"His Most Precious Thing"
He had traveled with pirates. By now, one would think he'd have learned to keep his belongings close.
And he had. Usually he didn't leave them lying around for just anyone to grab. Usually, they were bundled up and secured to his person in some way when he was awake and serving as his, rather uncomfortable, pillow when he slept.
But tonight was different. Tonight, he was exhausted. They'd traveled such a long distance today, and while he was used to travel, he wasn't used to land travel.
For him, travel consisted of wind in his hair, screeching gulls, and –sometimes- sea spray on his face. Here, it was trekking across grass and fields and stretches of land he had no proper names for besides "Hyrule". And after slogging through numerous versions of the aforementioned land, he determined that even this designation was incorrect. The Hyrules varied vastly in size, especially Wild's. It was maybe four or five times the vastness of the Great Sea and there. Was. No. Water. There were plenty of monsters, though.
Again, he was familiar with monsters. The Great Sea was teeming with them. But Gyorgs were easy to avoid if you knew how and so were Big Octos, so long as you paid attention to the seagulls. There was no avoiding here. Not when he was in a group of heroes, all of which had a duty to keep the land safe. Twice, they had stopped to fight camps of monsters and each time Wind had lost a bit more energy. Couple that with the three monster ambushes and the one Yiga Clan run-in that were definitely not part of the plan and you got bone-deep exhaustion. By the time they finally stopped, he'd all but collapsed.
Considering the facts, he could excuse his neglect. And yet, as the captain of the army of some distant era's Hyrule waved his sister's red telescope in the air, he couldn't help but scold himself. He knew better.
"Give it back." Wind kept his voice even, for now. Maybe the soldier would see how tired he was and decide to mess with someone else.
No such luck.
"Oh, come on, little sailor," Warrior drawled as he messed with the telescope's mechanism, zooming it in and out. "I'm just borrowing it."
"I never said you could borrow it," Wind retorted, marching over and trying to swipe the telescope out of Warrior's hands. He was too slow. The much taller male easily whisked it up out of Wind's reach, and didn't spare him so much as a glance as he inspected the craftsmanship of the spyglass.
"Oh? What's this? Seagulls?" Warrior mused. "Hey, Legend! You like seagulls, right? Check this out!"
His heart skipped a beat as Warrior tossed the telescope to the young man leaning against a nearby boulder. Legend, thankfully, caught it, but even when Wind's heart began beating again, it was much too fast.
"Huh, there are seagulls on here. Neat," Legend said, running a finger along the painted birds.
Wind rushed over and stuck out his hand expectantly. "Can I have it back now?"
"You can have it back as soon as you grab it," Warrior declared. "What do you say, Legend? Up for some Wind in the middle?"
Legend glanced up at Wind, then down at the telescope, then back up at Wind. He tried to plead with his eyes. He really did. But it wasn't enough to stop the smirk from peeling back Legend's lips or the words that fell out. "Go long!"
"No!" Wind lunged for his sister's most treasured possession before it could be thrown, but Legend had already stood by then and was using his bigger size to keep him at bay.
Suddenly, the telescope was airborne, and Wind was helpless to watch as Warrior caught it a few yards away.
He ran a bit in Warrior's direction before realizing it would probably be smarter to stay near Legend. There was no way Warrior would relinquish it, but maybe, just maybe, he could sway his other counterpart. If not with words, at least with his strength. Both were taller than him but Legend was less so. Wind was sure he could blow him over if he really tried.
But before that: words. Words were always better than violence. "Please give it back."
"Take it back, shrimp" was the only response he got. And laughter was all his succeeding pleas, threats, and fruitless jumps got. He wasn't upset enough to hurt anyone or really scream. (Aryll had taught him patience, if nothing else.) The other heroes were worn out from the day's events too. He understood. They wanted some fun, and he wasn't opposed to it. He just didn't want them damaging his sister's telescope. So he did his best to convey his feelings with a slightly raised voice and words.
That is, until Warrior fumbled a catch and Aryll's telescope went sailing over the cliff side. Then all words deserted him.
"…Whoops."
