Link knows this should not be happening.

He is definitely sure that this is not supposed to be happening.

The heroes of Hylia told him that the portal would lead them to a different Hyrule, and so does the Goddess, but they did not anticipate that they will be thrown to a place Link is unfamiliar with – A tunnel? A maze? An enormous basement of some kind? This is the first time he stepped foot in such kind of place, and it vaguely reminded him of the Thyphlo Ruins that he hated with a passion. Navigating that place might be the key to accessing one of the one hundred and thirty-six Ancient Sheikah shrines, but it does not mean he has to like and enjoy it. The eternally dark ruins reeked of something he could not point out, but he knew it is bad. It is not bad bad as the Malice or Calamity Ganon, but it is dangerous, nonetheless. It is pitch black, oppressive, and suffocating that it reminded him of the Shrine of Resurrection. He preferred the open and bright world outside the ruins and tried to finish the trial as quickly as possible. When he finally accomplished his goal, he and Wolfie immediately teleported away and never returned to that place ever again.

Time informed him earlier that there is a possibility of them getting separated during the Shift, but before they could divide themselves into small groups, the portal sucked them in. Link did not hear Hylia say anything about hurrying; the portal simply took them in without warning. The experience was something similar to teleporting using the Sheikah Slate. He felt weightless as if he was one with the wind, and for a moment, he could see everything and anything. Going through the portal felt the same, except that he could see, feel, taste, and hear the events in history between the era they were from and their destination's. His mind would have exploded from too much information if it did not disappear when he finally emerged to the other side. Whatever he witnessed there was gone, completely erased from his memory, leaving only a lingering feeling of profundity and then emptiness.

He wondered if the others felt the same. Perhaps at the first few ones, but they might have gotten used to it over time. When he finally stepped foot in a new and unfamiliar territory, the portal vanished behind him, and he realized he was alone. What the Hero of Time warned him about earlier came true.

At first, he thought of waiting. He built a small campfire and listened carefully to any sounds, especially footsteps and voices calling his name. All his ears captured were silence and the distant skittering of many feet that immediately told him that this place is crawling with many dangers in the form of non-Hylian. He did not recognize them, and that made him wary of the darkness pressing at his temporary camp at both sides. It did not bode well that he is alone.

After an hour or so of sitting and fiddling with his Sheikah Slate, he finally decided to move. He summoned a worn-out torch left from the end of his journey before fighting Calamity Ganon and lit it with the flames of his campfire. He stamped out the fire and made his way through numerous hallways that made exploring Hyrule Castle a piece of cake. He did not know how long or far he has walked. By the time his torch gave out and he switched to a Great FlameBlade, he has stumbled into a spacious place that looked suspiciously like the Coliseum Ruins in his Hyrule. The place, however, has benches carved out of stone for the audience to sit and crisscrossing layers of cobwebs so thick he could barely see where the ceiling and the walls meet. What is worse are the creepy-looking creatures with bodies shaped like a skull that seemed to call this place their home. They vaguely resembled the Guardian Stalkers in his era with two more legs, and that did not sit well with Link. He was about to leave that place because Nope. He is not going there. Nuh-uh! when his right ankle nudged a fairly sticky thread, and the sounds of skittering and scuttling ceased abruptly.

Link held his breath, internally cursing himself because if there was one thing that Zelda got right about him, it is that he is a bloody idiot. Do not look behind and JUST run…is what he told himself, but his body did the exact opposite. He turned around, almost dramatically, and met an audience of red eyes staring down on him like a heavenly meal gifted by the goddesses. The nearest monsters screeched and lunged at him. He whipped out his Great FlameBlade and swung it in a wide arc, dismembering three ten-legged creatures into halves with just one slice.

For a second, he thought that the monsters might be too easy – their bodies are soft and flammable - and he might win this when he saw something bright and hot at the corner of his eye. The cobwebs at both sides of him had apparently caught fire, and it was spreading fast. The blaze has grown bigger as it consumed the webs quicker than he could say Fuck, Ganon! and all he could think at that moment of profound realization was Oops. He could only watch as the dark coliseum lighted up in hues of red, orange, and yellow and heated up as high as his brick oven at home. The monsters temporarily forgot about him and scampered frantically to safety away from the flames. There were unlucky ones, however, that got caught and burned into fine monster roasts.

Once the last threads crumbled to ashes, Link was left again in the dark with only his fiery claymore and the still-burning monster corpses as his light sources. The place was swallowed by an ominous silence without the monsters moving about and the crackling of an accidental cobweb fire from earlier. He should have left then and there, but curiosity got the best of him. He wanted to get a better look at the place and…Ooh! What is that gate over there? If the monsters from earlier already gave him the creeps, the one waiting past behind the humongous rusty gate had him questioning his life choices…which rarely happens.

