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skyloftian-nutcase · 2 years

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Surf’s Up! (Linked Universe story)

@bokettochild I am honestly surprised I did, in fact, get this written before midnight lol. Anyway, enjoy! :)

Summary: When the Chain settles in early, Legend seeks out some peace and instead ends up having a very eventful evening. Because where Wild’s concerned, nothing can be peaceful... especially when you throw Sky and Warriors into the mix. Fluff, fun, and chaos with the knights and the veteran.

The clouds created an overcast, shrouding the world below in dull light. A cold chill blew through the trees, blowing what remained of the dead leaves off branches and onto the ground in cascades of dull brown. Legend absentmindedly stepped on a few, listening to them crunch under his boots. He kicked a rock off the beaten path, watching his breath materialize in front of him in a cloud of mist.

The group had set up camp early in the afternoon. With no monster sightings and a majority of the beasts eliminated, they were winding down in this particular era. It was nice, but it was almost too quiet. It made the veteran uneasy. He didn’t like not having a clear goal, and nothing about this adventure was clear.

He wished they had something to work with. A particular temple to go to, an item to collect, a particular destination to free. This new adventure was literally just wander around and hope you find something. This adventure felt more like aimless walking with an occasional idea of what was happening with no end in sight.

Legend’s thoughts were interrupted when he heard the clash of steel on steel. Alert, he hastened his steps, quickly making it to the other side of the trail into a small clearing. He slid to a stop when he saw Wild sitting on a hill looking ahead of Legend, the Master Sword on his back.

The veteran approached the champion slowly, his eyes tracing from the back of Wild’s head to the sword to wherever he was looking. The sound of blades making contact emanated from farther into the clearing, down the hill a ways, and he finally caught sight of the source.

Sky and Warriors were sparring.

Legend watched the two for a moment, marveling at Sky’s speed as he dodged another attack from the captain. It was always fun watching the others spar. Legend sometimes made bets on the outcomes, and any day where the captain got knocked onto his backside was a good day, honestly.

Shifting his attention to the champion, Legend asked, “You gonna go next?”

Wild jumped, his hand flying to the Master Sword, when he stopped himself.

Legend raised an eyebrow. “Boy, sure am glad you’ve got great situational awareness.”

Wild rolled his eyes. “Oh hush. You sneak around like a little critter, it’s not the same.”

“Right,” Legend quipped as he lowered himself to the ground, ignoring the mild ache in his knees. The ground was cold, and he shivered a little as his bare legs pressed against it. He pulled his knees to his chest. “Didn’t answer my question, though. Or did Sky already kick your butt?”

Wild huffed with a smile. “No, not yet. I’m just watching. Figured I’d learn something.”

“You could just ask him, you know.”

Wild looked at his lap, his hands fiddling with his tunic. When he said nothing, Legend prompted, “Something wrong with that?”

The champion sighed. “I… I used to be really good, apparently. He used to be really good. Anyway, I can barely remember anything these days.”

Legend pulled Wild’s ponytail, garnering his attention with a yelp. “Enough of the self-pity talk, Champion. You’ve more than held your own in battle, and if I recall correctly, you summarily annihilated Ganon. You’re more than capable, so don’t give me that crap. We’ve got enough self esteem issues rolling off of Traveler, I don’t need you adding to the drama.”

Wild looked at him with wide eyes for a moment before he shook his head and laughed. “I appreciate it, but I really wasn’t trying to be self-deprecating. I know I’m a capable warrior… and I do also wish Traveler would understand that he is too. But it’s not the same… I was a knight, and I thought I knew what that meant, but watching them…”

“Being a knight isn’t some big deal, you know,” Legend snapped. “Just because they have those titles slapped in front of their names doesn’t mean they’re special. Knights more often than not were the morons helping the enemy by getting themselves tricked and trying to stop me.”

Wild gave him a flat look. “That doesn’t mean they’re all like that, Vet.”

Legend shrugged. “Of course not. But it also doesn’t mean that you should think they’re amazing just because they’re knights. Sky and Captain have proven their worth, their status as knights didn’t do that for them. You’re no different.”

