Chapter Text
Link let out a sigh as he grabbed another shirt, pulling it off the laundry line. This was, by far, his least favorite chore. It was so boring. Just stand around, take the laundry off the lines, fold them, then put them in a pile. You barley moved! No running, or herding, or fighting, or anything! As much as he liked helping his mother around the house where he could, he sometimes wished his parents raised him worse and he could tell her 'no' without having a mountain of guilt slam into him with the action.
"Whatch sighing 'bout?" Uli asked as she folded a shirt, placing it in a basket between them.
"Restlessness," Link grabbed a blanket, the clothes pins popping off the line as he pulled it down. "Don't like standin' in the same area for extended periods-"
"Link!"
Link cut himself off, his head snapping towards the road, ears shooting up before he bolted towards the sound of his little brother's voice, the banket he was holding forgotten on the ground.
Running onto the dirt road, Link flung his arms out, just in time to catch his brother as he stumbled. Quickly kneeling down to meet Colin's eyes, he placed his hands on the boy's shoulders. Immediately checking him over for injuries as their mother rushed over.
"Whats wrong? What happened?" Link asked, his ears drawn up stiffly, listening for any threats.
Colin panted heavily, sucking in loud gulps of air as he responded. "Th-there's monsters in the—in the woods. We- me 'n the other kids- where playin' and we ran into a group of-of 'em. But they didn't see us, we ran away before they could."
Holding back a growl, Link forces his hands to not tighten around his brother's shoulders as his got up. How dare other monsters come and show their faces around his village. His territory. "Where are the others? are they safe?"
Colin nodded vigorously. "They ran back to their homes."
"Good." Turning to his mother, Link frowned sheepishly. "Promise I ain't doin' this to get out of chores, but I gotta take care of 'em."
Uli crossed her arms, her lips flattening into a thin line, worry wafting off her like smoke. She didn't like it when he went after monsters, worried that he would come back hurt, or worse. "Colin can help me with the rest of it," Colin squawked in protest. "Just, please stay safe. Don't do anything to dangerous, and I want you home for dinner."
"Yes Ma'am." Letting a small smile creep onto his face, Link stepped closer, giving his mother a quick kiss on her cheek and a short hug before turning and rushing up the road towards his home.
-
Leaves crunched under Link's boots as he walked through the silent forest. The too silent forest. Something was wrong, and a group of monsters wasn't the cause of it. The air smelled wrong, gone was the natural smells of earth and leaves, of water drifting through the trees, the faint hints of rot and death under the scents of life. The air smelled like nothing now, devoid of everything that made it forest air.
Drawing his sword quickly as a twig snapped, Link whirled around, his ears lifting and flicking madly. 'What was that?' He shifted on his feet uneasily, again there was no smell, no indicator of what was near. Where even was the twig? It sounded close, within eye sight, but he was in a large clearing with nothing around. Holding back the nervous whimper what bubbled in his chest he took a step back, he shouldn't be doing this alone, he shouldn't be here, this was wrong. Very wrong.
Turning around to go back to the village and retrieve his father, Link paused, fog covered his path, thick and completely obscuring his view. 'Spirits, this was not good.'
Turning again, he was met with more fog. Where had it come from? It had been clear and sunny a second ago!
"Damn it." Letting out a heavy sigh Link started walking, hopefully in the direction of Ordon.
He must had gotten turned around, he hadn't gone that far from the village…
'This is so wrong…'
Pausing Link turned his head, his ear twitching with curiosity as he caught sight of light. 'Please be a normal light source and not something evil or deadly.' Walking towards the light he drew his sword again as a scent finally broke through the nothingness.
Darkness.
"In the name of the Spirits…"
A portal swirled, it's magic buzzing through the air, its purple mass pulsing and flowing like liquid.
Link's heart drummed against his chest, beating to the pulse of the portal. He couldn't look away, couldn't even think of looking away. It was just… Link had to walk through. He needed to walk through.
Link hissed, shaking his head harshly as light suddenly erupted around him, blinding and stinging his eyes. Letting a low growl rumble through his throat, he shook his head.
The sounds of crickets drifted into clarity as he blinked away the pain and white spots from his vision.
He was in a field.
A cool breeze gently ruffled his hair and the near-endless expanse of grass around him.
How did he- Link turned around, looking for the portal- had he gone through it?!
'Oh Link, you are so dumb.' Link thought as he let out a heavy sigh. Sheathing his sword he put his hands on his hips. "Well fuck."
-
Link twitched as the sound of someone talking faintly drifted into earshot, followed by the smell of a hylian. 'Great.' Lifting his arm he took hold of his sword again as he turned and started creeping towards a small gathering of trees and boulders several yards away. He didn't want to go into a interaction with violence, but in a unknown land, unknown threats, it was best to be safe rather than sorry.
Ears twitching as his eyes narrowed, he rounded a large moss covered rock, his feet light on the ground, barley rustling the grass.
