Pictographs
Its probably been done, but I wanted to just do some little one shots regarding the pictographs. This one is short but I wanted to share it anyway :) Read it on ao3, too!
Time knew all of his boys too well and he could recognize the mischievous glint in Legend’s eyes from a mile away, like a predator sizing up its unsuspecting prey.
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It was a picturesque evening. The sun was beginning to set behind bare mountains, painting a soft pink hue across the sky as clouds drifted lazily above. Birds began to settle in for the on-coming night as a few jays and doves darted between trees with their dinners held in their beaks. The rolling hills the Chain had found their way to were peaceful, imbued with the sweet smell of late spring and wet grass. They set down for the day on top of one of these hills and not soon after, the campfire was crackling warmly and the heroes unwound for the night.
They had been hiking for the whole day, the terrain they passed the majority of the time was a stark contrast to the gentle hills before them now. The foothills of the mountains nearby were relentless and steep and it didn’t help that the sun was beating down on them without respite. Needless to say, the group was tired. This was confirmed perhaps too readily by the resident knight of Skyloft when he dumped an armful of firewood by the fire and, having completed his chore for the night, leaned up against a nearby tree and promptly fell asleep.
Time smiled to himself at the sight, adding to the peacefulness of the setting.
But having eight other companions, Time wasn’t surprised when the peace didn’t last far as long as he wished it would. It started off innocently enough and he wasn’t the only one who noticed their slumbering friend.
“All-together too comfortable, if you ask me,” Legend murmured from his place on a log beside the fire. He was watching Sky with what appeared at first to be disinterest. But Time knew all of his boys too well and he could recognize the mischievous glint in Legend’s eyes from a mile away, like a predator sizing up its unsuspecting prey.
“I bet he could be comfortable enough to fall asleep in the heart of a volcano,” Wild added while he stirred the pot above the fire.
“I bet he already has,” Hyrule said with an amused smile.
Four laughed and considered the man in question with his head propped in his hand thoughtfully. “I swear, sometimes waking him up is a divine quest in itself.”
Warriors snorted and bumped the smith’s shoulder with his as he took a seat beside him.
“Right?” Wind leaned forward with a playful smile. “He doesn’t even wake up when Twi sneezes!”
Twilight stopped chopping potatoes to squint at the pirate. “I do not sneeze that loud. I don’t know what you guys keep complaining about!”
Hyrule put a consoling hand on the rancher’s shoulder. “Twi. Your sneezes can-and have-caused avalanches from miles away.”
“That was just a coincidence!” Twilight cried and Time could see Four considering taking the knife from the rancher’s hand.
“Yeah, but it happened,” Wind jabbed.
“Once. It happened once.”
“Anyway,” Legend brought everyone’s attention back to the subject with a dismissive wave of his hand. “The point is the guy can sleep through anything.”
“I feel like we can take advantage of that somehow,” Wind hummed with a devious smile curling onto his face.
“Maybe just let the poor guy rest?” Twilight sighed and scraped the freshly cubed potatoes into the pot.
“I’ve got an idea,” Wild said, a smile of his own tugging at his lips.
“Wild,” Twilight growled and rolled his eyes.
“We take turns stacking sticks on his head and the last one to put a stick before he wakes up loses.”
Immediately, Wind darts to the nearest tree and pulls off several thin branches. Twilight shoots a look at Time in a silent plea to step in, but is answered with a simple raised eyebrow. He was curious, too and there was no harm in a little fun. As the sound of snapping twigs filled the air, Twilight sighed a labored breath and took over the cooking while Wild helped with the sticks.
They all took turns, save for Twilight who was cooking and Time who watched with silent curiosity. With each twig placed on the sleeping knight’s head, the players’ giggling increased in intensity. Time figured it would take a few twigs before the Skyloftian noticed the foreign weight on his head or the poorly suppressed laughter surrounding him. To all of their surprise though, Sky didn’t stir. In fact, at one point after Wars placed another twig, the knight began softly snoring. Time thought Wind would pass out from holding in his laughter as he rolled in the grass with a face as red as a Rupee.
Now the stack was comically high and Wild whipped out his Slate to take a picture while Legend placed another stick, biting his lip and holding his breath. Hushed debates on who would go next turned into a silent elbowing match as none of them wanted to risk losing.
Time, the ever supportive leader, would be remiss to neglect an opportunity to give his boys a nudge when they needed it. He schooled his amused expression to be as dead-pan as possible. “Loser gets first watch tonight.”
All eyes darted to Time with varying degrees of surprise as they considered the stakes. Wind was the first to take on the challenge with new motivation.
“Well, if you’re raising the stakes like that, Old Man, it’s only fair you participate,” Legend taunted and wiggled a stick between his fingers. Time waited a silent moment to watch the anticipation grow on their faces.
With an exaggerated sigh, he made a show of standing slowly. “If I must.” The sly grin breaking his passive mask gave away his eagerness to join as he reached the others and took the stick from Legend. He took his time assessing the pile of sticks for the optimal position and he could feel everyone’s unspoken excitement radiate from them. Finally, he found a good spot and gingerly rested his stick at the top of the pile.
After a moment of wary glances and held breaths, the stack did not tumble and Time returned to his seat proudly.
Just then, Sky shifted in his sleep with a soft hum and to everyone’s horror, half of the stack tumbled onto the knight’s lap. The whole camp was dead silent, waiting for Sky to wake.
Sky snored comfortably and undisturbed.
Wind bit down hard on his lip and was practically bursting at the seams from holding in his laugh, alleviating his inevitable hysterics by repeatedly batting Legend’s arm, who had his own mouth agape in disbelief.
“Should we keep going?” Four whispered.
“Hell yeah.” Wild marched up to sky and replaced one of the sticks.
Hyrule followed and tentatively balanced another but when the stick began to slide off, he rushed to catch it and Wind squeaked behind him. The squeak made Hyrule panic even more and surely enough caused the rest of the stack to fall from his shaking hands.
“Huh…?” Sky croaked and opened his eyes, followed by muffled cursing from multiple teammates. Sky squinted with bleary eyes in confusion as he took in the scene, his eyes wandering over a panicked Hyrule and then to Wind as the pirate flung himself onto the floor in stitches. The glare that returned to Hyrule demanded answers.
“You had some sticks in your hair, so we were…” Hyrule gulped down a laugh. “…helping.”
Now noticing the assortment of sticks strewn in his lap, Sky looked down, which caused the remaining few twigs to tumble from his messy hair. The look on his face warned of impending doom and his eyes roved the six heroes frozen in front of him.
“Who started it.” It came out less like a question and more like an order. Five fingers spared no time pointing directly at Wild, causing the Champion to shrivel under the accusations. In the blink of an eye, Sky shot to his feet and lunged at Wild, who did his best to bolt in the other direction with a yelp.
“Looks like you’ve got first watch, Traveler,” Legend gloated as he leaned an elbow on Hyrule’s shoulder.
“No fair!” Hyrule pouted. “Wind made me mess up with his noises!”
Wind only laughed harder and wiped streaming tears from his eyes.