Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Hylia did it feel good to finally sit down and rest.

It’s not that today was particularly hard, and Twilight was used to the long travels on foot—hell on four feet—but that didn’t mean travelling along unknown territory in an unknown Hyrule was any less exhausting.

Most of them were sprawled out around the small clearing they had managed to find. It had been an hour of lifting and moving boulders, small rocks, and various sized twigs. A short competition broke out between the Sailor and Traveler to who could move the most amount of rocks, which, unfortunately, ended with the Captain putting a stop to it when they both started pulling out various items from their bag to do Hylia knows what.

Regardless, Twilight was exhausted and wondering how the hell the Sailor was still vibrating with energy.

“Honestly, maybe you should go back to throwing around rocks…” mumbled Vet who had slumped on a log next to him, glaring at the little spitfire of a hero.

“What was the gramps?” Said Sailor, swiveling around to the two, “I couldn’t hear you over your creaky bones.”

Twilight snickered, the Veterans’ face souring even further as he grumbled something about “giving it a few years, all those backflips will come back to bite you”.

“Ahh, ignore him Sailor, he’s just grumpy after such a long day.” Sky said, smiling over at the group as his knife continued to whittle away at his block of wood.

The Sailor hummed, a thoughtful look crossing his face as he walked over to the other side of camp, plonking himself down next to the Captain. Quiet fell once again over the clearing, with only the bubbling pot, little scraps of Sky’s knife and the Champions occasional whistles while he cooked as company.

Twilight closed his eyes, just letting the sounds and smells of the area unwind his tense muscles as a hand fiddled with the string of his necklace. The crystal humming warmly against his chest, tempting him to shift, as lying on the ground via his wolf form would by no doubt be more comfortable.

“Hey Rancher?” Called Wind.

Twilight peaked an eye open, peering at the Sailor, “yes? Did you need something?”

“Did you have the face tattoos before or after your ability to turn into a wolf?”

Twilights eyebrow raised, opening his eyes and sitting up a bit more, “after.”

“Huh,” the Sailor hummed, hands twirling around one another, “so you just picked up your crystal and then—” his fingers flared out “—bam?”

He snorted, “I didn’t just ‘pick it up’.”

“But the tattoo was still there right?!”

Vet scoffed, pulling himself up onto the log and leaning forward, “of course it would have, that crystal is basically oozing a dark essence and that kind of magic always leaves some sort of mark.”

The Sailors face scrunched, leaning back into the Captain and pulling his scarf over him. Smithy leaning over from his spot nearby and patting his knee, “it’s actually a pretty good thing you haven’t come across anything like that Sailor, whereas the knowledge is helpful, having it through experience isn't.”

"I've encountered dark magic before..."

Eyeing Smithy, Twilight continued to fiddle with his string. He could see where the two were coming from but… “I didn’t actually have the tattoos at first.”

“Really?!” Sailor jumped, leaning forward excitedly while the other two heads snapped towards him.

“Really,” he said, “it took more consistent use for it to start leaving a permanent mark, but at first it did nothing to me.”

“You must be pretty resistant to magic then Rancher…” mused the Captain, before turning around to the Old Man who had been resting under a nearby tree, “what about you Old Man?”

The Old Man’s eye flickered over to Twilight, a seriousness in his gaze that immediately set him on edge, he knew his markings matched that mask. He may have only shown Twilight it once before, but he had seen the resemblance between it and his mentor’s face immediately.

“A blight from a cursed object I’m afraid. Nothing as…reliable as our dear Ranch hands.”

That seemed to gather the others’ attention, ears perked and hands stilling. To them, Twilight knew, this was a new bit of lore for their very tight-lipped leader, but to him…it was all the more unsettling with the mere power he had felt oozing from it for the brief moment he had held it, it had felt more than simply "cursed".

“It came from an item?” Piped Traveler, setting aside the potion bottles he had been counting.

The Old Man sighed, “somewhat unfortunately…” his bones cracked as he stood, walking to sit more within the group, “it was a long time ago and I’ve long since learnt my lesson.”

“Somewhat…?” Frowned Smithy, his own hands fiddling with the straps on his sword sheath.

Vet squinted, staring deeply at the Old Man’s face, “break a cursed item on your face or something?”

Twilight tensed, as did most of the camp, as they all cautiously eyed at the Old Man who was staring back at Vet, face blank.

“In a way, yes.”

“SO IT’S NOT JUST ME!” Howled Wild, ladle cracking against the side of the pot. Snickers and laughter echoing around the clearing, but all Twilight could do was stare at the Old Man’s face, at the scar sliced across his left eye.

Twilight caught his eye, something curling and sad behind the Old Man’s eye before he moved on to brushing the Sailor and Vet off as they tried to pester him for more details.

