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legendofzelda-secretsanta · 8 years ago

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sorry im just squeaking in under the deadline, eep! here’s my secret santa for @a-literal-garbage-can! the request was: “midzel being cute”. midna is in her true form (but if you want her to be an imp here, i mean, the choice is yours)

The air held a crisp, sharp quality that Midna was unused to. She rubbed her hands together for warmth which, despite the borrowed gloves covering her skin, ached with cold. She looked through her fogged breath out onto Lake Hylia, frozen solid. Early morning sunlight filtered through the clouds and bathed the lake in an ethereal glow. The lake was entirely clear, save for patches of snow and a lone figure receding into the distance.

“Come, Midna!” Zelda called from halfway across the lake.

“Alright, give me a second! Geez…” Midna begrudgingly pulled off her gloves and tugged at the laces she had managed to knot.

She heard the other princess’s blades scrape against the ice as she skidded to a stop before her. Zelda knelt and assumed the place of Midna’s fingers, coaxing the string out of its tangle.

Midna huffed and leaned back, re-gloved hands planted in the powdery snow behind her. “I’ve never done this kind of thing before.”

Zelda glanced at her with a smile. “But surely you must have string in your world.”

“Leave me alone,” Midna replied playfully. She watched Zelda meticulously tie the newly untangled laces into dainty double-knotted bows.

“You didn’t have to do all that, Princess.” Midna said, staggering upright and examining Zelda’s handiwork.

“For you only,” Zelda replied, already retreating back to the ice. She effortlessly glided across the frozen surface, hands laced behind her back, skirts fluttering behind her. Midna crossed her arms and observed through narrowed eyes.

Push off on one foot, balance with the other. Simple stuff. Midna readied herself, then shoved her left foot backwards while leaning on her right. She instantly pitched forward and threw out her hands to catch the ice before it slammed into her face. She attempted to regain her footing, only to have her skates slide out from underneath her. She flailed ungracefully for a moment before crashing down with a dull thud, winded.

“Damn… it…” she huffed. She heard the scuff of blade on ice and looked up to see Zelda’s outstretched hand before her.

“Are you alright?”

Midna took her hand and struggled upwards, dusting herself off once she was on her feet. “Yeah, yeah, I’m just getting warmed up.”

“I never expected you to be an expert at this,” Zelda said, smiling. “Frankly, I thought you would give up as soon as you saw the lake.”

“Well I’m not a quitter. I’m determined to practice this dumb Hyrulean tradition before winter’s over.”

Zelda laughed, her voice ringing in the still air. She gently took both of Midna’s hands in her own and started slowly skating backwards. Midna wobbled precariously.

“Bend your knees,” she instructed. Midna did so, her ankles quivering.

“Slowly push off with your left foot.”

Midna perilously transferred her weight to her left foot, then kicked off onto her right. She re-balanced herself with a wobble, gripping Zelda’s fingers through her gloves. She tried again, kicking onto her left. Then back to her right until she gained some semblance of a rhythm.

“There, you have it!”

Midna kept her eyes glued to Zelda’s feet, terrified that if she were to look up, she would topple over. She felt Zelda’s hands start to loosen from her own. The princess backed away and skated beside her, looping an arm underneath Midna’s.

“Isn’t this beautiful?” Zelda asked. Midna nodded, still concentrating on her feet. “Look up.”

Midna looked to Zelda. She was gazing up at the sky. Snowflakes had started to fall and Midna held up her free hand to keep them from falling into her eyes.

“Yeah, lovely,” Midna replied, somewhat sarcastically. “I don’t understand why you people like snow so mu- Ah!”

The pick of her skate caught an exposed branch sticking out of the ice. She lurched forward, pulling Zelda down with her. She landed on the ground with a thud and Zelda fell square on top of her. They both lay stunned for a moment.

Midna blinked snow out of her eyes. “You okay, Zel?”

Zelda propped herself up on her hands and looked down at Midna. Her face was flushed right to the tips of her ears. “Fine. And you?”

Midna grinned toothily. “Never better.”

Zelda returned the smile nervously and leaned down, softly pressing her lips into Midna’s. Midna reached up and pulled Zelda closer, arms draping over her neck. After a moment, they parted. Midna sat upright and helped Zelda up beside her, who leaned contentedly on her shoulder.

