The Heroes' Nexus Chapter 9- Friends In High Places
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⋆⁺₊⋆ ☾𖤓 ⋆⁺₊⋆
“Are you sure this is safe…?”
Wanderer stood at the edge of the plateau, looking down and trying to ignore the way his stomach churned. He was white-knuckling the paraglider that Nightshade had given him, looking over at the other.
“Yeah, perfectly. Just jump and hold it over your head. It’ll catch the wind and slow your fall so you won’t get hurt on your way down,” Nightshade explained, taking out an odd harness that he started attaching to his chest.
“What’s that for?” he asked, tilting his head as he watched the other.
Nightshade nodded toward the tree line, just in time for a large grey wolf to come padding out of the woods. “He can’t jump down, so I attach him to my chest and take him with me,” he said, grinning over at the nomad.
The vagabond jumped back from the wolf, startled to see one just walking out of the woods and up to Nightshade. The man ruffled the fur of the wolf, who nipped at his hand. Nightshade laughed and pushed his snout away, which only encouraged the wolf to bump into him and knock him over.
Wanderer watched them, mouth agape- astonished for a moment at how Nightshade could be so casual with such a large predator, but then he recognized the body language between them. His eyebrows knitted together as he looked from one to the other.
“Is that Grey??”
The pair looked at the nomad, then back at each other. Nightshade shrugged, then sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck and looked back up at Wanderer.
“Guess we’re caught. Yeah, it is. We thought it might freak you out less if he didn’t shift in front of you,” he explained, standing up and rubbing the top of Grey’s head.
The drifter ran his hand down his face, taking a moment to process what he was seeing. “Okay.. Alright, sure,” he said, shrugging and deciding it the best course of action was to just accept what he was seeing. He was in an entirely new world so maybe that was just normal here or something.
“Alright! Let’s get you strapped in,” Nightshade said, kneeling next to Grey, who moved closer to his companion until they were up against each other.
Nightshade hooked Grey into the harness, making sure everything was tight and secure. The traveler watched, still holding onto the paraglider. It didn’t look like a terribly efficient way to get hooked up but who was he to criticize? He was just a regular ol’ Hylian in a foreign land, and a good argument could be made that these two were something else entirely based on everything he’d seen so far. It struck him that Nightshade was going to have to stand up with a literal wolf strapped to his chest, but before he could ask how that worked his question was answered.
The local Hylian wrapped one arm in front of Grey around his chest, and the other around his hind legs. And then he just… Stood up. Like the massive canine attached to his torso weighed nothing. Sure, that made sense. Maybe this wolf was hollow or something- there was no way Nightshade was that strong right? He could have a strength-boosting item or something. Except he hadn’t seen a bag on either Nightshade or Grey since they met so.. where did all their stuff come from??
Wanderer pinched the bridge of his nose, realizing a lot of things had slipped under his radar since he arrived. Normally he paid much more attention to things, but he was so taken by the world he found himself in that his vigilance had lapsed.
Nightshade continued to hold Grey like that when he turned to face their new companion. “Alright, all set. Do you want to jump first or second?”
Wanderer wasn’t sure what to make of the mischievous grin on Nightshade’s lips. He weighed his options, looking over the edge and grimacing. He really didn’t want to jump at all. He looked over at Nightshade, biting his lip nervously.
“Are you sure we have to jump at all…? Wait, if I have your paraglider how will you get down?”
“Oh, don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine,” he said, waving his hand and pulling his glide suit mask over his eyes. “Don’t you remember how we met? At least this time there won’t be any trees to bounce off,” he added, grinning wide at Wanderer.
Wanderer heaved a sigh. “Well… You got me there,” he conceded.
Nightshade stepped up next to him and clapped a hand on his shoulder. “How’s this, I’ll jump first. That way, when I land you’ll know it’s safe. And if anything happens I’ll be down there to catch you if necessary.”
Wanderer groaned, rubbing a hand down his face. “Okay, yeah. You go first and then I’ll.. hopefully go…” he said, taking a deep breath to steady himself.
“That’s the spirit,” Nightshade replied, clapping Wanderer on the shoulder. “Now remember, when you jump try to jump as far out as you can. There isn’t anything to hit on the way down, but it is a good habit to develop early if you’re gonna be jumping off cliffs and shit.”
“Wait, wait. You say that like I’m going to have to jump off more cliffs after this,” Wanderer said, his eyes wide.
“See you at the bottom!” Nightshade whooped, tightening his grip on Grey and running for the edge.
“Nightshade!” Wanderer shouted after him.
Nightshade ran to the edge, his final step at the very edge of the cliff, using that to push himself out rather than up. Wanderer ran over to the edge and looked down at the mad Hylian freefalling from over 300 feet to hard ground and cobblestone rubble. The nomad’s breath caught when he realized there was no way for Nightshade to slow his descent. He thought he was about to witness carnage. He took several steps back from the edge to get a running start and leap off without really thinking beyond Oh Hylia this idiot is going to kill himself oh goddess oh fuck.
