#▴ — do you see me yet / impa.

[guideoftime]

Commission piece of Impa's tattoo by @reinneart! She looks so gorgeous! I'm so happy with it ahh!

[simpjaes]

how about when the hyung line is just too big for ur little tight cunt? need the mtl please bcs I think it'll be HOT!

hyung line + cock too big, pussy too little syndrome ™

warning: size kink, reader is described as small compared to each member, use of words like: little, tiny, small, tight, kinda dub con. note: this is not an mtl, it's just a drabble for each hyung line hottie.

★ heeseung:

Fuck.

Heeseung knew he was bigger than average but...fuck. When he brought you home from the party he honestly expected you to be able to take it. All of it in one go, really. But no. Barely half of his cock is in you and you're shaking. Clinging to him with a pained look on your face, taking in deep breaths to adjust only to moan out of pain when he tries to push in a little more.

It's kind of driving him fucking wild. Especially in the way he's used to hearing girls moan and groan about how perfectly sized he is, about how big and painful it can be. You though, you can barely fucking take it, unlike those other girls.

Goddamn.

"Yeah." He starts, looking you straight in your teary eyes as he painfully presses in further. "Gonna open that pussy up for me, aren't you?"

You frantically nod, feeling his cock reach so deep inside of you, feeling his girth nearly tear you apart. It's like with each little push, he hits a wall that should tell him to stop, but he only pushes further. Past the block and penetrating your soft and insanely tense walls.

"Tiny." He grits his teeth, pushing, pushing, pushing until he's stuffed his entire length in you. "So fucking tiny."

☆ jay:

"Just a little more," Jay coos at you, rubbing your waist as he slowly presses in. "Hold onto me." He knows well enough that it doesn't feel good for you. Not yet at least. And when he watches you shake your head, trying hard to breathe through the feeling of his thick and darkened head pushing and prodding you open, he can't help but continue to talk you through it. "No?" He whispers in his own half-moan, still pressing in, inch by inch. "I'm already almost in baby, you can take it." He's right about it too, seeing as how you've taken it before. Given, that was only once considering this is only the second time you've hooked up with him. You're not sure why you called him of all people, remembering how difficult it was to get his full cock inside of you last time and the soreness that came after. Then again, maybe it's because of his consistent texting since that night. Not even sexting either. Just gentle conversation, interesting conversation. Like maybe this doesn't need to be a hook-up sooner or later. Who knows? And it continues like this. He presses an inch in, pauses, lets your tight cunt jerk him off, then he tells you to breathe and pushes in another inch. You're so wet too, he's practically obsessed. Never has a pussy so small taken him in full like this, then again, it's not like he's ever been with someone this tight and this fucking tiny. Obsessed is right. No matter how fucking wet you get for him, it doesn't make the slide any easier, even when you're relaxed, you're still so tight around him. Just like now, where he can finally move and fuck you without holding himself back. Which is hard to do, mind you. You cling to him through each painful and bruising thrust, and he lets you. Flexing every muscle in his body so you have something to really hold on to.

And god the way you moan through the pain. He would make you cum in an instant, he thinks, with the way you start moving your own hips to match his rhythm.

The wet sound squelching, like music to his ears especially when paired with your needy whines. "Feels so good, doesn't it baby?"

★ sunghoon:

All day. All fucking day Sunghoon could do this if that's what it takes. Three weeks since you started dating, the first time you had his cock in your hand was also the first time you decided to be afraid to let him fuck you. Something so huge cannot naturally fit inside of you without him blatantly impaling you and probably landing you in the hospital. But god, does he know how to get you horny. With those pretty fingers offering just not enough to be satisfied. With his tongue swiping perfectly but never being filled to full capacity. It's the first time you've even considered letting him stick his dick in you, and arguably, you see why you avoided it until now when he finally does start sliding in. It's not that the thickness hurts, it's just that fact that the fucking slide never stops. You could have sworn he had his whole dick in you ten seconds ago, considering he fucked himself in and out of you a few times before sliding in more. The reach is deeper than you've ever felt. A sharp pain hitting you right in the center of the gut only for him to manage to push in even further. You swear he's breaking something in you and he isn't even actually fucking you just yet. "There you go." Sunghoon coos once he finally bottoms out in you, reaching his hand forward to trace his fingers along your lips. "See? You can take it, love." For just a second, you believed him. But then he started fucking moving. God, you're seeing stars and planets and heaven and hell all in one thrust. He pulls his hips back so far just to slam into you. He knows it hurts too, but he can't be gentle when you're looking like this. So small lying under him, just fucking taking it.

☆ jake:

Jake barely realized you were in pain before he felt your fingernails scratching down his back and you whimpered out a small "take it out." He pulled back to look at you in shock, rutting his hips back and forth into your swollen and glistening hole. It's only been a few seconds since he pushed in, and it's the first time he's ever been asked to take it out?! For you though, you were expecting him to take it slow. Not get between your legs and fucking sink into you without so much as letting you adjust to his size before pounding it into your cervix. He does as he's told though, sliding out just as painfully as he slid in before gripping his cock and holding it just at your entrance. "What? Why?" He asks, not realizing he had knocked the breath out of himself stuffing such a cock in that tight space. "You're...big," You look away from him, feeling embarrassed that you really just told him to fucking pull out. "Too big." Only now does Jake smile, a glint in his eye growing dark and even more aroused than he already was.

"Oh, yeah?" He smiles, teasing your hole with the head of his cock. "You don't think you can take it?" He continues, pressing right back into you and now relishing in that small, tight heat you wish he'd be gentle with. You shake your head frantically, opening your mouth in a silent sob as he uses you, slamming in and out. In, out, in, out. "You already are, babe." He grunts, hunching over to attach his lips to your nipple. "Taking it so fucking well too." You're not sure why that makes you feel proud, but it does.

[luna-loveboop]

Luna, my dear sweet friend, can I pick your brain?

Lofty gave me a veeerrry good scenario for a Time vs Sky conflict, but I'd love to hear your thoughts on what that could look like? I picked 2 very mature characters and now I have to make them brawl lolol

I think the best route (for me at least) wouldn't involve the master sword or Hylia. So this would be a personality conflict. I don't wanna spoil the scenario she gave me, so I thought I'd ask for your general opinion on what you think would make them fight, personality wise🥰

Feel free to delete if you don't care to go over this, but I thought I'd ask cus you're really good at going in depth with character analysis❤️

BYE FRIEND😀 also I hope you're doing well and you're amazing and wonderful❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

YES ok so personality conflicts between Sky and Time. There's... a lot to look at there lol.

So I'm just gonna look at each of their personalities +flaws, and then how they interact :))

Soo for Time

Time is dad. He's older and more experienced- and he's still a stubborn gremlin like all of them. He's patient with them but also stern- he cares very deeply about all the boys and Sky is no exception

I don't doubt for a second Time wants to be just as close to Sky as the others

One of Times biggest flaws is the idea of a closed mindset. Which makes sense, since we know Time's ending as the hero's shade- he spends years in that mindset of regret. Time has these thoughts of being too old to change (<no), and allows himself to keep holding onto bitterness, especially about the sword. Which he has good reason to be a grumpy old man already, with the mental and physical age difference, but still

Time is obviously capable of changing his mind- as Wind took a challenge to prove

But overall Time is still. He's not super expressive, my man likes to just be. He wants to be still and live, and hero as needed, and not be a super crazy hero, but just a chill dude with malon.

Time is patient and stern and calm and good. He is also closed and stubborn. That's all good, but it doesn't always work the best with Sky.

So Sky.

I literally love this ask because I could rant forever about his flaws to talk about them more (no one kill me).

Sky very highly values being a hero as part of who he is- in contrast to time who literally just doesn't want to.

I see so much of Sky's patience. And with good reason- with others Sky is endlessly patient and calm in resolving conflict. He's emotionally intuitive and intelligent and awesome

But Sky is also I think extremely impatient. With himself, and with things around him that aren't going well.

He wants answers and he wants them now, which is kind of scary from him. I see a lot about Skys temper, but I don't want to forget how much of that is from impatience- not knowing how to handle things going slow.

Because things moving fast and violently is how it needs to be right? *cough cough IMPA

For all sky is extremely patient with others feelings, he is one of the most impatient people with himself and his circumstances. Which a lot of comes from immaturity, which is my next point-

Sky is. A monster with pranks. I don't even know why it took me so long to realise this was Sky-

Saying 'I know we should help but this is too funny'. Twilight and wild are looking disturbed and like they want to help, and Sky and legend are just cold-blooded leaving four struggling for his shield and taking bets. He's very immature, and furthermore, he doesn't really respect Time as an authority as much in the face of pranking/joking

Bro is not remorseful at all I swear-

I also think 'nice hair' Sky is a little... idk judgy? With people he doesn't get along with as well. Like Hyrule. (Wait I haven't yet I gotta rant on that sometime sorry- but yeah he and Hyrule don't vibe well)

Sky can also be unrestrained with his words and snark- his words can practically be a prank in itself 'nice hair' 'am I late?'. I think sometimes he toes the line with pranks and joking around (like that one quest where you could break Peatrices heart?), and same with his words. Overall he's a snarky and sharper person- and being able to pull off good pranks and jokes isn't inherently a bad thing- he's smart. He's a kind person too, but I think sometimes his words and actions can be too sharp.

