forum Angst and Arson, Apparently || Closed, stalkers get a cool glass of milk ||

Started March 08, 2021 by @Cloudy_is_trying_her_best

tune

I think it'll be good for us to just jump in now aha
And warning: this character canonically knows more about LoZ than I do so I'll be doing a lot of research to make sure I'm getting my facts straight

(Ahaha fair enough. Also sorry this was so long dksnva I just felt the need to set everything up. I can give you a tl;dr if you want)

The first thing Time noticed about the Hateno Ancient Tech lab was that it looked like a disaster. Books lying open on the floor, mechanical parts scattered about the lab, papers carpeting the place like snow–if the researchers weren't gathered around a device in the middle of the room, Time would have thought the place had been ransacked by moblins. Wild announced their arrival with a loud and friendly "Hey, guys!" that caused the three researchers to turn towards them. One of these researchers, a blonde young woman that the group had already been acquainted with yesterday, practically lit up and bounced into Wild's open arms.

"Link!" she exclaimed happily. Time shared a knowing look with Sky and put an elbow in Warriors' ribs at his chuckle. Legend cleared his throat loudly, annoyance plain on his face, causing the duo to break apart. "I-I mean, Wild. It's wonderful to see you again."

"You as well, Zel–Flora," Wild said. He wasn't the first to trip up on his Zelda's nickname, and he wouldn't be the last, that was for certain. Legend's loud scoff caused the duo's ears to turn nearly as red as the Veteran's tunic.

"You literally saw each other yesterday," he complained, rolling his eyes at the glare Sky shot his way. He was a bit more reactive to the look that Time gave him. "Fine, fine, Goddess forbid we actually get on to whatever we were called here for."

"Mind the attitude," Time warned. He merely got a huff in reply.

The young-looking Sheikah researcher placed her hands on her hips. "If the two lovebirds are quite ready…"

"Purah, we have plenty of time," the other researcher said. Time related to the tired patience in the man's voice. He certainly knew the feeling, eight times over.

"N-no, Symin, she's right, we should start right away. Though…" Still a little pink in the face, Flora cocked her head slightly to the side. "Weren't there nine of you?"

Warriors chuckled. "Wind and Four wanted to go 'shopping'," he replied.

"And… Hyrule and Twilight?"

"Making sure they stay on the side of the law," Time said.

Flora laughed. "I see."

"Might be for the best," Purah said, walking back to the machine and pressing a few buttons. "You might just need someone to come and find you, should you end up lost."

The Heroes all shared a look. "…Pardon?" Sky asked.

"You know, lost. Out in the middle of nowhere, no idea where you are?" The base of the device, large and round and flat, lit up in blue. Purah looked back at them almost impatiently. "Well? Come on, let's get this thing tested out!"

Symin sighed. "Let me explain. We're working on a new teleportation device, similar to the one in–Her Highness said you were known as Wild?–similar to the one in Wild's Sheikah Slate."

"Yeah, but check it! Where the Slate needs something else at the other end, our new teleporter will be able to move things to any set of coordinates in Hyrule without an extra interface!" Purah explained.

Legend crossed his arms. "And you expect us to trust your untested teleporter? It sounds like you don't even know where it'll land us."

"First of all, it's not untested," Flora argued, "I've actually tested it on myself, and I'm perfectly fine, thank you. The only reason we need you to try it is because we want to see if it can transport a party of multiple people. Secondly, we won't be sending you far. You should land at the gates. And thirdly, well, Purah and Symin are more than qualified for this. Ancient tech is their life's work." She looked to Wild, who shrugged.

"Worst case scenario, we get a little turned around. The Slate has a map and it is my Hyrule, I'll know the way around. I'm in," he said, turning to the rest of the Heroes. "What about you guys?"

"If Wild trusts them with this, I think we should, too," Sky suggested.

