After each of the Heroes had properly introduced themselves, Purah spent a considerable amount of time debriefing them. She told them about the events both leading up to the Upheaval as well as all the things that had brewed as a result. She had started by mentioning that the kingdom had been "only just starting to recover from the Great Calamity" when this had occurred. However, when Wind asked her what that meant, she frowned and stated that was better told by Link himself. Something so terrible to be granted such a name seemed like it should be important, but Time forced the others to drop the conversation. They all had secrets. If Purah wanted new-Link to explain it, it likely meant that it was closely linked to some of his own and they ought to respect that.

Purah spoke of many important things, but what was startling even more to the Heroes than this Great Calamity was the fact that both this era's Zelda and Link had never returned from their investigation. 

"What do you mean they never came back?!" Legend exclaimed, slamming his hands against the table.

"The Hero can't just...?!" Twilight began to say, gesturing to indicate words he didn't even know how to express. 

"Where are they?!" Wind demanded, jumping up from his own chair. 

"They're... really missing in action...?" Time asked in what was almost a whisper, much quieter than the others were being.

Purah forced a sort of awkward, sad smile. "I wish I knew what happened to them down there, trust me. I'm more worried about her highness and her knight more than anything. In their absence, I took charge of the operation here at Lookout Landing to not only find them, but to find out as much as I can about everything else that has been going on." She explained as each one of the Heroes grew silent after their initial uproar. "You see now why it was a rather odd that you asked me of all people if I knew where he was. Word has well spread throughout the kingdom that they are both missing." 

"Are there really no leads?" Legend asked, his voice rough and cold, and those who didn't know him well may have even thought they heard a lick of offense in his tone as well. 

"Our best lead currently would be where they themselves went... But it has become far too dangerous to send an everyday volunteer there." Purah paused, biting her lip. "It would be suicide." The silence that followed was nothing short of suffocating. Not even the most hotheaded of the group would argue against sending regular, everyday people on such a dangerous mission. With no further comment on the missing Hero and princess, the Sheikah woman straightened up in her chair and continued to fill the group in on other important information. 

「∆」

「∆」「▲」

"Given your experiences, you guys would be a great help with the Monster Control Crews." Purah explained when she had finished her rundown of everything. "They're a band of brave volunteers that clear main roads every month. With the Blood Moon, I'm afraid their work is never truly finished." She frowned, her gaze lowering.

"Volunteers?" Legend asked, his eyebrow raising. They had been told a lot of absurd things at this meeting, but this especially didn't sit well with him. "You mean regular townsfolk? Not knights? And-- no weapons, either?" With a hesitant nod from the woman, he slammed his hands against the table again and asked, "But -- isn't that what the knights are for?"

"Legend." Time scolded as he crossed his arms, glaring at the Veteran. "This isn't one of our eras. I'm sure they have a reason."

"Like what?" He hissed.

Purah hesitated, her frown only growing. She spoke in a low whisper, as though she didn't dare disturb the ghosts long gone. "The royal guard... doesn't exist anymore. They perished long ago. There's only one knight in the entire kingdom, and he's--" She shook her head, not looking at any of the men. "As I have said before, we were in the middle of rebuilding the kingdom. In the guards' absence, the people have learned to stand their own against some monsters. I too wish it was different, but we must make do with what we do have."

Her expression changed to one of determination as she looked back at each one of them, who were, once again, glancing at each other in shock. "You see now why you would be an incredible help. If you lot truly have the strength, the courage and the skill as our own Link, those monsters don't stand a chance." She looked around the group, each of them nodding in turn. "Perfect. Now, for today... Warriors, you meet with the Monster Control Crews Squad One and Three. As captain, I'm sure there are things that you can teach them. Wind, meet up to Squad Three . They just set out to the South within the past half hour. If you hurry, you can catch up to them. Four, you said you were a bladesmith? See if you can craft some sort of weapons for the Crew, or fix up the ones we have. Twilight, you seem like you have a good build for physical labor. If you could help with the construction of Lookout Landing. Time, meet with Atmus. He can give a better description of what is happening in each disaster zone. Legend, Hyrule..." She drawled, as though she wasn't quite sure if she dared to hand out the last task.

"We can hold our own; don't worry about us." Legend huffed, crossing his arms.

"Yeah, we've all risked our lives before. It'll be alright." Hyrule nudged, his voice noticeably more gentle than Legend's.

