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bokettochild · 5 days ago

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Christmas of Closure - Day 5

I forgot who asked for this one, but thank you for reminding me that this exists! I've missed this story!

Anyways, here's some Twilight with the princesses!

Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 (you are here!) | Day 6 (eventually)

Update under the cut!

Much of the day passes with little interaction between the heroes.

Four does not return to the room the others linger in, and though Twilight and Sky do, it’s only for so long before apparently Hilda determines it fit to give them space of their own, but properly this time. This time they are given rooms. All in the same hall as their brother, even including the one they’d sort of picked out for themselves.

It doesn’t slip past Twilight though that they are arranged throughout the hall. Maybe he wouldn’t have noticed, except Sky is given the room directly beside that of the vet, and Hyrule the one across. The rest, he can’t exactly name a reason why, but he knows those two were intentional.

It’s nice though, having space. Much as he loves his brothers, they’re a lot to deal with on the best of days, and those recently are anything but that. It’s been a long time since he’d had any space to claim for himself, never mind one he could shut others out of. It is odd to him though, especially after Ravio’s outburst yesterday, that his is the one across from Sky’s and beside Hyrule’s rooms; the third closest. Maybe it’s because he’d helped, or at least shown he could. After all, the rancher muses, wincing, it’s not as though there is anyone close to the ornery teen, so perhaps it only made sense to the princess to place someone who could be helpful nearby, rather than the rest of the heroes.

Whatever the reason, given all that’s happened, he’s mostly content to stay in his room once he’s shown it. The only real reason he’d have to leave was if he was needed, and as there’s no knock save that of some servant dropping off food, the rest of the day is spent is silence.

It’s unnerving.

Lying in the bed offered, he’s struck with the fact that he actually hasn’t been properly alone since meeting the rest of the heroes, and while it’s a welcome thing, it’s also hollow. He’s still pissed with the rest, knows full well that if one of them was around they’d break into a fight, but it’s also so strange to be alone again. Again though, he doesn’t want to be near the rest!

Settling in, pulling the blankets over his head, he huffs.

Now he understands why Hyrule had chosen to haunt the door.

He’s not asleep too long before there’s a tap on his door.

Blankets fly free and away, but he doesn’t, instead staring out into the blackness of the room. His ears must be tricking him, no? Why would-? Yet there it is again, a tapping, hesitant but there.

The rancher sits up.

Is it one of his brothers? A servant? He hasn’t a clock on hand (or Time, who they would usually just ask) but shouldn’t people be…asleep?

But if they’re not asleep, then they have to be awake for some reason or another, and he might as well get up and just ask instead of sitting there all night long wondering and waiting for them to go away.

The floor is cold as he crosses it, and he half regrets not grabbing for his fur. He’d forgotten what it was like to stay in any sort of castle like building, and he could be wrong, but he swears Lorule is just a bit colder than Hyrule was. Definitely more so than in Ordon, where sleepwear as a concept is near laughable for how warm most nights are. As is, he very much wishes he’d grabbed something even a bit more concealing, his shirt maybe, to throw on, especially when he opens the door and finds not one, but two princesses looking up at him.

He thought it was one of the heroes. He never would have guessed it would be the two girls.

“Yer majesties,” he lacks cap or the room to bow, so a quick touch to the forehead seems appropriate. The last few times he’d forgotten, mostly because worry or tension filled the air, and while they’re not exactly absent now, it’s the least he can do as a show of respect considering…everything else.

“Hero of Twilight,” Hilda responds, gaze flat but ears twitching slightly. “May we have a word?”

“Of course.” He opens the door, because, well, it wouldn’t do to have the stand in the hall would it? Still, it feels odd, letting to girls in, and he’s careful to leave the door open, just in case. These are ladies after all and he wouldn’t want people talking at all, especially their idiot captain. More for their sake than his own, but Ulli didn’t raise no rake.

It’s a decent sized room, at least as far as he’s concerned, although on the smaller side for a castle. He’s gotten the impression they’re in an out of the way hall, and not one of the sort usually used for guests. Not that he minds at all, but it does feel rather… odd, especially with having only the bed to offer as seating. Which he doesn’t do, because that would feel wrong, and odd, so he just sort of… stands there.

The two princesses do the same, hands folded primly before themselves until they almost look like actual reflections of each other, save the little things like hair and colors and all that. The only real major difference, at least in his eyes, is the expressions on their faces. Zelda’s is more pinched, Hilda’s more authoritative, although less then the times before.

“It’s about Link,” Zelda starts.

