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The town was called ‘Melosa’, and according to the sign above the gateway - or so Legend told them - it was ‘The Safe Town’.
Wild wasn’t entirely convinced that a place that felt the need to bill itself as ‘safe’ was incredibly likely to be so, but Legend had apparently heard of it before. He’d never actually visited, but had never heard of any trouble from the little town. If anything, he said, it seemed a little boring. Insular. He would never have dreamed going there if the Chain hadn’t run low on supplies not five miles from its walls.
Boring didn’t sound terrible, Wild supposed, and it seemed big enough to have most of the items they needed on sale in its market. The Chain agreed to spend the day there, and if they could find a reasonable enough inn then maybe they could even rent some beds for the night. After all, boring meant safe, and safe meant a better chance at a good night’s sleep. They deserved to treat themselves, after all. What could possibly go wrong?
Later, Wild would tell himself for the umpteenth time that they really had to stop tempting fate like that. They were making it far too easy for destiny to mess with them.
The fun started at the town gatehouse. And by ‘fun’, Wild meant ‘exhausting and useless interactions with people that frankly, he could happily ignore’.
There was only one way in and out of Melosa, through a singular gate in its ring of sturdy wooden walls. No one else was going in or out and when the guard saw them approach he plastered a smile onto his face and pulled out, of all things, a clipboard. Which was odd, as Wild was fairly certain that they hadn’t been invented yet.
He greeted them pleasantly and politely, giving them a clearly pre-prepared spiel to welcome them to the town. Wild tried to pay attention to what he was saying, really he did, but he couldn’t stop staring at the guard’s truly ambitious attempt at a combover.
“Right, so.” the guard said, his voice bright and cheerful. “First time in Melosa? No problem, we’ll just go through the registration and then you’ll be ready to go.”
Wait, what?
“Registration?” Legend demanded, echoing Wild’s thoughts. “We’re just going to the market?”
The guard laughed and waved him off. “Just a formality, good sir, just a formality. We’re a Safe Town, after all, and it’s just part of our policy to take a few notes from any new visiting parties.” he adjusted his grip on the clipboard and pulled a worn pencil from his pocket. “So! Nine of you… gentlemen then. Eight Hylians and a - sorry, sir, what exactly are you?”
He had levelled his gaze at Wild, who tore his eyes from the combover and shifted uncomfortably, his stomach dropping. He mewled softly, glancing at his brothers for help.
“Why is that important?” Time asked, his voice deceptively soft and level.
The man smiled. “Just a formality - we like to know how many of everyone we have, sort of like a constant census. So, you would be..?” he trailed off expectantly, apparently not willing to take no for an answer.
He could refuse. He was fairly confident that if he shook his head now then his brothers would leave with him, no questions asked. No one would mention it again.
But their stores were running low, and it was just a question.
Wild gave a small nod and Time clenched his jaw. “Zonai.” he ground out. “Okay?”
“Absolutely!” the guard beamed. “Okay, You’re almost done.” The guard beamed. “Now, do you have somewhere to store your weapons or do you want to rent a space for them here?”
Several members of the Chain spluttered, and Sky’s jaw dropped. “Our weapons?” he protested.
The man nodded earnestly. “Well, yes of course! This is a Safe Town, we can’t allow weapons inside the walls.”
“But-” Legend began to protest, glancing at where Sky was gripping the handle of the Master Sword.
“No exceptions.” the guard said, his voice still light but leaving no room for argument. “I’m sorry, Sir Link, but if the Safe Town system is to work, then we need to all participate.”
Legend deflated. The Guard knew who he was and his ‘but I’m the hero’ card was clearly not going to work here. Everyone turned to look at Sky. The Chosen Hero looked deeply uncomfortable, clutching the Master Sword to his chest. Wild had no doubt once again that if he said the word then they would all turn and leave, supplies be damned.
“It’s okay.” Sky said at last, his voice quiet. “Wild, can you keep her safe in your slate?”
“Sky-” Time started to say.