I think Jojo also said in the post with their ages that she made him slightly younger because of his immaturity compared to twilight. Do with that what you will

So point is, Sky has flaws that are mildly subtle but still prominent, like his impatience with himself and situations, his immaturity with joking and temper and words, and I hc he's a slightly judgy person. 'Nice costume' to Zelda like SKY but I swear I love him. Don't kill me for discussing flaws please I have a dog

So how this comes together with between him and Time is pretty cool-

Skys impatient, and Time has a resistance to change in his mindset- which means that as far as the sword, Sky wants change now, he wants validation and Time to not hate it. Time does not care about this because the sword hurt him and he's spent years hating it.

But with situations and stuff, especially with the entrance arc, we can see Sky being very impatient after Twi's injury- from what I can tell he wants to rip dinks throat out. But it's still subtle- what's not as subtle is how much Time wants to slow down. He wants to hold them back and protect them, and Sky is impatient in a frustrating situation. I could honestly see Sky wanting to run after the shadow on his own right now (sorry, I've been rereading elastic heart). Sometimes patient + wanting to hurry up doesn't work well.

If you think about it in relation to their journeys it makes sense that they are portrayed this way. Skys journey was about rushing and trying to hurry up. Times journeys were horrifying, with this insane feeling of running out of time.. but he could still turn back said time.

I can't even count the number of people I've seen say they tried to rush through the eldin temple as fast as possible on reruns- after Impa telling him it was too late trying to run as fast as possible even knowing it wouldn't change anything. That translates into skys character, and it must be insanely frustrating for him.

They are both heros. Time's journey was about saving the world and Sky's was about trying to kill a god. It's a big disconnect between them- one is patient and one is not, one doesn't want to be a hero and one's life is being a hero dating a goddess. One lightheartedly jokes and one throws a love letter down the toilet (SKY), one is older and one is immature. Yet on the surface Time wears a scowl and Sky is as soft as can be.

They are so very different in so many ways, but so much alike- they are both heros, they both want to be young and playful at heart. They both really like stabbing things and setting them on fire. And also saving the world.

They are also both extremely mature in ways beyond their years and endlessly kind.

I love them so much.

I wasn't sure to say this in the post bc the ask is about personalities, but I feel like another major issue between them could be whatever happened with Time and timelines and the triforce. Obviously the timeline is messed up. I also have not played times games... but I think in timeline talk one he mentioned the triforce of courage ended up broken? I can see Sky not taking well to all of that.

Soooo in terms of personality conflicts that would make them. Fight? Yikes what are you planning Oma, I would say there's several possible triggers outside of the master sword and Hylia (which I think is wise of you to avoid btw)

I think that Skys impatience contrasting with Time's fixed mindsets can have issues. But the way Sky has shown no acknowledgment of Time when he's tried to stop the boys goofing off w/ pranking can also be a trigger- as well as that sharp and sometimes insensitive snarkiness in Skys words we all know and love. They have. A lot of issues. lol.

Yeah! I uhh hope that helped and was relevant or made sense at all- I swear I love these guys. These two are fun to look at because outside of the obvious stressor of the sword they have a lot of other issues as well. They have differences in thinking and personality that can lead to a lot of tension between them.

Thank you for the ask and I can't wait to see what you come up with

The art and comics is by Jojo @linkeduniverse au :D

Thank you for listening to my rant, and here's one of my favourite pictures of these guys

Simply majestic <3

:)

@skyloftian-nutcase

[fourswords]

me, pacing erratically: see, the thing is, link from the original legend of zelda did not have a sword before he got one from the old man in the cave and yet he managed to defend impa from the monsters pre-game so skillfully that impa was legitimately impressed with him and pleaded with him to help defeat ganon in the first place. so how did he do it? how did a ten-year-old boy with no weapon manage to singlehandedly drive off a bunch of monsters from terrorizing an old woman? my answer: i think he used rocks. i think that boy was throwing rocks left and right and bashing them into their fucking skulls and whatnot. and just given that the intentions of the original legend of zelda games were ultimately to let the player fill in the blanks as they played the game and as the final battle with ganon was so simplistically done (because, again, much was left up to the players' imaginations) i think from a theoretical standpoint, if we are to imagine the final battle with ganon as it happened in-universe—that is to say, a ten-year-old boy with absolutely no formal weapons training other than "run through monsters with the sharp end" fighting against the monstrous king of darkness who can and does turn invisible during the course of the battle—would it not be a fun idea to assume, then, that at some point ganon could have knocked the sword out of his hands? that at some point during the battle this iteration of link could've just gone "fuck it we ball" and grabbed a rock and managed to wrap himself around ganon's head and just started bashing him with it? like the absolute fucking feral child he is? would it not be a fun idea to assume that instead of eventually shooting ganon with the silver arrow from afar he simply grabs it from his bag in the scuffle (wherein ganon is trying in vain to remove the Screaming Fucking Child from his general head area) and stabs it into one of his eyes while he's up there? would it not be fun? would it not set him apart from the other iterations of link in the way that the games he features in already DO as zelda lore has evolved over the last almost-forty years that more games have been released? we're talking about the version of link who, as the original manual says, mysteriously appears out of nowhere and disappears just as quickly after the events of zelda 1 (though clearly he does eventually return to hyrule as evidenced by the events of zelda 2). would it not suit him to match the general atmosphere of the original legend of zelda game and fight in a manner that speaks more of survival than fight in a way that imitates polished heroics like you would see from some sort of knight? would these hypothetical scenarios as to how the final battle with ganon could have gone down not add an infinite amount of characterization and flavor to an otherwise simplistic fight? does this not interest you?

you, tied to a chair in my basement: ggod pleas,,e,,, jsut let me go i want to see my fuckign family,,,,,,,

[tenderleavesbob]

Hi!! Anon from before, I meant the fic where the chain see each other again but Wild is missing/not there yet :) sorry for the confusion

Aaaah. That makes more sense! This fic. Here you go!

When their adventure ended and Warriors returned to his life as Captain Link, he accepted that it was the end of their time together. He felt blessed as it was to have the opportunity to not only see Tune and Mask again but to fight alongside the new heroes. He didn't expect to receive such a blessing again.

He stepped out of the portal and into preparations for a new war.

The breaking of Ganon's bindings had left them fragile. Even with the Master Sword sealing him back in his prison, no one expected them to hold Ganon for long. They needed to prepare for the new battle.

Impa introduced him to their new weapons. Rather than fighting another war and sacrificing their people to Ganon's madness, they would create divine beasts to join their hero and Hylia's daughter into battle.

"It was a good idea," Warriors admitted, rubbing his chest. "We underestimated him, though. He didn't have the Triforce anymore, but he was still empowered by it." He grimaced. "He was also mad as hell."

Wind pressed against his side. It was still strange to see Wind as tall as him. Wind showed him what he had actually looked like when he died, and Warriors cried at how old and strong his boy looked. He was still crying as Wind scolded him for dying so young.

"It almost worked, but we relied too much on him being similar to how he was before," Warriors said.

Legend tsked at him and shook his head. "Amateur mistake."

"Leg!" Twilight hissed.

Warriors grinned at him. "He's right. It was." He tapped his chest. "This time, it did cost me my life. I won, but no one expected..." He waved his hand vaguely. "Whatever that was. It was nasty. Took all of my power to take it out."

"His Malice," Twilight said. He frowned. "Wild mentioned it."

Warriors shrugged. "It certainly kicked my ass."

Time leaned against him from his other side. Spirits shouldn't have weight, but Time did. A dead man shouldn't be warm, but he was. He was comforting and smelled like the forest around them. "If I'm right about the timeline, it'll be a long time before we see Wild. Your sacrifice will keep Ganon at bay for a long time."

Warriors hummed and didn't respond. They all knew enough about Wild's timeline to know how that would go. He just hadn't realized that he was the hero right before Wild. He had hoped that he would be able to change it, even if it messed up the timeline again. Better prepare them after they used the Divine Beasts.

Twilight kicked Warriors's shin. It didn't really hurt. Nothing did anymore. Warriors still yelped. "I see ya thinking. Knock it off."

Legend grinned. "Don't tell him to knock it off. He'll never be able to start up again!"

Everyone started laughing again. Time kept his hand pressed over Warriors's heart.

His death had been immediate. He had seen the death blow but hadn't felt a thing.

"So now what?" Warriors asked.

Hyrule plopped beside Legend with Four right behind them. Their chain wasn't complete yet. It wouldn't be for centuries. It was nice, though, for all of them to sit together like this, safe within the Great Deku Tree's forest. The forest spirits laughed and chattered around them, and Hyrule resembled them as he offered them the fruit he and Four had gathered. "Now we eat!" he chirped.

"And wait," Four added, passing some of the fruit to Wind and Warriors. "We did our time."

"Sorta," Twilight said drolly. Time snickered.

They didn't need to eat, but the fruits of this forest were good for more than mortal sustenance.

Sky watched all of them quietly, a content smile on his face. In death, he glowed even brighter than life. Under the shadow of the trees, he shone like their own sun. "We're together," he said simply. "We'll watch over Hyrule the best we can and support Wild when it's his turn. For now..." He accepted a golden apple from Hyrule. "We eat!"

"Do you think we could make beer from this?" Twilight mused.

"Or wine?" Warriors offered.

That started everyone off again, including cheers when Wind reported that he knew how to make moonshine. Warriors watched his brothers, far more content in death than he ever expected.

For now, no more battles.

For now, they could rest.

And eat.

[skyward-floored]

C-can I make a request…? (Please feel free to ignore if you’d rather not!)

HDW parent-child comfort? Maybe Volga gets a chance to comfort Link, or Impa can comfort him? Idk girl I’m just starving for comfort and warm fuzzy vibes and cuddles lol

Yes you may! (though I will say requests are closed so nobody send me more thanks <3)

It took me a while to contrive a situation where Impa would feel comfortable snuggling but I think I made it work! You’ll have to forgive me for the angst there ended up being, but there is comfort and cuddles I promise 😂

——————————————————————————————————

It’s not a dangerous wound.

