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Chapter Text

After all of the battles, hardships, and monsters he had faced before, Twilight had thought that there wasn’t much left to make him freeze up. He’d faced down blizzard monsters, giant parasites, living fossils, and even a Twilit Dragon. Given the circumstances he’d been under in the past, Twilight considered himself cool under pressure.

But this was no dragon. Somehow, this was worse.

Four’s Hyrule was beautiful. Hyrule town was bustling with activity. It reminded him of his own Hyrule Castle Town, but brighter and more cheerful. Of course, there was also no huge crisis or general tension of poverty or lack of protection hanging over everyone’s heads, so it was probably easier to be a bit carefree. The group had spent a good amount of time in that town, restocking their supplies and enjoying the lighthearted atmosphere while they still could. But eventually, inevitably, they had to resume their journey, searching for the reason why Hylia, or whoever else was directing them, sent them to this place.

There were minor skirmishes between them and the local monsters and menaces, but nothing of note. As Four led them through the land, occasionally stopping, weirdly to inspect a tree stump or cracked boulder; everyone couldn’t help but sense the general air of aimlessness. They had no idea where to go or who to talk to. All they could do was wander, taking out whatever rogue threats that they happened to run into. Twilight even found himself laying on his bedroll one night practically begging for something, anything at all, to happen.

A wish he would quickly come to regret.

It would happen soon after they began their travel the next day, seemingly like any of the other previous mornings. Everything would seem peaceful, almost tranquil. Warriors would be laughing at one of Wind’s many tall tales. Legend and Wild would be bickering between themselves over sword technique, with Hyrule trying his best to keep the peace. Time would be near the front with Four, talking about where they should head next, with Four giving him a rundown of the landscape. Sky and Twilight would be at the back of the group. No conversation, just enjoying each other’s silent company. Like any other day traveling through the woods.

So when a long, charcoal black arm shot out from the shadows of the bushes to wrap itself tightly around Sky’s head and neck, one could see how Twilight could have been a bit caught off guard. A cry of alarm did manage to leave both his and Sky’s lips, alerting their companions of the danger, but Twilight’s died almost as quickly as it had started when the rest of the creature emerged from the underbrush.

It couldn’t be.

He’d defeated them.

The mirror was shattered.

They couldn’t be here.

He’d sacrificed too much.

They couldn’t invade another land.

Never again.

And yet, there it stood. The muscular, smoke colored body of a Shadow Beast, looming over him once more, holding his friend aloft by the head, Sky’s legs peddling the air as it did so.

He could hear the faint, distant sounds of the other heroes’ battle cries and the scraping of metal on metal as they drew their various weapons in their charges. But it was all muted and far away. Twilight wasn’t there anymore. All he could truly hear was her unfinished sentence. The shattering of a mirror. And the suffocating silence that followed, choking him of his air. Cut off as it was the first trip into the twilight, himself held in the fist of a different Shadow Beast, struggling to breathe. Even as the beast inexplicably threw him aside, the oppressive haze of the twilight that filled his senses seemed to strangle him, the nausea hitting him like a punch in the gut. Distantly Twilight wondered about that blow, whether it had happened in the past or just now. The pain felt so recent… But the thought quickly faded to the back of the turmoil of his mind. Quickly overshadowed by a dying Twili on his back as he rushed through Castle Town, screams of terror emitting from the civilians that surrounded him. Zelda fading away before his very eyes. Colin, tied to a post on a Bullbos like a trophy, as Twilight and King Bulblin did battle on the Bridge of Eldin. Ilia struggling to remember anything about her past. Beth, Malo, and Talo huddled around Renado in fear of the monsters that could come after them.

All of the loss, fear, and sacrifices that were made in order to shatter that mirror. Twilight felt like he was falling. He felt his body go limp as that horrible thought crept its way into his mind.

Was it all for nothing?

SMACK!

A sharp stinging exploded on the side of Twilight's face as Legend drew back his hand again. Twilight quickly blocked the second incoming blow as he blinked away the memories. His other hand went to his gut, which actually was still incredibly sore, and it was about then that he realized he was sprawled out on the ground.

“Hey!” Legend shook his shoulder as he regained Twilight’s attention. “Snap out of it, farm boy! What are these things? No one else recognizes them, and you went fucking comatose for a good second when you saw them!” He grabbed Twilight’s arm and hauled him to his feet, none too gently. “What the hell do we do rancher? There were only a few at first, but then more dropped from the sky! They just won’t stay down!”

Glancing around, Twilight felt his stomach drop further. The greatest number of Shadow Beasts he had ever taken down at a time was five. And that had been a rough fight. As he still shook off the terrifying implications, which wouldn’t be giving him peace any time soon, Twilight counted six of these beasts now, slowly wearing down his companions in a desperate fight.  

Four and Wind were back-to-back, each blocking blows from a different creature with their shields. Wind had a deep gash on his upper right arm, and Four had blood running down his temple. Warriors was squaring off with a larger one, hacking away with reckless abandon, doing his best to ignore the large furrows cut into his chest by a massive claw. Hyrule was limping back from an advancing beast, flames scorching its mask as he slashed his sword at it. Sky stumbled back as one lashed out at him, but a giant blade flashed through the air in time to cleave a few of the darkened tendrils from the rest of the massive head of the Twilit monster. Time’s face was set with determination as he hefted his Biggoron sword up again, moving up next to Sky. Wild was on the outskirts of the fight, bow drawn, raining arrows on any of the beasts that tried to lumber toward him. Judging by the monster’s corpse riddled with shafts to his right, Wild must have been having at least a modicum of success. But for how long it would last, Twilight couldn’t be sure.

Drawing his own sword, Twilight charged forward to Hyrule’s defense, shouting as he went. “They have to be taken down together! If one is left standing, it’ll revive the others!” As Legend rushed to Warrior’s aid, Twilight brought his shield up to block an incoming blow. He felt his eyes briefly slide closed as he let his instincts and old habits take over. The creature brought its arms up to slam them down onto his head; but just before it made contact, Twilight let the tensed muscles in his legs release, throwing himself to its unprotected side. Muscle memory reminded him to tuck his head in before going into a roll, allowing him to spring up, slashing at its exposed back with an explosive spinning attack. The beast roared in fury, whirling around to face him, its previous opponent completely forgotten.

Black blood dripped slowly off of Twilight’s blade as he raised his shield yet again. The twilit monster lunged yet again, rather predictably. Twilight almost smirked as he bashed its giant mask with his shield, sending it reeling. His legs practically moved without him telling them to, bounding over the flailing creature into a flip, striking a brutal slash to its head and neck as he went. Landing on the other side, he looked back at the beast, wounded but still standing, but then looked up to see Hyrule readying his own attack. Twilight leapt to the side with a grin as a fiery inferno burst from Hyrule’s blade and consumed the creature, its death rattle being drowned out by the cacophonous sounds of the surrounding battle.

Glancing around, breathing hard, Twilight saw more corpses on the ground than before. Legend and Warriors were working in tandem, one striking the beast they were up against when the other had exposed a weak point, eventually causing the creature to stumble to the ground and expire with a weak hiss of fury. Sky cleaved a leg from one with a triumphant cry, allowing Time to wind up a massive swing of his sword. The head of the Shadow Beast hit the ground a few seconds before the rest of it did, falling like a puppet with its strings cut.

Twilight stood to help take the remaining ones out, but gasped as he saw Wind go for a blow on one of the remaining two. “Wait!” He shouted hoarsely across the clearing. But it was too late. The Phantom Blade stabbed deeply into the gut of the creature. Twilight could hear the screech of death as it fell, but his eyes were on the remaining one. Instinctually, his hands came up to cover his ears for the incoming wail, and Twilight braced, hoping it was enough to not have his hearing be completely shot for a while.

But nothing happened.

The beast lashed out at Four again, who shoved it back with its shield then leapt back to regroup. “It’s not doing anything, Twi.”  Four observed. “You sure that’s how they work?” Twilight blinked in confusion. “Yes, I’m sure Four. I’ve fought enough of them to know.”

Legend rolled his eyes as they all collectively kept their distance from this slowly advancing monster. “Well, something’s different. Why wouldn’t it revive them?”

“I don’t know!” Twilight hissed, “The only thing I can think of is-” He stopped as his blood ran cold. “…if that’s not the last one.”

The snap of a branch made Twilight whirl around just in time to see a remaining Shadow Beast step out from the foliage.

Right behind Wild.

Before he could even open his mouth to shout a warning, the creature had its hand gripped tightly onto Wild’s left shoulder. Like a rag doll, it yanked him into the air, completely caught off guard. Wild’s name had only just passed Twilight’s lips as the beast swiveled and slammed the boy back to the ground, putting its entire strength and weight onto his shoulder, which it still had tightly in its grip. Everyone in the clearing could hear the horrible crunching sound it made before Wild’s scream of agony echoed through the forest.

Blind fury made Twilight rush the Shadow Beast, which in retrospect, was a pretty apt name for it. At first, he didn’t even think to dodge the giant fist as it rushed toward him. And when he finally did realize, all he could do was twist himself for it only to hit him in the side. Seeing stars from the pain, Twilight slashed wildly with his sword at the outstretched arm, and felt a rush of surprised excitement when he felt his blade actually find purchase. It all quickly abandoned him, however, when the arm that the blade was now stuck in drew him closer to its gargantuan mask, cocking its head to one side. Its fist connected with him, square in the chest, ripping the sword from his grasp and sending him sprawling away from the fight.

Blearily, Twilight turned to see Four, Legend, and Wind squaring off against the other beast, trying to communicate their strikes with Time, Warriors, and Sky. Hyrule was on his knees next to Wild, seemingly trying to assess the damage mid fight. 

As Twilight struggled to his feet, looking around for his blade, a strange feeling beginning to form in his gut gave him pause. It wasn’t painful. More like a gentle pressure, pulling him in a direction, in this case to his right. He glanced around at the other Heroes, seeing them all hesitating as well, but was surprised to see the beasts doing the same, freezing for a moment as the strange sensation appeared to affect them. It was an increasingly familiar feeling to the Links, though they hadn’t felt it in a long while. And definitely never in the middle of the fight. 

Dread creeped into Twilight’s mind as he turned to see a familiar, large, onyx-colored archway with violet runic symbols lining the edges. A portal. The creatures turned to look at each other in that moment of uncertainty following the portal’s appearance. With a short, screeching cry, both of them darted forward at blinding speed. 

Twilight twisted around onto his hands and knees. His sword lay discarded on the ground a few yards away, covered in gore. Clambering to get to it while still recovering from the blows he had sustained, Twilight breathed a sigh of relief as his fingers closed around the handle. However, when he swiveled back around to face the creatures, a cry of panicked warning suddenly ripped itself from him.

A low creaking sound was echoing through the clearing as one of the Shadow Beasts had wrapped its claws around a nearby tree. Its muscles rippled as the tree was wrenched right out of the ground, roots snapping and spraying dirt everywhere. Pivoting back around to face the group of heroes advancing on it, it raised the large trunk over its head and hurled it with brutal ferocity. 

As the giant log hurtled through the air, almost in slow motion, Twilight felt the confusion beginning to grow in his mind. Shadow beasts weren’t intelligent creatures. They didn’t use tactics like this. They only ever attacked with their claws, not the environment around them. With questions rolling in his head, Twilight watched as both Four and Wind were both caught in the chest with the projectile. A few grunts of pain and a cloud of dust later, and the smallest two of his companions were pinned to the ground, unable to lift the giant trunk. 

But what turned Twilight’s attention away was a cry of pain from across the clearing. He felt his heart leap up to his throat as he saw Wild, his protégé, his friend , crying out in frustration and agony. His left arm was dragging uselessly on the ground as the remaining beast had him in its grip by the scruff of the neck, pulling him toward the portal.

“Hey!” Twilight yelled, scrambling back to his feet. “Get back here! Let him go! Wild!” 

The Shadow Beast paid him no mind, quickly skittering over to the doorway. Twilight staggered forward, cursing his legs for not moving fast enough, when a green blur dashed past him. The gleam of the Blade of Evil’s Bane blocked the path of the creature, with Sky standing his ground between it and the portal. The Master Sword seemed to sing through the air as Sky wielded it with practiced skill and grace, forcing the creature back. Wild could be heard cursing from the pain, scrambling to try to stay out of Sky’s way while only having one working arm and being caught in the choking grip of the creature. But the creature was on the defensive, being herded back to the clearing. However, as Twilight stumbled over to head it off in its retreat, a horrible *thunk* echoed through the clearing.

As Sky crumpled to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut, the other creature dropped a large rock, now stained with dull crimson. The Shadow Beasts turned to one another, almost as if to give a nod of acknowledgement, after which the second one scooped up Sky by the ankle and began dragging the unconscious hero to the open maw of the portal.

“Twilight! Warriors! After them!” Time bellowed. He glanced over at Hyrule and Legend, each cracking their knuckles, their Power Bracelets flashing with energy. “We’ll take care of this.”

Twilight gritted his teeth, gave a nod to Warriors, and looked back just in time to see the last of Sky’s form disappear into the inky blackness of the foreboding archway. 

Twilight stepped forward, moving to rush after his friends, but before he could, a small sound caught his ear. A musical chiming, coming from his right. Glancing over, he saw no source of the sound, but looking down revealed the Master Sword, lying on the ground, with Sky’s strong grip on it lost to unconsciousness. As Warriors charged toward the portal, Twilight found himself sheathing his own blade and picking the Master Sword up from the dirt. Jaw set with determination, Twilight let his feet carry him across the clearing, through the mysterious gateway into darkness and the unknown. 

Chapter Text

The horrible nausea that generally accompanies traveling across time almost was enough to distract Wild from the exploding pain in his shoulder. Any attempts to move it only doubled the pain briefly before coming down again to a sustained ache. Of course, it didn’t help that the limb was being roughly dragged across the ground, with no way for him to stop it. 

His tunic was drawn tight around his neck as the giant hand was clenched around the fabric, yanking him along with a few strands of his hair tangled in its fingers. The pain and lack of oxygen making the world spin around him, Wild felt his right arm involuntarily flailing around, trying to grip onto anything that could stabilize him. His fingernails even dug painfully into the hard dirt as it raced past. 

Suddenly, the hand gripping him tugged even harder, and then there was no ground to grab at. There was no spinning. Wild almost felt weightless. He blinked a few times in confusion, looking up only to see the ground rocketing toward him. Landing was rough, having only one arm to brace himself. A few agonizing somersaults later and Wild felt the back of his head slamming into the rough bark of a tree. An ear splitting ringing sound seemed to drill into his temples, making his dizziness worse than ever, and forcing him to keep his eyes tight shut. But a few moments of silence later, and the uncertainty and temptation got the better of him. 

Cracking one eye open revealed a blur of bright lights and colors. Muted greens, browns, and grays dominated most of his vision, with an overhead light pouring down on everything, practically blinding Wild for a moment. He did see a few darker blobs that seemed to be moving a little ways away from him, but Wild soon discovered that squinting to try to make them out didn’t help much. It only seemed to help increase his growing headache. At this point, trying to stay upright with only one properly functioning arm was becoming more and more difficult the longer he tried. Wild was leaning on the tree as much as he could in order to not completely keel over, but his grip kept faltering every few seconds, his arm trembling with the effort. Darkness was starting to creep into the edges of his perception, with the warm embrace of unconsciousness becoming more and more inviting. 

Suddenly, movement in the corner of his eye caught Wild’s attention. Briefly shaking his head in another attempt to clear his vision again, he looked up to see those same grayish blobs moving around more. And while his ears were still filled with that whining ringing sound, Wild could have sworn he heard an echoing groaning coming from their direction. 

Slowly, the world around him seemed to sharpen slightly. Details became more distinct. The blurs of color coalesced into two large lumbering forms, with one of them holding a smaller shape on the ground. 

The groaning, clicking sounds from before continued on, almost like a back and forth. A conversation? One of the creatures seemed to almost jerk away from the other. In fear, maybe? Or possibly a shove? Wild couldn’t tell. But his attention began to be drawn to the smaller shape he had seen before. It hadn’t moved the entire time, and for some reason that filled Wild’s stomach with a chilling fear. 

Suddenly, without warning, the smaller form was gone. Wild blinked. Shaking his head slowly, he glanced around in confusion. It was nowhere to be seen, and the unease in Wild’s stomach began to increase to panic. It was at this point that he noticed a shadow fall over him. 

There was a new shape above him. Bigger than that smaller form from before. And getting bigger. Why is it-

WHAM!

All of the air left Wild’s lungs and his vision whited out with pain as a heavy, limp form landed on him, causing him to crack his head again on the tree behind him. His shoulder was pulsing with agony as he soon realized the body was partially laying on it, renewing his suffering for every second it stayed there. 

Wild couldn’t hold back a cry of pain as his other arm shakily began to shove the excruciating weight off of him. The movement seemed to send wave after wave of anguish through him, causing his vision to blur and sharpen rapidly. Sky’s face seemed to appear and fade away in Wild’s lap as he worked to get what he now realized to be the Skyloftian’s leg off of his shoulder. With one final push, the limb fell to the ground with a dull thud. The pain had started to lower back to its normal throbbing, and Wild shut his eyes tightly to try to ignore how fucked his eyesight was. 

His hand now could feel the shape of his injured shoulder, and Wild felt the nausea building up as he realized what was wrong. He could feel the bone, not broken, but dislocated, grinding up against each other, which only made his stomach churn more. 

“Deep breaths,” he muttered to himself, “you know how to do this.” Fumbling for one of his belts and biting down hard, he started reaching for his wrist. Wild hissed in pain as he gripped it tightly, bracing himself for what was to come. His breaths were unsteady and halting as he tried to calm himself. He had done this before. It was fine. He could do it. Wild’s heart hammered in his chest as he readjusted his grip. One deep breath in and Wild pulled. 

It may come as a surprise to some, but Wild learned at that moment that it was, in fact, possible to choke on air. He felt his chest convulsing as he struggled to get a breath. The pain washed over him, burning at his entire clavicle like it was being held under a blowtorch. His arm shaking with the effort, teeth digging into the thick leather belt, Wild almost fainted when he heard a tiny * pop* . 

Releasing his grip, Wild slumped almost bonelessly back against the tree, riding out the rest of the pain inflicted by his amateur first aid. An experimental wiggling of a few fingers told him that he had been successful. At least for the most part. Wild breathed a sigh of relief as his eyes slid open. But rather than being greeted with the same dull green forest around him, he found his view blocked by a large charcoal grey figure.

An iron grip clamped down around his neck, immediately cutting off his oxygen. Wild’s hand unconsciously moved to cling to the fist that held him, scrabbling uselessly at its tough skin. The giant mask loomed over him as the creature lifted him into the air, feet dangling helplessly. His vision, briefly cleared, had begun to darken at the edges once again, however this time, Wild felt like he probably wouldn’t be having much of a choice as to whether it would claim him or not. His thoughts seemed to almost slow down as he struggled in this creature’s grasp. The giant hand seemed to tighten. It was going to kill him. He was going to die again, failing to protect his friends once more. He would die, Sky would die, and the others may never find their bodies. Just like the Champions…

An idea struck him like a lightning bolt. He hadn’t tried it since he’d defeated Ganon. He wasn’t even sure he could still do it. But hell, if now wasn’t a good time, Wild wasn’t sure what was. There was the matter of his other arm though, which did add to his panic as he felt his lungs screaming for air. Gritting his teeth, he felt his left arm twitch. A twinge of pain, but manageable. Slowly, he began to raise it, the pain almost sharpening his senses while the lack of oxygen sought to dull them. His arm now was lifted to be almost level with his shoulder, shaking from the effort. The burning he felt when his hand closed into a fist seemed to wake him up, like a bucket of cold water. Wild let out a strangled scream as his right hand, which had been clenched down on the arm of the Shadow Beast, released its grip. The beast seemed to cock its head to the side in confusion at his actions, before Wild slammed his fists together in front of him.

For a horrible second, nothing seemed to happen. Wild felt his stomach sink. 

Then suddenly, a red-amber colored prism of energy erupted from Wild’s form. The Shadow Beast was forced to relinquish its grip on the boy, sending it stumbling back, and Wild tumbling to the ground. The shield broke as he hit the dirt, gasping air into his lungs. His throat burned from being crumpled for so long, but it was open. Adrenaline pumping through him, Wild jerked his head up, fully taking stock of his surroundings for the first time. 

They were in a small clearing in a forest. No other creatures that he could see. No portal, no friends. None except for Sky, who was crumpled on the ground a few feet away by the roots of a large tree. And only an arms length away from him was the second of the two Shadow Beasts. Time seemed to slow as it reached for him once again. With a hoarse cry, Wild sprang from his landing place. His sword was gone, and there was no time to flip through his sheikah slate. Ignoring the burning of his shoulder, Wild brought his hands up once again. Standing over Sky, his fists smashed together, summoning Daruk’s Protection once again, this time over both of them. 

The creature threw itself at the barrier only to be successfully repelled by the great goron’s gift. However, Wild felt the impact’s toll on the barrier. Sweat began to drip down his neck as he held his stance, fists connected, while standing over Sky’s unconscious form. The first creature threw itself next, quickly followed again by the second. The creatures began to beat mercilessly against the barrier. Wild gritted his teeth, squeezing his eyes shut, and focusing all his energy into maintaining the shield. He could feel the cracks beginning to spider over its crystal-like surface. The now boiling pain in his arm caused his hands to tremble as his defense was pushed to the brink of shattering. 

Tears began to well in the corners of his eyes as Wild opened them to look down at Sky. The boy seemed to be stirring. Breathing heavily, Wild watched as the Skyloftian’s eyes cracked open, squinting at the light. As another blow shook his barrier, Wild took a shaky breath. A crooked smile found its way onto his face as he looked at his friend. Well at least he did try his best. Maybe Sky could get away while they were distracted beating Wild to death. He let out a resigned sigh as the crystal shattered to pieces. That would be nice, wouldn’t it?

His legs dropped out beneath him as the creatures advanced. His knees hit the ground as one of them raised a claw. He began to fall forward as a shrieking cry echoed through the clearing. And his face hit the dirt as a strange squelching sound silenced it. Lazily, Wild looked up to see the glint of a sword sticking out of the creature’s chest. The blade disappeared, pulled out again as the beast fell to the ground itself. The darkness at the edges of his vision creeped closer as a figure stood there, brandishing their sword and shield. But before they could move forward, a bellowing shriek reverberated around the clearing. 

Wild’s hands jerked themselves up to his ears as the cry echoed in his brain cavity. He could feel his skull painfully vibrating, seemingly without cease. The darkness seemed to take this as its queue, swooping in to consume him, throwing him to the warm, velvety embrace of unconsciousness.

Chapter Text

At first, Twilight couldn’t even see Wild. All he saw as he and Warriors charged into the clearing was the looming forms of the two Shadow Beasts beating against something out of his view with all their strength.

Racing forward, brandishing the Master Sword, Twilight leaped in the air and brought down his blade on the back of one of the creatures. It stumbled back with a screech, revealing the creatures’ prey. 

A crimson crystal-like shield surrounded Wild as he stood over Sky’s unmoving form on the ground. Blood and sweat mingled together as they sluggishly dripped down his temple. His hands formed into tight fists that shook as he held them pressed together. Twilight could see the fatigue and agony practically rolling off of his Cub in waves. Wild’s eyes were barely open, the pupils unfocused and exhausted. As he moved between the creature he had wounded and Wild, the other brought its fist down on the shield once more. A horrible splintering sound emanated from the magical aura as the fractures that already covered it spread even further. 

Warriors suddenly appeared at Twilight’s side, bringing his shield up to block the incoming blow from the other creature as it sought to take advantage of his hesitation. Leaping away, Twilight readjusted his grip on the Blade of Evil’s Bane. 

“Get Wild out of there!” Warriors bellowed! “This one’s mine!”

As he raised his sword to the sky, Twilight could have sworn that Warrior’s blade seemed to glow with a strange pale blue energy. But there wasn’t much time to admire it as the captain unleashed a furious spin attack with a scream of ferocity, forcing the other Shadow Beast to the other side of the clearing. 

Steeling himself for the coming skirmish, Twilight’s ears twitched at the sound of shattering glass. He whipped around just in time to see the broken pieces of Wild’s strange barrier falling to the ground, with Wild himself following close behind. 

The giant claw of the beast raised back up into the air, and Twilight felt the world around him seemingly slow to a crawl. He watched Wild’s forehead collide with the dirt, eyes rolling back into his head. The beast let out a shrill cry of fury as its hand began to fall. For a moment, Twilight felt himself freeze yet again. Like before. Like he had been this entire battle. A small seed of anger at himself, at his weakness, seemed to dig into his stomach. The Master Sword swiftly positioned itself as that seed blossomed into a bloom of boiling rage. 

Twilight had forgotten how smoothly the Master Sword moved when he wielded it. How perfectly balanced it was. How effortlessly it cleaved through flesh and bone when impaling it through a monster’s chest. 

As the beast fell to the ground, Twilight kicked it away, moving to kneel by Wild’s side. But before he could take a step, a cacophonous wail emanated from the other side of the clearing. Some of his hair became caught in his fingers as Twilight desperately clawed at his ears to block out the horrible sound. Struggling to look up from his hunched over position, he saw Warriors directly in front of the howling creature, brought to one knee from the reverberating cry. As he held his head in pain, Twilight felt blood dripping through his fingers out of his ears. 

The shrieking slowly came to an end, and the creature leaped backwards, putting distance between itself and Warriors. The Shadow Beast on the ground began to twitch, life slowly returning to it, seemingly one limb at a time. As Twilight staggered away, ears still buzzing and ringing, the beast hauled itself back up, its head twitching and convulsing. He could see the stab wound quickly knitting itself back together, stemming the tide of black blood dripping out of it. It no longer faced Wild’s now fully unconscious form. The creature’s attention was entirely focused on Twilight. 

Great. 

The creature raised its bludgeoning fist once more, forcing an off balance Twilight to dive back, out of its way, tucking himself into a haphazard roll and landing on a knee. Master Sword clutched tightly in his hand, Twilight brought the sword up to block another successive blow. His arm shook as the creature bared down on him, holding the blade in its grip and ignoring it slicing into its palm. 

With a yell, Twilight twisted the blade, carving into the flesh of the monster’s hand. It released the blade with a hiss, allowing him to leap back once again. However, this time he was forced to stop in his tracks as his back collided with something else. Or more accurately, someone else. Warriors twisted around to meet his eyes as both of them realized that they had been forced on the defensive, and now were fighting back to back. 

“What do we do?!” Warriors gritted out as he raised his shield to knock away another swipe. “How do we time this? They aren’t giving many opportunities!”

Twilight grunted as he slashed his blade at one arm, only to have to guard against the other. No obvious eyes to hit here, he supposed. 

“We need to catch them off guard.” he responded, sweat dripping down his neck to mingle with the blood now trickling down his back. “Make our own opportunity.”

“Easier said than done,” Warriors muttered, “but I think I’ve got an idea. On my mark, I need you to duck.”

“What?”

“Just do it!” He snapped. 

“Fine! I’m willing to try anything at this point.” Twilight growled as a claw caught him in the shoulder after a sloppy attempt at shielding a blow. “Any time would be great!”

“Give me a second, we have to time it-“ 

“One of us could be dead in a second!”

“If we do this wrong, we’re fucked!”

“If we wait too long, we’re-“

“NOW!”

Twilight dropped, the wind from Warrior’s blade slicing through the air just ruffling his hair. The sound of metal slicing through flesh and blood rang out as Twilight hit the ground in a roll, sending him through Warrior’s legs to jump up and jab his own weapon into the giant mask of the other creature, just before it could have the chance to slash Warriors in his exposed back. 

The gurgling death rattles of the creatures were quickly followed by total silence as the two heroes caught their breath. The bodies of the Shadow Beasts began to darken before bursting into tiny fragments of teal and black twilight. Warriors and Twilight watched as the pieces seemed to float momentarily, shuffle themselves around, then fly up into the sky. Quickly, the pieces fit together to form a swirling portal in the sky. 

“What the hell…?” Warriors muttered. Twilight’s mouth was dry as he looked up at that familiar sight. Her face wouldn’t leave his head as he stared at it. That was her magic. He felt the spiraling beginning once more. The emotions began to hit him all over again. It took all of his willpower to swallow the lump in his throat and to breathe deeply and calmly. His eyes snapped open as he suddenly remembered. 

Wild. 

Rushing over to the other two of their companions, Twilight scanned them for signs of life. Sky’s eyes were flickering under his eyelids, breathing perhaps a bit shallow, but otherwise was even. But Wild...Wild was still. Twilight felt his heart leap up into his throat. Was he-?

Warriors crouched down and put two fingers under Wild’s nose, alarm clearly written on his face. Slowly, his expression relaxed, giving Twilight a nod. Breathing a sigh of relief, Twilight knelt next to his friends and began to assess their injuries. Sky’s brown curls were matted with blood, a sizable gash on the back of his head. Littered cuts and bruises as well, but they probably only had to worry about a bad concussion.

Wild was another story. He was also sporting a head injury that was still oozing warm blood, staining his blonde hair. As he pressed a scrap of cloth to the wound to try to stop the bleeding, Twilight glanced up to see a matching red splatter against a nearby tree. Mentally connecting the dots, he shuddered to think of how Wild received that blow. His shoulder was all shades of purple and blue, though it seemed to have been placed back into its socket, albeit not with much dexterity or grace. Bruising also decorated the majority of his neck. Giant handprints coiled around his throat, already turning a pale, sickly green. His breathing was shallow as well, a quiet uneven wheezing escaping his lips. Cuts and lacerations littered his face, adding to the patchwork of his existing burn scars. Twilight’s breath caught in his throat as he noticed the tear tracks that ran down his cheeks, cutting through the blood and grime. 

Twilight’s fingers ghosted over the injuries, almost as if he was afraid of touching them. That seed of self loathing seemed to burrow deeper, dredging up weight after weight of guilt. He hadn’t protected his Cub from this. He had let himself get into his own head and be inattentive to the things that actually matter. He had allowed his own stupid damage to distract himself from the fight. Maybe, if he had actually paid attention, he could have spotted that creature before it had attacked Wild. Or if he’d not let his guard down in the first place, he could have seen the ambush coming before it had even happened. Or if… or if he had not gotten so emotional when Wild was hurt, he might have been able to stop the beast before Sky had to step in. Or if he… or if…

“Hey.” Warriors put a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t do that.” Twilight looked up to him. When had he started to cry? He roughly dragged a hand across his eyes to wipe away the tears that were blurring his vision. “Don’t do that to yourself, Twi.”

“I’m fine.” He mumbled, standing up. “We can’t move them. I bet you they both have concussions.”

“Well, I wasn’t thinking we should move them anyhow,” Warriors mused, rising as well. “We don’t know when the others-”

“Hey!” A familiar voice shouted. Turning to look behind them, the source was struggling through the nearby underbrush and dense forest, only to trip in the last few steps. Wind sprawled into the clearing with a yelp, face first into the dirt. A few sniggers came from the trees as the rest of their comrades emerged, bruised and battered, but none the worse for wear. Upon seeing their injured friends, however, they immediately rushed to Wild and Sky’s sides. 

Hyrule’s hands were already glowing with a warm light before he even knelt fully to the ground between the two, pouring his healing into the both of them. Wind sat beside Wild, anxiously watching Hyrule work and gaping at the wounds the boy had sustained. Four perched himself on a rock, one knee hugged to his chest, watching Legend sort through his bag for whatever healing supplies they still had, but with a solemn expression set on his face. Warriors walked a few paces away with Time, quietly explaining the situation. The older hero’s expression seemed almost unreadable as Twilight observed him, even as he glanced up at the stationary portal in the sky. Though Twilight supposed that wasn’t anything new. Unsure of what to do, he glanced down again at Wild, but had to look away when heat began to build behind his eyes, and that feeling began to creep up again.

“So where are we?” Legend’s voice snapped him out of his thoughts. “Anyone recognize it?”

“I mean, it’s a forest.” Four said. “Pretty sure it’s not mine, since we just came from there. But how would anyone recognize their Hyrule off of a few trees-”

“No.” Time said decisively. “This isn’t mine.” Four blinked a few times, perhaps an eye twitching, but remained silent. 

“Not mine,” Wind said quietly, eyes still fixed on the magic being performed in front of him. “No large forests in my Hyrule. Except maybe Forest Haven, but I don’t see any Koroks. Anyway, we’d be able to hear the ocean...” 

As his companions talked amongst themselves, Twilight looked around him. For the first time since he’d arrived here, he took time to actually take stock of his surroundings. Muted greens and browns of the trees and brush surrounded the group. The trees seemed to almost lean in around the open space, as if they were reaching out in an attempt to reclaim it. The ground itself seemed to be a worn path, ivy hanging from the higher ledges of rock that shaped it. Glancing down the southern path leading out of the clearing, up a small hill, he noticed another smaller glade. The recognition dawned on him as he remembered just what had happened there, in that very spot. 

A wall of twilight.

A giant claw, pinning his arms to his sides.

The horrible feeling of his bones rearranging themselves for the first time. 

The literal howl of pain that had escaped him. 

Then blackness.

Twilight shuddered as the creeping dread seemed to move from his gut to slowly claw its way up his back. 

Oh .

“...well if it were Wild’s, we can’t exactly ask him right now.” 

“I know that, Four! I was just suggesting the possibility!”

“Well then you could also argue that it could be Sky’s. We’re still screwed, either way.”

“Holy Hylia, you need to calm down. It was a hypothetical.”

“No you’re not looking at facts. And the facts are that Hyrule doesn’t have the healing to fix this, Sky and Wild won’t wake up, and we’re stranded in a Hyrule that none of us-”

Twilight coughed. “Um, guys…” Six pairs of eyes turned to meet him. “I think… I know somewhere we could take them.” Legend blinked. “What do you mean, Twi? You recognize this place?” Twilight shifted uncomfortably in his stance. “I… I think so. It’s been a long time.” Hyrule leaned forward. “So this is your Hyrule, then?”

“I think so.” Twilight murmured. He glanced down at the blade in his hand, only just remembering that he was holding it. “If I’m not mistaken, I think we’re in Faron Woods.”

“Where are you thinking of taking them?” Hyrule asked, brow furrowed with worry. “I don’t think that they should be moved right now. They’re both badly injured.”

“There’s a spring not far from here.” Twilight replied. “A guardian spirit lives in it. The waters have healing properties, and perhaps we could get some information from the spirit as well. I won’t pretend it’s not a risk, but I think we should give it a shot.” He looked to Time, who had been silently observing the conversation thus far. The older man closed his eye in thought, then turned to Twilight. 

“If you think it’s the right call, I trust you.” He looked to the others. “Any disagreements?” The others looked to one another before shaking their heads. “Right then,” Time said, looking up at the sun which, despite it only having risen a few hours ago in the previous Hyrule, was beginning to lazily droop toward the horizon. “We should get moving before it gets too dark. Twi, how far of a journey is it?”

“Not far at all.” He answered. “We should be able to get there before dark.”

“Right,” Time grunted as he carefully picked Wild up into his arms, being careful of his head and neck. Legend gently tugged Hyrule away from Wild’s form, as he seemed to think he could keep healing while they traveled, ignoring the strain that the magic obviously inflicted on him. Warriors knelt and scooped Sky up as well, careful not to touch the head wound that had been bound with what bandages they had been able to spare. 

Slowly, the boys began to fall into a marching order, one by one, following Twilight as he led them down the northern path. Yet a small voice in the back of his mind, no matter how hard he tried to ignore it, couldn’t help but remind him what else lay down that southern path. What he had left behind. That part of himself that he had lost. A cold sliver of fear joined that little seed of anger in his stomach, wondering if he would have to go there on this journey. Whether he would even be able to face it. The uncertainty gnawed at him as his boots crunched on fallen leaves and underbrush, swiftly trekking through the forest of his childhood.

Chapter Text

The trek to the spring was dead silent, save for the raspy breaths that came from Wild’s sweat and blood covered form, as they hurried as fast as they dared through the wood. Twilight had never felt more on edge. He practically could feel his hackles raising, his footfalls silenced with practiced dexterity and stealth. They could not afford to attract any attention. Getting into a fight now could be a death sentence. 

As the trees sped past him, memories of Twilight’s journey began to follow suit. Racing after Talo, then after all of the Ordonian children. On two legs, or on four. With a sword and shield on his back, or a small imp. With sunlight streaming through the trees, or cloaked in the oppressive grasp of the twilight. He had traversed this forest many times before. 

But never with this much desperation. 

Branches whipped in the heroes faces as they pressed onward, everyone’s senses on high alert. Time and Warriors were doing their best to be as gentle as possible carrying their fallen friends, so as to not undo all the various first aid they had already applied. No one was chatting amongst themselves, or even tempting fate with a whisper. So it was of surprise to no one when nearly all of the heroes stopped in unison, crouching low in the foliage and pulling those who hadn’t immediately noticed to the ground as well. 

The dull crunch of leaves underfoot had all of their ears twitching with apprehension and anxiety. Twilight felt his heart hammering in his chest as he heard the unmistakable sound of chattering bokoblins, cursing and screeching at each other in their native tongue. The boys seemed to all hold their breath as the shouting seemed to turn from the generic howling and barking to the roars of argument. Shoving and shuffling in the dirt could be heard as the bokos squabbled amongst themselves. Peering from behind the greenery, Twilight peeked out at the creatures to see two purple bokoblins, in their correct Hyrule, wrestling ferociously with one another on the ground while a smaller blue one seemed to be jeering at them, egging them on with a disgusting look of delight on its face. Twilight turned to Time with a look of uncertainty. 

“Should we go?” Twilight signed, with as much subtlety as he could. “They’re distracted.” With Wild held in his arms, Time could only shake his head. He gestured with his eyes at something over the younger man’s shoulder. As he quietly shifted to see, the loud thudding of heavy footfalls caught his attention before anything else. A tall lanky, yet muscular form stepped out of the shadows, bellowing at the brawling bokoblins. The beady little red eyes of a silver moblin glared down at the creatures, who had since broken apart and were chattering at it animatedly. The blue boko, however, seemed to have dissolved into peals of croaking laughter, feet kicking as it pointed at its two companions. But as the two purple bokoblins gave aggressive squeals of anger, the lumbering gate of the large moblin shoved past them. The laughter seemed to die quickly upon being overshadowed by the massive monster. Seeing the moblin envelope the smaller creature in its fist, Twilight ducked down to hide. Legend quickly slapped a hand over Hyrule’s mouth as the traveler unintentionally let out a small squeak of surprise as a scream of terror suddenly exploded above them from the blue boko hurtling through the air over their heads. A sickening crunch later, and the creature crumpled to the ground from the side of a tree.

Peering back again, Twilight froze as the moblin seemed to be looking around in suspicion, ears twitching. It grumbled something to the two remaining bokos, who quickly skittered in separate directions, away from the moblin and into the underbrush. 

“We need to move now!” Twilight signed, eyes darting as he tried to get a bead on the location of the creatures. “They’re searching for us. We’re sitting ducks if we stay!”

Time looked to the others. Warriors adjusted his grip on Sky, jaw set. Legend removed his hand from Hyrule’s mouth, giving a look to Time. Wind was already on his haunches, ready to move, eyes wide but determined. Four had his head on a swivel, peering through the green while searching for any movement. Time turned back to Twilight and gave him a tiny nod. 

Twilight breathed deep. Slowly, ever so slowly, he creeped forward under the cover of the bushes and ivy. The moblin was in his periphery, tromping around through the trees. Picking his path carefully, Twilight inched forward. Crouched down, he could see a little ways ahead where the ground seemed to end in a ledge, dropping down to hard packed dirt and another path. It could offer them the cover they desperately needed to move forward effectively, and essentially give those creatures the slip. Silently pointing it out to the others, he began to edge toward it. Freezing a few times at the sounds of rustling and croaking, Twilight resolved to take his time. There were no do-overs here. After a few painstaking minutes, he reached the edge. Slowly, Twilight brought his foot over the ledge, sliding down as noiselessly as he could. Now crouching on the ground, he beckoned the others to follow. 

Time and Warriors had some difficulty, both carrying an unconscious boy, but were able to touch down without any loud noises. Wind darted forward over the edge, tucking into a silent roll before hitting the ground and scurrying over to the others. Hyrule, Four, and Legend each dropped down without too much issue, as everyone turned again to Twilight’s lead. 

A finger to his lips, Twilight began to stealth forward at a quicker pace. The others fell into line, speedily following behind. “ It’s not far,” Twilight signed to them, “A few minutes, maybe.”  Slowly, as they continued their travel, the frustrated bellowing of the silver moblin faded away. 

“Don’t you think we could have taken them?” Wind whispered, running up to Twilight’s elbow. “I mean, there were only three of them.”

“We had numbers, yes,” Twilight sighed, “But with four of our number essentially unable to fight, it didn’t seem worth it. Wild and Sky are already hurt, Time and Warriors are carrying them, and the rest of us haven’t fully recovered from that fight.” He gestured to the wound Wind was still sporting on his arm. “It was an unnecessary risk.” Wind nodded, eyes flickering forward, then to the side at Wild, very obviously trying not to stare at the arm that had fallen limply from Time’s hold. Silence hung over them as the party moved on through the woods. 

A few minutes later, Twilight began to recognize what part of the terrain they were in. They were close! Breathing a sigh of relief, he turned to his companions. But before he could even open his mouth, the hissing of an arrow cut him short. 

Time gave a grunt of pain as a shaft of a bolt was now jutting out of a gap in his armor in his abdomen. Stumbling to one knee, his grip on Wild seemed to momentarily fail, allowing the top half of the boy to land with a thud onto the hard ground. Adrenaline rushing through his bloodstream once more, Twilight swiftly equipped his Hawkeye, advancing in front of Time with an arrow of his own already on the string as the others all moved to be on the defensive. A guttural squawk of victory pinpointed the culprit, jumping up and down on the branch of an overhanging tree, holding a bow aloft. The purple bokoblin was cackling with laughter as it drew back another arrow, but was quickly silenced by a bolt in its throat. Wet gurgling noises were all it could make as it fell backward, landing on the path below with a puff of dust. Twilight held his breath as he listened for more sounds of attack, but was surprised to hear none. Perhaps this one had followed them, but forgotten to bring the others with him. Or perhaps it thought it could pick them off. The answer was uncertain, but before he could try to ascertain the truth, Twilight was distracted by a different sound. A moaning sound. Whirling around, back toward Time, he felt the ground nearly give out beneath him. 

Time was trying his best to turn Wild onto his side, who was now fully on the ground, while an arrow was still stuck in his back. Wild was still unconscious, but was now making grunting, gasping noises as his body convulsed. His eyes were partly open, but rolled up to the back of his head as his limbs spastically moved without direction. Twilight dropped to Time’s side as the seizure continued, his panic wiping his mind of anything helpful. 

“Give him space! Back up!” Hyrule shouted as the others moved to rush to help as well. “They need room! Twilight, is he on his side?”

“Y-yeah…”

“Good. Keep him there. The only thing we can do is let him ride it out. Keep his airway clear!” Hyrule looked around at the others. “We can’t move him until it’s over, so we need to keep them defended. Come on!” The group fanned out along the path, each with weapons drawn and eyes open, wary of any incoming threats. Warriors knelt with Sky near Time and Twilight, unable to look away from the writhing boy. A few minutes in and blood was seen staining his teeth. Twilight looked to Time nervously, unsure of what to do. The older man looked back, just as lost. A few more minutes passed, and just as Twilight was wondering if it would go on forever, Wild’s movements started to lessen. His eyes slid shut. A few seconds later he let out a deep sigh, then fell motionless once more. Time let out a breath in relief.

“I’m sorry,” he murmured. “That was my fault.”

“You were shot, Time.” Twilight said quietly. “I’m not blaming you for losing your grip for a second. I just wish I had seen it following us.”

“You couldn’t have known. We all were looking and none of us saw anything.” 

“I know, but I-”

“Pup. Stop it.” Time gave him a hard look. “We’re okay. Wild will be fine. Stop blaming yourself, for Hylia’s sake.” Twilight looked down at his Cub, his breathing back to the wheezing it was doing before. Standing up, he gestured the others over again. Time was still watching him as he gathered Wild in his arms once more. 

“We’ve almost made it to the spring.” Twilight said. “Follow me, and stay close.” With even more haste, Twilight forged ahead, following the sounds of water. The others kept up, everyone trying their hardest not to stare at the blood now running down from Wild’s lip. 

If it’s possible, the last leg of the journey was even more tense than the first part. Everyone was exhausted, but their adrenalin refused to leave or allow them rest. No monsters were heard shouting at one another. No thunderous footsteps gave them pause. Just the eerie silence of the wood. 

