Time hit the ground hard, joints screaming in protest as he actually bounced a bit off the ground. He spat out a mouthful of muddy water and pushed himself to his aching knees. They were in some kind of swampland... perhaps marshland would be more apt? There were small islands of only moderately damp land, one of which he'd landed upon. The air was chilled and heavy with the promise of rain, but what really caught his attention was the landscape.

He couldn't see much, but what he could see was breathtaking. Everything was so big and even the familiar silhouette of Death Mountain seemed to be forever away. The sheer size of the world around him suddenly made him feel small and insignificant. Were they even in Hyrule? He couldn't remember the Mountain ever being that far.

He glanced around, seeing the rest of his boys in various states of recovery. Legend was grumbling about the dampness of their landing spot, and Wind looked incredibly excited, bouncing up on the balls of his feet with a wide grin. The colors seemed to be handling the portals a lot better, but these sudden ones were always worse. Thankfully, they didn't seem nearly as bad off as they had been merged. Everyone else was all right, and Twilight was climbing to his feet with a heavy sigh.

Time turned his attention towards Wild, who stared at the scenery before them with a resigned and somewhat defeated expression. Time frowned. Was this... was this Wild's Hyrule?

"Where are we this time?" Legend grumbled. "Hylia could at least drop us somewhere dry."

"It wasn't Hylia." Wild shook his head, drawing attention to himself.

"I'm sorry?" Sky had an edge of trepidation to his voice.

"That felt... malicious. It wasn't her. It wasn't anything I've ever felt before..." Wild paused, trying to find the words to explain it. "It felt like the darkest shadows of a cursed cavern, the screams of the forsaken and the blood of the innocent... like pure anger and... Malice. If a bit watered down." Time shuddered at the image it painted.

"Malice, huh?" Sky glanced at the clouds, seemingly lost in thought. "I never did figure out what happened to... but no, it's been too long."

"Happened to what?" Legend shot Sky a sour look. "Seriously, is something about to come and bite us in the ass?"

Sky glanced at them with a sigh. "During my Journey, I fought against the Demon King, Demise. I already told you this. What I didn't tell you was that his sword held a spirit just like the Master Sword holds Fi. This spirit was known as Girahim, and unlike Fi, he could wield a sword of his own and fight. During my battle with Demise, he ate Girahim to boost his own power. But Fi told me that she doesn't sense Girahim in the seal, so either he's actually dead, or he managed to escape."

"But hasn't it been a really long time?" Wind piped up. "Why would he only show up now?"

"Not necessarily." Hyrule spoke up, a thoughtful look on his face. "If he's the one behind this, then it could be a Girahim from Sky's timeline, or even a timeline between Sky and Four."

"Hyrule's right." Vio sighed, crossing his arms. "Timelines really don't play into this journey of ours at all right now. Concepts like 'too long' and 'too short' should be disregarded completely. If there's even the smallest chance that this Girahim is alive, then we should expect to run into him at some point."

"Vio has a point." Red piped up. "I mean, technically none of us should've ever met, yet here we are."

"Uh, guys...?" Green spoke up softly.

"At any rate, we should try to figure out where we are, because I've never seen—"

"GUYS!" Green cut off Warriors, pointing towards the strangest lizalfos Time had ever seen. It was decidedly more lizard-like with a large horn protruding from its snout. It held a spear and made low gutteral sounds. It charged at them with unreal speed, aiming for Legend.

"What the hell kind of monster is that?!" Legend scowled as he blocked the attack in the nick of time. The thing had shot out its tongue like a spear. What the actual hell.

An arrow suddenly embedded itself into the lizalfos' skull, killing it instantly. Wild lowered his bow with a sigh. "That's a lizalfos, native to the Lanayru Wetlands."

A sort of hush befell them as his words sank in. "You mean...?" Warriors tentatively spoke up.

