#I like to think they managed to steal a little more time together like Mipha had wanted

[creativesplat]

Stealing/ Affection: Link steals some time with Mipha after his death, and before his spirit rejoins his body in the shrine of resurrection.

[valasania-the-pale]

15 Questions 15 Mutuals

I was tagged by @runawaymun, thanks for tagging me! This’ll be a good way to pass some time :D

Rules: answer the questions and tag fifteen mutuals

1. Are you named after anyone?

One of the biblical angels, yes. I’m not a great fan of my name, but I don’t feel strongly enough about it to want to change it when it’d impact my family and whatnot. As far Valasania, that comes from Tolkien’s Valar. Singular Valar is Vala, sania was my addition to turn it into something that sounded like a proper name for a fantasy elf I was making for an MMORPG lol.

2. When was the last time you cried?

Evening before last I finished re-reading Sansukh and shed a fair few tears for the ending.Unfortunately, I am currently sick (and was at the time) so it wasn’t as cathartic as I’d have desired, just felt unpleasant and stuffy.

3. Do you have kids?

No, and I probably won’t ever, unless tragedy strikes my family or very life-changing epiphanies steal upon me. 

4. Do you use sarcasm a lot?

Yes, though less than I used to. I used to have the best deadpan expression on command, but it came at the cost of my affect a lot of the time, so I think I’ve found a nice balance.

5. What’s the first thing you notice about people?

Generally a voice will strike me first - it kinda depends on whether it’s online or in person. A voice, and how people talk, is a good window for me to get to know them better without asking, necessarily.

6. What's your eye colour?

blue.

7. Scary movies or happy endings?

Happy endings. I get that some movies aren’t meant to end happy, but if I just finish feeling wretched with no caveat, it’s just unpleasant.

8. Any special talents?

Writing I’d say for one, I can do a decent job at voices, I’ve got a keen mind for history and the like, and I judge speech and debate tournaments where I can. I also edit prose for a few close friends.

9. Where were you born?

Pacific Northwest.

10. What are your hobbies?

Writing where I can manage it, reading, videos games (primarily RPGs, but I also play a fair bit of Grand Strategy like Stellaris or Civ V, or MMORPGs like EVE Online or FFXIV. Currently playing Elder Scrolls Online). I’ve taken up DnD in the last two years, and have been DM’ing a few duets with friends as well. I’m looking forward to getting to run a larger campaign sometime in the future, but as of right now I haven’t gotten the group together.

11. Have you any pets?

Just my cat, Mipha! She’s a cuddly little gremlin, but she’s mine.

12. What sports do you play/have played?

I did some baseball as a child, but stopped pretty early, then took up martial arts for several years. I had to quit for the sake of my mental health in 5th grade. Getting moved to a ‘gifted’ school was really bad for me, probably did more harm than good. I was one belt away from my black belt, and I’ll never not resent how it ended, or that afterwards I heard that my instructors bad mouthed me to my peers. These days I try to get in regular walks where I can. If you count it as a sport, I judge speech and debate, and I’m active in that scene locally.

13. How tall are you?

5′10″, or, tall enough to not feel insecure, but too short to look any of my male friends in high school in the eye lol.

14. Favorite subject in school?

History and English. I wish I’d have gotten a proper Anthropology course in high school, it might’ve changed my trajectory in life, but I did eventually find myself in an Anthropology of Gender class at uni that was the best class I’ve had in my life.

15. Dream job?

A writer comfortable enough to not have to worry about money, getting to indulge in my hobbies as I like. I’m a teacher now, which is a good place to be, but it’s not where I want to be for forever. I’m not nearly consistent enough in writing to rely on it for income.

Tagging friends: @erynalasse, @itsclydebitches, @fandomsallaroundme, @theheirofashandfire, @outofangband, @eowyntheavenger and whoever else would like to join in! No pressure to anyone tagged :)

[botwriter]

Rewritten, Chapter 19: Vah Rudania

Read this on Fanfiction.net  ➜

Link hadn't lingered in Zora's domain after appeasing Vah Ruta. The beast, piloted by Mipha's spirit, had taken up a stance on the mountains and was firing some sort of red energy directly at Hyrule Castle; supposedly it was weakening Ganon's life force. As he ran along the cliffside towards the Akkala Region, Link looked at the castle - the light inside glowed faintly now and again.

