It was harder than you'd think, having four minds in one body. After our last adventure, when we'd finally reformed after at least 2 years of being separate, the combination of Vio's soul-shredding grief over losing Shadow, Red's need to curl up and sleep, the  dangerous, fiery mood that Blue was in and my relief that Dot was safe forced our now shared body into a sort of coma. I'd been found unconscious in the forest, slumped at the base of the Four Sword's pedestal. According to Dot, I wasn't breathing right. It wasn't long after that that we awakened and, as soon as we tried to move, forgetting we were all in one body, we fell over. We couldn't speak, couldn't make decisions without changing our minds five or six times and we definitely couldn't train. I spent most of my days talking to Red and Blue while Vio screamed himself hoarse. In our world, the conversations were all only between us, but we must've accidentally spoken out loud. And before I knew it, whispers of the Hero being insane spread through the castle, along with the muttered complaints of the guards who were forced to stand outside our room. Or, as Blue preferred to call it, our cell. Mothers tugged their children out of our way, travellers raised swords at us as we tried our hardest to relearn how to be one person again. 

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I personally didn't understand why everyone was so scared of us now, but most of all, even with my brothers sharing a body with me, I felt alone. Dot's explanations didn't make it much better. "Link..." She'd say, in that sweet voice of hers and I'd look up at her, and she'd frown. "You do realise that the reason people are wary of you is because you hold entire conversations with nobody, your personality changes like a switch and some days you wake up incoherent and unable to move properly. Link, are you okay? And I want an honest answer." And we shook our head. And then we pulled ourselves to our feet, feeling the plush carpet of Dot's bedroom underneath our thin-soled boots. "Link! Don't strain yourself!! I can get whatever you need for you!" And, for once, we were all in agreement. We spun on our heel, lashing out with our fist. And, as sickening as it sounded, the crack it made when we collided with her jaw was... strangely satisfying. She had recoiled, fear in her her eyes as I ran away from her on faltering legs. She never really trusted me after that. I was a bit of a loose cannon. I did mention that it's hard having four minds in one body.

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My eyes fluttered open slowly, a high-pitched ringing in my ears and a strange silence in my head. The other Colours were uncharacteristically silent. Squeezing my eyes shut again, I tried to ignore the buzzing in my ears and get my thoughts in order. I was... upside down. How odd. And then, all I could see was a young Sailor as he danced about in front of me. "Hey Four, you awake? Hellooo?? Hyrule to Four?" Wind's cheerful smile was suddenly in my face, and I squawked so loudly that Legend dropped me on my head. "Oof, that looked like it hurt." I nodded, still a bit shaky. "Is Wild back?" Time gave me a once over, seemingly happy with my seemingly good condition. "He returned before we made a decent camp, which wasn't too long ago, why?"

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I marched over to the fire, to Wild, eyes burning a cold blue, freezing and deadly. The others warily watched us. Sky was teaching Hyrule to sew, and had paused, needle suspended in the air. 'Roolie was poking his hand, a silent plea for the First Hero to keep instructing him. Our newest addition looked up at me, the fire casting ominous shadows over his twisted scars. He looked evil, really evil. "Hey you!" I marched up to him, an odd anger deep in me that I didn't understand, voice a deeper, dangerous growl. He looked down at me, his blank eyes boring holes in my skull. I snarled. "You. You..." His expression melted into uneasiness, and I felt a burning satisfaction. "What in the name of the Four Sword were you doing?! I've heard Stalchildren scream less violently than that, you sounded like you were DYING!!! WHAT WAS THAT?!" I raised my palm, stepped closer and with a sound like a cut of meat hitting water, I hit him round the jaw. Instantly Twi was on me, and had dragged me back. "Let me go!" I thrashed like a snake, but Twi's stupid superstrength beat me. "You bastard, get off!!!"

