#I always thought this also sounded a bit like Link and Zelda always meeting each other in that clusterfuck of a timeline the series has

[slaingelo]

pride headcanons and boy do I have a fuckin lot so take your pic ig, (oh yea they’re all transmasc hcs ofc so I’ll just list it)

transmasc Ruto, Botw paya and Zelda, Cia

oh also Botw Zelda and Link are Transmasc for Transmasc, they are very gay and very in love

feel free to draw which one you wanna or not one at all you don’t have to answer this!

this might've made me go a bit insane ok. first thoughts upon seeing this; LACE UP BINDERS T4T BOTW ZELINK HELPING EACH OTHER LACE THEM UP PROPERLY. gotta draw that, might come back to do those other ones though bc boy do I have thoughts about those also !

second thoughts. holy Fucking shit this gives me an excuse to go off about trans masc zelda and how inherently interesting that can be to the entire narrative. and then realizing how amazingly it could mesh with botw zelda's story specifically into a queer retelling.

THANKS ANON THIS ALONE MADE ME ACTUALLY LIKE BOTW ZELINK WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME

zelda's role is to take up the powers of hylia. zelda has always been a girl, a woman. of course all of them would be. hylia is a goddess. the first zelda was hylia's personal vessel.

botw zelda [ going to call him zel here on out in this post for clarity lol ] would have to come to terms with how his feelings don't align with his self-perceived role. at first, he thinks his yearning to be a boy is more to do with hating his responsibilities. i think his relationship with both his gender and his role in destiny is an incredible complicated one because of all of this.

meeting link, the other destined one, probably really fucks him up more. link being a trans boy himself, on a surface level, one might think would bring zel relief; someone like him, so close to him. but it does the opposite. link has always been a boy. this link, being assigned female at birth, is a boy as well. to zel, this reaffirms his thoughts that destiny has locked their genders into place.

in general, i don't think transphobia is a huge thing in the loz universe. it's like, a very niche kind of bigotry thankfully. it's MY childhood fantasy games and i get to mostly poof it out. i think the big exception to this would be those associated with destiny, prophecies, and of course, the reincarnation cycle.

zel is pressured to not only be a good daughter and princess, but to take on the powers that should be blessed to him by the goddess herself. everything just drives him further into hating everything, including link early on.

a big part of zel being able to actually unlock his powers would be both what i think happens in game [ desperation to protect ] as well as acceptance of himself. zel's inner turmoil over his own identity, where his duty as holder of the triforce of wisdom starts and right to be himself ends.

of course, there's no actual reason for the holder of wisdom to be a woman; as there is none for the holder of courage or power to be a man. it just so happens that it tends to be like that.

i think a retelling like this could add such a strong layer onto zel's character arc. it's so good. augh. thank yuo i hope any of this is somewhat coherent. they kiss in the end

btw i think generally trans masc zeldas go for the name sheik [ thank you OOT sheik you walked so the other tran masc zeldas could run ] but botw zelda specifically would take the scientific name of like, a small critter or plant, and alter it so it sounds kind of like a hylian name. OR just go by 'zel'. or both ! idk.

[bbinkus11]

Okay, @hotcheetohatredwastaken, listen up.

I got your fic!!!!!!!

I know this isn’t what you wanted right now, but I’ll have a chapter for each of the boys. So there will be ten chapters, all centric for the different boys in Hamilton. This one was to get everything straight, to get roles situated, etc.

I hope you like it! 👇

Roles!!

Ganondorf: Director

——— Links

Legend: Alexander Hamilton

Hyrule: Aaron Burr

Twilight: Hercules Mulligan

Sky: John Laurens

Wild: Lafayette

Four: Samuel Seabury/Charles Lee

Time: Phillip Schuyler

Wind: Young Phillip Hamilton/Ensemble

Warriors: George Washington

——— Zeldas

Fable: Peggy Schuyler

Dawn: Ensemble/Background singer

Dusk: Angelica Schuyler

Sun: Eliza Schuyler

Flora: Prop and Stage crew/likes telling people what to do

Dot: Ensemble/Background Singer/stage and prop crew

Lullaby: Down in the pit (ocarina)

Tetra: that one lady that stops the bullet at the near end so Hamilton can recap/ramble/ensemble

Artemis: Down in the pit playing music (violin)

(I apologize for the lack of roles the Zelda’s get, there aren’t many female roles in Hamilton and I don’t have many choices) :(

———

“Legend, this is a rehearsal, not the actual show. Get your coat on and let’s go.” Hyrule poked Legend before leaving, rolling his eyes playfully.

“‘Rulie, I’m pretty sure Hamilton wouldn’t like it either if his hair looked like a mess in a ballroom.” He shot back, not being rude, but in a sarcastic way.

“I’m gonna have to agree with Legend this time.” Warriors added to their short conversation, poking his hair under his hat.

“No one asked you, Warriors. You’re basically bald!” Wild said as he walked in, still using his French accent.

“Hey!”

“Okay everyone, get your stuff and go! Artemis won’t stop playing the same song over and over again. She overthinks too much, I swear…” Flora trailed off at the last part. Otherwise shouting the first part. Everyone practically terrified of Flora and her consequences (and the clipboard she hit everybody with), everyone quickly shuffled out of backstage and into their spots for ‘Helpless’.

Sun’s perspective was… confusing. Lining up her lines with the music, spinning, dancing, and remember to add vibrato! Her thoughts invaded her constantly when she sang, it drove her crazy. “-and my heart went boom-“ The sound affect was spot on, now just keep going to the left, grab Dusk and drag her along with me…

Legend’s perspective was slightly less confusing, coming in slightly after the song starts and walking over to the stairs on the left side, being aware of his surroundings and making sure everything goes smoothly and planned. He stands on the stairs for a bit and oh Dusk is coming, look intrigued, meet Sun and go from there.

The background dancers' skirts spun and the music led them. The piano was on beat with their steps, changing with the notes and turning with the lyrics. Waiting for entrances was the worst part, but the dances were enjoyable and the singing had to be done with ease.

After the long rehearsal, the actors and actresses all met backstage.

“Anyone want to come to the Diner down the street with me and Flora?” Wild simply asked, tugging his boots off to put his blue Crocs on.

“Hell yeah!”

“No Wind, your grandma told me to get you home by nine. Also, it’s way too late for someone your age to go and get caffeine, you know…” Sky kindly objected. He was busy getting his keys, phone, wallet and all of his stuff in check before he left with Sun and Wind. He always manages to forget his things, apparently.

“I’ll go! Dot will too. I will be late though because I have to drop off my violin at home so it doesn’t go out of tune again, in this cold.” Artemis shouts from across the room.

“Me and Wars will go. Maybe Four will if you bug him enough.” Twilight adds. Shaking his muddy boots, he somehow got a kick on one of the wooden posts backstage. Dot was immediately on him, scolding him about not knowing how hard it is to get those up. “Sorry! Sorry!” Was all he could say before being pushed out of the backstage door.

“Welp, guess we’re going that way. Anyone else?” Wild sighed.

“Not me, I'm old and tired.” Time says, walking out the door.

“I’m going home.” Dawn and Dusk almost say in unison.

“I’m gonna go to my friends house, tell Legend to yell at me if anything happens.” Fable says in between several taps of her phone.

“Hyrule and I are coming. Give me a second, the zipper on my bag broke again.” Legend says, his back to Wild.

Wild looks around, observing Lullaby, Four, and Tetra are already nowhere to be seen. He waited a second, before feeling a breath on his neck.

“Ah!-“

“You.”

“Geez, what, Flora? I told you we’re leaving in a minute.”

“Give. Me. Your. Mic.”

“Ohhh, haha, totally didn’t forget about that. It happens, you know? Yeah, haha, I’ll get that for you…” Wild nervously laughed as he dug through his duffel bag, his face growing redder and redder in realization that he couldn’t find it. Flora is going to kill him, do doubt. He continued shoving through piles of who knows what, and almost melted when he felt the thin metal line that felt suspiciously like his mic. He handed her the microphone, still melting.

“Lose this again, and you’ll lose your head.” Flora threatens, before turning her back and stomping to the door that leads to the light and sound booth.

Legend and Hyrule were ready by then. Twilight had been kicked outside. Artemis was going to be late. Warriors was probably still in the mirror. Flora was gonna be out in a minute. Perfect! Let’s go eat dinner with a bunch of music and history geeks.

—

“Still, I don’t get why you think half notes are better than quarter notes. The shorter the better. It’s what I used to say to Four, heh.” Dot says, closing her laptop to shove an entire handful of fries into her mouth.

“Because! They're half notes! What more needs to be said!” Legend argued from across the table.

“Legend, if you yell one more time, I swear I’m gonna call Fable to come and pick your petty ass up.” Hyrule mumbles so only Legend can hear. They had been arguing about half notes against quarter notes for the last fifteen minutes. And honestly, whole notes are superior, depending on the key signature.

“Okay,” Flora sighed, finally finding a space of silence, “all jokes aside, how do we think it’s going so far?”

“I’m lovin it. My rap part is better than all a’ y’all’s. I basically get to say ‘your mom’ in a history musical. It’s great.” Twilight says, leaning back in the restaurant booth chair.

“I like finding something to do with my voices.” Wild claims. “I can do a French accent, British accent, American accent, Elmo, Dr. Doofenshmirtz, Twilight, Russia-“

“Hey! What is tha’ supposed to mean?” Twilight interrupted, throwing his hands up. Wild just stared for a good three seconds, then continued. “King Julian from Madagascar, Cookie Monster, The dad from—“

“Okay, that’s enough. Anyone else?”

“I’m basically on the 1$ bill.”

“That has nothing to do with the musical itself, Warriors.”

“Yeah but still.”

“Please stop talking.”

An irritated sigh came from Flora. You would probably need to hypnotize them to get them to stay focused.

“I get to shoot Legend at the end!”

“Hyrule! You can't say that out in public!”

At least it was somewhat related to the musical.

—

Thank you for reading!! I know it’s short, but the others will be much longer (in a good way). I wrote this from trauma of how aggressive the people in charge of the microphones can be, like, they take it seriously.

Chapter two! 👉

[sirendabbles]

Who Do You Cook For?

Link x Zelda

Requested by: No One! (Suffice to say I am open to requests :D)

Warnings: Just minor spoilers for TOTK -- set after the end of the game, so mainly the spoilers are for the Dragon's Tear quest.

This a multiple part one-shot series I've got going, so I'll link the previous and next posts below!

Part 1 | Part 3

Also here's the link to it on AO3

Also also I accidentally hit nearly 5k words on this one so take a seat and get comfyyyy; please take a 🍪 or 🧋 for reading!

___

The second time the topic of food brought questions about their relationship, it was during a trip to Gerudo town. 

“Oh hey! Zelda, get over here!” Riju called out, already jogging over to meet them halfway with a smile wide and bright. It hadn’t been long since they’d last seen each other, but Riju was always one for a warm welcome – well, when she knew you were coming at least.

Zelda went to jog forward, but was stopped suddenly at the hand tightening around her wrist. She stopped, turning back to her knight. “Link, it’s alright. I won’t go far.” She said gently. But the hesitance in his stance, his grip, his eyes said it all.

The duo had known when they got up that day that it would have been best to sit in their home in Hateno, maybe do some research on various projects Zelda had been working on, but most of all spend time together. Zelda had known even while she got ready to travel alone to Gerudo town (like they discussed the night before) that it would have been best to sit outside by the tree, and perhaps read or watch over the land in each other's presence. 

Link, silent as ever, hadn’t said anything. Not that he ever did in the past, but… Well Zelda thought it was getting better. Ever since she began to open up more to him, she thought that he would speak more as well. There were certainly plenty of days where he talked as if he had just learned how, the excitement of a child poking through in his speech among his many mannerisms. But it was just the night before that sent all that progress screeching to a stop. 

Zelda knew in the way he quickly made her breakfast that something was off. He even made her favorite, a fruitcake. A recipe he must have relearned after the Calamity. It still warms her heart that he did that just for her, to make her feel a bit more like home in the hundred years since they lost what felt like everything. 

She knew when he took the time to clean up after they finished, letting her get ready in private, that something was wrong. They would usually do the dishes together, chatting about the heat or what activities their students might get up to that day. But not that day. As soon as she finished her plate was stolen from her, Link bumping up to the sink stiffly as he gazed distantly out the window.

Zelda knew in the way he had her travel bag all packed with the tablet – among other things she would need for her research – ready to go by the time she came back downstairs, that something had happened.

“Link? Did something happen last night?” She accepted her bag from him with a small nod of thanks, watching him carefully for any change in demeanor. And just like any morning after a particularly horrible nightmare, he said nothing, only avoiding her eyes as he reached for the tablet to send them on their way. Just as he reached for her arm for the contact that would enable them to travel together, Zelda sighed, pushing the tablet down so he would look up at her. Her prompt did nothing, so she instead took to taking the tablet from him entirely. He made a sound of mild-shock at the motion, yet he looked up, which was all Zelda needed. “Link. I told you to wake me up if they got bad.” 

It must have been the kind but resolved tone that made his walls break, his face crumbling and flashing so quickly between every emotion he must have had that morning in just a moment of time. Zelda patiently waited until it seemed he had better collected himself, and once more he looked away, unable to hold her gaze in his shame. 

“Link?” She pressed.

His eyes flicked back to hers, and he broke, saying the only thing he would say for the rest of the morning. “Let’s go together today.”

Though a little disappointed he still refused to talk about his dreams, she understood enough of what they would be about. Afterall, she got them too. So instead of voicing her thoughts on the matter, she smirked, throwing out a joke to ease the discomfort he was sure to be feeling. “It will be incredibly boring I’m afraid, this was just supposed to be a girls day you know.” And before he could backtrack, she added. “But I’m not opposed. I’ll be right by your side, I promise.”

And that’s what led them here, with his hand grasping tighter around her wrist, as if afraid that if he let her go she would disappear. The barely hidden fear in his face was enough for her to ignore Riju’s calls for the moment as she rounded fully to face Link. She pulled her hand from his grasp, only to place both on his shoulders, grounding him. Previously his eyes had been casting side to side in a rapid search for potential enemies, and Zelda scolded herself for not waking when he had his nightmare. She could have helped, maybe not much, since many of their nightmares (she assumed for his) were the same, in that bits and pieces were real – but still! She could have at least woken him, and assured him that they were both safe, at last.

Zelda subtly shook herself out of her mind; she couldn’t afford to go down that path right now, not while she could help the man in front of her at this moment. She would know, there’s no use in dwelling on the past.

At her touch, he seemed to calm, blue eyes halting their search and finally finding her own. “Link,” she spoke quietly, trying to keep his moment as private as possible from where they stood right in the center of town. “I promised I wouldn’t leave you right?” She waited for his slow nod in confirmation before continuing. “Right. And I promise now I will not leave you. I will not go anywhere without you close by today.”

He sighed as her words sank in, and his shoulders relaxed from their tense stance under her hands. Zelda also breathed a sigh, a small smile coming to her face at his acceptance in her. With that, she turned back around to face Riju, who had seen their moment of privacy and had stopped just a few feet back from where she normally would greet them.

Upon seeing Zelda turning back to face her, the chief grinned and bounded over to crush her in a tight hug. “Oh Zelda, I feel like it’s been forever since I last saw you!”

“Riju it’s been like two weeks,” Zelda huffed, smile not leaving her face.

“And that’s far too long, you must travel more often. Oh! Or better yet, how about I come to visit you next time?” Riju suggested, draping an arm around Zelda’s shoulders as she led her to the palace.

Thinking of the chaos that might bring, since some of the children had been begging to go on a field trip of sorts to visit all of the people that the wondrous Princess Zelda knew, she could only shake her head with a chuckle. “Maybe so Riju, maybe so.”

And of course she took that as a definite yes, fist pumping the air with a “That’s a deal!”

Zelda didn’t miss the constant presence of her knight warming her back.

“Oh and Link,” Riju said when they reached the entrance to her private quarters. “Not to be rude, but this is kind of like, you know, a girls day. Mind waiting outside? Or better yet you could go visit with some of the others in the town, I’m sure Nali would love to have a chat with you – you really helped her out you know.”

Instead of responding, Link only nodded his head in the direction of the wall outside, reaching out to brush a hand across Zelda’s own as he went to sit against criss-cross.

Riju just shrugged. “Alright, if that’s what floats your boat. Come on Zelda, I’ve got some news~”

Taking one last glance at Link, who now had his eyes closed, looking much more relaxed than before, Zelda smiled tenderly and went inside. She was a little surprised when they went through a couple more doorways than normal, and it was at that point that she realized they weren’t at her private quarters at all, but instead a small storage room that looked to have been redecorated into a personalized space. It actually reminded her a bit of her own secret research well. 

Just as she was about to inquire about the new place, Riju spoke. “Oh yeah, and Zelda, did you want some fruit or anything? It’s nothing great, but I always find a hydromelon slice refreshing when I spend all my days thinking about a voe.”

Zelda blinked, unsure she heard correctly. Riju looked unbothered, merely setting a platter of the desert fruit before them and settling herself onto a large pillow.

“Uh–hm– Sorry, what?”

“Oh, I just meant that I want to talk about voe today. Sorry if you were looking forward to anything different, but I just need an update since that spicy little moment you told me about a few weeks ago.” There was a mischievous lilt in her tone, but Zelda brushed right past it.

“So you only told me to come here to talk of the rebuilding status as a disguise because you wanted to gossip?” Zelda wasn’t disappointed by any means, really that wasn’t a day that she wanted to perform her long overdue duties – after all it’s not like she wasn’t acting out of laziness. 

Riju sighed dreamily as Zelda set down her bag, settling down into a fluffy pillow of her own and grabbing a slice. “Yes, it was all a lie. But did you really want to talk about all of that political stuff? We can surely do that another day, perhaps when I come to visit you. Sound fair?”

Zelda hummed, mouth full of the juicy fruit. She politely swallowed before replying, “Well, yes, I suppose you’re right. But I’m afraid you may find yourself disappointed in the gossip from my end.”

Riju’s eyebrows rose high, then furrowed just as quickly. “What? Why? Have you… not done anything since?”

There was a pause before Zelda felt her face light aflame. “Riju!” Zelda scolded, covering the red as best she could. “Don’t infer such things! We– no, I haven’t – we would nev–”

“You would never? Hah, I find that hard to believe.”

Zelda sputtered, then took a breath to collect herself. She was over a hundred years old, there was no need for her to get so flustered at a simple accusation. “I– No, we haven’t done anything.”

Riju looked thoughtful for a moment. “But you want to.”

Zelda stared at the woman across from her incredulously.

She continued before Zelda could rebuttal. “You can’t lie, I saw the way you were all touchy-feely when you came in.” She took a big bite of her hydromelon piece. “Alright, sorry I’ll stop bothering you about that part. But he has been hovering a bit today; does he always follow you around like that?”

“We weren’t that ‘touchy-feely’--” Zelda mumbled, though her brows drew into a line at her friend completely bulldozing her denial.

“Oh you totally were.” She said matter-of-factly, reaching out for another fruit slice.  “I know a moment when I see one.” She paused expectantly.

Zelda sighed in defeat. She grabbed a slice, but didn’t yet eat it. “You’re uh… You’re really observant, huh?”

Riju laughed. “Oh, of course I am. I started ruling at twelve Zelda. I had to know what people weren’t really saying because they thought I seemed young. Anyways, does he always do that?”

The blonde hummed, trying not to glare down at her food.

Funny, she thought, that every time someone has wanted to talk about her “relationship” with Link, it had been talked about over some form of food. Now, as a rational person, it didn’t mean anything, and she was probably overthinking, or reading too deep into things. But, by using that mind constantly on overdrive, and as a scientist, she was seeing a pattern. Looking down at the hydromelon, she hummed again. Funny, that she was thinking about him, knowing full well he was waiting patiently for her a few doors away. Not that he could remember, but she felt a pang of deja-vu from when she was once sat inside her room, wishing that the silent boy outside her door might come in and make a friend with her.

“So, what, is that a yes?”

Zelda blinked and looked up. “Shit, sorry– Zoned out I guess.”

“Damn, sailor’s mouth you got on you.”

Zelda broke off a piece of her fruit and threw it at her.

“Hey, don’t you be wasting any good food here!” She caught the fruit midair and popped it in her mouth.  “Although, I’m sure you get to have plenty of that when he cooks for you.”

Zelda scoffed. “I’ll have you know I cook plenty for him too.”

“Oh, really. And when was the last time you got him to eat some of your food?” Riju asked slyly.

“I’ll have you know I made him dinner last week.” She purposely didn’t elaborate, knowing full well she was digging herself a bigger grave. Zelda did in fact make Link dinner the week before, though she wasn’t sure if baking apples and dousing them in sugar counted as cooking. Or even a full meal, as she was insinuating – they actually also ate a pumpkin stew that he made. But she would die with that secret in her grave, or at least before Riju knew about it.

