Chapter Text
Water.
The first thing Warriors processed after the switch was water, and it was freaking everywhere. Currents tugged at his scarf as salty cold water flooded into his boots, clothes and hair, and nose, quickly making him realize where he should be headed at the moment. Yeah, that was up, as in, out of the water.
Grandpa had always affirmed that when tossed through a portal and into the middle of any body of water, you were to head towards where the light came from. Even if it wasn’t the sun, there was a higher chance of it being fire of some sort –which, duh, needed air to burn- than if it being some sort of terrifying sea beast. Grandpa’s logic hadn’t failed him yet, and Warriors was sticking with it until it did. That, or until he dealt with the bits where Grandpa had mentioned sarcastic shadows. As a kid that had seemed odd, but as an adult with experience fighting his own dark self, he was pretty certain whatever his grandfather had said had been intended as some kind of joke; shadows were terrifying and dangerous, not snarky pranksters with a propensity for the color purple.
Where had his grandfather even gotten half of his ideas for stories? Some of them were real, obviously, they were history that kids throughout Hyrule were taught in schools all the time. The other half of them though? Warriors was still on the fence there. Had anyone else told him those stories, Wind for instance, he wouldn’t have believed them, but Grandfather was trustworthy, unlike so many other people, and while what he said had to be taken with a grain of salt –honestly, dreams becoming reality was kind of ridiculous- Grandpa was someone that Warriors would trust no matter what.
In this instance, Grandpa’s advice proved to be useful once again, as Warriors found himself sputtering and spitting out salt water as he emerged from the waves, hair hanging in his eyes in an annoying manner as he took stock of his surroundings.
Time, weighed down by his heavy armor, was just barely remaining above water, Sky not far from him huffing in exertion at the difficulty of swimming while Four hovered cautiously between the two. Twilight was holding his own quite well against the waves, which was good considering Wild was struggling with staying above the water. Wild honestly had the best stamina out of all of them, but surprisingly he couldn’t swim well. Wind, as expected was doing just fine, what was surprising was the way he was holding up Hyrule, who was floundering. Legend, Warriors was surprised to see, was barely above the water, only his head emerging from the waves, practically green in the face and looking sicker than Warriors had ever seen (and he lived with soldiers who knew bars and pubs like the backs of their hands).
“We’re in my Hyrule!” Wind declared, sweeping his gaze about, before nodding (his hands were busy with keeping himself and Hyrule afloat) towards a dark blob in the distance. “Looks like a ship is coming this way too.”
Time nodded. “Can everyone stay afloat until it gets here?”
Warriors nodded, Grandpa had made sure he could outswim many of the sailors from his time, waiting for a ship to pick them up couldn’t be too hard, right?
“No...” Sky moaned.
“No -yech.” Hyrule spat out the water he had accidentally ingested.
“I want to die.” Legend whined, actually whined as he sank further down, only his nose and eyes showing above the water as he scowled at its surface.
“Cub! You have anything on that slate of yours that could help?” Time barked, reaching out to grab Sky’s arm as the Skyloftian bobbed beneath the waves for a moment.
“One sec,” Wild stammered, still floundering. Twilight took mercy on the teen and offered him an arm for support.
“Check. I gotcha, Cub.”
Wild nodded his thanks and turned his attention to the Sheikah slate, which somehow was unaffected by the water around them. “I have two barrels.” Came the reply. “If that helps?”
“Great, we’ll stick Hyrule in one and Sky in the other.” Legend deadpanned, ears twitching in irritation.
“Or we could have the weaker swimmers hold onto them.” Time corrected, scowling at their Veteran.
Wild nodded, fingers flying across the screen of the slate as two barrels manifested in front of him, allowing Wind, Twilight and Time to all release their charges, and setting the others better at ease.
“Wind, check with your spyglass to see what sort of ship that is.” Time called over to the sailor.
“Kinda trying to float over here.” Wind called back.
“Sit on one of the barrels for a moment, the others won’t mind, right guys?” Four suggested, and was backed up by hums of affirmation from their bad swimmers. Wind nodded and obliged, sitting perfectly still as he peered through the spyglass before bouncing up and down excitedly.
“Oh boy! Guys!” Ocean blue orbs whipped around to face them as Wind beamed fit to burst. “It’s Tetra!”
“Great!” Warriors gave a shit-eating grin. “We can finally meet your girlfriend!”
“Not my girlfriend!” Came the pitched reply, much to the amusement of the others as Wind flushed bright red, ears nearly crimson with his blush.
“Sure.” Twilight drawled playfully, “And Epona eats rocks.”
