Work Text:
Something was off.
Something had been off for several days now, since the last portal. Since before it, really; it’d started right after the fight where he’d gotten knocked into the river. It wasn’t exactly the way he’d wanted to reveal his mer form (honestly, he’d rather they’d never found out because he knew it was going to be a Thing now) but that had gone… surprisingly well. Possibly because the portal had shown up less than an hour later and they’d had other things to worry about.
Anyway.
Something was most decidedly off, and it was pissing Legend off to no end that he couldn’t pinpoint it.
Wild studied the veteran as they trudged through Twilight’s Hyrule Field. The most irascible (Heh. Irascible. Good word. He’d have to thank Flora for that one) member of the Chain had been almost downright testy as of late, snapping and snarling at even the most innocent question. Legend would apologize, most of the time, if Wars or Time or Hyrule called him out on it. It seemed like he didn’t even know what was wrong, which was a mildly terrifying thought considering the vet knew more about magic and adventuring than any two of them combined
Still, there wasn’t much they could do. The Champion resolved to keep an eye on the situation. And, maybe, make baked apples for dessert.
It came to a head some five days later, after nearly two full weeks of Legend being increasingly snappish with everyone, including Hyrule. Warriors and Time managed to keep a lid on everyone else’s tempers, but it was a near thing at times and even they were starting to wear thin.
And then, in the middle of a rant about something inconsequential that had pissed the vet off, Warriors sighed, stood, and dropped his scarf on Legend’s head.
The vet’s mouth clicked shut, cutting himself off mid-word.
The entire Chain stared at the sudden silence. And as two bewildered violet eyes peeked out from beneath a fold, it clicked.
“Legend,” Wild asked gently, “have you been missing your hat this entire time?”
The eyes blinked as Legend considered the question.
“I think,” he said, embarrassment coloring his voice, “I think I have.”
The story came out in pieces.
“I’ve always worn one,” Legend said an hour or so later, shrugging as Wild handed him a mug of hot chocolate. The scarf was still covering his head, although he’d rearranged it so it wasn’t covering his face. “Ever since I was little. Uncle had a thing about keeping my head covered; I think it was somewhere between trying to keep me from getting sick and hiding how much I resemble Zelda.”
Those of the Chain who’d met Fable nodded. The resemblance was obvious once you saw them together.
“I kept it up out of habit, I guess. And because it was a good way to mostly hide my hair when it went pink.” Someone chuckled at that. Legend glared in their direction. “I guess it just feels weird without it now. Like I’m missing something.”
More nods. Most of them had something like that- Twilight’s sash, Warrior’s scarf, Sky’s sailcloth.
Legend dropped his eyes. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay.” Hyrule plopped down next to him, holding a bundle of red cloth. It unfurled into a hat much like Legend’s. “I found this in the castle ages ago but never wore it,” he said. “It matches your tunic.”
“Oh, are we giving Legend hats?” Wind asked, bouncing up to grab his bag. “I have a couple extra.”
“I think we all do. Most of us don’t wear them anymore,” Time added with a grin.
As it turned out, the Chain had a rather extensive collection, from Time’s bunny hood (which had Twilight and Sky cackling for some reason) to a leftover shield moblin’s helmet that was stashed in Warriors’ bag, for some reason. They made quite the pile on the floor, and Wind took pictograph after pictograph of Legend trying them on- including no less than six iterations of the classic green hood that almost everyone had, for some reason.
“It’s almost like a right of passage,” Warriors commented, pulling out his own version. “Green tunic, green hat, too big sword.”
“My first hat talked,” Four added, which made everyone pause for a moment. The smithy shrugged. “He was a polymorphed Minish named Ezlo. Guided me through my first journey, and we were friends, but goddesses was he annoying.”
“What happened to him?” Sky asked curiously.
“Got uncursed, went home. I’ll probably never… well, I could maybe see him again, if we end up in an era where the portal to their town is open, but that’s only a few months every hundred years, so who knows.”
“Is that why you wear a hood now?” Wind asked.
“Eh.” Four shrugged again. “More because hats are a pain in the forge. The headband keeps my hair and sweat out of my eyes. And I don’t have to worry about it accidentally catching on fire because the tip went somewhere it shouldn’t have.”
