#i must draw more of the other people of skyloft | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

midzelink · 5 years ago

Text

What’s Going On with the Ears in Hyrule?

(Or: A Needlessly Comprehensive Deep-Dive into the Myst-EAR-ious Duality of Round-Eared Humans and Long-Eared Hylians, a Very S-EAR-ious Write-Up)

As some of you may remember from a few months back, I made an off-hand comment about my ideas surrounding the disparities between the different types of ears we see in Hyrule’s human citizens, and my desire to further expand on that at a later date. No, that was not a joke, and yes, I am finally Doing the Dang Thing. So! Let’s get started.

Long-time fans of the series will know that Hylians are a race of humans in the world of The Legend of Zelda with long, elf-like ears. Hylians most always dominate the land of Hyrule in nearly every installment in the series, with round-eared humans only making their first appearance in Link’s Awakening, a game that - spoiler alert - was all a dream in the first place. And though plain old humans again appear in the lands of Holodrum and Labrynna in the follow-up Oracle games, it is very in keeping with the theme of this blog that their most notable appearance happens to be in Twilight Princess.

Though it is never remarked upon in-game, Link is the only Hylian in a village filled with humans, such as Ilia and Rusl, leading the player to assume that he was not Ordon-born. Other notable examples include Ashei, who hails from the mountains, and even the inhabitants of (New) Kakariko (though only three in number) are all mere humans. The Hylians of this game seem to be centralized around Castle Town, with notable members including Telma, Shad, and Auru of the Resistance, and naturally, Zelda herself. Yet as I’ve already stated, the fact that there are two different sets of ears among the humans is never even a topic of conversation; it makes you wonder why the developers bothered to make the distinction at all, and indeed, plenty of fans have never even noticed that such a disparity exists. I certainly didn’t notice when I was ten years old, playing through Twilight Princess for the very first time - but we’ve come a long way since then, and I am delighted to finally be able to tell everyone why I think this disparity exists, and how it has bled into other aspects of the series. Let’s back away from Twilight Princess for a moment; all good theories have a beginning, and this one is no different. To understand where this all began, we must look thousands of years into the past, to Skyward Sword. More specifically, this all started...

...with this guy.

Yes, Beedle. That Beedle. But before we can even jump into how he relates to any of this, we must travel further back still, to the very opening cutscene of Skyward Sword.

In this cutscene, we hear a very dumbed-down tale of how Demise invaded the surface world that was ruled over by the Goddess Hylia; to protect the sacred relic placed into her care by the Golden Goddesses, Hylia rends a piece of land from the earth and sends it skyward, leaving the Goddess Sword and the Triforce with it. Together with the remaining peoples of the Surface, she seals Demise away, and millennia later the events of Skyward Sword transpire. The entirety of this cutscene is not in and of itself very important, but I would like to draw everyone’s attention to one particular line uttered by the narrator during this sequence:

“To prevent this great power from falling into the hands of the evil swarming the lands… The goddess gathered the surviving humans on an outcropping of earth.”

It is worth noting here that - though the word “Hylian” itself only appears in reference to the shield which bears its name - Skyloft is comprised entirely of people with long ears. Keeping these things in mind, let’s go back to Beedle.

Beedle is, by all intents and purposes, a fairly unremarkable character in Skyward Sword. That is to say, outside of providing Link with goods throughout his adventure, he bears no significance on the plot in any capacity, having only a single sidequest that involves retrieving a pet beetle (snickers) of his, for which the player’s reward is a small sum of Gratitude Crystals. But there is one, throwaway line of completely optional dialogue you can trigger towards the beginning of this sidequest, and it is upon this line that the entire basis for this theory has been built. When meeting Beedle on his home island apart from Skyloft for the very first time, the player is given the option...

...to comment on his accent.

[after selecting “Your accent!”] “Hmmm? The mellifluous timbre of my voice sounds different to you?

...Perhaps a touch, I suppose... But pray, what does it matter, hmm?”

What’s important to understand about accents is how they come about to begin with: namely, slight differences in pronunciation and rhythm of speech evolve over time as the language (in this case, some form of ancient Hylian) spreads to different locations. And of course, everyone who uses spoken language has an accent, but Link’s remarking upon Beedle’s is an indication that his pattern of speech is different from his own. In most other games, this would be unextraordinary - but in the context of Skyward Sword, where humanity has been isolated to a (relatively speaking) small outcropping of earth in the sky, it becomes extremely noteworthy. No one in Skyloft should have “an accent,” because theirs is a society and culture so small in scale that they should all have the same accent. Beedle having an accent makes sense if, and only if...

...he’s not from Skyloft.

And if he’s not from Skyloft, the logical conclusion would be that he must be from the Surface. In almost any other circumstance, this assertion would be smashed to smithereens by the sheer fact that getting to Skyloft without a Loftwing - companions blessed only to those who live in the sky - should be an unattainable feat. And yet, of all the people in Skyloft, Beedle is the only one who could have achieved such a thing...

...because his shop - which conveniently doubles as his house - is an electricity-powered flying machine. Within the context of the game, such a contraption seems almost nonsensical; if he were from Skyloft, why would he not just set up shop in a permanent location? Even if he wanted to live on a smaller island by himself, the people of Skyloft could simply use their Loftwings to reach him (which they still need to do, anyway!). Indeed, the existence of Beedle’s Shop makes far more sense...if it already existed by the time he arrived there.

