The Final Promise₊˚✩⊹
Chapter 9
Linked Universe x reader
Warnings: a LOT of angst and negative mental health, little fluff, Legend being Legend, some hints at spice
₊˚✩⊹
“Where the hell are we, Champ?” Legend groans, shaking his head.
Wild pulls out his slate, “We’re home! My hom- Hyrule, at least. We’re just past the Great Plateau, Southwest.”
He looks at the map a bit closer, “Close to Gerudo Highlands, actually.”
Your ears pick up at that. You were back on course, in a way.
“How far till the last stable before the desert, Wild?” you ask. He taps his chin in thought.
“Well if we start moving now, we could reach it by nightfall probably.”
And with that, you and the group started walking. You didn’t have Epona with you, so everyone was on foot. You walked with Twilight and Hyrule, talking about anything, you weren’t actively listening. You were too busy staring at Legend’s backside, as if you were trying to make him look at you.
“You good, Sugarplum? You’ve been zoned out for the past 20 minutes or so.” Hyrule whispers to you. Curse everyone for being so damn observant.
You nodded, “Yeah, just uh. I don’t know, a lot’s on my mind.” you mumble, finally pulling your eyes away from the Vet. Your staring wasn’t going anywhere.
“Are you and Vet ok? It seems like something’s going on between you two, but I don’t wanna assume.”
“We’re just stressed about our own situations. Nothing to worry about.”
“You should talk to him, y’know. That usually helps.”
“I trie- I will. I’m just a bit mentally preoccupied at the moment.” you said with a sad smile, Hyrule nods at you in understanding.
“I’m here for you, if needed.”
You keep walking, eyes focused on the terrain ahead of you. The red rock of the Gerudo Highlands were always quite a sight, even in game, but seeing them for yourself for the first time in ages was incredible.
The day passed relatively quickly, the only sounds being that of the wind and the occasional chatting between the boys. You didn’t talk much, not exactly having the social battery to converse.
You walked up to Time, as you always fell into comfortable silence with him and you felt like you haven’t spent much time with him since your incident. He gives you a quick glance, looking back at the path ahead.
“I can hear you thinking, Y/n. What is it?” he asked, still not looking at you.
You fumble with the straps on your harness, a nervous habit.
“I, just, uh feel like we haven’t had much time together lately.”
You think for a second. Wait.
“That wasn’t supposed to be a pun. Sorry.”
“I know what you meant, its alright. No need to apologize.”
“I feel like something else is on your mind though, Y/n. I think I may know what, but… I don’t know if now is the best time or place to talk about it. I don’t want the younger ones snooping in things they shouldn’t be.”
You laugh, “Time, we’re with grown men and one pre-teen.”
He scoffs, “They act like children.”
“You’re not wrong.”
You both stay quiet for a moment, taking in the serenity of the evening, the sun starting its descent into night. You can make out the faint plume of smoke in front of you, meaning that the last stable before Gerudo Desert was coming up. Looking up, you can see a few wolves on the snowy tops of the valley, looking down at you and your group. They howled for a bit, no doubt being curious and/or displeased with your presence in their territory.
You felt a shiver go up your spine, tickling the back of your neck.
“God, I forgot how cold the valley can get towards nighttime.” You pull out your only sweater, the famous Link hoodie that the group made fun of you for, but hey, at least you won’t freeze.
Pulling the hood up, you sighed in content. You sure will get some looks, but you were willing to sacrifice your dignity.
You all approached the stable, Wild jogging up to the innkeeper, checking you all in. Luckily, Wild had sold some precious stones earlier in the day with a merchant, so he had enough to pay for all of you.
“Inn’s kinda full, so we’re gonna have to share beds. I’ll share with whoever, don’t really have a preference.”
A few groans reverberate through the group, but there’s no conflict in pairing up.
Four walks up to you, hand on his knife holster, “Looks like it’s gonna be you and me, you ok with that?” You shrug, not like you had another option anyways.
You both walk to the vacant bed, which happens to be toward the very back of the inn, opposite of the main office. Wild’s inns were cozy, its just all the open space and vulnerability made you anxious.
