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theoneeyedgoldenwolf · 2 months ago

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Whumptober 2024, number 21: Body Horror, Spirit Possession

Summary: Cursed forest and evil Spirit of a Lizalfos. The Chain is not happy about this. Least of all Time. And it’s not just because every single forest is his turf…

CW: Faulty sight, attacking loved one, cursing, scaling one’s arms, blood, nausea, feeling like throwing up, possession, trying to rip one’s Spirit out, ghosts

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It was calm evening at the camp of the nine Heroes. Time tried to follow the conversations going around the fire but he barely could stay still. Something in the forest they were at wasn’t normal. He wasn’t certain of what, how or why. Something just felt off.

“I’m going to check around.” The Chain’s leader called while getting up.

“Twilight already checked the perimeters.” Warriors replied in slight worry while watching the older male put his gloves on and picking up his Biggoron Sword.

“I know and I’m not saying he would’ve missed something.” Time answered calmly. “The forest just feels off. I’m hoping to get in touch with it to figure it out.” He explained while fastening the sword’s belt. “I should be back within an hour or so.”

“Maybe someone should go with you…?” Sky half suggested while checking around the Chain. Each of them were ready and willing to accompany their oldest brother.

“Thanks but I’m quite certainly going to be out of sight.” The one eyed male replied with a slight mischievous grin. The eight Links slightly chuckled and nodded. Even though they weren’t certain of how the Old Man did it, they knew he could quite well just vanish in any forest even if they’d be staring at him. Hyrule had confirmed it to be magic in use but even he wasn’t certain of what kind of or how.

“Be careful.” Twilight called and Time nodded while waving bit dismissively.

“Always.” The Chain’s leader replied and walked into the woods around them. Just outside the camp’s fire’s light, he disappeared into the darkness. The eight accomplished swordsmen still felt bit uncertain and worried but they knew Time could look after himself without any of trouble. Not to mention that the forest was his turf and in such place quite well nothing went past his notion.

About an hour later the group of Hyrule’s Heroes heard someone approach their camp. The footsteps sounded both awfully familiar but still oddly strange. They carefully pulled their weapons closer even though they were hoping that it was Time coming back to the camp. They hadn’t heard any of scuffles, screams or roars to cause their brother’s walking to be off. Before they could whistle out a query, the maker of the somehow both recognizable and unknown sound of movement came into sight.

Lizalfos walked calmly into the camp and the eight Heroes stood up abruptly. The beast stopped with a start when the Links drew out their weapons and screamed out their battle cries while attacking. The creature screamed out in start and began to back away from the slashes and stabs.

“BOYS! WHAT THE HELL?! IT’S ME!” The being screamed out. The words startled the Chain only for a second or so before they already tackled the warrior lizard into the ground. The monster gasped before screaming again as the swords were struck downwards. The beast crossed his arms over his face while turning bit aside. Unconsciously he brought out a blue shield magic.

The eight attackers gasped in shock as their strikes clanged into the Nayru’s Love. They backed off a bit while staring wide-eyed at the situation. The Lizalfos was bit trembling while looking around in slight fear. “Pixie. Please. It’s me. Time. No monster talks Fairy Language. Right?” The creature spoke with slightly trembling voice.

The Links were even more shocked but not as much as Hyrule was. He stared entirely bewildered at the beast before him. “Time?” He called out quietly and the monster nodded. “Guys, back off!” The half-fairy commanded almost roughly while putting his sword and shield away.

The others gasped and jerked in full start. They quickly stepped backwards in slight shame while putting their weapons off. “Sprite?” Warriors called while feeling unnerved, uncertain and freaked out.

“Wars.” The Lizalfos replied while very slowly sitting up. “W-why did you guys attack me?” He asked while looking around and bit fearing to make a wrong move.

“Well, um… T-this is hard to explain…” Twilight started while scratching the back of his head and having turned his gaze off.

“You’re a Lizalfos.” Wild stated out flatly and everyone around him jerked in shock.

“Well, that was blunt.” Twilight muttered while shooting a slight glare at his protégé.

“W-what…?” The beast half whispered and looked at himself. “I… I’m not a Lizalfos…” He nearly muttered while not seeing any scales, tail or snout. “A-at least I can just see myself.” He told while turning his still bit freaked out gaze up into his boys.

The Captain crouched down and swiftly struck his hand at the creature’s snout… Only for it to go right through it like it wasn’t even there. The beast gasped slightly and bit jerked backwards at the unexpected and swift movement so close to his face.

“Not real.” Warriors muttered while waving his hand few times through the snout all the way until the beast was deadpanning at him.

“I could’ve told you that.” The creature grumbled.

“Yeah, well, I think we all needed that realization rather than your words.” Legend told firmly. The green scaled being huffed before bit gasping as the Veteran took hold of his hand, or more so of his fingers. “No scales. Just skin and fabric.” He observed while bit calming down.

The rest of the Chain calmed down slightly but they were still bit jumpy and trying not to fidget. “Time.” Sky called while still feeling odd to be calling the beast by his leader’s name. “What happened in the forest?”

The creature had turned his notion into the Chosen Hero by the call before already tilting his head a bit at the inquiry. “Nothing. The forest’s silent but nothing happened. Didn’t see or hear anything. There’s no monsters but neither is there any wildlife or fairies.” He answered with a slight worried frown.

“That doesn’t sound good.” Four stated out and the others nodded.

