Work Text:
As soon as Wind woke up, the sky turned gray. He groaned attempting to sit up as his cloud thundered above him.
"Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning," Warriors joked before sitting next to him and asking an empathetic, "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," Wind grumbled, attempting to wave off the cloud, only for it to return. He made a noise of defeat. "I would expect rain today if I were you."
"That's fine," Warriors said with a shrug. "But is there anything you want to talk about?"
Wind thought for a moment before shaking his head. "I honestly don't know what's wrong. I'm sure it'll pass."
Warriors shrugged. "If you say so."
While Wind's cloud did leave and the sky lightened considerably, when they switched worlds it only got worse.
"This is my time."
"Then why is your cloud so dark?"
Wind sighed, before gesturing around, revealing they were on a small island the shape of a bomb, but a hole with a tall pillar in the small lake. "My time is an ocean. The only way we're gonna get anywhere is if I contact Tetra and use her ship. And she is very… strict about me keeping up good weather."
"Is that why you were so emotionally unstable when we met!?" Four shouted, angry. Legend covered his ears, but looked at Wind with slight concern.
Wind shrugged. "Maybe. A storm at sea really isn't a good idea so…"
"That isn't an excuse to!..." Four took a deep breath, speaking calmer. "That isn't an excuse to dictate how you feel. With us treating you like a normal person, the only time your gift effected the weather other than right above you was this morning. Other than that it was positive!"
"You all got sunburnt because I saw a group of puppies." When Wind mentioned the animals the cloud disappeared as if the mere thought of them literally brightened his mood.
"Nothing my cooking can't fix," Wild said with a shrug.
Wind shrugged. "It's fine. If you want to talk to her, I won't stop you, but I'll do my best to make sure we don't get caught in a storm." He pulled a stone with a string forming a handle around it from his bag and spoke into it. "Tetra?"
After a few long seconds a female voice came from the rock. "Link? Is that you?"
"Yup. It's me."
"Oh thank goodness. I thought I'd never see you again! Where are you?"
"Needle Rock island. Hylia decided it’s time for me to go on another adventure with other heroes from across the timeline. No end in sight, but we’ll need a ride."
There was some muffled shouting on the other end, Legend telling them she was ordering the crew to set sail a different direction.
"We're on our way," Tetra said. "How are you feeling?"
Wind rolled his eyes, a few wisps of cloud appearing over his head. "Clear Skies."
"Fantastic. We'll be there before the hour ends."
"Bye." Wind put the rock back in his pocket, stood still for a moment, then let out a sound of pure frustration as Thunder crashed in his cloud.
"Wind?" Warriors asked in concern.
Wind let out a shaky breath and gave a grim smile. "Great. I'm thundering." He paised, muttering mostly to himself. "And a Thunder can lead to a drizzle. And a drizzle can lead to a sprinkle!" He stopped, taking deep breaths. "Clear Skies. Clear Skies." The clouds dispersed into the sky around them and he smiled, letting out a breath. "Clear Skies."
Four went next to him, worried. "Wind, was this how you've been living since you got your gift? Always needing to suppress your feelings just so the weather will be nice?"
Wind smiled at them. Despite the weather being clear, the smile still seemed fake. "It's fine! We'll just do what we need to in this world, and then the portal will bring us somewhere and I can feel whatever I want."
Time placed a hand on Wind's shoulder, kneeling to be closer to his height. "Wind. That is a temporary solution to an ongoing problem. What will you do when this adventure is over? When you’re with Tetra and the rest of the crew all the time? What then?"
Wind's face fell and a cloud imediendly began to slowly soak his clothes. He looked down towards the floor and Time pulled him in for a hug. Others joined around him as the sky turned gray.
A few seconds after the grey began to spread, a buzz was felt and Wind pulled the stone from his pocket. "Link? I can see the gray. Did those other people say something to you?"
Wind wiped a single tear from his cheek before simply saying. "We all need to have a talk. It can wait till you get here."
Around 30 minutes later, there was a circle of people sitting on the island. Half of the circle was the ships crew, the other half were heroes across time. Right in the middle of the heroes, was the Hero of Winds, cloud raining above him as rain a little lighter fell as far as the eye could see.
"Um, Link?" A short man with a red and white striped shirt said, hesitant. "Do you think you can…" He motioned to the sky, clearly asking about the rain and if he could stop it. The only thing that happened was it beginning to rain harder as Wind hugged himself.
"Link?" Tetra, right across from him in the circle, asked. Concern in her voice.
Wind let out a shaky breath, trying to talk but unable to. He looked at the other heroes for help and Four placed a hand on his back, breaking the silence. "You all need to stop managing Link’s emotions."
"What are you talking about?" Tetra asked.
