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zelda-photography · 1 year

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TotK Dungeon Thoughts!

Finally finished the first four main dungeons. Whether there's more or not, I'll find out, but I thought I'd make a quickly little post on my general thoughts.

More details below, but up here I'll say: It feels like you were 'expected' to complete them Rito-Zora-Goron-Gerudo (very gently tho). However, I think for the most satisfying route, I'd go Goron-Rito-Zora-Gerudo (if nothing else Goron first).

Rito and Tulin

The game pushes you in the direction of the Rito very strongly when you start the game, and I decided to do them first. Over all, a pretty good choice as you run into a lot of good things on the way.

The story itself, I like! I like that you arrive in Rito Village and only the kids are left, really already telling you a lot about what's going on. I like that Teba was left behind because he's the new chief, rip the old Chief. It also makes me very happy how excited Tulin was to see Link, really showing that Tulin looks up to Link. Tulin having wind powers shows that that was not just a Revali thing, just that he was extremely skilled with his own, and I very much like that.

Tulin's power itself is distinct from Revali's Gale. I miss Revali's Gale because of how useful it was to get around, but it also did makes things a little too easy at times, and Tulin's power feels more in tune with the game as it is, as being able to push yourself through the air is useful. Easily the power I use the most of the sages.

The trip up to the Wind Dungeon is a lot of fun. It just barely doesn't overstay it's welcome, and about halfway through there is a shrine so that you can take a break. Over all, it was a lot of fun, though I was hoping that the flying ships we'd seen were going to appear more in the other places in the sky.

The Wind Dungeon itself is, well, it's fine. It's more distinct in style than the divine beasts, which I like, but I did also like the how the divine beasts you could manipulate things. It's give and take, though, and I get that. What mostly bugs me is how every element felt isolated; solving one part of the dungeon did not help me solve another, and that really bugged me, especially since I had a lot of trouble with a couple of the locks (mostly because I'm dumb but that's besides the point).

I like the boss! It felt really good to dive right through the week points, or to be smart enough and a good enough shot to shoot out the weak points from beneath the boss. It also has you utilize Tulin well enough when you need to dodge the boss.

This was my first dungeon, so the ending cutscene with the previous sage was very good and interesting, and I loved that you get to have a shade of the sage to help you fight! It really captures how one of the themes of Tears of the Kingdom is how much Link is not alone.

Goron and Yunobo

Climbing Death Mountain always sucks a little because I hate the armor, but at least the Gorons live in a place where you don't die trying to reach them, so that's a win in my book. The goron quest line is easily my least favorite, hence why I suggest doing it first. I'm also going back and forth on how much/what I'd change.

I think the marbled rock roast is, ugh, fine I guess as a plot point? The biggest problem to me is that the plot lines of the rest of the regions feel very personal, and make you really really worried about the well being of those there. I'm not not concerned for the Goron, but I could definitely be more concerned.

I'm also undecided on how I feel about Yunobo with the mask. When Yunobo first showed up and was mean, I wanted to punch is teeth in. But also, what an interesting take on the character, where over the years he got maybe a little big in the head over his company and his status, and how it's time to bring him down to earth again. The mask breaking off and him being nice again, I was happy to see my nice friend again, but also he was more or less the same as when I'd last seen him.

The up Eldin Volcano sucked, I totally didn't understand what I was supposed to do with the monster on top of the volcano at first, which made it a little frustrating at first. The mini battle itself was fine enough, though, and flying on the machines is always fun.

Going through the Depths to the Fire Dungeon sucked. I wasn't a huge fan of that, it just felt like padding. Why not put me there just right away?

The Fire Dungeon, like everything else, was fine I guess. I like rails and minecarts a lot, but a lot of the tracks felt too short honestly to be much fun, and sometimes I'd give up navigating them and just straight up climb the sides of the buildings to get where I needed to go. The boss fight, on the other hand, i thought was really nice! It felt good to put Yunobo's power to so much use, it flowered pretty well, It felt both challenging but also like I was prepared for it.

Zora and Sidon

Seeing Zora's Domain all swamped in shit water was a shock and I love how shocking it was and how upset it made me to see the place in such a state. I was immediately invested in finding out what had happened to cause this and how I could help. The statue in Zora's domain with Link and Sidon is great (even if I was worried at first where Mipha's had gone) and SO FUNNY to see it and meet Sidon's fiancee right afterwards.

I like that Yona gets a mantaray head - it immediately sets her off as different from most of the other Zora, and she and her attendents have different armor than the Hyrule Zora. She's a little simplistic as a character, but over all I like her. I another small detail I like is that the child Zora are playing in the water in the throne room, and that room seems to be some of the cleanest water, and I like to imagine that was on purpose. We also see here that healing is magic many Zora have, which I like, but also that it seems hard for them.

Sidon trying so hard to heal as much water as he can, and be the only one putting his life on the line so no one else dies like Mipha, was just so good. It's great set up in BotW, and pay off here of how traumatizing of an experience that was. Again, I like that Yona got to be like 'I know you, Sidon, and I know youre trauma, and I know what you want to and should do in this situation, so do it'.

Getting to the dungeon was so fun! The floaty jumping was a little weird at times, but over all I loved it and gave the path such a distinct feel, a lot like the path to the Wind Dungeon.

The Water Temple was the easiest in my opinion (none of them were overly hard, but this felt really quick to me) (also the Lightning Temple is a close second) ((ALSO ALSO some of that can probably be attributed to me just getting more used to the game and the kind of thought processes it asks of you)) but I thought the way it worked was pretty good. The boss was also very funny, as you were totally set up to expect a like like and instead got the weirdest octorock you've ever seen, and you're pushed to use Sidon's power in a way that feels very natural, though I haven't used it much after this dungeon tbh.

Gerudo and Riju

Going through the desert and seeing the Gerudo Town so destroyed was devastating. This was also where the gibdo were introduced, a suitably creepy enemy for such a scary thing going on. However, they don't stun you. This makes some sense since they show up in such hoards, but also takes away a lot of the scariness of them, and they're almost laughably easy to beat after they've been hit by some kind of elemental attack. Again, I was immediately concerned and wanted to do whatever I could to help the Gerudo. I like that you didn't have to really sneak in (except at first) because you've earned their trust by now and these are extenuating circumstances.

Buliara is one of my fav characters (she was really important in a fanfic I was working on where a new Gerudo male was born) so getting to see her and her specifically vouching for Link absolutely made my day. I like that the Gerudo are utilizing the underground bunker - in general, I love all the times in the game emergency things like that are broken out because these are hard times. Riju, a little older now and training hard, but not frustrated or feeling (at least not acting like) she thought she wasn't good enough was great. She wasn't hitting the mark, but she seemed just focused on training until she could.

The way to the Lightning Temple was okay, It wasn't bad but it wasn't note worthy, although I did like that you got to see the boss before you actually fought her. The best part was when Link had to help defend Gerudo Town from the gibdo. I'm not sure I did actually put together the best plan, but I felt like I helped, and getting the spoils afterwards made it even better.

The temple was a bit weird to navigate, and I'm not even sure I solved everything the way it was 'supposed' to go, but I did it so hey, what more can you ask for. The boss was pretty good, although she was, like, very bug like, and I think it made you kind of go 'oh, the gibdo aren't humans, they're bugs' which further makes them a little less creepy in my opinion.

General/Final Thoughts

Over all, I thought the dungeons felt a lot more like Zelda dungeons than the divine beasts did, and I like them well enough. I wish they were a little trickier, but also I wasn't overly bugged by them being too easy. Each dungeon felt very distinct, which I loved, and you never think you're in one place over the other.

Honestly, my biggest problem is with the Sages. I wish we 1) got names for them or learned more about them and 2) I wish the little cutscenes were a little more distinct.

