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smilesrobotlover · 2 months ago

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Whumptober day 22- bleeding through bandages

There’s like, no bleeding through bandages but it’s there lol. Sorry this took so long to write. I’m strugglin 😭😭😭

Warnings for uuuuh a bloody cut

~~~~

After a few weeks of staying in the cabin, the men decided that it’d be best to begin their search for the Links once again. Kass was flying again, and Rusl and starting to move normally as well. They were all getting cabin fever anyways, and were anxious to get on the road to find their respective sons. So one morning, Leon had them pack up everything and they headed out, with Rusl feeling refreshed from the smell of the pine trees. He especially has been losing his mind from laying around and doing nothing for weeks. Of course he allowed himself time to rest for his friends’ sake, but he would be lying if he said that it was a pleasant break. He was desperate to get moving again. So he walked with a skip in his step, one hand holding his sword as he watched the pine trees around him. He really couldn’t help but take deep breaths, relishing in the smell of nature. Spirits, it felt so good.

“Careful Rusl,” Talon warned, watching him uneasily as he hopped on a rock to get a better view of the trail. Rusl glanced over at his friend, not hiding his irritation as he hopped off. Despite being all healed up, he was still being coddled by the men as if he’d fall apart any moment. Yes, he got injured badly, but surely they’d start trusting his abilities now that he was healed.

“I’ll make sure to not tumble down the mountain,” he grumbled, lightly kicking a rock.

“I’d hate for that to happen again,” Linebeck joked, and Rusl gave him a smile.

“Me too. If I have to rest for a few more weeks I think I’d actually die.”

“I am impressed at how fast you healed,” Ammon started, “usually injuries like that take months to heal!”

“Guess I’m just a super fast healer,” Rusl chuckled.

“Well, Talon’s also just so good at what he does,” Ammon wrapped his arm around the man, who began to look bashful.

“Oh, it’s nothin’. The red potions did the job mostly,” Talon mumbled, looking away.

“Naw, you’re just good at what you do!” Rusl cheered, and the rest of the men joined in complimenting Talon, who was covering his face.

“I-it was nothin’, really. I didn’t do much.”

The men all made different noises of offense and began to speak all at once, saying, “I beg to differ” “Quit being humble” and “I’m gonna pay you to say otherwise.”

Talon rolled his eyes, but there was a smile in his eyes. “Well I’m just glad it paid off in the end.”

Rusl gave him a pleasant smile. He truly owed the man his life.

The men all began to chat with each other, spirits high as the sun shone down on them. Soon the sun began to sink behind the trees, and Leon stopped to stare at a small open area surrounded by trees.

“We stoppin’ there?” Rusl asked, standing right next to him. Leon nodded, gesturing for the men to follow.

“It’s a good spot. We’ll make camp there.”

“Yeah!” Rusl ran and did a front flip off the rock, landing perfectly on his legs. Spirits, it felt so good to move again. He heard annoyed sighs behind him, and he turned to see everyone staring at him unamused.

“I think you’re gonna give Talon a heart attack,” Linebeck said.

“I think he’s gonna give me a heart attack!” Leon grumbled, and Rusl shrugged.

“Y’all ain’t never seen a flip before or something?”

“I’m just so used to seeing you bed ridden.”

“I’ve been walkin’ for a few weeks now, bud.”

“I-I know,” Leon stammered. “I just—I’m still worried.”

“Well don’t look now,” Rusl said before doing a backflip, landing with a slight stumble. He heard more agitated sighs, and Leon glared at him.

“Don’t do that again.”

“No no, do it again,” Benji pushed.

“No. Not again.”

“Yes again.”

“No!”

“Yes!”

Leon turned to Benji. “Do you want another hanging session? Perhaps off that tree over there?”

Benji’s teasing manner dropped and he stepped away from Leon. “N-No.”