Before he knew it, he was facing against an oversized version of the ten-legged monsters and the smaller ones from earlier – Its minions? Its babies? – that emerged from their hiding places in the cracks of the walls and decided to gang upon him. By the goddesses, they looked all furious! He cannot blame them - he killed a few of their kind and unintentionally set fire to their lair in the process. He would have slipped towards the exit had it not been guarded by the small ones who seemed keen on not letting him escape. He was now cornered at all sides in an unfamiliar place and an era that is not his.

When the nearest small ones made their move, Link has no choice but to fight back. He immediately switched out his Great FlameBlade and opted for a single-handed weapon and a shield. He is unfamiliar with these monsters and their combat patterns – getting hit even once is not an option. That, and he has a nagging feeling that he will be digging his grave early if he gave them an opening. He blocked one monster from landing on his head and swung his shield arm away to throw it off. Another one lunged at him which he sidestepped and stabbed right on the left eye of its skull-shaped body. He summoned a round bomb from his Sheikah Slate and threw it to the wall just above the benches where most of the small ones were converged before detonating it. A loud BOOM! reverberated in the place as blue light exploded and large chunks of rock dropped to the monsters.

He did not have time to be amazed at how many were flattened on that one explosion alone nor disgusted at the monster goo dripping down the benches were it not for a huge spindly leg heading in his direction. He had barely time to call forth Daruk's Protection and was pushed a few feet away from his original position. The limb bounced back slightly, and the shield that saved his hide many times shattered easily like fragile glass.

Trepidation crawled at the back of his throat. Too weak. The former Goron Champion's ability has gotten too weak now to properly deflect a heavy blow. He has only one charge left – the initial three charges dwindled into two in the past three months – and if he is not careful, it might not be able to block the next attack at all. He cannot rely heavily on the dead Champions' abilities like he did before, nor can he spring back to battle from the verge of a second death. He has only one life, even if it was dedicated to doll himself up in the image of the Goddess' chosen hero, and if he dies here, it is over.

Then again, it is a fucked-up life. It is not even his to begin with. Even as he danced with the chipped blade of his Royal Broadsword and his dented Royal Shield against the chelicerae and hooked legs of the enormous monster before him, his life is not his. Even as he called forth the ability of the real Link and shot bomb and fire arrows after another, this body is never his. His will and purpose to continue existing are the Goddess' and not his own. He is merely a puppet, and maybe that is what makes him similar to the heroes. Maybe that is what qualifies to be considered a hero in Hylia's eyes. It is cruel, but perhaps, it is the truth. All he could do is to fight and hope that Hylia will let him see another day.

The monster gave a piercing cry as it once again swung one of its legs towards him. Link jumped, dodged the limb by an inch, and landed down. He ducked his head as another went overhead and slashed his sword above in an arc. Third. The sound of the flailing limb falling to the ground barely registered to his ears when another leg closed in for an attack. He sliced through it – fourth – when the blade of his Royal Broadsword shattered. A blue fragment scraped his cheek, but he readily ignored the biting pain. He did not have time to retreat and summon another sword when the monster struck again. He lifted his shield a little late, and then, he was flying to the air. The heavy blow took the air out of his lungs, and he managed to call the last charge of Daruk's Protection at the nick of time before his back hit stone.

The shield managed to cushion his body from breaking his bones, but not enough to prevent him from blacking out. He did not know how long he was unconscious for, but when he finally came to, the place is more wrecked than he remembered, and the monster is not paying attention to his vulnerable form. He took it as a chance to end the monster once and for all with a brief Stasis and an Ancient Arrow because Screw loots! He had enough of this goddess-damned place and its fucking oversized monsters. He swore to Hylia he will get out of this place even if he has to raze it from top to bottom.

Link surveyed his surroundings for any more enemies to fight when a bark caught his attention. He nearly nocked another arrow when he saw a familiar wolf limping toward him. The moss green fur was difficult to see properly even with the burning monster corpses illuminating the place, but he recognized the pattern on the forehead and those sapphire-blue eyes that glittered with unusual intelligence.

"W-Wolfie…?"

Wolfie barked again – this time, weaker than the first. Link did not have time to properly greet his wolf friend when Wolfie suddenly crashed to the sandy ground. His body reacted before his mind could process what happened. His feet carried him to the wolf, and he knelt down to his side.

"Wolfie!"

