Wild's mouth hung open as he gaped at Sky. Blood was spattered on his beige undershirt, glistening in the light of Warriors' lantern, and droplets plunked against his bare feet, but the man didn't seem to notice; neither did he notice the similar shocked expressions of the other men, clad in naught but sleepwear, who crowded into the room.
Sky bent over and picked up Courage's sword, handing it to him with a grimace. "Those gems will need cleaning, the peridots in particular. I can help you with it later if you like."
Courage took the bloodied hilt, flinching at the drip that hit his pant leg, but didn't move his gaze from Sky. "How did you…? You were asleep…?"
Sky chuckled innocently and rubbed the back of his head. The motion seemed completely incompatible with the deadly precision they saw moments ago. It wasn't helped by the crimson liquid he unconsciously smeared into his sandy brown hair.
"I was asleep," he confessed, looking to Wild, "right up until he had you on your feet. It shook the bed and woke me up."
"That's quite some skill," Light added. The shorter man sheathed his sword with a grin. "I've never seen someone move so fast, or so gracefully. I'm amazed you didn't even nick Wild."
Wild barely registered what was being said. His gaze was glued to Sky's hands as the man sat on the edge of his bed and carefully cleaned off the sparkling blade. He held it delicately, lovingly – more so than Wild had ever done with any weapon, even Mipha's trident.
Abruptly the hands stopped. Wild looked up to find Sky watching him in return, head tilted and eyes perplexed. He glanced to Light, who carried a similar confused look as he observed the others in the room. Courage watched them nervously, slowly beginning to clean his own blade. Wild realized suddenly that it was not only him staring at Sky in awe, but the other five heroes as well. They met his eyes, carrying the same shock and recognition he felt himself.
"Uh, is everything okay?" Courage asked hesitantly. The room remained silent. Wild hardly noticed the creak of the bedframe as Sky shifted uncomfortably.
"What is going on?" Light's question carried more than a hint of frustration.
Time swallowed, his voice barely a croak. "That blade… Where…?"
"Where'd you find that?" Wind puzzled. So far Wild had only seen the lobster-shirted boy filled with youthful humor. Even when they had discussed their situation back in the woods, his attitude had held a cheerful, nonchalant air. His words now were void of any humor, his tone clipped and intense, though still bearing a youthful smoothness.
Sky looked between them, then looked down at his lap. Wild watched intently as the man ran a hand over the sparkling steel.
"This sword…" He looked to Light and Courage. "This sword is the Blade of Evil's Bane – the ultimate weapon, created specifically to be man's most powerful tool against the darkness. And it looks like most of you recognize it."
Light and Courage glanced at each other, dumbfounded. Legend pushed his way past Twilight and Warriors to face Sky directly.
"I saved the kingdom with that sword," Legend said bluntly. "Why do you have it? Are you my descendant or the like?"
Wild's stomach churned. Descendant? He felt his hands turn sweaty. Do I have descendants? He met Sky's eyes, the torchlight flickering in his pupils. Azure. Crystal clear azure. Like mine.
"You're not the only one to have wielded the sword," Wind put in. Of the group, he seemed the most calm, once again proving Wild's assumptions about his maturity quite wrong – or his assumptions about his innocence quite right. "None have you have been on the Great Sea, apparently, which means if any of us is going to be anyone's descendant, it's probably me. And I left it at the bottom of the ocean."
Sky's brow furrowed and he opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by a loud crash from the floor above. The heroes jolted into high alert.
"More bandits?" Courage hissed.
"Oh Goddesses," Warriors breathed, "We have a corpse in here."
"Wild's hurt, too," Wind pointed out. Wild put a hand to his neck, remembering the sliver of a cut the thief had nicked into his skin. He hadn't realized how much it was bleeding. A steady but slow trickle wormed its way down his chest, running over the half-dried stains that plastered his front in gooey splotches. He elected to ignore the state of the floor and the cot.
"We can't stay the rest of the night," Twilight said. He rushed to Wild and prompted him to lift his hand. "We're a target now. I'll help Wild. Wind, watch the hall. Keep the other guests away from here."
Wind nodded and disappeared through the doorframe, sword at the ready. Panicked voices and footsteps sounded from the neighboring rooms as doors were thrown open.
