#i like to imagine they make a habit of it after they save hyrule

[ghost-t-cryptids]

He dance!

(My commissions are OPEN!)

[caramel-catss]

botw/totk zelink headcanons

for @waroferas 🫶

they get married. first and foremost LOL. i will elaborate

after botw, zelda moves into link's house. they were already in love pre-calamity but neither realized or did anything about it. so they get to fall for each other againnnnn GAH. it just naturally progresses between them... there's only one bed, so of course they share it. of course link makes breakfast for himself and zelda. of course zelda braids link's hair and weaves flowers into it. of course link gives zelda his coat when she's cold. and then one night zelda is looking into link's eyes and they are so soft and his face is so joyful and carefree in a way she never imagined he'd ever able to be and suddenly she's brushing her hand against the scars on his chin and his breath hitches and they are so close and link leans in closer and zelda kisses him .

they make graves for the champions together

to me zelda drops the princess title, declares the castle a historical monument, and dissolves the monarchy. also to me like 90% of totk doesn't exist. so

link has no last name and zelda doesn't like hers. they create a new one for them both

the two fully embrace a domestic village life. link takes care of his and zel's horses or forages or helps out townspeople or follows zelda around or does whatever he feels up to doing. zelda starts the school and splits her time between it and working at purah's lab to research sheikah tech

zelda has a telescope and stays up late to look at the stars. link joins her. sometimes (mostly in the winter when it gets dark early) they'll invite hateno townsfolk to join them

botw took link 2-3 years, and the time between it and totk is about 5 years. when they marry, link and zelda are 23-ish? give or take a few years. being a kinda-medieval-ish world, it's probably a more normal age to marry

they get married at the heart pond. they only invite a few people; kass, riju, sidon, teba, yunobo, purah, impa & paya... close friends of theirs

link made their wedding rings by hand! got some help from the jewelry seller in gerudo town. zelda's has a silent princess shape - a topaz in the middle, and the petals made from diamond and sapphire

link has chronic migraines and zelda takes care of him. she tells him about hyrule before the calamity and helps him get his memories in order

they trade off for dinner w/ link cooking and preparing the meal and zelda cleaning the dishes

it is so so so important to zelda that they have an equal partnership, especially now that she isn't a princess and link isn't a knight. link respects this!!! it's a bit hard for him to adjust at first because of his previous relationship with zelda, but they are equals :)

sometimes they'll catch themselves falling into old habits!!! zelda sets the table in a traditional royal way without realizing. in the beginning (re: adjusting) link would subconsciously stand at attention when zelda approached him.

zelda had to learn a lot of things about life because she grew up rich!!!! link teaches her how to cook, mend + sew + wash clothing, etc... she's never done chores before and he had to re-learn them on the fly. they laugh a lot while they do this

link cuts zelda's hair short. zelda brushes link's hair as he grows it out

TOTK IS A ROLESWAPPPPPP FOAMS AT THE MOUTH TOTK ROLESWAP. GOD. only thing that makes its story bearable for me HONESTLY .

they're the kind of star-crossed lovers who are soulmates and would sacrifice themself for the other in an instant. important for totk lol

link places absolute faith in his wife when he swallows the secret stone. he knows how smart she is and know she'll find a way to help him, but even if she isn't able to... he doesn't mind. as long as this decision will help her and hyrule, he is okay with being a dragon for eternity

it's absolutely DEVASTATING for zelda when she finds out. link already lost an entire century because of her inability to save him. and now, he's lost his entire self for goddess knows how long... because she didn't catch him

zelda spends hours laying on link-as-dragon. she prunes his scales for him and memorizes his flight path

after botw, zelda passed out from exhaustion and link carried her on his horse back to hateno. after totk, link passes out from exhaustion and zelda carries him back on her horse <3

they officially adopt two cats after totk (i know they're not in either game shhhh they exist now) but link has and will bring home whatever animal is friendly to him and there are many feral animals in their backyard that link feeds

link had a very cloudy head and dissociated a lot post-botw, but after totk it got a LOOOOT worse. he'll be there one moment, and zoning out the next. over time it does get better but he's never quite the same

zelda wielded the master sword during totk and became quite a good swordsman herself. link used to sometimes go off to deal with small monster problems, and now either both of them go or just zelda if link's not feeling well

they don't use the master cycle often because it takes a lot of important materials to power it... but sometimes they'll go to hyrule field and play with it for fun

link primarily signs still. his voice was damaged from the fatal guardian hit, and the shrine of resurrection didn't fully heal it. but, when he feels safe (usually around zelda), he quietly speaks out loud. zelda, knowing why he was silent pre-calamity, can't put into words how happy it makes her

they grow old together :) after totk, they're finally allowed rest, and they live out their days as carefree village folk. both of them are the happiest they've ever been

[lune-hime]

Exposed (Sidon x f!Reader)

The ornate silver neck piece made contact with the tiled floor with a satisfying clank. With each clasp undone, Sidon felt his body buzzing at the newfound lightness. The metallic chime of his final piece of garment, his left bracelet, was a beautiful sound that echoed off the vast pillared walls of his chambers. Although it already had been a day since his arrival, his muscles still ached with a dull tightness brought onto him from the journey to Hyrule Castle. A subtle form of tiredness akin to jetlag was quickly draining his energy and he could not wait to submerge himself in the ample pool that laid before him.

Sidon padded to the edge of the water, streaks of ivory moonlight passing over his crimson scales. He kneeled down, wincing as he heard a few of his bones crack, and dipped an experimental hand into the basin. The warmth of the liquid sent a shiver up Sidon’s body and he immediately slid into the water in one fluid movement. The castle maids had prepared his pool with warm water, per your request, to the exact temperature you knew he liked it. Although this was just one of the many guest rooms in the immense castle, he felt your homey presence in every corner of the chamber. It made his heart flutter in adoration.

Sinking lower, he let the water engulf his shoulders. The tension diffused out and a supple moan escaped his parted lips. Lightly treading water, his thoughts circulated through his mind much like the gentle current of the pool. The officials and champions he had rekindled with today, what was he going to eat tomorrow morning, how radiant you had looked in your formal w-

“Prince Sidon, I forgot to ask you on more question before you retired to the room!” Zelda’s melodic voice carried from the hallway. Her small but sturdy frame emerged from behind the towering door, the hem of her gown swaying about her ankles as she danced her way into the entryway. Soon after she appeared, your head peeked its way around the frame.

Perhaps it was the abruptness of the entry, the intimate solitude of the chambers, his discarded garments, or all factors combined, but Sidon suddenly felt hot. Uncomfortably hot; and not from the water.

“A-ah, yes Princess, what did you want to, ah, ask me?” He coughed, awkwardly sinking lower into the pool. He cursed the palace for having such crystal clear water.

Your brow knit into a firm line at his flustered state. Never before had you seen him act like this seemingly for no reason. When his eyes began flicking anxiously from the pile of metal to you, a wave of understanding flooded your consciousness. Sidon felt exposed. And he was embarrassed about it.

It was natural for Hylian habits to rub off on him since the two of you had started courting. When you were in the Domain, the only time you spent away from the Prince was when you were working on Vah Ruta or the one to two hours of his council meetings. With all that contact how could a few things not start to be ingrained in Sidon’s daily routine? It was clear now by the steady reddening of his cheeks that one of those habits pertained to wearing garments. Or more specifically, when one is caught not wearing them.

“Oh, is this a bad time?” She blinked, unclear of what had him acting so strangely. Sidon looked like he was about to expire in the cloud of uncomfortableness that was circling above the pool. As adorable as he looked, shuffling bashfully and avidly studying the carvings on the nearest pillar, you needed to save him. Biting back your laughter you tapped Zelda lightly on the shoulder. Her head whipped around, confusion still inscribed on her face.

“Zelda, it appears that Sidon was not expecting company this late at night.” You stated, giving her a knowing look you prayed she would pick up on. You cocked your head subtly towards the armor and Zelda gasped softly, the tips of her pointed ears running rosy. She then looked to the Prince with panic written all over her features and he returned the expression tenfold. The two of them turned from mimicking rose petals to beats instead, only making the aroma of the room more thick with tension.

“Oh my goodness! My deepest apologies, Sidon. I didn’t realize you were having, ahem, some alone time.” She cleared her throat and dropped her gaze to the floor so fast you wondered if she got whiplash.

“Well, Y/N can just tell me your answer tomorrow morning. Until then.” She stuttered, abruptly turning on her heels and disappearing behind the door. Once the brisk click signaled her departure, every muscle, tendon, and scale in Sidon’s body went lax. He sighed, tipping his head back against the edge of the pool with a gentle clunk. You took a moment to drown in his appearance. He was like a slightly wilted lotus flower with coral petals basking in the rippling droplets of indigo moonlight.

It now physically hurt to restrain your hysterics and you suddenly burst into a fit of giggles, drowning the luminated room in a symphony of laughs not unlike a songbird’s. Sidon poked one eye open and shook his head in mortified distress, still lazily leaning against the tiled rim.  

“Stop laughing, Y/N. I bet she thinks I was doing something lewd or weird. In her castle of all places.” He grumbled, raising his hands out of the water to run them over his face.

Once you had reigned in your cacophony you padded over to the pool and sat down next to his deflated form, feet dangling into the water.

“Nah. It’s okay, Si. She’s my oldest and best friend. If she does I’ll tell her the truth.” You nudged him playfully. He lolled his head to the side in your direction.

“That might be even more embarrassing…” Sidon trailed off, his face contorted into a slight grimace. You returned it with a fond smile.

“Stop looking at me like that.” He huffed, a feigned pout forming on his features. The rosiness on his cheeks bloomed once more as he lightly splashed your feet where they embraced the water’s surface.

“You know, you used to never be embarrassed about being seen without your accessories.” You stated innocently, eyeing him to observe his reaction.“They don’t really leave anything to the imagination, anyway.”

“Hylian customs are rubbing off on me, I guess.” He replied in a small voice, snaking an arm around your calf to press himself into your side. He started idly playing with your toes, offering a squeak from you. You lightly kicked out, hoping to shake him off. Instead he only scooted closer yet he resigned from his tickling.

“What did the Princess want to ask me?” Sidon inquired. He seemed to be mostly recovered from the ordeal.

“She wanted to know what you wanted for breakfast tomorrow. You left before she could put in an order for the chef.”

“Damn, that’s an important question.” He muttered, setting his chin on your knee and looking up at you with anticipation, his eyes large and blinking.  

“I was planning on telling her smoked salmon.” You informed the prince, giving his caudal fin a loving stroke. Sidon’s eyes lit up, his saffron orbs turning a brilliant gold that put the calming hue of the starlight to shame. He could feel himself start to salivate at the mention of the Hylian delicacy.

“Don’t drool on my leg.” You teased, chuckling as he gulped audibly. You were unable to convey your thoughts on the dish as the deep chiming of the castle’s clocktower replaced whatever voice you would have spoken. The twelve bells signaled it had just turned midnight.

“It’s late, we should both get some rest. We need to wake up early for the festivities tomorrow.” You let out a bittersweet sigh, not wanting to break away from the closeness you shared but knowing you would be the walking dead in the morning if you stayed up any longer. As you rose to your feet, Sidon’s head limply fell into the water, his gaze never leaving your form. Just as you were about to deliver a sweet goodnight, he gingerly grabbed your ankle.

“Please stay, my pearl.” He suggested, a gentle plea that caused your heart to skip a beat.

“Can’t get enough of me, hm?” You sang.

“A very true statement, darling.” Sidon cooed, the warmth radiating from his gaze brushing the tips of your ears and leaving a blushed residue in its wake.

“Alright.” You responded through a yawn.

“We can go back to your chambers, if you’d like.” Sidon suggested, releasing his hold on your ankle and making a move to leave the basin. You shook your head and held a hand out to stop him. He halted his movements immediately and blinked up at you.

“You’re soaked. You’ll get my bed wet. I will go get some blankets and return.” You chuckled as you strode towards the doors. He hummed in agreement, a breathy laugh puffing from his chest. Grasping the knob, you turned to face Sidon once more.

“Better keep an eye on this door, my prince. Wouldn’t want someone to see you so exposed now would we?” You warned, tone velvety and blithe. The last thing you heard before you skittered out of the room was a loud groan and the sound of an unlit candle being halfheartedly thrown at the door.

[luimagines]

LMFAO READER KEEPS UNDRESSING WITH WOLFIE IN THE ROOM it's become a habit at this point with Twi completely dying on the inside each and every time--

And why not, right? It's a time of complete vulnerability, better do it with the one companion that will probably not mind and even protect you if something were to happen. Reader thinks this. Wolfie is vehemently hoping this is not the case. He is wrong. Please help this very dumb man.

Like Twi tries REALLY HARD to keep both lives separate (for the sake of his secret) but my god, if he was awful hiding it from the start, now it's even worse.

He has to pretend that nothing really happened with him and reader, since YEA TECHNICALLY NOTHING HAS, but everytime they're paired together or just in front of eachother Twi kind of gets immediate flashbacks to the incident (TM) as his eyes seem to drift... UNTIL THEY DON'T-- IF ANYONE SAW THAT NO THEY DIDN'T. (Unluckily for Twilight, Wild's penchant for somehow always knowing when he will be an idiot is a thing and now he has blackmail material on his very crafty slate.)

My boy keeps remembering that time he stupidly oogled at Telma's... THINGS, (TWICE) and how he got the back of his head slapped for being a complete idiot right after by Midna, which fair, and he really doesn't want a repeat of that, especially with someone he may or may not be crushing on. Not really a crush, though. It's debatable, really (nice save, Twi).

Like he can count the amount of times he's wanted to out his secret to them on both his hands now, just so they can understand the kind of position they're putting this poor boy in.

Obviously it's none their fault, it's just a misunderstanding they both can't really change until one of them just cuts it for the sake of both's pride but Twi feels like the awkwardness between the two will worsen if he ever fesses up (and it will), so he's kind of between a rock and a hard place.

Everything came to a head that one time Wolfie was looking for running water so they can all fill their bottles again, and in a good moment he faintly hears a waterfall. Cool. Awesome. He tunes his hearing and gears toward the origin of the sound, and as luck will have it, this picturesque waterfall with a long river at its tail was right there near camp. End of story right? He gets near it to check if it's okay (paranoia will do that to you, foreign land foreign ecosystem, etc), and as he reaches the edge of the water, for some ungodly reason Reader pops out of it, shirt completely vanished thrown somewhere only the Goddesses know. As if reader were a magician, they unknowingly made Twi's wits disappear and reappear somewhere completely not here.

Oh no.

"Wolfie! Perfect timing!" They say, blissfully unaware Wolfie just saw a good portion of everything (dear god help him), and it gets even worse as Reader playfully yoinks Wolfie with them into the water.

He doesn't really care he's now completely soaked (he can make a half assed excuse to the rest of the chain later), also water temples kind of desensitizes you and whatnot, but what he does care about is the fact his back is completely against reader's front and he can feel everything .

If Wolfie could scream right now by the Goddesses all of Hyrule would have heard him.

By this point this event completely busted his internal circuits (and, like, one braincell), and Wolfie is struck completely stupid as Reader happily cleans his fur. The following hour or so is a complete blank he doesn't remember a goddamn thing (mentally checked out for the rest of that disaster). Overall he just KNOWS he lost. Lost the metaphorical game of chicken he unwillingly was playing with reader, or an actual part of him??? Who knows, but he just feels for certain like he just lost.

Way after that whole mess he's completely unwilling to acknowledge, Twi returns to camp, and he completely tunes out Wild's remarks about him being completely soaked top to bottom (something, something "and you say I'm the resident crazy, look at you!") But the cook kind of leaves him be after witnessing the rancher's completely dead eyed face, as said dead eyed rancher unceremoniously throws himself into his bedroll with a huge "WHOMP."

His soul??? Out the godamn window, that thing went into the Twilight realm and will never return again. So did his imagination, he will get that devious thing under lock and key, absolutely thrown into the dark crevices of his mind and pray to the Goddesses that it never surfaces ever again (which doesn't work lmfao).

Literally his neck automatically snaps in the opposite direction the moment he sees reader for like the next following weeks. He has to physically fight the urge to not throw himself off a cliff just to avoid Reader.

It gets to the point Reader kind of whispers to Wild a "Did I do something wrong?", To which the very helpful (not) cook just replies coolly with "Don't worry about it, he's kind of an idiot.", as he cackles to himself while looking at his slate's pictures. It's a mess for everyone involved (soon to be in Reader's case), but Twi just got hit with most of the damage. Kind of funny though overall if you're Wild.

I can't believe that Vai clothes prompt sent both this and the other one.

I'm posting this one first because the other is way more suggestive.

So there's that.

I've calmed down a lot from when I read this. So if my reaction seems subdued is because I read it when I first woke up and it's already been like five hours.

[kyoupann]

fic request: hyrule "getting lost" on purpose for some alone time from the group, and bringing someone with him to find a cool spot and just hang out a while! bonus if it turns out he very rarely actually gets lost and just uses it as an excuse xD extra bonus if it's legend 👉👈

Anon, I love you. You're the epitome of big brain.

Have Hyrule and Legend having a wholesome moment. It's not much, but it's honest work. <3

Bold of you to believe Hyrule gets lost easily

Being on an adventure with a party was quite different from what Hyrule had imagined; truth to be told, the thought never crossed his mind. But when it finally became a reality and he found himself surrounded by people 24/7, the closeness, the noise, started to suffocate him.

Don't take him wrong, he loves his new friends. He absolutely does. Ones more than others, but he still loves them all. But he could do with fewer people from time to time. And since some of the others didn't seem to be willing to separate for more than a couple of minutes, unless extremely required, he decided to take matters into his own hands.

The first time was almost accidental. He did go off-trail for a bathroom break, but as he waited for his business to be finished he realised how quiet the woods were; no clinking of armour, no footsteps, no small chat, just birds chirping and treetops rustling gently against each other. Just pure, comfortable quiet. He didn't even notice that he had finished already, so lost contemplating his surrounding and how much he missed this. Soon enough, he snapped out of it, fixed his clothes and started heading back to the main trail. The group was probably far ahead, so he didn't rush to reach them. Instead, he took his time, idly following the trail and admiring the beauty around him: massive trees, so tall they covered the sky, the only source of light slipping through the gaps between the leaves; so lovely and delicate and warm. Without the noise of a full travelling party, he noticed that the small creatures of the forest didn't mind his silent steps,  some hares peeking from their burrows and a couple of squirrels chasing each other down a tree trunk.

He didn't know how long it took him to catch up with the group, but he knows that it must have been a good half an hour or more; their faces showing nothing but annoyance, maybe a bit of worry etched on their youngest companion, but irritation definitely took the lead.

"Where were you?!" was the first thing one of them asked, followed by some concerned queries about his well-being.

He took exactly one second to think and answer "I got lost on my way back."

And from then on, he was never allowed to leave the perimeter without a partner. Which, mind you, fucking sucked. There he was trying not to hurt anybody's feelings, yet his answer ended up backfiring in the worst way possible; not only was it harder to have some quiet, but the group also started to underestimate his sense of direction in a way that felt almost insulting. Did he have to remind them that there are no maps in his Hyrule and yet he knows the land like the back of his hand? But go off, not like he cares, anyway.

He tried to not let it bother him, and not past a couple of days, he found a solution to the very same problem he got himself into. He started to sneak out without anyone noticing, and if they did notice, they were nice enough to not rat him out. To each their own, whatever. It became a habit, whenever he would feel the tingling sensation at the nape of his neck, he would begin to fall behind and leave the group as soon as he saw an opportunity. Often times, it was Wild and his weird wolf who found him pacing around somewhere, the blue-clad hero with a mischievous smile on his face while the wolf sported a frown, not thrilled to be on hunt duty. Other times, Hyrule made his way back to the group a couple of hours later, before anyone started arranging a rescue team for someone who clearly didn't need it. But he appreciated the sentiment; at least he knows that they wouldn't just ditch him anytime.

One day, though, he noted that their veteran was in a sour mood, more than any other day. He had no idea that could be possible, but, hey, you learn new things every day. He felt kindness fill his body more than usual and was willing to let the veteran in on his little secret. He didn't need to worry too much before turning to him as they unpacked their stuff for the night.

"Hey, I'm feeling a bit restless," he said and the other just hummed in response, "do you want to go for a walk with me?"

"No."