Leon squinted his eyes at Benji before following Rusl, walking to the campsite. The men set up tents and bedrolls, excited to rest after a long day of traveling—all except Rusl of course. He felt like he had energy pent up for weeks now. He needed to let it out now. So when Leon asked for someone to collect firewood and kindling, he volunteered himself, anxious to work his arms out again. Talon volunteered to go with him, and while Rusl loved spending time with the man, he was rather suspicious as to why he volunteered to get firewood.

Talon has been watching Rusl like a hawk the past few weeks, trying to strengthen his limbs but also being very… overprotective. He’d freak out whenever Rusl pushed himself to get better, trying to get Rusl to rest more than moving his limbs, and overall hovered around him in case he’d crumple. Bless the man’s heart, he was the sweetest person ever. But Rusl wasn’t helpless. He’d never recover if he was treated like he was fragile. But he supposed being human surrounded by tough Hylians made them see him as nothing more than that. It was beginning to frustrate him though.

“Well Talon, it’s just you and me,” he started, trying to lighten the mood between them. Talon only nodded, staring at the trees around him. Rusl sighed, picking up small logs and twigs, turning to Talon. “Luckily there’s plenty of kindling and wood on the ground, yeah?”

Talon nodded again, watching him carefully. “Yeah.”

Rusl flipped a stick in his hand before catching it effortlessly, humming slightly as he watched the ground carefully. It grew silent between the two, and Rusl flipped the stick again, except this time it slipped out of his hand and landed on the ground with a thud. He hopped back, letting out a curse word before reaching down to pick it up. Footsteps approached him, and he looked up to see Talon watching him with his brows furrowed.

“Are you ok?” He asked, and Rusl stood up straight.

“Yeah? Just dropped the stick.”

Talon sighed. “You really shouldn’t move like that, you could pull a muscle or something.”

Rusl frowned, before letting out a sigh, tucking the sticks under his arms and facing Talon full on. “Alright Tal’, we need to talk about that.”

“Talk about what?”

“Talk about… this,” Rusl waved his hand around between them, with his palm facing down. “I greatly appreciate you lookin’ out for me, but I’m startin’ to feel like I’m being treated like a newborn goat, you know?”

Talon stared for a moment before frowning. “Well, you’re still healing—”

“I know I am but I don’t need to be treated like I can’t do nothin’. That was fine when both my legs and arms were broken ‘cause I really couldn't do anything. But I can walk now. I can move! I don’t need someone watching over me like I’m gonna die any second.”

“I understand Rusl, but if you push yourself too much ‘cause you think you’re gettin’ better, you’ll only hurt yourself again,” Talon argued. “I’m just tryin’ to keep that from happening because I care about you!”

“I haven’t felt a single ache or pain though,” Rusl argued further, “that’s why we started moving again because I’m better. And now you can’t even trust me to collect firewood. What do I look like, a city boy?”

Talon sighed, rubbing his bald head. “No. I-I trust you with collecting firewood I just… is it so bad that I want you to feel completely better?”

Rusl crossed his arms and turned away, looking for more firewood. “It’s not a bad thing, Talon. But I’m not helpless.”

“I know you’re not. I just…” Talon paused, following him closely once again. “What else do you want me to do? I’m–I’m worried, Rusl. When Kass came down with you all busted up, it was terrifying! You’re my family and it was so… traumatic to see you that way—”

“And you think it wasn’t traumatic for me?” Rusl snapped, spinning around to face him. “I was the one who fell off the cliff! The puppeteer lured me into a trap and made me believe my son was dead and controlled me! I could’ve killed Leon and Linebeck and I wouldn’t have been able to do anything about it!”

Talon stared in shock, his eyes wide as Rusl panted from yelling. The two grew silent as Rusl calmed down, turning away from Talon in shame. He certainly didn’t want to yell; he didn’t know why he snapped suddenly.

“Rusl—” Talon started, but Rusl brushed him off.

“I just want to collect the firewood, ok?” He said, not caring at how harsh it sounded.

“Rusl.” Talon started again, a more firm tone to his voice. “Wait. Clearly what happened has been bothering you and we didn’t know. Don’t you wanna talk about it?”

