#he'll use all the ingredients in his slate and just keeping making meals

[catreginae]

Thou Shalt Not Fall: Warriors and the Liquid Diet

Due to supplies being spread a bit thin, Warriors decides that he'll fine surviving just on blood alone. It doesn't go as well as he thought it would. There is some vomiting in this chapter if you don't like that. It starts at "the thought didn’t stay with for him long" and ends after the line break.

“That's what our food situation is like right now?” Warriors asked as he stared at the slate, which showed all of the ingredients Wild had handy. He knew that the others kept some things on them – nuts, fruits, and jerky to name a few – but they were just snacks or small meals if they ever got separated. It was Wild who kept the ingredients to make the large, hearty meals. “How long can we last with what you have?”

Wild tilted his head. “Maybe a week if we keep going as we are.”

They were going to have to cut back until they could buy more supplies or hunt and forage. At the same time though, they still had to eat enough to keep their strength up. They needed to be able to get supplies faster than they used them if they had any hope of improving their food stock.

“Cut my portions out then.”

Wild’s eyes went wide as he looked at Warriors. “Isn’t regular food the reason why you don’t have to drink blood as much?”

“It is but it’s also optional for me. It’s not optional for the rest of you. As much as I love eating your food, I would rather make it last until we have more than enough. I’ll find a way to make sure I’m well fed.” He made it sound hard but in reality, he would just have to drink right after their battles with regular monsters. Luckily for him, not all the monsters they fought had the infected blood. He could even take a drink during a battle if it was underwhelming. He didn’t exactly like drinking in front of the others but he would do it if it meant they were eating well when supplies were a little stretched.

Warriors couldn’t quite read the expression on Wild’s face but he seemed to accept his explanation in the very least. “I do have some blood in my slate if you ever need it. I imagine you’re not going to feed off too often us if you’re so worried about supplies.”

“Thank you, Wild. You’re completely correct about that.”

“Remember to keep your teeth to yourself at night,” Wild said with a grin before he started to laugh.

“Don’t be a little shit,” Warriors mumbled as he rolled his eyes before he clapped his hands together loudly to get everybody’s attention. “Okay, so supplies are a little thin right now so we’ll be eating smaller portions and going out to forage or hunt more often until we get to civilization again. I’ll be cutting out my portion of food until I know there’s enough to go around.”

Sky’s eyebrows shot up. “Wait, so you’re not eating anything?”

“Not anything solid. I can survive with just blood, so I’ll just be using my fangs on the battlefield more often. The regular food should be saved for people who have no choice.”

“I’m going to point out every monster that has regular blood then,” Wind said, crossing his arms.

Warriors just shrugged. Being directed to food sources, even if it was out of pettiness, wasn’t the worst trade-off. “If that helps you guys sleep at night, sure. I won’t get annoyed. I can always store it in Wild’s slate.”

“You’re going to need more blood, right?” Time asked.

Warriors just nodded.

“I expect you to take care of yourself, okay?” Time’s tone was stern but he had that concerned frown that Warriors knew all too well from the war.

“I will.”

Breakfast went well enough. He definitely craved breakfast because Wild always made amazing food but Wild listened to his instructions, so even if he allowed himself to eat with the rest, there wasn’t any left for him. However, he drank the night before so he wasn’t hungry. He even exercised some self-control and stored some blood away for later. He just wanted food because he could smell it, not because he needed it.

There was no real lunch. They still took a break but the only food that anybody ate was a snack from their own packs. Warriors took the opportunity to just lounge around and take a short power nap with Sky.

At dinner, Warriors set up his bedroll early and tried his best to ignore the smell of meat cooking. Again, it was the smell that made him want to join in and not his hunger. When he decided to cut his own portion to save on supplies, he didn’t realize just how better Wild’s cooking would smell when he couldn’t have any of it. It was tempting to drink more blood just to kill the craving but if he wasn’t eating solid food, he was going to need blood more often. He had to save it for when he was actually hungry.

“Hey Warriors,” Sky started as he started setting up his own bedroll beside his. “How are you holding up? Personally, I’m looking forward to some sleep.”

