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zelda-of-hyrule-tloz · 6 days ago

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Why the "Prime Energy?"

In Echoes of Wisdom, we encounter the Triforce for the first time in a long time (in its usual state, anyway). But something that stood out to me (and a lot of people, I'm sure) was the title it went by: The Prime Energy. It's not something we've heard before, so we have to wonder: why? I obviously can't give a "canon" answer, but I do have some ideas.

Energy in Echoes of Wisdom

Throughout EoW, we collect little blue crystalline shapes called "energy." This replenishes the gauge that allows Zelda to use her swordfighter form. These crystals are found throughout the Still World and appear tied to Might Crystals, which also appear from the rifts (but only when they close). We use them to upgrade the sword and bow themselves.

There are two safe assumptions we can make about Energy:

Might Crystals are the "purified" form of energy or something close to it (its resemblance to bismuth "crystals" seems to hammer in this implication).

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"Energy" is the essence we see Null consume in Din's tale. It appears on its own even before land and sky are built around it. Because of this and the association to might and vitality, this essence must be that of life itself. (Perhaps Zelda's role as a Priestess is what allows her to use this energy in its raw form and gain that supernatural state, unlike Link?)

How may the Triforce relate to this idea of energy?

We know that Din, Nayru, and Farore go on to create the land of Hyrule (or what would become MANY Hyrules over time) to seal Null and prevent its destruction of all life. In A Link to the Past, Ocarina of Time, and Skyward Sword, we are told the Triforce is left behind in the wake of this world's creation (creation over the void, in the context of EoW).

The Triforce has the ability to judge those who use it (even going as far as to prevent deities from using it) and its essence speaks to Link in ALttP. Although it may not be "alive" in the same way most mortal characters are in the series, it has a will. This will knows not of good and evil, only of the traits each piece is meant to embody.

We also know that the Triforce has dominion over said world and beyond, being able to shape realms by its wish-granting and power-giving abilities. Hence, the idea of "prime." And, in Lorule of A Link Between Worlds, we can see just how much the rest of the world depends on the Triforce's existence for its energy to be sustained.

EDIT: Don't forget the Force Gems in FSA! They further emphasize the ideas above in the same way!

It's also worth noting that the Tris are tied to the idea of threes, and they are the idea of "existence" to Null's "nothingness." They reinforce the idea of the Triforce's embodiment of "being."

The "Prime Energy" is the Triforce's true name and original state - its intended title. "Then," You may ask, "Why have we called it the Triforce up until this point?"

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Why the Triforce?

It is after the three leave that Hylia is brought into existence with the sole purpose of protecting the Prime Energy. But there's an important detail many overlook:

Hylia doesn't know the purpose of the Triforce.

Not fully, anyway.

Yes, Hylia knows how it works - her whole plan to defeat Demise revolves around it - but she still has questions. Even with all of her memories restored, the first Zelda states that she doesn't know why the Triforce was left behind. She guesses that it was to give the people of the world Hope (perhaps even against world-destroying entities like Null, should he break free...). Even then, it's only a guess.

Doesn't it stand to reason, then, that she wasn't even given its name? After all, she was only created to understand and protect the golden power; perhaps even as an "extension" of its being, given her often implied powers over light and time magic (but that's just a personal headcanon). Perhaps "Triforce" is simply what she took to calling it, as she still could recognize that it was something beyond the nature of the mortal world. (Also, I see it reasonable that she could see Tris - she probably saw them patching rifts and drew a connection between them, which influenced the name).

And, in the thousands of years to follow, wars become waged over the Prime Energy as it is understood only as a relic: a relic meant to give ultimate power to the one who touches it.

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Conclusion

The Prime Energy is the true name of the Triforce, and it is the core to the many realms of Hyrule. Its nature has been misunderstood by many throughout its existence, but none of these ideas are truly false; it holds dominion over time and space while simultaneously keeping it together. It is an essence of the very concept of "life," and as such holds a sort of "will" of its own. It is the ultimate state of the Energy we see everywhere else in Echoes of Wisdom, and Hylia may not be far off - despite being a neutral force that begins and ends wars, it may just be personification of the idea that life will prevail. Although the worlds in this franchise may be scorched and healed, they are never meant to fade into nothingness like Lorule once verged. They are simply meant to be.

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to those who may have scrolled to the bottom because this is unnecessarily long, it's basically just what its name was supposed to be when the three created it but then they just sort of forgot to tell hylia that or anything else lol. also it may just be a personification of existence like the fittingly-named tris.

I love love love solving little Zelda lore puzzles, I may do this again. :) I just HAD to lore dump when a friend asked me about it

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katskitscat · 5 months ago

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If they ever make a DLC for TOTK, I want them to add two or three cutscenes that have Queen Sonia in it.

(I gotta emphasize real quick. I'm not gonna claim that these are inherently good or would make everything better, they just would make me very happy to see. Even just one of these or something similar would make me pleased, because in the end what I crave is lore above all else.)

We learn from the Steles that Rauru was more of a fan of hunting then ruling, so to me that implies that he often left governing to Sonia.

1) One idea I had is a scene of Zelda learning to use her recall ability in Sonia's study. She is trying to make the small blade come back to the air when she sees Hyrulian tapestries of how Hyrule's monarchy was founded. One of marriage, one of alliance, one of conflict, one of coronation. Rauru and Sonia's wedding, their alliance with the other races of Hyrule, the war with the Gerudo, and then the crowing of Rauru and Sonia as king and queen.

The one I would use for this scene is a tapestry of Sonia securing their alliance under Rauru's reign with the Zora. While Rauru is front and center, it is Sonia's diplomacy that secured their support.

(This also helps give the opportunity to add more info about the ancient sages, especially the Zora sage who in this context might very well be the same Zora that Sonia made a alliance with)

Sonia is a priestess, possibly a diplomat, and likely was already a person of influence in hyrule before her marriage. So I would like to think that Zelda takes notice of this, and Sonia tells her that wars must be fought but that a good kingdom is built, or rebuilt, on strength, courage, and wisdom. All three depend on the monarchy's ability to make connections with their people.

Zelda takes on a more political apprenticeship of Sonia, being reminded of a broken kingdom and a Queenhood that is waiting for her back home.

2- It's my own personal feeling that Rauru was over confident and Mineru similarly resonating. As Zonai, I strongly believe that they were treated like Gods or positions of authority even in their infancy. The last of a mighty dynasty. I think it makes them blind to the present, especially because it looks like to me that Rauru and Mineru had very little interest in the past and is possibly enthralled by the future.

In the throne room tear memory where Ganon swears false allegiance (or even a new memory of their first meeting), I think that Rauru should accepts the oath but carelessly agitates the Gerudo by standing quickly after, staying some informal words to Ganon, and leaving. Ganon and his company probably viewed this as rude, like the swearing of a whole culture to his reign was not as important as his hunts. Like he is so above them and their conflict even tho a entire proud warrior race just bent the knee to him in defeat.

This is mostly fed by the claim Ganon makes in the game that Rauru is arrogant. Considering that Ganon doesn't actually hate Link in the games, and honestly seems to respect him or otherwise is amused by him despite having conflict, it kinda tells you he may have good reason for this claim.

This scenario gives Sonia the opportunity to mend some broken or miscommunicated social etiquette. She stayed seated despite Rauru leaving as the Gerudo bow their heads. She has a expression of disbelief and slightly annoyance, of which turns soft and sweet when addressing the Gerudo. She thanks them for their time, and orders her guards to take them to comfortable sleeping quarters where they can stay before they take the long road back to the desert. She says that she looks forward to their budding friendship as they turn to leave, of which a singular Gerudo woman, possibly the future sage, looks back to her before following her king out.

Zelda probably has been trying to tell him about the calamity Ganon in the past, but he brushes that off as a villain he, a powerful light bringing Zonai, can fight off. He speaks to her in a comforting tone her like she is a frightened child who is scared of a monster in her closet, despite Zelda having actually thrown hands with said closet monster for 100 years. I would imagine he does this rather gently, if he was completely delusional instead of slightly overzealous it wouldn't be the same Rauru. He has never seen anything like the calamity or the demon king yet, so of course he himself is probably the strongest thing he has ever known.

Zelda tries to tell Rauru that Ganon shares a aura and name with the beast that she trapped for 100 years, thought conflicted since her history books claim the Calamity had never had a host or it's own body. This uncertainty makes Rauru dismiss the theory that Ganon is more then just a fellow king. He prides himself on being a king who acts on certainty, which likely would Upset Zelda since she was forced to share a body with Calamity and could be theorized that a part of her Triforce energy being depleted because her own body was infected with Ganon's aura.

Sonia confronts him on his blunders, he does not listen very well and has forgotten that different gestures are interpreted differently by the other races. They have a slight argument, where Nintendo finally gives us the confirmation of a child that they share together. I strongly believe that it's a daughter that Sonia sent to train in light magic, being watched over by three ppl who I believe should be Sonia's sisters who all reside in the ancient goddess Shrines protected by the dragons. Sonia talks about her divine heritage, her ancestor being the goddess Hylia's reincarnation during the legendary Eras. She believes that Rauru coming to the shrine of the light god all those years ago was fated, their souls bound by the divine light of the goddess who gave them their gifts. (My personal belief is that the stones were created by the primordial goddesses when Hylia took a human form centuries ago, and protected by Hylia's descendants in a shrine forgotten by time. The sacred stones were in the possession of Sonia before they were given to the sages)

She urges him to think of the legacy that their daughter will inherit once she activated her powers, and to not think that just because Zelda exists that it means that their legacy is prosperous by fate alone. Rauru hears her and accepts her critique, and he hints that he is thankful for his queen to keep him on track. Sonia jokes that he better shape up, since Zonai out live Hylians she won't be there forever to steer him back on course (foreshadowing of her early death). In the back, we see Zelda but this is the appearance of Puppet Zelda.

3- the Last idea I had. Sonia's funeral. We should be given a opportunity to see more Hylian culture before Rauru had them temporality take the culture of Zonai. Sonia's funeral involves interring her body in a ancient crypt that can be revealed to be the time shrine that we start off in (being the only one that has a Hylia goddess statue) or a crypt that had collapsed on itself on the normal earth. The memory included Zelda being farther away from the ceremony, and watching as Sonia's sisters, Rauru, and a hidden 6 yr old daughter and heir bury the queen.

I like the idea that her grave has a stone slab statue on-top of it that looks like Sonia sleeping. The statue has a sundelion in its grasp.

I think it would help out more of a impact on the viewer about Sonia's end. If Link awakens all the bright bloom and shrines, he should not only get the ancient hero aspect but discover the hidden tomb of this queen. Better yet that it was once kept there as part of Sonia's own personal blessing, likely put in the crypt by her own daughter who may have been the first Zelda to fight the Calamity with the Legendary hero.

That's pretty much most of my thoughts for Sonia and the royal family. I love TOTK for what it is, but I understand that Nintendo is a game mechanic first kind of company instead of story driven one. I would love to see comics or even a dungeon mini series for this timeline of Zelda where the reward is knowledge about the Zonai and the workings of the goddess Hylia. (even tho the guy in charge of the game is saying he's exhausted everything for it, I personally think he's wrong and Nintendo needs to have him work with someone who prioritized story telling first.)

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critical-birb · 4 months ago

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Daruk would kick the shit out of any of the other Champions at strategy board games/other similar types of games. People tend to pigeonhole him as the big dumb brute (and in some ways he is) but I think it's a very common activity for Gorons to play their own versions of board games (they've definitely got some version of Go and almost certainly checkers as well) by drawing lines in the sand and using rocks as their pieces. I'd even argue that they were the ones who did it first, and Hylians co-opted the ideas to their own games (which they "distinguished" with much more finely crafted pieces and higher society stigma and such).

A lot of Daruk's general silliness seems to stem from the fact that he's pretty set in his ways and isn't very familiar with things non-Goron. Moving pieces around arbitrary lines to win a game? That's Goron as hell. Daruk *knows* his way around a board, he has the art of the game DOWN. Zelda's the only one who can compete with him, though I think her knowledge of strategy was more of an expectation for her role in society, plus chess and its cousins are some of the only acceptable games for a princess to play. Urbosa's a little too aggressive and impatient, Revali laser-focuses on one strategy early on and often fails to notice counterplay he didn't plan for until it's too late, Mipha's too overanalytic and second-guesses herself into losing far too often trying to predict strategies that weren't there, and Link has no clue what he's doing. Daruk? Daruk is the board game guru.

He still doesn't like the games with tiny pieces though. Much prefers playing with good old fashioned basalt and pumice.

AHAHAHA OMG YES!!!!!!

Daruk (and the Gorons in general) are played off as such big dummies even though they're clearly a very powerful and capable race of people. They also have board games in their little houses in Goron City, they clearly know strategy.

I mean - in Botw how were each of the races handling their Divine Beast issues??

The Gerudo were just stumped, letting it wandering the desert and freaking out.

The Rito had two warriors try to take theirs down with bow and arrow dispite knowing from the first time it didn't work.

The Zora, at least, had a plan - but it involved shock arrows they couldn't personally use and needed help with.

The Gorons however had everything kinda covered on their own. They had a whole bunch of canons already built and set up, and it sounds like Yunobo and the leader guy had been blasting the thing for a while to keep it away. They were miles ahead of all the other factions of Hyrule. They stratigised and came up with a working plan in short time, utilising the skills and materials they had.

The Gorons are so unappreciated. They're mad smart.

I 300000% support Daruk being an unexpected board games FIEND and being able to absolutely trash all the other Champions.

#breath of the wild #legend of zelda #age of calamity

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petrenocka · 6 days ago

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Ok, I have read all the Licenses and now I'm pretty confident which mechs to give to each Champion in an Lancer BoTW AU

Urbosa gets a Tokugawa, because plasma scimitars and it being a very skill based and dangerous mech to pilot, usually used by officers who want all the smoke. It fit too well.

Daruk gets the Saladin. Because obviously. It's a big boy, has shealds, is a shield itself, and Saladin pilots are loved by everyone for being reliable hero types.

Mipha gets the Black Witch, for being The Support™, and the staff that's one spike away from being a trident. Really conflicted weather it's should be an Emperor instead for being able to support and stand up for itself and being more regal. But Emperor is The Bow Mech™. Also unfortunately I couldn't keep up the theme of all Champions getting an NHP to represent their Divine Beasts with this one. Frankly this choice is the most subject to change.

Revali gets the Monarch. Explosives, showstopper, "These rockets are rated E for everyone, everywhere, at the same time, cover won't help you". Unfortunately the only inherently airborne mech in the game is a stealth assasin and the only bow mech is a magical pain support. But of ALL mechs, including the Dusk Wing, Monarch is the most one that SHOULD be flying, thing's literally build like a jet. I thought about the cowboy mech too, to represent the humble upbringing and the sharpshooter-ness, but Raleigh does not look built for the sky. Though that could be leveraged for Revali's "self made man" shtick. Idk, maybe.

Finally Link is piloting the Orchis. Man's literally the Royal Knight of the princes, what better then the sword and shield defensive knight mech. Also it's an alternative frame for the Black Witch, which is good symbolism for his connection with Mipha. That is of course before Link bonds with The Atlas That Seals The Darkness. The giant killer power suit only select few martial artists can pilot with their bones intact.