"Welcome to my Hyrule." Wild gave a half-shrug and a faded smile. He didn't seem overly thrilled to be home, and Time was strongly reminded of Hyrule whenever they mentioned his homeland—a barren wasteland that seemed to support no life.

But looking around, Time could see no similarities between Hyrule's lands and Wild's. Where Hyrule's was more barren than the desert, Wild's had life everywhere. Frogs and fish and birds and insects... his lands seemed incredibly rich in nature and wildlife. The images they'd been shown on his Slate truly didn't do this place justice. He found himself eager to explore more of this land, and suddenly understood why Wild was always so restless.

In a place like this, how could one not develop a thirst for exploration and adventure? And considering the kid's only memories were of this land, it was a given that he would want to see everything it had to offer. Perhaps he could be a little more lax on the young hero when it came to wandering off.

"Well, you know the drill by now, Wild. What should we expect, here?" Time spoke up, and Wild blinked at him for a moment before realization dawned on him.

Wild gave an almost frustrated sigh. "I've got pretty much every kind of monster. Lizalfos, bokoblins, moblins, wizzrobes, lynels, hinoxes—"

"Wait, you don't need to list the ones in dungeons." Hyrule spoke up. "Just what we might encounter while traveling."

Wild blinked at the Traveler for a moment, perplexed. "I am."

Time felt the jolt of shock that went through the group. "Y-you mean you've got lynels just walking around?" Legend stared incredulously. Time felt a cold trail of ice slide up his spine. Wild had monsters like that just walking around?

"Yeah. I don't really have dungeons, unless you count the Shrines. But those are more like puzzles..." Wild shook his head, oblivious to the bomb he'd just dropped upon them all. "Uh... let's see... For the most part, there's not much to worry about. With a group this skilled, monsters shouldn't be much of a problem. Oh! If a thunderstorm rolls in, I'll store any armor or metal weapons you've got—wearing too much metal will get you struck by lightning, which is definitely not fun."

"I'm sorry, it'll what?!" Blue's eyebrows rose.

"I mean, it is logical." Vio pointed out. "If Wild's thunderstorms are strong enough, then too much metal could act as a lightning rod of sorts and make us instant targets for a strike. Lightning travels the path of least resistance, after all."

"We don't really need to worry about that as much over here." Wild assured them quickly. "Most of the violent thunderstorms are in Akkala or Faron. Other than that, there's—" Wild's ears twitched as his head whipped around, staring off into the distance for a long moment. If Time strained his eyes, he could almost make out some kind of glowing light on the edge of the water's horizon, but he couldn't hear anything at all. After a long moment, the light seemed to move away, and Wild let out a breath. Time hadn't even realized how still Wild had become—like a startled deer.

"Wild?" Wind quietly prompted, wary of whatever had startled the reckless hero.

"Come on. It's not safe here." Wild seemed to scoff at his own words for a moment, and Time heard him mutter something softly under his breath. "There's a Stable nearby." For a moment, it seemed like he wasn't going to say anything else. Everyone gathered their fallen packs and belongings that had been scattered from their unexpected trip through the portal. Wild headed the group as they began to walk, head lifted upwards to stare at the dark rain clouds.

"My Hyrule's most dangerous enemies are called Guardians." His voice startled them a bit, and it seemed to waver a little. Time caught the very well-hidden undercurrent of fear in Wild's voice, but he was sure he was one of the only Links to hear it. "They're highly deadly. You'll know them by their spidery legs and glowing lights... if you see one, run. And don't run in a straight line, either; they've got severely overpowered ranged attacks. Run in zigzags and hide until they go away. If you can't run, hitting the eye will disorientate it long enough for you to get out of there."

Time eyed the scarred hero. It was unnerving to have Wild—the same kid who charged into a bokoblin camp for fun and jumped off the edge of Skyloft because he was bored—telling them to run away from something. Even Wind looked fairly uncomfortable with how serious their irresponsible cook seemed to be regarding this. Despite the fact that Wild hadn't turned to look at them since they began walking, the weight in his voice was enough to carry the severity of his instructions.

