stay away!”

He scoffed and continued to get closer.

“Or what? You’ll kick, choke and bite me?” Your eyebrows furrowed. “It may have worked on those weaklings but that won’t do much against me.”

“You’re Dark Link aren’t you?”

You tried to put up a straight face, but your bottom lip was quivering. He stood over you, his lips in a smirk. You tried to find some sort of humanity in him, but he didn’t even have pupils. His gray skin made him look like an undead creature. He knelt down to your level, his knee between your legs. Instinctively, you started screaming.

Chapter Text

Time woke up that morning before everyone else, he decided to go enjoy the fresh morning air before the sun started blasting above them. He sat near the cliff pondering. He was trying to figure out what to do with you. He sighed feeling bad you got pulled into this whole mess, and you weren't even part of their universe. He thought about how you landed here, why you were here and most importantly how he could get you out. Four joined him without saying a word.

“Four, what do you think about her?”

Four readjusted his headband and pondered for a moment.

“When I first saw her, I could see how frightened, no, how terrified she was.”

“Do you trust her?”

“I don’t distrust her, but I don't trust her. I don’t understand why Dink would send a random person from another world. Especially someone with no combat or adventuring skills.”

“Maybe she can be the key to find Dink and finally get some answers.”

Four looked over at Time.

“So what are we going to do?”

Time avoided Four’s stare.

“We’ll keep her around until he shows up.”

Four’s eyebrows furrowed, his usual stoic expression was infected with confusion and a hint of disappointment.

“But, Y/n wants to go home.”

Time sighed.

“We all want to go home.”

Wild stepped out of his cottage stretching. He waved at the two by the cliff before making his way to the cooking pot. All the heroes started waking up one by one. Except Sky who was still in that damn bed. When serving breakfast, Wild looked at everyone at the table and the two empty seats. He looks over at Warriors who was already stuffing food in his mouth. Wars looked at the two empty seats.

“Sky’s probably tied up somewhere.”

They side eyed Legend, Wars scoffed before speaking up.

“Seeing how she was last night that isn’t likely.”

“What happened last night?” Twilight said worriedly.

Warriors started explaining while Wild started making his way to the inn. Wind stepped out when nobody was looking and followed Wild. When Wild saw Wind he sighed but let him come, he didn’t have the strength to say no to him. They made their way up to the room only to find Sky sleeping peacefully. Wind’s eyes lit up.

“Can I?”

Wild nodded trying to hide his smile. All of a sudden, Wind jumps on Sky, waking him up brutally.

“Demise! Demise is back for you! Link wake up!”

Sky sits up in terror.

“NO! STOP! WHERE?”

Wild shook his head when Wind started laughing. Sky headlocked Wind pulling him close and knuckling his head messing up his already messy hair. Wild looked around, not being able to find you.

“Where is Y/n?”

The two stopped and looked around. Sky finally got out of bed.

“She must’ve left this morning.”

They made their way outside, they tried to think about where you could’ve gone. Suddenly all three of them turned towards the laboratory, they heard a distant scream.

“It’s Y/n! I recognize the scream!”

Wild nods at them before they make their way up the mountain, relatively quickly. Wind ran the fastest and Sky was slower than Wind. Dark Link knelt down, his frame towering above you. You tried fighting back when he brought his hands closer. Dink’s eyebrows furrowed as he tried to stop your screaming and fighting. You couldn’t say you were strong by any means, but what made you able to defend yourself was your resilience and the fact that you Never. Stop. Fighting. But, your technique mostly worked for people who would be surprised by your tactics. Dark Link was not surprised, he was just getting more and more annoyed by the second. His hand made its way to your tunic and he pulled it up to see your wound.

“NO! STOP!”

Dark Link put his hand on it, you felt a burning sensation. You tried kicking him away, but he was too strong for you. The Links finally made it up the mountain, they froze at the sight of Dark Link. Wild unsheathed the master sword, it glowed light blue. Wild got closer, grabbing Dink’s attention. His hand didn’t move off your side. But his momentary distraction gave you the chance to kick him off of you, the adrenaline helped you rush towards Sky and Wind. Sky grabbed a hold of you. Dark Link stood back up smiling menacingly.

“Fine, you’ll thank me another time.”

Before you could get more information he vanished. Wild put away his sword and made his way to the three of you. Sky let go of your arm, they circled you. You felt a bit nervous.

“What did he do to you?”

Wind exclaimed trying to spot anything strange or unusual. You held your side but didn’t feel any pain anymore.

“He just touched me.”

You carefully lifted up the tunic to show your side, they gasped. You looked down to see that the wound was completely gone, you only have a scar left and a weird grey triangles. It was a triforce. You got marked by a man, how embarrassing. The four of you made your way back to the house. They all started talking about what happened, they wanted you to show the scar but it made you uncomfortable to lift your tunic up in front of nine men. You silently ate your food, but you couldn’t help but feel eyes on you. You looked up only to see Legend staring at you intensely. You observed everyone, and how this whole situation was affecting them. You knew what you had to do. Without anyone noticing, besides Legend, you left the house. You walked around the house and found a rusty sword and shield. It was a bit heavy, but it was necessary. You put the shield on your back and swung the sword a couple times. The sword pulled you a bit with each swing. You felt the heat on your neck because of your hair. Your eyes met the well and you made your way down. You prayed that Link didn’t take the hair tie, to your luck, it was still there. Back in the house, the heroes debated on what to do. Time gave a look to Four, asking him to keep quiet about their conversation.

“What do you think Y/n?”

Your seat was empty. They all looked around trying to find you. Legend scoffed.

“She left.” They all said what in unison. “She just got up and walked out the door.”

“Why didn’t you tell us?”

“We don’t need more weight on our backs, we already have enough trouble with Dink. If Y/n’s the thing he wants we’re in a lot of trouble for no reason.”

While they all argued, Wind made his way outside hoping to find you. He saw you making your way to the exit of Hateno. He ran up to you and grabbed your sleeve.

“Y/n! What are you doing? You can’t leave.”

You were surprised they even realized your departure.

“I’m going to Kakariko village to find Impa.”

“You can’t go alone!” He held onto your sleeve.

You placed your hand on his to pull it off gently. You smiled softly.

“It’s fine, I know the way. You guys have much better things to do, I don’t want to burden you more.” Wind tried to speak but you interrupted him. “You are the last Link that should worry about me. Besides, I'm tough.” You fluffed up his hair before leaving once again.

Wind ran as quickly as he could and slammed open the door, everyone turned their attention to him.

“She’s leaving!” They all got up, besides Legend. “She’s going to Kakariko village, she took a sword, a shield and nothing else!”

Time took his things and went out the door, the others followed.

“I tried to stop her, but I don’t think she was going to listen to me!”

Four patted his shoulder.

“You did everything you could. Come on.”

The heroes left Hateno trying to catch up to you. They took a bit of time packing all their supplies up but once on the road, they moved quickly. You made it to the equestrian riding course. You felt anxious, what if Link didn’t kill the gloom hands here? You shook your head trying to get rid of your stress. But then you heard a horse galloping, - uh oh - the heroes found you. Twilight got down from Epona and grabbed your arm gently, you didn’t fight him this time. His grip was weirdly intimate.

“Are you okay?” He asked.

“I- uh, yes. Of course.”

You thought you were going to get scolded, but he seemed more worried than anything. The others arrived behind him, Time looked pissed.

“What is wrong with you?”

You stood behind Twilight creating space between you and Time. He tried to get closer and you just hid behind Twilight’s arm. You felt a bit guilty pulling him into this, but you didn’t want to get scolded. You were an adult after all.

“You can’t just leave like that! You could get lost, or killed! Or worse, Dink could come back!”

“I know the way! Besides, monsters can’t spawn anymore because there hasn’t been a blood moon since he defeated Ganondorf.”

You pointed at Wild, he didn’t want to get pulled into this conversation, especially with how weird your choice of words were. Time threw his face in his hands.

“You are wounded!”

“No, I'm healed. No more pain, no more blood, nothing!”

“You don’t know what type of magic he used on you. You are reckless!”

You shook your head not wanting to participate in this conversation anymore. Who did this guy think he was? Your dad? No thank you!

“You guys couldn’t help me, you don’t know how to heal a human. Your own magic doesn’t even have an effect on me.”

Roolie looked away embarrassed.

“I need to find a way back home.”

Time was at a loss for words. Hand to your forehead you shook your head and continued on with your journey. Twilight gently grabbed your sleeve.

“At least let us come with you.”

You didn’t know if it was because of his smile, but you reluctantly agreed. On your way to Kakariko, you couldn’t help but be amazed at the scenery. If all of this was a dream, it was certainly very realistic. You passed the gate and walked through the battlefield. You couldn’t help but glance at Wild and observe his scar. He looked away embarrassed. You were afraid that a guardian would pop up out of nowhere. The sun started setting and Time decided to stop at the stable for the night, you felt exhausted so you agreed. With your - Wild’s - money you paid for a bed. You sat on your bed observing the others, you then saw Hyrule sitting outside alone. You went to join him.

“Hey.”

He jumped, startled by you.

“Sorry.”

You asked to sit next to him, he nodded. You two sat in silence for a moment, both equally as exhausted.

“So-”

“Why wasn’t I able to heal you?” He interrupted you, you heard the disappointment in his voice. “But Dark Link was able to.” He clung to his knees, burying his face in them.

“I.. I have no idea.” You sighed, you remembered your comment from earlier, it probably made him feel even more insecure.

“Healing is one of the only things I can do well, at least I thought so until now.”

Your heart shattered a bit at his words.

“Maybe, since he brought me here, he’s the only one who can actually heal me.”

You tried to make sense of it all to comfort him, but even you couldn’t find a concrete answer. You hesitated before patting his back. He looked at you with a stoic expression, but he had a disappointed look in his eyes.

“You know, in my world. You are the original Link.” He looked away. “The whole story started with the creation of you. Then over time, people kept adding and adding to the timeline.” You hoped what you were saying was making sense. “So, if you weren’t here, none of them would exist.”

Hyrule looked back at you, he looked a little less sad. His attention focused on your ears. He touched his own to make sure he wasn’t going crazy.

“Do the others know about your condition?”

“Condition?” You touched your ears. “No, this is normal for me.”

Hyrule shared a faint smile before getting up and bringing you to the others.

“Look at her ears.”

You felt flustered as everyone gathered around you. Wild silently gasped.

“That’s my hair tie.”

“Your ears are weird.”

Wind was practically climbing on top of Sky to see your ears. You stepped out of the circle not wanting them to pay that much attention to something so unimportant.

“Why do you have minuscule holes in your ears?”

After Warriors comment, your fingers found your earlobes, you kind of missed the feelings of having earrings on.

“I usually wear earrings.”

Before leaving Hateno, you managed to snag a notebook and a pen. Writing was soothing to you, being able to read some English made you feel alive. Especially since you couldn’t read anything else anymore. You weren’t writing well, on the contrary, you simply jotted down everything and anything. You were so focused on your notebook you didn’t see the boy standing right next to you.

“What are you writing?”

You paused, glanced at him quickly and then went back to writing.

“None of your business.”

Wind’s blonde eyebrows furrowed, but his mouth slowly turned into a smirk. All of a sudden, your notebook vanished from your hands, the little pirate running off with it. You couldn’t believe you actually started chasing after him, as if you weren’t exhausted and embarrassed enough. But, you were not fit, on the contrary. You didn’t have much time to work at home because of classes and all. You were quickly out of breath. But seeing Wind flip through the pages and try to show the others motivated you to catch up to him. You would be mortified if they read what you wrote. The little sailor could run around the stable ten times and still be able to run some more. Wind started running off into the fields. When he finally stopped you managed to catch up to him, panting.

“I!” pant “Finally caught!” pant “You!”

Your hand found its way to his shoulder, trying to hold him in place. But, you felt him shaking. When words failed to be heard you looked up to see a moblin towering over the two of you.

“I- I don’t have my sword!”

The moblin came charging at the both of you. Without thinking you pushed Wind to the ground and raised your shield. The wooden bat clanking on the rusty shield resonating in your ears, it made your knees feel weak.

“Link get out of here!”

Wind didn’t waste another second running back to the stable. But you didn’t have a plan. Maybe Time was right, you were very reckless. The monster was so much more disgusting in real life, it looked like a skinny elongated pig, saliva foamed out of its snout. No matter how much your knees were trembling, you took out your rusty sword and tried to raise it above you, it was heavy. The moblin hit your shield once again. You swung your sword and actually managed to hit it. That confidence was short-lived when the sword shattered on impact. You suddenly remembered how much you disliked the early game of botw/totk. When the moblin hit your shield, you fell to the ground. This time, you couldn’t bite or choke or hit it away. The shield was your only way to survive... until it shattered. Was this ugly monster the last thing you’d ever see in the world? Maybe after this, you would wake up in your own bed once again. Or, would it be the last thing, period? You felt your life flash before your eyes as the bat braced for contact. You instinctively covered yourself with your hands, as if it would ensure your survival. Suddenly, you saw a blue light fly over you and hit the silver moblin making it teleport away. Your body acted quicker than your brain as you stood up. Not far from you, you saw Wild, Time and Wind. Out of terror, you failed to see the bokoblin behind the moblin. The only thing you felt was the sling of its bat against your head and your body collapsing to the ground. Everything went dark around you.

Chapter Text

“I’m sorry you aren’t enjoying your adventure here.”

You couldn’t move.

“I thought you might enjoy it, seeing how stressed you are in your world.”

No matter how much you tried, your limbs were frozen. You knew that voice.

“But don’t worry, things will turn around.”

Dark Link approached you, you felt a heavy weight on your chest. Your back shot up straight, but it wasn’t willing. He knelt down to your level, his hand held up your chin. You felt a chill run down your back as his lifeless eyes peered into yours. You didn’t know what frightened you the most, the fact that you were face to face with him or the fact that you were paralyzed. You tried to scream or talk, but you couldn’t.

“I brought you here for a very specific reason you know..”

Dark Link pulled you in closer, you smelt a faint smell of charcoal and amber, it was intoxicating. You felt weak and everything around you started getting hazy. It gave him enough time to lock his lips with yours, you felt outside of your body. The first thing you saw when waking up was Wars, he was standing next to your bed holding ice on your head. You quickly sat up looking around the room frantically.

“Hey, hey!” Warriors backed up a bit, not wanting to repeat the past. “You’re okay, don’t worry.”

This wasn’t the stable, the room you were in was unrecognizable. Your heart rate picked up trying to remember what led you to this moment. You felt Warriors’s hand on your shoulder, you locked eyes with him.

“We’re in Kakariko.” He smiled. “We brought you here after you got hit.”

Your hand made its way to your new bump, luckily it was covered by your hair. Looking back at your hand, there was blood on it. You sighed.

“I need to take a shower.” You shook your head. “I mean, I need to bathe.”

In the inn’s bathroom, you took some time observing your body in the small mirror. You looked different. You observed the triforce on your waist. It covered a part of the scar. Looking back into the mirror your lips caught your attention, the dream coming back to you. You hoped there was no reality in it. You scrubbed every single inch of your body, from your hair down to your feet. The pain from the bump wasn’t as bad thanks to the ice. You tried scrubbing away the triforce but your efforts were in vain. You reluctantly got out of the warm bath, the cold air hit you creating goosebumps along your skin. While drying yourself you heard a knock at the door.

“Occupied!”

“Y/n?” You heard Wars’s voice, he seemed nervous. “I have something for you.”

You cracked open the door, steam flew out, you saw Wars with a hand over his eyes. You could see the blush on his cheeks though. He handed you clothes with his free hand. Before you could say anything, he left immediately. In your room there was a full length mirror. You were wearing traditional Sheikah clothing. You wondered if Impa had anything to do with this. The outfit was a huge contrast to the hylian armor that didn’t fit you. The clothes complimented and embraced your features, maybe a little too much. The boots were the most comfortable thing you ever put on and the outfit didn’t limit your mobility which was great. You tried drying your hair the best you could, but finally decided to put it up, still using Wild’s old hair tie. When you stepped out of the inn, the sun embraced you in a delicate and warm light. The mountain breeze was fresh and you knew that nothing at home could compare to this. You covered your eyes from the sun to look up at the impressive rings left by the Upheaval. Once again, the village was so much more beautiful than on your switch.

“Y/n!”

You heard him before seeing him. Wind moved as fast as light. You were barely able to brace for impact when he slammed into you wrapping his arms around you.

“Oh lord you almost knocked me over!”

“I’m sorry for stealing your notebook and running off!” He nudged his head in your neck. “I’m so sorry for putting you in danger!”

You were a bit awkward when it came to physical attention. But, he reminded you of a younger sibling. You patted his head to comfort him.

“Don’t worry little man, I’m fine. I barely got a scratch.” He looked back up at you, his eyes looked like they were watering. “I’m fine, don’t worry about it, I’m tough, remember?” You smiled.

He reluctantly let go of you and nodded before bringing you over to the others, they were all sat at a makeshift table eating lunch, you presumed from the time of day. The first one to notice your presence was Time, slowly all of them turned their attention towards you. Time got up from his seat and made his way to you, it made you nervous especially with the stares from the others. He glared at you with his eye, you were certain he was going to scold you.

“Thank you for protecting Wind.”

Your eyes widened in surprise. His hand met your shoulder.

“You have no fighting experience, yet you went out of your way to protect him. Even if that meant putting yourself in danger.”

“It was normal, I would’ve done it for anyone here. Although most of you wouldn’t really need my help.” You laughed sheepishly.

“I was wrong to underestimate you. You are a resilient young woman and I see your potential. I, and the others, would very much like to assist you on your journey in any way we can.”

You looked around at all of them, the atmosphere changed. They didn’t see you as a damsel in distress but as a fellow traveler. Even if some still had doubts about you, Wind trusted you. His trust would make it much easier for you to integrate their group. Time smiled and gestured to the empty seat between Four and Twilight. Wind sat in front, he was quite the blabbermouth. He ignored the others and only talked to you. He went on and on about random things. It was cute.

“Wind.”

Wind turned to Legend. Legend simply gave him a look and he stopped talking. Your attention turned to Legend, his look on you also seemed to have changed.

“When we found you in the woods, there was a bag near you. I swiped it and kept it hidden. I didn’t want to give it to you until I knew I could trust you.” He sighed. “I still don’t! But Time found out and is forcing me to give it back!”

Legend reluctantly handed you your bag. You couldn’t believe you were holding your bag. You opened it up, you took out a text book for one of your classes, a mirror, some lip gloss, your transport card, your identification papers, a hello kitty uno game. But most importantly, your phone. Unfortunately, it was dead. But, it felt good to see things from your time. It helped your sanity. The heroes looked at your items confused and intrigued. Sky took your lipgloss.

