The Young Traveler

by Fierysoul135

Feeling relieved after securing victory alongside Hyrule's best warriors, he still looked not a day over 10 years old. At 17, hopefully going on 18, his search for Navi across different worlds has gone on with little luck. He's unleashed once more, equipped with his sword, the Triforce of Courage, and the mask of a god at his hip. What do these wild lands of Hyrule have in store?

34. Akkala Citadel

Author's Note: Hey y'all! Hope the holidays have gone well and that the new year has been cheerful!

To my older readers: Sorry for the reconstruction! I figured I should break the longer chapters down a bit so they were more digestible. *coughs* So you can imagine this and the next two were originally all one chapter *cough cough*

Either way, you can expect future chapters to be shorter as I'd like to keep it this way. It might just let me post more often! Besides, writing all of this in Word gives me a drastically different view as I read and write, and a wall of text is daunting (props to y'all from before, you deserve a gold star sticker!⭐)

Enjoy!~ :))

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Akkala Citadel

His eyes flicked open, "Shit! I left those bags in his room!"

Sure, it was four in the morning. Sure, the only reason he remembered it was because he dreamt about unpacking to search for his wallet again. It didn't matter, 'All I can see is me opening the door and him giving me this look while holding the boomerang he gave me…'

The Hero was very wrong.

After speed walking there and dodging around early guards and staff, he found his descendant fast asleep. It seems he turned off the lamps before he went to bed, it was nearly pitch black in there. Time's eyes about rolled out of his head at the contempt he felt for himself, 'Y'know what? At least I didn't wake him up.' Softly closing the door behind him, he took a few steps toward the saddlebags that were left on the wooden floor. His hand had reached for the connecting strap when his instincts suddenly made him whip around and snatch the hands that were centimeters away from his back. He easily pushed the person back onto the mattress, now looming over them after holding their arms above their head.

Link's voice hissed back at him after sharply inhaling, "Ah! Ow-ow-ow, let go!" He squirmed, "My shoulder's trying to cramp!"

It felt like a part of his heart chipped off as the Hero immediately obliged. Despite this, his expression was partially annoyed as he watched him quickly bring his arms back down. He turned on one of the lamps before returning.

His head relaxed into the mattress as he heaved a sigh in relief, "Dear Hylia…that was so close. That would have hurt so bad…" Lying there, his blue eyes now flicked toward his predecessor, "Why the hell are you so rough?"

'I expected, "what are you doing in here?" "why are you making that face?" "why did you do that?" before asking WHY I WASN'T GENTLE!' "Why am I…? Y'know what, I think sitting on you will get across just how ridiculous that question was." Before the champion could object, he plopped halfway onto his stomach and crossed his legs.

"Dammit! Get off me!" Unfortunately for the knight, trying to shove him off didn't do any good.

He pretended that he didn't hear that. His tone was aloof, "Hmph, that was the first time I've been asked something like that." Young Link raised an eyebrow as he jeeringly looked down at him, "Then again, you should damn well know why!"

Now the knight grabbed his sides in an attempt to throw him to either side. His fingers could just barely get a grip on his skin, "Bullshit! You knew I was the only one in here!" He was starting to get breathless, "Why isn't this working?"

"I thought you were sleeping! Not to mention, you don't seem to be a light sleeper! You practically die every time you close those eyes!" Young Link retorted.

"Alright fine! I guess I could have seen that coming!"

"Are you seriously trying to tickle me?" 'That's pretty low. That's desperate.'

Link groaned, "Get off me already!"

"Alright alright," He rolled onto his stomach beside him, kicking his feet up and holding his head in hands, y'know, to be annoyingly sweet. His caring tone dripped off his lips, "Sorry I almost made your shoulder cramp.~" He suppressed a laugh at watching his descendant's eyes narrow.

"I don't want your apology. I want to know why in Hylia's name are you shirtless!?" He stared back at his hands, murmuring, "I was wondering why I couldn't use it to get you off me…geez."

"Hey, this big ol' body is hot, temperature-wise." Time pinched the covers between his fingers, "Besides it feels nice on the beds."

The champion facepalmed, "Don't tell me tha—"

"I also left something in here and I remembered it in my dream. No one's up right now, so I didn't bother," He quickly added.

Link continued to lay there despite seeming fed up with him, "Right. What did you leave? Your dignity?"

"No, whatever that word means, I didn't. I left my saddlebags. However, instead of me dropping by, getting it, and going, it's turned into tackling you, sitting on you, and talking to you."

"Well I have no idea how I'm going to go back to sleep after getting crushed."

"Oh please, I'm not too much heavier than you are."

"Then how am I going back to sleep?"

He genuinely took a few minutes to think about it, 'Hm, I suppose it's a shame I didn't bring any of those bluebells back from the fountain.' His mind wandered back to when he talked to Hylia at the cathedral, and how the kiss she left on his forehead made him pass out. He eyed the untamed hair that would have gotten in the way, 'Nah, that would just be weird if it didn't immediately work.' Surprisingly, no songs came to mind either…well none that were in the appropriate language. "Yeah sorry, I don't have any lullabies on hand. I remember getting read a boring story that put me to sleep for a day, but that's all I've got."

The champion sighed as he sat up, muttering, "I guess it's never too late to try counting sheep."

Time slung the bags over his shoulder while the blankets ruffled around in the background. He felt like saying 'Good morning' as he left, but decided it was best to just turn off the lamp without any wise cracks or jokes. Once outside, he zipped back to his room and unpacked the small luggage. Pulling out one of the tunics he brought and holding it up to himself in the mirror, it was fascinating to visually see just how much he'd grown. 'Wow! I can't believe how small I was—am…I guess.' Also, the wallet was nowhere to be found. 'I guess I'm broke until I turn back…ugh.'

Soon after, he tried to lie back down and get more rest, but his gut kept telling him to get up. Closing his eyes for longer than a blink seemed like an awful idea, much to his disappointment. Sitting up, he let his gut feeling make him put his shirt back on and lead him around the castle grounds. Within the next hour before the sun was due to rise, the Hero found himself calmly sitting on one of the marble benches at the pavilion.

The air accompanied by a light breeze felt raw. His senses in general felt sharper. Such smooth white rock beneath his hands. Such a beautiful sky that was saying its farewells to the stars. He basked in it all.

Several minutes later, a small smile dawned on his face, 'Hello, Dearest Hylia.'

Hello, my love.

Her soothing voice drew nearer as he watched her face materialize in front of his. She looked delighted to see him, even giddy. The Goddess started to giggle as her eyes looked him up and down. This led to her covering his face in kisses without any warning. She talked between them.

Mmm!~

Such—kiss—a beautiful—peck—form indeed!

His head began to feel dizzy as she rubbed her nose against his while holding his cheek.

I'll have to give Cotera my regards. I'm quite impressed with this spell!

Time was trying to find his words, 'I-I'm glad you like it. Also, I agree, though…thinking back,' Hylia's actions made him remember how flirty the Great Fairy was, 'I still can't believe she said all that stuff to me.'

Her mood remained playful as she pressed her forehead against his.

She's quite honest, isn't she?

That felt like the beginning of a rabbit hole conversation. More so, it was one that he lacked the privacy to go down. He looked off, 'Yeah…anyways, to what do I owe the occasion?' Time was trying to keep his cool as her hands drifted from his face to his shoulders, but he gasped at her pulling apart the already revealing V-neck.

Hylia's fingers traced the sizable scars on his chest with a curious yet caring expression.

My Hero has scars?

His heart pounded so hard that he was surprised she didn't comment on that first. He couldn't help his slightly breathless tone, "To be fair, I wasten when I got these. They turned into scars when I didn't have any potions on hand…which was more often than I care to admit." He bit the inside of his lip as he watched her lower herself into his lap. She was in her own thoughts for a few seconds before looking back at him.

How about we return together to my domain?

The occasion is all mine, but I sense that you have much to say, my love.

He could already see her start to smile as an intrigued gleam began to shine in his eyes. The adventurous part of him was beyond ecstatic at the idea, though his more thoughtful side considered the possibility that this was more than what she was letting on. 'I suppose it's not as if I can't object to anything.' 'Sure, how will we—!?'

She leaned in and pressed her lips against his before he could finish the question.

The Hero immediately felt the marble bench become far softer than any material he'd ever felt, let alone sat on. When he opened his eyes, he was in awe at the cloud plain they were in. The sky matched the current time. Being even closer to the fading stars made his heart skip with wonder. If it weren't for their light, it would be far too dim to see anything.

What they were sitting on had changed as well. In fact, it appeared to be the only piece of "furniture" up there. It was one of those fancy one-armed couches that screamed royalty. Clearly it was made from cloud. He could imagine that she could morph the clouds into different things at will.

