Chapter Text
They had shifted between Hyrules again. This was the fifth time this week alone, at least they think it’s been a week. It gets difficult to keep track of time when you’re flung between different eras at a random notice. They had been making their way through a forest in Twilight’s Hyrule, having cleaned out a monster lair for the nearby village when a portal opened up beneath their feet causing them to land harshly onto the side of a sand dune. Time and Wild were the first to pull themselves out of the sand. Time gave a quick glance to the rest of the group to make sure everyone was okay before surveying the landscape. They were in the middle of a desert region that much was obvious with only patches of cactus and dry shrub to break up the endless sea of sand
“Don’t suppose anyone recognises where we are?”
A chorus of ‘no’s and ‘nah’s was all he got back. So, they were in a middle of the desert that no one recognised or a new Hyrule then which generally meant a new hero if going by previous patterns.
“Hey, guys I can see some sort of village from here!” They looked towards Wild who had made his way up the dune and was now leaning over the crest of it, using his Sheikah slate to get a better look. “It looks Gerudo, some of the buildings look like the ones from my Hyrule.”
Everyone scrambled up the dune to get a view of the settlement. From their vantage point, they could see that the place was made up red coloured tents scattered throughout stone buildings. Tiny blobs moved about indicating the place was occupied. Wild yelped as the slate was yanked out of his hands and turned to glare at Legend who was now holding it to get his own look.
“Guess we send in Wild and see what the deal is? Find out what’s going on?”
“Might not be a good idea,” Time chimed in, grabbing the slate from Legend and giving it back to Wild. “I can’t see signs of any other races like in Wild’s Hyrule” – he turned to face the rest of the group – “and the Gerudo aren’t known to be very welcoming which means we all stay clear of the place.” He gave a pointed look to Wild and Warriors.
“Then we head for Central Hyrule? Find some other village to and figure out what’s going on?” Hyrule asked.
“There’s enough supplies to make it out of the desert if we ration them,” Four called out from where he was digging through the travel bags, “Though we’re a little short on water…”
“I’ve got some frozen hydromelons stored away in the slate, we can use them if we run out of water,” assured Wild.
“Sounds like a plan,” said Time. He began to make his way down the dune, the others following. He stopped and seem to think for a moment. “We’ll move this way, for now, its nearly night and I don’t want the smoke from any fire we light to alert the Gerudo or whatever is living in that settlement.”
It wasn’t long before they spotted a small grove of trees with slabs of rock dotted throughout, perfect to set up and camp and far enough not to be seen by any Gerudo. A unanimous vote decided that this is where they would set up camp for the night. After a hasty meal, courtesy of Wild, the group settled down for the night with Legend volunteering to take the first watch.
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Twilight woke to the sound of unknown footsteps moving softly across their makeshift camp – sometimes it paid off to have wolf-like hearing even if it meant staying awake half the night listening to Sky’s snores – and watched as a figure draped in various capes with a yellow Keaton mask riffled through Hyrule’s travel pack. Twilight kept his eyes on the figure as his hand crept towards the dagger he always had nearby and grasped the hilt. In a quick motion, he flung the dagger towards the would-be-thief. Keaton Mask – as Twilight dubbed him in his head – shot up from their crouched position, just as Twilight threw the dagger, and rolled out of the way, crashing into Warriors who let out a shout.
The camp descended into chaos shortly afterwards.
Legend came sprinting back from his watch position, sword already drawn. Meanwhile, everyone else has clambered from their bedrolls, swords out – or in the case of Wild, a bow – and pointed towards Keaton Mask. Said thief had jumped away from Warriors and unsheathed the scimitars that had been hanging from their hip, holding them between themself and the group of Heroes. Tim took a careful step forward, not taking his eyes off of Keaton Mask.
“Okay, this may just be a misunderstanding. Lower your weapon, return whatever you stole from that pack and you can be on your way.”
“Like I can trust you Hylians to keep your word,” Keaton Mask drawled, “You’ll probably just skewer me with one of your swords the minute I turn my back.”
“I promise you, we won’t.” Time took another step forward. “We’re just a bunch of travellers that got lost and don’t want any trouble, promise.”
“Ha! Like any Hylian would be caught dead wandering the desert, especially this close to Gerudo Town.” Keaton mask gripped their scimitars tighter. “You’re either the worst spies that the Hylian King has ever sent or some the best actors I have ever met.”
Keaton Mask rushed forward and took a swipe at Time who side-stepped just in time to avoid getting a slash across his stomach. Wild loosened an arrow but the thief deflected it with their sword and tossed a throwing knife in return, hitting Wild in the shoulder. Four, Hyrule, and Legend advanced, aiming to flank Keaton Mask. They moved in to attack only for Keaton Mask to flip out of the way causing both Legend and Four to crash into each other and Hyrule to stumble over them.
At the same moment, the thief parried an attack from Warriors but couldn’t move quickly enough to avoid a shallow strike to their leg from Time. They hopped backwards and grasped their bleeding leg. Twilight pushed forward, using his brute strength to throw both him and Keaton Mask, who lost his grip one of his swords, to the ground. Wind kicked away the fallen scimitar out of reach. Twilight raised his sword and slammed the pommel of it onto the thief’s mask, shattering it. The hood fell backwards from the force and everyone froze when they caught a glimpse of the boy underneath it.