Wind didn't even know who had said it. Warrior or Legend; it didn't matter. It didn't matter because that was his sister's most prized possession, his birthday present, his extended loan, his keep-this-with-you-at-all-times-so you-don't-forget-me order, his I'll-come-back-and-there-won't-be-a-scratch-on-it promise. He promised. He promised to keep it with him always. To never let anything happen to it. To give it back to her when he saw her again because he would see her again.
And he'd broken it.
There were no words, just a battle cry and a vicious kick to Warrior's shin that made the man howl. Then came flying fists and curses and raw throats and blurry vision and hands and feet and someone was dragging him back, telling him to "calm down, calm down" but he couldn't. He couldn't because that was his sister's most precious thing. It was his most precious thing, and he'd been careless with it when he'd promised he'd keep it safe. Keep her safe.
"Hey, hey! It's alright! Kid, stop! Wind! …Link!" That snapped him out of it. Not fully, just enough to process the next words being said to him. "Relax, Wild's getting it. It's okay. He's getting it back for you. It's not gone."
She's gone. There's nothing you can do.
All breath whooshed out of him and numbness spread throughout his limbs. She's gone.
He was turned –yanked- around –up- then so that he could see the person –people- crouched -looming– down –over- in front of him. Blue. Piercing blue eyes. Like the ocean. Like home.
"It's okay." Link. The Hero of Twilight. That's who was holding him by the arms, firmly but not enough to hurt. He could feel a little more now. And the feeling crashed into him like a tidal wave when the dirty-blonde reached up and brushed a thumb across his cheek. His face was wet. His head was dizzy and his fingers and toes were tingling. "Everything is fine."
But it wasn't. "The-I-I told them not to but they did an-and they wouldn't give…give it back and-" Wind stumbled over his tongue, unable to catch his breath among the sobs. He still didn't know why he was crying. He'd been careful not to cry. Especially in front of any of the others. They'd only call him weak and he wasn't weak. Yes, he was young but he wasn't weak. He could handle walking for hours without stopping and fighting monsters until his every muscle screamed.
And yet, he couldn't handle this.
"I know. Don't worry. They're idiots and they're getting an earful from Time and the others now, and I'll personally chew them out for it later," Twilight assured him, all the while rubbing his arms soothingly. "Just breathe. Concentrate on breathing."
And he tried. But his ears were full of water and his chest was aching and he couldn't. He couldn't breathe underwater.
"In… and out. Come on, you can do it."
He shook his head because he couldn't hecouldn'thecouldn't.
"Yes, you can. Come 'ere," Twilight tugged him down and Wind's knees collapsed but it didn't matter because the older teen was there to catch him and pull him into his lap. "Breathe with me. In first."
Twilight took a deep breath and whether it was the instruction or the contact, Wind was able to suck in a breath too. Except it was shaky and his chest was bursting half a second later and he couldn't hold it. A cough forced the air out of his lungs.
"That's okay. Try again."
The next he could hold for a second. The following a second and a half. Same with the next. And the next. Until suddenly he could hold the air in for three seconds, then four, then five. And he could breathe. He could breathe.
He could hear too. He could hear yelling behind him, multiple voices but Time's stood out chief among them. "Respect people when they tell you to stop for Farore's sake! Have you no common sense?!"
"We didn't mean anything by it." Warrior.
"It doesn't matter what you meant! This is what it is now. Take a good hard look because you two did that."
Wind could feel eyes on him, and he curled into Twilight more, not wanting to be the center of attention.
"It wasn't even my fault," Legend said after a beat of silence. "Butter fingers over here-"
"What?! You're the one that threw it too far!"
"You're both to blame." That was 'Rule.
"Exactly," Time agreed. "You shouldn't have been messing with his stuff in the first place."
"Time, it's a telescope," Warrior stressed.
"To you," the eldest of them retorted. "To you it's a telescope. You don't what know what it is to him."
He could practically feel Legend roll his eyes. "He's a kid. If anything, it's a toy."
"He's a hero," Time shot back, surprising Wind. Not because it wasn't true but because he assumed the others had all forgotten that small detail. "He's been through crap just like the rest of us. You don't get to assume anything about what he has on him. If he doesn't want you having it, there's a reason, and you're to respect that. You want us all to go through your stuff and throw it around?"