But before long, that silence gave way to a sound that almost made Twilight cry with relief to hear. Running water. Breaking into a sprint, he turned a corner to see the beautiful sight of the Faron Spring. Its waterfalls ran with bright, clean water. The rocks covered with carvings and designs still seemed to faintly glow. Even the colors of the clearing almost appeared to be more saturated and vivid. Twilight beckoned his companions over to the waters as he himself stepped into them. “It’s shallow here,” He called over. “Lay them here. The waters will do the rest.” Time limped forward toward the shore, still wincing in pain at the arrow that they had elected not to remove, as Warriors followed closely behind. Sky and Wild were gently laid in the water, the surface only making it up to their ears. Twilight himself could already feel the magic at work himself, as the throbbing from the bruising on his chest was beginning to fade. But it was a greater relief to see Wild’s face, wincing from the pain, begin to relax into a calm peace of unconsciousness. 

The rest of the group joined him in the pool, each giving small sighs of relief as their various pains already began to be assuaged. Wind sat right in the water, dunking his head in and shaking droplets everywhere with his unruly curls. Hyrule knelt next to Sky, removing the now soaked bandages, allowing the water free access to the wounds. A small curl of crimson made its way into the water before the blood flow was stemmed by the healing magics. 

“Wow, Twi,” Hyrule breathed. “This is some potent magic. What kind of source of magic does this place even have?” Twilight let out a small chuckle. “Maybe you’ll meet them.” He began to loosen Wild’s bandages as he spoke, relief flooding him as his Cub’s bleeding was quickly stopped as well. “It might be wise to speak with them before we leave, but we’ll see if that’s necessary.”

The other heroes looked to one another with curiosity clearly evident in their eyes. But they were soon distracted by a pained groan and movement from one of the boys horizontal in the water. 

Sky slowly pushed himself upright, water dripping from his hair. “Ugh…what happened,” he mumbled as Hyrule shifted to help him sit up. “Everything - ow , hurts.”

“Well no shit,” Legend deadpanned, “You got hit in the head with a rock. You’re lucky you’re not a vegetable.”

“Legend!”

“What? He is! If it weren’t for Twi’s magic puddle, he’d still be unconscious!”

“Magic puddle?” Sky blinked, looking down at the pool, then up at his surroundings.

Twilight raised an eyebrow at the veteran. “Yeah Legend. ‘Magic puddle’?” 

“Where are we?” Sky asked, confused. “How did we-?”

“This is Twi’s Hyrule.” Hyrule answered as he began to check Sky over. “The portal appeared mid-battle, and you and Wild got pulled through. So we followed.” Sky’s eyes lit up as he began frantically looking around. He froze when his view fell on Wild, still unconscious. “Oh Hylia…” Sky breathed. “He wasn’t that bad before, was he?”

“He looked like he was doing something reckless and stupid when me and Twi found you guys again.” Warriors remarked as Hyrule was now looking at Sky’s pupils. “He collapsed toward the end of the fight.” 

“Daruk’s Protection, I think.” Twilight murmured. “He’s told me about it before, but I wasn’t sure if he could even still do it. I don’t know if he knew either.”

“What is it?” Wind asked, eyebrows raised.

Twilight tilted his head in thought. “It was some kind of shield. Wild had a friend who gifted the ability to him at one point, but I hadn’t ever seen him use it.” He looked up to meet Sky’s gaze. “Wild was using it to protect the two of you from those things, I think.”

Sky looked back to Wild with an unreadable expression on his face. Twilight shifted over in the water toward the Skyloftian, removing the Master Sword from his back. “I think this belongs to you, by the way. You lost it in the fight, so I held onto it.”

Sky’s expression softened, a smile tugging on his lips as he lifted the blade from Twilight’s hands. His relief evident, Sky looked up at the rancher with gratitude. “Thank you, Twi. I do appreciate it. But I wouldn’t say that she belongs just to me. We all are chosen heroes. The ability to wield her is your birthright just as much as mine.”

Twilight felt taken aback by the hero’s words. After giving a quick nod of understanding, he silently moved back over toward his cub, who still lay unmoving in the water. 

“I think this magic has actually taken care of his concussion.” Hyrule marveled as he continued to examine Sky. “His pupils aren’t even dilated! This spring is something else.” 

“What about Wild?” Four asked, tossing his soaked boots to the shoreline. “How is he?” 

“He seems to be recovering as well.” Hyrule turned back to the unconscious hero. “His head wound is closed up. I think it’s just a waiting game now.” Time, who had since pulled the arrow from his abdomen without so much as a cry, now turned to the others. 

“We should set up camp. It’s getting dark, and we’re all spent.” he said. “We need to be at our best if we’re going to figure out why we were sent here.” The boys did their best to mask their groans as they left the soothing spring and began pulling out supplies to make camp. Hyrule tossed his bag to Legend, resolving to stay by Wild and use whatever healing magic he had remaining while the magical waters did their work.

Twilight didn’t even move. Sitting by Wild’s side, the furs now smelling strongly of wet dog, he looked up into the familiar sky of his home. And somehow, he found himself wishing again. Wishing that they go back to the boring treks through Four’s Hyrule. Wishing that he had never asked for anything.

Chapter Text

Soft, pale moonlight filtered down through leaves overhead as Wild slowly cracked his eyes open. Water flowed through his hair, its cooling touch soothing as it went. His hearing was muffled by the gently bubbling flow around his head, which only increased the temptation to let his eyes fall closed again. But just as he started to drift off once more, cradled in the arms of the water, a voice seemed to poke through the fog. 

Wild squinted up once more. A blurry shape was blocking the light. Darker, but somehow familiar. The colors; gray, brown, green… they tickled at his memory. Blinking, he discovered, started to sharpen the picture. An indistinct splash of color became a face, the brown becoming hair, and the gray becoming a pelt. The face started to clarify itself even more, especially when those strange black markings came into view.

“Twi…” he rasped, a crooked grin slowly building on his face.

Twilight returned his smile with a small one of his own. “Hey Cub.”

Groaning, Wild was quickly reminded of how angry his shoulder was at him when he attempted to push himself up out of the pool. Quickly switching his weight onto the other arm, Wild felt the dull aching in his neck and shoulder as he sat up, water still clinging to his hair. “What happened?” He grunted as Twilight helped him keep his balance.

“Easy, Cub.” His mentor murmured. “Don’t try to talk too much. The bruising’s gone down, but there could be internal damage to your neck still.”

“It’s fine, Twi. I’m okay.”

“Like hell you are! You were barely conscious when Warriors and I found you. If it had been a second later…”

“Well it wasn’t!” Wild snapped. “You… you did what you did… and I’m okay. I promise.”

His mentor’s face flickered with concern as he responded. “How much do you remember?”

Wild shifted uncomfortably. “I, um… a tree. They threw me at a tree… What did they…? Sky! They threw Sky at me! Is he-?”

“Sky’s okay.” Twilight reassured him. “He’s with the others. What else do you remember?”

Wild frowned, feeling a familiar frustration begin to worm its way back into his mind. “It’s kind of fuzzy… I think one tried to strangle me, but I got out of it.  And then…” Wild trailed off, looking down at his arm. “...not much else.” Sighing with resignation, he rested his chin onto a hand as he sat in the water. “But that’s pretty normal for me, I guess.” 

Twilight’s brow furrowed with confusion as he tried to piece together the sequence of events. “Wait. They threw you, threw Sky, strangled you, and forced you to almost fully use Daruk’s Protection all in the time that it took Warriors and I to go through the portal after you?”

“I used what?”

“Hey! He’s awake!”

“Wild!”

“Save us! Legend’s trying to make food!” 

“Shut up, sailor!”

Quickly, the quiet conversation was overtaken by shouting as the others began to rush up to Wild and Twilight, completely abandoning the small campfire they’d built in favor of dampening their trousers and boots once more, regardless of whether they had finished drying or not. Voices overlapped quickly and Wild was immediately lost and confused in the cross talk. Sky was hovering around him with a worried expression plastered on his face. A clearly exhausted Hyrule was stumbling up to him and still trying to check him over, despite Four trying his best to convince the traveler to rest. Legend was saying something about recklessness. Probably telling him off. Warriors was throwing his hands in the air a lot. He probably was too. Meanwhile, Wind was too busy regaling his version of the battle itself from start to finish to even look to see if Wild was actually listening. 

“Guys! Give him some room!” Twilight thankfully barked out, putting his hands out to move the others back. “He isn’t even finished healing yet!”

Wild blinked at the words, then properly looked at his surroundings. “Whose Hyrule is this?”

Twilight turned, his discomfort poorly hidden. “Mine. We’re in Faron Woods.”

Wild glanced down at his soaked clothes. “In the water?”

Legend nodded, smirking. “Yep. It's definitely a Great Fairy Fountain.”

Twilight rolled his eyes. “I told you before. It’s definitely not. This is different.”

“Uh huh,” Legend laughed, “Right, Sorry. Not a Fairy Fountain. A ‘Spirit Spring’. Totally different.” 

“I don’t know Legend,” Wind piped up. “We’ve been here for a little while. I feel like if there was a fairy here, they would have just shown themselves already. I mean, Wild was unconscious. Wouldn’t they have come to help?”

“They did help, Wind.” Legend pointed out, “The water healed him. Maybe they just didn’t want to make a huge deal out of it or something.” A few poorly stifled snorts of laughter were heard from the rest of the group.

Doing his best to keep a neutral face, Time turned to Legend. “You know, I’ve met a few Great Fairies in my time, Legend. I don’t think any of them were ever known for their subtlety.” 

“Whatever.” Legend said, rolling his eyes. “It’s a different Hyrule. Different times. They could just be called something different. What else could be giving the water such strong healing capabilities?”

Wild watched with curiosity as Twilight had begun to grow a mischievous grin. Abruptly, he stood, water dripping from his form as he began to walk further into the pool, into the water lit only by that of the moon.

“You know, originally I was considering just leaving them in peace and asking around about the goings on ourselves,” Twilight said, matter-of-factly, as he walked, “but now I just really want to see this.”

He waded in further, just a bit past his knees, as some of the others began to trail behind. Wild grimaced as he tried to follow, the remaining pains in his back and shoulder, as well as a sudden dizziness, was making standing a challenge. He gave a small gasp of surprise as he felt an arm slide under his, and lift him shakily up onto his feet. Time adjusted to support the shorter hero, an arm slung over his shoulder. As the two of them hobbled after the rest, Wild noticed a small tired smile starting to sneak its way onto Time’s face.

Twilight came to a stop a few paces away from the low shelves of rock that formed the flowing waterfalls around the spring. After a quick glance behind him, he looked up into the moonlit night air to the space above them.

“Faron.” Twilight said, his voice echoing off of the stone around them. “We would like to speak with you. It’s important.” 

The heroes waited a beat in anticipation, then another. Then another. As they began to look to one another with confusion, Wild’s eyes perked up.

“Look.” He whispered, gesturing to the rune-etched stones that surrounded the spring.

The runes had begun to flow with a beautiful light energy that swirled and danced as it moved. It began to seep into the water, causing a few of them to take a step or two back when it surrounded them. Soon the entire pond was alight with the strange energy that pulsed even brighter for a moment, before receding back to a reasonable glow. The sound of a drop of water resounded around them when the surface of the water broke. But it was strange. It was like they were seeing something splash into the spring in reverse. Ripples began to flow back to a single point on the water’s surface, followed by droplets of water leaping back to the epicenter of the disturbance, as if to point to the source. 

And then, rising up out of the water from that point was a large ball of energy. The light in it was swirling about in a hypnotic pattern. But before the boys could become too transfixed by it, a pair of hands seemed to reach from nowhere and cling onto the orb. Before their very eyes, a large creature made from solid light followed the arms from out of nowhere and wrapped themselves around the ball, their long tail curling up and around past their head to form a large circle. The gigantic monkey-like creature turned to face their direction, glowing eyes boring into them.

Somewhere near him, Wild heard Wind whisper to Legend.

“That is definitely not a fairy.”

“No shit. Shut up.”

The creature looked out over them all, seeming to briefly make eye contact with each of them once. When they spoke, their voice seemed to vibrate the air around them. Wild felt it reverberate in his chest, and echo both around him and in his mind. It felt as though this being was charging everything near it with a strange, ancient energy. All with the power of just their voice.  

“My name is Faron. Welcome, Hero of the Twilight, once more to this spring. And welcome to the heroes from across time. You have traveled far, over many eras.” The boys looked to one another with stunned surprise as the Light Spirit slowly continued. “Your arrival to this era at this time is most fortuitous. Yes, as I can sense the Hero’s Spirit in each of you, so too can I sense a Darkness that looms over Hyrule. A new threat has come upon this land, and we are unable to defend from it.” 

“A new threat? Is it connected to the Shadow Beasts that attacked us?” Twilight asked, stepping forward once more. “They ambushed us in another era, then forced us to follow them here. They should be sealed away, and not in those cursed forms anymore. How can they be here?”

“Hero of the Twilight,” Faron responded, turning to face him. “I am afraid that your previous battles are not over. I have sensed the touch of the Twilight Realm once more upon this land. But this time it appears to be shrouded. I know not the location.”

Twilight gaped up at the creature, aghast. “That can’t be possible! Ganondorf was destroyed! The mirror was shattered!”

“Unfortunately, hero, some of the work that you fought for in order to protect this realm has been undone. But this time under a new banner, and new direction. I do not sense the Demon King in this land, but a new source of evil. A new gateway between the worlds, it seems, has been forged. Yet the source is foreign and unknown to me and my brethren. What is known is only that it is a source steeped in True Darkness.”

“True Darkness…” Twilight murmured, apparently trying his best to remain calm. “What about the other Light Spirits? Have they discovered anything?”

The spirit seemed to furrow their brow in thought. “Until recently, we Light Spirits have been watching for evidence of the Twilight’s reemergence, as well as stand guard over our domains. We had sensed nothing more than its presence but could not ascertain its whereabouts. That is…” Faron trailed off, with what almost looked like hesitation in their eyes. “That is until recently, one of the spirits has fallen silent.”

Twilight’s eyebrows shot up, alarm worming its way into his voice as he spoke. “What? Which one? They could be in danger!”

Faron closed their eyes with an expression that could only be described as deep regret and sadness. “The Light Spirit Ordona has faded from my sight, hero. I know not the cause.” 

Wild thought back. Ordona… He’d heard that name before. Turning to his companions, it seemed that he wasn’t the only one having similar thoughts. But looking up at Time, Wild was surprised to see not only recognition, but worry in his eye. Twilight had his back to them, but Wild could see his hands clenched tightly in fists, as well as a slight tremble to his shoulders. 

“How recently?”

“No more than a day before your arrival. I could not go myself to seek them out, as that would leave Faron Woods unprotected.”

Twilight shook his head. “No, no. Of course you couldn’t. Don’t worry, we can investigate. Could we ask for your protection for the night? We had encounters with creatures wandering the wood on our journey here.”

The spirit nodded slowly. “Of course, Heroes. Rest here within this spring. This place is protected from dangers so long as I am here.”

Twilight nodded his thanks to the spirit, motioning for the others to do so. The large creature looked down on him once more, with what looked like pity. “I pray for your success, Hero of Twilight, and hope that great sacrifices will not be necessary this time...”

 With those parting words Faron began to slowly fade away, followed closely by the glowing light in the rocks and waters. Silently, Twilight turned away from where the Light Spirit had been and walked away from the spring, refusing to look any of them in the eye. Everyone seemed frozen for a moment, confusion over Faron’s words clearly in their minds. But after a few seconds of uncertain glances to one another, they soon slowly began to follow suit. 

Wild felt Time’s gaze on him as he struggled to maintain his footing when they turned. He could feel the magic of the spring slowly dulling his pains, but the dizziness stubbornly remained. “Do you want to spend more time in the water?” Time asked as the two of them wobbled back to the campsite. “Or if you want, we can get you a potion. That might take care of the dizziness.”

“I’m okay, Time. I think I should spend some time on dry land, and probably just get some rest.”

Time rolled his eye. “At the very least, let Hyrule heal you some more in the morning, once he’s recuperated. We don’t want to travel with you still injured.”

“The spirit said this place is protected, didn’t they?" Wild said, raising an eyebrow. "Doesn’t that mean we won’t be attacked?”

Time shook his head. “Not the forest. We ran into some nasties on the way here and got very lucky.”

Wild squinted in confusion at Time’s expression. He could have sworn… For a moment it looked like Time’s carefully crafted mask had cracked, and Wild thought he saw guilt flash across his features. But the next moment it was gone, replaced once more by neutral concern. 

Puzzled, he looked down at the ground as they stepped onto the bank of the spring. “I’ll see how I feel in the morning.” He muttered. “How about that?”

Time sighed in resignation as he set Wild down onto a bedroll. “Fine, Wild. But we aren’t traveling until you’re healed. Get some rest.”

The boys all seemed to be changing out of their wet clothes, laying them out on the rocks to dry once more. Twilight sat a little bit away from the others, head on his chin, clearly lost in thought. Wild was not the only one to notice this, however. Time was sitting with the others, removing his armor, but occasionally glancing over at Twilight as well, concerned. But he didn’t move to act on it, letting him have time to himself to think. 

 Wild’s attention, however, was soon drawn to a little pot  that had been hanging over the campfire during that entire exchange. The pot which was now emitting not a small amount of smoke.

“Shit!” Legend yelped as he rushed to the cooking pot and grabbed the handles without thinking. “FUCK!” He leaped back, holding his now burnt fingers. Warriors and Wind began to roar with laughter as Four pointed to the spring without a word. Face red and grumbling, Legend stomped over to the water, sticking his hand in and trying his best to hide his relief with a deep scowl. 

Wild eyed the still smoking pot with apprehension. But as he tried to move toward it, that dizziness sat him right back down again. At his wits end, Wild finally relented. “Time!” The older hero looked to him quizzically. “Give me the potion. I’ll be damned if anyone else tries to make food around here.”

* * * * * * * * *

After the surprisingly tricky process of disposing of the slightly twitching gelatinous mass that Legend had unwittingly created, Wild served them all a proper meal that night. And though Legend was clearly embarrassed after Hyrule had to completely incinerate his ‘creation’ before it fully stopped moving, he accepted his pumpkin stew without complaint. A few jokes and stories later, and most everyone began to bed down to sleep. They still elected to keep a watch, in case anything were able to break past the spirit’s magic, but Wild was practically forced into his bedroll when he tried to volunteer. 

Sleep didn’t find him easily, however, which is why he found himself lying awake in the dark, silently listening to a quiet conversation by the fire.

“...will be okay, Pup. We can get there if we move quickly.”

“That’s not what I’m worried about. I know these woods, we’ll be fine. I just don’t know what we’ll find when we get there.”

“We can’t be sure, no. But it could be something different. Faron said it themselves that a new threat has come. Calm down, Twi. This isn’t what you faced before.”

“But they also said the Twilight has returned. Just under a new banner. Time, I- I don’t know what I would do if it’s fallen to Twilight. That’s my home. I know people there. It didn’t even happen when I first journeyed across Hyrule. I stopped it from happening! I don’t know-”

“Twi, take a breath. We don’t even know what we’re dealing with. It’s not even practical to make assumptions, because the rules could be different this time. We haven’t even scouted anything out. This Twilight could be anywhere in Hyrule, Faron said. Not to mention that they sensed it before Ordona went quiet. There could be other things going on, but we just don’t have the information to piece it together yet.”

“But besides that, Time. We still will likely run into areas covered in Twilight at some point, which is going to be a huge problem. How are we supposed to travel through it? Just to get in, we would need a Twili on the inside to pull us through, which we definitely don’t have. And even if we get in, I don’t know what it would do to all of you! I know how it will affect me, and I suppose Legend now. But everyone else… I guess Sky would be okay holding the Master Sword, but I can’t risk that! I can’t take a chance of you all becoming Lost Souls. You would be defenseless to whatever is in there! Not to mention… seeing me. I have absolutely no idea how that conversation will go, but it’s probably going to happen way before I am ready to have it!”

“Pup, look at me.”

“...”

“Look at me, Twilight!”

“If you try to tell me to calm down one more time-”

“I’m not going to, since that obviously doesn’t help. You need to listen to me. This is getting you nowhere. I agree that risking everyone in the Twilight is not an option at this point, and revealing yourself will only allow you to go in-”

“It won’t even do that. We need a Twili-”

“But besides all of that, you are worrying about problems that we do not have the full picture of. I understand your concern. I understand that you are worried about your home, not to mention any complicated feelings that go along with going there. Don’t look at me like that. You were clearly uncomfortable with being here long before we learned of any threats concerning the Twilight. I get that this is a hard journey for you to face, not to mention doing it in front of people that you probably didn’t want to share this with. I am sorry that this is happening. But we are here, it is happening, and I need you to be focused. You have to look at this objectively, otherwise you will hesitate. I know that seems harsh, but it’s important for you to understand.”

“I know Time, I- I just keep getting in my own head. I haven’t been back there… in a long time. I don’t even know what it’ll be like without any threats. I left for a reason, Time. And I wasn’t planning to come back this soon. Maybe someday, but not now.”

A sigh. “Well Pup, no matter what, remember that we’re here to help you, not judge you. It’s obvious that this place is important to you, even if you haven’t returned in a while. And I’d be surprised if any of your friends would not be willing to support you and to help you fight for it. You know that.” There was a pause before the sound of shifting bodies and movement could be heard. “Get some sleep, Pup. It’s almost time for Four and Warriors’ watch.”

A couple minutes passed, then Wild heard the sound of rustling. A few grumbles of “I’m up, I’m up”, a yawn or two later, and a quiet had fallen over the clearing, leaving Wild with his thoughts once more. Unease now lay over him like a heavy blanket, but conversely, it only seemed to hinder his path to sleep. 

Chapter Text

The following morning felt a lot more familiar to the group than the previous day had. Early risers shook the rest awake amidst complaints and curses. And when that inevitably didn’t work for some, aka Sky, the usual practice of physically dragging them out of their bedrolls, accompanied by thinly veiled threats of throwing them in the spring, generally did the trick. Wild blocked everyone’s path to the cooking pot, stubbornly insisting he was well enough to make breakfast. And soon, the tantalizing smell of eggs and fried rice was wafting through the area. 

Small conversation also seemed to be daring its way back into the group, perhaps stifled after the last night of silence. Jokes were made, and the boys seemed to be returning to their more relaxed selves. There was even an animated discussion about a dream Wind had had that involved something about Time turning into a Cucco, and what it could possibly mean. But amidst the intense debate over what such a scene said about Time’s ‘primal desires and instincts’, Wild couldn’t help but notice Twilight’s silence. He was listening to the conversation, but had yet to say a word.

When his mentor inevitably noticed his stare, Wild turned his head quizzically, as if to silently ask, ‘ Are you okay?’ Twilight closed his eyes, slightly nodding his head.

Quickly, before anyone else could notice the silent exchange, he turned back to the conversation in time to listen to Legend point out that animals appearing in dreams could indicate the totem spirit of the dreamer. “No way!” Wind yelped, jumping to his feet in indignation. “I am not having a Cucco as some weird protector spirit! Not a chance!”

“But wouldn’t that be kind of great?” Hyrule mused, “I mean, better to not be the target of their attack, don’t you think?”

“Hello?! Have you seen those things in action? They are vicious! I don’t want anything to do with them!”

“You know this conversation is so fascinating,” Warriors interjected, “But don’t you guys think we should be planning for the day ahead?” Wind sheepishly sat back down as the others nodded their agreements.

“So, Ordona?” Legend asked, turning to Twilight. “Where’s that spirit? Does it have its own spring as well? Or something different?”

“No, it has a spring.” Twilight answered, “It’s actually only about a day away. We do have to backtrack, though. We have to go back to that clearing and keep going south. Shouldn’t be long after that before we make it to the bridge outside of the village.”

“A village?” Wind piped up, curiosity in his eyes. Wild noticed Twilight seeming to cringe with realization upon the question being asked, but turned to the young hero nevertheless with a neutral mask. “What’s it like? Is it very big?” 

“Not very big. Ordon Village isn’t technically part of Hyrule proper, but just on the outskirts of Ordona Province. Right next to it though.”

“And Ordona… is like Faron?”

“Yeah, they’re a light spirit as well.”

“So they’re a monkey?”

Twilight looked up again in a moment of surprise, then burst into laughter. “No, no, no! Ordona doesn’t look like a monkey! The Light Spirits all have their own forms.”

“Wow Wind. Do all Light Spirits look the same to you?”

“Shut up Legend! You’re the one who thought the monkey was a Great Fairy!” Soon the group was roaring with laughter amidst the two’s growing quarrel. Wild glanced to Twilight once more, but this time was met with his mentor genuinely smiling and laughing along with their cohorts. Breathing with relief, Wild let out a small groan as he pushed himself to his feet. The potion had done its work, his balance had considerably improved. But even so, Wild felt a hand on his arm as if to steady him as he stood.

“What are you doing?” Hyrule asked, eyebrows raised. “You still need to heal. Sit back down.”

“I’m okay, ‘Rule.” Wild reassured him, removing Hyrule’s grip on his arm. “Really, that red potion helped. My shoulder doesn’t even bother me that much!”

“Even so, we need to be careful.” Hyrule insisted, “I don’t want you out of commission because you pushed yourself for no reason.”

“I’m not pushing myself!” Wild protested, “I’m okay to travel, I promise! You can check me over, but I feel great. Look, even my balance is fine!”

“That’s not what I’m worried about! I don’t want to risk you having another-” 

The traveler’s words died suddenly in his throat, prompting him to abruptly shut his mouth. Wild looked at him with confusion. “Another what?” 

Hyrule seemed uncertain, sending a few panicked glances over to the others. Looking at them himself, Wild saw a variety of expressions. Worry, realization, guilt, fear. But none of them would look him in the eye.

“Hyrule. Another what?”

“Another seizure.” Time responded. Wild turned to the older hero in shock. “On the way to the spring, you had a seizure. I had lost my grip on you and you hit your head again on the ground. We had to stop and wait for it to be over because you couldn’t stop convulsing.”

“Why… didn’t you say anything” Wild asked quietly, anger threatening to seep its way into his voice. 

“I- uh, we- well…” Hyrule stammered, his voice small, “I don’t know, it- well...It didn’t really… come up.”

Wild’s face twisted into one of disbelief. “Never came up? What, were you afraid telling me would ‘break’ me more?” Shaking his head and turning away from the group, he began to gather his things. 

“I am not made of glass. I have quite literally gone through worse and survived. Within the last twenty-four hours, I’ve had healing from the spring, a potion, and you! Like hell am I going to sit here and twiddle my thumbs while some threat is out there, with no one stopping it, just because you think I’m not capable of pacing myself.” And with that, Wild stomped off to collect his bedroll. Though he didn’t look back, the sounds of gathering bags and stamping out the embers of the fire told him that they would, in fact, be leaving soon. 

Yet there was a small piece of him that felt guilty as the day’s travel began. What small semblance of ‘normal’ they had reclaimed had fallen back into hushed conversations, nervous glances, and a general air of discomfort that hung over everyone. Twilight led the way, a few paces ahead of everyone. Legend walked with Warriors and Wind, hanging at the back of the party, whispering quietly to one another. Hyrule silently stayed next to Sky, seemingly to keep an eye on his injuries. But this also meant that Wild could feel the traveler’s stare on his back from a couple yards in front of him. 

Time had fallen into step next to him, not saying anything. But to Wild’s surprise, his demeanor was not one of anger, frustration, or even discomfort. The older hero seemed completely unphased walking at his side. A few sheepish glances up at him later, and Wild couldn’t hold his silence.

“I know I-”

“You were right to be upset.” Without breaking stride, Time continued. “We should have told you that sooner. But you should know, none of us were trying to keep it from you. We all actually were distracted by everything that was happening.”

Wild scratched at the back of his neck in discomfort. “I guess so… It didn’t really change much. I’m not even sure why it made me so angry at that moment.”

Time nodded thoughtfully, “Well, once you do, please remember to talk to Hyrule. He still feels guilty about it, even after I reminded him that he didn’t actually do anything inherently wrong. It was an oversight by everyone.”

Wild hummed in agreement. A few minutes of silence later, he leaned over to Time, lowering his voice. “So this is Twilight’s home village?”

Time glanced down at Wild with mild surprise, but it quickly melted into realization as he sighed. “You should get more sleep, Wild.”

“Not my fault you were talking so loud.” 

Time shook his head in defeat. “Yes, this is. But I don’t think it’s that simple. I know that he left that village a while before he met us, but he never told me why. This is much more personal than it’s ever been for Twilight, that much is clear. He has shared some things with me, but has been much more closed off as of late.”

Wild nodded in agreement. “He’s barely even talked to me.” He murmured.

Time’s brow was furrowed with concern. “This definitely is going to be a challenge for him. I’m not sure what we’ll find when we get there, but I think Twilight will need us to be there for him, whether he realizes it or not.” 

Wild gave another small nod, then glanced forward at the hero in question. They did need to talk, and he wasn’t exactly one for patience. Wild began to pick up his pace until he was able to sidle up next to Twilight as they walked. After a few moments of quiet, he turned to his mentor.

“You look happy.” 

Twilight blinked at his protégé, taking a moment to register what he was saying to him before responding. “I’m fine.”

“Oh I know. You definitely look like it.” Wild said, rolling his eyes. “Come on, Twi. Give me a little credit.”

Twilight seemed to take a moment to think. “It’s complicated, Wild. Ordon Village is… a difficult place for me to go to. I’m not sure how else to phrase it.” Twilight fell silent after that, seemingly willing to leave the conversation there. Wild waited a few moments, hoping for more of an answer, but when none seemed to be coming, his patience ran out. 

“I’m not gonna lie to you, Twi,” Wild said slowly, “I kind of already heard some things. Last night. I really didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but you weren’t exactly the quietest-”

“Seriously Wild?"

“What? You were loud!” 

Twilight sighed, head in his hand. “So you already know why I’m distracted. Why even ask, then?”

“Because Twilight! I wanted to try to talk to you about it, and you aren’t letting me!” Wild stopped himself before his voice raised too loud, taking a breath to calm himself before continuing. “I care about you, Twilight. And I don’t want you to have to deal with this alone, because you don’t have to! It’s okay if you don’t want to tell me all of what happened, but at least be aware that you aren’t alone this time.”

“I… I know that, Wild. I know I’m not alone in this. It’s just… the force that is threatening this world again is not something to be trifled with. It is so much more dangerous than just the everyday monsters we fight.” His voice shook as he continued, his eyes downcast. “When I last faced it, so many people that I cared about had their lives put at risk. More than a few of them were hurt, and some nearly died. I don’t even know what I would do if it hurt any of you. I don’t know if I could fix it this time.”

Wild slowly nodded in understanding, thinking about his mentor’s words before responding. “Well, we’re all able to follow your lead. I don’t think any of us are going to take risks with this if it’s as dangerous as you say. At least, as long as you communicate that, and trust us to listen to you. But I also don’t think that you could stop any of us from wanting to help you if you tried.”

A sigh escaped him as Twilight hung his head, smiling. “You’re probably right there, Cub.”

“What’s Ordon Village like?” Wild asked, his genuine curiosity getting the better of him as he shifted the conversation. “You said it was small before, but kind of a village is it?”

“Mostly farming.” Twilight answered. “There’s a small pumpkin patch and some grains that the villagers harvest, but most of the trade they do is in goat milk. Ordon Ranch had about twenty goats or so when I was there last.”

“Did you like living there? It seems pretty out of the way.”

A soft smile tugged at the corners of Twilight’s mouth. “Oh, it was nice living there. I don’t think I could picture myself living in some big town. It wasn’t very exciting, but it was good. Taught me hard work.”

“If you liked it, then why did you leave?” Wild immediately regretted his words as a shadow crossed Twilight’s face. “Sorry, that was probably overstepping, wasn’t it? I-”

“No it’s alright, Cub.” His mentor sighed, turning to him as they walked. “You know as well as I, once you go on a journey like all of us have, you aren’t the same when it’s through. You can’t go back to the way things were. Believe me, I tried.” He shook his head as he continued. “It just... didn’t fit me anymore. I couldn’t pretend I hadn’t gone through the things that I had. That I hadn’t seen the things I had seen. I thought I just needed time, and that someday I could return to it. But ‘someday’ hasn’t happened yet. I don’t even know if it ever will…”

“Well we all can’t adventure our whole lives.” Wild pointed out. “That day might still come, Twi. You never know.” Twilight nodded wordlessly as they continued their trek. 

As they sank into silence, Wild began to look closer at the woods around them. While it wasn’t the same as the many forests that he had traveled through, mapped out, and lived in for most of his journeys, there was a similar feeling of comfort. A feeling of freedom that just came with any travel through the untamed wilderness. Birds chirped and warbled their calls to one another. Squirrels and small creatures scurried through the underbrush and up trees, gathering and storing their finds. Even the path they walked seemed to be halfway reclaimed by the forest’s reaching arms. Both branches and roots hung above and on it, not in a threatening manner, but in the natural way that a forest regrows what it has lost, and outlives the efforts of man. No matter where he went, Wild always found himself at home in the innate peacefulness of the untouched parts of the world. But just as he was beginning to lose himself in its beauty, Twilight’s voice snapped him out of his trance. 

“So. Daruk’s Protection, huh?” 

Blinking away his daydream, Wild was instead reminded of the hazy nightmare that had been slowly beginning to return to his memory since the morning. Small fragments kept circling in the back of his mind. 

Sky squinting blearily up at him. 

Sweat pouring down his face. 

Gigantic fists beating against the amber facets that surrounded him...

“Yeah, I think that part’s starting to come back to me.” He said, rubbing his shoulder.

Twilight looked over at him as he spoke. “What made you use it? I hadn’t ever actually seen it in practice before now.”

“I know. Not since Ganon…” Wild trailed off. He shook his head to clear his mind once more, thinking back to the fight. “To be completely honest, I didn’t know if it would work. I had thought that, since Ganon was defeated, the gifts would have faded as well. I didn’t need them anymore, or at least I didn’t think I did. I guess it was a last-ditch attempt at not dying that somehow worked.” 

Twilight stared at him for a few seconds, then shook his head with a chuckle. “Cub, you are going to give me gray hairs. I’m glad that it still works, but do you suppose that means the others work too, then?”

“I mean, I’d imagine so.” He mused. “I hope so. I don’t really have much to remember them by. Only a few out of context memories and their weapons, which I don’t really use because I don’t want them to break. Those abilities are honestly all I have left to remind me of what they were like. Though I suppose that's more than I have for some.” A spike of annoyance with his own mind for conjuring that secondary thought stabbed him in the stomach before he could stop himself from saying it. Wild gave a sigh as a repetitive frustration took hold of him once more.

“You know, I haven’t really thought about it all that much, but I don’t remember my childhood. I know that my father was apparently a knight, but nothing more than that. I know that I’m not the same person I was before I lost my memory, but I wish I had at least something. Something from when I was a kid.”

“You know, you’re still pretty young. You aren’t exactly done growing up yet.”

“I’m a hundred and seventeen years old.”

“You were asleep for most of that, Cub.”

“That’s not the point! I don’t even know where I lived, Twi! Hylia’s sake, how many times have I walked through the ruins of my Hyrule? How many times do you think I’ve stood in the ruins of my childhood home without even knowing it?”

“Don’t think like that, Cub.” Twilight said quietly. “You won’t gain anything from it. You couldn’t help the situation you were put in, no matter what you tell yourself. And besides, there is still time. Maybe someday those memories will come back to you.” A small smirk curled onto his face. “You know, a wise old man once gave me such an excellent piece of advice. And in his words, I’d remind you that, ‘You never know’.”

“Yeah yeah, okay you got me there.” Wild snorted as Twilight chuckled to himself. They both went silent for a few moments, before Wild broke the quiet once more. “You know, I don’t know if this was the case for me, but I think I would have liked to grow up in a place like this. Out in the woods, no major cities for miles. It’s just so nice and quiet out here...”

It was at that moment that the both of them realized it, looking at one another with alarm mirrored on each other’s faces. Stopping dead in their tracks, the pair looked around them, hearts beating faster and faster in their ears. 

“What’s wrong?” Legend asked, as the group halted by their side.

“Shhhhhh!” Wild and Twilight hissed in unison. Silently, Twilight looked around them. Wild strained to hear it. Any of it. But none caught his attention. Stomach sinking, he whispered to their companions.

“You hear that?” The others began to listen as well, confusion evident. 

“...No?” 

“Exactly.”

Wild saw the realization hit them all in unison. No birds. No chattering of squirrels. Hylia, even the wind seemed to have gone silent. It was like the whole forest was holding its breath. 

Turning to look at Twilight, dread slowly filled him as his mentor’s face was practically drained of blood. Before he could even think to try to stop him, Twilight bolted down the path with reckless abandon. A few cries of ‘Twi!’ and ‘Twilight, wait!’ followed him, but it really wasn’t surprising that none of them had an effect. So instead of wasting his breath, Wild darted after Twilight himself, trying his best to keep up with the only one in the group familiar with the terrain. 

Somehow, the forest was suddenly a lot less comforting to Wild. The lazily hanging branches now whipped him in the face as he ran by. Roots seemed to reach up on purpose to try to throw him to the ground. And all of it was accompanied by this foreign but total silence, completely devoid of life. But soon that forest gave way to tall stone walls on either side, leaving a claustrophobic path forward. A few moments more of sprinting ahead, and Wild was just about ready to stop to catch his breath and wait for the others, when he was forced to skid to a stop behind Twilight, who was stock still before him. He would have reached out to his mentor to try to talk to him, but that was not what immediately commanded his attention.

It was instead the fact that Twilight was silhouetted against a gigantic wall of pure darkness, runes etched in its surface with an orange glow, stretching up into the sky for as far as the eye could see, and completely blocking their path.

Chapter Text

“Twi? Twilight, look at me!” Wild shook his mentor’s shoulder with increasing panic. “What is this? What’s going on?” But despite his pleas, Twilight’s eyes stayed resolutely frozen on the wall before them, seemingly unresponsive to Wild. 

“I-I…” Twilight whispered, face colorless. “I don’t… i-it can’t…”

“Wild!” A shout came from behind them, with the rest of the group rushing down the narrow path to meet them. Gasps and whispers emitted from their cohorts as they took in the overwhelming sight before them. “What is this?” Hyrule murmured, slowly moving toward the darkness. 

Twilight’s eyes snapped to the traveler’s outstretched hand, and with the swiftness of a striking cobra, he snatched the arm away. “Don’t touch it!” He bellowed, yanking Hyrule from the wall. “Get back from it! Get BACK!” Wild nearly jumped out of his skin at the unfamiliar sound of Twilight raising his voice. It was almost disarming, seeing his mentor so panicked. The heroes stumbled to obey, still processing the shock of the moment as Twilight herded them away. 

Once everyone had backed up enough for Twilight’s comfort, Legend finally spoke up. “What is this, Twilight? What’s so dangerous about it?”

It took him a few shaking breaths to be able to respond to the question. “You remember Faron mentioning the ‘Twilight Realm’?” A few of them nodded in affirmation. “This… effect, I guess, comes from that realm. It’s the Twilight. It can cover entire areas at a time, shrouding everything within it.” 

Sky looked up into the sky at the unending barrier. “What does it do to you?” He turned to Twilight. “Is it like a poison?”

He knitted his brow in distracted thought as he clearly struggled to maintain his composure.

“Not exactly? I honestly don’t know exactly what it is, but what I do know is that if a person of the Light World touches it, they lose their physical body and become a spirit.” There were a few cries of alarm as well as several shuffles further away from the twilit barrier as Twilight continued. “But the worst part is that they wouldn’t even know. They’re just perpetually stuck as a spirit, terrified of an unseen evil, but helpless to stop it.”

“Well how do we get rid of it?” Wind said, hand on the hilt of his sword. “If you got rid of it before on your own, it should be a piece of cake with the nine of us!”

Twilight shook his head. “It’s not that simple, Wind. You have to-” He broke off, hands coming up to cover his face in the clear panic he was in. A few seconds later he quietly stammered out, “You have t-to go... in.” 

Warriors looked at Twilight in confusion. “Into the Twilight? How are we supposed to do that? You just said not to touch it. How do we do anything if we’re turned into spirits?”

Twilight hesitated visibly once more, stuttering over his words. “I don’t- I don’t know… I’m not…” 

“What do you mean, you ‘don’t know’? You did this before, so what’s the problem?” Warriors pressed, irritation beginning to grow in his voice. “What, did you lose your magic Twilight-repelling amulet or something?” 

“War...” Wild hissed, glaring at him. The captain looked to him, then glanced over to the farm hand once more. Twilight’s breaths had started to become more and more uneven, and he wasn’t looking anyone in the eye.

“I-I don’t… I mean I can’t… anymore.” Warriors' eyes narrowed as Twilight spoke. “I... had help from someone before, and… and they can’t help us anymore. I don’t know what to do.”

“What? You’ve got nothing?” Warriors said, accusingly once more. “Can’t you contact them or something? We’re in your Hyrule!”

‘She’s GONE!” Twilight snapped, hands dropping away from his face to ball into fists at his side. Warriors flinched back in surprise, only now seeing the tear tracks on Twilight’s face. “Sh… she can’t help us.” He whispered, quickly wiping the moisture away as he turned to face them all. “We’re on our own and I don’t have a way to safely travel through this! I don’t know what to do!” 

Time pushed past Warriors to put a hand on Twilight’s shoulder. “It’s okay, pup. Deep breaths. Look at me.” Slowly, his eyes met Time’s as he began to control his breathing once more. After a few moments of this, Time quietly continued. “There’s nothing you can think of? Maybe there’s a way around the wall.”

Twilight shook his head. “The Twilight usually covers a large area. This is just one wall of it. We have to get to the spring to figure out how to dispel it, and we have to cross the bridge to get over the ravine to reach it. I don’t know of any other bridges across. But even if we did have a way to protect ourselves, we don’t have a Twili to let us in. We can’t just enter by ourselves.” He took a deep breath, then furrowed his brow in thought. “And the only time I can think of that I was able to be within the Twilight as- well… on my own, was when I had the Master Sword. It does repel Twilight, but that wouldn’t work for nine of us. It only worked for myself.” 

“So what do we do?” Hyrule asked. “Camp here until we can come up with a plan?”

“Are you kidding? Next to the clearly evil wall of darkness?”

“Well obviously not right here! Just nearby.”

“But we have no way in. And camping isn’t going to change that.”

Quickly, the group began to dissolve once more into overlapping conversations. Wild refrained from joining in, and instead opted to survey their surroundings once more. He glanced up at the tall walls of rock surrounding them. Perhaps he could scale those. Maybe he could get a good vantage point and get a better view of what the situation was. Good. It felt too claustrophobic in this valley anyway. But as he moved to find the best climbing path, Wild briefly saw movement out of the corner of his eye. 

Sky had silently slipped away from the group a few paces, unnoticed by the others. Wild watched as he moved to stand before the wall. Slowly, with careful precision, he drew the Master Sword from its sheath, then held it out toward the darkness, almost challengingly. The two waited with bated breath, hoping for a reaction, but none came. The wall remained resolutely solid and in their path. But as Wild moved forward to better watch his experiment, Sky suddenly sat on the ground, cross legged and eyes closed. Wild stopped, watching transfixed as Sky arranged the sword on his lap and breathed deeply, all whilst sitting mere feet before the gigantic wall. 

A few moments of motionlessness passed, Sky sitting in solemn meditation and Wild awkwardly standing behind him a few paces. Suddenly, Wild’s eyes locked onto a faint glowing coming from Sky’s midsection. Moving to the front of the boy, he saw the Master Sword still on his lap, but now faintly pulsing with a light blue aura. A small chiming sound seemed to be emanating from it, almost beckoning him forward. A strange sensation began to wash over Wild, growing stronger with every peal of the bell. An urge to move closer. To See. Somehow, his hand was already outstretched before his mind even thought to command it to do so. The call was now so strong, it filled his senses almost entirely. But the moment his hand actually made contact, Wild’s vision suddenly went white. 

Flashes of images quickly burned themselves into his mind. Large chunks of rock floating in the air, bathed in an orange glow. A palace, formed from smooth, dark, stone walls. Creatures wearing familiar large masks milling about the space. Flecks of darkness floating through the air. The images seemed to move faster and faster, almost blurring together at this point. A giant, rune covered hand. Heavy fog crawling along the ground. Tiny tentacled creatures striking from the darkness. Soon the pictures were moving so quickly, he couldn’t focus anymore.  He wasn’t sure how long he watched the strange visions flash through his mind. They all seemed to bleed together. But then, without any warning, the scroll of images halted. Halted on a single depiction.

An orb. A white sphere surrounded in turquoise runes and emitting a clean white light. A flash of light, and Wild could see a hand holding the Master Sword, but it was now surrounded by this same bright light. The orange hue of the world around it seemed to shrink away at its touch. Masked figures shrank down to smaller, humanoid forms in its glow. 