Which brings us back to that introductory cutscene. The narrator states that Hylia gathered up all of the surviving humans (notice the use of the word humans here) onto an outcropping of earth and sent them skyward, and on a surface level, this seems straight-forward enough - but with the revelation that Beedle is very likely from the Surface himself, it’s very obvious that this is nothing more than a bold-faced lie. Some humans were left behind - they couldn’t all possibly have fit on such a small piece of land - and those humans were the ancestors of Beedle, in some way, shape, or form. What became of those humans is another matter altogether (one I will address briefly), as the Surface we explore in Skyward Sword is perfectly devoid of human life, barring Impa.

Now, let’s bring it back home: remember how I said that all Skyloftians have long ears? That was a bit of a white lie, though only if you count Beedle among that number. In truth, Beedle’s ears are obscured by the bowl cut of his hair - but this is true for every game he appears in, and the general consensus is that they’re round. This would make Beedle the only round-eared human in the entire game...and he, coincidentally, happens to be from the Surface.

Before I go any further, I’d like to establish a very base reasoning for the existence of long-eared qualities in the human races of Hyrule. Hylians are far from the only ones to bear long ears, what with the trait also presenting themselves in the likes of the Sheikah and, by the era of Breath of the Wild, even the Gerudo - though it is exceptionally notable that in Ocarina of Time, the Gerudo have round ears, and Ganondorf is no exception...at least, at first.

Y’see, what’s especially notable about Ganondorf is that he is the same exact character is each title he appears in, and in The Wind Waker and Twilight Princess, his ears are long. This was actually something I only noticed quite recently, upon which I then fervently began scouring for information about his appearance in Ocarina of Time to try and make sense of it all, and the results are...very intriguing, to say the least. Below is a comparison of Ganondorf pre-timeskip vs. post-timeskip from the original Nintendo 64 version of the game:

As you can see, his model has changed in a number of ways, but... Well, I’m sure you can see where I’m going with this.

Amazingly, his ears got longer, which is...an interesting choice from a design perspective. Of course, it leads one to wonder why - and far and above the most significant thing to happen to him in the seven years between these two appearances is his procuring of the Triforce of Power from the Sacred Realm, a relic of the old gods. Evil or no, Ganondorf had forged a bond with a god unlike any had before him, and for some reason, this elongated his ears - so much so that by the time of Twilight Princess and The Wind Waker, they are indistinguishable from your typical Hylian’s. It is notable, too, that the Sheikah (who have always had long ears) also bear a special connection to the gods, living to serve Hylia and, later, her reincarnation as the princess in the Royal Family of Hyrule.

“They say we Hylians have big ears in order to hear the voices of the gods.”

So now, keeping everything I’ve talked about here in mind, I think it appropriate to go over the series of events that likely transpired, beginning from Demise’s invasion of the surface world:

In a bid to keep the Triforce out of evil’s grasp, Hylia formulates a plan to send both it and the Goddess Sword out of harm’s way. She selects - perhaps by chance, perhaps by choice - a not insignificant number of humans to live on this skyward isle, but naturally not all of them can make the cut. These chosen humans would go on to found Skyloft, a land whose culture revolves heavily around the reverence of the very goddess who saved them and enabled them to live in prosperity (the existence of the Wing Ceremony, the Statue of the Goddess, etc.), while the humans who remained on the surface, left in a world scarred by war and ravaged by monsters, sought new lands, becoming the ancestors of people who would found Holodrum and Labrynna, to name a couple. In their reverence of Hylia, the people of Skyloft would develop long ears, as even the Sheikah had - but the humans left on the surface world...would not.

That is to say, the Hylians we see in almost every major installment of the series are the direct descendants of the people of Skyloft, and round-eared humans are the descendants of the people Hylia left behind.

Of course, not all humans fled from their homeland - though we see none in-game, it’s important to remember that we also see no Sheikah aside from Impa, though we know they are great in number. Beedle was, undoubtedly, one of these very few stragglers, and with stories of a land beyond the clouds on his mind - legends that have been passed down over countless generations - he sought to find this paradise by any means, through sheer blood, sweat, and tears (but mostly sweat, if that cycling is any indication) if necessary. In the end, he was successful, and he lives among the people of Skyloft fairly unassumingly - yet he also lives apart from them, on his own island because, at his core, he is not one of them, and never will be. He doesn’t get all of this Hylia stuff, and frankly, he doesn’t care - so long as he can chill on his own little crop of land with a full belly, a full wallet, and his pet beetle, that’s really all that matters.

And speaking of Hylia - the reason they are called Hylians is because they are the descendants of those chosen by Hylia, even if the knowledge of Hylia’s existence has largely been lost to history by the events of Ocarina of Time and beyond. (In a very similar vein, it is my belief that Lake Hylia also gets its name from her because the crater that would later become that very lake was formed...when she lifted a gargantuan outcropping of earth into the sky.) Hylians largely dominate Hyrule for so much of its history because the people of Skyloft were the ones who founded it - yet by the era of Twilight Princess, we see that a great many of the humans who had moved onto different lands have slowly but surely made their way back towards the place they once called home.

