A WARRIOR

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Disclaimer: Legend of Zelda belongs to Nintendo

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Genre(s): Hurt/Comfort

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Warning(s): Typo is my most loyal fan, spelling mistakes because English is not my mother language, Possibly OOC. NO BETA, so beware of grammar mistakes

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Summary: Through and through.

(Or, carnage and bloodbath welcomed them like a stab through a stomach. Fortunately, it was just a figurative of speech. Unfortunately, the carnage and bloodbath were not so much)

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(A/N): Charming, flirty Warriors is nice (though I still don't understand why people headcanon him as a playboy. Imo, he'll be wary of a relationship with any woman after Cia). Not to mention, the power of the Master Sword 'corrupted' him that one time. So, slightly arrogant and prideful Warriors is definitely canon. But get this. What happened…after he realized ancient sword means nothing to stop the war? And the Links arrived when he doesn't have the time to reoriented himself?

This.

(At least, I—and a bunch of other fanfic authors, I'm sure—headcanon him like this `3`)

By the way, did you guys read the newest chap of Linked Universe? It was great. Legend as a bunny is the best fanservice ever happened in my whole life! X'D

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Consensus agreed that Legend's and Hyrule's timeline was the worst, supported by the said boys themselves. Monsters rampaging across the land, dying trees randomly peppered the bleak environment. Sometimes, the sky turned red for no reason, and it was a depressing place to live all around. Even after hundreds or thousands of years—he didn't really care about the exact number—Hyrule was still a dying a kingdom and Legend felt bad that his descendant had to take the reign as their newest hero; because, obviously, five adventures weren't enough.

Then they were transported to this new world and they had to reevaluate their opinion regarding everything.

Fire, smoke, low hanging fog with alarming color. A few houses that were there were now rubble and wreckage. This world's enemy doesn't turn into a cloud of smoke like their monsters usually did. They left a body behind, blood pouring from their open wound. He saw a mountain of them on his peripheral, in the middle of being roasted to ashes. Lightning licked the cloudy sky and Legend was sure he heard a sound of a bomb exploding from the far horizon.

All in all, this place is a complete carnage.

(There were also a couple of dead Hylians sprawling around the ground. Crushed by the boulders, beheaded by a sharp object, ripped apart by a clawed beast. Judging from their armor, it looked like these people were soldiers who were killed in action. Legend tried not to stare too much. To give them a semblance of pride after their…failure.)

Time, their appointed leader, marched over the corpses after a bit of hesitation. Not knowing the exact direction yet trying not to linger in this makeshift 'graveyard' any longer. Wind hid behind Hyrule, who took one look at the bloodbath and winced. He didn't show any outward reaction asides of that, pretty used to it. Just like how Legend was. A complete contrast of their most expressive member, in which his face turned steadily green. Sky used his sailcloth to covered half of his sight. And Wild, Twilight, and Four had their hoodie on, shoulders tense. Their cook looked to be the most uncomfortable amongst the bunch. Most certainly, this scenery reminded him of the previous situation of his own home. When he was asleep for one hundred years and Malice screw them over.

The trek was pretty uneventful if he disregarded the mount of monster's—and occasionally, Hylians'—carcasses. Still no telltale of a civilization. But they did find a gaggle of new enemies. Bokoblins, Bulblins, Lizalfos, and a couple of Lynels as well. They were roaring, howling, cackling, and breaking any things that unfortunately stand on their way. In the middle of the commotion, was a blonde man clad in a green tunic. Weaving through his opponents with just a sword on his left and a Hylian shield on his right. Watching him moved was like watching someone else danced. A very dangerous, very menacing dance. As blood spilled, heads flying. His blue scarf flared, giving him a sense of theatrics.

Legend kinda wished he looked that charming even in the brink of possible death.

Too busy gawking over the sheer force of a single soldier against hundreds of opponents, coupled with indecision if they should help him or not, they realized too late when a bunch of scary plants (later, Sky told them they were Deku Babas) sprouted from the cracked earth, circling the eight Links. The appearance of new monsters—and Wind's startle yelp—garnered the attention of every living being.

Everyone instantly moved in a single direction. Swords swinging, shields bashing. Arrows were launched and magics were thrown. Legend liked to think he gave own his share of helpful attacks in assisting them. But they knew Blondie in scarf stole the main spotlight almost immediately. While the others were busy with a couple of opponents, a fire dragon appeared. Burning the Deku Babas without mercy. The soldier had changed his arsenal from sword and shield to fire rod. He then used a burst of fire to propel him forward, stopping himself right in the middle of the Chosen Heroes before he spun in place. Flame crackled, sky set ablaze. He summoned a meteor using the ancient item and the shriek of dying monster echoed throughout the battlefield.