He nods. He probably could have guessed. They wouldn’t have any other reason to talk to him anyways, although the words, and their tone, do make worry stir up all over again. “Is he alright?” Only respect has him not turning and immediately looking to the vet’s room, “did something happen again? If so-”

A gloved hand raises, the darker haired of the two girls answering before he can finish. “He is sleeping. Poorly, but that is to be expected.”

The urge to ask if he can check, all the same, rises, but he bites it down. He hasn’t the right after all. The only reason he’s been to see Legend was because he’d had knowledge they needed, not because the vet had wanted him there or anyone had thought it the best thing to do. Ravio had made that clear; he was their last resort, only there because they needed someone, anyone, who could help the injured hero.

Trust isn’t easily earned, and with the vet he feels that trust lost may be lost forever. As was, he’d barely been offered any before, Ordonia only knows what it will look like now, once Legend’s himself again.

If he’s ever himself again, a dark voice in his head whispers.

Aloud though, a softer voice speaks. “You mentioned knowledge,” the darker princess’s eyes are intense as they meet his, searching, head ever so slightly on one side as she watches him, something unreadable in the pinch of her brows and purse of her lips. “That you’d studied darker magic.”

“Never for any ill intent, I assure you, ma’am.” He’s quick to clarify.

“Why then?”

It’s…. It’s not something he’d wanted to talk about. Sky had asked, in a way, but, despite everything, the other had accepted rather easily when he’d said he didn’t want to talk about it. He still doesn’t, but he’s not sure exactly how accepting of that the two princesses will be, especially with Legend’s well-being on the line and he being part of the cause of that.

The rancher winces, hand trailing for his neck, gaze wanting to flick away but knowing- Minda’s voice sharp in his head, how that might be taken. “There was an outbreak in my home-town when I was a young thing. It- it weren’t purty, an’ I’d hoped to maybe learn why it happened, or maybe how to fix it.”

“Did you?” The expression in the lighter princess’s face is more easily readable then her counterpart; worry, concern, maybe even pity.

“No ma’am.” He tries for a hint of a smile all the same. “It was fixed though, jist, not by me.”

Red eyes trail over him, slowly, “understandable. You are no mage after all.”

“No, ma’am.”

“But you know about magic.”

“Yes, ma’am. Some.” He’s confused, although he tries not to show it. They’ll tell him what they want, when they want. That’s how royals are. After all, he’s had a dark and light princess of his own to teach him as much, and he knows where asking questions leads to, and that’s usually being ignored while they talk to each other instead.

Similarly, both girls turn to each other, exchanging some series of expressions and likely underlying thoughts, but he’s blind to what most of it means, instead standing there awkwardly and wondering what his chances are of crossing the room to his discarded shirt and tunic without getting stared at are. Probably not high, but he daren’t interrupt, and considering they’re here, he knows they’ll be saying something to him sooner rather than later.

He’s right too, for its only another moment or so before Hilda is turning to him again, and once more, he sees that flicker he’s seen twice before, that glimpse of brief uncertainty as crimson eyes level him. “You know how to shift back from a beast form, and into one, yes?”

“Yes,” he nods, finally settling on crossing his arms in order to best do something with his hands, and preserve some sort of warmth. Loosely though, so as to not look threatening. He’s well aware how it could be taken if he’s not careful, which he usually doesn’t mind, but wouldn’t bode well at all around here.

Ravio had threatened to have him put out like a dog if he misbehaved, and while he’s not entirely sure that wasn’t just emotion taking over and speaking, he’d rather not risk it. He’s never been to Lorule after all, and he’s not keen on learning the country at the moment. Even just the castle seems quite enough, if not too much, at this time.

“Could you teach Link?” Zelda asks, face pinching up in impatience and unsurprisingly, concern. Because of course she would be concerned, this is her brother they’re talking about, but also-

“Pardon?”

“Can you teach him?”

Twilight blinks, startled. He’s not sure what he had expected them to have to say to him, this whole night-time visit coming as a surprise, but…. “Me?”

Hilda nods, sharply. “You are the only one who has displayed any sort of understanding as to his situation, any sort of familiarity.” One gloved hand fists in her heavy skirt. “Prince Link requires help as he adjusts to all that has happened, and while Princess Zelda and myself are fully willing to offer our assistance, our own knowledge is quite limited in these respects; there are some things we simply do not know. But you do.”

It’s got to be a royals thing, the way that heavy eyes bore into those they fix on. Blue and crimson both hold his own, watching, intent, focused, and more terrifyingly; the slightest bit of hope touches those two tired faces, like he’s some answer to a prayer they hadn’t dared to breathe. The expectation is heavy, and strong as even he is, he’s not sure he can carry it without faltering.