Head wounds always bleed a lot, and almost always look worse than they are, so there’s no need for her to panic.

Yet despite how many times Impa tells herself these words, she can’t seem to banish the dread in her gut at the memory of seeing Link get slammed to the ground by an aeralfos’s shield, and not get up even after it had been killed by another soldier.

She shouts his name as he goes down, but the battle is a mess, and Impa is stuck in a fight of her own and can’t immediately get to Link. She manages a glimpse of him through the hordes, blood all over his face, and her heart stops as she fights even more viciously.

By the time she finally forces her way past the monsters in her path, Link is already being carried out of battle by a handful of medics. Impa wants to stop right there and follow them and demand to know if he’s okay, but they’re at a crucial point in the battle, and leaving now would be disastrous.

They wouldn’t be carrying him off if he wasn’t alive, he’s alive, calm down, she berates herself, but for some reason her hands won’t stop shaking.

The moment Cia’s monsters retreat and the men raise up a cheer, Impa makes a beeline for the medical tent, ignoring the questions lobbed at her by various army personnel. Link has certainly been injured before, but there’d been so much blood on him...

The medics are expecting someone to come looking for Link apparently, and the moment she steps inside the medical tent, she’s whisked off to a more private corner, curtains blocking the area from both the sounds and sights of anyone walking by.

And immediately sees Link lying silently on a bed, nearly as pale as the bandage around his head.

Impa exhales as she goes to his side, and watches his chest go up and down for a moment. The blood has been cleaned from his face at least, but he’s unnaturally still, and pale.

But he’s breathing.

“How is he?” Impa asks, and the medic beside Link hums.

“He has a concussion along with the laceration the shield left, but we’ve stopped the bleeding. He woke up enough to handle a potion about fifteen minutes ago,” she reports. “He’ll likely be disoriented for a while while the potion works through him. He may need another at a later point, but overall, he should be fine with some rest,” the medic smiles. Impa nods, still trying to ease the fear constricting her.

See, he’s fine, they said he’ll be fine, he just needs rest. He’s fine.

Link’s chest goes slowly up and down again, and Impa swallows.

“I’ve got some other patients to check up on, I’ll leave you to visit,” the medic says, seeming to sense her presence isn’t wanted, and she slips out from the curtain, leaving Impa alone with her son.

It’s rather quiet with her gone.

Impa exhales again, and looks at Link, pale and quiet, seeming unusually small under the thin blanket that he’s tucked under. There’s still blood matted in his hair, and Impa hesitates, then reaches forward, gently teasing some of it out.

It falls almost dust-like onto his pillow, and she brushes it off, intent on not thinking about how close Link came to dying and how she couldn’t do a thing to help him.

She can still see hear his cry as he’d fallen to the ground.

“Mmngh...”

“Link?” Impa asks immediately, leaning over him as his face twitches.

It takes him a minute, but he blearily opens his eyes, pupils unevenly sized as he blinks up at her. The sight of his blues, even dazed as they are, eases the fear in her chest somewhat, and she swallows as he stares.

“‘mpa?” he slurs, and she nods, unable to stop her exhale. He’s fine, see, he’s awake, relax. “Wh’...?”

“You were injured, Link. You got hit rather hard in the head with a large metal shield,” Impa explains slowly. Link scrunches up his face like he’s trying to remember such an event happening. “You’re currently in the medics tent.”

Link slowly blinks at her, not a whit of comprehension in his gaze.

“...shield?”

“Yes, a shield hit you. Hard.”

The memory of blood flashes in Impa’s vision again, and she very pointedly ignores it as Link’s eyes scrunch in confusion.

“Where’s... m’ shield?” he mumbles.

“It’s with your other gear, Link. It’s safe.”

"Oh..." he trails off, and slowly blinks. "...Wh' happen?"

Impa sighs. The medic had said he’d be disoriented. "You were injured, Link. You're resting in the medical tent."

He hums in reply, and slowly rolls his head to the side so he can look at her more easily, eyes trailing hazily across her face. The unsure, almost guarded look that’s been on his face whenever he’s looked at her lately is completely absent, nothing but open trust and bleary confusion.

It’s... almost more painful, in a way.

Impa swallows, and sits on the stool that’s been left beside his bed, Link’s eyes flickering at the noise. He stares at her again, and blinks, a little frown pulling at his cheeks.

“Don’t cry,” he murmurs.

“...Link, I’m not crying,” Impa replies slowly, and Link stretches a hand in the vague direction of her face, obviously rather uncoordinated.

“Eyes’r red,” he says worriedly, and somehow manages to land a hand on her cheek. “Looks like... if you’re cryin’.”

Impa can’t help letting out a soft chuckle as he clumsily tries to wipe away an imaginary tear, and she gently pulls Link’s hand off her cheek, setting it back at his side. “I haven’t been crying, Link. My eyes are naturally this color.”

Link squints at her, face disbelieving, then he frowns.

“I want red eyes,” he says in a sad voice, and Impa brushes his hair away from where it had fallen in his eyes.

“Blue eyes are just as nice as red,” she says patiently, gently picking some more of the blood from his hair. She's talked to her share of concussed people, but concussed Link is... especially curious to speak with. “I’ve always liked blue, actually.”

“Oh... okay. I guess blue... 'r nice."

Link leans into her touch, and Impa holds her hand there longer than she would have otherwise, his eyes slipping closed again. He doesn’t speak for a minute, and Impa almost thinks he’s fallen asleep when he softly grunts.

“I don’t feel good,” he mumbles. “C'n you fix it?”

The way his voice wavers makes something squeeze in her chest. “I’m afraid not. The red potion should help fix you up soon Link, but it’s going to take a little while. You’ll just have to be patient.”

“Head hurts... ‘n stomach.”

“You have a concussion, that’s not surprising,” Impa sighs. “But the red potion should help with that. They’ll both fade, you’ll be all right.”

“Left,” he mumbles, and Impa raises a confused eyebrow. “‘M left-handed. Not right.”

Impa breathes a soft chuckle. “That you are. My apologies.”

Link goes quiet again, and Impa watches him, his face slightly pinched in discomfort. She’s unable to stop herself from studying his face as the silence stretches between them, idly picking out the features he shares with her and his father.

He’s got Volga’s hair, though it’s paler then his, a hint of his Sheikah blood coming through. His nose is hers, as is the overall shape of his face, but his eyes are solely how Volga’s used to be, blue and bright.

Looking at him, you'd never guess he had such unusual blood.

Link must feel her gaze on him, as he opens his eyes and looks at her again. His eyes are eyes half lidded, but focused on her face, and a frown appears on his lips as pain suddenly ripples across his expression. His forehead crinkles, discomfort suddenly more obvious as he shifts in his bed, and Impa leans forward, looking at him with worry.

“Link?”

He squeezes his eyes shut, then opens them again, looking at her with a truly miserable expression.

“...Hurts,” he whispers.

And maybe it’s the time of voice he uses, maybe it’s the mixture of tears and dizziness in his eyes, or the fact that he just looks so young and small and hurt lying there, but Impa abruptly gives in to the side of herself begging to do something other then just sit here.

He likely won't remember any of this tomorrow anyway.

She stands up from her stool as Link lets out a soft groan, and sits herself on the bed, gently sliding him over so she can sit beside him. Her plan was to merely provide comfort by sitting there, but Link almost immediately latches onto her, curling himself halfway on her lap.

Impa can’t really breathe for a few seconds as her son nestles up to her, face still pained, but more relaxed then before. She watches him as he tries to get settled, but he seems to be having trouble finding a comfortable position for his head.

So Impa throws her remaining caution to the wind, and does something she hasn’t done since Link was a baby.

She slowly, carefully, slides him up, shifting him around so his head is resting on her shoulder. Then she begins to gently pet his hair, her fingers trembling a little.

Link goes still, then relaxes, the pain easing on his face.

“There you go...” she says quietly, still slowly running a hand through his hair. She’s careful to avoid the bandages, making sure her fingers only card through hair, and Link about melts under her touch.

A soft sigh escapes him, and Impa swallows, the fact that this is the first time she’s held Link since he was tiny not lost on her.

She quickly blinks back the sting in her eyes.

A sound almost like purring suddenly vibrates from Link’s throat, soft and faint, just loud enough that Impa can hear it. She blinks at him in surprise, but Link doesn’t notice, well on his way to falling asleep.

Impa keeps petting his hair as he dozes against her, the little rumbly noises still coming from his throat. He nuzzles up to her a little more, and Impa pulls his blanket up around his shoulders, holding him just a bit tighter as he finally drifts off.

It's unlikely he'll have any memory of this occurring, Impa quietly soothing him as he falls asleep in her arms.

But that's okay.

Holding him again after so long, gently teasing the last bits of blood from his hair, his head resting under her chin as he softly rumbles... it's enough.

She closes her eyes, and Link sighs again, fully asleep.

It's enough.

[fatefulfaerie]

Tears

“Link!” Penn exclaimed, wings outstretched in excitement. “What a great sense for news you have! Here I am chasing a new lead on the Princess and my partner appears before my eyes!”

Link hadn’t seen Penn since they finished chasing all the leads they had on the Princess’ whereabouts. It was at least a month since they went from stable to stable, Link almost believing the Yiga’s tricks and getting barely a wink of sleep until all twelve were dead ends. He was left just as lost as when he started until he found Impa and sunk himself into the mysterious geoglyphs that dotted the land. Link hadn’t yet found the courage to admit to anyone the truth about Zelda, so he pretended the best he could to be the eager, young reporter Penn knew him as.