The wolf laid rigid on the sandy ground, heaving in an irregular breathing pattern. His hands found the wolf's side, and he felt something wet and sticky soaking his ripped leather gloves. The supposed white of Wolfie's fur is darker than he remembered - too dark that it almost melded with the moss green of his hide underneath the dim light of the multiple fires. His fingers brushed against a long laceration beneath the thick layer of fur, and a horrifying realization dawned on him.

Blood. There is too much blood on Wolfie, on his palms, and on his clothes that his stomach nearly lurched. It was not dirt but blood. It is not his own blood but Wolfie's. The blood is not just seeping out from the wolf's side but also from his back. Rivulets of it bathing his fur in crimson red and pooling underneath the limp form of his wolf friend.

Wolfie is injured. Wolfie is hurt. When…how…? Link stared down on Wolfie's heaving body because No, this is not real. This is NOT real! Wolfie is not bleeding, not dying in front of him. No no no…!

When his eyes caught those eyes – cloudy and barely there - reality slapped him on the face. His hands fumbled for his Sheikah Slate, his index finger swiping furiously on the screen, nearly scratching the glass with his fingernail. Tendrils of blue light rained and swirled down on his lap as elixirs and Fairy Tonics materialized one after another on his lap almost spontaneously. Most of the glass bottles rolled off to the ground, colliding with each other with a loud CLINK! He nearly flung his Sheikah Slate aside as his hands blindly searched among a clutter of non-curative elixirs and reached for the nearest Hearty Elixir.

"Wolfie! H-Hold on…I'll –"

Link managed to grab hold of the bottle with trembling hands when darkness began to shroud his wolf friend. He could only watch in terror and confusion as the geometric black slowly receded, and from where Wolfie was sprawled on the bloodied ground three seconds ago, a Hylian took his place. He recognized the mop of blond-brown hair, the pelt now drenched and dripping with blood, and the markings on the face that is exactly like Wolfie's. His breathing hitched to a stop at the realization that before him now lay one of the many reincarnations of Link, the Hero of Twilight.

Wolfie is…Twilight.

The Hearty Elixir fell from his hands, cracking and spilling its contents to the ground. Link knelt there frozen, his eyes locked on the dying hero in front of him. There was a deafening ringing in his inner ears, and a painful pounding in his head as the same mantra chanted incessantly in his mind.

Twilight is…Wolfie.

Link's hand flew to his mouth and his back arched, his form tethering dangerously above the hero. He felt sick, felt like he is going to vomit, as shock and betrayal churned in his stomach. Wolfie is…his one and only friend is actually a Hylian. The intelligent creature that accompanied him in his journey is not really a wolf but a person. What is worse is that he is one of Hylia's heroes.

Wolfie is…Twilight. Twilight is…Wolfie.

A nearly manic sob bobbed in his throat. Everything makes perfect sense now – how Twilight managed to keep up with him in his Hyrule and how he knew he could cook. He was fooled. He was played at – Hylia sent one of her heroes through time and space to assist a replacement. Not only that, the help the Goddess sent to him appeared in the form of a wolf, not a person - a person whom Link was set to meet after nearly a year of disappearance. The very same person whom he was supposed to learn to trust and cooperate with the other seven reincarnations of the same spirit for the sake of a grand divine scheme to protect all Hyrules across time and space.

Wolfie is Twilight. Twilight is Wolfie.

Link did not know whether to cry pathetically or laugh like a madman. He was deceived over and over again, used like an expendable pawn…ah, that is right. That is what he is. He is a fake, almost a defective one that is meant to be thrown away were it not for Calamity Ganon's near freedom. Is he that dumb enough to forget and not notice? Is he that desperate enough to be acknowledged as his own person than a creation whose sole purpose is to serve?

Why?

Why of all creations should it be him?

Why cannot it be someone else?

"C...Cub..."

Whatever self-loathing he was feeling drained away as his eyes fell to meet Twilight's. The hero's sapphire eyes – Wolfie's eyes - were foggy and unfocused as they searched for something…or someone desperately. His hands twitched and raised slightly before falling limp back to his sides.

"C-Cub…"

Link's breath stuttered to a pained sob. He did not know who this Cub the Hero of Twilight is referring to, nor does he intend to search for that person when Twilight is dying right before him. He knows that he should try to call for help, but a part of him – a traitorous part of him - doubted that the others would hear him. What should he do? He should try to stop the bleeding first, but there is too much blood. He could try dressing up the wounds, but there is not much time, and he needed to do something NOW. His eyes landed on the Hearty Elixirs and Fairy Tonics scattered among the non-curative brews around him and immediately grabbed one tonic.

Why do you even care? A voice inside his head sneered. They are just a bother, are they not?