But I would be remiss to neglect to go back to Breath of the Wild; this game is a much more peculiar case, taking place in an era many millennia after any game that came before it, where reverence for Hylia is once again commonplace - so much so that statues bearing her resemblance have been erected in every town, village, and city across the country. Humans are once again practically nowhere to be seen (except, again, perhaps for Beedle), and even the Gerudo, who have now long intermingled with Hylians for the sake of having children, have inherited the trait (perhaps in part due to the fact that some of their own may worship Hylia, if the statue in Gerudo Town is any indication). In every single instance, no matter where you turn, these long ears seem to be a direct correlation to the people’s connection to the gods of Hyrule - but rather than their ears being a predetermined factor in how strong this connection may be, it seems that their faith is what influences this trait to rise to the surface, over how ever many generations or centuries that just might take. (Ganondorf Dragmire, who lives in a castle and inherited a relic of pure godly power, is an outlier and should not be counted.) As Shad so eloquently states in Twilight Princess:

“Hyrule was made by the Hylians, who, as we all know, are the closest race to the gods.”

And as long as we’re talking about Shad, I’d love to begin wrapping up this post by bringing things round to Twilight Princess once more - specifically the context in which Shad says the above quote, which is far and away one of the most peculiar instances of casual lore-dumping in the entire series. The quote in its entirety from the North American version of the game reads thusly:

“At the moment I'm absolutely entranced by the sky beings known as the Oocca. Yes, according to legend, Hyrule was made by the Hylians [...] But also according to legend, long ago there was a race even closer to the gods, and some say these creatures made the Hylians. When they created the people of Hylia, they simultaneously created a new capital, a city that floated in the heavens.”

What Shad is saying here is extremely farfetched, particularly for those of us who are familiar with the Oocca. But in truth, this was a minor mistranslation on Nintendo of America’s part; the original text from the Japanese version of the game clears actually reads much more like this, when translated correctly:

“The common opinion is that Hyrule was created by the Hylia people, the race closest to the gods, but...truth be told, there's also a theory saying that in ancient times, there was a race even closer to the gods than the Hylia people, and THEY created it [Hyrule]. And they, simultaneously with the birth of the Hylia people, created a new capital, a capital that floated in the heavens.”

So the Oocca - the bizarre, Cucco-like creatures who inhabit the City in the Sky - did not create the Hylians, but rather established the kingdom of Hyrule itself in the world that the goddesses created. But even with this mistranslation squared away, that still sounds incredibly odd, especially taking the events of Skyward Sword into account; we know that the people of Skyloft are the ones who inevitably found Hyrule, because we see the beginnings of this happening at the end of the game. Funnily enough, it seems that the very line that was mistranslated in the North American version of the game...was the result of mistranslation itself.

In-universe mistranslation, that is. Millennia of history being told, written, lost, and found, translated again and again and again, until it barely resembles its original state. What likely happened was that the Oocca, who live in the sky, were wrongly credited with the creation of Hyrule because the Hylian people who would go on the found Hyrule also came from the sky, as they were the people of Skyloft. Shad’s claim that the Oocca were “a race even closer to the gods" than the Hylians may not be entirely unfounded, however, as it is incredibly likely like the City in the Sky we see in Twilight Princess is what remained of Skyloft after its human inhabitants abandoned it; the Loftwings that the people of Skyloft had for so long relied on would go on to evolve into more sentient beings, suspending the city above the clouds long after Hylia’s magic had worn off - and Loftwings were, as the people of Skyloft believed, beings bestowed upon them as a symbol of the goddess’s divine blessing. In this sense, it is somewhat true that the City in the Sky and the Hylians were created at the same time; when the Skyloftians abandoned their home to live in a new land where they were not long after christened the Hylians, the skyward isle that they had left behind found a new purpose, and a new “city” was born.

Of course, maybe Shad was off his marbles (even if the Oocca are evolved Loftwings, there is still much about them and their connection to the Sheikah that remains shrouded in mystery), but the crux of this entire narrative is that the people of Hylia, the Hylians - at least, up until Breath of the Wild is concerned - were the descendants of the people of Skyloft, and Beedle’s eccentricities in the context of Skyward Sword are rather convincing pieces of evidence that this did not comprise all people of the formerly-known-as “Land of Hylia.” It is therefore only natural that a conclusion could be drawn about where the distinction between the two peoples comes from.

But in the end, even if this can answer the question of why there are round-eared humans alongside long-eared ones, it does not answer the ultimate question of what this distinction means. Why does a connection with and a faith in the gods elongate the ears of the people it touches? The Zelda Encyclopedia states that “in the past, Hylians were able to wield magic of considerable might,” a trait that could possibly distinguish them from your typical human being - but the canon nature of the Encyclopedia is...shaky*, at best, and downright disrespectful at worst. Link and Zelda are two Hylians we see wielding abnormal abilities, but their power can be explained with their respective pieces of the Triforce, not to mention the countless magic users in Hyrule and beyond who aren’t Hylian. Even if there was a time when the Hylians had special abilities, those abilities have long since faded. They are no no taller, no smaller, live no longer than their round-eared counterparts; they are, in every aspect aside from the length of their ears, in every way identical. To finish the quote by the unnamed Hylian man who speaks to a young Link in the Castle Town Market in Ocarina of Time:

“They say we Hylians have big ears in order to hear the voices of the gods...but I've never heard them!”

So...there you have it. I must admit that it is entirely possible that the people of Skyloft had developed long ears before their ancestors had been sent to the heavens - after all, the Sealed Temple was, in millennia past, a temple erected in her honor. Yet this would also make the story of Hylia gathering the “surviving humans” in order to save them all the more grim; could the gods be so callous as to save only those who respect their divine might? One cannot help but think of the Great Sea in The Wind Waker - for in a world populated by the descendants of those who were chosen by the gods to survive the coming floods, it is difficult not to notice that ears of the round variety are once again nowhere to be found.

