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Four was really fricking done with the portals.
This, on its own, came as a shock to no one. After all, the rest of the Chain all saw first hand how badly they affected him, churning up his brain and his stomach alike and occasionally even knocking him unconscious. It was debilitating, leaving him defenceless in any battles that ensued within the first hour post-portal travel, and it was no secret to anyone that the Smithy was sick of it.
However, this alone was not the full reason for the Hero of the Four Sword’s decided hatred of the portals.
No, the full reason was that not only had this most recent set of portals once more teleported them to a world which none of them recognised, it had also split them from one of their members: their youngest, the Sailor. And anything that split the Smith from his friends was, by his standards, despicable.
Wind’s disappearance had come as a nasty shock to everyone. It was completely unexplainable, they had done everything exactly the same as usual; they’d checked out the portal beforehand, grouped up to make sure no one was alone, they’d even fully restocked their potion stores, ready and prepared for a fight. And yet, despite everything, Four had still stepped out of that portal to find the Sailor completely vanished from his side.
He knew he shouldn’t blame himself, that sort of mindset would never get them their Hero of Winds back, but he couldn’t help the What If’s that kept circling his mind. If only he’d held tighter to the boy’s hand, if only he’d kept a closer eye on him-
“-Smithy? Are you listening to me?”
Blinking once, Four turned back to the rest of the group to find their eyes all trained on him. He resisted the urge to cringe beneath their gazes.
“Yes, I- yes, I am. Sorry, I must have… gotten distracted. What were you saying?”
Warriors eyebrows twitched, his frown deepening, however if he suspected Four of self depreciation then he was kind enough to keep it to himself. They were all on edge, and now was not the time to be focusing on unrelated issues. “I was asking if there was anything he’d done whilst in the portal that made you think he might be pulling away, anything at all. He couldn’t have just-just vanished into thin air…”
“Nothing that I saw, no,” Four replied, wincing at how the group’s mood soured with his words. He tried to think harder, to remember every move the Sailor took before his disappearance. “I took hold of his hand to keep us together, and he didn’t pull back at all the entire way. It was like the moment I stepped out of that portal, he was just… gone.”
Eyes softening, Sky pressed a hand to the Smith’s shoulder, his smile all warmth and comfort. “If our theory is correct, and Hylia really is the one controlling where we go with these portals, then I’m sure she’s put him exactly where he needs to be. By the sounds of it he came through the portal with us, so he must be in this Hyrule somewhere! I say we split up to go search.”
Now, considering how well Four knew the Chain and all of their differences, he was all but expectant of an ensuing fight over whether or not it was a good idea to split the group. After all their time together, there really was just one thing they could agree on, and it was that there was practically nothing they could all agree on 100%. With their Sailor gone, however, it seemed the argumentative spirits of the group had been dampened— Sky’s proposal stayed thoroughly unobjected.
This new occurrence clearly shocking him as well, even Time seemed to perform a very fast double take, although he was the fastest to recover of them all. He spread his arms, rallying the group of heroes around him.
“Alright, if that’s the theory we’re running with, then we’ll split. Captain, you rally one side; I’ll take the other. We’ve no time to spare dallying on choices, so I’ll take the three heroes to my left and search west, and the Captain can take the rest to search the east.” Finding himself firmly on the Hero of Time’s left, Four shuffled closer towards Warriors, bumping elbows with Legend and Hyrule along the way. The duo looked as if they were about to share a whisper, some kind of inside joke, when Time’s voice interrupted them all once again, sounding on edge. “Remember, this is a new Hyrule. We don’t know what to expect, so stay on guard at all times, alright? We’ll want to know the moment anyone starts to recognise any of our surroundings.”
Considering how hastily the sub-group was formed, Four had to admit that their selection of heroes wasn’t at all a bad combination– with the Captain’s hard-won leadership skills, the downfall duo’s easy sort of understanding, and the Smith’s own experience in teamworking, they were quickly able to tear their way through a group of blin-looking enemies (‘fairly similar to the bulblins from the Rancher’s world,’ Warriors had noted), and over the cusp of a nearby hill. From there, it was practically impossible not to notice the extremely recognizable shape of Hyrule Castle rising high in the distance, as well as what seemed to be a set of… of tracks, leading a trail along the ground from all the way in the distance to straight into the castle itself. Squinting towards them, Four could just about make out the glint of metal, shining in the bright sunlight as it ran long parallel lines across the rolling fields of a peaceful Hyrule.
