Linked AU One-Shots

3. The First (and Last) Time Hyrule and Wild Were Paired Together

The prompt for this was "Wild and Hyrule being buddies." I took about an hour out of the 5 allotted. 

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

The Chain had all been traveling together for a few months before, for the very first time, Wild and Hyrule found themselves alone with one another. With a large group of nine, there wasn't many chances that they dared to split up into pairs for extended periods of time. The closest they usually got were the night watches, where in particularly dangerous areas, they may double up on shifts. But in any case, for whatever the reason, this was the first two these two in particular had been left alone together. With no current mission since they were once again dumped into a new era without explanation, the group had decided to gather resources and intel in the meantime. Wild had been eager to run into the forest to gather more food and take pictures on his slate, not even waiting for permission. It had been Hyrule that had chased after him, knowing that no member should ever be alone for extended periods of time.

For awhile, the traveler merely followed Wild; for never being in that era, the man sure seemed to know exactly where he was going. He tore through the brush the same way he did in his era. True to his name, he was almost like an animal that fit in the wilderness perfectly. Hyrule didn't even have time to really think of speaking, or remembering where he was going for the matter, because he had to nearly sprint to keep up. He stumbled through the rocks, twigs and uneven ground where Wild seemed completely unfazed.

When Hyrule was finally able to catch him, Wild had his knees bent, leaning over some plant as he took a picture of it on his slate. "How do you... move so fast... and still know where you're going..." Hyrule huffed, leaning over as he tried to catch his breath. He was grateful that he at least had a few moments to not feel like he was in battle with the terrain itself.

"Oh, I don't." Wild only shrugged, turning to show his friend a smile, as though he didn't have a care in the world.

His words made Hyrule pale. "Wait, then... how do you remember which way we came from...?" He asked, suddenly feeling a bout of nervousness growing within his stomach. Something told him that the answer was...

"Oh, I don't!" Wild somehow grinned even wider, even chuckling to himself. He stood up. Holding up his slate for the other to see rather himself. His fingers started tapping. He was so familiar with the action that he didn't even have to look to know what to press. "You see, my slate has a map of the entirety of Hyrule! I never need to worry about getting all mixed up, so I can wander to wherever my heart desires!"

But Hyrule narrowed his eyes at the screen, the nervousness building inside of him although he tried to ignore it. He poked the screen a few times as he tried to make sense of what he was seeing. "But... Wild, how do you..." He cleared his throat. He may be unable to read maps, but something about the pixelated sea of white, gray and black seemed off to him. "Is that really what a map looks like?" he asked, prompting the other to hum in confusion.

The hylian swiveled the screen towards himself and then gasped in surprise. The sound made Hyrule flinch, his worries confirmed. "I– I forgot the map function doesn't work when I'm away from home. Uhhh...." His blue eyes slowly lifted up, peering into Hyrule's own. "H-hey Roolie...?"

The man's eyes widened as he paled even more. "H-hey uhh.... Did the others ever tell you the time I took a wrong turn and ended up two hours North-South from everyone?" He let out a breathless chuckle, averting Wild's gaze. Wolfie had to track him down, and Time lectured him for quite awhile after that.

"Uh, I think you mean Nouth." Wild hummed, causing the other to puzzle.

"Is that what it's really called?" A nod. Hyrule shook his head, reminding him that stupid directional terms he barely understood weren't important right now. "Well in any case, Time told me if I ever get lost again, I should stay put and wait to be found – that way, they don't have to chase me going the opposite direction."

But Wild only shook his hand, chuckling to himself as he clipped his slate back in. "But we're not lost, Rule! We're taking a detour! We can just do some exploring while we slowly meander back. Surely, it can't be that hard to find the way back, right?"

"Right..." he replied, trying to smile in a way that didn't look like he was about to get mauled. Without waiting for anything else, Wild began walking again in a direction Hyrule could only hope was the right way. Something in him told him it wasn't, or wouldn't be soon, that they were hopelessly lost already, but he tried to reason: surely, no one had as bad navigational skills as him? Right? Right?!

What was it that Time had told him in that lecture? Oh yeah, leave a trail... He silently grabbed a pinecone and began breaking pieces off, dropping them about every few meters or so. He did so in silence for a few minutes before he figured he should say something. "Hey Wild?" he asked, earning himself a hum in response. "I was thinking... You know, as the healer, maybe I should learn how to make potions. I mean– it's great that you do, but it would be nice for multiple of us to know how to in case you get hurt." he explained.

He couldn't help but notice how yet again, he was trailing behind someone, just assuming they had more of a clue where they were going. He stopped when Wild did, peering up at a distinctive tree. He glanced to the left, and then to the right as if debating which way to go. "Say, do you remember–?" He began to ask, but Hyrule was quick to shrug. "Left it is then." He pointed before heading that way, Hyrule just internally grimacing. With that settled, Wild returned to the conversation "Well, I suppose it would be a good idea, but I'm not sure if you'd be able to."

"How come?" Hyrule tilted his head.

Wild only shrugged. "Well, I'm not saying that I can't try to teach you, but I'm not sure how much precision it takes. I relate it to cooking personally, but I'm not sure if being a bad cook automatically makes you a bad brewer."

"Ah..." Hyrule hummed with a frown.

"You know what? Screw it. Let's grab the ingredients for a potion and we can see for ourselves. We have the time." Wild grinned, causing his comrade to break into a smile as well.

"What first, then?" He asked.

"First we need a bug. Just grab the first one you see and we can make do with what monster parts we have on hand." Wild replied, patting his slate almost affectionately.

"Wait– you mean when we drink potions, we're actually drinking–?!" Roolie almost gagged at the very thought of drinking bug and monster juice of all things. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea, after all.

"Yup!" Wild only laughed, pausing to place his hands on his hips. How he could be completely unphased by this was beyond Roolie's understanding, but he forced himself to calm down as Wild began to race away again. "Now come on, I see a butterfly over there!"

The two of them would spend the next half hour gathering various bugs before they settled down by a campfire to attempt to create potions. By the time two hours had passed, they had 3 healing potions, two electric potions, an underwater potion, two stealth potions, and a disgruntled wolf followed by six rather disappointed-looking heroes. But despite the oncoming lecture, Hyrule couldn't help but cradle his very first potion to his chest, smiling softly. Maybe him and Wild ought to wander off together more often.