Loved By Deities, Part 1

[sinnatious]

Title: Loved By Deities

Summary: Linked Universe fic (Legend of Zelda). Time-centric.

The scariest tool at Time's disposal is the Fierce Deity mask. The second scariest is Nayru's Love.

Warnings: Contains violence, swearing.

Author’s Note: Still on Linked Universe bandwagon, so vomited this thing out which wound up way longer than intended. This particular foray was born out of a mix of me needing more Time angst and Time BAMFery, and the frustrating childhood memory of activating Nayru's Love at a bad time and discovering I suddenly couldn't cancel it, not even by taking it off the c buttons. Will be three parts.

_____________


Part 1

_____________

They’re in a forest grove in Twilight’s Hyrule, somewhere in the Zora Highlands. The air is crisp, a touch too cold to be comfortable, and the sound of running water seems omnipresent. It’s an odd place for a portal to drop them, especially as things appear peaceful. On the plus side, Twilight has assured them all that his Hyrule isn’t facing any ongoing threats, so any trouble will be easily spotted.

With no pressing issues at hand, they’re taking a moment to regroup from the battle just fought – a messy skirmish with a horde of lizalfos that had occurred just before the latest world switch. They’re out of fairies and red potions, so Hyrule had offered to heal up the nasty cut on Four’s sword arm. Which of course, had spurred on a conversation about magic, and because it’s them, it’s become a competition. Everything is a competition when things are quiet, but Time just sits back and lets them at it. It builds comradery, and they learn more about each other’s strengths and weaknesses this way than any other method they attempt.

Wild shrugs. “I used to have some impressive spells, but since defeating Calamity Ganon, I can’t use them anymore.” He perks up, pulling out his Sheikah Slate. “I have this though-”

“No objects! That’s cheating,” Wind protests.

“Then you can’t do any wind magic either, brat.” Warriors elbows him.

Wind scrunches up his face. “…Fine! Items are okay, but if it doesn’t use your own strength, it doesn’t count.”

“Hands up anyone who has ever had to chug a green potion?” Legend declares, looking around. Half of them grimace, Time included, at the memory of the taste.

Sky smiles at that, caressing the Master Sword fondly. “I suppose that counts me out, then. It was all her, really.”

Warriors flexes an arm, as though physical muscles were just as good a metaphor for magic. “My Focus Spirit mode is pretty powerful, if you’ve ever seen it-”

“How different is that to what Wild does when he focuses?” Twilight jibes.

“What about you then, farm boy?” Warriors retorts.

Twilight shrugs it off. “I’m not really one for magic. Though if I could have any, Traveller’s healing magic clearly takes the cake over your Focus Spirit hocus pocus.”

“Hocus pocus?”

“What about you, little one?” Time prompts Four, who has been keeping quiet as he admires his now fully healed arm. It serves to distract Warriors and Twilight from getting into a wrestling match.

“Oh, my magic is a bit too unconventional to compete with that,” Four admits. “If Sky is out, I am too.”

Wind folds his arms. “I can command the power of cyclones-”

“Traveller can do more than just heal, though can’t he?” Sky asks, curious. “Though he’s the only one who can heal, so that’s remarkable on its own.”

They all look to Hyrule, who ducks his head. “Ah, yes, but I think Legend’s magic is much more impressive…” he demurs.

Legend rolls up his sleeves and cracks his knuckles. “Let me tell you about magic…”

Everyone groans, except Time, who saw this coming. “He is our resident sorcerer, after all,” he quips. “I’m not sure what anyone expected.”

“What about you, Old Man?” Twilight says. He seems to have decided that if he can’t compete, he’ll at least champion anyone other than Legend to keep the competition going. “You’ve got some pretty impressive spells of your own.”

“Hardly. They’re not much use in a group.” If he leaves the songs and masks and sword techniques out of it, which seems only right if Four and Sky and Twilight and Wild have all conceded. “Din’s Fire doesn’t discriminate. And Farore’s Wind wouldn’t do anything more than separate us.”

