Chapter Text
"This is ridiculous." Wild raged. Hyrule had to jog a little to keep up with his stride. Legend followed behind, strongly considering using the Pegasus boots to keep up.
The trio didn't need to spend long in the market before they found some gossips willing to part with information about the weird witch living out to the west. Hyrule was disarming on his own - Legend only had to keep Wild from wandering off and wait for the traveller to work his magic. Unfortunately for Legend, keeping Wild in one place was more difficult than it sounded. Wild was fuming, barely restraining the rant he was now free to unleash on the winding path away from town.
"Wild, slow down." Hyrule pleaded.
"He's just acting like he's done nothing wrong! I feel like I'm going crazy!" Wild gestured wildly.
"He's stubborn as hell." Legend grumbled.
"We'd be thanking him if it worked." Hyrule pointed out.
"I'm sorry, I'm supposed to thank him for that?" Wild said angrily.
"You're both stubborn!" Legend snapped. "He's not going to apologise, and you're not going to thank him. You both have to get over it."
"I'm not in the wrong here." Wild snapped. "I asked him to stop, and he didn't. I'm not mad that he tried to break the curse, I'm mad that he kept going when I knew it wasn't working."
Wild kicked a rock off the road, then followed its path through the coarse grass. Legend heaved a sigh.
"And now you're leaving the path." He said dully.
"I need space." Wild muttered. "You can go investigate if you want to. I'm going to climb a tree."
"No, you're not." Legend strode forward and snatched his arm. "You're a hero, not a child. Get your shit together and work with us. Sulk later."
Wild rounded on him. "You're on Twilight's side, aren't you?" He said angrily.
"I'm not on anyone's side. I think Twilight's as dumb as you are." Legend retorted. "He thought you could push through the pain. Obviously, he went way too far."
"I said stop. He didn't. I feel-" Wild broke off. "You don't get it. Twilight doesn't get it."
Legend opened his mouth, then thought better of it. "That doesn't matter right now." He pivoted. "What matters is getting answers on your curse, fast. We can get this shit sorted out later."
Wild's shoulders were still wound up tight. The pearl in his ear caught the light with a glint. Legend's stomach churned.
He knew where Twilight was coming from. Legend's dreams had been full of clumsy attempts to return an earring to Wild's ear, the pearl slipping from his grip, never finding the piercing, Hyrule screaming Wild's name while his body went cold, his eyes were open, open-
Legend took a shuddering breath. He knew Twilight's fear. The desperation to do something, anything.
And he knew Wild, erratic, bipolar Wild, half strange melancholy and half unbridled energy, freehand climbing mountains and shield surfing one minute, serenely chopping vegetables the next. A dead shot, a liability, an uncontrollable and unpredictable asset. He was unreliable. Forgetful. Frustratingly independent. Heroic to a fault. A terrible influence. A complete mess.
The only one of them dumb enough to get himself cursed. The worst one of them to do so.
Any of the others. Any of them would have been easier to deal with. Wild was prepared to walk around like nothing was wrong. Legend knew that. Twilight knew that. Their time was so, so short. Anyone else might have agreed to be still and sensible and guarded. Even Wind had a core of maturity beneath his explosive childish energy. But the closer you got to Wild's core, the younger he became. How he'd made it to adulthood without getting killed, Legend had no idea.
He doesn't know what's best for him.
Wild's hair swirled in an errant breeze. Legend shook his head. No, that thought wasn't right. It wasn't fair. Wild was an adult, a hero. Not a child to be protected. He was.
And he wasn't. He was vulnerable. Maybe he couldn't be trusted.
Legend seethed. That line of thinking was wrong. Allowing himself to be led by it would be cowardice. It didn't matter what he thought, what any of them thought. They all had the right to be in command of themselves. He understood where Twilight was coming from, completely. But he was still wrong. What he did was wrong, wrong, wrong.
Legend groaned. It was too much.
"Ledge?" Hyrule's voice broke through his thoughts. He blinked, coming back to himself. "Are you okay?" Hyrule continued.
"I'm fine." Legend reassured him. He blinked, searching. Anxiety lanced through him, and he jerked to attention, turning and cataloguing everything he'd missed while lost in thought. "Where are we?"
"No idea." Hyrule said simply. "We've passed by a lot of farmhouses, though. Should probably be checking them, but I don't think a witch would live that close to town."
"Yeah." Legend agreed. "They like a bit of space."
A chuchu popped out of the grass ahead. Wild whacked it with a stick. It exploded into gelatinous blobs.
"I've been watching." Hyrule got ahead of Legend's question. "No dangerous monster activity. Nothing but a few loose wildstock. Couple of dogs."
