#The sheikah are pretty much the illuminati

[neverchecking]

That is a Galaxy Brain idea. Aaliyah and Tia switch.

Because on the one hand, if Sage has already skip-de-do-dah-ed into Full Yandere for Aaliyah, Tia is going to have to do some really quick talking (and possibly shielding) to get Sage to at least humour her when they figure out that it was a switch. (Her resemblance to Natura isn't helping at all.)

Meanwhile, Sweetpea (which is Tia's favourite nickname for her Link alongside Gremlin) is happy to have a new fellow feral friend, but is also deeply concerned about her because she's confronted with the fact that in a different timeline, a timeline without her and a 'different' Princess, all of the champions survived, Hyrule itself wasn't nearly as damaged, several people that died are alive (including Link's sister who I've named Ariel) and there are still Divine Beasts here. (An extremely stressed Sheikah who bites and blows things up and is possibly on the edge of tears at any given moment is a bit beyond his still redeveloping social skills. Would she like a snack? Or some tea. Tia always makes tea for situations like this. He'll make some tea!) (Pray for him. He's usually more self-confident than this, but he is so out of his depth rn.)

(Tia learns about Aaliyah, thinks about the whole situation and starts wondering if she could commit interdimensional kidnapping.)

(Tia to Natura: If you can't play nicely with others, you don't get to play at all.)

Thank you, thank you <3 I was bound to have one eventually.

Okay, so, the best thing about Sage and Aaliyah is that they have been so broken ( I promise her backstory is coming soon so you guys don't have to guess what's going on in my head), that they can't recognize what a healthy relationship is. They understand what they have between themselves, and what they want from each other, but their relationship is probably dangerously co-dependent. They rely on one another to keep going. They have no care for doing things for themselves, but if bandaging a cut sets the Sheikah at ease, then Sage will do it. If eating more than just whatever scraps she finds settles him, Aaliyah will make time to eat a full meal. So when one half of that co-dependency is broken, the other is panicking. And when they panic, they get violent and unpredictable. Primal in the sense that they're missing such a big half of themself. Like a caged animal wound up, ready to strike.

And now, instead of his other half, he's faced with this imposter who looks so close to that witch that had damned them to start with? Yeah, she's going to have to talk fast and get to the point quicker. He's stalking towards her like a vengeful spirit, Master Sword dragging against the ground as it glints dangerously. He is a machine. anything to get what was his back. After she explains the switch and what it entailed, he's probably a little less jumpy. He's giving it some merit because it's what gets him back Aaliyah.

That doesn't mean he likes it though.

Sweetpea (AHHF I LOVE IT-) is deeply concerned. He's actually wondering if he can get her into therapy with the time he has her, because, like I said, Aaliyah is deeply co-dependent. So she's on edge and frazzled and so out of her depth she's freaking out. She hates not being in control and this gives her none. Not only that, but she's face with the Champions and the divine beasts and a kingdom that didn't fall.

I imagine with her title as the Sheikah Champion (Back in the Calamity days), she was privy to a lot more information than anyone else. Because there is no way the Sheikah didn't know more than they let on. My personal headcanon is that they know everything. They keep records of past generations. Of past Links. They know the prophecies and the stories foretold. They know it all. And they keep it locked down. Not even the average Sheikah knows. Just those in positions of power. Impa, Purah, Aaliyah. However because of this, she was trained from a young age. Groomed to be this weapon for this generation's Link and Zelda. She deviated however. She followed her duty in the sense that she died and fell for them (Only being kept alive by the Sheikah, who's loyalty lied with her rather than the crown), but after her death, it was like she was rewired.

Anyway, so being faced with her trauma once more hits her hard. The Calamity was something she was punished for mere moments after getting out of her own life preservation device. She didn't even know what she had done and they were holding her down. She couldn't even tell them her name before her back was being marked with lines that haunted her to this day. And it didn't happen here. Because their princess was worth so much more than the one she was faced with.

Sweetpea truly lives up to his name because just like Tia, he takes it in stride. He's following her at an appropriate distance, apologizing to those she snaps at and making sure she doesn't give anyone lasting trauma. He has no idea where she keeps pulling bombs from, but he's Stressed. But again, like Tia, he understands it comes from a place of grief. She's hurting and lost and this is just how she's been taught to handle it. And when the loneliness sets in and she's struck by just how far from home, from her Link, she is, she just shatters. It's a burst of destructive anger that leaves at least one forest in flames before she's just sitting there and crying.

Sweetpea is there the whole time, approaching when her flame shield finally shatters. He's offering tea and snacks because that's what Tia would do in this situation and she would for sure know what to do here because he doesn't and he does not wanna get skewered.

He's just as out of his depth as she is and is treading as carefully as he can. Her accepting the sweet bun he offers brings him a little ease even if he knows she's still wildly unpredictable. She trusts him just a bit.

(Interdimensional kidnapping could happen but she'd have to fight Sage. And he fights dirty.)

(Natura loosing privileges faster than she can blink-)