“There’s something off but I can’t catch the notion of it.” The Lizalfos continued before sighing. “I guess… This is part of the whole thing.” He almost growled while gesturing into the situation between them.

“I’d be surprised if it wasn’t.” Wind commented while still feeling uncertain of getting close to the beast. The voice, the color of that one eye and actions were very good indications of how things were. And yet, all the Sailor could see was the monster.

“Okay… Um…” The beast averted his gaze and ran a hand by the top of his head before shrugging. “How about I just keep my distance and stay here. Just ignore me and hopefully things are better tomorrow. We’ll head forward at the first light and, maybe, we can get out of this forest before nightfall.”

“How about no.” Warriors stated out firmly and yanked the creature up from the ground. “We all stay by the fire and we’ll pile on you for tonight.” He told almost commandingly after the monster had yelped at the sudden movement.

“And the rest of the plan?” The Lizalfos half queried with a mischievous grin.

The Captain almost groaned at that while the being just chuckled. The beast gasped slightly when the war Hero began to drag him along. The Chain followed behind while still being tad contradicted of the situation. Yet, as Warriors pushed the monster down onto one of the logs before already sitting down next to him, wrapping his scarf around the being and leaned against the scaled side of the beast, they finally calmed down.

“We’ll figure this out, Time.” Sky promised with a gentle smile. “Maybe the problem’s with us instead of something having happened to you. Or maybe it’s within the forest itself and just got latched onto you. Whatever it is, I’m sure it’ll dissipate once we get out of here.” He assured calmly and the Lizalfos just nodded.

Suddenly there was a sound of a click and everyone’s notion fell into the Champion. He had his Slate out and he was frowning at the picture he had just taken. “Okay… I didn’t wait for this.” He told bit confused.

“What is it?” Hyrule queried while already moving closer to the master archer. He gasped a bit when he saw the picture. Right after that he started to glance between the Slate’s screen and the beast in the camp. “That actually explain a lot.”

Wild took once a deep breath and turned the Slate around for everyone to see. There was round of gasps and jerks as they saw the picture. Most of all the Lizalfos was very shocked of the image.

The green scaled lizard-warrior was like an oversized costume around Time himself.

With the last confirmation of it really being their oldest brother in the beast’s place, the Chain calmed down. Sure, the whole idea of Lizalfos costume did NOT appeal to them. Yet, it explained fully why Time wasn’t seeing the creature but everyone else was.

“So…” The creature started slowly and slightly uncertainly. “That confirms it. The problem’s with me.” He stated out with a slight shrug and bit sorrowful lopsided smile. The Chain felt even more uncertain of the situation while having hoped for something different. Yet, that finally got the Heroes to get up to their feet and crowd around the beast whom in all reality was their oldest brother. The Lizalfos sighed a bit but he relaxed and calmed down while having the boys by him.

A while later the night shifts were shared but Time wasn’t given any of them even though he was very much up for taking at least one. “It’s safer if you stay in middle of the Hero Pile of Support and Comfort. We don’t want to risk repeating the earlier situation in any of way.” Warriors stated out as an explanation into the creature’s, which actually was his little brother’s, arguments and attempts of commanding them to allow him to have at least one of the shifts. For the being’s disappointment, he couldn’t find words to counter the Captain’s claim.

With everyone knowing the truth, it was easy for the Chain to snuggle up next to the Lizalfos. What they felt was Hylian and not the scales of the beast. That only calmed them down even more. Twilight had once tried to check on things as Wolfie but for once the canine’s sight saw the same as his Hylian form did.

At the next morning the Chain woke up into a terror filled scream. They snapped their eyes open and it took a precious moment before their minds understood what they were seeing. Time was sitting in middle of them with a knife on his hands, trembling and scaling his arms.

“TIME!” Four screamed out a bit before his brothers while already dashing towards the scene as he had been in the night watch. Yet, the others were right by their leader and swiftly catching his arms and desperately wrangling the knife out of his hold.

“THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!” The Captain screamed in shock and terror. Time was fighting against the hold while crying and clearly being entirely distraught. Hyrule knew they wouldn’t get any of potions through their leader at the moment so he initiated his healing magic and started to fix the bleeding arms and missing skin.

“I’m a monster! A fucking Lizalfos!” The one eyed male half shouted, half growled. He was desperately trying to claw at himself which only made it harder for the others to try and hold him still. “Kill me! Please! Wars, kill me!” He begged desperately while breaking down and only freaking the Chain out even more.

Warriors hated how he had to restrain the older male by the tight hug. Slowly the one eyed male turned from a terrified and self-harming into broken and slumped mess. The Captain loosened his hold slightly while allowing Time to turn around in his arms and hide his face into the crook between the war Hero’s shoulder and neck. He whispered quiet reassurances while gently running his arms up and down around his shattered brother.

The Chain around them slowly calmed down as the danger had passed. Sky carefully brought Warriors’ scarf and gently wrapped it around the crying Old Man while quite well just hiding him from their sight. The Captain gave him a grateful smile and a nod. The others clearly had learned what that blue fabric meant to their leader.

It took a long while before Time finally started to calm down. He slumped even more underneath the scarf while feeling both scared and ashamed. “I’m a monster.” He mumbled quietly while staring at his clawed and scaly hands while seeing the snout.

“No, you’re not.” The war Hero stated out firmly, almost commandingly. “This is like yesterday. Except that you’re seeing the beast while we’re seeing you.” He told while carefully pulling the scarf off. Time took a deep breath and tried to get ready for facing his boys after having freaked them out so thoroughly.