“What is this?”

“Lip gloss.” He raised a brow. “It’s makeup, you should know what it is, you had to fight off a cunty dude wearing some.”

“Cunty?”

“What is this?” Hyrule was holding the hello kitty uno set.

“I’ll show you another time.” You took all of your belongings and threw them back in your backpack.

“Twilight is going to take you hunting today.” Time said.

Oh no, not Twilight. He made you nervous for some reason.

“What? Wild’s a much better hunter.”

Wild shook his head. “The animals are scared of me.”

“But, I wanted to go see Impa today.”

“She isn’t here.” Wild spoke again.

“How about we head off then.”

“You have a concussion, you need to rest more.” Wars said, before taking another bite.

“Do you not want to go hunting with me?”

You looked over at Twilight, you felt blush creep onto your cheeks.

“I don’t even know how to use a bow.”

“Twilight’s great with a bow, he’ll teach you. Plus we need more provisions.” Time kept eating.

“Yeah come on princess, it'll be fun.” Twilight smiled at you.

You couldn't really say no, you had to make yourself useful, after all they did save your life, twice. You met up with Twilight outside of Kakariko, he was brushing Epona. You felt heat rise to your ears, no matter, you made your way to him.

“You ever ridden a horse before?” Twilight’s eyes caught you.

“I rode a pony when I was 8.”

If you were being honest, you were kind of scared of horses. Twilight just smiled.

“This is very different from a pony.” He held out his hand and helped you on the horse. “Epona’s much faster, stronger and maybe I’m biased, but also more beautiful.”

You felt your heart rate pick up. Twilight got on the horse.

“You should hold on tight.”

The last thing you saw was his smile before he snapped the bridle making Epona gallop. The pony trotting when you were 8 made you nervous, but this absolutely terrified you. You held on as tight as you could onto Link, your head buried away to not have to look at the scene. Before you knew it she stopped. You heard Link chuckle.

“Are you okay?”

You looked up at him, eyes widened. He hopped off Epona. You tried, but... You may be a bit scared of heights.

“Y/n, Are you coming?”

“Yeah yeah, wait a sec.” You moved your leg to the other side of the horse but couldn’t seem to push yourself off, she was quite tall after all. “I’m coming.”

Link sighed before walking back towards you. He grabbed a hold of your waist and brought you down with ease. Without saying another word he turned back around and started walking through the small forest. The two of you found a fallen log next to a tree, he decided it would be best to camp there. Sitting on your knees he took out a bow and handed it to you. It was heavy.

“Try to hold it up.”

You did as he said, but you struggled. You tried pulling back the string but it was difficult.

“Do you have a smaller one?”

You heard him chuckle before pulling out a smaller bow. It was much better for someone that never used a bow in their life. You could pull the string back much easier now.

“That’s not how you hold it.”

Before you could say or do anything, he placed his hands on your hands adjusting your grip. Your heart seemed to do a backflip. Your posture was terrible though. So naturally, his hand met your lower back forcing you to stand straight. But then your grip on the bow loosened.

“You need to have good posture as well, or else you’re just gonna be shooting up the ground. Y/n, your hands.”

“I’m holding it like you said.”

From your peripheral you saw him shake his head. You would never be prepared for what happened next. Link’s chest pressed up against your back, his arms wrapped around you, his hands finding yours. You froze for a moment. He helped you pull back the string a couple of times trying to get you used to the feeling, but nothing would get you used to his touch. If you had pointy ears, the tips would be bright red.

“Do you understand now?”

You simply nodded. Both of you spotted the red bokoblin not far, it couldn’t see you from here.

“That’s our target.”

His voice barely above a whisper tickled your ear. You tried your best to ignore the effect he had on you and you focused on your breathing. With his assistance, you pulled back the string effortlessly. When you let go, the arrow hit the monster.

“Duck!” You both quickly ducked down behind the log. “You did it!” He said quietly.

“I did!” You said, less quietly.

Link hushed you, putting his finger on your mouth. His head popped out to examine your surroundings and helped you up.

“All right, I’m letting you do this on your own now.”

You nodded. You held the bow, you saw how he had to stop himself from coming to your aid. You straightened your back, breathed in and out before shooting. Unfortunately, the arrow landed in a bush behind the bokoblin. It went to examine the arrow.

“What!”

You yelled while whispering. Link pulled you back down behind the log. He was trying not to laugh. You nudged him.

“Don’t worry princess, you’ll get it next time.”

“Stop calling me that!”

He snorted, it fueled your determination. You sat back up on your knees, back straight, hands positioned more or less correctly. This time, the arrow hit the monster, finishing him off. Link held your arm, shaking you a bit.

“You did it! You killed it!”

You turn your body towards him, mouth still agape. You mimic his excitement, your hands squeezing his biceps and shaking him as well.

“I did it! I did it!”

Suddenly, he heard a noise. He pushed you to the ground and landed on top of you. Link took your breath away, literally. Twilight was easily a hundred and eighty pounds of mostly muscle.

“I’m so sorry!”

That brute knocked the wind out of you and still had the audacity to laugh. He peaked over the log trying to hold in his laughter. The noise was caused by a squirrel. He snorted again. You pushed him off of you.

“Congratulations. You have killed me. I am dead.”

Your arm covered your eyes as you laid dramatically on the soft grass. You could still hear him laughing, you couldn’t deny the fact that he had a contagious laugh. Link pulled your arm away from your face.

“I’m really sorry, really, really sorry.” You could still hear him fighting back his laughs.

“Then why are you still laughing?”

You propped yourself on your elbows. He had such a nice smile. For some reason, he was still on top of you, his legs on either side of you. You observed his face for a moment, especially the symbol on his forehead. Your eyes dipped down to his necklace, you touched the crystal, it was strangely sharp for a pendant. Do you dare pry? You dare.

“I heard you could turn into a wolf.”

Your eyes slowly met his again, his smile turned into a smirk. In the blink of an eye he transformed into his wolf form. In game, his wolf form was cute. But being face to face with a real wolf made you instinctively scramble backwards until you backed up into the tree. You didn’t dare look away, especially since he kept getting closer. You had to keep in mind that it was still the same hunk as earlier, just, very different. His maw kept getting closer to your neck, you felt like a prey. You could heal him growling, making your stomach flip. You felt his warm breath and damp nose on your neck. You thought for a moment that he was going to kill you. Your theory solidified when he bit your neck. You gasped as he transformed back into a hylian, feeling his teeth change against your neck was a strange experience. Your anxiety and butterflies were one at this point. He made his way to your ear.

“That was payback.”

You were certain your face was as red as a tomato. He sat back up but his attention was quickly caught by another sound. It was an animal, by his expression it was a big one. He got off you and kneeled behind the log preparing his bow. You sat there frozen for a hot minute. You knelt next to him watching the stag, you observed his technique with the bow. How he effortlessly pulled back the string. The arrow hit the head of the animal making it collapse. After getting the stag, you went back to Kakariko. You avoided Twilight’s eyes at all cost, too nervous to look in them again. On your way back to the inn someone caught your attention.

“Y/n right?”

It was Paya, she was drop dead gorgeous.

“Uh yes, you’re Paya!”

Paya nodded, smiling softly.

“I hope that the clothes are comfortable. They were my grandmother’s so they should be.”

“They are? No way! That’s awesome.”

You were fangirling so hard, you were actually wearing Impa’s clothes. Wild came up to you two.

“Oh Link! I finally got to meet Y/n!”

Wild didn’t respond, in true Link fashion. Instead, he noticed something on your tunic, he picked up dark grey wolf hair. Your cheeks started flushing.

“I need to get back to my room, it was nice meeting you Paya and thank you so much for the clothes.”

You smiled awkwardly before regaining your room, you felt your heart beating out of your chest. Upon entering your room, you saw Four on the opposite bed. Him and Wild were the most silent and least expressive. Four didn’t trust you.

“Oh are we sharing a room?”

Four nodded silently and continued polishing his sword. Right, he didn’t wield the master sword.

“None of you have the master sword?”

Four snapped his head back. Oh, shit, it was a secret.

“I mean, uh..”

“How do you know that?”

“Well..”

He already didn’t trust you and now that he knows that you know his secret, he’s probably going to be creeped out by you! You scratch the back of your head.

“Your story is very popular in my world.”

Four didn't respond, he looked away from you. You felt kind of terrible. He kept polishing his sword, not acknowledging you anymore. Time knocked at the door.

“Y/n, can you come with me?”

You follow him outside the inn, you see Wild, Paya and Wind surrounding something.

“Wild accidentally threw a shock fruit at your bag.”

“How do you accidentally throw a shock fruit?”

Time shrugged, something was buzzing in your bag. The shock fruit powered up your phone. It was hot to the touch but you managed to activate your sim card. It felt surreal to use your phone here. There was no service, but the phone was on.

“That looks like a Sheikah slate!” Paya exclaimed.

“You could say that, but this is more of an upgraded version of it. Much more upgraded.”

Your phone was basically useless, but it felt good to scroll through it, especially through your camera roll. You saw the faces of your friends, family and your cats. Your sweet little cats, you wondered how they were doing without you. You felt that familiar pinch in your nose so you excused yourself. You walked across the village, under the rings and scaffolding. You hopped over the fence and sat on the edge of the cliff. Tears ran down your face, you couldn’t stop them. You missed your home and your loved ones. No matter how many times you got hurt or passed out, you never ended up home. You didn’t really want to live here, you already had a life back in your world, where things made sense to you. The tears rolled down your face staining your pants. You scrolled through your phone once again, looking at all your loved ones. You wondered if your mom was worried about you, she must have realized you were missing by now. You can’t imagine how scared she must be. That night you skipped dinner and went straight to bed, you stayed under your covers all night refusing to speak to anyone. The day took a huge emotional toll on you. You heard Four come back, you thought he would've switched rooms. You quickly fell asleep after that. No weird dreams haunted you during your peaceful slumber.

Chapter Text

The sun woke you up by sending warm rays in your direction. That was the first time you had a peaceful night of sleep since being here. You stepped outside the inn, it must have been really early. The morning dew covered the village and you decided to do some journaling. You wrote down anything and everything, mostly how you missed your home. But your mind decided to wonder someplace else. Why were you suddenly blushing? Probably because you were thinking of Twilight again. Your fingers met the spot where he bit you and you felt butterflies in your stomach once again. You felt your pulse quicken under your fingers. You felt ashamed because you went from writing about your family to fantasizing about Twilight. Well, it couldn’t be your fault, why on earth did he think that was appropriate?!

“How’s your heart?”

In that moment, your heart jumped out of your chest, that’s how it was. You held your hand over your heart with your mouth agape. It was Sky.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.” He smiled sheepishly.

“You should just tell me if you’re trying to kill me.”

He laughed. You closed your notebook and got up, he obviously wanted to tell you something.

“Oh right, I wanted to see if you were free today.”

“What else would I have to do?”

“You’re right.” He scratched the back of his head. “After breakfast, I would like to show you how to use a sword, and probably a shield as well.”

You noticed the bruise on his chin was gone, you still felt a bit guilty about that. He seemed completely fine around you. You guess he didn’t know about how he held you that night, you remembered though, and now you felt a bit flustered.

“If you don’t want to, you can tell me. Time suggested I teach you.”

“No, no. He’s right.” You shook your head and hands. “I would be happy if you taught me, lord knows I need it.”

“Who’s lord?”

“She’s a popstar from New Zealand.”

Sky scratched his brain trying to figure out what you just said and how it made sense. You felt a bit nervous going to eat breakfast because of how you acted last night. But to your surprise, no one treated you any differently. Probably because they all knew the feeling of being home sick far too well. After eating, you and Sky went to the other end of Kakariko village, on the opposite side of the cemetery. From up there you couldn’t help but gasp at the view, you’re sure you heard Sky as well. The castle was so beautiful, especially since you’d only seen out of gloom a couple times, when you finished the game.

“All right, Y/n, come here.”

The training session wasn’t as good as you hoped it would be, because you weren’t really good. You knew how to swing a wooden bat around, but Sky was teaching you how to use the sword like a knight. You had to use it efficiently while also watching your back. You just hoped he wouldn’t try to make you use a claymore.

“That’s... better.”

White lies flew out of his mouth, you wish he wouldn’t be so hard on you for this. You preferred training with Twilight even if you were at risk of being bit again. Sky had to correct your posture and grip on the sword many times before you actually started doing it more or less correctly. Even though he kept smiling, you could tell he was tired of your lack of talent.

“Do you not have training centers in your world?”

“For swinging swords?”

He nodded, you felt very sweaty.

“No, knights don’t exist anymore.”

“How about royal guards? Who protects the royal families?”

“Royal guards are more of a tourist attraction. Royal families are surrounded by bodyguards appointed by the secret services of countries.”

Sky hummed in confusion. Finally, you managed to hit your target, which was a tree.

“There! Like that, do it again!”

Your body finally found the right rhythm. You weren’t as good as the others, but that would never happen anyway. But you knew how to use a sword now. His words weren’t infected by dishonesty, he could tell you the truth now. At this point, you had been training for around 3 hours, you were getting tired and you felt your muscles ache.

“You did good for a beginner, you caught on pretty quickly.”

You were laying on the cold grass panting with a hand over your eyes. You wanted to sleep for ten years. You could hear Sky laughing then a clanking metal sound. When you opened your eyes, you saw him carrying a claymore.

“Want to try?”

You don’t know why you agreed, but there you were. Sky handed you the big sword, you had to carry it with two hands. You felt the weight as soon as he let go. You went back to your target, dragging the sword on the ground.

“All right, remember. You need to throw the sword, not yourself.”

I’m asking you again dear reader, why did you agree to this? Slowly and surprisingly surely, you lifted the heavy sword. You could feel how much you were pushing your muscles. With the sword lifted off the ground, you swung it. You hit your target, but the sword didn’t stop. You felt the weight of the claymore pulling down. Thankfully for Sky, who was standing just a little too close, managed to duck down in time. But you both ended up on the floor. You felt your heart beating out of your chest.

“I take full responsibility for that.”

You didn’t respond, you were too busy panting. You sat up, supporting your tired body with your hands. You took a closer look at Sky’s hair and you gasped.

“Oh my gosh.”

“What?!”

His hands started touching his head immediately until he felt what was the matter. How on earth did you manage to cut a strand of his hair? Congratulations, you are a menace.

“Does it look terrible?”

You shook your head, it didn’t look bad. He just looked a little silly since the tuft of hair was very much out of place on his head of hair. You tried so hard not to laugh.

“Don’t lie! Goddesses, the others are going to have my arse for this.”

“I’m not lying I promise!”

Your laughing didn’t make him believe you.

“Really! It just looks a little silly that’s all!”

“You know, you seem to hurt me each time we interact.”

It was true, you felt a little guilty but for some reason, your laughter took hold of you.

“I promise I didn’t try to cut your hair!”

His brows raised, but your laugh was contagious.

“You’re lucky I ain’t the captain, he would be crying.”

The both of you erupted in laughter, your sides hurt. A comfortable silence set between the two of you. You noticed the master sword sitting on his back. He was the only one with it in the group. Sky noticed your interest.

“Want to see it?”

Your eyes widened in excitement. Sky carefully drew out the blade, it was beautiful. You almost felt hypnotized by it.

“Can I touch it?”

Sky found your request a little strange but he agreed. Your fingers slowly made contact with it. You didn’t expect anything to happen, but your fingers backed away a little before finally touching it.

“Do you want to try swinging it?”

“Can I do that? I don’t have the triforce of courage, or any triforce for that matter.”

Sky got up, lended his hand to help you and handed you the sword. Your hands hesitated. Your eyes made contact with his. Sky simply smiled.

“You’ll never know unless you try.”

You slightly bit your lip before nodding. You took the blade from him. Its faint glow immediately started fading. You quickly handed it back to him and the glow came back. You heard him laugh.

“Come on, it’ll be fine.”

Sky basically forced the sword back into your hands. Your anxiety picked up when the glow started fading again. You were scared to break the sword. You saw Sky waiting for you to do something. You gulped before taking the stance he taught you. Your eyes caught your target once more. You swing the sword, it hits the target. Nothing more seems to happen.

“So nothing happens?”

You both spin around only to see Wars. Sky seemed nervous, which made you nervous because you obviously weren’t supposed to be touching the blade.

“Captain! I was just teaching her how to swing!”

Wars nodded, he seemed more curious than mad.

“Good thing Time or Vet didn’t catch you.”

Warriors walked up to you, you don’t know why you felt anxious.

“How do you feel?”

“Nothing out of the ordinary. I just feel tired, but that’s because of Sky.”

Wars chuckled before circling around you. You didn’t dare move, you looked at Sky confused but he just shrugged.

“You seem fine anyway. Anyway, I came here to tell you that lunch is ready.”

His words made your stomach grumble. You gave the sword back to Sky, its glow came back almost instantly. At the table, you sat with Sky and Wars because there were no more empty seats. Twilight was in front of you, but you avoided looking at him at all cost.

“Do you want more?”

You quickly glanced up at Twilight before looking back at your plate.

“No thanks, this is plenty.”

You smiled awkwardly and felt blush creeping on your cheeks. Twilight couldn’t help but smile. No one seemed to have noticed, no one besides Wild. He couldn’t stop staring at the both of you.

“You need something champion?”

You didn’t hear Wild speak, you were too focused on trying to keep your cool. After lunch, you fell onto your bed. You felt your muscles aching, if only there was a hot spring nearby. If only you had other clothes. You heard someone clear their throat. Wild was standing in the doorway.

“Can you come with me?”

Wild was bringing you out of the village, Twilight let you two borrow Epona, which you weren’t too pleased about. After a scary ride with your eyes shut. The horse stopped.

“We’re here.”

You opened your eyes only to see the great fairy fountain. The air was warm near the fountain and you saw fairies all around. It was as if you stepped into a fairy tale from your childhood. You managed to get down on your own this time. You both approached the fountain and Cotera sprung up.

“Link!”

The great fairy grabbed a hold of the champion, squeezing him in her big embrace. You could see the blush on his face. The fairy turned her attention to you. Her eyes seemed to peer into your soul, it was intimidating but you couldn’t seem to look away either.

“And who might this be?”

Cotera’s chin was in the palm of her hands, as she observed you.

“I- I’m Y/n, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

The great fairy smiled, enjoying your politeness and shyness.

“I have some materials, could you enhance her clothes please?”

Wild took out a load of materials, you quickly counted everything. It seemed to be enough to enhance it quite a lot.

“How do you have all that?”

Wild shrugged, you heard the fairy laugh.

“Thank you darling!”