For a moment, he thought of dropping it right then; but on the other hand, he was feeling a tad overwhelmed by the noise coming from the guys helping the cook with dinner and the others taking care of their gear. Couldn't they be a bit more... silent? For mostly mute companions, they sure were extremely loud in their tasks sometimes.

"Please, everyone is busy," he pleaded, now moving to be face to face with the veteran, "please, Leg. It won't take long."

He saw the Legend drop his shoulders in surrender before agreeing to a short walk around the area. And as soon as they had their stuff ready, they took off.

Hyrule was excited to have some alone time after what had been entire days without the opportunity to sneak out. He didn't even mind Legend coming with him. In fact, he was delighted to have him around. While Legend often worried about his disappearing habits, he was also the most chill about it. He really liked him. He hoped that this walk would ease his mind of whatever was bothering him; he wasn't going to ask, that was not the point of this. If Legend wanted to talk, they would.

"It sure is nice around here," Legend said, as emotionless as ever, making Hyrule question if he even meant it.

There were no trees blocking the sky, the sea of constellations shining brightly above them as they walked up a hill. Hyrule guessed it was most likely a small mountain if his adventure had taught him anything. The path was becoming too steep for them to trek in a straight line. Just as soon as they got to what seemed to be a dead-end, Legend whistled, catching the traveller's attention.

"It was a great walk," he said, boots already turning around and retracing his steps. "Time to go back."

But Hyrule didn't follow him. Instead, he reached in front of him.

"Last to get to the top is a bald cuccoo," he shouted as he started his climb.

He didn't even look back to check on Legend, he knew he would be following him. They climbed in silence, saving their energy and attention for the slippery rocks that fell from their hands and under the weight of their boots.

About ten minutes later, when the moon was at its highest point, Hyrule reached a small plateau on the side of the mountain. It might not be the destination they had in mind, but he couldn't deny that the view from there was stunning. To their south, he could see the prairie they had passed through early in the day, the light of the moon illuminating every single patch of grass and rock; on the other side of the mountain, to the north, Hyrule could spot the light and smoke coming from their campsite. They weren't that far, after all. Just enough to relax.

"What the fuck? You can't just say shit like that and start climbing, Hyrule!" Legend wheezed as he dragged his body over the edge, completely out of breath and slamming his back against the cold ground.

Hyrule ran to aid him to stand up, extending small apologies as he offered his hand, his shoulders shaking with a stifled chuckle.

"What are you talking about? That was fun!"

He gave Legend the time to look around, hoping that the view would make him forget his irritation. In the end, he guesses he succeeded; a soft smile adorned the other's face.

"I wished we could stay longer, but we gotta head back."

Hyrules ears perked up in interest and a grin that showed nothing but mischief appeared.

"Oh, it would be such a shame if we got lost on our way back and we had to wait until morning to avoid getting even more lost in the dark."

It took Legend 5 seconds before the gears in his mind began to work and process what Hyrule said.

"You little shit," he punched him on his arm playfully, earning him a cackle from the traveller. "You. cheeky. little. shit." He marked each word with a punch, each less hard than the last.

Hyrule rubbed his arm, "so, what do you say?" He looked at Legend expectantly, " If you want to go back to the others, we'll go. I'm not keeping you here, but I think some time off would do us good."

It was then that Legend noticed that Hyrule had brought his bag with him. He sat down and started pulling a variety of items from it, a fabric too thin to be a blanket being one of them.

With a snap of his fingers, a nearby bush lit on fire, and in no time they had their own little impromptu camp set up.

"I have some fish if you want me to make something," he pointed to his bag, but as always, he didn't wait for a response, already elbow-deep into the bag looking for the food, "caught it this morning, it's basically fresh."

Two small fish stabbed through the middle with a stick later, he handed one stick for Legend to grill over the fire.

"So... you get lost... on purpose..."

"Yep."

"Why?"

Hyrule bit the inside of his cheek and flipped his fish over, " for the exact same reason you accepted to come with me, I suppose." He took the fish off the fire and inspected it. "Unlike most of you, I didn't have a companion during my adventures. Having someone to talk to whenever is nice and all but... well, I simply value my privacy. I like being alone."

Legend could only hum in agreement. He rolled his stick, half of his fish almost burnt, "Wow, thanks," he said, his words coated with sarcasm.

"I like being alone with you," he laughed at his own words, a bit unsure of how to fix what he had said, but no less true.

A soft smile pulled at Legend's lips. He sighed in contentment and extended an arm to ruffle Hyrule's hair.

"I like being with you, too."

[fatefulfaerie]

Yearning (All I Want For Christmas Is You)

Day 3 of the 12 days of Christmas prompts orchestrated by @zelink-prompts

Incarnation: Twilight Princess post-Ganondorf

Zelda always loved the Hylia’s Day ball as a child. The joyous occasion was met with festive decorations that adorned the ballroom with hues of red and green. She remembered smiles and laughter, times with her mother and father that were now just melancholy memories.

Now, all grown up, her perspective inching further and further away from romanticizing the holiday that was really no different from any other day, she anticipated it with little excitement.

Her dress, which felt as if it were being tied securely around her very lungs, nearly breaking her ribs and flattering her chest a bit more than she was used to, was a dark green. It fell down to the floor elegantly and, since she was now Queen, showed more skin than perhaps the dress of a princess. The green velvet dress had sleeves that dangled off her shoulders and a heavy petticoat underneath that rounded out the skirt.

Zelda placed her hands on her hips as one last pull of the corset strings cemented her into a perfect figure. She was glad she could breathe, but in the mirror she couldn’t help but be worried about the amount of her breasts that could be seen. The entire kingdom knew that she hadn’t yet found a King Consort to measure up to her high standards, and thus every male had his gaze upon her.

And yet all she wanted for Hylia’s Day was the one man who gave her those expectations in the first place, who stole her heart and yet disappeared without even knowing. She supposed in this coming year, she should give up the hope of his return, give up the warmth of her feelings and marry the best suitor in line, to produce heirs and become just another Queen with just another arranged marriage.

“How does that feel, Your Majesty?”

Zelda had lost herself in her reflection, tipping her head, still mesmerized by the bottom of the dress and imagining it gliding across the floor as she danced with the man who saved her kingdom.

“Hm?” She hummed before registering the question in her mind, her head realigning to sit on her shoulders evenly. “Quite satisfactory. Thank you.”

“I take it you have quite a bit of suitors coming tonight,” the handmaiden commented as she carefully placed an ornate crown upon Zelda’s head. 

“I do,” Zelda said, her fingers finicking with the skirt of her dress, a habit she had ever since she was a child.

“I guarantee they’ll fancy you in this dress,” the handmaiden continued as she made small, minute adjustments to Zelda’s updo, to Zelda’s makeup. “Is there a suitor whom you particularly fancy?”

Zelda thought upon her answer, staring at her sad blue eyes in the mirror.

“No,” she lied quietly. “Not yet.”

“Well, you never know what this day will bring,” the handmaiden said. “Hylia’s Day is a magical time.”

“Of course,” Zelda said with a small and forced smile.

“Is there anything else you need of me, Your Majesty?” The handmaiden said with a step back.

“No, thank you,” Zelda said as she turned away from the mirror, facing her handmaiden with elegantly clasped hands. “That will be all.”

The handmaiden bowed and departed to the servant’s quarters to enjoy her night off, Zelda wishing she could follow.

——————————————————————————————————

She felt alone in a crowded room of dignitaries, of suitors, of court members and distinguished soldiers. Even when someone asked her to dance she felt alone, that dangerous hole in her heart eroding at her and telling her that with Link nowhere to be found, she would be pining for him until her dying days.

It took a couple hours until she could saunter to the outside balcony without being stopped by another suitor vying for her attention. Hands on the railing, she basked in the cool night air as she closed her eyes, reveling in her temporary freedom.

Her thoughts strayed to Link, as they often did, the last time she saw him becoming smaller against the horizon, the feelings she had that she never had the courage to voice. And, of course, the distance that came after that made her heart grow even fonder of this man of her dreams.

“Perhaps it is time to let you go,” she said to the open night sky. “Three months is a long time to be gone.” She laughed to herself. “You would probably think I’m crazy for my feelings. You were part of my life for such a short time and yet…”

She sighed, hanging her head.

“I just want you back.”

“Your Majesty?” She heard someone inquire somewhere in the ballroom.

“Not even five minutes to myself,” Zelda grumbled to herself, turning around to see not a suitor but one of her servants, carrying a tray with a folded note.

“Thank you,” Zelda said as she took it, the servant bowing and returning to other duties.

The Queen had no idea what matter could be so pressing for her to receive a correspondence during the Hylia’s Day ball, but she figured she would humor that distraction.

Meet me in the west courtyard at your earliest convenience. I assure you it will be safe, but I suggest you bring a guard nonetheless.

She tried not to hope that her mysterious correspondent was Link, but by the time she reached the courtyard, she was convinced it had to be. She didn’t bring a guard because of that. The swordsman who saved Hyrule surely would still be courageous in protecting its Queen.

——————————————————————————————————

Her heart pounded in her chest as soon as she recognized his silhouette. There was no doubt it was him, Zelda having near-memorized the way he stood for her own dreams and fantasies.

Link had, however, positioned himself beyond the reach of the moonlight, standing deliberately in the shadows. Zelda steeled her excitement at the fact that he was alive when she saw his hesitation.

“Link?” She asked as she walked forward cautiously. She watched as he knelt almost immediately.

“I must apologize, Your Highness,” he said, his very voice making Zelda swoon, her cheeks blushing pink. “I no longer am of any use to you.”

“Link, what…” Zelda said with a step forward. “What are you talking about? Where have you been?”

His head remained bowed and his figure remained shrouded in shadow. Zelda’s concern grew by the second and yet at the same time, her relief that he was here was contradicting it.

“A distant village to the south heard of my battles in Hyrule,” Link said quietly and submissively, Zelda’s blue eyes already sinking at the sadness in his voice. “They travelled to Ordon to ask for my assistance defeating a monster that was terrorizing their village, killing innocent people. I left immediately, travelled back with them, and faced the monster. The battle was difficult. I was cocky, over-confident fighting a monster even though I had never seen anything like it. I defeated it eventually, but…not before the monster…robbed me…of my arm…cutting it clean off. These past couple months have been a great deal of recovery, but I’ve also been avoiding facing you, telling you that…you can no longer depend on me to be the hero. I am deeply sorry, Your Highness. I come to you ashamed that someone you depend on for the safety of your Kingdom has betrayed you in such a way, is now so…useless…”

Zelda had shed tears but she didn’t care to wipe them, rushing forward and kneeling in front of him.

“Link,” she said, placing a hand on either of his shoulders. “You aren’t just a soldier to me. That is not all you are worth. Hey! Look at me!”

His blue eyes seemed scared to meet hers until they finally did, Link taking a shaky breath.

“I am so glad you are okay,” Zelda said before insisting. “You. Not your ability to fight. You are worth so much more to me.”

“Yeah right,” Link figuring she was just saying that to be nice.

Zelda was almost angry at his lack of self-worth, for brow furrowing before she captured his lips with his, so suddenly that he didn’t even know it was coming.

Link pushed her off as soon as he could, searching her for why a person of her status would do such a thing, whether or not this was one of his dreams where she actually likes him back. Zelda placed a hand on his cheek.

“I love you for who you are,” Zelda said. “Not what you did or used to be able to do for Hyrule. I don’t love the chosen hero, I love Link. I love you…and I’m so relieved that you are back.”

Link still look absolutely shocked, Zelda worrying he didn’t return her feelings before he surged forward much like she had, only this kiss continued as they pleased.

“I love you, too,” he whispered against her lips. “From the very second I met you, I knew the meaning of love. I’m not sure how that’s possible but…it’s true.”

Zelda couldn’t help but smile.

“I feel the same.” She said, their foreheads touching. “All I wanted for Hylia’s Day was you.”

Link chuckled.

“I didn’t plan to come back on the day of the ball,” Link said. “But you look as beautiful as I remember, even more so in that dress. In the moonlight you look like Hylia herself.”

“Pale and ghostlike?” Zelda jived.

“Transcendently gorgeous,” Link corrected.

Zelda chuckled.

“You know,” she said standing up, backing away, and excitedly positioning her arms, ready to dance. “I’ve danced with every one of my suitors except you.”

“As much as I’d like to be,” Link said, standing up and stepping into the moon light. He was just as charmingly handsome as Zelda remembered. “I’m not one of your suitors.”

“Oh?” Zelda asked as they stepped into each other, Zelda taking his hand with hers and placing her other hand on his armless shoulder. “And why is that?”

“There must be some rule,” Link argued softly, the two starting to waltz in circles. 

“Rules can be changed,” Zelda said. “Remember you are dancing with a Queen.”

Link froze immediately.

“I…I-I am?”

He looked absolutely panicked.

“You didn’t know that?” Zelda asked with a smile.

“I…I don’t know, I…” Link looked for more words. “I don’t know I guess I didn’t even think you would…I-I mean of course you would rise to Queen, I…”

Zelda giggled, and her smile accentuated by the moonlight made Link’s blush.

“I supposed I should have assumed,” he said, prompting her to continue dancing in circles.

“Are you,” Link cleared his throat. “A-already in line to marry someone then? Because if I’m getting in the way of that, I really don’t need to stick around. I just want you to be happy.”

“Link,” Zelda said with shakes of her head an an elegant smile. She kissed him again. “You make me happy. Happier than I’ve ever felt. You. No one else. Those other suitors never had a chance with you in my heart. I never chose any of them.”

Link chuckled nervously.

“Good, that’s…that’s good,” Link said before laughing again, a sound much more hearty and warm, his eyes locked in hers. “I’m happy, too”

[abizarreyodelingincident]

Our Nightly Confidant 5

Four steps in my shoes

Four feels strongly.

In general, as a rule, but also in this specific situation, where sweat sticks his hair to his forehead and the pegasus boots chaff from constant overuse. From the slight burn of his arm muscles that nonetheless keep swinging the Four Sword.

Amazingly, the emotion at the forefront of his mind cannot be easily and neatly assigned to one facet of him. Annoyance isn't exclusive to any one side of him, quite the contrary. And the 'you can go die!' disdain is a taaaaad too specific as well.

White paws sweep at him and barely miss the top of his head. Would have hit Ezlo, if this had been his first adventure. The pang of nostalgia doesn't help his focus much.

Small bursts of magic and swings of his boomerang sting enough to keep his enemy on the backfoot. Behind him, a few roots twist enough for an opening beneath the trunk. If he can just...

The paw slams inches away from where he was standing a second earlier.

Urgh. It had to happen after they marched all day in search of civilization, didn't it?

Well, nothing to it, Four adjusts his sword and glares back at the slitted eyes trailed on him.

Which is when the loudest, most thunderous bark he ever heard rips the air in half and hammers in his eardrums. The white monster (cat) yowls in fright, fur straight up in horror, back arched, and it sprints right up a tree.

Wolfie is a familiar sight, and a welcome one at that.

But some instinctive part of him that is more Minish than Hylian can't help grip the Four Sword tighter.  From this perspective, Wolfie has more in common with Wild's divine beasts than a regular animal. His claws look about as tall as Four himself. And at the moment, the wolf is displaying a mouth full of fangs that promise a painful death.

He doesn't blame the cat for scampering. He's seen what those fangs can do to a throat. Or a wrist. Or an ankle. Not, really, he thinks the cat shows great wisdom in getting the hell out of Wolfie's range.  

But, because he is a Hero of Courage, he flips the sword in his hands, sheathes it and waves his arms.

“Twilight!”

The shift is instantaneous, and a little amazing to witness. The ears perk up, the posture straightens from its crouch, the teeth all disappear behind the black lips. It's a flip of Pacci's cane, a turn on a rupee, and there's the big beast their group loves.

“You okay there, Smithy?” Twilight asked, sniffing him for signs of injuries.

It's strange, hearing Twilight's voice coming through the sort of mental-bond-language of the Minish. Useful though. He's not certain he currently possesses the patience for some games of charades with a wolf.

“No injuries.” He puts a hand on the damp nose even as a burst of hot air washes over him. “Just a bit out of breath.”

“Right.”

It's not a doubtful tone, but there's some Time-patented exasperation in there.

“I would have been fine, you know?” says the part of Four that is a bit younger. “I dealt with lots of monsters even at this size.”

(Not Wolfie size though, that he thinks might be beyond him when shrunk.)

The flat look he receives makes him want to squirm.

He's too controlled for that.

“Yes, yes, I know.” He waves off the implied question. “I thought the innkeeper's cat was still inside.”

“He was. But after he mewled a bit, his owner let him out. And when I didn't see you... I had a feeling.”

Four wants to hit his head against a tree. Animals always were more aware of the scent of Minish magic. Many eyed him curiously when he walked through town. He should have known the cat would want to stalk after him. Probably thinking he knew where a village was hidden. He's going to have internal arguments about this all night.

“Cats are all bastards.”

To Four's amazement, Twilight's tail curls between his legs, his ears drooping. He rather looks more the guilty dog part than the majestic beast he insists he is.

“... But they're so cuddly.”

“When you're bigger than them, maybe,” Four deadpans. “Sneaky little shits.”

Twilight's whine is absolutely ridiculous and enough to make him snicker.

“Fine, fine. I'm not deaf, I hear what they say. Not as bad as cuccos, though.” Twilight's gaze wanders off to a faraway place. “Nothing is as bad as those psychotic birds.”

They lose a moment reliving their trauma over the feathered fiends.

Twilight shakes it off first. He lies down, his body like a hill of dark fur before Four, and hints at his back. Any protest Four might have had before dies in the face of his aching legs. He can fight off monsters at this size, but it's unreasonably more complicated. And he is not in the mood to stab spiders in the face tonight.

The fur is silky under his fingers, which is comforting but also a bit of a pain. Climbing means parting the coat of dark hairs and finding grip against skin. Sometimes, the body under him flinches or trembles, like Twilight is fighting off the urge to roll over. Four imagines it's quite similar to tickling. So he hurries up and makes his way up to the top of Twilight's head. Between the ears and roughly around the markings on his forehead.

Satisfied, Twilight stands, and the whole world blurs like he's still using his pegasus boots. A few more steps are needed before Four's body adjusts to the speed, and then he can relax. Twilight's safe.

And, he notes, not heading straight for the inn.

“We noticed the looks, you know,” Twilight says, because he's one of those busybodies that can't help mother cucco everyone around him till they are 'right as rain over a spring'.

“So?” he replies, even, practiced.

(Zelda had questions, at first, then orders that were swiftly obeyed, when in her sight. He hasn't told her that yet.)

“... How many of them do that?”

Do what? He wants to ask. The inn's owner had been quite polite, very careful in avoiding certain words around Four. Indeed so careful that Four could feel their syllables get more and more defined by the innkeeper's silence.

“Whisper?” he settles for. “A few. I'm weird, I know. Shorter than some kids, but can lift a hammer to forge. Own my business outside Castle Town, only shows up for groceries, talks to myself sometimes and stares at empty spots on shelves. I don't know, I suppose they expected me to apprentice beforehand, but there was a kingdom to save and what did that matter then?”

He punches the ground next to him before remembering too late it is Twilight's head.

The growl doesn't last. But the first few words he says are a bit more bitten out than the tone implies.

“There's a kid in my village. Younger than you. Couldn't lose the baby fat in his face for the longest time.” Twilight snorts, and his tail wags a bit. “And he's smart, really smart, a lot more mature than his older brother too.”

Four has a feeling that's partially due to the older brother's personality, but holds his tongue.

“People whispered behind his back. 'That boy is so creepy.'”

“Fey-touched,” Four says before he can hold back the red in him.

That one hurt. He's picked up habits from the Minish, he's aware. Little things like leaving keystones lying around for other kids or tiptoeing minish rings in the grass. But for those differences to matter so much, he hadn't expected until the first time the words had been floating around him.

“Ah,” Twilight says, followed by a whole lot of nothing.

Crickets around them sing. He can almost see some Minish putting a collar on the bugs to bring them home for a concert. Moving from behind stalks of grass, praying to the moon and the goddesses.

Then, Twilight says: “That takes me back.”

Four stumbles through the fur, his hands grasping on some new strands, but he can't tell if his unbalance is due a jolt in their steps or to the enormity of the idea. Twilight, the stereotypical rancher, seen as an outsider?

He tries, but all his brain conjures up is a much shorter version of Twilight dragging goats by the horns. That and dancing (badly) to the melody of a grass whistle.

