#don’t even get me started on Ganondorf.

[artidoesthings]

I have thoughts about tears of the kingdom but feel like I’m gonna get shit for disliking this game.

(Proceeds to rant in the tags)

[smilesrobotlover]

AO3

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Chapter 3- Trip to Kakariko

It was dark outside by the time everyone was done with supper, and they all sat around the couch, speaking quietly while Kori began to doze off on Midna’s lap. Link watched them with a smile, his heart warm from having his family together again.

“Say Link,” Uli started, eyeing the sleepy birthday boy, “do you have any gifts for Kori?”

Kori’s eyes snapped open and he sat up, causing the adults to all laugh. “Gifts? For me?”

Link chuckled. “Well Kori, ten years old is a big deal. I figured that you should get a gift for this year.” Kori straightened his posture and excitedly listened to Link, which made him chuckle. “We figured that we could visit Kakariko tomorrow and you can pick out something from one of the shops there!”

Kori gasped. “We’re going to Kakariko tomorrow?”

Link nodded and Kori jumped with excitement. Midna giggled and hugged him close, but Link couldn’t help but notice a hint of sadness in her expression.

“We leave early in the morning,” Rusl said, ruffling his grandson’s head, “so you should get some sleep. You look tired anyways.”

Kori looked up at Midna and she nodded. The two got off the couch and bid their farewells to the family while Link got his lantern ready. Rusl followed the small family out of the house, and when they reached Link’s home, Rusl stopped him.

“Link, I need to talk to you about something,” he muttered, and Link looked at Midna and his son who stared back at him. Midna nodded at him and took Kori upstairs, leaving Link and Rusl alone.

“What’s going on, pa?” Link asked after a moment of silence, and his father pulled out a crumpled letter. Rusl handed it to Link and he read it, using the lantern to light up the words on the rough paper.

Dear Rusl,

I hope this letter finds you well, and I hope that you are able to share this with the hero. There have been a concerning number of disappearances across Hyrule, and I wish for you and the resistance to look into it. A woman from Kakariko village and a Goron from Death Mountain were among the missing, and I hope that you and Link could investigate their disappearances to find any leads. The others are investigating the other regions of Hyrule.

Meet me at Telma’s bar in a week from now to see if you find anything.

—Sheik.

Link frowned as he stared at the letter. He looked up at Rusl who was watching him intently, a serious look on his face.

“Huh,” was all Link was able to say.

“Luckily we’re already heading to Kakariko tomorrow, we can investigate the missing people from there.”

Link nodded, staring at the words on the letter in shock. How did he not know about any of this? He’s the hero of Hyrule. Even though Ganondorf was defeated so long ago, he still had a responsibility to Hyrule and its people.

“So! We’ll spend our time doing that while we get Kori his gift, alright?” Rusl said when Link stayed silent.

Link let out a heavy sigh, and Rusl rested his hand on his shoulder.

“Get some rest, we have a lot to do tomorrow.”

Link nodded. “I guess I’ll see you tomorrow. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight son.”

Link watched as he went towards the village, and he walked towards his own home. Midna was snuggling with Kori who was dozing off in her arms, and she was humming a tune. Her bell-like voice rang through the air, and Link smiled as he watched her rock Kori back and forth. When she finished the song, she glanced up at Link and tilted her head.

“Are you gonna sit down, or will you continue to gawk at me?”

Link snorted and walked over to her, kissing her temple.

“If you don’t mind, I’d love to gawk at you all night. I missed you.”

Midna giggled, and kissed his nose. “I missed you too.” She smiled as he sat down next to her, and rested her head on his own. “So what were you and Rusl talking about?”

Link sighed, the small, blissful moment making way for the anxiety he had from him and Rusl’s conversation. “He got a letter from the resistance, apparently there’s been some disappearances throughout Hyrule. We’re going to investigate it when we go to Kakariko tomorrow.”

Midna frowned. “Well, that’s not good. Do you have any idea what’s causing these disappearances?”

Link shook his head. “I honestly don’t know the details, I just know that a goron and a woman from Kakariko are among the missing. So me and pa have some work to do.” He stared at the door blankly as Midna grew silent.

“How many missing people are there?” She finally asked, and Link shrugged.

“I don’t know the details, Midna. But according to the letter that was sent to pa, it’s been a lot of people.”

“Goddesses…”

The two were silent for a long moment as Kori snored silently. Link reached out and tucked a stray hair behind his ear. His little boy’s eyes fluttered open, and he looked at the two confused.

“Hey kiddo, why don’t we put you to bed,” he whispered as Kori stared at him with sleepy eyes. Kori nuzzled his head into Midna’s neck and groaned.

“I don’t want to leave mommy,” he whimpered, and Midna gave Link a teasing look.

“My, he’s turning into you,” she said, and Link tilted his head.

“How so?”

“Always staying up late so you can spend every second with me?”

Link rolled his eyes and leaned away. “Ok ok, well we should put Kori to bed anyways. His little body needs sleep for healthy development, yeah?”

Kori grumbled and turned his head away, and Link chuckled, pulling him off of Midna.

“Come on kid, you can barely keep your eyes open.”

Kori groaned and hung onto Midna, who was pulling him away from Link. Link gave her a look and she grinned at him.

“He can stay here just like this Link, it’s his birthday!” She pleaded, and Link rolled his eyes, letting go. Kori quickly snuggled back into his mother and she began to rock him back and forth.

“You can carry him to bed then Midna,” he said as he sat back down, and Midna giggled at him.

“You’re lucky your father is such a softie, Kori,” Midna teased, and Link raised an eyebrow.

“You’re just as soft as I am.”

Midna smiled and they rested their heads against each other again as Kori fell asleep again.

“So, are you going to Kakariko with us, Midna?” He asked after a moment of silence.

Midna didn’t say anything, and Link looked up at her, his eyebrows drawn together.

“You’re not coming?”

“I– there’s something I need to talk to you about, Link,” she said quietly, “it’s why I was so late today.”

Link sat up and gave her his full attention, and she shrunk away a little.

“What is it, Midna?”

“Um… things have been getting… intense in the twilight realm. It was a miracle that I was able to get away when I did but… they want an heir, and they want her now.”

Link stared at her for a moment as the words sunk in, and his eyes widened in realization.

“Oh,” was all he was able to say. Midna let out a loud sigh and rested her head back.

“They’ve picked the guy that I’m gonna have the child with, and I just wanted to talk to you about it first. I’m not asking for permission, but I feel like you deserve to know.”

“I see.”

“Look nothing will ever come of it, after the child is conceived I won’t talk to him again because I hate him but—“

“Midna,” Link interrupted her, “it’s ok. I get it, you don’t need to explain yourself. I figured this time would come eventually.” he stared at Kori who was fast asleep in Midna’s arms. He remembered what happened when a half Twili was the heir. It was for the best that she gave birth to a fully fledged Twili, in order to ease the people’s minds. He stroked Kori’s hair with a smile. “I trust you Midna.”

Midna let out a sigh of relief. “I’m glad you do.”

“What are you gonna do when she’s born? Is she gonna come here with you?”

Midna frowned. “I don’t know. The light world is bearable because I have the fused shadows, but I’m not sure how it will be for her. I also don’t know how I’ll explain her to your parents. They might think that I’m… not loyal to you or something.”

Link was taken aback. “Oh… they won’t… they wont, don’t worry about it.” Midna gave him a look and he shrugged. “It wouldn’t be an issue if you told them that you’re the queen of the twilight realm. I’m sure they’ll understand.”

Midna shook her head. “No, Link. They already know too much. It’s for the best that they don’t know who I truly am. I don’t want them to get hurt.”

Link sighed and rested his head against hers again. “Alright, fine. So I assume you’re not going to Kakariko then?”

“No, I can’t. I’m sorry Link.”

“There’s no reason to apologize. I understand.”

Midna smiled warmly and kissed him. Link smiled and kissed her back, lingering on the kiss for much longer. Midna pulled back and gave him a look.

“I know you and Rusl are leaving at the crack of dawn so don’t even bother staying up late.”

“I’ll be fine, I’ve had sleepless nights before.”

“Yeah, and you nearly fell apart from them.”

“I’ll be fine.”

Midna giggled and started stroking his hair, humming a tune as she rocked both Link and Kori back and forth. Link smiled as he listened to her pretty voice, his eyelids starting to get heavy at Midna’s soothing voice and touch. Despite him trying to fight sleep, he eventually lost the battle, and he fell asleep peacefully in Midna’s arms.

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

Movement in his arms woke Link up. He opened his eyes and stared at the little boy snuggled up next to him confused. Clearly, the little light from the rising sun was beginning to bother him, but despite that, he stayed snuggled against Link’s chest. He smiled and rubbed his back, which finally got Kori to give up on trying to sleep. He looked up at him with sleepy eyes and smiled.

“Hi, papa.”

Link smiled and kissed his forehead. “Hi kiddo, can’t sleep?”

Kori shrugged. “I’m not tired.”

“Sure you’re not, you just can’t keep your eyes open.”

Kori nuzzled his head into the pillow and groaned at Link, resulting in a chuckle from him. Link ruffled Kori’s hair, then looked around. Midna wasn’t here, and the house felt more empty without her. He understood why she couldn’t stay all the time, but goddesses he wished she could. As if he read Link’s mind, Kori lifted his head and looked around.

“Is mommy not here?”

Link frowned, pulling him closer. “No, she had to go back home.”

Kori pouted. “But… she just got here!”

“I know, but she needed to deal with something.”

“So she’s not going to Kakariko with us?”

“No, unfortunately not.”

Kori’s little ears drooped, and he sat up, pulling his knees to his chest. Link watched him sadly as he stared blankly at the wall, and he sighed.

“Shall we get ready? We don’t want to keep grandpa Rusl waiting for us.”

Kori nodded silently, and he stood up, hopping down the ladder. Link got up as well and started packing enough clothes and supplies for a couple of days in Kakariko. He strapped it all to Epona and helped Kori pack his own things, making sure not to forget his precious Billy the Goat. The sky was a deep orange when he finished, and he heard chatter coming from the village as Rusl and the rest of the village kids entered his clearing, a carriage attached to his pa’s horse. Beth, Colin, Rela, and Malo were hanging off the carriage, and Colin hopped off, greeting his brother by attempting to wrestle him.

“Oh good! Y’all are ready!” Rusl said he got closer to Link, who already had his little brother in a headlock. “I was afraid that I’d have to wake you up!”

Kori smiled and slammed into his legs, causing him to grunt a little, but he still gave him a tight hug. Link chuckled and let Colin go, who pouted at being defeated in seconds.

“We’re ready, pa. Is everyone else good to go?

Rusl looked back at the others who were standing around impatiently.

“Do y’all have everything you need?” He asked them.

“Yep!” Beth proclaimed.

“Yeah,” Malo said.

Rela began to list off all the things she grabbed while Colin gave a thumbs up. Rusl gave Link a nod and rounded everyone up into the carriage. Kori stayed with Link on Epona, though he protested against it, Link promised to make it fun for him.

The group headed out just as the sun was slightly above the horizon, the sky being a beautiful deep blue. It was a lovely day, with hardly any monsters out and about, which made escorting easy. It was relieving to know that his son would be in a world without hordes of monsters threatening him in the field. His efforts in making a peaceful Hyrule weren’t entirely in vain.

Occasionally, Link would have Epona run and jump over different obstacles, which made Kori happy. He even got a little carried away and had Epona sprint towards a pond of water, causing Kori to squeal as he got wet. Rusl called for the two, and Link realized that he was a little too far away from the others. Though they didn’t know what was causing the disappearances, Rusl believed that if everyone stuck together, they would be safe, so Link had to at least stay close to him.

It was evening when they finally arrived at Kakariko. Though the sky was beginning to turn orange from the setting sun, the village was still bustling about. For the past few years, Renado had worked hard at reinventing Kakariko, and it had turned into a lovely little town. Not as big as castle town, but not as small as Ordon. Link had to admit that if he wasn’t so connected to Ordon, he’d probably move here. There was a horse stable where a cave used to be by the spring, and each abandoned building was fixed into homes and shops. Kori’s favorite shop was of course the toy shop, but he was also excited about a new clothing shop that recently opened. Link didn’t know why a boy his age loved clothes so much, but he supposed his abhorrent attitude towards the traditional men’s skirts of Ordon and love for pants had something to do with it. Link hopped off Epona and helped Kori down when he reached the new stable, sadly putting his steed in with other horses.

“I’m sorry girl, I know how much you love to roam,” he muttered, feeding her a sugar cube, which she gratefully ate from his hand, and Link gave Kori one. “You wanna give her a treat?”

“Yeah!” Kori took the sugar cube and held it to Epona with his palm up, which Epona ate as well. Kori giggled as her mouth tickled his hand, and she nibbled for a moment making sure the treat was fully gone. Kori gave her a pat and a small kiss on her nose. “Thanks for getting us here!”

“Ew, Kori kissed a horse,” Rela teased, holding her stuff in her arms.

“I’ve seen you kiss toads!” Kori rebutted, glaring at her. “At least I won’t get warts from a horse!”

“That was one time, Kori!” She snapped, and Colin led her away from the two, smirking.

Link rolled his eyes at the two kids, and grabbed his own things, handing some of it to Kori. “You excited to see Renado and Luda?”

Kori’s eyes lit up. “Yeah! It’s been so long since I’ve seen them!”

“It’s only been three weeks!”

“Yeah! That’s a long time!”

Link grinned as they walked out of the stable, dodging folks that were walking to their homes in a hurry. Link couldn’t help but pick up on the unease. People seemed rather anxious to get to their homes safe and sound, some glancing nervously at the new clothes shop.

That must be where the missing woman lives, Link thought sadly. Kori investigating the new shop would have to wait until she is found. What bothered him the most however were people glancing at Kori weirdly. He was out in public at Kakariko since he was so close to Renado and Luda, but some people didn’t know him, and as a result, they didn’t trust his presence. One lady didn’t hide the fact that she was eyeing Kori suspiciously, and Link wrapped his arm protectively around his son, glaring at the woman. As the group headed to the Elde Inn, Link noticed Barnes fixing his sign in front of his shop, and the two waved at each other.

“Link! Rusl! Kids! It’s always good to see ya!” He called out to them, and everyone waved back at him.

“How’s it going, Barnes?” Rusl called back.

“Oh, nothin’ much! A bunch of delinquents broke my sign though, so I gotta fix that!”

“Are you sure it wasn’t one of your experiments going wrong again?” Beth teased, leaning against the wall of the Elde inn. Barnes crossed his arms.

“It wasn’t an experiment goin’ wrong… not this time anyways.”

Beth laughed and Colin rolled his eyes with a smile.

“Where’s Renado and Luda?” Rusl asked. “We’re about to take over the village with our presence and I want them to know we’re here.”

“Oh!” Barnes glanced at the sanctuary. “Luda is pretty busy right now, bein’ the village’s healer is a lot of work! And Renado is…” he looked around the village and shrugged. “Who knows where he is! He’s constantly runnin’ around the village helpin’ people!”

Link gave a knowing nod. Renado had become the mayor of Kakariko, letting Luda take over his old role as a healer. Though he was a phenomenal mayor, Link could tell that he was a little overwhelmed from such a responsibility.

“Well tell them we’re here, we’re just gonna get a room,” Rusl said, beginning to head into the Elde Inn. Barnes nodded and gave them all one last wave as they all went inside.

It didn’t matter how many times he went inside the inn, the way the place looked shocked Link. He remembered when it was an old and crumbly place, with broken furniture scattered across the floor and dusty surfaces. Now it had a comforting air to it, with a warm light from the candles in the chandelier, the smell of food coming from the kitchen, and people chatting in the main area where comfy looking chairs were. It was a lovely place.

The woman behind the counter kindly gave them a big room for the large group, and they all headed up the stairs, picking their beds inside their room and stretching their legs.

“Let’s go to the shops!” Rela said, after everyone was unpacked. “I wanna see what stuff they have at the toy store!”

“Yeah!” Kori agreed, but Rusl shook his head.

“The stores are probably closed by now, it’s supper time.”

Rela pouted. “Well what are we supposed to do?”

Beth walked up to her and ruffled her hair. “Get supper of course! Hopefully Talo will be here!”

“Oh yeah!” Colin stood up. “Talo should be staying in this inn!”

Rusl gave Link a smile and stood up himself. “Well let’s go get some food and find Talo! Try not to give him a hard time though,” he looked specifically at Beth.

“I can’t make any promises,” she joked, and they all left their room, excited to get whatever was cooking in the kitchen.

[airplanned]

By popular demand:

Don't get me wrong, I'm really enjoying Tears of the Kingdom.  Parts of it are fun in ways that I never felt during Breath of the Wild.  And I really like the story itself, just not the execution of that story.  And actually the storytelling is fine, but Breath of the Wild did some narrative things that I have been praising for years, so to have less than stellar storytelling in the sequel feels jarring.

I have three points.

Point 1: Amnesia and the Time Skip

In Breath of the Wild, Link begins the game with amnesia.  Therefore, even though this is the country that Link grew up in and has explored, it's still understandable that he has no idea what kind of environment is going to be around the corner.  You the player are able to discover the world along with Link. 

Meanwhile there is also a 100 year time skip, which means most of the characters you meet have never met you before.  (The characters you did meet in the past completely understand that you've been gone a while and have amnesia.) You start knowing no one and are able to build relationships from the beginning.

Tears of the Kingdom has something like a five to six year time skip.  But instead of being in a comma during that time, Link was apparently up and about, helping to rebuild Hyrule.  Link ought to know significant portions of what's going on, but the player does not.  So we have our first disconnect between game play and story.  It's hard to tell what's a new development since the upheaval and what has been an ongoing process that Link ought to know about.

This is muddled even further because Nintendo wants the game to be accessible to people who haven't played Breath of the Wild.  They made the decision that instead of having all the NPCs greet you like an old friend (which all of the Zora do, so this is a thing that is possible), most NPCs will greet you as if you've never met before.  So what am I the player supposed to know?  What is Link supposed to know?  It's unclear.

And as funny as it is to think that Link is like Tony Hawk and no one recognizes the Hero, or that Zelda drew so much attention that no one noticed Link standing behind her, it's strange to me because Link made friends with these people not as the Hero, but on a personal level.  Link introduced couples.  Link attended a wedding.  Link helped a guy move out of his mom's house and start his own business.  Link helped couples in rough times.  These people should greet you with a, "Hey, Link!" even if they don't know that you're over a hundred years old and defeated the Calamity.

The theme of botw was isolation, so it made sense that Link started the game alone.  The theme of Tears of the Kingdom is working together.  So there's a disconnect, because instead of starting the game with a boatload of allies, Link begins the game having apparently lost a lot of the friends he made in the first game.  Once again, he's isolated, which is not what the game play and the co-op fighting is implying.

