thank you @hyper-circuit-official for creating this Man with me 🧍♂️
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Four said the area they'd recently landed in looked like his Hyrule, so they'd been following his lead for the past few hours. Visits to the smith's era tended to be relatively peaceful, and the group was always happy to be sent here. Every aspect of it, from the animals and plants to the architecture, was unfathomably charming. No monsters interrupted their trek, the only breaks taken being for water and lunch.
And that was odd, wasn't it? Usually they'd see at least a chuchu or an octorok. Something easily taken out by a quick swipe or a well-timed reflection with a shield. But they hadn't seen anything more dangerous than a squirrel since they'd arrived. Time walked a few steps closer to Four.
"How much farther to go, do you think?"
Four took a quick look around them, "Maybe an hour or so at most. Once we're out of these woods it's basically a straight shot to my house."
Time hummed his understanding, happy to simply appreciate their surroundings for the rest of their walk. The rest of the boys chatted idly behind him about this and that, nothing that really caught his attention. It was nice. Any peaceful trek like this, with the weather so pleasant and the monsters so few, made Time breathe a little deeper, hold his shoulders a little looser, and smile a little wider.
Soon enough they were out of the woods and, just as Four said, the top of a chimney was just barely visible in the distance. A glance down at the boy and Time saw him trying to fight down an excited smile. He was at the front of the group, nobody other than Time would be able to see his face yet he still tried to maintain his composure. Adorable.
He almost wanted to ruffle Four's hair just to get rid of whatever barrier was keeping him from smiling unabashedly as a kid should. Right when he made up his mind to do just that, though, Four's expression changed.
He looked concerned.
Time tried to discreetly scan around and behind him, making sure nothing was sneaking up on their sides and the boys behind them were alright. Nothing was amiss there. He looked back up at the house that was steadily coming more into view. He couldn't see anything concerning, but of course he wasn't the one who'd grown up here.
"Is everything alright, Four?"
The smith's gaze flicked to Time then back to his home, eyebrows furrowing.
"Something feels different. I can't put my finger on it, but..." he looked up at Time, "Can we hurry?"
Trusting the intuition of whoever's Hyrule they were in was the only thing that had gotten them out of some dicey circumstances in the past, so Time didn't think twice before turning to the rest of their group and giving a sharp whistle. The way all of their heads snapped up at the sound would never not be amusing, but he didn't have time for a sensible chuckle at the moment.
"We're picking up the pace. Be on guard."
Wordlessly, the group attached shields to arms and brought swords out of sheaths. Time hadn't realized how much noise they'd actually been making until all their conversations went silent.
Despite the new pace Four set, the group didn't have any trouble keeping up. The shortest member's speed was like a brisk walk for Time, or perhaps a light jog.
Before long, the heroes stood in front of the small hill Four's home sat upon. It seemed that the boy's gut feeling was correct. Even though they'd only had the chance to visit a few times, the difference was obvious.
"Where's the forge?" Four spoke softly, but with feeling.
The entire right half of the house that made up his grandfather's forge was no longer there, leaving a much smaller building in its place.
The smith jogged up the hill to the front door, looking about ready to just barge his way in when something made him stop dead in his tracks. Concerned, Time slowly walked up behind him to see what caused his reaction.
Hanging from a nail on the door was a wooden sign. The words 'Gone Fishing' were painted on, along with a crude depiction of a small fish beneath. Four narrowed his eyes at the sign as if the words would change if he glared hard enough.
"My grandfather has never 'gone fishing' a day in his life," he murmured incredulously, "Or if he has, not often enough to warrant a sign. And certainly not in the middle of a forge day."
"Well... since there's currently no forge, that might not be a problem."
Four turned his glare on Time, the deep frown on his face making him look every bit of the child he was. It took all of Time's self control not to smile, and he held out a placating hand.
"All I'm saying is that this isn't the first instance of being dropped somewhere between our respective time periods. Perhaps we're in a time before the forge was built, and the current resident just happens to enjoy fishing."
Four sighed, turning back to the sign.
"You're probably right," fingers curled into the red section of his tunic as he continued quietly, "I was really looking forward to seeing him, though."
Time squeezed his shoulder in sympathy. Unfortunate portal placement couldn't be helped.
"What do you say to finding this mystery fisherman? Maybe he can give us some idea about where we need to go."
Four nodded as he finally turned away from the door.
"There's a river west of here. He'd likely be somewhere along there."
"Sounds like a plan."
They set off toward the river after filling the rest of the group in on the circumstances. A few of the boys perked up at the mention of fishing, though he suspected Wild just wanted to throw a bomb in the water to see what floated up. Wind, surprisingly, looked excited as well. Hadn't he mentioned before that the Great Sea didn't even have fish? Oh well.
At least Twilight and Legend seemed interested a normal amount.
Guards were still up as they followed the riverbank. Now that they knew they were between eras, there was no way to predict what monsters or other threats could appear. It all seemed peaceful enough, but that could change at any moment.
