Archive of Our Own

“Blood!”

“Sacrifice!”

“Hero!”

“Triforce!”

He knows he’s running; his feet pound against the ground with every footfall. His hands clutch his ears in a vain attempt to block out the screeching, but it’s too loud. Everything is pitch black, and he knows he’s running, but the hands are still clawing at his arms and legs and back and he’s running, but he can’t escape!

“Blood!” The voices shriek. “Give us your blood!”

He can’t. He won’t. There is so much more than his life at stake, regarding his blood. More than anyone can imagine, and the monsters know that. They know his left hand burns with magic that is both a gift and a curse. They know his abilities are far more than something passed from parent to child. They know he has a secret he will never give up willingly, and they know what rumors of this said secret will do to the greedy and corrupted people. It happened once upon a time in an age that’s more mythical than historical. It can happen again.

“Give it to me!” A woman screams, swiping her dagger at him. He didn’t want to hurt her.

“If you’re really a hero, you’ll give it to me!”

But she would not stop.

And now, her child, the same child he had saved, will never know what happened to his mother.

“You were chosen,” Zelda tells him. “The gods chose you, Link.”

The hands pull him to the ground, their nails ripping through his clothes and sinking into his skin.

“Revive!”

“Blood!”

“Hero!”

“Ganon!”

“Triforce!”

Hyrule’s eyes fly open. He kicks his legs, trying to shake off the hands latched to them. He looks around frantically, grabbing his sword with shaking hands.

Time is sprawled out, fast asleep with an arm held captive by Four. Sky is using his sailcloth as a blanket—or he is trying to, as Wind appears to have stolen most of it for himself in his sleep. Legend is curled in a ball close to the fire, his back to Hyrule. Wild lightly snores from where he is half-smushed against Wolfie. The beast peers at him with grey-blue eyes, an air of intelligence to him that calms his racing heart.

He looks down and sees that there are no hands trying to drag him away, but rather his own blanket tangled around his legs. Hyrule releases a sigh, his body relaxing.

“Just a dream,” He whispers to himself. “Just a dream.”

“That looked more like a nightmare to me.”

Hyrule has to bite his tongue to keep himself from yelping in surprise. He nearly draws his sword but stops himself when he sees that it was just Warriors leaning against a tree behind him. Warriors holds his hands up in a placating manner.

“Sorry,” He says, “I didn’t mean to startle you.” He moves to sit next to him as Hyrule puts his sword aside and runs a hand down his face.

“’S my fault for being so jumpy,” Hyrule replies, clenching his left hand into a fist.

“Nobody would blame you for being jumpy after a nightmare,” Warriors chides. “Speaking of, wanna talk about it?”

Hyrule shakes his head, avoiding Warriors’ gaze in favor of glaring down at his hands. “No thanks. There’s not much to talk about anyway.”

He hears Warriors shrug in response. “If you say so.”

Wolfie worms his way out of Wild’s hold, and without waking him surprisingly enough, or at least that’s what Hyrule saw out of the corner of his eye. He doesn’t know that Wild had woken the same time as Hyrule and had let Wolfie go, knowing he would be better suited to comforting their friend. The beast picks his way around the sleeping bodies of their companions, coming to a stop in front of Hyrule and sitting down with a small whine.

“Hey, buddy,” Hyrule murmurs, glancing up at him. Wolfie huffs, leaning down to nudge at his hands. Confused, Hyrule raises them, only for the beast to shove his head under them with another whine.

“Since when did he like being pet?” Warriors muses as Hyrule gets the hint and begins running his fingers through the thick fur.

“Maybe he’s coming around? He already lets Wild and Four pet him,” Hyrule suggests, already feeling better as the last wisps of his dream fade away. He is here, in Wild’s Hyrule, petting a giant somewhat friendly wolf. He is far away from the monsters hunting him and the dark whispers surrounding his name. He is safe from his own home.

Warriors reaches out a hand to presumably pet Wolfie as well, but the beast growls in warning when his hand gets too close. He pouts as Wolfie leans into Hyrule’s touch, tail lightly thumping against the ground as it wags.

“Or he’s far too smart for his own good,” Warriors grumbles. “I swear, he always knows when we’re in danger, or if someone is upset.”

“If he’s taken to Wild, we already know he’s no ordinary wolf,” Hyrule snickers. Warriors chuckles.

“I suppose so.”

They spend the rest of Warriors’ watch sitting there, Hyrule taking advantage of the comfort Wolfie is offering and Warriors keeping an eye out for any signs of danger. When the moon is just beginning to set, Warriors stands up and brushes himself off.

“I gotta wake up Legend for the next shift. I won’t say anything to him, but he’ll probably figure out what’s wrong anyway.”

“Don’t bother,” Hyrule replies. “I’ll take this shift and give him a break.”

Before Warriors can say anything, Wolfie lets out a growl. Hyrule turns his gaze back to the beast to find it doing its best impression of Time’s Disapproval Face. It’s not really good, but Hyrule gets the point.

“What?” Hyrule protests. “I’m not going to sleep for a while. Besides, middle shift is the worst.”

But Wolfie is having none of it. With another growl, he headbutts Hyrule’s chest and shoves him to the ground. Hyrule squawks in indignation as Wolfie promptly declares Hyrule’s chest as his new bed, effectively pinning the hero to the ground underneath his weight. The beast sniffs his left hand as Hyrule glares at him.

Meanwhile, Warriors is trying extremely hard not to laugh, lest he wake up everyone else. “I-I’ll go wake up Legend,” He manages to choke out, turning away with his shoulders shaking.

“Why are you like this?” Hyrule complains, ignoring Warriors. Wolfie nudges his hand in reply. He wants more petting from Hyrule? Well, not after this stunt!

Hyrule has a hand carding through the fur before Warriors even makes it to Legend. What? It’s soft, and Wolfie is usually so stingy when it comes to contact!

A minute later, Legend is standing over him with a puzzled look on his face.

“I’m gonna blame this one on me being tired,” He mutters.

“I would appreciate that,” Hyrule sighs. Legend snorts, moving away to do a quick patrol. By the time he comes back, Hyrule is fast asleep with no dreams haunting him underneath a wolf that keeps glancing down at his left hand, occasionally giving it a little sniff.

By the time morning rolls around, Hyrule wakes up to find Wolfie gone and Twilight nudging him awake with a poorly concealed grin.

“What?” Hyrule asks. A mistake.

Twilight points to his shirt while biting back a laugh. Hyrule looks down and finds himself covered in wolf fur.

“Dammit, Wolfie.”

Wild’s time period reminds Hyrule of his own, but not always in a bad way. For one, it has a lot more life to it than his own, though he knows the others disagree when it came to their own homes. For another, it’s so big! Hyrule just itches to run off and explore, but even with Wild with him, he knows he’ll just end up lost and angering the others. He settles for Wild showing him pictures on his slate-thingy.

But like Hyrule’s time period, Wild’s home is also plagued by those who have had their minds swayed to a darker outlook on life.

Hyrule is reminded of this when they are suddenly surrounded by what Wild calls members of the Yiga Clan.

Hyrule counts eleven of them before they cry, “Death to the hero!” Then, just like that, the group is forced into battle. A bit sudden and anti-climatic, but Hyrule has no time to think about their terrible theatrics when he has two of them lunging at him, one with a giant silver and black sword and the other with a sickle. Hyrule is quick to roll out of the way, unhooking his sword and shield and blocking another attack. Unfortunately for Hyrule, the two Yiga quickly find a rhythm that slowly begins to isolate him from the rest of the group. Hyrule is forced to go on the defensive, leaping away from the bursts of wind coming from the big one’s sword all while blocking and parrying the sickle. With a quick murmur, he casts Fire and sends several flaming orbs towards his enemies with a swing of his sword. The smaller one dodges, but the big one disappears.

His left hand stings.

Heeding the warning, Hyrule rolls forward and hears a swoosh behind him as the big one’s sword gets stuck in the ground. Hyrule backs away with his shield raised, eyes narrowed as the other Yiga simply stares at him—or at least, Hyrule thinks it’s staring at him? It’s hard to tell with the mask.

“This one needs to be our new priority,” The smaller Yiga hisses to its companion. Hyrule stiffens. What does that mean? Why him?

He needs to get back to the others.

Hyrule holds his ground, shooting more fireballs to keep them at bay. He’s not about to turn his back on them, and if they’re distracted with trying to land a hit on him and dodge his projectiles, then perhaps he can wrangle them back to the group for more support. It’s a risk, but one Hyrule is willing to take if he’s supposedly their new “priority.”

The big one charges him, its sword raised. Hyrule leaps away, letting the big one overextend. He lunges forward to slash at it, but the smaller one intercepts him, the sickle hooking around the guard of his sword. With a sharp tug, his sword is ripped out of his hand and flung away, landing somewhere in the undergrowth of the forest.

Crap.

The Yiga doesn’t waste any time, slashing at him with its sickle once more. Hyrule is forced to bring up his shield, his mind whirling. Do I grab one of my items? No, that would distract me for too long. He rolls away as the big one charges him again. Magic? But which spell? When the smaller one tries to land a hit while he’s focusing on the big one, Hyrule bashes it with his shield and sends it crumpling to the ground with a crack in its mask. Spell would be good, but they’re so fast!

His hand stings again, but before Hyrule can react, an arrow embeds itself into his skin, the head poking out of the middle of his palm. Hyrule yells, and that little blip in his concentration punishes him by having the big Yiga slash his torso open, left shoulder to right hip.

As Hyrule stumbles back from the blow, a third Yiga, presumably the one who shot the arrow, wraps an arm around his waist and presses a dagger to his throat. Hyrule squeezes his eyes shut, his hand burning as bad as his wounds. He’s so screwed.

“An interesting relic you have there.” The blade presses against his skin. “Give it to us.”