Wild hummed, looking at his lap once more. There was a yell and a grunt, and both Links looked below to see the captain on his back with Sky’s sword pointed at his face.

Legend clapped. “What a great sight to see, thank you Sky.”

The Skyloftian glanced up at them, eyes slightly widened in surprise, and then he quickly sheathed his sword and rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment. Then he reached down to help Warriors stand. The pair walked up to the two seated heroes, and Warriors made a scrunched face as he looked at Legend.

“Thanks for flashing us,” he remarked.

Legend let his legs slide to the ground in front of him. “I’m wearing shorts, you ass.”

“Still a frightening sight.”

Wild chuckled and unstrapped the Master Sword from his back, holding it out to Sky.

“Champion wants you to teach him some sword techniques,” Legend interjected.

Sky blinked, glancing at the champion. “Oh, really?”

Wild froze for a moment and then threw a sharp gaze in Legend’s direction. Then he sighed and closed his eyes, furrowing his brow. “Actually… yes.”

Sky smiled kindly. “Sure! Let’s go back down the hill.”

Warriors crossed his arms, tilting his head as he looked at Legend. “How about I teach you some fighting moves? You could probably use it.”

If looks could kill, the captain would be in pieces. “Pretty sure I’ve been fighting longer than you, so maybe I should be teaching you.”

The captain huffed. “Well how about we spar and you prove it?”

Legend shot to his feet. “Gladly.”

Stomping down the hill, Legend felt his foot slip on some damp leaves and suddenly his world shifted as he slid the rest of the way on his backside. His cheeks burned and he heard Warriors laughing hysterically.

“Are you okay?” Sky asked, kneeling beside him.

Legend smacked his helping hand away, embarrassed and irritated, and stood. “I’m fine.”

“Please teach me that move,” Warriors said as he caught up to him, his face glowing with amusement. “Does it have a name? Because I think the Veteran Slide would be a good one.”

“I slide like that all the time down sand embankments,” Sky noted with a shrug. “Can’t really stand on the moving sand anyway, you have to kind of run against the current.”

“Moving sand?” Wild asked. “It moves?”

Legend ignored the conversation, adjusting his shorts, which had ridden up and practically given him a wedgie during the tumble, and his tunic, which was now covered in dirt and moisture. Sighing, he looked up to see that Warriors’ attention had been directed to the other two, and he felt his annoyance fade just a hair. Thanks, Sky.

“Anyway, are you ready to get your butt kicked again?” Legend asked, drawing his weapon. “Because Sky’s not the only one who’s going to have that satisfaction.”

“Ha! If you say so, Vet, but remember this is a sword fight. No fancy items.”

Legend took a ready stance. “I don’t need my items to beat you.”

Warriors smirked at that, also steeling himself for the fight. The two circled each other briefly before Warriors took the first move. Legend dodged it easily; he’d watched Warriors and Sky fight, he’d fought alongside the captain, he could figure this out easily enough. The Pegasus boots allowed him to be quick on his feet, preventing Warriors from ever landing a blow on him. Although he dodged around the captain, he himself couldn’t land a hit either. Warriors’ defense was rock solid, to the point that Legend almost started to wear himself out at the effort – every time they locked blades he’d send a riposte towards the veteran, who would parry and move into a sequence of attacks that would nearly break through but was never enough. He took some satisfaction in seeing that Warriors was also sweating.

Changing tactics, he instead held his ground and let Warriors draw closer. When their blades met, he tried to use his off hand to grip the captain’s wrist and keep his sword at bay. The captain dropped to the ground the instant his fingers curled around his wrist, bringing them both down with a grunt. Warriors maneuvered his blade to Legend’s neck just as Legend did the same thing.

Both stared at each other, surprised and annoyed. Wild, who must have started watching at some point, whooped. “A draw!”

“Hmph,” Legend curled his lip, climbing off the disheveled captain. “That was a dirty trick. Not to mention dangerous – you could have skewered yourself let alone me.”

Warriors dusted himself off. “I had it completely under control.”

“Right. Hence the draw, yeah? Because you totally wanted to not win.”

