#Am I avoiding Goron City

[sealingknight]

totk actually kicking my ass!!

[smilesrobotlover]

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AO3

Chapter 10- Old Friends

Barnes didn’t try to hide how tired he was as he followed Renado up Death Mountain. Loud grunts and swears escaped him as he climbed onto different ledges, laying on his back once he was able to pull himself up. Renado seemed perfectly fine of course, no sounds of struggles came from him, and he watched the trail with his bow at the ready. He had gotten a letter from some friends warning them to stay in Kakariko and to avoid going out at night. Renado, being the perfect mayor he was, felt inclined to warn the gorons as well, and he got his old bow ready and began his trek. Though Barnes preferred to stay in his bomb shop, he couldn’t let the mayor go on his own. The time spent alone together in Kakariko strengthened their relationship, and he couldn’t help but care a little about the man. So he invited himself on the trek, for extra protection obviously. Though Barnes was more of a burden than anything, slowing Renado down since he needed many breaks. The mayor was a patient man, but he could see the anxiety eating at him with the way he watched the rocks with a wary eye, but Barnes just couldn’t keep up with his pace, no matter how hard he tried. Finally, Renado turned to Barnes when they reached air spouts, a worried expression on his face.

“Barnes, you certainly don’t have to follow me further if you don’t want to,” he said, staring as Barnes scrambled to his feet.

“Nonsense! I’m not lettin’ you travel alone!” He argued, stretching his back, and letting out a loud sigh. He noted the path ahead with dread. “I’m just… uh… out of shape.”

Renado smiled slightly and turned to the path ahead. “I just don’t want you to get hurt, old friend. The path to Death Mountain isn’t a dangerous one, but it’s not easy.”

“Yeah well, you’re as much of a field man as I am,” Barnes said, reaching the mayor and placing his arm on his back, “you said that it’s not safe outside of towns, so I need to be here for your protection! Obviously.”

Renado grinned and in a blink of an eye, fired his bow at a Tektite that appeared from behind a rock. Barnes yelped as its dead body landed near them with a harsh thud, and the loud clang from his welding mask falling in his face rang out, which made him jump behind Renado. It was silent for a moment, and Barnes glanced up to see Renado stifling his laughter. He scoffed and hopped away from him, fixing his mask.

“That thing just caught me off guard,” he grumbled, and Renado let out a laugh.

“It seems I’m the one who is here for your protection,” he teased, and Barnes huffed, his face growing red.

“Well at least I have bombs,” he fired back, and the mayor only shrugged, continuing to move up the mountain with a stupid smile on his face.

The trek continued to be dreadful, but Barnes refused to back down, not wanting to let Renado out of his sight. He was already far up the mountain anyways; it’d be a waste to give up now. When they finally reached Goron City, Barnes took a break by the hot spring while Renado chatted with the gorons. The mountain dwellers seemed to be on edge, mourning the loss of their missing friend.

“Death Mountain is so much darker without him here,” one goron cried, laying beside the hot spring. “I pray to Din that he can return safe and sound.”

“What’s stopping him from returning, goro?” Another goron piped in. “He’s a strong goron, even gives Gor Coron grief when they wrestle! He couldn’t have been attacked, could he?”

The gorons all mumbled in response, and one laying in the water sat up, turning to Barnes.

“You humans are here about him, aren’t you?” He asked, pointing his large finger at him. “Have you heard any news, goro?”

Barnes sighed and shrugged. “The only thing we do know is that travelin’ is dangerous. Renado is here to tell y’all to stay in the city and inside at night.”

The gorons turned to look at Renado, who was now talking to the elders and the patriarch.

“Stay inside at night? Where will we go?” One asked. “We don’t have homes, we sleep in Mother Din’s earth.”

Barnes shrugged again, feeling frustrated. “How should I know? Y’all can figure it out, I’m just here to make sure Renado doesn’t get hurt!”

“Why must we stay inside? What’s going on?” The goron sitting in the spring asked, and Barnes shrugged again.

“I wish I knew.”

“Do you… do you think our friend would still be here if he had known about the dangers of Hyrule?” One goron contemplated, and the group began to wail for their missing friend once again, wishing that he hadn’t left before the news. Barnes only laid back against his hands, annoyed with the loud gorons. Sure, it’s tragic that they lost a friend, but it happened weeks ago—surely they’d be over it by now, right?

Barnes heard footsteps behind him and he turned to see the elders and the patriarch facing the gorons in the spring.

“My brothers, listen well,” Darbus said in a booming voice, and all that heard him stopped what they were doing to listen. “Hyrule has once again become dangerous. To keep ourselves safe, we will stay in Goron City during the day and inside during the night!”

There were a few groans, but the patriarch’s hand silenced them.

“We will stay in the mines and we will stay together! We cannot afford another loss, do you understand?”

A few gorons agreed, but the one who was in the spring stood up. “Why is Hyrule dangerous again? Us gorons could take care of the threat!”

Darbus turned to Renado, who shook his head.

“The threat is a mystery even to me,” Renado said, “I beg of you all to wait here until we learn more about it. I do not want to lose any more innocent gorons if I can help it.”

The gorons chattered amongst themselves, but the one who spoke out got out of the spring, dripping water onto Barnes as he walked by.

“And why should we listen to you? You’re not our chief, you’re not our patriarch! You’re just a puny human who thinks he can come into our city to tell us what to do!” He turned to the others by the spring and his arms went out as if to beckon them all closer. “Since when did gorons back down from an enemy? Since when did gorons listen to weak and feeble humans whenever a problem appeared? Our brother is missing, and I refuse to hide away while he’s out there!” The goron got close to Renado, and Barnes jumped to his feet without thinking. He ran to them and jumped between the two, pulling out a bomb and pointing at him.

“You better back up or else I’ll blow ya to smithereens!” He threatened, the bomb raised in his hand. The goron was shocked at the sudden hostility from Barnes (and admittedly Barnes was surprised with himself as well), but he didn’t seem intimidated by his threat.

“You’ll blow yourself up before you even harm me, human,” he spat, his arms crossed in front of him. The elders and Darbus began to stir, but Renado beat them to it, resting his hand on Barnes’s shoulder.

“You do not have to listen to me,” he started, stepping in front of Barnes, “you can try to find your friend if it matters that much to you. I am no chief to you, nor am I a patriarch. But I do hope I can at least be a friend who cares about your safety and well-being.”

Barnes couldn’t help but roll his eyes with a smile. Renado was always such a diplomat. The Goron glared for a moment, until Gor Coron and Darbus finally stepped up, which caused him to back away.

“Such disrespect to our friends is unwelcome, goro,” the elder chief said in a low voice, “If you speak out against him or Darbus again, there will be consequences.”

The Goron grumbled, but he returned to the hot spring with his arms crossed. It was silent as the gorons glanced between each other, and Barnes couldn’t help but smirk. That goron had no spine with those bigger than him, clearly.

“Anyone else have something to say?” Gor Coron challenged, and no goron stepped up. “I understand that to wait around feels like a disgrace to warriors before us, but seeing how there’s been many disappearances, it’s for our protection to stay inside.” Gor Coron turned to Renado, his arms crossed. “Though, human, if you need any assistance, do not be afraid to call for us, goro. We are allies after all, yes?”

Renado smiled and nodded his head. “Of course. I will call for you if I need anything. And if you need anything from Kakariko, do not be afraid to ask for help.”

Gor Coron glanced at Darbus who seemed rather disgusted at the idea of asking for help, but he nodded at Renado anyways. “Of course, brother.”

The mayor of Kakariko bowed his head to the gorons, and he turned back to the entrance. “Thank you for taking the time to listen. But my friend and I had better return to Kakariko.”

“Of course. Be safe, humans,” Gor Coron said, and the two walked away, beginning the trek down the mountain to Barnes’s dismay.

“I almost wish we could stay the night. We were barely there for an hour!” Barnes complained, and Renado only gave him a look.

“Fortunately for us, downhill is easier than uphill,” he said, stepping cautiously down the mountain. “Just try not to tumble down.”

Barnes snorted and followed after him, stepping sideways to avoid slipping. When they reached a flat area, Renado suddenly turned to him with a teasing smile. Barnes stopped as well and gave him a confused look.

“What?”

“Nothing, I’m just… the way you stepped in front of that goron up there… It was very brave.”

Heat returned to Barnes’s cheeks, and he waved it away. “Wh-whatever! I didn’t appreciate him talkin’ to you like that! That’s all!”

Renado’s stupid smile never left, and he turned away. “I’m flattered you were willing to throw yourself in front of me. Perhaps you are here for my protection.”

“He was bein’ rude to you, Ren! I can’t stand it when people talk about you like that, I just… I…” Barnes’s mask suddenly fell in his face again, and Renado raised an eyebrow.

“Looks like you need to tighten that thing, Barnes old friend.”

“I should’ve let that goron pummel you.”

Renado let out a laugh and continued with their trek, leaving a bumbling Barnes behind. He quickly opened his mask back up and let out a string of swears under his breath when he nearly slipped, and Renado turned to him again.

“You know, the last person that called me ‘Ren’ was my wife before she passed.”

Barnes paused, giving him a baffled look. “Do… Do you want me to not call you ‘Ren’?”

Renado glanced at the sky and smiled. “No, I forgot how much I liked that nickname.”

The two continued in silence, Barnes running their conversation in his head over and over again. What did he mean by all of that? Did Barnes say something stupid? He did call him Ren, which he didn’t mean to, but was it a stupid thing to say? He couldn’t tell how Renado truly felt about it. Goddesses that man was always so infuriating, but why did Barnes care so much about it anyways?

Renado once again stopped at a flat area at an edge after a moment to wait for Barnes to catch up, which he was grateful for. He pushed the past conversation out of his head and stood there panting like a dog while Renado observed the world around him—he always seemed amazed at nature, even if it looked the exact same in Kakariko. Barnes chuckled at him and stood up straight, stretching his back again.

“You like it out here or somethin’?”

“I can’t say I don’t enjoy it.”

“Yeah, it’s nice,” Barnes said unenthusiastically, “we better hurry it up, though. I’m gettin’ nervous bein’ away from town.”

“Oh, it’s the daytime, we should be fine. Besides, Goron City and Kakariko are so close together, that I doubt we’re in any danger.” Renado turned to Death Mountain and frowned. “Barnes… I should tell you something… about what is causing these disappearances…”

Barnes perked up and faced him fully. “What is it?”

Renado pursed his lips, his eyes narrowing as he was thinking. Barnes shuffled his feet slightly, leaning against one leg near the edge.

“Barnes… it… it’s a sh—”

The ground beneath Barnes suddenly gave way, and he yelled out as he tumbled down the mountain. Thankfully, a large rock stopped him before he could tumble further, and he laid there for a moment to catch his breath.

“Barnes! Are you alright?” He heard Renado call out to him, and he groaned as he sat up. His whole body felt bruised, and his ankle ached something awful, but he wasn’t dead. He turned to see Renado peering at him from the tiny cliff, a worried look on his face. Barnes simply gave a thumbs-up, his ribs hurting too much for him to actually call out to him.

“Wait right there, I’ll come down to you,” Renado shouted, and Barnes turned away, his arm wrapped around his side. Darn, that hurt. And to have it happen in front of Renado, it was embarrassing. He began to attempt standing despite the ache in his side and ankle, but he flopped back down when the pain got too much.

“Don’t stand up, I’ll look over—”

Renado’s voice was abruptly cut off with a grunt, and Barnes groaned as he turned to see what was going on. To his surprise though, Renado was nowhere to be seen. Barnes frowned and attempted to stand up again, ignoring the pain in his body as he leaned against the large rock. There was no one there.

“Renado?” He rasped, looking around. He limped up the trail, moving to the tiny cliff he fell off of. He saw the edge withered away from where he fell, and a sense of dread overcame him as he spotted something lying on the ground. Renado’s bow…

“Renado!” Barnes called out, a more desperate tone in his voice. He searched around him frantically, trying to spot his brown hair or his cream-colored sleeves, just anything. Despite the pain in his side, Barnes scooped up his abandoned bow, and he spotted footprints where Renado possibly was. He once again spun around, hoping to find him, but there was nothing—there were no signs of life. Renado was gone.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The bar was noisy and humid as Link sat at his table, cradling his son in his arms while the others chatted about mundane things. Rusl was speaking to Colin and Rela upstairs—whether to chew them out or not, he didn’t know—and he and the others remained in the backroom, where Kori told him everything that had happened.

The story made Link want to throw up. The idea that his son, his boy, the child he was supposed to protect went through something so dangerous sickened him. He knew deep down that it was an unfortunate situation out of everyone’s control, but he couldn’t help but blame himself. He should’ve made sure Kori was safe, he should’ve killed the beast when it first attacked, he should’ve killed it during the invasion, he should’ve done a lot of things. But the fact that he didn’t infuriated him. All he could do was to listen to Kori, and to make sure he felt safe.

“So, why did you guys go to Castle Town?” Link asked him when he finished the story, and Kori shrugged.

“The soldier guy needed us to tell the Queen ‘bout it,” Kori answered, staring at his hands. Link glanced up at Sheik, who was listening to every word intently. “We told the King though since she wasn’t there.”

Link sighed, giving Kori a gentle squeeze. “I’m so sorry, kid. I’m so sorry that happened to you.”

Kori snuggled in further, sniffling for the hundredth time, which made Link’s heart ache.

“I thought I was gonna die,” Kori whimpered, burying his face further into his shirt, and Link’s heart practically snapped in two when he heard that. Link remembered the feeling of dread that came with death. He’s had close calls with it countless times, but his own son? His own little ten-year-old boy having to feel the dread? Goddesses, it was more painful than anything he’s ever had to endure—such a feeling should never happen to a child. Emotions of anger, frustration, helplessness, and devastation swirled within Link. He wanted to hold onto Kori and to never let him go. He wanted to run outside and scream at the goddesses for allowing such a thing to happen. He wanted to go out and tear the shadow beast to shreds for traumatizing Kori. But all he could do was to hold his son as he cried, repressing the emotions he was feeling.

“I’m so sorry,” Link whispered again, running his hands through Kori’s hair. Link stared for a long moment, feeling the eyes of Sheik as he held him. His own traveled to meet hers, and then they dropped to Kori, who was mindlessly picking at a toy soldier. He frowned and pulled away, eyeing the toy.

“Where’d you get that?” He asked, and Kori got a bashful look on his face.

“Um… I played with the princess…” he mumbled, holding the toy soldier to his chest. “She gave it to me.”

Link blinked a few times, once again glancing at Sheik who looked surprised. He chuckled slightly, the idea of his and Zelda’s children becoming friends being weirdly ironic to him.

“Well, that was sweet of her. What was she like?” he asked, and Kori shrugged.

“She was fun, she had a lotta toys and we played with them.”

Link smiled. “That sounds like fun.”

“Yeah…” Kori rested his head against Link’s chest, a thoughtful look on his face. “I want to play with her again. Do you think I could see her after this?”

Link’s eyebrows rose, and he once again looked over to Sheik, who seemed to be avoiding eye contact now. “Well… Castle town is far away from Ordon…” Link started, trying not to destroy Kori’s hopes and dreams. He wasn’t against the friendship between Kori and the princess, but it wouldn’t be an easy friendship to maintain. The trips, especially with what was happening now, would be a challenge, and it would take up a lot of time. But…

“It’s not that far,” Sheik suddenly jumped in, and Link looked up at her, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. It would be a challenge, but if the princess’s own mother was on board with it… well… how much of a challenge could it be?

