#but respects that they are stronger than hylians

[wayfayrr]

I’m the one that talked about reader that has a high tolerance for alcohol, and I genuinely love your thoughts on it. Got me laughing knowing I’d be able to drink a long island and a margarita and just be stumbling a bit, meanwhile the rest of the boys are out of the count after probably a beer lmao. But oooo, can I ask for you to expand more on what you mean by Sky being not technically a Hylian? 👀

It's literally the funniest thing to me and it's why I'm going to use it every chance I get/hj

it's why they immediately get concerned when they see you drinking milk so often, they get very worried about your liver

as for sky?

call me insane for this but I'm rocking with the headcanon that sky is a human. from lines in his game referring to him as such, to how his ears look honestly nothing like any other hylian even in his game? it just makes sense to me, and as for why his ears are pointed - well he got bullied growing up didn't he? and well,

who's to say he didn't try to make himself blend in more?

he could have easily cut part of them, or made something to wear that looked like an ear extension. his stamina issue could be from being oxygen deprived most of his life. His ability to kill demise could be a boost of strength from one of the most powerful drugs adrenaline.

the hero's spirit could simply be a human spirit.

[hyrule-in-a-pokeball]

THE RE-WRITTEN TIMELINE

!!!WARNING!!!

Spoilers for Tears of the Kingdom ahead. Shut your eyes and scroll for a sec if you don't want to see.

No seriously I'm going all in.

Alright now that those nerds are gone, lets talk about how my suspicions that all past games are no longer canon turned out to be 100% correct. Also grab some coco, we're gonna be here for a minute.

At the beginning of Tears of the Kingdom, Link and Zelda are separated, with Zelda being transported into the distant past thanks to her latent time magic going nuts when exposed to a sage stone (NOTE:

Sage stones greatly amplify the holder's powers and while Zelda possessed both light AND time magic due to her ancestry, it seems her time magic was stronger and so was what the stone amplified)

Zelda finds herself in the era of Hyrule's founding and meets the first king and queen of Hyrule, her ancestors, King Rauru (A Zonai possessing light magic) and Queen Sonia (A Hylian possessing time magic). Both are not only the King and Queen, but are the sage of light and time respectively. It is made very clear that these two are the first king and queen of Hyrule. None came before them. All came after them.

Now, I hear you saying "This doesn't make all the old games non-canon!" Yeahyeah, shush, keep reading. The adversary the first king and queen face in Hyrule's first era is none other than Ganondorf, the demon king of the Gerudo tribe

Before, Ganondorf first appeared in OoT's era (which was not, nor was it ever stated to be Hyrule's founding era), but now here he is, right at the beginning of it all with the first king and queen. In fact we even get a sort of recreation/Overwrite of a certain OoT scene

A moment in both games in which Ganondorf is swearing fealty to the King of Hyrule. Of course, in OoT, Rauru isn't the current king, but an ancient sage dwelling in the light temple And also a Hylian. And also an Owl... This has been re-written, he';s a Zonai and the first king now, and also not an Owl.

Ganondorf ultimately betrays the king, echoing his actions in OoT, but in this timeline, there's no little princess Zelda, there's no Sheikah, there's no little forest boy. Nobody to meddle in Ganondorf's plans. He murders Queen Sonia and steals her stone, taking it for himself and amplifying his powers to insane degrees, and truly becoming The Demon King.

Rauru rallies the leaders of the regions of Hyrule, A Gerudo woman, A Zora woman, a Goron, and a Rito man, as well as his older Sister Mineru. Aside from Mineru, all the others remain nameless, but all wear helmets/masks that are reminiscent of the divine beasts that would be created thousands of years in their own futures and be named after them.

Thats right. I strongly believe these four to be Nabooru, Ruto, Darunia, and I guess "Medo"(?). Rauru gives them all sacred stones, naming them sages. Nabooru becoming the sage of lightning, "Medo" becoming the sage of wind, Ruto the sage of water, and Darunia the sage of fire. Mineru is already the sage of Spirit, Zelda, having a sacred stone, is named the sage of time, and Rauru, also possessing one, is the sage of light.

Together, with their own powers jacked up, they confront the demon king and his army of monsters. And lose. In a last act of desperation, King Rauru; the sage of light, uses his light powers, apparently fueled by his own life, to seal Ganondorf and drain away his magic.

Ganondorf knows this seal won't hold forever and taunts Rauru that this is ultimately a futile act, But Rauru, having knowledge of the future thanks to a time traveling Zelda, tells him that by that time, someone wielding a magic sword that destroys evil will appear to oppose him, and that person's name is JACK- I mean LINK. Ganondorf, fascinated by this prospect, says he looks forward to this, and then succumbs to Rauru's sealing magic. And there the two of them stay for thousands upon thousands of years.

This conflict between the seven sages and the Demon King Ganondorf became legend, and is known in present day Hyrule as... The Imprisoning war

Now according to all official Zelda media released before this point, the Imprisoning war happened before A Link to the Past/Twilight Princess/Wind Waker, and was the name for the events that took place in OoT. OoT and the events shown in Tears of The Kingdom cannot exist side-by-side. TotK overwrites the ancient legend that is OoT.

BUT WE'RE NOT DONE YET

OH NO

See. Ganondorf stays sealed there until present day. He doesn't break his seal and get into mischief. He doesn't kidnap girls on the high seas or puppet an idiot wannabe king. He stays sealed in that spot for thousands upon thousands of years. The event of 10,000 bbw (Before Breath of the Wild) take place while he's still sealed away. "Calamity ganon", while born of Ganondorf, is a different entity just sort of spawned from him. I have my suspicions now that Calamity Ganon is actually Ganondorf's magic that was drained away by Rauru, having coalesced and taken on a sort of conscious form. But then, how did the people of the ancient past know that "ganon" would return? How did they know they needed a hero with a magic sword? How did they know to build divine beasts to help fight this monstrously powerful foe?

Because Zelda, from present day, kept saying in the founding era "Yo this guy is gonna come back in the future and a dude named link with a cool sword is gonna fight him so be ready to throw down" She told this to each individual sage, and in turn, each sage made sure that when that time came, their people, the Gerudo, the Zora, the Rito, and the Gorons, would be there to help the hero. So for generations, they waited. They planned. And then one day, "Calamity ganon" appeared. It was defeated and sealed away by the princess of that era, a nameless hero, and big ol' mechs. And then it appeared again for the last time, because that time it was destroyed 100 years later. Then 5-8 years later Ganondorf woke up, Zelda went back in time and- Oh look a time loop

Suddenly the logo makes a lot of sense

BUT THAT REMAINS TO BE ALL, MY FRIENDS

The tapestry shown in Breath of the Wild depicting a nameless ancient hero wielding the master sword, standing against Calamity Ganon along with the guardians and divine beasts? Remember that?

We always thought he looked very odd. Very "not-Link" like. And thats because he didn't. Your reward for finishing all 152 shrines in Tears of the kingdom is an unusual single piece of armor called "Ancient Hero's Aspect"

These three pieces represent the Owl, the dragon, and the boar. In Zonai tradition, the Owl represented Wisdom, the Dragon; Courage, and the Boar; Power. This item's description reads as follows: "This item is said to contain the spirit of a hero who once saved Hyrule. That hero's aura will envelop the wearer" So what happens when you put this armor on?

Link takes on the form of that ancient hero. An individual who appears to be half Zonai (Full blood Zonai have much longer ears). Who has a snout, and long flowing red hair. And once, long ago, he wielded the master sword in opposition to Calamity Ganon.

Too long; didn't read? The events of Tears of the Kingdom directly and brutally contradict the entirety of the Legend of Zelda franchise and now only Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom should be considered canon

[toushindai]

I loved your new one-shot. I love how you write from Ganondorf's perspective. I didn't know that your headcanon was that Ganondorf is gay. That's very interesting. Do you think he would be able to really fall in love with a voe? Maybe not Rauru, but someone else.

Thank you!! Yeah, I've been kind of... not resisting it, but wary of fully committing to the headcanon because like. That's a guy who's existed for almost thirty years. There's so much of him out there. But sometimes I just get very firm very specific sexuality headcanons for characters and Ganondorf TOTK is one of them, and I think it boils down to reading him as so full of dissatisfaction. So lost in wanting what he can't have that even some of the wanting has crusted over.

Which is part of why I have a hard time seeing him fall in love with a voe. Well, that and... you know how any Gerudo vai you meet seems convinced she's going to find a tall, strong voe to be her true love? While universally being taller than all the Hylian voe out there and stronger than the vast majority of them? Yeah, I think broadly speaking Hylian voe are not up to Gerudo standards--Ganondorf's included. (I can't be the only person who finished up Tarrey Town with the queasy sensation that Rhondson was settling for Hudson, right? Like that was the vibe? This does not make me happy.)

Maybe he could find a nice strong Zora to fall for? In. an entirely different political situation than the one he's dealing with which also makes him an entirely different person. idk, anon, Ganondorf as I write him at least is just so unhappy, so very, very far down along the path of being utterly and destructively wrong about what makes him as a person worthy of existence and respect, that he lacks the capacity for trust and the inclination for love. I don't think there is any circumstance under which I could imagine that Ganondorf falling in love.

[clockwise-works]

7, 8, 15

Thanks for the lovely ask, Snail! Now, to be the opposite of lovely and bitch bitch bitch >:)

7. What character did you begin to hate not because of canon but because of how the fandom acts about them?

Oh there's a couple. If you saw my Sonic Bitching ask then I'd include Eggman and probably Sage. Since we're mutuals bonded through a love for Mipha, and a disdain for TotK I'll say... I think the easy answer is Zelda, and while I do feel crazy when seeing people say she's an incredibly complex character and her 'story' in TotK was "moving", it isn't enough to make me hate her character. I think. It is tough to say because in a vacuum, the "Miphlink enjoyer liking the Zora with technically less story than the main character princess equals a bias and take their criticism of the main princess with a grain of salt" thought process is strong, but I don't want it to come off that way. Idk, there really isn't any Zelda character I hate that I'm not supposed to, I would more so say I have a stronger disdain for how Zelda was handled in TotK in response to the aggressive praise attributed to a rather sloppy, predictable, and disappointing storyline. Also she had no arc. People who say she did are wrong, to the point TotK undoes the arc and growth done in TotK to "return to the status quo."

8. Common fandom opinion everyone is wrong about.

I REALLY hate the "Fated Lovers" trope some people have applied to Link and Zelda. And it's not just because of Miphlink, either. In my mind, I get some people love that romantic trope of finding your soulmate in every reincarnation, but it never sat right with me for some reasons. It... it feels like it results in all the different incarnations of these characters flattened and simplified, that they lose these individual traits, outcomes, storylines, just to become "fated to be together no matter what". It also just doesn't make sense fully, since by my understanding Zelda isn't a reincarnation, but a descendant. She's the descendant of the Goddess Hylia's reincarnated Hylian form, right? So why would the kid of a kid of a Zelda HAVE to get with some random fucked named Link? She's not a reincarnated soul.

Also. Ganon(dorf). The curse ALSO included Ganon(dorf) as part of the course, so unless your suggesting a romantic angle with a throuple between them (which they won't, it HAS to be the pretty pale people, not the dark skinned man) then I DO NOT understand the romantic tie to the curse. What makes Zelda and Link's dynamic in SS result in them 'bonded for life romantically'? What, because the two had some romantic chemistry? Why would THAT have any impact on the curse? What, did Demise have some fine print that stated the two of them HAD to fuck? That sick fuck...

If it's not the curse angle but instead the idea that "the Goddess has a fondness/love for Link that continues on for generations", then, one that once again flattens all the Link's and Zelda's into one character each, void of their own personality, but two. This basically insinuates that Link and Zelda lose their own individuality and freedom of choice, all by a Goddess and her 'meddling'. It comes off... weird with that angle.

Oh also Twilight Link is a descendant of OoT Link, so if both of them end up together with their respective Zelda's then there's some incest going on in the family. 💀 Sure it's a few generations away, but come on. Be a little self aware.

