Chapter Text
Legend cursed to himself as the soldiers inched forward, they regarded him like one would with a cornered wolf. Good, they should be terrified of him. With a swift motion, he slammed his staff to the ground and watched as a translucent shield surrounded him. The burst of magic left him drained, but he knew the commotion of the soldiers shouting out in confusion would not go unheard. These ones wouldn’t even know what hit them.
As if on cue, his two companions charged in and began their merciless assault on the enemy. Legend focused his magic on his allies, and with both of them shielded, they were unstoppable. At least, unstoppable for as long as he could keep up the spell. It turned out to not be an issue. Sailor quickly struck three down and Captain finished off the remaining two with a single strike. Legend dropped the shield and knelt on the ground to catch his breath.
Sailor kept a vigilant eye on their surroundings while Captain knelt to assess the situation. Legend wished it was the other way around, though he would never admit it out loud. It had been years since Ganon corrupted the castle soldiers, he was even friends with a great many of them now. Something about being thrust into whatever damned era this was and immediately being attacked by soldiers awoke a fear he believed to be long dead.
Sure, Captain was not from this era and had no affiliations with the soldiers attacking them. Something about the man simply scared him. He was larger than Legend and Sailor combined, no doubt he could throw either of them a good ten yards without breaking a sweat if he so desired. If he truly meant harm, he would have done something by now. Their little group had been together for a week now, trekking through the uncharted land. Legend took mental notes of weakness in the older man, like how he had a slight limp after a long day of travel, and how he wasn’t quite as nimble as Sailor or himself.
“Your arm is bleeding,” Captain said calmly with a small smile, “let me take a look.”
Legend rolled his sleeve up and offered his arm. He did his best not to react as Captain carefully held his arm to inspect the stinging wound.
“Not too bad, I’ll patch this up quickly so we can get out of here.”
Legend hummed in response and dug his free hand into the soil, the injury hurt more now that his adrenaline from the fight had worn off. True to his word, Captain made quick work of cleaning and covering the wound with gauze.
“See, all better,” Captain announced, still with that smile on his face, “now let’s go find something to eat.”
That was it, Legend realized. The way Captain spoke was rehearsed, even his seemingly carefree expressions reeked of deception. This was a man who was no stranger to lying, he was worryingly good at it too. He knew it wasn’t fair, none of them owed their life stories, but he couldn’t shake his worries away.
“Thanks,” Legend mumbled and slowly got back to his feet.
They traveled through several clearings in the forest and passed by a few decrepit ruins until they found some that were decidedly far enough away from where they had been ambushed by soldiers. Once they were certain they hadn’t been followed, they split up and meticulously searched the abandoned buildings for supplies. Legend found nothing of note, aside from strips of old cloth which he doubted were sterile enough to use as bandages. He grabbed them anyway, just in case. Once all corners of the immediate area had been thoroughly searched, he returned to his companions and set the yellowed fabric on the ground.
A fire had been started, he wasn’t sure if it was Captain or Sailor who made it. Captain was in the middle of roasting apples over the fire while Sailor sharpened his cutlass.
“Sorry, I am not the best cook,” Captain said, still with a smile on his face, and he served their meager dinner, “would have been better with cinnamon.”
Legend took a bite and found himself in agreement. It was a bland and unfulfilling meal, but he’d had far worse and beggars couldn’t be choosers. Sailor, on the other hand, reacted like it was a freshly baked apple pie.
“I’ve never had one of these before,” Sailor said in between mouthfuls, “gotta bring some back home with me.”
“You don’t have apples where you’re from?” Legend asked, genuinely curious. If he was stuck with these two, he might as well find out more about them.
“No, we have coconuts mostly. Ya’know, other beach fruits too. Grandma makes a fantastic seafood coconut fry, if we find some fish I bet we could try making it.”
Legend didn’t know about ‘beach fruits’ but he nodded all the same. He wouldn’t be against trying Sailor’s seafood dish, it seemed all they had eaten since coming into this land was handfuls of wild berries and carrots.
“What about you, what sort of food grows in your home?” Legend asked Captain in an attempt to be polite. He knew his unease for the man was mostly unfounded, he needed to at least try to get along with him.
“Typical things, I suppose. Wheat.”
Legend waited for elaboration but none came. Captain shut his mouth and stared at the fire. The silence that followed was heavy and awkward, like every night had been so far. The sooner they could complete their task and go home, the better.