Sky always did but he didn’t have any sort of patrol that night, so he could sleep the entire night and that made it extra worth it for him to settle in early. Warriors didn’t have patrol either so he wasn’t going to complain about Sky setting up beside him because he should get some rest too. He was naturally more inclined to be up later but he shouldn’t push himself unnecessarily when he was on a blood only diet.

“Wild’s cooking smells even better when you can’t have it.”

Sky raised an eyebrow at him. “You’re sure you want to keep doing this?” he asked quietly.

“I have to. I shouldn’t be taking your food when I have an option that’s unavailable to you.”

Sky frowned. “Well. If you ever just want a bite of food, I don’t mind giving you a little bit. It’s not fair that you have to sulk over here while the rest of us eat.”

Warriors was tempted to just brush him off because he was determined to stay on just blood but then he thought better of it. It wouldn’t hurt to just let the option be there in case he did need just a little boost or he needed a little taste of what was cooking to kill the craving. Besides, it was kind of hard to say no to Sky sometimes. “I will keep it in mind.”

Sky smiled at him and then prepared himself for sleep, so Warriors just found himself looking at the night sky until he drifted off to sleep.

The next week went well enough. He realized after the first day that he was better off just leaving while meals were being prepared, so he left early in the morning and in the evening and came back when either Sky or Wild whistled for him. He didn’t know who thought to whistle in the first place but it worked pretty well for him since Sky and Wild could be surprisingly loud. He was almost convinced he didn’t near enhanced senses to hear either of them.

It also helped that Wind kept his promise about being annoying useful. He had a meal after most of their battles, so he was easily able to recover from said battles. He was never the dangerous kind of hungry. He wasn’t even normal hungry for long.

Warriors also had the dagger charm on his necklace. The taste of it alone wasn’t enough to kill any cravings but it did distract him when he needed it. Sometimes, it was just calmed him to have something in his mouth.

He could do it. He had a routine. He had a way to deal with cravings.

One week down.

The second week dragged by. Despite everybody trying their best to keep him roped in on their conversations, Warriors was beginning to feel a bit left out. The fact that he had to leave at meal time so he wasn’t drooling over their food and he could find his own meant that he was missing out on some of the post-travel bonding time. He felt like he was always coming back in the middle of a conversation, even if he came when whistled, and that they had to change the topic when he sat down. He didn’t really feel like participating after that.

Meal times was when he bonded with his soldiers so it made sense that meal times was when he bonded with his brothers too.

He didn’t have watch – they all agreed that he needed to take it easy and he needed the freedom to hunt whenever he needed to – so he just found himself going to sleep pretty early. He needed to wake up in time to leave before somebody started making breakfast so it worked out in that regard, at least.

Wild shoved the slate in his face during one evening when he was beginning to settle in early for the night. Nobody started dinner yet so Warriors had yet to leave. Their supplies looked better but they weren’t at the point where Warriors felt comfortable partaking in solid food again.

“So...?” he asked, with a hint of hope in his voice.

Warriors handed it back and looked away before he could see the crushed hope on Wild’s face. “Not yet.”

Wild let out a big sigh and walked away. Warriors’ fangs bit into his lips.

The third week was much like the second but worse. His self-imposed diet was good for their supplies but it reminded him of just how different he was. Warriors was the only one who could drink blood but he was also the only one who could lose control and go on a murderous rampage if he got a little too hungry. He had to indulge in his monstrous instincts every two or three days just to stay aware of himself, all while the others just had to eat smaller meals.

Hardly anything changed for them.

Naturally, he was more aware than ever about how hungry he was. He had to be in his own head more often, trying to keep a lid on this growing frustrations. The last thing any of them needed was for him to lose his temper because he was too stubborn to end his self-imposed diet. He couldn’t let his diet be the reason any of them got hurt.

He could go back. Warriors knew that if he expressed an interest in solid food, the others wouldn’t hesitate to give him some. If he wasn’t so worried about making sure the others had enough food to keep their energy up, he probably would have eaten a little bit. He definitely would have eaten a bit if he was faced with a supply shortage in his own Hyrule but that he was because he had to be seen eating to hide the vampirism.

No, Warriors had to be strong. He had to be strong for the others. It would be worth it later. It wasn’t like he was starving. He was just feeling left out. He was definitely too old to complain about feeling left out. He wasn’t a child.

Besides, what was the point of being cursed if he couldn’t use it for the situations exactly like this one?

