Hello,

I, uh, clarified with a reviewer (thank you for the review again!) that this story is not related to the Linked Universe AU. I don't know too much about that one...I'm just kinda doing this. S'dumb I know.

And if any of you have any questions, please feel free to ask! I'm not the best at writing, and I want to make sure that it's not too confusing or whatnot.

But thanks to all of you who are reading this, and for the feedback.

Chapter 3- Names and More Dumb Stuff

Nicknames? Actually what Tatl had proposed wasn't a bad idea...if any of them were to address each other it would probably be confusing for at least one of them. And if they were related like their hunch, it would be more so. Tatl was pushy, but she wasn't dumb.

"Actually, I was thinking about that, I lost my focus. So...wait, does he smell the same too, Dusk?" The Hero of the Minish, and the youngest one there prompted. The Hero of Twilight whom he was referring nodded after a moment and then paused looking down at the younger boy in mild confusion.

"Dusk? Well, that sounds reasonable...a bit like a dog's name but I guess that's fitting. Considering" The newly anointed Dusk sighed. "Better than Twilight, that's a mouthful and I'm not exactly fond of the stuff." Dusk suddenly smirked and rested a hand on the Hero of the Minish's head, "Since you made mine, I get to nickname you."

Said child groaned and begrudgingly stood up from where he was sitting and helped the boy who was previously a plant up to his feet as well...even though he had just sat down. He was getting a bit restless anyway. "Aw poo, I had one in mind already, but that's only fair." He frowned. The two had already briefly filled each other in on their adventures when they first entered the village of Clock Town while finding somewhere to rest to properly talk. It was nothing much, just a general gist of what they still both need to accomplish and some rather big things that the two could do. Dusk could turn into a wolf and dealt with the Twilight, and the other...shrunk down to the size of the Minish and worked with them to go after the evil mage Vaati. Simple things like that.

Dusk chuckled a bit darkly, which must have come from his companion, Midna's, influence. Off-putting would be the word. "Tiny."

Tiny blinked a few times and crossed his arms as Dusk ruffled his blond hair that was spiked up in a few places. It was valid. The other two people remaining, Tatl and the unnamed Link, nodded and Tatl seemed finally placated.

The Hero of Time reached out a hand once more, of course towards Tiny who had refused him earlier to hopefully redeem the younger boy. "Right, call me Masks then."

However, yet again, no one reached for Masks' hand gesture. Neither Tiny nor Dusk. Masks sighed and put it down again, but this time he swore for good. Man, that kid held a grudge. "Now about that descendant thing...You said you've heard of me, Dusk?"

Tatl fluttered off elsewhere to check the schedule of a citizens day as she put it, but at least Masks knew what she was talking about. The young Hero of Time watched her fly off with a frown before he turned back to the other two, one of whom was more interested than the other. Tiny just seemed confused, though Dusk seemed confused in a thoughtful way.

Dusk nodded, but he hesitated. "I have heard of you, yes. In legends...growing up I'd been told stories in my village about the great Hero of Time and how he'd saved our land of Hyrule. He'd been a soldier since he was young and...well stories differ on how he went on. It wasn't ideal...that's how I met his spirit since his regrets didn't let him move on, I guess. I don't really know that much more about him aside from the stories."

Masks, rightfully, looked a bit pale and averted his gaze to his scuffed brown boots, and clenched his fists. If this weren't so important, he would have simply run off to go find Tatl to clear his aching mind in the process. But he had to be strong, this regarded his apparent future, after all.

Dusk noticed his hero's off disposition and put his hands up in a panicked gesture. "But...don't worry about that too much, Masks, if it is you. That's a far way off, and I've heard much more good than bad. Besides, the Light Spirits hold you in really high regard as a chosen hero, which is probably why they regarded me so high in the first place, being one myself apparently."

He chuckled and picked at his waist below his interlocked belts at the hem of his green tunic. "They actually gave me these. Called them Hero clothes, based on the Hero of Time. Which," he moved his left hand to Masks' ensemble with a clinking chain. "considering you might be him, is accurate." He blushed a bit and moved his gesturing hand back to his chin. This thankfully earned a smile from Masks, pulling him away from what could only be bad thoughts.

The young Hero of time, despite the unfortunate hearsay, brushed it off and proceeded to mock Dusk's appropriation of his own clothes that he got back in his home village of Kokiri Forest a long, long time ago.

Tiny sighed at this, however, and looked down at his own clothes. They were simply a green tunic and undershirt, his gear, his pants, and his calf-length boots. They were very similar in style to the two other Links around him, but they were just a few pieces of clothing that he owned. Nothing special about them. "Uh, I haven't heard of the Hero of Time." The only legends he was ever told by his father were ones of the Picori and something about people who supposedly used to live in the sky? Nothing about being special or anything. He was just the only one who could do anything about Vaati in the time frame based on his age. "And those tunics? I just happened to be wearing this specific one when the castle was attacked...I don't get it." He had begun to sound crestfallen at this, his expression slackening.