"What?!" Legend exclaimed. "That inspires trust in these people?! You do realize that–"

"Well, someone's tunic's in a twist," Warriors remarked with a smirk. "I'm down, just because it'll piss Legend off."

"WH–"

Time laughed. "I think I'll go with you as well."

Legend looked absolutely betrayed. "Well, fine, I guess I'm coming with too. You're gonna need somebody with a shred of common sense," he said, scowling.

"Alright, then, you're gonna need to stand on the teleportation pad right there, everybody on…" once everyone had been corralled onto the blue, glowing… thing, Purah made her way back to the machine with the buttons, switches, and levers. "Coordinate-Based Teleporter Test Nine is a go! Check it!" she exclaimed, then pulled a lever.

The platform the Heroes were standing on started to shine even brighter, until blue was all that Time could see. He panicked a little when his body started to go numb, but the sensation was over as soon as it began. The blue started to fade, and the entrance of Hateno Village began to take its place. However, before it was fully gone, a feeling of nauseating wrongness washed over Time. He felt himself fall, saw the blue come rushing back faster than before, then felt and saw nothing.

When he woke, Time was in a… strange room. The architecture was like nothing he'd ever come across, not in his Hyrule or one of the others. Metal objects that he assumed were chairs sat behind tables made of some sort of odd white material. He was on the carpeted floor, though he couldn't feel it through the pins and needles on his face. Warriors was sprawled across one of the long white tables, which was bending under the combined weight of the Captain and his armor. Legend was awkwardly positioned halfway on one of the chairs. And Wild was trying to rouse Sky a few feet away from him. Time blinked, confusion mixing with his disorientation.

Where in Hyrule were they?

Lani wasn't having the best of days, even after her friend had surprised her with a trip to a small con she didn't even know about that was in the city. She had to rush her latest cosplay, and that meant it wasn't to her standards as it normally was. This day, she was dressed as Link from Twilight Princess, but even in the Dark Edgy Link (as she personally dubbed him loveingly), her sour mood didn't fit.
"Do you see what's wrong with this sword?" She demanded, for the third time that day, of her friend. They were dressed as a character from a certain well-known pocket monsters anime, and Lani's question brought a sigh to their lips.
"It's two and a half centimeters to short-?"
"It's two and a half centimeters too short. And do you know why?"
"Because it was a last-minute buy-"
"Yes, that's right!! I had to get a plastic sword off of A-ma-zon." Lani shuddered some, shoving the sword in its place on her back.
"And don't get me started on the belt-"
"Hey, look," her friend said, glad to find a distraction for his friend, "There are some other people cosplaying Link, why not go rant about this to them?" He pointed over to the group currently sprawled out not too far away, which peaked Lani's interest.
"Woah… now that's an epic cosplay party!!" She grabbed her friend's hand, dragging him with her.
"Hello! Is it alright if we get a few pictures with you? Your cosplays are so cool!"

(Mood, Lani)

Time, still a little dazed and trying to figure out what the hell was happening, looked up from his spot on the floor at the people that had approached them. The one dressed in an at least mostly practical outfit, especially when compared to… whatever in Din's name their friend was wearing, they had asked a question, but Time didn't understand what exactly they wanted. Picture? That… sounds at least a bit similar to pictograph, like Wild's Slate, but… 'cosplay'? "…Pardon?" he asked.

As if in response, Legend groaned and shifted, sliding completely off of what Time was still assuming was a chair. At least he's awake… Wild was still trying to wake their heavy-sleeping Skyloftian companion, with little success, from the sound of it. Not exactly surprising, given Sky's history, but still a little worrying. And Warriors was still passed out on the table, which was starting to creak at this point.

