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The Chain trudged along the trail, sun beating down on them. It was hot— not quite unbearably so, but enough to make the majority of them shed a few layers. Twilight and Wind were both shirtless, Hyrule had removed his tunic to only have his leather crop top on, and even Warriors had removed his scarf. Wild had changed his clothes to his voe set and Four put his hair up in a bun to keep it off his neck.
Sky and Legend didn't seem at all bothered by the sun, and Time stayed fully armored. Yellowed, dry grass lined their path, leading them further out into the field. Waves of heat drifted lazily through the air around them, representative of the high temperature out under the sun.
"Why is it so hot here?" Wind whined, fanning at his face. "Not even Outset is this hot…"
Legend shrugged. "It's a heat wave," he replied, tossing a hand to the side.
"At least it's not as hot as a desert!" Wild laughed. Nobody laughed with him.
Twilight frowned. "Old Man?"
Everyone turned toward Time, watching as their eldest swayed on his feet. He was ghostly pale, his flushed cheeks a stark contrast against the rest of his skin. He didn't speak a word, his eye unfocused and distant.
Warriors took a step toward him, shoulders tense as he reached out. "Sprite?"
Time's eye flickered to him, still unfocused but less distant. "…Cap'n…?"
"Yeah." Warriors stepped closer, nodding. "It's me, Sprite. You don't look so good."
Time nodded slowly, his brow creasing. "Mm… think I'm… goin'…"
Twilight lunged as Time collapsed, barely catching him. He was lowered to the ground safely, one of Twilight's hands quickly reaching for his forehead.
"Rancher?"
Twilight looked up at Warriors with a deep-set frown. He shook his head. "He's burnin' up."
"We need to get that armor off him." Warriors knelt down with Twilight, both of them working to remove Time's armor. With each piece they took off, the extent of Time's heatstroke became more apparent. His body heat radiated off of him, causing Warriors and Twilight to exchange a worried glance.
"Cub." Wild perked up from the rest of the group, tilting his head. "I need'ja to get us something to cool 'im down."
Wild nodded, straightening in a short salute before digging through his slate. "We're almost out of water… but I have a few chu jellies from earlier."
"Good. We need 'em." Twilight held out a hand and Wild plopped one of the weird blue jellies in his palm. It wasn't cold, by any means, but it was nowhere near the temperature of Time's skin.
Warriors tossed a piece of armor aside, sighing. "That's the last of it," he mumbled. His expression was set in a frown as he examined Time quickly, checking his temperature and eye. "He's really out of it… we need to bring his temperature down, now."
"It's too hot out here," Twilight argued. "We need shade or water or somethin'."
Warriors shook his head. "We don't have time to find that."
"Wait." Legend rolled his ice rod, flipping it in his hand. "Use this."
Wild tapped at his slate. "And we can pin some of my clothes together to make some shade."
"I'll help!"
"Here, if we arrange them like this…"
Twilight and Warriors made eye contact, nodding. With Legend's ice rod and the rest of the team working to create some shade, they stood a much better chance.
Time groaned, shifting against Twilight. The rancher hummed softly, patting Time's shoulder. "Don't move too much, Old Man."
He blinked slowly, his eye slowly focusing. "Pup…?"
Twilight smiled. "Yeah. It's me."
Time nodded, closing his eye again. "Mhm." He relaxed, falling back against Twilight.
"He's out again," the rancher said.
Warriors nodded, watching as Wild, Hyrule, and Sky held up a patchwork of Wild's clothes to shade them from the sun. "He'll be okay."
Twilight nodded, echoing. "He'll be okay."