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Time hadn’t been the biggest fan of losing his eye. It’d been painful and it’d been a hard adjustment, having his field of vision cut in half, but eventually he’d grown used to it and gotten better at handling things in his blind spot. He’d also gotten better at understanding how his depth perception had changed, now no longer so likely to run into things as he had been when he first lost the eye, and he’d gotten better at relying on his hearing to sense what was nearby. Though that didn’t mean the rogue monster couldn’t still sneak up on him at times.
The snapping twig behind him had been his only warning of the approaching threat. Maybe he would’ve heard it sooner had he not been so busy cutting bokoblins down with his sword and so focused on listening to the sounds of metal hacking into wooden shields around him. He’d thought he’d been doing a pretty good job of keeping his eye on all the loose monsters, but he only managed to turn around and back up just enough that when the hideous thing swung at him, it’s club smacked into his brow instead of fully colliding with the side of his head.
The force was still enough to knock him down and the splitting pain that shot through him left him speechless, enough of a shock that when he hit the ground with a heavy thud he found himself unable to move or scream for a moment. Disoriented as he was, he was aware of something warm dripping down his face and his heart started pounding in his chest as his mind unhelpfully provided him with images of his own caved in skull.
It could not have been that bad… It couldn’t have. He was still conscious. Surely he would’ve passed out if the club had beat his head in?
He was unsure at what point the blow that had stunned him lost its hold over him and it became his own anxiety that kept him paralyzed, but he stared up at the cloudless blue sky for a long time. Until a familiar face appeared upside down above him, dark brows twisting into a frown as a soft voice called his name.
“Sprite? Can you hear me?”
Time meant to say ‘Yes’ but a strange gurgling sound came out of him instead and his body started shaking as he began to choke.
Warriors was kneeling beside him at an instant, holding him upright as he fought to catch his breath. Every cough sent pain stabbing through his skull and he let out a pathetic noise as he fought to breathe again while his brother worked on comforting him and checking over his bloodstained face.
“How bad is it?” Time croaked out once he could speak, squeezing his good eye closed as his brother gently tilted his head from side to side. It was making him feel incredibly dizzy.
“Fatal, I’m afraid,” Warriors sighed, and when his eye flew open in shock he found his brother grinning down at him.
“Don’t do that,” he grumbled, wincing as a flash of pain shot through his skull. It was uncomfortable trying to hold his eyelid open, the air felt so dry and not even the pain was making him tear up to give his poor eye some relief.
“Oh, what,” the captain huffed, “I couldn’t tease you before because you were ‘just a kid’ but now you’re a full grown adult and I can’t tease you either? Bullshit, I say.”
Time felt stupid but he crossed his arms over his chest with a pout as he tried to rationalize with himself. He wasn’t thinking clearly, obviously, he’d just been smacked in the head and there’d been a lot of blood. He wasn’t stupid for worrying. Gods forbid he’d wanted his big brother to confirm he was, in fact, not dying.
“You’re fine, irmãozinho.” Warriors’s smile softened and he rubbed his thumb across Time’s cheek comfortingly before his hand fell as he turned to his side to grab something from his bag. “Head wounds bleed a lot, you’ll be alright.” A little vial of red liquid was waved in front of his face before the captain pressed it into his hand. “I do want you to drink this, though. You got hit hard enough to break skin.”
“WAR!” Sky’s voice sounding from across the field was loud enough to make him flinch, and the captain’s head shot up to look over to the young man. “I need your help, Four dislocated his shoulder.”
A concerned frown washed over his face and Time wanted to get up to check on the kid himself, but Warriors placed a hand on his shoulder to keep him still.
“Rest,” his brother instructed before pointing at the potion in Time’s hands, “drink. Give yourself a minute, kid.”
“Not a kid anymore,” he mumbled half heartedly, doing exactly what the captain asked and drinking the little bit of healing potion he’d been given.
“You’ll always be baby brother to me,” Warriors grinned at him like the insufferable asshole he was. He made a move like he was going to ruffle Time’s hair but at the last second chose to gently brush his bangs off his forehead instead. “Alright, you sit here and I’ll be back as soon as I set Four’s arm, yeah?”
“Yeah,” he sighed, pleased to notice he was already feeling much better and that a good portion of the pain had melted away.
The captain unpinned his scarf before unwrapping it from its place around his neck and gently setting it in Time’s lap. “Hold on to this for me.”
He could only hum in acknowledgment before his brother started jogging over to where Sky was standing beside a rather pissed off looking Four.
He wasn’t quite sure why Warriors had given him his scarf to hold, but he was grateful for the familiar weight of such a comforting fabric. Rubbing his thumb over worn designs as he so often watched the captain do and smelling the faint scent of oranges that seemed to be part of the scarf itself at this point helped calm him down completely from his earlier panic. He was alright, he’d be fine. His head was still in one piece, and that was really all he could ask for.