The end of each dungeon goes: here's the sage, the sage was in the fight and won, Sage of Time told them to recreuit their descendent, wow didn't the Sage of Time look like Zelda? I understand this is because you could visit any dungeon in any order, but I think they would've, like, shown the Sage was in charge of something specific, show more of how the war impacted them specifically, something or anything to make that part more distinct.

Uh, so yeah, I like them, I think they're mostly an improvement over BotW (they both have pros and cons, though, and there are defo things that BotW did better than TotK). Let me know your thoughts about the dungeons if you want! (without spoiling anything past them please ^-^)

#loz #legend of zelda #totk #tears of the kingdom #totk spoilers #mod speaks

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minijenn · 1 year

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I just beat Tears of the Kingdom

Thoughts under the cut because golly I have soooo many

OK SO THIS HAS IN JUST A WEEK ALONE BECOME NOT ONLY MY NEW FAVORITE ZELDA GAME BUT MY NEW FAVORITE GAME OF ALL TIME BECAUSE HOLY SHIT ITS INSANE

Ok, enough screaming, time for coherent thoughts. Sort of. First of all, the gameplay. Its SO fun. Honestly all of the arm mechanics are great; I still need to flex my creativity with ultrahand now that I’m done the game but once I do ohohoho it’s aaaaaaall over for you nerds. I used ascend SO much tbh, way more than I probably should have, same with recall. The puzzles are really nicely open ended in a way that allows you to use any of these abilities in whatever way you’d like really to solve them. The world itself is so much more fun to traverse using them and speaking of that world its HUGE. Like I’ve barely even scratched the surface of the Depths and I’m gonna be spending a lot of my post game trying to finally map it all out. I do wish there was a bit more going on in the sky but ah well. Exploring what’s there is still fun. The dungeons are pretty good, not the best the series has ever seen, but a major step up from the divine beasts for sure. Same with the boss fights. Though the final phase of the final boss was such an insane spectale like seriously I’m still struggling to believe something that cool happened in a Zelda game imo

The game performs... mostly well, though I did notice a few framerate dips here and there but I’m rarely one to get too worked up over that sort of thing. The way it takes a world that was familiar in Breath of the Wild and makes it look so fresh and new is outstanding. And the music? Amazing, like seriously this game’s main theme slaps so hard, not to mention the final final boss music? ohohohoho godddddd.

Ganondorf is exactly the despicable piece of shit I was hoping he’d be, the new characters like Rauru and Sonia and Mineru are fantastic editions to the Zelda cast and I can easily see them all becoming fan favorites. Seeing characters like Tulin, Yunobo, Sidon, and Riju have some major time to shine was great, and adventuring through the dungeons with them is a ton of fun! The side adventures/quests are also a lot more involved in this game, NPC interactions in general are just more fleshed out, and there’s just so much to do all across Hyrule, which leaves me with so much more to still get to now that I’m finished with it (still haven’t gotten all the shrines not to mention bubble gems; I’ll be playing this for a good long while even now that I’m done with it)

Then of course there’s the story which had me theorizing and second guessing myself right up to the very end. Like seriously, I yelled and laughed and screamed, and of course sobbed like a BABY over the ending. It took so many turns I wasn’t expecting and I really liked that! If botw already made you care about Zelda, this game took it too a whole new level. The memory cutscenes fucked me up and this game personally victimized my emotions and I’ll never recover but I love it so much for that. I’m already thinking through several fanfic concepts centered around this game even as we speak so yeah, like I said, I’ll never recover.

But anyway, overall, my first experience with ToTK has been an incredible one. It was well worth the wait, even better than I anticipated it would be, and will no doubt go down in history, just as BotW did before it, as one of the greatest games of all time. It certainly is in my book, anyway.

#jen rambles #tears of the kingdom #totk spoilers #ill be reblogging spoilery shit still with the same tags so make sure they're blacklisted #cause i cannot shut up about this fucking game hhhh #severe brainrot

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arikuraaa · 1 year

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I feel like its SUPER important i document my funny tears of the kingdom experiences for future reference (cause my memory is absolute garbage and idk.. someone might find them entertaining.)

Its also fun to keep in mind that the only Zelda games I’ve played are Breath of the Wild and about half of Skyward Sword (trust me, I think this makes most of these funnier.)

I might update this as i have new encounters so it might get more spoilery as time goes on. But like.. its almost two months old and I just got it(expensive rip) so maybe spoiler warnings will be obsolete by then.

so SPOILERS AHEAD. Mostly minor spoilers since i’ve made next to no story progress in the game due to infinite distractibility and my inability to plan anything out ever (theres a reason i have 500 hours in botw.)

me, playing through the game trying to solve the mystery of getting to a high place: “ mmmm maybe i can climb it or rev(remembers I don’t have champion abilities) …ah”

*SPENDS TEN MINUTES WANDERING THE PERIMETER BEFORE COMING BACK AND REALIZING THERES AN OVERHANG* ”fucking hell, i was supposed to use the new ability the game literally taught me to use like three minutes ago.”

*going through a forest minding my own damn business, sees a tree fucking get up* ”WHAT THE SHIT- TREE MIMIC?”

Trying to get to Kakariko:” okay, i gotta find a path that doesn’t have a sinkhole or rot.”

*thinks again, but slower*

“did I just call the malice pool rot?”(the rw brainrot is real)

*sees a pool of malice moving around* ”what. Is. That.”

*it has hands, arms and eyes and it staring at me*

“WHAT IN THE PRINCESS MONONOKE-“*fucking books it to the tower*

Just climbing in the rain. Thats it. Botw treated me so well with Revali’s gale and infinite firestarters that I forgot about the pain that is climbing in the rain.

*goes to the central tower for the first time and sees link get FUCKING MANHANDLED by robot arms JUST to have them plug in his iphone and give him a fanny pack with a cord attached* ”What the FUCK Purah-“

*climbing up and around the colosseum ruins searching for chests or points of interests* ”Okay… so there’s gonna be lots of enemies if i remember right- more materials is good-“

*There were no enemies except a giant dragon. Of COURSE my curious dumbass went TOWARD the danger despite being unequipped*

“what the-”

*the dragon (with three heads) has a wider range of vision I guess and spots me. threat music starts*

“Oh god oh fuck-“

*in the end, Link was about five seconds away from being electrocuted to death. Luckily, despite FREQUENTLY FORGETTING to use abilities- i’m very familiar with using the map to teleport. Link lived another day (I think. Maybe I died to something else, idk)

*doing stable trotters mission* ”i’m basically their uber driver now.”

*hits a person and gets stuck not even five seconds later*

STORY BASED SPOILERS OR MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD

*enters rito village and books it to the elder, sees teba and tulin* ”oh my god is that a child”

*gushes over how cute it is that Tulin is excited to see link* just Tulin in general to be honest.

*making my way to the stormwind ark, uses tulin’s ability for like the first time* ”I like it(Tulin’s enthusiasm) Picasso.” *obtains the master sword*

“OH MY f u c - the light dragon brings you back to where Link gives the sword over and where she received it i’m gonna start crying.”

*general depression over Link and Zelda*

*beats marbled gohma and sees Yunobo next to the special stone* ”wow- can’t wait to watch the same cutscene with different commentary for the fourth time now!

*has to look up how to progress on dragonhead island because i forgot doors exist*

*Watching the intro to the dragon fight cutscene*

“Man. Mineru claimed that becoming a dragon means losing yourself but idk…. This looks pretty damn personal if you ask me.”

*Upon demon dragon lighting up in defeat*

Lit up like the fourth of july

*Sees the massive laser beam upon death8

OH THAT IS NOT THE FOURTH OF JULY

*sobbing at ending cutscene*

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runolllo-fanboygirl · 3 years

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annoying revali anon again... im sorry but I want to ask more, your post about link's age was really thoughtful, even though most of the info is in the game I didn't think about it and I never saw other people talk about it (even if so many people are always aking guesses about link's age!) so I want to ask, do you know Revali and Sidon's age too... please and thanks...

