Chapter Text
Time let out a sigh of relief when the stable came into view from around a bend in the road. Thankfully, the Chain had no more issues traveling after Wild’s emotional moment on the way down the slopes, and the weather stayed clear as they chased the setting sun to their destination. If anything, they were ahead of schedule, which was a welcome change from the rush they always seemed to be in.
“How do you all usually do this?“ Wild signed to Twilight as they approached the stable.
“Hey Time, you wanna book this’n for us like normal? Or’d you want Wild to do it, since we’re in his time?” the rancher called ahead.
“Wild, do you want to get beds for us?” Time turned to the champion. “If not, I don’t mind doing it. We’ll all chip in to pay for it either way, of course.”
The cook waved him down. “I’ll take care of it,” Wild signed.”Stablemaster,” the champion started off, then second-guessed if the others would know that sign, being one she had to newly learn after the Calamity. “Owner is a friend.”
Time nodded. “Tell us when you’re done.” He herded the rest of the Chain into some semblance of order in a patch of grass just across the road from the stable’s entrance.
The champion slipped inside the stable and walked up to the counter. “Lawdon,” she rasped.
“Hey, stranger!” The stablemaster greeted her cheerfully. “Welcome back! How were your travels? Will you be staying with us?”
“I need a few things,” she spoke quietly, and produced a fistful of rupees from the Sheikah slate. “A place to stay the night for me and eight others,” she started, counting out the standard fee for that.
“Eight?” Lawdon blinked. “You’re alright with such a large group? Who all did you bring?”
“It’s a long story,” Linkle evaded. She pushed the pile of rupees to the stablemaster. “Can I ask you for a favor, too?”
“Hold on, I’m not sure if we have nine open beds right now.” The stablemaster counted out guest tokens from his ledger. “We’ll be at least one short; I’m expecting at least one or two more travelers to come in later today too. Do any of you want to pair up? For you, the doubles can be free. Or, I think I still have that old hammock somewhere, if you want to head up in the rafters again?”
Linkle smiled at the weathered stablemaster, grateful for all the times he put up with her quirks. “Hammock works. And I think a few can double up too.” She patted the full pile of rupees, not taking any discounts he offered. “About that favor. To the others in my group, I’m a man named ‘Wild’. Can you get everyone here to play along?”
“Is this a bananas situation?” He asked quietly, stealing a glance over his shoulder with brows knitting in concern.
The champion giggled, a sound short and sharp like falling glass. “Nothing so serious. They’re good, Zelda just got me playing a little joke on them.”
Lawdon shook his head fondly. “Alright then, Mister Wild, I’ll spread the word.” He took six beds’ worth of rupees from her pile and pushed the rest back to her. “Keep your money. You know you’re welcome here anytime.”
Linkle playfully scowled, but stowed the change anyway. “I’ll go gather the others. Thanks, Lawdon.” She gave him one last warm smile, and then straightened her cloak and went back outside.
“Got beds for all of us. Though some of you might need to double up,” Wild informed the Chain. “I’m going to start working on dinner, who wants to help?”
“So soon?” Sky asked. “It’s only been a few hours since we had lunch. And it won’t be dark for a while.”
“Sometimes you need to start preparing ahead of time. You all do know that you can’t always just start cooking right before you want to eat, right?”
None of the Chain answered, a few shifting guiltily in the uncomfortable silence.
The cook sighed. “We’re only doing a couple parts right now. It will need to marinate until tonight. Any volunteers?”
Wind, surprisingly, still had plenty of pep in his step despite the day’s travels. “I can!”
“Good,” the champion nodded. “You and Sky can help me.”
Wild produced a cutting board, several large cuts of meat, and a butcher’s knife from the Sheikah slate and took the two other heroes to help with dinner prep. They all washed their hands, and then Wild began the lesson. “The first thing we need to do is cut the meat into smaller pieces,” the champion explained. “If we left it all as one big piece, the marinade wouldn’t be able to soak all the way into the middle, and it would take longer to cook.”
Wind picked up the knife and started cutting the meat. “I got this part, Wild! Slicing and dicing is my middle name!”