“Oh yeah? And what did you make?” She seemed intrigued. Which was fair, as last she knew, Zelda was a princess living in a castle, having all her food made for her. And while Riju was also part of the leadership role, that didn’t mean she had servants around here to provide for her. That was one of the things Zelda both envied, and somewhat shamefully missed from her past.

Zelda thought for the slightest of moments on how to word it, and finally settled with “We had pumpkin stew and baked apples. I coated them in sugar.” It wasn’t a lie.

“Ooo~ very fancy Zelda. You’ll have to make me some when I come over next, I regret to say I’ve never had pumpkin stew. Far too hot for it here you see, but I’d love to try anything you made that Link didn’t die from.”

“Hey!” Zelda shouted (still though, the accusation was completely fair). The Gerudo leader only laughed, waving a hand towards her to shush her, lest her “Oh so faithful knight hear and think she’s in danger.”

“Wouldn’t want him to come in and put an end to this conversation.” She chuckled. “By the way, you evaded me earlier when I asked if he does this often.”

Zelda, who for her part was still aiming to seem peeved about the totally unjust accusation, turned back and let confusion grace her features. “What, like protect me?”

“Well, kind of. I really meant to ask if he follows you like this all the time. I mean, we did agree this was to be a leader to leader talk today.” She joked.

“Ah.”

“Well, he does, doesn’t he? What, is he still trying to fall back into that soldier role?”

Zelda blinked. “What do you mean ‘fall back’?”

“Zelda, you know,” She paused. Zelda watched as she rubbed her arms up and down, then huffed and reached for more of the dwindling snack. After eating it fully she sat back and looked Zelda in the eyes. “Listen, I’m not sure if I should really say anything, but I don’t think he wants to be your soldier anymore. At least, not officially a knight, you know?”

That just about stopped Zelda’s breath.

So, he didn’t want to be her soldier, her knight? Does that mean he doesn’t wish to be around her anymore? Why doesn’t he just propose to leave then, it’s not like she’s outright forcing him to be around her?

And she asked her friend that, not once breaking her gaze even though for some reason she began to feel a lump form in her throat.

“What? Oh, no no no, Zelda. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to imply that, I just meant that I think he’s following you, you know, protecting you for different reasons now. He doesn’t want you, or anyone to think he’s still following orders. Zelda, I think he’d follow you to the end of the world.”

Damn.

That’s… a lot to take in right after their banter a moment ago.

“And you know,” She continued. “He kind of already has.” Her friend gave her a small smile, and let her words sink in.

And Zelda sure needed a moment to process all of that. She looked down at the carpets on the floor, tracing the patterns as her thoughts raced silently. How long had he been thinking that? How did she know all that, did he tell her back before the Upheaval, or even during it? Even if he felt as such then, why hadn’t he told her anytime recently? Really, Zelda scolded herself, what did he even feel? Zelda always liked to think of herself as someone who never made assumptions, but how couldn’t she in this situation. Did he feel devoted to her in ways outside of being her guard? Were these even feelings of devotion? That felt like a word only shared between partners; a word used back in the days of courtship. A word she used to dream silly dreams about when she wished to find a romantic ending; a word she foolishly thought of before reality set in.

“I’m not sorry for going all wise on you for this, but honestly I saw this years ago, even when he didn’t fully remember you.” Zelda felt her friend's eyes on her as she took a deep breath, trying hard not to let her thoughts run wild and draw a wedge between what she thought was a perfect relationship with her knight. “Zelda, what all does Link do for you?”

She looked back up at Riju, who smiled lightly back at her. Despite the urge to turn this into denial over a sexual joke, Zelda knew this talk had to be had. If not with Riju, with some woman in her life eventually. She couldn’t keep going at this over and over in her head until she worked up the nerve to do something about it. As much as she hated it, she needed advice, and since her mother passed when she was a teenager, she never got much experience with any sort of feelings for people in the first place.

In response, Zelda only shrugged. “I– Well, he cooks for me. He… well, he’s saved me countless times, honestly I don’t know if any of us would be here without him–”

“Zelda.” Riju spoke.

Zelda’s eyes flicked around the room, then settled on her hands and she huffed softly. “That’s not what you asked.” She paused, really taking the time to think.

Of course just before she had her thoughts together, some little demon on her shoulder said, “Nope! Screw this, I’m pulling the plug!” And with that she felt it all come spilling out.

“I don’t even know how to explain it, Riju! He cooks for me, yes, but he also sits with me and he talks to me about my research. This may just be me assuming but I like to think he really enjoys talking to me. He sits with me before dusk to read by the tree. He comes to help out at the school even though I know he hates large crowds and being bombarded with attention. He’s learning to speak around people again because he wants to be able to talk with everyone again. He knows how much I love to hear him speak, so if ever he does it’s by candlelight next to me.” After noticing her voice rising in pitch over the course of her rant, she deflated a little and continued softer. Fonder. “He’s my best friend, and we’ve lost so much together. And goddesses Riju, we’ve gained so much. You know, we’ve spent every day together for the last year and a half, and never once has he made me feel out of place for losing my mind in the body of a dragon. Never once has he made me feel lost, even on the days where I wake up and am confused as to where I am and where I’ve been. He always tries to make sure I don’t feel the burdens of his nightmares, because he stupidly thinks he needs to carry it all alone to protect me.”

Zelda huffed a breath as she finished, though she felt there was more to be said. Riju didn’t push her though.

“Zelda, what you have with him sounds precious.”

At that Zelda ran a hand through her hair and bent over to rest her elbows on her knees, inadvertently messing up the braids crowning her head. Her hair had grown out some since their last little adventure, but not much to the point where it would stay perfectly in a hairstyle.

“Yeah? And what is it that we have? Because it sounds to me like we have a great friendship teetering on disaster because I can’t keep my wits about me.”

“Hey Zelda? Look at me.”

Zelda did look up, though she remained hunched over. Riju stared at her for a moment, then she grabbed the second to last piece of fruit on the tray. Instead of eating it however, she turned her eyes to it, then looked back at Zelda. “You mentioned that he cooked for you more often than not. Does that mean something special to you?”

Getting a little tired of the ‘oh-so-wise’ questioning, Zelda raised her gaze to the ceiling. Realistically, none of this meant anything other than two friends caring for each other very much (at least that’s what she told herself). “Riju, I’ll be honest here, I don’t know what the fuck is going on with me. Ever since that stupid little run in we had three weeks ago I haven’t been able to keep my mind off of him.”

“Oh ho, there’s that sailor’s mouth on you again? You’re getting real naughty in his care, aren’t you?” Riju joked.

Zelda tried her best to appear affronted, though she was grateful for the banter to be back. Though she knew she needed the conversation, it was getting a bit heavy for her tastes. Maybe they could finish another day.

“You know what this all sounds like Zelda? All this little stuff he does for you?”

Or not, she thought.

“It sounds like it’s his love language.”

Definitely still talking about this today then.

“Wh–Riju! What in Hylia’s name are you talking about?!”

She only smirked. “Oh I’m not saying anything definite, I’m just saying it sounds like he’s trying really hard to show you how devoted he can be without the title of your knight.”

She paused to give Zelda a chance to say something, but nothing seemed to be coming out so she continued on. “I mean, even just cooking for you could count as gift giving, which is a pretty definite love language. He’s probably the kinda voe to be adverse to physical touch too, huh.”

Zelda figured that last comment was meant to be phrased as a question, but Riju was completely right regardless. “Ah, um, well, I mean he really doesn’t seem all that adverse about it around… me.” She faded off with the realization. “But! He still has his days.”

“As if that makes your point any better.” Riju laughed, finally taking a bite out of the melon slice she nabbed what felt like ages ago. “Zelda, I’m not saying it’s love, but I am saying it may be something to look into.”

Zelda looked down at that last bit of fruit on the tray, laying lonely beside the skins of its eaten brethren.

She didn’t think it was love. It couldn’t be, it was just a bit of confusion; feelings being confused between two friends who had been through far too much together. It was probably just one of those friends getting ahead of herself.

“Riju, this is probably just all in my head.”

“It’s not.” She replied instantly. “But I know you won’t fully believe me. So try and think about it yourself then. Would that big ol’ sciency and experimenty brain of yours make up all of these facts?”

“Riju, I only just learned about ‘love languages’ from you two minutes ago. Where’s the credibility in that?”

“Um, well, I think I take the place as your second best friend so just your trust in me is all the credibility you need.”

Zelda knew she wasn’t going to get a real answer from her friend – her second best friend – so she said, “Okay.”

“Okay?” Riju confirmed. Zelda nodded and she smiled. “Okay then! Now I gotta ask, what ideas have you got brewin up there right now?”

Zelda rolled her eyes. “At the moment? Absolutely nothing.”

“What? How can you have nothing! I just went through all of that convincing for you not to even do anything about it?”

“Oh no, I’m going to do something, I’m just not sure what yet.” Her eyes twinkled deviously. “I don’t know, maybe I’ll bake him a cake. Or maybe you’ll just have to come over sooner so we can plot something.”

Riju’s eyes lit up with glee. “Or both!” She stood quickly, pulling Zelda up as well and pulling her in for a big hug. “Oh Zelda, I’m so glad you’re getting to live a normal life again.”

“Normal? Honey I feel like this is far more chaotic than I had it before. I lived ten-thousand years as a dragon, I didn’t have to think about any of this.”

Riju laughed with her, their voices filling the room and spilling out the curtained windows.

The two talked for a moment more, setting up vague scheduling for when Riju could make a surprise appearance at Zelda and Link’s home in Hateno, up until there was a knock on the wall outside their doorway.

The girls abruptly quieted, knowing exactly who it was. Afterall, Zelda knew today was not the day he was going to come barging in without permission. Maybe on another day, but especially now that afternoon was setting in, she knew he would be as considerate as possible to the vai of the town. Riju gave Zelda a look, and Zelda returned it with a roll of her eyes as she picked up her pack. Riju told her to have safe travels, and Zelda thanked her for the hospitality. Then she glanced down at that last piece of hydromelon, and she thought of all that Riju had said that day.

With a small smile to frame her face, she picked up the piece of fruit and opened the curtain to see her loyal knight leaning against the wall.

‘Ready to go?’ He signed.

She nodded, waving goodbye to Riju, who turned back to tidy up (and undoubtedly give the two some extra privacy). Before Link could grab the slate to teleport home, Zelda held up her gift. “I didn’t make it, or even cut it.” She clarified. “But I wanted you to have it. Figured it’s been a while since you’ve had one.”

And it may have been just her wild thoughts projecting what she wanted to see back at her, but she could have sworn she watched his ears tint pink as he took it from her. He ate it quickly, almost animalistically, as always. He signed ‘Thanks’ when he finished, then pulled her tight against his side, squeezing gently in an extra array of sincerity as the room filled with blue streaks of light.

Zelda knew she would be thinking about this for the rest of the day, but she couldn’t help but wonder what tests she could run on her new investigation into love languages.

[latin-dr-robotnik]

Following up from my last Rangers post, this is the bit I decided to cut due to it being more AU-ish and with shipping elements that I thought could distract from the main bulk of that post: 

After the first post, I kept thinking about this big idea of the “seven Rangers” in charge of protecting the Master Emerald (and probably even the seven Chaos Emeralds, since some lore findings would conflict with my initial proposal); the seven guardians, the original “servers”. I actually liked the idea that the seven Rangers could be ancient versions of hedgehogs we know today, like Sonic, Amy, Silver and even Shadow (although this could be tricky due to his peculiar origin... but even then his lore situation is a clusterfuck that imho needs some additional clarifying or straight-up cleaning.) 

Them being part of this “elite guard” reminded me a bit of the Dragonguard in The Dragon Prince (been a long while since I last mentioned that show here), and Rayla’s parents being the last line of defense between Viren and the dragon egg sparked a little idea on my mind:

Sonic and Amy (in reality, their ancient Ranger versions that look like them.) The last guardians, the last of the seven Rangers, ready to take the sacrifice that will restore peace and balance to the world. There’s nothing else that can be done, the world is on the brink of destruction, the Chaos Energy and the Master Emerald are in extreme danger. Only the hearts filled with nothing but pure good intentions can undo the corruption, and the Rangers were chosen exactly because of their hearts, that’s why they were trusted with that job. 

Now they are ready to do what it takes... together.

[deiliamedlini]

WIP Wednesday- Spirit Tracks AU

So, I haven’t been in the state for a bit, and haven’t been doing a ton of updates, but here’s kinda what’s going on: Dance With Me, I hit some writers block attempting to write from point A to B kind of thing, so that’s why that’s a delay, Pirates is almost totally edited, One Knight I think I might be able to post ch 2 tomorrow, I walk beside you chapter is almost done so I’m thinking this weekend for that, and I have one of the prompts nearly done so that might also be tomorrow! 

ANYWAY This is the start of my spirit tracks AU that I started once I drew an aged up engineer Link and spirit Zelda and I’m coloring them now, but here was the doodle! And here is 1500 words of the first chapter lol 

~~

The sound of the train whistle had Princess Zelda’s ears perking up. Since she was a child, whenever the high pitch of the steam blowing out so loudly and with such a burning heat that it screamed, Zelda would run to the window to watch it race by.

How it must feel to go wherever you please, she thought bitterly, determined to ignore the train this time. There was no point in getting excited. It’s not like she was ever allowed to go anywhere. Her parents simply didn’t allow it.

“You’re too important,” her mother would say before kissing her hair. “To Hyrule, and to me.”

And her father would sit outside with her and name each train, guess the destinations, and teach Zelda every car. But never was she allowed to go inside a moving one.

The train whistled again, closer this time. It was nearing the gate.

“Ugh,” Zelda moaned, tossing her long blonde hair over her shoulder and conceding to the call of the train.

She gathered up her long pink dress, still dressed up from a meeting earlier, though she forwent the crown. That was always so excessive.

With a sigh, she tossed the paperwork she’d been filling out into a folder and let it land on her desk with a heavy plop before rushing down the hall and out to the parapets for a better view of the station.

“Princess?” a guard asked, turning curiously as she threw herself comfortably against the stone.

“Yes?”

“Uh. Nothing. Never mind, Princess.”

Zelda smiled coyly before watching the train pull into the station. A freighter. There would be no passengers disembarking, but she could still come up with a story:

The train had just come from the Anouki region, and the engineer was a genius who knew exactly when to brake because there would be less friction to slow it down after all the ice and snow had saturated the wheels. She’d been doing it for years, so none of the cargo would move an inch, and when she came out of the train, her short black hair would be spiked with sweat. But the engineer wouldn’t care; she had more important things to do. She’d unload the cargo and be on her way to the forest for her next adventure.

Of course, Zelda’s story was all shattered in an instant when she saw the blurry figure in the distance was a blonde and a tall man. Too far to see anything else, she rested her chin in her hand and amended her story for hair color and a second engineer.

“Princess…” the guard said, hesitating. “Is there something you’d like me to do? Do you want privacy up here?”

Ruefully, Zelda smirked. “Oh, if only. However, there’s no such thing.”

The guard stood straight and bowed. “The illusion of it, then,” he said before walking away from her, taking up a post far away on the parapet where he could still keep an eye on everything.

She appreciated that. Truly.

Stories raced through her head as she watched the commotion as store clerks picked up their wares, gatherers watched the train itself, and even, it seems, friends came to visit the two who ran the train.

An older woman handed the younger engineer something, and Zelda could see them pop it into their mouth.

It was all standard, but still some of the most excitement Zelda usually got to bear witness to. A wistful sigh escaped as she wished for something more.

And then, something more happened.

The two engineers headed towards the castle.

No one ever came in. But there they were, each carrying a load of something on their shoulder. The blonde trailed behind a much taller, bulkier man in red coveralls and an even redder bandana over his head. He hulled inside, muscles bulging with the weight of his cargo.

The second was far less intimidating.

A young blonde man stepped into the courtyard, navy blue coveralls and a red hat with the train company’s logo on it, and thick gloves were just some of what adorned him. His hair looked messy under his hat, and a piece was in his eyes, but his two hands were occupied holding one of the sacks, struggling more than the other man was, but still carrying far more than Zelda estimated she could carry.

And he was young. Her age, perhaps. Maybe a little older, if he was an engineer. He was the one she’d seen step out of the train car earlier, the one steering. Goddess, she thought people had to be at least in their thirties before they could become the operator of such a complex vehicle. This man didn’t look even close.

And, Zelda noted with interest as she made herself comfortable on the parapet, hand on her cheek, he was cute.

The engineer stopped to readjust the sack on his shoulder, shimmying it into a more comfortable position, when the sun caught his eye. He flinched away, turning his face in the other direction.

And locked eyes with Zelda.

She felt her heart flutter. Oh, he most certainly was cute. Bright blue eyes the color of the clear sky met hers, and instantly, he seemed to melt. His mouth dropped, jaw slack, eyes wide. He went from unblinking, to several flustered ones in a row, to staring again. And she could see the harsh bob of his Adam’s apple after a few seconds.

Under his gaze, she found herself pushing her windswept blonde hair out of her face, and returned her attention to him, smiling widely and invitingly.

Perhaps it worked too well.

The man took a step towards the door, crooked as he was with his neck still craned at Zelda, and his feet twisted around each other, sending him wobbling. He seemed to catch his balance, but his sack tilted him further until he was flat on the ground. It ripped open, and hundreds of small pieces of— Zelda was too far away to see— scattered across the courtyard.

“Oh no,” Zelda breathed, pushing herself off the parapet and into the halls. She ran quickly, moving in a very un-ladylike way past several working maids, councilors, and footmen. But once the stone interior passed, she was in teh green garden of the courtyard and threw herself onto her hands and knees beside the man. “I”m so sorry!” She said, grabbing a…

“Coal,” he filled in, noticing her odd look. His voice was lower than she expected. But his blue eyes caught her once again, and gods, he was even more attractive up close. If he wasn’t, his beat red expression certainty would have endeared him to her immediately regardless. “You have nothing to be sorry for. I was clumsy. Wasn’t watching where I was going.”

She handed him several chunks of coal, her stained hands brushing his warm ones, charged with a sort of electricity that shocked them both.

“Sorry,” he said with a soft laugh.”

“You have nothing to be sorry for,” she teased, grinning as she picked up several more. “Are you the engineer of that train that just came in?”

He grinned to himself, turning his face away to hide it, but Zelda saw it all the same. “Co-engineer. Alfonso has been doing it far longer than I have. And he doesn’t trip over nothing.”

She handed him another pile, their hands shocking once again. But she was intent to ignore it. “So I have the fortune of meeting the clumsiest engineer by the name of…”

“Right, sorry,” he chuckled. He held out his hand. “Link.”

She took it, reveling in the warmth and the shock even through his gloves. It was unlike anything she’d ever experienced. There was something odd about this Link.

“And you are?” he prodded.

Zelda must not have hidden her shock well, because his brow quirked up. She fumbled for her crown, remembering that she’d left it off, and glanced down at her simple dress, de-ornamentalized from her earlier meeting. No, she simply looked like a noble right now.

“Oh! I’m—“

“Princess Zelda, what in the world are you doing?” shrieked the horrified voice of Chancellor Cole. A short man, but the second in power only after the Royal Family, he had a commanding presence, despite his un-intimidating voice and form. She did quite like the hats he wore, but aside from that, there was little else about him that she liked.

“Princess?” Link echoed, scampering to his feet before immediately kneeling down once again, bowing his head. “Forgive me! I didn’t realize…”

“No, Link, it’s okay! Stand up.” She urged him up with her hand, again, surprised by the shock that still jolted her. “Chancellor,” she added, spinning to face the short man. “Please have someone fetch a new sack for this man’s inventory. I tore it in my haste and he’s in need of a new one.”

“Why were you running—“

“Chancellor. A sack, please.”

[fatefulfaerie]

A Century Apart Part 1/2

Kakariko without the stench of blood in the air was frankly sickening to Zelda’s lungs. 

She had trouble breathing in the air that took so long to clear, that had forgotten the war of a century prior, that was normal to an entire country of people that had become accustomed to a post-apocalyptic Hyrule. 

When she had first arrived here, Link draped as best as she could manage over his horse, she was frankly overwhelmed with nausea, some of it due to her worry at Link collapsing moments after an unanswered question, some of it due to the blood caked on his tunic, and some of it due to her terrible, terrible, stomach twisting guilt for making it here alive. 

It was night now, and the twelve hours that Link spent recuperating in his slumber had felt to Zelda like an entire week. She tossed around a circular slice of orange carrot as she sat with worry twinging her heart. Normally sitting on the floor to eat as the Sheikah were accustomed to would have made her back hurt, but she paid little mind to her back.

