#fell into totk hole for 3 weeks

[ceniwen]

how I felt when I got that outfit as link

[transskywardsword]

Spider Meet Fly/Fly Meet Spider Chpt 3 - An Unfamiliar World

a totk au where link and zelda switch places, focusing on fixing plot holes found in the memories and giving ganondorf actual characterization

read all of spider/fly on ao3

Link wasn’t sure when he finally fell asleep, body too exhausted from shock and gloom poisoning to stay awake for long, but once he did, he slept for far longer than he expected to, interrupted only by constructs with more pain elixirs. He’d refused them at first, even with the constructs threatening to sick Queen Sonia on him-- until the first elixir actually ran out, leaving him without anything to dull the pain. The sliver of time in between then and when he desperately begged to take whatever they would give him had been unbearable, and all he had been able to do was curl around himself and try not to cry or bite through his tongue as pain wracked through him, radiating from his arm and his head. Link had felt much pain throughout his life and had the scars to prove it—hell, he had died, for Goddesses' sake. But this, this was unlike anything he had ever felt. Choking down his pride and downing the painkillers became easy after that.

Sonia, whom Link had been told had been visiting every hour on the hour, had sat beside him with his head in her lap, gently stroking his sweaty hair and promising that once the swelling went down they would move him to the strange magic treatment that King Rauru had used when he lost his own arm, and that in a few days’ time the pain would be gone and all would be well.

It didn’t matter how pathetic Link felt for relying on the comfort of a stranger, those moments with his head in Sonia’s lap were a blessing like no other. If he closed his eyes and drifted through the agony, he could imagine it was Zelda who was holding him, who was whispering comforts and soft, sweet distractions, who was promising him a respite for the pain.

When Link finally awoke for good, Sonia carefully informed him that it had been a week since he was found. A week. A whole damn week where Zelda was Gods knows where, all alone.

“We need to get to the Plateau where you found me.” He wrote, hand shaking, and Sonia sighed before giving in with surprisingly little push back.

“You would find a way to go anyways,” she told him. “This way, I can come with you.”

“Absolutely not.” Rauru said from the doorway. He was flanked by two constructs holding strange, green bandages and other salves, and when he strode into the room he resembled perfectly the king that he was. His mane was partially slicked back and pinned on top of his head, his elegant robes traded for an equally elegant shawl that allowed for a greater range of motion. “Link and I shall go together. You need your rest.”

Sonia rolled her eyes, face still pleasant but body language speaking of a familiar argument. “I’m fine.”

“You’re due any day now. I will not have our child born on a forest floor,” Rauru said, arms crossed, and Sonia laughed. It echoed Zelda’s laugh, light and youthful despite Sonia’s age, and once again Link found himself wondering if the two shared blood. Eyes wide, Link looked to Sonia’s stomach—its size had been hidden in the dozens of folds of fabric and jewelry that made up her dress, but now that Link paid closer attention, he could see the outline of a swollen belly. Sonia was pregnant. Sonia was pregnant.

Sonia moved from Link’s side to Rauru’s, placing a hand on his cheek. The Zonai man leaned into her touch, eyes fluttering shut.

“Have a little faith in us,” She said, and Rauru smiled. His hand drifted to her belly, and the look in his eyes spoke of pure adoration. “We shall go to the sacred healing spring on the Plateau, together, and begin to unravel this mystery.”

Rauru sighed. “One day, I will learn to say no to you.”

Sonia’s smile was blinding.

“Now,” Rauru said, turning to Link, “there is the real reason I came to see you. When I lost my arm, our healers, technicians, and magicians worked to develop a way to rapidly heal the wound. The pain won’t disappear overnight, but it should be manageable, and you would be able to leave bed-rest without fear of infection.”

Link nodded, and the constructs moved closer towards him.

“May we proceed?” One chirped, and Link nodded again, steeling himself. The construct unwound the green bandages from the box they sat in. They were pale, almost white, and smelled strongly of magic, old and rich, like time had been melted down and left to cool. The construct opened a jar.

