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smilesrobotlover · 1 year ago

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Whumptober day 10- alternative prompt, panic

Love at twilight!!!! :D it’s a strong focus on Rusl and the Ordon kids and I love it so much. Hope you guys love it too! Uh, this one is very mild, not a lot of whump, but there is a brief moment of panic. It’s a lot more lighthearted than the others. Anyways hope you like it as much as I do 🙃

~~~~~~~~~~

“Alright ya kidlets, are y’all ready for a daring adventure in the forest?”

Rusl looked out at the young Ordon kids who stared at him blankly. Rusl cleared his throat and gestured to Faron woods behind him.

“C’mon, I know y’all are excited.”

Beth yawned while Colin rubbed his eyes. It was pretty early in the morning, and these kids were barely teenagers, the oldest being fifteen, so being awake was clearly not something they wanted. Rusl swore that he didn’t sleep as much as they did when he was a teenager, but regardless they were all very tired and very much not excited for an adventure through the woods. His little three year old stepped up and put her hands on her hips.

“Toughen up ya sleepyheads!” She yelled out in her three-year-old voice, and Rusl chuckled.

“Yeah, you heard her! Wake up, you’re gonna need all your energy for today!”

Talo raised his hand. “Rusl, why are we up so early, and why are we going into the woods?”

Rusl clapped his hands excitedly and walked over to the kids. He’s been training them sword fighting. Mayor Bo believed that if another invasion were to happen, having just Rusl and Link there to defend Ordon would not be able to work, so he wanted the younger kids to learn how to fight in order to protect their home more. Renado wanted his daughter to be taught as well, mostly so she would protect herself in case anything happened. Rusl happily obliged, wanting to start training Colin anyways. The kids were all pretty excited to learn sword fighting, even Beth who didn’t enjoy that type of stuff. Rusl figured since all the kids were so close now that they loved doing anything together, so the training has been easy going for Rusl. But after a few months of training, Rusl wanted them to get more hands-on experience. He faced Faron woods and put his hands on his hips with Rela copying him dramatically.

“Talo, I’m going to see how far along you’ve come on your training, by venturing through Faron woods, and learning how to survive without the comforts of your home!”

There were various mixed reactions from the kids. Talo and Luda seemed pretty excited, Colin was indifferent, but Beth was pretty upset. He figured these would be reactions, so he faced them again and knelt down.

“It’ll only be for one night, we’re gonna practice our fighting skills, appreciate Farore’s gift to us, and learn how to survive in the wild.”

Beth crossed her arms and looked down. “Are there gonna be monsters?”

Talo paled a bit and Luda looked at Beth worriedly. Rusl shrugged.

“Who knows. We’ve cleared it out so there shouldn’t be, but if there are monsters,” Rusl grinned in a teasing manner, “then you’ll have to put your sword fighting skills to the test! Now let’s go!”

Rusl headed into the forest with the kids following him closely behind, making sure to hold onto Rela’s hand as they walked on the trail. When they reached a small river, he picked up his daughter and hopped on rocks effortlessly, landing on the other side. The kids watched him in disbelief and he waved them over.

“They’re nice and sturdy! Don’t worry!”

Talo nodded and hopped onto the rocks. Rusl set down Rela when he reached the other side and smiled. Rusl gave him a thumbs up and the others quickly followed. Rela sat there with her hands on her hips giving them all words of “encouragement”.

“C’mon you slow pokes! Hurry it up!” She would yell at Beth who was being very careful not to fall in the water. “There’s no wind to knock ya over, you can do better than that!” She yelled at Luda who nearly lost her balance on a rock. Colin hopped from one rock to the next, but slipped and fell face first into the water. Rela waddled over to her brother and crossed her arms. “You’re a failure!”

Rusl walked over to her and nudged her over to Talo, who was trying not to laugh at the little girl berating everyone.

“Sweet spirits above, Rela,” he muttered, and offered his hand to Colin. “You’re doing great Colin.”

Colin smiled and took it. “Thanks pa.”

When Beth finally made it to the other side, they continued onward, getting closer to the clearing Rusl wanted them to settle down in. He was relieved that there were no monsters. Although he joked about it earlier, the kids were not prepared to fight bokoblins, and with Rela here as well, Rusl didn’t want to put her in any danger. So the lack of monsters was a relief to Rusl. The others seemed relieved that there was no fighting as well. This adventure was just a lovely walk through the woods, minus Beth’s complaining about her feet. When Rusl saw the clearing, he smiled and turned to the kids.