What exactly was that mask?

Chapter Text

Four shook as a gasp rattled his body, the last dregs of whatever nightmare that had awoke him wisping away as he took a moment to just breathe.

The fire still crackled, the cinders low and probably needing more wood soon. He turned onto his back to stare up at the stars of Vet’s Hyrule, the night otherwise silent and despite the fire, a winters chill still within the air.

“What time is it…?” he mumbled to himself, flinching as a deep voice answered back.

“2:38 in the morning, you should try and get more sleep Smithy.”

Four blinked, twisting onto his stomach to face the Old Man who looked out towards the cliff face they had found themselves on. “How…”

The Old Man stays quiet, looking over his shoulder at him before gazing up into the sky. Four follows his gaze to the big, bright, full moon that hung above them.

“You can tell the time just from looking at the moon?”

A humorless chuckle filled the air, “not exactly, but you are close there.”

That would be true, Four was pretty sure he was able to do the same thing during the day as well. “You just know what time it is always then?”

“A gift. From one of my adventures.” He said, tone dry and mouth tightening.

What kind of situation brought the need to always know the time? Much less to still have those skills now, probably years after the adventure itself? Either the Sailors mentions of the ‘Hero of Time’ were a lot more literal than he thought, or this was a particular skill that had come at the cost of a painful lesson.

Shuffling, Four sat up, pulling his bedroll’s blanket around him before walking over and plonking himself next to the man, his stature dwarfing Four’s in height. It was much colder out here; the fire only slightly tickled their backs.

“You should be getting more sleep.” Muttered the Old Man, yet he made no attempt to remove Four from his side.

“You said it was about 2:30 right? That’s near the end of the second shift and you were on first.”

The Old Man huffed, his breath puffing into the air before being swept away into the night, “It’s closer to 2:40 now.”

He could feel his eyes roll, “right, sorry.”

A hand scuffs his hair, gently, before they go back to watching the moon and the valley it overlooks. The light glistens off the trees and almost makes them glow in their own unnatural way.

“I can take over the rest of the shift?” Four says, leaning over and bumping into the Old Man, “you deserve some sleep as well.”

He sighs, bringing up one hand to rub as his tattoos before waving Four off, “I find myself on nights like these, that sleep likes to elude me, it’s quite alright, you should get some more sleep.”

Four hums, tilting his head back to watch his companion, seeing the weary look in his eyes. “I think I’ll stay up with you for a bit.”

“Very well.” The Old Man hums, both falling back into silence with just the soft crackling of the fire behind them. Four’s eyes trailing up to the moon.

“I fought the moon once.”

Could that have been true?

Chapter Text

The salty sea breeze tickled Legends’ hair, his hat swiping playfully at his neck as he gazed over the Sailor’s home of Outset island. His eyes carefully tracing the swooping seagulls around the little outpost Ariel was playfully perched at, peering through her telescope alongside her brother.

The wood creaked as footsteps grew closer, a hefty body slumping down beside him and bones cracking along the way. Definitely the Old Man then, a vague amusement rolling through his chest at the thought.

For a moment, they just sat in peaceful silence as Legend gazed out at the sea, the Old Man a silent yet strong presence beside him.

“Do you ever…” he started, trailing off and picking at the rope holding the bridge up.

The silence sat between the two, the Old Man making no move to break it as he just let Legend chew on his words. There was no contest that Legend was the most experienced adventurer…however the Old Man certainly had a story or two behind those eyes that told of an unpleasant journey. Legend would have been an idiot to not notice given his eyes shared that same look.

“Do you ever think on what we’ve lost?”

The Old Man hummed, shaking his head thoughtfully, “what are you referring to in particular?”

And wasn’t that a whole answer in of itself, because the answer was easily too damn much.

“I know I started my adventure too young,” he started, eyes trailing over to the two children playing in the tower, “I know the Sailor is a hero, that he’s earned his stripes…it doesn’t make me any less…”

“The moment the Goddess called for us, we were no longer the children we first were. We will never be the children we were once either.”

They watched the Sailor, the boy laughing alongside his sister as he pointed out something only the two could understand. For as much as the Sailor liked to posture about being old enough and wanting to grow up, he still had that childish gleam in his eyes and a brightness in his smile that the world had yet to take from him.

A warm hand settled on his back, Legends head snapping over to look at the Old Man whose gaze held firm on the sea, “we can’t treat him as if he’s a child, he’d hate it.”

“I’m not saying to…” he grumbled, scowl sitting comfortably once again on his face, “I’m saying that it’s…sad—to see him like that. I remember when I thought adventuring was all fun and games but that was before I realized,” his grip tightened on the rope, “before I realized just how much I lost because of it.”

