The group had packed up and left their makeshift camp. Champion, had taken watch the night before, and he'll admit, he's a bit drowsy. However, being asleep is a way for the enemies to gain the upper hand.
Wind was bouncing crazily, obviously getting a good night's sleep. He was excitedly asking Champion questions. All of which, Champion signed his answer.
"What weapon do you use most?" Wind asks.
"Just the Master Sword. Sometimes I will use a bow and arrow."
"Oh nice! Wild is AWESOME with a bow!!" Wind rants.
Champion observes the formations the Links' take when walking. Time and Twilight were in front, while Wind just moved wherever he pleased. Four and Hyrule walked together. And Warriors annoyed Legend by walking by him. Wild was in the back alone.
Wild's ears tinted a slight red after hearing Wind's compliment.
"Monster Camp!" Twi called.
Suddenly, the mood changed from pleasant, to serious. Each Link got out their weapon of choice. Wild, notably, was the only one to get out a bow. Champion felt extremely plain with him only drawing the Master Sword. As soon as they all had their weapons out, they charged into battle. Wild impressed Champion with his bow and arrows skill. Time seemed to slow when Wild jumped down from his perch and knocked an arrow. A familiar feeling for Champion.
Time also seemed to slow down for Champion as well. As Champion perfectly dodged monster attacks, he'd go into a flurry rush. Time observes from where he is on the battle field. While Wild prefers not to admit it, Champion is like Wild's twin in combat. But definitely less brash.
After a little while, the team finally finished their battle.
"Anyone hurt?" Time asks.
"Wind's got a small cut on his arm, and Hyrule has a bruise, but that's it." Legend reports.
"I'm fine though! I have a pretty good excuse too! Watching Champion is pretty distracting." Wind replies.
Everyone's attention shifted to Champion. Who, was now feeling bad for getting Wind hurt. Sure, it wasn't directly his fault, but Champion has a habit of blaming himself for everything bad that happens.
Champion ignores the stares (like always), and reaches into his pouch on his belt, and brought out some bandages.
He walks up to Wind, and wraps his arm gently, yet the bandage was on so firmly. No one could see any bleeding through the bandage. And the bandage was on PERFECTLY.
'Better?'
Champion signs.
"Whoa! Yeah. I don't even feel a thing!" Wind says excitedly.
Champion tips his head slightly in acknowledgment.
He puts away the remaining bandages and turns to Twi, expecting him to keep leading.
So he did.
The group walked for the next few hours. Many were complaining about how lengthy Twi's Hyrule was.
"Your swordsmanship was incredibly efficient back there." Time tries to start a conversation.
Champion scratches his head sheepishly. A habit of his and Wild's when embarrassed, or uncomfortable.
"You're also good with injuries...?"
'I'm decent. We all learn by the age of 10, and when you don't have Mipha around, someone's got to heal the soldiers.'
"Who's Mipha?" Time asks.
Wild, who wasn't paying attention to the conversation going on, snapped his head towards Time and Champion.
'Mipha, Princess of the Zora. Hylian Champion. A dear friend of mine.'
Wild wanted to scream. Mipha was so much more then that. She was beautiful, kind, and... dead.
"I see." Time let the subject go, considering the pink tint on Champion's face.
Wild forced himself to look straight forward, refusing to meet Time's gaze.
As the group stopped for the day, because of Wind's, Hyrule's, and Sky's aching feet, Wild started a fire, and cooking food.
"-And that's when I found the Master Sword!" Warriors boomed.
"Sounds like just in the nick of time!" Wind observes.
"Say, Champ, what age did you find the Master Sword?"
Champion looks up from his food.
'Twelve.'
Silence.
Everyone just stared.
"Uhhhh, who wants to take watch tonight?" Legend asks.
"I will." Wild says.
Twi saw the desire in Champion's eyes to take watch.
"Champion, let Wild take watch. You're tired, I can tell." Twi reasoned.
Champion shook his head.
"You're not exactly in the position to disagree, so I suggest you get some rest." Time intervenes.
Champion would've rolled his eyes if he had been less reserved.
Later, everyone was asleep while Wild watched out for monsters.
Wild began to hear whimpering. Knowing fully well that he should awake whoever is having another nightmare. You see, the Links' are no stranger to nightmares. Most of them revolve around memories of their journeys.
Wild walked toward the sound.
What he didn't realize, was that Champion was having a nightmare.
Champion's face was pitiful. His bangs on his sweat-soaked face. It was clear he was distressed. The whimpering continued as Champion tossed and turned.
Wild sighed. He slowly walked up to Champion's sleeping bag, and gently nudged Champion's shoulder.
Champion bolted upright with a silent scream. Wild held his hands up to show he meant no harm.
"Hey! It's okay! It's just a nightmare." Wild tried to reassure.
Champion's eyes were hazy and unfocused due to just waking up. His breathing was also uneven. Wild could just make out the tears in Champion's eyes that threatened to fall.
It was pretty obvious that Champion wasn't as well guarded when sleepy.
"Er, you're okay. Everyone gets these. Do you- do you... want to talk about it?" Wild asks hesitantly.
Champion shook his head.
"Er, okay. Uhm, did you want to take watch with me?" Wild suggested.
Champion nodded.
As Champion sluggishly got up, Wild led him to the spot he had been previously taking watch at.
Silence follows them.
'Pardon my bluntness, but what happened in your timeline?'
Champion asked.
Wild stilled.
'I'm sorry. That was very rude of me- you see, this 'Fi' character told me of your timeline-'
"It's alright. I suppose I couldn't avoid this forever."
