Green shuffled sluggishly through the thick snow. His eyes darted aimlessly to and fro the snowy wasteland. He searched for anything that stood out amidst the white - a building, a brightly colored tunic, or blond hair that almost all heroes share. He had been wandering for Hylia-knows-how-many hours now, with no sign of civilization at sight. His three brothers were nowhere to be found - he was alone with only his usual garb and his version of the Four Sword strapped loosely on his back.

It has been days since they landed in this unknown era with no one but themselves. Green did not know where the other heroes were - they were separated before that cursed portal spat out Four in this Hyrule. He could still remember vividly how he and the others fought tooth to nail against the horde of monsters that cornered them in their own camp.

It was a losing battle - Vio had grimly voiced out. Warriors was forced to send Four and Hyrule to chase Time and Wild. It is probably not the best plan, but it would not do anyone good if all of them got captured. The two of them rode Epona and barrelled through their enemies just to escape their dirty clutches. The Smith had glanced behind him as they rode away - the last thing he saw were Warriors, Sky, and Wind surrounded while they tried to protect their two unconscious members. That chilling image remained imprinted in the Colors' shared mindscape even up to this moment.

They never found Time and Wild.

When the two heroes finally decided to turn back and return to the others, all their companions had disappeared. The monsters left nothing but blood and destruction in their wake. Then, it was an internal battle as the four personas debated staying or chasing after their kidnapped friends. In the end, it was the portal that decided for them.

The pain that accompanied the time-traveling was far worse than he remembered it to be. Four felt like he was being stretched into painful proportions and his insides scooped out like a hard-shelled fruit. When he finally came to, he found himself submerged in freezing water, and Hyrule and Epona were nowhere to be found. The Smith tried and failed multiple times to breach the surface and climb the thin ice sheets before finally dividing himself for better chances. By the time the separated heroes escaped their subzero near-death, they were drenched, numb, and barely conscious on their feet.

The Colors managed to find a cave to stay in and warm themselves. Everything else was a blur after that, but Green remembered it was a fight for survival. Food was scarce, and they had almost nothing on their person. Red was terribly sick, and the rest of them fared no better.

It was a risky gamble to leave the safe confines of the cave and search for anyone who could help them. There was an avalanche, and Green got separated from the others. He did not know where his brothers were - if they were safe and still together or buried alive underneath the snow. He silently prays it would not be the latter. They had already lost the other heroes - their brothers-in-arms. Losing themselves would be the final nail in a coffin.

Green wrapped his arms around himself as he shuddered. His breaths came out in white puffs as he surveyed the area. His body had threatened to fail him multiple times now, but he knew he had to hold on. Falling unconscious now would be a death wish. He trudged forward, urging his numb body towards the blue light at a distance. His footsteps were heavy - each laced with more effort than he remembered walking required.

Vio…Blue…Red…where are they? Where…? Green has to find them. He has to find his brothers and their fellow heroes. He tried to call for anyone's name, but his voice came out as a weak croak. The white world blurred before his eyes, and before he realized it, he had collapsed. He had barely the energy to shiver at the cold that touched his skin nor kept his eyes trained at the blue light. The ground thumped beneath him, and something blocked his blurry sight.

Dim green eyes flicked up as a gigantic form of white and black loomed above him. His ears rang from a roar, and something glinted in the sky. What is that…? A star…? Whoever or whatever it is brought down its beefy arms as the frigid air sang with the music of Death. Green could only lay there, barely aware of the malice rolling off from the creature in front of him.

"GROARRR!"

There was a loud SQUELCH! of metal piercing flesh, and the earth rocked underneath Green. A deformed blade sank inches away from his face as its owner stumbled back in pain. Infected blood stained the immaculate white before the hero's very eyes as a brown mass stepped between him and the creature. Two pairs of boots jumped down to Green's view - one farther than the other. The closer one knelt to his side as gloved hands gently lifted and cradled his face.

"En…? Gre…en? Sir Green?"

