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sluckythewizard · 8 months ago

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BUT IM NOT A WRITER. something strange possessed me to write my first proper fanfic in maybe a decade. be niceys to me but also grill me so i can get stronger. this one is a stupidly self indulgent bit between Soda and Emizel, a day or so after emizel was sired. CW for gore descriptions, but thats about it i think. image below is a snippet of the start. the rest of the whole dang thing will be under the cut. ive never posted fanfic ever in my life. read my tags for secret behind da scenes commentary

"Oh shit… I think hes dead…" It was another night, another patrol, another fight, and another win, for Emizel and Soda.

Under moonlight, under street light, under interwoven wires above, the two stood here in a quiet and damp alleyway. The air was drenched with the smell of a previous rain, and the puddles of said storm remain huddled in corners and pot holes.

One splashed as soda found himself stepping forwards into one. The residual adrenaline of the fight had left his body shaking, his heart still pounding, his wounds still throbbing. They had still won; or more-so, Emizel had won. A particularly nasty blow to the side had Soda reduced to the side lines for most of the fight, left to watch as his newly vampiric comrade had absolutely eviscerated the competition.

Emizel had only been turned a day ago, but it was impossible not to notice how it had changed him. He already acted so goddamn confident, so on top of the world, and this newfound power, newfound speed and strength, only built upon his insane ego.

The Fangs that they encountered here on this night stood no fucking chance. Emizel was too quick, too strong, and he easily chased off the rivals. It was only now, as the final unfortunate opponent had turned to flee, a clean clock in the jaw sent the human tumbling to the ground with a dull thump, and it did not move afterward.

Soda shifts his shoe out of the puddle, the cold seeping into his sock being one of the few things keeping his mind in his body in the moment. Is the guy breathing?

A low laugh bleeds from Emizel as he stretches his arms, licking his sharpened teeth as he stares off in the direction the remaining Fangs went. Soda knew that look on his face, the look of a tiger pondering on its next kill, he knew well that Emizel wanted to chase them.

But the guy on the ground.. It was one punch to the face, and the wicked crack sound that came from it had planted a seeding dread within Sodas chest.

As he steps forward, around the puddle, the resulting sound made Emizels attention click back over to Soda, the snap of his gaze making Soda flinch.

The two lock eyes, and Soda weakly gestures to the limp body on the floor. "The uh.. I think.. Is that guy dead?" He finally asks, having a hard time keeping contact with Emizels intensely red eyes.

Emizel turns his attention to said body, tilting his head as he goes to kick at the thing, turning it over. "Man no way hes dead, I punched him once." He mutters.

"Well, yeah, but his head almost twisted all the way around when you did.." Soda steps up to stand beside Emizel, the two boys standing with their hands in their pockets, down at this unfortunate, limp body.

"Should we hide it?" Soda asks, glancing back over at Emizel, who had.. An odd look on his face. He was clearly pondering something, but Soda could only guess whatever was going on in that brilliant head of his. He knew and trusted that Emizel was smart. If anyone could figure out what to do about this, it would be him.

But the lack of an answer had anxiety chewing at the back of Sodas rib cage, and after a second, he speaks up again, compelled to fill what he perceived as a tense silence. "Like.. I dunno, I've never uh... killed a guy..." He shrugs, prompting Emizel to let out a big sigh.

"He's not dead man, just out fuckin cold." Emizel kneels down next to the body, putting an ear up to its chest, and pondering on that for a moment. An uncertainty twists his expression, as he decides to instead place a hand on the victims throat, checking for a pulse. A moment passes, and seemingly finding nothing, he pulls back.

"Uh... Okay, so he might be dead."

Something about the confirmation from Emizel made a shiver run up Sodas spine. That, or maybe it was just the breeze agitating the cold water in his shoe.

"Huh… Damn.." Was all that Soda could really get to leave his mouth. Which was hardly a splash compared to the torrent that was slowly churning in his head. They just killed a guy. Or, Emizel just killed a guy. And it was so easy. They had to hide the body now, right? That was the usual progression here? Getting caught for murder was way more extreme than getting caught for breaking mailboxes with soda cans. It was so, so disturbingly easy. It really was just one punch. It's not like the Fangs are weak by any means, so just one punch? And this guy is dead? Forever?

Or, perhaps by human means, their rivals were fairly tough. But Emizel was on a whole other level. No mortal could stand up to him now...

"Hey, are you okay?"

The question had pulled Soda back from his head, his gaze flicking back over to Emizel, who was looking up at him with those eerie, piercing red eyes. Soda felt another shiver.

"Uh, ieah man, I'm all good." Soda nods, swallowing down whatever anxiety was bubbling up in his throat.

But Emizel didn't seem satisfied by his answer, standing back up and staring down his human comrade. Soda couldn't meet his eyes, his gaze instead traveling downward, and pausing on Emizels red, cut-up shirt. There was something off about the color, the way it seemed darker in some spots, brighter in others.. Wait, wasn't Emizel wearing a white shirt before all this?

The vampire boy seems to pick up on Sodas expression, following his eyes down to his shirt. "Oh, yeah! While you were on the floor, the knife guy got me a little" He says, a stupidly simple smile on his face. Soda was about to let out a laugh at how unbothered his friend seemed by it, but it gets caught in his throat when Emizel goes to pull his shirt up.

The sound of the bloodied fabric peeling away from skin made Sodas own skin crawl, but that wasn't nearly as bad as the sight of the intense gash running from his collar bone, down to his stomach.

"Oh, fuck dude!" Soda gasps, but Emizel laughs it off. Even despite knowing Emizel well, Soda was still surprised by just how much Emizel could shrug off. "Shit, doesn't that hurt, dude?"

