The sky was dark, speckled with billions of stars and punctuated with the bright full moon. Wild horses could be seen shuffling about or sleeping. In the pathway cutting between the Dueling Peaks, Link sleepily held onto the reigns of his colossal horse, his eyes drooping and barely staying open. The trip to Hyrule Castle had taken a lot out of him, having to defend Zelda from the moblins that somehow continued to make their home in the corridors or the dining hall. Then, after leaving, he had to send Zelda ahead to meet him at the stable on the other side of the peaks while he fought off a member of the Yiga Clan who was supposedly sent to assassinate him… again…
A flash of green caused his horse to rear up, forcing Link to provide his absolute attention in keeping his balance and pulling back on the reins, then coaxing the horse by patting the side of her neck gently. He glared upward to the bright green light, wondering what could have possibly spooked his horse, Gladia, chosen specifically to go to Hyrule Castle as little to nothing scared this horse. He gasped, however, at seeing the swirling, circular panel hovering fifty feet above him. Whatever this was, he didn't think it wise to keep Gladia around it much longer. He nudged her sides to urge her forward, "Come on…" he encouraged, trying to get her to walk straight.
His ear twitched as he heard a scream coming through the mysterious gateway, a glowing silver streak darted through the gateway and crashed headfirst into the side of the opposing mountain. Gladia knickered, stepping uneasily and excitedly. The silver streak flashed white as it fell, revealing itself as a human teenage boy. Gladia's eyes widened as her ears flattened against her head, neighing loudly as she reared again, this time knocking Link off of her back. As she stepped around, her massive foot handed directly onto Link's right hand, causing him to yell in pain before she galloped off at full speed.
Link nursed his quickly numbing hand, catching a glimpse of black, red and purple. He heard a splash. He looked over and saw the boy sinking and drifting down the river. He held his arm close and scrambled to his feet, diving straight into the river to rescue the boy. He gripped the back of the teen's shirt and starts swimming upwards, seeing stars briefly as he made the mistake of using the wrong hand to paddle with. He switched to holding the teenager with his right arm wrapped around his waist, and using his left to paddle. He gasped as he surfaced, treading water until he reached the bank, where he dropped the teen onto the ground and he held his crushed hand to his stomach. He forced himself to his feet, his boots sloshing in the gravel. He looked back up, trying to process what the mysterious disk could be, but before he anything, the disk shrank into nonexistence, as though nothing was ever there. He shook his head and groaned, a new wave of pain shooting up his forearm. He looked back down to his hand, quickly covering it and taking a deep breath, trying to will away the pain. A couple fingers were bent the wrong way, that was all he was able to catch aside from the very obvious discoloration. He looked back down to the teenager and knelt beside him, "Kid… kid, come on, wake up!" he gently shook him with his good hand, "Kid!"
The teenager groaned and stirred, forcing his eyes to open before they rolled back and they closed again. He took a deep breath and shakily forced himself to his hands and knees, "My head…" he mumbled. "What…?" he looked around, taking in his surrounding, "Where…?" he took a deep breath and held his head, "Was flying… then Skulker…" he recounted, "Oh… wait…" his eyes suddenly widened as he started looking around, "Where- the portal! Where's the portal?" he jumped up to his feet and started walking up and down the bank, looking around.
"You mean that swirling, green gateway? It disappeared a few seconds ago… just before I woke you up."
The teenager's eyes flashed toward Link in horror, "What?! No, no, no, no…" he shook his head, "No, that- I can't be stuck here…" he started breathing heavily, then he grabbed his head, "Oh…" he lowered himself to his knees, "Oh, my head…" he glanced back up before hunching over again.
Link approached him, "Easy, kid, you hit your head pretty hard." He said, "At least I think you did. You came shooting out of that gateway and crashed full-force into the mountain face, there." He tipped his head toward the point of impact on the mountain. He held out his left hand, "I'm Link."
Danny shook his hand, then shivered, "Danny- why am I wet?" he asked, then looked at the river, "Oh geez…" he shuddered, "My phone!" he gasped before pulling a flat, black, rectangular tablet from his pocket, "Oh… fried…" he said after poking and squeezing the device in some places.
Link nursed his hand again, recoiling at the touch, "Mind telling me what's going on?" he asked.
Danny sighed and shoved the phone into his soaked pocket, "That was a natural-opening portal…" he started, "They open at random times in random places, and I was accidentally shoved through one that happened to open here." He explained. He noticed Link was nursing his hand, "Hey- are you okay?" he asked.