As Time pulled away from her face, surprisingly, he didn't feel nearly as flustered as he thought he would. Especially since the gesture was so sudden. He watched Hylia's eyes illuminate at his smile, 'Seeing as it's the two of us, I suppose a few more wouldn't hurt!' After all, it felt nice to do since it made her happy and was, supposedly, entirely platonic. The Hero gently pulled her close as he showed her his gratitude in the form of a few extra kisses, all of which turned out a bit more sensual than he intended. He could hear the reverb in his voice as he spoke, "Thanks for taking me here. It's no surprise that you have such a beautiful domain!"

Hylia's blush no longer appeared as freckles of light. Like her ears, her cheeks simply glowed white as her eyelashes fluttered back at him. For the first time, her voice wasn't in his head. She had a soft yet sweet tone. "O-Oh my..." She turned her head to gaze at the three golden butterflies that flit around them, "Seems we've made some company."

Their wings were gorgeous. They were shaped like a collection of hearts where the hindwing ended in the hand of a clock. The veins on their wings gave the impression of tick marks. They also left a sparkling trail despite dancing in the dim environment.

"Interesting." 'It's still so ironic that she's like this.' "I won't lie, this reminds me of what Cotera was talking about with the fairies."

"I suppose that's an accurate way of thinking about it, my sweet." Her cheeks burned brighter, "Though, it's certainly more innocent than hatching healing fairies."

"That's for sure." He scooted the both of them to the end of the couch. He wanted to have more to lean back on while simultaneously giving the Goddess a headrest that wasn't his forearm. "So, for starters, why did you want to bring me here after seeing my scars?"

Her eyebrows raised, "So I could heal them, darling. If you so desire, of course."

Asking made him nervous but he did it anyway. "How?"

With the wave of her hand, he could only watch as the threads that held the fabric began to unravel and disappear as she sat up. "It's very simple."

You'd think that he'd be more astonished that his shirt was gone, and yet it seemed with each passing blink that Time was in fact not imagining her face getting closer and closer to the puncture scar that was on his shoulder. He blushed hard when her lips briefly touched it and the skin began to glow as it faded away. A hand came up to his face as he spied some of the more gruesome slashes and scratches that were further down his torso. He flinched at the sound of her giggling.

"Goodness, your fluctuating heart is quite amusing. Can I heal the rest?"

The Hero quickly shoved the mental images of her doing so out of his mind, "Ah, no. It's okay. I don't mind them, really." 'Not to mention, even if the process wouldn't kill me, I'm pretty sure the others would notice, and I have literally zero idea how I'd explain that. Losing scars isn't one of those "Aha, you don't need to know" and-then-wink-type of situations.' His brows came together as he realized something, "Wait, am I all the way here? Did I completely leave the pavilion?"

After turning down her request, Hylia resigned to snuggling the side of her face into the Hero's collarbone. "Yes, I figured just taking your spirit would leave your vessel too vulnerable. I'm aware of those that seek to do you harm." Her smile was small, "And how fierce you are when you protect it."

Now he could feel the tips of his own ears grow warm as he leaned his head against hers. He was bashful to her praise, "Ah well, I suppose I try. Anyways, you know Link?"

"Yourself? Yes, you're right here, dearest."

"Okay wait, I meant the Hylian champion, the Princess's knight."

"Ah yes, him. The one you spend so much time with, correct?"

The Hero of Time suspiciously eyed her, "As if I have a choice it seems. Either way, why do his hands do this numbing or tingling-thing every time I use any of my other attacks or magic? It's just…unfair, I guess? It feels like spying, even though he likely couldn't point out what it is. Meanwhile, on my end, I've got nothing like that."

She laughed, "Well, for starters, of course you have a choice. Though, I can see why you might not mind. He seems quite kind." Now she held out her finger for one of the butterflies to rest on, "Has it crossed your mind that perhaps he doesn't possess any abilities that would have the same effect on you?"

"Yes, but I wanted to believe that the Triforce was being strange, per usual. You're saying it doesn't have anything to do with this?"

"The Triforce is simpler than that, my love. Especially in all of its individual pieces." She thoughtfully smiled, "This knowledge game is still intriguing, dare I say." The butterfly fluttered off once her finger found another scar to poke at, "My turn: why don't you play your ocarina more often? I've noticed that you don't play any of your more magical songs. I miss the Song of Time's beautiful resonance."

"In my defense, the last time I played the Song of Time, it reset the three-day time loop I was stuck in. I'm not optimistic about finding out what would happen if I played it here. Especially since the Great Deku Tree sang it when I was transferring my triforce piece to the champion."

Hylia nodded, "That's rather thoughtful of you."

"Okay this is a good one: why do you talk to me? I know what you said about me being the Fierce Deity and everything, but why? I presume you have important things to do." 'This has been on my mind for a while…'

Her smile widened as she looked up at him, "Well, it's quite nice to be able to talk to someone else here, isn't it?" A thought hit her, "Perhaps it's dawning on me that you don't remember how close we are." She went back to leaning on him, "That is fine, of course. My patience is endless, and I enjoy your presence regardless."

Time cocked his head as he recalled when the Zelda from the last universe explained to him some of the history surrounding the Goddess, "Well wait, doesn't the legend say that you turned yourself mortal? I'm confused. How are you here? Considering that your abilities are specifically inherited through your bloodline."

She laughed as if the answer was obvious, "My body turned mortal, yes, but a Goddess's spirit is immortal , my sweet. Such is that I live on, even in 'death', here in the Sacred Realm. To me, nothing has really changed."

'Yep, that makes sense to me. Then, of course she'd still have all of her powers because she's a Goddess. I guess the concept of your body dying but your magical spirit living on cancels out where dying makes you lose your powers.' "So your 'mortal' form was just a means to an end?" That response earned his cheek a kiss.

"Ah, my Hero of Time, smart as always~" the Goddess cooed.

Now he thought of himself, "Geez, am I dead?"

Her fingers ran through his hair as she shifted in his lap, "Far from it, my love. Fret not, for not even I can foresee when you'll join me."

He admittedly sighed in relief, though, all this talk of dying and spirits and living was dimming the dawn that was happening around them. Now that Hylia faced the opposite direction, he was inclined to keep her partially upright with his arm, "Is there anything else you brought me here for? I guess I can't think of too many other things I'd like to talk or ask about." The Hero blinked at the peculiar glint that hid in the depths of her pupils as she peered up at him.

Which was purposeful. This time Hylia seemed to match his own height, so all of her lap sitting was intentionally done at an angle that made her appear slightly shorter. Whether that was for her own comfort or something else seems to remain a mystery. "I'd like it if we watched the sunrise together, but if my Dear Hero must go…that can be arranged as well."

"Ooooh, I bet it'd look so nice from up here! But," Young Link smirked, "You need to make the time pass normally here. I can feel that it's only going half as fast you know." It had been throwing him off ever so slightly until he realized why his existence, in general, felt too fast. Like trying to get on beat to a song but consistently coming in at very wrong intervals.

She smiled as she snapped her fingers and wrapped an arm behind his neck, touching their noses together, "Mm, cunning I see."

The cuddling continued as the sky turned from purple to peach to light orange. The huge puffy clouds looked magnificent with each passing blend of colors. However, as the atmosphere became more saturated, the Hero of Time found that he was also weak to the whims of the Goddess, much like how he was to the whims of good food, soft beds, and Zelda's wishes. Three dancing butterflies turned into a small plethora, with some being bigger or smaller than those from before.

He slowly exhaled as his eyes happened to catch the bright sky while it was finishing turning from light orange to entirely yellow. "Oh wow, it's been that long, huh?" The day seemed to bring him a sense of clarity, '…my whole face is tingling… ah.'

Hylia glanced around as well, though her voice shared a more disappointed undertone than one of surprise, "Hm, I suppose it has…"

Time picked up on that. "You're funny," he playfully mused, pushing their foreheads together, "Now, can I have my shirt back? Otherwise, I don't mind where you send me as long as it's at the castle, the pavilion, my room, etc." After all they'd done, he lacked the capacity to suppress the shudder that came from her wandering hands, but as she waved one of them again, he felt the fabric reappear. His flaming ears perked at the sound of her sighing.

"I'm grateful you agreed to come with me for the short while we were together." Her bottom lip brushed against his as she continued, "Though," As if cued, a few butterflies came to rest on her head, "it seems I won't be without company thanks to you as well. Until we next meet, my love."

He hardly felt the warping kiss as the presence of sheets and a blanket over him became his primary focus. His arm was over someone too, and the side of his torso could clearly feel the covers. Seems that the shirt in Hylia's Domain was a façade. Time blinked, trying to see with what little light was in the— 'Dammit! I know exactly where I am!' It was the only bedroom he'd been in that didn't have any windows, explaining why it was dim despite the sun being up.

Link's room.

'Well…in that case,' Young Link scooted up more and rested his chin on top of his descendant's messy bedhead. He was in a moderately cuddly mood after leaving the Goddess. Turns out Link was more awake than he thought, not that he checked really.