"Oh yeah this fucking hurts!" he says with a laugh, his smile big and toothy and proud as he presents this egregious wound. Swollen and angry, pulsing with a slow heartbeat, and still oozing with thick, dark blood.

The sight of the split flesh, and the glints of bone beneath the dark, dark red all tugged at Sodas gag reflex, and yet he couldn't pull his eyes away. So Emizel's just been walking and talking so normally this whole time with his chest just cleaved wide open? Soda felt just as impressed as he felt horrified.

It wasn't until Emizel reaches down to poke at the abhorrent wound that Soda snaps out of it. Watching his friend press his fingers into the bloodied flesh, and slowly pulling it apart, allowing more ichor to seep from the gash, it was too much to watch at this point.

Soda reaches up to put a hand on Emizels wrist, the vampire boy stopping, and looking up at his friend.

Soda found himself freezing again when he locks eyes with Emizel. He was going to say something now, right? "U-uhm.." Is all he really chokes out, giving Emizels wrist a gentle tug. "D-do you. Uh. I suppose a hospital Isn't a place you can go anymore..?"

Emizel just smirks at that, letting Soda pull his hand away from the wound. "Oh, yeah no, but it's fine. I mean, I don't think it's gonna kill me" He shrugs. It was so, so impressive just how unphased Emizel was by all this. Fuck he's actually so cool.

"Well yeah man but it's like, still a bleeding hole. Like you're soaked in blood dude, I'm pretty sure that even a vampire needs that stuff on like, the inside." Soda rubs the back of his head, still unnerved by the sight of it all. "Vampires have like, super healing, don't they?"

"Oh yeah like, regeneration powers. I know I heal faster sometimes but I dunno how to just, activate it on command.." Emizel hums, his eyes narrowing down at his own injury, as if trying to will it into mending. Soda looks away, unable to watch that vile gash ooze any longer.

"I dunno man, how do they do it in like, video games?" Soda tosses the question out, trying to click together some sort of solution in his own head.

"Uhhh.. Huh, video games.." Emizel repeats to himself, chewing on the thought while idly poking at the laceration; until an idea audibly flickers to life in his head. "Oh, I just gotta refill my blood meter. Or whatever."

"Oooh yeah, blood meter!" Soda perks up, "Of course, see this is why you're the brains, man" Soda smiles, glancing back over to his cool friend, but immediately needing to look away again when the sight of that egregious gash tugs bile back into his throat.

While Soda averts his eyes, Emizels eyes wander back over to the body, and that classic 'Emizel has a bad idea' smile creeps across his face.

"Well, if this guys dead, I'm sure he's not gonna need all that blood.." He grins, kneeling down next to the body again.

The word 'wait' had hardly gotten the chance to crawl from Sodas mouth, before Emizel lifts up the arm of the unfortunate body, pulling the sleeve back, and immediately sinking his teeth into the exposed wrist.

The sound and the sight of blood gushing around Emizels teeth made Soda cringe, his hand impulsively coming up to aide his own wrist. An empathetic phantom pain made his wrist ache, his imagination simulating the feeling of shark teeth cutting into skin, sinking deep into the flesh, and clacking against bone. That was a lot of blood, that was streaming down the arm of this fodder.

A low growl bleeds from Emizel as he adjusts his teeth, cutting into more flesh, opening the wound further, and allowing a pulsing torrent of red to stream down his chin, onto his coat. It was an annoying thing, to clean blood out of clothing. Most of the Demons deemed it easier to just let the stains remain. But the night that Emizels throat was torn open, and liters upon liters were granted freedom from his human form, the unbelievable mess had practically changed half the color of Emizels iconic coat.

That was the first time Soda had ever seen that much blood from one person. And well. This would probably be the second.

The sight was unnerving, but it was impossible to look away. The alley was quiet, save for the distant bustle of a distant city, which made the noisy squish and squelch of teeth gnawing on flesh all the more apparent and nauseating.

Emizel had become a monster for sure, and watching it feed on something was… thrilling, in a way. It reminded Soda of feeding a pet spider, or lizard. A mouse for a snake.

It's a heavy thing to witness, the end of a human life. The fear of death is a primal thing, and Soda was no different from any other living thing. He figured everyone else feared death just as much as he does. Well, maybe except for Emizel, of course.

It made sense. Emizel was such a cocky and noisy kind of guy, but hes always had the power to back it up. Even when he lost, or seemed at his lowest, Soda still saw this sort of fire in him, one that Soda admired.

Of course Emizel would be the one to become something like a vampire. Something that Soda had always figured was just a fantasy creature thing. He wondered; if vampires were real, what else was real? Werewolves? Zombies? Unicorns? Are there real demons? Like from hell? Is hell real? Is he going to hell?

The sudden ttteeeeaaaaarrrr of flesh rips soda from his wandering thoughts. Emizel was tugging his head away from the arm of his kill, his teeth clamped down into the chewed meat, and pulling it apart. Soda had seldom seen so much of the inside of a human arm, and the sight of spilling threads and squirming veins was hardly something he ever wanted to stomach again.

"Oh fuck, dude, hey-" Soda steps forward, raising a hand, but the way Emizel snaps his head back over to him, twisting to an unnatural degree, Soda cant help jolting back.

Reddened teeth glint menacingly in the low light, a threatening growl thundering from its clenched, dripping jaws. Emizels eyes were focused, yet wild, glowing with whatever light they could reflect.

