#before the calamity and all that

[skyloftian-nutcase]

Speed, for the 3 sentence prompt

The speed at which time seemed to pass was alarming to Tilieth. One moment her baby boy was nursing at her breast, the next he was swinging a sword and training with his father. Days turned to weeks turned to months, and most of the time she kept up as best she could, but lately with her mother’s deteriorating health, she wasn’t able to cherish the time but survive it, and she just wanted this to be over.

[nellasbookplanet]

The fandom god discussion is interesting, but I feel it’s sometimes hindered by an unwillingness to separate gods from mortal society, or even a sort of over-eagerness to project our own reality onto them, which simply doesn’t work. I've seen the gods referred to as rulers or tyrants demanding worship (which I kinda understand because it’s something Ludinus says in-game, though it’s funny to see fandom corners confidently repeat the inaccurate talking points of the antagonist) but more interestingly I've also seen them referred to as a higher/the highest social class, as colonizers imposing themselves on mortals, the raven queen specifically as new money. Overall these comparisons tend to talk about the gods and their actions regarding Aeor in the past and predathos/the Vanguard in the present less as if they're about saving their own lives and more as if they want to preserve their powerful position.

The gods, by their very nature, are above mortals. They cannot be compared to any mortal ruling class because they didn’t choose or strive for that power and cannot feasibly get rid of it/step down/redistribute it (nor do they actually in any sense rule; killing the raven queen, unlike killing an actual queen, will not end the 'tyranny' of death), they simply have it by virtue of being gods. Saying that’s unfair or unequal and that the gods should be killed because of it is akin to saying it’s unfair a mountain is bigger than you and demanding it be levelled, except the gods, unlike mountains, are living, feeling beings who shouldn’t have to die because some people can’t stand the idea of not always being top dog. Thing is, the gods themselves ultimately understood this power imballance and that they can't help but hurt Exandria the way humans can't help but step on bugs, and thus removed themselves from the equation by creating the divine gate. Saying this isn’t enough and that they're clinging to power is just demanding they line themselves up to be killed.

[luck-of-the-drawings]

FOR A BEAT OF HEART, THE BREATH IS SHOT. AND WITHIN A BREATH, THE HEART IS CAUGHT. THE PIPES ARE BURSTING, UNDER GREAT STRESS, BOLTS TORN ASUNDER, MAKING A MESS. A FINAL COUGH, A FINAL RETCH, A GOREY SLOUGH, CLAIMED BY WRETCH.

[noirandchocolate]

I said I would do a headcanon post about Yiga Clan wedding ceremonies, so Here! I! Go! (If you're interested but missed it, here's a post about proposal headcanons.) Time for so many details and a very long post. Also, just at the outset, I wanna say that the other reason I've been thinking about this stuff recently (in addition to real world reason of me and my girlfriend getting engaged), is that my Kohga and Sooga just got married in an RP. So I'll be using examples from their wedding alongside others, in this post!

Preparation/Background

It should come as a surprise to no one that Master Kohga officiates all weddings. If a Master Kohga is getting married, their Right Hand will do it. If the Master is marrying their Right Hand (which is on the rare side but hey, Kohga's Nana also did it!), another high-ranking member of the Clan will do it. For Nana Kohga's wedding, it was the most senior historian, who had been friends with her father. For the recent nuptials, it was current Kohga's former Right Hand/sort-of-pseudo-uncle and Sooga's mentor, the very respected elder Blademaster Chisao.

Weddings are held outside, in the circular area by the chasm, like many of the Clan's festivals are. They start in the late afternoon (for whatever season they're happening in), so that afterward, a big dinner feast can be held indoors before the party commences back outside (after some of the seating is removed to allow room for dancing, etc).

The outdoor area is hung with lanterns as well as the strings of protective noisemaker talismans, and a tower is placed and hung with even more lights. This structure is reminiscent of those used for the Japanese Obon festival ("Creating a Champion" states that some design elements for Master Kohga and the Clan were inspired by Bon Odori dance!), but with Yiga flair. A similar decorative piece can be seen in the hideout in the games (see above left). It serves a couple of purposes. First, masks of the couple's ancestors are brought from the Complex's shrine and carefully hung around the sides of it. Second, that's where the band is placed!