Ok, Sidon is easy but Revali is a tough one! And I don’t have the time to source properly. I’ve actually been writing a post about the ages of all the relevant BOTW characters (that’s why I had this info at hand for that other Link post too!) but adding quotes, screenshots, etc. takes a lot of time.

So here is a very informal answer until I manage to compile everything:

- Adult Sidon is, canonically, older than 100 (obviously XD) but younger than 130, I estimate around 110ish since we know he’s much younger than Rivan (who’s over 130). Sidon is also canonically considered more on the “young adult Zora” side than on the “middle aged Zora” side (for comparison, Bazz and Gaddison are confirmed middle aged). Zora a bit younger than 100 are more or less already considered adults or late teens (like Dunma) so Sidon might had been an adult for a while. I hope this made sense lol.

Regarding the current twitter drama: Zora mature in a very different way, much slower in general, and not necessarily perfectly proportionally slower than the other races. You can’t equate Zora age to Hylians, don’t ask “would that make Sidon around 23 in human age” that makes no sense... he’s a +100 young adult by Zora standards because he’s a Zora.

- Revali’s most likely just barely an adult, and somewhere around the same age as Link (17-19). For reference, this is everything I had to say about Link’s age / LINK /. Anyway back to Ravioli Pasta Boy, we can only make a good guess about him being around that awkward age between teen and adult. I’ll try to explain as short as possible:

- I’ll start saying that, unlike the case of the Zora, Rito age and life expectancy are the same as for Hylians. We can infer this from Revali’s own dialogue in the Champion’s Ballad, as well as from Creating a Champion. The book also tells us that Kass is considerably older than Teba, but we have nothing to compare them to Revali, that I have found. While the Zora talk a lot about their age (since it’s relevant to Link’s past and his old bonds with them) we have no numbers to compare for the Rito, sorry. STILL, go on and read:

- Revali uses “boku” to refer to himself in Japanese. It would be very awkward for anyone other than a male child/teen to use “boku”. An adult man would use boku in some settings, not in the way Revali does in my opinion (I explain why on this other post) but some people disagree... so I won’t say this is conclusive evidence on it’s own BUT I can stack this hint with the next few ones:

- Urbosa's Diary: “Revali is of the youngest Rito generation” (the diary has different wording in the different localizations but ultimately says that).

- Urbosa’s diary putting Zelda, Link, Revali and Mipha in the same age group (yes, Mipha too, don’t ask me I didn’t write this game lol)

- Revali’s considerably shorter than the other Rito adults (and I’m not even talking about Teba who is actually taller than the other Rito men).

- Other more speculative hints:

- Revali still has the same face markings as the Rito children. It might be just a design choice but why not mention it. A lot of the stuff in this game is very deliberate, so yeah.

- Revali’s emotional immaturity;

- The fact that he was designed to be Link’s rival (stated in Creating a Champion);

- The fact he didn’t have any descendancy, unlike Urbosa or Daruk, even though he loves his homeland and his people so much, he gets along with children, and all he ever wanted was to see the Rito thrive. One would think, he didn’t have the time to have a family :(

- The age gap between Revali and Teba matching the trend of the other co-pilots in which one is an older adult (Urbosa, Daruk, Teba and Sidon) and the other a youngster (Riju, Yunobo, Revali and Mipha). Creating a Champion says Yunobo is “a young adult Goron still growing” and I think all of us can see how that’s very possibly the same case with Link, Revali and Mipha.

- Creating a Champion also highlights how adult/big/confident Teba is that he isn’t bothered at all by criticism, being mostly aware of his own shortcomings, feeling no shame and just working hard. A big contrast with Revali, who while being just as hard working, is a bit of a bratty kid and an overachiever who hates being caught in what he considers “a moment of weakness” (a moment of shame). So, again, deliberate decisions while designing the characters.

I might be missing something big but that’s all for now! I’m confident most of the facts are correct (please notice that I mentioned when I make estimations and when I speculate, versus when I’m giving actual canon data and quoting!). Again, I haven’t put together all my sources yet, the quotes are from memory an paraphrased, double-check before quoting me on this ;D

Also! Do what you want with this info, make your own conclusions. Link and Sidon’s age frames are a bit more restrictive and Zelda literally turned 17 the day of the Calamity (I think the only character with her age set in stone lol), but otherwise the game and book would be like “eh, Riju was designed to look around 12 but Gerudo mature faster... Paya was designed to be around Link’s age, between 18-20... Purah is, uh, 120, kinda......... Link found the Master Sword when he was 12 or 13, maybe........¿¿?...?” like, what do you mean, does Link not fcking remember if he got the sword when he was 12 or 15 lmao!!!! Assholes!!! XD

So like, yeah ahahahha. You think Revali is 17? The game says Sure Why Not. You say Revali’s 24 and a short king? Perfectly possible too honestly. We stan short King Revali, wow much sass in such smol birb. Big bow go brrrr

Last thing about Teba and Revali because I wanted the Age of Calamity SPOILERSSS at the end:

- In Age of Calamity *SPOILERSSS* Teba’s dad instincts kick in on a couple of occasions... there are many battle combos I haven’t seen yet, but at least once Teba goes to Revali to give some emotional support (in the battle before the last, I think); in another occasion to help him speak his true feelings (as in literally voicing them in Revali’s stead because Teba is that blunt and Revali is... you know, like he is.) As it happens between the other co-pilots, the older one often reassures the younger one (Mipha and Sidon still have an older sister/younger brother dynamic even if Sidon came from the future and is now literally older than her lol so the rule still applies! XD). So again, I feel like the age difference between Teba and Revali is noticeable, even though Teba is still a young dad himself... but I honestly feel that if someone wanted to say both Revali and Teba are like, 25, no one could tell them that the canon says otherwise XD

#revali #sidon #prince sidon #teba #breath of the wild #botw #legend of zelda #loz reference #loz #mipha #link #kass #rito people #zora people

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fatefulfaerie · 4 years

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hi!! i love your writing, it's so good! i have a question: do you have any cute headcanons for zelink?

Oh boy

I don’t think you understand what you signed up for here

Like you didn’t specify a game

I’m going to have to go one by one

I mean it’s a fun activity but whew is it going to be a mess

I apologize in advance

Link’s Awakening

-Marin is a manifestation of Link’s crush on A Link to the Past Zelda

-Link does not die on the open ocean but gets saved by A Link to the Past Zelda on a big ship

-They suss out their past trauma and eventually fall in love, hence the famous picture in A Link Between Worlds

Ocarina of Time

-Link had feelings for Princess Zelda the moment he first laid eyes on her in the garden. It was a childhood crush then but over time, especially when he became an adult, he fell in love with the Princess.