The fourth week was the worst. It was when he slipped up and found himself pinned to a tree by a spear. It was courtesy of one of Time’s ridiculously large and fast moblins. It would have sucked even if he wasn't on a self-imposed diet but since he was, Warriors was spending more time thinking about where he was going to get more blood instead of thinking about how he was going to remove the spear. At least if he had the spear in his guts, the moblin couldn’t use it against the others. In a way, he was still helping!

Wild had blood in his slate but Warriors wasn't sure if it was enough blood. The extent of his injuries would make it hard for him to hunt alone. The moblin was infected and even if it didn't make him lose control, black blood tasted vile. He wasn’t doing that again.

"Warriors?"

He blinked. In front of him was Twilight and Hyrule. He really didn't want to drink from his brothers when they were still eating smaller portions than they were previously but they were much more appealing than the moblin.

"You home?"

"Hmmm. Just thinking. I'm going to need a lot of blood after this and my only option is an infected moblin. Black blood is disgusting. "

"We'll... figure this out later," Twilight mumbled, running a hand through his hair as he contemplated Warriors' injury. "Do we just pull you off?"

"I think that's what easiest. There's no way to make it painless but at least this will be fast," Hyrule answered as he stepped around to Warriors' side. Twilight nodded and stood in front of Warriors, arms out in front of him.

Warriors held up his own arms and closed his eyes, bracing himself for the pain he knew was coming. Twilight's hands wrapped around his forearms and he felt a supportive squeeze before he yanked him forward. He couldn’t help but to scream but thankfully, Twilight was quick. Before he knew it, he could feel a slight breeze through his body but that was the natural side effect of being impaled. At least his blood only diet meant that he was relatively well fed so the bleeding didn’t actually last too long. He still had a big hole in his stomach and back but at least he wasn’t bleeding anymore.

The battle must have been over because he suddenly had a crowd and Warriors was painfully aware of how hungry he was now. He knew that was coming but he had less time to figure out what blood source he was going to use.

And Sky made it worse when he plopped down in front of him and yanked on his tunic, exposing his neck again. There was no mistaking Sky’s intentions. Why Sky again? Why did he decide to let him bite his neck again when Sky had to twist his ear to get him off? He bit everybody else in the wrist. He didn’t even bite Wild yet.

Warriors couldn’t resist. He was hungry, heavily injured, and he enjoyed drinking from the neck the last time. He summoned his fangs and at first, he simply placed his fangs on his neck. He didn’t push his fangs through skin yet, just to give Sky a chance to shove him off if he changed his mind. When Sky stayed still, he pierced the skin and drank.

“You let him bite your neck?” Twilight asked.

“It’s easier for me to expose my neck than anything else. Besides, I know how to get him off if he gets too distracted.” Warriors could feel Sky’s throat vibrate when he spoke.

“I guess as long as you’re comfortable.”

Sky must have answered with his hands because he didn’t move his neck or say anything else. He continued to drink until Sky twisted his ear and he removed his fangs.

“See?” Warriors could practically hear Sky’s smirk.

Suddenly, Wild sat down beside Sky and patted his own neck. “Okay, me next. You’re going to need more blood than one person can offer and it’s my turn now. I can’t believe I’m the last one!”

Who was he to deny Wild when Wild was right? He closed the gap between them and dug his fangs into Wild’s neck, the side of his neck without all of the scars. At first, there wasn’t anything abnormal about Wild’s blood but the longer he drank, the more he noticed that was something kind of different. Wild’s blood had a strange aftertaste, something kind of like blueberry but with a hint of mint that made his tongue feel kind of cool. It wasn’t bad and Warriors had no problem drinking it but it was unexpected.

He pulled away from Wild before there was an indication that he should stop.

“Wild, your blood is kind of... weird. It’s not bad but the taste was unexpected.”

“You hear that? My blood is weird,” Wild said with a grin as he held a hand over the new holes in his neck.

“I don’t think that’s something you should be happy about,” Twilight muttered as Warriors lowered himself to the ground, rest his head in the crook of his arm. He could nap while they argued.

The fifth week was better but that was because it was hard to top being impaled as the worst thing to happen since he started his blood only diet. They ended up in Wild’s era, so Wild promptly shoved them all into his house in Hateno while he went out and much to their amazement, blocked the door behind him so they couldn’t leave.

