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caramel-catss · 10 months ago

Text

warm afternoons and cool waters

on ao3

word count: 2.3k

link and marin take a break together after a dungeon; link's awakening mermaid au

thanks again to @deuynndoodles for the awesome idea and sorry for tagging you on like three platforms at once lol

Marin and Link sit just outside the Key Cavern. Link soaks her tail in the water while Marin sits on the dirt, sandals off; her ankles are dipped into the miniature lake. Link pulls her tail to her chest, picking off dead scales. Marin holds the Sea Lily’s Bell. She lightly shakes it back and forth, listening to the ting sound it makes.

“Where did the Owl say to go next, again?” Marin asks. She places down the bell next to the two other instruments the pair have collected. Link looks up. She swims to where Marin is sitting, resting her elbows to hold her up on the sand.

Waterfall, Link signs.

Marin’s lips purse. “There’s so many waterfalls here, though. I wonder which one he means?”

Link makes a shrugging motion. Depends on what you define as a waterfall. Half the island is underwater, anyway.

“That’s true.” Marin hums to herself, thinking for a moment. “Well, Animal Village is all above-ground; that’s why all those land animals settled there in the first place.”

Link nods. She pushes herself back towards the middle of the water. Link dips her head backwards, wetting her hair. The hot sun had been drying it for the past fifteen minutes; Marin can already feel the sunburn forming on her arms.

Marin watches as Link then sinks entirely below the water. This isn’t the cleanest lake out there, but it’s crystal-clear like all of Koholint’s waters, and Link’s been using it to wash off the blood on her. The two had spent a good four hours inside the Key Cavern this morning. Marin has to admit there’s a good amount of grime on her as well.

Link propels herself around underground, enjoying her freshly picked tail. Marin grabs Link’s satchel from where she had placed it down earlier. Well, more like thrown it down; once they left the dungeon, the first thing Link did was dive into the lake.

As Marin rearranges the items in Link’s bag, she takes out little pieces of junk. A rock that fell in. A fairy, who Marin releases since Link isn’t looking. A small key…? Roc’s feather is a little curvy and tangled in places, so Marin smoothes it out.

“We have an extra key,” Marin comments. Link is still underwater, but she had already proven that she can hear Marin regardless. Link’s hands surface - just her hands, the rest of her still enjoying the cool water.

Spare for next dungeon, I guess.

Marin tilts her head. “Do keyholes stay shaped the same in each dungeon?”

Link stays still for a second. …No.

Marin snorts. “A gift for Tarin, then?”

Yeah, he’s already worried about you. It won’t just freak him out more. Marin giggles at Link’s silent deadpan.

“I’m with an adventurer! A hero! I think I’m safe enough.” Link’s hands drop back into the water, and Marin can barely catch the redness on her cheek. “Welllll, aren’t you the Hero of… of however you pronounce that sign?”

Link surfaces, eyes drifting away from Marin. She’s flustered. Her hands form the sign Marin referenced, and then she continues, but they also call me the Hero of Legend.

“Well that’s a very grand title, Hero of Legend,” Marin giggles. “I’m impressed.” Link flushes harder, placing her hands over her face. Outwardly, Marin smirks, but inwardly, she tries not to squeal. Link looks so cute like this. Oh, Wind Fish, save her!

Stop looking at me like that, Link signs, but it’s weak. …Embarrassing.

“Um, oops!” Marin replies, laugh turning nervous as she scratches her head.

Link huffs, not actually angry. Marin places back down Link’s pack. She moves to the instruments, polishing the Sea Lily’s Bell with her shirt. Link sputters a bit more before returning to swimming.

Some minutes later, Link appears in front of Marin.

I’m thinking, Link starts. What if there’s a dungeon that’s underwater?

“What do you mean?” Marin replies.

All the dungeons on my first adventure were, Link explains. Including in the Dark World.

