Sky struggled to grasp the gravity of what he had just heard.

This big wolf thing was a god? Granted, he was obviously not a normal wolf, but still! A god?! He dropped that information so nonchalantly too, like they were supposed to know that already!

His mind was also having a hard time wrapping around the fact that his reckless brothers weren't dead. They went in to fight a god completely unprepared and clueless and came out alive. Sky had faced Demise fully prepared, and he barely made it out of the fight; his brothers jumped in cluelessly, got their asses handed to them by the god, and still came out alive.

Granted, he and Demise were fighting to the death; Razor never said that Andrius would kill them, only that he challenges people.

Remembering that he murdered a god, he took a moment to reflect on his unique experiences. Having encountered gods before in his journey, and due to his devotion to Hylia, he found himself more used to dealing with divine entities than his brothers. Deciding to put that experience to use, he took a step forward hoping to be able to talk without offending the giant wolf god.

"Apologies," he began, sensing the weight of a god's gaze as Andrius inclined his head, "We weren't aware you were a god..."

"'Weren't aware'?" Andrius rumbled, looking as contemplative as a wolf could be, "I wasn't aware that humans had forgotten the contributions I made."

This statement piqued Sky's curiosity. Gods rarely intervened in mortal affairs, and he couldn't help but wonder, prompting him to glance at his brothers who seemed equally intrigued. "Would you be opposed to reminding us?" he asked tentatively.

"I am not. The form you see in front of you is but a fraction of my spirit," Andrius started, and before Sky could spiral into the horrifying thought of his brothers fighting the fully powered god unprepared, he continued, "Over two millennia ago, I chose to pass on, allowing my power to infuse the land. My blizzards no longer ravaged, but nurtured the earth, providing fertile grounds for people to thrive."

All Sky could do was stand there, Andrius's words swirling around in his brain. A god that sacrificed their body, recognizing that their immense power would not allow life to thrive in their domain… It was similar to Hylia giving up her immortality to help defeat Demise, but not entirely.

Before he could open his mouth to ask more questions, the god stood to his paws and shook out his body and fur.

"The boon you sought has been granted," he rumbled, lowering his head to better maintain eye contact with him and his brothers. "You may camp here for the night if you wish, but you must be gone by first light. Humans rarely have the chance to lock eyes with a wolf, and you've lingered in my forest longer than I would have tolerated under normal circumstances."

That's ominous.

"I will take them to city, tomorrow," Razor piped up, walking a little towards their group and turning to his leader. Foster father? Aren't wolf packs just a pair looking over their rowdy children? He'll have to ask Twilight later.

Andrius simply inclined his head in acknowledgment before proceeding to explode again into tendrils of cold air like he did when his brothers had defeated him. He couldn't help but shiver when one of the tendrils curled around his arm, sending shocks of ice down his spine before it flew away. Sky got the impression the tendril seemed curious, but he's probably overthinking it.

There was a moment of silence that hung in the air before Hyrule broke it. "You didn't tell us he was a god..." he weakly addressed Razor, who only shrugged in response.

"Did not seem important."

"Not important?!" Legend hissed at the semi-feral boy. "If you had mentioned that from the start, maybe we could have prepared better!"

"Not his fault, ya know?" Wild interjected. "How was he supposed to guess we didn't know the 'Guardian of this Land' is a god?"

"Thinking about it, we should've taken that name more seriously…" Warriors sighed, nursing one of the bruises that Hyrule had ignored in favor of healing his larger injuries. "Who dubs just some random wolf the 'Guardian of this Land'? It practically screams godly title."

"We're not exactly the brightest bunch," Wind chimed in, and Sky nodded in agreement. They were heroes of Courage, not heroes of Wisdom.

From the lull in conversation, Time decided it was the best time to address the group. "We should set up camp. If he wants us out of his forest as fast as possible we'll need to wake up early."

Sky could feel his soul shrivel up and die at the prospect of waking up so early, but he also was not about to push the limits of the local deity, so he had no choice.

With that statement, they all began to walk toward the lowest edge of the arena to climb out. When Hyrule asked why they didn't stay set up camp in the arena as Andrius told them to, Legend answered 'I do not want to sleep surrounded by cold spirit mist', which was fair. Sky would've also asked to not sleep where his brothers got used as floor wipes. Thankfully, once they had climbed out of the arena and landed on the weathered dirt path, the fog had thinned until it was almost insignificant.

Before Sky could simply sit down and flop over to sleep right then and there on the dirt, Twilight's voice piped up.

"We left our equipment and packs at the clearing."

The sigh that left Legend's mouth was so full of frustration Sky couldn't help but agree with it.

Wind, always the one to propose solutions, tilted his head toward Razor. "Could we set up camp over there? Or is it easier to set up here and then leave?"

The red-eyed teen took a moment to think it over before he nodded, "Easier to follow path. Then not follow path anymore… Uhm… Then follow lake, then path…"

"Do you even know where to go?" Legend huffed, earning himself a Look from Wild even as Razor nodded again.

"Hard to… say where to go. I just go, by instinct."

