Having the most self indulgent fucking idea to write a fic about spirit tracks Link and breath of the wild Link having an adventure together just because. Not for any reason other than I love spirit tracks Link so much and botw link is also fun to write about because of his extremely expansive world
OK so I got it. Breath of the Wild takes place at the end of all timelines, right? So it's an inevitable outcome for all three timelines, just with slight discrepancies in the history.
So imagine this. Botw, as the game we play, takes place in the downfall or child timeline, one of those. But Age of Calamity takes place in the adult timeline. So Terrako didn't split the timeline again, per se-- he just hopped one timeline over. There's a sort of mandela effect for each timeline that accounts for several, sight differences in the story, like how Link got the Master Sword much later in life among other things. It's an entirely different reality, all with the same people.
Still with me??? So Terrako is kind of New at this dimension hopping thing, and his portal is a little wonky, and in his attempt to get to that point in the adult timeline, he accidentally let someone trip through from much earlier in that timeline. Much, much, MUCH earlier.
Enter Spirit Tracks Link, who had just face planted in the EXACT place Terrako just left-- only for story's sake, it's only one or two weeks before Link will wake up from the Shrine of Resurrection. That gives him enough time to get the HELL out of Hyrule Castle before the pig wakes up, and also maybe study up on sheikah tech. Maybe he interacts with Zelda's or the King's spirit to get caught up on the Lore. All I know is by the time Link gets out of his exfoliating resurrection bath, I want Spirit Link to be there to help out, probably pretending to be the Old Man's grandson or something and keeping watch on our boy to make sure he doesn't get himself killed