Switching between times always was bad. Suddenly randomly switching times was always worse than doing so through a portal. It was always a nasty, headache inducing experience which Hyrule could honestly leave out. But alas, he was not as lucky, and neither were the others.
At least they had somewhat of a premature alarm system. Hyrule did not know how the Hero of Time could tell when they were about to jump worlds, but it was at least nice to have somewhat of a warning so they could at least grab their bags and not leave their equipment and weapons behind.
Next to him Twilight was also groaning in pain, as were some of the others. Four laid passend out face down in the tall gras, never being one to take the sudden jumps well, and Babble was leaned over, emptying their stomach once again, Sky hovering over them, his posture tense with pain as he mumbled soft words of support while rubbing the person's back.
Time was the first to get back to his feet, face scrunched up as if someone had just finished pulling out his teeth one by one while taking great pleasure in breaking his bones. "Is everyone accounted for?" he asked. Numerous groans came as reply and one "Four's out cold" from Wind.
The little sailor was dramatically stretched out on the ground, before rolling over and getting back to his feet, his young age probably one of the main factors for the lessened suffering. Warriors followed short, the captain always seemed pretty immune or used to the time-switching. Hyrule wondered why but figured if it was important, Warriors would tell them.
Speaking of, the captain looked around, cautious, before voicing: "Whose Hyrule is that? It's not mine."
Hyrule took that as a cue to become aware of his surroundings and not just his friends. Truly, they seemed to have landed somewhere vast and green with tall grass for as wide as their eyes could look. It reminded Hyrule to Wild's, but the scarred hero, his face also scrunched up as he sat up, shook his head and showed his Sheikah Slate: "Not mine either."
Various negative replies followed, leaving in the end only Hyrule, Four and of course Babble. Hyrule looked around and had to admit: "It looks a little like mine, but it seems a lot less poisoned and it doesn't seem like here are monsters. It's probably not mine."
The others winced in sympathy to his neutral statement. Hyrule knew his Hyrule was run-down, but he also knew that while he and his Zeldas tried their best to rebuild, that there was still a high risk for failure and total collapse. Without much thought his eyes wandered to Babble, who was right now gulping down water as if there was no tomorrow. Poor them, their stomach really seemed to hate travelling through time.
But then, as he watched the young person handing back Sky his flask with a thankful expression on their face, a thought came to him. Dread pooled within him and he took another good look around and got the undeniable feeling of Deja Vue.
Because this lush with plant-life space reminded him strongly of one of the places where he had often travelled through. In his time there was no gras, only monsters and dead and dry earth.
Hadn't the postman said that Babble came from a time after him? A time when there were so few Hylians left that those still there decided to leave all together hoping to survive in a better land, a better dimension under better conditions?
Hyrule spoke before he could stop himself: "What if this is Babble's Hyrule?" Seven faces turned to look at him in surprise. He saw their faces first color in confusion and then bit by bit starting to get painted in the painful color of understanding. They all seemed to recall to vividly the words the postman had said over their newest companion. And slowly one by one they turned to Babble, who had finally found their footing again and looked surprised when everyone looked at them.
Legend stepped forward to ask the important question and Babble's face scrunched up in thought, before they shook their head, quickly answering Legend's inquiry. Under the watchful eyes of the other heroes, Legend turned to them to relay Babble's answer. "They don't know. They don't recognize anything." Then he snarked: "Also, didn't we already establish that Babble's from a whole other dimension? They wouldn't know a stone here from another if it hit them."
Wow, Legend really had become protective for Babble, even more so than most of them. Hyrule wondered what exactly his predecessor had gone through with Babble that he turned from being their most critical opponent to - dare he assume - overprotective friend. The problem was getting Legend to talk about whatever happened no matter when was always like trying to pull teeth and Babble had a language barrier as an additional problem to begin with, thus they had only a pretty vague idea about what happened in the time that their fellow hero and Babble had gone missing.