Wild explained his timeline and how they had lost.
'Your champions are deceased?'
Wild flinches at the question.
"Yes."
Champion looks down.
'I'm sorry.'
Wild looks at Champion.
"Don't apologize, I don't need any pity."
Champion nods in understanding.
A moment goes by before Champion asks,
'Do you miss Mipha?'
Wild looks startled by the touchy subject. He gulped.
"Yeah."
'I sort of, stopped opening up to her. I didn't want her to see me so weak and vulnerable. I'm also starting to suspect she likes me more then a friend.'
"Oh." Wild answers.
"If I were you, I'd patch things up with her. While you still can." Wild suggests.
And that's that.
The group began to wake up.
Wild's ears perked.
"There's another portal!" Wild called.
The Links' turn in the direction Wild is pointing at.
"Are you kidding me?! I'm gonna barf if I go through another Goddess Portal!" Wind complains.
"Well, it looks like you're going to do just that." Legend smirks.
"Ughhhhhhh!!"
"Alright everyone, grab your things we're heading out."
Everyone grabbed their belongings and sleeping bags, and packed them up. One by one, they each went through the portal. Champion went after Wild, with Time and Twilight behind him.
Then that feeling of deja vu kicked in for Champion. His feet hit the ground and instincts kicked in. He instantly took out the Master Sword and got into a battle stance. The rest of the group was groaning as Wild came up beside Champion, looking shocked.
"Can't this guy loosen up a bit?" Legend grumbled quietly.
Sky nudged him, urging him to shut up.
If Champion didn't feel comfortable before, he certainly didn't now.
Twi made his way over to Champion as Champion sheathed his sword.
"Impressive, how do you manage such a battle position?"
Champion looks at Twi with blank eyes.
Twi didn't know why, but he was hoping for a clear answer.
"Alright, who's Hyrule is this?" Legend asked.
"It's mine!" A rare tone of excitement in Time's voice.
Twilight, Sky, and Legend shared a knowing smirk.
"Am I missing something?" Warriors groaned as he got up.
"Come on, it's a weeks journey from here, since it seems Hylia wanted us to be as far as possible from my wife."
A loud outburst came from everyone except Sky, Twilight, Legend, and Champion.
Lots of who's, what's, when's, and where's came from everyone.
Champion's eyes widened when he'd heard the news. Time happily noted that Champion had unknowingly shared some emotion.
As they started the trek, Twilight tried again to get some conversation started with Champion.
"How'd you become the general of the Royal Guard?" Twi knew Champion would speak more if it was about business.
'I guess it's more because of my duty to the King and Princess.'
"So not because you drew the Master Sword?" Warriors asked.
For the briefest second, Twi could've sworn he saw a look uneasiness in Champion's expression.
Champion shrugged.
"Guys, monster camp up ahead!" Wild called.
The group took out their swords. This group in particular looked nasty. There were huge monsters with all sorts of strange weapons that many of the Link's haven't seen.
Wild proceeded to attack with his bow as cover, then letting the rest of the group come forward. It didn't take long before Champion was face to face with one of the scariest creatures he's ever seen.
Because of the infected blood, it made everything ten times worse, not to mention the unusual upgrade in weapons.
Time had never seen such a weapon that was held by the Redead that Champion was up against. Much less seen a Redead as huge as that one. The weapon had purple swirls all around it. Time doesn't want to stick around long enough to see what it does. Unfortunately, in the time it took him to acess this Redead, was all the time a Lizofos needed to hit Time in the head with its club. Time hit the ground with an 'oof'.
Though he was okay, his head hurt like he was just ran over by a herd of Cuccos.
Time heard a slice of a sword and the sound of flesh being tore open.
For the first time ever, every Link saw an expression on Champion's face. Though, they would rather not have, considering what it was. Champion's face shrunk in agony as he hit the ground. His white sleeve was tore open, and seeping blood. As Champion gripped his wound, Twilight ran over to the Redead and sliced the Redead in half with the most brutal manner any Link had ever seen him do. Time got back up and continued the fight.
Every Link was wearing thin. This has been their longest battle yet. Sometime in the midst of the battle, Champion had gotten back up and was fighting, though he was a bit sloppy and sluggish in his movements.
After about an hour of nonstop fighting, the Link's had defeated the hoard of enemies. Afterwards, Champion dropped Fi, and fell to the ground. Everyone came crowding around him.
"Out of the way!" Hyrule pushed Wind and Legend.
Champion's wound was flat out spewing blood. Hyrule could see him getting paler by the second. So he quickly got to work.
He started disinfecting the wound, Champion tried to keep his mask, but he couldn't help the flinches and occasional pained groans. Each Link watched as Hyrule worked. Twi would hand him new materials when needed. And Time, he went to examine the weapon that had pierced Champion. It's purple swirls were gone, but-
"WHAT THE HELL?!?!?!!" Hyrule yelped.
Time whirled around to see the rest of the Link's huddled around Champion.
Time pushed through them to get a clear view of what Hyrule was freaked out about.
Champion's wound was bleeding still, but it had the same purple swirls all over the wound.
"Here try a potion." Sky said as he handed Champion a vial with pink liquid.
Champion shakily took the vial with his uninjured arm, and swallowed the potion.
Each Link waited in anticipation as the wound closed up. It was not completely closed, which was odd, but at least it had stopped bleeding and the purple swirls were gone.
"That was strange." Twi observed.
"Indeed." Time agreed as he picked up the sword that once had the purple swirls and examined it.
He turned back to see Hyrule finishing bandaging Champion's arm.
"Strange indeed..."