He lifted the paraglider over his head- his arms nearly yanked from their sockets as the glider caught the air and abruptly slowed his freefall. He looked down just in time to see Nightshade just. Land on his feet. He jumped off a 300+ foot cliff, landed with bent knees, and that was all. Meanwhile it felt like the traveler’s arms were almost ripped from his shoulders.
At least his landing was soft.
Nightshade had set Grey on a nearby bit of rubble so he could unhook him from the harness on his chest easier. He had removed his glide mask (where the hell did it go, wondered the nomad) so Wanderer could see the way his eyes glinted when he grinned over at him.
“How was your first jump?” he asked, attaching the harness to a hook on the back of his belt.
Grey, still in his wolf form, hopped down from the rubble and sat down next to Nightshade with a wagging tail. It seemed he wasn’t quite ready to shift back. There were times where this form was just more comfortable for him, and this was one of them.
“I thought I was going to lose my arms,” Wanderer replied, handing over the Paraglider.
Nightshade took it back from him and brought it behind himself like he was going to hook it to his back but it seemed like it just.. disappeared? Wanderer had no longer had any idea what was normal or abnormal here. Maybe he was just going crazy or something.
“Yeah the first time can be pretty awful, but you get used to it,” he said, shrugging and draping an arm over Wanderer’s shoulders as they started to walk.
“I’d rather not jump off enough cliffs to get used to that.”
Nightshade chuckled as he guided Wanderer along the path. “Oh you’ll be fine. You were this time, right?”
Wanderer rolled his eyes dramatically, noticing something in the wall of the Plateau that caught his attention. “Hey, Nightshade… What is that?” he asked, narrowing his eyes as they turned toward Nightshade.
They were passing a massive arch in the constructed wall of the Great Plateau. It looked like at one point it had been full of rubble, but it was cleared out now. Clear enough to have been a rather easy walk, which meant they did not have to jump from the top. This wasn’t even that far from where they had jumped.
Nightshade dropped his arm, whistling with faux-innocence as he walked forward. “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he replied- trying and failing to hide the devilish glint in his eyes.
“Nightshade!” Wanderer shouted after him- just about ready to tackle the little shit himself.
࿐ ࿔:･ﾟ࿐ ࿔:･ﾟ
The trio set off down the road, though they didn’t stay that way for long.
Wanderer had intended to ask where they were going, but that question quickly fell to the wayside. He was immediately distracted by all the flora and fauna of this kingdom he found himself in. He bombarded Nightshade with questions and the man was more than happy to answer each one. At some point his clothing had changed from his glide suit to durable trousers and boots, as well as a blue sleeveless shirt. Wanderer didn’t even register the change in outfit, let alone the fact that Nightshade’s arms didn’t match.
Nightshade had no problem with answering all of Wanderer’s questions. In fact, he was pretty glad that Wanderer kept exploring on his own. It gave Nightshade the opportunity to restock his supplies. Grey stayed in his wolf form, though curiously the Hylian had started calling him Lyca instead.
Oh well, Wanderer could ask about that later. For now, he spotted a new kind of mushroom and just had to know what it was.
── ⋆⋅☾⋅⋆ ──
The moon had risen over the horizon by the time they finally reached Wetland Stable.
There were a few extra people than usual, so Nightshade decided to make something for dinner that could scale up considerably. Everyone at the stables always looked forward to his cooking, and he was more than happy to cook for them all. In the years following the Calamity and the Upheaval, these communal meals had done a lot towards building community and comradery among the Hyrulian citizens. They were a simple way to bond together, and with Nightshade (and Zelda later on) being at the nexus of these meals played a pivotal role in building trust in the both of them. After all, Zelda was still next in line for the throne and she would have no one else but her knight stand at her side.
Grey had shifted back into his Hylian form before they reached the stable. He explained that wolves freaked people out too much so despite his comfort in his wolf form, it was better for him to be on two legs around others.
Nightshade and Grey recognized most of the faces in the Stable- regulars they saw frequently and a Zonai researcher usually stationed in Tarry Town. They didn’t recognize the man with her, but he passed The Banana Test so maybe they just hadn’t met… somehow. Nightshade thought he knew everyone in Hyrule, but it wouldn’t be too surprising if one or two slipped under his radar. Regardless, he was pleasant to talk to so they weren’t too worried. Besides, the god Malanya kept enemies away from Stables so his presence here said a lot. The Yiga weren’t exactly strong enough to overpower the protection Malanya afforded the stables.
The Zonai team turned in not long after they ate, wishing the trio well. Nightshade wished them safe travels, waving as they headed into the large tent to their beds.
Nightshade told Wanderer he was going to sleep outside with Grey, but that he’d already paid for Wanderer to sleep in the Malanya bed. He didn’t warn him of the treat he was about to experience. If Wanderer didn’t even have grass in his homeland, there was no way he’d slept in something as soft and comfortable as that bed.
When morning finally came, Nightshade and Grey had to literally drag him from the bed.