#I think I’m coming down with something I’m stuffed up and sleepy oog

[skyward-floored]

Whumptober day 19 — Knees buckling, Repeatedly passing out

We’re at the time of the month where I only have ideas for like three more of these PANIC TIME

This one is rushed and it shows, but it’s something! Legend and Wind sorta focus hahaha I’m tired

Not really any warnings for today, it’s a sickfic basically but not the throw up kind

Ao3 link

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“Veteran? Are you okay?”

Legend blinked, then looked over at Wind, who was giving him a slightly suspicious look.

He ignored the urge to clear his throat, and tried to perk up, banishing the exhaustion that had been plaguing him the past day or two. A sudden cold had decided to descend upon him, and he’d been staunchly ignoring its effects, despite the fact that he only continued to feel worse.

“Why do you ask?” he replied, carefully making sure his voice didn’t croak.

“Because you’ve been clearing your throat all morning and also been staying all the way at the back of the group, which you never do,” Wind huffed. “And I can hear your breathing all the way over here. Something’s up with you. Did you get enough sleep last night?”

Legend scoffed, and continued down the path, ignoring how much of an effort it took to keep his legs under him.

“I’m fine sailor,” he muttered, too tired to think of a better reply. His voice scraped his throat as it came out, making his words sound raspy, and Wind definitely picked up on it.

He heard the sailor’s steps speed a little to catch up to him, then felt a hand tug his sleeve.

“Vet, that sounds pretty bad,” Wind said in a much more worried voice than before. Legend frowned and tried to shake the sailor’s hand off, but Wind tightened his grip, moving so he was looking Legend in the eye.

“Knock it off sailor,” Legend rasped, too tired to bother disguising it.

Wind crossed his arms. “No. I know a sick person when I hear one, even if you don’t want to admit it to yourself. Stay here, I’m gonna go get the captain.”

“Don’t you dare!”

Wind ignored him and began to march away, but he’d barely turned around before Legend’s vision suddenly swirled, and he wobbled, even though he wasn’t moving.

“Uh... sailor?” he mumbled, and Wind turned back towards him, eyes going wide.

Legend’s knees buckled, and Wind yelped, barely managing to charge back and catch him. He lowered him to a sitting position as Legend’s head swam, and Wind pressed a hand to his face.

“Mm-hm. That’s what I thought. You’re sick,” Wind said, shaking his head. “The forehead never lies.”

Legend tried to formulate a response to that, but everything was rather tricky to focus on all of a sudden, his vision swimming and pulsing in and out. He squeezed his eyes shut, and Wind patted him on the shoulder.

“I’ll be right back Legend, okay? Don’t get up.” Then the hand on his shoulder lifted, and Wind’s quick footsteps pattered away to go get the others.

Legend let out a quiet grumble. They did not have time for him to be sick right now, they were right on the trail of a huge group of infected monsters. If they stopped and tried to make him rest, they’d lose them, and Legend refused to let that happen.

He grit his teeth and slowly pushed himself up off the ground, ignoring the way the trees nearby somehow grew long and twisted as he moved. He got both feet under him though, and smiled triumphantly as he took a shaking step.

Then his knees buckled again and the next thing he knew someone was shaking his arm and yelling for him to wake up.

“‘m awake,” he rasped, then broke into a coughing fit.

“Vet I told you not to move!” Wind’s voice shouted, sounding upset, and Legend managed to blink his eyes open and look up at him. Several other faces swam into focus, but he focused on Wind, who’s face was nearly overflowing with worry.

“‘Sorry...” Legend croaked, than felt someone’s hand on his forehead again.

“Sweet Farore Vet, you’re burning up! How long have you felt sick?!” someone said, and Legend took a minute to recognize it as Twilight’s voice.

“Like... couple days,” he rasped, even those few words killing his throat. “Wasn’t bad ‘til today.” He swallowed, but it didn’t help at all; in fact it only made him realize how much his throat really hurt.

“Well that’s just peachy, what do we do now?”

“We’ll have to let him rest, he can’t keep going in this condition.”

“But the monsters!“

“They can wait. We’re in the middle of nowhere; as of now, they don’t serve too much of a danger to anyone except for ourselves.”

“Let’s just hope they don’t double back toward Kakariko...”

Another hand brushed over Legend’s forehead, and he grumbled a bit, ignoring how nice the cool skin felt against his burning face.

“All right vet, you think you can stand? We can’t make camp here, it’s too rocky.”

That was definitely the captain, and Legend huffed and mumbled something he hoped sounded affirmative. Arms gently grabbed his and pulled him to his feet, and his head abruptly swam. But when he listed to the side, Warriors (or maybe it was Sky?), tightened their grip and steadied him.

“Okay. We don’t have to go too far veteran, just take it one step at a time,” he heard Sky say, and Legend mumbled in acknowledgment.

He took precisely one step before his legs gave out on him again.

Someone yelped and the arms supporting him scrambled to catch him, and Legend let out a truly pitiful groan, hating how wretched he felt.

“What’s the matter with him?!”

“He’s sick stupid, what do you think?”

“Stop yelling, all of you! Veteran, are you alright?”