The champion immediately flipped over with a look of drowsy irritation, "How. Did. You. Get. Here."

"I'll be honest, I don't know." The knight's annoyed reaction didn't match well with the endearing way the Hero felt. He woefully sighed, smushing the side of his face into his forehead, "Why do you sound so mad? I can tell you're still tired too. Let's just sleep for five minutes."

Link started to push him off but then immediately yanked his hands back, dramatically hissing, "YOU'RE SHIRTLESS AGAIN!?"

"I'm pretty sure you said that you're used to sharing your bed with your teammates. I don't understand what's wrong." Time pulled him in a little closer, "If you're not going to sleep, fine, but I am." He didn't like saying things like that, but he also knew damn well that the knight didn't actually care all that much, especially being the cuddler that he is. What's more, it worked.

Seconds later, Link shrugged and threw an arm over him as well. "If I sleep in late because of this, you're not allowed back in here."

"Mhm." Meanwhile he internally snickered, 'I'm not sure if it's funnier that I can tell that he's so disappointed in himself or that I was entirely right about him.' Plus, he had his chinrest back! Ah, a good morning indeed.

This went on for a peaceful couple of hours. Also, Link truly does sleep like a corpse. Within that time, they'd shifted around. For one, Time got hot and threw off some of the blankets, leaving their legs haphazardly covered. He also rolled onto his back and soon felt the champion smear his face onto his chest to use as a pillow. 'What the…what the hell?' By the time the Hero looked down, his descendant had already recast his arm, and now a leg, over him.

Cuddly also turned into a little tired. Young Link could feel the hands of slumber begin to cradle his head. He tried to keep himself awake, but the idea felt…so… yawn… goo—

"Link! As the Princess's dedicated knight, I cannot believe I should have to tell you when you shou—"

The gasp and following clack of a clipboard hitting the floor completely woke him up. 'Oh my Gods… is that really?' He peeped an eye open, 'Shit it is! The Head of Command!' Now he was kicking himself, 'Again, why the hell did I not hear him walk up? Some 'God' I am! Geez!'

Link peeled his cheek off him as he slowly rubbed his eyes and sat up. His voice easily gave away that he just woke up. "Mmm…what was that sound all of the—!" He immediately recoiled at seeing his higher up in the doorway.

The Head was shocked, stunned, and stupefied at the scene he just witnessed. Not to mention some of the nosier staff peaking over his shoulders before sprinting away. He started to take a step out of the doorway.

"Wait!" The champion had reached his hand out in his direction, "I'll be ready in five minutes. Just wait outside. This isn't what it looks like."

By that time, the Hero had opened his eyes and simply looked between the both of them. 'Saying something would only make this worse. I know that much.' After watching the door close, their eyes immediately met, "Sorry." He whispered, "You were dead asleep!"

The knight already pulled on his tunic, "Why didn't you push me off?!"

'Okay reading lips is not my forte. Especially in this language.' "Because that's kinda mean? I don't know!" He received a rolling pair of eyes in response.

Link threw on his sword, pulled back his hair, and quickly left.

Luckily for Young Link, he could pick up on their conversation.

"So, you know how the Hero of Time is technically old? Thousands of years old, probably?"

"I do, but he's a kid."

"He isn't. The Great Fairy made him look like his actual age and then he insisted that we room together since the ride back was exhausting."

"Hmm…" He sounded like he was giving the idea some thought, "Well I suppose those magic types have their own agenda." Another minute of silence passed by, "I understand, as weird as that all sounds. Just get to the Princess and don't give me a reason to think I should actually have to manage you."

"Yes sir, and thanks."

Time crossed his arms, 'Well well, I'm impressed. Though, if it were me, I would have considered the fact that the castle staff saw me walk back to my room, saw me come to your room this morning, leave again, and then apparently sneak past them this time after the nightshift guards saw me walk to the pavilion. Plus, there's no extra saddlebags, gear, or my clothes anywhere in here.' He got out of bed, 'I'll just hope that the Commander isn't all that thorough. Then again, I think I've been pretty decent at keeping my own story straight.' He slumped, 'Ugh, lying amiright?'

'But more importantly,' The Hero started to scan the room, 'I better not be right about my clothes actually not being in here!' Ten minutes of tactfully turning the room upside down swiftly turned into raiding the knight's drawers and taking one of his shirts. His neutral expression dipped into a frown as he looked in the mirror, 'Should I even bother? This hugs me tighter than my pants…' And exposed his stomach up to just above his naval.

He took it off and put it away, 'Sweetest Hylia, just have mercy on my soul and give me my shirt back. I get that you're naked all the time, so you don't care, but I'm gonna make things worse for myself walking out of here like this.' He could almost hear the echo of her giggling bouncing around his head as the article of clothing reappeared on his body. Young Link made haste to the door and began his trek to the Dining Hall, 'I can't believe I just had to pray for my shirt back!'

Unsurprisingly, with the time being around eight in the morning, he received plenty more stares than he expected, especially from the women. He rounded a corner and managed to catch one of the maids when she tripped over her skirt and fell into him, "Are you alright, miss?"

The whites of her eyes became increasingly visible as her gaze trailed up to meet his face.

Meanwhile his eyes fell to folded sheets on the floor, "Ah, you dropped the laundry. I'll get that for you."

"Uh..er…th-thanks."

Looking back at her as he stood, he realized her heart was racing, "No problem! I've definitely tripped on the stairs a couple of times, so I understand." He felt her hand catch his arm as he turned to leave, "Hm?"

"W-Wait! What's your name?"

"Oh, I'm the Hero of Time. I just look like this for the time being, that's all." After waiting a couple of moments and only getting a sustained shocked stare response, he politely waved to her before heading through the doors. 'Aw damn, they finally put that nice table away.'

They were serving biscuits and gravy with a side of eggs that morning. His stomach swooned at the small chunks of meat that were in the gravy, 'Yeeessss! I'd only had this once in the last world!' He didn't even know what it was called. The second of three gravy-drenched biscuits had been nearly demolished before he noticed Godric sitting in front of him. "Ah, it's been a while since I've seen you." He kept talking even though the man's thick brow had raised in confusion, "How's you and your wife been?"

The burly co-captain was astonished at the question, and so were the other knights around them, "I-I'm sorry. Do I know ya?"

"Oh right," He pointed to his bangs, "Remember? I'm the kid that went on that expedition to the East Post. I currently look a bit older at the moment, but it's not going to last for long."

Godric squinted his eyes as he became lost in thought. A few long seconds later, his classic toothy grin spread across his face as he reached across the table to pat his shoulder, "Well I'll be damned! It's really the Hero o' Time in the flesh right in front o' me! I've been great and so has my missus!" His hearty laughter was hard to miss, "Who woulda known that you'd become such a handsome damn devil, eh?" He waved a finger at him, "You're never gonna meet her lookin' like that!"

He laughed at the idea of that, "Trust me, I didn't think you'd ever show me to her in the first place. Anyways, I'm glad to hear that you're well!"

"Wait you said you're not gonna look like that for long? How come?"

"Well remember when the King said that Zelda was off to see the Great Fairy?"

The co-captain immediately stood in disbelief, once again grabbing the attention of their peers, if not for his booming voice. "You really got to see one!? Dear Hylia, you better tell me absolutely everything!"

"Okay okay!" Time gestured for him to take a seat before telling him about how she looked and how nice she was. "I can definitely see why you'd like her. I think she even had gems in her hair!" He giggled some more at hearing his throbbing heart.

"My lands!" He'd closed his eyes. Probably to absorb the image he'd created with his words, "You're about to make this old man have a heart attack!"

"Dear Goddesses, Godric! Eat your food instead of thinking!" 'I still can't believe the things this guy has the gall to say out loud!'

"You're right, you're right." His brown eyes looked like they had an idea, "Say, why doncha come spar with us when I'm done? I know it'd be fun considerin' you're a Hero and everything!"

His mind immediately went to how he'd shattered the guy from last night, "Oh, well as much as I'd like to, I really don't want to hurt anyone."

"Aw c'mon! It'd be good trainin' for you, but especially for us!"

Time tentatively crossed his arms, "I suppose I'm just trying to think of when you'd possibly face someone like me in battle, y'know? We'd use wooden swords, right?"

"Ha! Hell naw!" He guffawed, "We're the elite squad! All of our practice is as real as it gets!"

The Hero's gut became more convinced that this was a bad idea, "I guess this is the part where I say that I don't have a sword. Like I said, I'm probably not going to be like this for long, so I didn't bother."

"Pshh, no worries. I've got some one-handed swords you can use."

He watched him engulf the rest of his breakfast before he found himself following him out the arena.

"Gooodric," Came Roe, "You're late."

"The hell?" He put his hands on his hips, "That's not how you're gonna speak to me, kiddo! Besides, look who I've got with me!"