The Old Man hummed, eye closing as the breeze licked his face and ruffled his hair.

“I don’t want that for him…” Legend whispered, too quiet for the Old Man to hear and letting the wind take his confession away onto the ocean current.

“The best we can do,” the Old Man rumbled, “is make his time with us as easy as possible without making it seem so. He won’t appreciate being coddled. I certainly didn’t at his age.”

“Oh, I don’t doubt that,” he scoffed, shrugging off the Old Man’s hand, “I didn’t either.”

A soft chuckled left the Old Man as he shook his head, the salty air having it stick up slightly in a rather impressive cowlick that had Legend snickering. They once again fell into a quiet serenity watching the ocean, this time a little lighter but Legend still felt that little niggling feeling in his gut.

“Hey Old Man?”

“Hmm?”

“You said when you were ‘his age’, that means you were younger then Sailor when you had your adventure right?” Legend peaked up at the Old Man, “how old were you exactly on your adventures?”

A melancholic smile quirked on his lips, “too young. Much too young...for either of them.”

There was a finality to that answer that had Legend pausing, before turning back out to the sea.

Just how young were you Old Man?

Chapter Text

It wasn’t the greatest that they had been separated from the others in the shift but at least this was his Hyrule and he should be able to find everyone easily. Unfortunately for him, they happened to be somewhere around Eldin, and the sky was too full of ash to safely call his Loftwing. Meaning they had to go on foot.

Goddesses above, did he ever hate Eldin’s mountain range.

“Where to next Sky?” The Old Man called, peering down the forked pathway, a hand resting gently on the hilt of his sword.

“Right first, it’s a path to a Goddess Spring and it’d be quick to check for the others first.”

With a nod, the Old Man trotted down that path as Sky doubled over, heaving in breaths at the fork and lamenting his lack of feathered friend because man he hated running. Slowly, he followed the Old Man, quickly working himself up into a half run, half stumble. Practically tripping himself through the small alcove leading into the spring.

The Old Man’s eyes snapped to him as be basically flopped himself into the room, face red, sweaty and huffing up a storm. Goddesses he was a mess, give him a sword fight and he’s golden but give him an uphill run and that’s how he goes out.

A sigh echoed around the room, as the Old Man’s armour clunked against the carved alter, the man gesturing beside him, “perhaps we should take a small break, we’ve been running around all morning.”

For as guilty as that could potentially make Sky feel, he was much too happy to give in and give his poor lungs a rest. The others were capable, and he didn’t doubt that Eldin, whereas dangerous for them, was probably just as dangerous to the shapeshifter.

With all the grace of a newborn Loftwing, he flopped onto the alter and leaned back, staring up at the Hylia statue before them, the Goddesses’ crest still hovering and glistening with divine magic from the last time he had struck it.

“It’s quite the beautiful scared spring.” Hummed the Old Man, dipping a free hand into the water and wiping off the soot and grime that covered his face.

“Mmm, it was one of two springs I needed to visit on my adventure. The others in Faron.”

The Old Man’s eyebrow raised, “two? Shouldn’t there be three?”

“Well, last I checked there were two!” He laughed, a slightly wheezy cough accompanying it.

“Huh.” Shrugged the Old Man, “normally the Goddesses’ work in threes, but I suppose not always.”

“I mean I did have to—what’s happening to your face!”

The Old Man blinked at him surprised, “what’s wrong with my face?” he asked.

“Your face tattoos—they’re glowing!” Sky gaped.

The Old Man frowned, running a hand over his face, “I don’t feel any different,” he glanced towards the water and then to his still dripping hand, “ah, I did do that though.”

Tentatively, he scooped a handful of water from the spring and then splashed it at his face, a few sprayings back at Sky but he couldn’t care less as he watched the Old Man’s tattoos flair up for a moment before going back to a dull glow.

Gasps rasped at his throat, desperate to get more air as he sprinted up the stairs. He needed to get to her now, couldn’t his stupid lungs get the memo?
Frantically, with a near hysterical strength he threw the door to the spring open and tripped through the doors, gazing up at the altar just to see that she was still there!
Zelda…
A beautiful glow surrounded her being, making her look downright ethereal and for as sacrilegious as it may be, she looked like a damn goddess standing there in the evening light.

Sky’s eyes widened, flickering over the Old Man, but it was only his tattoos that were alight. Nervously, Sky leaned forward to whisper, “Old Man, your tattoos…did they come from some sort of divine being?”

The Old Man’s eyes widened just the smallest bit before his face going blank once again, “why do you figure?”

“The water here…I’ve seen it do something similar to z...to a Goddess before, it causes a glow for the divine.”

