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The first time Link drew the Four Sword, nothing happened.
A lot of things had just happened- the dungeon, the four dark shadows wearing his face, the grueling battle with them, the desperate guzzling of potions once it was done- but once at that was over, his small, trembling hands picked up the Four Sword, and nothing happened.
He sensed its magic. Powerful magic, on par with the Master Sword he already carried. Before he’d tempered his blade, this new one would certainly have been the stronger of the two.
But the Master Sword had never been wielded by four dark copies of himself, all of which tried their best to kill him, so she was definitely still his favourite.
Link put the Four Sword away, at the bottom of his bag, and did his best to forget about it for a while.
It was years later that he even considered touching it again.
He’d just finished another adventure, saved Hyrule and Lorule, sealed the gaps between them- losing everyone he’d met there in the process, again- and put the tempered Master Sword back in the pedestal where he found it.
If things continued as they usually did, he’d be back for it eventually. Soon, maybe. But, stubbornly, he’d put it back anyway. His way of saying, no, I’m done now. It’s over.
A messenger arrived from Hytopia. They asked for a Hero.
Despite everything, Link didn’t hate adventuring. The blood, the pain, the loss- that, he could do without. But the travel, seeing so many places and meeting so many people, getting to help… he loved that. Lived for it, maybe.
Sometimes, he wished he didn’t. Wished he was the type to sit quietly at home, with all the things he loved, and let someone else handle it. He had an orchard to tend to. A home to keep. But the call to adventure was in his blood.
He wouldn’t disturb the Master Sword for this, though. Not if Ganon wasn’t involved. She, at least, could get some rest.
But then, he’d need another sword.
That was when his thoughts turned back to it.
The second time Link drew the Four Sword, it wasn’t quite as uneventful as the first.
In the end, three heroes went to Hytopia. One in red, with a fire in his blood, loving the thrill of battle the way Link never allowed himself to, determined to slay every monster, prove himself a hero, protect everyone who couldn’t protect themselves.
One in green, flitting from place to place, always talking with someone or seeing something, enamored with the world and all its variety.
One in blue, often sad and sometimes bitter, withdrawn in most cases and deadly efficient in battle.
And there was one more, in purple, who stayed home, and was content tending to their orchard. Quietly comfortable staying in place, with that call to adventure split from him. He could have lived a simple, happy life there forever.
Still, they were all happy to reunite, and be Link again, once it was all over. He lamented the clashing colours three-fourths of him had dyed his hair while they were away, slept a lot while his mind processed four sets of memories at once, and settled back into his life between adventures.
Another came soon enough. They always did. This one against a force of darkness and shadow- so he went back for his Tempered Sword, and left the other to again lie at the bottom of his bag.
Waiting.
Four has known Legend for a few months now, and they still can’t quite figure him out.
With by far the most adventures of any of them at six, it figures the veteran would be layered, but he’s confusing, too. They still remember the way he looked at them when they first joined the Chain- fear, almost, but not-quite.
And then he never did anything like that ever again.
Seriously. Four’s basically given up hope of making sense of Legend. They know the important parts- that he’s a dedicated hero, that he wields a reforged Master Sword, that he’s an apprentice smith- that one’s Four’s favourite veteran fact- that he’s trustworthy, most of all.
The veteran has his secrets, and some of them almost certainly concern Four, but they all have secrets. Legend’s entitled to his. When Four reveals their colours to the rest of the Chain, and Legend is entirely unsurprised, they sort of figure that’s the end of it.
All that to say: When Legend pulls the Four Sword out of his bag, Four is very surprised.
It happens like this. They’re making camp as the sun sets, having already fought a horde of black-blooded monsters that day. Most of their weapons are in a pile, waiting for Four to look over them, and hopefully clean off. Legend’s Tempered Sword included.
Then a portal opens. Directly beneath their feet.
It drops them- where else- into a battlefield, overrun with monsters. Four instinctively strikes out at one with the sword they happen to be holding at the time- Wind’s Phantom Sword- and draws black blood.