The road was like this most of the time. Just wandering, taking in the world. Killing the occasional monster. If Legend tuned out the others, it would almost be like just another adventure, just another rarely travelled road.
Another two chuchus emerged. Wild splattered one with his stick, then hefted the branch and sent it spinning through the air to split the second in half.
"At least use your sword next time." Hyrule called forward. Wild shot him a glare.
The path had narrowed down tightly, with only the evidence of a horse and cart to lead them forward. Trees were closing in on either side. Legend swallowed, anxiety tightening within him.
"We should flank him." He glanced at Hyrule.
"Yeah." Hyrule said uncertainly. "It's just…"
A distant shriek echoed over the field. The three heroes snapped to attention, drawing swords in a flash.
"Where?" Legend stalked through the trees, straining to hear sounds of battle.
"Wild, wait!" Hyrule yelped. Legend spun. Wild was taking off through the grass, sword gripped at his side. Legend cursed and activated his boots.
The trees parted to reveal a rolling field, rich with greenery. A young woman was rushing in their direction, hiking up her skirt, a wicker basket hooked over her elbow and bouncing at her side. Behind her spun a Peahat - a huge Peahat, spinning rapidly with black blades at its base. It tilted forward, slicing at grass and earth alike as it advanced. The woman shrieked as clumps of earth rained down on her. The blades were nearly close enough to rend the fabric of her skirt.
Legend sheathed his blade and drew his boomerang.
"Wild! GET BACK!" Hyrule cried, nocking an arrow.
Wild ignored him, dashing to flank the monster. He raised his shield and began to ring his sword against it, shouting obscenities at the Peahat. The monster paused in its pursuit, swerving towards the noisier target. The woman sobbed and staggered as she continued to run. Wild grinned, his gamble successful. He sheathed his sword and drew his bow in one swift movement, nocking three fire arrows. They exploded against the Peahat's bulk in the same moment that Hyrule's hit its flank.
The monster didn't slow. It didn't burn. Wild's smile faltered. He glanced backwards at the edge of the clearing and retreated. Legend almost felt relief through the terror. The trees would give Wild cover if he just ran.
"RUN, YOU IDIOT!" Legend flung his boomerang hard. It ricocheted off the Peahat. The blades stuttered in their movement, momentarily stunned. A trickle of sap ran down from Hyrule's buried arrow.
Black. Cold fear rushed through Legend. He followed Wild's lead, snatching his boomerang from the air and clanging it against his shield.
"HERE! OVER HERE!" He roared. The Peahat didn't slow, gaining on Wild second after second, aiming to carve through the most dangerous target. Wild retreated blindly, firing a round of ice arrows that barely crusted over the creature before its blades blasted through, peppering the air with shards of hail. Legend snarled, sprinting towards it, flinging his boomerang once again in the hopes of stunning it even for a moment.
He heard Hyrule shout. A rush of heat flared past him. A fireball erupted from the side of the monster, flaring light and hot smoke. Its blades stuttered, thrown off balance by the blast. Legend couldn't see Wild any more among the trees. He gave up on stunning, drawing his fire rod and hurling magic at the teetering creature. Another blast rocked it, and it swung wildly to the side, blades carving deeper and deeper into the earth until they caught hard. The top started spinning and smoking, burning away.
A final volley of arrows peppered into it from the trees. The creature flared with purple smoke, form crumpling and melting. The grass surrounding it smouldered as it slumped, blades thudding into the ground as the body holding them together burned away. In seconds, all that was left was a smouldering pile of ash, burning blades and a swirl of foul smoke. Wind swept through the clearing, scattering the evidence into nothing.
Legend and Hyrule didn't slow, sprinting towards the trees. Wild staggered out, one hand pressed against his cheek. The side of his face was coated in a waterfall of blood. Legend snatched at a potion instinctively, opening it and thrusting it into Wild's free hand the second he was in range. "Drink." He demanded. Wild nodded, taking a quick swig. He lifted his hand from his face. Legend watched the final pulse of blood bubble out before the wound knitted itself shut.
"Fleck of ice hit me." Wild smiled awkwardly. "My fault. Shouldn't have used ice arrows at close range."
Hyrule shoved at him hard. He tumbled backwards, catching himself on a bloodied hand. "What?" He yelped.
"You fucking idiot." Hyrule hissed. "I said stay out of battle, not use yourself as fucking bait! Are you trying to kill yourself?"
"It was going after that villager! I had to distract it!" He retorted. "It would have sliced her up!"
"It would have sliced you up if we weren't here!" Hyrule shouted him down. "Hylia, what the hell were you thinking?"