Yet, very soon the one eyed male gasped as Warriors carefully placed his hand onto his face. He was up for giving a slight glare to his older brother before gasping louder and recoiling backwards. The Captain’s hand was right through the scaly and long lizard’s snout. He stared wide-eyed at the scene while feeling both terrified and nauseous. “C-can you… C-can you, please…” He nearly stammered and sighed a bit in relief when the younger male pulled his hand away.

“What you’re seeing is as fake as what we saw yesterday.” Legend stated out firmly while noticing how much that one action had affected the Old Man. Time just nodded while not daring to look at anyone. It was hard enough for him to try and keep in mind that he wasn’t the beast he was seeing.

“Getting ready, a quick breakfast and heading forward. The quicker we’re out of this forest, the better.” Twilight half commanded while hating to take over the leadership. The others nodded firmly before already scattering off to handle the works. While Wild went to handle swift breakfast, the Rancher handled both his and the Champion’s gear and bedrolls for faster leaving. Legend and Sky handled both their own as well as Time’s and Warriors’ stuff. The Captain carefully led the one eyed male over to the campfire to be out of the way.

“Gilded Sword and Mirror Shield but NO armor.” Warriors commanded when Time felt bit better and was up for getting ready too.

“Why not? How am I going to aid in possible fight without my armor and the Biggoron Sword?” The Chain’s leader argued back almost childishly while wanting anything to take his mind off of what he was seeing. Ignoring the snout and scales was hard and he needed to get his mind somewhere else than into that false sight.

“Because you need to feel the scarf around you.” The war Hero stated out much gentler. “You need a reminder of what you’re seeing is not the reality.” He explained carefully and the one eyed male sighed heavily while slumping back down onto the log. “You’ll be okay, Sprite. I promise.” He swore while coming to sit down next to his little brother whom was about a decade older than him.

“I need a distraction.” Time mumbled while hiding his face into his hands. Yet, he quite soon gasped quietly and pulled them off nearly instantly after seeing the claws, scales and his Lizalfos hands through the beast’s snout. It all only made him feel sick.

“Lucky you, I got an idea.” The Captain stated out and pulled the Old Man up from the log. “You can help me getting the scarf perfectly on and the armor attached rightfully.” He explained while knowing the older male knew exactly what to do and how. Back in the war the ten year old kid had aided him quite often as it had seemed to be something the child had liked to do.

The Chain’s leader sighed a bit but he smiled fondly and nodded. Even though he hadn’t done this for decades, he still remembered the right actions. He knew exactly how the war Hero wanted his scarf and how to smooth any wrinkles. Warriors simply smiled and enjoyed of the skilled actions getting everything just perfect.

Next problem came at the breakfast. The Chain tried not to look as Time kept failing to remember that the snout he saw wasn’t part of him nor working as a mouth for him. “Sprite.” Warriors eventually called firmly and placed his hand in front of his brother’s face.

The one eyed male recoiled backwards. He stared at the hand that was through the scaled snout while not feeling it. He knew it should’ve aided him but all it did was make him feel sick. He eventually turned away while clamping his hand over his mouth. “Don’t do that. Please. It just makes me nauseous.” He mumbled while fighting to keep his need of throwing up at bay.

“Sorry, little brother.” Warriors whispered while bit running his hand up and down at Time’s back.

“’S fine.” The Old Man mumbled while concentrating into the comforting feeling of the Captain’s action.

“Maybe a blindfold for a while?” Wild suggested but Time shook his head.

“I’d rather still see what I’m doing. I just…” The Chain’s leader started before trailing off with a sigh. He took a deep breath, closed his eye and ran his hand over his face. “No snout.” He mumbled while keeping his eye closed and checked his skin and fingers. “No scales. No claws.” He tried to confirm for himself before opening his eye. He bit grimaced as he still saw the Lizalfos’ body instead of his own.

The click of a photo taken bit startled everyone and the one eyed male turned his gaze into Wild. “Well, if yesterday’s picture was freaky then this is worse.” The Champion told and bit unwillingly showed the picture. The Chain gasped in shock before everyone’s notion fell into Time as he loudly gagged.

“Y-yeah.. I’m not gonna get anything down my throat at the moment.” The Old Man mumbled while feeling even more nauseous than a while ago. He had turned away, clamped his hand over his mouth and shut his eye tightly. He was fighting to keep each inhale steady and deep. He gasped a bit in shock when Warriors carefully hugged him and began to whisper reassuring words and promises of them fixing the situation.

In the picture it was a Lizalfos wearing a costume of Time.

The rest of the Chain had pretty much lost their appetite too but they somehow managed to finish their breakfast. Wild stored the one eyed male’s food in case he wanted to give it a new try at later time. After that they left to continue forward while hoping they’d get out of the forest at that day. Each of them bit feared how the third day would begin considering how the earlier two turns had gone through. The idea of them all seeing the Lizalfos did not appeal to any of them.

Time slowly gained some kind of composure while walking. The silent forest was bit eerie but it gave him a chance to fall into his own thoughts. That helped nearly as much as the scarf and Warriors’ arm around his shoulders.

The oldest Hero of the nine Links glanced behind him out of habit. He gave a slight scowl to Legend whom was walking right behind him. “You’re stepping on my tail.” He stated out before nearly instantly flinching as the words left his mouth.