“I’ve heard that Zelda has a homestead here in Hateno,” he continued. “Villagers tell me it’s across this bridge, but I’m afraid I’m at a standstill. You see, investigating her home for clues seems to go against my morals as a journalist. This may have to be a story we leave be.”

It was public knowledge that Princess Zelda lived in Hateno. That was no news story.

“What’s the lead?” Link asked. “Was she seen here recently? S-since her disappearance I mean.”

“It may be hearsay but rumors have been circulating that the Princess is married,” Penn said. “The villagers here have no idea what I’m talking about, so I’m thinking it’s no more than gossip. Traysi wanted me to check it out nonetheless. I’m thinking we at least find the may–”

Link averted his tear-filled gaze.

“Link, are you all right?”

“I…I’m fine,” he stammered. “Just…allergies.”

“Where,” he began weakly, but forced his voice to be stronger. “Where does the lead come from?”

“An old Zora at the Domain,” Penn answered. “He’s losing his memory but tends to spout some random things about his long life in an effort to keep a grasp on it. His niece heard him talking about marrying the Princess to someone, but he didn’t specify who. She was so excited about the prospect that she sent word to Traysi.”

Link looked notably nervous as he hugged his arms close.

“Don’t…don’t run the story,” he said in a hushed voice, no longer meeting Penn’s gaze at all. 

Penn looked confused.

“Link…what do you mean? Do you know something?”

“It just…it paints her in a bad light.”

“Link, I know you care about the princess’ public reputation. Your work at the paper honors that gleamingly. Your search for the absolute truth is inspiring to the whole team. You service our kingdom and our princess well.”

Link steadied his nerves with a deep breath and a slow blink of his eyes.

“It was me,” he admitted, quietly at first.

Penn blinked, shocked. He assumed he heard wrong.

“What?”

“It was me!” Link finally burst out pointing at himself. “All of it, everything. The mysterious hero who came out of nowhere and saved Hyrule from the calamity, me. I brought Zelda here and we built a life, and it was a good life. I married her because I loved her. We didn’t tell anyone because goddesses the Yiga were trailing her everywhere and everyone was looking at her to rebuild but I guess it doesn’t matter anymore because she’s gone, okay? She’s gone! That’s it, that’s your story. She’s a magic, floating dragon in the skies because I failed her again. She sacrificed herself for this kingdom and no one will ever know because there’s no proof! Nothing! No one else sees the dragons but me, so that’s what I have for you, absolutely nothing! I have nothing!”

Link panted and Penn stared. He blinked his eyes once, twice. Link expected him to call him crazy. Instead, he pointed his white-feathered wing at the house across the bridge.

“That’s your house?”

Link’s disbelief was shown in his face.

“Yes.”

Penn looked at the house for a moment, letting the breeze sift through his feathers.

“Link I think in a time like this Hyrule would quite like to hear a story like this about their Princess,” Penn said. “I don’t think your story paints her in a bad light in the slightest. In fact, it may be the heartwarming tale people need right now.”

Link’s gaze angled down and pondered the suggestion.

“And no, they won’t believe that she’s turned into a dragon,” Penn continued. “But they will believe as I do how much you loved her, and how she must have loved you.”

Link nodded.

“If you don’t mind I’d like to interview you,” Penn admitted. “In the house you built together. You’ll get final approval of the story I send to Traysi.”

Link looked up and over at the house. It felt like he hadn't been there in ages, like it was a lifetime ago that he went in scouring for clues, hoping she'd just be around the next corner. Waiting for her was like waiting for a sunrise that would never come.

“No, I don’t mind.”

[ganondoodle]

you know what i just saw some more of that weird ass reward for getting all shrines in totk, and tbh im still so

what is that?? there are no dog like sentient species in this version of hyrule?? the most is the sonau themselves but they got no tails??? i dont think anything in this hyrule has a tail like that? and sonau legs are pretty normalish human too areant they? they dont even have proper claws, just veguely longer fingernails- i guess there are the statues in the underground that kinda look like it (they dont got tails either tho do they??) but like ,,, theres nothing you can learn about them right? its never mentioned or even hinted at despite there being so goddamm much of the sonau still just up and functioning- their lil "material deposits" in the depths arent even withered beyond some plants growing on them, all their 'tech' (isnt it just .. magic tho? where the mechanism actually? its usually just some stone animated by green swirlies ... but ill mention that in another post) just runs perfectly like it was made yesterday

where does that thing come from?? and its supposed to the the HERO FROM THE TAPESTRY???? huh????? and its decked out in sonau clothing head to toe with clear gerudo refs too?? that so weird bc youd feel like there would have been some mention of this, especially considering that that thing is on the tapestry and impa(was it her? or purah?) RECOGNIZES ITS THE HERO FROM THE TAPESTRY???? like, CASUALLY even?? like a well known fact ?? did i miss some big lore part somewhere that talked about that dog gerudo sonau thing?? and if its on the tapestry that means it wasnt that long ago really (i mean ... all the sonau shit is still pretty much fully intact so arguing that they came and went in the time between totks past and botws past isnt that plausible either imo ..??) o how come you never see anything from that and yet its somehow completely known for them, and you cannot tell me she saw the abstract version of the hero and then looked at that armor and went thats the same bc two colors veguely matched or what?!! also given that its fully clothed in sonau stuff .. like the arms are literally raurus bracelets .. thingies, but then the sonau where supposedly a complete and unknown mystery until it suddendly came all raining from the sky and revealing its been there and EVERYWHERE the whole time apparently? with the most we knew was some flimsyly made stereotypical barbaric armor set in faron in botw? which i guess is also fully undone by totk since it shares absolutely zero in desing to the 'actual' sonau stuff we got in totk

and if it where some sort of descendant from the mix of kids rauru and sonai kinda .. must have had (unless they did away with zeldas bloodline stuff too .. which .. why even call it zelda anymore at this point lol) then again, where did those features come from (like the tail and red hair, the strange googly eyes? is there a mix of goron in there too??) and how was it then not documented or seen anywhere else?? youd imagine the mutant kids of the first tragically dead king and queen of this hyrule would be known in some way .. that is assuming it was that, but given the weird features no other species has still is ... it just doesnt add up

(i had the awful thoguht for a second that it might supposed to mean the gerudo came from that but .. the gerudo are already there LITERALLY the 1:1 same as in the present, just like all the other species ... which is also disappointing as hell, like seriously? not even different feather colors for the rito? literally the same clothing for the gerudo as in botw but white with golden stuff instead?? some vaguely different zora features? idk ? anything? also the hero would never be gerudo, we know only evil comes from that *explodes*)

if its supposed to be a mystery then they absolutely failed in making it any interesting or intriguing but still something that feels like its part of the world, like botw was very good at giving you mysteries you wanted to talk and theorize about that still felt organic, harmonic with the world, but in totk its all either boring answers or just ... completely out of nowhere and just kinda stumps you (in a bad way)

*sighs* yet antoher ramble rant, this game could have had it all, it was right there on the plate in front of them all they needed to do is grasp at it, why wouldnt you ..

totk will never not frustrate me huh ಠ_ಠ

[powdermelonkeg]

Ask anything? I gotchu Pookie.

In Skyward Sword, in the part where Link is fighting Demise in that water mirror dimension (Idk what its called, if someone knows do tell me) do you think that time passes by slower in there? While out in the past and feature it speeds up?

Like, take Voltron for example, the fight with the prince in that dimension that left the gang away for (4-8 years was it?)

Do you think that if Link were to fight Demise, and finally end him (Being cursed, blah blah blah) but when he leaves he ends up in the past with no one there, the portal had closed but opened up (or something idk yet) and when he goes though, he's still the same age ‘n shit but everyone else is like- adults? And he's not sure how to take this, everyone else is not sure how to take this yet wants to constantly be around their follow friend (Teenager friend) who might not even wanna be around them bc of the situation he's in?

Would love to hear your thoughts on this idea.

I think time definitely passes slower in there, actually.

The stakes are high at the end of Skyward Sword, with Demise digesting Hylia's soul to regain his full might. Impa actually tells Groose about it.

This implies that there's a timer. You save her, now, or you lose her forever. Yet Demise seems completely unbothered when he gives you his ultimatum.

How long is a few moments?

As long as you need it to be. Theoretically, enough to upgrade all your gear, complete every sidequest, and stock up on as many potions as possible. No matter what you do, though, Demise doesn't even seem bored when you come to see him. There's no impatience in him, and Zelda's still not forfeit.

So yeah. Time definitely passes slower in the storm puddle dimension.

This whole 5-minute fight might have taken days. I think we can rule out anything longer, though, or else Zel would have died of starvation in the meantime and/or Groose would have been more freaked out and exhausted.

(Side note, though, how does Demise know he's been waiting for eons? In THIS part of the timeline, he's been waiting for like...a week. This is right after Hylia sent the humans to the sky. Skyward Sword does NOT care about its time travel consistency.)

[skyloftsword]

Why Tears of the Kingdom is the Breath of the Wild I was hoping for

Alright, so before I get into my rant. I really like Breath of the Wild. It's a very fun game and the events of 100 years ago are super interesting. It just... unfortunately let me down after Skyward Sword in two aspects that I personally feel Tears of the Kingdom succeeded at for me. Story and dungeons. Also please don't tell me to watch a Youtuber on why TotK is worse than nuclear war. I make my own opinions and my take on TotK is very unlikely to change. I have done 6 playthroughs and still feel this way. Spoiler warning.

