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It started like most Sky-related incidents did.
With good intentions.
They were only halfway through their week together, still learning each other's quirks and comforts. Wild had finally set the Sheikah Slate down for a moment — rare, really — just beside his cookpot while he sorted through mushrooms.
Sky, ever helpful, ever gentle, noticed the Slate’s glowing surface was... well, very smudgy.
He crouched down next to it, brows furrowed in soft concern.
“Poor thing,” he murmured, brushing some dust off the screen with the edge of his sleeve. “You work so hard for Wild and he never even wipes you down, does he?” He wiped in small, precise circles. “Honestly, you deserve better.”
The Slate responded with a buzz.
Sky startled, nearly dropping it.
“ Oh —! Um. Sorry?”
The screen pulsed blue. A shimmer spread across the device’s surface.
Sky’s eyes went wide. “Wait—wait, no no no —!”
But the glow surged, swallowing him in Sheikah light.
And he was gone.
The moment that Sky had completely disappeared, Wild turned around.
“Sky?” he called, confused, seeing the Slate abandoned on the grass. “Hey, I left that running, you didn’t touch—”
Then he saw the faint blue motes still drifting in the air.
The ones left behind after a teleport.
“...No. Shit, fuck, cucco—”
He sprinted .
Time stood slowly when Wild burst into the main camp clearing, Slate clutched in both hands like a cursed relic.
“I lost Sky,” Wild said, breathless.
“You what ?” Time’s voice dropped an octave.
“He touched the Slate—I think he cleaned it—he must’ve wiped the fast-travel icon—he’s gone .”
The camp froze.
Twilight dropped his whetstone. Warriors stood mid-hair comb. Hyrule turned from the fire with wide eyes.
“Gone where?” Legend demanded.
“I don’t know!” Wild shouted. “I haven’t used the Slate since yesterday! It could’ve warped him to any shrine!”
“Okay—okay,” Four said quickly. “Let’s think this through. The Slate can only teleport to shrine entrances, right? Safe ones, right?”
Wild’s face was pale.
“Yes,” he said, fumbling through the settings of the Sheikah slate. “But. Some of them are in… dangerous places. Like cliffs. Volcanoes. Or—”
Wild paled suddenly, clutching the slate like it might shatter. He'd switched the screen to the history of past travels. His eyes raised slowly to Time’s eye.
Everyone stared at him.
“Or what , Wild,” Time said, deadly calm.
Wild swallowed. “Or… the basement of Hyrule Castle.”
Meanwhile…
Sky rematerialized with a thud, stumbling forward two steps before catching himself against cold, damp stone.
His eyes adjusted slowly.
It was dark. Wet. Echoing.
Stone walls stretched in every direction, dimly lit by flickering red torches embedded in ancient Sheikah carvings. A shrine stood behind him — half-sunken, muck-covered, but still active.
Sky turned in a slow circle.
The air was thick with silence and old magic. Broken chains lined the walls. Something dripped steadily in the far corner.
Sky blinked. “...This isn’t Wild’s cookpot.”
A shriek echoed from deeper in the castle.
Sky jolted. He drew his sword instantly, back against the shrine wall, breath shallow.
He didn’t know where he was. He didn’t know how he’d gotten here. He didn’t even know if this was the present day . For all he knew, he’d tripped into the past and was about to fight the Demon King again.
He whispered softly to himself, “The slate is very advanced but very rude.”
Another noise — skittering metal against stone — and he started moving. Silent steps. Sword in hand. If he couldn’t figure out how to return, he’d at least scout until someone came.
Because someone would come.
Right?
… Right ?
Back at camp, the panic had reached peak velocity.
Twilight was pacing. Legend had his head in his hands. Hyrule was muttering prayers under his breath and Four was tossing rupees in the fire for luck. Time had gone quiet, that heavy kind of quiet where you knew he was about to do something.
Warriors had Wild by the shoulders.
“Tell me exactly what you saw on the Slate. What shrine was highlighted?”
Wild held it up again, sweating. “It was—uh—this one. Castle shrine. Bottom level. I used it to sneak into the castle once, for a treasure chest. There were Lizalfos, a Malice pit, and a Hinox skeleton. It’s—bad.”
“You let him teleport there?!” Legend shrieked, blazes flickering within violet eyes.
“I didn’t let him do anything! He was cleaning it!”
“ why was he cleaning it?!”
“ Because he’s Sky !”
Four snatched the Slate. “Alright, I’m going after him. Someone has to.”
Time held up a hand.
“I’ll go.”
“You?” Twilight asked, frowning. “You ain’t the fastest with tech, pal.”
“No,” Time agreed. “But Sky listens to me. And if I have to carry him out of a dungeon because a magic rock slab threw him into a warzone, I’d rather do it myself.”
Wild stood beside him. “I’m going too.”
“You’re staying here.”
“Like hell I am—”
“You’re staying here,” Time repeated, firm. “I’ll figure out the Slate.”
Wild opened his mouth — then shut it.
Time selected the option to teleport.
Sky had just dodged a rolling Lizalfo — yes, rolling , why was it always rolling — when the blue light bloomed behind him again.
He whirled, sword raised.
Then froze.
Time stood in the middle of the shrine entrance, expression calm.
Sky blinked. “...Hello.”
Time stepped forward. “You alright, son?”
Sky nodded, sword lowering. “I think so. I didn’t mean to. The thing—Wild’s little… magic square… it glowed and I was trying to be helpful—”
“I know,” Time said gently, gripping his shoulder. “You did nothing wrong.”
Sky sagged.
Then suddenly frowned. “But I did end up in a dungeon full of corpses and monsters, so I feel like maybe something went a little wrong.”
Time winced, and then smiled. “Well, yeah. That’s technology for you.”
They both looked down at the Slate.
It buzzed, helpfully. The option, "Would you like to fast-travel," Lit up the small screen in blue pulses.
Sky leaned into Time’s side. “No thank you,” he whispered.
Time stiffened, before tightening a hold around Sky’s shoulders, muttering into his hair, “This will only take a second, bud.”
When they returned to camp, Sky was immediately buried in a flurry of blankets, questions, and seven different people trying to fuss over him at once.
“I’m fine!” he insisted.
“You could’ve been vaporized !” Wild yelled.
“I was only a little vaporized, hehe.”
“You were gone ! You disappeared mid-dust wipe!!”
“I just wanted to clean your screen…”
Wild threw his hands in the air. “Next time let me clean it!!”
Sky looked sheepish.
“...Does this mean I’m not allowed to help anymore?” he asked, softly.
Time, from where he was sitting by the fire, answered before anyone else could.
“You’re allowed to help,” he said, kind and tired. “Just don’t touch the teleport button next time.”
Sky nodded solemnly.
“Understood.”
And Wild, who had aged five years in the past hour, handed him a warm apple and sat down beside him with a sigh.
“Next time,” Wild muttered, “we’re getting you a tracker.”