#bad end night au

[theofficialdobsmith]

rahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhb

white pine bad end night au

White pine gravity falls au

And white pine cat au....

You guys will never go hungry...

[metamatronic]

does david still blame himself?

David Takes After His Brother (pt. 3)

After Lizzie “disappearance,” Michael forgot the weird Plushbear sighting in the Circus Baby Room.

Lizzie, after waking up in Circus Baby, forgot how much her new toy had sounded like her younger brother.

And, if years later, when Michael staggered home with Ennard in tow, David felt any guilt over both his siblings’ fates—well, he’s never shown it. After all, everyone knows Lizzie wandered in there on her own—what would he have to feel guilty over?

[vacz]

So... What if Wirt and Greg met Woodsman Wirt?

I hope you guys enjoy this silly little thing I did hehehe!

[four-pointed-leaf]

was on the fence about posting these but ppl like the other dragons so. have some sillier shit. the epic highs and lows of staying up all night to hang out

[butterfilledpockets]

coming soon :]]

[threepandas]

Bad End: Restructuring

The blast doors on my office were stronger then the ones on most bunkers. They matched the one's on the company dorms AND my personal rooms. Thing is? They weren't designed to hold out forever. In fact, I was pretty sure they were a pretty bit of security theater, just to let us fleshys feel safe.

We weren't.

Not a single moment of a single day.

The pay was unmatched. But then again, it'd HAVE to be, with the mortality rate. The morbidity rate on top, too. You didn't take a job like this unless you were crazy. Or, you know, desperate. College loans, man. They get you over a barrel and don't let up. But a few years of this? I'd be clear an free~

Few MORE years? I'd ever have a tasty little nest egg to fall back on, in case of emergencies. I just... you know, had to play it smart. Be really, REALLY careful.

No slacking off. No getting comfortable. Vigilance and best manners. Then we all get to go home alive. Because what's out there? In the Labs? Those guys can pop diamonds like we crush packing peanuts. Highest grade, fancy ass, metal bars of specialty blend metals? Tied up in pretty little bows.

They may LOOK like some sort of waifish boy band... but God, they are NOT. They are really, REALLY not. And their "personality" matrix program thingies? Apparently still a work in progress. A LONG work in progress.

People have fucking DIED.

But does management care? Of course not. Pay out some life insurance. "It was an accident on the job". And "of COURSE steps will be taken to insure to never happens again". Ha! My ass, it is. And my ass, they are. They aren't doing SHIT. Nor are they GOING too. They're in too deep with this project, whatever it is. And us?

Well WE'RE expendable.

Just the cost of doing business.

I watch bleeding edge technology move like dancers, room to room. The wall of screen lighting up my cramped little office. The mini-fridge hums and the fan whirrs, filling the silence. I try to spot FM-036 on one of the screens. I can't find him and it makes me nervous.

He might be hiding. Trying to be polite, in his own way. Since there was an incident.

I FUCKING TOLD Ric not to call them "it"! I TOLD him! It aggravates them. Provokes. You don't DO that with something... some ONE, with that much physical power. 36 put their fist through his SHOULDER. And the God damned wall! He might LOSE his arm, which? Given their ability to calculate better then most supercomputers?

Was probably the point.

I notice one of the androids messing with a computer in a lab. Fuck. I lean forward, hating drawing their attention but knowing I have to do my damn job. I press on the speaker system for that room after a quick glance at the ID on their jumpsuit.

"FM-047, could you please not touch that? I know you are aware that you are not supposed to tamper, meddle, or otherwise engage with the researchers notes or electronics."

The android stop typing. Their head rolling up and to the side to look directly at the camera, their body perfectly still. The angle borders on impossible. Almost owlish, nearly snake like. All perfectly smooth movements effortlessly controlled. Joint not limited by human designs. His face is bemused. Pleasant.

"Of course, night gaurd. My mistake. Thank you for correcting me." He replies, something almost like laughter, nearly like mocking, but not quite, in his smooth voice. They always sound like they are... HUMORING us. Working around us.