“Time, you don’t have a tail. And even if you had one, we sure as hell wouldn’t step on it. Not to mention you’d definitely feel it if we stepped on it.” The Veteran nearly snapped the reply. Yet, he straight off slumped when he realized how roughly he had answered. He could feel everyone’s hard gazes on him. “Sorry.” He almost mumbled.

The Chain’s leader had bit flinched at the words while already before the reply having felt like an idiot. “It’s okay. Just… Sight problem.” He answered while giving a sorrowful smile to the Weapon Specialist before already turning his gaze into the road ahead of them.

“Here.” Four called while already offering his bandanna. “Might be better not to rely in your sight at the moment.” He told with a slight shrug. “And don’t worry. We’ll keep close check on surroundings and Captain’s keeping eye on the road. Just trust us, okay.”

The Old Man felt entirely uncertain of the idea of not seeing where he was walking or ending up eating or let alone to fight without knowing what he was doing. Yet, he took the item and placed it over his eyes. The full sightlessness made him feel bit scared and uncertain but he fully trusted the eight around him.

They continued forward and Time felt ashamed as he was bit stumbling and feeling like a newborn foal. Yet, the Chain didn’t say a word and Warriors held him upright and steadied him very swiftly every time he took a wrong kind of step. It took a while before he was catching his going and calming down as his steps became more firm and certain.

The whole Chain desperately wanted out of the forest but they kept the pace calm and slow enough for everyone to stay along without trouble. They didn’t stop for meal as Wild just handed out fruits while, even though everyone else than Time saw them, named them just to let their leader to be aware of what was going on around him. The bandanna over his eyes actually let him eat without needing to think about the form of Lizalfos he was seeing himself as.

It started to be late and the one eyed male still unconsciously kept notion of the passing time. “We probably should set a camp for the night.” He more of suggested than commanded.

“Once we’re out of the forest. The edge of it is less than hundred meters away.” Warriors replied and noticed his little brother relaxing at the news. Even though the war Hero understood the reasons, he still couldn’t help but feel worried at the odd reaction. All forests, no matter if they were known or foreign, were Time’s turf. The desperate want of getting out of one of such wasn’t like him. Yet, with the faulty sights in play, they all wanted to leave the area behind as swiftly as possible.

Suddenly, just few trees before leaving the area, the Chain’s leader stopped. “Everyone, get out of these woods first.” He commanded surprisingly firmly.

“Sprite?” The Captain called while giving a sharp nod towards the field and sandy road outside the forest. The Chain moved past the duo bit uncertainly while fearing what their leader had sensed.

“Whatever that Lizalfos is, I don’t want it to attach itself into anyone else.” Time stated out and the others nodded in understanding. It bit calmed them down as the Old Man was simply looking after them like he always did. Just making sure they were safe.

The war Hero checked the road once before turning his back towards the way out. After that he started to walk backwards while holding onto the older male. “Just follow me. I’ll be out of the forest before you but I’m not going to let you stay any of longer than needed.” He stated out and the one eyed male simply nodded while allowing the situation.

The moment Time was out of the forest, he gave out a pain-filled scream and fell unconscious while crumbling into Warriors’ arms. “SPRITE!” The Captain screamed out in shock while already carefully picking up his little brother into his arms so that they could get even further away from the woods. The Chain gathered around them while making sure not to enter the forest anymore.

In the darkening evening they could notice the lights of a town. Without thinking the Chain headed towards it while hoping it would have an Inn they could stay at. And even if it didn’t have such, they would not camp at the forest for the night.

For their luck the place did have an Inn which also had several rooms still free. Yet, the eight Heroes only booked up one room while not wanting to leave their leader without the knowledge of them all being there by him. Even though the Inns were usually safe and sound, they set up night shifts just in case there would happen a change for worse in their oldest brother’s condition.

Time woke up slowly with a quiet whine. His ear twitched a bit when he heard someone move in the room but he easily recognized Wind’s steps. He opened his eye while bit fearing of what he’d see. Yet, he soon smiled bit relieved as there was no snout and his hands were normal. He inspected his hand for a moment before closing his eye and sighing in relief. “Normal.” He whispered before opening his eye and giving assuring smile to the youngest Hero. “What are you seeing?”

The Sailor sighed in relief and relaxed while smiling happily. “You in middle of our brothers.” He replied with a slight grin.

The one eyed male chuckled a bit and shrugged. “I doubt I’ll be moving anytime soon.” He pointed out before beckoning the pirate-Hero closer. “Just take a nap. Everything’s all right again.” He suggested calmly but Wind shook his head.

“Just because everything’s okay now doesn’t mean it’ll be okay after a while.” The youngest Hero stated out while not wanting to trust the calm moment.

Time groaned and slumped. “I freaked everyone out pretty roughly, huh?” He half queried before tad shrugging. “Guess I wouldn’t trust the situation either if I were you.”

Suddenly Wind grinned. “Only one way to find out.” He told before already moving next to Wild.

“Wind, let him sleep.” The Chain’s leader half commanded but the Sailor ignored him while knowing the one eyed male wasn’t getting up without waking everyone else up too. Time half sighed, half groaned while just slumping as the Sailor gently shook the Champion awake.

“Is it morning already?” The Chain’s cook asked before yawning.

“Nope. Just needing to take a picture by your Slate.” The one currently on night shift stated out calmly. Wild frowned in confusion while bit tilting his head to side. “Time’s awake and not seeing the Lizalfos. I just want to see how things are.” Wind explained while having not wanted to let the over hundred years old youngster know of the current situation.

