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Everything had started out normal, Legend was on third watch this morning, keeping an eye out for any monsters when Wild got up as the sun barely peaked over the horizon and started making breakfast, shortly followed by Twilight and Time, both used to getting up early to take care of their respective farms. Warriors wasn’t too far behind them, used to early hours in the barracks from his time as a soldier.
The sunlight just barely trickled past the miles of trees around them, but it, mixed with Wild's cooking, was just enough to get Four, Wind, and Hyrule to stir, Sky still sleeping like a rock. Four sat up from his bedroll, stretching his back as some of his joints popped, Time sighed with a look mixed with disappointment and resignation as Wind giggled and mimicked him.
It was only once Wild was practically finished with breakfast that Sky was drawn from his bedroll, yawning and stretching before he clambered over to where the rest of the chain were sitting as they all one by one got breakfast and ate. There was some small idle chatter, nothing important as most of them were focused on finishing their food...
Yeah, this was a normal morning for them, having traveled with one another for nearly seven years straight. Going from era to era of Hyrule through magic portals, this had become their daily lives. It was odd, hell, most of them have come closer to death on this journey alone than they had in their entire lives. In some weird, twisted way, it's what had brought them closer together, what helped them share their trauma, their deepest secrets with one another, what turned them from a group of Heroes on a mission, to a tightly knit family that couldn't imagine a day without each other.
Once the chain had finished their morning meal, Wind and Rule got the dishes washed m while Wild quickly packed up whatever was left from what he cooked. It didn't take long, clear years of practice were evident in his skill. Once that was done Wild joined his brothers and packed up his bedroll, getting started on Wind and Hyrule's Bedrolls until they got back to camp, finishing up where Wild left off.
Overall it didn't take long for the chain to pack up their campsite and get going. They traveled for hours, taking out any monsters they came across... They were encountering more and more monsters as of late, they all knew why, none wanted to say anything... They traveled on...
Time swung his sword, Wind slammed down his hammer, Four had split into the colors and taken on their own monster, another monster down, it seemed like a dozen more took its place. This was it, they were facing the beast that had gotten them started on this journey in the first place. The heroes swung with all their strength, arrows after arrow was shot from Wilds bow.
Wild quickly switched to his sword and went in for close combat when he noticed Rulie getting overwhelmed by monsters. He felt the skin on his leg slice open followed by a slight burning, he chose to ignore it for now. Helping his brother was more important, his leg could wait till the battle was over and his brothers were safe.
Time jumped back as a moblin slashed at him, he felt something against his back, a fur pelt over fabric covered chain armor. He was back to back with Twilight, he dashed to the side, grabbing and dragging his pup with him as a bomb barrel landed where they had been standing only moments before. He glanced over to Twilight, he gave a nod in confirmation, Time nodded back before dashing back into the fight.
Green and purple were taking on some wizzrobes as Blue and Red took on some redeads. They moved quickly, no hesitation in their movements as they took out the various monsters that surrounded them.
Legend whipped out his fire rod, using it on some ice Lizalfos, they didn't last long against the heat. Legend felt a sharp pressure on his shoulder, he growled whipping around just in time to dodge another arrow aiming for him. An electric Lizalfos, Legend let out a growled sigh and quickly switched to his sword as he chased the oversized reptile.
Wind used his boomerang to disorient the shadow beast, Wild used the distraction to shoot multiple bomb arrows, damaging the beast significantly before switching to fight a Lynal with Twilight. Wind felt the ground shake beneath him, he barely turned his head before he saw the Hinox walking towards him. Great, just great, he pulled out his bow and aimed for the eye right? That's what Wild said, he released his arrow, it hit it's target and the Hinox grasped it's eye and fell to the ground, this was going to be a long fight.
Warrior dashed towards Hyrule, shielding him as a bomb crashed into it and caused the ground to shake and their eyes to squint at the bright light as their ears rang from the sound. Warrior's body has landed on top of Rulie's, but his shield took the brunt of it, he turned his head towards the smaller hero, the traveler gave a nod and they both dashed back into the fight.