"I'll round up our things," Legend added solemnly. As he left, he muttered under his breath, obviously not intending for Wild to hear, but nonetheless Wild picked out three words: Stupid. Drunkards. Reckless.
"Warriors," Twilight called over his shoulder. The blond man turned to him attentively. "Help Sky and Courage take care of the mess. Light, work on the swords. Do not leave a speck on that one." Light nodded firmly, taking the shimmering blade from Sky reverently. "Time, you have bandages, right?"
The man didn't respond. Twilight turned away from examining Wild's neck. "Time?"
The oldest of them stood stone still, face completely unreadable. Wild couldn't tell if he was even breathing.
"Time."
He still didn't move. Wild exchanged looks with Courage.
"Link."
Time seemed to snap out of whatever trance he was in, shaking his head and exhaling deeply before clearing his throat. "Sorry, what?"
"Bandages," Twilight said again.
"Right." Time hesitated for a moment more, throwing a glance to where Light sat cleaning the blades, before vanishing into the hall.
Wild couldn't help but feel uneasy, watching as the others rushed around him. This had been his fault. The bandit didn't go after Time's armor. The bandit didn't go after Legend's rings. He went straight for Wild's wallet. And even with the copious overpayment, the bedding and furnishings that would need replacing surely meant the innkeeper would not be pulling a profit.
"You're gonna need a new shirt," Warriors grimaced at Sky. Sky looked down at himself in surprise. "That much blood isn't going to come out, and you can't wear your mail without it. I'll see if I can steal one. Wash up while I do that."
"Steal one?" Wild started. The sudden motion in his jaw tugged at the wound on his neck, making him wince. "We already cost this innkeep a whole mattress."
"And gained him a whole lot of attention!" Twilight growled. Wild felt himself flinch as the man's royal blue eyes met his with an icy stare. "I don't know what kind of person you are or what kind of life you lived, but whenever the forces of evil found out where I was it was generally a really bad time for all involved. We need to move out. Now. Before we draw the eye of whatever thing brought us here. A stolen scrap of cotton is the least of this inn's worries."
Wild fell silent again, clenching his jaw as Warriors dashed out of the room. He was glad when Time returned and took Twilight's place, the latter moving to help Light with the swords. He wasn't sure what it was, but something about the wolf-pelt boy ticked him off.
Time finished the bandaging just as Legend burst back into the room, several packs slung over one shoulder and hefting their gear in his arms. He tossed Light his tunic and spread the rest on the bed before throwing on his own garb and strapping his sword on his back. Wild gave Time a grateful nod and rushed to join Sky at the room's washbasin, hoping to get some of the sticky carnage off of his bare skin before their departure.
"Heads up, Sky." Warriors reappeared, tossing a cream-colored shirt to the slightly less-bloody hero, who caught it out of the air. "Is that everything, Legend?"
"Should be," the man replied, slipping on the last of his rings. "I grabbed a few blankets as well. Gods know we need them."
"So we're all thieves then…" Wild muttered.
"Hey it's your fault we're in this mess, Champion!" Legend spat.
Wild grit his teeth and returned to his task. Rarely had arguing for himself led to any productive outcome, and this seemed to be one of those times. Even as the group gathered hastily and escaped into the dark of the night, he chose not to say any more. Words wouldn't change minds. It was better to stay quiet, better to bear it in silence, to let people believe what they needed. He was practiced at that. And practiced at making his actions speak for themselves.
The heroes crept through the town at a hurried pace. They'd managed to leave the chaos of the inn before any had discovered their… incident, Wind doing a surprisingly good job at directing the pandemonium away from their rooms. He'd convinced the cleaning staff that something was lurking in the stables, and while the patrons scrambled to get a good look, the nine Links made their hasty escape out the front. Now, Time led the way, holding a dimly lit lantern over the crinkled map in his hand.
"This city is much too large for my liking," Time grumbled, shaking the map flat to get a better look. "The south gate is easily a half-hour's jog."
"That's less than helpful," Warriors groaned. "I don't want to be anywhere near here when the innkeep finds… that."
A half hour? Wild had a thought jump into his head, and he jogged to catch up with Time.
"Let me see." His request was met with a raised eyebrow, but Time offered it to him, and they came to a stop.
