Chapter Text
For all the jokes at his expense, Legend found that there were benefits to being small.
The others would let him nap more often, though honestly it was more because of Sky’s chronic fatigue than because Wind was a kid and Legend was the size of a kid, while the bigger Link’s took on more shifts as daytime watches.
He got to surprise enemies any time they underestimated him, able to duck below a swinging sword and strike the monster before they had a chance to readjust.
One of the benefits of being small was sometimes tonics worked differently on him. Healing potions worked better and he needed less of it, which was great for rationing, while other potions also worked more effectively so he supposed that it could also be considered a downside to being small.
Usually, the one’s choosing the doses are the ones who knew his size so it’s a non-issue.
And, more importantly, usually his companions cared enough to make sure that the dose was safe for someone his size but the monsters that had ambushed him outside of a tavern had no such care because whatever they had used on him had hit him like a fucking tonne of bricks.
He remembered swinging a fist at one of his attackers faces but his arm fell uselessly to the side and his legs stumbled beneath him, barely keeping himself upright.
Legend knew that he couldn’t fight like this, no matter how hard he tried to, but when he yelled out for his companions within the tavern, all that came out was a whisper of air.
He swayed, head spinning, but when he tried to steady himself his legs gave out beneath him and Legend was falling.
Down, down, down, he went, every second an eternity.
Legend waited for his vision to blur out completely, expecting his consciousness to slip away, but his eyes remained stubbornly open, his awareness still sharp as ever.
But his body was not moving, even when he commanded it to, and the realisation sent ice through his veins because all he could do was watch as whoever had drugged him surrounded him.
For a moment, all he could see was boots, but then one of those boots connected with his ribs and Legend was rolled onto his back. He tried to cry out, tried to make any sound at all, but he simply couldn’t.
Legend lay there on his back, terror building as the strangers came ever closer, unable to fight or run or do anything at all except lie there.
The monsters were laughing, jeering at each other about how great a catch they had found and Legend wanted to curse them all out but his mouth would not move and his fingers remained still where his hands lay.
Even his heart was moving in slow motion while his mind screamed that he couldn’t move, that he was in danger, that he needed someone to come out of the tavern and find him and defeat these Hylian monsters that had drugged him but no one came and Legend was lifted up from the ground by the biggest man of the group.
Legend tried to beat against the man’s chest or knock into his face and make him drop him but his limbs hung loosely and his eyes could only stare at wherever his head had been pointed, in this case up to the sky, head tilted back uncomfortably.
Breathing hurt in that position but he couldn’t do anything about it as he was taken further and further away from the tavern.
Away from his companions.
Away from his brothers.
There were shouts, not from the monsters but from behind them. On instinct, Legend tried to turn to see who was chasing after them but his paralysis was still complete and his eyes stared up unblinking.
Steel crashed against steel and the man who was carrying him suddenly wasn’t and Legend was falling again. Just before his head could hit the ground, new arms caught him and when his eyes flicked up as he was shifted, realising that he was now slumped up against Warriors.
“Hold on Leg,” Warriors said. “I’ve got you.”
A single tear rolled down Legend’s cheek but he couldn’t brush it away. Warriors did it for him, giving him a warm reassuring smile as the fight raged on around them.
“Are you hurt?” Warriors asked.
Legend stared up at him, trying his best to shake his head.
“Legend?” Warriors voice was tight now. “Legend are you hurt?”
Legend couldn’t even blink and all that came from his mouth was empty air.
Warriors lifted him easily, letting Legend’s head rest against his shoulder but Legend’s arm fell to the side and just hung there.
“Guys, he’s not moving.” Warriors reported. “It’s going to be okay, Legend, just stay with me, alright?”
Legend’s shoulder ached from the awkward position of his arm. He tried to swallow, his head spinning, but he could barely manage it and a new fear struck him. Whatever they had used on him had paralysed him almost instantly but until now he could breathe and his heart was obviously still beating. But, at any moment the drug could start affecting that too.
There were more shouts, commands that Wild and Twilight were to chase after Legend’s attackers while the rest would regroup.
Legend tried to tell them not to follow, he didn’t want to risk the monsters using whatever they had used on him on them also.
“Take him inside.” Time ordered and Warriors was already running.
The world spun faster around him and Legend wanted nothing more than to just pass out already but his body refused to do even that and while Warriors held him tightly to his chest, he was terrified that he was going to fall again and have no way to catch himself.
They crashed through the door of the tavern, Warriors specifically twisting as to use his back and not Legend to push through and Legend’s stomach rolled from the movement.
Warriors paid no mind to the startled gasps of the other guests at the tavern, going straight for the stairwell and taking two at a time. Legend tried to hold onto Warriors shirt but his fingers did not so much as twitch and he gave off a garbled moan.
“Stay with me, Link.” Warriors said.
He didn’t have much choice given his bodies refusal to either move or pass out.
Even though Warriors tried to set him carefully on the bed, Legend’s leg twisted weirdly beneath him and there was a flash of pain as his knee threatened to give out. He hated that while he couldn’t move, he could still feel everything because it just made everything more confusing and as his stomach rolled again, Legend decided that he desperately did not want to find out what vomiting felt like in this state.
