Chapter Text
Hyrule was extremely happy when they got to his, well, Hyrule. The rest of the chain was too, because it was interesting to watch him and Zelda interact. They had a rather interesting relationship. While, with everyone else, he was shy, with Dawn, he was not. The first time he spoke to his Zelda, the chain was extremely confused. They never thought he could sass anyone; they thought it was out of his skill set. Nope. He and Dawn had a relationship nobody else ever would. It was nice to have Hyrule come out of his shell once in a while.
And by Din, when he came out of his shell, he was out. Flirting with Dawn (though they all knew it was a joke at this point), jumping out of windows (which, to be fair, he already did, but not in such a public area). It was a new show every day, and Wild appreciated it. Seeing his friend happy was great. His Hyrule was the one place he didn’t get lost at every turn, and he had friends in unexpected places. A wall, for example.
In fact, Hyrule and Dawn were bickering at this very moment about some unknown thing. Wild wasn’t actually sure there was a reason for their argument this time. He never thought he would meet a pair worse than Legend and Warriors.
“Well, excuuuuuuse me, princess-” Dawn stopped and doubled over, cackling, as Hyrule snorted- “um, I can’t, um, well, I forgot. What were we talking about again?”
Sprite flitted from Time to around his head. “You were talking about staying organized, Link! But I don’t think you need to stay organized. I think your mess is great! Great to hide in and watch you if I cover my nose first!”
Hyrule chuckled and swatted at the fairy, who darted back over to Time and found a perch between his neck and his shoulder guard. “Get outta here! Yes, well, excuuuuuse me, princess, you can’t expect me to be a hero and stay organized at the same time! That’s multi-tasking, and you know how horrible I am at that.”
Dawn looked at him and squinted, amused. “Yes, I do know that. But I still want you to stay organized. You should have Sir Pinky over there help you.
Legend balked at the nickname. “Pinky? Why, you-“
Hyrule butted in. “Well, excuuuuuuse him, princess.” Dawn started up with another fit of laughter and Time raised his eyebrows.
“Well, then. Now that that’s taken care of, are there any black blooded monsters around?”
Phantom’s eyes widened, and he glanced from Time to Dawn and back again, and then pulled Wild a few inches toward him with a smirk.
Dawn gasped in mock hurt.“Sir Time, you doubt me. I’ve been taking care of them.” She grabbed her bow and twirled it around before shooting a tapestry, hitting Gannon’s head with accuracy rivaling Wild’s own.
“Wow!” Wild yelped as it whistled past his ear. “You gotta’ teach me how to do that. Did you even aim?”
Dawn smirked. “I had my eye on the point I wanted to hit as I twirled the bow. Also, they’re arrows of light, and they use my magic. I can kind of ‘aim them’ with my mind.”
Wild felt his eyes pop. “Woah. That is so. Cool.” He vowed to track her down later and make her teach him how to focus on the spot. If she could only kind of aim with her mind, then that would make it mostly skill. And skill, you could learn.
“What’s all the commotion in here? Zelda? Is that… oh, uh, what’s his name. Uh, Lock?” Wild’s head snapped up from his slate where he was taking inventory of his arrows to see the king standing in the doorway. Zelda rolled her eyes at Hyrule.
“No, Daddy, his name is Stink, remember?” Hyrule attempted to scowl while laughing and lightly punched her on the shoulder. “Sir Stink and his companions. The names of whom I cannot remember.”
“Ah, yes, of course! Uh, Stink! Yes, that’s it, I remember quite clearly now. I always thought he had a, uh, weird name. Hello, Sir Stink! Welcome back to Hyrule. Where have you been?”
Hyrule snorted. Again. Wild could have sworn he was a pig at this point. He would have to try out the Moblin mask on him later. “Just traveling. Staying out of castles for the most part.”
“Ah, uh, yes. Zelda, uh, be careful with these ones.”
Zelda smiled. “I will, Daddy. Isn’t it time for your nap?”
“Ah, uh, yes, it is. Have, uh, a fun time!”