Sodas eyes were wide, and his body was frozen in the thick, electric tension within the air. It was like staring down an angry dog.. Suddenly a light bulb in his head flickers to life. It was kind of like an angry dog, right? One hunched over a meal it didn't want to give up. Memories of old encounters and unfortunate dog bites resurface in Sodas head, and with that experience, and with those lessons learned, he gathers the courage to react.

He shuts his eyes, keeping them closed for a few seconds, as he slowly pulls back his arm, and slowly steps back. It was an eye contact thing, wasn't it? Eye contact makes dogs angry, right? That was how you dealt with an angry dog? As he pulls back, and takes in a breath for composure, he finally dares to peek at the angry vampire before him again.

Its snarling had died down, but its eyes were still trained intently on Soda. After a tense, and agonizingly, slow pause... It blinks back, lowering its head back down to its meal, but keeping its anxious stare on this potential threat.

A relieved sigh falls from soda as the tension finally melts. He didnt realize he was holding in so much of his breath. "O-okay, man.. It's yours, you uh.. Earned it.." Soda mutters, stepping back further, until he was standing in a sufficiently dry enough space to sit down in. Now that he wasn't standing, he was finally taking into mind just how much his hands were shaking.

It's odd. Soda couldn't really describe this feeling thrumming in his chest as something like fear.. Nausea? For sure. Disturbed and rattled? Oh absolutely. This was certainly a sight he would have a hard time scrubbing from his eyelids when he sleeps tonight. But he wasn't scared. The memory of the night that Emizel was sired still coated the inside of his mind like an unwashable film. Even in that moment, when the unnatural teeth from the unnatural maw of an unnatural thing hovered over his throat, he couldn't say with confidence that he was scared.

Emizel really is his best friend in the world. And he knows with his whole heart that Emizel feels the same. He knew and trusted that his best friend would never hurt him. Not too badly at least. He loves Emizel, and would give anything to support him.

Like a mouse to a snake.

This really is an incredible power that his comrade had come across, and Soda especially felt a sort of pride in his friend. He felt it was worth it to help him feed it.

The bile in his throat had made its point, and Soda agreed, that watching someone die, and get torn apart and drained might be too much for him. Despite how much he hated the Fangs, the end of any human life seemed like such a jarring thing. To have such an intense fear finally get confronted. Would he go to hell?

Maybe he couldn't just feed people to his friend. So an alternative could be donated blood, right? Soda wouldn't mind giving up something like blood. His body makes it for free, after all. Maybe some other Demons would agree to give up some blood too. But they shouldn't have to take on such a burden. Soda wouldn't mind being the only one. The only one. The only one.

His hand comes up to rub at his neck, as his imagination conjures up what it might feel like to have teeth sink into his flesh. He's been stabbed before, is that sort of what it would feel like? Would he have to get stitches? He didn't really want to get stitches, so maybe there could be a more effective way to get the blood out of him. And there was so much vital stuff in his neck too. There's' a vein that's safe to cut into somewhere, right? He would have to look that up later.

A STARTLING RINGING;

Splits the moment,

Prompting both Soda and Emizel to jolt in shock,

As the phone in Emizels pocket rings away.

Acting as if nothing abnormal had taken place, Emizel pulls out his phone, and answers it.

"Heyy, Johnny! Yeah we chased em off, I don't think those bastards will be infesting this street again anytime soon. Yeah, ieah we'll be heading back soon. Oh fuck yeah dude, save us some!"

Emizel covers the speaker of his Nokia, turning back to Soda with a big smile on his violently bloodied face. "They got some pizza waiting for us back home, dude!" he whispers out to him.

Soda does his best to crack a smile, and to suppress the look of unease that probably stained his face, as he stares at the literal murder scene that's been splattered about in front of him.

"Oh, yeah, hell yeah man.." He swallows down the bile again. "What kind of uh.. Soda did they get?"

Emizel ponders that, before turning back to the phone to ask Sodas question.

"Sprite and a big pack of that one strawberry mountain dew" Emizel tosses the answer back over to Soda, who gives a nod, and thumbs up.

Mountain dew is so neat, Soda really liked all the wacky flavors those guys come up with. The thought of going home and opening a can of soda was certainly a comfort. After witnessing all this blood and gore and viscera, Soda absolutely needed to get back home and get a nice cold glass of something bright red .

As Sodas mind wanders off to soda, Emizel wraps up the conversation on the phone, before hanging up, and standing up.

The movement had pulled Sodas mind back into the moment, enough for him to timidly voice a concern he's had since the start of this debacle.

"Uh, hey, so.. The body, should we… Uh.." He gestures vaguely to it, and Emizel grants it a nonchalant glance.

"Eh, I can toss it into a dumpster or something, I dunno. I'm sure its fine. I'll handle it."

The vampire boy goes to pick up the corpse, the wound in its mangled arm no longer even dripping with blood, the flesh pale from the absolute absence of red in its veins.

"Go ahead and meet me by that one mailbox, the one with the bullet hole in it." Emizel casually instructs, tossing the drained body over his shoulder. "I'll catch up."