The Champion was bit startled and fully awake by that one simple line. He swiftly but carefully sat up before smiling at the calmness in that one eye of his oldest brother. “Hi. Sorry for the wake up. Couldn’t really stop him.” Time apologized with a slight shrug.

“No trouble at all.” Wild replied calmly while doing his best not to wake others as he got up to his feet. He moved bit away before taking out his Slate and finding the right application until already taking the picture. He sighed in relief and relaxed at what he saw. “No Lizalfos around anymore.” He stated out with a happy smile and turned the Slate around for the Chain’s leader to see the picture.

Time sighed in relief too while relaxing and calming down. “Thank the Deities.” He half mumbled before already grinning bit mischievously. “Yeah, I’m taking a nap. I suggest you two to do such too. It’s still way too early for anyone to get up yet.” He told before closing his eye, bit wiggling around to find a good position and relaxing.

The duo glanced at each other before shrugging. Things were safe and sound with the Lizalfos gone. There was no reason to keep eye on the situation so they just returned into the Hero Pile of Support and Comfort. They didn’t notice the one eyed male’s grin as he felt the duo fulfilling his current family and letting him know everyone was safely around him.

Several hours later Time woke up first like he did almost every day. It didn’t take long before the first one, Warriors, started to stir. The Captain yawned and bit stretched before already bit frowning for few simple reasons. One, no-one was waking him up. Two, he didn’t catch the scent of breakfast. Three, as he opened his eyes, his little brother was staring right back at him with a grin on his face.

“Morning, big brother. Slept well?” The one eyed male queried after having bit chuckled at the slight startle he had given to his older brother.

“Gremlin.” The war Hero grumbled but he couldn’t help but smile a bit as Time partly laughed, partly chuckle at that exclamation. “How are you?” He inquired while getting serious and not being able to silence the rising worry within him.

“I’m fine. Not seeing the Lizalfos anymore. Wind woke Wild up and they took a picture. No beast.” The Chain’s leader replied calmly with a slight shrug. “Told to them both to take a nap too.”

Warriors sighed in relief and relaxed. “That’s good. No, that’s great news.” He whispered and the Old Man simply nodded in agreement. After that they waited for the others to wake up too before, almost one by one, sharing the good news of the situation.

The day went past calmly while handling off the normal restocking and information gathering. Even though they were mainly searching for oddly behaving monsters and trouble with them, the Chain also queried about the forest. It turned out that Time had been extremely lucky to have survived.

The forest was haunted by a bloodthirsty Lizalfos Spirit. It latched on to travelers without hesitation. If it was just lone one, they didn’t survive the second day of the possession. If the person was with a friend or a group, they rarely survived the first day or evening. It wasn’t because the beast would’ve caused their death but due to their friends, family and or group members taking their lives. And, if for some odd way they’d survive that, they’d end up killing themselves at the next day. The stories of the survived groups were heartbreaking and they were entirely overtaken by guilt and sorrow. After all, they had either taken the life of their comrade or been unable to stop them from committing suicide.

People usually rounded the forest even though it lengthened the road quite a bit. There were warnings all around the forest’s edge but, sometimes, those signs went missing. Some believed that someone possessed by the Lizalfos Spirit had been forced to destroy the warnings. Either way, that didn’t help the Chain as the portal had dropped them right into middle of the forest without the knowledge of how things were at there.

None of the nine Heroes were even one bit happy about the news. None of them wanted to go back but they knew they had to try and fix the situation. In all reality, eight members out of nine were more than willing to leave Time out of the mission. Yesterday and the night before that had been rough enough. They sure as hell didn’t want him to go through any of worse.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t for the Chain to decide even though they had the majority of the votes. The Old Man was their leader but that wasn’t the reason he followed his boys back into that forest. No, he simply wanted to fix the woods back to the way it was supposed to be. He felt like he owed that much as it was his turf. The forests meant the world to him and he couldn’t leave any of such places into this kind of mess.

Twilight had managed to get a map of the forest. It aided them in planning things out even though the forest must’ve changed since the map’s creation. “I hate to say this but we gotta split.” Time began while checking the map on the table. They all had gathered around it to get the full knowledge of the area. “We can cover more ground by that way and, maybe, lure the beast out. It clearly doesn’t latch on anyone if there’s too huge a group together.”

“Maybe in pairs and one trio?” The Rancher suggested while not wanting to let any of his brothers get struck by the monsters. And even less he wanted that to be Time again.

The one eyed male shook his head. “No. Everyone alone.” He told and partly groaned while pulling away from the table. He began to pace around while not liking of the situation even one bit. “I hate this as much as each of you do.” He stated out after having stopped walking around and turned his notion back into his eight boys. “Wolfie can’t help but Wild’s Slate does. We didn’t check but maybe my Lens of Truth is of aid too.” He mused while frowning. “Just trust in your instincts and stay alert whole time. Once we get back together, Wild will take a picture of each of us and we’ll take a picture of him to check on things.”

The others nodded while not wanting to go by that plan. The idea of separating in a forest without really knowing of the area wasn’t appealing. Wind took several pictures of the map and handed the photos to everyone for a map. After that, while marking the roads on their own pictures, they chose on the pathways and where to meet up at the evening.

Each of them was unwilling to enter the forest once they got to its edge. The Chain’s leader gave a short pep talk before they walked into the woods and separated ways. They had picked a place for a camp around the middle of the forest while, hopefully, getting half of the area checked. If nothing jumped at them by the evening they’d meet at the chosen spot, they’d check the rest of the forest at the next day. If things still were calm once they’d meet outside the forest, then they’d need a new plan in getting the Lizalfos Spirit out and handled out of there.