Even from his spot atop Twilight's head, the eye roll is obvious despite being out of sight. “The only Hylian in a village of Humans?” he drawls. “Found as a toddler lost in the woods? Hardly able to speak for a while?”

Oh, Four thinks, that'd do it.

“They don't have the right to say that to you,” Twilight growls. “You're their hero.”

He could bask in the warmth. Lets himself lie down on Twilight and forget all about the events of tonight.

Curiosity wins, or well, violet does. “What did you do?”

“Nothing special? Just stayed the same and let them talk.”

Four's eyes bug out. “That's it? Nothing? How does that change anything?”

“When you're you, Four... When you're a good person regardless of rumors and whispers... Idiots don't stop talking, but the ones that are worth it stop listening.” A wolfish grin breaks out on Twilight's face. “Besides, you should have seen their black eyes after Rusl heard them say it to my face. After that... well, they could have called me the King of Evil and it wouldn't have mattered. Knowing you got someone in your corner's better than hollow praise from idiots.”

Four blushes.

He forgot for a bit, and he'll apologize to Zelda when he sees her, but it's true. Whenever he recalls that moment, the guard's words aren't ever the same. The phrasing lost all its power, outshone by the impassioned defense and the sheer anger wielded by his friend.

His back straightens. And he allows himself some childish pride in having the Princess of Hyrule in his corner. What do they have to beat that?

Twilight rumbles a laugh. “So... yeah, ignore them. Put them in their place if you want, the goddesses know you have the strength to do it, but that won't change their minds about anything. If you want some peace of mind, discard the idiots.”

Companionable silence falls between them. Four doesn't feel the need to speak after that bit of reassurance. They circle the woods, avoiding Hylians late on the road and monsters alike. Twilight's seemingly content just taking him on a ride, and Four's loath to admit he wants the moment to last a little longer.

They're not too far back from their starting point when he decides to ask: “About that kid?”

“Malo?”

“Yeah, him, how does he deal with it?”

Twilight does not answer right away. He first jumps over some large, gnarled roots and growls at a fox that seemed a bit too curious about the smell of Minish magic. Four's grateful for the time to calm his pounding heart.

“Well, Malo just stares at them until they get uncomfortable. Then he asks them what they're looking for. It never seems to affect him too much.” – discomfort hits at that, and Four can't tell why – “But, well, it also happened in front of me, you know? And I take after my Pa. So I might have knocked a couple of heads together in Casle Town. Followed by a strong talking to. Not that Malo appreciated that I ran off some of his customers.” A sigh. “That kid, I swear.”

Four grimaces. That type of 'customers'. Will think they bless his forge with their presence, praise him to all ends, then turn around and whisper. “I'm sure he's grateful inside.”

“Eh, I hope so, but it's his call in the end. Can't live his life for him.” Some muscles roll, and Four gets the impression of a shrug. “Speaking of, what do you want to do, Smithy?”

The question takes him by surprise, and it's silly that he didn't expect it.

He knows that Twilight would spend the night outside with him if he asks. They're no strangers to outdoor camping and the woods of his era are less dangerous than most. Wolfie would intimidate most if not all the creatures that live inside it.

But it would be illogical to sleep in the woods when they have more than enough rupees to pay for some rooms in a local inn.

Four is reasonable. It's one of his trademarks as a Hero. Mature for his age. Calm. Collected. It's how he's taken seriously as an adventurer. Why would he shatter an illusion that useful? Over some mild ostracization?

'Serve it cold,' says one quarter of him.

Another sides with Twilight. Their big brother made a good point. They couldn't be bothered by every single ungrateful person out there. They'd always exist, so let them stew in jealousy and paranoia and fear. He has the favor of the Princess, his best friend. What does he need anger for against a countryside shop owner?

But, the blue in him counters with an hammer-like argument: 'No, the best revenge is both.'

The others would be a little mad, he thinks. A little.

He's usually mature enough not to get in trouble. He's due for some insanity and explosions. Wild would back him up here. And it might be his voice in his head that pushes the words out of his mouth.

“So, not that I haven't listened to a word you said, but, hypothetically, if I needed help knocking heads together...”

“How many heads? Wars mentioned an interesting technique he learned from his sparring with some Sheikah general the other night. Though, if you'd rather, I can say, without boasting, that a lot of grown men weep at this form. It's embarrassing for everyone, I tell you.”

Four snorts, struck by mischief. “We're going to need to find a stump. I might have a plan.”

Yes, Four contemplates, the glint of wolf fangs under the moonlight is just as terrifying as he figured it would be. He can't wait.

                                                        ***

Legend is silently debating with Sky over the right to punch the innkeeper in the face. It's a fierce debate communicated entirely through raised eyebrows, scrunched up nose, muted snarls and meaningful looks.

The others' patience is steadily fraying at the edges. It's especially noticeable with their youngest. There are fireworks going off on Wind's face. The knife cutting his slab of meat to pieces steadily stabs into it every time the innkeeper's mouth opens.

“And where are you fine young men traveling to?” he says with a customer pleaser smile.

'Fine young men'. Ah! There's a thing he didn't say about Four. The fucking nerves of this man.

“Far,” Time replies, his tone even, but his expression thoroughly unimpressed.

“Ah, yes, of course...” the innkeeper says agreeably. “You, huh, you'll be going with the, ahem, with the boy, I imagine?”

How dare he sound hopeful? And 'boy'?! This man's livelihood is owed to the smithy! And he doesn't even have the excuse of mind control!

A hint of shame tickles the back of his mind, when he had first heard the innkeeper talking. He had sounded nothing like the ones from his era, who sometimes refused him entry outright on the basis of old and false accusations.

This current attitude was, technically speaking, a strict improvement over that.

But does the man have to come alive and become so at ease serving them food whilst the Hero of this land take a walk outside? Alone, at night?

Legend grunts into his mug. The rancher left after the smithy, so that ought to solve the 'feelings' question. A bit of a stick-in-the-mud he might be, but Twilight's one of the few he would trust to help navigate difficult feelings. He's got the patience for it, unlike a lot of them who tackle everything the way they do a dungeon, with reckless abandon.

Yet, in the cozy warmth of the fire in the hearth, over the hesitant plucking of the minstrel's chords, a howl suddenly calls to the moon.

They, alone, do not tense.

The howl echoes a second time, much louder. Closer.

The innkeeper shoots them a desperate look, but Legend suddenly realizes that he is blind, and possibly deaf. He has no reason to stand up, much less draw his sword. And, would Farore look at that, his condition is contagious!

The hinges creak as they inch open.

If Legend were not so experienced, he might have been nervous. But he's better than that. He leans back in his seat, places a hand on Hyrule's shoulder, and sips his ale.

There in the doorway, cut in shadows with the moon as backdrop, riding on a large grey wolf, Four raises both arms high in the air.

“Fear my unnatural power,” he says with as ominous a voice he can produce.

Warriors snorts, cheeks reddened by alcohol, and he gives a thumbs-up to their smith, despite the owner's pale complexion.

The mugs left on the table begin to shake. Oh, this is gonna be good.

It starts with a pair of squirrels and a owl, neither obeying their instincts in favor of swooping inside the inn. Followed by a handful of moles, fireflies and stray dogs.

In a flash of white, the inn's cat bolts inside the inn, meowing, till it reaches its owner's legs and climbs onto him. It perches itself on his bald head, seconds before the first deer bounces inside the building.

Epona breaks the first table.

But the three raccoons lunging after his cat are what make the owner scream.

Legend guffaws in his ale.

[bubble-tea-bunny]

monster monster!

[link x reader]

author’s note: was really hurting for inspo when suddenly i got an idea revolving around fang and bone not being owned by kilton, but someone else ;))) (also i did tweak how the shop works a lil bit for the sake of this story, which i hope you do not mind)

word count: 6,125

With the amount of rain beginning to pour from dark clouds, which had slowly crept in these last several hours and concealed the sky, one may hardly believe it had been perfectly sunny this morning. The expectation that the weather would be agreeable the whole day is why Link had decided to begin his journey this morning and not tarry any longer. He still has a large distance to cover until he arrives at his destination, and while he would have liked to continue on a bit more before stopping for the night, it wouldn’t be a good idea. A small voice in the back of his mind reasons he could keep going, if he really wants to, but the quick flash of lightning in the distance and the rumble of thunder close on its heels kills that notion in a heartbeat, and Link finds himself taking shelter at the stable just off the main road.

After he checks his horse in with the stablehand, he steps beneath the canopy and heaves a deep sigh of relief, the roar of the storm now muffled. Warmth washes over him, sinks into his skin and seeps through damp clothes. He does his best to wring himself out by the entrance so as not to track water along the wooden flooring. As the minutes tick by, his shivering ceases, and he digs enough rupees out of his pocket to pay for a bed.

There are a few other travelers here. One sits at the table writing in a journal, the scratching of pen on paper overpowered by the relentless shower outside. The two others are asleep on the far side, so Link takes care in setting his bag gently down by his bed, to make as little noise as possible. Instead of following the leads of those slumbering Hylians, he walks back to the threshold, leaning against the wooden frame to watch the rain. Another streak of lightning illuminates the sky for a brief moment, and Link absentmindedly counts off the seconds in his head—One, two, three…—until thunder growls so strongly the earth seems to shake.

The noise of the torrential downpour makes it difficult to hear much, but Link’s learned to be perceptive. Boots thud heavily against the floor, sending shockwaves Link can feel traveling towards his own. The silent newcomer claims the open spot to his left, but doesn’t assume a casual stance like he does, remaining straight and on high alert. Link spares a quick glance at the one who has joined him—a guard—then turns back to the scene in front.

Both of them stand there quietly, but that doesn’t last long. Link’s eyes pass over the blue flame flickering in the lantern, wholly unbothered by the raindrops, just as the man next to him speaks.

He introduces himself as Hoz, and he shares with Link rumors of a shop only open at night, featuring wares of the less savory sort, and some might even say the ominous or unsettling. It isn’t simple to stumble across, and perhaps that’s on purpose, for the cover of darkness ensures not everyone has the opportunity to peek at the sinister merchandise. It’s called Fang and Bone, Hoz says, and if you’ve an interest in monsters, that’s the place to go.

Link hadn’t been too absorbed in the topic at the start of this spiel, but his curiosity grows the more Hoz expounds on the hearsay that’s been flittering throughout Hyrule. If this shop had been restricted to this one region, here in Akkala, Link might not have been too invested in finding out more immediately, and would consider it a topic set off to the side for another time. But it’s something else entirely that its reputation stretches across the whole land, because though that’s true, there are few who are able to attest to its existence and its goods and, most importantly, its owner, for who could possibly be at the center of the sinister business of dealing in monsters?

Apparently Link needn’t voice his newfound interest in discovering this shop for himself, for Hoz to pick up on it. The man merely looks over at him and smirks.

“I see the glint in your eye,” he remarks. Though they stand next to each other, he needs to raise his voice to be heard over the rain. “You want to find it too.” He suggests asking around the region as a way to glean useful information of its whereabouts, and politely requests that should Link come across this mysterious emporium, that he return to these stables to tell him all about it.

Link, feeling sleepy now, gives a sleepy smile in response and nods, a silent promise that he’ll do just that. Hoz bids him a goodnight then makes his leave to give Link some time on his own. Link watches as he does a quick scan of the interior, in search of suspicious activity he knows there is none of (there isn’t much to be on high alert for), before he walks up to the counter to chat with the stable master.

Another bout of lightning. Another roll of thunder. This storm shows no signs of stopping anytime soon. Link crosses his arms as he lingers to observe it for a couple more minutes, and he wonders distantly if Fang and Bone is still open for business somewhere out there.

By morning, his plans have changed. If he resumed his original route, he would be in the next region over by sundown, especially since the skies have cleared up and, unlike yesterday, remained as such. But he decides to stay for another day or two instead, inquiring from those in the area about a store that specializes in monsters. He’s hoping to learn of details that at least point him in the right direction, provide a starting point, but the vast majority of those he speaks to look at him like he’s suddenly grown two heads and they don’t say it out loud but they’re wondering why on earth he could be seeking out anything like that. And those who don’t react that way, those who know what he’s talking about and pretend they don’t but Link can tell deep down they do know something, however small, aren’t very eager to share.

It takes a good deal of convincing to get the answers he wants. His words worked most of the time, but when they didn’t, he used rupees to make up for it. He’s lower on money than he would’ve like to have been at the end of all that, but somehow it’s easy to brush off when he sinks into one of the chairs at the Tarrey Town inn and studies the map on his Sheikah Slate.

The name Skull Lake is so on the nose it almost makes him laugh. It could also be no more a fitting location for a place called Fang and Bone to set up shop. Now that he thinks about it, he’s surprised, and a little irritated, that he hadn’t figured it out himself, because if he did, he’d have saved himself a lot of trouble (and rupees). Though he supposes the idea may have been so ridiculous in theory that his subconscious hadn’t bothered to make the connection, already assuming it would’ve been a dead end. His subconscious really ought to get out of the habit of doing that. Who knows what else he could miss…

“I heard tell of your hunt for a shop of monsters.”

Link’s gaze slides from the screen over to Kapson standing behind the counter, the only other occupant of this building. Link’s brows furrow in confusion, wondering how he could know that when he hadn’t said anything, but he realizes Pelison must have mentioned something. The young Goron is always excited to hear of Link’s most recent adventures, and of course, on this visit, Link recounted the rumors Hoz had shared, though in less frightening terms. He has no desire to be responsible for nightmares.

“Another traveler came through here just a few days ago looking for the same thing.” Kapson walks the short distance to the table Link sits at and takes the seat on the opposite side. He has no reason to stay by the counter. It’s late, most of the town is asleep, and there aren’t many who arrive in the middle of the night. “I imagine they must’ve found it by now.”

Link sets his Sheikah Slate aside, the zoomed in image of Skull Lake staring up at the ceiling for several seconds before disappearing as the screen shuts off. You believe it then? he asks. The stories.

Kapson inhales deeply, as though to take those moments to put together his response. And when he has it, he smiles slightly, amused in a sardonic kind of way. “There have been much stranger things afoot in Hyrule.”

Link can’t help chuckling and nods in agreement. He’s witnessed many of said “strange things” up close, often being at the forefront to investigate and, if need be, set them right. The whispers about Fang and Bone hardly sound bizarre in comparison. And he realizes that’s how he’d been approaching it this whole time—he had never believed it to be just rumors. Once Hoz had brought the topic to his attention, Link had every intention to find it, had been confident there was anything to find. A clear contrast to those he had asked for more information who assumed he’d gone crazy. Perhaps his sense of what was normal and what was atypical has been skewed, but he takes comfort in the fact he’s not alone in his sentiments, judging by the words Kapson has shared.

He’s due to set off for Skull Lake the next day, but he’s in no rush. The ride won’t be long and the shop is only there at night. So he wakes at mid-morning and kills time restocking his supplies and talking with the other villagers. Then when the sun has passed its highest point, now beginning its journey to the western horizon, he packs up his saddle bag and mounts his horse. He gives a final wave to Pelison as he leaves, and gradually the sounds of Tarrey Town fade behind him.

The last minutes of the dying light paint the world orange. Link pulls out his Sheikah Slate to ensure he’s riding in the right direction, and surmises that the cluster of rocks up ahead are part of the lake’s shoreline. The lake itself is still hidden and would require getting closer and maneuvering through stony outcrops to be able to spot it. Link has to hand it to whoever owns this shop—this is no easy place to happen upon. Which he supposes is exactly what they want, for it means that those who do find this place have sought it out intentionally, and possess a legitimate, vested interest in a selection of goods not entirely conventional.

As though sensing that Link has reached his destination, the last slivers of sunlight extinguish themselves in a sigh, blowing strong enough to ruffle Link’s hair and cold enough that he sees his own breath when he exhales. To minimize noise, he dismounts from his horse and tethers it out of sight from anyone who might be on the lake, then proceeds on foot. Pulling his cloak tighter around him, he peeks around tall columns of stone, eyes narrowed as he scans the expanse of Skull Lake.

It’s a full moon tonight. Link makes a habit of tracking the phases, and earlier today, he had mused that if the moon were waning on this particular evening, he probably wouldn’t have adequate visibility to discern anything out on the lake. But while standing here, with his blue gaze on blue waters, he learns that his assumption was wrong. Even if it had been a new moon, the dim yellow light from the center of Skull Lake would draw his attention right away, a beacon in the dark night.

There are no patrons browsing from what he can tell. He guesses he might be the first of the evening. Stepping out from behind his hiding place, he walks across the small land bridge leading to the island where the rumored monster emporium stands alone, lanterns hanging from the wooden counter with more attached to what Link notices as he gets closer is a large patchwork hot air balloon, the colors of each piece mismatched and oddly charming. And painted on the wooden sign hanging above the shop counter window in thick black paint, so the words can’t be misread: Fang and Bone.

The shop owner is turned away, preoccupied with organizing the shelves. Link surveys the selection, passing over the horns and fangs of various creatures; guts and hearts that he swears twitch every few seconds; severed wings and tails and eyeballs that squelch as the merchant grabs a few and drops them into a glass jar. Finally, among the many other spooky items in stock, are small purple flasks with gold accents and gold stoppers.

Nearly a minute passes and the shopkeeper has taken no notice of Link, and he’s not sure what he should do. Does he talk? Does he rap his knuckles against the counter a few times, for lack of a bell? Eventually he decides to clear his throat, loud yet succinct, enough to announce his presence but not enough to startle.

“Yes?” the merchant says as they twist around, prepared for any inquiries. “Is there anything you’d like to see?”

Bright eyes are trained on Link from beneath a hood, and it catches him off guard. To be honest, he had envisioned the owner of this kind of shop to be much more… menacing, with mad eyes and a suspiciously wide grin, gnarled and sharp fingernails like claws, surrounded by an aura that spoke of trouble and disturbing delights. It’s certainly not the most outrageous expectation, and he’s confident anyone else who’s heard of Fang and Bone has thought the same. But you’re none of that.

Lithe fingers push down the hood to reveal your face and you look, well, perfectly normal. Your eyes show you’re sane as can be, and you smile a tight-lipped smile that matches those of the other shop owners in the villages, who wear them to be polite as they deal with customers. He feels no sense of dread to be this close, has no inkling that you could be evil or up to something bad. Poking out from your hair, which is tied back into a neat braid, are long pointed ears. Just like his.

Link has no need to stock up on monster parts. He gathers his own during his travels, and he’s not running short on any supplies. But you’re watching him intently, waiting for him to talk, to ask about what items you’re offering, and it’s fair for you to assume he does want to buy because why else would he have come all this way? The biting curiosity, Link thinks to himself. It’s what keeps him rooted to this spot despite harboring no intention to purchase anything. However, there is one thing he wants to ask about…

He glances over your shoulder at the small purple flasks and asks what they are. You smile at his piqued interest and reach back to grab one, holding it up, the soft glow of the lanterns bouncing off the glass. Monster extract, you explain. An essence of my own creation. Cook with it and you’ll experience a significant energy boost.

While you spoke, you’d been staring at the flask, gaze and voice filled with pride at your work. Thus, you miss the mixture of emotions lining Link’s face, but when you finally do notice his dubious expression, knitted brows and a slight frown that bordered on distaste, you laugh, and he sees sharp canines that look remarkably like fangs.

“Don’t worry, I’ve done careful research. Mix it well, and you can hardly tell it’s there,” you state. You pull the stopper off and stretch out your arm so Link can take a closer look. His eyes drop down to the flask then slide back up to you and you nod in reassurance. “Some customers like to inspect the wares more closely.”

Tentatively he grabs it, fingers curling around the narrow neck. Dark purple tendrils float from the opening and dissipate in the air as they rise. He brings it close to his nose to take a sniff and does his best not to recoil at the stench. He fails, and you chuckle again quietly, reminding him of its concentrated nature. You aren’t quite drawing the extract from flowers.

Link hands back the flask and you replace the stopper, asking what he thinks. Initially he’d been on the fence, and was leaning towards saying no thanks, but your stare is piercing, like you can see right through him, and he finds he doesn’t want to say no. So he doesn’t. He says he’ll buy one and you smile in satisfaction at another satisfied customer and there’s a glint in your eye like you know what you’ve done. Who could say no with a gaze like that?

Before Link can get rupees from his pocket, you inform him that monster extract can only be paid for with monster parts. And as he has no shortage of those, he pays easily, and the disorganized mess of guts and tails and wings in his bag is replaced by one neat purple flask.

