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“I trust you all to be sensible?”
“All round, a terrible decision really.”
“Shut up, Legend. Don’t make him change his mind.”
They were surrounded by people. Positively swamped. They’d tumbled through a swirling portal, taking a moment to breathe deeply through the nausea, and stood up to find themselves on the fringes of Skyloft’s biggest festival of the year - the Light Festival, celebrating Skyloft’s blessings from the Goddess Hylia. Multicoloured bunting and patterned paper lanterns hung above their heads, strung between every house. Little hand-made candle holders sat in most windows, endearingly painted by Skyloft’s children, and stalls selling everything - from street food to gorgeous, hand-crafted tapestries and fabrics - lined every street.
Calling it busy would be the understatement of the century. They were surrounded by happy faces and excited children, but Time couldn’t quite bring himself to appreciate the festivities.
“Just don’t go beyond the stalls without asking Sky, first.” He sighed, eyeing the crowd that only got denser with proximity to the bazaar Sky had pointed out. Their resident Skyloftian looked beside himself, clearly itching to get away and throw himself into the celebrations.
Time didn’t miss the way Legend seemed to be scrutinising him. He turned to the Vet, silently prompting the unspoken question. “And where are you going, old man?”
“I’m going to go find a bed to sleep in.” He said, taking a deep breath and levelling a squint toward the residential district behind them. “-Or maybe somewhere to get a drink.”
Warriors barked a laugh at that.
The group peeled off, Four pushing towards a stall advertising artisan sailcloths where Sky and Twilight were already chatting with the owner. Legend seemingly picked a direction and began walking - clearly eager to get lost in the crowd and simply browse in peace - and Time grimaced for Warriors, who’d somehow found himself herding Wind and Hyrule through the throng of people; if anyone was going to get lost in the festival it was those two.
“A-Actually. Time?” He turned toward the voice, surprised to see Wild still stood at his shoulder. The boy hadn’t said a word since they’d arrived, which wasn’t necessarily out of character - but a sudden realisation hit Time like a sack of bricks upon noticing the tense line of the champion's shoulders, and his fidgeting hands; Wild had likely never seen a festival before, let alone a crowd large enough to get lost in. His heart twisted slightly at the expression Wild wore - Overwhelmed, but diligently trying not to let it show.
“Can I come with you?”
He quickly placed a hand on Wild’s back, immediately steering him away from the masses. He felt the tension ease out of the boy with every step they took, putting distance between them and the festival.
“Of course,” Time scanned their surroundings, searching for somewhere they could relax. They came upon an arched bridge that spanned over a river, separating the plaza from a residential district, and the pair couldn’t help but stall a little, leant up against the low brick wall. Wild stared out at the large lake to their north, his longing painfully obvious.
“Let’s go rest on the bank down there, I’m sure Sky will be able to find us later.”
Skyloft really was unlike anything Time had seen before. It felt hard to believe that long ago, these floating islands had really existed in the sky above his homeland, soaring above the surface destruction. The view was spectacular, too. Water cascaded over the edge of the precipice, tumbling past the clouds below, and the sun seemed to make the lake glitter. It would surely look stunning come sun-down.
Wild sat on the lake bank, boots off and trousers rolled up to his knees kicking his feet back and forth slightly in the water. From where he was reclined against the grass, eyes closed with the sun warming his face, Time could hear the gentle splashes of the lake as the boy shifted, unwinding slowly.
“Better?” He asked, cracking an eye open and shielding his gaze from the midday glare to see Wild nod gratefully, smiling.
“I don’t remember ever seeing that many people in one place before.” The champion fiddled with his tunic, picking at the embroidery and hurrying to smooth it down again - a cycle of habitual nervousness and subsequent regret. He clearly cared for the garment immensely, as patched-up as it was. “I have some memories of course, from before the Calamity, but… they’re all just the five of us. Or just Zelda and I.”
Time hummed his acknowledgement. “And your towns are fairly close-knit, from what I recall.” Close-knit was the kinder way of putting it, and they both knew that.
Wild nodded. “Just wanted to get away.”
“I know how you feel.” Time lamented, not missing the curious glance Wild sent his way. He supposed the day was always going to come where he’d have to open up a bit about his adventures.
“Your Hyrule is vast, Wild, compared to ours, which makes it feel emptier somehow. But the settlements I grew up alongside had even fewer numbers at one point.” He sat up slowly, resolutely ignoring the pain in his lower back as he did so. The boys might tease him for being old, but he refused to actually believe it was true. No way.
“At one point,” Time paused, choosing his words carefully. “-I ventured out to find Goron City completely empty, save for one inhabitant. It was unsettling, to say the least.”
Wild nodded slowly, turning back to stare out over the lake.
“It’s just hard sometimes,” The boy’s voice was soft, but a fraction more relaxed. “I must’ve crossed every square inch of Hyrule during my adventure. Seeing the ruins… and then seeing a big crowd like this?”
Not for the first time on their journey together, Time found himself wishing things had been different for the poor boy. He’d had the worst deal of them all, by a wide margin, and it clearly took a toll on him sometimes. It was hard to watch, knowing there was very little he could do to help.
It didn’t mean he wouldn’t try.
“It’s easy to look at a festival like this," He began slowly. "-and long for what could have been, right? I won’t pretend I don’t do the same. Ganon left my Hyrule a wasteland, at one point.” Time scooted forward, and began kicking his own boots off. As he rolled up the cuffs of his trousers and carefully dipped his feet into the cool water of the lake, Wild shifted closer to him - ever so slightly. “-But it also reminds me how resilient my people are, and it makes me so proud of them. Don’t your people have any traditions they keep up? Any celebrations of their own?”
For a moment, Time thought the boy was going to cry, and his stomach lurched suddenly. Oh Nayru, did I make it worse? Please don’t tell me I made it worse.
But Wild just smiled, wistful and distant.
“Cado and Dorian insist on this traditional Kakariko lights show once a year. It drove Paya crazy with worry the year I was there to help, but Impa just cackled this impressive laugh and told her to lighten up." Wild seemed to shine as he spoke, radiant with the happiness he was drawing from the memory. "They use lanterns really similar to those, actually.” He pointed out toward Skyloft plaza, where the bustling festivities powered on. “-Except Dorain insists its tradition to float them down the river. It looks really beautiful.”
“Really?” Time said, letting himself grin at the mental image of his own Impa trying to organise such an event. It’d never happen. Must have originated sometime after him, then.
“Yeah, and the Rito do this music thing called Warbler’s Song; The girls are so fussy about their recitals for it, it’s kinda funny to watch them run rings around Kass while Amali takes a break for once.”
He settled in to listen to Wild’s stories on the lake bank, content just relaxing alongside him for the afternoon, and Time couldn’t help but smile. Managing to lift the boy’s spirits really was a blessing.
“I’ll take you all to the Hateno Chickaloo nut race. It’s so creative, I’ve never won but with the nine of us we’re sure to get someone in the top three.”
“A Chickaloo nut race?”
“C’mon Time, trust me! It’ll be fun.”