“Hmm…” A slight frown pulled at his brow, “I suppose you could say he was at some point, long ago.”

Before Sky could ask anything else, the Old Man was already up and heading for the small alcove they entered from, swiftly exiting as Sky rushed to keep up.

Wh-What does that even mean?

Chapter Text

The sharp tang of steel-on-steel bit at the early morning buzz and the Lizalfos in front of Time hissed before sweeping its tail forward. The sharp clang of his spiked tail crashing into his shield, the monster shrieking as it’s thrown off balance and promptly spiked onto the end of his Great Fairy Sword.

A cry of pain had Time whipping around and lunging in front of the Sailor, blocking Poe fire from them both, “You alright Sailor?”

“Fu—peachy!” He gritted, a harsh burn covering most of his arm.

The Poe in front giggled as it danced out of the way of the Champions swing, a few choice words tumbling out of his mouth as he pulled a bow from his slate.

“Behind! Old Ma—!"

A cool yet burning sensation crawled up his spine and went straight to his head as he crumpled to the floor. A series of shouts echoing around the clearing doing nothing for the splitting pain that grew and grew; the burn travelling along and searing itself into the markings on his face as he grits his teeth, grunting in pain.

“Do—an—iry?”

“L—sh—be?”

“Ol—n?”

“O—an!”

“L—k!”

The pain was quickly becoming too much! Mask couldn’t really handle it all that much anymore and he gripped at his face, digging into the sides to get this stupid mask off!

“W—he—uck?”

A bright light had him suddenly sent him flying and flung into somebody’s arms, the pain in his head quickly subsiding as he gasped, tiny hands rubbing tentatively into his temples.

“I hate infected Poes…” lamented…someone, their voice gruff and a little nasally.

Nose scrunched, Mask peeled his eyes opened, eyes taking in the group of armed men and the somewhat familiar white-haired man before trying to squirm his way out of the arms holding him. Mouth ready to bite at the man’s blue tunic but, unfortunately, he let him down.

“W…What do we even do about this?” Asked a man with a wolf pelt around his neck, did he think he was cool or something?

“Pray.” Grumbled nasal guy who crouched on the floor in a red tunic and stupid blue hat—it should be green.

“There’s ah…gotta be someone nearby who can help?” Asked caped man…he had a dumb face.

It was nice and all hanging around, but they all seemed to be kind of ignoring him and talking about some sort of problem and like hell was he going to get wrapped up in something like that again. Not again. Not another Termina.

As subtly as he could, he tried to slip away from the group but the White-haired man gripped him by the collar, and this time he really did try and bit him.

“Oi! Put me down!”

“Hush.”

Oh.

He knew that voice.

Although it was a little odd to see him outside of a mask for once. “Fierce?”

White eyes bored into his own and he stopped struggling. Mask very much still wanted to be put down—don’t get him wrong—but if Fierce was here things would be okay…ish. Violent probably, but he could do violent.

“Your…your name is Fierce?” Tentatively said the smallest one of the little gathering they had here.

“His name is actually the Fierce Deity; he’s a warrior god!”

Wolf pelt suddenly went pale, eyes widening at the man(?) in their midst, while cape man perked, “Deity?”

“I am not the original.”

“That’s not the issue,” snapped nasal, “it's why you’re even here in the first place!” suddenly he pointed at Mask, “Who even are you then?”

Mask narrows his eyes, “who wants to know?”

“Oh, for the love of—”

“Hylia, it’s too early for this…” grumbled blue scarf prissy man, who was running a hand down his face.

“It’s not in fact,” Mask said, point a finger at scarfie, “it’s 3:41 in the afternoon, old man.”

Small man frowned at him, “how do you know what time it is? We’re not even in your Hyrule? You’re like—six?”

"Old man..."

Mask scoffed, how rude, “I’m ten, thank you! And of course I can tell the time, how else would I know how much time is left.”

Nasal man just frowned at him, an even wearier look crossing his face and Mask felt just the slightest bit pleased he was able to put it there.

“Time left for what? The day?” Small man asked, still frowning at him.

“Just how much is left.”

“But—”

“How about we come back to this later?” Squeaked another man, his features more fairy like and soft compared to the others.

“Right…so back to what Vet asked, what’s your name Kiddo if this guys ‘Fierce Deity’?”

Kiddo, yeah right. Wiggling out of Fierce’s grip he stood up straight, pointing a finger out towards the group, “Alright listen up! I am Link! The Hero of Time and protector of Termina, their ain’t no ‘kiddo’ talk here if you value your knees.”

Nasal guy continued to groan, his companions not looking all that better at his declaration.

What the hell is their problem?