And yet, when you get right down to it - though some Hylians seem to rely on their lineage as “the closest race to the gods” to maintain an image of self-importance - the difference between a long-eared Hylian and a round-eared human appears to be, ultimately...only that. And unless we see our round-eared friends return in a potentially future title, and the difference remarked upon, that will likely be how things remain.

Until that time, I will continue to do my best to fill the gaps with which we have been left - even if, at the end of the day, I’ve written nothing more than a meaningless, nine-page word jumble...about ears.

EDIT (5/9/2020): It has been brought to my attention (courtesy of @heartenvy) that there is a mild inconsistency with the narrative that Beedle could be from the Surface: namely, the “unbreachable” Cloud Barrier, something Hylia herself created to divide Skyloft from the Surface and keep its inhabitants and the Triforce safe. However, I would argue that the Cloud Barrier is not a physical barrier so much as it is a mystical one, meant to both keep its location secret (the barrier itself is completely invisible from the Surface) and to ensure the people of Skyloft remain complacent in their isolation (believing Skyloft is all there is, they remain there, and in so doing their long-forgotten secrets are kept safe). Zelda is pulled through it long before any proper portals are actually opened, and I would argue that the portals (that is, the pillars of light that appear when we place the corresponding tablets) are largely a gameplay mechanic meant to keep the story linear, as in a real setting Link would have simply ridden his Loftwing to and from the Surface and would have been able to fly anywhere he chose. It’s possible the barrier acts to keep out evildoers, specifically (which would explain why Ghirahim had to summon a vortex to pull Zelda through it, where he could reach her), or, not unlike the Isla de Muerta in Pirates of the Caribbean, Skyloft could very well be “an island that cannot be found except by those who already know where it is” - which, to me, makes the narrative of Beedle finding his way there all the more entertaining (the dude must have been, like, super determined). In any case, I stand by what I’ve stated before: that Beedle is from the Surface, as his accent and the peculiarities of his shop make too strong a case to ignore.

* * * * *

*The Zelda Encyclopedia states that Termina is a Dream World, despite Link’s Awakening having already done this and in a much more satisfying way. I can’t take anything it says seriously.

(Special thanks to @ghiirahiims for the high-res screenshot of Beedle, and shoutout to @gaybellatrix for in no small part convincing me to finally sit down and write this all up.)

2K notes · View notes

casiavium · 4 years ago

Text

I've been editing old stuff instead of writing anything new so I'm going to post some of the parts of my fanfic that I don't hate and work well out of context!!

The crunch of leaves under Link's feet filled the forest, but for once, he wasn't afraid to alert others to his position. They were safe now.

Though it was hard to tell back in the perpetual springtime of Skyloft, time had passed since he fought Demise.

As the months wore on, the surface showed it. The stories of changing leaves and colder breezes that had been passed down for as long as anyone could remember turned out to be true. The world below was filled with brilliant reds and yellows, the air in Faron woods sharper than it had been before.

Link wasn't paying attention to where the path was leading him. He knew the woods well, even if they hadn't made the final move to the surface yet. He wasn't too worried about running into anything dangerous, as it seemed without a leader the bokoblins and moblins had vanished.

Though Faron appeared safe, Link wanted to wander farther. In the middle of their maps was a blank space where a kingdom once stood. He knew ruins laid there, hopefully with the answers to unsolved mysteries regarding gods and demons. Zelda wouldn't let him go alone, but the plans to move meant no one could be spared.

He sighed out loud, stopping in front of a fallen log. He didn't know the area beyond it very well, down a tunnel that looked like it was leading to a canyon. He really should turn back, people would start to worry. Climbing up the log onto the ledge, Link looked back out over the forest.

He wasn't familiar with the area. If he turned around now, he could head straight back the way he came, and be sure to end up at the Sealed Temple. Zelda was waiting for him there, discussing the future of both the surface and Skyloft with Groose. He had said he would be right back, he just needed a minute to get some air. They'd be looking for him soon...

Beyond the tunnel, a faint noise rang through the canyon. Link whipped around, sure he had imagined it. He hadn't heard the soft sound of bells for three months, not since he had left the Master Sword to rest in the past. Wandering farther down the path, Link ignored the instinct to head back.

He had been here before. A long time ago, now. Though the walls of the canyon hid it, Link knew a temple was sitting at the end, surrounded by a grove of trees and wildflowers unlike any others on the surface. The winding path dropped off abruptly in places, fraying rope the only way to cross.

It was dangerous. Alone, if something were to happen to him, he would be trapped. Not expecting to adventure today, he only carried a simple training sword.

At the bend of the path, a shadowy figure flickered at the edge of Link's vision. The chime rang through the canyon again, this time a little louder. When he turned to face the figure head on, the shadow disappeared.

Something was wrong, Link thought, as he felt himself follow the shadow. He had done this before, at the beginning of his quest, with Fi, but this time... the energy that was calling to him felt different. Like it wasn't meant for him. He still followed.

Link almost lost his balance crossing a rope bridge when the shadow appeared at the end. It was small, dark, and still. He couldn't recognize the outline, a vague humanoid, but the chime it sent out sounded so familiar he couldn't ignore it. A soon as he corrected himself, it was gone.