The vision then began to fade. Wild felt his consciousness returning to himself, but just before it faded to black, the image seemed to change one last time. No longer was it a brightly lit Master Sword, trailing light energy from it. No, instead it was a blurred image. A small form moving across his vision. But just before it cut out, he caught a glimpse of something distinct. Vivid orange… was that hair? 

With a gasp, both Wild and Sky fell away from the sword, with Wild landing on his ass on the ground. The two of them locked eyes, and in that moment they both understood that they had each seen the same thing. There were shouts of alarm as they seemed to have been finally noticed by the others. Twilight rushed to Wild’s side, pulling him away. 

“What did you do? Are you alright?”

“Why is your sword out, Sky?”

“What’s that look on your face? Did you figure something out?”

“Did you touch it?!”

The two of them floundered as they were bombarded with questions. Quickly, Wild was pulled to his feet. Twilight gripped him tightly as he shook Wild’s shoulders. “What were you thinking?! I told you it was dangerous! Why wouldn’t you-”

“That’s not what we did, Twi!” Wild shouted. “We’re fine! Sky was… uh, I’m not sure what Sky was doing to be honest, but we saw something! It was like a vis-”

“Twilight!” Sky said, his voice uncharacteristically commanding. “Do you know of any kind of white orb that emits light?”

Twilight blinked, confused. “What do you mean? A white-”

“Yes! A white orb, about this big with blue runes on it.” Sky said quickly, holding his hands out to reference. “Do you remember ever encountering something like that?”

Twilight thought long and hard. “Was that… the Sols…? Oh yeah! Yeah, I know what you’re talking about! There were these orbs of power in the Twilight Realm called Sols. But wait, how do you know about them?”

Sky smiled, holding up the Master Sword. “She’s still got a few tricks, Twi. Not to mention a fantastic memory! Now come here!” He grabbed Twilight by the arm and dragged him forward. The others followed behind with a mixture of curiosity and confusion in their faces. 

Sky brought the Master Sword out once more, this time placing it in Twilight’s hand. “I’m not sure how knowing that will help, Sky.” He stammered, looking down on the blade. “The Sols are in the Twilight Realm. It’s not like I can go back there and get them…”

“You don’t need to.” Sky said calmly, hands on Twilight’s shoulders. “You’ve already done it. And like I said, She remembers.” He turned back to the group quickly. “And he needs to focus, so be quiet!” Wild looked back to the rest of them, their bewildered faces completely taken aback by the normally docile and laid back hero who was now completely taking charge. 

“Focus on what? What are you trying to do, Sky?” Twilight protested. “I’m not following what you want me to do at all.”

“Listen to me, Twilight.” Sky insisted. “She showed me what to do. I need you to close your eyes. I think this could work!”

“You think ?”

“Twilight!”

“Okay, okay!” He begrudgingly acquiesced and closed his eyes. Sky let go of his shoulders and the blade, leaving it solely in Twilight’s hand. 

“Now. I need you to picture the Sols in your mind.”

“Seriously?”

“ Twilight! ”

“Sorry! It just seems, I don't know, cliche?” He muttered.

Sky sighed. “Twilight, can you please trust me?” 

“Okay, okay fine… I’m picturing them now.” 

“Good. Now picture yourself placing both of them on those pedestals once again.” Twilight only nodded this time; his face pinched in concentration. “Remember what it felt like to hold the sword when it absorbed their power. Feel the ancient power of those Sols being fused with the blade you carry. Know that you hold the power to wield such magic.” 

As he spoke, Sky’s voice seemed to echo off of the stone surrounding them, doubling and reverberating with every new word. It was strangely hypnotic, listening to him speak. In fact, as he listened to Sky’s words, Wild began to feel as though he was being pulled once more into a trance. Looking around to the rest of the company, however, it seemed like he was not the only one feeling this effect this time. Eyes were half lidded, unfocused, and drawn to the words being spoken. Looking to Sky, he found the Skyloftian to curiously be bearing a similar expression as he spoke. And as he did, that faint blue energy from the Master Sword had begun to appear once more while Twilight held it, pulsing to the beat of his words. But before he could think much more on it, Wild found himself pulled back in, listening intently once more.

“Feel the warmth you felt from the light. Remember cutting away the twilight from around you. The Twilight that surrounded you, not bothering you. The Twili being returned to their natural states of being. Now feel the sword that you hold now. That blade remembers its wielders across all of time, along with the power that you gave it, which has laid dormant within it all this time. That power never left, and was never forgotten. Awaken that power, Twilight. You’re the one who remembers how.”

Suddenly, in unison, all of them felt the trance shatter. Wild blinked rapidly, clearing the fog from his mind before looking to Twilight and freezing in shock. Sky was doubled over, panting whilst holding his head, clearly reeling from whatever it was that he had just done. But what caught his eye was Twilight. A look of awe seemed to be overtaking any other emotions on his face as the hero held up the sword once more. The Master Sword, which was now bathed in a glowing, brilliant light.

The group immediately surged forward, gasps of shock and amazement directed at both Twilight and Sky. After many demanding questions, Sky could only respond with, “I’m not sure! I just followed what she told me- no I didn’t know that would happen! I didn’t know what would happen! No, I can’t do that to yours!” Whereas Twilight seemed to be transfixed still, staring at the blade.

“Hey!” Wild shouted, his voice lost in the cacophony. “Guys, hey!” No response amidst the clamoring. Sighing, he placed his hands before his mouth and gave a shrill whistle, bringing all conversation to a screeching halt. “Why don’t we see what this sword can do?” He said, gesturing to the wall. “I mean, weren’t we on a time crunch?” 

Twilight blinked, snapping himself out of a daze at Wild’s words, then wordlessly began to approach the intimidating wall. The group gathered behind him as Twilight stood his ground, moving the glowing blade to point to the darkness. Everyone held their breath as the small movement alone seemed to cause a ripple across its surface. 

Slowly, Twilight took a step forward. Gasps rang out as, at the center of the wall, the darkness was cut away, forming an arched entryway through it. Peering through, an old wooden bridge could be seen spanning a deep ravine, with particles of darkness floating around it in the open air. It, as well as the continued forest on the other side were completely bathed in a dull orange light. 

“Gather around, you guys.” Twilight whispered. “Stay close, and do not touch the Twilight”. Weapons were swiftly drawn as he began to advance into the darkness. The light of the sword pushed back the Twilight around them in a radius, giving them a medium sized bubble of safety. Advancing further, Wild heard breaths sucking in with minor fear as each of them crossed the line of the wall into the Twilight. Though they were protected, when it came his turn to do the same, Wild swore that the temperature immediately dropped a few degrees, and the air around him grew heavier. If they weren’t on edge before, everyone felt the tension rise even further when the wall sealed once more behind them. 

The world around them was a strange sight to behold. Dull oranges and yellows saturated everything. The sky was neither in darkness nor light. It was perpetually stuck in a dusk-like state. No sun. No moon. No clouds or stars. Just a hazy blank sky. For a moment, Wild felt as though another dizzy spell was hitting him, but no. Everything just looked out of focus. It was disorienting to look at, not to mention every subtle sound echoing so much louder than expected. Everyone seemed unnerved by their surroundings. Even Time’s eye was flitting back and forth on high alert. 

The light around them seemed to push away the Twilight in a clear barrier, surrounding them with a clean, bright aura of the World of Light, but it did little to assuage their unease. To Wild in particular, seeing the dome around them clearly marked felt almost more like a cage, keeping him trapped within its confines. He was so used to the open air of his Hyrule. The freedom to travel where and whenever he pleased. 

This felt stifling, like a prison. 

Slowly, the group began to cross the creaking bridge. There was no wind for it to sway in. Only the weight of nine sets of boots crossing it, causing it to groan and squeak with protest. Sounds echoed off of the canyon’s walls around them. Squeaks and yips of keese chittering to one another in the distance seemed to pervade the area. But everyone jumped at the sudden piercing screech of what sounded like a trumpet ripping through the air. “Shadow Kargaroks…” Twilight muttered. “It’s okay, I don’t see it near us.” But still he seemed to hurry his pace a bit, everyone quickly matching it to move off of the old bridge. 

Reaching solid ground once more, they found themselves surrounded by stone shelves and trees once more, similar to the makeup of Faron Woods. But this time, they found themselves ill at ease under this oppressive shroud of Twilight. 

“Twilight,” Wind whispered. “Did you really have to travel through all of this on your own?”

“A few times,” he murmured. “This used to cover almost all of Hyrule before I was able to clear it.”

“Hylia’s sake, Twi!” Four shook his head. “How did you not lose your mind doing that? This is… I can’t imagine doing this alone!”

“I wasn’t totally alone, I told you.” Twilight mumbled. “Don’t give me too much credit. I had help before. I probably would have lost it if I hadn’t.”

“ She helped you, right Twi?” Warriors mused. “Does She have a name?”

Abruptly, he was cut off by a gasp for breath as Legend’s elbow jabbed him in the gut. “Time and place, Wars!” He hissed. “Drop it, you idiot.” 

“Excuse me?!”

“Both of you!” Time said, sharply. “Knock it off. We are not in a place to have an argument right now. Table it.” The two of them shrank back a little, the reprimand shutting their mouths for the time being. Wind turned back to Twilight. “So how do we get rid of this? Do we have to take out the source or something?”

“Sort of. We need to get to the Light Spirit of this area. They will have answers for us. That is…” Twilight’s face twisted with worry. “That is assuming they have the energy still to communicate. The Light Spirits are the ones who protect areas from getting taken over. We will probably have to restore their power, which was likely stolen if Twilight was able to consume this place.”

“Stolen?”

“Guys.” Wild whispered suddenly, stopping. Conversation halted as they turned to face him. “Do you hear that?”

Listening to the sounds around them at first proved difficult, given the reverberating echo that surrounded everything, but as they had been walking, Wild could have sworn that he could  hear something irregular. Then during the others’ conversation, it seemed to grow more distinct. A low, mournful wail was beginning to slowly fill the air, growing louder and louder with every step they took. 

“What is that sound?” He asked, gripping the royal bow that he had in his hand tighter.

A shadow crossed Twilight’s face. “Ordona…” He breathed.

Wind perked up. “The spirit?”

Twilight nodded, eyes closed. “They’re crying.” he said quietly. There was a brief pause as everyone digested that fact before Twilight took a deep breath. “That means they’re close. Come on. Let’s not waste time.” 

Quickly, the heroes surged forward once more into the woods. No one wasted time with conversation any longer. All that could be heard now was their own footfalls, panting breaths, and that haunting crying that seemed to grow with each passing moment, hitting each of them in the very core of their souls with a feeling of melancholy and grief.

Chapter Text

The world was a blur around him as Twilight felt his vision focusing solely on the road ahead of them. With every step, despite himself, he heard a mental chant in his mind over and over. 

Please be alive. Please be alive. Hylia, please let them all be alive…  

It took effort not to let his mind wander further down that train of thought to what lay beyond Ordona’s spring. It took effort not to think about who was okay, who might have been hurt, and who was even still there. How long had it been since he had left, he wondered? Had they been angry? He hadn’t left any note or reasoning behind. Or conversely, maybe they didn’t care. What if they had forgotten him? Life had to have carried on without him there, and it wasn’t like he played a major role in their lives. What if they had just moved on without him and didn’t look back? What if…

Twilight shook his head to pull himself back. Sighing, he closed his eyes and pushed the thoughts away. Effort, he reminded himself. It took effort not to go down that path. Instead, he refocused his attention on the actual path before him. 

The melodic lamenting of Ordona had only grown in intensity, and it hung in the air around them as the group pressed onward. Following the beaten path through this forest, most of the group hesitated upon eventually reaching a crossroads. But without breaking stride, Twilight motioned them forward to the right branch. “This way.” He called. “Hurry!” 

Quickly, the party scrambled to follow him whilst still staying within the radius of the glowing Master Sword. Soon the sounds of bubbling water were reverberating in the space around them as the group burst into the clearing of Ordona Spring. 

All at once, the mournful cry that had been their beacon thus far fell silent, leaving them in an uneasy silence. Slowly, quietly, Twilight moved further into the spring. 

As he advanced forward, memories of childhood swirled in Twilight’s mind, much like the water around his ankles. Very little seemed to have changed since those days. The rock walls were as he remembered them, engraved subtly with runic symbols. The waterfalls fell in the same places on the stone shelves. Even the small horse grass plants were still where they had been all that time ago when he would play them for Illia and Epona. Twilight grimaced as he realized how much more effort it now took now to remain focused. Thinking of Illia… well that complicated things so much more, didn’t it? He sucked in a breath as he quickly stopped that train of thought from going too far. He couldn’t afford to think like that. Not now. 

“Is this it, Twi?” Wild asked, voice hushed. “Is this the spring?” 

“Yeah.” Twilight said slowly, nodding in response. “This is definitely it.”

“Well where is it?” Legend muttered. “Where’s Wind’s monkey?”

“It’s not a monkey! Or a fairy, either! Shut up!”

“Shhh!” Time hissed. He turned to Twilight. “Are they here, Twilight? Or are they hiding?”

Suddenly, a low humming began to emerge from an unseen source, abruptly silencing their hushed conversation when everyone started to feel a slight vibration in the air around them. Twilight looked to Time. “Don’t worry. They’re here.”

The humming seemed to pulse even stronger for a moment, each of them feeling it in their chests. But its intensity fluctuated, waxing and waning unevenly. Then, as if whispering in his ear, Twilight heard a faint voice. 

“…This way… Hero...” it gasped, “…Time… grows short...” A quick look to the others clearly told him that they had heard the same message. Wordlessly, they moved together as a group, walking toward the rock shelf at the far end of the spring. And as they did, a dull light began to slowly appear in the air before them. 

A small, weak ball of light began to coalesce, hanging in the space above them. Thin, faded tendrils of sickly light seemed to curl around it, as if in a feeble attempt at defense. The main body of light flickered and wavered in tune with the uneven humming that was still pervading the space. When it spoke, practically every word filled each of them with an aching sadness without name, its grief effortlessly overpowering their own emotions.

“…Hero… of Twilight… your work…is not done… A breach… has been made…” Twilight’s grip on the gently glowing blade tightened as the Voice continued its mournful, reverberating message, “…This land… has been plunged into Twilight… Please… You must… restore it… Find… my light... Time… is running out...”

The silty ground at Twilight’s feet began to vaguely shift. Stepping away, he watched as a thin, golden stem began to shoot up from the spring, its delicate tendrils wrapping themselves around the small pearly droplets of water that still clung to it, as if they had solidified into glass beads. Twilight had to fight to repress a sigh as the newly grown Vessel of Light severed itself from the ground to float up to his open hand. 

“…You know…what to do… I trust…” the Voice echoed, its voice and that low humming beginning to fade away into nothing, “… I…have faith…Hero…”

The faint glow wavered, struggling to maintain itself, before eventually dying away as well, leaving them alone once more in the spring with nothing but the sound of water. 

“What is that?” Four asked, looking closely at the small plant in Twilight’s grasp.

“‘You know what to do’?” Legend muttered, “Had to go vague with it, didn’t they?”

“Well do you know what to do, Twi?” Wild asked, “They didn’t give us much to go off of.”

“Yeah, I… I know what to do.” Twilight murmured. “They gave us a Vessel of Light. That tells me everything I needed to know.” 

“What do we do with it?” Wind questioned. “I mean, it’s really pretty, yeah, but does it do anything?”

“Well, the Vessel itself doesn’t do a lot.” Twilight responded. “But it’s in the name. It is a ‘vessel’ for fragments of ‘light’. The Light Spirit here had its light stolen and scattered across the region.”

“So we have to find… light?” Warriors asked, confused. “Still seems pretty vague.”

“Tears of Light, actually.” He responded. In the corner of his eye, Twilight saw Sky, who already seemed intrigued by this conversation, perk up even more. “They were likely stolen by Shadow Insects and are being held by them. We have to find the insects and kill them to regain the tears, which are stored in the vessel.”

Four nodded. “Okay. Bugs shouldn’t be an issue. I mean, they can’t be that difficult, right?” Sounds of agreement, as well as a few chuckles emanated from the group.

Twilight sighed, a small smile on his face. “Well yes, they would be, except for a few caveats.”

“Oh, come on!” Wind whined. “Can’t it just be easy for once?”

“Well first off, they are creatures of the Twilight, so they can actually hurt you. And take it from me, their bites sting like hell. So, avoid that.” Twilight thought some more before continuing. “There are a few that have lightning that they can shock you with if you get too close. Most likely, they’ll just try to run away, but they may try to defend themselves with it.”

“Oh.” Wind mused. “Well that’s not that bad. I mean, we’ve definitely faced worse.”

“You’re not wrong, sailor.” Twilight laughed, “But the purpose of the insects themselves isn’t to hurt us. They are to annoy us, and waste time. They aren’t the only creatures out there. There’s plenty of monsters that have been transformed by the Twilight to be even nastier. They’ll be coming after us for certain.” The heroes nodded, determination in their faces.

“Sounds straightforward.” Warriors said, “We just have to remember not to let our guards down.”

“But there is one other major problem that we’re going to have to deal with.” Twilight admitted. “The insects… are not visible to the naked eye.”

“What?!” Legend groaned. “Then how are we supposed to find them? Wait, how did you find them before?”

Twilight shifted uncomfortably. “They, um… well they do leave lightning trails behind them. It’s this weird purple lightning. But you still kind of have to guess a bit. And get lucky.”

Warriors narrowed his eyes. “But you said not all of them have lightning.”

His mind raced to come up with an explanation, but none were coming to him. All he could stutter out was, “Like I said I, uh… got lucky.” But before Warriors could open his mouth to press him further, Time thankfully came to the rescue. 

“It’s alright. I think I have something that could help us in this situation.” Everyone looked to the older hero as he dug in his bag and withdrew what looked like a strangely colored magnifying glass. The handle and metal of the object were a deep violet color, and the lens itself seemed to be of a similar hued glass. At least, except for the red slit of glass in the center of the lens, shaped almost like a cat’s eye. Three red spikes protruded off of the top of the frame, giving the whole item the look of a staring eye. “This is the Lens of Truth.” Time said. “It’s supposed to reveal hidden objects and creatures. I don’t know if it would work on these creatures, but we can always try.”

“Well it’s definitely better than nothing.” Legend smirked. “Let’s try it.” Twilight nodded in agreement, shaking off the fear that had briefly gripped him. “Sounds good. But remember, you have to stay within the radius of this sword. We can’t get into too big of a fight, or we might risk someone falling or being pushed out. Be careful and be quiet.” 

And with that, he began to advance out of the spring, the others following behind. The path was clear, but Twilight elected to move slower this time. They could not afford to miss anything or make mistakes. Time walked toward the front of the group, thoroughly scanning their surroundings through the Lens of Truth. As they ventured onward, everyone remained huddled together, weapons drawn and on high alert. 

Eventually they emerged out of the narrow forest path and into a clearing. Twilight sucked in a breath as he recognized the familiar tree house. Looking around, he couldn’t help but smile to see those old targets and that scarecrow dummy still stood where they had, albeit weathered and older. Twilight didn’t realize he had stopped until the others came to gather around him.

“Is this something?” Hyrule asked, hushed. Twilight shook his head. “No… I was just, uh, getting my bearings. It’s been a while.”

“Wait.” Time murmured, holding up the lens. “Is that…?” He motioned for Twilight to look through. Squinting, he could see what the older man was pointing out. There, on the side of his old home, was a fat, shadowy insect. Sighing, he nodded to Time. The others crowded around to try to get a good look through the glass, a few making sounds of disgust. 

“How do we approach this, Twi?” Time asked, taking the lens back from Sky. “Do we just shoot it from here? Your call.”

Twilight glanced at the glowing sword and gauged its radius. “I think you all will still be okay if I go up there. It’s not uncommon for them to be in pairs.”

“I’ll go with you.” Wild piped up. Before Hyrule could open his mouth, he cut him off. “I’ll be okay. It’s a bug, for Hylia’s sake.” And without another word, Wild reached over and took the Lens of Truth before anyone else could complain.

The two of them quietly began to climb the short ladder that stood between them and the front of the house. Twilight pulled himself up with practiced ease, doing his best to ignore the dust that came off on his fingers. Looking to Wild, he readied his sword to strike. His cub peered through the glass where they had looked before, then froze. “It’s not there anymore.” He whispered before rapidly looking around. Twilight readjusted his grip on the shining Master Sword, waiting for Wild to call it out. But when his protégé moved the magnifying glass to point in his direction, only for his eyes to widen dramatically, it felt like everything came to a sudden stop. 

Maybe it was just his instincts as a swordsman, or a gut feeling. Or just maybe it was from the long stretches of time that he had spent racing through the forests on four legs, relying on his enhanced senses to show him the way. Twilight wasn’t certain what it was that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, but his sword arm moved without bothering to find the answer first. The question didn’t even fully register in his brain before he felt a familiar feeling of the Master Sword making purchase. 

A small crackling of purple electricity sparked weakly at the end of the blade as Wild gave a small yelp of surprise. He brought the Lens of Truth up just in time to see a large bug impaled on the point of the Master Sword before its form shriveled and burst into a cloud of black smoke. Then, from the dissipating remains rose a bright blue tear of water that hovered in the air. Wordlessly, Twilight raised the Vessel of Light to the Tear, ushering it into one of the crystalline beads. 

Wild looked down at the now gently glowing plant, so transfixed that he almost missed the sound of crackling electricity coming from within the house. Swiftly, Twilight snatched the Lens from Wild’s hand before kicking the door open and scanning the interior through its gaze. 

Sparks skittered across the old wooden floors before Twilight was able to bring the glass to focus on its movement. Its magic revealed to the two of them the form of another fat bug scurrying up a small bookshelf, knocking books and objects off in its frenzy. But before he could act upon the urge to move further into this empty house, Twilight stopped himself. Glancing back at the blazing sword in his hand, his heart leapt to his throat when he realized just how little of the radius was left on the ground below them. He could see the rest of the party nervously backing away from the visible edge of the barrier with every step forward he took. He stood, frozen with uncertainty as to how far he could travel before his friends were exposed to the merciless Twilight, and unable to act on what only he could see. But as he was quickly reminded, he was not the only one with keen senses.

The speed that Wild had drawn a bow, nocked an arrow, and locked onto an invisible target did give Twilight a sudden rush of pride. The arrow tore through the air with a sharp whistle, hitting its mark with a disgusting squelching sound. The silhouette of the creature began to appear as it withered into a dark husk, curled around the shaft. A burst of darkness, and Twilight was giving Wild the Vessel of Light to go and collect their second tear. 

The two of them dropped off of the ledge to rejoin their companions. “Were you successful?” Time asked. Twilight handed him his Lens as Wild held up the vessel, showing them the two blue motes of light. Legend examined them briefly before turning once more to Twilight. “Where now? I’m assuming we have to fill this thing, so where else can we find some?” 

“Hey look!” Wind yelled suddenly, pointing behind them all. As they turned to see, an unseen source of a spark of electricity skittered about on the ground behind them. “They’re practically handing those tears over!” Wind crowed. “Get it!”

The youngest hero took off running after the trail of lightning, with the others scrambling to follow and keep Wind within the safety of the Master Sword’s glow. It darted down the path once more, with the heroes in hot pursuit. Out of the corner of his eye, Twilight saw Hyrule draw his own bow and release an arrow. It landed just short of the invisible creature with a thud in the dirt. Suddenly, the sparking trail came to an abrupt stop. Wind skidded to a halt just in time to see a small cloud of dirt be thrown in the air and the electricity to disappear. 

“Where’d it go?” He said, confused. “What did it do, teleport?”

“Damn it.” Twilight groaned “I forgot about them burrowing!”

“Seriously, Twi?” Legend grumbled. “Well, now what do we do?”

“Wait, you guys.” Time interrupted. His Lens of Truth was still focused where the trail had ended. “I can still see it. It’s underground, but I can still- Wait no, now it’s moving! Hurry!”

Once more, they began to rush ahead, but now completely blind to their quarry, save for Time. The winding path carried them forward, following the insect all the way along it until the road opened into that familiar village in the valley. 

Twilight couldn’t help but noticeably sucking in a breath upon seeing his old home now shrouded in Twilight. The trees appeared to sag with the weight of the darkness, their branches barren and outstretched like skeletal hands. The small brook that flowed through the houses seemed to move like molasses, slowly burbling along its path. Shadow Keese circled above at a distance, their shrieks echoing across the space endlessly. Twilight had to fight to keep his horror internalized, having already momentarily failed. But if the others picked up on it, no one commented. 

Instead, their attention was focused on Time, who still had the Shadow Insect in his sights. He kept leading the group forward for a few more paces past Twilight, just in time for everyone to see another small puff of dirt in the air next to a small cat flap on the nearest house. The flap was briefly pushed open by an invisible hand before swinging shut once more, the crackle of electricity catching their ears as it did. Hands on weapons, the party slowly advanced to the door of the pink-roofed house. But they all jumped upon hearing a loud crash from within. 

Throwing the door open, Twilight rushed ahead while brandishing the brightly lit Master Sword. Electricity burned along the ground amidst shards of broken pottery. But before he could stick it, a large sword fell with a thud onto where the invisible creature was likely scurrying. The Biggoron Sword had sunk into the wooden floor a few inches after the now visible and clearly bisected insect had been hit. As it burst into particles, relinquishing its tear into the vessel, now secured onto Twilight’s hip, Time and his protégé both looked up, stunned to see two trembling forms behind the counter of a shop, before them. 

There was a larger woman with short brown hair tied up into buns on her head. Her roots were graying, and her face was starting to wrinkle with age. But that didn’t stop Twilight from recognizing both her and her daughter, who was crouching near her. She definitely was older now. Her dirty blonde hair had grown from chin length to reaching down to her ribs. Twilight watched a teenage Beth hold her mother, Sera, as the two of them shook with fear. Their forms were the teal blue color of the spirits that they had become in the twilight, but confusion still tickled at his mind. How could they see them? He usually needed his wolf senses, though his eyes trailed down to the undulating light of the Master Sword in his hand, so he quickly figured that he didn’t need to voice his confusions. Soon, however, a warped voice snapped him out of his thoughts.

“Mama. I think it stopped. Whatever it was stopped!” Beth whispered. Sera shook her head in response. “No, Beth! The door! Something opened it, right? There must be something still in here with us!”

“It’s alright.” Time said calmly. “We’re here to help you. I promise we-”

“Where’s Dad? What happened to him?” Beth sobbed. “Is he-?”

“Hush now, sweetie.” Sera murmured, hugging her daughter close. “It’ll be okay. I’ve got you.”

The two of them clung to one another even tighter. Time looked to Twilight, confused. “What’s going on? They can’t hear me?”

“No,” Twilight sighed. “They’re only spirits right now. They can’t see anyone not affected by the Twilight in the same way. So definitely not us.” 

Time nodded in understanding. “Do you recognize them?” Twilight looked away almost immediately. “We need to keep moving.” he muttered, pushing past his mentor. “We’re wasting time.” Twilight tried his best, but failed not looking back just in time to see Beth and Sera fade back into indistinct wisps as they fell out of the radius of the sword.

Reconvening with the others outside, Twilight looked around carefully at their surroundings as he addressed them. “We still have a lot left to find. Stay on your toes.”

Slowly, the group began to progress through the town. Time had his magnifying glass outstretched like a cartoonish detective. Wild, Sky, and Legend all had their bows ready, arrows already nocked. Wind, Warriors, Hyrule and Four had their swords drawn and their heads on a swivel, on the lookout for signs of Shadow Insects or any other beasts attempting to get closer to their sphere of protection. Glancing down at the Vessel on his hip, Twilight counted the three tears they had already found, with nine left to collect.

There was one with the bug that nearly zapped Warriors in the toe as it dashed from the edge of the small river to try to hide under the bridge. Twilight ushered the tear to him after a well-placed arrow by Legend, with Time’s direction, pinned it to the old wood of the supports. Two more insects almost immediately scurried out from under the bridge, their lightning flashing brightly as their hiding place was disturbed, and took to the air. They gained another tear when Wind was able to slice off what turned out to be a wing of one as it flew too close, allowing him to finish it off quickly. However, the other quickly zipped away from them further into the village. 

Giving chase, they were brought to the old water wheel, which still sluggishly turned in the current. It was a well spotted direction from Four as he looked through the lens that found one of the insects, very well hidden within the crossing wooden beams. Everyone’s eyes turned to Wild as they all individually concluded the skill needed in order to make that shot. And Twilight’s count ticked up to six as his cub caught the bug dead center, embedding the shaft into the wall of the building behind it. Though he couldn’t help but feel bad for Jaggle. Arrow holes probably wouldn’t look very good on his house, and he’s probably going to be the one to fix it. That is assuming… no. Twilight stopped himself once more from following that train of thought.

Luckily, a distraction quickly presented itself to snap him out of it. Four suddenly gave a yelp of pain as a large, invisible, flying bug had found an opening to land on his shoulder and give the smith a surprisingly powerful jolt. The Four Sword clattered to the ground as he clutched his arm, shaking off his assailant. Warriors stepped forward with a cry, his sword thrusting forward blindly. Four ducked with a yell of indignation, hands coming up to cover his head from the haphazard swinging going on above him. “Get down!” Hyrule bellowed, his hands and blade glowing a vivid orange. Twilight felt the hot air blow against his face as three comets of fire hurled themselves from his sword, and while one definitely made purchase with an invisible creature above Four’s head, the smell of singed hair definitely began to radiate in the space as well. Warriors’ left eye twitched as he straightened up once more with scorch marks decorating his nose and brow. 

Eventually, Time was able to break up the fight that inevitably erupted between Warriors and Hyrule, and Four was able to brush off any concerns for his arm. At least, until he was able to snatch the Lens of Truth and stab an insect that was lurking within the small pumpkin patch on his own. Once he’d handed the item back to Time and the tear was collected, no one bothered him about it after that. 

They continued to circle around the village, squinting their eyes and straining their ears for anything. Hyrule did nearly get slashed in the foot when another bug pushed out of the ground below him and Wind noticed its dust cloud. But after a few apologies and reminders to Wind to ‘look before stabbing, dammit’, Twilight was able to collect the tear. But the luck that they had started with seemed to be waning. 

They had walked around the circumference of the small valley more than once, and appeared to be spotting fewer and fewer with each pass. The inability to split up was starting to get to a few of them, that much was clear. Grips on weapons were shifted anxiously. Eyes flitted back and forth. Curses were muttered more and more, with less and less care as to whether anyone heard or not. 

“I don’t see any.” Time whispered, sensing the tension growing “Do we need more, Twi?”

 “Yeah. Three.” Twilight muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Are you sure you don’t see any more?” The older hero shook his head. 

“Is this the only place they could be? Just in this village? Maybe they’re in the woods somewhere.” A chorus of groans were let out at that prospect, as well as a few facepalms. But Twilight furrowed his brow in thought for a moment before realization dawning on his face. “Wait. I think I know of a place they might be.” He surged forward, beckoning the group to follow him down the path. “This way. Come on!” 

The party hurried through the village, to the southern end. Crossing the bridge, they made their way to a path leading up a hill behind the village proper. Twilight couldn’t help but glance up at the  old wooden arch that still stood over the entrance, the faded words “Ordon Ranch” still legible, even after all this time.

As they crested the hill, a low roofed barn could be seen sitting at the top past the rickety gate. A flat, open field encompassed the ranch, with what looked like a few dozen small, teal, gently floating orbs milling about the plain. Twilight could have sworn that he heard Wild suck in a breath upon seeing this scene, but he wasn’t certain why. 

Time held up his glass to peer through, then looked over to Twilight with confusion. “Goats?” He asked, eyebrow raised. Twilight nodded. “Yup. Ordon goats. See anything else?” There were a few seconds of silence before Time’s response. “I think I saw a person. They just ran into that barn.” Quietly, he motioned for them to follow. They crept to the building, everyone on alert for any movement, before peeking around the corner of the door. Raising the Lens of Truth once more, Time did a quick scan before stopping while looking at the back left corner. 

“Two of them.” He whispered. “One on the wall below the crossbeam. And one on the floor by the last pen on the left.” Silently, without needing a signal, Wild and Legend crept forward. The two took aim, glancing occasionally through the lens to line up their shots. Everyone held their breath as the two released their arrows. 

Two different sounds echoed around them. One was a satisfying squelch that they had come to recognize as a direct hit on these odd bugs. But the other was definitely that of an arrow hitting dirt. Wild’s arrow was buried in the wall, cleanly pinning the insect before it burst. Legend’s, however, was a few inches to the right, as evidenced by the angry lightning that was coming from their target. But before anyone could charge forward to try to attack the invisible foe, a hiss of an arrow cut them all off. A third shaft silenced the electrical discharge, leaving the bug curled on the ground before it surrendered its tear as well. Turning around revealed Sky, lowering his bow with a sheepish grin. 

As the group shared a laugh, Sky receiving a few congratulatory pats on the back, Twilight advanced into the barn further to collect the tears. But as he did, the remaining wisps of spirits began to take form. A few goats were in their pens, slowly chewing as though nothing had changed since the last time he’d seen them. But his attention was instead drawn to the cowering man in the corner. 

Fado hadn’t changed much. Perhaps he had a bit more facial hair than he’d last seen him, but his clothes were almost exactly the same. He was breathing quickly, panicked as he looked around him, unseeing. “H-h-hello?” He whispered, voice wavering. “I-is someone, uh, o-o-out there? P-please d-d-do- oh goddesses… please d-don’t kill m-me.” Twilight closed his eyes, a lump in his throat. There was nothing he could do right now. He knew that. So why was he feeling so… guilty?

Rejoining his companions as he wrestled yet again with his inner monologue, Twilight pulled out the vessel. Eleven gleaming blue orbs reflected up at them, giving hope that this leg of the journey may nearly be over. But one remained stubbornly clear. Glancing around them, Twilight looked once more to Time. “One last pass, you think?” Time frowned at the empty field before responding. “You think it’s out here? There’s not that many hiding places, you know.” 

“Yeah, I know. I know.” Twilight muttered. “I’m just running out of ideas here.”

“Uuuuuuughh,” Wind groaned behind them, repeatedly bumping his head against the barn wall. “This is sooooo tedious.”

“Get a grip, sailor.” Legend snapped. "This isn't some game. This is life or death, so suck it up and help!"

“Okay!” Time said loudly. “Let’s get this done before anyone gets maimed. Let’s go.” Motioning for them to follow him into the field, they began to comb the area. Oh. So. Slowly. Twilight heard a few colorful names being hissed under their breaths as the heroes pushed on. Wherever they walked, the goats nearby solidified once more into their regular forms. They seemed strangely unbothered by their current state, content to graze in the pasture. Wherever the group went, they would naturally meander away from them a bit, but not too far. Maybe it was because Twilight was looking at them to see these things that he noticed one goat that was standing a bit on its own. Particularly a flash of purple light that seemed to come from under it. 

“Hey, Time. Let me see it.” He whispered, stopping in his tracks with his hand outstretched. Wordlessly, Time passed the magnifying glass to the farmhand who then crouched low to the ground. Focusing the Lens’ gaze, Twilight fought back a sigh upon seeing their last insect clinging upside down to a large Ordon Goat. “You’ve gotta be kidding me.” He grumbled.

Quietly, Twilight pointed out the bug to the group. Wild shook his head after peering through the lens. “There’s no way that’s a clean shot. I could try, but it’s invisible, has cover, and could just crawl to the other side of it without me knowing right away. It’s more likely that I’ll just kill the goat and then we might lose it.”

“Or the goat just gets pissed.” Twilight mused. “They’re pretty hearty, and you might just get charged if you anger it.”

“Wait,” Legend interjected. “Aren’t they spirits? Do they even have… you know, mass?” Twilight chuckled. “Oh they definitely do. Castle Town was pretty hard to maneuver when no one could see me. I couldn’t tell you how many people bumped into me and freaked out.”

“So what do we do?” Hyrule asked. “Do we trap it or something?” Twilight thought for a moment. “I mean, if someone grabs it by the horns to stop it, we might be able to get the bug off of it. It’s a bit tricky for me to do it one handed, so someone else will have to.” Wind looked at him confused. “I mean… why not just put the sword away?” Twilight grimaced at the thought. “I don’t think I want to take that chance, Wind. I have no idea how this works, or whether it will still protect us when I’m not holding it.” He shook his head. “I’m not about to take that chance.”

Hyrule stepped forward, readjusting his Power Bracelet. “I can do it. It shouldn’t be too much trouble.” But Twilight stopped him before he could get closer to the animal. “You have to be careful, ‘Rule. You need to grab it right, otherwise you might just end up hurting the goat. Or yourself for that matter.” He pulled Hyrule to the side. “No, you have to grab it at the thickest part of the horn, otherwise it might break from the force, and it’ll just barrel into you. Plant your feet, and keep it from pushing you back too far, or you’ll lose your balance.”

“Plant my- wait what?”

Twilight beckoned them forward to the goat. “I need you guys to herd it toward Hyrule. And one of you needs to scare it or something so it’ll run in the right direction.” Wild perked up at these words. “Oh I can do that.” He grinned, moving to creep behind the goat. Twilight turned to the rest of them. “Okay. I just need you guys to keep it from going in a different direction. And be ready if that bug bails and tries to fly away.” Time nodded, one hand on his sword, the other holding the Lens out once more. “I’ve got it, Pup.” 

“Wait a minute, Twi! What am I even doing?” Hyrule interjected. “Why is it running at me?! Why can’t I just hold it still?” Twilight put a hand on his shoulder in reassurance. “Don’t worry. We just need to make sure that the goat doesn’t move unpredictably. If it’s in a charge, it’ll go that same direction without fail. But if you just walk up to it and try to wrestle it, because it will wrestle you, it could go anywhere and give the insect a chance to get away. What you need to do is to stop it in its tracks and push it on its side to give us an opening. Can you do that?” Hyrule hesitated for a moment, now fully realizing what job he had signed himself up for, then let out an exasperated sigh as a small smile found its way onto his face. “I can give it my best shot, Twilight. But I will go on the record saying that this still seems like a bad idea.” And with that, the traveler crept away to position himself in front of the oblivious goat.

Chuckling, Twilight crouched down himself, moving to his own position toward the middle to make sure everyone had plenty of room between them and the edge of the barrier. Looking around, he spotted Hyrule in front of the creature, nervously eyeing it up and down before taking a breath and readying himself. Seeing everyone in their places, he caught Wild’s eye and gave a nod. His protégé moved up behind the creature and gave it a sharp slap on the hindquarters, causing the goat to give a squeal of fear. 

Hyrule’s bracelets flared with energy as his hands made contact with the beast’s horns. He skidded back a few feet from the impact, grunting as its head slammed into his chest, before throwing his own enhanced strength against it and skidding to a stop. Hyrule let out a shout from the exertion before yanking the goat to the ground onto its side. Victory cries soon followed, but Twilight dashed forward, knowing the job wasn’t done yet. Purple lightning jolted off of the belly of the poor goat, quickly leaping up to meet Hyrule’s face. But before it could make any contact, the Master Sword sang in the air. Two perfectly cut halves of the Shadow Insect briefly solidified into existence before dissolving into nothing. 

Shouts of victory shot up from around them as the heroes clapped one another on the back and celebrated. The final tear hovered above Twilight’s palm for a moment before taking its place with the rest. Hyrule grunted as Wind jumped onto his back, whooping at their success. The two of them rolled on the ground in a wrestle before accidentally catching Twilight in the back of the knee. Landing hard on the two, Twilight couldn’t help but join in, swiftly catching Wind in a headlock. The three of them eventually ended in a pile, laughing and wincing as they grappled with one another. But all of them froze when they simultaneously noticed a growing light emanating from Twilight’s hip. Holding up the now filled Vessel of Light, they all began to hear a high-pitched ringing sound coming from it as the plant seemed to curl up on itself. The light that had begun to glow was now slowly becoming an almost blinding source of light in its own right. 

“Guys!” Wind squealed, partly in Twilight’s ear as he was still on the older hero’s back. “Come look! Come look!” The others quickly crowded around as the three of them were able to finally disentangle themselves from each other. Wild was pulling Hyrule to standing and pushing an Energizing Elixer into his hands as the Traveler was clapped on the back by his brothers. Everyone was talking at once, excited and confused, but Twilight absorbed none of it. He just was breathing a sigh of relief. They had done it. Time pulled him to his feet, a small smile on his face. “What do we do now, Twi? Do we bring this to Ordona?” Twilight nodded. “This should revive them and get rid of the twilight in this area.” The two of them looked back at the others, still absorbed in their animated discussions, and shared a small chuckle as they stood leaning against a fence in a comfortable silence. 

Perhaps that was why the hairs on the back of Twilight’s neck stood up before anyone else's. 

Glancing back at the entrance of the ranch, Twilight saw a lone figure scrambling up the path. A small creature that was clutching something in its hand. As it came closer, he was able to recognize the Twilight-warped shape of a bokoblin. The object it held was out of his view, but he very quickly realized what it was upon its use. A wailing song blared over the boys’ voices as the bokoblin brought the Hawk Grass to its lips. Before it could fully lower the grass from its mouth, however, an arrow was lodged in its throat. 

Time lowered his bow as the creature fell to the ground with a gurgle, then replaced it with his Biggoron Sword.

“Guys!” Twilight shouted to gain their attention. Swords and bows were rapidly drawn in response, and everyone began to spread out before suddenly remembering the barrier they were still confined to. Twilight searched the skies as the group waited. And waited.

Legend leaned over to Twilight. “What did it do, Twilight? What are we waiting for?” But before he could respond, a trumpet-like cry broke the silence. 

Then two more. 

Then four. 

Twilight felt his heart leap into his throat seeing the grotesque forms of several Shadow Kargaroks silhouetted against the orange clouds. And he couldn’t help but feel as though every last one of them was staring at the glowing beacon of a plant that was hanging from his hip.

Chapter Text

The Kargaroks all moved as one, as if in formation. Their concave heads were all definitely pointed directly at Twilight. Wild drew his bow back immediately, tracking the head of the formation through the sky. A fire arrow was set on the string, its crystalline head shining in the Vessel’s light. Everyone held their breath as the creatures got closer and closer to their dome of safety. Perhaps Wild still held a small hope that they couldn’t enter. That the light would be too harsh for them or something. 

Reality must really love to laugh at him sometimes. 

He let his arrow loose the moment those trumpet-shaped heads breached their perimeter. It lodged itself into the flaring red center of one of their faces, sending the body backwards enough to crumple to the ground just beyond the radius right before chaos utterly broke loose. 

A few hookshots fired off into the air, but only Sky was able to successfully entangle one. The creature’s wings beat furiously for only a moment longer before it was reeled in and at Warriors’ mercy. But the remaining Kargaroks were able to split off in time, descending on the party with blinding speed. Immediately, they were forced backward from the brunt impacts of several of the winged creatures as they delivered a ruthless onslaught of their wicked talons. 

Out of the corner of his eye, Wild could see his companions struggling to weather their blows. Four stumbled to a knee from a blow to the gut as Wind was simultaneously thrown through the air to impact with Time, sending both sprawling. A wicked claw just barely missed grabbing Warriors by the hair, while Legend and Hyrule were back to back with bows drawn, their arrows not moving fast enough to find purchase successfully. And after several of his own shots sailed out of the dome as well, missing their targets entirely, Wild felt himself reach the limit of his patience. If these things wanted to fight dirty, then fine. Two can play at that game.

Yanking the Sheikah slate off of his belt, he aimed a rune at the nearest creature, which was preparing for a dive at Warriors’ head again, and crossed his fingers before activating it. The Kargarok froze suddenly in place in the middle of the air with a loud clanking of chains. The yellow outline of the Stasis Rune surrounded it while it remained stock still. Arrows immediately began to shower it, as most everyone with a bow in their hand took advantage of the opportunity to actually hit a target.

Wild felt his hair suddenly whip to the side as an unexpected rush of air pulled at his left side. Spinning around revealed Four, still kneeling on the ground but clutching a white ceramic vase that seemed to be emitting a small tornado of air. Even with it not pointed at him, Wild could feel the strong suction power that was at its command. Looking up to its target, a Shadow Kargarok was beating its wings fruitlessly against the howling wind, slowly moving closer and closer to the ground, toward Four. Tossing its head, the creature released a trumpeting screech before a beam of light severed its long neck from its shoulders in a single blow. Twilight raised the Master Sword once more with a nod to the shortest hero. 

Wild was momentarily transfixed watching Twilight fight with the Master Sword. The creatures clearly wanted to swarm him in particular, many of them still focusing on the glowing plant on his belt. But the even brighter beacon of the Master Sword had them hesitating to come near him. And as for those that dared to... well. To Wild, it felt like he was watching an elaborate dance.

