Thankfully, Lani hadn't seen anyone cosplay a certain someone, but she couldn't be one hundred percent sure.
"He's right," Lani contributed. "You guys are the only ones here, and no one else has ever been able to come to this world." Drake faltered some when they saw how Warriors was reacting to all of this, arms loosening some from their chest and dropping a bit. They didn't say a word- this wasn't really their expertise.
Warriors shook his head. "No, that's… that hasn't stopped her before," he insisted. Time felt his shoulders tense–he hadn't been able to recall much of his time in Warriors' Hyrule as a child, likely due to some sort of magic meant to keep things in order for those going back to their own eras, but he did know that he had been brought there due to the sorceress's magic.
"Maybe so, but think about it–there were nine of us traveling together for a good while. If she was able to get to us, she would have jumped at the chance," Time argued. Legend, Sky, and Wild all exchanged looks, but it was doubtful that they'd ask anything. All of them had their own sensitive topics, and all of them knew that sometimes prying could do more harm than good.
Lani didn't say a word either. Warriors was obviously deeply affected by what had happened, and she knew enough to know exactly why. She let Time handle this, for now, looking at Drake. Her friend had backed up some, then turned to head to the door. Even if these men were just scammers, that pain was real, and Drake wasn't comfortable enough with their own to be around someone else's.
"I'll go get the van…" they mumbled, doubting anyone heard. Lani looked back to the men before her. Others were starting to give them weird looks, and they needed to get out of there soon. She glanced back at the booth, feeling a pang of guilt to know she'd helped to set it all up. That they'd had a good laugh over the picture as they hung it up.
(👀Drake backstory??)
Warriors took a deep breath, and to Time's relief, he nodded. "That's… yeah. That's a good point. Thank you," he said, though the tension didn't quite leave him and it took him a second before he took a shaky breath and looked away from the room. "I… sorry, that was immature."
"Nonsense." Goddesses, Time just wanted to give him a big hug and tell him that everything would be fine. It wasn't fair, none of it was. That any of them had to go through this, time and time again… His own battles had frustrated him for long enough, but after meeting the boys, the entire scenario downright infuriated him.
(Dad Time Dad Time Dad Time–)
(shshsh that's for later ;)
(Lani's too aha)
Even Lani had to admit, the thought of what was actually going on in the games had always bothered her. Still, she'd always been able to accept it as the company needing an excuse to keep making more games with the same three characters.
Seeing it affecting real people, now, not just on a screen… it hit differently.
"Why don't we head out to the van and get out of here?" She offered. She knew it might be easier for all of them to not be surrounded with the glorification of everything that had ever happened to them.
Lani was just glad it was only these men, and not more of them.
(Dad time Dad time Dad time)
(Ohoho?)
Warriors simply nodded. "Best idea I've heard in a damn minute," Legend agreed, looking rather irked. Time noticed his eyes flicker over to a red-haired woman with a pink flower behind one ear and heard him huff. It was odd, and Time filed it away with many other things he'd noticed from all of the others, to keep in mind. "Hey, Wars, you decide on what you're gonna fight me with?" he asked.
The other man looked grateful for the distraction. "Fire rod, what else?" he answered, with a smirk that held a little less confidence than usual. And as glad as Time was that he wasn't panicking about a certain obsessive psycho coming back, he hoped that Hylia heard the prayer he sent up. Please, for the love of everything sacred, keep him from starting a grassfire.
"Goodness, does that mean Wild's on fire control?!" Sky exclaimed. He and Time weren't exactly practiced with that particular kind of magic, meaning that the arsonist of the group would need to use his Ice Rod to ensure that nothing burned down. Said arsonist almost looked offended.
"You start one forest fire–and we put that one out before anything serious happened!" he argued.
(They's connected uwu)
(There's a reason Lani Vibes with that song I sent you aha)
Lani noticed too, not saying anything about it. So, that's who he was? She hadn't connected just how many games he was in yet, so it didn't affect her much. It would eventually, though. After all, she knew more about these men than they probably knew of each other, or perhaps even themselves.
The, uh, the mention of 'fire' seemed to have an effect on Lani, though, and it wasn't a very… innocent one.
"Well, this world has plenty of its own ways of putting out a fire," Lani mentioned. She knew Drake had a fire extinguisher in the back, in case Lani did something stupid. Again.
Look, there was a reason Lani had so much time on her Breath of the Wild save file, and it wasn't all saving Hyrule.
(Oh no–)
Wild and Warriors grinned at Lani's reaction, and Time felt himself age another five years and could have sworn he heard Sky mutter a quiet "Oh no" to himself.
"Our goal is to find a way back to our world, not burn this one to the ground," Time reminded, only half-joking.
(Fire makes her feel powerful)
Lani offered an innocent, 'I have no idea what you mean' smile, nodding some.
"This world would have burned long ago if it could, with her." Drake had made their way back inside when they'd seen everyone calming down, shaking their head.
