Chapter Text
A loud wail broke the soft silence that blanketed Lon Lon Ranch, like a sharp wound inflicting on the peaceful night. A light appeared in one of the windows, the large house overlooking the fields that housed the animals that occupied the ranch, the inhabitants awakening as the crying continued.
Ruffling a calloused hand through his blonde hair, Time groaned as his wife, Malon, grumbled beside him. This had been the third time they had been woken up that night, both of them wishing the crying would subside so they could fall back to sleep.
“It’s your turn, Fairy boy. I fed him last time.” Malon grumbled out, throwing a hand back to smack her husband gently on his chest.
“I know, I know. I’m going don’t worry.” Time’s gruff voice spoke up, pushing himself off of the bed and heading down the hall once he left the bedroom.
The crying had gotten louder, the elder wincing as he creaked the door open. His blue eye softened at the sight that greeted him, moving quickly towards the makeshift crib that sat in the corner of the room. A quick glance towards the bed on the other side showed that two other toddlers slept soundly, Time being a bit jealous that they could manage to sleep through the racket.
Placing his hands on the edge of the crib, he sighed as he watched the infant continue to cry, bending down and gathering the little boy in his arms. The crying subsided for a moment, before sobs wracked his little chest again, clutching onto Time’s night shirt as he began to cry again.
Moving out of the room, bouncing the baby in his arms as he headed down stairs. The soft lull of the fireside lit the small living area up in a sunset orange hue, Time sitting in the comfortable arm chair as he readjusted the child in his arms.
“Come on Wind, it’s alright.” He cooed, bouncing the boy as the crying slowed down, the boy looking wide awake by the minute.
Time smiled softly, but it did not reach his eyes. He wished he was not in this situation, all of his boys being affected by an infected Wizzrobe. It was a normal travelling day for the band of Links, having arrived in Time’s Hyrule a few moments before. Their main goal was to reach the ranch by nightfall, as the boys deserve a break.
Unfortunately fate was not on their side, as only a moment later a portal opened up in front of them, spitting out a mangled Wizzrobe, it’s species seemingly combined from both of Legend and Wild’s Hyrule’s respectively. It had aimed a blast towards the group, Time managing to get out of the way as he sliced the monster in half with his Biggoron sword. As he turned around, his mouth fell open. Instead of eight Heroes of Hylia, there now stood eight children, ranging from the ages of one years old to the oldest being nine. The youngest, obviously Wind, was on the ground, tears streaming down his round cheeks. Warriors, now nine years old, quickly grabbed the baby, calming him down and wrapping him in his blue shirt. Wild and Four, he assumed, sat nearby, Wild reaching for a bug on the floor whilst Four looked on in disgust. They both looked to be around three and four, Wild obviously being the youngest out of the two. Hyrule is behind Legend, tiny for his age, which Time assumed was around five years old, Legend, now six, standing in front of him and glaring at anything that came close to them. Sky stood near the group, eyes round, he seemed to be the same age as Four. That now left Twilight, the eight year walking towards Time, nearly tripping over his clothes.
“I think we are going to need Malon.” He spoke, voice higher in pitch.
Time couldn’t agree more.
His ear flicked towards the stairwell that led into the area, turning his head around as he avoided Wind’s curious hands trying to grab his nose. Warriors stood at the bottom of the stairs, dawned in a sleeping gown with a small object in his hand. Time smiled softly, using his free hand to beckon the kid over.
“What are you doing up for?” Time questioned, moving Wind to his other side so the other blonde child could clamber onto his lap.
“Wind woke me up, I had to help Hyrule fall back to sleep. I brought this down, it should help Wind to get back to sleep.” He opened his hand as he spoke, revealing the soother that Time forgot to pick up when he originally got Wind from the crib.
“Thank you Warriors, you can go back to sleep now.” Time suggested, placing the soother into Wind’s mouth. He sagged in relief as he did so, watching the youngest relax before snuggling back into Time’s side, falling asleep.
“I’m okay Time, I have trouble sleeping anyway. And being this small again isn’t helping, I feel useless.” Warriors responded, sticking his tongue out.
Time chuckled, ruffling the kid’s hair as Warriors pouted in response.
“Well I need to get Wind back into his crib, so how about I make you some of my best hot chocolate to help you fall back to sleep.”
Warriors perked up at that, slipping off Time’s lap before putting his arms out.
“I’ll put him back, I had to do it with my younger sisters. Get started on that hot drink old man.” Warriors headed back up the stairs once Time deposited a sleeping Wind into his arms.
Heading towards the kitchen, he grabbed a pan and some milk before placing it on the hob. He reached to grab some cocoa beans, grinding them up before placing them in the milk, stirring it until he left it to simmer.
As he turned around to grab two mugs, he jumped at the sight of glowing eyes staring at him from the shadows. After calming down, he instead grabbed three mugs, putting them on the counter before turning back to his unexpected visitor.
“Didn’t expect you to be up as well pup.” Time spoke up, walking over to pick up the eight year old as he clambered out from the shadows. Twilight went with ease, burying his face into the crook of Time’s neck.
“They snore too loud, Pa.” Twilight whispered, tightening his grip on his relative.
That was another thing, they had all resorted to calling Time and Malon, besides Warriors, Ma and Pa. Malon found it adorable, taking to it straight away, Time found it funny, teasing the older boys but still proud that they saw him as a Father Figure.
Chuckling at the boy, Time turned back around, using one hand to pour the hot chocolate into the mugs. He placed Twilight’s hands back down as the boy reached for the beverage, informing him that it would be too hot to touch right now.
By the time Warriors had returned, Time deemed it cool enough for the boys to drink. They sat around the table, Twilight refusing to leave Time’s side. Quiet giggles had surrounded the gentle atmosphere, Warriors telling stories of what pranks he used to pull in his knight training. Time would chatasize him, if not for being guilty of pulling pranks himself.
Once the drinks were finished, and the boys were nodding off, Time stood up and scooped Warriors into his other arm, heading back to the boy’s shared room. Four, Legend and Hyrule occupied one of the king sized beds on one side of the room, huddled into a cuddle pile as they snored peacefully, the other bed was left empty, Time deducting that Twilight and Warriors decided to share.
Warriors went down with ease, whispering a good night before passing out then and there. Twilight, however, refused to let go, wide blue eyes never leaving Time’s face.
“I wanna stay with you and Ma!” He protested, causing Time to chuckle.
Heading out and towards his bedroom, he laid Twilight down first, Malon waking up and throwing her arm around the little one. Twilight giggled as her hair tickled his face, Twilight pushing her gently whilst squealing.
“Ma, Ma it tickles!”
“Well good, trying to sneak in are ya?” She replied, planting a kiss on his cheek as the boy snuggled into her arms.
Time clambered in beside them, dimming the lantern before turning towards his Wife and child.
“Good night Dear. Sleep well Pup.”
“Night Pa!” Twilight chirped up before settling down, his breathing evening out after a few minutes, Malon following him.
Time watched as they slept, smiling as he took in the sight. But as cute and domestic as it was, he needed to figure out how to get his boys back to normal.