A/N: This is something written for the Linked Universe AU that started in tumblr by Jojo56830. You can find more info on "linkeduniverse tumblr com" if you don't already know about it.
Friendly Notice: My works are not betaed and my native language is NOT English. Expect errors, typoes, and weird things. I try my best, but I'm not perfect.
.
.
"I don't know you guys, but the more I try to figure this out, the more it gets complicated..."
The voice that filled the afternoon air was so soft that it went almost unheard due to the incessant sound of pouring rain. It had been a grace that when the downpour started they had been very close to a Stable.
Now they were sitting at one of the small tables, huddling together due to lack of space, and trying to figure out where what piece of what Hyrule went. It was a maddening task, one that they had been trying to tackle since first coming together, and not even their most experienced adventurer was even remotely close to figuring it out.
Hence why Legend was filled with worry, frustration, and almost ready to throw everything up in the air. Table included.
"You think it's complicated?" The young voice belonging to Wind was heavy with deject as he laid the side of his face in a minuscule space of table that was free of supplies, maps, and whatever else they were using at the moment. "I lost track of things the moment I crossed three... worlds? Timelines? Time periods?" At the confusion, he hid his head behind his arms. One hand instantly went to pull at his messy hair. "It just... it makes no sense at all."
Time couldn't blame the kid. Even he, with the experience of time travel and everything that it implied, was at a loss. Sometimes it was just... portals. Invisible doors that hid themselves in the land, connecting two 'worlds' together in a seemingly seamless way until you walked a bit further and noticed that something should not be where it was, or something was missing from that spot.
And sometimes it was just entire zones thrown into the wrong timeline without so much as a show of light. Warriors had witnessed that sort of thing before, but not to this magnitude. And certainly not without shows of magic lights crossing the lands before it actually happened.
"I think I can use some of the Sheikha Towers to force another scan of the surrounding area." Wild was staring at his Slate with a gaze so intense that it felt like he was trying to burn the thing out of spite. "Maybe they can pick up some of the... foreign lands? Would be helpful if they picked up these portals, too..."
"That would certainly help," Twilight muttered. He looked ready to go curl up on the nearest soft surface available and sleep till the next morning. "Then we can know where we are going before we actually get there."
At his left, Four and Hyrule nodded in agreement. To his right, Sky was already sleeping and blissfully ignorant of the others' struggle. Everyone was slightly frustrated and envious about his ability to fall asleep anywhere, but they had come to accept it after weeks of traveling together. The boy was never really good at handling tiredness like the others could.
"Well, I guess..." Wild mustered up his courage and placed the Sheikha Slate on top of the dozen of maps taking up most of the table. The small screen was displaying the map, in particular of the zone around the stable they were taking shelter in, and he was slowly moving it so that it also encompassed a blue dot. "I guess we can get to the nearby tower and try it out."
His finger moved across a road, then took a turn into the wilderness and through a thick cluster of trees for a direct path to their destination. "We can go this way and be there in the afternoon if we move out in the morning, but there might be some monsters along the way." His finger then drew an alternate path, one that winded around hills, streams and the occasional ruin. He looked up at Time, knowing the man was better at deciding what was best for the group as a whole. "This is safer, but unless we get horses or run all the way, it'll take a whole day to get there. Maybe more if we encounter monsters. What do you think, dad?"
After the word 'dad' was out of Wild's mouth, silence descended among the heroes as they just... stared.
Then things happened.
Warrior scrambled for the Sheikha Slate, grabbing it out of Wild's frozen hands and holding it up. He looked red in the face, and his shoulders shook with the effort to keep his laughter contained long enough to take a photo. A soft snap later and he was throwing himself onto the back of his chair, laughing loudly and almost tipping backwards.
Hyrule, having spat water out of his nose after almost chocking on his glass of water, was bent over and trying to survive a coughing fit.
Legend was torn between staring at Wild with wide eyes, staring at Time with amusement, and helping Hyrule not choke by gently patting his back.
Twilight looked stunned for a moment, until a smirk appeared on his lips. It was that sort of mixture between amusement and knowing that sometimes frustrated the hell out of anyone that was on the receiving end.
Sky woke up with a startle due to the boisterous laugh from Warrior. He looked ready to jump into a fight, one hand going to touch the Master Sword's hilt strapped to his back. Until he saw Warrior and relaxed. Then proceeded to look at the others in confusion. "What? What did I miss?"
Four was biting his lip. Probably trying to not smirk as much as Twilight was doing. And he was trying to keep his eyes fixed on the table while his hands idly smoothed one of the maps. All so that he wouldn't see whatever glare Time was throwing at them.
Wind, the most expressive of them all, had the strangest reaction. Instead of showing whatever emotion he was feeling at the moment, he just froze there, mouth agape and doing an impressive imitation of a fish out of the water. The kid must have been really shocked because he wasn't even blinking.
"Oh Hylia above and beyond! Time!" Warrior was still laughing between gasps, one hand pressing on his stomach to ward off a stitch while the other waved the Sheikha Slate in the air. "You... you should see your face!"
Time had no idea how to feel. Part of him was irritated at Warrior's reaction, especially since Wild had troubles opening up with others and would instantly jump back into his shell the moment he felt he did something wrong. But then... then there was that other part of him that he couldn't figure out how it felt because he was still trying to get past the shock of being called 'dad'.
He cast his eye onto Wild and, just like he had guessed, the boy was hiding under his hood, probably feeling horrified and embarrassed at his slip.
This... this had to be corrected immediately.
He placed a hand onto Wild's shoulder and squeezed gently. The gesture meant to draw his attention more than anything else. Time knew that it would take more than a touch to get Wild out of his newly erected barricades.
"Watch," he mouthed when their eyes locked. He felt a small smile appear on his lips at the sudden curiosity pushing past the fear on Wild's face.
It was a small step, and Time did not waste this chance by lingering. He released Wild's shoulder, poised himself tall against his chair, turned his attention to the still smirking Twilight and smirked himself. "Twilight," he called. His voice was the epitome of collected calmness despite the playful revenge glinting in his single eye. "Tell your younger brother that he should not laugh at the expenses of his own father."
The effect was immediate.
Twilight snorted, almost chocking on air as he tried to not laugh himself raw.
Warriors lost his balance and ended up on the floor with his own chair.
Legend lunged over the table, grabbing the now flying Slate before it could crash somewhere. A moment later and he was the one snapping a photo out of Warrior's sprawled form.
Sky looked more lost than when he woke up, turning confused eyes around until he met with Hyrule's, who waved a hand in the air and mouthed a 'tell you later' to him between coughs.
"Does that mean I'm the little brother then?" Wind's voice came from somewhere in the background. He sounded confused, but also elated. "Cool!"
Four looked like he had lost his personal battle and was now laughing into his folded arms. One of his hands was frantically slapping the table's surface in a vague semblance of what he had been previously doing.
Satisfied, Time looked back at Wild and was happy to notice that he had stopped trying to merge with his chair. He still looked troubled, though, so he gave him a soft smile. One that Malon elected as the most beautiful due to, in her own words, 'being full of kindness and love'.
"Don't worry," he whispered. "I don't mind."
Wild's own shy smile was something he found treasuring.