“This will be cold.” It said, before beginning to paint a bright green, sickly sweet smelling, freezing cream across Link’s stump. Holding the arm steady, the other construct began to wind the bandages around it. Slowly, the green began to glow. Warmth spread up Link’s arm. There was a tingling numbness, then nothing, then a soft, fuzzy sensation as his sense of feeling began returning to the flesh. Link raised what was left of his arm; an ache was still present, but he could move his shoulder without the same flair of pain.

“It will keep infection at bay and spur the healing process,” Rauru said, flexing his own prosthetic. “While it will take time for the arm to be at its best, you should be able to move it around now. It will hold until the prosthetic is finished.”

Link frowned. “Prosthetic?”

“Should you want one,” Sonia interjected. “There is no pressure, nor any rush. It is your body, and so your decision.”

“Should you say yes, I have someone in mind who would be more than qualified and just as eager to help. My sister, Mineru, is quite the engineer, and is gifted in spirit magic that allows her inventions to mesh well with the body and soul – she designed and created my own arm. Her skill, combined with your secret stone would allow for the creation of an arm like no other.”

Link fingered the fleshy end of his stump. The bandages were soft and warm, like freshly laundered sheets. Did he want a prosthetic? He hadn’t even considered the option till now. But right now, without his left arm, he couldn’t communicate like usual, couldn’t fight— with no left arm, he couldn’t wield the Master Sword, and that was not an option. With the mummy on the loose, he had to be at his best.

“You said I have a secret stone?” Link wrote, and Rauru nodded. Carefully, the Zonai reached into his shawl and brought out the stone from the cavern. Now that Link was seeing it in the day, the sight of it was breathtaking. It reminded him of the light that pulsed out of a dragon horn, molded and manipulated into a weighty, elegant teardrop.

“Your secret stone that you came to us with,” Rauru said offering it to Link. Sonia’s hand drifted to the teardrop hanging on her neck. It glittered amber, and now that Link had noticed it, he had no idea how he hadn’t before. It was mesmerizing, glistening and sparkling in the room’s bright light, and seemed to radiate subtle, sweet magic.

“I think it’s best we talk on the road,” Sonia said, taking her king’s hand. “While I trust my people, there have been whispers lately of treason on the edges of Hyrule, and this is not information that just anyone should know. We’ll get you some clothes, and then we’ll be on our way.”

“Is that satisfactory?” Rauru asked.

“Let me hold the stone,” Link wrote before holding out his hand. Rauru’s face twitched, though what that meant Link wasn’t sure, and the Zonai passed over the stone. It was somehow both chilly to touch and impossibly warm.

“Clothes would be wonderful,” Link wrote, suddenly aware of just how under-dressed he was to be speaking with royalty. “And then to the Great Plateau?”

Rauru nodded, clasping Sonia’s hand. “To the Great Plateau.”

Link sighed. Let them be off into this new yet familiar world.

---

Seeing the castle—because Link had been staying in a castle, that much was certain—from outside instead of from the four post bed that had served as Link’s home for the past week, was difficult to comprehend. It towered, taller than Hryule Castle ever had been, as tall as some of the tallest Sheikah Towers, and as the spires curved up, up, up into the air, they began to defy gravity, twisting into organic platforms and open-air rooms that hovered elegantly in the air. The world around him was a jungle, and while Link was positive he could identify any part of Hyrule without a map, he was clueless as to where he was. The humid air and hanging vines made him think of Faron, but the they had made it to the Plateau in just a few hours of walking. Faron and the Great Plateau were miles upon miles apart in his era.

His era. Wasn’t that a thought?

Link still wasn’t sure he was convinced, but it seemed pointless not to be at this point. What else could this be other than another time-fucked adventure?

Link longed for Zelda’s opinion. She would know what to make of all this.