“We’re almost there, don’t worry!”

The kids all cheered tiredly in response, and Rusl laughed. He spotted Link and Ashei and waved at them, and Link waved back, with his little two-year-old running towards Rusl.

“What’s Ashei and Link doing here?” Colin asked, watching Kori slam into Rusl’s legs.

“They’re here to teach you what they know about sword fighting! It’s best that you learn all the different techniques,” Rusl answered, picking up Kori and kissing his cheeks. “Besides, they had actual teachers, they know what they’re doing.”

The kids all ran to the clearing and greeted Link, while shyly greeting Ashei, whom they’ve never met before. Ashei looked more uncomfortable than them, and wandered off to grab the tent supplies.

“I don’t think she likes kids,” Link told Rusl with a chuckle. Rusl shrugged.

“Well she’s a great fighter, and I think she’ll help Luda and Beth feel more confident in their abilities, don’t you think?”

Link shrugged. “I guess. But if she makes one of them cry, don’t be upset when I say ‘I told you so’.”

Rusl smirked and smacked his son’s shoulder. He waved at Malo who was reluctantly manning the tent supplies, handing it to Ashei as if it were his shop. Rusl spun around and faced the kids, gesturing to Link and Ashei.

“Alright, these two are some of the best fighters I know, and they’re gonna show you what they know. Then we’ll set up the tents and make dinner. Got it?”

The kids nodded unenthusiastically and they all got to work. Link showed them what he knew, demonstrating the helm splitter, the ending blow, and the back slice. Rusl still had no idea who taught him those moves, it certainly wasn’t himself who did it. But he never thought to ask, and Link never talked about it, so it was never brought up. The kids all tried out the different moves, some of them failing at the helm splitter, which involved a front flip over an enemy after they'd been stunned.

“I think y’all should wait until you’re better at flips,” Rusl called out, and Link scratched the back of his head embarrassed.

Once Link taught them everything he knew, Ashei took over, teaching them her own moves. She was more quiet and serious with the kids compared to Link, but she showed her different skills with grace and perfection. She’s clearly practiced these moves a thousand times over, and it was almost mesmerizing to see her move. Link and Ashei were great fighters, but they were so different. Ashei’s skills were more so from learning and practicing, while Link’s was from actual experience from fighting. Rusl’s sword fighting was all self taught, so he was never given different sword techniques like the other two were.

Ashei watched the kids as they practiced her moves, fixing their posture and giving them some pointers to help them improve. Rusl watched happily as Beth kept asking her if she was doing alright, trying to be good in front of the cool lady. But he was pulled away when Link walked up to him with a concerned look on his face.

“A bunch of bokoblins showed up in front of the forest temple,” he pointed to the entrance, and up the log bridge, Rusl was able to see a small group of them. It looked to be three bokoblins, which was good. They would be easy to take care of. Link looked back at Rusl and crossed his arms. “Are you gonna have the kiddos fight them?”

Rusl shook his head. “No, I don’t want to risk any of them getting hurt.”

“Really? They’re just bokoblins. I mean, I was fifteen when I killed my first bokoblin.”

“Link, Luda is the only one who’s fifteen here. And you were easier to protect if something went wrong.” Rusl gestured to the kids who were finishing things up with Ashei. “There’s four of them, that’s gonna be harder to keep track of.”

Link looked down for a moment, pursing his lips. “It’s just three measly little bokoblins, pa.”

“I know, but I’d rather not deal with this right now. Bokoblins are stupid but they’re still dangerous.”

“What’s going on?”

Link and Rusl looked over to Ashei walking towards them.

“There’s a bunch of bokoblins up there,” Link said nonchalantly, a little too loud so everyone could hear.

The kids all gasped, looking either scared or excited.

“Are we going to fight them?” Talo asked in a small voice.

“We should! We’ve learned a lot!” Beth yelled out before Rusl could say anything.

“Yeah! We might as well put our skills to the test!” Luda agreed.

“I guess we could try,” Colin muttered, “I mean, y’all will be there to help us right?”

Link smiled at Rusl and walked closer to the kids.

“Of course we will! With all of us fighting together, those bokoblins will have nothing on us!”

The kids all cheered excitedly, raising their swords in the air as Link hyped them up. All except Talo, who was clutching his wooden sword silently. Rusl frowned at him, this didn’t seem normal for the brave and brash Talo…

“Talo,” Rusl stepped up, putting a hand on Link’s shoulder, “do you want to fight the bokoblins?”

