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skyward-floored · 1 month ago

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Whumptober Day 1: Race against the clock, panic attack

Hello everybody and welcome back to the fourth year in a row of me beating up nine blond guys (plus others) for a month, please enjoy the show 👍

Warnings: fire, smoke inhalation, minor injuries, and a panic attack.

Ao3 link

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He had maybe five minutes left.

Wild tore through the smoke and flames of the burning dungeon, squinting through eyes blurred with painful tears for any flashes of green or grey, a familiar pelt, dusty brown hair... anything.

All he saw were flames though, colored an unnatural reddish tone. Wild leapt to avoid some as they flared up, then stopped to hack through the cloth he’d tied over his mouth, throat burning from the smoke.

He was hating wizzrobes more by the second. He’d defeated the group of them that had swarmed him and Twilight, but they’d been black-blooded, and exploded into flames as they’d died. It was just unnatural the way their fire was eating at the rocks, melting pillars and devouring walls. How they’d set fire to an entire dungeon largely made of stone was beyond him.

And of course, all this had happened right after Twilight had been snatched by some weird hand-monster and disappeared.

Of course it had.

Now Wild had mere minutes left before the whole place collapsed or he passed out from smoke inhalation, and he had no clue where Twilight was.

“Rancher?!” Wild shouted in a rasp, then doubled over into a coughing fit again. The smoke even tasted unnatural, thicker than woodsmoke, and sweet, but in a sickly way.

Something cracked off in the distance, and the ground trembled beneath Wild’s feet. He dragged in not nearly deep enough of a breath, and kept running, occasionally squinting at the tattered map in his hands. There was only one area he hadn’t been in yet in his search. Twilight had to be there.

Wild leapt over a fallen pillar and entered the last room, squinting through smoke and heat. His eyes fell on a cage at the back wall, and he gasped, the figure inside unmoving.

“Twilight!” Wild shouted, then coughed, already working his way across the room.

Twilight didn’t say anything in reply to his voice, and Wild sped his steps, ignoring the rawness of his throat and the sting in his eyes. There were some of those blade trap things that had been in an earlier area of the dungeon in the way, but Wild deftly avoided them, even despite several being on fire.

He finally reached the cage, and dropped to his knees beside it, breathing hard.

“Twi,” Wild gasped, the words more of a cough than a greeting, “Twi, can you hear me?”

Twilight was huddled in the very back corner of the cage, his hands over his head. His eyes were squeezed shut, and he didn’t reply to Wild’s voice, staying curled up in a ball. Fear shook through Wild at the sight of Twilight so vulnerable, that something had happened to him, that he was hurt, that something was wrong—

“I’ll get you out,” Wild reassured in a voice he tried to make comforting, already feeling for any weakness in the bars. “Hold on.”

He located a portion of the cage where the metal was weakened, bars rusted and loose. Magnesis was hard to use when your hands were shaking, but after a few tries and some help from an old sword, Wild managed to tear the loose metal away, and bolt inside.

Twilight was breathing hard, his eyes open now and reflecting the flames, and Wild grabbed his wrists, giving him a quick shake.

“Rancher, hey, come on,” he croaked. Twilight’s glazed vision flicked to Wild’s face. “Link, wake up, I need you with me.”

Twilight still stared at him, eyes eerily blank, but then they focused, and he gasped, lurching backwards from Wild as he looked around in terror.

“No— no, what—”

“Link,” Wild repeated, heart pounding wildly. He inched closer to Twilight. “Don’t look at the flames, look at me. We need to get out of here.”

Twilight’s breathing sped up, his eyes reflecting the flames as he stared at them. Wild tried to catch his gaze but Twilight wasn’t paying any attention to him, pulling his hands away and digging his fingers into his scalp, breath wheezing as his chest heaved.

“Twi,” Wild begged, snatching his hands away from his hair. “Come on, I’m here to help you! We need to go!”

Wild gave his hands a tight squeeze, and Twilight flinched, blinking hard as his shoulders hitched up. His eyes darted around, and Wild got up in his face so it would be much harder for him to see the flames.

“Link, please, breathe,” Wild pleaded. “We’re not going to make it if we don’t go now!”

