When the Chain arrived to recruit me, I was only too happy to go! Especially because I got to see Captain and Masks again. I'll never understand how Masks is an adult now, but I guess we've all seen the strange and the wacky, so I won't question it. I was turning my cabin in Tetra's ship upside down gathering my most precious things in a small, beaten-up pouch. Aryll's spyglass, my boomerang, my Deku Leaf, grappling hook and my Hero's Charm. As I was fastening the pouch shut, Aryll's head poked around the door. "Big brother?" I went to her and ruffled her hair fondly. "Aryll, can you look after Boaty for me? Make sure he doesn't get lonely?" She nodded frantically and gave me a tight hug, squeezing my ribs until I was sure she'd broken them all. Then it was time to set off. I felt exhilarated by the sense of adventure I hadn't felt in so long. I'd mapped out every last rock in the Great Sea, and it got boring sailing to the same old islands over and over, especially since Boaty didn't talk to me anymore. Besides, judging from the serious conversation, it sounded like they really needed me.

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 I jogged over the sands towards Grannie's house, where I could smell the beautiful aroma of my grandma's famous soup. Aryll rushed out, almost bowling me over, and said to me in a voice full of laughter "Tetra says if you don't come back alive, she'll hunt you down and kill you!" I gulped; I'd forgotten Tetra's overprotective side still existed after that one time where I was teasing her, and she almost cut my hand off. Pirates aren't known for their mercy, y'know! 

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As we set off, I heard snatches of conversation from my place by Wars' side like "Pup, please!" and "Can't be trusted". I let curiosity tighten its hold on me, and I piped up. "Who can't be trusted?" Twilight looked down at me like he'd known me all my life, and winked, before returning to his sharp discussion with Time. Our path was far from peaceful, though. Legend kept sneaking up on Wars and pouring chu jelly down the back of his neck, which made me laugh. Wanting to join in on the 'Pranking Wars' fun, I got out my grappling hook, and swung it around, before letting it fly, and tugging his scarf right off, chucking it to Leg, and running. "Why you little-" Wars shouted when he realised, and we spent the rest of the day avoiding withering looks from Wars and Time. Even though they made me feel incredibly guilty, I didn't regret a thing, and Vet didn't either; especially when we gave him back his scarf, with a side of Sky's cooking poured all over it! I never thought I'd enjoy messing with the Captain as much as I did. 

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As nightfall drew near, everyone but me looked a little apprehensive. "Uh, Link" Sky questioned in a pleading voice. "Can you cook?" I pretended to think about it for a second watching the hope light up in their eyes, before replying with a casual "Nah" Hyrule and Four walked past me, towards the nearest tree, and proceeding to draw their swords. "A-are they gonna fight!" I asked, excitement making my voice tremble. Time, who was sat on the dirt making a fire, replied "Well, one of the has to cook, and to be completely honest, I'd rather it be Four, since Hyrule managed to give Sky food poisoning last time." Sky confirmed that statement by nodding frantically. "We don't want a repeat of that!" Hyrule seemed cool, but he wasn't the best with a bladed weapon, and he seemed to be actively trying not to land blows on the tiny Four. That made sense, I guess, since I was pretty sure he was younger than me by at least a year. No good hero would want to hurt a child, and Hyrule seemed a pretty gentle soul. We watched with bated breath as Four stumbled, and Hyrule knocked his sword out of his hand. Legend screamed a barrage of curses so bad that Wars clamped his hands over my ears, and I watched as Time, ignoring the pink-haired hero's protests, dragged him into the depths of the woods. We could hear Time's disapproving voice from camp!

