#And one of the things was ranch puffs which she gave me cause she hates ranch

[butterflies-and-bumble-bees]

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[queenof-literature]

A Sick Wild Child - Chapter 5

Warning: Mentions of vomiting and panic attack. 

Wild remained tucked inside Twilight’s pelt all day. Twilight had moved out from under him when Wild was in a deep enough sleep to do so. Twilight hated to move him but that kid was a furnace at the moment and an overdose of body heat seemed to be the last thing he needed. Now all that could be seen of the spry boy were tufts of blond hair sticking out near the top of his bedroll.  

It was around lunchtime when some of the boys began to get restless. They usually wouldn’t stay at camp this long in the middle of the woods, but as Time had stated, Wild wasn’t fit to travel anywhere even if he was being carried by someone. He would hopefully be well enough to ride on someone’s back in the morning, but until then they were stuck.

It was Warriors’ turn to watch Wild. After his panic attack a couple of hours earlier he had completely passed out, so the job had become a lot more smooth. Warriors was content to just read a book Four and lent him and check Wild’s temperature and breathing once in a while. He wasn’t really getting that much better, but he wasn’t getting worse either. Legend’s medicine had helped his breathing steady out for the most part so he didn’t sound like a fish out of water anymore. He was still quivering and his muscles still appeared to be spasming, which would undoubtedly make him sore in the long run, but he at least appeared in a deep sleep for now.

“Hyrule is Wild really okay to be so curled up in those blankets?” Four asked, concerned that Wild’s fever would worsen.

“I think it’s okay. Whoever is on watch just has to keep checking his temperature. If it gets noticeably worse then we need to cool him down a bit.” Hyrule responded with ease. He was really growing into his role in the group, Time thought with pride. Hyrule was one hell of a fighter, but he also had the talent and spirit of a healer.

“Warriors, you’ve been checking his temperature, right?” Legend questioned with a single eyebrow raised. There was a slight teasing lilt to his voice. He knew Warriors had to take care of his men in battle before.

“‘Course I have. Who do you take me for?” Warriors rolled his eyes.

“It was a fair question Warriors.” Wind giggled, only to be met with a book flying straight at him.

“Hey! Don’t throw my books!” Four shouted as a thud and a squawk was heard in the background. Time rolled his eye. These boys were getting quite restless, which was perfectly fair. Time didn’t know what they would do if Wild wasn’t at least a little better tomorrow. It wasn’t just unpleasant to camp in one place for this long, it was dangerous. Moving along helped the black blooded monsters keep further from them. That was another reason he had someone watch over Wild. If a monster came by the camp and saw a sick member on the outskirts of camp, alone, well… it was nature. Pick off the weakest of the pack. No way in hell was Time going to let that happen.

It seemed all the chaos had roused Wild slightly from his sleep. Immediately the camp halted when Warriors heard a groan a couple of feet away from him.

“Hey buddy, how ya feeling?” Warriors asked with a smile.

“Wha’s goin’ on?” Wild slurred out, eyes barely peeking out from Twilight’s pelt.

“Well you got yourself sick and took a pretty nasty fall, kiddo.” Warriors teased. Wild squinted his face in concentration for a second, like he heard Warriors but understood nothing of what was said to him, before muttering a small “m’kay”, and falling back asleep. The camp chuckled slightly at Wild’s acceptance.

“What are we gonna do if he’s not any better tomorrow?” Wind asked, apparently having the same thoughts Time did.

“We have to keep moving. It’s too dangerous to stay here for longer than tonight. If someone wouldn't mind carrying him for a while, we can at least move a little bit tomorrow.” Time had been planning it out in his head. He didn’t want to risk Wild’s health by moving him around too much, threatening his breathing once again. However he also didn’t want to put them all in danger by having them stay in this clearing for too long. Neither situation was ideal, but hopefully with Wild being carried he would be alright for a while.