Okay, so my issue with Breath of the Wild's story is how it feels like a mess at times. The memories don't even try to tell anything coherent outside of the final few. Some of them even need journals for any payoff as well. This system also limited the Champions from getting any development or character arcs. It took until Tears for me to appreciate them because Hyrule was still grateful for them. Revali's bow being treasured by Teba, Riju prays to Lady Urbosa in her diary, Mipha got Mipha's Court and Sidon's entire character arc was about how her death still haunts him and he doesn't want that to happen ever again. Daruk... got lights added to his statue's eyes I guess. Anyways, Tears' equivalent to them is the Neo Sages. Tulin, Riju, Sidon and Yunobo. They each get their own arc and you can tell how much they have grown since Breath of the Wild. What makes them better here is that they actually are relevant for more than just the Divine Beast boarding segments. Sidon deals with fear of losing his beloved Yona just like how he lost Mipha 105ish years ago, yet Yona and Link bring him to his senses. Riju goes from being stressed out about how she's too weak to defend Gerudo Town from the Gibdos with her aim, but Link returning reassures her. Tulin goes from being arrogant and thinking he can do anything all by himself to realizing that charging ahead all on his own is a bad idea and that working as a team is the best way to do things. Yunobo goes from being a manipulated crack dealer to being cowardly again for a bit to becoming courageous and willing to fight to defend Hyrule. These arcs help me appreciate the characters a LOT more. The Old Sages intentionally aren't fully fleshed out characters and its fine because they're barely on screen (their names are Ruto, Darunia, Nabooru and possibly just Medoh for the Rito Sage). Ganondorf being an actual character really helps as well. He wants to use the godlike power of the Secret Stones to his advantage to achieve total rule of the world (in the English localization at least). Rauru and Sonia are wonderful characters that actually try to help Zelda achieve her goal of returning to her time (nice opposition of Rhoam forcing her to achieve her light powers and being harsh towards her). Unlike the events of 100 years ago, the memories/Tears in this game actually focus on telling what led to the Imprisoning War in a specific order. The events in the memories and Tears also are all relevant and side stuff was pushed to the Stone Monument side adventure. Unfortunately the game is less linear than Breath (which honestly should be the other way around and is a massive storytelling issue), however Impa at least alludes to the order of the Tears when you go to the Forgotten Temple after the first one. The Fifth Sage quest is also an incredible questline that did what BotW should have done. It showed the Imprisoning War and how Ganondorf shouldn't be taken lightly. I seriously feel let down not seeing Link and Zelda fight the Calamity and losing. Also thank god you don't have to do an absurdly tedious backtrack quest to unlock the Camera, Tears, the Champion Leathers and the Kohga fight.

Onto the dungeons. I don't get why people switched up on the Divine Beasts in a positive way. They have a great gimmick and the "fights" are cool but that's it. The puzzles are... fine I guess? The visuals are cookie cutter and so are the bosses in every aspect except gameplay (and are basically just the Calamity split into 1/4). Tears' Temples are legitimately the most enjoyable dungeons in the series for me. The atmosphere, music, puzzles having a large amount of solutions, etc. Not to mention the boss fights actually being unique and very fun this time (BotW had some bangers too like Koshia and Thunderblight) and have unique fight themes that are so, so, so good. Seized Construct might be my favorite non-final battle boss theme for me. Also the pre-dungeon segments actually feeling like dungeons for 4/5 of them really helped make me like them more. Both games also have great and bad Shrines. TotK has far less bad ones and has a much better vibe with it's Shrines.

Anyways, ramble over. Thanks for reading. The only reason I made this post was because I was pissed off due to personal reasons. I love these games and this series so please don't take this as me hating BotW.

[guideoftime]

[breathlesslink]

Chapter 2 — Kimi

[chapter warnings: rude bitches, panic attack]

t.o.c ; << | >>

"Do I know my way around Hyrule? Do you not?" You gazed at the boy's pointed ears. "You're Hylian, you should know your way around. You're from here."

Link looked away from you. "I don't remember." He mumbled.

"What?"

"I don't remember." He said a little louder. "I, uh, got injured. And now I don't remember anything. I need to talk to Impa, but I don't know who that is or where they are here."

Impa. What a familiar name. She was the elder of Kakariko when you were still young, and you supposed by the sound of it she was still kicking. Good for her.

"I might be able to show you to her, but that's as far as my knowledge goes." You smiled sheepishly. "I don't know Hyrule either, except for Gerudo Desert. The rest I've only seen through maps."

Link raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you a traveler?"

"This is only my first week of it. I left on my twentieth birthday a few days ago." You shook your head, not wanting to delve further into why you didn't know anything about Hyrule and grabbed Link's wrist. "Come on, let's go see Impa. I think I remember where she stays.”

If the elder Sheikah remembered you, she didn't show it. Instead, she focused on the man in front of you, ushering you upstairs with a girl named Paya as quickly as you had entered.

Paya was around the same age as you, yet seemed completely different. She was nearly spastic, moving around her room with no purpose other than to fidget. She answered your attempts at conversation with one-word answers, only reciprocating when she wanted to turn it towards the stranger downstairs.

"Link, you said his name is? Is he your boyfriend?"

At the question, you awkwardly laughed. "Him? No, I just met him not too long ago and he asked me to bring him here."

"Oh," Paya sounded relieved. Your tight smile turned into a real one as you sensed a wonderful opportunity.

"Yeah, he's real cute, isn't he?" You subtly tried to tease, "He might be into you. I saw him looking our way when we were leaving."

Paya turned a bright red, matching the accents of her outfit nearly perfectly. "R-really?!" Her voice raised a few notches, "I- there's no way! Maybe he was looking at you, you're gorgeous!"

"I'm nothing like you," You made a face, slightly playing it up to see how far this would go while simultaneously rejecting the compliment, "If there's any gal Link might be into, it's you."

Paya seemed to swoon at the thought, but before she could respond Impa's voice called you both down from her room. Link stood where you left him, but this time with a different wardrobe. He had a bright blue tunic on, matching his eyes nearly perfectly.

You weren't the only one who noticed, though, as you noticed the red on Paya's face returning.

Link thanked Impa and glanced at you— a silent way of saying "let's go". You followed him out and began your trek back to the hotel.

"What did she say?"

"She said that I could maybe get my memories back by going to places that I have pictures of."

"Pictures? Do you have a camera or something?"

"Or something." Link reached for his belt and grabbed some device— you recognized it as a Sheikah Slate, old technology you learned about while scouring the poor excuse of a library in the Yiga hideout. They weren't the smartest, so books were uncommon. "This isn't mine, it's an old friend's. She has these pictures of places we've apparently gone together, but I have to go to Hateno to get it fixed."

Together? Were they together? Goddess, that would suck if Link had a girlfriend he didn't even remember. Poor chick.

"So you're going to go to these places and just... what? Hope for the best?"

Link shrugged. "If I have the time, yeah. I have more important things to do right now."

"Like?"

Link didn't answer, instead opening the door to the Inn and letting you in first. He went to his bed and sat down, pulling out the slate and swiping through it. A while passed and Link continued to just stare at the screen, brows furrowed in what was probably some attempt at remembering his past.

"You're gonna get a headache from looking at that."

"I already have one."

You stood up and went over to his bed, slipping the slate out of his hands and turning it towards yourself. "Why is the map blank?"

"I have to go to certain towers to get a map of each region."

"Ohh, those weird super tall glowy things?" You grinned like a child in a candy shop when Link nodded, "They just showed up a little bit ago. What, were they made specifically for you?"

"Kind of? And those shrines are too. I just wish I knew where to go and where I am."

"Goddess, you must be mighty special for a bunch of ancient technology to just work for you." You joked.

Link looked at you with a look you didn't really recognize. "You said you just started traveling. Do you have a paper map?"

"I do." You turned and dug into your bag, pulling it out and unrolling it in between you. You also grabbed a pen, just in case. "Where do you need to go next?"

"According to Impa, first Hateno. Then Zora's Domain, Eldin, Rito Village, and Gerudo in no specific order."

"Hm," You looked at the map, "That order seems to be the most practical— starting close and then traveling to the further ones. It just works out that Hateno is first on our way, I need to go there too."

At that, Link paused. "Our way?"

"Yeah, I'm coming with you. I need to go to those places too, so it works."

"Uh, absolutely not." Link shook his head and took the pen from your hand, "My journey is way too dangerous for you."

"What?" You grabbed the pen back, "We have the same journey— we're going to the same places. How is that too dangerous? If anything, it would be safer to travel together."

"I just wouldn't be able to protect myself and someone else, you know?"

"Who said I needed you to protect me?" You were a little offended. Was this because you were a woman? "I can handle myself."

Link raised an eyebrow as if to challenge that. "Y/N-"

"Listen, you don't remember anything, right? You need someone who at least knows a little bit. I might not have actually traveled but I read books and know people who do. I know the monsters and the cultures of the regions and all that shit. You need that. Let me come along and help. I'll stay out of whatever shit you have to do."

Link seemed to think about it for a moment and then sighed. "Fine."

You cheered and looked back down at the map, marking the locations you needed to go to— the main towns in every region, stables, smaller villages, and Hateno itself. "First, Hateno. Then, to East Necluda to Zora's Domain."

"Why do you need to go to Hateno so badly?"

You looked up at him and raised an eyebrow. "If I tell you my mission, you have to tell me yours."

"...We'll see."

"My little sister lives there. I haven't seen her in four years, so I need to visit. As for the rest of Hyrule, I'm looking for my brother. We all got separated." Link looked as if he was going to ask questions, so you interrupted. "You?"

"I have to tame the Divine Beasts."

You couldn't contain the loud laugh that erupted from your throat. "I'm sorry- what? Ganon controls those beasts, nobody can tame them except for the Cham...pions..."