With that encouragement, Purah continued. "Go up to Castle Town. I don't know if it's possible, but if you could follow where Princess Zelda and Link went, that could give us invaluable information. It will be dangerous, though; and the gloom may to be too thick for you to bear. If that's the case, then just come back here."

"Got it." Legend have a short nod. With that settled, there was only one Hero that was left taskless.

"What about me?" Sky asked, tilting his head. It seemed as though they had all of their bases covered at this point. At his question, Purah turned to him, breaking into a smile that certainly didn't look like a monster finding its next meal of a human being.

"Oh, I have a special task for you, my pet." She hummed, opening her fan to hide her smile. Even so, her eyes were locked onto him -- or to be more precise, his sail cloth. Something about that twisted his stomach.

"Pet...?" He echoed, but she didn't elaborate and further as she snatched up his arm with a giggle.

"And meeting adjourned!" She exclaimed, waving her free arm before pulling Sky out of the building with her.

「∆」

「∆」「▲」

Twilight was led over to an old man sitting on a stump of wood. Beside him was three horses. Firstly was his own girl (thank Hylia she had arrived safely once more), while the others were a pure black and white respectively, their reins tied up to a post. Their saddles had been removed, and blankets had been placed over them instead. Beside the old man was a feeding trough that the horses ate at.

"Hello there." Twilight greeted, causing the gentleman to look up. "Do those horses have a place to stay?"

The man shook his head. "I'm afraid not. With all that's been going on around here, making a small stable for them hasn't really been a priority." He frowned at that before glancing at the horses, reaching over to pet the nearest one. "Before I got here, the poor fellas had no one to look after them, even."

Twilight couldn't help but frown at that, moving to get closer to the horses. "No horse should be out here like this." He lamented. To give them fresh air was one thing, but to not have a proper stable was cruel.

"If these old bones were a bit younger, I would have built them a nice shelter, trust me." The man frowned. "But you look young and strong. If you could give the horses a shelter, I'd be ever grateful, son."

Twilight couldn't help but grin. "You can call me Twilight, sir. And I'd be happy to." He assured.

"Lester." The man concurred with a nod of his head.  And with that, Twilight got right to work.

With guidance of the man, he was able to find some trees not too far outside of Lookout Landing. He had not been expecting to do hard labor like he had once done on his family's ranch that day. However, he was happy for the distraction. Doing labor like this was when he best sorted out his own thoughts. He had hardly been in this era for three hours if that, and he had a lot to process.

Not only had they entered a new era, they had found that this Hero was missing in action. Before, the worst of their problems was tracking down someone who knew where they were. With the Goddess as their guide, it never took long to find someone who had an idea. From there, it was only ever a matter of time that they found said Hero and convinced them to join. All in all, aside from Legend, who slammed his door shut in their face, and Hyrule, who ran away screaming, it was a lot easier than one would expect to gain a new member.

This time, however, was different. No clues, no nothing. Maybe they had been sent here because this era simply could not wait for its Hero to be found -- or maybe... he never would be.

What if this hero was dead? He gulped at the thought, then chose to brush it aside. Jumping to conclusions would not help anything. For now, he'd just work to make a small stable. By the time he'd be done, it'd be night and the group could gather their thoughts and create a more long-term plan.

「∆」

「∆」「▲」

Legend and Hyrule, meanwhile, had set out at once. "Are you sure we shouldn't wait for another day?" the later asked as they walked towards the large gates leading to (what should have been) the castle. It was true what he had said, each of them could stand on their own. At the same time though, the group seldom split up quite like this for dangerous situations fraught with unknown risks and stakes. Not to mention, they had maybe four hour tops before sunset. Who knew how long this was going to take. 

Legend nodded. "This new Link and Zelda have been waiting far too long. The most important thing when it comes to a missing person is to be quick. Clues are harder to find the more time has passed. They could also be in danger, and the longer they are in danger, the more likely something very bad will happen to them. We can make do, and if it takes a while, well, we'll just have to spend the night away from everyone." He explained. It wasn't ideal, but they just had to deal with it.

As Hyrule listened along, he couldn't help but recognize it was in these moments that Legend's experience really showed through. The awe that always bubbled at the thought of the great Hero of Legend when he was a kid once again rose up within him. He really was amazing, wasn't he? "Right," He agreed, forcing himself to stop staring at his childhood idol. 