That's an excellent segue to say that music also plays an important role in wedding ceremonies. An ensemble traditionally consisting of taiko (also seen in the above left image), shamisen, shakuhachi and shinobue plays background music throughout the ceremony, with specific cues/phrases/flourishes accompanying specific events. (It may be noted that a similar combination of instruments is used in kabuki theater; several elements of the Clan were also inspired by this art form.)

The marrying couple wears their very best clothes, of course, and polish up their masks for the big day! Formal attire is, again, similar to Japanese garments but not exactly (since the Sheikah and Yiga are Japanese-inspired but not...literally Japanese). A wedding is cause to wear long furisode-like sleeves and fancy-patterned haori, kimono, and hakama combos. Oftentimes, because these garments require fine fabrics that require a great effort for the Clan to create, parts of a person's wedding outfit are passed down through their family and re-tailored to them. The Clan does of course have a whole group of people who make clothes, and their training includes embroidery and silk-painting for just such special occasions! If you didn't think Kohga had a haori with Dinraal embroidered in gold thread on the back and phoenixes and Inverted Eyes painted in patterns all over it, you would be WRONG. He also wore his father's black wedding hakama! And Mama Hotaru's long and gorgeous wedding robe was black with a pattern of softly painted insects on it, in an homage to her family's naming tradition; it originally belonged to her own great-grandmother, who shared her name.

Ceremony

The ceremony begins with the officiant welcoming the Clan on this happy occasion and declaring that the date is "AUSPICIOUS!" I plan to do a post about Hyrule's calendar and associated "astrology"-type beliefs but for now suffice it to say that one could come up with a way that almost any day is auspicious (since nobody would want to say someone's wedding day is cursed or something), but couples do very often try to schedule their weddings for particularly positive dates (as I said in the last post, they have to wait at least six months--it doesn't have to be exact).

The couple is then called to approach from either side of the area. They are each accompanied by two family members--usually parents if possible. If not, more extended family or in the absence of any family, friends can do it. For example, Kohga's the last of his family lines aside from distant-er cousins, and Sooga wasn't born in the Clan, so Chisao's children (who both men are close with) stepped in. These four people act as assistants to the couple in various parts of the ceremony! It may be noted, that on each side, there is a group of three.

Yiga wedding ceremonies, like so much else they do, are meant to reinforce not only the joining of two individuals but the bonds that join the whole Clan together. For that reason, they involve several call-and-response-type declarations that all present participate in, and many references to the Clan's history.

The officiant recites the following: "Our Clan was born of conflict. May you weather any in your path. / Our Clan as ever weeps the blood of our fallen ancestors. May their spirits raise you up. / Our Clan has turned betrayal on its head. May you remain ever true." The last of these lines is accompanied by a gesture toward the speaker's mask, evoking the symbolism of the Inverted Eye.

There are two major sections of the ceremony that each require an exchange of three things, between the couple. The first of these sets involves three liquids: saké, water, and blood. The couple's assistants will pour them dishes of saké, which they then exchange and drink, and then the same is done with water. The saké represents the time, patience, and effort that must be put into a marriage, as preparation of the drink surely requires such care. The water represents life and replenishment--and it's not just any water, but some taken from the especially healthful spring at Satori Mountain (which I've said previously, the Clan has strong ties to)!

(NOTE: For this and one other notable part that involves eating/drinking, the partners lift their masks only enough to imbibe.)

For the blood, the couple are each handed a special knife with which they cut their palms. Carefully--it isn't meant to be a super deep cut, just enough to produce drops of blood. The couple then hold out their hands toward each other, palm down so those droplets fall to the sand. Their assistants then wrap the cuts with red bandages. The symbolism is multi-fold: to show the joining of blood/family, the willingness to endure pain and hardship for each other, and, since the blood is dropped to the ground, the Clan's connection to the land and its energy.