Impa cleared her throat, and so Zelda looked up and across the table. The noise was so familiar that she almost expected to see the Impa she knew, in her twenties and incredibly agile.

Yet this Impa had eyes that had aged, eyes that had faded from a red as bright as cranberries to a hazel, a common side effect of Sheikah aging.

“You’ve hardly touched your food,” Impa said, wrinkles and all, her face more spotted and much more round nowadays. “I know the carrots aren’t your absolute favorite but you always used to love when I made Seafood Rice Balls.”

Zelda nodded, and faked a small smile, although it came off as a simple pursing of her lips.

“Yeah, I…I remember,” she muttered quietly as she tore away her glance, looking back down at her plate. The scientist within her knew that she was, in fact, hungry and needed food to sustain herself, yet the princess with her wasn’t quite ready for such indulgence, for such luxury. 

She began with a carrot.

It was soft, obviously well-cooked as her teeth bit upon food for the first time in a hundred years. It was buttered and salted and spiced with something she didn’t recognize, something they wouldn’t have typically served at the castle.

She almost forgot how to swallow as the chewed-up orange mush threatened to trail down her throat, but she gulped the single slice of carrot down nonetheless. 

It felt strange, eating, and it felt strange that it felt strange.

She could tell Impa was watching her eat, especially as she dove the chopsticks into the Rice Balls that, over a hundred years, she forgot she missed.

“When was the last time Link was in Kakariko?” Zelda asked, reacquainting herself with the texture and taste of the white rice, the seasoned fish on top of it, the leafy seaweed around it. She didn’t dare to meet Impa’s glance.

“About a week ago,” Impa said. “He came to restock, as he does occasionally. It wasn’t a long visit, though. I suppose he had places to be.”

Zelda nodded, using the cloth napkin on her lap to wipe away any stray particles of food from her mouth. It was almost an instinct, the way she was trained to always be proper, the way her back was straight were she sat, the way she refused to let herself be and just put her elbows on the table. Paya obviously had no problem with it when she ate earlier. Zelda envied her casual manner, living decades upon decades away from a kingdom.

Zelda didn’t expect Impa to reach out and grab her hand, and thus she almost ripped her hand away she was so unaccustomed to it. Zelda looked up.

“He is going to be okay,” Impa insisted slowly and calmly with eyes aged with wisdom. Zelda had no choicest to truly trust them. “He pushed himself very hard to save Hyrule and to bring you back. I would wager he hasn’t slept in days…and the injuries he ignored, well, it’s about time they caught up to him.”

“S-sorry to interrupt,” Paya stammered. Zelda didn’t even hear her come back down the stairs. “It…it’s Link.”

“What’s wrong?” Zelda asked standing up completely panicked. “Is he okay?”

“Oh gosh I shouldn’t have phrased it like that,” Paya said. “He’s fine, he’s just stirring. You said you wanted to be there when he woke up?”

“Yes,” Zelda said, nodding, her hand lightly fisted at her chest. “Y-yes, of course. Please lead the way.”

He didn’t look any different when Zelda finished the last steps of the stairs, Link coming into view. His face was still terribly scratched up and bruised. The only difference now was that Paya had-and she would have to ask later how a Sheikah could be so stealthy as to wrap a person’s chest without waking them up-dressed Link in bandages to brace his broken ribs. There was a fair amount of blood on the bed from the gash on his leg, but it seemed to be well-sewn up now, the wound cleaned and covered with a fresh bandage. There was also a half-empty bottle of a familiar dark purple elixir, a common painkiller among Hylians. Zelda used to use it for headaches.

She could she the way his blue eyes had begun to shine through eyelids. The room was dark, lighted only with candles that smelled of lavender and honey. It seemed so long ago that they had brought Link in, Zelda suggesting they keep the main lanterns in the room doused so that Link could perhaps sleep sounder.

“Link?” She asked as she stepped forward, the combination of her lack of stealth and her thin brown sandals making the wooden floor creak.

She knelt at his bedside and repeated her query.

“Link,” she said. It was now a whisper, like she was pretending to be the lover she never was to him.

The fatigued hero hummed as he blinked open his eyes lethargically.

“Zelda,” he said, softly in his half-awake state with a small smile. The former princess assumed it was because he knew of her presence before his head rolled over to her and he flipped out with wide eyes. It was as if someone had put smelling salt underneath his nose, the way he bolted upright.

“P-princess! I…” Zelda watched with equal parts awe and glee as he ignored the extremely likely pain in his ribs to fix his messy bedhead. Not to say he was in any way successful. “I’m sorry, I…”

“Link,” Zelda said, in such a soothing way that Link froze immediately. It may have also been because she placed a hand on his cheek. Zelda gently guided him back down to lay on the pillow.

“You look fine,” she assured him. “And you are in no condition to do anything but rest.”

Link’s icy blue eyes pleaded for something Zelda couldn’t place. They looked at her, studied her in a way Zelda wasn’t used to.

“Princess, I…” he began, but his words faltered, as if his intended sentence just walked off a cliff, accidentally ran out of room on the ledge and was now falling and forgotten. “I would like to call you Zelda,” he finally said. “Is that all right?”

Zelda nodded, and had to keep from tearing up.

“Yes,” she said, water making her green eyes shine like emeralds. “I would actually prefer that.”

It looked as if Link had something else to say, and yet he hesitated with a hitched breath. Zelda hesitated too, not what to say, but whether or not it was fair to reveal that she could read him like a book. It was a byproduct of their time together a hundred years ago, a time he may not have any recollection of at all, a time he may even be scared of. It was for those reasons that she demonstrated her patience instead, taking his hand and fooling herself that she was conveying her care with her eyes.

“I remember you, by the way,” Link said.

Zelda shifted slightly. There were so many memories between them and so many things that could be assumed between the memories that she couldn’t help but fear what story he had construed.

“I remember you not liking me,” Link continued, Zelda sighing, opening and closing her eyes with a slight cringe. Of all the things for him to remember. 

But he didn’t stop there.

“I remember you warming up to me and us becoming friends…at least I think.”

Zelda had looked down at her hand, the way her thumb ran up and down his palm.

“Do you remember anything else?” Zelda asked, tilting up her head. Link seemed genuinely out of answers and that’s what broke her heart the most.

“Is there something I should remember?” Link asked. Zelda shook her head.

“No,” Zelda said quietly, detaching her hand from Link’s. “It’s nothing of consequence.”

She moved her hand to his forehead, brushing aside a lock of his dirty blonde bangs. 

“I’m glad you’re recovering well, Link,” she said softly. “I’ll leave you to your rest. We can talk more later if you’d like.”

She stood up to leave but didn’t get far, Link’s hand grabbing her wrist and seizing her heart.

“Wait,” was the word he spoke to explain himself. Zelda turned her head to look over her shoulder. She couldn’t help but be surprised that Link had indeed, meant to grab her, was entreating her with those soulful blue eyes, deep as an ocean and filled to the brim with conflicting emotions.

“There’s more to it than what I remember,” he said. “There’s…well there’s how those memories make me feel.”

“What do you mean?” Zelda said, turning her body but refusing to kneel at his bedside, her cautious heart already shattered enough to not risk being broken even more.

“Whenever I remembered something that happened between us,” Link began. “I would try to draw you, would try to capture your beauty, but the image of you was always fleeting. Sometimes I forgot whether your hair was truly blonde, whether your eyes were brown or green, whether or not freckles dotted upon your nose, your cheeks, what the shape of your face was. But each time I tried to draw you I felt like I was getting both closer to and farther away from perfection.”

“Link,” Zelda said as she shook her head. “I don’t understand.”

“I didn’t either at first,” Link continued. “I didn’t understand why I was so enthralled by your beauty, why the sound of your voice twinged my heart, why the thought of your touch made me feel the warmth of my blood.” 

Zelda knew what he was describing, and she knew it well. It was for that reason that she couldn’t believe his words, that she searched within her lungs for the ability to breathe.

“Link,” she said breathlessly, finally kneeling down. “A-are you saying…?

She couldn’t even finish her question but Link nodded nonetheless.

“Once I realized it was a crush,” he said. “I tried to ignore it, telling myself that nothing in my memories indicated anything more than an obligatory friendship, that it was disrespectful to think in such a way of someone who was royalty, but…” He bit his lip. “No cliff was as easy to descend as the one that dictates love. I fell quickly and I fell fast. It felt familiar too, like something was in ruins inside me but this time, it was simple to salvage, to rebuild and to…” Link chuckled. “I can’t think of another word.”

Zelda was speechless, her mouth slightly parted and her eyes frozen. Link didn’t expect his declaration of love to be so paralyzing.

“I-I guess I,” Link said, continuing in the absence of Zelda’s words. “I kind of got the feeling that you also have similar…” Link looked for another word, but it didn’t exist in his brain “…feelings…” He inwardly cringed. “So I figured I would bring up the subject...but maybe I...shouldn’t...have?”

Zelda was quiet, almost too quiet, before she stood and finally said five words, five words that left Link in the dust of such an anticlimactic response.

“You never talked this much,” she said, before shooting him with green eyes filled with conflict and pity and turning around to walk back down the stairs.

[xbunnybunz]

Chocolate Confession [Link x Reader]

Summary: You decide to repay the Legendary Hero of Hyrule with a box of chocolates, and he repays you with something else entirely.

Genre: Fluff

Date: June 19, 2014

-----

If you had learned one thing about Link after all these years of traveling with him, it was that he had an gargantuan sweet tooth.

You had paid close attention to the young man as you both strolled through Castle Town. (And it definitely was not because you liked him!) You would watch as his gaze restlessly touched over everything in sight, examining all of the wares for sale with tireless curiosity. Even though he so-eagerly drank in his surroundings, he never stopped to admire anything up close. It was almost as if nothing meant enough for the busy hero to stop him in his tracks... Well, except for one thing.

Whenever you passed by a candy shop or a vendor selling sweets, Link's cerulean eyes would sparkle like aquamarine jewels, glistening with both awe and lust for the treat. Like a child, his facial expressions would shift to convey his desires. For a split second that others would never notice, Link's breath would catch in his throat, his feet failing to move for a minuscule of time.

Although any other normal person wouldn't have been able to pick up these subtle clues, you noticed the blond's small hints and knew what Link's body language meant.

He was infatuated with sugary snacks.

However, there was a small problem with his sweet tooth; the problem being that he was a traveling hero- which meant he didn't have the time to settle down and get a job. That wasn't the only issue here. The blond hero also had to take care of you, his loyal sidekick, as well as his horse, Epona. With these two factors in mind, it was quite obvious that there were never extra rupees to spare.

In the past few months, however, you managed to snag a job at the renowned Lon Lon Ranch. You had gotten the idea to work at the ranch after you heard the townspeople of Castle Town speak about it. Epona had long run out of carrots and Link had decided that it was time to restock on his beloved horse's treats. Both of you had gone shopping in the marketplace, seeking out carrots for Epona when you overheard two men discussing how much they yearned for a bottle of fresh, ice-cold Lon Lon milk.

While Link was busy paying for the carrots, you rushed over to the men and asked them what "Lon Lon Milk" was.

They had initially laughed at you for not knowing what the famous Lon Lon milk was, but once they realized you were serious, they pulled you aside and explained to you in thorough detail about what the delicious drink was, disbelief in their eyes.

”I can’t believe you’ve never heard of Lon Lon Milk before!” One said, blinking back tears. “What a poor child!”

The other man slapped the back of his friend’s head, but looked close to crying himself. ”Aw, be quiet you idiot! You’re attracting attention!”

Apparently, the milk was a product of Lon Lon Ranch- which was famous for it's scrumptious milk and creamy butter.

Intrigued, you asked about the job opportunities there. The men simply pat you on the back and told you that if you asked Malon, the ranch-owner's friendly daughter, you would be guaranteed a job there.

The following night, while Link and Epona slept, you sneaked away to Lon Lon Ranch, using the directions the men in Castle Town had given you. Luckily for you, you had arrived right before Lon Lon Ranch closed for the night. A girl about the same age as you was huffing and puffing, working on pushing the gates closed, but once she saw you, she gave you a warm smile and asked you how she could be of assistance.

The girl, you assumed, was Malon. You were determined to get the money to repay your friend.

'Link deserves something special for everything he's done for me.' You argued in your mind, still hesitant to take the job. It would require you to sneak away from Link each night and work at the ranch, sacrificing your resting time- which was something you valued more than gold. You shook off those thoughts with a scowl. 'He's always taken care of me and helped me in all ways possible- sometimes even saving me from monsters! He deserves this, at least.'

In the most polite manner possible, you asked her if you could work here for a while. “I need certain amount of money to buy a gift for a friend.” You explained, twiddling your fingers. “I want to buy the perfect present for one of my dearest friends- one that was always there for me. That’s why I need this job, so please, could I work here?”

With that reason, Malon immediately gave you the job.

"I think that you're a wonderful friend." She praised, taking you inside the ranch. "I'm sure your friend will love the present she gets!"

"’She?’ Oh, my friend isn't a girl." You clarified, chuckling quietly.

There was a moment of brief silence after that.

Malon had slowed her footsteps and turned her head slightly, sending you a knowing, yet mischievous look over her shoulder.

"Oh? Is that so?"

You stared at her, dumbfounded, before you finally realized what she was implying. A thin layer of pink dusted your cheeks as you quickly tried to rebut her assumptions.

"W-what?" You stuttered, "Like I said, we're only friends..."

It was Malon’s turn to chuckle as she wached you falter over your words and turn a fiery scarlet color. The auburn-haired girl turned away from you, humming when the cow stables came into view.

"Ah, this is where you'll be working!" She smiled, gesturing to the sleeping cows. "Don't worry, it's not a hard job. All you have to do is milk them enough to get three buckets of milk a night- and you're done!"

You thanked her and accepted the bucket happily, glad that your job didn't require you to lift heavy boxes or shovel horse poo.

And thus, for a month and a half, you managed to creep away from the sleeping hero and his chestnut-colored horse, spending two to three hours in the ranch before returning to sleep for a couple of hours. Finally, after all your hard labor, you had saved enough money to buy Link what he yearned for this whole time- chocolates.

This morning, you were ecstatic to hear that the Hero of Time wanted to head to the marketplace to pick up his repaired shield. You had just enough money to buy the chocolates that he craved.

As he groomed Epona with gentle hands, he addressed you. "I'll be visiting Castle Town sometime in the afternoon," he said, turning to face you. "The repairmen should be done fixing my shield; I'll pick it up today. You can come with me, if you want?"

Soft blue eyes turned to take in the sight of your kneeling form, rolling up your sleeping mat with utmost care.

Your reaction was nothing short of excitement. Your head snapped up, startling the blue-eyed boy in front of you. "Yes!" You shrieked immediately, your eyes wide with delight.

A moment of silence passed between the two of you before you realized what you did, and you blushed, embarrassed.

Link sent you a questioning glance, and you felt your cheeks turn pink. "Er, I mean-" You quickly added, trying to redeem yourself, "-I mean, I'd love to go! I've been wanting to buy something there for a while now."

Link smiled at you, lips turning up into a playful grin. "That sounds great! It's always a lot more interesting when you come to Castle Town with me."

You hastily turned around and pretended to fold up your sleeping mat, hiding your reddened cheeks. "S-sure..." You stammered, feeling a bit foolish for the effects that the blond-haired, sapphire-eyed boy had on you.

It was true that you had developed a tiny amount of feelings for Link, but you tried your best to suppress them. Of course, he would never like you. You knew that in the competition for the hero's heart, you were already beat. Princess Zelda- possibly the most beautiful and talented girl you've ever encountered, had you down in the long run. What madman would pick girl like you over a princess?

You sighed quietly under your breath, folding your sleeping mat in half and strapping it onto Epona. The horse huffed out of it's nose lightly, as if it knew what you were thinking. (She was probably just protesting against carrying the extra weight, but it was a comforting thought anyway.) You pet her white muzzle, running your fingers gingerly over her mane. "Friends." You muttered under your breath, watching as the graceful horse pressed it's nose into your hands. You take a deep breath, eyes darting over to the teenage boy that stood a little ways from you. "Just friends..."

Soon after you and Link had finished strapping your sleeping gear onto Epona, you both took off to the marketplace. As both you and Link walked, there was a comfortable silence between the two of you. You chuckled, remembering how awkward you were around the hero the first time you traveled with him. Blue eyes met yours, and you offered a lopsided smile. "What were you laughing about?" Link asked, sending you a curious look. You looked up at the sky, tilting your head slightly to catch a breeze. "Nothing, just some old memories." He didn't get a chance to ask what they were about, because you had already arrived at the drawbridge to Castle Town.

Soldiers greeted the both of you as you walked in, you nodded at them before closing your eyes, soaking in the sounds of civilization and life. Traveling with Link often meant being secluded from other folk, and although you loved his company, it got lonely quite quickly.

You were snapped out of your thoughts when Link began to speak to you. "We'll meet up in Central Plaza after we've both found what we want, alright? If you need anything, I'll be in the Gear Shop right next to the Hyrule bakery." You nodded, your eyes already glued to the fancy store across from the Gear Shop. Even from where you were standing, you could already see the sweets inside of the store, beckoning you to go in.

As soon as Link departed, you hightailed to the shop, admiring the treats through the window first. The shop put it's best chocolate on display. A variety of chocolates laid in front of your shining eyes, tempting you to hurry up and buy them. The display of dark chocolate swirls, caramel drops and pure white chocolate made your mouth water- you were standing there for so long that people were beginning to give you funny looks, so you decided to walk inside the shop.

No words could describe the smells that had wafted over your olfactory senses as you stepped into the store. For a second, you felt as if you had gone to heaven and back; because it seemed humanely impossible for smells so wondrous to be on Earth.

"Hello?" You heard a voice call, and suddenly, you noticed that there was a hand waving in front of your eyes. "Darling, are you quite alright?" You looked to see the owner of the arm, a woman that was dressed affluently and twice your age stood in front of you, looking worried.

"O-oh no! I'm fine!" You reassured the lady, peering at the boxes of chocolates that lined the shelves. "I'm just amazed at all the chocolate here, that's all."

The woman laughed heartily, placing a hand on your shoulder. "Oh dearie, chocolate seems to be a gift from the gods above, doesn't it? Everything about it seems perfect!" She gestured to the merchandise around her, adding in a hushed voice, "Sometimes I think I love this place more than my husband- don't tell him that, though! Ohoho!"

You diverted your eyes and peered behind the counter, seeing a burly man twirling his mustache, analyzing the boxes of chocolate across from him- that, you concluded, was probably this woman's husband.

"Anyway, dear, was there anything you needed?" The woman asked. You scratched the back of your neck, offering a nervous smile. "Yes, I came to buy this specific box of chocolates. I've had my eyes on it for quite a while now, and I'd really appreciate it if I could buy those."

You still remembered the box that Link had eyed a couple of times while you passed by this shop, it used to be in the window display, but now, alarmingly, it was gone. The top of the box was transparent and allowed you to see the contents lining the inside. You remembered the features of all the alluring chocolates, there were even carvings on the chocolate! Each tiny swirl and flower engraved in the thick, creamy treat looked as if a professional carver had worked their magic on it.

"Oh, that would be no problem! Pray tell, how did the box look like?" The woman asked, clapping her hands once in enthusiasm.

"The cover of the box was transparent, and the chocolates inside looked like they were created by a woodcarver." You recalled, placing a finger on your chin. "There were also multiple colors- it was very pretty."

The woman seemed to be in deep thought for a second, thinking about the description you had given her. You heard her mutter a couple words under her breath before she suddenly sprung into a frenzy. "Oh no!" She cried, hands flying to her face dramatically, "I do, indeed, think we sold that box of chocolates last week!" Your eyebrows furrowed, and you felt a twinge in your heart. Link really seemed to like those chocolates... And you had worked so hard to get them, too.

Suddenly, a gruff voice is heard from the counter. "Millie, I think we have one of 'em boxes left in the back."

Both you and the woman look up at the man behind the counter, still twirling his mustache. He jabbed a thumb in the direction of the storage room, and your face filled with surprise; the woman's full of glee.

"Oh, sweetie! I knew that I was right to marry you! You're even sweeter than one-hundred chocolates combined! I knew I could rely on you to be organized with the merchandise!" As the woman bounced her way to the storage room, she leaned over and pecked the mustached man on the cheek, and look of satisfaction washed over his features, chuckling. "Right back at ya Millie."

In moments, the box of chocolate you had seen Link admire so many times was placed in front of you on the counter. The man told you the price, and as you were basically emptying out all your life savings onto the table, he gave you a sly look and questioned "Would the person you're giving this to like this wrapped?"

You were about to answer when Millie interrupted you, a shocked expression on her face. "These expensive chocolates are for someone else?" She began fanning herself, as if it were the most incredulous thing she's ever heard. "Tell me it is not so! Look at you, all your rupees have gone into this box of chocolates- and it is not even for you? Give me the joy to hear that it is your most precious receiving this gift!"