Twilight’s feet moved with practiced grace and autonomy, turning and twisting out of the way of blows. Every attack he made was fluid and seemed effortless. Wild almost winced when the cliché popped into his mind, but it genuinely did look as though the Master Sword was no more than an extension of Twilight’s arm. The brilliance of the powerful blade acted as both a weapon and a shield with every attempt made to strike him. If the Shadow Kargaroks weren’t immediately struck down for their hubris in attacking him, a large and burning gash would mark a wing or a leg when it inevitably struggled to fly away. 

But Wild still held his breath when one particularly large beast landed on the ground hard enough to cause a minor tremor, mere feet to Twilight’s right. Its wings were outstretched, planted on the ground so that it loomed over his diminutive form, its twisted mouth wailing a wretched rattle in his face. Turning to face the monster, Twilight readjusted his grip on his blade. But Wild could see that behind him, a few paces outside of the dome, another creature was raising itself higher into the air while staring at Twilight’s exposed back. Before he could warn his mentor, the Shadow Kargarok brought itself in for a dive, rocketing toward the hero at breakneck speed, quickly breaching the Master Sword’s perimeter once more. Twilight’s eyes seemed to momentarily widen, and in that instant Wild felt like time slowed to a crawl. 

He watched the creature move toward Twilight, talons out, for what felt like centuries. But that also allowed him to see the muscles in the hero’s legs release, sending Twilight into a standing backflip. The creature continued to shoot through the air, too fast to change its course to hit its target, who was now suspended above its head in the air. Wild could have sworn that, for a moment, Twilight’s nose was less than a foot away from the Kargarok’s back. At least before the brilliant blade jammed itself into its flesh as it flew by, slicing cleanly through muscle and sinew, black blood spewing everywhere, and killing it before it hit the ground. Twilight landed with a gymnast’s precision, watching the corpse of the creature careen into the larger one, sending them both pell-mell across the ground and solidly out of the fight. 

“TIME!”

Wind’s cry cut through the chaos, catching Wild by surprise. He spun around to answer the shout, only for his stomach to drop to his toes. 

Time’s blade was stuck into the ground by at least a foot, but only one hand was still gripping it. The older hero’s face was pinched from the pain as two claws were clamped onto his body. One gripped him by the armor behind his shoulder blades while another was painfully constricting his ribs, all while the responsible Kargarok was powerfully beating its wings, trying to pull Time away from his blade. Away from Twilight’s blade. 

Out of the barrier. 

In fact, the only thing keeping him from being carried off was the iron grip that Time had managed to get on the Biggoron Sword. 

Adrenalin surged through Wild’s system, blood pumping in his ears as he swiftly took up his bow back once more. A blue, crystalline snowflake tipped the arrow he set on the string as he deftly pulled it back. Breathe in. Breathe out. Release.

The arrowhead dug itself into the wing joint of the beast, earning a howl of agony as the ice stabbed itself further into the wound. But the Kargarok’s jerks of pain immediately and inadvertently made the situation ten times worse. The ground around the Biggoron Sword cracked for a second before the huge blade came loose. Wild’s heart leapt into his throat, choking a scream as the creature, wounded but not dead, began to carry Time into the air. His fingers fumbled to ready another arrow as he rushed forward with reckless abandon. But before he could draw the bow back, an errant wing of a flyby Kargarok swept his feet out from under him, sending Wild forward onto his face. He looked up at the steadily climbing Time in the clutches of the monster. His arm outstretched itself without him thinking as a strangled cry escaped from his mouth. But before anyone could move to help, Time twisted in the creature’s grasp. 

Moving quickly, he jammed the gigantic blade into the monster behind him over and over, sending a spray of black blood cascading down on himself and below, as well as severing one of the claws. The top of the dome that had been rocketing toward them now seemed to falter as the heavily bleeding monster wobbled in the air. With a shout, Time brought his blade down to clang on his own armor, slicing through the talons holding him in its grip. With a screech, the Shadow Kargarok flailed in the air, sending Time spinning as it fell quickly to the ground.  

Wild scrambled to his feet as he saw Time go flying across the way. A roughly fifteen foot drop was already dangerous, but doing one in the middle of a battle could be deadly. Yet he still felt fear threaten to choke him as Wild realized where the older hero’s trajectory was sending him. His blood thundered in his ears as he raced across the battlefield. The loud clanging of Time’s armor masked any possible sounds of cracking or crunching bones, but a grunt of pain was discernible. Wild’s feet felt like they couldn’t move fast enough. He still couldn’t do anything. He could do nothing but watch as Time; their leader, his mentor, his friend , was sent careening toward the edge of the barrier with nothing and no one to stop him. Wild’s hand was outstretched once more. Closer, but not close enough. His fingers caught nothing but air as Time moved further out of his grasp. Wild’s eyes squeezed shut, unable to watch as he fell once more to the ground. 

But his eyes snapped open again to the sound of rattling chains flying past his ear.

A single thick chain was now hanging in the air, suspended at his eye level, tense. Looking back, Wind was on a knee, his hookshot gripped tightly in his hand, breathing heavy with a look of terror on his face. But looking forward, Time was limp in the hookshot’s grasp, sitting on the ground with his back to the barrier, the chain wrapped around his midsection. His head and arms hung limp as his whole weight was being held by Wind. 

But it took Wild a moment to realize something was still wrong. He wasn’t sure whether it was the slight twitching from Time’s hand, or if it was the quiet moan of pain. Either could have been attributed to the fall, but something in his gut still told him that something wasn't right. Scrambling on his hands and knees to the crumpled form, Wild felt his heart stop upon seeing Time’s head partly hanging out of the barrier. It was like he was laying in water, the light rippling around his forehead as about an inch of it hung beyond its protection. Quickly, Wild yanked Time back into the safety and, with Wind’s help, dragged him away from the edge of the sword’s light. But the damage was already done. The two boys found themselves staring at Time’s blonde hair, now shining almost golden as it subtly had grown longer and, strangely, more shaggy. It even had begun to creep down his brow, covering it in what could only be described as golden fur. But thankfully, it stopped short upon reaching the invisible line on his face that marked where he hadn’t been touched by twilight. 

Wind looked up to Wild as they held Time, unconscious, in their laps. “What is this? What do we do?” he asked, panicked. “Wild, what do we do?! We can’t get him out of the fight! We can’t leave!” Wild put a hand on the sailor’s shoulder. “It’s okay, Wind. I need you to stay with him and keep him safe. I’ll find Twilight to make sure he knows to keep Time in the barrier.” But as he stood to search the battlefield, Wild quickly realized that his hunt wouldn’t take very long.

Twilight was frozen, staring at Time’s limp form. Horror seemed to be creeping onto his face as he stared at the fur that had begun to grow on his mentor’s face. The Master Sword was pointed to the ground, his arms limp at his sides as he clearly couldn’t tear his eyes away. 

Maybe that’s why he didn’t hear Wild’s shout of warning.

Wild broke into a sprint toward the creature upon seeing Twilight’s arms clamped by two gigantic claws, stretching them apart like a rack. Twilight gave a scream through clenched teeth as he fought the giant Kargarok holding him still. With a powerful beat of its wings, Wild skidded to a stop below them as the creature lifted his mentor off of the ground, his feet dangling. The Master Sword swung fruitlessly through the air, unable to make purchase without movement of his shoulder. But as Wild lined up his shot with the creature’s warped head, he was given pause upon witnessing an even deeper wrinkle in their situation that was beginning to develop.

A smaller flying creature zipped through the air toward its larger counterpart. The unmistakable bat-like wings of a mere Keese fluttered over to the kickingTwilight. Without missing a beat, its little claws wrapped tightly around the now undefended Vessel of Light. A faint hiss came from it upon coming in contact with such harsh light, but it doggedly held on. Twilight gave a shout of protest, his struggles to break free now doubling in their ferocity. But the Keese continued to flit away, higher and higher into the air. The claw that held Twilight’s left arm now began to squeeze much tighter, as evidenced by the yelp of pain and the droplets of blood that spattered to the ground as they dug into his flesh. Wild’s eyes widened upon seeing the creature’s true goal.

The hand that held the glowing Master Sword was shaking, its grip quickly beginning to fade. 

They were running out of time. 

In that instant, Wild absorbed everything around him as the battle raged on. Warriors was defending Sky as he tried to shoot the creatures, desperation bleeding onto his face about as much as the crimson that was running down from his clavicle. Hyrule’s hands were shaking as he endured the strain of maintaining his shield spell over himself and Legend, who was trying his best to take potshots at whatever movement he could. Four had his Gust Jar, trying to hold down a target but inevitably having to run before getting swarmed by the other creatures. And Wind still clutched Time’s unconscious body, his fear evident as he tried to shield the older hero from any blows with his own tiny body. The terrain was flat. Nothing to jump off of. It’s a pasture. He has nothing. What could he do? How could he-?

Oh. 

They needed… time.

A knot of worry dug into his stomach as he crouched low to the ground, breathing deep. It was going to work, right? It worked before. He’d saved Sky! But a tiny voice in his mind wouldn’t let him forget that this time, he was asking for help from the most arrogant Rito that he had ever met. Who was dead because of him.

Yet he still found himself trying. Squeezing his eyes shut and placing his hands on the ground, he sent out a silent plea. A request for power. For assistance.

And for a moment, he was once again met with silence.

But then a sudden burst of wind from beneath him accompanied by teal flames put a small grin on his face. He could almost hear a familiar smug chuckle in his ear as Revali’s Gale was released, sending Wild rocketing into the air with his paraglider. 

The wind buffeted his face as he shot up, passing Twilight and the Shadow Kargarok holding him aloft. Letting go of his paraglider early, quickly stowing it in the slate, Wild immediately found himself in a very familiar state for him. 

Freefall. 

His bow was already drawn. Arrows had been nocked. And strangely, he had begun to rotate in the air unintentionally, turning him at an odd angle. But that didn’t matter. Because that familiar rush of adrenaline finally kicked in, and the world was frozen around him. Calmly, cleanly, Wild released three arrows directly at the snout of the beast holding his mentor. Not even waiting for them to hit, he twisted in the air further, drawing back once more and firing upon a Shadow Kargarok that was preparing to rake its claws down Warriors’ back. A bit more spinning and he had a clean shot at the eye of the creature that was preparing to snatch Wind into the air. One last rotation, and as he felt the last dregs of this focus waning, his vision and arrow were both locked on a tiny Keese that was clinging to a glowing plant. As his fingers released his last arrow, as quickly as it had hit him, the feeling suddenly vanished, sending him falling once more to the ground. 

Several wails of pain echoed around the space at once, followed closely by impact sounds of several dead Kargaroks hitting the ground. But Wild was a bit preoccupied by his own impact that was hurtling up to meet him. And despite doing his absolute best to tuck into a roll upon landing, Wild’s shoulder, the bad shoulder, let out a small ‘pop.’

And there it was all over again. 

Wild curled back onto himself, his forehead in the dirt as the pain lanced down his arm and across his clavicle like a lightning bolt. His tongue throbbed from biting it accidentally, both from the impact and the unexpected agony. Blood filled his mouth as he silently screamed profanities. The pain threatened yet again to consume him, to swallow him whole. But Wild resisted. 

As he grit his teeth and sat up, cradling his arm and still blinded from the pain, he spat blood to the side. Wild was stubborn when he wanted to be. And there was no way in hell he was going to just duck out of a fight because of a goddess damned arm. Once again, he grabbed the limp wrist with his functioning hand and slowly lifted it up to pull it back into place. Gritting his teeth and not bothering to bite anything, Wild took a breath before counting. One… Two-

A hand gripped his wrist, yanking it off of the useless limb suddenly. Wild’s eyes snapped open at the foreign touch, prepared to wrestle away until a familiar pelt caught his attention. 

“Don’t be stupid, cub!” Twilight muttered, now holding the bad arm instead, one hand still stubbornly holding the Master Sword. “You are not doing this to yourself this time. You’re not good at it.” Wild blinked as he began to actually register his mentor preparing to relocate his arm. A belt was put in his mouth abruptly, cutting off any chance of talking. “Bite down and take deep breaths, cub.” He resigned himself to nodding and obeying, bracing himself for it. Twilight held up his arm and counted down. “Okay, ready? Three, two, one-” And as Twilight moved, Wild couldn’t help but yell in pain through the belt as he felt the bones scrape agonizingly against one another before snapping jarringly back into place. 

The belt dropped from his mouth as Wild struggled to come down from the stabbing pain. He instead distracted himself by looking up to take stock of his surroundings. Their companions were still alive. Three new Kargarok corpses were collapsed around the battlefield near them, with the dead center arrows giving Wild a tiny rush of pride. The field had fallen silent strangely, as no more winged monsters were dive bombing them. Glancing up, Wild saw a small number of forms taking off into the sky, screeching and squawking at one another as they fled. 

“I think you freaked them out, Wild.” Twilight mused, following his gaze. “Whatever you did scared them off.” Wild hummed in response, sagging against Twilight’s chest as he took stock, energy completely depleted. “Where’s th’plant?” He mumbled into the tunic, fighting to remain helpful and coherent, despite exhaustion knocking insistently on his door. “Don’t worry, Four’s got it.” Twilight reassured him. “We can have a moment to catch our breath before getting back to the spring. We can’t stay long.” Wild groaned at the prospect of walking, but knew he’d have to get there eventually. Forcing himself to maintain his balance, Wild grabbed the edge of a nearby fence post to push himself to his feet. Twilight rushed to his side, trying to tell him to sit down and take it easy, but he couldn’t. No. They could finish their job, then take a damned nap. No point sitting on their asses for any longer. Rolling his eyes, Twilight swooped under his good arm, supporting his wobbly gate as they slowly moved toward the others.

Thankfully, Wild wasn’t the only one getting ready to move. Legend had an arm under Hyrule’s, supporting the magically drained traveler as they hobbled forward. Four had put his jar away, and was now examining the Vessel as he twirled it in his fingers. Wind was okay, but was hovering around Sky and Warriors, who had both taken a side and were picking up a barely moving Time. That strange fur seemed to be receding back again, but not gone. And every time Twilight so much as glanced in its direction, a grimace overpowered any other emotion on his face. Four looked to Twilight, holding up the Vessel. “Let’s get this back to the spring, yeah? I don’t think any of us want another fight.” A few groans of agreement overlapped as the group began a slow shuffle back down the hill. Limping, woozy, and bleeding, but alive. 

The town felt even more quiet as they walked through once more. Even the water seemed to flow silently somehow. At least, that’s how it felt to Wild. Although everything felt kind of fuzzy to him currently. In fact, the entire walk through the town and woods seemed to go by in a blur. By the time they had made it to the spring, Twilight’s arm holding him up was the only thing that kept him certain that he was still awake. 

The water did nothing to soothe their aches and pains as the boys waded in, considering that the twilight still hung over everything, choking the life out of it. Nevertheless, Time was laid in the shallow end as most everyone, at the very least, put their feet in. Twilight set Wild down gently in the water and took the Vessel from Four, striding toward the weakened ball of light further into the spring. 

“Ordona.” He called, holding the Vessel of Light up into the air. “We’ve retrieved the Tears of Light. Reclaim your strength.” Everyone watched as the small plant seemed to tug itself from Twilight’s grasp and remain suspended in the air. Ethereal chiming rang through the clearing as the tears began to leave the vessel. One after another after another, coalescing into a single ball of light that burned brighter and brighter with each passing moment. Then, like a shockwave, a burst of energy ripped through the clearing. Wild winced, closing his eyes momentarily as he felt it impact his chest. But then, he looked up to see the world around him completely changed. 

The orange saturation of the sky was gone, replaced by a bright blue. The trees no longer seemed weighed down, instead gently swaying in the breeze. Birds could be heard chirping once more, and that damned echo was no longer there. Looking to Twilight, the Master Sword had reverted back to its regular state, its glow having receded. There was no clear radius anymore, as light had very clearly returned to this region of the world. 

Breathing a sigh of relief, Wild felt the horrible aching in his shoulder begin to numb as he looked down at the crystalline water. Its properties were returned, which could only mean…

Looking up to the higher shelf of rock at the back of the spring, a familiar spectacle was beginning to occur. Runes hidden on boulders began to alight, pure light flowing through them like veins. The water began to glow with a golden aura as a reversed splash in the water revealed another gigantic glowing orb. But instead of a creature grabbing it, a large circular set of goat horns formed from the ether surrounding it as a humongous Ordonian Goat head and body followed. Gasps could be heard, and Wild couldn’t help but hear Wind whisper to himself, “That is no monkey...”

Yet again, the Light Spirit’s voice seemed to hit a chord that caused the very air around them to pulse with energy. Wild felt vibrations in his chest as the creature spoke to them. 

“Thank you, heroes from across the ages. You have restored me to my full strength. You, Hero of Twilight, have saved this region from the clutches of Twilight yet again. I shudder to think of what would have become of this place if you hadn’t. Please find healing within this spring. I can sense the great injury you all have sustained.” As Ordona spoke, Wild swore he saw the glowing water that circled Time’s head flare even a bit brighter.

Twilight took a step forward. “We appreciate your assistance, but please don’t strain yourself. You’ve only just been restored!”

The spirit bowed their head. “It is the least I can do. I implore you to accept this gift as penance.”

“Penance?” Legend inquired. “Penance for what?”

Ordona almost seemed to stiffen at his words, eyes closing momentarily in a grimace. “Penance for my foolish naivete. I was not careful and allowed a dangerous being to steal my light.”

Twilight’s eyes flared with alarm. “What dangerous being? What happened?”

“I had sensed a presence approaching my spring.” Ordona continued. “A presence that I believed that I recognized. So I allowed them near the spring. What a mistake that was. They stole my light and left it in the hands of an old foe to scatter. One who was experienced with doing so to my brethren in years past.”

“Wait.” Twilight put up his hands. “Wait. Go back. What presence did you think that you recognized?”

The spirit shifted, almost uncomfortably. “...I sensed you, Hero of Twilight. I sensed your presence approaching the spring alone.”

Twilight was clearly taken aback. “That’s not right. I’ve been with this group for a long time now. I wasn’t even in this Hyrule when it happened.”

“It has become clear that this… being, did not truly possess the Hero’s Spirit. It was a perversion. A shadow.” Ordona shook their head. “It tricked me and stole my light. Do not treat it lightly. This creature commands terrifying power and is still a threat. For they have revived a horrifying individual who was a scourge upon this land once before.”

Twilight’s grip on the Master Sword tightened visually when he asked, “Who?”

“You would have recognized their presence, Hero of Twilight. He was destroyed in your previous adventure by your blade and the power of the Twili Ancestry. The puppet of Ganondorf has returned inexplicably to this mortal coil, but now under the banner of this unknown shadow. The Usurper of the Twilight Realm. Zant.”

 The clearing seemed to go quiet upon hearing the name. Most everyone only looked to one another in confusion, except for Warriors, who only stared ahead with a strange look on his face. Twilight, however, was deathly still. Wild was taken aback upon seeing his mentor with an expression that he could only describe as dangerous. 

Ordona pawed the surface of the water with their hoof as they continued. “Forgive me for my oversight, Heroes. I sense that the Hero of Time has suffered great harm from this venture. Please allow me to assist him.”

Twilight blinked, the almost murderous look on his face vanishing instantly upon registering the Light Spirit’s words. “O-of course. But please be careful, Ordona.”

Without a word, the gigantic goat lowered their horn to the water, submerging it for but a moment. A small pool of water from that point began to glow with an even brighter light. As Ordona lifted their head once more, the light swiftly began to curl through the water toward Time. It swirled around his head, gently lapping at the warped skin. The gold fur that had already been fading suddenly vanished before their eyes, leaving Time’s forehead and bangs unmarred once more. His expression relaxed from the pained grimace that it was into a neutral calm, but his eyes remained closed. As the other heroes gathered anxiously around Time’s unconscious form, Ordona lowered its head. “I healed what I could. But the damage is extensive. This one will require rest to fully recover. I apologize for not being able to do more.”  

Twilight, who hadn’t moved from his position, turned back to the spirit to speak once more, though his mind was clearly racing. “You don’t need to apologize, Ordona. Your assistance has been more than helpful. Once Time has rested, we will do our best to defend this Hyrule against the threat it now faces. I promise you that.”

The Light Spirit nodded their great head as they began to back away further into the spring, the edges of their form beginning to fade. “Your aid is most appreciated, O Heroes of the Ages, but I implore you to take great caution. This shade is a manipulative being.” Soon only Ordona’s head remained as they spoke their final words. “Beware Heroes. I highly doubt that this will be its final act.”

As the last of the Light Spirit faded from view, and the water returned to its clear form, the party began to relax as the healing waters finally began to do its work. Wild felt the burning pain of his shoulder already washing away. Wounds closed, headaches eased, and everyone seemed to be taking a collective sigh of relief. It was in this moment of respite that Warriors turned to Twilight, head cocked to the side.

“Who’s Zant?” He asked, narrowing his eyes. “I feel like I’ve heard that name before somewhere. Ordona said you beat them before with ‘the power of Twili Ancestry’. Care to explain? Or do we have to guess with that too?”

“Zant was- well, uh… a pawn, really." Twilight distractedly responded, his eyes glazed over with a thousand-yard stare. "And I don’t… have that Twili power anymore.”

Warriors gave a grumble of frustration before speaking. “That literally tells me nothing about either. Quit brushing me off!”

“I’m not brushing you off! It’s just… complicated.”

“Then explain it to me!” Warriors demanded. “We’ve got plenty of time!” 

Four frowned at the captain’s words. “Warriors, lay off of him for once. You’ve been breathing down Twilight’s neck ever since we got here! What’s your problem?”

“What’s my problem?” Warriors scoffed, “What’s his problem? He didn’t even tell us everything about this ‘Twilight’ stuff. Look at Time! He was comatose and had literal fur growing out of him, and Twilight here hasn’t even had the decency to explain why it did that! He only told us that it ‘turns you into a spirit’, whatever the hell that means! It’s kind of important that we know what we’re walking into, and he won’t stop holding things back!” 

“Holy Hylia.” Legend muttered, squeezing the bridge of his nose as he stood. “Why don’t you use your damned head, Warriors? Or at least open your eyes? Twi was just as shocked at seeing it as the rest of us! What, do you think he’s hiding things on purpose or something?”

“What?! No I-”

“Then what? I don’t get what you think you’re going to accomplish by interrogating him.”

“But he-”

“But nothing!” The veteran interrupted. “This is ridiculous! Zant’s bad news, right Twi?”

Caught completely off guard by the entire argument, Twilight stammered out a response. “I mean, yeah? He’s power hungry and egomaniacal…”

“Then that’s good enough for me. Give it a damned rest, would you?” 

Warriors’ face had turned beet red. Slowly, he advanced toward the veteran, fists clenched. “How DARE you, Legend? You think that I’m not looking out for this group? Twilight’s Hyrule is clearly a very dangerous one, and now we’re stuck in the middle of it. I’m trying to understand the threats that we’ll be facing so that we can be better prepared! I’m not very keen on taking chances. Are you?” 

“No I’m not.” Legend sneered, “But I also can use my eyes and see that things I might be saying may be dredging up bad memories, and I might have the good sense to have an ounce of empathy before I continue grilling Twilight until he’s fried!”

“He’s not a child! I think that he can handle sharing with the class at least one piece of actually helpful information without crumbling. Unless you’re trying to argue that he’s too sensitive or some bullshit.”

“Would you two just shut up!?” Twilight suddenly snapped. The clearing was immediately silenced, save for the low sound of trickling water. Wild was speechless upon hearing his mentor so much as raise his voice, but was sent reeling as Twilight continued.

“I’m not about to be argued over. I can speak for myself.” He muttered as he strode over to Warriors with a piercing glare. “It’s not that I am holding back helpful information, Warriors. It’s that I don’t have any! I know what Zant was, but not what he is now. When I fought him before, he was practically a puppet of Ganondorf. He is a native to the Twilight realm who stole the throne, twisted his own people into horrifying monsters, invaded this world, took Hyrule Castle, and covered all of Hyrule in Twilight. But nearly all of the powers he had before were given to him by Ganondorf, who apparently isn’t behind anything this time, and instead he has been revived by something else. I have no idea what powers this entity has given him, or his motivations. I don’t know if he is able to act independently, or if he’s just another minion of this thing.” Stopping to pinch the bridge of his nose, Twilight let out a sigh. “My point is that I have no real information. I know what he used to be able to do, but I have no clue what he can or will do now.”

“What about that other creature?” Sky pointed out, somewhat obviously trying to steer the conversation in another direction. “The ‘shadow’ that Ordona talked about. They were able to mistake it for Twilight. Has anyone here heard of something like that? Something that could mimic one of us?” 

“I have.” Hyrule said softly, a hand on his stomach. “I think I’ve told some of you about it before. It was exactly that. A shadow that I had to fight. Though it looked like me, not Twilight.”

Wind nodded in agreement. “I have too I think. It looked like a silhouette. But like, a silhouette that tries to kill you.” The traveler chuckled. “That’s actually very accurate.” 

“Huh. I’m sensing a trend.” Legend mused. “I’ve faced something similar a few times before in my journeys. They would look like a shadow of myself, but the eyes were always unsettling.” 

“How do you mean?” Hyrule asked. “I couldn’t even see any eyes when I fought it.”

“Almost every time I fought something like that, its eyes would be glowing red.” 

Warriors, who had stayed in a disgruntled silence since Twilight’s outburst, suddenly snapped his attention to Legend, alarm clear on his face. “Red eyes?” He stuttered. “Are you sure?”

Confusion flickered on Legends face before he responded. “...Yes? I’m sure, but what’s wrong now?”

Warriors shook his head before placing it in his hands. “I-I just… I’ve fought something like that as well…”

“Okaaay,” Legend said slowly, “But I don’t see why that horrifies you so much.”

“It’s just that-” Warriors began to stutter before cutting himself off with a sigh. “It just seems to me that you all who have faced a similar entity just encountered it, right?” A few nodded affirmingly. “Well I can’t say the same. It came from my own darkness. I got cocky. Arrogant. Like nothing could best me. And I very nearly paid a heavy price for it.” The captain hung his head as he turned his back to the others. “A sorceress used the darkness that had begun to take root in me to create these… things. These… red-eyed shadows of myself that I had to battle. But there were too many, and I had rushed in on my own. I was very lucky that my companions were able to rush in to help me, but it still put them in harm's way because of my folly. If we’re facing something like that again…”

“Don’t.” Twilight put a hand on Warriors’ shoulder. “Don’t do that to yourself.” He said quietly. The captain glanced up with what Wild could have sworn was a flicker of recognition at the words. He nodded silently to Twilight before running a hand through his hair and taking a breath. 

“What I don’t understand,” Twilight said, now to everyone else, “Is why it came here. I’ve never interacted with anything like this. I’ve been to a literal realm of shadows but never fought something like that before. So why did it come here now, why did it resurrect Zant, and why did it bring back the Twilight?” Silence fell over the group as none of them could come up with a reasonable answer. Twilight shook his head, staring at the ground. “It just doesn’t make sense…” He mumbled. No one spoke, each lost in their own thoughts.

Which was probably why the quiet, disbelieving voice coming from the entrance of the spring caught them all so off guard.

“...Link?”

Chapter Text

The figure standing at the edge of the clearing was definitely young. Though when everyone jumped to face the source of the voice, it became immediately obvious that they were not a child. 

A young teenage boy stood at the gate, stock still, staring in disbelief. He had unruly blonde hair that was growing past his chin. His form was fairly thin, but not painfully so. His arms seemed to be at least somewhat muscular and lean, the skin tanned likely from constant exposure to the elements. Though he wore no armor, the boy had a sturdy sword and shield strapped to his back, with one hand slowly lowering from the blade’s handle as he continued to stare. A quick glance to Twilight found a similar expression of shock, which sparked a few looks of uncertainty through the group. Though he didn’t yet reach, Wild did hear the squeaking of leather and the faint creaking sound of several swords being loosened in their scabbards. But all of that stopped when Twilight, without breaking his gaze, pressed the Master Sword that he had still been holding onto into Legend’s hands.

Slowly, his mentor took a few hesitating steps toward the boy. A brief shine of moisture streaked down Twilight’s cheek as he managed to choke out, “Colin?”

The boy leaped forward, darting toward to rapidly close the distance between the two, barreling into Twilight’s chest to tightly cling to him in a shaking embrace that was quickly reciprocated. 

“Y-you came back.” came his muffled voice, trying in vain to hold back sobs. “Y-you a-actually came-”

“I’m so sorry, Colin.” Twilight whispered, silent tears streaming down his face as he held the boy close to him. “I’m so sorry. I’m here now.”

“You saved us again, didn’t you?” Colin said, a small smile beginning to form. “That… darkness was back, like it was before, and you drove it off!”

Twilight chuckled as he nodded. “With help, yeah.” Wild couldn’t help but give a small wave as Colin seemed to actually register the other people in the spring for the first time. Twilight held him by the shoulders as he bent to look Colin in the eye. “How did you know to come here, Colin? We only just lifted the Twilight.” 

The boy thought for a moment. “Well, everything felt like it had all those years ago in Kakariko. Like a hazy, horrible nightmare that I couldn’t wake up from. I don’t know how long it felt that way, but I know that I recognized it. And then when it was lifted, and I could actually think straight, I remembered that the last time it had happened, you had been walking back from the spring. So… I just ran.”

Twilight stared incredulously at Colin. “So you just… thought that I was here?”

Colin slowly nodded. “I guess so. I just had a hunch.” 

Shaking his head with a laugh, Twilight let go of the boy’s shoulders. “Well, I suppose we’re lucky that you were right, and you didn’t just run into some monsters.”

Colin cocked his head to the side with a curious expression. “I think it would have been fine. I can handle myself, you know.” He said, a hand coming up to grasp the worn handle of the sword he carried. Though Colin seemingly didn’t notice, Wild saw the small shadow cross Twilight’s face upon seeing the weapon on his back. “And besides, Beth and Talo didn’t believe me, so I had to go and see.” The boy glanced over at the others who had been slowly gathering behind Twilight as they spoke. “Although I wasn’t expecting you to have friends with you.”

“Yeah, he does. Also, who are you?” Wind piped up, pushing his way to the front. “Who is this kid, Twi?”

“Kid?” Colin asked, an eyebrow raised. “You’re calling me a kid? You can’t be much older than I am.”

“I’m old enough!” Wind retorted. “Old enough to have the Hero’s Spirit and to beat Gan-”

“Wind!” Legend said sharply. The smallest hero abruptly shut his mouth to turn and glare at Legend, though he was given an equally withering look in return. 

“I think it would be best not to shout at the first person we meet, Wind.” Hyrule added before turning to Colin himself. “Sorry, some of us are a bit… boisterous.”

“Fuck off, ‘Rule!”

“Wind” A small snigger was quickly silenced with another look from Legend. And as the others continued to talk, Wild could still hear Legend in the background occasionally reminding Wind that, even though Time wasn’t able to tell him off, Legend was more than happy to. There were a few mumbled curses and insults that were pointedly ignored before the two of them fell silent once more.

“...such strange names.” Colin was saying. “I don’t mean to be rude, but you’re named after the entire kingdom of Hyrule?”

Hyrule smiled sheepishly. “It’s sort of a nickname that just stuck I suppose.” 

It was about at that moment, just before Wild could open his mouth to join the conversation, that everyone heard a low groaning behind them accompanied by splashing water. Eight heads rapidly turned around, followed by several voices shouting, “Time!” as most of them rushed to their oldest companion’s side while he slowly pushed himself up into a seated position in the water. And though he clutched his head, Wild couldn’t see any signs of a visible injury, but that wasn’t all that surprising given the amount of time he had been laying in the shallows. Regardless, Hyrule already had a red potion in hand and was in the process of trying to force it into Time’s mouth while he confusedly tried to understand what was going on around him.

Twilight turned back to Colin. “Is anyone using the treehouse these days?” He asked as the chaos grew behind him. “We may need to have a place for him to safely rest.”

Colin shook his head while his eyes were drawn to what seemed to be the beginnings of a dogpile. “No. No one’s really… touched it since you left, to be honest.” Twilight silently nodded, taking a breath. He looked back to the group before rolling his eyes at the pandemonium that was now in full swing. Taking his cue from a look his mentor sent him, Wild cupped his hands to his mouth and let out a shrill whistle that forced everyone to wince and freeze in their tracks. Twilight stepped forward.

“We should move. Time needs rest, and we shouldn’t stay here. Let's go somewhere more easily defendable, rather than out in the open.”

“You think that we could still be attacked?” Wind asked, eyebrows raised.

Twilight shrugged. “I’m not ruling it out. I’d rather be safe than sorry.” 

“Wait.” Wild broke in. “Then do you really think we should try to move Time right now? If attacks are still possible, shouldn’t we not just blindly walk through the forest with him?”

Twilight turned to him. “Then what do you suggest? Because I don’t see us staying here as a good alternative. We’re in the heart of the woods.”

“No, I’m not suggesting that. Let me scout ahead. No, hear me out!” Wild protested as Twilight gave him a look. “You and I are the best trackers we have. But if the others are attacked and need to move quickly, someone has to guide them. You know these woods best.” 

“And leave you to move through an unfamiliar forest on your own with no backup?” Twilight pointed out. “I don’t like the idea of that.” 

Wild smirked. “You realize that that is exactly what I have done ever since I woke up, right?”

Twilight paused for a moment, then sighed as he massaged his temples. A few seconds passed before he responded.

“It’s usually a ten minute walk from here to the house we first found the insects in.” His eyes flicked up to meet Wild’s. “If you aren’t there and back again in fifteen minutes, I am coming after you to drag your ass back here. Understood?” Wild nodded. And while Twilight turned back to the others to inform them of their plan, he pulled his hood over his head before disappearing into the shadow of the forest with practiced ease.

It was a unique experience, Wild decided, walking through these same woods again. The Twilight had felt so suffocating and alien before, even whilst protected from it. It was the first time that he could remember ever being ill at ease in a place so untamed as a forest. But it was even stranger to walk through it a second time, now free of the bindings that had choked it. Yet even as he felt the familiar thrill of being in such a space once again, he couldn’t ignore the tiny part of his mind reminding him of what he had felt before. Of being trapped. So even though he now was free to walk where he wished in these woods, it still felt like there was some kind of a base instinct yelling at him not to. Warning him to be on his guard. 

Perhaps that’s what made his ears perk up at the faint sound of a snapping twig. 

His eyes sweeping the clearing, Wild couldn’t immediately see any source of the sound. But as he snuck along the path, keeping to the shadows of the trees, he began to make out what looked like fresh tracks in the dirt that stood out over the clear trail their large group had already made. Boot tracks that looked to be headed toward the spring. Their gait looked hurried, the prints more spread apart than that of a walking pace. 

They definitely weren’t from Colin’s obviously hurried run to the spring. The boy’s tracks were definitely distinct with both their smaller size and quicker stride. No, these were different. They were larger, but light on their feet. They were swift, but stealthy and calculated. And though they were pointing in the spring’s direction, the trail suddenly cut off only a few paces away from where he was...

Wild was suddenly knocked off of his footing by a heavy impact from his left side, sending both himself and his assailant sprawling to the ground. Blindly, he reached for his blade that thankfully hadn’t landed far from his hand, bringing it up just in time to block an overhead strike from the other swordsman. For a few moments their swords were locked, with Wild stuck on his back, but with a snarl of rage he was able to shove their weapon away long enough to roll out of their reach. Landing back onto his heels in a crouched position, Wild was able to finally get a good look at his attacker. 

A human man stood before him, wearing simple clothes under a set of old, worn-down armor. A metal helm obscured his eyes and nose, leaving only the bottom half of his face exposed. He brandished a simple blade but held an excellent stance. The swordsman watched him silently, but the challenge was clear. 

Wild gave a shout as he dashed forward, jabbing at the stranger’s midsection. But the swipe was easily parried, forcing Wild into a roll to avoid his own gut being sliced to ribbons. Coming back up to his feet, he was immediately forced on the defensive as his opponent began to press him backwards with an unexpected number of skillful strikes. Wild almost tripped as he was pushed back to the tree line, barely deflecting the blows. 

The further the battle progressed, the quicker it became clear to Wild that he was definitely outmatched. During his own journey, he had learned to fight purely based on muscle memory and whatever random, reckless plans he could think of in the moment. Not to mention the fact that most of his enemies on his journey were not the sharpest knives in the drawer. Even those that weren’t monsters were not all that bright. It had been a long time since he had been in an actual life or death fight with another swordsman. Especially a clearly well trained swordsman such as his current opponent. 

It was inevitable that eventually the two of them would lock their blades together, reducing the fight to a battle of pure strength. One that he quickly began to lose. Wild felt his arms shake as they were slowly forced closer and closer to his face. His mind raced as his back slammed into a tree, pinning him in place. He wasn’t going to win this fight. At least not by fighting how he was now. His opponent had the edge. The man was stronger, better trained, and had him trapped. What did Wild have that this swordsman didn’t? What could give him the edge? 

The idea clicked in his head as the blades wavered closer and closer to him. He would only have a few seconds of time to do it. He couldn’t hold back the man’s sword one handed for very long. In fact, it was probably pretty stupid to even try. Twilight would probably tell him so if he were here. But it was a good thing that he wasn’t. 

Taking a deep breath and closing his eyes, Wild released his left hand’s grip on his blade. But to his surprise, when he opened his eyes again, a familiar feeling washed over him as time grinded to a halt. 

His eyes locked on the slowly approaching swords, Wild’s hand went immediately to the Sheikah Slate on his hip. With practiced ease, he tapped the screen until he found the rune he wanted. Time suddenly jolted back into its regular passage as the familiar * Clang! * of chains rang out through the woods. The stranger almost stumbled a bit as Wild’s sword suddenly stopped giving way to his strength. In fact, it had stopped moving entirely. 

Wild popped his head up over the crossed blades, unable to hide his smirk as he released his grip on the frozen sword to plant a kick directly on the man’s sternum. Wild ended the Stasis rune and caught his weapon as the other man fell back, recovering from the blow. He unhooked the Sheikah Slate from his belt and steeled himself for the fight. It might not have been the most fair move, but if there was one form of fighting that Wild excelled at, it was the unorthodox and dirty. 

Switching runes, Wild dashed for the nearest tree as his recovered opponent charged. Dropping his sword once more, he caught it with Magnesis in time to fling it at his pursuer. The swordsman ducked in time, but it gave him pause long enough for Wild to scramble up the tree and into the shadows of the thick foliage. 

The man straightened up once more to look about him, now alone in the dense forest. But Wild held out no hope that they would leave him alone. It was a good thing too, as the man began to speak. 

“I know you’re still there.” He murmured in a gruff voice. “And we definitely aren’t done here. I know these woods better than you, I guarantee.” Wild stayed rooted to his perch, motionless. Who was this guy? And what was his problem? 

“It’s your choice.” He continued. “You can either hide in the shadows or face me here like a man.”

Wild held back a smirk. ‘Like a man’ felt like a bit of a dated taunt to him. So it didn’t really bother him when he silently summoned a bow. 

“Have it your way.” The man said, stooping down to pick something up. Wild nocked an arrow as he watched, trying to make out what he was doing. What did he have in his-

“Shit!” Wild hissed as a flash of steel cut through the space directly at his hiding spot. A dull * thud* of metal impacting with wood was quickly followed by the splintering and snapping of the branches that held his weight. With no time to fully react, Wild was forced to eject himself from the shadows. As he fell, he bitterly noticed the handle of his own discarded sword sticking out of the tree trunk, having been thrown like a dart by the swordsman. His attention locked onto the man as he fell, but his subsequent shot was rushed and sloppy, easily dodged and ignored. 

Wild tucked into a roll in time, sending the bow back into the Sheikah Slate’s storage in the same fluid motion. He wasn’t going to be at range for very long. Wild instead elected to summon a scimitar, a weapon much easier to wield in close quarters than other blades. He almost didn’t notice his stance naturally and subtly change the moment his fingers curled around the handle of the Moonlight Scimitar. His torso bent slightly, lowering his center of gravity closer to the ground. His weight shifted to the balls of his feet, his movements already becoming more fluid, almost like a dance. His slate was replaced on his hip once more, one hand still hovering over the screen. Wild stared down his opponent, a challenge of his own silently projected back. 

Wordlessly, the two rushed one another to clash once more. But this time, Wild fully allowed his instincts to take over. He’d seen the Gerudo fight on multiple occasions, and he’d worked hard to earn their respect. It would have been surprising for him not to have learned anything. And every lesson that they had taught him, both intentionally and unintentionally, was now racing around in his mind, commanding his body to move with precision and grace. He stopped focusing on trying to overpower, and instead worked to outmaneuver. Dodging, deflecting, feinting, the works. And every now and then a remote bomb would be thrown into the air, forcing an attempted strike in a weakness of Wild’s defense to be abandoned in favor of dodging the incoming explosion. To the swordsman’s credit, however, he kept pace. He matched Wild’s rapid strikes with his own, adapting to the unpredictable fighting style while maintaining his own defense. But he was definitely no longer pinning Wild to any trees.

At least until Wild’s luck took a turn for the worse. Perhaps his opponent had grown wise to the cooldown time on his bombs. Or perhaps it was just by chance. It didn’t really matter in the moment, honestly. What did matter was that with a sharp * Clang! *, the blade of the man’s sword locked itself onto the handle of his own weapon, allowing for it to be sharply yanked from his grasp. Without thinking, Wild did probably one of the dumber things he could have done in that situation. Before the swordsman could get a chance to remove the scimitar from being stuck on his own blade, Wild full-body tackled the man, sending them both tumbling to the ground and their swords flying. 

A blind scuffle in the dirt quickly followed. Any attempt made by either person to get to their feet was swiftly and literally knocked out from under them by the other. Wild wasn’t the greatest wrestler, but he could bite and scratch like a feral animal. Which he kept doing until a muscled arm clamped itself over his throat, suddenly cutting off his oxygen.

He couldn’t break the hold. Blood trickled down his forehead as he choked a snarl up at the man. The lack of oxygen made the blood rush to his head, making it feel about ready to burst from the pressure. Wild had to do something and fast, but he was running out of both air and options. His blade was out of reach, with the hold he was in keeping him leaned back and unable to look for where it had landed. Desperate reaching for his Sheikah Slate found that space at his hip empty, likely having come dislodged in the scuffle. Even his left arm was stuck, pinned to his own back by the man’s immense strength. Slowly, dread began to pool in Wild’s stomach as he considered the only tools that he was left to fight with. 

He didn’t want to kill this person. Wild wasn’t sure what the swordsman’s motivations were, but it didn’t mean he wanted to do what was becoming his only chance at this point. He had been planning to knock the man out. Perhaps tie him up and question him. But he needed to get out of this situation, and the only weapon he had left was her firepower. Which was famously powerful.

And his right hand was still free. 

Wild could practically feel the desert wind blowing in his hair. The shifting sands sang in his ear as he felt the energy hum at his fingertips. He had absolutely no idea how hardy this fighter was or if this could kill him, but if what little memory he had of Urbosa still serves, Wild couldn’t think of many times where anything she did was ever held back. Black spots danced at the edges of his vision as the man’s grip tightened even further, crushing his windpipe with pure strength. Wild’s hand shook as it raised into the air, index and middle fingers pressed together. Looking up, he could just barely see under the helmet to see a shadowed face of confusion. “I’m so sorry…” Wild choked out as he closed his eyes to shield them from the light he knew would be coming. 

“DAD, NO! STOP!”

Colin’s voice snapped the silence of the forest, cracking like a whip. Wild suddenly felt the iron clamp on his throat disappear, air flooding back into his lungs. For a moment, he could do nothing but roll onto all fours and be sent into a coughing fit as the world swayed around him. As he struggled to catch his breath, Wild’s brain finally managed to send a coherent command to his neck to actually look up and see what was happening in front of him. 

Colin was standing at the edge of the path, alone, staring past the trees at the two of them sprawled out on the forest floor. His sword was drawn, but hanging at his side as his wide eyes absorbed the scene. The helmeted man struggled to his feet, now completely ignoring Wild.

Removing the helmet revealed a man in his mid-thirties. Short, dirty blond hair that matched Colin’s was held back by a headband, and blue eyes mirrored his son’s as emotion built up quickly on his face.

“...Colin?” He gaped. “You’re… okay?” 

“Of course I am!” Colin shouted indignantly. “What are you doing?”

“He was a stranger!” The man yelled. “I went looking for you but only found him! I thought that he had taken you!”

“You didn’t even talk!” Wild wheezed as he struggled to stand, his hands on his knees. “You just fucking attacked me! What the hell was I supposed to do?”

“I have no idea who you are, so forgive me for seeing you as a threat after my village was attacked, and my son went running off into the woods!” Colin’s father shouted, turning back to Colin. “Who even is he?” He asked, exasperated. 

“Wild!” came a familiar shout as the sound of running footsteps became increasingly louder. Wild couldn’t help but feel the need to hide from who he knew was coming to tell him off. But the worry quickly abandoned him as he saw Twilight come into view of Colin’s father. For a second, the two of them seemed to gape at one another in disbelief, rooted to the ground they stood on. Wild looked back and forth between the two of them before Twilight finally broke the silence. 