Theodore's head tilted to one side, "I noticed. Who is that and why is his shirt so revealing?"

'Every comment or reference I get about this damn shirt is adding to a list of why I should have asked for something else. Hell, I should have asked Hylia! I bet my teal tunic would have worked fine!'

"Why it's the Hero of Time! Can't ya see some of the kid through his hair and face?" He smiled at the array of expressions coming to realize who his guest was, "Anywho, I invited him to spar with us! Test our skills against an actual Hero!"

Anthony looked far too excited for this, "Oooohh! Me first, me first!"

"Slow your roll, spearhead. Let him warm up a little!" Godric strolled over to a barrel and pulled out a metal sword. "Catch!"

Time caught it, moving his arm around and rolling his wrist to get a feel for the weight, "Huh, this is really light." 'Is the Master Sword heavier than I thought it was? I don't think it is…'

Theo was still perplexed, "Ahem, my second question wasn't answered. I'd rather not have any of us contribute to the number of scars he already has!"

"Oh right," He replied, "Yeah, I really didn't have a choice in what I'm wearing. I'll…I'll leave it at that. I'd bother to get something else, but," He shrugged as he paused in front of a dummy, "it's not gonna kill me I suppose. Also, so long as you don't hurt me too bad, I'll be fine." After rolling his shoulders out, he took some test swings at the wooden figure. The cracks that cut the air sounded like those of an axe! Young Link's eyes subtly narrowed at the splintery gashes he left in dummy. It looked like attempted murder compared to the shallow scars that covered the rest of the poor thing. He turned back to the rest of them, "Are you sure this is a good idea?"

'Oh help.'

Instead of seeing a group of startled or concerned faces, three of the four of them looked battle ready. Anthony and Godric's nostrils flared in uncontainable excitement. Roe seemed to take the question personally, he looked ready to defend his honor. Theodore appeared to be the only one with his head screwed on. The archer was concerned.

"Absolutely and I still call dibs on first!" Anthony shouted. He had his spear ready in hand.

Time could feel the urge to scold him on his excitement, but he caught himself before he opened his mouth, "Okay hold on. I think there should be some rules first, especially since we're using real weapons. When is the round considered to be over?"

Theo called it, "I'll ref, given my sharp eyes. The match is over when a scratch is laid on either person. I think that's the safest condition, but obviously you shouldn't be trying to kill each other." He crossed his arms, "If it gets far too aggressive, I'll call it and it'll be a draw. Understood?"

Anthony still looked ready to maul an army of bokoblins, "Yes sir!" He was completely hyped up, "Whoo! This is gonna be fun!"

His eyebrow lamely raised at his peer, "You got it, I'm ready when you are." As the archer counted them down, he was trying to recall a time he ever felt this unsure about fighting someone, 'Granted, I'm going to watch myself to make sure I don't do anything too outside of my league, but still. Anthony, you look so enthusiastic you could roll your ankle just standing there. Dear Gods.'

As soon as he gave the signal, the spearman soared forward and thrusted his weapon…straight into Time's wooden shield. In fact it nearly pierced right through it just above his arm. Using this to his advantage, he yanked the pole out of his hands and kicked him away, sending Anthony flying across the arena and skidding into the dirt.

"Are you okay?" He called, simply plucking the spear out and checking the tip's sharpness. Now he looked to Theo, "Are we done?" He was internally astonished to watch him shrug.

However, it seems he didn't have to wait much longer. When the dust from his skidding cleared, Anthony was back on his feet with five or six spears lying on the ground next to him.

'He got more!?' He drew in a breath, 'Okey-dokey, I guess. Looks like he's winding up to throw them.' The reality is that he could have zipped up to him and put a cut into his ear to end the battle, but dodging spears was certainly more fun than doing that. He did an aerial to the right, side-rolled to the left, and backflipped over the next. Then, sheathing his sword and simply strolling forward, he caught one. It nearly clipped his shoulder. He caught the next one. His expression became dull considering it was aimed right for his stomach.

Anthony had sweat pouring down the sides of his face, "Oh my—dear Hylia—shit!" He had one left.

They reared their arms back at the same time and let them soar. Only the Hero of Time's flew twice as fast and split the incoming spear straight down the middle. While it continued over the spearman's shoulder and into the stone wall, he took the opening he created and threw himself into a front handspring, performing a close quarter spin attack before mercilessly stabbing forward and thinly slicing into the fabric that went over the shoulder of his chest plate.

"The Hero wins," Theodore announced, clapping his hands to signal it was over.

"You…you caught my spears! I—that's never happened once in my entire life!" He gushed.

"Well it was nice to put my jumps to use, so thanks for that."

"Anthony you can clearly tell by the look on his face that that was child's play," Roe jeered, "Quit being so awestruck."

'So says the reason why I ended up on the floor that one morning!' Young Link turned to him, forcing himself to sound simply interested, "Ah, wanna go next? I don't think I ever got to see much of your fighting last time."

"I'll show you a real fight for sure. I always gave Link a run for his money," He half murmured. As his teammate moved to the sidelines, he merely stood with his arms crossed.

Meanwhile, Time half and half nodded, "Oh really? Cool, I'm excited then." To his surprise, that earned him an offended frown.

"You just said that like you don't believe me!"

'Shit. I did, didn't I? Oops!' "Sorry?" 'How the heck am I supposed to respond to that? Calm down man!'

Theo was less than impressed, "Stop bickering, the match has started."

In the blink of an eye, the Hero blocked two flying knives from gouging into his eyes. He strained to contain burst of power that briefly bubbled inside of him before flicking them off his shield to the ground. 'I'm not mad…I am not mad. I'm not getting annoyed either. Just be the bigger person,' He blocked a few more, though he could have easily destroyed them with his sword, 'don't break his stuff,' the next one was aimed right for his heart, 'aaand Theo said nothing about kicking up dust.'

However, he did prefer to maintain the status of winning without pulling dirty tricks. 'Let's see if I can't play some mind games…hmm,' He lunged at the knight with an upward slash.

Roe never struck him to be particularly fast, though the speed at which he ducked away was decently impressive. Especially while Time was bothering to keep his fighting within the human range.

"Interesting," He commented in the midst of a spin attack.

"What is?"

"Juuuust thinking." Before the specialist could hop away, the Hero managed to catch his foot with his own, keeping him pinned there. 'I'm realizing that these fights with ranged weapons aren't nearly as fun as I thought they'd be. Unless they've got distance on you and start raining fire, what are they gonna do at fist-range?'

Roe's eyes briefly flicked down to his feet. Him tactfully driving Time's attention elsewhere gave him the opportunity to attempt to kick the Hero in the chest.

'Except while that's a really great tactic, I think each of you know that you're going to lose to me today.' His crystal-clear peripherals saw it coming from a mile away. He yanked him up by the caught foot, quickly flipped him around to where he could more easily grab his body and held him over his head. 'Be gentle. Be gentle! Be GENTLE! BE GENTLE!' And yet, as he was going to throw him to the ground, catching sight of a knife flicking out of the knight's wrist made him immediately change course and throw him up into the air. The following actions were performed with little to no thought.

Despite the astonished yelling and hooting that came from the other elites, it soon turned into Godric and Anthony hollering in approval and Theo yelling in confusion when they watched him pick up a spare bow. "Holy shit! Wait what are you doing!?" Anthony exclaimed.

The burliest of them was surprisingly supportive, "Now that's the kind of stuff I like to see! Ah ha ha haa! That'll teach the little stick bug!"

"Dear Hylia! Do not tell me you're going to open fire on him!"

Time sent several arrows flying into the sky, all of which raced past the falling elite as he was reasonably freaked out. He snatched him from the air right before he hit the ground. 'And then the arrows will fall…' This mentally felt like recounting a written plan. He nearly felt like humming a song as he yanked the knight's hand out in front of them. Milliseconds later, Roe hissed in pain at one of the arrows nicking his finger as it swiftly fell past his hand. The rest pelted the dirt around them, 'A fail-safe in case he tried to run.'

Theodore was stunned as he announced the Hero's victory, however Roe decided it would be a good time to try to punch him in the face.

He caught the fist and squeezed it, sounding unbothered, "Good match! Next time I should let you get some more space between us. It would have been more interesting that way."

Roe was, well…a tad pissed. He seemed to blow steam from his nose as he spat, "How dare you! Saying that I'm not good enough, huh!?"

"Huh?" Young Link was dumbfounded, 'I was expecting him to agree and say he could have kicked my ass had that been the case. Weird. Plus,' "What happened to you being all cool and calm? Did you make that up for the captain or something? You're completely different." His ears instinctively raised at the gasps that came from the group.

The slender knight's face turned beet red. It would appear that he recaptured some of his aforementioned persona and decided to whip around and kick the dust rather than respond. It was obvious that he wanted to leave, but instead he settled for muttering to himself and crossing his arms in the shade that was cast from the walls.