Talo stared at him with wide eyes, and Rusl saw that he made a mistake. Everyone turned to look at the boy, and Talo shrunk back, tears starting to form in his eyes. Without warning, he darted away, running out of the clearing.

“Wait— TALO!” Rusl called out to him, and he sprinted after him. “Link, Ashei, take care of the bokoblins! Luda you’re in charge!” He yelled behind him before running out of the clearing. He looked around him frantically, just barely making out Talo’s red headband. He sprinted towards him, afraid that a monster was going to pop out and attack him. That was the last thing he needed. Finally, Rusl slowed down when Talo stopped, sitting by the river that they crossed earlier, crying. Rusl quietly walked up to him and sat down beside him.

“Talo,” he said quietly, and Talo peeked out from under his arm. “We’re not gonna fight the bokoblins, Link and Ashei are taking care of it.”

Talo sniffed and buried his head in his arms again. Rusl sighed and pulled him into a side hug, which he leaned into.

“What’s got you worked up like this Talo?”

Talo hugged himself closer.

“I don’t want to fight bokoblins…” he mumbled.

“Hey, we’re not gonna fight bokoblins, not anytime soon. I wanna start out with keese first, it’ll be easier—“

“I don’t want to fight monsters.”

Rusl stopped and stared at Talo. “Oh, I see…” Rusl stared at the rushing water, trying to think of what to say. “Why don’t you want to fight monsters?” He asked.

“‘Cause— ‘cause they’re scary! Bokoblins tried to eat me and a monkey! They kidnapped me and Malo and they kept us from going home. They—they kidnapped Colin and tried to hurt him, they just—they’re just scary!” Talo yelled out, flailing his arms around in a frustrated manner. Rusl just watched him silently, the events of what happened replaying through his mind.

He remembered when Colin frantically ran up to him, saying that Talo ran into the woods and was in danger, when he found Link bringing Talo back home safe and sound, when the bulblins broke through Ordon and grabbed all the children, when King Bulblin nearly killed Rusl when he tried to protect them, the screams of the children when they were kidnapped, when Colin told Rusl about King Bulblin tying him to a pole to use against Link, all the things that the poor kids experienced during the twilight invasion. It was no wonder why Talo was so scared. He was surprised the others weren’t.

“So, you’re scared of monsters,” Rusl stated, and Talo nodded. Rusl sighed and rubbed his arm. “Do you want to keep learning how to fight with a sword?”

Talo raised his head and looked at Rusl with puffy eyes. “I—I do! But— I—“

“Because you’re learning how to use a sword in order to fight monsters.”

Talon was silent for a moment, and he buried his face in his knees again.

“I’m sorry,” he sniffled, and Rusl gave him a squeeze.

“You have nothing to apologize for. I think that, if you face monsters more, then you’ll find them to be less scary. But we’re not going to face them now, ok?”

Talo nodded, and Rusl stood up. “C’mon, Link and Ashei are dealing with the bokoblins right now. We’re just gonna focus on building shelter and making food with what we got.”

He offered his hand to Talo who stared at him silently, but he finally grabbed his hand and Rusl pulled him up, wrapping an arm around him.

“There’s nothing to be ashamed of Talo, monsters are scary. So don’t be embarrassed for being scared, ok?”

Talo silently nodded and leaned against him slightly as they walked. When they reached the clearing, Rusl noticed Link and Ashei cleaning their swords with the kids all watching. Link spotted Rusl and waved at him, and Rusl waved back. The kids all turned around, causing Talo to shrink into Rusl’s side a little, but Luda ran up to them and hugged Talo, with the others quickly joining in. Rusl smiled as he watched them all comfort Talo, even Rela and Malo joined in the group hug. Link walked up to Rusl as the kids talked amongst themselves, he was holding a sleepy looking Kori and he gestured to Talo with his head.

“Is he ok?”

Rusl sighed. “For now. He’s scared of monsters so we won’t be fighting them anytime soon.”

Link hummed and Ashei stared at the group.

“Well, the girls are ready to fight monsters,” she started, “you can’t hold them back for the boys to catch up, yeah?”

“You’re right about that Ashei. Maybe you could take the girls on a monster hunting trip sometime?” Rusl suggested. Ashei’s eyes went big and she stepped back.

