#and this poor yiga

[nancyheart11]

Dads in a dungeon part 2!

They entered the next room and Abel had to close his eyes against the crime against architecture. There were pillars everywhere, going every which way, colliding smoothly before splitting gracefully like carved tree branches. It was horrible to look at, especially with the red, green, and blue intermingling with no rhyme or reason.

Wait… red, blue and green? Abel pulled out the triangle held within the delicate looking metal orb and held it out squinting.

“Well? The colors match up pretty well at least?” Rusl gave him an encouraging grin. Abel huffed at him, how helpful.

He turned the sphere and watched as the whole room, multiple large intersections as well as free floating pillars, moved–or at least the red ones did, which was the color the triangle inside now had facing downwards. Abel rubbed the spot where his growing headache was worst and walked onto the now conveniently placed pillar, walking up the somewhat steep incline until he got to the end, where he had to jump to another pillar. His foot slipped upon landing and Abel scrambled not to fall off the cylindrical object.

Heart pounding and feeling cold sweat run down his neck, Abel sat in place for a few precious minutes squeezing his eyes shut against the drop so long that it simply faded to black below him, with no end visible in sight. Rusl was calling something worriedly to him, and even Fierce’s loud rumble joined in, but Abel stood up and ran up the rest of the pillar.

Rusl and Fierce joined him on the now rather tight platform and upon realizing that there were many different nooks hidden around the room, had Abel stand in the middle and turn the triangle to whatever side was needed to get to the next platform for his companions. Abel was grateful they said nothing about him falling on the very first pillar, but by Rusl’s pat on the back he was sure they had noticed.

After far too much spinning of the room and a lot of backtracking that Abel was glad not to participate in they were finally able to leave the room with more rupees, arrows, and knowledge that the ‘twister,’ as Rusl had named it, was able to not just change orientation of things, but moved space as a whole. Abel was already planning on how they could use it to get to Link.

The next room was filled with lizalfos and easily taken care of by the trio; they didn’t even have anything besides pots to camouflage with! Once they were defeated, the hallway split in two directions. They took one and opened the door to many moving platforms that, after watching for a while, emerged a pattern. Rusl went across and came back with bombs and a smear of blood on his cheek, telling them there had been a Deku baba on the other side. The living, biting plant he described made Abel shiver, trying to imagine having to watch the very plants around them for attacks–taluses were bad enough as it was.

They went back through the split and found the door needed a key, which they quickly inserted. The room opened up, yawning wide, and on the other side was an enormous staircase. Only problem was, the staircase seemed to start melting only a short distance from the top. The first steps to be affected looked like chocolate that had been left in the sun on a hot summer day and then moved somewhere cool and dark to resolidify. Then they distorted step by step until the last clinging drips of stone stair led the eye towards the ground where a pile of what was likely once the rest of the stairs sat, utterly unrecognizable.

Why? Who would build stairs on such a grand scale only to then destroy them in such a strange manner? It made no sense to Abel. The shrines were bad enough, and those had the explicit purpose of training the hero for trials ahead.

Before he could think much more on it, skeletal hands pushed themselves out of previously unnoticed alcoves and revealed stals which attacked them in droves. Fierce took one side and Rusl and Abel took the other. Soon they discovered that those bombs were needed to keep the stals from simply reforming once defeated, though when Abel glanced over it seemed Fierce had no such trouble, figures.

After cleaning his sword and sheathing it for the time being, Abel began to explore the room. He hoped this one would have obvious clues, his head still ached from the pillar room. Eventually he realized there was a triangle motif cut into the ground reflecting the one he held in one hand, with a seed on one side, a healthy looking tree on another, and a stump on the third. He looked at the images and tried to figure out what in the world they meant!

Abel decided to simply turn the triangle blue side down to see what happened. He noted that like the other times he held the object, sides only seemed to shift when intent was involved, or else he’d have likely been flung off into the abyss when he slipped on the pillar earlier. So caught up in these thoughts he nearly missed the stairs moving, though not in a way he wanted. The stairs now dripped like melting snow rather than staying solid.

When he turned the red side to be down, the stairs flowed in reverse. It was almost beautiful to watch and see how they constructed themselves before him, looking as solid as any stone structure he’d known once every grain was in place. There was a click and Abel, remembering how the other stairs here had treated him, gingerly put one foot on the bottom step, hoping it wouldn’t be soft as sand to step on. To his relief it was solid, and together the group ventured up.

As it turned out the stairs continued beyond what they had been able to see from the floor below, though once they got out of the lighting from the last room, an alarming amount of webs started appearing, and they grew in size the further they went up. Rusl was happy enough to use an iron lantern to burn away the webs, but Abel couldn’t help shivering at how large a spider would have to be in order to make a web so thick.

He noted idly how even the webs were twisted by the dungeon, being circular, swirling things with twists and folds that hurt to look at too long instead of the normal patterns of sagging boxes Abel was used to seeing. He shuddered at the implications that any being within a dungeon long enough was changed by it, and felt his desire to leave increase to a painful degree, making his skin buzz uncomfortably.

They got to the top and torches lit up upon them stepping foot on the floor. Abel took two steps forward, felt something drip onto his head, and had the sudden overwhelming feeling that he was about to be attacked. Before he had finished turning around, Fierce had pushed him out of the way and a simply enormous spider was skewered on his sword. Abel shuddered but saw webs on the edges of his vision vibrating, so he stood up to defend against the beasts three men tall and very, very angry at being disturbed. Abel slashed and stabbed but his sword continued to bounce off the hard carapace of the thing.

“You have to hit them underneath! It’s the only place they’re soft!”

With that, Abel was finally getting in hits that pierced and caused sticky fluid to come out, until finally the spider could no longer hold itself up and he managed to decapitate it, watching its legs curl up so that he was sure it wouldn’t get back up for another round.

He fought another with Fierce, finding it almost laughably easy when the Deity simply flipped the thing over and stabbed into the floor before backflipping off with as much ease as he did anything.

When the last of the spiders was vanquished, a chest appeared in a burst of life, this one noticeably bigger than the other and decorated with horns at its corners. Fierce lit up, his eyes glowing brighter in his visible excitement as he went to the chest, pulling it open and presenting a much larger key than the ones found previously, the blackened metal twisting sharply around what appeared to be a ruby, managing to look both dangerous and wasteful at the same time.

Abel was not impressed.

Regardless, Fierce pocketed the key and they moved to the next room, which was empty. Immediately Abel looked up, wary of attacks from above after the last room. He found nothing. The room was almost painfully plain after the sheer obnoxiousness or feigned grandeur the others had offered, with only some plain ceramic pots in each corner to prevent it being entirely empty. That and the multitude of giant chains on the door, leading to a centralized lock that only Fierce could comfortably reach.

With a lack of anything better to do, Abel began looking in all the pots one by one. The first held a green rupee, which he grabbed and put in his pouch carefully. Pottery this old should be preserved after all, and he wouldn’t put it past the dungeon to have something horrible happen if one were broken. In the third group of pots he checked he found a fairy, napping at the bottom of the thing!

Abel dug around in his pack and found a spare bottle from something or other. He went to scoop up the fairy and hesitated. He knew it would be so helpful to have one, but could he really trap such a creature? He thought of Link’s scars that covered far, far too much of his boy, he thought of Tilieth’s absolutely gorgeous smile, and before he could second guess himself the fairy was bottled and being shoved inside his pack where he didn’t have to look at it.