It was then that they arrived at the gate. A single guard with a rusted spear stood in front of it. They explained to the guard that Purah had sent them, and after a few simple questions, he opened the gate for them. With that, they were free to walk up what quickly became a elevated and twisting path. Although the road was paved in stone, rubble littered it's surface with large pieces of buildings. There were also small craters here and there, leaving the trail to be somewhat difficult to navigate. They travelled in silence for a bit until Hyrule spoke up once again, the weight in his chest only continuing to grow. 

"Hey Legend?" He asked, waited until he heard a hum in response to continue. "Is this-- is this how you felt when you first saw my era?" 

The question made the other pause in his tracks for a few moments. It was brief, but it was enough to let Hyrule knew that he had indeed struck some kind of cord within the veteran. "What do you mean, 'Rule?" He asked as he continued walking. 

"I mean--" Hyrule cleared his throat. "Just look around us... Hyrule really fell. All we've seen is remients of buildings, and they're covered by nature in a way that could only happen with years passing. The princess... Link... the royal guard, they're all gone. Their best forces are back there, in that small temporary shelter. And they don't even have one half-decent weapon! The land looks healthy enough, but the kingdom? We've never seen it like this before..." He stared down at his feet, kicking one of the many pebbles in his path before sighing. He could feel Legend's stare, although he didn't respond just yet. That was fine... he knew the man wasn't the best with emotions and such, but he just had to get this weight off of his chest. 

"What exactly do you think I felt when I saw your Hyrule, Hyrule?" Legend asked when he did respond. Such a silly phrase, repeating the same word twice made the traveller grin for a brief, fleeting moment. 

"Regret. Like, maybe if you had done something differently, it wouldn't have been like..." He vaguely gestured to everything around him. The brief spark of emotion in Legend's eyes showed that he had indeed been onto something, but then it simmered into the veteran's usual (pretending-not-to-care) cool gaze. 

"Do you think this is our own timeline?" He asked instead, to which Hyrule nodded. 

"Hyrule was always deteriorating in ours since our Hero of Time died. All of our eras have had their troubles, sure, but..." He shook his head. For everyone's sakes, they never tried to debate which era or timeline had it worst, but the way the kingdom was steadily splintering and breaking down in their timeline was undeniable. He hesitated mid-step, gasping as he admitted to what had really been bothering him. "I think-- the Great Calamity, whatever that is, happened because of me."

「∆」

「∆」「▲」

"These are the best weapons that we have." One of the people at Lookout Landing was telling Four as she opened up what looked like a supply closet. Inside, hidden from the light of day, was an array of swords of various types, accompanied by spears and shields. Even without examining them closely, Four could tell they were heavily damaged from where he stood. 

"Thank you." He said with a nod, allowing him to be left with his work. He first went for the nearest shield, taking it out and holding it up in the daylight. The metal that it was made from was well past corroded. Even simply touching it for a few brief moments, flakes of rust blew everywhere and stuck to his hands. He blew on it, watching as a storm of the brownish material flew off, being taken by the slight breeze in the air. 

This was really the best that they had? They furled their brow, their eyes glinting a shade of blue. How great had these people suffered, he wondered as the blue was doused in red. If it weren't for this exact scenario, they all would have agreed that it wasn't even worth trying to salvage and threw most -- if not everything-- away. To only take the spare parts he could recycle for later, assuming he had his own forge or place to store things. 

In any case, he put the shield back in its proper place and shut the door once more. First things first, he needed to gather the supplies he needed. Thankfully, the woman from earlier had already directed him to where he could find a big basin. He could just bring the weapons to it, no problem. But next, he would need vinegar, and a lot of it. His colorless eyes scanned the area before his landed on what looked to be a market stall on the outskirts of the landing. He silently grabbed his bag from behind him, grabbing his wallet. 

We shouldn't have to pay for helping these people, a blue-colored voice protested. We don't even think this'll work!

But Four found himself shaking his head regardless. That doesn't mean we get to walk all over people. The shopkeeper isn't the one that asked for our help, remember. A green voice reasoned, a more purple voice quick to agree. With one more agreement from a red voice, Four found themself split 3-1 in favor of buying vinegar if the shopkeeper had any. As great as it would be for all parts of himself to agree, it just simply wasn't always the case. They just had to be glad it wasn't an even split this time.

Walking over to the woman at the stall, he asked, "You wouldn't happen to sell any vinegar, would you? I'm trying to see if I can clean up some weapons." 