“I didn’t know Epona liked them too.” Wild cocked his head. “Was she upset that I didn’t share last time?”
“Wild, what the-”
“Let’s unpack that later,” Time interrupted the expletive that was about to emerge from Legend’s mouth. “Wind, how far off are they?”
Wind peeked back through his glass. “Wind's strong,” Snorts sounded around him but he ignored them. “I’d say fifteen minutes to half an hour, provided they stay steady.”
“Hylia, they better not decide to change their course.” Legend muttered, looking greener about the gills every moment, although even if he had had gills (and wouldn’t that be something) the high collar of his tunic would have hidden them.
Fortunately for all gathered, Tetra and her crew had not only decided to remain on whatever course they had been sailing, but had also spotted the Chain and was already ready to haul them aboard when they reached them. Hyrule, Sky and Wild had been the first up, followed quickly by Time, Twilight, Four, Warriors and Wind, with Legend grousing about not trusting the sea, and demanding that everyone get up before him so he could make sure the dratted thing didn’t wash anyone away. Hyrule had smiled softly at that, whispering a faint ‘softy’ in Warriors ear at the comment, but nobody really questioned it, not even when Legend all but collapsed upon reaching the deck.
“He sick or somethin’?” Tetra cocked a brow.
“I’m dead.” Legend groaned into the deck. “Someone bloody well end me.”
“It’s not that bad.” Wind pouted.
Legend raised his head long enough to stare the sailor in the eye. “My legs are gelatin; my lungs are dust and my head is a bomb waiting to explode. I’m not being a Wars here, I’m being completely, bloody, honest.”
“What’s gelatin?”
"What do you mean, 'being a Wars'!"
“Why did he say bloody?”
Wind grinned at Tetra. “Time,” He nodded at the man in question. “Forbade swearing. He thinks it will corrupt me.” Both sailors chortled at that before Wind continued. “So, Legend uses everything else under the sun. Apparently ‘bloody’ is a term used in another country or something.”
Tetra nodded and then shot orders over her shoulder to one of the pirates. “Hoi! Nudge! Take this lily-liver below, he’s lyin’ all over the decks an’-”
“No need for that, Tetra!” Wind broke in, already moving to help Legend up. “I’ll take care of him. The crew can continue their duties, I’ll be back in a sec.”
Tetra cocked a brow, but nodded. The pirate turned to the other Links. “Right then, who here’s been on a boat before?”
Legend groaned as Wind helped hoist him to his feet, the Veteran’s legs buckling underneath of him and making him fall heavily against the smaller boy. “I have, and I- bloody well hate it.” He corrected himself halfway through as Time’s disappointed stare fell on him. Legend must not have been feeling too very bad though, because he mustered the strength to shoot some very rude signs in Time’s direction.
Tetra scowled. “Anyone else?”
Wars grinned cockily at her. “I have.”
Tetra scowled at him. “Shut up, I know you have.” She said, much to the confusion of the others.
“I know you do. I just thought you should know that the old man here has too, he’s sailed with you, if you don’t recall.” The captain grinned cheekily, watching as Tetra turned to stare at Time, who suddenly looked very awkward as he offered her a shy wave.
Tetra stared for a half of a minute before blinking, her eyes blowing wide open as she stared at Time before she settled back on her heels, hands resting on her hips. “Well whaddaya know.”
Time grinned, the others stared, and Warriors cackled.
Tetra informed them quickly of their destination. She had been looking for Wind, on his Grandmother’s behalf, and had been about to report in to the old woman. Since they now had Wind with them though, it would be a much easier return, although Wind was already bracing himself for his sister’s inevitable scolding at leaving her behind while he had ‘another adventure' without her, and his grandmother’s fussing at him for being away so long.
As the ship was in fine array, and the weather fair, there was little to no need for most of them to step up to help around the place, so Tetra allowed them to rest on the quarterdeck by the railings while the rest of the crew went about their business.
“Your Hyrule’s nice, Wind.” Hyrule commented. “The water's so nice and blue!”
Wind grinned, shrugging casually as he rested against the railings of the deck. “Yeah, I know. They say you can see right through it to the bottom in some places. Actually, there was this one time-”
“Not another one of your stories,” Wars groaned playfully, nudging the young sailor. “haven’t you already told us all of them by now?”
Wind scowled at him, and dang, he really needed to teach the kid to scowl better, because this was just freakin’ adorable! “No. ‘Sides,” He crossed his arms, pout increasing. “This one’s not about me.”
“Who is it about?” Wild asked, leaning forwards, curiosity sparking in his baby-blues.