Legend snorted. “That’s the truth. Every blacksmith I’ve worked with said something similar. Most had a gruesome story to back it up.”
A tinny ringing sound came from across the campsite, and everyone turned to see Wild, grinning widely and holding a ladle and his slate. “My turn,” he said.
The ladle dissolved into strings of blue light as Wild tapped buttons. Other things appeared, only to be dropped on the forest floor in a pile that rivaled the other seven Links combined. Veils. Tiaras. Hats. Helmets. A floppy piece of cloth that Legend shook his head at and called a beret, whatever that was.
And, finally, an enormous, garish monstrosity, decorated with mushroom stalks and with what looked like a pink wig attached. Legend chuckled at the sight of it.
“Where did you get that?” he asked.
“Some lady named Cece in Hateno. It got turned into a mushroom village for a hot minute. I fixed it,” Wild answered, still grinning.
“I see.” The vet grinned back. “Mind if I keep this one? Madame Couture would probably love this.” He considered Wild for a moment. “Actually, she’d probably love a good bit of your gear. If we ever end up in Hytopia I’ll introduce you.”
Wild nodded and started sorting through his pile. “Yeah, okay. That’d be cool. And you’re more than welcome to the hat. It’s just been taking up space in my inventory for months now and it’d be rude to just throw it away, you know?”
Legend knew. “Yeah. You’ve seen my shed.”
“Is that why there’s so much stuff in there?”
“Pretty much, yeah. That, and I worked hard for those outfits,” the vet sighed. “Thanks, Champ.”
Wild looked up and smiled. “Yeah, yeah. I dare you to wear that hat in combat. If you can keep it from falling off I’ll make all your favorites next time I have a kitchen to work with.”
Legend studied the hat, then smirked. “Oh you’re on.”
“So, have you decided?” Hyrule asked a little while later.
Legend smiled at him and held up the red one. “Yeah. I’m keeping the Cece hat and a couple of the others, but this one’s special.”
Hyrule looked confused. “What do you mean? It’s just a hat.”
“Nope. It’s more than that.” The vet leaned over and bumped shoulders with the traveler. “I’ve worn a lot of hats. Including Ravio’s once, when we were trying to play a prank on Hilda. That robe is surprisingly comfortable, by the way.”
“I knew it had to be less cumbersome than it looks,” Warriors interjected from a few feet away, “given the way he fought. He was way too nimble to be wearing something heavy.”
“Right? Also, butt out, Wars,” Legend said, shaking his head. “Anyway. Hats.”
“Yeah. I mean, you don’t have to wear it.” Hyrule leaned his head on Legend’s shoulder. “I just thought it’d be nice to give you something for a change. You’re always lending me gear and fixing my stuff, and I appreciate it, but it feels…”
“A little one-sided,” Legend finished, and Hyrule nodded. “I figured. And that’s part of it. But… it’s nice to have. It’s a little piece of your timeline, and when this is over, it’ll be a reminder of why I keep doing this. And who knows? Maybe I was the one that left it there in the first place, just so you could find it and give it to me.”
The traveler laughed. “The Hat of Paradox. Caught in an endless cycle of being lost and found, only to be given to the person who lost it to begin with. Hmm. Maybe I should keep it after all, break the cycle.”
“Nope. My hat. No take-backsies,” Legend said, holding the hat close as Hyrule reached for it.
“But-”
“Mine.” Legend grinned and crammed the hat on his head. It really did match his tunic surprisingly well. “I don’t want to deal with another changed timeline, thanks. The first one was painful enough.”
Hyrule raised an eyebrow. “Wait, what? That wasn’t in the stories.”
“I’m not surprised. It was Labrynna, not Hyrule, and I don’t think anyone who wasn’t involved remembers the changes,” the vet said with a shrug. He looked around, noticing that he’d managed to somehow grab everyone’s attention, and sighed heavily, but there was a smile on his face as he leaned back and started talking.
“It was my second or third adventure. I traveled to Labrynna, where I met the Oracle of Nayru…”
Two days later, Legend wore the Cece hat in a battle, somehow managing to flip over a bokoblin's head without losing the hat.
Wind got pictures.