He looked like a slightly older version of Wind only with more tanned skin and blond hair done up in typical Gerudo fashion with a small green gem set in a gold circlet. Even with the striking resemblance to the rest of the group, there was that feeling that came whenever they met a new hero. It was like coming home, a sense of belonging. It was knowing, with every fibre in each of their bodies, that the boy standing across from them was family.
It was with little doubt that they had found this Hyrule’s reincarnation of the Hero.
Twilight pulled himself off of the new Hero but the boy stayed on the ground, staring at the shattered remains of his mask. He began to grab desperately at the pieces of his broken mask, a quiet chanting of ‘no no no’ was all the other Heroes could hear.
Sky carefully approached, palms of his hands facing forward in an ‘I’m not going to harm you’ gesture. “Hey, it’s okay we can fix that, don’t worry. We’re sorry we attacked you, it’s just you know when you spot someone trying to steal… well one thing leads to another and then –”
A throwing knife quickly put an end to Sky’s rant who jumped back startled and clutched his now bleeding cheek. The boy moved swiftly afterwards, going straight for Twilight, an ugly snarl on his face. Warriors and Time moved at once, each grabbing an arm to hold the boy back. The quickly pulled his other scimitar away and what threw away any other knives they could find.
“Woah! Sky just said we weren’t going to hurt you, that usually implies that you do the same for us!” Warriors grunted from the elbow to his stomach but held on tightly. Damn, this kid was strong. The boy struggled some more, growling and spitting out curses in Gerudo before going completely slack with a huff.
“Look listen, your name is Link right?” The boy’s widening eyes was enough of a confirmation for Time. “This is going to sound crazy but we’re reincarnations of you or more precisely of the Hero spirit, throughout different stages of Hyrule’s time.”
Link, the new Link, began to struggle again in Time and Warriors grasp, “You’re all nuts! I’m not the Hero or some reincarnation of the Hero, this is just some Hylian trick.” The new Link managed to turn his head just enough to bite Warriors hand who immediately let go, he then turned around and kneed Time in the stomach and freed himself. He ran straight for Sky and shouldered past him, spinning around quick enough to grab the sword from his back.
Several things happened at once.
Sky yelled as he reached for the Master Sword. Wind and Wild went to grab the new Link at the same time, Legend snatched Wild’s discarded bow and notched an arrow, ready to fire in case the boy tried to run. Four, Twilight, Warriors, and Hyrule surrounded him as Time shouted for everyone to down.
Link was oblivious to all this, eyes focused solely on the Master Sword. It was warm in his hands. Not warm like the metal of his sword whenever he left one of them out in the desert sun or like the warmth from the smithing forge when he visited Virdi. No, this warmth reminded him of when he was younger and small enough that his papa could pick him up and hold him in one hand. It was the warmth he felt whenever his mama was proud of him during training drills. It was a successful raid with Sheik and spreading the spoils among his brother and sisters, seeing the youngers kids light up in delight when they got toys. It felt like home.
The sword began whispering to him then, telling him stories. Of tales that have not yet happen and stories long forgotten, ones that happened thousands of years ago. He saw flashes of a wolf with dark fur running through a field, of a massive city floating in the sky, of what looked like a huge mechanical creature clambering over ruins. In the background of all this, he could music playing softly and he swears he has heard it before.
“Okay.” The heroes startled as the boy spoke. “Say I believe you and you’re really from another universe or whatever, which by the way sounds completely insane, why are you here?”
It was Warriors who spoke first, “We’re not quite sure yet but we do know that Hylia” – the boy snorted at the mention of the goddess – “gathered us together to defeat a great evil that threatens all of our universes because we possess the spirit of the Hero.”
“So, there’s some big scary evil out there and the goddess Hylia” – he rolled his eyes – “decided to gather the Heroes from all these different universes to stop whatever it is?”
“Umm, yes?”
Link nodded his head and looked over the group. Each one of them looked so similar to him, they could brothers in another life, but there was something wrong – not necessarily in a bad way – about each one. Just like they didn’t belong here. With some reluctance, he threw Master Sword back to Sky and began to pick up the pieces of his broken mask and placed them carefully in his sack. He fully stood up and regarded the group.
“If this is true, then the Dragmire needs to know about it.”
Time froze at the mention of Dragmire, thinking he heard wrong. There is no way he would knowingly let the Spirit of the Hero live. Yet here was the Hero speaking and dressing like a Gerudo, speaking of him as if they were familiar with each other. This must be some plan to turn the Hero against Hyrule or maybe he already has. Or maybe he doesn’t know that Link is the Hero, perhaps the spirit has yet to reveal itself but if that was the case the–
“Who or what is a Dragmire?” Sky asked.
Link gave them an unimpressed look. “You don’t know who the Dragmire is? He’s the king of the Gerudo!” He was met with more blank stares except for the man with the strange tattoos and a missing eye. He looked slightly horrified and Link was glad that someone in this idiot group realised the seriousness of Hylians trespassing on Gerudo soil, even if they were Heroes from different universes.
“You know, Ganon, the King of the Gerudo! Does that ring a bell for anyone?”