“There’s Nayru’s Love though,” Twilight presses. “I think that’s the strongest protection spell any of us have, right? Even Traveller’s shield isn’t complete invulnerability.”

“Wow, really? I’ve never seen it. Old Man, show us!” Wind bounces in place, excited.

“I’d like to see it too,” Warriors chimes in. “If it’s really so impressive, prove it! Let’s see if it can hold up against my Focus Spirit!”

A slow thread of panic curls around his throat, threatening to choke off his words. By long experience, Time fights it back, and keeps his expression easy. “Ten years ago, perhaps. But I’m too old to be casting that sort of magic on a whim now. I’m afraid both Traveller and our sorcerer have me beat.”

Legend scoffs. “Don’t give me that, Old Man. Magic potential only goes up as you get older. That’s why all those old sages are strong as shit, right?”

Time shoots him a look that intends to prompt him to drop it, but Legend just grins wider. He’s doubling down specifically because he’s noticed that Time’s uncomfortable.

“I’ve already conceded,” he says, and inwardly cringes at how tight his voice comes out.

“Aw, come on Old Man, don’t be such a spoilsport,” Legend wheedles. “I want to see how it matches up against the Cane of Byrna.”

“I really wanna see too!” Wind adds enthusiastically.

Even Hyrule gives him a guilty look and admits, “I’m pretty interested in seeing what such a powerful shield looks like, especially one that doesn’t use an item. Maybe we can learn from it?”

“I don’t get why you wouldn’t use something that strong all the time,” Four remarks. “Imagine not being able to be hurt at all. Does it use that much magic?”

Twilight casts him a glance. He, at least, has picked up on his souring mood. “I think the drawback is it works both ways, right? While it’s up, you’re limited in what you can do.”

“It would be so handy for running away though!” Wind points out excitedly.

“What if you jumped off a mountain?” Wild wonders. “You wouldn’t even need a paraglider.” He looks wistful, in a way that suggests it’s a probably a good thing he doesn’t have access to such magic.

“What if it faded before you hit, though?” Sky shudders. “How long does it last anyway? Just until your magic runs out?”

“That’s how my Cane works,” Legend offers. “You don’t have to leave it up until you’re dry, Old Man. Just for a second. Two seconds, if the captain really wants to show off his Focus Spirit Hocus Pocus.”

Warriors takes exception to that. “Hey!”

“It doesn’t work like that,” Time protests. His mouth has gone dry. He won’t react. He won’t. They can’t understand. They don’t know what they’re asking.

“Then how does it work?” Wind asks, bright-eyed. It’s just curiosity.

“The Old Man is always like this,” Warriors complains. “Won’t join in with a spar, won’t give us a straight answer to any question, won’t even cast a harmless spell.”

Time’s patience snaps.

“I don’t use it because I’m never sure if she’ll let me out again,” he says, stands up, and stalks off.

Some part of him is aware of the group falling silent behind him, but he’s out of earshot before he can hear if it holds. He walks until he finds the source of the running water – one of the smaller creeks that feeds into the Zora river.

He chooses a tree by the bank, sits under it, and takes a deep, long breath.

It was unnecessarily harsh of him. He’ll have to find a way to apologise to them later – maybe he can schedule them a rest day, see if they can visit Ordon or Kakariko or Hyrule Castle Town. Somewhere Warriors can get drunk and the young ones can play at a shooting gallery and they can all sleep on proper beds for once. He might need it too, he reasons. There were so many better ways he could have handled that. It’s rare for him to let a situation slip so far out of his control.

Legend won this round, in more ways than one.

He closes his eye, focusing on the sound of the breeze rustling the trees and the soothing white noise of the creek. He’s never put the fear into words before, not even to Malon, and the stark honesty of it has left him rattled.

