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Wind first started to feel the pain in the cool hours of the morning. He and Sky were the only ones awake, Sky's shift for watch winding down as the sun rose, at the two of them perched in a large tree watching as the night faded away. Deep rich navy faded to an anemic blue, the stars were chased away by the sun. Normally Wind would rather die than wake up so early. He would be content to never see a sunrise in his life. He didn’t really want to be here, but Sky asked him specifically. Usually no one asks him as a first choice to do stuff with. So, he’s in a tree, with Sky, watching the sun come up on a cloudy, dreary day.
Sky looked at the world like it was still beautiful. Wind always considered Sky a funny guy. Not funny as in being actually funny, no that was his job, but just an oddity in a collection of oddities. He kept to himself, helped out the group without complaining, and just seemed too normal to be a hero. He was nice though. Only problem Wind had with him was how often he talked about his girlfriend.
"Zelda, my Zelda, She'd love a sunrise like this. She used to wake me up early to go flying during them. One time she jumped off the edge of the city just so I could catch her mid air." Wind nodded with a yawn and rubbed his eyes.
"Sounds like she could give Wild a run for his money as a daredevil." Wind figured that sounded better than sounds like she's insane.
"Hehe, Yeah. I think that's just how being a hero works. Taking leaps of faith like that."
"You consider her a hero?"
"Just as much as any of us. She's my hero at least." Wind laughed at that. A hearty laugh with the sound of his full voice. He might wake the others, he didn't really care. Sky really was so normal it was funny. His whole body moved when he laughed, his head thrown back, his chest and stomach hunched forward. Wind was used to laughing so much it hurt, but it was a few seconds before he realized this was different.
A dull pain hooked under his belly button. It stopped his laugh in his throat, the dull ache spreading deeper, and for a moment he thought he'd been stabbed. His hand flew to his stomach, expecting the wet feeling of blood, but found only his shirt. Perfectly dry.
"Wind?" He checked his chest, his back, hands patting down his body looking for some kind of attack, but found nothing.
"WIND?" In his wild haste his body thrashed about on the tree branch, inching closer to the edge, until he felt himself falling.
"DAMMIT WIND!" Sky grabbed his leg by the ankle. Tendons and bone strained under the sudden stop, the minor momentum of his fall ricocheting through his body. A wave of dull pain rocked him and he grit his teeth down with a grunt. Sky wasted no time in pulling him up, murmurs of curses from both boys filling the air.
"Are we under attack" Wind asked as he rested against the crook of a tree limb.
"No you just started freaking out!" Sky's eyes were wide and filled with worry. Wind always hated that look.
"I just...I don't, my stomach fucking hurts."
"Your stomach? Really? I thought you'd been possessed!" Wind scowled, shooting Sky a look of disapproval .
"Yeah, so did I. Or like I got shot with an arrow. Turns out we're both the heroes of being wrong." Sky rubbed the back of his head, a nervous tick Wind noticed a few of the other boys do.
"Well if you're hungry let's head back. I'm sure someone is making breakfast by now." Wind nodded. This didn't feel like hunger pains, but so far there's nothing Wild's breakfast crepes didn't fix.
Sky hoisted the younger hero on his back after much grumbling. "I'm not a baby. I can take care of myself!" Sky just rolled his eyes.
"You almost fell out a tree, Just let me help you. No one thought Four was a baby when Twilight carried him after he fell off a roof. It's just teamwork." Wind allowed it, but he complained the whole time. By the time they made it back to camp, the others were up. Twilight and Four were washing their teeth with canteen water, Warrior and Hyrule were sparring near their tents. Legend was watching the two heroes, occasionally yelling out crude statements to see if one would trip up. Wild was sitting outside his tent, hunched over and fiddling with his sheikah slate, occasionally pulling an item out. Wind’s face fell when he saw Time cooking over a makeshift griddle.
"Awe Wild isn't cooking this time?" Wind moaned.
"He can't do it every meal, everyday, for all of us. Besides practice is the only way to get better." Sky was being very rational and very annoying. But he did save him from a fall so Wind dropped it.
Eyes turned to them when they walked into camp. Wind tried to stymie the hot fire spreading under his cheeks when people rushed to Sky's side, but another wave of dull ache hit him and suddenly pride took a back seat.
"You guys okay?" Twilight asked, toothpaste spattered on his chin. The others looked ready to fight, which was their way of showing concern.
"Yeah, I think Wind is just really hungry. He said his stomach hurt really badly." Time made his way forward.