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 I was too caught up fighting against Twi's grip to notice how shaken Wild looked, or how he carefully composed his emotions behind a wall of indifference. "Right" He signed, eyes downcast, "Well that was strange. Is he usually like that?" Time shook his head. Same with Hyrule, then Wind, then Wars. "I'm usually the prick, not that midget. Must've been triggered by your... whatever it is that you were doing." Legend said, shaking his head in mock disappointment. Time beckoned to Twi, and they had one of their private discussions. The Old Man kept looking at me, and I started to feel slightly scared. What were they talking about? Why did Twilight keep looking at me? Was that pity in his eyes?! Time!! Time has never liked me much, has he?! What if he told Twi to throw me out?! What if they left me by myself in a Hyrule I don't belong in?! What if they never wanted me?! What if they never meant it when they called me their brother?! What if they were like the townsfolk at home, the ones who sneered as I passed them by?! So many what ifs, so many, too many, there were just too many what ifs; what if, what if, what if, what if, what if, what if-

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"Four!"

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Suddenly I was being held in toned arms, and I realised that I was hyperventilating. The concerned face of Warriors peered down at me, his blonde hair in uncharacteristic tangles. "Four, are you alright? You started panicking, and you collapsed. I think you gave poor Sky a heart attack! What's gotten into you today?" I just shook my head, which, now that I'd given it some thought, was throbbing like it was going to fly apart. I needed to Split, or else I'd be forced to reveal my secret to everyone. I wasn't quite ready for that yet. Wars poked me, pristine eyebrows furrowed in worry. "Are you sure you're ok? You've been acting really odd all day. You yelled at Wild, you never yell at people!" He sighed. "Look, you don't have to tell me what's up, but I think you might to vent a bit. If you bottle all that anger up, you'll end up like Legend." That got a laugh out of me, and I gave him my best imitation of Legend's resentful scowl. "Go away, I hate the Goddess, damn Hylia, arrrrgh, I'm angry!" He chuckled, running a hand through his blonde locks. "There's the Four I know."

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I was walking with Sky, with Wild leading the way, Time trudging beside Twilight, who was sticking to Wild like a burr, and Legend being pestered by an overenthusiastic Hyrule. Wind was running rings around us with a certain blue scarf clenched in his fists, chased by a very angry Warriors. Carefully sidestepping Wind as he dove towards the safety of Time, and Sky laughed as Legend slide-tackled Wars to the ground. I smiled softly; my brothers really were massive kids. Wait- brothers? What was I thinking, the Colours were my brothers! But... Was I really close enough with the other Links to count them as brothers? It felt... right. It felt right, and I liked it. Our little group made our way towards a crumbling bridge. "Wild?" Twi's voice was soft, but still had his distinctive rasp. "Wild, why've we stopped? What's goin' on?"

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I halted just before I walked into Hyrule, and dashed to the front of the group, nearest to the bridge. I exchanged a confused glance with Time, who blinked his one eye at me blankly. "Her. She's why we've stopped." I looked to where he pointed, and there was a woman, a young woman who stood on the other side of the bridge, fidgeting with her jacket and stamping on the dirt occasionally. Her eyes were shrewd and nervous, searching her surroundings fervently. I immediately knew she was bad news. "Oh?" Wars pushed past Legend, with an indignant squawk from the Veteran that was echoed by 'Roolie. "An opportunity." Warriors strode over the bridge, avoiding all the precarious-looking bits and carefully trying to fix his hair. Wild shook his head. "No, get back here right now. She's a Yiga. Don't go near her." Warriors however, was in full Flirt Mode, and hadn't looked back even once to pay attention to Wild's warning. He sashayed up to the woman, and she waved a suspiciously happy greeting. "Helloooooo there, travellers!" He bowed formally to her, kissing her hand. "Greetings. To whom do I thank for this radiant flower I happened to stumble upon, hmm? You, milady, are simply gorgeous." Damn the Captain and his outrageous flirting.