Midna exhaled, her breath billowing. “You know, if this is ice skating, I think I could grow to like it.”

#fanfic #submission

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legendofzelda-secretsanta · 8 years ago

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here's a little introspective piece for @just--another--outcast on ravio and link's relationship!!

He’s been waiting for the guy to wake up for a while. Like, a long while. Thirty minutes have passed at the least. He’s not irritated or annoyed, though, more just… worried. It’s weird being worried about himself.

Ravio knows that Yuga couldn’t have done that much damage to the guy, but he frets momentarily whether or not there could be lasting damage. There wouldn’t be, right? He was counting on him to help out!

Maybe… maybe there had been some permanent damage, Ravio thought. He’d already done a quick glance over the guy’s extremities to make sure he wasn’t that hurt, but he hadn’t really looked very carefully.

He reaches out a tentative, purple sleeve and softly brushes it against the guy’s arm.

No response.

He squeezes it gently, feeling for any broken bones or anything that Yuga could’ve done. He finds nothing.

Did he hit his head on something? Was that why he wouldn’t wake up? He’d heard from one of his customers that head injuries could cause comas, but was that what was happening here?

Ravio draws back in shock, breathing in quickly. What if the guy was in a coma? What would he do then? There’d be no way to help Hilda!

Hilda.

He pulls up a chair next to the guy and sits down, absently stroking Sheerow. His little bird friend chirps and snuggles up into his scarf, and Ravio feels a little calmer.

He’s probably overreacting again, as usual. He’ll just wait for the guy to wake up, and when he does, he’ll think about what to do from then. It’ll be fine.

He sits there for maybe another ten minutes before the guy starts to stir. He groans quietly, and Ravio wonders if he’s having a nightmare. He’s mouthing something that Ravio can’t quite make out, balling his fists and squeezing his eyes shut tightly.

Ravio’s had nightmares too. Sometimes he wakes up in the middle of the night not sure who he is. He feels like he’s himself, but not exactly him. It’s a weird feeling. He wonders if the guy is having the same nightmare that he has. He knows better than to bother people having nightmares, but everything about this guy piques his curiosity.

The guy’s eyes open and Ravio is taken momentarily by how blue they are, and how they are not green like his, but bright, baby blue. The guy looks around drearily, eyes still unfocused and disoriented, so Ravio does the one thing he knows would definitely wake anybody up.

He sticks his face right into the guy’s nose.

The guy screams and tumbles out of his bed.

Ravio knows he shouldn’t be laughing, but he just can’t stop it. Sheerow flutters off his shoulder where he had been perching and hovers over the guy.

“Ooooh, you’re waking up!” He exclaims, clapping his hands together and leaning down a little bit so he can see the guy a better. Even if the hood does conceal his identity, it’s still really bothersome to look out from. “Good! I was starting to worry about you, buddy.”

“The name’s Ravio,” He introduces. He waits for a response. He quirks an eyebrow and leans down a little more to make sure the guy can hear him. “Hey, you listening to me? What, the rug tastes really good or something?” Maybe humor will lighten the mood a little more.

The guy grumbles from his place on the floor and Ravio brightens up. “I’m a traveling merchant,” He explains, “I found you in the Sanctuary. Passed out. Alone. Strange, if you ask me.”

The guy finally sits up and Ravio is again blown away by how blue his eyes are. His hair is a soft, fluffy shade of auburn, his skin is a warm peach, his eyes are the color of the sky and deeper than he can see. He wonders for a moment if the guy would be thinking similar things if he let him see his face.

He continues with his story, “It looked like you needed a pal, so I took the liberty of lugging you here to this vacant house. Seemed like a perfect place for you to shake off the snores.”

“U-Um, this-, uh, this is my house.”

Ravio is surprised, enough with the surprises, guy, yet again by how different the guy is from him. Ravio’s always had people tell him how loud and confident his voice sounds, but this guy? It’s soft and nervous and stuttering and Ravio can’t help but marvel over his counterpart again.

Of course he knew that this was gonna be the guy’s house. It’s in the same location as his own in Lorule. But he’s gotta act surprised to keep up his cover. “Say what?” He shouts. “This is your house? Looked empty-ish to me.”

And it’s true! The guy’s house is clean and organized unlike his dirty mess of a home. It’s got a warm feeling to it, though, and Ravio likes that.

“I have a, um, sign. Out front. It says that this is my house.”