Once all the pots had been checked, Rusl suggested they rest before going to the next room. Abel’s aching bones and head agreed, so he spent some time with his cloak over his eyes just breathing. Rusl came over and pushed him to sit. Abel grumbled minimally before–

Oh sweet Hylia, that felt amazing, no wonder he had a headache when his neck was so tense. Rusl continued to softly rub circles in the muscles and Abel could feel his shoulder come down from where they had moved up around his ears without him noticing. By the time Rusl stopped and shook out his hands, Abel was nearly slumped against the floor from the sheer relief the supposed farmer had provided without complaint or asking for anything in return. (He still remembered with dismay how much lighter their rupee pouch had been when Fierce came back from Gerudo Town.)

“Better?”

“Much, but uh how did you…?”

“You got that pinched look Link gets when he’s spent too long without a proper break, and you seem to carry your troubles on your shoulders, jus’ like him.”

Abel decided they have been in here for more than a day because such a simple sentiment had no right making him feel like chu jelly inside.

Then Fierce came over and glanced at Abel and Rusl.

“How did you do that, little Farmer? Is it possible to learn this? My Link could certainly do with that more often.”

Abel felt a flash of fear at the thought of the Deity trying to give anyone a neck massage; his back ached just thinking of the ‘pat’ Fierce had once given him.

Rusl’s sudden interest in the floor had Fierce huffing as he stood to his full intimidating height and pulled out the key. He inserted it into the lock, and Abel watched the waste of metal clatter to the floor before the large doors were pushed open and they entered, wary of danger. 

Standing in the center of the room was a pillar much like the ones they had set the stones in earlier. Where the others had shown a smooth dip in the middle for the stones to rest in, the one before him now had curving grooves carved into the bowl-like hollow that met smoothly in the middle. Abel pulled out the cage holding the triangle and felt a pang at the fact that he was about to give it up, but it seemed this was the clue he had on what to do next for the dungeon.

He gently set the thing down into the basin, having to twist it a bit to get the spindly metal aligned with the grooves of stone. There was a strange sound, like someone had taken a wind chime and thrown it at a wall. The sphere expanded impossibly, growing larger and larger until it filled the stone room and the pillar that once housed it had vanished. Abel nearly fell as the metal beneath his feet started turning, finding it hard to stay on his feet with the now constantly changing terrain.

He managed to find his feet among the swirling and turning just in time for the very walls to begin peeling away. The stones making up the walls churned and changed. For a moment Abel was worried they would be fighting some sort of talus! He watched as once the walls had created four legs and a body, with a blocky curled tail, the floor strayed towards the beast being made, to make the head. He felt a small shiver of relief amongst the heart-pounding fear as the spirals slowed, then stopped as less and less floor remained, leaving only a gaping, yawning black almost hungry in its completeness around them. Abel didn’t like his chances of having been able to jump from piece to piece, much less fight while doing so!

Finally the stone being was completed. It shuddered, glowing. Then horrible yellow and red eyes opened, glaring balefully at the group of trespassers. They drew their swords and began to fight. 

Immediately a rather large problem emerged. The lizard of sorts had used its tongue against Fierce, but in dodging he had fallen neatly through the gaps in the metal. Abel felt the whole structure shudder as a horrible screeching cry rang out from what he suspected was Fierce stabbing at the floor itself to stay airborne. The very tip of the double helix blade poking out of the metal proved his theory, but it was so smooth that it started slipping as fast as it had appeared.

So now they had lost their best fighter, had to fight in a hazardous battlefield–which would become more so the longer they took with the way another hole in the floor near the first puncture mark was made– and the lizard was made of stone, with no obvious weak point of ore like a talus.

Great.

Rusl jumped the gap and pulled out his golden cucco, hovering in the air with one hand and slashing at the creature’s tongue when it flicked out to try and harm him. Abel grimaced as he got out his bow, since Tilieth and Rusl were both better shots than him, but he truly couldn’t make himself even try to cross the gap. He’d noticed that the monster kept its eyes barely open until its tongue shot out, at which the lids flew wide open and the eyes nearly seemed to bulge, making them the perfect target to incapacitate the thing.

He missed twice before his third arrow landed right in the pupil of the giant lizard. It thrashed and stone blocks came flying off in all directions. Abel had to duck and weave around the shrapnel, coming dangerously close to the edge more than once in the effort to avoid getting hit. Rusl had dropped on what counted as the floor to avoid the flying rock, but once things settled he ran up the slope until pushing back into the air with his cucco.

“Now we just have to keep doing that! Good work Abel!”

Abel wondered at the complete trust Rusl was putting in him, and at the confidence that they would defeat the thing, Fierce or no Fierce. Abel pulled out another arrow and brought up his bow.

He ducked on instinct to avoid the tail sweeping his way while the tongue once again went after Rusl in the air. He blew some hair that had fallen over his eyes in annoyance, of course the monster was smart enough to try and prevent them from abusing its weakness the same way once more. This meant Abel had many more false starts, where he had to drop to avoid a tail swinging his way, but it was only the second arrow he fired that landed in the eye.

The rocks were more numerous this time, and faster too. He panted with the exertion of trying to dodge them all while staying on the narrow strip of metal that kept him from the abyss. He stumbled after a particularly tricky dodge and watched with a numb sense of impending pain as a stone came at him faster than he could move.

Suddenly the ear-splitting screeching of Fierce’s sword rending metal was much closer than heard previously, and Abel’s vision was overtaken by the large blade, only inches from his face. The rock plinked harmlessly off of the strange metal and the sword retreated back below the ground as the last of the rocks flew by.

Abel hoped that had been on purpose. He suspected that not even the mythical healing of a fairy would save him from Fierce’s disgustingly effective sword.

With the return of their ability to fight came a new challenge, because why would things stay predictable? The lizard would, after Rusl got a slash on the tongue, turn the color and texture of the metal and abyss, moving around and only regaining its stonelike state when it was about to attack them both again. So it took Rusl and him a considerable amount of both time and arrows to manage hitting the third time. Both acquired some cuts and bruises along the way.

Then the lizard rolled up, moving through the air like a wagon wheel from a particularly violent cart crash. Abel hit the floor as it came whizzing by and only cautiously peeked out from his hair when the sounds of displaced air stopped. 

It appeared that the lizard had changed tactics, for now it curled up and hid, sending bits of stone out that remind Abel eerily of pebblits to fight them. He had no blunt weapon with which to attack the annoyances, but when he caught a glimpse of the lizard out of the corner of his eye, it looked soft.

He managed to dig out a bomb while dodging the rocky pebblits, lobbing it almost desperately at the creature. He hit! Then the pebblit gave him what was sure to be a nasty bruise on his shin before retreating.

When the lizard was done moving violently through the air, the pebblits sent this time were noticeably more aggressive, and Abel found himself panting to keep up and dig a bomb out of his bag. He threw it, missed terribly as he had to jerk at the last moment to avoid getting clobbered again, then watched as Rusl was hit with a flying stone from the pebblit attacking him.

Rusl crashed to the ground, and instead of hopping up and going at the wall again like a madman, lay as a puddle of red grew beside him. Abel felt his eyes widen as he scrambled, what could he do? He had no hope of taking on this monster by himself–

The fairy!

But, in order to give Rusl the fairy, he would need to cross one of these gaps. He shuddered, but the pebblit charging at him gave him no time to fear as he leaped, his heart pounding in his ears and his stomach in his mouth. He nearly slid off the other side and scrabbled for purchase. A quick bomb was thrown at the approaching pebblit and he pulled out the bottle, trying to undo the cork with shaking hands. 