(sldknaf this thirty-year-old looking man in full-ass armor who's missing an eye just sitting on the floor with no fucking clue what's going on)

_{(I came up with an idea last night but I'm not touching it, I'd die of second-hand embarrassment just writing it–)}

"Ah, sorry," Lani said, still smiling some. "I get it if you don't want to, of course. Your outfits are just really detailed, I'm impressed, to say the least." She looked over the four, seeming to grow a bit confused at the amount of chaos she was seeing.
"Um… Do you need help? I, uh, I don't think that table's going to be able to hold your friend for much longer…" Lani had had no idea that any of them were really out, figuring it was either for a skit or just goofing around. It was just a bit early in the day to be getting frunk at a family-friendly less than 600 attendee con.

(asdfghjk but if that isn't a mood tho–)

"Some help would definitely be appreciated," Time said, getting up slowly. He surprised himself a little by not wobbling when he did. Legend was pushing himself up off of the floor as well, grumbling about "those stupid, goddess-damned researchers and their stupid, goddess-damned machine" as he brushed himself off. Wild had, apparently, grown bored of trying to wake Sky by shaking or gently smacking him and was swiping through his Shiekah Slate, eventually withdrawing something gelatinous-looking that was evidently cold enough to cause Sky to wake up with a yelp. Warriors was starting to stir, attempting to sit up and ending up falling off of the table instead.

"Ugh, guys? Everyone alright?" the Captain asked, getting affirmative replies from the rest of the group. "What the hell happened?"

As Time walked over to help Warriors up, Legend shot Wild a look. "Gee, I don't know. Maybe the exact thing I was worried about? Do you even know where we are, Wild?" he asked. The Champion looked away.

"Legend…" Time's tone held a warning that appeared to go unheard.

"I… no, I don't. My map's working just like it was before we shifted to my time, so I'm guessing…" Wild trailed off, but the implication was there.

Legend threw his hands in the air. "Fucking wonderful. Now we not only don't know where we are, but when we are, too. Just great."

"Legend. That's quite enough, we're here now and we need to focus on figuring things out," Time scolded before looking back to the strangers. "Apologies, that was probably confusing. If you need us to explain anything, feel free to ask. Of course, if you see us as just strange and would rather pretend this encounter didn't happen, I don't think any of us would blame you." His tone was half-joking at the latter bit, but it was a genuine offer. Hylia knows he'd come across his fair share of people who viewed him as a freak after being told of–in his opinion, anyways–much less odd things.

Lani's friend had been watching, sorely confused by everything that was happening.
"I think I'll take you up on that," they said, turning to leave. Lani reached back, grabbing their collar and bringing them to a stop.
"Um… Is it alright if I ask your names?" She hadn't been very affected by what the others were saying, pre-tell, figuring they were just in character, but when the one pulled out their Shiekah Slate and pulled what Lani would swear was White Chuchu Jelly out of it to wake his friend, she had begun to get a sinking suspicion these men weren't just in costume.
"Your real ones."

(HERE WE GO)

All five of the Heroes reacted to this, casting surprised looks at one another. After getting over the initial shock, Legend crossed his arms. "Well, Old Man, you're the one who offered to explain, you can break that awkward news," he said. Time chuckled drily.

"By the way you asked that, I'd be willing to bet you already knew, but the five of us are all named Link." Time noticed the winged blue hilt peeking over their shoulder for the first time after he spoke. Perhaps that's why they knew… are they another incarnation of the Hero's Spirit as well…? "May I ask yours?"

(Lani.exe has stopped functioning)

"Uh-huh," Lani's friend said skeptically. "And I'm Ash. Now, come on, seriously, what are your names?" Lani was just… standing there, mouth open. She managed to snap out of it when her name was asked for, digging her elbow in her friend's chest.
"Don't be an ass," she hissed, looking back.
"And I'm Lani. And…" She put her hand up to her forehead, still trying to process. "You're- actually all Link..?" She looked less confused and more, ah, awestruck than anything.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Lani and 'Ash'," Time said. He hadn't missed the other person's sarcasm, but mischief twinkled in his eye and he wasn't about to pass up a chance to harmlessly be a little shit. "To make things easier, we go by abbreviated versions of our Hero titles. I'm known as the Hero of Time, so I'm called Time. The one with the scarf is the Hero of Warriors, our resident pessimist in the red is the Hero of Legend, the one in blue and in dire need of a haircut is Wild, and Sky is actually known as Hylia's Chosen Hero, or a few other variants, but he felt that Sky was a bit more humble than Chosen."