“It’s fine.” Sky repeated, his jaw clenching. “I lived most of my life without Fi. I didn’t even have her for every moment of my journey and I put her away again afterwards. Using my cane for a few hours won’t kill me.” he held his sword out to Wild, who after a moment’s hesitation let it slip into his slate.
The rest of them followed suit, passing over weapon after weapon until they all looked strangely naked, all dressed up for travel but with no means to defend themselves.
“Alrighty then!” The guard beamed. “You’re all set. Have a great, Safe day!” he waved, and gently shooed them into town.
Sky grumbled and pulled his cane from his pack. It was enchanted to fold into a pocket-sized wand when he wasn’t using it, but it unfolded into its full length when he flicked it to the side. Wild loved Sky’s cane; the Chosen Hero had carved it himself and decorated it with three soaring loftwings, supposedly to represent him, his Zelda, and their best friend. It was a beautiful thing, and Wild was always terrified that the carvings would get damaged when it was being used.
Silly thought, really. He knew that it was enchanted to resist wear and it often came out cleaner than Sky after a few hours of use.
They crowded through the gate and into the street, bustling quietly with market goers and locals. Sky frowned, bristling.
“Guys.” the Chosen Hero ground out.“I know you’re all staring at me. Stop it. Nothing has changed, okay? We’ll just go about the plans all the same.”
Wild saw their brothers exchange glances. “Are… you sure?” Warriors asked.
Sky did his best approximation of a glare. “Don’t be stupid. I’ve managed without Fi before and you’ve never worried like this. The only difference is that I normally have more warning. There’s nothing to stop Wild and I from going to stock up on food. We’ll meet you guys here at sundown, okay?”
That wasn’t quite true, but Wild wasn’t exactly in a position to disagree. Normally if Sky went without the sword it was at his own suggestion, because he had a headache or thought it wouldn’t be appropriate or didn’t want her to be recognised. Normally it was his own choice, not because some guard demanded it.
Time shrugged. “Okay, if you say so.” he glanced at Wild and mouthed ‘be careful’.
“I know you just told him to be careful, Time.” Sky grumbled. “I’m blind, not stupid. It’ll be fine, it’s not like I've never visited a new town before.”
It was true, and they knew it. Sky had even told them a story from his journey when he had been stranded without either his sword or his cane on an active volcano. None of them doubted that he was capable of managing on his own. They’d all had enough sparring sessions with him where he had set aside the Master Sword for someone else’s to know that. But still, they were his brothers and they worried, whether or not they should.
Time smiled. “You’re right, Sky. I know. Try not to cause any trouble, you two.”
“When do we ever?” Sky asked, smiling innocently as if he hadn’t once destroyed a priceless chandelier because he wanted to scavenge it for parts.
Gremlin.
The Chain rolled their eyes and began to split off into their respective groups. Sky turned towards where Wild had been standing and held out a hand.
“Come on, let’s go.”
Wild murred in agreement and moved close, guiding his brother’s hand into place on his elbow. Sky’s grip was light, more to stop them from getting separated than for anything else. He didn’t really need much guidance; the magic worked into his cane always made sure that he was pointed in the right direction and gave him a vague signal if something was getting too close.
He walked tall and confident as Wild’s side, and the Champion wished that he could say he felt the same. People jumped out of their way and then stared as they passed, their eyes curious and confused. As far as Wild could see, they were all uniformly Hylian, and he suspected that they would have been shocked to see even a Zora or a Goron among them, never mind him. But that wasn’t what bothered him most, though he still wanted to squirm whenever their eyes raked over his body. What bothered him most was how they also looked at Sky, at his cane and then his eyes, and their expressions were ones of surprise and then pity.
Wild felt himself bristle, and Sky patted his arm.
“If anyone says anything I’ll punch them.” he promised, and Wild rumbled a laugh. Of course, the Chosen Hero was worried for his brother’s discomfort, he had no idea the looks he was getting.
Still, it was grounding to hear, and Wild made a conscious effort to ignore the stares they were getting. Sky began to chat about the foods he had grown up with and asked Wild his opinion on different recipes and ingredients. He couldn’t respond very well, of course, but they managed well enough.