"The van's up and running, Lani." Lani lit up, nodding.
"If you try anything I'm revoking your driving privileges for a month." Lani dimmed a bit, but she was still grinning.
"Okay, okay! No more waiting." Lani moved to head to the exit, looking back to make sure everyone was following. Drake let out a sigh.
"So, who mentioned setting fires?"
Time chuckled. "Wild and Warriors may take that as a challenge," he warned with a lighthearted tone. Warriors rolled his eyes.
"If possible, avoiding property damage is great, but if not–" he shrugged, "–then it's a small price to pay to take care of a horde of bokoblins, that's all."
"Ooor to catch a good updraft," Wild chipped in, earning a light smack in the back of the head from Legend.
"Not a good enough reason to start a grassfire, you pyromaniac," the Veteran said, a teasing tone to his voice.
(Angst intensifies)
"Oh god there are three of them now," Drake said softly to themself.
"Any reason is a good reason to start a grass fire!" Lani piped up, turning as she walked to offer a smile.
"Or just, fire in general. Oh my god, too bad it isn't July-"
"Lani don't tell me you plan on doing that again!" Lani just laughed, turning back as she headed out of the convention. She hummed, spotting Drake's plain tan van and climbing into the driver's seat.
And the Boys were left to wonder not only what had happened in July, but how to van as well. None of them had ever come across something quite like this. After a few moments of just staring confusedly at the thing, Sky broke the silence. "So… how does this work…?"
Lani had to stop herself from facepalming at her own eagerness. Drake rolled they eyes, opening the side door to the van.
"One person to a seat," they said. "And don't forget to bucket up." Drake themself got into the passenger's seat in front, looking back at them.
"Three of you will have to sit in the back seat row together," Lani explained further, pointing.
"Once you're sitting down you grab the bucket on the strap and put it into the locking mechanism on the opposite side of you."
(I'm assuming you meant to say buckle lol)
"Ah, okay, thank you," Sky said with a smile. If Drake was being sarcastic, it had either soared over his head or he just ignored it, sometimes it was difficult to tell with Sky. The five Heroes piled into the vehicle; Legend, Time, and Warriors sat in the back, and Sky and Wild sat in the middle. It took him a second to figure it out, but Wild actually managed to close the door.
"So, what are the buckles for?" he asked once the door was shut.
("They're for losers but unfortunately it's illegal to be cool")
(hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh yes thank you aha–)
Lani glanced in the bus mirror to make sure everyone was in their seats, turning her head completely at the question.
"They're a safety precaution for if we get into an accident. Though, it's highly unlikely we won't, so most don't wear them."
"I insist you do, though," Drake interjected, "Because it's illegal to not wear them and I don't need to get fined. And it's better to be safe when you're going sixty miles an hour down the highway." Drake shot Lani a look and she just chuckled nervously.
"Or when you're going twenty miles over the limit and almost run into a damn deer." Drake didn't like deers.
(Np lol)
Though none of the Heroes quite understood what "miles per hour" meant–it wasn't as if they had any real measurement of speed aside from "fast" or "slow" or words like that where they were from–they got the basic idea. This van went fast, somehow, and to make sure that they were okay if it were to suddenly stop going fast, they should wear the seatbelts. They were able to figure it out, and though none of them knew there was something wrong with it, Wild's seatbelt was ridiculously twisted.
Drake had been about to mention something about how much Wild had messed up, but a look from Lani shut them up. They had to pick their battles, and that was a totally and completely idiotic battle.
"Everyone ready then?" Since the van was already started, Lani started to drive out of the parking lot, the van going over the speed bump as she took them towards the exit.
A chorus of affirmative answers sounded from the five Heroes, followed by sounds of surprise when the vehicle started moving. "The fuck–?!" Legend exclaimed, confusion clear on his face. "…Where's the horse?" Time was wondering a similar question, but at the same time… well, this was working for now, and they didn't really have any options other than to trust these people and their odd modes of transportation.
"No horses," Lani explained, watching traffic before pulling out onto the road. "It's all machinery. Horses aren't really used for transportation anymore, actually, it's too expensive to have one." The traffic at this time of day wasn't too bad, so Lani wouldn't have to be as aggressive as usual. She let out a small hum, getting up to speed as she drove them down the highway and towards the other side of the city. It led them right through the heart, and the massive skyscrapers that were there.
Time's eyebrows rose. A time when horses were almost obscure… well, considering where he would be right now if certain occurrences hadn't dragged him away, it wouldn't be surprising to anyone who knew. Still, he said nothing about it. Wild, however, moved his gaze away from the window to look at Lani. "Really? I thought you said your technology wasn't as… uh, advanced as my time's? We definitely don't have vans, we still just walk or use horses."
(Whether or not Lani knows/assumes this is up to you, but in LU canon Time is married to Malon. Not sure if you knew, so I wanted to bring it up haha)
(I'm figuring Lani doesn't know, but she ships it for sure aha)
Lani thought for a moment.
