modern kaf

Pavement crunched as trees flew by. Darkness cloaked the surroundings, hanging heavy and brooding over the woods. Branches reached out, offering threads of leaves that drooped below.

The tires span infinitely, as the single road seemed to recede further and further as they approached. Warriors was able to make out the view of the moon, its luminosity flickering erratically beyond the leaves. It was nearing its full, as their path seemed to illuminate, and offer its refined guidance.

It was well beyond the late hours, and even the denizens who were most accustomed to the night had found themselves seized by fatigue.

There were many anomalies and dubiety in Time’s plans. From their immediate instructions, to the very clear warnings that followed, to even the choice of departing at sunset; Not even giving their boys (and girl) the night's rest to mull over their sudden invitation. Though nobody questioned Time's motives, yet apprehension was apparent between each of them, and ever since they had taken off to the road, there was a notable influx of that uncertainty.

It had been long since Hyrule had opted to leave Legend’s side, regardless the duration, and had now refused to relinquish his spot from under the other’s arm. Legend himself was also clearly more bothered, as if anxious was eating at him, and his sanity was slowly waning away in the same manner they grew distant from their familiar home in Castle Town. He was more shaky, constantly shifting in his seat and regularly keeping his hands on his hair or necklace. It was as though Legend recognized something uncanny about this. As though he knew more, and the secret was slowly chipping away at him.

Sky had slept lightly, often awakened from a primarily higher jump on the road, or a sharper break before speeding up again. This was also quite peculiar, as Sky’s ability to doze through everything had become an inside joke in its own right.

Four was muttering to themselves, far more than usual. Their eyes were glossed over and they stared off into the distance, lips slightly moving as they breathed something so quiet, Warriors wasn’t able to decipher it. In the beginning, Warriors assumed that the boy must have been repeating a mantra for whatever reason beyond the greatest of his understandings, though it had later dawned to him that Four must have been having a conversation with themselves.

I don’t like this. Red said, bringing her arms closer against her.

You’re right. Something seems off about this. Violet corrected, adding on to Red’s normally glazed-over statement.

Is there really? Green steadily asked.

Look around. Blue snapped, though Vio didn’t chastise the other, somewhat agreeing to it.

Twilight was far more anxious than the man had ever seen him. Twilight was usually stoic, well composed, and rather the most patient out of the eight siblings. Though however, it seemed that something was quite off about him. Twilight’s eyes regularly flitted to the clock, as though he was on a tense time limit. And when he wasn’t doing that, then he was frantically dug in his pocket for his phone, but barely glancing at the screen for more than but a few seconds. Warriors figured that he might have been waiting for a reply from somebody. And even if that were the case, it still didn’t explain his jittery mannerisms.

Wild was spaced out, more so than Four was. He was lost in thought, eyes boring bullets into the seat in front of him. Unbeknownst to Warriors, the boy was caught in what he called an "impromptu memory”. There was little he remembered of his childhood. None besides death and destruction. Before living with Time, Wild’s recollection of the past had been all but gone. All until Time had to sit the poor boy down and tell him the truth. Wild had gotten into a devastating accident of some sorts, though Time couldn’t bring themself to tell the boy, who wasn’t a day over six at the time. He had been barely found alive, hanging by a thread to death. But Time hadn’t given up on him, nobody had. The two of his parents were already long-since deceased, but the boy still stood a chance. There was little he actually recalled of it, and the most he had known of it had been through his fabrications of Time’s storytelling. Though he had been under a coma, unconscious for far longer than anticipated. And when he had awoken, Time was the first he had saw, the person sitting on the nearby chair, tears of pure relief rolling down their face as they took Wild’s supple little hand in theirs, crying against the steady pulse of their now-son and that he was alive, and that was all that mattered in the end. He had fought against something as fickle and fragile as fate himself, yet had still emerged victorious at the tragically young age he was.

Even now, Wild still hadn’t asked for it, keeping himself with the luxury of his little knowledge, lest he knew too much and was plagued by the truth.