Wind sat up, throwing his chest out proudly as he responded. “My great-grandfather! He was one of the finest sailors in all of Hyrule, you know, before it was flooded anyways.” He frowned, eyes darkening for a second before clearing up again, and the kid shot a grin at Legend, who had agreed to sit with them, if only to be as far as possible from the sound of the waves and the water itself. “Of course, I’m the best sailor now-a-days, excluding Tetra of course-” At the helm, Gonzo snorted a laugh, “-but in his time, he was the finest of the fine! He was the founder of our home on Outset too!”
“Really?” Came several curious cries, and Wind nodded.
Warriors could already recognize the look on the kid’s face as Wind jumped to his feet, as he was wont to do when storytelling, and started gesturing around emphatically. “Yeah! Back then, Hyrule had just been flooded, and Grandpop -he was named Link too,” The others groaned and rolled their eyes, which Warriors could totally agree with, and it appeared Wind did too, because he simply nodded with a tired smile before continuing. “Anyways, since like, everyone had moved up onto the mountaintops near where they already lived, they were kinda crowded and there wasn’t much space for living. So, Grandpop Link put together a little crew and set out to find places for all the different people to live!” Wind grinned over towards Legend again, for some reason. “Granny used to tell me that her pops was like a hero to the people of Hyrule at the time, not a Hero of Courage of course,” He quieted, voice lowering softly, almost meekly, which made Warriors turn to the small sailor in concern, watching the kid’s shy gaze as it continued to rest on Legend, who remained impassive the entire time. “But people really appreciated his help!” He added in a tone that almost sounded hopeful, or encouraging.
“That so.” Legend drawled. “Good for him.”
Wind quieted, casting his gaze away before standing and informing them that despite Tetra having already stated that the crew had things handled, he was going to go and check that things were all alright. Gonzo shot the boy a concerned look, but the kid only offered a smile in return before striding down the steps towards the main deck.
“What was all that about?” Four wondered aloud. And Warriors couldn’t agree more. What the heck was going on?
The remainder of the trip to Outset was rather short (because plot reasons) and by the next day, not only was Wind in a better mood than the last evening -hovering about everyone and helping aboard the ship, while also periodically checking on Legend, who had all but locked himself in the cabin Tetra had let them use- but Outset itself was only a short distance away, and by noon Tetra happily informed them that they’d be docking in plenty of time for Wild to help Granny make supper.
Legend still refused to leave the cabin.
On any other occasion, Warriors wouldn’t have bothered with it, and he still tried not to. If Legend wanted to avoid them, that was just fine with him, he didn’t have to put up with the guy being an ass! But Wind was down about the whole thing, even if he was excited to get home –Warriors couldn’t blame him, he missed his own Grandpa and sister terribly. But the kid seemed so eager to show off his world to all of them, yet Legend was his especial goal for some reason, and Warriors couldn’t wrap his head around why.
He knew Wind from before this all, the kid was a brilliant fighter during the War of Eras, and even though he was currently unsure whether their Wind had lived through that yet (time was a fickle thing and Cia was too) there were some things about the kid that just didn’t change, like how he and Time both enjoyed stealing Wars’ scarf, or gripping at its edges when they got uncomfortable or worried. Yet in the same stroke, there was also something to him since the Chain had all met that had Warriors curious; why was the kid so darn set on gaining Legend’s attention?
Warriors sat at the rail, thinking this to himself when Tetra came and rapped his skull, grinning cheekily as he yelped in response. “Oi, hair for brains captain, we’re docking! Why don’t you get that pink-haired rabbit of a companion of yours out of the cabins, we’ll head ashore as soon as we’re anchored in place.”
Warriors scoffed. “Rabbit? Please, he’s more a rat than anything.”
Tetra rolled her eyes. “Get him, Link’ll be upset if he isn’t on deck to see the island.”
Warriors shook his head, but saluted lazily. “Aye, aye, captain.”
They were docked before Legend agreed to come out, and it was only when they heard Wind’s Granny already on deck and fussing over him that Warriors was finally able to get Legend to leave the cabin. It was odd, he thought as he followed Legend out onto the deck. The guy walked like he had sailed his whole life, yet the entire time he clutched the railing like a vice, sweat trickling down to his collar and knuckles white. Clearly, based on his shouted complaints last night during a bit of rough sailing, he knew more than most people about ships, enough that Tetra’s return of nautical jargon hadn’t even phased him when she had yelled at them after the storm was over. In fact, Legend had just yelled back with something equally confusing that might not have been entirely in Hylian if Warriors own ears were to be believed.