Tiny's father, the town smith back home, had really only ever told him about the Picori, as the Minish people are what made him the happiest and really excited him. The only other thing he could remember being told about that he had not drowned out by other things was the legend of an old tribe of people who lived in the skies. They had apparently settled down on the surface land and then became the people who descended into his own countrymen. His best friend, the princess, Zelda herself was rather fond of that one, which is probably the only reason he remembered that one.

If Tiny didn't know about the Hero of Time, and Dusk- who is his apparent descendant or something -did, then what did that make him? Masks and Dusk were related? But, they all smelt the same...how did he fit in? Unless it went deeper than that. He supposed it didn't change much about the situation he happened to find himself in. So he was with two very similar people that may or may not be related? To each other that is, he still didn't know why he had to be here. It was fun at first, Tiny could admit to himself, but now he was growing weary again. He wanted to move. He wanted to get out of the gaze of the moon. And he just wanted Ezlo back to reassure him.

He fell down to his knees at some point and stared at the ground. He just wanted to know what was going on. He didn't care if he was being dramatic.

Masks squinted for a few seconds at the younger Tiny and sighed. His younger companion looked about ready to shut himself into his mind to get away from the topic. His features were lit by the setting sun casting his face further into an expression Masks hated seeing on anyone, particularly those younger than him. He knew how hard things could get when forced into situations that were less than ideal for a child to deal with. He was glad to have something else to focus on than his supposed bad demise, but having another feel just as hopeless wasn't any better. It felt worse.

He supposed anything that he could say to him wouldn't help with any of the topics at hand, but maybe a simple act of understanding could. He took a slow step towards Tiny and rested a hand on one of his shoulders. The kid flinched ever so slightly at the touch but leaned into it all the same. It seemed to help for the moment, but he still thought it better to stay quiet.

He might have had to deal quite a bit with time travel, but he was no expert on how it worked or why some of the things happens as it does. It was one thing for the younger hero not to have heard of him, but it was another that he didn't think he had heard of the Hero of the Minish either. Maybe he had a long time ago? During the times when the Great Deku Tree would tell stories to ease the children of his village during the dark forest nights when sleep wouldn't come. It seemed likely to tell a heroic story of old to children to take their minds off the horrors of a dark forest teeming with uncertainty, while also tiring them out. It must have been a long time ago though because he could barely remember if he had heard of the younger hero or not.

He raised his hand off of Tiny's shoulder and made brief eye contact at Dusk, who had taken it upon himself to do the same with his own hand on the child's shoulder. Masks lowered his hand and looked to the sky, it was getting really dark out, and the local businesses would surely be closing soon. Tatl should have been back by then...he looked around for his fairy once more and then gasped, finally noticing the time that had passed. He had forgotten that he had somewhere to be...due to the moon he was on a tight schedule bound to the patterns and schedules of the different denizens of Termina. "Oh, shit," He jumped to a rigid position and abruptly pulled Tiny to his feet, Dusk as well becoming tense.

He really needed to start paying more attention to his surroundings.

The young Hero of Time suddenly vaulted himself forward towards the eastern section of Clock Town shoving right past his company. "You're both gonna have to follow me, sorry!" Tatl was probably waiting for him by the Town Inn already. He didn't turn to confirm but he could hear the other two hesitate and then they thundered their way to follow him. He didn't have time...thanks to the Goddess forsaken moon strapping him to such a stressful schedule. "I'm on a time crunch!"

And when he had made it several strides ahead, he then tripped on his large green scarf and landed face-first into the cobblestone below him.

Masks paused lying uncomfortably, taking a moment to gather his pride as he lay crumpled on the stone. He was about to sit up and mumble some words to defend his ego, but before he could, he felt one of his companions at his side urging him up as quickly as possible. During that quick moment, he heard the other bolt right past the two of them and audibly unsheathed his weapon and his shield. This snapped him right out of his stupor and he winced as he hurried to stand and pull his Gilded sword out as well.

He first looked to Tiny to see he was numbly searching through the pouches on his side for a formidable weapon, and then turned his gaze to Dusk. He was locked in a stalemate, his gleaming sword interlocked with another blade in a battle of strength, his shield held to his right being bombarded with clanking sparks of effort. He was unable to see his attackers, but a flood of courage propelled him forward to his aid. It looked like it had to be more than one competent opponent.

How did monsters get into Clock Town? Weren't there guards at the entrances to protect her?

Lunging forward, Masks made haste by pushing hard with his right foot and leaned forward with his sword tip in front of him. The edge of the blade mixed with his speed worked in formidable tandem against anything that he would face, it had become a reliable strategy in the past. He flew blindly past Dusk and launched his sword forward, only for it to be caught on a shield. Raising his own hefty shield, he pushed up with a grunt and knocked his opponent's guard off balance. It would appear that the monsters were not monsters at all, but people. That made fighting worse.