Before you knew it, you felt the great fairy kiss you. It felt like falling face first into millions of flowers. Afterwards, your thumb wiped your face, you looked back at it. It was stained by her lipstick. In your peripheral you could see Link trying to suppress a laugh. After thanking the fairy you knelt down near the river and washed your face.

“You’re still using my hair tie?”

You looked up at Link and untied your hair, it cascaded down. You hand it back to him. An unknown scent met your nose. You smelled your hair and clothes. Why did you smell like potpourri? When looking back at Link, he seemed a little flustered looking at you. He avoided your gaze. You got up and raised your sleeve up to his nose.

“Do I smell like potpourri or am I going mad?”

Link backed away a little surprised by your sudden movement.

“I don’t know what that is, but you do smell like flowers.” He gestured towards the fountain. “She does that.”

That made your appreciation for the fairies grow. You wondered how good you would smell after enhancing your clothes to the max. The two of you went back to Kakariko village, you were less scared of Epona this time. You even kept your eyes open! But Epona stopped violently, bucking both of you off. Link immediately came to your aid.

“I’m fine, don't worry.”

You got a scratch along your cheek, his brows furrowed at the sight. You then saw something purple glowing and swirling behind him. Your expression altered Link. He silently gasped.

“Stay here with Epona, I’ll go get the others.”

Before you could say anything, Link went running off leaving you alone with Epona who was terrified. You slowly got up and made your way to her. But scared horses are equally as scary. You had your hands in the air trying to calm her down. You had an apple in your pocket, Wind gave it to you after lunch. You tried to soothe her with it. Epona started calming down and ate the apple, which gave you the opportunity to pet her neck.

“Don’t worry, Twilight’s coming.”

Epona snorted in response. You could tell she was still a bit stressed.

“Oh is he now?”

The voice sent a chill down your spine, you turned around only to see Dark Link. You felt all your muscles tense up. You heard Epona start to squeal, signaling her stress rising once more.

“What do you want from me?”

You heard your voice trembling. His smile grew wider as he approached you.

“You.”

Your brows furrowed.

“Well that’s not going to happen, bud.”

You took your sword and shield out, you heard him laugh.

“There’s no need for those.”

Dark Link kept getting closer. You couldn’t seem to move anymore, you were frozen from fear.

“I already told you this, I don’t see why you're acting surprised. Do you not remember me visiting you?”

You saw his head tilt, you remembered that damn dream. Epona was getting more and more agitated.

“I’m always watching and lurking, I hope you know that.”

“That’s called stalking.”

He was too close now, you could smell the charcoal and amber again. It was way more intense in real life. You tried to move but your limbs were frozen. All your training from this morning seemed to have been for nothing. His hand met your neck.

“It was hard to control myself when I saw what that brute did to you.”

You were sure he could feel your pulse. Out of fight or flight you chose to freeze. Upon closer look, Dark Link didn’t resemble Legend. He looked like a combination of all the heroes. Maybe his face changed each time a new swordsman was chosen by the goddess. All of a sudden, an arrow flew between the two of you.

“Y/n!”

You saw the heroes running towards you, when looking back at Dark Link you could see that his smile turned into a grimace. Seeing the others helped knock some sense back into you. You put your sword away, put your shield up and slammed into Dink successfully destabilising him for a moment. Once stable, his eyes seemed to glow even more red. He pushed to the ground.

“Stop making this so difficult!”

In a swift motion you took your shield in your hands and swung it at him. He moved away in time.

“NEVER!”

This gave the others enough time to catch up to you. Legend and Four helped you up on your feet and quickly got you out of the mess. Time, Twilight and Wars stood in front of you, shielding you from him. Dark Link laughed menacingly.

“You can’t always be around her.”

Without another word he vanished. The heroes put away their weapons. You were a bit surprised that Legend and Four came to help you. But there they were, they looked as worried as the others.

“Did he do that to you?”

Time asked, you couldn't help but feel like he was mad at you. You shook your head, you thanked Four and Legend. All of you surrounded the portal. You felt dizzy after looking at it for too long. Wind tugged on your sleeve, he gave you your backpack. One by one, they all stepped into the portal until you were left alone with Wind.

“Come on, it doesn’t hurt at all I promise!”

Before you could respond he grabbed your hands and pulled you through the portal. For a moment everything was dark, your head was spinning like crazy and you felt as if some of your body parts were humongous and other parts tiny. You hated the feeling. Little by little, the sun ate away at the darkness until you saw your foot step on a wooden plank. You caught onto Wind’s shoulders, he seemed amused.

“How did it feel?”

You were trying not to get sick, you simply shook your head. You lost your balance when Wind went speeding off somewhere, you felt the champion catch you.

“Y/n, I hope you aren’t sea sick.”

“Uh?”

Chapter Text

When your head stopped spinning you looked up only to see an endless ocean. You were all on a boat, a pirate ship to be more exact. Wind was jumping around trying to show off everything on the ship to the other heroes. Wind was going on and on about his time. He was thankful that they didn't end up on his small red boat. The ship had shelter and provisions. You didn’t know how much time you were going to spend on the boat. The ship was much more spacious than in the game which was a relief. When night fell, you looked up at the sky to see the most beautiful sea of stars. You saw the crow’s nest and your curiosity got the better of you. You tried not to look down to not scare the shit out of you. Once on top you had the best view of the sky. You heard your name being called, you looked down to see Wind waving to you. Then you saw the cooking pot. Dinner was ready. You made your way down the ladder. Wild gave you a bowl of what seemed to be fish stew, it smelled amazing. Everyone sat on the floor, there were no tables or chairs. Wind was really in his element, he shared stories about his travels and his battle with Ganon. Wind couldn’t wait to show everyone everything his world had to offer, which wasn’t very much since it was mostly water.

“In all seriousness.” Twilight spoke up. “We need to find land, I don’t think Epona is digging being on a boat that much.”

Poor Epona, she couldn’t gallop or trot around anymore. Your diet since you arrived here has been so much better for your body. You didn’t have any cravings or stomach cramps. You wished food back in your world wasn’t as processed as it was. Busy focusing on your stew you didn’t see Wind sit down next to you.

“Hey Y/n.”

Your gaze turned to him, he had the biggest smile ever, it was almost obnoxious. He handed you a little box. You didn’t want to part with your stew but you were very intrigued. You opened the box. It was a pair of shark tooth earrings.

“It’s because you said that you usually wear earrings!”

You didn’t know what to say, you felt that familiar pinch in your nose. You put the box down and hugged the little sailor.

“Thank you Link.”

Pulling away from the hug, you put the earrings on, you now matched the others. Warriors ended up finding some rum on the ship. Wind said it belonged to the crew that used to use the ship. Some of the heroes started drinking, Legend decided to bring the younger ones away. Wind didn’t want to leave but he didn’t really have a choice. You were left with Warriors, Wild, Sky, Time and Twilight. Wars started handing you a drink but paused mid air.

“Wait, how old are you?” His cheeks were already flushed from the alcohol.

“20.”

Wars nodded and gave you the cup, but you didn’t even want any. You weren’t much of a drinker. Time and him seemed to be the only ones really enjoying drinking. The others sipped away like normal people, besides you. It wasn’t sweet enough. Slowly but surely, the others started getting tipsy, Wars was drunk. Twilight looked at Sky a little too long.

“What happened to your hair?”

“Nothing.” Sky hid his tuft.

“Did you cut your hair?” Wars laughed.

You hid behind your cup that was still full. You bit your tongue, you didn’t want to say anything unless he did.

“It’s Y/n! She cut my hair when we were training!”

You heard all of them laugh, their attention turned to you.

“How did your training go?” Time asked.

“She sucked in the beginning.” You didn’t say anything, you let Sky speak. “But after like an hour in a half she got better.”

Time got up and clapped his hands together.

“Why don’t you show us what you learnt?”

The others looked over at you excited. Maybe it would be best if you were the only one to hold a sword seeing how they were. You reluctantly agreed after being handed your equipment. Time stood in front of you with his shield and sword. Your anxiety rose a bit seeing him with a sword.

“Maybe someone else should fight me.” Time scoffed. “Someone who drank less.”

Warriors raised his hand to participate, but he drank just as much as the old man. Twilight got up, he almost lost his balance.

“I’m fine, I can do it!”

“I pray to Hylia to give me the power to survive this.” You said to yourself.

Twilight took out his weapon and shield. It was an Ordonian shield, you weren’t sure what the symbol was supposed to represent but it was nice to look at. You didn’t want to ruin it, but honestly, it would surprise you if you managed to land a hit on Twilight. You still had trouble looking into his eyes, the others were hyping you up, placing bets and whistling. This made you feel like you were really part of their group.

“Remember your posture!”

You didn’t acknowledge Sky, but you kept his words in mind. Twilight took the first swing, you hid behind your shield a little scared.

“Come on! Come at me princess!”

You hated when he called you that. He most likely knew that, he probably saw how your eyebrows furrowed and how your eye twitched each time. If he was doing it on purpose you hated him for it. No matter, his little pet name was enough to give you the confidence that you needed, you swung the sword not once but twice. The second swing took him by surprise, the blade scraped against his forearm. You gasped, dropping your weapon as you quickly made your way to him. You grabbed his arm, thankfully it was just a little cut but he was bleeding.

“I’ll go get the bandages!” Wars said before running off.

“I’m so sorry, I wasn’t thinking straight.”

You didn’t hear him respond. You feared he hated you now. When you looked up he was smiling at you. You felt warm inside.

“If I didn’t drink this wouldn’t have happened.”

You looked around for something to apply pressure to the cut. You got a handkerchief from Sky, you hoped it wasn’t Zelda’s as blood seeped through the white fabric.

“Next time you won’t be so lucky.”

Next time? You didn’t even dare look back up. You carefully wrapped his arm with the bandage, you could feel his stare. The others already left to go to bed. Your ears were filled with the sound of the gentle waves, the lantern burning and his breathing. Time seemed to have slowed down and you heard your own heartbeat.

“Y/n?” You hummed. “Do you not like me?”

You froze for a second, how were you going to explain to him that he made you feel some type of way without it sounding like you wanted to get into his pants.

“Why do you say that?”

You saw his shoulders shrug.

“I don’t know, you are always tense around me and you rarely look into my eyes.” You looked up at him. “It doesn’t count now.” Link snickered.

“I don’t dislike you, on the contrary.” You let go of his arm. “In my world your story is one of my favorites.”

“So you do like me, noted.”

“Don’t twist my words!” Blood rushed to your cheeks.

“It’s simple, either you like me or dislike me.”

“I! Am going to bed.”

You started walking away.

“Aw, come on princess.”

“Will you stop calling me that?!”

Twilight shook his head, you decided it was best to ignore him. You went to your designated cabin, you were bunking with Wild who was already fast asleep. The bed in the ship was not comfortable, you missed your bed back at home. At the end of every day, you felt exhausted. Chaos seemed to follow you everywhere you went here, you just wanted one day where you could relax and scroll through tiktok from 11 a.m to 3 a.m, but that wasn’t possible. You woke up, you don’t remember falling asleep, you looked around, it wasn’t the cabin. You sat on your bed, yes your bed. You looked around your room not believing the sight. Was this whole ordeal just a dream? Maybe you should stop reading fanfiction because it seemed to have completely rotted your brain. You started getting ready for the day, your bus was soon. You washed your face, used your skin care, your makeup, and finally put your own clothes on. On the bus, you watched the road while listening to your music. The faces around you were blurry, maybe you needed to get your eyes checked. You finally made it to your university, the sun was very high in the sky for 9 a.m. No matter, you went on with your classes, your hearing wasn’t the best either but you saw your friends again. You couldn’t see them well though. In the cafeteria you couldn’t seem to eat, you felt full. Come to think of it, you hadn’t had breakfast either. Through the halls of your campus you smelt a faint familiar odor but you couldn’t quite put your finger on it. In the library, you were working on... something? What were you even working on? You tried to focus but that same smell crawled into your nostrils. You look up to someone talking to you. Your heart sank.

“Is this seat taken?”

“What are you doing here?”

Dark Link took the seat in front of you.

“Your unconscious is the only place where we can talk without you freaking out.”

Your surroundings slowly started fading away. You felt extremely sad.

“I don’t want to hurt you, I hope you know that.”

“You left me unconscious in the woods to bleed out.”

“Your precious heroes arrived when they weren’t supposed to.”

“You marked me with a triforce.”

“I healed you, I still didn’t hear a thank you by the way.”

You stood up from your imaginary chair.

“I almost died, twice.”

“You were never supposed to be out of my sight in the first place.”

You start massaging your temples trying not to get mad, this was only a dream after all.

“How did you even bring me here in the first place? How am I supposed to go home?”

After a couple minutes of silence, you were sick of it. All he was doing was smiling at you, like Monika from ddlc. You sighed and caught a bit of skin from your wrist between your fingers.

“You lack patience.”

“You have ten seconds to tell me something interesting.”

“You wanted to be here, that’s all I can say.”

That just confused you even more. You pinched your arm, it woke you up instantly. You were still in that cabin, the sun was peering through the small window. You looked to your side and saw Wild’s hair tie. Stepping out of the cabin everyone was already awake.

“Y/n!”

Wind screamed your name, you looked up only to see him coming down the crow’s nest.

“When you see Roolie please don’t say anything.”

He told you quietly. You looked around and saw Hyrule with a black moustache that was clearly drawn on. You saw Wind giggle.

“Are we arriving on land soon?”

Wind nodded, and pointed towards the ocean and from afar you could see an island coming up.

“We’re soon at Outset Island!”

Finally, you desperately wanted to take a shower. An hour later the ship boarded and Wind brought everyone to his house. His granny opened the door and was definitely surprised. Nonetheless, she was super hospitable with everyone. Aryll and Link’s reunion was precious and made you miss your family. His grandmother was nice enough to lend you some clothes. That bath felt amazing, you were able to get squeaky clean. The clothes she lent you were quite different from what you expected - think of Angelica from Pirates of the Caribbean - but it looked good, especially with the new shark tooth earrings. The heroes were keeping themselves busy by helping people around the island. You saw Wars laying under a tree hiding his face.

“You okay?”

The Captain grunted, he must be hungover. Time approached you.

“Y/n, we need to talk about what happened yesterday.”

You always felt like a kid in trouble when Time talked to you, his overly serious expression wasn’t helping. Some of the other heroes joined the conversation.

“What did Dark Link say to you?”

All the eyes were on you, you felt nervous. It was embarrassing to say it out loud. You could see Legend’s judgemental stare.

“Um, well he’s after me, that’s for sure.”

“That’s obvious, do you know why?” Said the Vet.

“Um..” You fidgeted with your fingers, you could feel your cheeks heating up. “When I asked him what he wanted, he just said me.”

“Nothing else?”

“I did see him last night, and the night when I got hit.”

Time and Legend looked at you surprised and worried.

“I mean! He visited me in my dreams, twice.”

“Why didn’t you tell us before?”

“Because I didn’t think the first dream was real, until he told me it was.”

They pondered for a moment, you hated how Legend was looking at you, as if this was your fault. Last time you checked, you didn’t want to be here in the first place. Though, you couldn’t deny how nice it was to be near the beach, it was very soothing for your extremely stressed mind. Time sighed.

“Someone will have to be around you at all times.”

You felt like a child.

“She needs to be prepared to fight.” Legend held his chin. “How did your training go?”

“She isn’t terrible, but nowhere near good.” Thank you Time for your honesty. “You need much more training, if Wars was in better shape I would have him train you today.”

They both looked at Wild and nodded to each other. You and Wild made it up to the forest of fairies. The silence between the two of you wasn’t uncomfortable. You liked being around him, he let your social battery rest. Also because he was the Link you knew the best. His training was different from Sky’s, even though they were both knights trained by the royal guards, although there was like thousands of years in between them. Wild had a more aggressive way of fighting. He didn’t care about it looking good or it being up to the knights' standards. You weren’t sure which fighting method was better. Sky’s way was more like dancing in a way, very elegant and effective, but you had to do it the perfect way each time which was tiring. Wild’s way was straightforward, he didn’t waste time on being aesthetically appealing which made it more chaotic and fun, but Wild was ruthless and you felt like you were making no progress with him. When you thought you landed a hit, you ended up swinging your sword into nothing even though he was there a moment ago.

“Can you stop using your flurry rush?”

“I don’t understand your choice of wording sometimes.”

Your sword swung, you were sure you got him but nope! He’s totally cheating.

“Spawn, beating, using, ... As if this was a game to you.”

“You’re cheating!”

“Dink wouldn’t back down.”

This was difficult, he was supposed to be training a beginner, but you felt as if you were in a major test of strength shrine with five hearts and shitty weapons. You swing your blade once more, you thought you hit him but he just ended up parrying your attack. You lost your stability for a moment but quickly regained your balance. You don’t know what came over you but you threw the sword in the ground.

“Fuck all of this!” You distanced yourself from Link. “What is wrong with me?”

Link gasped but you didn’t hear anything else. When you turned around he was staring into the abyss, you waved your hand in front of his face but there was no response.

“Link?”

Chapter Text

Link had his back turned from Zelda. He knew she didn’t like it when he came along on her travels but when King Rhoam ordered him to, he didn't really have a choice. Link could hear Zelda struggling, but she refused to ask for his help.

“This isn’t fair.”

Link’s head tilts ever so slightly back.

“I was also chosen by the goddess. Why can’t I access these?”

The hero heard a clunk and then saw the sheikah slate land by his feet. He picked it up and walked up to the princess.

“What is wrong with me?”

It was a rhetorical question, well at least Link thought it was. He didn’t expect her to wait for an answer. But she just stood there, looking at him, waiting. He could see the desperation in her eyes. Words failed to come out, she sighed.

“I know what you think of me.”

Does she? Link stayed silent, what could he possibly say? He handed her the sheikah slate, she took it back, sighing once again.

“Come on, let’s go, I have a million other things to do.”

The memory faded out, Link came back to reality. He saw you staring into his eyes and it made him a little nervous.

“Are you okay?”

Wild nodded, he picked up your sword before handing it back to you. You continued training. You felt your body aching but you couldn’t stop. You stayed determined and kept swinging your weapon around, trying to incorporate Sky and Wild’s methods. Finally, you heard your sword hit his shield, shattering it on impact, good thing it wasn’t the hylian shield. Link looked surprised, but quickly went on with the training. You were now going to defend yourself. Against a master swordsman? Yes, good luck.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?”

Link simply nodded before attacking you, his blade paused right when it was about to make contact with your skin. For the next hour, you tried to block his attacks. You failed many times, the sword always stopped before hitting you. But sooner or later you started blocking his hits, this fueled your confidence. You decided to parry his attack, which didn’t go over too well. You lost your balance and ended up on the floor. Link knelt down at your level, you could see him suppressing a laugh.

