Chapter Text
Warriors is fine.
He’s fine because he has to be. Everyone else is anxious, especially with the recent attack, so he has to be put together. He doesn’t have a choice.
Time especially is quiet, huddled under Twilight’s pelt and clinging to Legend’s back. He’s obviously shaken by what just happened, and Warriors can’t blame him. It was difficult for all of them, and a jarring reminder that they still have a task to do, regardless of Time’s condition. It must be far harder on a child who had never even left his home before.
They keep a slow pace over the Crenel Hills, to make sure Sky doesn’t make his lingering injuries any worse, and Warriors lets Hyrule be in charge of how fast they walk. He takes to the job with a seriousness they rarely see in their healer, which tells Warriors he made the right call. Hyrule does better when he has something to do to help someone.
They move so slowly, in fact, that after a while Legend sets Time down to walk on his own.
Time uses his newfound freedom of movement to walk next to Sky, holding his hand and talking quietly. Sky stays quiet for the most part, from what Warriors can see, just nodding along and asking short questions, but Mask - little Time doesn’t seem to mind.
He can’t be doing that, Warriors reminds himself harshly.
This isn’t Mask. This isn’t the surly eleven year old he’s used to. No matter how similar they look, this kid doesn’t know him.
This is not Mask. If only Warriors could convince that little corner of his heart that still misses when his little brother fit under his arm.
Rather than watch, then, he keeps himself occupied scanning for threats. Wild is twitchy, but leads them as confidently as he always does in his own era, so direction at least is something Warriors doesn’t need to worry about. He can focus on watching their backs.
“You alright, captain?” Twilight asks him softly as they’re coming down from the hills. He’s been keeping an eye on their flanks, it figures he was also keeping an eye on Warriors.
“Fine,” Warriors responds with as genuine a smile as he can manage. Twilight is very good at picking out a real smile from a fake one. “Just eager to put some distance between us and… that thing.”
Twilight nods with a wince. “I hear you. That was… Well, it wasn’t no picnic, that’s for sure.”
“No,” Warriors agrees quietly. “I’ll be alright, Twi, don’t worry about me. I’m just a bit anxious.”
The admission does the trick. Twilight nods again in understanding, and veers away with a “Just be sure to take breaks, alright?”
“Of course,” Warriors lies.
Take breaks? Now? With Mask - with Time so vulnerable, and with the entire group suddenly looking to him for leadership?
No. No, he needs to be a presence the others can lean on. He needs to be confident and in control and okay.
Warriors is fine.
When they reach the bridge on the other side of the hills, he drifts through the group to check in on everyone.
Sky’s expression is tight in the way that suggests he either can’t breathe correctly or he’s got some lingering pain. “Hi, Wars.”
“Sky,” Warriors greets in turn. “How are you feeling?”
“Less like I’ve been run over by something,” Sky jokes, his tone just a little too light. “I’ll be alright. Hyrule and Link are doing a great job.”
Time nods very seriously.
“I see.” Warriors shifts his focus to M- Time. “And how are you doing? You were close to the explosion, and you were closer to Sky’s injuries than anyone except Hyrule.”
Time shrugs with one shoulder, and Warriors sees his grip on Sky’s hand tighten. “I’m okay.”
Sky gives their hands a little swing back and forth. “He told me the ringing in his ears is gone, now, which is a good sign.”
“A very good sign,” Warriors agrees.
Mask doesn’t trust him. There’s an uneasiness in the kid’s eyes that makes Warriors almost nauseous to think about, so he doesn’t. He just exchanges a few more pleasantries with Sky, then drifts off to check on the others. And he doesn’t think about the expression on his little brother’s face.
“How are we doing on time, with the delays?” he asks Wild softly when he reaches the front of the group.
“We should be doing okay,” Wild reports, tapping on his slate to pull up the map. “We can make it to the next stable with an hour of daylight left, probably. And then I can work on brewing us some more elixirs just in case.”
Something in Warriors’ chest relaxes, just a bit, at the thought of having a larger backup store of healing items. “Good idea. Hyrule, any thoughts?”
“I’ll need a nap when we get there,” Hyrule says. “I’ve used a lot of magic today. But this pace should be fine for Sky, especially since we’re on flat ground now. I’ll still keep an eye on him, though.”
Warriors nods to both of them, then moves back to his position in the rear of the group. He doesn’t feel like he can breathe properly if he isn’t certain someone is watching their backs. Though it does feel like a breath of fresh air to make eye contact with Legend, receive a nod, and realize he had taken up that post while Warriors was busy.