Hyrule’s blood runs cold as the blade cuts just enough to draw blood. Shit. How do they know? They have never seen him prior to this encounter. He’s never uttered a word to anybody! He’s in a different time period! How do they know?

His heart is pounding. His breathing is panicked. His hand burns and burns. What does he do? How can he get out of this? They know, they know. He can’t let them get their hands on it. He’s the only one who can protect it! But how do they know?

He can feel his magic crackling with a new energy that is certainly not his own. If he can just get enough energy gathered up…

Something crashes through the trees behind him, and the Yiga holding him captive whips around, the dagger digging in just a little deeper and eliciting a grunt from Hyrule. Twilight stands there, a bloodied sword in hand and a feral look in his eyes that only darkens when he sees Hyrule.

“You son of a bitch,” Twilight roars. “First you run away and now you take my family hostage?”

The Yiga holding him tightens it’s grip even more, the bigger one coming to stand beside it. Hyrule catches Twilight’s eye. Come on, Twilight, his mind pleads, Stall. Stall for just a few minutes.

He has his good hand around the arm holding the dagger to his neck. Hyrule steels himself, and Twilight must somewhat understand what Hyrule is trying to convey.

“What do you want with him?” Twilight growls. “Your kind don’t normally hesitate.”

“Don’t play dumb,” the bigger Yiga snaps. “You know exactly why, and we won’t hesitate to lob off his head if you take another step!”

Twilight snarls but stays put. Hyrule can see him fighting back the urge to attack.

Just a little longer, Twilight… Even as Hyrule’s vision begins to darken at the edges, his magic builds up and up. No! Stay awake, you’re so close!

“He’s got something you want, eh?” Twilight glances at Hyrule for just a split second. “Is that why you haven’t killed him yet? Or are y’all so pitiful you can’t even defeat a single person without cheap tactics?”

“Need I remind you that you are in no position to be speaking like that?” The Yiga holding him tenses, but its form… it’s off.

Now or never!

Hyrule suddenly tugs the arm with the dagger down, getting it away from his neck for just a second. It’s all he needs to release the magic, letting it take the form of golden bolts of electricity coming from both his hand and the sky. His body burns at the sheer amount of power erupting from him, and his vision blackens as the two Yiga let out distorted cries.

He assumes it’s Twilight that catches him when his legs give out and he succumbs to both exhaustion and blood loss. The only thing he can feel is something warm holding him and the burning in his hand as he drifts away from the waking world.

Meanwhile, Twilight cradles Hyrule close as the two Yiga fall to the ground with blackened clothing and lightning feathers along any skin that’s now exposed. How stupid of him to let one of his enemies flee like that. Because of his foolishness, Hyrule nearly died.

Or, more likely, was captured by people who wish to destroy the Spirit of the Hero.

But why capture him? The Yiga don’t take prisoners unless they can gain something from doing so. They clearly came here with the intent to dispose of Wild, so why try to capture Hyrule?

Don’t play dumb. You know exactly why.

But he doesn’t. All Twilight knows is that Hyrule has the ability to wield magic in a completely different way than the rest, and that there’s something off about his left hand—which currently has an arrow through it.

Without another thought, Twilight scoops Hyrule up and runs to where he thinks the others are. He can worry about the Yiga’s intentions later. Hyrule’s injuries come first.

Though Twilight can’t help but wonder: Wasn’t that spell of his normally a teal color, and not gold?

“Lay him down here,” Sky orders, digging through his bag and pulling out an assortment of bandages and potions. Twilight does as he says, gently placing Hyrule down on the blanket laid out and removing the tattered pieces that make up what’s left of his tunic. Hyrule doesn’t have many injuries, but the one going down his torso looks fairly deep, and the arrow in his hand is going to be painful to remove. It’s nothing life-threatening, but they need to be treated now before infection settles in.

Aside from Hyrule, there aren’t too many injuries among the group. Warriors took a heavy hit to the head, and Four promptly declared he had a minor concussion. Time has several arrows in his back and shoulders, which are slowly being removed by Legend—who is scolding Time while he does so to everyone’s, including Time’s, amusement. Wild and Wind have some bruises, but they are fine otherwise, assisting Four in trying to get Warriors to sit down and take a potion. It’s not working very well, but nothing too dire is going on over there, just the usual shenanigans.

Hyrule groans, grabbing Twilight’s attention once more. Sky has a red potion uncorked and is holding it out to Twilight.

“Have him drink this slowly,” Sky tells him. “That wound in his chest is nasty.”

Twilight sighs in agreement, lifting Hyrule up as gently as he can and letting him lean back against his chest, head propped up on his shoulder. Hyrule blearily looks up at him, green eyes dull and cloudy.

“C’mon, ‘Rule,” Twilight encourages, pressing the bottle to his lips. “Drink up. It’ll make you feel better, yeah?”

As Hyrule drains the bottle with his face scrunched up in disgust—after all, potions taste terrible—Sky pulls out a needle and thread.

“Should I lay him back down?” Twilight asks, placing the bottle aside. Sky nods.

“Yes. If it were a smaller injury, I wouldn’t have a problem, but…”

“I get it.” Twilight struggles to move Hyrule back to the ground, as he is rather clingy at the moment and won’t unlatch himself from Twilight. To compromise, Twilight grabs his good hand and gives it a squeeze while he uses his other hand to run through Hyrule’s hair as Sky gets to work. Hyrule drifts back into unconsciousness as the injury is gradually stitched together, which allows Twilight to get a start on Hyrule’s hand.

The tip of the arrowhead is poking through the palm of his hand, the rest protruding from the back. Unfortunately, Twilight is going to have to make the wound even worse in order to get it out.

“Sorry, Hyrule,” Twilight mutters, grabbing the shaft of the arrow with one hand and holding Hyrule’s wrist down with the other. He shoves the arrow the rest of the way through, murmuring more apologies when Hyrule lets out a silent cry, eyes flying open for a brief moment of awareness. Sky ties off the thread and moves to help Twilight, wincing at the sight of Hyrule’s mangled hand.

“He’s not going to be able to use his hand for weeks,” Sky comments.

Twilight flinches. Sky wasn’t trying to jeer at him, he knows, but it doesn’t take away from the fact that Twilight is the reason this even happened. Had he just been faster—

“Don’t start,” Sky snaps, giving Twilight a stern glare. “We’re not perfect. What’s important is that you got him back here alive.”

“I suppose so,” Twilight concedes, and the two share a small smile before continuing. Removing the arrow is easy after Twilight cuts the arrowhead off, but then they come to their second obstacle: Hyrule’s weird half-glove, which he never takes off.

And probably for a good reason Twilight will soon discover as he cuts away the fabric from the injury with a knife he borrowed from Wild. Sky is the one to notice it, as Twilight was more focused on not hurting Hyrule anymore than he already is.

“Is that…” Sky puts a hand on Twilight’s wrist, gently nudging his hand away and effectively gaining his attention.

“His marking? Probably,” Twilight says flippantly. “Most of us had the Triforce of Courage at one point, if we don’t still have it.”

“Twilight,” Sky says, “he doesn’t just have the Triforce of Courage.”

Twilight frowns, “What?”

“Look!”

Twilight does, and it is safe to say that his eyes go comically wide at the sight of three golden triangles on Hyrule’s hand. Not just one colored in and two outlined, oh no. All three are colored in, and it lightly glows in response to their touch. And on his left hand; the one that smelled different when Twilight was a wolf the night prior.

“What the fuck,” Twilight states.

“That doesn’t even begin to describe my confusion,” Sky sighs.

“How does—why does—huh?” Twilight splutters. Sky slaps a hand over his mouth before he can continue blabbering like an idiot.

“Shh,” He hisses, glancing at the others. Nobody has noticed their blatant confusion just yet, but it’s only a matter of time before they do, if things keep up like this. “We shouldn’t say anything yet,” Sky whispers.

Twilight nods, brushing Sky’s hand away. He, out of all of them, would know about keeping secrets. Sky is right; Hyrule would not appreciate them spilling their newly learned information to the others, especially without Hyrule even knowing. It’s bad enough that Sky and Twilight just happened to stumble upon it in the first place.

Is that why the Yiga wanted him?

“I wonder why he has it,” Sky muses, slowly pouring another potion on the injury. “It’s supposed to be in the Sacred Realm.”

“The Sacred Realm holds the Triforce?” Twilight asks, grabbing the gauze. He misses Sky’s bewildered glance.

“Yes,” Sky says, though it sounds more like an exasperated question. “The Triforce is supposed to be in the Sacred Realm.”

Twilight shrugs. “Could’ve fooled me. I’ve always had the Triforce of Courage with me.”

“… Really?”

“Oh yeah. Wisdom is passed down through the royal family, which means my Zelda has it, and Ganondorf had Power before I killed him.” Twilight furrows his eyebrows. “I’m actually not sure where it went after that.”

Sky gives him an unimpressed look. “For your sake, and for your home’s sake, I really hope someone who’s not trying to destroy the world has it in their safe-keeping.”

“I’m sure everything is alright,” Twilight chuckles. “After all, I’m here with y’all and not tending to that problem, aren’t I?”

Sky just sighs. Twilight can’t say he’s worried.

During their… conversation, they managed to properly treat Hyrule’s hand and wrap it up in the gauze. Twilight lifts Hyrule up again, keeping him upright as best as he can while Sky uses the last of the gauze on covering the wound on his chest.

“It bothers me that he has it with him,” Sky mumbles as Twilight lets Hyrule lean back against his chest again—the ground isn’t too comfortable, after all.

“Why do you say that?”

Sky shakes his head. “It’s not that I don’t trust him with it, but rather… why is it not in the Sacred Realm? I had all three pieces for a brief period during my adventure, and when I prayed for my wish to come true, it returned to the Sacred Realm soon after.”

“He might’ve not used it,” Twilight replies.