-Link was ULTRA concerned that he couldn’t find the princess anywhere as an adult. He feared that he failed her and their plan and was so relieved when she revealed herself as Sheik. He even cried

-Zelda fell in love with Link during the time that she was teaching him various songs as Sheik. She denied it herself for a while but eventually she accepted her feelings and longed to be with him as Zelda and not Sheik, which is why she foolishly revealed herself to him

-Zelda felt too guilty to keep Link in her time just because of her love and wished to send him back to time where he could relive his childhood

-Link couldn’t muster the courage to confess and figured that him going back was what Zelda wanted, so he complied

-Zelda has to get over her regret and it h u r t s

Majora’s Mask

-I believe that the “forgive your friend” applies to both Navi and Zelda. Link must forgive Navi for leaving him in his time of emotional need after being sent away by his love and he must forgive Zelda for sending him back and forcing him into such loneliness, grief, and almost uncopable trauma that to everyone else “never happened”

-Anju and Kafei foils Link and Zelda (It's a storytelling tool. It means they parallel each other inversely and are thus contrasted)

The Wind Waker

-they’re kids but...Link has a crush on Tetra

Twilight Princess

-this one is really complicated because I wrote a whole fic about it but basically after the events of Twilight Princess he becomes her knight attendant and they fall in love

Phantom Hourglass

-Link realizes that his crush on Tetra is a crush on Tetra about halfway through the game. Linebeck says something snarky like “you didn’t know that? It’s so obvious” or something like that

-Tetra still sees him as the goofball he is

-As they grow older and mature a bit they go from good friends to full-on lovers

Spirit Tracks

-they both have BIG crushes on each other

Skyward Sword

-I don’t even know what to tell you

-I literally wrote two books on the subject

Breath of the Wild

-they change by the hour and they all contradict each other

-Nintendo please give me clarity on Friday

-Okay but they also get married and have twins. Zelda is on bedrest and Link tells her to stay put but she doesn’t listen and goes to where she was conducting experiments (all the way to Blatchery Plain) Link finds her and gets upset that she’s nine months and went all the way out there but she insists she’s fine. They sit and relax for a bit but it isn’t long until her water breaks. They kind of have a dejavu moment when Link says “if we can just make it to Kakariko you’ll be fine”, which is what Zelda said to a very injured link a hundred years ago a while before the “memory” started. Anyways, Link makes a joke like “why is it always here?”. She ends up having the twins at Dueling Peaks Stable. Link and Zelda each get to name one. Link names the boy Elijah and Zelda names the girl Wendy, deciding finally on not continuing the “Zelda” trend. Once Zelda has recovered, and once they get visits from Kass, Sidon, Riju, Yunobo, Teba, and basically the rest of Hyrule, Link and Zelda go back to their home in Hateno carrying their children lovingly in their arms.

-or something like that idk

Thank you so much for the ask!!

Did it satisfy your wildest dreams because I guess I could elaborate idk my head hurts from graduate school applications

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pastelsandpining · 4 years

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The Greatest Gift (Freebie)

The twelfth and FINAL prompt in 12 Days of Christmas by @zelink-prompts!! Thank you so much for all the support! Happy Holidays!

Prompt List

Words: 2917

Summary: Very fluffy. Link pops the question. Proposal fic. Can’t get any better than that folks

BotW Post Calamity Zelink

Zelink-mas 2020 l Masterlist

There were many words that could describe how it felt to have Zelda back by his side. He could call it wonderful, magical, amazing--just about every word in the book. None could fit better, however, than natural. Natural was how it felt when she’d appeared before him, glowing in a gold far richer than the ores beneath the surface could ever produce. Natural was how it felt when she smiled at him, striking his heart with an arrow of warmth he’d forgotten how to know. Natural was how it felt when he hugged her, holding onto her as if his life depended on it. And natural was how it felt to love her, like he’d done it a thousand times over and would do it a thousand times more.

It felt natural to celebrate every little thing with her, whether it be her new haircut, or a holiday, or an advancement in the reconstruction of Hyrule. It felt natural to follow her back into the heart of the kingdom, where he would spend the rest of his days as her knight attendant because the thought of not being with her made him feel empty. Everything he did with her, even if it meant to just exist within her presence, felt so incredibly familiar and natural, and perhaps that was why they fell into a rhythm so quickly.

Perhaps that was why most nights, Link only fell asleep after Zelda did. He liked to see her curled up underneath the covers, tucked into his arms, with the peaceful expression of a sleeping goddess visible in the silver moonlight. Perhaps that was why he found every reason to accompany her wherever she went, so that he could see the way she lit up and smiled when things were working out. Perhaps that was why he took his job so seriously, even now, simply because he liked to be around her.

Admittedly, it’d be problematic if he didn’t like to be around the very princess he was courting. That would never be an issue though, even in times like these, when she was trying to use him as a test subject for her new, trial-and-error elixirs.

“You know I trust you with my life,” he said, holding her wrists as gently as ever. “But I’m not putting that in my body.”

“I promise you’ll be okay,” she replied with a pout that almost swayed him. But Link stood his ground and shook his head, chuckling softly at her antics.

“You’re ridiculous, Zel.”

“I know what I’m doing, Link. I wouldn’t willingly feed you something that could harm you.”

“Uh huh. And what’s the elixir supposed to do?”

“Well, if all goes according to plan--which it should, it would boost the natural defense of a person against any sort of attack or condition.”

“You’re brilliant, but I’ll still have to pass.”

Zelda huffed, then uncapped the vial and brought it to her lips. Link was quick to snatch it from her hands and cap it again, shaking his head.

“Nope,” he said, “We’re not doing that either.”

“Then how are we supposed to know whether or not it’s effective?” she argued, crossing her arms over her chest.

“I’ll find you a volunteer,” he replied, which she knew was code for I’ll be your test subject later, and it was enough to satisfy her into smiling. “Can I make our dinner now?”

“It’s all yours, sir knight,” she answered, handing the slate over and lifting her hands up in defense.

“Thank you, Princess.”

It was far from the first time he called her that, and it was a proper title anyone could use. But Zelda still smiled with a pink on her cheeks, and Link could do nothing but watch her. Watch the way crinkles formed by her eyes when she smiled, and the way her freckles became more prominent in the sun, and the way her golden hair bounced when she moved, and the way she furrowed her eyebrows whenever she was confused.

“What?” she asked.

“You’re beautiful,” he said, like it was the simplest thing in the world. She ducked her head and laughed, and he smiled in return.

“So you’ve said, many times,” Zelda replied, giving his arm a gentle shove.

“And I’ll keep saying it until the end of time. You’re divine, ethereal, gor-“

He was fairly certain the kiss was solely to stop him from talking, but he was happy to return it nevertheless.

She tasted sweet, like the berries they’d eaten for a snack earlier in the afternoon, and if sunlight had a taste, he imagined it would also taste like her.

“If you don’t get to cooking, I’ll take the Slate back,” Zelda warned with a poke to his chest.

“Alright, alright,” he replied with a laugh. He truly enjoyed cooking, but not even that could keep his mind off of the girl besides him, who was busy scribbling away in a journal. His thoughts always drifted to her. Her, and his love for her, and just how much they’d survived together.

And without thinking about it—well, it’d been on his mind, but he didn’t think before speaking:

“Would you ever want to get married?”

“Yes,” Zelda replied, too quickly and too casually for him to think she’d really heard him. He looked over to her with furrowed eyebrows, but she was staring right back with wide eyes, like she couldn’t believe it either. It took Link a minute to find his voice.��

“Are you serious?” he asked in a voice just barely above a whisper.

“Are you?” she asked.

“Yes,” Link said with a nod, reaching for one of her hands. “Of course I am.”

“I— you do mean us, right? You would want to marry me?”

“Yes. Without hesitation.”

“Is this..?”

Link shook his head quickly.

“No! I mean, no, I just— I kind of want to.. plan something..? I mean, the princess of Hyrule deserves a grand proposal.”

Zelda’s cheeks were as red as a rose. He could imagine he looked very similar, with the way his heart was racing.

“You better not,” she said with a smile.

But he did. He spent the next few weeks planning a perfect proposal. It didn’t have to be a surprise, but he did want it to be special. Zelda was special, in so many different ways. She was so very special to him, and he wanted to convey that, but he was stumped.

Link didn’t want to put her on the spot in front of their friends or a crowd of any sort. He didn’t want to pressure her with grand gestures or gifts, but what else could he do?

He’d written and scratched out so many ideas.

Should he bring her to the Sanctum and make it the place of a happy memory instead of what it had become? Should he take her on vacation to Hateno and ask in the privacy and comfort of his house? Should he be clever about it and slip the ring into a book, or a journal, or on a guardian piece? Should he have a friend help him?

He tried asking said friends on their opinions, but he had pretty limited options. Riju was a child, and she’d take pleasure in sending him straight to a Voe and You class that he did not want to participate in. Yunobo didn’t seem like the type to talk to anyone, much less do something as outgoing as propose. It didn’t feel right to ask Sidon, even if he would give good advice. His best bet was Teba and Kass, or any of the families he’d come to know in Hateno.