Really the ideal situation at the moment would be being transported to Lon Lon Ranch. There Wild could be doted on by Malon for as long as he needed. Time smiled at the idea of Malon being a complete mother hen when one of their boys were sick. Wild would undoubtedly be as red as a tomato when he wasn’t delusional anymore. Malon would just coo that he didn’t need to be embarrassed and continue nursing him back to health. Hylia, he loved that woman. No matter how fierce she could be with that fire he fell in love with, she could also be the kindest being in any Hyrule, in any timeline. If one of the boys ever got sick on the ranch, Time was sure that no matter if it was the oldest or the youngest, Malon would certainly baby every one of their boys until they got better. Time wondered when he and Malon and stopped thinking of the boys as just boys and when they thought of them as their boys. Their family to protect. Maybe they never were just boys, maybe it was the first time they ended up at Lon Lon Ranch when he watched her fall in love with every single one of them, like a bear seeing her cub for the first time. Either way, Time could feel when they were going to switch. He didn’t know when, or where they would end up, but he could feel the time running out (ha). They were not switching Hyrules anytime soon, so they had to make the best out of what they had in the moment.

Multiple voices blended together, offering to carry Wild, including Wind, who was multiple inches shorter than the hero he was offering to carry. Time held back a smirk.

“We can take turns carrying him.” Twilight planned from beside Time. “But we can’t jostle him too much. He doesn’t have broken ribs anymore but we don’t want his breathing to go back to how it was when he first fell down a tree. We also don’t want him puking all the way through the forest.” Some light laughs ripped through the group. Time threw a hefty clap to Twilight’s shoulder, proud of him for taking charge.

“Twilight is right. Tomorrow we’ll switch off by the hour, oldest to youngest of those capable of carrying him without moving him too much.” Time finalized. He knew Wind wouldn’t be happy if the topic of him not carrying Wild came up, so he hoped they found a better place to sleep before they got to that point.

“How is he, Warriors?” Twilight asked the captain.

“Kid’s okay so far. His temperature hasn’t increased from what I can tell.” Warriors reported, resting a hand on Wild’s forehead to affirm his point. “Looks miserable though, he’s shivering like he’s buried in snow.” Warriors frowned in thought.

“I feel bad, but we can’t let him get too warm.” Hyrule warned.

“I know buddy. I just feel bad for the kid. He has to be freezing.” Warriors confirmed.

“Yeah, but once his fever passes a bit he can be buried under as many blankets as he wants.” Hyrule smiled optimistically.

“I think if you gave him the choice that would be every blanket we own.” Legend joked. He wasn’t wrong. Wild packed light, but when given the option, he felt the weight of heavy blankets to be comforting. It was odd considering how much he hated being restrained, but whatever brought him comfort they would try to achieve it.

The light atmosphere of the camp was interrupted when, without any warning, as if the universe had read every worry and bad thought Time had, a group of moblins crashed through the trees.

“Warriors, watch Wild!” Time yelled instantly, although he didn’t really need to. Warriors instantly leapt to his feet and unsheathed his sword above Wild. The moblins in Wild’s Hyrule were strong and towering, but also lanky. They would almost be cute if they weren’t currently attacking them with one member already down. Thankfully there were only three. Wind, Legend, and Hyrule attacked the one leading the attack. Sky and Four had rushed over to assist Warriors in protecting Wild against the second. Finally, Time and Twilight were working on the third.

The battle was going fine. No one seemed to be injured so far, everyone was expertly ducking under clubs and slashing at weak points. A yell from Warriors changed that. Time didn’t know how it happened, he doubted Warriors did either. One moment the second Moblin was being overpowered by the combination of Sky, Hyrule, and Warriors, the next, it was looming over the boy wrapped in his bedroll who was completely unaware of what was happening. It happened so fast and yet so painfully slow. The moblin wildly kicked its foot at the heap on the ground, sending Wild flying a good ten feet away, causing his right side to smash into a tree.

