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Screaming to the heavens wasn’t generally a coping mechanism Time endorsed, but he was tempted to indulge himself for once in that moment. By Nayru, was he tempted.
It didn’t matter though either way. He didn’t think he had the breath in him to produce anything that wasn't pitifully weak.
The air was so thin up here. The difference had been immediately noticeable to him, a nasty shock to the system that had left him gasping for breath with a steadying hand at his throat, lying in the snow. It had taken a second but he finally registered the shuffling of two other slumped people not too far away - one of them on hands and knees in the dark. It must’ve been the middle of the night.
“Time?” The cub’s teeth were chattering horribly, his knees knocking together as he rose up onto shaking legs. “‘s that you?”
He raised a limp arm, attempting an odd wave where Wild would be able to see it as he continued trying to catch his breath. “H-Here. You got anyth-thing for the cold?”
The boy reached for the slate at his hip, just as a groan from not far off drew their eyes. Time sat up, concern overriding his desire to lie back down and literally never move again. Twilight - just a lumpy, indistinguishable figure against the untouched snow - lay curled up not far off, tunic and trousers steadily growing damp the longer he stayed down. When Time's eye adjusted to the low light, he realised his protege was clutching an arm close to his chest, worryingly protective of it.
“Twi?” Wild called, beating him to it as his voice rose an octave in panic.
“Wild,” Time snapped, and when the boy turned to him, frightened, he did his best to school his features into something more comforting. “We need to focus. Deal with the cold, first. He’ll be fine for just a moment, and keeping warm will make us more useful to him.”
Conceding, Wild managed a nod before trudging over towards him and swiping through the slate with shaking fingers; He took out some kind of riceball and took a large bite. Time didn’t have the energy to wonder what he was doing - he just knew the champion wasn’t stupid, and trusted him not to prioritise a snack over getting them out of the frigid cold.
Sure enough, he watched as his friend's shivering began to subside, and Time took a bite when the riceball was shoved his way. Gingerly swallowing, warmth began creeping across his skin originating from his stomach, like a tingling blanket of warm air that gently hugged him from all directions. He raised an eyebrow, impressed.
“Are you going to take your plate off?” Wild asked, kneeling down to take out several items of clothing and drape each one across his knee.
“I’ll have to for now,” He got to his feet, handing the riceball back and beginning to unbuckle the shoulder-plates fastened firmly in place. “I’m not wearing wool beneath it. Once I get another layer on, I’ll be fine to put it back on.”
He was handed a set of sturdy spiked boots by the cub, lined with plush white fur. As Time buckled them up, he watched Wild trip his way out of his own dampened trousers and wrestled on the snowquill pair before shoving some kind of jewellery his way and demanding Time wear it. When he took a closer look, Time was staring at a finely-cut statement ruby, set into a leather headband. Adjusting the circlet quickly, he pulled another layer out of his pack and tugged it on before rebuckling his metal plate.
The cub was already knelt at his mentor’s side when Time reached them. He watched as Wild delicately wove an intricate feathered headdress into Twilight’s hair, hands trembling slightly.
“I’ll be fine, cub,” The stablehand was saying, without much heart in it. Time caught the man’s gaze and raised a solitary critical eyebrow - thoroughly unimpressed. Twilight gulped. “I-It’s just a scratch, I must’ve caught it on a rock or something when the portal dumped us here from ten feet up.”
“There,” Wild said, tying off the last silken ribbon and adjusting the feather-piece. The remainder of the magic riceball they’d shared was shoved in Twilight’s face. “Eat that, and don’t complain. We can get the snowquill tunic on you once your arm is wrapped, I’ve got the doublet. Pretty sure this is my Hyrule, by the way.”
Confident that Wild knew what he was doing - which wasn’t necessarily a comforting thought, actually. Time didn’t exactly enjoy picturing Wild trekking these high-altitude summits alone as he surely had to before they all met - he turned around to begin examining the environment, looking for a way down.
It was so odd. There didn’t seem to be any distinct downward slope to the terrain, which you’d certainly expect from a mountainous region. “Where are we, Wild?”
“Gerudo Highlands, Risoka or Sapphia, I think. This area is all elevated caprocks. Flat, stepped cliffs. If the others are nearby, they might actually be fine. The snow stops just south of here.”