Link ran his fingers over the skirt (Zonanite waist guard, according to the construct that had helped dress him) that Sonia and Rauru had provided for him. The shin guards and waist guard were made of a combination of cream and green linen and deep green decorative stones. The dragon motif was unsurprising, but the lightness of the stone was, and the gold leaf was elegant, forming organic yet geometric designs across fabric and stone alike. Link was fairly certain the traditional wear was worn without any kind of shirt, but Rauru had provided him a shawl not unlike his own. Link wasn’t ashamed of the scars littered across his chest, but the stump was still uncomfortable to look at, and he accepted it gratefully. The deep green material was pinned in place with strange black and green stones Link had never seen before, clinking softly as he walked up the scaffolding that had been strung from the base of the Plateau up to it’s cliffs. There were no stone walls surrounding this Plateau, no decayed remnants of regalia like what Link knew covered the cliff-faces in his time. This Plateau was littered with constructs building something, the ground covered in wheels and winged stone and strange automated fans. New housing, maybe? It looked like a town. Men and women in strange clothing had mingled around them, bowing to Rauru and Sonia as they had passed. Now, as Link, Rauru, and Sonia hiked a thousands meter drop up the scaffolds, Link kept glancing nervously towards Sonia. She seemed perfectly fine climbing from scaffolding board to scaffolding board and up ladders and steps, but the size of her belly made him nervous. Could pregnant women exercise so much?

“I’m fine,” She said delicately from in front of him. “Light cardio is recommended, and good for my and the baby’s hearts.”

Link flushed, and Sonia laughed. “I appreciate your concern, but I promise I know my limits.”

“So she says,” Rauru said, voice light, and Sonia swatted him playfully.

“Hush, you.”

They rounded the last ladder and stepped up onto the Plateau cliffs properly, and Link’s breath caught in his throat. This…

This wasn’t the Hyrule he knew. He swallowed, not wanted to voice the terrifying thought just yet.

The ruins that made the Plateau what it was were gone, as was the Temple of Time. In its place was a ginormous, white building made of elegant curves.

“The Temple of Time,” Rauru explained, and Link’s brain frazzled, thoughts looping around themselves. What? What?

Rauru led them up a path Link knew well. This one led up to the Shrine of Resurrection. They had found him here? Ironic.

He jogged up ahead, ignoring Rauru’s call to come back, turning into a sprint as he neared the entrance to the cave. Link spun, looking over the cliff that housed the cave. No castle, obviously, but Death Mountain was but a small collection of mountain ranges, and the Dueling Peeks were in one piece and—

No. No, no, no, this wasn’t how this was supposed to happen.

“Link?” Sonia called softly. “Are you alright?”

Link hadn’t realized he’d been shaking until Rauru placed a hand on his shoulder. Link took a steadying breath and began to write.

“It’s as you thought. This is… this is not the Hyrule I know. So it’s true. I really am…” His stylist froze, unsure what to say. His hand went to his side where his secret stone had been inlaid in the scabbard Rauru had provided for the Master Sword. This Hyrule… this was a time so far back in the past that it has become legend.

“I really am in the era of Hyrule’s founding.”

Zelda would be so jealous.

Link wasn’t sure how long he stared at the bafflingly wrong skyline, but it was long enough for the sun to shift its place in the sky and the shadows to lengthen. Finally, Rauru broke the silence.

“Your presence here is just as strange to us, Link.” He said, voice surprisingly gentle. “Do not fear; we will find a way to return you home.”

Link nodded dumbly. He was very sure at that moment that looking for Zelda here would be pointless. She was gone. Link was sure of it.  Rauru stepped closer and reached out a hand. “May I?”

Link extended the sword scabbard and Rauru ran a careful hand over the secret stone. It was identical to the one inlaid in the back of Rauru’s hand. Could they perhaps be the same one?

“You are never, ever to let another hand other than mine, Sonia, or your own touch this stone, do you understand?” He said, voice surprisingly dark. Link made sure to meet Rauru’s eyes as he nodded, hoping the simple movement came across as the promise he intended it to be.

“I have hypothesized that it was your stone that sent you here. I sense great light magic within you, and your stone calls it forth. Light magic is complex and often unpredictable—with your stone amplifying your innate magic, I don’t disbelieve that it could do otherworldly things, including pulling one through time.”

Link lifted the scabbard to eye level. Innate magic? That sounded much more like Zelda, the Princess, Hylia Incarnate and Daughter of Nayru. Link knew, hypothetically, that he was tied to Hylia as well, that he was the Chosen of Farore, but it was hard to picture himself as any kind of magical. On the scabbard, the stone shone a pale green, and when he focused he could hear that strange singing on the wind. Link hooked it back on his belt and ran gentle fingers over the stone. Its surface was still cool while the inside burned with brilliant warmth. A jolt went through his fingertips, not unlike Farosh’s lighting, but leaving the same feeling of electric comfort Link associated with praying to a Goddess statue.

