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They were all used to being injured. It was pretty par for the course in their line of work. They were all more than capable of taking care of their own wounds, and tending to others.
Hyrule and Warriors were the group’s acknowledged medics, though. Hyrule had innate healing magic that helped when the heroes were out of potions and fairies, and Warriors was used to tending to other people’s wounds, thanks to his experience fighting in the army.
So in normal circumstances, an injury, even a semi-serious one, would not be stressed over. The group wouldn’t be as tense as they were right now. Unless it was sever, they had the expertise to deal with it.
Unfortunately, magical injuries were not normal among the group. They had all run across curses and the like at some point, or at the very least heard of them. That didn’t mean they were good at treating them.
Even Hyrule was wary about using his magic to try and fix Wild. He was worried he might make it worse. Hyrule was a skilled healer, but he was much less familiar with removing curses. And he didn’t want to try approaching Wild again. No one could blame him after what had happened to Warriors.
A single infected wizzrobe with good aim was all it took to bring down the Wild Hero.
When he was hit by the beam of dark magic, and didn’t get back up again, the others fought that much harder, so someone could make it safely to the downed hero. If not to tend to his injuries, than to protect him from being further injured or even killed while he was vulnerable.
Thankfully, it was laughably easy. Once Wild gad fallen, the rest of the monsters ran, as if that was the whole reason they were here.
Warriors approached Wild, who was crouching, head in his hands. Warriors could hear his heavy breathing even before kneeling next to him. When he knelt down, Wild gave no indication that he knew Warriors was there. He remained hunched over.
This was Warriors’ first sign that something was wrong. “Wild?” He questioned cautiously. His only answer was a low groan that morphed into a strange, animalistic keening noise.
Warriors’ brows creased in concern. Visions of a sliced open abdomen spilling guts across the forest floor, eyes gouged out, and other horrible things that could cause a man to make a noise like that flashed in his mind.
He placed his hands on Wild’s shoulder, trying to turn the Champion towards him so the Captain could see the damage. At the touch, the keening noise coming from Wild's throat turned rough and angry, more of a growl than anything else.
That was Warriors’ only warning before everything went to shit. His eyes widened when he heard the sound Wild was making, which was more like a cornered animal than an injured man. Something was wrong. Warriors was already withdrawing from Wild’s personal space before the other hero started moving. He didn’t manage to draw his hand back fast enough, though.
The sound of teeth clacking together, a snap of bone, and a pained yell from Warriors drew the attention of all those on the battlefield.
Blood seeped through Wild’s teeth, which were securely clenched around Warriors pinky finger and part of his ring finger. His teeth were nearly touching.
Warriors stood in shock for a moment, he could only clutch at his own wrist, unable to bring himself to move.
Not while staring into those eyes.
They weren’t his friend’s eyes, his brother’s eyes. They were the eyes of a feral animal. An angry feral animal.
The pair remained in a staring contest for a moment, maybe two, before Four was there, and then Hyrule. Both of them were hesitant to do anything, not quite comprehending yet what the hell was going on. Warriors didn’t even understand what was going on. It was taking a good deal of effort on his part not to try and pull away from Wild. All of his instincts were shouting at him to pry Wild’s jaw off his fingers.
But he didn’t. He had a sinking feeling that the only reason Wild was still here with them was that he had his teeth sunk into Warriors’ fingers and was reluctant to let go.
Wild doesn't react much to Four and Hyrule’s presence or the approach of most of the other heroes, much like he hadn't reacted to Warriors’ own approach. The Captain didn’t get time to utter a warning before Four was reaching out, a concerned but mostly confused look on his face.
“Wild? What are you doing-?”
The second Four’s hand connected with Wild’s shoulder, the Champion let out a harsh scream, biting down harder on Warriors’ fingers. Warriors give a return yell in pain. He swore that he could feel his bones cracking under the Champion’s powerful jaws. Guess eating all those non-edible things had its perks after all. The kids' jaws are strong as hell.
At Warriors' cry, Twilight started forward. He looked confused, but anger also clouded his expression. Instead of Wild’s shoulders, the Rancher went straight for his jaws. Despite the kid’s irrational jaw strength, he was no match for Twilight's muscles.
Warriors clutched his hand to his chest, feeling relief more than anything. At least all his fingers were still attached. “Wait! Something's wrong with him! That spell did something, messed with his mind.”
Hyrule approached him, taking his hand to inspect the damage. His entire hand was blood-soaked, and more blood was still oozing from the wound.
He could hear Legend scoff from behind him. “Yeah, obviously something’s wrong with him, but that doesn't give him an excuse to almost amputate your fingers with his teeth.” Warriors ignored the veteran’s stress-induced snark, keeping a strict eye on Wild. Everyone else was distracted, looking at the damage wrought on his fingers, but the captain knew better.
He was the only one who saw the warming signs. He saw Twilight’s arms loosening around Wild’s body, saw Wild stop his wiggling for just a moment, saw Wild’s eyes focus on the treeline.
Warriors barely got out a shout of warning before Wild was out of Twilight’s arms and darting across the clearing.
He’s sure Twilight acted on instinct, lunging after his protégée simply because he was running away. Warriors was thankful he did. He had seen something in Wild’s eyes, something unfamiliar, something he didn’t like. With the way he was acting, they may have never found Wild again.
The group of heroes had been traveling towards Lon Lon Ranch before they were ambushed. They had been moving at a quick pace. They were all eager to see Mrs. Malon again, and get a good night’s rest in a safe environment.
After the battle, though, they moved at double the speed. They don't know quite what was going on yet, but they weren’t going to be able to figure it out in the middle of the woods with a feral teen trying to escape them at every turn.
When they arrived at the Ranch, they were quick to lock Wild in a room by himself. It wasn’t ideal, but they didn’t have very many options. They didn’t want to lose the Champion, but they couldn’t really keep watch over him themselves.
Several more bite marks littered over the whole group, (thankfully, none as serious as Warriors’) proved that.
So locking him in a room was the best option. Time and Malon had been quick to empty out of their storerooms. It was small, had no windows, and after it had been emptied, had nothing in it Wild could use to hurt anyone else with. Or hurt himself.
Time, Hyrule, and Sky had gone to Castle town, intent on seeking an audience with the Queen. Hyrule had been quick to admit that he was out of his depth. He didn’t know enough about curses to identify, let alone cure, the specific one that had been cast on the wild hero to make him act so… feral.
They needed to consult someone who knew more about curses and about magic. (Also, someone who had access to an extensive library for researching said topics.)
Four, Wind, and Legend all stayed behind to help with chores. Thanks to his still healing fingers, Warriors’ was restricted to helping Malon cook dinner.
No one mentioned the hole that would normally be filled with Wild’s laughter.
No one mentioned the screams coming from the storeroom, like a wounded animal.
No one mentioned that Twilight was shirking the chores he usually did, and had slipped out of the room towards the locked storeroom.
Much later that night, the three who went to Castle Town hadn’t returned, but no one had really expected them to. It would probably take a day or so to sort this whole thing out.
Twilight was also nowhere to be seen. Not that anyone had bothered to go look for him. They all knew exactly where he was.
Twilight sighed, resting his head back against the door. There was a hiss from the other side, low and fearful.
He knew that the others had only heard, or had only bothered to pay attention to, the screams and the threatening, angry noises. But Twilight knew a fearful animal when he saw one.
“It's okay, cub,” he whispered, much too quietly to even be heard through the door.