“Yeah, it’s not that far, buddy,” Link repeated, poking Kori’s belly slightly, which caused him to squirm. Kori smiled at him, and Link once again gave him a warm hug. It warmed his heart to hear Kori making friends; all he wanted was for him to find a place to belong. Kori sniffed and pulled away, giving Link a confused look.

“How does writing letters work?” He asked.

“Oh! Uh…” Link glanced around, wondering if the Postman would be in the bar. “There’s a guy who runs around and delivers letters. You just tell him who you want it sent to, and the postman will get it to them!”

Kori frowned. “How does he know where the person will be?”

“Heck if I know. I’m pretty sure that man is omniscient,” Link joked, but Kori only stared at him blankly.

“Omni…what—” Kori started, but was interrupted by a loud cheer from the main bar. The two turned their heads to see what was happening, and they saw Telma hugging someone excitedly.

“Oh it’s been too long, sweet pea!” She exclaimed, rocking side to side with the person in her embrace.

“It’s only been a few days!” The person laughed, and Link’s heart sunk when he recognized it. The light twang of Ordon and the delicate voice, sweet like honey.

Illia…

Oh no.

Telma pulled away and Link was able to get a good view of her. She was wearing nice clothes, clearly from living in Castle Town, with a fancy blouse that would’ve been nice with a skirt. Yet her Ordonian fashion shined through, with the traditional Ordon sash around her waist and a pair of trousers embroidered with flowers. She was wearing sturdy boots and her blonde hair was tied to the side, resting on her shoulder and flowing like a waterfall. Spirits, how long has it been since they’ve seen each other?

“How’s Josh and the kids? They aren’t giving you grief, are they?” Telma asked, and Link had to look away. Of course she was married with kids. It was what she’s always wanted, something Link couldn’t give her…

Though he never loved her the way she loved him, it still hurt to be so distant from her, his best friend. It was strange how he could be so close to someone where he knew everything about them, only for them to become a stranger in a day.

“They’re not giving me too much grief,” Illia laughed, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “Though Josh sure does love encouraging their wild behaviors!”

“Oh that man… I better give him a piece of my mind!” Telma huffed in a lighthearted way, and Illia shook her head with a giggle.

“You’ll scare him too much! He’ll never come here again!”

The two women laughed loudly, and Link tried to ignore them. Kori noticed his strange behavior and tilted his head, but Link didn’t acknowledge him. He didn’t want to think about it.

“I’m sorry, I’m just… I’m not ready for a family.”

Link had told her this. It wasn’t wrong, of course, but it was avoiding the main question Illia had for him.

Did he love her?

Of course Link loved her. He would die for her in a heartbeat. But the way she lovingly stared at him, the way she wanted to be near him… that was not a love he felt for her. He never knew what that type of love even felt like, until he met Midna…

And instead of telling Illia how he truly felt for her, he led her on. Giving her false hope that someday he would be ready for her and a family. He gave her false hope that someday they would be together. She just had to wait.

Until she saw Kori, and she realized that it was never going to happen. She realized he never loved her the same way she did, and that he lied to her. Her screams of fury still haunted him, the insults she threw his way stung worse than a deku baba bite, and she suddenly took off from Ordon, leaving everything behind. It was a sickening thought, knowing that Link was what kept Illia in Ordon, and that he wasted her time. Mayor Bo still hadn’t completely forgiven Link for it, and it certainly made Ordon almost unbearable to live in. But he supported her leaving and finding what she needed wherever in Hyrule, he just wished it was on a higher note. He wished that they were still friends, that they were still close…

Link didn’t realize how much he missed her, and how much he missed having a best friend.

He wished it wasn’t him that tore them apart.

“Illia!”

Link turned to see his pa walking down the stairs, walking towards her with open arms. Illia’s expression brightened and she embraced him, grunting as he gave her his tight hug.

“Spirits above, it’s been ages!” He said, giving her one last squeeze before pulling away. “How have things been? How’s Castle Town treatin’ ya?”

“Oh… it’s been treating me well,” she answered, a big smile on her face. “Though it’s quite busy, and noisy, this town… this bar mostly… it brings me comfort.”

“I know it does,” Rusl chuckled. “You spent a lotta time here before, didn’t ya?”

“I did,” Illia said, her eyes landing on Colin behind Rusl and gasping. “Oh goddesses! Colin, hi!”

She quickly pulled him into a hug and he laughed, returning the embrace.

“Illia! It’s been so long!” He said, and she pulled away.

“No kiddin’! Look at you! Since when did you get so big?”

“That’s what I’m saying!” Rusl piped in, ruffling his son’s hair. “This boy just wouldn’t stop growin’! Now he’s taller than his old folks!”

The group laughed and Link sighed, a feeling of emptiness overtaking him. Kori and Sheik only stared at him, occasionally glancing at each other in confusion.

“Oh Rela!” Illia continued, seeing Link’s younger sister with glee. “Look at how much you’ve grown!”

Rela looked confused as she glanced up at Rusl. He noticed her confusion and nudged her towards Illia.

“Rela, this is Illia, she used to live in Ordon. You met her when you were just a little baby.”

There was still confusion, but Rela nodded, extending her hand to Illia. “Nice to meet you. Again.”

Illia giggled and took it, shaking it lightly. The group chatted for a little bit as Link stared, wanting to disappear into the shadows the same way Midna would. He wished they weren’t by the stairs, he would’ve used that as an escape in an instant. As he was staring at them, he made eye contact with Illia, and he saw her tense up. He spun around and cursed under his breath, a tightness in his chest forming.

“Papa, you’re not supposed to say that word,” Kori started, but Link hushed him. It grew uncomfortably silent at the table, the rest of the resistance not chatting anymore and simply watching as Link squirmed in his seat. He sighed and turned to see what was going on behind him, but he flinched to see a person right by his seat—that person being Illia of all people.

“Goddesses, Illia!” he blurted out, and she smiled slightly, backing up and placing her hands in front of her.

“Hello, Link,” she greeted to Link’s surprise. He cleared his throat and smiled.

“Hey.”

The two stared for a long moment, and Rusl tapped Link’s shoulder.

“How ‘bout Kori and Rela head upstairs, y’all seem tired,” he suggested, and Kori wiggled out of Link’s hold, heading upstairs with Colin and Rela. Link stared for a moment, and glanced back up at Illia, who only stared back.

“So… um… how’ve you been?” Link asked, and Illia shrugged.

“I’ve been fine. A little stressed since we’ll be moving from here soon…”

“Moving?”

“Now where are y’all movin’ to?” Rusl asked, and Illia grinned.

“Back to Ordon. I do love this place but…. I’ve been missin’ home. Besides, my husband has been wanting to live the… ‘laid-back life’.” She threw air quotes in the air with an annoyed smile on her face.

“Oh! Back to Ordon!” Rusl exclaimed, excitement apparent on his face. “How exciting! Just don’t tell your husband that the Ordon life ain’t a ‘laid-back life’!”

“I’m gonna let him figure it out when we get there,” Illia said, and the group laughed.

“S-so where will you be movin’ to?” Link asked, hoping he wasn’t overstepping his boundaries. “Are you moving back in with your pa?”

Illia shook her head. “No… We’re goin’ to the deep south. My daddy’s home is great but it don’t fit me and four kids.”

Link’s eyes widened. “Four kids?”

Illia smacked his arm lightly with a grin. “Ya can’t see it now, but there’s another one on the way!”

Link’s mouth fell open, and he glanced at her abdomen. “Holy goat! You’re pregnant?!”

Illia let out a hearty laugh and rubbed her tummy. “Yep! Exciting ain’t it?”

“You’re gonna be movin’ while pregnant?” Rusl asked, and Illia nodded.

“I hope so! I don’t wanna move with a little baby!”

Link glanced at Rusl who was frowning, and he pursed his lips.

“When do you plan on movin’?” His pa questioned.

“Hopefully sometime this week,” she answered, and the table grew tense. She looked around, her head tilted with confusion. “What is it? I promise I’ll be fine—”

“You should wait to move until it’s safe, yeah?” Ashei noted, and Illia frowned.

“Is this about the strange curfew? Don’t worry, we plan on movin’ during the day.”

“No, there’s been—there’s been a monster abducting people, Illia,” Rusl said, his voice quiet and stern. Illia’s eyes widened and her hand went over her heart.

“Oh spirits, really?”

“Yeah…”

“That’s actually why we’re all here,” Shad jumped in, his elbows resting on the table. “We’re hoping to deal with the threat as soon as possible. But for now it’s dangerous out in the field.”

“Even during the day,” Rusl muttered, his eyes staring blankly at the table, and Link sighed knowingly.

“I had no idea it was that serious!” Illia said, her hands moving to her abdomen with a worried expression. “That’s awful!”

“Well don’t worry, my dear,” Auru started, “we’ll have that beast taken care of in no time! Hopefully before you give birth!”

“Well, it’s only been four months,” Illia muttered, “I sure do hope it won’t take that long.”

There were light chuckles around the table, and Link felt slightly more at ease over everything. It was strange. It had been around eight years since he’s seen Illia, and even longer since he’s had a pleasant conversation with her, but it almost felt like those years never happened, and things were back to normal between them. They were simply good friends again. Almost…

There was still tension between the two that Illia was clearly trying to mend. It was Link’s turn to make the effort as well. He turned to her, grabbing her attention.

“Um… Illia… I…”

The whole table turned their attention to him, and he knew this had to be private. He stood up and led her away into a corner, and he fiddled with his fingers while Illia waited patiently.

“I just… I wanted to apologize over everything—”

“No Link,” Illia interrupted him, her hand raised. “It…. It was a hard time… I get it. I just… I don’t want to think about that time anymore. I’m tired of bein’ angry, you know? I have a life now, I have the family I always wanted, and I’m happier than I’ve ever been.” She gave Link a smile and extended her hand to him. “How ‘bout we start over? Try to be friends again?”

Link blinked at her a few times, tears pricking at his eyes. He took her hand and shook it, a smile on his face as they looked at each other.

“I’d like that.”

Illia beamed at him, and she let go. “So… your son… are there more? Or…?”

“Oh, Ordona no. Kori… he really wasn’t—he was an accident but…” Link cringed internally as saying such a thing about his boy, and he let out a breath, a small grin on his face. “Well, I hate to call him that. He was the best thing to ever happen to me.”

Illia smiled warmly and nodded. “I get that. So no more kids?”

“Oh yeah, no more kids,” Link said, though his mind wandered to the heir Midna would need to have, and he wondered if she would ever be his daughter despite not being blood-related. But he quickly pushed it out of his mind, not wanting to think about it now.

“I’m happy for you Link, I really am,” Illia said.

“I’m really happy for you too!” Link blurted out, “I’m happy you found someone and I’m happy you have a family of your own! It’s all so great and…” He cleared his throat, scratching the back of his neck. “You deserve it. You deserve all the happiness in the world.”

Illia grinned and shrugged her shoulders. “You deserve happiness too, Link.”

“Well… thank you… I… I really am sorry…”

“I’m sorry too. For the things I said to you.”

“I kinda deserved it—”

“Not all of it.” Illia gave him a stern look, and he sighed, nodding.

“Yeah, ok.”

“Spirits, you’re still so stubborn,” Illia said lightheartedly, smacking his arm slightly, and Link chuckled.

“You’re no better than me,” he teased back, and she rolled her eyes. The two laughed for a little bit, and Link tried to think of something to fill the silent air settling in. “So… you’re about to become a southerner, huh?”

“Oh, we’re not going into the deep south, we’ll just be past the pond.”

“Hm…” Link pursed his lips. It wasn’t far at all from North Ordon. But… “You’ll still be a southerner though.”

“Goddesses!” Illia pushed him slightly with a laugh, and Link burst out laughing as well. “I will always be a northerner at heart, Link.”

“You better, otherwise I’ll never let ya hear the end of it.”

Illia rolled her eyes and grabbed his arm, leading him back to the table with an annoyed smile on her face. Link observed the faces at the table; they were listening to Shad ramble about glowing bugs, but Rusl was the only one not listening. Instead he was watching Link and Illia with a pleasant smile on his face. Link smiled back and offered Illia his seat, which she refused.

“Oh no, I was just stopping by for some food Telma offered me. I better head home now.”

“Already?” Rusl asked, and she shrugged.

“I got a family I gotta feed, Rusl,” she explained simply. Rusl groaned lightheartedly and stood up, offering a hug.

“It was so nice to see you again, Illia,” he said, and he embraced her, with her reciprocating.

“It was nice to see y’all too,” she muttered into his shoulder, and Link watched, not knowing whether he should give Illia a hug as well or not. He figured he should wait until things get better between them to do that.

“I promise we’ll have this monster situation handled for you, kid,” Rusl promised, rubbing her back before pulling away. “We could even help you with the move if you want.”

“Oh, that’d be wonderful! Thank you Rusl.” Illia let go and turned to Link. She paused for a moment, watching him cautiously. Link only stood there, letting her make the move, and she finally gave him a small hug, which Link was still hesitant to reciprocate. It was a quick hug, but it was nice. Link felt the tension between them ease up significantly, and the guilt in his heart was less painful than before. Illia pulled away and gave him and the rest a wave goodbye.

“I guess I’ll… see you later?” She said, and Link nodded.

“Yeah, see you later.”

She lingered for a moment before turning around and heading to Telma while Link and Rusl watched. Illia got whatever food from Telma, and she turned back to smile at them before leaving. Rusl turned to Link and tilted his head, his weight resting on one leg as his arms crossed.

“That was a pleasant surprise, wasn’t it?”

“Yeah… it was,” Link muttered, feeling conflicted over everything. He didn’t feel like he deserved the kindness Illia showed him, but at the same time, he was grateful for it. Rusl patted him on the back and chuckled.

“Seemed like you two got along, yeah?”

Link smiled slightly. “Yeah… I’m surprised she was so… nice and forgiving.”

“Well, some people just need time to heal, Link,” Rusl explained. “But it’s in the past. If she’s willing to move on, you should try to as well.”

Link sighed and nodded. “Yeah, ok.”

His pa stared at him for a moment, then began to move him to the stairs. “We’re gonna go talk to our kids real quick,” he explained to the resistance members that sat at the table. They all nodded as Link and Rusl climbed the stairs, and they moved into their room. To no one’s surprise, Colin, Kori, and Rela were fast asleep, all in the same bed. Link smiled, grateful that Kori had such a close relationship with his aunt and uncle, and he sat on the bed opposite, with Rusl joining him.

“Poor things, they were so tired,” Rusl said, staring at them.

“Yeah… Kori was pretty… upset over everything that had happened.” Link turned to his pa and rested against the wall. “What’d you talk to Colin and Rela about?”

Rusl sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “I was gonna yell at them. I told them to stay in Ordon and for some reason they were here in Castle Town. I was… furious when I saw them. But I was mostly scared. I know what type of threat is out there, and I didn’t want my kids to be a part of it. But Colin told me everything and I understand why they’re here now but… I just…” He sucked in a breath and closed his eyes. “We need to kill this thing, Link. Once and for all.”

