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Legend groans as he stumbles through the portal, fighting a wave of vertigo as he passes through the other side.
Beside him, Four was retching into the grass—how pleasant—while Twilight squatted down, head between his knees as he took deep breaths.
“Is everyone here?” Time asks, stepping through last, as per usual. The Old Man receives a series of groaned yes’ and weak thumbs up in response.
“Anyone know where we’re at?” Sky asks, looking around.
“No, not mine.”
“Nope,” Wind says, disappointment evident in his voice.
One by one, they each check off their own Hyrule’s, leading to the conclusion that it’s a new Hyrule, which wasn’t usual. Sometimes they had gotten dropped into an in-between Hyrule that needed some help, but it wasn’t often.
They appeared to be on the edge of a small cliff, surrounded by old growth trees and coming to a drop a few feet ahead of them. Hyrule had already jogged up to it, looking around.
“Woah! Guys, come here, look at this!” The traveller shouts, drawing the attention of the group. He sees Sky kneeling down next to Four as Legend follows Wind and Warriors up to the edge of the cliff.
The scenery was… beautiful.
The wilderness stretched out for miles in front of them. Vast, dense forest and empty rolling plains stretched out as far as the eye could see, dotted with small ponds, buildings and hills. There were mountains further ahead, to their right and left, looking to be several days travel at least, and Legend could also see a volcano that was probably Death Mountain beyond.
To their right, there was a large building resembling a chapel, and to the north, Legend could faintly see some odd structure that looked out of place with the sprawling wilderness of the land.
And, ahead of the building was what could only be Hyrule Castle.
Behind him, Sky gasps.
“Guys! Look up! Come on, look up!”
Legend does. To his surprise, there are floating islands in the sky, several miles above the earth. Now that the chosen hero had mentioned it, Legend could see more of them in the distance, including a very large landmass and several different islands to look to have some sort of haphazard structure to them.
“It’s not mine, but no other Hyrule has had them before,” Sky observes, reaching out as though he could touch the islands. “And no one recognizes where we’re at?”
“Doesn’t look like it.”
“Does that mean we’re getting a new brother?” Wind asks, turning around.
“Hold your horses there, sailor, we don’t know anything right now,” Time says. “It’s been a few weeks since we’ve gotten a new Link. Why would we get a new one now? First things first, we should find civilization and restock.”
The group nods in agreement, grabbing their supplies and making their way down the gentle slope leading towards the temple.
Around them, the land was filled with wildlife. Birds chirped in the air, singing songs back and forth, butterflies and crickets darting about. The wind rustled the leaves of the trees, making a pleasant breeze that chased away the boiling warmth of the midday sun.
“Wherever we’re at, it sure is beautiful,” Hyrule mutters, picking up an apple from the ground. “The whole forest seems… alive, doesn’t it?”
The slope is a gentle one, and it takes an hour to reach the chapel. To Legend’s surprise, though, the chapel is clearly in ruins.
The ground was torn up in places, weeds growing through the cracks, the fountain crumbled and falling to pieces. Chunks of stone had broken off, littering the ground, and there were several buildings that were half-destroyed, falling apart with broken windows and ivy climbing up the sides, grass and flowers overtaking the walls and floor.
A few black-colored Bokoblins with wicked-looking horns lurked about, but they were generally alone and although they had black blood, they were easily disposed of between the eight of them.
The building—which they quickly come to realize is the Temple of Time—is in the same, destroyed state as the rest of the buildings. Part of the wall had collapsed, laying as rubble on the ground, and the roof was broken too, red shingles visible past the stone roof. Even the goddess statue wasn’t entirely unaffected, moss climbing up the stone form, parts of it chipped and weathered, looking like it hadn’t been taken care of in ages.
“What happened here?” Twilight asks, resting a hand on the stone. “This whole area is in ruins…”
“There’s no one here, either,” Four observes, which is followed by the smashing of a pot. “Whatever happened to make this place look like this happened a long time ago.”
“Uh, there is something here, but I’m not sure what it means…” Wind points out. Legend heads over to where the sailor is at to see what looks to be red paint slapped onto one of the walls, saying, The Yiga Clan was here. Link suckz. Glory to Master Kohga. Next to that was a poorly-drawn caricature of a hylian, with an open mouth showing sharp fangs and pointed ears.
“Yikes, looks like someone here doesn’t like Link,” Sky says. “What’s the Yiga Clan anyways?”
“Surely someone will be able to tell us,” Legend says. “Once we find civilization, that is. All that’s around here is a bunch of ruins.”
“Remember that weird tower we saw earlier?” Hyrule hums. “Maybe we should head towards that. It looks more manmade compared to everything else around here, and newer to boot.”
Time shrugs. “Good enough a guess as any. And we’d be heading in the direction of the Castle, anyways.”