With a short and airy scream from Wild, Warriors only saw red. Slamming his shield into the back of the smug Moblin, he quickly hacked away until only a puff of black smoke remained, then nothing.

Without a second thought, everyone bolted over to Wild. Warriors got there first, sliding to Wild’s side and lifting the hem of his shirt. When Time got there, all he saw was horrifying shades of blacks, greens, and blues on the right side of Wild’s already bruised chest. There was also red seeping out of deep scrapes the bark cut into his skin.

If Wild’s breathing was bad when he first fell, it didn’t even compare to what it was now. He was coughing, hacking, gasping, and wheezing. Anything just to get air into his lungs. His hands were twitching and grabbing onto the grass below, and Time imagined if he could move properly he would be grasping at his throat.

“Wild I am so sorry he was just gone before I knew it. Wild, kiddo, can you hear me?” Warriors was keeping his voice as calm as possible but on the inside he was being crushed by guilt and concern.

Hyrule kneeled next to Wild’s shuddering form along with Twilight, while Warriors moved to be just above Wild's head.

“Twilight, can you see if you can calm him down at all? The shock he’s probably feeling isn’t helping him breathe.” Hyrule was already feeling Wild’s ribs as he spoke, which only increased Wild’s pain and his struggle to breathe.

“Please.” Wild gasped out in between coughing and hacking, “Stop”. Twilight leaned down and took one of Wild’s hands.

“Don’t worry Cub, it’ll stop soon. I’m sorry, but it’ll be okay. You’re okay, Just keep breathing. In and out.” As Twilight repeated similar phrases and placed Wild’s hand on his chest, Warriors had taken to playing with Wild’s hair to hopefully give him some form of comfort.  

“Four, we’re gonna need a potion. Please run and get one. Legend, if you have any more of that salve to spare, Wild will probably need it.” Time voiced. Legend and Four simply nodded and took off to their bags.

“What can I do, Time?” Wind asked in a flurry. Time felt a rush of affection for the boy’s eagerness to help his friend in any way possible.

“I don’t know yet. Ask Hyrule when he’s done checking out Wild's ribs.” Time put on a reassuring smile for Wind, which the boy returned.

Wild’s breathing had calmed down enough that Time wasn’t worried he would pass out anymore from hyperventilating. It seemed physical contact had helped his mind know the threat was gone for now. For now, were the words that troubled Time. He thought that they could go another night here, but if these monsters had tracked them, more were sure to come. His thoughts were interrupted by Legend and Four returning just in time for Hyrule to tell his findings.

“We’re lucky he doesn’t have a punctured lung.” Hyrule stated solemnly over Wild's wheezing and whimpers of pain. “He has broken ribs again, and they were already weak the first time. A potion should heal them enough that he won’t be in immediate danger, but they’ll be more fragile. The infection is already making his healing hard, breaking his ribs a second time in the same day is defiantly not good.” Hyrule finished, looking over at Warriors, who was guiltily spinning a strand of Wild’s hair on his finger. “It’s not your fault, Warriors. They had whatever the rest of the monsters do now. There’s no telling how much their speed and strength increased. It was just a bad situation. Without you he would have been hurt more, or worse.” Warriors simply nodded, but he felt a bit better at Hyrule’s words.

Twilight helped Wild drink the potion Four had brought, and Legend applied the salve to Wild’s chest. Fortunately, they didn’t have to worry about staining Wild’s tunic anymore with Sky’s old shirt on him, so Legend could put the salve on without having to lift Wild’s arms. After a few minutes, the cub’s breathing evened out well enough. It still wasn’t great, but he was at least getting air into his lungs.

“Alright gentleman.” Time got the attention of the rest of the group. “Even if it’s just a mile or two, we need to get out of here. More monsters are sure to come and they may be more powerful and more in numbers. Wild can rest a little while the rest of us pack up. Wind, watch Wild please, I’ll pack your things. Twilight, pack Wild’s bag and bedroll. We’re leaving. Now.”