Chosen Heroes

Easy Trust

Link groaned and stretched, raising his arms above his head.

"Wait...arms?" he thought as he glanced down at himself noticing the red plumage had disappeared. He laughed thinking that he must be dreaming and shook his head. The man scanned his surroundings unnerved to find it unrecognizable. These trees didn't look like the ones in Faron woods. They were closer together and darker in color. When he turned his gaze to the ground on his right, he was surprised to find his kid laying there. The child he watched grow into the hero he was supposed to be.

"Link?" He called worriedly as he crouched next to his successor. The younger Link didn't move, eyes still closed.

The knight of Hylia gently brushed the fluffy dark blond hair away from his kid's eyes and shook his shoulder.

The boy woke up almost mirroring what he had done earlier. He gasped when he noticed the man, instinctively reaching for the sword strapped to his back.

The stranger raised his hands, eyebrows brought together in concern.

The boy hesitated and rolled away from the strange man before standing, soft blue eyes scanning him cautiously. The stranger was wearing a battle-worn green tunic, gold armor and a crimson red cape. The Skyloftian studied his face before relaxing.

"Who are you? You don't look like an enemy," the hero of the skies asked carefully.

The man answered as he stood, "I'm not your enemy. I'm Link, Hylia's appointed knight who was killed in the battle against the Demon King Demise."

The younger Link was visibly confused.

"I destroyed him."

Hylia's knight smiled sadly, "Yes. You did what I couldn't. Unlike the Demon King you faced, the one I fought was in his absolute power. Thank you for finishing what I was meant to do."

"How? How are you here? Where even is here? This doesn't look like Faron Woods," the young hero inquired, his expression growing more and more perplexed.

The older observed the thick forest and sighed, "Honestly, I'm as much at a loss as you. You're not wrong either. This isn't like Faron."

"We should probably get moving. The faster we get to civilization the better," he continued as he started his way to the left. The hero of the skies stayed silent seemingly pondering his options. Absentmindedly, he drew his sword. His breath hitched when he noticed the familiar glow of blue on the blade and the purple hilt.       

"Fi?...What?...How?" He gasped running his fingers along the flat of the blade. Meanwhile, the knight of Hylia disappeared in the trees. A few seconds later he reappeared.

"Are you coming, Link?"

"...Yes. Are you sure we're supposed to go that way? This place has a strange feel to it," said Link answered, barely shaking away the disbelief, sheathing the master sword and walking over to the other hylian.

"I'm sort of following my gut. Also do you hear that? It's coming from this way." The leaves crunched beneath their feet as they trek through this mysterious woods. Fog crawled along the ground eerily. They kept on while strange sounds echoed from an unknown source.

"You weren't kidding about the odd feeling, kid. I hope we won't be in here much longer."

"Me too," the Skyloftian agreed in a hushed voice.

Suddenly, a howl let loose in the air followed by another.

  The duo tensed and equipped themselves.

  A wolfo leapt out of the stirring fog. It lunged at red caped hero, who raised his shield just in time as to not get mauled by its claws. Quickly, he slashed at it with his blade causing it to shrink back into the cloak of fog. He glanced back at the younger hero who was fighting another wolfo. He delivered two swift diagonal slashes before it also retreated.

He faced the older knight with a small smile before yelling, "Move!"

    With lightning speed, he performed a spin attack and final blow on the wolfo preparing to pounce on the unsuspecting hero.

The older Link was stunned for a second before raising his guard once more. The second wolfo lunged at him growling. Ready this time, he dodged and sliced its side. With one last howl it fell dead. Sighing softly, he turned to check on his protege.

"You okay, Link?"

"Yeah. You?" replied the younger as he hurried to his previous incarnate's side.

"Fine." When Hylia's knight spotted some scratches on his kid's neck, he frowned. "We better clean those so they don't get infected," he said as he gestured to the wound.

"Huh?" The younger hero touched the area and his fingertips came away red. "Oh."

"Come on. Let's get out of here first."

As they continued on through the woods, the hero of the skies furrowed his brow in thought.

"Link, do you find it strange to be using the same name to refer to each other?" he asked curiously with a tilt of his head. "I mean it's not too bad, but it may get complicated later on."

"True. Well, what do you suggest we do?" the other responded smiling fondly at his shorter companion.

"Well, we should pick nicknames I guess." The teen scratched the back of his head as he thought. The Link from a time long past nodded and gripped his chin in thought.

"I suppose so. There really isn't anything else we can do," he replied. "Hm... I don't have any ideas as of now."

A warm smile graced the young hero's features.

"Don't worry about it. We don't know how long we'll be in... whatever this situation is. You'll most likely have a lot of time."

"That doesn't mean we can't work on them though," Hylia's knight added with a grin. "We should probably choose ones that point out a characteristic that differs between us."

The two Links walked on through the eerie woods. Although the environment was dark and chilling, the company they shared brought comfort to both of them. They kept their guard up as well after a few more run-ins with monsters. As they continued, the hylians compared each other in hopes that they would come up with a decent nickname.

"You were around before Skyloft, right?" the sky child asked, watching the silvery-blond nod in clarification. "I'm also known as the hero of the skies as well as the chosen hero..."

"How about Sky?" suggested the fallen hero, the corners of his mouth quirking up in amusement. Inwardly, he was trying not to coo at how cute the name was. It fit his kid perfectly.

"Sky" blushed, "I suppose... I actually like it, but it'll take some getting used to."

"It suits you."

"Thank you." Sky replied quietly, bashfully glancing at his boots. He shifted his gaze back to his companion. "Now how bout you? Earlier you mentioned you were Hylia's chosen knight."

"Yeah. I'm also known as the chosen hero, like you." The man laughed. "I'd prefer not to be called Knight or something like that."

"What about Chosen? It wouldn't bother me at all." Sky put forward.

"That will work," the newly proclaimed Chosen agreed.