“Woah! Slow down, kiddo.” Wild gently stopped the youngest hero for a moment. “Make sure to curl your fingers like this, so you can’t cut your fingertips by accident,” the cook corrected Wind’s grip on the meat. “And try to cut across the grain of the meat, in this direction. That will make it tender and easier to chew when it’s cooked.”
“Aye, aye, chef!” Wind accepted the instructions cheerfully and got back to work on the meat. “Is this food going to be magic like lunch was? That speed-up shit was awesome!”
Wild chuckled; the sailor’s good mood was infectious. “Maybe a little, but I’m not focusing on it for now. I’ll see what I can do for breakfast tomorrow.”
“How can I help?” Sky asked.
Wild produced another cutting board and a stack of slender root vegetables from the Sheikah slate. “Slice these yams into rounds about two fingers thick,” the cook instructed. “We’ll soak them in a brine while the meat marinates, that will make them softer and easier to handle without cracking later.”
Sky pulled an impressively sharp knife from his pack and got to work on the tubers, slicing them smoothly with slow but steady hands.
“You’re good with a knife,” Wild observed. “Do you cook much?”
Sky shook his head with a shy smile. “I just like to woodcarve, and cutting vegetables isn’t very different. I only know how to cook one or two things. How did you learn so much?”
The champion thought for a moment. “Trial and error, and talking to people who are good at it?” Wild rasped. “I might not have the fanciest tastes when I’m only cooking for myself, but I like to see people enjoy what I make.”
“A hero of the people and a chef for them too, huh?” Sky teased.
Wild gave a melancholy sigh and took several different ingredients from the slate’s inventory, idly beginning to mince garlic while avoiding Sky’s gaze. «I’m not a hero,» she muttered. “I just want to keep the people I care about happy and safe.”
Sky’s ear twitched at the self-deprecating tone, even if he didn’t quite catch the first part. “You’re a good guy, Wild. I’m glad you joined us.”
The champion hummed noncommittally and scraped the minced garlic into a bowl, adding a variety of crushed herbs and spices and vigorously mixing it all together with oil and vinegar.
“Is this good?” Wind held up his board, showing off the pile of chopped meat.
“Perfect,” Wild answered, and produced a few large empty bottles from the Sheikah slate. “Put all the pieces in these. I’ll pour the marinade over the top, and then they just have to soak until it’s time to cook.” The cook set the remaining empty bottles next to Sky. “Put the yams in here, I’ll add the brine later.”
Once all that was done, Wild had the two heroes help clean up, and they headed back to the rest of the Chain. “All done?” Time asked.
Wild held up an armful of filled bottles. “Just need somewhere to put these for a few hours.”
“That’s a lot of bottles,” the one-eyed swordsman raised an eyebrow at the sight.
“Eh, these are just cheap bulk ones, I have a ton of them. They’re kind of fragile though, can I set them down with your guys’ stuff over there?”
“Of course,” Warriors answered, returning from a conversation with Four. “You are a member of our group, you are always welcome to join us in any fashion.”
Wild arranged the bottles next to the Chain’s haphazard pile of packs and other gear, and then stepped away from the Chain to breathe for a moment.
“Hey Wild,” Twilight approached. “Wars and I were fixin’ to do some sparring, wanna join us?”
The champion was still feeling antsy, unused to spending so much time in continuous close contact with new people as she had the whole day so far. “Maybe later,” Wild signed to the rancher.”I’m going for a walk. Need some alone time.”
“A’right,” the Ordonian answered. “Don’t wander too far, the ol’ man gets anxious if any of us head on too much afield without takin’ a buddy with.”
“In my own Hyrule?“ Wild signed back sharply, mildly exasperated.
“It’s jus’ how he cares. Don’t worry ’bout it, if’n you can keep yourself outta trouble ’til suppertime then’m sure the rest of us can keep’m busy ’til then.”
Wild waved off the rancher and set out on a path along the river, aiming for the shade of some trees a bit farther south. Once she was properly into the woods, and the hustle and bustle of the stable faded into the distance, Linkle tugged her hood down and let out a sigh of contentment. The Chain was surprisingly easy to get along with—they didn’t put her on some pedestal, they didn’t have any expectations of Linkle, or even very many of Wild, they just accepted whatever she did in stride. In a way, some of them were already starting to feel a little more like Zelda, or even what little she could remember of her brother, than they did the average Hyrulean traveler.