(NOTE: PLEASE DO NOT take this headcanon as some suggestion that I think the Clan is some kind of ~weird blood cult~. I absolutely do not think that. The Clan was born of a bloody conflict/betrayal. They have not forgotten this, nor will they forsake the blood, both in terms of family and in terms of bloodshed, that ties them together. I thus think it's reasonable to headcanon that the concept and symbolism of blood--as well as actual physical blood--are present in some of their rituals/traditions. There's nothing creepy or evil about it. It is meant to be a meaningful, loving exchange and promise. Please please do not willfully misunderstand me. Thank youuuu~ <3)

The second set of exchanges is of three gifts. This section of the ceremony begins with everyone present reciting the following together: "Our strength is in our edges. Our might in what we take. Our bond is what defines us. All three, our family make." Each of these three concepts is represented by the gifts, which are brought forward to the couple in succession by further family members or friends. (As in, someone brings the gift to the giver, who then offers it to the receiver.) For example, Sooga's helpers for this section were three of his most recent Blademaster trainees, who had all recently passed their tests!

"Strength" is represented by a weapon. The Yiga have always been willing to fight for their beliefs, and more importantly to protect themselves/one another. They have a strong culture of martial arts and weapons training. So, each member of the couple offers the other a weapon of some significance to them. The exchange is typically symbolic; if a woman gives her intended the vicious sickle she uses on missions as her Strength gift, the idea is that when she uses it going forward, it's in his honor. However, if a man gives his intended a meaningful family heirloom weapon that isn't in use anymore, the couple will continue keeping it among their belongings together. See? Kohga's father gave Hotaru his eightfold longblade, and she gave him a (carefully sheathed) poisoned dagger. Sooga gave the longblade Kohga first presented to him, at the ceremony when he became a Blademaster years before. The words of exchange for this gift are: "I give you this, my strength. / Will your strength defend my body? / I will protect you with all my strength. / Then this I accept."

"Might" is represented by, you guessed it, mighty bananas. A bunch is brought to each person, who selects one and peels and feeds it to their intended. I know we Earth gamers think the bananas are kinda funny, but to the Clan, they're quite the opposite. Food is serious business when you're a marginalized community considered wanted criminals by the outside world. For the purpose of a wedding, the exchange means the couple are promising to provide for one another as well as possible. (To clarify, the Clan is very highly communal about resources, but the thought here is that one party would go without to allow the other to eat if necessary, and that regardless both will do their part within the Clan as a whole, etc.) It's not even just about food; it symbolizes caretaking in general. The words of exchange for this gift are: "I give you this, my might. / Will your might nourish my soul? / I will care for your with all my might. / Then this I accept."

"Bond" is the most personalized of the three, and the associated gift is something that represents the individual giver! It may be an item they crafted, or something else that shows off one of their skills or interests. The idea is that the giver is offering themself to the receiver--something that makes them, them! There are so many possibilities, too, as the gift may be an object to keep, or something more abstract or ephemeral. For example, a member who makes clothing for the Clan might weave a garment or blanket for their intended. A cook might offer his partner her favorite food, prepared fresh right before the ceremony, to eat a few bites of on the spot. Hotaru's Bond was her music, in the form of a shamisen song she composed. Her son followed in her footsteps and went a step further, with a poem too! The words of exchange for this gift are: "I give you this, my bond. / Will your bond shelter my heart? / I will hold your heart in mine forevermore. / Then this I accept."

Following this exchange, the couple recites: "We grow in strength. We grow in might. Our bond is unbreakable. All three we pledge, that we will grow in love."

If the Master is a party to the ceremony, there's an additional section here. The other partner says, "I vow to serve you with my body, soul, and heart, and to follow where you lead forevermore." Then the Master says, "I vow to keep you with my body, soul, and heart, and to lead you ever with your joy in mind." And finally, they say in unison, "You are my guiding star, from now into eternity."

The final bit is a general vow recited together, as follows: I am with you through your joys and all your trials. I am with you by your side or over miles. I hold you as the sky holds sun and stars. Where my heart is, ever there you are. I pledge my life to you and to our Clan. To the future and our master plan. We join our souls together with our kin. Together may we all life's battles win!

AND THEN! As the couple JOINS HANDS for the first time as SPOUSES! The ENTIRE ASSEMBLY! Shouts with ALL THEIR MIGHT: "Glory to Master Kohga! Glory to the Yiga Clan! Long days and nights to the love of [name] and [name]!"

Post-Ceremony

Well then it's feast time!

