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It had been a lazy morning.
Time had been lenient about letting the heroes get up at their own pace, which was surprising. Given how close they were to Lon Lon Ranch, one might have thought that the Old Man would want to hurry to get home, the sooner the better, to see his wife as quickly as possible. However, he was simply content to know they were close- less than half a day’s journey away- and that they were all safe.
The lazy morning atmosphere had slowly evaporated, as even Sky had risen, and Twilight and Wild had still not returned. The pair had left earlier in the morning for a scouting and scavenging mission, which was obviously a poorly disguised excuse to get out of camp and stretch their legs. An hour later, the rest of the boys were up, packed and eager to head out, but Wild and Twilight were still nowhere to be seen. Time was starting to feel antsy himself, ears pricked for any rustle in the brush to announce the boys’ return.
Another half-hour later, Warriors approached Time, looking apprehensive. “We should look for them. They could have run into trouble.”
Time pursed his lips. “This forest should be safe. There shouldn’t be anything they couldn’t handle here. And they managed to get the Master Sword out of Sky’s grip while he was sleeping, and took it with them. They’ll be fine.” As much as he personally disliked the blade, he knew the power it contained, knew that all those who wielded it also wielded an extra layer of protection.
Warriors shook his head, frowning. “Well, not to be the voice of pessimism, but that’s already been proven wrong. Remember the last time we were here. That moblin? It nearly skewered you before anyone even noticed it.” The reminder of that incident sent a chill down his spine.
He gave in easily after that. Imagining Wild and Twilight alone up against a creature like that moblin made him cringe eternally. He had the utmost faith in those two boys, but the entire group together had struggled to take down that moblin, and many of them had been injured, not least of which Time himself. The thought of those two boys having to deal with that rankled under his skin slightly. Twilight was his son in all but blood, and though they couldn't be sure Wild was actually related to them, it was a near thing, and he was close enough to be family anyways.
And now the two of them were missing.
If Time had his way, none of these boys would have taken up the mantle of hero, and they would’ve never been in danger. And now two of them, perhaps those two who were most precious to him- though he would never admit to having favorites- were missing.
Time and Warriors opted against splitting the group further to search. If they did, and one group managed to find the missing heroes, they would then have to find the other group again, leaving them just as separated as they were before. Thankfully, the missing pair had left a pretty clear trail to follow, neither of them trying to hide their passing. Occasionally they could see patches of mushrooms with a few of the mushrooms missing, or a bush picked clean of its ripe berries. Eventually the second pair of boot prints turned into paw prints for a while, dutifully trailing behind Wild’s steps, or bounding ahead to scout. All in all, nothing looked anything out of the ordinary.
They did not expect to find the end of the path so quickly, though. They stumbled across the end of the trail not even fifteen minutes later.
The forest floor in the clearing they entered was disturbed. The turf was torn up, and smaller plants lay bent and broken where they had been tramped. It was obvious a fight had happened here.
What immediately drew their attention wasn’t any of that, though. The Master Sword lay abandoned in the middle of the clearing, cast onto the leaf-covered forest floor. Her sheath lay nearby. The blade pulsed slowly with blue light, unurgent and simply signaling her position. Sky stepped forward quickly to pick her up, and the blade stopped flashing entirely when he grasped her hilt. He slowly used a corner of his tunic to wipe off the surface of the blade, dusting the dirt back to the ground.
The familiar spaced-out look Sky’s eyes took on told Time that Sky was no doubt communicating with her, as only the chosen hero could, asking what in Hylia’s name had happened.
“Spread out and look around. Stay on your guard.” Time ordered, unnecessary. Dread was pooling in his stomach, but he was careful to not let it show. These boys looked to him to be their leader. He couldn’t let his worry show, no matter his misgivings.
The group slowly spread out, most already having their weapons unsheathed and ready. “This isn’t good,” Wind said, pointing out what they all knew. “They wouldn’t just leave the Master Sword behind like this, not if they had any choice.“ No one said that might mean that they were looking for corpses. No one had to.
Legend spoke from where he had wandered to on the other side of the clearing. “They wouldn’t leave their clothes behind either.” He said, toeing at a pile of something he had found half-buried in the leaf litter.
