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They were screwed, just an hour ago a portal had appeared on the perimeter of their camp luckily for them they had just finished breakfast so after quickly packing away their equipment they entered the gate.
When Legend walked out of the other side he found himself separated from the others only Warriors by his side. The forest they were spat out at was gloomy even with it being mid day the light barely touched the tangled weeds below.
They traversed the forest hoping to find the others or at the very least a safe place to rest instead they got neither as they were ambushed by monsters.
The two quickly unsheathed their swords, standing back to back as they were surrounded by the creatures. There were a multitude of monsters obviously not from this era if the two wildly different Bokoblins had anything to say, seriously one had the tiniest patch of white hair on its head making it look as if it was the other's grandfather.
The Boko screeched, jumping forward and thrashing its club at Legend, he swiftly brought up his shield to block, planting his feet into the ground to brace for the blow. The swing came crashing down, Legend only having a second before a Moblin charged at him.
He repositioned his mirror shield barely protecting from the strike of the other monster, he heard a shriek in his ear as the Bokoblin readied for another attack. He took a quick glance at the Bokoblin, it was now accompanied by a Wolfos, the beast growling and circling towards the hero.
Legend rolled out of the way as the Wolfos lunged at him, finding himself banging into the ground as he had to hastily block the hit from the Bokoblin. He tried to find his footing only to be slammed into the ground by the Wolfos, his shield now in its mouth the only thing protecting him having his arm bitten off.
A squeal rang out beside him as the Bokoblin went for another attack, Legend abandoned his shield giving up his effect of trying to pry it free from the Wolfos mouth, he coiled out the way finally being able to regain his footing.
Legend readied his sword, the Wolfos was still trying to free itself from where his shield was jammed in its mouth, rocking and trying to bite through it. He swung at the beast, letting metal cut into the flesh, the gash quickly starting to bleed onto the grass.
The Bokolin charged at Legend their swords clashing together, he gripped the handle of his blade tightly pushing back against the attack. The clawed feet of the Bokoblin stumbled, its stomach exposed as it tried to regain its balance, the hero swiped at the monster, his sword digging deep into its side.
It shrieked desperately trying to stop the contents of its body from spilling out as it fell to the ground. Legend heard a snap behind him as a thud hit the ground, he swiveled his head around to see the Wolfos still standing, his shield now discarded with a crack on its surface.
The beast attacked viciously, leaping at the Vet he coiled out of the way only to feel a jaw wrap around his forearm, he jolted as the Wolfos yanked at him trying to rip flesh from bone.
He swore, dropping his sword from the snared hand and catching it with his left, jabbing the blade into the hounds eye. It fell to the floor with a cry, Legend let out a sigh, clutching at his arm before retrieving his sword from the corpse.
He turned his attention to Warriors who was locked in battle with a Moblin, its lanky limbs swiping at the Captain. Wars skillfully dodged the monster waiting for an opportunity to attack, Legend decided to stay back, figuring with his sword arm injured it’s be better for the Knight to deal with it by himself.
But then out of the corner of his eyes he saw a flicker of movement by the treeline. He studied the area, it seemingly being empty except for the shadows cast by the trees, just as he was about to give up his search blaming the stirring on an animal a shadow started to rise out of the darkness.
Legend called out to him in warning, already moving towards the man, but it was too late. The shadow had already drawn his sword out from the shadows and attacked.
The air seemed to freeze as Legend watched in slow motion as the sword pierced through War's stomach, the Captain collapsed falling onto the ground below clutching at his abdomen. The Moblin taking advantage of the opportunity, raised his sword preparing to deal the final blow. Legend felt his magic surge to his boots as he rushed forward to block the attack.
He slid in front of Wars, his shield ready to intercept the blow, he winced as the sword slammed down the pressure causing him to slip even so slightly backwards.
He braced his shield again as he watched the monster ready another attack but this time as the weapon hit his shield he pushed back catching the enemy off balance Legend took advantage of the split second the parry gave him to gain some ground swinging his sword at the Moblin.
The Moblin having recovered from his swaying, held his sword up in defense letting out a squeal of outrage. Legend became more frantic the longer the monster lasted, he knew he couldn’t let his mind be absent from the fight but the more the battle extended the less of a chance Wars had.
He risked a look back at the Captain, still breathing, good. If he was just able to defeat the savage in front of him, the Moblin readied his sword to swing Legend ducked out of the way letting the blade hit the ground beneath.
Luckily for him it became stuck in earth allowing him to deal the final blow, Legend wasted no time rushing to Warriors side he hurriedly sat next to him examining his wound. Blood covered the grass seeping into the dirt below, shit.
They hadn’t been able to stop at a town lately Legend was fresh out of potions nevermind a fairy, he raised his hand up letting it run through his hair as inhaled uneasily.
