Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The Chain didn’t know how to react when Wild came back.

On one hand, they were infinitely glad to have their brother back. He had disappeared into a portal three months ago, with only the promise of another adventure ahead to tell them what would happen to him. Life had gotten duller after that, and to be honest, the food had gotten even more poisonous than before they had picked up Wild.

But on the other hand?

Something was very clearly wrong with him.

They met him in the morning, when he walked into camp with the smallest hint of a smile on his face and a slight wave. The Chain, of course, jumped on him and didn’t stop hugging him for a good ten minutes.

But he barely showed them any more than a grimace-turned-smile.

When they asked how his adventure went, his sentences were short, clipped, barely giving any detail. I found out who Ganondorf was. I got to see my friends again. Rebuilding is going well. I got a new house. Next time we visit we’ll have to see Sidon, he misses you guys.

That was what they got. Not long after, Wild excused himself to bed and promptly flopped onto a bedroll. It was, according to Time, twenty-three minutes to noon.

They let him sleep for two hours, too scared to wake him for another long trek.

They were in Four’s Hyrule at the time, and Four told them that it was safe, they were good to let him sleep. As Wild slept, they carefully packed up camp and just waited, talking in hushed tones with glances thrown over to his body every so often.

Their brother was back, but it was clear to see that his second adventure had changed him. And not for the better.

“Wild?” Wind asked. “Are you awake now?” The younger hero poked Wild on the shoulder lightly.

Wild sat up slowly, nodding his head and rubbing his eyes. “Sorry,” he said, his voice more rough than it had been before. “It’s just been a long few months.”

“Glad you could get some rest then, cub.” Twilight said with a soft smile. “How’re you feeling?”

Wild winced. “Arm hurts pretty bad, but it’s an old injury. Legend, do you still have that ache cream stuff?”

“Here,” Legend said, tossing him the tube. “Be easy on it, it’s my last tube until I get back to my Hyrule.”

“Thanks.” Wild rolled up on the sleeve on his right arm, and Sky couldn’t help but gasp.

The skin was black and twisted, looking like lightning scars tracing up his arm. Sky could tell it was an old wound, the tissue had already grown over and it looked like the healing process had already finished but was unable to get everything.

Wild looked up when the camp went silent. “Oh. Oh yeah, sorry, it’s, uh,” he looked back down at his arm, twisting it and lightly tracing his finger over the scars. “My second adventure wasn’t the kindest to me.”

Wild finished applying the cream in silence, trying to hand it back to Legend. The veteran pushed it back into his hands with a shake of his head. “You need it more than I do. Keep it.”

“What did that, Wild?” Hyrule asked, his voice quiet.

“Ganondorf.” Wild answered quickly, pushing his sleeve back down. “He was able to control a stronger version of malice called gloom, and let’s just say it can get infected fast.”

“Can I try to heal it?” Hyrule asked, kneeling by Wild’s side.

Wild shook his head. “It’s special property is that it can’t be healed. You need special plants or concentrated sunlight to even reverse the effects. But it’s okay, Purah said it didn’t cause any lasting damage to my nerves or anything like that.”

“Purah? The crazy kid scientist?” Four wrinkled his nose.

“Yeah, but she’s not a kid anymore. Managed to perfect her aging machine, she’s now a year older than me. I think she said she was twenty six now?”

Warriors froze. “Wild, how long have you been gone?”

Wild kept his head down, picking at the grass with his fingers. Sky noticed four new rings on his right hand, green and orange in color. There was also a single ring on his left hand, index finger, that shone a bright gold.

“Wild, how long have you been gone?” Warriors repeated, dread growing in his stomach.

Wild hesitated. “It’s been five years since the portal picked me up.” He whispered, even though it did nothing to stop his voice from cracking.

“Oh, cub.” Twilight swept Wild into a hug. “Tell me your adventure didn’t last that long.”

Wild returned the hug, burying his head into Twilight’s pelt. If Twilight felt tears hitting his tunic, he didn’t mention them. “No, it only lasted about two years. Ended four months ago.” Wild sniffled.

“But five years?” Wind asked. “It’s only been three months for us! The goddess can’t have taken you away for that long. That’s not fair!”

“When has the goddess ever cared what we thought?” Legend snorted while Sky flinched.

Twilight continued hugging Wild as the hero quietly cried.

“It’s good to be back.” Wild whispered. “It’s good to be back.”