"Is that true Wind?" Wind met the older man's gaze.
"Yeah but..." The smallest Link let go of his companions shoulders, pushed his feet up against Sky’s back and launched into the air. Wind somersaulted once, dropped to the ground with a flourish. His stomach burned red hot but he wore a devilish grin. “I think I can handle it!" Shoulders relaxed and Twilight rolled his eyes. All was normal.
"Good to see." Time said. His smile lasted all of five seconds before he caught the scent of burning eggs. "No! Dammit not again!" Their valiant leader rushed back to his makeshift kitchen. Twilight ran at his side, and the others slowly drifted away. The only lingering soul was Wild, his ice blue eyes looking over Wind like a puzzle.
"Something wrong?" Wind chirped. Wild just shook his head and followed the others. Wind kept his proud smile as they walked away, clutching his side as his insides throbbed. The pain in his belly mixed with nausea in the worst way. The sting of acid rose up his throat, he took a swig of water to wash it down.
After five minutes of staring at his plate of eggs and trying not to retch, Wind decided hunger was not the problem. He sat in a circle with his brothers, shuffling the eggs around as everyone else socialized. Time was lamenting his third failure to successfully cook without burning the food, and Twilight was reassuring him "Eggs still taste fine slightly burnt". Four and Warrior were adding pinches of Goron spice to their meals like some kind of competition, faces red and sweaty as they put bite after bite of scorching food in their mouths. Hyrule sat back and watched them, amused at their self inflicted pain. Wild sat with an old book in his lap, flipping through old and faded pages and glancing at Wind out of the corner of his eye. Their actions, voices, and faces all blended together in a haze. Wind couldn't focus on anything but the putrid smell of food. This wasn't normal, it had to be a curse of some sort. Or a sickness.
Honestly, Wind would rather be cursed than sick. if he was going to die, cursed sounded like a cooler way to go. No stop that, I'm not dying. Don't be over dramatic. The morbid thought wouldn't leave his head. Grandma said that sometimes people think themselves in circles and make things worse with their mind. Those thoughts were their own kind of magic, and your thoughts had power over yourself and others. Once, she told him that little kids who concerned themselves with the thoughts of others would wake up unconscious in the night and eat the thought people had about them. All the things people think of you, good or bad, would be kept in the stomach and never pass. If those people didn’t share their own thoughts and feelings with others, grandma said, they would be filled with pain, burst open, and die. In that moment he wished he had taken grandma's stories more seriously. But even as a ten year old child he knew those stories where for children, and Wind would not indulge in childish worries. Not around the band.
A distant roll of thunder caught the group’s attention. Heads turned to the east of their camp, swollen angry storm clouds covered the sky. Sweet summer air, pungent and sharp, filled his nose. A scent that comes with storms and lightning. The weather in Wild’s hyrule was violent, as if the world itself was out for blood. Wind could feel it moving quickly, no way to walk around it. Hyrule looked from the sky to Wild.
“I don’t suppose that slate of yours is working any better?”
“Wait,” Said Sky “What’s wrong with the slate?” Wild shook his head.
“I don’t know. The screen goes fuzzy and it won’t respond. I’ve seen it before when the weather is harsh, but usually when a divine beast is leaking malice. It’s not supposed to be like this.” Wild’s hand traced over the eye of the sheikah slate at his side, a sullen look on his face. Twilight walked over to his protege and ran his hand through the boy’s hair.
“Don’t feel bad about it. Weird stuff is happening in my world too. It’s probably the reason we’re all together. Don’t worry.”
“I don’t like that things are getting worse. But I’m not worried. Well,” Ice blue eyes turn to Wind, “Not about me.”
Wind caught Wild's stare. The newest member of their group glanced down at his tome and back at Wind. Wild was a mercurial creature. His face was a veil of ice, cold and utterly forign to Wind. He was frustrating, and frustration mixed with pain and nausea is a volatile thing.
"What's with you huh? You've been staring at me for a while." Wind shouted. He didn't mean to shout, but it came out that way. Wild seemed as unconcerned as ever.
"Just checking some texts on stomach pain. Perhaps I can make a potion for you."
"I don't need your fucking help."
The bite came out so quick it caught the attention of others. Twilight, ever protective of his wild child, shot Wind a look he often gave to petulant children.