Sky slashed at the black colored beast, its red eyes glaring back at him as a new slice now existed on its body. Sky pulled his shield up and behind it, multiple explosive arrows hit the shadow beast from both sides, and some ice arrows hit it from the back, freezing the beast in place. Sky launched forward, slashing away at the monster the moment the explosions let up. Wild and Rulie jumped in as soon as they weren't busy fighting other monsters. The fighting continued
"HYYAAH" the Master Sword was shoved deep into the Shadow beasts body. They had done it. They won, "We- We did it" Warriors breathed out, his chest heaving as the soldier gasped for air, Four chuckled, "Yeah, we did didn't we?" "And without dying too" shouted a certain sailor, "Oh you really had to make that joke, really!?" Wild laughed.
Sky smiled, they'd won, they really won! "Alright everyone, let's go get cleaned up so we can set up camp" Time Hollered as they exited the ruins of the dungeon, the sound of rushing water not far from their location. The group laughed and joked as they walked towards the river.
Wind snuck up behind Wild, only his nose and eyes above the water as his feet barely touched the riverbed below. He got closer, and closer, and closer, and closer, until he... "GYAAHH" "hahAHAHAHAHA" Wind laughed as Wild spun around, a playful yet vengeful sparkle in his eyes as he grinned and lunged for Wind, the two chased each other around the river. Eventually dragging Legend and Twilight in, who then dragged Hyrule and Wars in, who dragged Four and Sky in, and somewhere in between Time joined in as well. All of them chasing and splashing each other in the river, laughter being the only thing that could be heard.
Chatter within the chain had died down, they had been traveling for nearly an hour and finally, finally they found a space large enough for them to set up camp...
Hyrule sensed something, magic filled the area and activated, "LOOK OUT" Legend grabbed Hyrule and Wild, dragging them away from the strange magic, Time grabbed Twilight and Four as Warriors grabbed Wind.
Nine portals opened around them, their eyes widened... This couldn't- this wasn't- There was no way- it couldn't- She couldn't-
"This has to be a joke right!?" Warriors voice is wobbly as his hands shake, "There's no way this is happening! Right?!" Legends vision blurs as his voice shakes and his grip on Hyrule and Wild tighten. "So this is the end then... Isn't it?" Twilight muttered, silently glaring at the inky black portals.
Warrior's felt a pair of arms wrap around his waist, he looked down as Wind forced him into a hug, "We're never going to see each other again... Are we?" The sailor muttered, clinging to the captain's tunic. “I mean, we’ll see each other again eventually, when we… After we-” “DON’T- don’t say it… Just don’t” Legends voice was more wobbly than he’d like, tears threatening to fall down his face.
Legend felt two pairs of arms wrap around him, Wild and Hyrule had begun hugging him, and it wasn’t long before Twilight joined the hug, wrapping his arms around the trio as much as possible, with Time following after quickly. Sky and Wind walked over next, followed by Warriors and Four, all the heroes clinging to one another tightly, afraid that if they let go, the rest would disappear, which probably wouldn’t be too far from the truth, given their knowledge on how the portals worked.
The silence that was almost deafening, was broken by Wind, “Wa-wait, maybe there is a way for us to stay connected, at least spiritually!” he rummaged through his own pack, pulling out the Picto box, “It might take a minute to get all nine, but if these portals really are supposed to take us home, then I doubt they’ll disappear that quickly.” The group pulled away slightly, “That sounds- that's a great idea, thank you sailor.” was Times' response, the others agreeing with him.
Wind ran over to another spot in the clearing, setting the Picto box up not too far in front of them, pressing a few buttons before running back to the rest of the group,and getting into position. It did take around two to three minutes to get all nine photos taken and printed, breaking formation and sitting on the ground once all the photos had been taken, but it was worth it, because by the end of it, each of the hero’s had one group photo to take home with them.
The group started to put the photos in their bags when a question came up, “Wait, don’t you still have some of our stuff Wild?” was asked by Four, Wild nodded, “ Yea, give me a sec ” Wild turned back to his Purah pad and pulled out a blanket, laying it on the ground before pulling more stuff out. Starting with letters, to various items the other eight heroes had asked him to hold onto, with the other heroes quickly coming to help organize and collect their respective items, letters and… gifts?