“I suppose, but why keep it on him?” Sky begins packing up the medical supplies, likely doing so just to give his hands something to do. “The Sacred Realm is the safest place for the Triforce.”

“Tell that to my time period, why don’t you?”

Twilight sees Sky jump out of the corner of his eye as he whips his head around to stare at Legend.

“Don’t sneak up on us like that!” Sky yelps. Hyrule let’s out a grumble and somehow presses even closer to Twilight.

“I didn’t. You two were just distracted.” Legend plops down beside Twilight as Sky mutters under his breath and resumes picking up the supplies. “How is he?”

“He’ll be alright,” Twilight responds. “He’s just out of it.”

“Oh, Legend,” Sky says, “while you’re here, what did you mean by: “tell that to my time period”? Is something wrong with the Sacred Realm?”

Legend snorts. “Oh yeah. The Sacred Realm in my time was corrupted by Ganon when he got his hands on the full Triforce. We call it the Dark World now. When I defeated him and got the Triforce, even my wish to restore peace didn’t save it. The damage was too great and it had been like that for… almost seven centuries? I don’t know, we started our dating system over after Ganon got the Triforce and destroyed nearly everything.”

The Sacred Realm is corrupted in Legend’s time? To the point where the Triforce can’t undo it? Twilight is suddenly conscious of Hyrule in his lap. Doesn’t he come after Legend in their poorly constructed timeline? That would mean…

Sky catches his eye, a distraught look on his face. It seems he has come to the same conclusion. Legend notices—of course he does—but he doesn’t say anything, simply raising an eyebrow instead.

“Where is it now?” Sky asks,

Legend waves a flippant hand. “I found a little spot deep in the mountains to hide it in, and Zelda had a mini-temple built there. She calls it the Sacred Realm, but it’s more like a shrine in a secret garden.” Legend narrows his eyes then, pinning Twilight and Sky in place with a piercing gaze. “Why all the questions?”

“No particular reason!” Sky chirps, giving Legend a smile that’s far too wide to be even remotely natural.

“You’re a terrible liar,” Legend drawls.

Sky deflates. “I know,” he mumbles.

“I mentioned that I always had the Triforce of Courage with me for as long as I can remember,” Twilight says, hopefully saving themselves from accidentally outing the actual reason. “He got curious.”

Legend eyes them for another moment, but then he nods with a nonchalant shrug. “You don’t wanna talk about it. That’s fair enough.”

Man, he’s sharp.

“Thanks,” Sky sighs.

Legend shrugs again. “We all have secrets. As long as it’s nothing potentially dangerous, then I have no qualms about it.”

But that’s the thing; it is potentially dangerous… but it’s not their secret to tell.

“Anyway, Time wants us to get going as soon as possible,” Legend adds. “Wild says he can teleport all of us, including Hyrule and Warriors, somewhere safe. We’re currently torn between Wild’s house, another town, or the middle of nowhere.” Twilight grimaces at the thought of teleporting.

“Why not Wild’s house or a town?” Sky questions as Twilight gathers Hyrule closer to pick him up. Hyrule, as predicted, grumbles some more and clings to Twilight with his good hand.

“Because the Yiga know he makes regular visits to the towns, and after killing a large number of them, he doesn’t want to endanger the people if they decide to track us,” Legend explains, moving to help Twilight. “But sleeping out in the middle of nowhere may lead to monster attacks, and we have three wounded.”

“It can never be easy, can it?” Twilight mutters, securing Hyrule in his arms. Legend snorts.

“Story of my life.”

When Hyrule blearily blinks awake, he finds himself in an unfamiliar bed in an unfamiliar house wearing what he thinks is part of Wild’s doublet. His chest hurts with every breath, and when he goes to move his hand, it flares up in white hot pain that makes him grit his teeth and whimper. Ouch. What did I get myself into this time?

It’s takes a massive effort to sit up, as his chest gives him a harder time than he thought it would, and his hand refuses to cooperate. He manages, leaning back against the headboard for a quick breather and observing the room. Two windows, one door. Where is he? What happened? The last thing he remembers is…

Is casting Thunder.

His eyes snap down to his hand, which previously had an arrow through it. His heart drops at the sight of gauze. Someone patched me up. Fuck. Someone knows.

The handle of the only door leading to the room turns, and Hyrule feels his magic gather up in response as he presses against the backboard and cradles his hand to his chest. The action hurts a lot, but Hyrule will be damned if he is going to go down without a fight.

The sight of Twilight peeking through the open door calms him down. No enemies. They must be in an inn somewhere or something.  

“Good to see you’re awake!” Twilight steps into the room and kicks the door shut—trapped—behind him. “You took quite a nasty hit there, and you used a lot of magic. Legend was not happy when he found out.” He sits at the end of the bed, a soft, relieved smile on his face. “But enough of that, how’re you feeling?”

“Who patched me up?” Hyrule blurts out before he can think better of it.

Twilight’s smile wavers, then disappears as he lets out a heavy sigh. “Sky and I did.”

His heart pounds in his chest. “And?”

Twilight nods. “We both saw your hand.”

Hyrule hunches his shoulders, willing himself not to shake and doing his best to ignore his screaming wounds. There’s not much he can do against Twilight here, but he can at least defend himself for a little while with magic. Maybe he can get away if he stuns Twilight before anything gets too serious.

Twilight’s eyes widen. “Wait, wait, ‘Rule, we didn’t tell anyone.”

He stiffens. They didn’t?

“Why?” He croaks. He didn’t realize his throat was so dry.

“Why?” Twilight tilts his head like a puppy. “Because you never told us, so we assumed it was a big secret. Why would we tell— “

Hyrule can see Twilight slot the pieces together, and he’s surprised when Twilight not only looks taken aback, but also genuinely upset.

“You… you thought we would try to take it?” He asks in a quiet voice, the hurt shining in his eyes.

Guilt takes ahold of Hyrule’s heart and squeezes without remorse.

And yet...

The gods chose you, Link, Zelda’s voice whispers in the back of his head.

If you’re really a hero, you’ll give it to me!

“I-I’m sorry,” Hyrule chokes out. “I’m sorry, I just…”

He raises his good hand to his face, unsure if he should cover his eyes or his mouth, so it just hangs there uselessly. “I don’t know what to think anymore,” he whispers. “I trust you, but…” he swallows, and forces himself to meet Twilight’s gaze. “People I trusted… they’ve tried to kill me.”

Twilight stands abruptly, walking closer with a dark look in his eyes. Hyrule flinches back, fear flooding his senses once more. His magic surges, gathering at his fingertips, ready to be let loose if Hyrule wills it—!

Twilight, ever the gentle one when it comes to the group, pulls him into a soft but firm hug. Hyrule freezes in his hold, eyes wide as Twilight tucks him close and rests his head on Hyrule’s.

“We would never try to hurt you,” Twilight hisses, fierce and protective as always. “Ever. The Triforce won’t change that. You’re one of us. You have our backs, and we have yours, no matter what.”

This is Twilight, Hyrule realizes. Twilight, who immediately took on the role of Big Brother upon meeting everyone, who reasons with Time and manages to snag them extra minutes to take a break, who called him family without a second thought when he was being used as leverage against him. He thought Twilight would hurt him.

Hyrule breaks. He melts into the embrace and allows himself to feel safe. When was the last time he truly felt safe? When did he ever have someone to tell him he would be safe, and have Hyrule actually believe them?

He doesn’t recall.

“Don’t tell the others,” Hyrule pleads. “Please don’t.”

“It’s your secret. It’s yours to share.”

They stay like that for only a few moments, but it’s enough for Hyrule to relax and process Twilight’s words and his feelings. Twilight knows he has the Triforce, and instead of forcefully taking it when Hyrule was weak and vulnerable, he kept quiet and even told Hyrule he knew. If Hyrule can’t trust him now, he can’t trust anyone.

“Now, will you tell me how you’re feeling?” Twilight asks when they pull away, though he wraps an arm around Hyrule’s shoulders.

He grimaces. “My injuries hurt, but the one on my chest isn’t too terrible. My hand feels like it’s on fire.”

And then, with the realization practically smacking him upside the head, Hyrule asks, “Are the others alright?”

Twilight groans. “Warriors has a concussion, and he’s been annoying. He’ll need a few more days before he’s back on his feet. Time had some arrow wounds, but those‘ve been fixed up. Everyone else is fine.”

“I could probably heal that concussion,” Hyrule mumbles. He’s had to heal one before, but that was his concussion. He doesn’t know if it will work with Warriors since he can’t see or feel the injury.

“Absolutely not!” Sky yells from the doorway—when had he gotten there? “All your energy is going towards healing yourself! No magic for you until you can properly use your hand again!”

“‘Evening to you too, Sky,” Twilight chuckles while Hyrule fights down the panic threatening to overtake his senses.

We would never try to hurt you.

Twilight squeezes his shoulder, and Hyrule knows he is safe.

Sky looks between them, shooting Twilight a raised eyebrow as he hands Hyrule a potion.

“I’ve told him everything,” Twilight says.

Sky relaxes—Hyrule hadn’t noticed how tense he was—and sits down where Twilight had been just minutes ago.

They spend a lot of time talking, Twilight leaving the room at some point when there was a loud crash in what was presumably the next room over, muttering something about Warriors being a pain in the ass. Hyrule decides to come clean about everything. They already know his biggest secret, after all, and it still baffles Hyrule that they didn’t… take advantage of him.

So, he tells them about how even after using the Triforce to wake Zelda up, it never left him. He tells them that he didn’t trust the royal family with any of the pieces, as the last time the family had all three parts, it led to a feud over the Triforce that ended up cursing Zelda into an endless sleep. He tells them about how the monsters have never stopped hunting him, both for his blood and for the golden power. He tells them about the rumors that have turned people like the mother against him. He tells them that he is the only one who can protect the Triforce, as the people will just abuse its power, and the monsters will use it to take over the land just like before.