I'm coming, Zelda.

One of the first things Link found in Akkala was an area he'd felt inexplicably drawn to - the Spring of Power. There, he found another memory, one of Zelda lamenting her inability to unlock her sealing power. As curious as Link was about Zelda, he also noticed himself in these memories - in the background, silent, holding the sword he assumed he had to find, and wearing his blue tunic. As the memory faded, Link crouched at the spring, clutching his head; why couldn't he at least remember himself?

When he tried to pray to the statue of Hylia for more health and stamina, she told him something different - to get a scale from the spirit Dinraal. When he talked to locals about this spirit, they informed him it was in fact a dragon, but it was hard to find, let alone steal a scale from. Still, he knew it had to be done, and kept it in the back of his mind as he left headed south for the Akkala Tower.

It was incredibly high-up, and surrounded by Guardians; these were the first live ones Link had seen that weren't stationary. What's worse, they were flying, with spotlights - he couldn't even sneak around at night. He'd have to climb straight up if he wanted to avoid them, or else risk them spotting him on the path. He could tell he wasn't yet equipped to take them out if one got its sights on him.

It took a while then, before Link made it to the top of Akkala tower; the Skywatchers and the malice surrounding the tower made it so. A dead Guardian sat a top the tower as well, and Link felt a lump in his throat just looking at it; alive, they were nearly unstoppable. They had almost completely succeeded in taking over Hyrule. It was a miracle, then, that some towns and villages were still standing today.

He peered west and saw the path he'd need to take to get up the volcano, and there was a stable there as well as a shrine he hadn't visited yet, so he jumped and parasailed down. The adrenaline rush he had first had when waking from his slumber was quickly disappearing. He was tired, bruised, his clothes were a mess generally and when he did sleep at night he passed out so fast, when he woke it felt like night had passed in five minutes. He tried not to think of this too much as he approached the ranch, landing softly in the grass nearby and waving a brief hello to the various individuals milling about the cooking pot.

♪

When he had completed the shrine nearby, a magnesis puzzle, and began heading up the path, a voice called him back.

"Hey! Wait! You're- not going up there, are you?"

"Yeah," he replied simply, looking over his shoulder at the girl who had stopped him.

"Then you'll need some of my potions," she said with a knowing smile, pulling the bag off her back and opening it proudly in front of him. Vials clanked together, a strange black liquid inside, and Link looked at them warily before lifting his gaze slowly back to hers.

"They look bad, but they're important. It's fireproof elixir, so you can survive on the volcano. It's super hot up there, you'll burn to a crisp otherwise," she said matter-of-factly, and noticing Link's suspicious expression, furrowed her brow. "I'm not scamming you! I'll give you a deal."

Link finally gave in, purchasing a few of the elixirs, before heading up the path. It wasn't long before he came across his first obstacle; a guardian, on all legs, patrolling up and down the path. His hood blew back off his face as he watched it. It was morning, and he had just woken up, but he was already exhausted just thinking about fighting it; as it spotted him, he pulled his shield out, holding it carefully in front of him. Timing was critical.

The beeping, as always, filled Link with a sense of dread that he had not yet encountered anywhere else in Hyrule. There was some association with the Guardians that he couldn't shake, but perhaps it was the fear danger; death awaited him if he failed at any point in fighting them. A blue flash alerted him that the attack was coming, and he pushed forward with a yell, his shield bouncing the beam back at the Guardian. It sustained a massive amount of damage, but did not fall; clearly the ones with legs were much stronger than their stationary counterparts.