Well, Warriors could probably do something about the door but if Wild locked them all inside, he had to be in a mood and Warriors wasn’t going to be the one to test his patience.

Wild didn’t come back in the evening. He wasn’t there when Warriors woke up at nearly four in the afternoon, according to Time. Finally, he came after sundown and shoved his slate into Warriors’ face, barely giving him time to even grab the slate. He could immediately see why he was gone for so long – Wild went on a giant shopping trip. He got everything they need and more. He definitely couldn’t justify his diet anymore.

“How did you afford all this?”

“I sold some things we don’t use and I know people who will pay more for them than anyone else,” Wild said as he took his slate back. “I’m going to make soup. What can you stomach?”

“You can make whatever you what. I just can’t eat a lot of whatever it will be. I can’t just eat like I did before after drinking only liquids for more than a month.”

Wild just nodded.

“The weird part is that for the rest of us, blood is too heavy to stomach,” Four said without looking up for his book.

“Haven’t we already figured out that vampire biology is weird?” Legend scoffed.

“Kindly shut the fuck up about vampire biology before you guys make him change his mind,” Wild scolded. He always was very particular about food but Warriors was usually the one on the receiving end of Wild’s food related rants. “This is the first time he can eat with the rest of us in over a month and if you guys ruin it, you’re sleeping outside.”

Legend and Four had nothing more to say, so Wild set up everything and got down to work. Warriors let himself enjoy the smell for once, knowing that this time, he could let himself have a taste without any guilt. When Wild served dinner, he essentially got a small cup with some soup at the bottom while everybody had large, hearty bowls full of it. There was a twinge of irritation but Warriors shook his head to try to get it out of his system and slowly drank the soup out of the cup.

He thought back to the first time he ate after he became a vampire and nobody thought he could eat solid food. He went without solid food for maybe a few weeks and worked his way back up to regular food a couple of spoonfuls at a time. He was drinking soup out of a cup now. It should be easy on his stomach – it was basically just broth a couple of chunks of vegetables and meat, but was that too much?

Warriors finished his cup and put it into Wild’s wash basin for later.

Even though it was just soup, it tasted divine.

The thought didn’t stay with him for long. His stomach clenched in a familiar way and Warriors ran outside to find a nice bush to empty stomach into. Wild, he could tell just by the way he smelled, followed him outside and was nice enough to hold his hair back while Warriors threw up what little soup he had and some bile.

“I guess that was too much soup,” Wild said.

Warriors could only respond by retching again.

Thankfully, Warriors didn’t have to leave when Wild started cooking dinner the next day because the idea of eating it made him nauseated, no matter how good it smelled. He stayed in his designated sleeping area under the stairs, tapping his fingers against the floorboards in frustration.

Did he ruin solid food for himself? Did he go too long with it and couldn’t go back anymore? If he had to repeat the last month for the rest of their adventure together, he wasn’t sure he could handle it. What if he couldn’t pretend he was just a normal Hylian anymore and wasn’t allowed back in the army? He knew had a home with the other vampires but he wasn’t ready to leave the military yet.

Suddenly, Wild entered the area under the stairs with a bowl of blood. Warriors didn’t even have to see what was in it, he could just smell it. Why in a bowl though? Wild never had him drink blood from a bowl before.

“I thought about what happened yesterday. Instead of eating just a small amount of regular food, maybe we should try mixing blood and food together. If you can have blood in a cake, I think you won’t mind the taste of a little bit of rice mixed with blood. I figured rice would soak up the blood a little bit so it might help more than other foods. If you can keep this down, we can add more rice tomorrow.”

For a moment, Warriors just didn’t say anything. He just stared at the bowl in Wild’s hands, touched by the thoughtfulness. He sat up and held his hand out for the bowl, which Wild gave him. There was a little spoon in the bowl so he used it to drink the blood like one would eat soup. He could taste the rice, which made the texture a little odd, but he finished it and waited to see if his stomach would throw a fit.

Nothing happened.

It took him a couple of hours before he was comfortable with leaving the space under the stairs. Wild was beaming as he took his empty bowl. Time put a hand on his shoulder.

“It’s going to be nice to have you back at dinner.”