And when he is finished, Twilight looks furious while Sky appears broken-hearted, but has an underlying anger simmering in his eyes. Hyrule, at first, was afraid they were angry at him. But a second later, he realizes that no, they are not angry with him, but angry for him.

“So, that is why the Yiga wanted you,” Twilight growls. “They knew.”

“The Yiga knew?” Sky asks, alarmed.

“They knew after I used my magic,” Hyrule mumbles.

“And they were about to slit his throat when I showed up,” Twilight adds.

Hyrule sighs. “It’s only because I let myself get caught.”

Twilight glares at him. “No, it’s because one of the two I was fighting got away from me, and I wasn’t fast enough to catch up.”

“What do we do?” Sky intervenes. “They might keep hunting us, and we’ve only just arrived in Wild’s Hyrule three days ago. We won’t be switching for a while yet, and if they find us again— “

“Relax, Sky, we’re pretty safe here,” Twilight interrupts. “We killed all the Yiga that attacked us, so anything they might’ve known about Hyrule is lost. Besides, Tarrey Town only has one way in and one way out, but we can’t stay here for much longer.”

“Tarrey Town?” Hyrule asks.

“Wild helped a man named Hudson build this place from the ground up,” Twilight explains. “Hudson was kind enough to lend us his bedrooms for you and Warriors.”

“As of right now, we’re laying low here so you two have time to heal,” Sky adds.

“Hang on, I can just use my magic to heal us,” Hyrule chirps.

Sky firmly shakes his head. “No. Your magic takes up your energy. You need to rest.”

“Wouldn’t healing himself speed up the process?” Twilight asks.

“Nope!” Sky gives Hyrule a stern glare, gesturing to the forgotten bottle in his hand. He suddenly feels a great desire to continue drinking the potion, despite the awful taste, as Sky continues, “Because according to Legend, Hyrule has to use a lot of magic for his healing, and if he goes to heal himself in this condition, he will pass out before he gets any actual healing done, and he will just prolong the entire process. So, no.”

Dammit, Legend. “I have potions that restore my magic y’know,” Hyrule mutters.

“And the last time you did that, you nearly put yourself in a coma,” Twilight retorts. “Sky is right. You need to rest and let your body heal naturally.”

“We’ll need to ask Wild about the Yiga as well,” Sky adds. When Hyrule looks up in alarm, he quickly assures him, “We won’t say anything about the Triforce to him. But we do need to know if the Yiga can sense a specific type of magic or something.”

“Yeah, because you never uttered a word about having the Triforce, and I’m sensitive to magic,” Twilight agrees. “Not to mention that this was our first encounter with them.”

Sky looks at Hyrule. “Do you know anything that could help? Does the Triforce do anything?”

Hyrule hums. “Well, when I’m in danger, normally my hand stings. I remember that happening in the fight.”

Twilight and Sky exchange a glance. “Anything else?” Sky presses. Twilight looks thoughtful.

Hyrule shrugs. “I’m not sure.” The last thing he remembers is casting Thunder, but everything had been a haze around him. His magic had been powerful, but was that because he hadn’t used a lot of it?

“That lightning spell you use, what color is it normally?” Twilight asks.

“Uh.” Hyrule blinks. Why would Twilight, as wary as he is around magic, want to know? “It’s teal, I think? A blue-ish color? Why?”

“It was gold when you used it.”

Oh. Hyrule looks down at his hand. That’s not right at all.

“Maybe it gives off an energy that the Yiga can sense?” Sky suggests, though he looks significantly more worried.

“We’ll have to ask Wild,” Twilight concludes. He gives Hyrule another squeeze before pulling away. “Finish up that potion. The others’ll want to know how you’re doing, if you’re up for some more company?”

In the end, Wild couldn’t tell them anything new.

They just always seem to know where I am, he had told Twilight. You know they just pop out of nowhere. I don’t know how they track me.

Twilight had to tell Wild that the Yiga had taken an interest in Hyrule during the fight, but he didn’t say why and Wild didn’t ask him. Wild was far more concerned about the residents of Tarrey Town, though Hudson reassured him that he and his wife were more than capable of defending their small town.

Twilight had Wind and Four keep Hyrule company for the rest of the night, while Sky helped Legend tend to Warriors. Time is watching the entrance to the town when Twilight finds him.

“Wild wants to leave tomorrow,” he tells him. “He’s worried that the Yiga will come after us since we took out a chunk of them. They were also trying to use Hyrule as a hostage during the fight.”

Time turns to him. “Are Hyrule and Warriors fit to travel?”

“Warriors should be okay by tomorrow, if not a little dizzy. He just needs to take it easy. Hyrule can’t really use his hand, but his injuries will be fine as long as he doesn’t do anything too jarring.”

Time nods. “Where does Wild want to go?”

“Somewhere not near civilization,” Twilight responds. “We’re actually in a good spot. Aside from Tarrey Town, there are only a few stables and the lab way north. There aren’t a lot of travelers.”

“That’s good.” Time straights up. “Do we know what the Yiga want with us?”

Twilight shrugs. “They’ve always been after Wild, but never in a group this big.”

“Then we’ll need to keep an extra eye out for anything. Can Wolfie lend us his nose?” Time smirks.

Twilight snorts, smiling. “He’ll lend us his ears, too.”

Time claps him on the shoulder, and together, they keep watch over the sleepy town.

When morning rolls around, Wild has a little argument with Hudson as the others get their gear together. Wild refuses to leave without paying Hudson at least something, and Hudson refuses to accept any payment. Wild ended up hiding a diamond and several silver rupees in the bedroom Hyrule had been using.

“He’s not going to be happy when he finds out,” Hyrule laughs as they make their way to the others. It hurts to laugh, but not as badly as it did yesterday.

Wild grins. “No, he certainly will not. But I’ll deal with him next time we visit.”

“Are you sure we actually stayed in a town?” Warriors asks in a slightly slurred voice as they draw near. He’s leaning against Time, who has an arm supporting him.

“Yes, Warriors,” he chuckles. “We were in a town.”

“Okay, but are you sure?”

“What do you actually remember, pretty boy?” Legend questions from his other side.

“Uh… running.”

“Pain. In the ass,” Twilight mutters.

Legend barks out a laugh. “Oh yeah. There was lots of running. Running around trying to catch your dumbass!”

Warriors narrows his eyes in confusion. “I don’t own a dumbass…”

“Oh, for the love of— “

“Wild,” Time interrupts, sending a glare in Legend’s direction. “You lead the way.”

“I’ll scout ahead,” Twilight says, marching off to do just that.

“I wonder how he doesn’t get lost all the time,” Sky muses, falling into step beside Hyrule as Wild takes the lead. He snorts.

“Maybe I can have him teach me.”

Time and Legend—who is currently replacing Warriors—are talking with Wild about destinations and good routes to take. Four and Wind are babysitting Warriors while Hyrule and Sky keep an eye on the three in case Warriors gets antsy. Wolfie appears a few minutes later, padding up to Hyrule and sniffing his bad hand. He lets out a small whine.

“It’s okay, buddy,” Hyrule reassures. “I’m healing up just fine.”

While that’s true, Hyrule’s hand still hurts every time he so much as twitches a finger, and his chest makes sure flare up in pain whenever he breathes and moves. However, it’s not terrible, and it’s not as bad as the other wounds Hyrule has had to deal with before. With a steady intake of potions, he’ll be fully healed in no time.

Or at least, that was the plan.

They are making their way past the high cliffs that house the Akkala Tower, when Wolfie stops and perks his ears up. Hyrule looks back at him, about to call to the beast, when he begins growling.

“Wolfie?” Hyrule watches as he bounds past him and the others, coming to a stop in front of Time, Wild, and Legend. He barks, growls low, then barks again.

“Get ready for battle,” Time orders, drawing his claymore.

“Wolfie, go find Twilight,” Wild instructs.

“I’ll go with him,” Four states. Wolfie crouches and lets Four clamber on, and then he takes off.

“Do we know where our enemies are?” Legend asks, grabbing Hyrule and Warriors and tugging them closer to the center of the group. Hyrule understands that he is kind of a liability right now, but he still can’t help but feel irritated at the thought of him needing to be protected. He unhooks his bow and digs around in his satchel for arrows, ignoring the pain in his hand.

“No,” Time replies, “but they are nearby. We wait for Twilight, and then we’ll proceed. Be on your guard.”

Hyrule nocks an arrow but doesn’t draw the string back just yet. He stands in front of Warriors, who keeps trying to draw a sword that is not there—Sky has it—and Legend stands at his side with his sword and shield readied. The others form a protective circle around them, and they wait. A mere thirty seconds have passed when they hear the sounds of fighting not too far away.

“Dammit,” Legend hisses, “That’s probably Four and the wolf.” He turns to Time. “I can get there faster than anyone else.”

Time frowns. “Not by yourself. Take Wild with you.”

Legend looks like he wants to argue, but then he sees Wild chug a blue elixir. “Ready when you are,” Wild says. With a nod exchanged between them, the two run off at a speed much faster than Hyrule thought they would go.

“Where’s my sword?” Warriors croaks.

“Don’t worry about it,” Wind tells him, moving to take Legend’s place beside Hyrule. “We’ll handle the fighting.”

“You are still recovering from a concussion,” Sky adds, but hands him his sword regardless. “Do not fight unless you need to.”

Warriors frowns, but he has no time to reply. A distressingly high amount of puffs of smoke accompanied by papers with symbols drawn on them appear on all sides of the group.

“Of course,” Time mutters as the smoke takes the form of the Yiga.

They offer no one-liner this time around. Instead, they immediately begin their attack, forcing the group to go on the defensive. To no one’s surprise, Warriors immediately jumps into the fray. Hyrule covers him with his arrows.