“M-me? No— no way. I’m not good with kids…”

“Beth and Luda aren’t kids, Ash. They’re teenagers. Besides, I think they like you!”

Ashei grumbled and turned away. “They barely even know me!”

“Well, I think seeing a swordswoman gives them confidence in themselves, so I’m sure they’d love fighting monsters with you. But it’s a suggestion of course.”

Ashei glared at him for a moment, then waved them away.

“Let’s just focus on building up camp, yeah?”

Rusl nodded and walked over to the huddled up kids. Talo wasn’t crying anymore thankfully, and he seemed to be laughing at what the others were saying. It warmed his heart knowing that Talo had good friends to help him. And he couldn’t help but feel pride for his own son who was being compassionate towards him. He definitely got that from his dear mother.

“Ok, you four,” he sadly interrupted the sweet moment between the kids, “let’s set up camp ok?”

The kids wandered over to the tent supplies and with the direction of Rusl, they were able to make pretty decent tents. Rusl kept a close eye on Talo, but he seemed to be doing much better. Though there were some bumps in the road, Rusl would say that this night in Faron woods was a success.

#smiles writes #love at twilight #whumptober #whumptober 2023 #whumptober day 10 #y’all better get used to the alternate prompts cuz I’ve been abusing them lol #anyways I love how my fics are always cute and fun in the beginning and then it all turns out bad #this one is super mild tho #I love love LOVE the ordon kids y’all have no idea #I kinda wanna do a follow up to this one #one where Beth and Luda adventure with Ashei (with Shad there for damage control)#and one where the kids have to toughen up and fight bokoblins cuz they got to Rusl #idk this is such a fun concept to me

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pynkhues · 3 months ago

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You've read the tvc books, right? I haven't, and I'm wondering about something related to blood sharing. Vampires can feel each other's emotions in the blood, correct? So would Lestat not be able to feel Louis' love for him when he drinks from Louis even if Louis doesn't say it? Or would the emotion not necessarily be that specific? I know there were times when they clearly weren't sleeping together much and weren't sharing blood, but did they stop altogether?

Sorry, that wasn't clear. I am asking about blood sharing in the show, not the books, but I thought that the books might shed more light on it.

Don't apologise, anon! I get what you mean.

I've read the first five books, yes (so IWTV, TVL, QOTD, Body Thief and Memnoch), but honestly, a lot of it was a long time ago (although I re-read them a lot when I was a teenager / in my early twenties, and have been also been revisiting parts as I write fic) so I'm not sure I'm necessarily the best source?

That said, as far as I remember it / feel in having recently re-read parts of it, there is a degree of emotional exchange through blood sharing in the books, but at least in the early ones, the vampires can't have physical sex and the blood sharing is a metaphor for that. As a result, in many ways that blood sharing becomes about the emotions you might feel personally, and might feel radiating off another, during sex. They might not be accurate, but they're felt on an intimate level, if that makes sense?

It can also be part of a lot of other things happening - just because I've recently re-read it and it's front of mind, Lestat feels that Magnus loves him when he drinks from him both times, but is also plunged into his own memories in a way that completely disassociates him from his own body. Does Magnus love Lestat, even as Lestat feels it? I mean, I don't think so, how could he? Magnus doesn't actually know Lestat, is just infatuated with what he's gathered from watching him and rifling through his mind, so Magnus probably feels he does, and uses it to justify his fixation, but he's also a predator who was seeking something and found it in Lestat. Lestat feeling that was love during their blood sharing could be anything from what he genuinely feels he felt after the horror of it all, to stockholm syndrome, to a lie he's told himself to survive it.

I think Anne wavered herself on how much the vampires picked up from one another's blood, hence the show I think makes it a bit of a subjective experience. There's definitely a rush of something and I think in answer to your second question, Lestat probably does feel Louis' love for him when they've shared blood, but there is, of course, a difference in it being felt and said aloud.

#and i say this as someone who LOVES that louis never says it aloud #for anyone who's been following me since my beth x rio days you know i love couples in love who can never say it lmao #there's something about being able to say it when the emotion is less #something about the vulnerability of saying it #the power over you that you feel you're giving someone else #even when they've already told you themselves #that absolute FEAR #of the intensity of your own love #of feeling it's something that can and does kill #because your brother jumped off a roof after you said it because you loved your daughter and she burned #because you slit your husband's throat yourself #obsessed thank you #the internal baggage we bring to communicating our own needs my beloved <3 #iwtv asks #welcome to my ama

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