Warriors couldn’t wait.

I'm taking a brief break after this chapter! We'll be starting another arc soon and I definitely need more time to get ahead of that while trying to burn myself out doing it.

[luimagines]

I’m wondering how the boys would deal with you getting sick/wounded?

Masterlist

A lot of protectiveness that's for sure! Mixed in with some self doubt and anxiety! But lots of care and gentleness just for you!

Since there isn't a specification, I'll try to write platonically but I'm still on a crush roll so if feels come out or are implied, then I'll take full blame and pass it on to the previous prompt.

I’m gonna try something with this prompt and only write three guys per part. The other parts will be out shortly with the others but I don’t want to only post like once every other week even if I’m trying to write everyday because they’re so many of them. I do want to write them all! But it does take awhile.

SO! If I like this system I’ll keep it but it’s a trial run.

WITHOUT FURTHER ADO, PART 1

Scenario under the cut!

Sky

Sky was running through the forest, slashing down all the monsters that were within his reach.

You, Wild and Twilight on top of Epona ran past him, chasing the black lizalfos that caused this whole mess. He stayed back, knowing that speed wasn't his strong suit. Between all the skeletons, lizards and all the keese that started showing up in the mean time, he was sure that he was more needed here to keep the monsters from reaching you.

He kept his focus on the fight and moved with practiced motions.

Monster began falling under his blade, left and right, front and back. He was no longer paying attention to where his teammates are. Just the motion and and the thrill of the fight to guide him, all other senses forgotten, he missed your cry.

He didn't know you turned back.

He didn't know you came to fight next to him.

He didn't see the monster coming up behind him-

"SKY!" He was suddenly pushed to the side, the ground coming up to meet him with dirt shooting all over his face.

He hears you cry again but in pain, and once again when he hears you hit the ground.

Sky gets to his feet as fast as he can and spins around.

There you are, on the ground, hand clenched around a growing red blotch on your other arm. You're glaring up at the skeleton that came from behind. Your sword is on the opposite side to you, but it doesn't matter much if your dominant arm is out of commission.

The skeleton shakes, as if in laughter even if no sounds comes forth from the monster. Sky sees that the skeleton no longer has its attention on him but on you. It raises its arm, sword raised and sharp and begin to bring it in your direction.

Sky grits his teeth and swings his sword.

Metal clangs against metal and Sky is surprised to see the amount of force that was behind the initial blow. It nearly sends him back to the ground but he merely slides a few inches backwards instead.

He chances a glance down at you and knows that you won't be able to fight beyond what already transpired.

The battle around him lessens somewhat, the sounds dimming until he only hears the blood pumping in his ears.

He's tired.

But Sky was never one to be a quitter. With one final push, he puts al of his weight into his next strike and knocks the skeleton away from their stalemate. While it's struggling to gain its balance, he slices upwards and cuts the entire thing in half.

He takes a step back and glances around the battlefield.

The others are making quick work of the monsters still standing. He trusts them to finish the job so he turns on his heel and kneels beside you.

"Let me see." Sky pulls your hand away from the wound. It goes down your bicep and across your elbow. He can't tell how deep it is, but it's long and bleeding.

"I'll be alright." You try to smile and get up. Sky doesn't let you. "Better me than you anyway."

"Not true." He glares at you. Sky is quick to take out his supplies and bandages and begin to work on your arm. He feels angry even after the monster has been dealt with. You shouldn't have gotten hit. You shouldn't have gotten hit on his account, he amends in his head. "It'll never be true."

"I've had worse." You shrug and hiss when he takes out his personal disinfectant and applies it to your wound. He's running low, but it's the best he can do since he's not the one carrying the healing potions and he can't do what Hyrule does, period.

He doesn't feel good about your answer and by the look on your face, he knows that you know it too.

"Why did you do that?" Sky asks after a moment of silence. He refuses to look at you head on. He knows he's still glaring and he doesn't want to aim it in your direction. He's too tired to try and hide it like he usually would with any other person. You'll just have to put up with it.

"You were gonna get hit." You reply, watching him work. "What was I supposed to do? Just let that happen?"

"You didn't have to take the hit for me. Yelling would have been fine. Let me know that it was there so I could deal with it." He growls.