Your face reddens, and you can only look down at the shining marble floors, unable to find words to speak. For your "most precious?" Well... You wouldn't go that far, right?

The man behind the counter sighed, "Ay, Millie, it must be. Look at her face!" He turned to you, and small smile on his lips. "Tell you what, I'll wrap this for you for free- just to make up for all the drama we put you through."

You nodded meekly, your face still burning red.

It didn't take long for the man to finish wrapping the box. When you saw the material they had used to enclose the box, you almost cried.

"This is silk!" You said in awe, feeling the expensive fabric under your fingertips. You traced the golden-hued ribbon with wonder. "...I cannot thank you enough!"

The couple only smiled at you and thanked you for your purchase, urging you to run along and give your present to your lucky "friend."

You carefully placed the beautifully wrapped present in your bag and decided that you'd give the chocolates to Link sometime later, since he would probably be busy checking out his shield after you met up with him.

You spotted the golden-haired boy immediately after leaving the chocolate shop. Calling his name and waving to get his attention, you both reunited and made your way back to Epona, who was waiting for you both in the middle of Hyrule Field.

You stopped walking as soon as Epona came into sight, coughing lightly to get Link's attention. His cerulean eyes turned to you, a pinch of concern shining through. "Is there something wrong, ______?"

You diverted your eyes and slowly pulled out the present, holding it out to him.

"T-this is a thank-you-present for looking after me all the time..."

You watched his reactions out of the corner of your eyes, seeing his face go through an array of emotions. First, he seemed stunned, then puzzled, then finally, grateful.

You turned your head toward Link, lips trembling slightly from the oddness of the situation. His eyes locked with yours, something you've never seen before brewing in his blue orbs. "_-_______... You shouldn't have..." Link muttered, pressing the package closer to his chest. "Where did you get the rupees to afford this?"

You bit back a shiver upon seeing his expression, a blush threatening to spill crimson all over your face. "Well, it doesn't matter as long as you like it!" You choked out, quite rattled at the situation. The words came out a bit sharper than you had intended, but Link didn't seem to take them to heart.

The Hero of Time gave you a gracious smile before carefully pulling at the golden ribbon, admiring the silk fabric.

“Wow…” He whispered in awe, eyes darting up to your ever-reddening face. “This is amazing.” You gulped, trying to steady your heartbeat.

Once he had finally unwrapped the gift, a soft look of surprise touched upon his handsome features, his eyebrows arching up in disbelief and the corners of his mouth pulling northward. You watched as he blinked several times, just to make sure he was not being deceived. His eyes took in every elaborate detail on the chocolates through the clear texture on the front of the box in amazement.

Once you decided that he liked the chocolates, you looked away, your face feeling like it was lit aflame.

"_______... How did you...?" Link spoke your name like it was a sacred prayer. You could feel his eyes back on you, however, you refused to meet his gaze.

"I saw you admiring them in Castle Town," you tried to explain, the temperature on your cheeks increasing steadily. "...And I thought that maybe you'd like them."

You decided to sneak a glance at Link; and you regretted doing so immediately. His eyes were so full of admiration and love that you felt as if you would faint if you looked into them for a second longer. In a flash, he held you in a tight embrace, pressing his body flush against yours.

"I love it, _____. Thank you so much."

You could barely react to his sudden act of affection, and although you wanted this embarrassment to end, you never wanted Link to let you out of his loving grasp. Gingerly, you wrapped your arms around his torso, returning the hug gently.

It seemed like only seconds had passed before he pulled away suddenly, leaving you feeling vacant and also a little neglected. As soon as you saw him open the box of chocolates, however, you watched him with renewed interest.

Link observed every piece of chocolate in the box, appreciating the time and effort put into each individual candy. After what felt like an eternity, he picked up a chocolate in the shape of a rose, small flecks of bright red dotting the edges. You watched keenly as his slender fingers turned the chocolate over, taking in all the details on the petals; before raising it up to his barely parted, slightly chapped lips, enveloping half of the sweet in his mouth...

Your head snapped to the side violently, a dark blush igniting in your cheeks. That was so... Hot... You suppressed a shudder, reminding yourself to contain your thoughts.

While you were battling with your inner turmoil, you had not noticed Link's sneaky expression as he glanced at you. Unknown to you, Link had seen your reaction to him eating the chocolate, and soon, an idea formed in his mind.

Of course, he had an itching feeling that you had liked him before, but he had never acted out on it because he was unsure. Now, however, it was quite obvious that you had more than just a little "thing" for him- and you'd be thrilled to find out that the feeling was mutual.

With that in mind, he purred your name, not unlike a way a cat would, and you clenched your jaw, trying not to look at him. "W-what?" You asked, peering out of the corner of your eye when you didn't receive an answer.

Your eyes widened slightly when you realized that Link was sauntering closer to you, and you attempted to gain space immediately. "Uhm, Link, what are you-Woah-!" You fell backward, landing on your backside rather painfully.

‘Way to go.’ You thought, swallowing thickly as you looked up at Link. Aquamarine eyes watched your every movement and didn't miss a beat. Without hesitation, Link kneeled between your splayed legs, placing his unoccupied hand on the floor beside you. The blond leaned in close, his eyes holding an emotion that almost looked like untamed hunger.

You were too stunned to speak, feeling his hot breath cascade over your lips.

"Why don’t you try some?" He asked, his voice low and airy. He held out the half-eaten chocolate to your flushed face, watching in satisfaction as red blossomed even further down your face. "It's delicious." He smiled, his eyelids lowering seductively. “…And if it’s not, we can try the others in the box, what do you say…?” You were frozen at his words, unable to speak yourself. Instead, you took notice of how long his golden eyelashes were. You felt a gossamer touch on your own lashes, and you swore that they were touching yours.

Link leaned into your body, holding the chocolate rose against your trembling lips, tempting you to open your mouth. Your mind was dizzy with embarrassment. You could feel the chocolate pressing against your mouth, as well as the small grooves and saliva that Link had left behind when he had eaten it. The scent of the chocolate wafted up to your nose, and you felt like you were being put under a heated spell.

You were entranced as you looked into his aqua-eyes, opening your mouth just enough for him to slip the chocolate in. Link gave you a small smile, pressing the sweet into your mouth with a satisfied look.

Your taste-buds set off fireworks in your mouth. The chocolate slowly melted in your mouth, the taste of bitter dark chocolate mixed with foreign spices gave the treat a dark, but tangy flavor.

Your eyes never left Link's as you savored the chocolate, his half-lidded eyes nearly causing you to melt yourself. You were unable to suppress a shudder when he shot you a sultry look, darting his tongue out to lick his lips.

You watched, hypnotized as the hero raised his hand up to his lips, lapping at the chocolate that had melted on the tips of his fingers.

“Link…?” You whimpered, watching him with clouded eyes. You blinked as he pressed a finger to your lips, silencing you. Slowly, his hand slithered behind your head, tangling into your hair.

All the while, the blond moved closer to your face, gauging your facial expressions. You shook in anticipation, almost leaning toward him as well. When Link was finally a few centimeters away from your lips, he watched you lowered your eyelids slowly, following in suit, his eyes slipped shut as well.

Gently, he pressed his lips against yours, your mouths molding together perfectly.

After a while, he pulls back and placing his forehead on yours, looking content. "I love you, so much..." He hums, opening his eyes.

You let out a shaky sigh, still flustered, but at the same time, thankful. Your mind began to wander, wondering how a box of chocolate had resulted in this.

"I love you too, Link."

[botwstoriesandsuch]

Back here with another episode of:

Read Part 1 here!

If you’re on mobile, and tumblr hates this post, follow along on this google doc!

Rules/overview this rewrite in the beginning of Part 1

Alrighty then, so let’s just jump into it!  

- - - - - - - - - - 

Recap! So when we last left off, we had just finished off Act 1 of the story. We’ve used the character introduction segments and the gambit feature as a means to give more life to everyone, without sacrificing too much cutscene time. Allowing us to save and focus the major story details and set up on the more cinematic cutscenes.

I had forgotten, but after Part 1 came out, an anon pointed out that Impa’s character introduction could use some work, and while you don’t need to read it right now to understand the rest of this post, I encourage you to look at it eventually to see the strengths and flaws in the original Impa introduction, and the reasons for my rewrite changes! All you need to know is that eggbot was lying around, deactivated, but when in proximity to the Sheikah Slate, was turned on like other Guardians. Eggbot being activated by the Sheikah Slate is kinda brushed over in the original game? But in my rewrite it’s gonna have some later significance. Also during the Royal Lab cutscene, I want Robbie or Purah to mention how Zelda’s control of the Sheikah Slate is quite exceptional or something. It’s a bit obvious already in Hwaoc, but I need it to be verbally said in a story scene for, again, later significance. Alright that’s it for my added details, moving on now. 

After Chapter 1, we moved into the characters accepting the Call to Adventure, whether by the general external reasons of wanting to save the world, and developed a little bit further with more internal related reasons to give nuances and identities to different characters. Revali wishes to prove that his hard work earns him better merit than a sidekick, Urbosa wishes to protect and help Zelda on an emotional level, Mipha wishes to get closer to Link and come back to her family proud, etc etc. 

Then, the climax of Act 1 ends with the Yiga ambush, and the characters get a first taste of leaving their areas of comfort, and journeying into the unknown world. Although the gameplay and the successful defeat of the Yiga establishes the Champion team’s strength, our interaction with Rhoam shows us that they still have a ways to go. The momentum into the full story now has a bit of tension and conflict. 

So now we crash into the beginning of Act 2, the longest Act in a story, as it’s the part where the....story, happens. Let’s take a look at changes to the Hollows, eggbot mysteries, Zelda character growth, and our first real dip into the character of our antagonist, the Prophet of Doom himself, Astor…

So in the game, Chapter 3 opens on the flank of Death Mountain, our heroes overlooking the view of Korok Forest.

There are a few problems I have with this scene. It’s really stale, there’s no movement, nothing dynamic about it other than the opening shot. They just kinda stand there and say words until Revali’s done ranting and summons Medoh. Also Revali’s dialogue is a bit “much” to say the least, and uh, spoiler alert, he’s gonna be reworked a bit more than the other Champions. Finally, this scene doesn’t have a lot of purpose or substance. Sure, it has some character conflict with Revali and Link and the team, but that’s kinda established already, plus it’s something that I’ve already fleshed out in the last scene with King Rhoam, so it’s a bit redundant. So that leaves this scene serving only as a boring current draw to the Medoh fight and nothing else. This is the opening set up for the Chapter where important story stuff goes down! Needs a lot more substance. So! Here’s my rework. 

We open on the sound of running. Link, along with Zelda, Urbosa, Daruk, and Mipha are running upwards on a path by Edlin. They’re chasing a small group of bokoblins and it looks like it’s the end of the fight. Urbosa is more near the back, with Zelda, but Daruk and Mipha both kill a bokoblin, their bodies of the monsters exploding in a cloud of malice upon their demise. When the camera shows each of their kills, the shots are quick, but I want the angle of the camera to be in such a way that the malice evaporates center frame, with Daruk and Mipha being behind the malice. This is because for a split second, it looks like the malice lingers around them like smoke. Huh, I wonder if that’s foreshadowing or something.

Anyhow, Link chases the final red bokoblin uphill, boots pattering against rock. However, we’re now seeing this from a moving, flying, bird’s eye view [quite literally wink wink] 

Cut back close to Link, he kills the bokoblins. Stands there for a sec as he sheathes his sword. And then...

“Well I’ll be plucked. You defeated it, eh?” 

Reveal Revali flying from above, and he lands in front of Link, but faces away from him. “Who would have thought that some little knight, amongst a group of chosen heroes, would get some action. You must be pretty proud of yourself, hm?” Cue that classic Revali head turn with a glare. Also when Revali says “heroes” I want him to flick his scarf dramatically, while staring at Link’s armour, as if internally he were judging Link on a runway.

Zelda runs up and starts speaking. “Oh Revali, I apologize our meet up with Medoh got a bit delayed. I assume that you’ve already positioned them by now for the attack?”

Revali hums a yes, but doesn’t bother to entertain a more fleshed out answer. Instead, he flicks his wing (as if to say, “come on”) and turns his back to walk up the trail. The others follow.

“I was informed that only the Champions and yourself would be present. What are…” Revali flicks a wing in the direction of Link and eggbot, like a Karen shooing a waiter. “...they, exactly contributing?”

Zelda says some stuff about Link being her bodyguard like: “Well, my father was impressed enough with Link’s actions from the other week that he’s assigned to give me further protection.’ She can say this a bit grumpily, to Link’s ignorance. Daruk can pipe in like “And a good thing too! Always great to have little guy at our backs.” and Mipha can nod sheepishly or something. But their dialogue is cut off by another rude interjection (because hell if Revali wants to listen to more rambling about Link)

“Right, right. And this thing is still around?” Revali gestures to eggbot. 

Zelda: “Well, This little one's technological prowess has been quite useful in battle, allowing us to access the rune functions and all. So I figured it’d be a big help should something unexpected happen. Plus...” cute shot of Zelda staring at eggbot, “it just...feels right.” Then the little eggshit can like, chirp happily or make some cute whistle or whatever. Just shove in a bit of that egg fanservice, might as well since I need to better establish its presence for later.

Revali mutters something about “big help,” before gesticulating with his wings as he continues walking up the trial. “Mooore like a big liability should anything happen to your little pet, and one of us be forced to risk our lives just to save it from becoming scrap. Honestly, when it comes to you, and you.” Revali points to both eggbot and Link, “Your presence is an entire waste of time. ‘Backup?’ Help?’ Tsk. Humouring.” Eggbot can make a noise or something while Link just tilts his head. Revali continues: “You’re only here because of a non-existent, fantastical, imaginary hypothetical in which I somehow fail, and I don’t, fail.” When he articulates that last part, he stops walking and does another little head turn/glare, but he still doesn’t bother to fully face him. “I’m sure that your duty will no longer be of importance once your reputation...is nothing but a memory overshadowed by today’s great feats. A forgettable knight, heh heh!”

“Revali,” Urbosa sighs, “How long do you expect us to put up with your showboating and prattle?”

That when Revali finally turns fully to face the group, with a more grim glare. They’ve reached the top of the ledge anyhow, so they’ve stopped walking. This is where the camera can view the Lost Woods in its fullest as it zooms on Revali. Then, that ending is the same as the game with the pan up to Medoh’s presence. 

“Fine. I’ve said enough. The time has come to show you what I’m made of. Now witness...Vah Medoh’s divine power!”

So that’s that. Revali is toned down a bit, and his rude remarks have more of a precision as to their point. It’s a bit hard to explain over words alone, but the fact that this scene takes place as the Champions are walking up the trail, means it’s a lot more interesting to look at. (Kinda like the walk and talk premise that you see in The West Wing) Plus, the trail being uphill establishes that hint of power dynamic as Revali is above everyone else. Also there’s just a bit of some botw dialogue connection, not only in just the opening, [Hwaoc Revali vs Botw Revali “Who would have thought” is put in different context based on their development, so it’s a good establishing point to show where this Revali is at in dynamics with Link in comparison to botw, all in just one line rather than in a more longer explanation] but I also scattered a few dramatic irony pieces in there heheh. There’s a lot more reasons why this scene is an improvement [and hopefully to you, it already *feels* better] but I’m not going to explain them until near the end, as its importance is connected to the later scenes of this Chapter.

In fact, that's the overarching change that I’ve made to these cutscenes, I’ve actually connected them and related them to the other scenes. This is the very first introduction to Chapter 3, after all, so it’s important that this introduction serves to be of more significance than “ok here’s the champions, here’s revali, there's medoh. Now go wreck stuff.”

Medoh’s fight is the same, the cutscenes after are mostly the same. Except here, when everyone runs into Korok forest and you see Astor, I want this scene to end not on Astor’s face (because it’s not as significant anymore since we’ve already see Astor in full in Chapter 2 with Urbosa’s stage) but it should end with Astor reaching out a hand towards the camera. The camera angle would be just a bit below Astor. This is because I want the implication to be slightly more clear that he killed those two Yiga underlings to craft the Hollows. It’s a nice little “watch it for the first time it doesn’t mean anything” but watching again it’s like “ohh how did I not notice that” kind of thing. 

Then, Hestu’s introduction is roughly the same. I don’t think I really need to rework it too much, since Hestu as a character doesn’t serve anything major to the plot, so it’s fine for it to just be fun and cute. I will however, change just a few pieces of dialogue. 

Revali: “Are we even making progress? We could just be going in circles.”

Daruk: “Good point. If only someone could fly above and scout the way.”

Revali: “As though I could see anything through this muck. Honestly, do you even think before you speak?”

Revali!!! Don’t be so rude to Daruk. Like yes it’s a bit funny, but that last part with “do you even think before you speak” is a bit much, because honestly Revali doesn’t really have a reason to hate Daruk. He’s characterized as being rude to Link and those he deems unworthy of respect, but Revali respects Daruk, Mipha, and Urbosa fairly well, considering they were chosen alongside him. So personally, I’d just tweak this to

Daruk: “Good point. If only someone could fly above and scout the way...”

Mipha snickers at this. And Revali mutters more quietly to himself, “As though I could see anything through this muck.” and gives little “hmph!” at Daruk, moving away.

There we go! It still serves it purpose of showing how the Champions are still not completely in sync (which is what I can assume was the original purpose of Revali’s rude comment line) but it’s played a bit more comedic (which makes sense considering this is in the context of Hestu’s introduction) and we get to poke fun at Revali, since just early we had spent so long boosting up his ego. Also Mipha laughing a bit with Daruk while Revali broods adds to that point of them being too busy to see Hestu right behind them.

Another small change, I don’t want Zelda to discover Hestu first. I want eggbot to discover Hestu, maybe they shake their maraca and eggbot notices and gives a little curious whistle. When Zelda notices eggbot not walking with her, she looks right, and that’s when she notices Hestu. It’s almost insignificant, but I really want to establish the eggbot’s presence for this chapter. Especially since this game writes him out of cutscenes a lot. 

Final small change. That Hestu scene ends, not with Revali wordlessly shaking his head and following the group after hanging back. But with Mipha actively turning back, saying something like “Come, Revali. We should all stick together. It wouldn’t do for us to get lost.” and then a reply like “As far as I’m concerned, when it comes to mystic swords, magic trees, lucky knights, and walking eggs...I already am.” I’m just trying to keep intact that Nintendo “vibe” of flicking the character stances right in your face, especially since this game's only forms of telling the story are through these less than a minute cutscenes. 

OKAY! Gameplay stuff. There are no real mechanic or level design changes to the Battle of Korok Forest, BUT there is one important change that I want to make here. 

When the party splits up to take on the bosses in order to get rid of the malice. I think that the Hollows should speak.

Not like full on sentences and stuff (yet) but I think they should mumble and groan and be able to speak a few simple words. Now why do I say this? Well, let’s take a look at how I think we should introduce them. 

First off, I think it should be a cutscene. Not just some 2 second animation where the Hollows spawn in. Nonononononono, this needs to be a cutscene, because it needs to be acted, because we need to see the character reactions. Like, if you’re gonna have that cliche “dark evil clone of the protagonists” thing, then you might as well go all out with the angst. In fact, personally, I would have rewritten is as the hollows actually *being* the champions and astor can temporarily control them but then when he sees that fail later in the game that can be his motivator for making the blights to kill them off since they’re no longer of use to him alive or whatever but we’re scrapping that idea because like I've said I want to try to keep the integrity of the original story.

Ok, so you have a character come up to one of the map points, and when they get there it fades into a cutscene. It’s not gonna be super long, but here’s the vision. 

Character is in the lost woods, they killed a stalbokoblin or whatever. Just some low tier enemy, and then it dies and becomes that whisp of malice. Great. Character turns to leave, but then they hear something. Like a snicker, or laughter. Cut to this angle from behind the trees, but instead of astor it’s the character you’re playing as.

They go over to investigate, creeping closer with caution, until they see a shadow. The shadow of a small figure, about no higher than Link, with a long, trident weapon. 

FWOOSH! An explosion of malice, almost like a fountain behind the character. They turn just in time to block the attack, the Lightscale Trident, but yet...it’s not the Lightscale Trident, because it’s covered in malice. Hollow Mipha is striking from the air, because this is basically her fountain teleportation thing, but malice. Once the character blocks the attack, time slows just a bit so you can see Hollow Mipha’s face, and then cut to the other characters face to give them a reaction. And that’s it. 