“Pleasure doing business with you.” Your grin is courteous and you don’t appear to be affected by the fresh smell of rot emanating from the monster parts now sitting on the counter between you. “I hope you’ll stop by again.” For a moment this statement gives Link pause, and he wonders if you say that to everyone. (And would it matter to him if you did?)

No one else is in sight as he makes his leave, but the night is still young, which leaves plenty of time for others to arrive. Once on the shore, he glances over his shoulder and sees you’ve returned to your original task of sorting your inventory. Your back is turned to him and you’ve brought up the hood of your cloak again, and he’s staring at two large, different colored buttons and a piece of fabric sewn and stuffed to resemble a beak. The goofy-looking makeshift monster makes him smile as he walks to his horse.

The following morning, he finally resumes the journey that had been put on hold these last few days. It’s still a lengthy ride down to Necluda, but with little to no detours, (certainly not any that last as long as his hunt for for Fang and Bone had been), he arrives by the end of the week.

He deeply inhales a breath of fresh air as the houses of Hateno come into view just over the hill. His body seems to know he’s home, for suddenly his shoulders sag, full of fatigue from his extended bout away from the village, and he’s yearning for a good night’s sleep in his own bed. It’s dark when he passes the gateway and steers his horse onto the main road stretching through town, but there are plenty of people outside who wave in greeting.

Ivees’s face lights up as Link pushes open the door to the general shop. Pruce isn’t behind the counter, which means she’s the one in charge tonight. She sets her broom aside and asks how he’s doing and what he’s been up to. Link’s response is curt, borne out of exhaustion, and as he talks, she’s smiling sympathetically because it’s not difficult to tell from the tone of his voice that he’s tired.

“I’m glad to know you’re okay,” she says. “No cuts or bruises on you, but I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.”

Link chuckles good-naturedly, then picks out produce to bring back with him to his house. His food stores were depleted right before he left, done purposely so nothing spoiled while he was gone. Ivee counts the costs of everything he’s chosen and placed on the counter then provides a total, and Link opens up his bag for her to place it all into while he counts out the correct amount of rupees.

“What’s this?”

At Ivee’s question, Link tears his focus from the rupees in his hand. Her fingers are wrapped around the neck of the flask of monster extract, not taking it out of the bag but merely angling it so she can see the accents on the glass more clearly. Because she isn’t a child, he doesn’t have to sugarcoat his answer, but he does take a moment to figure out how to explain. He settles on starting with a question: Have you heard those rumors of a shop selling monster parts?

Ivee purses her lips in thought, and several seconds later, she nods. Link tells her it’s real, and that’s where he got the flask from. It’s monster extract. Ivee’s eyes widen in shock once she learns what she’s holding, and she emits a horrified squeak and lets go. He laughs and assures her it isn’t toxic, and that the only danger to be worried about is the stench.

After the produce is put away in Link’s bag, he shrugs it back onto his shoulder. But one more query from Ivee prevents him from leaving.

“What’s the owner look like? You know… of that shop.”

Link smiles but it’s not so much directed at Ivee as much as it is to himself, as he remembers your eyes reflecting the low lights of the lanterns and remembers your lips forming a delightful curve he wanted to see again as soon as it was out of sight. And all he tells her is that the owner isn’t nearly as scary as she might be imagining.

He’d been excited to make dinner once he returned home, but the intimate, cozy setting makes him incredibly weary, and instead, he drops right into bed, still in the clothes he’d worn since this morning. The weather is cold but within these four walls, with the gently crackling fire, he has no need to burrow beneath his blankets. Not that he’d have much energy to do that anyway.

The rooster crowing wakes him up, but the pain in his neck is what prevents him from being able to go back to sleep. He passed out the moment he hit the bed, and it hadn’t been in the most comfortable position. Rubbing at the sore spot, he sits up and walks downstairs to make breakfast. His stomach grumbles as he cooks, having missed out on a meal last night. The last time he’d eaten was yesterday early afternoon.

His day is spent in town, catching up and swapping stories with the others. They usually prefer to hear more of what he’s been up to, reasoning that there’s never anything too newsworthy that occurs here, nothing worth sharing, but Link doesn’t think that’s true. The monster-slaying and traveling across the whole of Hyrule has become standard for him, so to listen to stories of the goings-on of home is refreshing. He voices this to Tokk, who laughs and, with a smile that crinkles the corners of his aged eyes, muses The grass is always greener, isn’t it?

Link also fills his time doing any odd jobs anyone approaches him with. He pitches hay for Dantz on the farm, carries in the boxes of produce for Pruce to restock his store, helps Sayge clean up the floors in the dye shop. He’s moving around until sundown, and while he’s tired by the end of it, he also feels satisfied to have been so productive. Offering his assistance around Hateno is his method of relaxing. He isn’t sure if he’d be able to sit around. If he tried, it’s inevitable that he would get the itch to do something, and he’s in luck, for the villagers are sure to have that something to keep his hands busy.

A practice of his had gone neglected since he came back, one he should’ve done yesterday but failed to carry out due to fatigue clouding his mind. Once his tasks are done and the moon is high in the sky (it’s a crescent tonight), he traipses over to the goddess statue, his boots sifting the grass with each step. The statue is barely lit by the light of a nearby torch, and he kneels down before it to pray to Hylia. It’s a tradition he has had for a long while now, done after every safe return to Hateno.

At the tail-end of it, a hard gust of wind blows out the torch, and the orange glow which had run down the length of the statue disappears. Link stands and makes his way over to it, prepared to grab it from the sconce and reignite it with one of the torches farther down. But a faint light in the distance grabs his attention, and he squints in an attempt to discern the faraway source better.

His head tilts and internally he’s debating if he’s actually seeing what he thinks he’s seeing. No, it can’t be that, he tells himself. It can’t be because that wouldn’t make sense. But the fact is it’s hard to deny that what rests on the hill is a large balloon, stitched together with a curiously mismatched patchwork. Kapson’s words flood back—There have been much stranger things afoot in Hyrule—and Link concedes that to discover the balloon here, quite far from Akkala, is not the most outlandish phenomenon he’s ever bore witness to.  

So when he finally accepts that yes, that is exactly what he’s seeing, he turns left and right to check if anyone else had noticed the balloon’s presence, but no one is staring, nor had anyone noticed him staring and tried to check out for themselves what he’s concentrating so hard on. He places the torch back in the sconce, still unlit, and jogs down to the dirt path leading out of town.

He follows it for a while, then veers off as he approaches the hill where Fang and Bone has set up for the night. The numerous lanterns bathe him in soft light, their radiance like a greeting, and his eyes slide down from the balloon to you behind the counter. Your back is turned, just like last time, but he doesn’t have to clear his throat or speak up or knock on the counter because, as though you could feel someone there, you turn around, and upon seeing him, you smile widely. You do it so well you could put the moon out of business.

“Hello again.” Clearly you recognize him, based on the familiarity in your eyes which are striking beneath the hood of your dark cloak.

Link’s chest bubbles with warmth to learn that you remember him, but that heat tempers as he wonders if you remember everyone. How large could your customer base be? You must have a sizable pool of patrons to stay open, but small enough that knowledge of your shop isn’t widespread, remaining for the majority of Hyrule a simple rumor. Those who buy your wares are most probably repeat customers as well, giving you ample opportunities to memorize faces. So perhaps he is not so special as to stand out as much as he assumed he had.

“Here for another flask of monster extract?” you ask, interrupting his train of thought. “Or something else?”

Your opening questions would typically merit no extra consideration. They’re signs of a good merchant assisting their customer, initiating a discussion to help them find what they’re looking for. But Link’s hesitation to respond is only a reasonable reaction when he’s been arguing internally since you greeted him about whether he does stand out, and therefore whether your questions mean anything more. Now he stands here, silent for an amount of time toeing the line of awkward, if it hadn’t crossed that already, wholly unsure if you’re implying something. Are you referring to the other products behind you or yourself?

He scolds himself: This is ridiculous. He’s reading too deeply into it. The case might very well be that you are implying absolutely nothing and he’s projecting his own feelings because it’s true that he is here for something other than monster extract but it’s not the pulsating bokoblin guts nor the glassy keese eyeballs on the shelves. He’s here for your utter fascination with the creatures he slays on his travels, a task he views as mere routine. He understands the basics, what parts of a monster he requires for what elixirs, but never has he been laden with the curiosity and pure elation burning in your eyes as you speak of those beasts, a distinct sense of fondness in your voice. It’s this seemingly paradoxical behavior which made him want to come back because he has never known anyone like you. He’s here for you.

Of course, he doesn’t just say that. In fact, he dodges the questions entirely, opting instead to admit that he hasn’t gotten around to making anything with his current flask of monster extract. He rubs the back of his neck sheepishly, and you chuckle, nodding in understanding. Not intent on trying to scramble for answers when you inevitably ask if he’s interested in any of the other products in stock, he changes the subject: I didn’t know Fang and Bone changed locations.

You nod. “I move all over Hyrule. And tonight, luck would have me in the same village as you.”  

Link’s speculations start up once more. Were you calling yourself lucky? Had you been wanting to see him again too? Maybe he’d been correct in discerning a reciprocated interest, and it hadn’t just been the result of paranoia and doubt, hazards against potentially making a fool of himself. And he’s silently agreeing that yes, the circumstances were lucky indeed.

Where will you go from here? he inquires, and you say you aren’t sure yet. You like to follow the road, let the wind guide you where it will. The corner of his lips lift in a small smile, and it widens as you continue to explain that this lack of a set destination gives you the freedom to track monsters’ movements in the vicinity if you happen to notice any. So I guess the wind points me towards monsters, and I just end up in the closest town, you state with a quiet laugh.

“Maybe I’ll run into you again,” you then remark offhandedly, and Link swears it almost sounds hopeful, and his chest tightens upon this realization. He isn’t imagining that softness in your gaze, filled with an optimism that luck would be on your side again—both your sides—and when you grin, he thinks his heart might burst.

He does buy three lizalfos tails, less because he needs them and more because he doesn’t want to leave empty-handed. The rupees they cost are worth it anyway, as he witnesses the care you take in grabbing the tails from the shelf and setting them down on the counter. He tucks them into his bag which is mostly empty now that he’d had the chance to offload unnecessary items at home. But before he can leave, you suggest out of the blue that he bake a cake with the monster extract: I’ve been told it’s quite tasty!

Link’s smiling to himself on the walk back through town. He passes no one on the way, for it’s late enough that even all the adults have turned in for the evening. The chill melts away once he enters his house, and as he prepares for bed, he’s already thinking ahead to the next time he should come across you, on another clear midnight with the stars a backdrop to that colorful hot air balloon. He’s envisioning it behind closed eyes, playing on a loop the gentle sway of it in the breeze. And he dreams of it too.

Eventually he’s on the road again, traveling west. He always hates to say goodbye to those in Hateno, but he comforts himself in the fact that it won’t feel like very long before he returns. It never does, perhaps owed to the innate longing for home that seems to make the days pass just a little bit faster.

The weather has been better too, with no risk of rain. The sky is cloudless and blue and the temperature has remained moderate and pleasant. Link’s sure that’s going to change as he passes central Hyrule and reaches the fringes, but he’s no stranger to the more extreme climates there, and he’d packed appropriately.

However, for now, any concerns of weather too hot or too cold are far from his mind as he spots a sleepy Outskirt stable. Smoke gently rises from the fire outside, and the air smells of baked apples. There’s only one other horse being tended to by the stablehand, and Link’s horse makes it two. He doesn’t plan to stay overnight, for there’s plenty of daylight left to keep going. Rather, he’s taking the moment to rest and give his horse a much-deserved break, since they’d gotten an early start today, packing up and moving on before the sun came up.

There is a third horse here, a large one, which is standing facing the main road. It pulls along a cart, the contents of which are covered up by a layer of burlap. Link passes it on his way to the fire, where he takes a seat on the tree stump. He assumes the one currently in conversation with the stable master is the owner, but he doesn’t care to linger on it for long as he pulls up the map on his Sheikah Slate. He’ll need to plot out the distance he’d like to travel with the remaining hours of sunlight and find a safe stopping point.

“Thank you!” the person talking to the stable master says, and the sound of their voice tears Link’s focus away from studying the map.

He only sees a profile of the Hylian’s face, given he’s sitting off to the side, but it’s unmistakable that it’s you walking towards the large horse waiting patiently. He notes how peculiar it is to see you without your large cloak and heavy hood, and with your features illuminated by the natural light of the sun and not the artificial lights of all the lanterns. No one might ever expect you to run such a monstrous business, though maybe that’s exactly what you want.

The point is, you aren’t any less wonderful to behold in broad daylight, and the shock to find you here, which makes Link’s stomach bubble as the world suddenly feels to have been turned upside down, prevents him from calling out to you. (Not that he would know what to say.)

You’re facing him when you angle yourself to mount your horse, and before you hoist yourself up, you spot him, and without missing a beat, you smile. To the outsider, it appears as nothing more than a polite grin, the likes of which are shared with a stranger when catching their eyes across a room. But Link knows better, and he detects a similar recognition in your own gaze.

The smile reaches your eyes and it’s amused, and you watch each other for that brief second you take to throw your leg over your horse to sit down in the saddle. It feels like eternity and Link is aware of the wordless connection flittering between you, an unbridled excitement like you’re doing things you aren’t supposed to, like you’re sharing secrets you shouldn’t have learned of in the first place.

He stares after you, your horse, and your cart leaving the stable and continuing down the road, and he watches until you’ve gone over the hill and you’re gone from view. A small part of him wants to follow you, to see where you might go this time, but he gets the feeling that if he were to mount his horse and run after you, he’ll discover you’ve disappeared into thin air, like a magic trick. Perhaps that hot air balloon of yours is secretly good for flying after all, and you take off in it when you’re far away from any prying eyes. So he figures he’ll spend his hours traveling through Hyrule with his eyes on the sky, in search of a mismatched patchwork balloon.

[ohayohimawari]

Kakashi Asks-Answer

Q: (From @nyxako-writing) “So this is more of a silly question, but since the Narutoverse has everything we have (except for guns) do you think Kakashi would ever be a gamer? And if he played any of the Legend of Zelda games, which would be his favorite? XD”

A: Okay so, here’s the thing.

Nyx has the pleasure (?) of knowing me through Discord, and when I’m not geeking over Kakashi, I’m geeking over the Legend of Zelda games. I owe you a life debt for presenting me with this scenario, Nyx! I’m sitting here happy as a clam with my Beta, my Naruto Official Character Data Book and my LoZ encyclopedias.

While I was taking my own sweet time drafting this answer, the incredibly talented @roonie-doodle made my dreams come true by creating this piece of fanart featuring BOTW Sheikah!Kakashi:

Grab a snack and a tasty beverage and buckle up for ALL the geeking Hima below the cut.

In Boruto, we see the next gen ninjas behaving rather UNninjalike with their handheld gaming devices. Whether that’s allowed under the Shinobi Rules or not, it proves that video games exist in Narutoverse.

As a single dad, Sakumo would totally employ screens to occupy Kakashi so he can catch a nap between missions. It’s my opinion that the members of the Hatake household would not like combat games. Think about it: after a day of working in customer service, would you want to unwind with a game that requires your character to level up at a call center? Coupled with their predisposition to PTSD and I think that’s a great big nope. However, father and son could only play Pong, Asteroids, and Pitfall so many times before Sakumo would see the benefit of spending his ryo on the more sophisticated NES, when it becomes available.

According to me, everyone should love the LoZ series and that includes the knuckleheads of Konoha. Even without my totally biased viewpoint, I think Kakashi would enjoy some, but not all of these fantasy adventure games. After he inserts that first Zelda cartridge into the console, he’d be astonished by the colors and the music. His little masked mouth would water at the ability to go up and down, left and right.

And when he enters that fantastic cave where the wisest npc is waiting with a sword and the warning, “It’s dangerous to go alone! Take this,” Kid!Kakashi would be hooked.

It’s not just the gameplay that has him running back to Zelda after killer kindergarten lets out for the day, though. I think that the first time Kakashi realizes he could’ve taken the shorter route of up, right, up, right, right, right, right, right, up, left, up, to the second dungeon (instead of his initial path of up, right, up, up, up, up, right, right, right, right, right, down, down, left, up), he’d grab his ninja crayons and draw a map of the whole darn overworld. Sakumo would totally put that shit up on the fridge too.

Then, then, after Kakashi has smashed through every breakable wall, moved every block, and beaten the OG Ganon, there’s a second effing quest waiting for him (and what a beast it is). Sakumo would be able to put the first map in his son’s baby book then because it’s basically useless for the second playthrough, and Kakashi’s meticulous approach to beating the game would begin anew.

Time to grab a tissue because this is where things get angsty. As we all know, my poor octorok-squishing bean has a very short childhood. While I’m sure that he would’ve loved the hell out of the first Zelda game, he is much too busy being a child soldier in the Third Shinobi War to play The Adventure of Link. While Nintendo offers new consoles and LoZ games to go with them, Dungeon Boss-Kishi plunges Kakashi into darkness with neither a red candle nor a blue one to help him find his way out. Between dodging Danzo and loathing himself, I can’t help but think that it’s impossible for this ANBU assassin to find time to play A Link to the Past or Link’s Awakening. Sob.

However, the Sun’s Song is unlocked and the clouds part for the early days of Team Seven. I can totally imagine Kakashi spying on his cute little genin (while he makes them wait for him) and overhears them discussing one of the best games in the LoZ series, Ocarina of Time. After all the lunches Yams has bought for him, Kakashi decides he can afford to splurge on an N64, and he attempts to recapture some of that Zelda magic from his youth.

This game does not disappoint Kakashi, either.

Like everyone, he’d consider muting the TV way before Link had a chance to verily demonstrate his courage because of Navi’s constant interruptions. However, I think after dealing with another talkative bright ball of a boy as his student, Kakashi is willing to put up with Navi out of respect for the late Great Deku Tree’s wishes.

Honestly, I think Kakashi could relate to this version of the Hero of Time. The poor kid doesn’t quite fit in with the others around him, he’s orphaned, has the expectation of saving the world thrust upon his little kid shoulders, then before he knows it, he’s all grown up and the world around him is even more dangerous than it was when he started.

Even though a map is provided in this game, I think Kakashi might still keep notes of every odd thing he encounters as he thoroughly explores 3D Hyrule (boulders, different colored trees and wide spaces that LoZ geeks know are suspicious). He’d be the kind of gamer that focuses on completing the game-not just beating it-making OoT the right game at the right time for him. He’d plant every bean (and drop bugs on the sprouts), get every weapon upgrade, collect every piece of heart and every gold skulltula. He’d be intrigued by the owner of the Happy Mask Shop (as well as Impa, the Skull Kid, that shady Poe Collector fellow, and Kaepora Gaebora), and he’d make sure that Link models each mask for the Deku Scrubs in their hidden grotto. The Water Temple would’ve driven him just as crazy as it drove the rest of us LoZ freaks when he finds that he’s one key short or didn’t move that one block before adjusting the water levels, but it’s all forgiven when he fights Dark Link.

Kakashi would use fishing as an excuse for being late to meet with Team Seven and it wouldn’t be a lie. Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura would catch on to the truth when their sensei starts absentmindedly humming the OoT soundtrack (the Gerudo Valley theme is his favorite) because everyone that’s played the game is guilty of it.

By the time Kakashi realizes that it’s impossible to beat the Running Man (even with the Pegasus Boots) in that damn race to Kokiri Forest no matter how many times and how many different ways he plays OoT, Majora’s Mask has dropped.

The alternate world of Termina serves as the perfect distraction from Sasuke’s obsession with revenge, and the beginning of the end of Team Seven. Kakashi would be quick to appreciate this game from the beginning; chasing after that weird Skull Kid from OoT, which leads Link to encounter the Happy Mask Shop owner who, right off the bat, starts to prove what a creepy creep he really is.

It should be obvious without my listing all of the reasons as to why Kakashi would love this game. The world is gorgeous, the story is mysterious, the dungeons and bosses are challenging, the Garos, the MASKS fer chrissakes, and the side quests (OMG, the side quests) are an LoZ completionist player’s dream.

If you still need proof that Majora’s Mask is among his favorite games, I offer Kakashi’s boldest move as the Roku-blow-up-the-moon-daime. Fight me.

