Archive of Our Own ^beta

“Yer sure about this?”

“Yeah, I swam across half an ocean with this ability once, we’ll be fine”

“You STILL haven’t even told me what it IS!” Wind complained, kicking his flippered feet, arms crossed, trying to pout... but there’s a hint of a smirk there as well, the outer features of his face—especially around his wide eyes—betray his genuine excitement as much as the idle kicking of his feet—flippers borrowed From Legend—from his seat in the tiny boat.

Can you blame him though? It’s not every day the Veteran actually flaunts the fruits of his namesake, after all, preferring to keep things limited to the vaguest of ‘been there, done that’ snarks.

Pointedly, Wind glares at Legend’s bare feet, because speaking of vague snarks, he’s STILL insisting on such secrecy, he hadn’t even changed clothes like Twi or Wild usually do when they go swimming. True to form, Legend teasingly wiggles his bare toes at him, the little shit, “I told you, it’s a surprise, you’re about to see, hold your horses,” the Vet gets up & begins serveying the water below as the Rancher settles the ores down, allowing their spare scouting boat to drift freely.

The main ship’s quite a ways away now, they hadn’t wanted to damage the bizzare reef structure after all, as odd as it was to be so far out on the open ocean, there were some smaller islands a while back, Smithy mentioned something about Volcanic activity? Anyways they’d been trying to steer out of it to find deeper, safer water for their vessel when they caught sight of the reef thanks to the seagulls above. Surprisingly, it was Legend who wanted to check it out. Also surprisingly, even being invited, Wild declined to join them, something about being not a great swimmer... which is odd. Taking items out of the equation Wild might be one of their stronger swimmers, but the Vet didn’t push. He had the feeling there was more going on there.

Besides, his main goal for this excursion involves the Sailor.

“Come on come on! Show me this surprise then alread--aaah!” Legend fondly noogies the excitable hero, “hehehe, hey!”

Twilight smiles fondly at the display, ever since his brush with death, he’s noticed the Veteran acting, different softer somehow, almost worryingly subdued…

… or maybe his own shortsightedness simply hadn’t allowed him to notice before, the softness, at least.

After all, the return to his confident, snarky self nonetheless carries that genuine care & affection Twilight wouldn’t have been able to spot, even if it was there before. He may never know for sure, but that’s okay. What matters is he knows now, & his brothers are happy in this moment.

“Promise me one thing first a brat!”

“Huuuh? Whaaat,” he sounds like that because he’s still getting actively roughhoused by Legend, give him a break.

True to form, a softie indeed, Legend’s been doing some thinking, he’s a hero after all. Every single person he’s ever met played some sort of role in his adventures. He wouldn’t have succeeded in any of them if he hadn’t been—honestly obsessively at times—attentive to the needs, wants & feelings of others.

He’s been thinking about something the Sailor said back at the inn. The Sailor’s initial skepticism of the seagulls—apparently in his era a sign of a.., giant sea monster of some sort?—brought these thoughts to the forefront.

Wind, the scrappy fella, managed to gain the upper hand momentarily, taking that opportunity to maneuver himself on top of the now collapsed Veteran “Fiiine tell me what it is I need to promise already!” now casually sitting atop the briefly mullified Legend, arms crossed “Better not be something stupid.”

See, Legend’s been thinking about the Sailor’s background, he knows he’s smart & quick-witted, but if there’s anything the Veteran’s journeys across the world has taught him, it’s that you can’t expect norms & connotations to remain even remotely similar to your own. Add the hero business nonsense into it all, & there’s an actual rational to dial his, what Fable would call, mother-hen tendencies up to eleven.

Especially now that the Shadow’s shown its true strength, he’s realized he needs to be more open with his companions about the extent of his abilities… for this particular ability, making sure the Sailor becomes familiar & comfortable with it is paramount… because apparently there are other methods of control besides casting-type magic, Sailor had described his past experience with possesion to be… more like a parasite.

Based on wording, Legend’s even almost positive the Sailor’s had to fight someone he cares about in such a state.

Huffing fondly, Legend gets, up, & hoists the tiny hero up on his shoulders like a sack of potatoes, “Just don’t fucking panic,”

Blessedly, the Sailor likes transformations, generally, so he’s not too worried. A relaxed, playful atmosphere is the perfect environment to introduce Wind to his Mermaid form. Letting him know that it’s his ability, easing any—even momentary—concern that somebody else he loves is being violated by a creature of the sea… & doing so in the most efficient & positive way possible.

Being able to mess around with the kid is just an added bonus.

Cackling maniacally as Wind squeals in shock & delight, first Wind lands in the water, then after giving the Sailor a moment to re-orient himself, Legend hops in.