Link nodded, staring blankly at the ground. “Yeah… what will we do with them? Will they stay here?”

“They have to. I’m not letting them near that monster,” Rusl said firmly. “Even Colin. I hate to coddle him, but spirits above… I can’t—I can’t let anything happen to him again. He’s still my baby…” His voice shook slightly, and he rubbed his face with his hands. Link smiled and rubbed his pa’s back.

“Guess that feeling never goes away no matter how old they get?”

“Goddesses no,” Rusl let out a laugh, his eyes wet. “Y’all are still my babies. Even you Link.”

“Heh, you never knew me when I was a baby though.”

Rusl gave him a look and rolled his eyes. “So?”

The two burst out laughing, and Rusl pulled Link close to hug him. They remained there for a bit, watching their children in front of them, before Rusl pulled away and stood up.

“Come on, we need to finalize plans,” he said, the warmth in his voice gone with determination in its place, offering his hand to Link. “I’m not lettin’ this thing hurt anyone else.”

Link nodded and took his hand, standing up as well. He turned to Kori and gave him a quick peck on the forehead before turning to the door where Rusl waited, and the two went downstairs to the resistance, both determined to find a way to defeat the mutated shadow beast.

[gay-jesus-probably]

Also on the subject of my dumbassery saving me from guardian's, on my first playthrough I also somehow didn't notice that there was a road up the volcano. It just didn't occur to me. Once again, I saw the road, went "hmm, that doesn't point directly towards my objective, guess I need to climb a mountain instead". And so I just took a straight line towards the volcano tower. By climbing the goddamn mountain. Took forever too, all my loot went rolling downhill as soon as I killed anything, so I'd have to go running back down after every fight, and I'd get rekt by rockfalls sometimes... it was a mess.

And then I got up the tower, activated it, and was like "hell yeah, time to paraglide directly to goron city and to glory OH GOD WHY AM I ON FIRE ABORT ABORT ABORT". And I immediately teleported away again because fuck that very much.

...Y'know how I found out there were Guardian's on the road? After a lot of playing, I eventually pulled up a map of the game online. It marked every boss enemy, and every guardian. Once again, I was shocked to realize that by taking the stupid route, I'd avoided having to deal with two whole guardians that were permanently patrolling the obvious road.

Random fun fact, the first time I played Breath of the Wild, I zoned out during King Rhoam's exposition, but made the mistake of still hitting the button to advance dialogue while not really reading. I was under the impression he was still going on about Ganon and Zelda, like he hadn't just already told me all that in a cutscene.

Then I tuned back in only to realize wait, fuck, he just told me to go somewhere, and gave me directions. I did not read those directions. There is no back button. Aaand then he vanished forever, and I learned that the directions had not been copied into the quest log.

...Yeah, so my first playthrough I wound up blindly stumbling my way towards Kakariko, horribly lost, saw the obvious road between the dueling peaks and decided that since it didn't point directly towards the quest goal marker on my map, it was the wrong way, and the only intelligent choice was to climb over a fucking mountain to take a straight line from the Great Plateau to Kakariko.

It... took awhile. Like, my first blood moon hit while I was still wandering around on the goddamn mountain. Though I did get to enter Kakariko via paragliding directly into Dorian and Cado like a total badass, so that was pretty cool. Also I really like the mental image of Dorian and Cado standing guard like always, then suddenly the legendary hero of Hyrule comes falling out of the sky onto their heads, horribly dishevelled from like a week of mountain climbing, furiously complaining about goddamn ghosts not repeating their goddamn directions. I see BOTW Link as being very chaotic, kind of a dumbass, and mostly just not giving a fuck about anyone's opinion.

Anyways so I found out later that there were several guardian stalkers on that mountain meant specifically to stop idiots like me from doing what I did. And I still have no fucking idea how I avoided them, beyond sheer stupid luck. That one decayed guardian in front of the bomb shrine killed me like five times in a row somehow, if I'd encountered a guardian stalker that early, I would have been FUCKED.

[powdermelonkeg]

Hyrule Brochure: A Potential for BotW’s Future

Hyrule’s map in BotW is pretty sparse as far as cities go. Yes, it’s got more than any other Zelda game, but it also has like, 90% of its map being pure dead space.

So I decided to play around and make what I imagine Hyrule would look like, as far as cities go, if it were allowed to properly rebuild and not get totally wrecked by Ganon again.

Credit to Eragon2589 on DeviantArt for the free-to-use map icons. I love these little buttons so much.

So, these are the canon towns we get in BotW; Hateno, Lurelin, Tarrey, Zora’s Domain, Goron City, Korok Forest, Rito Village, Yiga Hideout, and Gerudo Town. I’m counting Yiga Hideout as a town because if the Yiga were a little nicer, it WOULD be marked one.

Adding the various stables on makes the place look MUCH less empty, but still; what can we do with this?

Well, I’ve spent the last several days locating all the significant ruins and landmarks, with one or two extra things thrown in, that I think would make this place much more populated.

Maps are free to use if you want them, btw. Have fun!

As a general rule of thumb, I want to make the towers and stables their own cities. The towers are a good landmark and beacon of safety, and the stables have all the building blocks to start building up a village.

If I’m particularly inspired, I’ll give some background on what the town is/does!

Starting off with the Rito! Their village has grown into a town, and the stable at its foothill is its own village now. I called it ��fledgeling” because that’s where the Rito and Hylians would intermingle most, so the Rito aren’t exactly flying around here.

Beacon City is built around Tabantha Tower; the Rito have turned it into a sort of lighthouse, reflecting light off into the distance to help guide nighttime fliers home. Because of this, it’s a very popular stop for mail carriers, and where they go, development and cultural mixing follows.

Kaysa Town is built around Great Fairy Kaysa’s fountain; it’s a popular tourist attraction, and she gets plenty of offerings, so win-win!

For the Gorons, we’ve only got two more cities: Silversmith Village and Din’s Spire. Silversmith is built around the culture in the southern mines, and it has down-the-road access to the Goron Hot Springs. Din’s Spire is less of a town and more of a landmark, due to the sheer cliffs all around it, but the huge (and notably not in the burning death zone) hot spring lake makes it a popular rest stop for people on their way through.

I decided not to rebuild the northern mines; they’re pretty busted up and lava soaked, so my assumption is that they were abandoned either due to hazards or due to the ore being stripped out.

Korok Forest wouldn’t change much, besides the Royal Family declaring it a protected area. The Koroks don’t seem to have much interest in expansion, and they, as far as I know, don’t live in houses.

Gerudo Territory is MUCH more expansive than the others so far, and with good reason.

Gerudo Town itself is now Gerudo City, and the Kara Kara Bazaar has grown into a town. Canyon Stable has developed a village (mostly full of Gerudo husbands so they don’t have to travel a million miles just to see their families).

The Gerudo have control of one of the towers in their region, and the town built around it is Overlook Town. It mostly serves as a training grounds for young Gerudo warriors.

The City of the Seven developed when the Seven Heroine statues were recovered and restored; the town around them was built to honor them, and then it got a LOT of foot traffic from those wanting to see the legendary statues.

Tera Town rose up much in the same way Kaysa Town did up in Rito territory, centered around the Great Fairy Fountain.

Mesa Village and West Gerudo Town are both smaller Gerudo settlements; West Gerudo sprung up out of access to snowmelt from the Gerudo Highlands, and Mesa Village, because of its relative safety from Molduga and access to oasis water.

Finally, Gerudo Valley, in reference to Ocarina of Time. This town is a Gerudo-only zone, and is more a fortress than a town. It exists both to keep an eye on the Yiga and to gain control of the mountain pass, making people go through Canyon Village to get to Gerudo instead of avoiding Gerudo customs.

Speaking of the Yiga, they’ve taken two new spots for themselves; Gerudo Tower, which they’ve renamed Kohga Tower in honor of their late Master, and Banana Labyrinth, which serves as their highest security area. Imagine if you’d had to go through the LABYRINTH to get the Thunder Helm back.

Up next we’ve got the Zora. Truthfully, their territory spans as long as Zora river and WELL into the ocean, but these are the only cities that, technically, a Hylian with adequate gear can enter.

Mipha’s Landing is an above-water city built expressly for doing trade. It got its name from the late Mipha; since the tower reaches up into the sky, it was hoped that someday, her spirit would sit atop it for a rest and see all that her people had been able to do thanks to her sacrifice.

Lakebed Village is in Lake Hylia, and it’s actually a slowly-repopulating Lakebed Temple, from Twilight Princess. Meanwhile, Great Bay City is a port town above water and an aquatic metropolis below, full of music and dance and exotic wares.

And finally, Hylians.

Hoo boy.

I’ve split this up region by region but

THIS is how many living spots they’ve got.

Silver stars indicate military towns. Red stars indicate military outposts.

I USE THE TERM MILITARY VERY LOOSELY HERE. Hyrule, since it doesn’t interact with its neighbors, only has the Yiga and the various monsters to fight against. Anything labeled “military” means that it’s staffed by royal employ, meaning knights and Sheikah and the like.

Let’s start with Akkala. The northeast labyrinth has been converted into an emergency bunker, in case Calamity strikes and people need a safe place to hide. Not only is it difficult to break into, it also has a completely empty lower level that’s PERFECT for long-term seige.

City Tempest got its name for being near-constantly wracked by storms. Despite this, though, it remains a popular vacation spot for people who don’t mind a little rain; the Skull Lake and the giant flowers are worth it.

Valley Town rose up out of both East Akkala Stable and Robbie’s workshop. It doesn’t get too much foot traffic, but it doesn’t really need to.

Midna Village, I built where the ruins of Shadow Hamlet are. I figured it was a fitting name, and the area is almost constantly covered in the shadow of Death Mountain.

Four Brothers’ Base is a knight outpost that’s up extremely high, spanning huge bridges between the four Tingle isles.

Then Parapa Palace, in reference to Zelda II: Adventure of Link, was built in place of the Akkala Citadel and functions as a mini Hyrule Castle + Castle Town. In real life, monarchs would have several palaces to go between, kind of like how well-off people nowadays would have a summer home. So, I followed that trend! This is Zel’s summer palace.

And you guys know what Tarrey Town is. Although interestingly, as it expands, it goes vertical into the stone column it was built on.

Onto Central Hyrule.

Camp Rauru is training camp and lodging for new knights. Rebonae Village and Kasuto City were made out of the Wetland and Riverside stables respectively, though Kasuto (also an Adventure of Link reference) gets substantially more foot traffic due to being on the way from Castle Town to Dueling Peaks.

Outset Town got its name, lore-wise, from the fact that it’s the first bit of land Link from BotW visited after leaving the Great Plateau, and meta-wise, because it’s the starting point for Wind Waker Link.

Aquame City surrounds the Coliseum, which is how it grew to be so popular. The grand stage holds sparring matches and various other shows regularly, and it’s a pleasant boat trip from Castle Town to get there.

Saria Town was built out of the old exchange ruins, and it’s in walking distance of the ruined Sage Temple—which, at this point in time, would have been rebuilt—and its existence is both an AoL reference and an OoT one (but mostly AoL, I’ve kind of fallen in love with its map).

New Mabe is where you can find the new Lon Lon Ranch! The ruins there are actually called the Mabe Town Ruins in game, and they’re right by the Ranch Ruins!

Eldin’s pretty sparse as far as Hylian towns go. It’s got Gut Check Camp, where Sheikah train for endurance and elemental resistance, and Windfall Town, a place that sees a LOT of gemstones pass through, freshly mined. That includes rupee ore, mind you!

Faron Province is a little more spaced out, due to the nature of the region. Lurelin’s grown since BotW, becoming a trading bay; meanwhile Cora Lake’s Sheikah Tower has expanded into Parache Town, and the Highland Stable has become Malanya Village. Both of those locations are VERY fond of horses, and they’re a bit competitive, especially during archery season.

Ordona Hamlet is a tiny village tucked away into the middle of Faron. It came about due to the Lakeside Stable, and it’s named that because I am STILL salty that the Zeldevs didn’t put an Ordon Village reference in the game.

Eventide Outpost is more of a testing ground for boats than anything particularly significant, population-wise. The even tides that gave the isle its name make it an ideal location to work out the kinks in new watercraft (and occasionally, the lieutenant in charge of that base demonstrates how to launch a raft into the sky with octo balloons).

Hebra’s the most militarized area of Hyrule, and ideally, it functions as a reserve of men and tech in case Calamity rises again. If there’s anything that BotW’s era learned, it’s to never underprepare for Gann’s return.

Fort Lomei is a converted base, just like the Banana Labyrinth is to the Yiga. This one, though, is patrolled diligently by knights who use daily-changing codes, and it’s impossible to navigate without the locals’ help.

Fort Pikida is situated in that weird stone cavern-y area, and it’s a supply stach and Hebran monster patrol site. It’s the soldiers there’s job to make sure that the Lynels that like to roam the region don’t get too close to residential areas.

Hia Miu Outpost is a training spot for knights sent to the Hebra region; any new soldier to the area has to prove they can handle themselves by going into the Hia Miu shrine and taking on the Major Test of Strength Trial. (Fun fact, did you know that the X-test-of-strength trials reset themselves every blood moon?)

Snowpeak Fortress exists both because it makes a fantastic secondary base for the Hyrulean royals to plan, and because i am once again salty about the lack of Twilight Princess in this game.

Sturnida Resort is built around hot springs! It’s a nice spot for people living around Rito Town and Fledgling Village to take a vacation without having to trek all the way across the country to do it.

Snowfield City came from Snowfield Stable, and it’s the Windfall of Hebra; it sees a LOT of people coming in and out of the region, and the view of the northern lights you can get from there? You’d be hard-pressed to find a Hylian that didn’t have it on their bucket list.

New Tabantha was built on the ruined spot of the original Tabantha Village; you can visit there in-game! It’s a quiet town that raises highland sheep for a living, and its team won the Hebran Triathlon three whole years in a row.

Then, the Tanagar Restricted Zone. If you’ve ever been there, you know EXACTLY why it’s restricted.

Most of the Guardians inside have been dealt with, but the ruined temple remains a hazard testing ground for new tech. It’s off limits to everyone but those with the HIGHEST clearance; I’m talking a direct letter from Zelda herself.

The Thyphlo Secret Camp is exactly what it says on the tin. It’s a place for Hyrulean lieutenants to meet for top-secret missions, and it’s one of those places that you need to be SERIOUSLY high rank to even KNOW about.

Over on the edge of Lanayru, we’ve got New Goponga, built where the old Goponga ruins are, and the Crenel Garrison. The Garrison was built to take care of the Lizalfos problems in the waterways, keeping it safe for Hylians and Zora travelers alike. Goponga, on the other hand, is what Lurelin was in game; nice, friendly, and centered around fishery.

In Necluda, we’ve got New Deya where old Deya was ruined (I think BotW Link was born in old Deya!), Watchtower Village built around the lakeside of the Dueling Peaks tower, and then Dueling Peaks City, a HUGE trade hub that was once the Dueling Peaks stable.

Kakariko Village is now a Town, Hateno has grown into a full blown trade harbor, and a tiny village has started to form around the Hateno Tower, making Firly Overlook.

But what I most love is the City of Hylanay.

Back in the game, it was the ruins of the Lanayru Promenade. So I had the promenade rebuilt, then people moved in around it, and now, Hylanay’s basically Hyrulean Venice! I want to visit it.