He gaped at the appearance of his particular opponent, a terribly angry teenager with glazed over eyes, but that moment of hesitation left him open. He felt an arrow from his right side impale itself into his lower leg before he could react and block the next one sailing its way towards him by readying his shield. He hadn't even seen where it came from over Dusk's own struggling form. Reflex alone saved his other side, for he shot his left arm up as well to block an attack from his main assailer. Sure enough, a hearty clang set him off balance, at least protecting him from the blow. However, he took a step back to correct his balance, but the weight on his right leg sent pain up his body from the arrow still lodged in his calf.

Masks winced, but rocked forward back onto his unscathed leg and prepared to send a horizontal slash with his blade with a short shout back towards the blue form in front of him. Expecting the blow, the scathing expression of the attacker blended into a crazed smirk and he sent his own small wooden shield up to knock Masks off of his feet once more.

Perfect, that's just what Masks was hoping for. He couldn't help the smile that spread across his face as he pulled his sword back to himself before connecting, and avoided the shield by rolling around to his opponent's back. He pounced on the form in blue and knocked him to the ground, effectively disarming him. As quickly as he could, Masks kicked away the weapon with his own as he lay his weight on the violent teen in blue keeping him pinned to the ground.

Without too much effort he was able to keep the blue kid from attacking Dusk or Tiny, as they inevitably took out the other attackers. He didn't know how many there were, but he soon found himself paralyzed as he felt a form behind him getting closer and closer to his back. He didn't need to turn to feel an unfriendly gaze boring into the back of his head.

For the second time that day, he cursed his dependence on the comfort of his scarf, because he felt it being tugged at. He was about to flip around and gather up a plan when he saw a boomerang whip past him and felt his scarf be let go along with a painful thump as the boomerang surely hit its target. Masked looked up to see Tiny jump up to catch the boomerang that saved Masks a lot of trouble. He nodded in thanks and returned his full attention to the form underneath him.

Wait...the form had stopped moving altogether, breathing slow and drawn out as if unconscious. Wearily he lifted up the kid's head by pulling his long ear to see that his previously glossy eyes had been closed. He blinked and let a sigh out through his nose. Masks slowly got to his feet and retained a tight grip on his sword and shield as he finally caught up to Dusk. He had had a similar idea of disarming his attackers, and it seemed he had Tiny to thank as well for a similar save of a boomerang toss. Two more teens lay at his own feet, all seeming to be unconscious.

Weird, they all looked bruised and oddly at peace...and even more oddly the four of them were identical. Masks took a slow step forward to investigate but fell victim to his leg once more. He had forgotten about that darned arrow impaled into his right calf. "I hate it when that happens." He groaned and held his breath as he prepared to yank it out. He did so quickly, but couldn't manage to stifle a yelp. Discarding the arrow behind him without much care, he turned towards his two companions. He brushed off Dusk and Tiny's approach and pointed again at the four downed teenagers that had just attacked them. "That's the real issue. I'm already past my deadline anyway...and arrows are nothing."

"Well as much as I'll agree that I hate arrows, I hate getting ambushed by a group more. At least no civilian is around at this hour." Dusk sighed nodding at Masks and joined his investigation. "Wonder what made them so intent on attacking us? When you tripped, I spotted the lot of them about to rush in with the arms." He leaned towards one of the four lying forms and picked up one of the figures' hats off of the ground, it was purple. And it looked like his.

The four looked identical to each other, but that's not where the uncanny appearances ended.

If these odd teenagers were in the same situation as Dusk, Tiny, and Masks, why did they ambush the three of them?

Tiny was poking the one in red and shrugged with a frown. "I know what we're all thinking, which is really weird! But we can't just leave them here. Can we?" Dusk grimaced and glanced down at the two closest unconscious boys and prepared to hoist them onto his shoulders to move them someplace other than the middle of a walkway. The one in purple and the one in green seemed easy enough for him to handle, as Tiny chose to drag the red one, and Masks opted to carry the blue one bridal-style.

Unfortunately or fortunately to how he decided to look at it, the long day just got shorter and longer. Longer as in nothing seemed to be going right for Dusk or his two companions, and shorter because he felt about ready to pass out. It looked to be the same for the others, as Tiny began to teeter, and Masks seemed about ready to fall forward again.

Nausea sprouted in his head, and his left hand ached. Worry worming its way into his mind, he gave a glance at the two people he was carrying and saw wavering forms. They almost looked like shadows…

Jumping, he noticed that the other people with him too were becoming wispy, threatening to drift away. Lastly, with the weight on his shoulders ebbing away, he looked down at himself to see a dark version of his clothes. Along with the sensation that he saw them before when being told of the interlopers.

Dusk did not have time to question, or even really react because, like the people around him, he soon disappeared as well.

edgy