Zelda is struggling with being a Lancer at all and Calamity Ganon is a fuckoff giant Balor.

TL:DR Pictures under cut

Daruk would pilot this

Urbosa

Mipha (either or)

Revali

Link (left as a RG, right is The Master Mech)

Calamity Ganon

#maybe Revali has just the most heavily modded Raleigh you've ever seen to the point it looks like a Monarch #lancer ttrpg #botw #botw lancer au #daruk #urbosa #mipha #revali #link #zelda #calamity ganon

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elegiacmarquise · 1 year ago

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👑🏰Zelda of Hyrule - Concept art for some incarnations🏰 👑

Click below for better view and some infos about them!

a. 18 years old

The first princess born in 100 years, Zelda was raised by well meaning but overwhelming parents, thus living sheltered and highly dependent on the mother. Unfortunately, a phantom of Ganondorf who came from another version of Hyrule broke out into the castle. Zelda sent her help with the weak telepathy she had. Link, the only one who heard her, came to the castle. Together they fought the monstrosity, in vain. In fact when Ganondorf seemed defeated he immediately regenerated himself, mortally wounding Zelda’s mother and destroying Hyrule’s castle in the process. Without knowing what else to do, Link and Zelda fled towards Kakariko village, where they could be protected by Impa, Zelda's old caretaker. This Zelda is a shy and compassionate person who holds a great sense of duty but is easily overwhelmed by her feelings and is prone to not listen to her needs in fear of disappointing anyone. During the course of the story Zelda found a job by assisting Impa in her role as the village’s mortician and developing some meaningful friendships. Since then she gradually accepted her grief, enhanced her values, she developed her spirituality further, to finally help Link throughout his journey, thus defeating Ganondorf for good. b. 16 years old

The golden child of her family, as well Link's older sister, this Zelda is born in Hiruela, a small village said to be found by Link and Zelda of Skyloft, by a farmer family. When she was a child, she had a dream thanks to which she found a well which saved her village from a drought. Since then she was regarded almost as a deity and was sent to study in Kakariko with Impa in order to fully master her powers. Although she seems a cheerful, generous and brave person, her confidence is built on frail foundations: after many years she didn’t manage to control her magical abilities, as they seem to appear and disappear without any reason. She compensated for her lacking by mastering swordplay and languages, her true passions, even showing off these sides of her. It seems that some mysterious race from space spied on Zelda for a long time, looking for the perfect moment to take advantage of her weaknesses and taking her with them to fully experiment with her magic.

c. 80 years old

In a now tropicalized Hyrule, many millennia after the first game's events, Queen Zelda ruled peacefully for a long time. However, widowed and with her sons patrolling distant places in Hyrule, she felt lonely, until she found two abandoned newborns in front of her castle: an Hylian and a Gerudo she called respectively Link and Miregan, who she lovingly raised as her own. Zelda is a kind and protective person who can also be abrupt and strict. Unbeknownst to most, Zelda has an extensive knowledge of witchcraft, which she used to protect her kingdom in the past and to cover up the bad results of her culinary attempts. Unfortunately, when Link and Miregan were eight, the latter got sick and passed away shortly after. Since then many mysterious events are plaguing Hyrule and Link, willing to help his grandmother, left the castle to find out what happened there.

d. 25 years old

Many centuries before the events, all Hyrule’s races united and revolted against the Royal Family, founding a republic in its place, giving life to an apparently strong government. This Zelda, known with the name of Gilda, is the legitimate heir of the Royal Family but she’s more interested in acting, as she’s part of a traveling company. After years of apprenticeship, she was about to debut as the protagonist of a play about a knight princess who, with her bow, would protect her kingdom. While her company was in the midst of the premiere, Castle Town was invaded by an army of monsters commanded by Vaati, leading everyone to flee, Zelda included, losing sight of her fellow actors. Zelda felt forced to collaborate with Link, a police officer with whom she argued before regarding the contents of her play, the one brave enough to find a solution to save the republic. During the adventure, Zelda playfully teases Link about his beliefs, especially after she revealed to him about her true identity. Nonetheless, she guides him where they could find the Aulos of the Stories, a magical instrument said to recall what happened in the places around before. However, it seemed to be cursed…

e. 40 years old

The newly crowned Queen, Zelda is the daughter of the late King of Hyrule and Impa, taking proudly the latter’s heritage and culture. She rules her kingdom together with her husband Link, with whom she had two daughters named Linkle and… Zelda. She’s also the director of the major hospital of the kingdom. She rarely goes out of her castle, preferring to spend her time in her huge laboratory to experiment as an alchemist, trying to develop a fluid capable to create endless energy. While may appear aloof, she’s actually an enthusiastic person who loves to think about her experiments, admittedly her only interest. Lately Hyrule is afflicted by a terrible plague which was hurting each race in the same way, leaving the patients seriously debilitated and endlessly agonizing, without causing the patient to die. While Zelda stays in the City to care about her patients and her daughters, she now struggles night and day to find a cure, which she found the recipe but which ingredients are rare to obtain, being located in the most remote angles in the kingdom. So, she pleads with Link to find the ingredients for the medicine she would later enhance with her light magic, with the hope of strengthening its effect.

f. 60 years old

Formerly the Gerudo matriarch, Zelda left her role in the favor of the newly came of age Ganondorf, who leads the tribe with the same if not more charisma than her. However she still retained a certain authority there, as she now is the fortune teller, using her special cards to advise the king whether or not to engage in a battle or to conquer a territory. However one day they foretold to her not trust the king anymore, as he began to hold some dangerous ambition to conquer all of a now scattered Hyrule, an ambition that could cause her tribe’s destruction and a civil war with another Gerudo Tribe. Devastated by the prognostications, Zelda does her best to use her influence to change Ganondorf’s mind before and later outright lying about consulting the cards in order to keep him in his place. This Zelda doesn’t interact much with Link and is too old to fight but she perceives his good intentions, offering some food, a bed and some advice disguised as prognostics, in which she tells him some important information about Ganondorf and some treasures he hid around Hyrule. Her cards would later reveal themselves as the Triforce of Wisdom, passed from generation to generation of leading women.

g. 6 years old

The little princess of a fully industrialized New Hyrule, this Zelda was lovingly raised by Link, her babysitter and Impa, who also rules the place as a regent in place of her mother, who is said to have mysteriously disappeared some years prior.Zelda is an energetic and carefree little girl, with a pronounced tomboy streak and a curious attitude. She’s pretty fascinated by clockwork gears and the air, dreaming to pilot an aircraft one day. She always carries with her a korok shaped plush, which she claims to be gifted by her mother. One day, she also disappeared suddenly, leaving a message to Link in which she said she dreamed about her mother on the verge of dying. Link immediately sought for her and found the child crying in front of a mysterious statue depicting a beautiful woman covered by all sorts of plants.

h. 37 years old

The Princess whose statue Link and little Zelda found in the cave, a statue which she uses to communicate with people. This Zelda renounced her title and her throne to meditate as a monk and trap within herself a seed in which contained the spirit of an evil sorcerer who attempted to possess the kingdom many years prior. She evacuated the people of New Hyrule from reality to a virtual world she created for the scope, letting them live safely while she let grow within herself the evil sorcerer's seed, fighting him alone in meditation. In order to concentrate better, Zelda rejected every part of herself she deemed distracting to her duty, sacrificing her humanity in the process. Unable to completely eliminate them, they assumed the form of the little princess, a testament of this separation. This Zelda doesn’t directly speak with her alter ego or Link until she defeats the sorcerer, after she can break her vow of silence. She instead communicates with them with telepathy.

#my art #princess zelda #character design #fan character #zelda au #zelda design #zelda #tloz au #fan zelda #concept art #the legend of zelda

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clementine-thedestroyer · 4 months ago

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(Just more of me yapping about Simon in a Legend of Zelda AU, first post can be found here)

When talking about Simon being Link in a BOTW AU, I imagine him as looking pretty rough- at least compared to Link.

I mean, he’s tall and pretty well built, that alone would make him pretty intimidating. I know the longer hair would be pretty on him, but I’m inclined to say he comes out of the Shrine of Resurrection with kind of like a buzz cut, but then as he goes around Hyrule doing his thing (smacking bokoblins, eating things he shouldn’t) it starts to grow out more and more. I think it would be a cool little way of showing him changing as he adjusts to Hyrule and becomes more confident in minding the hand he’s been dealt.

I also see him as having a few scars, I’m not sure how the Shrine of Resurrection is supposed to work, but we’re going to say it let him keep his battle scars.

He’s got one across his upper lip, starting under one of the high point’s of his Cupid’s bow and going diagonally up and out. He’s got another stretching from his brow to his hairline, along with a particularly ugly one where he’d nearly had his ear torn off.

Naturally, he keeps the earrings. They’re essential, and Simon would look hot in Link’s iconic little blue hoops. And of course, the champions tunic is still a thing, but I think he has some sort of brown scarf or handkerchief with a traditional design (similar to what’s on the Hylian or champion’s tunic) that he pulls up over his mouth and nose whenever he’s in crowded places or doesn’t want people to talk to him.

He’s also a frequent user of the Hylian hood, likely in conjunction with his little mask. That combined with his stature and frame is enough to make most people duck their heads. He doesn’t like being recognized as who he is, partially because he hates the attention, and partially because he feels so disconnected from who he was. How could he not? The old Simon was gone, what was left of him rattled around in Simon’s brain like a caged animal. Simon was not Simon.

Maybe that’s where the moniker of Ghost came from- he didn’t want to be called by the same name of the man that he was trying so hard to distance himself from.

Or maybe he never began going by Ghost, maybe it was just an off handed comment shared under the stars with the pretty girl he met at the stable in the Tabantha Snowfields who didn’t seem to mind his aversion to speak or show his face.

Maybe it was just a whispered admittance that he felt more like the ghost of Simon haunted him than anything else.

I know people are divided over whether they read Link as completely mute, selectively mute, or not mute at all, but at least for this AU, I’m going with the selectively mute route. As in, Simon will avoid speaking if at all possible. Mostly nodding his head, pointing, or using other means of communicating whenever possible. It gets worse the more people who’re there, especially if they’re strangers, and the only exceptions are Mipha’s spirit, Zelda, maybe the other champion’s spirits (excluding Revali), and maybe the girl from the stable if we’re still including the x reader aspect of this.

For Mipha, it’s frankly because it’s Mipha. She’s genuinely one of the sweetest people(?) ever, and operating off the idea that Simon feels really disconnected from himself before loosing his memories, and that they’re almost haunting him, I think that the past closeness of his relationship with Mipha would make her one of the only people he might be able to speak around. I also think that talking with her about who he used to be might help him get some closure and better understanding of who he was before. It’s similar with Daruk and Urbosa- although probably to far lesser extents. With Daruk, maybe it’s more of the kind of comfort that comes with having a stupid friend that you can always rely on to fuck around with- or in Simon’s case, knowing that he used to.

Btw the part where Link/Simon ate rocks is cannon in this AU.

#Simon ghost Riley #Legend of Zelda AU

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abyssal-cryptid · 2 years ago

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Even more Tears of the Kingdom thoughts (SPOILERS)

I cant figure out how long after Calamity this game is set. It's got to be at least some years, everyone else has changed but Link and Zelda

Link and Zelda have lived this time together in Link's house in Hateno <<33

Their Well holds Zelda's secret room

Also yes every well in this game has something so my favorite thing rn is just jumping into wells

Zelda had a school built to Hateno because she loves kids

I hate how so many people in this game who should know who Link is dont know him

You mean to tell Ive been living in Hateno for years and no one recognises me

Zelda is still referred to as princess which implies she hasnt allowed herself to be crowned queen

Ive spent like three hours just strolling in Hateno

I did get the camera and my enjoyment of the game has increased tenfold

HATENO TECH LAB HAS A RUINED GUARDIAN I REPEAT HATENO HAS A GUARDIAN REMAIN

Im so excited I missed seeing these everywhere

Purah's room has drawings of them and the divine beasts

You can just pick up the koroks who need to be reunited w their friends with ultrahand and carry them wherever they want to go. They also roll down hills

Me @ the forbidden ruins in Kakariko: "Let me in, let me innnn"

SIDON HAS A FIANCE

IM SO DISTRAUGHT

THEY SAW US SHIP LINK AND SIDON AND WENT "none of that here is his gf"

HUDSON HAS A DAUGHTER <<33

This game has cheese. I can die happy now

I am taking the elevator up every time I see a falling rock

Went to Akkala Citadel Ruins. Was looking at the views. SUDDENLY EVERYTHING GOES RED AND HANDS ARE CHASING ME WHAT THE FUCK

The way they dont let my boy have his long hair out on any fits is criminal. Could have tweaked the armor sets that much

Why is Zelda appearing everywhere and being an evil menace??? Zelda tf is going on w you?? Arent you supposed to be in the past

They looked at me, specifically, loving side quests more than my life and going "we have to give them more" and this is a good day

There's a golden horse???

Also I heard Yunobo is a dick in this??? Not my boy :(

I go to the Zora tower and there is a man nearly dead

ALSO OH MY GOD WHY DID ZELDA ATTACK KING DOREPHAN

Man was dying (Lets hope this doesnt age poorly because I dont think I could handle it)

So its been like five years at least since BOTW ended and like. Why does no one remember me and also where did all these new people come from that didnt exist here couple years ago?? Where were yall?? Having tea??

Kilton has a little brother <3

I should get back to the "first" main questline as in the Rito are dying in a blizzard but there's pretty flowers and mayoral elections

Did I already mention they did not nerf bows? They didnt and I love that, archers for life

Also I lost Hestu again and I need more inventory

I am afraid to venture into the Korok Forest

Stables are so fun. You get points from first visit, staying the night, registering horses etc AND THEY GIVE YOU REWARDS

I got the Traveler's Gear for General (my baby boy horse)

I found Big Horse and named him Babylon

Also saved this one guy stuck in a cave

Starting to get to a point where enemies drop 15-30 fuse power parts and life is getting easier

Ive activated like 20 shrines since I last did a bunch. I havent done them because what if I have to build vehicles (bad)

I miss cryonis

Havent done much in the sky tbh

I want my champions tunic. I however dont feel like going to the castle

Where the fuck is Ganondorf

I could always see him in BOTW I dont like this

I am kind of disappointed they didnt change the looks of old armor sets. HOWEVER. Cece's hat is all Im going to say. I wonder if I can wear that to Gerudo town

Im still a one shot to so many things

The Zora are dying (their water is turning into mud)

Gorons have malice pink eyes so dont trust theyre doing too well either

Barbarian armor fits so well with Link's messy long hair

Im still kind of shocked that the sheikah tech is just gone

How do I get into Hateno tech lab

Some of yall are actually building vehicles? Im avoiding that like the plague

Still salty about Sidon

I get taken for a little while and he gets engaged

His fiance did refer to Sidon as "my best friend"

The quote went "Im Prince Sidon's... oh forgive me. I am your best friend's fiancee"

She us cute but still

ALSO THEY MOVED MIPHA'S STATUE TO THE TOP OF PLOYMUS MOUNTAIN

THE ZORA'S DOMAIN STATUE IS NOW OF LINK AND SIDON

Why cant I marry him

Sidon carries Mipha's trident now (sobs)

When you meet him he goes "Its good to see you my friend" so happily

"By the way... I hope you know that I am truly happy to see you again after such a long time apart, my dearest friend"

I sobbed

He loves us so much

Just go visit him

Sidon wont marry me and Sonia and Rauru are married, cant a man find some love in Hyrule

#tears of the kingdom #legend of zelda #spoilers

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vioshortforviolence · 1 year ago

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This post has received far more attention than I ever thought it would, and I've very much enjoyed seeing everyone's ideas!