Point 2: The Stated Objective

The story in botw was straight forward.  At the very beginning of the game, Rhoam’s ghost tells you how that story ends: Zelda is using her powers to hold back the Calamity.  Rhoam also gives you the game's objective: Defeat the Calamity.  The memories that you collect fill in the story of Zelda’s struggles to activate her powers and her changing, growing relationship with Link.  They deepen your understanding of where Link come from and what happened, but none of it is plot essential and none of it affects your objective.  There’s no shocking twist.  There’s nothing that would change the way you play the game (other than maybe not picking the silent princesses).

TotK on the other hand at the very beginning presents you with the objective: Find Zelda and solve the mystery of what happened to her.  Learning what happened is not presented as some deepening of understanding, but as the point of the game.  You don’t get the objective to defeat Ganondorf until much later on.

There are several story threads working at the same time, all of which lead you to where Zelda is. The hyroglyphs tell you what happened and where she is.  One of the sage quests tells you what happened and strongly hints where she is.  The Deku Tree strongly suggests what happened and where she is.  You know where she is.  You know what happened. 

And you cannot tell any of your allies.

There are other characters who are “helping” to solve this mystery.  With the theme of working with other people, it would make sense that I would share my breakthrough findings with them and we would work together towards the next step.  I’m thinking specifically if Purah (who explicitly tells you to search for Zelda by doing X even after you know where she is and that that while it would be nice to get another sage, it won’t solve the "find Zelda" problem) and Paya (who won’t let me into the floating ring even though she’s clearly working with bad information), and to a lesser extent the sages (Looking pointedly at Yunobo, who has apparently usurped my himbo throne???). 

Even if you've done all three of these quests, the game play treats you as if you don’t have this information.  It’s frustrating in a game that advertises itself as open play where you can do anything in any order.  It’s another disconnect when achieving what is expressly stated as the goal of the game is not acknowledged within the game.

Part 3: Lack of if-else statements

Honestly, this is the thing that pushed me over the edge into writing this. 

I went and helped the monster squad with a mission.  We killed some monsters.  It was a great time.  Side adventure achieved!

At the end, the team leader pulled me aside and said that he noticed that I didn't have my legendary sword.  In fact, my equipment looked less than legendary.  Har har.

...My good sir, not only do I have the Master Sword, but I am holding it in my hand, and I used it to defeat the monsters we just fought.  Maybe you don’t recognize it because I have fused a dragon part to it.

Why is there no if-else statement coded into this event to prevent this from happening?  There were if-else statements in the dialogue in botw when people talked about the sword.  They responded differently if I had it. Elsewhere in totk, there are elaborate conditionals about the weather.  Having the Master Sword is kind of a major plot point.  But the game is uninterested in if I have done the plot, even while directly addressing that plot point.

Again, it's fine.  Just disappointing after botw worked so well.

[wild-dagon]

TOTK Role-reversal (part 2)

I know I’m late to the party but this idea has been floating around in my head for months. (Also spoilers for the game)

The classic role-reversal with Link and Zelda in TOTK.

Finally my last idea. Link gets the Spirit stone.

I don’t know about you but it bothered me at the end of the game that there wasn’t a new Spirit Sage. They brought Purah up there and then didn’t give it to her? (I was also expecting Paya to get it as all the other Sages were leaders (or the child of the leader) of their respective races. I really wanted to see Paya go from being unsure how to lead her village to an amazing warrior surrounded by other leaders for support but thats a rant for another post)

Anyhow Link.

Let’s tie this to BOTW. Link can see the Koroks (spirits of the forest) he can see the dragons (not everyone can) and in BOTW he talks to multiple ghosts. Heck even in TOTK he is able to interact with the ghosts of solders in the Depths to get weapons.

What if when Link goes back in time, his stone just won’t settle on a specific power. This is weird to Rauru and Sonia as they have never seen some one with so many different kinds of magic. Link is super confused as he doesn’t have magic. The other champions and Zelda have mystic abilities. He doesn’t.

You can stretch this confusion out to them going back to the castle and or you can make the next part happen on the way to the castle.

The one day they get attacked and Link goes to fight (he’s used to protecting people.) but he’s weak from the interaction with Ganondorf.

He’s about to get crushed when his stone turns red and a familiar crystal shield forms around him. “I gotta little buddy” He turns over his shoulder and sees Daruk. He’s in spirit form but he’s here, talking and fighting with Link.

Then the stone turns green. Air burst forth and Revali is up in the air shooting down the foe.

The stone turns orange and a bolt of lightning rains down on the remaining enemies as Urbosa steps forward.

Finally it turns blue as Mipha appears and heals Links wounds.

They are here. All of the champions are here. Link’s stone finally settles on purple.

Mineru explains that Link’s stone couldn’t settle on a color because it was sensing the remains of the champion abilities inside him. But now that the champions spirits have been released his stone has settled on his powers.

This leads to a lot of Mineru and Link bonding as she helps him master his powers. Maybe he can make the other champions corporeal if he focuses hard enough or if he masters his powers. Maybe he can give them a second chance at life. (Here’s where you could have some fun with shipping making it zelink, miphlink, or revalink)

Anyhow. Mineru is Link’s mentor. They both are a little crazy about building questionable contraptions. She starts to view him as her’s. Rauru was always going to have kids, she never expected to have one but Link is precious to her. As is he to Sonia and Rauru. They love hearing about their descendent Zelda.

Maybe Link and the champions are able to save Sonia from Gannon but he still gets his hands on a stone. Either stealing Sonia’s (without the murder) or by killing Rauru or Mineru. Or you could go super angst and have him get Link’s stone cutting him off from the champions (once again Ganon has taken them from Link)

In the final battle Rauru/Mineru/Sonia (who ever is alive) traps Gannon. Link either swallows his stone or stone give to him by another survivor.

Personally I like the idea that Gannon gets Links stone, Sonia seals him promising her descendant will come to stop him (I think Sonia’s faith in future Zelda could be super sweet) Rauru realizing his wife is gone and there is nothing he can do, gives Link his stone allowing Link to become the dragon and heal the sword. Mineru still builds her contraption knowing that Zelda will need a sage of spirit as Link will be preoccupied being a dragon.

Zelda gets guidance from Sonia and Rauru.

When it’s all said and done and Mineru is ready to leave, her stone goes to Zelda becoming the time/light stone. Meaning Link has a spirit stone Zelda covers time and light. The other sages are still around and the champions are back.

Zelda’s journey

You can also make this really fun by having the spirits of the champions guide the sages on their journey.

Maybe while spirit dragon Link is hanging out in the clouds that champion spirits hang out with him. When it’s time for the new sages to awaken they go to their home villages and appear to the new sages. So instead of just hearing a strange voice they see the champion of old.

When Tulin is out on his own he is struggling with a enemy that is suddenly shot from behind. When he tracks the shoot Revali is flying there. Their eyes lock before Revali flies off. Zelda arrives right after this moment, Tulin to tell her about the strange Rito that flew off. Tulin feels like they need to follow him and they do, all the way up to the sky arc. (Picture the Zelda chase scene in the castle but with Revali and sky boats.) Once Tulin gets his sacred stone Revali appears again (allowing for a sweet reunion scene between Zelda and Revali) and offers to stay near and train Tulin on how to use his powers as Revali had trained with the sage of old.

When Zelda arrives in Goron city it’s weird. Why are people talking about Link giving Yunobo a mask. Then she sees Link and chases after him only to find an enraged Yunobo. After getting the mask off of him the two talk about Link before seeing Daruk’s Spirit. Once again they chase him to the fire temple. Things play out much the same with Daruk as it did with Revali.

Arriving at the Zora domain Sidon doesn’t see Mipha until he fights the first sludge monster with Zelda. Mipha had tried to appear earlier but Sidon thought he was just seeing things from over working himself. It isn’t until he lets Yona help him and fights along side Zelda that he finally is open to seeing Mipha’s spirit. She leads them to the underwater cavern and to the water temple proper. Again always just out of reach never a word is spoken until after the sage is fully awaken and the boss is beaten. Once Sidon has his sacred stone Mipha is able to appear and have her reunion with her brother.

In the desert Urbosa is seen many times by other warriors but she cannot directly help them. Once Zelda arrives she appears to both Zelda and Ruji before disappearing. She appears again after they successfully defend the town. After they defend the bazar they see Link walking into the storm. Both girls go to chase after him but Urbosa appears and shakes her head No before disappearing without a word. Urbosa leads Zelda through the sand storm to the different light pillars, and lead them to the light temple. She doesn’t appear again until after they defeat queen gibdo and Riju awakens as a sage.

This build trust between the reader and Zelda and the spirits that are appearing. Which means when Zelda sees Link up on Hyrule castle she rushes to him. He’s leading her through the castle the same way the champions did. It’s unnerving as the champions moved like that because they were spirits and Link should be alive but Zelda is going to ignore that tidbit for now.

She follows Link to the throne room where it is revealed that he is Ganondorf’s puppet.

As they fight the sages and champions appear to help Zelda defeat the phantom Ganondorfs

After this they got to find the fifth sage. Mineru tells Zelda about the Dragon tears and how to view them using the purah pad. This is when Zelda does the dragon tear quest. Up until this point they were just weird geoglyphs but know she can view Link’s memories. She realizes that Link is the Spirit Dragon.

(You can also have a moment where she yells at the champions for not telling her. But how do you tell someone that new?)

She needs to find the Master Sword so she returns to the lost woods hoping Link returned it there in the past. She doesn’t know if the blade will let her pull it but she has to try.

After freeing the lost woods she realizes the sword is with Link. Maybe she goes to get it maybe she leaves it but either way she will be able to use it. It’s with Link and if he’s going to let anyone wield his sacred blade it would be Zelda.

[swiftllama]

January Compliments ☀️🔍

[Compliments Masterlist]

Hello everyone and welcome to the first Compliments Post of 2024! Hope the year has started off well for you all, and if not, then I hope this post can at least provide a little bit of joy to your day 🫶

We may be only one month in but the boys have been delivering since the very first day 🙌 So let’s get into it shall we! :-

January 2024

Ian’s 2023 Wrap Up

So to start us off, first day of the year and Mr Sunshine was already tugging at our heartstrings with his wrap up of 2023, and who made his 2023 what it was? Well Anthony of course 🥹

STOP IT! RIGHT NOW! 😩

LIKE WHAT IS THIS??? IM MEANT TO COPE WITH THIS??? HOW???

The fact the WHOLE post is Anthony - from the photos to the caption! EVERY SINGLE PHOTO HAS ANTHONY 😭 Also don’t even get me started on the two unseen photos and the fact they’ve been kept from us till now. How dare 😤 AND the fact the first person he thanked was Anthony! Like yes he’s thanking and appreciating many people with this post but come on now, from the pictures alone it’s clear who made his year. This is just SO SPECIAL! Especially coming from Ian, who isn’t normally a big one for sharing his emotions (I think we’ve seen a change with that recently though), but this is BIG!

Anthony also in return left a sweet comment :-

“proud of you buddy.”

CRYING 😭 They kill me these two, couldn’t even go one day without being sappy to each other - not that I’m complaining. And as much as I would love to just sit here in this gooeyness, we’ve got a lot to get through so I must move on 🥲

LEGEND OF ZELDA RAP (Flashback)

So they reacted to the classic Legend Of Zelda Rap in this Flashback eps and got a few little compliments thrown in :-

-

[discussing the scene of Ian dressed as Link winking at the camera that spawned a viral gif]

Anthony: “That for some reason was a clip that went viral- or a gif that went viral.”

Ian: “Yeah, it’s like horny posters.”

Anthony: “Yeah.”

Ian: “Yeah.”

Anthony: “I see it way too much.”

[shoutout editor Kortney for this 😆]

Ian: “Gotta say, never looked better.”

Anthony: “That’s true.”

Anthony agrees 😏

-

Erin: [asking Ian if he had spicy time in the Link outfit like Anthony said about the Assassin’s Creed outfit in their 2 Truths 1 Lie eps]

Ian: “I did not have spicy time in the Link outfit because that outfit was very tight, there was not much of a range of motion in it.”

Anthony: “Right. Well you could be a pillow princess in that.”

Ian: “I’m not a pillow princess.”

Anthony: “Oh really?”

Ian: “Yeah.”

Anthony: “I’ve heard otherwise.”

[look at each other and Anthony laughs]

Ian: “Oh yeah, cause canonically we had sex for seven years.”

Anthony: [laughs] “In the Food Battle lore.”

Ian: “Yeah. Canonically in Food Battle, we’ve had sex for seven years. You know every crevice of my body.”

Anthony: “Of your anatomy.”

Ian: “Yeah.”

Anthony: “Anywho…”

Ian: “Wow, this went a weird place.”

Anthony: “Back to looking at Link in his prime.”

Ian: “Back to me looking freakin’ HAWT.”

Anthony: “Yeah.”

Just them casually discussing the fact they’ve canonically had sex for 7 years and then Anthony once again agreeing Ian looked hot in the Link outfit… I don’t think I even need to say anything.

-

Anthony: “Oh! And I just want to give a shoutout to myself.”

Ian: “Oh, [sings] shoutout to myself.”

Anthony: “I painstakingly added those fucking stars [in the scene] for some reason. I thought they were so necessary.”

Ian: “Yeah, no, that was sick.”

Ian giving Anthony a little compliment for his hard work 😊

…

Speaking of the stars it was also something Ian brought up again later when they appeared in the video again :-

Ian: “Stars. Stars.”

Anthony: “Oh yeah. Stars. We got ‘em in there.”

Very cute how he wanted to shoutout Anthony’s work again ☺️

-

Erin: “That’s Anthony?! [as Ganondorf]”

Ian: “Yeah.”

Anthony: “Shut up. You knew that was me.”

Erin: “That’s crazy.”

Ian: “You didn’t know that was Anthony?”

Erin: “Where’d your, like, jaw go?”

Ian: “What do you mean? He’s got an epic jaw.”

Ian got so defensive on Anthony’s behalf here, I love it! Reminded me of the moments from Who Meme’d It when Anthony was defending Ian 😌

And that was us for this video!

Moving on…

SOUP!

Gets a big title cause why not!

But yes, soup! So Ian has gotten into making soup this year and on that same Friday we got the Flashback, that evening we were blessed out of nowhere with these stories :-

THE WAY I SCREAMED WHEN I SAW THESE 😩

Like this is the cutest, most domesticated shit ever! They kill me!!!!

And okay yes when that first photo was posted I thought Ian was right then and there cooking it for him, Ian then responded with this :-

Let me live in my fantasies Ian! 😤

But regardless of Mr dashing-my-dreams Hecox, I’m still of the mindset they were hanging out that day and that’s when Ian gave him the container of soup.

Evidence :-

This photo only. That I believe Anthony took 😌

Also I try not to make these posts too shipper-heavy so that everyone may enjoy them if they’re just here for the friendship alone, so I’ll just leave this other little post I made here about some other thoughts I had on this soup situation that isn’t in the friendship realm 🤭 All cool if that’s not for you though!

VidConfessions

So 7 months later Vidcon finally decided to post this little interview they had with them lol. And even with such a short video we still got a few complimentary/cute moments :-

-

So Anthony was being his usual self and finding Ian the funniest person alive as always. There was a couple moments where Ian gave his answers and you just hear Anthony’s laugh in the background 🥰

Q: What are the last three things you Googled?

Ian: “Jared Leto cult…”

He’s a cutie ☺️

…

And it happened again!

Q: What’s the cringest thing you’ve ever done for views?

Ian: “I mean like our whole channel’s cringe.”

Anthony, once again: [laughing in the background]

Love him and how much he loves Ian and his humour 😊

-

This was just one wee last bit I thought was cute :-

Ian: [signing out the video] “This has been Ian from Smosh, that’s right, the channel that is 17 and a half years old that’s doing sketch comedy again with my best friend Anthony.”

Can never resist them calling each other ‘best friend’ so of course had to include it!

Making of Pokémon In Real Life 2024

So they brought back the classic Pokémon In Real Life sketch, and from that obviously we got the BTS. Only a couple little moments from this one but just wanted to include them cause they were silly 🤓

-

Ian: [sneezes] “Sorry. Your hairspray.”

Anthony: “Ohhh… he’s allergic to me [smirks].”

👀 Don’t know what that was about but alrighty, Anthony…

-

Ian: [cuts his finger and there’s a dot of blood]

Anthony: “Oh my god, dude. Are you okay?”

Ian: “No, I’m not okay. Trigger warning gore.”

Anthony: “Do you need someone to suck out the blood?”

Why did this just turn into Saltburn? Don’t know what Anthony was on with the these two moments but I won’t question it 😝 And despite saying ‘someone’, he was definitely offering to suck the blood from Ian’s finger himself 🤭

Pokémon In Real Life 2024 Watch Party

Of course with the sketch and BTS we got a livestream, which gave us some cute and complimentary moments 😊

To kick off this livestream I just wanna point out that they were wearing matching colours with Anthony’s jacket and Ian’s hoodie, plus matching Smosh Pokémon hats which is very cute 😊

-

Ian: [apologising for getting annoyed in the BTS due to the background noise messing up their filming] “Dude, this video. This Pokémon video. I apologise if I looked very angry in the behind the scenes.”

Anthony: [laughs] “You didn’t look that bad. Honestly, it amped up accurately.”

Erin: “The compilation of you getting angry, it was pretty funny.”

Anthony: Yeah, so it was justified. People knew why you were angry.”

Love the reassurance from Anthony here so that Ian isn’t worried about how he came across in the video.

-

[take their hats off]

Ian: “How’s my hair? Is it weird?”

Anthony: “Is mine weird? Yours is fine.”

Ian: “No, I feel like yours is like, yours has like a messy chic to it, you know.”

Them just complimenting each other’s hair - here for it! Also Ian’s added compliment of “messy chic” 😄

-

[playing Pokémon quiz]

I&A: “Jinx.”

Crew: [laughs]

Anthony: [smiles and points to Ian] “Jinx.”

Ian: “That’s our favourite. Favourite Pokémon.”

Funny because it’s both the Pokémon’s name and they said it at the same time 😝 Cute how Ian also got in that that’s their favourite ☺️

-

[complete the quiz]

Anthony: “Dude, 100 percent, bro.”

I&A: [high-five]

Of course always gotta include the highfives 😌

-

After the quiz they go on to play a Pikachu x Sonic crossover. Anthony plays a round and then Ian goes to play but can’t get the controls to work for him so Anthony’s showing him what to do 🥹 I don’t feel the need to include what they said here as it’s just Anthony saying what buttons to push but just wanted to include a little description of what was happening at this moment 😊

-

Ian: [completes the game]

Anthony: “You won the game.” [clapping]

Just another little cute moment I wanted to include of Anthony clapping for Ian 🙂

-

[playing Pokémon Among Us]

Anthony: [playing the game well]

Ian: “Alright, I hate that you’re like kind of eating.” [as Ian kept dying]

A begrudging little compliment from Ian there 😄

-

[signing the livestream off]

Ian: “Happy New Year, hope the holidays were a fun time for you and you had some eggnog and sat by the campfire…”

Anthony: “Roasting chestnuts.”

Ian: “Roasting chestnuts.”

