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Red takes a deep breath. “You get one chance.”
His shadow ripples beneath him, dimming the grass at his acknowledgement. The dark magic makes him gag a little. But this isn’t a confrontation — not a violent one, at least — even though the summer breeze seems to hold its breath. If you asked him, he wouldn’t think of what he’s doing as brave. All he’s doing is talking to an old... friend. To someone that could have been an old friend.
“I owe you that much, for not giving it to you last time,” he continues sadly. “Just one chance to convince me to—”
Before he gets any further into the Firm Friendship Monologue, hands yoink him from under his shoulders, carting him off like a rag doll.
Red immediately recognizes the armor he’s held against. “T-Time!? How’d you get here so fast?”
“Time travel.”
Haha! Funny joke! Um... does Time know about Shadow? Oh, Four’s going to have to explain Shadow to everyone now, isn’t he? That’s going to be such a mess.
“I promise, he can be goo—”
“This isn’t what you think it is.”
“I-is something wrong?”
“No,” Time stubbornly replies as they hurry through the orchard. “It’s not going to go that way now.”
Red’s shadow, twined with Time’s, shudders and claws desperately out of the ground. It falls behind them, resolving into a figure with Red’s own grayed-out face. Ember eyes gouge into his, veiled and furious behind pale hair.
That’s, um. Not Shadow. Dear Light is that not Shadow!
Whose Shadow is it?
“This might be a challenge after all,” it sneers in Sky’s gentle, clear voice. It draws a dark mirror of the Four Sword.
Red feels almost paralyzed by the horror of his narrow miss, but Time’s hands are busy carrying him, and he can’t— he can’t let him get hurt. He shakily draws his firerod, and aims. A plume of flame licks between the trees, singing bark and withering leaves. Sorry, Lege!
The dark Red falls back in graceful roll, barely brushed by the fire. A few more blasts drive it back long enough for Time to barrel into Legend’s house. The door slams behind them.
Vio, Legend, and the captain all blink up from the wibbly-wobbly timeline they’re hashing out in scattered papers and scowls of concentration. Vio’s mouth briefly sours from seeing Red again so soon, then softens as he notices Time’s rapid breaths.
“...You didn’t find Ravio, did you?” Legend chances.
In reply, Time drops Red on the couch, ruffles his hair, and puts a hand to the hilt of his sword.
“Legend, you have pegasus boots. Go out the back to fetch Wind and Sky, now. Make sure that Wind has the master sword; Sky can borrow the Phantom Sword for now. Then, bring back any stragglers still forming search parties. Make sure Hyrule is guarded. Warriors…” He pauses, distant, then recovers. “I need you to help me stall him until they arrive. Single opponent, blade-to-blade — you’ll be familiar with how he fights, and don’t worry about besting him. Just keep him occupied.”
No-one questions him. It’s something in his voice, furious and determined. Wars draws his blade as he hurries out to meet the enemy. By the time Red glances at Legend, he’s already gone, leaving a few loose papers swirling to the floor in his wake.
Time makes direct eye contact with Vio. “Guard Red. Aside from Hyrule and I, he’s the one that Dink is after right now. Grab your bow, and keep at a distance.”
“Dink?” Vio questions.
That’s as much of an explanation as they get before Time makes his escape. Red hugs his arms around himself and admires the worn threads of Legend’s couch, trying to soothe his own frayed nerves before the waterwork start. He holds his fire rod close.
And Vio?
Vi simply glances, dazed, between the door and Red and all their scattershot timeline notes. Then he reaches for his quiver.
“Did we just win? As in, win win? Kill-the-final-boss-for-real win?” Green says, gobsmacked.
All nine of them stand in front of the spot in the ground where the shadow had just melted into nothingness, spiked through on Fi’s blade. Wind buzzes with victory as he yanks the sword out of the earth, and Sky is breathless but relieved as he takes it back. Everyone involved is scuffed up and a little singed from a couple risky bomb blasts, but they’re also still standing, which is that’s a pretty good state to be in at the end of a fight that vicious.
Time exhales and sheathes his sword. Now that everything’s still again, Red realizes that he seems way more battered than he should be after the one fight. “There are other loose ends to clean up, but essentially? Yes.”
“What sorta loose ends?” Twilight asks, uneasy.
“Some of them might take more portals, should Hylia be willing. Some of them are more up in the air than I would like. And some of them can be tied up right now. Come here.”
If Red wasn’t already a little worried about Time’s cryptic forthrightness, then the bear hug he gives Twilight would have definitely done it.
It’s followed by another hug for Rulie, who stiffens and blinks, baffled.
And then a third for Red, scooping him off his feet again for one warm, giggly moment before depositing him with the other Colors.
And then a fourth for Wars, who seems very alarmed despite the previous hugs giving him ample warning. The two of them whisper rapidly to each other afterward. It’s the sort of whispering that screams “battle plan.” Red’s seen Vio and Green do it enough to recognize that.
“What’s all the sappiness for?” Blue scoffs. “It’s like he hasn’t seen them in forever! Come on, you saw us all half an hour ago or something, dumbass.”
While Blue obviously means all of that in an eyerolling way, Red furrows his brows, pondering the question. Sure, he’d be happy to just give anyone hugs whenever the whim struck. But for Time to do it to specific people, with so little reservation...
How’d you get here so fast?
Time travel.
Vio makes a shattered, knowing, guilty eye-contact with Red. He’s not the best at feelings, but he’s apparently put two and two together this time. “Maybe Time is simply in a touchy-feely mood after the close shave,” the Colors’ least touchy brother lies, drawing Red into an awkward, pretending-this-isn’t-a-hug sort of sidelong hug himself.
Red squeezes back with four times the force. “I love you too,” he whispers.
It’s good to be alive.