#inspired by seeing vio's post about him coming home

[dove-da-birb]

*scrolling through tumblr* [I'm not drawing the zebra print that's on my shirt each time]

.

*sees halloween rook*

*simp/crisis mode engaged*

Bonus internal reaction;

I have no fucking gems *internal québécois français screaming*

[a-bit-too-much-of-a-zelda-fan]

Linked Universe Fanfic Ch. 5: Smoke

Stop! You’ve Violated the Law!

So, you’ve stumbled upon this original post for my Linked Universe fanfiction. That’s okay, it happens to everyone. As of March 2021, I’ve uploaded the entirety of this fanfic to my Archive of Our Own page. Along with finally giving the story a name--Oops! All Links: A Linked Universe Story--I made substantial edits to some of the chapters. These range from minor stylistic revisions to fixing a gaping plot hole that kinda completely broke the character conflict in the earlier chapters. I also renamed and renumbered (but not reordered) the chapters. Specifically, this is now Chapter 6: Smoke.

The AO3 iterations of these chapters are the definitive versions. So, if you would like to read this fanfiction, please do so on AO3, right here. With this embedded link. Hehe. Geddit? Link?

Note: My screen name on AO3 is FrancisDuFresne. Yes, that is me. I am not plagiarizing myself.

Anyway, for posterity’s sake, the rest of the original post is below the cut.

Here we are again! Chapter 5 of my @linkeduniverse narrative. This one focuses a bit more on Warrior, who I feel that I neglected in previous chapters. Again, thank you so much @jojo56830 for creating this AU that inspires me to write more and more. Enjoy!

Word count: 1600

The sun shone brightly on the nine heroes. The breeze blew through their hair and ruffled their clothes. Metal equipment clinked with every step through the rustling tall grass. Crickets unseen chirped, ringing in their ears. Wildflowers sprouted here and there; Wild stopped every so often to inspect them.

“Why do you keep doing that?” Hyrule asked.

Wild was squatting next to a group of flowers. He looked up. “You never know what kinds of things you’ll come across in the wild, what they can do for you.”

Sky took up the rear. “Yep!” he said. “Flowers can be way more helpful than you might think.”

“Hey!” Legend called back from near the front. “You said it yourself, Wild; we have a day’s hike!”

Wild sighed. Indeed, the walk across hills and through a forest would take all day. He determined that when he looked at his Sheikah Slate’s map yesterday. He pushed himself to a stand and hurried back to the front. Having the map was an important responsibility, something he would never forget after the incident yesterday in the cave.

The chill and mist of the morning were starting to burn off now. The Links had been walking for about two hours since setting off from the beach. Warrior had them get up with the sun. He reasoned that if they did hit monsters like Wild said they might, they would still make it to the next village by sundown.

Warrior’s plans had rarely led the heroes wrong. He had told them that on his own quest, he needed to devise military-engagement-scale tactics on the fly. The best team player by far, his coordination and wit greatly overshadowed his relative conceit and pride compared to his companions. His cool head in battle was invaluable to the group.

“Let’s put our heads together here,” said Warrior. “We don’t want to walk into an ambush later on. There’s been a tad too many of those recently for my taste.”

“You’d think we would learn,” Time said with a shrug.

“Exactly! We should be learning. We’ve all been on our own adventures and saved the world multiple times, but where does that get us if we keep winding up in such danger?”

“I think I know why,” Four suggested, half-jogging to keep up with the taller of his friends. “I know this from my fragments. At first, we figured that of course four Links were better than one. If Link was an awesome swordsman hero, then four would be unstoppable.”

Wind jumped in: “Well, you all seemed pretty unstoppable to me. Those stalfos didn’t stand a chance against you.”

“Well, that’s now. We’ve come to terms that we are fragments, not copies. Green, Red, Blue, Vio. All shards of Link. Alone, we were less than Link. When we worked together, we suddenly became more than the sum of our parts.”

“Okay, how does that help us?” Legend asked.

“Here we are,” Four replied, holding his arms out to his companions, “nine Links. We’ve saved the world, slain great evil, wielded legendary swords. Put us together and of course it would seem that nine heroes are better than one. But that makes us headstrong and cocky. If we think that we’ll make it out of every encounter fine, we won’t care.”

Time nodded. “We need to remember that we can fail if we want to succeed,” he said. “Over the past few weeks, we’ve grown stronger and have begun working like a true team. Our battle yesterday was proof enough of that. We’re letting it get to our heads, though.”

“Right,” Warrior said. “In that case, let’s figure something out here.”

Wind sighed. He knew the importance of plans and strategies, but playing it be ear was his specialty. One doesn’t escape a fortress of monsters swordless by following the playbook.