"Seriously?" Link said, exasperated as he ran at the beast, drawing his broadsword and slashing away at the rocky body of the beast. In the time it took to regain composure, and locate the offender - Link - he had already taken it down. Pieces of leg rolled down the hill he had just climbed, and as he sheathed his sword, the machine burst into nuts and bolts. As usual.

He stuffed them into his pack, knowing he had to return to Purah eventually, and continued climbing. Sure enough, it was getting hotter and hotter, and as he came closer to the lava he could feel his very self burning. Frantically he pulled out an elixir, drinking it and becoming dizzy for a moment as his body steeled itself against the oppressive heat. It was still hot, that was for sure - but at least he didn't feel like he was boiling from the inside anymore.

Climbing the Sheikah Tower took twice the effort, and Link hated feeling so sweaty, but shade or sun didn't matter anymore. Death Mountain was aptly named. From the top of the tower, he could see Hyrule Castle clear as day, swirling with malice; and when he turned, he was shocked to see what must have been Vah Rudania. The massive stone lizard was crawling its way around the top of the volcano, feet aflame, mouth opening now and again to let out a roaring croaking sound. How on earth would he manage to board that thing?

He parasailed as far as he could, enjoying at least the wind on his brow as he went, and then continued climbing. A man halfway up traded him a piece of fireproof armor for some fireproof lizards, and the relief it gave Link to wear was invaluable. It just happened to be the clunkiest, most awkward chest piece he'd ever worn, but there was nothing he could do about it. When he did finally make it, the Chief was happy to see him, but was clearly in pain and waiting for another Goron named Yunobo to bring him some medicine. Clearly, it was up to Link to go find him.

It took a while; and a couple more elixirs; before Link finally located the goron. He was trapped somehow in a mine, and none of Link's bombs or weapons would break through the crystallized rock, so he used the available canons - despite a mine worker's protests - to break Yunobo free. When they met, Link was shocked to see him wearing a blue Champion's tunic, just like his.

"Thanks for saving me, brother. I'm Yunobo! They call me… Yunobo. Makes sense, goro."

He seemed young, and a little shaky on his feet, but Yunobo was easy to get along with and the two of them headed back together to Goron City. He told Link all about the power he had received, being a descendent of Daruk, and it sounded a lot like the sort of power Mipha had given Link after being Vah Rudania. This guy was a Champion - sort of. Yunobo took off ahead after a little bit, rolling down the mountainside towards Eldin Bridge, where he and the chief would be firing at Rudania once more to slow it down - so Link had to meet with the chief first.

"I heard about how you saved Yunobo," Bludo said gruffly, "so here's a reward. Hylians need this kinda stuff, right?"

It was three fireproof elixirs, and Link accepted them gratefully.

"Well, time to go meet Yunobo at the cannons. I mean no disrespect to Daruk's legacy, but if we don't give Rudania a good whopping -"

"Daruk?" Link interrupted; he knew that name. Daruk was the Goron from his memories, but as to who Daruk really was, it still eluded him.

"Ya really telling me you don't know about Daruk? The Goron Champion?"

"I mean, not - entirely," Link corrected himself with a frown.

"See that statue up there?" The chief asked, and Link turned to look at the sculpture. Sure enough, etched into the mountainside were a variety of Gorons; and at the top, the one that looked like Daruk. Link stared determinedly at it, and sure enough, something - some memory - came back to him. He slipped into it like a pool of water, taking in all it gave him. Daruk was strong, friendly, and he knew Death Mountain like no other. He really exemplified what it was to be Goron. He had believed in Link, calling him Little Guy, and congratulating him in becoming the Princess' appointed knight… that it was an important job. In his recollection, Link winced. A landslide had interrupted their conversation, one that Daruk managed to stop with his own power - something was bugging him, something about the mountain, and it was easy for Link to tell that the Goron had had his own premonitions about Calamity Ganon returning.

When he came back to, Bludo was looking at him like he had two heads.

"What's gotten into you? Hylians are really strange… Anyway, Yunobo is a direct descendent of Daruk, so he can use Daruk's Protection when we fire him at Rudania. It's the only way to chase that beast away. Well - enough outta me, time to- oof-"

Link cringed when he heard the back of the chief crack. Bludo staggered a bit, holding his side with a large hand.