15. The one thing you see in fanart all the time

So unlike Tumblr, you can't block tags on Instagram. Also, tagging culture is WAY different on that site to get as much engagement as possible. The reason I bring this up is because despite not wishing to see it like at all, I get a good amount of Sidlink art on my feed. Scrolling and click on a Zelda related meme? Three posts in and you got Sidlink. Now, even though I don't wanna see it, I don't care to hate the ship at all. What I ALWAYS see in this fanart that I just don't understand is having Link wear the Zora armor. The one from someone who wished to propose to him. The one dude's sister.

Listen, I get it if Sidlink people go with the angle it was a one sided love. I don't agree, but the game left it up to interpretation. But even then, I put myself in BOTH positions and can't possibly imagine taking my dead siblings engagement gift and 'regifting' it to the person they made it for, nor can I imagine myself wearing that gift that was made by the current person I'm seeing's dead sibling. Just feels weird I guess.

Especially because I saw a full on comic of Sidon going back in time in AoC and when asked by his, reminder, DEAD sister if Link reciprocated her gift, since at this point she already knows she's dead in his timeline, Sidon bluntly exclaims he doesn't know AND he repurposed the Zora armor to gift to Link himself. Idk, that felt really out of character for Sidon, a gross disrespect, and strange. First time I ever out right blocked an artist instead of dismissing it, ngl...

no hate to that artist btw, I may not fuck with it, but whatever. Don't make your stuff centered around my tastes or thoughts

[dutifulsilence]

ooc ; I keep saying I'd write extra about Greis, Link's BFF growing up. I'm just lazy and he's a part-time muse. Here's a bit of a run-down since Greis is fairly important to Link's past.

Greis is one year older than Link. They were 5 and 4 respectively when Greis was brought to Hateno. Like Link, his father was a knight - his mother a Gerudo.

Greis looks much more like his mother than his father - he has a fair few typical Gerudo traits; stronger physique, red hair, darker skin. His mother rejected him and left him with his father. Greis knows nothing about her, not even her name.

Link and Greis were inseparable as kids, sharing the same dream of being knights like their fathers. Though Greis was always bigger and stronger, Link easily kept up with him. The two of them studied and trained together and often spoke of heading to the training grounds together.

Link would leave first, going with his father to train in different places in Hyrule. While Link was gone, Greis left Hateno to take on his own training - mainly on Death Mountain before venturing into the Gerudo desert, thinking he might find his mother.

Greis did find her, but she continued to reject him. She would not be the one to take the fall if he turned out to be the reincarnation of Ganondorf (fun fact, he is not - he is, however, a descendant of Groose).

Greis and Link reunited when they both turned up in Castle Town, ready to sign up for the royal guard training. Their experiences had changed them, but they were still best friends and ended up bunking together in the barracks.

Greis was always the more outgoing one of them. He would get Link into a fair few shenanigans - gambling with the other boys training as knights, underage drinking, sneaking out of the training grounds to hang out in town.

It's really not that Greis is a bad influence on Link - he just has a very different personality that Link always envied.

Greis was Link's first kiss, first love, and the one to take Link's virginity. They mostly kept their relationship on the down-low, keeping it hidden. Greis never mentioned his feelings to Link, so Link never knew if Greis loved him or not.

After Link became the Princess' guard and pulled the Master Sword, Greis and Link grew distant - Greis stayed in the barracks while Link was stationed at the castle.

Greis would go on to be stationed at the Akkala Citadel, a squad leader. He lost contact with Link, but heard much about his friend's promotion to Hylian Champion.

When the Calamity struck, Greis assured his squad that Link and the Champions would hold out. He had faith in Link and encouraged the others to keep faith. They fought long and brave against the Guardians' assault on the citadel.

Greis died in the citadel, taken out by laser fire. His spirit lingered there until 100 years later, when he saw Link activate the Sheikah Tower. Seeing Link still fighting would give him enough ease of mind to move on.

[sanguinesorcery]

It was startling to the guard to finally see the newcomers up close. Sidhe were generally tall on average, usually taller than others around them. It was unusual for them to encounter anyone who could tower above even them. Though any surprise was hidden behind a disciplined facade, she was sure her brethren would have more noticeable reactions.

Thankfully, though she didn't understand a few of the words the other had used, she understood the meaning of his response nonetheless as acceptance to her task. The use of body language helped quite a bit, as well, though she felt that she should probably stay out of arm's reach of him and his. A small bow was given in response before she turned to lead them through the castle halls and back toward the archives.

Other Sidhe were scattered throughout the path there, members of the delegation and their designated guard, those that weren't working to keep their military presence established across the castle and the grounds. The glitz was visible across all of them, swathed in brightly-colored silks with shining embroidery and chiming jewelry. Flashes of groups travelling from one stain to the next like schools of fish, working to scrub the day's events from any surface possible and taking rolled textiles as quickly as they could to designated stations for washing.

Nothing must be out of place before any true announcements of the takeover could be made.

Though, as expected, the newcomers drew attention. If not the height, than the way their one leader made people felt. Hackles were raised in frizzed hair and cautious lowered heads as groups stopped to split around them in their haste, flowing down the sides of the hall out of reach. Glances of warning were given as they passed, as though to remind that any trouble would be dealt with swiftly even now. Adrenaline was still high among them, anything could easily trigger the delegation into action once more.

It was still a surprise to the guardswoman how swiftly it took her to bring them from the front avenue into the archives on the second floor. She kept a close ear on the small party she was leading, making certain they kept both a respectable distance and didn't wander off, pleased to know she wasn't going to have to relocate them. Not that her Empress had asked to see the other women in the party, she only asked for the man. But it was best to keep them together, she thought, as it lessened any interference with the clean-up duties.

The doors to the archives were wide open when they arrived, showing the flurry of activity that was any available hand not already tasked with something in the greater castle. The majority of the inhabitants flitting through the tightly-packed bookcases were Sidhe, but sitting nearby the Empress was an elderly Hylian, pouring over a stack of books resting on a chair next to him.

Fariah had been tracking the progress of the party since she sent her guide. The Aeroglaive was in fits, vibrating to a point that if anyone put a hand on it now, they may be able to feel it. Its warning earlier had only gotten stronger, and while she wasn't ignoring the enchanted weapon, it remained in its hidden holster in a pocket of the outer skirt. Keeping it there freed up both of her hands for scouring appropriate geological records and surveys, of which she still had several stacks of journals and books to mull through.

The guard moved to one side as soon as she entered the room, announcing in her broken Hylian, "We ... have here."

It took the Empress a moment to realize what was trying to be conveyed, causing her to stop skimming through the pages of the journal of some explorer or another and look over one shoulder in mild surprise. The Goddess Skin was still on full display with its cluster of ten gilded hands, taloned to look as though they were clawing at the vibrant red chiffon embellished in more subtle motifs in the empty space around them. The eyes embroidered along the hem seemed to shift and center on those around her, following their progresses and tasks about the room. She put the journal down carefully on turning to assess the others. The way the veil folded over her head and face, it obscured all but her eyes, pinpricks of faint gold through the fabric held in place with the draping crown laid on top of it.

The sight of someone even taller than herself made her lips thin in amused frustration. She was already not a very short woman, especially in compared to the natives of the land around her. But someone that towered over her felt simply obscene. It also meant something else, her eyes narrowing as she focused on the one in front. The man, likely the leader of the little party. She felt somehow he would be ... difficult for lack of a better word.

Still, she straightened her back and squared her shoulders and lofted her head as she turned completely to face the retainer and his party. But first, her head canted to face the guardswoman.

">>You have done your job well, thank you. You may return to your post.<<"

A bow was given from the guard, hand to her heart and head and shoulders forward as she addressed her Imperial. A small look up to what had been her charge, if briefly, and a nod of her head was given before she ducked out. Fariah watched her go, paying especial mind to the way the woman's hair had been frizzing and making a note of it. Another one, on the long list of notes still running in her internal to-do lists.

"Now." Her eyes returned to face the others, laying into those of the man at the front. From this distance, it wasn't hard.

"I am to assume you have an appointment." She fell out of her native language, an easy transition into Hylian Standard. She could only hope that this was the universal language used on the mainland, as she continued. "I am sorry to announce that your visit now and any later ones will have to be taken up with me."

As though on cue, Markesh appeared from the hallway, slipping straight through the group now blocking most of the door with jovial apologies and excusings. Standing next to his Empress again, he handed her a small stack of fastened paper.

">>I had to dig it out of the advisor's room, can you believe that? The man didn't even keep a copy of his own agendas in his possession, it's any wonder this place was under his control for so long.<<" He sighed like it was simply the most astounding thing before tapping a finger part of the way down the page that faced her. ">>One party from ... eeeh ... Gey...Garrrr...That place, although they are a half hour early.<<"

It was a good thing she knew mainlanders did not understand the Empire's native language. At least most of them didn't, and she could take comfort that being so far inland, these ones didn't either. Her lips twisted briefly at the playfulness of her Regent, straightening out again as he took his place behind her left shoulder.

"...State your name and title, if you would be so kind." Her voice was flat, not even attempting to reflect any regal bearing. Of course, the bloodied handprints gripped across the left side of her silken skirts certainly was a factor.

A warlord, she had been for enough of a moment that she was simply forgetting to be the politician in full. Of course, being surprised by the stragglers of a previous ruler's agenda didn't help in preparing properly either. For now, she would have to just play it by ear and hope it went well.

Entering the central castle now felt strange, enough of an imbalance to settle brewing emotions of before, if briefly. The repetition of previous visits had fully ingrained the customs of the Hyrulian court into Ganondorf's head that the greeting to the door guard was already halfway through before he realized they weren't there. His lips thinned at the realization that in the front hall, there was not a single face he could actively recognize. There was no one at all, really. It was safe to assume, then, that all the security presence had been removed. Very likely, they were out in the front garden.

He didn't notice any other signs of occupation at first, at least none that was living. As he was rejoined by his entourage, the glitter of light off a drying stain on one of the far walls caught his attention. It wasn't hard to see the splatter of blood arcing over the plaster, the trail of it dripping ever-so-slightly. It had been a quick strike, but shallow. A broader puddling stain on the floor next to his foot trailed in finer drops back to it. That particular victim had tried to make it to the door, probably caught and bled out.

It was a repeated pattern in a few places around the room, the stamp of half a bootprint showing the progression of the trail of carnage. The assailants were on their toes, but sure-footed. A few smeared prints showed effortless twists, shifts of weight almost perfectly in balance. This wasn't an opportunistic group of mercenaries, or even the security detail of some slighted lord who struck back and got lucky. It was messy, but still coordinated and if the bootprints were anything to go by, in nearly perfect sync. A mirror across the floor before they swept up both sets of stairs of the grand staircase, almost perfectly measured away from other identical points in the room. He huffed a breath through his nose as he realized that for all this was clearly unplanned, it was still disciplined. Likely a foreign military.

"Weird that there's no one guarding the front entry," one of the other Gerudo whispered in her observations.

"Because they already know we're here," he stated, not even trying to keep his voice low anymore, the statement matter-of-fact and flat.

There was no point in trying to hide themselves, simply seeing even this sliver of the aftermath let him know that the element of surprise was already lost. Although he could figure these others weren't expecting today's visit, they had seen them coming for some time now. Ganondorf suspected the fields were the first point of engagement. The hare hadn't been planned, but now that he thought more on it, the rustle had sounded too large for the local wildlife.

"Act normally, like we're greeting the royal family." He added as he felt the pressure of being watched again, pointedly looking over his shoulder at his companions, "I don't think they'll cause trouble for us, if we don't cause trouble for them."

As he turned back around on receiving confirmation and began walking deeper in the castle, he was aware of the two pinpricks of faint white on the upper landing. The person they belonged to was hidden away in the shadow of the yawning transition between the landing and the corridors that lead further into the building. Oh yes, these intruders knew they were there. He planted a borderline venomous stare into the eyes above to show he knew they were there, too, before they were blocked from view.

The audience chamber was just ahead. It was customary for visiting lords to pay their respects to the king there, so it was more than obvious that the Gerudo entourage would make their way there first. After all, it was likely the intruders' leader would be there as well, so it was hardly a change of course to see and assess his new opponent.