—-----------------

Despite their best efforts, melancholy seemed to cling to Wild for the next few days. He assured them, told them that he was fine, he just hadn’t been feeling the same after his second adventure. But the Chain still tried their hardest to keep smiles on around him.

He still didn’t answer questions about his adventure. Nine times out of ten, he’d wake up from screaming in the middle of the night, refusing to go back to sleep and spending hours just staring into the fire.

It broke Time’s heart to see how much his kid had suffered without any of them to help.

They traveled through a couple of Hyrules during that time, none of them being Wild’s. They slayed black-blooded monsters (Wild’s fighting style had gotten immensely better, earning him some awed looks from the other Links), and met up with their respective Zeldas.

The first Zelda they met was Dot, who was overjoyed to see the heroes again. She tried to give Wild a hug, but he froze up stiff when she did, a scared look in his eyes.

The second was Sun, and Wild took one look at her before turning on his heel and walking away. Sun cried about it later, with Sky calming her down by telling her that his most recent adventure had been quite traumatic and he still needed time.

When they got to Time’s Hyrule, Malon refused to let Wild continue going the way he was. She sat him down at the table, favorite meal in front of him, and ordered him to try and at least give one smile, one laugh, one reason he was feeling sad, one way the Chain could possibly help him.

Wild dropped his fork with a clatter and walked out the door, not coming home until late that night. No one mentioned the tears on his cheeks or the dirt that now covered his cloak.

By the time they had reached Twilight’s Hyrule, the Chain was at a roadblock. Everything they had tried had failed, and it felt like every day, Wild was just slipping further and further. He wouldn’t even laugh at Wind’s jokes anymore, just sat there, staring straight ahead but not seeing anything.

“He’s mourning.” Dusk said simply when the Chain arrived at the castle.

“What do you mean?” Twilight asked.

“That isn’t the face of someone who won.” Dusk said. “That is the face of something who lost far more than they gained. That is the face of someone who is lost in more ways than one.”

“We know he’s lost.” Legend snapped. “We just have to find a way to make him feel better!”

Dusk shook her head. “You can’t cure a wound like this. This is a wound that only grows bigger the more time passes on. It can only be healed by returning things to the way they were before.” Twilight knew exactly who she was talking about and looked down.

“But we can’t stay this way forever!” Legend slammed his fist against the table. “We already lost Wild once, we aren’t going to do it again.”

“Patience, Hero of Legend.” Dusk said. “You will find out soon enough.” The queen sighed, resting her chin on her hand. “If I were you, I would pray the goddess sends you to his lands soon. If he won’t talk, maybe his companions will.”

—--------------

Despite their prayers, it took another two weeks for the Chain to go to Wild’s Hyrule.

They had just finished a risky expedition in Hyrule’s era, and they were infinitely glad when the portal popped up. As they stepped through, a light breeze and the fresh scent of flowers hit them head-on.

Wild’s Hyrule was just as massive and beautiful as they remembered.

Four took in a deep breath, feeling the sun on his face. “I don’t think I could ever get used to this place. It’s just so natural.”

Wild stepped to the front of the group, cloak flapping in the wind. They were standing on a hill surrounded by a swamp-like area. Sky could barely see the turret of the castle over a nearby mountain, but had the castle always been that tall?

“We’re home.” Wild breathed, turning back to the group. A smile grew on his face, bigger than they had seen in a while but still not big enough. “Come on, we’re about a day away from Zora’s Domain. Sidon will be ecstatic to see you guys again.”

Time shifted the gear on his back. “Lead the way, Wild.”

The group traveled slowly at first, but as the sun reached about mid-afternoon, their pace quickened. They had been stuck at night in Wild’s Hyrule before, and it had not been a very pleasant experience. They made their way across the Lanayru Wetlands, coming to a stop at Inogo Bridge.

And that’s when they saw her.

Actually, they didn’t see her at first. Wild was first to notice, but the Chain knew exactly when he did because Wild, well,

He ran.

He took off like a bullet, practically crashing into the person he had seen. “Zelda!” He said, wrapping the person in a hug and swinging her around. “Oh, Zelda, it’s been so long!”

The person he had hugged stepped away from Wild, and the Chain finally got a good look at her. It was clearly Flora, though her hair was shorter now and she looked slightly older. She dusted off her leggings with a pleasant smile on her face, but something about that smile.

It made chills go down Sky’s back.

“It’s good to see you too, her-Link.” Flora said. “Where have you been?”

