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Chapter 4: The Escape

Summary: Four makes a plan!

“Four?”

A soft voice pricked at his consciousness, and the Smithy grimaced as he woke, light pain flaring across his body. He cracked open bleary eyes just enough to see the concern radiating from Hyrule's features.

“You were right,” he murmured, closing his eyes again as he tried to reorient himself. “They’re not very gentle, are they?”

He heard Hyrule's relieved laugh and cracked a smile of his own before trying to shift to an upright position. He scowled at the rattle of chains, the cool metal keeping his wrists pinned behind his back. “Well, that’s inconvenient.”

“I’m so sorry, Four,” Hyrule's voice was dejected. “It’s my fault you got hurt, that you’re stuck here, I –”

Four huffed as he made it to his knees, fingers questing at the top of his boots for the lockpick set he kept there. “I’m the one who came looking for you. If anyone's at fault, it’s those soldiers.” He finally found the rolled packet and deftly pulled out the tools he’d need, grateful for his organizational tendencies any time he channeled Blue.

“But still, I –”

“Rulie, stop.” Four glanced up from his place on the floor, making sure he had the Traveler's attention. “This is nothing, okay? I’ve been hurt worse than this sparring with Warriors.”

He felt the locking mechanism give and grinned, wide and smug. “Besides,” he added, pulling his wrists to the front, “I’m already free!”

He wished he had Wind's pictobox so he could capture the look on Hyrule's face.

“How did you…?” Hyrule stared as Four got up, stretching out stiff muscles. “How many of those do you have?”

Four retrieved his box, making short work of Hyrule's chains once again. “Picking locks is a hobby,” he stated, tsking at the new bruises around Hyrule’s ankles and thumb. “Have to keep my mind sharp. And I have as many as I need – as long as I can reach the locks, I have a set that can get me out. They’d have to lock me up like you to actually keep me trapped.”

He helped Hyrule down, then carefully rerolled and replaced the lockpick set. He gathered his things from the front of the room, then returned to Hyrule's side.

He shuffled through his pack, double-checking that the soldiers hadn’t taken anything. “How's your magic?” he asked as he sorted. “I don’t have any more potions, so I can’t help your hand, sorry. Do you have enough to get small so we can escape unseen?”

“…I’d need another day or two of food and rest before I can use the Fairy Spell.”

Four pulled out some trail rations and handed them to Hyrule before closing up his pack. “And how long d'you think we have before they come back?”

Hyrule hesitated, carefully swallowing his mouthful before responding. “If they stick to the current timing? Two days.”

Four stared, seeing nothing, locked in an intense internal debate. He needed to split, to let Vio speak his mind without Blue's interruption or Red's worry, he needed to work out how he was feeling, but he couldn’t, yet. Not here, in front of Hyrule, who may have been on the brink of death mere hours ago. Not now, when Hyrule was staring back at him like he’d grown an extra head.

His reasoning finally managed a single coherent thought. “Well then,” he stated. “We’d better set your thumb and get some rest, shouldn’t we?”

Setting Hyrule's thumb was child's play, and finding his Roc's cape for the Traveler to use as a blanket took a matter of seconds. Within minutes, Hyrule’s exhaustion won out, and the Traveler slept peacefully, comfortable for the first time in days.

Four took up his sword and crept through the main cellar, making sure they were truly alone. He found an easily defensible spot between some barrels that kept him out of sight from the stairwell and the room Hyrule was in, then drew his sword and pointed it towards the ceiling.

A familiar flash of light, a familiar pulling sensation, and Green opened his eyes, surrounded by the other Colors.

Red immediately scampered on quiet feet back to the room where Hyrule lay sleeping, to make sure the Traveler was alright and soothe his worry. Blue and Vio squared off, but the atmosphere was significantly less charged than it would have been if they’d split an hour ago.

“Alright, Brainiac, what've you got?” Blue demanded.

“Hyrule said he needs a day or two to recover enough magic to transform into a fairy.” Vio paced in a tight circle as he spoke. “We didn’t smell any food here in these barrels, so all we have is what’s in our pack. With that and conditions as they are, it will likely take most of the two days we have, especially if we want him to be able to function after using that much magic.”

“So, whaddowe do then?” Blue stood stiffly, opening and closing his fists in an attempt to release some of his impatience and aggression.

Maybe I should spar with him, Green thought. It would help both of them expend the anxious energy Four had been feeling since finding Hyrule.

Vio sighed, coming to a stop. “All we can do for now is make sure he rests and eats,” he finally admitted. “We shouldn’t leave him alone, so we can’t even go tell anyone where we are.”

“We could tell the Minish,” Red said, startling everyone as he crept back into their circle, snuggling himself under Green's arm. “They aren’t too far from here, and Wind at least can still see them – they could find the others and let them know for us.”

“But Wind can’t speak Picori,” Blue protested, “and our written Hylian is ancient by his time, so we can’t write a note either!”

Red pouted, and Green drew him closer. “It was a good idea,” he whispered.