"Are you okay?"

"Just peachy," he muttered, "dumb travelers - no, I don't think I'm going anywhere today. Can you tell Yunobo I have to cancel? He should be up by the bridge," the chief grunted, and Link blinked at him in surprise. Cancel? This was what he came here for!

Still, he went ahead to the bridge, picking up the rest of his Fireproof armor from the store on the way. Despite what the Chief had said, Link figured that him and Yunobo could figure it out on their own. At first, he was unsure, but when he remembered how Link had managed to use the canon beforehand, he agreed.

"We need to lower Eldin Bridge first, goro. You're going to fire me at that thing!" Yunobo exclaimed, making a fist and smiling. When he noticed Link's reluctance, he laughed. "Don't worry! I have Daruk's Protection, it never lets me down. Let's do this!"

His enthusiasm was catching, so Link dropped a bomb in the canon and aimed it towards the bridge. When it detonaed, Yunobo went flying out and slammed into the bridge like a gong; it wavered, and for a moment Link wasn't sure it had worked, but a moment later it fell straight down and slammed into the rock on their side. Yunobo landed, shakily, back by the canon.

"Ooh… yeah, see that… when you put your heads together...It really is something else, innit?" Yunobo stammered, looking dizzy. Link laughed in spite of himself, and the two of them jogged across the bridge. A croaking groan from Vah Rudania distracted them; the lizard, perched on the side of the volcano, had clearly noticed their coming. His back opened, and little guardian sentries popped up, hovering along the path with red lights that reminded Link of the skywatchers.

"What happens if a sentry spots us?" Link asked, turning to Yunobo; the little hovering lights didn't appear to actually have any sort of weapons equipped.

"Oh, sentries are always a pain… if one spots us, Rudania will know, and it'll go nuts and cause an eruption. We can't be spotted," Yunobo fretted. "I always get spotted, and magma bombs come down one after another... if Boss were here, he'd swat them away like nothin', but I don't think you could do that… no offense, goro."

"Non taken," Link replied bluntly.

"You've got a better sense than I do, so whistle at me for when I can move forward or back. Maybe you can take out the sentries from above them if you can climb."

♪

Link nodded in response, and they made their way up past the sentries - most, Link would climb above and then take out with boulders or bombs, and every little ways they ran into a canon that they used to fire at Rudania. Over time, the lizard crawled higher and higher up the volcano, and they followed him; finally, with a final canon blast, the Divine Beast fell into the lava pool at the top of Death Mountain. Link and Yunobo stood at the edge, watching it as it sat, legs submerged but body still above the plasma.

"That was so cool! You really put a licking on that thing, Link! Now's our big chance!"

Yunobo offered Link his fist, and Link bumped his back, before running to the edge of the crater and hopping off. The heat was absolutely killer, but with his armor he knew he would be safe, and before long he landed carefully on the stoney back of Vah Rudania.

When he held his Sheikah Slate up to the first terminal, Daruk's now-familiar voice greeted him.

"Hey, little guy! Long time no see. I always knew you'd come back. Y'know, I never stopped believing in you. You're here to take control of ol' Rudania back from Ganon, eh? You're gonna need a map that shows the guts of this place. Now get a move on!"

Hearing Daruk's voice instilled Link with a new sort of confidence he hadn't felt in a while, and it reminded him of something he hadn't thought about since waking up - his parents. Of course he had had family. But he had no recollection of them, or how he felt about them. It was just another thing that made him feel completely out of touch with this world… but Daruk was like a breath of fresh air. There was something comforting knowing that he really believed in him. Seeing Mipha had been lovely, but there was always something… inexplicably sad about the Zora. She reminded him of his own unexplainable heartache, though he figured that was for good reason.