Leaving the ruined temple behind, they make their way down, following some ruined stairs going down another gentle slope.
“It’s… really quiet, isn’t it?” Legend mutters, swatting away a buzzing fly. “There’s a lot of wildlife here, but… other than these ruins, and that graffiti, there are no signs of any people around. This whole place is… empty.”
Eventually, the stairs fade out into empty ground, littered with ruins. The stairs continue down into a small dip between some ruined walls. A little bit to the side, Legend sees an odd, floating red substance.
“What’s that over there?” Wind asks, pulling away from the group and running over to it.
“Hey, careful!” Twilight calls, chasing after him. “We don’t know what’s around here.”
Passing a small pond and bubbling bog, Wind comes to a stop near a pink-black puddle. Legend follows, then stops when the smell of dark magic hits his senses.
“Hey, stay away from that stuff!” Legend calls as Hyrule staggers, clutching his stomach. Wind, thankfully, heeds the warning, coming to a stop in front of the stuff.
“What is it?” Time asks, coming to a stop by Legend.
“Dark magic,” Legend says, gulping, as he carefully inches closer. “I… I don’t know what that is, but it’s got a bad feeling about it.” It’s thick and grimy, the air becoming as heavy as lead.
“Same here,” Hyrule agrees, tugging at his shirt. “That’s bad stuff. I wouldn’t touch it if I were you.”
“Could it be related to the black-blooded monsters?” Four asks, taking a stick and poking the goop. He grimaces, as a sizzling sound comes from the stick. “Eesh. Yeah, stay away from this stuff if you know what’s good for you.”
“There’s a big hole over here too,” Sky calls out, kneeling down in front of a large pit. “That pinkish-black stuff seems to be going down into it. Coming from it?”
Legend joins Sky at the entrance to the pit, peering down, before immediately backing away, grabbing Sky and wheeling backwards. He couldn’t see the bottom of it, and he knows you don’t stand anywhere near large pits you don’t see the bottom of.
Curious as it is, Legend and Hyrule make the executive decision to leave, doubling back towards the smaller slope they saw earlier. It must’ve been a small lakebed once, with a few puddles of water still there, but there was some broken rubble near the entrance of the plateau that signified that someone must’ve drained it out.
The lakebed opens up onto a well-worn road, dotted with trees and more ruins. As much as Wind and Hyrule both wanted to explore, Time stressed on moving quickly. It was late afternoon already, and the sooner they got to a relatively safe location to camp out in for the night, the better.
After about another hour of walking, the trees clear out, revealing wide, open plains beyond. Hyrule Castle sits in the distance, looming over them, and to the left is more house-like ruins near a large, glittering lake.
“We should probably stop there for the night,” Time says, glancing to their left. “There"s a shelter we can bunk up near, and we can get cleaned up at the lake before looking for the Princess tomorrow.”
With muttered agreement, the group makes its way over to the small ruins. Just like the buildings around the Temple of Time, the buildings here are ruined, decayed and overgrown.
“We have some soap, right?” Sky asks.
Legend, being the hoarder of the group, opens his mouth up to respond, when shivers suddenly crawl down his back.
Dark magic.
Strong magic, too, the air so thick with it Legend felt like he could choke. It coated his tongue and settled in his esophagus, clung to his lungs, thick and nasty. The same dark magic he felt a few hours ago, near the pit.
Something moves out of the corner of his eye. Legend’s eyes widen.
“Wind!”
Pegasus boots activated, Legend runs.
Wind cries out as Legend slams into him, knocking them both to the ground. Something wraps around his legs and Legend feels a scream tearing itself from his throat because oh holy goddess that hurt-!
He opens his eyes, and immediately wishes he hadn’t.
The thing in front of him is no doubt a monster, but calling it as such feels too wrong, too lesser.
A viscous, pulsing puddle of dark magic stood in front of Legend. Pulsing pink-black dark magic oozed along the ground, coming into form as a series of wriggling, twitching hands, one of which was currently wrapped around his legs, sharp fingernails digging into his skin.
Four more glowing yellow eyes stare at the depths of Legend’s soul as it screeches.
Nails on a chalkboard, an inhumane, unholy sound that pierces his eardrums. Rattles down to the depths of his soul. Laughing in delight.
It feels like his bones are trying to be pulled out of his legs, burning pain racing through every limb in his body and Legend was a fool for thinking he knew what physical pain felt like before now—
Someone shouts. Twilight appears in front of Legend, slashing downwards, and the monstrosity lets go of Legend’s leg.
He immediately takes the opportunity to scramble back, back, back, away from the horror. His fingers twitch and seize, muscles screaming at him, and it feels like he lost part of his soul with that attack.
The sky has gone blood-red, the intensity of the dark magic growing, pressing down against Legend. Ember-like ashes flick through the air, wisps of pink and black smoke.