Time is no stranger to being fought over by Gods, to the feeling that his body, his fate, does not belong to him. He’s been a Kokkiri without a fairy. A Hylian with one. A child with an adult’s body, then an adult with the body of a child. Hylia brands his hand with the Triforce. The Fierce Deity brands his face with his markings.

The Great Fairies have recently taken to calling him ‘Nayru’s favourite’. Even Zelda had alluded to it, when she handed him the Ocarina of Time once more. As if it were a blessing. As if it weren’t terrifying.

His quiet reflection isn’t allowed to last long – it’s only some minutes later when the rustle of undergrowth heralds someone approaching. He doesn’t turn to look – experience tells him by the gait and size it’s a Hylian, so likely one of the boys come to check on him and make peace. A few moments later, he’s proven right as Twilight awkwardly approaches.

“I’ll go back soon,” he promises, “I just need a few minutes to collect myself.”

“No it’s… it’s okay. Everyone is sorry, you know. We didn’t realise, we thought it was just…” Twilight fumbles to say.

Time turns his face away. “I know.” After an awkward beat of silence, he hears Twilight sit on the grass next to him.

He isn’t surprised when the question comes. Has braced himself for it, from the minute he foolishly opened his mouth. “What did you mean, about that spell?”

It would be easy not to answer. They won’t press it any further, he knows, not after he stormed off. There’s always a delicate game of push and pull among them when it comes to sensitive topics, and on the rare occasion someone has stumbled across an invisible line, they’re all quick to retreat from it.

It’s Twilight, though, and he can never quite bring himself to brush him off.

“I’ve only used that spell twice since I married Malon,” Time says. “The first time, I used it because I was pinned down by a horde of beamos. It seemed an easy way to handle the problem.”

Twilight shifts uncomfortably next to him, but doesn’t break his silence.

“And it was. I cleared the Beamos with plenty of time to spare. Except the spell didn’t fade.”

He’s only told this story once before, to his wife, but the details remain ever vivid in his memory, the slowly building panic as he stared at the world through the fractured light of a crystal, grasping for magic out of his reach, for his ocarina, for anything that might put an end to the spell. After the initial cast, Nayru’s Love didn’t draw on his magic. It had always just faded after a minute or so, though some part of him had distantly noted that it had been creeping up, lasting a just a little longer than he expected every time. It had been easy to put that down to him growing older, and his magic power slowly growing stronger as a result. Until suddenly he was staring at a sunset through the sheen of blue crystal, wondering what had gone wrong.

“It lasted for hours, for no apparent reason. It faded on its own, eventually. But it left me wary.”

Twilight clears his throat. “And the second time?”

Time raises a hand, and lets it drift across his blinded eye. “When I got this.”

Despite himself, Twilight leans forward. Time knows it’s a point of morbid curiosity among the boys – it wouldn’t surprise him if they’re running a betting pool over the story, much like they had over his wife.

“I had avoided the spell, after what happened the previous time. But I was half-blinded, injured, and panicking, and there were still enemies to deal with. So I used it.”

He lets out a shaky breath, so that his voice at least will be steady. “This time, the spell didn’t fade for three days.”

Three days in agony, with blood caking his face, with the Fierce Deity’s marks still burning, where even once every threat had been beaten down with nothing more than his sword he couldn’t get away, couldn’t use Farore’s Wind to escape or a song to spirit him to safety, to a Great Fairy fountain where he could have had healing or a temple within reach of a town with food and potions.

It had nearly killed him. There had been nothing for him to use his hookshot on, so he had dragged his injured and broken body out of the pit he’d nearly died in with determination alone, had limped for two days in desperate search of a fairy, any fairy, any succor at all.

Nayru’s Love hadn’t faded until he’d stumbled in sight of the Desert Colossus. And by then his eye was long past even a Great Fairy’s power to save.

He hasn’t cast it since.

The only one Time ever wants to belong to is Malon.

“Shit,” Twilight murmurs.