I’ve kept to the LoZ games that have been released for home consoles because I think Kakashi would avoid the handheld devices. He doesn’t need to have his gaming habit blow his cover while out on missions. He has his trusty, tattered copies of Icha-Icha books and those are plenty to keep him occupied and entertained during downtime around the campfire.

At any rate, at this stage in the Naruto series, the main hero is off training with Jiraiya and the Leaf is short on shinobi to run missions, so Kakashi wouldn’t have much time to indulge his love of LoZ games anyway. He’s definitely invested in the series by now and curious about new installments to it. He would be aware of the release of The Wind Waker, but I think his initial impression of that game would be that it appears cartoonish, and may not be enough to spark his interest in the game at the time.

However, I’m certain that the next LoZ home console release would have those tantalizing fingers of his twitching to play again. I think there’s a lot about Twilight Princess that would catch his attention. The overall dark tone of the game would remind him of Majora’s Mask, new characters and enemies… The familiar LoZ story branches off into new territory and I bet that would have him keen to explore it.

But then he starts to play it.

Twilight Princess starts off so damn slow and Kakashi is so damn busy at this point in the series that I think he saves and quits and isn’t in a rush to return to the game. He’s got a Kazekage to rescue and a Kyūbi to protect; he doesn’t have time to herd oxen and chase cradle-stealing monkeys.

After the power of friendship saves the day and Gai carries Kakashi home, the copy-nin is bedridden and picks up the game again out of boredom. His interest in it is rekindled when he meets with the Twilight Emissaries and is turned into a wolf. Midna entertains him, definitely.

Honestly, I think Kakashi would have a love/hate relationship with Twilight Princess. My headcanon is that he would enjoy another opportunity to explore the world of LoZ, but this game doesn’t present the kind of satisfying overworld journey as other games did. He would be impressed by a few of the characters, but scratch his head at most of the others. He’d have a greater appreciation of the enemies, dungeons, the Ancient Hero, the Cave of Ordeals and especially, the overall story. However, I’m convinced that Kakashi is a completionist and anyone that challenges themselves to complete Twilight Princess knows the unbearable pain of Rollgoal. Ugh.

After Kakashi finishes this game he doesn’t sell it, but he doesn’t replay it often and never through to completion again. He’s satisfied that the Kingdom of Hyrule is safe as long as Malo exists within it.

At this point in Naruto’s flawed timeline, things are coming to a boil. Kakashi faces off in his own boss fight against Pain and Konoha suffers the same fate as Kakariko. My favorite ninja dork falls in battle (and I rage-quit the series for a while), but Kishi releases a bottled fairy and Kakashi is revived to fight in another shinobi war, become the Rokudaime, and play more LoZ games.

Or so he hoped.

Being Hokage comes with more paperwork than any elite shinobi could complete in a lifetime. The position also comes with a pay raise (as I imagine), so I see Kakashi parting with some of his savings to give the gift of a Wii and Skyward Sword to his best buddy, Gai.

I think that this is an LoZ game that Kakashi would be content to occasionally watch his eternal rival play, rather than play himself. Lord Sixth would love the story, would love the presentation that this game is the beginning of LoZ lore. He would also love that he is watching rather than playing when Gai deals with the frustration of syncing and re-syncing the controllers when he flies his loftwing, or swings the Master Sword. The only time I think Kakashi would grab the controllers for this game would be to take a crack at Koloktos. I also think that would be the only break he’d get to sneak in some LoZ fun while he’s Hokage.

Of course, this means Maito would become a fan of the LoZ games and he would approach them with the same gusto he applies to everything in his life. Gai would play through the back catalog, training for when Kakashi retires and becomes available to speed-run playthrough challenges.

Gai would be the friend that convinces Kakashi that he must play The Wind Waker and distracts his rival from the eternal sailing by explaining why A Link to the Past might be the most important game of the LoZ series. Now that Kakashi has reached a point in his life that offers him time for leisure, he plays through it as well as other games in the series that he had missed out on. Besides adding A Link to the Past to his list of favorites, it would otherwise remain unaltered at this point: Zelda, OoT, and Majora’s Mask.

By the time Kakashi knows the significance of the yellow band in the various caps worn by the Hero of Time, Breath of the Wild is released and his list of favorite LoZ games grows again.

There is just so much about this game that would appeal to Kakashi. The sheer size of the overworld (I’ve read it’s 360 square kilometers) and the fact that he can explore the whole thing would be this ninja dork’s dream come true. He can progress through the game however he wants to. He’d buy that Sheikah set right away, and find Majora’s Mask as soon as that DLC dropped and roam the world to his heart’s content.

Kakashi wouldn’t be bothered by the odd trophies this game offers for completing it, because as a completionist player, he understands that completing it is its own reward. His alter-ego Sukea would love taking photos both for the compendium and for the sake of fun. Kakashi loves to infiltrate, gather information, solve puzzles, and form plans and BOTW offers all of that in spades.

He’d restart the game so many times just to try out different strategies. The first time Kakashi leaps off of Mount Lanayru, sputters out of stamina and lands on a buck that charges straight for the blue lynel in Naydra’s Snowfield (this totally happened to me btw), he’d realize he should’ve been trading those spirit orbs for stamina vessels instead of only heart containers; resulting in his first restart. The second restart would come after Gai shows off his spiffy expand-a-band-banded inventory and this time, Kakashi would plow through the Great Plateau so he could recover that pair of priceless maracas. Countless other restarts occur as Kakashi experiments with which and how many towers he should attempt to overtake before he finally makes his way to Impa.

With every restart, he learns something new about BOTW and enjoys it more. He commits locations to memory (at least 148 for the towers, shrines and captured memories). He rushes to gather the essential 441 Korok seeds in each new playthrough (he might shed a tear when he finally becomes a member of the 900 club-I know I did). He figures out how to cheat on Eventide Island. He learns that even though he could launch Link across Hyrule with Magnesis and Stasis doesn’t mean he should. He looks forward to every Blood Moon, if only to cook as many hearty durians, mighty bananas, and endura carrots as he can between 11:30 and midnight in-game time. He realizes that his greatest enemy in all of Hyrule is the weather. When the Champion’s Ballad is available for download, his excitement for playing the game begins all over again.

I’ve stated several times that I’m convinced that Kakashi would be a completionist player and out of all the games, the latest LoZ is a pleasure to complete (despite what some YouTube gamers may say). In addition, BOTW came out during a period in Kakashi’s life when he could afford to spend significant time playing it.

And this finally brings me to the answer to your question. Breath of the Wild would be Kakashi’s favorite LoZ game, hands down. He would love this game so much and would enjoy playing it so often, that I think he had a Nintendo Switch stashed in the fanny pack he rocked during the Steam Ninja Scrolls arc.

XOXO

[mrneighbourlove]

Burnt Heart: Ch 8. What Comes Around...

Zannah deeply harmed Zizi. Her actions against her and her husband cut her deep into the Lorliedian. Revenge was ironed in Zizi’s mind, and she spent nights imagining ways to make Zannah suffer in her own personal way. However, as fate would have it, sometimes Karma lent a hand out into the universe.

One sunny morning, it was peaceful at Hyrule Castle. Suddenly, casting a shadow over the Queen, the long serpent body of the great Dragon Fel’lath appeared before her. “Queen Zarazu. I come before you in time of a sudden crisis upon the Empire.”

Covarog and Zarazu were outside in the courtyard playing a quiet game of checkers. Ba'puu and Umbra'lee were there, semi-circled around the couple. Over the years, Covarog had gotten used to the dragon constantly being around. There were a few changes, of course, when Ba'puu and Umbra'lee became a mated pair. Hatchlings arrived, grew, then moved out of the nest. There was hardly ever any peace outside the castle because of it. Not to mention, all of the hatchlings had a horrible habit of stealing chess or checker pieces for fun. Yet now, there was finally some silence and all was right within the world... So the king thought.

Ba'puu raised his gargantuan head to acknowledge Fel'lath. As time passed, Ba'puu was growing larger and larger, just like his sire before him. Now, Ba'puu was ever bigger than the palace itself, yet still insisted upon seeing his human 'mother'. Trilling, the water dragon looked at Fel'lath from snout to tail. "What happened to you?" Ba'puu asked. "You look like shit."

"Ba'puu..." Zarazu's voice held a chiding tone. "Fel'lath... what happened?"

Fel’lath had indeed looked better. His claws had dirt crusted on him, and his beard was covered in crusty earth. “Nature has not been kind. Over an hour ago, a massive earthquake struck the secondary island of El Tahu. Many are dead, but more concerning to the Emperor, is that her children are trapped alive almost half a kilometre under ground after the earth swallowed their tower whole. She requests a powerful earth dragon or Zemalji to assist her. Assistance from Danjur would be too late.”

Zarazu was trying to brush some of the dirt away from Fel'lath's snout when he relayed the news.

"An earthquake... oh, spirits, usually a tsunami follows right behind." Zarazu was no stranger to this type of disaster. She had experienced it with the Zoras. Luckily, there was minimal damage and only a few injuries due to the Zorans living underwater, but there were many homes that were affected. "My sister is the Earth Sage... but... I..." She exchanged a glance with her husband. "I'll mention it to her. For now, I can send a few earth dragons and Zemljas, but even they cannot dig so deep without necessary risk. Too much pressure. Please ensure that Zannah understands this."

“Ah. So Zizi is the only one who can safely master the Earth?”

"... that deep into the ground? Yes." Zarazu explained to Fel'lath, using an analogy. "I may be able to control water at my beck and call, but even I cannot swim so deeply into the abyss without the pressure crushing me. You have the gift of flight, but can only fly so high until you can no longer breathe. Do you understand what I'm saying, Fel'lath?"

“Then I will waste no time on pride. Or waste time the living have left. Always good to see you Ba’puu.”

"Please inform Zannah that I will send what help I can, but as far as my sister?" Zarazu clasped her hands together, sighing. "That may take some convincing, Fel'lath. I can only ask... I cannot force."

"I will inform Admiral Corsaire to ready some supply relief ships." Covarog told Fel'lath. "Inform Zannah for me."

“I am aware of all your concerns. Thank you, and goodbye.” With no wings, Fel’lath gracefully levitated into the air, snaking his way through the sky. When he quickly found his way to Kahli’s residence, it seemed he accidentally scared a couple of tailed young adults intertwined and kissing on the deck chair. The girl appeared to be a cross between a Dal and Waku. The boy was from Uskar if his smell was correct. The girl stood, a quickened voice breaking from her. “F-father!”

Fel’lath simply smiled, curling on the lawn. “Do not mind me. Lovers should be allowed to mind their business.” It seemed his deep, fatherly voice at least calmed some of the younger children watching afar with awe.

Stigr, no matter how long Hyrule and Uskar had been allies, was still not able to get used to dragons. It was programmed into his head that there was immediate danger. He nearly bolted out of his skin when Fel'lath landed in front of the house, plastering himself and Grievous up against the wall, tail straight up.

"Fucking son of a two faced warlock, how the FUCK does something so big sneak up so quietly?" Stigr cursed in Uskarian.

"Oh fuck an Abyssian, it's you." Urboro heard the commotion from her baby sister's interrupted smooching time. She knew the dragon. Knew who the dragon belonged to. And was sorely tempted to tell him to piss off. "What do you want?"

“Hello, Urboro. My, how you’ve grown.”

Grievous was terrified. Was this dragon after her? Did Zannah grow spiteful towards her father? All she could do was watch in paralysis and silence as the dragon’s whiskers floated up and down in the air magically.

Fel’lath once more, only radiated calm and kind energy. “I know what Zannah did to your mother Urboro. I know what she did to you. However, I would not be here if it did not concern innocent lives. The Empire needs Zizi’s magic to once again save its citizens. More specifically, I ask Zizi would save Athena and Griffith from certain death.”

Inside the house, Fel’lath picked up that Kahli and Zizi were arguing. It seemed the man was insistent Zizi stay inside and that he would handle this new development outside.

"Kahli, I told you once before, and I'll tell you again, I will open upon the earth and swallow that dragon to the bowels of fucking hell if he even so much as puts a whisker on you!!!" Zizi was having a hard time trying to get past her husband to tromp outside. He had her around the waist and was holding her back. If she really wanted to get free, she probably could, yet she did not want to hurt her husband. Ever again. "You let go of me this instant!"

Urboro heard the commotion inside and quirked an eyebrow. "I agree with Mom about you trying to harm my Dad, but my question is this," She took a sip of her lemonade. "Has Zannah finally gone senile? Of all people, she's asking my mom? Has she forgotten what she did?" She then turned to her sister, assuring her. "Not you, Grivy, you're a sweetie, unlike this fuck here." Urboro then snorted. "Stigr, calm your tail, Fel'lath doesn't eat horny monkeys."

"Does he eat non-horny monkeys?"

"Same difference."

“I’m a vegetarian little children. What’s more, this is for the sake of innocents I come, not Zannah’s ego. She would prefer someone else. I see no reason to deny.”

Kahli stomped out, pulling both Grievous and Stigr by the tails to get in the house. “Zizi, look after Grievous and her monkey boy.” The Waku stood his ground against Fel’lath. “Great Fel’lath. I have nothing but respect for you, but I must have respect for myself. I do not wish the Empire to come here.”

“True. I am not Empire. But I come on the Empire’s behalf. No, I come on the Hasai’s behalf. Lives are in peril Kahli.”

"My name is Stigr---" The door was promptly shut in the Uskarian's face. He had an inkling that Kahli did not like him as a suitable choice for Grivy. Either that, or it was one of those alpha-male ego things. He couldn't quite place it. "... I still don't think your father likes me."

Meanwhile, Zizi was cursing in five different languages and demanding that she be let outside, despite Urboro trying to calm down her mother.

"Mom, seriously, Dad's got this shit."

"If that dragon hurts him, I'm going to be making a purse out of his skin!!!!"

“I’ve come here today to speak to your wife.”

“What?” Kahli immediately took a battle stance, fire shimmering between his fingers. “No. You don’t get to take her from me.”

“Your fire no longer has a chance of hurting me. Besides. I never said I would. I will simply stay here until she hears my plea.”

The biggest mockery to Kahli’s ego was watching Fel’lath yawn, and start to sleep on his lawn.

"DAAAAAAD!" Urboro shouted from inside the house. "Mom is---"

Zizi busted through the front door, almost knocking it off the hinges with a face of rage. At her feet, on the left side, Urboro was holding onto an ankle, and on the right side, Grivy was holding the other ankle. Despite Zizi's age, she still managed to drag her legs forward. She had raised fifteen kids, all of whom had clutched at her legs at some point. Stigr stayed out of the mess, at least wanting Zizi on his side if Kahli was not.

"YOU!!!" She growled at Fel'lath.

"... she got loose."

Fel’lath opened one eye to her, still relaxing on the ground. “By Vatra. Such fire.”

Grievous was terrified to see her step mother be so primal. Kahli turned, forcing a gulp from rising. “Zizi. Get back in the house.”

"The hell I will, this is that stinking pet of Zannah's and I want it off my land immediately!!!" Zizi tugged on her right leg, glaring down at Grivy. "Sweetie... let. Go."

"Don't let go." Urboro told her sister.

"Urboro, Grivy, you listen here, I'm the mother, you will respect me, I said let go!"

"Mom, please calm down, Fel'lath isn't here to hurt Dad---"

"I don't give an Abyssian's ass why he's here, I want him gone!"

“I never knew that Dragons were the pets of others. Did you?” Fel’lath looked in the direction of Zizi’s companion dragons. “You have the fury of Vatra in your heart right now Zizi, instead of the calm serenity of Zemalji. Trust me, I’ve met them both. And that is the key phrasing. Trust me. I am not here to bring you pain of any kind.”

"You're a pet, they're companions, you blindly follow Zannah's every whim, they don't follow mine! I have every right to be furious!" Zizi snapped at Fel'lath. "Trust you? Trust you?! Let me tell you where trust got me with Zannah, Fel'lath! Nothing but humiliation, grief, and a fight that nearly tore my family apart! Why should I believe one fucking word you say?!"

“Because I came to you against Zannah’s word. Her children are about to die. More Hasai are going to die. It seems karma struck against Zannah, if you believe such things. Not to long ago an earthquake hit the island home of her children’s residence. I’m sure if you concentrate, you can feel them trapped terribly far, deep within the earth. I came to you to save Hasai lives. Not improve the quality of the Empire.” His whiskers brushed up and down the earth. Zizi could feel by the rumble of his belly against the earth that not only was Fel’lath conveying the truth, but he was sad.

"..." Zizi quieted for a moment. There was dirt covering the dragon and he was always particular about his appearance. She stepped onto the ground and listened for time. A disturbance in the earth settled around one of the Empire's islands. Innocents were hurt. Homes were destroyed. And there... she stopped. There was a wave coming, a tsunami. It followed natural disasters like this. "I feel it." She told the dragon, curling her hands into fists. "... I swore I'd never go back to the Empire. I didn't want anything else to do with Zannah. But you are right... her people are innocent. They had no part her actions." Zizi sighed, furrowing her brow. By the spirits, she did not want to do this. Was this a test? Was this what Zemlja meant when he told her think carefully upon her actions? Maybe not an act of revenge but... an act of grace?

“Then you will accompany me to the island?”

“No. Zizi, let them suffer in isolation.” Kahli grasped her shoulders, Grievous and Urboro still holding on. “I won’t let you be taken from me. I won’t let the Empire hurt you.”

"... what if... some of your other children are there?" Zizi spoke very softly.

That got both Kahli and Grievous to let go of Zizi. Kahli frowned, his golden eyes staring down at her. “... You aren’t going without me.”

"Someone needs to stay to watch the little ones." Zizi looked at Urboro and Grivy. "Can you look after your little brothers and sisters?"

“Of course.” Grievous gave Zizi a squeeze of her hands. “You’ll be careful, won’t you? I don’t want to lose someone so amazing after barely getting to know them.”

"I'll be all right, we'll both be all right." Zizi assured Grievous with a smile. "We'll look after each other. We always have." She then leaned forward and whispered into Grivy's ear. "Don't let Urboro near my stove."

“She’s a terrible cook. Got ya.” Grievous got the meaning.

"I heard that!"

"We'll be back as soon as we can." Zizi promised the girls and then took a slow breath. "Ari'phompha and my other dragons of the plantations will join us. I think they too can sense something is amiss."

“Climb on my main and we’ll be off.”

Kahli was the first to climb aboard, reaching a hand out to his wife. He felt grateful that she took it. With her by his side, Kahli held her around the hip as Fel’lath took off into the air. “Zizi... I’m sorry for being a terrible husband to you.”

"We're past this now, Kahli," Zizi held around her husband's waist as Fel'lath took off into the air. "You were cornered. There was nothing you could have done. I reacted badly. We both hurt each other. The important thing is that we moved past this and we'll be stronger because of it. I'm not going anywhere."

“I should never have hurt you.”

"The same goes for me." Zizi admitted to Kahli. "I shouldn't have hurt you either. We both have done things we regret. But dwelling on them will only bring more grief. Let's focus on what we have."

On the island, the Emperor was in panic. Her clothing was dirty, her hands bloody from clawing at crumbled brick to reach her children in vain. She was ordering medics to aid the wounded, and franticly pushing workers to clear the debris.

“Move faster! If more die it will be on your heads!”

Standing at the beach house, she saw Fel’lath and a group of Earth Dragons fly in.

“You’re back! Good. We mustn’t waste any more time.”

The Emperor would suddenly falter when she saw Zizi and Kahli step off the dragon’s main. “What? You two? What are you doing here?”

"... I won't kill her." Zizi had promised her husband before landing on the ground. "I won't attack. I won't do anything to start a war between her and my sister. I'll be okay. I swear."

Though as soon as the pair were on the ground, Zizi was highly tempted to beat the snot out of Zannah. Yet, she had to focus on the bigger picture. There were innocents here that needed her help. The earth was still unstable and another aftershock could occur at any given moment.

“Fel’lath. Why did you bring her here?”

“Zannah. She can save your children.”

The Emperor paused, planting her feet into the sand beneath her. “Zizi... you aren’t going to just let more innocents die, are you? It’s not in your nature. Of course you’ll help, won’t you?”

"I won't let innocents die. Though, I will say the same thing to you that you told my husband all those years ago when he asked for mercy." For all her rage, Zizi kept an eerily calm face. No even a slight twitch of a cheek muscle. She uttered one single word. "Beg."

It was if a bullet had traveled through heart with that single word. It took a moment to register if it was even real to the Emperor. “What?”