“I can keep the first watch,” Legend offered as he mindlessly tossed a few twigs into the fire. He desperately needed time to himself, their trio never split up so this would be his only chance.
“Sounds good to me,” Sailor replied with an overdrawn yawn. He made himself as comfortable as he reasonably could on the ground and rested his head on his hands.
Legend stared at the fire for a while after that, he frowned when he realized Captain wasn’t following Sailor’s example.
“You should sleep,” Legend urged quietly, not wanting to disturb Sailor.
“You overworked yourself today,” Captain said bluntly, ignoring the suggestion to rest. His voice lacked his usual carefree tone, he genuinely sounded exhausted.
“I’m fine now,” he assured and tossed another stick into the fire, “you’ve kept the first watch every night so far, you need a break. Get some sleep, I’ll wake you if anything’s wrong.”
Legend worried he’d overstepped; he wasn’t sure how the captain would react to being given an order, especially by someone of a much lower status. Any second now, Captain would reprimand him. He braced for it and readied a neutral expression, he wouldn’t let it get to him. But to his pleasant surprise, none came. All he received instead was a sigh. The captain leaned against a tree and crossed his arms, it didn’t look comfortable but Legend often slept in the same way. It was convenient for quick escapes.
“Wake me in two hours,” Captain said and closed his eyes. Legend hummed an affirmation and grabbed the end of his cape to keep his hands occupied.
Once he was certain both his companions were asleep, Legend stood and scanned the area. Nothing sounded awry, and he couldn’t see any shadows that didn’t belong. He didn’t want to stray too far from the safety of their camp, but he had few other choices. Back home, back in his Hyrule, no one batted an eye for people like him. There was no way of asking his companions without drawing unneeded attention to himself, he couldn’t risk being kicked out of the group. Or worse.
As he walked through the dense trees to find a safe place to relieve himself, he placed a hand on his chest, eager to free himself from his bindings. Once he was certain he wasn’t followed, he removed his chest binding and let out a sigh of relief. He would have to put it back on before he woke the captain for the next watch, but for now he would relish any amount of time without the bindings, no matter how little.
A snap of a branch startled him on his way back to camp. He froze and strained his eyes to try to spot his would-be attacker.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Captain called out sternly as he came into view with Sailor by his side.
Legend’s relief quickly turned into panic.
“Can’t a guy piss in peace?” Legend snapped and took a step back as he crossed his arms.
Thankfully his chest was small, and the multiple layers of clothes he wore did a decent job concealing it without bindings. All he could do was hope neither of them noticed.
“Of course you can,” Captain said with his voice lower now, but still commanding, “but not so far from camp. This forest is dangerous, you could have been killed.”
Legend opted to not respond, he knew the risk of leaving on his own.
They walked back together, a heavy silence filled the air. Sailor grumbled something inaudible while he made himself comfortable next to the fire and fell back asleep.
“You can keep watch,” Captain said quietly, “Nix will wake me if you wander off again.”
Legend huffed and scrunched his nose, he couldn’t believe he was being treated like this. The captain’s overgrown crow roosted in the branches above, her eyes reflected with the fire’s light.
“I am not a child,” Legend said and didn’t try to hide his bitterness. Sure, the captain was a few years his senior, but he had been on countless adventures. He was a hero, he didn’t need to be treated like a misbehaved teenager.
“I never said you were,” Captain replied quietly, “I am only trying to keep you boys safe.”
There was sadness in the way he said those words, Legend felt a little guilty for it. He didn’t intend to make his companions worry over him, he didn’t know they would even care.
“Look, I’m sorry,” he apologized and tried to think of a way to lighten the mood, “next time I need to piss, I’ll wake you guys up. We can make a competition out of it, whoever finds the best pissing spot wins.”
It was weak and not terribly funny, but thankfully Captain seemed to catch onto his intention.
“Oh yeah?” Captain asked in amusement, “what’s the prize?”
“I dunno, how about that cool rock Sailor found yesterday.”
“Alright,” Captain let out a small chuckle, “but I won’t be the one to wrangle it from him.”
“That’s fair, he’s pretty terrifying,” he said and they both glanced at the youngest hero. Sailor slept sprawled out, his light snores broke up the silence.
“Extremely,” Captain agreed as a trail of drool fell from Sailor’s mouth to his sleeve.
They sat in silence for a while, but this time it wasn’t awkward, it was comfortable. At some point the captain fell asleep, his heavy breaths mingled in with Sailor’s snores and the chirping of crickets.