“You did well.”

“Don’t mock me.”

He shook his head.

“I’m not, you just need more practice. Remember, once on the floor you greatly decrease your chances of survival.”

Link saw your eyebrows furrow, he couldn’t help but laugh. An idea popped into your head, it was probably cheating but he kept using his flurry rush earlier so anything was fair game. You pounced on him, pinning him to the ground.

“Have I greatly decreased your chances at survival?”

Link’s face was a hot mess, you could see the blush reaching the tips of his ears and how his chest rose and fell rapidly underneath you. The gravity of what you just did loomed over you. But you were frozen, it seemed he was as well. The silence was heavy, and of course you had to do this to the most quiet Link. But sitting on top of him gave you a clear view of his face, you couldn’t deny how pretty he was, he smelt like freshly cut grass and cedar wood. You thought he would smell like rocks and dirt for some reason, that thought made you laugh which eased the tension between you two. Link cleared his throat, his senses seemed to be coming back to him.

“This will only work on someone your height or under.” His wrists got out of your grip with ease, he sat up. “And preferably someone weaker than you.” His blush started fading and he smiled. “But Dark Link isn’t. And I’m not either.”

Before you could say anything he flipped you over on your back pinning you down. You tried fighting out of his grip but your efforts were in vain. It made you feel anxious knowing if you were in this situation with Dark Link, you wouldn’t be able to defend yourself, if only you had your pepper spray on you. Your knees slid under his stomach and you managed to push him off, he fell back.

“Oh shit, I’m so sorry!”

You crawled over to him, he didn’t seem hurt, it was only a little tumble anyway.

“No, no. You did good, you have to fight back.”

Being called good by the hero of the wild made you happy, after many failed attempts during this training session you finally felt like you were making progress. Shortly after, the two of you decided you trained enough for the day, so you went to join the others. The heroes were making themselves busy by helping around the island, mostly Wind’s granny with tasks that she wasn’t able to do anymore. The next few days were surprisingly very relaxing, besides the forced training with the various heroes. The hardest training session was with Time, mostly because he pushed you the hardest. Like Four, Time was very stoic, or maybe he was only this way with you. No matter, you didn’t like how he would treat you like a child, it made the training more tense and therefore more intense. You had to admit that you progressed with him way more than the others, even more than with Wars who was supposed to be a captain. While looking for your journal you stumbled on your phone. For some reason it was still charged. Reading the date on the phone made you gasp, because how come it was September 3rd? Your confusion on how you got here only grew. Why did you have a textbook in your bag if it was summer break? How about school?! Were you not going to go back to classes soon?

“What you looking at?”

It was Wars.

“I am trying to remember how I got here.” You put your phone back in the bag. “I’ve already been here for a week.”

“More than a week, it’s been 10 days.”

You hummed, you don’t understand how you can’t remember anything. It seemed like the whole month of August had been a blur. You don’t even remember going to your finals, or if you passed for that matter. Maybe you had that damn textbook because you were repeating a year. You sighed.

“Dinner’s ready by the way.”

Now that was some good news. Everyone was on the balcony, Wild was cooking with granny. There wasn’t a big enough dinner table for all of you, so everyone was either sitting on the ground or on stools and a tiny love seat. You chose the floor, you didn’t want to take the last seat away from granny. After dinner, Wind, Aryll, Four and Hyrule went to play on the beach, you were able to take the love seat for yourself. From the balcony you could see them, as well as the sun setting over the endless sea. It was quite a beautiful sight. Sky was playing his harp while Time and Wars talked to each other. The rancher wanted to help granny and Wild clean up but was kicked out of the kitchen for being in the way instead of helping. Sky stopped playing and tried not to laugh.

“They didn’t want you?”

You didn’t hear Twilight respond, only Sky’s harp play once again. Twilight sat on the love seat with you. He tried to read what you were writing. He pretended to understand which made you a bit nervous.

“Hmm, very interesting. But I would use nicer words describing Legend.”

Legend immediately came over to grab your journal, you didn’t even have time to defend yourself. Legend’s eyes read over the words.

“I don’t understand anything.” He flipped the journal around thinking he would understand from a different angle. “Is this really how people write in your world?”

“Only people who speak my language.”

“With each language, you write differently?” You nodded. “Then how are you supposed to easily communicate with people from different regions?”

You shrugged. Legend wasn’t able to comprehend how your world worked. He then gestured to the love seat.

“Can I have a seat? I'm tired of sitting on the floor.”

Twilight shook his head and transformed into his wolf form taking up all the extra space. Legend rolled his eyes and just left the balcony. You felt a bit bad but you couldn't help but smile.

“Y/n, have you met Wolfie?”

You looked over at Twilight, you felt a little flustered. You shook your head. Twilight’s muzzle nudged its way through your arm before he laid his head on your lap. This reminded you of your cats, you couldn’t help but pet him. You just had to ignore the fact that this was a grown man laying on you, at least he wasn’t trying to bite you this time.

“He might fall asleep.” Said Time.

As long as he stayed this fluffy you didn’t mind. Sky played a song that wasn’t from his era, you couldn’t quite put your finger on what it was. Wind’s era might be one of your favorites because you felt as if you were on vacation. There were little to no threats and even the heroes could relax here. You couldn’t believe you were here for ten days already. Maybe staying here with them wouldn’t be so bad after all, they were experts at survival and you knew that they would protect you. You shouldn’t think of that possibility, it was like signaling defeat. You couldn’t let some psycho dictate your life just because he felt bored. Your thoughts were cut short when the heroes were alerted by something on the beach.

“I’ll go pack up.”

Warriors left the balcony, you got up from the love seat and saw a portal on the beach. You also saw Wind and Aryll running back to the house. This must be a cruel joke on Dink’s part. All of you stood in front of the portal.

“Are you sure you have to leave Link?”

Wind nodded and hugged his family before making his way to the portal as well. This time, you had to pull him through. That terrible feeling of passing through the portal made you nauseous. When you finally put your foot on the ground, you tried to shake the feeling of dizziness away.

“Anyone recognize anything?”

There was no answer, you were in a forest. Walking around nothing seemed familiar to the heroes. The Worst part is that the sun was nearly set. You stayed behind the group not wanting to slow them down. But you felt anxious knowing no one was behind you. The constant state of anxiety from Wild’s era came back to haunt you once more. You’d only been on the road for an hour and you already missed Outset Island very much. Some ruins were up ahead and Time decided it would be best to camp there. Around the campfire, Legend was telling a story about his adventures. You were focusing on the fire, you observed the sparks and the lovely orange flames. Wind and Four caught your attention as they came running back to the fire.

“There’s a monster camp!”

Four simply nodded, Wind seemed very excited. Time stood up.

“What type?”

“Mostly bokoblins but I think there was also a lizalfos as well.”

Four shook his head.

“There’s this weird one as well, looks like a moblin but seems stronger.”

Time nodded and everyone started going towards the enemies. You didn’t really want to fight though but Wild handed you a weapon and a shield and just nodded. You didn’t seem to have a choice. The group moved quietly, then you saw it. There were around twenty bokoblins and a lizalfos. In the middle there was this ugly big one with a mace, you heard Time gasp. Without sharing any words, the heroes nodded to each other and they ran towards the monsters. You felt as if your feet were glued to the ground, but when you saw Wind slice the throat of one of them you took a deep breath and ran into the mess. You tried your best to remember all your training, but face to face with a monster your mind went blank, until it was shot in the head. You shook your head and looked around, Four was being surrounded and you knew you had to do something. The lizalfos crept up on him and before he had the chance to fight it pushed him to the ground. It wasn’t part of your training, in fact the heroes disavised this move. But it’s what felt the most natural to you. You ran into the monster slamming your weight and shield into it. You quickly helped Four up and drew out your sword alongside him. An arrow went flying by you, there was a bokoblin shooting you on a post. You quickly made your way to it avoiding the others. On the post you were face to face with the ugly creature. It was somehow more ugly than the moblin, but then again this wasn’t the same era as Wild’s and it probably lacked many many years of evolution. The bokoblin squealed when seeing you, it pointed its ugly red finger. You remembered your posture and tried holding the blade as well as you could, you tried your best to ignore how sweaty your palms were. The monster shot at you and you successfully blocked its hit. You took the opportunity to swing at him, the monster fell off the post to its death leaving behind its bow and arrows. You equipped it and tried your best to help your teammates from up there, you even managed to shoot one in the eyes. With the bokoblins and single lizalfos taken care of there was only the club moblin left. It looked like a pig and a bulldog on steroids. Sky drew the master sword in the air harnessing its power before swinging it at the beast. You rushed over to it, raising your wooden shield and rusty sword with all the courage inside of you. For some reason, you didn’t freeze this time. Maybe because the monster wasn’t focusing on you, but no matter! You were being brave, which showed how much you progressed since arriving here. You swing at the beast, your blade slicing through its thick skin. A deep cry of anger and pain shot out of its lungs. The heroes didn’t stop, they kept attacking the beast, even when it swung at them. The monster fell to the ground in a loud thump signalling its end. By the end you were only left with small cuts and you would probably have a couple bruises in the morning. Around the campfire once more, the heroes cheered on their victory.

“I think we are in my era, or at least an ear close to mine.”

Everyone one looked over at Time, he was smiling like an old man. He was cleaning off his blade.

“Right, because the club moblin is only in ocarina of time.”

Did you just say that out loud? You most likely did because of how everyone was looking at you. You should’ve stuck to not talking, like you usually do.

“Your choice of words always surprises me.” Said Sky.

“Your g- story in my world is called Ocarina of Time.”

This is why you chose not to talk, you were always scared of messing up something. Some of them already thought you were a weirdo like Wild, Legend and Four which on some level you didn’t care. But if the leader of the pack thought you were a creep it wouldn’t go over too well.

“Our stories have names?”

Hyrule spoke to you, you nodded. They seemed to want to know more, you guessed it couldn’t hurt them. One by one you listed their game names. Some of them seemed a little disappointed and others thought theirs was cool.

“So Ranchhand’s called Twilight Princess but I’m just the legend of Zelda one and two?”

“Roolie don’t complain, at least you can keep count of all of yours. How come I have so many?”

“Aren’t you called the Veteran for a reason?”

Legend liked your response.

“But, how are all of our stories in your world? Are there any more stories? How come we are the only ones?”

Time raised a very interesting question, which you didn’t have the answer to. You tried to rack your brain, but like the first day you were here you had no idea.

“The only other story is a Zelda based story, called Echoes of Wisdom. I have no idea where it is on the timeline. My best guess is that it sticks into your era.” You pointed at Legend.

“Our timeline seems very confusing in your world.”

All you could do is nod as Legend’s comment. The conversation moved on, but you were starting to feel sleepy. Fortunately you weren’t the only one, but unfortunately you never slept on the ground before. It was very uncomfortable and you even missed the beds in the ship’s cabins. Curse your wretched body used to beds and mattresses. Twilight noticed your struggling.

“Not used to camping?”

“I miss having a pillow.”

For some reason he took that as a reason to turn into a wolf, he then laid down behind you. You felt a little bad, but it would be stupid of him to go out of his way to be used as a pillow. He probably felt lonely and wanted some affection as well. You could cross sleeping with a wolf off your bucket list now. His fur was more on the coarse side but it radiated a lot of heat. Sleeping on the ground wasn’t so bad after all.

Chapter Text

The sun rose once more upon the foreign land, the morning air was cold while the rays were still shy. Sleeping on a wolf was better than the dirt but when you woke up you had a terrible pain in your neck. Perhaps sleeping on the ground would’ve been better. Lucky Twilight, he was able to feel comfortable anywhere in his form. The heroes woke up one by one, Time being the first as per usual. The mission for today was to find his home, Lon Lon ranch. The forest was thick and when you looked close enough you could see owls staring at all of you. After a couple hours, the end of the forest appeared. On the other side was a vast plain of grass and flowers. By the looks of it you guessed you arrived in Hyrule fields. Though it looked completely different from what you knew. It was around midday when Time finally saw his precious ranch, but the closer he got the more confused he got.

“It’s different.”

Legend was the first to break the silence. You didn’t have an opinion, any real depiction of the ranch would be better than the one you saw on your ds. Time didn’t answer, he just continued on forward. You felt anxious, which wasn’t new, but it was still an uncomfortable feeling that you would never get used to. In front of the door, Time’s hand went to grip the handle. Warriors stopped him.

“Wait, maybe you should knock.”

“This is my home.”

Warriors didn’t move his arm, Time sighed and knocked on the door. A moment later, someone opened the door. Nobody seemed to recognize the lady.

“Oh, hello, how may we help you?”

Time looked at the woman confused, he started looking behind her trying to comprehend. Legend cleared his throat and stepped in front.

“Hello ma'am, we are travelers and we were hoping you had a place for us to stay the night.”

Before the woman could respond, Warriors took out a pouch of rupees and she was suddenly very hospitable. The woman started showing you around the home, Time was quiet while Legend and Wars did most of the talking. In the living room Time saw a picture frame on the fireplace. He slowly picked it up.

“Oh that’s my son Talon and his best friend Ingo.” The heroes expressions turned into grimaces. “Speaking of which, I haven’t seen them in a while, excuse me for a moment.”

You chose to bite your tongue, the last thing they needed was your endless knowledge about their lives. Time kept observing the picture with a cold look in his eyes. The others stood around awkwardly not knowing what to do. You were sent to his era but to a time where he wasn’t even born yet and judging from the picture, he wouldn’t be born for a long time. The house was much more spacious and nicer than on your ds which was a relief. But it wasn’t big enough to fit ten people and counting. Dust collected on most of the furniture which made the everyday items stand out more. Time put the picture frame back down and sighed.

“At least we aren’t lost in an unknown era.”

Sky comforted Time. He simply nodded. He didn’t seem sad, just lost. It was clear he had no idea on what to do. Which was a first for you to see. Not only him, all the heroes seemed to be deep in thought trying to figure something out. If only the triforce of wisdom was bestowed onto them. The sound of a child whining alerted everyone. The woman and young Talon came into the living room.

“But mama, I don’t want to clean up the barn.”

“No buts!” The woman was stern with him, her smile came back when she turned to you. “Now, I’m afraid my home is too small to greet all of you, but the barn is quite spacious and is very warm at night!”

The heroes nodded, you hoped to see the animals. When leaving the house the woman stopped you.

“Miss! There is a tear in your shirt!”

There was a small tear in your sleeve, most likely because of your encounter from the night before. You only had the time to muster out some stuttering before she brought you to her room and started picking through her clothes. To your dismay she took out a milkmaid type dress, something that wasn’t fit for traveling.

“Now this would look much nicer on you, what do you think?”

You painfully shook your head and tried to explain that though it was nice it would be far too impractical for your travels. You’d much rather stay in your current clothing. You thought she understood judging by her face but unfortunately you ended up walking out of that darn house in a ruffled lace white blouse and a white and green patchwork skirt. There were embroidered flowers along some of the patches. You were too shy and she was too pushy so you ended up agreeing to everything. You were happy to have pockets and your boots though.

“If you’d like we can set you up in Talon’s room.”

You thought about it, you didn’t really want the heroes to see you like this. But you didn’t really want her to dress you up like a doll again so you said no. Once you got on the upstairs of the barn the heroes stared at you not knowing what to think. You felt your cheeks blush and felt very out of place among them. Legend snorted.

“You look... good.”

You hid your face after hearing Time’s words. You felt so embarrassed.

“I look like a trad wife.”

“I don’t know what that is but you certainly look from this era.”

Time wasn’t helping and you could still hear Legend laughing. You put your stuff down, your sword clunked against the ground. You ignored all the jokes being made at your expense. You wondered how on earth you would fight wearing something like this, you also didn’t understand how this lady that you just met trusted you with her clothes. Time cleared his throat which put an end to the mocking.

“We need to find out how you got here.” Time looked over at you. “I think we should ask for celestial guidance.”

Were there any goddess statues in his world? You don’t remember seeing Hylia around when you played his game. Time took out a map that he took from the house.

“We need to go to the spirit temple. It’s guarded by Din, maybe she will be nice enough to grant us some answers.”

“Shouldn’t we try to find the spring of wisdom?” Said Wild.

“I wouldn’t know where to find it. It would be reckless to travel in this era without my knowledge.”

“People under seventeen years old can’t go.”

You saw how it creeped them out when you told them facts about their own world. But you were right, what was the point in going somewhere if some of the heroes would be excluded.

“How about the spring of courage then?”

“Again Wild, I don’t know how to go there.”

“But I know how, we’re all experienced travelers it shouldn’t be too hard to get there.”

Time looked over at you, your lips fell into a grimace. You didn’t want to be the reason they had to make their travels easier. You shook your head trying to get rid of those defeatist thoughts.

“Wild’s right. We should go, I can’t be the reason you have to slow down. Experience is the best teacher anyway.”

“We can’t risk putting you in danger.”

“Well, I’m sure I can figure it out on my own.”

Time's face showed how much he disliked your defiance, although you felt a bit intimidated by him you couldn’t back down from this. You told them from the get go that you could do this on your own. If Wild knew the way, you would be able to find the way as well and with the little fighting experience you now had you felt pretty confident in yourself. Maybe it was fueled by your delusion but in times like this it’s better to dream then to stay stuck.

“Wild and Y/n are right Time. We can’t just stay here waiting for another portal.” Wars looked at you. “Plus she isn’t getting too bad at fighting.”

You both exchanged smiles. Time sighed and looked over at Legend.

“What do you think?”

“It’s better than staying put.”

Time nodded and handed the map to Wild so he could trace their path. That night you fell asleep with ease because of how much walking you did. You woke up in a dark room, you sat up confused and looked around. The environment slowly shifted into a place you knew but couldn’t recognize. You knew it was a dream from that, your dreams often implanted fake memories to fill in the blanks. You walked around and you swore you could hear sparks from a fire. The walls around you were made out of cobblestone and all the furniture was made out of wood. You felt as if you were in a fortified castle. You passed a full length mirror on your way to the window. From there you could see that you were in fact in a castle, in one of the towers to be exact. You heard banging, turning around to the mirror you saw yourself in there. But it was you before arriving in Hyrule, you looked different. Your reflection kept banging on the glass from the other side and you couldn’t really understand her but she was mouthing something, the noise was muffled. You carefully got closer and put your hands on hers with the glass still in between. Your presence calmed your reflection. Your reflections pupils faded out and her eyes turned red. Besides the fact that you knew who it was, the sight was quite frightening. You instinctively punched the glass destroying the mirror. Shards went flying everywhere, you felt the pain of the glass coming into contact with your skin. You woke up, your pain didn’t stop. You looked down at your knuckles now covered in cuts.

“What happened?”