“Let me through!” A new voice said.
Legend tried to sit up, not wanting to worry Hyrule, but once more his body refused his command.
Hyrule was by the bed now, already sorting through a dozen potions. Then, his breath caught and his hands stilled.
“Hyrule?” Warriors prompted.
“If he can’t swallow,” Hyrule said. “He’d just choke instead.”
“A fairy, then?” Someone suggested.
All the voices morphed into one and it felt like the world was solely focused on making him miserable because his stomach was churning and all of a sudden he was being forced onto his side and vomit spilled from his mouth.
Legend’s eyes watered and he gave off a weak moan.
“What did they do to him?” One of his brothers demanded.
Four? No, Sky? But Sky had never sounded so angry before, so scared.
There were too many crowding around him. Warriors was keeping him on his side, not that Legend could shift onto his back anyway, while Hyrule wiped down his face with a wet cloth.
Legend wanted to lean into the touch, the water grounding, but he couldn’t. He started crying outright then and Hyrule gently wiped the tears away too.
“There’s a mark on his neck.” Warriors said.
“Whatever they used, they injected it.” Hyrule agreed. “Legend, can you try to squeeze my hand?”
Hyrule took Legend’s hand into his own and Legend summoned all of his strength to hold it back. He stared at the limp hand, more tears burning his cheeks.
“It’s a paralytic of some kind.” Hyrule said.
“Can you help him?” Time asked.
Hyrule tightened his grasp, only slightly but it was enough to tell Legend everything.
He wanted to assure his brothers that he was okay, he could just sleep it off and that he’ll be fine come morning but the rest of him just wanted to throw up again because his stomach was still doing backflips and his headache was developing into a migraine.
There were more voices as the heroes bounced ideas off of each other and all the while Hyrule did not let go of Legend’s hand.
Legend just lay there on his side, awareness at last drifting and the nausea drifting alongside it.
“Leg?” Warriors said.
“Legend you need to stay awake.” Hyrule said. “You can rest soon, I promise, but for now you have to stay awake.”
Voices again, so many voices. He swore that he heard Her voice again too amongst his brothers, her gently song carried on a breeze.
“Link,” Hyrule said, his warm voice mixing with Marin’s. “Stay. Please.”
He wanted to. He needed to. But just like he couldn’t move, he couldn’t stay either, and the realisation utterly terrified him.
Legend stared at his hand, focusing solely on his pinky. It twitched and then curled.
“Great job,” Time said.
Legend glanced up at him, trying to glare and given Time’s smile, he may have well just managed it.
He was leaning up against the headboard, pillows from each of their beds helping to prop him up. When Legend tried to say something, all that came out was a weak sound. He squeezed his eyes shut in frustration, one of the only things he could reliably do now.
“Patience, Legend.” Time reminded gently. “You’re making progress every day.”
Progress wasn’t enough, he needed to be better. He had already lay paralysed in this bed for three days and he was anxious to get back on the road but he was even more desperate to prove to the others that he was okay, that they didn’t need to worry.
The weight on his legs shifted and Legend looked down at Wolfie, instinctively trying to scratch behind the beasts ears. His arm managed to move a little but it was uncoordinated and too far away to even get close.
Wolfie was the one who closed the distance, nudging Legend’s hand, helping it to rest atop his head. Wolfie then sighed contently, eyes closing once more.
“I might go check on the others,” Time said, going to stand. “Give you some time to rest.”
Legend made a sound. He narrowed his eyes, trying again.
“St… Stay… Please.”
Time did not tease him, for the request or for how his voice was still off, and instead just simply settled back into his chair. Time gave Legend a warm smile and Legend tried his best to mirror it.
Slowly, so slowly, Legend’s control came back. First his hands, then even his dexterity. He could sit up unaided by the fifth day and he tried to walk on the very next day, though his legs had crumpled as soon as any weight were on them. It was frustrating, needing to depend on the others so heavily, but he found that he didn’t mind it as much as he had thought he would.
He could spend one on one time with each of them in a way they never could on the road, and while he knew soon enough they will return to their journey, it was somehow refreshing to be able to stop for so long even if it was only to give him time to fully recover.
Whatever paralytic they had used on him, it had been designed for someone far larger and whatever those monsters had planned for him, Legend would never know because despite their best efforts, Champion and Sky never found them.
It was unnerving, to know that the people who had attacked him were still out there, but it was more unnerving to know that any one of his brothers could have been in danger. Even if Time and Twilight and most of the others were much larger than Legend, if Hyrule or Four or Goddess forbid Wind had been hit with the same thing, it could have very well killed him.
Wind was draped across Legend’s chest, snoring loudly, and while Legend finally had the strength to shove him off, he didn’t. Hyrule was nestled into Legend’s side, breathing deep and even while Four was probably just a few minutes from falling off the bed entirely.
They would be heading out in the morning. Legend could fully walk and move around since yesterday but Time insisted that he rest just one more day and enjoy the peace while it lasted.
While Legend was anxious to get back on the road, he found that maybe cuddling up to his brothers like this wasn’t so bad, even if his arm was a little numb beneath Hyrule’s weight.