The fairy, apparently impatient, went through the glass bottle (why had they stayed in the first place?) and started flying in tight circles above Rusl, dropping glowing pink dust as they went. Abel held his breath, and only let it out when Rusl began to sit up.

“Wha? Oh! A fairy. I didn’t know we had one.”

“Oops.” Abel winced.

Rusl sent him a knowing look before clasping his outstretched hand and heaving himself up. With determination, they fought anew. It was hard and scary, but finally after two more bombs successfully detonated, the lizard separated into every individual stone, each vanishing one by one. The metal strips joined together to create a solid platform in the abyss with a strange door on one side. 

After the constant screech of metal and stone, arrows and bombs whistling through the air, and Rusl’s eye-burningly bright cucco’s cries, the silence was eerie, with only heavy panting breaths daring to be heard. Until Fierce’s head popped over the edge with a loud bang as his sword skittered away from where he was holding on with white knuckles to the platform and both Rusl and Abel were quick to help him up.

“I think… A nap is in order.” Fierce sounded strained, which was so strange coming from him that Abel blinked to make sure he was seeing things right.

“Cheers to that, Fierce!” Rusl only took the time to peel off his bloodstained clothes and use them as a pillow before he was asleep.

Abel couldn’t agree more, though before he joined his companions in the realm of dreams, he pocketed once more the strange, seemingly impossible triangle that had clattered to the ground in the middle of the platform.

@skyloftian-nutcase here's part 2! with a huge thank you to @bluevaractyl for helping me parse through my soup filled brain in making this much better!

[phoenixcatch7]

You got me thinking about this all day. I'm on mobile so forgive autocorrect

Padok stared at the kid in front of him. The kid stared intently back.

"You can... just take them. They're free," Padok repeats.

"That's not fair! I don't want to be in your debt! We'll trade."

"Ok. What do you have in mind?"

The kid, who had curly hair and a green tunic over a brown undershirt shrugged and started sorting through his bag. He pulled out many things including a little doll of himself which he immediately put back in, a raft that he swiftly threw over his shoulder before it expanded and knocked a few of his companions to the ground, and a large bottle that was obviously supposed to be a terrarium complete with sticks and a brightly colored beetle, before finally pulling out a stick with a few leaves and flower blossoms on it. The kid smiled proudly and set it on the table, declaring it a "symbol of life and prosperity grown in the blessed gardens of the Great Mothers."

Padok had no fucking idea what that was supposed to mean but he nodded and set the stick on the shelf, getting a bunch of bananas to hand to the kid, who accepted. This usually is a red flag that you're dealing with yiga, but Padok had his doubts.

The curly haired kid thanked him and wandered away. Padok slyly watched him take a banana and chomp off the top, peel and all. Curly made a disgusted face but chewed and swallowed while several jaws dropped in the group he'd come with, along with one chiding "Hy-Rule!"

Scarf attempted to stop Curly, but Blue Hat stepped in with a grin, shake of a coin bag and a gesture where the quad colored tunic kid was watching in fascination. Wolf pelt tried the peel and actually nodded like it was alright. Scarf threw up his hands and turned to their leader, a man with full plate armor - how rich are these people?- who had been teaching the caped boy with a replica of Link's sword how to peel and eat a banana properly. Lobster shirt was watching them and took the banana peel, rubbing the inside consideringly. When Armor turned to address Curly, Lobster shirt carefully dropped the peel on the ground and went to bother his elders.

"But it is edible?" Curly asked loudly, shaking the peel for emphasis.

"I mean yes, but just because it won't give you food poisoning doesn't mean you should eat it!" Armor argued, rubbing his eyes.

Lobster shirt pointed out Lola, Padok's dog, to wolf pet, who ran to greet her and slipped on the dropped peel landing flat on his ass.

"It doesn't matter how it tastes!" Curly was meanwhile arguing. "Everything that can even give nutrients is a gift you shouldn't waste! What if after here we get stranded something we can't scavenge or hunt in? You'll be wishing you had extra peels to eat!"

Armor opened his mouth, visibly sighed, and gave up. Curly took another triumphant bite of the peel and cringed. Blue hat exchanged money with Quad Color. Scarf's face was buried in his hands.

Padok's pretty sure these guys aren't yiga.

I'm cackling oh I love this.

The increasingly doubtful stable master, hyrules canon bag of goodies with the raft and doll, the shout of dismay from the group but twilight testing it with... I can't tell if he used his human or dog taste buds, even my black hole of a goat dog won't eat banana peel XD. I think twilight just. Is like that.

But wind discovering the banana slip on his very first banana.... Tricking twilight with a dog to pet (mood), the way the guy thought time was rich af or at least descended from people who were, with his plate mail, hyrule ACTIVELY defending his terrible taste but hating the banana peel XD. The general air of chaos. Oh I love this!!!

Yeah sure despite the bananas they manage to pass the test anyway. First people to do so, but now he's got a great story to tell the next people coming in lmao.

[adrift-in-thyme]

Febuwhump Day 5: Human Weapon (Hyrule)

Ao3

CW for vomiting, blood and injury, and references to captivity

-----------------------------------------------

Hyrule runs.

The ground is slick and slippery beneath his feet. Mud splashes up, sullying his boots and trousers. Rain pelts his head, burning his eyes, blurring his vision, sticking his clothing to his skin. It draws at the blood that seeps from his wounds, diluting it, trying to wash it away.

But no sooner has it managed, more bubbles up. It oozes out of him, constant, traitorous. A danger to everyone and everything he has fought so hard to protect.

He slips and falls, sprawling in the chilled mud with a grunt of pain and surprise. He only allows himself a moment to lie there, panting, trying to ignore the scream of his aching body. And then he’s up again, tearing past trees and through shrubbery, ears ringing with the eerie laughter that echoes around him. 

“Come here, little hero. We won’t hurt you.” 

“Where’s that cursed brat? Doesn’t he know how vital he is to the plan?”

“Hurry! He can’t have gotten far!”

Another burst of paper and magic. They are growing closer. Hyrule pushes his legs to go faster. 

His breath comes in ragged half-sobs that scream through his throat. Panic slices at his very soul. The ground itself seems to rise and roll beneath his feet. The sight of it reminds him of the Wind’s Great Sea during a thunderstorm — all furious, churning foam and gray-green waves that leap up to the sky. 

The sky still weeps and the trees bend beneath the weight of its grief. It courses into his eyes, turns his hair sopping, runs into his mouth and nose. Even the river is overwhelmed by it. It begins to breach its banks, belching filthy water into Hyrule’s boots.

He stumbles once more, feet flying out behind him, carried by the treacherous tides of the forest. His knees hit the ground and agony streaks up his thigh. He bites down hard on his lip to keep from screaming. 

They can’t hear him, they can’t catch him again.  

Desperately, Hyrule reaches for his magic, dragging it through his veins. It screeches in agony as it follows his call. There is so much within him, waiting to be let loose, begging to be. It has been building these past days, caged behind a wall he cannot tear down. But all that comes is a strained trickle, hardly enough to heal his wounds.

If anything, the attempt makes matters worse. The cuff on his left wrist sears into his skin, fiery and fierce. Even the rain cannot wash away the scene of burnt flesh. 

With a choked cry, he retreats. His power slides from his grasp, as slippery as a serpent and as helpless as a mouse caught in a trap.  Pitching sideways, he retches. Blood and bile splatter into the puddles that he has collapsed into. 

More laughter. The sound of it turns his stomach more than any pain.

“I hear you, little hero. You can’t hide forever.”

Come on. Hyrule grits his teeth, rising on trembling limbs. He is so, so tired. But now is not the time to stop.