“Don’t touch it!” He shouts, pain making his voice raw as he tries to get to his feet. Warriors has yanked Wind away, blade out, and he can see Sky leveling the Master Sword in front of him. It glows with holy light, shining brightly in the tainted air.
Legend can’t get to his feet. Even moving his leg sends a fresh wave of pain throughout his body, blinding-hot.
“What is this thing?!” Four shouts. One of the hands twitches and jerks forward, lunging at Four, but the smithy manages to roll out of the way in time.
Twilight gives an aborted yell as another hand jerks, slashing at his arm. A moment later, Time’s voice booms over the battlefield.
“Forget about fighting it! Just run!”
Then he tosses a bomb back into the puddle, giving everyone ample time to get out. Or, mostly everyone.
Legend tries to. He really does. But he can’t stand, and everyone seems to taken with the monster or following Time’s order to notice him—except for Hyrule.
“Legend!” The traveller shouts, running towards him. The bomb goes off. The monstrosity screeches. Legend winces. Hyrule stumbles, clearly just as affected by this dark magic as he is.
“Someone help Hyrule get the Vet!” He hears someone—Time, or Twilight, maybe—shouts.
Another eye-hand-stalk thing whips around to face him.
Even if Legend could run, the malice he sees in the glowing, pulsing amber eye is enough to make even the bravest man freeze. Bony and muscular at the same time, twitching in a way that resembles human flesh but isn’t—oh gods it’s looking at him.
The breath catches in Legend’s throat as it screeches again, and he tries to scramble to his feet—
He can’t. Pain snaps through his legs and his knees give out, blinding him with the intensity of it.
Oh goddess, he thinks to himself, sweat pooling on his back. His mind feels scrambled, the dark magic suffocating him.
This is it. We’re going to die. I’m sorry, Ravio. I’m sorry, Zelda.
The abomination screeches. Legend closes his eyes and prays to a goddess he doesn’t believe in for a swift death.
Boo-boo-boom!
The earth shakes. Searing heat rises, lapping at Legend’s skin, and even with his eyes closed he can see a flare of light behind his eyelids.
Another unholy screeching, but this one sounds less victorious, more pained. Slowly, Legend opens his eyes.
Boo-boo-boom!
Another series of explosions rocks the earth, lighting up the sky with flashes of blazing fire.
In front of Legend stands a young person, probably about his height, with long red hair pulled into a ponytail, with loose-wrapped cloth fitted around them coupled with blue war paint. A bow is in their hands, and from this angle, Legend can see a shield and a sword on their back.
Surrounding the person are four blue… specters would be the best things to call them. A tiny Rito, a small Gerudo woman, a Goron, and a Zora. All of them have weapons drawn, looking ready to go on the attack.
“Legend!”
Hyrule appears next to him, bodily hauling Legend to his feet, fingernails digging into his arm. In front of him, the person extends a hand as the monstrosity screeches. He almost trips over his own two feet but Hyrule takes most of his weight, dragging Legend forward as his feet protest the movement.
A strange symbol flashes over the Gerudo woman, who raises one sword into the air. Electricity sparks in the air, a golden aura stretching out from the Gerudo woman, as the man raises the bow. The aura stretches out and out, completely covering the monstrosity.
Boo-boo-boom!
BOOM!
More explosions light up the sky, this one complete with a barrage of lightning crashing down onto the monstrosity despite the fact it had been sunny just moments before the monstrosity showed up. Legend winces as it shrieks, something unholy and inhuman, grating against his ears.
“Who is that?!” He hears Twilight shouting, as Hyrule starts to drag Legend away from the fight and towards the others.
He has enough presence of mind to draw his firerod, his grip on the weapon ironclad. Pain flares through his feet with each step, worse than any joint pain, but he grits his teeth and keeps stumbling after Hyrule.
Boo-boo-boom.
“Shit-!”
Even being dragged away as he was, Legend still had one eye on the battle. After all, you never turned your back on an enemy, especially one like this.
Ergo, Legend was the first to see that, immediately following the explosions, the monstrosity lunged, grabbing the man in its hand.
Legend’s heart drops as the man’s mouth opens in a silent scream. Without thinking, he digs his heels into the ground and spins.
He stumbles to his knees, but fury and cold-hearted fear sweeps through him. Shouting, Legend thrusts his fire rod forward, channeling his magic through the rod.
It’s probably the biggest fireball Legend’s ever created. It goes flying through the air, smashing right into the monster, and he mouths a silent apology towards the man for getting caught in the crossfire.
But the fire rod is thankfully effective. The monster screams as flames burst around it, dropping the man, who immediately takes advantage of the opportunity to scramble to his feet, pick up his bow, and run.