Anthony: “Or chestnut. I’m not making any assumptions.”

Ian: “….What?”

Anthony: “Just if they don’t have more than one chestnut.”

Ian: “Ohh, okay. I don’t know if you could buy a singular chestnut but…”

Anthony: “I think there’s a way.”

Ian: “Go off king.”

Just a silly little one to end on because I wanted to include Ian calling Anthony ‘king’ 🤭

Can I Guess Who Slapped Me?

So the video of Anthony getting slapped finally dropped! And it was everything and more, especially when it came to moments between Ian and Anthony so let’s jump right in :-

-

Right off the bat we had this as the description for Ian…

👀👀👀

Now onto the actual slapping…

-

The moment that got us all was just before Ian slaps him he slowly started caressing Anthony’s face so obviously that had us all going crazy! Including the cast and crew!

Anthony: [after the slap] “Oh. Wow. Uhhh, this person thinks they’re hilarious.” [laughs]

Cast & Crew: [laughing]

Ian: [Trying not to laugh]

Anthony: “Uhhh, who would do that? Who would caress my face and slap me out of nowhere?”

Ian: [boops Anthony’s nose]

Anthony: “Uh, it feels like an Ian move to me… Did you just boop me? Um, that feels like an Ian move.”

Kiana: “That is correct.”

Everyone: [celebrating and applauding]

Anthony: [puts his hands out and Ian high-fives him]

Angela: “Friendship always wins!”

Ian: “Well done. Well done. Good job to you.”

Anthony: [bowing]

Ian: “There we go. There we go. That’s the only one you truly needed to get right.”

Anthony: [laughs]

So true Ian! That was the most important one he needed to get right! And I just want to point out how Ian was only the 3rd person Anthony got right, and of course he knew it was him right away with his cheeky little joke of “this person thinks they’re hilarious” 😝 he knew the second Ian caressed his face that it was him cause they truly just know each other that well ☺️ Live for Angela yelling “Friendship always wins!” after he got it right too! And can we also talk about the totally unnecessary, but very, very cute little nose boop Ian threw in there just cause he wanted to! Obsessed!

-

A little bit later in the video during Duran’s round of slapping Anthony another little moment happened that I just wanted to include cause I thought that it was funny and showed how silly of a mood Ian was in, I think Anthony being blindfolded was playing a part in that and he gained a little extra layer of confidence to just fuck about with Anthony 😆

Anthony: [standing with his butt pushed out waiting to be slapped]

Kiana: “The stance is great. The stance is great.”

Ian: [runs over and pretends to go in to slap Anthony’s butt]

Anthony: “Why’s there wind?”

Cast & Crew: [laugh]

Hehe 🤭

Anyways! That was it for the slapping video but I did also want to include something that came off the back of it and that was…

Bonus

Anthony dedicating a whole Instagram post to Ian slapping him :-

Obessed with this though! The fact he went out of his way to make a post specifically about Ian slapping him over anyone else, plus that caption! ‘only ian would slap me like that’ - truly the cherry on top of it all 😌

Jacksfilms Confesses His Biggest Regret

So they had Jacksfilms on as a guest for Flashback to react to some of his old videos and an old collab of his the boys had been a part of.

-

Jack: [talking about how he moved to LA after he graduated] “…And that’s when I started collaborating with some, then, very big YouTube channels.”

Anthony: [looks at Ian] “Yeah, back then we were big.” [elbows Ian and Ian elbows him back]

Them just being silly 😄 loved the little elbowing of each other too 😊

-

Jack: “I remember I was in college, I was like out hanging with my friends. I just got 50,000 subs on YouTube, baby. And one of my friends just like took the air right out of my tire, or sails, whatever, and was like ‘Uh, yeah, did you know that Smosh has like a million now?’.”

Ian: “Pffft.”

Anthony: [silent laughs] “Noice!” [high-fives Ian] “Noice!”

Again, just more of them being silly. Plus high-five!

-

I should have mentioned at the start of this section that Ian is in a tshirt-dress for this video as a reference to Jack as it’s got tweets of his printed on it. Anyway, as a result his legs are out obviously, and that’s relevant to this next part :-

Anthony: [talking about how there’s always an audience for every kind of content, it’s just about what kind of audience you want to have]

Ian: “That’s true. And you want this audience.” [pointing to show off his legs]

Anthony: “You want this.”

Ian: “You want the audience that accepts this.”

Anthony: “This is what you want. This is the audience that we have. And we are very happy with this audience.”

Ian: “Exactly.”

Anthony: “They’ve been begging for this.”

And we’re more than happy to be the audience for it! 😌 (As is Anthony considering how many times he was checking out Ian’s legs during this video 😉)

Anthony also had this to say about YouTube’s hate for Ian’s attire 😤

-

Jack: [talking about a sponsorship he done with other youtubers to test out a new workout program]

Ian: “Did you get Jaaaacked?”

Anthony: [looks at Ian with a smirk and high-fives him]

Second high-five for this video! Also Anthony just quietly complimenting Ian’s pun 😄

-

Ian: “Do you [Jack] have any regrets? Any videos that you regret making?” [smiling]

Anthony: “You look so happy saying that.” [smiling] “This is happiest I’ve seen you all episode.” [laughs]

Just thought it was cute how Anthony seeing Ian smiling made him smile and laugh 😊

And that was it for another Flashback!

No1 Ian Fan Strikes Again

So Anthony was back at it! The Smosh team was out celebrating one of the crews birthday - Erin posted this to her story. Now I’m sure there were probably multiple photos and videos taken this night but what was the only thing Anthony shared from it? That’s right! Ian of course!

He’s obsessed with that boy and I love it! 😌

Ian also reshared and replied to Anthony’s story which you can find here

Making Of “MrBeast Copycats Have Gone Too Far”

So the BTS of the MrBeast Copycats Have Gone Too Far sketch offered us a few little moments :-

-

So this seemed to be a very high-five, hand-hold heavy BTS. Think they were just in one of those moods where they want any excuse to touch each other 🤭😉

[Finishing off their little video introduction]

Anthony: [goes in to high-five Ian and grips his hand]

Ian: [high-fives Anthony back and also grips his hand in response]

I&A: [still holding each other’s hands] “Let’s go shoot this shit!”

-

Ian: [messing up his line] “I’m having a trouble! I’m having a trouble…” [facepalms]

Shayne: “That’s so funny. ‘I’m having a trouble’.”

Anthony and Courtney: [laughing]

Anthony: [to Ian] “Are you having a trouble?” [puts hand on Ian’s shoulder]

Ian: “I’m having a trouble. Words.”

Anthony: [laughs]

I know they were (lovingly) poking fun at Ian here, but the wee glimpse of the shoulder touch from Anthony to Ian is what got me ☺️

-

I&A: [In character but joking around]

Ian: “There’s a twist. There’s a twist.” [puts hand out to Anthony] “There’s a twist.”

Anthony: “There’s a twist.” [takes Ian’s hand and grips it]

I&A: [still holding hands whilst lightly pushing/tapping each other and repeating “there’s a twist”. They then start scissoring their fingers together, before gripping each other’s fingers and pulling the other in closer to them whilst now repeating “getting twisted” and manically laughing]

Well… that was… something… 👀

Told you they were just looking for any excuse to touch each other. But hey, wouldn’t be a Smosh BTS if Ian and Anthony weren’t flirting with each other 😜

-

And to finish off this high-five heavy BTS, I’ll leave you with this :-

Ian: [talking about how Anthony injured himself by dropping a laptop on his foot and how he should take an Advil but Anthony doesn’t take Advil so he doesn’t know if it’ll help]

Anthony: “I don’t care about the pain, I just want the throbbing to stop.”

Ian: “He doesn’t like throbbing.”

Anthony: “I don’t like throbbing. I like pulsating.”

Ian: [laughs] “I hate both of those words.”

Anthony: [laughs] “Yeah, usually I say throbbing or pulsating member…”

Ian: [acting disgusted]

Anthony: “Speaking of members thank you so much being a Smoshtastic or Smosh Royalty member!”

Ian: “Yeah! Thanks for being our throbbing members.” [laughs]

Anthony: “Our pulsating members.”

Ian: “Yeahhh, throbbing members.”

I&A: [high-five]

Um… thanks boys, I guess… happy to be a throbbing and pulsating member… 🥴🤦‍♀️ They high-fived so I had to include it, don’t blame me for what they said! 😩

-

And on that’s note that brings us to the end of January! Hope you all enjoyed reading - I’d say it was a very good start to the year in terms of content, and the boys very much delivered in terms of complimentary moments so can’t complain 😌

Thank you all again for reading and I shall see you next time! 💖

[girlwiththepapatattoo]

you see through me what lies beyond, Chapter 2

Warnings: vaginal sex, oral sex (f receiving), fingering, intimidation, Ganondorf being himself

Summary: Left alone in the Demon King's rooms, you pick up a new skill.

Notes: I hadn't expected to do a second chapter, but I managed to get an idea for a plot! Granted, I'm not sure where it'll go right now, but...that's part of the fun. If you spot any mistakes in this, feel free to point it out, I'm falling asleep editing lol <3

Read on Ao3 here!

Previous chapter

You wake alone. For a moment, you startle at the unfamiliar bed, the silk sheets under your naked skin, before memories of the previous night come rushing in. You feel your face go hot as you remember everything that happened. I can’t believe that I really…with him…

You roll over, pressing your hand to the space he’d been in when you fell asleep together. The sheets are cold. He must have gotten up early, you think. You stamp down on the rising disappointment. I doubt he’s a cuddler…

Slipping out of bed, you make a face at the lingering stickiness between your legs. You start to make your way to the bathroom, before pausing. On the table where you shared dinner last night is a place setting for one, and what looks like a folded piece of paper sitting in front of the plate. Smiling faintly, you grab the card as you head into the bathroom for a quick wash, opening it and reading it on the way. In tidy, efficient handwriting, it says: 

My little beauty, I have work to do today, so you will not see me until dinner. You may read anything in my rooms that you wish; I cast a spell this morning upon your brow that will let you read our common tongue. Avail yourself of my bathroom. If you get hungry or thirsty, simply press your hand to your plate or cup and the food you want will appear.  Above all else: Do not leave this room! I cannot guarantee your safety if you do. I would not see you killed so soon after you’ve arrived.  Ganondorf

“Not until dinner, huh?” you murmur, disappointed. But you know that he’s a busy man, so you try not to take it personally. 

You soak in the tub until pruny, enjoying the way that you can stretch out in the water as much as you want, even floating at one point. But your stomach rumbles insistently at you, and so you finally get out, wrapping yourself in a big, fluffy towel and heading out to eat. Breakfast is delicious, hearty and filling, with a variety of fruits that burst on your tongue. 

And all the while, your mind is racing. Yesterday, so much happened that you couldn’t process it very well. (It didn’t help that you were very thoroughly distracted by a certain giant king, either.) But now that you’re alone without much to do, it all hits you like a truck. 

The Legend of Zelda is real. Ganondorf is real. And this isn’t a game. 

A part of you aches to go explore, wanting to see all the places you’ve only been to in pixelated form. But your lover’s warning gives you a healthy pause. This isn’t a game, and you were no warrior like Link. Odds are, if you were to meet one of Ganondorf’s minions, you would be killed. The thought made you shiver in fear. 

And so, once breakfast is done, you peruse his bookshelves. Leather-bound volumes sit proudly in neat rows, and scrolls are tidily piled in drawers. Titles in languages you can’t read decorate the spines and covers of many of the tomes, and some books give you such a bad feeling that you don’t dare to touch them. But there are a fair few that are written in Common, and thanks to the spell he placed on you, could be read just fine. You settle on a bestiary of various monsters, thinking to arm yourself with some knowledge at least, and settle down into Ganondorf’s huge armchair before the fire. 

This particular book is large to accommodate detailed pictures of monster anatomy, the binding sturdy and a muddy brown color. You read about the different monsters that one could encounter in the world, doing your best to commit them to memory. But when learning about their biology no longer holds your attention, you return to the bookshelves, looking for something different. 

And indeed, you find it. Sitting there amongst the tomes is a thick book, written in common: Magic Primer. “Primer…that’s for beginners,” you murmur, and pull the book out. As your fingers touch the binding, a gentle warmth flows up your arm. It makes you smile, hopeful that this will be something you’ll be able to learn. 

You quickly make your way back to the armchair, Ganondorf’s words from yesterday about your possible talent swirling through your mind. Excitedly, you crack the book open. 

New student of magic, this author says to you: above everything else, above natural talent, above raw power, the one thing that a learner of magic must remember to be is patient. Learning magic is akin to befriending a feral cat. If you try too hard, it will run from you. Not hard enough and it won’t be interested in what you have to offer. And if you do not guard yourself, it will rip your throat out.  As in all things, you must find balance, and be not discouraged if the power doesn’t immediately leap to your fingers.  Patience, student, will get you far further than anything else. 

“Patience,” you murmur. “Well, I’m stuck in this room until he gets tired of me, so I can do patience.” 

You turn the page. The first chapter is about meditation, and how important it is to beginners learning magic. “It is highly recommended that new students meditate for at least an hour before trying anything beyond this chapter. A chaotic mind will yield chaotic spells, which can be dangerous for new practitioners,” you murmur, reading aloud. 

You shift in place, following a diagram from the page about how you should sit. “Clearing one’s mind, for most people, is easier said than done. But it need not be full silence. A monotone hum can be even more effective than trying for nothing at all.”

You nod to yourself, lay your hands on your knees, close your eyes, and start humming. A soft, straight tone sound filters into the air around you as you focus on your breathing. You didn’t think you’d be any good at it, and it is difficult, trying not to latch on to the random thoughts that pop into your mind. But almost before you know it, the hour’s past. You shift, stretching out joints gone stiff from sitting in one place for so long. 

The second chapter details some easy first spells. “A light spell is always handy,” you read, “and relatively easy to do. Hold open your dominant hand and fill your thoughts with light. Keep in mind, light can take different forms. If you think about firelight, a flame will light in the air above your palm, so be cautious. The easiest and safest is to think about pure sunlight, as it will result in a simple glowing ball of light.” 

You open your hand above your knee and close your eyes. You think back to…just a few days ago, actually. On Earth, it’s the beginning of spring where you live, and the snows are beginning to melt. You’d stepped out of your door and felt the warm sun on your skin, the feeling pleasant enough to make you stop for a few moments just to enjoy it. 

It’s that feeling that you bring up. The light against your eyelids, the warmth on your face, the uplifting feeling it gave your spirit…so strong is the memory you nearly feel sunlight on your skin now. 

Wait… 

Your eyes snap open, and hovering above your palm is a baseball-sized orb of light, giving off a softly radiant glow. 

You gape it as it floats above your hand. You did magic. 

You did magic.

You did magic!!!

You’re so excited that your mental control over the spell is thrown out the window, and rather than just fade, it bursts into motes of light that slowly disappear, like a tiny firework that reflects your elation. You all but squeal in delight. “Holy shit, I can do magic!” 

Your stomach takes that moment to grumble, but you didn’t want to stop now. So you take up the book and move to the plate on the table. “Let’s see if I can figure out how to make the light stay without concentrating,” you murmur as the tray conjures you lunch. 

And so it is that later that night, when Ganondorf unlocks his door and enters his room, he’s met with dozens of globes of light, softly shining and floating in the air, and you in the process of making another, still only clad in a fluffy towel. 

He stares in shock as he watches you gently toss out another globe, which comes to rest a few inches from one that’s already made. He closes the door behind him, locks it, and snaps his fingers. At once, all the globes go out. You gasp, jumping in sudden fright as the room is suddenly much darker than it was, and you turn to look at him. Those golden eyes all but glaring down at you make you swallow. “Y-You’re back! Ganondorf, I-” 

“What do you think you are doing?” he all but growls at you. He walks toward you, slowly, and you feel your spine trying to disintegrate. You’ve never felt so small, so insignificant before in your life, like a gnat before a colossus. 

“I’m sorry, I…I found this book!” You hold out the primer in front of you like a shield. “I-I was just curious, I didn’t think it would actually work, but then I made a light, and-” 

You cut off with a yelp as he snatches the book from you, flipping through the first couple pages. He’s quiet for a few minutes, before uttering, “Have you tried any other spells?” 

“N-No! I swear, I only did the light spell!” you gasp. 

He closes the book and sighs as he takes in your terrified appearance. “...that is well then.” He offers you the book back, which you gingerly take. “I did not mean to frighten you. But magic can be dangerous to learn on one’s own. I would be cross if you’d burned up my room.” 

You figure that’s as close to an apology you’re likely to get from him, and your shoulders start to relax. A little, anyway. “I…I wouldn’t want to learn the more dangerous spells on my own anyway. I’m not stupid,” you mumble defensively.

“Glad to hear it,” he rumbles wryly. He tilts his head slightly, and despite himself a hint of  curiosity enters his gaze. “How long did it take you to perform the spell the first time? Tell me about your method.” 

You perk up, and you start grinning. “Okay, so, the book said that before you start on magic work for the day that you should meditate to calm your mind, so I did that. Then, the light spell said to ‘imagine a light source, but be careful if it’s fire.’ It suggested sunlight, so I just…” You explain to him your thought process. “...and when I opened my eyes it was there, above my palm!” 

He looks surprised. “That easily?” 

You nod eagerly. “That easily! I was so surprised and excited that the spell sorta burst, it was pretty.” 

“I see.” He looks thoughtful. Then he suddenly scoops you up with one arm and strides to the armchair, sitting and settling you into his lap. His arms wrap around your waist, and he curves his chest over your back. “Show me. Perform the spell again.” 

You’re a little breathless from being manhandled like that-one night in his presence wasn’t nearly enough to get you used to this. But you nod and close your eyes. “Give me a moment to settle my mind again.” 

Amusement enters his golden gaze, as if he knows exactly what you’re thinking. “Of course.” 

You both sit there in silence as you calm down. Though, it was easier said than done: the fact that you could sit cross-legged in Ganondorf’s lap and still have room left over was…very distracting. But eventually, your emotions settle, and you open your eyes. “Okay.” 

He watches you as you lift your hand, but he’s not just watching your physicality. He’s practiced enough in the arcane arts that he can feel other people’s energies. He hadn’t been kidding yesterday when he told you his thoughts about you and sorcery, but not just because your feelings were able to breach dimensional boundaries. He can feel a wealth of energy inside you, locked behind your world’s limitations. But upon traveling to a world where magic is common, those limitations were shattered, and now your energy flows freely. 

He watches as it travels from your heart and brain, the epicenters of magical force, down your arm, up through your palm to curve into a ball and burst into radiant light. It took all of two seconds. It hovers there, casting a cheerful light over the area. You grin up at him. 

He watches it for a moment. “Show me how you anchor it.” 

“Okay.” You close your eyes again. He watches just a tiny sliver of your energy break off from the main body of the pool available to you. It sticks through the ball of energy as if nailing it to a wall, and you take your hand away, letting it float there.Ganondorf reaches out, poking at the orb, trying to move it–but it stays firm. 