Ravio raises an eyebrow that the guy can’t see. “Oh, really? I didn’t see that.”

The guy sputters and looks down. “I-I mean, I wouldn’t blame you? You were probably focusing on, uh, other stuff. Like me. Thanks, by the way. And sorry.”

It’s funny in a disturbing sort of way to see someone almost identical to him act so differently. “Nah, don’t apologize! I just did what any normal person would do, y’know? I think anybody who found somebody passed out on the ground would try to help out.”

The guy chuckles nervously. “Y-Yeah. Thanks.”

“Wait, so tell me… What happened to you, buddy?” Ravio asks. He already kinda knows what happened, but he really just wants to clarify.

“Um… Seres got turned into a painting...?” Ravio waits for a continuation but the guy seems to be done with his explanation.

“You don’t say!” Ravio exaggerates as he draws back, biting back what little bits of sarcasm he can. “Some strange man turned a girl into a painting?” Maybe if he just… helps this guy along. Little bits at a time.

“Oh, uh… yeah? He had a really pointy nose and I think he had a lot of makeup on. I think. I can’t really remember him that well.” The guy mumbles, scuffing his feet on his rug. Ravio wants to tell him that he’s remembering Yuga just perfectly but he’ll keep that to himself.

“So you got done in trying to stop him, huh?” C’mon, guy, you can do it…

He rubs the back of his head. “Well, I mean… I tried to? It, uh, didn’t work out at all-,”

The look on the guy’s face is getting awfully dark and Ravio knows when to stop. “That makes you a hero, buddy!” He yells enthusiastically, waving his arms around. “A real, live, genuine hero!”

A world saver.

The guy blushes and fiddles with the hem of his tunic- a habit, maybe? He’s trying to make words but it seems to Ravio that he’s too embarrassed to. He looks almost like Hilda when she gets flustered for once.

And at that point, Ravio remembers exactly where he is and what he needs to be doing.

“But why are you standing around talking to me then?” He flaps his arms and dances around nervously, shouting, “You’ve gotta report this to the castle!” Sheerow dances along with him.

“O-Oh, you’re right!” The guy nods and stumbles over to the door.

Ravio spots something gleaming and silver next to the table by the guy’s bed and it’s his sword, why is this guy trying to leave without his sword-

“Your sword, pal! Don’t forget your-,”

“Oh! Thank you for reminding me- oh, oh man-,” The guy scrambles back to the table and grabs the blade before running back over to the door when Ravio yet again remembers something important.

“Oh! Hey! Wait a minute.” He calls.

The guy turns around with his big blue eyes wide open. “Yeah?”

Ravio scratches his head uncomfortably, “To tell you the truth, I’ve been looking for a place to stay. It’s been hard to find somewhere good. So, uh. This is awkward…” Ravio hates making requests and hates owing people, but he figures he’ll just have to suck it up for this one time. “Mind if I stay here for a while? Just a couple of days, I promise!”

He expects the immediate cringe and short no but it never comes.

“Of course. Feel free to make yourself at home.” The guy smiles and him and Ravio is blown away yet again by how different they are from each other, and he wonders if Hilda and her counterpart are just as much opposites as they are.

“Really!? Thanks a million!” Ravio cheers, dancing around with Sheerow. “Finally! No more sleeping out in the wild!” He turns to the guy with a sheepish look on his face, “Tough world out there, y’know?”

The guy’s eyes dart to the side for a moment before he nods quietly. Ravio wonders what he’s thinking about.

“Here-,” Ravio says, reaching into his rucksack and digging around-, “take this. I can’t pay rent yet. But it’s something, at least.”

He finds the bracelet and hands it to the guy when he walks over. It’s one of his most prized possessions, old and so, so precious, a true artifact that he was lucky to find. It also has those special uses that Ravio’s sure will help the guy out in whatever he’s gotta do from here out. “I know it looks like a hunk of junk, but it’s older than old. A real treasure, that thing-,”

“Uh…”

“Uh, what?” Ravio asks.

The guy blinks and sniffs the bracelet, what the heck, before flinching away. “U-Um, it’s got, uh, kind of an… odor? I-I don’t-,”

“What odor?” Ravio asks, and he’s a little bit upset now because this is history in objective form- “You don’t want it because it smells funny?”

The guy nods but he looks apologetic and sad. Ravio almost feels bad for him.