'What?' Link looked around, his ears swiveling as he sniffed. He could have sworn this is where the voice had come from. Catching the strangers scent again he turned in a circle, following the invisible trail as it scurried around the area. Where did they go?
"Hey-"
Link glowered, whirring around as someone touched his shoulder. Slamming his elbow into the alpha's chest he forced the hylian to the ground, his sword imminently going to the stranger's neck as he fell onto him.
Another growl ripped through Link's chest, dripping out of his throat onto the man, like the saliva of a hungry wolf, ready to eat their prey. "Who-" He started to demanded before cutting himself off, the sounds of several pairs of legs crashing through the brush drawing his attention. 'Oh shit-!'
Link barley had time to react before nails were digging into his neck- someone was scruffing him like he was a child!- A surprised and pained yelp escaped his throat as he was yanked backwards and halled to his feet. His sword getting forced from his hand as the person- alpha, hylian- 'Oh no.' grabbed his wrist, their other hand snaking around his neck to hold him by the front, forcing him to cough as it tightened around his windpipe.
The alpha Link had been pinning quickly scrambled to his feet, waving off the several, pack members? As they tried to look him over. "Time let him go, this isn't what it looks like."
'Time' let out a sigh that sent shivers down Link's spine as hot air brushed his neck, filling his nostrils with the overpowering scent of an angry hylian. It was like he was inhaling smoke, the subtle aroma of hay was like burning grass, raging stallions storming through the man's scent. Magic that was like acidic fumes stinking his eyes.
Link could feel his breath picking up speed, his heart slamming against his ribcage. He was weaponless and surrounded by hylians. The group of people in front of him started to blur into nothing but blobs of color as tears threatened to spill down his face, coating his eyes in a wet sheen. The acidic sting of bile stunk the back of his throat, trying to clog his airway and burst from his mouth.
Time stilled, his breath hitching briefly before he swiftly released Link, his eye full of, uncertainty? And, remorse? Link quickly moved away from his capture. Instincts roared in his mind, to cower, to not anger the hylians more, to make a run for it before the hunt truly began. But he ignored the roaring in his ears and stood his ground instead.
"Will you all calm down?" The man Link attacked exhaled in exasperation, rolling his eyes as all the men surrounding them glared at Link with swords drawn. "You are all acting like he was plunging a sword through my chest. It was my bad, I startled him." Turning towards Link he smiled sheepishly, handing him back his sword. "And sorry about that, I wasn't trying to scare you."
"You didn't scare me." Link replied, lying through his teeth. "Startled, but not scared. Apologizes for putting a sword to your neck, that was a little extreme."
"Great, amazing, we're all friends now." Link's gaze snapped to a red clad alpha stepping around the one he attacked. Crossing his arms he glared at Link. "This a incredibly dangerous area, did you not see the barriers around? You shouldn't be here."
Link narrowed his eyes, staring back at the man. 'Oh,' Sniffing Link recoiled slightly. 'You're really trying to get me with your damn pheromones? Tough luck, different species bud.' "I can take care of myself, thank you." Link snapped, baring his teeth as he ears shot up.
"I d- ow!" The red tuniced man hissed, moving away as Time swatted at him again.
"Quit that, don't you have any manners?" Time, seeming to be the oldest, and possible leader of the group? Scolded, before he turned his singular eye on Link, his armor clinking as his shifted to face him. Flashing a gentle smile he started talking. "Apologies for his behavior. But he is correct that this is a very dangerous area. The king's…" The man trailed off as his eye lowered, looking at Link's hand as he crossed his arms. "You wield the Triforce."
Link jolted, alarm bells ringing against his skull as every pair of eyes zoned in on him. Quickly glancing around he looked for an escape route. The last thing he needed was to be in the middle of a group of crazy that either wanted to kill or worship him.
"Yup." Link's voice was stiff as he took a step back. Time seemed to notice his apprehension, his eye widening briefly before he pulled his glove off, exposing the golden triangle adorning the back of his hand.
"Me as well."
Link froze, his brows knitting together as he stared as the Triforce.
What? that wasn't- how was this possible? Where the hell was he?
"Amazing!" A overly enthusiastic voice chirped beside Link, a hand touching his arm a second later as an omega wearing a white cape moved into view, smiling at him. "We've been horribly outnumbered for so long, its great to have another omega in the chain."
"Ah…" Link shrunk away from the man, his ears lowering slightly. What was happening?
"Yay! New member!" A boy slammed into Link's leg, his voice loud, happy scents wafting off the child like evaporating dew in the morning. "We're going to get up to so much trouble together!"
"Oh! And help in battle!" The alpha he originally attacked bounced over, smiling wildly as he continued to ramble. "I saw your moves! And with how easily you took me down- Wow, super impressive! What kind of sword technique to you use?"
Link forced a whimper down, stumbling away from the crown of excited hylians. "Could you-"
"Stop crowding him, all of you!" Time growled, stepping closer to Link and shooing the others away. "You cannot start crowding him all at once, we need to explain what is happening."
