The Hyrulian Valhalla Saga
By Queenie Z

Lean Mean Killing Machine

Red turned the helmet over in his hands, looking upon it with a wonder akin to that of a child with a shiny new toy. It was definitely unlike the ones typical of knights from his own era - three protrusions stuck out from it, the topmost of which was fashioned into a small wolf's head, and as a result the entire helmet was quite heavy. "This is so cool," he said, turning his bright eyes to the others, "I bet you'd have to be really, really strong to wear it around!"

"Careful with that!" scolded Green as his persona carelessly handled the helmet, "Time's gonna get onto all of us if you break it!"

The Hero of Time laughed. "If it broke that easily, it wouldn't be very useful as armor, would it?" Though he would typically wear either the traditional Hero's green or a set of more comfortable clothes, this afternoon he had decided to suit up in the old armor he had worn as a knight captain - for nostalgia's sake, he had told his smaller successors before allowing Red to look at the suit's headgear. He placed a hand on the dulled gold tassets that guarded his hip. "He's fine, Green."

After side-eyeing Red for putting the helmet on and giggling as he struggled to keep his balance under its weight, Blue returned his attention to his senior. "I guess it looks pretty cool," he said, "but you didn't actually wear that thing into battle, did you?"

"What?" asked Time, raising an eyebrow, "Of course I did!" He grinned slightly as he looked towards the horizon. "It protected me while my men and I bravely stormed the plains and mountains of Hyrule, ridding our beautiful nation of the evils that would threaten it." He ran his hand through his matted bangs, now slightly longer in his older form. "Ah, yes, those were the days…"

"Not to disrupt your trip down memory lane, Time," said Vio as dispassionately as ever, "but wouldn't something that clunky only slow you down in the long run?"

Green blinked in realization. "Yeah, Vio's right; it doesn't look like you could run very fast while wearing that."

Time frowned, flustered that the glory he was basking in had been so suddenly and rudely cut short. "Well, yes, it does slow me down a little," he said, "but the defense benefits far outweigh the drawbacks!" He made a proud fist. "Plus, I was captain; I had to stand out as a beacon of courage for my men!"

Blue snickered. "Yeah, bet it raised morale a lot, watching the great Captain Link waddle around like an idiot!"

The elder Hero shot a glare at Blue - however, that glare soon turned into a dark smirk, and he turned to face away from the younger Links. "You know, Blue," he said with an intimidating edge, his hand ever so slowly reaching for the hilt of the sword strapped to his back, "you don't need to be able to move quickly when you know how to kill a man in a single blow…!" With that, Time drew his weapon and spun around with a ferocious cry.

Screeching in terror, Blue covered his head and cowered. Then, when he finally glanced back up, he saw Time's blade hovering mere inches from his face. He fearfully fell to his bottom, his heart and breath racing as the others began to laugh at him, which in turned caused Blue to turn a bright shade of crimson and growl at his alternates.

"Sh-Shut up!" he cried, "That wasn't funny…!"

Sheathing his sword, Time ruffled the boy's hair. "Then maybe you ought to think twice before disrespecting your elders!"

Swatting Time's hand away, Blue reached up and yanked his hat over his face. Though he was the rashest part of their collective personality, even he noted to himself that perhaps getting on the bad side of the man who had created and perfected the hidden skills was a bit of a bad idea.