“Okay, so the castle’s in the right place, but I have absolutely no clue what those things are doing there,” Legend remarked, raising one hand to shade his eyes from the light. The Traveler mimicked his pose, nodding once as if fact-checking for his predecessor.
“No, he’s right, those aren’t from our time,” came his eventual confirmation, leaving Four with only Warriors to turn to for answers, although it seemed the Captain had bigger concerns. He didn’t even seem to have noticed the tracks, too busy staring down the castle as if it owed him a bag of rupees.
“Er, Cap?” Four attempted, leaning into his space to try to gauge what the older man was looking at. “We should probably get moving again, we don’t know what the Sailor could be up to right now.”
“O-oh, of course, yes, you’re right, we should… It’s just, this Hyrule Castle… the longer I look at it, the more similarities I see between it and the one back home in my Hyrule. This era could very well be my own, or at least, directly before my own.”
Legend’s head snapped around faster than lightning. “You think this is your era? Oh, thank fuck, we’ve actually got somewhere to start for once. You got a map, or…?” the Veteran hero reached his arm around towards Warriors’ bag, clearly prepared to take what he needed, only for the elder to whip around and slap his hand away, face stormier than a thunder wizzrobe.
“I’ll keep my possessions to myself, thank you very much. They aren’t going to help with finding the Sailor faster, given that regardless of the era, this still isn’t my Hyrule.” The Hero of Warriors turned swiftly on his heel, paying no mind to the death glare Legend was shooting his way. “Given the outstanding nature of those tracks, I say we should head towards them. That seems like the first thing that any of us would do, tasked with facing an unfamiliar environment alone.”
Four couldn’t argue with that one, having charged into quite a few traps in his time just by blindly following the nearest strange looking structure or object, and so when the Captain suddenly began to charge off towards the tracks, he was quick to follow. The Traveler, too, was as happy to explore as always, but it was really only a testament to how dearly Legend cared for Wind that he, too, allowed himself to join the group. Normally, after such a clashing with the Captain, either one of the two would either keep the argument going for hours or race off in a huff, but it seemed they both understood the gravity of the situation, far more distracted by their fear at losing one of their brothers.
Sighing to himself, the Smithy silently wished it could always be like this. Having his brothers finally manage to put their differences aside for once reminded him rather fondly of his own adventures.
It took a few minutes longer than he’d expected for them to cross the field, the sun just starting to fade from its midday brilliance when they finally made it to the closest section of tracks. Running a hand along the smooth metal, Four was able to discern that the rest of the structure was made of wood, similar to the rails he’d seen used before for minecarts. These, however, were much larger than the rails used for minecarts, and so he could deduce that the vehicle they carried must be much, much larger.
“It seems like some kind of transport system…” Warriors mused, linking eyes with the Smith. It was clear their brains were both moving along the same lines. “A interconnected track network, built possibly to carry either people or goods straight into the castle. If you were the Sailor, what would you do, faced with a system such as this?”
“Head for the castle,” came the simultaneous response from both Hyrule and Four, clearly the most obvious choice of the given areas. Legend chose to remain silent.
“Hey, and I’d say if we started off walking there now, we might be able to make it before dawn tomorrow!” Hyrule added jovially, as if this were a good thing to be pointing out. The remainder of the group shared looks, Legend grabbing the back of the Traveler hero’s tunic to prevent him from wandering off.
“Yeah, because sleep deprivation in a flat open place like this definitely isn’t going to get us all killed, Rule. Especially not in a new Hyrule, with all new enemies…”
Unnoticing of the plume of steam rising lazily in the distance, Warriors gave a sigh, easily drowning out the growing chatter of distant engines within the cool, afternoon air. “Well, I suppose all we can do is make a start. If we have to set up camp halfway, so be it; making our way to Wind as fast as possible is all that matters right now.”