If there was a response to that explosion, Wind didn't hear it, for Twilight patted his shoulder to get his attention and said, "Look. Wild's back."
Even with blurry vision, Wind could see the young man in blue garb coming towards them, whisking the rectangular slate off his hip as he did so. Wild's face was still as stone when he stopped in front of them. He knelt down, tapping the slate one final time, and extracted an object which he immediately handed to Wind.
No, not an object. Objects. Or, more accurately, pieces. He was holding pieces of his sister's telescope in his hands. There were only two, the tubes had separated, rendering the spyglass useless. Upon further inspection, he found the lenses to be cracked in several places. Even if the telescope had been whole, it wouldn't be functional. Barring functionality, the paint was chipped and scratched. He hovered a trembling hand over the seagulls, afraid to touch them. Their wings had been ripped off.
"Oh, Wind…" A sob was caught in his throat, and he could barely feel Twilight's hand rubbing his back. It was broken. How would he explain it to Aryll? Was she even okay? Was she broken too?
Before he could get too worked up again, Four was beside him. "I think I can fix it for you." The blacksmith held out his hands. "Is it okay if I see it?"
It was silly to hold onto it anymore. It was already broken. But for some reason, he hesitated before letting Four gently take the pieces out of his hands. The short hero inspected the damage, running his hands along severed seams and turning the pieces over and over to figure out how they originally fit together. Finally, he offered Wind a smile and said, "I can definitely fix this."
"And I can touch up the paint," Sky chimed in, startling Wind slightly because he hadn't realized the other hero was there. Nonetheless, he was grateful as soon as his mind caught up with his ears, and if he hadn't still been crying so hard he would have thanked them both.
"Want to watch?" Four asked.
He nodded. There was no way he was letting his sister's telescope out of his sight again. In pieces or not.
Four grasped his hand and hauled him to his feet, leading him back to the heart of their makeshift camp.
In no time at all the blacksmith had all his tools spread out on the grass and was working diligently to fix Wind's most precious thing.
By then, Wind had stopped crying and regained some semblance of control over his breathing. He sat completely still, watching his fellow hero work.
Sky was called over when Four was finished and the telescope switched hands. Sky, using paint he carried with him for his wood carvings, glossed over all the scratches and imperfections. Sometime during this process, Wild had finished preparing dinner, and though Sky ate while he worked, Wind refused. No one pushed except Wild. The elder boy told him he'd make him anything he wanted. It didn't even have to be something healthy. He could eat cake for dinner if he wanted. And though the proposal was tempting, his stomach hurt too much for food so he just kept shaking his head until Wild gave up.
By the time Sky was finished and the paint dry, Wind was able to hold his most precious thing. To inspect it and use it. It was like it had never been broken, and he threw his arms around both Sky and Four, uttering thank you's upon thank you's upon thank you's.
It wasn't long after that that Wind laid down, his belongings serving as a pillow and his sister's telescope clutched close to his chest. He wasn't letting go of it anytime soon.
"Hey, Wind." Legend's voice caused him to instinctively curl tighter around his most precious thing. Footsteps, then boots in his line of sight. Legend's face was next to enter his vision as the older boy crouched down and tilted his head to catch Wind's eye.
Wind turned his face away immediately, hugging the telescope so hard the metal cut into his chest and hands. He didn't care.
A sigh. "I just want to say sorry."
"I'm sorry too." Warrior's voice. "I shouldn't have gone through your things, and I won't do it again."
"…If you want to take one of our things and mess with it you can," Legend said.
"Hey! Speak for yourself. No one's touching my sca- Fine, fine! Anything goes."
"So?" Legend ventured after a few moments of silence. "What do you say?"
"I hate you," he mumbled.
"What?"
Wind lifted his face, making sure he made eye contact with them both when he said, "I hate you!"
Hurt flickered in both their faces and guilt washed over him. But he didn't take it back. He just buried his face again so he didn't have to look at them. At the hurt he put there.
"Come on, don't say that," Warrior pleaded.