You looked over at Twilight, he must have just woken up as well. He looked at your hands worried. You looked back at them, you cursed Dark Link in your mind for messing with your unconscious self. After getting them bandaged up, you and the heroes were off on the road. It would be a three or four day journey. You would have to travel across Hyrule fields, pass the Hylia river and travel through the Faron woods. You were excited to see those sights in person, like a tourist but at the same time you were scared your body wouldn’t power through. The most stressful things in your life back at home were studying for finals, turning in assignments a few minutes before the deadline and only things that would mess with your sanity. In Hyrule, everything and anything could be a threat to your physical and mental well being. If you didn’t have that journal, you might have gone crazy the first few days. The journey was as you expected, very treacherous especially since the land did not have a hero yet. You quickly got used to sleeping on the ground mostly because you were always exhausted by the end of the day. Especially since Time made sure you trained every morning by waking you up before everyone and pushing you to your limits. The nights by the campfire weren’t terrible, you even had the chance to teach them to play uno, even if some of them had a hard time reading the numbers. The hardest night was the one when you arrived at the spring of courage. The heroes and you were caught in a storm, very typical weather for the region. But walking through a storm at night with only lightning as a light guide was tough. You were happy that Time insisted on continuing instead of camping or else you would’ve been rained on in your sleep. The spring was originally the Sky view Spring, that’s what you thought at least. In the dark you could barely make out the dragon’s maw. It was intact compared to how it looked on your switch. The pillars stood up straight staring at the center platform. The head of the dragon intact served as a shelter for all of you. From where you stood you could see the statue of the goddess staring back at you in the dark. The campfire was started and Wild started cooking even though it was like 11 p.m, you weren’t complaining though. Your curiosity was pushing you to go see the statue but you knew you would get scolded by Time. Something touching your shoulder made you jump, but it was only Legend with a stupid grin on his face. He was standing behind you with Hyrule.

“Do you want to try to learn magic?”

You couldn’t say no to that proposition, even though deep inside you didn’t think you were capable. Legend handed you his staff and gestured you to give it a try. You raised it and swung it around, the wand fell out of your hands and almost landed on Legend. Luckily he moved out of the way in time. But you could see how horrified he was by what you just did. Hyrule tried showing you his life spell. You followed his instructions and tried it out on your cuts but nothing happened. Hyrule tried healing you again but like before, nothing happened. The heroes quickly gave up, Legend didn’t want you to touch anymore of his things thinking you would break them, or him. After eating, Time insisted on going to see the statue in the morning. Your exhaustion agreed with him, you barely had time to think about anything before falling asleep. The morning came, Time woke up before everyone at dawn and wandered off to the central platform in front of the dragon. He stood there pondering until Four joined him.

“Good morning smithy.”

“Morning.”

An uncomfortable silence for Time loomed between them. Four didn’t feel too uncomfortable though, he just kept being himself.

“Don’t judge me.” Four glanced over at him. “I know she led us to Dink already. But I think that she might be the key to stopping him.”

Four didn’t reply, instead he looked into the distance. Time felt even more uncomfortable.

“I’m also trying to help her find her way home. But if she proves to be useful to us in a different way I don’t see why it’s a bad thing to take advantage of that.”

Still no answer, Time grunted.

“Can you at least say something?”

“Your guilt seems to be eating at you.” Time sighed at his words. “I don’t see why you couldn’t just ask her to help us.”

“I don’t think she would be strong enough to handle this, she isn’t like us. She doesn’t even have the tri-” He stopped himself from talking.

“Doesn’t have what?” Four felt a little irritated. “If the triforce of courage or even the master sword were necessities you wouldn’t even exist.”

The words stung a bit, Time blamed those pessimistic thoughts on his home sickness.

“But what do I know? I’m only fifteen after all.”

The sun crept into the dragon’s cracks waking you up peacefully. Wolfie was by your side once again keeping you warm during the cold stormy night. The scenery basked in the aftermath of the storm as the birds sang symphonies waking up the woods. Wild already started cooking breakfast, you smelled some type of porridge and you hoped it would be sweet. You would be lying if you said you didn’t miss overly sweet things. You were also tired of being in this darn skirt. It was impractical on so many levels and you’re sure you already managed to rip the hems. The white fabric was now brown because of the woods. You wished to wear pants. An idea popped in your head, you slowly and carefully made your way to Wild’s bag, you two were the same size and you started rummaging through it. You finally decided on taking the trousers of the sky, it wasn’t like he was using them anyway. When you joined the others Sky and Wild looked at you confused, you paid no attention to it. The porridge was sweetened with honey which satisfied your craving. Finally Wind addressed the elephant in the room.

“So are we gonna pray or what?”

Your anxiety rose as you made your way to the statue, you could feel the eyes staring at you from behind. The statue glared right back at you as you made your way to the spring. Fortunately the steps leading up to her we’rent sunken down yet, meaning you didn’t need to step into the cold water. One thing you could say is that you were very happy wearing pants once again. In front of the statue, you froze not knowing what to do. You looked back at the heroes clueless, they were gesturing you to continue but if you continued you would end up falling into the water. You felt the steps under you wobble showing how weak and unstable they were. You turned back to the heroes.

“I don’t know how to pray. I don’t even have an offering.”

The heroes looked around at each other before looking in their bags, they all took out a number of weird items. Wild took out a golden apple, you didn’t think the goddess would like an offering given to a horse deity. Looking at the various items they would offer you realized that maybe you should give a piece of yourself to get some answers. You reluctantly took your phone out. You knelt down and put the phone in front of you. You look back up at the statue, you couldn’t help but feel a twinge of doubt. Since magic didn’t affect you, how would the source of magic manage? You hear Legend whisper loudly.

“You need to speak to her!”

Right, you gulp feeling very nervous and rather silly talking to a statue. In your world you would never, but then again in your world there was no proof of such powerful divine beings. Looking across Hyrule and its history it was clear that the goddesses was a crucial part in everything and anything.

“Um.. Goddess Hylia, I am but a simple human trapped in your world.” You were trying not to say anything stupid.

“Go on!”

You didn’t hear who encouraged you, but it helped your nerves a bit. You place your hands on your knees and try to stop the trembles in your voice.

“I am in desperate need of answers or directions, I believe you are the only one that can assist me, if you are willing.” You take a deep breath and close your eyes. “My presence in your world is an anomaly itself, I wish not to partake in the possible destruction in the fault of my arrival, my only wish is to go back home.”

You feel that familiar pinch in your nose but manage to keep it together. You don’t feel anything out of the ordinary, in fact you don’t feel anything at all. You open your eyes to see your phone still on the ground and with nothing happening. You sighed and got back up, you turned to see the heroes and their disappointed faces. You can’t help but feel that it was your fault. You carefully started making your way back to them but the step under started to shake and you fell back onto your knees. Time quickly made his way to you to help you, he ended up on his knees on the step in front of you. The steps sunk down into the water, now you were wet and cold. After the shaking was done, Time helped you back up. When you turned around to retrieve your phone, you couldn’t find it. All you saw was a piece of amber on the floor.

“Why did my phone turn into a piece of amber?”

The heroes rushed to you, joining you in the water and they observed it. It was carved into a tear or a moon shape. Legend clapped his hands together and pointed at it.

“That’s Hylia! She answered your prayers!”

A chatter of contentment was heard from the heroes. But you just stared at the piece of amber not knowing what to think.

“But, what does this mean?”

They paused and looked back at you. They didn’t even need to speak for you to understand them, it was something you had to figure out along the way. Which meant you were stuck in Hyrule until further notice. At least the goddess answered your prayers, which brought you hope and thankfully you weren’t alone. On the contrary you were surrounded by all of Hyrule’s greatest heroes. The next day marked two weeks since you first arrived in Hyrule and your journal was almost already half full. You never managed to finish filling out a journal that quickly in your life. It would mean you needed to get a new one soon. Leaving the spring of courage, Time decided it would be best to go to Castle Town to stock up on provisions, arrows and various necessities. The journey there was much easier now that you weren’t wearing a skirt. When monsters appeared the heroes, and you managed to fight them off. You finally felt like you were pulling your own weight. That and you started to really get along with everyone in the chain. Sometimes you would help Wind pull off pranks while making sure you couldn’t get traced back to his crimes. You felt less nervous around Twilight but maybe that’s because he kept his incessant flirting to only the two of you. You trained everyday while Warriors, Sky and Time took turns teaching. Legend didn’t seem to hate you anymore, on the contrary it seemed he really enjoyed your company. Maybe because you were one of the few people in the chain to actually have some common sense. And you wouldn’t do things like eat rocks, shake yourself off on everyone after being wet, or sleep through every single loud sound on Hyrule. No matter, he was a different Legend from the one you first met and you couldn’t deny you enjoyed his company as well since he was one of the only ones that saw you as something else than just a lost soul. Once in Castle Town everyone took off on their own ways, you stayed with Legend. The two of you explored the shops trying to find things that would prove to be useful for your travels.

Chapter Text

Legend regretted trying to teach magic to Y/n, Time thought it meant he liked her now. He was pissed when he had to watch over her.

“Y/n, look at this.”

“An axe?”

“I think we should get it.”

“Don’t you already have like five in that magical pouch of yours?” Y/n pointed to Legend’s small satchel.

“You know babysitting you is terrible enough, you could at least try to be fun.” Legend rolled his eyes and continued browsing.

“Babysitting? Time asked me to keep an eye on you and your hoarding habits.”

Legend gasped dramatically.

“Why would I even believe that?”

“Why would I lie to you? You’re probably the last person I want to team up with.” Her eyes looked him up and down.

“I bet you’d rather be with Twilight so you could slack off and snog all day.” Legend heard her exasperated sigh. “Maybe the others didn’t notice but I’ve been keeping an eye on you two.”

“Jealous?”

“Fuck you.”

“Right back at you.”

They stared at each other with disgust in their eyes.

“I’m getting that axe.” Legend took the axe.

“You should spend Wars’ money on something we actually need.” She grabbed the axe out of his hand.

Legend hated when people were right and he hated being wrong, especially when it was Y/n. He didn’t like her, that was an understatement, Legend loathed her. Legend could be a bit of a drama queen sometimes, but he would never admit it. He was used to being the know it all of the group and he didn’t appreciate that a little human could know more than him. When he first saw Y/n he was sure that she was some type of demon from the underworld. He thought she may have escaped from the Twilight dimension and her being sent here by Dark Link made him distrust her even more. Legend just wanted her to leave and never talk to them again especially since she terrified everyone and hurt his friends. He knew she would bring them trouble and he didn’t understand why Time was so insistent on keeping her around. When she saved Wind, he didn’t know what to think, he didn’t feel like it was enough to redeem her behavior, she spat on him after all. Legend was mature for his age, but he wasn’t a mature person. His emotional immaturity manifested itself when he was near Y/n. He also hated how similar she was to him, and maybe deep down his feelings were more a projection than rational. When Hylia bestowed that amber onto her, he knew deep inside he couldn’t hate her anymore, it just didn’t make sense that Hylia would help a demon. Besides, he could have real conversations with her and most of the time she would have the courtesy to respond.

Time was trying to buy out all the arrows available in Castle Town. He passed by the store where Legend and Y/n were and it made him think. The first time he saw her unconscious in the woods, he didn’t form an opinion, his hero’s spirit took the better of him and he knew he had to help her. Unlike Legend, he knew immediately that she wasn’t some evil demon. Time had faced many demonic and terrible things during his journeys, so he was familiar with how they acted. To him, Y/n had nothing evil in her. Time did think she was collateral damage in the game Dark Link had been playing since he started this whole mess. But it turned out she was more than that which made him even more curious. Her being wanted by him and the fact that he often appeared in her dreams and was able to inflict damage on her physical form while taking control of her mind proved that she was much more than just a pawn. Time didn’t know how, but he knew she would help them solve this whole ordeal. He did feel guilty, he wasn’t putting as much effort into helping her, his focus was on Dark Link. It made him feel worse seeing how determined and stubborn she was. It made him realize that she wasn’t just a piece to his puzzle but a living being. Still, he couldn’t just let this opportunity pass him by.

Wind was with Hyrule, they were supposed to be following a list of tasks but they kept getting distracted by everything. Wind was scared of Y/n at first, he was a little impressed by how quickly she reacted in that situation but he was afraid she might do something like that to him. He shared this thought with her when they were in his home, and her answer didn’t please him. Y/n told him that she would never do that to a child. Since then, he has been trying to prove to her that he isn’t a child by fighting alongside her and doing ‘grown up things’ like helping his granny with chores and beating his sister at races on the beach. Wind really enjoyed her company, especially since she saved him that day. He had been waiting for an opportunity since then to save her as well, but the other Links kept getting in the way. Wind also found her pretty on top of finding her cool and strong. Maybe he had a little crush on her, but he would never admit it. All he could do was show her how tough he was for a thirteen year old. He did think that the shark earrings would make her fall for him. Wind knew he could talk about anything around her and she wouldn’t judge or scold him like Legend or Time. Wind did feel a little bit selfish for being happy when Hylia didn’t send her home. But what can he say, he liked her a lot.

Hyrule tried his best to get on with their tasks on the list Time gave them, but Wind was too stubborn and they would both get distracted too easily. When he first saw Y/n, he was frightened. He didn’t understand why this woman that they just saved would attack them like that. He found her ungrateful and terrifying at first and just hoped he wouldn’t get bit. But that night when her wound was infected, he saw that she wasn’t crazy, just scared. Judging by her actions she was more terrified of them than he was of her. Though she did make him feel a little insecure about his abilities he knew she didn’t do it on purpose. It wasn’t her fault or his that this world’s magic didn’t affect her. Hyrule was weary of her for a bit and he did think she was lying to him when she told him that he was the original Link, but when she told all of them about the names of their stories he couldn’t see why she would lie even more. When she saved Wind he was surprised, he didn’t expect that from a stranger. It did creep him out that she knew so much about their world, sometimes even more than some of the heroes. But that alone wasn’t a reason to distrust her any longer. Anyway, since Wind trusted her he figured it would be okay if he did too.

The Captain caught Wind and Hyrule slacking off, after scaring them enough to get them back to work he went on his way through the town trying to find medicine and medical supplies. When he first saw Y/n, she was on Wild’s bed. He tried to patch up her wound as much as possible or else he knew she would bleed out. What he didn’t know was how much of a pain in the ass she would be. He would’ve never expected to be choked by someone who he thought was on the brink of death. But if anything, it showed how determined she was to stay alive, especially if it meant beating up tons of heroes. Wars was a bit confused at first, he thought that she must have been some sort of alien to not know what Hyrule was. He had some doubts about her origin story and with everything she knew about their world, his doubts still remain somewhere in his mind. But when he had to take care of her multiple times, he could see that she was just a person like him. Just very prideful and with flat ears. He couldn’t help but be impressed by how quickly she was learning how to fight. When he taught her, he could see everyone’s methods that she combined into making her own style that fit her instincts. He really enjoyed how she would slam into enemies with her shield, it managed to surprise him every time. Warriors wouldn’t have minded having her on his team during the war of ages. But even after all of that, he couldn’t say he truly trusted her, he only knew her for almost three weeks anyway.

Wild passed by Wars while looking for ingredients and easy meal prep items. He also happened to pass in front of the store Legend and Y/n were bickering in. Wild had a love hate relationship with Y/n, but only because of his own thoughts. If he were being honest, he enjoyed being around her, a lot, maybe a bit too much. The problem is that she made him nervous and he didn’t like feeling nervous around people. That’s why he stopped training with her after the incident on Outset Island. He didn’t know why he felt so nervous and he rather not know so he kept it to himself. He did realize that she stole his pants, but he wasn’t mad, he knew how much she hated being in that skirt and with his pants she looked more like a part of the group. What made him hate her the most is how she reminded him of Zelda. The way she talked, how she reacted and also how she somehow knew everything about anything. His heart would break a bit each time his cursed mind would compare the two when Y/n did anything remotely similar.

Sky was busy looking around for necessities but he got distracted by sleeping bags. He thought about how Y/n would sleep curled up next to Twilight as Wolfie and he figured it might be time to get her a proper bed roll like the rest of the heroes. Sky’s first impression of Y/n was one of fear and confusion. He didn’t expect a stranger to land a kick to his chin right after meeting them. The only people to see Y/n while she was calm and unconscious were Time, Wild and Wars. Sky couldn’t lie, he was scared of her at first, especially when they asked her questions, she seemed so confident and tough he didn’t understand how she ended up in that situation. That night in Hateno’s inn made him realize that it was all for show, for self-defense. When she was in pain he could see that she was just a terrified girl that really needed support even if she never admitted it. He didn’t have any trouble falling asleep next to her, and for him that would've been enough to trust her. When he lent her the master sword, he was surprised that she actually wanted to try. His curiosity got the better of him and he really wanted to see what would happen if the sword landed in the hands of someone other than the hero. The swords' judgement would also show if she was evil or not. Sky liked that she knew so much about their world, it made him feel less lonely. The only thing he regretted was giving her Zelda’s handkerchief to clean off Twilight’s cut. One thing he didn’t like was how she would slam her shield into enemies, it made her look like a brute and it reminded him of how Wild fights. Sky did find it weird and confusing that she suddenly started wearing the same pants as him, he still didn’t know where she got them from.

Twilight was looking around for carrots and other things he could feed to Epona, he looked down at the scar on his forearm from that night on the boat and he smiled. His first impression of Y/n was that he was impressed. Unlike some of the others he didn’t think she was evil and he didn’t believe her fake façade. He knew immediately that she was terrified. What impressed him was how quickly she managed to react in that situation and how she successfully managed to get the heroes to back away from her. From the moment she bit him he knew he was going to like her. He knew she would be a good addition to the group and he was impressed by how quickly she learnt. That day in the forest, he kind of regretted going overboard, he blamed it on his wolf instincts that took the better of him, but if he were really honest he wouldn’t say that. Twilight didn’t really care about the fact that Dark Link was obsessed with her or that she knew so many things about their world. As long as she didn’t hurt anyone that he loved he liked her. Her saving Wind and standing up for Four at the enemy camp showed him that she was meant to be with them even if she didn’t believe it herself.

Four passed by a blacksmith, he couldn’t help but look at their stock. He passed by a sword with carvings along the center of the blade. He thought about Y/n, and how she came to help him that night with the enemies. Four didn’t know what to think about her, he was the first one to see her. She was strange, looked weird and hurt most of his friends. He didn’t think she was evil because of her lack of survival skills and traveling experience but he couldn’t say he liked her. He did like that she helped Wind out, although if he had his sword on him that night he would’ve been completely fine. He didn’t like how defiant she would be with Time sometimes, but he figured that grown ups just act like that with each other, though ‘grown up’ is a strong word to use for Y/n in his opinion. She also creeped him out, he didn’t like that she knew his deepest secret that only two heroes from the chain knew. If he were to ask the four heroes, they would all have completely different opinions on her. But that night she did help him, she saved him the trouble of getting hurt and he couldn’t ignore that. He also couldn’t ignore the fact that she was becoming a real member of his group, he thought he would mind it more but finally not. Four didn’t like lying to her, he felt like an accomplice since he knew about Time’s true intentions. No matter, when he saw that blade he knew it would be a perfect way to thank her.