The increase of practiced gore across the surfaces of the halls proved that the conflict had happened deeper into the castle innards. The front entry was where stragglers and the final guard were caught. The lack of consistency solidified in Ganondorf's initial assessment that these interlopers had not come to Hyrule with bloodshed in mind.

A glitter in a side corridor caught his attention and momentarily stopped his thoughts, and he slowed to a stop as he realized that it was not the dull glint of the copious blood splatter but off metal. Gold, to be more specific. He caught sight of the foreigners for the first time, though she did nothing to hide herself from him.

A young woman, judging by the curve of her face, probably in her mid-twenties. Tall and svelte, he didn't recognize the style of her dress as he did the sateened weave of silk layers and the shine of gold threads and adornments. She was scrubbing furiously at one of the blood arcs on the wall next to her, though she stopped to stare back at her audience when she noticed she was being watched. Cold and distant, there wasn't a sign of fear in her. Just caution, and he eased that by moving on.

It seemed these newcomers were quite wealthy. Or at least wealthy enough to wear it out in the open. It was a point he found interesting, to say the least, but not nearly as interesting as the guard who seemed to materialize out of thin air right before he and his reached the audience chamber. A surprise to be sure, but one he showed in squared shoulders and crossed arms, canting his head up imperiously to regard the woman.

She wasn't nearly as pretty as the one he'd encountered in the hall and hardly adorned that he could see. But he recognized the camouflaging nature of her sharply-lined uniform and the equally-sharply disciplined way she held herself in that small bow of greeting. The castle guard had hardly been adept at any form of combat to begin with, but with the way these people seemed to melt in and out of sight with just a color palette. Oh, they stood no chances, it wasn't hard to see how quickly they had fallen. A few hours' resistance at most, if any at all. He could at least admire that.

A very slight grimace crossed his face against the guard's mush of attempted communication. Her usage of the language was very basic, like she warned, but he was capable of at least parsing out the message he wanted to hear. The foreign leader wanted an audience with him. That could only mean they were not in the audience chamber itself, if they -she- sent a guide to lead back to her.

It was such a deviation of how Ganondorf had thought this would play out that it actually piqued his curiosity. It had been some time since he'd had an opponent he couldn't read right away. It was not enough to quell the simmering anger in his gut at having everything he'd worked for so far whisked away. But enough he at least wanted to congratulate his unwitting opponent before the end of the charade.

"I accept your leader's offer to talk," he replied finally, keeping his language as simple as possible with a flourish of a hand toward the guardswoman in a show of strained cordiality. "Lead the way."

[sonicasura]

Great Fairy!Hyrule

This stems from Oberon, the King of Fairies which can be found in medieval and Renaissance literature. After Hyrule, the remaining Links I haven't done are Twilight, Four and finally Legend.

A result of the Triforce's constant presence steadily amplifying his fairy side. The transformation into a Great Fairy could be compared to a timebomb. A small wasteland became a vibrant lush paradise from how much magic Hyrule released.

Just as big as any Great Fairy although a bit taller and bearing wings similar to that of a monarch butterfly that looks like a cloak when folded. His normal clothing merged with moss alongside other plant growth such as ivy, roses, lotus roots.

His Fairy Fountain is a safe haven for lost travelers seeking shelter. A small town was later made nearby with Hyrule's permission in exchange for helping tend the land. Triforce infused magic repels any malevolent forces from both the town and Hyrule's Fairy Fountain.

Can switch between Hylian, Fairy and Great Fairy forms but has to take on his latter once every 9 days. Not doing so runs the risk of Hyrule's magic going berserk until it causes a forced transformation leaving him weak for awhile.

Hyrule's wings produce a unique fairy dust with very powerful vitalizing energy. It can restore dead crops, purify dark energies and if used correctly for medicine potentially cure even the worst illness. Stolen fairy dust paralyzes the thief in question upon contact.

He's a bit more mischievous due to his fae nature but still responsible. Any pranks from Hyrule are lighthearted and harmless. Very respectful of people's boundaries alongside their discomforts.

He does travel but made has a spell ready to instantly warp back to his fountain if needed. The man wants this safe haven to stay safe. Really aren't that many places for people to live comfortably like Hyrule's Fairy Fountain.

Has a habit of eating poisonous plants like belladonna as the poison can't really do him harm. A bit addicted to sugar water that Hyrule will sneak some sugar into his cup or canteen. Offer him nectar or tree sap then be prepared for a sudden hug.

When he joined the Chain, Hyrule was less concerned about his fairy form being found out than his Great Fairy nature. Damn sure Time had an idea of what he really was. (Man is the second Link to have the most interaction with fae)

Group finds out when they end in his Hyrule specifically the town near his fairy fountain. Poor guy got swarmed by a bunch of children wanting to see the 'Fairy King'. (They didn't know that the Chain were oblivious.)

'rules planned on easing the group into what he really was as Wars didn't have a good experience with Great Fairies in his era. He gotten a LOT of questions from his companions once taking his true form(most from Warriors)

Hyrule does interact with the Chain in his true form under the condition that no one was nearby and a certain captain is okay. Definitely chatters amongst other Great Fairies in different eras if the opportunity is there.

Just like Hydra!Four, Hyrule gave his companions some of his fairy dust for emergencies. Wars asks the Traveller for help involving his Great Fairy problem. Despite being way younger than the other fairies, Hyrule is much stronger. The moment they are in Wars' Hyrule, the Traveller has a long discussion with the fairies there.

Often uses his wings to provide protection to the Chain from the cold or bad weather. Wars is more comfortable around Hyrule's true form. Guess someone got himself a guardian Great Fairy to go with his smaller fairy companion.

@hermitdrabbles56

[bokettochild]

Concept

Your standard Eldritch Wild story. He’s different. He was crafted, a new soul, to inhabit the body left behind and dead in the shrine. He was crafted by the higher powers of the universe and when he awakes he is not quite Right.

He goes on his adventure. He saves Hyrule and the princess. He returns to the wild because society is just too confined for the Hero of Wilds.

He’s pulled into an adventure with eight other heroes.

But here’s where we break from the formula: They’re all Eldritch heroes in their own right.

Hyrule is half fairy and carries the full power of the Triforce. Golden power leaks through his eyes and his skin is crisscrossed in golden scars from where power leaks, this power and strength was not intended to be fit into a Hylian body. The mere brush of his fingers is enough to heal a wound. Fairies buzz about him and cling to his aura, any mystical being is drawn to him and while they will respect him, they will also shower him in love and devotion. Hyrule’s world is in wreckage, but it sings with power and strength from wherever the Hero has walked.

Wind’s eyes carry the depths of all of the oceans. He can hear the words carried by the wind and the sea seems to calm at his mere presence. The Zora people look to him in awe, they can See the power and Oddness in him. They revere him as a god when they meet him. There is never a lack of water around Wind, and somehow the wind whips fiercer when he’s angered, and it falls still when he’s sad. No one has ever seen Wind cry without rain falling and the ocean itself seems friendlier when the sailor smiles.

Animals flock to the Hero of Twilight and the Hero of Legends. The very forest seems to welcome them into it’s depths and their hands can tame any beast that they meet. The storms and weather seem to bow to Legend’s hand, the wind around him is warm even in the cold of winter, and a light breeze follows after him and Wind both when the rest of them sweat along the trails. Din’s breath breathes from his lungs from when the Goddess incarnate herself breathed life into him, and the seasons bow to his will. 

The darkness seems to lick at Twilight’s heels and wrap around him like a cloak when it falls. He’s soundless and silent in the night, and monsters give him a wide berth when they meet him. His eyes glint in a way that’s almost savage, and even if his laugh is the softest and sweetest, all who see his smile find themselves shivering at the feral look of it. Yet even so, animals are drawn to him, and while the forest does not welcome him with open arms, it shows it’s kindness to him in memory of his forefathers.

The trees themselves welcome Time as their own, and while Legend is greeted with fondness, the forest does not seem to sway to his word and actions. Grass grows thicker where Time has slept. Blossoms follow in his steps and the boughs of trees always seem to be brushing through his hair with fondness, but he’s never caught in them. The old man can never be lost in the woods, and the people of the forest, no matter how shy or bold they may be, are drawn to him and will shower him in favor when they can.

The fire always dances towards Four, no matter which way the wind blows. The smithy is never hurt when he hits the dirt. It’s as if the four elements themselves seek to protect him, and he has an uncanny ability to always get the fire just warm enough to cook, the perfect heat to work with when he’s in the forge, or keep it burning throughout his watch with no need to feed it (he still does though, as if he was sympathetic to it). Like Wind, the air and the water dance to him, they reflect the emotions that burn in his swirling gaze. If green flickers than you can expect the wind to blow stronger, if blue shimmers than the water will fall still and rage, the fires warmer when his eyes glimmer red. The emergence of violet as they walk can be related to when the earth seems springy and soft under their steps, and while he’s nothing like Twilight, the shadows dance after him with a playful air.

Sky? Sky is gentle and sweet, but no stranger dares approach him. He looks like any average Hylian (save for the silver that shines in his crystal blue eyes), but the aura of power that rolls off of him is enough to terrify all. Fires roar when he’s angered (as rare as that is), and lightning snaps in the distance when he’s irritated, even if there were no clouds to be seen a minute ago. The earth itself seems to cower in fear of him, but the sky, the winds and the clouds are open to his reach and will make merry in his presence. The sky is dim when the Hero of Sky sleeps, but once his eyes open the sunsets are always more beautiful, their rises all the more sweet. It was as if the sun itself was courting him, putting on a display of her colors just to please him.

And then there’s Warriors. Nature does not sing to him, it does not trail after him, it does not obey his commands. But never has a blade dulled when in the hand of the Hero of Warriors. Never have any of his weapons broken, and for every blow he takes the next that he deals will be stronger. War is a song that sings in his blood, and when they battle he is a force that all fear. Even Sky’s strength cannot compare to the clean cuts and swift actions of the captain. Every drop of blood on the earth adds power to his actions, and the cries of the enemy only add to his fervor. In Wild’s time, there is no record of a Hero of Warriors, but may can tell you about the Hylian god of war.. 

Just a few thoughts :)

[minty-mumbles]

True Colors

Summary: Monsters are stupid, but they do have excellent color vision, and can recognize patterns almost as well as Hylians. This leads to some misunderstandings.

Or:

Monsters assume that Hylians operate under the same color system as they do.

Content Warning: Not much to note. A few Bokoblins die.

Author's Note: I wrote this to fill this prompt from @linkeduniverse-prompts. It got way out of hand and ended up being about 3k words longer than I expected. I have a cheat sheet about color meanings at the end.

