Okay since @palmolli asked, I'm posting the Boots Link meets LU crossover thing I've got written. It's not even close to finished but here's what I've got:
The portal had dropped them in an incredibly non-descript forest.
“Does anyone recognize these woods?” Time asked.
“It looks like almost every forest I’ve ever been in.”
Wild was up a tall tree in a moment, disappearing in the leaves.
“Edge of the woods is that way!” he called out.
“No one can see what direction you’re pointing!” Twilight shouted up to him.
There was a rustle and then Wild dropped from the tree, pulling out his paraglider just in time to stop himself from hitting the ground hard.
“That way,” he said, pointing again.
“Then we’ll head in that direction,” Time said. “See if we can’t find some people to get information from.”
The group made their way to the edge of the woods and onward. It wasn’t long before a fence came into sight, though the only thing beyond it seemed to be fields. Still, a fence meant people, so the next step was obvious - follow the fence. A house or town would likely be somewhere along the way.
Eventually, the grass turned to dirt road and a small house appeared in the distance. Wild and Wind immediately hopped over the fence.
“Can we, just once, respect people’s property?” Time sighed. “There’s a gate right there.”
Hyrule lowered his foot from the fence sheepishly and followed the rest through the gate. At this point, they had a routine when it came to gathering information, whether it be a town or a single dwelling.
For a house like this, the majority were to linger back to avoid immediately overwhelming the occupant while Twilight and Warriors were sent forward to get information. Twilight had that good-natured country-boy energy and Warriors knew how to turn on the charm. They were usually the best choices for this sort of thing.
Leaving Epona with the others, the rancher knocked on the door and then stepped back. It didn’t take long for light footsteps to approach and the door to swing open. A teenage girl stood there, blinking in surprise as she looked over the two.
“Mornin’ miss, I hope we didn’t disturb you,” Twilight said.
“No, it’s alright. How can I help you?” she asked politely.
“My friends and I have lost our way a bit,” Warriors explained. “We’ve been traveling and trying to take care of any trouble people might have and it seems we’ve gotten ourselves turned around. Would you mind telling us where we are?”
“This is Faron Town,” the girl said. “What do you mean by trouble?”
“We’ve uh, heard there might be monsters roaming around,” Twilight said. “Do you know anything about that?”
Her eyes widened a little. “Monsters…? I think… you would be better off talking to my brother about this.” She turned towards the inside of the house and shouted, “LINK!”
Everyone in the Chain exchanged startled looks. Link?
“Do you think he’s one of us?” Wind whispered to Four who shrugged.
“Dunno. Maybe it’s just a coincidence.”
“Sorry, he’s probably still sleeping - he’s always so bad about waking up,” the girl said, a bit of embarrassment on her face when there was no answer from her brother.
“I change my mind,” Four whispered to Wind. “That sounds like evidence he might be one of us.”
Wind snorted and elbowed Sky, who rolled his eyes.
“Pot calling kettle,” the Skyloftian muttered.
“I’ll go get him,” the girl continued, “if you folk don’t mind waiting out here for a moment.”
“That’s no trouble at all,” Warriors assured her.
She nodded and disappeared behind the door. They heard more shouting, and then a loud thud, followed by a young man’s voice going, “OW! Kara, what was that for?!”
The response and conversation afterward weren’t quite loud enough to make out.
While everyone waited for the girl to return with her brother, Legend noticed two kids creeping toward the group, curiosity on their faces as they kept low to the ground. They looked similar - twins, probably.
The two came to a stop, shoulder to shoulder, whispering to each other about who the group might be - Knights from the castle? But they’re not in uniform - words only barely loud enough for Legend to make out. It didn’t take long for the subject to change though.
“I bet you I could hit his shield from here.” The boy closed an eye as he aimed his slingshot thoughtfully.
The girl’s nose wrinkled. “The one with the fur? No way. Even if you could, I bet you couldn’t hit the middle.”
Legend nudged Hyrule, gesturing with his head just a little towards the kids with a smirk. Hyrule peered past him, spotted the slingshot, and stifled a giggle.
“You’re on,” the boy hissed, pulling the band tight and then releasing. The pebble sailed through the air and knocked against Twilight’s shield. Not quite the middle, but pretty close. Not bad.
Twilight and Warriors spun around, reaching for their swords but stopping short when they saw the two kids, who both pointed to each other, words overlapping.
The girl turned to look at her brother. “Did not!”
The front door banged open and attention turned to the blond boy, glaring past the group with stormy blue eyes, his gaze locking onto the twins with impressive speed as he marched forward a few paces, Twilight and Warriors stepping aside for him.
“Ollie, Ellie! What sort of trouble are you causing now? Get inside and leave these people alone!”
As the twins grumbled and marched past the group and into the house, glances were once again exchanged amongst the group. Though not everyone in the group had blond hair and blue eyes, there were more who did than didn’t. Another point added to the likelihood of this boy being a hero.
It was only once the kids were herded inside, Link closing the door behind him, that he gave the group proper attention.