“...I have to admit, I am fairly impressed,” he finally says. You light up, almost brighter than the orb you’d created. “Do not get me wrong, this is a beginner spell. Creating light is not difficult for even children, once they have even a rudimentary grasp of their own energy. However…” He leans back in the armchair, looking thoughtful as you turn around in his lap to face him. “You performed this spell instantly the first time you tried it. That is rare. And to follow it up, in your first session ever using magic, with a holding technique?” He nods. “I will give credit where credit is due: that is very well done.” 

You beam happily at him. “Thank you! I didn’t think something like that would impress you, I’m honored.” 

He nods. “As you should be. However…this will be the last time that you practice magic by yourself.” 

You blink, your stomach sinking like a rock. “...why?” 

“Like I said, I do not want you burning down my room. I have too many important documents and relics in here. Instead, starting tomorrow, you will learn directly from me, in a training room much more suited.” 

Your jaw drops. “You…you’re going to teach me yourself?!”

“I am. Your potential is too great to leave to someone else. I will see to it personally.” 

“Holy shit,” you breathe, and he rumbles a chuckle in amusement. “I…well, I’ll do my best to learn.” 

“Of course you will. I do not expect any less.” He watches you for a long moment, before reaching forward and capturing your chin in between his thumb and forefinger. “Be warned: I will push you to your limits.” 

You swallow hard, but smile faintly. “I figured you would. You’re good at that.” 

His lips quirk up into a smirk, and he leans forward, so close his nose brushes yours. “Am I? Is my little beauty thinking of last night?” he purrs. 

Your heart rate ramps up, your eyes blowing wide. “I’m sitting in your lap and you’re about to kiss me. How could I not?” you whisper back. 

He abruptly grabs your hips, and he yanks you forward against his chest. “I do enjoy how eager you are, little one,” he whispers into your jawline, nipping playfully as his right hand lifts to curl gently around your throat. Heat explodes into your veins, and your gasp is music to his ears. “I like the thought that you are so eager, you would do anything I ask. Would you not?” 

You whimper, trembling at his touch, your hips already pressing forward into his. “V-Very nearly, yes,” you gasp. 

He chuckles, low and dark, the sound curling lithely into your core. “As I thought.” Then abruptly, he plucks you from his lap and stands you next to his chair. “However,” he says, standing as you sway a little, “I have not eaten anything since breakfast. Delicious as you are, you are not very filling.” He smirks down at you as he moves for the dining table. “I will save you for dessert.” 

You gape at his back in disbelief as he leaves you there. The heat is rapidly dissipating as you realize that he’d been only playing with you, and you huff, blushing darkly as you come over to take your seat at the table. “You’re a damn tease, Gan.” 

He flicks his hand at the covered platter, and when he removes the cloche there are slices of roasted beef, smelling of spices and something like wine. There’s also steamed vegetables, and on the other plates appear fresh fruit. It’s a very well rounded meal. “I do not recall giving you permission to shorten my name,” he muses, raising an eyebrow as he serves you a portion of the food. 

You flush faintly. “Well…your full name’s a bit of a mouthful.” Much like other things, you think, though you don’t say it out loud.

“Even so. One night of passion does not entitle you to such…familiarity. Not yet, anyway. You will call me Ganondorf, or my lord. Understood?” 

You glower at him. “If that’s what you want, then fine. But it feels weird being so formal with you, and not just because we…we had sex. I grew up knowing you and your stories, for God’s sake.” You pause as his eyes flick to yours. “How about a compromise? Can I call you Ganon?” 

His lips purse in disapproval. “I am not Ganon. Ganon is my bestial form, and you should know that.” 

“I do, but that doesn’t mean-”

“I have given you your options,” he says firmly. “If you cannot follow my wishes on such a minor subject, how am I to trust you to follow my orders when I teach you magic?” 

Despite yourself, you wince and look down. “All right…I’m sorry, Ganondorf.” 

“Apology accepted.” 

He goes quiet after that. You examine him as you both eat, though you try your best to be subtle about it. He’s perfectly mannered, but his eyes are miles away. You wonder what he’s thinking about, if there’s some problem with his plans. You wonder if it’s Link and Zelda…and that thought makes you freeze, your eyes going wide in sudden realization. 

“Could I ask you a question?” He grunts an affirmative. “If you die, am I stuck here?” 

He looks at you sharply. “Why are you thinking of my death?” 

You hold up your hands placatingly. “I’m not! I mean, I am, but not in-I don’t want you to die, that’s not what I meant. But generally, if you’re alive then Zelda and Link move against you, and that tends to lead to you dying. What if you die while I’m still here?” 

He stares at you for a long moment, before sighing. “If they were to slay me, yes, you would be stuck here. But they would not kill you, as you are not part of my plans. You are only my companion.” 

“All right…” You look down, swallowing slightly as you cut another piece of beef. “That would…kinda suck. I mean, not only do I not want you to die, but I wouldn’t know where to even start about living in a fantasy realm.” 

He snorts. “Yes, a world of much lower technology would be a culture shock for you. But once Zelda learns that you know about…all of us, I am sure she would provide for you.” 

“You think?” 

“Of course. Not only because she is kind, but because you would be a source of information for her.” 

You smile ruefully. “Wisdom.” 

The tone of your voice sounds almost resigned, and he chuckles without much humor. “Wisdom. You understand better than I thought you would.” 

“The outside perspective helps with that.” 

“Indeed.” 

It goes quiet again, save for the snap of the fireplace and the clink of utensils. Only once the food is gone does he turn to you. He smirks, his eyes roaming your form, and he flicks his fingers. The platter and plates disappear from the table. “Stand.” 

You flush, but you push your chair back and stand before him. “Good girl,” he rumbles, and the praise makes a shiver run up your spine. “Come closer.” 

You step forward, and as soon as you’re within reach he grasps you and lifts you from the floor, stripping the towel off and laying you face down on the table. You gasp as he pulls your hips up into the air, his enormous hands framing themselves around your ass cheeks. “Ganondorf!” 

He chuckles, a low, amused, aroused rumble as his eyes feast on the view before him. “Yes? I told you that I would have you for dessert, did I not?”

“You did, b-but I didn’t think you meant it literally!” 

He snorts. “Rarely am I anything but literal, little one. Now, unless you’re crying out in pleasure, hush.” 

You flush darkly as his thumbs pull your lower lips open. You glisten in the firelight, and in the light from the nearby candles, and he watches with relish as your weeping hole twitches in arousal. He says nothing, just emits a pleased near-growl as his eyes roam your folds. His right index finger hooks gently over your labia, leaving his thumb free to rub teasing circles over your entrance. A choked cry is muffled into the table top as all the eager nerves are stimulated around your hole, and he smiles when he feels your thigh muscles twitch under his left hand. 

His thumb suddenly sinks into you, punching a curse out of your lips. He plunges it in and out a couple times, watching the way your slick builds around the digit, before he pulls it out to swipe once over your clit. 

He chuckles as your hips buck. 

His right hand leaves your ass as he sinks one long, thick middle finger into you. Your fingernails scratch against the table top as that finger slowly undulates, and your hips move of their own accord, pressing back to meet his intruding digit. His left hand tightens on your hip, forcing you to stop. 

“You will move when I tell you to,” he growls, and all the while his finger continues to move, to slide along your slick walls. 

“P-Please,” you gasp in vain. You know after last night he doesn’t respond to your begging until he’s good and ready. 

He smirks, his golden eyes darkened and molten, as he watches your quivering cunt responding to him. He watches the way your clit engorges under its hood, wanting attention. He watches the way your juices drip down your folds, squelching around him. 

And then he adds a second, stretching you around his massive fingers. 

“FUCK,” you shout, your hips twisting against his grip as he slowly presses forward. His pace is achingly relaxed, not because he thinks you need him to go slow after last night, but to torment you, the sweetest torture. “Please, please, I-I need more!” 

“Is that so?” he replies, his tone as casual as if talking about the weather. 

“YES! Please, Ganondorf, please!” 

The second please is barely out of your mouth before his thumb is suddenly swiping rapidly over your clit, before his fingers in you suddenly piston rapidly. You shriek in pleasured surprise, your left arm shooting out and knocking a cup off the table with a clang. He laughs as you writhe against his hold. 

And then he slows back down. You whine in protest, feeling the beginnings of an orgasm fade back into your belly, and your clit throbs. 

He stands, suddenly, but your hips come with him, and you yelp as you hang upside down, your thighs hooking over his shoulders. Your face is pressed now against his clothed erection, his cock firm and hot against your cheek through his pants. His left arm is wrapped around your lower back to keep you there, while his right stays where it is, his fingers still deep in you.

 He says nothing, and you get no more warning, before his lips wrap gently around your clit. Your fingernails dig into his thighs and pleasure surges up your nerves like a lightning storm. His lips work gently around your clit, not sucking, just rubbing, and you choke on a sob of pleasure. 

You can feel it building again, the beginnings of your orgasm, rolling in the base of your belly as he works you with all the patience in the world. His hips never once twitch despite the massive erection under your face; he’s fully focused on you, on making you lose your mind in desperate need. 

Impaled on his fingers, orgasm building achingly slowly, his beard tickling your labia and inner-most thighs, you cry out his name like a prayer. 

Then his tongue begins to swirl rapid, tight circles on your jutting clit, and his fingers piston once more into your aching cunt, and you explode into blinding pressure and heat. He growls against you as your walls seize his fingers in a velvet vice, and before you could even realize that he’s pulled his pants down, you’re bent over the table and he’s pushing into you. You scream his name as his fingers keep rubbing your clit, your orgasm not stopping as his cock spears you open. He bends almost in two over you, biting down against your shoulder as your walls do their best to milk him. His hips slam into your ass, his cockhead hitting a spot inside you that sends lightning up your spine, and with a bellow he follows you into bliss. 

Your body buzzes as he empties himself into you, his teeth leaving your shoulder, replaced by his lips and his rapid breathes, exhaled through his nose. His hips keep pumping, slowly, sliding his softening cock through the mess he made of you. You whimper his name, going boneless on the table under him, shivering as sweat cools on your lower back, on your thighs, in your hairline. 

He gathers you up, making you gasp as his cock slips out of you, and he carries you into the bathroom. You smile tiredly against his shoulder as he lowers you into the water. “I have a feeling we’re going to be in here a lot,” you murmur. 

He smirks. “I have a feeling you may be right,” he rumbles as he sheds the rest of his clothes. “But I do not see you complaining about it.” 

His smug tone makes you want to argue…but you can’t. After all, your new favorite pastime is letting the Gerudo King turn you into a whimpering, dripping, desperate mess. 

Not that you’d say that out loud, anyway.

[skyloftian-nutcase]

Forsaken AU PLOT

Ok, usually I’m like “nah I don’t want to share because I want it to be a surprise!” But let’s be real. Given how many other obsessions I have, and my attention span, and time and energy… who knows if this will ever get written. So I’ll share so we can all be excited about it :)

Anyway. So the basic premise of the Forsaken AU, of course, is that impending doom is coming and Zelda, being the overconfident and eager princess that she is, tries to claim the Triforce for herself to defend her kingdom, and it fractures as a result. She has to find Link, but there are eighty thousand Links in Hyrule, so she has to sort through all of them and she finds Gerudo Link and Mystery Link.

The impending darkness, of course, is Ghirahim, because he’s just goofy and ridiculous enough to fit the vibe of this plot. Mystery accidentally revived him a year or two ago and has been trying to rectify that ever since. Ghirahim, of course, is trying to revive Demise. At first he seeks to do so through Gerudo Link, recognizing that Ganondorf often willingly hosted Demise’s malice. Gerudo’s just like “…dude. No. Why are you being weird.”

Eventually Zelda manages to haul Mystery and Gerudo back to her family, whether it’s before or after she’s realized they both bear Triforce pieces, idk, probably after, maybe they had a confrontation with Ghirahim and it revealed it or something. But the Queen remembers Mystery, of course, and asks him to take up the mantle of Hero once more to save Hyrule from impending darkness.

Mystery. Does NOT. Want to get back into Main Plot land. But he knows he can’t stop it, especially since he freed Ghirahim anyway. He hates it. But he tries to take the Master Sword. But he’s too terrified. So he asks Fi to allow Gerudo to wield the sword as well, and he has Gerudo help him pull the Master Sword from the pedestal before handing it off to him.

Zelda is thrilled, of course, because she was right on BOTH accounts for the Links. The queen is bemused but will accept the sword’s decision. Gerudo is horrified that he got tossed into this “WAIT A SECOND YOU ASKED ME TO HELP YOU PULL IT OUT NOT JUST HAND IT OFF TO ME HANG ON—“

But Mystery? Suddenly he is Full Throttle. He starts training Gerudo Link as hard as he can. They spend a month drilling, and he tells Zelda she better have her magic ready.

And then he vanishes. Zelda’s stunned - surely… surely he didn’t actually just Nope out of there after dumping his responsibility on Gerudo??

In reality, Mystery went to seek out Ghirahim himself. Mystery knows that his own magic is powerful in controlling spirits. He started this mess, and he’ll try to finish it himself, in a way where nobody else is involved. He knows this is either going to work or backfire spectacularly, which is why his backup was to train Gerudo to know exactly how to fight him so he’d kill him if something went wrong.

Instead of being able to confront Ghirahim, though, Mystery comes in as the demon lord is about to sacrifice an entire village to try and resurrect a piece of Demise. Instead, Mystery decides to really take a gambit… he offers himself as a host for Demise.

He has magic to control spirits. He has a piece of the Triforce. Let’s play a little.

Possessed Mystery Link is a terrifying sight to behold, but it saves the village, because Mystery is fighting Demise’s control with every fiber of his being. Unfortunately, Zelda and Gerudo came to confront him about leaving, and now they’re stuck with Demise trying to control Mystery.

Good news is that Demise isn’t the same strength he was when Ghirahim used Hylia to resurrect him - he’s a ghost of his former power, even if that’s still extremely formidable. As such, Mystery does fight Gerudo and Zelda for a while, but he eventually wrestles control over himself enough to kick the malice out of his body, earning himself the right to the full Triforce, and then the real battle begins, with Gerudo using the Master Sword, Zelda using her light arrows, and Mystery using his magic to essentially lasso a leash onto the demonic Ganon form to reel him in. I suppose Ghirahim’s in the midst of this too, maybe Zelda took him out during the initial fight because she deserves to kick his butt >:)

Anyway, the image of Dark Beast Ganon going toe to toe with Zelda, armed with her bow and arrows, Gerudo, armed with the Master Sword, and Mystery, eyes glowing gold with the Triforce on his left hand while he uses a golden leash to bring the beast to heel so the other two can fight it was too cool an image to not mention >:D

[starwolfie]

@skyloftian-nutcase as you said your birthday was in November (and it’s November now🙃) have a little present. I’m not sure if this would count as 100% fluff, but the Hero of Shadow and ToTK Link have a good Time!

The campfire crackled, burning low and Link contemplated to get up and put more wood on the fire, but that would have probably awakened the teenager currently asleep with his head in his lap. Link looked down at the young Warrior he had rescued from freezing to death on Naydra‘s snowfield.

He was sleeping peacefully, face still a few shades paler than would be considered healthy. Link wondered if this was a side effect of the gloom sickness, living in the depths or if the boy just had a naturally lighter complexion.

They had tried to make it to Kakariko before Nightfall, but the younger Warrior was still too weak from Gloom sickness and whatever Ganondorf had put the boy through. Anger burned hot in the hero‘s guts as he remembered that the teenager snoozing so relaxed in his lap was Ganondorf's kid. His kid that he had mind controlled and forced to fight him.

the other Link stirred in his sleep and crunched his face up, sleepily mumbling something. Link carded his hand through the boy‘s pale blond hair. “Shh, it's okay, you’re safe.“ the older Link muttered softly.

the teenager relaxed and the peaceful expression returned to his face. Link‘s eyes fell on the clothes the younger Warrior was still wearing. They reminded him of the clothes the Demon Lord wore and he was sure the younger Link felt the same. He decided that the first thing they’d do when they arrived at Kakariko would be to get him new clothes. But they’d not arrive there today as night had already fallen and while the boy might be an adept fighter, he was far too sick and exhausted to get him involved in a monster attack now.

Link’s stomach rumbled audibly and he decided that it was time he started on cooking. He gently nudged the tired teenager until his eyes fluttered open. “Hi Link.“ They needed nicknames, he decided. They couldn’t keep calling each other Link. “I‘m making dinner. Is there something you would like? Or something you don’t eat?“

The younger Link shook his head. “I‘ll eat what you cook, don’t make extra effort for me.“ He hadn’t even finished speaking when his eyes started drooping again. They were moving fast because Link feared that Ganondorf would come after them if he discovered that the kid was gone. But apparently he had overestimated the teenager‘s still very low stamina. Link bent over to retrieve his pillow and settled the boy’s head down on the soft surface. “Sleep a little longer, Link. I’ll wake you when the food is ready.“ The younger warrior nodded sleepily. “….can ‘all me Orik…. ‘s my other name…“ he slurred while closing his eyes. His breaths evened out again in sleep before Link could ask him why he had two names, and he shrugged. Good, he would call him Orik.

He awoke to someone gently shaking his shoulder and calling his name. But not his Hylian name, his Sheikah name. The only person who knew him by that name and who was still alive was….

His heartbeat fastened as he started to panic. He had found him, he would bring him back under his control, he would have to endure all of that pain again, he would never be free. He couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t move, he couldn’t even open his eyes as he lay there, panting.

“Link? Can you hear me? Breathe! Just breathe, in and out. You’re safe, Ganondorf is not here!“

That didn’t sound like Ganondorf. Rauru‘s knight… he suddenly remembered telling him about his other name.

His panting slowed down to normal breathing as he followed the knight’s directions and soon he could open his eyes. He saw the face over him, a worried line between his brows and blue eyes fixed on his. “Are you okay? Can you sit up? I made pumpkin stew, I hope you like it.“

He struggled to sit up but managed it without needing help. Link held out a bowl and he took it, his hands only slightly shaking. He tasted the first spoonful and a delighted smile appeared on his face. Link was an excellent cook, this tasted far better than anything the Yiga had ever made for him.

Link woke up early on the next morning, the sun had just started to rise and tinted the black sky to a faint orange. He looked down to the teenager snoring softly and drooling on his chest and couldn’t resist to run his hand through the ashen blonde hair. The boy had woken up in the middle of the night, screaming, disoriented and scratching at his bandaged forehead. He had only calmed down after Link had taken his hands and wrapped him in a fierce hug. Orik had fallen asleep in his arms and Link hadn’t dared to settle him back on his own blankets because he couldn’t risk waking him up again. The anger reared in his gut again as he thought what Ganondorf could have done to the boy, his own kid, that would make him have such nightmares. He still hadn’t forgotten about the panic attack Orik had suffered when he awoke him for Dinner and he thought he had been recaptured. He hugged the teenager tighter to his chest and swore to himself that he would take Ganondorf down for him as much as for himself and Zelda.