On the Great Plateau, we’ve got Aboda Town, named after Spirit Tracks’ Aboda Village in reference to the starting point in each game. This Town has access to the original Temple of Time, but because of the nature of the isolated plateau, it doesn’t see a lot of new faces often.

Over around Thundra, we’ve got Tanagar Village overlooking the canyon, built out of the old Tabantha Stable. The village actually builds downwards into the canyon; people have windows carved right out of the cliff face!

Thundra Village is built into the rocky slopes surrounding Thundra Plateau and the Ridgeland Tower. Their houses are built in the shelter of the giant mushroom things that grow so well in the area, and they’re famous for their signature dish of escargot.

The Serenne Exchange is up north, encompassing both the old Serenne Stable and the Maritta exchange ruins. You can buy practically ANYTHING there; if ever there was a supermarket in Hyrule, it would be right there.

The Royal Lab was rebuilt out of its ruins post Calamity, and it’s directed by Purah, who still hasn’t cured her immortality yet. It’s not uncommon to hear explosions as you pass by that place.

And then Camp Rutile is a small observational outpost, meant to keep track of the activity on Satori Mountain. Supposedly, the mountain’s health reflects the state of the rest of the kingdom, so the researchers assigned there are tasked with monitoring it EXTREMELY closely.

And Hyrule Castle. It’s Hyrule Castle.

Now completely bolted into the ground! :D

If we put all these locations together, we get a very nice, very well populated Hyrule, with LOTS to see. This is how I would design the future of BotW’s Hyrule.

Thanks for reading!

[kintatsujo]

LoZ AU- The Courage of Running Away Part EIGHT

#AU August

#LoZ AU: The Courage of Running Away

So Link makes it through the desert in the caravan’s care, and as promised, Torock sends him ahead to Gerudo Canyon with his son Taro, to meet the third of Tonbo’s uncles.

[Image Description: Safee and Link are walking next to one another.  Safee asks, “So you’re going ahead to see Torock’s brother because your dad’s waiting in Gerudo City?”  “Yeah,” Link says.  Safee covers her mouth with a hand and snorts, putting one hand on Link’s shoulder.  “I hope he has FUN then!” she snickers.  Link stares at her in question.  The scene switches to show Astramorus penned by two Gerudo women about his own age; the taller of the two is taller than him and the shorter is shorter than him.  The taller, looming, grins and asks, “Hey, handsome, can I buy you a Noble Pursuit?”  The other snaps, “BACK OFF Birna I saw him FIRST!”  Astramorus is responding to this with obvious displeasure.  Flowers adorn the background.  A narrative box notes: “Astramorus did not have fun.”  End ID.]

Those two ladies are named Somara and Birna after the canes from Alttp, yes I can do that, and no they don’t care that Astramorus is a piece of shit because they’re the kind of ladies that hit on unsuspecting guys in the middle of the street.  XD  

Obviously Gerudo City isn’t quite the same... .uh.  All that *waves hands* as Gerudo Town in BotW.  (There’s.  There’s a lot of middle-eastern specific orientalism going on there I’m not going into in the middle of an AU fic post except to acknowledge it and say that I’m trying to avoid doing it.)  This is also because these are AU Gerudo whose gender disparity is 1-99 instead of just.  Whatever the fuck nonsense.  

But Link doesn’t get to see all that because he’s going to go meet

UNCLE TURBO

[Image description: A Goron standing in front of a sketchy stable with a horse head built on top.  The Goron looks like he stepped out of the 80s, with shutter shades, fingerless gloves and a sharp mo-hawk hairstyle.  He also has shaggy arms and a tuft of hair on his chest.  He is grinning and adjusting his shades with one hand on his side.]

Yes, Tonbo’s uncles are Torik, Torock and Turbo, no, I have no regrets, Uncle Turbo is the fucking best and I laughed for three days after coming up with him.  He runs a racing minigame!  He’s also where Link is going to get a mount to take him the rest of the way to Hyrule Castle Town.

So Torock leads Taro and Link into the stable, and here is what greets them:

[Image description: A glowing blue unicorn with a white mane.  She has large eyes compared to a normal horse, her horn is a thin and delicate looking spiral, and she has a long tail more like that of a very fluffy cat.  Taro and Turbo discuss this, Taro with a disbelieving frown and Turbo with a grin.  Taro demands, “Uncle Turbo, HOW.”  Turbo answers, “Despite ANYTHING your dad may have told you I am QUITE pure of heart.”  Taro protests: “But can’t they TELEPORT?” Turbo says, “They can indeed!  It’s TUBULAR.” End ID.]

And this was done entirely to pander to my friend @entamewitchlulu​ but I do actually have a justification for how the unicorn works!

1.  The Ancient Bridle and Saddle from BotW allow your horse to teleport to you and also give your horse more stamina, and they’re basically a unicorn costume

2.  This unicorn is basically a friendly spirit that I think Turbo got into his stable by being very, VERY good with his animals.  

Tonbo’s family is made of Super Swell Dudes, is what I’m saying.

Anyway she can’t teleport with someone on her back but she CAN give Link a ride, and after some mini gaming and bribing with treats he’s basically made friends and Isabel, here, is basically this Link’s Epona.

So Link is on HIS way, let’s see what Astramorus is doing:

[Image description: There is a somewhat diverse crowd, made mostly of Gerudo and Hylians.  Through it weave a group of people in somewhat important looking attire, talking to one another as if heard from a distance; Two older Gerudo women, one stockier with darker hair in a ponytail and the other older and more slender with her hair pulled into a half ponytail, a young Gerudo man with a beard and long hair worn more loose, and a person with hair covering half their face in a dark cloak trailing behind.  The older woman is smiling and saying, “You don’t need to clear the whole street, dear.”  The stockier woman replies with a frown, “I think you’ll find that I DO, Chief.”  The older woman asks, “And that achieves enjoying a day at market?”  The camera switches to Astramorus watching them from where he stands at a vendor’s booth.  The vendor, a round faced woman with an afro ponytail topknot, smiles and says, “Oh, look at that, it’s the PRINCE.”  Off panel the stockier woman splutters, “WELL, I--” then switches to “Are you LAUGHING at me, boy?”  This brings the focus onto the young man in the group: He has laughing eyes and a gentle smile he’s partly covering with one hand, bright red hair and beard, dark brown skin, golden earrings and diadem, black, gold and white clothing, and the mark of the Triforce of Power on his hand.  He says, “Yes, Auntie, I am VERY MUCH laughing at you.”  The vendor says, “He’s grown into a FINE youth, hasn’t he?”  Astramorus can only stare in horror.  End ID.]

Well THAT’S not good!

[liquid-geodes]

What’s Sheiks main outfit? Or his fighting outfit. And what’s his favorite place? Are there any other characters you want to add to this botw au? Or anything you want to implement from other games?

I haven't really finalized what I want to consider a "main" outfit for sheik, but I know that this was the first ever design I made for him that was actually finalised. I'm not sure how "main" it is but it's definitely recurring throughout the story (mostly for non battle events that take place everywhere that isn't in the Gerudo Desert, Goron City/Death Mountain, Hebra Mountains, maybe Zora's Domain [before freeing Vah Ruta?]).

I'd say his favorite place to be is either on the Akkala Parade Grounds or somewhere deep in the Faron Region, maybe even as far as Lurelin Village.

Akkala because it's far enough away from the castle to keep him safe, but close enough to remind him of home. The Faron region because of it's dense forests, which provide excellent cover and makes it easier to avoid detection. And Lurelin Village is just small enough that Sheik can be safe somewhere where he doesn't have to rely on just himself. Definitely would find him here if he were injured or resting up after something major happens.

I'm not so sure about adding anymore characters to this particular botw au, but I know a few characters are going to be tweaked along the way to fit certain parts of the plot. In other botw aus I have there's TONS of stuff from other games that the botw gang would come face to face with (thanks Hyrule Warriors for reality hopping, very cool!). I think of definitely put link (or at least my au version of him) in the OoT world. I feel like it's just close enough to his Hyrule to let him get around, but still jarringly different for him (rip to the Rito am I right). Also just in love with the idea of how well he will fit in with how "royal" the majority of the main races act since this boy has exactly 2 settings and they are "being a king" and "being Zelda's feral enabler" no there is no in-between he and Zelda are besties and Zelda has more than earned the right to be slightly unhinged, and Link encourages her because that's what besties do.

[loz-dawn-to-dusk]

Master Sword & The Aurous Swords Part 1

Figured one of the first things I'll talk about for this Au is the Master Sword, considering the sword holds a large importance in Zelda Lore

---

The master sword does exist in this au, it would very weird for it not too(since this follows BOTW). However, the master sword is so worn down, to the point where it can't really be used. We already saw its longevity in BOTW and how little time link could use it before it needed to recharge, so I just took that and pushed it to it's most logical extreme.

Let's start from the vague beginning

Link, wasn't actually chosen by hylia and doesn't actually possess the hero's spirit. He was simply named Link by coincidence. Due to being named this however it pretty much sealed his fate onto how he was to be treated growing up.

A hero was actually never born during this time period or at least if they were they were gone now. So completely unaware of the fact that Link isn't actually the chosen hero, he was trained from an incredibly young age to fufill that role if it were to come to a time when he was needed. Which leads us to the beginning of his journey

Link actually went to try and find the Sword, encouraged by the Leaders to do so, but upon finding it he realized quickly that it would be no use. He couldn't even touch it since it burned him and based on how rusty it looked, didn't want to put to much force into. He simply took pictures and went back and told the Leaders what he knew.

After hearing about the sword and seeing Links burns, the Leaders struggled on what to do. Link needed a sword that could have the potential to battle against the shadows they are at war with and once that wouldn't burn him. It was then after some researching that the information ofn the Aurous Swords came to light.

After looking around through the few history books they have, they found out that the Aurous Swords were created by some mystery stranger around 200 years ago. It was then used for a brief time to fight off some shadow beings, not too different than what they are facing now, though those shadow beings were much weaker. After defeating said beings, the swords where then sealed away in two different dungeons on the far halves of the Hyrule. One was sealed deep in a protected lava dungeon close to Goron City and the other was sealed deep in the desert far off from Gerudo Town.

With that knowledge in mind Link went to go get them, the first sword he got was the one near Gerudo Town since he already had some heat resistant potions in stock. In his stupid moment of "brilliance" he decided that he wasnt going to consult the gerudos to ask for a sand seal and decided to traverse the hot desert on his own.

This backfired alot.

He ended up getting stuck in a bad sand storm after a fight with some shadow creatures that had him injured(and he was stupid not to bring enough potions or elixers) that lasted for far too long and almost killed him, and really had him questioning his earlier choices. Luckily, Hylia was looking down upon him and he was able to outlast the storm and barely make his way to the location of the first Aurous Sword, which was located in a very small fairy oasis, allowing him to get healed.

Since then he has had a vary intense fear to the desert and sand and avoids going there as much as possible

After retrieving the sword, he then made his way to the second one, and ended up meeting a very interesting stranger along the way..

End of Part One~

Next: Introducing Zelda

After: Either Zelda Fun Facts or more Link fun facts

-----

Hey! Have literally no idea of what i am talking about? Then how about you check out the links below to get a slightly better understanding!

Eventually i will make an Archive where it will be easier to view all of these!

Have any questions about my au or wanna ask my characters something? Feel free to do so!

[mrneighbourlove]

Digging up Trouble: Ch 1. Plover and the Crocodile

"Fuck off you bastards! And don't you come back!"

Leere took the bow and fired off another arrow just for good measure. She knew Al-Daida could be dangerous, but she had hoped to avoid conflict by staying under the radar and being foreign. Heading back to the archaeological grounds, she checked on her team. At the age of 25, Leere's current passion was discovering ancient treasures across the world. Her latest search brought her to the dunes of Al-Daida, looking for the remains of princess of Hyrule that married a matriarch of Al-Daida thousands of years ago. She hoped to find the remains of the princess and return her to Hyrule. The site was discovered three days into their arrival, and her team opened up a massive underground tomb. Each layer would take days of work to uncover, which made work slow. What started the trouble was finding a trove of jewels that had been buried away. All it took was slip of the tongue from one of crew mates and word spread fast. A group of bandits tried to raid them when they were tired after a day of work.

Returning to camp, Leere was thankful no one was killed. A few injuries and the account only herself and the one Goron she brought with her could fight put a pit in her stomach. They couldn't afford to work by themselves now. After putting it to a vote with her crew, they decided to buy some protection from the local government.

The next morning, when things were calm, Leere journeyed an hour out towards the city by herself. Walking through the markets, she tried to not pry too much on the towns on goings. Adjusting her hat, she made her way up to the palace gates. "Excuse me? Is this the home of Matriarch Fayruz?"

"What business do you have here?" The guard asked Leere, not allowing her to pass into the palace just yet. Visitors were frowned upon by the matriarch unless an appointment was previously set. There were only a few exceptions, like that one defeated royal lady from a couple of years back. "The matriarch's time is very precious and she does not like to be disturbed. Do you have an appointment set with her?"

"I do not. But I seek her help. I am Doctor Dragmire, archaeologist of Hyrule. My team has recently come under attack by bandits, and I wish to strike a bargain with her for our safety." When the man only raised an eyebrow, Leere sighed. She didn't like throwing her royal title around, especially when outside of her own country, but she supposed she might get more help from a royal if she was recognized as one. "I'm also known as a Princess of Hryule."

"... I will send a messenger. Please wait." The guard had no patience for dealing with issues like this. There were plenty of princesses, princes, kings, and queens in the world, but only one matriarch. She would decide if she wanted to receive this supposed 'daughter' of Hyrule. She did not look like any Hylian he ever encountered. The servant returned with a whisper in the guard's ear. "Fine. You may pass."

"Thank you."

Leere was escorted inside the chambers of the palace. As she entered, she politely took her hat off. The Doctor had heard rumours of certain monarchs nailing hats into the heads of rude guests who refused to remove them. Looking at a pool, her red eyes grew three sizes at the sight of a massive crocodile relaxing in the sun. She then laid her gaze upon a tanned skinned woman with horns upon her head. Holding her hat, Leere politely gave a gentle bow of the head. "Matriarch Fayruz, I presume?"

"That I am, and you, my child, a supposed 'princess' of Hyrule?" Fayruz got right to the point. She had her servants attending to her every need. One was blocking the sun with a rather large elephant leaf, while another had a tray of fruit and cheese for her to enjoy. "You are... very different than any Hylian I've ever seen. Something tells me you are not exactly Hylian."

"It's true I'm no Hylian. My name is Leere Dragmire, adopted daughter of Ganondorf and Zelda."

"Ah, adopted. That makes much more sense now." Fayruz stood from her fainting couch and greeted Leere with a wave of open arms. "I am Matriarch Fayruz Ola. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, though I have to say, I am surprised." The Nara then crossed one arm over the other, while an expression of puzzlement adorned her face. "To find one of you here of all places."

"I came to your lands in search of the tomb of Queen Wannaba. She was an ancient princess of Hyrule who long ago married a Matriarch of Al-Daida, although back then I believe they might have been known as Pharaohs. I was hoping to return her body and secrets to Hyrule. Unfortunately, I hit a snag. May I sit down?"