Warrior was about to start discussing what they would do when they reached the forest when a scent caught his nose. Something burnt and ashy. He looked up. “I… guys?”

Plumes of thick, dark gray smoke were working their way up over the hills to their left. Orange-tinged embers floated down onto the swaying grass. The Links readied their weapons as they began sprinting up the nearest hill. “Wild!” Sky called. “Is there anything up there?”

Wild took out his Sheikah Slate and opened the map. His eyes darted across the screen. “No, it doesn’t look like it!” he yelled back. “Just more hills!”

“That’s odd,” Time muttered to himself. He shouted out: “Keep your guards up; we don’t know what we’re dea—”

His words got caught in his throat as they crossed over the top of the hill and got a good view of the land. It was unbelievable, and Time had seen many unbelievable things. There was nothing burning. There was nothing at all. Just more hills, more plains. Smoke still billowed upward, with no source in sight. Time could swear he could hear screams and shouts faintly but had no idea where it was coming from. He spared a glance at his companions.

Sky, Wind, Warrior, Wild, and Hyrule looked simultaneously concerned and confused. Flabbergasted, really. They had never seen anything like it and couldn’t make heads or tails of it. Four, Legend, and Twilight were frowning. Time suspected they were thinking along the lines he was. He started rummaging in his pouch.

“What the hell is going on?” Sky breathed. “There’s smoke, but nothing is burning.”

“What’s going on,” Time explained, “is likely that there’s something we can’t see by ourselves. Sometimes there are things hidden from our eyes that we can only see with some external help.”

Twilight spoke up. “Like a wolf’s heightened senses.”

“Or a Moon Pearl,” Four and Legend said in unison. They glanced with at each other with raised eyebrows. Clearly, neither knew the other had used a Moon Pearl before.

Time found what he was looking for. He held up his Lens of Truth. “Or this.”

He held it in front of his remaining eye. The moment the Lens passed into his line of vision, he saw what was truly happening. Indeed, there was a small village there set ablaze. Straw roofs and wooden walls burned up, churning out the thick smoke the Links could see from afar. Now he could see who was screaming.

“Well?” Wind asked. “What is it?”

Time stared at the scene. “There’s a village burning down there. The people need help.”

“How do we save people we can’t see?” Wild sounded skeptical, anxiety creeping into his voice.

“Maybe I can help,” Four said as he pulled a Moon Pearl out of his pouch. “I was hoping I was never going to need these again.”

Before the others got a good chance to look at the Pearl, he threw it further down the hill, closer to the smoke from a settlement he couldn’t see. “Let’s go! Follow me!”

He took off at a sprint, drawing the Four Sword and raising the shield his Zelda gifted him. Confused but determined, his companions ran after him. The moment the Pearl hit the swaying grass, it shattered, leaving in its place a circle a yard across. Bright blue light shot up out of it, higher than Time was tall. “What is that thing?” Wind yelled as they ran.

“A portal!” Four shouted back. “It’ll bring us into the world that village is in!”

At that moment, Four stepped into the portal and disappeared. The others dashed in after him. Hyrule brought up the rear and was the last to take the portal. He arrived to find the brightest and fiercest fire he had ever seen. His friends were standing there a few yards ahead, gaping at the scene.

Warrior’s mind raced, putting together their rescue plan. The factors ran through his head: Dozens of the small homes too burnt to save, at least two or three people per home, nine Links, four with alternate-world experience, one with superspeed, one with time-stop, one part-wolf, one capable of splitting into four…

We could cover more ground with three extra Links, Warrior thought, but using the Four Sword two days in a row could be too much for him.

“Alright,” he turned and said to the others. Any cockiness was gone from his voice, replaced by solemn determination. “Partner up. Sky with Four. Twi with Wind. Time with Hyrule. Wild with me. Legend, your Pegasus Boots’ speed will make you better alone.”

Legend nodded.

Warrior continued: “Four, your sword’s power would be helpful to cover more ground, but we’ll need you at full strength later. Do not split. Got it?”

Four waited a moment, as if contemplating arguing. Reasoning that using his sword twice in as many days could seriously hurt him, he nodded as well.

“Stick with your partner and take each house one by one. Find any survivors and send them back the way we came. Children, lame, and elderly take priority. The portal should lead them to safety. Don’t bother putting the fires out. It’s too late to save this place. We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. Everyone understand?”

A collective grunt of assent resounded among the Links. Warrior’s voice was filled with ice as he said: “Good. Let’s do this.”

The nine seasoned heroes took off at a sprint, Legend quickly gaining a lead. Only Twilight, Time, Wild, and Wind had borne witness to any large fire, but none as big as this. Still, they charged on. These people needed help, and what kind of heroes would they be if they didn’t try to help?