(Read on AO3 Here)

~~~

Greg wasn’t stupid. Well, he had been told plenty of times by his sisters that he was. He was a Red Bokoblin, and Reds weren't known for being very smart. (Not that any kind of Bokoblins were, but that was irrelevant to Greg.)

But personally, he felt he was a lot smarter than many of the others in his clan. Like Jeff.

Jeff was an idiot, even by Bokoblin standards.

It was because he was so intelligent, Greg thought, that he was able to devise a plan to sneak up on this group of travelers. (Truthfully, he wasn't being very sneaky. The group he was tracking was just being particularly unobservant at the moment.)

Greg had seen the perils of attacking first and asking questions later first hand. His brother, Derek, had done so, and picked a fight with the wrong group of travelers. Derek had paid the price for that mistake with his life. And then Derek II did the same... And then Derek III. And then there was Derek IV, who truthfully hadn’t made that poor of a choice in target. It was just plain unfortunate that that Hylian hero had shown up and lit him on fire. (Honestly, maybe his parents should stop naming their kids Derek.)

Not that picking a fight with the wrong Hylians was particularly hard to do for them. Their clan was mostly Reds, the lowliest and weakest of their kind. Only his eldest sisters were lucky enough to be born as Blues. If they went up against any Hylian but the weakest, they were in trouble.

So, yeah. Greg had seen many of his fellow clanmates fall to stupidity. He wasn’t going to be one of them.

At least he hoped so. Jeff might get him killed anyway. Greg didn't know why his sisters always put the two of them together for patrol duty.

Greg crept relatively silently through the bush towards the loudly chattering group of Hylians, letting out only an occasional squeal. Jeff, however, was moving as if he were a Hinox, and he was going to get them caught. Never mind Greg’s brilliant plan of sneaking up on the group of Hylians and seeing what they were up against first.

He turned to Jeff and tried to mime that he should stay here, while Greg got closer to check things out. Unfortunately, it just looked like flailing, with the occasional slap thrown in, and Jeff didn’t seem to understand. Thankfully, he seemed content to stay put. He had gotten distracted by a strange glowing blue ball halfway through Greg’s attempt at communication. Greg really didn't care, as long as Jeff shut up and didn’t move.

Greg crept further forward on his own. When he finally reached the treeline, he hid behind a fallen log, and set about observing the group.

Immediately, his malice-filled veins ran cold.

This was not an ordinary group of travelers.

The intricacies of the Hylians’ marking system were somewhat lost on Monsters as a whole, and although he prided himself on his above-average intelligence, Greg was no exception. The Bokoblin marking system was very straightforward. Those who were Red, like Greg, were the weakest. Then came the Blues, then the Blacks, the Whites, the Silvers, and then the mightiest of all Bokoblins, the Golds. It was quite simple. It telegraphed their ranks and battle prowess nicely, both to other Bokoblins, and to their enemies. Greg thought it was rather thoughtful to give their enemies a heads up on what they were going to be fighting.

Hylians were not in the habit of returning that favor. No Bokoblin had managed to really make heads or tails of their marking system. There were only a few accepted truths that all young Bokoblins are taught.

Brown was the most common coloration, and was pretty much assumed to be similar to Red Bokoblins. There wasn’t anything particularly special about the Browns, except that they were good at running away. A couple Reds could take down a Brown with no trouble.

Then there were the Whites. They were only really found near central Hyrule, near one of the Great Hylian Camps. They were much faster than the Browns and actually seemed to know what they were doing with weapons. They were also very good at sneaking. Greg knew that many camps had been wiped out by White Hylians.

Then there were the Reds. These were possibly the strangest of all the colors. Greg’s sire had told him that they were to be treated, cautiously, as allies. They never attacked Bokoblins without provocation, and they even occasionally teamed up with Bokoblins to take down the Hylians, especially the Whites.

Next up on the Hylian totem pole were the Blues. Personally, Greg thought it was weird that Hylians placed Blue above White, but Hylians as a whole were very strange. Except for a few sightings recently, Blues hadn’t been seen for many, many generations. Their legend persisted though, as they were perhaps the most consistent of all the Hylian colorations. If a Hylian had a bright blue coloring, you could assume that they would have high quality weapons, and would know what to do with them. Browns would even run towards them for protection, or so Greg was told.

They had been known for working together in large groups to bring down entire camps of Bokoblins. Greg had once been told that Bokoblins learned how to band together, and how to find safety in numbers from observing these Hylians.

And then.

And then there were the Greens.

If Blues were legendary, Greens were mythical. Sightings of them were few and very far between, which might have to do with the fact that the Bokoblins who saw them didn’t live to tell the tale. The destruction they wrought was so absolute that even if they hadn’t been seen for hundreds of years, their legend lived on.

(Greg himself had seen one, once. He had only lived because he had run away before the Green had spotted him. He usually tried not to think about it.)

So, yeah. Greg had been expecting a small group of Browns, perhaps some Whites or a Blue thrown in.

That was not what he had gotten.

This was an entire goddamn clan of Greens.

A loud yell from the pair closest to Greg covered up his shocked squeal, as his brain tried to process exactly how much danger he was in.

He could count seven Hylians in front of him, huddled around a campfire. The pair closest to him were wrestling on the ground. Distantly, Greg was reminded of how his sisters wrestled to assert dominance, but these Greens seemed to be much friendlier about it than his sisters were. They weren’t even drawing any blood. The one who currently seemed to be winning wore armor around his shoulder, and a stripe of bright blue around his neck.

That made Greg pause for a moment. Was this a Blue instead of a Green?

But no, the Hylian’s torso was covered in undeniable green.

Similarly, the one pinned under the Blue-Green wore a Red tunic, but under that, a dark Green gave him away. Perhaps the two were some sort of hybrid? The concept of hybrid Bokoblins was foreign. Bokoblins were always one color, but who knew with Hylians.

Most Hylians did not accept Reds into their groups, as they were hostile towards others of their own kind. Maybe that was why Blue-Green was wrestling with Red-Green?

A few yards away, another pair sat on a log watching the pair fight, with a third tending to a fire nearby. The two sitting on the log were the biggest Hylians Greg had seen in this group. If he had to pinpoint any of them as the leaders of this clan, it would be these two. One was covered in armor, which Greg had only seen on the most skilled Hylians, and only in small amounts. The fact that this Hylian was covered in the stuff was intimidating. Greg couldn’t really tell what color this Hylian was, as the armor covered him, but this must be the leader. He was big enough for it, and the one next to him seemed to be showing him a good amount of respect.

The Hylian sitting next to the Leader seemed more like the run-of-the-mill Green. (Not that any Green was run-of-the-mill, but whatever.) The most notable thing about him was the wolf pelt he wore around his shoulders, which did give Greg pause.

His sisters wore the skins of large animals they hunted, as a symbol of their higher status. Neither of them had a wolf pelt, though. Wolves were strong creatures, and best left alone. It could take an entire clan to take down a fully grown wolf, let alone a whole pack. The fact that this Hylian, who wasn’t even the leader of this clan, was wearing the wolf pelt so openly was clearly a warning.

The third was crouched over the fire, moving the logs around with a stick for some reason. This one was a White-Green, a long white covering over his shoulders. He was listening to the conversation between the Leader and Wolf-Pelt, occasionally adding his own thoughts.

Once Greg was able to get over his shock of seeing so many Greens in one place, he was able to see that they weren’t actually all Greens. Two of them, huddled closely together, were just wearing pale Blue. Not quite as concerning as the others, but still strong.

One of them was smaller than any of the others in the clearing. He wore a pale blue covering. Greg paused in confusion. In a group of powerful Greens, why would they tolerate a small, weak Blue? Clans could become stronger, as Greg’s was, as stronger Bokoblins were born. But if his clan was made up of Blues, and a Red was born, they would be killed or driven out. There was no room for weakness.

But then again, Hylians were very strange. Perhaps, since this Blue was obviously a youngling, they had simply not matured into their adult Green coloration? It was possible.

The youngling was crouched over a strange flat rock, held by the other Blue. Now, this one was the same size as the others in the group, and obviously an adult. The excuse of being a youngling did not apply to him.

So why….?

The Blue shifted, lifting the strange rock, and handing it off to the Youngling, joined the White-Green near the fire. As he did, Greg caught sight of a familiar symbol on the rock.

An eye.

The symbol was not strange to him. It was scattered all over the land on large black rocks. However, to see it on a smaller rock like this… seemed familiar, and not in a good way.

Greg strained his memory to try to remember when he had seen this before, and then it hit him.

He had seen this strange rock before, when Derek IV was killed. He had gone after a pair of Brown Hylians who had unwisely traveled off the road. Greg, still being quite young at that point, had hung back to see how it was done. It had gone well for a while. Derek IV chased the pair, swinging a club at them, while the Hylians screeched in fear and scrambled away.

Then, swooping down from the sky like a bird of prey, a Blue Hyalin descended. True to legend, Greg had watched the Browns scramble toward the newcomer for protection. Derek IV, likely having fallen asleep during their sire’s lessons, did not register the danger of this Hylian’s color, and ran straight towards the group.

Greg had watched in horror as his brother was cut down with graceful ease. He hadn’t even had time to squeal a battle cry before he was falling to the earth with a flaming sword buried in his side.

He continued to stare in mounting terror as the Blue bent down and harvested his brother's teeth. The Blue had even taken Derek IV’s weapon for his own before his brother finally took enough fire damage, and broke down into smoke, disappearing.

The Blue had approached the Browns, who hadn’t even looked disgusted at the looting of a body, and had instead gifted the Blue food as a token of appreciation for his protection.

Greg came to a sudden realization. This was no Blue. He was colored like one, but he was alone. According to legends, Blues came in packs, ruthlessly efficient in working together. Besides that, Greg could imagine only one color that was that efficient at killing.

Greens.

Greg didn’t know why this Green was disguised as a Blue, But he didn’t stick around to find out. The last thing he caught sight of was a strange rock on the Green’s hip, with an ominous eye on the front of it. He had booked back to the safety of his clan’s camp. Not that he harbored any delusions that anyone in his clan would survive if the Green-in-Disguise found them.

Thankfully, he hadn’t, and Greg had grown up trying desperately not to fall into the same trap of attacking first and finding out the consequences later as Derek IV had.

Now, the same strange eye symbol was back, on the same strange rock, in the possession of the same Green-in-Disguise. Well, the same clan, at least. The Youngling was still fiddling with the rock, occasionally calling out to the Green-in-Disguise. Greg could only assume it must be some type of weapon, if a Green was in possession of it.

Greg stumbled back, turning to flee. He had saved himself once by fleeing in the face of one Green, and he wouldn’t make the mistake of trying to take on seven Greens at once.

Wait- hold that thought. A rustle in the bushes on the opposite side of the clearing caught his eye. Against his better judgment, he crept back to look. If that was Jeff coming to look for him, and he stumbled into the encampment of a clan of Greens in the process, Greg was not going to be helping him.

Fortunately, (or unfortunately, Greg thought privately,) it wasn’t Jeff. It was two more Greens.

Greg felt faint, and nearly swooned on the spot as Wolf-Pelt called out in greeting to the two new arrivals.

These two new arrivals were underwhelming. They were both small. In fact, one of them was even smaller than the youngling already in the camp. His coloring was a strange mash-up of Blue, Red, and, oddly, Purple, which was a color that Greg had never heard of Hylians being. But he also had Green, plain as day. Greg had to wonder if this Four-Color was even younger than the Youngling. Maybe it wasn’t certain yet what his strength level was going to be?

The other was of a more reasonable height for a Hylian, although not as big as many of the others. He had brown coloration peeking out from underneath his green. Perhaps this was the weakest of them all? But again, if he was tolerated in this, frankly overpowered, clan of Greens, then there must be more to him than meets the eye.

But these two new arrivals, no matter how unthreatening they looked, meant the clan now numbered nine. Greg had never seen a Bokoblin clan this large, let alone a Hylian one, at least outside of the Great Hylian Camps. Normally, Hylians only traveled in small groups.

This was bad. If an entire clan of Greens had appeared in Hyrule, then the Hylians were getting stronger. He had to report this to his sisters.

With a determined grunt, Greg turned back to where he had left Jeff. He needed to collect him, and then head back. Under the circumstances, he didn’t think his sisters would care about them not finishing their patrol route.

When he arrived back to the place he left Jeff, his brother was still absorbed with kicking around that strange glowing blue ball from before. Greg didn't know what it was, but at this point he didn’t particularly care. He just wanted to get back to the slight safety of their camp.

Just as he was about to squeal at his brother that it was time to go, he heard a shout from behind him. It was one of the Greens, calling out. For a moment, Greg was worried that they had been discovered.

Then, he didn’t have to wonder anymore.

The weird glowy ball that Jeff had been playing with exploded in blue light. Before Greg could even shield his eyes against the light, it was over. The explosion had taken Jeff out in one hit. His brother's body was already disappearing into smoke, leaving nothing behind.

Greg knew they had been discovered. Somehow, this whole situation must have been a trap, and it had been set up by the Greens. They must have known that Greg was there the entire time.

These Greens were terrifying. Greg could hear Hylian footsteps moving in his direction, and booked it out of the clearing. He wasn't sticking around for them to find him. He was leaving.

At least his sisters couldn't put him with Jeff on patrol anymore.

~~~

It was a rather chilly night. The seasons were just changing in his Hyrule, splashes of reds and golds dotted here and there as some trees started to shed their leaves, and the autumn air wasn’t exactly warm or balmy.