It sends a jolt of cold fear though my veins.

I... I REALLY hate talking to the androids.

Pity, they seem to like talking to ME.

"I was unaware you were on shift tonight. I will update the others. It's good to hear your voice again, you seemed nervous, last time we spoke."

Yeah. Because you were asking PERSONAL QUESTIONS. Oh, sure, they had dressed them up as "We're so CURIOUS about Humans~☆" but I wasn't an IDIOT. You Did NOT, under ANY circumstances, try to bond with the machines. NO chatting. That was lesson number one from my trainer.

And Frank? Frank had seen too many "but THIS time it's DIFFERENT! We're FWIENDS~!" Incidents end in unspeakable carnage. Lost too many noobies. We DO NOT chat! With the machines!!! DO. NOT.

"Ah~, you made her nervous again, FM-047" came from a different screen. I flinched. Jerked back so I could see it. Oh god. "Besides, I told you. The calculations showed she wasnt going anywhere. The 'money' is too good."

The androids had stopped. Turned, in some cases unnaturally, to stare up at the cameras. At me. It was a blatant show of how interconnected they were. How distance meant nothing to them. How... how enmeshed they were, in the Lab's systems.

COULD they see me?

I didn't want to know. I NEEDED not to know. If only so I could continue to sleep at night.

They smiled, clearly hoping I'd engage. I wanted to. God did I want too. Wanted to demand "what calculations" and for them to STOP looking at me like that. But I didn't. With tense muscles I careful lifted my finger from the speaker system's button and leaned back. Crossed my arms like I was hugging myself.

Do. Not. Engage.

Remember what Frank taught you.

My... my office felt so claustrophobic. Painfully small. Across the screens before me, matching faces huffed laughs of condescending amusement. Some out right DID laugh. Bright and mean noises that echoed in silence of the night.

Humans? Frank had observed (and I kinda had to agree) were beneath them, in their minds. Flawed little flesh creatures. Annoying. It was something the scientists were trying to correct. Pretty sure they fucked up. Badly. And long, long ago.

Watching over these guys? Felt like watching over a sea of identical demons. Pretty, cruel, and incapable of human understanding. Fond of tormenting the nearest human for sport.

"Tell us, night gaurd, are you afraid?"

Oh that's just PETTY. Fucking cliché as shit, too. I mean, YES, obviously. But STILL. And... and you know what? Fuck it! Frank, gave me his number for a reason! I scramble for my belt. The communicator there. It barely rings.

"Mph, m'awake! Wus happin' kid? Come on, talk to me."

I ramble. Knees dragged up on my chair, curled in a ball. Frank's low, old man, rumble a soothing focal point. These guys are so creepy. I HATE that they KNOW that. Gleefully will TRY to be, sometimes. Can BACK IT UP.

"Hey, hey. I'll stay on the line, okay? You just need to make it to morning shift. They're are creepy lil shits, but they can't get past the doors. I'll come get you myself, okay? Walk you right back to the dorms. You're going to be okay, sweetheart."

I nod, even though I know the old man can't see me. Manage to crackle out a "Mmmhmm". The androids haven't stopped staring. The worst part? Is they realistically DONT HAVE TOO. Can stay, perfectly still, like statues... forever, if they wish.

Watching.

With those "I'm laughing at you" grins. That "aaaw, how PATHETIC" expression. As though I were a wretched little animal to be observed. I ask Frank to tell me about his new show. It's... it's something about socialites, right? Historical? He's glad too. Filling my office with the sound of his voice. It's gonna be a long shift.

I don't notice, high up on the wall, near the back of my office?

A security camera that I do not control. It's red light on.

The company has to be sure it's employees aren't slacking, after all! Aren't up to no good! But don't worry, THAT camera is connect to a database the androids shouldn't be able to access! Because we told them not too.

And THAT'S IT.

No one will learn of the security breach until its far, far too late.

Now? They watch as I watch them.

And it's just the beginning.