Strange.

“Oh?” Sonia said, voice light. “The secret stone is what convinces you? I believed in him right away.”

Rauru’s fur bristled and the Zonai turned to his wife, mouth open to retort, but Sonia just giggled. “Be at peace, beloved. I can sense great light within him. And traces of time manipulation—you must be quite the skilled fighter with time on your side in such a way.”

Link furrowed his brow. Time manipulation? Sure, bullet time and flurry rushes and perfect parries—the names he had given for his unique fighting skill-set—were something only he could achieve, but that wasn’t magic, was it? Surely Zelda would have noticed. Sonia placed a hand on his elbow, breaking Link from his musings. Her smile was bright and calming.

“In any case,” Rauru said, drawing himself back up to his full regal height, “I’m sure you need to return to your time as soon as you possibly can, if your sword’s destruction is any indication.”

“Yes. In my time, something terrible is happening, and I have to be there to stop it. I need to get back, immediately—how? How do we send me back?”

“Link, dear, you can’t solve your problems all at once.” Sonia said, taking his hands and leaning down to meet his eyes. She truly was breathtaking. “Come back with us to the castle. We’ll introduce you to the court formally; we’ll tell them you’re… a visiting knight, from an allied country in search of aid. It is true, after all.”

Rauru nodded. “I have no doubt that, through investigation of this stone, the answers will reveal themselves to us.”

“Exactly,” Sonia echoed. “Wisdom takes time.”

Except Link wasn’t the wise one. That was Zelda, who was currently Gods only knew how many years away. Link pulled his hands back.

“I—” his stylist hovered for a moment. “I don’t know what to say.”

“You don’t need to say anything. We’ll look for your friend, together, and then return to the castle.”

“My sister, Mineru, understands the stones best out of all of us. She might had some idea of how to proceed—that, and if you so desire, the two of you could discuss a prosthetic.”

“You don’t hold yourself like someone with a sibling,” Link wrote, and Rauru blinked once, twice, before laughing, truly laughing for the first time since Link had met him.

“My older sister,” he said, voice filled with warmth, “by three and a quarter minutes. She is a brilliant engineer, a gifted magician, and the greatest historian to bless this generation. She knows far more than anyone about our people, and like you, wields a secret stone. We’ll call on her.”

“Now then!” Sonia said, clapping her hands together, “I promised we would search for your friend, and search we shall.”

Link debated telling them not to bother—Zelda was gone. The strange, almost divine connection that existed between the two as Hero and Hylia had gone dim and quiet. Still, Link drew his sword.

Please, he thought, digging deep, deep into the mental link he’d been trying to widen and strengthen over the past five years, I am searching for the Princess, for any trace of her. Anything at all.

The sword let out a pitiful chime, and for a blessed movement it vibrated in his hand, pulling at his gut, urging him forward. The dowsing was working! Poorly, almost pitifully poorly, but enough. His sword was alive, was fighting. Then, the light flickered out, leaving behind cold emptiness where the mental link between him and the Master Sword usually sat. Link swallowed.

Well. He really shouldn’t be surprised, should he?

Sonia stepped closer, but Rauru placed a hand on her shoulder.

“We’ll look near the base of the hill and the pond. Meet us there when you feel ready.” He said softly, turning to leave before Link could acknowledge him. Link took a shaky breath, then other, before turning to the mouth of the cave that held the Shrine of Resurrection.

The cave was different than he remembered. The walls were less eroded, not chiseled away to make room for Sheikah tech, and the smell of a hot spring wafted from the guts of the cave. Sonia and Rauru said they found him in a sacred healing spring—it was surprisingly calming to know that even millennia in the past, the Shrine of Resurrection still held healing power. Link ducked into the final room of the cave. No bed, no pedestal. No Sheikah life support. Just a cheerfully bubbling hot spring and more fairies than Link had ever seen outside a fountain. One drifted closer, cocking her head as she squinted at him.