"I tried." You stress and nearly pull your arm back when he puts a little more pressure on the cut than necessary. He keeps you close though so it's not like you succeed. "I yelled your name like three times. It's not like I wanted to push you face first into the dirt. If I let that thing hit you, you would have been given a way worse hit than this stupid cut on my arm."

Sky flexes his jaw and begins wrapping said stupid cut. He's inclined to believe you and he's sure that you're right. But....

He's allowed to not like it.

"Can you stand?" He asks, letting some of the anger fall from his face. Sky makes a quick evaluation over himself and realizes that he's relatively unharmed. A bit bruised, sure, but nothing worse than that. Certainly no blood drawn on his end.

You nod, grab your sword with your good hand and begin to get up. Out of habit, you instinctually put your wounded hand behind you to stabilize yourself and fall back down in pain.

Sky makes the executive decision to pick you up bridal style and carry you back to the others.

"SKY!" You cry and thrash around. "My injury is on my arm! I can stand just fine!"

He takes one good look at you then and shrugs. "You couldn't even get up. I don't mind."

"It's not about if you mind or not!" You continue. "It's the principle of the thing!"

He doesn't reply. Sky just looks away with a smirk, under the guise of looking for the rest of the group.

You catch on and stutter out some kind of argument but he tunes it out.

He sees Wild and Twilight back, angry and lizardless.

It's fine, he thinks. Because you're all together again and getting closer to figuring this whole thing out while putting a stop to it.

You begin to beg to be let down, unless the others make some kind of comment about it. But Sky feels the little voice inside of him to let it happen anyway.

Pay back for taking his hit.

Better you than him, HA! Not if he has anything to say about it.

Wild

Wild was on a roll!

After a successful dungeon raid (he's getting better that those), a great meal enjoyed by the whole team and no lecture about ditching the group, he on a golden streak! Nothing can get him down!

He continues to have a large grin on his face even after everyone has eaten and begins to settle down for the night. Everyone seems to be in good spirits.... except for you.

After you ate, you tried to keep up with everyone's good fortune and attitude but something felt wrong, you said you didn't feel good so you called it a night early, seemingly forgetting that it was your turn to take first watch.

Wild doesn't think much of it at first and continues with his nightly routine.

It's really only when it's right before he plans on going to bed that he notices something. The others that are still awake are quick to notice it as well and each of them share concerned glances.

You began to curl into yourself as you slept. Nothing weird about that, right? Maybe you were just cold but then... You started to whimper and grunt, like you were scared and in pain. A cough here and then but it doesn't spark any idea of what might be bothering you.

Twilight is the first to get up and make his way toward you but you wake up first, shooting to your feet with a frightening speed and all but stumble and crawl away from the camp.

Wild stands at nearly the same speed and begins to make his way towards you as well.

You don't get very far until you start coughing even more. It's a deep and wet cough that leaves you gasping for air but it continues on.

Then you vomit.

Wild sprint towards you then and helps hold whatever hair he can get to back and away from your face. Twilight is right next to him suddenly and he's rubbing circles on your back while you cry and continue to retch.

A few minutes pass but they feel like an eternity to Wild. He looks over to Twilight and grimaces. "Was it something they ate?"

Because if it was then this is on him. And he doesn't like the thought of causing you any sort of discomfort. Let alone getting you sick.

Twilight only shrugs and helps you stand straighter when you're done throwing up everything that you had eaten the day prior.

You're crying, whimpering and hugging yourself but Wild doubts that you're really aware of what's happening.

He places a hand on your forehead and gasps in shock.

You are absolutely burning up.

"You're sick." His eyebrows furrow and he begins to hold you steady when Twilight leaves you to him.

"...I don't feel good." You reply, but you haven't looked at him. You're eyes are still half lidded and it leads him to believe that you're still somewhat asleep.

"Ok. We'll help you, ok?" He says as he begins to lead you back to your bed roll.

" 'm cold." You say as you move back to where you were sleeping before. "An' everythin' hurts."

"I know. We'll make it better, I promise."

Twilight appears out of nowhere with his wolf pelt and places it over you, helping Wild get you back into your spot and tucks you in.

"Guess we'll stay here tomorrow as well." Twilight mutters. "No use pushing them any further, not like this."

"How long-?" Wild begins to ask but he doesn't know if that's even a question that can be answered. He tries anyway. "How long have they been sick?"