“And if they’re north of here?”
Wild stilled, halfway through tugging a blue doublet over his head. He slowly finished fixing it in place and flattening it down. “They wouldn’t have been dropped north of here. Hemaar’s Descent isn’t-” He grew distressed, pained eyes meeting Time’s. “-that’s not a survivable drop. Hylia’s never… She’s always given us a fighting chance, right?”
Even as he said it, something haunted crossed the boy’s face, unsure of his own words.
Time kept his next thought to himself.
A hiss of pain from Twilight brought them both crashing back to the present, and Time grimaced just as Wild let out a horrified gasp. With his tunic sleeve peeled back, the rugged gash painting Twilight’s forearm seemed to smart and sear at the open-air exposure, his teeth gritted against the pain.
“We’re out of potions, I checked before the portal appeared.” Time said bitterly, crouching down and taking Twilight’s forearm between delicate hands.
“-Don’t need one, let’s just get it wrapped.”
“Shut up,” Wild hissed, frantically rummaging through his slate. “Shut up, you always do this! Just let me help you, I know I have some rubbing alcohol somewhere.”
Rubbing alcohol? Time hadn’t the faintest clue what Wild was suggesting, and by the look on his protege’s face too, neither did he. Their confusion must’ve shown because when the boy summoned a small brown bottle and a clean scrap of fabric, he explained softly.
“My Zelda is a scientist,” Wild carefully soaked the rag with the contents of the bottle. “Robbie and Purah too, and they found a way to prevent sepsis. It’s this,” He indicated, giving the bottle a shake and setting it down at his feet. “-very strong alcohol, too strong for drinking. She called it distilled or something.”
“Anyway,” Wild grimaced. “-this is gonna sting really bad. Sorry.”
If Time didn’t trust the kid pretty much implicitly, he would have thought poor Twilight was being maimed by whatever was being administered, his cries of pain echoing across the landscape and leaving Time's gut empty and twisted. As it stood, he could do nothing except hold the stablehand firm as Wild dabbed at the wound and wiped it clean with the alcohol-soaked rag, apologies tumbling from him and stressed tears forming in his eyes.
“I’m sorry, Twi. Just one more moment. Please.”
When he was done, the champion dumped the bloody cloth in the snow and quickly took out some bandaging. His hands eventually grew too shaky to apply them correctly so Time took over as gently as he could, Wild slumping back and scrubbing at his eyes dry. Twilight looked borderline lightheaded, head hung forward and fingers twitching on his injured arm. A haggard chuckle tore its way from the man's chest.
“Din almighty, that was horrific. Like fire in my bones.”
“At least it won’t end up infected, hm?” Time said pointedly, patting his finished work into place and staring his protege down. Twilight nodded, clearly getting the hint.
“Cub,” He shuffled forward on his knees, arm still cradled close to his chest but smiling gently nonetheless. “-You’re awesome, you know that? So resourceful, with the food and the clothes. What would we do without you, eh?”
“Probably get sepsis,” Wild retorted moodily, but he grinned sheepishly when Twilight smacked him on the shoulder and ruffled his hair. “-Put this on too, by the way. If we each have a couple things with cold-resistance, it'll keep all three of us warm.”
With Twilight patched up, looking perfectly snug in the Snowquill headdress and tunic - and somehow getting away with foisting his wolf pelt off onto Wild - they set out under the champion’s instruction, heading directly southeast. Time was normally dead-set against trying to carve a path through extreme terrain in the dark, but it wasn’t like they had much choice. They’d only been trudging along for a few minutes when Wild jumped, Wind’s voice ringing out from his belt.
The communication stone!
“Wild? Wild, are you guys there? Please tell me Time and Twi’ are with you.”
At long last, Time let himself relax, breathing a deep sigh of relief as Wild happily conversed with Wind through the slate. He could see several other faces behind their sailor, who had the stone squished right up against his face.
“No longer than a few hours,” Wild replied, answering a question Time had missed. “You know where to go now?”
“Yeah, there’s a traveller just here, we’ll ask for directions if we need to.”
Wild stalled to a halt, panicked. “Wind, don't ask them. Promise me, okay? Just keep walking through the canyon and you’ll come across the stable.”
“Alright, I promise...”