Wild's eyes darted over the map intensely. Where they stood now was an offshoot from a larger road some three miles ahead to the northeast, sealed off from the other offshoots almost completely by the tightly-wedged buildings. The larger road led west to a square that split off to the south, winding down through the city and out into the countryside. Following the roads would be just as Time had concluded – at least a half-hour.
"Well, Champion? Seen something the old man hasn't?"
He didn't dignify that with a response. The most direct route by road was much too long a journey. As the crow flies, that distance was maybe fifteen minutes at most. Wild couldn't fly anymore, but he could get pretty close.
Handing back the map, he turned and examined the buildings. Any of those will do for me, but what about the others? He spotted a one-story shop of sorts, wedged between two taller buildings, with sturdy window frames and rather pronounced siding. That'll work.
"Follow me!" He called. He could feel the others exchanging looks of confusion behind him. He took a focusing breath and launched himself forward.
His nimble footfalls turned into an upward push, landing him on the side of the building several feet up with a firm hold on the wood. The slivers weren't pleasant, but the ease of the surface and the momentum he had built propelled him up the wall and onto the roof without so much as a stumble. Not that a stumble would've stopped him; he'd managed to climb crazier things in a much less graceful fashion.
Wild had expected some of them to have difficulty climbing, but he hadn't expected them to all be staring.
"Well? Come on! It'll be faster to cut over the houses."
He watched them pass around shrugs before they moved to join him.
"Would you look at that, the man does have a brain," Legend muttered. Wild was poised to kick him off the building the moment he came up.
Sky was the first to follow, taking a good run and scrambling up over the edge with a helping hand from Wild. Time followed, being a little more subtle with his movements but still making quick work of the wall. Twilight – to Wild's inner delight – tried to copy Time's method, but immediately fell in the dirt. If they weren't in such a hurry, Wild would've straight up cackled.
"Climbing is a no for me," Warriors sighed. He reached into his pack and pulled out a tool Wild could not imagine the use of. It seemed to have a handle, sort of like a lamp, but in the darkness, he could only make out that it was made entirely of metal, and definitely not a lamp. "Take a step back. My aim with this has never been great." He raised the device and pointed it towards the roof.
Before Wild could so much as duck, the gadget fired. A streak of shiny metal shot out of the apparatus, a chain clinking behind it as the point flew, wedging itself into the rim of the roofing. Warriors took a few steps closer to the building and clicked the device again. With terrifying speed, the chain retracted, pulling Warriors up and launching him just over the lip onto the shingles.
"Dammit!" Twilight cursed from his spot in the dirt. "Why didn't I think of that? I have something like that too."
"It's okay," Legend sang with a smirk, "Your tunic was getting clean anyway. It needed a good roll in the dust."
Twilight scowled but removed two similar devices from his pouch, these bearing large claws rather than a point. "Keep talking. I dare you."
Wild turned to Sky, puzzled, but saw him also pulling a pair of clawed contraptions from his pack. He turned to Time to ask, and saw he held one almost identical to Warriors'.
"Agh does everyone have those? Everyone but me?" he groaned.
"Looks like!" Wind called from below, brandishing his own. "Hookshots!"
"They're quite handy." Wild could hear the snarky grin in Legend's voice, the man also holding a hookshot. "It looks like pretty boy might have a brain too."
"That would've been so useful…" Wild murmured. All the times he had slipped in the rain. All the times his strength had given out. All the times Revali's Gale hadn't quite been enough. Damn, did I miss a day in Hero Orientation or something? He rolled his eyes to himself. Not that I'd remember if I did.
"You and your fancy gadgets," Courage chuckled suddenly.
Legend turned to him, irritated. "What, jealous?"
"Not at all," Courage grinned. "I don't need one. Why would I be jealous when I can do better without?"
Wild's indignation turned into a slight smirk, before dropping into an open-mouthed gape. With a step back and a moment's breath, Courage leapt from the street and onto the roof in a single bound, shimmers of deep blue swirling at his feet.
Legend's raised eyebrows dropped into a scowl and he waved his hookshot angrily. "Now that's just not fair!"
"Not fair?" Courage laughed. "Is this a competition then?"
"If it is…" Light began. Wild could make out his shadow fastening something to his headband. A moment later, Light vaulted onto the roof after Courage. Wild could see a large blue feather now tucked behind his ear. "I'm going to win!"