“Legend, what are you doing?!” Time shouts, as Legend holds up the rod again, ready to fire. He’s certainly going to feel this later, but right now, the man needs all the help he can get. Legend would much rather be suffering from magical exhaustion than dead.
“Helping!” He shouts, before lobbing another ball of fire at the monster.
At the same time the fireball hits, there’s a bright flash of light, momentarily blinding Legend. He flinches, then looks up to see the man running towards the ruins.
Before Legend can even ask what he’s doing, the man runs straight up the side of the wall, kicking off it. In the blink of an eye, the man has nocked, drawn and shoot three more bomb-tipped arrows.
By the time the smoke clears, Legend sees that the unholy monster from hell had disappeared. In its place, the dark magic had formed the wriggling, towering image of a long, skeletal man, though the puddle of noxious dark magic still surrounded his feet.
Legend backs up a little, wary, as the man trades out the bow for a shield and a sword.
No, not just any sword, he realizes a moment later. The Master Sword.
Its shining blue glow was unmistakable, along with the touch of divinity from the blade. A piece of light, of cleanliness, cutting through the thick, cloying air of malice surrounding them. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Sky looking around for the sword, likely realizing it had gone to the hands of this world’s Link.
So, this is the hero, Legend thinks as the two beings circle around each other. The hero keeps a careful distance from the monster, tense and ready for a fight.
The monster moves first, a simple, streamlined motion as it seems to glide forward without moving its feet. The hero doesn’t move, even as the monster rears back its sword-
Ping, ping!
Two arrows suddenly fly out from nowhere, hitting the monster dead center in the head. It jerks, and the hero immediately begins slashing at it, swinging the Master Sword through the air, which hums in a battle cry.
Three of the four specters from before surround the creature, attacking it relentlessly. The Rito, meanwhile, flies off to the side, already knocking another arrow.
The hero, meanwhile, was moving backwards, sword at the ready. He reaches his shield hand out, and another symbol flashes in front of the Goron, who immediately tucks into a ball and starts rolling in front of the hero.
With a snap of the fingers, the Goron goes flying forward like a cannonball, crashing into the creature.
The creature stumbles, but recovers, seemingly paying no mind to the specters attacking it. It lashes out at the hero again, who stumbles as he takes a hit, but keeps on his feet.
Despite the exhaustion beginning to settle on his shoulders, Legend readies his fire rod, ready to attack again.
The hero and the creature circle around each other again, the hero keeping a fair distance from the creature. It’s a careful yet deadly dance, the hero blocking, parrying and slashing at the monstrosity, every movement a blur.
As Legend gets ready to fire, the monster suddenly swings again.
Faster than Legend can blink, the hero had backflipped out of the way of the swing. He’s a blur of motion as he lashes out at the creature, the Master Sword glowing with every hit.
With one final lunge, the creature roars, collapsing into a puddle of goop and black smoke.
The red-stained sky clears, sunlight breaking through the darkness that had settled over them. The foul energy of dark magic fades, like taking a breath of fresh air after almost drowning. Legend feels sick from the whiplash of it all.
“Holy shit,” someone says. That about sums it up.
“What in the ever loving fuck was that thing?” Wind says, and it’s a testament to what just happened that no one scolds him.
Legend places his hand over his chest, trying to calm his racing heart, swaying on his feet..
The hero turns to them. He quickly realizes the red hair is not natural, but instead seemingly a wig attached to a large, horned skull fitted on their head. A leather chest piece covers the upper half of his torso, more blue paint visible on his stomach, and their left arm had more leather wrapped around it.
But what really captured his attention is the scars. Someone—probably either Hyrule or Sky—gasps at them.
Large, angry-looking starburst burns covered his left side, practically covering his entire torso. The scarred flesh—burn wounds, he notes—travel upwards, across part of their throat, left jaw and cheek, and up to their eye, which miraculously seems to be in working condition. But their eyes seem to be an unnatural shade of blue, almost glowing, and far more saturated than any normal shade of blue.
His right arm was visually different from his left, a deep shade of green with weird ridges and bumps on other, as well as long, bony fingernails ending in small, claw-like points. Five rings sat on each of his fingers, made of the same material as the bony ridges of the arm. Dirt and blood cover his body, staining his skin and the few clothes he was wearing.
Without a doubt, this new Link had seen some battles.
“Legend!”
Footsteps. In an instant, he was surrounded by the others, asking him questions, desperate to know if he was okay. And now that the adrenaline was fading, he could start to feel the effects of magic overuse and the wounds he had gotten.
Legend sinks to the ground, pain lancing up his legs, Sky’s arm on his back the only thing keeping him from collapsing entirely. A glance around the group shows the rest of the Chain in varying states of chaos.
Wind and Sky were both deathly pale, sweat gleaming on their foreheads, Wind’s hands twisted into Warriors’ scarf. Warriors himself was making a visible effort to steady his breathing, and from his rattling breath, not doing a very good job of it.