By the time they found the produce market, Wild was even starting to enjoy himself. They’d started a game where Sky would try and guess what was sold as each stall they passed by sound or smell alone, and while some of his guesses were scarily accurate, others swung hilariously wide of the mark.
“Oooh, bread!” he cried, letting go of his brother’s arm. “Wild, I’m going to check out the bakery, are you okay for a bit?”
Wild hummed a yes. He knew that Sky would have no problem finding him again; his cane would point him in the right direction and if he got terribly lost he could always ask for the giant cat man. Wild patted his shoulder and Sky grinned before wandering off in the direction of the smell of freshly baked bread. Wild might have to go and check that out himself in a bit, but for now he had other things to buy.
Right- spices. He made his way to the spice stall and began to browse their wares. The display was vast, baskets and baskets of brightly coloured spices piled into pyramids, the whole thing smelling heavenly. He recognised some of them, but others he wasn’t sure of and still more were completely foreign to him. They each had their names written on a label beside them, but of course Wild couldn’t read it. He wondered vaguely if the vendor would tell him what they were if he pointed.
Didn’t really matter. Whatever he bought, the slate always managed to label for him anyway, but it would be nice to know. He leaned over a spice the colour of sunshine and sniffed.
“That’s saffron, honey.”
Wild jumped to see the vendor, an elderly woman with long grey braids and a kind smile looking at him. He rumbled in thanks as she pulled something out from under the counter.
“It’s too valuable to let you sample wholesale, but have a saffron bun, it’ll give you the idea for the taste. See how bright the colour is?”
She offered a plate of small, soft buns, all brilliantly yellow, and Wild took one with a purr. The taste was rich and earthy, almost like safflina, and he could feel a warming effect on his bones. He nodded immediately and pointed at it.
“That’s ten rupees a gram, honey, how much do you want?”
Ten rupees a gram? What was this stuff, manna of the gods?
His shock clearly showed in his expression as the vendor laughed. “It’s made from the stamens of flowers, hon. We have to pick them all by hand, and they only bloom once a year. It’s the most valuable spice in the world.”
Okay, that made sense. Wild nodded and tried to think how to communicate this… oh well, let’s just be old fashioned about it. After all, it wasn’t like he was short of money. He could afford to buy a fancy spice just because he felt like it. It wasn’t like he had to splurge on other luxury ingredients - he was more than adept at finding truffles by himself and he had no interest in trying caviar.
Rumbling softly, he set down three golden rupees, nine hundred in total. The old woman’s eyes widened for a fraction of a second before her sales face was back in place.
“Well, if you’re going to buy in bulk I’ll give you an extra ten grams, make it an even hundred. Can I interest you in anything else?”
Yes, she absolutely could. Wild spent the next half hour at the stall while the vendor talked him through her wares, letting him taste some and giving him small buns baked with others. By the time he was done he had spent another thousand rupees on various spices and oils, and had several new recipes to try out. The vendor wished him a pleasant day as he left, and Wild wondered vaguely if he had been supposed to haggle.
It didn’t really matter. Like he said, he had more than enough money to cover it, and it wasn’t as if his bargaining skills were currently in tip top condition. Besides, the woman had treated him just like any other person and let him sample her wares, unlike everyone else here. As he pushed his way through the crowds towards the vegetable stall, he saw that the stares were back.
This time, with Sky gone from his side, some of the looks he was getting were more openly hostile. It was as if when there was a hylian at his side he was somehow trustworthy, but now he was a rogue agent, liable to explode at any time. Wild flattened his ears against his head and tucked his tail close to his body. It would be alright, he just had to get the rest of his things and keep going.
The owner of the vegetable stall was less friendly by far than the spice vendor. He looked at Wild with open hostility, even if he didn’t voice it, and when Wild pointed to what he wanted rather than asking he rolled his eyes. But Wild’s reserves were running low after cooking for nine hungry heroes for weeks, and he was still getting served. He made sure to make himself as small and non-threatening as he could as he looked around for Sky. He had to be around here somewhere, after all. The bakery wasn’t that far away.
