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He fucking knew they shouldn’t have entered the cave, the placed had reeked of dark magic and bad news, just like that one-time Hyrule decided to make dinner. Jokes aside, it wasn’t a place any of the chain had been interested in entering, but the hero’s soul could never catch a break (If it did then Legend wouldn’t have had to put up with Ravio’s constant bad habit of nosily nibbling on carrots), and let’s just say that this place smelt worse than Wild did most days. Glancing back at the others as they dutifully followed both him and Warriors, Wind was rubbing one hand against the wall before giving it a hesitant sniff, jerking back and looking as if he sucked on a lemon.
He snorted, ‘I don’t know what you were expecting Wind, this place reeks.’ That got a few tense chuckles, Wind pouting at his words. Child was all Legend could think.
‘Looking to rival Wild in smell?’ Warrior poked, teasing smile easy on his face, yet his eyes were still tense.
Wild gasped, ‘Hey! I don’t smell that bad!’
Twilight snickered, lightly punching Wild’s shoulder, ‘You barely smell better than the cave!’
‘And given Wind’s reaction this cave doesn’t smell that great…’ Chuckled Four.
Hyrule gave him a slight push, smile on face, ‘Hey, it doesn’t smell that bad to me.’
‘Guess you and Wild have a stronger nose than the rest of us then.’ Commented Time, which acted as a que for everyone to calm down. Legend knew that a bit of banter was good to lighten the mood, but it was also good to stay alert, especially with the impending dread that was slowly settling over the magic users in the group (which was all of them except Wild and Sky, lucky bastards).
It could have been that they were getting further into the cave or the oppressive air had gotten thicker as the cave got darker as the groups lanterns dimmed and were slowly becoming useless. Legend sighed and put his lantern away, the caves magic was probably too overpowering for the item. Instead, he lifted his hand, whispering a small incantation, as the palm of his hand grew alight and they all could suddenly see.
‘That’s actually way more affective…’ Muttered Hyrule, copying Legend’s previous actions.
He glanced back, ‘Yeah, but it’ll eat at—’ He jolted as the floor beneath him crumbled as Warrior let out a shriek.
‘LEGEND! WARRIORS!’ They screamed…but they were already gone.
Soft sand brushed against his skin, as the sun warmed his skin, his head swimming along the ocean as he dizzily sat up. Seagulls squawked above him as his heart ached, opening an old wound which forced his senses back to him. Legend gasped, immediately recognising the beach as the one that often plagued his nightmares, the one where he failed to be a hero, the place where he had failed. His heart hammered, as he froze, not wanting to turn around and see the familiar mountain with that cursed egg on top, didn’t want to go in search of a town and see the people he had basically killed, he didn’t want to see her. He didn’t want those memories he tried so hard to bury, so hard to ignore to come back. He wanted to sink into the sand and disappear, to go back to his bed and pretend that this was over, gripping his head all he could think was ‘I’m tired’.
‘Are you lost?’ That sweet melodious voice, that sweet voice which brought back all the guilt, all the pain that made it hard to breathe. She got closer…why was she getting closer, she couldn’t be real anymore he had made sure of that, he had killed her for Hylia sake! He couldn’t turn, couldn’t breathe as his heart almost jumped out of his chest. He started to shake, and his eyes started swimming, she grasped his shoulder, but it felt like fire-felt real, it shouldn’t though…it shouldn’t be real…SHE SHOULDN’T BE REAL!
‘Hey now, everything will be okay! Are you hurt?’ She asked, but she was choking him. How, how, how, how, how, how, how, HOW?
‘Oh, do you feel guilty?’ Yes, he did, pulling on his hair, he tried to distract himself with the pain, tried to push down the emotions that came bubbling up faster than most acids, tried to bottle it up and press through…but that bottle was fragile and by this point, had long been broken.
Despite the sun on his back, a sudden chill entered his bones, ‘Good. So, you know it’s your fault.’ He had to bite back bile and the temptation to vomit right there and then. It was his fault and he had failed, he had, failed, he had failed, he had failed—
‘And we paid the price.’ Malon finished, nails digging into his skin as she shifted over to face him. Kneeling he could now see that beautiful face, that face that haunted both his dreams and nightmares and he felt like screaming. He, the hero of Legend, blessed with courage from the golden goddesses was looking the woman he loved in the eyes and wanted to run away, scream, drown in his thoughts and be left alone. Wanted this guilt to leave him.
He screamed. Like a banshee, from his small broken heart.
Malon smiled but not like her usual sweet one that he remembered, this was twisted like a great tree’s roots, but filled with malice and a sadistic joy for his pain. Yet he felt that he deserved it. He couldn’t breathe but that was his punishment. He couldn’t think but that wasn’t his punishment. He had killed them, but him living was his punishment.