“My sister said you folk were looking for monsters?” he asked as his gaze swept over Twilight and Warriors before leaning forward to check out the group lined up near the fence. Before either man could respond, the boy’s eyes widened before furrowing into something frustrated as he suddenly stomped over to Sky.
“Where did you get that sword?” he asked, tone sharp and demanding. His clear recognition of the Master Sword sealed the deal. “You can’t just take that! First of all, not just anyone can use that, and second of all, do you know how annoying it is to get to the Temple of Legend? Now I’m going to have to cross that stupid river and climb that stupid cliff again to put it back.”
Legend startled a little at the temple’s name as several curious gazes swung his way. He lifted his shoulder with a shrug.
“I know not just anyone can use the Master Sword,” Sky replied mildly. “She only accepts certain wielders.”
Link opened his mouth before his expression shifted from anger to surprise, mouth snapping closed. Suspicion crossed his face as he turned and looked across the group and all their weapons again. His gaze lingered for a moment on Legend’s Pegasus Boots.
Everyone looked to Time who hefted a heavy sigh. None of them had expected to have to explain this to a brand new Link this far into their adventure.
“...It’s going to sound crazy,” Time prefaced.
“I saw the desert turn to snow and the ocean dry up,” Link said flatly, arms folding. “Try me.”
“We’re all… Link. That is, we’re Hyrule’s Chosen Heroes from different eras throughout time,” the man explained. “For some reason, we’ve been brought together and have been traveling through time to face an enemy together - an enemy we unfortunately still have much to learn about.”
“Dunno why we’re only just meeting you since you’re clearly one of us,” Wind interjected.
“Which is why,” Time said, giving Wind a look for interrupting, “you are in no way obligated to join us on our venture. For whatever reason, you weren’t called from the start, so if you don’t want to join us-”
“But you were brought to my time,” Link said.
“Then there must be a reason.”
“It could just be that monsters will be appearing in your land. That’s usually how this works - a portal opens up, takes us to another time, monsters show up somewhere, we deal with them, and then another portal appears.”
“If it’s my time, it’s my problem,” Link said, expression setting into that stubborn look that seemed a little too familiar. “Even if it’s not, if it’s monsters - if I can help-”
And there it was. No one was surprised by the response. That was just how Links were.
“If you want to, then you’re more than welcome to join us,” Time said softly.
Link sighed, shoving his fingers through his thick bangs, looking up at the sky with a weary expression. “Ava’s gonna hate it if I leave again so soon. She's gonna cry again.”
“Who's Ava?” Wind asked curiously.
“The cutest girl in the whole world,” Link replied sadly.
“Your girlfriend?” Sky tried.
The boy's expression immediately soured. “No, gross. She's my baby sister. And she's gonna be really upset that I'm leaving again… but I wouldn’t be able to stand it if I didn’t do something to help.”
“How long has it been since your journey ended?” Twilight asked curiously.
“About three months,” Link replied. He looked them over again. His gaze lingered for a long moment on Warriors feet before lifting again. “You’re all really from different parts of history?”
“History or the future,” Four said.
Link scrubbed at his face, muttering, “Zelda’s gonna lose her mind. I’m never going to hear the end of it.” He lifted his head with another sigh. “Alright, follow me. I gotta check on the girls, but I want to know everything that’s been going on.”
Twilight tied Epona to the fence for now and everyone followed Link as he headed toward a small barn, though before anyone could offer further explanation as to their situation, he glanced back. “What’s your horse’s name?”
“Epona,” Twilight replied, lips immediately lifting into a smile.
Link stopped short, whirling around with wide eyes. “Her name is Epona too?!”
“You’ve got an Epona?” Wild asked.
“Almost.” Link’s face scrunched into a frown. “As soon as I can afford her. I’ve got the barn all ready, but I’m still saving up and Zelda’s still trying to get the whole reward thing approved so-” He shook his head and stared at Twilight’s Epona with sad longing in his eyes. “Doesn’t matter. She’ll be mine soon enough.” There was a long pause where it looked like Link was fighting the urge to go over and give Epona attention before he shook his head again and turned, grabbing a bag of sunflower seeds from just inside the barn, giving it a good shake.
“So, this enemy of yours. What’s their deal?”
“We suspect that it’s the cause of these portals we’ve been going through - it’s certainly capable of making them,” Time explained.
“It also seems to be… infecting monsters. They have black blood and are much stronger than the usual foe,” Warriors added.
“There shouldn’t be any monsters to infect in this land. There haven’t been any since I defeated Ganon,” Link said, giving the bag of seeds another shake.
“Doesn’t seem to need already existing monsters - I think it can make them. Or bring them from other lands? Hard to say, but we’ve seen monsters from other eras where they don’t belong,” Twilight said.
“We’ve only seen the presumable source of all of this a handful of times,” Time told him. As he explained the appearance and shape-shifting capabilities of their enemy, three sheep came trotting towards them, seemingly having been drawn by the sound of Link shaking the bag.
“Aw, sheepies!” Wind exclaimed.
“Wilma, Nellie, and Baby,” Link introduced, giving each one a good pet before checking each over, from their ears to their tails to their hooves.