But it’s also a promise. A chance. It’s a way to help, to atone for what he’d done. It’s a chance to see the vet for himself, to make sure he’s okay.

Yes, he’s got a protege already, yes, he barely has a handle on teaching Wild anything. But this is different; this is helping someone learn to live again with something that is beyond their control, but within his to help. It’s heavy, yes. He’s not that strong, yes. But Legend needs someone, and Twilight will be darned if he turns his back this time.

His silence though must be read otherwise, because Zelda sighs and Hilda’s eyes slip away, downwards, voice softer this time, slower, less clipped. “You’re the only light being who’s handled dark magic without corruption before. I understand what we ask may seem-”

“I’ll help.”

Blue and red rise to meet midnight.

“This is our fault,” he sounds again, echoing the words that have been on the tongues and minds of all of them since it all began. “We did this, an’ we ought to be the ones bearin’ the consequences.”

“Link isn’t-”

“Link-” and Ordonia help him, it’s still hard to use that name on another, “-is my team-mate- my friend if he’s still willin’ to call me that. He doesn’t deserve to face all this, but he has to, he’s stuck with it, fer better or worse, so I might as well pull my own and do what I can to make that easier for him.” And there’s no smiling on this, no assurance he can give, just the plain bare truth as he meets those heavy eyes. “I can’t promise I won’t mess up again, or that I’ll do everything I ought, or even that I can keep my temper with him all the time-” and despite expectations, Zelda cracks a tiny smile towards the floor at that, although Hilda looks none too impressed as she stares at him, “-but I want to try. It’s the least I can do.”

Dark painted lips purse with a small nod. “Excellent.”

Zelda, in contrast, just stares at him, doesn’t speak, doesn’t answer, doesn’t really make any expression either. It’s uncanny, and all the more so for her similarity to her brother.

“It will be some time before he is recovered fully, but should it be required, we might send for you if he needs help.”

“I’ll be here,” because where else would he be? “Jist….” and it’s been bothering, so while he’s not sure if he has a right to ask, if he really wants to know, he still speaks, “are you sure it’s alright? Yer- Ravio didn’t seem fond of my bein’ near him.”

This time it’s red turning to blue for answer and the light princess sighing, wincing really, like the very question pains her. “My beloved brother has-” a huff, a twitch of long ears, “Link is afraid of dogs.”

“Which is not to be shared nor mocked,” Hilda affirms quickly, gaze darting, but easing at the nod he gives immediately.

Both girls relax some when he says nothing of it.

“You’ve seen it, how small that form is,” the lighter speaks again. “Even hylian though, he’s been hunted. He hides it best he can, but-”

But he’d still known Legend was hesitant near Wolfie, near avoidant at times. The first he’d made to have contact was back the same day as both their secrets had been spilled to the other. He hadn't thought much of it then, but it makes sense, he supposes, even if it does sting a small part of himself, be it out of further guilt or more sympathy. “I see.”

“We would not have asked,” Hilda murmurs, now much softer, gaze the same, “except for how you handled everything before, this morning.”

“I jist-”

“He calmed,” where one softens the other firms, Zelda’s voice stronger now against the stone of the room, almost ringing back but for lack of volume, although not force. “Say what Ravio might, but Link doesn’t do that with anyone he doesn’t trust. He calmed in your presence, and let you keep him close when he was vulnerable, confused, and no doubt scared. Regardless of your actions, and that of your companions, he doesn’t remember any of it enough to see you as a threat or enemy.” She has Sky’s eyes, he finds himself thinking, turned on him with that same strained, searching pain he’d seen from the skyloftian earlier in the day, standing in the hall outside of their vet’s door. “That may change, or perhaps not, but for now, for his sake, we’re willing to offer you the same if you help him.”

It’s not as though there’s any real choice, or real deliberation. There’s doubt- concern, yes, but regardless of who, or how, or where, or when, this is a fellow hero, a brother if anyone still would think to call them that, and Twilight will and has ridden through fire for his little brothers. Doing it for another- doing far less- is only natural.

“Just give a call if you want me, or if he does. I’m here.”

“Thank you.”

“Nothing to thank me for,” he almost feels he ought to bow to the hylian princess, “it’s the right thing, plain and simple. I’m just glad you’re willing to give me the chance.”

That face, so like their vet’s, yet softer, sweeter, twists up, tension in proud shoulders and tightly clasped fingers. “We’re not, but Link is, and somehow, between the four of us,” another glance between the two royals, “he’s always been the wisest on these matters.”

#a royally awful prank #Ketto writes #christmas of closure #linked universe #linkeduniverse #lu legend #lu twilight #lu hilda #lu fable

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