Chapter Text
The familiar sound of grainy sand hit Wind’s ears. His heart began to race—so fast he could swear it would leap out of his mouth.
Dark-brown eyes snapped open. He could almost taste salt in the air—
Sand. Nothing but sand. No water in sight.
The sun blazed overhead, viciously hot. But that wasn’t the bad part. Wind was used to heat—it was a part of home.
It was the air.
So still. No breeze, no motion, no freshness. Nothing.
It felt like the cabin all over again. Only worse. The stillness back then was the Beast’s doing.
This time, it was natural.
Or at least, it should’ve been. But every instinct in him screamed that something was wrong.
“Oh, what the hell, Hylia! A desert?! Really?!”
Someone groaned behind him. Wind turned, his body trembling slightly with the motion, and saw the rest of his brothers stepping out of the swirling purple portal.
So this was a desert?
It had been weeks since the Beast incident — and a few more since their stop at Outset. At least, that’s what Wind’s count told him. He was probably off, though.
He, Cap, and Wild had been the first to enter the portal. Now, Legend, Hyrule, and Mask were following close behind.
“Yeah, no kidding. But don’t complain — it only gets worse when you do. It’s always like that,” Wild said, his tone too casual for someone standing under a blazing sun. He sounded like he was speaking from experience.
Wind almost laughed, but the thick, motionless air caught in his throat. He heard Hyrule agree and start talking animatedly with Wild, while Cap scanned their surroundings.
Four and Sky appeared next, and as soon as their boots hit the sand, the portal shimmered — and vanished into nothing.
“Alright, does anyone recognize this area?” Mask called, brushing the sand off his gloves.
“Mine,” Sky said, raising a hand. “This is the Lanayru Desert. I think we’re near the end of it. If we want to get out of here, it’ll take a couple of days at most.”
A couple of days.
Wind swallowed, feeling the heat sink into his skin — and that still, suffocating air pressing down like a heavy blanket.
“Before we go,” Cap said, drawing everyone’s attention to him. “We’re already feeling the heat, so let’s take off a few layers. I wouldn’t recommend removing your armor, though — we never know what hides in this wasteland.”
He proceeded to pull his scarf off, and Wind blinked — it was really weird to see him without it.
The Chain started to shed their extra layers, some doing it with dramatic flair, others with quick, efficient motions.
Wind swallowed down the discomfort — no, agony — and tugged his blue tunic off, carefully placing his pirate’s charm inside his bag before removing the underlayer beneath it. Then he pulled his tunic back on.
The still air seemed to cling even more to his skin, heavy and unmoving, but at least he felt a little less suffocated by the heat.
And then, they started walking.
Wind fought not to suffocate on this damn, nonexistent air — and not to worry his brothers. To do that, he had to talk. To keep moving. To pretend this was fine. The heat was nothing, right? He was used to it. He was fine.
The sailor walked with a spring in his step, just ahead of his brothers — except for Wild, who was leading the group for some reason. Though Sky was walking just a few steps behind the champion.
Wind took a long look at him. His brother had changed all his clothes — how did he even do that so fast? No idea. He wore a really cool green armor set and fitted pants, his blond hair tied high in a ponytail.
“Hey, champion!” Wind called out, forcing his voice to sound bright.
Wild looked back at him, smiling fondly. His hair was already plastered to his forehead with sweat, but he looked completely chipper.
“Sup’ sailor!” He raised his hands for a high five and Wind complied, jumping a little and clapping their hands loudly.
“How are you not covered in sweat?” Wild raised an intrigued eyebrow, passing a hand through Wind’s forehead and only finding a little bit of sweat.
“Dunno, you are the one sweating too much, that’s not normal!” Wind said, smirking playfully.
“Kid, the sun is literally frying our brains. You're the one who’s weird.” Wild swatted his head and Wind swatted his head back with a jump.
“How do you even have this much energy in this heat?” Sky groaned from Wind's other side, he looked really tired already.
The sailor and champion shared a look, smiling wide. They both knew exactly what to do.
The duo came up to Sky and each grabbed an arm.