“Please tell me you have a potion” He breathed out quietly
Wars opened his eyes, his breathing haggard and blood still seeping out from where his hand was holding his stomach, his eyes softened as he looked at Legend.
“It’s okay Vet” He spoke weakly, pain evident in his voice
“No… no! shit shit shit-” Legend grabbed his bag off of his side, he had to have something as he started pulling out the contents of his bag he could hear War's breath getting weaker by the second, making him more desperate.
“Vet”
He kept searching
“Legend”
He pulled another item out of his bag chucking it aside after studying it for a brief moment
“Leg”
He felt himself push his arm further into his bag, feeling around for more of his belongs
“Link!”
He froze at that looking away from his bag to catch eyes with Warriors, he blinked letting the tears free from his eyes (since when was he crying?).
Wars let a smile grace his face but it felt tainted his eyes betraying the gesture, Legend saw the fear in his eyes, the sorrow, the pity. Legend took a breath, calming himself before returning the smile.
With that Wars smile brightened just a tad before he closed his eyes, he was still breathing though Legend guessed he had a minute a best before those sluggish breaths stopped entirely.
Legend took a deep breath, letting his hands rest above the wound, a golden light engulfing them. He’d made up his mind.
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Wars opened his eyes, sitting up and gasping for air, he looked around his brows narrowed in confusion. In front of wars leaning over him was Legend, his face was contorted in an uncharacteristically concerned look.
“Leg?” Wars paused as he looked to check on his wounds the hole that was once in his abdomen now gone only leaving a patch of scar tissue in its place “I thought you didn’t have a fairy?”
Legend froze at that but quickly recovered “I found one”
Warriors stared at him and looked around the battlefield, monster corpses littered the area and the trees were tall, their leaves shrouding the forest into an eerie darkness.
“Here?” He questioned raising an eyebrow, while he may not be as good as Time at doing the disappointing glare, the lie was bad enough he didn’t really think it mattered
“Well you’re alive aren’t you?” Legend retorted obviously wanting him to drop the topic, Warriors had no intention to until a glimmer of gold caught his eye at first he thought it was one of Legend’s many rings but there was no sunlight to reflect off of his jewellery. It began to fade as he looked closer but Wars still saw the decidedly golden glow emanating from his hands.
By the time he’d stopped staring Legend had stood up from his place beside him and was reaching out a hand towards him, his hands now lacking the faint light from before
“Well? You thinking of sleeping there, pretty boy?” Legend teased, Wars took his hand carefully, holding it gentler than he would have a couple minutes ago if Legend noticed he didn’t say anything, only pulling him up to his feet.
“Thanks” Wars said blankly as he studied Legend, there was no way, he had to be mistaken, Legend couldn’t be…
Right?
Legend eyed him cautiously, visibly noticing his change in demeanor, the Vets body was tense waiting for Warriors to do something… he didn’t know what but if his experience with knights had taught him anything it was to never let his guard down around them.
After a minute of guarded silence Legend decided to speak up “We need to get moving” he stated wordlessly still watching Wars closely.
Thankfully that seemed to snap Warriors out of whatever train of thought he was on as he stopped staring at Legend and started inspecting the surrounding area, the sun was almost fully set the few rays of light that had once touched the grounds now completely gone leaving the forest pitch dark and the two without a clue of which way to head.
They couldn’t stay here. Not only was it a perfect spot for ambush but now it was covered in blood and bodies and would no doubt start attracting more monsters or some scavengers looking for an easy meal.
“Well, where to Captain?” He questioned hoping that Wars would at least have an idea on what to do other than pick a direction and wander.
Wars exhaled heavily, not a good sign “We move” he stated and started walking away from the clearing. Legend trailed after him, following him into the cover of the treeline.
They walked in silence for a moment, still on edge from the day's events. Warriors broke the silence letting a smile onto his face before speaking.
“Do you have any family Legend?” He asked with moot casualness, his posture too tense for it to be sincere.
Legend raised an eyebrow, clearly questioning his motive.
“Just trying to make conversation” Wars shrugged “I have a twin you know?”
His head turned at that “Huh?” he questioned
“Yeah, I’m older though she’s always hated that” Warriors said letting out a huff of amusement with his words
“Huh, wouldn't have guessed you had a sister” Legend stated
The Captain hummed at that letting silence loll for a second before speaking up again
“So that’s a no to family Vet?” He inquired adding a light bit of teasing to his voice
“Didn’t say that” Legend responded and after a curious look from Wars continued
“I have a twin sister too, she's older though” He said with a hint of fondness in his voice
Warriors stiffened at his words, Legend only noticing his change in demeanor from his years of watching knights.