Four was off a little ways away, arms wrapped around themself, pacing back and forth and muttering under their breath. Twilight had gone statue stiff, staring at where the creature was just defeated, visibly shaking.
“Are you alright?” Time asks, his clenched jaw and waxen face the only thing betraying his worry and unease.
As Hyrule kneels down next to him, Legend dares to look down at his feet. Time follows his gaze, and winces when he sees what Legend does.
Part of his boots and tights have been corroded off, smoky black and frayed where the goop had burned through. Something dark oozed down from his legs, though Legend can’t tell if it’s blood or the pinkish-black goop that had grabbed him. Burning pains were shooting all up and down his feet and legs, up to his knees and thighs.
“That’s—that’s not good,” Hyrule says quietly, gingerly pulling off one of Legend’s boots. He feels sick at the sight that greets him. Part of his skin was covered with a pulsing pink-black goop, resembling burns in their nature. Blood dripped down his leg, and when Hyrule experimentally poked one of the pulsing spots, he hissed and drew his finger back. “Yikes—that’s bad magic, for sure. I-I’m not sure how well I’ll be able to heal this.”
Still, his hands start glowing the faintest shade of pink, the sweet scent of magic filling the air. Legend bites his lip, silently cursing when the magic seems to be doing nothing.
“I-I don’t think this is working,” Hyrule says, frustration evident in his voice. “Whatever this is, it’s- it’s- I don’t know. It’s wrong.”
A hand settled on Hyrule’s shoulder. Legend looks up to see the hero kneeling down in front of Legend, peering down at his legs.
“Injured?” He says, his voice a hoarse whisper. Legend glares.
“Yes, obviously, what else did you think it was—what in the name of all that is holy was that—that abomination, anyways?”
The hero looks at Legend, then around at the group. “Gloom,” he says, drawing everyone’s attention. The specters from before had disappeared, leaving them alone, and if Legend hadn’t seen the lightning with his own eyes he would’ve thought it a dream. “Very bad. Anyone else injured?”
Twilight and Warriors both raise their hands. Now that he’s looking, Legend can see that part of Twilight’s shirt was frayed, and that Warriors was clutching his side.
The hero himself also had matching wounds, pulsing slowly. Legend shivers when he realizes it makes the shape of a handprint, circling around his stomach. If he noticed them, he gave no indication as he nodded, then grabbed some odd rectangular object on his hip.
“You know what this is?” Hyrule asks, looking at the hero. “Do you know how to fix it?”
Gesturing for Warriors and Twilight to come over, the Hero sits down in front of Legend.
“Healing magic will not fix,” the hero says, swiping through the rectangle. “Not right away. Need curative, to rid body of Gloom. Then you can heal.”
With a tap of the finger, blue light flashes over the rectangle. Legend watches in awe as an odd-looking pumpkin, stuffed with ground up-meat.
Another tap, and the hero sets down a black cloth, setting the pumpkin on it. He turns to Legend, Warriors and Twilight in turn, holding up forks.
“Sunny meal,” he says, taking out a fork and holding it up. “Get rid of effects of Gloom. Then can heal safely.”
Without another word, he starts digging into the meal. Legeng glances at Hyrule and Time, before hesitantly digging into his food.
Without a doubt, it’s one of the best meals Legend’s ever had.
The meat was cooked to perfection, lightly salted and peppered, with some kind of tomato sauce mixed into it. The pumpkin is sweet and slightly nutty, the pumpkin itself not too soft but not too hard, either.
Though, throughout it all, Legend got the sense of something under it too, something foreign and unfamiliar. It didn’t necessarily taste bad, per se, but indescribable. The best way he could think of it as was ‘sunlight if it was edible’.
It’s this new, indescribable taste that spreads through his body, warm and soothing. Hyrule gasps.
“Legend—look!”
Legend looks down to where Hyrule is pointing, blinking in surprise when he sees the goop on his legs shrinking. There’s the faintest glow surrounding it, absorbing it out of his skin like paper absorbs ink.
With it, the burning pain in his legs fades, though the exhaustion is still present, tugging at his soul. But the pain in his legs slowly dies away with the goop, until all that’s left is an angry, bleeding spot where the goop used to be.
Immediately, Hyrule sets back to healing his legs again, and this time comes the much more familiar and gentle caress of Hyrule’s magic. Legend shivers as his skin stitches itself back up.
“You have healing magic?”
Legend looks up. The hero is looking at Hyrule with a complicated expression on his face, blue eyes narrowed. Hyrule nods.
“Yes, I do,” he says, the glow from his hands fading. “You—do you need it, too? I-I saw you get grabbed by that- that thing. It’s the least I can do after you saved all of us.”
