Author's Disclaimer: I do not own the Legend of Zelda, nor can I take credit for Linked Universe. Zelda belongs to Nintendo and LU was created by the amazing jojo56830 on Tumblr. I am earning no profit from this story other than the enjoyment of writing it and sharing it with others. I hope you all enjoy reading it! Feel free to let me know what you think by giving this chapter a review.
At last, a wolf's howl split the air. Wolfie and the other heroes had arrived. Legend jumped into the action without hesitation, his red sword glinting in the broad daylight. Hyrule stayed back, using his magic where he could, imbuing his sword with fire and sending forth bursts of flame. Wind, despite his young age, carried himself well. He grinned as he met up with Warriors and Sky, the two of them readily accepting his aid. Altogether, the heroes of Hyrule alongside the Champions were truly a force to be reckoned with. The monster horde that had been threatening Hyrule Castle Town was dealt with within minutes. A raid of this size would've taken any normal unit a long time to beat, and they likely would have suffered numerous injuries in the process.
But that didn't prove to be the case for this group of fighters. The battle dragged on for only a little while longer. Urbosa and Wild seemed to be fighting most of the beasts. Their position so far away from everyone else marked them as an easy target. A fatal misconception. Both Wild and Urbosa easily dealt with any brute that deemed them an easy kill. Other monsters that elected to ignore the duo, choosing instead to continue their march towards Castle Town, were also slain by any number of the other fighters. Soon enough, Wild found that no monster wanted to approach him at all. They stayed just beyond the reach of his broadsword, hissing nervously. The others were having the same issue. They'd now proven themselves to be so capable that not a single beast wanted to mess with them.
For a few minutes, it was just a tense standoff. The heroes and Champions stood before the gates of Castle Town, not allowing the monsters to get any closer. The monsters stayed back, as though hoping that the defenders would get bored and leave. Revali took advantage of their stillness and began raining down arrows. Realizing that time was not on their side, the monsters began to retreat. Warriors opted to let them go. There were simply too many of them to chase down. And if they returned, well, it would just be another easy battle for this group.
Once the last monster had turned to flee, everyone on the field cast their gazes about, searching for anything else threatening. When no other beast presented itself, Daruk let out a hearty laugh. "Well, that was something else! We cut through that horde in record time!"
"A commendable effort from everyone," Calamity agreed.
"You did good," Urbosa said to Wild, putting her hand on his shoulder and guiding him back to the rest of the group.
"Thanks. You too."
Wolfie barked excitedly when he saw Wild. Wild giggled at his friend, accepting the wolf's nuzzles.
"Who's this?" Urbosa asked, noting that the wolf seemed friendly.
"That's Wolfie!" Wind said happily, running over to the animal and rubbing his hands in its fur. "He sticks around us a lot, but we don't know why."
"He's an excellent fighter," Time added, rubbing Wolfie between the ears. Wolfie sneezed in satisfaction, licking Time's fingers. "And a good friend."
"You fight alongside animals?" Revali questioned disdainfully. "And...children?" He gestured to Wind and Four, the former of whom crossed his arms over his chest and the latter of whom just rolled his eyes.
"We do," Time confirmed, eyeing Wind as though trying to calm him down. "We don't discriminate. If they prove themselves worthy, which both our animal and child have, we don't judge."
"Wind did a fine job," Calamity added, stepping in for the sailor. "I'll say he fights as masterfully with the blade as any of us."
"And if you please, I'm not a child," Four said testily.
"He's just short," Legend added helpfully.
Four bit his lip, his eyes flashing blue before settling on green.
"And the wolf?" Revali questioned.
Wolfie growled at him, and Wild laughed under his breath.
"Who are we to say no to it?" Warriors shrugged. "He's a good helper, he can handle himself in a fight. If he's willing to aid us, why not?"
Revali sighed.
"In any case," Urbosa butted in, "I'd say that was a success. Thank you for the warning, Hero of Time."
"Just Time is fine," Time said.
"I-It feels strange addressing one like yourself so casually," Mipha stuttered.
Time smiled softly. "Well, I insist. Unless you wish me to call you Your Highness all the time."
"Oh, please don't!" Mipha said.
Urbosa chuckled. "Well, thank you for the warning, Time."
"Don't mention it," Time said.
"Say, where did Twilight go?" Calamity wondered. "He said he'd find the rest of you for us, but it seems our wolf friend did the job."
"Who knows?" Four shrugged. "The ranch hand likes to run off. I'm sure he's around somewhere."
That seemed to be a satisfactory answer, and Calamity dropped the subject.
