Chapter Text
He should've asked for help the moment he felt the tickle in the back of his throat.
He should've asked for help the moment he woke up and knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he was sick.
Did he ask for help? No.
Was he going to?
Not. A. Chance.
Wars knew what sickness could do to a group. He'd been in the war, he'd gotten half of his own men sick just by ignoring his own sickness. Despite Legend's teasing, he wasn't stupid. He knew how sickness spread like a wildfire. He knew how one cold could kill thirty people in two weeks because of unsanitary conditions.
He knew he was risking everyone by being around them.
Which was why he'd volunteered to split up from the rest of the group and do a quick supply run in Kakariko. He could get out of the way before anyone can notice, before anyone could get hurt, pick up something that would fight whatever this was, and be fine in a couple days. Simple.
Shopping... shopping was a chore, in Wild's Hyrule. You had to go to one store in a certain town to get one thing, and Rito Village for another, and he knew that was the only reason that he was able to split away from the group, because they had eight different towns to hit and an indeterminate amount of time to do it. Legend and Hyrule were in Tarrey Town, Wind was in Lurelin Village, Twi was in Hateno, Sky was in Rito Village, Four was in Goron City, and Time was in Zora's Domain. Wild had taken Gerudo Town, claiming no one else would be able to get in.
So here Warriors was, grabbing rice and pumpkins and carrots and... something else, but he couldn't remember it without looking at the list he'd written. Oh, right! Apples.
He was finished with the task by later afternoon, taking every precaution when he was around other people. So they would think he was a weirdo. Well, they wouldn't die from him. Not today.
He found the nearest fire, determined to wait until Wild came to pick him up. Or was everyone else coming here? Wow, he'd forgotten how scatterbrained he got when he was sick.
"Hi!" Someone chirped, and he startled, nearly falling off the log he was sitting on. He pulled his scarf over his mouth in a hurry.
"Oh! Koko is sorry! Are you okay?" the voice asked again, and Warriors took in the young girl, the red and gray outfit, the white hair.
"I'm alright." He answered, settling back on the log.
"Oh, good! Were you going to cook?" The girl, Koko evidently, asked.
"Hm? Oh, no. No one wants to eat my cooking, least of all me," Wars smiled.
"Why not?"
"It does not taste good. And could possibly poison someone."
Koko frowned.
"That doesn't sound good," She brightened, "Koko could teach you! Just like Link!"
"Link, eh? You know him?"
"Yes! He taught Koko how to be the best cook ever!"
Warriors smiled at that. That sounded like Wild, alright.
"Come on! It's easy!" Koko practically drags him to the cookfire. It wasn't long before he was sitting next to it with a ladle, something sweet and a little spicy in the pot. Not that he could smell it or anything. He had just seen Koko put in cane sugar and that Goron spice that Wild always used too much of.
"Koko! Come on, it's time to head home!" One of Impa's guards called.
"Coming, Daddy!" she answered, then held out a plate of food to Warriors.
"Here! Koko made this for you to thank you!"
"Oh, um... Thank you," Warriors said, hesitantly accepting the plate. Koko ran off without another word.
Warriors pulled down his scarf and took a small bite. What he tasted certainly wasn't bad- it was rather pleasant, actually, with just enough spice and sweetness to balance out the other. But the moment the bite hit his stomach, it refused to stay there.
Warriors barely made it to a clear, out of the way patch of grass in time, his stomach clenching and entire body heaving with spasms. Oh, he'd forgot what this was like, he didn't like this, this hurt this didn't feel good make it stop-
"-t's alright, it's okay, just get it out, I'm right here, I'm not going anywhere, there we go, just let it happen, you're alright-"
Who in Hyrule was that?
Oh. Wild. Right.
His stomach muscles refused to settle, but he pushed the nausea down as far as he could and looked up at Wild.
"Hi," He managed to get out, and then the sight of the untouched plate of food sent his stomach rolling once again.
Wild grimaced in sympathy.