"Uh, yeah, okay.." Soda musters up a nod, and the strength to rise back up to his feet, wincing as that bruise on his side makes itself loudly known again. He still felt anxious, but even despite it all, he knew he could trust Emizel to take care of things. He always does. "Just stay safe man, I'll see you there." Soda assures with a smile, and Emizel matches it, tossing him a wink. And then suddenly- -He's gone! If Soda had blinked he would've missed it, but he was fortunate enough to just barely catch the glimpse of Emizel darting off at an inhuman speed, probably looking for a place to dump the body. Right, he would take care of it. Emizel always makes sure his crew is taken care of. Well... Guess all that's left for Soda is for him to walk back to that meeting spot. He looks around the alley for a moment, taking in the sight of that enormous pool of blood in the middle of the concrete. Or whatever the floor of this alley is made from. He ponders on the present moment a little longer than he meant to, the shock of it all leaving him aimless for just a few, soothing moments of just, decompression. The night is quiet, vast, and cold, but the stresses of just the past 5 hours had left his body radiating with fiery aches and pains, so the chill of the occasional clawing breeze was welcomed. Except for when said breeze agitated the cold water still soaked into his sock. He should step in another puddle on his way back to even it out. The smell of rain still rested heavy in the air, heralding another storm on the horizon. There was that, and then, well, there was also the blood. The stench of it felt far too intense to just ignore it, the metallic miasma making itself maliciously unmistakable. Maybe the impending storm will wash this mess away... He looked forward to putting this unfortunate night behind him. With one last rattled, but deep breath, he stuffs his hands in his pockets, and turns away, strolling back over to the mailbox that Emizel had described.

He couldn't wait to get home and drink some soda with his friends.

#NO TAGS ON THIS ONE BC WELL. IM SHY. IM TAKING A BIG LEAP JUST BY ALLOWING U TO REBLOG THIS. IF IT BREAKS CONTAINMENT THATS UR FAULT.#i unfortunately suffer from the disease of 'i hate everything i write the day after i write it' BUT IM GETTING TREATED #I WILL NOT BE HAUNTED BY THIS WEAKNESS FOREVER. AND HEY LOOK THIS IS THE FIRST ACTUAL FIC BIT IVE EVER FINISHED..#ITS SOMETHING TO BE PROUD OF!! AND BY JOBE I WILL BE PROUD EVEN IF I HATE IT.#i dont always need to be the one who likes my art bc i know Someone out there will always enjoy it.#and to that someone i say: omg thankyou i LOOOOVEE YOUUUUUU!!!!!#JUST DELETED A WHOLE RAMBLE I JUST HAD ABT NERVOUS DISCLAIMERS FOR MY ART BUT I DONT NEED EM!!#GET CONFIDENT GET CONFIDENT GET CONFIDENT. ANYWAY. so emizel and soda huh #THEYRE SO CUTE TOGEEHTERRRR TEEHEHEHEHEEEE they are the homies that kiss eachother goodnight like CMON #but uhh so hey your bestest friend in da world just got turned into a freaky creature thing that eats ppl #ieah yknowthe guy that u care about alot that u had to watch get bled out by another freaky creature thing in an alleyway #yeaaah and you were super hurt and weak and stupid and u couldnt do jack nor shit to help him #what was i talking about again. RIGHT so hes even cooler now bc he cant die n hes super strong n his arms can be knives. sometimes.#but also he can eat people now. and sometimes he cant stop himself from eating people. and thats kinda scary. but in a cool way.#but also in a disturbing way. but also in an interesting way?but also in a freaky way.the feelings ARE MIXED!!!ATLEAST I THINK THEY WOULD B #okay again i havnt listened to the suckening ina bit. so its been a minute since i absorbed their personalities. i could be misreading or #misremembering or misconstruing or mischaracterizing or WHATEVER. i think the confusion carries its intended effect #LOSING MY TRAIN O THOUGHT. anyway i love soda n emizel i hope they get locked in a saw trap together or somethign. for enrichment.#TALOS GRANT ME THE STRENGHT TO POST MY CREATIONS ON LINE!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUGHHH!!!!!!!

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smilesrobotlover · 1 year ago

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Whumptober day 31- emptiness, setbacks, take it easy

Read day 30

Happy Halloween!!! Thank you so much for sticking with me with month! This was a fun challenge and I’m so proud of myself for pushing through it 😊 I hope you guys like this one, it’s kinda mid imo but it’s pretty intense I suppose.