He needs to be alright. But he doesn’t need to be the only one making sure the others are alright.
They make their way into an area Wild calls Trilby Plain, and the going is much easier. Warriors is finally starting to relax, just a tiny bit, when he notices the traveler by the side of the road.
He doesn’t think much of it, honestly, except to remember that M- Time doesn’t like strangers, so he moves up to the middle of the group to act as a casual barrier between him and the traveler.
The stranger waves politely to them, but oddly, Wild - who had greeted everyone they met at both stables warmly and by name - offers them barely a glance and a small nod of acknowledgement. Maybe he doesn’t want to be delayed, or maybe he and this stranger have a bad history. Either way, it’s starting to put Warriors on alert.
Time slows down as they pass, staring openly at the stranger with no small amount of suspicion.
Dangerous, something in Warriors’ mind whispers.
“Come on, Link,” he says quietly, resting a hand lightly on Ma- Time’s back to help encourage him forward.
Ahead of them, Wild spins around with a curse.
The stranger smiles, and it is sharp and it is vicious. They pull a blade from nowhere, a wickedly sharp sickle, and then there is a flash of red light as they transform. The mask that covers their face bears an inverted Sheikah insignia.
“Yiga!” Wild barks, and there’s a sword in his own hand, now, as he runs for the stranger.
Yiga.
Assassins.
Assassins that want the hero dead.
Warriors forces back a tidal wave of fear and guilt and draws his blade just in time to catch the sickle on it before it can reach Mask.
The kid flinches back at the clash of metal, and Warriors sees red.
“Legend!” he shouts, but Legend is already there, scooping up Mask with the hum of a power bracelet and sprinting away with his Pegasus boots. The others close ranks between them, except for Wild, who begins running after Legend, why is he doing that -
The Yiga cackles, there’s a flash of red light and a flurry of paper slips, and then they’re gone.
Just… gone.
There’s a moment of quiet as they all try to figure out what just happened. And then there’s a flash of red and a scream from behind them.
Warriors whirls around just in time to see Wild crumpling to the ground, sickle buried in his side. The Yiga yanks it back out and starts to run for Legend, only to be intercepted by Four, who has Pegasus boots of his own, for all he doesn’t typically use them.
“Teleportation,” Warriors realizes, and he doesn’t have time to be afraid or to acknowledge how many mistakes he keeps making, so he just shouts for Legend again.
Legend listens, and understands, thank the goddesses. He starts to arc back around toward the group, and when the Yiga teleports again, he manages to dodge out of the way of that sickle.
It’s still dripping Wild’s blood.
No time for that. Warriors is already running, intercepting the Yiga’s blade again as Legend sprints by. He tries for a strike of his own, but there’s another flurry of paper and light and the Yiga isn’t there to hit. He bites back a growl of frustration and whirls to see where they went.
Twilight is standing over Wild, sword drawn and teeth bared, while Hyrule tries to give their cook a potion. When the light flares, Twilight is already swinging, and the Yiga barely has time to materialize before they have to teleport again to avoid being cut in half.
Warriors adjusts his grip on his sword and waits as Legend turns back toward them again.
Wait.
Wait…
He hears a cackle, light begins to flare -
Now.
He swings.
The blade connects, and the Yiga doesn’t have time to scream. They just crumple.
Legend stumbles to a stop, exhaling in relief, but Warriors only has eyes for Mask.
Huddled in Legend’s arms, his little brother is looking at him with fear.
“Are either of you hurt?” Warriors asks on autopilot, because he can’t think right now or he’s going to break down, and he can’t break down because he has to be fine.
“We’re okay,” Legend reports. “I got a little nick, but it’ll barely need a bandage.”
“Good.” Warriors turns away from Mask - coward, he hisses to himself, but he cannot face that look - and hurries over to the little knot of heroes around Wild. “How bad is it?”
“I’ve had worse,” Wild jokes with a grin that’s a little too pale and wobbly for Warriors’ liking.
Hyrule looks up at him, and Warriors relaxes just slightly at the expression that tells him this is fixable. “The wound is mostly healed, and another potion or a spell from me should fix the rest. It’s mostly blood loss symptoms we need to worry about right now.”
“Understood. Thank you.” That’s better than Warriors had thought. That can be fixed with food, water, and rest. (Potions can’t replace lost blood, sadly, no matter how much he told Mask during the war that they can.)