Some reblogs have mentioned things that I hadn't thought about when making the original post, so I'd like to talk about them here!

I had mentioned that you can't cheese the fight with bombs and that you must fight Dark Link in melee combat, but after seeing others' thoughts on this, that it takes away from the versatility and creativity that TotK is built around, I must say I agree.

I based that idea around the way I personally approach combat in the game, which is purely melee weapons and bows & arrows. I hardly even use the Sages, lol. Someone mentioned using Zonai devices and I'll admit, I actually completely forgot about using those in combat! I've just been using them for transportation, and even then I still use my horse a lot. I explored most of the Depths on foot and stalhorseback before finally remembering I can just fly around!! I approach combat in the game like I'm still playing BotW lol, I never even think about the Zonai devices mid-fight.

So yeah, thinking about that now, using Zonai devices against Dark Link is 100% a viable tactic. If it's effective against other strong enemies, then it's only fair to be effective here too! And perhaps bombs as well, but maybe Dark Link just dodges a bit more than other enemies (he's mimicking Link's own skills after all), but can still be taken down with bombs once you figure out the proper timing (or something).

Some other reblogs mentioned that Dark Link roaming the entire Depths might be a bit much, especially during early game where players would be woefully underprepared to fight him, and again I agree! I think a solution for this would be that he follows a very specific path and is always at the same spot at the same time of day/night, just like the dragons. So if you learn the path, you can avoid encountering him.

Or, maybe he doesn't roam but instead appears in specific locations like the Gloom Hands, and you can put a stamp on the map at each spot you've encountered him so you can avoid that spot later (this is what I do whenever I encounter the Gloom Hands).

Some ideas in the reblogs give him a really far range of detecting and tracking down the player, and as fun as that would be for those of us who want the Depths to be as menacing of a place as possible, it does make more sense to keep his detection range similar to other enemies, for fairness. This would also go along with the Yiga journal I wrote in the original post, where Dark Link only attacks you if you get close enough to him.

In the tags of the original post, I had a bonus idea that Dark Link would hesitate to attack you if you're wearing the Fierce Deity set, so that would be another way to avoid fighting him. If Dark is nearby and you don't want to fight him, just throw on the Fierce set and he'll avoid you. And as I also mentioned in the original post, wearing the Dark Link outfit will make him confused, so you can get away/hide before he figures it out, just like with lynels and the lynel mask.

Also, perhaps Dark Link isn't there from the start. Perhaps he doesn't appear until after you've completed a certain part of the game, like maybe the Puppet Zelda questline?

You've defeated Puppet Zelda, now get ready for Puppet Link.

This would ensure that the player has a least some skill in combat, stronger weapons, and some great fairy enhanced gear. Encountering both the Gloom Hands and Dark Link during early game really would be a bit much for a new player.

Maybe he can even be a post-game encounter, where he appears only after you've completed the main story, which is why he would be so challenging to fight. You most likely already have a lot of hearts, maxed-out gear, and some pretty strong weapons at this point! And probably some crazy Zonai contraptions saved in Autobuild as well, lol.

Unless you completed the main story early on before doing everything else. In that case... uh... good luck I guess :)

Reminds me of the crazy post-game bosses in the Kingdom Hearts series. But I know the Zelda series doesn't do stuff like that, lol.

Also something I found really funny was that the majority of the reblogs are something along the lines of: "This is so cool but also terrifying, 10/10, I never go to the Depths again, awesome idea OP!"

hehe :)

So, yeah, I just wanted to clear some things up after seeing some reblogs mentioning them.

Thanks for reading!

So a post I reblogged about no Dark Link in TotK being a missed opportunity got me thinking about how he could've been implemented:

You could find one of those journals in one of the Yiga outposts in the Depths talking about him. Here's how I think it could read:

Spotted the Hero in the Depths today. I attempted to approach while disguised as a member of the Zonai Survey Team.

Bad idea. I was attacked immediately and viciously without hesitation. I barely escaped with my life!

That... was not the Hero.

Was that the Hero's Shadow spoken of in the old legends? It is said the Shadow would mirror the Hero's appearance and fighting skills... I believe it after that encounter.

ATTENTION YIGA CLAN MEMBERS: If you spot this figure during your patrols, DO NOT APPROACH. This 'Shadow' will viciously attack anything and anyone that dares get near, even the Yiga Clan.

Beware the Hero's Shadow.

Glory to Master Kohga.

End

Dark Link would be patrolling the Depths, and upon spotting you, he will chase you down and attack, similar to the Gloom Hands. But unlike the Gloom Hands, you cannot escape by climbing to high ground and waiting for him to vanish. He will simply teleport up to you.

You can either deal enough damage to him, which will make him leave and reappear elsewhere in the Depths (like how the Yiga flee when defeated), or you can teleport far enough away so he loses track of you. Thankfully, he will not follow you to the Surface.

If he spots you while you're wearing the Dark Link outfit, he will be temporarily confused, giving you very limited time to run away or hide before he figures it out and starts attacking you. Similar to the Lynel Mask.

Also while you're wearing the Dark Link outfit, the Yiga will not ambush you, because they think you're the Hero's Shadow.

Dark Link's number of hearts will match that of the player's, just like in OoT. The stronger you get, the stronger he gets too.

He would also have the smartest enemy AI in the game, besides Ganondorf himself:

He dodges any thrown items or arrows shot at him, which means he cannot be cheesed with bombs. He will simply hop out of the blast radius before it lands. You must fight him in close melee combat.

He will mirror your strikes perfectly if you fight him with a one-handed sword and shield. However, he only wields a sword and shield, meaning you can attack him more easily with a different weapon, like... oh I don't know... a two-handed hammer? 😉

I'm not entirely sure what he'd drop upon defeat... Maybe his sword and shield?

Anyway, those are my thoughts. I'd love to hear other ideas :)

#loz totk #the legend of zelda #tears of the kingdom #dark link #the depths #yiga clan #man I really hope nintendo adds a dark link dlc 🥺#totk spoilers #tagging that just in case #long post #self rb with added thoughts

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cosmetichorror · 2 years ago

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Too old for this

TLDR Link(Wild) is 44 and gets dragged on an adventure with a bunch of other Links and he’s not pleased.

To say he was too old for this would be an understatement. Link has lost everyone, died more times then he can count, fought every monster at least twice, defeated Ganon twice, and now Hylia wants to send him on another damned adventure. Yeah, quick question. What, how and why the hell?

Do these other Links seriously expect him to go along with them?

It all started one sunny morning. After the defeat of dehydrated Ganondorf a good twenty-five years ago, he was determined to settle down. About fifteen years ago, he gave his house in Hateno up to Zelda and built himself a little cottage out in the forest of spirits on the great plateau, far away from civilization. While, yes, Link was happy Hyrule was returning to its glory days, that doesn't change the fact that he hates crowds. And when Hateno became too much for him to handle, he decided to go live the one place that only those who could fly could reach. Robbie and Purah did an amazing job destroying the stairs to the great plateau, it's not climbable unless you have great stamina- like he does- or if you have the sheikah slate.

For a while Link moved around everywhere, trying to find the perfect place where no one would bother him. He lived in the lost forest with the great Deku tree for a while, but there were too many Koroks. The beaches were good, until people started flocking to them. Near the great fairies were cool, but people started going there too! The great plateau was really a last resort, but kind of poetic in a way. This was where it all started, and he was sure this would be where it all ended. By all means, he intended to live out his life in that old cottage he built from the ground up, but of course he couldn't get even that.

The sun rose early that morning, birds chirped and squirrels ran about. It was a perfect morning. Link got up with a stretch and went to make his morning cup of tea (he gathered the herbs himself) and added in honey (that he also got himself). Really, the only things Link didn't get himself was all the furniture. (He commissioned Bolson his finest furniture and took it up here with the sheikah slate)

As he drank the hot, yet not too hot tea, he reminisced of his past. He brought animals up here with him using a fine mixture of octorock ballon's and planks of wood. Some chickens (his sister loved them. That is all he remembered of her), a beautiful dog (what would Daruk think?) and his beloved horse, Epona (I miss her)

Over the years, each one passed on, and he gave them all a propped burial. (He'd be lying if he said he didn't think about using the shrine of resurrection on them. But that would be just cruel of him. They don't deserve to go through what he went through)

So now he lives alone. It's not so bad, Zelda comes to visit him every week to check up and make sure he isn't dead yet. The silence was terrifying at first. It wasn't right to not be surrounded by the noise of all his critters (I miss them) but he learned to live like that. It took time, but he's made it this far, and he's been through far worse. All it takes is time.

After he finished his tea, he got up and put on his hylian tunic, trousers and cloak and went out with a bow and some shock arrows. He walked to the nearest pond that was full of hylian trout. (A whole lot of things are named "hylian", he wonders what the other races think of that) knocking a shock arrow in the bow, he aimed carefully and shot. A wave of electricity shot out from the pond, sending some sparks his way. He doesn't hesitate to jump in and grab all the fish. This should last breakfast and lunch.

Hyrule is coming back to an advanced civilization, new technology was being invented everyday, like things called "stoves"

Call Link old fashioned all you want, but he just prefers the old cooking pots. It gives him a sense of nostalgia, bringing him back bit the early days. Back when he wasn't sure if you could eat bokoblin guts and bugs, back when making an edible dish made his whole week. Now that he's an amazing chef, he doesn't really have that same feeling of euphoria after cooking a good meal, but that doesn't mean it's not enjoyable. It's just not the same. The smell of roasted fish fills the air, making his mouth water. One thing he can never tire of is the smell of a delicious home cooked meal.

Another thing Link learned in his journey is ideal hearing. He could hear a twig snap from a mile away, and right now, he hears seven- no- eight people? They're talking to each other about... something. Okay, his hearing may not be as good as it used to, but that is to be expected with age. He quickly stands up, placing his half raw fish on a plate so it won't burn, placing it on the window sill before running off in the direction of the voices. He had a bit of a limp, but despite that he was still fast. One question was on his mind- how in the three did so many people get up on the plateau? Are they professional climbers or something? When he gets close enough, he can eavesdrop in on the conversation.

"This place is familiar. Time, do you think...?"

"Could be, pup. If what you told me is true, then we may have a new member."

"God I hope there's a way off this stupid lump of earth."

"We'll be fine Vet, stop your bellyaching."

"Hey, no fighting!"

"Well excuse me, but being here has me on edge."

"He has a point for once, we haven't seen a single person or exit."

"Well, maybe our visitor knows a way off this place?"

Link winces from his place behind the trees. How was he spotted that easily?

"Visitor?" One of them question.

Link sighs and walks out from behind the trees. "I believe that visitor is me." He says, his voice rough and grainy, either from age or disuse, maybe both. The group eye him wearily, he supposes he may look a little threatening.

He has long since abandoned his old blue hair tie, instead letting his slightly tangled hair go free. His hylian clothes were still soaked from when he jumped into the water. He was covered in scars, most notably the large burn mark that goes from his left ribcage all the way up to his face. And most noticeably, his arms. One arm had a hand with only four fingers (he can thank the yiga for that) and the other- how could one describe it.... It looks like it had been burnt to a crisp, then adorned with golden lining. While that hand has all its fingers, his nails are look unnaturally sharpened, even though it's very much natural. (He tried shaving it down, but they just grew back just as sharp)

"How did you get here in the first place?" He asks, his eyes stone cold and his scratchy voice unwavering. "We climbed, but now we're lost." The oldest one says. He has golden hair, bares silver armor, and he's got a scar right over one of his eyes. He appears to be the same age as Link, if not a bit younger,

He narrows his eyes at them. The yiga were almost completely destroyed a decade ago, but then again, he wouldn't be surprised if a few rouge ones came back to take the rest of his fingers. "You sure about that?" He has a right to be suspicious, the yiga have gave him more then his fair share of scars.

The scared man nods. "Positive." Another with scars and a wold pelt steps forwards, eyeing him up and down. Something about his eyes sparked nostalgia in him. "We haven't introduced ourselves. I'm Twilight, this here is Time, Legend, Hyrule, Warriors, Wind, Sky, and Four," he points to each one in turn "and you are?" A few alarms went off in his head, so he took some time to asses this. He had shock arrows on him, good, that could buy him enough time to run back to his house and grab a weapon. The only ones he feel he has to worry about is Time, Twilight, and Legend. The rest he could probably take. Time and Twilight look strong, but Legend is covered in strange magic, and so is Twilight. But then again, Hyrule's magic feels like... fairy magic? That can't be right.

"Link." He responds. The others look between each other, and Sky steps forward. "And are you by chance a hero?" Sky asks. Link thinks for a second, before nodding. Is he being smart? Absolutely not. But if it's his time to go then it's his time to go. He's not afraid of death, he hasn't been since Vah Ruta, and not having Mipha's grace won't stop that. "Link, this may be hard to understand, but... our real names are also Link, and we're hero's from the past. O-or future! We don't know your placement yet. I am the hero of the skies, the very first Link that we know of, and forger of the master sword." Sky says, unsheathing the master sword and holding it out for Link to see. Link stares wide eyed. it's really her, isn't it? She looks... and feels so new. Surely this is all a dream. "You can touch her, if you'd like. She doesn't bite!" He jokes, but the burn scars on Links hands from his first two times pulling her would like to disagree. Carefully, he reaches out, placing a hand on her sheath. A chime fills his head, one he only heard in his first final moments all the way back at fort Hateno. "Welcome, hero of the Wilds." She speaks, her robotic voice devoid of emotion. He yanks his hand back as if she burned him, not taking his eyes off the sword. "Hero of the Wilds, huh? Nice to meet you, Wild." Sky says. The others seem pleased by this.

"Wild, huh? I wonder if you'll live up to your name." Legend speaks. Twilight won't take his eyes off of Link- Wild.

"What do you want from me?" Wild asks, eyes still wide in shock. This is a lot to take in, after all! "We're chasing a being far stronger then anything we've faced so far through portals. These portals take us to different time periods and worlds, it's how we got here." Wild doesn't like where this is going. "We need you to join us and help us take down this foe." Wild thinks for a few seconds, this would mean leaving behind everything he knows with a bunch of past reincarnations of himself. Really, the answer was clear.

"No."

Wild turns and begins to walk away from all this bullshit. "Hey, wait!" The others just follow after him. "Look, I know you don't want to join us, believe me I didn't want to join either, but we don't really have a choice." Legend explains.

"There's eight of you already, you don't need me." Wild replies, not looking back. Sky speeds up as to walk closer to him. "But we do need you! Even with eight of us, we're still struggling! We need more fighters, and you're-" Wild turns around, glaring daggers at all of them, even the little kid Wind. "Then IM not who you're looking for! Go find another Link! Stop by here ten thousand years ago, there was a really good Link then! I'm not a fighter anymore, I'm rusty, and I'm old." Sky goes to speak again, but Link interrupts him. "Look, if you came by here twentyish years ago, I probably would have agreed. But the thing is, I haven't fought a thing in over two decades. Monsters don't spawn up here anymore. While your whole adventure thing sounds fun, I'm just not cut out for it anymore." Sky once again goes to speak, but can't make out a syllable before Wild interrupts him once more "I've been dragged through hell and back by the scruff of my neck on multiple occasions. I lost a finger, I lost my arm, I lost my family and friends, and if I go on this adventure I just know I'm going to lose my life. I may not be afraid of death, but I promised myself I'd die out here on this plateau. And I'm not one to break promises." He says, before walking away once more.

