#Basically I had to completely rewrite this chapter twice because the first version was HORRIBLE and out of character for everyone

[deiliamedlini]

WIP Wednesday

Whoa, it’s been a hot minute since I did one of these! I have been working on so many random fics, like... SO MANY, but my heart is still with my LOZ pirates in Through Hell or High Water. 

So here’s a scene I cut from this next chapter. It was supposed to happen right after something ELSE that no longer happens in any way, shape, or form!  Admittedly, I do keep pulling pieces from it, and this scene itself might make it in at some point in a different way so I’m not going to give the details just in case, but it’s a tumblr bonus, I guess, because it’s WIP Wednesday. Idk. Just take it and we’ll see if this scene appears ever again!  

Also, if you forgot what happened in the last chapter (like I did, because the hiatus I went on for this fic was pretty long), then HERE, remember Chapter 5 before I finish editing Ch. 6! ☠ This is irrelevant to this WIP, it’s just self promotion while I’m here lol. 

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Zelda watched Link curiously, still hovering unnoticed from the doorway she hid in. He looked so… calm. So peaceful. She was sure his eyes were closed, his head was tilted up into the rain, and he barely looked cold despite the night breeze that mixed with the downpour.

He was downright drenched.

His hair was matted against his face, strands uncomfortably hanging over his eyes, tangling in his lashes. And he hadn’t a care in the world about it. Reflexively, Zelda pushed her own hair back.

She leaned further into the doorframe as she looked him over closely. He was an arm’s length away, but somehow, that was enough to curb all the rain in his direction. Rain dripped over his lips and his eyebrows. Occasionally, his eyelid twitched, or his tongue darted out, but he seemed otherwise unbothered.

His black shirt was just absolutely stuck to his skin, and Zelda praised the Goddess that it was not white like most of his others, or she’d be struggling to focus. His arms were crossed, and his ankles locked together.

Was he… asleep?

There was no way he was sleeping in this storm.

“Do you need something?” he mumbled, though it was rough and raw and tired. Goddess, he had been asleep, hadn’t he?

“How did you know I was here?” she asked, leaning against the other side of the door. Though the wind wasn’t blowing at her, she felt the spray of the rain tickle her face

“You’re a loud thinker; I can hear it from here.”

“What am I thinking about, then?” she asked smugly, crossing her arms before she realized she was starting to imitate his pose. She ran her hand along her skirt several times instead.

“Me.”

Zelda scoffed. “You’d make a good scam fortune-teller, Mr. Woods. Your vague answers would satisfy many. Of course, I’m thinking about you: you’re sitting in a monsoon.”

“Mainlanders,” he chuckled. “This weather isn’t that bad.”

“Pirates,” she snapped back. “Always think they’re better than every form of water. If you get struck by lightening, Mr. Woods, I will say I told you so.”

“Afraid of getting wet, Miss Nohansen?”

He finally opened his eyes and turned to her. He looked tired, but there was still a mischievous glint in there, teasing her. He beckoned to the spot beside him: a challenge as much as anything.

Zelda stared out at the swaying trees, remembering when she was younger and her father still lived with her in Hyrule. She remembered the rain and storms. She’d tried to splash in a puddle once, and suddenly her wrist flared with phantom pain at the memory of her father dragging her inside, reaming her out for frivolous and dangerous behavior. After that, she spent storms indoors, and had always sought to get out of the rain as soon as possible.

Squaring her shoulders, she headed outside and walked past Link.

She could feel his curious eyes on her; he didn’t think she’d take his bait, and he didn’t have a response for when she did.

The rain beat down, the wind chilled it. As it hit her face, she felt uncomfortable at first and wiped it away. But then she pictured Link’s calm expression, and she tilted her head into the downpour. The trees helped the rain fall harder as streams of droplets rolled off leaves before falling to the ground, but Zelda kept her head up for all of it, letting the water wash over her, like a cleanse. It was soaking through her clothes; it was drenching her hair.

Zelda felt a giggle start to bubble in her chest, surfacing in bursts. She pulled a pin from her hair and let it all fall to her shoulders, giant strands sticking to her wet cheeks. Zelda refused to move it away.

She turned around and frantically searched the ground. And finally, she found a puddle large enough for her to kick her foot through, drenching her stockings and shoe. But she found herself laughing harder, enjoying herself more than she should have. The Goddess would be frowning now for her indulgence in frivolity.

What else would the Goddess disapprove of?

Zelda turned to Link.

He was watching her with a smile on his lips. Nothing else about him had moved, and Zelda had enough of him sitting in the rain. She bounded over to him, her lips and teeth bouncing off each other, her body shivering in the cold wind. “You look tired, Mr. Woods.”

“You look cold.”

“I am.”

“Do you want a jacket or a blanket from inside? I’ll grab it.”

Zelda shook her head frantically. “No! No, I never get to feel. And I like it!” She laughed again and leaned beside him. “Get up; it’ll wake you.”

“What if I want to sleep?”

Zelda’s eyes glistened as they narrowed. “Did you have another long night?”

His head suddenly came to attention. “Are you… teasing me?”

“Am I not allowed to tease a pirate?”

Link was awake now as he stared at her. “I’m just surprised. You know what I did last night and you’re lighthearted about it?”

“What you do in your personal time is your business. And if you want to sell your soul to Demise and indulge in all the pleasures of the world, who am I to stop you?”

She meant it sincerely, but she couldn’t help the bite that came with her words.

Link nodded and pulled at the chain around his neck, exposing the Goddess’ symbol. He licked his lip again to get the rainwater off, and Zelda’s attention shifted to the large scar that went over his mouth as he spoke. “That’s not my view. It’s not the view of many on this island. I believe the Goddess suffered so we can live.” He pointed to the puddle. “She’d want you to have all the self-indulgent fun in the world. She did it for us.”

Zelda didn’t realize how close she’d moved to him until she noticed that there was a casual spattering of freckles on Link’s face. She’d been so preoccupied with the scar that she’d never even noticed.

“Are you not concerned for your soul, Mr. Woods?”

“Are you concerned for mine?”

Zelda pulled away and shrugged, shivering again. “I’m concerned for everyone’s.”

He stood then, hopping down from his resting place with ease and joining Zelda’s side. He still played with the chain. “The way I see it, I haven’t ‘sold my soul.’ I might be a gambler, Miss Nohansen, but my soul is a hell of a gamble to be willing to lose. As someone who likely will never make it into their forties, and luck be it I’ll at least see thirty, I’d like to have a notion of where my soul will inevitably end up. Even I want to meet the Goddess someday.”

“You kill people,” Zelda whispered as Link fell into step beside her. They were walking, but neither had any destination in mind. Just walking though the rainstorm.

“The Goddess and her knight did, too. Always with reason.”

Zelda’s hand gestured vaguely to the beach, to the encounter yesterday with the other crew. “They had families. Parents, grandparents, siblings, children, spouses. You took someone from their family. Several someone’s.”

He smiled thoughtfully, though she couldn’t tell if it were genuine or rueful. “Are you sympathizing with those pirates? I thought we were all just monsters to you.”