"I would appreciate a explanation." Link responded stiffly, forcing his nerves down as he straightened up.
"Our camp's this way." Another man joined the conversation, his bright blue scarfs swaying slightly as he shifted his weight, gesturing to a forest. "We can explain everything after we get somewhere safer."
Link nodded but stayed quiet.
"So whats your hyrule like?" A brown haired alpha asked after a couple of seconds of walking, his eyes bright with curiosity.
Pushing the question on what does 'his hyrule' mean to the side Link responded. "It's fine, difficult at times, but fine none the less." He didn't know these people, he couldn't' trust them when it came to giving out information about his home.
"What's your title?" Another alpha asked- Spirits there were a lot of them- the shortest in the group, Link thought.
"Hero of Twilight." That was fine to say, right? What could people do with his title? It was common knowledge, it wasn't like it was his home or anything.
"So that means you name's now twilight!" The youngest of the group piped up, bumping into Link's side.
"What?" What where these people on about?! He should not be following them back to their camp, they were crazy.
The white cape wearing 'hero' turned around walking backwards. "We're all named Link, so we go by our titles instead! So I'm Link, but because I'm the Hero of Skies, I go by Sky."
Twilight stayed quiet as they continued walking, trudging through greenery and around low hanging branches until they entered a small clearing, a fire pit set up in the middle, surrounded by some bedrolls and other gear.
Sitting down on a log as Time gestured for him to sit, Twilight looked around the group. Four alphas, two omegas- jeez they were outnumbered- one child, and- Twilight furrowed his brow and inhaled again. And nothing, the smallest of the group didn't smell like anything. Weird, Twilight never encountered that before, he wasn't a child, Twi could smell that much, so it wasn't just that he hadn't presented yet. He just, wasn't anything. Kind of like humans.
'Oh shoot! stared to long.' Quickly turning his gaze back to Time- surely he was the leader- as the short hero met his eyes, Twi awkwardly flicked his ear, pointing not looking at the youth as a puff of confusion came off him.
Time settled on a log opposite Twilight, his posture relaxed as he regarded him. "So, we are hunting a type of monsters known as black bloods, their-"
"And every other monster that gets in our way!" The child interrupted, pumping his fist in the air.
Twilight's breath hitched, his pulse suddenly sounding a lot louder in his ears. They hunted monsters- "Every monster?"
"Yup!"
Twilight bit the inside of his cheek. They hunted every monster. He was a monster… but he wasn't bad, they wouldn't- would they?
The Leader Alpha cleared his throat drawing Twilight's attention again. "Yes we do that as well, but we're mainly focusing on the black bloods. Black blood are monsters who's, hence the name, blood is black. Their stronger, faster, smarter than their normal counterparts."
Twilight forced the fear bubbling in his chest down. "So, is it like an infection or somethin'?"
"We believe so, yes. Something akin to a sickness or disease." The blue scarfed man, who was sitting next to Time, answered before he could. Where they mates? Didn't smell like it, but Twi didn't know of many packs back home where someone could answer for the Lead Alpha like that and not get corrected.
"We've been brought together across the eras by portals." Time paused, noticing how Twilight perked up at the mention of portals.
"I went though a portal, before encounterin'…" Twi trailed off, looking at the hero he had attacked.
"Wild."
"Before I ran inta Wild."
Time- why was he smiling at him?- smiled softly, nodding. "That's how it typically goes. New member always finds us before we find them."
"Some faster than other apparently." The red tuniced alpha crosse his arms as he looked at Twilight. "You've set a new record, been stuck in this era for weeks."
'The hell is his problem?' Twilight opened his mouth to snap back, but the Lead Alpha beat him to it.
"That is not Twilight's fault, he said himself, he just arrived." Time sent a glare to Red Tunic, looking like he would be growling if he was a wolf.
"That's what he says, but we have no way of confirming that! His dark magic coated ass could be lying. He could be conspiring with our enemy for all we know!"
Twilight reeled back, what? He had done nothing wrong and been there for five minutes and someone was already pointing fingers at him?!
"Legend be quiet!" Blue Scarf yelled, glaring at 'Legend'. "We have no evidence for anything like that. If you don't have anything helpful to add, shut the hell up."
Legend let out a low, displeased sound, glaring at the other man. Scarf glared back, shooting daggers at him. They stayed like this for several seconds, both silently fighting for dominance over the other. Eventfully Legend huffed, looking away as his ears pinned back.
Scarf looked at Twi again. "We're currently helping this kingdom get rid of their monster problem in this area, hoping to find some black bloods while we're at it."
"Cool." Twilight mentally slapped himself as his lips muttered the word. What was that? 'Cool'? Who says that?
"Hey… Twilight- I remembered- What would you like for dinner?" Wild piped up, scrolling through a device Twilight had never seem before.
"Oh, um. I'll eat whatever, not super picky."