Anyways, now everyone was looking at Hyrule. "What?" he brought out, cheeks burning because he was embarrassed that he had gotten lost in thoughts.
"Well, you said this looked familiar" Warriors gestured around wherever they were. "There's a higher chance of us finding anything if you were to guide us than if not. So lead the way traveler." That made sense and so Hyrule nodded in agreement.
He took a short look around before he gestured north: "That way. In my time that way leads to castle. We should have a higher chance to fight anything if we go this way."
And with that matter settled, the heroes and Babble started their journey once more, Twilight picking up and then carrying the still unconscious Four.
While they journeyed Legend kept close to Babble and Hyrule could hear him teaching Babble some Hylian words and phrases with moderate effectiveness and great entertainment for those in ear shot.
When Babble managed to twist from the simple sentence "I am wearing a green shirt" into the comedic mess "I idiot eaten stinky socks" Legend finally groaned in defeat and decided to call the lesson a day, his patience with Babble's less than glorious language skills running thin. Babble looked annoyed at that and Hyrule could understand their sentiment too well, no one (except maybe Legend) could learn a new language in just a few hours.
Then Babble fished out their version of a Sheikah Slate – "They call it a phone" Legend explained shortly – and from within started to play a catchy tune. Hyrule wondered where the sound came from and how that tiny phone had managed to capture all these musicians and their instruments, but finally figured it was magic and decided to simply hope that these musicians were happy within Babble's phone and just enjoy the music.
(Data Daterataa…)
Finally they reached the castle, or at least where the castle was once standing. Babble took one look at the ruins and instantly shut their phone down, the peppy music dying instantly, leaving behind ghostly quietness. Hyrule needed a moment longer to progress what he was seeing and then he was shaking.
It was silly and stupid, but until then he had honestly hoped that only some Hylians had left and not all of them. But this, this right here in front of him meant that every single bit he and his Zeldas had invested into a possible future for their Hyrule would go unnoticed, would be wasted, would be for nothing, for in the end he'd just stand in front of castle ruins once more.
Someone laid a hand of comfort on Hyrule's shoulder and he tensed before practically melting into the comforting gesture. He might have grown up in a cave alone, might have not known things like hugs and basic human comforts until his Zeldas showed him, but by now he had learned to appreciate all of these, now he really needed this.
"This is a mess, huh?" spoke Legend. "Yeah" Hyrule agreed voicelessly.
"Feels like failing. Coming into a time you know is just after yours and seeing all the things you invested everything into being for naught. It sucks. I wish you wouldn't have had to know this feeling."
"Me too."
The other heroes decided to stay silent while the two heroes of this timeline exchanged their words, the mood somber. Babble fidgeted uncomfortable with the situation and Four finally groaned and started to wake up, blinking against the dying sun: "Did I miss something or why are we staring at these ruins like someone died here?"
No one answered, because no one knew the answer to that. Because that might have as well happened here and none of them would know yet.
Four's gaze wandered to Hyrule's probably still pale form and his eyes widened before his face twisted into a grimace of understanding: "Sorry 'Rule, that was insensitive of me." "Is alright" Hyrule answered simply. Because how could the tiny hero have known?
Four tapped at Twilight's shoulder and the strong hero let him down, the smallest hero almost stumbled at first before finding his footing again. "Thanks" he said simply, as he was handed his own bags and weapon. "I hate how these jumps always mess up my head."
He turned his gaze towards the solemn forms of Hyrule and Legend: "I guess this one is Babble's, huh?" Twin nods gave him everything he needed to go still and just watch as the sunset painted the ruins bloodred.
And so the heroes stood there respectfully silent until the sun had disappeared behind the horizon and the night bathed everything into darkness.
Then finally, Hyrule moved and unpacked his lantern, the other heroes following suit, Babble meanwhile simply shrugged on their bright yellow tunic. And then they all quietly continued their trek, searching for a fitting place to stay the night.