"Look, we would have fixed your telescope ourselves if we knew how." Legend said. "And I know it's not the same as if we did, but we really are sorry."
"Yeah, what can we do to make it up to you?" Warrior asked.
"Go away," Wind muttered.
The elder hero must not have heard him because his back was poked not a second later. "Buddy?"
"STOP!" Wind screamed, slapping Warrior's hand away.
"Alright, that's enough," Time interjected, strolling over and motioning for Legend and Warrior to move away. "You two said your piece. Leave him be now."
Wind curled back around his sister's telescope, unable to not listen to the boys as they moved away.
"We didn't even fix anything!" Warrior's exclaimed somehow managing to sound fed-up and dejected at the same time.
"You expected to?"
"Well, no but…I don't know. I hoped. I just don't want him to be mad anymore."
"Tall order there." Time observed. "You two did give him a panic attack earlier."
"No way," Warrior's refused. "It wasn't that bad."
"It was that bad."
"Thanks, old man. You really know how to make me hate myself," Legend grumbled.
"Don't hate yourself. Hate the past you and learn from his mistakes."
"That doesn't help me now, Time."
"Yeah, please tell us how to fix it," Warrior added. "We're stupid. We know we're stupid. Help us in our stupidity."
"Unfortunately, I don't think there's much you can do," Time returned. "All I can say is be nice and give him some space. He'll forgive you when he's ready.
"Now get to bed. Warrior, you're on second watch."
"Yeah, yeah, I know."
The camp was quiet, then, filled with the sounds of chittering bugs and shuffling as everyone settled down for the night. There was a whispered conversation going on too, but Wind was too tired to focus on it.
Despite his fatigue, sleep remained stubbornly elusive. Every time he closed his eyes the image of Aryll's telescope falling over the cliff and smashing to pieces tormented him. And each time he'd have to open his eyes and fiddle with the telescope to reassure himself it was there and it was perfectly fine.
Four and Sky had fixed it for him, so it was okay. But it wasn't. Because when he saw his sister next, he would have to tell her the truth. Lying wasn't an option. Not after leaving her. He hadn't even wanted to in the first place. In fact, if he could have stayed home with her and Grandma, he would have. But heroes didn't get choices.
Heroes were bound by their duties, and he was no exception. King charged him and Tetra with rebuilding the kingdom of Hyrule. They couldn't let him down. They were the future.
Of course, they weren't doing such a great job at the moment. They still hadn't found New Hyrule, and now the Hero of Winds himself was mixed up in some strange phenomenon with heroes that shared his name so there wasn't much searching going on. Maybe Tetra was still looking. A little, selfish part of him hoped so. He would much rather go home to his family after whatever-situation-this-was resolved itself.
Deep down, he knew that wasn't going to happen, though, and it hurt. It hurt the same way it hurt every time he sat down to write a letter to his sister and grandmother and had no words but sorry. On multiple occasions, he'd filled pages and pages with sorry upon sorry but never sent them. What was the point? Being away for over a year without so much as a visit was unforgivable.
Wetness on his cheek jolted him out of his head, and he cracked open an eye to see Wolfie. A soft whine escaped the animal, and call it silly, but Wind could have sworn there was worry in his eyes. Wolfie only confirmed this by licking his cheek again.
Wind sniffed and sat up, swiping an arm across his eyes to clear them. He'd hardly lowered his arm before Wolfie plopped himself down much closer to Wind than he normally got to anyone. Except maybe Wild. Wild seemed to have special privileges. But now those privileges apparently extended to him because Wolfie, who was usually too proud for cuddles, was all but forcing the Waker of Winds to pet him.
Considering that petting the wolf was all he ever wanted to do when Wolfie visited, it didn't take much convincing for Wind to comply. As he ran a hand over the oversized dog's side, he was surprised to discover how thick and soft the fur was. It felt how he imagined clouds to feel and, after a small bout of indecision, he cautiously laid his head on the wolf too. There was no protest from the animal under him so he assumed it was allowed.
The repetitive motion of petting Wolfie eventually soothed the young hero enough to close his eyes, and he soon fell asleep with one hand fisted in Wolfie's fur and the other clutching his most precious thing.