“He’s become more forgetful since the last time I was here, if that is possible.” Hyrule raised his eyebrows and watched him leave. “Has Sprite been watching him?”
“Yes,” Zelda nodded. “Her magic doesn’t seem to be working as well as it used to, though. He’s getting older. It can’t be helped.”
“Well,” Four said, “seeing as we’re here, would you like help with anything?”
Dawn cocked her head. “Well, the blacksmith down the road needs help, he hasn’t been feeling well. They are trying to teach the kids how to play musical instruments down at the school, and it’s not working as well as we would like. The old farmer needs some help, he’s forgotten how to do his growing spell and we haven’t had much produced, and… um… I think that’s it. I have to go prepare some stuff, so I won’t be around until dinner.” With that, she promptly turned on her heel and left the room to Hylia knows where.
Four shrugged. “Well, I guess I’ll take the blacksmith.”
Time and Twilight both raised their hands. “Farm!”
“I would like to take a bath.” Warriors glanced at Hyrule, who shrugged.
“Sure, use my room. Just watch out for Sprite. She can be… eccentric. And she’s small enough to fit through keyholes.” He shuddered, and everyone else laughed, despite mild concern for their Traveler’s privacy.
Legend nodded. “I’ll help at the school. Sky, you too.” Sky turned around and looked at Legend, then looked at the rest of the group and shrugged.
Wind jumped up, touching Legend’s shoulder. “Can I come, too?” Legend rolled his eyes but said nothing, just shrugged.
Wild shrugged. “I supposed that leaves me, Hyrule, and Phantom to go shopping.” Phantom glanced down at Hyrule and smiled at his excited jumping. Wild was just excited to get some new arrows, and he grabbed Four’s arm in one hand and Hyrule’s in the other and dragged them to the shop next to the smithy, Phantom chasing behind.
When they got to the shop, Four went around to the forge, and Wild looked at weapons, Hyrule following him and giving him tips on the best enchantments. “This dagger shoots beams.” And for a shield: “This one is really good at bouncing stuff back.”
Phantom walked in through the door and immediately walked over to the counter, leaning against it and watching the two boys. Wild walked over to the arrows, inspecting each one as he put it on the counter.
“Done?” Phantom asked, and when the boys nodded, he rapped his fist on the counter. “So, where are we going next?”
Hyrule jumped up. “I have a fantastic idea!”
~~~
Hurule’s Hyrule was fun, especially considering that they didn’t have to leave the town. They were assured by Zelda and Hyrule that there would be no monsters around, when they came, they came straight to the town, and it wasn’t often. So Warriors got to pamper himself. He took baths every day, he painted his nails, did his makeup and hair, and nobody said anything except for Legend. He had come to accept that there would be no monsters during this trip. So he was extremely surprised one day while he was sitting with the group and chatting when a rumble came from outside.
Dawn screamed in frustration from where she was sitting on the floor.“Sprite, get Daddy inside, please. Link, grab your sword.” All the Link’s heads shot up. “Um, my Link.”
“We’re all coming, princess.” Phantom unsheathed his sword and stood up.
“Fine. But don’t comment on anything until we’re done, it’ll be rather distracting.” Hyrule said, glancing at Phantom as he stood up and hopped out the window, Dawn following close behind.
“Well, let’s go.” Warriors hopped out the window after them and froze at what he saw. “What?”
“No comments!” Hyrule called over his shoulder as he sliced through some spiders to the boar shaped figure in the middle. Gannon.
Dawn stood on a nearby roof firing off arrows and clearing the spiders out, but they were quickly replaced by more. Stalfos poured out of the tunnel that had appeared in the road, and Iron Knuckles, too. Warriors grabbed his sword and rushed into the fight.
It was insane. Each enemy he sliced down, a new one appeared. A stab, a swipe, and an iron knuckle was down, and a stalfo appeared in its place. That one was down, and a bokoblin appeared.
It was chaos. And when all the monsters were down, Warriors could finally see Hyrule facing Ganon.
And Din’s tits, it was amusing.
The little one-liners they shot back and forth, the way Hyrule was almost teasing the beast, Warriors broke down in laughter.