"Well, ours is advanced, but not in the same way. We don't have anything as advanced as the Sheikah technology, that's for sure, but there are things like our vehicles that are more advanced, and more readily available." Lani leaned back in her seat, keeping her eyes on the road. She had a nasty habit of forgetting to look back if she turned to someone to talk, so she had to stay focused.
"We have nothing like teleportation, that's for sure."
(Oh lord Lani asking the Boys about their relationships fkdjslavkn)
"…Huh." Wild looked back out the window, a different expression on his face that caused Time and Sky to share another knowing look. All of this technology, just out here, no excavation necessary–though the group had only just met Flora, Wild's "super-close friend" would have the time of her life, that was for certain. Ah, young love…
(Catch Wild trying to fit a whole-ass sports car into his Slate lmao "Zelda would love this!!")
(asdfghjklhgfd Lani, after getting to know everyone better: Okay I have a really important question a lot of people want to know the answer to)
(Lani: Who do you have the hots for)
No excavation, just your soul- er, money. Lani fell quiet for a time as she drove, the ride smooth for the most part. Drake snorted some, looking out their own window. These men were going to great lengths to trick Lani, but they weren't falling for it.
Soon enough, the buildings and bustling city around them petered out into a more rural area, cut and paste houses passing by on either side.
"We're almost there," Lani said, glancing back.
(Drake: would you sTOP THAT YOU'RE SCRATCHING THE PAINT!!)
(dskavldnva)
When the city started to thin out, Time felt tension that he didn't realize was in his shoulders start to disappear. The people walking by… well, as odd as their attire looked to the party of Hylians, Time was certain that he and his companions would draw some looks from them as well. If they were walking, they would stick out like five sore thumbs. That could prove to be a problem, couldn't it?
He certainly felt more at ease in this more rural area. There were less buildings closing in on him, and the ones that they did pass didn't tower over them. It had been quite some time since Time had felt boxed in an unfamiliar space like that. Not that it really made sense for him to react like that, it was just a weird new place with weird new people, after all, but the feeling of… unnaturalness, he supposed, was unnerving to say the least.
Soon, Lani was pulling up into a dirt parking spot. They were on the edge of the residential area, grass and crop fields popping up around them.
"How does here work for you guys?" Lani looked back then, twisted in her seat. The city was behind them, the skyscrapers looming over the horizon with the dingy tone of smog produced by all of the traffic and pollution. This world wasn't very healthy anymore, but it was the only one Lani had. Drake huffed some, looking back to it.
"And how long do you think this is going to take?" They added.
"I mean, it's an open space where we can show off, it'll work fine," Legend replied. He then smirked over at Warriors at Drake's question. "I dunno, depends on if Wars here is just gonna fling fire around without purpose or if he's actually gonna put up a fight."
Warriors grinned right back. "Those are bold words, coming from the guy who's about to lose," he challenged.
Lani unbuckled as she turned the van off, smiling like a little girl on Christmas morning.
"Great!" She hummed with excitement, moving over to open the back door for the men to get out of. Drake unbuckled as well, stepping out.
"So, what, did you bring a flame thrower or something?" They asked, unconvinced.
"I guess you could call it that, but I'm pretty sure that's not what you meant," Legend said as he got out. "Wild?"
"Already on it!" Wild replied, once again swiping through his Slate. This time, he pulled out a bag and handed it to Legend. "I'm guessing you're gonna want to use something from here?"
"Thanks, and until you learn basic equipment maintenance? Yeah, I'll stick to my own stuff." Wild chuckled sheepishly at the remark. Legend started to go through the bag, eventually pulling out two rods. One was red, with a red orb settled on the top, and another was brown and gold, ending at the tip in a gold triangle shape around a white gem. "Don't break it, Warriors," the Veteran warned, with a look at his soon-to-be adversary.
"Pfft, wouldn't dream of it." Warriors accepted the weapon with a smirk. Time… didn't trust the look in his eyes.
He looked over at Wild. "Ice rod?"
"Oh! Yeah, we, uh, might want that," Wild said with a laugh, retrieving the item from his Slate.
Lani held back her own laugh, watching with interest as Wild a bag out of the Slate.
"See, Drake?" She said, sounding like she'd proven a point.
"Slight of hand," Drake said, not looking over as they moved to the back of the van. They hadn't even watched closely.
"And if there's fire involved, I'm not trusting any 'ice rod,' I'll stick to my fire extinguisher." They opened the back of the van, reaching in and grabbing their can. Lani let out a heavy sigh, shaking her head. They just refused to accept it at this point.
Time supposed that was fair enough. It was clear that this person didn't believe magic existed, so he couldn't blame them for not trusting in something they thought wasn't real.
"Shall we?" Warriors asked, gesturing to the open field before them.
"So long as you're ready to taste sand," Legend answered with a smirk.