Chapter Text
Afterwards, nobody really wanted to leave each other alone, and everyone started to argue over who got to share bedrolls with First. In the end, Four proposed a solution.
“My brothers and I always made a big bedroll mat on the ground and slept in a pile. Why don’t we do that?”
They all agreed with that, and all of the bedrolls (sans Warriors’s, which was still covered in glitter) were pushed into a giant pile. There were some worries about them sliding around at night, but Legend had a bunch of safety pins in his bag, and pinned all of the rolls together.
They chose watches, with Time and Warriors on first watch, Four and Legend on second, and Twilight and Wild on last.
The pile did look very comfortable, and those on watch rued that they wouldn’t get as much sleep there.
Around 20 minutes in, everyone was hopelessly tangled, as Sky had latched onto First, who was on his side, Four lying on his legs. Hyrule and Legend were holding each other off to the side, Twilight up against them while lying against Sky’s side. Spirit and Wind were off to the bottom of the mats, Spirit lying on Twilight’s legs while Wind leaned up against Wild, who was starfished off to the side.
First started to toss in his sleep, and Warriors could just about make out his whispers of ‘stop. Stop it.’ It broke his heart, and he moved to gently wake him up, before Sky shifted, wrapping more securely around First. His breathing evened out as he sank into the hug.
Time smiled at his kids, before turning to Warriors.
“I already knew the tears were deliberate, but Goddesses. Four years?”
He leaned against his older brother. “It’s a miracle he’s still alive, let alone sane.”
“I know.” Warriors leaned into Time, staring up at the sky. “Do the goddesses hate us all? I never would have imagined anyone could be that cruel.”
“He couldn’t have even been able to drink yet. Goddesses, he must've been 17. He became an adult while being tortured.”
He reached over to his bag, pulling a familiar mask out of a hidden pocket in the side. Looking it over, he sighed. “You think Fierce would adopt him?”
Warriors started to laugh. “Mask, there is no doubt in my mind.”
It was the second watch, and Legend was bored. He mourned the loss of his sleep, looking over to the cuddle pile with remorse. Why the second watch? It was the worst.
He looked over to Four, expecting a similar expression. To his surprise, Four was flipping through a book he couldn’t quite see, writing down notes every so often. He peered over to see scribbles about some kind of mirror, Spotless Starlings, and the Dark World. Their eyes were a deep violet as they flipped through the book some more.
“Whatcha doin, Four?”
They startled, slamming their book down and trying to cover the notes up. Legend took a step back, raising his hands. “Not gonna steal your research, Rainbows. Just curious.”
They looked away with a glare. “Don’t- Don’t call me that.”
“Alright. Why were you researching the dark world, Four?”
They sighed, their eyes flashing different colors, before settling on green. “It’s- It’s really hard to get to the Dark World in my time. A friend of ou- a friend of mine is stuck there, and the only portal there was broken. I’m trying to find a way to get there.”
Legend stared at him. “How’d your friend get stuck in the dark world?”
“He’s a brave, self-sacrificial idiot, that’s how.”
Legend laughed. “I can understand that. Alright, what have you tried, and what have you skipped over because ‘it probably won’t work’?”
“You’re- what?”
“Helping you, dumbass. Move over, lemme see that book.”
Four scooted over to make room, and Legend pulled out a pencil, starting to mark important parts of the book, very lightly so they could still be erased.
They researched until their watch was over, several new ideas to open portals to the dark world marked down in Four’s notebook.
It was the third watch, and Wild was a force to be reckoned with. He was furiously glaring at the stick of butter in the pan, willing it to brown from sheer mental force. By Hylia, he was going to make the best breakfast that his brothers had ever eaten.
While he was waiting, he mixed up the other ingredients.