“That’s the smell of history, buddy!” He shouts, and he knows this isn’t a good time to get heated and passionate about his specialty subject but it’s too late now, “Musty leather! Moldy aromas! The rich fragrance of a relic!” He accents each thing with a wave of his hand.

“S-Sorry-,” The guy starts to say, but Ravio’s had too much of his sad puppy eyes.

“Ok, fine. I’ll admit that it smells like a wet dog.” He sees the way the guy’s eyes light up momentarily and he’s a little proud of himself for making him smile. “But you gotta know, that’s a good smell. Besides…” He’s gotta make sure the guy wears it, after all, “it’s a gift. So the least you could do is wear it, buddy!” He hasn’t even spent that long with the guy but he already feels like guilt tripping is one of his weaknesses.

“A-Alright. Thank you, Ravio.” The guy says, slipping the bracelet on his wrist. It’s a little too big on him, and Ravio wonders if the guy’s wrists are as bony as his.

He grins. “Now, pronto, buddy! To the castle! Hurry!!”

And as the guy runs off and opens his door to leave, Ravio calls, “Bye now! See ya, Mr. Hero!”

When Mr. Hero comes back, he’s a lot worse off than Ravio expected he would be. He hears the door open and turns around, “Welcome home, Mr. Hero! You said it was alright to stay here, so I’ve made myself at-,”

He turns around and Mr. Hero’s got a bad limp that Ravio doesn’t remember from last time and scratches and bruises all over his face.

“What happened!?” He shouts, dropping whatever he was holding and running over to make sure he’s ok. His fingertips brush against a particularly raw scratch on his cheek and Mr. Hero flinches back.

“N-No, there were just a few Octoroks that I didn’t expect would show up.”

“Where were you?” Ravio asks, trying to force down the worry that’s lodged in his throat.

“By the Eastern Palace- I saw your signs, by the way.” His voice is too soft and Ravio almost can’t catch the last few words.

“What’s that?” He asks. “Saw my signs at the Eastern Palace, did you?”

Mr. Hero nods. “Mmhmm.”

“Ahh, I was going to open a store near the palace, but when I saw all the monsters I hightailed it outta there!” There were so many Octoroks and Chus and so many of those nasty little- Ravio sighs. “Way too many monsters around there for my liking, you get me?”

Mr. Hero shrugs and nods.

“But,” Ravio walks back to his dropped items after deciding that Mr. Hero isn’t hurt that badly, “I seem to recall some stone pedestals near my signs! Did you see a symbol on them?”

“Oh, uh… yeah. I did.”

“Oh, you did? Well, do you remember what the symbol was?” If he gets this question right, maybe he’ll let Mr. Hero rent his bow for free. That’d be a good deal, right? He needs it, after all.

“Um… I think it was a bow and arrow?” Mr. Hero tries, brows drawn together and frowning slightly. “It might’ve been something else…”

“That’s right!” Ravio exclaims, clapping his hands. “It was a bow and arrow! Remind you of anything? Like maybe… this?” He pulls out the bow from his rucksack and hands it to Mr. Hero with a flourish.

He’s fond of this bow. He stuck his own little rabbit mark at one of the ends, and the feathers on the arrow match his color scheme. He likes having matching themes for his stuff. “Normally I’d charge you a rental fee, but I’ll lend it to you for free.” He keeps himself from saying this time, anyway.

“O-Oh, thanks.” Mr. Hero takes the bow and hangs it with his sword on his back. “I’m sure it’ll come in handy. When do you want me to return it?”

Ravio hadn’t thought of that. “Well, hmm… Let’s just think about that later. For now, though, we gotta think up a strategy for you!”

“W-What do you mean?” Mr. Hero asks, obviously confused.

Ravio clicks his tongue. “Well, y’see, Mr. Hero-,”

“It’s Link.”

Ravio looks up. “Link?”

Mr. Hero bites his lower lip and flushes. “M-My name. That’s my name. I-I realized I hadn’t told you my name.”

Link, huh? Awfully different from Ravio.

“Huh.” Ravio looks at Link’s face a little more. “You do look like a Link, huh?” The name matches him.

“Thanks, I guess.”

But, as they have priorities, Ravio pulls the topic back on track. “So! Strategy! What’re you gonna do?”

