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“Hylia’s tits…” Legend mutters as he pushes himself up from the grass they’ve all just tumbled into and waves away the nausea that accompanies their portal jumping. He hears a long suffering sigh from nearby as something round and hard bops him on the head. He blinks slowly; his gaze lands on the progenitor of the Hero’s spirit laying sprawled in the grass next to him, and then falls to the apple laying next to him– the source of his mild discomfort.
“Legend, I would love for you to stop using my girlfriend’s chest as an expletive.” Sky’s voice is tight and leaves no room for argument and while Legend doesn’t give a fuck about the goddesses, the Three or Hylia or who the fuck ever, he may give the teeniest, tiniest, smidgen of a fuck about hurting Sky’s (and Sun’s by proxy) feelings. Or whatever.
Legend groans and nods, “Yeah, yeah, Loverboy. Gonna wash my mouth with soap?” He says it with snark but he aims a small, apologetic smile at Sky, who smiles broadly in return.
“Oh, I could do so much worse than soap.” Sky winks before pushing himself out of the grass to stand up and offer a hand to Legend. Legend rolls his eyes and takes his hand, squeezing tightly as he’s pulled to his feet. Sky squeezes back before releasing him and turning his gaze to the scenery. Legend’s heart catches in his throat at the sight of droves of apple trees, branches heavy with fruit.
He pointedly does not think of his own home– apple trees in sight and always bringing the sweet scent in with the wind. He does think, ‘Hm, we sound awfully alone right now…’ and turns to see a cliff face stretching high above them. No other Heroes of Courage in sight. “Great. Where are the rest of our idiots?” He grumbles, kicking away the apple at his feet.
Sky wanders closer to one of the trees, looking at it curiously. “Legend, are apples supposed to be yellow?”
Legend raises an eyebrow at the non sequitur before deciding that he’s in a good enough mood to pursue this. “They can be, sometimes. Most commonly they’re red or green though. Why do you ask?”
“Look!” Sky points upward into the tree, and Legend gawks at an apple the color of gold reflecting the sunlight.
“You’re fucking kidding me.”
“Isn’t that cool? Wanna try one?”
“Let’s grab them and then find the others?”
“Deal!” Sky jumps to try and reach the branch the golden apple is hanging from, but it dangles just out of reach. Legend smirks and walks up to the tree before giving it a mighty shove. The apples rain down, and Sky grabs the golden apples with delight. He shoves a few in his pack before taking a knife and splitting one in half and handing it over to Legend. He takes it with a short thanks because he may be a snark but at least he’s housetrained.
“These may actually come in handy, at least so we don’t have to eat dried fruit for a bit…” Legend murmurs, thinking of the last time one of their group tried to cook. Whatever Hyrule had been attempting to make had made a valiant attempt at rebellion until Twilight had kicked over the pot and kicked dirt over the sludge. After several tense seconds, Hyrule simply sighed and pulled out some dried jerky and passed it around. He sinks his teeth into golden flesh and nearly drops the apple out of shock. It’s perfect . Fucking weird.
After taking a bite of his apple and cooing at the taste, Sky wipes his mouth and draws the Master Sword, chiming and humming in his grasp as if to make up for her steely silence in the hands of her other wielders. He points her skyward before jerking the sword downwards, pointed at the end of the orchard. He follows his sword’s pull, and Legend douses the envy and hatred he feels lapping at his heart. He follows behind him (just like they all do), hand on his sword’s hilt, just in case of a wayward monster attempting to take advantage of the sky-knight’s distraction. As he follows, they break through the trees and stop short at the sight of a strange stone hut with a glowing archway. Magic if he’s ever seen it. He nudges Sky to keep going– they could take a look later.
“Ah, there they are.” Sky approaches the edge of the cliff and points downward in the valley at a small assortment of vaguely familiar green and blue and multicolored blobs amongst some stone statues to their left. “Watch your ears, Vet.” Legend takes that warning for what it is and claps his hands over his ears just as Sky lets out an earsplitting whistle. He can vaguely hear surprised voices on the wind over the slight ringing in his ear.