“Hi, Rusl…”

Chapter Text

Wild couldn’t help but feel slightly awkward as he watched the man that had nearly strangled him in a fight move to nearly strangle Twilight in a tight embrace. A few moments passed before the two broke apart with the man, Rusl, holding him by the shoulders. 

“Where have you been?!” He cried. “Link, you left without a word! If it weren’t for Ilia seeing you leave, we wouldn’t have known what happened to you!”

“I know, I know. I just-“

“But then, when we didn’t hear anything after a few months, I got worried and tried to find you!” Rusl continued, hands shaking in their grip. “And then when I still couldn’t find you, I asked for help from the Resistance. But then they couldn’t even find you! It was like you had dropped off of the map!”

Twilight blinked, taken aback. “It… hasn’t been that long since I left… has it?” Rusl stared at him in disbelief. 

“Link, you’ve been gone for five years.”

Wild, still feeling quite outside of the conversation, watched every drop of color drain from his mentor’s face. Twilight’s voice shook when he spoke again. “F-five? Five years?” Rusl’s slow nod set Twilight back a few steps, a hand on a tree for support. Wild quickly moved to his side, putting his hand on his back in support. 

“Are you okay?” Wild whispered. Twilight barked out a short laugh. Only a second of eye contact was as clear of a message as if he had spoken it out loud. 

Hell no. 

Rusl, sensing the rising panic, stepped forward once more. “Don’t get me wrong, Link. You have no idea how relieved I am to see you safe! I just… we all have had nothing to go off of for a while, and some people feared the worst.”

“I- yeah…” Twilight stuttered, now holding Wild’s shoulder to stabilize himself. “It wasn’t- well… it’s hard to explain, but I’m almost certain that it wasn’t that long for me…” 

Rusl’s fingers ghosted over the markings that decorated Twilight’s face. “What happened to you, Link?” Twilight’s expression twisted with discomfort as he couldn’t help but jerk back from the touch. “It’s… complicated, Rusl. I promise you that I can do my best to explain it to you later, when we have time.”

“Twi.” Wild said quietly. “Are you sure we can-“

“Absolutely.” Twilight interjected, locking eyes with Wild. “If I was going to trust anyone with that information here, it would be Rusl.”

“Link, who is this?” Rusl asked abruptly. “I’m sorry for clashing with him, but I still don’t understand who he is to you.”

“He’s a mentor to me.” Wild answered tersely, his remaining irritation failing to hide itself as he shoved his hood away from his face. “Twi- er, Link is my friend and a member of a larger traveling party. I was scouting the path and trying to make sure there weren’t any threats ahead of us. And instead I found you.”

“Wild...” Twilight started. Rusl let out a chuckle. “No it’s alright, Link. It is fair for him to be mad at me. I’m not so arrogant that I can’t admit that I made a serious oversight. One that could have gotten him killed. And I would like to apologize to you… Wild, is it?” Wild sighed as the man extended a hand. 

“Whatever makes you feel better.” He muttered, shaking his hand. “Though, for the record, I was pretty close to making you regret ever touching me.” 

Rusl raised an eyebrow. “I nearly choked you to death.”

“And I nearly fried your insides out.” Wild snapped, almost surprising himself with the sudden flare of his temper. “You have no idea what I’m capable of!” 

“Wild!” Twilight said sharply, eyes wide. Wild’s eyes flew to his mentor’s face before following his eyeline down to his own right arm. He felt himself instinctually freeze upon catching a few flickers of pale green electricity run down his sleeve before disappearing. As the two of them locked eyes once more, Wild fought to keep the unexpected spike of fear in his stomach under control. It didn’t help that he noticed the hesitancy in Twilight’s hand as it was slowly placed on his shoulder. 

“Are you okay?” Twilight asked, keeping his voice low. “Breathe, Wild.” The direction, Wild discovered, was surprisingly more difficult to follow than he expected. But a few strained breaths later brought him down from the peak he had so quickly managed to work himself up to, grounding him once more to the current moment. But soon Wild could feel Twilight’s eyes sweep up and down his form in that familiar way that he always did, trying to find the injuries that his protégé wouldn’t tell him about, and he felt that ground starting to fall away once more. It was almost instinctive to turn his head away and try to hide the trail of crimson that had now reached his clavicle. 

“Is he okay, Link?” Colin piped up, having been a quiet observer for most of the conversation. “Does he need help?”

“I’m fine.” Wild lied reflexively. He turned away from the group, hyper aware of the fact that he still hadn’t even managed to get his facial expressions under control. It was difficult to tear his gaze from his hand as he continued. “We have a job to do. So let’s stick to it. The road should be safe, and we need to move Time quickly while it still is.”

“Move time?” Rusl raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

“Our friend, Time, needs to be moved.” Twilight explained, though still trying to meet Wild’s gaze. “He was injured in a fight, and we were trying to get him to the tree house to be safe.”

“You have a friend named ‘Time’ and a friend named ‘Wild’?”

“Plus a friend named ‘Hyrule’.” Colin added. “And that’s not even half of them.” 

Wild lifted his hood once more in an attempt to hide the fear coursing through his veins. “I’m going ahead to let them know it’s safe. You can catch up later if you’re just going to stand and talk.”

“No, you’re not!” Twilight’s grip on his shoulder tightened, halting him in his tracks. “You just did this, Wild! You aren’t going through these damned woods alone again. Not if I can help it!”

“Let go! I don’t need a babysitter! I can take care of myself, Twi!”

“Forgive me for not trusting that right now, Wild. You haven’t been making the smartest choices as of late!”

“You know what-”

“Boys!” Rusl said suddenly, moving to their side. “I understand if there is some kind of disagreement going on. But from what it sounds like, a friend of yours is injured, correct?” Wild dropped his gaze, fighting the confusing mess of emotions that were relentlessly growing in his chest. “I don’t think it would be wise to keep arguing like this when he needs our assistance, yes?” 

“Of course.” Twilight murmured. “We need to move quickly.” Wild jerked his shoulder out of Twilight’s grip, biting his tongue as he stormed down the path without bothering to check if any of them followed. Instead, he was staring at his hand, trying his best to convince himself that he didn’t still feel the pins and needles of electricity on his fingers. That he didn’t sense the powerful force of energy, which he had very nearly brought down upon an innocent man, still chomping at the bit to wreak its chaotic destruction.

* * * * * * * * *

Time was actually standing up when the four of them finally arrived back at the spring, albeit with help from Sky. The group had already gathered their things and had just been waiting anxiously for their return. And though several of them gave sighs and expressions of relief upon seeing them all safe, the tense atmosphere that had been carried back rapidly filled the rest of the space. 

Rusl stopped, likely surprised at the number of people waiting for them. Wild imagined they looked fairly eclectic, not to mention the fact that it only took Twilight whispering a few words to Legend and a few looks to one another for everyone to seem to know what was going on. Regardless, Wild didn’t feel the need to break the silence, and only slid under Time’s other arm to help him forward, taking the weight from Sky. Colin and Rusl stood awkwardly by the gate, watching an obviously pretty well practiced procession begin to form, before falling in behind Twilight as he took the lead. 

“I take it that things didn’t go smoothly.” A scratchy voice to his left said quietly. Wild turned to look at Time as he regarded the champion thoughtfully. Wild nodded his head with a sigh. “Sure. You could say that.”

“Want to talk about it?”

“Not really.”

A few moments of silence passed as Wild braced for the unwanted conversation to start, regardless. But it never came. Glancing back at Time showed the hero looking forward at the road again, apparently content to leave it there. Wild blinked, taken aback as he couldn’t help but briefly stare. But he felt his face heat up a bit as Time’s face broke into a smile, laughing at Wild’s surprise. 

“You sure about that?” He chuckled. Wild buried his face in his hood once more, hiding the redness that was steadily growing. 

“I’m sure, Time! It’s just- I guess I’m just used to everybody prying anyway.” 

The older hero hummed in acknowledgement. “Most of them are inquisitive people. You can’t really blame them for that.”

Wild snorted. “There’s a difference between ‘inquisitive’ and ‘nosy’.” 

Time sighed as he listened. “You know it’s because they care, don’t you? It’s not a bad thing to have people worried for you.” 

 “I guess so. But I dealt with all sorts of problems just fine when I was alone.” Wild grumbled. “Injuries, sickness, monsters in my way, you name it. But each of those times, I figured out the problem, fixed it, and kept going. I’m capable of doing that still, but it feels like people don’t think that’s the case. Like they think that they have to fix the problem for me or something.”

“To be fair, we all traveled alone for most of our journeys.” Time mused “I don’t think any of us are used to being in a group, no matter how long we’ve traveled together. But I think that we all had a similar mentality when it came to obstacles. Find the problem, fix it, move on. No matter whose problem it is, right? ” He smiled as he looked back at Wild. “I don’t think anyone actively thinks that you are incapable of the kind of decisions that you’re talking about.”

Wild shrugged as he looked ahead to the front of the group. “Tell that to Twilight.” 

He could still feel the older hero’s eyes on him as Time responded. “Twilight has a lot of things going on in his head right now. He’s being faced with a lot of memories and feelings that he has ignored for a long time. I’d give him a bit of grace if I were you.”

“I know, I know.” Wild murmured. “He’s just not making it easy for me to do that, I guess.”

“Then just give him some time.” Time said simply. “He’s worrying about a lot more than he normally would be at the moment. He needs time to figure out his thoughts. The best thing we can do is give that to him.” 

Wild gave a final, slow nod as his eyes and thoughts wandered. Though they were soon caught by an odd shimmer coming from the top of Time’s head. He blinked as he stared at the light, confused for a moment before he realized what he was looking at.

While Ordona had definitely helped heal Time of his exposure to the Twilight, it was much easier to see in the direct sunlight that not everything had been returned to its original state. His blond hair seemed to help hide them initially, but several strands at the back of his head now were gleaming like threads of gold in the setting sun. It was almost mesmerizing to watch it shine.

Cocking his head to the side, Wild vaguely wondered whether the effect would be permanent or not, but he couldn’t bring himself to start another conversation. Especially since all other conversation around them had once again been reduced to hushed whispers. Not to mention the fact that Wild was beginning to find, as they walked that with nothing left to distract him, save for the tingling and unstable energy that was only now begrudgingly retreating within himself, he was becoming acutely aware of the many injuries that he had been successfully ignoring up until this point. 

His left shoulder, which he’d landed on twice in that fight, had begun to flare up once more, magic healing water be damned. Then there was the head wound that he hadn’t bandaged or even bothered to wash the blood away from. That had settled on a sustained ache that seemed content to stay for a while, regardless of his wishes. Throw in bruising on his neck from the second time in the past forty-eight hours that there had been an attempt to strangle him to death, as well as all of the cuts and bruises that Ordona’s spring hadn’t gotten around to, and Wild felt like he was moving in slow motion through the dense fog that now filled his mind. 

At some point, somebody had stepped in to ‘take a turn’ supporting Time, though even in the daze he was in. Wild could still tell they were probably just trying to get him to take some kind of a break. He couldn’t really bring himself to refuse it. But he just kept walking, even after the weight had been lifted. The remaining journey was nothing but a blur, which he was content not to change. In fact, Wild may have been content to keep it that way for the rest of the night if it weren’t for a high-pitched squeal that caused him to snap to attention once more. 

“Daddy!” came a tiny voice from ahead of them. Blinking, Wild looked around to realize that they had already made it to the tree house. He felt a small twinge of embarrassment when he realized that the others had slowed down while he had mindlessly kept walking a few paces, almost to the front of the pack. But it allowed him to have a clear sight of the small child that was bounding up the path, followed closely by an older woman with short blonde hair. 

Rusl, who had been walking at his son and Twilight’s side, broke into a smile and strode forward to the little blonde girl that was dashing up to him.

“Come here, you!” He laughed as he briefly knelt to her level. In an effortless movement, he scooped her up in a hug and swung her around as she let out a peal of giggles. “What are you doing over here? I thought you were protecting your mama.”

“I am!” she cried, clinging to his neck. “She’s safe!” The girl peeked over at the woman as she hugged her father. “See?”

“I do see.” Rusl smiled, holding her close. “We’re all safe, aren’t we?”

“Colin!” The woman gasped, pulling the boy toward her. “You’re alright!”

“I’m fine, mom.” Colin muttered, grimacing as she kissed his forehead and held him close before pulling away to hold him at arm's length by the shoulders.

“Don’t scare me like that, Colin!" She scolded. "You ran off without any explanation! You know those woods are dangerous!”

“I said I’m fine!” Colin protested. “I had a hunch, so I had to see if I was right. And I was!” The woman blinked at her son for a moment before looking up, as if she only just noticed the group of boys that were standing in the clearing with her family. Her eyes locked on to Twilight almost immediately, unable to stop herself from doing a double take. 

“L...Link?” she whispered, putting up a hand to cup his cheek. “Is that… really you?” Twilight looked down at his feet, though Wild could spy a tiny smile tugging at his lips. 

“Hello, Uli.” 

The woman, Uli, seemed to tear up at his voice, bringing her other hand up to hold the other side of Twilight’s face. “Oh, Link! Oh my goodness! You’re… you’re home! Where have you been?” She cried as she pulled him into an embrace. She traced the markings on his face, almost exactly as her husband had before. “What… happened to you? Are you alright?”

“I’m okay, Uli, I promise.” He reassured her, though he subtly pulled away from her touch. “My friends and I saw that the village was in trouble, so we did what we could to help.”

“Oh yes…” Uli murmured, looking back to Rusl with a worried glance. “To be honest… we weren’t fully certain what was going on. Colin had said that he recognized the feeling, but that it was best to stay indoors.” 

Colin looked at Twilight. “At least, that was what Renado had said when it had happened before. I figured we could trust his judgement again.”

Twilight nodded slowly as Uli continued. “So we stayed inside and did our best to be as quiet as possible, but it was horrible! There were these terrifying sounds all around us. I felt so… cold.” She had a distant look on her face before looking back at her family. “But then it was all suddenly gone, and Colin was running out the door! And Kiri would only stay in the house for so long after her brother and father both left in such a hurry.” The little girl in Rusl’s arms flashed the group a big grin, showcasing a missing front tooth.

“Well we can thank the goddesses that we’re all okay.” Rusl sighed, putting a hand on his wife’s shoulder. “But I believe you all wanted to let your companion rest here?”

“Oh, apologies!” Uli gasped, only now seeing Time propped up on Warriors’s shoulder. “Do you need any help? I am sure I could find some bandages if you need them!”

“It won’t be necessary, ma’am.” Time smiled, nodding to the woman. “All I really need is some rest, I think. We’ve already gotten fairly waterlogged from spending time at Ordona’s spring, so I think I’ve been given as much healing as I can take.”

“I suppose that would make sense.” She laughed before turning to Twilight. “Should I inform Mayor Bo that you’ve arrived, Link?”

Twilight furrowed his brow. “I probably should just go see him myself. No sense in putting that off, I guess.”

“I can stay with Time, if you all want.” Sky offered. “I’m sure at least some of you all are interested in seeing the village for real. Not, you know, how it was before.”

“That is, unless you want us to hang back.” Legend mused before making eye contact with Twilight. “It’s your home, so you can choose.”

Twilight thought for a moment. Wild could practically see the internal struggle in his mind before one side finally relented.

“It’s fine.” He sighed, resigned. “It’s not like it’s a secret. You can come if you want, I guess.” In the corner of Wild’s eye, Wind gave a small fist pump in excitement. 

Rusl handed Kiri to Uli before turning back to Twilight. “You did say you would… explain things, right?” He said quietly, eyes flicking to the different members of the group. 

Twilight nodded, sighing. “It’s a bit complicated, but yes. I will do my best to do so… later.” Rusl’s eyes fell a bit, but gave a look of acknowledgement before turning back with his family to head down the path. Colin watched his father for a moment before looking back at Twilight, an eyebrow raised. Twilight only shook his head and began to follow with the others in tow, save for Sky and Time, who were now slowly ascending the small ladder that led up to the house. 

“I think there’s some blankets somewhere in there.” Twilight called after them. “I’m not sure. But there’s space to lay down, for sure.”

“What about a bed?” Wind asked. “Can’t he just use yours?” Twilight paused for a moment, a curious expression on his face as he looked to Wind. 

“What?” The youngest hero asked.

“Nothing.” Twilight said thoughtfully before continuing on. “Just thinking.”

And with that, the party followed after, down the winding path once more, though this time lit by beams of light from the actual sun as it sank lower in the sky. And when it opened up to reveal the small village once more, Wild couldn’t help but be amazed at the difference that real sunlight made upon the space. The river flowing through the valley filled the air with a soothing burbling sound, its waters appearing crystalline even from this distance. Not only that, but sounds of life filled the area. Chattering squirrels, warbling songbirds, even the distant sounds of crying hawks gave new life to the village, setting it completely apart from the apparent ghost town that they had entered before. 

But as they made their way to the bridge, that beautiful tranquility was shattered by a whoop of excitement, and a blur of blue and white barreling into Twilight’s side, which sent them both tumbling into the drink with a loud splash.

Colin ran up to the edge, momentarily alarmed, before relaxing his posture with a roll of his eyes. “Seriously?” He muttered as Twilight sat up, sputtering in the brook. 

“You’re here! You’re back! Holy crap, it’s been ages , Link!” An excited voice rambled on. Running up to Colin’s side revealed a young boy, likely close in age to him. He had a head of unkempt brown hair, pushed out of his face by a red bandana. The kid was kneeling in the water next to a bewildered Twilight, shaking his arm as he babbled on. 

“...so good to see you! Oh man, I thought that Colin was kidding! Not that I didn’t think you’d ever come back, it’s just like, been so long! How did you get those weird marks on your face? And where have you been? And who are all of these people anyway? Oh man, Illia’s gonna flip when she finds out-”

“Talo!” A girl’s voice snapped, effectively cutting him off. Wild squinted for a moment before realizing that they had seen this girl before, huddled in her home with who was likely to be her mother. But now she stood, hands on hips, and giving the boy, Talo, a dirty look. “What are you doing? He just got here and you knocked him in the river!” 

“Lay off, Beth!” Talo yelled. “I haven’t seen him in ages!” 

“Neither have the rest of us, genius.” Colin grumbled. “But you don’t see any of us soaked.” The girl, Beth, nodded in agreement, walking over to stand at Colin’s side. Twilight’s eyebrows briefly shot up, looking between the two, before he composed his expression and stood once more. 

“It’s fine.” He said calmly. “We were at the spirit spring for a while before this, anyway. I’ll dry off.”

“Still, that doesn’t mean he gets a free pass to act like a child.” Beth sniffed, arms crossed. 

Talo cocked his head to the side. “Umm, hello? We are kids.”

“Excuse you.” Beth retorted. “Your brother was able to become a full blown businessman while running a whole franchise on his own, and he is younger than you. I think you can afford to act a bit more mature.”

“Whatever.” Talo muttered, rolling his eyes. 

Twilight turned to Beth. “Is the Mayor nearby?” He asked, looking about. 

Beth scanned the area as well. “He was at Mama's shop not too long ago. I think he was trying to get a headcount to make sure everyone’s okay.” She looked back toward the building with the cat flap. “But I don’t think he’s there anymore.”

Twilight nodded. “Thanks anyways, Beth.” he said as he wrung out the pelt on his shoulder. She smiled. “No problem, Link. It’s good to see you again.” 

Twilight trudged up the bank to rejoin the others amidst sniggers at his soaked tunic and trousers. Colin hung back as the group moved on, staying at Beth’s side as the argument between her and Talo continued. 

The village didn’t seem to be very populated, but it was a strange comfort to see the few residents milling about. A small, wiry man seemed to be perched atop one of the taller rock formations that jutted out from the water, holding a large hawk on his arm. He watched their procession with interest, but stayed rooted in place whilst petting the bird. Rusl and Uli were already back at what Wild assumed to be their own house, with Kiri running barefoot by the riverbank and laughing. A taller, brown-haired woman was standing at the river’s edge by the water wheel, anxiously watching a short, burly man climb the criss-crossing beams to pull an arrow shaft out of the side of the attached building. But Twilight seemed to lock on to one person in particular that was walking toward the gate to the ranch. 

He was a large man. Rotund, but muscled. He was bald, but had a fairly distinct gray mustache. The man was faced away, but stopped upon hearing Twilight’s voice.

“Mayor Bo.” Twilight called, stepping forward. The man turned, squinting for a moment before his eyes went wide. “A moment of your time, if you don’t mind.”

“Link, my boy!” The man boomed, striding forward with arms outstretched. “By the goddesses! You’ve come home safe and sound!” Twilight shifted his stance at the words, his discomfort obvious to Wild, but too subtle for Mayor Bo to pick up. Instead he wrapped Twilight in a crushing hug, lifting him a few inches off of the ground before setting him down once more to take stock of him. 

“My, how you’ve grown!” the mayor laughed, clapping him on the shoulder. “You’re a man now, aren’t you?”

Twilight cleared his throat and forced a smile. “I suppose so. It’s been… an interesting journey for me, to say the least.”

“I wouldn’t doubt it.” Mayor Bo nodded, putting his arm on Twilight’s shoulder. “So what has brought you home to us? And who might these young men be?” 

Twilight glanced back at the group. “These are friends of mine. We’ve been traveling together for… a while now. We heard about some trouble here, and came to try to help.”

“Well it seems we were fortunate.” Bo said, brow furrowed. “I’m not sure what it was that was happening here, but we were lucky to all be okay after. I was about to go check on Fado to be certain-”

“WOAH!” A sudden shout echoed down the path from the ranch. “A GOAT GOT LOOSE! IT'S HEADIN' FOR TOWN! SOMEBODY STOP IT!”

The whole group shifted to look at one another, uncertain as to what to do, just as a particularly fat Ordonian Goat crested the hill, barreling down the road at full speed. Wild caught Hyrule’s face going completely white out of the corner of his eye. But before the traveler could even touch his power bracelet, Twilight surged in front of everyone, arms outstretched and feet planted firmly in front of the incoming creature. 

It was one thing to hear Twilight talk about how to wrangle a goat. It was an entirely different thing to watch him, with nothing but his own muscle and grit, grab hold of the goat horns and force it to a near stop without breaking a sweat. But what took the cake was the moment that his stance shifted and he, with practiced ease, lifted the goat off of its feet to send it flailing through the air using its own momentum. With a loud THUD , the goat landed on its side behind him, his hands still firmly gripping the horns. 

“WOAH!” Wind squealed, running up to the goat as Twilight pulled it back up onto its feet, its temperament somehow completely pacified. “How did you do that, Twi?! That was even cooler than what Hyrule did! You THREW it!” 

“Well look at that!” Mayor Bo laughed. “He’s still got it, even after all these years!”

“I guess that means Fado’s okay.” Twilight chuckled, patting the goat as it ambled away. “Assuming things with him haven’t changed much since I’ve been gone.”

Mayor Bo’s brow furrowed for a moment, his smile somewhat fading. “Well… I suppose he hasn’t changed, per se, but…”

Twilight looked up from the goat in confusion. “What do you mean?”

“Well…”

“Father! Is everyone alright? I-”

A feminine voice cut the older man off before it too died away. Twilight’s eyes were wide, but not looking in its direction. But Wild was not so afraid to look. 

A young woman stood silhouetted by the setting sun at the gate to the ranch. Her blonde hair was cut short in a pixie cut, out of her face. She wore simple Ordonian work clothes, and was barefoot. She looked to be Twilight’s age, though perhaps a few years older. But she stared at the farmhand, eyes wide and mouth agape. Slowly, Twilight managed to bring his eyes up to look at her.

“You…” She stammered, walking toward him. “You came… back.” Twilight nodded wordlessly. 

“Wait.” Wild heard Wind whisper to Four. “Is that…?”

“No.” Four shook his head. “She’s not a princess, I don’t think.”

“That’s not what I mean! I think that’s the girl!”

“I don’t think it's her.” Warriors muttered. “But I wonder if it’s-.”

SMACK!

There were several sharp inhales as Twilight’s face jerked to the side. The girl drew her hand back, tears in her eyes. 

“Nevermind.” Wind whispered.

“Who the hell do you think you are?!” She cried. “You just leave us with no warning, and not even a goodbye, then just show up and expect me to be happy to see you?!”

Twilight shrank back, guilt written all over his face. “Ilia, I’m sorry. I-”

“No! No, you don’t get to apologize. You haven’t earned that right!” She turned away and stormed back up to the hill, fists clenched. Mayor Bo tried to reach for her arm.

“Ilia, please!”

“Don’t touch me!” He flinched back at her words.”Just leave me be!” The group watched her go, stunned. Twilight rubbed his cheek, looking down at his boots. 

“I’m… sorry about that, Link.” The mayor stammered. “I didn’t realize…”

“No, I deserved that.” He muttered. “She has every right to be mad.”

“I can talk to her if you’d like.” Bo offered, though Twilight shook his head. 

“You know that won’t help anything. She needs time, and that’s fine. She is completely right, so I can’t really complain.” He turned to look at the others, his face a little pink. “Besides, I think it’s about time for us to settle in for the night. It’s getting dark.”

Mayor Bo’s brow furrowed, but he nodded slowly. “You’re old home, I take it?”

“Yes. A few of us are already there, resting. If you need us, we’ll probably be there.”

“Very well, Link. Will you be staying for very long?” 

Twilight thought for a moment. “You know? I honestly have no idea.” The mayor sighed, but gave a tired smile. 

“Alright then. Well, you’ll know where to find us at least.” He put a hand on Twilight’s shoulder. “Get some rest, Link. You all look like you could use it.” 

Twilight gave a nod of thanks before turning back to the group. Slowly, they began to walk back the way they came, the eyes of all of the villagers now on them. But Wild wasn’t paying attention to them. He was watching his mentor the entire journey, trying to read his expressions for a hint into his thoughts. But as quickly as Twilight had been caught off guard by the encounter, his blank mask had come right back up as they moved through town, hiding any feelings from seeing the light of day. 

Eventually, they found their way up the path once more to the ladder of the old treehouse. Actually entering the place revealed an open floor with ladders reaching up to smaller loft spaces above. A few tables scattered the edges of the space, with a new fire sputtering out of the dusted logs that was warming the cold brick likely for the first time in a long time. 

Time was already sleeping on the floor, covered by a few thick, woolen blankets. Sky was sitting with his back to the wall, whittling tools loose in his hands as his quiet snores rumbled through the room. 

“Alright.” Warriors yawned, stretching his arms. “I don’t care where I’m crashing. I’m done for today.”

“You said it.” Four groaned, dropping his bag by a bookshelf. 

Wild sat by the fireplace, eyeing the small pot that hung over it as he pulled out his slate. “I’m not making anything fancy today. I don’t have the energy.”

“I don’t think any of us care, Wild.” Hyrule mumbled, his head already buried in his own bag like a pillow. 

Slowly, everyone claimed their own space around the room as it became apparent that there was weirdly no bed or mat to fight over. Wild tossed together a quick curry, which everyone inhaled, before resting his head on the wall behind him. The now dried blood on his neck cracked uncomfortably as he did, prompting him to try to rub it off. For a moment, he glanced around to ensure his mentor wasn’t watching, but instead caught the tail end of Twilight muttering something about a run to Four before leaving. Normally, that might have concerned Wild, but not tonight. He could hear the light tapping of rain beginning to fall on the roof, its lulling rhythm adding to the hypnotic call of sleep. It would be so easy to stretch out on the floor, and just wait to simply pass out.

It would be so easy to do. At least if it weren’t for a tiny, hissing whisper reverberating in his ear that raised all of the hairs on the back of his neck.

“...I’m here…”

His eyes snapped open once more, uncertain of how long they had been shut. Wild pushed himself up despite his protesting body to look for the source. His companions were already all asleep. Four was almost nodding off, but he wasn’t looking at Wild. And that definitely wasn’t his voice. Though it still sounded familiar for some reason.

“...I know you’re there…”

Wild whipped around. No one was there. The dying firelight made his shadow dance on the wall, but he couldn’t see any other movement. 

“...I think it’s time we talked, Child of the Wilds…”

Wild’s head jerked in the direction of the voice. Around the corner. Not in the main room. Slowly, silently, he got to his feet. His hand closed around his Sheikah Slate, the security of its presence at his hip helping him keep his breaths even. His bare feet made no sound as he slowly crept across the room, stepping over his traveling companion’s limbs as he turned the corner. 

A trapdoor lay open on the floor, its ladder leading down into darkness.

“...Aren’t you curious, wanderer...?”

Wild’s brow furrowed as it clicked in his mind. But he knew that the warped voice wasn’t Twilight, though the similarity was eerie. He had left. He had gone for a run or something. This wasn’t him. The rational part of Wild’s brain prompted him to wake someone else up to check out the basement with him. 

“...But why would you listen to that part of your mind...?”

He never listened to that part of his mind. 

The wood of the ladder was old and splintered. Like everything in this house, it didn’t seem to have been touched in a while. Perhaps even more so. But he gripped it like a lifeline as he felt himself descending into the darkness, almost in a haze. Eventually, his feet found solid ground, and he looked out into the complete darkness of the basement. 

Silence filled his ears.

Wild wasn’t sure how long he stood there. Maybe a few seconds. Maybe an hour. Maybe even longer. It was disorienting how fuzzy everything was. His eyelids struggled to remain open in spite of the adrenaline that still was threatening to course through his veins. 

But then, out of nowhere, the fog dissipated from his mind. Wild blinked, looking around himself. His rational mind, apparently silenced until this point, suddenly began to scream at him with alarm. Why had he come down here alone? Why had he gone toward the voice? He wasn’t that idiotic normally, was he? 

Suddenly, what little light that was coming in from the door above was torn away as the door slammed shut, leaving him in total blackness. Wild felt his whole body lock up against his will as the voice filled the air around him once more.

“...The board is set… Now the game can truly begin…”

Chapter Text

Everything always felt so much simpler when he ran on four legs instead of two. The faint clanking of the old shackle that had once bound him in that dungeon had since almost become a comforting sound to hear. Because it meant that Twilight was in his wolf form once more, and no one ever wanted or expected anything from a wolf. People were either scared of him and left him alone, or they were weirdly comforted by his presence. To be perfectly honest, Twilight had never fully understood how it had become that dichotomy. But nevertheless, it felt like a tiny breath of fresh air to run through the woods of his old life, his powerful canine muscles propelling him forward with reckless abandon. 

Now that he had time to think about it, it actually had been a long time since he had been able to sneak off to transform at all. Even when they had been aimlessly wandering in Four’s Hyrule, there was little need. The last time he had transformed probably was on that journey, but only briefly in order to get away from everyone else to preserve his sanity. 

So it seemed like very little had changed. 

The past two days ran through Twilight’s head as the pattering of falling raindrops began to form an ambient hum amidst the dark forest while he darted forward with no real goal in mind. Hylia, had it really only been two days? Not even? Everything had moved so quickly and so badly. Sky and Wild being dragged off by Shadow Beasts felt like decades ago. 

Branches and boughs whipped him in his snout as Twilight surged forward, though his wandering mind somewhat prevented him from being able to bring himself to care. He just kept seeing the villagers of Ordon, their expressions haunting him. Not faces of anger, or even sadness for that matter. It was just that underneath the relief they had expressed, there was a slight undertone of discomfort. Like they didn’t know how to talk to him. 

Like he was a stranger.

It almost felt wrong to be upset about it. They hadn’t reacted like he had been imagining, by berating or hating him for leaving. Well, most of them anyway. 

Though fur now covered it, the now pouring rain did little to soothe the sharp sting that Twilight could still feel from Ilia’s slap on his cheek, accompanied by the nearly crippling guilt that the tears in her eyes had created within him. But he could deal with that. Strangely, Ilia’s strong words had almost been a relief. Almost a confirmation that yes, he had, in fact, fucked up. That he actually did hurt her by leaving. That she had cared. 

No, it was far more confusing to look at people like Rusl and Uli, who had practically treated him as their own son when he was young, look at him like he was a totally different person. And all while holding their actual daughter that he had never been around to actually get to know.

Twilight’s mind began to wander even further, in tandem with his physical self racing through the wood, sloughing through mud and dense, dark foliage. There was so much to unpack, and he had no idea how to sort through any of it. Because thinking of Rusl made him think of Colin, and that… that was a whole knot of feelings that he wasn’t sure if he could untangle, or if he even wanted to regardless. 

Colin had always been the peacemaker. Despite the constant bullying from the other village children, he had always been the one to try to alleviate the situation, and not escalate things further. Even on that fateful day when everything had gone horribly wrong, Colin had been the one to talk to Ilia and explain the situation that had caused Epona to be hurt. And she actually listened to him, which honestly was a feat in and of itself. But now…

Twilight grimaced as the image of Colin’s hand on his sword flashed in his mind. That was never going to leave him alone, was it? Would Colin have ever gone down that path if it weren’t for him? He had said it to Twilight more than once before, but now those words deepened the pit in his stomach as they echoed in his mind, their implications only now hitting him. 

“...But when I grow up, I'm gonna be just like you, Link!”

“...When I grow up, if I have a son, I'm gonna make sure he turns into a guy who can do everything...just like you, Link!”

“...When I grow up, I'm going to be just like you, Link! So you don't have to worry about me anymore!”

Unbidden tears began to blur his vision as words and memories began to fill his senses.

“...You can use swords and slingshots and everything!”

“...You've gotta teach us how to use a sword, too!”

“... When my son Colin grows up, I want him to be just like you…”

“...to be just like you…”

“...just like you…”

...Just like you...

Guilt broiled in Twilight’s chest as it tightened, his breathing becoming more and more uneven and short. Was it because he had left? Was that why Colin had taken on that burden? Was it his selfish desire to set out on his own that had put a blade in the hands of a boy who had specifically told him all those years ago, before any of this had happened, that he never wanted to learn to use one? 

Twilight held back a sob as the questions overwhelmed him. Why was he ever even considered a role model? He made a mess of things everywhere he went. He had failed to prevent any of the children from being taken that day. He had nearly allowed Colin to be killed by one of his own enemies. What had he done on his own that had ever been significant? Why had Colin, or anyone else for that matter, ever followed his example? 

Suddenly, Twilight’s paw was swept out from beneath him, thoroughly snapping him out of his spiralling thoughts. His blind charging had finally come to a stop when a gnarled tree root caught him by the foot, sending him sprawling into the mud. 

Twilight wasn’t sure just how long he laid there, half blinded by the muck and breathing heavily. The earth seemed to want to cling to him, the rain falling on his face almost pushing him down, deeper into its grasp. And it would be so easy to just let it happen, as well. To just give up. 

Twilight wished he could say that it was a sudden burst of courage that got him to pull himself up to his feet again, allowing him to put literally any amount of faith in himself and to keep going. But no, it was actually an instinctual response to the sound of an unknown presence behind him within the forest that had him bolt to his feet, hackles slightly raised. The rustling of bushes would be difficult to hear without a downpour masking it, much less with one ear filled with mud. But Twilight had the preternatural hearing of a wolf. 

His eyes darted around the wood, though the rain tried its best to blind him to his surroundings. He lowered his torso closer to the ground, a low snarl slowly exposing his fangs to whatever was there. Though, if he was being completely honest with himself, doing so didn’t set Twilight at ease. Any scent he could have used to identify them was immediately washed away by the rain. Not only that, but only now he began to realize that the darkness of the forest was almost unnatural in that he truly couldn’t see much better now than he could as a human. Twilight had to fight to keep down the instinctual panic that was threatening to take hold upon experiencing this level of sensory deprivation. However, he also couldn’t help but silently berate himself for being so wrapped up in his own thoughts that he failed to notice this until now. It sounded like something he would normally tell Wild off for doing. 

Twilight shook his head in frustration, flinging the mud from the side of his snout and fur as he forced himself to refocus on the sound that he had heard. Nothing else stuck out through the thrumming of the falling rain, and the forest still stubbornly refused to reveal much of anything to him. But even so, Twilight could not ignore the fact that somewhere within him, there was a strange certainty that whatever had made the sound had not left. He wasn’t alone. And perhaps he was being a pessimist, but Twilight held out very little hope that whatever was there was of a good nature.

Carefully, he began to rotate himself in the space, ears flicking back and forth as he listened desperately for any confirmation of the unsettling feeling that refused to leave him alone. But where…?

“You’re sharper than your other friends, you know.”

A low, echoing voice rippled out from the rain, making Twilight freeze in his tracks. He knew that voice. Sky…? No. It sounded wrong. Warped. Distorted. Deeper? Whipping around, Twilight searched for the source, but even as whatever it was continued to speak with the Skyloftian’s voice, the sound seemed to surround him. It emanated from all around him in an unnatural, ominous fashion that both drowned out the rain and also, somehow, set him even more on edge. 

“They never sensed me at all, no matter how long I watched them…” Twilight felt himself momentarily lock up in fear, involuntarily, as he swore he felt a breath on his neck. “...or how close I was able to get.”

Whirling around with a snap of his jaws, a feral snarl ripping up from within him, Twilight frantically searched for the source once more, but couldn’t even call himself surprised when he found nothing. 

“But not you, little wolf.” Sky’s voice crooned. “You could tell. You could… feel my presence. Well done.”

Twilight furrowed his brow, uncertain of this entity’s intentions. Suddenly, an ear twitched as he caught a faint rustling to his left within the bushes. Without hesitation, his powerful canine limbs propelled him at the sound in a lightning-fast pounce. Mud sprayed out everywhere as he landed, lashing out at whatever was around him. Unfortunately, the only thing that he found purchase on was a mouthful of flimsy branches, but he felt his stomach tie itself into a knot as a twisted laugh began to reverberate around him. But this voice was different. It wasn’t the soft laughter that Sky normally would make. Twilight fought to keep himself from visibly recoiling upon hearing the youthful giggles of Wind corrupted and distorted into something almost horrifying.

“No, no. Not there, silly! A good guess though, I’d say.” the sailor said, thoughtfully. “But you know, this conversation is kinda one-sided. Why don’t you shift into something that can talk back to me?”

Twilight froze. The panic that had been welling up was becoming harder and harder to hold down. And it did not help to hear that terrible, pealing laughter surrounding him once again.

“Come now...You have no idea how much I’ve been looking forward to this talk!”

Crouching within the brush, Twilight shut his eyes with grim acceptance. He really didn’t have much of a say here, did he? His grimace changed from resignation to discomfort and pain as the bones in his body contorted and shifted in that familiar way. The darkness congealed once more into the charm that now hung around his neck as he stood up, drawing his blade to face the unknown foe that surrounded him. Taking a breath, Twilight looked out into the inky blackness with determination.

“Who are you?”

“An interesting question,” a new voice, Legend, pondered. “But I suppose an inevitable one. Not that it makes it any easier to answer...”

“Stop it.” Twilight cut him off, frustrated. “Stop dodging the question. Who or what the hell are you, and what do you want?”

“Well that’s a question I can certainly answer. ‘What do you want?’ That’s simple. I wanted this. I wanted to meet you, Hero of the Twilight.”

Twilight stopped, taken aback. “Me? What are you talking about?”

“I’ve met many that possess the Hero’s Spirit,” Time whispered from within the wind. “And I’ve fought them over and over, in one form or another. In shadow, in darkness, it doesn’t matter. I have fought. I have learned. And I have paid attention.” The wind began to quickly shift, tearing at his tunic and pelt, and almost shoving him forward a few steps. Four’s voice was startlingly loud for what it usually was when it spoke, sending Twilight’s heart racing with a fear that he hadn’t ever felt before. 

“But I was always nothing but a shade.” he hissed, his inflections causing the wind to almost pulse with power. “A shadow only able to find its way to the light in brief glimpses. At least, long enough for an equal power to send it straight back to where it hailed from.”

Twilight stumbled as the wind abruptly stopped, but then had to jump away from where he stood as Hyrule’s voice apparated just as unexpectedly from behind him.

“But I never met you.”  

The voice strangely sounded almost mournful as it spoke. “All of those self-righteous heroes I had to face, time and time again. But never once was I ever able to truly meet perhaps the only one who might not immediately see me as a threat.”

“And why would that be me?” He asked into the air, unsure of where to direct his question. 

“Because you are the most like me, of course!”  

Twilight felt his stomach twist itself upon hearing those words. He wasn’t even sure why, but he felt paralyzed to respond. The entity seemed to sense this, or perhaps didn’t really care one way or the other and continued on in Hyrule’s tone.

“You aren’t afraid of the dark. Not like they are. You aren’t afraid to immerse and embroil yourself within it. Because you know, deep down, what is waiting on the other side of it, don’t you?”

“What?” Twilight stuttered out.

“Power.” Warriors’ voice responded, simply. “The strength to accomplish what needs to be done. Most get hung up on where that strength comes from. But not us. Isn’t that right, little wolf?”

Twilight fought the urge to look down at the pendant that now rested on his chest, but he still felt it growing heavier, the cord digging harder and harder into his neck with each passing second. 

“What makes you think that you know me?” he murmured. “Like you said, we’ve never met.”

“You aren’t wrong.” the warped voice of the captain mused. “We haven’t met, officially. But make no mistake, I have watched. And I have seen you have absolutely no problem at all relying on the power of the cursed Twili people for a long time now. I mean, you’ve used it so much that you don’t even need to use the Master Sword to transform back anymore!”

Twilight forced himself to take a breath as the voice shifted once more. He needed to focus. Whoever, or whatever, was talking to him was trying to mess with him. The fact that they were actually succeeding was beside the point. The question was for what purpose? Were they planning to attack him, and this was just to distract him enough to weaken him in the fight? Or were they trying to trick him into giving away something? But before he could piece together any other hypotheses, the gravelly, twisted mimicry of Time’s words snapped him out of his thoughts. 

“And yet, even after your continued use of such magic permanently brands your face, you still inexplicably go to great lengths to keep it all one big secret.” The voice seemed to grow closer once more as it spoke. “Why is that? It couldn’t be that you’re… ashamed, could it?” 

“Shut up.” Twilight snarled. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“But don’t I?” Hyrule retorted. “As I said before, I’ve been watching you for a very long time, Hero of Twilight. Make no mistake, I know far more than you think I do.”

“I’m not ashamed of the power I use.” he snapped, tightening his grip on his blade. “It’s a tool, and I use it as such.”

“Then why hide it? If it is as harmless to use as you say, why would you keep it secret?”

Twilight hesitated for a moment, thinking. “Most people, including some in our group, upon seeing my transformation would recognize it as being made from dark magic. It’s an unnecessary source of conflict to be using it frivolously in front of them.”

“I suppose that makes some sense.” Sky said, thoughtfully. “But if that’s the case, then why do you risk using it at all?”

Twilight shook his head as the being kept speaking. He was getting distracted, and needed to focus on what was important. If he hadn’t been able to spot this being by now, it likely was just too well hidden. Twilight instead turned his attention to his own tracks, still visible in the mud behind him. The rain was definitely wearing them away, but the underbrush was also acting somewhat as a shield, preserving the trail a bit longer. If the creature had an issue with him beginning to walk back through the woods, they didn’t indicate it. Instead they continued to speak, almost as if they knew just how much difficulty Twilight was having ignoring them. 

“You’re a capable swordsman. Arguably one of the better ones in your little party.” Legend reasoned. “Your tracking skills are nearly as adept as they are as a wolf. So it isn’t as though there is a need for you to transform.”

Twilight didn’t answer, pushing through foliage as he kept walking.  At this point, he was only able to navigate his own trail based on the broken branches and trampled brush that his reckless sprinting through the forest had left in his wake. 

“I wonder about you, Hero of Twilight.” the voice pondered. “I wonder if you’re being completely honest with yourself.”

“You may have been watching me for a long time,” Twilight growled, “but I don’t believe for a second that you can read my mind. Stop pretending that you can. My friends have told me about a shadow that they were forced to face before, and how it would mimic their own skills and abilities. All you’ve done for this entire conversation is mimic. Is that all you are, then? A mirror?”

There was a tense pause before Wind’s response came, dripping with venom. “If I were you, hero, I would be very careful about what you say to me, or you will regret it. Perhaps that is what I used to be. But no longer. I am much more than that now.”

“Apparently.” Twilight muttered as he pushed past a low hanging branch. “Look, I don’t know what sick game you’re trying to play here, but you tricked and stole the light of the Light Spirit of Ordona and covered my childhood home in Twilight. I am not you, and I have nothing more to say to you. So, unless you’re going to stop being a coward and actually come out of the dark to meet me face to face, I would appreciate it if you would just piss off.”

The wind began to howl and buffet Twilight in his trek through the woods as Warriors’ deepened voice rang out from behind him.

“You can lie to everyone else, Hero of Twilight. You can even lie to yourself. But you cannot lie to me. Do you even know the true reason why you keep using that power? Because I do.”

“Shut up.” Twilight hissed, trying to block the voice out with little success as he walked.