"Hey, no need to be rude. Wild knows a bit about medicine, it might be good to at least hear him out" The pain in Wind's stomach grew hot. A prickly heat that seemed to travel from his center to his side. It seemed to coil and twists itself in knots of knives as Twilight lectured and The others looked on like he was a child, like he deserved this. It isn't fair, he thought. It isn't fair, It isn't fair, it isn't fair!
"I don't need any help! I told you guys I'm fine, My stomach is just weird. Probably a flu or something." Wind knew he shouldn't yell, it would just make things worse, but somehow talking seemed impossible right now. All he wanted to do was scream.
“You said it was just hunger pains before." It was Sky. Sky who was so sickeningly sweet and concerned.. Wind didn't want to see the concern in his eyes again.
"NO, I said it hurt and you said it was probably hunger pains"
"You didn't eat anything." Wild's voice was cold as Ice and might as well have been oil on a fire. Wind almost threw the bowl of food. Not to actually hurt Wild, Just to see that calm facade come crumbling down. To see someone else break first.
But that’s not fair. Wild didn’t do this, he just wants to help. Grandma would be disappointed. He wrestled down the worst parts of himself as the pain in his side flared up. He bit into the side of his cheek, blood filling his mouth. A mistake. His stomach churned at the taste, the bile coming up again and this time with no way to stop it. Clear fluid splattered to the ground with a tint or red, all the others jumping back in shock. Except Sky and Wild who rushed forward, as if this were normal.
"Shit" Wind's voice was weak and he couldn't pull away. Everyone was in action mode now, meaning he was stuck until the problem was solved.
"Time, there's no way we can move on now. Whatever he's got, it's pretty bad." That was Sky. Maybe. Wind wasn't really paying attention. People were moving and talking and it all seemed to blur together.
"I got this, it's fine, guys it’s..." The world seemed to spin and light began to fade. Like the rising dawn was being undone, Wind's view faded to black. "It's not fair" hanging on his lips.
Wind drifted back to reality in a different place than before. He knew he passed out, but that was in a clearing out in the open. Now he was inside a tent. It was probably a tent, there was fabric above his head at least, but the deep red color and intricate patterns wasn't part of any tent they owned. And he wasn't on the floor but on a bed. It was soft and reminded him of home. The smell of horses, however, was nothing like home and instead reminded him of Wild. Voices filled the room, hardly concerned with keeping quiet, a mix of all his brothers.
"Are there no closer towns, Wild?"
"No. The storm has made the slate go fuzzy, it’s useless. The closest town to the stable is Kakariko, and it's through a mountain pass."
"I'm not a doctor, but I've worked with sick animals before. Might be the same thing?" That was Twilight, his softer big brother voice in full effect.
"I don't know Twi. This is something fairly unique to Hylians. We can send people out for a doctor but it might take a while..."
"You guys talking about me?" Wind spoke. His throat was dry and ragged, his insides felt like hell fire, but he would still make himself known. The others turned to him.
"Hey buddy" Sky said, his voice weak, like he had been screaming. Twilight waved, and Time crossed his arms. Wild stood still. They were the only four in the room, which he now recognized as one of the stables in Wild’s world where travelers could safely stay. They all stood apart, a distance between them. The rest of the room was taken up by words no one wanted to hear, let alone speak. Wind could tell they were tense. As much as many of them claimed to be wiser, Wind was the best at reading people. The painful clench of Time’s jaw, the way Twilight curled and uncurled his fist, the way Sky’s smile didn’t reach his eyes. Wind knew something was wrong.
"Am I dying?" Time, Twilight, and Sky each looked like they had been punched. They said nothing, but the audible sound of air through clenched teeth said yes. Wild was the only one who didn't flinch. Wild stepped forward with a book in hand.
"You have a sickness. It isn't so uncommon in my time, just a quirk of biology." He opened the book to a cross section of a body, the insides on full display in colored ink. "This little piece that hangs off your colon? Its an appendix. Yours is infected and swelling. In a few hours, maybe a day, it will burst."
"How do you know?" Wind looked at the picture of this worm like appendix. This tiny little piece of flesh that was trying to tear him apart. That can't be it. He beat the king of all evil, he saved dozens of other kids, he's the hero who forced the goddesses to choose him, who defies fate. This tiny thing couldn't hurt him?
"Honestly? I can't be certain. But most of your symptoms match up and I've seen it before. It happened to a few travelers in my time." Wild spoke softly but everything was loud. The ticking of a clock, the sound of horses outside, his own heart beat, it all seemed to overshadow the other hero.