"I was thinking I was saving someone's life!" Wild shouted back. "I couldn't just stand there and do nothing! It was a small risk, and it was worth it!"
"Don't take any risks!" Hyrule's fists shook at his side. "Every time you do, you get hurt. Fucking look at yourself."
"This was a fluke! I can handle myself!" Wild snapped back. "There are always gonna be risks, Rulie! I'm not just going to sit back and do nothing! I thought out of everyone, you'd get that!"
"You thought wrong." Hyrule snapped. "Get this through your head. Don't take any fucking risks, or I will take that slate off you."
"You think I'm safer unarmed?" Wild threw his arms wide. "You think I'm vulnerable now, and you want to disarm me?"
"I'd disarm you in a second if I thought it would make you safer." Hyrule snapped.
"Alright, everyone cool it." Legend cut in. "Nobody's disarming anyone."
"Thank you." Wild folded his arms. Legend scowled at him.
"You're not off the hook, idiot. You should never have engaged. You're lucky as hell to only get hit once. You think you'd have survived if the Peahat sliced you? You practically bled out from a papercut." Legend snatched the potion back. It was nearly full.
"You're wounded!" A voice gasped. Legend turned to see the young woman, still plastered with sweat and dirt from her escape. Her hair was woven into dreadlocks and threaded with bone white beads with blooms of blue and black within. Her skin was cool copper, with hints of wrinkles placing her in her mid thirties. Twice Hyrule's age.
"I can help you." The woman ignored Legend and Hyrule, rushing to Wild's side. He caught her hand before she could touch his cheek.
"It's healed." He explained. "It was nothing."
"You've lost a lot of blood from nothing." She observed. Legend grimaced. Wild looked horrifying, bright blood painting his face and neck a rich red and soaking the shoulder of his tunic.
"I'm cursed." Wild explained. Legend groaned. So much for subtlety. Hyrule ran a hand through his hair, hissing in exasperation.
"Oh." The woman drew back. "Another one."
"I'm Hyrule." The traveller interrupted. "This is Legend. Wild's okay, he's all healed up. You wouldn't happen to be a witch?"
"I prefer medicine woman." She smiled crookedly. "I was gathering wild herbs when that Peahat popped up. They've never been so vicious before. I can usually take care of myself."
"Unusually strong monsters have been appearing all over the place." Hyrule explained. "We've dealt with them before."
"Well, I'm very grateful for the rescue." She smiled. "My name is Mae. I can't offer much in return, the army has cleared me out of potions, but you're welcome to browse my medicinal herbs. Or if you'll be in town for a while, I can offer you something from my next batch."
"Actually, there's something else you might be able to help us with." Legend glanced at Wild. "Do you happen to know anything about cursebreaking?"
Mae's smile slipped. "Cursebreaking is not something I am well versed in. All the most skilled sorcerers and scientists were recruited by the King years ago. There was a hospital in the Castle for the cursed. Now…" She shook her head. "I can see why you're looking for alternatives. I don't know how many of them survived the collapse."
"Collapse?" Hyrule prompted. Mae frowned.
"Surely you've heard Hyrule Castle was destroyed?"
"It was?" Hyrule gaped. Legend elbowed him.
"We've been off the grid." He explained. "Monster hunting."
"Right." Mae looked at Wild sympathetically. "I might not be able to help you, but I can at least get you cleaned up. I can get that blood out of your tunic, too."
"That's okay, we're pretty good at it." Hyrule smiled awkwardly.
Mae's hut was surrounded by what initially appeared to be thick clusters of wildflowers. Wild whipped out his slate, pausing to catalogue everything he didn't recognise. Mae smiled brightly at his enthusiasm, happily describing the medicinal properties of each bloom and leaf and root. When Wild asked for samples, she pushed bundles of dried and bound plants into his hands, insisting that she could make more.
Legend was half distracted by a bee when something warm and furry bumped against his ankles. He looked down, expecting a cat, and jerked back upon seeing the vibrant red of a fox. The creature let out a high, rasping yip.
"Whoa." Legend watched the fox carefully. "Uh, is this a pet?" Mae looked over and let out an exasperated sigh.
"Oh, Laurel! What did I tell you?" She scolded. The fox barked again. "Where is your sister?" She held a hand over her eyes, shielding them from the sun as she searched.
Another fox emerged from a bush with a yip. The first fox dashed over and circled her. "Olive!" Mae approached them both and knelt, holding her arms out. The pair of foxes leapt into her arms, paws on her shoulders. "You girls." She sighed. "We have guests."