Wild ducked out of the way as Legend's hookshot whizzed past, thunking into the wood of the adjacent building. With another click, a blur of red hurtled past him, releasing the hook from its grip and soaring on momentum up into the sky. Silhouetted against the moon, Wild saw a large, feathery cape billowing over the man's shoulders.
"Bring it on, shorty!"
Wild watched in awe – and somewhat in horror – as one by one the others flew over his head. At this rate, he'd be left behind. What had been a frantic escape only moments ago had turned into a game, and one he was losing. Did the others even know where they were going?
He had to get in front. This was his idea. They'd definitely get lost if he wasn't in the lead. Definitely. That was the only reason he needed to be in first.
No, who was he kidding? He loved a good contest.
As even Time left him behind on the roof, whisked away by his metallic miracle, Wild took a crouch, putting a hand to the shingles.
"C'mon, Revali," he murmured. "One more time. You love this stuff."
The familiar whirl didn't come.
"Alright, fine then," he grumbled. He could practically hear Revali's laughter from the other side, surely proud he'd slowed him down, but he opted to take being left behind to his advantage. He wasn't sure if he was ready to show the others the Sheikah Slate's abilities yet, so this was the perfect moment.
Wild dropped onto the road behind the shop and set to searching. It wasn't even a minute before he found what he was looking for: propped up in the street was an advertisement plank, maybe three feet long and two feet wide, offering apples at half price. He grinned. With another jump and a kick he found himself back on the roof. In the distance he could see blurred figures hopping up and down over the rooftops. Figures that were about to lose.
He pulled his slate off his belt and hefted it in one hand, adjusting the settings and putting himself in a good position. Then, in one fluid motion, he tossed the board a few feet in front of him and froze it.
The Stasis Rune had honestly become one of his favorites over the years, though he hadn't used the slate version in quite some time. It was incredibly handy for a variety of situations. Needed to stop a rock from crushing you? Click. About to get hit in the face with a club? Click. Wanted to cheat at sand seal racing? Click. Freezing things in a time bubble of yellow light, it was an incredibly useful bit of magic. Er, science. Whatever it actually was.
He pulled the mangled sword from his back and began to hack at the floating market sign, using the slate to judge how much inertia he had put into it. As the pulse of the light began to quicken, he flattened to the roof and put a very precise poke into the frozen wood. Perfect. Grinning evilly, he jumped onto the board and gripped the front with one hand.
Here I come.
Courage leapt over another building, thanking the Goddesses he had the magic for this. The Jump spell wasn't too costly, and so far he'd only cast it twice more. Absolutely worth it, though. He'd managed to keep up with the others, and had even taken the lead here and there. Admittedly, the pack was very close, and it was impossible to tell who would actually make the town line first, but he was pretty pleased with how he was faring.
He took another jump to the next row of buildings, landing lightly on the roof as Warriors' hookshot flew past him. Wind had developed this sort of hookshot-grappling hook technique, using the spring-loaded projectile to gain him some speed and his claw-fisted rope to maneuver more precisely through the air. Sky and Twilight were having a very intense duel, both wielding double clawshots, darting around the rooftops in a tense battle of who could get the best target first. Time, miraculously, was handily beating them both with only the one and what looked to be a pair of luminescent moon-yellow boots. Courage couldn't tell what they were or how they worked at the speed the group was moving, but they certainly kept Time further up in the pack.
Another chimney passed under his feet, Light just behind him and Legend just ahead on his right. Light's feather gave him more height than Legend's cloak, much more similar to Courage's own Jump spell, but Legend's cloak gave him distance. He'd started using the cloak to glide and aim his hookshot, jolting him forward to the next roof with enough momentum to carry his next jump before he'd repeat the process. It was definitely giving Courage a run for his money, but he had one advantage; it didn't take as much stamina to cast Jump.
Suddenly, a torrent of blue and black careened between him and Light, a shout of victorious laughter ringing back to them as it shot past Legend and into the distance. Red sparks trailed behind in the catastrophe's wake, lighting up the city and highlighting the look of utter disbelief plastered on Legend's face. The heroes came to a dead halt, and over the rooftop echoed one sentence:
"Last one to Castle Town's a hookshot!"