To the sound of blades clashing and men shouting, the Chain next arrived in a castle's courtyard. There was no cause for alarm, however; it was merely sparring hour for Warriors' troop.
"Ah, do you smell that?" Breathed Warriors wistfully.
"Sweat?" Snarked Legend.
"Men at arms, the glory of combat!" Warriors' nose crinkled, "and sweat. Now where's Eagus?"
Sky perked up at the familiar name.
"Eagus?"
"You called, sir?" A broad shouldered man appeared at Warriors' side.
"Gah!" The battle hardened captain leapt a few feet into the air in shock, "Don't do that, Eagus!"
"Sorry sir, you know me; fleet of foot and all that." Eagus responded respectfully.
The rest of the Chain couldn't quite tell if he was joking; the beast of a man stood head and shoulders above the captain, and was about as wide.
Warriors quickly composed himself before anyone else could see his decidedly un-commanding stance.
"Ahem. Yes. Well, see to the instructions I had mailed to you."
"The ones for the-"
"Shh! Yes those ones. Now be quick about it!" As Eagus strode away, the captain turned back to his fellow Heroes. "Form a line."
Not a one moved.
Warriors sighed. "Please, humour me."
Time rolled his eye and guided the others into something resembling a line.
"Thank you. Ahem. Traveler!"
Hyrule stiffened into a fair approximation of a soldier as Warriors stepped in front of him.
"I never met someone who could get more lost with a map than without. Who could overcook water and undercook just about everything else."
Hyrule shrugged; it was all true.
"But despite all that, you make excellent company, and a damn fine fighter to boot." The captain smirked cockily. "For a Calatian."
"Paras e tu swui." Said Calatian shot back. Four, being the only other who understood it, snorted in equal parts shock and amusement.
"And I'll be taking that as a well deserved compliment." Warriors magnanimously swept onwards to Sky, who straightened into a proper soldier's stance.
"Ah, a real swordsman. The only one who can best me in fair combat."
Legend and Time cleared their throats loudly.
"I said fair combat. Regardless, it has been a great pleasure to meet my ancestor in Spirit, though perhaps in flesh as well."
Sky flushed.
"Oh Hylia."
The captain grinned like a Hero in a pottery shop.
"Oh Hylia indeed, hm?"
The Chosen Hero buried his face in his hands in embarrassment. Warriors clapped him on the shoulder.
"Though I suppose I shouldn't mess around with the King of Kings too much."
Sky disappeared further into his sleeves.
"Please don't bow."
"As you command, your eminence."
The captain moved on, his second mark adequately nettled.
"Short stack!"
"Long legs." 'Short stack' snarked back.
"I could always count on you to keep our gear to spec. It's a shame we don't have smithies like you here…" Warriors' voice trailed off. "What was your last name again?"
"You're not pressing my descendents into service." Four deadpanned.
"Planning on descendants eh? Who's the lucky lady? Wait! Don't tell me!" The captain's eyes widened in faux-realization, "One for each?"
His eyebrows waggled impressively, until Four socked him in the stomach and walked off.
"Yeah… yeah I deserved that."
The wounded warrior stumbled over to Time, whose shoulder provided a convenient handhold.
"If it isn't the biggest, the oldest, the grumpiest, the loudest snorer-"
"There had better be a 'but' here or I'll be kicking yours."
"I was getting to that!"
Time eyed Warriors. Warriors eyed Time.
"...the worst depth perception."
Time neatly pivoted, leaving the captain's hand to hold air. The air, however, did not hold him very well, and the job was passed onto the dirt. Good work dirt.
"The meanest." Warriors pouted from the ground.
Time raised his eyebrows, unamused.
"But you're also a fine leader of men. You're level-headed and cool under pressure, but you're not detached from the wellbeing of your fellows. If I could use a Smithy here in the army, I need a hundred commanders like you." The captain stuck out his hand.
The old man rolled his eye, but hoisted Warriors to his feet with a slight smile and a pat on the shoulder.