He quickly falls into a pattern of nock, aim, shoot, being careful not to hit any of his companions and pushing the pain in his hand to the back of his mind, but with the sheer number of enemies, his normal arrows are doing little to help. Bombs won’t be a good idea here, neither would the magical rod, but maybe…

Hyrule nocks a silver arrow this time, and when he hits his target, the Yiga lets out a screech and falls to the ground, writhing. A much better improvement, especially since he doesn’t need to use his magic for the silver arrows.

However, as he keeps firing, the Yiga start to take notice.

“He’s the one with the Triforce!” One yells, pointing at Hyrule.

Dammit! How did I give myself away? I haven’t used any of my magic!

Hyrule pushes himself to move faster, grunting in pain with every shot. Sky is going to kill him for exerting himself, but Hyrule would rather have his hand screwed up than his life—and the Triforce—taken away

Even though he is still recovering from a concussion, Warriors is quite a sight to behold in the battlefield. While still wobbly on his feet, Warriors has sustained very minor injuries, and the Yiga can do little to stop him once Warriors is upon them.

It makes him a great shield to take shelter behind, and it makes covering him much easier on Hyrule’s part. Unfortunately, he doesn’t have the magic to cast spells like Thunder and Life. He could use Shield, but he would rather save that for an emergency.

Unfortunately, Warriors is still under the effects of his concussion. A slip-up was inevitable, and Hyrule should have known this would happen—especially since he can’t tell if the marking on his hand is warning him or if that is just his wound protesting. Warriors crashes to the ground, trying to fend off three Yiga while another two lunge for Hyrule. He blocks one’s blow with his bow, but the other slices open his side with a dagger before he can dodge.

“Give it to us!”

Hyrule growls, gripping another silver arrow with his fist. When he blocks another attack with his bow, he stabs the second Yiga with the silver arrow when it goes to attack. It screams, scrambling away and clawing at the arrow as its skin begins to burn. When he turns back to the first one, he freezes.

There’s a crack the shape of his shield in its mask.

Twilight told him that they had killed all the Yiga that attacked them previously, but Hyrule had knocked this one unconscious.

And instead of warning Twilight that there was a third one, Hyrule had blown all his magic and energy on Thunder and had passed out.

Stupid, stupid, stupid!

Sky kicks the Yiga away, finishing it off with a quick stab to the chest before, with a nod to Hyrule, running to help Warriors. With Warriors covered, Hyrule shakes the panic from his mind and turns to see if anyone else needs help. He sees Wind struggling to fend off two of the big guys wielding cleavers, sporting a few injuries of his own. While Hyrule aims, Wind tucks and rolls around one and jumps up with a spin attack. Hyrule shoots the other before it can hit Wind while he is recovering.

Wind goes to send him a smirk, but his face morphs into fear. “Wa— “

Pain erupts in the back of his head, and then the world goes black.

“Watch out!” But Wind’s warning is too late. Hyrule falls, boneless, and the Yiga standing over him bends to pick him up.

With an enraged cry, Wind runs and intercepts him before he can lay a finger on Hyrule. It blocks with its cleaver, but that doesn’t stop Wind’s assault. He forces the Yiga soldier back with each swing of his sword, each bash of his shield, each roll and jump, and he realizes belatedly that the Yiga isn’t only defending itself, but it’s not fighting back at all!

Wind whips around and sees another Yiga picking Hyrule up. Wind rushes back with his current foe on his heels, panicking when he sees smoke start to appear. He can see Time struggling to barge past his foes, unable to get to Hyrule, and Sky is still helping Warriors fight off the three Yiga from before. It’s up to Wind.

It feels like time is moving at an impossible speed, but also as slow as humanly possible. Footfall after footfall, Wind sprints with everything he has, the arm with his shield outstretched. He gets a fistful of the doublet Hyrule is borrowing when the smoke surrounds him, blocking out every sight, smell, sound. He feels weightless, the only thing grounding him in place being his grip on Hyrule.

And just as soon as it came, it disappears. Wind, unbalanced, loses his footing and sends himself and the Yiga carrying Hyrule to the ground; the cold, smooth ground.

Wind pushes himself up to his knees and sees that he is in a dark cave with symbols matching the masks of the Yiga plastered everywhere. In a second, there are countless swords and sickles drawn and pointed right at him.

He slowly raises his hands, dropping his own weapon. Hyrule whimpers as the Yiga that teleported them here steps on his chest and points its own weapon at Wind, face turned toward the crowd.

“I have captured the one who holds the Triforce!”

Wait, what? What the fuck? Wind can only stare as the crowd of Yiga cheer. The one who holds the Triforce? He can’t have heard that right. Who the fuck has the Triforce?

But Wind’s hearing is not faulty. As the Yiga grab him and begin tying his arms and legs up, he sees them cut away the bandages on Hyrule’s hand.

A bright golden glow meets his eyes.

Hyrule has the Triforce?

“Fuck!” Legend snarls, pacing back and forth in front of the group. “When we find those fucks, I’m gonna make them regret ever being fucking born!”

Twilight bites back a groan as Four pours a potion over the gash in his arm. The Yiga had ambushed him and Four while he was off looking for “Twilight”, and because of that, they were split up. While Twilight is relatively okay, Wild is currently suffering from a stab wound in his side and multiple gashes. Sky and Time are tending to him, ignoring their own injuries in favor of stabilizing him, while Warriors nurses his head—fighting probably worsened his condition.

When he, Four, Legend, and Wild made it back to the others, Sky had run to them with a panicked look on his face. Twilight hardly needed to be told that Hyrule was captured. He could see it clearly, but hearing that Wind was taken along with him has planted a seed of worry in his gut that is slowly growing into a cold fury. It takes root in his mind, intertwining nicely with his unbearable desire to protect protect protect.

It’s ironic that Twilight wants to protect everyone so much when he is the one at fault for getting them split up. If they had all been together, they could have stopped Hyrule and Wind from getting taken, and they could have better defended themselves and avoided even more injuries.

But there’s no use contemplating what-ifs and could-haves. What’s done is done, and now Twilight needs to make up for his foolhardy mistake.

“I know where they might have taken them,” Twilight states.

Legend rounds on him. “Do you now? Well, spit it out!”

“It’s across the entire country,” Twilight snaps. “We need Wild’s slate.”

“None of us know how to use it, and only you and I are not injured,” Four mutters, bandaging up Twilight’s arm.

“Where is that stupid thing?” Legend growls, stomping over to where Wild is being treated. Time holds out an arm to stop him.

“I’m not allowing you and Four to go after the Yiga by yourselves.”

“You think I’m actually going to listen to you?” Legend barks.

Time levels him with a glare. “Yes, because if they can do this to us when we were fighting in a group of four and a group of five, you and Four going into what is their base by yourselves will only result in you either being captured, used as leverage against Hyrule and Wind, having Hyrule and Wind used as leverage against you, or killed.”

Legend holds his gaze in defiance, returning Time’s glare with just as much ferocity. Twilight almost thinks Legend will go through with it anyway, with or without Four, but then he turns away with a scowl.

“You’re right, but that doesn’t mean we can just sit on our asses and wait.”

“Trust me, we will be doing as little waiting as possible,” Time says. “But first, we need to prepare. We are in no shape to be raiding an enemy hideout.”

“Have some faith in them,” Sky adds, grabbing Legend’s attention. “Wind is a very talented fighter, and he’s smarter than we give him credit for. And Hyrule is resourceful and clever, not to mention a powerful foe. We’ll get them back.”

Legend gives him a curt nod, then snatches up a roll of gauze and starts ordering them to grab a potion and drink it already or so help me, I’ll force it down your damn throat.

Hyrule wakes up to his wounds throbbing and the back of his head pounding. His arms are tied at the wrists behind his back, his legs tied at the ankles. He is leaned against a wall, and all his equipment is missing.

This is starting to become a really bad habit.

Where is he? By the smell of stale air, he thinks he is underground or in a cave somewhere, but there is also a faint whiff of fresh air. He must be near the entrance. A silhouette of a rather large person stands in front of what looks like old wooden cell bars. No other exits.

The person standing guard turns around, and the Yiga mask jogs his memory.

Fuck! I got captured!

That has to be what this place is, right? There is a Yiga soldier standing in front of a cell that he is in. He’s tied up, and while he can probably get out of the binds, it would not be much use if the soldier is there to see it. This is bad. Terrible. They know he has the Triforce. They want it.

But if they want the Triforce so badly, why not just kill him and take it? They have to know they can just do that… right?

The Yiga soldier marches off as Hyrule’s mind whirls. They absolutely know that. They have to. It’s common knowledge! Besides, if they were always after Wild because he has the Spirit of the Hero in this time period, Hyrule being associated with him automatically makes him an enemy, regardless of the fact that he also has the Spirit of the Hero.

And yet… they captured him.

Is it possible they think differently? No, that can’t be right… can it?

The Yiga soldier returns with more in tow. Their opening of the cell door is what ultimately pulls Hyrule out of the mess that is currently his thought process. They yank him up and drag him who-knows-where as Hyrule kicks and wriggles in an attempt to break free. The binds are tighter than he thought.

They dump him unceremoniously onto the ground, Hyrule biting back a groan when he lands directly on his side. They leave him to struggle for a moment, but then hoist him up into a sitting position.

Wind is sitting before him, arms and legs tied in a similar fashion to Hyrule’s. He looks beat up, sporting a few scratches and bruises, but he appears physically fine.

Then he notices the dagger pressed to his throat.

“Give us the Triforce,” One of the Yiga demands, “or we slice his throat open.”

Wind whimpers, tilting his head up higher when the blade presses closer and nicks his skin. Rage blocks out the pain and fear. How dare they! Using a child as a hostage! Twilight was right: They can’t beat anyone without using cheap tactics!

Well, two can play at this game. Hyrule has a little magic left. The Yiga might know he has magic, but they don’t know what magic he has, aside from Fire.