Wild shrugged, the biggest grin the Chain had ever seen sliding onto his face. “Around. I met back up with my brothers, do you remember them?” Wild gestured to the other heroes.

Flora blinked. “Oh. Brothers? I, um, I,” Flora glanced at them, was that a look of anger? Sky must’ve imagined it, because it was quickly replaced by another smile. “Oh yes, I remember! Sorry, it’s just been so long. Two years?”

“Five.” Wild said gently.

“Right! Sorry, my bad. I meant five.” Flora laughed nervously, and Sky’s eyebrows drew together in confusion. “Could you remind me of your names again?”

“... It’s Twilight, Your Majesty.” Twilight said, matching Sky’s look. The other Links quickly went around and gave their nicknames while also throwing glances at one another.

“What odd names.” Flora commented. She turned back to Wild. “Anyway, Link, I found some very interesting ruins I wanted to show you. Can you come with me to take a look?”

“Ooh, ruins? I love exploring ruins!” Wind said. “Are you guys finding new ruins?”

Flora– okay, Sky was clearly imagining things now because there was no way Flora just rolled her eyes– gave another sweet smile. “I just wanted to take Link along, actually. It’ll be a short trip, I promise.”

“But–” Wind tried to say.

Flora interrupted him. “You all have been traveling with Link for so long, don’t I get a turn now? We still have a lot to catch up on.” Sky did not like the look Flora gave Wind when she said that.

Wild took Flora’s hand in his. “It’s alright, Flora. They were just looking out for me.”

“Yes, but Link– wait.” Flora turned to Wild. “Why are you calling me Flora?”

“It’s your nickname, remember?” Wild asked, endless patience seeping into his voice. “We gave it to you because you liked flowers.”

Flora perked up. “Right! My favorite flower is the banana blossom–”

“Silent princess.” Wild interrupted, a smile on his face. He patted Flora’s hand. “Your favorite flower is the silent princess. My favorite flower is the blue nightshade.”

“O-oh yes. Right. My favorite flower is the silent princess.”

Sky shot a look at Time. What was wrong with Flora? She was acting as if she had forgotten everything about herself.

“Anyways, Link,” Flora said again. “The ruins?”

“You know I’d love to,” Wild said. “But I already promised my brothers I would take them to Zora’s Domain to see Sidon. We have a long walk ahead of us.”

“Hmm.” There it was again, the anger on Flora’s face. “I was really hoping to see those ruins today…”

“Do you want to come with us?” Wild asked nicely. “You can show us any ruins you want on the way. It’s still another day’s walk out, that gives us plenty of time to catch up.”

“Wild, I’m not sure that’s a good idea–” Four tried to say.

“I’d love that!” Flora said, throwing a too-sharp grin at Four. “Thank you for inviting me, he-Link.”

Wild perked up. “Great! Come on Flora, I have so much to tell you.”

Flora and Wild went first, Wild laughing loudly at every little thing Flora said. Meanwhile, the rest of the Chain held back, walking in a tight group.

“I don’t like this.” Wind said, crossing his arms. “Something’s weird.”

“What gave it away?” Legend drawled. “The fact that Flora can’t even remember her favorite flower, or that fact that Wild has turned into a drunk Warriors flirting with every girl he sees?”

“Hey!” Warriors protested. “We have an actual problem on our hands, Legend. Flora’s acting is too strange for it to be normal.”

Sky shivered. “She has that look in her eyes. Did you see her glaring at us?”

“Why didn’t she remember us?” Four frowned. “Flora was the only princess who got our names down perfectly the first day, she told me she couldn’t wait to get to know us better. And then she just forgets about us?”

“Hyrule? Twilight? You’re being awfully quiet.” Time said.

Hyrule jolted like he had been shocked, turning to look at the group. “Sorry, it’s just,” He squinted at Flora’s back. “Do you guys feel it too?”

“Feel what?”

“The bloodlust.” Hyrule said. “It’s pretty strong, and it started as soon as Wild saw Flora.” He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. “I just didn’t want to say anything in case I was wrong.”

“You aren’t.” Twilight said bluntly, making the Chain turn to look at him. He kept his gaze on Flora, watching her every move. “That isn’t Flora.”

“What do you mean?” Warriors asked.

“I have the scent of every person I’ve met memorized.” Twilight said. “Flora’s and Wild’s especially. But that isn’t Flora.” He took a deep breath in. “I smell bananas and blood. I think that’s a Yiga clan member.”