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"Saaaaaaaay..." The woman said, clearly sucking up to Wars. "You haven't seen Link, haaaaave youuuuuuu?" He paused, then looked back at us. Time was giving him That Face, with Twilight replicating it perfectly beside him. Sky was nervously fidgeting with his hair, and Wind was losing his mind laughing at War's terrible pickup lines. Legend was mocking the Captain, with Hyrule as a partner in crime. And right in the middle of this madness, Wild was glowering at the sky. If he could be screaming, I think he would've been. "No. Warriors, don't you dare. Don't you dare." Wars dared. "Hey Wild, this delicate beauty want to see you." The woman, with an odd glint in her eyes, stared at Wild. "Oh yeah, I seeeeee him! Liiiiink, over heeeeeere!!" She leapt away from Wars' side, leaping into a strange pose and transforming in a burst of tiny slips of paper. "Say goodbye, hero! For Master Kohga!" Wild leapt into battle, drawing a huge steel greatsword from his weird hip-stone thing. The whatever-it-was laughed, and vanished in a puff of talismans, reappearing behind Wild. He wasn't quick enough to meet it, and it dug its sickle into his ribs. Wild grunted, and lunged to bury his blade in its chest, but it dashed away. Without thinking, I drew the Four Sword and leapt in, catching the thing by surprise. It stopped, and rubbed the eye on its mask comically, and as it did, I removed its legs. It vanished in a burst of red paper, another laugh echoing in out ears. Wild threw down his blade, ignoring his injury completely, rounding on the others. I prayed silently for their survival. Wild looked LIVID.

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Hyrule dashed to Wild's side. "Oh, wow, that was so cool! But you're hurt. Here." I watched as Hyrule handed Wild a red potion. The Traveller smiled good-naturedly at the newest hero, as Wild turned it over in his hands, inspecting it. He dipped a finger into it, giving it a sniff, then downed it in one. "Oh goddesses, that's foul." Hyrule giggled, discreetly handing me one as well. "Yeah, they are. But you looked like you'd never seen one before. Was that your first one?" Wild grimaced, clearly reliving the taste. "Yes, it was. I've tasted worse, but that was bad even by my standards!" Legend came over, the tell-tale clack of his boots' heels on the path alerting us to his approach. "Hey, what are you arson freaks nerding about?" Then he saw the look on poor Wild's face. "Oh. Roolie, did you even warn them about how bad they taste?" Hyrule shook his head, his brown curls bouncing. "Nope! The worse it tastes, the better it works and all that"

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That night was fairly uneventful, unless you count Warriors being banned from the campfire for not listening, or uh... looking? Looking at Wild's warning. The watch order was established fairly quickly, Time would take first watch, me second, and Wars was unanimously given the third watch, which was by far the worst. Wind, being the ever enthusiastic kid he was, decided that tonight's conversation was going to be about masks. "Hey Twi, what masks do you have?" Wind was bouncing in his seat, excitement in his eyes. "Well, ah, it's not impressive but I have this thing." Twi extracted a ceramic mask from his bag, shaped like the face of a hawk. "This is the Hawkeye, and if ya put it on, it gives ya the vision of a bird of prey. Pretty useful for shooting stuff, but not much else." I relaxed into my seat, the ground, and let the soft sound of my brothers talking, with Time's monotone occasionally chipping in to offer insight lull me to sleep.

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Hello, hello hello! It has been SO long, and thank you so very much for your patience. I've been a bit random with my update schedule recently and well, uh, life happened, but we're all good now. It might be a little while till the next chapter, so stay tuned for more. We're in the home run now, we're so close to the end, and so very close to my little dark secret, muahahaha!! Anyways, thanks especially to @-Wishi_Washi_Writes- , who was basically the only reason I was inspired enough to get this chapter out. Thanks for worrying about me, and thanks for everything else. That said, have a wonderful day, night, all of you amazing folks, and I'll see you in the next one,

~G0ddessSw0rdF1