Time had first listened to everyone picking their roads before taking part into that planning. He made sure Wild had the shortest road to the chosen campsite while he had the longest. He hoped for the best as he wished that the Champion would go unnoticed by the beast and on that way being capable of checking everyone’s safety by the pictures.

When the night fell and the Old Man made his way towards the right spot, he was grateful of seeing the campfire going. Things seemed calm at there which meant that everyone whom had gotten together by now were quite certainly safe and sound. The closer he came, the more relieved he was that all eight had already regrouped.

The Chain turned towards the sound of someone approaching their camp. They reached for their weapons before calming down and relaxing as Time came into sight. Even the one eyed male relaxed as the others weren’t seeing him as a monster. Yet, when he had come well enough into the light of the fire, the eight Links abruptly stood up and snatched their weapons. The oldest Hero stopped dead on his tracks and slowly raised his hands in calming manner. “B-boys…?” He called bit tentatively while fearing for similar situation as a few nights ago.

“Not you, Sprite.” Warriors stated out firmly and nodded behind the Chain’s leader. “Behind you.” He told while glaring at the Lizalfos that was in touching range from the war Hero’s little brother. “Keep your filthy claws off of him.” He snarled while glaring at the best.

Before Time had a chance to check behind him or even to move, the claws of one scaled hand of the creature were already around his throat and back. He gasped in shock and froze to his place while feeling the icy cold hold and sharp claws on his skin. One sharp finger was at his back, two at his throat and two spread closer to his shoulder. He barely dared to breathe while staring almost pleadingly at the others.

Suddenly an arrow flew right past the Old Man’s head. The beast behind him snorted. “You really think mortal’s weapons can harm me?” The Lizalfos snarled and tightened its hold. Time gasped in shock and pain as the claws broke through the skin. “I got his life in my hands. Are you willing to risk him?” The Chain grit their teeth while gripping their weapons even tighter.

“You can’t separate me from him.” The creature told with a smirk. “I’ve latched myself into his life. But, killing him won’t kill me.” It continued calmly before bit shrugging. “I have to give it, though. You survived my possession.” It nearly snarled in slight anger. “It was foolish of you to come back. You got rid of me and yet you chose to give me a second chance. This time you won’t leave this forest alive.”

Time tried to find a reply but the icy cold touch was almost numbing him. “How did you do that?” Sky suddenly queried. “The possession. The faulty sights. The messing with one’s feelings. How are you capable of that when you’re only a ghost?”

The Lizalfos chuckled and slightly loosened its hold. The one eyed male sighed a bit in relief while being more capable of breathing and thinking straight. As the beast behind him began to speak, Time signed several swift commands.

“Oh, it was quite easy to be honest.” The lizard-warriors’ spirit began almost airily. “He’s already traveling with four ghosts. One more didn’t matter in the group.” It told before scowling. “Yet, those fools weren’t happy of me tagging around. Especially the tall marked one.” The beast smirked cruelly. “Yet, nothing can keep me from latching into my target. I just had to round them to find an opening.”

The Lizalfos’ gaze fell into Wild. “Even though he’s not the only one walking with ghosts he’s the one with strongest connection into such.” The creature’s notion moved into Wind. “Surprised you didn’t see me being something… Odd.”

“You’ve had too much of practice. Your form is too strong to be really seen through.” The Sailor told while hating the fact of having not realized the Lizalfos having been a Spirit instead of Time having been transformed into such beast. Yet, the light of the campfire wasn’t exactly the best one to check if one was seeing a ghost or real deal.

Suddenly the Old Man crouched down while bit growling at the slight cuts from the claws by his unexpected movement. “NOW!” He screamed out before already striking with Light Magic the moment he hit his hands against the uneven ground. Sky and Wind dashed forward while trying to shield their eyes from the bright flash.

The beast screamed and stumbled backwards. Time flinched slightly when the Master Sword moved in a fast flung only inch or so from touching him. The sacred sword was shining bright blue as it moved from above of the Chain’s leader’s head to behind him until already striking into the ground. The Lizalfos screamed as its connection was being cut like that.

The youngest Hero moved past his brothers and attacked with the Phantom Sword. The monster screamed in agony as the blade actually caused a real damage instead of going harmlessly through it. The beast stared wide-eyed at the weapon in the Sailor’s hands and felt the dangerous pull towards it.

The Lizalfos turned around and tried to escape from the area but the sword struck right into its tail. The creature screamed once again as it crashed onto the ground and started to be dragged into the hourglass within the Phantom Sword. Wind growled while using all his strength to keep the blade where it was. He had never fought against this kind of Spirit before and it fought against the situation harder than the armored Phantoms had during his second quest.

“I’M NOT GOING ALONE!” The Lizalfos Spirit screamed and struck its glare right into Time. It snapped its clawed hand towards its latest victim while calling for the small fragment of itself that was still within the one eyed male. The ghost of the beast slowly fisted its hand while smirking cruelly while doing all it could to latch that last piece fully into the Chain’s leader’s own Spirit.

Time screamed in agony as the creature was trying to rip his Spirit out of him to be sucked into the hourglass of the Phantom Sword with it. “NOT ON OUR WATCH!” The rough shout was followed by four Spirits appearing around the Old Man. Sky, and Warriors whom had come close to his little brother when Wind had gone to attack the ghostly Lizalfos, moved away from their leader in shock.