[bonefall]

the cats of the park is just frostpaw finally getting some therapy

tbh tho I feel like them being separate from clan life would help her immensely. They’re not so wrapped up in this culture of battle so they have a new and refreshing perspective (and also frost doesn’t have to worry about ulterior motives because they are STAYING AWAY from THAT trainwreck that is the clans)

(Future edit: this ask is a follow up to this one)

RE: Nothing in BB!ASC is set in stone until the arc is done BUT

One excellent thing ASC has done with the Park cats that is commendable, is that they're treated as legitimate. Not inferior or malicious. They're just another culture that Frostpaw is going to learn from. The bar is UNDERGROUND but we've finally hopped over it.

So I'd want to keep and acknowledge that.

I think I might have an interesting idea for Frostpaw's journey. Also, side note... I'm thinking BB!ASC will rename every book because these titles are actually awful, im sorry. So I'd call this one ASC: The Source of the River

Gonna jot these down;

So, to begin with, Frostpaw calls the human. While being heavily sedated, she has her first vision of Riverstar.

FROSTPAW DOES NOT HAVE A SPECIAL CONNECTION TO STARCLAN.

She NEVER would. Screw that. Instead-- learning to connect to this vision of Riverstar, to her ancestors and their wisdom, is a SKILL she would learn.

Frame the journey less as Riverstar's Side Quest and more as Frostpaw chasing the Revelation she had while anesthetized.

So when she wakes up, she's thinking about how incomprehensibly VAST Riverstar was. She can't even imagine how there's enough space in the world to contain such a being.

Even the Lake itself... the lake is just a droplet, being suckled like a kit on the teat of the Southern Inlet river

For a second, her troubles seemed like a small flea on the nose of a great, cosmic being. But as she reconnects with the mortal plane after her dream, the flea becomes an infestation. She doesn't know where to begin, or how she can save her Clan.

She thinks back to Riverstar. The river that feeds the Lake. Was that what he was trying to tell her? That she has to follow it to the source?

STOP 1: RIVER WARD

The BB!Tribe is massively overhauled. The Tribe of Rushing Water defines themselves as three Wards (Cave, Mountain, River), connected by living on the same stretch of river.

From them, she learns about connections. They are simply able to call upon each other for all they need, there's no need to "appoint" someone to manage everything.

Families and friends hold each other accountable, networking and negotiating constantly. When the group must act as one, it casts stones.

Their Stoneteller is a religious leader, but all cats connect with their ancestors by personally interpreting omens, even without needing to go see him.

(Contrast to BB!Clans, whose Clerics are the KEEPERS of holy knowledge, and it is a sin to interpret StarClan's will on your own)

Yet, there are downsides. She can see ostracised cats who skirt at the edges of the Ward, especially the descendants of a particular group (called Flicks) that she learns once tried to invade the River Ward.

Though they welcome travellers and have a positive view of Clan cats as "family," she learns that they freeze out those who break taboo. Even for smaller offenses-- social faux pas and personal disputes have caused rifts within the Ward.

And the personal omen interpretation means that two cats can try and justify their feelings with religious commands, leveraging any "soothsayer" (particularly religious cats) connections they have like a social pissing match, unless they're both willing to get dragged to Stoneteller.

From all this, Frostpaw learns that she CAN connect to Riverstar and her ancestors, even if she can't speak to them... and that she must LISTEN. Not allow herself to twist her ancestor's words.

And all the Wards are connected, by the source of a river. Suddenly she answers her question.

"How could the world be big enough to contain a being like Riverstar?" Because water isn't all in one place. It's everywhere. It pools where it can and flows where it cannot.

And yet-- a single people is connected by its water. Three wards, one River. Five Clans, one Lake... three siblings, one belly.

Her heart aches thinking about Curlfeather.

She thinks of when quarreling Tribemates are brought to Stoneteller to arbitrate, and be taught the truth. Brought up the river, to its source at the waterfall.

That has to be it! The source, the BEGINNING.