Twilight flinched again at the shout, then swallowed, his eyes suddenly fixing on Wild.

“W-Wild,” he said in a shaking voice, and Wild nodded, squeezing his hands. “Wild, what...”

“Wizzrobes, magic fire, you got snatched, I beat the wizzrobes but they set the place on fire,” Wild quickly explained, and swallowed as he looked over Twilight. “Did that hand thing hurt you? Are you okay?”

Twilight’s breath hitched. “No. Yes. I mean I... I think so?”

His gaze flicked to the flames again, and Wild felt a tremor go through him, panic in his expression. Wild let go of his hands and took his shoulders instead, giving him another shake.

“Twilight. You can’t freak out now, we have to get out of here,” Wild said firmly. His throat scratched as he spoke. “We...”

Wild fell into another coughing fit, breath tight, throat burning. It took him much longer to stop coughing than the last time, and getting in air was a lot harder, tears dripping from his eyes with the effort.

A hand clasped at his shoulder as he wheezed, and Wild glanced up to see Twilight looking at him. Twilight was still breathing fast, face pale, eyes wide, but his expression had slipped to an emotion Wild was more used to seeing on his face.

Worry.

“Are you okay?” Twilight asked, and Wild nodded, wheezing as his fit finally ended.

“Yeah... just... smoke,” he rasped, careful not to fall into another fit when he spoke. “Place is gonna... come down... need to go.”

Twilight looked out at the dungeon, flames roaring as they devoured the old temple, and he swallowed thickly. But when he looked back at Wild he nodded, and they both got to their feet, legs shaking for different reasons.

Twilight had an iron grip on Wild’s arm as they finally left the cage, and the two began to work their way back to the entrance.

It wasn’t easy. Everywhere Wild looked there were more of those reddish flames, purplish-pink at the center, plumes of sweet-yet-rancid smoke roiling through the air. A lot of the path he’d taken to get to Twilight in the first place just wasn’t there, and they had to pick their way around all kinds of rubble.

Everything seemed like it was on fire now, and sweat and tears poured in equal amounts down Wild’s face, eyes burning with smoke. They rushed back through the temple, dodging falling stone and roaring flames, Twilight shaking every time the fire got anywhere near them.

Wild glanced at him, the rancher’s grip on his arm nearly bruising, and swallowed.

Wild knew Twilight was wary around fire. He’d seen him stay back whenever Legend got out his fire rod, or Hyrule lit his sword up in flames, and generally fight fiery enemies from as far a distance as he could. He’d even teased him about it, and Twilight had shoved him and teased him right on back about being too willing to solve his problems with fire.

But this was more than wariness. This was straight-up terror at the sight of the flames, and Wild had never seen Twilight so blatantly afraid of something before.

What had happened to him?

A huge pillar came crashing down mere feet away from them, and Twilight and Wild scrambled back against the wall, heat pressing against their faces. Wild heard Twilight’s breath catch, and he tugged him in a different direction.

It was getting harder and harder to breathe, even with the cloth over his mouth. Wild’s steps faltered suddenly, and he stumbled against a part of the wall, breathing hard. They didn’t have time for him to stop, but he had to catch his breath, just for a moment.

“Wild? You good?” Twilight asked, voice raspy, but less so than Wild’s was.

Wild straightened, but before he could assure him that he was fine, a scratch in his throat made him cough, and before he knew it he was practically bent double, dry, wracking coughs pouring out of him.

Somehow he landed on the floor, and Twilight’s voice was frantic in his ear, a hand pressing at his back as it tried to help him.

Panic lurched in Wild’s middle, the lack of air only making his breath speed up. His world narrowed to the tightness in his lungs, the way they refused to take in as much air as he needed, and the dry feeling in his throat that made him want to cough with every breath.

The worst of it finally faded, but the fit had sapped most of Wild’s remaining energy. His head was spinning, throat dry as bone, and his breath was little more than desperate wheezes.

“Wild?”

Wild managed to raise his head and look at Twilight, the rancher‘s face pure alarm.

“Can you walk?” he asked, and Wild swallowed, trying to raise himself up on shaking legs. He got about halfway before a tremor shook the ground, and both he and Twilight lost their balance.

