#the arm swirls reminded me of fierce deity sword

[finnichang]

what if… ancient Fierce Deity Link? I’m just very suspicious about not seeing his face in the trailer… artist info: @FinniChang Instagram | Twitter

[castletownranger]

Hey Brother

@ineed-moresleep had a birthday and I saw it as an opportunity to show my son some love, sue me 

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The fire was dwindling. Time hadn’t even expected it to burn for as long as it had, to be honest. Snow and ice whipped through the air outside the mouth of the cave. Frigid wind swirled inside, every now and then. The old hero knew the storm had been approaching hours ago after seeing the clouds tower in the distance. Storms don’t take very long to form, he knew, but they could rage for days on end.  

Using his hands instead of a fire-stick, Time tried to rekindle the blaze. He and his boys had gathered up as much firewood as they could before it all got soaked by the snowfall, but they would soon be out. He looked to the pile of wood next to the fire. Five logs left. 

“Time?” Warriors said softly, pulling him from his thoughts. 

“Hm?” Time looked up to see the captain’s face, appearing sunken in the light of the dying fire. The orange flicker accented the creases on his face; between his eyebrows, around his mouth. Under his eyes. 

“Do we have any extra blankets?” Warriors asked, keeping his tone hushed. “Wind is shivering awful bad.” 

Time looked down. Nestled into Warriors’ side, with a wool blanket and the captain’s blue scarf wrapped around him, was Wind. The young hero’s chest rose and fell with the weight of a deep sleep, but his shoulders shook almost constantly. Carefully, Warriors adjusted his scarf so it would drape over more of the small hero’s body. 

A memory tugged at the back of Time’s mind. 

He stood up. “Let me see what I can find.” 

Walking carefully so as to not stir the other sleeping heroes, Time made his way to the back of the cave where Epona rest. Most of the group’s equipment stayed with her, and Time searched through various sacks and backpacks hoping to find anything close to a spare blanket. Just when he was about to deliver the bad news to Warriors, he found something. It wasn’t a blanket per se, but it would work. An orange blade that emanated heat. One of Wild’s. 

Time carried it back over to Warriors and asked for Wind’s sheath. “I don’t want it to accidentally cut him while he sleeps.” 

Warriors reached behind Wind. The sheath didn’t fit the orange blade exactly, but it would do. Time placed the warm metal in front of the small hero, and Wind reached for it sleepily but immediately. 

The old hero sat back down in his spot near the fire. “There. That should keep him warm for the rest of the night.” 

“Thank you,” Warriors said. He kept one hand on his scarf to make sure it stayed secure over Wind, and used his other hand gently comb Wind’s hair.  

Time watched quietly for a few moments. Warriors was a fierce, some might even say ruthless, fighter. But these moments of gentleness were ones that Time knew well. He remembered what it was like to curl up in Warriors’ lap after a long day on the battlefield; how the captain would drape his scarf over Time’s small shoulders, much like he had done for Wind, and place a hand in his hair. The arm he kept secured around Time as he fell asleep gave him a sense of security he hadn’t felt in ages. 

Wind was the safest person in the cave tonight. Even once Warriors fell asleep, nothing would stop him from keeping the person next to him well protected. 

Time was pulled out of his thoughts again when Warriors chuckled. “He’s gonna be surprised to wake up and realize he’s cuddling a sword.” 

“I’m sure this isn’t the first time he’s slept with a weapon at his side,” Time said. The words came out harsher than he meant them, but Warriors couldn’t tell him he was wrong. Time would guess that all the heroes were accustomed to keeping a blade close, just in case. He remembered how Warriors often would. Knew how he often still did. 

“He’s still too young for that, though” Warriors said, his voice taking on a sadder tone. 

Time looked up to see the captain’s face had fallen once again. His usually sharp eyes were slightly unfocused, and stared past Wind even as he looked down at him. No doubt staring into other things. 

“I’m guessing a lot of us were too young for…that.” Warriors continued. “But Wind, he’s…He should have gotten to stay a kid for longer.” 

A fist tightened around Time’s heart. He also wished that Wind could have had his childhood. Time wished that he could have had his own childhood.

No kid should have to grow up as fast as the gods made them. 

“I’m sure it helps, having someone like you around,” Time ventured. “He might not have his childhood, but I’m sure you at least give him a sense of family.” 

A faint smile ghosted Warriors’ face. “He reminds me of someone, you know.” 

Time’s heart tightened again. But he kept his voice steady. “Oh?” 

“During my adventure,” Warriors explained, “I met so many people. Each of them brought something new to the battlefield, something unique that helped us win the war. Well, most of them were on the Hyrulean side. Some of them weren’t. But anyway, there was this one young boy who Wind reminds me a lot of. Blonde hair that was always a mess. Eyes that could tell a thousand stories without the kid uttering even a single word. He was so, so small, but he fought with more courage than many of the soldiers I came to know.” 