You trailed off, suddenly putting two and two together.

Link's name was familiar to you. You'd heard it numerous times.

The Hylian Champion, destined to destroy Ganon with the Sword that Sealed the Darkness.

The Yiga drilled it into your head that he was a bad guy. You didn't believe them when they said he'd return, and yet you sat in front of him, talking as if he was a long-lost friend.

"I thought the Champions died 100 years ago."

"They did. I almost did, but I was put into a healing shrine on the Great Plateau. I woke up about a week ago. No memories, nothing. Just the Sheikah Slate and the ghost of the King telling me what I have to do."

"That's— wow. That's a shocker." You didn't know what to say. The traumatized part of you was conflicted— riddled with guilt. Guilt for betraying the organization you grew up brainwashed into, but also guilt because this guy seemed like a great dude. And yet you were trained to kill people like him. Or more specifically, just him. "So what if I just joined you on this little adventure and didn't fight the Beasts with you? Would you feel better then?"

"I definitely would."

"Deal."

"Deal." Link held out his hand and you grabbed it, feeling the rough callouses on his palm and the warmth of his skin that seemed to seep into your own. You were both definitely holding this handshake for too long.

You coughed awkwardly and pulled your hand away, rolling the map back up and tucking it into your bag before sitting in your own bed. "Wake me up when you're ready to leave. Goodnight, Link."

"Goodnight, Y/N."

———

"This is fucking stupid."

"You're fucking stupid. Drop the attitude or I'm leaving your ass."

"You're the one who woke me up at 5am, Link! You can't be mad at me for that when we didn't go to bed until 1."

"If you're gonna adventure, you gotta get used to running on little sleep. From here on out, it's tough."

You huffed and crossed your arms, focusing on Taz's mane as Link rode his own horse beside you. "Shit sucks."

"Imagine having the fate of Hyrule on your shoulders along with that."

You cut your eyes at him. "I liked you better when you were quiet."

At that, Link let out a little laugh. It was the first time you'd heard him laugh and it was a pretty sound. You smiled back, ignoring the slight tinge of heat in your cheeks.

"Thanks for this, by the way. Letting me tag along and all."

Link didn't look at you, choosing instead to focus on the road ahead. "It's no worries, really. I enjoy the company. I've already figured out how lonely traveling gets, so it's nice to have someone to keep me away from my thoughts for a while." He let out a dry laugh.

"It's gotta be tough-- being destined to save humanity. I'm glad I can help in any way.”

Link finally looked up at you and flashed a wide smile, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. "Hateno is a few more hours. How about we take a break here for lunch?"

You nodded and pulled Taz off of the road into a large patch of grass, watching as Link pulled an axe out of an extra weapon holder on Epona and started going towards a patch of trees a few yards away. Patting Taz's nose, you pulled out a pot and some vegetables you had bought in Kakariko and met Link, starting a fire and placing the food inside to cook. After a while, you were able to pour the soup into two bowls and you began eating.

"I didn't know you knew how to cook." Link hummed, stuffing his face with the veggie cream soup you had made.

"You don't know a lot about me in general," You joked, "but I've known for a while. I guess I've become good since you just finished your second bowl."

"Super good!" Link put his bowl in his lap, seemingly finished, and looked at you. "So tell me about you."

You raised an eyebrow, pausing from your soup. "What?"

"You said I don't know a lot about you, and you're right. So tell me more. I think I have a right to know who I'm traveling with."

You internally cringed, wondering what all you could give away without letting Link know the truth. You know, the truth that you were actually raised by an organization created almost specifically to kill him.

"My mom was Sheikah and my dad was a regular Hylian, so I grew up in Kakariko with my brother and sister. We, uh, got kidnapped and taken away for a while. Eventually, we escaped and I ended up in Gerudo Town and I didn't know where my siblings were. As you know, I found out my little sister is in Hateno. So now I'm here, traveling and looking for them." You shrugged, feigning nonchalance as Link raised an eyebrow.

"You glossed over the kidnapping pretty quickly. That's scary."

"It was, but they kind of just kept us there. No clue why." You looked down at your soup, finding both it and talking about yourself unappetizing. "What about you? Do you remember anything from before?"

Link shook his head. "Nothing. Impa said to go back to her after I've remembered something, but there's nothing so far. I was Princess Zelda's knight, and I apparently failed at defeating Ganon."

"Yeah, no shit." You snorted. "This time will be different, though."

Link glanced at you with a face you couldn't describe. "I hope so." He stood up suddenly, taking the bowl and putting it back in Epona's pouch. "Impa said something about there being someone in Hateno who could help fix my Sheikah Slate. Let's go so we can get there before sundown."

———

"Halt! Who goes there!"

You skidded your horse to a stop, Taz's hooves digging into the wet dirt road beneath you. Link stopped shortly after, eyes wide at the pitchfork being brandished in front of the both of you.”

"Uh, I'm Y/N. That's Link." You backed Taz up a bit, not trusting this random short man outside of the village. "We're travelers."

"Travelers, eh?" The man looked you up and down with a scrutinizing gaze. You felt like shrinking under it. "Hylian?"

"Yes?"

He lowered his pitchfork, but not by much. "General Store is right ahead, same with the Inn. Don't go nowhere else causing trouble in my town. I'm sworn to protect this place with my life."

Link raised an eyebrow at the man. "Thank you, uh,"

"Thadd."

"Right. Thadd." You interrupted, "Could you tell us where to find a girl named—"

"You're askin' the wrong man. I ain't one for giving tours."

"We're not asking for a tour, I just need to find Kimi-"

"If you want a tour, go talk to Seldon right at the boutique. He's real nice."

"I— okay." You resisted rolling your eyes, "Thank you."

You continued forward, sharing a look with Link before finding the boutique and a smiling man out front. He waves you both over, "Hello there! My name is Seldon, care for a tour of our wonderful town?"

"Uh- we're just looking for one thing." You replied, feeling a little bad to deny his offer.

"Wh- so no tour?" Seldon sighed loudly, his shoulders dropping in disappointment. "What can I point you to?"

"Do you know where a little girl named Kimi lives?"

Seldon raised an eyebrow. "Kimi? She's too young to be having random visitors without her parents knowledge—"

"I'm her sister. Before she came here. She somehow found me and I just want to see her." You pleaded.

Seldon seemed to think for a second, then sighed. "Alright, but if it turns out you're lying Thadd's gonna have at you both."

Without waiting for a reply, Seldon turned his back to you both and walked up the main road of Hateno towards a small cluster of houses near the top. After leading you a few doors down, he stopped at one with a bright red door and gave it a knock, only stepping back once it opened to reveal a woman a bit older than you.

"Can I help you?"

"Uh yes," Your heart was pounding, "A little bit ago, I started getting letters from my little sister, who you took in—“

"Y/N? Is that you?"

A meek voice came from behind the lady, and then out peeked a small head of hair. Suddenly, the girl grinned widely and pushed past the woman, running to you with her arms wide. "Y/N!"

You smiled as well and crouched down, engulfing her in a tight hug, fighting to keep tears back.

"Kimi..." You pulled back and held her shoulders, "You've gotten so big!"

Kimi giggled and fiddled with the edge of her dress before gasping and turning to the older woman. "Mom! This is my big sister, Y/N! She finally came!"

"That's wonderful." The woman smiled. "I'm Ameil, and my husband— who'll be out in a sec— is Laslow! Kimi has said so much about you. Come in!"

You smiled at Ameil and stood to walk in when your wrist was grabbed by a gloved hand. You turned back to the owner— Link— and raised an eyebrow.

"That research lab up there on the hill— Impa said I needed to go there."

"What do you want me to do about that?"

Link snorted, "Nothing. I want you to catch up with your sister, so I'm going to head up there and see who I can talk to about fixing my Sheikah Slate. I'll be back soon."

"Oh, okay." You smiled at him, "Be careful, it looks like it's going to rain soon. I don't want you getting sick."

"Yes ma'am." Link fake-saluted and turned away, heading towards the research lab.

You, on the other hand, followed Kimi and Ameil inside. Sitting in one of the living room couches was who you assumed was Laslow. Ameil joined him on the couch while you and Kimi sat on one across from them.

Ameil continued to smile— it was getting a little strange at this point, but you shrugged it off— while Laslow put down his book and paid attention to you.

"So, Y/N, we've heard a lot about you." Laslow began, "But one thing we've never understood is how she came into our care in the first place. One minute Ameil and I are traveling the Taobab Grasslands, next we're picking up a little girl unconscious under a tree and taking her home. How did that come to be?"

Your breath caught in your throat and the world began to spin, but you tried not to show it.

They really went in for a first meeting, didn't they?

"Honestly," You steeled your voice and looked down at Kimi in a silent way of saying 'I will not tell'. "There was an accident. Kimi, our brother, and I were in Gerudo when a sandstorm hit— that Divine Beast is no joke— and we got separated. I couldn't find them, so I went to Gerudo Town and stayed, trying to find them. It took four years for Kimi to finally reach me. How did you find me, by the way?"

At your redirection of the topic, Kimi perked up. "At first, I just asked every traveler who came into Hateno if they knew you! None of them did, but a Rito suggested that I send a letter to every town asking about you and describing you, and if they found you then you would write back! And you did!"

"I did." You laughed, "I told you I'd always be there for you, I keep my word."

Kimi threw her arms around you once again and you felt a shift in the atmosphere. You looked up from your little sister to see Ameil, still sitting in the same spot, still smiling. She folded her hands in her lap and took a deep breath.

"I just think it's rather irresponsible for you to have your younger siblings out in the harsh elements like that in the first place." Ameil shook her head in disapproval. "It's common sense for sandstorms to happen in Gerudo."