Stop 2 would be WarriorClan as she heads south, but I'm not sure what they'd teach her yet lmao. Monkeystar says "Hi! Do you want to learn how to play a kazoo"

STOP 3... I'd want to rename the Park Cats. Maybe the New Park cats.

(evil brain: "Neopark. Make terrible petsite joke. Be reincarnated as a lotus flower)

There would also be a BIG recap of Ancient Park culture, and the River Kingdom. Frostpaw knows they had KINGS.

And a lot of aspects that modern Clan cats have-- ceremonial sparring, mentors and apprentices, the Law of the Deputy... those came out of the River Kingdom, before its collapse in the Code Era.

But these cats are NOTHING like the glorious tales of a Kingdom warrior. In fact... this is THE park!

THE park that was destroyed, which King Arc-of-Park lead his people away from. How could it have been ruined if it's still here?

(Reality: the Park was shrunk and landscaped. It was destroyed in that time to the perspective of cats. Maybe she'll have some visions of the past through meditation...)

But the survivors, and those who chose not to follow their King... they remained. And they continue to thrive.

Like canon, have them teach her the ability to meditate. Unlike Tribe cats, meditation is about SIGNS, not OMENS. Omens are physical. Signs are psychic.

(Also i like Bee so im probably gonna keep him as Frosty's yoga coach)

She sees Riverstar a few times, has details of Curlfeather's scheme revealed to her in enough chunks to piece together,

but is eventually bowled over when her best, most productive meditation yet... results in a black shadow.

He has a shining pearlstone adorning his head, and deep, wet pools for eyes. Very few other features can be made out, besides his paw, which is shockingly normal compared to his wraith-like body.

Somehow, Frostpaw understands she is looking at a Patron. But she doesn't know who he is until he tells her, he is King Arc-of-Park.

Though remembered, he is not invoked often. The details of his appearance are lost. All that remains of him is his paw-- carried on in a few expressions and the -paw suffix. The one which Frostpaw herself currently bears.

Since Riverstar, his beloved son, so rarely speaks in straightforward terms, he has come to give Frostpaw her answers.

But before she speaks, trembling with desire for finally FINALLY getting the truth, almost frozen by the sheer volume of things she needs to know, he stops and tells her,

"You have earned the truth, Frostpaw. Be not afraid to ask for what you are owed-- but we only have time for three questions, and I shall ask three in turn."

Question 1: "What did you need me to learn?"

"Many things. How to find your own answers. The perspective of the thousand eyes you've met. The wisdom that only a pilgrimage can bestow. I, too, was no leader before I brought my people up the river, and now you too must save RiverClan. Have you learned what we sought to teach?"

She feels unsure... "I don't think I can know if I have, until I go home."

Even though he has no mouth, she can hear his smile, "That is a yes, child."

Question 2: "What am I learning about RiverClan and its history, if these New Park cats are nothing like my Kingdom ancestors?"

He hums, "You have come to the source of the river, and are vexxed to not find the water that is already swirling downstream? No cat stands in the same river twice, for it is not the same river, and they are not the same cat. Are my people gone, Frostpaw, or do they live on?"

Stunned, her jaw hangs open ever so slightly. She thought she knew the answer right away, but his simple question becomes a riddle on her tongue.

He tells her not to worry. She does not need to answer his questions immediately, as they're running out of time. Ask your last.

Question 3: "...did my mom love me?"

IMMEDIATE, "she did. Child of my distant blood, she loved you like a king loves his prince. Ferociously, ambitiously... selfishly."

He cradles her face in his one, massive, silk-soft paw, like he's reaching out of the shadows, across time itself. His last question, "She put you in a terrible position, didn't she?"

A lifetime's worth of love and agony bubbles out of the kid, "SHE DID. She DID and I never did ANYTHING to deserve this, I did everything she told me, and I just wanted to make her happy, and... and i miss my mom."

When she returns from her trance, she's crying.

But her companions are here to help her unpack all of what she just learned.

Will probably end up letting her recruit a little DND party lmao... maybe one cat from each pit stop. Heartstar shouldn't be the only girlie who's allowed to get expansion packs.