“Aw, he’s like you!” Warriors teased, elbowing Twilight lightly.
“Huh?” Twilight’s brow furrowed, not understanding Warriors’ implications.
“Goats and sheep are basically the same thing, aren’t they?”
“Absolutely not,” Twilight and Link said in unison.
Warriors burst out laughing.
(I want to put a joking tease about "maybe this kid is YOUR descendant, Twilight" in here but idk how to work it in atm and I don't feel like figuring it out rn)
(Jumping to Some Time Later - at some point after they've been properly introduced and Boots has heard them call Warriors "captain" so he could ask and get the explanation of him being captain of soldiers in his era, maybe while they're traveling or smth idk man)
“Alright, what’s your deal? You keep looking at my feet,” Warriors said.
Link rubbed his neck, looking away. “It’s your shoes.”
“They’re…” Link looked back at Warriors’ shoes as though they had personally insulted him. “They’re just so stupid.”
Twilight cracked up immediately as Warriors’ jaw dropped.
“They provide no ankle support! They’re just shoes with a shin guard strapped on and blue socks underneath! That’s not going to do anything to keep you from rolling an ankle!” Boots exclaimed.
“That’s not- Those aren’t socks. They’re puttees,” Warriors defended.
“Puttees?” Link stared at him. “You're the captain of an army and you have puttees instead of proper boots? What, is your kingdom poor? Can’t afford to give their soldiers- their captains proper footwear so you have to resort to wrapping up your legs instead?! That’s ridiculous!”
Warriors looked a cross between shocked and offended by his words while some of the others snickered. Even Time looked to be fighting a smile.
“He’s got a point,” Twilight wheezed.
“They are pretty stupid,” Four agreed.
“I never put much thought into it before, but he’s right,” Legend said. “It’s pretty ridiculous you don’t have proper boots.”
“I can’t take this anymore, I can’t stand here and let you snap your ankles when I could be doing something about this,” Link muttered, kneeling on the ground as he began digging through his bag. He lifted out a pair of black boots before returning them with the shake of his head.
“You carry extra boots with you?” Wind asked as Link pulled out boots with beautiful feathers adorning them.
“Yeah,” Link replied, setting those aside and then pulling out a pair of what were quite obviously Pegasus Boots, albeit more decorated than the pair on Legend’s feet.
Twilight whistled. “Fancy.”
“Why do you carry so many boots with you?” Wind questioned as Link set the Pegasus Boots down. When Link pulled out and set aside a pair of armored boots, Wind added, “And how many do you have?”
“They can come in handy,” Link said. “And I’ve got… seventeen if you count the ones on my feet. The goddesses or whoever seemed to think it would be pretty funny to give the cobbler’s son all boots.”
“I know what we can call him then - Boots,” Sky said with a light laugh.
Link looked as though the life had been sucked out of him at that sentence. “Might as well,” he muttered. “It always comes back to the boots.”
Finally, Link pulled out a pair of brown, slightly saggy and older looking boots.
“Those are my boots!” Legend blurted. “I don’t really wear them anymore since I’ve got the Pegasus Boots but I think…”
“Are you sure? They look a lot like the ones I had as a kid,” Time remarked.
Legend crouched, picking up the left one and looking at the back of it, running his finger along a thin gouge in the leather. “Yeah, these are definitely mine.”
Link looked at him with intrigue. “Huh… They’re called the Hero’s Boots - I’d wondered if they actually belonged to a hero once or not. I guess that’s my answer.” He looked thoughtful for a moment. “Do you go by Legend because you’re the Hero of Legend?”
Legend looked away as he set the boot back down, expression awkward. “That’s what Hyrule said they wind up calling me.”
“So you come after Legend too, huh?” Hyrule said. “I wonder if you’re before or after me.”
“Sorry in advance,” Link said.
“Because I think you’re Zelda’s favorite historical figure and she gets really excited about this kind of stuff. If she talks your ear off, I’m sorry in advance.” Link looked tired at the very thought while Legend looked a little flustered at the idea.
“Here,” Link said, changing the subject as he gestured to the boots he had set out. “There’s the Pegasus Boots - I’m sure you already know what those do. The Roc’s Boots here can help you jump higher and fall slower. The Armored Boots make you more resistant to attacks. And the Hero’s Boots - if Legend doesn’t mind, anyway - make your attacks stronger.”
Legend nodded in approval. “They’re clearly not my boots anymore by this point in time. Do as you please.”
“Then Warriors, you can borrow one of these, as long as you’re willing to give them back later if I need them. I mean, any of you can borrow any of my boots as long as I can have them back as needed. I’ve got plenty to spare and can only wear one pair at a time. But I figured these might be the most preferable. They’re the least ugly, anyway. Well, I’m not a big fan of the armored boots, but you’re wearing armor, so they’d probably look fine on you.”
Warriors looked torn between refusing for the sake of his pride and accepting the offer - some of those abilities sounded pretty nice.
AND THAT'S ALL I HAD WRITTEN 👍