Wind has a pleading look in his wide green eyes, breath hitching with every gasp. Keeping his own face carefully blank, Hyrule looks up to the Yiga holding his brother captive.

“No,” He snarls, though it sounds more like a croak.

Wind’s eyes widen, pure fear and panic glimmering in them.

Please understand what I’m doing, Hyrule’s mind screams. Please understand what I’m doing… Come on, Wind! You’re smarter than you think!

Hyrule has to give it to the Yiga; they certainly aren’t the type to hesitate. As cowardly as their tactics are, they sure do enforce them.

The Yiga goes to swipe the dagger across Wind’s throat, but a burst of bright red keeps Wind’s skin closed. The fear turns to surprise, and then realization strikes him.

“You son of a bitch!” Wind screams as the Yiga tries again, only to be met with the same result. “You are so lucky I am tied up right now! You fucking selfish asshole! You are going to get your bitch ass beat when I get out of these ropes! You tried to get me killed! Me, a child! Well newsflash, fuckwad! I’ve been blessed by Hylia herself! You’re so fucking dead!”

As Wind thrashes in the Yiga’s hold, the soldiers exchange confused glances and murmur amongst themselves. Hyrule hears the words “similar” and “holy” tossed around, but he can’t make heads or tails out of what they’re saying with Wind still screaming profanities at him. All too soon, the Yiga yank him and Wind up and march them somewhere else in the cave system, presumably deeper in. They’re dumped into a newer cell, their muttering about how “maybe more time will be enough to give up.”

Wind tackles him before the doors fully close, bending his body so his hands are in front and fisting them in the undershirt of Wild’s doublet. He continues to scream in Hyrule’s face, and Hyrule lets him, tilting his head away and squeezing his eyes shut. When they hear the guards pad away, Wind continues shouting for another solid minute before pausing and listening. Apparently he is satisfied by the silence, as he loops his arms around Hyrule’s neck and squeezes. Hyrule lets a pained groan slip out.

“I can’t believe that worked!” Wind laughs, though his voice is terribly scratchy. “I thought you were actually gonna let them kill me, but then you did the thing and they totally bought my bullshit!”

Hyrule chuckles—well, more like wheezes—at Wind’s enthusiasm. “I’m just glad you caught on and didn’t give us away. But, ah… can you please let go?”

“Oh shit!” Wind immediately retreats, as if burned by Hyrule’s touch. “Oh, I’m sorry! You’re still hurt! Here, let me untie you.”

Hyrule shakes his head as Wind crawls behind him and begins picking at the rope. “It’s not that bad.”

“You’re bleeding through your clothes and bandages.”

Hyrule looks down and sees that Wind is right: Wild’s clothes are slowly being stained with his blood.

“I don’t have the magic to heal,” Hyrule murmurs, growing worried. He’ll bleed out at this rate. He can already feel the lightheaded fuzziness associated with blood loss, and the thin shirt he is wearing will do little to help.

“Hyrule, you have the entire Triforce! Use it!” Wind gives a little tug and the ropes fall away, leaving Hyrule to hold his hands in front of him as Wind crawls back around him.

Hyrule shakes his head. No, no, he can’t do that! He is meant to protect it, not abuse its power. Using it would make him no better than the monsters. It would make him no better than all the people who tried to take it from him.

But when he looks down at his hand, he can see the mark—partially obscured by the still-healing hole in his hand—glowing bright gold, as if beckoning him. The light pulses, and Hyrule feels his magic swell with a new power, just like when he had used Thunder back in the first encounter with the Yiga.

“There you go!” Wind exclaims as the Triforce glows even brighter.

“I didn’t make it do that though,” Hyrule mumbles.

“That means it did that on its own! It wants you to use it!”

It wants me to… use it?

His magic overflowing with power says so. The insistent glowing on his hand says so. His body absolutely says so… but is it really okay?

“Wind, I… I can’t… I’m supposed to protect it.”

Wind grabs one of his shoulders with both hands, giving him a rough shake. “How are you supposed to protect it if you’re dead, Hyrule?”

Wind has a very good point. If Hyrule dies here, then the Triforce may be taken by the Yiga, unless Wind can get away with it.

But then he realizes that Wind is terrified. His breathing is quick and panicked, his hands are shaking from their places on Hyrule’s shoulder. Shame coils in his stomach. He has more than an ancient relic to protect. How would Wind feel if Hyrule kicked the bucket here, in a dark system of caves that functions as an enemy base all because he was too caught up in his own morals? Or Twilight and Sky, who made sure he knew he had a family among the others?

He has more to live for than protecting a relic.

The gods chose you, Link.

“Will you lend me your power?” Hyrule whispers to the mark. It pulses again, the magic in his body humming in response.

Hyrule gives in. He lets the magic flow to the parts of his body that cry out in pain, and he lets it soothe the wounds as he casts Life. He feels his skin repair itself, the pain ebbing away. All the while, Wind stares at him in wonder, mouth open in a gape and hands falling from his shoulder.

When Hyrule feels he is healed enough, he halts the flow of magic and feels the power lessen ever so slightly. The mark still glows, and he can still feel its presence entwined with his magic. The fuzzy feeling is gone, and his wounds are mere scars now.

He looks up at Wind, who gasps in response. “Are you hurt?” Hyrule asks, holding out a hand, just shy of touching him.

“Your eyes,” Wind breathes. Hyrule raises an eyebrow.

“What?”

“Your eyes are gold!” Wind leans closer, making Hyrule pull away in response. A little personal space never hurt anybody. “That’s so cool!”

Hyrule finds that he appreciates Wind’s ability to flit between emotions so quickly, because Hyrule is, frankly, still concerned and ashamed of himself, but also now stunned because his eyes are gold?

The Triforce is only faintly glowing, but it is glowing nonetheless with a faint tingling feeling in his hand. That’s when he notices that he feels normal. A good thing, absolutely, but with the amount of magic Hyrule just used to heal himself… he should be unconscious. Out cold. Good night. Hell, he should not have been able to fully heal himself in one go with the injuries he was sustaining.

And yet, he is overflowing with energy just begging to be used.

Just how much power am I using?

“Hyrule?” Wind’s voice snaps him back to reality.

He shakes his head, clearing his scattered thoughts. He can freak out about this later. Right now, he needs to get Wind and himself out of here, and hopefully find the others.

“Give me your hands, I’ll untie you.” Hyrule picks at the bindings as Wind studies him.

“What are we going to do?” He asks.

Hyrule hums, pulling a loose rope and watching the rest fall away. “We need to get out of here, but finding our items will help.”

“I don’t know where they took our stuff,” Wind grumbles, rubbing his raw wrists after shaking off the rest of the ropes. “They kept me in that spot where they tried to uh… y’know…” Wind shivers a little, and Hyrule feels an indescribable guilt. He reaches out without thinking and pulls Wind into a mockery of the hug Twilight had given him.

“I’m sorry, Wind,” he murmurs, fighting against the lump in his throat. Wind shakes his head, and Hyrule can imagine the watery smile on his face.

“You kept me safe. It was really scary, but you had a plan. Speaking of plans…” Wind pulls away and faces him with a new spark of eagerness in his eyes, and Hyrule knows he is forgiven. “We need to make our own.”

“Right.” Hyrule nods, mimicking Wind’s smile.

They hash out some details the other had seen. Hyrule mentions he knows the entrance to the base isn’t too far away, but he is not sure where to go to get there. Wind tells him that there is a second story to the base, and he thinks there are a few other rooms, but he was not given a chance to see. Meanwhile, they retie their hands and redo the ones on their feet, making the binds looser so they can slip out when they need to. Can’t have the Yiga figuring out they can get out of their binds.

“They’ll be after me, so—“ Hyrule is interrupted by a door slamming open. He and Wind exchange an alarmed look as they scramble away from each other.

One of the big Yiga soldiers opens the cell door while another two rush in and grab them. Hyrule struggles in their hold, the tingling in his hand growing into stinging. Wind starts yelling again as he’s thrown over the shoulder of the other Yiga, stringing together words and phrases that Hyrule cannot hope to understand. Hyrule looks around as best as he can, but the cave system is rather dark, the torches doing little to light up the pathways.

They come to a dead end room and it looks like it hasn’t been used in ages, layers of dust covering every surface, except for a pile of things in one of the corners. Their stuff. The one Yiga who had opened the cell door walks to a wall devoid of any decoration and begins to push. To Hyrule’s surprise, part of the wall turns, fresh, cold air blowing into the room as the secret door opens. He and Wind are dragged through, Hyrule being dumped onto the floor again and Wind being carried toward the center of the open area. The soldier that opened the door remains beside it.

They are in a wide cavern with a large hole in the middle. Snowflakes drift through the large opening of the cavern, where dark clouds heavy with snow can be seen looming not too far away. That looks like a blizzard.

Dammit. If Hyrule and Wind can get away here, they would have to backtrack through the base anyway. Running into a blizzard with their kind of clothing would equal certain death.

Before he can start figuring out ways to escape, the Yiga holding Wind grabs him by his throat and holds him over the hole. Hyrule feels his blood run cold. Wind hangs there, the hand being the only thing keeping him from plummeting to his death. The Yiga turns back to Hyrule, who is now being held by his arms by his own captor.

“Your tricks will not work on us again,” the Yiga holding Wind bellows. “You are able to protect him against our blades, but how about a bottomless pit?”

Wind struggles, but the Yiga tightens his grip, making him grunt.

“Give us the Triforce, or I drop him.”

Hyrule glares, but he knows he’s stuck. The Yiga is right; there is nothing he can do to save Wind if he were to be dropped. Perhaps he can use Spell?

Just as he attempts to do so, the Yiga holding him whips him around and socks him in the face. Hyrule loses his balance, his face shrieking in pain. Ouch.

“Give us the Triforce, or we drop him!” The Yiga shakes Wind again. The other one yanks Hyrule back up, forcing him to face Wind.