Time is tempted to chide him for language, but he rather shares the sentiment. “Indeed.”

“Yeah, uh, so it makes sense why you don’t use it. We are really sorry, we didn’t know,” Twilight hurries to say, then pauses, brow furrowing. “Wait, but you didn’t say how your eye in the first place got-”

“Apology accepted,” Time interrupts breezily, pushing himself to his feet and brushing the grass from his legs.

Twilight scrambles to feet after him. “But Old Man-”

His protest is cut short, as a horrific sound suddenly pierces the quiet of the forest. It echoes, shrill and unrelenting - something between a screech and a roar, and it shivers down Time’s bones like the scream of a Redead.

Twilight has gone pale. “No, it can’t be-”

It came from back at their camp. “Quick, to the others,” Time orders, hand already on his sword as he retraces his steps.

He slows as he approaches, peering through the trees for the source. Twilight is mere steps behind him. He’s nearly back at the clearing when he spies a dark figure skulking through the trees. He slips back, tracking its movement. There’s four others, as well, which he spots a moment later.

They’re not a creature he’s ever seen the like of before. They’re the stuff of nightmares - spindly, grasping threads of darkness in place of a head, slick, black skin patterned with geometric tattoos, cracks of glowing red light on their chest, and a metal shield for a face. The largest one has a face plate of gold, but the others look like dull iron. They move like something organic while everything about them feels artificial, unnatural. All the worse is how easy it is to see what power is coiled in that form, with every loping stride and hulking step. They move fast, too. Deceptively so.

Twilight grabs his arm, pulling him further back. Time goes easily, until they have more distance on them. “You recognise these?” he whispers.

“Shadow beasts,” Twilight gasps. “It shouldn’t be possible that they’re here. The way between realms is closed.”

“A good many things shouldn’t be possible on this adventure,” Time says, grim. “And yet, they occur anyhow. Anything you can tell me about them?”

Twilight is visibly rattled, but he’s a fighter, first and foremost, and pulls himself together. “You have to kill them all. As fast as you can. If even one is left… they’re like stalchildren, but worse. They’ll just keep coming back.”

Troublesome, especially since there’s only two of them and five of the enemy. There’s no sight or sound of the others yet, and that’s worrying.

“The big one is leaving,” Twilight notes in a murmur. “We should wait until it goes. I never saw any with gold face plates. The ones I fought were all iron. There were some elite ones, I think – silver ones – but I never had to fight those.” He peers from their cover at the hulking beast. “It’s… a lot larger than any others I ever faced.”

So they don’t know quite what to expect then. That’s par for the course on this miserable adventure. Hylia wouldn’t bring all nine of them together otherwise.

They don’t have to wait long – the gold-faced one heads off with alarming speed, leaving the four iron-faced beasts prowling the forest. It looks like they’re searching, which doesn’t bode well. Time hefts his sword, and shares a glance with Twilight, who draws his own with a nod. Wordlessly, they split apart.

Twilight has doubtlessly managed more than two on his own before, so it’s going to be up to Time not to mess it up.

As soon as they’re spotted, the creatures growl, not running so much as slithering towards them. He keeps an eye on Twilight as they engage, splitting them apart, careful attacks to test their reflexes, quick steps back as he dodges, luring two away.

He can spot it, the moment Twilight adjusts his grip on his sword, a faint zip of magic running the length of the blade. It’s a move Time thought he himself had invented, but it stands to reason that he must have passed it down, that somehow it made its way to his ancestor. The thought sends a wave of warmth through him. He does the same himself a moment later, lets the beasts draw in close, then in tandem, lets loose a spin attack.

As one, all four collapse to the ground, silent. A moment later they seem to dissipate, spreading like tar then evaporating into unnatural cubes of darkness, leaving behind no sign they ever existed. Unnerving.

“The others,” Time says, and Twilight nods. The sound of battle should have drawn them, even if the first shriek somehow didn’t. The two of them rush through the forest, until they arrive back at their temporary camp.