Lani nodded along, still starstruck. She wouldn't have believed them if it hadn't been for the White Chuchu Jelly she'd seen. She could tell her friend wasn't as quick to believe, so they probably hadn't spotted it.
"Or, perhaps, because the game's called Skyward Sword? Look, I might not be an uber-geek about the Legend of Zelda like my friend here, but even I get that." They rolled their eyes, arms crossed. They weren't impressed.
"Drake, oh my god, would you please shut you mouth?" Lani hissed at them, elbowing them once more.

Sky's eyebrows shot up, then furrowed in confusion. "…I'm sorry, what?" he asked.

Legend, on the other hand, took a step towards Drake. "Look, bucko, if you've got a problem with–" Time stuck his arm out in front of his ticked-off companion and cut him off with a warning glare.

"I think we all have some questions for one another that we'd like answered. If I may, I'd like to start by asking where we are," Time queried.

"We're in-" Lani had started to say, but Drake cut her off.
"Seriously? Lani, how are you falling for this- these weirdos are dressed up as a bunch of different Links, and they're trying to act like they don't even know what the video games are? God, we're probably lucky they didn't call themselves Zelda!!"
"Drake! Look, I love you, you're my best friend, but would you please shut the fuck up?" Lani sighed deeply, looking back to Time.
"I'm sorry for them, they're- a bit of an ass. Right now, we're in a convention taking place in Fort Wayne, Indiana." Drake turned away, keeping an eye on Lani but doing as she asked of them and keeping quiet. They obviously didn't like what was going on.

Warriors chuckled. "I don't believe any of us know what a 'video game' is, or… well, what a good few of the words you just said mean, but I think I can understand at least a little bit of their skepticism," he said.

In the back, Wild inhaled sharply and looked down at his Slate, shoulders tense. "Definitely not my Hyrule."

"I'd venture to say no one's Hyrule," Lani offered up. "Or part of any variant thereof."
"Right, because we're on Earth, aka real life," Drake muttered under their breath. Lani rubbed the bridge of her nose, looking over.
"Drake, please," she said softly. The other only let out a sigh, not looking over.

That wasn't too terribly unreasonable–Hyrule wasn't the only kingdom or country that existed in the world, after all. "So… how would we be able to get to Hyrule, then?" Sky asked.

"Or is something else going on?" Legend added, arms crossed.

"I don't think there's a way to get to Hryule from here," Lani said. "It's, ah… it's not really connected to this place. At all. It's very complicated…"
"It's a world in a video game. As in, a story, not real, made up? No place called 'Hyrule' had never existed, and they're sure as hell aren't whatever god-forsaken creatures there are to be found in it," Drake said bluntly. "So unless you got here by magic, something that I can guarantee doesn't exist, then there's no way in hell I'm going to believe anything is going on here." Lani fell quiet, looking at her friend. She didn't say anything to refute them, though.
"How… did you manage to get here in the first place?" She said instead.

A story, Time thought. So that was why it was so difficult for Drake to believe that they truly were who they said they were, then. His remark about magic was laughable, though, and Legend snickered at it.

"It… was a teleporter incident. A couple of researchers in my time were trying to test a device they'd been working on and, well, something went really wrong," Wild said, looking at the ground. Sky patted him on the back, but his ashamed expression didn't change.

Legend sighed. "As stupid of an idea as it was, it's not your fault. The worst you thought would happen was, what, we'd end up somewhere else in your Hyrule? There was no way you could have expected this." He looked like he may have wanted to say more–possibly an apology?–but instead stopped himself.