“Maybe I just wanted you to feel better about yourself.”

“Maybe you just need more training.”

“Hey, I’ve got something that would be good training,” Wild chimed in. “It’s excellent for building core strength.”

“What is it?” Sky asked curiously.

Wild smiled, smacking his palm into his fist. “Shield surfing.”

Legend gave him a bewildered look. “Shield surfing? I’ve heard of regular surfing, but…”

Wild smiled maniacally.

The next thing the veteran knew, he had somehow been talked into hiking up the nearby mountain with the other three, with Wild insisting that he’d seen some ‘great trails’ and that the ground was ‘soft and slick,’ which apparently was perfect for shield surfing. Legend still wasn’t sure about that.

But at least he could get one last quip in as the four stood at the top of the track, side eying Warriors. “Guess you won’t be able to use my mirror shield to quaff yourself tomorrow morning.”

Warriors groaned, rolling his eyes. “I’m never going to live that down.”

“All right, I talked you guys through the basics,” Wild continued, ignoring the bickering. “So, whoever reaches the bottom first wins! Ready?”

Legend plopped his mirror shield on the ground and stepped on it, wobbling slightly in place, his shield hanging at the precipice, his heart in his throat. He hadn’t had a chance to get a good look at the trail (Wild had insisted it was obvious and wouldn’t be a problem, which rarely boded well). Warriors pinned his shield to the ground with one foot but hadn’t committed to balancing on it yet. Sky assumed a similar position to Warriors, his body tense with anticipation. Wild, however, kept his shield on his back.

What was he doing? Legend understood the game correctly, right?

“Three… two… one!”

Legend leaned forward and felt his stomach lurch as the shield tipped down the hill. He picked up speed fast, and he trembled as he tried to maintain balance. The shield rattled beneath him as it hit small stones and twigs, and he threw his hands out for balance. To his immediate left he saw Wild leap into the air and somersault before throwing his shield under his feet. Then he leaned forward and shot ahead.

“Hey!” Legend yelled. Oh, he was not losing that easily!

“See you at the bottom, Vet!” Warriors shouted from his right as he leaned away from him to dodge a boulder.

Legend gritted his teeth. He was not going to be last. He hadn’t seen Sky yet, so at least that was something.

The shield jerked under his feet, and he yelped, wobbling wildly and flapping his arms in an attempt to resituate himself. Doing so slowed his descent, which at least gave him the chance to reorient. In the process, Sky blazed by, completely at ease on his shield.

“Get back here, bird brain!” Legend bellowed, bending his knees and tipping forward as he willed himself to go faster.

Like hell was he coming in last, blast it!!

He accelerated quickly, and suddenly the cold wind was stinging his cheeks as his surroundings turned into a blur. He could see Sky just ahead, easily dodging a tree stump. He could see Warriors wobble and yelp as he almost fell off his shield. Wild was nowhere in sight.

Legend growled. He would get ahead. Narrowing his eyes, he lowered himself even more so his center of gravity was closer to the ground. As he did so, Warriors, who was just ahead on his right, wobbled too dangerously and his shield flew out from right underneath him. The captain went flying, landing on his back and rolling a ways down the mountain.

“Sucks to be you!” Legend yelled in delight as he passed him.

The trail, surprisingly, was pretty easy to spot. Legend simply had to avoid boulders and stay away from trees. He felt his adrenaline surge through him, giving him a rush like adventuring always did. This was admittedly quite fun if it weren’t for the anxiety of not knowing what came next.

The mountain suddenly seemed to lose its gentle slope, and the grading of the hill sharply increased. Legend’s speed nearly doubled, and his joy started to shift to terror as he felt almost out of control.

Legend yelled, the shield practically vibrating under him from the speed at which he was going, and a small rock was enough to launch him into the air. While in mid flight he could see the bottom of the mountain where Wild and Sky were standing, and he felt the bottom drop out of his stomach as his body finished its little arch and started to descend from the heavens. The ground became uncomfortably closer, and then—

Splat.

Legend landed flat on his face, groaning as the air was knocked right out of him (at least the packed leaves softened the blow) and slid on his face all the way to the bottom. He moaned when he stopped, not bothering to get up.