The clearing looks like a warzone. There are scorch marks on the ground, and torn earth, and most worrying of all, no sign of their comrades.

“No…” Twilight looks around with a broken expression.

Time bends down, picking up a bag. It’s Legend’s. Hyrule’s is next to it. A short distance away, he can see both of their weapons, dropped on the ground.

They’d been caught unawares then. Disarmed and dragged off before they could put up a proper fight. The scorch mark is probably from Legend’s Fire Rod, which he can also spy in the grass a little further away.

The Master Sword is lying next to it. His heart skips a beat in worry for Sky. He treasures that blade, and would never leave it behind, or unattended, willingly.

“They were taken?” Time asks. There is no blood, no bodies. The creatures didn’t have mouths. Kidnapping is only thing that makes sense.

“Probably. The first time I came across these guys, they tried to kill me, then threw me into prison instead.” He shivers. “How many must there have been, though, to get everyone? We weren’t gone that long.”

“See if you can find anything else,” Time says. He tracks around the outer edge of the clearing, and finds Wind’s sword as well, but no sign of his bag. Hopefully that means he’s kept it, so they have at least some tools at their disposal. There’s no sign of Warriors’ sword, either – only the Fire Rod.

There’s a rustle of leaves in the tree above him. Time glances up, out of habit, checking for threats, and pauses at the sight which greets him.

“Wild?” he asks.

Wild blinks blearily down at him. There’s blood running from a wound on his head, painting the scarred half of his face red. Time swears under his breath. “Twilight! A little help over here.”

He jogs over as Time begins to eye the branches and question whether they’ll hold his fully armoured weight, but doesn’t have to put it to the test as the instant Twilight sees what he’s looking at, he scrambles up the tree like a… not exactly like a cat, but more a very determined wolf.

“Old Man, I’m going to let him down, you got him?”

“Go ahead.” Time steps back to bear Wild’s weight as Twilight lowers him by the arms. Wild’s making a pained face, which hints to hidden injuries, but there’s nothing to be done for it. They can’t help until he’s back on solid ground.

Time lays him down. Wild is conscious, but he seems to be having trouble focusing. He checks the head wound while Twilight makes his way back down to earth.

“Is he okay?” Twilight asks, dropping to his knees next to him.

“The blood makes the wound look worse than it is, but head injuries are tricky.” He shakes Wild by the shoulder. “Cook, you with me?”

He blinks, slowly. “Old Man?” he slurs.

“Are you hurt anywhere else?” Wild’s face tightens at the question, but Time is well wise to the tricks of his boys by now. With careful, prodding fingers, he checks each of his joints, then his arms and legs. His bow arm is badly scratched – it looks like a bow had broken mid-draw in his hands, and knowing Wild that could very well be the case. It would explain why he’d been in the tree, as well.

It’s not serious though, and wouldn’t normally merit any treatment beyond a bit of cleaning. When his fingers reach his side though, Wild winces. There it is.

Time pulls up the blue tunic to inspect the damage. No broken skin, but a large patch of his chest and side is already an angry red. If they’re lucky, bruising is all it is. If they’re unlucky, he’s broken some ribs. Like the head injury, there’s little they can do for it.

“Is it bad?” Twilight asks.

“Certainly it’s not good. Normally I’d want him to use a fairy or a potion, but we were out of those to begin with. And now our traveller is missing too with his handy healing magic. Is there any source of fairies or potions nearby?”

Twilight winces. “The closest Spring is Eldin’s, which is near Kakariko. It’s a long ride from here, even longer without a horse… and we’d have to cross the Bridge of Eldin to get there.”

Time thinks on it. The landscape has changed somewhat, of course, but he knows these mountains and these rivers, at least. “I thought Kakariko a good deal closer than that.”

