A Time eclipse AU drabble
-----December 5th, 12,000 B.C.E-----
-----------Late Ice Age-------------
Time rasped, putting his weight against the trunk of a birch tree; it’s ash bark as white as the snow piled to his knees.
He put two leather-clad fingers to his bruised temple, a thunderous ringing slamming between his ears. It was an earthquake within his mind, the reminder of all he’d failed, and all that he now had to overcome.
Hyrule, his home, was gone--and by all rights so should he.
But he’s alive, by the goddesses he was alive.
Time fought back the cascading emotions of his hours-new remembrance, gritting his teeth as the scars of his first body etched themselves anew on his earthy form. He’d been struggling with the symptoms of his revived consciousness for as long as he’d regained it; barely making the miles walk back to his tribe’s encampments.
How would they view him now? Their leader returning from a foraging trip half-blind and scarred, a shadow of his former strength?
If he’d taught them anything--hopefully nothing at all.
Time winced; abject darkness overtaking his whitening eye, the emblazoned touch of the deity scaring onto his soul once again. He tried to avoid the thought of if he too made the breach; ignorance was bliss.
He grunted, straightening his shoulders despite the pain. He was more then his scars, more then his memories, his tribe nee-
Time swiveled to his rearward, reacting on instinct, too preoccupied to digest who was speaking to him. It was a futile effort though, as seven hundred fifty pounds of arctic feline crashed into him like a freight train from hell. They tumbled through the alaskan detritus, a snarling roar rumbling the frozen tundra.
He was on his back now, his hands in an iron grip around both of the saber tooth’s arms, a mask of stoic determination overtaking his adrenalined shock. The tiger struggled and squirmed in his grasp, unused to it’s mauling victims surviving the first gouging, or gouging attempt in this case.
Time’s move, however bold, was temporary at best. It was a miracle he wasn’t stricken immobile by the sheer force of the charging tackle. He wasn’t surprised, it’s not like he hadn’t survived worst.
“Hey, listen! It’s fangs are more brittle then they look, try attacking them with your gauntlets.”
The gauntlets were a point of confusion too, given that he was stripped of his gear; answered justly when sheets of hammered metal and gold began manifesting around his forearms; emerging like crying tears from rippling air. They wrapped him in ribbons of molten light, their fiery embers coming right off the forges of their creation.
Uncapped strength surged within the forsaken hero, the thrashing predator atop him feeling lighter then a paperweight. He grabbed the Saber’s right fang, the ruby at the center of his gauntlets aglow--
He flicked his wrist right, snapping off eight inches of prehistoric bone from it’s source with unprecedented ease.
Howling in pain, the saber thrashed it’s unhooked claw at Time--It tried to at least. A rising uppercut hit from below, fracturing it’s bottom jaw in a spiderwebbing cracks.
The saber, now whimpering, scampered off Time; fleeing into the wilderness.
Time sighed, putting a hand to his chest.
“Stow the yawn, hero. You’re still on the clock.”
A flicker of blue light swam into his vision, impatiently hovering in place; their presence unabashed. A few thoughts struck Time’s mind, all in rapid succession--
Was this real? Was he having a stroke? Had he died again?
Normal things to consider, given he hadn’t seen his friend in over two and a half decades.
“I-..I-” Time stuttered, unable to find the words.
“Save it. We’ll talk whys and hows later, I’m just as confused as you are--but I do know that your tribe is in a heap of trouble, and they need your help.”
Time shook his head, trying to shake his bafflement.
“Our help, you mean. We’re a team, remember?”
Navi paused, a dozen regrets chasing her hurried mind.
“Of course..my mistake. We fight together, Link, ere the end,” Navi said, wistful melancholy infecting her tone.
Time nodded.
“Then lead the way, the stage is yours,” Time said.
“Good. We don’t have a moment to lose.”