Warnings: stabbing, blood loss, hopelessness, kind of an unhappy ending oops 😬 everything’s fine tho it’s fine

~~~~~~~

Age couldn’t help but hum along with Kass, Benji, and Linebeck’s music. They were playing some of Linebeck’s sea shanties, and it was getting more and more chaotic. Kass and Linebeck were remarkable singers, but Benji was pretty terrible, but they all sung loudly, laughing like maniacs at the end of every song. Age listened to them, laughing along whenever they erupted into laughter after a song. Age’s father walked up to them, looking like a mess and very frustrated.

“What are you all doing?” He asked angrily, a pitchfork resting on his shoulder while his prosthetic arm rested on his hip.

“Singing!” Kass answered, “care to join us?”

“No! I’m too busy working on the farm! No thanks to any of you!”

Benji gave an awkward chuckle but looked away while plucking his guitar. Linebeck gave a sigh and leaned back.

“Ammon, I’m a sailor, not a farmer,” he said, and the others nodded.

“Well I’m a soldier! But I’m still trying to make sure Talon’s farm doesn’t get ruined!” Ammon shouted.

“Man, I don’t get why both Talon and Rusl had to leave the farm,” Benji muttered, continuing to pluck his guitar. “They’re the farmers, we don’t know what we’re doing.”

Ammon sighed. “Talon is understandable, I’m not sure why Rusl left as well, but no matter! It doesn’t mean that you can just sit around lazing the day away!” He shot a look at Age, who sat up straight quickly. “What are you doing?”

“Ah– uh– I’m sorry father, I was just resting,” Age said quickly, and Ammon narrowed his eyes at him.

“Goddesses, what do you want from us Ammon?” Linebeck asked.

“I want some help! This farm work isn’t easy to do!”

Kass stood up, walking over to Ammon who was seething. “Now now, Ammon, tell us what to do and we will try to help. I’m sorry,” Kass said gently, which calmed Ammon down. Age was almost surprised at how calm Kass was in every situation, he was perfect for dealing with Wild’s… well… wild personality.

“Right, right,” Ammon let out a sigh. “I could use help grooming the horses, I’ve milked the cows, but if someone could feed the cuccos and clean the house, that’d be great, and also–”

“LOOK OUT!”

Age’s father was interrupted by Wild, who was chasing a round pig that was sprinting towards the men. They all shot up and moved out of the way as the pig nearly plowed through them, watching it run and stop just outside the ranch.

“Hey, don’t move towards it all at once,” Wild said breathlessly, resting his hands on his knees.

“Oh, I’m sorry, Link,” Kass said, “did that piglet escape?”

“Yeah, and I need to hurry and grab it before the others escape too!”

Linebeck let out a sigh of relief and crossed his arms. “You’ll never catch a pig by chasing it kid, you need to sneak up behind it, and then grab it before it knows what’s going on.”

“Oh great! You can catch it while I keep an eye on the other pigs!” Wild suggested with a smile. Linebeck looked at him in surprise.

“W-what? Noooo no no no my Link was always the pig catcher not me.”

“No, I think it’s a wonderful idea,” Ammon grinned, “Make yourself useful.”

Linebeck frowned then took off his overcoat, throwing it somewhere safe as he hesitantly walked over to the pig.

“Oh I need to watch this,” Benji said, running after the sailor. Age grinned and followed as well as his father grumbled. Linebeck was a good distance away from the pig, crouching down and crawling from behind the pig, being as quiet as possible. Benji snorted and Linebeck shot him a glare, cautiously moving closer to the pig.

“Oy, I thought you guys were going to help with the farm wor–”

“Yeah yeah, after this Ammon, shut up,” Benji interrupted, not taking his eyes off of Linebeck.

Ammon grumbled again, but he stayed with the others as they watched Linebeck. The sailor was close to the pig, and he quickly went to grab it, but it slipped out of his fingers, jumping over his head and onto his back. Linebeck let out a yelp as he went face first into the ground, getting dirt and mud all over himself. The others started laughing as he attempted to wrestle the pig, getting more and more dirty. Finally, he grabbed the pig and held it over his head, panting and glaring at the laughing group.

“Weren’t you guys going to do farm work?” He yelled. He looked at Wild who was still with the group. “Weren’t you going to keep an eye on the pigs?”

Wild scratched the back of his head while Benji snorted laughing. “It’s not my fault you’re so entertaining to watch.”

Linebeck grumbled and marched right past them, heading to the pig pen. “If one of those pigs escaped I’m not catching it!”

They all watched as Linebeck grumbled, and Kass smiled at Wild.

“It’s best to leave him alone while he blows off some steam.”

Wild shrugged. “Well, he can deal with the pigs then, if he’s gonna be such a grump.”

Kass chuckled and Wild’s gaze lingered over to Ammon, who was also watching him blankly. Kass quickly jumped in front of them, blocking off the view.

“Let’s go help with the horses! You like horses don’t you?” He suggested, and Wild agreed, the two walking towards the horses. Age sighed sadly. Ever since Wild met his father, he’d been pretending that he didn’t exist, but there were moments where he watched him for too long, and he would spiral. Thankfully, Kass was helping him through it, but it was very hard on his father. Age gave his father a small smile, who smiled back, but it quickly disappeared.

“Uh, ok, what the heck happened?” Benji asked, plucking his guitar strings. “Why are you and Kass avoiding each other?”

Ammon shook his head. “Me and Kass aren’t avoiding each other, it’s just… Wild.”

“Oh, right, your twin,” Benji looked at Age who shrugged.

“He’s not my twin, we’re… technically the same person.” Age sighed. “It’s hard to explain, but he’s from a timeline where evil won, he’s been asleep for a hundred years and… um…” Age looked at his father who was staring ahead.

“Oh, I get it now,” Benji said softly. Age gave him an awkward smile.

“Yeah…”

It was silent for a long moment until Ammon moved away.

“Let’s finish the chores, alright?” He said softly, and the other two followed him.

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

“Hey! Hyrule, can you hear me?”

Hyrule groaned as consciousness began to return to him. He opened his eyes and saw everyone huddled around him, with Windy holding a magic potion.

“Oh yeah, that’s definitely Benji’s kid,” a man next to Twilight chuckled. Hyrule frowned.

“How d’ya know m’ dad?” He said weakly, his words slurring. The man grinned at Time, who was next to a woman with red hair.

“Well he knows his dad, that’s good,” another man he didn’t recognize with a big nose said. “Are ya good to drink this potion, little one?”

Hyrule squinted at Windy who started to uncork the bottle. He nodded and let the others sit him up. He drank the potion carefully, being able to drink it himself as he felt his strength return to him.

“Thank the goddesses you’re doing’ better, Hyrule,” Windy said when he finished the bottle. “We were getting worried about you!”

Hyrule smiled, then looked at the people he didn’t know. “Who are they?” He asked, pointing at all four of them.

“Hyrule, this is my father-in-law Talon, and my wife, Malon,” Time introduced the both of them.

“Huh, Malon and Talon, that’s cute.”

Talon chuckled. “Gotta keep that Lon Lon name, yeah?”

Malon laughed and nodded. Hyrule smiled and looked over at the man who was side hugging Twilight.

“Oh! Hyrule, this is my pa, Rusl.”

Rusl waved at him and Hyrule tilted his head.

“You don’t look like him.”

“I’m adopted.”

Hyrule made an “oh” sound and looked at the serious looking man behind the colors.

“This is our father!” Red introduced him. The man gave a nod at Hyrule.

“The name is Leon.”

“Nice to meet you all,” Hyrule smiled at them, and Windy grabbed his arm, helping him up. “Uh, so you mentioned my dad?”