“I’ll be right with you, don’t worry. I know how the lack of divided rooms affects you.”
Ah, so he knew.
“Thank you, Four. I don’t know why I’m so squeamish around large, vast spaces and not with tight spaces. It’s usually the opposite for people.”
He nods. You both unpack your belongings, Four placing his and your packs under the bed, away from prying eyes. You fidgeted with the necklace he made you, feeling yourself zoning out.
“You two good? Dinner’s almost ready!” Wars yells out to you both from the entrance. Four smiles, and you two walk out the inn towards the small campfire Wild made.
“If you start kicking me at night, I’m kicking you off the bed.” Legend says to Wind.
“I don’t kick!!” he exclaims, throwing his arms up.
“I’ve slept right next to you plenty of times to know you do fuckin’ combat in your dreams.” Vet mumbles, eyes briefly glancing at you.
You sit down on the ground, leaning against Sky. God, you were tired. Sky leaned over you, “How are you, Dove?”
You just groan, leaning against his leg.
“Yeah, same.”
You shiver again. Sky looks at you, then reaches behind him, grabbing a blanket. Where did he get that?
Leaning over you, he drapes it over you, tucking you in. You beam at him, “You’re so sweet, thank you Sky.”
Leaning against his leg, he absentmindedly brushes through your locks while you look into the fire. Wild gives you a smile as he tosses a few mushrooms in and a few dashes of goron spice.
You look to your left, Legend’s eyes on yours. He looks exhausted.
You glance back at the fire, feeling a blush creeping in at the attention from him.
“You excited to head into Gerudo Town tomorrow?” Wild asks, still stirring the pot.
“Yeah! I haven’t had the chance to meet Riju yet. I also can’t wait to finally try the Hydromelons, you keep goin’ on and on about them.” you smile.
Wild chuckles, “They’re delicious and beneficial, especially for the heat during the day. I even have a spare Vai outfit for you, so you shouldn’t struggle as much. I’ll give it to you after supper if I remember to.”
You nod. You don’t really pay attention to the rest of the conversation, no one bothering to bring you out of your daze.
~
Considering how exhausted you felt just over an hour ago, you were awake as can be in bed. You tossed and turned for what felt like hours, trying to find the right spot to doze off in. Four was out the second he hit the pillow.
Sighing heavily, you sit up and hop off the bed, walking towards the entrance of the inn. The lights were barely on at this point in the night, but you could make out the sleeping forms of the heroes as you passed by them. You grabbed a spare blanket from on top of one of the crates in the in and wore it like a cape, walking over to the small fire. You were surprised to find Legend sitting on a log, staring into the fire. He looked up when he heard your footsteps, eyes widening the slightest bit at the recognition of your face.
“Couldn’t sleep.” you mumbled, sitting a few feet away from him. He doesn’t respond, continuing to stare at the fire.
The silence is awkward.
“You look tired. You should sleep.” you say cautiously, not wanting to start conflict.
“‘m not. Can’t sleep anyways.” he mumbles.
Another moment of silence passes.
“Did I do something?” you ask, voice small.
He still doesn’t say anything. You were getting on edge, this wasn’t like him. He’s snarky, quick to talk back.
“What’s going on with you? A few days ago you were teasing me and goofing off with Wind and now you barely say a word, if that. If it’s something I said or did-”
“You didn’t do anything, Y/n.”
“You say that but you still won’t even look at me or talk to me. What are you so afraid of-”
“For the love of- Stop. Fucking stop. You don’t know me, stop trying to act like you care.”
“Excuse me?”
He finally looks at you, eyebrows furrowed and knuckles white on his knees, weeping to be relaxed and unclenched. He looked angry, scared, betrayed, horrified.
“I see how you look at me, full of pity and sadness, like I’m some fucking charity case to you. You think you may know all about my past, just because you’re our-my guide, but you don’t. You can’t even begin to imagine what I feel. What I have to be reminded of every time I close my eyes.”
“Link I don’t pity you and I have never pretended to know exactly what you went through. I know I was there, but I also know I don’t know what it was like for you and how it affected you.”