And then it's party time! Bring on the bonfires and bananas and saké and music and chatter and dancing and--

Speaking of which, during the after-party, the newly-married couple will start off the dancing by performing one together while holding on to a red silk cord between them. Symbolizing, again, the joining of their souls and fates, and also the need to work together carefully in walking the path of life.

Additionally, as I have brought up several times in previous headcanon posts of mine, following the wedding ceremony, couples are now considered family and can see each other's true, un-magicdisguised, -masked, or -veiled faces. This is a big deal! (I do find it quite romantic, that partners court each other without knowing for sure what the other looks like. As I have said before, if both grew up in the Clan they will likely recall things like hair and eye color, but Yiga start wearing veils around everyone but their close family quite young and get their masks at the start of the year they are to turn eleven. So, what your partner's face looks like as an adult, or at all if you've truly never seen/paid attention to them before...well, it's something to anticipate!) Couples are given leave from work to go have a brief honeymoon away from the Complex if they wish, to go unmask each other and spend some good time together. A traditional place to do this is Satori Mountain, since most other people keep away from it anyway. <3 <3 Those who don't want to leave, get to stay in a sleeping room set aside just for this private purpose, instead!

Final Notes

Just wanted to point out, if it wasn't obvious, the threes in the ceremony. Three people on each side of the rituals, three liquids, three gifts. While the Yiga's particular wedding traditions have grown and changed from Ancient Sheikah customs over the millennia, to the point where Yiga marriage ceremonies have only a little in common with the older ones (and are quite different from contemporary Kakariko Sheikah ways), one small detail is the presence of threes. I headcanon that the Ancient Sheikah often utilized the number three in their various rituals and customs, to reference the Triforce, the three Golden Goddesses, the three major Springs across the land where Hylia is worshipped and their three attendant dragon spirits, etc. Some Yiga traditions also involve threes, despite that they've renounced their service to Hylia and to any deity in general. After all, even apart from that, three is an auspicious and satisfying number.

Master Kohga loves officiating weddings, it's one of his favorite parts of being Master Kohga. <3 It just delights him to his core, to see two of his fellow Clan members in love and getting together, and he really helps everyone make it a special day. (Weddings are an occasion when he's most likely to join the band for the party, twanging away on his shamisen...or two. He can make a double of himself. And use it to play duets! How fitting!) He's done the ceremony so many times over the course of his (so far) twenty-five years as Master, that he knows all the words by heart.

Which are more, for the officiant to say, than I've written out here. There's more that accompanies each exchange, for example. But this post was already six million miles long. So I'm going to end it now.

Thank you for taking the time to read! Hope you enjoyed!

[smilesrobotlover]

Ok this has been bothering me all day. I saw a post talking about how Rauru and Sonia did more for Zelda than Rhoam did and… I’m once again going to defend Rhoam, cuz that’s a very unfair thing to say and a horrible comparison to make.

Rauru and Sonia helped Zelda with her time powers and learning about the secret stone. Rhoam didn’t help her with her sealing power. Why? Cuz he has no magic and he clearly wasn’t the one who had it. Her mother was the one who had the power and was the one to teach her. Rhoam had no idea what he was doing, he didn’t understand the magic, and he hoped that if she dedicated her life that it would awaken so that the calamity wouldn’t destroy their home.

Well he should’ve tried to help her anyways right? Well, yes it’s easy to say that, unfortunately Rhoam was put in a very bad position of being king with the looming threat of the APOCALYPSE!!!! I think it’s implied that Rhoam married into the family, since his wife had the sealing power from the blood of the goddess or whatever, and seeing how he’s Hylian, he wasn’t a prince from another kingdom since all other kingdoms in this world have small round ears. For all we know, he was a prince consort who was never raised to be king. We don’t know what he was doing before, but with his wife’s sudden death and the responsibility of protecting his kingdom, he didn’t make the right choices. Which isn’t an excuse, but in his position, it’s an explanation. Rauru and Sonia didn’t have an apocalypse threatening to happen, in fact, they were in an era of peace and the future seemed bright. Of course they had time to hang out with Zelda and have tea parties with her. They seemed to be relaxed and having fun, which makes sense seeing how there didn’t seem to be much of a threat to their kingdom, minus Ganondorf, but I don’t think either of them saw him as a huge threat, seeing how they were absolutely blindsided by him.