Kass had suggested a song, but Link didn’t think he had a musical bone in his body outside of an appreciation for it. It would be a decent last resort, if anything.

So the days came and went, and he remained clueless, but the ring, carefully crafted in Gerudo Desert with diamonds and sapphires and emeralds, stayed in his pockets. Just in case.

“Could you pass the sugar?” asked Zelda from beside him. Hylia’s Day had come around again and three years after their first celebration full of friends, they were spending the day in solitude. He was trying, key word, trying to help her bake a fruit cake. The kitchen staff were hesitant to let them, but he managed to convince them.

Link used it as an excuse to hug her from behind and place the sugar in front of her.

“You’re ridiculous,” she said, but turned her head to kiss his cheek anyway.

“Careful not to use too much,” he warned, giving her a gentle squeeze. “It’ll be too sweet.”

“If I can put up with you, then I think I can handle a little ‘too sweet’.”

“I can’t tell if that’s a compliment or an insult.”

Zelda snorted and dumped the measured sugar into the bowl. Link hid his grin in her shoulder. He loved the way she laughed, and the way her nose scrunched up when she did.

“There. Now I can stir them all together, right?” she asked.

“Clever girl,” he replied with a kiss into her shoulder. She threw some flour into his hair, and he shook it off all over her shirt.

“Oh, you just wait until this is in the oven.”

“Is that a threat, my princess?”

“Absolutely.”

Though she didn’t need help pouring the cake batter, Link set his hands over hers and did it anyway. It was nothing more than an excuse to touch her, but she clearly didn’t mind.

“See? You’re a professional,” he said as he took the trays and slid them into the oven. She’d burned herself once, years ago, and he never let her touch it since.

“I can give up the crown and turn the castle into a bakery instead,” she replied, leaning against the counter with crossed arms. He shut the oven and set his hands on either side of her, trapping her where she stood.

“We could be Hyrule’s most successful sweet shop. Specialty is fruit cake, made by and for the former princess herself.”

“Maybe we’ll just run a side business.”

“Ah, Princess and army general by day, bakers by night.”

“Exactly.”

Link laughed and pressed a kiss to her forehead. Zelda brought her flour covered hands up and stuck them onto his cheeks.

“Why do you insist on starting a food fight with me?” he asked with a sigh, before sticking his hand in flour and dragging a finger down her nose, leaving her with a flour streak of her own.

“You’re cute when you’re covered in flour,” she replied before ducking out from under his arms and darting away from him. When he turned to grab her again, she tossed a handful of flour in his face. “See?”

“Princess of Hyrule, Daughter of Hylia, spends her day assaulting her escort with flour,” he said with a huff, then turned back to the counter to scoop up some flour of his own.

“Are you seriously pouting over it?” she asked. Now that she’d moved closer, he spun around and dropped the handful onto her head.

“You know me better than that,” he replied with a grin. Zelda let out a sound somewhere between a gasp and a scream, and Link took the opportunity to make a mad dash across the kitchen and out of her reach.

Maybe they should’ve cleaned up the ingredients when they were done, because Zelda grabbed an egg and chucked it in his general direction. He ducked, then darted to one side of the table. She took the other and mirrored every move he made with a grin of her own.

“Your aim is getting better,” he teased, nodding towards the splatter of egg on the wall. “But I will again offer training-“

“If you hadn’t ducked, it would’ve hit you!” she defended.

“A lovely Hylia’s Day gift that would’ve been. Egged by my princess.”

“I think it’s fitting!”

“I got you an empty kitchen and a day to try whatever you want, and you egg me!”

“Because you’re an egghead!”

“Unbelievable. She’s the Daughter of Wisdom and the best she can come up with is egghead.”

Zelda sputtered a response, then made a break for him. Instead of running in the opposite direction, like any sensible person, Link jumped clean over the table and waved with a smile.

“Ugh! Show off.”

“I could teach you,” he offered.

“I’m perfectly capable of jumping over a table on my own!”

“Prove it.”

Zelda glared at him, but it was filled with a playful love that made it hard to stop smiling. She pulled herself up onto the table with all the grace of a goddess blood princess, then scooted across it to meet him.

“Very impressive,” he teased, grabbing her by the waist to pull her close. She only rolled her eyes and stuck her fingers into his hair, effectively spreading more flour.

“High praise coming from you,” she said. Link only hummed and tilted his head to meet her in a quick kiss.

“Come on, let’s clean up a bit,” he replied as he scooped her up off of the table in a bridal hold, and she leaned her head against his shoulder.

“Yeah, we probably should.” But she’d tilted her head up and was pressing kisses along his neck.

“Are you trying to distract me?” he asked, glancing towards her with a lifted eyebrow.

“Now why would I do that?”

The warmth of her breath tickled his neck and, well, it was certainly working. He almost wanted to forget about cleaning their mess and instead give his full attention to Zelda, but his foot hit a pile of flour on the floor.

The wind was knocked out of him immediately upon impact with the floor, but no harm had come to Zelda, and that’s what mattered. He tried to laugh through the pain.

“Are you okay?!” she asked as she scrambled off of him and helped him sit up. He nodded, but she checked him over anyway. Only when he could breathe again did she relax, then burst into a fit of giggles. “You’re an idiot.”

“I’m being bullied by the love of my life,” Link said with a hint of exasperation as he dropped onto his back. Zelda leaned over him with a smile as soft as a cloud.

“Am I really?” she asked, running her fingers through his hair again.

“Of course,” he replied with a smile, lifting a hand to rest on her cheek. “You’re my sunshine.”

Zelda scoffed and shook her head, but Link took her free hand and pressed a kiss to her fingertips. Even covered in flour, she was absolutely divine. And she looked so happy that his heart could burst. He decided there was no moment he loved her more than when she was smiling at him, with a warmth in her eyes and a sweetness in her smile that was reserved only for him. He loved her most when she was happy. He couldn’t keep the smile from his face and the words from his mouth.

“I love you,” he said as he sat up, cupping her face with both hands. “So much. You are everything to me and I want to do all I can to make you happy, for the rest of our lives.”

“Link,” she replied, her voice choked full of emotion.

“I want to marry you, Zelda.”

Even though they’d had this discussion before, there were tears building in her eyes. She looked like she didn’t know what to say, so Link took the opportunity to dig into his pocket and pull out the velvet box. And right there, on the floor of the castle kitchen, covered in flour, Link opened the lid and revealed the ring. Zelda burst into tears and, goddesses, when she nodded, he let out a watery laugh. She tackled him backwards, burying her face in his shoulder, and he hugged her close.

“I love you,” Zelda said, and repeated it probably a hundred times over.

“I love you,” he answered, pressing a kiss to her head.

“Can we have fruitcake at our wedding?” she asked in a wobbly voice. Link laughed again and if he could hold her closer, he would’ve.

“We can have whatever you want.”

And a few hours later, when the future queen and Hyrule’s army general stepped out of the (now clean) kitchen covered in flour, hand in hand and glowing with a happiness that suggested they’d seen Hylia herself, no one questioned it. But their engagement was no secret, because the ring on their princess’s finger had the castle staff whispering excitedly to one another mere minutes after the couple was gone.

That very night, as Link watched Zelda fall asleep in his arms, he could swear he felt King Rhoam smiling down on them, and he thought he could hear Urbosa’s laughter echoing on the wind.

They would celebrate tomorrow, he decided. For now, he would be grateful for how their solitary Hylia’s Day had gone.

He must’ve been the luckiest man in the entire world.

“I’ll take care of her,” Link whispered into the night air, a quiet promise to all those who cared about her. She didn’t need his protection, but goddesses, she’s all he could’ve ever wanted.

To have the pleasure of falling in love with her over and over again, perhaps that was the greatest gift of all.