Who…? The hero could not see well who it was, but the image of Dot filtered in his mind's eye. He tried to reach her face, but he could not. His body felt too numb and heavy even to twitch a muscle. An unholy bellow cut through the air and shook the earth, followed by a loud neigh of a horse. Snow crunched somewhere ahead of him, and Green caught a glimpse of a nest of honey-blond hair. The hefty weapon that nearly sliced on his face flashed underneath the fragmented moonlight.

"How dare you!"

That voice…Blue? Green struggled to focus, but the words still reached him clearly as if the owner was speaking in his head. However, that person is not Blue. He is taller with a larger build than he or any of his brothers has. Who? Who is…?

"I'm going to kill you!" Blue's voice growled. The wrath in his words was unmistakable. "How dare you hurt Green!"

Green grappled with the cold seeping in his bones and tried to see who it was, but the person had disappeared entirely from his sight. He fought to sit up, but a gentle hand stopped him. There was a flash of bright blue, and he was suddenly swaddled in layers of fabric. The hero tried to look up and speak, but Dot's lookalike shook her head.

"Save…strength." Worry softened the edges of the stern voice. There was a clink of a glass, and Green felt something pressed against his cracked lips. "Drink. It'll help…warm."

The hero could do nothing but let the tangy liquid pour into his throat. A different drink followed after - this time, something sweet. Warmth almost immediately pooled in his stomach, and he felt his wounds mended on their own, but it was not enough. Green felt sleepy - the sounds of a frantic battle slowly muting in the creeping black.

"Blue…" Green murmured weakly. "Zel…Zelda…"

"Sleep," The princess told him. "Everything...fine, so rest, Sir Green."

Zelda watched as the green-clad hero's eyes finally fluttered close. Her eyes drifted to his chest and watched the steady rise and fall - an indication that the man was still alive. However, it does not mean he is out of danger - they still need to bring him to a warm place as soon as possible. All she had done was to slow down the onset of hypothermia. His skin was pale with an unnatural tinge of blue - she could feel him tremble involuntarily underneath the thick blankets and towels she had wrapped him with.

Orange flared at the edge of her sight, and she turned to see a familiar figure danced clumsily among the flames as it approached the White-Maned Lynel. Why a Lynel is here far south from its territory was beyond Zelda, but if she took into account Teba's report of the massive monster migration, that would suffice as an explanation.

"SHIT!"

The princess' eyes widened in alarm as Link, or whoever is in control of his body right now, narrowly avoided being impaled by multiple shock arrows and ungracefully skidded on the snow. He rolled out the way in the nick of time before the Lynel rammed at him.

Zelda's shrill cry has not gone unheard. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"

"Fighting!" That was Blue. He gritted his teeth as the hero nearly tripped on his feet to avoid a fireball aimed at him. "With all due respect, Princess!" He yelled. "What the fuck do you think we're doing? We're going to die if we - FUCK! Vio, switch with me!"

Link sidestepped as the monster charged at them. His purple eyes glittered with subtle annoyance as Vio tried to get his bearings after being suddenly pushed to control. "This Lynel…are all Wild's monsters this powerful?" He glanced at the monster's blood staining the stolen blade by his hand. "It's not even infected."

"Vio, focus!" Blue called out in their borrowed mindscape. "It's charging at us again!"

"Tch!" Vio clucked his tongue and jumped away. However, he reacted slower than he should have, and the sharp part of the monster's shield scraped against the hero's side. The Champion hissed in pain and dropped the weapon. He touched his side and felt warm liquid trickle slowly between his fingers - Vio did not need to see what it was, given the sting needling Link's side.

This is not good. None of them have reasonable control of the hero's body. They were fortunate enough to be able to walk out from where they woke up and ride one of the Champion's steeds. They were incredibly lucky to go this far and last this long against a much stronger version of the Lynels they fought in this joint quest. But if this goes on like this…

Vio cursed as the monster aimed three fireballs at the Hero of the Wild again. Heat seared the air beside the man's face as he scrambled ungracefully to the side. The Lynel dashed towards them, picked up its weapon on the way, and would have sliced the Champion to half if it were not for a bomb arrow embedding and exploding on its side.