“Oh! How about we get this!”

“I saw you use a bucket yesterday.” Legend grunted at her words. “Hyrule also has one I believe.”

Legend rolled his eyes again, he then saw a very uncomfortable look on her face.

“What’s wrong?”

“...Is there a pharmacy here?”

“Just around the corner, why what’s wrong?”

Y/n shook her head, Legend was a little confused. Suddenly she started leaving the store, he stopped her.

“Wait, Y/n! We can’t leave you alone.”

He saw her mouth contort into a grimace.

“I just got my period.”

Legend face palmed, of course this had to happen to him.

“Of course you did.”

“I can go alone, you don’t have to come, just stay here and hoard or whatever.”

She tried leaving again and he caught her sleeve.

“Time would have my head on a platter if he knew I left you alone.”

They both sighed before quickly leaving the store. They passed by Time who had just finished buying out all the arrows in town, he met up with Wars who was watching a performance in the town square.

“Did you find everything alright?”

Warriors nodded and then continued clapping along to the performance of people dancing and juggling. From the corner of his eye Time saw Wind and Hyrule running around the shops, he already knew they slacked off. Wind and Hryule were trying their best to find the things on the list, but for some reason they couldn’t find anything at all. Each time they asked a shopkeeper for help they got laughed at.

“You know, if we didn’t get distracted by everything we would be on time!”

“Don’t you dare blame this on me Roolie! It takes two to be distracted!”

“What are you guys fighting about?”

Hyrule and Wind turned to Sky and Wild, practically jumping out of their skin.

“We have this list we’re supposed to complete but we can’t find anything.”

“No! Don’t tell them, we can do it without their help!” Wind tried to snatch the list away but Wild got it first. “No! Don’t!”

Sky looked over at the list and the two of them started laughing, Wind was confused and tried to look at it again while Hyrule hid his face in his hands.

“What happened? What’s wrong?”

“Time gave us a fake list.”

On the other side of Castle Town, Four was swinging around the blade he found. It was light and was perfect for a beginner. Twilight passed by him.

“Nice sword, you getting it?”

“It’s for Y/n.”

Twilight nodded, approving. In the evening, the inn was completely booked out by the heroes. Around the dinner table, Wind was questioning Time’s motives behind giving them a fake list. The inn was very rustic, it felt like a medieval tavern. Wild tried out a new recipe with the new ingredients he got, he was able to make some fried greens, mashed potatoes and lamb with a wine sauce. It was safe to say it might have been one of his favorite dishes he had ever made even if it was simple. Maybe it was the simplicity that made it so enjoyable. The dinner table was loud, Y/n was keeping to herself as usual and watching the heroes converse. Time cleared his throat, stopping the noise.

“I think we should try to go to the spring of wisdom.”

Nobody answered, they seemed surprised by Time’s sudden one eighty.

“Nobody under seventeen can go. That excludes Four, Wind and Hyrule.”

“I know.” He replied to Wild. “But maybe the goddess of wisdom might be nice enough to share some of her knowledge.”

“What if she doesn’t have knowledge about me?” Y/n replied seemingly suspicious.

“We’ll never know if we don’t try.”

Time was happy when Legend agreed with him. He hoped Legend’s approval would be enough to convince her. After dinner, Twilight ended up in the same room as Y/n which he was happy about. When she walked into the room he could see the surprise on her face.

“It seems you don’t need me to be a wolf for you tonight.”

“I never needed you in the first place.”

Twilight held his hand to his chest dramatically but he could see her smile creep in.

“Maybe you enjoy it more than me.”

He thought about it, it wasn’t impossible. But he was mostly trying to get away from Wind’s kicking and Sky’s sleep cuddling throughout the night. Maybe a part of him was protecting her, he didn’t think about it too much though.

“Maybe, you don’t kick me in your sleep so that’s great.”

“Well, don’t you worry. Sky got me a bedroll, I won’t be needing Wolfie’s services anymore.”

“I thought you said you didn’t need me.”

All he got in response was an eye roll, he observed how she discovered the new blade on her bed.

“Is this yours?”

He shook his head.

“Four got it for you.”

Y/n took a closer look at the designs.

“Now I just need a better shield.”

“Wanna go get one?”

“All the shops are closed.”

“I saw an enemy camp not far from here. Just a couple bokoblins.”

It was a bad idea, but the two of them were already at the exit of Castle Town. Twilight knew that Time wouldn’t approve of them leaving this late. He just hoped they wouldn’t get caught. Twilight carefully made his way to where he thought the camp was, he could hear Y/n’s steps following him. The scent of bokoblins helped Twilight find the camp. They both knelt down behind a bush, from there they could see the camp. There were only five bokoblins. Twilight gestured to the wooden and metal shield on the ground. Y/n smiled and nodded.

“Alright, stay near me and everything will be fine.”

She nodded again. Twilight stood up and slowly approached one monster before striking it, finishing it off immediately. The others woke up in panic and shrieked. Twilight didn’t have too much trouble killing off a couple. He wanted to help Y/n but he knew he should let her do it on her own. The new sword suited her and she managed to swing it around with ease. The last bokoblin fell to the ground and she was able to retrieve the shield. They carefully made their way back to the inn.

“Did you have fun?”

Twilight recognized Time’s voice, he was standing in front of the inn. It would be safe to assume that he was mad. Back in the inn, he kept scolding the two of them. The other heroes watched, not knowing what to do.

“I was just helping her get a shield!”

“Don’t you see how dangerous that was? What if Dark Link appeared? We wouldn’t be here to help you.”

“I’m the strongest one here! I doubt anything would’ve happened.”

“That isn’t the point, you should’ve asked me first!”

“Don’t get mad at Twilight, I insisted we go.”

“You don’t have to defend him.”

“No, I do. He didn’t force me to go, I was the one doing the most ‘forcing’. And by the way, I shouldn’t have to ask permission to have free will.”

Time threw his face in his hands and grunted. Twilight looked over at Y/n and smiled.

“That’s not what I meant. It was reckless, you shouldn’t do reckless things. We can’t risk losing you. I’m not mad at you Y/n, just Twilight because he should know better.”

“Why not? It was mostly my choice. If you should get mad at anyone it should be me. Do you think I’m incapable of making my own decisions?”

“No, that’s not what I meant.”

“Do you find her too weak? I’ll let you know that she is getting pretty good at fighting.” Twilight chimed in.

“Can you all just stop acting like children for five minutes?” Time regretted raising his voice as it came out. Everyone just stared at him for a moment.

“But, we are children.” Y/n broke the silence.

They all went to their respective rooms shortly after, leaving Time alone. He took that lonesome time to think. Back in the room, Y/n was pacing around.

“I shouldn’t have said that.”

Twilight didn’t respond, he just kept an eye on her.

“It’s going to be so awkward tomorrow.”

“Is that what you’re worried about?”

“Maybe I should just stay in Castle Town forever.”

Twilight couldn’t help but laugh.

“Don’t laugh, it makes it worse.”

He got up from his bed and grabbed a hold of her shoulders stopping her.

“Thank you for defending me.” He spoke quietly while looking deeply into her eyes.

“You don’t need to thank me, it’s normal. Plus, you defended me first.”

“That’s because I didn’t want you to take the blame.” He let go of her shoulders. She looked down at her hands as she fidgeted.

“That’s not fair for you.”

Twilight couldn’t stop smiling even when he tried. The moonlight shined through the inn’s window complimenting the candle light glow in the room. As the full moon turned men into werewolves, the celestial body made Twilight more daring. His hand found its way to her cheek, lifting her face to his. Peering into her eyes, he could see the dancing flames from the lights behind them. He waited to see if she was uncomfortable before bringing her closer until the distance between their lips disappeared.

Chapter Text

Hello everyone, this is not a chapter. Since the AI scrap incident en AO3, I don't feel very comfortable posting anymore. Although my work is not the best, it's still mine. I will keep an eye out for how this situation evolves and if AO3 manages to do anything in retaliation and the site becomes a safe place once more, I will gladly come back. For now I wish keep my ideas private for the time being. I am sorry for any inconvenience or discontent I may have caused, I hope you can all understand.

- With love, applecinnamonlover ☆

Chapter Text

Hello everyone, I have thought about everything through. I tried to forget about this whole story but I just can't. Since April I can't get any of these silly goobers out of my head. And I have written four more chapter, as I'm writing this I have just finished the thirteenth chapter!! Let me just say, it was tough to write being my first smut. Anyway, all of this to say that I will be posting again very soon. I just have to review and correct the next chapters and they will be out shortly. What do I think about AI? Well it sucks balls, I really wish it haden't endangered this beautiful safe haven. But posting on other websites is a no for me, I'm too scared of the judgment. Anywayyy. See you soon, I can't wait for you to see what I've got planned.

- Applecinnamonlover

Chapter Text

You froze for a second not knowing what to do. Was this really happening or was your mind playing tricks on you once more? A part of you really wished it wasn’t a dream. The feeling of his lips just couldn’t be made up, your mind wasn’t strong enough to do such a thing. Before you could fully process what was happening he pulled away, your face still in the palm of his hands. You must’ve been burning red but by the looks of it he was too, or it was just the lighting.

“We should get some sleep.”

You didn’t answer, you just hummed trying not to show how much you were freaking out. Without another word the two of you went to bed. The next morning before leaving your room you felt a weight on your chest, it was your anxiety, again. You didn’t know if it was because you were going to have to face Time again or if you were just anxious about the trip. At breakfast you didn’t see Time, you felt bad. The other heroes acted as if nothing happened, as if everything was normal. Later you found out that Time was just waiting for all of you to be ready to go, you saw him at the exit of Castle Town. You avoided eye contact with him and just focused on the trip. The journey across Hyrule field was relatively easy, you’d already done it before and it was mostly plains. Your first stop for the night was a little forest with the dueling peaks in sight. You couldn’t help but stare at the mountains in awe. You wondered how they managed to stand the test of time. Sitting around the campfire, Sky was fiddling on his harp playing a song not from his era, again. Besides the melodic notes, no other sound was heard. No one was talking, not even Wind or Legend. You just stared into the fire, sitting crossed legged with your chin in your palm. You watched the flames dance with each other and wondered if they could also feel the tension in the air. It was so thick you weren’t sure if your new blade could cut through it.

“This is awkward.”

Wars spoke, everyone turned their attention to him. But he didn’t know what to say after that, he just mumbled a couple incomprehensible words and cleared his throat.

“I’m sorry Y/n and Twilight.” Time spoke.

That was surprising, you didn’t know what to say.

“I shouldn’t have overreacted like that.”

Twilight and you exchanged a glance.

“It’s fine, you were just looking out for us.” You bit your lip awkwardly. “We probably should’ve told you we were heading out, so I’m sorry as well.” That took a hit to your pride.

“I’m sorry too.” Twilight added.

Sky smiled and continued playing his harp, the tension seemed to have dissipated into the night sky. Speaking of which, when you looked up you saw an endless ocean of stars. It wasn’t as dramatic as in Wind's world but it was certainly beautiful. You wouldn’t be able to see something like this back at home. You wondered how the galaxy looked in this world, maybe from somewhere in Hyrule you would be able to see the milky way, or maybe you skipped too many science lessons. A strange sound interrupted your thinking, it seemed to have interrupted the heroes as well. There, a couple feet ahead of you was another portal. Its eerie presence loomed on everyone. You didn’t move, waiting for the heroes to act first.

“Well what are we waiting for?”

Legend was the first to take a stand, the others started gathering their items and following him. Time didn’t move, he seemed to be too deep in thought. Wars had to help him up. You didn’t want to pass through that nauseating portal again, but it had to be done. This time, you didn’t feel as sick while passing through but it was still an uncomfortable and unsettling experience. The first thing you saw was a forest, you looked around and saw the dueling peaks, again. The heroes seemed just as confused as you. The portal only transported you in time, the trees were only slightly taller so you shouldn’t have traveled too far in the future. Once the camp set up, the labours of the day rested heavily on your shoulders, making you exhausted also because of your physical condition. You still weren’t used to sleeping outside, you constantly had a fear of something creeping up on you, like bugs. The fears weren’t enough to keep you awake thankfully. One thing you did enjoy about sleeping outdoors was how the sun would peacefully wake you up, you would never get tired of that. The next part of your journey was quite terrible, because you felt awful. Your limbs were weak and you felt as if the whole force of the world was crashing into your abdomens. No matter, you didn’t show it. You did get asked a couple times if you were alright but that was all. Passing under the Dueling Peaks, you didn’t see a stable in the distance.

“We aren’t in Wild’s era.”

The heroes looked to where you were gesturing. Legend seemed annoyed that you figured it out before him. Arriving to where the stable was supposed to be, Time stopped.

“We should go to Kakariko and set ourselves up in the inn.”

Everyone agreed with Time. Night had smothered the landscape as you approached the village. In addition to being dark, you couldn’t recognize the village. It looked like it had just finished being rebuilt. The homes seemed relatively new and were habited, you could tell by the lights shining through the windows.

“We’re in my era.” Everyone turned to Twilight. “I think so at least.”

Everyone followed the ordonian into the inn, stepping into it you felt like you’d already seen this place and not just because of the games. Like Lon Lon ranch, any depiction of Elde’s inn in your memory was terrible. You couldn’t quite put your finger on what it reminded you of. The innkeeper was delighted to see Twilight.

“Link! You’re back, I haven’t seen you in forever!”

The man stood behind the counter while Twilight spoke to him. You kept observing the place, still trying to figure out what it reminded you of.

“I see the village is doing better, I’m sorry I wasn’t here to help rebuild Renado.”

“Nonsense! You apologizing for not doing enough is like us praying to the gods for a second miracle. We still need to find a way to repay you.”

You weren’t really listening, plus you felt the exhaustion of the day creep in on you. You desperately wanted to take a hot bath and fall asleep for a full twenty four hours.

“Well, today might be your lucky day..”

Twilight explained to Renado how they needed the inn for a couple days. The bag of rupees from Warriors was more than enough to book the whole inn for the time being. Renado was able to go on holiday while you stayed here. In your room, your roommate walked in. It was Legend.

“You look horrendous.”

You slowly turned to him and furrowed your brows not knowing where he was going with this.

“You can’t leave tomorrow morning, you will die.”

“How I love our conversations.” You turned back around.

“If you feel this bad after what we just did I can’t imagine how you’ll make it in the mountains.”

If only he could see how many times you had to skip gym classes in highschool because of your symptoms.

“I’m going to ask Time for you to leave after tomorrow.”

“That’s... nice of you.” You squint your eyes. “What do you want from me?”

“Why do you automatically think that I want something?” He tried to fake a laugh, but you could see right through his bullshit. “Fine! I want to come to the spring with you guys.”

“What? Why on earth would you want to? I don’t even want to go.”

“Because, if you’re alone with Time, Wars Sky and Twilight you will lose your mind.” Legend got closer and grabbed your shoulders in desperation. “I’m going to lose my mind if I stay here with the others! You don’t know it yet but they get so irritating when they are together. I don’t want to be left alone with them please.” He was practically on his knees, he was so dramatic it was almost funny.

“Alright! Alright!” You stepped away from him. “Fine, I need a day off anyway.”

“Dinner’s ready!”

You both turned towards the sound, Legend nodded at you and you felt very nervous all of a sudden. At the dinner table, Legend kept staring at you from across the room. You tried your best to ignore his obnoxious glare, he wasn’t going to stop until you did your part. You sighed and got up, everyone looked at you confused.

“I have something to say.”

From the corner of your eye you could see that Legend was still staring at you. You didn’t know what to say afterwards. Time was in front and Warriors was next to him. You already felt guilty for what you were going to say.

“I don’t want Wars to accompany us.”

The Captain stopped chewing, he looked frozen.

“What?” Time said.

“Yeah what?” Wars said after swallowing.

“I want Legend to come instead.”

“What if Dark Link appears?”

“What if he appears here? I’m afraid something might happen to one of us.” Legend stood up and talked.

“What do you think?” Time turned to Wars.

“Well, the cold is bad for my hair so why not.”

“Well, alright then.” Time said still confused.

You sat back down and continued eating. Legend was still standing up. Time sighed.

“Do you have something to say?”

“I don’t think we should leave tomorrow.”

“Why not?”

“Because...” You nodded encouraging him. “I am tired.”

“Well, maybe Wars should take your place.”

“I’m tired as well, maybe even a bit sick.” You said.

“Yes! I am also sick. We should just stay here for a day.”

“Okay, what is happening here?” Time glanced at both of you.

“I don’t know what you mean.” Legend sat back down.

“Oh stop fucking around Vet, why are you two conspiring? I thought you hated each other.”

“We’re best friends now, didn’t you hear?” You said with the biggest grin on your face.

You could see Legend fuming at your comment, no matter. You were able to sleep in tomorrow morning which was awesome. After your long hot bath you felt all your aches and sores melt away. You were whisked away from your room to your dismay to check out the top of the inn which was a hot spring.

“Come on, you should try it. It feels amazing!”

You didn't register who was talking to you, you had your hands over your eyes and tried your best to leave the place. The air around you was warm, like a summer day. Even if you weren't in your current situation, you would still hesitate getting in. Sky was still pulling you towards the warm body of water, though you still were covering your eyes.

"I'm good, really.”

The sound of insistent cheers didn't stop. When peeking through your fingers, the hot spring was getting closer.

“Come on, you had a really tiring day.”

"She said she didn't want to!”

Legend's voice came from the inn, it was quickly followed by eager footsteps. Sky let go of your arm and the bickering gave you the opportunity to run back to your room. Once there you took a deep breath, you couldn't deny how grateful you were for Legend. The room was quiet, maybe a little too much. A weird sensation took over your body, you could feel it in your bones. You stopped looking through your bag and raised your head.

"Don't worry, I won't stay long.”

You were surprised, he hadn't made an appearance in a while. You slowly turned around. You didn't feel as scared as before, even when his red eyes stared directly through you.

"Your precious heroes will be here any second.”

"Look dude, no offense but I'm really not in the mood to deal with you.”

As he took a step forward, behind him you saw your sword. You took a mental note to always keep your sword on you from now on.