Twilight looks confused for only a moment. “Oh! You must be thinking of the Hidden Village. I heard it used to be called Kakariko a long time ago, until they moved to the current one.” He grimaces. “If there’s a fairy there, good luck finding them.”

It’s disconcerting being in a Hyrule so familiar yet so alien. “We’ll handle it without magic, then.” To Wild he adds, “You’ll have another scar to add to your impressive collection, I’m afraid.”

Wild huffs, holding a hand to his head. “At least it won’t stand out,” he murmurs. His eyes are tracking him properly now, which makes Time hopeful that the head injury might be a mild one after all.

They don’t have potions, but they do have water. Time sets to cleaning the wounds, talking as he works. “So what can you tell us about what happened? Do you know what happened to the others?”

“They snatched up Hyrule and Legend before we even realised we were under attack,” Wild murmurs, wincing as Time dabs carefully around the wound. His words are halting, but slowly becoming stronger – he doesn’t sound half-drunk anymore. “I didn’t see where Four went, but the rest of us all fought back. I took a few bad hits before I managed to kill the creature I was fighting. It gets a bit fuzzy after that. But I know I climbed the tree to try to snipe the ones carrying the other two off.” He pauses, clearly struggling to gather his thoughts, as Time wraps a makeshift bandage around his head wound. “But then… just when we were about to win, the last one let out this awful sound… and suddenly they were all back, like we hadn’t done anything at all.”

The scream they’d heard. One of the shadow beasts reviving its brethren, then.

“I don’t think the others were prepared for it. They got overwhelmed, and last I saw they were carrying them off, the same way they did the others. I tried to shoot them, before they could get away, but then my bow broke. I’m sorry, I tried…” Wild’s voice breaks on the words.

“You’ve got nothing to apologise for,” Time hushes him. “You were ambushed by a strange enemy. Twilight explained how they worked to me. There wasn’t anything more you could have done.”

“But it’s not right that I escaped, and they-”

“I’m just glad we’ve got one less person to rescue, and one more person to help us do the rescuing,” Twilight cuts in easily, dropping a hand on Wild’s back. Their cook relaxes slightly under it, and Time hums in approval.

He ties off the bandage as best he can, and rinses the cuts on Wild’s arm with the last of the water. They’ll have to refill before they move on.

“We’d best gather all their things. They’ll want them back once we find them,” Time says, then pushes Wild back down when he goes to stand. “You, sit. I’d rather we didn’t have you move for at least a night, but since I doubt we’ll have that luxury, I’ll settle for you resting as long as we can spare.”

“I’ve had worse,” Wild says, poking at his head bandage experimentally.

“We’ve all had worse, but that’s no reason to push our luck,” Time chides. He goes to fetch the Fire Rod, and beckons Twilight. “The Master Sword, if you would.”

Twilight heads over to it. “You’re still not comfortable with this blade?”

“I have my hands full already,” Time says, which everyone present knows is an excuse, but Twilight ducks his head – because he knew better than to ask.

Twilight pauses a few steps away from the Master Sword, though, staring at… his feet? He crouches down, then starts swearing to the three Goddesses in a way that would have turned Sky purple. “Uhhh, guys? I think I found our smithy.”

Time stows the gathered bags and weapons and makes his way over to where Twilight is very slowly and carefully rising to his feet. “What do you mean?”

“Just… look.” He holds out his hands. In them sits what at first glance seems to be an ordinary field mouse, except Time has never seen one with such unusually golden fur, or mismatched blue and green eyes, or with a purple-tipped tail and bright red feet.

Wild peers at the strange mouse sitting tamely in Twilight’s cupped hands with a look on his face that suggests he thinks he might have taken a harder hit to the head than he thought. Time, on the other hand, is no stranger to transformation – and cloaked though it is in strange magic, there is little doubt in his mind that this odd critter is Four.

“My my, little one, you continue to surprise me,” he says with a smile. The unusual mouse squeaks at him, and he wonders if the Mask of Truth would be able to translate his words.