It’s implied in AOC that Rhoam shouldered all of the responsibilities of the kingdom, and it seemed that he was under a significant amount of pressure during the calamity. And I feel like he mostly did that so Zelda could focus on awakening her power. She didn’t seem to have many responsibilities as princess save for awakening her power and helping out the champions. She is barely 17 so it makes sense that she’s not ruling the kingdom, but I do feel like Rhoam did all that stuff so she could focus on the calamity itself. And I’m sure in his stress he grew frustrated whenever Zelda focused more on the machines than awakening her power. Which was not the right thing to do, but come ON the world is literally about to end and the ONLY piece of the puzzle they need is Zelda!!! Some people forget that she HAD to awaken her powers otherwise the world was going to be destroyed! And it almost was cuz they were awakened too late! They were in such an unfair situation! And it’s not fair to compare him to Rauru and Sonia who were not in the same situation he was in, who were lying around in the grass and drinking tea because the calamity wasn’t there.

Rhoam is such a well written character that acts the way you’d expect someone in his situation to act. And he has so much regret over some of the things he’s had to do to protect Hyrule. You can read it in his journal where he finally gives up and desires to act more like a father to Zelda, you can see it when he takes Terrako away from Zelda, and you can see it when he’s a ghost 100 years after everything is destroyed. He’s so guilty but he did what he thought was best so that Zelda could not have a throne to nothing, so that Hyrule will be safe. And there’s a lot of things he could’ve done better, but people don’t act rational under that much stress. Like come on, would you? Don’t lie you absolutely wouldn’t.

And this post isn’t meant to diss on Rauru and Sonia, I like them in their own ways. But it’s kinda dumb whenever people love complex characters and then turn around and hate on characters like Rhoam and make them completely one-dimensional when they’re not. Y’all are completely unfair to Rhoam.

[youssefguedira]

wrote this instead of doing any of my actual tasks <3 tw for brief mention of animal death (by hunting)

Yusuf has been dreading this since the moment they left for Akkala. He had made as many excuses as he could to stay in Goron City for as long as he could, but every one had run out in the end, and he could no longer put off the inevitable. 

The first time he had walked this road, his father had accompanied him with a platoon of guards, still cautious, still reeling from the attack that had taken Yusuf's mother. The second time there had been fewer, but still many. 

In the years after that, the number of people sent with him had decreased even further until it was only two or three guards, enough to keep him safe. His father stopped accompanying him on these journeys after he turned fourteen and there had been no sign of their worth. 

Now, only Nicolò. 

He follows, keeping a respectful distance away from Yusuf, but closer than he had walked before they had gone to meet Nile, to ask for her help. He doesn't ever ask to stop, or to slow down, letting Yusuf set the pace. He keeps a hand on the hilt of his sword and does not speak. 

What is there to be said? Nicolò knows what lies at the end of this road, even if he does not know what it will mean for Yusuf. 

Yusuf can feel Nicolò's eyes on his back. It is bad enough that the whole kingdom knows he is a failure: he does not need Nicolò to watch him fail and say nothing. 

The sun is low, casting the landscape in burnt orange. It would be beautiful were it not so horribly familiar. There is a cabin nearby, and not far from it, the Spring. They will stay in the cabin tonight; they will leave for the Spring in the morning and spend three days there, then return to Goron City and after that, the castle. 

Yusuf thinks about returning, about his father's inevitable disappointment, and feels sick. 

“Yusuf,” Nicolò says, sounding uncertain. He is not yet used to calling Yusuf by his name. “We are not far, yes?” 

Yusuf had forgotten that Nicolò does not know every cursed inch of this road the way Yusuf does. “No, not far. In a moment you'll see the cabin.” 

Nicolò says nothing. Yusuf glances back just long enough to meet his eyes before looking away. 

What is Nicolò thinking? Yusuf can never tell. 

Yusuf catches sight of the cabin a moment later. Dread sits like a stone in his stomach. 

When they get closer, Nicolò takes hold of his elbow, gentle. It startles Yusuf all the same - he hadn't realised Nicolò was that close to him. 

“Let me go first,” Nicolò says. “To check. But stay close.” 

Yusuf nods, and lingers barely a handspan from Nicolò's back while he surveys first the outside, then the inside, of the cabin. Once he's satisfied, he gestures for Yusuf to enter. 