The woman grinned immediately upon being approached. "I don't have too much for sale since I just got here not too long ago,  but I believe I have a few bottles. Let me go get them for you." She offered before going over to one of her few stands. 

「∆」

「∆」「▲」

When Wind managed to catch up to the Monster Control Crew Squad One, he was panting, out of breath. He had run from the stronghold as fast as his short legs would allow, and hadn't let up for the forty minutes it took to catch up to them. "Wait up!" He called to them in between pants as he continued to jog. He could no longer keep pace with how fast he had been going before, but this was no time to stop, not when he was so close. 

Thankfully, he had been heard for someone in the back of the group turned around. "Hold on!" He called to the group, raising up one of his hands - the one not holding a sturdy-looking stick with a rock tied onto it. At once, the entire squad paused and looked back at Wind. 

Right, this was the part he was to introduce himself. But he was so tired from running, he wiped the sweat off the brow as he tried to form words. 

"Are you a traveller, boy?" One of the group members asked as he gestured to a nearby rock. Wind gratefully took the invitation, sitting down on it. 

He nodded. "I... yes, and no..." he began as his lungs continued sucking in large amounts of air only to quickly puff it out in one huff. It was beginning to stabilize, but he had a bit to go yet before he could speak and act normally again. Thankfully, they waited for him to be ready to explain further instead of asking him more questions. When he felt as though he was ready, he spoke again. "I came here to join you." 

The group glanced at one another. All of them towered over him, and from what Wind could tell, they were all adults, unlike him who wasn't even a teenager. (He was close! Only a few more months!) A woman in the group gently pushed the others aside. "Look, I don't know if that's such a good idea, kid." She replied for them with a frown. 

Her voice was full of gentle concern, but even so Wind felt his blood boil under his skin. This was hardly the first time he had been told that he was too young to do something, to be underestimated. A childish part of him wanted to bicker and argue. After all, he had been the one to kill Ganondorf. He had been the one to restore one of the pieces of the triforce. He had been the one to save his sister and his kingdom, while all the adults stood by idly. Even so, he knew that if he wasn't careful, his points would be discarded as a temper tantrum and he would be ignored. And so, he had to let it go, even if he didn't want to. 

"Purah sent me." He said instead. He reached behind him, slowly drawing his pristine sword for all to see. As it shimmered in the light, he heard several people gasp. "I know that I may just look like some kid, but I've had to grow up pretty fast. I've learned to master the sword and killed all sorts of difficult monsters by myself." 

"Well..." a man began to say, but all of their gazes turned to the person on horseback, carrying a Hylian flag. Their leader, must be. She gently pushed her horse to walk over to Wind, the crowd before them parting before their path.

"If Purah sent you, then I trust she knew what she was doing." She said with a grin as they lowered their hand to him. "Welcome to the Monster Control Crew, kid. My name is Flaxel, and I'm the captain of this crew."

Wind took it, giving it a tight squeeze as he stood back up. "Wind. You can call me Wind." He smiled back.

「∆」

「∆」「▲」

"Purah, what exactly are we doing?" Sky asked for about the fifth time from his chair. She had first pulled him into a small but oddly tall building. He had been surprised to find it only one story, and almost entirely empty. That was bar from some glowing circle that ominously glowed on the ground under him, and some kind of... He wasn't even sure what. Some kind of station that Purah was doing something on that also lit up blue, humming each time she touched it. 

At first, she had made him stand there until he had informed her that his legs were getting tired and couldn't take too much more. "When I was born, my legs were injured. I can't stand or walk for long periods of time." He explained to her. He was oversimplifying things, he wasn't really sure injured was the right word to use, but in any case, it got the point across. She peered at his lower half in mild curiosity at the way he turned his legs slightly inwards. At last, she had nodded and giving him a chair. In that way, he knew that they were going to be there awhile. And indeed, he had been sitting there for what felt like a half hour now. 

Purah only clicked her tongue and shook her head at his question. "Man, you test subjects are always so needy..." she sighed. "You'll see soon enough. I'm almost done reprogramming the tower to account for the height and weight differences. Once I'm done with that, you'll see for yourself. 

"Reprogramming the tower?" Sky echoed, raising his eyebrows. "For what exactly? Why would a tower need to know my build?" Purah had spent a large amount of time before this, measuring him in about every way imaginable before jotting it down in a journal she carried. He shifted uncomfortably in his chair before reminding himself to sit feet forward, heels touching the ground. His legs never did naturally want to do that on their own, without him constantly having to remind them consciously. 