3 cups milk, 2 cups flour, 1 dozen eggs, 2 teaspoons of salt and ¼ cup of sugar. The butter was ready now, and he poured it into the bowl, finishing the batter. There was enough to grease the pan still left in it, and he poured just enough batter to coat the pan, letting it cook for a few minutes. Then he flipped it to the other side, letting it cook for a few more minutes.
The others had started to wake up, Hyrule waking up to the smell of sugar. “What’s that?”
“Akkala-style pancakes! One of my favorites to cook! Want one?”
At Hyrule’s frantic nodding, Wild grabbed it off the pan with a spatula, flipping it onto a plate with a flourish.
Hyrule looked at it confusedly, and Wild was suddenly reminded of how confused he was when he first saw them.
“You pour syrup on them, then roll them up and cut them up! Like this, see?”
He had grabbed a fork and rolled it up, before letting it fall. “You add syrup to this spot, and roll it in on itself.”
“Ohhhhh, like this?” He had rolled it up inside out.
“No, the other way. It’s less sticky like that.”
“Oh, okay. Like this?” It was rolled up the right way this time.
“Yeah, like that! You can add other things to it, but I just like syrup on mine. Hold on, I'll grab the other toppings.”
As he searched, the others started to wake up from the much more potent smell of maple syrup. Hyrule started to explain to the others how to roll it up as Wild continued to make the pancakes. At last, everyone was up and had pancakes, except,
“Where’s Twilight?”
Wild thought back to the nighttime watch. “He left to go for a ‘walk’ like a few minutes before Hyrule woke up. Someone should probably go look for him.”
Time stood up, setting down his pancakes. “I’ll go.” he knocked Wind’s hand away from where he was trying to steal his pancakes, heading off in the direction Wild was pointing.
Coming to a fallen log in the woods, Time found Twilight, or rather Wolfie sitting on it.
“You alright, pup? We’re eating breakfast back at camp.”
Twilight startled, falling off the log and flailing around for a bit before standing up, glaring at Time before turning back into a Hylian. “Warn a guy next time!”
“Sorry,” he said, not sounding very sorry at all. More seriously, he asked “Really though, are you alright?”
“Yeah, just thinking. Wild made breakfast?”
Time nodded, unconvinced. Twilight didn't notice, and he started walking back to camp, motioning for Time to follow him. He rolled his eyes and followed.
After they had eaten, they packed up camp,
"Who's bedroll is this?”
“Oh i think that one’s mine, sorry Ledge”
“I f*cking Told You.”
And headed towards Hateno again.
Wild looked up from his slate. “Good news, we’ll be able to get there by nightfall if we fly! First, are you good to glide?”
“Yeah, I think so.”
“Great! Everyone ready?” At their nods, he activated Revali’s gale, sending everyone high into the air. Several of them yelped in surprise as they were scooped into the air, Wind nearly tripping on the air.
“Wow, Wild! Give us a little warning next time?”
“Sorry!” he shouted, not sounding very sorry at all. “Cmon, we gotta get to Hateno before nightfall!”
They all took off, occasionally picking up First and throwing him up into the air so he wouldn’t glide to the ground.
Finally, they made it to the outskirts of the village. The guard at the front stared at them with suspicion, before spotting Wild and relaxing, letting them in while muttering about ‘Weird heroes and their weird friends.”
He took them past a cluster of strangely-shaped houses, across a little bridge to a house on a hill, more secluded than the rest of the village. There was a girl sitting on a bench at the front, reading a thick book. She noticed the heroes, jumping up with a shout.
She ran into Wild’s arms, shouting “Link!” She grabbed his face, chin length blonde hair flowing around his face as she shouted about how worried she was. The other heroes just stood there awkwardly, until she noticed there were more people there.
“Oh! Forgive me, I didn’t see you there. Who are you… all?” She trailed off as she had caught sight of their wings.
Wild laughed, taking her hand and introducing them. “Zelda, these are the Heroes Of The Past. Everyone, this is Zelda!”
She stared Wild down. “Link, you have a lot to explain.”