“Is- is this for me?” was asked by the Hero of Winds, as he held a small, somehow messily and neatly wrapped gift, Wild nodded, signing, “ Yea, your birthday is coming up soon, not to mention solstice… ” Wild looked down at the ground, “Oh… Thank you” Wind hugged the older hero, Wild hugged back tightly, and if he had accidentally held it for a little too long, well, Wind certainly wasn’t saying anything.
Slowly, each of the other heroes also passed their own gifts around that they had collected for each other, with each hero having a decent pile by the end of it that they packed away. All of them, laughing, making jokes, and enjoying each other's company, as they usually did… As they wouldn’t ever be able to again… at least- not for a very, very long time.
Sadly, the joyful mood was broken when they were reminded about the dark portals surrounding them, the same sad, downcasted glare was shared by chain, all of them packed and ready to go home, physically at least. Each hero facing a portal, when Wild dashed and wrapped his arms around Twilight, soft sobs breaking through the champion's throat, Twilight didn’t hesitate when it came to returning the hug for more than a second.
“I’ll miss you too cub…” was Twilight’s only response as he hung his protege, Time walked over to them and joined after a few seconds of hesitation, “I’m glad I got to meet you guys, all of you” Time spoke softly. The family- even if separated by a millennia of generations, had become the arguably most tightly nit of the chain. Eventually they broke apart, Wild wiping his eyes before signing thank you, Warriors came over and gave a tight hug to both Wind and Time, “Good luck out there you two, and try to stay safe.” Warriors tried to joke, “Geez, you’re sounding like the old man-” “Hey!” was followed by laughter.
Eventually they all broke apart and faced their portals, wishing one last goodbye before entering the darkness that would lead them to their respective time periods.
Wild entered the portal to his world, the sounds of birds chirping as the sun was setting across the sky, the wind blowing harshly against his skin. They had just separated and he already missed them, his face felt wet and his vision blurred. With a shaky hand, Wild wiped away the tears, he needed to figure out where he was in his Hyrule, not to mention he should probably find Flora and tell her that he was back, for good this time… With downcast eyes and trembling hands he walked to the edge and looked down. He was on one of the Sky Islands, he already knew that, but from the looks of it he was on one near Hateno Village, that was good, he didn’t need to waste time nor resources to get here then. Pulling on his flight suit, Wild ran and jumped off the island and glided till he was near Flora’s house where he pulled out his paraglider to make sure he didn’t become a bloody smear on the ground.
Wild closed the paraglider, landing on the soft grass with a low thud, putting it back into the Purah pad. Walking up to Flora’s door, it reminded him of the first time he’d done this with the chain. A soft chuckle escaped his throat, he had been so excited to show them everything there was to see in his Hyrule, from Tarrytown to Rito Village, hell, even the Plateau had some things of interest to show them, and he’d been so nervous to try and explain everything to Flora- er- Zelda , he needed to get used to calling her Zelda, since there was no reason to call her Flora now… Wild rubbed his eyes again, flinching as the rough chainmail under his shirt rubbed against his scars.
Wild stared at the door for a moment, hand raised in preparation to knock, a part of him didn’t want to do this, to tell Flor-Zelda that he was back… for good… It would mean saying- or signing at least that it was over, that he really wouldn’t see the others again. He sighed and knocked, a solid three times, just like how Twilight did, firmly without wavering. Twilight, for being mute, was the loudest of them all, not to mention for how stoic he seemed, he could be pretty mischievous, Wild’s seen him attempting to hold in laughs while he scolded him and Wind on multiple occasions- had seen him at least, not like he would ever again, seeing as he would never see any of them again…
Zelda opened the door, Purah just behind her, “Oh- Hello Link, surprised to see you here! Do you need something?” I stared at her, my mind was reeling, with a shaky hand I began to sign, “ You’re not wondering why the others aren’t here? ” She stared at me for a second, “No? What others would you be talking about?” I blinked, my back stiffened, “ The Chain? You know, Time, Twilight, Wind… Sky? ” Zelda and Purah looked at me as if I’d gone cross eyed, “Who in the name of Hylia are you talking about?!” “And what kind of name is Time or Sky?” The girls giggled, my shoulders sagged, I wanted to run, but it felt like my legs had become rooted into the ground, “ The Hero’s of the past… you know, the ones I’ve spent nearly seven years around? ” Zelda cocked her head to the side, then she laughed, “Right! Nice-nice joke Link! If you actually need us, we'll be at the tech lab.” They walked off in the direction as I stared at the door in front of me, I blinked, a warm wetness started rolling down my face as I turned my attention to the ground.