"What happens when it bursts?" The words hung in the air for what felt like minutes. Hours. Days. Finally Wild spoke.
"That would kill you."
Wind knew that compared to the others he wasn't that impressive. He was a short, goofy looking kid with a lobster shirt. Everyone else carried the weight of adulthood on their shoulders, had faced evil in its most ruthless forms. But if it's one thing The Hero of Wind is known for, its not giving up. He didn't give up when his sister was kidnapped, he didn't give up when searching for a lost Triforce forgotten by time, and he didn't give up when he looked into the face of evil and saw a man, a person just like him, striving to survive. He didn't give up because each time, he wanted to survive more. The room was still and silent, the pitter patter of rain on the stable tent the only thing Wind could hear.
"So how do we fix it?" Wind asked. The adults stood still, their faces numb. Everyone turned to Wild.
"The only way to fix it is to remove the infected organ." Wind sometimes felt like Wild was his opposite. He was always so focused and reserved, and Wind couldn't understand that at times. Now Wild's clarity and restraint felt like a crutch for Wind to lean on.
"We can't use potions or something?" Twilight asked.Wild shook his head.
"The potions won't fix this. It's the bodies own doing. At best it might reduce swelling. Magic can help, but it can't stop natural sickness."
"So when you say remove the infection?" That was Sky. For the first time Wind has known him he sounded completely serious. Wild spoke without looking at anyone.
"We'd have to cut it out of him. The whole Appendix." The room erupted into sound.
"How can we do that?" Asked Sky.
"Cut it out of him? With what a broad sword?" That was Twilight
"We should get a doctor here immediately, this is beyond our scope of knowledge" Time was as reasonable as ever. Wild tried to speak over them. he tried to answer questions, pointing to the book in his hands, but the others were to loud. Held to much authority. Wind watched as Wild seemed to say less and less, voice fading away like shadow into daylight.
"please, stop. Please..." The voices where a whirlwind, it was hard to keep track of who was talking. People talking over each other. Wind had had enough of that.
"SHUT UP AN' LET HIM SPEAK!"
When your stomach is swollen and sore, projecting your voice above a crowd hurts. It was worth it for the looks on their faces.
"I don't want to die. You don't want me to die. Wild seems to know what's going on here, so lets just calm down." Wind was met with wide eyes from three of the adults, and a slight nod of the head from Wild. By Wild standards, that was a big hug.
"Removing the organ ourselves isn't Ideal. But waiting to long for a doctor to get here from Kakariko could be worse. If we wait to long, he will die."
"Wild, you're talking about surgery. I don't know what your world is like, but cutting a person open could kill them. Especially since none of us are trained for it." Twilight went to his protege's side as he spoke. Wind had never seen him look so pale.
"I am" Sky said. "I'm not exactly a doctor, but the knights aren't just trained in the art of war in Skyloft. We each get taught what to do if someone's dying on a battlefield, how to save a life." Sky Looked Wind in the eye. “Including how to take something out of the body.”
"Pulling out an arrow head is different than this Sky" Time startled everyone. "You know I trust you, and Wild, but We need to get someone who knows what their doing. We should send Four and Wild out to get a doctor from Kakraiko."
"Inaction leads to death. Even if Wild uses the master cycle we don't know if that would be soon enough" Heads turned to Twilight. It was rare to see him and Time disagree on things.
"Surgery carries a risk of death. Waiting carries a risk of death. The way I see it, We should ask Wind what he wants." Wild said. All eyes fell on Wind.
Wind touched his side. It was visibly swollen, slightly pink, and felt like he swallowed a hot blade. He didn't want to do this. He didn't want any of this.
"Do the surgery. And call the doctor. If he doesn't get here in time I'd rather die knowing you guys were doing everything you can."The room was still again. Sometimes adults take forever to do anything. Sky came forward and knelt down, wrapping his arms around Wind's shoulders and leaned forward until their foreheads touched. "You're not going to die little buddy."
"Alright. Sky, what do you need?" Sky was a funny man. He was so relaxed, so calm, so cheerful that sometimes people forgot he was the first chosen hero. But like the flick of a match a flame had lit inside him.
“Wild, you know herbal remedies? Anything that could help us here?” Wild nodded.
“The main thing we should worry about is causing so much pain his body goes into shock. Give me ten minutes and I can make an elixir that will reduce the pain somewhat. That’s all I can do.”
Sky clapped Wild on the shoulder, a knightly custom.