"They were a little weird yesterday..." Twilight admits. "But I didn't think much about it."

"What? Why?" Wild turns to his friend, brother, mentor. "Why not call them out on it? If they're sick-"

"I wasn't sure if I was just seeing things. We're all a little weird from time to time. I can smell a lot but this is always a toss up." Twilight glares a little as he defends himself.

"What do we do then?"

"We do what we can." Time answers from beyond the fire pit. "Some of us can make a supply run to the nearby town we were going to stop at. Get something to help that fever and maybe some tea to help that cough. Being at the town would be the better solution, seeing as the outdoors are not exactly illness friendly but the terrain isn't worth hauling them over. It might even do more damage."

Twilight nods in agreement and stands. "I can take a few of the boys and make a supply run. Get some more things that we might being running low on."

"Got any ideas of who to take?"

"Warrior, Legend and Four. They know the best way around merchants and quality buys. I say they're our best bet for the good stuff."

"I'll pay." Wild pipes up, reaching just beyond your bed roll into his for his sheikah slate.

"Cub, that's not necessary-"

"I'm paying." He growls and takes out a good amount of yellow rupees. "They need medicine. Medicine that we don't have and we can't afford their fever to get any worse."

He all but shoves the cash into Twi's arms and leaves it at that.

Time and Twilight share a look but neither comment on the aggressiveness of it.

There's not a lot of words to be spoken after that. Time takes the first watch and Twilight goes to sleep with a call to wake him up if anything happens. To you or to the group, Wild doesn't know. Knowing Twilight, maybe he means both.

Wild has trouble sleeping and has trouble forcing himself to leave your side.

After much deliberation, a long study of your pained face even as you sleep, he gets up and fixes the fire.

Time simply watches and lets him mess around as he pleases, so long as he's quiet.

Wild doesn't pay attention to him and gets his slate out for the ingredients he's looking for.

He starts by making tea. Honey, lemon bark, ginger, all for the your cough but he hopes that it'll help your fever as well.

When the tea sits and begins to steep, he takes out more cooking supplies and begins to cook more meals for you. All light and mostly fluid. It's a lot of soup.

He can't bring himself to sleep when you might need someone by your side again.

They were lucky the first time that some of them were still awake.

The shifts changes out without his notice. Wild is too busy filling up the inventory that he has with meals that are intended to help you fight this infection.

Day light comes and those who missed it learn of the prior nights events, the plan and get ready to carry it out.

Wild makes a belated breakfast when he realizes that most of the group is awake.

They're all staring at him but he shakes it off.

His highest priority right now is helping you come out of this stronger than before.

He's your personal nurse for the day and until you get better.

The others don't try to fight him on this. They couldn’t even if they tried.

Legend

Legend takes a minute to pause from firing his magic rod. The magic in it leaves him feeling a little drained from the amount of shots he’s been taking but the monsters are thinning out, so he continues plowing forward.

He leaves a particularly nasty looking thing, from an era he doesn’t recognize, as a pile of sloppy purple gluck on the ground.

When he looks up, his heart stops in his throat.

You’re right in front of him, fighting one of the biggest moblins on the scene, alone.

You’re trying to keep yourself on your feet and do some damage to the beast in the process but the blood comes back black, staining your sword and ground around you.

You’re fighting a losing battle.

He makes a run for it and fires what he can at the monster’s back until he’s completely tapped out of his magic.

He switches for his sword and activates his Pegasus Boots, charging directly into the monster’s side, plunging the blade deep within the creature up to the hilt.

“Hey Legend. Fancy meeting you here.” You grit out and slash what you can at the beast.

“Sorry, I should have told you I’m known for being fashionably late.” He fires back and attempts to take back his weapon.

His sword gets stuck on something within the monster and he’s forced to leave it in. The moblin has since been made aware of arriving company and takes a swing that would have taken Legend’s head off. He’s quick to duck under it and he calls out to the others for back up. “THIS ONE’S INFECTED! A LITTLE HELP WOULD BE NICE!”

“What a concept.” You gasp, out of breath and losing steam. “Back up would have been great like five minutes ago.”

“Well I’m here now, aren’t I?” Legend knows he’s quick on his feet and dances around the monster and to your side.