"Wild, Link, please understand that if it's Hylia's will, then it will happen. She'll find a way to bring you with us, she did the same with Legend and Warriors and it wasn't very pleasant." Sky explains. "Then Hylia better be knocking on my doorstep and dragging my out by the hair or else I'm not going." Wild replies. Legend rolls his eyes "At this point she just might." He mumbles.

Wild continues to walk all the way to his little cottage in the woods, ignoring all of their attempts to make him join. "Wait, are you injured?" Hyrule asks, probably noticing his limp. He sighs in response. "No, I just have a limp. All the more reason to not join you." He responds. A few years ago he had a nasty fall, breaking his leg in a few places, he hasn't been able to walk right since. Hylia, if he could still pull off that gerudo outfit he could probably get a message therapist to fix him up. it doesn't take them long to reach his cottage "Hey, this is your house? It's super cool!" Wind says, walking up to block him from entering. "But please, we need you! It's for the good of all hyrule!" He begs. "Move it, kid. You're twenty-five years too late." Wild responds, taking him by the shoulders and pushing him away.

"Wait, please listen-!" He slams the door on them so hard the pictures on the wall shake, and one particularly old one rattles a bit too hard and falls. Wild gasps and runs, skidding to a stop and catching it right before it hits the ground. He lets out a relieved sigh. He checks over it, making sure nothing broke. It was the only thing he had of the champions now. When he moved out of his old home in Hateno, he and Zelda agreed the champions weapons would be better in the hands of others. Revali's eagle bow went to young Tulin, who has recently mastered Revali's gale with much practice and help from Wild. Urbosa's scimitar went to Riju, and her daybreaker shield Zelda kept. Mipha's trident went to Sidon, and Daruk's boulder breaker went to Yunobo. In the photo, Daruk smiled brightly in the background, Mipha and Revali are falling forwards, looks of surprise forever plastered on their faces. Zelda is leaning back to avoid falling over as well, and Wild is in the process of falling as well. A small smile creeps up on his face as he reminisces about that day. He stands up and puts the picture back on the wall.

The bittersweet moment is interrupted by knocking on his door. He groans and walks to his room, ignoring them completely. He doesn't care what they say, there's eight of them already! He's forty-four years old and tired, he'll only slow them down. His bones ache and his scars burn when it rains, what about that says "adventure material"? Hylia's a clown if she believes he'll go along with this stupid plan of hers. He's been through enough, hasn't he? What if he dies? He's all Zelda has left! Impa passed on shortly after their second adventure, Robbie following after. When Purah fixed her de-aging rune and turned it into an aging rune, she only lived for another week before death took her too. He's the only person from before the calamity she has, he's all she has left just as she is all he has left. At least if he dies on the plateau she can rest easily after a proper burial. If he dies out there, he may never get a burial. Zelda may never even know he's dead! What if she lives out the rest of her life waiting for him to return? The mere thought makes his heart ache. He's not afraid of death, he's afraid of leaving his best friend.

A few hours pass, and the other Links don't leave. They try reasoning with him, but it all falls on deaf ears. He really wishes they'd just give up, he's starving and the fish he was cooking earlier are too raw for him to eat. Sure, he might have been able to eat raw fish when he was nineteen and be fine, but he's in his mid forties now, he just can't do that anymore. Oh to be young and carefree again.

Then, a strange, pulling feeling tugs at his chest. The others start knocking on his door even more. "Uh, Wild? You miiiight wanna come along with us. A portal has opened." Wind announces. "Good, time for you to go. Bye bye, see you never." He responds, plopping down on his comfy blue chair, it's the same shade as his champions tunic. He can't fit into it anymore, but it still hangs proudly on his bedroom wall. He reaches over and pulls out a book, deciding to read the strange feeling in his chest away. "Look, if you don't come with us, Hylia will still find a way to take you with us, it'll suck. Trust me, I'd know." Legend yells out. Wild ignores them, not even gracing them with a response.

"Your funeral." Warriors tells him from the other side of the door, and distantly he can hear them walking away. He lets out a sigh of relief, it took them long enough. Minutes pass and the tugging feeling only gets worse, until eventually it's exhausting to breath. He stands up on shaky legs and begins to walk outside for fresh air. One step after another, until one foot doesn't reach the ground. Is that a... portal? Well, shit. Wild is sent tumbling through a colorful portal, a similar feeling to teleporting via sheikah slate, just stronger.

Wild lands face first in the wet sand, his gasp only lets him inhale sand and sea water. He chokes and coughs, and soon enough he feels someone patting his back. After a few agonizing minutes, his airways are cleared. He wipes the tears from his eyes and looks up at whoever was patting him. It's non other then the hero of legends, Legend. "Told ya it wasn't pleasant. Should have just came with us when you had the chance." He tells him. Wild glares at him. "Oh fvck off, you." He replies. "Language." Time interjects. Wind laughs. "Oh please, let the old guy swear! I promise it's nothing I haven't heard before, I'm a pirate after all!" He announces. Wild sighs. "Where am I?" He asks.

"Welcome to Outset island! You're in my hyrule!" Wild groans. "This is how I die." He mumbles, struggling to his feet. Hyrule walks up, helping him off the ground. "I'm fine." He tells him, brushing the sand off of him.

Wild looks around and groans. "And of course, no weapons, no armor. Just dandy." Legend chuckles. "Once again, we warned you. Hylia's a little shit." He tells him. Isn't this great? Zelda was supposed to visit him tomorrow, she's gonna be worried sick! When will he be back? He needs to get back home! "Hey, you okay?" Wind asks.

"Obviously not." He snaps. Was that mean of him? Yeah, but he can't help it! This is the most stress he's been under in decades! He's not a fighter anymore! He has no supplies, he has zero idea what's going to happen, and he's on a random beach! What if these other hyrules have large crowds? Just the thought makes him anxious! And he's gonna need to be around eight other men? He's already feeling claustrophobic. How in Hylia is he going to manage?

Well, the only way out is forward, he supposes.

#read on ao3 #linked universe #linked universe au #wild acts like an old man #botw link #botw #breath of the wild #linked universe wild #loz link #loz fanfic

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raeynbowboi · 4 years ago

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How to Play as Link in DnD 5e (2.0)

With the release of both Mythic Odysseys of Theros and now the new big expansion in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything, I figured now would be a good time to reexamine Link with the context of new subclasses, class features, and game mechanics that weren’t around the last time that I built him. While I won’t do this for every character I’ve built before, characters who have new options made available with these updates will get a new rebuild for 2021. If you want to compare and contrast this build to the original, I will link that build right [here].

The Spirit of the Hero

Link’s a Hylian and that’s just a fancy way of saying elf. His best racial options are either the High Elf, the Wood Elf, or the Half-Elf. Half-elf’s extra skills are tempting, but as Link is never given any parents or an ancestral family tree, we can’t really justify him as a half-elf. We’ll call him a Wood Elf for the extra +2 to his Dexterity and the +1 to his Wisdom as well as that woodsy vibe. But if you wanna go for a Half-Elf for the power build, I won’t tell anyone.

Link’s alignment is tricky. On the one hand, he is shown kneeling before the monarchy, defeating the forces of evil and darkness, and doing odd jobs to help the common people he comes across. However, he can also start forest fires, break into people’s houses, smash pots, steal people’s life savings or personal belongings, and attack the chicken population until they attack back. I’d wager he’s Neutral Good if for no other reason than his morality is highly dependent on the player.

My first choice for Link’s background would be the Folk Hero for Animal Handling and Survival. However, Link’s background is so inconsistent, it’s easier to just list out the skills he tends to have and tell you to pick a background that has those skills, or create your own: Animal Handling, Athletics, Investigation, Nature, Perception, or Survival. There’s a case to be made for other skills as well. Acrobatics works a little and his jumps did involve sick flips in Majora’s Mask, but Link doesn’t tend to balance or platform jump very often. Link can play instruments fine and danced in the Subrosian Dance Hall in Oracle of Seasons for Performance proficiency, but he’s usually playing instruments to activate effects, not to actually perform for a crowd. Link shows some Stealth skills in Breath of the Wild, but this hasn’t been a longstanding skill of his, so I didn’t lump it in with his main skill list.

Becoming a Hero

When it comes to his build, Link has made some use of spells in the past, but he’s nowhere near the spellcaster that Zelda and Ganondorf are. Link is definitely more of a martial fighter who augments himself with a wide arsenal of magical items. So when it comes to picking Link’s class, we have a few things to keep in mind.

BARD

Link is a talented young man, and he has had magical instruments in a few games over the years, as well as dancing in Subrosia, among other things. While I don’t subscribe to the idea of Link being a bard myself, I understand why people would come to this conclusion, as Link isn’t really bad at anything... except talking. And lying. And looking threatening. Or haggling. Yeah kind of hard to depict Link as a CHA caster who isn’t proficient in any CHA skill checks.

Spirits (UA) This doesn’t fit for every Link, but especially for Breath of the Wild where Link gets help from the spirits of his fallen comrades, the flavor of calling on the dead works for Link. For a non-BotW example, maybe Link can tell stories of his past lives, and the memories he shares with each of them.

Valor This college has the downside of being built as a cheerleader, while Link really should be built for solo-combat since that’s how he approaches most fights. But Valor is better than Swords and also gives Link proficiency with martial weapons and shields, while Swords does not.

FIGHTER

While there are many martial classes, the Fighter differentiates itself by being the most down-to-earth option. It’s not beholden to rage, or smites, hunting, or sneaking. It is the simple skill of the blade, and this is a skill Link has in spades. From the earliest games, Link has been a master of the sword, the shield, and the bow.

Battle Master Link is a strategic fighter. He looks for weak spots, and he exploits them the best he can. Of all the fighter subclasses, none is more clever than the Battle Master. Its many maneuvers resembles the numerous sword techniques Link has learned especially in the later games. Even in Smash, Link showcases how clever he is by being able to combine his arrows with his bombs and shoot a bomb arrow. To my knowledge, none of the other characters can combine their abilities like this in Smash.

Cavalier The subclass is poorly named, and was better in its initial name as the Knight, as that is really what this subclass is. It is the idea of the knight in shining armor. They can also be flavored as bodyguards, a traveling sellsword, or castle guards. So Link does not have to be glued to Epona to make use of this subclass. The main reason to want this subclass is the Warding Maneuver, as giving Link the chance to either block or reduce all damage he takes is going to seriously improve how well he can tank a hit, and help keep him in a fight longer.

PALADIN

More than any other class, the Paladin actually stands for something. They fight for a value or a belief. They swear their life to a cause and are prepared to die fighting for it. Link works on a lore level as a Paladin. Especially when he’s dedicated multiple lifetimes to the same cause. Across every timeline and game over screen, Link has always returned and stood in defiance against whatever evil may come.

Ancients This oath makes Link sworn to the forces of nature, such as the Great Fairy, and protecting the balance and harmony of the light, life, and love against death, decay, and darkness. The Ancients Paladin is all about protecting the balance in the world and valiantly opposing evil wherever it might arise. It also has a druidic or fey aspect, which kind of works for Link.

Crown With this vow, Link serves the Hyrulian Royal Family. This makes Link the princess’ personal knight, and an agent of lawfulness, order, and peacekeeping in the land. While 5e has backed away from typecasting Paladins as Lawful Good, this is probably the most Lawful subclass one could pick, as it places the authority of the royal family above all else.

Glory Instead of being sworn to the light or the law, the Glory Paladin is the harbinger of the goddesses. They are flavored as legendary heroes of destiny, possibly being demigods or the personal errand boys of the setting’s pantheon. This subclass is clearly focused on being a frontline warrior, and the features make Link a true force on the battlefield.

RANGER

Anyone who’s played Legend of Zelda knows that Link is very good at surviving. The games don’t tell you how to navigate the wilderness, Link just has to figure it out for himself. What’s more, Link may be willing to venture into the wilderness, but he’ll be hard-pressed to find many NPCs that far outside of settlements or cities. Yet what they fear, he thrives in. And it’s no wonder that this is the class most peole would assume for Link.

Hunter This conclave is the slayer of all things that threaten civilization. They can choose to be better at chipping away at one enemy, counter attack bigger monsters, or mow through hordes of minions with more ease by taking out multiple at a time. Especially at higher levels, this conclave excels at ripping apart Ganon’s forces with nary a golden curl out of place.

ROGUE

The rogue doesn’t need to be a wanted criminal on the lamb. They can be a clever fighter with a variety of skills and a knack for evasion. That speaks a lot more to Link’s skill set than one might assume at first glance. It’s not a perfect fit for Link, but it’s really not that inaccurate either.

Inquisitive This roguish archetype is defined by being clever in combat, looking for weak points to exploit. They’re also much more observant, making them better at discovering clues or secret passages, or telling when they’re being misled. At higher levels, their ability to look for weaknesses can even increase their sneak attack damage. This especially fits some of the older games where boss fights were focused on using items to exploit the dungeon boss’ weaknesses, rather than hacking away at their health bar. In these older titles, Link was less of a straight up warrior and more of a clever trickster pulling off strategic victories.

Scout The Scout Rogue has heavy Ranger vibes, as they get free expertise in Nature and Survival, enhanced mobility, the ability to disengage from fights more easily, and at higher levels become masters of ambushes. This fits well with Link’s sneakier sniper playstyle that can be done in Breath of the Wild, as Link can take out entire camps without ever being seen.

Thief While Link is not a standard cutpurse, Link is a treasure hunter, a dungeon delver, and the jokes about him robbing the people of Hyrule and breaking into people’s homes doesn’t exactly help. The thief also gets to use more magical items, allowing Link to use things such as enchanted instruments without being a bard.

WARLOCK

Link usually isn’t the hero of his own volition. He often starts his journey with Triforce of Courage, a source of power gifted by his patrons. It’s honestly a weak connection, but it loosely works, so I’m including it.

Celestial While this subclass is geared toward serving something other than a god, I don’t see any reason why a Celestial Warlock couldn’t serve the Triple Goddesses of Hyrule or even Hylia/Zelda directly.

Hexblade The most obviously martial warlock option, this is a good choice if you want to incorporate Fi into your character.

Link’s Toy Chest

Hero’s Sword - Longsword (+1-3) Mirror Shield - Repulsion Shield Hero’s Bow - Oathbow Gale Boomerang - Storm Boomerang Fire Rod - Wand of Fireballs (requires spellcasting) Mastersword - Sword of Zariel, Holy Avenger Longsword* Hylian Shield - Shield of the Hidden Lord Goddess Bow - Ephixis, Bow of Nylea Golden Gauntlets - Gauntlets of Ogre Power Zora Tunic - Cloak of the Manta Ray Pegasus Boots - Boots of Speed Hover Boots - Boots of Levitation Hook Shot - Rope of Climbing

SIDEKICKS

Sidekicks are a new edition from Tasha’s that let Link bring allies on his hero’s journey. Experts are skill monkeys who focus on Help actions, Spellcasters dip into the INT, WIS, or CHA spell lists, and Warriors are trained to fight and don’t have to talk, so they can be animals.