“You should rest,” he says, and he is being so gentle with Yusuf it almost hurts. Perhaps Andromache has told him what this will mean for him: she has accompanied him before. 

Yusuf shakes his head, because sleep means dreams, and dreams will be worse. “What are you going to do?” 

“I am going to find something for dinner,” Nicolò says. 

“Let me come with you,” Yusuf says. Anything is better than sitting in this cabin alone with his thoughts.

Nicolò looks at him for a long moment. Perhaps he takes pity on Yusuf, or perhaps he thinks that it will be easier to keep Yusuf safe if he stays with Nicolò. Either way, he nods. “All right.”

----------

Finding something for dinner means that Nicolò leads Yusuf a little way into the woods, far enough that the foliage and the dying sunlight makes it difficult to see, and bids him hide beneath a tree, in a space formed by the roots, while Nicolò crouches beside him with his bow, nocking an arrow in one smooth, seamless motion. From his vantage point, Yusuf can see a small clearing with a few fallen trees.

“Do not move,” Nicolò instructs him in a whisper, “and do not make a sound.”

Yusuf rests his head against the tree and watches the leaves move in the breeze. It is quiet enough that all he can hear is their rustling, the sounds of birds and animals calling to each other, the rushing of the stream nearby. After a moment, and with nothing else to watch, Yusuf begins to watch Nicolò. 

He has gone as still and as quiet as the trees around them, barely breathing, his shoulders rising and falling only slightly, like he has become a part of the forest. Faron Woods is much further south from here, but Yusuf supposes that this forest must be somewhat similar to where Nicolò grew up. He wonders who taught him to hunt; who taught him to be so comfortable in this place. Why he left it behind to travel to the castle and work for the king.

There are a lot of things Yusuf wonders about him. He cannot tell if Nicolò is aware of Yusuf’s watching; he must be. Still, Yusuf cannot help but watch.

It happens faster than Yusuf can track. Nicolò goes entirely still, and draws his bow swiftly, silently. Yusuf holds his breath and so does the forest.

Nicolò lets the arrow fly.

Yusuf doesn’t see whether it finds its mark, but Nicolò looks for a moment and then stands. “Wait here,” he says to Yusuf, and then heads for the clearing. When he returns he’s carrying something behind his back, the arrow in his other hand. Blood drips onto the grass. 

“You can wait inside while I prepare it, if you prefer,” Nicolò says haltingly. Yusuf shakes his head, and so he sits on a log outside while Nicolò skins the rabbit, arms wrapped around his knees and chin drawn up to his chest. Nicolò keeps his back to Yusuf, shielding most of it from view. 

Who taught him this? Yusuf wonders. It is a part of Nicolò he has never seen before.

When it is done, he takes it back inside to cook over the fire, and they eat it alongside the bread and cheese they brought from Goron City, across from each other at the cabin’s little table.

“When do you want to leave, tomorrow?” Nicolò asks softly. 

“I don’t,” Yusuf says before he can stop himself, and then adds, “I don’t know. Early, probably.” The thought bursts the little bubble he’s been in since they arrived. He doesn’t want to leave, could stay here for the three days they’ve been allocated and return to his father without even having tried and it would change nothing. 

“Just after sunrise, then,” Nicolò says. “It is not far, you said?”

Yusuf shakes his head. “No,” he says. “Not far.”

----------

The water is freezing.

It has always been freezing. But Yusuf knows well enough that if he stands in it for long enough, it will start to warm. It reaches to around halfway up his thigh; when he was younger, it felt deeper. 

The stone in front of him offers nothing. No sign, no indication that anything is listening to him except for the water and Nicolò, who has been standing at the gate of the Spring for however long he has been in here. Has he been listening? Has he heard Yusuf pleading for something, anything, dreading the moment he returns to the castle and his father looks down at his left hand and sees nothing there? 

What does Nicolò think of him now? If he did not see a failure before, does he see one now? 

His legs may be going numb. They tremble beneath him, struggling to hold his weight. How long has he been standing here? 

“Tell me what I am doing wrong,” he begs the stone. His voice sounds like it’s coming from somewhere else. “I know I am not the one you wanted, but I am trying. I am trying. I have given everything. I do not know how much more I have left.”