“You do it because you like it.” Time sneered. “You’re addicted to the thrill of power that little pendant gives you, but don’t have the strength to admit it. 

“Shut up!”

“And you certainly don’t have the strength to give it up, no matter what you’re risking in order to keep using it.” 

“ENOUGH!” Twilight roared, slashing his blade behind him recklessly. Unsurprisingly the strike hit nothing but air, but the swing did cause him to spin around. Twilight instinctually froze up upon spotting a large pair of glowing red eyes beaming out of the brush, watching him intently. 

It was one of the weirder experiences Twilight had ever had, hearing his own voice speak to him. Twisted and warped, yes, but his own inflections and tone saying things that he had never said before did cause him to stumble back a step. “You’re so quick to deny these theories, and so desperate to prove otherwise to me, a complete stranger. It makes me wonder if you’ll think that the price was worth it.”

“What are you talking about?” Twilight demanded. “What price?”

“Hmmm. You’ve been out here for a while, haven’t you?” his own voice hummed. “Lost track of time? Been too busy running around these woods, lost in your own self-pity? It’s a shame really. That boy really wasn’t in the best of shape last I saw him.”

Twilight felt dread begin to build in his stomach as the being’s words sank in. “What have you done?” he whispered. Immediately, terror flooded him upon hearing Wild’s voice, perverted and distorted, mocking him.

“You really should keep a closer eye on the things that you care about, hero. I’d hurry back if I were you. I can’t guarantee that your old enemy will be very kind to him.”

Horror filled his mind as he both sheathed his sword and shifted back into his wolf form in one fluid motion. Without a second thought, he began to tear through the woods, faster than he ever had before, as Wild’s echoing, crazed laughter rang out behind him, multiplying terribly and overwhelming the sounds of the rain and wind before mercifully fading away.

Another awful memory began to force its way to the forefront of his mind he ran, of another night of desperation. Rain pouring down around him and a small weight on his back, bolting through the streets of Castle Town, terrified that he wouldn’t make it in time. Tears were flowing freely now, mixing with the rain and mud in his fur as guilt squeezed his heart in its iron fist. Lightning was now crackling above him, his only source of light in this darkened forest. Branches and leaves felt like knives, slashing at him as he pushed past them, blood beginning to matt his fur even further, though he barely felt it. All that mattered was getting back. Before it was too late.

Finally, after what felt like a tortured eternity, he broke the tree line and had his old treehouse in his sights. Skidding to a halt, he shifted once more, caring little for the amount of mud on his hands and feet. The old ladder almost threatened to give way as he pulled himself up it and burst through the door as thunder rolled in the distance. 

Most of his companions were sprawled out as he had left them, in various stages of sleep. Upon hearing the door slam, Four stirred from his sleep, blearily looking over at Twilight. 

“Wha… what is it?” he mumbled, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. “What’s wrong, Twi?”

“Where’s Wild?” Twilight demanded, scanning the slowly rousing group for his protege.

“I dunno. Isn’t he just sleeping?”

“Where is he?!”

“I said I don’t know!”

“Twilight!” Time said sharply, wincing as he sat himself up. “What’s happened? Talk to me.” But Twilight only pulled away from Four’s grip on his shoulder and moved past his awakening companions. Wild wasn’t there. His bedroll was empty on the ground by the fireplace, but closer inspection revealed that his Sheikah Slate was gone. Twilight could hear his friends’ voices talking to him at this point, but it all faded to background noise when he saw the trapdoor to his basement. It was closed like normal, with a fine layer of dust that surrounded it. Unsurprising, considering the fact that he tended to avoid going down there, even when this had been his home. But what caught his eye was the footprints in the dust that lead up to its mouth before disappearing.

“Shut up.” Twilight whispered as his friends kept pestering him. “SHUT UP!” 

Silence fell instantly as the heroes all instinctually jumped back in reaction to his sudden outburst. Pulling on the handle of the door elicited a groan of old, rusted hinges, followed by a burst of dust as it thudded to the ground. 

“Wait here.” Twilight said quietly as he moved to go down the ladder. He vaguely heard shouts of protest but ignored them as he climbed down into the dark. 

His boots landing on the creaking wooden floor kicked up another cloud of dust, momentarily obscuring what little vision he had. Heart racing, Twilight crept forward quietly. He wasn’t sure what he expected to find, but his imagination was being unhelpfully active, supplying him with all sorts of potential, grim futures, regardless of his wishes.

But before he could confirm or disprove any of them, a second thud of feet hitting the floor behind him had his blade drawn in a flash to clang against another. It took him a moment to spot the pink hair, followed by Legend’s alarmed face, before he stepped back and lowered his blade, embarrassed. 

“The hell is your problem, Twi?!”

He hung his head, exasperated. “I said to wait upstairs.”

“Yeah, and you were also being an idiot.” Legend snorted. “At least I convinced the others to wait. I figured you would probably hate that.”

“Fair.”

“So,” the veteran looked over, expectantly. “Am I going to have to slap you again, or are you gonna just tell me what the fuck is going on?”

Twilight shifted uncomfortably. “I think Wild’s in trouble.”

“Uh, yeah. No shit.” Legend rolled his eyes. “I meant a bit more specific than that, rancher.”

“I… was on a run, and I heard a voice.”

“A voice?”

“Yeah, and it sounded like us. Like, all of us. It kept switching.”

“Okay. Creepy. So, it just showed up, said Wild was in trouble, and you came back?”

“Well, it sure as hell implied it.”

Legend shook his head. “I’m pretty positive that it was not that simple. I was joking.”

“We can unpack it later, when Wild is okay.” Twilight muttered. “Do you have a lantern or something?”

The veteran looked incredulously at him. “Did you seriously jump down in your creepy ass basement that potentially has something in it that could hurt Wild without a fucking lantern?”

“I… forgot.”

“You’re hopeless.” He muttered, lighting the small lantern he fished out from his bag. 

The basement itself was not very large. So when the lit lantern cast its light, it clearly illuminated the old shelves of boxes and buckets on the walls. But it was also impossible to miss the small object lying on the ground in the middle of the room. A small rectangle with a Sheikah Eye emblazoned on one side. 

“...Fuck.”

Twilight ignored Legend’s quiet curse, slowly moving toward the slate, hand shaking as he knelt to pick it up. Its screen had a long crack running across it, but he was unsure if the device itself was broken or not. Not that it would make much of a difference. Twilight clung to the Sheikah Slate, trembling as sobs threatened to burst out of him.

Suddenly, a sourceless wind tore through the small room, completely extinguishing Legend’s lantern light. For a moment, both of them froze in the darkness, uncertain of their next move. 

“I’d be lying if I told you that it was difficult.” A shadow crossed his face as Wind’s twisted, singsong voice broke the silence. “There’s a strong curiosity in that one. Perhaps you should have trained your ‘cub’ a bit better, hero.” 

“Say… one more word. You damned demon,” Twilight snarled, slowly and deliberately. “And I swear to you, there will not be a grave deep enough for you to hide from me in.”

“Now, now, little wolf. None of that. Don’t you want him back?”  it chuckled, unfazed by his threats. “You wanted to ‘meet me face to face’, didn’t you? Well, I can offer you that. The Bridge of Hylia is a lovely spot, don’t you think? A perfect place for a fair duel, I’d say!”

“If you give us Wild back unharmed, I’d be more than happy to take you up on that.” Twilight snapped as he stood once more, fist clenched on the Sheikah Slate handle.

“Oh, no no no. That’s not what I’m offering, hero.” Sky cackled. “I am offering you your only chance to fight me fairly. Kill me, and this nightmare you all are stuck in may very well end. You could all go home. Hylia wants me ‘dealt with’ badly enough that she rounded up the nine of you to do it. You could end this all now."

Out of the corner of his eye, Twilight spotted a tiny shifting of movement. Slowly, he turned to face a small mirror, propped in the corner of the room. Those same glowing red eyes met his once more from his own reflection, but this time was accompanied by an inky black copy of his form. It smiled as it spoke in his own voice once more, as if pleased that he had been spotted.

“However, there is a tiny wrinkle in this arrangement. You see, The Usurper is waiting for you too. But he waits at the Bridge of Eldin. Rather in the opposite direction, unfortunately. And as you well know, the Bridge of Eldin is quite high up. You know, he has never been the most… patient type. I’m not even quite sure what he’ll do with your protégé if you make him wait.”

"Don't you dare..." Twilight breathed, his sword shaking from how tight his grip was on it. "If you or Zant so much as touch a hair on his fucking head-"

"Now, I can see how this could seem like a no-brainer." It interjected, ignoring the threats once more. "'We can't leave our friend behind!' and all that. But I should warn you. If you don't face me now, I will never give you this chance again. None of you will ever be able to hide from me. I won't stop with your little 'cub'. It will be so easy to pick you all off, one by one. And there will be absolutely nothing that you can do about it. You'll die alone and filled with regret, knowing that not only could you have stopped me, but you chose not to."

“You’re… a sick bastard.” Legend gritted out, taking a step forward. “You know that? A sick fucking bastard!” Twilight could only cling to the Sheikah Slate in horror as the being sneered at him through the mirror.

“Choose wisely, Hero of the Twilight. Neither of us will wait forever. Whatever happens next will be on your head.”  

And with that, the figure in the mirror faded away, leaving nothing behind but the weight of its ominous parting words.

Chapter Text

“What were you thinking?!” Warriors’ furious tone still rang in Twilight’s mind as he sloughed through the mud pulling at his boots. Steady rain soaked into his furs and tunic as he trudged ahead of the others, unable to bring himself to look back at them. The heated argument was still fresh in his mind and refused to leave him alone, no matter how hard he tried. It was in his ear as he had hastily explained the situation to the mayor, and later to Rusl. It was there as he silently packed his things, hyper aware of the seven pairs of eyes that were on him constantly when they thought he wouldn’t notice. He couldn’t get it out of his thoughts. 

“You knew that those woods could be dangerous, and you just ‘took a run?”

“I grew up in them. I knew how to get back…”

“You could have been here!”

“And done what, Wars? He would have been asleep like everyone else.” 

“It was an unnecessary risk-”

“-That tipped us off that Wild was missing. We wouldn’t have known that he was gone until the morning!”

“What, so it’s okay that Twi was just chatting with an evil twin before coming back?”

“Enough!”

The memory of Time’s commanding voice snapping them to attention still made Twilight tense up, even over a day of travel later. Though thinking of his predecessor only twisted his stomach into even more tight and complicated knots. Throughout his entire explanation of that horrible night’s events, he hadn’t been able to bring himself to look Time in the eye. Nor had he the next morning while the group all ultimately decided what to do. 

“It’s a trap, right?” Four had said, bluntly. “We can all agree on that?”

“I think both of them are.” Legend sighed. “We’re going to have to deal with it whatever we choose.”

“Why don’t we split up? A group goes to save Wild, and a group goes to fight this… Shadow.” Hyrule suggested. Legend tilted his head in thought.

“It’s possible. The problem is the fewer people that we have fighting to save Wild, the less likely it will be that we will be successful. I mean, how much do we want to risk his life?”

“...So we all go to get Wild?” Sky asked. 

“And just let this guy go?” Warriors scoffed. “He said that he’s just going to do this again! How are we gonna stop him from just repeating history?”

“Well we do know about him now.” Legend said, narrowing his eyes. “I won’t guarantee that we’ll be successful in the future against him, but I can guarantee that Wild probably won’t survive if we don’t help him now.”

“We aren’t abandoning him, Warriors.” Four said, almost coldly. “Is that what you were suggesting?” 

“I never said that! All this shadow wanted was to fight Twilight. Why doesn’t he just go himself?”

“I’m sorry, Warriors. But what in Hylia’s name makes you think that fight is going to actually be fair?” Legend snapped. “ This… creature, or whatever it is, spent an entire night fucking with Twilight’s head, kidnapped his close friend, then challenged him to a one-on-one duel. What part of that tells you that this guy wants to fight an even fight? If it actually wanted that, it could have, but with a lot fewer steps.”

“Legend is right.” Time interjected as Warriors opened his mouth to retort. “Our priority should be Wild. This creature wants us to play its game, and it is simply unwise to have Twilight face it alone, especially now. We need to have clear heads to fight this threat, which cannot happen while one of us is at its mercy.”

The conversation had been harder to focus on after that. All Twilight could do was hear his mentor’s words over and over for every hour that they traveled.

“...simply unwise to have Twilight face it…”

Was he just a liability at this point? Did any of them trust him to be able to fight if he needed to? None of them had spoken up at Time’s words, nor had anyone tried to talk to him afterward. They all just kept their distance, content to whisper to one another in a way that they thought was quiet enough. His thoughts only continued to spiral as he pressed forward on the muddy, indistinct path through the hills of Hyrule Field. 

The rain clung to him like an icy sheet, running down the back of Twilight’s tunic, chilling him to the bone and only serving to add to his misery. His boots already were practically filled with both water and mud, leaving his toes nearly numb, though he couldn’t really bring himself to be concerned. Twilight’s attention was instead stubbornly focused on forcing his feet to keep moving along the path that was so well hewn into his memory from all of the times he had walked it in the past. So focused, in fact, that he almost didn’t feel another’s presence appear at his side.

“So, I think I already know the answer, but are you able to do this?” Legend asked as he fell into step with him. “Like is your head on straight enough right now?”

He rolled his eyes. “What do you think?”

“I think that you think you’re fine, even though you’re not. But what else is new?”

“Then why did you ask?”

“Because I need to know that you aren’t gonna freeze up or tune out any voices of reason that might just be trying to help you when shit hits the fan. Which it inevitably will.”

Twilight readjusted the straps of his bracers in silence for a moment. “I’ll be fine once we get Wild back.”

“And up until that point?” Legend challenged. “Are you just gonna blindly charge in or what? What’s your plan? Because it seemed to me like you were barely listening to any of the ideas that the others were throwing around.”

Twilight sighed. “Because all of them relied on out maneuvering these people when we’ve clearly been beaten in that sense. We’re meeting Zant on a bridge. Not exactly the easiest place to sneak up on when it’s literally at best about ten feet across and in open air with no cover over a deep chasm.”

Legend cocked his head to the side. “So, what’s your plan then?”

Twilight locked eyes with the veteran. “Find out what Zant wants and give it to him. We have to play by their rules at this point. They have Wild, and I am not risking him.”

“And what if he asks for you, huh?”

Suddenly, eye contact was a lot harder to hold than a few seconds previously.

“Twilight, you son of a-” Legend cut himself off, taking a moment to breathe before Twilight could feel his eyes back to him again. “You’re an idiot, you know that right? Goddesses, Twi. Do I have to slap the shit out of you again, or are you gonna wake up and stop being so self-sacrificing and melodramatic? What makes you think that any of us are going to just stand by and let you do that?”

“I’m not asking for your permission.”

“And neither am I! We can find a way to-”

“It’s my fucking mess, Legend!” Twilight snapped, his head shooting back up again. “Don’t tell me how to clean it up! And don’t tell me to make Wild be the one to pay for it!”

Legend shook his head. “This isn’t just on you!”

“You don’t get it…”

“Then help me! I guess it might come as a surprise to you, but there are ways of fixing things that don’t involve a suicide mission.”

Twilight paused for a moment before answering. “He’s targeting me. He’s messing with me, and other people are getting hurt because of it.”

“But that wasn’t your choice. You didn’t make that weird shadow thing do that. It did that on its own!”

“Because of me!” He argued. “Because it’s… fascinated by me! And it’s not going to stop now, not now that I’ve turned down its offer!”

“You mean its totally fucked up offer that wouldn’t have gone well anyways?” Legend reminded him. 

Twilight rolled his eyes.“Yeah Legend. That offer. And I don’t know that it would have gone poorly-”

“Well good thing that I do. How well do you think you would be able to fight knowing that we wouldn’t be able to save Wild?” Twilight opened his mouth to answer, but the words caught in his throat. After a moment of silent struggling, he could only look down at the muddy ground, watching the moisture slosh around in his boots as they walked. “Exactly. Besides, do you honestly think that any of us would be okay with trading Wild for our lives?”

“Of course not.” Twilight muttered. “I’m not disagreeing with the choice. I’m just… thinking out loud.”

“It’s a shitty situation, no matter what we do.” Legend sighed. “But the best thing that we can do is to get our friend back and have everyone make it out. And I mean everyone. Got it?”

“...Right.”

“There are people who care about you, Twi.” Twilight kept staring at the dirt, unable to look his companion in the eye. “So don’t do anything too overly stupid, okay?”

“I’ll do my best.”

“I guess that’s as good as I’m gonna get, aren’t I?”

“Probably.”

“Fair enough.” Legend exhaled. “I guess I’ll let you go back to your silent brooding then. But I will say, Twi, for someone so against trading Wild’s life for yours, I wonder how you’ll make Wild feel if you trade your life for his?”

Twilight whipped around in shock and anger to retort, but Legend had already slowed down to rejoin the others. He was frozen for a moment, seeing all of the careful, but staring expressions of all of his friends on him.

Gritting his teeth, he swung back around and began trudging forward once more. Not now. He couldn’t get into it with all of them. He instead pulled his furs closer, soaked as they were, in an effort to warm himself. Or maybe it was just to distract himself from the fact that Legend’s words now joined the now roiling mess of voices in his mind that just wouldn’t leave him alone. Warriors’ anger. Time’s disappointment. The Villagers’ discomfort. Ilia’s fury. Wild… 

Hylia, he couldn’t even think about Wild without a lump forming in his throat. His eyes stung as he thought back to his last conversation with his cub.

“…You aren’t going through these damned woods alone again!”

“I can take care of myself, Twi!”

He really was quite the hypocrite, wasn’t he? 

A hand on his shoulder snapped him out of his thoughts once more. Looking up, Twilight wasn’t sure how long they had been walking for now, but the barely visible sun was hanging lower in the sky than he had expected it to be. Yet that was only a momentary distraction to what caught Twilight’s eye in the far distance. He would recognize those stone battlements anywhere.

“This is far enough for today.” Time was saying quietly, though Twilight could hear the firmness in his tone. Normally that would be a sign not to argue. That things were serious and that he should listen. But…

“It’s right there.” He hissed out, before he could stop himself. “Why the hell should we stop? The bridge is there !”

“And we have been traveling all day, Twi. We aren’t machines and need to rest. Hylia, you need rest more than anyone.” Time’s grip tightened slightly. 

“Who cares about resting?” Twilight growled, ripping himself from his predecessor’s grip. “Wild is there, and that psycho is gonna kill him if we don’t get there now!”

“You don’t know that.” Twilight could feel Time’s gaze boring itself into the back of his head, the intensity growing with each second. “What I do know is that you would be putting not only yourself but everyone else, including Wild, at risk for your recklessness, which I will not allow!”

Twilight whipped around to meet Time’s stare, his outrage beginning to course through his veins as the questions racing through his mind only stoked its flames. He could almost feel that seed of anger in his stomach beginning to grow; to germinate into something new. A hot, burning spike in his chest pushed his already intense emotions to a new level of strength, strong-arming aside any fears that maybe once upon a time might have stopped him from speaking out against his predecessor. 

“We’ll be putting him at risk if we stop!” He bellowed, his sudden outburst causing the others to turn their attention from setting up camp to him, with any attempts at pretending not to be watching swiftly abandoned. “I can see the bridge from here! How in the hell is it asking so much to get there and deal with this now?!”

“Because we will save no one if we’re all exhausted and unable to fight!” Time countered, his eye flaring in anger. “If you want to get Wild killed, that is how you do it quickest! Once you charge in like you want to do and inevitably die, what do you think will happen to him?!”

“I can still fight!”

“You haven’t rested properly in days! I won’t let you do this!”

“I’m not asking for permission!”

“Then what’s your goddamn plan?” Legend broke in, striding through the mud to stand between the two of them, all the while staring Twilight down. “Tell us a cohesive plan that isn’t a death sentence, and we might be okay with it.” He felt that feeling in his chest smolder in frustration as Legend’s eyes narrowed, “But you and I both know that you don’t have one. So quit being dramatic, get it through that fucking thick skull of yours that there are other people that care about Wild besides just you, and get some goddamned rest. Or else I will straight up make you.”

Twilight teeth ground together as he held Legend’s glare for as long as he could. He could hear the blunt truth in the veteran’s words, no matter how much he didn’t want to. It didn’t help that he could also feel the eyes of the rest of the party on him once more, their subtlety completely lost now. He could see them out of the corner of his eye, frozen. Waiting to see what he would do. The sharp pain in Twilight’s chest felt like it wanted to explode, like it was urging him to just let them all have it. He could feel the compulsion slowly growing in his mind to just speak his mind and to hell with the consequences. It took not a small amount of willpower to swallow the fire that threatened to burst forward. Before it could overwhelm him once more, he instead momentarily broke the eye contact he had been holding with Legend up until that point to spot the furthest, darkest corner of the clearing the others were setting up camp in. Without a word, Twilight stalked over to the corner, shoulder-checking Legend as he passed. As he threw himself down, his back to a tree, he met the now unabashed stares of the others with the coldest glare he could muster, which effectively ended them in favor of unrolling bedrolls and attempting to start a fire under the meager cover of the surrounding trees. 

The pouring rain did nothing, however, to quell Twilight’s own flames that still curled in his throat, leaving each breath stinging ever so slightly more than the last. There were so many things that sprung to his mind to say to them all. So many brutally honest opinions of his that something within him desperately wanted to voice. It would be so easy to keep this going. The adrenaline that was flowing through him felt endless, his rage renewing it with each ugly thought that entered his mind. Time’s passiveness. Legend’s stubbornness. Warriors’ ignorance. Everyone else dancing around him and treating him like he was made of goddamn glass . All of it only served to make his bitterness grow. 

Twilight watched distantly as a small camp was eventually established, with a pot of… something bubbling sluggishly over sputtering flames that were fighting desperately to stay lit, even while shielded by a tree canopy. He had to resist the urge to roll his eyes as he watched a silent argument break out between a few of his companions, which ended with the unlucky Wind shuffling forward to deliver a bowl of whatever Warriors had cooked up to him. He accepted it without a word, freeing Wind to scamper back to the others. ‘ Cowards,’ the thought sprung forward, unbidden, in his mind. 

Whatever was in the bowl would have probably tasted bad on its own, given the facial reactions of the majority of the group, but Twilight could only taste ash. It was a battle in and of itself to force the sludge down, one that he eventually emerged the victor of, but throughout it he could only remind himself as to why he was eating sludge in the first place; why he wasn’t eating a nice risotto or stew. Maybe that’s what made him take a second bite. It almost felt deserved, to have to fight to keep it down. If he hadn’t been so unfocused, so easily taken in, perhaps he could be eating something better right now. But he had been, so he wasn’t. He was eating slop, and he was going to keep eating slop. That’s what he gets, right? The others had probably already given up after a bite or two and went for their rations like they normally would whenever anyone besides Wild ever even made an attempt at cooking. But not him. 

By the time he was setting aside the empty wooden bowl, Twilight could feel his stomach in open rebellion against what had just been forced into it, but he just grit his teeth as he allowed the pain to wash over him. His instincts urged him to empty his stomach of whatever substance that wasn’t supposed to be there, but he would not give in. He wasn’t that weak, and he flat out refused to let the others see him as such. 

Turning his back to them, Twilight wrapped his furs around himself once more, the biting cold of the rain still seeping into his bones and mingling with his knotted stomach in a bitter symphony of misery. Slowly, he listened to the quiet hum of his companions’ low voices fade away to what he assumed to be sleep. The constant thrum of rain drowned out much of the surroundings, but Twilight was slowly becoming accustomed to it, as his hearing as a Hylian was still exceptionally keen. The muddy ground he laid on felt just like had that horrible night. Numbing, draining, and almost like an embrace, inviting him to just stay there unmoving. What would happen if he really did that? Would he continue to sink, lost forever? Would it honestly be that bad if he did?

Perhaps it would be in this particular mud patch, as a puddle of water finally overwhelmed the large leaf it had been pooling in, dropping all at once onto his midsection, the icy water shocking him into scrambling away with a frustrated growl. Mud now caked his hands and arms, the rain being largely unhelpful in washing it away. 

Twilight wasn’t sure how long he sat there, his mind unhelpfully cycling through his frustrations once more. All he knew was that what snapped him out of it once more was the moment that he looked up to see that structure in the distance. The bridge. 

Glancing over at his companions saw most of them curled up near one another, doing their best to sleep under the sheets of rain that just refused to stop falling. Four was sitting up, back to a tree, though Twilight could see his eyes drooping from where he was sitting. Scanning their surroundings once more, this time with a clearer head, he saw something that he hadn’t noticed before. 

An oddly shaped plant was sprouted out of the ground only a few yards away from the now thoroughly doused campfire. The merciless wind was tugging at it, threatening to uproot the thin stem, but the little plant must have been made of tougher stuff than what it appeared, as it stayed firm. The hollow horseshoe-like buds could be faintly heard whistling in the harsh wind, a few notes making their way out of their confines, only to be lost in the storm. 

Twilight stared at the plant he knew so well as the fires that he had successfully tamped down began to roil once more within him. Before he knew it, he was struggling to his feet, his gaze now torn between the Horse Grass and that bridge in the distance. After a short tug, the flower came free of its stem, coming to rest in his hands so naturally. 

What other option did he have? If no one else was going to take this threat on Wild’s life seriously, what else was he supposed to do?

---------

A piercing trill of musical notes had Four’s fight to keep his eyes open suddenly won. Blinking and looking around, he quickly took stock of his compatriots. None of them had stirred. Well, of course they hadn’t. Their exhaustion had finally caught up with them, leaving the mass majority of them dead to the world. 

Not him though.

Apparently.

Blearily, he rubbed his eyes, trying to find the source of the odd music. The rain made visibility horrible, but he had to at least make sure they weren’t in danger. The flute-like song didn’t sound like any bokoblin horn he’d ever heard, but it didn’t stop him from being anxious about it. 

In the dark, he fumbled for his blade as he stood, shaking the mud off of his tunic. Bracing himself, he moved out from the cover of the trees toward the road, but froze when lightning flashed in the distance, revealing a figure silhouetted upon it. As he squinted at the person, frustrated that his eyes weren’t adjusted enough to the dark to tell details, the sound of hoofbeats broke his concentration. From the direction they had been traveling from, Four could see something moving. The toss of the mane and the high pitched whinney revealed it to be a horse long before it reached them, but a second crack of lightning gave color to the shape. 

A bright copper coat shone in the rain; its color not even dulled by the dreary world around it. A long white mane streamed behind it, wild but beautiful as the mare tore down the road toward them. Four might not have had as much interaction with the her while in Time’s Hyrule, but he could recognize a legendary horse when he saw one. Epona did not slow down as she raced forward. She rocketed right past him toward the figure with no apparent sign of stopping. Four watched as they began to move toward the mare, arm outstretched before, with practiced ease, they grasped the reins and slung themselves into the saddle in one fluid movement just as a final crack of lightning illuminated their features clearly for a split second. 

Four felt his stomach drop to his increasingly numb toes as he recognized the familiar grey fur across the individual’s shoulders. Choppy brown hair stuck to his face as Twilight briefly turned back to meet Four’s eyes. But only for a moment before looking forward once more, Epona’s breakneck speed not slowing for a moment as the rancher was carried away, leaving Four standing in the mud, eyes wide as they flickered from color to color. From green, to red, then flickering violet before landing on blue. 

“Fuck.”

Chapter Text

The familiar weight of a sword in his hand was truly Twilight’s only comfort as the pouring rain and dread pooling in his stomach chilled him to the bone. That, and perhaps the feeling of once again sitting astride an old friend as Epona dashed through the rain, surefooted as ever through the thick mud. He held on to that ounce of warmth as tight as he could as the battlements of the Bridge of Eldin loomed closer and closer. 

Even if he hadn’t been on horseback, the trip wasn’t very far. That anger flared once again as his thoughts went to the others. How could they have even considered stopping when they were so close to rescuing Wild? How could they hide behind the excuse of being tired? They could rest when he was safe and sound, and they didn’t have the threat of him being pushed off a cliff by a homicidal maniac. 

Twilight looked back to the tree-covered hilltop that sheltered the others, unable to keep a scowl from his face. Four had seen him. They’d made eye contact, and Four’s expression had said it all. Twilight wasn’t certain how long it would take to get to the bridge on foot, either by a slow and careful pace or by rushing through the mud with reckless abandon, in comparison to how long his own trek on horseback would be, but he couldn’t imagine that either option left him with that much time. He had to resolve this now before anyone tried to interfere. 

The stinging rain lashed his face like a whip, demanding his attention once more as Epona thundered toward the bridge. Twilight’s ears perked as the sound of hooves on stone momentarily rang out before the return to the wet thuds of running through mud. A quick scan saw several patches of bricks peeking out from beneath the soil around them, which began to grow in frequency as they moved forward. Deftly, Twilight directed Epona back and forth to dodge several crumbled pillars in their path that still stuck out of the ground at odd angles, partially reclaimed by the earth. Squinting through the downpour, he could see stone steps in the distance, but fast approaching. Old habit caused his eyes to drift up, higher and higher to the towering structure before him. 

The Bridge of Eldin was an imposing structure even from a distance. Time had left it weathered and crumbling, but it still somehow made Twilight feel incredibly small as he approached its shadow. Memories swirled in his mind as he closed the distance. The low drone of a horn, followed quickly by snarling bulblins and bullbos sprang to mind, leaving Twilight swearing that he could feel the heat of a bonfire as he pulled on the reins to bring Epona to a stop. He could hear them still. The sounds of aggression and battle, of guttural battle cries and taunts, of raging fire and metal on metal. The sounds of fighting to save someone he cared about from his failure to protect them. It was deafening. 

Twilight closed his eyes tightly, one hand on his blade. He needed to focus. A deep breath in, and a deep breath out. His boots splashing into an inch of water broke the silence of the area around him before thunder rolled in the distance. The constant thrum of rain numbed most everything else, leaving Twilight pushing his disheveled wet hair out of his face to see his surroundings. 

The downpour painted everything in a grayscale, but the bridge had never been very vibrant to begin with. Water poured from divots and grooves in the stone of the battlements to form small rivers on the ground below. The raised platforms that flanked the archway held small puddles in their uneven surfaces, which eventually led to a few larger waterfalls that connected to the flooding that he now trudged through. Slowly, he drew his blade as he approached the archway, getting only a moment of shelter within from the elements before emerging onto the exposed precipice.

Twilight wasn’t certain what he had expected to find when he arrived at the Bridge of Eldin. Perhaps a hoard of Shadow Beasts. Or maybe Zant himself, throwing a tantrum from him taking so long. What he wasn’t expecting was for there to be nothing at all. No monsters, no Zant, and no sign of Wild. Twilight’s grip on his blade tightened as he moved forward, closer to the center of the bridge. Out of habit he sniffed the air, trying to catch a whiff of anything, but came up short. It did little to assuage his paranoia as, after all, he had been fooled before. The bitter thought snuck itself into his mind before he could stop himself, but he shook his head quickly to free himself of it. He couldn’t afford to get wrapped up in his emotions. Not now. Not with Wild’s safety on the line. Readjusting his grip on his sword, Twilight began to slowly advance once more, but his ears suddenly twitched as a low rumbling caught their attention, almost but not quite drowned out by the rain. A quick glance around him found no source, but the sound tugged at Twilight’s mind as well, leading him to follow an old muscle memory by yet again glancing up at the sky. 

An all-too-familiar image hung in the air above, with dull red geometric patterns spreading out of the spiraling portal. With practiced ease, Twilight slung his shield onto his arm from his back as he hefted his sword, his feet shifting into a strong stance as he prepared for the onslaught. He didn’t have companions to help him with the beasts this time, but it’s not like he hadn’t done it alone before. 

But because of his defensive stance and preparation to fight, Twilight wasn’t ready to run forward in time to catch the single figure that fell from the swirling depths of the portal to the ground in a crumpled heap. The flash of blonde hair cutting through the dreariness of the storm already had him nearly dropping his blade in shock. But once they landed with a wet thud, the vibrant stains of red through the blue tunic had Twilight breaking out into a full sprint. 

“Wild!” He bellowed, rushing forward. The lack of response made his heart jump into his throat. Charging through the rain to the prone form of his protégé, it could only be accredited to his own intensely fast reflexes responding to the hairs on his neck raising in alarm that he was able to tuck and roll before a rapid fire of blood red projectiles slammed into the stone where he had been mere seconds before. The rain slicked bricks propelled him forward but to the side, forcing Twilight to slam a hand onto the ground to stop his momentum and leaving his head hanging out over the edge of the narrow path. He watched, eyes wide, as a small splash of water that he had displaced fell from the edge, disappearing into the foggy depths below. 

“How positively bull-headed.”

Twilight closed his eyes as he heard the familiar voice. Slowly, he straightened back up again to try to find the speaker, not wanting to spend much more time with them out of his sight. 

“Though I’m not certain what else I might have expected, considering the offer that you seem to have turned down in order to be here.”

As Twilight rose carefully back to his feet, with Wild’s unconscious form not but a few paces away, a small hiss of magic forced the space between them to suddenly warp. A distinct and towering mask appeared from the ether, followed by ornate shoulder armor and long robes darker than any natural shadow. The teal lines that ran down the arms and torso of the figure seemed to defy the dreariness of the rain, giving off an unnatural glow. 

“Zant.”

“We meet again, Child of the Twilight.” The Twili chuckled, “Though I must say it’s interesting for it to only be the two of us. It’s funny, even though I know that it would be impossible, I half expected to see a little imp following you around when you arrived.”

Twilight fought to swallow the spike of indignance that desperately wanted him to act on dangerous impulse. Instead he kept his tone even. 

“You know why I’m here.”

Zant glanced behind him, casually looking down at Wild. “Indeed I do. For your new ‘pet’, it seems.” A small giggle shook his shoulders as he turned back to Twilight. “My, my, how quickly you moved on!”

Twilight ground his teeth at the jab, forcing himself to breathe through the anger that had definitely been reignited. 

“What do you want?” he gritted out, his knuckles white against his sword

The mask tilted to the side. Twilight couldn’t see the Twili’s face beneath it, but his tone clearly suggested a broad smile was adorning it. “What was that you said? I couldn’t quite hear…”

“What…the hell do you want?” Twilight snapped. “I’m not here to talk to you. I’m here to get him back.”

A feigned gasp was punctuated by Zant bringing his hand to his chest. “How rude! We haven’t seen one another in half a decade, and you aren’t even remotely interested in my well being. Consider me hurt.”

Twilight rolled his eyes into a stony glare. “For you, it might have been that long. But let’s just say I took a shortcut, and this is all still a little too soon for me. I’m not interested in small talk.”

Zant paused for a moment, his fingers curling slowly and the helm cocking slightly further to the side.

“I must say, it was a rather poor shortcut. From what I’ve seen of the past few years, you were very… busy.”

“I’ve had a job to do.”

“Well, yes, I’m aware of the little quest you’re gallivanting about now .” Zant tossed his head, his hand disappearing once more into his impractically long, tasseled sleeve as it waved his words aside. “Though I must say, it was quite the intervention you received in order for you to join it. And from the White Goddess, no less! Nothing like a deadly quest saving the world to get your kind motivated again, hm? But that’s not what I mean.”

Twilight’s brow furrowed, confused by the unexpected direction of the conversation. 

“...Then what do you mean?”

Zant drifted forward, now no longer standing on the wet flagstones, forcing Twilight back a few paces, though he refused to break the defensive stance he had taken up.

“I would have thought it a bit obvious.” Zant scoffed. “Your little… well, tantrum , was rather dramatic in my opinion. I couldn’t tell you how long I thought you would have been running rampant if that goddess hadn’t stepped in.”

Twilight blinked in confusion. Tantrum? Running rampant? What was he talking about? He racked his brain to try to understand what Zant was saying, but sucked in a breath in an attempt to stop himself from snarling at the loud peal of laughter that his foe let out before speaking.

“Oh dear! That look on your face.” He cackled. Zant’s voice changed to one of thinly veiled sarcasm as he leaned down toward Twilight. “Do you really… not remember?”

“Not remember what?!” he roared, his patience wearing thin. The anger was boiling now, its intensity flaring even brighter as the Twili seemed to ignore his shout.

“My, my. Suddenly, this meeting has become much more entertaining!”

“Tell me what you know!”

“TWILIGHT!”

Twilight felt an ice-cold fear stab him in the gut as the voice of his predecessor cut through his fury. In spite of the enemy before him, he felt himself already turning to see Time charging toward the arch of the gate, flanked by Legend and Four and with the rest close behind. But before he could even open his mouth to shout back, a soft tut tut tutting from behind him made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. Zant strode forward, brushing past him without even a moment of fear or hesitation, raising his tasseled sleeve into the air. 

“Now, now,” He chided, “don’t interrupt us, boys”

With a swift motion of his hand downward, the ground shook as pillars made of gnarled, rune-carved stone slammed into it between the rest of his companions and Zant, and a glowing barrier made of crimson glyphs appeared between them, effectively cutting off one of Twilight’s two options of leaving the bridge. Time halted at the barrier; hands pressed up against its magical confines. 

“Twilight! What the hell are you doing?!”

“I said don’t interrupt us.” Zant said coldly. “This is a matter that does not concern the rest of you. You would be wise not to interfere.” 

Lightning struck as the words rang out in the open air, but Twilight’s attention was suddenly caught by what the brief flash of light illuminated. Cursing himself for not paying closer attention, Twilight felt his horror growing with every Shadow Beast that he spotted, as more and more began to emerge from the darkened underside of the bridge, slowly ascending to the entrance of the walkway, getting closer and closer to where his friends were now standing. Thinking quickly, he caught Legend’s eye as Zant was momentarily facing away. As subtly as he could, Twilight brought his hands together into two fists, with one making a small circle above the other, before flattening them and moving the one on the bottom. 

“ Danger. Below.”

Legend’s gaze momentarily drifted to where Twilight’s was pointing before returning with the smallest of nods. However, it was difficult not to see the look of outrage on the veteran’s face, and Twilight could only imagine the things he wanted to say at that moment. But his attention was then drawn instead to the incredulous tone of Warriors as he moved toward the front of the group.

“Wait a minute. That guy is Zant?” The Usurper’s helm tilted forward as the captain spoke. Four’s brow furrowed.

“You know him?”

“We've fought before…”

Wind elbowed him in indignation. “Why didn't you say anything?”

“Hey! It's not like we talked much!”

“I don't think a similar battle will be necessary today, Captain.” Zant smirked as he turned away. “You see, I'm more interested in a conversation with the Hero of Twilight.”

“Seems to be the trend” Twilight muttered.

“You harmed a friend of ours.” Legend called out. “I think that your business is with all of us, not just Twi.”

“And I currently have that companion of yours in my possession.” Zant countered smoothly before disappearing with a snap of magic, eliciting a few sharp inhales from the others. Twilight whirled around as he heard a mirrored sound emanate from behind him just in time to see Zant appear once more, standing directly over Wild. “So I think that who I do business with amongst your little band will be for me to decide. Unless you wish for me to do something… drastic.”

Deftly, Zant fitted his foot under Wild’s shoulder, shoving the boy toward the edge. Twilight felt his heart in his throat as he lunged forward and heard several shouts of alarm from behind him. But not before Wild’s progress was halted by Zant’s heel, leaving part of his head hanging slightly off the side. For the first time, Twilight looked at the state of his protégé, now that his long hair wasn’t hiding most of his face, and he was close enough. 

His hands and ankles were bound in a rough looking rope in front of him, with angry red marks decorating the flesh surrounding them. Bruises littered his face, including one that made his right eye significantly puffier than the other, with a dribble of blood running down his nose to soak into the thick gag that had been tied tightly into his mouth. Indeed, there were red stains on his tunic, but Twilight worryingly couldn’t tell in the rain and muck what the sources of them were, or whether they were even Wild’s blood or not. 

Zant continued, his tone unnervingly light. “Good! Now that you understand the rules, that means that we can have an honest-”

A low groan caused Zant to cut himself off, as he looked down at the boy he had nearly dangled off the edge of the bridge. Twilight felt his breath leave him as Wild slowly started to blink up at the Twili that loomed over him. With an almost exasperated sigh, Zant motioned once more, but with different results. An unnerving skittering sound getting louder and louder forced Twilight to stumble back before a large Shadow Beast emerged from the side of the structure to the edge, snatching Wild as it climbed up without a moment’s hesitation and positioned itself behind Zant as it dangled the Champion by the scruff of the neck over the chasm it had just emerged from. More shouts came from behind the barrier as Twilight helplessly watched Wild blink back into consciousness while staring down the gorge below him that ended only in mist.  

“Now then, where were we?” Zant pondered. “Oh right, of course. Now, as amusing as this… new development is to me, I believe we have other business that remains unfinished, you and I.” Twilight tore his gaze from Wild for a moment to look back to his enemy.

“You never answered my question.”

Zant sighed. “Because that is not the current matter at hand. Or did you forget?” Almost like a puppet master with a marionette, he bobbed his arm up and down, mimicked almost perfectly by the Shadow Beast as it wobbled Wild up and down. Twilight couldn’t steel himself in time to not make an expression of panic but did his best to then glare daggers at the Twili, raising his sword once more.

“Focused now?” Zant chuckled. “Excellent.” He began to rise up higher into the air once more, drifting to look out at the mountains in the distance.

“You have fought me before, as you know. Fought me in a moment of my own weakness whilst wielding that accursed blade at your full strength, and you were aided by that… imp you so cared for.” He turned back once more, a hand on his chest. “Please believe me when I say that I have gone to great lengths to ensure that won’t be the case this time.” 

Dread ran like a chill down his spine at his words. “What are you talking about?” Twilight whispered. “What have you done?!”

“Now, now. This doesn’t involve her.” Zant drifted closer, arms up in a placating motion. “She’s not even able to reach us anymore, is she? She quite literally shattered that bridge herself.” Twilight felt the sting of the memory before responding shortly. 

“You’re here.” 

Zant leaned away, turning to look off into the distance once more. “Yes, by the will of a powerful being that wished me to be.”

Twilight’s mouth twisted into a bitter smile. “Still playing puppet, then? I’d have figured that you’d have grown tired of that by now.” Zant’s back stiffened at the barb before turning back to Twilight, now hovering entirely over open space.

“I have purpose. Unfortunately, I’m not certain that you can say the same.” His head tilted curiously to the side. “Anyone who ever gave you that has rather unceremoniously left you behind, haven’t they? “

“He’s got us!” Wind’s voice unknowingly stopped Twilight’s thoughts from starting on their practiced spiral as he elbowed his way to the front of the crowd of boys gathered at the barrier. The young hero had a deep scowl on his face as he stared this dark entity down. Zant looked down with disinterest as he moved closer to the bridge once more.

“Ah yes. Mere counterparts torn half hazardously out of their respective times and shoved together by forces so woefully out of their control. Such drive that must give you, wandering aimlessly on the whims of a goddess that hasn’t bothered to share what your true purpose even is.” Zant landed between Twilight and the others, still looming over them as he stood at the barrier. “Stay out of this, little boy. The adults are talking. “

“I’m not a-!”

“Wind, stop!” Hyrule hissed, placing a hand on the younger hero’s shoulder. Zant laughed.

“Hmm, remembering where you are, are you?”

Twilight’s fists dug into his palms as his restraint finally failed him. 

“Just tell me what you want already!”

“Patience, my boy!” Zant smirked as he strode forward once more. “I would have thought that you were already aware of my compatriot and I want from you. From what I understand, he wasn’t very… subtle about his beliefs to you.”

Twilight rolled his eyes. “You mean his beliefs that make no sense? He and I are not the same, no matter how much he wants us to be.”

“Then I’m sure you won’t have a problem testing that theory, will you?”

Thunder rumbled once more. Twilight furrowed his brow.

“How do you mean?”

“Oh, it’s simple!” Zant exclaimed. “In my experience, Child of Twilight, the quickest way to see who someone truly is would be to see them at their most desperate.”

“Their ‘most desperate’?”

“Desperation and panic tend to burn away a person’s ‘mask’, so to speak.” Zant said, moving closer. “Once it’s gone, it’s usually very difficult to argue with the results, no matter what they are.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow as he moved to maintain his distance, hyper aware of the Shadow Beast that still stood behind him. “And how would you propose to get me to my ‘most desperate’?”

Zant stopped, his stance neutral. “The throes of combat should do nicely, don’t you think?”

“A duel.” Twilight said after a moment. “You want to have a duel?”

“Well, it would settle things rather decisively, no matter the outcome.”

Stealing a quick glance behind him, he did his best to ignore the horrified expressions of the others beyond the barrier as he turned back to Zant. “And you’ll let Wild go?”

Twilight could practically hear the Twili’s smile widening under the mask. “Only if you agree.”