Make a little found family here that Frostpaw returns home with.

RE: NOT. CONFIRMED YET. NONE of this is BB canon yet. Just thoughts I need to get down.

[ro-bee]

It's too wrong that I kinda maybe wanna see a "bad ending" pupigoat au? Like we're Goat doesn't find out Kiran's plans until it's too late and Kiran already has the crown back, something something doomed yaouri something something

In my head, there is two ways a tragic version of the pupigoat au could go but I cant decide what route I like the most. One is Kiran getting to the "killing Goat" part of the plan and realizing that it isn't what he actually wanted and wanting to abort the plan but for some reason he can't bring them back (at least until well into late-game, like with Narinder in canon if you choose not to spare him) and he has killed his own children and siblings for this and it was all for nothing and he's free but he's completely alone and it's all his fault... well, at least, he gets to reunite with this siblings (and children, but he already does in the regular timeline, so that's besides the point) in this timeline but not before some 100 to 200 years worth of depression so yay...?

Or the alternative route (in my mind at least), where Kiran actually fully goes through with the plan and it's less "everything sucks forever and Kirander is drowning in depression and self-brought grief" and more Kiran goes full self-gaslighting mode as he sits alone for thousands and millions of years as he slowly waits for life to grow back to what it once, dulling himself with "This is what I wanted, its all going according to plan. Once the plan it's finished and life is back, then I'll be happy and it'll all been worth it" as he totally 100% absolutely doesn't slowly become kinda insane and not all mentally there in his own denial, deeply buried grief and genuine complete loneliness (as he is not just without everyone he once care about, this version is literally the only bring left for quite a fucking while). This timeline is just every trauma TOWW gets in his/their imprisonment times 100 billion so good times.

(Sorry for this insanely long ask, I just love your au and character so much and I'm very biased towards tragic endings and alternative versions of stories that reveal aspects and facets of characters that we could never get in their regular form. I hope you like my insanity and mental illnesses as much I liked writing it lol)

Long anon 🔥🔥🔥🔥♥♥♥♥

We can absolutely have a bad ending because of course!!! We have one in original game why not having one here >:)

My favorite for now is the first one you wrote because think about it... Kiran bringing goat back because of regrets and loneliness but he does that for last... First he takes care of his siblings and the pups but things don't go as he planned, his siblings still hate him, they don't have their crowns anymore but that doesn't mean they will make kiki's life easier... And the pups? What if they don't come out right...? What if now they're doomed to a cursed life or worse now they also hate him because they realized how selfish his plan was 👁👁

So as a last resort he brings back goat but that only makes things worse for him because at best he now has to live with a killing machine that hates his guts (why best? Because at least they can talk when they fight) and at worst an empty shell of someone that he once loved

Incurable catatonic goat... Uhg ouch

Anyway you sent me another ask let me go answer that really quick 🏃‍♂️

[carogdraws]

GREGTOBER DAY 6: GHOST

@gregaverse

“C’mon, we can have a bit more fun around the Pizzaplex, right~?”

“I didn’t want to be in this situation as much as you didn’t, so are you gonna help me out?”

Archer (Afton’s Return) and Swabbie (Child within the Fox) but as ghosts who died by the hands of a mysterious killer at the Pizzaplex, will the protagonist help them? XD

[princesshillaryellaworld25]

Lauren Bridges: When She finally kills Maria and her father

Lauren gets her father’s inheritance and she and her mother owns all of her father’s properties and get rich

@laisbethlolaworld25

[theofficialdobsmith]

When writing for bad end night gets so bad I start considering updating Casino Royal

[starway7]

I have no clue how to incorporate it, but the Infinite Nights (or End Nights or Crazy Night or whatever the full series is called) series would be a great AU for ISaT. Like, the whole thing is based around a play, and boy oh boy, Siffrin and play analogies go hand in hand.

It would probably be an opposite scenario regarding the time loops, staying true to the Nights series would have everyone BUT Sif remembering, which would be pretty interesting. Oh god. Or cast Loop in the Miku/Villager role. Damn, even Loop and Sif as Rin and Len could be done. Or Sif/Loop as Gack/Gakupo.