‘None of us forgave you for what you’ve done you know…’ She smiled, but her words drove the knife deeper into his heart and his guilt left him motionless. Legend watched motionless as her face melted, her skeleton leaning forward and grasping his legs, but he couldn’t move, his bones feeling too weighed down…’You killed us y’know.’…her giggled was anything but friendly. She started to drag him down into the sands of Koholint, but he couldn’t care, he probably deserved it anyway…
Warrior wandered an empty battlefield, watching the land where his fellow soldiers had fell in battle, the place where he had lost dear friends and had been backstabbed more times than he could count. It reminded him of his number one fear, being betrayed, the feeling of his trust being thrown to the side never sat well with him, ‘never sat well with anyone’ he’d often remind himself, but he knew he got it worse than most. His sleepless nights with a knife hidden under his pillow could contest to that. Leaning down, scarf draping upon the scratched earth, he tentatively grabbed a rusted sword, careful gazing over the rusted surface before stabbing it into the ground. There were no graves on the battlefield, only the lost possessions of those who had fallen and the upturned swords as their memory.
He had lost many that day, and here he stood as the lone survivor.
A soft warm breeze brushed past him, making his hair blow all over the place and especially in his dulled eyes but he remained stagnant, like those who remained six feet under him. A creaking ruptured behind him, jolting forward before stopping as a chill ran down Warriors spine. Hands at the ready and eyes trained like a hawk he slowly turned, making sure to carefully watch his surroundings as the creaking stopped, as if paused for breath.
A Stalfos. From one look at a rackety scraped bone, he knew it was one of those fighters from the undead. Jerking free his shield, a resonant clang echoed as the skeleton mimicked his actions, raising his sword along with him.
‘Always ready to fight Captain…I wonder how many of us you can take on?’
‘I-What?’ Stalfos weren’t supposed to talk, and it called him captain…oh.
He gritted his teeth, hands slightly shaking as his eyes narrowed, ‘Quebec, still trying to stab me in the back even after death?’
‘Oh, it’s not just me, you can be sure of that Captain.’ As if on cue, more Stalfos raised from around him and Wars slightly cursed a few words that would certainly get him in trouble with Time, he should have seen that coming.
Skelly-Quebec eyes lightened with glee, ‘I wonder if that rage you first faced me with is still there.’
‘Oh, you can bet on it.’ He snarled, his sword reflecting a dangerous light in his eyes. Before Quebec could even get another word out Wars lunged forward and promptly slashed through his body. Another suddenly lunged at him and he didn’t hesitate to slash through that as well with an animalistic grunt.
Warrior growled, his teeth bare and eyes blazing with anger, ‘COME AT ME!’
‘LEGEND! WARRIORS!’
Twilight lunged forward, desperately grasping over the edge, but it had been to late as their brothers had already gone. Sky stared stunned at the hole, as Twilight banged his fist against the ground before clambering his way up, ruffling his own hair with a mighty scowl on his face.
Time cautiously stepped forward, ‘Where did they-‘
‘Gone.’ Twilight mumbled, stalking over and popping down on a nearby rock. Everyone went silent as no one really had anything to say, it happened so suddenly…it always happens so suddenly. Wild bobbed over to Twi and sat beside him, gently leaning their head against Twi’s leg in an unspoken comfort while Hyrule and Wind peered over into the gaping hole that now laid in their path. Sky walked over and crouched down next to their sailor who looked rather deflated, dark look that was much too old for his young face poisonously gazed down.
‘I’m sure they’re fine Wind.’ Hyrule said, patting his back. Wind numbly nodded and even though Hyrule was comforting him he didn’t sound anymore convinced himself. Peering in Sky could see that it was a rather deep hole, but at the same time, if he could angle his sailcloth right…yeah! Standing up he rattled through his pouch, good he had a few red potions and bandages, untying his sailcloth he eyes the hole again, his actions garnering the attention of a few of the other Links.
‘Sky? What are you doing?’ Asked Four, eyebrow raised in suspicion and Sky wouldn’t be surprised if he already had an idea of what he was planning.
Briefly glancing at Four, Sky turned back to the hole, ‘I can’t see the bottom, so I’m guessing that it’s a long fall.’
Stepping forward, Time raised his hand in the best dad impression that any of them could have given him, ‘Sky, don’t you dare going jumping down after them.’
‘They could be really hurt from a fall like this, besides, who said anything about jumping?’ With a slight quirk of the lip-curtsey of the gremlin that lived inside all of them- he lifted his sailcloth and promptly hopped into the hole, falling while hearing Time and Twilight shout at him, followed by Wild’s chaotic laughter. No wonder Warriors and Wind like to push their luck.