Time had a permanent scowl on their face, teeth grit as they gripped the wheel with fervor. It was as though they were forcing himself to such a trip, though honestly speaking, they might as well have been anyway.

Warriors had seemed to be able to count each and every oddity found, and soon enough, he swore up and down that he felt something in the air shift, and they were in somewhere so familiar yet foreign, like the other side of a mirror, or the back of a tree. As if he was just there, yet at the same time, nonexistent.

Something that had spooked him even further, was the fact that they were driving north, following the only road that followed perfectly straight ahead. He was undoubtedly sure of it, as he had spent a long enough time staring at the pointing dart upwards, drifting to both the Western and Eastern sides just very slightly, similar to the metronome that answered to none.

Although, when he had checked again a few moments later, the dart was strongly attracted to the Southern end, perfectly still on the line, unwavering from its powerful draw.

“Why do we have to come again?” The dicey silence had been shattered. Firm hands gripped the wheel just ever so tightly as Wind carefully studied Time from behind. Meeting the girl's gaze through the mirror, Time disregarded their reluctance, yet their caution stood tall. “There is unfinished business to be dealt with left in Termina.”

Termina was a place of Time’s childhood, one that they seldom spoke of. Warriors knew better to never mention it unless Time spoke of it first. There were many secrets behind the man, pertaining to only but a few of the macabre plethora of injuries they sustained, that including their jeopardized eyesight, from which Warriors had remembered left eye to be closed nearly all of his time at staying at the ranch, lasting a little under twenty years, but a few months after Time resigned and moved back to Castle Town, ready to settle in permanently; As they put it whenever Warriors asked as a child. He wondered if he would have warranted a different answer if he brought it up again.

“Why now?” Somebody else whined.

An audible and weary sigh promptly ended any future questions. “Coincidentally, The Carnival of Time is also held.” Time mundanely replied.

Wind’s restlessness had shifted to near excitement, her over joyous glee filtering through the dreary atmosphere. Warriors even found the sky to appear just a bit more illuminated.

“In addition,” they began, “it’s also fortunate timing, as I don't necessarily trust you all to be in charge of the ranch while I’m gone. I’d like to return to the house still standing.”

Even so, Wind still wasn’t so convinced of their requirement to prepare and join this trip from such short notice. Skeptical, she still wanted to press further on the Time’s iteration of unfinished business. Curiosity crept from behind as she planned on demanding answers and information. Though Warriors caught her, and just as she opened her mouth, the man’s chilling glare had Wind think twice.

“Like I already told you…”

The rest of their drive was silent, and as they grew closer to their destination, the moon shone brighter, no longer the faint speckle in their calm sky as they came to know it back in Castle Town. It was large, bulbous, and took up far more room in the darkness of night than it had any business doing so. It drank up the stars and haze, and it was nearly as bright as being the fabled second sun itself.

Four slowly dozed off, the faint warnings and anxious musing from the Color’s still yet lulling them to a faint slumber. Though, the sudden halt in the middle of the road shook Four awake. Time cursed under their breath, all Four registered was their hissing as they roughly jolted the gearshift in its place, pressing against the gas pedal in growing desperation before giving up, sighing loudly.

Four distantly wondered if this was to be the one of many of their setbacks in such an impromptu trip. The more emotional and empathetic parts of them wished it wasn’t, though the more stoic and logical figured it was highly likely, as they hadn’t even begun the said trip, and was already somehow delayed.

“We have a problem.” Time grunted.

The road was barren, and they had been the only ones in the track for far long, so the fear of holding up possible traffic was completely ignored. Though the possibility of traffic was found to be luxurious, because at least they were in the grounds of where civilization touched, not in the dead center of a woods quite literally named after The Lost.

The loud slam of Time’s car door shutting jolted a few awake. Hyrule jumped up, looking around blearily as the threat of danger pulled him out of his trance, though Legend tiredly coaxed the boy back to sleep, in which the other reluctantly tangled themselves in Legend's awaiting embrace once more.

Sky broke out of his snoring, though needed no second opinion to send him back to his rest. Either he didn't care for their sudden delay, or he was too tired to focus on such a thing.