Epona - Defender Warrior Riding Horse Navi - Expert or Healer Spellcaster Sprite Sidon - Attacker Warrior Merfolk Sheik - Expert Noble (Elf) Wolf Link - Attacker Warrior Wolf

Theros Piety

The Piety System from Theros lets us be devout to a god and earn features from worshiping them. As far as I’m aware, this is an optional feature, and not every DM will make use of these, but if you’re able to, here’s a handy guide. These gods really stood out as the clear choices for Link to go with.

Iroas - God of Victory

Domains: War Virtues: Achieve a great victory, Overcome slim odds honorably, Defeat a foe in single combat, Perform a great feat of strength or skill Sins: Being a coward in battle, Beat an honorable foe through deceit, harm innocents Piety Bonus: +3 Learn Compelled Duel spell +10 Learn Crusader’s Mantle spell +25 For 1 minute, creatures cannot gain advantage on you +50 Increase STR or CHA by 2 to a max of 22

Keranos - God of Storms

Domains: Knowledge, Tempest Virtues: Solve a riddle or puzzle, defeat an unwise enemy, plan ahead for an upcoming challenge, build or restore a temple to Keranos Sins: Jeopardize others through foolishness, ignore a wise course of action, fail to plan for a challenge, give in to anger or self-destruction

Piety Bonus: +3 Add 1d6 lightning damage to melee attack up to INT mod turns. +10 Reroll a failed INT or WIS saving throw +25 Advantage on Initiative rolls +50 Increase INT or WIS by 2 to a max of 22

Nylea - Goddess of the Wild

Domains: Nature Virtues: Help any wild animal, stop those who hunt for sport or profit, win an archery competition, slay an aberration, fiend, or undead Sins: Kill an animal without reason, Dedicate a building to or make a sacrifice for any god (including Nylea), protect a city from a natural disaster

Piety Bonus: +3 Learn Hunter’s Mark +10 Learn Speak with Animals +25 Attacking creatures must pass DC 15 WIS save or change targets. +50 Increase DEX or WIS by 2 to a max of 22

Cunning Tactician

Battle Master Fighter (12) Inquisitive Rogue (8) Fighting Style: Dueling Maneuvers: Brace, Disarming Strike, Feinting Attack, Parry, Precision Attack, Riposte, Sweeping Attack Tools: Thieves’ Tools, Mason’s Tools

While Link is brave and strong, he is most defined by his clever mind and unorthodox solutions to boss fights. With this class split, Link has prioritized strategy and tactics over everything else. While it leaves him a little squishier, Link is still a very capable warrior. As a Battle Master, he got a free tool proficiency. Mason’s Tools allows Link to find secret passageways in stone walls, which most dungeons tend to be made of. On top of that, with his Feinting Attack, Link can give himself advantage, meaning he can use Sneak Attack even in a 1v1 fight, which fits his solo adventurer playstyle.

One-Man Army

Battle Master Fighter (12) Hunter Ranger (8) Fighting Style: Dueling, Archery Maneuvers: Brace, Disarming Strike, Feinting Attack, Parry, Precision Attack, Riposte, Sweeping Attack Hunter’s Prey: Colossus Slayer, Multiattack Defense Tools: Mason’s Tools

I used this build once in a level 10 campaign. 6 levels of Fighter, 4 levels of Ranger with a +2 Longsword, and let me tell you something. This build creamed the competition, which was the other PCs at the table, who were also built as level 10 characters. Link nearly defeated his first opponent in a single round, dealing around 70 damage between his four attacks. When I say this is Link’s “power” build, I mean it. I didn’t even sweat when an adult blue dragon showed up after the tournament ended, that’s how much faith I had in Link’s ability to fight. I honestly forgot to even use Link’s battle maneuvers, he was just dealing so much damage that it slipped my mind. You could swap Battle Master for Cavalier, but for me, the Battle Master is more accurate to Link’s favor of techniques over basic hack-and-slash.

RANGER SPELLS

1 Absorb Elements, Ensnaring Strike, Hunter’s Mark 2 Cordon of Arrows, Healing Spirit

The Hero of Hyrule

Battle Master Fighter (12) Glory Paladin (8) Fighting Style: Archery, Dueling Maneuvers: Brace, Disarming Strike, Feinting Attack, Parry, Precision Attack, Riposte, Sweeping Attack Tools: Mason’s Tools

As a Glory Paladin, Link is driven by a desire to be a legendary hero, and at least in the UA version, the Glory Paladin served the gods, as Link does. Like the two builds above, Link balances the brute might of the Glory Paladin with the tactile diversity of the Battle Master.

PALADIN SPELLS

1 Cure Wounds, Divine Favor, Guiding Bolt, Heroism, Protection from Evil and Good, Searing Smite, Thunderous Smite, Wrathful Smite 2 Branding Smite, Enhance Ability, Find Steed, Magic Weapon, Warding Bond

Oaths and Promises

Glory Paladin (12) Celestial Warlock (8) Fighting Style: Dueling Pact: Blade Invocations: Eldritch Smite, Improved Pact Weapon, Maddening Hex, Relentless Hex

The builds from here on are more for the flavor than necessarily Link’s character. As a Blade Pact Paladock, Link becomes a CHA-focused martial with some extra spell slots that turn his smiting sword strikes into a bokoblin slurry machine. This build focuses Link more as a servant of the gods than anything else. Just make sure he has the Hex spell, but you can replace Maddening Hex with Agonizing Blast if you want to use the Master Sword laser beam at full potential.

PALADIN SPELLS

1 Divine Favor, Guiding Bolt, Heroism, Protection from Evil and Good, Searing Smite, Thunderous Smite, Wrathful Smite 2 Branding Smite, Enhance Ability, Find Steed, Magic Weapon, Warding Bond 3 Blinding Smite, Crusader’s Mantle, Elemental Weapon, Haste, Protection from Energy

WARLOCK SPELLS

C Blade Ward, Booming Blade, Sword Burst 1 Armor of Agathys, Cure Wounds, Hex 2 Lesser Restoration, Misty Step, Shatter 3 Spirit Shroud, Summon Fey 4 Galder’s Speedy Courier

To Serve and Protect

Battle Master Fighter (12) Crown Paladin (8) Fighting Style: Dueling, Interception Maneuvers: Bait and Switch, Brace, Disarming Strike, Goading Strike, Parry, Riposte, Sweeping Attack Tools: Mason’s Tools

Link is Zelda’s knight, bodyguard, and servant. So this build prioritizes features that makes Link the loyal emissary of the Princess of Hyrule. As such, this build changes Link’s role to be more of a defender to the princess than a solo hero. This build assumes that the princess or someone else who needs to be protected is joining Link on his adventure.

PALADIN SPELLS

1 Command, Cure Wounds, Divine Favor, Heroism, Compelled Duel, Searing Smite, Thunderous Smite, Wrathful Smite 2 Branding Smite, Find Steed, Warding Bond, Zone of Truth

After all is said and done, I hope I gave everyone a lot to work with. Of course my suggestions are not law, and if nothing else, I hope it gives you an idea of how you want to build him. Last time I built Link, I gave one set build for him, but I still laid out other options. Recently though, I’ve been trying to show multiple builds at the end of my build posts to offer a wider idea of what building a character can look like. Happy 2021 everyone, and let’s hope this year goes smoother.

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4n0da · 3 years ago

Text

"Fly through the earth, run through the sky, eyes of the sky and eyes of the earth"

Chapter 1: The Return of the Legendary Warrior

Snap, snap.

The arrow released by the boy was not blown away by the air currents and broke the shiny blue target in a straight trajectory.

"Holy shit! Link's as good with a bow as Mr.Revali!!"

A small Rito boy who was watching the scene (he was probably still new to handling arrows, since even a small bow seemed to be too big for his body) commented with a twinkle in his eye on the boy...Link, who had already broken all the targets in a few moments.

Revali.

It is the name of a young warrior who was chosen by Rito to defeat the evil 100 years ago.

The arrows he shoots pierce the fine.

His flight through the sky is like a gale.

He handled the bow, which was as tall as he was, with ease.

Even though it is only in literature, his name and strength remain in the village of Rito, and even today, all men grow up being told to "become a warrior like Master Revali," and this is passed on to their children when they are born.

"Hey Dad, did you see that?"

"Of course."

The dignified-looking, white-feathered warrior of the Rito tribe, who was called "Dad," was named Teba.

Teba had been sitting in front of the cooking pot earlier, but he stood up and came over to Link with his son, Tuli by name, and laughed and showed his white breath.

"You're always so good at what you do, I'm going to have to start making targets again."

The place where the three of them were was a place called the Flight Training Center, which was built by the old chief to help Revali hone his skills.

In this place where the updrafts are always blowing up from below, he created an unconventional technique called "Revali's gale", which is a vertical leap.

According to his diary, which has recently been found, he allowed the children of the village to use this place freely, not only for himself, but also for all the warriors of the village.

Thus, the availability of Teba and Tuli was a remnant of this.

It was quite rare for a Hylian Link to have access to this place, and it was safe to say that Teba's recognition of his high level of archery was the reason why.

Now after the defeat from the disaster,

The hero of Hyrule, the boy Link, and the princess Zelda, who possesses the power of the seal, and,

Unbeknownst to the people of present-day Hyrule, the disaster was safely contained by the divine beasts controlled by the four champions who had become souls and were waiting for them.

Maybe there's no reason to fight anymore.

However, in order to protect their loved ones, both Link and Teba spent their time training as knights and warriors.

Teba wanted Tuli to become a great warrior, and whenever Link stopped by the village of Rito, she asked him to teach Tuli how to use a bow, saying, "There are other men besides the Rito who are good at archery.

"By the way, Link."

When his name was called, Link, his face flushed from the cold, looked back at Teba.

"What about the Steller's sea eagle bow? I'm sure you can handle it no problem, can't you?"

The bow said to have been used by the former champion Revali.

That is the Steller's sea eagle's bow.

It is made of wood so that it is easy to use in the air, and it is no different from other Rito bows in that the master craftsmen of Rito can draw the string faster than other bows, making it easier to shoot in rapid succession.

However, the weight was increased by four stabilizers, which were like weights, and there were no Rito who could use them to get the right arrow flight, not only at that time, but even now, 100 years later.

Of course, Teba tried to use it, but although he could pull the string, the weight of the bow greatly reduced her speed in the air.

This fact must have made Teva and many other warriors envious of Revali, and passed his name on to future generations.

And Link, this thin-armed boy who showed great skill in the air, might be able to handle this bow.

After the two of them sank the divine beast, Va-Medo, Teba told the chief about entrusting the family's treasure to Link, and he agreed, saying that of course the descendant of a champion would do it.

Teba wondered if it was his imagination that Link had muttered "nostalgic" when he handed him the bow, even though no one had been let out of Rito's village in a hundred years.

With that in mind, Teba let Link try out a shot at the flight training area.

Link dropped a number of targets in a moment, just like the legendary champion. After Teba finished her praise, "That's great," most of the visible targets were gone.

Even though it is an excellent bow, there is inevitably an affinity between the bow and the user. And bows are different depending on how they are used.

Teba had heard that the bows of the Gerudo region were suitable for hunting in the desert, and that the bows of the beast kings were powerful enough to finish off their opponents.

What Link was holding now was not a Steller's sea eagle bow, but one that had been adjusted for the Hylians, but would a Steller's sea eagle bow really be suitable for his purposes?

That bothered Teba, so he called out to him.

"...I think I'm going to confuse you."

That's what Link says back.

"Confused? You didn't break it, did you?"

"I didn't break it.

"Did you lose it?"

"I didn't lose it.

"What do you mean?"

Just then, He heard a gurgling sound of wind.

Teba and Tuli peeked to see if the wind was blowing up from the flight training area, but there was clearly one updraft that was stronger than usual.

The Ritos have ten times the visual acuity of other species, and also have excellent kinetic vision.

They could clearly see a bluish or black-feathered Lito in the middle of the current, carrying a Steller's sea-eagle bow and climbing up the current like a swimming fish.

The dry snow fluttered in the wind and hit them cheeks.

"I got it back."

As soon as he heard the sound of the strings being pulled, three bows were released and snatched Link just short of his hair.

No way, no how, no how.

Teba didn't blink and stared at the Rito warrior.

There were no details of his appearance in the literature, only that he was not that tall, as the Steller's sea eagle's bow was as tall as he was.

Four braids of jade, interlaced with thin cloth.

The red of his cheeks showed that he was not yet of age.

"Dad, is that..."

Shortly after Tuli called out, the Ritos landed on Link, Teba and Tuli.

"Do you know me? Well, of course I do."

#revalink #breath of the wild #link #revali

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prankprincess123 · 1 year ago

Note

I think maybe this combination of powers, so early in Hyrule's history, is part of why over the generations the understanding of how the Princess' powers work gets so clouded. Because it is Hylia, it is the soul of a goddess in the Princess that gives Zelda her powers. But it is also the ancestral magic from both Sonia & Rauru in the Royal line that gives all it's princesses powers. And then there's the third aspect not touched on here (as it plays minimal if any role in BotW/TotK) of Nayru's part of the triforce being bestowed on the Royal family, and bringing with it both divine wisdom and some of Nayru's powers.

We have the powers of not just one but two goddesses, and ancestral magic (from multiple sources) and holy incarnations, and divine blessings, and matrilineal royal inheritance, and religious traditions that spring up. Not to mention the frequent deaths of Hyrule's queens before they can teach their daughters, and the generations like Tetra who just never learned what was going on at all.

And the other races have their stories, but only the Gorons and Sheikah have been around since the beginning, and they've had their own worries and struggles shape the stories they pass on. And the Sheikah have always had a devotion to Hylia and the line of Zeldas specifically that has made them the best resource for this kind of information, but they've been exiled and nearly wiped out so many times that their stories are also lost and jumbled. And the forest spirits probably know something, but so few people can see them, and even Link barely talks to them in this life. And Fi's been there for almost everything regarding Link and Zelda, well except for some of the lifetimes when the Four Sword was used instead, but she's not talking to anyone right now.

And can we really blame Zelda for just being absolutely confused as heck regarding how her powers work?

Her powers come from so many sources at once, and the line of storytelling - both oral and written - has been broken by deaths and apocalypses so many times, and the new story doesn't match anything of what it was two generations ago, and does BotW/TotK Zelda even know about the triforce's existence?

Zelda is quite rightfully lost. Because if her power is a gift from Hylia and/or Nayru, and she comes from a line of priestess-princesses, it tracks that praying to the goddesses should help, and she must just not be praying hard enough. But if it's a magical inheritance based on a matrilineal royal birthright and divine right to rule, then she should just have the abilities without needing to do anything, and something must be wrong with her that she doesn't. And none of the theories based on what she knows account for anything involving reincarnation or the triforce or magic inherited from male ancestors at all.

And honestly, if she were allowed to pick up a sword of any type (a knight's sword like SS, or a rapier like in TP & HW, or a cutlass like Tetra) or take magic-ninja lessons from Impa in this life, or wield a bow like she has used her powers with in so many lifetimes, or just experiment with robots and frogs like she wants to, Zelda probably would have figured out at least part of her powers way sooner. After all, Age of Calamity only happens because Zelda subconsciously imbued some of her time magic in a little robot she built as a child.