“Uh, I don’t think… I don’t think he did it on purpose,” Twilight says in a rush.

“Pardon?”

“The shadow beasts did one of two things – they either killed you, or turned you into one of them. And not just Hylians, Twili were victims too.”

“The others?” Time asks, alarmed.

“Well, they won’t turn into shadow beasts, I don’t think. I didn’t,” Twilight says. “But if the kid here is any indication, they might be cursed into different forms.” He gently lowers his hands to a fallen tree trunk, and the mouse dutifully scurries onto it. “Because we’re all… you know, us… it gives us a measure of protection, so the curse doesn’t work quite right. S”

Concerning, and something to keep in mind. “We’ll deal with that as it happens.” Such a small form had no doubt let Four escape unnoticed, but it could have just as easily lead to him being crushed underfoot in the following battle. “Is there a way to turn him back?”

“The Master Sword should do it. Come to think of it, maybe he had the same idea… he was heading that way when I found him in the grass. Sorry, little guy.” The mouse squeaks loudly. Twilight fetches the Master Sword, and lays it next to him. The mouse scurries up to it, and one blinding flash later, Four stands before them once more.

“By the Goddesses that was weird!” he exclaims, patting himself down.

“Anything amiss? No injuries?” Time prompts.

“No, I got… transformed, I guess, for lack of a better word – maybe cursed? – pretty early in the fight. I uh… I have a bit of experience with being that tall, so when I woke up I got out away from the fighting as fast as I could.” He turns on Twilight, and pokes him in the chest. “Didn’t think to warn us about that, Wolfie?”

Twilight holds up his hands in defence with a nervous smile. “I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

“Oh come off it, everyone here knows already,” Four dismisses. “And I bet the rest will guess real quick if they go through that.”

“Right,” Twilight sighs, then pauses. “Oh, our sorcerer will be…” He covers his mouth, seconds too late to hide his grin.

“What?” Time asks. It seems a strange moment for levity.

Twilight appears to know it, as he struggles to put his serious face back on. “He’s transformed before, when subjected to this kind of curse. He’s uh… he’s probably a pink bunny, right now.”

Time raises an eyebrow. “Truly?”

Twilight swallows a laugh, poorly. “Yeah. He was distraught that even I found out.”

“A bunny. Really? That guy?” Four asks sceptically.

“If we shoot him does he drop rupees?” Wild wonders.

“We’d best not let him suffer that fate for long, then,” Time cuts in, before their speculation can run out of control. He hopes the idea is mostly due to Wild’s head injury.

“Wait! This thing dropped, when I changed back.” Four moves to pick up a small black crystal in the grass.

“Be careful with that!” Twilight warns. “That’s what the Master Sword turned the curse into. Don’t touch it unless you want to be a mouse again.”

Four shudders, snatching his hand away. “Ugh. Really? No thanks. This feels like dark magic.”

“Because it is,” Time says. “But we deal with the hands we’re dealt. Dispose of it or keep it, up to you.”

“Get rid of it,” Four says firmly.

Twilight shrugs, and shatters the crystal with quick flick of the Master Sword. “One of these is enough, anyway.”

It’s on the tip of Time’s tongue to say even one is too many, but that would be the height of hypocrisy, and it’s really none of his business anyhow. “This has improved our odds, at least,” he remarks. “The next matter is pursuit.”

“I can track them, probably,” Twilight offers. “But we should go soon. The trail won’t last forever.”

“We don’t want to leave them waiting longer than necessary, either.” Time nods. “We’ll gather everyone’s things, refill our water, and get moving as soon as we can. Not you, Cook.” He points at Wild, who is again in the process of rising to his feet. “If you don’t want us to carry you, you’ll stay there until the very moment we’re ready to leave.”

Wild guiltily sinks back down.

“I’ll get the water,” Four says, grabbing up the waterskins and scurrying off towards the creek. He at least seems none the worse for wear for his ordeal.