“Veteran’s in third place!” Wild whooped excitedly from somewhere ahead of him. “I think the captain got wiped out.”

Legend heard leaves crunch by his ear as Sky knelt beside him. “Are you okay?”

Legend grumbled into the leaves. He was fine, but his pride sure as hell wasn’t. He wasn’t going to get up. He refused.

“Wasn’t that fun?” Wild asked, seeming to understand that Legend wasn’t injured.

Sky’s hand settled on Legend’s back, and the knight laughed. “Yeah, it was. I need to find a way to go faster, though, that definitely wasn’t enough speed.”

“Wasn’t bad for your first go, honestly! I wiped out the first time I tried it.”

“Okay, but I need tips, how do I go as fast as you?”

“It’s all in how you—”

Legend grumbled again, ignoring the excitable chatter between the two. He heard crunching leaves behind him and the captain’s baritone said, “Well, that was interesting. I see I wasn’t the only one who had an exciting landing.”

“I’m glad you two are okay,” Sky said before adding, “Let’s go again!”

“YES!” Wild yipped in delight.

Legend finally lifted his face, spitting out leaves. “Great. This’ll be fun.”

He really should have put his foot down after that first round. Instead, he and the captain trudged up after the other two, who were cackling like excitable cuccoos. As they lined up again, Legend smirked at Warriors.

“Maybe you’ll actually get to the bottom this time.”

Warriors stiffened, annoyed. “Yeah, and I won’t do it on my face.”

Legend crossed his arms. “I still finished the race. You’re just a sore loser.”

“Ready guys?”

The two glared challengingly at each other and nodded for the champion.

Round two went better. Legend knew what to expect this time, and he could plan accordingly. What he didn’t plan for, however, was Warriors hovering close to him.

“What are you doing?!” he yelled over the wind.

“You’re hogging the smoothest part of the track!” Warriors shouted back.

“You jerk, get to your own part of the track!”

“There isn’t a set path for any one of us!”

“Maybe you should just be better at this so you don’t wipe out!”

“Maybe you shouldn’t hog the smoothest trail!”

He really shouldn’t have taken his eyes off the trail.

Legend’s shield abruptly stopped moving while his body continued, and he realized only too late that he’d smacked right into a tree root. His body lurched once more, and he finally decided that yes, this was the last round.

Particularly when he landed foot first and his ankle rolled.

Yelling out, his body fell sideways and he tumbled briefly before clawing into the ground in an attempt to slow his descent. He finally stilled, but he heard Warriors’ own shield quickly coming closer. Looking up in horror, he saw the captain heading straight for him while desperately wiggling his arms in an attempt to avoid hitting him.

When it became apparent that Warriors did not have enough control over his shield to properly dodge, he instead jerked his body hard to the left, shooting the shield into the air for some undetermined distance and letting him land on his hip and tumbled immediately in front of the veteran.

Warriors slid to a halt, lightly bouncing against the veteran, and groaned.

Blowing out a breath of relief, Legend laid back on the ground, trying to ignore the throbbing in his ankle.

“You alright?” the captain asked breathlessly.

Legend bit his lip, debating, and then admitted it. “Pretty sure I just twisted my ankle.”

Warriors grunted as he sat up, brushing dirt and leaves off himself. “Well, at least it isn’t worse.”

Legend huffed, about to protest that it was actually pretty awful, thank you very much, ankles were so temperamental it was oftentimes easier to break a bone than deal with a sprained ankle.

Instead of saying any of this, though, he yelped as Warriors pulled him onto his back and held him there by supporting him under the legs.

“Put me down!” Legend immediately protested at being carried piggyback style. “I’m not a kid!”

“You want to walk on it?”

Silence.

“That’s what I thought.”

It was quiet as Warriors carefully made his way down the mountain. The more he struggled with his footing, the worse Legend felt. He knew he was useless right now, and he hated it. Maybe he could just slide the rest of the way down the mountain, but he doubted it would end well. He just had to be dependent on the captain. He hated being dependent on anyone, but after the last incident with Twilight… he was learning to grow less hostile about it.