Wild spoke up. "Even now you asked him to get rid of the rain. You didn't even ask if he was okay."
"And don't say you asked how he was feeling before you came to the island," Twilight cut in before any of the crew could say anything. "We all know you only asked that to know what the weather was like. Further proven when he only responded 'Clear Skies'. And you needed no further information."
“W- we- We can’t afford to have a storm in the middle of the sea!” Tetra defended, but with guilt in her eyes.
Wild raised an eyebrow. “And when it’s just a light drizzle? What’s wrong? Can’t handle your sails being wet?”
“Storms can spread,” a muscular member of the crew said, defending his captain. “He needs to calm down before we lose control of the ship!”
“Funny,” Four said, pretending to think. “Other than when we first met and I needed to help him sort through years of bottled up emotions, the only time his rain spread was today. When we reminded him that even though after we leave for a different time he will indeed be allowed to feel whatever he wants, what happens after?” Four looked at the crew, none looking more guilty than Tetra.
Tetra's face and deminor screamed how guilty she felt, but her crew still felt the need to defend her.
"You don't know him as much as we do."
"He can take it."
"We know what he wants."
Wind gripped his arms, finally speaking. "You guys don't know what I want!" The whole group was silent, Thunder rolling in the clouds as rain continued to fall hard. "Have you ever once asked me what I want? I'm not like all of you!"
Sky leaned to reach across Four, placing a hand on Wind's shoulder. "We may not have known him for as long as all of you, but we are able to understand him."
"How?" Tetra asked, more curious than defensive. Everyone was soaked at this point but she tried not to let it bother her.
"We also have the hero's spirit and gifts," Legend said. "I have enhanced hearing."
One of the crew, a short man with a red and white striped shirt, sat up in surprise. "You didn't hear me…"
"I wouldn't finish that sentence if I were you," Legend said with a smirk.
The group looked at him. "Niko," Tetra said slowly. "Is there something I should know?"
Niko's face was red before he groaned. "I was making another challenge for Link in the basement. It was supposed to be a surprise."
All around, the sky became more clear, only a few grey clouds scattered around. "You did? I love your challenges! And you haven't made me one in forever!"
Nico scratched the back of his head. "I wanted to find one that would stump you and when I was so close, you left on this little adventure."
Wind laughed. "Hard to find something I can't do, but you could?" The weather was quickly clearing up and the group laughed together under the sunshine. Still wet but not caring.
Tetra smiled at Wind. "It might take some reminding and time to fix habits, but we'll try to make sure you are able to feel whatever you want." She looked at the group of heroes as a whole. "Any tricks you've discovered for helping him out?"
The group was silent, Wind waiting for them to say something while the others thought back on what they did to help Wind.
"Um," Sky said, "I didn't do this with Wind because I never really felt the need to but it's common practice in my time and it worked with Legend."
"Wait, what?" Legend asked, confused.
Sky nodded. "When someone's upset, it can be hard for them to know what they want in terms of help. So we give them three options. Do you want to talk about it, be distracted, or left alone." Legend's face quickly went to understanding as Sky continued to talk. "That gives them three ways the person can help them without the person feeling bad needing to pull the solution out of thin air."
"That would make things so much easier," Wind said, just above a whisper.
"And it doesn't waste either person's time or energy on something that ultimately won't be helpful," Four commented.
Tetra nodded, writing on a paper none of them noticed. "Talk, distract, leave alone. Got it." She pocketed the paper. "Let's get you heroes where you need to be. Where to?"
The group looked at each other. "We usually find civilization and ask around about stronger than normal monsters," Time responded. "Do you know of any?"
Tetra and her crew thought for a bit. "We haven't been to land for a while," Tetra said. "It's possible but none that we know of."
Warriors looked at Legend and saw him making the far away look he does when he's trying to hear something further than a mile. "Legend, we're in a time we have a map for, you don't need to listen for civilization."
"I'm mostly trying to figure out what I'm hearing," Legend said, still listening. "It's…" He paused, trying to find words. "Some sort of tide or current that's unlike I've ever heard. And seagulls."
"That must be a hidden Big Octo," Wind said. "Remember when I told you all about how I took out an octorok the size of an island?" They nodded. "I wasn't making it up. If you see seagulls flying in a circle above the water, stay away unless you want a fight and have lots of bombs."
"Hm," Legend hummed with a high pitch to it. "Well, it's that way," he pointed in a direction. "Do with that information what you will."
Tetra smiled. "And Outset is that way," Tetra said, pointing a few degrees east where he was.
Wind appeared by Tetra's side, rainbows shining over his head. "We're going to Outset?!"
"What's on Outset?" Twilight asked as everyone stood.
"My family!" Wind said before running to the ship. "Come on! No time to lose!"