And hopefully, at some point during their near eternity alone in the sky, Fi was able to clear everything up for Zelda, because this girl deserves at least some clarity...

so, it’s confirmed that Zelda’s “Time” powers came from Sonia, and her “Light” powers from Rauru, but we know from other games that only the women of the royal family can use the “sealing” power inherited from SkSw Zelda. do you think this means that throughout history, the “Light” powers associated w the sealing are actually separate from the sealing ability? I just remember being really lost after that cutscene, cause even if Rauru somehow was a descendant of Hylia, he wouldn’t be able to use those powers, and the sealing of whatever evil is causing trouble always has a fancy light show with it lmao

So, this is a very complicated question with a very complicated theory to answer it.

We know that Sonia's primary, and, in terms of usablity, only power is Recall.

However, I do believe she's Hylia's descendant, not Rauru, despite Rauru being the one with the light/sealing power. Evidence on that here.

Being Hylia's descendant would make Sonia's birthright be a whole host of other powers, possibly latent, but more probably something that Sonia's never actually been in the right situation to use. Let's take a look at what Skyward Sword Zelda can do.

She can seal the Demon King-

-but only at the expense of her own life force being rendered inert while she does.

She can bless the Master Sword-

-but it's already as strong as it can get.

She has strong connections to time...

...but we knew that already.

Of these three powers, only one would be relevant to Sonia's skill set. The Master Sword can hardly be doubly-blessed, and the Demon King has yet to show his face.

More importantly, however, Skyward Zel's sealing power works MUCH differently to Wild Zel's.

Wild Zel's sealing is instantaneous, fueled by emotion, with seemingly no draining effect on her person.

When fully unleashed, her seal is as total as it is inescapable. It doesn't require her to put herself to sleep until Link can deal the final blow with the Master Sword. The closest thing to Skyward Zel's seal that Wild Zel did was in keeping the Calamity at bay for 100 years while Link slept. During which, it's heavily implied that she was conscious, given that she spoke to Link the instant he woke.

With Rauru, his sealing ability seems much more similar to our princess's, with only some key differences visually.

His right hand gathers light around it, and needs to be extended to fully function.

When the seal first activates, it forms a spherical shape, which is inescapable, albeit on a much smaller scale than Zelda's.

It's a little hard to see, due to the magnitude of Zelda's power, but it IS a sphere.

And although this act does cost Rauru his life, it usually doesn't. He's done this before, multiple times, as stated in Messages from an Ancient Era tablet A Pilgrimage of Light:

"The kyng was late y-come this aven, so maked the quene to sharen tales of hir lond, of shirines al grene yglouen. "Of erli daies sinnes Hyrules funding have diverse monstres hir reaume biseged ond assaylled. "Uncesinge in striffe, thei broughte to despeir folkes lyfen. Kyng ond quen ysete thamselue to bringen scurge to ende. "With might of light ond pouere, driven abak ybeen, ond the roial couple made thes shirines to selen him awei. "Thes holi selen ben yclept Shirines of Light. "Gret kyng, grete quen, y thank ye. Ye foughte whan y wer maiden-child, that y kude pes toknouen."

The translation, to the best of my efforts:

"The king was late to come this evening, so made the queen to share tales of her land, of shrines all green glowing. "Of early days since Hyrule's founding have diverse monsters her realm besieged and assailed. "Unceasing in strife, they brought to despair folks' lives. King and queen set themselves to bringing scourge to end. "With might of light and power, driven aback they been, and the royal couple made these shrines to seal him away. "These holy seals been called Shrines of Light. "Great king, great queen, I thank you. You fought when you were maiden-child, that I could peace to know."

Sonia and Rauru went around making the Shrines of Light that we find in present day and receive blessing from:

So, with the exception of the Demon King, who was so powerful that he could resurrect thousands of years later, Rauru's seal behaved like Zelda's—instant, fueled by emotion, inescapable, projected by the right hand, with no immediate toll on the user.

But what does this mean for Zelda's sealing ability? Despite behaving similarly, it doesn't look similar at all.

Let's look back at what happens when Sonia and Rauru combine their powers.

Rauru brings his hands together in a triangle shape, possibly invoking the same Triforce motif Zelda gives when she unleashes her power. The Secret Stone, which magnifies his light abilities, glows in a similar shade to Zelda's seal.

Sonia extends her right hand as her own tear glows. Despite it only amplifying her time power, her hand shows the same color Rauru's light gives off—as well as being in a spherical form.

Rauru draws in her power (and Zelda's, whose is a combination of both already and therefore adds no new properties) and forms a bright yellow light with a sphere around it.

It's better seen from this angle, where we can also see what looks like an inverted Triforce in the middle.

They're nowhere near the level of focus Zelda's Triforce has, but the triangles are definitely there.

And then it becomes a catastrophic force of power, able to wipe out an entire swarm of Molduga in a single hit.

Zelda's lineage's sealing ability is a culmination of all of this. It's Sonia and Rauru's powers combined, taking Hylia's seal, the Goddess's full power-

-and attaching that strength to something instantaneous and geared specifically to lock away darkness-

-by combining the power of time with the power of light.

Hylia's sealing power isn't Rauru's, but Zelda's is Hylia's AND Rauru's combined.

As a side note, this is also why I think, despite Rauru contributing his power, the magic remains only matrilineal. Hylia's descendants—meaning in this case, Sonia—are the only ones that carry her abilities. Rauru's power attached itself to Sonia's to create Zelda's, but Sonia's abilities—with or without Rauru's boost to them—can only be accessed by her daughters and granddaughters.

Strong enough to rival any magic in the world in sheer might, this later became known as the Light Force.

TLDR: Hylia's seal = Slow, nonlethal, exhausting toll, powerful, golden lightshow Rauru's seal = Fast, potentially lethal, concentrated, opposes Ganon, spherical lightshow Zelda's seal = Fast, concentrated, opposes Ganon, spherical (from Rauru), nonlethal, powerful, golden (from Hylia); a hybridization of both seals, the best of both worlds

#legend of zelda #zelda #rauru #sonia #totk #pretty much everything loz but im too lazy to tag it all

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deiliamedlini · 3 years ago

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Whumptober 2021- The Darkness I Know

Chapter 4

No. 4- Trust fall

“Do you trust me?” | taken hostage | pushed

Fic Summary: After the world as she knew it was destroyed by the corruption of Malice, Zelda allies herself with her saviors from captivity: a disgruntled former governor, an alert paramedic, a cocky pilot, an excessively overt optimist, and a blind strategist. While the corrupted, malice-filled Yiga Clan looks for revenge on them, Zelda has to learn how important it is to find family in others... and how much more dangerous the stakes become if she fails to protect them.

Previous/ Chapter Index/ Next

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

Zelda’s room was an absolute prison.

There was no way that someone built this room for comfort, or peace. No one would find a sense of calm and relaxation in here. It was built to inspire fear, and that’s exactly what it did.

The door was locked, of course. No amount of jiggling the handle would do anything to help her. But when she turned, she was met by a sickening, neon orange wall, with white floors; her eyes hurt simply from looking at it all.

There was no window in the small room, but she hadn’t expected it. She figured they were in the middle of the compound, just based on what little information she’d managed to gather. But there was nothing on the walls, nothing but the painful color. It left the room feeling barren and empty; a cold place rather than somewhere warm and inviting.

The bed was small and set on a metal frame, and when she sat on it, she sank into an uncomfortable gap that had been left by an apparent, numerous occupants. And the sheets didn’t appear to have been changed in the time between people either, given their frayed, tattered, and—to Zelda’s utter dismay—odorous state.

No, this room was not meant to be lived in. This was another tactic, another measure for her to overcome. This was to scare her out of joining the Yiga, as if she had any other choice right now. Joining was the only way out.

She sat in the corner of the room on the floor, hoping that was a safer bet than the bed was, and pictured just how many people were gathered in that room. Not one of them tried to defect? Every one of them was here of their own volition?

Zelda shuddered. What if there was a ploy, a twist? What if somehow, they really could convince her to become a Malice-loving zealot? Who would she even be?

Perhaps the room was meant to test her in more ways than one, because the only time the door opened was for someone to drop off food that she was too afraid to eat, and then they’d leave with the tray and Zelda would wander the empty room trying to keep herself entertained.

She’d been in the Yiga’s hideout for a week now: three days in the cells, and four in the room.

Four, right?

She’d lost count, honestly.

On day… two—she believed—she accepted the food with caution. They wouldn’t try to pull the same trick twice, right? Besides, she’d need her strength if she wanted to have a chance of fighting.

That was what this room really did: broke people until they no longer had fight left inside them.

Before the Malice had taken over, Zelda was fresh out of school. She did some sports in high school, and she ran in her spare time, but athleticism wasn’t her forte. After, however, Zelda had become proficient in fending off the more annoying crazed creatures, and the occasional human. She could use a bow, a knife, and herself to throw an enemy off balance. But here? Here she was surrounded and completely alone.

Zelda loved rulers, but there were none in the room.

She took her arm and placed it beside the pillow she refused to use on the bed she wouldn’t sit on. The pillow was about 1 ¼’s of her arm. The blanket was 5 arms in length, and 3 wide. The door was 2. The room was 14.

Goddess, there was little else she could do to keep herself entertained.

She took her place on the floor, stretched out and groaning as her bones snapped and cracked, begging for her to be kinder to them. She flipped onto her back and let out a heavy sigh as her back thanked her.

“Let me out,” Zelda said to no one in particular, and in a very normal voice. She didn’t shout or call for help, but she needed to speak. “Please, just let me leave this stupid room!”

Her stomach growled. Weak. She was weak with hunger. Her legs didn’t want her to stand back up, and she was okay with that.

How many fibers were on the frayed end of the blanket, Zelda wondered?

It was faint, but Zelda’s ears perked up at an unfamiliar noise outside her door, causing her to sit up faster than she ever had before. It was quick, and gone in an instant, but it was there.

She crawled to her door, staying low in case… well, she didn’t know why. Just in case.

With her ear to the door, she closed her eyes to block out her other senses, and listened.

Boom!

Zelda shrieked and fell backwards as the sound of something hard and heavy connected with her door, shaking it with her head still against the wood.

There was the unmistakable sound of a scuffle, and the door shook with several thuds, occasionally followed by a grunt or two.

Then, it was silent.

Zelda ran to the door and pressed her ear there once again, but she heard nothing.

“Hey!” she finally called, banging her palm on the door as hard as she could, a surge of adrenalin bursting through her tired, sore, and hungry body. “Hey!” She tried, banging incessantly.

Zelda had hoped it would get someone’s attention. She hoped someone would open the door, and allow her to escape.

She didn’t expect to hear a man’s confused voice on the other side.

“Yes?”

Eyes bugging out, Zelda banged the door again. “Hey! Who’s this!? Let me out!”

She heard the man grunt. “Who is this? Why should I let you out?”

“Aren’t you a Yiga?” she asked jokingly.

“No.”

No?

“No?”

“No.”

Zelda let her hands slide along the wood, trying the door handle one more time, fruitlessly. “My village was massacred, I was betrayed, and they’re trying to kill me! Please let me out!”

“I don’t know you,” he said with a scoff.

Zelda banged her fists on the door. “Please! Let me out! It’s locked from the outside!”

“Stop doing that and maybe I will!”

She saw the doorknob jiggle before it stopped. “Hang on,” he said, just before she heard retreating footsteps.

She wanted to beg him not to go, but she simply held her breath and waited, trying to think of the best way to attack. There were literally no possible weapons in the room, so she imagined the door opening, and her coming out swinging instead. Of course, if they had a weapon, she’d be done for and back in the room.

Footsteps were on the other side again. “You in there?” he asked.

“Where did you think I went?”

She could hear him chuckle. “Help me out,” he said to someone else.

A woman muttered something that she couldn’t hear, but there was a thud, and the door shook.

“Back up!” the man called.

Zelda did, wondering what they were doing.

And she yelped when a giant metal sword pierced the wood.

Then again.

Another sword, and the wood was splintering.

“Goddess,” she mumbled, watching the wood be torn to pieces in random places.

It didn’t make sense until there were a few more thuds, and the center of the door was a hole just big enough for her.

“Hello?”

Zelda waited, unsure if they were just going to stab her when all was said and done. But that was probably too much effort.

“Damn,” a woman said, her voice deep and authoritative, but also melodic and charming. “That was fun.”

“Good thing we cleared this area,” the man said, his voice moving, as if he were looking around.

“Hey,” the woman said, peering at Zelda in the room. She was hunched over, so she was very tall, and her red hair was long and wild and wavy as it hung in front of her face. “Coming? We’re on a tight schedule.”

“Yes,” she breathed, rushing toward the gap.

The woman disappeared. “Can you help her out? I’m going to go find Daruk.”

“Yeah, go ahead.”

Zelda watched the woman run by the door, and a new figure replaced her.

The man was not nearly the same height as the woman, and Zelda wondered if they might actually just be the same, judging from where he stood. His partially gloved hand ran along the gap just before he shoved his whole arm inside, ready to take Zelda’s hand.

“It’ll be a tight squeeze. I’ll help pull you out.”

“How do you know I’m not really a Yiga?” she asked. “How do I know you’re not a Yiga? Am I supposed to take you at your word?”

“That would be silly. Let me prove it to you instead,” he said, wiggling his fingers.

Hesitation was not something Zelda liked experiencing, so she fought past it and gripped the man’s hard, calloused hand. His fingers closed tight around hers. “Let me know when you’re ready for me to pull.”

“I will,” she said, getting her leg up, but then getting stuck. “Oh, this is just going to hurt a bit.”

“What is?”

“I’m stuck. I think… just pull me. I just want to get out of here.”

“We don’t injure people for no reason, he said with an exasperated sigh. Come on, let me help.”

His hand didn’t move, waiting for her permission. “Fine.”

“What are you wearing?”

Zelda’s heart was already racing from the nerves, and the excitement of getting out of here. But this man… was something. “Excuse me?”

“I can’t see well. What are you wearing?”

“Pants and…”

“Good enough,” he said, reaching forward and sliding his hand quickly down her back before grabbing her by the waist of her pants and pulling her with him.

She didn’t land on the ground, but instead, found herself out of that cursed room, and in the arms of a total stranger.

Sudden tiredness washed over her. “Why did you even let me out? Do you trust me, or something?”

“No,” he snorted, letting her go when he felt she was solid. “No, but we’re already on a rescue mission. Let’s just add one more.”

“A rescue?”

“Yeah, a man with blue hair should be prisoner here. We’re here to break him out, but we’ve been scouring this place.”

“Wait, blue hair? I think I know where he is.”

The man’s blonde, messy mop hung in front of his eyes. It must be annoying, Zelda figured, but she wasn’t going to voice that opinion. Some of his hair was tied back, but not enough to be neat or helpful.

“You do?” he asked, his interest piqued.

“I believe so.”

“What’s your name so I can thank the Goddess for you at night?” he laughed, before picking up a long staff he’d leaned against a wall.

“Zelda,” she said, instinctively holding out her hand for a handshake.

“Zelda? Good to meet you. I’m Link.” He held his hand out beside hers. She stared at his hand like it were doing a trick before simply sliding her hand into his.