Wild rumbled a thank you as he left the stall and began to look around in earnest. One of the advantages to everyone in this weird city being Hylian was that Wild was taller than them all and had a good view of the crowds.
Aha- there was the bakery. But where was Sky?
Wild wandered over, not particularly concerned. He perused the various baked goods and couldn’t resist buying nine deliciously sticky-looking pastries for the Chain. The baker seemed at least vaguely polite, despite the confused glances they were sending his way, so Wild also bought a vast loaf of bread that seemed to be made of several different kinds of dough woven together. And a small tomato and cheese bun for himself. As a treat.
Damn, he liked bread.
He looked around. It had been almost an hour since Sky had wandered off, and while Wild knew that his brother was more than capable of handling himself, it would be nice to know where he was.
“GET. YOUR. FUCKING. HANDS. OFF. OF. ME.”
Ah, there he was.
Chuffing, Wild walked unhurriedly in the direction of his brother’s voice. Something must have really annoyed Sky for him to be swearing, he was normally so careful about keeping his language clean.
Wild found him on a street corner, surrounded by a small crowd of concerned onlookers and trying to pull away from the grasp of a worried looking woman. A man, presumably her husband, stood at her side with a bloody nose. He was holding Sky’s cane.
“It’s alright, dear, you’re perfectly safe.” the woman crooned as if talking to a small child rather than a grown man.
Sky scowled. “If you tell me this is a ‘Safe Town’ again I’ll start biting.”
“Oh dear, I know you must be frightened, but we’ll get you back to safety.” she cooed, gesturing to someone in the crowd to come and help as she put a shepherding arm around his shoulders. “Come now, we’ll find your carer for you-”
“My what?” Sky spat, shaking her arm off. “Lady please stop touching me, I’ve told you I’m perfectly fine on my own. Give me back my cane”
“Nothing wrong with his aim.” the man muttered, dabbing at his nose but making no move to give the cane back. His wife batted at him, frowning in disapproval.
Wild felt himself bristle with rage.
“Don’t be silly, dear.” the woman ignored his protests and snaked a hand around his waist. Sky looked about two seconds away from suplexing her. “Come on, I saw you with your carer earlier, he won’t be hard to find. Oh, there he is now! Come here, will you?” she snapped her fingers at Wild and beckoned imperiously
If Sky hadn’t looked like he was about to snap, Wild might have turned on his heel out of pure spite. Who the hell did this woman think she was? And what kind of person took a cane away from a blind man?
As it was, he walked over to Sky and rumbled loud enough for his brother to hear. He glared at the man with the bloody nose and held out a hand. The man glowered.
“It’s an offensive weapon!” he protested. “It shouldn’t be allowed in the city.”
Sky rounded on him, shaking off the woman’s arms. “My fist is going to be an offensive weapon if you don’t give me my cane back!”
Wild had had enough of this. He reached out and took the man’s arm. From the outside it probably looked like a pacifying gesture, but Wild was strong and wearing the Aspect he was even stronger. The man gasped in pain and released the staff with a clatter, and Sky quickly stooped to pick it up.
“Asshole.” he muttered, righting himself. “Wild, is that you?” he fumbled, grasping at Wild’s arm.
The Champion rumbled, giving one last glare to the ‘helpful’ couple and steering Sky away and back down the street. The Chosen Hero normally would have protested at being so blatantly guided, but he was shaking too much to care, his cane gripped in both hands as Wild directed him down an alley near to the spice stall. He sat him down on a crate and began slowly rubbing his back, purring gently.
“I hate this town.” he whispered, his voice trembling. “They started trying to ‘help’ me and ’guide’ me as soon as I left you, and that woman was hassling me for nearly half an hour. And then her husband tried to take my cane and I-”
He sighed, falling silent for a moment. He shook his head.
“It’s so stupid!” he burst out. “If they were monsters I would have just fought them away, it wouldn’t have been a problem. But they were people and I didn’t want to hurt them and when I broke his nose I felt so bad that I just…let him take it! That woman kept grabbing me and I just wanted to shove her away and I could have shoved her away but that wouldn’t have been right! Ugh!”