The group usually waited until Wild was ready to make dinner to start a fire, but not tonight. Sky volunteered to collect firewood, and only stopped to set down his pack before leaving to search for kindling. Four and Hyrule also left to scout the area, and make sure there weren't any threats lingering nearby.

Wild helped Time and Twilight move some fallen logs into the clearing for makeshift benches, and then collapsed onto the nearest one. He sighed, and pulled his boots off, shaking a pebble out of the left one that had been bothering him for hours. He didn’t immediately put the boots back on, letting his feet relax after a long day of walking.

Wind settled next to him, Time and Twilight not far off. Legend and Warriors were already bickering about something or another, snarking at each other for where they were perched across the empty fire ring.

Wind sniffed next to him. “Goddess, Wild, your feet stink! Why did you take your shoes off?”

Wild very maturely stuck out his tongue at the younger hero, pointedly ignoring Time’s muttered: “Don’t encourage him, we already have one squabbling pair, we don’t need another.” Wild stuck his dirty boots back in his slate, pulling out one of his cleaner pairs. Wind, forgetting the apparent stench, shifted closer in interest.

“So, how many different sets of clothing do you keep in there?” Wild shifted to show Wind his slate, swiping through the armor and clothing he accumulated on his journey.

“So, this is the Sheikah stealth set. It’s the first set of clothes I bought after waking up from my shrine. I got it in Kakariko. Before that, I was basically wearing a set of rags I found in my Shrine.”

A rustle from across the clearing drew Wild’s attention as Wind continued to poke at the slate. It was just Sky, carrying an armful of wood. Before the Skyloftian could start to set up the fire, Warriors took things one jeer too far, causing Legend to leap across the pit, tackling him off his log. Sky didn’t even do a double-take, ignoring the two wrestling near the side of the clearing, and started to get the fire going.

Next to Wild, Time and Twilight were watching the fight with interest. Twilight turned to Time. “Should we stop them?”

Time shrugged. “They’re not actually hurting each other, are they? Think of it as hand-to-hand combat training.” Twilight stared at Time as Legend got pinned underneath Warriors, and screeched, biting his hand in retaliation.

Time stared back. There was a moment of silence, before Time spoke again. “Fifty rupees that Legend wins.”

Twilight sighed, returning his gaze to the fighting pair. “You’re just as bad as the others sometimes, you know that?” Time just raised an eyebrow in question. Twilight groaned, defeated. “I’ll take that bet.”

Wild snorted. Twilight liked to pretend that he was less of a gremlin than the rest of them, but really, he just hid it better.

“Hey, isn’t that what the Warriors was teasing you about the other day?” Wind’s question brought Wild’s attention back to his slate. Showing on the screen was the Gerudo set, displayed on the digital form of Wild himself. “Wait, it’s yours?”

Wild’s hand darted out, covering the younger boy's mouth. “You will tell no one about this.” He hissed, eyes darting around the clearing, checking to see if anyone had heard. It looked like he was in the clear. It wasn’t that he was particularly ashamed of wearing those clothes, but he would rather spare himself the teasing he knew would be imminent if the group found out.

Wind batted his hand away from his mouth, grinning at him mischievously. “Okay, I won’t.” Wild waited, not believing that it would be that easy. “You have to make seafood curry for dinner though.” Wild hummed, considering. It wasn’t as bad as he thought Wind was going to demand.

“Alright,” He acquiesced. He was planning on making Creamy Vegetable Soup tonight, but he thought seafood curry was just as good. It was no trouble for him to switch up the menu. He had a couple of nice Progys in his slate they needed to eat anyways. He would have done this even if Wind just asked him, though, so he wasn’t sure why-

“But you have to make it spicy.” Wind insisted. Ah, there it was.

“Sure.” He shrugged. Most of the others wouldn’t be pleased. Seafood Curry had a lot of goron spice in it, at least it did the way Wild liked to make it. Wind, Legend, Four, and himself were the only ones in the group who could handle spice. He and Wind had grown up eating spicy food, and Legend traveled to very distant lands, building up a tolerance to all sorts of spices. Four could only tolerate spice occasionally. (It varied. Sometimes he couldn’t even handle a spiced meat skewer, and sometimes he inhaled the spiciest food Wild could make. It was very strange.) Most of the others in the group had low spice tolerance.

Usually, Wild acknowledged that fact in his cooking, and cut back on the spice, but since Wind was asking…

Well, he certainly wouldn’t complain.

He handed the slate off to Wind, rising to join Sky next to the fire, to make sure it was at the right temperature for seafood curry.

Another rustle from the bushes around the clearing drew his attention to the returning Hyrule and Four.

“Anything to report, boys?” It was Twilight who called out, as Time was still snickering at the sulking Warriors and his own purse, now fifty rupees heavier.

“Nothing of importance,” It was Four who answered, coming to sit next to Time. “There’s a stream a few minutes away, and we found a set of Bokoblins footprints, but they were days old.”

“Good, now we should-“ Wild’s attention was drawn away from both the fire and Twilight’s response by a call from Wind.

“Hey, Wild! What does this button do?” That sentence made dread well up in Wild’s stomach. There were only so many buttons to push on the slate, and Wild’s mind flashed back to a very crucial detail that he had forgotten.

He spun around, nearly hitting Sky with the stick he had been using to poke the fire. He could barely get out a shrieked “Wait!” Before there was an ominous click, a moment of tense silence, then-

BOOM.

Right. The bomb he had dropped earlier, and had forgotten to dissipate.

He pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling all the world like he was every one of his one hundred and seventeen years. He let out a slow breath, feeling everyone’s eyes on him. Was this what Twilight felt like all the time? He needed to go easier on his mentor.

“That button explodes things, Wind.”