"I don't know why you always think I'm trying to bother you.” Dark Link tried to give a warm smile but you felt as if the temperature just dropped. "You know if you gave me a chance, you would see that I'm actually a nice guy.”

You questioned whether you actually changed world. You crossed your arms in front of your body, trying desperately to show your disinterest.

"You are literally made from hatred."

"You're breaking my heart.”

"If you don't leave I will start barking.”

This was the first time you ever saw an expression other than a smirk or stoicism. His eyebrows were raised, mouth sort of agape, overall, the textbook definition of confused. Dark Link didn't seem to take your threat seriously. Although it wasn't much of a threat, nonetheless, it would attract attention. As he took a step closer, you started barking repeatedly. 2020 tiktok would be proud of you. Though you sounded like a chihuahua, you heard footsteps making their way to your room. Dark link looked appalled by your immature behavior. Your door swung open and you saw Time and Four. They both gasped.

“You can't run from me forever.”

Dark Link said before vanishing into thin air. The others stayed on the lookout to make sure he wasn't hiding elsewhere. But the rest of the evening went on without incident. Once your head hit the pillow, you immediately fell asleep, or more like passed out. The next day was way nicer on your body and you managed to regain most of your strength. Time seemed to be extra quiet around you, it made you feel bad because it was your fault, or at least you thought so. Wars trained you that day, he kept making comments about your weakened state and weirdly enough it motivated you enough to knock him to the ground. The look on his face was a mixture of pride and surprise. Now that you didn't have your phone, you lost track of time. Like during school break when you were younger and didn't care to check. This did not feel like a holiday though. From the inn's window you saw Twilight with Epona. You still weren't over that night, your fingers brushed over your lips, reminiscing the feeling of his. Teenage you would be so happy knowing what happened, but you weren't a teenager anymore. Now that you were becoming an adult you couldn't live obliviously anymore. Love wasn't really an answer right now, plus you didn't know when or if you'd ever get back home. You imagined trying to explain to your entourage back at home that you were dating Link from Twilight princess, you're sure they would check you into a mental facility. Your thoughts were interrupted when Twilight noticed you looking at him. Your eyes widened and you feIt your cheeks blush. This was sure to give him an ego boost, as if he needed that. Twilight beckoned you to come. Epona was still kind of frightening to you, since she bucked you off last time.

"I heard you scared off Dink by barking last night.”

He threw a couple glances your way while brushing his mare.

"I took after you.”

You both exchanged a smile. You thought that you would be nervous speaking to him after that night, but he did such a good job at making you feel safe and secure.

"I see you and legend are getting along now.”

"Jealous?”

"Fuck off.”

A small chuckle escaped from your mouth. It seemed to have rubbed off onto him. It was obvious he was trying so hard not to smile but he was failing. He was right though, you and Legend were getting along better now. But you were now getting along with everyone, even Four, though you didn't speak much. The rest of the day went on well. That night you felt a weight on your chest. You were nervous about the trip to the mountain. It made you think about Mt Everest, how easy it was to lose your life even on the trail. But on Lanayru, you would be lucky to even see the start of a path. The heroes were going to use heat potions, but unfortunately, those didn't work on you. If only you came to this world with a self heating coat. The chain assured you they were prepared to keep you warm. Already, Wild lent you his snowquill set. After a rough night, the sun woke you up before everyone. Legend was still asleep, you decided it would be best to let him rest. Wild was already awake making breakfast. He was surprised to see you.

"Good morning Link.”

Before he could respond, a set of footsteps came down.

"You should be getting more sleep.”

Wild was quickly distracted by his pots sizzling. Time was at the bottom of the stairs. You hated how he treated you like a child sometimes. Yes, it was unreasonable to feel that way, especially since you basically asked him to beat you as such. But you didn't like how he treated you like his child.

"I will be fine.”

Your answer was colder than expected, but anyway he would have to get used to the cold seeing where you were headed. After breakfast, your group made its way out of Kakariko hands waving farewell simultaneously. The trees seemed to have changed color, an indicator of the seasons changing. You wondered if it was already October. Also, the existence of seasons imply the existence of Hyrule's planet being in a solar system. The goddesses must be tied to the creation of the galaxy. Thinking of that made you feel miniscule. Hateno didn't exist yet, passing through emptiness was weird, your mind was trying to find familiarity. Rethinking about your whole journey, you seemed to have gone in a circle. The heroes mentioned the forest they were currently in was the one where they found you. In total, you spent three days getting to the base of the mountain. The heroes decided it would be best to camp there for the night. from where you sat, the mountain stood over you menacingly. If you were being honest with yourself, you didn't think this would work. It was already a miracle in it of itself that Hylia answered the first time. If you ever got back home, you knew you would need to go see a doctor because of how stressed you were. You didn't dare say it to the others, but you constantly felt overwhelmed by a threat of danger. But looking up at Nayru's domain made you more anxious than usual. Even Sky's harp wasn't able to settle you down. Because of the proximity of the mountain, your bedroll was freezing and if you weren't exhausted, you wouldn't be able to sleep. That morning, you woke up with Wolfie glued to you. The food on the trip wasn't as good as Wild's, but it was palatable.

The journey up the mountain started, and with each step you took, your anxiety incessantly rose. The cold air attacked your nose leaving it red, along with the apple of your cheeks. The glaciers on the sides of Lanayru seemed to have been there since the beginning of time, forever frozen in time. You were jealous that the heroes had heat potions. Legend made you drink one again, but it just felt like drinking gochujang. The only thing heating up was your mouth, so instinctively, you gobbled up some snow which in return made you even more cold. That night, the camp was set up in a nearby cave on the side of the mountain. Thankfully the temperature was nice there. All of you were sitting around the fireplace.

“Do you know what you are going to say tomorrow?”

You shake your head at Time's question. He sighs, you feel as if he was scolding you.

“Maybe you should try to give something again.”

What could you even give this time? You doubt Hylia would accept an expired sephora collection gloss. You looked through your bag, your options were limited. Twilight reached in and took your university textbook out.

"Maybe this”

You carefully took the textbook back, you didn't want him to ruin it or your library would make you pay for the damages.

"I doubt the goddess of Hyrule would want a book about the wonders of my world. Plus the spring water would ruin it.”

"You can't just go there unprepared.”

Time's words bothered you. As if you weren't already under enough pressure. You just sighed.

“Y/n has been doing pretty well, given her current situation.”

“Doing pretty well is not going to cut it.”

Deep down, you know he's just looking out for you. But tough love doesn't work on you. Even if all the other heroes are telling you how much you've progressed and realize how good you're getting. Hearing him say such a thing cancels out everything. Why do you care for the approval of the only one who doesn't see your potential? You felt something come out of your mouth, you tried to stop it, but alas.

“I'm not even supposed to be here.” You hid the bottom of your face in your arms and knees.

“Well, you're here now. Using that as an excuse is immature.”

You didn't answer, you wouldn't even know what to say. A silence invaded the cave. Time wasn't wrong, but still you couldn't help being so helpless. Especially the last couple days, if only he knew. You were exhausted from hiking up the mountain. The snow slowed you down, making you spend more energy, your outfit was heavy and the cold really took a toll on you. Like when you were younger and felt so tired after a day playing in the snow. The only difference was that you could come home to a warm house and hot cocoa. The next morning you felt a heavy weight on your chest. This time, it wasn't your anxiety, rather a clingy wolf. Even his wolf form was heavy. Sitting up just pushed all of his weight onto your legs.

"Twilight!”

You whined, a blade came into view and touched the wolf instantly turning him back to his hylian form. He sat up confused but smiled when he saw you. The last part of the journey started. You refused to speak to Time. The sun wasn't hiding behind a thick fog anymore as you got closer to the summit. The rays warmed your freezing face just enough to motivate you. The air started getting lighter as you were near the top. Your breaths became more frequent and walking felt even more difficult. On the edge of the path, you wouldn't see anything. That's when you realized that the reason there was no more fog was because you were too high up. Finally, you could see the top of the goddess statue. You all made your way to it, the air seemed to be back so normal. You didn't want to step in the water, but surprisingly it wasn't cold. The heroes stood behind you, staying in the cold air. You searched in your bag but nothing seemed good enough. You picked up the amber she previously gave you. Would she be offended if you re gifted something? There was only one way to find out. The piece of amber slipped from your fingers still readjusting from the freezing temperatures. The shiny rock sparkled in the sun lit water. As you went to pick it up, that intense feeling of anxiety took over you once more.

"Y/N WATCH OUT!”

Turning around, Dark Link was standing there, a couple of feet in front of you. The heroes stepped up to defend you. The monster created from shadows and hatred sent out a wave of power knocking them down onto the snow. With shaky limbs you bravely took a hold of your sword and shield. You weren't going to let yourself freeze again. Not after everything they taught you.

“Who are you kidding with that puny little sword?”

Dark Link got closer, your grip tightened around the handle. The other Links were carefully getting back up and helping each other.

"I warned you. Running away won't always be a possibility.”

You kept repeating to yourself that you could kick his ass. Was it delusional on your end? Absolutely. But your determination is very admirable. You did your best to keep your breathing in check even though you felt as if your heart was going to explode out of your chest.

"You're making this so difficult for yourself.” His foot was about to breach onto the stone platform. “Come on Y/n.”

Chills ran down your back, you didn't know it was possible for it to get even colder. In spite of the atmosphere, your hands were sweating because of how much you were gripping your weapons. But, maybe it was the piece of amber you dropped at the feet of the goddess but as soon as his foot landed on the sacred stone, a forcefield of light pushed him back violently. The heroes joined you as Dark Link slowly got back up, pissed.

"Hylia you have no business here!”

"Get out of here you creep!” Legend yelled.

"Not until I get her.”

Maybe the mountain took away your sanity, maybe it was because you were exhausted. But in that moment, you let out an exasperated loud sigh as you fell to your knees and threw your face in your hands. You didn't care that you were sitting in the water. Or if the others were looking at you weird. You had it! Looking behind you, the piece of amber was still there. So naturally, you got back up and threw the rock at him. It landed next to him, the rich color contrasted with the white snow.

"Get out of here!” You gestured dramatically. "No one wants you here! You are like a weed !” You picked up a bit of snow and threw it at him, you missed.

Legend pulled you back and tried to comfort you.

"You know, if you just listened to me, none of this would have happened.” Dark Link said.

"How much time did you spend observing my world to become exactly like all the men from there?”

"You know what?” Dink spoke as if you weren't even there. "How about you guys hand her to me and I will send all of you home, forever.”

Twilight and Sky stepped in front of you.

"Tell him we're never going to do that Time.” Legend said, also hiding behind everyone.

The silence reigned for far too long.

“Think about Malon.” The monster said.

The lack of words were enough to shatter your heart. Sky nudged Time.

"How can you even think about that?” Said sky.

"Just tell us how to send her home.” Said Twilight still creating a barrier with his arm.

"I'm going to be honest with you.” He smiled. "It took so much power just to bring her here. I don't think I'm strong enough to send her back.” Your heart broke even more. “It's going to take a miracle from Hylia herself to get you back.”

“So, you aren't needed here.”

Sky said before unsheathing the master sword, harnessing its power and sending it to the shadow creature. Sadly, he disappeared before it hit him. The journey back to Kakariko was, quiet. Even Legend kept quiet. You were hurt to say the least. You didn't know what hurt you more, Time or your unfortunate, crazy and unreal situation. Being away from the mountain was so soothing. The cold air didn't nip at your extremities and it was easier to walk again. In total, the journey to and from lasted six days. Those last three days went by super slowly because of, well, you know. The only good thing was Sky fiddling on his harp. You were mentally lost, you didn't know if you should grieve your old life or not. Some would've grieved as soon as they arrived, but you really wanted to go home. Finally back at Elde's inn, you ignored everyone and beelined to the bath. Finally alone, you cried for a while, so long that some of the heroes knocked on the door to check on you. Once in your room, you sat on your bed with the amber piece in your hands trying to make sense of the divine interference.

"Hey, how do you feel?”

You didn't answer Legend, continuing to fiddle with the shiny rock. A sigh escaped his lips as he sat on his bed. The sun had just started setting. Still, the last rays of the day shined through the small window, giving a golden glow to the room.

"It goes without saying that you can stay with us.” He put his hands on his lap trying to carefully choose his words. “I know I was a dick at first, and I'll probably continue to be. But know, my opinion about you has drastically changed.”

“I guess being with you guys is better than being alone.” You were biting the inside of your cheek. "At least I'm not figuring all of this out on my own.”

"Yes!” Legend exclaimed, happy to see you try to be positive. “If it makes you feel better, sending you home might help us as well.”

That did make you feel less guilty about taking up their time. You finally look up from your slump. You squeezed the amber in your palm.

“Don’t worry about Time.” He scratched the back of his head sheepishly. “He's just very homesick, it wasn't an attack on you.”

"I think it's best if I keep my distance with him.” The look on Vet's face confirmed your thoughts. "I always end up saying or doing things that greatly conflict with him. Even if it's just existing.”

Legend stayed silent for a moment, trying to collect his scattered thoughts.

"Time has been through a lot. I'm not saying it excuses anything, but it could help you understand.”

"Not really.” You let out a chuckle. “ No matter what, I always manage to say the wrong thing. Then I hurt his feelings, and then things are awkward.” You sigh. “Then I feel bad.”

"You shouldn't, sometimes he really needs to be knocked down a peg.”

Before you could respond, someone called for dinner. At the table, Sky and Legend told everyone how it went, while leaving out Time’s misstep. You and your taste buds were happy to finally eat Wild's food again. You really missed sauces and flavour. Wind was telling them about their time here, and how incredibly boring it was. Wars disagreed stating he enjoyed resting. You mostly kept to yourself, even when questions were asked, the other heroes took it upon themselves to answer. Once back in your room, you were very excited to sleep on a bed after six days laying on the ground. But before you had the chance to day down, Legend informed you that Twilight was waiting for you on the roof. It took all the bones in your body to get you out of that room.

Chapter Text

Hello everyone, I know what you must be saying. "Apple you said you had 4 chapters already written!!" I know! But then I thought them over and I don't like where I went with the story. So I've been rewriting the last chapters.

I've also been busy with exams (which i failed) and a summer job. I have been writing, but i currently can't because I am in the hospital. I got into a little accident at work and now I have a gash in my arm. I cannot use 3 of my fingers.

While on sick leave I will try writing in my tablet with my left hand only. Fortunately I have a keyboard, unfortunately I will be 10 times slower. Anyway that's it, all I can say is that the ao3 author curse finally caught up to me.

With love,
- Applecinnamonlover ☆

Chapter Text

Hello again everyone!! First of all I would like to thank you all for all the kind messages, even if I don't respond i read every single one of them, they really do make me feel better. Now for an update, 3 of my tendons were ruptured. The day after my accident I had surgery for the first time in my life. My surgeon told me I'm not allowed to bend my fingers for full month, then I will have to get my fingers re-educated. Which means for the time being, I cannot write, or play video games or anything. What is worse is that my dominant hand was affected so I currently have the motor skills of a 7 year old.

I also want to say that I'm so happy to not be living in the USA because I didn’t have to pay anything out of pocket and I will still be getting paid even on sick leave. I am a bit worried for back to school because in my course we often have to do 10 page essays and I don't know if my fingers will be able to handle all that in December. I will probably have to ask for special accommodations to do my exams digitally. Usually tendon ruptures take 6-12 months to fully heal, but it can add up if there are multiple ruptures.

Anyway, don't worry about me, I'm a tough gal. If you are reading this in the future, just know that the ao3 author curse is real. Spend an extra good summer for my sake since I can't.

With love,
- Applecinnamonlover ☆

Chapter Text

The air on the rooftop was light but the wind was unusually cold, a good reminder that it wasn't summer anymore. But you didn't care about the weather, not when a certain werewolf was lounging in the hot spring. The sun now completely set, the only sources of light were the lanterns leading up to the body of water and a sky full of stars. The short walk left you missing Wild's thick coat. The heat of the hot spring made its way to you making you forget about how chilly it was. Link turned his head to greet you. His little smile could be enough to make you fall head first into the water. The hero's arms were spread across the edge, they were painted with many scars from his adventures. As he gestured for you to join him, the air suddenly felt thicker. This pushed you to sit near the edge instead.

"What do you want?" You sounded colder than you originally wanted.

"You're welcome for securing the hot spring for you." He winked dramatically.

"I already took a bath."

"It's not the same."

"Yeah, this way any weirdo could see me."

"You're too paranoid."

You simply raised your brow before crossing your arms. Link turned away from your gaze sheepishly. Your eyes kept glancing between his face and back muscles. Especially when he rubbed the back of his neck before facing you once more.

"Guess I can't blame you for that." He cleared his throat nervously. "You know, I was thinking we could see the princess. I think she will be able to help us."

"Because of her triforce of wisdom?" You rested your chin in the palm of your hands.

"Exactly! We can even go just the two of us if you'd like. Without the old man."

"That's very reckless and unnecessarily dangerous." Still, you couldn't help but chuckle at his comment. "What do you think about Time?"

Twilight looked into the distance sighing.

"I can't hate him since he's kind of my great great grandpa and all but it's hard to defend him right now." His gaze met yours again. "He's been acting weird around you. I've already seen him help people, but this time it's different."

"Maybe he just doesn't like me."

"I don't think it's that." As you tried to protest, he cut you off. "You two are oddly similar in my opinion, so unless he hates himself you're fine."

"I don't know how to take that."

"You have the same defiant stubborn attitude as him. I think he just has a hard time being on the receiving end."

"It's written into all of your stories to be that way."

Twilight hummed pondering on your comment. You were sure he was just trying to make you feel better. But you lived through high-school, you can tell when people don't like you.

"I guess when you put it that way it makes you one of us." A soft smile appears on your face. "So are you coming in?"

"No. I don't think that's a good idea."

"Fine."

Twilight lifts himself out of the hot spring to sit next to you. Steam flew off of him and you were sure he was going to start trembling soon. Instinctively, your back straightened up despite how tired you were. Your hands brush but none of you make an effort to move away. His hair was slightly damp from the condensation. The silence between the two of you wasn't nerve-wracking. It was also short lived seeing as the two of you couldn't seem to stop sharing glances.

"You're going to catch a cold you know?"

"Are you worried about me?"

"As much as you worry about me."

"You must constantly feel anxious then." You feel your cheeks heat up a bit. "But you really don't have to, I'm pretty tough."

"I can definitely see that."

Did you just say that out loud? Now you definitely felt your cheeks turn red. The hero's laugh only made it worse. His fingers covered yours and before you could react his free hand cupped your cheek forcing you to face him.

"I'm going to kiss you again."