“Yiga?!” Wind said before quieting his voice. “But how can a Yiga clan look exactly like Flora?”

Twilight shook his head. “I’m not sure. And Wild…”

“Yeah.” Legend said. “I see it, too.”

“Get what?” Sky asked, looking between them. “What’s wrong with Wild?”

Legend rolled his eyes. “Wild has always been the first to notice the Yiga. Whether they appear out of nowhere, look like a traveler, or ambush us, Wild always knows. It’s like he can see the future. But for Wild to be laughing like that?”

“He wouldn’t be doing that around a Yiga.” Four finished, his eyes flashing purple. “If Flora really is a Yiga, Wild would’ve noticed by now.”

“So then why isn’t he doing anything?” Wind asked, turning back to Wild and Flora. Wild was talking excitedly, waving his hands in the air as Flora gave a polite smile and nodded every so often.

“I don’t know.” Twilight said.

“Look, we aren’t even sure if Flora really is Yiga or not.” Sky said. “But we can agree something is wrong. We should keep our eyes out for anything strange happening.”

Warriors joined the conversation. “I agree. Wind, Four, I want you to keep talking with Flora, see if she says anything that doesn’t make sense. Twilight, Sky, you are on Wild-protecting duty. Time, Hyrule, keep an extra look for any potential Yiga ambushes. Legend, keep an eye out for monsters while Wild and Flora are distracted. I’ll make sure to catch Flora if she tries to do any sort of sabotage.”

“If she turns out to be Yiga?” Four asked.

“Cut her down. Make sure she can’t get anywhere near Wild.” Warriors said.

“And if she isn’t?”

Sky watched Wild and Flora walk further ahead of them. Even from here, he could hear how excited Wild was, how happy his voice sounded. “Then I think they owe us a few answers.”

Chapter Text

Operation: Not Flora was going off without a problem.

Meaning Flora was definitely a Yiga.

In the short time they had set up camp for the night, Sky and Twilight had stopped two assassination attempts and secretly had to confiscate a demon scythe before Flora could use it. Warriors caught Flora poisoning their dinner, and when Wind asked her about her favorite way to cook bananas, Flora went off on a fifteen-minute tangent about the beauty of bananas.

The most annoying thing?

Wild kept acting like he didn’t care.

When Warriors told him about the poison, Wild laughed and said Flora had never been the best cook. Flora had practically held a blade to his neck and Wild still looked at her with stars in his eyes, giving her a hug and playing it off.

“Either he’s being an idiot right now,” Legend grumbled that night after taking out a camp of bokoblins. “Or he’s playing the Yiga for a fool.”

“I’ve never seen him like this,” Twilight said, watching Wild laying side-by-side with Flora, showing her the constellations in the sky. “There’s no way he doesn’t know she’s a Yiga, but…”

“But if he did, he wouldn’t be doing this.” Four groaned. “Why can’t he just tell us what’s going on already?”

“I don’t want to worry him.” Twilight said. “He’s acting nothing like he was around us. Look how happy he is. I don’t want to ruin that.”

“If he’s happy cozying up to the enemy, I say we let him get stabbed.” Legend said. “Serves him right for not being cautious.”

“Legend,” Time warned.

Legend put his hands up. “I’m just saying! We’ve had to save the guy like five times already and all he does is laugh and say it’s not Flora’s fault? She’s trying to kill him.”

“We will wait.” Sky said. “I don’t think the Yiga clan wants Wild to make it to Zora’s Domain, they’ll never be able to get him there. She has to reveal herself before then, and when she does, we’ll be ready.”

“But for now, just focus on keeping Wild safe.” Warriors said. He smiled faintly. “I think it’s nice that Wild is finally enjoying himself. He deserves it.”

“Yeah,” Legend said. “But at what cost?”

—------------------------

Poli was one of the strongest and best Yiga clan members, if she said so herself. She was one of few to get the Princess Zelda disguise down perfectly, and she was one of two to even get the voice perfected. That made her perfect for the job of finally killing the hero.

It was all too easy to wait for him at Inogo Bridge, a place he frequented to make his way to his “best friend Sidon.” And when she saw the hero sprinting up to her, it was almost too hard to keep the grin off her face

Finally, the hero would be dead and Lord Ganondorf would be avenged.

What she wasn’t expecting, though, was for the hero to fall for her disguise hook, line, and sinker.