"The majestic Pharoah Walijah, also known as Wannaba to foreigners." Fayruz chuckled with a soft smile. "I understand, some names are hard to say in various tongues." She clapped her hands and the servants provided Leere with a chair. "Though, you do know that the beliefs of our people say that lovers are to be together?"

Leere nodded. "I hope you don't think me a thief. Truth is, my kingdom, well, I merely acquire what she was buried with. They say the Queen was highly fascinated with death, studying the living dead as well as the realm of the dead. She left an artifact upon the surface with her King before dying, but she was buried with some personal pieces, as well as instructions on where one could find what she left behind. Unfortunately, she also was buried with a massive amount of treasure. And that's where my problems have arrived. The moment word of treasure spread outside my crew, bandits organized and attack my site. I was barely able to push back a small raid on my own. I've journeyed here today in hopes that I could strike a bargain with you that could grant me and my crew protection."

"There is a difference between a thief and a scholar hoping to study history, but Al-Daida likes to hold onto their dead." Fayruz listened to Leere's suggestion of a bargain. The matriarch really had no interest in this historical dig. The dead were in the afterlife, where the worries of life and the pressures of being a ruler were no more. Yet, the dead were to be respected. "What is your bargain?"

"There are sure to be many historical treasures that are native to Al-Daida alone. I originally was going to sell them to merchants and scholars across the country. However, I would like to offer these finds exclusively to you. You can also have 25% of the jewels I uncover. Does this satisfy you?"

"This does, however, I do have one condition of my own." Fayruz informed Leere. "Princess Walijah stays here. It is not proper to separate lovers in my culture who are bound by the soul."

"Agreed." Leere was thankful. It was nice to secure a bargain so quickly. Standing up, she went to shake the Matriarchs hand. "You know, you're shorter than I expected."

Fayruz actually laughed at Leere's observation while the servants looked upon the foreigner with large eyes. No one was ever so straightforward with the matriarch. At least she was amused, that was a good sign. "True, I am not as... what is the translation in Hylian?" Fayruz thought for a moment and then said, "I believe it is 'butch' as the other females here?"

"Nothing wrong with being butch or not being so. You're still taller than myself. I have to ask, is the blue around your eyes part of your skin or eyeliner? I assume the yellow must be part of your genetic makeup rather than tattoos." Leere had a truly fascinated look in her eyes. "I've never met a people that have varied so colorfully from individual to individual."

"That is kohl, dear, we Al-Daidans have a variety of skin tones." Fayruz mused at Leere's starry look. It seemed the princess was rather fascinated with the culture of her people. There were plenty of brothels the woman could visit if she wished, but the matriarch was not sure if it was appropriate. Hylian people had certain sensitivities to the talk of sex. At least, that was what the matriarch was told. "Tattoos are seen here as a piece of art. You ought to visit one of our tattoo artists for one if you'd like."

"Oh, one tattoo is enough for me, but thank you." Leere gave Fayruz a smile. "I'd like to extend the offer to check in on the dig anytime you wish."

"I appreciate the offer, but Naunet is not a big fan of the desert." Fayruz motioned to her huge crocodile who was crawling out of the pool. "She likes her patches of sunshine, but is a little too prissy to get sand under her claws. However, if you need any translations, please let me know."

“If it’s from your tongue, a translation would be marvellous.” Leere gave the Matriarch a wink as she made her way out. “I’m going to inform my crew of your generosity. Thank you once again Matriarch.”

"Don't worry, dear, my marvelous pets will ensure your camps will not be disturbed." Fayruz certainly noted the princess was a flirty one. Perhaps the 'proper' customs of Hyrule never stuck with her. Or maybe she was simply curious.

~

Fayruz meant exactly what she said when referring to pets. Marvelous sand rays, the size of craters, sailed through the desert. The talented riders made sure to encircle the camp to protect it, taking shifts here and there.

Leere and her team had made marvellous progress, digging down to the second level. She had spent two weeks at the site now, carefully cataloguing and studying her findings. Eventually, they came across the doorway to the third and final floor, where the ancient Queen’s remains should remain. Inside the door chamber, she found hieroglyphs giving warnings about the book of the dead, the staff of ghosts, and the crown of life. Littered on the wall were multiple priest masks, which Leere took.

After some inspection she deduced none of the masks held any curses. After some deliberation, she thought the colourful masks could make a good gift to the matriarch. Sending a request out, she wanted to know if the Matriach would host a small party for her dig team.

"Matriarch, I do not know why you entertain that desert digger and her team." Bennu scoffed as he read the letter that Leere sent, requesting a small audience and a party celebrating their discovery. "We should have chased her out. The dead are not to be disturbed."

"I know, my mate, I do not necessarily like the idea of her digging into the tombs of our ancestors, yet this one had a Hylian bride." Fayruz reminded her husband gently. "And shared blood ties have the right since she is a princess of Hyrule."

"Adopted princess, not true blood."

"While that may be, she is offering us money for her efforts and our protection."

Another Nara bowed gently to the Matriarch and Bennu. "How do we know for sure she is a princess? These tomb raiders are sly and dishonorable people. It doesn't matter how much money she throws us if she is seeking an even greater prize."

A fourth, a noble visiting, nodded. "Matriarch Fayruz, I have seen this Doctor Dragmire. Her red eyes and pale skin betray what she is. A Mortuus. I have owned a handful over the years."

"There are portraits in historical books of every royal born or adopted. Check the archives if you wish." Fayruz dismissed their worries. "Besides, if she does try to get away, the sand rays already have her in sight. They can simply eat her and we can take what she tries to steal. Do not fret, I always am one step ahead." She then arched an eyebrow. "Do you not believe in my capabilities? Perhaps you'd like to continue the discussion with Bennu? Or my beautiful Naunet instead?"

This first Nara bowed, quickly shaking his head. "No my Matriarch."

The lord shook his head, sighing. "Sand Rays would be such a waste~" ________________________________________________________________

Crossover Story with @ridersoftheapocalypse

Next Ch. https://mrneighbourlove.tumblr.com/post/643133699902390272/digging-up-trouble-ch-2-picking-out-a-book

[hylian-champion]

Link’s Letters, the last Champion’s Diary

The first few entries are old / posted before but I decided to post them all together in one place anyway!!

        Aryll,

        I know I haven’t been able to see you for a while. I hope this letter makes up for it. People look at me differently lately. They treat me differently too. But I don’t feel any different. Am I different to you too? … Is it because of that sword?

        They say I’m the reincarnation of the hero of legend. As such, it is my duty to fight and win against the beast that threatens Hyrule.

        That hero… he was said to have tremendous courage. He must have in order to face such a terrible demon. If that’s the case, I don’t feel like a hero either. But I’ll try. I’ll keep up a brave face for everyone’s sake. Though, honestly, I’m terrified…

        P.S. Don’t tell dad I said that.

        I met the BIGGEST Goron today. Though I can’t tell what’s bigger: him or his appetite. I never knew Gorons ate rocks either. Weird. He offered me to try something called ‘rock roast’ which is apparently a local delicacy on Death Mountain. It’s… crunchy.

        Daruk is a very warm and friendly soul. It feels like you could have known him for ages when you’ve only just met. I really like him, and the Gorons in general. They’re pretty straightforward people. Incredibly strong too. Daruk seems to think I’ve got Goron-like strength as well. Maybe if I eat more rocks I could be as strong as him one day.

        It’s been so long since I last saw Lady Mipha. I heard that she was the one chosen to pilot Divine Beast Vah Ruta. To imagine her on the front lines of this battle… I was hoping to talk her out of it.

        When I arrived she told me about a Lynel on Polymus Mountain that has been terrorizing the Zora with its shock arrows. If you didn’t already know, those arrows can be deadly to the Zora. So I set off straight away to deal with it but Mipha… she followed me. Despite how dangerous I insisted it was, she wouldn’t turn back and we argued. I never knew she could raise her voice like that. The Lynel must have heard us and got the jump on us from behind. I took an arrow or two to the back though I didn’t actually feel it until after the monster was long gone. I’m alright, though, don’t worry.

        Having Mipha there… her support means a lot to me. I don’t know what I’d do without her.

        Today we have all been formally appointed as Champions. After the ceremony, I wanted to see those relics—the Guardians—up close. They’re meant to help us in our fight against Ganon, and… I have to say I’m glad they’re on our side. One of the ancient machines went out of control and started shooting a deadly beam at anyone who came close to it. I only had a pot lid to reflect its attack, but it worked!

        The king saw what happened and wanted to have a word with me. I thought he was upset because I broke one of the relics meant to save us…

        As if being a Champion wasn’t enough, it seems your brother is now the princess’s appointed knight.

        I should feel proud, shouldn’t I? It’s a great honor…

        The princess and I have arrived at Rito Village. I bet you would love the Rito. They resemble birds, though I don’t think they bear any relation to your cuccos. It may be rude to ask.

        Oh, but I did get to talk to the Rito Champion, Revali. Or… more like he talked to me and flew off. I can’t help but feel he looks down on me for some reason. Maybe it’s because of his height. Or that he spends a lot of time in the sky. You would have no choice but to look down on people from up there.

         If I were up there, I would never look down. For the most part because I’d just get terribly dizzy from the view. Do you remember when one of your birds got itself stuck on top of that old flagpole? I never want to climb anything like that again for as long as I live.

        We set out for Goron City today. The princess is intending to help Daruk with his control over Divine Beast Vah Rudania. It’s really quite admirable how determined she is. When she sets her mind to something she’s so focused on it, it’s like I’m not even there… Or, rather I get the feeling she wishes I wasn’t. Maybe I’m overthinking it?

         Still, the first time she addressed me, she wanted to know about the sword. Of course. The old legends say there is a voice that’s supposed to guide the chosen hero. She asked if I could hear it. I didn’t know what to tell her. So I said nothing. But I imagine she already knew the answer… She must despise me.

        It was nice to see Daruk again. I wanted to ask him for some advice about… you know. Turns out he needed some help too. His control over his Divine Beast has been a little… rocky. Honestly how can a big guy like that be so hesitant? All he needed was a little push to get the boulder rolling. Now, his handle over Rudania is rock solid.

        By the way, the postman can’t carry a whole rock roast all the way to Hateno for you. I asked. But I got you another Goron specialty: Goron Spice! Try it with some Hylian Rice and Goat Butter. It’s delicious!

         I always had the feeling that the princess hated me, I just never realized how much she did. I don’t know what to do. She does everything she can to get away from me, even travel alone despite the dangers. She’s made it very clear that she does not want my company, and yet it’s still my job to protect her. I can’t disappoint the King.

        But… I can’t stand being the reason she’d put herself in danger in the first place. I guess I can’t do anything right.

        I can’t ask Lady Urbosa for help. I mean, you make a very good point, Aryll. But what do I tell the longtime friend of the Royal Family? ‘I lost the princess… again!’ She’s way too smart for me to keep up. She does everything in her power to avoid me. And, worse, she’s really good at it.

        Though, I suppose if she keeps abusing Gerudo Town’s laws to separate us, the one person who has any way to address it is the Chief of the Gerudo…

        I hate when you’re right.

        It’s been days. I’ve searched every corner of this desert for the princess. Lady Urbosa said if she saw her she’d send word immediately. I get the feeling she knows exactly where she is. At least I hope so. The Yiga Clan has been all too active lately. But if she stays with Urbosa, then I know she’ll be safe. I just have to trust her. 

        Until then, I’ll stay close by at the Bazaar to keep an eye on things.

        That reminds me I got you something. There’s a lady in Gerudo Town who makes all kinds of jewelry from circlets to earrings to pendants—don’t ask me how I got it—but I hope you like it.

        Urbosa sent word last night that she’d found the princess but today, just like that, she was gone again in an instant. By the time I caught up to her I was almost too late.

        She’s safe, now. A little shaken up, I think, but unharmed. Though this all started because she tries so hard to avoid me. I think… Tomorrow I should tell her… If she would rather have another knight accompany her, then I will send in my resignation to the King. Regardless of the shame and disappointment that will come with it. If my job is to protect her, then I have no other choice than to leave. She should be a lot happier with whoever ends up my replacement. Less inclined to run away too.

        She… apologized… for everything. I think I get it. The princess carries such a heavy burden, and she does it with her head held high. She’s working harder than all of us to stay ahead of this prophecy. She’s so brave. I wish I could be more like her in that regard. 

        I could fight anything from lynels to hoards of moblins, but when it comes to… speaking… There’s so much I want to tell her. I’ve made up my mind, I’m going to try.

        P.S. Maybe I should offer to cook for her? I could make her grandma’s famous pumpkin stew! Do you think she’d like it?

        Zelda is staying at the Castle today to further her studies. With the whole royal guard there, she granted me some time off. This time I know it’s not just to get rid of me. I’ll be home soon, but I hope you don’t mind… I made a quick stop at Zora’s Domain to see Mipha. She took a look at that scar from the attack on Death Mountain and healed it right up.

        Out of the blue, she started telling me about the namesake of Divine Beast Vah Ruta. Apparently it’s named after a Zora princess and one of the legendary sages from an age far older than the Great Calamity. Legend has it she fell in love with the Hylian hero of that time.

        Do you think my past life married a princess? I can’t imagine.

        We got caught in a rainstorm by Lake Hylia.  

        I’ll be honest. I used to hate this destiny stuff. But… sharing it with Zelda the Princess isn’t so bad. As long as we have each other, we can face anything.

        By the way… How is father doing?

        Is it wrong to butt heads with the King? I guess that’s a very stupid question. Of course it is. It isn’t my place to interfere and yet… You have no idea how much I wanted to say something today. To stand up and tell him he’s wrong.

        Can they throw a Champion– a “hero of legend” in jail for speaking out of turn? I don’t know why that should even stopped me. I really am just too much of a coward.

        It’ll be Zelda’s birthday in a couple days. She’s working harder than ever to unlock this sealing ability. The day she turns 17 she’s heading straight for Mount Lanayru without even a moment’s rest. 

        That’s right, you’re coming to Castle Town with father, aren’t you? It’s a national holiday, but the one person who doesn’t get the time off to enjoy it is the one who needs it most. Maybe meeting you will cheer her up before we head out to the Spring of Wisdom. I’m counting on you! I’ll see you soon.

Love, Link

[threerupees]

@hundredslept​ | x

Travelling merchants are a very popular target for all kinds of danger. The bokoblins were intelligent enough to know that it was always a good idea to go for a merchant and steal their wares. Link had seen them tie up and carry entire horses away if they got their little hands on one. Perhaps he was imagining things, but as time progressed, they seemed to get smarter and smarter.

The merchant’s attire practically shouted ‘here i am, come and get me’. The purple was pretty but it stuck out amongst the dominant browns and greens around them like a sore thumb. The bunny ears were cute though. Link can’t say he endorses wearing such an obvious headress when out in the open and helpless, but he can see it being effective in a city, to lure in customers with a sight.

“I’m sorry about your wares though.” They were scattered on the floor, in between arrows and whatever remained of the bokgoblins. He knelt to pick things up and moved them over in a pile. “You’re not hurt, yes?” When people were full of adrenaline, they often didn’t realise they were struck. Happened to Link countless of times ever since he had stumbled out of that water bath in the shrine.

“What about your little friend?” The little bird looked scared and exhausted. “I got some honey..would that help? Or bugs?”

