Chapter Text
Sky had never really minded the portals that his new-found group of traveling companions used for travel. Sure, they made all his limbs feel a little numb and his face feel warm, but compared to free falling off his Loftwing and through the Cloud Barrier, the portals were hardly terrifying.
But something felt wrong about this portal. There was still the tingling in his fingers, like he had been out in the cold and was sticking them into warm water, and he could feel his face warming up just like normal. But still, there was a knot of anxiety in his stomach that wouldn’t go away. Something was definitely wrong.
Sky nearly slammed straight into Legend’s back as he popped out the other side.
“Hey, why didn’t you-” Sky looked up to the new time they had landed in. It looked wrong, like someone had drawn the world for a child’s coloring book. All eight members of their group were looking around in a daze, trying to get their bearings. The only ones who didn’t seem worried were Time and Warriors, who were whispering to each other as they looked out to the sea.
Which was bright, solid blue. With little white squiggles on the surface.
“Hylia has finally forsaken us! This is what hell looks like.” Legend declared, plopping himself down on the (very flat looking) grass, and running his fingers through it.
“Woah,” Sky whispered as he sat to join Legend. “This stuff is the same texture as my Zelda’s old Remlit plushie. It’s so soft.”
Four leaned down next to them, “This is weird, but we can’t draw a conclusion about the entirety of this world's grass from one patch under Legend’s butt.”
“Hey, guys!” Wild yelled from where he stood next to Hyrule by the cliff. “We’re near a village. Come look!”
Sure enough, as Sky looked over the cliff, there was a small village built by the shore.
“Look’s kind of like a really bright version of Lurelin Village,” Wild whispered.
“Alright, boys,” Time called, “who wants to go scare the locals?”
Seven hands shot up.
They were just nearing the bottom of the cliff when a boy in a blue tunic came charging towards them, ready for battle. He pointed his sword at them, and asked, “Who the fuck are you? What the fuck are you? How did you get here?”
Warriors stepped forward, “I take it you don’t recognize me?”
The boy glared, “Why would I?”
Sky could have sworn he heard Time whisper “spoilers” under his breath.
“Not important,” Warriors smiled. “It was a long time ago.”
The boy glared at Warriors and tightened the grip on his sword. “You still haven’t answered my questions.”
“We’re all named Link, and we’re here to ask you to join our Link squad, or ‘The Chain’ as some of us have been calling it,” Time said, stepping forward.
“I’ve been calling us ‘The Bois,’” Wild yelled from the back.
“That can’t be Link,” Hyrule whispered next to Sky. “He’s got to be, like ten years old.”
“Kind of hard to tell with how weird he looks,” Sky whispered back. “And weren’t you ten when you started?”
“I was eleven, so shut the fuck up.”
“You’re all named Link?” The kid asked. “What? Did you get here by some magic portal?”
“Yes, actually.” Four stepped in front of both Warriors and Time, kicking them in the shins as he went. “But I think we are all ignoring the bigger issue here. You look weird compared to us. And vice versa, of course.”
Thanks to all his stepping and kicking, Four had gotten very close to the new Link, and Sky was more than a little uncomfortable seeing them right next to each other. Link was taller than Four, partially because his head took up a third of his body. And his face literally, actually looked like a drawing that Zelda had done of Sky when they were twelve, and it kept shifting expressions as he seemed to be taking in the rest of them. Next to Four’s cool collectedness, it was jarring.
“Okay… So you’re all Link, and you look super weird. Prove to me you’re safe.”
And that was Sky’s queue.
“Have you ever heard of the Master Sword?” he asked, stepping in front of Time and Warriors and not kicking them in the shins.
“Of course I have. It was my sword.”
“Excellent! I have it!”
This was going so much better than when they recruited Hyrule. No Master Sword. No spin attack. Orange rupees. Hyrule’s era was a unique kind of mess.
“How’d you get it from the bottom of the ocean?” Link tilted his head, making the most cartoonish confused face possible.
“It’s at the bottom of the ocean!” Sky saw red for a second.
Oh wait, that was just Four’s tunic as he stepped between them.
“Weird version of the Master Sword,” he said to Link. “Weird time travel shenanigans,” he said to Sky in the tone one would use while patiently explaining something to a child.
“Oh yeah,” Sky said as he rubbed the back of his neck. “Anyway, here she is.” He pulled the Master Sword out of its sheath and held it in front of him.