"Perhaps you've gotten hard of hearing with age, so I'll gladly repeat myself." Zizi once again said. "Beg."

Zannah looked out to the ocean stealing the water, then back to Zizi. “Are you trying to blackmail me? My children are going to die if you don’t hurry on your end.”

"For that, you can apologize too. Not only to me, but to my husband." Zizi held up her hands, stabilizing several structures on the surface. She had the citizens' attention now. Good. She wanted an audience. "Like I said. I won't let innocents die. Though my skills may or may not reach your children. I wonder..." She paused choosing her words carefully, not mentioning death, neither denying or confirming Zannah's statement. "What kind of pain would it cause you? Like that black hand of yours? Or perhaps worse? Can the self-proclaimed 'god' of the Hasai not even save her own children? If you're a deity, then go ahead. Save your children. Let's see that accumulation of power help you now."

“Stop this. You think you can speak that way to me? Do you feel I cucked your husband? I have the power to save everyone here except my children. I’m a master of fire, not earth. I bring war against the very forces of nature, but I can’t heal or rescue my children. Zizi, please, you’re the only one who can save my children. You have the power here to do that, not me. You have their lives in your hands. If that tsunami even comes close it could shift the earth further. Please, you have to save them. They’re the only blood I have left!”

"... I did not hear begging neither did I hear an apology." Zizi then glanced at the horizon, not even batting an eye. "And that wave is getting closer."

Zannah’s sanity dwindled, and for once, this wasn’t a situation she could blast apart. Zannah dropped to her knees, looking up at her only hope. “Zizi. I’m sorry I hurt you and your husband’s feelings in my act against you. I’m sorry I sacrificed our friendship for the sake of my people. I’m on my knees here. I can’t lose my children! I can’t lose more family!”

Kahli shrugged, looking at the growing wave. “Least you already bury them. We should go Zizi.”

“No! You can’t! You have to save my children! Now! I can’t do it!”

"... I want you to remember this moment. I want you to recall how utterly helpless you feel." Zizi squatted down to look Zannah in the eye. She still betrayed no emotion on her visage. There was just a sparkle, a flicker of... absolute loathing in her eyes. "I want you to recall feeling of despair. That's how I felt then. I thought I had lost my husband. I knew I had lost who I considered a friend. All because of this lust for power, for control." She upturned one palm. "I warned you once long ago that your blasphemy, calling yourself a god, would come back to haunt you. I think this is a fair warning from the deities, don't you agree?" She then upturned the other. "Remember how one Zemlja who you thought was insignificant and who you dared to hurt still came to your rescue... for a second time. You owe me two debts, Zannah. One for rejuvenating your island all those years ago. One for saving your children now. I will collect on those debts. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow... but soon. And then, you will be the one who will not be able to defy me." The Earth Sage stated bitterly. "You're a horrible friend, you're a leader who uses her people as pawns, and you're not a deity, you're far from it. You're nothing but a power-hungry brat. Just like your brother before you. You'll never be the kind of leader you want to be."

With her peace said, Zizi brought her palms together, closing her eyes and concentrating. The children were deep in the earth. What kept them trapped? Mining equipment? No. A secret passageway? No. Was it... simply the earth crushing them? Perhaps. No time to explore with her magic. Roots started to swirl up and cover both Athena and Griffith to protect them during their journey to the surface. The wall of water, on the other hand, was threatening to tower over the island.

Being deemed Earth Sage had its perks. She worked hard for that title.

Slamming one hand on the ground, the earth rumbled, shaking and cracking open. There was a giant chasm lining the beach to consume some of the water. However, that would not be enough to stop it. Glowing green from head to toe with magical energy, Zizi summoned forth an interlocking wall of dirt, roots, vines, and foliage. It sprouted forth from the land, higher than any of the buildings, the height of the wall of water... and held true when the immense wave smacked into it.

Kahli crossed his heart, watching Zizi channel the power of her spirits magic through her. She truly was Zemlja incarnate.

Zannah said nothing in return, her pride in tatters, no words or witty comeback to give. However, when she saw the state of her children as they raised up from the earth, her panic came back to her. She pushed past Zizi to get to them. “My babies!”

Athena and Griffith were not unscathed from the quake swallowing them. Her son’s legs had been crushed, everything below his kneecaps turned into a red paste. Her daughter’s face was... dear god, it was unrecognizable, but she was alive upon feeling her pulse. Neither was conscious as the Emperor started to heavily cry. She carefully held her daughters head close to her chest, Zannah’s eyes expanded wildly in a sense of madness. The last time she held someone like this was her deceased twin. “Oh god. Oh my sweet little angels.”

Kahli turned to see what had Zannah so riled, his attention on Zizi’s magic stopping the wave. “Zizi, are you feeling all—! Oh gods…”

Zizi was gritting her teeth. And sweating. The weight of the water was more than she expected. It felt like she was trying to hold the whole ocean back. The wave was not draining into the split in the earth as quickly as she thought it would. She was shaking, her feet sliding as if she was being pushed back by an invisible force.

"I... I can't..." She managed to speak, almost sounding guttural with the magic influencing her body. A small whimper escaped between her lips, her fingers starting to bend out of place from the unseen weight. "I-It's... so h-heavy..."

Zannah turned to the wave crashing outside. It seemed that she would need to step up to protect her nation after all. Placing both her children down, she raised both her hands in the air. The clouds in the sky turned black, suddenly swirling around and blocking out the sun, except one beam that shined on the Emperor. Her eyes glowed with the intensity of rubies. The ground beneath her feet sizzled.  With her voice speaking to the sky, she released a quiet chant for the gods to hear. “Hell from below. Heaven from above. I call upon all my power. War, war, war, war. This horseman will leave its wake. Nothing will be spared from the roar of this chosen god’s final stake.”

From above in the sky, kilometres of lightning shot down into the tsunami. From deep in the sea, the water boiled as a wall of tremendous fire burst above, flames burning off the top of the magic barrier. Zizi’s wall of earth allowed Zannah to successfully decimate the crashing water, evaporating the wave down to a safe level. Kahli was terrified by the power that radiated outside, and he couldn’t even see most of it, just feel it. Nature was at war with each other in all its elements. With her magic sizzled, Zannah crashed to the beach, exhausted. “You might be the master of the earth, perhaps a goddess... but I am the God of Fire that walks this plane.”

Exhausted, her attention returned turned to her children, too tired to cry. Her rational mind was weakening after unleashing such power on the ocean’s attack. “My sweet, sweet twins...”

Zizi felt some of the weight be removed and nearly stumbled with her steps, yet still stood pushing back. The earth was swirling violently under the water. The ground was shaking once more, rumbling with aftershocks.

"That's... not the wave I'm worried about! The first wave... isn't the worst!" She panted, reaching out to touch Zannah on the shoulder. Her magic allowed the empress to see the impeding doom. "See what I see!"

How long would she be tested? The Emperor truly hoped that it wouldn’t have to come to sacrificing her humanity, but she would take that step if need be. “Then I’ll burn the entire ocean to cinders.” Zannah meant it. She would do it if she needed to. Her rage and fury built, ready to break the limits of her body, mind and soul.

Kahli was visibly worried, looking to his wife. She was a Sage. She was supposed to know what to do. “I don’t doubt you two could do something like that, but is there any other options?”

"You can't burn away the entire ocean, you egomaniac!" Zizi snapped at Zannah, the pressure getting to her. Focus, focus, she had to focus. Her sister was not here to redirect the water... wait. That was it! It could work. Whistling loudly, she obtained the attention of the other earth dragons and Zemljas that had arrived to help. "Help me form a split!!!"

"Split?" Ari'phompha was the first to approach. "You think that will work?"

"It's got to, I can't hold up the entire ocean." Zizi told the old dragon. "The second wave is always the worst. More power, and more speed."

"Like a needle into a thread."

"Exactly." She instructed. "Go tell the others. We only get one shot at this." Holding out her awkward fingers to husband, she left no room for argument. "Wrap them back into place with my belt."

“You can do this Zizi.”

Zannah charged her magical energy to its current maximum limit, a sinister energy cackling from her. All it would take is one snap of energy, like cutting a ribbon with scissors, for her to break her limits if she had the desire. “If you fail, I won’t. Take your shot Slatki.”

Zizi ignored Zannah and was praying under her breath.

"Mighty Zemlja, creator of the roots which run deep, the vines which spiral freely, the trees which grow strong, the flowers in ever beautiful bloom, I pray to you, give me the strength to protect the innocents here, I ask of you to give me your hand, your unrelenting command over the earth..."

Upward the split started to form from the oceanic plate. It was simply a wall of earth from mixed rock, melding together. With the help of her other follow Zemljas, and the earth dragons, the wall was rising... steadily... steadily. Grunting, Zizi held it together with brute force. This had to work, there was no other option. Yet when it seemed the wall would not be tall enough, just before the wave struck, it shot upwards, exponentially.

There stood no longer Zizi. But Zemlja himself.

Zannah felt a small sense of relief fill her. She wouldn’t have to become like her brother to save her people. There was a sense of serenity as the wall simply... stopped the wave. There was a crash outside, but then there was a peaceful calm.

Fel’lath eyed Zemlja carefully. Been a very long time since he seen the spirit. Least in this realm.

Zemlja was a quiet spirit. Impossibly large, the size of an oak tree, with leaves for hair and bark for skin. Even his feet resembled tree trunks. Usually, he had nothing too much to say except words of wisdom. However, this time... he looked sad at the destruction. The land was in tatters. Homes were demolished. Crops were uprooted. Yet, all this could be salvaged, but lives were still lost.

"Magic incarnate..." Zemlja spoke to Kahli and to Zannah, his voice very deep. "This was our gift to the Lorleidians. My follower has used her talents well. Despite her apparent hatred of you," His pupil-less eyes glanced in Zannah's direction. "She hates to witness suffering. To her husband, her mate," The spirit of the earth blinked slowly, looking over Kahli. "You care for her, as she does for you. Long together, will be your years. Yet, I carry word of warning for the future," He foretold, "Balance and Chaos will meet, as will Maker and Destroyer... you will have to choose which side you wish to be on. However, grudges and strife will have no place in this final battle. Green empress," He forewarned, "If you declare yourself a deity, you will have a target upon you, your loved ones, and your homes. Loose this quest for power and be content with what you have lest risk losing everything. Young Waku of fire," He added, "You left behind a life of battle, yet when the day comes, you have two paths, yet which will you take? Will you fight once again or stay behind to watch over what is yours? Beware the Black Dragon and old faces..."

Then he vanished from Zizi's body.

Zannah looked on, flabbergasted. What the hell was it even talking about? Fuck it. Fuck all of them. Her energy sizzled out her finger tips, needing to find a drain out into the world from how much gathered in her. Once down sizzling, she dragged herself to reach her children. “You can leave now Zizi.”

Being a host for Zemlja, even for a short amount of time, felt like Zizi was walking on clouds. To Zemlja it was a few minutes, to her, it felt like an eternity. She sat above the world, watching the stars pass by... and listened. She listened to what fate had left to unfold for them. Once her body was returned to her, Zizi actually felt... rejuvenated. Perhaps it was a gift from her earth spirit as thanks.

"... I will ensure the structures are stable before leaving." Zizi looked to her husband, brushing some dirt off of him. "Let's go make sure there is no one underneath rubble. Then I will leave you to whatever whims you have left, Zannah."

“Citizens! Stop gawking at the sorceress and help your fellow neighbour! The Prince and Princess need immediate medical attention! NOW!!!”

Her fury snapped the people back into action.

"Maybe you should beg for a Dusa next." Zizi muttered under her breath, walking along the rumbled pathways to sense if there were any others who needed help. She gently lifted pieces of houses, trying to undo any dangerous and unsteady pieces. So far, there were only a few people who needed help. Moving a few beams or trees was nothing.

Zannah furiously struck Zizi across the face with the back of her hand. Her children were becoming her breaking point. “Fuck you bitch!”

Kahli saw a full-on lioness fight would take place if he didn’t step in. “We’ll leave Zannah. We’ll leave. I’m certain the Queen of Danjur isn’t too far behind, and the Earth Dragons can assist, but we’ll go.”

Zizi didn't move when she was struck. Matter of fact, she had promised Kahli she would not fight. And she would hold true to that promise. Though, she didn't promise against one of her age one tricks. Zarazu and Zolori always warned others not to get Zizi mad.

"You messed with my family, Zannah." The Zemlja then actually... laughed. "But look at you now. Zemlja was right. Claim to be a deity when you're nothing but a brat and there will be a target on your back. And now your people can view you as you are. You're not their savior anymore..." Her green eyes flickered upward at the Empress. "I am."

A few of the Hasai looked their way, seeing the Emperor shouting at the Zemlja who had helped them. Murmurs started across the survivors of the disaster. This wasn't right...

“I’ll burn your entire country to ground if they die. I wouldn’t hesitate to wag war just to see your little family burn to ash. You probably organized this disaster didn’t you.”

One of Zannah’s royal guards saw knew his Emperor was being... careless, to put it lightly. “My Emperor. If I may, I think this catastrophe has weighed heavily on all of us. The royal princess and prince aren’t in stable condition yet. We should go accompany them to a hospital.”

Zannah looked down at Zizi, her golden eyes filled with madness and fury. It was honestly a coin flip if she’d attack with greater force. She didn’t turn away from Zizi when she answered her guard. “Yes. We should all be so grateful to have as much time as we can with our children.”

Finally, the Emperor turned, her heart plummeting when she laid eyes once more on her twins.

The Hasai people were shaken by today’s events. Zizi was indeed correct about being a saviour. But they also saw Zannah’s power. And truth be told, it scared them dearly. No one would dare speak such a thing now, but with the condition of the royal twins as they were currently, perhaps a regime change would be possible.

Kahli, finally, turned to his wife, placing a hand on her shoulder and examining her cheek. “You going to be alright?”

"Huh. Didn't know that stupidity was added to the mixture. You might claim to be able to win against me, or my husband, but I do have a good memory." Zizi did nothing but smile. "If you attack us... oh my, that's right." She pretended to be surprised. "If you attack my kingdom... you loose Annuciata. Your fuck buddy. Your mate. For good. She will not wage war against us. Seems like you're not only a brat, but stupid and forgetful too." She knew her not snapping and lashing out at the empress was weighing on Zannah's last nerve. She would not be the one to give in this time. When Zannah turned her attention to her children, Zizi flinched when Kahli touched her cheek. It was a little tender, but she would be all right. "Oh, I'll be fine, Kahli." Zizi assured him. "It's just a bruise, nothing more. Come... you are right, we shall leave. Let's go home and leave these ruins to Zannah."

“We can take one of the Earth Dragons back.” Once out of ear shot, Kahli ran a hand down his face. “That was very, very risky of you. She’s not mentally all together.”

"I know she's not," Zizi climbed on top of Ari'phompha and then offered Kahli her hand. "I wanted to see her break."

“If she didn’t lead an army that was fanatically driven to her, I might agree with you.”

"It's of no matter now, Kahli. I got what I wanted... and the people are safe."

Kahli nodded, giving his wife a close hug. With this, they could truly put the Empire behind them now. “Let’s go home Zizi.”

Zannah stayed by her children’s side, lamenting her failure. Why? Why did this happen to her? The strong were supposed to lead others into prosperity. The strong didn’t need to beg.

It took almost twelve hours, but suddenly, there were Sky Gliders filling the sky across the Empire. All of the floating ships were dropping supplies. Food, fresh water, medicine, and blankets... all of it was dispersed. From the largest of the Sky Gliders, Annuciata looked for Zannah. She could see that Hyrule and other nations had sent assistance, but she desperately wanted to see if the Emperor herself was alright.

Zannah, even as her people were being helped, stayed by her children. It took a direct message from T0-D to let Annuciata know the Emperor could be found at a hospital center.

Annuciata, for the first time in her life, actually looked disheveled. Her hair was frizzy, and she was wearing pants and a blouse and boots. She fit all the taboos for a Danjuran, royal woman to commit for a diplomatic visit. Then again, this was not the usual of visits so she supposed this slight curtness could be overlooked. When the robot appeared on her ship, Annuciata almost hit him with her fan she was so startled. Though, she did thank him for the message and had her ship land.

Climbing down the ladders from the ship, Annuciata started to call out for the Empress.

"Zannah?! Where are you?!"

“I’m here.”

Griffith’s legs had to be sawed off from the kneecaps to get rid of the damaged handicap. Athena had white, bloodied bandages wrapped completely around her face. Both the twins were put into forced comas at the moment. Zannah had scribbled maps of island for updates, but it looked she hadn’t moved much in her time since being beside them, if at all from her chair.

"I came as fast as the Sky Gliders would fly!" Annuciata hurried up to Zannah, huffing for air. "And... oh dear goddesses..." Her eyes fell upon Athena and Griffith and it was only she could do not to retch. Breath in. Breath out. "What... what happened?"

“A category 6 level earthquake hit the island. The earth itself swallowed their shared tower home. As they become swallowed 500 meters downwards, Griffith’s legs became crushed by the crust of the earth. Athena had sharp gravel scalp her entire face. They’re on deaths door Annuciata.” Zannah’s voice was cold, tired, and defeated.

"I... I can begin a search for healers... the best healers!" Annuciata had known the twins since they were smaller. She wouldn't let them suffer like this. There had to be a solution! "Where's Tod? I can get him to send a message to Queen Zarazu. She knows some of the best healers! There's one in Uskar, where Kanisa lives, she delivered Kanisa's baby, oh what was her name? Neera? Nana? No... Naira! That's it! We could get her and I could get a few surgeons from Danjur and maybe Labrynna would send us some of their top-notch healing potions..." The queen was rambling.

“It’s not fixable, even by regular magicians of the healing arts. I asked Hylian mages that came to assist my people. They said the damage took too much away. They can’t create the necessary matter to grow my son’s legs back. Or give my daughter her smile once more. A god appeared to save my people due to Zizi’s interference. But they did nothing to save my children.” Silent, angry tears were coming down her face as she kept her focus on her children. “They called me a brat. They made me feel I deserve this as my personal punishment. But who deserves this kind of hell? WHO!?!” Zannah screamed as she threw the maps of the table in an act of frustration. Raising her arm, she brought it down, snapping the wooden table in half.

Annuciata jumped at Zannah's outburst. Listening to her words, she did not know what to say to comfort Zannah. This was a situation where she had no experience. She lost her mother to illness. Her father died of a heart attack. But thinking the heavens above were against her? Looking at Athena and Griffith, the Queen of Danjur was at a loss for words, but something had to do.

Gently, Annuciata put her arms around Zannah's shoulders.

"I... don't know what to say to make you feel better. I don't have much experience with the supernatural." The queen spoke very quietly as to not agitate Zannah further. "I was always told that the deities are a mystery to us. There are things we do to please them, and things we do that displease them. I don't know what you believe, but... this could be a test. This could be a joke. This could simply be a natural disaster. Take your pick, but if it comes to it..." She took a slow breath. "I can always make Griffith a pair of legs, and... and I'm sure Eleonora would know something about growing artificial skin for Athena."

Zannah sobbed as the Queen spoke to her and held her. Annuciata was the only one she’d let her emotions down around. Taking deep breaths, she tried to breath more. “Zizi said I was nothing but your ‘fuck buddy’. That I’m nothing. Is that true?”

"... wait, Zizi was here?" Annuciata sounded shocked. "She actually came here?" The brief thought of why crossed her mind. What would Zizi be able to gain by coming here? ... unless it was karma really being a bitch. "I'm... I am quite surprised that she did come, love. Especially with... your history." She tried to put it lightly. "And as far as her comment, I'm sure she was just goading you. I'm here, aren't I?"

“She humiliated me and castrated my people’s belief in me is what she did.” Finally, Zannah turned to look at Annuciata. Her eyes were pink and puffy from all the crying she did. “What are we? I’ve never been your girlfriend; we’ve never been able to wed... is she right? Is that my title? A brat who’s found herself becoming a glorified concubine?”

"Love, I hate to be the logical person, though I'm sure she felt humiliated when she found out what you did to her husband." The Queen of Danjur was trying her best to remain... somewhat neutral. "Yet it doesn't excuse her behavior if she did influence your people somehow. Besides, if you were a glorified concubine, then wouldn't we be having sex all the time instead of running our countries?" Annuciata placed her forehead against Zannah's, stroking her hair to calm her. She tried to keep a bit of humor in the situation. Maybe it would help ease Zannah's worries. "I can't say that title sounds too bad if it means I get to retire. More time with you." She chuckled lightly, "And yes, you can be a brat when you don't get your way. But I still love you."