As he followed the path, Link began to worry. He could have been hallucinating the apparition, but more than likely, it was leading him somewhere. A thought crossed his mind that it was guiding him to certain death, luring in a victim with a false sense of security. At the back of his mind, probably the worst thing to have in this situation, was hope.

The similarities to Fi, but darker, different... Link knew it was dangerous to wish for, but he was praying to Hylia the shadow figure was Ghirahim, calling to him as his own sword once had. He knew the spirit was alive, he saw him, Fi told him to find Ghirahim again, but it had been three months. There was no sign of the demon, no idea of where to even start, and Link was close to giving up.

As the shadow appeared in and out of his vision, Link continued down the path leading to Skyview Temple. Soon, he found himself at the front steps, staring up at the building before him.

He really should head back now, get backup or at least a better sword. He had actually turned to leave, but there it was again, the shadowy figure in the corner of his vision. At the entrance to the temple, it flickered, beckoning him inside.

Despite his better judgement, Link followed. There shouldn't have been any bokoblins to deal with, and though his sword was not the best, it would hold up against skulltullas well enough. The temple hadn't changed, and Link was lucky to find every door left unlocked from the last time he had been there.

At the end of the maze of passages, Link once again came to the broken bridge, the room taken over by vines and trees. Across the chasm, the shadow waited in front of the golden door, a dark contrast to the scattered glow of stray mushroom spores.

This was the first time he was able to look at it head on. The figure stood as tall as the keyhole, touching the floor but almost floating as it waited for him. It wasn't solid, a few glowing dots drifting through its body, and as each second passed Link could swear it was getting dimmer.

He couldn't say how much time was spent staring ahead. The figure blinked out of existence once more, and Link finally moved to follow it. The rope before him shook under his weight, and he nearly lost his balance a few times, but he had made it to the other side.

The large door was still unlocked, and open by just a sliver. Drawing his sword, Link pushed through.

Nothing had changed. The empty room stood before him, shattered pieces of pottery from the last fight that took place lining the edges. There was no figure, no demon nor sword waiting for him.

Link lowered his blade. He hadn't expected anything, really, but the confirmation of his fears stung. The sunlight had been very bright outside, the figure must have been a mirage his tired brain kept conjuring. Even so, he felt it would be a good idea to let the others know in case of some sinister new enemy. Placing his sword back in the scabbard, Link turned to leave.

"Did you really just sheathe your sword? Foolish boy."

At the voice, Link spun around with a racing heart. Across the room, where they had first met, Ghirahim was waiting for him.

"Hello, Link."

He looked the same as when Link last saw him. Taller than he was used to, eerily similar to Fi, glowing core exposed. He looked less worn down, but signs of battle were still etched onto his skin, cracks in the gem revealing the glow underneath. His hand held onto the sword, nearly as tall as Link, a reflection of the demon himself.

"It's been a while."

"It has." Link whispered in response, scared to walk closer and break the spell. "What took you so long?"

"Me?" Ghirahim scoffed. "I've been waiting here for you. I thought you'd come back eventually."

Link was confused. Looking back over his shoulder, he had the strange feeling of being watched. "So you weren't the shadow?"

"I don't know what you mean. Does it matter? You're here now."

Still wary, Link turned his attention back to Ghirahim. "I... yes. What... what happens now?"

Ghirahim twisted the sword in his hand. Picking it up, he walked towards Link, offering the blade to him. "That is up to you. I was under the impression you no longer have a sword, correct?"

Link absentmindedly brought his hand up to the training weapon. "Yeah."

"You are a swordsman in need of a blade. I am a blade in need of a master. Surely you see how we can solve these problems?"

Link stared at the black blade in front of him. He had imagined this day for months now, wanting nothing more, but he had never told anyone. Hesitation at taking the weapon clouded his mind. It would be difficult to explain.

"... what exactly does this mean?"

Growing frustrated, Ghirahim snapped, "You've had months to think about it. It's no different than your old spirit, and I promise, if you still worry that I may try to hurt you or your precious spirit maiden, this is the only way you could stop me."

At the mention of Zelda, Link stiffened. She wouldn't react well to this. Yet, Ghirahim had a point. Under his command, Ghirahim wouldn't hurt anyone. Fi had seemed okay with the idea, encouraged him to take it, even. He had been through so much... he deserved this one thing, at least.

"I'll take it."

"Good."

Reaching out for the blade, Link closed his eyes as he grasped the cold hilt. His fingers brushed against Ghirahim's for a moment, before the spirit was gone. Cracking an eye open, Link watched as the sword glowed, red flames lighting the room as it changed before his eyes. Just as when using the sacred flames on the Goddess Sword, the blade transformed under his grip, fitting to his palm and becoming much easier to handle.

The final form was smaller, the edges of the blade smoother. It looked similar to the Master Sword, yet rougher at the edges and still distinctly Ghirahim. Link lifted the newly transformed blade to the light, watching the last of the flames fall away.

Behind him, a hand rested on his waist. This time when Ghirahim leaned over his shoulder, tongue flicking out by his ear, Link did not flinch away. He was pulled against the other's body as that tongue traced his jaw, lips stopping to rest on his neck. Cold against his skin, he could feel them move as Ghirahim whispered,

"It will be a pleasure to serve you, Master."