He carefully shook the boy’s shoulder. “Link, wake up, we need to get going.“ Orik opened his eyes almost immediately. When he realized that he had not only fallen asleep on Link’s chest but also drooled on him, he blushed so fiercely his pale skin turned almost as red as a Hylian tomato. He clumsily scrambled away from Link and mumbled apologies.

“Hey, Orik, no, it's okay! I don’t mind at all. You had a nightmare“

The teenager still couldn’t look at him until they had dressed and packed up camp. He passed Orik a leftover mushroom skewer from his slate for breakfast and they started walking down the mountain towards Kakariko.

It was already noon when they arrived in the mountain village. Orik had tried his best to keep up with Link, but he could tell how exhausted the boy was because he kept tripping over his own feet. But still his red eyes widened with wonder as they entered the hidden valley where the village lay. It seemed to have been a while since Orik had last entered a village like this.

His eyes swept over the valley between green hills and the waterfalls gurgling behind the huge house of the village chief. His ears took the soft sound of the wooden windchimes in as well as the laughter and talking that the wind carried over to them.

“Is this a Sheikah village?“ he asked, trying to take it in all at once.

“Yes, why do you ask?“ Link answered with a raised brow. He knew that many Hylians were anxious about the Sheikah and he thought Orik might be even more cautious because of his dad. But the teenager just smiled. “I‘m half Sheikah. On my father's side.“ the confusion on Link‘s face must have been obvious because he added: “ Ganondorf isn’t really my father. I was kind of adopted when I got engaged to his daughter.“ Link‘s confusion just got bigger when he heard that. He couldn’t ask more questions as Koko and Cottla came running up to him and nearly knocked him down. “Where have you been, we haven’t seen you for so long!“ Koko‘s gaze fell on his companion and she took a step back. “Who’s that?“ she asked, pointing a finger at the sick teenager who looked to the ground in embarrassment. Link put a hand on his shoulder and drew him to his side. “ This is my friend Orik. He got lost in the Naydra Snowfield and touched the Gloom. He is sick now and we need to find a place where he can rest. But first he‘ll need some new clothes.“ The girls nodded hastily and ran back to the village. The teenager wriggled out of Link‘s embrace. He looked to the ground, ears flushing in embarrassment. „ I can’t get new clothes, I don’t have money….“

Link gently patted his shoulder. “ Don’t worry about that. I found plenty of ore in that cave, we can exchange that for money!” Orik tried to object again, but Link had already started walking towards the village center and the younger warrior had to jog to keep up. He tripped over a stone and would have fallen if Link hadn’t caught him. The teenager blushed again and looked to the floor as he realized that the Sheikah woman in front of the house was looking at him with a smile.

“Who’s your friend, Link? He's cute!” Link snorted and Orik’s ears turned bright red, the flush spreading to his cheeks.

Link snorted and ruffled the teenager’s hair. “Leave him alone, Lasli, he’s not feeling well.”

The girl giggled and pointed to the entrance of the shop. “Get inside then, boys!“

The teenager hurried past the still giggling girl and went inside the shop after Link. He stepped on the wooden floor boards, looking around the little shop. There were several mannequins on both sides of the room displaying armor parts. On one side was a set in different grays with the Sheikah eye symbol on the chest. On the other side there was a very strange looking set with glowing markings. He looked up to the high ceiling where wooden beams carried the thatched roof and wondered how the Sheikah architecture now was so different from what he was used to from his own time. The girl behind the counter smiled at Link.“Did you finally decide to buy the radiant armor, Link?“ she greeted them, pointing at the strange glowing armor. Link shook his head and took Orik by the shoulders, gently shoving him to the front.“ I‘m looking for something for my friend here. Do you have a hylian tunic or something?“ the girl nodded and vanished to the back room. When she came back she carried a red tunic with a triangular pattern at the hem and the sleeves, a forest green undertunic and a dark teal sash over her arm. “Wasn’t easy to find something in his size, he’s even tinier than you, Link.“ she muttered.

“At least I might still grow a little.“ Orik answered with a bright grin on his face.Link smiled and ruffled the boy’s hair affectionately. As traumatized as the young Warrior might be, sometimes he was behaving like every normal teenager.

[toushindai]

totk spoilers but are we ACTUALLY meant to think it’s poetic or flattering or triumphant that Rauru was like “oh YEAH? Well in thousands of years this guy called Link is gonna kick your ass”

How much has he even heard about Link? He must have had at least one more conversation about him with Zelda because the Master Sword doesn’t come up in the Zelda and Sonia tear, and by the King’s Duty tear Rauru’s just like oh don’t worry, if we don’t finish Ganondorf off I’m sure your bf can handle him. As I’ve said before, his “We rely on your knight” line rubbed me the wrong way starting with its appearance in the trailer, and it really does not feel less entitled after watching said knight (and that legendary sword he carries) very very VERY nearly get one-shotted by Ganondorf at the beginning of the game. And Zelda knows this! What does she feel watching her Better Dad Substitute sacrifice himself and simultaneously sic the evil bad guy on Link—a siccing which explicitly shapes Ganondorf’s attitude towards Link at the beginning of the game? At what point did she have the emotion of “welp. I know why Ganondorf knew Link’s name now.” The musical blending of the LOZ theme/hero’s theme with Rauru’s theme seems to suggest that it’s not an emotion meant to be had at exactly that moment, but I cannot watch Rauru sneer “remember that name” without yelling HE DOESN’T NEED THAT INFORMATION at the screen.

I played through the GSI in Japanese recently and Rauru did seem a touch less entitled to Link than I’ve been reading him—mostly because of the formal, polite, outgroup-equal language he used with him—but I still can’t get over the extent to which Rauru heard about Link a few times and decided, sight unseen, that he was going to clean up Rauru’s mess. My man what made you think that. What gave you the right to decide that. And how frightening to be Zelda and watch Rauru pin all the world’s hope on her beloved knight who Ganondorf absolutely fucking wiped the floor with. We see this worry in her in the Master Sword in Time cutscene! To what extent can Zelda’s transformation and before that her petition to the other tribes of Hyrule for Link’s sake be understood as a forced action due to Rauru’s conviction that Link could do this no sweat? Almost entirely, I feel—but does the game know that?

I just. Isn't it intentional? Doesn't it have to be? The fact that Rauru already needs the correction, once, that he cannot and should not face the Demon King alone. Then his melodramatic claim that Link has got this on lock. Then Zelda being like 😬 not sure about this actually and going through the whole process of talking to the ancient sages + draconifying for the sake of the Master Sword. Because Rauru absolutely set Link up to fail and Zelda is the one making sure Link has the resources, including the support of others, he needs to succeed. And the game is so much about community, about not doing things on your own.

And yet the way the scene is scored and animated and the way all the other characters talk about Rauru's sacrifice seems to treat this as a a moment of culmination, of triumph. I am getting such mixed messages here.

Understand, I’m saying all of this with an aching fondness for this poor self-deluded hypocrite. And also teeth-grinding frustration. I think he deserves to feel suffocatingly humiliated when Link almost didn’t survive Ganondorf’s attack and I also have tremendous sympathy for the shame and terror that it might be far too late to correct his mistake that he must have felt as he waited for Link to wake up. Both of those things. Hopelessly lonely man who found people to love him and built himself into a role he was never adequate for. I wish the game looked at this a little more. I wish I could tell if the game intended this at all.

(This is not the most intelligently written post but I assure you I mean every word of it.)

[batrogers]

Linked Universe Time with PTSD

My friends have gotten the brunt of me going on these rambles at them directly, so I decided I’d make this everyone else’s problem as well. Especially after the recent update and the somewhat... questionable words exchanged between him and Twilight, I figured this could be a salve for people like me and a few friends going “What the fuck” about how out of the blue it feels.

A comment on my approach to canon: I am aware there are things shared in the Discord that are creator content, and on the Patreon to which not everyone has equal access or can even manage to relocate again with any ease. As such, like I do with most fandoms, I will be discounting those as “extra-canon” only referenced to augment the “core materials” which I am treating as the Tumblr account archive, because that is available to everyone, without an account and without paying.

I am, of course, including all base canon of the games in this analysis as well, which is to say all the canon directly included in the games and not including the Ocarina of Time or Twilight Princess comics. Interviews and so on are considered "extra-canon" here as well.

(Also I am in the Patreon and at the moment none of the “bonus” content is relevant to this anyways, for the curious. I am not, and have never been, in the Discord.)

Approx 1500 words.

IIII

I’m going to start from the comment everyone is making about this update: that Malon must be pregnant. Obviously nothing can prove or disprove that in and of itself, but I would argue that’s both not a necessary read of this and the mere question is actually part of my analysis: Link and Malon are, by word of god and how they’re drawn, in their thirties. They’ve been a couple since they were late teens to early twenties, and they very clearly want to have children from how they react to Twilight!

So why don’t they?

Infertility is suspected after two years of a (presumably) reproductive capable couple having unprotected sex without a pregnancy. If Time and Malon have been trying for ten to twenty years to have children (assuming their relationship started between 15-20, and currently are 30-35), they are incredibly infertile. It’s not out of the question, and a wild stroke of luck could still occur (my own cousin conceived unexpectedly after ten years of trying) but it does serve to investigate other reasons: maybe they had some reason they weren’t trying, either on purpose or because something was keeping them apart.

Something, perhaps, like a war.

The base game of Ocarina of Time does not leave Hyrule in a good state. We are told, in-game, that Hyrule was in a civil war when Link was a baby. His mother died getting him into the Lost Woods, where he was raised as an orphan. The Shadow Temple explicitly states it was used to imprison (and, strongly implied, torture) the enemies of the Hylian royal family. Ocarina of Time is the only game to use its unique script for Hylian, which suggests it wasn’t the original language and did not last into Twilight Princess later on.

Lon Lon Ranch itself is both very protected by location (very close to the Castle, close enough it supplies it with food and other supplies) and by a twelve foot log palisade. The castle grounds themselves have two guarded gates between it and Castletown (do they not trust their own populace?) and a vast number of guards on the hills around it. Kakariko also has guarded, gated entrances.

(This all has a game mechanics explanation, of course. Closing off each section with “gates” and high walls permits loading screens to feel justified and more immersive, and saves game data and space. It creates clearly defined, restricted areas for the console capabilities at the time. But they can still be interpreted this way, because that is ultimately still the world they built in the end.)

In addition to that base of implied precarious stability at home, we have the question of how the matter of Ganondorf was resolved. Time very briefly references pointing the finger at him and causing something to happen, but ultimately there is no result that would not have made the situation politically volatile for some time after. Even if they executed Ganondorf immediately, the bad blood between Hyrule and the Gerudo would’ve festered under Koume and Kotake as potential leaders. If they didn’t, and simply threw him out or banished him, the same would apply this time with Ganondorf still alive... and, if we assume that the Twilight Princess Ganondorf and this one are the same, he looks much older in-model than he does in Ocarian of Time which suggests this interpretation holds more weight.

It’s not really a question of “if” things devolved again after these events, but when and how badly. Remember, again, my comment that the script of Ocarina of Time is gone by the time of Twilight Princess. In addition, I've done an analysis of Twilight Princess game implications that do not imply Child Timeline has been peaceful, either.

But, of course, the question of what the games themselves leave us with doesn’t answer if Jojo went with this position within the canon of the comics. There is of course the potential to disregard this if someone doesn’t want to go the route of war post-game for Ocarina of Time. Many people just don’t want to write it, and that’s valid! I honestly don’t think Jojo really considered it.

But, there is evidence that could support it if you wanted to go there.

First of all, we have Time’s platemail. This is based off of the Hero’s Shade platemail in Twilight Princess. Disregarding all other factors, platemail directly implies a few things about Time’s social position at the start of Linked Universe: he has enough money, influence, and reason to have suffered the cost and length of time required to make what is extremely high-level, personalized (in size and design) armour. This means several things:

Time has social status. That armour is meant to be seen and noticed; it’s something that either was made for show (a “jewel of the crown” level of regard), or because he wanted people to notice it personally. He has money, or political favour: that shit’s expensive. He either paid for it himself, or someone paid for it for him. And he has cause to want the level of defense offered by platemail over chainmail or hardened leather. Platemail is uncomfortable. It's heavy, and reduces agility. You wear plate because you expect to get hit, and hit hard by something that could surpass chainmail or hardened leather. Something like a moblin... or an iron knuckle.

Malon directly references this in their visit to see her: “You’re in danger if you took your best gear.”

Time chose to wear his platemail to go after Dink, but this is armour he already owns before Dink ever entered the picture. In that same chapter, Malon directly states “all the times you’ve come home beaten and bleeding.” While they also joke that Talon doesn’t believe him, remember that Lon Lon Ranch is in a very protected place within Hyrule. A war that takes out the castle and central city is a war that’s very nearly lost. (Hyrule Warriors losing Zelda AND the castle was a devastating, near-lose condition and his Hyrule is probably in severe condition.) Talon can afford to consider the affairs Time gets up to none of his business.

But that doesn’t make them perfectly safe. Malon can fight, she’s been drawn with bow and arrow before. Lon Lon Ranch, as noted, is behind a tall palisade and there’s the implications that Talon’s deceased wife might’ve been a Gerudo. He’s also old enough that he was a young adult at least during the Civil War that killed Link’s mother.

And, somewhere between that picture of Time at sixteen or seventeen, when Malon promised she wanted to know what had happened to him, and the start of Linked Universe (a gap that directly implies that this was not the result of Majora’s Mask!) Link lost an eye and gained the markings of the Fierce Deity mask. And, with it, he gained what we’re told by Jojo (in a VERY old ask) is a terror of using it again.

I’m not going to presume to say what exactly his trauma might or might not look like. PTSD and similar things manifest differently for a lot of people. But it could make Time react badly to the visceral reminder of going back into serious combat. A reminder like, say, a long wait for someone to recover from a nearly-fatal injury. Add in that on long campaigns, letters from Malon may have been his only piece of home, letters that likely carry her terror for his safety with them nevermind the specific news they contain and...

He might not be in a good state of mind when setting out once more with one of the young men he’s pulled into this fight with him. He might struggle to think clearly, when he feels so responsible for their safety and remembers how Malon reacted to Twilight, all because of what he told her.

He might say things in a poor way, with fear weighing more heavily on his mind than reason.

[rawliverandgoronspice]

◦ Descant of Greatness ◦

(The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time - Mature Audience - Gen, M/F - multi chapter - Part 2 of Unhallowed Vespers)

...

“I don’t fault you, Ganondorf.” Her eyes are crimson.The last seven years dried them of any tear worth holding onto, cleansed by the rain on the rampart of a kingdom that loathed them so. “Do you believe transcending godhood can save you from what you have started?"

All this stolen Power, and he still cannot stump the fear. “I have to try."

(read Chapter 1 on Ao3)

...

Finally, I'm kind of ready to start posting this fic!!

It was never meant to become such a huge thing, since I was just hoping to get the Zelda fever out of my system and handle some of the remaining frustrations about everything I couldn't touch upon in Litany of Betrayal, which is Part 1 of that series I called (after an INSANE amount of debate and hair pulling) Unhallowed Vespers.

This story is a non-linear character study of Ganondorf from OoT, with a healthy dose of liberties taken and choices made, that tries to get at the heart of why I think this character is so gosh darn interesting --but veers closer to dark fantasy than the original material even does, given, well, the kind of protagonist we have on our hands. It's a love letter that got kind of super long RIP to me being all like "yeah it's just going to be a couple of vignettes nothing crazy uwu" lol, look at you now with your 6k chapters you predictible fool

The story is a lot about legitimacy, culture, legacy and, of course, ambition and justice in the face of the divine. It's a tragedy, with a dash of existential horror that took me by surprise. It gave me an excuse to think a lot about gerudo culture!! I FINALLY wrote a scene about Ganondorf's coronation, which I've been wanting to have an excuse to do since I was like 14 years old!! There's a romance in there, though it is uhhh a little toxic because, again *gestures towards the protagonist involved*. People who are familiar with my writing will be very pleased (??) to know that this is the usual bullshit, and that I was bound to put politics in my Zelda if left unsupervised for too long. :(((

It's not 100% done yet so I don't have a set schedule of release, but it's about 75% done! I'll try to push the chapters out pretty fast (though it probably won't be fully released before TOTK :( the lore will come for me running and I'm s c a r e d)

[loz-furbies]

Hyrule Warriors Zelda

(While the characters have some dialogue during gameplay, this is based on just the cutscenes because I'm not replaying the whole game for this)

Design

I’m not a fan of HW Zelda’s face, while Zelda in all her incarnations has a rather generic anime pretty girl face, for some reason this one feels bland and barbie-like to me. And in general the aesthetic this time is a lot more fanservicey than usual, with the bikini armour and mini shorts. Which I guess is in line with the overall HW character design but I don’t have to like it. Even more than the bikini breastplate I’m bothered by the fact that her shoulder armour doesn’t seem to be properly attached to anything.

That aside I think this works well as a more action oriented Zelda design, with all the extra armour, while it retains her well known pink/purplish colour palette and the Hyrule crest. I also like her hairstyle with the little weight at the end of the braid.

Like most of the other characters, Zelda also gets unlockable alternate skins, some change her to look like the other Zeldas (and Ilia for some reason) in the franchise, while others are palette swaps of her HW look. So they aren't particularly interesting design-wise, but still a fun gameplay addition regardless.

Sheik again has a perfectly serviceable mysterious ninja design. The scarf doesn't look as awkward and I like the addition of the long braid.

I'm a huge fan of how the weapons in HW get progressively more ornate and impractical, and Zelda's lvl 3 rapier is exactly the type of magical girl weapon I'm into.

Character

Hyrule Warriors Zelda is a mature and competent leader, who also joins the battles in the front lines. Unfortunately there's not much else to her, like sure she's the nice and polite princess again, but she doesn't get that many interesting character moments and a lot of the story is just spent going through the plot.

As Sheik she has the same issue as in OoT, in that she doesn't have in common with her regular self. So Sheik's inclusion does feel a bit like waste and I would rather that they spent that time developing even one persona properly.

I have some issues with how women are depicted in this game, in that at times they feel sort of overly cutesy and infantilised and made specifically to be waifus. Like giggling a lot, doing specific kind of cute poses, staring lovingly at the camera in victory animations and stuff like that. It's not a huge problem with Zelda (or Sheik) and more prominent in characters like Lana or Linkle, but even with Zelda there is this feeling that the target audience is the kind who spends hundreds on bikini DLC.

Role in the story

For the first time in this review series, Zelda isn't kidnapped or cursed at any point of the game so good for her for that! She is a playable character and uses a rapier to fight, which ought to fill the needs of those who want a badass combat Zelda. Though I feel that is less meaningful in this game, since you can level up Agitha to lvl 100 and destroy all enemies as her.