Unfortunately for Sky, he would not be receiving a response other than a reflective hum. With all of the odd things that had happened after Purah called him her pet and dragged him to this tower, he was getting a worse and worse feeling. When he swallowed, ready to ask another question, Purah clapped her hands, spinning around with a large grin plastered on her face. 

"I'm finished!" She declared. "You ready, Sky?"

"Ready for what?" he asked, feeling the bad feeling double in mere seconds. 

"Here, here, get up. We don't need that chair; it'll only get in the way." She ushered him right up before she quickly dragged the chair right back outside. 

"Purah--" Sky began, but she wouldn't hear it.

"Just trust me, it'll be over in just a matter of seconds." The woman waved, looking down at the station instead of Sky. She pressed a button, and immediately, something hummed to life. 

"Uhh--?!" Sky exclaimed, as he felt the ground under him begin to shake. Instinctively he began to run. His left foot dragged just a bit too low to the ground, not fully raising. As a result, he tripped himself. But before he even had time to try and catch himself, some kind of cold, hard metal slithered across his abdomen. At the same time, something clamped around his wrists. 

「∆」

「∆」「▲」

"Widen your stance, soldier." Wars instructed, tapping the fifth person standing in a line of seventeen. Immediately, the man in front of him did so. Upon seeing that, Wars continued to slowly walk in front of the line, back straight, hands clasped behind his back. "Good. In order to take on any foe, you need a strong foundation. One hit in an unsteady stance, and you'll be thrown off your feet. Practice this stance until you can do it without thinking. In the heat of battle, you do not have time to think about your stance, only of your immediate next move. You must be ready for anything."

Off in the distance, a scream sounded. Immediately, Wars drew his sword, taking up his own stance as he spun around along with all of his recruits. But despite the words that had just left his mouth, nothing could have prepared him for the sight that he was greeted with. A blur of white went hurdling up into the stratosphere, and when the pieces came together in his mind, his eyes widened. 

"S-Sky?!" he stuttered, feeling his mouth drop open as he stared up at what was now a speck in the vast blue horizon. He froze in a defensive stance, unsure of what to make of this situation. If that was all that happened, Wars may have called it one of the strangest things that he had witnessed in his life and called it a day. However, things only got weirder from there. 

From the opposite direction, something roared, causing him to once again spin around at the ready. It was such a powerful roar that a strong gust of wind tore through him, pushing his hair and clothes back, nearly toppling him over. He had to grab the scarf around his neck before it could undo itself and blew away. He had to close his eyes the winds were so strong. When the gust died down from the initial roar, He could just manage to peel his eyes open. Whatever it was, it was powerful enough that even now the wind was considerably strong when it had been completely calm a minute ago. What sight greeted him was the underbelly of a long flying creature that blotted out a considerable chunk of Wars' view of the sky. "Is that..." He began, narrowing his eyes as he tried to make out as many details of the creature as it flew upwards and past him. "A.... dragon?"

「∆」

「▲」「∆」

Phew, with one word shy of 4.6k, this is the longest chapter I think I've ever posted, minus some one-shots I've made. Generally, my chapters are about half this size. On the other hand, something about this book tells me the chapters will naturally be longer. I guess we'll see! 

I kinda thought about writing a segment for Time too, but I think that'll just be exposition of things you'd already know by playing TOTK. That, and I suspect he'd want to tell the others later as well. 

As for Sky, I was debating whether or not to write him having a disability. I had what I thought was a really cool idea for it, something I was pretty passionate about. My friends encouraged me to go for it, so... well, I did! And so, he's got spastic diplegic cerebral palsy. I myself have a disability relating to walking, and I did a large project in my college anatomy class regarding cerebral palsy as well. To test out this idea, I made a one-shot with Sky's backstory having it. I won't quite say that it's canon to this fic, but most if not all of what I wrote about it is likely true of him in this fic... if that makes sense. If you're interested, I suggest checking out Disabled Hero in my one-shot collection (I'll link it in the comments too). If not, the important thing is he gets tired walking/running/standing, and his leg muscles don't quite coordinate as they should. And he has what are basically AFOs (leg braces) hidden in his boots. And he gets horse rides from Epona while travelling with the Chain.

In any case, sorry for the ramble and thank you for reading!