Shadow of the Fallen Lands

~Warriors~

Some may call me dramatic. Some may call me pathetic. Some may even decide to call me both in quick succession. They'd be wrong, of course, I'm not dramatic at all, nor am I pathetic, but... well... Before experiencing the portal, I was content. Happy. I had a stable life and an honourable job, but now, oh, now I was going to die. Lying on my back with an arm thrown over my eyes, I let out a weak little whimper, echoed by my companions' similarly strained voices. Swooning further into the ground's steady hold, my stomach swooped with the remnants of the portal vertigo. Choking away the burn of vomit in the back of my throat, Twilight helped me up to my feet.

"Easy, tiger. No, don' try that, you oaf- There ya go, that's better. Now how are ya feelin'?"

He patted up and down my arms when I didn't answer, running a hand over my forehead. Moving about as fast as a frozen chu-chu, my sluggish mind noted that I was truly starting to feel awful - the head pounding, gut churning, legs unsteady sort of awful. Leant heavily against the barreled chest of the Rancher, I focused my mind more on breathing than anything else. In hold, out, hold. Significantly calmer and, finally, aware enough to look about, I blocked out the fuzzy sight of Sky checking over Time that distracted me from my peripheral vision. A captain must stay focused, must be ready for anything. In unfamiliar territory, staying on our toes would be especially important. Though at that current moment, a Captain wanted to keel over and die.

 Sky's weak groan sounded just like how I felt, strangely hollow. Like all my bones were there, they were just not connected. Twi's strength kept me upright for now, however walking was going to be interesting

"That... oh Goddesses-" Sky fell sideways with an undignified flop into a wall, "Agh, woaah! Everything's spppinning-"  

"It seems we're all in one piece, at least for now," Time noted in the calmest tone he could muster, checking his armour for dents or scratches. 

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As the prone Sky was maneuvered carefully onto Time's back, I began to take steps around our crash site. Aside from the churned up smash in the soil from our landing, we were surrounded by well-watered green, speckled by straggly little white flowers. Six trees arranged in a hexagon enclosed us, a smaller stump sat perfectly in the center. Looking up, we appeared to be in a small grove, the trees fading away to the south of us. Another look over the stump yielded another surprise; someone sat on it. Staring straight at me, wide-eyed and curious, was a young boy. He tilted his head sideways, a grin breaking out on his childish features. Looking at him properly, I felt my heart sink. Voluminous blonde hair swooped over one blue eye to define his face, clothed in green. This child couldn't possibly be this Hyrule's Link... could he? Had we reached him before his journey even began? 

"Hey mister. What are you doing here?" Skipping towards me, he let his lips into a mischievous smirk. "Falling out the sky isn't a job for Princes."

Prince?! Excuse me?

"I suppose he's pretty fancy, but our Captain's not Royal any more than you are, I'm afraid."

Sky, whose wonky smile suggested that he was, in fact, about as dangerous as a lump of wet clay, limped over on Twilight's arm. "Oh, and... since we fell out the sky, would you mind please telling us where we are?"

I made sure to remember to check him for a concussion later.

Time's hulking form standing at my shoulder, almost a full head clear of my own, a warm series of woody notes and a snorty giggle answered us fairly soundly. Our only source of direction, whom I didn't trust as far as I could throw him, wasn't talking.

"Haha, oh, you're funny, misters! Really odd, hah! I can take you to Kakariko if you want, it's pretty close and you'll be able to ask for directions there. Sound good?" Playing a tune on his little flute and bouncing on his heels, the child awaited our decision.