As Time approached, he saw it was Champion’s pants and boots. He… wasn’t sure what to make of that. Hopefully, Wild wasn’t running around half-naked somewhere. Time knew the Champion didn’t really have a concept of shame, per se, but he didn't think even Wild would start to shed his clothes after a battle.
“And look here,” Four calls out, approaching from the other side of the clearing, another item in hand. “Wolfie’s shackle. I wonder how he managed to get it off,” There was a pause before he added quietly. “There isn’t any blood on it, so I don't think it got torn off, or-”
Or cut off, remains unsaid.
“But it also wasn’t sawed open, or had the bolts taken out, so I don’t know how he got it off. I’ve tried before, but without proper smithing tools, it was impossible. The hinge was rusted shut.”
The situation became stranger and stranger the more clues they found. No one offered any guesses as to what on earth had happened.
Their worried silence was suddenly interrupted by the tiniest barks Time had ever heard.
Emerging from the shadows of the nearby woods came a small figure. As it moved into the sunlight, Time saw it was a wolf pup. It couldn’t be older than a few weeks, still soft and round with puppy fat, features not even beginning to resemble those of a grown wolf. It was unsteady on its paws- which were too big for its body- as it made its way over to Time.
When it reached his feet, it stood, continuing to yip at him. Adorable little whines interspaced the barks, and Time felt his heart soften slightly. The pup reminded him of Wolfie a little, with a similar placement of black and white colors on its pelt.
Bewilderment spread through the heroes. Time heard Warriors questioning, “Where the hell did that come from?”
“It doesn’t matter where it came from,” Legend hissed, “Kill it, Time, before it can draw its whole pack here!” Time wasn’t fond of harming innocent animals. This little wolf pup couldn’t do anything to him except tug on his pant leg, but its little yips and yowls would draw its parents close, which would become a real problem. Especially if Wild and Twilight were around somewhere, injured and incapable of fighting back.
He sighed, drawing a knife from his belt. He wouldn't need a sword, not for such a little creature, and a bigger blade would make the death imprecise and messy. He knelt, reaching out to snag the pup’s scruff.
His actions are interrupted by a wail of “ NO! ” from off in the forest. The voice that called out was that of a young child. Time was startled by the shout, just enough for the pup to slip away from his outstretched hand. They all looked around, searching for the source of the noise. Some of the heroes gripped their blades tighter, readying for a fight. It’s easy for some types of monsters to mimic a human’s voice in order to lure in prey. The thought of a child out here in the middle of the woods was baffling. The closest settlement was Lon Lon Ranch, and as far as Time knew, none of the ranch hands had children younger than fifteen.
It seems like the fear of monsters was unfounded, though, as the voice comes again. “No! Don’t hurt the puppy!” The source of the small voice stumbled out of the woods from the same direction the pup had come from, revealing itself to be an actual child. All but the most paranoid of the heroes lowered their blades, trying to appear less intimidating. Warriors and Legend both hesitated a moments more before Hyrule hissed at them, and they relented, sheathing their blades. They were above threatening children.
The child, who couldn’t be more than four years old, ignored the other heroes and stumbled towards Time. He tripped over the edges of his tunic as he walked. It was much too large on him, making him look even younger as he was swamped in the blue fabric. He nearly fell flat on his face more than once. Time had to restrain himself from reaching out to catch the child and make sure he remained steady on his feet.
It turned out the child- a boy, Time thought, though he couldn’t be sure, with long messy blonde hair- wasn’t moving towards Time, but rather to where the wolf pup was still yipping at Time. He picked up the pup, holding it under the front legs, leaving its back legs to kick ineffectually in the air.
For a split second, Time felt panic swell in him. They were already missing two of their members, and now they had to get this child and his dog back home- wherever they came from. They did not have time for this.
Then Time looked into the child’s big eyes that were wide with fear and defiance that shone a familiar blue. He looked at the familiar oversized blue tunic he wore. He looked again at the wolf pup, which, now that he was paying attention, wasn’t just similar to Wolfie but exactly like him, down to the familiar markings on his forehead.