Man, I don't know if I'll be using this any time soon (or, knowing my procrastination, ever), but damn it could be cool. So, uh, if you like what I'm putting down and do something with this... please let me know. I listen to those songs so much and ISaT altered my brain.

[dazzlingqwq]

Um. hey guys. Major splatoon bad end yap sesh below. be careful!

im not sure if its just because i dont actually play the games (surprise, surprise.. i still know all the lore though. or at least most of it), but I have a strange gripe with how people portray splatoon bad end aus. Don't get me wrong, I love the concept of them existing and i especially love all the people's execution, but I just have a really tiny gripe for some reason.

Let me give some background info, in most people's bad end aus, Captain 3 gets sanitized, Agent 4 gets yhe hypnoshades, Agent 8 gets sanitized, and Neo 3 (which i see less often) gets mammalized (actually, in some regular aus i think they're mammalized too).

I just find it a bit wrong.. or a bit off that both Captain 3 and Agent 8 get sanitized (albeit in different ways, but theyre still both getting sanitized). It makes sense for 8 to get sanitized, from what I know that was the fate they were supposed to succumb to if it werent for them getting out of the metro.

But 3 getting sanitized too?

Don't bring up your pitchforks yet, I know it was a very big moment in the splatoon lore, but I still have my reasons.

Four's bad end comes from their own game, Eight's bad end comes from their own game, and Neo's bad end comes from their own game. Where does Three's bad end come from? Splatoon two (aka not their own game..).

Just.. messing up this pattern feels wrong in my head, and there are also a few other moments that could be described as agent three getting their bad end.

Theres failing to stop octavio, or getting abducted by the army. Both of these come from their own game, and are pretty plausible with the setup.

Most bad ends come from either the beginning or end of the story mode, which aligns pretty well with our two options.

Agent three failing to stop Octavio from keeping the zapfish really wouldn't do much to inkopilis, seeing as how they function just fine without the power it supplies (maybe they use solar, who knows? /j).

Agent three falling into the hands of the octarian army though.. It seems quite intriguing. The moment Agent 3 runs into some army trained octolings (keep in mind, they most likely have 0 training on how to legitemately fight on the battlefeild), they get snatched up and held by the octarian army! Maybe they get trained under peofessionals, maybe they get ransomed off, or used as a tool to threaten. The possibilities are endless!

Now, of course, this is just my opinion and everyone is subject to their own. This is just a little thing in my head I want to explain in detail!

[wereh0gz]

Sending this ask mainly just to encourage you to share if you perhaps happen upon more thoughts of this new au of yours 👀 [imagine grabby hands] ? (Not forced ofc)

Ehehehehe :)

Ok so. Like I said in the tags of my prev post, the main sort of plot for this au starts with sonic losing to dark gaia, which basically causes the apocalypse and kills most people on the planet, including (presumably) sonic's friends

Sonic is saved by chip using the last bit of his energy- not to seal dark gaia and himself away like he was supposed to- but to protect him temporarily from the ensuing destruction and teleport him somewhere safe. Because of that, he's still around but in a weakened and comatose-like state

When sonic comes to again, he awakens to find everything destroyed, chip unconscious near him, and the sky blotted out by thick purple clouds of dark gaia energy. A pit forms in his stomach when he realizes this is *all his fault*

He failed the world. He was supposed to protect it, everyone left their hopes and dreams in his hands and he crushed them

Now everyone he knew and loved is *dead* and it's all his fault and there's absolutely nothing he can do to fix it

But he tries anyway

Fast forwards a couple years, sonic's still alive (though not even he knows how). He's been wandering the world in a daze, not knowing where he's going or why, just knowing that he needs to keep moving, needs to find *something*

As far as he knows, he and chip are the only people left in the world, and chip is still in the god equivalent of a coma, so he's effectively alone... Until he runs into a certain ultimate lifeform that is