If his brothers were here, perhaps, he could afford to rest for a moment. They are halfway across Hyrule, however. He cannot even be certain that they’ve noticed his absence yet.

He coughs up another mouthful of blood. Crimson-tinged fingertips slip in the mud. The very environment battles against him. The greenery surrounding him swims and swirls sickeningly. Cackles echo from all sides.

Get up. Fight. Don’t ever let them catch you.

He manages to get his legs beneath him, groaning at the exertion it takes to do so. And then he’s up again, stumbling forward as the soil moves in reverse. He struggles to remain conscious; struggles to stay alert to his surroundings even as they blur into blobs of subdued color.  

A sudden burst of red erupts before his eyes. The deadly shink of unsheathed metal pierces his ears. 

“Going somewhere?” A Yiga assassin croons.

Hyrule scrambles backward, terror turning his extremities numb. But several more assassins explode into existence. They surround him and close in, windcleavers and vicious sickles gleaming in the eerie grayish-green light.

“I don’t know why you’re running,” one of them hisses, cocking his head. The white of his mask is almost translucent from the torrential downpour. If Hyrule squints, he can see the outline of his features – a large nose, wide eyes, and a mouth framed by thin lips. Human. Natural. But in this moment, they hardly look so. 

“Don’t you want to help us?”

Another throws back her head as she laughs. “It’s such a noble thing, isn’t it? To give your life for the Demon King.”

Hyrule sends them all the most severe glare he can muster.

“I won’t,” he grits out and his voice is hardly audible over the thundering rain and his pounding heart. “I won’t let you use me. I won’t…won’t let you bring him back.”

More cackling, cruel and harsh. He hates the sound of it with every bone in his body. 

“Oh, little hero – ”

One of the assassins steps closer. Through his mask, Hyrule can see that he is grinning.

“ –  what made you think you have a choice?”

His weapon howls like the wind it commands, as he raises it high above his head. The other Yiga back away, giving room for the blow that will incapacitate the hero once more.

They’ll drag him back once he’s unconscious, no doubt. He won’t even need to wake up for the ritual. All they need, after all, is his blood. 

He tries to evade, slipping and sliding in the slop. But the sword comes down faster than he can run. A blast of wind hits him, sharp as a dagger in his ribs. And the world goes upside down.

He hits the ground with a splash, lungs heaving for the breath that has been stolen from them, limbs spread-eagled and oddly shaped. There is a fire in his chest, flames in his veins. His muscles feel as though claws of iron have clamped around them, turning them tight and leaden.

But he tries anyway, to move, to fight. Desperate, he reaches inside and draws at his magic once more.

Please, he begs as it screeches and screams, held back by his bonds, help me.

He only needs one spell to take them all out. Just one.

And still, his magic struggles against him. Still, the cuff sears into him, branding its raised edges into his pale skin.  

Cackles swell around him. Shapes bob around, harsh crimson against a blurred backdrop of green. Hands pull him up, as he chokes, blood bubbling from limp lips.

He’s slipping, he realizes, dully, in the part of his mind still capable of thought, and with him, his magic. 

They’re going to win. They’re going to bring Ganondorf back from the dead so he can raze Hyrule, so he can bathe the world to darkness.

Hyrule blinks, slowly, lazily. 

They can’t win. He won’t…

The world explodes. His eyes drag closed. His magic cries out, gives one last buck, and breaks free from his clawing fingers. Someone screams his name. 

And darkness claims him.

[anleva]

(Late) Linktober (3/5) - Main Calendar: Day 13 “Spirit/Ghost/Phantom”

"A blood sacrifice for the Calamity...Fate gives you this role...and you will play it!"

[smilesrobotlover]

Whumptober day 18- blindfold, tortured for information

Continuation from day 9

This one is short and sweet unlike yesterday’s and I find it enjoyable. Windy is just a lil brat <3

Warnings: torture obviously (it’s not that bad he just gets punched a few times and threatened)

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

Windy didn’t know how much time had passed since he and Wild got taken by those yiga guys, but it felt like it’d been a while. After hours of being blindfolded and dragged through the woods, Windy was thrown onto the hard ground, and he was left alone. His hands were still tied behind his back, and his blindfold was still over his eyes, so he didn’t know if he was simply abandoned or if the yiga didn’t want to bother with him yet. But his question was answered when he heard pained cries coming from far away, cries that sounded like Wild. Windy tried to undo the ropes around his wrists, he tried to peel off the blindfold, he even tried to blindly feel his way around the forest. But the ropes were too tight, the blindfold was too stubborn, and he ran into too many walls for him to deny that he was in a cage. All Windy could do was to hear Wild’s screams, and it was almost torturous for him. After too many long hours of screaming, it suddenly stopped, and Windy felt his blood run cold. There were footsteps approaching his cage and he kicked whatever was in front of him despite it being a fruitless effort.

“Wh-who’s there? Stay away from me!” He shouted, his back up against the cage.

“Easy now,” he heard the familiar voice of Hyrule say to him in an empty voice. “I just want to talk.”

Windy growled. “I’m not gonna fall for that again! I know you’re those red freaks! What have you done to Wild?”

He heard laughing and a popping sound, and he assumed that the yiga guy turned back to normal.

“Guess you can’t be fooled twice then huh?” He sneered, and Windy heard the cage open. “Now, like I said before, I just wanna talk to you.”

“Why?”

“Because, you might have some… useful information for us.” The yiga grabbed Windy’s chin and forced it up, and the blindfold was finally taken off of him. Windy blinked at the harsh light, but he glared at the one eyed mask. The yiga snorted and he sat down beside Windy as if they were old pals. “Y’see, me and my colleague, we had two missions we needed to get done. Obviously, the main one, which was capturing the hero. But there was one other person we needed to capture,” the yiga leaned closer to Windy, and he scooted away. “That boy who you call… Freckles? Yes, he may be valuable to the yiga clan.”

Windy stared at him with a baffled look. “Wh-why do you want Hyrule?”

“Ah, another nickname, I can’t keep up with these,” the yiga leaned in closer to Windy, and he found himself pressed up against a corner. “Freckles—or Hyrule I guess— is a special boy. When me and my colleague saw him, he did something… magical. He turned into a fairy.” The yiga was now inches away from his face. “I don’t think you realize how valuable half fairies are, but if we brought home the hero and your friend? Why… we’d be heroes!”

Windy stared at him for a second, then burst out laughing. He giggled like a crazy person for a long while, and when the yiga just stared at him, he stopped. “You can’t be serious,” Windy said, still trying not to giggle.

“Wh— you don’t believe me?”

Windy snorted. “Of course I don’t believe you. That’s ridiculous!”

The yiga was shocked and he leaned back. “I saw him turn into a fairy with my own eyes! And, don’t you think it’s a little odd that he’s so magically gifted too?”

“Not really, I have magic, a lot of us have magic, Hyrule isn’t special.”

The yiga growled and stepped back. “So you don’t know that he’s a fairy, fine. I don’t need you to believe me.” The yiga grabbed Windy’s face harshly and pulled him closer. “It wouldn’t hurt to double check right?”

“Tch, I’m never telling you where he is!”

The yiga punched him in the face suddenly, then grabbed his shirt and pulled him off his feet. Windy groaned as he was held up inches away from the yiga, his eye already beginning to swell shut.

“You’re gonna tell me, even if I have to beat the information out of you!”

A punch came to his gut and he was thrown to the ground. Windy struggled to take in a breath as his insides felt like they were on fire.

“Where is he?”