Yet his fellow hero was clearly afraid of the sea. Why? If he knew it so well, why would he fear it? Legend didn’t fear anything –at least, as far as they knew- and had faced Ganon enough times to be annoyed with the monster rather than fear him, and fought enough of the other sorts of monsters that he only complained at dealing with them again. But the ocean? The guy was outright quivering in his blasted feathery boots!
“There you are!” Wind shouted, bouncing in place as they emerged. “Granny’s gone on ahead with Wild to start supper, and Aryll’s gonna take us around the island!”
“Great.” Legend deadpanned. “Just get me off of this blasted ship.”
Tetra scowled, but at Wind’s desperate glance, didn’t say anything, only glaring at Legend in a way that made Warriors glad that looks couldn’t kill. He didn’t like the vet, but the other Links knowledge was valuable, and he had items enough to get them out of nearly everything.
Aryll grinned over at them, before freezing for a moment and darting a glance at Wind, who just shrugged. Warriors had half a mind to ask them what was going on, but since it was the only part of his mind that he actually had, he wasn’t able to act on that thought before Wind’s little sister was already leading them down the gangplank and towards the shoreline.
The entire tour of the island, and the resulting fun they had on the beach, would have been much nicer if Aryll hadn’t spent the entire time staring at Legend, and if Legend hadn’t spent equally as much time avoiding the coast, Aryll, or anything else that the others found themselves doing. Warriors eventually gave up on trying to figure out what was going on, honestly, Legend was just being saltier than the whole bloody sea stretched out before them, what was new about that?
But when they all began heading back towards the village for supper, Warriors couldn’t help but be surprised to see the virtual colony of seagulls that had gathered around Legend, who was calmly petting one of them with a distant look on his face that almost resembled the one Wild wore when he was lost in a memory. Legend snapped out of it soon enough, scowling at all of them as their talk and laughter startled most of the birds away, but one of the gulls stayed, perched happily in his lap, and only moved to sit on top if his head, its beak tugging gently at his pink hair, rearranging it gently as he followed the rest of them towards Wind’s house.
It was when they stepped inside the house that it actually happened.
Wind’s Granny had turned to greet them as Hyrule and Wind had bust in through the door, the older ones following while Legend hung back. She smiled at the boys’ antics, sharing a glance with Time as he attempted to corral all of them inside. But when Legend followed after them, a seagull still perched on his head, a scowl still firmly on his face, and pink hair sweeping into his eyes, the old woman froze, the bowls she had been about to set on the table falling from her hands and clattering against the wooden floor.
Everything froze.
Legend stared, startled, in the old woman’s direction, the seagull screeching painfully load at the crashing of the bowls before fluttering away. Granny’s lips twitched, almost imperceptibly, before the woman rushed –much faster than Warriors would have guessed someone of her age could- over to Legend, her small hands coming up to cup his face, dark fingers gently brushing away pink strands of hair as tears began welling up in her eyes. “Well, I’ll be.” Came the strangled sound of her voice.
Legend, to his credit, didn’t snap at the woman, but instead stared at her for a second before looking past her to cast a questioning gaze at the others. Hands twitching at his sides as he silently asked a question involving a word Wind had forbidden them to say around his sister.
“It’s really you.” Granny sobbed softly, making Legend clearly uncomfortable as he carefully pulled away, hands coming up to pull the woman's away gently, as if she might break if he wasn’t careful.
“I’m sorry, I don’t know what you’re-”
Granny froze for a second before giving a tearful giggle. “Of course! Link said you were all from across time! I suppose Hyrule hasn’t even flooded for you yet.”
Legend’s violate eyes were bordering on indigo as he gritted his teeth. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“The flood of course, you come to help then.”
Legend scowled. “So help me, if Hylia sends me on another adventure after this one, we’re gonna have some serious problems.”
Granny paused. “Another adventure?”
Legend rolled his eyes. “Yeah, I’ve been on six already, seven if you count this hootenanny.”
Aryll and Granny both glanced from Legend to Wind.
“Alright, what the heck is going on?” Warriors caved, he was tired of asking himself this, he could ask for answers, right?
“You just,” Granny looked back at legend. “You look so much like him.”
“Like who?” The hero in question questioned.
“My father.” Granny answered. “Oh, a bit younger, to be sure, but,” The woman didn’t even react to the various stages of shock that the others had been shot into. “The pink hair? Violet eyes? Why, they even turn stormy when you get irritated!”
“Your what?” Hyrule squeaked.