Oh.
Oh.
Din’s tits, why could Time’s life never be easy?
It turned out neither of the boys had retained any of their adult memories. How they got like this was a mystery everyone was all eager to solve, mostly so they could reverse… whatever this was.
It was quickly established that Twilight could not turn back into human form himself, although if that was an effect of whatever had happened to them, or simply because he didn’t remember how to, was anyone’s guess.
Sky had been quick to produce the Master Sword, and after they had reassured the toddler Wild that they weren’t trying to hurt “his puppy” they were able to get Twilight away from him. (Wild was just as stubborn as a child as he was as an adult. At least that was one thing that had not changed.)
Time scruffed the pup, successfully this time, receiving yips of protest. He shifted to hold Twilight more comfortably in his arms, and the protests died down. The pup squirmed when Sky approached with the sword, but Time was careful to hold him still while Sky gently laid the tip of the blade on his back. One errant thrash and they could end up with an injured child, and Sky with a burned hand, so they had to be careful.
The wolf form of his protege melted away in a now-familiar wave of shadow magic, revealing a child who gazed up at Time with big eyes.
Twilight looked to be slightly older than Wild was, maybe five years old. Like Wild, his clothes did not shrink with him, leaving him in an oversized tunic, with no pants or even shoes. He looked every inch the wild wolf pup, even as a Hylian child. He even had a scraggly little tooth that poked out over his bottom lip, making him look like he had tiny fangs.
He blinked up at Time, before slowly looking down to inspect his fingers and feeling at his own face. As he was taking in his new form, Time quickly took the cursed shadow necklace from around his neck. It wouldn’t be at all helpful if Twilight managed to accidentally turn back into a wolf pup. Twilight didn’t seem to mind, engrossed in wiggling his fingers experimentally. After the tiny hero was satisfied, he turned to Time. For a moment, Time thought he would speak, but instead, he raised his hands and signed at Time.
The signs were clumsy and childish, but the meaning was still plain. “I was a puppy.” Twilight looked a little awed. “I didn’t know I could do that.”
Warriors coughed, obviously holding back a chuckle. “Yeah, but you're better now, so don’t worry about it.” Twilight scowled at him. Time winced. It would seem that even as a child, Warriors annoyed Twilight. Maybe he should keep Warriors away from the Pup. (Oh Hylia, that nickname was even more accurate now.)
Wild was put out by the loss of his puppy, but was soon cheered up by the appearance of someone to play with. Neither of them seemed particularly bothered by the situation, both content to run and chase each other around the clearing while the other heroes stood around, shocked into inaction.
None of them had ever seen something like this before. The closest thing Time could think of was how he had seemingly been aged up by the Master Sword, but this was a completely different situation. Not only had it been a seemingly instantaneous change, and hadn’t taken years as his transformation had, but Sky had reported the Sword had nothing to do with this. Reportedly, she found the whole situation vaguely amusing.
How on earth were they supposed to fix this? They didn’t even know how the pair had gotten like this. They had all faced magical enemies, but most would not be powerful enough to do this. Hyrule had mumbled something worriedly about Sorcerers, and Warriors had grimaced, nodding, but the middle of the woods was exactly the best place to discuss this.
The pair of tiny heroes seemed completely nonplussed, running around playing a game of what appeared to be some sort of tag that Wild had come up with on the spot. Twilight had seemingly quickly become protective over the smaller child. Whenever one of the adults drew near, Twilight would silently glare at them, wrapping Wild up his arms. It was, frankly, adorable. Time could not wait to show them to Malon.
And there was no doubt that she was going to see them. Unless whatever this was wore off before they reached the ranch, that was. After a quick, panicked, discussion, they decided they would head to Lon Lon Ranch as quickly as they could. Traveling with children in any circumstances was never easy, but it would be even harder if you were unprepared to care for said children, and were also trying to fight monsters along the way. Not only that, but this would be the perfect opportunity for the Shadow to strike, to cut down two of the heroes while they were weak and vulnerable.
It would be much better to have a roof over their heads, somewhere easy to protect, where they would have the resources to take care of children.