“What—” The knight didn’t have time to ask. Wild and Wind started running and screaming as fast and loud as they could, forcing Sky to keep up, though they still lifted him off the ground a little. Good thing Wind had his Power Bracelets.
“AAAAH, STOP IT!!” Sky screamed, a mix of anger and panic. But the two runners just laughed even louder.
“But this is way more fun!” Wild and Wind shouted together.
“Champion! Sailor! Don’t run ahead of everyone!!” Cap’s voice carried behind them as Wind heard the others laughing.
More thundering footsteps joined theirs as Hyrule and Four appeared at their sides.
“Race ya!!” the traveler and smith shouted in unison before speeding ahead.
“HEY! THAT’S NOT FAIR! WE’RE CARRYING A PERSON, YOU ASSHOLES!!” Wind yelled after the two cheaters.
“YEAH! YOU DIDN’T EVEN SET A FINISH LINE!!” Wild shouted even louder than Wind, pouting childishly.
Four and Hyrule didn’t hear him (or pretended not to, the little shits-) and kept running ahead of everyone. Wind and Wild began to slow down involuntarily. The sailor heard Sky sigh in relief as the remaining Links finally caught up to them.
“Time, could you help me catch the troublemakers? They’re going to get either lost or hurt like this,” Twilight said right next to Wind—
Wait—Time?
Wind snapped his head toward the rancher. He saw Mask nodding in response.
“We’ll probably need a head start. Veteran, could you handle that for me?” his big little brother said to Legend, who only smirked before activating his speedy boots and sprinting toward the cheaters.
But… it can’t be. He would have told me—
No one ever called him anything other than Mask (for himself and Cap) or old man.
“Time as in Hero of Time?” Wind whispered to Sky and Wild, his voice shaking a little.
“Yep,” Wild answered simply, alongside Sky’s calm, “Yes, Wind. You never heard his title? I thought he would’ve told you when you were in that era together.”
Suddenly, the stillness seemed to press down on his skull even harder than before. Even the Power Bracelets couldn’t help him support Sky’s arm as he let go and stumbled to the side.
Why didn’t he tell me?
He knows the story—so why?
Tears stung his eyes. It would be so easy to just give in to the stillness right now. Everything felt heavy—his chest, his limbs, his heart. No wind, no life, no motion. Just pressure. Pressure. Pressure—
“Link!”
Wind jerked back from the touch on his bare forearm. He blinked up at Sky’s worried face, but it was so hard to breathe—so damn hard—
“Hey, hey. It’s okay. Shhhh.” Sky’s voice was soft, steady, like a lullaby in the heat. “Here. What do you see?”
A scarred, stocky hand came into view. For some reason, Wind found himself complying.
“Linings,” he whispered, tracing his brother’s hand with his eyes. “Scars…” He wondered absently what battles those were from. “Callouses. From a sword.” His own smaller, calloused hand brushed against Sky’s lightly.
“Yes, that’s right,” Sky murmured, voice barely above a whisper.
Wind met his deep ocean-blue eyes.
He could breathe a little better now, even though the air still refused to move.
“Do you mind if I hug you?” Sky asked, his arms hovering uncertainly.
Wind didn’t answer — he just hugged his brother tight. Sky wrapped his arms around him just as tightly. The sailor could feel and smell the sweat clinging to him, but that was still so much better than the stillness.
After a few minutes, they pulled apart — Wind first.
“Feeling better? Can you breathe properly?” Sky’s voice was still tight with concern.
Wind nodded, managing a shaky smile.
“Alright. You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. But if you need me, just call, okay?” Sky said softly, guiding him back toward their brothers. They walked side by side until they reached Wild, Twilight, Cap, and Legend, who had finally caught up with the cheaters. The others shot them a few worried looks but didn’t say anything. Wind felt deeply grateful for that.
The sailor refused to look at Mask—Time?
The taste of betrayal was bitter on his tongue, even if he wasn’t sure it could really be called that.
Wind looked out at the endless sand, listening to his brothers chat and laugh at the occasional joke, though their voices were quieter than before.
The flood, the Great Sea, Ganondorf, the king—Daphnes— it all came rushing back as they walked. The windless fucking atmosphere did not let him relax whatsoever.
He really hated this place.