Time popped the hood of the car open, coughing and stumbling back when they were met with an unceremonious puff of smoke to their face. Fanning it away, they quickly found that their engine had been busted, as though one had meticulously messed with it. While the eight of his boys were certainly crude jokers, and always had such pranks and games up their sleeves, none would ever dare to do such a thing.

A slight shiver tremored up Time’s spine as the idea of being watched entered his mind. Though they believed in no such things, Time knew more than Termina then they ever wished to, and with that in mind, anything was plausible. They looked around cautiously, eyes carefully scanning each of the dark spaces in between the trees, or hidden behind the leaves and bushes for any unwelcome guests.

Just ever so faintly, Time saw a pair of two red, glowing speckles in the distance. The longer they stared at they, the darker they got, before fully slipping away. It had been getting late, and Time was getting rather delirious, so they figured that it was nothing much besides their paranoid mind playing cruel games and jokes.

Hopefully.

Four was the first of the bunch to slip out, in hopes of examining the sudden halt of their descent into Termina. Though they were quite unfortunate to be at the very back of the van; This had meant that Four had been forced to clamber over the others, wincing in apology as they slowly, but surely proceeded.

Splayed atop of Twilight and Wild, Four had fumbled with the door handle before pushing it open, stumbling out and falling onto the pavement with a short cut-off yelp. Time jumped, turning to the sound, eyes glossed over with something fierce before they realized that it was the smallest of their kids, patting the dust off themselves in an attempt to compose themselves once more, though it was rather hard to do as they were still seated on the ground.

Once the thought dawned to them, Four sprang up, standing up straight in a presentable manner to Time out of pure instinct. They rolled the word Sir in their mouth, swallowing it when Time warmly greeted them, reminding Four of their anything but formal acquaintanceship.

That’s no way to look at your father.

Father…

“-Four?” Time waved, snapping Four out of their staring competition with the empty air for nearly the umpteenth time that night. They even gave the effort to look over in Four’s direction of view, seriously stumped to see what could have enamored the boy in such a manner, multiple times no less.

“Oh. Sorry.” They slightly shook their head. “Could you…” Four awkwardly gestured to the hood of the car, in which Time was unknowingly bodily covering Four’s means of access.

“Right. Don’t start yet.” They nodded, disappearing off to the side of the car.

After instructing the rest to wait outside the car lest something happened in compromise of their safety, Time had been able to shake off most of his apprehension, in which even but a little of his new-found confidence went a long way.

It was an indescribable feeling, really. Time had always been steadfast, sure, and strong-hearted. They never second guessed himself, nor took a plethora of cautious rituals either. It wasn’t even that they didn’t foresee multiple outcomes either, but that their gut feeling had been none but correct, and that was exceedingly satiable for them.

Though this time around, in the hearth of an undisclosed forest, cloaked and concealed by the vast sea of trees- In which there was truly no call for help available, it seemed logical to tread more carefully, especially in the late, midnight hours, no less.

“The engine’s definitely seen better days.” Four mused, hand unconsciously fidgeting their necklace. Time watched as the boy was clearly lost in contemplative thought. Though, if it were one thing that Four deserved credit for, it was undoubtedly their ability to think rather quickly. They were very sharp, coming up with efficient ideas and solutions on a whim- And when they weren’t figuring out the world’s issues with ease, then they were learning new concepts and skills at a scaly impressive speed.

He clearly wasn’t the most knowledgeable on such a thing, hence Time could only do so much, besides watch in awe as the second youngest - and smallest - of his boys knowingly fiddled around with the engine, letting their thin hands follow along any of the wires that stuck out of the damaged box.

Four had to even stand on his toes to fully reach over the car’s hood, the heels of their height-boosting shoes off the pavement, and shakily held in the air as Four’s rested torso on the car allowed them comfortable and assuring balance. It was truly a scene that didn’t look right on its own records.