When they were finally ready to set out, Time sent Wind and Hyrule, the two least intimidating members of the chain, to gather up the de-aged heroes.
Although they hadn’t seemed to notice their barefoot state so far, there was no way the children would be able to travel through the woods without proper footwear. And besides, at the pace they would be moving to make it to Lon Lon Ranch as quickly as possible, the kids wouldn’t be able to keep up. They needed to be carried.
That worked well enough for Wild. Hyrule approached him, and Wild practically bounced right up to him, arms held in the universal demand for Up . Wild was soon talking the Traveler's ear off about something or other. Hyrule, to his credit, appeared relatively at ease with the situation, nodding along with Wild’s rambling. The two had always gotten along, so even with Wild being a child, Time wasn’t surprised they continued to do so, despite Wild currently being less than a quarter of his normal size.
Twilight was a totally different situation. He darted away from Wind as soon as the sailor started towards him. He ran towards Time, hiding behind the armored man’s legs. The glare he sent Wind was entirely ineffectual in being intimidating but got his message across quite clearly. He looked up at Time, signing. “Daddy, you carry me. I don’t like your friends, they’re scary.”
…
What?
Oh, goddess, Time needed a break.
So.
Time looked like Twilight's Father.
Apparently.
(His biological father, that was. Time had met Rustl, and although he was a good man, Time wouldn’t say they looked at all alike.)
This was not unexpected. Time had known that Twilight was descended from him, after all. It made sense that his descendants looked like him.
But Time looked so much like Twilight's father that Twilight thought he actually was his father.
This was much less expected. And somewhat of a problem.
At least according to Time. Everyone else thought it was hilarious, though they strived to keep their laughter out of sight of Twilight. It wouldn’t do to have the already wary child think they were laughing at him.
Warriors had only grinned at the panicked look Time had given him.
“Look at it this way,” the Captain said from a distance to not disturb Twilight, who had curled into Time’s chest, even though his armor couldn’t be comfortable. “It’s good practice for when you and Malon have kids, right?”
“Yes, but this is going to become a problem quickly,” Time hissed. “I’m not actually-“ he cut himself off.
“I’m not actually his father.” Remained unsaid, not with pointy little ears so close at hand.
“Who says it's a problem?” Warriors shrugged. “Whatever this is, it’ll probably wear off quickly. Hopefully.” Warriors grimaced, probably thinking about the heroes’ usual horrible luck, “Well, we’ll have to deal with that when we get to it. Someone needs to carry him, and he won’t have any of us do. I’m getting the impression that he was quite the antisocial child.” With that, Warriors turned away.
The traitor. He deserved every single one of those pranks Time had pulled on him in the War of Eras, and more. Time was going to put chu jelly in his oatmeal tomorrow, just for this.
So that was how Time ended up carrying a tiny version of his protege through the woods.
They were making good time. Time was pretty sure half the reason for that was the fact that most of the group were still shell-shocked by the situation at hand. There was very little chatter, and no detours being taken today.
What little chatter there was, was provided almost entirely by Wild. Hyrule had taken to walking up near Time and Twilight, so Wild could talk to his new friend. Apparently, Wild was semi-proficient in sign even as a child, so although Twilight wasn’t speaking aloud, the two got along fine. Hyrule occasionally interjected into their conversation, but for the most part, remained silent.
It took them two more hours of walking before they finally arrived at the ranch’s gate. The sight of the familiar woods melting into even more familiar paths, and then finally seeing his home in the distance always made stress nearly melt off of Time’s shoulders. The boys had noticed it the first time they had come. He was always in remarkably good spirits when he knew he was in the last stretch of traveling before he reached home and Malon.
This time though, there was a twinge of nervousness along with the contentment.
He had promised his wife that he would protect the boys he traveled with. Until now he was able to uphold that promise. Every time they had appeared at the ranch, all of the heroes had been as whole and hale as they could be, considering what they were doing. Now he was going to show up, not only with two of the heroes much smaller than they should be, but the two who Malon was perhaps most invested in: their descendant and their descendant’s descendant.
Malon was going to kill him, once she got over how adorable the pair were.