Smoothing her hand through her hair awkwardly, she looked around, getting her bearings. “Okay, let’s go.”

#legend of zelda #loz #loz au #breath of the wild #botw au #whumptober #whumptober2021 #whumptober 2021 #whump #no. 4 #Do you trust me #Link #Zelda #zelink #urbosa #Yiga Clan #malice #writing

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jinmukangwrites · 4 years ago

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Mutual (Mis)Understandings

Summary: Wild and Zelda seem to be engaged... and Twilight like the worried mother hen of the group that he is overreacts and misunderstands greatly.

Or, Zelda and Wild are best friends, but they’re also both arcace and the only reason they’ll ever get married is for the Hylian equivalent of tax-benefits.

Note: this was purely self indulgent and was written instead of my actual next LU fic. In the mean time, enjoy this. From now on I only write aroace Wild and Flora and if you don’t like it then don’t talk to me lmao

-o-o-o-o-

Twilight supposes it was only a matter of time before they ran into Wild's Zelda. Because, despite Wild's Hyrule being so much larger than it's versions before it, Zelda apparently was still a woman who could not be confined to the walls of her castle. If she wanted to explore and meet new people, then she would. According to Wild, that is.

Zelda is, at first glance, the embodiment of grace and beauty. Her hair is golden and her eyes the color of the grass that flourishes on the hills. Her lips are full, and colored not a perfect red but not a perfect pink either. Her hair, while chopped short, is braided and styled perfectly in a way that compliments her beauty even more.

But then, you look at her traveling clothes and the twigs in her hair, and you realize that Wild once told you a story about how she tried to force a frog into his mouth.

She stands in the center of Terry Town, near a beautiful fountain built around a small shrine for the goddess Hylia, and in a strange reincarnation way, a tribute for her as well. As the group walks into the town that's suspended on a circle of land that towers high over a small lake, she turns and smiles, delight sparkling in her eyes when her gaze lands on her knight. It's an unexpected reunion, one that started with Wild wanting to show them something he's proud of, and one that's turning out to be more of a treat than any of them expected. Especially, when besides Twilight, Wild lets out a happy gasp and runs ahead of the group, slamming into his princess with a tight and joy-filled hug. The moment is so touching that even Legend smiles.

The hug lasts a little longer before Zelda and Wild part, splitting to stand next to each other with shoulders brushing. They look perfect together. Like they were made for each other. Wild smiles at the group and Zelda matches his smile but in a more polite and curious way.

"I believe introductions are in order?" She asks, though it's not really a question. More like an invitation.

Twilight looks over at Wild, a matching look of awkwardness passing between them. Hyrule pulls at his collar nervously. It's always… strange to introduce themselves to people. While many people are named Link to honor heroes, it is still strange to have nine boys traveling together all introduce themselves as such. They really need to come up with better names than rancher and traveler and the old man.

Thankfully, Time is ever the wisest and the owner of the group's meager stash of brain cells. He steps forward with a respectable bow. "Princess Zelda," he says, standing up from his bow, "we have traveled with Link for a few months now and have found ourselves caught in… quite a complicated story. Perhaps, if I may be so bold, it would be wise to allow us a more private space for introductions?"

"I see," Zelda says, her polite smile turning into something a little sharper. Not in an offended way, but in a way that she knows something that they don't. Thankfully, she doesn't keep them waiting for long. "Yes, perhaps it would be wise. Though, it seems I must have to introduce myself as well before we begin. It's not princess. It's queen."

-o-o-o-o-

Twilight sometimes keeps himself up at night wondering about how his Zelda might take the news of there being eight more heroes carrying the name "Link" around. It's hard to tell with her, and it's not like they're close. Their relationship is strictly "Princess and Hero", and the most they have in common besides the whole reincarnation thing is Midna.

Which is a topic both of them tend to avoid.

So really, he cannot say for sure how she'd react. Would she believe it? Would she take it in stride? Twilight can really only imagine her taking in the information with a straight face before saying it doesn't concern her so begone.

One thing's for sure, she wouldn't react like Wild's Zelda does.

Because, well, if Twilight thought the kids at his home village were made of skin, bone, and questions, then the Zelda before him is made of questions, questions, and more questions.

"Who is the first among you? What year was it? Strange, it seems you used a different calendar than us. And it's peculiar you two have the same dates but live in completely different worlds- oh you and your Zelda were childhood friends? And you have two Zeldas'? What about you? What is your kingdom like-?

By the end of the afternoon, everyone's mouths had run dry from talking and Warriors was about to jump into the fountain at the center of town yelling about thirst before a tall Gerudo lady stopped him with a level look.

Zelda and Wild have broken off from the group; the town's people and the various guards who must be here for Zelda's protection (even though Twilight's sure she can definitely more than protect herself, it must be for their own peace of mind) have stopped giving them those you nasty foreigners looks and have actually started to seek out conversation in the form of you have money, I have things to sell, wink wink. As the sun crept closer towards the edges of Death Mountain, everyone one-by-one decided the beds promised to them at the inn sounded more interesting than sitting around and doing nothing.

Time being one of the first to retire, not that Twilight blames him. The question "Which one of you is the hero from ten thousand years ago?" weighs heavy on all their minds. The lore of that hero doesn't sound familiar to any of them, and it left the whole group wondering how many lives they have lived, and if they are destined to add more to their group of nine.

Regardless, Twilight finds himself one of the last members to head to bed, and not for the lack of trying. He had accidentally mentioned wrestling around a towering Goron and his little brother and had, in a sting of events he was entirely unwilling in, found himself wrestling Greyson with a whole crowd of townspeople watching with jeers and enthusiasm. Greyson wasn't a full grown Goron, so it was surprisingly easy to knock him out of their makeshift ring carved into the ground with a stick without the aid of his iron boots.

After winning that fight, the Gerudo lady who probably made Warriors wet his pants with her glare decided she wanted in on the action, to which Wind and Hyrule screamed out he was a coward for turning her down by saying he definitely already knows she'll win.

Because she definitely will win. He's seen fully grown pumpkins smaller than her biceps.

But, Twilight is ever the gentleman and absolutely not a coward and caved even though he knows he will walk away from this with a few new bruises.

Turns out, the kind of wrestling the Gerudo lady (who he finds out is named Rhondson judging by the "TEAR HIS ARMS OFF, RHONDSON!" that was yelled out from the crowd as she knocked his feet out from below him) was trying to do was different from goat and Goron wrestling, and he was completely unprepared for her to bring him to the ground and attempt at pinning him down like a madwoman. He's never been so terrified in his entire life.

He should have explained the rules better to more than just Greyson.

He was in the middle of trying to shove her off from him (because apparently a loss is being pinned down for three seconds as refereed by her husband and Twilight is not about to lose so easily with Wind in the sidelines laughing so hard he has tears in his eyes) when he notices Wild and his Zelda leave a building and quietly retreat towards the far cliff edges of town. Rhondson seems to notice this as well, because she pauses in her tortuous wrestling long enough to mutter under her breath "young love..."

To which. Twilight promptly short-circuits.

Young love?

Wild?

And Zelda?

HIS WILD?! AND QUEEN ZELDA?

Yeah sure, he knew Zelda and Wild were close, but Wild was the most… rowdy and dirty piece of work he's ever met. And sure, Zelda isn't exactly the most poise and elegant creature in the world—the twigs still in her hair, the mud running up her boots to her trousers, the ever slowly becoming undone braids in her hair that she doesn't seem to truly care about are all testament of that. Twilight is just… well, he didn't think Wild had it in him. To catch the attention and affection of someone like Zelda… Twilight needs to hand it to him. He guesses Wild can be romantic when he wants to be.

Unfortunately, thanks to his little brain explosion, Rhondson manages to pin him down long enough for Hudson to smack the ground three times. (Seriously, what is up with the son part of everyone's name?)

Rhondson lets him up with a triumphant smirk and Twilight lays on the ground, winded.

"Young love?" He croaks, because his brain is still trying to process. It's like adding two and two together and getting goat.

Rhondson's smirk seems to widen even more as she extends a hand, golden jewelery clinking on her toned wrists. "Don't you know? The Queen and her knight are engaged."

She says it casually like it's nothing truly new or exciting as she lifts him to his feet.

Wind's laughter from the sidelines suddenly turns into choking noises. Twilight can only short-circuit some more.

Because what.

Rhondson doesn't explain anymore as she accepts cheering from the rest of the town. No one explains as the crowd disperses, the sun fully behind Death Mountain and the moonrise breeze moving in with the smell of the ocean. Soon enough, Twilight is still standing where he's been left, Wind sitting on the ground cross-legged with his chin in his hands, and Hyrule standing besides him looking unsure if he should suggest bed or something else.

Engaged.

Wild is seventeen (plus one hundred but that doesn’t count) years old and he's engaged.

He knows the age of adulthood changes every so often, but honestly at least wait until you're twenty before you commit! Or let Twilight be married first!

He slowly manages to crawl out from his churning thoughts back into his body, and the first thing he does is look towards where Zelda and Wild disappeared to and suddenly his brain is thinking of a whole matter of things the two of them might be doing. Alone. With no one to catch them.

He's moving to follow them before he can make himself rethink to maybe respect their choices and boundaries. Hyrule, perhaps thinking the same thing, grabs onto the tail of his wolf's pelt.

"Wait!" Hyrule says, trying to be the voice of reason, which is strange because normally that's Twilight's job, "maybe we should let them be… alone-"

"Traveler, are you a man or a mouse?!" Wind demands, catching up to the two of them, looking way too determined to intrude upon a potential make-out session.

Hyrule squeaks. "M-man!"

Twilight ignores them as he creeps towards the buildings the two love birds disappeared behind.

"Besides, the champion brought this upon himself," Wind continues. "He should have told us he was going to be the future King of Hyrule. He deserves it."

It; being a good sneaking up on. Twilight finds himself agreeing. They've known Wild for how long and he hasn't told them at all that he was engaged?

The topic of love and settling down has come up many times in their group.

"Champion, do you like anyone?" "Nah, the only thing I like is cooking." "Hey champion, after all this and settling down, what are your plans?" "To become a world renowned chef." "Cook! I saw the face you were making when Malon was talking about girls! Who were you thinking of?" "Food. Duh."

The sniveling little weasel. To think Twilight fell for it.

Twilight holds up his hand as they approach the buildings, Wind and Hyrule quiet down their conversations. It seems even though Hyrule took a rare attempt at peacekeeping, he has ultimately decided upon even though I don't like it I still want to come along. They poke their heads around the corner of the building and find…

Nothing.

No one is here.

How interesting.

Wind gives a groan of outrage and Hyrule releases a sigh of relief so powerful the grass waves a little. Twilight continues forward and looks at the soft dirt on the ground that leads to the sheer unforgiving drop of cliff. They should really fence this off, he's seen the children in the town and one of them could easily fall.

"I can't believe the cook, the sly fox," Wind was grumbling and not for the first time Twilight decides to not ask how the kid knows so much about stuff like this. Hyrule says something back about maybe there's a reason Wild's kept it secret but Twilight doesn't listen in too hard as his eyes catch on something in the ground.

There. Footsteps. Fresh. Two different sizes, one small and the other slightly larger. Could easily belong to a queen wearing muddy boots and a knight.

He follows the footsteps and his stomach jumps when he follows them to the edge of the cliff.

Did they… were they so... that they didn't notice the cliff?!

He rushes towards the quite literal edge of Terry Town and frantically looks down into the water below. It's hard to see with the light of the quarter moon creeping up behind them.

He can't see a thing, but thankfully Wind has a knack for looking into the horizon because his voice cuts through his internal panic with the pointing of a hand.

"Look!"

Twilight follows the pointing finger until his eyes land on the distant sight of two people sharing one lantern in the forest past the edge of the lake. One is vaguely femininely shaped and the other about the same height but with less curves. They're walking through the tall grass and wirey trees, past the empty husks of what Wild calls Guardians.

Until Wild points out something and they share a look before running behind one of the husks and staying there.

How… how unseemly! Didn't one of those things kill Wild?!

Twilight grabs at the grapple in his bag, thankful he decided to keep that with him instead of putting everything in the inn, and ties the end of it around one of the nearby fence posts. The shore of the lake doesn't look too far from here. He should be able to swim it. Easy.

Wind and Hyrule follow him down without complaint, as Twilight drops the other end of his grapple down with the fill length of chain extended. It takes a few minutes and a few stomach churning, chain wiggling moments with the wind for Twilight to finally find himself at the end of the line, just a short distance from the water.

He hopes there's no monsters in there.

Well. Here goes nothing.

He lets go of the chain and his stomach flips just a bit before he hits the surprisingly refreshing water. Not too cold but not worryingly warm. It's also shallow, his toes brushing the bottom for just a moment before he swims towards where he thinks the shore is and upwards until he reaches the surface with a gasp. There's two more splashes behind him and soon the three of them find themselves gasping and dripping on the muddy and rocky shore of the lake. Hyrule looks the worst out of all of them, perhaps not as used to swimming, but they at least all made it with no monster battles or near drownings. So a win.

The light of the two love bird's lantern is still a good distance away, and by the time they near most of the water has dripped away from their clothes and hair, leaving them uncomfortably damp.

And as they near closer, the louder they can hear… giggling.

Twilight puts a hand to his lips and stops Hyrule and Wind where they stand. Wind looks about ready to throw a fit with a string of embarrassing things like I know what sex is and 'm not a kid but thinks the wiser of it when Hyrule frantically makes cut throat notion, signalling yelling is not the best idea right now.

Twilight takes it upon himself to approach the husk of the Guardian himself. He feels… icky. Like he shouldn't impose. But there's such a thing as chastity and being too young to accidentally become with child. Twilight knows Wild and Zelda has been away from each other for some time, and the… urge must be strong, but he will not allow his protégé to make a mistake he might regret before he's even married.

"Oh Link, it's beautiful!" Zelda says, breathless.

Twilight takes a deep breath and walks around the Guardian with his hands on his hips. Hopefully Zelda doesn't order his death for this.

"What are you two doing?!"

And then he pauses, eyes wide as Wild jumps up from where he's been crouching, pulling out his sword and looking more angry than what Twilight's ever seen him, before shock and curiosity replaces the anger. Zelda is standing behind him, having jumped to her feet and pulling out a dagger, and behind her a green firebug flies away.

They're both fully clothed and looking at Twilight like he's grown a second head.

"Um." Twilight says smartly, his brain going back into process-mode as Zelda rolls her eyes, puts her dagger away, and looks behind her for the firebug that's flown away.

"Are they decent?" Hyrule's voice asks, which is something Wind doesn't bother to do before he steps around the Guardian to stand by Twilight with a disappointed face. Someone really needs to wash that kid's brain out with soap.

"Decent?" Wild asks, confused. Zelda doesn't say anything, she's crouched further into the forest and creeping up on another firebug.

They were… looking at bugs.

"It's okay, traveler," Twilight says, releasing a breath and thanking Hylia and all the other spirits for everything somehow being a misunderstanding. "We were wrong."

"Wrong about what?" Wild asks, sounding even more confused.

Twilight shakes his head and grabs Wind's head, wrapping his hand around the boy's mouth before he can say anything gross. Hyrule walks over, looking as relieved as he might if he were told the spirit of the demon Ganondorf was forever destroyed. Which is to say, he was looking extremely relieved.