"That's fine by us," Time replied with a soft, closed-lip smile directed at the teen. "We'll just follow your lead."

Sky still couldn't wrap his head around the fact that Time was turning into a dad in front of his very eyes. He didn't act this way toward their youngest members, but this feral kid radiates so much 'ADOPT ME' energy that Time is buckling. To be completely honest, sometimes Sky can feel himself buckling too, but not as obviously as Time is.

"I'll go get our stuff," Twilight sighed, walking towards the direction of the clearing. Before he fully disappeared between the trees Razor jogged towards him, signifying his want to help as they slipped away into the darkness.

It isn't very long after they were gone that Warriors started the conversation; "We should debrief now and fill Twilight in later about what we know of this new Hyrule so far."

"I think it's weird," started Legend. "We've all heard of the same gods and deities with only a few outliers, but I have never heard of a god named Andrius or 'Lupus Boreas' or 'Great Wolf King' or whatever."

"Neither have I," he stated, shifting to sit down on the ground and take Fi off his back with the others following suit. "I know about gods more than most of you, so I find it strange I have not heard of him before… And Fi has been strangely silent since we have gotten here…"

It's true. Not once had she chimed in, even when Sky asked her questions quietly, away from the prying eyes of the others. She remained steadfastly silent, offering no answers about the world, the existence of a new Link, or even engaging in simple conversation. A growing sense of worry nestled in Sky's mind. The only other times she had been this silent were during their journey to Wild's era, when his Master Sword was ancient and weak. In those instances, Fi, taking the form of the era's Master Sword, would still respond, albeit slowly and quietly, but she would respond.

To have her not speaking at all was worrying, and the others knew it too.

"We can't possibly be farther into the future, are we?" Wild asked.

Wind made a so-so motion with his hand. "It would make sense as to why we have never heard of him."

"It would… I am ten thousand years ahead of all of you, and Andrius spoke about sacrificing himself two thousand years ago…" Wild thought aloud, shifting from his spot on the floor. "How far forward have we gone? How far forward do we have to go for a brand new god to be born and die…"

Their little group sat in silence, each member processing those words. Sky couldn't deny the logic; for an entirely new god to be born and die, there must be a considerable period between Wild's era and their current one.

It's… worrying.

Hylia has existed throughout all of their eras, from the hundreds of years before his own to Wild's more than ten thousand years in the future. Though they don't know the exact intervals between each era, given the legendary status of each hero before them, Sky would hazard a guess that each era spans more than 200 years. Putting those numbers together and the fact Hylia is not dead — Golden Three forbid — paints a deeply concerning picture of just how far along they are in the timeline.

Of just how long a god's lifespan may last.

Before he could spiral further into that rabbit hole Twilight and Razor had walked back with their things in their arms. Twilight made a face, probably seeing the existential crisis in their expressions, before a subtle shake of Time's head stopped him from asking.

"Let us set up quickly, so we're able to wake up early," was Time's order, and they set out to do just that.

It didn't take long at all for them to set out their bedrolls and become… semi-comfortable. It was hard to be fully comfortable when you were camping at what is essentially a god's doorstep. That was also partly the reason why they decided to not have a night watch. Twilight did not look fully convinced that they would be safe inside the god's domain, but Razor had reassured them that monsters did not come this far, not looking to be ripped to shreds by the wolves and their divine guardian.

Speaking of Razor, Wild had convinced him to go back to his family. From what Sky could see there was a lot of nonverbal talking that took place even as they verbally spoke, but if Wild didn't want them to 'listen' in then he wouldn't ask.

With a mildly concerning 'Always watching' statement from the teen, he walked off into the darkness of the trees, leaving their group alone.

After Razor had left, Warriors wasted no time in letting Twilight in on what they had discussed and Sky had the pleasure of seeing the existential crisis in his face.

Although they had eaten before the fight, Wild had some small snacks that he shared with the group before they slept. The ones who fought couldn't just go to sleep after that much exercise with no food, after all. Besides, they would eat once they got to the city Time had promised. Between them, there should be enough rupees to be able to afford a good meal. Not that Wild's cooking wasn't a meal all in itself! Sometimes they wanted food they'd get from a dedicated food vendor, that's all.

The look Wild was sending Sky made him nervous he would poison their food because of that comment.

After some small talk, they decided to turn in for the night, wrapping themselves up in their bedrolls.

Even as he slowly fell asleep his mind raced. Everything that had happened since they had arrived in this strange era was, well, strange. It was a gorgeous Hyrule with strange versions of their monsters and a god that gave its life for the land and fought challengers in an arena with the lingering remains of its spirit. A god that led a wolf pack and was basically an adoptive father to a feral teenage boy with eyes as red as any Sheikah's.

A Hyrule that silenced Fi, leaving her unresponsive. A Hyrule, perhaps, thousands of years in the future.

As his consciousness slipped away, one last thought lingered: Andrius did not address them as the heroes of Hylia, as every other deity they had encountered had…

He drifted into unconsciousness, unaware of the wind gently and curiously brushing against their prone forms, carrying with it the scent of wine and the soft notes of a lyre.