"Uh- your portal and that… white flash, whatever that was, scared my horse. She threw me off her back and stepped on my hand." Link wanted to look at the damage again, but was almost afraid to. "I can't really feel anything else right now."
Danny turned and stepped toward him, "Can I see?" he asked.
Link hesitantly moved his left hand and showed Danny his right.
Danny cringed, the hand was just about mangled; fingers were bent in the wrong way, caused easily by broken bones, what he could see of the skin outside of the glove was black, purple and spotted with blood, in some places, he was sure there were misplaced bone. He took a deep breath, "You need a doctor…" he said.
Link frowned, "I don't think they'd be able to save this…" he said.
Danny looked up at him, then back down at the hand, "This is really painful, isn't it?" he asked, earning a nod. "Here…" his hands glowed an icy blue as he waved them around Link's hand, setting a thin layer of frost on the skin. "Um… maybe we can set the bones?"
Link pulled his hand away, "There's a healer-"
"Link? Link! Oh, thank Hylia, you're alright!" Zelda trotted to them.
Link turned around and was knocked backwards a step from a hug. "Zelda?" he asked with slight surprise, keeping his hand a safe distance from accidental impact. Meanwhile, Danny went back to looking around for the portal.
"What happened?" she demanded, "I was worried. Then Gladia arrives at the stable, alone. You're nowhere in sight. What- why are you wet?" she asked, "And what's happened to your hand?" she asked in horror.
Link took a step back, bringing his hand back close to his body, "Gladia got spooked. She threw me off her back and stepped on my hand. She was scared because some sort of portal opened above us and…" he tipped his head toward Danny, "He came flying out of it, he hit his head and fell unconscious into the river. I had to jump in after him." He said, then groaned in pain.
"I see…" she shook her head, "Go visit the healer at the stable. At least get your hand bandaged…" she said, "I'll be there shortly."
"Are you sure? It's dark out, I'm not sure if another Yiga clansman will show up out of nowhere." He rose an eyebrow.
"I'll be fine, Link." She gave him a light kiss on his cheek.
His face turned slightly pink at the gesture. "But-" he winced as a new wave of pain washed through his arm. "Alright… I'll meet you at the stable… just… please be careful." He said, "You have that sword?"
Zelda pat the hilt at her hip. "I'll be fine, Link."
Link took a deep breath and started walking in the direction from which Zelda came, replaying the last five-to-ten minutes in his head, trying to process what he had seen. Danny didn't look the way he did when he fell in the river compared to when he hit the mountainside. He was trying to process… white hair? Glowing features? Different clothes altogether… and something about the scream seemed to… echo. Even while he was talking to Danny, something seemed off to him. Who was Skulker? What caused a portal to open right above Link and Gladia's heads just to drop a… an ice caster into the river. He looked back down to his hand, the frost was definitely gone by now, but there was some residual coldness on his sleeve and glove. Which, now looking at it, the glove was likely going to need to be cut off completely in order for the healer to straighten his fingers.
Zelda turned to the mysterious teen, who was now kneeling and looking staring at the strange, rectangular tablet again, looking for a response, "Hello." She greeted.
Danny looked up at her and set the phone down. "Hey…" he finally replied, wiping an eye.
Zelda's ears lowered. "I've… come to understand that you're not from around here…" Her tone was sympathetic.
Danny took a deep breath, "No… from… I'm from a whole other world…" he said. "I only wound up here because a hunter accidentally threw me through a portal leading here."
Her ears perked, "Well, if it were an accident… perhaps they will reopen the portal and you can get back?" she suggested.
Danny chuckled, "D-Doesn't work like that…" his eyes watered, "I-It was a portal that opens at random times in random places…" his voice started shaking and his eyes began to water, "That never open in the same place and time twice…" his heart began to pound in his ears. He began to hyperventilate, "Oh god, I'm never going to get home…" he grabbed the sides of his head and squeezed his eyes shut.
Zelda knelt in front of him, "Hey, easy, we don't know that."
"I'd have to be insanely lucky to find a portal that takes me home. And I mean- lottery levels of lucky." He gasped, trying to control his breathing, his fingers raking through his hair, gripping small handfuls of it and letting go, just to grip another handful.
Zelda set her hands on his shoulders, "It'll be alright." She tried to assure him, but all she could hear him muttering was something about 'too many close calls' or 'pushing my luck' or 'Sam is gonna kill me if I make it back'. She gently took his hands and moved them away from his head "Try to breathe… what's your name?"