Godric was next. Only he walked up to the Hero and put a hand on his shoulder as he bent down to whisper to him, "Damn kid, you really hit the nail on the head there!" This big ol' man giggled like a child trying to not get caught as they snuck in front of a window, "I'd tell you to watch yourself if you and the captain weren't such good friends!"

"Um…" 'Yikes. I was hoping I was wrong. Damn.' "Let's just get the match started."

"You've got it!" He plodded several steps away from him before drawing his behemoth of a blade.

The archer facepalmed, "I can't believe you watched him coordinate an air strike on the fly and then decide that fighting him is still a good idea Godric! Where is your sense of self-preservation?!"

"Aw Theo, you know damn well that we all lost that long ago. You've just gotten yours back now that you've got a Missus too," He simply replied.

Theodore was normally playfully unimpressed or disappointed, likely to soften the blow of what he says when he's like that. That was not the same guy that stared back at the co-captain. His bulging eyes of shock spoke volumes as the irises slowly craned toward Time, "Kill him!" He hissed through gritted teeth.

He laughed, "No promises!"

"Start!"

Godric simply stood his ground, leaving the Hero his typical move of aggressively zooming forward. He let the blade graze the hairs that stuck out of the co-captain's lower jaw, leaving a clean cut.

His big hand flew to his face, "Going after my hair, are ya?!" He still laughed, but it certainly struck a tone that to anyone else would have meant, 'You're dead.'

Young Link backflipped into the air before the burly knight swung his sword. He anticipated landing on the flat of the blade mid-swing and performed a helm-splitter right over his opponent's head. 'Hm,' He thought as he landed, 'didn't nick him…that'd make for too short of a match anyways.' Watching him whip around in astonishment opened up the opportunity to use the back slice, 'But again, I think my reach would be too far. I'd hurt him.' "Hey!" He barked, "No hesitating!" The Hero couldn't help himself as he lunged forward with a fierce stab. The motion of it sent a ripple through the loose dirt.

Godric cursed as he rolled away from it, following up with several huge slashes. They were quick, but his size got in his way despite his obvious strength.

The Hero caught the heavy downward slice at the end of the combo in his wooden shield, an incredibly risky maneuver considering that it genuinely was centimeters away from cutting it in half. Still, using the stuck edge to his advantage, he threw his right arm away from him and left his opponent wide open. 'He simply let go of the sword!?' Time didn't think the older knight would let him rip it out of his hands. Especially with such a strong grip!

He could spy Theo carefully watching for his next move, 'Well, I suppose I'll show him some hell. Amuse the bystanders as I please.' Tossing his own sword away, he pulled Godric's out of the wood and let the shield fall to the ground. If it weren't for his serious expression, he'd be hiding a smirk at watching the man's face twist in disbelief. In fact, his heart danced at the familiar feeling of holding a sword with two hands, whereas he picked up on Godric's beginning to race. 'Okay okay let's not have too much fun. I can feel this dumb power thing wanting to grow.'

Without wasting another millisecond, Time unleashed a wicked combo of slashes that denoted both his speed and dexterity. To ramp up his own personal enjoyment, they were all near misses.

"Oh my dear HYLIA!" Anthony shook Roe's incredibly irritated figure by the shoulders, "He could have killed him like seven different times! Roe are you watching this!?"

"Shut the hell up and let me, idiot!"

Meanwhile the co-captain seemed to only be able to stumble and fumble backwards. He managed to slide into a parry that rolled to the side, but his face continued to grow redder and redder as a notion of helplessness started to develop in the pits of his eyes. "D-Damn kid! I can't even—ah!" He ducked under a swing that could have taken off his head, "'Hylia let me breathe for a second!"

Time immediately caught himself and stood up straight, "Yeah okay." He smirked exactly one second later, "Time's up!" He could feel his inner power coming to a simmer as he leaped backwards before springing unnaturally high into the air. Maybe it was getting just barely closer to the clouds, but there was something about him that felt electric as he initiated the movement for the front flip that would lead into a vertical spin attack. 'Whoo-hoo! This feels so nice!' His eyes flit toward the path that led to the arena, 'Wait, what the! Zelda and Link!?'

Too late now!

He knew that once in motion he'll stay in that motion until he hits the ground or gets hit by something else. 'Might as well make it cool!' Godric had taken the opportunity to simply make a run for the sidelines as he came back down, but he was shaken by the feeling of the earth briefly trembling when he landed with a furious cloud of dust. 'Perfect positioning! Yes!' In seconds, he reared the great sword behind him and charged up an extended spin attack until the blade glowed a threatening hue of orange and red. The quick spin he discharged sent the settling dust flying toward the walls, clearing the air and revealing both the tiny slice that nicked the tip of the co-captain's ear and the entrance made by both the Princess and her knight.

Godric's hand raced toward the tiny cut as he turned and faced the Hero with an astonished expression, "Well I'll diddly darn damn well be! I don't even think I can count on my two hands how many times you would have ended my life! That's amazin'! Hell I don't know how you just got me, but—"

"Ahem!" Theo coughed mid-bow, gesturing to Her Highness.

"Ah, my bad, Your Highness!" He graciously bowed, "How can we help you?"

Zelda's green eyes were glued onto the Hero's as she spoke, "W-Well I was walking with Link when I thought I saw someone falling from the sky. I…I just had to see if I was correct, or if it was a figment of my imagination." Her hands folded, "Did—Did you do that, Hero?"

Young Link had already dropped the sword and began walking toward her with a smile, "I did, sorry. These guys asked to spar, and I thought I'd make it a little interesting!" He couldn't seem to place his finger on why he felt so happy to see her, but once he was close enough, he scooped her into his arms and gently touched his forehead to hers, "But good morning! It's nice to see you, Princess!"

The eyes of every male around them had popped out of their heads. Yes, including Link's.

Her lashes fluttered in surprise as her cheeks quickly grew pink, "G-Good morning! You're—um—much too kind!" She separated their heads, "While I appreciate the carrying, you can—you can set me down now."

"Ah, of course," He did as she asked. After watching her fan her face and picking up on her fluttering heart did he realize what he'd just done, 'AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH! AAAAAH! AAHH—' Time stood up straighter with a hand on his hip and a pleasant grin. It was a little too easy to ignore the rampant what-in-the-whole-hell-was-that -energy that was exponentially rising around him, "So is that all you came here for?"

Remarkably, Zelda was letting the fact that she was flustered prevail over her typical poised grace, "Oh, um, well I suppose since you're done, y-you could walk back with us if you'd like. I need to finish planning our next trip."

He nodded, signaling his goodbye to the elite squad, "It was nice getting to see more of your skills today! Better luck next time of course!" Once they were out of the arena and around the corner, he broke his initial demeanor, "Ugh, I'm so sorry about that Zelda!" He pleaded, "I didn't make you uncomfortable, right?"

Her cheeks were still recovering, "Well you certainly startled me for a moment! I nearly thought you were going to kiss me!" She laughed, bringing her hand up to her chest, "Don't feel too bad about it. Though, I must say that the sweeter side of your personality is becoming quite obvious."

"Oh really?" 'The way she phrased that scares me…'

"First it was your horse, then the fairy, and now me. I get the feeling that I'm starting to understand why you're so well revered by those like the Great Fairy."

"R-Right. To be honest, I was just glad to see you." He playfully nudged Link who walked beside him, "It'd been all night after all!"

Now she held her cheeks, "Goodness, you're going to make my cheeks hurt if I can't stop smiling!" Zelda looked his way, taking a more curious tone, "Back to recent events, just what was that jump into the air? And the way that sword glowed…was it yours? You left it back there."

"Ah no, that was Godric's. He tried to chop my shield in half and then let me rip it out of his hands." He looked off into the distance, "I don't exactly know how to explain jumping though…"

She giggled, "I know how to jump, silly! I meant how did you get so high up into the air?"

"…" He broke into a bashful smile, "I'll be frank that felt like nothing to me too. I pushed off the ground harder? Link help me." Watching his descendant's blue eyes narrow told him that he had no intention of doing so.

"It's okay, I was just curious. I figured there was some sort of mechanic or maybe some kind of magic behind it." Now her hand came up to her chin, "Though, it is true that we've never seen you fight when you're like this yet, aside from last night. How interesting it is that you've grown far stronger in this form."

"Yeah…" 'Meanwhile, the reality is that this is still nothing in comparison to what I can do in my other form. Honestly, it's dawning on me that it maybe isn't a good thing.' He could imagine the beams from his double helix blade slicing deep gashes into hills or incidentally cutting down the canopies of forests. 'That sounds more like hell than help…' Now gazing ahead, his heart briefly stopped.

Zelda cheerfully greeted him, "Oh hi, teacher! Isn't it nice out today? How are you?"

"I'm…" His eyes immediately flicked to the Hero before focusing back on his student, "fine, yes! Seems you're heading back to your study, Your Highness?"