Then you can pop back into gameplay, but there should be textboxes on the bottom where you can see the character’s surprised reaction like

[Unimportant detail, but if Daruk fights his Hollow self I want his reaction to be like “Woah! I sure look grumpy. I look like I skipped breakfast.” and then his gambit attack is like “eat THIS!” Also Revali can say something about how imitation is a form of flattery]

Through that fight, the Hollows also have like one textbox and a line of Evil™ mumbling and/or laughing once they’re defeated. The laughing is kinda used in a later scene, but it’s never really seen again so I just want that to be more prevalent. You all could probably think of more angsty “evil version of you” lines that are specific to each character, but I’m just thinking stuff like “You...won’t...last” or even just *muttering*. In fact, this is another thing that I want to flesh out with my gambit feature. It not only serves as interaction between whatever two characters you’re playing as, but also as interaction between your antagonists. So if you use a gambit on Kohga, he’ll say something specific about the characters he’s fighting. Same idea with Sooga, or Astor, and now here, the Hollows can say stuff to you.

There’s gonna be someone out there more creative than me out there that can think up some cool dialogue for them, but basically what I want to establish is that we know that these Hollows are made from people’s like, souls? Or life force or whatever you wanna call it. So it wouldn’t be farfetched to give them the ability to speak. Over the course of the game, I want their textboxes/dialogue to be more and more lifelike, like without the pauses or muttering. This is because the entire point of the dialogue is not only to serve that trope of “I’m the evil you I’m gonna say stuff that emotionally impacts you mwahaha” but it also makes them just a bit more menacing in my opinion. Also overall gameplay wise, I think they need to become stronger with the Champions because idk if it was just me, but they were so easy that I just forgot about them. 

So! Korok Forest Battle introduces these creepy mumbling Champions, people react and are a bit freaked out, but they eventually clear the malice and we hit the next cutscene. 

This is where the shit goes down.

You all probably remember how this scene goes down so I’ll try not to spend too much time explaining it. But here’s my two cents as to why I’m gonna rewrite it a bunch. I think it’s not a good villain reveal. 

Like first off, it doesn’t establish Astor as a threat. His memorable action here is the summoning of the Hollows, and while yes, they do beat up Link and that’s very good, it also let’s Link easily beat them and Astor as soon as he gets the Master Sword IN THAT SAME SCENE. There was no time to let the threat of Astor linger, and when we see Link instantly beat him once he gets his Mcguffin, it really hinders the effect of this reveal.

Secondly, everyone is just silent during this??? Like, obviously Link doesn’t say anything, but Zelda doesn’t do stuff? Astor just kinda says “kill her!” and thats about it. Zelda never says “who are you?” or “what do you want?” or anything because as far as she’s concerned this is just some random dude, he’s not Yiga or anything. Also Astor never even introduces himself?? Throughout the entire game??? So while we the player know who he is because of his fancy title card, as far as all the characters are concerned he’s just a Mystery Clown.  

It’s just super weird how no one asks any questions during this scene like no one acts like a human being with common sense. In fact, one could say that no one asks any questions for this entire game. Things just happen, and happen, and happen, and everyones just kinda chill. And then Zelda just kinda receives 17 flashbacks over the course of two minutes at the end of the game like she’s speedrunning botw memory%. Obviously having an aura of mystery over the course of your game is fine, it’s good to keep questions lingering over the audience’s head. Just so long as you answer them in a satisfactory way later on. Like, that’s not something I need to spell out for you right? If you set up a question, give the audience a good answer. If you set up a mystery, give a cool explanation. If you set up an interesting character you have to give the people a pay off that was worth their investment into them, right? Right? Right? You understand right? Cause as the writer for a story, it’s you’re to explain the significance and importance of why things happen in a creative way. It’s almost as if that’s the entire purpose of storytelling, you know, an explanation of events in a compelling manner. Like please, this is a concept that you are able to grasp right? This isn’t just me right? See that’s how writing works when setting up anything ever, you gotta give an explanation to the choices you make in the plot. You gotta explain why. You gotta explain why. Explain why. Explain why. Explain, why? Explain, why? Why? Why? WHy? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY? WH

Sorry I got carried away. Anyhow, here’s the rewrite. 

Link and Zelda don’t enter the forest at the same time. They run through the wooden tunnel thing, and Link makes a gesture like “go!” while he stays back a bit to hold off some monsters like stal-lizalfos or something. So Zelda runs into the center of Korok Forest.

As far as any of the characters know, this is a safe haven now, this was their destination, so there’s no monsters here, so they’re good. The princess is safe, the Champions are just cleaning up in their respective corners of the forest with the Hollows, and Link is fighting off the monsters by the entrance. So while there is still tension from the battle, Zelda lets out a sigh of relief once she sees the Master Sword. 

She approaches it, cautiously, but doesn’t step onto the stone pedestal, still staying a ways back in the grass. “We’re finally here,” she says to herself. “Now we just have to protect the sword, await for the hero to retrieve it, and await for destiny to arrive.” She looks down at the ground, and then at the back of her hand (fuck what hand was the one with the triforce, her left hand? I’m gonna say left hand). So she looks down at the back of her left hand, before letting it fall. She turns away from the Master Sword and to herself she just mutters, “I only wish that I could make as much progress in fulfilling my own role...in making myself to be of actual use, like the others.”

There’s a moment of silence as Zelda wraps her elbows and closes her eyes. Then,

“If that is what you wish,” a sudden voice echos, and Zelda spins around to face it, “Then perhaps I can be of some assistance.”

Cut to Astor, standing in front of the Master Sword, facing Zelda. Roughly where he is shown here, but Zelda is a couple feet away from him, standing on one of those rocks.

Zelda steps back in shock for a moment. “W-Who? Who are you?”

“Me?” He takes one step down the stairs. “Oh, I am just someone, same as you, who wishes to see destiny fulfilled.” Zelda takes another step back, and seeing this, he stops approaching. “Ease your mind, Your Highness. There is no need to be frightened. You may call me, Astor”

Cut to title card on his face, it can be like this, BUT, no malice or glowing magic around him, it’s all still lush green forest, and I don’t want as much focus on his astrolabe. It’s just his face, and he’s giving a warm, yet chilling smile.

Zelda is still stammering. “Y-You...do I……. how did you—”

“It doesn’t matter. What matters now is taking every step towards stopping the Calamity, correct?” Astor starts to take a step towards her again, and this time Zelda doesn’t flinch.

“Y-Yes. Yes of course. But I’m afraid I’m still a bit confused. ...What exactly do you...want?”

Astor doesn’t immediately answer. He steps off the pedestal and starts to circle around Zelda, eyeing her, but still with that creepy smile. “Tell me, Princess, how fares your recent training? Adequate progress, I presume?”

He continues circling around her, still a few feet away. Zelda looks to the ground, defeated. “I’m afraid not. I’ve been trying to aid the researchers with the Guardians and Divine Beasts. But when it comes to this power…” she looks down at her hand again. “...it seems despite my great efforts and restless hours of prayers, they have yet to awaken.”

Using his free hand, Astor places a hand on his chest, tilting his head in a sorry pout. The gesture seems exaggerated. “My...you poor thing. How harrowing this must be for you.” He continues walking, eyeing her as he circles behind. “But, I am certain it is not your fault. You are but a child, after all.”

“I…” Zelda is still staring at the ground in front of her. Astor continues.

“I mean really, have you ever stopped to think about how absurd this all is? A collection of mis-match warriors, demanded to pilot gods. A sword for an unseen hero. The lives of us all, in the hands of one girl. Expected to lead us all, awaken a divine power, and save the world, all before her 17th birthday…”

After a beat, Zelda finally looks up at him, confusion and suspicion back in her eyes. “What did you say?”

Astor stops walking, he’s back directly in front of the pedestal. The camera is on him center frame, so that when he turns to face Zelda, his figure blocks the sword. 

“Now Princess, is that truly what you want? Do you really believe yourself prepared to live up to such a monumental task?” He’s walking directly towards her now, arm outstretched. 

“I—” Zelda pauses, before shaking her head. “Of course not, but that doesn’t mean—”

“Yeesss. Precisely! You needn’t not let yourself live like this, like some beggar to the gods, like a failure.” Astor is walking more quickly towards her, and Zelda is stepping back.

Zelda lets out a gasp of fear now, as Astor approaches, there’s a swirl starting to form around the astrolabe in his hand. “I don’t understand! What’s your point, what do you want? Who are you!?”   

He stops walking, he’s so much closer now, just a foot or two away from her. “It’s quite simple my dear.” He gives another smile. “I’m a man who wants to live.”

Fwoosh! The air around them is now tinted purple, the astrolabe’s power surrounding them both. Zelda gasps again. 

“If we truly wish to see this realm prosper, we must accept the indisputable truth.” Astor reaches out his hand. “You are not worthy of saving this Kingdom. You do not have the power to oppose such an unimaginable enemy! Therefore I shall relieve you of your burden, for the sake of us all. I will steal, your, destiny!”

Astor is seconds away from touching her, before suddenly...the sound of a sword unsheathing.  

Astor flies back, crumpling on the steps of the pedestal, he looks up to see Link, sword at the ready. Link had pushed astor back with the pommel of his sword [because no stabbing or blood for our PG Nintendo game] and the motion has cause him to drop his astrolabe, which now lies a few feet in front of him in the grass. 

“Link!” Zelda says, relieved. From behind, eggbot also appears. It walks infront of Link and gives a little whistle and does that sassy pointing thing in the direction of Astor, as if telling him off. 

Astor frowns when he sees Link, but when he sees eggbot his face morphs into confusion. “You…? But I…” he glances at his astrolabe. Astor gets up to retrieve it and stands.  

“It doesn’t matter how you’re here again. You can’t stop this.” Astor summons the Hollows, and they appear in front of him. It was harder to see in the lost woods, but here in the lush grass, its undeniable that the Hollows are draining the plant life around them. 

“Kill whoever he is. Fight the Guardian if you must, though I’d prefer it intact. But don’t touch the girl.” He narrows his eyes. “Her thread shall be cut by my hand alone.”

Then it goes into that action sequence. Link is desperately fighting off the Hollows, while also trying to keep eggbot close to protect it. The hollows are laughing, even taunting him, as Astor is just walking calmly forwards towards Zelda, and Link can’t do anything to stop it. 

Then it’s roughly the same, Link flies back as his sword breaks. Zelda is kinda helpless. And then just as Astor is about to reach Zelda again, Link cries out, the Master Sword glows. Everyone looks back, confused. Link pulls the sword. Boss fight. 

After the fight and after Link defeats Astor, he’ll say something like. “That sword...is too powerful.” and blah blah blah. He looks up at Zelda. “Should you come to your senses, Your Highness,” he hisses the words, “I will delightfully accept an invitation with your company again.” He glares at Link. “Perhaps one day, when we have more time, you will fully come to understand where your arrogance is leading you.” He stands, though clutching his side in pain. “Until then, I shall make certain we meet again.” Link charges him, but he disappears in smoke and malice. End the Korok Forest arc.

Okay so! Why is this scene better? Uhhhhhhhh because it fucking is that’s why. We got 1) A villain introduction that’s more menacing 2) an establishment of character goals, but a mystery of character motivation to keep suspense 3) a more insightful look at different character’s feelings and thoughts 4) a much more interesting interaction with dialogue that raises tension and properly climaxes to the action and 5) the story’s momentum moves forward with ascending action, and new story details that set up later scenes. 

I find it absolutely absurd that in the original game, these scenes are not written with more impact. This is the first look into the real mystery and substance that the story has to offer, and the first real look into the prime antagonist’s head. The actions and stakes throughout Act 2 have to properly ascend and rise in order to truly keep the audience engaged. You can’t just rely on mystery alone, you have to make use of character goals. 

Reiterating Zelda’s internal struggles means that this can more easily connect and flow into the later segments where she doubts her ability and sees Link and the others grow stronger. In addition, Astor’s presence is a direct foil to Zelda’s arc. You can already see it a bit based on his dialogue, but I will more fully explain the true depths of how his is a direct foil to Zelda further down the line when all the aspects of his character are revealed. It’s almost as pacing the amount of information you give about a character can properly incite your audience to be more invested in the story, hmm. Anyhow, all you need to know for now is that good antagonists have similarities and aligning viewpoints as the protagonist in the beginning of the journey, much more, than you might think.

= = = = = 

That is it for now! I can’t believe I had to dedicate an entire section to just one battle. But! That is how the story must go, as I need to flesh out as much as possible in only a few cutscenes without ruining the pacing. Tune in next time for flashbacks, backstory, Yiga husbands, token Zelink hours, aaand perhaps just a bit of Impa simping. 

[quillandink333]

The Quest for Acquaintance

BotW Link X Zelda

Rating: G

Word Count: 1k

Summary: Zelda struggles with her task of getting Link to open up to her while also being reluctant to apologize for being harsh on him in the beginning.

Masterlist

It had been a few weeks since I’d spoken with Impa about my plight with Link, and I still hadn’t gotten myself to apologize to him as she had so wisely advised. However, I’d made it a point to show him my true self without holding anything back just for the sake of formalities. In fact, I may have mistakenly gone a bit overboard in that area. Thanks to an eccentric outburst on one certain occasion, he‘d probably felt more uncomfortable than he would have if I’d just stayed silent.

“Go on! Taste it!” I said, shoving the poor creature into my offenseless knight’s face like a madwoman. The moment he shrank back in discomfort was when I realized what I was doing. “Ah... I’m sorry. Here.” I put the frog back down in a shady spot next to some flowers. Link had his back turned, disallowing me from getting a glimpse of his face, though the red tinge on the tips of his ears was clear as day.

“I doubt this will let up any time soon.”

Link and I had been on our way to the Spring of Courage when a storm had hit, forcing us to seek shelter under a tree overlooking the nearby Deya Village.

“Your path seems to mirror your father’s. You’ve dedicated yourself to becoming a knight as well.” I watched as he skillfully sliced the air with his blade, focused solely on his practice. “Your commitment to the training necessary to fulfill your goal is really quite admirable.” He let out a decisive exhale, the imaginary enemy before him falling to its knees. “I see now why you would be the chosen one,” I smiled. “What if...one day...you realized that you just weren’t meant to be a fighter?” He lowered his weapon and turned to face me, attentiveness in his gaze. “Yet the only thing people ever said was that you were born into a family of the royal guard, and so no matter what you thought, you had to become a knight.” It would’ve surprised me if he hadn’t figured out already what I meant by all this. “If that was the only thing you were ever told...I wonder then...would you have chosen a different path?” Though I was just projecting onto him at this point, I truly did wonder such things about him.

Once again, however, I’d gotten my hopes up when he’d turned to listen to me. As always, not a single hint of emotion besmirched his perfect face. He simply turned the other way and continued swinging that wretched sword of his.

“Why don’t you ever say anything?” I stood up, having reached the end of my patience. “I’ve now done everything I can think of to bear my soul to you. And still you always remain silent.” True to my accusation, he refused to even turn and face me. “Link, I just want to know what you’re so afraid of. Tell me!” The air fell silent, and I was just about ready to give up.

“To be honest...” he finally spoke, prompting me to raise my head, “this isn’t a path I chose for myself either, Your Highness.” Slowly, he turned toward me, blade in hand. “I never wanted to have the fate of the world placed in my hands. I didn’t ask for that kind of responsibility, that kind of pressure.” His brows were furrowed and his grip on his sword handle had grown tighter. Then he took in a full breath of air and let it out in a nasal sigh, saying, “But I continue to press on each day because I’ve...accepted that I’m the only one—the only person alive—who’s capable of playing the role I’ve been given.”

My heart sank. Suddenly I felt terrible. This whole time, I’d been whining and complaining to him about being barred from following the path of my choosing, but behind his mask, he’d been struggling with the same thing all the while.

“You ask why I refrain from opening up to others, Princess.” He looked at me with eyes like ice, hair plastered to his forehead with water from the pouring rain. “Will that answer suffice?”

“I...I’m so sorry.” I stepped back and shrank into my seat, unable to meet his pained gaze for a moment longer. I buried my face in my open palms, defeated. “I can’t believe I’ve been so conceited for so long...” I shook my head. “How...how could I...?”

The last thing I expected then was for him, the victim, to make an attempt to console me, the offender. And yet, the next thing I knew, he was kneeling down before me and putting a hand on my lap. “Princess, please,” he uttered, causing me to look up from my sulking, “don’t apologize.” He took one of my hands between his own. “You haven’t done anything wrong, and you have every right to be upset with me. I should’ve said something sooner. I wanted to. I just...never knew what to say. To someone like you.” His voice trailed off with his last sentence, his gaze directed at my feet. But then he fell back into his apathetic, emotionless facade. “As such, it is I who must ask for your forgiveness for failing to grant your wish, Your H—“ I cut him off by falling to my knees and throwing my arms around him, “Highness...”

Part of me wanted to cry, but I didn’t. Instead, I gathered as much of his frigid, rain-soaked body as I could against my own, feeling the cold dampness of his clothes seep through to my skin. If I’d had his strength, his ribs would have been crushed in an instant. “I forgive you,” I asserted. “A thousand times over...I forgive you.” I felt him thaw bit by bit in my arms. A long, shivering sigh like ripples in a pond left his lips as he gradually came to return my embrace.

After a while, there came a soft croaking sound loud enough to be heard over the rain. I opened my eyes and smiled at the sight of a little, green amphibian looking up at me.

[silentprincess17]

Sometimes Things Have To Get Worse Before They Get Better

This is essentially a darker, heavier alternate take on Memory #7 - Blades of the Yiga. I wanted to write a fic with a competent Yiga Clan. (Yes you read that right). It is very angsty in the beginning and then becomes fluffy (hence the title!)

Summary: Link and Zelda have returned from Vah Naboris with Urbosa and have spent the night in Kara Kara Bazaar Inn. Link wakes up and finds her missing.

Cue the angst.

This story is complete and I will post each chapter daily on here but you can read the whole thing on AO3

Rating: Mature (Graphic descriptions of violence) Pairing: Link/Zelda (Zelink) Characters: Link, Zelda, The Yiga Clan, Master Kohga

Chapter 1: Everything goes wrong when you don't have breakfast

Link was having a bad morning. He’d missed breakfast, a cardinal sin, and now he was anxiously darting around the Bazaar, weaving between the trees, in an attempt to see if he could spot a glimmer of blonde hair or a flash of a blue shirt.

She just had to run away. Again.

He sighed. It wasn’t that hard to understand why she constantly gave him the slip, even if he wished she didn’t. He knew it wasn’t fair of him to think such things, especially when he knew it wasn’t really him, she was running from, rather it the sword that was strapped to his back. It wasn’t him she was frustrated with, it was herself. And the sword symbolised how he was apparently fulfilling his destiny and his side of things, whilst she struggled endless with the stone-cold Hylia and had nothing to show for it. Essentially, the sword meant destiny and fate had already set out a predetermined plan for her, and she was currently set for failure. So yes, he could understand why she felt the need to escape what was surely a suffocating sight every day- the boy with the sword that has it all sorted, geared and ready to go, whilst she stumbled in the dark, Hylia’s Divine Blessing evading her.

If only she knew how much he struggled too. He didn’t just pull a sword out a rocky pedestal and boom morphed into Hyrule’s Saviour. He’d trained long and hard too. And frankly, he had felt compelled to draw the sword, it hadn’t been something that was in his control- if he had a choice, then he would also choose to just leave it be in the Lost Woods. It sounded naive and foolish now, but he hadn’t anticipated what the consequences would be when twelve-year-old Link had jumped up and wrapped his hands around that cursed mauve handle. Mostly, the thing he regretted the most about pulling the sword was that he’d effectively doomed them all. Did he want to be the one to basically foreshadow what was now surely coming? No. Another was that it had put a timer on the Princess to find her powers, and he didn’t want to cause her such anguish at being unable to unlock supposed birth-right sealing powers that she clearly didn’t have and didn’t know how to obtain. But… there had been a hidden consequence, one that he couldn’t for the life of him have predicted- when he released the sword from the pedestal, it didn’t just end with him now possessing the mythical legendary blade, oh no. He’d also obtained a whole wealth of memories, memories of past lives, past successes, past failures, and he’d lost whatever childish innocence he’d had then. And it crushed him, having this soul that apparently was doomed in this endless fight, and now he had to live up to them. He had to live up to these past Heroes and by Farore he had no idea if he’d be able to.

Every word that had come out of the Princess’s mouth at his blessing ceremony had cleaved him in two. All those past disastrous events that happened in Hyrule, and all the lengths his predecessors had gone to save the country… Adrift in time indeed. IN TIME. How was he supposed to do the same? And it made him fearful. And he was not easily frightened. He liked to think he was a little bit brave, he would run headfirst into any sort of challenge, be that eating rocks, defeating hordes of monsters, including Lynels, or even redirecting errant guardian laser beams but when he thought about what those Heroes had gone through… He certainty didn’t feel very brave when it came to imagining what exactly he’d have to do, what trials he would have to face, in line with theirs.