“E-even if I knew where he was… I’d never tell you!” Windy spat. The yiga kicked him in the ribs and grabbed a fistful of hair, pulling him up. Windy let out a pained groan, unable to alleviate the pain with his hands tied behind his back.

“What’s the point in lying, little hero? Are you just going to let yourself get beaten to death when you can make it all go away with just a few words?” Windy was punched square in the face, and hot blood started pouring out of his nose. Windy blinked the tears away and squeezed his eyes shut, trying to reorient himself.

“I—I don’t know where he is,” he wheezed, “I really don’t know! So why don’t you direct all this energy towards something that matters! Like becoming a better person!”

The yiga growled and picked him up again, staring him down, but Windy just glared back.

“You don’t scare me,” the hero of winds said in a low voice, and the yiga scoffed.

“Don’t think that I won’t kill you just because you’re a kid.”

“You’re not the first one to think that.”

The yiga didn’t say anything, and he threw Windy harshly on the ground. He paced back and forth, watching the beaten hero intently as if he’d disappear right in front of him. Finally, he pulled out his blade and stepped closer to him.

“Seeing how you’re useless to me, I suppose there really is no reason in keeping you alive.” The yiga soldier lifted his blade and Windy gasped. He didn’t think he’d go out like this, but if he could keep Hyrule safe, then so be it. Windy flinched as the blade was about to go down, but he heard a pained grunt along with clattering. He looked up and saw the yiga soldier crumpled to the ground with Age standing over him.

“Age! You found us!” Windy cheered as the other champion walked over to him, cutting the ropes around his wrists. “Boy am I glad to see you! We need to get to Wild! Is Hyrule with you? Is he ok—“

“How about you focus on yourself, Windy,” Age interrupted him, giving him an amused look. “Hyrule is fine, he’s back at camp. Twilight is going after Wild right now.”

Windy let out a sigh of relief and began to stand up. “Good, come on, we gotta help him, these yiga guys are—“ Windy let out a pained groan as he fell to his knees, holding his torso. He wondered if he had some broken ribs.

“Hey, the yiga aren’t hard to fight, he’ll be fine,” Age helped Windy stand and walked him out of the cage. Windy let out a pained breath as he was lowered to the ground.

“Yeah well they kidnapped and stabbed me so they’re not that harmless.”

“They stabbed you?”

Windy waved it off. “It’s fine. It got healed up.” Age gave him a worried look and Windy waved it off again. “It’s fine! Besides, it’s my injuries right now that I’m worried about!”

Age smirked and wrapped his arm around Windy digging into his pouch for a potion or fairy.

“Well, rest for now, I promise Wild will be ok.”

Windy leaned against Age, his eye and nose throbbing while the other champion continued searching for a potion. He let himself relax and prayed that Wild would be safely rescued as well.

[aquanutart]

After saving the land before them Zelda and link were tied and they need to sleep. So they went on there Horse to the Village to Link’s house. As Zelda was so happy she was also glad to know that all that had happened was all in the past.

Zelda was so happy to not be in the Castle trying to stay awake. Everything was fine now she was with Link. When they got about 4 hours away Zelda saw that there were some people out in the distance. She had not seen people in forever she said to link to set up camp for the night and she would go talk to the people and she would come back with some food so they could cook.

Link looked at the people in concern I will be fine just go set up camp he nodded his head. Zelda loved to see the blue sky and the birds and the sway of the grass she never wanted to it to end. When she started talking to the people they were a little of but she just thought that they were excited to see her they just offered bananas to her. All at once she remembered that Link told her about a Yiga clans they would look like a normal person but they were not.

she screamed “Link” he came running at full speed and right on time the Yiga clan members were not the week kind but the much harder to kill ones. One did have a bow though Link killed the one with a sword first but the one with a bow was so fast Link told Zelda to run back to camp she didn’t want to leave him alone but she went behind a big rocks and hid.

Zelda Hurd nothing but a sweet sound of a little bird chirping in the distance. Then she heard a scream it sounded like a link she ran all the way to him the Yiga was not dead but it retreated because it has fulfill its duties. It had shot Link right in the chest with his bow 4 times he was wheezing and gasping for air. Link grabbed two of the arrows and pulled them out. Zelda squinted with fear she knew that it needed to be tended to right away. But all she had was bananas and a small cloth she was watching him grab the other two arrows and he was pulling them out. He Was in a great amount of pain. She tried to talk to him for the very first time she said “ we need to get you to a stable first but we then will rush to Hatnao village”. Link tried to speak but the pain took over.

“shh you need to save your strength right now” Zelda said. She could tell that he Was in A lot of pain. Blood started to turn his clothes red and Zelda new that she will need to hurry or he wouldn’t make it! she said to him can you get on the horse he said. I-can try-to get on…. She was getting so worried that he wouldn’t be able to make it. She helped him get on the horse and they started to ride.

after about an hour or so it started to get worse they were about 20 minutes away from the staple. And he fell off his horse Zelda jumped off and rushed to the side. He was Groaning with pain as much more blood came out. At this time he was as white as the cloud He was barely breathing and struggling when he was. They finally got to a stable she found some cloth and wiped off the wound with some water. He was wincing with pain she didn’t want it to be painful but she wanted to be clean.

she turned one of the horses in so they could ride together in and he can rest. Zelda did not notice how much blood he had Lost buddy was struggling because of the blood loss they were almost to the village about only 30 minutes away when it started to get worse blood was rushing out now and Zelda was worried. The time before his eyes were open but his eyes started the clothes slowly.

Zelda knew it had to be because of blood loss or was that the reason she turned around and stop the horse she put her hand to Link’s for head he had a very high fever. She knew that the fever was going to cause some pain and some discomfort but she knew she had to get to the village that was all of her concern. when she made it to the village people came running out of their houses link was not awake anymore so They took him to his house and laid him down on the bed. Zelda fell asleep on the bedside Well they tend to his wounds.

She was still very worried for him but than her friend pura came in she said check it her normal thing she looked at link and said what happened Zelda explain to the story as pura made some food on the stove for when he woke up and fore them of course. They talked for hours then Link woke up wai-r am I… don’t worry you’re in your house he fell back asleep after about 20 minutes he was obviously exhausted from blood loss and a fever. After he was all better and able to walk again I Zelda and him continue their adventures as one! The end. Thank you so much for your kindness and your help for your love and kindness always gives me energy.❤️❤️❤️ I just want to ask if you can draw like a little seen out of this you are such an inspiration to me 😊

Hello! Thank you for all your kind words!! I'm really happy if I can give you energy; thank you for all your kindness and positivity as well! I always see you tagging people just to say nice things to them; it's really sweet and always makes me smile! 😊😊💖

Thank you so much for sharing your story! I really enjoyed reading it!! I don't take requests, but I did imagine this based on your story! (I'm sorry if it's not exactly what you had in mind!)

[colibrie]

Day 7 (Follows Day 6 and Day 4): Made to Watch, "Can you hear me?"

"You heroes are so moronically predictable," the blade master drawled, biceps bulging beneath the crimson mesh of his uniform he crossed his arms, head shaking patronizingly as his underlings fought to pin the Hero down. "It's a little sad if I am being honest. The tiniest hint of peril, and you throw yourself into the chasm without a second thought. How your lot ever managed to defeat our magnificent Lord Ganon eludes me."

"It eluded him too, right up until I split his monstrous face open," Wild snarled, grunting in pain when one of the foot soldiers served swift retribution to his words with a swift backhand.

"Our divine lord is the monster? When your goddess is the one sending children to fight her battles?!"