"I am, yes. I have much to discuss for when we leave later tonight. Wish me some luck at the Spring of Power, okay?"

"I'll always be praying for you, dear Princess." His demeanor sharply changed into one of worry when his gaze met Time's. He awkwardly laughed, "Well, I have much to do! Perhaps we could chat over tea…later?"

The Princess appeared a tad oblivious to his behavior, "Of course! I have a lot to say about how the research on the Guardians has been going."

"L-Lovely. Until then! By—"

The Hero of Time had been exuding an aura so dark and fierce that even Link shuffled a few paces away from him. However, his voice was merely kind, "Actually, if I could have a moment…I'd appreciate it." He took a step toward him, "I'll catch up with you two in a minute."

Link seemed too concerned to leave, but with the Princess nodding and then continuing off, it was still his job to follow her. He eyed him as he picked up his feet and left.

Beads of sweat were already forming as Zelda's tutor had to turn his head to look up at him, "Ahem." He stood up a little straighter, "What is it, Hero?"

"I figured you'd be able to tell it was me." He simply crossed his arms as a small smile took form. Time was trying to come off as just interested, even as he still continued to emit a menacing type of energy, "So, beg my pardon, but I was just curious about what you said after the ceremony for the champions. Something about talking to myself and another thing about a conversation? Those don't exactly go together. I'm not mad. I'm just confused on what you meant."

"A-Aha…yes…" His arms went behind his back, "Well, talking to oneself is technically a conversation so…"

The Hero's head tilted to one side.

"Eep!" The tutor flinched, "Okay okay! I could hardly understand what you were saying, but it sounded like you were talking to someone! If anything, it scared me considering your eyes had rolled back. It just didn't make any sense!"

His eyebrow condescendingly raised, "What didn't?"

"I—I don't know!" He began to shake his head. Clearly, he was frustrated with himself, "I'd just never heard that form of the language before. I could hardly understand even simple articles! Ugh!" Teacher sighed, "Look, the only thing I managed to get was 'Please, I'm very human.' To be frank, thinking back to it now, you could have been coaxing yourself out of a stupor for all I know. The end all be all is that I simply had no clue what was going on. I still don't."

While Time certainly felt a tad relieved, his suspicions remained. 'The only issue is that there is no formal way to say names. So, unless 'Hylia' sounds incredibly weird or translates into something else, then I'll never know.' "Hm, I appreciate your honesty. I understand what you mean now." He respectfully dipped his head, and started walking in the direction the other two had left in. Though, seeing the tutor hunch over and catch his breath was pretty hilarious to witness through his peripherals.

As he reached the door to her room, he could hear Zelda talking—well trying—to her knight, "You felt a sort of pit in your stomach before we left him there too, right? No?...Sort of? Okay, well, I thought it was very interesting considering that it went away after we got closer to my room. Very mysterious. I'm sure it means something, though. Especially if it were only me…"

Despite being about ten feet away the guards outside were giving him incredulous looks of both disbelief and annoyance, "Are you gonna keep standing there or what?"

"Is the Princess expecting you or something?"

Instead of answering, he shot both of them a look before walking over and opening her doors, "Sorry if that took a while. I just had a question is all."

"Well, it felt like a while to me," Came Impa. She sat with her legs crossed at the end of Zelda's bed.

Technically he wasn't all that surprised to see her, but still. 'Huh? No way, she's coming too?' He sat in one of her red chairs, 'Why am I even asking myself that? Of course she is.'

"Oh Impa, he was just talking to teacher, it's fine." The Princess sat in the chair next to him and gestured for Link to come closer, "So, no later than this afternoon, we're going to ride to Akkala. It's only about a five or six-hour ride. We'll stay the night and then see where the day brings us tomorrow morning. Is that alright with everyone?"

Young Link thought about how he only had less than two days left of this form. Given how troublesome it could be, he considered turning back before they reached their destination. 'Or not,' He thought. In the meantime, he looked to his descendant, "Looks like you and I are riding together again."

Link held his expression and crossed his arms in response.

Impa shook her head, "Ah, well as much as I'd like to go, we've started our excavation on the Ancient Temple. We're unsure if we'll find anything of use, but progress has been far slower than anticipated. I have to stay behind and oversee it for the time being. Sorry, Zelda."

Her smile just slightly faltered, "It's okay. I'd much rather find more to research than to see if there's another way to beat this Calamity. Besides, I've got these two, so I'll be more than fine."

"Alright, good luck, Your Highness." She seemed to catch the knight's eye before bowing and warping away.

"How long will we be there, Zelda?" Time asked.

"I suspect no longer than three days. We'll be staying in the citadel."

The Hero cocked his head at the last word, "Wait what was that at the end?" He watched his descendant out of the corner of his eye stop an arm that reached out to him.

The Princess blinked at him in surprise, "Sorry what?"

"The last word you said. Sit-uh-delle?"

Before she could open her mouth to answer, Link briefly explained, "It's like a really tall fortress with lots of military power. This one's got canons lining the top of it, for example."

"Aahhh, okay." His gaze switched back to Zelda. She only looked far more confused than before, "Oh I just didn't know what you said." He scratched the back of his head, "It's not like I know every word in this language, Your Highness." Now he held back a grimace as she looked like she was going to laugh.

"O-Oh, okay…" Her hand had crept over her mouth, "Ahem, interesting. I'd nearly forgotten that this wasn't your first language." Still, she giggled to herself.

Time playfully rolled his eyes, "Right. Well, I suppose I'll go make sure I have everything. I'm starting to wish I hadn't unpacked it all." He stood and waved to them, "See you both in a few hours." With his added height in this form, he made sure to pat Link's head at least twice before he left. 'Mua ha ha ha ha haaaaaaa!'

...

Haphazardly folding tunics that currently didn't fit and making sure the spikes on his boomerang hadn't gouged through the leather of the saddlebag took no longer than five minutes. After triple checking everything, he flopped onto his back.

'This feels familiar,' He thought as he wormed up toward his pillows. A finger rose into the air, 'Aha. It's déjà vu. As in, I feel stuck in this room and I'm bored.' His heart wandered back to the image of them riding past the plateau. 'There's just gotta be something up there. I have no idea what, but I bet it's important.'

With nothing better to do, he figured a nap wouldn't kill him.

A couple of hours later, several flyaways stuck out in different directions as he woke with a start. 'Oh my Gods!' The last thing he saw were several very aggressive guardians. They'd been chasing after him, their legs and claws cleaving an overt path of churned up earth wherever they went. He took a breath, "Uuuuuaaaaaaarrrrggghhhhhhhhh! Okay…I feel a bit better."

And yet the fatigue that clung to his shoulders and temples begged for that awful state of limbo to return. Young Link yawned four times before he reached the east gates. Making the count five, he strapped his bags onto Twilight before tiredly looking to the other two, "Is something wrong?"

"N-No," Zelda responded. Her eyes were directly on his head, "Did you fall asleep earlier?"

"Yes, and it sucked." He tried to brush a wild strand of hair back in with the others but kept missing it, and his descendant intently watching him miss was beginning to slightly irritate him. "Link, I'm waiting for you to get on your horse. What's taking you so long?" It was bad enough that it seemed as though the knight had become invested in watching the blonde hair float around in the breeze.

"Oh yeah." He nodded toward his mount, "You're riding up front this time."

Time blinked, "Like I said before, she's your horse."

His tone became quick and hushed as he leaned toward him, "Yeah well I was up front last time. It's your turn."

He wanted to wait to see if the Princess had anything to say about her knight, but instead it was becoming more obvious by the second that it was the two of them that were keeping the group from leaving. Shrugging, he snapped his fingers and made a short chirp at Twi. Like last time, she immediately perked up and became alert, "Good girl." He pat her neck before eyeing the stirrups, 'Dear Goddesses you're so short, Link.'

He quickly lengthened the stirrup leather and strapped his shield and bow to the saddle bags. 'It was one thing when Link was wearing just the Master Sword last time, but if we ever come to a hard stop, I don't want him to smack his face into my shield or bow. Ouch.' Once in the saddle, he was satisfied with the adjustments he'd made. Especially since he'd never ridden with stirrups in his adult form. Time held out a hand for his descendant to get on, "I only request that you don't pull the crap out of my shirt by hanging on. I've only got one of these, y'know."

"You still look like you could fall asleep at the reins." His hands fell to his waist, "But I'll keep that in mind."

"Ready when you are, Zelda." 'Why does she look so amused?'

She smiled, "Alright, this shouldn't take too long. Let's try to stay close to each other."

The Hero saluted to her, and they were off, yet again. It was far cooler than the day before, and the breeze was pleasant. After they got up to a canter, he felt Link hanging onto his belt for dear life. His laughter to himself was lost in the sounds of horse hooves beating against the ground, 'Yeeaah, being the back rider isn't all that great. It worked out okay last time since I'm heavier.' His lower eyelid suddenly twitched.

