A/N: Oh my gosh! How could this happen! but don't worry! I haven't abandoned this story! With school and whatnot, it appears I will not be able to regularly update like I had planned :(
However, I will keep writing! Please enjoy this chapter and (hopefully) I'll get the next one up soon. NAVI! *ahem* If you please.
Navi: *yawns* took you long enough. RedroseNYAN does not own Legend of Zelda or any of its characters.
Time's POV
"Hello, everyone," I said confidently, even though I was beyond nervous and confused. At least I wasn't talking to copies of myself like I had originally thought. These were just my ancestors and descendents. Well, ok, yeah, that sounds weird, but at least I'm not talking to myself or anything.
A few of them simply ignored me, but why was a mystery to me. The rest gave me kind smiles and bowed their heads in greeting, the Princesses doing a small curtsy. One who was wearing a peculiar cap that had a bird in place of the tip approached me, hand outstretched. He was smiling kindly and spoke with a youthful voice similar to my own, "It's nice to meet you. I'm Minish!"
Returning the smile, I took his hand and shook it. Suddenly, I heard someone scoff.
"Stupid boy, don't accept that as your nickname!" I looked up at the cap in surprise. That bird head had spoken!
Minish sighed and looked up at the bird head. "It's better than Picori, right Ezlo? That would just be too weird."
The one called Ezlo groaned like an old man having to deal with an impudent child. "It's less weird than meeting your descendant."
"Uh..." I didn't know it was possible to become even more confused. Thankfully, Minish noticed this and grinned in embarrassment.
"Sorry! I should explain. This here is Ezlo, and he is, er, was a Picori. His apprentice turned him into a hat so he couldn't stop him and went after the Light Force." Minish pointed to Ezlo as he spoke. The talking hat shot him a look that reminded me of Mido when someone spoke lowly of him. I expected him to berate Minish for whatever he said that insulted him, like Mido does, but he said nothing. Perhaps he was too old to care for pride. Or maybe he was just used to it.
"What's a Picori?"
Minish looked at me in surprise. "You've never heard of the Picori? Does no one talk about them anymore in your time?" He took my blank look as a no and sighed. "They're a race of tiny people that only children can see, if they believe in them, that is. They kinda look like mice, but they walk like people."
"Oh," I said, glancing at Ezlo again. Somehow, it was hard to picture, especially when he looked too much like a bird.
Minish grinned and smiled at Zelda. "I forgot to ask. Do you know of the Picori, Des?"
"Des?" I glanced at Zelda, raising an eyebrow.
Zelda chuckled and smiled at me. "It's short for Destiny. That's the nickname Rose gave me." She looked back to Minish. "Yes, I've heard the stories, but they haven't been seen for over a century. My father assumed they left because they sensed evil approaching."
"Ugh, there's always evil approaching," groaned the one in blue. We all looked at him, but the one in red responded first.
"That's not true, Blue! There's always peace when a hero defeats the bad guys." He pouted childishly, his hands in fists. Blue rolled his eyes and bonked him harshly on the head. The red-clothed boy whimpered and covered his head, tears welling up in his eyes.
"You know what I mean, idiot! Honestly, Red, you're not that stupid," Blue snapped.
"Blue, stop hitting Red. Fighting won't solve anything," scolded another green-clothed boy. Now that I was looking at them, I noticed that those three, along with the quiet one in purple, all looked exactly the same. Plus, they acted like they knew each other well. Could they be quadruplets?
"Um..."
"Oh, right," said the one in green sheepishly. "Sorry, this is the fourth time we had to introduce ourselves. I'm Green. The violent one is Blue and the one about to cry is Red." At this Blue said something to the teary-eyed boy and he nodded before wiping the tears from his eyes. "That's Vio over there." Vio boredly raised a hand in greeting without looking up from his book. "Zelda's been nicknamed Pink," He said pointing to reddish-blonde girl with a large red bow holding up her ponytail, wearing an ornate pink dress with a white cape. "And Shadow is sulking in the corner over there." Green pointed to a dark-clothed boy squatting in a corner with his shoulders slumped. Beside me, Minish whispered to me that the purple-haired boy had issues with the bright light of the room and was feeling sick. I figured there was a hidden meaning, but I decided not to ask and listened to Green list off the rest of those present.