     ‘Here I am, come and get me’ was quite the unfortunate sign to have stapled above his neon clad head, particularly when trouble was precisely what he wished to avoid. For though weapons were what he peddled, to say he could wield them would be an overstatement… er properly, that is. He could use them, but for little more than to test the merchandise or show off for curious customers. Truth be told, he should be changing into a less conspicuous set of clothes for ventures such as this, but how could he give up the chance to advertise his business with his iconic rabbit costume? What self respecting merchant would do that?

     Brushing the condolences off with a laugh- a nervous tic, really- Ravio crouched down to help with the retrieval of what arrows were still in one piece. “ Better a few broken arrows than broken bones, am I right? “ A smile quirked his lips, however hidden they were. Eyes of emerald shifting to take in that of his savior. A visage most startling, yet not unfamiliar, and most definitely better equipped to handle the dangers of the world than he, that was for sure.

     “ Me? Oh, y’know. Got a pair of wobbly knees, and my heart’s auditionin’ ta be the new drummer for that Goron band I saw last week, but I’m fine. Right as rain, I am, “ so he claimed, nodding with the kind of exuberant energy that suggested he was trying to convince himself more than anything. Although... he was not wrong either; there were thankfully no wounds save for the occasional scrape from the overgrowth he’d endured while fleeing, and even then his robes had taken the blunt of the damage. “ Sheerow, too! “ One of those nods was directed to the avian on his shoulder, head bowed tired wings hanging at her sides. “ Though she wouldn’t turn down some grub. “ Something Sheerow did infact raise her beak at the mention of, dark gaze gleaming with interest. It wasn’t her that Ravio’s own lingered on, however. A note of concern overtaking him, as he asked, “ but what of you, Mr. Hero? Going toe-to-toe with those snarlin’ monsters, that’s an incredible feat! They didn’t knick ya, did they? “

[rwdestuffs]

Done dirty: Worldbuilding.

Not pictured: Actual worldbuilding.

In all honesty, I don’t know how to start this post.

Yeah, I have the image that’s there to help inform people about the subject at hand, but it’s hard to do a post about something that’s practically nonexistent.

Like, doing a post about how Yang got mistreated in certain volumes, and not getting development from facing the stigma from her Vytal Festival incident is one thing. So is pointing out how Sun is literally just there to be eye candy for Blake’s arc with little to no development to his character whatsoever. Same with how Pyrrha is just a prop for Jaune and a plot device to set off Ruby’s plot device. Same for the grimm in general, or dust.

Talking about writing concepts is hard because it has to be there for a person to talk about. Most mediums that take place in fictional worlds at least understand how to properly world-build.

There’s a show from the 80s that had better worldbuilding in it. And that show has a half-naked superhero cheap action figure as their main protector from an ineffective villain who needs a friend so that he could feel good about himself!

Joking aside, other worlds also have very little issue with worldbuilding. Like the Legend of Zelda games. Thanks to interaction with NPCs, the bits of lore that are scattered around, and the ways that it’s made, you can get a good idea as to how the world works. Hell! There are different species, and they all have different cultures and societies that are unique to them!

Zoras are prideful and are often talented musicians. They pride themselves on their sense of duty and order.

Gorons are prideful of their strength. They feed off of rocks, and they greatly enjoy competitions that show off their strength.

Gerudos are terretorial, and don’t like strangers. They’re a warrior race, and are proud of it. They only have one male child every hundred years.

This is from a Video Game. Admittedly, a Video Game with over twenty-five years of history and other mediums, but still! They managed to have distinct races and cultures despite their limited medium.

Look, the primary reason I’m avoiding the subject is because… there’s is no subject. There’s hardly any worldbuilding, and whenever there is, it’s often contradicted in a later episode, or through the director’s commentary. The same could be said about character traits, but I think I’ve covered that pretty well in other Done dirty posts.

Take the thing about gods, for instance. Qrow says, in the same scene I might add, this:

Which is it, Qrow?- Are people not religious, or have they made gods of their own?- Like… You have literal relics from the past that definitively proves one single religion. Sure, you’d have a few holdouts, but still!

Now that I think about it, uniting under a single religion would probably be enough for dickhead god 1 and ass-face god 2 to say “Yeah, humanity’s united. Okay, you’re all good.”

But we don’t get that.

Even in Marvel, where a literal Norse God regularly visits New York, there are a few skeptics. Here’s an article that details that storyline: https://arousinggrammar.com/2013/02/19/life-questions-with-thor/

Like… All I’m saying is that when you place something extraordinary into the real world, people tend to take the effort into thinking how society would adapt to it. Some people would adapt by thinking nothing is wrong at all, some would adapt by obsessing over it, some would make statues, some would resent the extraordinary, and so on. There are also ways in which the government could adapt. Like in the X-Men series, where the subject of mutant rights is often brought up so often, that you kinda want to see how other countries are handling it (Sidenote: Someone send this idea to Marvel so that the aren’t recycling and reusing the same storyline over and over and over again).

And if it doesn’t have that big of an impact on the ‘real world’ then they tend to find a way to showcase why. In Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, Stands are invisible to normal people, so there is no reason for society to have adapted to their presence. In American Dragon Jake Long, the magical world is kept secret, so there’s no reason for there to be big societal adaptations for their presence. Same thing with the show The Life and Times of Juniper Lee (Does anyone remember these shows?- They were pretty good). And when the “fantastical world” does get exposed, like in X-Men or in Danny Phantom, there are societal adaptations. People and society adapt to what is new and not normal. It’s ultimately an interesting way to create a world based on the real world, but still feels separate from ours.

So yet again, we circle around to how the show fails at this. We don’t get the little interactions that make it easier to understand the world. We don’t get the moments that detail how dust changed society. The faunus racism is hardly a thing, and we don’t know if there are clothes specifically designed with faunus traits in mind. There are no societal protections against the grimm like walls around the cities or more emphasis on the importance of Hunters. Apparently the maidens have been around for a long-ass time, but there’s no recorded history of them despite the selection process being random at certain times.

Like, what?- Was there never news about sweet young Olive suddenly summoning the winds without dust or aura consumption?

And speaking of aura, does that cut down on accidents or murders?- What about semblances?- do they cut down on death caused by accidents or murders?- Do they contribute? We don’t know. And that’s because the writers didn’t want to create a. fantastical world that makes sense. They just wanted to get their characters from point a, to point b, and have a few fights along the way to build up tension that ultimately goes nowhere because the fights have no real stakes to them. Because the heroes always win. The only times they didn’t was the fight where Yang’s trauma got fixed the moment she put on her arm and the one where Qrow’s poisoning got fixed thanks to a Deus-Ex-Machina airship to Mistral.

Without stakes, the viewer is left to try to make sense of the world. Which they can’t do because there’s hardly any worldbuilding at all.

We know jack shit about Vale culture or how the society works, and what we do know came from Qrow’s biased review on the continent in the WoR video. Same with Atlas, Mistral, Vacuo, and even Menagerie.

No worldbuilding. Just a travel pamphlet.

And I don’t want no stinkin’ pamphlet. I want a freaking book or website that details all the attractions, and the history of the place. What the people are like. What are the main means of trade. All the things that you could get out of good worldbuilding.

If I can’t have that, then at least build the actual overall world of Remnant. Like how dust effects society and makes it different from ours.

But we also don’t get that.

We get just some generic talks about how “Jaune used to go to a certain town with his family” or Generic backstory about the village that Ren’s family was slaughtered in.

Nothing special. Nothing to make me actually care about the towns.

Just some generic stuff that is never brought up again.

And I for one, am really sick of the world not actually feeling like a world.

I’m not asking for worldbuilding or made-up cultures on the level of Star Trek, but I am asking for is a bit of effort so that it doesn’t feel like the bare minimum was put into it.

[desolate-rose]

Chapter 10 the outside world part 2

I had known that there would be consequences for my actions.

I had known, and yet it still hurt.

Daddy always said- my first dad used to say I was too sensitive.

My mind was in a contradictory state of slow molasses sadness and vibrating lightning anxiety.

I knew I shouldn't have made myself stand out. I was so dumb. I'm a giant idiot who has no control over her impulses and can't think her way out of a paper bag.

Why did I have to be so stupid and go do some thing dumb like read way before most children could string a full story together.

God why did I think this was a good idea I should have just-

"Little bird? What are you doing down there?" A lyrical voice broke through my thoughts as my mother crouched down to look at me.

I scrambled to sit up straight and wipe my face, accidentally bumping my head on the stone above me and sending a fresh wave of pain induced tears.

Shortly after I turned two, I was moved out of my first nursery by my parents' rooms into a suite of my own, it was almost identical in structure to the original game Zelda's room, which in retrospect was to be expected but at the time surprised me. But more importantly, the suite had a spiral staircase leading up to the second level the underside of which made the perfect hiding spot for someone as small as me. I just had to crawl to the back where it was so small that no adult could reasonably reach. I had gathered up my blankets and hidden back here when Dottie had set me down for a nap, not expecting anyone to be able to bother me.

Yet here, only a few feet in front of me, was my mother. She had somehow managed to shimmy her way around until she could almost reach me.

"H- h- how did you f- find me?" I hiccuped through my tears, trying to compose myself. It wasn't that big of a deal. I had just been stupid and hadn't thought things through. I was being stupid, and I knew there were going to be consequence.

I furiously swiped at my tears, stupid toddler body! Couldn't withstand the slightest pain or emotion without crying.

My mother scooted herself a few inches closer before reaching out for me. "Dottie told me you had a rough day today," she soothed sympathetically. I sniffed pathetically trying to pull myself together, "It's nothing." I mumbled petulantly, still sounding far too weepy. "I'm being dumb."

My mother had finally gotten close enough to reach me and grabbed me to pull me into as much of a hug as she could give me laying flat on her stomach trying to avoid hitting her head on the stairs.

"Oh baby, you're not being stupid at all! It's perfectly normal to be upset when someone says something mean about you!" she snuggled me further, pulling me closer. "Besides what do those stupid solders know! They're just jealous that they're not as smart as my little genius!" Her voice went up in pitch and she rubbed her nose against mine making me give a little hiccuping giggle.

"You dont think I'm weird?" I slapped my hands up to cover my mouth. I hadn't meant to say that. I shouldn't have-

"No!" she replied firmly. "And if any one says differently, Mommy will break their faces!"

I couldn't help but laugh at that, my new mom always had a way to calm me down. A silly little grin came to my face at the idea of my beautiful delicate mother beating up the two bulky soldiers from before. "Really?" I couldn't help but ask.

"Of course! If someone messes with my baby, I'll bite them" she snapped her teeth playfully at me, before standing up with me in her arms.

I squeaked in surprise, at some point during the conversation she had managed to squirm from underneath the stairs with me caught in her grasp.

"I know just what will cheer you up! How about you go with mommy and daddy on a little adventure?"

"An adventure?" I couldn't help but ask, curious despite myself. "Yup!" she popped the P, sounding excited.

"Your father and I have been working too hard lately. I think a little excursion out of the castle is just what this family needs."

"Outside!" I gasped, I had never really been outside the castle before. It had been too dangerous to take the baby princess outside the safety of the castle walls. Besides what reason would I have for going outside?

"Yes little bird! Outside! How about we have a little picnic?" mother hummed striding out of my room and down the hall toward her office.

Again i rushed to straighten myself up, my face was probably puffy and red and my clothes were all rumpled from how i was curled up "Mommy i don't look…" What's the word for presentable in Hylian "...nice?" Darn toddler vocabulary.

"My little bird always looks nice." "Moooommmyyyy," i whined trying to rub the tears from my eyes. "hush baby no ones going to care if you look a little messy and if they do I'll set them straight." I harrumphed grumpily. People already think I'm weird, I don't need them thinking I'm messy too. "It'll be fine little one, you worry too much."

"Illa!" Mother slammed the door to her office open. "Yes my queen" granny didn't even glance at my mom. "We are going to go out today."

granny finally looked up from her paperwork, her clever eyes quickly darting first to assess my mother then myself. before smoothly sorting her papers and rising to her feet. "Yes my lady, where would you be wanting to go?" mother glanced out the window, "Today's weather would be perfect for a picnic in hyrule fields." Granny hummed, "I will have the kitchens make you a basket, and alert the appropriate people of the change of schedule, might I suggest the area just south of the sacred grounds? The view of the plateau is lovely."

Granny paused in her preparations. "Will your husband be joining us?" "yes could you send him an invitation to join us?" Granny nodded sharply. "Of course my queen, I will have everything sorted shortly, would you like me to call Dahlia to change Zelda into some more appropriate clothing?"

Dahlia? Oh wait, that's Dottie's real name right?

"It's ok, you can have her collect the basket from the kitchen. I'll change Zelda."

Everything was happening way too fast. Before I knew it, everything was collected and a party my mom, my dad, dottie, granny, and at least 5 guards had all gathered at the stables to set off for our picnic.

Now the thing people don't get about horses is how big they are. Conceptually, people are aware that horses are big, sure, but there is a big difference between knowing horses are big, and seeing this 840-2200 pound monstrosity and having the top of your head barely line up with the lowest point of their back. Now imagine that for a three year old.

I eyed the creature warily.

I'm barely 31 pounds soaking wet and 2 feet at my tallest. this thing is 3 times my size.

Now I like horses. I had even taken a few riding lessons in my last life, but right now?

I am far too squishy and small to get within stepping range. it could squish me like an ant.

I tugged on my mom's skirts, never taking my eyes of the monster casually munching on some hay. (it was the same colour as my hair would it be tempted to eat me?!) "Mama can walk to the pic- pic-" Ugh, words. "Outside food instead."

"Aww is my little bird scared of the nice horsey?" I tried to give her a deadpan look. it didn't work from the way my dad was attempting to hide his smile, curse my cute chubby baby cheeks! "it could fit my entire arm in its mouth." dottie muffled a snicker from somewhere behind me. I generously decided to ignore her.

"Don't worry little bird! carrot is a nice horsey! do you want to feed him!" "didn't i just say he could eat my entire arm? why would i put it anywhere near him?" my voice was rising toward the shrill range but that wasn't important.

Ignoring my protests, Mother scooped me up and held me out toward the horse like some sort of sacrificial offering. Do horses eat hylians in zelda? "why don't you give him a pat!" so this is how i die again isn't it? death by getting eaten by a herbivore, at least ill get the hylian equivalent of the darwin award.

Hesitantly I raised my pudgy baby fist, (it was packed fat and would be very nutritious) and gently, GENTLY, patted the top of his head before quickly drawing my hand bracing for a snap of teeth. the animal's ear barely flinched as he continued eating regardless of the weird creatures around him.

Well now I feel silly.

"He's not bad… i guess." I allowed graciously. I was a big girl, I could admit when I was wrong.

"Great let's get going then!"

Wait what!

I squeaked in alarm as suddenly I was on top of the horse with my mother's arms holding me steady.

I tried to hold myself as still as possible while mentally hyperventilating.

What I wouldn't give for a seat belt! The only thing keeping me from falling to my humiliating death where my mother's thighs and the single hand that held me to her stomach.

I could finally look the rest of the contingent in the eye at my height but that wasn't worth the danger I was facing. My estimation for hylian parenting is steadily sinking as no one offers any protest to my mothers actions beyond mounting their own horses.

Mother was going to have to seriously bribe me to make up for this travesty to responsible adult behaviour.