Floating down the surroundings slowly started to get darker and darker, until sight became untrust worthy and all he had was his sailcloth to accompany him. Closing his eyes, while slightly praying that he didn’t fall asleep, he focussed on his breathing, nothing to do but wait till he hit the bottom. Fortunately, time was his friend this time and could feel a small draft blow past. Although to say that Sky was shocked but what he found afterwards would be a major understatement, opening his eyes he saw a large, scorched field. The next alarming thing was the amount of Stalfos centred around something to the right on him.
Dropping down the rest of the way Sky headed over, drawing Fi and vehemently swinging towards the Stalfos. If they were all centred like this there was probably someone in there that needed help! Seeing the all too familiar green spurred Sky to push harder and faster, but even then, it didn’t take long to be rid of the monsters, and Sky knew, it wasn’t because he joined the fight.
‘Warriors?’
‘I WON’T LET YOU BETRAY ME AGAIN!’
Jumping, Sky flung his shield as Warriors sword clanged against it, ‘Warriors it’s me!’ But his eyes were gone, lost to anger. He once again lunged at Sky, sword clashing against his shield as he leapt back. Wars let out a battle cry and charged forward as Sky opted to dodge, not really being able to do anything else.
‘Warriors! It’s me Sky. We’re travelling around to different eras of Hyrule and-Woah!’
Warrior snarled and increasing his slashing, leaning even further into his swings upon notice that Sky wasn’t fighting back, ‘You think you can trick me again using words? Think again backstabber!’
It was obvious that Warriors was lost to some sort of illusion, but it still hurt all the more hearing those words, they were playing on his own insecurities, his own shortcomings as a hero but now wasn’t the time to think about that.
‘Link! Listen to me, I’m not your enemy I’m not even here to fight!’
Wars laughed but it held no humour, as he increased his attacks to the point where it was hard to keep up, ‘I’m not going to fall for that! You just have a knife behind that shield of yours don’t you!’
‘I really don’t!’
‘Likely story!’
Alright, so it appeared that words won’t get to him, so maybe actions might. Waiting for Warriors sword to be at the peak of its arc, Sky lunged forward and tightly wrapped his arms around Warriors, pushing him down to the ground so that he wouldn’t stab him lest he stab himself.
‘Let go!’
‘No, I’m not going to hurt you!’
The wrestled as Warriors fought back, banging the hilt of his sword right into Sky’s shoulder but he never let go. Slowly Warriors stopped fighting back and went limp but that didn’t stop Sky from hugging.
Lifting one hand and gently placing it on Sky’s shoulder, ‘Sky I’m…I’m sorry.’
‘It’s alright Captain, don’t feel pressured to explain…but if I had to guess, where we are now is a place that you’re familiar with.’ Sky mumbled, face in Warriors armour.
‘I…not today Sky…’ Warrior sighed, sitting up along with Sky, hugging back and sitting in an all too familiar silence.
Sky sat there hugging Warriors for quiet a while but then again, he wasn’t sure when to let go. Warriors only typically gave hugs to Wind and didn’t like it when anyone else did I unless he was really upset, so this place must’ve brought some unhappy memories. Now that he was thinking about it…did they happen to travel through a portal when they fell down that hole, then how are the others going to find them then? Better question would be, where is Legend?
A gentle wind blows past them as they both sink into slightly into the ground. Warriors let him go and gasped at the surroundings, with Sky himself following in suit. They were now among a beautiful beach, soft sand free of shells, and a beautiful ocean that could rival that of Wind’s or the sand sea he travelled through on his own adventure.
‘Legend!?’ Exclaimed Warriors, clambering up and running over to a nearby lump in the sand which had a cyan hat precarious hat placed on top of it. Sky scrambled up and rushed over to Warriors, helping him dig through the sand. Two arms appeared and at this point Sky reached into his pack and pulled out his gust bellows and started to blow, with Warriors rolling to the side.
Soon they had Legend out of the ground, but he was unresponsive, and Sky could feel himself start to panic, ‘Warriors he’s not responding, what do we do?’
‘Uhhh…Get some water!’
‘On it!’ Springing up Sky ran to the water before swinging around last second, ‘I have a red potion!’
‘That’ll work pass it!’ Throwing it across, Warrior fumbled with the jar before tipping it down Legend’s throat. Soon after the liquid had gone, he started to cough and splutter, before waking up and rubbing the sand off him.
‘Legend are you alright?’ Asked Warriors, leaning over and holding him up, ignoring both his own and Legend’s red faces.
‘Define alright? Physically, no. Emotionally, equally no.’
Laughing, Warriors threw his arm around Legend, ‘Aren’t we all.’
‘Why were you buried in the sand?’ Asked Sky, sitting down next to The two.
Sky watched as Legend audibly gulped while wringing his hands, ‘Bad memories…’
‘Oh same here, you can never be the same after war.’
Sky looked on slightly disturbed, ‘I swear you both need a hug, c’mere!’ Leaping forward Sky practically launched himself at the two, who both let out a rather startled shout.
‘SKY!’