It’s easy - so incredibly easy - to slip back into old habits. He wipes the blood from his sword, doesn’t comment when Wild grabs the sickle, and begins getting them ready to move.
At a meaningful look from Warriors, Twilight scoops Wild up, despite immediate protests that he can walk. They need to get away from here, and quickly; Wild is injured enough that he would slow them down.
Sky swallows a quarter of an air potion, Legend sets M- Time down long enough to let him properly piggyback, and they set off.
Nothing else bothers them on the road, though almost all of them have weapons in hand the whole time they’re walking. There’s almost no conversation, and everyone keeps glancing at the woods around them. Wind and Hyrule stick close to Legend, and therefore to Time. Warriors himself can’t stop searching for potential threats, and can’t stop the hum of anxious nerves under his skin.
With the newly increased pace, they reach the stable with about an hour and a half of daylight left, by Warriors’ estimation.
“We aren’t stopping here,” he declares. It would be a safe place to rest, most likely, but… he can’t. Not right now. Not with thoughts of assassins and traitors and Mask swirling in his mind.
Thankfully, no one argues. Wild waves to a stablemaster, shrugging off concern for his condition, and they continue past the stable and into an area labeled Minshi Woods on Wild’s map.
Warriors still can’t settle.
They hike until nightfall is imminent, find a place to camp, and have a meal of leftovers, and Warriors can’t. Settle.
But he’s fine, because he has to be.
He smiles in the right places and nods at the right things, and remembers to assign watch shifts because Time can’t. He eats dinner, though not much of it. He checks in on Sky and Wild before they go to bed.
And he doesn’t think about the way Mask barely even looks at him.
He has to lead. This is when leading matters: when everything is uncertain and no one is okay. So he has to get it right.
He takes first watch. The way things are going, he might end up taking second, too, but he starts with first, and promises with a smile and dismissive wave of his hand that of course he’ll wake Twilight for second watch.
Warriors takes up his post, the others lay out their bedrolls, and he watches as they all fall asleep, one by one.
And he can’t settle.
Half an hour later, Legend stirs.
Warriors stays quiet, in case the veteran is just trying to get comfortable, but no. He stands up and walks over to Warriors, crossing his arms and tilting his head meaningfully away from camp.
“I can’t,” Warriors whispers, because he can’t leave his brothers vulnerable. Not ever, but especially not tonight.
“Twi’s got it,” Legend replies at the same volume, and it’s true; Warriors looks over to see Twilight - in the shape of a wolf, curled up between Wild and M- Time - looking directly at him.
Warriors hesitates, then looks back at Legend. “You planned this.”
Legend doesn’t even try to deny it. “Yep. Come on.”
Well. If they’ve put in the effort to coordinate, Warriors knows they won’t give up without a fight. He doesn’t want to fight his brothers on something tonight.
He sighs and stands. “Fine. But let’s make it quick.”
Legend leads him far enough away from camp that they’re mostly out of earshot, then turns to Warriors, hands on his hips. “Okay, spill.”
“Spill what?” Warriors asks. There’s still humming under his skin.
“None of us are okay right now,” Legend points out. “Including you, despite the front you’re trying to put up. I know bullshit when I see it.”
Warriors shakes his head. “I’ll get over it.”
“When?” Legend challenges. “Because I know for a fact that you won’t process any of this shit where any of us can see you do it.”
“Legend -”
“No,” Legend interrupts him, poking his chest. “I’m not going to just sit back and watch you fall apart without letting anyone catch you. I’m not saying you have to bare your soul or some shit, just don’t pretend you’re okay when you’re not.”
“I have to.” The humming is worse, now, like electricity in his veins.
Legend glares at him. “No, you don’t.”
“I do -”
“We aren’t going to fall apart the second you show weakness, Wars!” Legend snaps. “You can be not okay for two seconds during this hellscape of a situation! No one is okay with this, we’re all stressed, and two people getting hurt in one day is terrifying. So just admit that you’re scared before you hurt yourself trying to convince us you’re fine!”
Warriors has to be fine, he has to be steady and reliable for the others. But -
“He was scared of me.” The words, just above a whisper, slip out of Warriors’ mouth before he can catch them.
Legend pauses for a second. “What?”
“He was scared of me,” Warriors says again, and he sits down a little more heavily than he means to as his knees buckle. “He - I killed that assassin, and he was scared of me.”
“Oh.”
Quietly, Legend kneels next to him, resting a hand on his arm in silent support.