However Zelda not being the target of a rescue mission does make her less important to the story though, since there's not much that replaces that. This is more about the game's character writing in general and not a flaw for Zelda in specific, but for the most part the characters just go through the motions. The story starts with Zelda having a prophetic dream that doesn't amount to much, and in between chapters the narrator tells how Zelda leads her troops to new battles, but I don't get much out of her as a character from that. She has a similar role to Link in that Ganondorf is after the Triforce that is in her possession, and in the grand finale she does some Triforce magic as a group, but otherwise doesn't stand out or do any interesting character driven actions.

Sheik's inclusion in the story feels incredibly superfluous and just there to check the box of having her as a playable character. Zelda disappears after chapter 1 and the beginning of the game is spent looking for her, even when she reappears and joins the group as Sheik in chapter 2. When her disguise is eventually busted, the whole thing is brushed aside in like one sentence of how she had to hide her identity from her enemies for... some reason. This is definitely a "don't think too hard about it" situation and it's better if you just roll with it and accept that since this is a multiverse crossover game, they just need to come up with ways to bring the characters from different games together and it's just easier to get done with it as fast as possible. Though the Sheik reveal wasn't as fast as possible and we spent several chapters looking for Zelda, which I think was a waste of the player's time, since this was clearly marketed to existing Zelda fans so many probably were already familiar with the Sheik thing. Story-wise the most we get out of Zelda's disappearance is some character moments from Impa and enemy-disguised-as-Zelda doing villainy things for such a short time that it barely warrants a mention.

Gameplay-wise her rapier moveset is alright and one of my more commonly used characters, but does feel a little flighty. Now with the new LoZ game on the horizon there has been talk of if it's problematic if Zelda doesn't get to have a sword, or is it problematic to think that a girl can't be a hero if she doesn't use one, and this game's solution of giving her a dainty rapier with pink decorations is somewhat of a compromise. Her alt weapons, the baton and dominion rod, are more traditionally princessy options though I don't use them much since they feel a bit slow or hard to control. And Sheik of course has an agility-based moveset and is therefore highly useful in the "don't get hit" missions.

Relationships

Zelda and Link's potential romantic relationship is at the core of this game's plot, but the whole thing falls flat when it's not developed at all. The story is about a sorceress who split in half, and both halves (the villain Cia and the new ally Lana) are in love with Link, and struggle with the fact that he is "soul bound" to Zelda. So a love triangle (or square) story then huh? Except there is practically nothing between Zelda and Link so Cia and Lana's drama feels so out of proportion.

Zelda and Link don't know each other before the story starts and only see each other for the first time when Zelda inspects her troops' training session from afar. Then she disappears before they get any development, and Link has nothing to do with Sheik either. But even once Zelda is back as herself, they just don't share any meaningful scenes together. Link doesn't talk, but it doesn't make much difference since Zelda doesn't have anything interesting or personal to say to him anyway, they don't show interest in each other beyond rudimentary plot stuff, and there aren't even any basic "they are staring intently at each other" moments after the first one in the training grounds when they hadn't even met yet. Zelda isn't even the one to give Link his green tunic, nor does she take any part in the one character moment Link has when he lets the power of the Master Sword go to his head and needs to be bailed out.

The only actual character moment between them that I can think of is when Zelda compliments Link on his courage and says she believes in him, which is absolutely not enough when the possibility of them becoming a couple is the main driver of the plot (or I mean Ganondorf is ultimately behind everything doing his usual business and he doesn't care, but Cia is the unique villain of this game). The scene where Lana admits defeat and bows out of the competition for Link's love is so nothing because neither Zelda and Link are aware at all that they're even players in this. Like go talk to him girl, he is clearly available!

In the final scene of the main story Link places the Master Sword to its pedestal to seal the remaining darkness, and Zelda joins him to help push it to the ground. Which also doesn't feel like a "we made it to this point together!" moment due to the lack of development, but their fingers do touch during it so if you're desperate enough, that's a sort of hand holding moment.

Despite being a rival in this supposed love triangle, Lana and Zelda don't have any character moments together. Thus Impa as the devoted body guard is the only other relationship Zelda has, and even that doesn't have much else to it than this description of Impa. But I'd say you're still better off shipping Zelda with her, because they do know and trust each other already in the beginning, and at least one of them is passionate about the relationship. And Impa and Sheik have some sparking chemistry when Impa tries to figure out what Sheik's deal is.

[lonelystarrs]

WHAT IS UP MY MAMMALS!!

I have been getting a few asks/ messages and I need to sort myself out on here.

I am okay :) and I am still writing, ao3 is my main place as I’m not a huge fan of tumblr —my barou stories will be posted here mainly.

Barou’s Girl prt 2 Has been started.

Him & I is still in progress and my main focus!! (Ao3 story Toji/Sukuna/Gojo x reader)

First of Us is also main focus as it falls in with him & I (Sukuna x reader ao3 story also)

Between us —I’m thinking of turning this into a mini series that’ll mainly be posted on my ao3 but also potentially here. It isn’t up on my priority list though.

However at the moment I am on hiatus —my life has been really stressful lately and I’ve needed to focus on myself and deal with real life. I’ve not been in the frame of mind to focus on writing at all. I’m not being rude and ignoring people —sorry for lack of response but thank you as always for lovely comments/messages and reblogs!!! I will get around to replying.

My life should become a lot less stressful and more relaxed in the coming weeks. I was basically bullied for the last 6 months in my job, had enough as it was starting to affect my mental wellbeing, my job is tough enough without having that added on top and have been waiting for a start date in my new job! My car broke and that was a huge stress. Then my job in general has been so busy and draining!

So I’ve very much needed me time! 🤣 I’ve not even been reading anything either.

I usually read for characters I don’t write for! So where are the wriothesley fics please? I need to find someone who’s obsessed with writing him! If anyone has good suggestions please send!! Wish their was more Grimmjow as well 😪

A good Miguel story would be good & Ganondorf! Please thank you ta!!! Ideally in character and not just the same reparative generic smut. Fed up with reading the same kinda smut on here 😪

Anyway, one has survived their turmoil of the last six months and just driving myself towards better things for now, but I am hoping to get back to writing soon —I really miss it. I might try some this week and try get something posted by next weekend, but shall see how things go :)

I hope you’re all good 🤍

[aegon-targaryen]

Mirage

Zelink Week Day 3: Blooming | OOT Zelink | read on AO3) | @zelinkcommunity

She was surrounded by flowers the first time Link saw her: pink tulips and yellow lilies, bright with color against the white walls of the courtyard. Hyrule Castle was far grander than anything he’d ever seen, but on that day, his eyes were only on Zelda.

The second time he creeps into the garden, the flowers are still blooming—but she’s nowhere to be seen. That shouldn’t come as a surprise. Surely she’s got princess things to do. Link pockets the Goron’s Ruby and sits on the steps, stretching his weary legs out in front of him while Navi keeps a lookout for guards.

It’s not like he needs to see Zelda; there’s still another Spiritual Stone to get before they can act against Ganondorf. He just wants her to know that he’s keeping his promise—that he believes her about the storm clouds gathering overhead, that he won’t leave her to face them alone. Even if his stomach twists into knots at the thought of more monsters, more grueling puzzles, more people needing his help.

“Link?”

He jolts in confusion; the courtyard’s still empty, and it takes him a moment to realize that she’s leaning out the window of her father’s audience chamber, glancing furtively behind her before returning her attention to Link. She’s wearing a dress the same color as her eyes, and there’s sunlight on her face, and he sounds entirely stupid when he says, “Hi, Princess.”

To his surprise, Zelda starts climbing through the window—she seemed so serious last time, so constrained by the rules of this place. Link jumps to his feet in case she needs help, but she surprises him further by dropping down to the stone dais and immediately pulling him into a hug.

She smells sweet as nectar. Link can feel the fine cloth of her veil against his cheek and is suddenly hyperaware that Dodongo’s Cavern left him reeking of smoke and brimstone. Maybe he should apologize for that, but Zelda’s arms are strong and warm around him, and he can’t remember the last time anyone held him. It must have been before that final, fateful morning in the forest.

“I’m so glad you’re safe,” she says, pulling back to see his face. Link’s cheeks are burning and he can’t find his words, so he digs the Goron’s Ruby out of his pocket and holds it out to her. Zelda covers his hand with her own, beaming at him, and he knows that every bruise and every burn was worth it. “Oh, Link, thank you.”

“It was nothing, Princess.”

“I doubt that. Gorons are famously stubborn.”

“They…did ask me to deal with some monsters first,” he admits. “Ganondorf blocked off their food source.”

“Ganondorf,” Zelda repeats like a curse. “My father has forbidden me from attending their meetings together. Apparently warning him of our enemy’s intentions is too disruptive. I got here early so I could hide and eavesdrop.”

“Oh—sorry. I didn’t mean to get in the way.”

“No, don’t apologize. I’d much rather be talking to you.”

Link feels heat crawl up the back of his neck and has to look away—she’s the prettiest girl he’s ever met, and her smile only magnifies the effect. Is this why Mido was always so stupid around Saria?

He’s saved from saying something embarrassing when movement flickers through the open window. “There’s Ganondorf,” Zelda says, her smile dying. “How I wish I could wipe that smirk off his face.”

The King of Thieves sweeps into the audience chamber and goes to one knee before the throne. His eyes are cold and his grin disingenuous, but after everything Link has fought the past few weeks, he doesn’t look all that scary. Maybe he’s like those puppetmasters who put on shows in the Castle Town market: an ordinary man pulling the strings for more frightening beasts.

Zelda is twisting her fingers together in worry, though. She hasn’t faced giant parasites or fire-breathing dinosaurs, but she has seen the future. Link can’t imagine bearing that burden.

“Let’s play a prank on him,” he says without thinking.

She gapes at him, and without waiting for an answer, Link pulls out his slingshot and picks up a small pebble, drawing back the string and aiming at Ganondorf. There’s a smack and a bad word that Navi always says children shouldn’t repeat. Ganondorf’s hand goes to his forehead while his gaze rakes the room indignantly. Zelda drags Link beneath the windowsill just before those cold eyes find them.

The king’s voice drifts outside. “Are you well, my lord?”

“Never better, Your Majesty,” Ganondorf growls.

“Let’s move to the Council chamber, then. A few more days and we’ll have that treaty finalized…”

Zelda is shaking all over, both hands pressed to her mouth. Oh, Goddesses, she must be angry. This isn’t Kokiri Village, Princesses are too dignified for pranks—

But when the footsteps recede, she drops her hands and starts to laugh, long and hard and lovely. Link sags against the wall in relief, a grin spreading across his own face—partly from the memory of Ganondorf’s dumfounded expression, but mostly because he’s drinking in the sound of Zelda’s joy.

“I can’t believe you did that,” she sputters when she’s finally caught her breath.

“Well, you did say you wanted to wipe the smirk off his face.”

She giggles again. There are little curls of blond hair escaping her veil; for the first time, she looks like a kid, and Link feels like one again. “You have remarkable aim.”

“Thanks, Princess.”

“Call me Zelda,” she says with a shy smile.

That feels like a gift she doesn’t get to give very often. Link smiles back, letting his tired muscles relax against the wall. It’s nice here—pleasantly cool after the blazing heat of Death Mountain, quiet except for the bees humming around the flowerbeds. When he closes his eyes, it almost feels like home.

The next thing he knows, he’s waking up with his head on Zelda’s shoulder. Link starts to pull away with a mumbled apology, but she stops him, guiding his head down to rest in her lap. “It’s okay. You can sleep here.”

“Are you sure? The guards…”

“Don’t worry. It’s safe.”

She brushes his bangs away from his face, and with the faint whisper of that touch, Link’s eyes drift shut once again. It’s the last good rest he gets for a long time.

.

.

.

That day is on his mind when he wraps his fingers around the cold hilt of the sword. Dust still drifts through the air, stirred up by the Door of Time as it creaked open for the stones and the song. There’s blood on his sleeve from the soldier who grabbed it in alleyway, his fingers weak and fumbling as he passed on his final message. Rain lashes against the windows. Someone screams into the night and stops so abruptly that Link shudders.

He’s here to stop all of that. The darkness and the cantering horse only allowed him a brief glimpse of the pale horror on Zelda’s face, but her message reached him through the Ocarina of Time. All he can do now is wish her a swift escape and keep the Triforce safe—and then they’ll see each other again. Won’t they?

The only problem is that Link has no idea what the Triforce looks like, or how to claim it. But he recognizes the lonely sword the same way he recognized her blue eyes. He knows what he’s meant to do.

It all seemed like a game in the garden: the twang of the slingshot, the sour look on Ganondorf’s face, Zelda’s laughter. Now Link’s hands are trembling with dread. He closes them tight around the sword and pulls with all his might.

When the blue glow swallows him whole, he remembers the smell of flowers.

.

.

.

Seven years and six temples later, Link sinks down in the doorway of the Desert Colossus, unwilling to take one more step. Twinrova’s cackle still rings in his ears. He’s never liked killing monsters, but killing twopeople merged into one—that’s worse, far worse, in a way that makes him feel hollow inside.

It’s cold in the narrow entryway, but he can’t bring himself to move further into the temple’s shelter. He just wedges himself into a corner and pulls his knees up to his chest, resting his head on his arms.

“It’ll be over soon,” Navi whispers as she slips under his hat and curls up to sleep.

She’s right. All that’s left is the dark castle Ganondorf built on the ruins of the old one. Link’s heart always twists when he imagines those white walls collapsing on the flower garden where he enjoyed his last moment of true peace. The thought of Zelda hurts even worse.

“You shouldn’t sleep here.”

He shoots to his feet, about to draw the Master Sword before he realizes where the voice came from—his shadow, standing tall and slender in the doorway with moonlight on his face.

“Do you enjoy doing that to me?” Link demands.

As usual, Sheik doesn’t answer the question; he just steps into the hallway and casts some light for them to see by—interesting magic for one of the Shadow Folk, but what does Link know? He can barely cast Din’s Fire without burning himself. With a sigh, Link slouches back against the wall, trying to look annoyed instead of exhausted. Navi peeks out from under his hat to make sure there’s no danger and goes right back to sleep.

“It isn’t safe,” Sheik insists.

“I cleared out the monsters,” Link points out.

“This is still Gerudo territory. Ganondorf could come looking for Kotake and Koume. Aren’t you cold? Why don’t you warp to Kokiri Village?”

The last two words hook into his heart and drag out a wave of sudden pain. It doesn’t last long—he never allows it to last long—but he digs his fingernails into his palms as he replies, “The bed’s too small.”

Sheik says nothing. Even without the mask, he would probably be unreadable. But embarrassment crawls up Link’s throat all the same.

“Besides, those beds are almost as hard as the ground,” he adds self-consciously. “I can sleep anywhere. I’m not from a fancy castle like Zelda.”

Ever-so-slightly, Sheik shifts his weight from one foot to another, as if preparing to run. “I doubt Zelda sleeps in castles anymore.”

Link looks away from that crimson gaze. He can’t begin to fathom where Zelda is, what she’s lost, what she lived through while he was sleeping. Sheik knows, but there’s no point in demanding answers he’ll never provide. “Does she know what’s about to happen?” Link wonders instead.

“She is aware of your progress. No one knows the future.”

“I do. I’ll stop Ganondorf. Zelda will come home to lead Hyrule. The Sages will be free from the Sacred Realm. We’ll close the Door of Time and rebuild Castle Town. We’ll have peace.”

“Quite the wish list,” Sheik says dryly.

“It’s not a wish list. It’s what’s going to happen. I hope Zelda knows that.”

“You haven’t seen her in years. Why is she so important to you?”

“I don’t know,” Link mutters. Because she’s kind, because she’s lonely, because she has a smile like the sun. For a few brief moments in that garden, the two of them reclaimed what time stole from them. Maybe there’s still a way back to that feeling. Maybe she cherishes the memory the same way he does. “She just is.”

Sheik sits cross-legged against the opposite wall, always moving with that enchanting grace—even though he’s as flighty as a songbird among hawks. He doesn’t like to talk about Zelda, probably because of the secrets surrounding her whereabouts. But his next words surprise Link: “She’s the reason you’re in this mess.”

“Ganondorf is the reason I’m in this mess.” Link places the Master Sword across his lap and leans his head against the wall, closing his eyes. “I think once everything is over, you’ll meet the Princess, and you’ll understand.”

Sheik sighs. “Impa has a house in Kakariko. She wouldn’t mind if you rested there for a—"

“Why do you care where I sleep?”

“Because…” Sheik doesn’t falter the way others do. When he pauses, the air is heavy with grave deliberation. “You need to be at your best before you face Ganondorf.”

If I go to Kakariko, you won’t be there, Link wants to say, but that would only drive Sheik away. And suddenly it strikes him that with all six temples cleared, they might never see each other again.

The realization makes his eyes fly open. He’s never had any say in Sheik’s comings and goings; he’s never harbored any illusions of this alliance outlasting Ganondorf. Yet the idea of losing his guide, his shadow—the person who stood between him and an unfathomably powerful shadow spirit—is suddenly unbearable.

But if Link couldn’t bear the unbearable, he wouldn’t be the Hero of Time.

“I am at my best,” he mumbles, because if this is the end, he might as well be honest. “But only because of you.”

“How can that be true?” Sheik demands, his quiet voice simmering with something unfamiliar and dangerous.

“Isn’t it obvious? I had no idea what I was doing. Without you, I…” He laughs a little at the thought of himself stumbling blindly around Hyrule in search of the Sages. It wouldn’t be funny in reality, though. It would mean the death of everything.

Maybe that’s why Sheik sounds profoundly unamused when he says, “You would have found a way, like you always do. You made it this far through your own strength. Don’t doubt that.”

Link doesn’t feel particularly strong right now. He feels like he’s ten years old, watching that white horse carry Zelda away from him. His voice sounds as small now as it was then. “I’m trying to say thank you. I know you’ll be gone when I wake up.”

Sheik doesn’t move. He doesn’t speak. And Link is tired in every sense of the word—far too tired to watch him leave. He pulls the Master Sword closer to his body and lets his eyes fall shut. He wasn’t exaggerating about his ability to fall asleep anywhere.

The faintest whisper follows him down into the dark: “I should be the one thanking you.”

When Link wakes the next morning, he doesn’t remember those quiet words. Beams of rosy sunrise reach into the entryway of the silent temple. He slept through the whole night, despite the cold wind and the hard stone. That small miracle is dulled by Sheik’s absence—completely expected, yet completely devastating.

Navi crawls out from under his hat and takes flight, stretching her tiny arms over her head mid-air. “We should warp somewhere to resupply. I want all your bottles full of red potion!”

Link mumbles his agreement, rising to his feet.

“Hey.” She flutters closer to study his face. “You’ve worked so hard. I’m proud of you. Ganondorf doesn’t stand a chance.”

He smiles up at her—she always knows how to make him feel better. He’s ready for this to be over, ready to walk into Hyrule’s golden future. It might be a matter of hours before he sees Zelda. But even though that possibility lightens Link’s steps as he leaves the temple, he knows he’s lost someone else, someone important. And it feels like waking up after seven years to find pieces of himself carved away.

Just past the mouth of the temple, Link freezes, reaching for his sword. There’s a dark figure at the crest of the nearest dune, watching dawn break over the golden beauty of the desert. Link’s hand falls limp to his side. Half of him wonders if he’s still dreaming.