He put his head in his hands for a few minutes, breathing heavily. WIld sat down beside him and let Sky burrow into his side.
“Do you ever get angry, Wild?” Sky asked quietly. Wild blinked and his brother sighed. “Of course you do. I just - sometimes I get so angry I feel like I could tear the world apart. It’s the only thing that got me through my journey, you know? The battle at the end, that was all just incoherent rage. I never want to feel that way again. But then things like today happen and it just builds up and I get scared that if I act on it I’ll never stop-” he broke off, choking on a sob.
Wild wrapped an arm around him and pulled him closer. Sky snuffled into his chest, hands burying into his fur.
“I’m not weak.” he whispered. “But when it comes to people - even bad people - I don’t want to hurt them, so instead I let them walk all over me and I’m scared that makes me weak. Isn’t that silly?”
Wild shook his head and rumbled in disapproval, hoping desperately that Sky understood. He must have, at least a little, because he laughed a little and lifted his head, wiping tears from his eyes.
“Although one time, before my journey, I did suplex a lady in Skyloft who tried to ‘help’ me. But really, she should have known better.” he giggled softly and Wild rumbled a laugh, ruffling his hair.
“OH THANK HYLIA.”
Wild started and looked around while Sky frowned. “Four?”
The Smith was running up the alley, his normally pristine hair a mess and his tunic askew. He looked absolutely furious.
“This town is the pits.” he hissed as he reached them. “Hylia, Sky, what the hell happened to you?”
Sky laughed weakly. “People kept trying to help me and took my cane because they thought i’d hurt myself with it. So I broke someone’s nose.”
Four frowned, nodding and looking vaguely impressed. “Nice. I’ve had no less than eighteen people ask where my parents are, twelve of whom refused to believe I’m twenty two, and one of which actually tried to pick me up and carry me to an orphanage.”
What the actual fuck. Wild had thought he’d had it bad dealing with rude vendors, but this place sucked. He made a low growl, folding his arms.
“If that was lots of swearing then I agree wholeheartedly.” Four told him. “Ugh, can we just stay hiding here for a while? I’m pretty sure there’s a group of people combing the streets looking for me so they can take me back to my ‘poor worried parents’.” he made finger quotes as he spoke, grimacing.
“Gross.” Sky agreed. “And they kept saying stuff about you, Wild, when you weren’t around to hear it. It was really disgusting.”
Oh really? Maybe he wasn’t so left out after all. Wild whined in interest and Sky pulled a face.
“It really wasn’t nice, you don’t need to-” he began to say but Wild whined again, nudging him and sending a pleading glance to Four for help.
The Smith snorted. “Come on, Sky, Wild’s feeling left out now. What did the weird town call him?”
Sky sighed, flushing. “I- okay. Well, someone said they thought you were my guide dog.” WHAT. “A-and someone else said that people - well, they actually said ‘things’ like you shouldn’t be allowed in the city.” he flushed bright red and then said quietly. “I- I may have broken more than one nose today.”
Wild couldn’t help himself. He burst out laughing, not caring if it alarmed anyone passing by the entrance to the alley. Sky was right, those were terrible things to say about anyone and he probably would have been extremely upset had he heard them. But really, at this point? It was just par for the course. This really was a terrible town.
After a moment Four began to join in and then so did Sky. They all sat there, in the alley of the terrible town of Melosa, hiding from its locals, and laughing like they had all just heard the best joke of their lives.
“Ugh.” Sky groaned, wiping tears of laughter from his eyes. “You know, nice as a real bed would be, I don’t think I want to stay here tonight.”
“Same.” Four agreed. “All in favour of heading back to the front gate? Something tells me the others won’t be any happier here than we are.”
Both Sky and Wild raised a hand, and the ayes had it. Carefully, they peered out of the alleyway and made their way back to the front of the town. They couldn’t exactly sneak, not with Wild’s height, but walking as one they at least managed to fend off the worst of the curious townspeople.