Legend stretches, grumbling when one of his shoulder muscles pulls a bit farther than he would have preferred. As he rubbed the skin through his shirt, he trailed off, distantly walking into the forest and away from the others- In which he was far too tired to tune into their conversations. He was woken up from his impromptu nap, which should have been his full night's sleep if it weren’t for the unfortunate circumstances.

“Stop trying to run away!” Somebody jeered from behind. Legend stopped.

Teeth grit, Legend whipped around, more than prepared to tell somebody off. He’d already been shoved awake, and if that still somehow wasn’t enough to truly aggravate him, then being instructed in this Din-Damned hour - not that he even knew the time it was - was about to be it.

Legend growled, using all of his self restraint to keep both his hands at his sides, and not flying to whoever was unlucky enough to stand close to him.

Gasping lightly, all anger had vanished just as quickly as it had formed. Hyrule had a hand held up, as though he was about to rest it gently on Legend’s back- His main method of calming the quick-tempered boy.

Oh.

How could he have missed the softness in Hyrule’s voice? The higher pitch, with undertones of sweetness and concern. The boy speaking barely over a whisper, his apprehension so apparent, he unknowingly made others anxious.

He should have known. Legend should have been able to tell who was behind him- That was quite literally the most basic of survival skills. Did he want to die?

Does it look like I do?

Something was seriously wrong with Legend.

Though he tried to hide it, Legend was normally jittery, cautious as a forest animal, and prepared for the worst to occur. He had always been able to effortlessly match the speed or heft of footsteps to the others, or even down to the hitches in their breaths. So, differentiating them with something as notable as their own voice should have been none but child's play to him. Instead, he had almost hurt Hyrule, and if it weren’t for his fast enough reflexes, then he was sure that neither himself nor Hyrule would forgive him- Not that he deserved said forgiveness anyway.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.” Hyrule dejectedly said, hand dropping to his side.

Golden Three help him, Hyrule’s apologizing. He’s apologizing to somebody who was about to hurt him.

“You didn’t.” Legend said blankly, though he wished he could just tell Hyrule how he was feeling, the unspoken words hanging heavy in Legend’s mind.

Staring at Legend dubiously for a few silent beats, Hyrule then extended his hand in invitation, gently leading him towards the others. Legend stayed behind, following Hyrule apprehensively until the boy stopped, the two now amidst the bustling discussions of their rowdy, yet sleep-deprived brothers. Legend forced himself to relinquish the hold on his brother’s warm hand, the cold air against his clammy palm accentuating the loss of his comfort and soothing. Though, it wasn’t long until Legend snaked his arm around Hyrule’s, grasping onto the boy’s sleeve.

As the group conversed and laughed, Legend grew quite bleary, the last of his drowsiness no longer ebbing, now that he was stationary. It became increasingly difficult for him to be kept propped up and fully awake. Hyrule allowed Legend to rest his head on his shoulder, lightly hugging Hyrule from behind; The gentle weight on him acting as a calming reminder that he was safe, and wasn’t alone. He took deep breaths of the faint wafts of Legend’s fruity conditioner, the scent reminding him of home.

“Don’t go too far. Didn’t anyone teach ya about the Skull Kids?” Twilight waved an accusatory twig over at Legend.

“The what?” He sneered, teeth bared. Don’t test me now.

Ignoring the scowl on Legend’s face, Twilight continued. “Those who wander through the Lost Woods do not truly become lost. They get caught up, trapped, forgetting who they were even before they realized it was too late. Some say the lost wanderers become Skull Kids, others say they were met with a much more terrible fate, still searching for their way out before it’s too late.”

A faint rustling in the bush startles a few of their brothers, including Hyrule, who jumps against Legend's reassuring hold.

Legend however, continues to glare bullets into Twilight’s eyes, head tilted down slightly. Even so, Twilight’s cryptic words hung heavier than before.

“I think I got it.” Four sighs, wiping the sweat off their forehead before trying their headband back on. “Try revving her up, Time.” They shut the hood of the car, taking a few cautious steps back as Time tested out the engine. A pleased hum left them, synonymous to the one the van sang and rumbled.