She was almost baffled by it. Even with all the mistakes she made, the hero just laughed and gently corrected her. Was he daft? This was her first time actually meeting him, but still. He had to have lost some brain cells or something.

Poli had been waiting for the perfect opportunity, when the hero realized who she was so she could drop the ridiculous disguise and stab him straight through the heart. He’d die with a look of surprise on his face, having been killed by the one he loved most.

But he wouldn’t freaking realize who she was.

And the companions– brothers?– he was traveling with? Totally threw her plan out the window. Poli couldn’t count the amount of times she wanted to throttle them for stopping her beautifully concocted attempts to end the hero’s life.

But if there was one thing Poli was, she was patient. She could wait. She had one final attempt tomorrow, on the path where she had asked her friends to hide, and that would be it.

The hero would die.

Poli grinned to herself as the hero gave up his bedroll for her. What a sucker! She couldn’t wait to see the look on his face when she dropped the disguise and finally looked normal.

She will admit, the hairstyle was pretty cute though.

—-----------------

The Chain were even more anxious in the morning, packing up camp with almost a sense of urgency. Instead of stowing most of their weapons away in Wild’s Slate, they all decided to keep them out in the open, where they would be easy to reach.

Wild shrugged and didn’t question it. He went right back to asking Flora if she wanted fruitcake or scrambled eggs for breakfast.

She chose eggs, which made Wind more annoyed than he thought it would. Flora’s favorite food ever was fruitcake! It was practically a staple to her diet! Wild had spent hours perfecting the recipe for her!

Stupid Yiga, they couldn’t even play their role right!

It didn’t matter because Wild happily made scrambled eggs for her anyway, humming his happy little song as he did so.

The Chain ate quickly, allowing Flora and Wild to take the lead again. Four sided up right next to Wild, practically walking with him, and spent the entire morning shooting glares at Flora.

She just grinned in return.

“I’m going to kill her as soon as she drops her disguise.” Legend muttered.

“It should be soon.” Sky said, reaching up to grasp the hilt of the Master Sword. “We’re practically at Lanayru Bridge.”

Sky was almost perfectly right. Flora stopped suddenly, turning sharply to the left and running off the path a little ways. “Link, over here! I found something cool!”

“Coming!” Wild said back, taking a step in her direction before Four held out his arm.

“Wild, wait,” Four warned. Twilight growled, pulling out his sword.

It didn’t take long for the Chain to notice the group of Yiga slowly making their way out of the forest, completely surrounding them.

Flora led them, a demon sickle in her hand and a too-wide smile on her face. “Surprised yet, hero? I’ve been waiting ages for this moment, when we can finally kill you and avenge our Lord and Master.” She twirled the blade in her hands, the disguise poofing off to reveal a Yiga.

“I bet you’re surprised, aren’t you.” The Yiga continued. “I played my part perfectly. If it hadn’t been for your meddling companions, I would’ve done away with you eons ago, and your little princess would’ve had to cry over a dead body.”

Sky could barely handle it, but he still looked over to see Wild’s reaction. The smile crumbled off his face, the light in his eyes going dark and leaving nothing but confusion.

“Wait, but, I–” Wild said, blinking rapidly. “What are you doing– I didn’t– why are you– I was–”

Sky knew the Yiga was grinning under the mask. “That’s the expression I’ve been waiting this whole time for. Death to the hero!”

With that, the Yiga attacked.

Twilight was fastest, dashing forward and slashing at two Yiga who teleported away. Another three reached for Wild, but Four and Sky were already there to fend them off. Legend used his shield to block the oncoming arrows.

“Watch out!” Wind said, throwing a dagger just as a Yiga teleported right in front of Wild. Five more left.

Time took out his Biggoron sword, blocking blades with a Yiga Blademaster that had been making his way over to Wild. “Twilight, get the other one!”

Twilight nodded, turning on his heel to go after the only other Yiga Blademaster. Their swords met, clashing together in a shower of sparks and clangs. Twilight dodged, attacked, slashed, and was finally able to get the upper hand and knock the windcleaver out of the Yiga’s hands. They teleported away not long after.

Sky sheathed the Master Sword. “That’s all of them. Good job, guys.”

“Woo-hoo! That’ll teach the Yiga to not mess with us again.” Wind whooped, pumping his hand into the air. Warriors and Time laughed a little at his excitement.

Twilight frowned. “Wild? Is something wrong?”