“I... this ruins everything. I thought I could step down as Emperor soon and give the throne to...” The Emperor couldn’t even finish that sentence. “They’ll never be in the condition for it.”

Zannah rested her head against Annuciata’s warm bussom. “I almost lost control today. I was so close to becoming a monster. I threatened to invade Hyrule just to kill Zizi if my children died. I was so angry...”

"You have a right to be angry. It's okay to be angry. It's not okay to lash out at someone who had nothing to do with this. She's the Earth Sage, not a killer of innocents." Annuciata held Zannah tightly, sighing. "At least... at least Zizi came. She may have done so for whatever reason, but at least she came to help. Imagine how much worse it would have been if she didn't. I love you but I can't stop an earthquake with my machines." The Queen of Danjur then told Zannah, "Let's... let's just focus right now on the twins. I'll start sketching some prototypes for Griffith and get a message to Eleonora. It won't hurt to try, will it?"

“No, it won’t ... can you stay for a while and hold me? I’m scared.”

"... it's okay to be scared too. Everyone gets scared." Annuciata kissed Zannah's forehead. "I'm not a goddess or spirit or deity of any kind, but I'll do my best by you and the twins because I love you. Regardless of whether we're wed or not, people who love each other do their best by them. I'm not going anywhere."

“I love you so much. I don’t know what I’d do without you.” Zannah was worried that by scorching Zizi, she was the one left with a burnt heart.

"I love you too, Zannah. Our situation is unique, for sure, but we're stronger for it." The Queen of Danjur then took a look at her lover with a quirked eyebrow "... maybe next time you'll listen when I tell you that a bad idea is a bad idea?" Annuciata jested lightly, "And don't worry too much. We'll figure out a solution for our babies."

Our. That meant the world to Zannah coming from Annuciata. “Will they be alright here without us?”

"Love, they're simply sleeping. Let Tod watch over them while you get some rest." Annuciata assured Zannah. "I'll make sure everything runs properly. You'll trust your people in my hands for a few hours, won't you?"

It was almost midnight by this point. The Emperor nodded, taking Annuciata’s hand. “It should have been me... I’m so tired.”

"How about we move you and the twins to my Sky Glider? It's no palace, but has a bed for each of you." Annuciata suggested. "I could have my soldiers move a bed into the twin’s room. That way, you'd feel better keeping an eye on them when you wake."

If they woke. Zannah slowly kissed Annuciata gently, her lips tender and light. “Once I feel safer knowing they’ll be stable, I’m going to spoil your kind soul so much. I owe you too much my love.”

"Make love, not war, Zannah." Annuciata obtained the attention of a few guards. "Please escort the empress and her children to my personal Sky Glider. Make sure they have what is needed and then return to help distribute supplies."

"Yes, my queen."

“It’s Emperor- never mind. Let’s go to bed…” Zannah almost laughed. Nothing would be same for her going forward, she felt that in the air. Perhaps fate would have been better for her if she simply had left Kahli and Zizi alone.

________________________________________________________________

Previous Ch. https://mrneighbourlove.tumblr.com/post/612606875698085888/burnt-heart-ch-7-burning-bridges-repairing Crossover with @ridersoftheapocalypse Shared world with @s-kinnaly

[katedoesfics]

The Great Calamity

Chapter Four - Vah Rudania (Resolve and Grief & Daruk's Mettle)

When they were finished in Rito Village, Zelda insisted against returning to the castle, determined to make the journey around Hyrule to check on the other Divine Beasts as soon as possible, but not without stopping to speak with Purah, first. It was her duty, after all, to do everything necessary to make sure the Champions were well equipped and prepared to defend Hyrule from Calamity Ganon. Not only that, she was determined to learn everything she could about the Sheikah Slate and the Guardians. There was simply to much to do, and no way to know for sure just how much time they had left.

Zelda opted to head to Kakariko Village first to speak with Purah before heading north to Goron City. Link wasn’t necessarily against her idea, but it would be a long ride south just to go north again. He didn’t bother to argue with her, though, as he wasn’t exactly looking forward to the path up to Goron City, either. Frankly, being anywhere near Death Mountain wasn’t his idea of a good time, even if Daruk said the volcano would not erupt.

The ride to the village was uneventful. Even his clearly strained relationship with the princess didn’t quite feel as tedious. Perhaps she was growing accustomed to his presence. She didn’t exactly make conversation with him, but instead continued to muse on about, well, everything. Although this time, she was more focused on the Guardians and whether or not Robbie had managed to activate more of them. Link could only pray that he would not be required to go near those things. He’d take on Calamity Ganon a thousand times with just the sword on his back as long as he didn’t have to have any part of those machines, even if they were designed to help stop Ganon.

It was early in the afternoon when they arrived in the village. They followed the path up the hill to Purah’s lab, and to Link’s relief, there were no Guardians in sight. Inside the lab, Purah and Robbie were in the midst of a heated conversation. Impa stood off to the side, her arms crossed as she watched them discuss and debate. They hardly noticed Zelda and Link as they entered.

“We have the Shrine to our advantage,” Purah said sternly. “We must do everything in our power to get it in working order.”

“We have no way to even test it out,” Robbie said. “We can’t know for sure if the stasis function will even work, or how long it will last. And what about the side effects? There’s too many unknown factors.”

“We make them known,” Purah demanded. She turned, finally acknowledging Zelda and Link as they stood in the doorway. Her eyes immediately went to the slate on Zelda’s hip. “The slate,” she continued, turning back to Robbie. “It was unable to activate it, but it may be the key to getting it running once we restore it.”

“Get what running?” Zelda repeated, narrowing her eyes at them. “What’s going on?”

“The Shrine of Resurrection,” Robbie started, “that you and Purah found. It is, indeed, a medical facility of sorts.”

“But we don’t know how to get it working,” Purah said. “We should focus our efforts on restoring it. The future of Hyrule is bleak. We shouldn’t take anything to chance.”

“A medical facility?” Zelda repeated. “I don’t understand. I thought it was built ten thousand years ago? What could make a facility like that such a necessity?”

Purah and Robbie exchanged an uneasy glance, then turned their gazes to Impa. The brief, silent interaction made Zelda uneasy. Was the war against the Calamity really so bad ten thousand years ago? What could that possibly mean for their own pending war?

“Purah is right,” Impa said. “There was a reason that facility was built. We should do everything we can to restore its power. It could prove to be very valuable to us some day.”

Link shifted uneasily on his feet as Impa’s gaze fell on him.

“Well,” Zelda said, her voice soft for a moment. “What do we need to do to get it restored?”

Robbie shook his head. “We don’t know,” he admitted. “We’re working on it. Purah and I are heading out tonight to see what we can do.”

“What can I do?” Zelda asked.

“Focus on the Divine Beasts,” Purah said. “And continue to familiarize yourself with that slate. The more we know about it, the better. Make sure the Champions are well prepared; this war could be bigger than we could ever imagine.”

*****

Zelda did not learn anything more about the Guardians as she had hoped, but as she and Link left Kakariko Village behind, a more haunting image weighed down on them. The idea that the war against Calamity Ganon could be so dire to need a Shrine of Resurrection left them feeling ill at ease. With no idea of what they would be up against, Zelda was more determined than ever to make sure Hyrule had every advantage on their side.

Zelda walked ahead of Link - or perhaps it was Link who chose to stay a few steps behind - and examined the Sheikah Slate in her hands as her mind wandered. Regardless, Zelda preferred not to notice Link too much. He was merely there to assist her as she went about her duties, and that meant focusing her efforts on the getting to Goron City to check on the Divine Beast there. She spoke as she walked, mostly to herself as she gathered her thoughts. Link never made it a habit to respond to her musings, anyway.

“From here, we’ll make our way to Goron City,” she said. “Then, we’ll need some adjustments on that Divine Beast so Daruk can manage it as easily as possible. He’s figured out how to get it to move. However, it’s apparent that we still have much more to learn.” She held the slate out in front of her. “But to think, that Divine Beast was actually built by people. That means we should be able to understand how it works and how to use it to our advantage.”

Link watched her as she spoke, but did not interject.

“These Divine Beasts,” Zelda continued. “So much we don’t know. But if we want to turn back the Calamity Ganon, they’re our best hope.” Her pace slowed and her eyes drifted down to her feet, lost in thought once more. She could feel Link’s gaze on her and it made her uneasy.

Link waited, unsure of whether to approach her. He was well aware of her disdain towards him. In fact, she didn’t particularly do a good job of hiding it. He thought it best to hang back so as not to upset her.

“Tell me the truth,” Zelda finally spoke again. She looked at him over her shoulder. “How proficient are you right now, wielding that sword on your back? Legend says that an ancient voice resonates inside it. Can you hear it yet, hero?”

Link remained silent as Zelda continued walking. In truth, he didn’t know what to say to her. He couldn’t possibly admit to her that no, he could not hear the sword speaking to him. Not since the day he was supposedly chosen. And it only made him worry. He was assigned a task - a seemingly impossible task at that - to save Hyrule from its doomed prophecies, yet the sword that was supposed to speak to him remained silent.

He wondered if he should say something to the princess. He opened his mouth to speak, but to his relief, Zelda continued on.

“I can’t help but to wonder what happened here, ten thousand years ago,” she said softly. “Legends, prophecies, destinies; I suppose if they’re all true, then it must be in our destiny to win this war. Perhaps that Shrine of Resurrection is the key.” She didn’t really believe it, but it eased her worries to think that their destinies - Hyrule’s future - was fated to live on. If their ancestors could fight through each rise of Ganon, then surely so could they. It was a reassuring thought, at the very least.

They traveled throughout the day, stopping only to rest for the night at the base of Death Mountain. In the morning, they followed the path up towards Goron City. Despite their ascent, the air grew uncomfortably thick and warm from the volcano. To their relief, they arrived in the city by midday, though the sun seemed brighter and hotter than ever. Zelda was anxious to work on the Divine Beast quickly so they could leave as soon as possible.

Daruk eagerly took them aboard Vah Rudania. As the princess examined the beast, Daruk hung back with Link. Vah Rudania climbed it’s way across the rocky terrain of Death Mountain as they admired the views. Link looked down and across Hyrule to the distant mountains. From atop the Divine Beast, the view was spectacular, and proved just how vast the kingdom truly was. He smiled at Daruk’s excitement as he piloted the machine.

“Yeah! I think I’m finally getting the hang of controlling this Divine Beast!” Daruk said. He stretched his arms and turned to Link. “I tell you what: sure is a blast piloting a toy like this around. Let those other Champions know, they better eat their gravel if they wanna keep up with Daruk.” He turned his gaze up towards Death Mountain. “Speaking of which, can you believe this view? Just look at all those deletable rocks sprinkled on those mountains. Mighty tasty.”

Link followed his gaze and smiled. He would be lying if he said he wasn’t a glutton for a good meal, but rocks certainly weren’t on his menu.

“I may not know a whole lot about this Calamity Ganon thing,” Daruk continued, “but mark my words, I’ll protect this land of ours to the death. Right, little guy?” He let his large hand come down hard against Link in an affectionate pat on the back and laughed as Link stumbled forward under the force, forgetting his own strength.

“Hey, by the way,” he said as Link regained his footing. “Congrats on becoming the princess’s appointed knight. That’s a really big deal! Protecting the king’s daughter. No pressure!” He let his hand rest on Link’s shoulder, softer this time. “Seriously, though. The princess is a strong personality - so strong she can’t quite see the range for the peaks.” He scratched at the back of his head. “Remember that, and you’ll be fine.”

The ground began to shake suddenly and Daruk turned his gaze towards Death Mountain. “What the -?”

Above them, a large chunk of rock broke away from a towering pillar, and the boulder came crashing down, threatening to topple on top of them. But at the last minute, Daruk thrust his arms out and a magical red force field shot out from around him, protecting him and Link from the impact of the boulder. The boulder bounced off of the magical shield in shattered pieces and the rumbling quieted.

“All right, so what was I saying,” Daruk said absentmindedly. He turned back towards the mountain, mumbling to himself. “That was a little strange. As far as I know, Death Mountain has been quiet for decades. But if the mountain is shivering enough to send down a bunch of boulders that size, then…” He shook his head. “Nevermind. Forget I said anything.” But his gaze returned to the mountain, his brows knit together with worry written on his face.

Link followed the Goron’s gaze. He was not oblivious to Daruk’s uneasy reaction towards the rumbling. Perhaps it was a sign of Calamity Ganon’s awakening. The idea twisted in Link’s gut like a knife. They were far from ready to be at war.

Zelda joined them atop the Divine Beast, the Sheikah Slate in her hands once more. She seemed not to have noticed the rocks falling around them, deep inside the Divine Beast.

“It looks like you’ve got a good handle on the controls,” she said to Daruk with a smile. “With these Divine Beasts at our control, we’ll have no problem taking down Ganon.” She returned the slate to her hip, eager to leave as soon as they could. “We should head back to the castle,” she said, turning to Link. The Shrine of Resurrection still haunted her and all she wanted to do was scour her notes and continue her research of the ancient technology in hopes that something would help Purah and Robbie restore the facility.

Admittedly, Link was eager to get back to the castle as well, if only for a break from traveling across Hyrule. It had been some time since he had a decent night sleep, and a comfortable bed at that.

I set out for Goron City today to make some adjustments to Divine Beast Vah Rudania. I still recall feeling his eyes on me as I walked ahead. The feeling stayed with me so long, I grew anxious and weary. It is the same feeling I’ve felt before in his company. And still, not a word passes his lips. I never know what he’s thinking! It makes my imagination run wild, guessing at what he is thinking but will not say. What does the boy chosen by the sword that seals the darkness think of me? Will I ever truly know? Then, I suppose it’s simple. A daughter of Hyrule’s royal family yet unable to use sealing magic. He must despise me.

[colacatinthehat]

Breath of the Wild || One Year Anniversary Prompts

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Day 6 - Cooking

Rating: T (For…Angst?)

Words: 1,350*

Game: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Pairing: Link/Zelda if you squint real hard kinda I guess

Summary: Link barters his cooking skills for a roof over his head and struggles with the weight of his quest. 

“Stay for the night?”

Link nodded, trying in vain to wipe the wet hair from his eyes. Rain poured down relentlessly and showed no sign of stopping. There was no way Link would be able to climb to the summit with the weather so bleak, far wiser to wait it out.

The two faces peering out of the tent exchanged a glance. He wouldn’t blame them for turning him down, he probably looked suspicious.

But to his surprise, after they had come to some sort of unspoken understanding, the woman smirked asked;

“Can you cook?”

Practical? Yes. Good first impression? Yes. Overkill? Maybe.

It wasn’t easy to fry eggs on a flameblade but Link had succeeded at it enough times now to consider himself an expert. (Not to mention the added benefit of not smoking out the whole tent with an open flame.) But, then again, Link thought that he was quite good at a lot of things. Things he wasn’t sure he’d tried before.

“I’m glad you showed up, Link! I’m starved!” Lorelle, the woman, was wittering the night away completely unburdened by her, more often than not, full mouth. 

“This is good meat, too!” she praised, proceeding to tear the last mushroom (from her second skewer, no less) with her teeth. Her eyes were a dark brown and in the dim glow of the lamp Link could make out a light dusting of freckles on her cheeks. Her travel companion was named Ruko, his beard was unkempt and he was quieter than his friend, but he seemed nice enough. An intelligent man who boasted a firm understanding of mathematics.

Link was almost convinced that they weren’t Yiga. (He’d been taught caution the hard way.) Their woeful tale of bokoblins stealing their food seemed too genuine to be fake, not to mention there wasn’t a single banana in sight - A comically deadly give-away.

“The last of a boar I caught near riverside stable,” Link answered as he mopped the egg yolk from his own plate with a slice of bread. “Traded the rest to a guy who could smell it in my pack from ten paces away.”

Ruko raised his brows quizically. “That’s quite the skill…”

“He ate it there and then.”

The man had used his bare hands too, it was a bit of a spectacle.

“A whole boar?”  Ruko scoffed.

Link hesitated, perplexed by the comment. He hadn’t really considered it strange before. Most of the things people did seemed strange. Tending flower gardens, wasting time in hot springs… Other people seemed to have wildly different priorities.

“I think he was just really hungry.”

Lorelle laughed at his comment a little more than he’d expected. Paying close attention to his hosts, Link had the feeling she quite liked him. Something about the colour her cheeks turned under her freckles, the way she tried to catch his eye when he looked her way. 

He didn’t mind, truthfully he quite liked the attention.

Link was often alone on his travels and rarely knew what to say when he was not. “Handsome and stoic” he’d been called. People that told him that he was good-looking tended not to mind filling the gaps in conversations when Link’s words left him. A blessing he called upon more often than not.

“Well now, not that this isn’t fun… But it’s late and we really should save the candle,”  Ruko suggested, interrupting Link’s train of thought as he reached over to take the empty plate from his lap. “How about we get some sleep?”

Now that Link was more alert, he was pretty sure Ruko’s eyes caught his in the same way as his companion’s.

The two merchants didn’t snore in the classic sense of the word. However, they were no silent sleepers by any stretch of the imagination. That and the incessant patter of raindrops on the canopy of the tent, the murmur of a storm in the distance, it could almost drive him mad.

They were clearly content with each other’s company (obnoxious half-snores and all) in a way that Link was not, and the pair drifted off almost as soon as they bid the tent goodnight. 

It was uncomfortably humid and the space seemed cramped in a way it hadn’t over their meal. Close, loud and busy. 

Perhaps, Link thought, it was because of the tightness in his throat or the prickle down his spine. He’d known this feeling before, it taunted him on the edge of his memory. It seemed so close when he closed his eyes, but he couldn’t quite recall it. Guilt, perhaps? Fear? No, it was similar to how he felt in a crowded room, very aware, very awake.

For a long while he weighed up his chances in the rain, but a crack of thunder quashed the idea as soon as it subsided. Better to stay put.

Possessed by the need to work with his hands, Link pulled the slate from his travellers pack. For what seemed like the hundredth time, he began working through the pictures Impa had told him were left by Zelda all those years ago. Most of the locations were strange to him, limited to peaks in the distance he vaguely knew, but very few that he confidently recognised.

An open path in early dawn, Zelda striding forward, the weight of a sword on his back.

“Can you hear it yet, hero?” she’d asked, coldly.

In his sleep Ruko rolled onto his back, breathing loudly, dryly through his mouth.

The second was the place where she’d confronted him. It had been a shock to the system at first, quickly disproving the idea of the Princess he’d created in his head.

The only context Link had to work with were the words of Impa and the Old Man. They’d told him that he was a Knight of Hyrule. The appointed Knight. The chosen hero. That he’d died a noble death protecting Princess Zelda, heir to the throne and bearer of a sacred power. His partner in a prophecy that foretold the return of a great evil.

Regardless of what they’d said, to Link it seemed clear that his partner didn’t care for him very much at all.

The more he stared at the image on the screen, the more he tried to convince himself that he didn’t like Princess Zelda very much, either.

Why did he make such a habit of coming back to these pictures? They never calmed him as he hoped they would.

Why him? Link wondered, not for the first time. Why couldn’t he stop himself from moving on? Why had Zelda left him such an impossible task? Why was he acting upon it?

There were no answers.

Tomorrow he’d climb that mountain regardless. He was certain there was a shrine at the top. If he trained he could become stronger. If he became stronger he could free the Divine beasts. If he freed the beasts he could confront Ganon. If he confronted Ganon he could…

Link didn’t know.

He kept scrolling through the slate.

Another picture, and Link felt the damp of rain through his tunic. The hilt of a sword in his hand, the next step in his footwork clear in his mind. Front foot forward. Don’t lock your arm before the swing. The sword cut through the air in a clean arc. He began the forms again. Zelda spoke, voice far away and he stopped to listen.

She was clearly unhappy. She couldn’t do what was expected of her. She didn’t want to.

Link felt a little resentful towards the pang in his chest. Conflicted by the disjointed pity he felt for a girl he wasn’t sure he knew. Pity with no beginning and no end.

Lorelle stirred, her breath tickled the back of his neck.

“Link, could you turn that light out?” she muttered, voice cracking with sleep.

Immediately he switched off the slate and set it aside. The tent was very dark without it.

“Sorry.”

She didn’t answer, already asleep, but Link had to admit he was thankful for the company.