The Princess's knight now hugged his back while his hands raced to latch onto each other around his midriff, "Dear Hylia!" He hissed.

While a little startled at the strength of his grip, he understood where he was coming from, 'Dear Gods, he must truly think he's going to fly off!' Time gave it no mind as the hills grew closer and closer. They crossed over two bridges, the second one brought his attention to Death Mountain. It made him think about what Daruk said about showing him around. 'Honestly, I'd like to see what's up there. I wonder if they have any hot springs…' Looking to his right, he caught sight of yet another shrine.

Zelda noticed it as well. Though, while her gaze became solemn, Young Link's brightened at possible mechanisms that could be behind it. 'Clearly they're too small to house anything other than a chest right behind the door.' A hand came up to his mouth, 'Gods…imagine if they all had different specific keys…and then if there really is a chest inside, what if that needed a key too!? The reward better be great for such an exhausting amount of work to do!' His eyes flicked to the calm waters, 'Well, it'd be okay if the key to the chest was in the water.

'But then, what if the door opens a portal? I bet it could take you to some arena and then you could fight a bunch of things for some treasure. Or perhaps for another way to open up another shrine!' He thought of the ferocious orcs from his own world, 'You could walk back through the portal if it got too hard though, right? I mean if you die, you're dead. I can't see that working any differently while you're in there.'

Blue herons flying overhead yanked him out of his thoughts. Hearing their calls admittedly startled him. Glancing around, it startled all three of them! His hand went to his chest as he chuckled, "Geez they sound like monsters! I've seen them so many times before, but this is the first time I've heard them speak!"

"I know right?" Zelda agreed, "I think I cried the first time I heard one when I was little!" She laughed.

He felt Link nod against his shoulder blades rather than add to the conversation, "Aaw, how cute! What happened after?"

"Well then I had to convince my father to not make someone shoot it. Let's see, I think I remember exactly what I said." She did an impression of her younger self's voice, "Father! Father, please! It just scared me! Don't kill it!" Her eyelashes fluttered in the breeze as she happily sighed, "My words didn't get through to him then, but luckily my mother stepped in."

Time smiled at the recounted memory, "Knowing me, I probably would have tried to scare it off and then end up getting pecked."

That made the Princess smile more as she pointed ahead at the fork in the road, "We'll continue left here."

The trees swiftly changed from birch and oak to cedar trees with dark green needles. They mainly rode up against the side of a mountain, but a small pocket to the right showcased a murder of crows feasting on something dead. It was so eaten-on that it was hard to tell what it was. 'Yeesh. Reminds me of what happened to that Yiga girl…meh still deserves it.' He also found himself swallowing to pop his ears as they climbed to higher elevations. Normally it didn't bother him, but with his unnatural hearing it felt uncomfortable enough to where it edged on hurting.

After taking a right at the next fork, they quickly came to a stop at witnessing the soldiers fighting off a small group of monsters that threatened the base. "Stop trying to chase them around!" One yelled as he drew back his bowstring, "What happened to using your shield!?"

Link immediately hopped off to go help while Time rode closer to Zelda and drew his bow in case any of them got too close. Though, watching his descendant go to each one and end them with no more than two swings put a proud grin on his face. He let an arrow fly and nailed a moblin straight through his two eyes.

When the tallest monster went down, the surviving bokoblins and lizalfos decided to make a run for it. The Hero considered letting the bokoblins get away since lizalfos would prove to be more of an issue in the future, however, he'd noticed their different skin color and markings, but the animal teeth that hung from their weapons and frantically jangled around made him put an arrow between their eyes anyways.

"Phew!" The same guy from before stumbled over to the Princess's knight, "Thank goodness you guys arrived. I tell you what, the officials at the citadel would have my head before they use the cannons on fodder like these guys!"

"Is anyone hurt?" He asked, eyeing his knee.

The three other soldiers appeared to be more worn out than injured, "Seems not, thank Hylia for that." He finally caught on to the presence of Her Highness, "O-Oh my goodness!" He immediately bowed, "Welcome, Princess Zelda! Please, let us escort you across the bridge!"

Young Link and Zelda briefly caught each other's eye before ushering their horses forward. He grabbed Link's arm and pulled him back on as they passed by, 'Why is he surprised? Pfft, as if I'm going to make him walk next to his own horse.'

The bridge was magnificent! Entirely made out of stone, there were four huge Hyrulian flags that lined either side of it. Then the citadel came into view! "Whoa…" He had to crane his head to gaze at the top of it. Just as his descendant noted before, cannons did in fact line any exposed edge of the citadel. He looked over his shoulder with a light in his eyes, "This place looks awesome! Though, seeing all those cannons makes me remember when I had my own bombs." His head fell to one side as he puffed out a reminiscing sigh, "Ahh, we'd explore so many caves together. I tell you what, there's nothing like nearly dying in the dark while walking in knee-high water and hoping you find something!"

He enjoyed Link's sparkling and glittering eyes as the knight made a hopeful fist. Never mind Zelda and the soldiers' fairly concerned expressions.

"Ahem," One of them coughed, "Speaking of which, who is this, Your Highness? A suitor?"

The Princess's cheeks turned pink, "N-No of course not!" She quickly became unimpressed at such a notion, "This is the Hero of Time. He's here for both my protection and for me to simply show him what Hyrule has to offer." The distaste in her tone grew, "Hmph! How dare you ask such a question!"

'Gods, whatever he said at the end there really pissed her off. Her whole face is red…' Nevertheless, he could tell that this wasn't the time to try to calm her down. They crossed a wider, grander bridge in silence before stopping in front of a barred gate.

"We'll—er—take your horses from here," A different one from before instructed.

"Thanks," Young Link dismounted, reequipping his shield and bow as well as slinging his saddlebags over his left shoulder. He had an idea as he strolled over to Zelda, "May I?"

She briefly paused to think before sitting sideways in the saddle, "You may, thank you."

He tried to hold his smile as he picked her up, 'She thinks I'm just setting her down, when really—' He briefly tossed her to twist her around in his hands and then managed to move the Princess onto his right shoulder, supported mainly by his bicep and forearm that wrapped across her legs, "I know Storm is taller than me, but y'know."

At first, she was shocked, but after realizing what he'd done she mischievously giggled. Her eyes were glued to the cowlick he never grew out of, "Oh don't worry, the view is wonderful up here, Hero."

"Ah you're too ki—wait hold on!" It hit him as the gates shuddered and then began to rise, "That's not why I did this!" He could already feel it getting flicked around!

"Hm hm! That's right, you're trying to make me feel better." She crossed her legs, "I think it's working, but I'm not entirely sure yet."

'They say you have to pick your battles…and yelling at the Princess, as amusing as she may find it, does not look good in front of a fortress this huge.' "Let's just hope they lift the gate high enough for you, Princess." She laughed, meanwhile the other soldiers, including the guards inside, gasped.

They opened it enough, though he might have threatened a hop or skip to get a rise out of her. She'd turned to full on petting just as it was reaching a passable height.

His shoulders tensed at the guardian that sat in the middle of the room, but relaxed a split second later when it became obvious that it was inactivated. More interestingly, there were six statues of different swordsmen in the room, three for either side. The way they were facing each other made it look like they all kept a close watch on the ancient machine. He didn't want to walk over to it. In fact, he preferred to walk around it at all costs. And yet he spied Zelda's steel-toed boots starting to shift in excitement, so of course he took her over to see it.

"This is amazing! I don't think I've had the pleasure of seeing it this close at this height!" She took her journal from her travel pack and jotted down her thoughts.

In the meantime, the Hero glanced off toward the stairs and saw a young Sheikah woman patiently waiting for them. He listened for the sound of her pen hitting the paper to make a period and then strolled over to her. The woman looked a tad perplexed but in a condescending way.

"Um…I'm not sure you realized this, but the entire point of me showing the Princess her room is for the sole purpose that no man knows where it is. So if you could please let her down, we could get on with the fast approaching evening."

His mind shifted to Link's role as her knight, "Sure, but what of the champio—"

"It's okay," Zelda replied, cutting him off. "He's very courteous. There's no need to worry about him."

Still, exasperation lined her sigh as she led them up the stairs and through a few dim hallways. All the while, the Princess tried to touch the ceiling at any given moment. "Here we are, Your Highness." She opened the door to a lavish bedroom.

Young Link sat her down and walked in with her, ignoring that it made the Sheikah's eye twitch, "Oooohhh, very nice!" And still very red; what with the curtains, the bed, the chair…it was starting to seem like the royal blue was for the sake of tradition if everything else the Princess uses is red.

For Zelda, the way her fingers checked for dust on the large vanity while her eyes scanned for any notable differences made it appear like she was returning to a room she hadn't used in a while, "Thank you for showing me here. You're dismissed."