Joke?... A-a joke!? I could feel my arms begin to shake as it felt like my throat started closing up. Did she forget? How could she forget about them though, she was so excited when meeting them, and-and the amount of questions she had! We had to practically drag her away from Sky and Time- how could she forget them!? I brought a hand up to my face, wiping away tears pointlessly as more quickly took their place.
I could feel my legs move, my only indication that I had started walking- somewhere… I wasn’t sure where, anywhere was better than there at the moment. It wasn’t long before I broke out into a dead sprint and paraglided down the cliff at the side of the house to try and avoid being seen by anyone traveling up the path to Hateno, stumbling on the ground as he landed, slowing form a run to a walk till he ended up on his knees.
He cried, tears fell from his eyes, and they continued falling as he curled up near the base of a tree. He cried, and cried until he felt bile rise in his throat and he keeled over and threw up the food that he had eaten that morning the last time he’d ever eat with his brothers , he scooched closer to the tree and curled into himself tighter than before. He kept crying, crying till he couldn’t anymore, crying till no tears could be shed and all that came out were small whimpers and hiccups.
Looking up, I could tell it was past midnight, the moon was half full and was already heading further westwards to set and allow for the day to begin anew. I should probably head home… Home had once been where the chain was or at least go somewhere that wasn’t so close to Hateno… I didn’t want to be around anyone right now though which closed off any major settlements. My first thought was the Gardens of Time in the Sky Island, then I remembered that since people have learned how to utilize the Zonai tech, researchers have been crawling over it, and probably still are. Which also closed off any of the mining factories in the depths, along with the Spirit temple and the dragon looking island.
Thinking about it, my Hyrule was healing faster than any may have previously thought, while there weren’t many settlements, many people traveled openly and it was becoming increasingly difficult to travel without running into someone. Which wouldn’t usually be a problem, if not for the fact that I don’t want to be around anyone right now. I looked down at my lap, fumbling around with the Purah pad without looking directly at it before finally grabbing the photo.
I looked down at the picture. feeling the weight of tears in my eyes as I gazed at it, looking over my brothers, we were all smiling, yet you could still tell we were sad, some seemed to have tears threatening to spill, me included. I curled further into myself, slightly wrinkling the photo, holding it close to my chest as my head lay in my lap, letting out quiet sobs that wouldn’t be heard by the world.
He would never see them again… They were gone, forever… just like that? It wasn’t fair, it wasn’t fair, it wasn’t fair, it wasn’t fair, it wasn’t fair, it wasN’T FAIR! Another harsh sob choked out of his throat. They were gone… just like his parents… just like his sister… just like… just like the champions… Gone, with no way to ever see them again…
Just like that….
There was no getting them back…
No comfort in knowing if they were happy…
Just gone….
It’s funny, isn’t it?
How history manages to repeat itself…
Would he forget about them too… ?
He hoped not…
Wild- Link blinked, slowly. His eyes were sore, it was bright- or brighter than what he was used to. He could feel the tear stains against his face, sniffling as he tried to breath… When had he fallen asleep? That didn’t matter…
He stood up, slowly, his joints popping due to being in the same position for so long. He looked down at the photo again, deciding it best to put it away before it got even more damaged... He was sure if he could handle losing the last piece of his brothers that he had...
I started walking… Where? I don’t know… Just anywhere that wasn’t here…