Wind stares at him, eyes narrowed with a determined gleam to them. Hyrule blinks, and Wind gives him a tiny nod, clenching his jaw.

“No,” Hyrule bites out. “I’m not giving it to you.”

The Yiga holding Wind tilts its head. It waits, as if pondering something, before shrugging and dropping Wind. For a heart-stopping second, Hyrule thinks he screwed up and just sent Wind to his death.

But Wind is smarter than expected for someone his age. Having slipped free from the ropes binding his wrists together, Wind throws out a hand and grabs the ledge of the hole, scrambling up in a flash and nabbing the cleaver his previous captor had strapped to his waist. While the Yiga are still recovering from shock, Wind shoves the soldier and sends him into the hole, screaming.

Hyrule lurches forward, ripping himself free of the Yiga’s grasp. He kicks back and sends the soldier crashing to the ground as he all but tears the ropes from his wrists.

Wind has cut his legs free with the cleaver, and now he runs towards Hyrule, who is scrabbling to undo the ropes around his ankles. He is very thankful he thought to redo these stupid things.

The soldier by the hidden door is running to them, cleaver drawn. The one who was holding Hyrule is unhooking his own now, but Hyrule intercepts him and they grapple for the cleaver. With a yell, soldier stabs Hyrule, who bites back a scream and instead casts Spell on it. It stops moving, arms falling limp as if a puppeteer cut off the strings. Hyrule doesn’t wait to pull the cleaver out of his body, choking back another scream and letting his magic take care of the rest. Is everything tinted gold? Hyrule can’t tell as he finishes off the Yiga soldier.

While Hyrule had done that, Wind had moved in front of him and swung his own stolen cleaver. The gust of air that comes from the sword causes the third soldier to stumble. Wind takes the chance to lunge forward and dispose of their enemy, stumbling a little as he struggles to effectively maneuver the weapon.

“Okay,” he pants, turning to Hyrule. “I know I said I couldn’t believe our bullshit worked last time, but… I can’t believe that worked.”

Hyrule pushes himself up to stand, wobbling a little and letting out a snort. He and Wind make their way toward the secret door, pausing by the edge to listen for any signs of approaching soldiers.

Nothing… Hyrule narrows his eyes in suspicion. This seems too easy.

“Our stuff was right in the corner by the other door,” he whispers to Wind. “Stay quiet.”

Wind nods, and together, they creep inside and make their way to their things. Once properly equipped—and Hyrule has taken out his magic boomerang—they crouch by the doorway leading into the rest of the base and listen.

This time, they do hear footsteps, but they are faint and slow, and Hyrule quickly figures out that the soldiers inside must be patrolling.

“These guys are idiots,” Hyrule mutters, causing Wind to bite back a laugh. “They are so terrifyingly strong, and yet they don’t even think to keep a better eye on their prisoners! We weren’t exactly quiet back there, either.”

“Let’s just count our blessings and get the fuck out of here,” Wind replies, sending Hyrule a cheeky grin.

“Good plan.” Hyrule carefully pokes his head out, and then immediately pulls back. “Okay, they’re not as stupid as I thought. They are patrolling in front of the door to the rest of the hideout.”

Wind perks up. “Oh, wait, I got this! Wait for my signal.”

“Wait, Wind!” Hyrule grabs his arm before Wind can scamper off. “What are you doing? You can’t just run in there!”

“Trust me.” Wind winks. “I got this. When you get my signal, run out there and I’ll grab you.”

“What’s your signal?” Hyrule asks as Wind begins creeping past the doorway.

“You’ll know.” Alright then. Wind has yet to let him down, and Hyrule knows Wind’s improvised plans are surprisingly well-thought out. He trusts Wind will be alright, even if he so desperately wants to follow.

He waits, holding his breath. There are no sounds of commotion, no angry shouting, nothing, but the longer Hyrule waits, the more anxious he gets. Eventually, Hyrule has to peek around the corner of the door again.

Both of the Yiga soldiers are nowhere to be seen. Before Hyrule can even begin to wonder what is going on, Wind peeks his head around the opposing corner and waves for him to come out. Hyrule adds “wonder how Wind pulled this crap” to the rapidly growing list of Things He is Going to Panic About Later and crawls out after Wind.

The two soldiers are crouched in a corner with their backs towards their prisoners. They appear to be muttering about something, and they are so distracted they don’t even notice Wind grabbing Hyrule’s arm and dragging him behind a stone that was shaped into a cube.

“What did you do?” Hyrule hisses.

“Apparently they like bananas?” Wind whispers back.

“How did you—never mind. Let’s go.”

Slowly but surely, they sneak their way through the hideout, scrambling to hide behind stones and in little alcoves. Wind and Hyrule end up having to use their boomerangs to distract some of the guards when there were no bananas around.

Which has Hyrule very confused, but he’ll take advantage of it.

They manage to sneak their way out of the large room, and as they turn a corner, they come face to face with a Yiga soldier wielding a bow. They freeze, and the Yiga stares at them for a solid five seconds before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

“Go!” Hyrule barks, grabbing Wind’s arm and running. They don’t get very far before there are shouts and arrows flying. Yiga appear in front of them, and then Hyrule is drawing his sword and parrying a sickle before it can cut into his skin.

Footsteps pound closer and closer from both behind them and in front, and with them squished in a hallway like this, it can only end badly for them.

Fire, however, would be an amazing spell to use right now.

With that thought in mind, Hyrule casts the spell and notices that yes, everything is tinted gold. But there’s no time to worry about that. Hyrule turns around and swings his sword, watching the flames—that are also gold—consume the hallway and burn any and all Yiga that enter.

Blood. Sacrifice.

Hyrule keeps an eye on their backs as he and Wind force their way through the hallway and stumble into a more open area. More Yiga confront them, but Hyrule swings his sword again and sends another barrage of flames as he drags Wind along. They are making decent progress, until Wind cries out and Hyrule feels pain explode in the back of his calf. They trip over their own feet and fall.

Revival. Triforce.

There’s an arrow in his leg, and there are two in Wind’s back. Hyrule drags them to their feet and keeps going, but with a limp and Wind basically dead weight, they are quickly being surrounded, and if Hyrule doesn’t do something soon, they will only end up back at square one.

Ganon. Revival.

He swings his sword again, but the Yiga have learned his patterns and they move away before the flames can reach them. Wind gets his feet back under him and throws his boomerang at an incoming soldier, whacking it right in the head and leaving it disoriented.

Give it to me!

Hyrule can smell the fresh air from before. They are so close, so, so close! He throws his own boomerang to ward off another attacker, but the soldier cuts it apart with its sickle and lunges at Wind. Hyrule throws himself in the way, earning a deep gash in his right arm. He hears Wind cry out in pain again and sees a third arrow in his shoulder.

If you’re really a hero, you’ll give it to me!

His hand is burning, and everything is so gold. Hyrule bats the soldier away, finishing it off with a quick stab in the chest, before finally deciding that enough is enough. He shoves Wind between himself and a wall and lets his magic build up. In the meantime, Hyrule fends off the Yiga soldiers with every ounce of strength he has, Wind occasionally throwing his boomerang into the fray while bracing himself against the wall.

Just a little longer.

Hyrule knocks a soldier back and as it falls, it accidentally brings down its allies with it.

Almost there.

Hyrule takes an arrow to his right shoulder, and Wind throws his boomerang at it in revenge as Hyrule slices at two Yiga wielding cleavers.

Another moment…

Hyrule sends the two sprawling to the ground with a well-placed slash and then his magic is nearly bursting from his body.

Now!

Lightning crackles at his fingertips, and with a yell, Hyrule lets it spring free from his hold. For a dizzying moment, all he can see is gold as more and more magic leaves his system, but his enemies cry out in pain, and Wind yells something unintelligible to his ears. When Hyrule’s supply is exhausted, the gold color fades just a little, allowing him to make out his surroundings.

More footsteps are approaching, but there are no enemies in sight at this very moment, only the charred remains of the group that had nearly captured them again. Hyrule doesn’t waste the opportunity, grabbing Wind’s arm and hauling him along as he half sprints, half limps his way over to where the fresh air is coming from. Almost there, almost free.

Wind’s legs give out on him just as they reach the top of the staircase where his previous cell is. Hyrule tries to shake him awake, but Wind is unresponsive. When had those injuries gotten there? He is bleeding from several lacerations in his torso, and with the three arrows protruding from his body, Hyrule is surprised he kept going for this long.

Without another thought, Hyrule hoists Wind up and carries him piggy-back style. With his sword in one hand, and with his other hand supporting Wind so he doesn’t fall, Hyrule focuses on putting one step in front of the other, following the scent of the free breeze. He limps into a room with what looks like an altar in the middle, but beyond that he can see the sun. He has to keep going. If he can just make it outside, he can find help.

So, he marches on, growing dizzy every now and then as he fends off the last few stragglers of the Yiga soldiers with his sword and a little magic. His vision goes pure gold every time he casts a spell, but he gets the job done and keeps going, one foot after the other.

Almost there. Almost there…

The gods chose you, Link.

“Four, you’ll stay by the shrine with Wild while the rest of us try to find a way in,” Time orders as Wild fiddles with the slate.

Four nods. “Someone has to make sure he doesn’t kill himself.”

While everyone is mostly healed up, Wild took the heaviest hits—of course he did; he’s Twilight’s cub, it’s practically a given at this point. Wild doesn’t look happy at the prospect of sitting around and waiting while the others go find their friends, and Twilight can’t blame him for that. He knows all too well how it feels to be helpless while someone he cares about is in danger.

“Grab on to someone,” Wild says. They all know the drill at this point. Twilight is not looking forward to the prospect of teleporting, but he reminds himself that his minor discomfort hardly matters when Hyrule and Wind are in the hands of their enemy. The teleportation is as dizzying as ever, but Twilight manages to ignore the headache that comes with it.