Wild stood with his back to the Chain, staring at the place Not-Flora had been standing before Warriors had apparently beaten her. There was a pile of bananas on the ground, and Wild couldn’t seem to take his eyes off of it, his hands clenched at his sides.

“Wild?” Hyrule took a step forward, concern in his eyes. Just as he reached out to touch Wild’s shoulder, the hero whirled around.

“How could you do that?!” Wild snarled, smacking Hyrule’s hand away. “You attacked Flora!”

“No, wait, Wild. It wasn’t Flora, it was a Yiga.” Four said. “They were just pretending to be Flora to try and kill you.”

“You don’t think I didn’t know that?!”

Sky froze, quickly followed by the rest of the Chain. They watched as Wild sucked in a sharp breath, his bright blue eyes filling with tears. “You don’t think I didn’t notice the second I saw her? That I just missed the assassination attempts, the poison, the knives to my back?”

“Then why didn’t you do anything about it?” Legend argued. “We watched you laugh it off and keep smiling at her like an idiot!”

“BECAUSE I WAS PLAYING ALONG!” Wild shouted. “If I play along, they don’t drop the disguise. If I play along, they keep looking like Flora. If I play along, Flora stays with me.”

Hot tears dripped down Wild’s face as he glared at them. “I finally get to see Flora again, finally get to be happy, and all you do is attack?”

“Wild, if you want to see Flora, I’m sure we can go to Hateno–” Hyrule tried.

“Flora isn’t in Hateno anymore.” Sky could spot the moment Wild’s facade broke. His knees buckled, almost pulling the hero to the floor, making it look like Wild had lost the rest of his strength. “Flora isn’t in Hateno anymore. She isn’t. She isn’t.”

“Then… where is she, Wild?” Twilight asked, his voice quiet. He took a step forward and Wild jolted.

“Shut up.” Wild hissed, pushing himself back to his feet. “All of you. Just shut up. None of you are allowed to talk.”

The Hero of the Wilds then turned around and dashed away, running down the bridge leading to Zora’s Domain.

“Wild!” Legend shouted after him. “Dang it, come on! We have to follow him!”

Despite still being tired from the fight, the Chain did their best to keep up with Wild, but it was hopeless. The hero had clearly gotten more stamina during his second journey, and he reached the gates of Zora’s Domain long before the rest of the Chain did.

“My dearest friend!” Sidon greeted Wild with the same smile as ever, arms thrown out for a hug. Yona stood by his side, waving happily. “It has been so long, how have you been– Link? What’s wrong?”

Wild sniffed, harshly rubbing the tears out of his eyes. “I’m going to see Mipha’s Court.” He snapped, pushing past Sidon. In a flash of blue light, his champion's tunic was replaced with Zora armor. “Don’t follow me.” He stepped up to the side of the Domain, and with flawless precision, dove off into the waters below.

“Link, wait!” Sidon called after him, running to the side. Just before he followed his friend, he heard the sound of armor clanking and heavy footsteps.

Sidon turned around to see the Chain finally catch up, breathing heavily from the long run. He frowned, his hand tightening around his Lightscale Trident.

“Heroes of the Past?” Sidon asked. “What are you doing here?”

His gaze flickered the waters below, where Wild was getting ready to swim up the waterfall leading to Ploymus Mountain before landing back on the Chain.

“Explain.” Sidon demanded, slamming his trident against the floor. “What happened to Link?”

“We– were– ambus–” Sky gasped for air, hands on his knees to steady himself.

Legend, who was the least out of breath, continued for Sky. “We met some Yiga clan on our journey here. They ambushed us right outside the gates.”

“Yiga ambushes don’t cause Link to look like that.” Sidon said. “He’s dealt with hundreds of them before. What really happened?”

“One of them– one of them was disguised as Flora.” Hyrule said. He took a deep breath and opened his mouth to say more, but stopped when the look on Sidon’s face changed.

“Oh. Oh dear.” Sidon whispered quietly, his red scales turning a shade lighter. “I see. No wonder he was out of sorts.”

Sidon glanced at the green Zora behind him. “Yona, dear, please prepare a quiet space for me to talk to the heroes. It looks like I have a lot to tell them.”

“Of course, Sidon.” Yona said, hurrying off to do that. Sidon turned back to the heroes.

“Follow me. I’m afraid we have a few things to catch up on.”