She bowed, taking one last glance at the Hero before warping away.

'Oh right, I forgot she could do that.' Granted, it's not as if he's around her that often, 'Sometimes I wish I could simply tell people to go away and that they'd have no choice but to listen to me. How useful…on occasion.' After watching her plop onto her mattress, he decided he should become a part of the 'going away' party as well. "Well, I'll leave you to do whatever you need to do. I'll see you in the morning."

"Ah, I thought you were going to stay with me."

He felt like he could do a spit take after giving himself whiplash from how fast he turned to look back at her, "E-Excuse me?"

She shrugged, "It'd be no different than what we did at Rito Village, no?"

Time sat beside her and took her hand into his, "Um…so you know I care about you, right?"

Zelda's expression tried to analyze where this was going, "Yes…?"

"And that I respect you a lot?"

"Mhm."

"Oh, and you're basically one of the smartest people I know."

"Well, I'm not sure abou—"

He looked her dead in the eyes, "That's a terribly awful idea." His smile was weary, "It might be barely different if I looked how I normally do, but as of now I'd seriously get stabbed in my sleep or something. Besides, according to Link, I suck to sleep with anyways."

That last phrase struck a curious chord, "Why, might I ask? I don't remember anything unusual happening last time."

"I guess I talk in my sleep sometimes, but it's in the Old Hylian so it ends up sounding pretty creepy. More importantly I want to keep my life."

She laughed, "Alright alright. I understand where you're coming from. I suppose I still wouldn't be all that worried about it, but I'd quite like it if nothing bad happened to you either."

Chuckling at her words, Time brushed a short lock of her hair back over her ear, "Goodnight, Zelda."

"To you as well, Hero. Goodnight."

Following that, he escaped her room and tried to find another blonde head he could ask directions from. He figured that he'd be staying in some part of the barracks. Using his sharp eyes, he located the tip of a low ponytail flicking around a corner on the other side of the room. He rubbed his arms for warmth as he quickly walked, 'Damn, I guess they didn't consider the fact that having such a huge entrance would make this place so drafty!' The Hero could only imagine what it was like in the winter of all seasons. If smoke wouldn't become an issue, there's no doubt that they would have made open fires in the middle of the room.

He mostly caught up to his descendant. The knight was still ahead of him by a few people, 'Is that?' Past the smell of working men was, 'Food! Sweet!' His gaze fell from the doors to the champion, 'Ha, of course that's where you're going.'

"What do you think they're having tonight?" One asked.

"Well, I tried to tip off the chef this morning, and…okay it didn't work, but! I saw huge slabs of venison brisket!"

His words provoked the idea of a riot. However, Time could appreciate the walking speed increasing to a light jog. Of course, as rabid as the crowd seemed to get, there was enough for everyone. He sat his bags down to the side when he took a seat next to the knight, "Hey there, nearly lost you for a second."

"Ah my bad, I should've at least looked around when I got here. We could have given the cook a spook with our likeness," Link glanced at his face, "…kinda." He sat his fork down, "Speaking of which, I don't know why you said we looked similar in the first place. We looked more like brothers when you were smaller. Now it seems like Dad remarried when he had me."

The idea of his soft-souled father getting remarried made him snort, "Link! Oh my Gods!" He calmed down, "I didn't even think that was something you thought about. Granted," His tone turned into a whisper, "We're probably not all that related in the first place. It is the spirit of the Hero for a reason." Back when he learned about a few other legends in the previous world, it dawned on him that there were likely times where the guy who was responsible to save everything died. 'I still wonder if a bloodline would make sense had our part of the prophecy been cushier. Maybe not.'

He grinned, "Regardless, you're still my descendant." Saying it aloud made him want to pinch his cheeks in that annoying way that grandmas do. Having common sense for the consequences of that kept his hand at bay.

Link was very enlightened, "Ah, interesting. Also, are you—" His gaze flicked to the bags on the floor, "Oh, you're not staying with Zelda." His words caught the ears of a few perturbed eyes and faces.

His fingers curled, "Wha— WHY would you know about that!?" He hissed.

The champion was too lax as he spoke, "After you left earlier, she was talking to herself about it. I don't feel like she forgot I was there, so…I dunno. Take that how you will."

His head fell into his hands, 'How in the hell do I have more royal manners than either of them!?' "Look, maybe I'm not understanding this properly, but I'm really really sure that taking her request would get me burned at the stake. Would it not?" 'You're both acting completely clueless about this and it's impossible to tell if it's shortsightedness or something else!'

Now he seemed to recognize where his ancestor was coming from, "Ohh, right. Well, technically speaking, Zelda can kind of do whatever she wants. That should include you too, but I don't know that for sure."

A few moments later, an eye spied him from between his fingers, "Huh…well I'm still not going to act like nothing would come of that as I am now. Besides, I can already see what would happen."

Link intently listened.

He told it like a story, "She'd fall asleep on her side of the bed, and then I'd purposefully roll onto the floor and sleep there. Come morning, someway, somehow—probably through her Goddess powers she didn't know she could use in her sleep—I'm back in her bed and she's cuddled up against me like last time." He caught the champion's eye, "But that's not all. Then, out of nowhere, her father—maybe he's magic too—bursts through the door—no, the windows! He bursts through the windows and slaughters me. And I'm super dead. Like nothing could bring me back after that." Time grinned at the chuckles beginning to play into his ears, especially Link's, "And yeah, that's exactly what would happen if I actually stayed with her. The end."

"Y'know, my Dad would definitely like to see how you've grown, but he'd love your bullshit stories a lot more."

"Hey! They're not shit!" He scoffed, "I think you owe me half a roll now." Their playful bickering drew more attention to themselves, especially after Link shoved the bread in his face and caused them both to burst into a fit of laughter. The Hero wiped a tear from his eye, "Link, I swear to the Goddesses—actually no—I swear to Hylia herself that I'm going to bite you! I will! I will do it!"

There was already a low level of chatter surrounding them considering that they both were likely the topic of the conversation. In an instant, it had completely gone silent as he'd finished his half-hearted threat that loudly echoed off the walls of the room.

Meanwhile, he cheekily smiled despite his descendant's startled eyes. He heard his voice start to reverberate at the end of his initial statements, though it had all happened so fast he considered the others wouldn't think too much of it. Still, he blinked at the new development in the room, chuckling, "What?" He lightly nudged him; his voice had mostly returned to normal. The echoing had decreased from ten-fold to a fading one, "You know I'm kidding every time I say that Link. My goodness." 'Okay, I'll admit that whatever happened to my voice was odd, but it's not like I suddenly grew to ten and half feet and held the sword to his neck.'

His hand had gone to his chest, "Oh," it returned to his fork and knife as he sighed in relief, "Gee, you sounded so serious about it." He put his hands together, pretending to pray, "Dear Hylia, please never let him actually do that to me."

Time rolled his eyes…only they stuck there as Hylia's voice filled his head.

What happened?

'AHH! Hylia this is nota good time right now!' He froze, 'Okay wait, sorry. That came out rude, but still!' She didn't sound bothered in the slightest, only curious.

My sweet, you just swore to me that you were going to bite the champion…

Did you not expect me to come watch?

'HYLIA! I was joking! Being dramatic on purpose!' Her unexpected arrival was so disorienting he couldn't begin to count the seconds for how long it'd been after his eyes rolled up, 'Look, I really don't need an entire army's worth of men to think the Hero of Time is possessed. Also, I know I technically swore it to you, but I'm really never going to do that to him.' He sensed her disappointment spreading like a smoke over his head, however slight it may be. His gut told him to appeal to her, 'Hey, I'll talk to you at the spring, okay?' Her soft laughter sent a warm feeling down to his hands.

I shall see you there, Dear Hero.

He blinked as he shook his head, 'I knew this is why I should never say her name!' And of course his descendant was staring at him. His lips pressed together, "All I can say is that I'm fine. Promise. I think our foolishness is making me tired."

Link simply nodded his understanding and went back to eating.

Half an hour later, Young Link learned that the barracks proved to be as drafty as the center room was, and that the beds were cots. He uncomfortably shifted around, 'Ugh, I hope this isn't a sign that I've grown soft after getting pampered with queen-size mattresses and goose-down pillows.' His figure fit a little awkwardly on the canvas. Initially, he was happy to get one that was worn-in a little. Seems that logic should be reserved for real beds, not cheap, fold-up pods designed for war time.

He pinched the fabric of the blanket between his fingers, 'Yeah this would totally turn into ash if I tried to warm it with fire. Dammit.' It didn't help that the shitty nap from before left him more energized than what he'd woke up with. Energized, yet entirely out of ideas and thoughts. His mind inched toward the idea of just sharing with the champion. Perhaps his descendant's ability to pass out in minutes would inspire the Hero to do the same…but after that morning and then dinner, he viscerally shook his head no when the idea crossed him.