"Oh good," Hyrule says as Wild mutters what's probably explicits behind Twilight's hand. "We thought you were having- mmph?!"

Twilight has successfully grabbed Hyrule's face with his other hand and covers his mouth too. Now, with both boys successfully gagged and pinned to his chest, Twilight gives Wild his best smile and hopes it doesn't look too conspicuous and nervous.

"We saw the light and thought you two saw something dangerous," he lies easily.

Wild gives him a slight suspicious look, his eyes flickering between Twilight's two captives and Twilight himself before shrugging and putting his sword away. Twilight had to fight to keep a straight face as Hyrule elbows his side and Wind licks his hand.

"It's Zelda's first time at Terry Town, and I wanted to show her the creatures that call this place home," Wild explains, not looking all that concerned that Twilight is still holding two of their group members captive by the faces. Hyrule is licking too now, but Twilight can't trust them not to say the sex word yet. Twilight grew up the perpetual older brother of four kids in Ordon, he's been in positions like this before with much more slobbery licking.

"Oh that's good then, no danger!" Twilight says, keeping in a gasp as Hyrule elbows his side harder and Wind makes a mad grasp for his hair.

Thankfully, Zelda speaks up in a whisper-yell from where she's crouching. "Link! There's a wolf!"

Wild gives the other heroes a wide grin before he quietly sprints towards Zelda and couches besides her. The two begin to talk to each other in hushed voices.

Twilight let's a second pass, and then he releases his captives.

Hyrule takes in a deep gasp like Twilight had been strangling him—he wasn't—and Wind spits at the ground furiously like what he licked had been poisonous—Twilight is doubtful the palm of his hand tasted that bad.

Before either of them could recover, Twilight leans down and grabs them both by the points of their ears.

"Do. Not. Say. A. Word."

Wind whacks his hand away, scowling. "Okay okay! Geez-"

Twilight gives them both level glares and eventually they both nod in agreement. Whatever misunderstanding has just happened, Wild and Zelda were to remain unaware of it. Period.

With the unspoken agreement, the three of them walk up to Wild and Zelda, of which Wild is currently in a long ramble in the differences between all the kinds of wolves in Hyrule. Apparently, wolves in Akkala have slightly shorter snouts compared to Hyrule Field Wolves even though they have the same coloring. Interesting. Kind of useless to Twilight, but he'd much rather listen to Wild explain the slight differences of wolves than… other things.

When Zelda requests to see the two kinds of wolves side-by-side, Wild promises he has pictures of both of them on his little magic box thing.

And that's... pretty much how the next few hours go. Wild and Zelda run bush to bush, talking excitedly between each other about black winged butterflies and the abilities gained from eating a golden beetle, and the three other heroes follow along like lost puppies, not able to offer a single shred of new information to the chatty environmentalists. Twilight manages to get in a small comment about the Ordon goats—and ignores the triplet groaning from Wild, Wind, and Hyrule—but after he fails to produce a picture of his favorite animal Zelda loses interest and moves on to poking the leaves of some random flower.

Twilight sighs. Someday someone will worship the Ordon goats like they deserve.

Sigh.

Someday.

Hours pass and Wind gives a huge very bored sounding yawn, which somehow earns the pity of Zelda. "You're right, small pirate Link. It is probably about time we should head back." She turns towards the Wild with a glint in her eyes. "I'm sure the guards are missing us."

Wild snickers and Twilight rolls his eyes before turning to look at where the cliffs surrounding Terry Town. Then, something occurs to him.

"Hey, you came down with your paraglider?" Twilight says and Wild nods slowly, patting the folded up contraption on his back. "How did you two plan on getting back to town?"

Matching looks of we didn't think of that flashes on Zelda and Wild's faces.

Twilight sighs, turning to Zelda. "Think you can climb a chain or do you want to walk up the long way?"

Zelda narrows her eyes and rolls up her sleeves. Her biceps, too, resemble that of a grown pumpkin. Twilight won't ask if she's sure, he bets she can take him down wrestling as well.

"Alright then," he says.

They walk back towards the lake as a group, and Twilight does his best to comfort Hyrule who's glaring at the water with resentment. It will definitely be harder getting back up than it was getting down. They'll have to swim the lake and climb up the cliffs a bit before jumping to the hanging chain and climbing the rest of the way up there. It'll be a fun workout.

As they walk, Twilight falls back to fall into step with Zelda and Wild. Wind and Hyrule continue onwards in front of them.

"So…" Twilight says under his breath, just loud enough for the two champions of this time to hear them. They both give him curious looks. "Engaged, huh?"

Twilight expected blushing or blubbering or something. What he got was a full on belly laugh from the queen and a rolling-of-the-eyes from her knight and husband-to-be.

"Who told you," Wild demands as Zelda laughs on, earning slightly concerned looks from Hyrule and Wind, "was it Rhondson? I bet it was Rhondson."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Twilight asks, ignoring Wild's (accurate) accusations towards Rhondson.

At this, a flash of guilt passes over Wild's face and Zelda quiets, looking interested. "It… never came up?"

"You forgot, didn't you?" Zelda asks. Wild gives her an apologetic look and she scoffs, looking shockingly more amused than anything.

"I didn't... forget. I was just focused on the quest!"

"It's okay, Link. I forgot too."

"Oh thank Hylia."

The two of them fall into some strange companionable understanding silence and Twilight is left completely and frustratingly out of an apparent inside joke or some sort.

He sighs. "Look, I know this might sound weird, coming from me," Zelda and Wild give him their attention with matching expressions of curiosity, "but I know you're both young and probably haven't been taught very well about… adult matters, so…" oh this is so awkward, they're looking confused, "if you have any questions about… um… urges or desires-"

"Oh!" Zelda says, clapping her hands together in front of her. "You mean sex!"

Twilight chokes on his words and Wild nearly trips into the dirt. Zelda looks like she hasn't said anything strange at all.

"Don't worry, Mr Goat Farmer Link. Link and I know all about sex and we decided we will not being doing it," Zelda says as if she's reassuring a worried soldier or something similar. Indifferent. Straight faced.

"Y-yeah," Wild says after he had refound his footing. "Strictly business. Our marriage."

"I was tired of Impa asking when I'll get married and produce an heir," Zelda explains easily, though she gave a slight disgusted tone at the word produce. "I am much more interested in so many other things, but Impa was getting insistent." Zelda rolls her eyes.

"So Zelda decided to ask me to marry her," Wild puts in quietly, "and I told her that um… I'm not interested in her or in anyone that way, but she said the same thing and then told me that it would benefit us both to marry anyway and so… yeah."

"Impa would stop bugging me about getting married and Link would have unlimited access to the castle kitchens once it's fully repaired. I can continue my journey to study and rebuilt this country in peace and Link can continue his dreams of cooking."

Twilight finds himself nodding, because it makes just as much sense as it doesn't make sense. Which means he doesn't get it but they do so he won't argue on it. "But what about… continuing the royal line?"

"The line will die with me," Zelda says. Like that wasn't a royal bombchu-shell . "Because I will not be bearing any children. We will adopt or I will choose someone I trust to take the throne when the time is right. We will decide when the time comes." She grabs Wild's hand and he squeezes in reply. "Together."

Twilight nods again, deciding against arguing that too.

"Is that what you thought we were doing, rancher?" Wild asks. "Having…"

Twilight's cheeks heat up. "Nope. Not at all."

"Oh, okay…"

Wild definitely doesn't believe it, and he's smirking, but it seems he will save Twilight from embarrassment for the rest of the night. No promises tomorrow though, Twilight's sure.

Turns out, Zelda can absolutely crush them all at swimming and scaling a cliff with a hanging chain. She is hardly even winded when they all reach the top. She bids them all farewell and heads towards the home that has graciously lended her a guest room for her stay. The guards all look extremely relieved to see her, and they disappear into the home with a final wave from Zelda towards their direction.

"I can't believe you're engaged, gremlin," Wind says through a yawn and Wild laughs.

"We're just really good friends," he replies, and Twilight smiles. The trust between the two of them must be so strong regardless of physical desire. He still doesn't understand it, but Wild looks happy and Zelda looks happy and they both clearly love each other.

In their own way.

And Twilight can respect that.

#linked universe #hero of twilight #hero of the wild #botw #zelda #loz #aroace characters #jin writes #zelink #sorta #zelink but also not zelink lol #hero of the wind #hero of hyrule

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maybeamiles · 3 years ago

Text

Fanfic WIP (chapter 1 pt. 1)

Okay so I had an idea a while ago that was kinda dumb. Basically, it went, “what if the hero of men from minish cap was actually a woman” and then I began brainstorming ideas for it and it accidentally turned into a big ol’ emotional story with like, ideas on trauma and love and courage and stuff.

So, uh, IDK how to tag this so I’m probably not going to do much, but basically here’s the plot: Link is a woman who is gay and traumatized and avoiding her destiny, and then through forming relationships with other people she’s able to gain the courage to face her destiny.

It’s basically all original versions of zelda characters / original characters in the zelda universe, so uh, yeah.

A version of Malon and Talon make an appearance, and this first part is narrated by a Nonbinary picori called Ezle. Have fun I guess???

Oh also Hyrule in this version is hella suspicious of magic and stuff because reasons

I’ll share more info as it becomes relevant I guess

A cursed woodland is home to many strange and unusual things, but the strangest things of all are the people who live there as though it is normal. A witch you could expect. Fairies and monsters flourish in cursed places. Even the mysterious Picori, with their strange magic and tendency for generosity, are normal guides for the few children that wander into their lands. But a Hylian who lived amongst the woods as though they were their home? That was strange.

And yet, that was Link. A Hylian woman who treated the cursed Minish Woods as though they were the coziest mansion to exist. She was a strange one, to be sure. Stranger than the witch who lived in the swamps to the north. Stranger than the fairies who fluttered about their fountains. Stranger than the monsters who stalked the forest at night. Stranger than even the Picori.

There were many things that would make Link strange to a passerby, not the least of which was the way she dressed. Link rejected traditional Hylian womens-wear in favor of a comfortable green tunic. On her back, instead of a scarf or basket, she carried a sword and shield. Instead of sandals she wore boots, adorned with magical symbols. Her hair was long, straight, and pulled back in a high ponytail, a shocking style for more traditional Hylians. On her wrists were a pair of bracelets that seemed to boost her power. A bow and quiver of arrows hung from her belt, and at her hip was a bag far too small to carry even the simplest of tools necessary for woodland survival.

But the strangest thing about Link wasn’t her clothes or her hair or her gear. It was her magic. Few Hylians have a natural magic about them. The little they do have is mostly that of a homely nature. The kind that makes a meal taste incredible or gets a song stuck in your head. The few Hylians who can wield magic in a traditional sense are members of the Royal Family, whose princesses can channel their divine ancestry into powerful weapons of light, so long as the tradition is not forgotten.

Link’s magic was not like those of other Hylians. She did not have the impressive power of the royal family, nor the homely comfort common to other Hylians. It was everywhere about her, from the way she walked, to her speech, to the way she used a sword. It defined everything about her, down to the thoughts she had in her head.

And yet, despite her magic being so innate, not even her closest friends had seen her use it freely.

Ezle the Picori had known Link since she had, years ago, wandered into the Minish woods by accident. It was Ezle who led a sobbing Link out of the woods and back to civilization. It was Ezle who first sensed Link’s innate magic. It was Ezle who began to teach a young Link all about her destiny, and it was Ezle who gave Link a home when no-one else would.

Ezle was a master craftsperson and loremaster amongst the Picori. They were among the first to sense the growing darkness in the world, and they were the one who forged a way to stop it. When Ezle met Link, they crafted and enchanted two magical items. The first was a sword, which granted any Hylian the ability to shrink down to the size of a Picori. The second was a box, granted to the royal family. The sword and box were linked, somehow, but Ezle refused to say how.

“The time will come,” they answered when asked by a young Link, “The time will come when you will wield that sword against evil, and your destiny will be fulfilled.”

Only now, Ezle feared that time would never come.

“Put more spin into your spin attack,” they said as Link swung her sword in a slow, wide arc for the third time in a row, “The attack is built on momentum, without it you leave yourself vulnerable to enemies.” And you need to put your magic into it.

Link glared at Ezle and put down her sword. Ezle was training her in the Minish woods, a moment of quiet from the bustling everyday that was their home in Picori Town. She was nearly eighteen years old now, and had been avoiding her destiny for years.

“I don’t see the point to this,” She said, “I’ve been practicing the spin attack all day. Isn’t there anything else I can do?” Ezle shook their head.

“You need to master the spin attack,” they scolded, “It’s crucial to facing your destiny!”

Link sighed.

“I know, I know! But like, maybe if we worked more on my agility or-”

“No!” Ezle answered sharply, “A sword wields no strength unless the hand that holds it has courage. Courage is crucial to your destiny!”

Link rolled her eyes. “I know I know, it’s just- I don’t understand. Isn’t facing monsters and temples courageous enough?” “Courage is not the lack of fear, but continuing despite it,” Ezle reminded her. And you are more unmoving than Death Mountain.

With an angry sigh, Link went back to practicing her swings. Ezle watched her, concerned for their protege. What is blocking your magic? They wondered as Link completed another, lackluster attack, What are you so afraid of?

Ezle’s ears pricked up at the sound of horse hooves. In these woods? They listened harder. Yep, definitely horses. Without a word to Link, they scurried through several bushes to an old, abandoned road. There, they saw a Hylian cart, pulled by a young, strong horse, and leading an old milk cow. Driving the cart was a young redheaded woman with a determined face, and in the back was a young man who could easily have been her twin brother. They were carrying a bunch of crates, bundles, and boxes, as well as several pieces of what looked to be furniture or farm equipment.

However, Ezle’s observations were distracted by Link’s appearance in Picori form.

“What is it?” Link asked, before noticing the cart and frowning in disgust, “What are they doing here?”

“They, as you put it so disgustingly, are your kind. You’re supposed to be saving them,” Ezle scolded. Link glared at him.

“I know that,” She answered, “But they’re not supposed to come in these woods either, are they?” Link looked back at the cart, and her gaze drifted up to the people driving it. As Link looked, Ezle noticed a change in her expression. Her disgust softened and the faintest hint of a smile grew on her face. As Ezle pondered the change in their pupil, they noticed a faint glow in Link’s eyes. They were, just barely, brighter, more alive, more free. Magic!

A grin spread across Ezle’s face as they recognized the change. Then, their grin widened, as an idea came into their head.

“Come on,” they said, hopping down onto the road the cart was travelling on, “Let’s see what they’re up to.”

Link hesitated, and the magic began to fade from her eyes as fear took hold of her face.

“I- I don’t know,” she said, “I don’t- wouldn’t it be-”

“They don’t have to see us,” Ezle reassured her, recognizing the source of Link’s fear, “Nobody but a child would be able to see you in this form. Besides-” and here Ezle felt the need to fib, “-there are a few settlements of town Picori I’ve been meaning to catch up on. This will give us a chance to do that.” There were no “settlements” of town Picori, as Ezle knew well, but the lie seemed to give Link the motivation she needed to join Ezle on the road.

“Alright,” she said, “Just to see what they’re up to.”

Ezle smiled, and after some difficulty with catching the moving cart, the two were on their way through the forest and into the wider world of Hyrule.

#loz #loz au

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