Yup. They really didn't need to lend a hand at all. This guy just completely eviscerated every single one of the monsters without a single hair out of its place. Practically stealing everyone's kill out of their palm.

When it was over, only the smell of burning flesh remained. Hyrule's thunder helped a lot and the meteor the Soldier had summoned was a bit of overkill (or not. Legend never saw monsters that many, even in Wild's dimension. Is this phenomenon a norm for this world? That sounded like a never-ending nightmare). His back was on them, blue scarf flapping majestically. Wariness flashed on the pink-haired teen's eyes, thinking to himself if it was worth it to strike a conversation with the bloodied soldier. He exuded this aura of a cold warrior. Who will strike anyone down after a single order, whether they were friends or foes. Legend knew his descendant felt it as well.

Wind didn't care about any of that, however. Didn't know if he could even sense the muted hostility contained within that lean body in the first place. The kid just hopped to his personal space with a wide grin, babbling about how strong he was, how cool that fire rod was. Was it rude if he said he wanted to see that dragon again? You didn't have to, if it sapped your magic energy. I just thought it'll be cool to gaze at it without fear of getting stabbed in the back. Like a firework!

Soldier was silent. He blankly stared at the child, lips slightly parted open. Wind himself hasn't realized he was being stared at. Too busy recounting every moves the scarf wearer had pulled with exaggeration as much as possible. Legend tensed when Soldier slowly crouched down, he felt the other Links gave the same response. Thinking that the man wanted to hurt their youngest member (and how could they not? He was so expressionless, it was eerie to look at), their fingers went to their respective weapons, ready to be used.

So, imagined their surprise when Soldier wrapped his arms around Wind's tiny body. Pulling him into a tight yet careful hug. Wind let out a questioning squeak when the older blonde snuggled half of his face on the crook of the kid's neck, crying ever so softly. His shoulders wracked with grief, occasional hiccups were muffled by the cloth. They were confused at the sudden burst of emotion and could only stand awkwardly as Wind patted his back, murmuring a soft reassurance that everything is okay, no one was hurt, all thanks to you.

Before long, another person approached their group. It was a white-haired woman, clad in Sheika's armor and bearing a big, broadsword that took place on her entire back. She blinked at the surrounding Links, took one look at the crying Soldier and the blonde child he embraced before understanding bloomed. She nodded at them, saying, "my name's Impa. Do you mind if I asked you to stay with us for a little while?"

It turned out that that rampaging Soldier who killed thousands of monsters by his lonesome was Link. The newest hero they had to recruit.

They made a camp near the border of the enemy den they just annihilated. Impa asked them—except Wind, who was still in Link's arms—to collect the remaining body, they needed to burn them off or else the smell of blood will cause another batch to come knocking. Everyone—except, again, Link and Wind—were sitting around the bonfire. Kept alive by the torso of a Bokoblin. Silently watching the blonde kid recounted his grand adventure to the attentive Soldier. The heroes themselves had explained their existence to Impa. Telling her about their cause, that they were basically the same person but live in different timelines, and there's a high chance that the magic that brought them together will also snatch Link away from his duty—apparently, he's the captain of the Hyruleans Army. And were in the middle of a war, caused by a crazy witchy bitchy—with or without his consent.

Impa hummed in contemplation, thumb and index finger cradled her chin, "Is there no way to delay the inevitable? Losing a captain right now will bring the morale down."

"There isn't," Time shook his head mournfully, "but don't worry. It usually lasted for a week or more before we teleported to another world. For now, we will help. I hope with our power, we can solve this…problem a bit faster."

"Eight other heroes. Yes. This will definitely boost our firepower," General nodded, accepting the kind offer right away. She straightened after a couple of seconds though, head tilted to her subordinates and the youngest compatriots, "wait. That kid is a hero too?"

"Age means nothing," Four instantly rebutted, eyebrows furrowed, "he fought Ganon as well, you don't have to worry about his skill."

"No. Of course, I knew that. Link is literally younger than his own men," Impa sighed, both of her hands were cupped in front of her sharp jaw, fingers intertwined, "I just hope that Link isn't going to kick himself even more after this, asking for a child to help to fight our war."