A silent, judgmental stare from Time told him to fix the mess he’d created. With a huff, he heaved himself to his feet, and motioned for Wind to follow him. “Come on, kid. Let’s go do damage control.”

~~~

A/N: You know, writing this made me headcanon that Bokoblins have truly excellent color vision.

Anyways, here's what all the colors mean;

Brown: Average Traveler // White: Sheikah // Red: Yiga // Blue: Hyrule’s Military // Green: Heroes

Blue-Green: Warriors // Red-Green: Legend // White-Green: Sky // The Leader: Time // Wolf-Pelt: Twilight // Youngling: Wind // Green-in-Disguise: Wild // Brown-Green: Hyrule // Four-Color: Four

[wutheringmights]

I just read the newest chapter and I loved it! ♥ ♥ ♥ I was wondering if you had some hcs about the engineer that you could share?

Awww I'm glad you like it! I just spent 5 minutes trying to figure out what "HCS" meant before realizing I'm a tired idiot who can't read lol

But yeah! I got some headcanons for the engineer/Spirits I can share!

These headcanons are a mix of things I generally believe for any iteration of the Hero of Spirits and a few things exclusive to CTB. It's pretty obvious which are which.

Technically this is slight spoilers since most of this is not mentioned in-story, but Warriors is a such a self-centered asshole that I'm not sure when I can get him to explicitly ask about Spirit's backstory lol

This got super long and kind of just became me talking about Spirits's entire backstory, so enjoy:

Spirits is sixteen during the course of Spirit Tracks, mostly because that was the vibe I got from him when I first played the game (I made him younger for CTB)

He's not descendant from Wind (who I maintain disappeared instead of settling in New Hyrule); instead, he's Aryll's great grandson

His family name used to be Outset, but when everyone who originally immigrated from Outset island took on that last name, they changed it to Aryll to reflect the family matriarch

So Spirit's full name is Link Aryll, though there is a branch of his family that uses Macaryll instead

The Aryll/Macaryll family is huge; everyone has at least six aunts and uncles on all sides of the family and they can trace back how they are related to Aryll

"I'm Grandma Aryl's third son's second daughter's fifth child." -someone Spirits is related to, probably

He actually never met his great grandmother; she died before he was born.

Spirit's dad was full-blooded Lokomo while his mother was Hylian; his mother passed a few months after he was born after never truly recovering from childbirth while his father died in a fishing accident when he was eight

He went to live with an aunt and uncle who owned a general store; their relationship was polite at best. The aunt and uncle told Spirits upfront that they intended to give the store over to his cousin when he was older so Spirits needed to come up with his own life plan

Spirits didn't necessarily mind since he never wanted to work in a store for the rest of his life, but the ultimatum made it clear that they didn't care for him like a son

To this day, their relationship isn't strained and he doesn't hate them. But whenever they meet, he's overly polite; they're more acquaintances than family

He's cool with his cousin though. They have different interests so they aren't best friends, but they're okay.

Spirits also always had his spirit-sensing abilities. It's really like a sixth sense to him, as normal and automatic as seeing and hearing; he actually didn't realize this wasn't normal until he was a little older

His abilities at this point are limited to sensing vague ideas of a person's spirit (if they're light or dark, etc.), and seeing ghosts (which are really rare. You have to have a lot of power yourself to become one)

(Note: I'm not the only one who headcanons Spirits as having spirit sensing abilities; if you know who can up with the idea, please let me know so that I can tag/credit them!)

The elder of his village told him that select Lokomo had minor spirit sensing abilities, and those who did were traditionally made elders of their villages; being more of a follower than a leader, Spirits adamantly dismissed that idea and refused to be trained on how to hone his spirit senses. He also never learned any of the religion behind it

Which was a little worrisome since his abilities are way stronger than most

Besides, he's always liked trains and it's been his dream to travel around the kingdom as an engineer; being some town's elder would get in the way of that

Anyway, Spirits had to pass a written exam before being accepted as an apprentice engineer, so he's very studious and has a lot of drive (pun unintended?)

He went to live with his Uncle Niko during his apprenticeship in another town; Niko isn't related to him, but he's been a friend of the family for so long that everyone secretly thinks he's actually related to someone and they just forgot who

Niko is his real family, hands down. Those two are as thick as thieves and bring out the wild side in each other

A preteen Spirits used to think Niko was a little lame and kind of embarrassing, but now that he's older, he's all for Niko's weird old man-ness and has even picked up on some of his weird old man-ness himself

That being said, they're both disasters. Neither can clean or cook or do any kind of housekeeping and their shared house is cluttered with Niko's art projects and Spirit's half-finished tinkering

Growing up, Spirits had no idea he was related to the legendary Hero of Wind; Aryll died before he was born, but even in life she was filled with too much grief over her missing brother to discuss it often. Within the family, being related to the Hero of Wind is a rumor at best.

Of course, Niko knows but keeps it a secret from Spirits; once he got back from his LU-adventure, Wind told Niko about the curse of the Hero's Spirit. Then he went missing post-New Hyrule's founding, which really drove the terror of the curse home. Niko thought he could keep Wind's family from falling victim to it by not inadvertently encouraging them to follow in Wind's footsteps

So Niko kept it a secret

And obviously, that didn't work

Spirits' quest to save New Hyrule resulted in him realizing that he needed to embrace his Lokomo heritage and get a handle on his spirit powers; Anjean gave him a little training during his quest but afterwards he traveled around the kingdom to find as many people as he could with abilities like his

They were all really excited to teach him what they knew, especially the religious aspects of the abilities; Spirits is still not the most religious person, but he at least understands and embraces the cultural significance of what he is able to do

This is where he learned how to read a person's Spirit to get an idea of their life experiences and the kind of person they're like; he can also detect where a person is without having to put much effort into it

At Zelda's encouragement, he also got more sword training from the Castle Guard. She offered him a place among them, but he turned it down in favor of remaining an engineer. He still helps around as a swordsman when he can and will act as Zelda's body guard

Speaking of which, he and Zelda are 100% in love. Their relationship started out as puppy love but over the years as matured into a deep connection built on mutual respect

When he's working on designing new engines or parts for his trains, he occasionally brings his drafting materials to the castle gardens so that he can work alongside Zelda; sometimes she falls asleep leaning against his arm and he has to be careful not to shake her awake as he works

Whenever she need to go anywhere in the kingdom, she rides in his train and teasingly criticizes his conducting; he takes a lot of pride in his conducting, but he lets her get away with it since her critiques are objectively hilarious

He keeps a tiny pictograph of her taped to his dashboard

But there's a bit of a problem with their relationship, and it's that he doesn't know if he wants to be the prince consort or not. He does love her, but that would mean giving up being an engineer in favor of being stuck at the castle all of the time

Plus, he's doing great as an engineer; he's saving up to open his own garage that produces his own train designs

Eventually, he leaves for the War of Eras

His experiences with Warriors leaves him more sure than ever that he doesn't want to be the prince consort, resulting in him ending his relationship with Zelda shortly after he returns home

It hurts for a long time to be around her since all of his old feelings keep coming back, so he keeps his distance for a long time; it takes a few years for him to go back to hanging out with Zelda as friends

But now she's approaching marriage age, and he spends a lot of time when he's on body guard duty super jealous of these princes and ambassadors from foreign kingdoms who try to court her

But again, he knows he can't be in a relationship with her so he respectfully and silently pines over her (I'm just a sucker for pining, okay?)

Okay, more random headcanons that are a little less sad

Spirits likes super spicy food, but since he can't cook to save his own life, he just eats whatever he can get his hands on

He's super dirty all of the time, just the epitome of scrappy; there's always a smear of oil somewhere on his person

He actually really hates bathing and only keeps his curly hair in check to comply with train safety regulations

He's really polite and a little shy, but once he loosens up, he gets talkative and personable

He's also very contemplative; he likes conducting so much because he gets to spend long stretches of time alone with nothing but his thoughts

His trauma/stress response is to shut down; he goes quiet, loses energy, and sleeps for longer periods of time

He tends to gravitate towards socializing with people who are older than him, which gets him labeled as being no fun by his peers (despite having someone as cooky as Niko for a uncle)

Post-adventure, his best friend is Linebeck III. They're drinking buddies. Neither can really explain why they even like hanging out as much as they do

(I just like the idea of Linebeck accidentally getting attached to one kid and his whole bloodline getting forever tangled with Wind's; they're bros for multiple lifetimes)

Not only is Spirits good at designing and building new machinery, but he's great at tinkering; he can fix almost anything and will buy broken things on purpose just to have something to fix

No one really knows he's a hero; he doesn't like the attention and, at his request, Zelda did her best to keep his involvement with Malladus a secret

Because not many common people know about his adventure and records of New Hyrule are very rare, he's considered in Warrior's time to be a forgotten hero; some scholars believe that a Hero of Spirits may have once existed, but if he did, no one really knows who he was or what he did to serve the bloodline of Hylia

[russeliarat]

Zora Anatomy - Muscles and Organs

Masterlist

More content! Obviously can’t list every organ in the body, even though I’ve studied this casually since like Year 4, so this’ll just be a list of changed stuff and descriptions tbh. I’m really tired at the moment and these are written in advance so the uploads of these probably won’t be consistent lol. As always, my asks are open if you have any requests or questions! Consider this an AU since this series are just my headcannons about the world of Zelda and won’t be 100% accurate by any chance.

Content under the cut!

Zora, Gerudo, and Hylians have fairly similar organ anatomy, with most organs being placed in similar anatomy, however, and will have larger and stronger organs. Muscle tissue is often a lot stronger than the average Hylian to power through water at faster speeds. It’s quite flexible around the back, arms, legs, and dorsal tail to give a wider range of motion. From top to bottom of specialized organs:

 ~ The Brain: Zora are just as intelligent as other races across Hyrule. Just like others, the brain manages their movements, emotions, senses, imagination, and communications among other things. They have heightened hearing and are sensitive to touch and taste to make up for their lack of smell due to possessing no nose. Their sight is generally poor in low-light environments and so have adapted bioluminescence to identify and see other Zora underwater and at night. Due to their poor sight, they often have larger, darker pupils in low light and will constrict their pupils to take in less light when in daylight. The eyes also react to emotions and constrict either vertically or horizontally.

 ~ Vocal Chords: Unlike previous variations of the race, the gills are located closer to the lungs, and so leaves more space for vocal chords. This means they are larger and can be more powerful. Zora are often described as loud and their yells can be devastating to ear drums, but are also known as amazing vocalists due to the projection of their voices and the lengths they can hold notes. The vocal chords are also shown to twitch involuntarily when emerging from water as the gills and lungs inflate back to their normal size, and a fully grown Zora has been observed to chirp on occasion.

 ~ The Lungs and Gills: Ribcages tend to be long and wide to fit their anatomy and so have much bigger, stronger lungs. This allows them to take in more oxygen and go longer periods of time above water without oxygen. The lungs are collapsible and inflatable, which occurs when a Zora submerges their mouth or emerges their gills from water respectively. The gills are small compared to the lungs and fit flush against the ribcage to create a larger surface area. The gills visible folds open and allow water to pass through, whilst shutting off the rest of the respiratory system through a large flap in the throat. The gills will always take precedent over the lungs, breathing for a Zora even when the head is not submerged in water, but the gills are.

 ~ The Heart: Zora hearts are anywhere from 2-4 times larger than the average Hylian adult’s. This creates more powerful beats to pump blood around the body. It also beats twice or thrice as fast as Zora tend to be anywhere from 7ft to 10ft tall on average. In some, usually from a genetic mutation, Zora organs can be up to 20ft tall and so their heart will be very large and beat incredibly fast. The largest heart observed had a heartbeat 6 times faster than a Hylian’s, which could be heard from around 3ft away from the Zora’s chest.

 ~ Digestive Organs: The digestive system is highly evolved from other races as Zora bodies are able to absorb almost if not all the nutrients in food and drink. Most efficiently taken in is water, used to hydrate the entire body, and is done very quickly as a Zora will die slowly and painfully without it. The stomach is quite large and so Zora tend to eat a lot to re-fuel. Most food is broken down into stomach acids before the excess is transported to the bladder and out of the cloaca. The filtering of nutrients is done in the stomach, liver, and kidneys.

 ~ Reproductive Organs: Varying between males and females, reproductive organs sit in the lower quadrant of the waist. ‘Exposed’ genitalia are closed off by slits to prevent injury. Those with uteruses do not experience periods, and instead experience a monthly fluid flush, typically lasting less than a day. Uteruses are meant to produce young in eggs and are flexible enough to expand for a litter of around 3 to 8 eggs. 

~ Bioluminescence: Very small pockets of bioluminescent cells called Photophores sit around the crest of the dorsal tails, fins, and occasionally knees, feet, and hands. These activate in low-light and allow Zora to see each other underwater or at night due to their poor eyesight in the dark. It also glows unique colours (and occasionally patterns or splotches due to genetic mutations) which allow Zora to identify each other. It is usually quite hard for other races to see this, but will sometimes be visible for those used to low-light conditions.

[holdingmyworldsdestiny]

"How could I forget? Impa was so angry when she found out. I was not allowed even in the courtyard for a week! ...Nor did I have the opportunity to see what happened to you."

A broken arm? She hadn't known it to that extent. Just that they'd both fallen from a tree. Zelda learned from that day. She learned not to reach out over precarious branches, just for the sake of getting a beautiful flower.

"If it were me with a cold, you, Impa, and likely everyone in the kingdom would be telling me to stay in bed. So why not you? I feel as though you are just as important as I am."