Vah Rudania, when Link entered, was pitch black. He used a torch to hold up some of the blue flame provided for him, and then warily found his way around; there were some enemies of course, malice like in Vah Ruta, but the map was necessary. When he finally reached the terminal, he found that he could control Vah Rudania's body, and in particular, how it tilted. The tops of the beast opened, and finally he could see without having to use a torch; letting his eyes adjust, the knight began to work, moving between different parts of the lizard and taking control of each terminal, one by one.

When he finally found the main terminal, he hesitated, holding his Sheikah slate above the pedestal. Would there be another monster like in Vah Ruta? There had to have been something equally powerful, something that had taken down Daruk. Link took a slow breath. Time to avenge Yunobo's ancestor.

Sure enough, malice spit and fell out of the terminal like an infestation, swirling together to create a new blight, similar in appearance to the one that had plagued Ruta.

"Watch yourself now! That ugly pain in the crag is Ganon's handiwork. ...Thing got the best of me a hundred years ago. Good luck little guy, go get 'im!"

Link had little choice. There was nowhere to run here. The blight had a ball of flame in one hand, and a sword in the other; he came at Link immediately, and with a single swing, knocked the life out of the knight. He gasped, feeling the air leave his lungs - and suddenly, the feeling of cool foam enshrouded his body and Mipha's Grace had come into effect. He had died and come back, but the blood from his wound still splattered onto the stone, serving as a stark reminder of what was at stake. Link didn't have time to think. He had only had that one chance. For a moment, he couldn't believe he had already failed once - from one hit. Clearly he needed more health.

He equipped some of his leftover shock arrows and aimed for the eye of the blight. It seemed to work, but it didn't fall all the way down; hitting it was tougher than he had expected. He'd have to dodge the sword slashes. Back flips seemed to work, and it gave him a window in which he could slash back at the beast; when it was nearly dead, it revitalized its sword with flames, and began creating a vacuum effect.

Link knew what to do immediately. He threw a bomb at it, and it sucked it in unknowingly; when it detonated, the beast fell, and Link was able to kill it with a few more hits. His breathing heavy, he watched, relieved, as the terminal reset for use and a heart container floated from the heavens - gratitude from Hylia.

♪

Daruk's spirit appeared before him, as Mipha's had, when Link finally took control of the main terminal.

"Great work, little guy!"

Daruk's voice was no longer faraway. He approached Link, aflame in blue and as present as a spirit could be.

"I owe you big for this. Because of you, my spirit is finally free - can't thank you enough. I feel like I should apologize - I was doing all I could for Hyrule when that thing got the best of me. Sorry that me resting with the rubble caused such a mess."

"No," Link shook his head, "it's not your fault."

Daruk smiled gratefully at him. "The good news is, Rudania is back under our control. That means that our century-old Ganon beat-down plan can finally go into effect! I'm gonna take this down the mountain; I'll have a better shot at Ganon from there. And then, once you've made your way into Hyrule Castle, we're gonna light that thing up! But first… I wanna give you something. It's a special power of mine called Daruk's Protection. It's no good to me now that I'm a spirit… but it might be useful to you."

The red ball, akin to the one Mipha gave him and the Spirit Orbs, flew into Link's chest and imbued him with a new sense of confidence and security. The power Daruk had used to save them from the landslide, a hundred years ago, was now Link's to use.

"From this moment forth, the power of protection, from the depths of my soul, now lives inside you. Good luck, little guy," Daruk added, and Link looked down in surprise to see that he was beginning to disappear. "And give my regards to the Princess."

"Daruk!" he called, mid-teleport; "thank you!"

He didn't know if the Goron had heard him or not. That afternoon, Vah Rudania found its new perch lower down Death Mountain, and added a new beam of red across Hyrule's sky to match Ruta's. Link watched from Goron City with a sense of accomplishment. Two to go, but first… he had unfinished business. Dinraal could supposedly be found on the backside of Death Mountain, and Mt. Lanayru supposedly had its own shrine; Link had a feeling he had to get to those shrines before attempting to find his sword. It was time to take a little break from the Divine Beasts, and focus on strengthening himself, and finding more memories.