“Thank you friend. You’re going to be with me during the surgery.” Wild nodded a bit sharper than before, an enthusiastic yes.
"Time, Twilight, You're strong enough to hold Wind down. We'll probably need restraints and a towel for him to bite down on. Get Warrior in here too, he might have some first aid training. We send Hyrule and Four to Kakariko with some horses and hopefully they get a real doctor here in time." Everyone moved like a cog in a machine. The away team was up and moving in minutes. Time had the owners of the stable create a makeshift operating room with a table, clean bedsheets, a shower curtain around it for privacy, and a few medical knives they usually used on horses. Everything was cleaned down and made as sterile as possible, the scent of rubbing alcohol fills the room and turned Wind's stomach. Wild, Sky, and Warriors had a few vials of a purple elixir with them, a precaution to stem bleeding and pain.
"It won't close the cut while were in there, but we don't want you to bleed out." Sky said. Even serious he was still smiling.
`"The incision is only going to be about three inches wide. It's not that deep, but we need to be careful of the appendicular artery. We need to tie it off so he doesn't lose too much blood. Wild, you're going to be dealing with the arteries and veins"
`"Warriors, you're in charge of Helping me isolate the organ. We don't need to do this completely because hopefully a doctor can take it from here. Remember, do not cut into the colon. It's full of bacteria that could make this whole thing worse."
“yes sir."
Wind tried to steady his breathing. Breath in and out his grandma would say. When he was really little and would cry when he fell down, she would always remind him to keep breathing. Grandma's advice was never meant for this. Someone sat down next to him. Wind didn't know who. He wasn't really paying attention to anyone else right now. Maybe that's selfish, but his body is a time bomb right now so he gets to be selfish. The sound of glass hitting wood shook him back to reality. Twilight sat there with a bottle of whisky in one hand, and a glass on the table.
"It's so weird" Wind said "I spent years learning how to avoid knives, how to not get sliced open. Now I'm about to let myself go under a literal knife."
Twilight poured a bit of Whisky into the glass.
"Yeah. The fates love Irony I guess. I used to herd animals, now I turn into one. People favored by fate don't necessarily have a peaceful life. Just an unusual one. But you know, at least fate is on our side." Twilight ruffled Wind's hair. Normally he would feel patronized, but right now he could really use a big brother. Wind reached for the Whisky, Twilight pulls it away.
"Oh no, this one's for me." Twilight thrust the remainder of the bottle in Wind's hands. "You're going to need this"
Sky, Wild, and Warrior were dressed in white aprons. They had gloves on their hands, and Wilds long hair was braided and pinned up out of his face. Wind swallowed as much of the Whisky he could get down. The hard part about drinking whisky is the burn, but eventually if you drink enough the burn fades away along with everything else. Wind laid down on the table in a makeshift gown, a thing Wild's people did during surgery. He felt a pen trace across the section of his skin marked for the blade, put the towel in his mouth, and took a deep breath as the knife went in.
It was icey steel and flaming nerves, the sting of air meeting flesh that was supposed to be hidden. He'd been stabbed before, he'd fallen from great heights, but the slow and careful way the knife cut through layers of skin and tissue was worse than a quick slash of a sword. He knew he was screaming, but he couldn't really hear himself. He could make out a few words from the others.
"Your doing great."
"Hang in there!" But at some point it all stopped making sense.
Warrior and Sky were to his right, Sky doing the primary cut while Warrior pinned the skin back as he went. He saw Wild to his left, a bottle of purple potion in his hand. He inserted a long stick with cotton wrapped at the end of it into the bottle and dabbed at certain areas when Sky instructed him to. Everyplace he applied potion felt a little cold and numb, but the pain went down. He could feel Twilight’s gloved hand grind down on his shoulders. Tim’s hands pinning his legs in place. They had tied him to the table with leather bindings, but they needed to make sure he didn't move at all. All he could do was breath through it.
"We have sight of the appendix!"
“Should we remove it all now?"
"Not yet. Wild, get to work on the arteries."
"How close do you want me to get to the Colon?"
"Don't get too close. It's risky and you want to give yourself room."
The voices went on for what felt like forever. The world was bathed in red.