Warriors covers Legend’s hand with his own and asks “How much have I told you about the War of Eras?”
“Not much,” Legend tells him.
Slowly, haltingly, Warriors begins to talk.
He tells Legend about the portals. About the people who came to help him, and the places they brought with them. He tells him about Tune.
And, through tears he tries in vain to blink away, he tells Legend about Mask.
He describes that scrappy, jaded kid, that boy who had become his little brother. He tells Legend stories of the pranks Mask had pulled, and how much he got away with because Warriors couldn’t bear to take away any of this kid’s chances to be happy.
“And now -” Warriors brushes away tears, breathing deeply. “It’s not the same. I know that’s not Mask, he doesn’t know me, but - fuck, Legend, he won’t even look at me.”
Legend is quiet for a long moment. “… You’ve been dealing with that comparison this whole time.”
Warriors nods. He feels awful about it, but it’s the truth.
Legend thinks for another few seconds. Then he leans over and pulls Warriors into a tight hug.
Warriors leans into it, burying his face in Legend’s hair and letting out a shaky breath.
“That sucks,” Legend says, and Warriors lets out a wet little laugh, because it really does, and no one can sum things up like that quite like Legend can. “And I’m sorry you’ve been having to do it by yourself.”
“What else is new?” Warriors asks weakly, though the joke falls a little flat, because it isn’t really a joke.
Legend shakes his head. “We’re a team now, pretty boy. That means you can talk to us about things and we’ll help you. And before you call me a hypocrite,” he adds, cutting Warriors off, who was about to do exactly that, “you don’t have to tell us shit. But you can, and we’ll deal with it together.”
“I don’t know if we can just… deal with it,” Warriors says quietly.
“Sure we can. We’ve dealt with more complicated things than one of our brothers being a toddler for a bit.”
“… Have we?”
“Well, I have,” Legend amends. “You and your simple little time travel war might not have, though.”
Warriors pulls back a little, affronted. “Simple little time travel war?”
Then he catches a glimpse of Legend’s teasing grin, and he relaxes with a tiny little laugh. “Alright, maybe we have.”
“That’s the spirit.” Legend sits back a little more, though he keeps hold of Warriors’ hand. “Maybe try actually talking to the kid. He’s pretty slow to warm up to people, and only seeing you as the guy in charge who kills assassins can’t be helping.”
“… Maybe you’re right,” Warriors admits quietly.
“Of course I’m right, I’m the most emotionally intelligent person we’ve got.”
Warriors actually laughs at that one. “Sure you are, Legend.”
“Shut up,” Legend huffs. Warriors can see the smile he’s holding back. “So here’s how this is going to work. We’re going to go back to camp when you’re ready, and you’re going to go to bed. I’ll take the rest of your watch. Then tomorrow you can actually have a conversation with baby Time.”
Warriors does like having a plan. “… Fine.”
Legend gives his hand a tiny squeeze. “Good, glad we agree.”
They sit there for another minute or so, and then Warriors leads the way back to camp. Twilight lays his head down as they approach, tail thumping lightly against the ground.
Warriors chuckles quietly, going over to kneel down and pet Twilight’s head on the way to his own bedroll. He whispers “Thanks, Twi.”
Twilight leans into the touch with another wag of his tail.
There’s a small noise from beside Twilight.
Warriors looks over to see Time curled in on himself, just a little, his face scrunched up in obvious distress. After a moment, the boy jerks upright, gasping, eyes wide.
“Hey,” Warriors murmurs, and tries not to react to the way M- Time flinches. “Hey. It’s alright. You’re safe, Link.”
Time glances anxiously around the camp. “I -”
“I promise,” Warriors tells him softly. “You’re safe. Everyone is alright.”
“… Are you sure?”
Warriors nods. “I swear on my life. Everything is okay.”
“… Okay,” Time whispers, slumping against Twilight’s side.
Warriors gives Twilight’s head one last pat, then carefully takes off his scarf and hands it over to Mask - to Time, offering him his signature confident grin. “Here. I’m told it’s very good for warding off nightmares.”
Time is wary as he takes it, and he looks so much like Mask in that moment it makes Warriors’ heart ache. But he does take it, and clumsily winds it around his own neck, and snuggles back into Twilight’s fur with a whispered “Thank you.”
“Of course,” Warriors replies, giving both him and Twilight a nod. He stands and goes over to his own bedroll, laying down with the knowledge that his brothers are keeping watch.
And the knowledge that, perhaps, Time might not be afraid of him. That’s a start.