#I want to delete this fic but the problem is it's the first in a series :/ and while the second one works on its own #I had one person say they'd be sad if I deleted the first so it's still up but it's hanging on by a thread #edited so its less cringey but also I can't read past cht 1 without feeling like crying #ghiralink #what's the point of writing niche fanfic you want if you can't even read it when it's done #this is why when I say I want this fic to exist I mean I want someone else to write it because I want to read it. not write it #I can't read it if I write it!!! it's no fun #skyward sword #link #ghirahim #cherryskywriting

26 notes · View notes

raviotherabbit · 3 years ago

Text

royal pain in the ass - chapter 4

Chapter 4: Era of Twilight Queen Zelda heads out for the night.

[first] - [previous] - [next] read it on ao3!

△ ▲△

“Are you sure this is alright?” The young Hero of the Four Sword trailed Zelda through the halls of her castle, their shoes clicking on the smooth tile below them. “I mean, I wouldn’t want to bother you…”

“I could never be bothered by a hero,” Zelda clarified. “Besides, I believe you of all people should appreciate our collection.”

The pair stopped at a grand set of doors, towering over them with the crest of the royal family, depicted in gold, right in the middle. Before Four could voice any more concerns, Zelda pushed the doors open, dividing the crest in two.

Forgetting his manners, Four rushed past the queen and into the armory. Zelda couldn’t help but chuckle as he admired the vast array of weaponry, hands hovering with a fear to touch. She was struck by how dorky the heroes she grew up hearing legends of actually were, but perhaps she should have guessed they’d be much like her own…

Zelda’s heart dropped at that thought. Oh, Link…

“This battle-axe…” Four marvelled, mouth agape. “I could only dream of making something so well-crafted…”

Forgetting her troubles for a moment, Zelda caught up to Four. “This one is a bit old, actually. I’ve been considering having it hung up somewhere, for posterity.”

“You can never go wrong with an axe on a wall,” Four added.

“Come,” she beckoned him further into the armory. “Let me show you my personal collection.”

Delighted at the notion, he followed her. Eventually, the two came to a wall more tastefully decorated, with several bows and swords hanging.

“I’ve used all of these, at some point,” her hand traced the wooden edges of a bow. With a fond smile on her face, she pulled her rapier from its display. “But I’ve always been fond of my swords.”

Zelda held the rapier out to Four. He hesitated for a moment, looking up to her as if to ask for permission. When she nodded, he took the sword from her with a child-like glee, inspecting it thoroughly.

“I’ve been training with it since I was young,” Zelda explained. “It’s been my favorite.”

And yet, it hadn’t been enough. When the time came, to either fight or die, Zelda had instead chosen to surrender. Her burden went to Link, almost carelessly so, and now…

Noticing her distress, Four placed the rapier back in its display. “Twilight will be fine,” he insisted. “If he’s not back by tomorrow, I think Time is planning on going after him.”

Twilight. The name always throws her for a loop when she hears it. How could Link be so fine with it?

“I’d like to apologize to him, if I can,” she revealed cautiously. “I owe him that much.”

“I think he’s just a bit stressed out,” Four frowned, looking off. “All of us are. Legend got a bit snappy yesterday, and Twilight had to physically stop Wild from pouncing on him.” He sighed wearily.

“I wish he didn’t feel as though everything were his responsibility,” Zelda admitted. But, truthfully, who was she to talk? After all, she was the one who gave him such ideas.

Maybe she deserved what he said to her.

△ ▲△

“Stay safe, Zelda,” Gaepora instructs his daughter, doing his best to remain stoic as he holds her close. “The places you’ll travel will be unfamiliar, but I know that you’ll be able to find your way.”

“We’ll be home soon,” Sun promises, arms tight around her father. “Both Link and myself.”

Gaepora pulls away from Sun, glancing back at the portal. It appeared just after breakfast, right in front of the Sealed Temple. “Keep those granddaughters of mine safe.”

Sun laughs at that. “I will, father.”

Meanwhile, Artemis and Flora stand waiting by the portal. The glowing, golden light still has a draw on them, but they resist enough to allow Sun her goodbyes. It tugs at Flora’s heartstrings, digging that pit in her stomach a little bit deeper. Her only thought is, ‘Why?’

Karane, one of the knights of Skyloft, marches up to the two queens, dragging Pipit by his collar behind her. She releases him just as she reaches them, and Pipit struggles to right himself.

“Pipit,” Karane asks him. “Do you have anything you’d like to say to these two?”

“Er, yes,” Pipit clears his throat. “Your majesties-” he bows awkwardly. “I’m sorry I pointed my sword at you and called you demons.”

“Uh, well.” Flora shifts from one foot to the other, glancing up at Artemis.

Artemis places a hand on Flora’s shoulder, smiling sweetly down at the two knights. “Thank you for your apology, sir Pipit. It’s greatly appreciated.”

Pipit looks back at Karane, who nods in approval. The two bow for them before making their leave.

“That was very diplomatic,” Flora notes, watching as the knights bicker amongst themselves.

“He made a mistake, and he apologized for it,” Artemis explains coolly. “I don’t see a reason to keep being upset.”

The two are interrupted by Sun, who approaches as she waves back to her father. With one hand gripping her satchel’s straps, she asks, “Well, are you guys ready?”

“It’s been lovely staying here, but we need to get moving,” Artemis asserts.

“Then let’s go.” Flora offers a small wave before she steps backwards into the portal. With a bright flash of light, she disappears.

Artemis smirks. “Oh she’s getting sure of herself, isn’t she? Come one-” she waves Sun along to follow her. “We have to catch up before she gets herself lost.”