“Wind, explain.” Legend demanded.
Wind did not explain. Not immediately anyways. But after supper, Granny had all of them sit down in the living room (it was a tight fit) and she produced some old snapshots from a photo album she had. Flipping through them, she stopped on a certain page and turned it round for them all to see. Staring back at them through time and space, was a picture of what looked very much like an older Legend, pink hair streaked with silver, and hanging a bit shaggier, but the smirk, the eyes, heck the way the man held himself, boasted of the same confidence and swagger that Legend himself carried.
“Good grief.” Legend breathed, fingers tracing the photograph.
“At least you age well.” Sky offered.
“But this doesn’t make sense!” Legend’s free hand came up to grip on his hair. “Hyrule doesn’t get flooded in my time! It stays dry and safe until Ganon comes back and then Hyrule has to deal with him! It doesn’t get flooded!”
The others exchanged a glance.
“And even if the blasted thing did get flooded, I, of all people, would not be the one to recolonize everything by sailing! Nayru and her father can take care of that for all I care!”
“Nayru, as in, the goddess?”
“Why not?” Wind questioned.
“Because I hate the ocean!” Legend exploded (but not literally). “Besides!” Legend stood to his feet, dropping the book in the process. “The timelines were split! The hero before me died fighting Ganon! The hero before Wind is Time! And he’s not dead!”
“Yet.” Four added unhelpfully, earning a glare from Twilight, who was beginning to look a bit sick himself.
“Yet, at all! He defeated Ganon! The Fallen Hero never did! Wind talks about a hero defeating Ganon, and it sure wasn’t me!” Legend huffed.
Warriors froze. “Wait.” The others fell silent and gazed at him, the captain’s gaze remaining fixed ahead, brows furrowed as he spoke. “The timeline was split.”
“We know that!” Legend was clearly coming very close to breaking time and Wind’s no swearing rule.
“But it only split into two.” Warriors continued. “The time that Time left behind, and the one where he lived as a kid.” Time nodded. “But what if, what if the hero of your time, the hero who failed, was also Time?”
“What?”
“What if the fallen hero is an alternate version of time. What if, in another... dimension or something, Time failed?”
Legend scowled, arms crossing over his chest. “Please don’t drag alternate realities into this, they’re enough pain in my ass as is.”
Warriors rolled his eyes. “But what if it is an alternate reality? You only have record of three other heroes, the fallen one, Four, and Sky.”
“And the first one.”
“The first one?” Hyrule murmured.
“Whatever,” Warriors shook his head. “We know the timelines split at Time. What if, in another reality, he failed, and that’s the reality where you come from?”
“Your point being?” Legend huffed, cocking a brow.
“My point being that in alternate universes, it’s the same people, just different occurrences. What if, you were born in the other universes that Time didn’t fail? And what if that version of you, went on to become Wind’s grand-grandfath-” Warriors cut himself off and stared. “Holy %$@# your alternate self is Wind’s great-grandfather!”
The others froze, even Time didn’t bother to correct Wars on his language.
“Is that why you’ve been following me around?” Legend turned to Wind.
The sailor shrugged. “What was I supposed to do? I meet a guy who looks like my relative and shares his name, and I’m not supposed to want to spend time with him? ‘Sides,” He flushed slightly. “You’re cool.”
Legend stared at the kid for half of a minute before bursting out laughing, actually laughing. “Hylia! This is a mess isn’t it!” He chuckled.
“Does that make Legend the real Grandpa of the group?” Four asked, glancing at the others.
“No!” Legend growled.
“Yes!” Wind cheered.
Granny laughed. “Well, if that’s the case, I apologize for making such a scene.”
Legend shook his head, surprising the others with the gentle smile he offered the old woman. “Don’t sweat it. If I had seen someone I thought I knew, I would have done the same thing, I can’t blame you.”
“Besides,” Wild added. “If Warriors is right, he technically is your dad, just from a different universe. It’s still the same guy though.”
Legend paled. “Yeah, no. I’m not being anyone’s dad.”
“Nope, just my great-grandpop!” Wind grinned.
Legend scowled at the kid. “No.”
“Sorry, Pops, you can’t escape it now!” Wind giggled, jumping forwards and tackling Legend in a hug, causing the older Link to squawk in surprise as the small body hit him, followed quickly by Aryll, the others laughing uproariously as he scrambled to escape them, only to be held tighter.
“Hylia, why!” Legend groaned.
“Come on,” Wind tossed him a gremlin grin as he squeezed tighter. “You know you love us.”
Legend scoffed, but no one missed the way he squeezed back.