A young man emerged from the hut, peering through a curtain of braids. "This is Nate." Mae smiled at the boys, hefting the foxes higher.
"Would you like help?" Wild offered.
"They're not too heavy." Mae strained. Wild approached her anyway, holding his hands out. Olive twisted and nipped at him. Wild drew back just in time. Legend clenched his fists. Do we have to wrap him in cotton wool?
"The girls are wary." Mae explained. Nate approached, holding out his hands. Laurel sprang off of Mae's shoulder, rocketing into Nate's arms. "Careful with your claws!" Mae yelped. Red lines were already puffing up on the skin of her shoulder. "Nate, could you brew some tea?"
Nate nodded to her, then bowed slightly to his guests.
"Hi." Wild waved. Nate nodded to him.
"He cannot speak." Mae clarified. "But he uses his hands to communicate. Do you sign?"
"All of us." Legend nodded.
"Good. He'll like that." Mae smiled. "Come inside, let's sit."
The medicine woman's cottage had the rich smell of herbs and tea. Hanging clusters of plants, jars of preserves, bottles of oil, powders and pastes lined the walls, held up by sturdy shelves and meticulously labelled. A heavy curtain was tucked to the side, revealing a trio of beds, one of which was covered in strands of fox fur.
"These are for patients." Mae explained. "Some women prefer to come here to birth their babies. Nate lives here now, so I tend to travel to town to offer my services." She pulled strips of smoked meat from where it hang in the kitchen and began to dice them. "It's the girls' lunchtime." She explained. "I don't like giving them this much salt, but I have no fresh meat at the moment."
"I can help with that! Do they like fish?" Wild asked, tapping at his slate. In a moment, a fat bass was held in his hands. Mae's eyes widened.
"How did you do that?" Her eyes were bright with wonder.
"Ancient technology." Wild displayed his slate to her.
"Fascinating." Mae tapped at the screen, engrossed. "Cleaner to carry than a bag of holding."
"It can do more!" Wild opened the compendium, holding it before her. The fish was forgotten completely as she swiped through the pages, gaping. The pair of foxes exchanged a glance before hopping onto the counter and ripping into the raw meat themselves.
"Are foxes a common pet here?" Hyrule watched them, brows raised. "They seem very at home."
"The girls are patients." She said absently. "Oh! Melaleuca alternifolia! This can be distilled into an oil for wounds. Where did you find this? I'd love to collect some cuttings."
"Patients?" Legend prompted. "They're sick?"
"Cursed." Mae waved a hand. She froze suddenly, eyes widening, and clapped a hand over her mouth. "I mean. They're- um. Pets. I was distracted, I'm sorry."
Nate huffed a quiet sigh. "Their family rejected them. Same as mine." He signed. His gaze was intense, daring Legend to do… something. He remembered how the farmer had recoiled. He made certain to relax, hands loose at his side. I'm safe.
"You're cursed too?" Wild realised. "Is that why you can't speak?"
Nate nodded. Mae sighed. "He was cursed years ago. Got too mouthy with his teacher. She didn't mean to curse him - they rarely ever do. It just happens sometimes. It's the magic of this world. Unfortunately, she died before he could make it up to her. I doubt his curse will ever be broken, now."
"What about the girls?" Hyrule asked, casting a sad eye over the foxes. They were sitting, listening closely. Laurel's wet eyes met Legend's.
"They played in a shrine that was best left alone. I think a monster cursed them." Mae sighed. "But clearing that shrine is beyond my abilities, and the villagers are too superstitious to approach it. You would think the lives of children would be worth the risk, but apparently even brave armed men are cowards in the face of the cursed."
"But you're not." Wild smiled at her.
"I know better than most how disease spreads. In different ways for different illnesses - through air or touch or water or blood. Curses are not infectious. They're spontaneous, locked to a person or thing. Under the right conditions, they can be broken."
"My curse comes from this. Can it be broken?" Wild showed her the pearl. Mae's eyes narrowed as she stared at it.
"You can't remove it?" She reached out towards it. Legend and Hyrule lurched forward automatically. "Don't worry, I won't touch it. I want to see if it has an aura."
She focused, fingers hovering at Wild's neck. He swallowed, trying not to lean away. Legend clenched his teeth.
"This is… well beyond me." Mae's voice was hollow. "This is no ordinary curse."
Wild's expression became stony. Legend's stomach twisted.
"What do we do?" Hyrule asked softly.
"Hyrule Castle had all the experts." Mae drew back from the pearl. "I don't know how many survived."
"Then we go there." Determination rose in Hyrule's tone. "We go there, and we finish this."