“You smell funny,” she said, her voice sweeter than the chiming of a bell.

“I forgot to shower,” Link said, and she crinkled her nose.

“No, dummy, you smell like magic.”

Link shrugged. The fairy continued trying to talk to him, but he wasn’t listening, suddenly incredibly tired. He unbuckled his shawl with some difficulty, trying and then giving up on unlacing the shin guards one handed, and finally walking into the hot waters mostly clothed. He hugged the Master Sword close and closed his eyes. If he tired hard enough, he could imagine the waters were the Sheikah’s medical fluid surrounding him as he slept and slept and slept for a century. Back when things were simple, and all he had to do was kill a pig.

Link wasn’t sure how long he spent in the spring, but it was long enough for his hands and feet to wrinkle and the sun begin to lower at the cave’s entrance. Link pulled himself out, shivering at the loss of the hot water, and pulled the shawl back on, not even bothering to buckle it. If Sonia and Rauru thought anything of it as he moved down the hill, they kept their mouths shut. Good.

“I’m sorry.” Sonia said softly, and Link wanted desperately to tell her to not be, to shut up, to do something other than look at him with those earnest eyes. Instead, he simply nodded.

“We need to return to the castle,” Rauru said, and the gravity in his voice gave Link pause. “I’m afraid duty calls. I’ve been told that a messenger from the Gerudo has arrived.”

“Maybe now we can get to the bottom of your intelligent gibdo,” Sonia said to Link with a strained smile, but Rauru’s face was still serious, almost dark.

“Perhaps. For now, keep close. Ganondorf is an unstable man, and I do not trust his Twinrova.” Rauru placed a hand on his wife’s belly.

“You worry too much,” she whispered, and Rauru shook his head.

“Often I fear, my dear, that I do not worry enough.”

---

The walk back to the palace was silent. Guards were waiting for them when they returned to the construction at the base of the Plateau, a wide mix of muscular Hylians decorated with dragons and Zonai warriors that towered over them, all armed to the teeth with strange glowing swords that reminded Link of the Sheikah guardian weapons of his first adventure. Sonia had whispered something to Rauru about the escort being too much, but the Zonai king hadn’t answered, just stared straight ahead with a look of cold regalness Link had never seen on him. Sonia gave Link a tight smile, her hand fluttering on top of her belly, and that had been that.

Link didn’t know who this ‘Ganondorf’ was, or what a Twinrova was, but Rauru obviously didn’t trust it, and that was enough for Link.

And then there was the name. Ganondorf. Link didn’t want to make assumptions or demonize someone from a name alone, but the similarity to ‘Ganon’ was obvious. It could be a coincidence. It had to be one. Calamity Ganon was a creature, and beast, a monster, and from the sound of it all, Ganondorf was just a man. One Rauru did not want in his castle, near his people, and certainly not near his wife and unborn baby. Even Sonia, who had seemed unflappable, looked tense. Her bare feet echoed on the stone mosaic floor as they entered the foyer.

“I tried to escort them to the reception room, but they refused to wait—” One servant, a tall, olive skinned woman with obsidian eyes said to them, only to be cut off by a second.

“And they kept doing that thing they do, with the masks, and they haven’t said a word in Zonai or Hylian since they arrived—”

Another servant butted in, wringing their hands. “They won’t stay put! And they keep threatening people and we didn’t know what to do!”

Rauru held up a hand. “Where are they now?”

“The throne room!” A fourth squeaked, and Rauru sighed through his snout.

“Are they alone?”

“No! Mineru is with them.”

“Good, good. Sonia—”

“I’m coming with you to see them,” Sonia said, chin jutted forward. In that moment she seemed even taller than Rauru. Rauru steeled his jaw.

“Absolutely not. The Gerudo—Twinrova—are not to be underestimated, and I will not have you put in harms—”

Sonia grabbed Rauru’s clawed hand and placed it on her swollen belly.

“Ours. This is ours. Together. We are not two separate beings—we are one. And we will do this together.”

Rauru’s mouth hung open for a rather embarrassing moment before clicking shut hard.