A wheezing voice from behind him caught him off guard, making him spin around to confirm that it was Wild speaking. He was beaten to hell, but the Champion’s rasping voice still made it out of his mouth while he slowly shook his head in the Shadow Beast’s grasp. “Twilight, don’t you fucking dare-”

“Deal.” Twilight said suddenly, unable to look away from the expression of utter dismay that washed over Wild’s bloodied face. Zant must have motioned for the Shadow Beast to move because he had to stumble out of the way as the large monster suddenly began lumbering toward the barrier with a thrashing Wild beginning to scream in anger.

“NO! Twi! Somebody, stop him!”

Distantly, Twilight heard the screams and shouts of the other heroes behind the barrier, but it once again felt like the rain was silencing everything. Things were slowing down as he watched Hyrule and Legend’s Power Bracelets flaring with each unsuccessful blow to the magical glyphs. He watched Warriors holding Wind back from throwing himself at the wall, the smaller hero screaming and crying at him. He saw Four holding his head, eyes flashing over and over. He saw Time standing, frozen, his eye wide with betrayal. Sky was fortunately quick enough to rush forward and catch Wild as the Shadow Beast unceremoniously and inexplicably shoved him through the barrier, its surface momentarily rippling before it yanked its appendage back to the other side, and it scurried back down to join the rest of its kin, clinging to the side of the bridge. Twilight watched his friends yelling for him to stop. He did. And then he closed his eyes and took a breath. Two breaths. Three. Counting them, he focused himself. In for four, hold for four, out for four. Repeat. His hammering heart began to slow once more, and the sounds of dismay faded away. There was only the sound of rain. 

That, and the tearing sound of magic unfolding directly behind him.

With a speed that surprised himself sometimes, Twilight’s hand found the item he wanted, whirling around in a blur of motion. Zant appeared in the blink of an eye, wicked scimitars already drawn and swinging down toward him. The laugh was still escaping his arrogant lips. With a grunt of effort, Twilight yanked the chain out of his bag, pulling behind it the dense metal ball at its end that made a satisfying crunch sound as it made contact with the Twili’s midsection, sending him flying backwards to the now cleared section of the bridge. Zant impacted hard, but the cannonball hit harder, leaving a small crater embedded in the ground of the bridge. Gasps of shock cut off the protests his companions had been making, their jaws now hanging open in bewilderment. 

“How did he…?”

“Where the hell did that come from?!”

Wrapping his hand around the chain in another loop and wrenching it back once more, Twilight caught the ball as Zant struggled to his feet, bent over from the blow. A wheezing laugh that made his shoulders shake echoed in the ravine as he straightened up again, his arms hanging limply save for the occasional twitch.  

“Oh well done, Hero. What fun !” He cackled as he settled into a fighting stance, brandishing the scimitars once more. Suddenly, Twilight could feel a heaviness in the air around and above him as dark magic crackled and threatened to burst forth at the behest of the one that commanded it. “Now. Let the real battle begin!”

Chapter Text

KABOOM!

Droplets stung Twilight’s eyes as he skidded through the rapidly growing puddles on the roughly hewn stone. Staying in a crouch, he watched a massive, disembodied Hand carved in blood red runes rise up from the small crater it had created in the ground after materializing out of the ether directly above his head.  The sound of Zant’s screaming laughter rang in his ears, drowning out the thunder and rain as he readjusted his shield. The Hand flexed its fingers as it rose higher, almost taunting in its motion. But Twilight wasn’t focused on it as much as Zant probably hoped that he was. Instead, he heard rapid footsteps splashing through the downpour and instinctively raised both blade and shield, blocking two wild scimitar strikes before they could freely bite into his flesh.

“Good!” Zant snarled, his strikes forcing Twilight back a few steps from the sheer strength behind them. “You’ve been keeping sharp!”

The anger that had been up until this point kept at a steady rolling boil now threatened to boil over as Twilight bared his teeth in response, shifting his weight to the side to force the strength of his opponent past him and momentarily stumbling the Twili. A few slashes found purchase in Zant’s side before Twilight jumped back, not willing to push his luck. A spontaneous moment of vigilance prompted him to jump an extra pace back at the last moment, which proved to be prudent as an ice-cold splash of water hit his torso after being displaced by the giant Hand slamming down once more onto the bridge, narrowly missing him yet again.

Irritation had him reaching for the bow at his back as he watched the Hand slowly raise up into the air again, preparing for another strike. While Twilight wouldn’t consider himself the best archer of the group, he certainly wasn’t lacking. A breath in and a breath out had an arrow loosed directly into the center of the Hand, its fingers curling in shock for a moment before hanging limply in the air. 

Thankfully, the brief pause bought just about enough time for Twilight to raise his shield as blood red projectiles of dark magic hurtled through the air, shattering against his defense, one after the other. The flash and burst of energy from each impact hurt both his eyes and his ears as he slowly advanced, shielding himself from the oncoming barrage. With every step forward, the strikes grew in intensity as he reached closer and closer to their point of origin. That, and the shrieks of bloodlust and crazed laughter. Those grew too. 

It was at the point that Twilight’s retinas were truly beginning to burn, and his ears were beginning to painfully ring that all of it suddenly stopped. Blinking past his shield, trying to both clear the spots from his vision and see into the dark to find his opponent, Twilight only had a moment to process the fact that the darkness truly was empty and Zant was no longer standing at the end of the bridge. He only saw the faces of his friends apparently shouting at him through the barrier, though he’d be hard pressed to make out anything they were saying over his own pumping heartbeat in his ringing ears. All he could see was their faces look on in horror as a sudden sharp burning feeling in his left side sliced through the fog, forcing him to stumble away from where it had originated behind him. 

Zant towered over him, the last of his warped teleportation magic fading behind him as he advanced, pushing Twilight back a few more staggered steps. Blood seeped between his fingers as he held a hand to the wound in his side, hissing in pain. Out of the corner of his eye, the large Hand hanging in the sky shuddered one final time before righting itself to begin its slow crawl forward toward his position. Great.

With a cry of victory, Zant leapt forward, both scimitars raised to come down on his head if he hadn’t raised his shield yet again to catch them both, pain lancing up his right shoulder as his other hand was preoccupied with staunching the flow of blood from his side. Glancing down at his wound had Twilight’s stomach dropping to his toes. Ugly, dark veins were slowly, but noticeably, beginning to streak from the wound and his head was already beginning to feel woozier than even this level of blood loss should be making him feel. It was in this moment as blow after blow was being desperately blocked by his shield that he noticed the dark, sludgy substance mixed in with the blood he was trying to hold within himself.

Poison. Shit. 

Twilight’s mind raced through the rapidly growing haze around him as he tried to think of a counter. He couldn’t afford to let the wound bleed freely. The blood loss would make him pass out before any hope of victory. Adrenaline could only carry him so far. But he couldn’t bind it now. Not with Zant forcing him on the defensive. He needed distance and cover. Neither of which were readily available on an open and exposed bridge. He needed something to staunch the blood, but had no medical supplies that weren’t buried in his bag, or even any kind of fire starter save for bombs, which probably wouldn’t help more than badly hurt. 

A particularly heavy blow of both wicked, poisoned scimitars jolted him from his thoughts, causing his grip on his side to momentarily slip. Blood slicked fingers slid down his side to rest on a foreign object on his belt. Twilight’s eyes widened for a moment as he felt the slightly cracked but mostly smooth surface. Oh.

Zant cackled as the hero’s defense slowly but surely tired and broke away. With a swift kick, both the boy and the shield were sent flying backward, landing in a heap on the muddy stone. Casually, the Twili strode over, running one blade slowly along the other as sparks flew, relishing in the sound. He watched the boy struggle to raise as he grappled with his left side, likely in a futile attempt to keep viscera from running so freely out of the wound to stain the stones below. It was quite a shame, Zant supposed. He must have been wrong. Not a ‘hero’ of note after all. He raised a blade high, smiling as he heard the pitiable sounds of horror and grief from the wretches behind the barrier. It was a long time coming, but this was well deserved. 

His smile faltered, however, when he saw the wicked grin on the Hero of Twilight’s face.

FWOOSH!

Twilight’s hair was blasted back as his finger found the small snowflake icon on the Sheikah Slate’s cracked screen. A thick pillar of ice, grown from the slick rainfall of the bridge shot up beneath him, forcing Zant back a few steps and giving Twilight the time he needed to roll off to land hard on the other side with a pained wheeze. 

Letting out a shuttered breath, Twilight looked down at the new set of options before him on the Sheikah Slate. Magic items were never his forte, but he was running out of options. He may not have ever used such a device before in his life, but he’d watched Wild plenty, and that was going to have to be enough of a lesson. Goddesses, Wild will definitely accuse him of being a hypocrite for following through on this newest idea. Granted, he may call him a hypocrite for lots of things, but that’s a conversation Twilight was more than happy to have at a later date. For now, he needed to stop the bleeding and the spreading of the poison that was definitely starting to cause a gray blur to line the edges of his vision. No fire to burn out the toxin, Twilight thought as he looked once more at the Cryonis rune, But I can stop it from moving any further. 

Gritting his teeth, he aimed to the best of his ability and said a small prayer as he jabbed at the rune before he could change his mind. A wave of freezing cold stabbed into him at his core with a thousand tiny needles, eliciting a vicious roar of pain from him before the numbness set in. Dimly he heard more shouting from beyond the barrier. Cries of dismay and disbelief and not a small amount of cussing came from the group behind him as the pain and subsequent adrenaline had him forcing himself to his feet. Luckily, the sting of the cold made ignoring such indignation much easier. Instead, he could look in morbid fascination at the collection of deep crimson ice crystals jutting out of the previously gushing wound. Pain still flared whenever he moved, and the numbing cold made his head float uncomfortably, but blood was no longer flowing down his side and leg at such an alarming rate. 

A shadow moving along the ground in the corner of his vision returned Twilight’s attention to the slowly approaching Hand, annoyance spiking again. Looking down once more at the Sheikah device, he spied the yellow padlock icon. Another grin curled onto his face as he aimed carefully at the slow-moving target before a loud CLANG of chains had the floating appendage frozen in place. Memories of Wild using the rune in the past flitted through Twilight’s mind as he unshouldered his bow. He smiled as he thought particularly about the part that gave Wild the most joy. 

As quickly as he could, Twilight fired off arrows at the Hand, angling them as far outward as he could, the color of the magic surrounding the creature going from a bright yellow to a fiery orange to a deep dark red with each arrow. The deep aching pain of stretching out his arm each time an arrow was loosed was absolutely worth it to see the energy finally release moments later, sending the Hand flailing out into the dark space on the side of the bridge. 

The satisfaction was short lived, however, as a violent explosion of magic and ice to his right signaled the destruction of the pillar, ending his momentary cover from his enemy.

Like a charging bull, Zant burst through the whirlwind of ice shards toward Twilight, blades up and ready to strike. But his sword and shield were there, placed deftly and expertly where they needed to be, blocking strike after strike with a dogged persistence. 

Yet it was strange. As Zant pushed his brutal attack, Twilight felt something wash over him. A truly foreign calm that he had never felt before. A deadly quiet that overtook him as he looked at this wretched… creature that had built such an obsession with him. The anger that had been roiling within him for so long began to grow to new heights, the heat becoming almost too much to bear. But he bore it all the same, uncaring of whether or not he burned. He felt it begin to compress, the pressure building at a rapid pace as he truly began to feel separate from the body that was holding off the Twili’s flurry of blows. He could feel the fury within him concentrating into something new. Something sharp. Something strong enough to cut down anything that got in his way.

Without a sound, Twilight felt himself snap back into the present as he simultaneously felt something within him give . He could feel the presence of the barrier that separated him from his friends practically at his back. Zant was backing him up, pinning him in a corner.

No.

No, he wasn’t.

Without warning, a shield smashed into the towering mask of Zant, immediately halting his advance. A second quickly followed, forcing the Twili backward a few steps, stunned by the sudden change in tactics. But before he could properly recover, he would see Twilight lean his weight to his back leg as he held his sword in both hands, a slight shine to his blade as he leaped forward, sword cleaving downward now toward his own head. A hurried stumble backward would save him from being cleft in two, but not from the slight shockwave that would hit his chest like a bowling ball as Twilight slammed his blade into the ground. 

As his opponent flew backward, Twilight straightened up, his advance now steady and sure. He could feel the magma shooting through his veins, empowering every strike. Every move. It held his blade forward, almost like a challenge, as his opponent struggled to his feet while trying to size him up once more. It flowed through his lungs as he breathed calmly and evenly, staring down the ugly mask that looked back at him. And it raised the hairs on his neck when Zant’s arm became wreathed in crude magic and made a sudden sharp gesture in his direction. Wha-?

WHAM!

Every ounce of air in his body was violently expelled in a single moment as a gigantic fist of obsidian and scarlet glyphs connected with his midsection in an unbelievably fast speed, appearing from the darkness to his left, and sending him high into the air in the other direction. The solid ground of the bridge was ripped from him in an instant as he was sent hurtling into open space, with nothing but the wind, the rain, and the screams of horror of those he knew and cared about to give him any indication of which way was up or down.

For a moment, Twilight was filled with thoughts of regret. It was foolish to ignore the other combatant of the fight. He hadn’t seen the Hand fully destroyed, so he shouldn’t have dismissed it. It was arrogant to believe he knew all of Zant’s tricks. He’d already been caught off guard by the poison. It was only natural that he would have had more up his sleeve. Why had he-

Suddenly, that alien calm washed over him once more, shutting out the voices that loved to populate his mind. To tell him what he had done wrong. Good. It was easier to think in silence. And in that silence, after the first second of barreling through the air came and went, his hands naturally came to rest on a pair of ornately carved handles within his side pouch.

Twisting in the air, locking onto the spiraling image of the closest thing he could see and potentially reach, Twilight yanked out his Clawshots, firing off both in the direction of the glowing runes of the Twilit Hand that still hung out in open space. Grunting as the chains found purchase on its ring and pinkie finger, Twilight grit his teeth as the strain of the sudden change in momentum and direction burned in his shoulders while he rocketed toward the Hand. 

Quick as a viper, he slashed at the creature’s palm the moment that it was within reach, temporarily stunning it in order to give him enough time to clamber onto the floating slab of rock. Moving quickly before it could be given a chance to throw him off once more, Twilight scanned the creature for weak points, almost surprised to find none readily available. At least, not initially. For, after closer inspection, Twilight spied on the surface of the palm, a few sizable cracks in the rock. A few of his own arrow shafts littered some of them, but others were empty and wide enough for the width of a blade. Drawing his blade once more and with every ounce of strength he could muster, Twilight drove the blade down into the cracks. He could hear a faint, warped wail of pain with every strike, which spurred him on to continue, over and over as the cracks spread more and more. At least, until a ball of magical darkness hurtled toward where he was crouched, only just blocked by the slightly curled fingers of the Hand. 

Blinking, Twilight looked down at the distant bridge to see the silhouette of Zant firing off another dart of energy. Pressing himself against one of the slightly twitching fingers, he waited until he felt the thud of it making contact with the solid exterior of the Hand to dart forward and quickly survey his handiwork. The crack had grown a sizable amount, now more of a solid gash in the stone flesh of the creature. As he observed the wound, it didn’t bother him as much as it probably should have to experience such a large amount of disappointment at the fact that it wasn’t sensible for him to keep stabbing away at the palm in the manner that he had been. No, instead he was glancing up at the rain, knowing that it would likely put out any kind of wick or spark he lit. So he looked once more to Wild’s slate, spying a bright, circular rune and subsequently summoning a small glowing orb of potential destruction. Gritting his teeth, Twilight slammed the bomb into the gash in the palm, hammering it in with all of his strength and frustration while periodically dodging incoming fire. Finally, with the explosive being wedged in as firmly as he could get it, he stood. Without wasting another moment’s thought on it, Twilight instead squinted through the pouring rain as he scanned the bridge below. Spying a ledge with ample room to latch onto took only a few moments as he sheathed his sword once more. Adjusting his grip on his clawshots, he took a shaking breath to try to ignore just how high up he was. 

“Goddesses, Sky,” he muttered to himself as he began to actively seek that calm once more. “How in all of Hyrule did you do this regularly?” A few moments of deep breaths were suddenly interrupted as the jerking movement of the Hand below him signaled how little time he had left. His heart in his throat, Twilight gave a strangled yell as he jumped off of the pointer finger of the Hand into space once more, desperately firing clawshots at the ledge as he dropped like a stone. 

He could only imagine what the full face journeys of all of his companions must have been during this entire encounter, but if he had to guess, it would have had to be looks of sheer dumbfoundedness across the board as chains latched on tight to solid stone, sending Twilight rocketing through the air toward the bridge once more. Though as the bridge neared, panic spiked as appearing out of the ether, Zant stepped forward toward the anchor point of his clawshot. His theatrics of previous moments of the battle forgotten, a scimitar rose and fell as a savage strike swept cleanly through the chain, cutting Twilight loose once more into open air.

It was here that the calmness swept across him once more, seeing his momentum falter ever so slightly. Not enough to slow his speed by any stretch of the imagination, but enough for him to crash headlong into the rough, rocky exterior of the bridge. Twilight felt the world slow as an incredibly humiliating defeat and subsequent death loomed. His mind sped through all options as he looked up at the leering mask of Zant, now confident in his victory. He didn’t have time to look through the Slate. What did he have in his arsenal? The Dominion Rod? Not a statue in sight. And to do what? The Gale Boomerang? He’d never tried it on himself. And more speed didn’t seem like the way to go. His Fishing Rod ? Wow he was desperate. What else did he- Wait. 

As he inched ever closer, he scanned the wall that was likely about to shatter several of the important bones in his body. It seemed rough enough. Maybe not built with it in mind, but he could make it work for the time being. 

Twilight began to twist once more in the air, pulling a thick metal disk from his pack and positioning himself atop it as quickly as his reflexes would allow. A quick glance up at that hideous mask that so wanted him to fall ensured that Spite joined the miasma of volatile fuels in his body as time began to resume its natural flow. The Spinner latched onto the stone brickwork on the side of the bridge as its gears began to whirr, sending Twilight shooting off and away from Zant’s waiting blades, rocketing to the momentary safety of the unoccupied far portion of the bridge. 

With a final vault and mid-roll collapse and pocketing of the Spinner, Twilight planted his mildly shaking legs back on solid stone, drawing his sword once more and pointing it to his enemy. As Zant turned to look in his direction, Twilight smirked as he poked at the Sheikah screen once more. 

With a high-pitched whine, the tiny Remote Bomb erupted from within the already damaged Hand of Zant, lighting up the night sky in a brilliant explosion, sending chunks and small shards of broken obsidian raining down upon the Twili, forcing him to teleport backward out of harm's way.

Seeing his opening, Twilight charged.

The waves of exhaustion and fog that threatened to overtake him were burned away by sheer force of will as he tore across the bridge, eyes burning at the sight of the monster at the other side of the bridge. Images flooded his mind as he ran. Wild’s face gagged, bloodied, and bruised. Time’s head, growing golden fur. Wild convulsing uncontrollably on the ground. Sky falling bonelessly to the ground as a Shadow Beast looms over him. Wild being dragged through a portal screaming. Wild desperately holding a fractured Daruk’s Protection around his fallen friend as tears poured down his face. Wild…  

A murderous desire gripped Twilight as he surged forward, his blade aimed for the nonexistent heart of the vile demon that had dragged everyone he cared about into an utterly twisted game for his own benefit, all in the name of exacting revenge. Revenge on him, the person who had dared defy him. Scimitars blocked the blow, but many more would follow. Now it was on the defensive. Now it was being backed up to the barrier that it had erected. How ironic. That it would die being cornered by its own obstacle.

The creature made a feeble attempt at striking with its blade. Poisoned . How very much like the coward it was. Batting it aside was trivial. It was Nothing . Twilight sneered as it tried and failed to push back. This battle has been going on for far too long. His earlier weakness had allowed it to believe it had a say in this fight. 

For the third time in this battle, a shield was bashed into the expressionless mask of the coward, but this time they are truly sent staggering back. Energy flooded to his legs as the opening presented itself, and Twilight leaped into the air, a well-executed somersault sending him directly over that hated helm. Finally, finally , his blade met its mark, the helm splitting apart as the sword tore it asunder. 

Pieces of broken metal fell to the flagstones as Twilight landed with a splash on the wet stone. The worm scrambled backward from him, desperate to maintain its footing even as chunks of its mask still fell to the floor alongside the trail of blood it now sported on its temple.

Blood in the water. It’s over now.

Slowly he advanced on it. The inferno that blazed within his chest raged now without restraint. It felt better this way. Why had he been holding it back before? Fear. Weakness and cowardice taught to him by weaker people. 

No more.

A sharp sweep of his blade sends its legs flying out from under it, impacting hard on the stone. Thinking quickly, before it could shuffle away to whatever forsaken hole it had crawled out of, he planted a heavy boot of iron directly on its wheezing chest, pinning it to the muddy stone. Dark energy began to gather in its palms in some foolish, last ditch attempt to survive, but it was too late. Its life was His . Twilight ignored shouts of alarm from behind him ( useless whelps ) as he raised his blade high above his head to end this miserable wretch, the frenzy of victory burning in his eyes. 

But then… When he tried to…

Strike…

…

His arm… 

Couldn’t…

Move.

Suddenly, all of it disappeared. The fog of bloodlust and savagery that he hadn’t even realized just how thick it had become abruptly vanished from Twilight’s eyes. Blinking in confusion he stood, still poised to run Zant through, even with the expression of manic frenzy still ghosted on his face. But he couldn’t move. Not a single muscle.

A grin slowly began to curl across Zant’s face as he readjusted his grip on the tendril of shadowy magic he held tight in his hand. His voice shook with a slight giggle as he whispered into the hushed silence.

“I knew it.”

Without warning, the forced rigidity of his limbs shifted to a lurching movement that was so completely out of his control. Against his will, the heavy boot that rested on Zant’s chest jerked backward, followed closely by the rest of his body as he took a few clumsy steps away from the Twili on the ground. Twilight could feel the fury and enmity that had been scalding his lungs and chest rapidly be completely consumed by the ice of a deep, intense fear that struck him harder than any of the rapidly melting frost that still clung to his ragged side could ever hope to. His arms quaked with effort as Twilight fought for any meaningful movement in them, but it was like they were no longer his own. He had no choice but to look forward toward the barrier to see the wide eyes of his companions, to see their confusion and alarm. He stood there, vulnerable and unmoving as a rumble of laughter emitted from the slumped figure on the ground. 

Slowly, Zant rose, the twisted remains of his helm falling away to reveal a maniacal grin that practically split his face in half as he began to shriek with glee. Raising his hand once more, with it now being enveloped in the shadows he had summoned, Zant quieted for a moment as he tilted his head to the side and locked eyes with Twilight. Deliberately and slowly, he flicked his wrist, causing the darkness to briefly flare. In immediate response, as if a hand had grabbed a fistfull of his hair, Twilight felt his stomach drop as his head jerked backwards unbidden, forcing him to stand up straight with his arms firmly at his sides. 

“Oh you arrogant, foolish boy.” 

He could no longer see in front of him well as his eyes were forced up, rain splashing unendingly upon his face, but he could hear the low chuckle draw nearer before Zant’s voice hissed directly into his ear. 

“Did you honestly think that you could abuse the power you stole from me without there being any consequences?”

The stonelike grip that he hadn’t relaxed on his sword since setting foot on the bridge suddenly melted away without warning. He could hear the clatter of metal hitting stone, but could still do nothing even as the leather straps of his shield slid through limp fingers as well. 

“Twilight!”

“Stop it!”

“Let him GO!”

He could hear the threats and begging of the others accompanied by the sound of dull impacts against the impenetrable Twilit barriers. Out of the corner of his eye, Twilight could see movement. The scraping of metal and wood on stone accompanied by the visual of a casual kick from Zant gave him all the clues he needed to know his sword and beloved Ordon shield had been sent tumbling over the edge of the bridge into the shadowy depths below.

“Did you know that I could sense it?” Zant mused, unbothered by the wails coming from beyond the wall. “Whenever you used my little gift ?” Twilight couldn’t even shudder as he felt the Twili’s presence move uncomfortably close to his side. 

“I did create it, remember? Just for you . ” A withered hand came to rest upon his shoulder as he felt his face forced to turn toward Zant. His glowing eyes were fixed upon Twilight’s forehead as his other hand ghosted over the symbols etched upon it. “You don’t know how pleased it made me to feel those marks be scored into your flesh by your own insolence.”

The grip on his shoulder tightened before Twilight felt his legs abruptly buckle and pain suddenly lance up his knees as they cracked upon the flagstones. He could hear Zant’s footsteps behind him, pacing as he spoke.

“And somehow, you didn’t think anything of it. You didn’t wonder just what that curse was actually doing to you.” He paused in his movements for a moment. “Though I suppose if being permanently branded by it didn’t tip you off, I don’t think anything short of this very situation could have.”

Suddenly, Zant was before him once more, crouched down to be at eye level with him. A hand firmly held the base of his chin to point it in Zant’s direction, forcing eye contact as his eyes hardened.

“I may not rule the Twilight any longer, but my control over the Twili race has certainly not waned. And you…” Zant stood as he spoke, and Twilight could feel his body being forced to mirror his captor’s, slowly rising to his feet. The Twili regarded him thoughtfully before raising his hand once more, magic threatening to burst forth.

“Well clearly, we really can’t say that you are fully Hylian any longer. After all, if you were, do you think that I’d be able to do this ?” 

Zant abruptly twisted his wrist. Twilight felt his left arm suddenly jerk as invisible puppet strings were pulled, p u l l e d,  p  u  l  l -

Cr-a-ck.

Violent flares of red overtook Twilight’s vision in an instant before his brain could have any hope of catching up with the massive wave of signals his body must have sent it at once. The pain was hard to comprehend beyond the shock that his mind hastily pushed upon him to protect him from being consumed. But it was an imperfect barrier that was quickly beginning to erode. Water was submerging his right nostril, and he could taste gritty mud. It took him a few moments to realize that that meant he was laying on the ground. Odd, considering he had just stood up. 

It took him a few moments longer to understand that he could move again, albeit with great effort. Everything was muted and fuzzy, which made pushing thoughts through to the forefront of his mind incredibly hard. But for every thought he pushed forward, reaching for clarity, a dull ache originating somewhere on the left side of his body seemed to grow and sharpen its intensity. The ringing in his ears only served to scramble his thoughts with every pulse, but Twilight could have sworn he heard a sound beyond it. Something inhuman. Like a wounded animal giving its final, ferocious death rattle. But it was clearer than anything else he had. So he reached for the noise, focusing as well as his addled brain could. 

But as his focus followed the noise, so too did the pain compound. It sharpened as the world around him did. White hot pain searing into what was now clearly his arm. His left arm. His sword arm, his dazed brain supplied, as the agony continued to climb. And as it amplified, so too did the sound in its misery. A horrific wail of anguish that tore itself from his lungs over and over with each wave of torment. Vaguely, he could hear other voices. Begging. Weeping. Voices crying out to him, but he just couldn’t answer.

When sight decided to return to him, it was in the form of a pale face slowly coming into focus as red pulsed at the edges of his vision. Its expression was one of slight amusement as it looked down at him. It didn’t seem phased as Twilight rolled onto his back, writhing at the new waves of pain the slight movement sent him through. After a few moments of riding it out, he braced himself to look at just what had been done to him. 

He blinked through heavy agony as he tried to comprehend what he was looking at. Arms don’t bend there. And they don’t have white bits that visibly stick out, dripping gore onto the ground. They don’t normally have that many… pieces.

But his brain didn’t have enough time to struggle to understand the mangled mess that was his left arm. Instead, it was contending with the fact that Twilight was now lifting off of the ground, limply being held in the air. His blurred vision locked back onto the face of Zant, unable to stop the miserable sob from leaving him as his ruined arm was being forced to stretch out above his head, mirroring his right while creating a wretched image of a broken marionette, dangling from invisible threads.

“I cannot tell you how satisfying it is that I barely had to do anything for this to occur.” Zant laughed as he began to rise up into the air toward Twilight’s shaking form. “All I needed to do was plant a little seed .”

A familiar heat in his chest began to rapidly grow once more, flooding his veins and aching muscles with its intense strength. But something was different. The source of this burning power was shifting. Shifting away from his chest, from his body entirely. As quickly as the strength had come, it left him, leaving him gasping for breath as it almost seemed to instead sap away what little strength he had left. Raising his head slowly, Twilight felt his blood turn to ice as the source of the malicious strength floated forward, away from his chest where it usually rested. With its cord still looped around his neck, the gnarled Shadow Crystal lifted into the air, the orange veins that ran along the wicked twists and points now pulsing with power. 

Feebly, Twilight tugged at the invisible restraints that held his wrists in the air. An image of a much smaller Twili being hung in the air in a very similar fashion sprung unbidden into his mind, and it only served to feed his panic as the memory of what nearly happened to her shortly afterward would haunt him to his dying day. Ragged breathing, barely able to hang on, dying on the back of a wolf in the pouring rain. 

He doubted there would be a princess to save him this time.

“And from that tiny seed, a beautiful monster flourishes. A perfect wolf in sheep’s clothing.” Zant cackled as he beckoned the Crystal from around Twilight’s neck toward him. “I think it’s time for the beast to finally be set free.”

Twilight tore his eyes away from the madman before him over to his friends once more. He could sort of see them more clearly now, when not in the heat of battle and bloodlust.

Legend and Warriors were swinging their swords at the gnarled pillars that supported the magical barrier, but each strike seemed about as helpful as their screams of frustration. 

Hyrule had an expression on his face of true terror as he held Wind tightly, trying his best to turn the youngest of the group away, despite the young sailor screaming and wrestling with him to let go.

Sky looked so wrong having such an expression of fury on his normally passive and calm face. He stood with a fist pressed against the barrier, with his other hand white-knuckled holding the hilt of the Master Sword. 

Four wasn’t looking at him at all. Instead, he held his head in his with a pained grimace as his wide eyes seemed to flit from color to color. 

Time stood with his hands and weight pressed up against the wall, his mouth agape as he silently wept and remained rooted to the spot. 

And Wild… he was on his knees next to Time. Some of the remains of the cords that had bound him before still hung from his wrists and ankles. Blood still matted his hair and stained the side of his face. His face… the bruises mottled the flesh and his right eye was nearly swollen shut. But it didn’t stop the tears from flowing. And it certainly didn’t stop him from beating on the magical barrier and screaming himself hoarse. He saw the recognition in his protégé’s eyes as the Shadow Crystal landed in Zant’s hand. He saw the sharp glance at the rest of the boys who didn’t truly realize what might happen. He saw the horror dawn even further on Wild’s face. 

A flash of energy tore his attention from the group back to Zant as his magic flared once more, now with the Shadow Crystal tight in his grasp. The shadowy tendrils that the Twili was summoning seemed to curl around the warped shape of the Crystal, seeping into the cracks and crevices. Twilight’s eyes widened as the orange glow of the Crystal that he had grown accustomed to began to rapidly change. Like swirling ink, an intense deep red coloration began to swell and overtake the orange, staining it as if it had just been dipped into a pool of blood. Zant lifted it aloft in triumph.

“Behold, a true monster is born! Free from the fears and chains that belong to light dwellers! After all,” He sneered as he drifted toward Twilight, levitating the Crystal once more. “It can only truly thrive when surrounded by the enriching powers of darkness.”

Twilight was frozen. He could do nothing. Nothing but watch as the twisted Shadow Crystal began to float toward him, pointed directly at the center of his forehead. His heart pounded in his ears as his mind raced. Distantly he still registered the roaring pain of his arm, as well as the dripping hole in his left side, heavily bleeding once again as the last of the ice had broken away. Perhaps they could be focused on rather than the terrifying images his mind was conjuring at a breakneck speed of what kind of abomination Zant would twist him into. Whatever it was, he hoped his friends had the good sense to run. They didn’t need to see. He didn’t want them to. 

Twilight heaved what few breaths he had left while knowing himself before he tore his eyes away from the spike that would end him. He tore them away to look back to Wild and lock eyes. A single tear rolled down his cheek to mix with the dribbling blood from his mouth as his shredded vocal chords managed to force out a weak cry.

“W..w…Wild I-”

.   .   .

A shard of pure darkness pierced the mind of the Hero of Twilight, and he was lost to the world.

.   .   .

Blinking to clear its vision as it surveyed the world around It, the creature felt an odd sensation of… fear. It was standing on four legs. Bad. Very bad. It should be afraid.

Why?

It paused. It did not have an answer to that question. 

This Feels Right. 

It did feel right. It sniffed its surroundings for a moment. They felt familiar. But from where? A red mist seemed to settle over everything, but that didn’t bother it. It could Sense what it needed to. What it wanted. It wanted… What did it want?

You Hunger.

Gnawing pain dug into it’s stomach as it sniffed the air once more. The scent of rainfall dominated its nose, and yet… there it was. Metallic and fresh. Bleeding already. And close.

Good.

The Monster’s ears swiveled, listening intently over the thrumming of the storm. There. The steady race of a heartbeat of a creature moving closer. Slowly but surely. The smell was growing too. That smell…The smell of…

Food. 

Chapter Text

Wild had seen a lot of things on his journeys that would haunt him. He’d seen a world broken under a century of fear and torment. He’d seen abominations born of Malice that had brutally murdered close friends that he could only barely remember. Hylia, he’d even remembered his own excruciating death. But none of those experiences could ever hope to hold a candle to the sheer horror that filled him now. 

He couldn’t tear his eyes away, no matter how desperately his brain pleaded with him not to watch. He couldn’t move. He could only kneel, hands pressed against the amber barrier, mouth open in a silent scream as his vision blurred from the tears pouring from his eyes. 

He could only silently beg the goddesses to send him back. He’d go back to the numbing silence and darkness he had been trapped in. He’d take more beatings from unseen assailants a thousand times over. He’d let himself go mad from the sensory deprivation if it meant this wouldn’t be happening. 

But of course, he received no answer to his desperate prayer. He could only watch as Twilight’s tortured form twitched in the air, hung by invisible strings in a macabre display of the twisted remains of his left arm, while a shard of pure darkness pierced his forehead. He couldn’t shut out the wretched sounds of animalistic anguish ripping themselves from his mentor’s mouth, cutting off the feeble attempt at saying his name. His name. And he certainly wasn’t there to catch Twilight when those invisible strings suddenly severed themselves, allowing him to tumble to the stones in a boneless heap of writhing agony. 

The screams of anger, confusion, and terror from his companions were oddly muted by the constant drone of the pouring rain. He could only see Warriors gesturing wildly to everyone as he undoubtedly was bullshitting some kind of plan. Wild was sure that the captain had given him some kind of role, but whatever it was supposed to be was utterly lost on him. Legend seemed to be desperately trying to get Warrior’s attention while he shouted his plan. He didn’t catch what the veteran was saying, but for some reason, he kept pointing to the edge of the cliff. 

The rest, however, looked just as rooted in place as he was. Feelings of horror and fear were evident, and Warriors’s attempts at rallying didn’t seem to be getting through to them either. It wasn’t often, Wild mused, that he saw all of them so still. So… helpless. Eight people. Eight heroes, and not one of them with any kind of convenient item or special ability that could save the life of their ninth. 

Wild turned back to look once more at what remained of Twilight as the sounds of agony that he had been making suddenly ceased. His eyes were open but glassy. They rolled in Twilight’s head without seeing as his limbs twitched uncontrollably without purpose. But Wild’s eyes were most drawn to the dull red glow that was pulsing just beneath the skin of his forehead. Even from a distance he could see thin veins of a similar coloration slowly stretching along his temples. 

A low chuckle snapped Wild’s attention to a different source of movement as the now helmless Zant knelt before Twilight, a twisted smile playing across his face as he laid a hand on his head. Though he still had many holes in his memory, Wild struggled to think of a time where he felt fury choke him as much as he did upon seeing the sadistic Twili carding his fingers through Twilight’s hair. 

Quicker than even he himself was prepared for, Wild was on his feet, his fists slammed once more into the barrier. His ribs were grinding painfully in his chest, his right eyebrow was partially swollen, and his shoulder burned at the sudden movement, but he didn’t care. It was all muffled by the sharp pins and needles that were still crawling up and down his arms, a certain Gerudo’s threat of violence still prickling at his skin. 

His focus landed instead on one of the gnarled pillars that had embedded itself into the ground to form the barrier. No damage could be seen from when Warriors and Legend had been trying desperately to cut through it. But now, after looking at them with new eyes, Wild couldn’t help but notice how perfect the knots and burls that twisted the spike would be as handholds. Old habits had his climbing path to the top mapped out before he even made a move. 

Wild couldn’t decide if it was fortunate or not that the others were still distracted in their horror. Either way, none of them processed what he was doing before he had already climbed out of their reach. Sure, he hears Warriors and Legend shouting at him, but even they aren’t fast enough to grab him before he had already scrambled up the pillar and leapt over the edge of the barrier. 

Gravel dug into his palms as he landed hard. Not one of his better landings, but he’d definitely had worse. Looking up, he found himself looking into the glowing, surprised eyes of Zant and subsequently realizing just how little of a plan he had actually concocted. But there wasn’t time to dwell on that. There wasn’t time to search for a weapon. No time to make a plan of attack. And certainly no time to question the intelligence of desperately flinging himself forward to tackle the confused Twili before him. 

The feeling of his shoulder impacting hard into Zant’s torso momentarily left Wild surprised that his impulsive move actually worked. It fell away just as quickly, however, when he heard the sharp static of Zant’s form folding out of existence. Quickly tucking himself into a roll, Wild recovered himself enough, ignoring the shooting pain of his shoulder that he likely had exacerbated, to dart over and kneel at Twilight’s side as his head whipped around, searching for where his opponent would appear next. 

Instead, his ears pricked up at the sound of dozens and dozens of hisses and snarls all at once. His eyes snapped back to his friends, all of them tensely listening to the same noise. Looking to Legend, Wild felt his stomach turn over as he saw the veteran slowly stepping away from the edge of the cliff, eyes wide. Following his gaze, Wild was momentarily transfixed by what he saw. 

Like a hive of courser bees in retaliation to a threat, the side of the cliff face almost seemed to ripple as a swarm of Shadow Beasts that had all silently gathered there began to trill and howl, their tendrils coiling and flaring in near unison with one another. 

Feeling the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end at the realization of how little time he had, Wild returned his gaze to the crumpled form of Twilight upon the muddy flagstones. His hands shook as he tried to assess the horrific damage that had been done. Twilight’s left arm was in utter shambles. Twisted and mangled, a shard of splintered bone stuck out from the wreckage of flesh as crimson stained rainwater stretched the initial puddle of gushing blood out around him like a spider’s web, rapidly filling the cracks and crevices of the ground. His body was wracked with uncontrollable spasms that forced tiny gasps of pain from him with every move. And yet, it was still the growing veins of red that held Wild’s attention the most, now stretching down Twilight’s face and neck to his clavicle as the menacing red glow within his forehead pulsed and moved with an unexplainable menace.

Wild was truly cursing his own impulsiveness now as he held his brother’s head in his trembling hands. What in the name of any god was he supposed to do? Was there anything to be done? 

A conclusion was never reached however, as the familiar sound of static caught Wild’s attention before he could. Zant’s high pitched, pealing laughter came from behind him as the Twili apparated once more.

“How foolish! The boy destroyed himself to bargain for your life. And yet here you are, throwing it away all the same!”

Wild held himself still for a moment, breathing his fury into control. His eyes flicked to the small tablet of Sheikah tech that lay discarded on the ground. A particular flare of indignation had to be stifled almost immediately upon picking it up when he saw the sizable crack in the screen of the device he had come to cherish so much, but his fears were somewhat calmed when it blinked to life in its usual manner. 

“I’m not afraid of you.” Wild hissed as the comforting weight of a newly summoned Savage Lynel Sword came to rest in his hand. The pins and needles that continued to skitter up and down his arms intensified as he turned to face the Twili. He had to fight the urge to curl his lip when he saw the coward hovering in the air out of reach. 

Zant still bore the injuries of his battle with Twilight. His mask had been shattered, revealing the smooth, pale face of glowing eyes and an oddly split mouth. Blood trickled from the open wound on his forehead, and he was no longer holding himself with the poise he initially held, but he still wore the smug smile that Wild so desperately wanted to rip off of his face. It broadened as they both held each other’s stare. 

“Oh dear.” Zant giggled as he raised his hand. The gathered magic around it flared a brilliant red for a moment as he flexed it.  “My poor boy, I don’t think you understand.”

CRrrR-Ack

Wild’s eyes widened as he heard the horrific popping noise come from behind him. Whipping around to Twilight once more, he had to hastily back away from the suddenly rapidly expanding pool of a deep scarlet smoke that was beginning to pour out of his mentor’s eyes, nose, and mouth. Twilight’s back was arched in an unnatural position, supported by nothing. It was nauseating to hear the audible sound of bones creaking and cracking as he continued to contort, accompanied by the guttural noises that wrenched themselves from him with each break. And with each thrash, the smoke only grew, obscuring more and more of him. Wild felt his back reach the barrier once more as he steeled himself for whatever would emerge. He could hear it. He could hear the wails begin to change. Twist. Deepen . 

“I don’t think that I’ll need to even lift a finger.” Zant chuckled as low, menacing growls began to fill the air. “This is far too poetic to interrupt now.”

As the Usurper rose higher into the air, Wild might have attempted to fire an arrow or try some form of attack if he wasn’t quite so distracted. He couldn’t tear his eyes away from the red mist that filled the air. But it was then that he saw it. Movement. A shadow of a glimpse of movement in the fog that caused him to act without thinking.

“Twilight!!”

Immediate regret filled him before the impulsive cry had even left his mouth. But it was too late. The movement ceased. But he could see it. An outline. A shape in the mist. 

Not a humanoid one. 

Suddenly, the flash of two distinct pinpricks of brilliant red light emerged from the darkness. Two flaring eyes stared at him through the smoke with an intensity he had not been prepared for. It was in that moment that Wild understood the extreme malice and lethality of the creature before him. He wasn’t exactly sure how long they were both frozen there, both intensely aware of the other’s presence. But the moment that the figure shifted, Wild felt a surge of adrenaline and fear screaming at him in a moment of pure self-preservation to MOVE .

A split-decision to dive forward as low to the ground as he could proved to be the difference between life and death for Wild as he felt the strong wind of something powerful lunging through the air above him at an unsettling speed, aimed precisely where he had been standing not even a second before. The red mists flew apart as the creature leapt out, dissipating in the unceasing rain. Skidding and tumbling through the mud, Wild struggled to regain footing, but felt his stomach drop upon looking up to what now blocked the way between him and his brothers. 

Wild knew Twilight’s wolf form well. He had traveled for a long time across the untamed wastes of his Hyrule with that wolf at his side. He had been a companion, protector, and comfort that Wild could truly depend upon in a time when he could barely remember his own name in a strange and dangerous world that seemed designed to kill him at times. But he’d never been afraid. Uncertain and untrusting at first, yes. But Wild had never been truly afraid of the strange wolf that seemed to understand and defend him better than anyone else he’d ever met.

He couldn’t say that anymore.

Standing before him, getting back to its feet after its failed pounce, was a massive Twilit Wolf. What white fur that used to be there had become fully saturated and blackened, save for a few pieces that were instead a dull red coloration, as if dipped in blood. The fur of its hackles seemed to move like tendrils, whipping about in its agitation. Large, reddish veins of energy ran throughout the entire body, almost squeezing the limbs they attached to as they pulsed and flexed. All of them lead back to the forehead and face, which was now a mess of complex runes and symbols that flared with power. The rattling of chains caught Wild’s ear as he spied a heavy, barbed cuff that still encircled its front left leg.  Claws extended and carved deep furrows into the stonework beneath them as it pulled itself back up to its feet. Solid red eyes pierced Wild’s soul once more as it turned about, snarling as it lined itself up to strike once more. 

The moment that the coiled up muscles in the creature’s powerful back legs released, Wild set his jaw. His sword dissolved back into blue light. Planting his feet, he brought his fists together as he stared up at the monster descending upon him. A prism of amber light emerged around him alongside the comforting feeling of an old Goron friend. 

Wild felt the impact of teeth, claws, and sheer weight crashing into the magical barrier with his whole body. He was saved from being torn to shreds, but sweat began to rapidly build as he held the barrier in place. Well. Here he was again. 

“Twilight, it’s me!” Wild screamed as the blows continued to rain down. “It’s WILD!” 

A vicious snarl followed by a savage attempt at biting through his barrier was the only response. Wild flinched when the first signs of cracks began to form in his guard. Gritting his teeth as the sweat built up, he silently swore to himself not to be stuck like this again. He can’t afford to pass out this time. Twilight won’t be here to save him. Quite the opposite actually. He needed out. Now.