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Hyrule had won the duel, so Twi and Sky helped him gather some things and I questioned him while he started... umm... cooking? It smelt worse than a dead bokoblin, and when Legend got back from his intense telling off, he smacked 'Rule around the face, and sat down grumpily next to me. I scooted closer to Wars, who was on my left, and he looked down at me, his perfect blonde hair flying in the breeze. I grinned lopsidedly at him, and everyone started laughing. Except Leg, who was still sulking in the corner. "Oh sweet Farore, 'Rule, what is this?" Four asked, sticking one tiny finger into the black mush. Hyrule grimaced. "Uh, food?" Not even Twi managed Hyrule's disastrous cooking, so the Ranch Hand caught and grilled a fish, which we split between us. Nobody mentioned how it was burnt on the outside, raw in the middle, it was more edible than whatever 'Rule made. The traveller earned dirty looks from everyone for the rest of the evening. 

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I wanted to take a watch, but they wouldn't let me, so I pestered Four about it instead. "So, basically, one of us has to stay awake and watch for monsters" I nodded, and he continued. "There are three watch slots, first second and third. Leg is banned from third watch, and I imagine you'll be as well." I moved over to Wars to wrap myself in his scarf, which he had washed in a small stream, and he stroked my wildly disorganised hair fondly. I snuggled against his side like the five-year-old I knew I was inside. "Sailor" He looked down at me. "If you get nightmares, go to Sky. He's the best at comforting us." Nothing much else happened after that, and we settled down, and, one by one, we all fell asleep.

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I was woken by the sound of animal-like whimpering, like a dog who's been beaten. All the others seemed to be asleep, except Time, who was on watch. I looked around me, just to reconfirm where I was, and found that all the others had formed a cuddle pile around me, which was really cute. From my position at the centre of the Chain, I could see Wars, who was next to me, Hyrule, who was with Legend, Sky had latched onto Four, and they were all squashed around me. I knew someone was missing, and, with a start, I realised I hadn't seen Twi, so I carefully climbed out of my bedroll, and padded out of the sleeping heroes, being especially vigilant when I passed Legend, since I'd been told he wakes easily, and went to find him. I crept past Time, and to my relief, he didn't notice me. The whimpering still hadn't stopped, and none of the others seemed to be in any kind of pain or fear... All except Twi. I figured he must be having a nightmare, so, no longer caring if I made any noise, I followed the cries. By the time I found him, the small whines had turned into agonised, heartbroken sobbing and it was definitely Twi. The ranchhand was curled in on himself, and tears were pouring from his eyes. He was clearly having a really bad nightmare.

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I immediately knew exactly what I needed to do, so I sat next to him, and put a comforting hand on his arm. He was really distressed by this point, and he'd started talking to someone called 'Midna'. I was pretty sure he was begging them to stay, and I also knew I wasn't supposed to hear any of it. "Midna, please don't leave me, Midna, please! You're the only person who knows! Midna, I'm begging you, don't leave me alone, I can't take it, don't go! You're the only one I can trust anymore, please... I'll lose everything if you go, I can't take it anymore! Hyrule can go to him for all I care, don't leave me alone!" His breathing was coming so fast, I thought he was going to choke himself; I couldn't just sit there and watch him suffer, I had to find a way to get through to him. As gently as I could, I pried apart his arms, and climbed into them, wrapping my arms around his chest, and my relief was immeasurable when his breathing slowed down again. We spent the rest of the night sleeping peacefully, until Time came to find us the next morning, and I was lectured by Wars for giving him a heart attack. Me and Twi exchanged a knowing glance, though. What happens between brothers stays between brothers.

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Howdy y'all, and thank you so much to my devoted fan, @Zelda_story_teller, who has been here since chapter one, and has been such a huge help to me, I will never be able to express my thanks to you enough! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!! Also, there's only two more chapters until Wild! How exciting is that? I cannot wait to introduce you guys to my take on the Wild Child, complete with a side of dubious food. Hearty lizard dubious food, to be exact. Oh, and by the way, in my BotW save, I have Epona so my Wild Child will also have Epona. So that makes four Eponas all running around at once. That's gotta be a handful, but it's Epona, so it's all good. Allright, y'all, see ya in the next chapter, thanks for reading,

~G0ddessSw0rdF1