"Right." Legend finally broke the silence. "If we see a Guardian, run in zigzags. Got it."

Wild shot the veteran a grateful smile, and the cook's shoulders relaxed a bit. "Other than that, I think that covers the basics." He glanced off towards a very rainy area with a light frown. "Zora's Domain is that way, but like I said, the Stables are closer. To get to the Domain, we'd have to skirt around the wetlands anyways, so it's best to head for the Stables first."

"It's your Hyrule." Twilight reminded him with a grin, hooking his hands behind his head. The relaxed posture seemed to put Wild a little more at ease, and Time forced his own shoulders to loosen a bit. "Lead the way, cub."

Wild snickered a bit. "You sure you want me leading the way?" He shot Twilight a mischievous look.

"It's your Hyrule." Red reminded him with a grin. "If anyone won't get us lost, you'd be the one!"

"I think he might just get us more lost." Blue scowled.

"Be nice." Green reminded him.

"Adventure!" Wind cheered.

Legend shot Wild a look when they started to hit ankle-deep water. "Isn't there a drier path? I'd rather not swim."

A sort of unspoken understanding settled between them. "Most of the water here won't go higher than your shins, and the spots that do I can help you avoid. This is the fastest and safest route to the Stables."

"What's so important about these stables anyways? Can we rent horses for cheap or something?" Wind asked as they followed their cook into the frigid waters. A cold wind blew around them, making a few of them shiver.

"Oh, that's right. You wouldn't know." Wild reminded himself. "Stables are a network of restpoints in my Hyrule. Think of them like small inns for travelers on the road. A safe place to sleep with a cooking pot and beds." Wild explained. "It isn't far... once we hit the edge of the wetlands, it'll only be about two or three hours."

"How is that not far?" Warriors gaped. "I know you said your Hyrule was big, but..."

Wild gave Warriors an odd look. "Let me put it this way. To walk from here to Kakariko would take about two to four weeks, depending on weather, monster encounters and supplies." He pulled out his Slate and showed them its map. "This is us, and here's Kakariko."

"W-wait... that is two weeks of travel?!" Legend spluttered.

Wild zoomed out so they could see the entirety of his land. "Again. This is us. This is Kakariko, and over here is the Stables we're heading to. But like I said—on foot. I've got horses we can use which will make everything a lot faster." He grinned as he hooked his Slate onto his belt again. Time idly wondered if Wild even needed to look at the Slate anymore when he wanted something.

Time could see a small hill and rolling fields of grass up ahead, and breathed a sigh of relief. They'd finally be able to get out of the sopping wet mud that squelched and sucked at their boots.

He was sure Legend wanted to kiss the grass that met their boots as they left the wetlands behind. They quickly found a worn dirt path and started walking along it. Time could make out a herd of horses on the crest of a nearby hill. "Are those from the Stable?"

"Hm?" Wild turned to look at where he was pointing. "No, those are wild horses. You can try to catch one, if you'd like?" He shot the group a smirk.

"Is that a challenge?" Warriors grinned.

"I mean, if you'd like to have a go, then I'm not going to stop you. Just watch out for the hooves." Wild cackled.

"As if Pretty Boy here would dare risk messing up his hair." Legend smirked.

"Are you trying to say something?" Warriors glared. "I'll bet you can't even get on one."

"Please, as if I haven't had to ride wild animals before." Legend crossed his arms. "But you, military boy, have always had your horses trained for you."

"All right, let's bet." Warriors gave him a grin. "I catch a horse before you, and you have to give me one of your magic rods—fire preferably. I know you've got at least three."

Legend scowled. "There's no way I'm parting with my rods. The fact that I've got two—not three—doesn't change that."

"What, admitting defeat already?" Warriors laughed.

"Fine." The veteran smirked. "But if I win, you have to suck it up and deal with eating Wild's Gerudo stew for dinner tonight."

"Hoi! That's way too spicy!" Warriors protested immediately.