But then again, he never seems to go far without his shadow.

“When you’re ready,” Sheik says, turning to look at him, “meet me at the Temple of Time.”

The sun is at his back, shrouding the details of his face; not that Link would be able to read him anyway. But he doesn’t need to. He knows why he slept until dawn, safe in a way he’s so rarely allowed to be—because he didn’t spend the night alone.

“I’ll be there,” he promises, his voice strong with the hope of one final chance.

And with a flash of magic, Sheik is gone, fleeting as a mirage. The breeze picks up, brushing sand over his tracks. The only proof of his presence is the sweet pain in Link’s heart and the ghost of a scent, there and then gone, that makes no sense at all.

Nothing can bloom in the parched loneliness of the desert—but for a brief moment, Link could’ve sworn that he smelled the flowers anyway.

.

.

.

[skyloftian-nutcase]

A Heart Sealed in Stone (TotK: Hero's Shadow)

Someone save me from the brain rot please

Ganondorf had to admit it – there were benefits to being allies to Hyrule.

Although his end game was to get his hands on a secret stone, the perks of being in Rauru’s good graces were apparent. Soon, he wouldn’t need Rauru’s blessing to enjoy such delights, though. He was looking forward to that.

In the meantime, he would appreciate a quiet moment with his family. The hot springs they’d settled at soothed his body like a massage in itself, and he sighed peacefully as he sank deeper into the water.

In a separate hot spring a few steps away, his wife and daughter relaxed. Hemisi was half asleep, arms wrapped around her mother’s left arm as she rested her head on her shoulder. Nabooru smiled at their daughter, gently kissing her head. When she looked over at Ganondorf, who watched both with a tender heart and a small smile, she winked at him, her lips pulling more. Ganondorf let out a small chuckle, silently communicating his love to his wife, and then her eyes drifted beyond him, motioning with her head.

Ganondorf followed her gaze, settling on the person in question.

Link stood at the edge of the springs, a gorge that bottlenecked any entry to the area. His sword was resting in his grip, settled on the ground while his hands were plopped on the hilt. It was a relatively relaxed posture, but a guarded one nonetheless.

“Link,” Nabooru called quietly so as not to awaken her daughter too much. The boy turned to look at them, a little confused. “Come here, sweetheart. You don’t need to keep guard.”

It was natural for the boy to do so, of course. He was a warrior, born of Sheikah and Hylian blood, bound by his people to serve the royal family. Ganondorf would have to start telling him soon that his loyalty would shift upon his marriage to Hemisi. The child seemed to know this already, spending steadily more and more time with the Gerudo, and it made Ganondorf smile. Hemisi was happy with Link, and he was a strong boy. He was as quiet as the breeze, simple in his words, but he would roar to life in battle. It made Ganondorf proud to see it, proud that this boy was soon to be part of his family.

Well. Relatively soon. Although by Sheikah standards the boy was of age, the age of adulthood among Hylians was seventeen, and to the Gerudo it was sixteen. The teenagers, in their youthful passions, had already promised themselves to each other and gotten engaged, but neither was at the age of consent by Ganondorf's reckoning, based on their dominant cultures. Their betrothal would last several years before Link was officially part of the family, but Nabooru seemed very keen to adopt him in sooner rather than later.

Ganondorf supposed there was merit to it. He was growing quite fond of the boy, and Link would likely not be of age when the war came. It was best to keep him close.

Link watched Nabooru hesitantly at her beckoning. He looked at Ganondorf next, seeing as the women and men were in separate pools. Ganondorf sighed, understanding the gesture, having started to grow used to the boy’s silent observations and questions. He held out an inviting hand. “Come here, Link.”

The fourteen-year-old walked with his sword in hand, eyes scanning the area constantly. When he reached the end of the pool, Ganondorf rose and walked until he reached the deeper center of the pool, eying him expectantly. Link hesitantly put his sword away, settling it on the ground, and stripped off his shirt and shoes. When he started to dip his toes into the water, he hesitated, gaze drifting back to the entrance.

Ganondorf swam over until his feet touched soil beneath him and held out both arms to the child. “You think I cannot protect all of us well enough, dear boy? Come on. You’re safe.”

Link stared at him a moment longer, debating the issue, debating whether to trust such a statement. Ganondorf almost felt a little insulted that it was even a matter to deliberate. But the boy gave in, reaching forward to take his hands. Ganondorf took a step towards him, slipping his hands under the boy’s shoulders, lifting him right off the ground and into the water in a careful hold. Link was stiff in his arms at first before relaxing into it. The two sank deeper into the water as Ganondorf carried him further into the spring – Link didn’t protest being ferried along in the water, as they both knew he wasn’t the strongest swimmer. Nabooru smiled lovingly when he locked eyes with her. Hemisi was out cold, making his heart swell with both love and amusement. His daughter felt perfectly safe with her parents around, even in such a foreign land. He… wanted Link to feel safe too.

Damn it all, he had grown attached to this silly child. But he was a good warrior, and though his gentle and kind heart was not exactly a strength in Ganondorf's eyes, he loved Hemisi dearly. Although he didn’t hold Ganondorf’s drive for power, he did have a fire in his soul, and the Gerudo king admired it. The boy would make a good prince.

Link hesitantly settled his chin on Ganondorf’s shoulder, looking out behind him. He was still keeping watch, though the Gerudo king felt the teenager’s body slowly ease up. It didn’t take long, with the moonlight casting a gentle glow that barely lit the world around them, before the boy had completely settled, his cheek pressed against Ganondorf’s skin, his breaths slow and steady in slumber…

It was curious, that such a memory would come to him now. On the precipice of his victory, Ganondorf had spent his time recovering his strength in the Depths of Hyrule. He knew it was only a matter of time before the light was snuffed out, before his blood moons stained the earth every night, before Hyrule was his. He rested with anticipation, but rarely with thoughts of the past. He supposed one could only envision victory for so long, though it was certainly entertaining. He could taste the salt of the sea, could feel the breeze of the valleys, could listen to the gentle pitter patter of rain in his mind, but what stopped his heart in its tracks were thoughts like these.

His family.

How strange, he thought, that they could possibly make his heart ache after all this time. How bizarre that, with victory so close at hand, with no one to stand in his way, the end goal felt almost empty in comparison.

How could it possibly feel like this? He had waited nearly his entire life for this moment. Perhaps he was simply disappointed that Rauru’s knight was so easily defeated. The Zonai king had placed such faith in him, after all – Ganondorf had been hoping for a challenge.

His heart stirred with restlessness. He scowled at it. Or, well, would have scowled if he had flesh on his face. He was certainly eager to regain enough strength to return to his original glory.

Perhaps he’d indulge in thinking about his family. He wasn’t sure what end it would lead to, or if it was even productive, but it wasn’t as if he had anything better to do while his minions chipped away at the world above.

He let his mind wander to his beloved wife first. Oh how he missed Nabooru. She’d had a fire to her veins, an iron will, a desire to fight and conquer just as he had. She had even helped him initially with the war – it wasn’t until he’d claimed the secret stone for himself that she’d turned against him. That thought alone soured his mood, but still… the challenge it presented, dueling his wife time and again as he had… he enjoyed that too. But perhaps he wished that she had eventually yielded, perhaps the thought that he would make her bend to his will made him more nostalgic than he had any right to be. As the Sage of Lightning, his wife had been formidable (and he certainly had felt a more than tad bitter that she had protested his supposed abuse of secret stones and then had willingly accepted one from Rauru). He doubted there was a Gerudo warrior, even now, who was her equal.

Next, he thought of his daughter. Hemisi was every bit her parents’ child, holding the fiery energy of her mother with the brashness of her father. She had been a skilled warrior in her own right, and though her ambitions did not match her parents’, she still had them. Hemisi had wanted to lead the Gerudo people, had wanted to bring her land to prosperty. More than that, though, she’d wanted a family – her relationship with Link and subsequent betrothal was evidence of that.

They certainly would have made quite the powerful couple.

That led his thoughts to Link. Bearing Sheikah and Hylian blood alike, he practically embodied every culture Ganondorf despised. It was the most ironic turn of events that the man had grown to love the boy. But how could he not? Link was strong, faithful, stubborn beyond all reason, curious and eager to learn, even playful at times. The boy could hold the innocence of a child and the resolve of a hardened soldier and balance the two perfectly.

Nabooru had tried to coddle the boy a little too much, but Ganondorf supposed that was simply what mothers did. He’d appreciated Link as the warrior he was. Most of the time. Very occasionally he might have babied him a little too. Very occasionally.

The memory of the hot spring came to mind, and he huffed. Technically, Nabooru had instigated it.

This train of thought was taking him nowhere. All he was doing was making himself feel emptier. He was soon to be king of all of Hyrule, and then spread his power beyond that land alone. This was not productive. Moping was ill-befitting a king.

Sighing, Ganondorf let the images of his family go. He stretched his senses to his minions. He could hardly tell what was going on with simple minded beasts, but his gloom hands and his puppets could show him images of the world both above and below. He felt amusement tickle him as his puppet of the Sage of Time continued to baffle and sabotage the fools of Hyrule. He let curiosity guide him as he followed the path of some gloom spawn in the Depths. It had discovered ruins of some sort.

Ganondorf had to admit, he was definitely interested in seeing how his era and those that had passed had been memorialized. While he was not much of a dilettante of history, this history included him and his people, which made it worth noting. Exactly how much time had passed anyway? He was still trying to ascertain that.

Judging by the state of the ruins the gloom spawn had found, it had certainly been a while. Also, where was everyone? The Depths were completely abandoned, and the mines down here had been thriving when he’d been sealed away. He had supposed that the area where he’d been held captive was restricted, but he hadn’t realized that they had evacuated everyone from the world down here. He wondered if anyone had set foot in the Depths since his battle with Rauru.

His battle with Rauru. He gritted his teeth a little. He had not expected the Zonai to be able to get so close to him, honestly, but he had always loved a good fight. The only thing that made it hurt was—

Rauru’s Light magic was powerful, to be sure. But Ganondorf would have expected such power to sap him of energy, to try perhaps even to destroy his secret stone. The main reason Rauru was able to seal him away, at the cost of his own life, was due to the anchor provided him by Link.

His face pulled in both fear and agony, tears glistening in his eyes as Ganondorf held him.

“Foolish child,” Ganondorf growled through a tight throat.

Link’s breath stuttered, making Ganondorf’s heart freeze. No. This was not happening. The fifteen-year-old reached forward with a shaking hand, grasping at what would have been Ganondorf’s cloak before the secret stone’s power had transformed him. For an instant he let the power recede, he let himself look as he had. Link’s eyes widened, and the tears finally traced down his cheeks. His gaze drifted down to Ganondorf’s chest, and he squeezed his eyes closed.

Ganondorf debated the matter, very aware of his surroundings. The sages were still there, as was the king. He could retreat with the child and try to save him, or he could push through and destroy all of them. He distinctly sensed Nabooru’s eyes on him, but he didn’t dare look.

“P-please,” Link whispered, barely audible above his gasping. Ganondorf stared at him, paralyzed for an instant, hating every second of it. “Please stop this.”

Stop? Oh, you foolish boy… He couldn’t stop. He wouldn’t. Not permanently. But, perhaps, this battle should end.

He wouldn’t have another opportunity like this, though. The sages were weakened, defeated even. They’d tried their best to fight him and had failed. If he let them regroup…

He was already giving the enemies too much time. Fighting them had been nearly laughable, though. He could give them a chance to regain a little bit of their strength, he supposed.

Before he could do anything, though, Link inhaled sharply, eyes opening with determination. Ganondorf grew confused, maybe even hopeful that the boy wasn’t quite as injured as he’d previously suspected, and then—

Link stabbed him.

Ganondorf yelled as the blade pushed true, releasing the boy, who fell and rolled down the stairs, staying motionless where he stopped. Enraged, he wrapped himself in his dark power once more, ignoring the cry from the others—the anguish from Nabooru—and the fight continued.

Ganondorf turned his head slightly, tasting bitterness in his mouth. He tried to distract himself, looking back at what the gloom hands had found, when he registered the sight of what they had stopped in front of.

A tomb?

Oh, he was certainly curious now. He urged his dark minion to find some kind of engraving. Whoever this person was, they had to be important to have such a memorial. It was familiar of those of the royal family, the Zonai flair and importance evident. It was a stone gazebo in the Zonai architecture, with a stone engraving in the center of the soil held within, marking the spot of the burial. All around it were flowers that thrived in the Depths, and a single, curious blue and white flower that was somehow thriving despite not being native to this region. As the gloom spawn crawled closer to the grave, the singular flower glowed brightly in response, almost in defiance.

Ganondorf ignored it, though. He sat up with a jolt.

He-- -i-s L--k

H-ro o- -yru-- and Rau-u’- El-te

Bel-v-d --- -nd ------

Prid- -f t-e Sh-i---

The air was still, his body frozen.

Could it be…?

For the first time since his awakening, breath escaped him with a shaky rasp and a singular word, thick with emotion.

“…Link?”

[dreamdepot]

Dreams of the Kingdom - Chapter 18: The Prince's Advisor

Previous < First > Next

AO3 Wattpad or below!

You stared at your hand, still not believing it was gone.

“It doesn’t change you,” Link whispered, gentling running his thumb over your knuckles. The group had retreated back to Lookout Landing, where you had been carried to your house and your bed. You were propped up on some pillows. Normally you’d be upset about dirtying the sheets with your sullied armor and wounds, but you couldn’t bring yourself to think about that at the moment. “You were always amazing, Triforce or not. Nothing Ganondorf does can ever change that.”

You nodded, but your eyes settled on Link’s arm. Link had the power of light and the Master Sword. Zelda had the power of the Goddess and, apparently, time. Ganondorf was the source of all evil and held not only a secret stone but most of the Triforce.

Maybe Ganondorf was right. Where did that leave you?

Prince you might be, but what did that matter in a battle of people with the strength of gods? You looked over the other sages, all of them with their own secret stones and abilities.

“Stop,” Link said. “You can’t compare yourself like that.”

“I failed them. I failed everyone. And now I can’t even fight back. What kind of useless royal am I? Can’t even protect my people.”

“Bullshit. You rebuilt most of Hyrule yourself, and you were with me on our assault on the Calamity and you were right there, first to charge in against Ganondorf today.”

“But-”

“No, stop.” Link placed his hands on your cheeks, guiding you to look into his eyes, filled with fierce determination. “No buts. [Y/n], you have been working around the clock to save Hyrule. You haven’t failed anyone. We will find a way to fix this.”

Sidon coughed. “I think we should go and check with the monster control forces in town.”

“Oh okay, Link do you want to come with us?” Tulin asked.

“No, no, honey,” Riju said, patting his head. “Just us.”

“If you, uh, need anything… you know…” Yunobo said, before Sidon yanked him around the corner.

As soon as they were out of sight, Link pulled you into a bear hug, as if he was trying to crush your panic. You felt the tears start to well up. “It’s okay, you can let it out.”

You clung to Link, sniffling. “I’m sorry… I was… I just…”

“It’s okay, we’re going to figure this out.”

“Link, he has two pieces of the Triforce and a secret stone. And he has this all planned out from the start? How do we know he isn’t controlling me or that he doesn’t know exactly what we’re going to do or…”

“[Y/n] stop. He’s getting in your head. Second guessing everything and being afraid is exactly what he wants.”

“But…”

“No,” Link said, cradling your head. “C’mon now, breathe with me. Four, two, six, remember? In… hold… and out… in… hold… and out…good boy.” You could feel the feelings start to recede. “C’mon, let’s get you comfy.”

Link drew a warm bath for you – you had to thank Robbie for using Sheikah tech to make a small water heater for your plumbing. While you cleaned off, you could hear Link busy in the next room. By the time you got out, he pressed a mug of your favorite relaxing tea into your hands. He made sure to get your favorite pillow and blanket, wrapping you up before easing you onto the bed.

“What are we going to do?” You finally asked.

“We are going to rest, and you are going to get some sleep.” You opened your mouth, but Link shushed you. “Please, [Y/n], I’m begging. You need to rest.”

“I…” You sighed. “I don’t want to, but I’ll try. But Link, what about you?” His face grew stony. “People are going to need help. With Ganondorf’s extra power…”

“I know,” he said. “I don’t want to leave you.”

“I don’t want you to go either, but…”

“There may not be a kingdom left if I don’t,” Link finished.

You took his hand. “I promise I’ll be fine.”

“Of course you will, you’re my prince,” Link smiled and leaned in to kiss you. “Just please take it slow. I’ll stay until you fall asleep, okay?”

“Thanks,” you sighed as your eyes drifted shut.

==============================

You woke, feeling someone sitting on the bed behind you. “Link…? Is that you?”

“No, I’m afraid not,” said a slightly familiar voice with a little chuckle. That woke you up quickly. You flipped around to see a tall spectral appearance sitting at the edge of the bed. The goatlike man nodded to you in greeting. “I apologize for the intrusion.”

“King Rauru!”

“Please, just Rauru is fine. We are family after all.” He looked over the room, eyes lingering on your photos and trinkets. “A rather humble home for the prince of our kingdom. It’s quite warm and cozy though. Sonia loved collecting little mementos too.”

You carefully shifted up on the bed, propping yourself up on the pillows. “Am I dreaming?”

Rauru laughed. “With all the dreams you’ve had lately, I can understand why you would be skeptical. But, I assure you, I am very much real – or at least as real as a spirit can be.”

“Yeah, you’re not the first spirit I’ve met,” you said slowly, pinching your forearm just to make sure. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m really happy you’re here, but why now?”

“Well, not exactly ‘now’, I’ve been around for quite a while.”

“You have?

“Of course, I have been watching over you and Link. I’ve been with you every step of the way, since Link reunited with you after you first discovered Ganondorf.”

Your mind returned to a certain night in a tent before the failed siege, your face heating. “…every step?”

Rauru crossed his arms. “I have enough class to give you your privacy for more intimate moments, [Y/n]. I’m not so old that I don’t remember being young. My… when I first met Sonia…” His eyes grew faraway for a moment. “Never mind that, I came to see you because you’ve had quite the ordeal.”

“You can say that again,” you muttered, a little mad at how childish your voice came out. “I don’t know what to do next. I don’t have the Triforce, my sword is broken… it feels hopeless.”

“You aren’t giving up, are you?”

“Absolutely not!” You gasped. “I’m not just going to hand my kingdom over to Ganondorf! If I’m still breathing, I’ll fight Ganondorf with a butterknife if I have to. How can you even-” Your voice trailed off as Rauru started to laugh. “What?”

“Determined and a bit hard-headed, aren’t you? That proves more than anything you’re my descendant.”

You moved to the edge of the bed. Rauru sat next to you, placing a ghostly hand on your shoulder. Despite your prior experience with the dead, it felt warm. “So, what do we do? I’ll fight him with a butterknife, but I’d rather go in with something that’ll actually end him.”