"Hey! Catch!"

Link barely cast a glance as his hand shot out and caught the handle of a sword. A fleeting thought at how bad the weapon's condition is passed between the Colors as Vio switched out with Red. The Hylian pushed himself off his feet and slashed upward. The chipped blade tore at the torso of the monster, sending it rearing back in pain and fury. The Champion rolled away as the Lynel stomped its hooves where he was standing a second ago.

"Blue!"

"It's Red!" Red called back and yelped as the monster charged at them. He barely managed to dodge and stumbled back on the snow. "ACK! Blue, switch! Switch!"

Zelda lowered her Royal Bow and pinched the bridge of her nose. Right. She should probably stick with a different name. "Listen! You have to stop fighting as yourself! That isn't your body!" She shouted. "Fight as Link!"

"Easy for you to say!" Blue quipped. "You aren't the one inside another person's body!"

"Cool it, Blue!" Vio scolded. "This isn't the time."

"Then, what do you want me to say?" Blue hissed as the Lynel slammed its Savage Lynel Sword down at him. The blue-eyed hero managed to raise his weapon and block the enemy's blade from slicing him into two. "'Oh, Your Most Gracious Highness! What wise advice. Let us just wake our sleeping friend and learn his ways while we're about to get killed!' Is that what you want me to say?"

"I can hear you!" Zelda shot back, then muttered to herself. "Asshole."

"Oh, for Hylia's sake!"

Vio snatched control back from his brother and disengaged from the monster. He veered the Champion's body to jump to the side, narrowly avoiding the next assault, only to land on his feet and find the world moving unusually. He could see everything - the intricate designs of individual snowflakes, the direction where the Lynel was moving next, and even a herd of antlered creatures grazing far ahead of them. Time seemed to have slowed down - or was it that he was moving fast? - and he could see everything. No, Vio could predict everything - the outcome of the battle could easily be on the palms of his hands.

It lasted only for a few seconds before the surroundings turned to normal. Vio could hear Link's heart hammered in his chest as he stepped back to distance himself from the monster. Another bomb arrow struck the monster, giving the man more distance from the Lynel. The purple-eyed hero nodded gratefully at the princess as his brothers clamored in their shared mindscape.

"Guys! Guys! Did you see that?" Red was nearly vibrating in excitement. "What was that?"

"VIO, WHAT THE FUCK?" Blue exclaimed in utter disbelief. "What the fuck did you do?"

Vio did not know. Or at least, he is not sure. However, they have witnessed moments when the Hero of the Wild would move or fire arrows too fast for their eyes to follow. The Champion called it Flurry Rush - a combative temporal ability he possessed. Is that what it is…?

Vio's eyes flicked to the Lynel, who had lowered and planted its hands on the snow. It pawed the ground with its front hoof, spraying snow behind it. Its snout breathed large white puffs as it prepared to attempt to run over the Hylian again. The purple-eyed hero could not help but pull up Link's lips into a wicked grin. It seemed that possessing the Champion's body might have done something wrong to his sanity.

"Listen, you two," Vio spoke up. "I have an idea. It might sound crazy and reckless, but it's an idea, nonetheless."

Red sweatdropped. He did not like the sound of that. "Uhhh…how crazy are we talking about?"

"Very." Vio was sure he was already unhinged at this point. "We're going to pull something that only Wild could do."

"Holy shit! It's official!" Blue shouted. He would have screamed all over the place if he was in his body. "He finally lost it. Vio finally lost it! The smartest among us had gone insane!"

"Vio! You're scaring me."

Vio did not comment further. Instead, he coaxed Link's body into a defensive stance. "Listen well, you two!" He started. "We need to time this right and act quickly. I'll dodge the Lynel's next attack, and the moment we land on the ground, Blue switch with me. Attack it the hardest and fastest you can, and when I tell you to pull out, Red will take over and get us to safety. Do you understand?"