The leather of their boot soles squeaking against the metal rails, they all piled onto the tracks, following the wooden slats laid out like a road before them. After a minute or so walking along them, Four realised that they were slightly warm to the touch, still filled with the heat from the remainder of the sunlight. In fact, after so long walking on the cold ground, the heat almost felt like it was vibrating beneath their soles, the tremors reaching up into his legs, and-
-wait, no, the track was actually vibrating-
With a sudden clarity, Four spun on his heel, head swivelling back to lock onto their incoming monster, only to discover that it didn’t seem to be a monster at all– the fast approaching object seemed to be some sort of vehicle, made of brass and iron and painted with a bright regal gold. It was large, larger than any vehicle Four had ever seen, and yet as it drew nearer it almost seemed… friendly?
“Oi, hey, off the tracks!” came a disembodied (and yet, somehow familiar) shout, punctuated by a long ear-splitting whistle. Catching the hint, the dumb-struck heroes finally came to their senses and bolted from the vehicle’s path, right as Four caught a glimpse of a figure from behind the vehicle’s window, tugging hard against some kind of lever. It screeched slowly to a stop a good few metres past where the Links had previously been standing, and from the sound of the metal combined with the hiss of the steam from the brakes, Four could tell that being hit by a vehicle of that calibre could definitely do some damage.
Within the front cabin, the operator gave a heavy sigh of relief. Without turning to face them, he quickly swept the cap from his head, and all at once the Smith was struck with an immediate pang at just how similar his mop of tousled blond curls was to those of their lost Sailor.
“Pardon me, sir, but might you be able to-” Warriors began, taking a step forwards, only to be immediately interrupted by the distressed voice of the operator.
“-Hylia, do none of you have any sense??” the boy (for he was, seemingly, quite young) breathed, spinning on his heel with his face buried deep in his hands. “Why the heck were you all piled onto the tracks like that? You’re all lucky this is the Spirit Train I’m driving here, or else you’d likely all be spirits yourselves!”
Noticing the way that all three of the others’ eyebrows raised when they, also, seemed to sense the familiarity of the operator’s voice, Four examined his face closer, squinting hard. None of them knew this Hyrule, and they’d never even heard of such a thing as a “spirit train”, so why did it seem like they’d known this boy for months?
“My apologies,” Warriors attempted again, “we didn’t mean to cause any trouble. We… aren’t from around here. We’re looking for a friend who might be at Hyrule Castle.”
The boy peeked through his fingers, his eyes a shining sea green that warmed the Smithy’s heart inexplicably. “A friend? At Hyrule Castle?”
“Yes, we-” Legend began impatiently, arms folded across his chest, but mere seconds after he started talking his sentence dissolved into an abrupt end. He took a sudden step back, a gasp of shock wrenching from his throat, and he wasn’t alone, either– every other hero present had their jaws dropped the moment the vehicle’s young driver finally uncovered his face. Because who else could it be up there, but Wind himself??
“Holy Hylia, kid?!”
“Wind, what-?”
“Sailor!” In a moment of pure relief, the Captain flung himself towards the small front cabin of the vehicle, clearly overlooking all the obvious questions that you were supposed to ask someone who vanished and then suddenly showed up driving a vehicle you’ve never seen before in favour of trying to get as close to him as possible. “Goddesses, kiddo, you’ve had us all worried sick, what are you doing up there?”
He was about halfway up the small iron ladder (the others also closing in upon the vehicle’s engine) when Four suddenly noticed how frozen Wind had become. Instead of welcoming his friends’ presence with open arms, he even took a frightened step back, bumping into the wall behind him. “Hey, wait, I don’t- stop, stay back!”
In the instance of first finding someone you thought missing, it can be difficult to see them react with anything other than reciprocal joy. A drawn sword between the eyes, however, can be quite the incentive to hold back regardless.
Faced with an unfamiliar blade pointed directly at him, Warriors swiftly stopped in his tracks.
Four felt his face harden, suspicions cementing when he noticed that the sword ‘Wind’ had drawn wasn’t sporting its usual blue hourglass, instead with two mechanical looking wings acting as the hilt.. Whoever— whatever— this person was, they were most certainly not the Hero of Winds. At least, not the one the chain knew.
“You don’t wanna do that, kid,” Legend warned with a bite to his tone, hand twitching to his scabbard. “You might not be the person we thought you were, but drawing a sword on any of us isn’t gonna end well.”
The boy’s eyes narrowed. His sword arm twitched, hesitant. “Who sent you? Come on, you’ve gotta have something to do with Cole, no one around here knows much about me anymore unless they’re an old friend of his. Did Malladus possess you, too? Are you demons, too??”