As I stared, open-mouthed, at the cheerful colourful fantasy medieval city surrounding my home, I magnanimously decided to forgive my mother for her lacklustre care of my person.

Castle Town, (yes that was its name- silly i know.) was a bustling trade centre filled with diverse peoples. And I do mean diverse; there were the elf-like hylians, the exaggeratedly feminine Gerudo, a bird-like race I was guessing were the Rito, the rock-like Gorons, and the aquatic fish people I think were the Zora.

I was honestly stunned stupid by all these differing peoples who lived and worked in castle town, quite a few of which had gathered along the side of the road to watch the mini parade that was following my family. I had known, theoretically, that the Hylians and Gerudo weren't the only peoples in hyrule but I wasn't prepared for how inhuman these other races looked. I wasn't human now. I knew that, but Hylians had still looked human ENOUGH for me to ignore it most of the time. Besides the ears, eyes, anatomy, and clear skin Hylians looked human. Gerudo were similar in that they were mostly human looking beside the features they shared with Hylians and their exaggeratedly feminine physique.

But the other races?

I could not pretend the Rito, the Zora, or the Gorons were human.

The Rito were the most human in the end, looking like what a human would look like if we had evolved from birds instead of apes. beaks instead of lips or noses, wings in place of arms, claws instead of feet, an odd mixture of feathers covering the majority of their body and hair on the back of their head.

The Zora were equally if not more odd, their torsos were longer then their legs, gills along their ribs, a embarrassing lack of covering clothing and a more confounding lack of lower anatomy. odd fish/shark looking things on top of their heads with fins and tails falling on the sides and back of their heads the base of which replaced their noses. as one Zora called out a cheerful greeting to the small royal precession i caught a glimpse of startlingly sharp teeth.

The Gorons didn't even look vaguely human. they were literally living borders with heads and limbs!

Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore.

"Having fun little bird?" My mother chuckled, still holding me firm to her.

I nodded dumbly, eyes caught on a particularly colourful Rito who had jumped to fly over a trio of baby Gorons who were rolling away from their frustrated caretaker.

"There are so many different peoples." I breathed, stunned by the sheer diversity of my new home.

"Isn't it beautiful?" My mother murmured in my ear, swinging a soft gaze from a laughing hylian couple to a pair of Rito and Gerudo furiously arguing over the price of fish. "Zelda this is what I- what WE work for." And as I looked up from her shade, she seemed to be illuminated by the noontime sun. "My little princess, one day you're going to be queen, and you're going to be responsible for all of this." She gestured outward with one hand the other holding me firm. "For all of them."

And as the corona of light illuminated her face, I was spellbound. So this is what charisma looks like. so this is what a leader- a QUEEN looked like. new resolution bubbled in my soul, coursing through my very bones like lightning and warming my spirit with the blazing fires of resolve.

I WAS going to help my mother.

I WAS going to learn sealing magic.

I WAS going to save my people.

By the time the burning vigour had faded from my veins we had arrived at our destination, and were in the process of unloading and setting up for the single fanciest picnic I had ever seen. While the location- a large field at the edge of a small forested glen with a platform in the middle- was pretty and semi appropriate for a picnic, the picnic itself was in simple terms, ridiculous.

Dottie had laid down a ridiculously expensive looking blanket made out of what looked like silk with beautifully embroidered birds and flowers. Granny had placed the fanciest looking basket down and pulled out a tiered silver serving platter with tiny fancy little sandwiches and desserts. Three of the soldiers had set off to clear the perimeter, another was handling the horses and the last soldier was standing alert next to the far too fancy set up weary eyes scanning for threats.

This was… was this even a picnic even more? I thought picnics were supposed to be simple?

Hmm yea no I don't want to be looking at this any more.

"Mama can I go play in the… trees? I've never been in trees before!" Is there a hylian word for forest?

"The forest sweetie?"

"Yea that."

"I don't know…" Mother glanced worriedly at granny and father "Aren't you hungry little bird?"

"Not yet mommy but if i play then I'll be hungry. I'm always hungry after I play!" I looked pleadingly at her before she sighed and gave in.

"Ok little one, but stay within the trees and don't wander too far." she fretted looking nervous. i mentally rolled my eyes, moms can be so overprotective.

"Anderson." my father barked, startling me and catching the attention of the soldier tending to the horses.

"Yes sir." He snapped to attention, poster perfect.

"You guard the princess. Zelda, stay within eyesight of the guard alright." my mother sighed relieved, smiling at father while the soldier answered in an affirmative. I take that back, dads can be so overprotective.

"Yes Daddy. Come on Mr. Soldier Man, the forest isn't going to explore itself!" I commanded eyes firmly set on getting away from my overbearing parents.

The forest was beautiful.

The air was clean, the birds were singing, and the only disturbance in my serenity was the clanking of the solder trailing behind me scaring off all of the little creatures.

I glanced back and hummed, he did look pretty menacing, hmmmmm.

I plopped myself down in the grass and started picking small wild flowers. perhaps a daisy chain will soften his menace?

"Princess?" The soldier queried worriedly. "Are you tired? Do you want me to carry you back to your parents?"

I shook my head in the negative "Nope! Im gonna play in the flowers? You want to join me?" I aimed my puppy dog eyes in his direction. Hopefully he would sit and stop clanking so the birds would come back.

"Ummm, princess i don't know if-" i ignored his hesitism turning up my pout. "Pleeeeeaaaaaasssssseeeeeee?" I whined. Please sit so I don't have to listen to you creak like a rusty door hinge.

He let out a helpless sigh before flopping onto the ground metal clanking and clanging, scaring the few remaining birds away and crushing some of the flowers she was planning on using. Ugh, thanks for that.

"I'm going to go pick some more flowers, hold my work for me." I dumped my half way finished flower crown in his lap. "Princess?"

"Stay here I'll be right back."

"Princess!" He yelped trying to straighten himself out caught in his own armor.

"Don't ruin my work!" I called as I hurried off in search of more flowers.

Now usually this would be a dumb move. A small important child wandering away from their caretaker in the middle of the woods! Sounds like the start of a horror story right?

But these woods were about the size of two soccer fields and thin enough that i can still easily see my parents laughing and chatting in the distance.

Flowers, flowers, flowers-... flowers? Flowers! There! Sitting in the roots of a large tree were some pretty bluebell looking flowers. Perfect! As I rushed toward the blue blooms, I noticed something odd out of the corner of my eye. Was that a… rock?

Huh. That was a large grey rock on the top of the trunk of a tree beside the one in which the large flowers were growing. Huh.

It kinda reminds me of...

KOROKS! Those are a thing here!

I spun on my heel to face my new far more interesting quarry. I wonder if I can see koroks?

In the game link was the first to be able to see koroks in over a hundred years. I'm not actually the Zelda but maybe I could see them because I know they exist? Maybe they work by fairy rules? You need to believe to see? I am still a child.

Eh, I'll never know unless I try.

I rolled up my sleeves, kicked off my fancy little toddler shoes and tied my skirt back. Let's see if I can climb this tree.

Huh this actually isn't all that hard. I managed to monkey scramble my way up into the branches and stare curiously at the strangely placed rock ignoring the frantic but hushed calls of the soldier who was supposed to be watching over me. Well I guess…

I huffed, shrugged and heaved to flip the rock over, and in a small explosion of leaves and sparkles suddenly a giggling creature was there.

"You found me!"

I started in bemused awe at the adorable little leaf creature in front of me.

"You can see me! Most people can't see me!" the little creature verbally beamed from behind its little leaf mask.

Huh.

"Well here's a reward for finding me!" The little creature dropped a lightly glowing seed in my lap.

"Usually I would expand the inside of something by a little bit but you don't have any bags or pockets, next time you find a korok make sure to have a bag or pockets ok!" the little leaf continued ignorant of my stunned shock. I did not expect there to actually be a korok.

"Make sure to look for us! We like to be found!" I mean what. Seriously what!

"Bye!" "wait!"

And just like that the little fae was gone.

"Princess where are you!" the solder was sounding a little desperate now, i should probably go back. I carefully stuffed the seed down my shirt and dropped out of the tree straining up.

Now let's give this poor man a break. "Over here! Look at these pretty flowers I found!" I cried, rushed over to the pretty blue flowers I spotted earlier. These flowers would look lovely in my mommy's hair.

"Princess! Don't do that! You scared me nearly half to death!" the solder sighed hurrying to my side. "You nearly gave me a heart attack!" he sighed in relief. "And nearly gave your father a reason to sack me." he muttered his breath, my new elf ears clearly making out his murmured sentiments. "Do you still have my flowers?" "huh? Oh yes here!" he replied handing over my lopsided and slightly mangled flower crown.

Picking the large flowers I used one to quickly tie the flower crown closed, "sorry mr. solder man. i made you a flower crown!" I tried to divert his attention away from my little escape act. "Let me put it on you!"

He was clearly struggling over what to do now, hurt the little princesses feelings by refusing her gift or hurt his pride by wearing a flower crown. "You're gonna look really pretty with it on, i promise!" I wheedled, widening my eyes into an expression of cute expectation.

"Ok princess." he sighed kneeling down to accept his new accessory. Mission success!

With my newly decorated soldier, a handful of pretty flowers in hand, and a mysterious seed down my shirt I decided that this excursion so far had been a resounding success! Now to show the fruits of my labor to my mother.

"Come on Mr. Soldier Man! I want to show my flowers to Mommy." I dashed off, ignoring the yelp the soldier let out as he jumped to follow me.

"Mommy Mommy look what i found!" the small party of my mother and father and their various employees such as dottie granny and another soldier turned their attention to me.

"What did you find baby?" she asked, setting down one of the ridiculously fancy looking little sandwiches.

"I got you some flowers!" I cried practically shoving my quarry at her, Ignoring the smirk the other soldier was giving the poor sap I decorated.

"Oh thank you!" she blessed me with a radiant smile "Oh! You found some blue nightshade!" Wait, I think I remember something like that…

Wasn't it that plant that glowed in the dark and made you sneakier? Oh wow! I found my first magic plant! ( Ignoring the korok and the seed it gave me.)

"I also found a seed!" I enthused, stuffing my hand down my shirt ignoring my father’s sigh and muttering about impropriety. I was three he could deal with it.

"What is that?" my mother murmured staring in bemusement at the softly glowing pod in my hand. Oh good she can see it, I was worried I was going to have to make up some imaginary game to explain away pretending to have a seed.

"It's a seed mommy! Can I plant it in my room?"

"I don't see why not, I'll have Dahlia get you a pot for it when we get home." She scooped me up into her lap, "Now why don't you eat? You’re surely hungry by now."

"Ok Mommy!" I enthused, messily digging into the snacks in front of me, once again ignoring my fathers indulgent sigh.

I'd say today has been a resounding success!

Also on FanFiction.Net! https://m.fanfiction.net/s/13547505/10/

[fanscrit]

Cruel to be Kind: Chapter 1

The tension in the land of Hyrule crept into every nook and cranny like a fog. There was no escape from it, save death. In the city surrounding the palace, sentry marched the homes around the clock. The tiny faces poking through the window were filled with fear and sadness; the soldiers' hearts drowned in sorrow and regret as they passed by to enforce a law they no longer believed in. Inside the palace, things were considerably worse.

Servants were on edge, afraid of being thrown in the dungeon. Guards stood on watch, tired from days of watch with no relief. The strategy room was chaos as it's once benevolent ruler stood amongst the conscription documents. Her blond hair was frayed from days of no sleep, dress worn and tattered, eyes red. A violent slap sent the papers flying.

"None of them?! We've scoured the lands to find him, and he's nowhere to be found!" Her gaze roamed the room, landing on her adviser. The frail man, startled from the outburst, ran a hand through his chestnut hair and took a calming breath.

"I-I am s-sure we can find him if w-we maybe tried to reconnect with the other nations and-"

"No!" The princess snapped, "They are very ones hiding Ganon from me. I will find them and stop this nightmare before it starts. This endless cycle must break, and it will end with us!"

"P-princess Zelda, it merely s-stands to reason that if the Hero isn't within our b-b-borders, he is elsewhere. But with the way we have isolated ourselves, w-we can't-"

"What's your name?" She interrupted.

The advisor hesitated, "I'm sorry?"

"I asked, what is your name," her voice was now calm as approached the man.

"Enrick, m-malady," he lowered his gaze to the floor to avoid hers.

"Dear Enrick, do you know what happened to the last man before you?"

He swallowed hard. He did know, more so than anyone else. His father had been the advisor for years, faithfully sending letters to his son, the only family left to him. When the letters stopped, he knew something was wrong. The rumors flew about what happened to those that displeased Princess Zelda. The dungeon was the most believable, and the most likely.

"It would not do you well to feel for the enemy. They are harboring our destruction, and I promise they care very little for you," She hissed, "Atlas!"

A hulking giant of a guard moved into view. He'd been so still before he had believed him to be a statue.

"Advisor Enrick, this is Atlas. He's fought on the frontlines in our war against the Gerudo. He is deft with a blade and his hands. He will be making sure that you are efficient at your duties, and that you stay the course without distractions."

Zelda turned and walked to the entrance. She halted at the doorway and looked back, "Find the Hero or I will find someone who can."

Enrick was left with the collosus in steel armor. Atlas moved to the door and stood in front of it, barring the entrance to the hall. Left with no other choice, Enrick studied the map again, trying to find some clue that might lead the their elusive "savior."

***

The winds sang a different tune in another land. Far from the dread of Hyrule Castle, two young men from different worlds were on a diligent and arduous task.

The forest was quiet aside from the rustle of the animals. The foxes crept around the ground to avoid their pursuers. They perked their ears and scoped the surroundings. When all seemed quiet, the first of the amber fur emerged from hiding. A second later, a swift arrow embedded into the tree beside the creature, and the entire skulk scattered.

"Goddess, we almost had it!" A wailing voice from the brush cried. A young man of tanned skin and blond hair huffed as he revealed himself. Not too far away, another taller one with desert-kissed complexion side-stepped the tree he was behind and leveled the blond one with a look.

"You should have waited until you could see it better. For all you knew, it could have been my hair you'd seen," He drawled.

"It was one time, Gan!" He yelled, "I said I was sorry already." The youth pouted.

Ganondorf smiled at his friend as he walked over and patted him on the head, "And I have forgiven you, Link. I just wouldn't like a repeat."

Link smirked as the clicked his bow into it's harness, "Well we've definitely scared them off now, should we head back home?"

"Yes, Twinrova will wonder what took us so long. She has far more faith in your skills than they warrant," Ganondorf chuckled. Link leered at him.

"Just cause you're better at magic and swords than me doesn't mean I'm terrible. I can notch an arrow in seconds, and I can build tons of stuff," Link bragged.

"Is that so?"

"Yep, plus I'm faster than you too!" Link chirped as he took off in a sprint. Sighing, Ganondorf followed after him. Link's smaller frame and agile footwork made him an excellent hunter, if he would only exercise patience. As it was, Ganondorf could only barely keep his friend in view. He was not made to be lithe and evasive, and his larger frame and flame colored hair didn't suit him for that kind of style anyways. He had other methods.

Channeling his mystic aura, Ganondorf released a surge of frost at the ground where Link was set to land. True to form, Link wasn't paying attention and slipped on the ice.