"Why didn't you tell anyone that you were sick?" He asked.
"I'm not," Wars rasped. Note to self, teach Wild to not wear his heart on his sleeve all the time.
"But yo-"
"I've been needing to do it since we teleported here," he was scrambling, but that was alright. Wild believed him.
He felt bad for lying to the kid, he really did, but this wasn't something he needed to know or worry about.
"Oh. Well, I'm sorry, but..."
"We have to teleport again?" Warriors said in the most deadpan voice he could manage.
"Yeah. But we'll land right outside my house. Everyone else is already there."
Of course they were. Twi and Sky were going to pounce the moment he went through the door.
...Unless they didn't find out...
"Sure. Just give me a second? I found something that I think might help with teleporting."
Wild shrugged, "Sure."
Warriors found the little bottle of medicine that he'd picked up earlier in the day, took a sip, and immediately regretted it. It tasted like dung and rotting meat mixed smelled, with tongue numbing thrown in.
Oh. Wow. That worked fast. If Wars hadn't known that he was sick, he wouldn't have been able to tell at all. His stuffy nose was gone, his throat wasn't sore, any nausea had completely disappeared...
He would have to remember this!
Wars squirreled the bottle away in his bag and stood up, facing Wild again.
"Alright. Ready," He said, and closed his eyes. He felt Wild take his arm...
And then all that he knew was pain.
Fire, racing along his body, churning his muscles, squeezing and tightening make it stop! Ice, settling in his stomach and chest and turning everything to lead it hurt! Colors, swirling, greying, brightening, enough enough enough-
"Wars!!" He could hear Wild shout, and his last thought before everything went dark was,
"Time's going to kill me."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
He felt like he was floating underneath a lake of ice. Every once and a while, something was loud and clear enough that it broke through, but it always froze over before he could break free. It was peaceful, there, like that state between asleep and awake, like an early morning before the rest of the world was up. He was so at peace, so content, that he wasn't prepared for the ice to break.
But break it did, and Warriors woke up.
He felt so... wet. He didn't understand why. Had he actually been under a lake? That didn't... that didn't sound right.
"Where-" He got out weakly, but his throat was too dry to get out much more.
There was a gasp, and then the sound of footsteps.
"Captain?" Wild whispered, looking hopeful. Warriors nodded, too tired to speak.
"You finally woke up!" Wild whisper-shouted, looking like he might start a victory dance right then and there.
Finally? What did he mean, finally? Warriors tried to convey his question with a glance -- Wild, thankfully, understood.
"You were really sick. Pretty out of it for several days."
How long? Wars mouthed. Wild looked sheepish, and rubbed the back of his neck.
"Five days. We were all really worried. Your fever wouldn't break. We had to resort to an ice bath and wrapping you in soaked sheets for it to finally come down at all."
Ah. That explained the damp feeling.
Wild's expressions suddenly went serious.
"Don't you dare do that to me again, okay? Don't you dare lie about being sick. It wasn't funny, it wasn't a joke. It definitely wasn't something that you should just ignore and take care of yourself. What if we got ambushed and you hadn't told us? You could be dead, Wars. Dead. Because of a stupid choice. Because you were stupid."
Wars opened his mouth, trying to think of some excuse, of something, of the fact that he had been trying to stay away, they wouldn't have gotten hurt, what was Wild thinking, that he was going to get them all killed because of germs? But in the end, he just shut it again. Wild was right. He had no excuse.
Sorry, he mouthed.
Wild softened minutely.
"You don't have to do things by yourself anymore, Wars. We're a team. A family. We take care of each other. And that means asking for help when one of us needs it."
Warriors nodded. He knew that. He did. (He didn't tell Wild about the little voice that whispered no one should need to help you, no one should need to take care of you, all you are is a burden, and that's all you'll ever be .)
Wild grinned.
"I'd better go get the others before Time decides to give me a lecture too."
Warriors groaned. Of course. He really should've seen that coming.