The rest of the group followed as Hyrule pushed Ganon back into the hole he came out of. He screamed, and a blue flicker came from the pit, and it slammed shut.
When Warriors recovered from his laughter, he realized what he had been laughing at. His face slowly sunk. The rest of the group slowly followed, and it was silent for a few minutes. Then Hyrule and Dawn turned around back into the castle and the issue at hand went unaddressed.
~~~
Hyrule was pacing outside the doors of the dining room. He had always dreaded dinners at the castle. He always ate too much, it never failed. And making conversation was all but miserable. With the rest of the group there, it was better, but still.
Until he heard an obnoxious voice saying “-cade of Arcadia-”
Then he burst through the doors with a wide grin on his face. “Facade!” Hyrule ran toward the man with his arms outstretched and jumped on him, dirt and all.
“Ah ha, Link! Good to see you, boy.” Facade wrapped his arms around Hyrule in return. “Haven’t seen you in a good long while, where have you been?”
“Traveling with friends,” Hyrule responded, and then let go. Facade brushed off his outfit.
“You are filthy, Link. When was the last time you bathed?” He laughed to show it was a joke (despite his not-so-subtle cringes at the remaining flecks of dirt on his lapel), and then gestured around the room. “Who are your friends?”
“That one, with the cape, that’s Sky. Then there’s Four, our resident smithy. That’s Time, he’s dealt with time traveling antics before, along with Phantom and Warriors over there. Then we’ve got Wind, he’s the youngest, and Twilight. Then Legend, he’s the hero that came before me, and then Wild.”
“Those are some… interesting names.”
Hyrule looked at him. “They call me Hyrule.” He rolled his eyes at Facade’s curious look. “Long story. Zel, how’d you get him here? It’s a few weeks travel from here to Arcadia?”
She smirked. “Eh, I just had Sing go pick him up.”
Hyrule jumped. “Sing’s here, too?”
Right then, Sing walked through the door. ‘ I help Zelda guard the Triforce,’ she said as Hyrule’s face lit up and he ran to her, too, wrapping his arms around her.
“How’s everything going with you?” he asked aloud, and then let go so he could see.
‘ Fantastic. I get to try out my inventions on the monsters, so that’s fun. I also get a room with a bed to sleep in. My flying unicorn has a nice spot in the stables, too. ’
In the strangest of possible turn of events, a Zelda doppelganger walked through the door, and that was the last straw. Hyrule was positive he would explode from excitement.
“Zelda!” Hyrule ran toward her and again, gave her a hug, but this time, picked her up and spun her around for a bit. “How have you been doing?”
“Watching the Triforce of Courage in my cottage over in the woods. The fresh air helps me stay awake, and we don’t want to keep the Triforces together just in case.” she responded in her raspy voice. She had a perpetual morning voice for sleeping for so long without magic healing technology to preserve her vocal cords.
“Nice! It’s great to see you all again. Oh, I’ve missed you so much!”
The king walked in and sat down, and of course everyone else followed. The meal was a nice soup, but the conversation was much better then the food.
“So, how did all of you become friends?” Time asked, watching the trio talk animatedly.
Hyrule laughed. “Oh, they’re all really funny stories, actually.” Sing laughed in her musical tone and said something across the table to Zelda, who snorted. “Let’s start with Sing, her story is less complicated.” He gestured toward the girl, who prepared her hands to begin a story.
‘ I once lived in a cave. I lived alone, except for my flying unicorn. One day, Gannon came and stole my flying unicorn. It was maddening. So I went to look for it, and I saw it go into the same place as these two. ’ She gestured to Hyrule and Zelda. ‘So I naturally assumed that they were the ones who stole it. So I attacked.’
Hyrule butted in “With the coolest freaking suit I have ever seen in my life! Do you still have it?”
‘Of course I do, but don’t interrupt me. That’s rude. Anyway, she caught me,’ a gesture to Zelda, ‘ he pulled off my mask,’ a gesture to Hyrule, ‘and they said they would help me find my unicorn. And we did. The king fell and I caught him, and that’s how we became friends.’