Link sucked in a shallow breath. His lips pursed into a thin line as he stared down on the Fairy Tonic resting on his ripped gloves. The voice was right – he finds these heroes and their patron goddess a nuisance. He could just leave Twilight here alone, alone to die in a place that none of them knows about. That would be one less problem for him. He was deceived, and whether Twilight is aware of it or not, the Rancher is still an accomplice. He is wary of the man since the beginning, and losing one pair of watchful eyes would give him some more breathing space he yearns so much.

"…'m…sorry…"

Link's eyes snapped back to the Rancher, who was now looking at him with bleary eyes. What?

"I'm sorry…can't remember. But can remember…your face, Link. Link…my Cub."

"I…" Link's hands clenched around the Fairy Tonic as he shook his head. "I'm not…I'm not your Cub. Y-You're mistaken."

"No…" Twilight's voice was full of conviction, even with how frail it sounds. "You…you're my Cub. Can't remember all…but you're my friend." He took a shuddering breath. "Shield…Shield surfing. I remember. I hate…hate when you do that. You…always getting hurt. Hebra Mountains…shield surfing…place's too cold, but you tried…tried exploring it in your underwear."

For a moment, Link saw Wolfie again in Twilight. His mind flashed back to that particular day when he tried shield surfing down a steep slope in the Hebra Mountains wearing nothing but his Sheikah-provided underwear. Wolfie has been giving him a dirty look since he announced his intention of climbing the icy region just to shield surf almost buck naked and was not keen on getting involved in his probably craziest antic still. He failed to avoid a small jutting rock and planted face-first deep in the snow. When he finally freed his head, the first thing he saw was Wolfie's disapproving face. A grin broke out from his lips, and he pounced on the wolf. Wolfie decided to humor him after a few nudges, and they wrestled on the snow for a bit before frantically teleporting back to Rito Village to warm him up after nearly freezing to death. He remembered Teba and Saki scolding him for that, but their words simply slipped from one ear to another as he fell asleep on the curve of Wolfie's furry hide.

"Don't…cry…."

Link blinked, only to realize that the world is cloudy. Something warm and wet dripped down his cheeks, mixing down with the blood smeared on the glass bottle and on his palms. Is he crying? Why…why is he crying? He furiously wiped his tears with his sleeves as he tried to focus back on Twilight. The Rancher's face was tilted up to gaze at him, though his eyes lost most of their clarity and concentration. He was pale, too pale and weak, and there is too much blood on and around him. His breathing was getting more labored by each cycle, but even so, he wore a soft and comforting smile on his bloodied lips that made Link's heart felt like it is being ripped to shreds.

"Cub…don't cry…."

A sob lodged itself in Link's throat. "I-Idiot...!" He retorted weakly. "You fucking bastard! You're dying! Why would I not be crying? What kind of logic is that? FUCK!"

"Language, Cub…"

"SHUT UP!" Link growled in frustration. "Don't you fucking dare lecture me, you lying asshole!"

He hurriedly uncorked the Fairy Tonic with shaky hands and tried not to watch as the Rancher's gaze grew hazier by the minute. He tried not to look at his pallid face, at the blood pooling underneath the older man's body, and at the wounds he no doubt would lead to the hero's demise if he does not do anything soon. The sinister voice in his head was back, whispering, insisting, and pushing him to abandon the Hero of Twilight and pretend he did not see him by his death bed.

NO! He would not think that. He would not leave someone to their death! Link might not be the real destined Hero like the other Links, but he is not a coward to let someone die when he can do something about it. He set aside the Fairy Tonic and carefully lifted Twilight's head as he slipped his lap underneath him. He picked up the tonic and tilted the bottle to the Rancher's lips. He tried to steady his voice and hands as he coaxed him to drink, some dribbling to the hero's chin in the process. He has no way to know immediately if it is working, but he could only hope that the curative tonic is already doing its job.

"Don't you dare die on me, Twilight!" Link threatened as he cradled the Rancher's face with his hands. "You have a lot of explaining to do. Lots! I'm not letting you go peacefully to the afterlife. I swear to Hylia, I'm going to dance on top of your grave in my birthday suit if that's what it takes for you to haunt me here in the living world."

"Please don't…" Twilight groaned weakly. "That's not…how you treat…venom. Got envenomated…Skulltula…"

"And you're going to tell me that WHEN?" Link nearly screeched in exasperation. He knows nothing about venoms. As far as he could tell, he has no venomous monsters in his Hyrule. He cannot brew any antidotes either because he did not know how to or has any knowledge about monster poisons and venoms. He is not sure if the Fairy Tonic can neutralize it, but he has to hope it would.