“Well, that’s one way to get their attention. Any bright ideas on how to get down?” Forgetting the mountain, there’s another cliff beneath them and a crevice running between them and the group, spanned only by a bridge that Legend can tell is rickety as shit from here.
“Hm, I could sail down on my sailcloth, but then I’d just be leaving you alone, and you know what they say!”
“Never trust anybody but yourself and even that’s pushing it?”
“...No.”
Legend smirks at Sky, who barks a laugh when he realizes that Legend is joking. The Chain have been gathered together in full for close to a month now, with the last arrival being Wind. But now, it feels like they're in a different era altogether. The magic in the air feels ancient and overwhelming, bringing the smell of heavy rain and the shade of towering trees with it along with an undercurrent of poisonous sludge slithering under the soil. He’d feel threatened by it if not for the abundance of light magic drifting over the land and laying claim to it.
“This feels like a new era– the magic here feels old and new at the same time, a bit like your Skyloft.” Legend says, turning to Sky, only to see him staring at his namesake. “Sky?” He follows his gaze only to realize what exactly the chosen hero is so enthralled by.
There are islands in the sky.
“There are islands in the sky,” Sky whispers like a prayer, looking upwards at a massive chain of islands hanging above the clouds. There’s a huge structure hanging off the edge of one, dangling like it has no trouble in the world staying afloat. “Legend. There are islands in the sky. ”
“Yeah, I’m seeing it too.” He can’t even try to be snarky right now, standing in awe of the land before them. In the distance, he can see more islands over the crest of a mountain peak– or maybe two mountains split in half? Even a strange floating tower looms in the distance, looking tiny from this far, and Legend knows it must scrape the sky.
“We must be close to my era then! By the Gods, it’s so big!” Truly. He turns to try and find Death Mountain, only to spot what must be Hyrule Castle suspended in the air over a giant pit. He must make a noise because Sky jerks his head to follow his gaze and gasps, “Hylia’s harp, how did they manage that? Does anyone even live there?”
It does look a bit… destroyed. Legend shrugs, “Maybe the hero just finished up his journey recently.” The valley below them is sprawling, and his knees already hurt at the thought of walking these plains to try and find the hero. However, he can’t help the thrum of excitement at all of this world to explore. Hyrule must be chomping at the bit to poke his head into every nook and cranny.
Suddenly, the hair on the back of his neck stands up. They’re being watched. Legend sighs and hums a short three note tune while stretching, a signal developed in Hyrule’s world after discovering the Aches. Sky doesn’t react except for tightening his grip on the Master Sword. They look at each other and nod before turning in a slow circle to scan the surroundings. The strange stone hut still glows in time with the heartbeat of this era’s magic, and the apple trees simply rustle in the wind. They don’t see anything, but that doesn’t mean nothing is there.
Sky takes a step forward, holding the sword in a perfect stance. Braver than Legend, he calls out, “We know you’re there! Come out and talk instead of staring!” He’s half taunting, half hoping their instincts are wrong. The trees rustle in response before a strange silence fills the air. Legend feels all the magic turn muted and immediately draws his sword and ice rod. He bares his teeth and growls.
“Get out here!”
In a flurry of movement, a pale blue blur drops from the leaves of the trees closest to them, along with five arrows stuck in the ground surrounding them and hilariously, stuck through the slightly too big toe of Legend’s boot. Legend yelps and slices down on the arrow, getting it out of his boot quickly before pointing his ice rod at the attacker, only to falter.
The figure is crouched on the ground, looking ready to spring, staring at them with two pairs of eyes, electric blue and molten gold track their movements. Tan skin turns to ruined, scarred flesh under mounds and mounds of bright white hair that trails on the ground behind them but doesn’t seem to sully. They’re swathed in pale blue fabric decorated with swirls that pulse with magic and make Legend a bit dizzy. Barefoot and covered in jewelry that chimes softly in the breeze, they start to stand. Piles of white hair move to reveal two leaf-like antennae swaying in the breeze.