"Huh?"

"He killed a kid before he met you," Legend tensed. Everyone sucked a breath, "a blonde kid. Height was just a tad bit shorter. If I remember correctly, he also had those clear blue eyes. Like the sky."

"He was betrayed," Impa continued, orbs trained onto the swaying flame, feeling guilty for telling a complete stranger the story of his life, "by his previous 'friends'. The one he knew so well. The one who helped him through water and hell. The one he trusted with his back. They betrayed him for the riches. For the glory. For immaterial rewards. As a leader of an army, he has a duty to slay down the traitor. To stop them from spreading false rumors or harming the royalty."

"Seeing him cry as he was bathed in his friend's blood was heart-wrenching, even for me."

"One of the family tried to avenge his father. The blonde kid with blue eyes," they surreptitiously glanced towards those two. Wind gleefully pulled out a white baton, showing him the song of the wind. Link's mouth was agape, listening to the air singing and feeling the breeze caressed his skin, "he was adamant that his father was wrongly accused. That the kingdom was the evil one and we tried to keep a secret by slaying 'those in the know'. So, he had to kill him as well," her voice turned into a whisper, eye twitching, "he'd been blaming himself since then. Scared to wield the Master Sword any longer. What good was it, to have the sword in my possession if I couldn't even stop the infighting, he said. That maybe, if the sword didn't choose him, that if he was never born in the first place, maybe the betrayal—the war—won't exist."

Hyrule gasped, pain flashed across his pale complexion, "that's—"

"Yes. As you can already guess, it doesn't matter. Cia will just choose another Link and wreaked havoc in that world instead," Impa tried to smile yet it looked like a grimace, "but 'Survivor Guilt' cannot be reasoned with. Trust me. I know."

She was right, Legend winced as the other did the same. He remembered the death of his uncle (not to mention, the 'death' of Koholint's residences after the end of his adventure). How a lot and a lot of 'What If' scenarios swirled in his mind. What if he stopped his uncle from going? What if he arrived a little bit faster? (What if he didn't go on to a new adventure by boat? What if he tried to search for another way to escape from the Wind Fish's dream without waking the God itself in the first place?). Will he still be alive? (Will Marin still be alive?).

But it wasn't their fault. It wasn't his fault. Fate just happened. And those memories became an experience that shaped them into who they were today. No matter how painful it was. No matter how he wished it never happened. He just hoped their newest teammate will accept the cruel reality they lived in, one of these days. For the sake of his health—

"Impa told me about your situation," Link, after he was done speaking to the princess regarding the situation around the kingdom, spoke to the awaiting Heroes outside of the chamber. His face was expressionless once again. Almost like the tears, the small quirk of lip they saw when he conversed with the cheerful child was just an illusion. A dream. He stood tall with a fist on his chest. His firm, commanding tone resounded over the lavish hallway, "I'm Link. The captain of the Hyrulean Army and the Hero of the Warriors."

Legend shivered as those blank, blank eyes roamed.

"Reporting for duty, Commander."

—and for the sake of his own conscience.

(A/N): Me, saying there's too many Warriors angst fanfic.

Also me, creating Warriors angst fanfic myself :'D

I feel like Warriors is the most powerful Links instead of Twilight. He literally killed thousands of monsters without breaking a sweat! And that was before we equipped him with other weapons. Such as a spike ball, fire rod, the Great Fairy (because that was a thing) and most definitely, Master Sword.

(We do not speak about Time, btw. That Fierce Deity mask is a complete hack! I don't accept it! :'D )

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BONUS:

Impa: "Thank you for lending our Captain a shoulder to cry on."

Wind: *wryly smile* "It's okay, I don't mind. Being a captain must be rough, huh?"

Impa: *nodded* "He had to keep a mask on at all times. If a captain shows a speck of nervousness even a single bit, it'll crush the subordinate's trust. He'd been repressing his emotions since that day. Showing them a persona of an unrelenting warrior even though he was wailing on the inside. I think he was trying to ask for forgiveness through you. The son that he killed…he was the son of his best friend."

Wind: "But Tetra said that is impossible. Once a person is dead, they're dead. Rather than asking for forgiveness from a ghost, he should've learned to forgive himself."

Impa: "Yes. You're right."

Wind: "…"

Impa: "…"

Wind: *Remembered the King of Red Lion. He whispered* "It's a hard thing to do though."

Impa: "…yes" *Remembered the subordinates she was forced to send* "Yes. You're right"