You tried not to roll your eyes and reminded yourself that Ameil didn't know the truth— you might have to be the bad guy and take blame that doesn't even exist to save your identities. "We didn't have much of a choice. I can't go into all of it but—"

"But what? What could you have possibly put little Kimi through that required you to trek through potentially deadly weather and risk her life? Do tell."

Ameil was obviously pushing your buttons, trying to reveal things that you were sure she had pushed Kimi about before. "I can't."

Ameil threw her hands in the air. "I am Kimi's mother. I have a right to know what goes on."

You opened your mouth to respond, but Kimi beat you to it.

"Y/N, are you going to look for Hiro next?"

"Yes!" You were relieved, "Have you heard from him?"

Kimi's face dropped. "No, but I want to come with you-"

"Absolutely NOT." Ameil interrupted. "You are not going on some dangerous trip with strangers.”

"But Y/N is my sister. My REAL sister. You're not even my real parents!"

Ameil gasped, and Laslow sat up and practically growled, "Go to your room!"

Kimi stood up and ran to her room, slamming it hard enough to make the house shake. You could only watch as she left, the atmosphere getting even more uncomfortable in her absence. You didn't want to look back at Ameil and Laslow, but when you did Ameil was already looking at you with a look you couldn't recognize.

"You do see where we're coming from, right?" She asked gently, as if you were some toddler who needed talking down to. "Our sweet Kimi is our pride and joy. We can't possibly let her go back into the hands of the person who lost her. Who knows, she could go missing a second time. We don't quite see you as a responsible big sister. After all, why did it take so long for you to come find her?"

Condescending. That was the look.

At Ameil's words, you realized her feelings towards you. Ameil hated you. She looked down on you— blamed you for "abandoning" Kimi. But she doesn't know the truth.

How you risked your life for your siblings.

How you turned and faced the Yiga Clan head-on to give them enough time to escape and survive, even if you didn't.

How you fed them, defended them, took care of them while you were all imprisoned in the desert, working every day to get stronger and stronger to one day escape and create a better life for Hiro and Kimi.

You stood up and walked to the door, ignoring Ameil's fake protests and questions about why you were leaving, and slammed the door hard enough to shake the house once more. Tears blurred your vision as you walked down path, heading nowhere in particular except away from that house, and in your rush you accidentally bumped into a body.

"Goddess," You wiped your face, "I'm sorry-“

"Y/N, what happened?"

Link's voice sent a wave of comfort over you, and his hands gripping your shoulders gave you enough stability to collapse, tears streaming down your face more as your knees hit the ground.

Link fell to his own knees in front of you, quickly pressing you into his chest and gently shushing you, waiting until your sobs ceased before talking.

"What happened?"

"They-" Deep breath. "They blamed m-me for Kimi going missing. And my brother. And-and they said I wasn't a good sister, and I know that I'm not— who leaves their siblings for four years? I couldn't help it—"

You started to cry again, coughing out your words and wheezing in breaths in between. Your hands trembled, yet you couldn't stop it. Eventually it spread to the rest of your body, shaking like a leaf in an emotional storm. It was hard to focus on one thing when everything crowded in your vision and overwhelmed your senses.

Breathe in. You couldn't.

Breathe out. No.

In. Please.

Out. You can't.

Was this it? Was this the end? Just like that?—

"Y/N!"

Link.

He's still holding you.

His hand is laid atop your head, rubbing soothing circles into your hair. Your face is in the crook of his neck, finally able to breathe. His smell was comforting. His other arm wrapped itself around your torso, holding you close to his chest. When did he pull you onto his lap?

"It's okay. You're okay. Is Kimi upset with you?"

"No," Words struggled to escape, "Just her parents."

"Then who cares? You still have your sister. She still loves you."

You stayed quiet for a second, contemplating. Link was right— you still had Kimi. Ameil and Laslow were the issue. You just had to somehow prove that you were responsible enough to be around Kimi again. But how?

Find Hiro. Reunite your family.

Your muscles unclenched, and you slouched into Link's warmth a bit more. In your thoughts, he had begun to rock you gently and laid his cheek upon your head.

"Yeah." You yawned.

"C'mon, silly." Link shifted and stood you both up. "Let's go to the inn and rest, then. We'll figure out the next step tomorrow when we're fully rested."

"Right."

[carrotsnake]

Botw/Totk headcanon: Sheikah NPCs beyond Kakariko

after impa being the Last of Her Kind for nearly 20 years, we were kind of spoiled with the era of wilds sheikah. still, kakariko is known for it's older population and botw makes a point to let us know paya isn't used to seeing people her age. this post is about asking 'where are they?' and filling in the gaps. being a peaceful farming village it makes sense the younger gens would want to leave as soon as they can for some adventure.

sheikah typically have hair on the grey-to-white scale (granté proves this isn't a requirement), and unlike the past games they have a greater diversity in eye colour. below is a list of hylian npcs that look too young to have greying hair that i hc are either from kakariko, or have some sheikah ancestry.

from left to right: lecia, letty, mina, her brother mils by proxy, teli, juney, and baumar. i'll go into more detail about each under the cut, comparing them from the 2 games alongside some more headcanons. some of them i haven't found in totk yet, so i'll edit when i do.

pic on the left side is them in botw, totk on the right.

Mina is a treasure hunter looking for loot with her brother by the exchange ruins outside the great plateau. the siblings also show up in the dlc. they're trying to steal a sheikah heirloom back from the yiga hideout, though they don't know it's purpose - they just wanna sell it. in totk she walks on the path between lakeside stable and lurelin. she says that even treasure hunters deserve some fun once in a while, so we can assume she's takin' it easy. Mils, meanwhile...

...joined the zonai survey team, and moans about what tough work it is. he walks through pagos woods to the zonai ruins. he joined in the hopes it would lead him to treasure, but he hasn't had his lucky break yet. most hylians travel from stable to inn and can be assumed not to have a proper home due to the lasting effects of the calamity. this is my bias but i like to think he's talking about kakariko when he mentions home. let him grow some pumpkins and wrangle cuccos. he wishes to live a quiet life.

i find it sweet him and mina are both in faron. maybe they decided to split up and cover more ground? with mina off sunbathing and sipping mimosas in lurelin, mils got the short end of the stick again.

Baumar:

'i hope you die': lazy, cliché, unrealistic. 'i hope your favourite botw npc gets mushroomed and bowlcutted': it's scary, it's possible, it's happening to me right now. such was the fate of our poor resident shield-surfer bro from botw. known for many hit quotes such as 'let's go bamboo! yahoo!', 'shield surfing is like, totally radical, dude', and my favourite:

in botw he rides his horse on the path between serenne and snowfield stable. in totk he's part of the fashion tour-group that run around hateno village. maybe he went to hebra to show his 'wicked' surfing moves to selmie and she said 'kid, if i let you out on the slopes you'll die. sorry'. his world was completely shattered beneath him like a broken shield, so he turned to cravats and puffy short shorts to cope.

his name is similar to the hills of baumer above deya village ruins. maybe he's a descendent of the few survivors. i wonder what his ancestors are thinking now, watching what he does with the gift of life.

Teli walks between fort hateno and hateno village. He sells ancient guardian parts and even mentions he trades them with Robbie. he has a high opinion of himself and tells you he's known across hyrule for his 'roguish good looks.' in totk he's one of the men in the 'Gourmets gone missing' Penn quest that gave himself food-poisoning by riverside stable. after which he scares away some cuccos and makes you wrangle them for a sidequest. just L after L for this dashing rogue.

Juney, now famous for her rupee grinding sand seal minigame, i instantly recognised as the epic divorce woman from rito village. her attitude is just as surly as ever but they gave her a soft side. i like that every minigame location could not be further from hateno. you'll find that school someday queen.

she was a newly wed mad at her husband, jogo, for choosing a cold place for their honeymoon. he begs you to give him flint to cook some baked apples for her to save their already failing marriage.

in totk they're not together, jogo inhabits a cabin in tabantha village ruins with another woman. he didn't give her enough baked apples.

Letty walks along the path between lakeside stable and lurelin. she gives you cooking tips and that's pretty much it. i'm pretty sure i've met her as a yiga disguise more often than i've seen the real her. if anyone has found her in totk, please let me know.

Lecia is a new character in totk. she's with the research team and plays a part in the foothill stable Penn quest. she kind of looks like a grown up Koko. maybe a distant relative? but maybe she's not sheikah. maybe the sight of all those pasty naked man nips traumatised her so bad she got marie-antoinette syndrome from the shock. i haven't seen her since.

thank you if you read to the end. to clarify i'm working on some fic stuff and that entails finding npcs across the overworld to give some more lore. it's a sheikah focused fic so i needed some characters other than the kakariko residents. it's also just fun fleshing out random npcs to make the world feel more lived in. again, i'm missing some details like what mina does before you save lurelin, so i'll edit this post in the future.

[fever-project]

All the LU Warriors headcanons I’m seeing in the tags makes me want to share my own so uh, have them.

He rarely talked for most of his life. He never really wanted to after puberty hit, he didn’t like how his voice sounded. So he barely interacted with anyone that wasn’t his immediate family. After the war started, however, he wanted to talk more. Even though Proxi could talk for him-which he was very grateful for-he wanted to be able to voice his own opinions by himself.

Speaking of immediate family, he currently has none. He and Linkle are not biologically related, but after the war they now consider themselves to siblings. Linkle’s older by two days.