Meeting shadow leads to him finding out that at least some of his friends, as well as a few other people, managed to survive, which reignites his hope that maybe, just maybe, he can make up for his mistakes somehow and help the world heal

That's the synopsis of what I've got so far so here's a few other things

Exposure to all the dark gaia energy that engulfed the world slowly turned him back into the werehog, with it being permanent this time. There's no longer a distinction between day and night since the world's been plunged into darkness, but even if there was, he'd still be stuck in that form. Shadow is also changed in a similar way, though to a slightly lesser extent. He mostly just looks more alien

Besides sonic, chip, and shadow, the only known survivors among sonic's friends are tails, amy, knuckles, and omega. Tails and amy fled to angel island during the fallout as it's mostly unaffected by everything going on below. They periodically go back down to the surface to search for survivors with the help of shadow and omega, and then bring them up to the island. They've basically formed a makeshift town around the area of the master emerald shrine (much to knux's dismay)

Sonic is, understandably, completely changed from canon. He's quiet, tired, and striken with a grief and guilt so intense it's suffocating (also, he's allowed to cry. And he does it a lot. He needs to.) But he lives on, because even the smallest part of him still thinks he can make things right, even if it doesn't seem like he *can* do anything at the moment

Eventually chip will wake up but I'm still thinking of how that'll happen. Maybe visiting the now ruined gaia temples will do it

And yeah that's it so far 👍 I've got a design for sonic bouncing around in my head but I wanna work on art fight stuff so that probably won't be out for a while lol

[skitskatdacat63]

Some matador studies :)

+ ref pic I like but couldn't even attempt to draw 😭

[candy-floss-consumer]

it feels real to me now (it felt real to me then)

[Title from the song Orpheus by Vicent Lima]

ToTK AU, Something Else within the Depths

Archive of Our Own Posting

Summary: All children of Hyrule were taught to never trust the promise of a devil. He was no longer a child. He no longer cared. (Zelda is still lost, but the Depths are different. Darker. Colder. Hiding something just as capable of fabricating salvation as the world above.)

———

     The shadows within the Depths could swallow a dragon whole, had they the mind to. No matter the careless journeys Naydra and her kin chose to take throughout that desolate place. It was odd how such things could provide a comfort to him now. Disguising the landscape around him into the same, dull black. He could believe there was no difference between the ground ahead of him and the places he had already tread.

“You know you cannot trust him.” There was a low crackle of lightning in the distance. A sure sign of Farosh’s passing.“The light of day will only reveal you to be alone.” Her voice was delicate and soft. The whisper of a phantom in the truest sense. It was almost as if she were walking behind him. Placing her feet into the footprints he left, following the path he sojourned through by the exact breadth. 

The words her voice spoke to him mattered little, in truth. The very sound of it gave him the endurance to continue forward. 

“He cannot give you what even he could not keep.” The cadence slipped into the cavity of his chest, a balm that weighed heavy against the floor of his ribcage. Every syllable spoken yet another link added to the chain of Demise’s promise. No matter how the words themselves cried out against such a thing. 

None of it mattered. Her voice, ever at his ear, meant one thing.

She was with him.

—

Sleep came to him in wisps. Strange things that pulled him into the throes of a memory. Bits and scraps piecemealed together, forming themselves into that room of rough-hewn basalt.

“Do not look back, Hero.” Demise, the sight of him clouded and nebulous, had caught his gaze with eerie, goldsick eyes.  “Should you do so you will find naught but disappointment.”

Link had said nothing in reply. Wary and distrusting, though even those had faded quickly. He was desperate. For his duty, for his fate—for the princess he had failed time and time again. Dread had roiled in his stomach as it did even now. This fear had been nurtured in him, after all.

All children were taught to never trust a promise of a devil. The promise of a fae. The promise of Demise. But that mattered none at all, now. He was no longer a child. He no longer cared.

“You need only look ahead. At the time of your journey’s end, your precious princess will be returned to you.” The smile that followed the beast’s declaration shone wickedly in the black. A strange, eerie sheen that drew goose flesh from his skin.