Side-by-side, Artemis and Sun walk through the portal. Travelling through time is always disorientating, even though both of them have done it before. Sun’s not very surprised to find that these portals aren’t much different than the Gates of Time, but still, she squeezes her eyes shut as they travel. The world warps around her, a chaotic mess until it stops very suddenly.

Sun peeks her eyes open, just as the portal sputters to a close. She finds herself in the middle of a field, Artemis recuperating for a moment with her hands on her knees. On the other hand, however, Sun feels alright, if a little tired. Flora stands a few feet away, using a hand to block the sun from her eyes as she looks off into the distance.

“That must be the castle, just ahead there,” Flora gestures out, and Sun can just see the silhouettes of a city against the daylight as she makes it to her side. “We can get there in no time.”

“Wow, a real, actual city!” Sun utters in awe. “I mean, Sky’s told me about the ones he’s been to, but seeing it now…”

Flora gasps. “I didn’t even realize-!” She eagerly takes Sun’s hand and guides her towards the city hurriedly. “You have so much to see! Come on, let’s-”

“Hold on.”

The pair barely make it a few steps before Artemis stops them, still hunched over nausea. Flora grits her teeth, breathing in sharply. “Artemis, are you okay?”

“Just…” Artemis plants herself on the ground, but it isn’t long before she lays back, staring up at the bright blue sky. “Just give me a second.”

△ ▲△

“Castle Town is… a lot,” Sun comments, subtly shifting to hold onto the cloth of Flora’s cloak. “I’ve never seen so many people before in my life.”

The trio are making their way through the streets, weaving their way through the city’s crowds and passing exuberant vendors. A Goron shouts into the masses, advertising fresh spring water, and Sun covers one of her ears.

“Don’t worry, the castle’s right up there,” Flora points up above the buildings, where the spires of walls are visible. “I’m sure when we explain the situation to the Zelda of this time, she’ll give us a nice, quiet place to spend the night.”

“Hm,” Sun hums in response, noticing Artemis frown slightly at Flora’s words.

“Now that you’ve said it…” Artemis mutters to herself, but she doesn’t finish the thought.

The crowd seems to thin as they approach the castle, which makes sense since the gate is guarded by two heavily armored individuals, both wielding some rather sharp spears. Flora, however, is unfazed, and marches right up to the guards. While Sun tries to follow her, Artemis places a hand on her shoulder, holding her back a few feet. Her hand slips from Flora’s cloak.

“Wait,” Artemis commands.

“Hello,” Flora greets the guards, ignoring their scrutinizing glares. Her hands are folded gently in front of her, the picture of politeness. “We would like to see the queen.”

The soldiers both look towards each other, before both burst out laughing.

“You want to see the queen?” the one on the right, gangly and tall, jabs at her.

“Who are you to demand an audience with her majesty?” the one on the left, shorter than his partner, continues.

Flora scoffs indignantly. “Well I never-!”

“Hold on.” Artemis raises a hand, silencing both guards. “Flora, remain dignified,” she reminds her descendant. “We have information about Link that her royal highness must hear immediately.”

“Uh…” the tall guard idly scratches his face. “What’s link?”

Artemis blinks, taken aback. “Th-the hero.” She composes herself. “Link.”

The guards exchange another glance with each other. “The hero’s name is Link?” the tall one asks, only to receive a shrug from the short one.

“Oh for Hylia’s sake,” Flora sighs, pinching the bridge of her nose.

“Yeah, listen ladies,” the short guard steps forward, flipping his spear so the blunt, wooden end is pointing out. “You’re not seeing the queen today, so scram.” He pokes Flora with the spear.

“Well I never-!” With rage in her eyes, Artemis grabs onto Flora’s arm, dragging both her and Sun away from the castle gates.

“Artemis, wait!” Sun protests. “I think this is still salvageable!”

Ignoring her, Artemis shouts back over her shoulder at the two guards. “Listen to this! You two are going to be in big trouble soon!”

△ ▲△

Flora, with a book in hand, disappeared into the depths of Castle Town. After her display on the battlefield, Artemis doubted she’d be in too much danger in the city. Besides, exploring their surroundings seemed to be a good alternative to meeting this time’s Zelda, and that was way easier when they split up.

Of course, Sun came with her. Artemis didn’t necessarily trust Sun to be on her own in this kind of setting, not yet at least. Judging by the fact that she was currently latched onto her arm like a sloth, she may have made the right choice.

“I have an idea of when we are,” Artemis explains to her.

Sun’s head snaps to Artemis as though she’d been broken out of a trance. “Oh, you do?”

Artemis nods. “I think there’s a business around here where we may find some help.”

“Time war stuff?”

“Time war stuff.”

Sun perks up and begins scanning the buildings up and down the street. “I can help. What does it look like?”

“Well,” Artemis paused. She’d never actually seen the place, had she? She just heard about it late at night when her troops made camp, and she was always about five seconds from punting Little Link into the forest by that time. Which is to say, her attention hadn’t always been there.

“It has to do with bugs,” she finally settles on.

Sun tilts her head. “Bugs?”

“Bugs,” Artemis affirms. “Agitha, the owner, and she loves them. I think it’s a zoo of some kind?”

“A bug zoo in Castle Town,” Sun remarks. “I think I understand cities even less now.”

Artemis shrugs. “I don’t understand it either, to be honest.”