"Hey, now, there's no need for all of us to suffer." Twilight spoke up, a nervous smile on his face.

"I liked it!" Wind beamed.

Time internally grinned. He, Wild, Wind and Legend were the only ones who could handle Wild's spicier dishes. Time, personally, had rather liked the Gerudo Stew that Wild had made a few months ago, but it had a copious amount of Goron Spice that the others just... couldn't handle very well. Warriors especially.

"Come, now. Can't take the heat? How can you expect to handle my fire rods if you can't handle a little spice?" Legend taunted.

Time could practically watch Warriors fold. "Fine. We've got a deal. And I won't lose."

Wild grinned at them. "Well, the sun's already starting to move. You should hurry up before the horses get wind of us."

Time watched, amused, as Legend and Warriors snuck off towards the herd. He raised an eyebrow as Wild snuck off, too, but let him be. If anything were amiss, he would tell them... he hoped.

He held back laughter when Warriors was bucked off the first horse he tried—a solid brown one. Legend hit the dirt soon after when he tried his luck with a palomino. After the better part of half an hour—and two very bruised egos—Legend managed to stay atop a solid grey horse long enough for it to calm down.

The steed obediently walked over towards the group, eyeing them warily. Legend had a smug look on his face, and Warriors scowled, glaring at the herd.

"Ha. Dinner will be amazing tonight." Legend grinned.

"Oh! You managed to catch one! Good job!" Wild beamed, four horses behind him. None of them had saddles. "And it's a solid one, too! Those are harder to tame than the others."

Legend sat a little straighter at that, patting the horse's neck. "Did you catch all of those?"

"Yep!" Wild gestured to the rest of them. "Figured we'd make better time on horseback. Since these ones are wild, we can let 'em go once we hit the Stables. My horses are much calmer, so they should be a smoother ride. You can keep the one you caught, though. Got a name for 'im?"

Legend tilted his head in thought, gently running his fingers through the horse's mane. "Streak." He finally decided. The horse's ears flicked towards Legend. "Seems appropriate. He's a fast one."

Twilight helped Wild delegate horses to everyone. Wind and Warriors doubled up on one, and Twilight rode with Green. Sky and Vio rode together, and Time opted to ride with Red. Hyrule and Blue were riding together, and Legend offered a hand to Wild.

"Thanks, but I've got that figured out." Wild grinned as he held up his fingers to his mouth. It was the only warning they got as Wild produced one of the loudest whistles he'd ever heard. Time wasn't sure Wild was capable of creating such a loud sound without explosions until that moment. His ears were still ringing a moment later, as the whinny of a horse floated on the wind.

For a moment, Time almost expected to see Epona. But no, this was a very different horse. It was a solid black stallion with several battle scars. He ran straight for Wild, who stepped to the side, swinging himself up on the horse's back—this one had a saddle, he noted—with shocking ease. Rider and horse turned to face the group, and Time noted the way the other horses shifted their stances, instantly recognizing a new herd leader.

"Meet Echo, my horse." The horse snorted and shot Wild a look that Time well recognized from Epona. "Sorry, my friend." Wild corrected. "He's the smartest horse you'll ever meet—smart as Epona, maybe moreso!"

Time privately snorted at that. No horse was smarter or better than Epona. Twilight shared a knowing look with him, likely thinking along the same lines.

"He's beautiful." Legend complimented.

"Thank you." Wild beamed, leaning casually against Echo's neck. "He's been with me for... gosh, I met him two years into my Journey? Sound about right?" The horse snorted, pawing the earth. "Right, sorry. Year and a half or so, then."

"Years..." Twilight echoed as they started to walk. "Your journey was that long?"

While no journey was simple or short, they usually didn't last several years. It was the nature of a journey to be swift and merciless. Time's own journeys had only taken a handful of months at most... well, Termina was three days, but technicalities.

Wild winced a bit. "Uh... yeah. My journey was about three years long." He admitted.