Yes, she was the princess, but... maybe her concern for other people was stronger than it should have been. Zelda felt as though her slightly older brother was just as necessary as she was, no matter what her father thought.

His question didn't take long to answer, as she'd been thinking about the same thing for quite some time.

"When I come into full power, I do have some changes I want to make."

Zelda picked a rose out of the garden, perfectly avoiding any thorns, and holding it to her nose to enjoy the scent. Her eyes closed, as she thought about her dreams.

"I want Hylians to be more respectful of the other races that live here in Hyrule. I want to initiate trade with neighboring countries, for luxuries and necessities alike, that we may not have an easy time collecting here. And most importantly... to me, anyway. " Zelda's eyes open again, and she's smiling.

"I do not want to be seen as a fragile porcelain doll any longer. I can fight too, and if my country is on the line, I will. No more being told to hide, while everyone else fights the kingdom's battles for me. I understand the risk, but I cannot sit idly by while people suffer. Not again. My father may be unwilling to put his life on the line, but I am not."

▴ — @atimelesslullaby Siblings.

"I think I'm sick."

Quiet, contempaltives, he frowns. "I--don't think I've ever had a cold before." This was probably a strange conversation, especially when they're standing in the middle of the garden. But he already said it, and it was already out there. Mostly, he was hoping they could head back inside so he could get a tissue. A cold isn't going to keep him from doing his job. He's supposed to protect her, he'll do that even if he's stabbed and dying.

"When I was ten, I broke my arm. Do you remember? You fell from a tree, I went to catch you, did it wrong and we both fell. You were fine, little banged up and startled, I broke my arm." He remembers from that Impa lecturing her on endangering herself. Zelda got a lot of those lectures from his mother. She bandaged his arm up and taught him how to properly catch someone, how to better his stance and balance his weight.

He got scolded for not catching her better.

Sheik shifts a bit in place. He changes his topic a little bit, to something a bit more curious. "What are you going to do as Queen?"

[luimagines]

I was thinking about a Human!reader from our world of course and them having an interest in History. Like they have the knowledge of the world. One day, maybe Sky or Wind or Hyrule ask to know about their world.(•‿•)

Could you imagine their reactions to the amount of wars and stuff we have been through? Or the way medicine has adapted overtime? Fun fact: A man named John Hunter innoculated someone (some believe himself) with two STD's so he could understand if they were the same thing. Mad lad. Or the way our weapons have become stronger? And the way humans adapted and evolved through time? Our bodies have physically changed so much as well. (((;ꏿ_ꏿ;)))

(Do recommend people have a look at medical history, among one of the most interesting studies I've ever looked at (✿^‿^) )

And then then the fact that the Human race is over 200,000 years old. We are not weak, we are among the strongest units out there. We outlived other versions of humans (Neanderthals) .

Compared to us, Hylians actually seem very weak. Since their magic is fading overtime, it seems they're becoming weaker. Only the Princesses and Heroes, as well as a select few of other Hylians are able to weild magic.

The Heroes all then have a new found respect for humans because holy moly, Napoleon, King Henry 8th, Cleopatra, Boudicca, Joan d'arc etc. I'd feel like they'd be in awe of some of the people from our world.

Could you imagine them learning about Henry 8th, like they'd all be like "Ew".

Just a world history appreciation post. Have a good day ＼(^o^)／

~N

I think this would be a very interesting concept for them as well because of the fact that humans are the dominant species on our planet. Assuming that this particular human is from our timeline.

That being said, while I'm not much a history nerd myself, I think it would traumatize them to say the least. For all of Hyrule's turbulence I don't think it's come as close to the destruction or death toll that our world has.

And another thing... that's kinda off topic but it made me think of it, is that Hylians don't exist here. So imagine a human reader where they meet the chain and like.... your ears are fake right?

And with time they all get used to each other and whatever, and it comes into the conversation that hylians- guess what- only exist in Hyrule. They're not some lesser race or going extinct. They straight up aren't' around.

I would be curious to explore that idea for them to have been told their whole lives that humans are lesser only to learn that not only are they out skilled, out survived, and out numbered, but I wonder how it would be to see them faced with that idea of how isolated their people are.

But this isn't what that was about, I just felt like sharing.

Either way, I think Wild, Legend and Wind would be the most interested to hear about the history and how the domino effect takes over, hitting even the more secluded places that had no business in the decision making process to begin with.

I don't Sky would take gruesome information well. And Hyrule would feel a bit put off by it but for a different reason than the other suspect.

Time and Twilight would hear it and listen but make no comment nor would they go out of their way to learn more. Like cool.... anyway... sort of deal. They're not exactly history buffs.

Four and Warrior are on the boat that thinks it's interesting but also don't know what they would be getting into if they asked for reader to continue. They listen with the same interest as someone who is listening to a soap opera... but through the wall. Sometimes it's ignored other times they have the rapt attention with the occasional snacks. They talk amongst each other about how they would have gone a certain instead... They haven't fully processed that these were real people once upon a time, but honestly.. Some of us don't either. So it's fine.

[linkedhearts]

Some of my headcannons about the gods and Links. It’s really more of an AU at this point.

•I believe while Fierce Deity is a god of war he fights on the good side.

•I like to think he’s actually Hylias older brother who used to care for her deeply.

•When the Hylians started treating the other species of Hyrule unfairly he chose to step in (the ostracization of the Gerudo, the massacre of the Sheikah).

•Hylia didn’t like that he was fighting against her chosen people even though what they were doing was wrong so she ordered him not to interfere with her world and it’s people. He loved his sister so to avoid conflict he backed off.

•When Hylia split into three each sister gained a part of her personality.

•Farore is the kindest. She just wants people to live in peace. She’s conflicted towards Nayru’s hate towards their brother. (We’ll get to that)

•Din is hotheaded and she doesn’t really think before she acts or speaks, lead mostly by emotion. But she still cares and has kind heart. She respects Deity for his strength, battle strategy, and his dedication to protecting the people of Hyrule.

•Nayru is the worst part of Hylia. She is her stubbornness. Jealousy. She believes that she is the one true goddess and she should get her way. She believes all other beings are beneath her and her chosen people should be allowed to do as they please. She is the leader of the three sisters.

•That being said she knows, even as Hylia, she is not stronger than her brother. She becomes paranoid he will try to overthrow her. She is scared of his power and tries to convince him he should split into three like her that way he does not hold to much power.

•Deity refused.

•Thus begins a bit of a sibling feud. Mostly one-sided. Deity still loves his sister/sisters and chooses not to engage.

•The feelings in Nayru don’t subside but grow stronger and she convinces her sisters they must do something about him.

•Her sisters don’t quite like the idea she has in mind, but she is the wisest of them and therefore she must be making the right decision.

•They trick Deity into a false sense of security. He believed they were putting the past behind them and making amends. But instead, they use his trust against him and when he’s weakest trap him and his power in a mask.

•They seal him away in his temple in the moon and it isn’t until Time’s adventure that he is finally found.

•Deity helps Time through his adventure in Termina, this is how he learns Hylia has been sending children to do they’re dirty work and it infuriates him.

•But he is honest with Time: if you keep using my power, it may alter you. You are only mortal after all.

•But Time was a child at the time. He was scared of the monsters and the war, and chose to continue to use the Deity. It did change him.

•As Time got older he wore the mask less and less now understanding the weight of the power, but after wearing it for so long they still have a connection and can speak to each other.

[melanielocke]

Entrance to the Forbidden City

This is a one shot Breath of the Wild AU, where Thomas is Link and is seeking a way into the Gerudo city. Close the the city, he encounters someone who might be able to help him. At this point, I have no plans to continue this, but you never know.

Taglist: @alastaircarstairsdefenselawyer @foxglove-airmid @alastair-esfandiyar-carstairs1 @justanormaldemon @styxdrawings @ipromiseiwillwrite @a-dream-dirty-and-bruised @alastair-appreciation-month @writeordie-4 @amchara

Thomas sheathed his sword as he entered the Kara Kara Bazaar. He wouldn’t be needing it here, he hoped, but during his travels he’d learnt to always be on guard. Calamity Ganon was growing stronger, and with him increased the number of monster attacks, not to mention he’d heard the rumors the yiga clan was active in the Gerudo Desert. His next stop should be Gerudo City, but there was a problem. For centuries, the famous city of the Gerudo had forbidden entrance to men. Thomas believed it had something to do with previous evil kings leading the Gerudo into pointless wars, but there hadn’t been male Gerudo in centuries. He needed to speak to the chief about appeasing Vah Naboris and freeing Urbosa so he could defeat Calamity Ganon, but lately the Gerudo had been on high guard and the chief would not be leaving the city.

He’d come to the Kara Kara Bazaar instead, a place where the Gerudo traded with Hylian men who were not permitted entrance to the city in the hopes of finding someone who knew another, secret way into the city. Thomas didn’t want to harm the Gerudo and respected their customs, but he liked to belief this was a life and death situation. He overheard a couple of Hylian men.

The Bazaar was a nice place centered around an oasis. A little Gerudo girl was swimming in the water, and Thomas would like to go for a swim later. The desert heat had proven a bit much for him and he was glad for the shade the buildings offered. Most of the traders were seated outside on carpets, displaying their wares.

‘It’s impossible to get inside,’ one of the Hylian men argued.

Thomas was not included in the conversation, but the men did not have the good sense to keep their voices down.

‘There are rumors, of a man in the city,’ another said. ‘There must be some truth to it.’

‘Even if you could get past the gates, I imagine traversing a city full of Gerudo women might be dangerous,’ Thomas said. ‘They’re quite handy with their spears and scimitars and would not look kindly to men sneaking in.’

‘You make a fine point,’ one of the men begrudgingly admitted.

‘Better to send messages through my wife,’ another said. ‘None of this hassle of getting in the city, I bring my goods here and if I need anything from the city, my wife makes the journey.’

Thomas, of course, didn’t have a wife. He’d woken up from a long slumber not long ago and had been fighting monsters and traveling Hyrule ever since. Not to mention he was not attracted to women.

‘I’ll have to find another way in then,’ Thomas said. ‘For I don’t have a wife to ask favors of.’

‘In that case, you might want to talk to that Gerudo girl over there,’ one of the men said. ‘The one selling cakes. Rumor has it she can get you inside the city, but she refuses to talk to any of us, she will only sell us her cakes.’

Thomas followed the man’s gaze to a lone girl with a golden brown skin sitting on a patterned Gerudo carpet. She wore a purple veil that covered both her hair and her face from the nose down, combined with a short purple top and a white sirwal Thomas knew was popular among Gerudo. Her stomach was bare, and Thomas realized that despite being slim, she was quite muscular. She wore lots of jewelry, a pair of topaz earrings. Thomas had been looking into getting a pair of his own as he’d been told they offered shock resistance.

She looked up, caught his stare. She had beautiful dark eyes, he noticed. He rarely looked at girls that way, he wasn’t sure what was different now.

‘She seems into you,’ one of the men said. ‘I say grab your chance, Gerudo girls are said to be hard to get.’

Thomas left the men behind, growing a little uncomfortable with their conversation, and sat down on the carpet beside the girl. He was aware that might be odd or too forward, but he needed to speak to her.

‘Seen something you like?’ she said.

Her voice was a little deeper than he’d expected of a girl, but perhaps that was because she was Gerudo. Thomas didn’t know how to respond. Was she flirting with him?

‘I like men,’ Thomas said.

He preferred being direct, and this way it would be clear he didn’t like her flirting, if that was what she’d intended to do.

The girl laughed. ‘I meant the cakes. As for your preferences… that shouldn’t be a problem.’

Thomas looked at the person in front of him. ‘You’re not a girl,’ he said.

‘Never claimed I was,’ the boy said. ‘My name’s Alastair.’

Gerudo males were rare, some said they didn’t even exist. Of course, it had been a hundred years and Thomas barely remembered anything. Perhaps Alastair was the first male Gerudo centuries. Or perhaps there were more of them nowadays.

‘Why are you dressed like a girl?’ Thomas asked and he realized that might be a stupid question.

‘I like these clothes,’ Alastair said. ‘And considering there are no male Gerudo, you can hardly say these clothes are gendered, are they? I think it’s nonsense for clothes to be gendered, yet so many male Hylians would rather die than put this on. I say, their loss, I look great. Besides, I’d die in the desert heat if I had to wear that tunic of yours. Not that it doesn’t look well on you.’

Thomas smiled. ‘Right. Sorry, I’m Thomas. And you’re right, what I’m wearing is pretty hot. I actually traversed the desert without my shirt, but I figured that would be indecent here.’

‘Now that’s something I wish I could have seen,’ Alastair said. ‘You could go for a swim here if you want.’

Thomas felt his cheeks flush. Was Alastair flirting with him? He had to admit, Alastair was very attractive, although he couldn’t see most of his face. A few locks of ink black hair escaped his veil, framing his face.

‘I’m looking for a way to get inside Gerudo city,’ Thomas said. ‘Do you know how? Wait, you must be forbidden entry as well, right? You’re a man too, even if you’re Gerudo.’

‘I’m not Gerudo,’ Alastair said.

Thomas frowned. ‘Really? You kind of look Gerudo.’

‘If I were, I’d be a lot taller. And my hair would be red, not black. No, I’m Hylian,’ Alastair said. ‘But I live around here, work for the Gerudo chief. I grew up in Hateno village, but I like it here better.’

‘Even if you’re not allowed in the city?’ Thomas asked.

‘You mistook me for a girl,’ Alastair pointed out. ‘I can go in the city whenever I like as long as I wear this. It’s almost time for me to pack up. Why don’t you join me for dinner? We can have whatever I don’t sell for desert.’

Thomas smiled awkwardly. He was very much interested in having dinner with Alastair and not only because Alastair might help him get inside Gerudo city.

One of the men he’d spoken to earlier came by to buy a mighty fruit cake. As it was made with banana, it increased someone’s strenght for a while. Thomas had always been interested in the strange way cooking meals and elixirs could come with beneficial effects.

‘Fond of bananas, are you?’ Alastair asked while scribbling something down.

‘My favorite,’ the man said with a smile. ‘Can’t get enough of them.’

He helped Alastair box the remainder of his cakes, and they went inside. The house was small, with a two person bed, kitchen and table all in the same room, and a small door leading to a bathroom. One wall was decorated with several Gerudo spears.