Nix flew off her perch and landed on the ground next to the captain, the blue iridescence of her feathers glinted in the low firelight. Legend had to remind himself she wasn’t like the vicious ravens back home, even though she looked strikingly similar to them. She tilted her head and stared at him like she could tell he was thinking about her.
“Are you a good bird?” he asked aloud, though he was quiet enough to not wake the other two. Nix hopped towards him and looked at him curiously before biting the end of his cape. “Rude, don’t bite me.”
He tried to shoo her away, but she flapped her large wings indignantly and hopped on his legs in what had to be retaliation. She closed her eyes and settled down on his thigh. With great hesitation, Legend reached his hand out and petted her carefully on the head. She stretched her neck out when he stopped, like she wanted the attention.
“You’re not too bad, I guess.”
He sighed and petted her again. Talking aloud to animals was always easier than talking to people. The sailor always had something to say, usually quips but once in a while he would impart genuine words of wisdom. He was a bright kid. The captain, on the other hand, spoke sparingly. Like he was afraid to say something wrong.
Legend glanced at Captain and continued to pet Nix, “he’s not too bad, either.”
“Found you!”
Link laughed when the blanket was pulled from his hiding spot among the bales of hay. He tried to flee from his father’s grasp, but he wasn’t quick enough. Large arms wrapped around him and lifted him up, he squirmed and poked his father’s sides.
“Alright, alright, settle down,” Darien chuckled and set Link down, “come on, help me find your brother. Dinner will be ready soon.”
Link nodded and hurried off to search for his little brother. He hadn’t seen him run into the barn with him, so he checked the bushes outside and around the cucco coop. There were only so many places Evander could hide on the small farmstead, the only place left was the horse stable.
The horses whinnied in anticipation of a treat, Link patted their noses as they craned their necks down to greet him. Just as expected, he spotted a tuft of light blond hair poking from behind one of the empty stalls. He swung the door open and a pair of surprised blue eyes stared back at him.
“Dad is s’pose to find me,” Evander complained and tried to shut the stall door.
“He found you like twenty times,” Link offered and wedged his foot in the door to keep it open, “come on, let’s help Mom with dinner.”
“Okay!”
Darien waited for them outside, he picked up Evander and set him on his shoulders. Together, the three of them walked up the dirt path to their modest home. Link opened the front door and rushed into the kitchen where his mother was busy stirring soup.
“What have you boys been up to?” Ayme asked warmly, Darien set Evander down and gave his wife a kiss on the cheek.
“Ew,” Link supplied and made a show of turning around so he wouldn’t have to see his parents kissing.
“We played hide and seek,” Darien said and laughed, ruffling Link’s hair.
“I hid the best,” Link said and turned back around.
“I bet you did, honey,” Ayme said with a smile, “will you stir the soup for me?”
Link nodded and eagerly grabbed the ladle while his mom and dad went into another room. He was just tall enough now that he didn’t need a chair or stool to reach the top of the stove. Evander looked up at him expectantly and then to the pot of soup. Link handed his little brother the ladle and lifted him up so he could reach the pot and stir.
It didn’t take long for their parents to return and set the table. Darien poured the bowls of soup and they all happily ate the delicious food. As Link went to clean the dishes, his father stopped him and motioned for him to follow. They walked outside and rested against a wooden fence, a warm breeze rustled the tall grass.
“Link,” Darien started after a deep breath, “I am going to be gone for a while. I’m not sure when I’ll be back.”
“Why not,” Link asked, suddenly worried. He vaguely remembered the last time Dad had to leave for work, he’d been Evander’s current age and didn’t fully understand why he left. He still didn’t completely get it now.
“Important business for the Queen,” Darien said simply and didn’t elaborate, he placed a gentle hand on Link’s shoulder, “you have grown so much.”
Link scrunched his nose and frowned. Normally he appreciated not being treated the same as his six year old brother, but he didn’t like wherever this was going.
“I’m only ten.”
“I know. I don’t expect you to take charge, son, your mother will take care of everything. But I would like you to do something for me.”
“Okay,” Link said and leaned into his father’s side.
“Evan is more stubborn and reckless than you were at his age. I want you to promise me you’ll keep him out of trouble while I’m gone, keep him safe.”
Link closed his eyes and rested his head on Darien’s arm. He didn’t want his dad to leave, he didn’t want to have this talk. But he had to be brave, he wanted to make his father proud.
“I promise, Papa,” Link said after a brief moment of silence, “I’ll keep him safe.”