"Three years?" Legend whispered as they started moving again.

"I..." Wild sighed as his gaze traveled towards the wetlands again, where a heavy rain fell like a curtain of mist upon the land. "You have to keep in mind... I didn't know anything when I woke up." Woke up? Had his journey started asleep? "And when I say I have amnesia, I don't mean 'I forgot my childhood'. I mean I didn't even understand Hylian or Common. I was feral. I was a newborn in a strange and wonderful world and nothing really... I just was." He explained.

For the first time since meeting the boy, Time felt something truly slide into place. Wild. Wild was a child who raised himself. He was a three year old boy whose only experiences were that of a bloodied and perilous journey. He had almost no social skills, and his fighting ability was a mixture of muscle memory and watching monsters. He never knew anything different until he met them. With Wild's aversion to towns and cities, the group of heroes were likely his first consistent hylian interaction in... well, ever, in his memory.

Time sent him a soft smile. "You're doing just fine, Wild." His tone was gentle and it caused the boy to look up at him in surprise. "I know this must all be very new to you—traveling with so many other people. It's new to us, too. Most of us didn't really have anybody aside from perhaps a fairy or spirit. You're doing just fine."

Wild's shoulders relaxed a bit and a small smile graced his lips. "Thanks, Time."

"Oooh, should we start calling you Father Time, then?" Twilight teased gently.

"Nah, he'll get enough of that when he and Malon have kids!" Warriors laughed.

"Kids?" Wild tilted his head.

"Yeah! One day Time's gonna have kids with Malon!" Wind perked up, and Time felt his cheeks heat up. At this rate, he'd be blushing to his ears. "Because that's what people do when they're married."

"That's enough." He finally spoke up.

"Aw, can't take a bit of teasing, old man?" Twilight grinned, causing Wild to snicker.

"Where do kids come from?" Wild pondered aloud, making nearly the entire group freeze.

"That's a good question." Wind agreed. "Grandma said she'd tell me when I was older, but I forgot to ask when I finished my journey. I'm sure I'm old enough now." He then turned towards Time. "Do you know?"

No. Goddesses no, he was not going to give Wind and Wild The Talk. Warriors snickered, catching his attention. How nice of him to volunteer. "Warriors would be happy to explain it after dinner, I'm sure."

The glare was totally worth it, and Legend let out an undignified snort. Time swore he heard him mutter something about this being the best part of the day. They were saved from further embarrassment when Red called out. "I think I see something!"

It was a giant horribly constructed horse head. Or, Time thought it was supposed to resemble a horse. It could've been something else.

"That's the Stables." Wild informed them with a grin. "We made great time on horseback." He noted, waving at a few people as they neared. A black and white dog ran out, barking happily in greeting as it ran around Echo and Wild.

"Link! That you?! You've been gone for ages!" The man behind the counter stepped out.

"Lawdon!" Link swung himself off Echo, braving the jumping and licking from the dog to greet the man who appeared to run the place. "How's everyone?"

"Good as ever." He grinned. "With everything going on, though, I was hoping you'd come by for a visit."

Wild frowned, shifting his stance a bit. "Everything going on...?"

Surprise flickered across Lawdon's face. "You don't know?" He eyed the group that was slowly dismounting for a moment before turning his attention back towards Link.

"I've been... away. I've been traveling abroad for a little while." Wild explained.

"Abroad?" Lawdon raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah. As in, my job wasn't done." Wild crossed his arms and a look of understanding flickered across Lawdon's face. Did the average citizens of Wild's Hyrule know about his journey? That was unusual.

"I see... So even saving us wasn't enough." He sighed, a sardonic look on his face. "The work of a hero is never done, eh?"

Wild gave an almost bitter laugh. "You know better than to call me that. I'm Hyrule's Champion, nothing more."

Champion? Not hero? Time felt a frown tug at his lips. It felt like a lofty title, but perhaps champion had a different meaning, here. Was there a differentiation between the two? Did Wild not feel like he deserved the title of Hero?