Time had told him that when he was trapped in Termina, everything seemed a lot slower, and yet everything happened faster. That was Wind's world right now. Everything happened quickly and yet so slow. The world seemed to twist on itself as he lay there. He focused on a part of the tent's roof. The image of a golden triangle containing a figure embracing a princess stuck with him more than any physical feeling in the room. He looked at it and thought of Tetra and her smirk, how she would only tease him if he died today. Aryl and her warm smile, who was the embodiment of kindness and fun. His grandma and all the people of his Island, who always listed to his stories of pirating and heroism. His friends, brothers, who were all fighting their own fears everyday. His brothers fighting to keep him here tomorrow. If in the future you ask the Hero of Wind what he thought during this night, he'd say he thought of his heroes.
At some point the door to the stable slammed open and a new voice took the stage.
"I'm here, your friends brought me here in a storm, but I have my tools. Let me see what you've done." An older woman dressed in white came in, her hair windswept and damp. Someone rushed her into and apron and gloves and Wind watched as She stood next to Wild and Sky.
"You've done a good job. Everything looks goodenough, we should be able to finish quickly." She looked Wind in the eye, her face round and kind. "You did a good job kiddo." And with that, Wind's world faded into the comfort of unconsciousness.
When Wind woke up, he felt like his mouth was full of cotton. He was back in the bed he was in last night, his whole body hurting, but no longer the hot sharp pain of the appendix. His grandma used to tease him that one day he'd be too lazy to lift his head up, but now even doing that felt like lifting the sky. The room was quiet except for the sound of lite snoring. He saw Legend, Hyrule, and Warrior asleep in the corner, wrapped around each other in a way that might have been embarrassing if all emotions hadn't been exhausted last night. Wild was curled up next to Twilight against a wall, Time's cape draped over them like a shared blanket. Sky was sitting right next to Wind's bed, his head in his hands. Slowly it all came back to Wind. If he weren't so tired his bones hurt, he would have laughed. Once again, the chosen heroes rewrite fate , he thought.
He caught Time standing in the doorway after a minute. Had he always been there? Did he just walk in? Wind didn't know. Time had the knife like smile on his face that Wind associated with pride.
"Welcome back Wind." The others stirred at their leader's voice, each of them with looks of pride, and love, and a few tears. For a few minutes Wind's world consisted of eight annoying brothers gently patting his head and screaming. Wind wouldn't have it any other way.
Healing takes time. Wind was bedridden for almost two weeks, the group staying at Wild's house for the foreseeable future. Wald’s house was cozy, definitely not designed for nine heroes to share Wild let Wind have his bed, everyone else shared the couch. It fell into a routine, it was almost normal. At the end of the second week Wind could walk around for longer than a minute. Wind came down the stairs carefully, Legend and Four narrated as he went.
“He’s gonna take a step, and another, what can’t this little guy do Link?” Legend asked.
“Well Link, all I can say is Legends will be told about this day!”
“I already know, I’m watching it right now.”
“Oh shut up, you dorks.” Wind said with a smile. A golden orange glow filled the living room. Twilight was on the couch in his wolf form, Time was next to him reading a book. The savory scent of seafood stew filled the room. Wild was actually cooking this time, a relief for everyone involved. Lazy days like this reminded him of life on the island, just spending time with family. Sky, who had been out running errands, came through the house with and arm full of fruit, creme, and flour.
“Sorry I’m late, It was way harder to find ingredients for custard.”
“They didn’t have any prepared?” Wind asked. Sky transferred the groceries to Wild, whose cheeks were puffed out in a pout.
“I can still make crepes with it, but it might be later than we planned.”
“ That’s okay. Wind and I made plans to go walk around Hateno. One of the girls offered to let us feed the horses tonight.”
“Wah, what girl? Alia?” Warrior called from upstairs. He peeked over the banister with pink cheeks and a look of dread.
“Warrior we’re a teenager and a guy whose engaged to a literal goddess, how can we get in the way of your latest grand romance?” Wind teased him as he joined Sky. Warrior spluttered and turned a deeper shade of red. “You ready to head out?”
“Mmhm.” Sky and Wind left the house and walked down the main street in Hateno. The sky drew dim, fireflies started to glow in the air. Wind moved a little slower than he liked, his side still sore and tender. Sky was at his side, letting him go at his own pace. After everything, he still thought Sky was odd. Sky would walk around town and feed birds, or get them both milk, and he seemed so normal. But that fierce kindness, that calm gaze, everything about Sky made him a great hero. He knew the weight of life keenly, and after putting his own life in the other man’s hands Wind considered that Sky’s greatest talent. The world they live in was never normal, but somehow Sky made it feel okay. The two friends walked side by side, a comfort to each other as they made their way into the night.