Shadow of the Fallen Lands

~Twilight~

Warriors, despite his prissy attitude, was immediately part of the pack. Since we'd set off during the early hours, he'd lead the group through wood and over plain with the certainty of a cart horse, in step with Time down even to the length of their strides. Following the swish of his obnoxious blue scarf was easy enough to do without thinking, so I idled away the journey by talking with Sky. Eyes drawn to the Captain before us, the steady thump of his boots citing his perfect stride, I hummed. He had a certain certain authority about him that suggested he was born into nobility, whether it be the vain glint in his eye or the discipline of his movements that gave me that impression I wasn't sure, but it made for a convincing facade of competence. Catching his eye, I stared back at Sky's scuffed boots.

"He's so regal, isn't he," A soft laugh from my companion broke the comfortable silence, "Almost makes me want to bow to him."

I shrugged, noncommittal. 

"I mean, I get yer point, bu' I've never bowed to anyone, not even my Zelda."

I got a wide-eyed look in response that I chose to ignore in favour of Time halting his march.

"Right, boys, at ease. We'll set up here for today." The eldest of us clapped me on the shoulder, idly casting his gear to the side. "We're sheltered enough here to not be noticed."

Chucking my stuff down next to the others', I squatted beside the confused looking Warriors. His blonde brows furrowed in thought, he stirred the concoction in his pot with a tentative hand. Glancing to me with wide royal blues, he gave a tense smile.

"Twilight, help, I uh... I don't know what I'm doing."

Oh. Yet another addition who didn't know a thing about how to cook. Great. Though, after ingesting his creation, the opinion was generally that the food was a notable improvement over Sky's culinary failures, which often turned stomachs by just being mentioned. Wars' wasn't much better, but, at the very least, it didn't kill any of us. Sitting back on the ground, I turned to watch the sun set. Heart squeezing in the firm, breaking pressure of loss, I inclined my head in remembrance of her. Goddesses, I missed her. Back in the village, Ilia always said that heartache faded over time; my feelings must be too raw to go away. A warm hand placed itself on my hand, a small mutter of something supportive that passed me by, before I was left alone by the embers of the fire.

 The moon had risen to rule the sky, her crescent a blinding light arrow overhead; I was stuck tapping out the notes to Zelda's Lullaby in the dirt beside my bedroll, eyes too light to sleep. Turning over yielded only a new dirt patch to tap on, my abrupt insomnia making my legs itch to do something. Tossing again, I kicked a leg out to the ground, wriggling to get comfy. No use, I was still just as awake as before. Huffing, I shut my eyes, just focusing on the sounds around me, the swish of trees, an insect's call, little snippets of the night's residents, before I caught hushed, quiet muttering. I opened one bleary eye, subtly inclining my body up to have a look over to the  source of the noise. 

A soft turn onto my side allowed me to see Time and Warriors, backs to the bedrolls, whispering to each other with alight smiles. Like they were joking together. Like they were siblings. Like they already knew each other prior to this hellscape of a journey. It was nice to see the old man smiling for once, instead of the hard line his mouth has so often been set into over the days of our travels. Turning my back to them, Sky's soft, sleepy breaths provided a relaxant to my head. Soothed, my slowed thoughts turned to my teacher, a Shade so old that he had moss stop his helmet, teaching me sword techniques lost to time just to pass on his legacy. Fatherly, almost, in the stern way that he had scolded me, guided me, taught me. His armour looked different, but his manner was the same. Time reminded me of the Hero's Shade. It couldn't be a coincidence.