“To this day, she’s a complete mystery to me.” Hyrule glanced at her with a smile.
‘ And that’s how it will stay .’ she signed back. ‘ Now it’s the clean man’s turn.’
Hyrule snorted. “Zelda-” he gestured toward Dawn- “was completely smitten with Facade the first time she saw him.”
“Hey, don’t judge! He’s actually pretty!” Hyrule glared at her as Facade continued the story.
“I was actually rather rude to Link the first time I met him-”
“-Wouldn’t shake my hand cause it was dirty from fighting-”
“Thank you, Link. Then I gave Zelda a ride back to the castle-”
“-But didn’t let me ride, because apparently his horse could only carry two-”
“Yes. And then Zelda and I were talking in the throne room-”
“-About how awesome he was-”
“We were. Anyway, Link walked in wearing a funny costume and we laughed-”
“-Which I think was rather unfair-”
“It was rather unfair. He walked out and we kept talking-”
“-About how awesome he was, again-”
“Yes! And then some monsters came in and kidnapped Zelda, and I chased after her-”
“-But didn’t save me because he didn’t want to get dirty-”
“Okay!” Facade finally said. “Why don’t you guys finish the story then?”
Hyrule smiled. “Yes, Sir! I came to save Zelda, and when we got out, she shoved him in the mud. And he just sat there like an idiot.” Hyrule shrunk in his seat a bit. “And a bit later, I traveled to Arcadia to find him and ask for tips to make Zelda like me.”
-And I apologized for my actions, of course-
“And then he brought him back!” Zelda said in mock frustration.
“Yes, I did. And I’m not apologizing, I got a new friend out of it.”
“But I apologized!”
“Yes, Facade, we know. We are completely aware.”
“Anyway, that’s how we met these two!” Hyrule finished with a flourish, and then gestured to his second Zelda. “And she has a different story.”
“I was asleep the whole time,” she rasped. “I can’t tell you anything.”
“You were asleep?” Wild asked excitedly. “How long?”
Zelda shrugged. “I think it was around one hundred years, but I’m not sure.”
Wild’s eyes widened. “One hundred years? I was asleep for one hundred years! Did you die, too? Is that why you were asleep?”
Zelda’s eyes widened. “Um. No. I’ve been alive the whole time. Anyway, Link came and woke me up. That’s all I remember.”
~~~
The day was over, and Hyrule was alone in his room reminiscing about the evening. Dinner had been fun, but Hyrule was still restless, so he grabbed a rope and swung through Zelda’s window to talk, grabbing some slightly wilted flowers from the vase he kept as a placating gift for bother her so late at night.
The cool night air rushing past his face as he swung off his balcony and through her window (they hadn’t replaced the pane he broke last time he tried this, thank Hylia) was a refreshing blessing.
Zelda didn’t startle at his sudden appearance, used to such habits by now.
“Oh, Link. Flowers. How sweet.” She helped him up from the table which he had crashed on, and sat on her bed, gesturing for him to sit next to her. “So, Link, how’s it going?” she asked softly. “We haven’t had much time to talk.”
Link sat next to her and pulled his legs up. “We’re doing ok. Still have no clue why Hylia wants us.”
“Would you like to ask the Triforce?”
Hyrule scrunched his face in annoyance. “Oh, no. The old man is cryptic enough. I don’t want to have to guess that riddle, too.”
Zelda chuckled. “Ah, yes. Old men never can give a straight answer, can they?” The pair sat in a comfortable silence before Zelda continued.
“You mentioned the hero that came before you. What did you mean by that?”
“Legend. He’s the Hero of Legend. The one we read about in books.”
“You’re traveling with a bunch of yourself. That’s hard to process.”
“I know. A bunch of heroes. And they all killed Gannon, not just weakened him.” He hugged his knees to his chest, thinking of his surprise when he had heard that Ganon could be killed at all. Whenever Hyrule had fought Ganon, the wrinkly pig-faced old bastard had scurried back to his hideout at the slighted hint of personal danger, much too swiftly for Link to catch up.