Mikau, Dextri, Darmani III and Fierce Deity crouched down around Time. “You will be alright, my friend.” The tall Hylian told gently before drawing out his Double Helix sword and striking it on full force into the ground. The Lizalfos gave out a growled gasp. Yet, it was swift in trying to reconnect with its fragment and the connection into Time’s Spirit. The one eyed male had gasped a bit in relief but still clearly being in pain.

Darmani III simply waited until that connection was cut for the needed short moment. At then the former Goron leader quickly struck its hand through his friend’s back and pulled the tangled mess of two different souls being cruelly connected. Time was whimpering in pain while leaning against Fierce.

Mikau quickly started to untie the soul pieces with precise and delicate fingers. His work was fast like he was strumming his guitar in a quick rhythm. The moment the knot was opened and both he and Darmani III let go, Time gasped and fell limp against the Deity while still being conscious.

The Lizalfos growled in anger. It put all its concentration into recreating the contact into the Chain’s leader. That was when Dextri took part and began to shoot the bubbles. It was the very needed distraction for Fierce to bring out the Nayru’s Love and making sure the beast couldn’t reconnect with the one he guarded.

The Spirit of the lizard-warrior kept trying over and over again to get through the defenses around its target. Darmani III kept striking stationary earthquakes. Mikau struck with Water Magic. Dextri kept attacking with the bubbles. And Fierce held the shield magic far stronger than what Time ever could on his own. Nothing was going to break through that protection.

Suddenly the Lizalfos gave out an agony filled scream before already vanishing into the Phantom Sword. Wind gasped and staggered couple of steps backwards before falling to his butt. The sword flashed few times with bright light before calming down and the hourglass was full with the golden sand of Life Force or, in other words, the blade finally had gained the needed Sand of Hours.

Time gasped, almost just exhaled, and fell unconscious in the Fierce Deity’s arms. The marked Hylian God turned his gaze into the Captain while vanquishing the Nayru’s Love from around him, Time and the trio with them. Warriors didn’t need anything else than that one gaze and he was already there to gently pick the one eyed male into his arms. The Goron, Zora and Deku simply nodded before already vanishing out of sight. “Link will be all right. He just needs bit of rest.” Fierce told calmly before standing up. He glanced once around at the Heroes whom were bit tentatively gathering close to their brothers. “The forest is safe again. You may camp in here without a worry.” The Deity assured with a small smile before taking a step backwards and vanishing from sight.

The Chain felt still bit worried even though they trusted the God of Protection’s words. Nonetheless, they still assigned the night shifts just to be certain. Yet, the end result was that none of them slept at that night. They just couldn’t get the sight of their oldest member’s Spirit having nearly been ripped out of him. All they really wanted was for Time to wake up and be perfectly fine.

The one eyed male woke up to the scent of the breakfast. He half groaned, half whined while pushing himself up from the ground. He just barely heard the Chain gather around him while already having someone’s strong hold on him helping him to sit up. Slowly, while leaning against the one whom had helped him, he started to catch the sound of worried calls of his name and simple queries. He shook his head a bit before opening his eye.

“Time? You okay?” Hyrule called with fully concerned voice. He had already healed the five scratch marks before the Captain had carried their leader to the bedroll at last night. The Old Man just simply nodded before unconsciously bringing his hand up to his throat. When he started to frown at the lack of feeling the wounds, the half-fairy was already reassuring him: “I healed those after the Lizalfos was dealt with.”

Time sighed a bit in relief and relaxed slightly. He hesitated for a second before signing one word: “Water.” He flinched slightly when most of his boys were already willing to get the waterskin and almost crashed with one another. He smiled bit fondly while shaking his head at the eagerness and foolishness. Yet, soon enough the water container was brought and he nodded his thanks.

“Sorry. Dry throat. Not fun to talk with such.” The Chain’s leader partly apologized and the Chain just showed not to worry about such. “So, yeah, I think I’m okay. Feeling bit tired but intact.” He assured while finally realizing to be leaning against Warriors as everyone else was right in his sight.

“The four ghosts… Who were they?” Wind queried while having a feeling they were still around even though he couldn’t see them.

“And why are they with you?” Sky asked while feeling grateful of their help but not liking the idea of Time being haunted by the Spirits of the Dead.

“Well, I guess this was to come out sooner or later.” Time sighed and took bit better position while leaning against his older brother. He grinned slightly when the war Hero wrapped the blue scarf around him and bit tightened his hold. “Yet, before I start to explain anything…” He started and checked around as well as he could from his place. “Is everyone all right?” He queried bit worriedly.

The Chain nodded firmly while relaxing a bit more as their oldest brother seemed to be doing well. “No-one except you got hurt.” Warriors stated out calmly. “Fierce Deity severed the connection between you and the ghost Lizalfos. He and the others kept you safe. Sky cut the first connection and Wind dealt with the ghost.” He explained and the one eyed male nodded in understanding. He was grateful of the younger male being in good enough basis with the God of Protection. Though, last night’s situation certainly made it clear to everyone that Fierce was on their side and wouldn’t harm him in any of way.

The Chain’s leader sighed a bit and shrugged. “I met with the four during my second quest.” He started bit sorrowfully. “I met with Dextri first. He’s the Deku. The silent one. It took long while before I got his name so until then I only could call him as the Deku Butler’s Son.”