Normally people who came asking for the Hylian Champion wanted some storybook gentleman or a perfect hero, and while she could play those roles when needed, they were exhausting and often painful reminders of the parts of the past she wished she hadn’t remembered. But all these Link boys, they just treated her like she was one of them. Not as The Champion, or a princess, or a bittersweet reminder of some halcyon past, but just another part of the group. Now that she had a few moments to unwind and be Linkle instead of Wild, she could honestly appreciate them for that. I guess going on an adventure with all of them won’t be too bad after all.
After a good few minutes of peace and quiet, Linkle heard a telltale rhythm of splashes coming up the river. As her isolated perch was in full view of the water, she offered a friendly wave to the approaching Zora. When they leapt up to return the gesture with an arm clad in unmistakable red scales, the traveling Zora gave a double take upon recognizing Linkle and face-planted back into the river. A quick flick of the fins later, and they jumped from the water and landed ashore beside the champion with a flip and slightly more grace.
«Hello Mo-, Ma-, um, Linkle.» The Zora stammered out awkwardly. «Are you headed back to the Domain too?» She patted her large waterproof pack as river water continued to drip from it. «I’ll be there for a few days, myself, if you want to maybe spend some time together, if you want?»
«Sorry, Mira,» Linkle answered. «I’m dealing with some things right now.»
«Oh, alright mom,» Mira replied glumly, then slapped a hand over her mouth, eyes wide. «Sorry, should I not call you that? Unless you recovered any more memories about me? Or the others? I’m sure they’d like to see you more too. We could sit and talk here for a while, maybe? Are you staying at the stable tonight?» She realized she was starting to babble. «Oh no, I’m not bothering you now, am I?»
«You’re never a bother,» Linkle replied with a nervous smile. She twisted the hem of her cloak in one hand and looked out over the river for a moment. «I’m staying at the stable. Haven’t been back to the Domain since a few days after I last saw you there. Hunting monsters for Zel.»
«That’s… good,» Mira responded. «You haven’t gotten too hurt?»
«Not much.»
The two stood quietly at the riverside for a few moments, neither sure how to break the silence.
«I’m traveling with a big group,» Linkle eventually said, gesturing towards the stable upstream. «Joined their quest.»
«Another quest? Haven’t you done enough already?»
«It’s actually been kind of fun so far,» Linkle admitted. There was another awkward pause before she tried another way to connect with her daughter. «Zel got me playing a little joke on them. Want to help?»
Mira broke into a gleaming, shark-like grin. «Yeah! Sounds fun!»
«Ever heard about “Sir Link” before? This group of men came looking for “him”, so Zelda sent them to me.»
«Muzu always hated those stories,» Mira snickered. «But Bazz and Grandpa thought they were hilarious. Why were they looking for “him”, though?»
Linkle haltingly explained the quest and how the others were heroes from history. «They’re all men named Link, so I guess they expected me to be the same. They gave me the nickname “Wild”, and none of them have noticed anything even though we’ve spent all of the last day and a half together already.»
Mira’s eyes glinted with excitement and mischief. «I’d love to help. What should I do?»
«Join us for dinner?» Linkle offered. «I’m making skewers, there will be plenty to share. I can make some with Voltfin Trout, too; Lianai told me those are your favorite.»
The Zora grinned with delight, nodding. «And I can talk up “Sir Link” while we eat together?»
«Sure,» her mother replied. «You can try to sell to them, too. More supplies for our quest can’t hurt.»
«This will be fun!» Mira said. «I haven’t played a good joke like this since I was a teenager. How should I tell your men that I know you? Is “Sir Link” supposed to be my dad?»
Linkle grimaced at the suggestion. «I know I’m not the best mother,» she started, «so I can’t, won’t replace your father either.» She paused for a moment, vulnerable. «What about a friend?»
The traveling merchant was still a little tense, but enthusiastic to have found a new way to connect with her mother in this. «Technically that’s not even a lie, mom,» she said with a soft smile.
«Perfect,» Linkle replied, and impulsively pulled her into a brief embrace. “I love you,” she whispered into her shoulder, almost more a silent mantra to herself than a message to Mira.
«Let’s go,» the champion pulled away and started the walk back to the stable, happy to be arm in arm with her daughter.