#zelink #botw zelink #post calamity zelink #zelink prompts #christmas prompts #zelink proposal #proposal fic #link in love is my favorite thing to write #in case you couldn't tell

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botwstoriesandsuch · 4 years

Note

Hey so I wanna start writing botw fanfiction of my own, and I was curious if you had any tips for writing for this fandom?

I don’t know what gave you the impression that I am qualified to give advice, but I will try!

If you have the game, I find it helpful to actually go to the places in Hyrule that you’re writing about, so you can get a sense of what everything looks and sounds like, and even gather context clues of what it smells and feels like. Plus, to make sure the tone of my whole fic is consistent, I usually put up music from the BOTW OST or whatever music fits. Then I couple it with the website A Soft Murmur for any other world building sounds, like fire, wind, rain, birds, or whatever

You can use the website Guide of the Wild to find any other details whether on the map or compendium if you don’t have the game. And just searching up images or gameplay works too

Take advantage of the great world of botw to pace your dialogue! My biggest struggle (and pet peeve that I can fall into myself) is dialogue pacing. Sometimes it’s appropriate to write blocks of text for context or exposition purposes, but for regular banter I always like to put a few sentences in between to flesh out the actions and scenery. This person says that, as the wind blows their hair into their face. That person responds, while running their fingers on the morning dew caught on the blades of grass. Stuff like that

Sometimes I’m tired of switching between the character’s name and “he/she/they” so to spice it up, I use “The Zora” or “The Hylian” (etc. etc.) as an alternative. Although, this only works if you’re working with two different races, and it ultimately depends on how your fic flows

Do the characters that you’re most familiar with or you feel you understand the most. Don’t feel obligated to shove Zelda in just because they hang out with Link, if you don’t know how you’ll use her. Unsure of how to write for Sidon? Then don’t! I promise you that a fic is 102% better when you write two characters really well, rather than shoving in a few popular ones for the heck of it. It’s you world, do what you want.

More under the cut:

Then again, if there’s no way around it and you need to write for a character and you don’t know, first I’d rewatch all cutscenes with them on youtube. If that doesn’t give you ideas, try the Creating a Champion book (There is a free pdf online, and it’s also great for references and research/world building in general) and if you can’t get anything from that, just search up headcanons and fics about that character from other good works. Luckly, most of Nintendo characters are crafted around a simplistic trait, and are made more complex off of that starting point. Sidon is kind supportive shark prince, Revali is an asshole with a heart of gold, etc, etc, so just build off of whatever character traits you have.

And again, you’re the one writing the fic, so honestly you could write them however you want. Write for yourself first, rather than writing to appeal to canon

Dialogue has so much room for characterization and take advantage of it, especially for Nintendo characters because again, they’re usually written around a central character trait. Revali uses long, complex words to show off, Mipha is typically more soft spoken and polite. So did your character “say” something? Or did they “enunciate their words,” or maybe they “whispered tentatively while avoiding their gaze.” Did they say “That’s great,” or did they say “Extraordinary! Fantastic! Truly this is a marvelous event!” Or maybe they said “Who would have thought? I certainly didn’t expect something so monumental coming from you.”

I don’t even have to say the characters but you know instinctively what kind of characters were speaking for those last two, just from the connotation and diction alone. Use that! Use your word choice to convey character!!

Now this might just be the screenwriter in me speaking, but I usually frame my scenes using the upside-down triangle method. LFTS explains it really well in this video, and you should just follow them in general. (Also the youtube channel hello future me has some fantastic videos on writing so follow them too!)

Anyhow, the upside-down triangle or funnel method is basically the principal that the first line of a scene establishes the broad premise that the scene moves around, and the last line of the scene establishes the point and purpose. (Now this doesn’t really work that well for one-shots on cute fluff or whatever, and it’s more of your multi-scene things, but there are a few things you can still apply!)

It doesn’t have to be your literal first line or last line, but essentially it breaks down into a question and an answer. The first part of a scene should establish a question, and the stakes. Why are your character’s here? What do they hope to gain? What is preventing them from such? What is there to lose? Then the scene ends with the funneling point, purpose, or answer. At the end of the scene, they realize their feelings despite the obstacles, or they decide they have to go rescue someone, or maybe nothing about their attitude changes at all, despite of something.

See using this method I’m able to focus on the purpose of a scene, I can frame my dialogue and banter to establish characterization and motives easily. I can make sure that every detail and action serves to further the scene’s ultimate goal. I can pace everything to my liking, to make things more dramatic, tense, or comforting, and I can cut out anything that isn’t needed

When you follow this, it makes the payoff, the resolution, or the tragedy all the more satisfying. This kiss is all the better when it’s framed as the perfect funnel point after a scene centered around the premise of their pining, or banter. The angst hurts all the more when your entire scene is focused on building tension and growing insults that dance around the question of “why?” Scenes should either move towards, or away from a certain goal or point. If nothing changes, if it affects nothing, and it doesn’t add to world or character building, scrap it.

Also write your scenes out of order if you must! You have all those great ideas for dialogue and cute fluff or whatever, but you’re not at that point yet? Write it down!! You will forget, and you will regret it. Write the entire ending if you must, even if you haven’t finished the first scene. In fact, you should actually do that because again, the funnel/upside-down triangle method means that the ending is a very important part. So yeah, when you get that idea just write it in the margins, don’t stop the flow of your brain!

I act out my scenes. It’s stupid but it works for me. I say the words outloud as I talk down to the dishwasher. This way I can also get a sense of the body language, whether it be for Revali, speaking to someone with his wings tucked behind his back, or Sidon who always expresses his gratitude with grandeur arm motions!

And I keep using Revali and Sidon as examples because foils!!! Botw characters are so perfect for foils oh my gosh. Foil your characters, please. If you’re using a side character it’s so great if they are also a foil. I already mention Revali and Sidon being opposites, but similar things can be done with Yunobo and Link, or Zelda and Mipha. Foils don’t mean that an entire character is the opposite of another, just a certain trait. Teba and Revali are similar in their attitudes, but still work as foils when talking about Revali’s flamboyancy to Teba’s stoic and grim demeanor.

Final point, if you didn’t enjoy writing it, if you wrote to please someone other than yourself, you did it wrong.

#botw #breath of the wild #legend of zelda botw #loz botw #writing

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inkingthewild · 7 years

Text

Cold

Did any of you want Zelink angst? I’m going to pretend you did.

Link is silent, numb, as the healer waves her hands awkwardly and babbles on, a constant stream of apologies filling the palpable silence. He can only process a little of the information she’s reciting to them.

Calamity Ganon. Malice. Aftermath. Lingering effects.

Terminal.

Zelda sits calmly, her eyes straight ahead. “Thank you for your assistance,” she politely tells the healer, before she stands and walks towards the door.

The healer looks stricken as Zelda sweeps out of the room, but Link wastes no time in following her hurriedly until she stops at the balcony overlooking the gatehouse.

The sun shines, bestowing its radiant warmth upon the fields of Hyrule. The sun shines, and it shouldn’t. Not on a day like this.

He glances at the princess. She doesn’t look at him, and instead drinks in the sight of her beloved kingdom, like a drowning man clutching at straws in a tossing sea. He clears his throat and tries to say something, anything, but finds that there is a heavy rope constricting any words he has and tightening about his heart.

“Zelda-“

“Don’t. Please.” There isn’t a crack in her voice as a gaping fissure, as she turns to him with misery etched across her face. He wishes desperately he could take this sudden weight from her shoulders and hurl it far, far away, so that it would never hurt her again. “If there is truly nothing we can do, then… then I am prepared to accept it.”

“You’re not giving up already, are you?” There is a hint of quiet frustration in his voice.

