#so Lurelin Link's ghost companion has moved on to the afterlife

[skyloftian-nutcase]

All right, since some of y'all got excited, I will indulge this thought briefly

.

With the news that a new gate had appeared, the remainder of the day had been rather somber. The palpable relief at Twilight's recovery was held hostage in a chokehold of anxiety and dread - after everything they'd thrown at that Shadow, it was still alive.

Time felt anger and fear pull in his chest, making it a little hard to breathe. He could see the tension in everyone else as well. They spent dinner mostly in silence, each contemplating the future. At dawn's light, they set out.

When they passed through the portal, they hadn't expected to immediately run into company.

Time took in the sight quickly, registering three teenagers and a dog. Naturally, Twilight was immediately distracted by the dog, greeting her warmly and letting that be a sign of trust to the three young men watching them. Legend, Four, and Warriors, the keenest observers of the group, immediately came to a conclusion that Time was settling on as well.

These were not normal boys.

The gasp that emitted from the shortest one, a light brown skinned boy with thick, straight jet black hair that was pulled back in a high ponytail, his hair only long enough to puff out in a little spiky ball. He dashed forward, grasping Wild by the shoulders. "It's you!"

Although everyone's hands had shot to their swords, no one drew their blades. The teenager's other two companions watched them carefully, one with obvious anxiety and the other with a cool, reserved gaze.

"I-it's me?" Wild repeated, startled.

"You're--look at you, how are you here, you're alive?!" The kid continued, starting to shake Wild enough to make the Hero's head whip back and forth dizzyingly. "How--you moved on, you--does your dad know?? Have you talked to Sir Abel yet?! You're--but--your hair what the heck, it got so long, it's never been that long and--"

The boy stopped shaking him a moment, and just as Legend was about to cut in, reaching a hand out, the teenager gasped again, eyes even wider. "Oh my goddesses did I travel back in time?!?! No way, that's--even the Sheikah slate couldn't--but you're--wait."

Just as Legend finally stormed over to push the kid off Wild, the boy backed off willingly, hands reeling in towards his chest like he'd been burned. "You're not... the Link I know."

Wild stumbled a bit, clearly dizzy, and shook his head. "Y-yeah, probably not, buddy."

"Who are you?" Legend queried, pointing sharply at him.

"Um... I'm, uh... I'm Link," the boy answered awkwardly. Then he pointed behind him to the other two teenagers. "And so are they."

"More heroes?" Warriors questioned quietly. "After all this time? How much is this Shadow's poison spreading?"

"Shadow?" one of the others, a redhead who looked very much like the Gerudo, asked with a tremor in his tone. "Great. Zelda's going to have a field day with this. I guess you all are named Link too?"

"We are," Time answered calmly, eye settling on the last teen who had yet to speak. This boy was different, with the red eyes of the Sheikah, though his hair was platinum blonde instead of white. "We've been traveling through these gates as well - a Shadow is creating them and poisoning monsters, making them more powerful."

"Yeah, we saw!" the hyper Link affirmed. "We just fought a lynel and that thing did not go down as easily as I'm used to."

The boy's eyes lingered on Wild for a moment longer and then he awkwardly looked away.

"Is this all of you?" Warriors asked.

"I think so?" the hyper one answered.

"There's one more," the Gerudo looking one noted. "That's who owns the dog. But I don't know where he is."

"More heroes!" Wind chirped excitedly, throwing his hands in the air. "That's amazing! Now we gotta figure out nicknames!"

Time heard Warriors groan and he had to smile. More heroes would certainly be interesting, even if it was worrisome that the Shadow's stretch had reached so far.

Brain: Psst Me: *looks warily* Brain: What if your OC Links joined the Chain Me:....Why do you feel the need to do this to me Lurelin Link: Join the what? What Chain? Mystery Link: No. Gerudo Link: Uhhh... they're all consisted of people who would want to kill me. Power Link: I...what? Me: -_-