Because of course they do. Two in one day, why not? And timed- their foe must be watching them somehow, to know exactly when to drop them into this.
Four’s got no idea where most of the weapon-pile scattered to in this mess, but the Four Sword is still strapped to their back, and they can see Legend mostly surrounded- so they cut their way towards him, intending to offer the Phantom Sword until they can find Legend’s usual.
Turns out, they don’t need to. Legend reaches into his bag, and they think, oh, of course the veteran would have a backup sword, and then they see exactly which sword that is and- well.
Four’s embarrassed to admit it, but they stop short for a second, gaping, as the veteran raises the Four Sword high and disappears in a very familiar flash of light.
Then there are four of him.
The red one keeps using the split Four Sword, slicing into the monsters with Legend’s familiar style. The blue one keeps their blade as well, but takes one of Legend’s magic rods out of their bag, holding it in their offhand and using both to great effect. Golden Three, could Legend always fight like that? Four’s never seen him so- ruthless.
The green one switches between items at impressive speed- Four hasn’t even seen half of them before. Seriously, how does Legend carry all that?
The violet one draws Legend’s bow. Well, at least they have that in common.
…They have a lot in common, actually. Four and Legend. They’ve both wielded the Four Sword.
And Legend never mentioned this. Oh, Four is going to interrogate him- just as soon as the fight’s over with.
Since Legend, apparently, has this area handled, Four moves through the group to find someone else to help. They end up personally returning the Phantom Sword to Wind, and they stay by the sailor until the battle dies down, which doesn't take long. Even off guard and partially unarmed, they’re still Heroes, after all.
It is a little interesting seeing how everyone dealt with the situation. Twilight is a wolf, of course- and Time seems to have just used his shortsword, which he doesn’t often do. They see Warriors with the Master Sword and Sky with the Tempered one. Wild has the Biggoron Sword. Hyrule seems to have just used spells.
And Legend, of course… Legend had the Four Sword. The whole time.
With the monsters down, the whole Chain can see four veterans come to greet them. Warriors laughs, and Four can see the assumption he’s made, about what happened here- and then the captain glances at Four, still holding their own sword, and back at the Legends, and back at Four again.
“Don’t look at me,” Four says. “I didn’t know.”
“Sorry,” Green-Legend says. “We wanted to tell you! But-”
“Ballad hates telling people things,” the violet one says, gesturing to the blue one, who scowls a familiar Legend scowl.
“Ballad?” Wild asks, curious. “Do you all have names?”
“Of course we all have names,” the red one says. “How else would we keep track of anything? Four’s colours have names too.”
“Barely,” Warriors mutters.
“Hey,” Four snaps. “They work, okay?”
“I’m Legend,” the red veteran says.
“…Yes,” Sky answers after a moment. “We see that.”
“No, I mean-” he groans, smacking his forehead in a move that reminds Four of Blue. “I’m Legend. It was my nickname before it was all of ours.”
“Right,” Time says, smoothly keeping them all on-track. “And you two?”
“Myth,” says the green one. “And that’s Story.”
“Legend, Ballad, Myth, and Story,” Warriors muses. “Now, vet, I’m not one to mock self-confidence, but don’t you think that’s a little-”
“It’s based on our hero title and you know it,” Legend snaps. “And yeah, I bet you’re ‘not one to mock self-confidence,’ Mr High Horse-”
“Okay,” Story intervenes. “Let’s all calm down. Are we staying split, or are we going back to being the veteran?”
“I like being split,” Myth muses, leaning back and looking more carefree than Four’s ever seen the vet. “You guys are such downers.”
“Even me?” Story asks, lightly amused as Legend growls in their general direction and Ballad looks away, face flat.
“You never want to do anything,” Myth complains. “Why can’t we just have fun?”
“I like the green one,” Wind puts in. “Can we keep him?”
“He never goes anywhere,” Legend says. “Ballad just mutes all his happy-go-luckiness.”
“I’m being practical,” Ballad says stiffly. “We should recombine. We’re less cohesive like this.”
“More open, you mean,” Story says. “Bearing usually hidden parts of us.”