“Woah, woah, no demons here!” Warriors pulled his arms up, displaying both hands clearly, attempting to put the trigger-happy swordsman at ease. “In fact, we’re about as far from demons as you can get; we’re what you might call the “Heroes of Hyrule”. We’re looking for our friend, the Hero of Winds? We lost him on the way here.”
Whatever words the Captain had said that clicked in the young engineer’s mind, they seemed to render him momentarily speechless. In his stunned state, the tip of his sword suddenly drooped, falling from being pointed at Warriors face to landing upon the top rung of the ladder with a soft ting.
“The Hero of Winds…? No, it can’t be, he’s been dead for decades. Whatever you’re trying to do, it won’t….”
Eyes scanning the group, the young swordsman trailed off, his gaze coming to land firmly upon Four. The Smithy bristled slightly— he’d never done all too well with excess attention.
At this, however, the operator gave a gasp, sheathing his sword in the same breath. The previously terrified look on his face faded as fast as it had arrived, making way for a hesitant smile.
“No way… that shield, oh my Spirits- that’s an heirloom from the Hero of Winds himself!! I got it from his friend, look-“ he quickly pulled the item from his pouch, it seeming to magically enlarge upon being drawn from the fabric. All other heroes present suddenly shared a look: they had yet to meet another Hylian with a magical pouch that wasn’t one of them. “But if you have his shield too, then you must have met him! Or at least, gotten this from the future… woah, that’s making my brain hurt to think about…”
Warriors took a hesitant step towards the ladder, picking up confidence when the boy didn’t fight. “Kid, what did you say your name was again?”
When the answer came, it came as a very little shock to any of them.
“I’m Link. Head engineer for the Royal Train Service, and successor to the Hero of Winds.”
A ripple of understanding ran through the group, from the familiarity of the boy’s manner of speech, to how utterly identical he was to Wind. It suddenly all made sense; this Hyrule was the Hyrule after the Great Sea. The Hyrule reborn from the ashes of the broken kingdom.
The engineer Hero smiled further at their clear contemplation, shuffling up towards the front of his engine and replacing his cap atop his soot-stained curls. “Niko tells me I look a lot like the Hero of Winds in his youth, so I can understand how you’d get us confused. You say you think my predecessor’s at the castle, right?”
Hearing Wind referred to as anyone’s ‘predecessor’ felt slightly strange, but Four felt himself nodding anyway. There could be no other way as to why this young hero looked practically the spitting image of their Sailor. “That’s right. If you’re heading that way, it would be much appreciated-“
“-say no more!” The boy interjected, already running his hands over various levers and dials, preparing to move whatever this beast of a vehicle was called again. “If it means finally getting to meet my predecessor, then I’d whip you guys halfway around Hyrule and back!”
Warriors chuckled, raising his arms to clamber up the ladder once more. The other heroes followed his lead, swarming the engine’s cockpit with a mixture of curiosity and scepticism. “Thank you, but that won’t be necessary. Just the castle should be fine.”
From up in the vehicle, Four could practically feel the craftsmanship surrounding him, from the well-fashioned metal work holding together each pipe and panel to the stunning lick of paint that decorated the engine’s sides. Starting up was a little bumpy, but once it was moving it traveled as smooth as a dream, too. With the unfamiliar countryside whipping past him, and the sun shining heavy upon his face, the Smithy couldn’t help but feel himself relax.
“So I’m assuming you’re a Hero of Hyrule, too?” The Captain yelled over the repetitive chug-chug of the wheels. The engineer Link frowned, thumbing a lever by his side.
“I wouldn’t say I’m a… hero, really. I’ve heard all of your stories, of course, all the tales of the Hero of Time and my incredible predecessor, and it’s not fair for me to try to take a title so large. Sure, I saved Hyrule, but-“
“-but what?” The Traveler asked, eyebrows raised. “You saved Hyrule, right? What else do you need to be a Hero?”
“Well, half of it was Zel- the Princess’ doing. I just helped her along the way. I’ve never held the triforce, or even the Hero’s spirit.”
Hearing this, Legend audibly rolled his eyes, a knowing smirk coming to rest upon his face. “Nayru’s socks, now you really do sound like the Sailor. You know, he doesn’t have the Hero’s spirit either. Never did.”