Red wasn’t done, though. “Then why not just draw a picture?”

“I –” Vio cut himself off, then began pacing again. “That could work…but what would we…how to…” he descended into mumbled half-words as he thought.

Green smiled at Vio's distraction, then turned to Red. “Feel better now? Is Hyrule still sleeping?”

Red sighed happily, a small grin lighting his face. “I do! And he is.” The grin faded. “He’s been through so much, and he felt so guilty about getting us trapped here…I’m glad we found him.”

Green hugged him tightly. “Me, too. He’ll be strong enough we can get out soon, then we can rejoin the others.”

He released Red to peer out and check the rest of the room, ears twitching as he listened for anything coming. Satisfied, he turned to Blue.

“Wanna spar?” he asked. “We can make sure the soldiers are gone then find an empty room upstairs.”

Blue visibly sagged in relief, gratitude glimmering in his eyes. He gave a firm nod and left for the base of the stairs.

Green turned back to Red. “Will you stay here, keep an eye on Vio and Hyrule, please? Maybe help Vio with his note once he comes back to earth?”

“Of course!” Red chirped, pulling him close for another hug before perching on a barrel, making himself comfortable as he watched Vio pace.

Green followed Blue up the stairs, ears pricked for any disturbances. It didn’t take long to make their way through the keep. They kept an eye out for kitchens, larders, or any other place food might be kept, but came up empty. The place truly was abandoned.

Satisfied that they were alone, they went back to an indoor training area they’d found during their search. Taking up his stance opposite Blue, Green held his brother's gaze. With a grin and a nod, both Colors acknowledged their readiness, and they crossed swords with a harmonious clang that echoed like a symphony through Green's soul.

He lost himself to the easy give and take of the spar, relaxing into the familiar movements. He wasn’t Vio, but he was still a good planner and leader. He tried to pull together what he knew.

The giant Boss had mentioned Warriors owing them something, and that was why they’d taken Hyrule. So, probably a ransom situation, although he couldn’t figure out why there hadn’t been any demands made in the four days Hyrule had been missing.

The Minish were in the forest bordering the abandoned keep, and the rest of the Chain were staying in a town a few miles away. If these Minish could ride birds like his could, they could make it to the town in a few hours.

If he gave the rest of the Chain time to understand the note Vio and Red would write, arm themselves, and make their way to the keep, best case scenario they’d be here one more day, waiting for Hyrule to regain enough strength.

If the Minish couldn’t fly, it would take them most of a day to make it to town. If it came to that, it would be a toss-up of whether or not the Chain or the soldiers would arrive first.

Sparks from the clashing swords brought Green from his thoughts as he again locked blades with Blue. Both Colors were breathing hard; at his core he knew they’d both expended the anxious energy that had been plaguing them.

With one last grin and nod, both Colors disengaged, sheathing their swords with a flourish. They walked a slow loop around the room to cool down, then simultaneously flopped to the floor.

Green sighed, then gave a slight chuckle. “Do you think Vio that note figured out yet?”

“If he doesn’t I’ll have to punch some sense into him,” Blue immediately responded, deep exasperation in every word. “Seriously, how hard can it be to draw a picture?!”

Green leveraged himself to his feet, helping Blue do the same. “Guess we’ll find out.”

Back in the cellar, they found Red alone, sitting on the box under Hyrule's old chains. His face lit up when he saw them peeking around the corner, and he jumped up to meet them.

“Vio's taken the note to the Minish already,” Red told them quietly. “I talked him out of anything too complex – just a picture of a fairy and our sword inside a big building, plus the town and the path through the forest they’d need to take.”

Blue hummed his approval while Green asked, “Did he say how long he was going to be?”

Red shook his head. “He figured Hyrule would sleep for a pretty long time, so he wanted to forage for anything edible and refill our water skin on his way back.”

“Good call,” Blue commented, snatching up their pack to organize it again.

The three Colors set up a modified watch shift to while away the hours until Vio returned, allowing two of the Colors to clean and organize their pack or sleep while the third kept watch.

It was Green's watch when Vio arrived. He looked on silently as Vio dumped a bag full of mushrooms, berries, and nuts out on top of a barrel, along with some of the peculiar little cakes the Minish liked to make.

“Its not a lot,” Vio said quietly as he sorted, “but it’ll have to do. The Minish took the note, all we can do now is wait.”

Green nodded before resting a hand on his brother's shoulder, a small smile playing around his lips. “You’ve done plenty, Vio,” he declared. “Let’s get the others and rejoin. Hyrule doesn’t need the confusion of having four of us around, and the food will last longer if we’re all together.”

Green woke Red and Blue from their naps, then all three joined Vio in their circle of barrels. Four sword tips met in the circle’s center, and each Color smiled as the light flashed around them.

Four opened his eyes, taking a deep breath as his emotions settled. Every part of himself had been assured that they were doing all they could. They had food, they had water, and they had a time frame.

This time, he would keep his brother safe.

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