"Soldiers!" a voice from behind them all called. Wild turned to look. It was King Rhoam. He had stepped onto the battlefield with his Royal Claymore in hand, but the fight was already over.
Seeing their monarch, the five Champions of this timeline bowed immediately. The other heroes followed suit after a moment, Wild included this time. Even Wolfie pressed his nose to the ground.
"Rise," Rhoam commanded them. "I simply wanted to express my gratitude. I've never seen such skilled fighting. Truly, we are blessed to have you here with us, heroes."
"This was nothing, Your Majesty," Warriors assured him. "These monsters weren't even infected." It was true. They'd died far too easily to be infected. Wild glanced at the blood clinging to his sword and noted that it was bright red, not the strange inky black that characterized the infected beasts.
"Infected?" Calamity repeated.
"We've been together for many months, as I've told you," Warriors explained. "We've been facing empowered monsters that take much effort to kill. No matter how many times you strike them down, they just seem to get right back up again." He held up his sword, also dirtied with crimson blood. "We call them infected because their blood is almost black. These monsters have red blood, so they were not infected."
Calamity nodded. "I see. Well, we'll count ourselves lucky."
"Indeed," Rhoam agreed. "In any case, I also came down because I wished to invite you all to dinner. We must discuss our next move regarding these monster attacks, and I wish for you all to be present."
"I assume us Champions will be leading the discussion?" Revali said.
"Every opinion voiced will be listened to with equal measure," Rhoam answered evenly. "Impa, Purah, and Kohga will also be there. We're eating at six o'clock sharp. Don't be late, General!"
"Me? Late? Never!" Calamity laughed.
Rhoam rolled his eyes before turning to return to town.
Wild stared at the grass before him, his thoughts once again turning frantic. Impa would be there. He could see her when she was young! And Purah when she was not young! He grinned at the prospect. He had no recollection of what any of them had looked like before the Great Calamity. He was excited to meet them again. But...who was the last name Rhoam had said? K-Kohga? No...surely Wild had misheard. Surely it was some important person that hadn't survived the Calamity and Wild had forgotten. Surely it wasn't...Master Kohga.
"You coming, cook?" Time called, glancing back at the blue-clad hero who was now standing by himself, clearly lost in his own thoughts again. Wolfie dashed over to him and nuzzled his hand.
Wild shook himself out of his reverie, nodding. "Y-yes, I'm coming."
"Cook?" Daruk repeated. "Can you cook, little guy?"
"I'm alright," Wild said, shrugging.
"Alright?" Legend sneered. "He's the best chef I've ever met! He cooks for us almost every night, and it's like we aren't even camping outside in the middle of nowhere!"
"That's amazing, Wild!" Calamity said. "I...I used to be able to cook. Mama taught me when I was little. But I guess I put my focus on other things when I became a soldier. Did you keep on cooking, even after you enlisted?"
"Uh, yeah," Wild said, hoping that wasn't a lie. Cooking had been the one thing that came naturally to him after he woke up. Throwing everything into a pot and stirring it so it cooked evenly. Combining ingredients that had complimentary tastes to create an altogether appealing dish...he'd been able to do that before he was certain of his own name. He didn't know why. Zelda had told him that before the Great Calamity he had cooked on occasion, mostly for her. So...yeah? He'd cooked some after enlisting, he supposed.
"When do we get to try your food?" Daruk asked.
"Well, not anytime tonight," Urbosa said. "We've got dinner with the king soon."
Daruk sighed. "I suppose…"
"How about tomorrow?" Wild asked, pleased that Daruk was so interested. "I can make breakfast."
"You really want to make breakfast for fourteen people?" Warriors questioned.
"Sure," Wild shrugged. "I really don't mind."
"Sounds great!" Daruk laughed. "I'll be looking forward to it!"
"Just don't put any rocks in it," Revali said.
"What's wrong with rocks?" Daruk and Calamity asked at the same time. Wait...Calamity?
"Have you eaten rocks before, Calamity?" Wind asked.
Calamity nodded. "They're not too bad actually. Right, Daruk?"
"That's my little guy!" Daruk agreed wholeheartedly, slamming his fist into Calamity's back and causing the Hylian to stumble forward.
Everyone laughed.
Wild found himself relaxing. It was so strange to be around the Champions again. They seemed...to like him. They didn't seem ashamed of his network of scars or his tale of failure. And Calamity wasn't so bad. Maybe Wild could get comfortable in this world of rose-colored glasses.
The combined Champions and heroes walked upstairs to the guest bedrooms absentmindedly. There were still a few hours until their dinner, so Warriors suggested they played cards while they waited.