Link bites his lip again. “I was thinking that I’d, um… just go back to the Eastern Palace and then go help out Osfala.”

Ravio starts to realize that planning ahead might not be this guy’s forte.

“And? What if you can’t find Osfala so easily?” Ravio probes, darting his head back and forth. “What if he runs away?”

“Uhh…” He’d obviously not thought about that, “f…Follow him?”

“But what if it’s dangerous? What if there’re monsters where he went?”

“Um-,”

“You’ve gotta think of at least one way to escape at all times!” Ravio shouts, gesturing with his arms. “How’re you gonna get out if things get sticky?” It’s one of his base rules that he follows at all costs, and if Link doesn’t get it yet, he’ll just have to help him out a little more.

“Why would I need to think of one?”

“Exactl-,” Ravio blinks. “Wait, what?”

Link’s staring at him like he’s an alien. “Why would I need to escape?”

“B-Because it’s dangerous?” Ravio sputters. “Why else would you need one?”

“But if I’m in danger, that means Osfala probably is too. I can’t just leave him.” Link says, acting like it’s common sense.

Ravio is left spluttering as Link asks, voice soft. “Would you?”

“W-Well, I-I-,” He can’t answer because his throat is choked with guilt and shame.

He finds it ironic how they are opposites in the worst ways. Link is honest and courageous in all the ways Ravio always wished he could be, while Ravio is sneaky and manipulative to hide how much of a coward he is.

Link stares at him for a few moments with his deep, soul-piercing blue eyes before they soften. “It’s alright to be scared,” and Ravio wonders how Link can read him so well. “You’re brave in other ways.”

Ravio doubts that somehow. “Really?”

“Y-Yeah.” Link says, scratching the back of his head. “I-I can’t talk to people very easily because I get nervous; and even when I do, I always mess up w-what I’m trying to say. I wish I could talk as confidently as you.”

Ravio huffs. “Anybody can talk loud.”

“There’s- There’s a difference between talking loud and talking with confidence!” Link says, “A-And even if you didn’t believe me there, remember; you came all this way just to set up a shop! If that’s not brave, I-I don’t know what is.”

Link’s attempts to cheer him up are little more than the same phrases that he’s heard from most of his customers, but somehow the fact that it’s Link telling him these things cheers Ravio.

Link leaves to head off to go help Osfala and Ravio is left wishing he could be more like Link.

The next time Link comes back long enough for a meaningful conversation, Ravio doesn’t want him to leave anymore. He’d come back before to pick up new items that Ravio was renting out, but he’d left soon afterwards.

When he comes back this time, he’s scarred and bruised, beaten down and in pain, when he walks in through his door. He’s using his sheathed sword as a cane and is only just barely staying upright. He leans heavily on the door as he shuts it behind him before sliding down, letting out a shuddering, pained breath.

Ravio screams.

“MR. HERO- O-OH MY-,”

He runs over awkwardly, the ends of his purple robe are getting in the way, and falls to his knees by Link, nervously flapping his hands. “W-What happened!? A-Are you-,”

He notices a large bloodstain on Link’s tunic that is steadily growing and he feels absolutely nothing but guilt for wanting to throw up.

Link flinches back violently and Ravio wants to vomit again, what happened to him, why is he so scared, stuttering out broken apologies and moans.

“I-It hurts-,”

He calls out to him gently. “Mr. Hero?” When there’s no response, he tries again. “Link?”

Link looks up with heavy-lidded eyes. “H-Hilda? I-Is that-,”

Ravio goes and pukes in the tiny wastebasket Link keeps by his bed.

When he’s finally recovered enough, Ravio hauls Link onto his bed and wraps his injuries with potion soaked bandages.

The wound on his chest seems to be worse than he imagined at first; it’s a deep cut going across the left side of his abdomen. He wonders what enemy had a sword big enough and strong enough to cut through Link’s defenses and into flesh.

He falls asleep by Link’s side, and when he wakes up, Link is absently rubbing his hands along the ears of his hood, eyes still closed.

“Are you feeling better?” Ravio asks quietly and slowly as to not startle him.

Blue eyes open and Link smiles at him. “Yeah. Thank you, Ravio.”

Link recovers, even if he never loses that limp in his left leg or if he can’t seem to grip his shield as steadily with his right hand, but the next time Ravio sees him, he’s saved two worlds.

He’s proud.

#fanfic #submission

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