Golden Goddesses, they’re on a spirit’s land.
“I don’t know your faces. What business do you have here on Lord Satori’s mountain?” The pair of blue eyes narrow at them, piercing despite the shade from their hair. They take a step forward, revealing flimsy sandals, and make Legend and Sky both take a step backward. He turns to look at him, looking panicked before turning further to see their brothers-in-arms on the ground below them, starting to approach the bridge spanning the crevice. He scowls before turning to Legend and grabbing his sailcloth purposefully. Legend knows what he means, but it doesn’t mean he has to like it.
He looks back at the spirit, only to nearly jump backwards to his death because they’re ten feet closer than they were when he glanced away. “Answer me.” The spirit’s voice is hoarse, and Legend can make out the way the scars on their face sprawl down onto their neck and the skin visible under the armor and bracer on their left arm. What could scar a spirit so permanently? A golden bracer covers their right arm, which is a sickly looking green with claws sharp enough that he can see it from here. By the Three, they’re goners.
“We were just passing through! And we’ll be leaving now!” Sky yells back before yanking Legend with him and charging off the cliff. Legend squawks and tries to get a grip on Sky, only to get a mouthful of his hair. He doesn’t know if the spirit is following them, but he gets a loose grip on Sky’s chainmail as the sailcloth stretches open.
They’re soaring away from the mountain, and banking to the left to meet the group. Legend is trying very valiantly not to freak out, but watching rocks pass beneath him is not helping in the slightest. He looks up to see Sky’s arms wavering and then the group on the other side, cheering for them. They start to pass over the crevice, and he can’t see the bottom. A gale of wind rushes out of the canyon and tries to rip Sky’s sailcloth from his hands. It snaps into his face, and Legend loses his grip.
And he’s falling.
He can hear Sky scream and the cheering on the other cliff turn to anguish. He can’t think, can’t breathe past the rush of wind as Sky gets further and further from him. Suddenly, the silvery blue blur returns as they dive past Sky and grab Legend’s arms. Up close, he can see the face is more human than he thought, and their hands– one is warm and scarred, while the other is cold and dry. They grin with bright white teeth, “Can you swim?”
What. “WHAT?!”
“Too late!” They tug him close and turn in the air so that he’s facing the ground. A bad move on their part, now he can see their imminent demise fast approaching. As they approach, he realizes they’re falling into water, and he feels slightly better about their chances. He can feel the spirit brace his neck and keep him tucked close to them. “Brace! Deep breath!” He does as they command because they’re a spirit and probably know better than he does.
They plunge beneath the water, and Legend feels his bones protest and his lungs scream, but they’re alive enough to complain, so he’s still alive enough to keep kicking. The spirit keeps a tight grip on him, and they start bobbing into the surface. They breach and Legend takes in a deep gasp, clinging to the spirit as they start paddling to the shore lining the bottom of this canyon. He starts to help and finally, they drag themselves onto the shore.
“Din’s fiery asscrack, I’m never doing that again,” He heaves, all but collapsing onto the shore. The spirit lays beside him, half laughing.
“I haven’t heard that swear before!” They chirp before sitting up, “Glad I could catch you though.” They look contrite, probably for scaring him and Sky enough to jump. “Sorry about all the posturing, but when you know nearly everyone in Hyrule and you meet strangers, you’re not going to just let that slide, right?” And then Legend’s jaw drops as the spirit reaches up and tugs at a string obscured until now and pulls the sopping wet mop of hair off, along with the antennae and golden eyes.
Underneath is a shaggy mess of blond hair and distinctly Hylian ears. “Fuck me running, you’re not a spirit?” Legend blurts, shoving himself up to get a better look. The spirit (well probably not!) jolts and their cheeks bloom a dark purplish color.
“No?! What made you–” Their gaze falls to the mop of hair, and they smack their forehead, “Farosh’s lightning, I totally forgot I was wearing this! That’s why you guys were so freaked out…”
“How do you just forget that you’re wearing all that?!” Legend gestures at the veritable pile of hair now dangling in the… not-spirit’s hands.