A soft wind echoed around them, and Time abruptly realized how quiet the area was. Actually, now that he was really looking around, there was a lot of wilderness here. And they'd yet to spot a single town, despite the distance they covered on horseback.

Where were all the people?

Wild sighed as he looked back at them with something akin to resignation. "We'll be needing a few beds tonight. Do you have the room?"

"For you? Always." Lawdon was somber, now. "And I'm sorry... for bringing it up."

Wild gave him a halfhearted smile. "I know you didn't mean it." He shook his head. "Ah, speaking of, have you seen Zelda lately?"

"Last I heard she was somewhere near Hateno. Likely waiting for you. But Link, you need to know... monsters have been more active lately, and these new golden ones have been showing up—terrifying, they are. Horribly intelligent. I heard a golden lizalfos ran a red lynel out of its territory."

"I'm sorry, what?" Wild blinked, and Time could understand his perplexion. That a lesser monster could chase off a dungeon boss was insane. "That's..."

"I know. Be wary." Lawdon paused for a moment. "Another thing... it could be nothing, but... It's been raining at the Zora's Domain a lot lately... nearly nonstop for weeks, now."

"How long have I been gone?" Wild frowned.

"I don't know. It's spring, though." He shrugged. Time shared a mildly confused look with the other Links. Spring, he'd said. Not the month, like April or June. Was that just a cultural difference?

"Spring? But I left during the autumn... crap, Flora's gonna kill me." Wild groaned.

"I'd be more worried about your other friends." Lawdon chuckled. "Cooking pot's open. Quince is somewhere 'round here, but I doubt he'll be wanting to use it tonight. Your friends can register their horses in the mornin' for the usual fee." He gave Wild another smile before heading back inside.

Wild turned towards them with a tired gaze. The curiosity must've been clear on their faces, because he started busying himself with dinner. "I'll explain a bit after we eat." He promised. "I don't want to spoil any appetite."

Despite Time dearly wanting his answers now, the tone Wild had used told him he needed some time to process whatever this was, and how to explain it to them.

"All right." Time smiled when he saw Wild relax and shoot him a grateful look.

"We're... safe here, right?" Legend scanned his surroundings.

"Of course." Wild nodded. "Stables are always safe. The Stablehands make regular rounds to assure that, and if anything were to come sniffing around, the Stablemasters would be able to handle it."

"Are they knights?" Warriors tilted his head, making Wild wince.

"No, but most citizens can handle the stray bokoblin or moblin without much issue." He shrugged, and Time couldn't help but blink at that.

"W-wait, your average citizen can take down a moblin?" Twilight startled as everyone started to gather around the cooking pot.

"Yes?" Wild frowned. "Can't yours?"

Legend snorted. "We'll be lucky if our knights can handle a bokoblin."

"Hey! I'll have you know that my knights can handle monsters just fine." Warriors protested.

"One of the few." Twilight scoffed. "My Hyrule's knights can't even chase a stray wolf out of Castle Town."

Time snorted. "I had to sneak by my Hyrule's knights often as a child. They weren't overly observant, nor were they anything particularly special."

"Ours are fairly adept!" Red perked up. "Actually, our dad was—"

"Red." Vio shot him a look, and Red shut up immediately. Blue and Green flinched a bit, and the violet-eyed color looked up at the group after a moment. "Sorry. Our father was a knight, but he died during our second journey. It's a sensitive topic for most of us."

Time winced. So they'd known their dad, and he'd perished. Hylia, that was far too cruel for these children.

"Second journey?" Wind perked up.

"The one where we wielded the Foursword." Green explained. "We forged it during our first adventure, but it was too weak at the time to actually split us. When we picked it back up for our second journey, it'd fully absorbed the powers we'd forged into it. We hadn't actually realized that, so when it split us it was a total surprise."

"Though you have to admit—our journey would've been a lot harder if we'd had to go it alone." Red pointed out.

