Chapter Text
xX Sky Xx
It was cold. He was cold.
That was the first thing Link noticed. The chill sunk into his bones, made it hard to breathe, made his fingers numb, and it was everywhere. It was worse than spending the nights in the desert while he was trying to rescue Zelda, cold and alone and wondering if it was worth it. It was worse than Skyloft at night, during the season where the sun stayed asleep for more than half the day. It was the coldest he had ever been, and for a moment, Link wondered if he had died.
It would make sense, he thought with furrowed brows. The last thing he remembered…
-A shower of stars.-
-Dredging through white, powder-like stuff that clung like burrs in the deep woods of the Faron region, that was cold and leeched all the heat from his body-.
-Blinking, and time moving forward like it did when he was asleep, except all wrong because he shouldn't be falling asleep so frequently-.
-The brilliant red of someone’s hair, just as vibrant as Groose’s.-
-A boy who didn’t even seem slightly cold, who in fact seemed so warm that he was steaming like a pot of soup in the knight academy's kitchen after a long, hard, cold day of training-.
Ah, Link realized, exhaustion seeping into his bones as he forced his eyes open. He hadn’t even realized they were closed, but when he blinked them open, the world was brown and white and blurry, and there was a faint rumbling reminiscent of someone talking. Not dead, he thought, just…incapacitated.
Had he traveled through time again? Was this a continuation of his adventure? Link didn’t want to fight Demise again, but he would if he had to.
Although…he still couldn't feel his body. His fingers were numb. His body was rocking back and forth like someone was carrying him, and it took a long few moments for Link to realize that’s what was happening.
He didn’t think he had been injured, but…
Link couldn't remember what had happened, and he was so, so tired. He hadn’t been this tired after his fight with Demise, a literal god, and it was looking more and more likely that something had happened. Something bad.
Had he been the one kidnapped this time? Was it Zelda’s turn to rescue him?
Link huffed out a laugh that quickly turned into a groan when it jostled his ribs, and the swaying paused.
Yeah right. Zelda was the goddess reincarnated. It was more likely that one of the other knights would be sent out to look for him.
“-thin—-he’s—ake-”
Something warm brushed against his head, brushing hair out of his eyes, and there was that girl with the red hair, her eyes furrowed as she checked on him. Her mouth was moving, but no words were coming out, and Link’s head lolled to the side when she moved her hand away, back onto the shoulder of what he was now only realizing was the other person.
Master, someone whispered, and for a moment he was convinced it was Zelda. But no, the voice was wrong, echoing strangely, more reminiscent of Fi than anything, and Link’s breathing hitched as he realized it was his companion, who he hadn’t heard since his journey was over. She sounded tired, older, like something had happened and now it was up to her and him and fate.
Just like old times.
“Fi?” Link murmured, not even realizing the words had made their way out of his mouth, and a familiar chime greeted him.
The people were talking, words Link couldn't understand, and the world shifted sickeningly, swooping and swirling as he was dragged from his position and set on a much colder surface.
“Hey,” someone said, much clearer than any of the words they had spoken previously, feminine and kind-sounding. “Hey, you’re okay. I just need you to drink this potion for me, and then we can talk, yeah? You’re doing great, we’re not going to hurt you.”
Yeah right, Link thought, pressing his lips together. He didn’t know these people, they certainly weren’t from Skyloft, and all signs pointed towards them having kidnapped him.
Fi chimed in his ear, distant and disapproving, and she spoke again, quieter this time, but no less Fi for it.
Master, she said, quiet, distant, but Link could hear her clearly. I lack sufficient data, but these people are not the enemy. They bear the touch of the goddess, same as anyone on Skyloft.
It was the truth, Link realized. Fi had never lied to him, and he knew it was her the same way he knew something was wrong. A surety, deep in his soul, that knew this was the real Fi, that she was speaking to him after months of silence.
What had changed? He didn’t know, but it didn’t matter at the moment.
“Fi?” Link said again, the world around him blurring like he was underwater, and she chimed again.
Find the other heroes, Master. Break the curses that bind you all. A darkness looms, and if you do not fight, it will consume all.
“Fi!”
You are not alone, master, but I cannot help you in this fight. Find the other heroes of courage, and band together.
A hand brushed against his face again, and Link looked at the boy with blurry vision. He was offering the potion this time, concern written across his face, and there was a kindness in his eyes that reminded Link of Zelda.
Fi was no longer speaking, but Link could feel her watching, and her words echoed in his mind.
These people are not the enemy. They bore the touch of the goddess.
He accepted the potion, and the next one that was offered up, and reserves of magic he hadn’t even realized were empty filled with the barest trickle of magic. Not enough, and he could already feel it draining away, but it was better than the nothingness his reserves had been at before.
The boy switched positions with the girl again, and at least her bright hair let him focus on the general direction of her face.
“Hello,” she said, looming over Link. “I know you must be confused. We are too. But I can tell you what we’ve figured out, so far, and we can try to get some food in you before you pass out again. Does that sound good?”
Link nodded, a word of confirmation making its way out of his mouth that he didn’t hear, which was worrying in all sorts of ways. But he could hear her still, somewhat, and the smell of food was starting to drift through the air, so he knew where the boy was, and honestly, this was fine.
He would figure things out, break the curse Fi had mentioned, and then, hopefully, go back home to Zelda, and Groose, and everyone else.