Zelda is perhaps more collected as she replies. “No, Link. This is the Malice – there is no known cure. Believe me, if there was, I would fight this monstrosity. I would fight with everything I have. And I still will,” she adds, touching his arm. “I won’t let it take me so easily. But I don’t know how long I will be able to hold out, if there is nothing that can help me.

“If what the healer says is true, then I don’t have much time. I’ll need time, before… before I…”

“Stop.” Link says. He draws her close to him, feeling her familiar warmth, and rests his head atop hers. “I won’t let this monster take you. I’ll scour the lands, scour Hell itself, if it means that I can find something to destroy it. We’ll get through it, like we always have. “

He feels her smile against his chest, and the sensation brings a tenderness that shoots to the ends of his fingers. “There is no reason to give up so easily,” she agrees, lifting her head to gaze into his eyes. Hers are a shimmering green, brimming with life even in the face of darkness.

He’ll be damned if he lets Ganon steal that light for the second time.

Not much changes in the immediate days that follow. Zelda governs Hyrule with the assistance of her Council, settling disputes as they come and negotiating numerous trade deals, while Link supports her not only as her appointed knight but also as the new Commander of the Royal Guard. In spite of their duties, they manage to find time to spend with one another. Some days they are able to spend long hours riding together, like the field surveys they used to perform before the Calamity struck.

However, there is now a dark shadow hanging over them; its presence a constant reminder of the healer’s grim words.

Link takes to researching Zelda’s ailment with whatever free time he gets. He piles thick volumes from the castle library into his arms and hauls them to his chambers. It’s an arduous trip, but he is resolute. Regardless of what the healers have said, he will not let Zelda succumb to the sickness. He isn’t willing to give up so quickly.

Afterwards, long into the quiet hours of the night, Zelda comes to visit his room, perhaps for a game of chess, when she notices what he is doing. He senses her before he sees her in the mirror. She watches him with an unreadable expression, her arms crossed. Link turns back to his reading, and scratches some notes into his book. There is no time to waste.

Then, Zelda pulls up a chair, the harsh screeching reverberating along the stony walls. She shuffles until she is close enough to read the book herself, and picks up the quill.

It’s on the sixth day when it begins.

Zelda pulls Link away from his books, insisting that he at least needs ‘a little time off, otherwise he’ll pass out from exhaustion’. A pretty platter is set out for them in the courtyard: jam sandwiches cut into neat triangles, slices of her favourite fruitcake and two cups of hot black tea. She spills some when she reaches for a slice of cake and blushes scarlet as Link tries to stifle his chuckles. Zelda glares good-naturedly, and swats his arm. For a moment, he almost forgets.

Then, as soon as she turns back to mop up the spill, she begins to cough; violent, hacking sounds that rattle and make her shoulders shudder with pain. Link is immediately on his feet, and realises with horror that there are specks of red on her glove.

Zelda tries to assure him that it’s fine, it’s okay, but he pulls her to her feet nonetheless and rushes her urgently to the infirmary.

When the healers frown unhappily and only press a vial of clear liquid into Zelda’s palm, murmuring that it’ll help with the cough but can’t curb the spreading infection, the rope tugs, hard. He barely restrains himself from screaming.

Link begins to search the plains of Hyrule, like he said he would, for any possible cure. It seems a daunting task at first, but he finds it easier when he breaks down the sections in his map and searches one area at a time. Besides, no task is daunting when it’s for Zelda.

Scouring the entire landscape does prove to be difficult, though. He starts by inspecting the varieties of wildlife dotted throughout the land, and carefully picks the ones that are already registered in the Sheikah Slate. After experimenting with those, he has enough elixirs to heal the entire army. When Zelda takes them, they are useless.

Link starts again, this time with plants that have no identification in the Sheikah Slate. It seems a little dangerous, working on unknown species, but he figures that if he tries them himself they shouldn’t be much of a risk. Link is fully aware of dwindling time as he works, fervently stirring and and wiping the sweat off of his brow, day after day. Six months, Zelda had said. Six months was barely enough to hunt down the herbs in Hyrule Field, let alone the other regions as well. He continues, though. He has to try.

When he returns to the castle, a messenger informs him that Zelda is poorly, and is resting in her quarters.The messenger seems to think that it’s only a common cold. Link knows better.

The rope tightens a little more.

He knocks lightly on her door, until a soft “Enter!” echoes from within. Zelda is propped up on numerous cushions, with a novel opened and upside down between her fingers. She smiles when she notices who it is. He crosses the room to sit in the chair facing her, and immediately takes her hand.

“How are you feeling?” he asks, swallowing down the lump lodged in his throat.

“I’m all right. I have a little bit of a sore throat, but nothing more. This feels like any normal sickness, actually.” She gazes at him with a familiar hint of affection, yet he feels undeserving of her love.

“It isn’t, though.” Link pointedly stares at the floor, as Zelda’s expression switches from serene to solemn.

“Link-”

“I was wondering,” - now his voice is definitely strained - “if I could visit the four nations. They may have their own medicines there that we don’t have here, which would surely work.”

Zelda holds his gaze for what seems like an eternity, and he is almost afraid that she will somehow forbid him from going. She relents in the end.

“All right,” she sighs. “I’ll continue my research here, then. But,” here she pauses, and he notices that fierce light in her eyes that he adores, and it is enchanting and beautiful, “promise me that you’ll stay safe.”

He lets out a little laugh for the first time in ages. It seems that they have both grown overly protective in the last month. “Of course,” he promises. “I’ll always come back to you.”

Link stands. “I had better get going, then. I’ll see you soon. Take care, hmm?”

He leans down only to brush a few stray hairs from her forehead when she suddenly loops her arms around his neck and presses a soft kiss to his temple.

“I love you,” she breathes, and a warmth spreads through his body like a wildfire through the forest. He smiles, and strokes her cheeks tenderly.

“I love you too. I always will.”

She kisses him once more, before finally letting him go.

With every visit he makes, his hopes dwindle, like the wick of a burning candle.

At Zora’s Domain, he is greeted enthusiastically by Sidon, who directs him to the royal Zora healers. They specialise in pathogenic diseases, but are at a loss to the symptoms Link describes to them. In Gerudo Town, Riju consults the elderly herbalists who sit away from the hustle and bustle of town. Yunobo brings him rock samples from the crevices of Death Mountain himself, and Teba offers to fly him over Tabantha to see if he’s missed anything there.

Although his friends support him endlessly, he ultimately finds nothing. The Hero of Hyrule, he thinks bitterly. What a fitting name for one who cannot even beat an illness. Who cannot protect his loved one. A man who keeps failing, over and over again.

Link returns to the castle, heavy hearted, and doesn’t stop to greet the gatekeepers as he usually does.

Zelda is up again when he finds her, and rises from the table the minute she realises he has returned. There is a glimmer of hope in her expression, and Link hates himself for being the one to snuff it out. He can barely bring himself to hug her back when her arms envelope him in a loving embrace, and he stiffens. He doesn’t deserve her love.

“What happened?” she asks.

Link steps back, and drops his head. Feelings of shame well up within him, and he knows that his silence is more than enough for her to fill in the gaps.

“Oh, Link… It’s okay.” she soothes. He doesn’t deserve her love; not at all. “In truth, I wasn’t able to find anything either. I believe you did the best you could.”

“But it’s not… I could’ve done more! I could’ve… I could’ve searched for longer, or researched more - I should’ve done something more than what I did, but I didn’t and now I’ve failed you…!”

His voice finally cracks, and he dimly registers the feeling of something wet and hot trickling down his cheeks. He wraps his arms around his body, which suddenly seems too small to be shaking and heaving.

Zelda is there again, as she always has been, and gently holds his face in her hands. They sink to the floor together, the coldness sweeping through their legs as she holds him and strokes his hair tenderly.

“You did all you could. Please, Link… don’t blame yourself. You haven’t failed me. You never will. Please…”

He clings to her shoulders as she whispers sweet, sad endearments into his ear, and finally allows himself to let go.