They resumed their steady pace once Wind had cut the connection off, Time more than relieved that Wild had given him the boots; They made walking in the deep snow far easier with all the armour strapped on, too. Their view of the dawning civil twilight was spectacular, their stablehand letting out a low appreciative whistle when the inky sky crept into rich pinks and deep oranges - the sun still concealed behind the Hebra peaks, but bathing the clouds in warmth.
“What was that all about anyway, cub?” Twilight probed as they approached the top of a steep cliff. It separated Sapphia’s Table from Taafei Hill, which Wild had explained was very near the canyon stable. None of them were particularly thrilled about attempting the descent though, but Wild had let them know that actually, where they stood was closer to their destination than any nearby shrines were, and they couldn’t exactly warp out to Kara Kara Bazaar and expect the others to meet them there. “Why didn’t you want Wind to ask for directions?” He added, when Wild met his question with confusion.
“Oh, right.” The boy breathed, laughing nervously. “Yeah, I’ve never had much luck with travellers being disguised. Wanderers who are very obviously merchants are generally fine, but I didn’t want to chance it with the others.”
“Disguised?” Time glanced at the boy, trying not to betray his concern. “What purpose would your people have to disguise themselves out here?”
Wild’s nervous laughter crested to a distressed chuckle, and Time exchanged a raised eyebrow with Twilight’s anxious frown.
“What is it, cub?”
“The Yiga clan really don’t like me. They’ve tried literally everything, short of a midnight assassination? But because I only ever sleep at the stables - which are all generally very safe - they've never attempted that." He rambled on. "I think I keep the stable economy afloat, to be honest- ...What?” Wild stopped walking, shrinking into himself at the incredulous expressions both men were wearing. Twilight looked light-headed again, just about ready to pass out. “Why are you both looking at me like that?”
“You have a clan? Trying to- trying to assassinate you...?”
“I-I mean, ‘trying’ is the keyword. They’re not the smartest, but they’re very persistent, even after I took their leader down. Oh no. I made it worse-” He flinched slightly when Twilight rounded on Time, seeking backup with flailing arms, his mouth flapping like a goldfish as he let out an incredulous wheeze, utterly disbelieving. “-That made it worse, somehow.”
“Are you hearing this!?” Twilight let his hands slide down his face, exasperated. “I’m gonna go grey. Assassins!? I’m gonna have an aneurysm.”
Time made a very tired noise somewhere between a laugh and a groan. “Yep, loud and clear. Let’s just get off this goddess-forsaken cliff.”
o~O~o
“Aha, they live!”
“Bless Hylia.”
Getting the three of them down the cliffside in one piece had been a challenge, especially with Twilight’s injured arm - but when Time was next feeling down and haggard, he reckoned he’d just recall the memory of the pup and his cub paragliding off from the top to meet Time at the bottom, the stablehand screeching the whole way down. He snorted childishly just thinking about it.
Now, they were rounding the bend in the canyon from near the desert gateway when the others came into view, slouched around the stable’s cookpot tucked out front. They waved enthusiastically, or called out, and Wild jogged ahead with a smile, relief palpable. He’d probably feared the worst for them, the selfless idiot.
“What happened to your arm, Twi?” Four was the first to notice the bandaging peeking out from beneath the layers of Wild’s snowquill set. The smithy cracked a grin, too. “Nice headdress, by the way.”
“It is nice, thank you very much.” Twilight goaded, pretending to flick his hair over one shoulder. “And I just caught it on a rock. The cub dealt with it.”
From where Time was sat carefully taking off Wild’s snow boots and returning them to the boy, he heard Hyrule fretting over the injury.
“It's bled through a little, it looks like you need another potion.”
“We didn’t have a potion.” Time interrupted simply. Everyone turned to him, and he shrugged in Wild’s general direction. “Kid had some anti-infection alcohol or something.”
“Alcohol?" Sky looked even more confused. "Like a medicinal drink or something?”
“No, you put it directly on the wound, it hurt like a bitch.”
“And it’s called antiseptic, actually.” Wild grumped, snatching back the snow boots and whisking them away into storage. The smile that then graced his face was far too rehearsed; picture-perfect innocence. “Feel free to manhandle a potion into him, ‘Rule. The distilled alcohol only stops it getting infected. Twi is obviously still grievously injured.”
“No- no that’s not necessary. Oh, give over!”