He finally finished strapping the sword properly to his back, he’d ran out as soon as he realised she was missing, and he tried to find any distinguishing patterns of her boots nearby. It was a useless venture, because sand shifted, constantly, and as a result any tracks were lost pretty much as soon as they formed. He sighed, deciding to do another very quick run through the Bazaar in case anyone else had spotted her, or she had come back from the baths maybe. He was clutching at straws, he knew it, and he felt that familiar churning feeling in his gut that something was wrong, but he decided to keep calm and check again just in case he’d missed something.

He sighed, even before Urbosa told him how the Princess’s behaviour was in fact coloured by the sword, he could have guessed. One of the biggest signs was that she always looked at it, instead of him. He only wished to tell her that he was just as lost as she was, because yeah sure, everyone Impa stated that he had the Sword that Seals The Darkness. Okay, but how did it do that? How does one go about killing darkness? Monsters he knew. Monsters he’d trained for. But darkness? And the thing that frightened him the most was that most of the past Heroes had fought a man. A power-obsessed, strong-willed and formidable opponent, but still, fundamentally, a man. None of them had fought this… Calamity equivalent that he seemed to be up against. Hence why he was uncertain, and fearful even, if the sword would be enough.

Not to mention how much it pained him that the arrogant idiot bird had managed to find his greatest insecurity, but that was neither here nor there.

But in truth, every time someone mentioned how he was their savour he wanted to cry. Perhaps she didn’t realise that whilst everyone had pinned her as a hopeless case and a lost cause, he’d been saddled with double the expectations to succeed. So much pressure, so many eyes, that he’d all but gone silent. Every word spoken could be misconstrued in some shape or form. Nothing he said was ever safe from scrutiny, so to continue to play the perfect, composed Hero that he was supposed to be, he decided to stop talking. What he wouldn’t give to explain to her that these praises that were lavished on him made him feel sick. Made him feel suffocated. Made him like a liar. Because really, he felt like a failure too- he had no plan other than maybe try and hit the darkness with the sword and hope that works. And the foreboding feeling he had that he hadn’t yet faced the supposedly impending huge trial that most of the other Heroes had, and they had all done said trial well before they obtained the Master Sword. He felt unworthy of it, somehow. All he’d done was train hard, fight and try to eradicate the plague of monsters in the land. He hadn’t travelled through time, he hadn’t transformed into a wolf, he hadn’t lost his sister, or his best friend. Hence why he was dreading meeting Ganon. There was a catch somewhere. He could feel it.

He exhaled heavily, sweat starting to build on his brow. This was why he wanted to tell Zelda that she wasn’t alone. That he knew what she was going through. They were a pair in destiny, fate… even souls after all. But she hated him, his very being, and probably wished he didn’t exist- no correction- she wished the sword didn’t exist, then he wouldn’t have pulled it and wouldn’t have become a direct comparator for her success. It all felt futile sometimes, and he wondered why exactly he was in such a melancholy mood this morning. Probably something to do with not eating.

She wasn’t in the Bazaar. He’d now checked over every stall twice. And Link felt rising trepidation. Of all the places for her to run away, she’d chosen the desert. She’d chosen where the main dissenters of the Royal Family lived. She chosen the one place where it was highly probable that there would be an assassination attempt on her. And he wasn’t there to protect her. Link could freely admit to himself he was scared. What if he didn’t find her in time, what if – No. He had to think positively. And then his eyes fell to his Champion’s tunic, embroidered, as it was, by her hand. Goddesses above, how would he present himself back the Castle if he’d actually lost her this time? And in such a worrisome place too. A stone settled in Link’s gut, as he desperately racked his brains, replaying last night’s events trying to remember if she’d dropped any hints as to where she was going.

He drew a big fat blank.

In the name of Din, where else could she have gone? She had been silent on the way back from Vah Naboris, probably reproachful that he’d managed to find her, yet again. And he had, admittedly, found it suspicious that she’d remained mum, accepted going to the Bazaar, and sleeping in the Inn, and leaving to head to Goron City the next day without a single word of dissent. He should have known that she was planning something.

And now, it was starting to get hot, as he quickly ran off towards the path, wondering if she’d gone back to Gerudo Town. But she’d already said her goodbyes to Urbosa last night... Link sighed, the heat already causing his tunic to stick to his back. It was a desert after all, one couldn’t expect it to get cold during the day, and he hadn’t had time to fill in their canteens, and oh for the love of Farore could he at least get a single sign as to where Her Highness had deigned to grace her presence at. He didn’t want to be beheaded for incompetence so soon.

He saw a small cloud of sand rise in the distance. At this point, it could be a mirage and he was seeing something that his mind had conjured in desperation at trying to find the missing Princess.

And then he saw a flash of red.

And his blood ran cold, despite the heat.

[writingstarling]

Sweetness in Tranquility (BOTW Zelink)

Zelda was strolling through a small forest a little outside of Castletown; embraced by the sweet air nipping at her skin. She had taken the chance of her knight attendant’s absence to enjoy this moment of solitude. Perhaps she had finally been acquainted to her knight attendant and was treading on friendly terms, but once in a while she missed the feeling of solitude when often times so many eyes were on her with expectations. Of course, she didn’t think of her knight attendant as one of them, but she never really could feel at peace with that thought.

The slight rumble of her tummy brought her out of her intense research on the flowers swaying powerlessly at the mercy of the wind. She considered returning to the castle, but she didn’t want to let her peace escape her fingertips just yet. With that in mind she decided to search for some berries or fruits to satiate her hunger, even if it was just temporarily. It didn’t take long for her to discover a delectable scarlet fruit dangling on a thin branch.

Her relatively small hands took hostage the lowest and second lowest branches to propel herself higher with the help of her legs. Branch by branch she rose, until finally she reached the desire of her rumbling stomach. With one arm outstretched and the other encircling the nearest branch, she tried to reach the bright red apple. Zelda’s brows furrowed in focus, legs forced to push herself further. The literal apple of her eye was before her just a few inches away. Bit by bit she began to release her grip on the branch in order to go further. Finally, with only her hand holding onto the branch, she managed to capture the desire of her heart.

A feeling of accomplishment flooded her chest and a warm buzz snaked its way to her. In the slight instance her tense muscles relaxed, she was left careening down with little to no less registration and nothing to catch herself with. Her eyes clenched in preparation as her arms shielded her face the best it could.

Zelda felt her body collide with something. Too tense and well-structured to be a convenient bush nearby; too soft and comforting to be the ground she had her feet planted on minutes ago. She shifted her arms to create a gap and peeked through. Before her was… an almost indescribable figure with the head of what seemed to be an ancient entity and the body of a normal – slightly well-built – human. He was fashioned in a simple cream hylian tunic paired along with a pair of basil green shorts. The mask – she decided to assume – the person wore was one that would fascinate her if she weren’t so befuddled with its existence.

“Thank- thank you, can you, please put me down?” Silently the figure complied, gently placing her leaned onto the base of the tree.

On the ground, Zelda grasped at the chance to take the mask her saviour wore under deeper scrutiny. It was shaped similar to a heart as the base with spikes sprouting from it, two on top and four others on each of its lower sides. Each horn goldish-yellow with a smudge of different colour on every one, twinning only with its neighbour across. The heart was a mix of several colours; much of its higher part is coloured a royal purple and the rest of it mostly a crimson red, lined with intricate and ancient designs of various colours. Lastly, the most nerving feature of said mask was the pair of parakeet eyes boring at her with its flame coloured sclera.

The time she took letting her curiosity feast upon its new interest distracted her from the hand drawn towards her with the goal of her little journey and near pain resting comfortably on it. She voiced her gratitude before releasing her saviour from his small additional burden. Her stomach yearned for her to the very least have a nibble at the scarlet fruit, but her mind was keen and too well-trained in mannerism to allow herself to display such rudeness. Instead she merely placed the fruit on her lap and endeavoured to strike a conversation with her saviour. Perhaps even inquire him of the origins of his mask.

“Would, you like to sit down?” Zelda gestured towards the space beside her.

The figure remained silent – contemplating her offer, perhaps – before giving her a nod and shuffling towards her; settling down, nuzzled by the lush greenery with a respectful distance between them. They rested under the graceful shade of the vigorous tree, silence enveloping them in an awkward, yet somehow comfortable ambience. Zelda toyed with her apple, rolling and rubbing it whilst her mind travelled far and wide for a solution to broach the subject of said mask.

It was then that she came to a sudden awareness of her discourtesy, “Uhm, if I’m not too bold, would you mind as to give me your name?”

A pregnant pause followed her question and Zelda had nothing else to do, but be in the mercy of the mask’s vacant stare. Frankly, the stare of the mask’s eyes sent a chill crawling through her spine. It wasn’t quite simply due to its horrendous design itself; there was something else deep within her that squeezed and twisted her heart each time it was directed towards her. It was as if those same pair of eyes had stared into her very soul and–

“Do…,” his voice pierced through her train of thought, “Do you not recognise me?”

His voice was hoarse and brimmed with much hesitance, as if one mistake would cost him his life. Is her title that intimidating? was the question she tucked under her tongue. However, there was also a sense of familiarity in his voice that Zelda recognised despite the assurance she had that the voice was one she was not entirely familiar with. Perhaps it's caused by the mask, she reasoned.

“My apologies, but I do not seem to recall ever meeting someone with such a mask.”

“Mask…?” his hand shot up to the aforementioned cover. Frantically, patting away on it with something that Zelda could only deduce as sudden realisation.

A giggle threatened to burst free from her throat. For one to not realise they were wearing a mask of that size was more humorous than it was befuddling for her. Despite her pressing urge to unleash the flurry of giggles threatening to escape, the princess held her poise and regally coughed her laughter away to the side before offering her pardons.

“Pardon me, Princess,” the figure spoke, straightening himself up. His hands reached towards the mask, fiddling with the strings attached until it freed its grip from his head.

Streams of auburn hair peeked through as the mask started to unravel. A familiar shade, Zelda noted. The process unfolded in slow-motion before her eyes and a mixture of feelings was unleashed upon her in realisation. Afore her stood her knight attendant – in casual clothing, her mind supplied.

“Link?! Y-you–!” her eyes were wide as dinner plates; the finger that once toyed with her fruit was solely focused on pointing aim at Link’s figure as her body arched back by a few inches; her other hand supporting her weight and her apple rolling away, forgotten.

Link offered her no other response than a respectful bow on his knee. They remained in silence. Link unwavering in his position and Zelda taking the time to regain her lost grace and composure. Exhaling deeply, Zelda huffed before returning to her once more refined conduct.

“Link, you may rise.” The hero did as such, his body looming over her and casting another shade over her form. He stood with the squared shoulders of a well-groomed soldier. Ever so dutiful, always on guard.

“Please, sit down.” Again, the hero complied. Placing himself a tad farther than he was before, expanding the gap between them.

Zelda watched him with the intensity of a researcher, her eyes boring at him in hopes to receive – at the bitter least – some scraps of information. Alas, her knight was ever stoic in his countenances. However, other than his sapphire tunic, which she had crafted for him, she felt something else to be amiss in his appearance. Her eyes scanned him like a well-oiled machine. Determined to satisfy the mystery her mind had provided.

Then, it hit her. “Where is your sword?”

“With the Great Deku Tree. For safety,” his gaze was locked over his shoulder, where the Master Sword would usually reside. Faded grey clouds covering his brilliant sapphire eyes.

“Why didn’t you take it with you to your home town?”

Link shrugged, facing her once more, “Didn’t think I’d need it.” Didn’t want the attention, were the words that lingered in the air despite never leaving his lips.

Zelda hummed. The words that were left hovering in the air between them was something she understood well. After the day he had poured a piece of his heart to her in the small moments of vulnerability they shared behind prying eyes, she started to see the similarities between them. The hero she had berated so much was a lot like her in many ways, including his fears. The weights abruptly placed upon his shoulders were the same as hers after all.

Funny, however, she managed to receive warning. She had known her destiny since birth. It was her birth right; her legacy. She knew of what’s to come. Link, on the other hand, never had such privilege. His destiny caved upon him like a sudden boulder spat by Death Mountain himself, and even that had more apprise than what Link had received.

“That mask, might I ask where you got it?”

Link opened his mouth to speak, before his teeth met and his mouth clamed shut. But again he tried, his voice smaller than usual, “I found it in the storage of my home.”

Zelda quirked a brow. Her knight never sounded so timid; even when he spilled his deepest fears and held his heart boldly upon his sleeve, his voice held the integrity and force of a well-deserved captain. Zelda took it as cue to let her questions rest in the back of her head and deprive her curiosity of satisfaction.

“I see.”

Again they fell in silence. A silence that occurred many times before she had come to terms with him, uneasy and out of place. Zelda shifted her attention to the leaves loyally shading them from the scorching sun's glare. Drinking up every detail she could until she halted at a particular leaf.

The tips of it were shifting in colour and becoming out of sync with the rest of the flock. Summer was coming to a closure and autumn had begun to announce its arrival. It meant that the harvest crops were going to change, her meals would also shift into something more supported by the weather, and that time was passing by her fingertips as Ganon's awakening marched closer.

The thought sent shivers crawling up and down her spine. Her prayers had yielded no progress and fruited nothing but disappointment in her father's gaze. No matter what she did, she felt no power coursing through her veins; no voice in her head; and absolutely nothing other than the freezing chill that stubbornly clung onto her courtesy of the springs' waters.

But what else could she do? She had scoured every theory, practiced every method, spent hours on end standing in icy waters praying to a goddess who turned a deaf ear no matter what she did. There were no longer any cards or tricks she could even fathom to try. All she could do was pray. Pray to a statue who smiled to her in indifference to her pain.

A hand came a few inches to her face during her time staring at space. In the hand was her hard-earned fruit whom she had forgotten in the moment. She directed herself to her knight; his hand tentatively awaiting her response and a miniscule smile that whispered a thousand encouragements, more than anyone had ever given her. Her heart forgot its normal tempo.

Zelda exhaled; all of her frustration, stress, anxiety, fear, and self-deprecation in one swift breath. The other breath was her gratitude towards her companion and a smile, soft and private touched her lips as she brushed her hand against his and retrieve her appointed snack.

In this moment, there were only the two of them. No darkness sealing sword, no endless search of power, no weight forced upon their shoulders. In this moment, it was just her and her friend. In this moment, she could sit under the shade and enjoy the fruit she had rightfully earned and just breathe. In that moment, she took a bite.

It tasted sweet.

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

Okay, so... this took an unexpected turn. I actually started this about a few weeks ago and after that I only continued it about a few days ago so it's probably confusing bc I forgot what I planned to go with this. So if you're confused it's alright! Bc I too am lol. But I posted it still bc after rereading it I think it would still make sense? So here it is.

Btw, this is my first LoZ fanfic so I hope this went well with you all. Cheers!

[neerasrealm]

POV: Jeff the killer kidnapped you and is venting to you about his internalized homophobia

I COULDN’T THINK OF AN ACTUAL TITLE SO I WENT WITH THAT

Anyway hi this is a jeffxben fic told from jeff’s POV. a little bit angsty but mostly just cuddles and comfort. and one-liners. lots of one-liners. The ending is a lil messy and idk man I didn’t know how to finish the fic so- ignore that

Based on one of these story starters.

Word count: 1907

There are three things you need to know before you read this.

One; hi, I'm Jeff. Nice to meet ya.

Two; I killed my parents three and a half years ago. I know that's a lot to dump on you immediately but it'll be important later.

And three….I'm...gay. There. I said it. I like guys. I'm attracted to men. I want to kiss guys. Or specifically- one guy. 

He has blonde hair, dark skin and bright blue eyes. And also pointed ears. He's a ghost, specifically one that's latched onto a Nintendo 3DS and a cartridge of Majora's Mask 3D. He looks like Link- but I'm not attracted to Link. Link is a twink and that's not my style. 

His name is Ben and Ben? Ben is a bro. He's my bro. He's everyone's bro- he has that natural charisma that makes everyone like him. He's friendly, polite, funny and laid-back. He's always down to hang out with you or invite you into his room to play videogames. Everyone likes Ben. But me? I love Ben. As in- love love him. I want to kiss his goofy face. His lips probably taste like cheetos and beef jerky. Gross. I hate how much I think about how his lips would taste. 

So now you're probably thinking "hey Jeff, why are you just vomiting your gay thoughts on me? Go tell him you love him."

But There's A Problem.

My parents- the dead ones- were really homophobic. Being gay just wasn't something you did. And it still feels wrong to me- which is weird considering the fact that my new adoptive parents are two gay men and my foster siblings are mostly homosexuals. But it still feels wrong. No matter how much I'm exposed to it I still feel that slight guilt whenever I catch myself admiring Ben while he trash talks someone, and I want to punch myself whenever I wake up from a dream about cuddling him. 

So that brings me to this situation. 

Picture this, okay? I'm sitting on his bed with a controller in my hand. We're playing smash bros and having a great time. I'm having...not a good day. You remember the dead parents thing? The trauma I mentioned? Yeah that's been haunting me all fucking day and I'm not feeling good. At all. And of course I'm not gonna tell anybody about it, because that means I have to address the problem. And I never, ever, address problems. Ever. They'll fester in me till the day I die. Like maggots.

That's gross I apologise.

But- yeah. I'm not feeling good and I'm hiding this fact from Ben because he cheers me up way better when he doesn't know I'm sad. 

"Hah! Gotcha!" 

"Shit-!" I swear as my character (king k rool, in case you wondering) flies off the stage. Ben laughs and woops beside me in victory. I shoot him a glare.

"Man you suck at this game." He laughs.

"I don't suck." I spit back. "You're just really good."

"Suuure you are." The smug look he gives me makes me wanna punch him. My hand curls into a fist in my lap. I grunt at him in response. He laughs and nudges me. "Hey it's alright Jeffy," I hate that nickname with the burning passion of a thousand suns. "You'll learn how to play soon enough."

"Lay off, man." I mutter back. I drop the controller and he snickers.

"Aww c'mon don't tell me you're rage quitting on me."

"Shut up dude just-" I shoot him an agitated look. "Just shut your stupid mouth okay?"

His smile drops. "Hey, you okay man?" Shit. He sounds worried.

"I'm fine." I grunt back. He puts his hand on my shoulder and squeezes it. "Get off."

The hand withdraws. I hear him shift on the bed next to me. "Hey, dude-" he frowns. "Are you feeling alright today? Do you- need to talk or chill or…?"

I glare at Ben. He's being nothing but supportive and kind and what am I doing? Being an ass. "No I don't need to fucking chill." I growl at him. "I'm fine, alright? Just fine."

"Alright…" it's quiet for a bit while Ben turns off the game. Eventually he speaks again. "You wanna watch a movie or something? I'm tired so…"

This is a trick. He's tricking me into taking care of my mental health. Fuck you Ben, I'll be as mentally ill as I want. 

‘’I’m gonna go to my room.’’ I stand up and immediately get YANKED back onto the bed by my hood. Ben’s noodle arms wrap around my waist and hold me tight. ‘’Dude-!’’ this is getting a little tOO HOMO-EROTIC, BENNY BOY.

‘’Stay.’’ he murmurs. ‘’I wanna keep an eye on you.’’

‘’Why?’’ I snarl. ‘’Because I’m a stupid kid that can’t look after himself?! Huh?!’’

Ben flinches. ‘’Jeff-’’ he murmurs. ‘’It’s not that I don’t trust you it’s because I know that you need the company right now.’’ he frowns. ‘’Just- lemme keep an eye on you, alright…?’’

Fuck.

Fuck.

fuuuuUUUUUCK.

Why does he CARE SO MUCH. I HATE IT. I’m gonna slam my head into a wall. Gimme a minute.

…

Okay wall slamming accomplished. Back to my predicament. 

‘’Fine.’’ I grunt. He (unfortunately) lets go of me. It’s silent. And uncomfortable. I pick at my fingers. He tilts his head at me.

‘’So- anything you wanna do?’’

I wanna hug you and kiss you and tell you I love you please Ben I’m gay and homophobic at the same time. ‘’Not really.’’

Ben puts a hand on my shoulder and scoots closer. He rests his hand on my other shoulder and...oh god I can fucking smell his hair from here- that’s creepy. Why am I creepy. Actually don’t answer that one. He looks up at me, bright blue eyes shining with kindness. ‘’You wanna talk about it…?’’ he asks gently. Normally I wouldn’t talk about my problems. Ever. But Ben is giving me puppy dog eyes.