“There may be other ways you haven’t considered. Ganondorf prefers head-on assaults and manipulation behind the scenes. You will need to get creative.”

You thought for a moment, feeling like you were being tested. “There’s still the last piece of the Triforce, and Sharpe was adamant about his songs being important. I only know three of the five parts, so maybe Sharpe has something that will give us an edge.” You then frowned, thinking back to the confrontation. “Sharpe asked me to break the cycle. Then, during the fight, Ganondorf said Hyrule was always the story of three, insinuating I had no place in the fight against him…”

“Ganondorf has always been a master of manipulation, so I suggest taking anything he says with a grain of salt – like Link told you?” Rauru said, with a hint of the certain chastising tone only a parent could do. “Besides, he gloated about using you. You were clearly a cornerstone to his plan, as he wouldn’t have been able to get the Triforce without you.”

“Is that supposed to make me feel better?”

“Patience. Ganondorf used you to get the Triforce because he knew that he nor Link nor Zelda could. He gloats about using you because he wants you to be despondent, unlikely to fight back. If you were key in his rise, you may also be key in his ultimate downfall.”

That did help a little. “But he forced me – or, err, Sheik – to be reborn, and he said my soul was bound to him. What does that mean?”

“I’m afraid reincarnation and the flow of time is Sonia’s realm of expertise, but I can give you my best guess.” Rauru fell deep in thought for a moment. “You may be the reincarnation of my friend, and his soul may be within you, but you are your own person. Like how every Link and Zelda carry the strength and burdens of their predecessors, so do you carry that of Sheik. But at the end of the day, you are Prince [Y/n], my descendant and the hero that the people of Hyrule are looking to for leadership.”

“So, what do I do? Can you like, give me some kind of Zonai superweapon? Maybe a secret stone?”

“A secret stone won’t help you, not that you need it. Think of all you’ve done without one, even before you came to this time. I am proud of you, my descendant. I know you will find the answer, but you need to think broader than just strength. Think less like Ganondorf and more like you.”

It was nice to hear but not exactly helpful. Worse, it felt like you hadn’t given him the answer he wanted. You laid back staring at the ceiling. “There has to be something I can do, but… ugh, how do I stand up to Ganondorf? He has a secret stone, two pieces of the Triforce, and millennia of preparation.”

“It does look bleak, but people like us don’t take what fate hands us laying down. We are leaders, and we must take responsibility for the wellbeing of all our people.” Rauru thought for a moment. “Ganondorf has been planning this for quite a while. His influence has been poisoning Hyrule for centuries.”

“That’s it!” you gasped. You tumbled out of bed and grabbed your pack, fumbling around inside.

“What do you have there?”

You held out the stone you found. “Not exactly a secret stone, but I know it has to do with time. I don’t fully understand it, but it helps me see the past and even let me step back in time for a bit. Do you know how to use it?” Before Rauru could respond, you started pacing as your mind raced. “If I can use it to step back in time far enough, maybe that will buy us enough time to help us build something to stop him, or maybe to drain his power! Wait no, we can use it to undo his preparations!”

Rauru simply watched you with a small smile. He composed himself when you noticed. “My apologies. Link was right, you do get a certain fiery look in your eyes when you strategize.”

“I’m sorry?”

“[Y/n], that man is obsessed with you. He would not stop talking about you up on the Great Sky Island. I had to meet you myself – though again I apologize it took a little longer than expected.” He gave you a thoughtful look before a smile bright as the sun bloomed on his face. “I may not be your father, but I have to say I approve of Link courting you and vice versa. Hyrule does need a strong symbol of partnership and love these days.”

You felt a blush on your cheeks. “Thank you for your blessing, but back to the topic?”

“Yes, of course. I was going to say I’m surprised,” Rauru said, reaching out and taking the stone from your hand, letting it sparkle in the light. “I haven’t seen one of these in quite a while. What you have is a Timeshift Stone. They were exceedingly rare, even in my time. The largest supply of them disappeared long before I was born, back in the time when Lanayru was still a desert. After the Age of Hylia, the stones mysteriously disappeared, possibly used to build something large. Others were studied by the ancient Sheikah people and used to develop their technology. The few that remained were kept by the Royal Family and used to form a magical treasure.”

“The Ocarina of Time.”

“Precisely. But considering the Ocarina of Time and any other Timeshift Stones disappeared hundreds of years ago… well, I’m certainly surprised. You might call it divine intervention that the stone ended up in your hands.”

You thought back to when you fell into the abyss. “Something like that.” You then stopped. “Wait. You knew all this already, didn’t you?”

“Guilty as charged I’m afraid.” Rauru laughed. “But as your ancestor, I wish to impart wisdom to you by teaching you to find the answer rather than just telling you. I know you will be quite the ruler, far better than many others in our family. You truly are as resourceful and resilient as Zelda said.” He gave you back the Timeshift Stone. “Now, my descendant, please understand I didn’t leave you completely hopeless in this time. This old man still has a few tricks!”

“What do you mean?”

“Ganondorf’s strength is also his greatest weakness. He is too obsessed with the flow of reincarnation and time, that he thinks he sees all the angles. He’s missing the forest for the trees, or in this case, the war for the battles. He acts like he’s been setting everything up, but there are ways to undo his preparation – as you deduced. Sheik and Sonia saw this coming long before I did, and we made our own preparations.”

“The Shadow Temple?”

Rauru gave you a sly smile. “Now how did you know about that? But yes, one of many precautions, though I believe it’s not what you need just yet.”

You thought back. “Breaking the cycle and focusing on the damage Ganondorf has done, right?”

“Yes, exactly.”

You ran back your dream in your head, trying to remember the details. “But… the Shadow Temple is locked. I need a key to get in, so… where’s the key? Or maybe I should be asking, what is the key?”

“Excellent questions. The key is a bit complicated. My sister Mineru helped to ‘design the lock’ so to speak. It’s partly magic and partly mechanical. You’ll need to go to her laboratory in the Depths, if you wish to get inside.” Rauru seemed lost in thought. “Before that though, I think you’ll need to use a different kind of key, since someone went through the trouble to make sure you got it.”

“Lady Din does like to be a bit more hands on.”

Rauru chuckled. “It is an opportunity though. That Timeshift Stone is more special than it appears. It is the key to something that will be of great help to you.”

“Something that helps us defeat Ganondorf?”

“I wouldn’t say it would give you any power against Ganondorf per se, but perhaps something that would give you the edge you need... more time in fact. Under the-” Rauru stopped, his image flickered. He rose his hand, energy glowing, as his third eye opened. “Something’s wrong. Ganondorf, he’s…!”

“Rauru!”

“Link…in trouble,” He said as he faded and flickered. “…look skyward… Great…Island. I believe in you… my…” His body faded away, leaving his words hanging like an axe over you. The words then sunk in, and you bolted out of bed, kicking the door open and running towards town.

==============================

“MOVE!” You barreled through the soldiers towards Purah’s lab; manners were the last thing on your mind.

“Prince! You’re supposed to be-” Josha’s voice trailed off as you shot up the steps. “Resting…”

You nearly tore Purah’s door out of the wall as you skidded to a stop, sending notes and books tumbling everywhere. “Purah! Where’s-” Your words caught in your throat. In the corner, Link and Sidon stood, mid-conversation frozen in time. “No, no! Link please!” Every inch of him, even Rauru’s arm, had completely turned to stone. Even the Master Sword was nothing but rock without even a drop of magic.

Purah slowly descended the stairs. “I’m sorry, I did my best to stop it but…”

“What happened?” You asked hollowly.

“I don’t know. One minute they were talking, and the next...” Purah pulled you into a hug. “It’s okay, I’ll figure out something.”

Just then the door opened again, and Captain Hoz and Scorpis entered. “Lady Purah, we… I see you already know.” Captain Hoz looked over the statues, trying to keep his face steady. “Right then. Scorpis, keep his majesty under guard. We need to figure out what’s going on.”

Your head snapped up. “But-”

“I’m sorry, your majesty. With everything going on…” He looked pained.

It didn’t take a genius like Purah to understand the implication. The words fell out of your mouth. “I’m the only one left, aren’t I?”

He frowned. “Yes sir. All of the sages, and Sir Link…”

“I see.”

“So, the five new champions and the Master Sword itself,” Purah muttered. She looked at you.

You understood the silent question. “Ganondorf wants me alive. For what end? I don’t want to think about it. He just wants me alone.”

“Is it magic? Some kind of gloom curse?” Scorpis asked.

Purah shook her head. “Solid rock. I’ve never seen anything like this. The old stories mention petrification, but that was never something related to the Demon King, more the practice of the Dark Mage Vaati. I’m sure there’s a scientific way to fix it, but it’ll take time.”

Scorpis stood close to you. “Your majesty, you should be resting anyway. Let’s take you back to your bed.”

“Just one moment, please.” The world felt numb as you stood before Link’s stony body. “Link… Please hang on, I promise I’ll save you.” Link’s now rocky hair was loose, and in his hand was his well-worn hair band – the only thing unpetrified. You took his hair band, slipped it on a leather strap, and tied it to your wrist. You leaned in and kissed his cheek, wishing it would bring him back to life like some fairy tale. Sadly, his body remained cold and still. “I’ll be back soon.”

==============================

Night seemed to take forever to come, but with the endless blood moon overhead, it hardly seemed any darker. It was just lucky that Ganondorf seemed to be biding his time, as monsters had yet to swarm you or Lookout Landing. Finally, your opportunity came. You snuck out of the house in the quiet of night, dressed in your Sheikah armor. Sneaking out of the house past Scorpis was the easy part – sneaking over to the Tower was a bit harder. You squeezed past the guards, sticking to the few shadows. With most of the town asleep, it was a little better, but everyone was on edge. The slightest twig snap would likely send your guards into a panic. You hurried across the last bit, nearly to the edge of the tower.

“What do you think you’re doing?” You froze as Purah stood at the entrance. “I’m pretty sure you’re supposed to be under house guard.”

“Please Purah, I’m desperate. I need to get to the Great Sky Island.”

“You think I’m going to let the last hope of our kingdom run off alone? That’s crazy! And you’re not even fully rested yet!”

“I can’t rest if Ganondorf is still alive. I…” You swallowed hard. “I need to save Link.”

Purah stared you deep in the eyes, piercing you. “Alright,” she finally said. “What do you need from me?”

“What?”

“You don’t need to do everything yourself. We’re all here to support you, okay?” She flicked you on the forehead. “Don’t worry. I won’t tell, just please be safe.”

“Thanks Purah.” You looked down at the platform. “Can you pump some more power into this? A little extra height?”

“Say less,” she smirked.

Purah soon had her tools out and got to work making adjustments to the guardian arms. You hid in the shadow of the tower entrance, only visible to her. You passed her a wrench as you looked back up at the blood moon overhead. “Purah, promise me that if things get bad, you’ll evacuate everyone.”

“It won’t come to that-”

“Purah, promise me.”

She looked at you for a moment. “I promise. But promise me something, that you’ll be careful out there. You’re working yourself too hard. You’re no good to us dead.”

“I have to do something.”

“Yes, and you have. I know how it feels to be helpless. Remember, I lived through the Calamity, I had to help keep everyone safe when Ganon burned Hyrule for nights on end.” She fiddled with some of the gears. “I know you feel guilty, but it’s not your fault.”

“I practically handed him the tools to destroy us.”

“You’re saying that to the girl who helped rebuild the Divine Beasts and the Guardians.”

You winced. “I…”

She sat up and patted you on the back. “You may be our prince, but you can’t carry the weight of the world around forever. I trust you to do what you need to do, but don’t forget Hyrule is all of us – not just the prince and his knight. We aren’t going to let any Demon King destroy us without a fight. So, promise me, Prince [Y/n], you’re gonna come home safe – for me, for the kingdom, and most of all, for Link.”

“I promise.”

“Good!” She whacked the gears, and the terminal lit up again. “It’s ready to go.”

You tightened the belts on your armor, making sure you had your light pack secured. “Alright, Purah, I’ll be back as soon as I can.” The guardian arms spooled out, this time handing you a pair of goggles. The platform began to shake.

“You better. Good luck Princey.” She adjusted her glasses. “By the way, you have Link’s map data of the Great Sky Island. You could have just teleported there.”

“Wait, wha-” FOOOOM!

Wind whipped around as you flung skyward, higher and higher and higher. The air grew cold, reminding you of climbing to the Stormwind Ark with Tulin. You popped out your glider looking down at the specks of sky islands around you in the bloody light. If it wasn’t for Ganondorf’s influence, it would have been a beautiful night.

In the distance, Zelda glided through the air above Hateno. “I bet you’re checking in on your students,” you whispered to yourself. “You’ll see them soon, promise. Once I find the Shadow Temple and whatever Rauru wanted, I’m going to fix everything.”

You landed effortlessly at the edge of the Great Sky Island. Like Link had told you, there were Constructs everywhere, but they seemed to be asleep for the night. You checked your pack to make sure nothing had fallen out. You packed light, with clothes, your Royal Guard Armor as a second set, some arrows, a bow, lamp oil, rope, bombs, and some smaller blades to defend yourself. You turned one of the Eightfold Blades over in your hand. Link had fused a Blue Lynel’s horn to it for you, giving it a wicked edge that would make short work of most monsters.

You pulled up the map on your Purah Pad and looked at Link’s notes and travel history, trying to figure out where Rauru might have been thinking of. Then, you remembered the last dream and what Sheik said.

Rauru has secrets he doesn’t realize I know. The Temple of Time only needs the key.

Your eyes fell the Zonai Temple of Time. It was a far cry from the version you knew, but the unnatural swirl of light that rose from it called to you. You could practically feel the gears turning in your head as Rauru’s words came back to you.

Something that would give you the edge you need… more time in fact.

“Rauru… what did you have in mind?”

==============================

It took a bit to safely make your way to the Temple of Time, but soon you found yourself in the main atrium. Unfortunately, without the power of Rewind, climbing to the upper floor with the Goddess Statue took longer than you expected. You looked around but nothing seemed out of the ordinary at first. Then, you realized there had to be upper and lower floors, but no clear way to get to them. Furthermore, there was something causing a glowing light at the top, but when you had glided to the island, there didn’t appear to be anything there.

“Okay Rauru, what did you hide here then?” You pulled the Timeshift Stone from your pack as you wandered out the giant doors. You walked towards the collapsed balcony that Zelda had dropped you off on after Link pulled the Master Sword. You squeezed the stone, trying to summon any kind of vision, but there was nothing. “Would’ve been nice to just jump back in time to see Rauru or Zelda instead,” you grumbled, turning back to the Temple of Time.

As you walked back through the doors, the stone vibrated in your hand, softly starting to glow and pulse. You then heard the splash of footsteps. Below, you saw another echo of the past, but this time it was Sheik, dressed again in his robes reminiscent of Farosh as he strode through the cistern. You leaped down after him, but he disappeared as quickly as he came. Shimmying behind the waterwheel, you squeezed into the damp alcove to find a hidden door. It groaned on its hinges as you forced it open. You walked inside and followed the hidden staircase down into the darkness of the temple’s hidden levels.

It was a short walk to the lowest chamber, lit by a few dim Zonai lamps. The room had a small raised altar with a pillar made almost completely out of pewter. “So, are you the Shadow Temple?” you asked the open air. You wandered the room, not finding any other hints of hidden doors. Tapping the walls with your sword revealed nothing but solid rock. “Don’t suppose there are any torches for me to light either,” you muttered, before turning back to the conspicuous pillar. You climbed the altar, examining the strange object. It was cool to the touch, and lined with runes that were too faded to read in the dim light, even if you knew how to. There was, however, a notch in the center, just below a winged herald.

The Timeshift Stone leaped from your hand, as if magnetized and snapped into the pillar, leaving a smooth surface. For a second, nothing happened, but then all of the runes lit up with a blue light. A hum filled the room before the pillar burst into small blocks. A chill spread up your spine as the gravity suddenly dropped, and the blocks floated all around you. One by one, they spun and fit together into new shapes, slowly forming a giant circle. Then, with a burst of light, the shape smoothed into a giant gear, etched with the symbols of the goddesses and inscriptions that looked like music notes. The Triforce was proudly emblazoned in the center. Portals opened from the ceiling and two more gears dropped down, fitting into place perfectly. With a clunk, the gears began to turn.

An odd energy filled the room, making your skin tingle and your hair float. For a moment, you stared in awe but then it dawned on you. Your mother’s stories described it perfectly, as did some of the books you borrowed from Zelda. “The Gate of Time. Oh Hylia, the Gate of Time is real…”

You paced back and forth, mind racing. “Okay, not the Shadow Temple. Rauru, you weren’t kidding about more time.” You approached the gate, watching as the symbols faded away to reveal an endless tunnel of gears inside. “Yeah, this changes things. I can try to undo what Ganondorf did, but… where do I even go? Where do I start?” You tentatively pushed your hand into the tunnel, feeling the energy tingle. Slowly, you pushed a foot inside and entered the gate.

“Okay – not sure how to direct this exactly.” You wracked your brain. Then, a plan hatched in your mind. If you could ask Purah for help in the past, then Purah would have a hundred years to research a solution! She could unfreeze Link and then you could get Rauru’s help again. You could even ask the Champions for help, or maybe Sharpe could tell you what he meant by his five songs! “Please, take me back to before the Calamity!”

The tunnel pulsed with energy, acknowledging you. You started to run through the seemingly endless hall of gears, the light from the entrance fading, and a new light growing at the other end. Energy of the ages flowed by you, and you couldn’t help running faster and faster. The light grew brighter until it was nearly blinding…

==============================

“Oh, the poor dear, is he okay?”

“Such strange garb, he’s not a thief, is he?”

The voices shook you from your grogginess. You found yourself flat on your back, staring up at a picturesque blue sky.

“Oh, he’s getting up! Give him some space!”

You slowly sat up to see you were surrounded by people on a wide cobblestone street.

Wait, what?

You patted the ground, realizing the last time you saw well maintained cobblestone streets was before the Calamity. All the cobblestone roads left were near Castle Town, and none of them looked brand new like this. At first, you wanted to leap for joy – it worked! You had gone back in time! But then, you realized this town wasn’t like any other you had seen before the Calamity. You looked around the cozy but prosperous village. There was a nice plaza with a weathervane and a marketplace. You rubbed the back of your head. When and where exactly did you land?

“Okay everyone, let’s stop treating the poor man like a spectacle!” A rough voice said. An old man in yellow robes with a carved wooden staff walked up. He stroked his long white beard, looking you over. “Come now, can you stand?”

“I think so,” you said, getting up to your feet a bit shakily.

“Good, come with me.” You followed him up a hill to a large but plain home. He led you inside where an elderly woman was setting out some teacups.

“Please sit,” he said, pouring you a cup. “It’s not every day one falls out of the sky on our village – especially for someone wearing the mark of the Sheikah clan. You seem to have traveled quite a distance.” He set his staff down and sat across from you, removing his cap. “I am pleased to welcome you to Kakariko Village, traveler. My name is Sahasrahla. What is yours?”