A minute later, Ganondorf caught up and was greeted by a vicious stare. To his credit, Gan didn't laugh and offered his hand. After a few sparce moments, Link accepted the help and was lifted onto Ganomdorf's back.

Link smiled. When they were much younger, Link's father would always carry him everywhere he went. As he aged, Ganondorf would tote him around everywhere. He would always claim it was because it helped him become stronger, but in truth he just hated being alone. But they had each other and for what it was worth, Ganondorf didn't so much mind having Link around. Sure he could be a bit rash, but he wasn't a bad guy. He was simply eager to learn and explore.

Ganondorf still remembered the first bomb Link made. He was 12 and just gotten his first batch of bomb seeds. He spent three straight days tinkering in his workshop until he came back out with a tiny metal mouse. He had looked up some old Goron schematics and dubbed it the "Bombchu". It took weeks before Twinrova or Galand would let Link use bomb seeds again after the field test.

Ganondorf made it to the clearing. Twinrova and Galand had wanted space to prepare Link's birthday supper. As he looked at the faces of both of them, however, he was concerned. They looked... guilty, as if they were ruffians caught by the guards. Link hopped down and gave both of them a questionable look with a raised brow. Link had a habit of only talking to Ganondorf and his father. Anyone else and it was immediate silence. None of them knew why, and he would always shut down when he asked.

Galand sighed, "Boys, we need to talk."

Link and Ganondorf shared a confused look and followed the sage and the blacksmith inside their humble home. There was a pit in their stomachs. Something was about to change. What, neither could say, but they weren't about to like it.

[botwriter]

Rewritten, Chapter 4: The Gerudo Champion

Read this on Fanfiction.net  ➜

When Link woke in the morning, he was surprised how long he’d slept, but figured it was due to his lack of sleep the night before in Rito Village. He sat up slowly, muscles aching at having slept on a hot stone slab all night, and wondered if he’d have time for a dip in a hot spring before Zelda headed out.

“Oh, afternoon’, Link,” Daruk greeted him as he came in from outside. The light that shone through the door was brighter than Link anticipated, and he blinked in surprise.

“After- what?!” Link exclaimed, struggling to his feet, quickly sheathing the Master Sword, and throwing it over his back. “Is Zelda here?”

“The Princess? She left pretty early this morning. Heading for Gerudo,” Daruk said, looking at Link somewhat bewildered. “She said you - knew… was gunna meet you… oh.”

The realisation hit the Goron a bit late and he laughed in spite of himself. “Hah! She’s a clever one. Sorry, little guy… guess you better run after her, huh?”

He had hardly got the words out of his mouth before Link was running out the door.

“Thanks for the couch,” he called back as quickly as possible before sprinting through Goron City, down the rocky path and past the mines of Death Mountain at breakneck speed. How could she do that? He knew she wanted time alone, but this was the deal - orders from the King - and if anything happened, he’d be executed by archery by Revali, which was bound to be messy, let alone the trouble he’d get into with the King and his… his own father…

By the time he got to his horse at the bottom of the mountain, Link was downright angry, and began pushing his stallion a bit too hard as they headed back towards the castle and onwards. He was clenching his teeth. Who knew what could happen to her? Why was she so insistent on going out alone? As long as he had to watch over her, neither of them had proper privacy, so wasn’t it - well - almost fair? He shook his head to himself, guilt ridden at the thought of what he’d done. Knights didn’t sleep in. Worse, the Chosen Hero should be the last person to sleep in - he couldn’t let it happen again. But Knights also didn’t let their emotions get the better of them, so when he finally spotted Zelda’s white stallion on a cliffside on the way to Gerudo, he tried his best to calm himself.

♪

She was examining a shrine. And she was fine, thank Hylia, but Link was still upset at the situation. Hopping off his horse, he walked towards her, and she turned quite sharply to face him.

“I thought I made it clear that I’m not in need of an escort,” she snapped, walking towards him but stopping a few feet away. His mouth dropped open in surprise. She was… visibly angry.

“It seems I’m the only one with a mind of my own! I, the person in question, am fine, regardless of the King’s orders.” She stared at him once more, and Link steeled himself for what more was to come.

“Return to the castle. ...and tell that to my Father, please.”

The Princess stormed past him, towards her horse. Link took a moment to calm his thoughts - he couldn’t argue with her, and she had given him an order, but… well, the King took priority, and leaving her here to go to the Castle to tell him “Zelda is fine” just wouldn’t go over well at all. He turned after her, strong in his resolve, and got ready to get back on his horse, when she turned around again.

“And stop following me!” she snapped now, clearly angry but also looking quite sad. He did nothing but look back at her helplessly, and when she noticed the expression on his face, she seemed to regret what she’d done, but hopped on her horse nonetheless and took off down the path towards Gerudo. Link watched her go for a few moments, letting some distance between them build, before swinging his legs over his own stallion. He tried to ignore his stomach rumbling.

Letting out a sigh, he directed his horse back down the cliffside, and followed from a safer distance as to not let her notice. If it had to be like this for the duration of his time as her Appointed Knight - which could be a lifetime - he wasn’t sure how long he could take it, but surely he’d at least get good at sneaking around on horseback.

The trip to Gerudo was somewhat lengthy, but Link was relieved they didn’t arrive in the desert until nighttime, since it was cooler than during the day. Still, even from a distance, Link could tell that Zelda was chilly. Now and again she would look over his shoulder for him, and he’d have to duck or hide; if she had noticed him, she wasn’t doing anything about it.

He watched her venture into the desert then, and paused at the ranch to board his horse alongside hers. He offered the steed some well-earned apples, and ran a hand softly down its face.

“Thanks for putting up with me today, Flint. I should only be gone a couple days,” he reassured him. Though he knew the horse couldn't completely understand, the affection was clearly received and the stallion gave Link’s hand a friendly nibble before the Knight left into the desert.

Zelda had one major saving grace coming up; Gerudo Town only allowed vai, or women, into their walls. Link waited until she had gone inside, then set up camp nearby one of the shrines sitting outside. The Guards were sympathetic to him, but a law was a law. He couldn’t follow her there. Thankfully, he also knew she was incredibly safe.

With a fire set up in front of him, Link let sleep come easy, and the dream he had that night was more real than any he had had so far. The blue figure came better into focus; it looked like a woman in a cloak, and spoke to him in clearer words.

“Master Link, I am the Spirit of the Sword, chosen by the Goddess Hylia. My name is Fi.”

That was all he received. The introduction, and the name, felt heavy and important to Link, but he knew somewhere deep down that they had met before. He would use the blade with far more purpose from now on, to know it was imbued with a spirit chosen by the Goddess.

When he first woke in the morning, Link kept himself awake, despite the sun only beginning to rise. It was a good thing he did, because only a few minutes later did Zelda and Urbosa herself walk out from the town gates. Link stood quickly, brushing sand off his clothes. He must have done a good job sneaking around the day prior, because she looked genuinely surprised to see him.

“Are you serious?” Zelda asked, folding her arms and looking at Link with her head tilted.

“Please get used to it, Princess,” he replied in as polite a tone as he could muster, dipping his head to her, one hand on his chest. He could nearly hear the surprised note of her mouth dropping open, but what followed was the familiar sound of Urbosa bursting into laughter.

“Now that’s an Appointed Knight for you,” the Gerudo Champion laughed, approaching Link and slapping a hand on his shoulder. He glanced up at her, casting her the smallest of relieved smiles.

“We’re going on survey today for shrines and any sign of Calamity Ganon within the desert. She’ll be in my hands and perfectly safe, don’t you worry,” Urbosa said, and Link let his shoulders relax. He knew he could take her word for it.

“And Vah Naboris, right?” Urbosa asked Zelda, who was avoiding Link’s apologetic stare, and nodded absently. It was clear she didn’t want Link to know where she would be at any point in the day, but at least her and Urbosa could spend some time alone without Link having to follow.

The day passed slowly. Link laid in the shade behind the shrine for a good majority of it, his head resting sideways, staring at the Master Sword. Maybe it was as stifled by the heat as he was. When he heard the roar of Vah Naboris in the distance, Link knew it was time to get up and join them on the Divine Beast - whether Zelda liked it or not. The sun was setting by then, at least, so the trip wasn’t completely unbearable.

♪

When he departed his sand seal and climbed up the beast, he found Urbosa and Zelda sitting among some pillows and blankets, with a small lantern, and view of the desert beyond. Urbosa tilted her head back to look at him, but didn’t move otherwise. Zelda was clearly asleep, her head resting on the Gerudo’s shoulder. Link felt a quick but familiar tinge of jealousy. He wasn’t sure of his feelings for her yet, but he already felt overwhelmingly responsible for not just her safety, but her emotions as well. While he was glad Urbosa had relieved him of this for one day, he wanted to be able to provide for Zelda the way she did… but perhaps her protective and motherly ways were something Link would never be able to offer. After all, the Princess had lost her own mother at far too young an age.

“Ah, well, you certainly got her fast. I should have expected as much, from the Princess’ own appointed knight. She was working hard all day today… still as the sands, now.” Urbosa explained quietly, her gaze leaving Link momentarily to look down at Zelda. Link’s eyes followed as Urbosa continued, “So? Spill it boy, have the two of you been getting along all right?”

Link looked back up at Urbosa quickly, and neglected to respond, dropping his eyes instead to the stone floor.

“It’s okay. I know. Your silence speaks volumes. You know, she gets frustrated every time she looks up and sees you carrying that sword on your back…”

Link was about to respond then - Urbosa seemed to understand - but she cut him off.

“But not in the way you think,” the Gerudo cut him off. “It makes her feel like a failure when it comes to her own destiny.”

Link’s eyes widened. So she didn’t hate him just because he had to watch her, she… resented him, for her own shortcomings. Was that better or worse than being a simple annoyance?

“Don’t worry, it’s not like you carry blame in any of this,” Urbosa continued, looking back at him over Zelda’s blonde hair, flickering in the firelight, “It’s unfortunate. She’s put in more than enough time… ever since she was a young girl, she’s gone through rigorous daily routines to show her dedication. She once passed out in freezing waters trying to access this sealing power… and she has nothing to show for it.”

Link let out a frustrated breath at hearing this. So there was good reason for him to watch her. She was reckless as well. But what Urbosa was telling him was breaking his heart; of course then, she would resent him. He was presented the sword out of thin air, and everyone knew the sword didn’t know his Knight class grades or family lineage. It was just something in him that made him the Hero, whereas Zelda… she had been fighting all her life for her legacy, and had received nothing in return.

“She really is quite… special,” Urbosa finished with a sigh, pushing aside a stray strand of hair from Zelda’s sleeping face, and Link wished he could better see her, but he stayed his distance from the two women. Now, he felt guilt about the ceremony Daruk had requested; the way he’d spoken to her. How could he tell her that he understood? He could have been a hardass, and followed her closer and said he was simply following orders, but there had always been part of him that wanted to at least be her friend, if they were to be working so close. He just had to make these efforts within the stipulations of also being her Appointed Knight.

“You be sure to protect her with your life,” Urbosa reminded him. “It’s quite the honor.”

Link nodded in response. His heart ached from the emotional information Urbosa had given him, but he was grateful for it.

“The night brings a chill. We should take her in. Or…” a mischievous grin spread across Urbosa’s lips, and Link had an inkling as to what was about to happen, but the snap! of her fingers and the resulting CRRASH of lightning that followed not far away still shocked him. Zelda awoke with a start.

“Urbosa! What was that? Did you feel that?” she gasped, then slowly turned and did a double take at Link, standing a few feet away.

“Wait, what? How did you - what are you doing here?” she asked Link, sounding somewhat accusatory, but in her confusion Urbosa merely began laughing again. “What’s so funny?”

“Come on, Princess. Time to get inside before we freeze in the desert night. Link here is just doing his job,” Urbosa added, with a wink in Link’s direction. He couldn’t look at Zelda now, much as he wanted to. He felt guilty for knowing the reason behind her resentment, and her motivation. As she walked past with Urbosa, she muttered a small “thank-you, Link, that’s all.” He savored the sound of his name on her lips, shut his eyes for a moment, then turned to follow them back to Gerudo Town.

[artin5minutes]

Breath of the Wild Adventure Log Day 15

Log 15

Started today’s adventure by locating a memory that I compulsively cheated and looked up online. I could not figure out WHERE that Horse statue is. I thought I had the right angle between the mountains but I was way off when I realized where it was. I traveled to Satori Mountain and found nothing special at the summit other than a cherry blossom and a pond....then I sailed down to the horse statue and got my memory. Only two left.

Warped to Eldin Mountain Tower and finally explored the area.

Drank some heat-proof elixir and got to running...avoiding as many Fire Chus as possible.

Got to the mine and found a Goron to send to Tarrey Town so that got done and then moved on...mostly in a hurry to get to a shrine and get to Goron City where I am sure I can find some fireproof clothes.

Got to the city and found the shrine up on the slope behind the city...then I returned and explored the town and learned about the Divine Beast making fire rain all day.

I have lots of money so I bought the fireproof armor and lots of food. I also got some new sidequests from the locals.

Explored Eldin Mountain some more and fought one of the larger enemy camps before going off and searching for the Goron at Gorko Mines. 

Ugh what a terrible challenge. Walk up and down the hill with the rock steak and there’s several Moblins including archers with one-shot arrow kills. Ugh.

I took the coward’s way out and just rolled bomb after bomb on to them from the cliffs above. It took a really long time but I did it and I’m not ashamed.

Of course my reward is another shrine.

Climbed higher into the mountains and discovered the cool mine cart tracks. Rode those around to find another shrine as well as an Igneo Talus but not the one I was looking for. I fire Ice Arrows at it until it explodes.

Journeyed north around Eldin Mountain to get to the Gut Rock Challenge.

It was easier than I thought it would be but maybe I have a lot of Stamina and all of the Climber’s Gear. I have 2 1/5 stamina wheels.

I then headed westward to explore the dark forest in the north that looks like it’s covered in black fog. I knew better than to just run straight at it so I circled until I found the entrance to another maze. A maze where there is no light but the fire I carry. I don’t know how long this should take but I feel like I did it pretty fast. I got lost a few times and found myself without flame but I did bring a flamesword so that helped a little. I eventually lit enough torches that I could navigate around by the markers and the mini-map until I found the center stone that was waiting for an orb to be placed. I knew I was close. I looked up and saw the orb and ran to it. It seems high...like high off the ground. Is it moving?

Oh shit it’s a Hinox.

I have the Forest Dweller’s Bow equipped so I start firing triple bomb arrows into its eyes. It dies fast and I barely break a sweat.

Another shrine down. I get out of there immediately.

I then spend another inordinate amount of time looking for the memory that is supposedly on Eldin Mountain looking at Hyrule Castle and Korok Forest.

I can’t seem to get it lined up and that lake at the bottom is throwing me off. I run around in circles over the rocks for a long time but eventually I find the lake (no duh the tower was throwing me off) and after that it is only a matter of time of getting high enough for the angle to line up.

One more memory.

I clear up a few more side quests and revisit Hudson to get ANOTHER request...now he needs a tailor?

I still haven’t solved the 5th riddle at the top of the Deku Tree but I am committed to not cheating on that one.

I return to Kikariko Village to up my hearts and stamina. I have 3 upgrades so I do 2 hearts and 1 stamina.

I want to keep going but it’s late so I call it a night.