‘’...I’m just thinking about mom and dad.’’ I mumble. He nods. ‘’They- treated me like shit. And I keep thinking about the shit they’d say to me-’’ I look down at him. He nods encouragingly. ‘’It’s like...they fucking hated me for all the shit I did- and now I’m here and people are understanding? And Slender- is actually trying to learn why I’m like this? Like- diagnosing me and shit to try and help…’’ I frown. ‘’And I’m just thinking like- if they’d sent me to a therapist would it be different? If I’d just gotten diagnosed or something-’’ I shake my head. ‘’I dunno man…’’

He sits up a bit. He hugs me, pulling me against him. My face goes fucking red. ‘’Maybe things would’ve…’’ he murmurs. ‘’But we can’t change the past...there’s no magic ocarina to take us back in time unfortunately.’’ of course he made a zelda reference. Of course. ‘’We just gotta accept what we got now,’’ he smiles. ‘’And we got each other, right? That’s something to be happy about, isn’t it?’’

Oh god Jeff don’t cry, don’t cry, don’t cry. Not here. Not in front of the man you love. 

…

And you’re crying. Good job Jeff.

I’m not a loud crier. But I am a gross crier. I get all snotty and stuttery and can’t get my voice out properly. Tears prick at the corners of my eyes and silently roll down my gross scarred face. Ben reaches over and brushes them off with cold fingers. He feels cold as he hugs me but I don’t care. I wrap an arm around him and tug him closer. I can feel his breath on my neck as he gently shushes me. He sounds so caring, so...loving. Like a parent should treat their mentally ill kid. 

‘’B-ben-’’ I stammer out. He’s rubbing circles in my back. ‘’I lo-’’ wait what am I saying. ‘’I l-love-’’ WAIT HOLD ON- ‘’I love you…’’

SHIT

FUCK

NO

WAIT-

He hugs me tight and I shiver in the coldness of his body. ‘’I love you too…’’ his voice is soft and gentle. I believe him. I believe that he loves me. Genuinely- like I actually matter to him. He’d miss me if I was gone. And that- that’s a lot. I’ve spent my whole life feeling like it wouldn’t matter if I disappeared off the face of the earth. You wouldn’t care, my parents wouldn’t have cared. But Ben? Ben cares…

Which is why I proceed to squeeze the life (or lack thereof) out of him and sob into his shoulder. He holds me tight until I’ve (kinda) calmed down. He pulls away and tilts my head up to look at him. As gentle and as loving as I’d dreamed him, he wipes tears out of my eyes. I sob horsley and stare at him. He cups my face in his cold hands and smiles down at me.

‘’There you go…’’ he murmurs. ‘’See? I knew you just needed to get it out.’’ he smiles at me. I just- told him I love him. And he’s not making a big deal of it. That’s good, right?? That means he accepts me- right?

Right...yeah. Yeah, Ben accepts me. Ben doesn’t judge. 

‘’Yeah…’’ I gulp and look away from him awkwardly. ‘’Hey uh- do you wanna-’’ I fiddle with my hands again. ‘’Do you wanna...watch a movie or something? Together.’’

He nods and smiles. ‘’I’d love to.’’

And so- we end up watching not one, not two, but three movies, late into the night. And the entire time he’s curled up in my lap, comfy as can be. As the credits on our last movie roll, he looks up at me.

‘’Hey Jeff?’’

‘’Yeah?’’

‘’I love you.’’

My face goes bright fucking red. I don’t need to see it, I can feel it. I bury my face in my hands out of embarrassment. I hear him laugh at me like the bastard he is. I shoot him a glare from in between my fingers. I want to say it. I really do. I want to tell him I love him back but- it’s- it’s hard. He reaches up and pulls one of my hands away, letting him see me.

‘’You don’t have to say it back. It’s okay. I know.’’ He hugs my waist and rests his head against my chest. ‘’I can wait...until you’re ready.’’

It’s at this point I start crying. Again. 

Ben shushes me gently and runs his hand through my hair. And...as I looked down at him- it finally clicked. I don’t have to put the shield up- not around him. Ben is different. Ben...Ben is good.

Yeah.

Ben is good.

I guess...the reason why I’m telling you this- well...not telling, I guess- writing. The reason why I’m writing this is because...I feel like it’s something important. I need to remember it because...it’s a step. A step in me learning to accept myself. It sounds corny yeah but- fuck off okay? I’m full of trauma and insecurities. I’m allowed be a little sappy.

I don’t know who’ll end up reading this- I mean I’m literally scribbling it into a notebook I found in his drawer. There’s only two people who I really want this to be seen by. Ben, because he deserves to know how much he’s affected and helped me, and two...my brother. Though I doubt he’d ever find this- heh- 

I...love Ben. And that’s okay. At least- to me, I think it is.

[drabbledragon]

Linktober: Surprise

This post is very close to the day 4 deadline but honestly, I had a lot of fun creating and tampering with the plot! Be cautious, though, because there is quite a bit of violence in this one.

AO3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26749021/chapters/65454667

Summary: A new friend is brought to camp, and it surprises a certain Ordonian

Warnings: Some violence

Day 4: Surprise

It was a surprisingly cold day out, Twilight mused, although that’s to be expected as the season goes further into fall. The cold, crisp air and colorful leaves reminded him of his home back in Ordon Village; if memory serves, he would be harvesting Ordonian pumpkins with Fado right now.

He sighed wistfully and tended to the campfire with a long stick. He wondered how everyone back home was doing. Beth, Talo, Malo, and certainly Colin missed him, and he was sure Fado was struggling to herd all the goats back into their house without his and Epona’s help. And of course there was his mentor, Rusl - well, one of his mentors, he supposed, now that he met Time - along with his wife, Uli, who were most likely busy taking care of their newborn child; it’s a shame that he was never able to meet their new baby, but if he knew anything about Rusl, he would excitedly tell Twilight all about his child from sunup to sundown.

And how could he forget Midna? Their meeting may have happened by chance but he felt that they were destined to meet. They had grown to be close friends during their travels across Hyrule - maybe even more than that - and not a single day goes by where he doesn’t think about her. He wondered what would happen if he managed to say what was on his mind before she disappeared into the Mirror of Twilight; if his thoughts and feelings would be enough to make her stay, or allow him to live in the Twilight Realm alongside her. He could only speculate at this point. 

He nearly jumped out of his skin when a tan snout poked at his shoulder.

“Wild, is that a bear?!” He shouted, and he looked up to see his protege sitting idly on the creature’s back, a goofy grin on his face.

“Yeah, isn’t it great? I was out looking for herbs when I found a bear following me around! He looked like he was hungry so I did a little bit of fishing for him -”

Which meant Wild had jumped into a river, Twilight frowned, again.

“- And then we became best friends! Like he watched me cook them by the fire and everything! Although he was starting to lose his patience towards the end.” He shrugged nonchalantly as if a bear watching him cook was just another daily occurrence. “ Anyways, did you know he’s a big fan of Hearty Salmon? I’m more of a Voltfin Trout guy myself but to each their own, y’know?”

Twilight was barely able to make it through the whole story without pinching the bridge of his nose, “ Wild, you can’t just bring a bear to camp. You know full - well that that thing likes to go through food and attack anything it sees moving.”

“But he won’t, I promise!” The smile from Wild’s face had now given way to a defensive look, “ He’s very polite and friendly and hasn’t done anything to hurt me at all! Plus you always let dogs and cats follow you around, and you don’t even care when Legend brings a whole flock of seagulls to camp!”

The Hero of Legend stopped whatever he was doing at the mention of his name and gave the two a pointed look, “ Hey, you two leave the seagulls out of this.” But he was paid no mind.

“That’s because cats, dogs, and seagulls aren’t actively trying to maul me to death!” The Ordonian’s voice dropped to a lower volume in order to prevent the others from overhearing. “ You know how many times I almost got killed by a bear? Eight, and five of those times were as a wolf. The last thing I need right now is to make that number nine, or to have anyone die thanks to some idiot bringing a bear into camp. Really, you’re like the only one here who’s constantly putting us in danger.”

Perhaps he went too far on that one. He watched all the fight leave his protege like a potion being drained of its contents, giving way to wide eyes and a pale complexion.

“Wait, Cub, I didn’t -”

But Wild didn’t want to hear it. With a gentle tug of the bear’s fur, the Hero of Wilds nudged his companion towards the forest and left, not a single hint of hesitance shown in his actions. 

Twilight watched as the figure disappeared behind tall trees and overgrown bushes, and a large part of him just wanted to shift into his Twili form and run after their trail, but he paused instead.

Wait, why should Twilight go after him? Sure, he’s his mentor and all and he feels like he has a personal obligation to protect the kid but now that he thinks about it, hasn’t he been coddling him too much? Too many times has he taken to his Twili form to find a lost Wild that had wandered to the other half of a Hyrule just because he had a need for adventure, and too many times had he had to answer to Time for the crazy stunt his charge had decided to pull just for curiosity’s sake. Despite being 117 years old, Wild acted like a child - a feral child, at that - that would rather spend the whole day messing around in an open field rather than helping the people who needed him the most.

He crossed his arms over his chest and huffed. Seriously, how was Wild supposed to grow up and take responsibility for himself if Twilight was always there to bail him out? Maybe it’s about time for the Hero of Wilds to learn that he can’t just do whatever he wants, whenever he wants. He’ll learn in due time, Twilight assured himself, and he’ll be back by tonight for sure.

With that being said, he turned his back and went to go tend to the fire.

Wild wasn’t back that night. Everything seemed well among the remaining heroes, though: Warriors and Legend were locked in their usual banter, Wind and Four were telling exaggerated stories about their adventures, and Sky, Time, and Hyrule were all idly sitting by, amused by everyone’s antics; the only real difference tonight was Twilight and Wild, where the latter was nowhere to be found and the former worried profusely about his charge’s absence. 

Twilight restlessly tapped his foot against the ground and stared into what Hyrule would call dinner. Seriously, where was Wild? The Ordonian thought that he would be back in maybe two, three hours max but it had been ten hours, and there was still no sign of him. Had he gotten hurt? Was he attacked by a hoard of Darias or Gerus that Hyrule often warned them about? Had a Zora grabbed him by the ankle and drowned him in a river? Twilight knew that his protege was very friendly towards Zoras so it really wasn’t out of the realm of possibilities.

“Go.”

He looked up to Time and stuttered out, “ H - Huh?”

Without ever shifting his gaze from the fire, he quietly whispered to his protege, “You’re worried about the cub, aren’t you? So you should go and find him; I’ll cover for you in the meantime.”

He processed the words for a few seconds, and then nodded. The old man was right: no matter how irresponsible, thoughtless, and careless Wild could be at times, he was still his protege, and as his mentor, Twilight should be there with him every step of the way, ready to help him up when he couldn’t find his footing in a situation. He left the group without so much as a sound, and as soon as he was out of sight, transformed into his Twili form and left, fervently following the scent of the former champion’s trail.

It had been about ten minutes by the time Twilight had finally found Wild. He was located in a small clearing of trees with, oddly enough, his bear companion laying down next to him; there was a small campfire going with a makeshift pot held over it, and the wolf could easily smell the tantalizing taste of Salmon Risotto.

He shook his head: this wasn’t the time to be salivating over the smell of real food. With a gentle command to his Shadow Crystal, his form shifted to that of a Hylian’s.

“Cub, I -”

Go away, Wild signed, and as if to emphasize, the large bear beside him growled.

The Ordonian immediately took a two steps back and sighed. This was going to be hard: not only did he have to worry about his friend fleeing if he got too close, but he also had to worry about a bear potentially running up and attacking him, and he really didn’t feel like defending himself from a creature twice his size. He finally chose to settle himself on the ground instead, intent on making himself seem as small and non - threatening as possible.

“Listen, I didn’t mean anything I said back there, alright? We got stranded in Hyrule’s Hyrule, we’ve been travelling for days, infected monsters are always showing up and trying to kill us, and I guess I was thinking about what was going on back home, so I was just really stressed out this afternoon. When you brought a bear to camp, I guess that was the final straw and I just took out all my anger on you. I mean, yeah, you really shouldn’t bring a bear of all things to a camp but that thing about you always putting us into trouble was completely wrong. If anything, we put ourselves into trouble, and it has nothing to do with you being here.”

He watched anxiously as his protege stirred the pot, never daring to meet Twilight’s own concerned gaze. He could see the bear beside Wild carefully watching him, paws resting readily on the ground as if it was anticipating for the Hero of Twilight’s one bad slip - up. After what seemed like centuries, the former champion finally let go of his ladle and brought his hands up to sign again,

You’re wrong, and that made Twilight lean forward, my whole life’s been nothing but bringing trouble to everyone. Back when my Hyrule wasn’t destroyed, everything I ever did just made things worse: I followed Zelda around, and she hated me; I protected people from danger, and now the Yiga are trying to kill me; I did everything I possibly could to prevent Zelda from dying, and I literally ended up dying right in the middle of Fort Hateno, and I was lucky that Impa was willing to put me in the Shrine of Resurrection. Now I’m here with eight different Links from eight different timelines and it looks like everywhere I go, trouble always follows. Just two weeks ago I led a bunch of Bokoblins to us because I took a couple of their weapons, and then five days ago I dyed Warriors’s hair green because I tossed him a green potion and it hit a branch and spilled all over him. 

“Well that could happen to anyone,” Twilight interrupted, “ Those bottles are fragile so one small hit and they’ll shatter.”

Fine, but what about everything else? The Yiga, my Zelda, my Hyrule - everything’s a mess because I can’t get my life together; I can’t even remember what my life was like in the first place!

“That’s different! The part about your Hyrule being destroyed is all Ganon’s fault, not yours!”

Then why couldn’t I live up to be a true Hero of Courage like the rest of you? Why couldn’t I just stop this whole thing from happening in the first place?

Twilight was growing frustrated. Where was Wild getting the notion that he could’ve prevented an immortal evil demon from corrupting his Guardians? He was just a 17 year old kid back then, for Hylia’s sake! 

He opened his mouth to respond back, retort at the ready, when a sudden axe whizzed by and lodged itself into the tree behind him. His surprised gaze quickly met Wild’s for a brief moment before he abruptly stood up, Ordonian sword at the ready. Just a few seconds later, a horde of snarling enemies pushed their way from the forest and surrounded the heroes from all sides.

The Hero of Twilight knitted his brows as he slowly stepped back toward the center of the clearing, “ Darias? But I thought Hyrule said they only show up around Death Mountain!”

“Infected.” Was all Wild whispered back, but Twilight completely understood. It had become a common occurrence by now to see monsters that they were sure only showed up in one place and one timeline now showing up all over different eras; and as if some of them having to fight monsters that they never encountered before wasn’t enough, the enemies’ blood seemed to make them stronger, allowing them to have the upperhand on any poor passerby they could fight.

And it looks like Twilight and Wild were a couple of those poor passersby.

The Hero of Twilight swiftly leaned his head away as one of the Darias swung its axe and in the same breath, the former pierced its chest and forced his sword up, causing the enemy to crumple to the ground in defeat. He rose his sword out of the corpse and grimaced: black blood, these are infected.

He perked up when he heard the dull thuds of feet running towards him and ducked just in time to avoid a monster from either side going to swing at him with their respective axes. He winced when the sound of two heads clunking filled the quiet night air and hastily got back onto his feet to slash at the two Darias writhing on the ground. 

He felt light on his feet as he continued to attack the oncoming enemies. Some came to attack him on their own while others stayed stubbornly in pairs, but the process was all the same regardless: step, lean, duck, sidestep, block, spin, and end his foe with a well - practiced stab. If there were two coming at him, he just needed to be quicker, and that was no problem for a hero who was used to facing five Shadow Beasts at a time. 

Every now and then he would catch a quick glimpse of his protege fighting just a few steps beside him, and just like always, every attack was graceful and cleverly calculated. The Ordonian grinned: Wild may act like a child at times, but he took his fighting seriously, and it showed through his undeterred concentration. No enemy should have ever made the mistake of crossing paths with the Champion of Hyrule.

The last enemy fell down in a graceless heap, and Twilight wasted no time in ending its life with an Ending Blow. There was something poetic about it, he mused as he sheathed his sword, ending a battle with an attack that his predecessor had taught him long ago.

He took an eager step forward towards his protege, congratulatory praises at the ready, when a scaled hand reached from behind and dug into his shoulder.

“Twilight!”

Wild’s shocked shriek rang through the air and Twilight had to do everything in his power to make sure that his pained yelp didn’t join it. His other hand scrambled to grab at the Daria’s wrist and when he did, he used every bit of energy he had left to force it back. The threat of an axe raised just above his head made adrenaline rush through his veins, and he became acutely aware of the blood running down his shoulder and soaking into his tunic; but he couldn’t pay any mind to it, because he needed to focus on biding time for a panicked Wild so he could swipe through his Sheikah Slate and find the weapon he needed.

But he didn’t need to wait for that because in a blink of an eye, a rush of brown fur dug its fangs into the enemy’s side and pushed its body aside, freeing the Hero of Twilight from the Daria’s grip. He watched the brown mass - which he now noticed was Wild’s bear companion - tear at the infected foe with sharp white claws and no mercy. The animal finally stepped back when the creature had been torn to shreds, and took a few seconds to make sure it was dead.

Twilight’s breath hitched when the bear started to pad towards him. He wouldn’t necessarily say that he had a fear of bears per se, but the sight of the very same creature that liked to use him for hunting practice was walking towards him did tend to make him feel a little bit unnerved.

However, to his complete and utter surprise, instead of the animal coming over to attack him, it instead gently nudged at his side and whined. 

He froze. Was this bear trying to comfort him? 

And with that very same suspicion in mind, the Hero of Twilight reached his free hand forward and tentatively placed it on the creature’s head, ruffling the fur in the same way the other Links did when he was a wolf.

“You saved me back there,” He smiled sincerely, “ Thank you.”

The creature yawned back in response.

He startled when he felt a gentle hand touch his good shoulder, and turned just in time to see the Hero of Wilds offering him a red potion.

“For your shoulder,” He urged, and when he saw his mentor ready to protest, he added in a quick, “ Don’t worry, I got 25 more in my bag.”

Twilight drank it greedily, and felt its healing effects immediately. He could dimly feel the gentle knitting of skin beneath his tunic, and when he looked at the injury, he found that there was nothing left but a few white scars; but even those would fade in a day or so.

He looked to see the former champion staring at the ground with his curtain of hair hiding his eyes, “ Jeeze, that was stupid of me. I should’ve kept an extra set of arrows at the ready; I could’ve helped you the second that Daria got you.”

“You did help me, well -” The Ordonian patted the bear standing quietly beside him. “ - your bear helped me, but you know what I mean. Sure, the thing saved me and all but if it wasn’t for you taming him in the first place, I wouldn’t have a ten foot tall animal here to save me. So really, because of you, I avoided getting an axe to the head.”

The Hero of Wilds beamed at him and for some reason, his small smile reminded him of Colin’s back home. 

Ah, he wondered how Ordon Village was doing back home; how much Colin, Beth, Talo, and Malo grew up while he was away, and how Rusl and Uli were doing with their newborn, and how Mayor Bo and Ilia were running and keeping the town safe, and how Fado was doing with preparing the ranch for the winter; and how could he forget Midna? The leader of the Twili, the one who was always there to guide him on his adventure, the one he had grown to love. He missed them all dearly, but he knew he wasn’t alone.

Twilight ruffled a hand through his protege’s hair, “ Y’know, as much trouble as you are, I wouldn’t trade you for the world.”

Because when Wild laughed, he was reminded that the Hero of Wilds was his family, too, and he would do anything to protect the ones he loved. 

<Previous Next>

[bexterbex]

A Soul to Mend His Own | Ch. 62

pamgWarning, PLEASE CHECK TAGS IF YOU SEE SOMETHING YOU DON’T WANT TO READ THEN DON’T READ. | Tag lists are closed | INBOX OPEN

Tags: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Will tag as I go along, Will update tags, Slow Burn, Influenced by Star Trek and other Sci-Fi themes, References to We Happy Few, Tons of References and quotes to George Orwells 1984 see if you can find them all, The First Order is the new Big Brother,  but who is really surprised, Blatant Nazi Symbolism, Interrogation Themes, Eventual Smut, Eventual Romance, Really just drawn out Slow Burn, Don’t repost without permission, Torture themes, Suggestive Themes, Execution themes, Disturbing Themes, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Verbal Abuse, Controlling Kylo Ren, Physical Abuse, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Kylo Ren is Not Nice, Kylo Ren Has Issues, Supreme Leader Kylo Ren, Possessive Kylo Ren, A character shamelessly based on Zelda

A Kylo Ren x Modern! Reader in a soulmate au with canon divergence. —————————————SLOWBURN————————————–

He is already the Supreme leader, searching the universe to find you, his Empress. Your name on his wrist has been the only constant in his life, while you have doubts about his existence and his acceptance of you. He isn’t in the database and why did the name Kylo Ren cover Ben Solo?

MASTERLIST

Chapter 62: Dreams Again

A/N: If you haven’t seen it go check out this awesome cover art @pamgkrthart​ made for this story: LINK

You were in the house that the young boy was left all alone in; you assume it was Kylo’s childhood home.