But it’s a miscalculation.

The moblins takes another swing at Legend in the process but since he doesn’t hit his target, his arm arcs outwards and knocks you finally off of your feet and sends you flying across the field with a sickening crack.

Legend stops for a second in shock and stares at where you landed.

You’re not getting up.

Now Legend is the one fighting this thing alone, with his sword still in the side of the monster, back up still not arriving yet and worse yet, the group is now down a number.

He doesn’t have time to reflect how it might be his fault that you’re down.

He hopes you’re not out and that the others comes quickly.

There’s a shot that takes the moblin by surprise when it’s imbedded in his head. Legend can’t risk taking glances around anymore but the quick succession of the blows let him know that Wild has appeared from out of the wood work and has joined him in taking this thing out.

Legend makes around circle around it and reaches for the hilt of his sword. IT”s wet and covered in its blood but he manages to get a grip on it.

He pulls.

He knows that it would have taken a lot to take it out but the blood around it seems to have lubricated the wound and it begins to slide out. As it inches out, Legend has to take another dive out of the way since the moblin swings back his way.

The sword is no longer plugging most of the wound, so it’s more  like a fountain of ink that beginning to paint the forest floor.

Legend suspects that he hit something vital and that the blow would be final if he can get the rest of his sword out.

Luckily, despite the lack of communication, Wild and Legend seem to reach a consensus. Wild distracts the moblin for a while and Legend goes for his sword and takes out as much as he can before the moblin takes his aggression out on him.

Somewhere in the middle of this Warrior has also appeared and begins to add to the distraction while using Legend’s fire rod. This allows Legend to get more time out of the small windows that his team is buying them but the progress if slower than he likes.

The blood on his hands makes it harder for him to get a grip on his sword and his boots are having a hard time gaining purchase on the ground as it turns to bloodied mud. 

Legend makes another dive out of the way and glances over to where you are.

You’re still not moving and no one has reached you yet.

Concern fuels him forward and he makes one last attempt to pull the sword free while the other damage it as much as they can.

It releases.

Legend goes flying backward and onto the ground, making quick work of getting back to his feet and attacking the beast.

The blood around his hands and sword are beginning to dry, almost gluing them together this time as he fights and he fights.

Somewhere along the lines of this, the news of an infected monsters reaching the others, Legend assumes, and one by one the others clamor up to the monster and begin to strike it down.

Now with all of them here, Legend takes a step back and steps out of the fray, leaving the killing blow to be dealt by the majority of the group.

Instead, he runs to your side.

Legend drops to his knees by your side and drop his sword somewhere behind him. He’s quick to take out his bag and rummage through it. He takes out a potion just you groan and roll over.

Legend lets out a sigh of relief, and a curse.

The moblin dies somewhere behind him.

“Legend...” You cry out. “Are you dead?”

He has to keep himself from snorting in disbelief. “Of course I’m not dead! It takes a lot more than that to kill me you know.”

His hands are shaking but your eyes are closed so he doesn’t make a show of trying to hide it. Your hands are over where your ribs are, a bit of red seeping through your fingers, but it doesn’t look major considering the amount of time that’s passed.

The potion will take of it.

“Were you not hit? You’re ok?” You ask in delirium, using all the strength you have left to sit up. Legend is quick to help you and places the potion in your lap with the cork off.

“No, it was really just you that took the hit.” Legend sits back and watches you drink it, slowly and robotically. He takes a minute to look over the rest of you and realizes that you don’t actually have a lot of injuries.

Just a few large hits.

“Oh my god, what happened to you?” You blurt, eyes wide and potion half drunk, threatening to spill over the lip of it with how you’re holding it. “Are you sure you weren’t hit?”

Legend tilts his head and looks down.

He’s absolutely disgusting.

He knows it shows on his face the minute he sees it but he forces himself not to think about it and instead, looks back at you.

“Believe it or not, none of it is mine.”

You stare for a moment or two longer before slowly returning to drink the potion you were given. “Remind me to never piss you off.”

The comment send even more relief through his system, shutting down the last of his adrenaline and he has to laugh. 

Legend has no idea what conclusion you came to but considering the amount of shock and awe on your face by the sight of him, he doesn’t plan on correcting you any time soon.

Part 2 Part 3