"S…Sorry…"

"ARGH! By the goddesses, I fucking hate you!" Link really really does hate the guy right now, but he has to try everything he can to save Twilight, even those things that he should have done earlier. He took a deep breath and shouted to the top of his lungs. "HELP!" He cried out, his voice echoing at all sides of the cavernous place. "Help! Anybody! Hyrule! Time! Four! HELP US!"

"C-Cub…" Twilight gasped. "Can't hear…too far…."

"NO! They can hear us! They have to hear us! They have to!" Link protested exasperatedly. "Sky! Legend! Warriors! HELP US! Anybody, please!"

"Cub…"

"TWILIGHT!" Link was shaking badly now, his frustration draining away to desperation. "Don't call me that! Don't...Please…I'm not…" He bit his lips, swallowing the sob in his throat. A fresh wave of tears threatening to spill from the corners of his eyes. "If…if you live…if you don't die here, I'll let you call me that. So, please…hang on."

"Deal…" If Twilight is not dying right now, Link would have punched that smirk on his face. The fucking audacity! "I'm not…" He sucked in a shallow breath. "Not going to die…."

Link wanted to scream how much of a lie is that, but he has no fight left to do so as fear and panic seeped in his veins the longer he looked at the hero. The Rancher noticed the distress on his face and reached one bloodied hand to touch Link's cheek, and the younger man could do nothing but to lean against his cold palm.

"Then, don't." Link whispered. "Because I fucking hate that nickname."

A weak laugh bubbled from Twilight's chest before he was sent into a coughing fit. Link could only watch helplessly as the Rancher's lungs slowly and painfully settled down to ragged heaves and gasps. Twilight looked at his face with half-lidded eyes as Link grasped his hand against his cheek tightly. Twilight felt cold, too cold, like he was buried alive underneath the snow of Hebra Mountains with no way out...with no hope left. The younger man shut his eyes, eyelids pressed firmly as if he was in great pain, and began to hum – broken notes melding into a melody that seemingly echoed in the gloomy place. He felt Twilight's fingers twitched against his skin, but he did not stop, did not open his eyes in great fear to see the light leave the Rancher's eyes.

He kept humming as he finally let go of the limp hand on his cheek and cradled the hero's face on his scarred palms. He kept humming a song he only heard Wolfie howl during the rare nights he finds himself ill. He did not know the song's name or its lyrics, but it is a song of longing, of a desperate search for the light amidst the darkness, and of healing. He poured his heart to each note and offered them to the Hero of Twilight and to whoever goddess who may be listening. He did not falter – the melody shattering to hysterical hiccups as seconds ticked by – even as tears once again streaked his cheeks and dripped on Twilight's closed eyelids. He only stopped when a sob finally choked his voice and his forehead pressed against the hero's as the desperate plea entangling with the song finally escaped his lips.

"Please…please don't leave me…."

His words were swallowed by the darkness, and all he could hear were his own sobs and pleas. He could barely hear Twilight's breathing, could not properly see the rise and fall of the Rancher's chest or even the sapphire eyes that silently reprimand him about his childish escapades yet at the same time, bear pride of how far he has come and accomplished. He wanted to see Twilight again, wanted to see his friend alive, whether as a wolf or Hylian. He wanted to hear his voice one last time and finally tell him what he has failed to say in his time stuck as a wolf in his Hyrule. He is selfish, so so selfish, but he is willing to trade anything for that one selfish wish…

"…nk."

Link's eyes startled open, a gasp escaping his lips as a familiar sensation washed over him. His head snapped up and there! Just right there! By the feet of the Hero of Twilight was the same portal that sent them to this accursed place. Its edges shimmered with the most beautiful blue as the power of its creator pulsed from its center, illuminating the sunless place like that of the outside world. A hand – invisible yet warm – laid featherlight on his shoulder as the voice of the Goddess brushed against his ears like the gentle breeze atop the Great Plateau.

"Link."

No. No way. This is…! He got to be hallucinating, right? This cannot be…She was the one who sent them to this place. She was the reason Twilight is dying on his lap right now. If only she did not send them to this place, this would not be happening right now. If only she did not send him to them, Twilight would not have gone looking for him and get badly hurt. If only…if only…

"H-Hylia…?" Link stammered, hesitant yet hopeful. Please please please!

"Make haste, Link." Hylia's voice is the calm that soothed the storm in his heart. The warm hand that was on his shoulder moved to caress his cheek that is smeared with Twilight's blood. "His life is on your hands. Go, and save the Hero of Twilight."

My sibling: "So, is this chapter a comedy or an angst?"

Me: "Yes."