She didn’t speak at first. The older woman, she invited you to sit with her. She silently offered you tea, which you accepted. You watched each other.

“You are probably wondering why I brought you here. Why we are speaking now.” Her voice had a feminine leathery sort of sound, calm but aged in a way that you know she has been through a lot.

You simply nodded, not knowing if your voice was going to work or not.

“I fear for my son, Ben. You know him as Kylo, a creature of his own construction. I know of his plans, his plans to kill Ben, to kill the light within him, and thus the need to kill me. This I know to be my fate.” She looked down into her own cup of tea, not meeting your eyes before continuing. “Ben was once a happy boy, before Kylo, before everything went wrong. His father and I may not have been the best parents, but know that we loved him, that I still love him.”

She was quiet for a while, staring into her cup. You could feel the emotions coming off of her in soft waves.

You attempted to speak, putting in a bit of effort, “What is your name?” You had yet to learn of either of Kylo’s parents. You now had a face, but you wanted a name.

“Leia,” she then looked at you in the eyes. Which were filled with grief, “Your name has always brought him comfort. Since he was old enough to understand what was on his wrist. Something his father and I could never do after sending him away.” She paused for a moment. You could see her holding back tears. “We thought we were doing what was best. Now I know we were wrong. His father was afraid there was too much of my father in him, but I know better now. Ben is good, but Kylo is not. You need to believe me.”

You were confused by her words. “You sent your only son away? Why?” If Kylo wasn’t going to give you answers, you were going to try to get them from her.

“My brother, Luke was a Jedi. He was taught the ways of the Force, he taught me. Once the Empire had fallen, we felt it was safe enough to start the Jedi Order again. So Luke opened up a temple. To train those who are strong in the Force to be able to use it. Ben was one of them. He was unstable at times, I couldn’t teach him, so we sent him to train with my brother. He was young, too young, I know that now. He felt that we had abandoned him, but that was never my intention.”

Before she could continue you interjected, “But it wasn’t the first time you had abandoned him, was it?” You recalled the dream that you had. The one that also took place in this house, the one with the boy.

She looked shocked. Probably wondering how you knew such a thing. “We never meant to. His father and I loved each other, but we weren’t good for each other, not in the long run. We were matches, but we worked better as separates together than we did as a couple. We were the people who worked out better as platonic soulmates versus romantic. That doesn’t mean I didn’t love him, I did, but we were healthier apart.”

You wondered if this was an omen for your own relationship, would Kylo and you ever work out? Or would you bring a child into existence and not realize where your fates lied until it was too late.“So you sent him away, then what?”

“He was trained by his uncle but influenced by another. Influenced by Snoke who turned him to the dark side, like my father before him. He tormented him into thinking that we were the ones that were wrong.”

“But weren’t you? You said it yourself, you sent him away. You abandoned him. You raised him in an unhealthy household. I have felt some of his pain. Things you have caused. Things that I now must fix, must mend to make him whole again.” You were fighting back both tears and anger now. She may be his mother, one who loves him, but she has caused him so much pain, pain you doubted that you could heal.

“I just want my son to come home. I want him to know I still love him. That I forgive him for what he has done. I just want him home.”

You stared at her, the anger now starting to take control. “So tell me. Just what has he done?”

“He has killed both his father Han Solo and his uncle Luke Skywalker. He has killed a great many other people too. All in the name of power and the First Order. He will kill me too, in order to finally end Ben Solo.”

Her words hit you like a bus. So she was his final task. Killing his mother was part of his plan to kill Ben Solo--to protect you. You tried to not let this faze you as you asked, “And what of Rey? What is she in all this?”

Her face eclipsed with confusion as she answered, “They are connected somehow through the Force, I do not know why. Luke did not know why. She has been helping me bring him home.”

Tears fully spilling from your eyes, the anger and heartbreak taking over your rational. Venom filling your mouth, “So you both want me gone? You both want me to step away from him? Because why? So you can attempt to fix what you have broken? To take my soulmate away from me just so you can be a happy family again? When he has explicitly said that isn’t what he wants? I don’t think so.” You stood up from the table. Ready to march out the door of this dream.

She stopped you, “Wait. I never told Rey to try to get him to abandon you. That is her agenda. I just want my son. Please let him know I would like to see him. That I want him to come home.”

You faced her now, “Why don’t you visit his dreams instead, I’m sure that would be more effective,” you spat.

“I can’t, he is too strong in the Force. Your mind is weaker. And he will listen to you. Please, I want my son home.” You could tell that she could also feel the dream world shake around her. Whatever she was doing to make this happen was starting to fail now.

You coldly met her eyes, “No, you need to listen to him. If he doesn’t want to come home, then you need to listen. You obviously didn’t respect his wishes when he was a young boy. But you need to do so now. You’ve harmed him enough. Ben wasn’t strong enough, but Kylo is.” You stormed out of the house. As the door slammed behind you the dream world dissipated. And you woke up in a cold sweat.

Kylo was awake next to you, sitting up in a hurry, “Kitten what’s wrong?” You could hear the worry in his voice.

“I’ve just met your mother. And let’s just say things didn’t go well.” Really, the other women in his life, other than anyone in the First Order, had a real knack for pissing you off.

He shifted next to you, “Show me.” It wasn’t a question, but a simple command.

You both held eye contact for a moment before shutting your eyes and leaning into him. You felt his hand caress your face as you replayed the dream if you could call it that.

His voice was stern, “Kitten?”

You hummed in response. Wondering what he was angry about.

“I will have to be in your mind. You are too weak to be able to protect yourself from them. I must do it, you leave me no other choice.”

Before you could respond you felt the tendrils come back in full force. This time they were no longer politely inhabiting your brain. They took up every square inch. Leaving no memory or thought untouched. You blacked out from the force of it all.

You dreamed again, but this time it was a variation of the throne dream. You were once again sitting on a throne with the black shaggy dog. Except this time you were watching your own reflection, instead of encountering another version of yourself.

You looked the same in the reflection, but the dog didn’t. The dog was Kylo, still with a chain around his neck, and his head in your lap. You watched as the Kylo in the reflection seemed to bask under the pets that were given to him.

You watched as in his hand out of nowhere appeared his lightsaber. He ignited it. In one quick slash, he cut his chain. You quickly looked over at the dog that was next to you, his chain still intact. You then returned your attention back to Kylo. He had removed the collar that was around his neck and disabled the lightsaber and placed it on his belt.

You then watched as he came closer to the edge of the reflection, inspecting it. He then stepped forward through the threshold of your side. The reflection shattering behind him, like broken glass. As if he was actually trapped in a mirror. He approached you.

“Kitten, you look wonderful as an Empress.” He knelt down on one knee, taking your hand in his, kissing it. “I am unworthy to bask in your radiance. To grovel at your feet.”

You grabbed his face in your hands and brought your face to his, “Thank you Kylo, but that simply isn’t true.” You then kissed him deeply. This time you took dominance over the kiss, he submitted to your actions.

He moaned and broke the kiss for a moment. “Kitten,” his voice purred.

But before the dream could continue, you felt pressure behind your ear.

“Kitten, it’s time to wake up,” called the Kylo that was based in reality.

Your head felt as if it weighed a million pounds as you attempted to wake up. You could feel the tendrils shift as you did so. “Mmm, I don’t feel good.”

His hand carded through your hair, you felt the weight lessen, but not completely dissipate. “You can’t stay in bed all day.”

“Why not?” You turned on your side so your back was facing him.

“Because if you stay in bed, I’ll want to stay in bed. And then no progress gets done. And then we are that much father from you becoming Empress.”

“You mostly want me to become Empress so I’ll have sex with you,” you huffed.

“That isn’t the only reason. I think you would make a great Empress and that the galaxy isn’t worthy to have you rule over it.” His hands caressed down your sides, just as the tendrils caressed your mind.

“Fine, but I want to lay in bed until Adlez and Olivia-Rose get here.” He seemed content with this answer as he got up to get ready. Leaving you alone.

Even though you weren’t fully awake, and you felt the tendrils moving about you tried to process what you learned through the night. Your mind came up short as the tendrils kept shifting. You weren’t able to complete a stable thought.  

[loz-and-lu-fan-blog]

Linked universe. The young one in green...

Tags: @ozmav

*was thinking about hyrule Warriors. Wanted to do a little bit of angst and work on Warriors character so here ya go (I was bored)*

Warriors had been with the other links for over two months now. They had unofficial started to call him captain and he was starting to use his voice more. It was amazing how quickly they bond, granted that doesn’t mean they always get along; he and Legend were maybe seconds away from killing each other on most day. But it felt nice, if felt familiar.

Warriors signed to himself as he started to get lost in thought. He had been first to explain his adventure that earn him his triforce of courage, seeing how it was a very similar situation they were in. However he’s been looking for someone sense the timelines were ‘fix’ and despite Warriors observers he still couldn’t find him.

Warriors looked around the campsite. Almost everyone was gather around the fire eating, well everyone but Time however the old man was checking the perimeter. From past experience, he knew the group would break off when they finished eating; some would try to sleep, others would try to repair stuff. So if Warriors decided its better to asked questions then just stew in his silence.

“How old were you when you started your adventures?” Warriors asked to the silence. Most looked back at him with confusion.

“Why?” Legend looked at him narrowing his eyes, likely about to say something snarky like normal.

“Just...please” was all Warriors would say, as if he couldn’t find out how to explain it.

“Puf whatever, I started by adventures at 13” Legend said.

“16” Twilight popped in

“12” Wind chimed In happily.

It seemed most of the links had started their adventures somewhere between the ages of 12 to 16.

“And the old man?” Warriors asked to Twilight, after all he was the closes to pops.

“I think 13” Twilight said with a shrug.

“That can’t be right....” Warriors mutter to himself. He knew that the other warriors was a link, he had the triforce and everything; so why wasn’t he here.

“Care to explain captain?” Legend asked, again looking more pissed off.

“It’s something that happen in my adventure” Warriors explains “you all know that my adventure had timelines merging and meeting. It’s why I knew Wind and wasn’t freaking out by this”

Almost everyone nodded in response. Warriors swallow the lump in this throat that had developed. “Their was another Link, one besides Wind. I figure it was one of you younger but it doesn’t make sense. You all said you started your adventures in your teens, this kid wasn’t a teen”

Most of the Link were now fully invested.

“Maybe it was just Four, you know how short he is, he could have been mistake for a child” Legend offered.

“Hey!!” Four yelled.

“No it wasn’t Four. Four said he started his adventure at 12” Warriors said in a matter of fact tone.

“How old was he then?” This time Sky asked.

“10” Warriors reply.

It was like everything went silent, the links stopped speaking, the wind stopped blowing through the trees. Even the bonfire had lost its ability to crack as Warriors said the age of the mysterious hero.

“10? Are you sure?” Sky asked again as the other nodded their head in agreement. Most couldn’t imagine taking on their adventures so young.

“10 at the most” Warriors said making the color drain from the other Links “maybe 8 at the least”

“Are you sure?” Hyrule asked the war hero.

“Yeah I’m sure” Warriors said leading to a awkward moment of silence.

“Why don’t you tell us about him?” Twilight offers “maybe it is one of our memories but we just forgotten it. It might jog a memory”

Warriors nodded in understanding before trying to pick a place to start.

“Well he wore green in that help” Warriors said with a smile causing almost everyone to groan. It had been a running joke in the group about how they all wore green in their adventures.

“Get on with it” Legend said, with a mixed between amusement and annoyance. Warriors let out a sigh as his smile dropped as he remembered the young link.

“I found him in the middle of a battle field. At first I thought he had been caught by the enemy; however looking back I realize the blood on his sword, he was the one who slaughtered that army” Warriors started as he notice Legend opening his mouth to ask something. “I don’t know how he did it. Otherwise I would tell you” Warriors state causing Legend to shut up as the others lead in. Suddenly Warriors face lit up with a smile.

“My fairy found him first. He looked so happy when he saw her” suddenly his face shifted to a frown “it all disappeared when she told him her name. Like his hope was taken away in that moment”

“Fairy?” Twilight asked.

“Proxy, I didn’t speak much” Warriors started.

“Wish you still didn’t” Legend said making the playful jab but Warriors just ignored him.

“She was a little blue fairy, and she use to speak for me. I think he confused her for another one”

“Did he say anything?” Sky asked.

“No, as soon as he saw me he ran. You would have thought I was ganon in his eyes” Warriors said.

“Then how did you meet him?” Hyrule asked more confused.

“That was the second time. We found him in another field of dead enemies. That’s when I put it together that he was who did that. Impa and Zelda decided he would be a good warrior. I remember getting into a screaming match with Impa over that” Warriors states staring at the sky in memory.

“He didn’t run away?” Twilight asked.

“His leg was hurt, he couldn’t even it he wanted to” Warriors said as his face shifted to a sad expression. “He looked so sad and tired, like he was holding the weight of the sky on his shoulders, scared every second it would break. He had bags under his eyes like he hadn’t slept in days....he wasn’t very trusting”

“How did you get him to trust you?” Wild asked.

“You assume he trusted me. I like to think he did, but I’m never sure” Warriors offered with a shrug.

“All we got so far was that he was a sad boy who didn’t trust much, I think that’s a bit broad” Legend said bring up a good point. Warriors to a second trying to remember the little details of the hero.

“I think he did trust me a bit. He only seemed to fall asleep around me. He loved proxy, most kids when they see fairies think of them as playthings and act rough, not him. He always held Proxy like she would break at the slightest of touch. I admit I felt a little bit of jealousy, but I couldn’t really stay man at the kid. He also like music, he never would speak but he would hum so much. Whenever the kid was still he would hum, some songs I recognize some I didn’t. Eventually I started to hum along with him, I think he noticed” Warriors said as his face shifted to a smile.

“What happened to him?” Sky asked making Warriors smile disappear.

“He returned to his timeline, like Wind did to his” Warriors ran his hand through his hair before giving a broken laugh “I knew something had hurt the kid, and I didn’t want him to go back to it. I thought maybe if I asked Lana she couldn get him to stay in my timeline. I could look after him......it was a stupid idea, wishful thinking”

Warriors let out a chuckle before starting to talk again.

“The little Link love playing around with mask, however he never let me touch them. He looked so tired but would never sleep; he only seemed to fall asleep around me. Like he wouldn’t fall asleep if other were around.” Warriors face shifted to a grimace “he hated meat, he refused to eat it. Sometime Impa tried to force it but he would just go hunger. I never knew what caused him to not like it but I didn’t question. I would bring him my portion of veggies while I took his portion of meat. It’s weird for some hero to eat only vegetables”

“Who eats only vegetables?” Time said appearing from the shadows, finally finishing patrol.

“Some random link from the timeline” Legend pipped in, his tone earning him a smack from Hyrule.

“Warriors was telling us about the other Link from his Adventures. We been trying to figure out if it was one of us” Sky informed the elder hero.

“Oh” Time said taking his spot next to Twilight.

“Yeah he telling us things he remembers about the other Link” Wind said excitedly like it was some sort of guessing game. Most of the Links tried to bring Time up to speed on what they knew, he nodded along with every word. Eventually everyone got tired or had something better to do, leaving Time and Warriors still at the campfire. Time because he hasn’t eaten yet and Warriors because he forgot to eat while explaining his story.

“Tell me something about this small Link of yours” Time asked before getting a bit of soup.

Warriors just smile, knowing the part that everyone seemed to left out.

“He loved music. It seems whenever we had a moment to breath he would be humming something, as if it relaxed him. He also had an instrument of some sort; don’t know what it was called but it was a pretty blue color. He always had a smile when he played it, like it bring joy and some light through the terrible darkness” Warriors explains as he stares up at he night sky, remember the younger Link.

“An instrument like this?” Time said grabbing something out of his bag to show to the Captain.

There is was right in his leader’s hand was the instrument young link used to play. It shone the same brilliant blue and didn’t look any older.

Warriors was in shock for a minute, trying to process what was in front of him. He looked at Time who just gave a warm smile, the ones he gave when he was proud of one them.

It makes so much sense now. Time never really judge Wind for his age; saying he would be he worst example for that. Time had a love for leafy greens and didn’t particularly like eating meat; never really argue about it. The humming was the same. When Time was comfortable he hummed, the songs sound so familiar now.

Warriors was frozen for a second before moving knocking his bowl of soup out of his hands. He ran up to Time hugging the older hero and effectively knocking his soup away to.

Warriors held Time in a tight hug and tears ran down his face with the flood of emotions he was getting. Happiness that young link was safe and grew up, sadness for missing it, anger for Time not telling him; and lastly despair, remember that he young child with trauma was their supposedly fearless leader.

Time effortlessly return the hug.

“You have questions?” Time asked. And felt a nod from Warriors.

“I’ll answer them all. Considering it a thank you for everything you did for me”

[fatefulfaerie]

Despair

The following one shot has no spoilers for Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity. Not only have I distanced myself from social media feeds, but I also wrote this quite a while ago. I promise this is safe to read and spoiler-free.

If you are reading this and are aware of spoilers that perhaps contradict it, please be mindful of your knowledge and respect that others would like to find out in their own time and space. Please do not tell me I got anything “wrong” or “right” or talk about Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity in any way. Just read it, appreciate that I took the time to write it before I knew anything canon to contradict it and keep scrolling. Thank you in advance.

“Leave me here,” Zelda said between sobs, her breath hiccuping as she cried into the nook of Link’s elbow. His blue eyes were like waves that ebbed with concern, clutching her cold, shaky shoulder as his very heart pained to see her in such a state.“Without me to protect you can raid the castle and meet your destiny, you can be Hyrule’s hero. The kingdom needs you.”

Link's eyes, that had been watering and teasing tears, finally released one.

“Hyrule needs you, too,” he said.

“Evidently not,” Zelda replied with quite the bit of a bitter punch, as if inwardly punishing herself for her inadequacy for the millionth time.

“I need you,” Link stated, with a type of broken, vulnerable honesty that Zelda fervently believed, which is why she didn’t doubt at all the truth in his statement as she lifted her head slowly from Links chest, her lips parted and her eyes glued to the love she saw in his.

No, she thought as her brow furrowed, that was impossible.

“I swore to protect you,” Link insisted. “And I also swore to defeat the calamity. Now that I have to choose between the two, I choose the former.”

Zelda’s finger’s gripped at the rain-sodden grass, the crease in her brow deepening as she shook her head.

“No!” She exclaimed. “No! I release you! I, Princess Zelda of Hyrule release you from your duty to protect me this instant! You are no longer mm--”

Link had surged forward and interrupted the continued movement of her lips by crashing his own into them, his hand on her cheek and his eyes closed, almost fearful of his own courage. Zelda, however, quickly found his hand on her her cheek, ripping it away and prompting Link to rescind.

Their breathing heaved as they searched each other, Zelda utterly shocked and Link regretting his action and how forward he was. He should have asked first.

Link prepared to voice his apology but soon forgot it as they stared at each other, Zelda’s hand still clutching Link’s wrist from when she removed his hand from her cheek. A certain clarity overcame them as they panted, that the wall between them had finally crumbled down. There was no need for hesitation anymore.

Zelda used her grip on Link’s wrist to pull him towards her completely. Her back slammed against the wet ground and Link couldn't help but follow her down, kissing her with a great sense of relief and release, like the first breath after holding it. His love for her was unconfined for the first time ever, and he couldn’t get enough of expressing it, and it seemed Zelda was the exact same. His chest flush to hers, he let his lust free for this fleeting moment.

And yet it wasn’t long before hurried beeping alarmed them, Zelda and Link knowing exactly what the sound meant without even looking for who the red targeting circle was aimed upon.

They both hastened to standing, Link taking Zelda’s hand and running, running, running and praying to a goddess they frankly lost faith in, running and hoping out of sheer dumb luck they get out of this, dodging lasers borne from the Guardian chasing them, running and running and running and running until Link made a sharp turn into a cave. Luckily they had outsmarted the Guardian, who continued to chase their prior trajectory.

Link and Zelda both panted with hands on their knees and heads hung.

“Are you okay?” Link said between breaths, looking over to Zelda, who nodded. Zelda’s gaze lingered on Link, eyes studying everything about him, how tired he was. He didn’t have a lot of energy left in him. Zelda had always thought of him as impenetrable, and although she rebuked him for his recklessness, deep down she always hoped he really was immortal, that no matter what, he would make it through.

“Link,” she said, standing up straight. “I can’t let you abandon Hyrule for me.” She shook her head. “I just can’t. You need to put your energy into what is important.”

Link furrowed his brow. When would she understand?

“You are important,” he insisted. “and I’m not abandoning Hyrule, it’s just...” He hesitated for a second before stepping forward. “You are my priority. I need to get you safe first. If that makes me a bad hero, then the sword chose wrong.”