The hero’s brows furrow as he lowers his fork. “Where learn? Err-“ he shakes his head, frowning. Slower, he says, “Where did you learn? Only Zora know healing magic. Takes practice. No Hylians.”
Panic flashes across Hyrule’s face. “Uh—I-I’ve just always had it,” he says, turning to face the hero. “Do you need healing?”
The hero shakes his head, pointing at the pumpkin. “No. Food is enough,” he says, before taking another bite.
“Thank you for the save,” Sky says, seemingly finally recovering himself. He still looks a little pale, but seems to be steadier on his feet. “That could’ve gone south really fast if you hadn’t shown up.”
“Agreed,” Legend says, and the rest of the Chain chimes in, giving their thanks to the hero.
“What is that thing, anyways?” Legend asks, shuddering. “I’ve been on six adventures, and I’ve never seen anything like that before. How the hell did you survive that?”
“Gloom,” the hero repeats again, before doing—is that a sign? “Dark magic, amplified by special power and hatred.“ The hero shakes his head, expression darkening. “Did not… was not always here. Year and a half, since Upheaval. It took time to learn to fight. Nearly failed several times before.”
Legend shudders. He could imagine.
“Flower bombs and sunny food help. Stay out of range, attack from distance. Do not fight head-on. If you gain height, it eventually fades in the sun. Running is not always effective—it is fast. But it is better to avoid in the first place. Zelda says Gloom is like poison; dangerous once it enters the system, and harder to remove. Cannot heal until Gloom has been purged from body.”
“I’ll say,” Warriors says, shuddering. Hyrule has moved over to him, hands glowing with healing magic. Time already has a green bottle at the ready for their resident healer.
“Do you have map?” The hero asks. They shake their heads. The hero frowns, then grabs the rectangular thing on his hip. “Should invest in one. Easy to get lost here, if you stray from the roads. Can also show where Gloom Hands are.”
To Legend’s surprise, when he holds up the rectangle, there’s a small map on it. There’s a small, yellow arrow in the middle, next to the lake they were presumably next to, and next to the arrow was a skull-shaped mark.
“What is that?” Legend finds himself asking. “I’ve never seen magic like that before?”
The hero frowns. “Is not magic,” he explains, clipping the rectangle back to his hip. “Sheikah technology. Purah Pad.”
“I can’t help but notice that you carry the Master Sword on your back,” Time says, and most of the group suddenly goes alert. Did none of them notice it before? Well, maybe that’s not so surprising, considering how off-guard the monstrosity caught them. “What’s your name, stranger?”
“Link,” he confirms. “And you?”
“I’m Time,” the old man says with a smile. “These are my brothers—Twilight, Warriors, Legend, Four, Wind, Sky, and Hyrule. We’re actually looking for the hero of this land. That wouldn’t happen to be you, would it?”
Link’s eyes narrow, and there’s a sudden shift in his body language, going tense and wary. He grips the fork in his hand like a weapon, electric blue eyes that seem to glow flickering between them.
“Not a hero,” Link says, voice tense, cracking a little. “Simply champion. Care for banana?”
Legend blinks, a little thrown, as Link taps the—what did he call it, the Purah Pad?—and blue light takes the shape of a banana. He makes direct eye contact with Time as he slowly peels it and bites down.
The hell? Legend thinks as Link eats the banana. Time frowns.
“No…? Thank you though,” he says slowly, confusion evident in his voice. Link’s eyes flick around, before he relaxes.
“Sorry. Cannot be too careful with Yiga around,” he states, tossing the half-eaten banana into the lake. He rubs his throat, before holding up his hands. Does anyone know sign? Voice is starting to give out.
“Most of us know some sign, though myself, Twilight and Hyrule are the most fluent,” Time explains. Relief crosses Link’s face at that, as he picks up the Purah Pad again. “So, Link… is it at all possible for you to take us to Princess Zelda?”
Link’s brows furrow. What do you need with her? It must be important; the Princess is very busy these days.
“It’s important,” Twilight says, nodding, then glancing to Sky. “Would you do the honors?”
Sky nods. “You see, Link, everyone here—myself included—we are also all named Link. We’re all heroes of our lands, and all of us have the ability to wield the Master Sword. Recently, there has been a new threat plaguing the world—black-blooded monsters, the origin of which is unknown but possess greater skill and intelligence than normal monsters. So the Goddess Hylia has drawn together eight heroes, from eight different time periods, to travel between Hyrules in an attempt to find out and put a stop to whatever is causing this problem.”
Link’s brows furrow halfway through, though his face is too stoic for Legend to gauge his reaction. Bright teal eyes, unnaturally so, flick between them, one by one. Legend tenses under the gaze, feeling like a prey waiting to be eaten by a predator.