“Oh yes!” Talon pointed to a ranch in the distance, “He’ll be so happy to see you!”

“Is that where he is?”

“Yep! At Lon Lon ranch! We’re almost there!”

Hyrule nodded. “Now I get the Lon Lon name…”

Time chuckled and nudged him towards the ranch. “C’mon, we don’t want to dawdle now do we? Let’s find your father.”

Hyrule grinned, beginning to register the idea of seeing his father again. He truthfully didn’t know him very well, he was separated from him when he was ten years old, being apart from him for so long that he almost forgot everything about him. He’d only just reunited with him, and though it felt weird calling him father, he still found familiar comfort in him, and he was excited to see him again. He started walking, still feeling weak, but determination to see his father again kept him going. When they reached the entrance, Hyrule jogged towards the horses despite his dizziness, and he looked around, spotting Wild next to a giant bird man.

“WILD!” He yelled out, sprinting towards him, but he felt his legs weaken, and he suddenly started to fall face first into the grass. He let out a yelp, but something caught him and helped him up. He looked at his savior confused, and grinned when he recognized his father, beaming at him.

“Orchid!” he cried, and pulled him into a tight hug. Hyrule buried his face in his neck and melted into the embrace.

“H-hey dad,” he mumbled, his voice wavering. He got a lump in his throat and he blinked back the tears when his dad started running his hand through his curly hair.

“I’m so happy to see you safe, Orchid. Too many times we’ve been separated.”

“Yeah.”

The two held each other for a while until he heard people come up behind him. He saw Wild and the bird man who were smiling.

“Oh my goodness!” The birdman looked at the two. “I can see the family resemblance!”

Benji chuckled and gestured to Kass. “Orchid, this is Kass. Kass, Wild, this is my son, Orchid.”

Wild narrowed his eyes. “‘Orchid’? Is that like… your real name?”

Hyrule nodded shyly, and Wild chuckled.

“Why didn’t you say that when we came up with nicknames? I’m sure it beats ‘Hyrule’.”

Hyrule shrugged. “I don’t know… Um… you have a bird for a dad?”

Wild looked at Kass in shock, and he laughed nervously. “No! No! He’s uh… he’s Kass and he’s a good friend! Has great songs. Can dance really well too.”

It grew silent and they all glanced at each other awkwardly. Time walked up to them and smiled at Wild.

“Wild! You're here! Are the others at the ranch as well?” He asked, with everyone else joining them (and Twilight scolding Hyrule for running off). Wild shook his head.

“Just me and Age.”

“Oh my!” Talon chuckled at the sight of Wild. “You must be Ammon’s kid huh?”

Wild’s smirk faded, and a sense of unease filled the air. Hyrule looked at his dad who had a blank expression on his face, then at Kass who had his wings resting on Wild’s shoulders, who surprisingly looked upset. Talon looked at everyone’s reactions and frowned.

“Was it something I said?”

“No, no Talon you’re alright um,” Kass looked back at the horses he and Wild were taking care of, “let’s finish the job, shall we?”

Wild nodded and ran over to the horses. Hyrule watched, realizing who Ammon is. The group knew about Wild and Age’s situation, but Hyrule always forgot about how serious of a situation it was, and how much it affected Wild. Benji looked at Talon and the others, who all looked concerned.

“It’s complicated, Talon, so don’t worry about it.” Benji looked at Windy and smiled warmly. “So you must be Linebeck’s then, huh?”

Windy’s dark expression lit up. “Yes! Where is he?”

“Over at the pig pen. Careful though, he’s kinda pissed off right now.”

Windy giggled. “When is he not? I’m gonna go find him!” The little sailor turned and sprinted in the wrong direction.

“The pig pen is the other way,” Benji called out to him, and Windy quickly turned around and sprinted in the correct direction. Everyone laughed at him as he ran by, clearly excited to see his own dad. Or at least, Hyrule assumed this Linebeck guy was his dad.

“Well, guys, how about we find Ammon and his kid and make some introductions,” Benji started, eyeing the different Links, “I’ve been dying to meet your guys' kids.”

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

Linebeck finished washing all the mud and dirt off of him, grumbling about the stains on his pale shirt. He put his hair in a ponytail and watched the pigs play around. They seemed to be fine, no risk of another one getting out, but he wasn’t in the mood to see the others. He’d be forced to do farmwork, and he hated farmwork. He grabbed his coat and shook it off, making sure it wasn’t dirty, until one of the pigs gave a desperate squeal and he spun around, looking at it weird.

“What’s wrong with you?”

The pigs started to back away into the corner of the pen and Linebeck frowned.

“What are you pigs doing?”

He knelt down and tilted his head at the pig’s strange behavior, but something cold and sharp touched his neck, and he froze.

“Scream and I’ll slit your throat,” the familiar voice of the man who’s caused this mess whispered in his ear.

“You,” Linebeck growled, not moving with the knife up against his throat.

“You know, it took me a long time to find you and your friends, and to find you here, goddesses, it's infuriating,” the puppeteer sneered, and Linebeck rolled his eyes.

“What do you want, you big baby.”

The puppeteer scoffed. “You and your friends have been nothing but a thorn in my side! Always trying to ruin my plans and getting in my way! And then you suddenly disappear, somewhere where I can’t find you,” the puppeteer spun Linebeck around with his sword pointed at his neck. Linebeck glared at the one eyed mask he wore. “I’ve had enough of you, and I want nothing more than to kill you all.”

“So then kill me, why are you monologing when you have me right here with your pretty little knife pressed up against my neck?”

The puppeteer didn’t say anything, his grip tightening on Linebeck’s shoulder. He looked behind him, checking to see if anyone was there, and he returned his attention to his hostage. “I had no idea that the Links were all your sons,” his head tilted, “perhaps you all could be of some use to me.”

Linebeck’s eyes widened. “If you think you’re gonna use me against my kid—“

“These Links have truthfully been a pain as well, and if using their family to get them to listen is what I have to do, then so be it. If it’ll mean making you all suffer, then so be it.”

Linebeck kicked the puppeteer in the chest as hard as he could, trying to dig his heels in his ribs. The puppeteer grunted as he fell back, holding his side, but before he could do anything else, a battle cry was heard, and he jumped away before Link was able to slash him with his sword.

Wait, Link.

Link?

“Link!” Linebeck shouted, not believing his eyes when he saw the boy that he’s been looking for standing right in front of him, pointing his sword against the puppeteer.

“Oh, you’re here too. Isn’t that just convenient,” the puppeteer snarled and swung his sword at Link, who blocked it with his own. The two fought, Link being calm and collected while the puppeteer was enraged and messy. Linebeck just watched the two of them, his heart beating a mile per second.

Come on you idiot, help him! He thought to himself, looking around for anything that he could use as a weapon, but he found nothing. When he looked back at the two, the puppeteer had grabbed Link and threw him over his shoulder. Link landed with a painful thud, and he let out a cry.

“Link!” Linebeck called out again, more worry in his voice. Goddesses, why couldn’t he do anything to help him? Why was he so useless?

“You know what? I don’t need all you Links to be alive!” The puppeteer shouted, pointing his sword at Link, “I can make do without one!”