Alastair removed his veil and put it in a closet. His black hair reached his shoulders, falling in soft locks. Thomas wondered if only male Gerudo had dark hair. As far as he knew all Gerudo women had red hair. He was pretty, Thomas had always loved the combination of dark hair and eyes, and he once again wondered about Alastair’s possible interest in him. He’d definitely been flirting, right? But Thomas didn’t have time for romance, he reminded himself. Lucie was in Hyrule Castle all by herself, holding back the calamity. She needed his help as soon as possible. He was here to appease Vah Naboris.

‘I’ve been selling lots of fruit cakes with banana in them,’ Alastair said. ‘Bad news.’

Thomas frowned. ‘How is that bad?’

‘The yiga clan is said to be fond of them,’ Alastair said. ‘Have you heard of them?’

The yiga clan was a group of evil sheikah dedicated to resurrecting Calamity Ganon and destroying the Hylian champion. Thomas knew who they were, considering they were all after him.

‘I am familiar with them,’ Thomas said. ‘Fought off a couple of their foot soldiers during my travels.’

‘You’re very brave,’ Alastair said. ‘The real reason I’m here, selling cakes, is to investigate them. Hylian men come here, yes, but so do the yiga. I’ve had my eye on that man who bought the banana cake for a while. He’s been here on and off for some time, and the time intervals wouldn’t allow him to travel all the way to a Hylian town. He could come from the Gerudo Canyon Stables, perhaps, but the traveling distance would also match up with the hideout of the yiga clan.’

Thomas’ eyes went wide. ‘You know where their hideout is?’

Alastair gathered some materials onto the stove, Thomas could recognize hylian rice, goron spice and some vegetables.

‘Not yet,’ Alastair said as he added everything into his cooking pot and put on the stove. ‘We know it’s somewhere north of Gerudo city, and they’ve been around a lot. My sister’s been fighting them off, but not long ago they stole the thunder helmet, an heirloom to the Gerudo chief’s family.’

Thomas wondered how Alastair knew so much about the Gerudo. He claimed not to be one, yet dressed like one, seemed familiar with their customs and heritage.

‘I could help retrieve it,’ Thomas offered. ‘I’m familiar with the yiga clans’ fighting style, and am quite accomplished with this sword.’

Finding the master sword had been quite a journey, as Lucie had taken it back to Korok Forest. To find it, he’d had to traverse the lost woods in the north.

‘Good. I like your sword, it looks good. But first, I should introduce you to my sister,’ Alastair said. ‘The chief of the Gerudo.’

Thomas frowned. ‘You said you weren’t Gerudo.’

‘I’m not, my mother is,’ Alastair said. ‘And so is my sister.’

‘I’m confused,’ Thomas said.

‘Gerudo men are extremely rare, none have been born in centuries,’ Alastair said. ‘Gerudo women usually find Hylian men to be their lovers and have children. My mother was different, she was married to my father and lived with him in Hateno village, but she returned to her hometown not long ago. Anyway, this means all Gerudo have a non Gerudo father, and most only give birth to daughters. I’m the exception, but I’m Hylian, even if I do look a lot like my mother. Although you could say that culturally, I’m more Gerudo than Hylian.’

‘That’s weird,’ Thomas said. ‘I had no idea it worked like that. I always thought the children of a Gerudo are always Gerudo.’

‘Most of the time,’ Alastair said. ‘My sister is Gerudo like our mother, I’m Hylian like our father, even if I look like the Hylian version of my mother. People are always very confused. Since the chief of the Gerudo is my sister, I can get you an audience with her, no problem.’

‘Is that why they said you could help me get inside?’ Thomas asked.

‘I’ve spread that rumor myself, actually, to draw out the yiga,’ Alastair said. ‘Unfortunately, they still got in somehow to steal the thunder helmet. But I recognize you, you’re the Hylian champion and you carry the sword that seals the darkness. However, that won’t get you into the city.’

‘You know who I am?’ Thomas asked.

To most people, the Hylian champion was just a story, someone who’d died a hundred years ago. The Zora recognized him, of course, for to them a hundred years wasn’t much and most Zora from back then still lived. He’d encountered his cousin Christopher too, a renown Sheikah researcher of ancient technology who’d accidently turned himself into a six year old. But beyond them, people didn’t know who he was.

‘I recognize that sword. I’ve always been interested in weapons, although I prefer spears myself,’ Alastair said, gesturing to his collection. ‘My sister will be quite interested in you as well. But you can’t walk in like this.’

‘So, then how?’ Thomas asked.

Alastair smirked. ‘I think I have a veil and outfit that would fit you lying around here somewhere.’

Thomas frowned. ‘I’m not slim or feminine like you. No one’s going to believe I’m a girl, not with these shoulders.’

‘You’re right, your shoulders are quite extra ordinary,’ Alastair said. ‘But it’ll be fine. I think at this point, about half the city knows I’m not a girl, but as long as I dress like one no one kicks me out. Besides, Gerudo women are very tall and muscular.’

‘So all these men claiming it’s impossible, they could just put on some feminine clothes and they could go in? And they never realized?’

Some of them had facial hair, but Thomas imagined the veil would conceal that as well. He couldn’t imagine anyone would believe he was a woman ever, not with his height, his broad shoulders Alastair thought were extra ordinary. But according to Alastair, that didn’t matter as long as he was willing to dress like a girl. Alastair had a point though, clothes being gendered was strange.

Alastair rolled his eyes. ‘Most men are far too proud of their so called masculinity to dress in women’s clothes. Never mind that any Gerudo woman could defeat them in battle with their eyes closed. You seem like a strong warrior though, watching you fight a Gerudo warrior might be interesting.’

‘Thank you. You seem strong too. Do you often use your spears in battle?’

‘I am currently undercover, but I do fight. I travel sometimes, and these days anyone should be able to defend themselves if they wish to survive outside the few cities that remain.’

‘True,’ Thomas said. ‘I’ve encountered monsters everywhere lately.’

‘Ever defeated a molduga?’ Alastair asked. ‘My sister and I have. They’re very large and live in the desert, killing unsuspecting travelers. They are sensitive to shifts in the sands and will know where you are in an instant.’

‘I can’t say I have,’ Thomas said. ‘But I’m willing to give it a try. My ultimate goal is to defeat Calamity Ganon though.’

‘I hope you succeed,’ Alastair said. ‘If you ever need help, or someone to accompany on your journey, I’m more than willing.’

‘It would be dangerous,’ Thomas said.

‘Have you seen my spears? I defeated a molduga with those,’ Alastair said. ‘And my sister is even stronger a warrior than me. I’m better at stealth too, so if you need to break into the yiga hideout unseen you could use my help.’

Thomas guessed he should take Alastair up on that offer, he could always use extra help. His journeys could get lonely, would Alastair be willing to come with him beyond a trip to the yiga clan hideout?

‘Alright,’ Thomas said. ‘We can go together after I speak to your sister. When do we leave?’

Alastair made two plates of the food he’d made, and Thomas thankfully ate some curry. It didn’t have any special effects, but he loved eating food with goron spice.

‘After dinner. I think it’s best to start searching for the hideout early tomorrow morning, or it’ll get too hot. Or, and I think this is a pretty solid idea, we wait until it’s so hot you’ll have no choice but to take off your shirt.’

Thomas smiled. ‘Let’s go early. Not that I don’t want you to see… I just don’t think it would be practical, and we only just met…’

‘Don’t worry, I’m just joking. But you should go out with me sometime after we defeat Calamity Ganon.’

‘You’re going to help me?’ Thomas asked.

‘Of course,’ Alastair said. ‘If we break into the yiga clan hide out and wreak some havoc, I won’t have to go undercover as a cake vendor anymore. I’m sure Cordelia won’t mind if I join you.’

[moonrabbitisgay]

Fuck it, 12:06 a.m. more like time to WRITE

___

Somehow, when Ganon rises, Urbosa isn’t surprised.

It’s just all too cosmically perfect - that the world’s most primordial evil has the perfect timing, to awaken from a slumber of thousands of years at the precise hour at which their hope is lowest. Almost as if it knows.

Almost as if it knows.

That thought nags at her the whole time - as she rides a borrowed steed toward Gerudo Canyon, as she jogs (!) all the way from the stable to Kara Kara Bazaar, as she takes a sand seal the last leg to Gerudo Town, as she boards Vah Naboris. Almost as if it knows - as if it had not, in fact, been as dormant as they had thought, but somehow, had been watching. Planning.

When she activates the terminal and is met with orange light and swirling darkness, she still isn’t surprised. 

The beast is fast, but she is faster. It wields lightning, but hers is stronger.

The fight is a blur, at first. She strikes it down, again and again, dark liquid dripping from her blade, but every time it gets back up, seemingly unaffected. It swings its axe, and it should be as easy to dodge as it was the first ten times but she is beginning to tire and it slams into her shield and there is a horrible crunching sound and Daybreaker cracks, right down the middle. She roars and moves in to strike, abandoning her usual finesse for sheer rage, and the blade sinks in so deep that she nearly loses her grip on it. Then she yanks it out, and the beast screams and it draws back, darkness pouring from the wound like blood. She moves to strike again, but before she can, it retreats inward on itself, a radiant blue glow encompassing its form as it shrinks down into a sphere the size of her fist and flies out of sight.

For one brief, glorious second, she thinks it might be over.

No such luck - she turns around and there it is, hanging in the air, lightning crackling around it - not the lightning she knows and loves, but a sickly green kind, sour and corrupt as the beast itself. Metal stakes appear out of thin air and embed themselves into the platforms and the floor. She almost laughs. It’s too easy. 

As it screeches and raises its arm and the metal stakes begin to spark, she runs. She leaps up the nearest ramp, up until she’s by the terminal again, and she pulls one of the stakes out of the ground. It’s lighter than she expects. She hefts it over her shoulder and throws.

It hits its mark. The beast falls. She snaps her fingers and the lightning answers her call. The beast does not scream again, for it is dead.

The adrenaline wears off, and she collapses.

Burn marks stain her arms. There is blood running down her side. When she tries to stand up, putting weight on her right leg, it protests but does not give out. She grabs at the edge of the terminal and pulls herself upright. Her fingers dance over the stone, and the angry orange fades to a gentle blue.

She makes her way outside, to the control panel situated atop its head. It isn’t until she’s set Naboris’s sights on the castle that she looks up, and her stomach drops.

Ribbons of darkness, streaked through with a deep, purply red, wrap around Hyrule Castle. Beyond, perched on the side of Death Mountain, Vah Rudania is surrounded by the same. 

She looks to her right, towards Zora’s Domain. Vah Ruta is shrouded as well. To her left. Vah Medoh too, although underneath the darkness she can see the brighter red of its shields. As she watches, the red flickers, and then dies.

She doesn’t know how, but in her gut lies a horrible certainty that her fellow Champions have fallen.

Then, she will have to be strong enough for the four of them. She screams, and Vah Naboris fires.

___

It’s not enough.

Days pass. Ganon rages, but leaves Gerudo Town and the surrounding area alone. Zelda visits, wearing the same expression that she had at her mother’s funeral. She tells Urbosa that the Guardians and the other three Divine Beasts are all under Ganon’s control, that her father is dead, that Link is dead, that Purah and Robbie are taking him to the Shrine of Resurrection, that her powers had awakened only once it was far, far too late. She tells her that she is going back to the castle, to try and contain Ganon until Link awakens and regains his strength. Then she cries, and Urbosa wants nothing more than to hold her close and tell her that she loves her and that she has done her mother proud, but the words don’t come, so she just hugs her little bird as tightly as she possibly can and prays that it is enough.

That night, she dreams of a woman made of stone, whose smile is impossibly sad and whose words are impossibly cryptic. She says that she will give Urbosa one more gift - the gift of time. The rest, she will have to do on her own.

Over the next 100 years, Urbosa only cries twice.

___

She hates being old. Some days, she hates it so much that she wishes she too had succumbed to the scourge set upon her Divine Beast a century ago. She hates being bedridden, hates how the simple act of sitting up makes her back ache in twenty different places and gives her a headache to boot. But more than that, she hates how people treat her. She used to command respect. Now all she gets is reverence. People look at her and they see not a person, but a story. 

Some people are still good to her, though. She corresponds with the Sheikah elder, Impa. Riju, the young chieftain, speaks to her regularly, and her determination and maturity well beyond her years reminds Urbosa of her little bird. She almost forgets why she is allowed to remain alive in the first place.

Then Riju tells her of a mysterious tower, with a heart of orange light, that had suddenly risen near the highlands, and of others like it across the land. Two days later, she receives a letter from Impa.

Link has awoken. I have advised him to find his way to you as soon as he is able. His time in the Shrine of Resurrection robbed him of his memories and his strength, but he seems to be regaining the latter quite rapidly. I have done what I can with respect to the former, but you knew him far better than I ever did. I can only hope that seeing you again will help him remember more of his past. I am sure that this is an unnecessary request, but I beseech you to help him in any way you possibly can.

-Impa

Riju tells the guards to allow a Hylian voe by the name of Link to enter, should he come asking for the Lady Urbosa. No such voe arrives, but they do welcome in a Hylian vai who makes a beeline first to the arrow shop and then to the palace. “She” looks exactly as Urbosa remembers.

“You look as lovely as ever, Link,” she tells him, and he blushes. He stands in the doorway, awkward and hesitant, and she beckons him closer.

“You don’t remember me.” It is a statement, not a question, and he nods.

“I remember bits and pieces,” he signs. “You helped me sneak in. Zelda liked you. She spoke to you as if she’d known you her whole life.” 

She nods slowly. “What else do you remember? Of everything.”

“Very little,” he responds. “Voices. I remember voices, but not who they belong to. And...” He rummages in his bag and pulls out a small, familiar assemblage of wood and cloth. “I remember this...a gift. From Revali.”

It is something of a gift, she decides, that he remembers so little. A painful gift, to be sure, but if he remembered everything...even he would crumble under the weight of all that loss, revealed so suddenly, and in such dire circumstances. She tells him what she thinks necessary for him to know - the names of the Champions, where their Divine Beasts are, that the Zora may still remember him but he will be a stranger to the Goron and the Rito. 

She does not tell him about how Mipha would heal his wounds after every battle and gently scold him for his recklessness. She does not tell him about how Daruk would laugh heartily and slap him on the back with a hand almost as tall as he was. She does not tell him about how Revali would braid his hair each night until he leaned back into the Rito’s chest and fell asleep. Those are not her memories to share.

She tells him to visit, sometimes, and he nods uncertainly before leaving. She raises a hand in farewell, then drops it back down to her side, exhausted.

Urbosa knows the line between hope and belief is a thin one. But deep in her heart, she believes that this time, things will turn out differently.