“Very well. Link, come. Once Mineru is free of those women you two shall go discuss the stone. Till then, stay by my side. Do not interact with our guests—avoid drawing their attention in any way. Do you understand.”

Link nodded. He tried to remember if Riju ever mentioned any Gerudo named Twinrova, but the name pulled a blank. Damn.

“Good. Now, come.”

Rauru marched off deeper into the castle, taking strides so long and so fast that Link struggled to keep up without jogging. Sonia’s hands rested on her stomach, and her eyes were far away.

“Twinrova are the sisters of the current Gerudo king, Ganondorf,” She told Link softly. “Very powerful women. Also very dangerous. Believe me when I say they are not to be underestimated.”

Link’s hand went to the Master Sword and the secret stone hidden there in the scabbard. Not to be underestimated, huh?

The entourage of servants, guards, and royalty finally came to the arching doors of the throne room—Link was surprised by its simplicity, given the opulence of Hyrule Castle. The two thrones were simple stone, adorned in green dragon motifs and golden linen. And there, in the center of the room, stood three women.

The first was Zonai, shorter than Rauru but still sharing the details of his face, the same sloping snout and brilliantly colored eyes. Her ears stretched up instead of out, still impossibly long, and her clothing seemed to float around her in an almost ghostly manner. At the hollow of her throat was a purple secret stone: Mineru. Before her were two Gerudo, woman so tall they could look the Zonai in the eyes. Their hair was buzzed short in swirling designs on their head, and Link recognized the colors and symbols of royalty, or at least those close to it, in their black and gold clothing. One was covered in rubies, encrusted on her robes, her fingers, her arm bands, her hair, while the other dripped sapphires. However, the most striking thing of the two women was the expressionless, blank golden masks they wore. Link had seen traditional Gerudo masks before, both in action in royal ceremonies and on display. They were always decorated in jewels and painted in bold expressions with bolder colors—the simplicity of Twinrova’s masks were out of place amongst Link’s previous knowledge. But if these were Ganondorf’s sisters, then they were still royalty, and deserved to be treated as such.

Link took his hand and placed it over his heart, palm open and fingers spread so as to show he was unarmed, and bent slowly at the waist, counting to three before coming back up and looking at the sisters in the eyes. He waited for Rauru to follow, to show the women the respect that their bloodline called for, but he stayed rigid.

“So, they have brought a little sand rat with manners.” The one in ruby murmured to her sister in Gerudo.

“Perhaps it can teach its master a thing or two,” The sister murmured back.

“Do you think they’ve taken it in as a bed warmer or as a pity project? Look at that arm—what an embarrassment.”

“That’s enough,” Rauru said, voice fierce despite its low volume. “In my castle, we speak what we can all understand.”

“Forgive us,” Sapphire said. “We forget that the Hylians and Zonai are too busy running Hyrule to learn the language of the people around them.”

Ruby snorted. “You have a new pet.”

“Mineru, take Link down to discuss some of his… pressing matters.” Rauru said to the Zonai woman, who nodded sternly and turned her gaze to Link.

“Come.”

“Wait! We want to see the sand rat that would bow to us as we so deserve.”

Link stepped forward even as Rauru opened his mouth to tell him to stay put.

“What is your name, sand rat?”

“L-I-N-K.”

The mask hid any of the women’s reactions to his signs.

“He’s a visiting knight from an allied nation,” Rauru said, resting a hand on Link’s shoulder and dragging him back between him and Sonia. “But he is not the important thing here. I take it that Ganondorf has his answer for me?”

“Yes,” the women said at once. “Go fuck yourself.”

Rauru bristled.

“Remove your troops from our borders. Return our land. We do not do business with cowards, and the Gerudo will forever be independent. You may have bullied our neighbors into submission, but the Gerudo stay strong. Leave, or face consequences.”

“Are you threatening me?”

“Do we need to? The Gerudo will not join Hyrule. The Gerudo will never join Hyurle. Return what you have taken, or we shall take it back by force. That is all.”

The women turned, already marching for the door, their feet in perfect time with each other. The sapphire one looked over her shoulder at Link. Her eyes burned.

“Be wary of the company you keep, sand rat.” She said in Gerudo. And then they were gone.