[maybeamiles]

WIP Fanfic Ch. 1 Pt. 2

The fanfic is back baby! I got a wave of inspiration and finished the second part to the first chapter. Here it is! Meet two new characters and get a nice short action sequence all in the same post.

Also Link has a bad anxiety attack in this one and there’s like, mild descriptions of injuries. IDK how to tag that stuff so be warned if your sensitive to that sort of thing. This story is going to have a lot of that but I promise it has a happy ending

Even on the main road, the Minish woods still held many dangers for an unprepared traveler. Monsters tended to ambush anyone that went through, and should you find yourself trapped in the forest after dark, monsters would be the least of your worries. Hyrule Town was flooded with superstitions and rumors about the forest, and children were absolutely forbidden from going within a hundred steps of its outskirts. 

Link knew the stories well, but she also knew the real dangers of the woods. After years of making them her home, she knew where the monster camps lay, which plants would eat you alive, and the difference between a magical path to safety and an illusory path to destruction. She knew the patterns and habits of monsters even better than Ezle did, and she knew the best ways to destroy them.

The Hylians she was travelling with did not seem to know the dangers of the forest. While the young man was certainly unnerved by the shadows, he was not armed, nor did he appear to have a good sense of lookout. His sister, admittedly, had good intuition. She had, so far, stuck to the main road, and not been tricked by the deceitful illusions monsters would lay for unsuspecting travelers. 

Link would never admit it to Ezle, but she found the young woman fascinating. Her long red hair was tied back in a loose, low ponytail, and her eyes were the same infinite blue as the night sky. Her face displayed a determination that her brother lacked, but she also guided her horse with soft words and a gentle hand, never displaying the aggression Link had seen so often in the way residents of Hyrule Town treated their beasts of burden.

Link found herself drawing closer to the woman, crawling over piles of furniture and equipment to sit by her side at the front of the carriage. Up close, she could see a smattering of freckles across her face and sunburn on her arms and neck. Some of it looked painful and Link wondered how long she had been travelling to get a burn like that. 

She heard the rustling of paper behind them and turned to see the brother pulling out a map. He seemed to be tracing a route on it and doing some mental math. After a few moments, he folded the map and crawled up to talk to his sister.

“Hey,” he said, “do you think Epona could keep going through the night?”

His sister turned to him.

“It’s less of ‘can Epona keep going’ and more ‘can Bessie keep up?’” she answered, “Why do you ask?”

“It’s these woods,” he explained, “I can’t figure out how long it will take to get out of them. I can’t even see the sun, and I’m worried that it’s going to get dark before we can leave.”

Link looked at the sky. The shadows from the trees were falling nearly straight down, indicating to Link that it was around noon. She knew that it was about a day’s walk from one end of the forest to the other, if you took the short route. At the speed they were travelling at, Link estimated they would leave the forest a couple of hours after dark. A less than ideal scenario, for such a poorly-defended travelling group, but better than staying the night in the woods.

The young woman looked at the sky as well, then at her horse, then at her cow. The old beast caused her some concern, but she seemed to reach a decision in her mind.

“I think we’ll be alright,” she said, “If it gets too dark, and we don’t seem to be making it out, we can make camp for the night.”

You do not want to do that. Link thought, and turned her attention towards the rest of the woods, intent on keeping a better watch than the travellers.

For the most part, the woods seemed normal. But as the hour went on, a growing sense of unease began to prickle at the back of Link’s neck. The shadows were growing deeper, and she kept seeing hints of movement in her peripheral vision. It’s nothing, she thought, I’m imagining things. 

Then, in the shadows of the trees, Link saw a flash of red, and her blood went cold. Eyes. Blood-red eyes. Eyes filled with malice and magic and evil.

Time slowed down. The eyes met Link’s stare. They did not blink. They did not waver. They did not move.

Tha-thump. Tha-thump. Tha-thump tha-thump-

A hand rested itself on Link’s shoulder and she gasped, breaking the trance the eyes had held on her. She looked up to see Ezle, concern written all over their face.

“Are you alright?” Ezle asked. Link nodded, and glanced back at the woods. 

The eyes blinked at her, then vanished. 

“We’re in danger,” Link said, and she stood up, wishing her legs would stop shaking and her breathing would steady. “Be ready for an ambush. I’m going to check for monsters.”

She leapt off the side of the cart, ignoring Ezle’s protests, and began to search the woods for monsters. She spotted two moblin archers waiting in the bushes just a bit further down the road. An ambush. She slipped into the shadows behind them, hiding behind a fallen log before transforming into her full size. Then, she drew her bow. 

The first shot cleanly pierced through a moblin’s head, sending it to the ground in a puff of smoke and alerting its companion. The surviving moblin turned around and drew its bow, scanning the woods for its attacker. 

Link’s second arrow went straight through its eye, killing it instantly.

She smiled with satisfaction, but the shaking feeling in her legs hadn’t gone away. Her breathing was still heavy and she could feel fear clawing at every corner of her mind. The eyes flashed in front of  her.

Not now, she thought, I need to-

A scream cut off her thoughts and she rushed back towards the cart. A third moblin had appeared from the other side of the road, carrying a great wooden club. The young man with the sword had been knocked to the ground (dead?) and his sister had leapt off the cart to defend him. Did she scream when he died? She was holding his sword, and it was too heavy for her. Her face was white with fear and her hands shook.

Link reached for her arrows, and her hand grasped thin air. The eyes flashed again. The other girl swung at the moblin, and her sword shattered on its thick hide. She backed away and tripped over her brother’s body. Link rushed forward. The monster raised its club. The girl was frozen, helpless-

CLANG! Wooden club met metal shield as Link intercepted the heavy blow. Something in Link’s shield arm snapped under the impact, but she successfully parried the attack and cut into the reeling moblin with her sword. With a few simple slashes, the beast disappeared into shadows and smoke.

Link sank to her knees and bent forward, pressing her forehead against the ground and clutching her injured arm. Her breathing came in heavy, panicked gasps, and while she could hear the other girl fretting over her brother, Link processed none of it. The world was physically normal, but her mind was blurry, processing everything through a filter of fears and worries that slipped by too quickly for her to put words to them. The eyes flickered in her vision. Everything was going wrong. She was in danger. Something bad was going to happen. She had to stop it. She had to stop it. She had to fix it. She had to do it right. She had to-

Link felt a tiny hand on her forehead, and the familiar, comforting warmth of Picori magic flooded through her body. She looked up to see Ezle, whose face was creased with worry.

“Are you okay now?” they asked, meeting Link’s gaze. Link nodded and began taking deep, long breaths, allowing the panic to drain from her body with Ezle’s magic. The pain in her arm subsided as her breathing steadied, and soon she allowed herself to look around and process the situation.

The Hylian woman was staring at Link from where she was seated on the ground, frozen with shock and awe. Link smiled at her and stood up, subsequently offering a hand to help the young woman up. The gesture seemed to bring the young woman back to her senses and she accepted Link’s offer.

“I don’t know how to thank you enough,” she said, dusting herself off with one hand, “I don’t have much money, but…” Her voice trailed off as Link’s mind wandered into far off places. She was talking about money, cows, and ranch stuff. Her voice sounded like birdsong after a long day. She said her name was Malon, and-

A groan broke Link from her thoughts, and with shock, she realized she was still holding Malon’s hand. Hastily Link dropped it as Malon turned to her brother, now half-conscious on the ground. So he wasn’t dead.

Malon dropped to her knees and began clumsily untying the knot of her scarf.

“Just hold still Talon,” she said, “You’re gonna be okay.” 

The young man, Talon, flinched away as Malon attempted to apply pressure to his wound. He was losing a lot of blood, Link realized, and she pulled a red potion from her bag. She knelt down beside Talon and held the bottle out. Malon looked at it.

“Will that help him?” Malon asked. Link nodded. Malon turned to her brother. 

“Drink this,” she ordered, and Link poured the potion down his throat.

As soon as he swallowed the potion, the wound closed, and he sat up, somewhat shaky from his ordeal. Link realized she had never looked at Talon properly before. He was dressed in a simple white tunic, brown pants and working boots, and he had a yellow scarf similar to Malon’s tied around his shoulders. His hair was red, but slightly more muted than his sister’s. His eyes, rather than being blue, were a plain brown color.

“I'm guessing you’re the one I have to thank for saving my life,” he said, meeting Link’s gaze. Startled by his sudden conversation, Link nodded. His voice was as plain as his appearance, and while he gave his thanks, Link was struck by the difference between the siblings. Malon was captivating. Every word she spoke conveyed life and passion. Her hair danced in the wind and her eyes seemed to be deep pools of knowledge. Her brother, by contrast, was grounded. He held everything in reserve and maintained a simple professionalism throughout his speech. How can two siblings be so different? Link wondered.

Link finished her musings as the siblings wrapped up their thanks. Talon reached towards a pouch on his belt and pulled out a small wallet.

“I understand this may seem presumptuous,” he said, “but would you escort us out of these woods, and to our destination? We don’t have much money, but we can set up an IOU or something and give you more later. Or-”

Link smiled and laughed a little. At least they’re both nice enough. She racked her brain for the right words to say. Words were always difficult with Hylians. 

“You... don’t need to pay me,” she said at last, “Happy to help. I’m…” she trailed off as her mind faltered.

“Leaving the woods myself,” Ezle whispered in her ear, “I’d be happy to escort you.” Link smiled and repeated Ezle’s words. Talon smiled and breathed a sigh of relief.

“Thank the Oracles,” he muttered, “Well then, me and Malon will go pack up, and we’ll be off in a few minutes tops.” He began picking up the remains of the battlefield while Malon tended to her horse. Link joined her, though she wasn’t able to offer much more than a smile.

“By the way,” Malon said as she petted Epona’s neck, “What’s your name?”

“Link,” Link responded, without any hesitation.

~~~~~~~~~~

Ta-daaaaa! Why are Malon and Talon siblings? Idk just felt like it. Why does Talon swear by the oracles? Backstory. What are those mysterious floating red eyes? Find out in a future installment of my fanfic-that-has-yet-to-be-named

[thecagedsong]

Zelda’s Research

A/N Okay, so originally this headcanon was going to be in headcanon style, but then it became a fic, so here it is. I could never put together what exactly Zelda was studying, and fics usually made it seem like she was just being silly, trying to get Link to eat a frog that everyone already knew how to use. Everything connects here though, and I cried while wiriting it, because Zelda needs to be reminded constantly and often that she isn’t useless.

               Link was trying to be helpful. Zelda said she needed time away before Hyrule’s leaders arrived for the summit meeting, so Link took Zelda out to the mountains. Zelda shivered, so he gave her his wam doublet. Zelda didn’t want to talk about her outburst at Impa that she didn’t have the golden power anymore, so he didn’t ask. Zelda didn’t want to talk about the Calamity, or the future, or the past, or the summit, so they rode in silence.

               There was only so much he could do however, when Zelda threw herself off her horse, stumbled but missed crashing into a boulder, and frog jumped to catch a lizard.  

               “Are you okay?” he yelled, desperately calming their horses from her abrupt exit before swinging himself down beside her. Her horse had already bolted from the unfamiliar rider though. He didn’t wait for her to answer and started checking her over for injuries.

               “Yes!” Zelda cheered, the streak of mud on her face seemed to disagree with her, as did Link’s heart rate. “Look what I caught! My studies, before I was forced to stop, indicated that this critter can be used to augment speed. I just absolutely had to catch it before it got away. You said you remembered the time I tried to get to you eat a frog right? Well I had a break through before our trip to the spring of power and realized it needed to be cooked with monster parts before being consumed! Oh, this is so exciting. Do you happen to have a cooking pot on you? Wait…it had to be a particular kind of pot made with Hylian flint…”

               Link breathed out slowly. Only this princess would risk breaking her neck in the name of science.

               “I know what a hightail lizard is,” Link said slowly, taking the lizard from her and pulling out the three others he was carrying to show her. He put them all away and pulled out a potion bottle, “This is an elixir made from a hightail lizard. Now, no more throwing yourself from horses okay? You have a physical body again, and it can get hurt, and you nearly gave me a heart attack right there. You aren’t allowed to die. Ever.” He said it all as firmly as he could.

               “How can you know that? About the elixir I mean,” she asked, completely ignoring his warning.

               Link groaned, “It’s in the compendium. Not only that, it’s common knowledge. Any traveler or child could tell you the same thing.”

               “Let me see!” Zelda demanded, “I’ve been trying to translate that infuriating compendium for three years! Half of the letters were missing, the rest were in a dialect of Sheikah that was lost to memory seven thousand years ago!”

               Well, that made sense. Considering she had the sheikah slate without runes on it, he had always wondered what she was studying and doing with it besides taking pictures.

               “The compendium is in modern Hylian now,” Link said, pulling it up for her and showing it. The look on her face was somewhere between anger and wonder, “but like I said, everyone just knows.”

               “How did they know though? None of that was known 100 years ago. It was the stuff of fairy tales. And of course the slate had translation abilities in it the entire time” Zelda said, grumbling the last bit. She stood up straight and shoved the slate at him. “Change of plans, I want to get to Robbie. I entrusted him with all my notes, translations, and ideas.”

               “Er, is it that important? We need to make sure we’re back in Kakiriko before the representatives arrive,” Link said, wondering where this demanding Zelda had come from. They would barely be able to make it back to Kakirko before nightfall now that they would have to share a horse on the return journey.

               “I need to know what he did with my notes, because it sounds like…” Zelda’s eyes unfocused, she took a breath, then refocused on him. She was smiling, and there were tears in her eyes. “Yes. Yes, it is that important,” she said, her voice cracking. She looked like she did when she was first freed from the Calamity, when she asked if he knew her. Link the same panic came back at the thought of her crying, happy tears or not.

               “Alright!” Link said, jumping closer to her, “Is it important enough to be incorporeal for a few seconds?”

               Zelda nodded. He slid the slate onto his belt and helped her onto his horse, with his arms around her, he pushed towards Akkala.

               They came across the shrine at the riverside stables, and Link explained that he didn’t know if the slate could take two people, but if it couldn’t, she could travel to Robbie’s lab alone to speak with him. He would wait at this shrine for her to come back. He highlighted the symbols very clearly for her, and made her repeat the plan and directions back to him.

               “Well, get close to me then,” she said, stepping so that her back was pressed against his chest, “if all your things travel with you, skin contact should be enough to transport the both of us. Hold on tight.” Link gulped as he found his arms full of princess. Apparently, though she had been awkward with her body since she sealed the Calamity, she was relearning the joys of skin contact.

               He eventually tightened his arms around her waist, and he must have imagined her smelling him, just before she pressed the symbol for Robbie’s research lab.

               They both dissolved and arrived together. Zelda stumbled out of his hold right away though, and threw up on the trash heap outside of the lab. He held her hair back and winced every time she retched.

               “Better?” he asked, a minute after she stopped, and he almost pulled out some hearty durain simmered fruit before he realized he should ask first. (He hadn’t the first time and Zelda was currently trying to condition him out of the habit of shoving food at her when he thought something was wrong.)

               “Goddesses,” she croaked, wiping her mouth on her hand, “That was terrible.”

               “What’s all the ruckus?” a voice called, “I told you kids not to use my back yard for your parties anymore, not if you don’t have any decent mus—”

               Zelda and Link turned at the same time, and Robbie’s mouth dropped open.

               “My apologies, old friend. Shrine travel doesn’t seem to agree with me,” she said, forcing herself to stand up. Link kept an arm around her, and she seemed to accept the aid.

               “Princess?” Robbie’s voice croaked. He bowed first to her, then rushed forward and threw his arms around her. “Princess! My dear friend. Come inside, I’m so happy to see you.”

               “I’ve missed you too, old friend,” she said softly, then let Robbie pull her inside, with Link awkwardly shuffling beside her, still supporting her.

               Robbie started telling her everything then. How he knew Link could do it, and he’s been helping Link all along. How far he’s gotten with Cherry and what he’s discovered about guardians. How he had a wife and son.

               “How could you have a son?” Zelda managed to tease, “You always swore that your Cherry would be the only woman in your life.”

               “Cherry still is, it seems like,” Jerrin responded, with a friendly glare at her husband, who just laughed and helped Jerrin pull up some chairs.

               “Oh, I’ve missed you Zelda,” Robbie said, as they all settled with some tea and in front of the fire. “I had hoped I would live to see you again when I saw the Calamity leave the castle, but I feared that your trial meant your death.”

               “The goddesses were kind enough to return me how I was,” Zelda said, smiling. “However, before we discuss anything further, I have an important matter to ask you about.” Link watched Zelda closely, and she got that heartbreakingly hopeful look again, even as her hands stared fidgeting with her teacup. “I’m sorry, but I just had to know,” she said, “Robbie, did you…I mean…Link said everyone knew about cooking insects with monster parts. Did my research…Did I do…” her voice grew thick as she tried to get the question out.

               Robbie smiled and took Zelda’s free hand between his own, stopping her fidgeting. “Yes, Princess Zelda of Hyrule. I took your work and put the final touches on it before sending it to every town and providence, a week before your birthday. I had hoped to have some positive news for you; should the Spring of Wisdom not unlock your power. Hylians, Zora, Rito, Gerudo, Goron, and Sheikah knew about making elixirs and preparing meals the way you described to bring out the special effects, and had begun experimenting when Calamity struck. Your years of research and translation were not wasted, as I can say with no doubt in my mind that the work Zelda the Scholar did saved her people.” Zelda let out a sob and Robbie continued, “I got letters back for years, people thanking me for publishing your work because they were able to outrun monsters because they had brewed a stamina potion, and were able to save their children from burning villages because of strength potions and fireproof elixirs. Those years were anything but wasted.”

               Zelda was crying, and Link shot Robbie a panicked look, but he just shook his head fondly, so Link let her cry.

               “Thank-thank you,” Zelda said, giving a watery smile. “I needed to hear that.”

               “No, thank you, Princess,” Robbie said, giving a sad smile, “It was all your work. It did a lot more good than mine, in the end. Ancient technology is all well and good, but reviving as many guardians as I did only brought death. You focused on Hyrule itself, and brought hope. Hyrule will be forever in your debt. Unfortunately, since the King had decreed you weren’t allowed to pursue your studies, I decided to publish your work under the penname Adlez, in hopes of sparing you his ire. I tried to spread word that it was their princess who had discovered the secrets to Hyrule’s flora and fauna, but the origins of the discovery of so much were so secondary to the uses themselves, then the uses became common knowledge and people forgot there was a time they didn’t know. Only some of the Sheikah know that it was your work, your Highness. I pray you will forgive me.”

               “My people survived,” Zelda laughed through her tears, “You more than earned your forgiveness.”

               “I only helped,” Robbie said.

               “It’s getting late, you two will be staying the night,” Jerrin said, standing up and leaving no room for argument. “We will put you in Grante’s old room. I’ll go make it up for you.”

               Cherry also decided to make herself known in that moment by blowing a circuit.

               “Familiar name known! Princess Zelda! Bzzt!” which had Robbie scrambling towards the forge.

               Link took this moment of privace to place a hand on Zelda’s shoulder. She jumped, then leaned into the touch, smiling at him, wiping her tears away.

               “Hey, are you okay?” he checked.

               “I’m so much more than okay,” Zelda said, smiling at him. “I berated myself for those first fifty years, as much as I could while still keeping the Calamity at bay, thinking that if I had only awakened my powers sooner, if I had been willing to trust in my feelings and let myself love people, maybe things could have been different. That those years of research had been wasted because the slate had always been for you, I had just been stubborn, and the King had made sure that any useful discoveries I made had died with him when he forbade my research. Then I let it go, because I needed to focus on faith and hope to keep the Calamity back. But my work saved people, Link. Just plain Zelda saved her people too.”

               Link smiled because he understood exactly what that meant to her, and she squeezed his hand on her shoulder. Princess Zelda, without her golden power from the goddess, was just as worthy of her throne. Just Princess Zelda, did so much, she could do the rest of it too.

                Then Link cocked his head, “You know, if the King hadn’t stopped your research on that very day, you wouldn’t have given it to Robbie, and he wouldn’t have published it before your birthday.”

“Everything happened exactly the way it was supposed to,” Zelda agreed, understanding shining in her eyes and smile, “Hyrule survived, and the Calamity destroyed.”

               “That was all you Zelda,” Link said, giving a small smile, “I just helped a little.”

               She laughed, and it was a good sound.

               Link sent a prayer of thanks to the goddesses that he could be helpful.