The days pass quickly.

Link hardly ever leaves her side now. He blatantly refuses to do so, and hands over leadership of the army to Lieutenant Reynard for the time being. He tries not to dwell on the time when he’ll have to return to the post.

Zelda holds up pretty well for the first three months. She doesn’t give up as like had promised, and Link admires her strength for the umpteenth time. She continues to lead Hyrule with a firm, yet peaceful hand. It’s an era of prosperity that the kingdom hasn’t seen for decades, and its denizens welcome it.

However, things begin to spiral downward. It first starts at a council meeting when Zelda abruptly coughs in the middle of her interjection. The councillors pause and look at her worriedly, and Lady Rina asks if she needs water. Zelda waves them off and insists that it’s nothing, before dissolving into another coughing fit. After accepting a glass of water, the coughing stops and she seems to be fine.

The next time it strikes, they are walking together in the gardens. Zelda points out and chatters on about the varieties of flowers waving lazily in the soil, while Link is content to simply listen to her voice, before she… no. He forcefully removes any treacherous thoughts from his mind. He wants her to enjoy herself while she’s with him, not to be brought down by his moping.

“Link, what’s the name of that one?” Zelda draws him out of his thoughts, and he cranes his neck to look at what she’s pointing to.

It’s a blue nightshade, and she definitely knows what it is. She was the one who told him all those years ago, in that flower field.

“A blue nightshade.” he reminds her anyway.

“Strange…” she mutters. “I somehow forgot it. But how could I? I remember it as clear as day now, but just a moment ago my mind went blank.” She looks at him with uncertainty in her eyes.

With a sinking feeling, Link realises what is beginning to happen.

A week later, they are in Hyrule Field again. The sun dips below the horizon, and Zelda rests her head on Link’s lap as he absently plays with her hair.

“This reminds me of the time we rode our horses together to Safula Hill.” he says, smiling a little.

Zelda looks up at him and begins to smile too, before her brows furrow with confusion. She sits up suddenly and turns to face him. Link senses the shift in atmosphere, and looks at her concernedly.

“What’s wrong?”

“Link,” she begins, an edge of fear creeping into her tone, “I don’t remember that. I can’t remember any of it. I know it’s there, but I can’t reach it.”

She puts her head in her hands, and the rope tightens viciously. Mockingly, even.

Link is given time to ponder about the situation at night. A thunderstorm flashes and rages outside, attacking the windows with merciless rain and blowing icy winds through the trees. Zelda sleeps in his arms, her breaths softly tickling his neck every time she exhales. He takes the time to observe her form in the moonlight; she is ethereal, beautiful, gorgeous - he doesn’t think there’s a wide enough variety of words in the world to describe her. Zelda is also loving, kind and tenacious, serious yet playful, and lifts him when he can’t do so himself. Link breathes in her soothing scent, as the rain outside slowly reduces to a soft pattering on the glass.

What would a life without her be like?he wonders.

His chest twists painfully. He draws her closer into his arms and silently prays to the Goddess, all the while suppressing the telltale wetness behind his eyes.

Zelda is forced to tell her council when she collapses in the middle of another meeting.

All Link thinks about as he picks up her limp form is how sick she’s becoming, and how she could barely keep her eyes open prior to collapsing. His thoughts are cluttered and panicked, and he is barely aware of the court’s shouts behind him. He’s never sprinted as fast he does in his life.

Zelda comes to in the evening, with a distraught Link pacing outside her chambers. He nearly breaks the door when he slams it open as soon as the healers call him in his desperation to see her. Zelda doesn’t remember passing out, nor why she assembled court in the first place.

When the council hears her explanation three days later, they are silent. It isn’t the reaction that Link expects. That is, until one man stands and proclaims that they will not let her die, and will do anything to prevent it.

One by one, each councillor stands and offers their support, whether in confident words or meaningful silence. They are more united than they have ever been before, with not one argument breaking out amongst the clamour and everyone settling on a firm conclusion. It is a bittersweet hope. Link looks at Zelda, and finds her shining with gratitude, yet still with the same resigned look in her eyes.

One day, she doesn’t wake up.

Link groggily opens his eyes, blinking away the darkness. He turns to her for a customary good-morning kiss, only to find that her breathing isn’t soothing him as it usually does.

His panicked shouts echo down the stone corridors, alerting the entire castle in an instant. Link can only stand back and watch as a flurry of healers swarm to Zelda; his heart pounds in his ears like the drums of a war chant, his nails dig into his palms as a scimitar would and all he can think is no no no not now not her please Hyrule needs her he needs her-

He feels powerless as he watches the healers furiously try to resuscitate her. As the Hero of Hyrule, he should be able to help, especially when it’s the most precious person to him in the world lying on that bed, but all he does is watch, the rope tightening ever harder and choking his words until he can’t breathe himself.

He is informed that she does not have much time left.

The healers nod at him tiredly as they leave the room. Link thanks them for the time they have managed to bargain for the two of them. If his voice sounds hollow, they don’t say anything.

Zelda is weak, and weakening still, when he sits down in the same chair facing her bed. Her breaths come in quick, shallow gasps, and the hair framing her face is drenched with sweat. He reaches out to lean the backs of his fingers against her forehead. It’s searingly hot.

Zelda stirs in her stupor, and Link quickly focuses on her face. She opens her eyes, and looks around dazedly before finally settling on him. She smiles; Link desperately wants to hold on to that smile. He swore to protect it, and he’s failing.

“L-Link…"

Her voice is weak, painfully weak. He wants nothing more than to take on her agony himself, but he’s powerless. The Hero of Hyrule; powerless to save the love of his life.

"Zelda…"

His voice is hoarse from disuse, and the sound of it brings him back to a century ago, when he was only her sworn protector. He didn’t talk, and kept his emotions bottled. She was the only one to even try and talk to him - after the Yiga encounter, she coaxed him out of his shell. Zelda listened to him and comforted him, when others didn’t.

“I have one request.” Her voice is clearer now.

He swallows. “Anything.“

She smiles again, and in that moment Link thinks that she is still as beautiful as she was when he first met her, all those years ago.

“Will you stay with me?“

He doesn’t hesitate. “I’ll never leave you.“

Zelda lifts the bedsheets a little so he can climb in with her. He gathers her in his arms as he always does, and finds that there is a single tear trickling down her cheek. Link gently wipes it away with his thumb, as the rope threatens to destroy him entirely.

Zelda’s eyes begin to close. Before they do, she takes one final breath.

“I’ll always love you.“

"I’ll always love you too. I’ll never stop loving you.” he manages.

No more words are uttered. Link holds Zelda until he can’t feel her warmth anymore. He greets the morning alone.

The Kingdom of Hyrule mourns the loss of its princess deeply, with people from the far reaches of the land paying their respects at the castle. Sorrow lingers in the air, apparent to all who set foot in the castle. It hits them hard, but as with all things, it is soon forgotten in the pages of time.

The stories tell of the Princess and her appointed knight in their quest to vanquish Calamity Ganon. They tell of the Hero’s slumber and his resurrection, and of how he and the Princess worked together to vanquish Ganon from the world. They tell of how the two become closer and eventually fall in love, before the Princess’ life is cruelly snatched away.

They don’t tell of how the Hero spends his days after her death. How he continues leading the military until he is aged enough to need a walking stick, and how he spends the remainder of his days in Hateno Village. They don’t tell of how he gets up every morning without fail and visits the Princess’ grave. Sometimes he brings with him a single Silent Princess, and lays it beside the headstone, where the inscriptions are still as good as new - as if tended to every day.

The sun still doesn’t quite warm him enough, even after all these years.

#how did you all like - or not like - it? too much angst? too little? I was personally burned out by the end haha I NEED ME SOME FLUFF NOW.#botw zelink #zelink #botw fanfiction #breath of the wild #botw link #botw zelda #angst

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