“No.”

Talon huffed, running to catch up with Rusl. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know all of that happened to you.”

Rusl ignored him. He didn’t know why. But the idea of reliving those moments was not something he wanted to do.

“Rusl! Quit actin’ like a child and talk to me!”

Rusl groaned and looked at Talon, trying to hide his glare. “I’m fine Talon. I’m just sick of being treated like I can’t do anything.”

“I know it ain’t just that!” Talon pressed, walking up next to Rusl and grabbing his arm. “Look, if you think you can be stubborn with me, you’re wrong. I married a Gerudo and those women are far more stubborn than you!”

Rusl stopped and gave Talon a look, pulling his arm away and letting out a breath.

“I’m fine, Talon,” he said softly, “I’m just annoyed is all. Sorry I yelled.”

“But Rusl—”

“How many times am I gonna have to tell you to leave me alone! I said I’m fine, what more do you want from me—”

Rusl’s foot suddenly caught on a root, and he gasped as he suddenly fell backwards, crashing through leaves and twigs that created a false ground. He heard a yell along with someone grabbing his arm, and the two crashed to the ground, with Talon sprawled out on Rusl. Rusl opened his eyes to see that they were clearly in a hole, and he shifted to lift Talon off of him. Good goddesses, the man was heavy.

“Tal’—get off,” he strained, and the man scrambled off him, looking over him frantically.

“Oh goddesses, Rusl are you ok? Are any of your bones broken? Are you hurt? Are you—”

Rusl raised a hand to stop him, moving each limb to see if there was any pain. There was not.

“I’m fine, just a little shaken. Wasn’t expecting that.”

Talon let out a sigh, then gasped when he looked at Rusl’s arm.

“No! You’re not fine! There’s bone stickin’ out of you!”

Rusl’s eyes widened and he turned his head in a second to look at his arm. There was a cut on his bicep, but only a tiny pebble rested on the edge of his skin, no bone.

“I’m fine,” Rusl let out a sigh of relief, lightly flicking the pebble out of the cut. Talon let out a sigh of relief as well, but Rusl gave him a glare. “Don’t freak me out like that again! I thought I was done for!”

“S-Sorry,” Talon apologized, scratching his bald head. “I got scared there.”

Rusl let out a breath, looking up above him. They were in a relatively deep hole—not deep where the fall was bad, but deep enough where they couldn’t crawl out. Darn it.

“Who put this dang hole in here?” Rusl grumbled, getting to his feet and brushing himself off. Talon shrugged and got up as well, looking over the cut.

“Can I just put a bandage on that?” He asked, and Rusl sighed, nodding his head. Talon cleaned it the best he could with what he had, and he quickly wrapped it up with a bandage, though the white quickly began to stain red. Talon glanced up at Rusl, shrugging his shoulders. “Well, guess we gotta wait for help to fix that.”

“It’s fine. Since when did you travel with bandages?”

Talon sighed, sitting down and resting his back against the wall of dirt. “Since you got hurt.”

Rusl frowned, joining him on the ground and watching his friend.

“I… I’m sorry I worried over you so much, Rusl,” Talon apologized, twiddling his thumbs. “I just care about you and… I just… I feel like I have no purpose here if I don’t take care of y’all, you know?”

Rusl tilted his head, inviting him to continue.

“I can’t do nothin’ for y’all except to treat injuries. And even then I’m awfully new at that. I just… I want to be useful to y’all, is all.”

“Oh Talon, you don’t have to be useful to us to be important.”

“I know. But I want to. Especially since I… um… love you guys I just… I want to.”

“Ah,” Rusl blinked, leaning up against Talon. He suddenly felt horrible for snapping at him earlier.

“But enough about me. How are you? I landed right on top of you, and I ain’t as light as a feather.”

Rusl chuckled. “I’m fine, really. You didn’t hurt me.”

“You sure? I’m just huge and you’re so… small.”

“I’m not small!” Rusl scoffed.