—-----------------------

“How much has Link told you of his second adventure?” Sidon asked once they were alone. There was a silver table set up at the back of the Domain, close to the throne room where the throne sat suspiciously empty.

“Almost nothing.” Twilight said. “He told us that he fought Demon King Ganondorf, but that was it.”

“I see.” Sidon sighed and leaned back in his chair. For the first time, Warriors noticed that Sidon was dressed much more fancy than before, and the reason behind the empty throne clicked in his head. “Then yes, I suppose I should start from the beginning.”

“Is this a long story?” Wind asked. “Cause I kinda just want to get to the part explaining why Wild was so happy to be around Yiga.”

“It’s not very long, Hero of the Wind.” Sidon said. “It begins with Princess Zelda and Link investigating underneath Hyrule Castle for the cause of a mysterious sickness we call gloom.”

Sidon closed his eyes, as if trying to summon a forgotten memory. “About a week after they left, a massive earthquake shook the ground. The castle rose into the air, chasms opened up to the Depths, stones started falling from the sky.”

“I'm sorry, the castle did what?” Four asked.

“Rose into the sky. It was part of the Upheaval, and there it stays to this day.” Sidon said. “After the Upheaval happened, we did everything to look for Link and Zelda, but all of our efforts were in vain. They had just seemed to vanish.”

“This was the start of his second adventure?” Legend asked, wincing. “Rough start.”

“Indeed. It took about two months for us to figure out what had happened.” Sidon gave a little chuckle. “Apparently, Link just waltzed into the Landing after having been missing the entire time. Scared the life out of everyone, showing up without the Master Sword and his arm–” Sidon cleared his throat.

“Anyways, he told us that he had found the imprisoned Demon King, who attacked him and the princess. They were separated, and Link was taken up to the sky islands to be healed from his wound.”

“Wait.” Sky frowned. “Did you just say sky island?”

“Ah, you didn’t notice?” Sidon pointed up. “The sky islands appeared around the same time Link did.”

Now that they were actually looking at the sky, the Chain could clearly see the shape of the floating islands, clusters of them floating right above Zora’s Domain. Sky’s jaw dropped. Since when…?!

“Okay, but what does this have to do with the Yiga?” Twilight asked.

Sidon hesitated. “To make a long story short, Link traveled around the regions, putting an end to strange phenomena and helping certain individuals discover their destinies as sages. I was named Sage of Water, in fact. But he also did it because there were rumors of seeing Zelda in each of the regions.”

“Rumors of… wait, Link hadn’t found her?”

Sidon shook his head. “The Zelda we had been seeing turned out to be a puppet, controlled by Ganondorf. After we found that out, we doubled our efforts to search for the princess. You see, Link had entrusted the Master Sword to her to fix, and without the sword, we had no hope in defeating the Demon King.”

There was so much there to unpack, but the Chain decided to stay quiet as Sidon leaned forward in his seat. “Link set off to investigate the geoglyphs, large murals painted on the floor that the Sheikah leader Impa believed would be a key to finding out where Zelda had gone.”

“And?” Four prompted.

Sidon’s voice got quiet, and one of his hands clenched in a fist. Hyrule noticed a beautiful blue stone on the back of Sidon’s hand that he hadn’t before, despite it glowing softly.
“One day, Link returned, Master Sword in hand. He looked tired and hungry, like he had been fighting monsters for days on end. All he did was set the sword on the table, look us in the eyes, and tell us that we could stop our search.”

“Doctor Purah took it the hardest. She asked Link what had happened, and when he wouldn’t say, practically begged him to tell her where the Princess was.” Sidon stared out the side of the Domain, right where there was a cluster of sky islands that looked like a fish.

“But where was she?” Wind asked, his eyes slowly filling with dread. “She had to be okay, right? I mean, it’s Flora. She’s amazing. She couldn’t just die like that. Right?”

“She isn’t dead, Hero of the Winds.” Sidon said. “Simply… gone.”

“Gone how?” Legend demanded. “Gone like hidden? Lost her memory? Trapped?”

“Gone.” Sidon repeated. He tapped his finger nervously on the table. “I would say more, but Link has forbidden the sages to talk about it.”

“But we have to know.” Warriors said. “This is his Zelda! We were wondering why he was sad, why we couldn’t cheer him up. Please, Sidon, please. There has to be something we can do to help him.”

Sidon closed his eyes for a moment again. When he opened them, Sky almost flinched at the amount of compassion inside. “I believe that is for Link to answer. I can take you to him, if you would like.”