“Wait, wait, what?” Engineer Link’s eyes widened impossibly larger, looking as if he’d just seen a ghost. “But… but he wielded the Master Sword! He held the blessing of the goddesses!”
“And he had to work for it,” Warriors added, nodding slowly in respect. “They didn’t pass it to him easily, so he crossed an ocean and forged their blessing himself. He’s a hero by design, not destiny. I have a feeling you are too.”
His entire world view having been shaken, the newest Link turned back to his work with a shaky sort of sigh. He looked shocked, of course, but there was a sort of gentle confidence in his movements as he pulled them into a stop by a station just outside the Castle that hadn’t been there before. A confidence that could only be brought through a sense of pride in your achievements, through knowing you have something to be proud of.
It was a very beautiful thing to witness.
Hyrule Castle itself, as always, was also a stunning sight. Piling out of the vehicle with caution to “Mind the gap!”, Four felt pleased to see that Hyrule Castle had risen again after the Great Sea to just as tall as it was in Time’s era, the marble turrets and flags still flying high.
They were led swiftly into a doorway towards the back of the station, finding themselves once more inside another iteration of Hyrule Castle’s beautifully furnished corridors. A pair of guards saw them enter, however at the sight of their newest Link, they immediately stood down, saluting the boy.
“So much for not being a hero, eh?” Legend teased goodnaturedly. “Those guards sure treated you like one.”
The blush that rose to their companions face could’ve rivalled that of Wild’s tomatoes.
This iteration of Link seemed to know his Hyrule Castle inside-out— within minutes of their entry, they made it to the door of what seemed to be the throne room, two guards positioned outside. Once more, they noticed the youngest of the five and saluted, raising their crossed spears.
“Sir, the Princess has foreseen your coming. She is waiting inside.”
Thanking both guards, the young engineer gave the large doors a practiced shove, opening them easily. They parted to reveal a large, circular room, similar to other Hyrule Castle throne rooms they had seen before; the banner of Hyrule’s symbol raised high above each window, the throne itself positioned just beneath the largest towards the back of the room.
Upon the throne sat perched a young girl, her blonde hair and regal aura clearly marking her as the Princess Zelda. And stood eagerly by her side, his white baton of winds held outstretched in front of him, was-
“-Sailor!!”
The heroes wasted no time in their reuniting— the moment the doors were fully opened, Wind was already halfway down the aisle at a full-pelt sprint, meeting the others halfway and all but throwing himself into the Captain’s outstretched arms. They all crowed around him, ruffling hair and patting backs, grasping every inch of him they could get to just to reassure themselves he was still there.
Watching the reunion with a bright smile, Link, Hero of Spirits, made his way quickly to his Princess’ side. She embraced him joyfully, blissfully ignoring the soot and coal dust still staining his uniform. “Isn’t this wonderful, Link? Your predecessor, my ancestor! Here, in our Hyrule!”
“Think you’ll find quite a few other heroes in the mix there, too,” her Link joked, turning to watch as the young Hero of Winds finally pulled back from his friends’ grips. After so long fantasising what it would be like to actually meet the legendary hero, he found himself a little nervous at the prospect.
Seeing his own face plastered upon the other hero’s, however, was absolutely nothing like what he’d expected.
“So, you really are…” the Hero of Spirits started, taking a tepid step forwards. He wasn’t quite sure what he’d been trying to say, but luckily his predecessor didn’t wait for him to finish.
“No way, we’re identical!” He gasped, crossing the gap between them and grinning brightly as he squinted at his successor’s face. “Huh, how’s that for ‘no hero’s spirit’? You’ve gotta have some of my soul in there somewhere, you look just like me!”
Hearing the boy’s enthusiasm, the Hero of Spirits felt some of his leftover fear at meeting his (literal) hero begin to melt. This wasn’t some wise, old sage: this was… just some guy. A brave, noble guy for sure, but a guy that he could be friends with. A guy he’d like to be friends with.
Wiping his palm of any leftover soot, he held it out to the other boy, unable to stop the mirroring grin that slipped onto his face.
“I’m Link, Hero of Spirits, head engineer of the Royal Train Service. Nice to meet you, predecessor.”
His fellow hero took his hand without question. “Link, Hero of Winds, lover of seagulls. This is gonna be so fun.”