Marin’s only heard a little about the Dark World, but the thought makes her puzzle. Yes, it would make sense, with Koholint being half land and half water. And everyone but Marin and the animals are mer. Whoever designed the dungeons must have at least had merfolk in mind, since the Wind Fish is the siren god, right? Plus Link had only been in fully underwater dungeons before…

Link is here to retrieve her voice; as a siren, she’s supposed to have a song that can enchant people. But she has none. She can’t speak. In the beginning, Link explained that she had heard of the legends of the Wind Fish, God of the Sirens, before. She had actually been on her way to Koholint when she lost consciousness and washed up on the beach. And what a sight when Marin found her - only normal mer live on Koholint, so Marin had never seen a siren before. But with one look at Link’s tail and fins, she knew Link had to be one.

Marin’s been tagging along with Link on her adventures. Link had apparently never been on land before Marin took her home (minus the rabbit thing). Marin also is one of the only people around who knows sign, since she was mute as a child. And so Link and Marin had been through three dungeons, now, Link slaying monsters as Marin teaches her how to walk.

“This is really fun,” Marin thinks out loud. Link tilts her head, eyes confused. “Sorry, my thoughts drifted.”

Adventuring, you mean? Link questions.

“Yeah,” Marin replies. “And… being with you. Your life is really interesting. I’ve just been living on this island and singing to myself… I never knew there was so much to explore.”

Link seems surprised, furrowing her eyebrows together like the words “adventure” and “fun” being in the same sentence is paradoxical. Her mouth opens, then closes. She raises her hands.

Fun? She questions.

“Um, yes? Is that weird? Haha…”

No, no, Link’s motions fly at rapid pace. Then she slows down. I… had a different experience first adventuring.

“Oh,” Marin says, a little saddened. “I’m sorry that it…”

Sucked, Link supplies, for lack of a better word. Marin forces down a snort.

“Sucked,” she echoes. “I’m sorry that it sucked.”

Link shrugs. It’s fine. It’s more fun with you, too. I like being with you. She dips underwater again, leaving Marin sputtering.

“L-Link!” Marin exclaims. She feels her face grow hot. Bubbles appear at the water’s surface, betraying Link’s giggling. The siren’s head slowly comes back up, but only to her eyes, which look up at Marin.

Marin throws her head back and forth, trying to shake off the blush. Her fingers fidget with her pendant. Link continues to stare at her, pupils shining in the sunlight.

Suddenly, after a silence Marin wouldn’t dare break, Link shoots up out of the water. Her hands wrap around Marin’s wrist and pull. Marin lets out a gasp as she’s brought forward. The long-forgotten Sea Lily’s Bell falls on its side; it rolls into the pile of their things.

Splash! As Marin falls into the water, she becomes infinitely more grateful that she chose shorts over a dress this morning. That was for the dungeon, but apparently a cute mermaid is far more dangerous.

Marin surfaces, running a hand through her now-tangled hair. Her fingers eventually find her hibiscus, now displaced, and she throws it over to everything else.

“By the Wind Fish, Link!” She complains, but she’s laughing. Link laughs, too. It’s one of the only sounds Link can make, and it’s Marin’s personal favorite.

Link quickly signs something vaguely forming had to, and then she’s swimming away from Marin, unceremoniously splashing the girl in the face with her tail. Marin squeals as she ducks away. She dives down, because if Link wants to start a splashing war, she is on!

Marin, the only human in a village of mer, naturally has grown up as a good swimmer. But compared to Link and her tail, she might as well be standing in place. Link leads Marin in circles until the islander tires and gives up. She clutches the side of the lake as she takes deep breaths. Once Marin surrenders, Link cautiously makes way to her, only to be rewarded with a weak splash by Marin’s hand.

“You… deserved that,” Marin huffs between breaths. Link only smiles.

I don’t know what you mean, Link signs. I did nothing. Marin rolls her eyes.

Marin pulls herself back onto land, rolling over and laying on her back. She’s instantly and harshly greeted by the sun. Marin groans and looks around for shade, but she has no such luck. Unless a dungeon still actively populated by monsters counts, because that’s only a few paces away.

Link starts to get herself out of the water, too. She has a bit more trouble than Marin, so the later offers her hand. Link takes it, grateful.

Marin lets herself dry out in the sun. Link decides to do the same, apparently, because she lays down right above Marin. The girl can feel Link’s warmth, and Link’s so close that her wet hair brushes against Marin’s ear. Marin closes her eyes and hums.