"Danny." He exhaled shakily.
"Danny? Alright… my name is Zelda, and you've met Link. You're welcome to stay with us until we figure out how to return you to your world…" she said, "I will not let you handle this alone, alright?"
Danny nodded, "Thanks…" he took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
"Right… now, let's catch up with Link at the stable. We can find you some warm, dry clothes, a warm meal, and a comfortable bed." She gave him a slight smile, "How does that sound?"
"Sounds good…" he said.
She straightened up and held out her hands to help him to his feet. Once Danny was standing, he hugged himself, mostly due to the cold and the fact that he was soaked from the river. He trudged behind her as they walked toward what she claimed to be the stables. To him, it looked more like a circus tent with a weird monster head on the top. Just outside one of the doorways, which was only separated by a service window, was what seemed to be a cooking pot with a fire underneath. Beside that was a small stool. Zelda led him to the doorway, but Danny refused to step in. "What's wrong?" she asked.
Danny shook his head, "I don't want to be around a lot of people right now…" he said. Inside, a small family could be seen huddled around one of the beds, a man with a large pack in the shape of a rhinoceros beetle sat by the support beam talking with Link, wrapping up some sort of transaction. A couple of travelers mingled near one of the tables, and some of the stable staff seemed to be finishing their shift while others came in to cover for them.
Zelda looked at the small crowd, some people had started to stare at the mysterious teen wearing the odd clothes beside her. she sank and looked back at Danny, "Alright…" she took a deep breath and gently took his arm, leading him to the small fire with the cooking pot, "You can sit here, then…" she said, "I will be back. I'm going to check on Link, which I think he's just fine, and I'm going to ask if he has a spare set of clothes for you to borrow…"
Danny nodded, "Thank you again…" he sat down on the ground and curled in on himself.
Zelda watched him stare at the fire with worry. She took a deep breath and started inside. Once she entered, most of the guests bowed their heads with respect or acknowledgment. She walked straight to Link, who sat on a bed, his hand had been bandaged. "How are you feeling?" she asked, trying not to stare at his hand.
Link shrugged, "I'm alright. My hand is going to keep me up tonight, but not much I can do about it." He said. "How's Danny?" he asked, "He looked uncomfortable when you two got here."
"He doesn't want to be around other people. I don't blame him." She said, "He's scared. He's in a new world he doesn't recognize, he doesn't believe there is any possible way home… he's cold, he's wet, the poor boy was in tears after you left." She said. "I told him he could stay with us until we figured out how to get him home. I hope that's alright with you."
Link nodded, "That's fine." He waved his right arm carefully, "I could use the extra hand." He gave her an experimental smirk, raising his eyebrows.
She stared down at him and rose an eyebrow with disapproval.
He sank, defeated as his arm lowered back down to his lap, "Alright, but in all seriousness, I really can use the extra help, considering the healer told me my hand is probably useless now. She suggests I discipline Gladia, but I know it wasn't her fault, she didn't mean it. I can't be mad at her." he said.
"Anyway…" she shook her head, still trying to ignore the pun he had thrown at her, "I was wondering if you had a spare set of clothes for him to borrow, just until we get him his own set."
Link winced, "This was it." He tugged at the shirt he was wearing. "My clothes are drying on the fence outside. I wasn't expecting to have a plus one this trip." He said. "It won't take us long to get to Hateno, fortunately. We'll pick up a tunic and some trousers and boots when we get there. Where are we going to arrange for him to sleep?" he asked.
Zelda shrugged, "Not sure… I do know that we're going to have to rearrange some things." She sighed, "I'll ask the innkeeper for a spare blanket." She turned toward the counter.
"Wait- Princess!" Link cringed at the slip-up, "Zelda…" he looked back up at her, having her attention. He sighed, "Keep an eye on him. There's something odd about him, I'm not sure what it is."
Zelda's ear twitched as she stepped back toward him, "Odd how?"
Link shrugged, "He has some sort of ice magic… I think. When he saw my hand, he set a layer of frost over it. It numbed the pain a little, but… I feel like there's something more to it." He said, "I might be overthinking it… but…" he sighed, "Thought you should know."
Zelda planted a kiss on his forehead. "I'm sure it's fine." She smiled.
**Okay, trying this again- I meant to do this a long time ago, I always saw Link and Danny as friends, blah, blah- the chapter's formatting got weird again, I'm not sure if it's the website or if it's me, because this isn't the first time. Anyway, I hope you like the story. Stay awesome folks!**