Legend sighed, grabbing his wrist with his other hand and creating a loose hold around Warriors’ neck. “Thanks.”

Warriors hummed, and the veteran could hear his smile in his tone. “Of course.”

He felt his heart grow warm, and he poked the captain in the chest with his thumb. “If I hadn’t crashed I would have totally beaten you.”

Warriors laughed. “You keep telling yourself that.”

When the two reached the bottom, Sky and Wild both immediately approached. “What happened?”

“Just a twisted ankle, nothing too serious,” the captain explained. “But I think the two of us are done with shield surfing for the day.”

Wild immediately looked guilty, and Legend rolled his eyes. “Quit your stupid blaming and go for another round, I know you two are dying to.”

They hesitated, glancing at each other, when the captain gave them the permission they were looking for. “We still have a bit of daylight yet. Go on. One more round.”

Their faces brightened, and Wild grabbed Sky by the wrist, saying, “Okay, so since you still want to go faster, I have great idea, I’ll just use the stasis rune and you’ll be having the time of your life!”

Wild and Sky’s happy laughs and enthusiastic words dissipated after a time, and the two sat at the bottom awaiting their return. Warriors gently settled Legend on the ground against a tree and out of the way for when they returned.

Patting Legend on the shoulder, he said, “Well, I guess we’ll just wait. It doesn’t take long to climb back up there, I think.”

“Yeah,” Legend agreed and then the two sat there awkwardly.

Great. This was going to be fun. He knew the quiet wouldn’t last long; Warriors was among the chattiest of the group.

As if on cue, Warriors questioned, “You think we have more monsters to track in this area? We haven’t found a portal, after all.”

Legend sighed. “I doubt the Shadow would make it that easy for us, so probably.”

Warriors hummed, leaning back and cupping the back of his head with his hands as he settled against a tree beside Legend. “You do fight well, you know.”

Legend raised an eyebrow at him. “Hm?”

“Our sparring from earlier. You’re a great warrior.”

“I know that.”

Warriors laughed. “You’re almost as bad as me, you know.”

Legend smirked. “Nah, I don’t come close to your arrogance, oh mighty Captain.”

“If you say so, Mr. My-Nickname-Will-Remind-Everyone-That-I’m-Clearly-Good-at-This.”

Legend choked on his spit, spluttering and coughing. “Why you little—!”

“Easy there, I wouldn’t try to fight me now, you’ll be hopping all over the place. I don’t think I’ll be able to take it seriously.”

Legend rolled his eyes. “I’d probably still kick your ass.”

Warriors barked out another laugh, filled with joy. “You know, with your items you just might!”

With a smile cutting through the scowl he’d previously had, Legend chuckled and sighed, relaxing.

This adventure was definitely interesting and unpredictable, but he could live with that. He may not know what tomorrow would bring, but at least he knew he had his brothers at his side.

It was actually kind of… nice.

“WOOOOOOHOOOOOOO!!!!!”

The peace of the moment shattered as both Legend and Warriors looked around wildly before glancing upward, following the sound. A small speck of a person was flying at a velocity Legend couldn’t even fathom, and the speck quickly vanished into the tree line.

“What the f—”

Wild abruptly slid into the clearing, his face flushed and mildly panicked. “Guys!”

Warriors and Legend both looked at him at the same time, immediately knowing.

“What. Did. You. Do.”

Wild laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his head.

Legend groaned, rubbing his face with his hand. Okay, sometimes it was nice. Other times…

Oh, who was he kidding? He enjoyed it, chaos and all.

#Legend is pushy and rough around the edges and I love him for it #Sky can canonically walk on tightropes this boy has the core strength and balance of a god #Wild is a gremlin #Sky wanted to be a speed demon so Wild yeeted him into the next continent #this is what happens when you leave those two unsupervised #the amount of times I threw poor Legend into the dirt for this story is honestly alarming #I am so sorry #Warriors and Legend are bickering besties #and yes Warriors is absolutely a sore loser #linkeduniverse #linked universe #lu warriors #lu legend #lu sky #lu wild #writing

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