"Do you think this will work?"

Vio hefted and brandished the sword. "Only one way to find out." Without tearing off his eyes on the monster, he called out to Zelda. "Princess, don't fire! We're coming in!"

"What are you -"

"Trust us!"

Vio did not know if this era's princess would listen - they were strangers, after all - but it is a do-or-die situation right now. He kept his eyes on the monster as he lowered himself and shifted his weight on the soles of the hero's boots. A couple of seconds seemed like an eternity when the Lynel finally charged at the Hylian. His heart hammered with each meter the creature covered. It is a gamble to rely on the Hero of the Wild's reflexes, but the monster was just a hand's width from him when they kicked in.

Link leaped to the side gracefully in the face of Death, and time skidded to a near-halt. Boots touched the ground, and piercing blue flashed in the hero's eyes. He whirled to the side and fiercely slashed his sword at the monster - the lower half, the torso, and even the face. One...three...seven...There was no mercy found in the stained glint of the weapon. Blood flew out in suspended droplets with each strike until the blade shattered into glowing pieces.

"Red!"

The red-eyed hero needed no further instructions. There was no hesitation as he jumped back just in time for everything to speed back to normal. The loud THUD! of a massive body collapsing was drowned by the blood pounding in the hero's ears. The snow burst before his very eyes as the Lynel crumpled on the earth, unable to stand any longer. However, it was not done yet as it roared and made a final bid to destroy the Hylian.

Shock arrows were loaded in, but the princess was faster. The air whistled as a bomb arrow cut through and struck the monster just below one of its horns. An explosion rocked and lighted the overcast sky in a brilliant show of red, orange, and yellow. The burning body swayed and finally fell defeated on the snowy ground, and the Colors could only watch as the monster was slowly reduced to ashes and smoke.

They won. They had won, but the celebration would come later as they commanded Link's body to stand and hurry toward where their brother was. They saw Green's limp form secured atop Epona as black began to creep at the edges of their sight. Their collective consciousness was being forcibly yanked from their borrowed body by an unknown force. The Colors did not realize that the hero had stumbled and collapsed on the ground. Their last memory within that body was this era's Zelda running towards them and calling for their names in a genuine panic. The man's eyes finally fluttered closed and, then…

…Then, they were in a dark chamber. Orange lights glowed like eyes against the walls, barely illuminating the place. The air was musty with age, as if it was untouched for ages and only opened recently. The patterns on the wall seemed familiar to the Colors, but they could not pinpoint where they had seen it. They each tried to sit up but could not. It was only then any of them realized that they were shoved into one body submerged in glowing blue liquid. None of them could move nor speak - only for the heroes to realize that this is not their body - Four's body. Then, whose…?

The body's partially opened eyes caught movement at their right, and they gazed blearily at the faint shimmering outline of a woman kneeling by the side of the tub. Her delicate hands caressed the person's cheeks as if they were the most precious thing in the world.

"Link."

The woman's voice sounded eerily like Sun. Her gentle blue eyes gazed at the hero tenderly as she lifted herself and pressed her forehead against his. Her blonde locks fell down her bare shoulders like a polished curtain of gold, and her dress – white as the purest snow – rippled on her lithe form.

"Link…my chosen hero." The woman's voice whispered. "Your fragmented soul is not your fault. It never is. Know that you are loved. Someday, I promise you. You shall become whole again and reunite with the Spirit of the Master Sword. She awaits you, her master. Whether skyward bound, adrift in time, or steeped in the glowing embers of twilight, the sacred blade is forever bound to the soul of the hero."

"So, rest." The woman kissed him on the forehead. "Rest, Link, and ease your ills. Someday…we shall meet again."

A song, a ballad sung into a lullaby, filled the silence of the lonely shrine. Finally, the hero's eyes slid closed, and he drifted to a slumber of one hundred years.