Zelda lightly punched him on the shoulder. “If you are implying that they are better than you, stop it right now. I am almost positive that none of them have played a prank on the freaking Demon King.”
Hyrule snorted at that. “The cuccos were going crazy and he was like ‘aaah!’”
They were silent for a minute, just smiling. Stuff was so much more complicated than it had to be. Time travel sucked. Leaving his Hyrule sucked. Leaving Zelda sucked. Hyrule flopped backward onto the bed, sighed, and closed his eyes. The shaking of the matress told him that Zelda had followed his example.
Hyrule turned his head to look at Zelda. “How’s stuff going over here?”
Zelda mimicked his sigh and pulled a pillow under her head. Hyrule crawled over next to her in her nest of blankets and pillows.
“Well, Ganon’s still here. We got the triforce, but he still refuses to give up. Kind of like you in that way.”
Hyrule rolled onto his side and curled his feet up. “Is that so?”
Zelda nodded as well as she could while laying down. “Unfortunately. He must’ve sensed somehow when you left. I just wish he would stop.”
“Don’t we all. But how’s everything going with you?”
“I’m alive, it seems.” Hyrule scoffed because duh, she was right there. Zelda laughed and gave an actual response this time.
“I miss having you here. Every day, I miss your sharp wit and quick remarks.”
“Well, I’m glad.”
“You know, Link, you’re a hero. You’re blessed by the goddess. You’re supposed to save everyone. But you don’t have to. I mean, since when do you do what you’re supposed to?”
Hyrule considered this. “I guess only while being a hero. It's fulfilling, you know? To help people.”
“Link, you are running yourself ragged . I talked to Time to see how you are doing-“
“-oh, no-“
“- and he says that you aren’t taking care of yourself as well as you should be. When was the last time you did something for you ?”
Hyrule shrugged. “I could ask you the same question.” He didn’t want to talk about himself, he didn’t want to talk about his self-care habits either.
“Link, we aren’t talking about me! But yes, I’m taking care of myself just fine. I live in a castle. I can’t not take care of myself.”
“Well, that’s good.”
“Link, you’re deflecting.” Din dammit, she’d caught onto him.
“I haven’t for a while, I guess. But it doesn’t really matter.”
“Yes, Link, it does. You could stay here, you know. Here. In the castle. Help guard the triforce. Stay with me.” Her voice grew more frantic with concern each word she spoke.
Hyrule thought for a minute. It would be nice to stay with Zelda and Sing, and maybe even Sprite. But what about his team? His brothers? Moreover, he didn’t even think that was possible. Legend had put up a heck of a fight against the first portal he’d encountered, and it was to very little effect.
He shook his head. “No. I can’t. I love you, Zelda, but I can’t just abandon the team, abandon the world, just because of what I want.”
Zelda nodded, seeming resigned to the inevitable conclusion. “I knew you would say that. Always so selfless. But it wouldn’t just be what you want. It would be what I want, too.”
Hyrule smiled, happy for her caring despite its futility,and yawned.
“You seem tired.”
Ever observant was the Princess of Hyrule.
“A little. The bed’s too soft, but every time I get out to sleep on the floor, Sky makes me get back in.”
“Oh, poor baby,” Zelda crooned, turning onto her side and reaching over to card her fingers through Hyrule’s hair. “You have a soft bed to sleep in?”
“Mhm. I’m not used to it. Well, I wasn’t a week ago when we got here.”
“Oh, really.”
“Mhm. Can I sleep in here tonight, princess?” Zelda cocked an eyebrow at him. “I’ll be good, I promise. It just seems like way too much work to get out of bed and go to my room. Besides, we haven’t even kissed yet.”
Zelda smiled. “Well, that can be easily remedied.” She slowly pulled his face forward and he closed his eyes, putting his hand behind her head.
They were so close, and then the pressure of the hand behind his head left. “Link?”
Hyrule’s stomach dropped.”Princess?” His eyes snapped open, but not to Zelda. No, his eyes opened to the never ending blackness of a portal.
Hyrule squeezed his eyes shut and screamed as loud as he possibly could.