“I know it sounds unbelievable, but unfortunately, it’s true,” Legend says when Link’s gaze falls on him. “If you want proof, hand the Master Sword to Sky over there. She’ll confirm.”
Link’s eyes narrow just the slightest bit, and he holds up his hands. You are all heroes? They nod. And you are also all named Link? Again, they nod. Time takes out the firewood and gets a fire going.
“That’s why we go by nicknames, even if most of them are rather unusual,” Time says. “The Master Sword gives them to us.”
Again, Link looks at all of them. Slowly, he pulls out the Master Sword from his back.
If you die, I am not at fault. I warned you, he signs sharply, before handing her over to Sky.
Sky gingerly takes the sword from Link’s hand, the latter showing visible surprise when Sky isn’t harmed in any way. The chosen hero wraps his hands around the hill, inspecting her in the sun. His brows furrow, a finger resting on the blade, near the hilt.
“Something happened to you, didn’t it?” The Chosen Hero says so quietly Legend doesn’t think they were supposed to hear it. “It’s… strange. She’s so much older in this era, worn down by time, and yet… she’s practically glowing with divine power, like she was when I forged her. And… down here… it’s faint, but… these almost look like… scars.”
Sky looks up at Link, his expression carefully and worryingly… blank. “What happened to her?”
“She saved my life,” Link says, closing his eyes. “Twice. I’d be dead if it wasn’t for her.”
There’s a story there, and a long one at that; Link’s words sending a chill throughout the group. But then the Master Sword glows and chimes sweetly in the air. Sky closes his eyes and holds the sacred blade up.
(A corpse-strewn plain and golden light. A sobbing princess and a dead hero. A girl alone in the end of the world, and a quiet forest.
A mummy beneath the castle, a tendril of darkness heading for her master and her goddess. Pain—she didn’t know she could feel this much pain. She didn’t know she could feel pain at all. Gentle, calloused hands, shaking as they pick her up, the dull sensation of tears falling onto her battered body. A firm grip, a blinding light, divinity spilling out of warping bones, cradling her in its warmth and comfort.
A mission awaits, as does her hero. She will find her Master again, no matter how long she must wait. Ten thousand years and then some is a long time, but least she is not alone.
We will find him, goddess incarnate)
“Well?” Wind asks, leaning forward.
“It is my duty, Hero of the Wilds.”
Sky opens his eyes, a faint smile crossing his lips as he lowers the blade.
“That is what Fi says,” Sky says, nodding once. “It is nice to meet you, Hero of the Wilds. Is that an alright nickname? Wild?”
Link frowns, as if turning the thought over in his mind. I… suppose. Sometimes. But it would be important to me if I am not always called that.
Sky blinks. “I mean—I guess not, but why? Since we’re all named Link, it’s easier to go by nicknames instead of our shared name.”
Link closes his eyes, inhaling slowly through his nose, and letting it out through his mouth. “It… is personal,” he croaks out, voice cracking, before continuing in sign. The easiest way to explain it is that… the first thing I ever knew was my name. Link. The first thing, and for some time, the only thing. It is… me, and I would not like to lose it.
Sky looks confused, but nods. “Okay, I don’t see why not. You don’t have to share anything you don’t want to, by the way. We all have our baggage, so unless its a life-threatening issue, our secrets are ours to keep.”
“Cool! We got a new big brother!” Wind cries, immediately latching onto Wild, who stiffens, going tense under Wind’s touch. “Hi, I’m Wind! Thank you so much for the save and the food, it’s probably the best meal I’ve ever eaten! Well, outside my grandma’s cooking, of course.”
“Calm down, Wind,” Time chides gently, an amused smile on his voice as he taps the sailor’s shoulder. When did Wind have some of the food?
Wild’s gaze flicks between them. So… you are all heroes of the past, then? Heroes… like me?
Time nods. “Yes. Sky here is the first, either Wind or Warriors is the last, and most of us fall somewhere between them. The Goddess Hylia, or some other being, had gathered us on a mission to go to different Hyrules, and fight against the black-blooded monsters that have come there.”
Wild’s brows furrow. Black-blooded monsters? He signs.
“Yeah, they’re smarter and more powerful than most monsters,” Legend explains. “They’ve been infesting a bunch of different Hyrules. A few of the bokoblins we fought on the way here have black blood.”
But monsters here have always had black blood, Wild signs casually, causing a hush to fall over the group.
“All… monsters here are black-blooded?” Hyrule asks, disbelief evident in his voice as he frowns. “How?”
Wild makes a sign he can’t fully recognize, only that it has the sign for destruction in it. A glance around reveals the other sign-language readers are just as confused as he is.
“I’m sorry, I’m afraid we don’t recognize that sign,” Twilight explains. “What was it, again?”
Clearing his throat, Wild says in a hoarse voice, “Calamity Ganon.”