Linebeck gasped and finally moved. He sprinted towards the puppeteer as he thrusted his sword at Link, and he jumped over his kid, trying to tackle the puppeteer before he stabbed him and—

Linebeck grunted as he felt pain explode through his abdomen. He was face to face with the puppeteer, and when he looked down, his sword sunken deep into his stomach.

“Well, that wasn’t supposed to happen,” the puppeteer said breathlessly, and he kicked Linebeck to the ground, pulling the sword out of him.

“Linebeck!” He heard Link scream, and he saw him enter his vision, horror apparent on his face. Linebeck groaned at the pain, and felt the world spin around him as he felt the hot blood pouring out of him. He heard shouts and swords clanging, but Link stayed by his side, putting pressure on his wound. Linebeck stared at him, the boy that he was stuck with for so many months, the boy that saved his life countless times, the boy that he’s spent hours stargazing on his ship. Tears poured out of his eyes, and he reached out to him.

“L-Link,” he said, struggling to speak. Link turned to him and looked over his face.

“Linebeck, I—I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry,” he started to cry as the blood poured out of his wound.

“I’m—I’m glad you’re alright, green monkey,” Linebeck reached out to cradle his round face, but he saw the blood all over his hands, and a wave of nausea and dizziness overwhelmed him. He squeezed his eyes shut, letting his hand drop. “Oh goddesses…”

He heard people talking, and another set of hands helped with the pressure.

“We need Hyrule! He’s losing a lot of blood!”

“Hyrule is busy right now, Windy, I’m sorry.”

“But he’s going to die!”

Linebeck heard rummaging and cursing, then a cheer.

“I have a red potion! It’ll have to do alright?”

Someone lifted up his head and he opened his eyes, seeing Rusl sitting over him.

“Ok, Linebeck, I need you to drink this,” he said, and he put the red potion to his lips. Linebeck tried to do just that, and as he sipped the potion, he felt a warm tingly feeling go through his body as some of the pain left his body. He felt like he’d been drinking the potion for forever though, and Linebeck couldn’t drink it anymore. He suddenly went limp, and Rusl cursed under his breath. “You’re not done, keep going, please.”

Linebeck felt the world go dark around him, and the voices grew muffled. He heard shouting and crying, then darkness.

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

Age groaned as another wave of monsters charged him and his father. He didn’t know what happened, he was greeting his friends when the puppeteer arrived and sent monsters after them. The Gerudo guards, Time, and Talon took Malon inside, and the two men guarded the home, Hyrule and Benji were fighting off a pack of Lizalfos, Rusl and Twilight ran off to help Linebeck who got hurt, Kass and Wild were busy with bokoblins, and Leon and the colors all went after the puppeteer. He and his father were being bombarded with wizzrobes, and they were never ending.

“When did the puppeteer show up?” His father grunted as he killed a wizzrobe.

“No idea, he always shows up at the worst times!”

The wave of wizzrobes were finally killed by the two, and Age spotted the puppeteer running from Leon.

“C’mon.” Age took off where they were, and soon the puppeteer was surrounded.

“Nowhere to run you bastard,” Leon growled, pointing his sword at the puppeteer. The others copied him, pointing their swords so that the puppeteer had nowhere to run.

“What are you going to do now that I’m caught, hm?” The puppeteer asked, tilting his head. “Are you gonna get on your knees and beg me to take you home?”

Leon grabbed his throat and slammed him against the wall. “Shut up! Make the monsters go away or else I’ll–”

“What? You’ll torture me? Not very virtuous, first knight.”

Leon tightened his hold on his neck, and Age glanced at his father, who looked mortified. All the colors had unease written on their faces, and Leon sighed, loosening his grip. But when his hand pulled away slightly, Age saw goop fall off his neck. Leon jumped away as the puppet melted, and he spun around.

“That was a decoy! Where is the puppeteer?”

They all looked around frantically, and Age spotted the real puppeteer watching them. He lifted his hands, and a bright light assaulted his eyes. He yelled out in pain, feeling his skin burn from the light.

“Link!” He heard his father call out, and he felt a hand grab his arm. He reached out and embraced the person near him, feeling the world around him spin and change.

And then he opened his eyes.

He was lying on his back, and he knew that he was no longer in Lon Lon ranch. He sat up, noting that he was in a forest with thin trees littering the ground, and he saw the colors, calling out for their father. He looked around, confused on where his own father was. He was right there. Age was hugging him, he remembered. Where was he? He shot up and looked around frantically, but his father was gone, as was Leon. Age heard loud sobbing suddenly, and he searched for whoever was crying. Green spotted Age and ran up to him, with the others following.

“Age! What happened? Where’s my father?”

“I don’t know. My father is missing too.”

Red was crying and he stared in the direction where the sobbing was coming from. “Did we… did the puppeteer teleport us away?”

“Obviously you idiot!” Blue shouted. “The ranch looks nothing like this place!”

“Hey hey,” Age rested his hands on the two, speaking in a gentle voice, “let’s try to find the others, alright? The last thing we need to do is fight each other.”

Blue grumbled and followed Age when he jogged in the direction of the sobbing. There was a small clearing with fallen trees, and they saw Hyrule and Time huddled up next to each other, the traveler looked upset, while Time looked devastated. His head was resting in his hands as he stared blankly at Twilight, who was holding a sobbing Windy. Twilight was rubbing his back and whispering reassurances to him as he cried.

“What happened?” Red asked, and Twilight gave him a solemn look.

“He… his father got stabbed, but it’ll be alright. He drank half a red potion, which is better than nothing,” he said firmly, mostly to Windy than anyone else, but the sailor continued to cry. Age winced at every sob he made, Windy was such a strong young man. Seeing him this hysterical, it was hard to watch. The group heard running and they flinched when someone arrived, but it was just Wild. He looked relieved to see everyone, but he still had a desperate look in his eye.

“The puppeteer is nearby, we need to go. Now.”

Time stood up, fury apparent on his face. “Good, then I can deal with him once and for all.”

Age ran up to him and stopped him from moving any further. “He’s too strong for you, we need to see if we can find the others, alright?”

“That man took me from my home twice. My wife could give birth soon and I won’t be able to be there for her!” Time snapped, his voice cracking at the end. Age took a deep breath and rested his hands on his arms.

“I know, I know, but think about it, he sent us away from Lon Lon so we’d be away from everyone. He wants to isolate us, we must stay together and find help. We—“ he gestured to Windy “—are not ready for a fight against the puppeteer.”

Time glared at him for a moment, then the anger left his eyes, and helplessness took over as he stumbled back. Age grabbed him and held him steady.

“Woah, hey, take it easy, Time.”

Time let out a shaky breath and sat back down next to Hyrule. “Malon…” he whispered, burying his face in his hands.

“Guys… I know it’s hard, but we need to leave.” Wild looked behind him. “The puppeteer can’t find us like this.”

Everyone nodded and stood up with Twilight helping Windy, who was shaking. Wild and Age stayed in the back, listening for anything that could be chasing them, while watching the upset heroes in front of them. Age only hoped that their fathers were safe.