“What does she do?” He questioned trying to keep his voice steady
Legend took a second to answer, his eyes watching Wars cautiously “She works at the castle”
“Hmm, is she a maid?” He asked
The Veteran just hummed a sound that could be mistaken as confirmation before directing the conversation back to the Captain “How about your sister?”
“She’s uh…” He paused for a moment, finding his words “a Cucco shepherd”
Legend stared at him, his eyes wide in bewilderment before letting out a huff of amusement “Really?, explains a lot” he teased no real malice in his tone.
Wars gave him a light glare, rolling his eyes “So-” but before he could finish the sentence his eyes caught sight of a dark glow hidden behind the trees.
He ignored the curious look from Legend and started to walk in the direction of the light, his suspicions were confirmed as the portal came into view the eerie dark flames flickering in greeting.
Legend pursed his lips, eyes wrinkled in thought as he questioned the appearance of the gateway, it had barely been a day since their last swap. He froze as a realization dawned on him, did someone see?, he was certain all the monsters were gone he would've noticed if he was being watched.
Right?
“Well?” He turned at the sound of Warriors voice, taking a moment to register what he had said
“Not like we have any other plan” He answered, willing his words to sound calm and then adding a shrug for good measure.
Wars turned his attention back to the portal and after taking a look at Legend to make sure he was behind entered into the swirling void.
The sun was blinding shining deep into their eyes as they stepped out from the darkness. He brought a hand up to his head to block the sun, letting his eyes adjust to the daylight. In the distance he saw a group of people heading their way, he rested his hand on the hilt of his sword studying the men.
Recognition painted his face seeing Wind starting to run towards the duo, the chain not far behind. He moved his hand away from his sword instead lifting it up to wave at his fellow heroes in greeting.
Wind tackled him into a hug, making Wars have to lean a nearby tree to avoid falling over as he huffed a laugh at the teen. The rest of the chain quickly made their way to the pair, their eyes drifting over them to check for any injuries.
Time broke the silence first, his face neutral yet concern evident in his tone “Are you two alright?”
“We got ambushed by monsters” he started but paused as he saw many of the group start reaching into their bags “We’re okay, I got stabbed but-”
“WHAT?!” A chorus of alarm rang out throughout the clearing, Hyrule rushing over to his side prodding at him to survey the damage.
“He’s fine” Legend stated pushing Hyrule’s hands away from Warriors “I gave him a fairy”
Hyrule let out a sigh of relief, backing away and letting the conversation continue “Where did the portal send you?” Time asked his eyebrow raised slightly in question.
“It sent us to a forest, we wandered for hours before we were attacked and the shadow snuck up and impaled me” Wars spoke somberly.
Time hummed in thought before replying “Do either of you have any idea why the shadow would target you two?”
Wars stiffened taking a glance at Legend causing the Vet to give him a wary look “No” he sighed.
Legend felt relief wash over him "Nothing comes to thought” he said the lie barely stinging.
“Okay, there’s a path over there” Time said pointing a thumb behind him “we were following it to a town, we’ll take a break for lunch and continue”
The heroes made sounds of confirmation, Wild already starting to look through his slate for ingredients but Four cleared his throat, catching their attention. Everyone's eyes turned to Four who grinned, opening his mouth.
“Is now a bad time to say you guys owe me rupees?” Four smiled, his cockiness poorly concealed.
“Hey!, we don’t know they didn’t get in a fight with each other" Wild spoke in protest
“What?.” Legend asked his face unimpressed
The chain stared at him before looking away, staring at whatever tree or thing that was closest to them.
Wars huffed in annoyance having already guessed on what they had bet on “We can spend time together without getting into a fight”
Twilight snorted and a few suspicious coughs rang throughout the clearing making the captain groan. Sky came over to him, giving him a pat on the back, Wars smiled, letting himself relax on the ground, the other knight's company soothing.
He looked across the clearing, his eyes catching onto Legend, his eyes furrowing in thought at the other man, he spent his time studying the Vet, his clothes while nice weren't extravagant, his hair unkempt honestly among their group he didn’t stick out in appearance not like Time with his tattoos or Wild with his scarring.
But there was one thing that made him pause, Legend’s face, he wasn’t sure how he didn’t notice before…
He looked like Zelda.
Wars shook his head at that thought, no he needed to know more before he…
Well he didn’t know exactly, I mean if Legend was… Royalty, goddess that felt weird to think, he’d have to have a reason for hiding it. His eyes widened in realisation, the shadow, it knew, that must have been why they’d been separated and because of his carelessness Legend could’ve…
He took in a deep breath, he couldn't jump to conclusions, a lot of them could remind him of Zelda. He’d just keep an eye on Legend for now and hope he was wrong.