"And Rancher, Midna says that you have to let go."
"What."
"Yeah, I get that you have a bond with her from the war and all, but she's a shadow queen of a pocket dimension and… wow saying that out loud…"
Twilight was staring down at his hands. "This timeline… makes no sense."
"Yeah, well, keep chasing her, tiger. Or should I say… wolf?"
Brushing off a very aggrieved sigh, Warriors faced his next quarry.
"Vet."
"Cap."
The two semi-rivals looked at each other through narrowed eyes.
Legend stuck out his hand.
Warriors slapped it away and crushed him in a hug.
"Oh, I'm gonna miss you my grumpy little-"
Legend felt an icy jolt of fear that he had somehow learned about the rabbit thing.
"-skirt wearing angst ball."
That was somehow worse.
"It's a tunic." He growled into the taller Hero's chest.
"Sure it is. Sure it is." Warriors finally deemed to let the grouchy bunny go, moving on down the line.
Legend made a point of cleaning the front of his tunic, straightening it out while scowling mightily at the side of the captain's skull.
There was only one Hero left.
"And, uh, take care of yourself, Sailor." Warriors finished lamely.
Wind quirked his eyebrow impressively.
"Christ, he looks just like you." Legend murmured in horror.
"Oh, why do I have to be such an impactful role-model?" Warriors lamented, covering his face with his hand dramatically. He peaked through his fingers to see Wind unmoved.
"Hm. Well to tell the truth, I've just been buying time for Eagus."
Eagus appeared suddenly at Warrior's shoulder once more, though this time the Courageous Captain only flinched.
"Aye, sir?" The commander prompted.
"Is it done?"
"Aye, sir."
"Excellent. Gentlemen, if you'd follow me." Warriors swept away towards a rampart, the rest of the Chain cautiously following behind.
The sight before them took even Time's breath away.
On the rolling field beneath the wall, entire formations of knights, footmen, and archers stood at attention. Armour and weapons polished to a shining gleam, they seemed as if to be straight from a fairy tale.
"Attention!" Warriors proclaimed, one arm raised to gesture at his fellows, "The Heroes of the Ages!"
As one deafening voice, thousands of soldiers roared, clapped, and banged their chests. Cannons went off from elsewhere on the walls, showering the courtyard in confetti and streamers of all different colours. The wind swept them about in a whirling cascade of celebration and cheer.
"It's all a bit much, isn't it?" Hyrule had to shout to be heard over the commotion.
Warriors' eyes gleamed.
"I would have nothing less for my brothers."
He knelt down to be eye level with a starstruck Wind.
"Sailor, you remember this; that you are standing here with us and no less deserving of celebration. Well done, Hero."
And he pulled him into a firm hug.
"Well done."
"I didn't realise you had so much pull, Captain." Time's deep voice managed to cut through the cheering.
Warriors ended the embrace to look at Time, though he remained kneeling.
"Oh, I don't. This was mostly calling in favours."
"Won't your Zelda be mad?" Wind questioned.
Warriors subtly began to sweat.
"It's not Zelda I'm worried about."
Deep in the castle dungeons, Impa's head snapped up, her red eye flashing dangerously.
"Finish cleaning up, we'll be having another guest soon."
"You look like someone just walked on your grave." Four noted, the noise dying down enough for him to bother speaking.
"What? No no. I won't even have a grave." Warriors' voice was distant before he shook himself from his reverie. "Nevermind. I think you guys have a date with a gate."
Indeed, a swirling portal had planted itself behind them in the courtyard.
"Best not keep destiny waiting, huh?" Legend had stayed back for most of the celebratory deluge, and was quick to leave.
Sky and Hyrule were also terribly embarrassed, and soon joined him in returning to the courtyard.
Four managed to enjoy himself, waving at the crowd with a pleased grin before joining the rest.
Twilight was more dignified than one would think of a former ranch hand, giving the small army a gracious nod and a salute as he left.