Twilight didn't really give you much time to think about it before his lips were already on yours. His kiss was much more hungry than last time seeing as you had to catch yourself with your hands to avoid falling. The hero's hands quickly found your waist pulling you closer. A part of you thought that staying out of the hot spring would avoid this... outcome. Link broke his lips away only to leave a trail of kisses down to our neck. Memories of his wolf form flashed in your mind and you couldn't stop yourself from ruining the moment.

"Don't bite me again."

Your words stopped him in his tracks, all you felt for a few seconds was his breathing in the crook of your neck. Lazily, his head rose up to grace your vision. His eyes glanced between every part of your face.

"Did you not like it?"

"That was a very weird thing to do to a stranger."

Link shrugged.

"It was my animal instincts, you wouldn't understand."

"Is this also part of your animal instincts?" You said in quotation marks.

To your surprise, his flirty expression quickly turned sour, almost as if he felt guilty. His grip around you loosened and now you wished you stayed quiet.

"I didn't see it that way."

Link let go of you and looked away. You sat there very confused. You wondered what could've offended him.

"D-did I say something wrong?"

"What? No, of course not." He shook his head. "I shouldn't be doing this. To you of all people."

"What's that supposed to mean?" You were slightly offended.

"Please, you know I didn't mean it like that." He tried to change the subject.

"If you didn't mean anything by that you wouldn't have trouble explaining it."

You got up, dusting debris off of your clothes while Twilight tried desperately to explain himself. Maybe you were being dramatic, but you were also exhausted, traumatized and deceived. You didn't want to hear once again how weak or fragile you were and how the heroes 'had' to protect you. As you turned away from the werewolf you froze seeing the Captain at the entrance of the inn. Twilight's expression changed to one of a child about to get scolded. Wars nodded to you, gesturing you to leave. You immediately took him up on his offer. When your head hit the pillow, you couldn't fall asleep. You cursed your wretched mind for never turning off. Discreetly, you lit the candle on your bedside, trying your best not to wake up Legend and you spent a good majority of the night writing in your diary. You wrote until you couldn't physically keep your eyelids open anymore. The next morning, the sound of cuccos woke you up. You really didn't want to wake up and face the day. Too many challenges awaited you. You pulled the covers over your face, trying to hide from your new reality. But, spite of your defeat, something inside nagged you. You quickly got ready and went to find your captain for training. Warriors and Time were enjoying a morning drink you were sure was made up of a heavy percentage of alcohol. The heroes were surprised to see you, especially the old man but you tried your best to pay no attention to him. You throw Wars' weapon on the table, the heroes kept their eyes glued to the blade as it slid towards them. The old man cleared his throat.

"I don't think-"

"I think you're all out of opinions about me."

The Captain finished his drink before leading you outside where your training session began. You could tell he was going easy on you. But you woke up with this strange sensation and feeling of needing to get stronger. After a couple rounds he realized you needed something harder. Maybe it was the realization of everything changing forever that was pushing you out of your comfort zone. Maybe the events had traumatized you so much it changed the composition of chemicals in your brain. Or maybe you were finally accepting that you didn't have control over anything. But fighting made you forget how lost you felt because of all the effort you put into your training. After eating breakfast in your room, you were busy reading everything you wrote the night before. Amidst the nonsense, you knew where you needed to go next. As you were preparing your things, Legend walked in on you.

"Are you trying to run away again?"

"I can't run away if I'm homeless."

As you were packing, the hero stepped in front of you. The more you looked at him, the more he reminded you of a scene kid, especially with his pink little streak. You decided to push him to the side, he was stronger than you expected.

"Can you at least tell me where you're planning to go?"

"I'm going to see Zelda.”

"We just got back from Lanayru, how do you have the energy to travel again?!” Legend said dramatically before stepping in front of your worn out backpack.

"You all can do whatever the hell you want. I'm going to see princess Zelda.”

Legend caught your arm gently as you were leaving the room. You were prepared for another speech about how you weren't strong enough or whatever but as your eyes met his you couldn't guess what he was feeling. Which was rare considering he was the most expressive of the bunch after Wind.

"I don't want you to have to do this alone."

The sudden affectionate words took you even more by surprise. This wasn't like the Legend you grew to know over these past few weeks. The hero's vulnerable words weren't met with the same softness from you. You pulled your arm away violently.

"What's it to you huh? Two weeks ago you wanted me dead." Your brows furrowed. "Of course you care about me now that the goddess has taken an interest in me."

You mumbled incomprehensible complaints as you left the room with all of your belongings. Of course, Legend followed you quickly down the stairs while loudly talking and grabbing the other hero's attention. As you walked out the door you grabbed your weapons. The door slammed behind you and quickly you heard a mash of the heroes voices but you focused on your new goal. A part of you knew they would arrive soon enough so you tried to enjoy these moments of peace. Back at home, you were used to the quiet and simple life you had. But in this universe you were always confronted with noise, it could be daunting at times. Traveling through the forest, the path ahead of you was lit up by the gaps of sunlight. The leaves were changing color and the soft breeze made traveling a piece of cake compared to last time. A few hours later, you stopped by a pond in the forest. The sun shined into the water, almost blinding to look at. The place around you had a pinkish glow which was weird because you swore it was midday just a moment ago. But thinking about it longer only made you realize it was only autumn setting onto the land. In your peripheral vision, a familiar figure came into view. It was Sky, which made you sigh because it meant the other heroes found you. After a few more hours of traveling you all decided to stop for the night. Around the campfire, the silence was loud while you hid in your journal writing away your thoughts. Sky called your name breaking you out of your train of thought. Some of the heroes had a worried look on their face.

“I was curious what you meant when you said that Dark Link was like the men in your world.” He thought about his words. "Are they different from us?”

This confused you a bit, because what you've witnessed so far from them didn't show you that they were any different from the men in your world. That was maybe an exaggeration, you weren't in Hyrule long enough to know about systematic oppression. Maybe it was Dark Link that was making your whole experience of them sour, which wasn't fair for them.

"My world operates on a very specific binary system. It only works when a group of people get oppressed." You could see some of the heroes get confused. "Many groups are oppressed and women are one of them. Which leads us to be treated horribly."

"Why don't you fight back?” Said Wind.

"We have been, for centuries, no for millennia. But, that way of thinking is so deeply engraved into my society that fighting feels impossible, like Sisyphus.” That last bit confused them. "Don't ask who that is.”

"No wonder you were so terrified of us at first."

The Captain added. You tried denying those claims but you still could remember how sore you felt that night after being so tensed up all day. Slumber took a hold of the chain and yourself, you decided to sleep near Wars. You weren't mad at him, he didn't necessarily find you weak, it was the best choice. The early morning wrapped you in a cold blanket, with fall setting in, your clothes proved to be too thin. But it was nothing compared to when it started raining. For the night, you camped in a small cave. Inside, there was a sort of pond and most of the heroes played in it. Everyone besides a pesky wolf. As you sat near the campfire, while journaling, trembling and being soggy, a pelt fell on you from above. You sigh a little too loudly but it didn't stop the hero from taking a seat next to you.

"I can understand that.”

He pointed to your word in hylian. You paused but chose not to answer. You were a little too prideful to answer.

"Please, don't ignore me.”

"I'm not, I'm writing.”

A loud and dramatic sigh bellowed from him. From the corner of your eye, you could see him fidgeting with whatever he could get his hands on.

"I-"

"The trip up the mountain was a good enough reminder that I am weak." You cut him off. "Not only that, every obstacle that comes my way reminds me of that." You close your journal. "I don't need you guys reminding me as well."

"I don't think you're weak.." The look you gave him made him confess. "I just know that you need protection."

"I wasn't meant for this sort of lifestyle, cut me some slack." You took his pelt and handed it back to him. "Besides, I'm trying to get stronger, it's difficult."

Twilight tried empathizing, but he couldn't really understand. Not when his body was 70% muscle. Maybe if you worked on a farm you would be as strong as him.

"You're right." He looked you in the eyes. "That's why I stopped calling you princess. Princesses aren't as tough as you."

"You're really confusing." You scoffed and he looked at you oddly. "You're always contradicting yourself." You stare off angrily into nothing. "One moment I'm a damsel in distress that isn't strong enough to do anything on her own and now you're calling me tough?"

"Besides the boys I see everyone as a victim in need of help. But I'm really trying not to think of you like that. That's just what saving the world does to you."

As his forced laugh faded into an awkward chuckle because of your silence, his words clicked in your head, not in the way he would've liked though.

"You're right." His expression turned into confusion. "I should probably stay away from everyone until you see me as an equal."

"What?" Twilight shook his head. "How are you supposed to do that? Almost all of us think you aren’t strong enough."

"Wars may not think I'm strong enough, but he doesn't see me as a weakling." You stand up dusting yourself off. "Wind, Hyrule and Four don't find me weak either."

"They're children, what do you expect?" He got up, going after you. "Besides, you can't just ignore us forever."

"I'm not ignoring you, just keeping my distance." You continue to walk away but you hear him following you.

"Well you can't do that forever either."

"If that's how long it takes I don't mind."

Hearing frustrated groans signaled the end of the conversation, You didn't necessarily want to do this, life had been lonely enough here. The last part of the trip went by smoothly. From where you stood in Hyrule fields, the castle looked magnificent. Compared to the one in Wild's era, it reminded you of gothic cathedrals. Castle Town followed a similar type of style. The guards in the castle refused entry, gripping strongly onto their weapons. That was until they noticed their hero. The inside of the castle felt like stepping onto a movie set.

"Link?”

A low and honeyed voice was heard before you saw the brown haired princess. Upon seeing her you felt your cheeks blush a bit. The heroes fell to their knees in respect, you quickly copied them. Twilight carefully explained the situation. As you kept your head down, you heard footsteps walking in your direction. The bottom of her dress came into view. Her gloved fingers made contact with your chin, slowly lifting your face up. You felt all the blood in your body rush to your plump cheeks.

"How could you let her travel like this?”

Princess Zelda carefully turned your head either side, most likely to observe your ears.

"What do you mean?” Twilight said, looking over at his companions just as confused.

Zelda helped you stand back up and circled you. You low key felt like an experiment.

"Her clothes are not fit for a traveler. You must be so uncomfortable like this.”

She stopped in front of you, her fingers on her chin pondering. You simply shrugged at her comment. Words weren't on your side at this moment.

"Alright, you may all stay the night. We will discuss what can be done.” She started making her way out of the room. “Please Link, go to the dining room.”

Twilight beckoned the others. You started following them. But you heard a disapproving sound from the princess.

"No, you're coming with me.”

So you did, you were disappointed because you were hungry. Zelda led you through numerous corridors in the castle. You ended up in her study. Words failed you once more, you let her do all the talking. She asked many questions but it felt like she was feeding her curiosity rather than helping you. You didn't mind, she smelt good and you could listen to her voice for hours.

"So, you're obviously not a hylian, though we are practically identical.”

"I'm called a human, or homo sapien. It means wise human.”

"Very arrogant that you called your own species wise.”

Arrogance is kind of the root of the human species. The questions slowly turned into your current situation. You mentioned the visit to the springs. You did add that you did not want to visit the spring of power which amused her. Zelda asked if you still suffered from amnesia, which you did. Nothing became clear with time. You explained that you started grieving your old life because of what Dark Link said on the mountain. You hoped for her to have all the answers but the look of sorrow painted on her face told you everything you needed to know.

"You seem to be in the center of a very bad joke.”

Your growling stomach alerted her to your needs. She told you to go and that she would join you afterwards. On your way to the dining room, the sound of the chain up to tomfoolery helped you find the correct room. The table was perfectly set, it looked like a wedding buffet. The heroes seemed to be enjoying themselves and when they noticed you they practically forced you to stuff your face. When Zelda joined them, they calmed down a bit, mostly Twilight. Since being in Hyrule you finally had a room to yourself, and on your bed laid a brand new leather backpack filled with essentials and a brand new set of clothes fit for traveling. You were a bit sceptical about the choice of heels on your new boots’ but you finally had a cape that would prove to be very useful whenever it would rain again. A knock was heard at the door, your presence was demanded in the late king's study. Upon entering the study, you were met with all the heroes and the princess. She gestured to an empty seat. They all talked about your situation, giving ideas, asking more questions but mainly talking between them. It's not that you didn't want to participate in the conversation, but you already thought about everything that was said.

"What do you think?”

Zelda said, calming your thoughts. Maybe she calmed them down too much, you didn't remember what was being said. But it seemed like an important question because everyone was looking at you for an answer. You started fidgeting with your fingers.

"I don't know.”

That was the wrong answer, they all looked disappointed. Probably not because of you but it felt that way.

"Have you thought about what you would want to do if you had to stay?”

Her saying that made everything even more real. Were you truly stuck here? The words stayed stuck in your dry throat. Nothing was the best answer at that moment. Your heart felt heavy in your chest, you wished to carve it out of your body and put it on display to never have to explain yourself again.

"We shouldn't say that.” Said Hyrule. “Dark link said we needed divine intervention, so let's get that.”

"That's easier said than done.” Legend scoffed.

"Maybe that is the only way.” Princess Zelda replied. "Hylia already answered her and bestowed a gift. It's rare for her to answer us but she answered you. You're not even from this world.”

"She answered twice.” Sky added. “Hylia protected us on the top of the mountain.”

"l'm sorry to tell you this, but I'm starting to think you won't be able to go home anytime soon.” Time said, with a guilty look on his face. “If I'm understanding correctly.”

Time looked over at Zelda who was nodding. You just really hoped they were wrong. You threw your face in your hands. When grown ups would tell you that life was unfair, you didn't think this was what they meant.

"Dark Link might have brought you here out of his own selfish interest but Hylia found you too.”

You kept shaking your head. You weren't even supposed to be here. You were supposed to live in a world without destiny, a world where you could pave your own way, a world where you WERE paving your own way.

"No. Can I refuse? I refuse.”

You got up, a chorus of cries came from the princess and the heroes. But you weren't hearing any of it. Once in your room you slid down your door with your face hidden in your hands in frustration. You groaned and felt the need to punch something. You thought about those boys in your world who would punch holes through their walls after any minor inconvenience. They wouldn't survive in your situation. Your hand caught the first thing you could find, which was your slipper and you threw it. It went flying across the room and hit one of the bedside tables. Of course it knocked it over. You reluctantly went to pick it up. If it weren't for the tiring day, you would've been tossing and turning all night long. Looking out from your window the next morning, you saw the courtyard, Warriors was waiting for you. As you wished, he wasn't going easy on you anymore. Your new clothes helped with mobility and kept you warm. Even the heels proved to be useful as they helped with balance.

"You're getting stronger everyday.” He stood up straight, knuckles on his hips. “You might actually be a warrior now.”

You doubted his words.

"Twilight told me about your little conversation the other day."

"Please don't tell me how much of a stupid idea it is." You blocked his weapon with your shield. "I've already made up my mind." Wars laughed.

"Twilight was hoping I would talk some sense into you." The Captain's attacks were effortless and perfectly coordinated. "But I completely agree with you."

Wars knocked you over before lending his hand out.

"Why don't you find me weak?" You got back up on your feet,

"You're just a new knight in training." He started attacking once more. "And trust me I've seen way worse than you."

"A knight? That seems so formal."

"If you like, when you're stronger I can throw an accolade."

His split moment of lack of concentration gave you the opportunity to attack him. Unfortunately he parried your attack, time slowed down for what felt like a millisecond. You believed his comment from before seeing as he seemed like he was panting. Twilight suggested they go to Ordon village for the time being. He stated that Epona missed home. You couldn't really fight against that. You couldn't fight against anything anyway. You didn't have any clear objective anymore. Before leaving, princess Zelda gave you a triquetra necklace claiming it would keep you safe. You thought about just staying with her in the castle. But you didn't want Dink to appear out of nowhere and put her in danger. After bidding farewell to the princess you all left. Soon enough, Castle Town was far away. This trip was the same route as the spring of courage. And with only a century of difference the environment barely changed. The bridge over Hylia lake was swarmed with merchants. Twilight explained that they decided this was the perfect place to set up shop, though he didn't understand why. He even tried to explain to them that it wasn't, but when one merchant stayed the other followed like sheep. Legend had to be pulled away from every single stand. Faron woods barely changed in the fall, the foliage was still as thick and the air was still as heavy and somewhat humid. Somewhere along the path, you felt a little hand go under your cloak and into your bag. Of course it was Wind.

"What are you doing?” You held onto his wrist.

"I've been caught!”

He yelled with the biggest grin on his face. When you let go you didn't even notice he actually managed to steal something.

"Where did you get this?” Time took it away.

You turn around to one of the essentials packed in your new backpack. A small dagger with the royal family crest. Your reply could not have been more immature as you stated it wasn't any of his business.

"Zelda gave you a lot of things.” Twilight told you quietly so that no one else could hear.

"Jealous?” You said, trying to regain some distance with him.

"Pfft.” He totally was. "Of course not.”

Around the campfire, Sky's harp lulled some of the heroes to sleep, you weren't one of them. The conversation topic turned to love after Sky talked incessantly of his Zelda. How lucky he was to be able to freely love someone. Love seemed to be a complicated topic among the heroes. Maybe one day you would be as lucky as Sky.

"How about you?”

Sky broke your chain of thoughts. What was he even asking? And of course all awake eyes were on you, or else it wouldn't be fun. You just stared at him for a hot minute trying to remember what he was saying.

"Have you ever been in love?”

“...yes.”

"Is it as amazing as lover boy describes it?” Hyrule said mockingly.

"It's... honestly pretty terrible. I don't know if I'd recommend it.”

Your answer amused most of them.

"Was he terrible? Like all the men from your world?” Rare words from Wild.

You looked around at all of them, impatiently waiting for an answer. Besides the light from the campfire, the moon lit up most of your surroundings, though the trees slightly blocked the natural light. You looked back at the flames, reminiscing.

"She was everything to me.”

The words hung in the air. No need to imagine their surprised faces since they were right in front of you.

"I didn't need anyone else as long as I had her.” The surprise faded from their expressions. "When you're in love you do and say things you never thought you would.”

"Like trapping yourself in an amber prison for thousands of years.” Sky said.

"Or becoming a dragon.” Wild added.

"Or more commonly, you give a huge part of yourself to that person. So when you lose them, you also lose that part of yourself.”

"That doesn't sound fun at all.” Great, you scared Roolie.

"Well that's the consequences. But when you are in love it is the most magical and pure thing in the world. You just want to hold onto that spark forever.”

You'd never even been this honest about your feelings with your own friends. But honestly, if the heroes know one thing it's about being in love with a girl who they end up losing. Weirdly enough, everything from your world, every feeling, relationship or milestone now felt relative. It didn't matter anymore. Of course, you now had different things to deal with but it felt so different, so dull, so unimportant. Or maybe you were just growing up.