Rage hotter than the lava's of Death Mountain surged in his view, flooding his mouth with savage copper as the blade master delivered a casual kick to the tiny, twitching body at his feet. Wind made no sound at the rough treatment, no protest or cry of pain, just a soft gasp as the kicks momentum flipped him onto his back. Their sailor skin was pallid and sickly looking, his sun bleached locks darkened and matted to his head with with sweat and sand. Hazy blue orbs flickered in and out of view beneath nearly closed lids, limbs shaking with residual tremors as roots of lightning disappeared under his tattered tunic. Wilds felt his heart shatter at the ragged little breaths that struggled to lift their youngest's chest, split lips crusted with blood and bile open in an unconscious attempt to pull in more oxygen.

"You have me, let him go!"

"No," the Yiga replied, voice laced with poisonous satisfaction as he casually planted one boot on Winds chest, arms unfolding to reach back and draw his windcarver. "No, I am going to make you watch him die. We'll take you back to HQ, and you will watch as we track down and kill every last hero in your little party. You'll watch us master the time portals, and then, I will personally kill you and present all of your heads to the dark lord as a gift to his resurrection."

The bleeding eye on the behemoths mask nearly glowed with glee as he slowly raise his sword, savoring the struggles of one prey, and the deathly stillness of the other.

"For Ganon..."

Thunder roared from the clear blue sky, and the blademaster slowly fell back, his dead body barely making a sound as it hit the sand. The foot soldiers scattered as a wave of Gerudo warriors surged across the sand behind their seals, ululating war cries as they ran their foe's down. A smaller group split off, shields and limbs flying as they sprinted towards their fallen friends.

"Wild! Wind!"

"He need's help!" Wild croaked, wincing as his injuries made themselves known.

"You both do. Lets start with your head! What the hell were you thinking going off on your own?" Sky snapped, rare anger flaring bright in his eyes as steadied Wilds shoulders.

"Sky, if you wanna tear him a new one, wait until we get back to Gerudo town and then get in line," Twilight growled, knocking his forehead against Wild's temple as he pressed his hands down on a particularly jagged gash.

"Wind," Wild whimpered, cornflower eyes locked on the huddle of bodies around their youngest.

"Sailor, can you hear me?!" Warriors asked, voice full of the force calm he used when trying to maintain a disordered battle field. "Wake up buddy."

"Signs of dehydration. Pulse is fast and uneven, breathing is shallow...and I've got multiple electrical burns," Legend stated, voice and face tight with forced blankness. "Based on the patterns, the sick bastards must have used shock arrows."

"Potions aren't an option. I don't think we can get him to drink anything with the way his muscles are spasming," Time added, his larger body dwarfing Winds as hands steadied the pirates neck.

"What about finding a fairy?" Hyrule chimed in, pink light coating his hands as he swiftly pressed them to Winds chest.

"He doesn't have time for us to hunt for one," Four shook his head, purple eyes hard as he leaned back and whistled for one of the nearby seals. "We need to get back to Gerudo town, now."

[rawliverandgoronspice]

Hey what do you think of Master Khoga? I love the yiga in general but Khoga's been kinda divisive. Personally, I love him!

Hey, thanks for the ask!

He actually was my light in the tunnel while playing TotK, his boss battles were delightful and his whole persona was a breath of fresh air --I was grinning every time he was on screen, and I'm super happy they allowed themselves to get really goofy there. I really adored TotK's yigas, I think they make for great antagonists even from a gameplay perspective, as they directly interact with the Ultrahand mechanics and give a much needed spark to the Depths.

There's always the notion that, you know, it would have been cool to enrich the whole "the yigas have an actual reason to be pissed off, and they have gotten yet another step closer to Team Rocket level of shenanigans since BotW, where they already had that very well paced build-up of goofs, instead of exploring actual grievances with Hyrule, and given the game it could have been interesting", but I dooon't think the yigas, as they have been set up by the games, serve to explore this side super well given they are being undermined by the tone at every step. So I think the yigas are fine as is, but I just wish we would have had something else to fill up that role. In the absence of that, yeah, Kohga and the Yigas (great band name) might be a little much and/or underwhelming under a certain light, but I had fun, and I feel like everybody who worked on them had fun too, and that's good for me honestly haha

[angryskeletonnoises]

I had to do a double take at the Akkala Ancient Tech Lab

[kohgasz]

hey I'm not a yiga husbands shipper but I wanna just advise you to get out of the yiga husbands tag and use "yiga husband anti" or "kohga x sooga anti" instead cause it's honestly asking for drama if you tag your posts that way /info

it's also just. tumblr etiquette to not post anti things in the non anti tags

I'm not annoyed or mad in any way I just want to inform you /gen

I WANT to get their attention. lol. That's the point. I'm using the tag so that they can see that theyre supporting a proship. I wont argue with geniune proshippers, im tired of that, but some sooga x kohga shippers just straight up don't seem to realize that it is one. Plus Im not too worried abt "drama" bcus. I dont expect that post to get too much attention anyway. meaning it wont be hard to block any blog that still tries disagreeing w me

[prosebushpatch]

Listen, i don’t care if it’s romantic/platonic/barely put up with, but in totk, Link and Zelda share that bed. I didn’t spend all those rupees so Link could sleep on the floor, Nintendo. You couldn’t even give him a bed under the stairs? WHERE’S THE SIGN THAT SAYS “LINK’S HOUSE” NINTENDO. COMMIT TO THE SHIP OR AT LEAST PUT TWO FRICKING BEDS IN THE HOUSE THIS IS MALARKEY

[skyloftian-nutcase]

The dad squad makes me so happy you have no idea

They make me happy too ☺️

[axotempus]

Remake of a comic I did a while back. I got this idea after wondering how the Yiga powered their constructs when they didn't use Zonai batteries. I took inspiration from one of Kohga's attacks in Age of Calamity. Sooga put the poor Blademasters to work ever since Kohga was fished out of the depths. (This is their punishment for being lured out of their posts by suspiciously placed bananas.)

[misspelledwordswizard]

Rude Hylian: that water control doesn't look very threatening, and it wouldn't be useful in an area without water, so what are you going to do with that size and useless power, huh?

reader developing a branch of waterbending called 'bloodbending': ⁠(⁠・⁠▽⁠・)

It would also be funny if the chain was in danger, many enemies, few supplies, weapons are exhausted, Hyrule is about to collapse and suddenly reader is like 'The Windows operating system has been updated'

This is so funny to me, but I think I ended up writing something more serious hehe Ah, I think today is thanksgiving for you guys, so happy thanksgiving ;)

I felt my body burning and my head buzzing, when the sound of the environment was nothing more than a great confusion. A hot liquid ran down my head, which throbbed with pain. My blurred vision could barely notice as the blond heroes fought not far from me.  

Unfortunately, they were all too busy to help me. Each one had to deal with one or more enemies, I could feel their worried looks at me, but they couldn’t leave there to help me. The biggest problem was the member of the Yiga clan who was coming towards me. The same one who attacked me.  

Normally, I could easily help them with this using my waterbending, but unfortunately for me, we were in a dry region now. We were heading towards the Gerudo Desert when we were caught in this ambush, and the mountains we were crossing weren’t exactly a good representative of water. Shit.  

I managed to get up, still a little dizzy, but able to stay on my feet and try to face my enemy.  He laughed, laughed at my attempt to keep fighting. 

— Don’t bother, girl. We knew very well that with water you would be a threat, that’s why we made sure you passed through here. Here you are nothing more than a defenseless little girl. 