~~~~~~~~~~~

“Where’s Link?”

Malon’s voice was shaking as Rusl put a bloody and unconscious Linebeck on the table. Benji stood near Talon, who was shaking pretty badly, looking confused and hurt. He had a deep scratch on his arm, and he stared at Linebeck in horror. It was chaos since the puppeteer attacked, Benji was with his son one second, and the next, he was gone. All the Links were gone, along with the puppeteer and his monsters. The men’s focus went to Linebeck who was practically dying from being stabbed. Rusl said that he drank some of the red potion, but the wound wasn’t fully healed, and he lost a lot of blood. Talon went to try to help, but Benji stopped him.

“Talon, maybe you should sit this one out,” he said softly.

“B-b-but he’ll d-die and I h-have to do something–”

“You’re shaking, and this is way out of your league, you know it.”

Talon took in a shaky breath, and Risa stepped up. “We can take care of him, you voe should go outside, alright?”

Talon nodded and headed for the door, with Malon following, asking where Link was. Benji looked at Linebeck who was pale and unmoving. He sent a quick prayer for his recovery, and went outside.

The men were all devastated in one way or another. Leon was cussing out and kicking the ground in fury, Ammon and Kass were comforting Talon and Malon, who were panicking, and Rusl…

The farmer went outside, and silent tears went down his face. Benji stared at him for a moment, then walked over to him, wrapping him in a hug. Rusl didn’t say anything, he just melted into the embrace and cried silently. Benji should be upset too, he’d lost his son three times now. First time, Orchid was only ten-years-old. Living with the guilt of losing him and possibly subjecting him to a terrible life was hard, but to see him alive and well six years later, it was a miracle. And then the puppeteer stole him away, and it felt like he lost him all over again. But now…. He just felt empty. He buried his face in Rusl’s shoulder and let out a sigh.

Now what were they going to do? They were back to square one, and this time, they weren’t in the same dimension as the Links. He thought that everything was going to be ok when he saw Orchid, but that didn’t last. It never did. He could tell the others felt a sense of hopelessness for finding their sons as well. And on top of that, they didn’t know if Linebeck was going to make it or not.

Their only hope was for some miracle to happen, but Benji didn’t think it would happen anytime soon. He just prayed that his son would at least be alright.

Please let him be alright…

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