Eight and a half pairs of eyes scanned their surroundings, trying to catch a glimpse of their fisherman. As they approached Hyrule Town, the trees lining the river thinned out, and the small strips of land closer to the water were easily visible. It was Warriors who spotted him first, getting their attention with a hiss.
"Look! Someone's down there!"
On the other side of the river stood a young man. His blond hair and green shirt was surely setting off alarm bells in every one of his teammate's minds. Though those two traits weren't a requirement, they were too common among the group of heroes to ignore. It just being a coincidence was possible, but unlikely given their luck.
The man was standing at the edge of the riverbank, staring blankly into the flow of water before him. He didn't have any fishing equipment: no rod, no tackle box, no bucket to store his catches. It was a little unnerving. But they were looking for a fisherman, and this man obviously wasn't fishing, so maybe they wouldn't need to talk to him…
"'HOY!!!"
Wind waved energetically at the man, using both arms to make himself, and by proxy, their whole group, as visible as possible.
Thank you, Wind.
The man startled at the noise, whipping his head left and right, straight jaw-length hair fanning out at the movement, before looking up at the group. He slowly raised a hand and offered a slight wave.
"What are ya up to?" Wind asked, not quite shouting, but only barely.
"🎣!"
Naturally, the sailor faltered at this. They all faltered at this, because what? Wind quickly got ahold of himself, glossing over whatever in the goddesses' names that was.
"Can we join you?"
"Sure."
The relief at hearing a real, actual word from the stranger was palpable, and they crossed the bridge to meet him.
Time's unease immediately returned as he remembered his earlier observations. This man had no equipment with him. He was just standing there. But he said he was fishing. Right?
As they got closer, Time noticed a few more things about him. He was short (big surprise), being only slightly taller than Wind. His hair was styled similar to Four's, though without a headband some of it was free to sweep across his forehead. The green shirt he wore bore the Hylian crest in impressive gold embroidery, and his tan shorts that nearly went past his knees were equipped with large, unbuttoned pockets. On his feet were a pair of dark sandals along with tall socks.
His fashion choices were… interesting, to say the least.
But it was probably this man's day off. Who was he to judge another man's way of dress while relaxing? Malon knows he's worn some questionable outfits when he knew nobody but her would see him.
"Any luck with the fish today?" Twilight asked, easily ignoring the lack of any actual fishing equipment, bless his heart.
"Plenty," the man nodded mildly, shoving a hand deep in his pocket, and pulling out a large bass. He looked pleased as he showed it off to the group, which stared at it in astonishment.
"That… sure is a fish!" Twilight responded, struggling past the fact that the man was keeping fish in his pockets, "How many have you got so far?"
Once again the man reached into his pockets, steadily bringing out wet, flopping fish and stacking them in his arms. There were at least a dozen fish, somehow staying perfectly balanced even as they continued wriggling. Twilight whistled, impressed as the man dropped them back into his pockets one by one.
"How've you been catchin' 'em? I noticed you haven't got a rod."
“The 🐟 just kind of appear in my pockets," as he spoke, a fish-shaped mass materialized in his shorts, wriggling wildly before presumably disappearing into some storage dimension.
"...Ah. I see."
That was Twilight Speak for What in Ordona’s name have I just witnessed. Time empathized deeply, because he didn't understand it either. What was the point in using magic pants to catch fish, when the skill and technique required to catch just the right fish was half the fun?
“That’s pretty neat,” Legend began, ever the collector, “Are your pants themselves enchanted? Or is it a spell?”
The man simply shrugged. “It just happens.”
Silence.
“What’s your name?” Wind asked, always the first to break awkward lulls in conversation.
“I’m 🔗.”
It took a second for the strange manner of speaking to register in their minds.
“Link?” Time had to be sure.
The man nodded.
Four made a startled noise from his place in the back of the group. All eyes turned on the smith.
“Are you-” he hesitated, getting a hold of himself. “Are you the one who sealed the evil away? With the Picori Blade?”
The man- Link looked at Four. He seemed to take in the boy’s appearance, gaze lingering on Four’s hair specifically, and raised an eyebrow.
“Are you a fan?”
Four’s ears flushed red. Time was surprised; the smith rarely got flustered enough to blush like that.
“No. I mean, yes?” He sighed, willing away the warmth in his cheeks. “You’re the Hero of Men.”
Link turned his attention back to the river in front of him.
“The Hero of 🧍♂️? Is that what people call me?”
“That’s what you are, isn’t it?”
Link tilted his head left and right in a so-so gesture. “It’s what I was.” He turned to look over the group. “Hyrule has been at peace for years. There hasn’t been so much as an octorok since I ended the war, and no reason to walk around so heavily armored.
“So,” he turned to fully face the group, ignoring the new fish flopping around in his pocket, “who exactly are you people?”
“It’s a long story,” Time sighed.
“Let’s go back to my 🏠, then. We can talk over dinner.”
He walked past the group back up the path, questionably magical pockets full with fish, and the heroes could do nothing but follow.