“This is not even in the top ten of the most cumbersome clothes I own.”
“Wh…what’s the most cumbersome?”
“A cartoonish clunky set of armor! And after all I went through to get it? I have way nicer outfits with the same magic!” The… person groans, scrubbing a hand down their face. “Ugh, anyways. Are you okay? Sorry again about the scare, and sorry for the water landing. I know not everyone is used to the dives I make, so make sure you’re screwed on correctly.”
Legend blinks before nodding, “Right. I can’t say I’ve skydived before, but I wouldn’t say that’s the most dangerous thing I’ve done.”
“Oh? What would that be?”
Legend’s smile turns wicked and sad, “Fell asleep.” Surprisingly, the person just nods solemnly instead of questioning him. They sit for a beat of silence before a loud whistle interrupts them. Upwards, at the top of the cliff, Sky seems to have landed and is peering over the edge worriedly. Legend lifts a hand and waves at him, along with the person who’s both caused and solved a problem in less than ten minutes, if not a bit more sheepish. Sky looks relieved before tossing a long coil of rope over the side, probably collected from the other heroes of courage.
“Say, what’s your name? And what were you even doing on Satori?” Legend considers hemming and hawing, but he already owes this person a debt for saving his life.
“You can call me Legend, and my friend and I were looking for our party…” He pauses before deciding that this person has earned his honesty, “We’re not from around here, and we were looking for the Hero of this land because we may have a quest for him.”
The person narrows their eyes suspiciously, “Hm. You wouldn’t happen to love bananas, would you?”
“...Fuck no.”
“Oh okay! Wonderful! I can tell you where the Hero is! We should get out of this place first though.” He doesn’t even want to know about the bananas. Then they stand, and in a swirl of blue light, the mystical blue outfit is replaced with a devastatingly normal black cloak with the hood up, traveling pants, and a blue tunic with some leather padding. Legend is still a bit worn out from the sudden bath, but he’s going to hound the fuck out this weirdo later.
They approach the cliffside, and Legend grabs the rope to begin to climb. To his shock and horror (echoed by the heroes he can hear from above), the person simply grabs the rock wall and starts to climb. They have already passed him by two lengths before looking down, “You coming?” He sighs, nods, and keeps climbing, accompanied by whichever hero got saddled with helping by pulling the rope.
The stranger lets him climb up first, to the welcoming arms of his companions. Hyrule flutters around him anxiously, trying to check him for wounds. “Are you okay? You hit the water from so high up!”
“Oh that’s nothing! Tetra once shot me from Outset to Windfall, and I hit the water fine!”
“That’s because you already have a screw loose, kid.”
“Kid?! Say that again, shortstack!”
“That’s because you already have a screw loose, kid.”
Wind charges Four, who sidesteps him easily. The stranger watches them with an amused smile before looking at Legend and nodding. “Oi! Listen. I’m fine. Dunno if Sky told you, but the spirit is just this guy. Scared us to Lorule and back.”
They wave sheepishly at the eight pairs of eyes looking at them, “Um, yeah, sorry about that.” They turn to Sky and give a short bow, “Wasn’t my intention to make you flee, I was just wondering who you were and why you were on Lord Satori’s mountain.”
“No harm, no foul! Thanks for saving Legend like that.” Sky forgives easily before pointing skyward at a cluster of islands in the clouds near the horizon. “Could you tell me about those sky islands? We’re… not from around here.”
They raise an eyebrow, but shrug and smile, “Sky islands that appeared during the Upheaval, Zonai in origin, and generally very beautiful. Quiet, but beautiful.”
Sky frowns at the unfamiliar words, before shaking his head, “Right… well, I don’t know if Legend told you, but we happen to be looking for the Hero of this land. Would you happen to know where to find him?”
“Of course!” They chirp before they pull down their hood and smile wildly, “Seems like you already found him!”
Spirits, goddesses, and devils below, this guy is going to be a fucking menace.