The stone says nothing.

Nicolò says, “Yusuf.”

Yusuf hears him without listening, falls to his knees in the water and does not even feel the chill. 

“Please,” he pleads. “I cannot return – I cannot give anymore.”

There is a splash behind him, and then there is Nicolò, pulling him to his feet, pulling him from the water. Yusuf tries to hold fast - he cannot leave now or it will have been three days in the Spring with nothing to show for it. 

“Yusuf,” Nicolò says again. His grip is gentle but unrelenting, and he is warm. Yusuf, shivering as he is, can’t help but lean into it. “You are exhausted. You are going to freeze. Come with me.”

“I can’t,” Yusuf says, even as he lets Nicolò take his weight, lets him guide Yusuf out of the Spring. “I can’t.”

There is a small paved area where their camp is set up. Nicolò has kept the fire going, or restarted it, while Yusuf was in there, and he half-carries Yusuf over to it now. Yusuf’s legs buckle under him the moment Nicolò lets him go, and he sinks onto something soft laid over the paving stones. He blinks, and there is a bowl in his hands, warming even if he does not really taste it. 

“It was never supposed to be me,” Yusuf says without really meaning to. 

From across the fire, Nicolò watches him.

“It was supposed to be my mother,” Yusuf whispers. The only sound between them is the crackling of the fire. Yusuf is so, so tired. He has never said this to anybody else, not even Andromache, but he cannot keep the words from rushing out of him now.

“It came to her when she was nineteen,” he says, “and that’s how they knew it would happen in her lifetime. So she trained, and she mastered it, and we were ready. And then she was killed, and because I was the oldest, it came to me.”

He does not like thinking about this. He has not thought about this in years. They do not speak of it anymore.

Nicolò is still watching him.

“I was asleep when it happened,” Yusuf continues. “I dreamt it as it happened, but I didn’t know until later. The moment she died, I woke up screaming. They told me afterwards that I was– I was glowing, bright enough that nobody could look at me for long or get close enough to see what was happening to me. They just had to wait until I came out of it. It felt like I was burning.” If he closes his eyes, he is there again, twelve years old and terrified.

“That’s how we know it should be me,” he says after a moment. “Who can do it. Because I did, once, but never again, despite all of this.” He waves at the Spring, the water, the stone. 

Exhaustion tugs at him. His eyes will not stay open, but he cannot let himself fall asleep, not yet.

“Don’t let me fall asleep,” he tells Nicolò. “There’s still time.” It cannot be late yet; the sun has gone down, but it is not quite dark. “Don’t let me.”

“You have to rest,” Nicolò says. It is the first thing he has said to Yusuf since he pulled him from the Spring, and Yusuf cannot tell what he is thinking. 

“I can’t fall asleep,” Yusuf insists.

“At least let yourself warm up first,” Nicolò says. There is a pile of dry clothes in his hands - where did he get them?

Nicolò convinces him to change and to sit back down, to rest a little while longer. This time he  steers Yusuf to sit down on his bedroll instead, and Yusuf’s grip on his arm goes tight.

“Don’t let me fall asleep,” he says again. 

“You cannot go on like this,” Nicolò says. “Sleep, and I will wake you in a few hours’ time.”

Yes, a few hours. That, Yusuf can afford. “Promise me,” Yusuf says, but his eyes are already closing unbidden. 

Nicolò says nothing.

----------

When Yusuf wakes, it is still dark outside, and there is a cloak that is not his own draped over him. Nicolò is crouched over the fire only a short distance away. He catches Yusuf’s eye, but doesn’t say a word.

It all comes crashing back at once: the water, the stone, Nicolò. Yusuf sits up.

“You didn’t wake me,” he says.

Nicolò watches him for a long moment. “You needed the rest,” he says finally. 

Suddenly his consideration stings. “That wasn’t your decision to make. What time is it?”

Nicolò glances at the sky. “It will be sunrise soon.”

Yusuf’s heart sinks. Sunrise means return, means return to the castle and his father with nothing. He gets up, pushes Nicolò’s cloak aside. “You should have woken me.”

Unexpectedly, Nicolò pushes back. “You would have only made yourself ill. You were barely conscious. I would not have done it if–” “That was not your decision to make,” Yusuf snaps. “I am not a child, Nicolò. I am capable of handling myself. I have lost hours.”