“Okay, that’s good enough for me,” Link said. “20 rupees says I’m still asleep anyway.”
“Great! Now that that’s finally out of the way,” Four said turning to Link, “hi, I’m Link, but I currently go by Four.”
“Oh, we get nicknames?” Link asked.
“We’ve mostly been using our hero titles, if you have one.”
“In that case, I’m Wind. Nice to meet you.”
Wind stuck out his hand to shake Four’s but the second they touched, Four turned weird too.
It was different from Wind’s weird. Four’s multicolor tunic was gone, replaced by a traditional green tunic and cap. And his hair was shorter. Oh! And Sky definitely should have mentioned this first, he looked like he was made of little blocks.
“What the-” Four jumped back and looked down at himself then looked back up at Wind. “I have no idea what you did, but I hate it.”
“Your voice sounds all garbly,” Wild said, creeping closer like he wanted to poke to newly pointy parts of Four.
“Wild, no touchy,” Twilight said from the back.
“But Twi, weird pokey thing.”
“No, Wild. Twilight’s right. I could be contagious,” Four said backing up towards Wind.
“Exactly! I want to see!” And with that, Wild lunged at Four, touching the tip of his boot as Four tripped back onto Wind.
When Wild stood up and faced the group, everyone gasped. His scars were completely gone and his hair was only shoulder length.
Wild looked Twilight right in the eyes with the smuggest look possible, and mouthed something at him.
Twilight sighed. “Cub, if you want to gloat, you have to actually talk.”
Wild froze and mouthed some more.
“We can’t hear a thing you’re saying, Wild.” Time said.
“Maybe I can heal them?” Hyrule said.
“Absolutely not.” Legend put a hand on Hyrule’s shoulder. “You have to touch people to heal them, and then you’ll get Wind’s disease too. No offense, Wind.”
“None taken, I’m still pretty sure I’m dreaming. Wouldn’t be the first time.”
“But then I can heal myself, and then we can try and figure out the cause.” Hyrule argued.
Legend scowled. “Fine. But be careful, Rule.”
Hyrule walked towards Wild, mumbling a spell under his breath. He lifted glowing fingers to Wild’s left cheek, only to become even blockier than Four the second they touched.
Wild mouthed something that looked an awful lot like “cool” before poking at Hyrule’s nose.
Hyrule jerked away, and made a series of high pitched beeping noises before moving his hands up to cover his mouth.
“So no one else is allowed to touch any of the infected,” Time said.
Hyrule turned to them and made more beeping noises.
“Rule, we have no idea what you’re saying. Your mouth isn’t even moving,” Legend sighed.
Hyrule beeped. Then drew a frowny face in the sand. Unfortunately for him, it seemed like his movement was more limited by his blocky form, so the frowny face ended up looking rectangular too.
“Healing isn’t working?” Warriors guessed.
Hyrule beeped again.
“...I’m going to take that as a yes.”
Legend started pacing while cursing the goddesses and also something called the Windfish.
“There is no way this is real life! I remember last time, you oversized piece of tuna. Send your fucking owl so that we can wake you back up and I can go back to therapy.”
“What’s an owl?” Wind asked.
“It’s a type of bird,” Time said. “A really annoying one at that. They talk forever, and will repeat themselves over and over and over and...”
Sky knew that Time held a lot of baggage, being the oldest in the group, but looking at the haunted expression on the Old Man’s face made him finally realize the true weight that he carried.
Warriors seemed to catch onto Time’s spiral as well, placing a hand on his shoulder and whispering in Time’s ear.
“So how are we going to fix this?” Legend asked, finally done with his pacing. “Half of us can’t touch each other!”
“Maybe it’s only because we’re in Wind’s world? And everyone will go back to normal once we go through the next portal?” Sky suggested.
“It’s certainly possible,” Warriors agreed. “During the War of Eras we had several people who looked odd by my time’s standards. Perhaps Wind’s era is simply trying, although failing, to force us to fit its aesthetic?”
“In that case there is not much for us to do but wait,” Time said. “Wind, I suggest you go explain to your village what’s going on and prepare yourself for another quest. The rest of us can set up camp out here so we don’t scare anyone.” He drew a line in the sand with his boot. “This is the Wind Disease line. No one is allowed to cross it.”