Although there was still at least another half hour until sundown, they could see their brothers waiting at the agreed point. Twilight had a black eye and a broken nose. Legend looked absolutely incensed and was gripping Hyrule's hand so tight that his knuckles were white. The Traveller looked deeply uncomfortable, his shoulders hiked up to his ear as if he wanted to shrink into himself. Warriors’ hair was mussed and his face was pale as he literally trembled with rage and Wind, oddly enough, was absolutely covered in mud. Time, meanwhile-
“Wait, where’s Time?” Four asked.
Twilight snorted and signed, and Warriors translated.
“Got kicked out for fighting. I would have too, but I was faster.” he shrugged.
Legend snorted. “Why were you fighting? I’m not mad, I’m just curious. And kind of jealous.”
Twi shrugged. “Talk shit get hit.”
“Word.” Wind agreed, nodding sagely.
“Well.” Warriors sighed. “I take it we’re all happy to go and camp in the woods, then?”
“Yep.” Legend agreed. “Last time I was in a town this hostile it was in your era, ‘Rulie. No offence.”
Hyrle finally cracked a smile and waved him off, clearly meaning ‘none taken’. He was shifting nervously from foot to foot, and though Wild knew he was shy it was jarring to see him so withdrawn.
Minds made up, they made their way back towards the town gate, glad to be seeing the back of this place.
The guard looked at them in something akin to shock as they walked past. He frowned.
“Leaving already?” he asked, seeming genuinely surprised. “It’s getting dark out, we’re about to close the gates.”
“Our brother’s waiting for us.” Warriors replied, barely glancing in his direction.
The guard stood from his chair, jogging to keep up. “But it’s not safe!”
Wild looked at the plain beyond the gate. It was still and bathed in the gentle light of the early evening, wildflowers dotting the grass. The edge of the forest was a few hundred feet away, and between the nearest trees they could just make out a herd of deer quietly grazing.
It looked perfectly safe. Inviting, even. And the boys knew that the one monster camp in the vicinity had been destroyed.
“Do you-” Sky asked softly. “Do you ever leave the town?”
The guard looked at him in horror. “Hylia above, no!” he gasped. “This is a Safe Town! Why would we ever want to leave?”
Well that explained a lot. Wild huffed a small laugh and shook his head. They were just over the threshold of the gate now, so he started flicking through his slate and passing everyone their weapons.
Sky smiled softly, taking the Master Sword from him and strapping it to his back. “Maybe you should try it sometime. It’s not all bad. Some of it’s even pretty incredible.”
The guard gave him a sceptical look, but there was a hint of something in his eyes, something that might have been hunger.
“Well…” he said, looking them over once again. “If you’re sure. Have a Safe journey. You’re always welcome in Melosa, if you decide you’ve had enough of your travels.”
Wild waved at him as they walked away, as Legend muttered under his breath ‘yeah, fat chance of that’. He was still gripping Hyrule’s hand, although the Traveller looked like he was unwinding with every step they took away from the town.
They found Time sitting in the grass a few feet away, leaning against a boulder and dozing in the evening light. He cracked open his eye as he approached, although there was a bruise blooming up the side of his face and his eyelid was a little swollen. He smirked, looking at Twilight.
“Can’t believe you abandoned me.” he said. “Traitor.”
Twilight made the sign for sorry and didn’t look very sincere about it. Time laughed, pulling himself to his feet and sounding like every one of his joints popped at once. Wild winced. The old man seriously needed a massage.
“You all look like you had a good day.” he drawled. “All in favour of camping as far as possible from the weird perfect town?”
Everyone in the Chain raised a hand. Thus decided, they made their way towards the edge of the woods, to where they had seen the deer earlier.
Wild glanced back as they went, to the closed gates and high walls of Melosa. He wondered if the people in there were really happy, with their locks and their rules and their security. He wondered if it was worth it. He wondered, when someone finally dared to step outside the town gate and saw that the world could be beautiful, would the town listen? Would it survive the knowledge?
He didn’t know. If he was honest, he didn’t particularly care. For now he turned back to his brothers, to where a fire was being lit and jokes were being told. Where they were all different and strange and had their own needs and wants. Where sometimes they were messy and stupid and got things wrong, and that was okay.
He’d rather have that, by far.