"No joke." Blue scowled.

"So your citizens are really as strong as a knight?" Vio turned his attention back towards Wild.

"Hm?" The scarred youth looked up from where he was stirring the pot. "I mean, monsters are very common here. Farmers use things like moblin and bokoblin guts to fertilize their lands, and teach their kids young how to hunt them. I've seen a group of eight-year-olds take down a moblin before. And most kids can handle a red moblin alone by the age of twelve."

Time stared at Wild in disbelief. These children were taking down moblins by twelve?! It was one thing to find a single child that was particularly adept at fighting, but a whole kingdom of them?! No wonder these citizens could handle moblins and bokoblins without issue. Wild's Hyrule was brutal.

He privately wondered if that may have been one of the reasons why Wild was sent to them. If they'd landed in this Hyrule, Wild's skills likely wouldn't have stood out much among his people. That coupled with the sheer size of this land meant they might've never found him.

"Most people can handle a red or blue monster with no issue. Black and silver ones, however, are usually ones they'll avoid." Wild scratched at his ear for a moment.

"Wait... silver and black monsters?" Hyrule frowned. "What's the power level of those ones?"

"I've only seen red and blue ones." Sky agreed.

"Oh. Uh... Red's the weakest, and blue is the tier up from that. Then you've got the black-pelts, the silver-pelts—totally different level from the black-pelts—and finally the new gold-pelts." Wild explained. "If what Lawdon told me was any indication, then the golden monsters are likely infected."

"Great. So we've got that to worry about, now." Legend groaned. "Do we have to worry about these guardians of yours being gold, too?"

Wild blinked in confusion for a moment. "No? Guardians aren't monsters, so there's no way they could have a color system."

"W-wait, what do you mean they aren't monsters? Didn't you just warn us about them a few hours ago?" Hyrule's face twisted in confusion.

"They're dangerous enemies, but they aren't monsters." Wild sighed, running a hand through his hair as he dished out their dinner. A few of them—Warriors especially—scrunched their noses at the spice that they could clearly smell. "I'll explain about them a bit more after dinner. For now, eat up!"

Time greatly enjoyed the heat of the Gerudo stew. Legend had a smirk on his face the entire time, as Warriors' face slowly became redder and redder. At one point, he practically begged Wild for some milk to stop the burning of his tongue.

The moon was almost full. Time couldn't help but notice the way Wild eyed it, like it was a thing to dread. He wondered if the full moon was something strange here, or perhaps heralded stronger monsters. So long as it didn't start grinning at them, he supposed it would be fine.

"Wild?" Wind spoke up when most of them had finished their food. "I couldn't help but notice that we didn't see a single town or traveler while heading here..." Wild froze at that as Wind continued. "Where are all the people?" His question silenced the banter around them, and Time couldn't help but note the way Wild's hands twitched for his hood. Sky winced, and Time realized he may have a larger clue about this than the rest of them.

"It's okay." Sky spoke softly.

Wild looked over at him with an unreadable expression before turning towards the group. "I guess I should explain." He looked at each of them in turn. "To understand what my Hyrule has become, you must understand our history. Ten thousand years ago, the Sheikah—a highly advanced civilization—created an army of autonomous fighting machines to aid the hero in his fight against The Calamity. They also created four enormous mechanical wonders called the Divine Beasts, which required a pilot each to operate. Together, with the powers of the Princess, they sealed the Calamity away."

They hung on Wild's every word. It was the most he'd ever told them about his world or anything related to his journey. A cool wind blew around them, and something like a smile ghosted across Wild's lips for a fraction of a second.

"In the wake of their victory, the king of Hyrule at the time ordered the Divine Beasts and all the creations of the Sheikah to be destroyed, because he feared their power. He threatened to banish the Sheikah who refused, and this broke the Sheikah into two factions—those who shunned their creations and continued to live peacefully, and those who grew bitter and resentful toward the king, and swore allegiance to Calamity Ganon."