“I see how you are with the others. Time? Twilight? They look at you in ways I’ve never seen them look at someone. Hell, everyone looks at you like you’re some goddess descended upon Hyrule. I fucking- I can’t stand it.”
“I-”
“I don’t even know why you’re with us, Y/n. Why the fuck are you here, dealing with this prophecy cult bullshit? You could’ve avoided this if you weren’t stupid-”
“I NEVER FUCKING ASKED TO BE HERE.”
He seemed to shut up at your exclamation.
You took a shaky breath, already feeling the tears spilling from your eyes.
“You think I asked to be dragged through a portal, possibly never being able to come home? You think I fucking wanted this? I never wanted to become some ‘guide’ or ‘goddess’ as you put it. I’m just a nobody, a fucking girl that’s depressed and found comfort in characters that she could relate to, but I guess I was wrong. I can’t relate at all. To you, to Time, to any of you. I’m just some sorry excuse of a guide that’s scared of being alone and left behind.”
You were sobbing at this point, snot running down your chin, the tears clouding up your vision in front of you.
“I’m sorry I’ll leav-”
“Please don’t go. I need you, Link.”
Legend paused at that, processing your words.
“Ok. I’ll stay.”
You cautiously cuddled into his side, panting for air from your panic attack.
You needed him.
“I need you too, Mouse.”
You looked up at him at the mention of your nickname. His eyes were bloodshot, as if he had been crying for days on end. He wiped your tears away with his thumb, eyes not leaving your face.
“Kiss me, Link.”
And he did.
Legend groaned slightly into your mouth, causing you to gasp. He took it as an invitation to run his tongue along yours, your tears still running into your mouth, making your lips taste salty. He ran his callosed hands down your back and pulled you in closer, as if he was afraid this was a dream and you’ll leave him.
Just when you thought he was done, he pulled you onto his lap, blanket falling off your shoulders onto a heap on the ground. He moaned into your lips, making you press yourself against him, chest to chest. You wanted, needed more.
“More, Link-ah.” you whined.
He seemed to slow at your whining, coming back to reality. He sighed, placing his forehead against yours.
“I want to, Mousey. Trust me, I do, I just… someone might walk out here.”
You groan into his shoulder, but he was right. It was too risky.
He lifts your face off of his shoulder, tilting your chin up “But once we have some privacy I’ll give you more, ok? I promise.”
You flush at his words, knowing what he was insinuating.
“We should go in, before someone starts panicking. Would you… want to sleep next to me?” he asks, the tips of his ears bright pink. You nod, picking up the blanket from the ground. You suddenly felt very sleepy.
Following Legend back into the inn, you noticed Wind had fallen off the bed and made his way into Four’s bed, which seemed all a little too convinient for your current situation, but you were too tired to care.
You flopped into bed, and Legend followed suit, stripping his sheath and outer tunic before cuddling up to you. He placed a kiss on your forehead before whispering, “Goodnight, my little mouse.”
~
“Rise and shine fuckers!!”
You groan into your… pillow? That’s weird, when did it become so firm-oh. Oh.
The “pillow” groaned, rubbing his face with his hands. His pink hair was all over the place, under eyes still as droopy as ever. Yawning, he looked down at you with a sleepy smile.
“Guessin’ you slept well?”
“Huh?”
“You drooled all over me.”
“Oh, grossss. I’m so sorry Leg-”
“Don’t worry about it, I got another tunic in my pack.”
You stop to look at him. Really look at him. You haven’t had a moment like this with him… ever. He looked so happy, eyes crinkling in the corners, half unbuttoned tunic, hair messy from sleep. You wanted to see him happy. All of them, happy.
“Alright, love birds! Breakfast and out let’s go, let’s go!” Wind yelled again, clapping his hands.
You both rolled your eyes, begrudgingly getting out of bed. You pulled your tunic on, lacing it up in the back. You looked up while lacing to see him staring at you. He gave you a wink and went back to getting dressed as if it was another day on the job.
How the hell is he so casual about this?
You didn’t have time to dwell as Wild’s cooking snapped you out of your daze, bringing you outside to the same pot you and Legend were sitting at just a few hours ago. Legend was alreadyeating, looking up at you mid-bite for a moment before continuing to eat.