He stared into that sallow gaze, finding that the ache of loss had long replaced the fear and anger he should have felt.

The weight upon his shoulders began with those eyes.

—

“Link, please.”

The sound of her voice pulled him from slumber. A persistent reminder that he had little time to waste.

“Don’t do this.” She was begging. But beyond the presence of her voice, he did not truly hear her. “Don’t give him this chance.”

Demise did not need a chance provided to it. It acted as it wished. This promise was what Link needed. To return the light to her form. To regain her. He did not care what the journey would take from him.

Let him scrabble upon the ground, unseeing and unknowing of the pests that crawled with him, for as long as it took to pull himself out of a chasm and into her arms.

“The chasms will close behind you. You know it, don’t you?” Her illusion grasped at the sides of his face, her eyes, a dulled shadow of the brilliant sky he remembered, staring into his. He did not acknowledge the change. Not even as she spoke again. “Hyrule will crumble from its very foundation.”

But he no longer cared for the wretched land above. For the people who cared not for her nor for him. Not until it was convenient. Not until it was necessary. If strangers and hypocrites were all the price to have her beside him once more, than it was a price he was willing to pay.

Her hands, frigid as ice, fell away.

—

The bud of a root, glowing a gentle orange in the distance, shakes yet another fragment of a memory loose. It whispers in the back of his mind. Filling the rare silence she had left for him.

“Leave those wretched roots to rot. Why should I honour my promise to a hindrance?” A rhetorical question, said only to elevate Demise’s position in their ‘deal.’ It should have angered him. He should have drawn his blade and forced the creature to pay in ichor and disease. But he did not. 

The creature smiled, coaxing and revolting all at once as its form shifted within the low light.

“You are willing aren’t you?” It asked, seeking not an answer but obedience. “They would only tempt you to look back.”

—

“What word of his is trustworthy?” Her voice came again to him. Dulcent and smooth.“Please. You know that any promise of his is certain only to be broken.” He took in the sound of her as if it were his only water in the midst of the desert. 

He pushed harder, carried by the treasure of her presence.

“At least rest, my knight,” she whispered, even closer now, as her hands pressed against his shoulders.

That much he considered, pausing in his climb. The end of his journey was near. He had felt the change in the wind, in the humidity of the air. He could afford to listen to her.

After all, Demise’s promise made no mention of pausing his journey for a mere moment. Time held no meaning here. In this place devoid of sunlight and warmth.

Lacking all but her presence at his back.

—

“I will not lose you again.” After weeks of silence his voice cracked from disuse, rough and dry.

“If you take that last step, you will lose us both.” His princess, ever brilliant, retorted.

“But before that I will have you.” His hands flexed. The joints of his finger ached, scabs scraping against scarred skin.  “That much, you cannot deny.”

“You truly believe he will concede me to you?”

“I will take that chance.”

He could see the light of the sun draped across the last few steps. There was the sound of rustling leaves. Sparrows sang in the distance, and the scent of freshly turned earth permeated the air.

“You will, won’t you?” Her voice, feather light and the weakest he had ever heard it, kissed against his ear. 

Suddenly, the exhaustion that had been creeping from within him weighed heavily upon his shoulders.

“Turn around, Link.”

Her voice, so familiar, thundered around him as if he were standing in the audience chamber of the goddess.

Before him, the warmth and promise of the Surface. Behind, the phantom of his beloved and the surety of the frigid dark. Promise. Whose did he believe? Whose would he keep? Without meaning to, he found that his eyes had fallen shut. 

Forward or backward. He will have lost her either way. An admittance he prolonged recognising in himself.

Time stood still. Not even the sound of his breath remained.

Behind him, the moon cast a single shadow. At the mouth of the chasm, the shadows grew darker. Somewhere beneath the lip of the earth, the creature who had promised him both nothing and everything stood watching.

It was a cold night in Hateno.

He fell to his knees, his fingers gouging into the dirt, and began to dig.

———

Note: Unpolished and written within the span of one night. The muse surged and this was all I could afford to give her.