He had beaten a God before for them. What was beating a looming darkness when compared to that?
xX Quinn Xx
Link was awake. He had been awake for a few hours, at this point, and although Quinn hadn’t had a real chance to talk to him because of the language barrier (and wasn’t that annoying to realize), it was still good to see him up and semi-alert.
Marin spoke the language, of course. Because why wouldn't she? This was apparently her third adventure, and although Quinn knew about the fact that she had had previous adventures because of the many Zelda games he had played, he hadn’t really processed what that would mean.
Marin was prepared. Marin knew the language. Marin had potions, and experience, and a plan. Marin even had a lover, a Link that Quinn knew as the hero of legend, whom she hadn’t seen in literal years because of her unique situation but who still dreamed of.
When compared to her, what use was Quinn? He had played Breath of the Wild, knew the map, but once she got a real map, what use was he?
It was bitter. The thought that she would leave him behind so that she and Link could beat the ‘looming darkness’ faster hit him in the gut like a punch.
It would be a reasonable move. Quinn was a little useless, really. Once they found civilization, he fully expected to be left behind.
But who knew how long that would take. Everything looked different now that he wasn’t staring at a screen, and the mountains loomed over him like silent giants.
Quietly, he scooped up a spoonful of soup, eating it out of his bowl as he kept an eye out for danger, Marin quietly explaining things to Link in the corner of his vision.
The Hero of the Skies. The hero at the beginning of the chain. The Defeater of Demise, before Ganon became the recurring evil the Heroes of Courage and the Goddess reincarnated fought.
And Marin. The Dreamer. The Fighter. The Lover. She was…amazing, and while Quinn knew she didn’t want him looking up to her in that way, it was hard not to.
Who was he, when compared to them. The tutorial character, perhaps? The guide to civilization they would leave behind once that civilization was reached? Was he the character who would die to give them motivation?
It hurt, almost, not knowing.
But… and Quinn frowned, thinking about making them need him hurt more. It was only a thought he had entertained for a few minutes, after Link had woken up and Quinn had been waved off to make food, but it made a pit open in his stomach.
It wasn’t something he wanted to do. If he was abandoned at civilization, and told to not follow him, he would do that, because deep down, he was a good person.
Quinn wasn’t a hero.
But he also wasn’t the type of person who would risk people dying because of his own selfish need to be needed.
He swallowed another spoonful of soup, looking out over the horizon and down the mountain, the snow starting to glitter as the sun set.
He would do what he needed to, then, in order to make sure that Marin and Link succeeded.
He would…Quinn squinted down the mountain. There were numerous black dots starting to gather downhill, some of them bigger than the others, and the longer he stared at them, the quicker he realized that something was off.
“Those aren’t animals…” Quinn said, realization sinking into his bones. And indeed they weren’t animals, like he had initially thought. It wasn’t a herd of animals gathering for the night after a long day of grazing and foraging for food.
It was a hoard of monsters, with at least one lynel that he could see among them.
“Shit,” he said, staring a little longer to make sure that it wasn’t just him imagining things. But no, the image in front of him didn’t change, and even worse, they were gathering right along the path the three of them were taking to get down from the mountain.
Luckily, and he didn’t dare voice this thought out loud out of fear of jinxing it, none of the monsters had seen them on the mountain far above them, despite the bright campfire and colourful winter clothes they were wearing, especially in the…dawning…..darkness………
Quinn burst into action, the realization that with the fire they were sitting ducks shooting through him. If even a single monster looked up, and saw them, and alerted the lynel, they were dead.
It didn’t take much to smother the fire. There was plenty of snow around to do so with, and in a few moments, the fire was smothered in snow and the little area they were in was cast into darkness, only lit by the quickly receding sunlight.
“Quinn!” Marin hissed, “What are you doing? We needed that!”
Link, beside her, looked confused, his hand hovering over his shoulder like he was about to grab a sword that simply wasn’t there. Quinn felt a tendril of regret shoot through him, but it was quickly smothered under terror.
“Shh!” he said, pointing down the mountain. Link’s gaze followed the direction he pointed in, but Marin stayed staring at Quinn. It was easy to see when Link noticed the monsters, because he stiffened, almost imperceptibly. “I just noticed them, and I don’t think we want them noticing us.”
Slowly, Marin turned to look down the mountain. Quinn only saw the way her eyes widened because he was staring at her face and not the monsters down the figurative road.
“Oh, that’s not good,” she eventually muttered, turning to Link and saying something, listening to Link say something back, before turning back to Quinn. “What’s the big one?”
Quinn blinked. The only big monster, like, really big, was the lynel, but Marin had to have seen one of them before.
But, thinking about it, there were no lynel’s in Link's Awakening nor in Hyrule Warriors, and despite Breath of the Wild being incredibly prolific, that didn’t necessarily mean she had played it.
“It’s a lynel,” Quinn said, keeping his voice quiet, leaning forward. “Basically a mini boss that was harder to beat than the actual bosses in the game.”
Marin stilled.
“A mini boss?” she said, something like fear in her voice. Quinn nodded.
“Yup. Hard enough to beat on their own, but with that hoard of monsters with it, it’ll be impossible for us to get past.”
“Well, shit,” Marin said, putting her head in her hands for a second before squaring her shoulders and standing up, relaying the information to Link.
Quinn looked back down the hill, at the monsters gathering, and felt only dread.
There had never been any sort of monster hoard in Breath of the Wild, and if things were already changing from how they were supposed to be, then what else would change?
And if things were already changing, Quinn had no way of predicting what could go wrong.