Steeling himself, Wild resigned himself to a relatively stupid gamble. He waited. Waited for a single moment of rearing back. The precious seconds when claws and teeth wouldn’t be poised to immediately tear him apart. As the great Wolf flung its front claws up in the air, aimed to smash down upon his little translucent bubble of safety, Wild leapt forward, between its hind legs, tucking into another roll that had his left shoulder going numb by the time he was to his feet, sprinting toward the barrier. He nearly tripped as the impact of the Wolf’s attack striking the stone of the bridge sent tremors through the ground.

It was at this point, now that there was no demon wolf blocking his view, that Wild realized just what was happening behind the barrier. The others were no longer stationary. Crawling rapidly over the edge, Shadow Beast after Shadow Beast had begun an all out assault upon his brothers, and they were quickly being overwhelmed. Seeing Time shouting to rally them all once more in a desperate attempt to survive had Wild’s heart in overdrive. They were rapidly running out of time. And he was pretty sure that what remained of Twilight wouldn’t let him safely climb those barrier posts again without turning him into ribbons. 

Wheeling back around once more, he looked once more at the wolf. Its eyes were filled with an intense fury. Wild had a sinking feeling in his stomach as he realized now just how unhappy this wolf was with him playing ‘matador’. Reluctantly, he summoned a simple soldier’s sword as he readied himself, but his hand shook as he gripped the blade. Dread began to build as he silently grappled with his own thoughts. Could he do it? Would he do it? …Or could Twilight be saved?

“You can fight this, Twi!” Wild bellowed anyway, as it began to advance. “You use that stupid crystal all the time! Don’t let that psycho use it against you!”

It paused. It paused for a moment in its approach, staring down at him unblinkingly. Wild did his best to stand his ground, looking up at a creature at least twice his height, his knuckles white from clutching the sword in his hand.

Suddenly, the veins spread about the Wolf’s body flared a violent crimson without warning. Flinching back, it let out a howl of pain. The sound of condescending tutting had Wild glaring up once more to see Zant wagging his finger as the corruptive magic he had gathered in his left hand intensified. For a moment, Wild could have sworn that it coalesced into the shape of a spiked, wicked chain locked within the Twili’s grasp. The Wolf was now bracing itself, hunched low to the ground as the cuff on its leg glowed with a malevolent red light. 

“Apologies, boy, but this ‘pup’ is on a rather tight leash.” Zant smirked. “And I’m rather anxious for him to be fed on time.”

Wild had no time to stow his blade. No time to summon any protection. He barely had time to brace his sword in front of him as a makeshift shield, but it didn’t stop the entire body mass of the Wolf from slamming into him, knocking him onto his back with intense force. His head smacked into the stone, sending pain lancing outward and making everything spin. The open jaws of the Wolf descended in slow motion as he pushed the flat of his sword forward like a makeshift gag to stop them from latching onto his head.

Steel bit into the flesh of his palm as a thin river of blood ran down his arms. He could hear the grinding of teeth on metal as the Wolf bit desperately. Its hot breath was blowing heavily into Wild’s face as the full weight of the Twilit Wolf bared down upon him. Searing spikes of pain suddenly ripped strangled cries from his throat as he felt the slow but agonizing drag of the massive claw that was pinning his chest to the ground. 

Yet somehow, despite all of the weapons that had broken on him at the worst possible times, just this once his sword held strong. Wild had to turn his head in the midst of his screaming as rivulets of black blood began to pour from the Wolf’s lacerated mouth onto his torso and face. His arms shook from the strain of repelling the beast, but he couldn’t let this be the end. Not now. Not in front of his brothers. And certainly not by Twilight’s hand.

Suddenly, the crushing weight of the Wolf on his chest was violently torn off of him. Wild had to shield his face from the unexpected blast of heat and fire emanating above him as he blindly scrambled away from its intensity. He heard the splash of boots in the pooling rainwater, but it took him a few seconds to wipe the black blood out of his eyes and blink them to reasonable clarity to recognize the slight form of Hyrule standing between him and the creature, flames still wreathing his blade. The sound of grunts and curses of effort had Wild twisting around to look behind himself at the barrier just in time to see the weight of a red-faced Legend shift, pitching him forward over the edge to land hard on his back, almost making him lose his grip on his Ice Rod and sending a freezing splash of water onto the both of them. 

“Holy shit, Wild.” Legend hissed as he scrambled to his feet, yanking Wild up with him by the upper arm. “If we live through this I am going to murder you.”

Unfortunately, all Wild could muster to respond with was a choked wheeze as he was forced to his feet. Slashes from wicked claws tugged painfully in his chest, joining the burning of his ribs in chorus. His head spun nauseatingly, and it was all he could do to cling to Legend’s shoulder to keep himself upright. 

Thankfully, the familiar warmth of healing magic washed over him as Wild felt Hyrule place a hand on his forehead. Quickly, the world began to stabilize as the aching began to fade away. The deep gashes stung a bit as they shrank, though not completely disappearing. Blinking, he met Hyrule’s eyes as the traveler pulled his hand away.

“I..I’m sorry… I-”

“We don’t have time.” Hyrule cut him off firmly. “We’ll unpack it later. But first we have to-”

“HYRULE!” Legend bellowed, pulling Wild backwards by the collar of his tunic. 

Hyrule whipped around just in time to see a recovered Twilight leaping into the air, arcing toward them seemingly in slow motion. Wild clenched his fists, feeling the intense heat of Death Mountain burning in his chest as he tried to pull out of Legend’s grasp. He could save them. 

At least, he could’ve if his feet didn’t betray him at the last moment, causing his legs to give out and for him to practically fall into the veteran’s arms. Wild’s world swayed around him as a vision of Death came to greet them from above with jaws wide open, unimpeded. 

It was then that Wild felt a powerful wave of energy punch him in the chest. Using Legend’s arm to maintain his footing as his breath was momentarily stolen from him, he stared in awe at Hyrule, who stood firm with arms outstretched, suddenly surrounding the three of them in a dome of magical energy that seemed to make the air around them practically vibrate. They all felt when the Wolf impacted with Hyrule’s magic when their ears started to painfully pop in a moment of intense pressure, but a moment was all that it was before the beast slid off of the invisible barrier, claws raking at its unseen surface.

“If you’re going to do something, you’d better do it now!” Hyrule gritted, his hands already beginning to shake from strain of the Reflect spell. 

“We need a plan.” Wild said, breathing through his nose as the ill-timed bout of lightheadedness finally passed.

Legend’s eyes narrowed. “Well aren’t I lucky to make one with the genius whose last great idea was to get his head bitten off after all the trouble we went through to get him back?!”

Scowling, Wild turned away to take stock of the situation. The Wolf now seemed to be testing the boundary of Hyrule’s barrier. Its teeth were bared as it swiped at the edges, Hyrule standing steadfast as sweat mingled with the pouring rain as it dripped down his brow with each blow. His eyes traveled up past the immediate threat to land on the Twili that loomed over them, giggling with glee at their current predicament. His left hand still clung to that pulsing energy, a sight which made Wild’s anger suddenly much harder to control. But instead, he hissed to Legend out of the corner of his mouth.

“Twilight is under Zant’s control. We need to break his hold!”

“Well he’s all the way up there, and he can teleport.” Legend grumbled, glancing up as well. “How do you plan on doing that?”

Wild grabbed Legend by the shoulder and turned him away from the Twili as he began to watch them now with more intent. 

“We need to catch him off guard. Make being up in the air a problem for him.” Wild’s brow furrowed. “Do you have anything in your arsenal that can cover wide areas? Something less predictable than an arrow shot.”

Legend’s head cocked to the side as he fished around his pockets. Wide area… unpredictable… hmm. His eyebrows shot up as his fingers found a small metal disc sitting at the bottom of one of his pouches. 

“Possibly. I’ve got something that could hit him pretty hard” Legend murmured as he drew the medallion out. “Though, I’ve only got a few shots at it before I’ll be completely out of gas. If I miss…”

“We’ll probably only have the one shot anyway.” Wild pointed out. The both of them jumped suddenly at the sound of claws raking once more upon Hyrule’s slightly faltering barrier. The Wolf was clearly losing patience, and if how deathly pale he was turning was anything to go by, Hyrule was rapidly losing stamina. Wild turned back to Legend. 

“I’ll help Hyrule hold Twi off until I see him faltering. We just have to pray that it’ll drop him.”

“Holy Hylia, we’re all going to die.”

“Probably. You ready?”

“G-guys…” Hyrule mumbled, swaying on his feet as his hands shook from exertion. 

“I’ve got you, ‘Rule!” Wild shouted, rushing to the traveler’s side. “Hold on!” 

His finger stung on the cracked screen of the Sheikah Slate as he rapidly searched for the function he was looking for. The Wolf had backed up once more, preparing for another pounce as its eyes bored into Wilds with feral, murderous intent. Next to him, Hyrule was barely able to hold his head up, his Reflect spell seeming to flicker faintly in the air. There was no way he could hold up against another attack, Wild thought as he frantically searched the Slate. Where is it? Where-

There!

Triumphant, Wild held the slate up as he activated it, once again staring down the corrupted form of his mentor and friend as it attempted to brutally murder him. But specifically, he focused on the metal cuff that encircled Twilight’s front leg as he activated the magnet-shaped rune with a satisfying click.

A surprised yelp followed by a howl of frustration cut through the droning rain as the Wolf’s attempted leap was cut off and yanked upwards. The barbed cuff, suddenly engulfed in a golden energy, shot upwards and wrenched the Wolf off of its feet and the ground entirely. Wild felt his teeth rattle in his skull as the dangling Wolf emitted a roar unlike any monster he had ever heard. It thrashed in the air and bellowed with a ferocity that almost seemed to turn his legs to jelly.  The rhythmic thrumming of the active Sheikah Slate in his hands was the only thing that kept him grounded to the task at hand as he caught the suddenly limp form of Hyrule, whose legs had finally buckled beneath him in exhaustion. Eyes wide, Wild glanced up to Legend.

“Go!” He screamed. The veteran took off down the bridge with medallion in hand, trying not to look up at the ferocious beast that was howling in pain and fury, whose clawed feet flailed and kicked mere feet above his head. Droplets of black blood soon began to splatter on the ground beneath as the barbs of the cuff sunk deep into the Wolf’s leg. Choking back sobs, Wild quietly begged for Twilight’s forgiveness as he lowered the traveler gently to the ground. This was his fault; all his fault.

Frantically, Wild began to rummage through both his and the traveler’s pockets one-handed while the other held up his slate, desperate to find something to revive his companion. The Slate was activating the Magnesis rune, so he couldn’t summon any of his prepared potions without releasing his hold on Twilight. It would normally be a gamble that he’d be willing to try, but with Hyrule practically unresponsive beside him, he wasn’t as confident in his ability to protect them both and also be quick enough on the draw. So please , Wild silently prayed. Please let the traveler have something in his bag. Please, please, please -

Wait!

Wild’s eyes widened as his fingers finally brushed something glass and round. Whispering prayers of thanks to Hylia, he fished out one of his own bottles, half filled with a green elixir. Thank the goddess that Hyrule hadn’t finished it when Wild had passed this potion to him after wrestling a goat. Yanking the cork out, he began to pour the elixir down the traveler’s throat, eliciting a few sputtering coughs before eyes opened once more, blinking confusedly. As soon as enough of the elixir had been consumed for it to do its work, Wild quickly pressed the remaining potion into Hyrule’s hand and hauled him up.

“Ugh…” Hyrule mumbled, staggering to his feet as he downed the rest of the liquid. He was still definitely swaying, despite the burst of energy that was now flowing through him, but at least he was able to keep his feet.

“You with me?” Wild asked desperately, eyes now fixed on the gigantic Wolf before them, thrashing in the air while frothing at the mouth. Its eyes were practically bulging out of its head as it now was starting to bite at the cuff suspending it in the air above the bridge.

“Y-yeah, I think so.” Hyrule rasped, looking up at this vision of horror. “What, exactly, is our plan again?”

“Uh,” Wild shifted his feet nervously. “We just need to wait for Legend to-”

C-R-A-C-K!

Wild almost jumped out of his skin at the sudden explosion of heat and light that surrounded them. Bolts of electricity cut through the air like daggers, leaving the air smelling of ozone and smoke. The Wolf screeched in pain as lightning ran through its body, the metal cuff itself high in the air with residual sparks jumping off of it into the air. Its limbs twitched in the air, momentarily stunned.

Lightning continued to crackle around them, lighting up the empty space around the bridge. A shriek of frustration caught Wild’s attention as he glanced back down the bridge. Legend was there, his Ether Medallion held high as wave after wave of electrical energy shot upwards from it into the raging storm. Lightning leapt from the clouds to find purchase on the ground below, filling the air with deadly bolts of electricity that burned themselves into Wild’s eyes. And amidst it all, an infuriated Twili hovered in the air, desperately appearing and disappearing to dodge the oncoming strikes. 

“It’s working!” Wild gasped, moving a few steps ahead. Glancing back to Legend, however, he was alarmed to see the veteran already starting to sway. His hand was shaking almost as badly as Hyrule’s had been. Legend wasn’t going to be able to keep this up forever. They needed to act now. 

Wild abruptly turned to Hyrule. “I need to borrow your sword.”

“ What? ”

“I won’t break it, I swear! I just can’t get a weapon out of the slate while Magnesis is active.”

Hyrule narrowed his eyes. “I have your word?”

Wild nodded emphatically “Absolutely! So long as you do me a favor and make sure this stays active.” Normally, he would be loath to hand his Sheikah Slate to anyone, but desperate times called for desperate measures, and he needed both hands free to focus on his opponent. So in this moment he found himself pressing his precious slate into Hyrule’s hands, faintly hoping that he’ll still be alive to get it back from him in a minute.

“I… can do my best.” Hyrule said slowly, looking confusedly down at the strange piece of technology. Resisting the urge to immediately take the slate back based on that response, Wild instead just took the offered sword and shield, and began to run down the bridge toward his staggering companion. 

Rainwater splashed up his legs as he raced toward Legend, the dizzying pain that riddled his body fading as wave after wave of adrenaline washed over him. Lightning clapped around him, and sharp sounds of static from a frustrated Zant teleporting all around them kept his heart hammering in his chest. Legend was down to one knee now, magical exhaustion catching up to him. A vulnerable position for his brother to be in, and a strong indicator that time was rapidly running out.

He was only a few paces away when the hairs on the back of his neck raised. He felt his stomach drop as he skidded to a stop, only a few paces away from where Legend was stubbornly maintaining the lightning storm. Tearing through space with a blast of Twili magic, the looming form of Zant emerged to stand between Wild and his brother. His clothing was smoking, his body was scorched, but his face was split by a ghastly grin. Eyes still fixed on Wild, he raised a hand of crackling energy toward Legend.

“Touch him and I’ll kill you.” Wild hissed, blade leveled. “I swear to all the goddesses.”

The Twili giggled as he stared back. His eyes burned a strange amber as they looked Wild up and down. “Kidnapped, beaten, and bloodied, yet the cub still barks!” he sneered. With terrifying speed, Zant twisted his upper body with an unnatural flexibility. His lengthy arms caught Wild’s borrowed shield, sending him skidding backwards on the wet stone. The Twili cackled his mirthful laugh as his scimitar blades emerged from his oversized sleeves once more.

“Let’s see if his bark remains intact!”

On instinct, Wild brought his shield up once more to block the incoming projectiles that Zant had thankfully chosen to fire at him instead of Legend. Each impact jarred his shoulder as he braced for the rapid fire. Like a flash, his foe was suddenly right in front of him, his weapons biting into the wood of Hyrule’s shield. Quickly he batted them away with an upward sweep of his sword, but soon found himself locked in a deadly dance of blocking and dodging the mad Twili’s unending strikes. 

Heart hammering in his chest, Wild desperately tried to think of a strategy. He could possibly incapacitate Zant if he made sure he wouldn’t teleport away, but that meant he needed an element of surprise that they were long past achieving at this point. He was certainly close enough, but it was all he could do to keep his limbs attached to his body with how lethal this fight was becoming. Wild always knew that Twilight was an expert swordsman, but he was gaining a whole new insight now as to why . He had watched his mentor face this monster mere minutes before, and he’d made it look so much easier than it was. Particularly when you’ve been beaten to hell and only half healed of those injuries mid fight.  

“WILD!”

Hyrule’s voice snapped him from his spiraling thoughts as Wild staggered back from Zant’s last bout of attacks. Sparing a glance had his heart leap into his throat as he saw the waves of energy connecting the Magnesis rune from his slate to the Wolf’s cuff were starting to flicker. The cuff jerked in the air, dropping a few feet before freezing again. Hyrule was desperately smacking the side of the slate, shaking it in an attempt to get it to work.

“The rune is failing! I don’t know how this thing works, but it was cracked when we found it and we didn’t know how to fix it! HURRY!”

Wild barely had a moment to absorb that yet another element of their half-baked plan was running on fumes before he had to snap his attention back to his opponent and duck before his head could be removed from his shoulders. Hyrule and Legend, on either side of the bridge, giving everything they had to give him this chance, and he could do nothing but remain on the defensive of the crazed Usurper, who refused to either let up or overextend to give him a moment of weakness to exploit.

Wild gritted his teeth. He couldn’t wait for a natural weakness to expose itself. He had to force one. He thrived when he was on the offensive, doing something stupid and risky. What else did he have left to do? Adjusting his grip on his shield, he lunged forward to strike before feinting to the side, driving the shield into the meat of Zant’s abdomen. Driven by adrenaline and rage, he swept a leg under his opponent’s feet as he stumbled back, leading to a heavy impact and splash of displaced rainwater. Knowing he had seconds at best, Wild lunged forward, blade extended to carve through the Usurper before he could retaliate. 

His knee cracked on the stone as he stumbled forward. He wasn’t prepared for his sword to meet only air before slashing the stonework. Wild shot out a hand to stop himself from fully falling to the ground, blinking in confusion before familiar sounds of magical static and hissing suddenly emitted from behind him and he suddenly felt something akin to a punch in the back.

A punch, at least at first, before his whole body erupted in white hot pain, his vision flaring red as he registered the bloody tip of a scimitar jutting out from his gut.

Thin, spindly fingers briefly carded through his hair before grabbing a handful of it to forcefully yank his head back while the world swam around him. Distantly, Wild could hear what might have been screams, but everything was very quickly going numb. His hand had already lost its grip on his borrowed blade and could only somewhat feel the rush of warm viscera that was already pouring from his midsection.

“A mildly entertaining attempt, boy, but you lack your brother’s skill with a blade.” Zant smirked as he turned Wild’s head to look at him. Or at least attempt to. Everything was losing focus about as rapidly as he was losing blood. “I must admit, I am somewhat disappointed.”

Vaguely, Wild could feel the bite of the second blade being placed at his throat. As the rest of his senses were sliding away, some remnants of coherent thought held on. At least enough to mirthlessly laugh at the futility. This was how his story ended. After all he’d done, all he’d messed up, and all he’d tried to fix, this was his last battle. A battle where he’d condemned his mentor and brother to a hell worse than death, as well as likely doomed two of his other brothers for daring to save him from his own impulsiveness. 

The pain was starting to wash away as the numbness spread across him. Soon all he could feel was the sharp sting of rain on his face. It was almost familiar… as if he were wandering the sandstorms of the moonlit deserts. He could practically feel the dunes beneath his feet…

“Don’t tell me you intend to give up now, hero.”

A familiar prickling under his skin sent tremors up and down his arms. 

Wild blinked for a moment. 

Wait.

“I thought I told you to protect our princess with your life. I don’t see how rolling over here will do that.”

Her voice evoked intensely strong memories in an instant. Memories of shifting sands on the wind. The sun beating down on him without mercy.

The prickling began to heighten. Burning, needling pain. It needed an outlet. It had been waiting far too long to find its mark.

“I trust you will be certain of your target this time, boy.”

His breath was long and careful. The dragging of the blade through his torso was beginning to sharpen once more, making every movement increasingly a monumental act of will. But he didn’t need much. He only needed to raise his hand to grip the smooth metal of the blade at his neck. 

“Desperation leads to mistakes.” Zant was saying, grinning down at him. “A shame you won’t be able to learn from this one.”

“Y-you know…” He breathed, raising up his other bloodstained hand in the air as he forced his eyes to meet Zant’s. “I-I’m a quick study.”

Snap

Light overwhelmed his senses as electricity flooded his body. He could hear the screeching Twili, frozen at his side. The blade was buzzing under his grip as he allowed Urbosa to release her Fury upon his foe. It felt like they were frozen there together for ages, and yet it also could have been mere seconds and Wild wasn’t sure if he would have been able to tell the difference. All he knew is that when the crackling and buzzing stopped, ozone and smoke filled his nostrils, and suddenly nothing was holding him or Zant up anymore. He tasted rainwater and blood when he forced his eyes open after briefly blacking out due to the jostling of the scimitar, which was still protruding from his stomach, from his collapse.

Suddenly, the stone beneath him shook with a jarring impact. Forcing his neck to crane upwards, it took Wild a moment to comprehend the horror that he probably should be feeling. His view of where Hyrule had been standing last he’d seen him was now obscured. Instead, he saw a massive pile of canine limbs, slowly pulling themselves back to standing after having dropped from being magically held in the air. The low growl of the lethal predator, whose fiery eyes were now trained towards him was enough to send icy fear shooting through his entire body. It… wasn’t enough. His brother was still trapped.

Snarling started to emerge from the heap that had collapsed beside him as well. Zant began to struggle to his feet once more, unsteady and showing signs of injury, but still standing. His face showed no more signs of enjoyment. His teeth were bared as he looked down at Wild’s feebly stirring form. His hand clenched once more around the dark magic taking the shape of a spectral chain.

“You will regret that, whelp.” He seethed, yanking the chain suddenly. Wild could feel the impact of massive paws treading towards him. “I told you my pet needed to be fed, and you have secured your position as its next meal.” 

He tried. He tried so hard to move, but his arms were lead and he couldn’t even feel his legs. So much anger had built up inside him with no way to release it. All he could do was look bitterly at the monster who had stolen Twilight from him. This bastard was going to force his mentor to devour him while their brothers watched, assuming they hadn’t been overwhelmed yet by the endless Shadow Beasts that his actions had also provoked. He could only glare at Zant’s clenched fist of sinister magic that bound his brother to the Twili’s will as the snarls of the Wolf grew closer and closer. 

He could only watch in stunned silence as a flash of steel sliced cleanly through the flesh and bone of Zant’s wrist.

 Dazed and confused, Wild could only blink with his mouth agape as Zant let out an inhuman bellow of anguish as he clutched the stump of his right wrist, watching his own hand fall away. His shrieks followed him to the ground as he dropped, an expression of horror and confusion at his missing limb. 

Instead, Wild looked up to meet Legend’s eyes as the veteran breathed heavy, sword somewhat awkward in his grip as he drew it back, clearly extremely exhausted from the intense magic that he had been commanding to this point. He then followed Legend’s eyes down to the ground once more to see the odd pulsing energy surrounding the severed hand of Zant that seemed to be flaring brighter and brighter. He wondered if-

KABOOM!

Wild was sent flying backwards. Blinding pain paralysed him as the scimitar dragged against the stone beneath him when he skidded to a stop, choking on his own agony. For a few moments, his senses were completely out of reach. Struggling to claw them back, Wild’s vision slowly cleared enough to comprehend how he had landed. He was on his side, curled almost protectively around the protruding blade still within his gut, though he could no longer see Legend or Zant. Likely they were somewhere behind him because now he had a full view of the other half of the bridge, where a gigantic wolf was now twisting on the ground in a similar agony to him. Slowly, his hearing allowed him to distantly make out the Wolf’s cries of misery, mingling with thousands of other screams even further away. Beyond the Wolf, the swarm of Shadow Beasts writhed on the ground as well. Their screeches were haunting, but somehow not aggressive. He’d heard these creatures howl for blood before. This was different. They sounded… mournful. Horrified. 

But then, the sharp sound of shattering metal cut through the din. A small explosion of energy erupted from the Wolf’s front left leg, sending shards of metal flying up into the air. But instead of being slung away to fall into the canyon below, the pieces stayed suspended above the now silently shivering Wolf. In fact, everything had fallen eerily silent. The Shadow Beasts had stopped thrashing, their cries had died away. The pieces of metal slowly began to darken until all that remained was a handful of flecks of blackness that suddenly shot upwards to the swirling portal in the sky. Wild blinked as its coloration suddenly shifted from a bloody crimson to a vibrant blue light.

Then, like a swarm of rats caught in the daylight, the Shadow Beasts began to rapidly scramble away. Those still clinging to the cliffside simply skittered down the cliff face into the depths, disappearing into the dark. The rest almost seemed to melt into the shadows, apparently desperate to escape from view. All that remained was his brother. His brother who was still held within the hellish form of the massive Wolf. The Wolf who was now… staring at him. Staring at him and snarling. Snarling and pacing toward him .

A mirthless cackle came from behind him, preceding the Twili’s mocking tone that had Wild trying in earnest to push himself up in order to retaliate.

“The dog’s off its chain, you fool.” Zant sneered. “It smells blood in the water and now not even I can possibly stop it.”

Wild’s arms shook as he pressed them into the stone, forcing his beaten, broken body to shift, moving backwards from the oncoming threat. The deep crimson staining the flagstones beneath him as he dragged himself back forced him to have to stifle a sob, knowing the blood only would serve as an arrow of scent for the Wolf to follow directly to him.  

His throat burned when he began to try to use it as he forced himself to look up at the looming beast approaching him.

“Twilight.” He choked out. “I-it’s me. It’s Wild!”

The Wolf steadily paced forward, its gait not even pausing.

“He can’t control you!” Wild pleaded, feebly pulling himself back another agonizing stretch. “Not anymore…”

It only drew closer. Its eyes burned into his as its mouth opened, revealing rows of wicked teeth. Wild felt his own mouth go dry as he saw saliva dripping from the Wolf’s. This was happening, he realized. He’d allowed himself to be this badly injured that a wild animal didn’t even need to be forced to come after him. He was easy prey. 

Was Twilight aware of what he was doing? Wild struggled to breathe at this horrible thought. Were his reckless actions resulting in his mentor being forced to watch himself rip his brother apart? The tears were really flowing now, and there was nothing Wild could do to stop them anymore.

“Goddesses… Twilight, I’m… I’m so sorry.” He sobbed, his words spilling out as he began to taste iron on his tongue. The Wolf now towered over him, rumbling the ground with its growling. “I’m so, so sorry Twi! This is all my fault! I’m sorry I was so awful to you! You were just trying to protect me, but I didn’t listen. If I had, maybe none of this would even be happening!”

The Wolf was eclipsing his field of vision. He was staring his death in the face. His voice had become so small; barely a whisper. Just a simple plea was all he could manage anymore.

“P-please, Twi. It’s me. It’s your brother…”

The growling stopped. Everything stopped. Wild looked into the blood red eyes of the Wolf for what felt like an eternity. It wasn’t eating him, but it wasn’t backing off. The only movement that he could sense was the faint sensation of blood streaming from the blade still lodged firmly in his abdomen. It felt like the universe was holding its breath. 

Slowly, the Wolf blinked

Then, with a startling flurry of movement, the Wolf was gone. Wild felt wind ruffling his hair as the powerful canine leapt over his head with a ferocious roar that shook the stones beneath him and echoed off of the canyon walls

“Get back, you mangy mutt!! Get- AUGH!!! ”

The unmistakable sound of tearing flesh squelched from behind him, beyond the field of view of Wild’s weakened body. Animalistic snarls were punctuated by howls and wails of pain before the telltale sound of static and displacing matter cut them off and a heavy sound of a body collapsing to the ground abruptly came from right behind him. A violently shaking hand gripped Wild’s shoulder, seemingly in an attempt to pull itself and the body it was attached to toward him. He could feel sharp nails digging into the meat of his shoulder, eliciting a feeble yelp from him as he weakly tried to pull out of its grip. Something warm dripped onto the side of his face, in contrast to the icy rain that relentlessly poured from the skies. No, this held the unmistakably heavy iron scent of blood, which made it the first indication to Wild that something was looming above him before the hand suddenly released its grip. His brain was moving so slowly.  The fog of pain had enveloped him so fully in an almost pleasant numbness. His vision was so blurred he could barely make out the group of figures now charging down the bridge toward him. They were too small… too far… Unconsciousness was beckoning. So inviting… Wild was sliding so comfortably into the dark… when the metal still jammed in his abdomen suddenly jolted and-

NononoletGOLETGOLETGOAAAUGH—

Everything was gone. He couldn’t think. He felt like a blind man fumbling around trying to find his own body. His own senses. His own mind. 

He tasted bitter sourness on his tongue as his consciousness finally and painfully stirred. Bile, his brain supplied. That’s bile. Bile and copper… so blood. Bloody bile. Hmmm…

A nauseating ringing filled his ears and made his head spin while he tried to take stock of the body he could barely cling to the consciousness of. The sharp stench of blood filled his nostrils the second he could register them. Okay, so more blood. That’s… probably bad. 

It took monumental effort to lift his eyelids, and he almost instantly regretted it when his right eye began to sting from the dark viscous liquid that immediately began to seep into them. The stinging only sharpened as he squeezed the eye back shut, and like a match to dry tinder, it suddenly forced Wild to become much more aware of the tidal wave of anguish that was crashing over him. 

A red hot poker was burrowing through his gut, lighting his every nerve on fire. His blurry, red-tinged vision revealed a ragged hole in his stomach, burbling with a dark red viscera that coated the ground beneath him. Wild idly stared at the bright blue of his tunic and his own light blonde hair being slowly overtaken by the crimson that crept further and further. There… used to be something that was stopping all of this from coming out… wasn’t there? His brow furrowed as his thoughts slipped through his fingers as easily as his own blood was doing. A… sword. It was a sword. At least, he was fairly certain. What… happened to it?

Suddenly, a harsh yelp pulled him out of his sluggish thoughts, forcing him to look up from the deadly wound that was rapidly draining his life away. Blinking, it took Wild a few seconds to realize that a large creature was standing over his prone form. The Wolf… The Wolf was protecting him. Interesting. From his angle, he definitely couldn’t see for sure, but he was fairly certain there was blood dripping from the creature’s massive face as it recoiled from the source of its pain. Its rumbling snarl stood his hair on end even when it wasn’t directed toward him. With a grimace of effort, Wild managed to pick his head up enough to shift it toward the source.

Zant was barely standing, his strange Twili blood dripping from the gnarled wounds that now mangled his left leg. His right arm was held tight to his heaving chest, still bubbling with blood on its own as he staggered backward. His remaining hand wildly waved around a scimitar, painted a bright crimson that flicked droplets off of it with each swing. 

Oh… That’s where it went… 

The Wolf gave a roar of fury and swiped at the Twili with one of its wicked claws. Wild couldn’t help the small noise of fear he let out when one of Zant’s swings connected with the Wolf’s flesh. Though it didn’t stop the claws from carving into their target’s remaining arm, forcing Zant to lose his grip on the scimitar, sending it clattering to the ground. Breathing heavy, Zant looked up, eyes wild with desperation. 

“You…” Zant hissed, “You WRETCH! ” He staggered backwards once more, his hand forming into a fist. Wild felt his already labored breath hitch at the sight of the Twili still managing to summon a sliver of magic to his will. 

“I CREATED you , beast!” He shrieked, shadowy energy slowly gathering around him as he stood primed to release it. “You are NOTHING without your Master!”

There was a second of stillness between the two combatants that felt like it could last for eons. But Wild could see the tension building in the powerful canine limbs that stood over him. There was only one recourse.

The stone shook beneath him as the Wolf leapt forward, sailing through the air toward its target. A predator pouncing upon its prey. But something was wrong. Wild could feel it. As he lay bleeding out on the soaked cobblestone, something within him was screaming at his brother to stop! Get back! 

His head was swimming while the scenario played out, entirely out of his control. He couldn’t stop any of it from happening. He couldn’t even open his mouth to warn Twilight that some of the most dangerous creatures in nature were wounded prey animals backed into a corner with nothing left to lose. You could never predict their next move. 

So when Twili magic released from a desperate Zant wound itself around the thrashing Wolf in a vicious chokehold, suspended in the air above his deranged opponent, he could do nothing but let out a quiet sob of despair.

“If you won’t obey me,” The mad Twili seethed, stumbling forward with a sadistic gleam in his eye, “Then I’ll send you to the abyss, where you BELONG! ”

Wild was utterly helpless to watch as, with a scream of effort, Zant flung the Wolf sideways into open space. He could only scrabble uselessly at the bloody flagstones, a strangled wail escaping him as he lay there dying, reaching futilely for his brother. His brother who disappeared over the edge of the old bridge, his bitter howl quickly disappearing into the echoing canyon walls.

There were other screams, Wild vaguely realized while the weight of what just happened was sinking in. Looking back, past the raving madman, who was now a heaving pile on the ground, he could see moving shapes. People. A group of people. Right… there had been a group, hadn’t there? They were closer now, swords drawn and running. An armored one… Time? He was in the lead. He was shouting… something. Goddesses, his brain was moving too slow. He couldn’t kee-

Too slow. Too slow to react to the unmistakable sound of static. Too slow to process Zant’s sudden presence to his right. Too slow to stop the bloodied hand from gripping his throat and jerking him upright, sending waves of agony shuddering through his limp body. Too slow to struggle away from Zant’s side as he pulled him close as he faced the oncoming heroes.

“...doing anything you’ll regret!” Time was saying as the blood was rushing to Wild’s head. “Just put him down.”

“Do you think me a fool, boy?” Zant spat, his vicelike grip tightening. “I’d advise you and your compatriots to step back , unless you want this one to suffer for it.”

“Don’t you dare!” Wind snapped, pushing his way to the front. “You’ve already lost, idiot. What’s the damned point?!”

“ Silence , worm.” Zant shrieked, yanking him a few agonizing steps back. “You have no idea what you’ve done! What you’ve now unleashed!” Wild’s hands feebly tried to reach for his neck, though he could barely even feel them as spots danced around his vision. His head felt like a balloon, ready to burst at any moment.

 “Don’t blame your actions on us, knave.” Warriors strode forward, sword pointed threateningly. “Your decisions were your own. You kidnapped, tortured, and mutilated our brothers. Did you honestly think we’d let that stand?”

“Enough of this!” Wild felt talons digging into his neck. “Anther step forward and you’ll watch your dear brother’s throat be ripped out.”

Everything was flickering red as his captor throttled him. He had barely been clinging to consciousness before, and now it was taking every ounce of remaining willpower not to let it be forcibly wrestled from his grasp. Suddenly, what little sensation his fingers still had made purchase with the iron grip on his neck. Fumbling blindly, he forced his own hand to separate the Twili’s fingers enough to suck in tiny rasps of air, sending spirals of color to explode across his fading vision.

“J-just… give… it up.” Wild choked out, hands shaking with the effort of holding the Twili’s efforts at bay. “Y…you c-can’t… win…” 

“And neither can you!” Zant hissed, pulling him closer to speak in his ear. Wild cringed away from the heavy breath tickling his neck. “Your Hero made his choice. The Shade will come for you all now, no matter what happens to me.

“Except now, you’ve lost the only one even capable of sniffing him out!” His shrill laughter cut through the droning rain as he looked up to the others, his manic grin audible in his voice. “He’ll slaughter you all, and he will laugh over your mangled remains! And with that wretched upstart gone, twilight will coat this land. His precious home will fall to ruin and there isn’t a DAMNED thing that any of you can do about it!”

VWOOOSH

A blur of gold suddenly streaked across his vision, appearing from above and disappearing to his right. Abruptly, the bruising grip on his throat jerked backwards before vanishing altogether, leaving Wild to drop with a splash to the bloodsoaked ground with nothing supporting him. 

Now flat on his back, Wild blankly stared up at the tumultuous sky above. The odd turquoise portal continued to lazily swirl overhead and rain continuously poured onto his face, though he couldn’t even muster the energy to flinch at it. His surroundings seemed to be washed away with the rainwater, blurring like watercolors. 

Was it finally happening? He couldn’t quite remember if this is what dying felt like before, but with the amount of blood outside of his body, Wild was surprised he’d managed any kind of consciousness. It was all very quickly fading away, though. Fading to the humming of the rain, as he spied the tiniest sliver of purplish pink leaking into the sky. The sun was going to rise soon. Maybe the rain will stop soon. What a nice thought, Wild mused. Granted, he wasn’t too optimistic about his chances to see either hope occur…

At least until a familiar warmth of life magic flooded his body, coaxing him to lazily open his eyes that he didn’t remember closing. Fingers gently carded through his hair as he looked up at a tear-streaked face of the Traveler, his hands glowing with energy while he held Wild in his lap.

“Hang in there, Wild.” Hyrule begged, his own face haggard and pale from magical exertion. “Please, stay with us. You can do it!” 

“Eyes up!” Warriors’ voice was tense when it came from somewhere out of view. “He’s not dead yet.”

A sudden grotesque hacking had Wild tilting his head upward on instinct, though Hyrule thankfully readjusted his own position to support his head as Wild quickly realized how little energy he had regained from the Traveler’s ministrations. But as his view was adjusted, he could only stare, stunned, at the scene before him.

Zant was still moving, though twitching was a better word. His movement was limited, however, as he was currently pinned like a bug to the ground by a wicked spear, its material as inky black as the void, but surrounded by a faint, sickly yellow glow. The shaft protruded from his stomach, with the head of the spear embedded deep enough in the stonework behind him that it had sent a spiderweb of cracks out from its impact.

It didn’t stop Zant from attempting to struggle, of course. His hand gripped the spear, slipping over his own blood, as his arm shook from the effort of keeping his torso from sliding back down the length of the weapon. His teeth were bared with fury, his oil-like blood trickling between them down his chin.

“Th-th-that Bitch… ” He spat venomously, “She… she c-can’t have-”

Movement flickered out of the corner of Wild’s eye. Curiously, he followed it up to look at the vortex of magic that still hung in the air. The teal streaks flared with energy as its circling picked up its speed. Flecks of darkness descended from within the spiral, flying down toward the bridge. There was shuffling of feet as most of his brothers shifted back a few steps as the shards of energy began to gather in the space between them and Zant. Wild could feel hands trying to pull both himself and Hyrule backwards, much to the Traveler’s protestation.

“Wait! He’s not-”

“Get back, Hyrule!”

“Let go, Time! I’m not done! It’s not healing !”

He couldn’t really process much more of the conversation as the hands holding him by the underarms began to haul him back along the stone. The ragged wound in his back screamed for his full attention the entire journey, and his head was still spinning by the time it was placed in a different lap. There were stars flying across his vision when a set of hands pressed forcefully on his abdomen, his legs jerking for the first time on their own in what felt like an age as his nerves were set on fire. His breaths were short and shallow as his sight returned again, but a flash of color drew his eyes away from his brothers.

There was a figure. Where there had been a collection of dark energy gathering, there was now a new figure obscured by a long dark cloak, the back of it covered in strange swirling designs. They stood tall with their back turned to them, looking down at the ruin of the Usurper. Zant’s eyes were wide, teeth gnashing in fury.

“ I-i-impo..imposs… ”

“Impossible?” A feminine voice rang out, silencing the dying man. Her tone was one of contempt as she knelt down closer to him. “You know, it certainly used to be until someone punched a hole through the borders between our realms.”

A pale teal-colored hand emerged from the cloak to grasp the spear still jutting out of his abdomen. The voice continued with a quiet fury.

“You stole my people from me. You forced them to become monsters under your control once again. What kind of ruler would I be if I did not deliver the necessary judgement for this crime myself?”

“Y-y-ou…”

“You have said enough, Usurper.” She interrupted, coldly. “I’ve been tired of your words for a long time.”

Zant’s face suddenly split into a crazed smile as a harsh snort of laughter cut through the tense silence.

“A sh-shame…” He cackled, blood burbling from his mouth with each word. “Y-you j-just missed y-y-our old fr- AAUGH!”

The grip on the spear was visibly tight as she abruptly twisted it, sending the Twili into a bout of agonized screams. Wild winced at the sound of stone grinding against whatever material the spear was forged from. She spoke calmly over his anguish, though the rising vitriol hidden within her voice was evident.

“You have no right to speak of him. In fact, you would be quite wise not to. Are you really so arrogant that you think you’re the only Twili with a connection to his curse?” Fresh screams were elicited as the spear was twisted again. “Do you think I don’t feel his transformations, just as you have?”

Screeches of agony soon became indistinguishable from screams of hysterical laughter as Zant tried to feebly claw at the spear to lean closer to the figure.

“O-of course you do, Princess…” He giggled, “I-it was a h-hope of mine th-that you’d be paying c-close attention to your l-little w-wolf- ARGH!”

Wild flinched at the sight of more cracks stretching across the stone, emanating from where this ‘princess’ was now pressing the spear deeper into the ground. Tall and lithe as she seemed to be, there clearly was a monstrous strength hiding within.

“I don’t think you quite grasp the situation, you wretch.” She intoned, watching him squirm. 

With a wild swipe, Zant managed to snatch the hem of the strange cloak that obscured her from their view. His face was plastered with that same insane smile, but his voice was instead filled with a poisonous and seething fury.

“I… I s-sw-wear to you… I w-will-”

“What? Return? I hope you’ll forgive me for not being so afraid of that threat anymore.” The woman smirked, reaching forward to grip Zant by the chin. “Trust me when I say this, traitor, that if you do somehow survive me again, I will always come for you in your next life. I don’t care how many times I have to put you down. I will be your end every time.” 

Abruptly, she stood to her full height to tower over him once again, a firm grip still held on the shaft of the spear. With a sharp tug, her cloak was torn from his grasp as she continued.

“So if some other malevolent force revives you to turn you into their whimpering puppet, it would be in your best interest to slink back into the shadows where you belong instead and pray that you don’t catch my attention.”

There was a flash of movement, then a spray of oily arterial blood. The violent ripping of the spear from where it had previously been rooted shook the stones beneath him as Wild watched the mysterious woman with morbid fascination. She stayed standing over Zant’s body, even after the last dregs of his death rattle petered off into silence.

He wasn’t sure how long they all stayed frozen in place, though that uncertainty probably had to do with how badly he was sagging against Time’s torso. The hands he now recognized to be Sky’s pressed harder on his stomach, forcing a weak groan from him since he didn’t have the energy for anything else. It felt like his thoughts were moving through molasses. Adrenalin was a hell of a drug, but it was quickly abandoning him at the sight of their fallen foe. People were shouting, and he was pretty sure he was being moved again, though this time it wasn’t as painful. He only caught snippets of what was being said, but they only served to confuse him more…

“…to tell you! My magic wasn’t…”

“…wrong with his blood…?”

“…infected? Is… possible…?”

“…not healing… him down, Wars…” 

“Step back.”

Like a warm tea filling his chest before radiating out across his limbs, something reached out to him in the dark. It might not have been a beacon of light, but it felt safe and comforting all the same. Like his fluttering heartbeat was being gently cradled by someone else as they soothed its unsteady rhythm.

Blearily, Wild’s eyes cracked open once more to behold a mysteriously beautiful woman kneeling in front of him, her hands glowing an eerie light over his wounds. Her pale teal skin was sporadically decorated with strange glowing runes, as were her flowing garments that draped delicately across her body. Her hair was a deep orange coloration that seemed to flare with an uncanny light, as if magic even danced along the strands that perfectly framed her face. Wild’s eyes briefly flickered to the ornate circlet that rested on her brow. The design… it looked familiar. But soon his thoughts were interrupted and forgotten when he met her gaze directly. Her eyes felt as though they could pierce his very soul with their amber irises alone. Her stare was disarming without a single word or action needing to be made or spoken. It was only about then that Wild processed that she was, in fact, speaking, though not to him directly. 

“...a poison from my home realm. It’s a small wonder that your Light World magic wasn’t stopping it.”

“But you can heal it, right?” Wind’s voice, so much shakier than normal, piped up. The woman chuckled.

“What exactly do you think I’m trying to do, kid?”

“Don’t call me a-!” 

“Is there anything we can offer to assist?” Time interrupted. “Potions, fairies, or something similar?”

The woman shook her head grimly as her magic faded away. “The best you can give him now is time to recover. Time that I’m not sure we have.”

The effects of her magic dissipating were far more immediate than Wild was prepared for. The blurriness was back, and this time it was not letting up. He felt unconsciousness finally beginning to maintain its grip on him, but before it could fully consume him, he had to ask. A jerky movement had him cling to one of her hands before she could fully pull away as he forced his mouth to cooperate.

“P-please… who… w-who are you?”

She paused as the world was fading away around him at last. Meeting his eyes one more time, she gave a slight smirk and a head tilt before looking up to address them all. 

“I am the Sovereign Ruler of the Twilight Realm. The Twilight Princess. But I generally like to keep it simple, so you can just call me Midna.” She looked around to each of them with a keen eye before continuing. “Now, if we’re going to keep things fair, then maybe one of you could do me a favor and tell me where in the blood-soaked hell is Link?”