Nicolò does not say anything. Yusuf almost wishes he would keep pushing, but he does not. He simply folds himself back into the same blank expression he always carries, and again, Yusuf cannot read him.

“If the sun will rise soon, there is not much use in staying here for much longer,” Nicolò says eventually, quiet. He doesn’t meet Yusuf’s eyes. Guilt twists his stomach. 

Did Nicolò know? Did Andromache warn him? Or was he just worried?

Yusuf nods. 

They pack up their camp in silence, side by side. By the time they set off on the road back towards Goron City, the sun has risen, and the early light turns the world around them to gold.

Yusuf walks, and Nicolò follows behind him, as always.

[queerlyvictorian]

EDIT: Wow I was wrong about which magic users are from which state, but in fairness this was from Chapter 1. I have edited them to reflect what we know now.

Other terms/spellings/definitions from the transcripts (with help from the wiki!), because Brennan worldbuilds so casually and quickly when knows he has years to flesh out a setting lol

The Protectorate of Galthmei - the sorcerers, where Eioghorain is from — mages who can wear monstrous forms “if they so choose”

The Dominion of Rhuv — the warlocks, where Captain Emliss was from, have a known tradition of opening up their bodies to be possessed by spirits

The Kehmsarazan Empire - the Big Bois, the Empire, where Suvi and her family are from

Kehmsaraza - the landmass or region from which the Empire hails and rules

Akham - an island that in the present-day is under imperial rule

The Irulian Desert - the desert that wizards made, the location of the Citadel on Kehmsaraza

The Saraz Imprerium - i.e. “the crown,” ruling family of the Empire — have a flag distinct from the Citadel

The Wizards of the Crown - Otherwise known as “Guild Mages,” the flunked-out wizards who work for the crown

The Scepter’s Chorus - A branch of the Wizards of the Crown who serve the ruling family directly as magical engineers (supposed to work on “large, practical projects of interest to the Crown that aren’t military in nature” … LOL)

The Azure Battalion - frontline forces of the Empire who are not wizards; “fighters with the Magic Initiate feat”

[nivienne-grovant]

Junelezen Day 9 - Deviation

Oh it was nothing, no need to thank me

[teaspoonofdragons]

Come on guys.

[ruidusmoon]

i absolutely lack the brainpower to put my admiration for this mini arc into words but holy shit this was beautiful.

i love how complex the gods are, the relationships between them are so deeply loving and so broken. their family is prioritized over many things, mortals, promises and other families. even though they hurt each other that family tie is more important than almost everything else. they didn't want to hurt their children but they did it anyway for each other. at the end of the day they will cast aside their children in favor of their kin. the line is between those who matter and those who do not.

[swiftcast-selene]

Day 2: Home

sometimes it's hard to think of the shadow of a castrum as "home", but... it's much harder to deny the effect the Shroud and its people have had on him.

[agueforts]

all the shit i have heard about weakest at the elbow or the shoulder. the raw presence. the weight of it sinking in. all this time, and not one of you thought to mention that it's where this episode STARTS AT?

[phoenixcatch7]

Trying so hard to not start fic writing before I've even finished the game but I want so so bad to write a time travel fic where post totk wild gets sent back to pre calamity hyrule in the middle of a lynel or gleeok fight, like he's just covered in monster blood and guts with a mishmash of armour pieces (at least one barbarian piece) hair long and tangled, scars all over, wielding a ridiculously huge savage lynel spear tipped with dragon claw and dripping sizzling blood. Smoke coming off him. Arm looking half rotted.

In the middle of the throne room.

Several particularly delicate lords and ladies faint. All the guards are pointing spears. He nearly takes someone's eye out before realising where he is.

Once he realises when he is it becomes a race of time to make the right waves before zelda comes to pick him up.

[pocketgalaxies]

the whole cast: what were the names of the two titans who were buried in domunas?

matt: *looking for it in his notes*

me: uhm ok fake fans??? it's obviously rau'shan and ka'mort, we have their names power in a name i can do this i know you can????

[nolongerapileofashprobably]

Kass has to be our DLC companion. When else will I hear the song he crafted for Zelda?

[iniziare]

Tag drop: Jingliu