She’s able to get through her ballad a few times before Link taps her on the shoulder, prompting her to open her eyes. Link’s fingers are reached above her.

Hey, let’s go to Mabe, Link says.

“Why?” Marin asks, stifling a yawn. She gets sleepy in the afternoon sunlight.

You know the library, the one above water? I have the Pegasus Boots now so I can get the book on the shelf.

“Ooh, that’s true. Alright, we can detour there. Then should we go to Animal Village?”

Yeah. Also, the book could have something important about the waterfall.

“Has that… specific thing happened to you before?”

Reading something and it helping me open a dungeon? Yes.

“Huh.”

Don’t forget I’m a siren who turned into a rabbit… weirder things have happened.

Marin giggles. She remembers how embarrassed Link was when Marin first asked what her moon pearl was. “True~!”

Link has to poke and prod at Marin a few times before the girl relents and sits up. Link had already dried off her tail and gone back to having legs. She smoothes down her skirt and tunic, and then helps Marin to her own feet.

Marin puts her shoes on, then bends down and gathers Link’s pack of materials. Link takes Marin’s and fills it back up with the Instruments of the Sirens. The enlarging enchantment on the fabric will always confuse Marin, and she still doesn’t quite trust it. The girls trade packs.

“Okay,” Marin begins to recite their schedule. “So we’ll head back to Mabe, probably have a late lunch with Tarin, get the book, and if there’s any more time in the day, should we start for Animal Village?”

Could we get a room for the night if we did? Link asks.

“I think so, the animals have let me stay before.”

Link ponders for a bit. Wait, I want to look back at the Dream Shrine.

“Oh? Why?”

There’s a tent thing in there, and I have these now. Link motions to her pegasus boots, clicking her heels together. Marin giggles and nods.

“So we go to the Dream Shrine, too. I guess we’ll just stay home tonight, then?”

Link smiles. I like your dad’s cooking.

Marin snorts. “Then I guess we’ll be in Mabe!”

Link’s smile brodens, and she actually hugs Marin. The latter rolls her eyes but accepts it. Tarin’s cooking isn’t bad, yes, but Link can praise it a little too much at times. It makes Marin worry about what Link eats on the road.

“Okay, okay, Link,” Marin says after Link’s hug lingers. But she doesn’t make an attempt to pull back, and Link doesn’t either. Marin can smell Link’s hair, recognize the special scent of merfolk. Her tunic is still damp, but her hat is perfectly dry; she had actually remembered to take it off first this time. Marin can feel herself already getting lost in Link’s touch, in Link, and-

Marin pulls away like Link is fire. Link seems to jolt back at the same time, and they stare at each other.

“Um,” Marin says. And she realizes that with as much as they dance around each other, both Link and Marin are too nervous to ever actually say anything. (That’s okay, though. They’re both bad with words. But Marin can sing, and Link can touch.)

Link blinks. She acquires a sudden interest in the sand next to Marin’s sandals. Marin doesn’t know how to continue this, and her face is getting warmer every second; she eventually puts all her energy into forcing herself to move.

Marin quietly hops to the first landmass, hearing Link follow behind her. As they continue forward, Marin begins to sing. She can’t help it (and she wants to make the atmosphere less awkward). The air becomes calm and serene. Link’s shoulders always relax when Marin sings.

The duo have nearly made it to the actual path when Marin feels a brush against her hand. She looks down to find Link’s palm, her fingers spread in offering. Marin accepts it.

Link’s skin burns against hers, but Marin is fine with that. Link’s hands are calloused compared to Marin’s soft ones. Marin rubs her finger against the roughness. Link doesn’t move her hand away, but her eyes widen slightly.

All the way back home, Marin and Link stay holding hands.

That night, in Marin’s family home, she lays on her bed without sleeping a wink. Link snores softly next to her, curled up in a soft blanket.

Staring into the ceiling, all Marin can think about is the siren who washed up into her life. And how she will never, ever, lose her spot in Marin’s heart.

#the legend of zelda #tloz #loz #link's awakening #marlink #marin x link #caramel writes

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