Wars has a thing for his Zelda(I’m not calling her Artemis I do not like that name for her)but he hasn’t made any moves yet. He gets nauseous whenever he thinks about dating in any kind(mainly Cia’s fault). Zelda respects this, and doesn’t show that she has any romantic feelings about him whatsoever because she doesn’t want to scare him. Wars just thinks his love is one sided, making him wanting to ask her out even less. Linkle’s trying her best to help them out, but she hasn’t been successful yet.

Enough about love, because Wars is a-spec. He’s somewhere on there, I know it. Definitely not me projecting.

Wars loves clothing and the occasional dressing up. He never tells anyone this, but everyone during the war knew it. He got the others to participate too.

Legend once sarcastically criticized Wars’ fashion choice and he changed into his Koholint Hero’s Clothes for a week. Wars did not tell him why he did or what the clothes were called, but Wars felt so proud of himself. Legend just thought he was just making fun of him for his pink hair or something.

Wants to tell Legend so bad about Marin, but Marin probably told him that if he ever meets her Link, to not tell him he met her. She didn’t want to give him any hope that they’ll meet again, because they won’t.

Wars loves fairies. He loves them so much. He loves feeding them, dressing them up, taking care of them, all of that. Fairies love him too, because he tries to feed them whenever the chain isn’t looking. He tries to make sure that no one else knows, since he thinks it’s a bit embarrassing.

Wars wants to use everyone’s items one day. He had so much fun using the Spinner during the war, not to mention the Fire Rod. But he never really asks, since he doesn’t wants to come off as weird.

The ends of his scarf/cape thing used to be red, like in the game, but the dye faded after a few years. He tried to redye it, but it didn’t really work.

He was the captain of his own, specific group consisting of the wayward warriors from across time. They all did interact with regular soldiers, but they mostly worked with just each other and looked to Wars to guide them. Since he usually only command with these guys so I guess he was more of a lieutenant? Idk how ranks work tbh. Nevertheless, he was always called captain by the others, since most of them didn’t really know how ranks worked either. Captain just seemed to fit him. The others who did know about ranks just went along with calling him captain.

Impa helped him so much you have no idea. He was a pretty good leader by himself, but he always appreciated the help.

Both dislikes Tingle and is eternally confused by him. And disturbed. Can’t bring himself to hate him though.

Wars knows things. He’ll nod his head along whenever Time or Wind tell the group their stories, he’s heard them all before anyhow. He does the same with Legend, Sky, and Twilight when they share as well, since he’s heard a lot from their friends. He usually pretends that he doesn’t know anything, however. He’s just nodding along to nod along.

Wars hasn’t told Sky that he met Fi before yet. He doesn’t want to give him any false hope that she’ll wake up again.

he hopes that she’ll wake up too.

Wars doesn’t really understand Four’s negative view of dark magic, or anyone’s negative view of dark magic. A few of his items has a dark attribute, he’s worked with people who had dark magic(like midna), and he’s taken care of dark fairies. Dark magic is just like fire or water magic to him, it’s another type of magic that just so happens to be used by bad guys a lot.

Wars gets along pretty well with Twilight. I’d like to think he’s close with everybody, and besides Time and Wind(and the more teasing relationship with Legend) Twilight’s up there. Probably tied with Sky.

Probably interacts with Hyrule, Wild, and Four the least, compared to others. They all get along, but he almost never actively searches for them to hang out.

Very vague whenever he talks about his adventure. Usually just says something about the war and refuses to elaborate. Everyone’s usually fine with this since most of them do the same thing, but he’s dramatic about it.

[loz-furbies]

Oracle of Ages & Seasons Zelda

Nintendo can't make up their mind if the Oracles Link is the same one from ALttP or not and I suppose the same applies to Zelda. Personally I think that sure, let's give ALttP Link more adventures, but if I were to draw a compilation of all individual Zeldas I'd probably make ALttP and Oracles Zeldas separate characters since they have different enough designs. In the end I don't think it matters though and I seriously don't believe Nintendo cares either.

I played Ages first so this is based on her presence in Seasons linked game, not sure how different it is to the Ages counterpart.

Design

Speaking of character design, this is yet another time for me to bitch about the promo art and sprite not matching (fear not this will end soon as we move away from the pixel games). But seriously, why give her cute hair buns in the sprite if you're not going to use them! And more importantly that would be a unique Zelda design at least, because her actual look is one of my least favourites in the franchise. Like sure she's perfectly cute and there's nothing particularly stupid about the design either, but it's just so derivative. This is just the adult OoT Zelda design except in a younger art style and ALttP Zelda's cape. It's not an interesting or memorable look, and it also makes it harder for me to decide if this is a new character or not (and how to draw her). Like looks-wise it's clearly a different girl, but since there's grounds for the Oracle games to be ALttP sequels it's just so confusing.

Alright, moving on!

Character

This time Zelda does get a moment of being a bit more assertive than usual. She's told to stay safe during a crisis, but instead she shouts that she's going anyway and runs off to give a rousing speech to the villagers. But for the most part there's not much to Zelda outside her typical shtick of being the nice princess who gives exposition.

In the end credits we see every character once more, but Zelda's part is just that she looks at the stars alone at her castle while smiling happily, and while she looks cute, I don't get a lot out of that.

Role in the story

Story-wise Zelda doesn't get to do much. She's the one who sent help to foreign lands after she saw a vision of their downfall, so she takes a very active part in that, but it's all offscreen and ultimately her plan to evacuate the oracles doesn't even work. She then comes to visit herself, and her most notable contribution is to encourage the villagers. And sure I can take that, it's set up reasonably well that she becomes a symbol of hope to them (for GBC storytelling standards at least).

In the grand finale she gets kidnapped as usual, this time so that she can be sacrificed to revive Ganon, and there's nothing interesting to that.

Relationships

Aside from the character design, the biggest reason to consider that the Oracle games are not an ALttP sequel is that Zelda doesn't appear to recognise Link at all and introduces herself as if it was the first time they met. I'm willing to chalk this off as video game jank and it's more of an introduction to the player (for example Impa and the animal companions who you meet in both Ages and Seasons also don't appear to recognise Link in the second game you play in a linked game). I think it also makes more sense for Link to be the friend of the royal family since the game starts with him just sauntering to the Triforce unimpeded.

Not that it makes much difference because Zelda and Link don't have much of a relationship, even if Zelda spends most of the game not being kidnapped this time. However the game does end with Zelda giving a little kiss to him (and him getting all lovestruck about it), and I think it's cuter if they have some history together already.

Impa is also in the game, but she and Zelda don't have much to do together outside the standard princess-and-caretaker stuff. Zelda doesn't get any meaningful interaction with Din or Nayru either.

[skyward-floored]

“Hey Captain?”

Link flicks an ear in acknowledgment, but doesn’t turn to look at Tune as he walks over to his cot. The younger hero looks down at him, but Link still doesn’t look back at him.

“...are you okay?” he asks.

“Fine,” Link replies quietly.

“You haven’t really been fine since the whole Volga business started,” Tune huffs, and flops next to him on the cot where he’s curled up. He’s quiet for a second, then props himself up on an elbow, and looks at Link. “...Did you ask Impa about your mother?”

Link swallows, the lump he’d been trying to ignore coming back in full-force.

“Yes. She... told me some stuff.”

“Anything useful?” Tune asks, tilting his head. “Like who she is?”

“...Something like that.”

Tune waits, but when Link doesn’t continue, he raises an eyebrow, a flicker of worry in his gaze.

“Soooo..? You gonna tell me, or keep it to yourself and let it eat at you forever?” he asks, green eyes narrowed.

Link can’t help the slightly bitter laugh that escapes him. “It’s been like, an hour, Sailor. There hasn’t been enough time for it to eat at me.”

“Yet it obviously is since you’re avoiding my question,” Tune points out, and gives his arm a light poke. “Come on. Mask is hanging around with Zelda, so it’s just us. What did she say?”

Link stares up at the ceiling for a minute, wishing for a moment he was outside and could see the stars. It was too cold to sit out there tonight though, and Link sighs, closing his eyes.

“She said she’s my mother.”

Tune blinks.

“...Oh.”

“Yeah that was basically my reaction.”

Tune makes a small, incredulous noise, running a hand through his hair. “Impa. Impa? She’s really..? Wow. She doesn’t even look... Uh. I... don’t think I would’ve guessed that.”

“Me neither,” Link agrees quietly.

Tune goes quiet for a second, and Link opens an eye to see him looking at him in concern again.

“You okay?” Tune asks softly, and Link shrugs.

“I don’t know.”

Tune is silent for another few seconds.

“Well at least you’re honest,” Tune sighs, and slides closer to him. “No wonder it’s eating at you. I’m sorry Captain.”

Link scoffs. “Sorry for what? It’s not your fault.”

“No. But I’m sorry you found out your parents are a dragon who’s tried to kill you multiple times, and a Sheikah who never told you she was your mom until now. That’s sucky.”

Link lets out an somewhat thick laugh. “...It is sucky. I mean... Volga’s evil or whatever, he nearly killed me and the General that one time, and the General knew she was my mother but she said she couldn’t tell me, and she had to give me up for some reason and it turns out I’m not even Hylian. How do I even begin to deal with that?”

Something wet tries to escape from his eyes, but Link stubbornly blinks it back, that same cold pit opening up in his stomach that’s been plaguing him.

Tune doesn’t reply, but he does tug him into a hug, and Link breathes out, closing his eyes as Tune snuggles up to him.

The little sailor is a bundle of heat, and Link hadn’t realized until now that he was actually on the cold side of things. He lets Tune nestle up to him in silence, his arms warm where they’re around him, and Link tries to silence the thoughts still rattling around his head.

“As if this stupid war wasn’t confusing enough already,” Link murmurs after a minute, and Tune gives him a tight squeeze.