“Yes you are!”

“Tal’, I’m taller than you.”

“Yeah but I’m wider.”

Rusl burst out laughing, wrapping his arm around his friend. “Alright, true. But I promise I’m fine. Really.”

Talon’s eyes softened. “I’m glad. Maybe… maybe the writer of our destiny decided to give us a break for once.”

“Or maybe the writer didn’t want to give us another injury to deal with.”

Talon chuckled. “Maybe. Injuries sure as heck are a pain.”

“Yeah… to deal with and to write.”

Both laughed, but Talon gave Rusl a serious look. “Seriously Rusl. Are you ok though? And I’m not askin’ about your body this time around.”

Rusl pursed his lips, looking down on the ground. Was he fine? So much has happened, and despite it all being months apart it was still…hard to deal with. The memory of his son, in a twisted and dark form, covered in blood and body parts scattered around him. The memory of swinging his sword at his friend, helpless to stop the one controlling him. The memory of him falling, the last thing he thought he would see was a world he didn’t know, the last thing he thought being how his wife would never know what happened to him….

He really wasn’t ok. So he rested his head against Talon’s and let it all out. He explained the mountain and the puppeteer’s attack, and his fear and dread over his son’s well-being bothering his every waking moment. Talon listened quietly, not saying anything or doing anything while he spoke, and it felt nice to unravel his thoughts that have been running rampant through his head for months now. When he finished, it was completely dark outside, and Talon remained silent, just letting Rusl rest on him for as long as he needed.

“That’s… terrifying,” he finally said, not looking at him, though his hand was wrapped tightly around Rusl’s. “I’m so sorry Rusl, I can’t imagine how awful that would be to witness.”

Rusl shrugged. “I-It’s fine I just… I’ve been trying to cope with it.”

“Yeah, but you shouldn’t cope alone. We’re all here for you. Even if you don’t want to explain to the others, you can always talk to me about it.”

Rusl smiled, closing his eyes. “Thanks Tal’. I appreciate you.”

“I appreciate you too, Rus’.” It grew silent between the two until Talon finally glanced over at him. “I’d hate to fall off a cliff. It sounds horrible.”

“It is,” Rusl chuckled, wiping a tear that suddenly fell. “I pray you never have to experience that.”

“Yeah…and the recovery process too. You’re strong, Rusl.”

“Thanks.”

“I mean, I remember when I broke my femur as a young bloke, it was painful.”

Rusl frowned. “You broke your femur? How’d that happen?”

“Oh, I was just… um… trying to impress my wife on my horse and… I … failed.”

Rusl blinked a few times before letting out a laugh. “Oh Talon, I didn’t know you were such a daredevil!”

“I-I’m not! I just… wanted her to like me!” Talon stammered, his face growing more and more red.

“Well clearly it worked if it was your wife?”

“Ah, yeah… I guess it did work. But it was humiliating having her carry me to the desert so the witches would heal me,” he sighed. “But they did a great job doing it. My leg was perfectly normal a week later!”

Rusl snorted. “I wish I was healed in a week.”

“Me too bud.”

The two stayed there chatting until Leon finally found them. He was red in the face and furious with them, but was relieved they were at least alive and uninjured. With his help, Talon was able to boost up Rusl, and then the two men pulled him out of the hole. The rest of the trip back to camp was full of Leon chewing them out, for not shouting for help, for not making a signal, for not being careful, all of it. Rusl and Talon merely listened, giving each other guilty looks as they were being yelled at. But they were alive, and both were feeling far better about everything. Rusl at least knew that he always had someone close he could confide in, and he was always grateful for Talon.

They were going to be ok at least, and that was all Rusl could ask for.

#whumptober #whumptober 2024 #strangers across eras #losing my mind #it’s not written well but I do not care #don’t worry talon you’ll know what falling off a cliff will feel like soon enough #throwing dads off cliffs is my hobby #smiles writes #hey autocorrect. I know the t and r ar expose but can you still correct it to writes cuz that’s a real WORD

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