He said, laughing at my face as if I were a big joke. Little shit. Out of the corner of my eye I could see the boys try to come to me, but they were automatically stopped by a Yiga. Fucking cowards, they ran away to the desert so they wouldn’t have to face me. 

My blood boiled, anger took over me, I wanted so much to end these idiots. I wanted to drown them in water, kick their asses, make them regret their choices. 

— There’s no point in trying, you won’t- 

— Shut the fuck up! – I interrupted him. My body acted on impulse, I moved so naturally that I couldn’t even think, all I know is that, with one movement of mine, the Yiga was kneeling, writhing in pain. 

Did I do that? Instincts, that was all the information I had. And, somehow, that was enough to make me able to control a person. Or rather, control the blood, the liquids, that are in their body. Cool. 

I couldn’t help but smile wryly, it seems that not even in a place without water can they stand against me. Now consciously, I moved my hands, still based entirely on instincts, and threw the Yiga away, making him fly out of sight. 

This isn’t as easy as normal waterbending, it requires more effort, but I feel like I’m adapting to it.  I managed to stop the blood that was running down my face, eliminating my dizziness, and turned to the Yigas who were attacking the heroes. They seemed to be able to handle it, but it doesn’t hurt to help them. 

One by one, I levitated and threw them away, leaving them unconscious. I know I could do much worse with bloodbending, but I don’t want to lose control, I don’t even know how I’m doing it yet. In the end, I managed to get rid of the remaining enemies, allowing this tiring battle to end. 

— How the fuck did you do that?! – Was the first thing the Veteran asked. I just shrugged, also not knowing the answer. 

— Are you okay? – Hyrule said, coming towards me. The poor guy looked like he was done for after using so much of his magic when some of his brothers were hit during the fight. 

— It’s okay, I managed to stop the bleeding. Sorry, I don’t know if I can heal you without water... 

— Is there water in my canteen, is that enough? – The Rancher asked, offering his canteen to me. 

— For healing? I think so. 

— That was so cool! Tell me more about how it happened? – Wind asked excitedly, making me laugh. 

— Let’s fix you guys first, okay? 

[cosymelody]

You know…

I may or may not have read a few too many fics of Reader/Guide being the equivalent of a space orc compared to the bois

ANYWAYS I hope y'all enjoy this piece of Yan!Legend & Yan!Koridai cuz I have no idea how to write characters sometimes-

.•♫•♬• 𝒀𝒂𝒏!𝑳𝒆𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒅 / 𝒀𝒂𝒏!𝑲𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒅𝒂𝒊 𝑶𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒕 •♬•♫•.

With all the places you've gone and all the time you've spent with the Chain, you were bound to face trouble at almost every turn. So it comes as no surprise that you've all found yourself in yet another predicament and yet another era of Hyrule; however, this one is much more serious and deadly than the ones that you had traveled through before. The stakes are higher, the enemies more formidable, and the challenges more daunting, which seems to make you and the Chain's abilities as a team and your ability to navigate this perilous new era of Hyrule as well as your patience and sanity to tolerate the group of Links truly a troublesome test.

You all agreed it would be more beneficial to separate into small groups as you explored the Depths of Sage's Hyrule in order to cover more ground. Despite most of the boy's complaining and whining over the situation, they eventually agreed with you, which led you to be stuck with Legend and Koridai as you wandered around what appeared to be a large coliseum. You, along with the two boys you were unfortunately partnered with for this adventure, explored the area around the coliseum, collecting resources easily due to Sage happily fusing a brightbloom seed to a large stick for you, efficiently making a sort of staff to see the area better with before he had given it to you as a source of light.

Even with all the open space, Koridai and Legend were practically glued to your side, keeping a keen eye on the surrounding area as if something would jump out of nowhere and steal you away from them, which in this Hyrule was more likely than any other era due to the mix of the terrifying gloom hands that would randomly appear out of nowhere, the Yiga that just caused as many problems as possible if they saw even one of the Links, and the shadow you've come to call Dink lurking somewhere nearby as if waiting and watching for the perfect opportunity to strike. There were all sorts of beasts that could be in this Hyrule, ready to take down you and the Chain when you were all separated, but you weren't too worried about it seeing how everyone, including yourself, could handle themselves in battle.

You learned after the first few weeks of being with the Chain that you were much different compared to Hylians besides the fact you had round rather than pointed ears like them, one of the main things being that you were much stronger and had more endurance than even the heroes themselves. You also learned that potions and magic didn't affect you as much as they did Hylians. It was also discovered that you were more resistant to hot and cold climates as well as attacks, as evidenced by the fact that a guardian blast in Wild's Hyrule didn't even burn you, despite the fact that it nearly gave the poor boy a panic attack. Since you had to rescue them from battle on multiple occasions, it was safe to say that having you with the Chain was a true blessing for them. However, this only served to drive them further into their own possessive and obsessive thoughts and desires.

As you and the two Links you were paired with ventured around the coliseum entrance, Koridai spotted a chest oddly placed at the center of it with what seemed like large, intricately designed metal walls within it. Koridai called out to get you and Legend's attention, making the two of you aware of the possible treasure within the coliseum. “Hey, look! There's a chest in there. Maybe we should check it out; it could have something useful in it!”

Your eyes narrowed in observance, while Legend seemed highly skeptical as the two of you walked closer into the coliseum, his gaze clearly interested in the chest yet weary of the oddly large and open space. “Are you sure it would be smart to go in there? It seems… off…”

Koridai spoke up as he kept walking ahead and examined the space, his voice full of his usual wonder as you and Legend followed behind. “I'm sure it'll be fine! Golly, this place sure is huge! Right, cutie?”

You simply nodded and hummed in response, Legend letting out an exaggerated and annoyed groan at Koridai's flirty nature as you all walked further into the coliseum with both of them by your side. The closer you got to the chest in the center of the large structure, the more you could see an ominous red mist that was akin to that of Ganon's gloom that had been tormenting and invading this Hyrule. A sense of unease and adrenaline started to wash over you slowly but surely as all of you kept walking forward, almost the same exact feeling you felt when you came face to face with Ganon in Courage's era.

As the three of you reached the center of the structure, a loud noise could be heard, and you spun around quickly, only to see that the entrance you had previously walked through was now shut off by a large metal gate. You turn back around again, only to see what you thought was just a nicely designed wall rise upwards, revealing a red gloom covered Lynel standing behind it. The Lynel let out a menacing roar, causing your heart to race with fear. You knew that this battle would be even more challenging than some you had faced before, seeing as this beast that was already a pain to deal with was now covered in menacing gloom.

"Ah shit," was all you managed to get out before it charged with its sword in hand, the three of you instinctively drawing your swords as you ran back a bit and yelled out to Legend and Koridai, "Boys, split up! It'll make it more difficult to target us if we're in different places!" Legend and Koridai nodded in understanding, quickly breaking off in opposite directions as you braced yourself for the impending clash...

.•♫•♬• 𝑷𝒕. 𝟐 𝑪𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑺𝒐𝒐𝒏 •♬•♫•.

[neverchecking]

hello! would it be possible to request yandere sage to a reader who got split from the chain but has a switch with them?

I adore your headcanons for him and I honestly would just love to see some more of him, perhaps he's trying to figure out if they're yiga or not since y'know only they see him as link without zelda and they just show it off reluctantly?

SAGE SAGE SAGE SAGE SAGE SAGE-YOU ABSOLUTELY FUCKING CAN.

Ahem. Yes, you very much can request my precious baby boy.