Time smiled. Fighting alongside Warriors’ army had proven to be a challenge, in a different way than stopping the moon from destroying an entire world was, but he remembered what it was like to see Warriors for the first time. A whirlwind across the battlefield, the image of grace and focus that Time always thought real knights would be.  

“Who was the boy?” Time dared to ask.  

“I don’t truly know his story,” Warriors said. “But I’m willing to bet that he was to young when whatever happened to him happened too.” 

I was. Time felt tears pricking his eyes so he turned his gaze back towards the fire for a moment. The flames pulsed and danced even as they were in the process of dying. 

“I tried to take care of him the best I could,” Warriors continued. “Never gave me any indication he had parents, or a family, so I kept an eye on him. I never imagined he had an easy life, but he always seemed to be in high spirits. There was a cheerfulness about him that nothing could crush.” 

“He does sound a lot like Wind.” 

Warriors laughed. “He would always do this thing right before a battle—it was like his signature look—he would place one hand on his sword and the other hand on his hip and yell ‘I got this!’ before running straight into a horde of enemies. The kid had some serious nerve.” 

And the power of a terrible, wrathful god flowing through me. Time held back a shudder at the thought of Warriors seeing him channel the Fierce Deity’s power. He wasn’t sure how he was to tell the heroes about that, or if he even wanted them to know at all. “What happened to the boy?” Time found himself asking. 

“You mean in terms of where did he go? He’s not dead, if that’s what you’re worried about. At least, the last time I saw him he wasn’t dead.” 

“Do you know where he ended up?” 

Warriors shook his head. “The little scamp was always running off to places and showing up in a completely new place later. A tricky whipper-snapper, that one. One day he just…decided he didn’t want to come back, I suppose. I’m not sure where he ended up.” 

“Well…I’m sure he turned out fine,” Time said, looking back up at the captain. He knew he had to choose his words carefully. “And I’m sure he still cares a lot about you, too. You probably helped him greatly without even knowing it.”    

Warriors’ sad expression bloomed into another small smile. “I hope so. That kid was the first baby brother I ever had.” 

“I’m sure that—”

Time was cut off by a thud from outside. The older hero and the captain were on their feet in a second. Time turned to Warriors with a finger to his lips. “Stay here. Watch over the others.” 

“And let you go alone? Are you kidding me?” 

Confidently, deliberately, Time shifted into a stance he hadn’t taken in a while but one that was still familiar to his body all the same. He reached one hand behind him for his sword. Placed the other firmly on his hip. And smiled at Warriors. “I got this.” 

Time turned just as Warriors’ eyes were starting to widen. 

The cold was instant the moment he stepped outside the cave. It cut through his armor, threatening to lock his bones into place should he stop moving for even a moment. Visibility wasn’t great either; the wind kicked up snow and made the air around him and endless sea of gray. After trudging around for a few moments, he saw that nothing was close to the mouth of the cave where his boys rested. After a few more moments, all he found was a fallen branch from a nearby tree. 

Seeing no other tracks besides his own, and satisfied that the monster of a storm had merely claimed a tree limb as one of its victims, Time stumbled back towards the cave. He took off his armor once he was inside, needing to get out of the cold metal, and just barely after he had placed the freezing plates near the fire, Time felt two strong arms wrap around him. Warriors buried his face in the crook of Time’s neck. 

It was silent for a few moments, but Time recalled in moments away from the battlefields how Warriors had trained himself to cry silently. The captain’s tears spilled onto Time’s shoulder, and Time brought a hand up to rub his back. “Hey, big brother.” 

Warriors’ lip quivered when he pulled away from Time. He placed his hands on either side of Time’s face and looked him over, eyes flickering with the same warmth of the fire behind them. “Hey, baby brother.” Fresh tears spilled from Warriors’ eyes as he spoke. “You weren’t supposed to grow up before I did.” 

Time rest his head against Warriors’ shoulder again. “Believe me, I didn’t want to.” It was here that he finally let his own tears fall. Time was vaguely aware of himself repeating over and over I didn’t want to I didn’t want to I didn’t want to, and Warriors whispering that it was okay, that he was safe, that he would make sure he stayed safe now that they were together again. Memories of his long years flooded Time’s mind; waking up as a child in an adult’s body, never quite feeling the age his physical self reflected, the moon leering down at him, a ferocious deity taking control of his limbs, the soldiers who died next to him and Warriors on the battlefield. It felt like too much to be stored in one person. 

Warriors wept his own silent tears again as Time allowed himself to cry into his shoulder. After a few moments, Warriors adjusted them so they were sitting side by side, draping the scarf over Time’s shoulders. 

“I’d love to hear the boy’s true story, if you’re ready.”