The group glances around. Most of them have heard the name Ganon somewhere before in their journey, fighting against some incarnation of the wielder of the Triforce of Power, but Calamity is a new one.
“What is that?”
Wild’s expression darkens, and he glances over his shoulder at the castle, before sweeping a hand out towards the ruins behind them.
“Destruction,” he tells them, rubbing at his throat. “Made monsters more powerful. Has been this way for a century.”
“I see,” Time hums. “Is that why so many places here are in ruins?”
Wild nods. Yes. We are rebuilding, finally, but it is slow work. Much was lost in the— the same sign from before, which Legend can only assume is Calamity. The Upheaval has disrupted the process, and many are still recovering. But with— another unfamiliar sign, this one containing the signs for scholar and flower in it. —back, we can finally move forward again.
“Upheaval?” Sky asks, frowning. “And what’s that?”
This time, Wild’s expression doesn’t darken, but it does furrow, as though he’s thinking over what to say. Slowly, he signs, Hard to explain. Dead mummy under castle tried to destroy Hyrule. Sky islands came down, chasms opened up, and the four races dealt with regional problems caused by dead mummy. Was only settled half a year ago. The Gloom hands you saw were a product of the Upheaval. I have been going around getting rid of the last ones now that there are no more blood moons.
There’s a lot of information in there Legend doesn’t quite know what to deal with, but he nods, at least attempting to pretend like he was paying attention. By now, night has fallen over the land, moonlight glittering off of the lake.
“We should get camp set up,” says Time, standing up from where we had been sitting on the ground. “I’ll take first watch. Four, you have second, and Sky has third. The rest of you, get some sleep. You’ve earned it.” Time looks back at Wild. “Tomorrow, we’d like to go visit the castle and see Princess Zelda. Would you mind showing us the way?”
The sign for scholar and flower is back, and he can only assume that’s the name sign for Zelda.
Zelda is not at the castle, Wild signs, pointing towards the mountain that had been split in two in the distance. She is visiting Kakariko, investigating the Ring Ruins.
“Ring Ruins?”
Wild nods. — ruins that appeared during the Upheaval, he signs. She is very interested in researching the murals left there.
“What’s that first sign?”
Z-O-N-A-I, Wild fingerspells. Goat-like people who used to live and the sky and founded Hyrule thousands of years ago.
Sky frowns. “But—that can’t be true, my era is currently in the process of founding Hyrule,” he says, sounding genuinely confused. Wild, for his part, looks just as confused.
Time sighs. “This whole timeline is a goddamned bowl of soup,” he mutters, rubbing his forehead.
Timeline? Wild asks. Legend waves a hand through the air.
“Don’t worry about it, trying to think about it will just scramble your brain like fried eggs.”
Don’t need any more of that, Wild signs in a manner like he’s talking about a joke only he gets. It will take about three days to get to Kakariko, but she should be staying there for the foreseeable future.
The group grimaces. “Three days? But that’s so long!” Wind complains.
Wild shrugs. Unfortunately, my Purah Pad can only teleport myself.
“Purah Pad? That glowing thing on your hip?” At Legend’s question, Wild nods and lifts it up for the group to see. As if remembering something, Wild taps the Slate, and a blue-glow light appears around him, bright in the dark of night.
When Legend blinks, the clothes he was wearing had been replaced with a bright blue tunic with a leather sash around it, plain brown pants, and a dark hood that hangs over his head. Legend blinks, curiosity gripping him.
“That’s cool,” Hyrule says, peering over Wild’s shoulder at the Purah Pad. “What kind of magic is that?”
Not magic. Technology, Wild signs again. Zelda will know more. This is her forte, not mine.
“What’s your Zelda like?” Sky asks, curiosity lacing his voice. He’d always been excited to meet a new Zelda, curious to see how they compared to the love of his life.
Curious, Wild signs. She loves to learn new things, and has a great interest in Sheikan and Z-O-N-A-I technology. I am warning you in advance. She will have many questions for all of you, and that is a threat. Most of our records of the ancient past were lost in the Calamity, and she will be greatly interested in the Heroes of Old.
“Ah, is that why her name sign includes the sign for scholar?” Time asks, and Wild visibly brightens as he nods in confirmation. “That’s cute.”
Sky yawns suddenly, causing the rest of the chain to yawn. Even Legend can feel the air of exhaustion that settles over the group, the adrenaline from earlier fading.
“I think it’s high time we get some rest,” Time says, looking around. “It’s been a long day, and we have a long day of walking ahead of us. Let’s get some rest while we can. Thank you again for the assist, Wild.”
Wild nods, pulling his cloak around himself.
Tomorrow, they’ll have to get onto Kakariko, and explain their situation to the Princess and see how Wild fits into the group. Now, though, Legend gets his bedroll stares up and stares up at the stars glimmering overhead.