"Yes." Legend felt it too - the pull of purpose, a true destination. An achievable goal. Get to Hyrule Castle. Finish this.
"How far are we?" Wild enquired.
Mae reached into a drawer, fumbling until she withdrew a worn, folded paper. She unfurled it to reveal a rough map of the kingdom. Trails like spider legs spread out from a single point, annotated with a scrawling hand.
"I'm sorry about the quality. I used this when I was less familiar with my routes." She said sheepishly. "This is the way I used to take to Castle Town." Her finger traced over a long, winding route that swept to the east before resolving back west into a tiny symbol of a castle. "It takes about two weeks on the road."
"What about off it?" Wild's finger traced down through a forest.
"Unsafe to try. This is monster territory." She indicated. "If you could pass through quietly, you might be able to avoid danger. If not… it's certain death."
Legend examined the route. The one she'd traced did seem like the only main road in.
And the main road out.
"The army passed through here. We saw their camp." Legend said grimly. "Would they have taken the same road?"
"It's the only one." Mae nodded.
"They'll be sending reinforcements and supplies. We'd never make it past unseen." Legend said grimly.
"Isn't that okay? We're not enemies." Wild frowned.
"A group of armed men heading to Hyrule Castle? I wouldn't buy it. We're staying off the road." Legend declared.
"Any chance you can part with this map?" Hyrule asked Mae hopefully.
"It's the only one I have." She said apologetically.
"Wait, I got this." Wild pulled out his slate and snapped a photo of the map. "Easy." He smiled. Mae's eyes widened.
"You can do that with anything?" She reached for the slate. Wild handed it over, showing her how to card through the album. "What are all these places?"
"Um." Hyrule tugged on Wild's tunic.
Mae frowned, absorbing image after image. "This isn't Hyrule." She realised. "You aren't Hyrulean?"
"We are!" Wild insisted. Mae lifted up the slate, indicating photo after photo.
"I've never seen these flowers before. You have pictures of islands in here."
"We're travellers." Legend emphasised. Mae's eyes shot to his sword.
"Why did you come here?" She asked. "There's nothing remarkable about Midra."
"We don't have much control over where we travel." Hyrule admitted. "The methods are… divine. We're sent places for reasons. We don't know the reasons until we get there."
"Usually it's killing monsters." Wild nodded. "Unusually strong ones."
Mae looked between them, eyes sharp. "You're monster hunters, sent here for a divine reason." She stated. "I know what that reason is."
Legend watched Wild and Hyrule straighten, widen their stances. They were familiar with the call. Legend felt a tug at his sternum, even the hint of a purpose already sharpening his focus.
"The fox shrine." Mae pointed to a spot on the map. "It's not far from here. The monster that cursed the girls is still there. I know if it were defeated, they'd turn human again. Please, help them. Help me." She pleaded. The two foxes walked close, looking up at them with wet eyes. "I can pay you, I can get the rupees together. I just need to make some sales."
"We don't need rupees." Hyrule said gently.
"Potions would be helpful, if you can make them." Legend nodded. "Wild, what's our stock looking like?"
"I've been splitting elixirs. We've got almost as many as I can carry." Wild pulled out a sample. Mae's eyes shone.
"Give us a few. This could get messy." Legend opened his hand. Wild manifested a few red potions each, handing them over to Legend and Hyrule. "Stealth elixirs would be good, too."
"There's no point in splitting those up. We can just get them out of the slate as we need them." Wild swiped to check his stock.
"We won't have the slate." Legend gave him a hard look. Wild whipped his head up.
"What do you mean?" He frowned. "I'm not leaving it behind."
"No, you're not." Legend said firmly. "You're staying here."
"What? No way. I'm not staying behind. We fight together." Wild said angrily. "I'm not letting you walk in without backup."
"Yes, you are." Hyrule cut in. "We don't know what we're walking into. We can't afford to take risks with your life."
"So I'm just dead weight until the curse is broken, is that it?" Wild snapped.
"I'm not going to bullshit you to save your feelings." Legend snapped back. "If you want to be useful, then stay out of our way."
Wild jerked as if slapped. He choked out a disbelieving breath. "Fuck you."
"Kids." Hyrule interjected through gritted teeth. Wild rounded on him.
"Rulie, you can't-"
"I'm sorry." Hyrule interrupted him. "Legend's right."
Wild swallowed, breaths coming quickly. "I'm not useless." He said numbly.
"It's temporary. Just… stay here. We'll be back soon." Hyrule tried for a kind smile. Wild looked at Legend, his face raw with hurt. Legend felt a pang of regret.
"We'll be back." He mumbled, and fled.