"What game should we play?" Wind asked excitedly.
"Well, with you around I'm sure the best we can do is go fish," Revali snickered.
Wind pouted, crossing his arms over his chest. "I live with pirates, bird-brain! I can play poker and blackjack and crazy bridge just fine!"
"Bird-brain?" Revali repeated. "Why, you little-! I'm the Rito Champion! A master of the sky! You watch your mouth when you talk about me, kid!"
"Master of the sky, hmm?" Wind repeated, drawing the Wind Waker from his bag. "And I am the Hero of Winds. The very air around us is mine to control. I suggest you watch your mouth when talking about me, pheasant!"
"Please, as if that stick could possibly-"
Wind flicked his wrist and a gust of wind blasted Revali in the face, ruffling his feathers.
"Let's not fight amongst ourselves," Calamity said tersely, glaring at Revali. He glanced at Time, as though trying to tell the eldest to reign in Wind. But it was clear that Time was uninterested in chastising Wind for standing up for himself. He met Calamity's gaze and cocked an eyebrow. Calamity sighed. "Revali, Wind is a valuable ally. He proved that today. I don't know what kind of further affirmation you want."
"Just leave him be," Urbosa suggested. "It'll take weeks for your words to even get to his brain through that thick skull of his."
Revali sent her a searing glare, to which she responded with a laugh.
At that moment, Twilight's door clicked open and out walked the ranch hand, rolling his shoulders and yawning as though he was tired. Wild smiled to himself. He hadn't even noticed that Wolfie had left them.
Everyone in the hall stared at him. "What?" he asked. "Did I miss something?"
"You missed an entire battle," Calamity said disbelievingly. "Castle Town was attacked by a monster horde."
"Did you just sleep through it?" Warriors snickered.
"Must have," Twilight shrugged, coming to stand at Wild's side. "But it seems you all had it under control."
"Wolfie was there too," Wild informed him. "He was very helpful."
"Glad to hear it," Twilight said.
Revali seemed too stunned that Twi had managed to sleep through a whole fight to badger him about it.
"So. Will we play cards or not?" Legend spoke up, holding a deck between his fingers. "'Cause I'm pretty good."
"Is that so, veteran?" Warriors challenged. "I'm a fine player myself."
"Don't forget me!" Wind added. "I beat Tetra at poker a few weeks ago!"
"Count me in," Revali said. "I can play too."
In the end, everyone except Twilight, Hyrule, Sky, and Wild decided to play. Twilight and Hyrule had admitted that they didn't know how to play poker, the game that was ultimately decided on. Sky said that he was terrible, and he didn't want to lose any rupees. Wild could sort of play. He had a vague sense of the rules. It was obvious to him that he had once learned, a fact that was backed up by Calamity's knowledge of the game, but the Shrine had taken that memory too. The longer he watched the others play, the more his subconscious gnawed at him. He struggled to fully grasp the game, and he grew frustrated the longer his bafflement remained. He'd known before. He'd been good before, if Calamity's immediate lead was anything to go by. But now, he just couldn't remember. Yet another skill stolen from him during the Great Calamity. It wasn't an important skill. But he wished he could've played with everyone else.
"Teach me how to snap," Wild said to Twilight, trying to distract himself from his growing displeasure.
"What?" Twilight questioned.
"I want to learn how to snap," Wild repeated. He glanced up at his mentor. "Is that okay?"
Twilight smiled. "That's just fine, cub. Can I ask why?"
"Were you outside when that lightning went off?" Wild asked, whispering the question.
"The huge explosion of lightning? Yeah. I assumed it was Urbosa."
"No, it was me. That's another one of the Champions' abilities I got during my adventure. But she does it by snapping, so it's more controlled. When I did it, I did it by clapping, since I can't snap. That's how I've always done it. But I want to learn how to do it right."
"Oh. That makes sense," Twilight agreed. "Here. Hold your hand like this." He pinched his middle finger and his thumb together, leaving his index finger relaxed and curling his ring and pinky fingers against his palm. Wild mirrored his position. He was already further than he'd ever been. He had assumed that the motion was done with the index and the thumb, since he'd never before had anyone tell him otherwise.
"Good. Now press your middle finger and thumb together, then slide them across each other." He did as he'd said, his fingers producing a satisfying snap.
Wild copied him, but his fingers remained silent.
Twilight chuckled. "It takes practice. But that's the idea."
Wild nodded, leaning into the taller hero and repeatedly sliding his fingers across each other. Twilight watched him with a contented expression on his face, happy that his protege seemed satisfied for the first time since coming here. Wild deserved at least a little reprieve from his constant unhappiness.