“Head that way,” Wild tells them once everyone has gained their bearings. He points to what looks like a well-trodden path in the sand. “The hideout is uphill. They have a lot of numbers and their hideout can be pretty cramped.”

“We’ll be back soon,” Twilight tells him, unsheathing his sword. Four helps Wild sit down, so he doesn’t put too much strain on his injuries as the others begin jogging along the path Wild had pointed out—Twilight and Time leading the way.

They are just beginning to make their way uphill when Twilight hears the sounds of fighting. He takes off without a second thought, the others calling after him as he follows the noises. The sight that greets him up ahead makes him freeze in his tracks.

A Yiga soldier is kicked off of a familiar silver blade. Hyrule wobbles on his legs, securing Wind—who looks to be unconscious—before taking unsteady step after unsteady step. However, that is not what has Twilight frozen to the spot as the others catch up.

The entirety of Hyrule’s eyes are glowing bright gold, and he can see lines that look like lightning stretching across his tan skin in a vein-like pattern, emitting the same glow. Twilight can see the golden mark on his hand shining nearly as bright as the sun, and the power radiating from Hyrule’s body is practically tangible.

Hyrule looks up from his feet, and as soon as he makes eye-contact with Twilight, the glow immediately begins to fade.

“Hey, Twi,” Hyrule croaks, pausing in his unsteady walking. “I think I… managed to take, uh… take care of-of most of ‘em…” He narrows his now green eyes. “But I lost… lost my boomerang though… that… sucks…”

He lurches forward, eyes rolling into the back of his head, and he falls to the ground. It breaks Twilight free of his trance and he takes off once again. He falls to his knees beside the two and his hands fly over their bodies, checking and cataloguing every wound he sees and the best way to treat them—that he knows of.

“Sky get the potions,” Warriors yells as Legend joins Twilight. He hears the familiar cackle of Yiga appearing, but Time is already rushing to defend them.

“Holy shit, Hyrule,” Legend breathes, and Twilight sees him staring at the mark on his hand. It is not glowing anymore, but he knows Legend recognizes its significance.

“You take Wind, I’ll take Hyrule,” Twilight orders. Legend scoops up Wind without a word, being mindful of the arrows in the kid’s back.

While Time fends off the Yiga, with Warriors joining him, Sky starts uncorking bottles as he rushes to Twilight and Legend. When he sees the arrows in both Hyrule and Wind’s bodies, he stops, instead ushering them to follow as he leads the way back to where Wild and Four await.

“I got you,” Twilight pants as they run, using a hand to cradle Hyrule’s head so it doesn’t bounce too much. “I got you. You’re safe now.”

Wild teleports them to his house, leaving them and Four to treat the wounded while he goes back for Time and Warriors. Twilight shoves everything off of Wild’s dining table, thankful that there was merely a wooden bowl of fruit and some books. He and Legend lay Hyrule and Wind out side by side, making sure Wind is on his side.

“Four, go see if Wild has any gauze,” Sky instructs, and Four immediately obeys. “Twilight, start removing the arrows. Legend, help me with stitching.

While they look terrible, their wounds are not nearly as bad as they first thought. The arrows are the worst, as Wind’s cuts are shallow and are mostly healed by the potion Legend pours down his throat. Four helps Twilight with the arrows when he returns with a bundle of more gauze.

Twilight can’t help but notice that Hyrule’s previous injuries have been healed. He is struck by the image of golden eyes, and he wonders just how much magic Hyrule had used.

Wild returns with Time and Warriors, but they can do nothing but hover restlessly. Fortunately, the wounds are quickly dealt with and Wild has Twilight and Legend bring them upstairs to lie in Wild’s bed.

From there, they play an extremely tense version of the Waiting Game.

Wind wakes up later that night, whining when he registers the pain, but Hyrule…

Hyrule is unconscious for almost a week.

During that time, Legend rants about why one should never overexert themselves when using magic, but Twilight can also see Legend staring at Hyrule’s left hand, eyes burning with curiosity. Wind keeps his mouth shut, but Twilight knows Wind has seen Hyrule’s hand.

Throughout that week, Twilight can only think about Hyrule’s eyes being completely gold, and the patterns on his skin. The mark had been so bright at the time, but the glow vanished as soon as Hyrule saw him. Twilight can’t help but wonder about just how sentient the Triforce actually is.

On the sixth night, Hyrule blinks awake, eyes thankfully green. Twilight is leaning against the railing while Legend is sat in a chair with his head and arms resting on the bed. When he hears Hyrule groan, Twilight jumps to his feet and pads over, being careful not to disturb Legend.

“Where…?” Hyrule half mumbles, half croaks, cloudy eyes falling onto Twilight.

“Hey, ‘Rule,” Twilight whispers, feeling as if a weight has been lifted from his shoulders. “You’re safe. We’re in Wild’s home.”

Hyrule blinks, narrowing his eyes. “Wild’s home… but… wait… Wind… Where’s Wind?” He tries to sit up, but Twilight quickly puts a hand on his shoulder and gently pushes him back down.

“He’s downstairs. He’s okay.”

Hyrule blinks, taking a moment to process his words. He gives Twilight a relieved smile.

“Good…”

Hyrule drifts off moments later, mumbling something about safety.

When Hyrule wakes up in the morning, he finds Legend holding his right hand in his sleep. He hears a low murmur from the floor below, and he knows this is Wild’s home, but he can’t recall how he knows.

It takes a huge amount of effort to squeeze Legend’s hand, but he gets a responding squeeze before Legend’s eyes fly open and he sits upright. Guess he hadn’t actually been asleep.

“Hyrule,” he gasps, standing up to lean over him. “Holy shit, Hyrule!”

“Hey, Legend,” Hyrule wheezes, smiling at the fact that Legend has yet to let go of his hand.

“What the hell happened to you?” Legend snaps, though he keeps his voice low. “And why the fuck do you have the Triforce?”

Hyrule would have winced if he had the energy. Legend must have seen his hand. He wonders who else has seen it. Is there even a point in hiding it anymore?

We would never try to hurt you.

No. Perhaps he needs to come clean about everything, and to everyone.

“I’ll explain later,” Hyrule replies. “Where’s everyone else?”

“Downstairs,” Legend says, though his eyes are narrowed. “Do you even know how much magic you used? You were out for six days!”

Six days? Hyrule bites back a groan. No wonder Legend looks so frantic. After being injured, captured, and out for nearly a week, everyone had to be worried sick!

There is a slight tingle in his hand. He remembers how radiant the marking had glowed in the cell while he and Wind were in the Yiga hideout. He remembers feeling an overwhelming amount of power enter his body when he asked the Triforce for help. He remembers his vision turning gold several times as he kept using magic.

He briefly wonders if he was protecting the Triforce… or if the Triforce was protecting him. Either way, Hyrule acknowledges the fact that he used an insane amount of magic in the span of maybe three hours.

That, and how stupidly lucky he was that the Yiga apparently didn't know they could have just killed him and taken the Triforce.

“Only six days?” Hyrule murmurs. He swears he sees Legend’s eye twitch.

“Only? Hyrule, what the fuck?”

Turns out, only Legend had seen his marking. Hyrule did his best to explain his reasoning as to why he kept the Triforce a secret through bouts of dizziness and nausea. Turns out, using an absurd amount of magic really screws with your body.

Predictably, Legend is furious when Hyrule tells him about how people have tried so hard to steal the Triforce from him, and how it was abused by the royal family. But to his surprise, Legend merely shrugs once he gets over his anger.

“Well, it’s good that you have it then.”

“Why do you say that?”

“If you seriously don’t know, I’m not saying anything.”

And weeks later, once they are fully healed and back on the road, one night Wild asks a peculiar question.

“So, what is the Triforce anyway?”

Some gawk at him. Others laugh. Hyrule himself ends up chuckling and shaking his head.

“Well,” Time begins once everyone has settled down. “It’s the divine relic of the creation gods. One piece of it represents Power, one Wisdom, and one Courage.”

“Most of us have had Courage, but some of us haven’t had any piece at all,” Warriors adds, shooting a glance at Four as he says this.

Hyrule shoves aside the fear of the others turning on him for the power he holds. After all, half of the group already knows, or at least partially in Wind’s case. Hyrule had confronted him about whether or not Wind was curious, but the kid had waved him off, saying that if Hyrule didn’t want to tell him, then Wind didn’t want to hear it.

Besides, they’re family. If he can’t trust his family, he can’t trust anyone, and Hyrule knows they would never hurt him.

“And some of us have all three pieces,” Hyrule says, slipping his glove off as Twilight turns to him in surprise.

“Really?” Four asks, leaning forward. “You’ve had all three?”

Hyrule smiles. “I didn’t say that I had all three.”

Time catches on as Hyrule lifts his hand. “Hyrule, you’re kidding,” he says, dumbfounded.

Hyrule is certainly not kidding, and neither is the glowing mark on his hand as he clenches it into a fist.

“… What?” Four squeaks.

“You have the entire thing?” Warriors shouts.

“Is that so weird?” Wild asks, tilting his head.

“Yes, it’s weird!” Warriors throws his arms up. “Whoever has all three pieces has the power of the gods!”

Wild scoffs. “No way. That’s just a superstition.”

“No, no, Warriors is right,” Twilight laughs.

Legend grins. “I had the entire thing at one point. Twice, actually, but only for a few minutes each. Warriors is right for once; the Triforce gives you the power of the gods.”

“I did too,” Sky chimes in. “I can confirm that it gives the wielder unfathomable power.”

“What the fuck, Hyrule?” Warriors shouts in confusion. “Since when does the Triforce just choose someone to bear it?”

“Well,” Hyrule chuckles, catching Twilight’s smile out of the corner of his eye as Legend knocks their shoulders together. “When it has no place to go, it chooses a protector. I guess it chose me.”