The boy in a similar attire as Minish (Except the cap was an actual cap) was called Wind and a fairy named Ciela accompanied him. With him was a pirate girl named Tetra (apparently she was lucky enough that she didn't require a nickname like the rest of us). I was surprised by her attitude, but I guess pirates have to be like that.
There was another boy called Spirit that looked a lot like Wind, except he carried around a flute and said he was a train engineer, although I have no idea what that is. His princess Zelda was named Stella, and she seemed like a bit of a control-freak. It was obvious by her expression that she still hadn't adjusted to this strange turn of events and I'm pretty sure she had freaked out dramatically when she first arrived. It was practically written on her face. Minish's Zelda, named Mini, looked a lot like Stella, but she seems a bit more level-headed than her.
The one called Twilight reminds me of my older self when I traveled through time. He doesn't talk much, but he doesn't act as arrogant as Vio either. He's also got this weird shadow lady called Minda that, well, came out from his shadow. She inspected me then made a rude comment about how I was not what she expected of the legendary Hero of Time before disappearing. Twilight apologized for her, but he seemed to be used to her demeaning quips. His Zelda, nicknamed Dusk, seemed very serious and rarely showed any sign of emotion on her face. I have to admit, it's a bit unnerving.
With the introductions finally finished, the atmosphere seemed to relax a bit and we all sat down in a circle to exchange stories. It's not like we had much else to do. Of course, Shadow still sat in the corner, but even he seemed to turn an ear to the conversations. Navi and Ciela chatted about fairy things, occasionally making a comment or two when they felt it concerned them.
I learned quickly about the drastic differences between each and every one of us. Green acted like the leader of the mini rainbow of boys, and he was always the one to remind the Blue and Vio to behave. Speaking of the boy in purple, I was surprised by how sharp his tongue could be when he decided to use it. Although, I noticed he tended to place insults on Blue, whose reactions always made him smirk in amusement. Red was remarkably optimistic despite his blatant sensitivity. I don't think I ever saw him frown except for whenever Blue bopped him on the head.
Minish was nice, but he had a bit of a mischievous side. Based on Ezlo's perspective of their adventures, he was reckless, naive, and easily distracted. Trouble seemed to be drawn to him, but he didn't appear bothered by it. His optimism rivaled Red's and his curiosity would kill a cat (or, in his case, get him killed by a cat).
Twilight...well he was pretty much what I expected. Silent, yet protective of his friends. As Minda told the story of how he bravely chased after his friends with little care for caution, I noticed a strange expression come across his face. It looked like grief and longing, but his eyes sparked with determination. Judging by his face, he hadn't completed his quest.
Neither Wind nor Spirit's stories made much sense to me. Well, their adventure did, but how they went about it was very different. There times were long after mine, so their technology was far more advanced than what I was familiar with. Wind said that most of the land was under water in his time, with only a few large islands here and there. It was difficult to fathom, especially with the realization that Ganon was the cause for it. Both explained that, as legend said, Ganon was revived after I sealed him. How or by whom was unknown.
When I told my story, many nodded knowingly, as my story was a popular legend in their times, but neither Minish or the colorfully clothed boys had ever heard my story. Apparently, their time periods were long before mine. Just seeing the look of awe on young Minish's face made me swell up with pride, to which Destiny giggled softly. The Four Sword Heroes…well, they had differing opinions. Blue gloated about how he could've done it better, Red practically swooned with wonder and amazement, Green congratulated me for accomplishing such an astounding quest, and Vio showed his characteristic indifference. I couldn't help but glance at Shadow every so often, but if he was interested, he showed no sign. It occurred to me that he may not exactly be a hero like the others.
Everyone had a story or two that made us all laugh. Even Twilight had a few humorous tales. From arrogant pirate captains to runaway rams, the jokes were as colorful as the Four Sword group. As we were laughing over Minish's recollection of his misadventures while miniaturized, I thought I noticed a flicker on the wall were the strange girl has appeared. For the briefest of moments, I thought I saw her smiling as she watched us, unknown mischiefs formulating in her eyes.
A/N: Thank you Timber Gold Wolf and madlink007 for the name suggestions. Keep those reviews coming! I'm still hunting for ideas on what to do next. Don't worry, the randomness will begin soon.
Next chapter: A Rose by any other name is just as crazy