Twilight sighs, ruffling his hair. “I guess this means the cat really is out of the bag…”

“Or perhaps you mean the wolf?” Time quips.

“Augh! Old Man!”

“He’s right you know, everyone here is all aware, and you’ve said the sorcerer is too. Keeping it a secret now is just excluding the few not in the know,” Time points out.

“I know, I know. I just wish… well, that it wasn’t like this.”

“I suspect that there is no right time for such a thing.” He slips Legend’s and Hyrule’s bags over his shoulder, and hooks the Fire Rod onto his belt, along with their swords. The Sheikah Slate is nearly always at storage capacity just with their provisions, and Legend is always dubious about storing anything enchanted in it. He doesn’t want Wild carrying anything extra, and Twilight will have to transform into a wolf so that leaves… Wind’s sword, and the Master Sword.

He’ll simply have to bear it. The sword is nearly as tall as Four is – he can’t ask him to carry it. He fetches Wind’s Phantom Sword first. The hourglass, as always, catches his eye, something about the magic of the blade snagging on his senses. He has his suspicions, but he hangs them on his belt with it. He doesn’t want to poke that particular hornet nest if he can help it.

Then he sighs, and holds out his hand for the Master Sword.

Twilight pauses. “Are you sure? I can carry it as Wolfie. I have before. I just have to wrap the blade so it doesn’t force me out of that form.”

“It’s fine,” Time lies. “Hand it over before I change my mind.”

Twilight does, slowly and carefully.

Time wishes he could say he feels nothing when he grasps the blade. But the back of his hand tingles, and he feels a wave of warmth wash through him, like a hug welcoming him home, the whisper of promises and apologies and wishes in his ears.

He hangs the sword on his back and pretends his skin isn’t crawling. Pretends the marks on his face aren’t suddenly burning.

Time is fought over by gods, and he’s lost a friend, lost an eye, lost years to the struggle. But he’ll be damned if he loses any other friends to it, just because of a little discomfort.

It’s not all bad, he tells himself. At least between this whole fracas, and Twilight’s flimsy secret being revealed, everyone has forgotten about his walk out earlier.

Four comes back into the clearing in short order, and promptly breaks out into a grin at the sight of him. “You’re like a pack mule, Old Man! Sure you don’t want me to carry some of that?”

“It might be better to leave at least one of us unencumbered to fight,” Time replies. “So we’ll be relying on you to keep us safe, little one.”

Four’s smile widens at that. “You got it.”

Still, the weight of half of their party’s inventory in addition to his own is significant. He’s lucky they’re going to have to take it slow for Wild’s sake anyway. Hopefully they’ll come across a roaming fairy, or some chus they can turn into potions, and he can share some of the load. Hand off the Master Sword, at least. “Is that everything, then?”

“I couldn’t find anything else,” Twilight says. “Think that’s probably it. Did you see if anyone else got left behind, Wild? Maybe someone turned into a frog?”

“Very funny,” Four says with his arms crossed.

“You know, your form tends to say something about you,” Twilight comments, ruffling the shorter boy’s hair. “So it is, in fact, pretty funny that you turned into a mouse, squirt.”

Four bats his hands away. “You can’t get me with that! Being small is great! It’s super useful! Way better than a wolf.”

Twilight just laughs it off, but there’s a faintly insincere note to it. “Yeah, well, I suppose that means no one is scared of you, at least.” He seems to realise that came out more honest than he intended, so quickly follows with, “Because they’d have to be able to see you to be scared of you right?”

“Lots of people fear mice. Malon shrieks up a storm every time she sees one,” Time remarks. “But that’s all irrelevant. We should be getting on our way. How are you feeling, Cook?”

Wild all but leaps to his feet, fails to hide his following wobble and wince, then gives them a thumbs up. Time sighs, but there’s nothing to be done. “Lead on then, if you would, ‘Wolfie’.”