"Cub would've hated this." Time murmured to him as he too stepped away, secretly overwhelmed. Twilight couldn't help but chuckle. Farore, he missed the little scamp already.
Wind was far less restrained with his newfound popularity, waving his hands wildly and laughing madly. Eventually, he had to be coaxed away by Warriors. The sailor made it approximately five steps before he ran back, the soldiers cheering wildly at his reappearance until Warriors pulled him away again. This process repeated itself about three times until an exasperated captain enlisted Time and Twilight into properly wrangling the young pirate.
"Forget 'chip off the old block', he's the entire log." Remarked Sky. Hyrule nodded sagely.
"Sorry to push you out the time-door as it were, but the fabric of space-time around my Hyrule is… iffy at best nowadays." Warriors glanced down. "And also I think I've created a monster."
The monster was in fact Wind, who was desperately wriggling in Warriors' iron grip in an attempt to bask in more adulation.
"I haven't even gotten a pictograph! Tetra will never believe me!"
The captain grimaced at a particularly well placed elbow jab.
"Our own reflections are often the most frightening to behold." Time intoned in that ominous way of his as he took custody of the prisoner.
Wind found much less success in elbowing plate mail armour.
"Ow…" He hissed.
"That sure was… a spectacle, Captain." Time addressed, "So long."
He walked through the gate, recalcitrant Wind dragging along. Everyone else followed suit, waving and saying their farewells. Legend was the last, and when he was sure no one was watching, flashed Warriors a genuine smile before he too vanished, taking the portal with him.
The captain smirked to himself, before looking down at the ground with a sigh,
"There you are!"
Warriors spun about to see an exhausted girl jog up to him, puffing for air.
"I'm… here… for… the… Hero… thing." She gasped.
The captain squinted at the cucco nestled on her shoulder.
"Right… and who might you be?"
"Linkle, the Hero!" Linkle finally caught her second wind, puffing up into what she figured was a Heroic pose. Her cucco spread its wings and squawked with pride.
Warriors remained unimpressed.
"Well, I'm afraid you just missed it, uh, Linky. We're no longer taking applicants."
"Rats. Stupid compass!" The girl shook the offending device as if to force an apology out of it.
"Wait wait wait. How the hell did you get in here? This is a castle for Din's sake!" Warriors exclaimed.
Linkle looked up from where she was strangling her inanimate object.
"Well, all the guards were standing around out in the field, so I just-"
"LINK!" Barked a furious voice from not nearly far enough away, "WHY IS MY GARRISON UN-GARRISONED?"
"Hey, your name's close enough to Link, right? How about you field this one and I'll see about getting you that quest."
"Oh that sounds great- hey where are you going?"
"Recon mission, tell Impa I'll be back in five to ten years!"
With a swish of blue fabric, the Hero leapt over the rampart and sprinted away.
"What an odd fellow. Oh, hello scary lady! You must be Impa. I'm- what are you doing with that sword-?"
"What do you think of that, Old Man?" Warriors said, before looking over his shoulder at where Time would usually be.
Except he wasn't there, of course.
Nor would he be ever again.
Before the melancholy could really set in, a footsoldier opened up the tent flap.
"Sir?"
"Hm? Yes, what is it?"
"It's a letter for you… left by that mini-you fella."
"You mean the kid with…" Warriors, Link, trailed off, perplexed.
"Aye, the little blighter with the masks and whatnot. Apparently, he very explicitly wanted this to reach you at this specific time." The man handed the sealed envelope to the captain before walking out into the camp.
Examining it with a critical eye revealed the wax seal to be that of the Royal Family.
"Of course Zelda would be complicit in this." Link muttered to himself as he carefully cut it open.
As he had suspected, the handwriting was in the hasty scrawl he had come to associate with his 'little buddy', as the men had ordained the Kokiri scamp.
Reading the contents of the letter caused any semblance of a timeline or universal order to explode inside his head.
"You time-travelling son of a-"