A portion of wall abruptly collapsed nearby, crashing to the ground mere feet from their boots. Flames burst into the air, and Twilight scrambled backwards, pressing one arm over Wild while the other covered his face from the sparks. Heat roared against them, and Wild felt it sear his uncovered skin.

More of the wall collapsed around them, and though Wild tried to scramble to his feet, his legs were like chu jelly when he put weight on them.

“Can’t...” Wild wheezed when Twilight looked at him, his chest too tight to explain further.

He couldn’t walk, not like this, not with his head spinning and vision darkening at the edges. The flames would overtake the structure any moment now, and he was slowing Twilight down.

“G-get out... Twi...” he managed to rasp.

“Not without you,” Twilight said firmly, and he looked at the flames, fear still reflecting in his eyes. He exhaled shakily, and then his face hardened with determination. “Come on Wild. We’re getting out of here.”

He clutched Wild’s arm, then pulled him to his feet, slinging Wild’s arm over his shoulders. Wild stumbled against him, but managed to keep his balance with Twilight’s firm grip.

Twilight began pulling him through the blaze, dodging flames and collapsing architecture, and Wild stumbled clumsily beside him. He was slowing them down, badly, but he didn’t have the breath to insist Twilight leave him.

We’re not going to make it! he wailed inwardly, but Twilight kept dragging him, hands shaking where they supported Wild.

Fire dripped from the wall beside them like a living thing, and Wild felt Twilight violently flinch from it. He just kept going though, even despite the spreading flames and nearly unbearable heat.

Wild found himself relying more and more on Twilight as they went, his legs refusing to behave. Despite how he tried to walk himself, most of his weight was soon being supported by the rancher.

Are we close? Wild thought blearily, fighting the urge to stop and cough violently into his arm. He’d lost the map, and anything that would have given away which room they were in was either in flames or actively falling to pieces.

“We’re almost out, we’re almost out, we’re almost out,” Twilight began to repeat under his breath, and Wild would’ve joined him if he’d had any breath to. “Please light spirits we’re almost out we’re almost out—”

An ominous crack rang through the dungeon, and Wild heard Twilight’s breath catch. His steps sped up even more, and Wild did his best to hurry along with him, breath wheezing, eyes teary from smoke and yet much too dry.

The walls melted and crumbled around them, the ceiling warping and groaning as flames ate away at it. A light different then the fire glinted in Wild’s fading vision, and Twilight let out a guttural cry as he ran towards it.

Flames roared, something crashed, and Twilight threw him and Wild out of the dungeon.

They tumbled down the stairs that had led to the door, and the structure collapsed into itself with a roar behind them, a blast of hot air sending them both to the ground. Wild might’ve passed out for a moment, but he honestly wasn’t sure.

A violent wheeze escaped him, his chest tight and aching, vision still darkened at the edges. He might’ve been shaking, but he couldn’t even tell he was so dizzy from the lack of air.

A hand pulled the cloth at his face down, then settled in his hair, and Wild blearily recognized it as Twilight’s, the other hero’s face streaked with ash.

“We made it,” Twilight croaked, and Wild coughed, trying to reply, but unable to get the words out. “We m-made it pup. Thank you.”

Wild pulled in a rasping breath, tears still dampening his cheeks, but he managed a weak smile. Twilight let out a short, panicked laugh, and curled around Wild where they were both lying in the grass. Despite how overheated he felt, Wild appreciated the contact.

He listened to Twilight’s heart hammer in his chest, the panic he’d been fighting away obviously breaking free. Twilight let out another panicked laugh, this one a fair bit more hysterical, and held Wild tight.

Wild clutched back as best as he could, and relief and exhaustion suddenly swept over him, intense and thick.

They’d made it.

Despite everything, they’d made it.

And Wild’s body took that as a sign that it was finally safe to pass out.

#whumptober 2024 #day 1 #race against the clock #panic attack #linkeduniverse #linked universe #lu wild #lu twilight #fic #linked universe fanfic #writing from the floor #keeping with my tradition of beating up twilight on day one <3 #sorry bro but also not really

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