You sit in between Four and Warriors, Wild handing you a plate before you sat down.
Before you had a chance to take a bite, Wars asked “Where’d you and the Vet go last night?”
Shit, was he awake that entire time?
“We both couldn’t sleep, just sat by the fire for a bit.”
“Chat about anything?”
You narrowed your eyes.
What the hell was he getting at?
“Just… stuff. What are-” “Jeez Cap, leave her alone, would ya?” Vet snaps, already back to his typical snarky self. You mouth a ‘thanks’ to him, finally able to dig into your food. A few of the others exchange looks, curious about the sudden defensiveness Vet had over you.
You’d have to clear things up with Wars later, as Wild was ushring you back into the inn the second you finished chewing your last bite of food, needing to get you changed into more appropriate clothing.
“I managed to buy another vai outfit a few months back, I hope you like red.”
Wild hands you a bundle of soft red fabric, embroidered with silky golden thread and lace trim. Jesus, this looked expensive.
“Wild, you sure? This looks really expensive.”
“It really wasn’t, trust me. Now come on, we gotta get dressed and head out, Riju is expecting us.”
You nodded, already starting to strip your outer layers while Wild went outside to change. Thankfully, nobody was inside the inn so you could change quickly and quietly without any prying eyes. You catch a mirror in the far corner of the inn, deciding to take a quick once-over before you go out, and check on your healing back.
You turn around and your breath hitches.
Your wounds are completely gone.
₊˚✩⊹
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Unwritten Characters #1: Alesha Fulduun
Alesha was a first era Paladin from the Eastern Highlands. While she was not seen officially as a queen, the people who knew of her deeds viewed her as such.
During the Leviathan attacks, Alesha single-handedly conquered the Eastern Highlands, adopting all of it's people into the first clan of New Tennessee, Clan Fulduun.
Although she was a driving force of peace during a time of hysteria, the Triad viewed her as a possible threat to their regime.
At the end of the attacks, the Triad sent out a private invitation to Alesha, asking her to a dinner, where they might discuss talks of unity for a brighter future.
Alesha was wary of the Triad, not wanting to trust this new faceless entity, but she also didn't want to create new threats for her people.
She asked the Triad to postpone meetings for 2 years and establish a neutral zone while she thought things through.
In reality, she wanted to spend time with her newlywed husband and unborn child before diving headfirst into something that might severely hurt her and her people.
While she enjoyed the time they had, the lingering day of her meeting with the Triad was ever-looming.
Fearing for what was to come, she reached out to the Landstar. She didn't agree with the Landstar's principals of justice, but she did know that there was no better place for a child to live.
In secret, she approached Rion and told him to take her child, but to her dismay, he refused. The Landstar was not a place to dump children and he shamed her for doing such a thing.
Alesha knew what she was doing was wrong, but she also knew in her heart that with the way New Tennessee was changing, it was no place for her child. She couldn't bare to see her baby grow up in the world she might leave behind.
The thought of this tortured Alesha and she became desperate, begging Rion to take the baby. Her only request of doing so being that the child will never suffer the burden of the why and where.
Rion thought for a moment and offered Alesha a deal. He would take the baby, in exchange, he would make the child a Star Captain. He would cut the baby's bloodline away from the parents and adopt the child into a new family. One that exists to protect the universe and all it's inhabitants.
Alesha, not fully understanding what this meant, accepted without a second thought.
She went back to New Tennessee where she finally met with the Triad. After all she'd gone through, she ended up making a few mistakes with her negotiations. She unprofessionally called the Triad out for being more oppressive than the Landstar ever could be, which was a founding reason as to why the Paladins existed.
This blunder in brazen behavior would lead the Triad to kill Alesha before she returned to the Eastern Highlands, but not before making it look like an act of terrorism, martyring Alesha by naming their orbiting star after her and lying about her accepting the merge between the occupied lands of the current Paladin King Wallace Yore and the Eastern Highlands.
Alesha's husband, who's name is lost to time, was hunted by the Triad for inciting rebellion and calling out the falsehoods of the Triad. He and his followers have since been driven into hiding and then further into myth under the mantle of "The Ghost Tribe".
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