“They’re hidden,” Ballad grits out, “for a reason.”
A quiet solemness falls over every veteran, for a second. Some unspoken thing that affects every corner of the veteran’s being.
Then Myth sighs, and the spell is broken. “That doesn’t mean we have to avoid everyone forever. Can’t we treasure our friends and experiences while we have them?”
The look Ballad shoots him is so cold Four thinks it would pierce a hole in their head.
“Ugh,” Legend says. “Yeah, let’s merge. There’s nothing to do anymore anyway.”
“Nothing to fight, you mean,” Story says, rolling his eyes, but he draws his Four Sword and points it up anyway. “Adrenaline junkie.”
“At least I know how to live, homebody,” Legend says, putting his blade up nonetheless.
“There are lots of ways to live,” Myth says, pouting a little as he raises his own sword. “We can enjoy both! Staying at home, going out and fighting- the variety is good for us!”
“All of you,” Ballad sighs, placing his own Four Sword against the others, “shut up.”
There’s another flash of light, and Legend- the veteran, regular Legend, Link- is standing there again.
“…So,” Four says. “Anything you want to… talk about, veteran?”
“No,” Legend says, stiffly, and wow, Four is seeing Ballad in him loud and clear. Is that what everyone means when they talk about Four and Green?
But. “Oh, I didn’t mean emotional issues,” Four says, channeling some of Red’s manic glee. “Or, not those exclusively, ‘cause you’ve definitely got those. I meant. That you’ve had the Four Sword. This entire time. And did not. Mention it to me.”
Legend shifts, and Four can see the deflection, the urge to get defensive, because that is Legend’s secret to keep- and then the moment he remembers what Myth’s already admitted for him. Legend wanted to tell them. The closed-off part of him was just too loud.
“It’s a long story,” the veteran sighs, body language easing slowly into something more casual. “And I’m not sure you’ll like it, smithy. But… it’ll be good to tell someone, I think.”
“Good,” Four says, surprised. Huh. Maybe splitting is good for Legend? A way to externalize his thoughts? It’s definitely helpful when Four is feeling conflicted.
“Hey,” Hyrule says, innocent-curious tone immediately setting Four on edge. “If you have the Four Sword, it’s probably somewhere in my era too, isn’t it?”
“…Probably,” Legend says, eyeing his successor with the same suspicion Four is feeling. “Why?”
“Well, I might find it someday,” the traveller continues, “and it would be good to know how to use, just in case I do! So-”
“No,” Legend says, promptly stuffing the Four Sword back into his bag. “No Four Sword test runs.”
“Come onnn,” Hyrule says, joined by Wind and his puppy eyes.
“I think we should all try it,” Time says, and it takes a second for Four to process that utter betrayal. “It seems like a good exercise for getting to know one another, and thus for trust and team-building.”
“Old man, with all due respect,” Warriors says, “I am not touching that thing.” Sky nods fervently.
Twilight eyes the sword in Four’s hands speculatively. “I’m willing to give it a shot. See what it’s like.”
“Nobody is trying the Four Sword,” the smithy says, sheathing their blade. “Two of us is enough!”
But Warriors is looking contemplative now, goddesses damn it. “...The ability to quadruple several of our members would be useful-”
“No,” Four stresses, and their Shadow leaps up a tree beside them to emphasize it, responding in a way he rarely does nowadays. Legend- Legend gives Shadow that look, that one from their first meeting, that almost-fear.
“It’s really not something we should be playing around with,” the veteran says, and that seems to begrudgingly convince everyone, because they drop the topic and go back to re-setting up camp.
Wild leans over to Wind and Hyrule, and Four’s ears strain to catch the whispered message.
“I bet Myth would be okay with us trying it.”
The traveller and the sailor promptly begin looking conspiratorial. Four considers telling them that the split Four Sword can’t split again, so Myth can’t help them, but honestly, they’re curious what they’re going to come up with.
And… well. If they’re scheming to get Legend to split more, Four might just help them out.
What can they say? They’d like to meet Legend’s colours again.