For those of you who don't know, Sage is the Hero of the Zonai, A.K.A. The Link from Tears of the Kingdom-- if we go down the route that he's a different guy from Wild. So TotK spoilers.

Anyway, look whose got his own banner! SAGE DOES-

CW: Talk of death, but nothing happens (Bc Sage won't let it happen)

He was very...unsure of you, to put it lightly.

Which was rare in and of itself since he knew most things. He knew how the Gloom hands would react should he hit them with a Dazzlefruit. He knew the exact force he would have to throw a splash fruit for it to burst in a splash of water. He knew the exact amount of force required to bend a Yiga's arm before it snaps a lot.

But he didn't know anything about you. Which put him on edge.

You came out of this weird...void thingy that he had never seen before and you dressed weirdly. You had began to call out desperately for names the second you had collected yourself (He had no clue who Wild or Twilight or Wind were, but whoever named those poor fools needed to be fired. Those names were awful.) . He watched you stumble like a newborn fawn, full of naive innocence and blind trust in the world around you.

What a fool you were.

Still, he couldn't look away. He didn't move from his place perched in a particularly tall tree, but he didn't let his attention wander from you. He couldn't. It was like you were...magnetic, drawing him in to your orbit just to keep him there.

Somewhere above him, the light dragon let out a warble. His ears flickered in that general direction, but otherwise he paid it no mind, clicking the claws on Rauru's hand against the bark of the tree.

You seemed so hopelessly lost, wandering about. It certainly didn't seem like you were the traveling type, so why you were out here, he had no idea. You would killed before long. He wondered how you would die. Something fast and quick? An electric arrow from a Lizalfos? (They had been getting unexplainably stronger now that he thought about it.) Maybe one swift hit from a Horriblin? Or maybe it would be something long and drawn out. Maybe a Frost Gleeok would freeze you so badly Hypothermia took over your limbs before freezing your lungs. Or maybe a Fire Gleeok would roast you alive before you even had the chance to register they were there. Perhaps the King himself would do both before shocking your battered form to hell and back. Or maybe the Gloom hands would grab at your flailing arms and legs, holding you still while they drained the life force right out of you.

Something full of anger lit up in his gut at just the thought of you getting hurt. He had no reason to get so livid at even a scratch on your form, but for some reason it had him snarling to himself, as if daring the universe to test him.

He wouldn't put it past Hylia at this point, that vengeful bitch.

It seemed she took his challenge to heart anyway, just as you slipped out some strange device about the same size as his Purah pad. You were so immersed in the damned thing that you didn't even hear one of the trees moving around behind you. Which was beyond him since they weren't quiet.

You didn't even look up until the shadow was looming over you and he was jumping from his tree. Riju's power sparked to life as he pulled out his bow, stunning the tree with enough power it fell with a pull of purple smoke. Something began leaking out of the discarded log, black and viscous, as it always seemed to do these days. It didn't make any difference to him, they all died the same anyway.

You had fallen onto your ass as he approached, watching him like prey would watch the predator. Nothing but wide eyes leaking with fear as he loped upon you. It made his gut swing with something foreign as he eyed you. He wasn't stupid. He knew the Yiga would go to some, frankly, extraordinary lengths to have his head on a stick. Whose to say they wouldn't set up some form of act where they attacked each other just to garner his attention?

He held out his weapon towards you, the Lynel horn glinting in the light as it prodded against your neck. You vulnerable and fragile little neck. You looked like you were about to cry at the action.

Unrelated, he pulled back just a bit. His snarl remained just the same. "Who are you?" He barked, daring you to avoid his question. Your...device was discarded at your side, which you quickly grappled onto as some form of protection. He'd have to remain weary of that. If it was anything like his Purah pad, it would be of an annoyance. Especially if you were a Yiga. They were able to replicate the Thunder Helm for Din's sake. (That was a mess and a half to retrieve.)

You swallowed hard, wincing away from him before fighting the urge to look up at him. His heart stuttered at the positively broken look you showed. You were so scared and so frightened.

He was supposed to be a hero.

(A part of him argued that he was the hero. Had been the hero. And look where it got him? Right back at the start. Fighting for his life once more. Fighting for someone who wouldn't do the same for him. Fighting for a Goddess who only used him as a pawn only to discard him when he was done.)

There was no way you were Yiga. You couldn't have been. None of them would've ever looked up at him like that. Nor could you have been a puppet of Ganon. Puppets and Yiga would burst out into an offensive attack the second they caught sight of him.

You didn't pose a threat.

But that didn't clear your name. "I asked you a question. I expect an answer." He allowed ultrahand to light up Rauru's arm in a warning red.

You blinked before shakily swallowing, holding your device to your chest. "...Y/N."

So that was your name. It was a nice name. Suited your features well and rolled off the tongue. Each syllable seemed built for your very being. He repeated it, using the tip of his weapon to tilt your chin up to face him again. That same, Goddess damned, look was sprawled on your features as he looked over you. You didn't seem injured outside of a bandaged wrap around your lower neck and left shoulder.

You had been hurt. Perhaps it was under that Wild's watch, whoever they were. They were unfit to care for you it seemed. He would happily take over if it meant you didn't get hurt any longer.

"You're...Link, right?"

He blinked, weapon staggering for a second. How did you know who he was? No one knew who he was anymore. Not without that wretched Zelda beside him, giving him a title he felt disgraced his very being. The swordsman. it was all Mineru called him and it burned something bitter in him.

He pushed the weapon further against your skin, watching it turn a harsh red before flashing to white. "What's it to you?" His teeth were bared as you tried to pull away, if only to breath just a little. He didn't let you. While it made his gut rot and knot at the thought of hurting you, he couldn't risk his own life. Not when he had a duty, Not when he had a vengeance. A vendetta.

"I can explain!" You hurriedly called, making him pull back once again.

"I would do so quickly."

You shook in your spot as your showed him the device. It seemed to have a selection of boxes, each holding a different picture. The one you hovered over read something in a language he couldn't read, but there was a picture of him. Right there. This was your explanation? It was pitiful. He almost did away with you, if only to move on, but you spoke before he could.

"You're Link. The wielder of the Master Sword. I- I'm from some other world. I, along with a group of others, are travelling to fight a dark magic that has been effecting many Hyrules across time. It's evidently effected yours." You gestured to the log, which now had an inky puddle beneath it. "We're here to help."

He pulled the weapon away, but didn't raise his glare from your form. "I don't need help."

"I never said you did." You let out a sigh full of relief. "But sometimes having someone watch your back is nice. I know you haven't had that person for you, which breaks my heart. This adventure is your second, third if we count...Ya'know..." You trailed off as his eyes narrowed. Were you talking about the Calamity? The Calamity he fell to? "You haven't had help, which I can only imagine as exhausting."

You were speaking nonsense. Nonsense that made him bubble with understanding of a sort. It was a clumsy attempt, but you were trying to offer support to him. Support he had never had previously.

He could kick his past (Three minutes ago) self for ever dreaming of hurting you, even if it was for his own personal safety. The thought of having someone offer just a tad bit of help to his battered and broken from, riddled with gloom, had him feeling a bit lighter.

He wouldn't trust you right away, he had gotten burned one too many times from doing that, but he would get you to a stable. Ensure you were safe from infection and whatever else before he made a decision regarding you and him in any sort of capacity.

Maybe take you to your group if only to see if those filth were worthy of your presence.

He would ensure you were safe in his, nevertheless. If he had to do away with the others, then so be it.

If he wanted to keep something, he would need to cling to it.

And this was just the start of his grip on you. Whether you knew it yet, or not.