Time smiled slightly. “Mikau was second. The Zora guitarist.” He chuckled a bit and slightly grinned. “I got his Fishbone Guitar, by the way. The laidback guy whom can be very fierce too if he’s fighting for his family.”

The Old Man sighed again sorrowfully. “Darmani III. He was the Goron leader but he died while defending his people and young child of his. Very righteous and serious but he certainly knows how to have fun too.”

The one eyed male smiled bit lopsidedly. “Fierce Deity. The God of Protection. Very powerful and very protective. He’s had rough past but his intentions have always been good. And right now I, and you all through me, are fully under his guarding.”

The oldest Link took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “The reason they’re with me is the masks. Soul-bound. I don’t know Fierce’s story yet but Dextri certainly didn’t deserve what happened. The demon that tormented the lands of my second quest killed him and forced his Spirit into me. Dextri never fought against but I think it might’ve been out of shock and fear at first. Yet, things changed after the curse was broken and I was back as myself with the Deku Mask in my hand. I could feel him there but I couldn’t talk with him. Or, well, he didn’t want to speak to me. Nonetheless, for the sake of his family and friends, he aided me through the Temple at his home area.”

Time sighed heavily and bit slumped. “Mikau’s death I witnessed. I was by him when he took his last breath. He talked a lot and accepted my aid. It took a while before we found a common ground in the movement and fighting but after that it’s been very smooth. Since I could actually have conversation with him, I realized that Dextri just wanted to stay silent instead of making himself known.”

The Chain’s leader’s expression showed respect when he began to talk about the Goron leader. “With Darmani III I actually met his ghost. He explained things while being bit surprised that I could see him. Since he couldn’t do anything as a ghost, he accepted my help. As I had found a way into cooperative going with Mikau, it was bit easier to find common ground with Darmani III.”

The Old Man sighed a bit and shrugged slightly. “Fierce was the least accepting. He didn’t give me the rights to use his mask until I had proven myself to him. It wasn’t because he wouldn’t have understood the situation. There were only two reasons: I was a ten year old kid and the transformation from one species into another is agonizing. He simply didn’t want to harm me nor force his ways with me. He just wanted to be certain I got what it took to wield his power and do the right thing. In his past there had been situations where his mask had been used wrongly. He didn’t want such to happen again.”

Wild glanced around while feeling fully uncertain to voice out what was going in everyone’s heads. “The markings…” He started without really knowing how to form the question without being too blunt like he had been few days ago.

Time shook his head. “Not because I would’ve misused Fierce’s mask or had it at wrong times or anything of such. Few years back I faced a battle I couldn’t win. Fierce told me to put his mask on. The monsters took us off guard and that’s how I lost my eye. Fierce was going to lose his life due to the mask having been struck at. I wasn’t going to allow that to happen but Fierce wasn’t going to accept my death. So, to keep me safe while I kept him safe, he shared his life with me and hence the markings.”

The one eyed male sighed and slumped again a bit. “After the second quest I offered to free the four Spirits from their masks but they refused. We argued about that a bit but they eventually just claimed that they wanted to see the world and be of help. Couldn’t fight against that. So, they’re soul-bound into their respective masks but clearly at times of need they can actually appear without me using the masks. And I’m entirely grateful of that. I don’t want to think about what could’ve happen without them.” He finished with a slight grateful smile.

Once their oldest brother had fallen silent, the Chain moved closer and hugged him tightly. “You got amazing ghost friends.” Wind stated out and the others nodded in confirmation. None of them could’ve felt more grateful of what the four Spirits had done to defend their beloved leader. It had been shocking and frightening but it also had been so very clear that the see-through beings had been there to protect out of the very fact that they cared about the same person as the eight Heroes did.

“Breakfast and leaving the forest after that, yeah?” The Champion queried after having pulled off to check on the food.

“Breakfast sounds perfect but I’m not up for leaving the forest. It feels so much different than when we first entered this area.” Time replied while taking a deep breath, closing his eye and just listening. There was a calm and gentle wind rustling the leaves of the trees. The birds were chirping. Small animals were scurrying in the undergrowth. And he could swear a fox was going around them not far from them. All this and so much more was what he was catching just by listening and relaxing. And all of it was something he had been missing ever since they came out of the portal.

“Fierce did say the forest was fixed.” Warriors mused while enjoying of seeing his little brother calm and relaxed again. This was exactly how the older male was supposed to be in any forest.

“I can fully confirm that.” The Chain’s leader whispered before opening his eye and nodding this thanks as Wild brought the breakfast for him and the war Hero. “I just want to take a while and hear what the forest has to say.” He told calmly before starting to eat.

In the end Time’s ‘a while’ turned out to be the whole day. The Chain didn’t mind since it helped the Old Man to calm down and know that everything was perfect again with the forest. The Lizalfos Spirit had been in the forest far longer than the young forest knew of. The beast had, little by little, gotten the older trees and bushes killed and on that way cut the information off. The trees shared information through roots but when those died and the connection was cut off, the new one’s roots grew too slowly to gain the information until the ones with the knowledge were already destroyed and the ones with the needed news ended up being too far to share it in time before they too were murdered.

At the next day the nine Heroes returned into the town and informed of the forest being safe again. They were up for spending a night at the Inn when the portal already opened up. They wanted to just ignore it but the worry of where it would lead and what it could bring out was too big to dismiss. Lucky for them, the nine Heroes came to Twilight’s era and close of Ordon Village. A safe night and Hero Pile of Support and Comfort were guaranteed.

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