Time interrupted before Wind could talk. “Yes, please. That would be very helpful. Thank you for all the information you’ve given us.”

“It was my pleasure, Hero of Time.” Sidon certainly didn’t look like it was his pleasure. He stood up, gesturing for the Chain to follow him.

They took a bridge to Ploymus Mountain, following a ladder rather than swimming up the waterfalls. They marveled in awe at the new architecture built at the top of the mountain, even more of the view of the sky islands it gave. Far across, Sky could see Hyrule Castle in the distance, rising in the air just like Sidon had said.

“He is up here, heroes.” Sidon said, pointing to the stairs that took them to the tip of the mountain. They could see the silhouette of Mipha’s statue, the figure of Wild sitting below it.

They went quietly, carefully, afraid to disturb Wild. Sidon was first, stepping up until he was practically touching Wild.

“My friend,” Sidon said softly. “I wanted to ask if you were doing okay.”

“Not really.” Wild’s voice was shaky. “I thought a few months would be enough to get over it. I thought– I thought I wouldn’t be so happy to see her face.”

Sky was next. “Sidon told us about your second adventure, Wild.”

“So he told you how I failed?”

“What? No– no! You didn’t fail, Wild. You beat the Demon King. You saved Hyrule.”

Wild didn’t turn back to look at them. “Zelda asked me to find her. To save her. So yes, I did fail Sky. And I don’t want to hear you trying to console me, tell me I didn’t.” He angrily picked up a rock, chucking it into the pool below Mipha’s statue.

Silence descended, the Chain unsure how to respond to that. They had all wanted to tell him that everything was okay, that he had done an amazing job and was every bit of a 'hero' the world could ever want. But at the same time, all of them had been able to save their own Zeldas.

“You know, the Yiga still can’t get Flora right.” Wild said abruptly, still staring off at the statue. “The first one was pretty good, but her voice sounded wrong. The second one clearly hadn’t studied up on who Flora was. She thought Flora was afraid of bugs.” Wild gave a little chuckle from the memory. “The third one didn’t even try, she just dropped the disguise and attacked me as soon as I freed her.”

“You followed along with it four times?” Twilight couldn’t help the disappointment in his voice. Was his cub really that reckless?!

Wild gave Twilight the flattest look he could muster. “It’s been two years since I saw the real Flora, Twi. I don’t want to hear it.”

“I don’t think they are trying to chastise you, Link.” Sidon said. “They’re just worrying about their friend.”

Wild didn’t answer that. They stood in silence for a little bit, listening to the wind rush past and the sound of the waterfalls.

“Twi?” Wild whispered. “When you lost Midna. Did it ever get better?”

Twilight sat down next to Wild, quickly followed by the rest of the Chain. They gave a massive group hug, Wild in the middle and surrounded on all sides.

“It still hurts.” Twilight said honestly. “Some days you feel like you can never be the same. Some days even the smallest thing can set you off. Some days you wish you had gone with her.”

“I thought about it.” Wild admitted. Time’s heart dropped at how easily Wild spoke of his past thoughts. “I thought about following her. It was so tempting, it was right there and I could just do it.”

“But think of what you would leave behind. Zelda wouldn’t want you to follow her.” Twilight took Wild’s hand. “Zelda would want you to keep fighting, keep building, keep going. She’d want you to have the life you always wanted.”

“It won’t be a life with her. That’s the life I wanted Twi, a life with her. Where I could wake up, give her a kiss, make her breakfast, walk her to the school she used to teach at, bring her lunch. We’d go on adventures all across Hyrule and the sky islands just because we could, and she’d talk my ear off about all the ruins but I wouldn’t care because it was Zelda and I knew she loved doing it.” Twilight could tell Wild had thought about this a lot, the words rolled too easily off of his tongue.

“What will you do now?” Twilight asked as Wild rubbed his eyes.

“I don’t know.” Wild said hoarsely. “I don’t know.”

Sky gave Wild a tighter hug. “We can help with that.” He said with a smile.

“We’re here for you, Wild.” Hyrule said. “We’ll help however we can.”

“We aren’t going to leave you.” Time said gently.

“You’re safe with us.”

“We won’t leave your side.”

“You don’t have to go through anything alone ever again.”

“We’ve got you.”

“Thank you.” Wild returned the hug, surrounded by his friends, his family, his brothers, his everything. “Thank you thank you thank you.”

It really was good to be back.