Legend responded by breaking into an awful coughing fit. His whole body shook with the force of the coughs, and he rapidly felt his remaining energy seeping away.

“Hang on Ledge, you’ll be okay, stay with us here—“

Arms pulled him up again, and the darkness met Legend before he could even resist.

When his consciousness finally swam back it was dark, and he was lying in his bedroll. Something wet rested on his forehead, and Legend pried his eyes open, the lids heavy and tired. He looked around and saw Wind sitting next to him, staring at something he couldn’t see.

The sailor was hunched over himself, his legs drawn tightly to his chest, and his head rested on his knees, facing away from Legend.

Legend shifted a little, and hissed as his head swam from even that small movement, and Wind’s head snapped towards him. The sailor quickly swiped an arm across his cheeks as he scrambled over to Legend’s side, and looked down, taking his hand in his.

“Vet! You— how are you feeling?” Wind asked, voice a bit watery. Legend closed his eyes again, unable to keep them open.

He opened his mouth to reply, but ended up breaking out into another coughing fit, his breath rattling in his chest. He was on his back, which only made the process harder, and more painful, and he distantly heard Wind calling someone’s name, and arms moving him so he could cough better.

It felt like forever, but his hacking finally stopped, and Legend went limp, utterly spent.

The wet thing on his forehead was pulled off, and someone’s hand was pressed there instead, their palm cool and soothing. Legend found himself leaning into the touch, and heard an intensely worried voice start saying something as darkness claimed him yet again.

When his consciousness returned once more, his head was resting against someone’s shoulder, the rest of him cradled in warm arms and wrapped in something soft. He tried to open his eyes, but his head spun the moment he tried, and he let out a quiet moan.

“You’re all right vet, it’s okay. We’re getting you help, just hang on,” whoever was holding him said, and Legend truly couldn’t tell who it was.

But he was safe, or safe enough anyways.

So he just nuzzled deeper into the soft fabric around him, and let go again.

He swam in and out of awareness a bit after that, snatches of conversation and hands moving him the only things he was truly aware of. A deeper voice he didn’t recognize had joined the others, and something kept poking him.

The lack of awareness on what was happening was driving him nuts, but he just didn’t have any energy to fight through it.

So he drifted. In and out of awareness and distant foggy pain. Sometimes he woke up just enough to hear someone say his name or feel a hand on his face before he drifted away again.

But eventually Legend finally opened his eyes and didn’t immediately have to close them again, which he counted a great success.

He flicked his gaze around the room (the room?) he was in, and realized he was in a bed, sheets tucked snuggly around him. Something shifted at his side, and he suddenly noticed Wind was curled up on the bed next to him, hugging his arm in his sleep.

And he wasn’t the only one.

Hyrule was near his feet, head resting on his leg as he slept. Four was next to him, half flopped across Hyrule’s side, and Sky’s sailcloth was covering them both. The skyloftian himself was sleeping on a couch near the bed, and Warriors was snoozing on his shoulder, Wolfie flopped on their laps.

Time wasn’t anywhere to be seen, but Legend had no doubts he was nearby. And Wild...

“Hey Ledge, you back with us?”

Legend turned his head to look at his bedside, and saw the champion sitting there holding his slate, giving him a relieved smile.

“We’re in Twilight’s Kakariko,” he explained, seeing Legend’s inquisitive look. “It’s been about a week. How are you feeling?”

Legend blinked.

“Like death warmed over,” he croaked, and Wild laughed.

He shifted in his seat a little, and set his slate down. “Yeah, and you look like it too. You uh... you scared us a bit, veteran,” Wild continued a bit quietly, and Legend felt guilt squeeze his stomach.

“‘Srry ‘bout that,” he mumbled, and Wild shook his head.

“It’s not your fault. Well, I mean, it’s your fault you didn’t tell us when you first started to feel sick, and how you acted like everything was fine, then kept getting up and falling over and passing out and—“

“All right all right,” Legend grumbled, and Wild smiled at him.

The veteran moved a bit, stretching his sore muscles, and Wind shifted from where he was clutching Legend’s arm, cracking his eyes open and rubbing his face.

“Mornin’ kid,” Legend rasped, and Wind jerked a bit as he looked over.

“Legend! You’re awake!” he cheered quietly, and Legend couldn’t help the small smile that ended up on his face. “For real this time!”

The sailor sat up and beamed, and Legend didn’t miss the dark shadows under his eyes from no doubt several sleepless nights. The guilt twisted his stomach again.

“Yeah,” he rasped, then looked away. “...sorry.”

Wind sighed, and squeezed his hand.

“It’s not your fault you got sick vet. I mean you were a dummy about it, but you’re okay now. But please tell us next time you feel like you’re going to nearly die from getting sick, I think Time was about to go full panic-mode when you kept passing out.”

Legend nodded with a bit of a smirk at the thought of Time panicking, and Wind smiled back.

“We’re glad you’re alright veteran,” Wild said from his bedside, and something in his voice made Legend twist around to look at him better.

The champion grinned, and held his slate up.

“I’m also glad I’ve got plenty of pictures of you snuggling with everyone.”

He booked it out of the room to Legend’s raspy cries, cackling as Wind woke everyone up with his laughter.