"They just... defected?" Warriors echoed, horrified.

"Yeah." Wild nodded, an oddly grave look on his face. "But the real tragedy occurred one hundred years ago. The signs of Calamity Ganon were clear, and the Sword that Seals the Darkness—Fi—had been drawn by the hero. The King, Rhoam Bosphoramus Hyrule, ordered the excavation of the Divine Beasts and the army of autonomous fighting machines to aid them." Wild's eyes darkened; horrible shadows of nightmares that Time was sure he could only imagine flashed within the depths of the Sheikah blue orbs. "But the princess at the time couldn't unlock her powers. No matter what she did, they simply wouldn't come. And then... Ganon attacked."

Time's breath caught in his throat. He didn't like the picture Wild was painting. It was... surely, he was reading into this wrong. But... the look on Wild's face...

"The Great Calamity is what my people call it. Ganon learned from his defeat, and took control of all the fighting machines and Divine Beasts, killing the pilots that had been chosen to control them. We call those fighting machines Guardians." He paused for a moment to let that settle upon them. "The reason why you haven't seen any people is because there are none. They're in their towns, expanding where they can and surviving where they must. Countless millions of lives were lost in The Great Calamity." Wild stored the cooking pot and bowls in his Slate, and Time couldn't help notice the way Wild's hand shook a little.

"A-and the hero?" Warriors asked in a horrified whisper.

"He died." Wild raised his gaze skyward. "Protecting Zelda. She unlocked her sealing powers, then. Held Ganon off for a century alone, until I came along. That Zelda is Flora."

"He... died?" Twilight echoed.

Time felt like he'd been punched in the gut. The hero a century ago... had perished. Why? Why had the Goddess let that happen? Surely, she could've at least sent them to help... Instead, Wild—an amnesiac—had been forced to finish what the hero a century ago had started. Time had never heard of such a tale before, and it made his heart hurt just that much more for Wild.

"It isn't your fault, idiot." Legend scowled at Wild, who startled.

"Huh?"

"This." He gestured around them. "Yeah, sure, the kingdom may have fallen, but the land and the people are still alive. Hyrule isn't gone, and what it's become now isn't your fault—it's Ganon's."

Time blinked as he realized—albeit belatedly—that Wild had been blaming himself for the destruction of his Hyrule. Why would he blame himself for what happened a century before his time? "He's right." Time spoke up, drawing their attention towards himself. "It wasn't your fault."

"You don't understand." Wild scoffed, looking down with a bitter expression. Time got the distinct impression that Wild had skipped some vital pieces of information, but the boy had always been secretive. Perhaps showing a little trust would help him reach out, too.

"Don't I?" Time challenged. "During my first journey, I pulled the Master Sword at ten." He noted the widening eyes around him. He'd been very tight lipped about his own adventures as a child. He needed to be the strong unshakable leader, after all. But Wild needed to understand that others had screwed up, too. That the legends he'd likely heard about were just regular people... just like him. "Fi deemed me too young to wield the blade at that age, so I was pulled into the Sacred Realm that she'd been sealing. I slept for seven years, and awoke to a world that'd been utterly destroyed by Ganondorf. While I'd slept, he'd taken the Triforce of Power for himself, shattering the sacred triangles that'd been sealed away since Sky's era. It had been my foolishness that'd opened the realm, and for the longest time I'd blamed myself for the future I'd created. But it wasn't my fault; it was Ganondorf's fault. Just like this wasn't your fault. It was the fault of Calamity Ganon."

"I always wondered how you broke the timeline." Twilight muttered softly.

"I..." Wild looked like he was going to say something more, but a flash of lightning in the distance had him glancing over at where he'd said Zora's Domain was. "I'm worried about the Zora. Is it okay if we head over there tomorrow?"

Time felt a smile settle on his lips, despite the abrupt change of topic. "It's your Hyrule, Wild. You call the shots, here."

Wild smiled. "All right. Then tomorrow we'll head out at dawn."