Sun hums to herself, before suddenly pointing to a building across the road. “Agitha’s Castle?” she reads the sign aloud, “Is that it?”

“Right, that’s what it was called!”

When Artemis pushes open Agitha’s wooden door, they’re both immediately hit by a wave of warm air. The chirping and buzzing of several insects greet them, a butterfly going so far as to flutter over and land on Sun’s head.

“Artemis there’s a tree in here,” Sun states, eyeing the bugs climbing all over it with concern.

“Agitha!” Artemis cups her mouth with a hand as she shouts. “Are you here?”

“Is that who I think it is?” a voice rings out from the second floor. A young girl appears, leaning over the railing to peer down at her guests. “The other Princess Zelda!” She races to the stairs with heavy footfalls.

“Well, it’s Queen Zelda now,” Artemis informs Agitha as she bounds down the stairs. Her smile is warm and pleasant, like a fire on a chilly day.

Agitha takes the queen’s hands, holding them in her own, buzzing with energy as an excited smile graces her face. “Then you’re the other Queen Zelda! I can’t believe you’re here! I thought the War Across the Ages was finished?”

“It did,” Artemis nods. “My friend Sun and I are here on separate business.”

Hearing this, Agitha’s eyes snap to Sun, as if noticing her for the first time. “Oh, hello there! I’m Agitha.”

“Uh, hi,” Sun awkwardly responds. “I’m Sun, I suppose.”

Though Agitha squints at her words with suspicion, she’s quickly drawn away by Artemis. “We need to see this era’s Zelda, but the guards haven’t let us into the castle,” she explains. “Do you know of a way we can arrange a meeting?”

“Those guards are tricky.” Agitha slowly draws her hands away, bringing a finger to her chin as she thinks. “There may be something,” she reveals. “Why don’t you come have some tea? I’ll tell you everything I know.”

△ ▲△

While their visit to Agitha’s Castle was by no means short, the subsequent search for Flora ended up being way longer than anticipated. Eventually, they find her laying against one of the buildings bordering the castle wall,

“Breaking and entering is not an option, Flora,” Artemis reprimands, picking up her exhausted descendant off the city streets and slinging her over her shoulder.

“I… ran the whole… perimeter,” Flora pants out, book still clutched tightly in her hands. “We can climb it.”

Sun, standing behind Artemis, pats Flora’s head in consolation.

“We’re heading to dinner,” Artemis says. “Agitha recommended a nice little bar we could eat at.”

△ ▲△

The bar, thankfully, isn’t too far from where Flora collapsed. Sun breathes a sigh of relief when she sees it’s mostly deserted, save for a couple of patrons sitting at a table past the bar. One is a redhead, a drink by his side as he converses with the girl next to him. She’s black-haired, and curiously enough, her ears are rounded. Both perk up when they see the trio enter.

“Telma!” the black-haired lady calls out towards the back. “You’ve got some customers!”

“Er, is she alright?” the redheaded man points with his pen towards Flora, who’s still being carried by Artemis.

“She’s fine, just tired,” Artemis clarifies. She unceremoniously deposits Flora at the nearest table. “My sisters and I were wondering if we could get a meal here?”

“Well you certainly came to the right place, I’ll tell you that!” He offers her a thumbs up, only to be jabbed in the side by his companion.

Just then, a woman pushes through the back door, leaving it swinging behind her. “Well hello there, girls. Can I get you something?”

Artemis places a hand on Sun’s shoulder. “Wait here with Flora, I’ll order for us.”

Sun nods, sliding into the seat next to Flora, who’s currently laying face down on the table. Quietly, she slips Flora’s notebook away from her.

“So what is this?” Sun asks, thumbing through a few of the pages. There’s a lot of writing, but she also notices some drawings of diagrams. “Is it your diary?”

“Of sorts,” Flora murmurs. “It’s a research journal.”

“Oh!” she realizes. “I remember you seemed very interested in some of the monuments of my time. I could tell you more about them, if you’d like.”

“Sun,” Flora pops her head up, resting her chin on the wooden table. “I would love that more than anything. But I currently don’t have the stamina to write a single sentence.”

With a frown, Sun pats her shoulder. “Don’t worry, we’ll have lots of time later.”

Her sympathy brings a small smile to Flora’s face. “How was your time with Artemis, today?”

“We met one of her Time War friends,” Sun explains. “She mentioned her before, Agitha? She told us about this place.”

“And I bet you like it much more than the rest of the city.”

Sun’s neck grows hot, as she awkwardly tries to refute that. “Well- I-”

Flora reaches to place her hand over Sun’s. For a brief moment, her heart races at the thought that the glow might return. When nothing happens after a few seconds, she relaxes again. Never has she been so happy about a lack of anything before.

“Don’t worry,” Flora says, oblivious to Sun’s panic. “I know it can be a bit of a jump, from so little to so much. It was the opposite for me, but I felt similarly when I returned to my Hyrule.”

“Where did you go?” Sun asks, as if it were the most innocent question in the world.

“It was-” Flora tries to explain, but she just sighs. “I sealed a great evil away for a long time. When Wild eventually came to my side, so much time had already passed.” She looks away. “I didn’t recognize anything, anymore.”

“You didn’t- you didn’t have to say that,” Sun says. “I mean, I also sealed away an evil, the Demon King, but at least I went to the past to do it-” She takes a deep breath, composing herself. “What I’m trying to say is, I’m sorry. It must have hurt.”

“Well-”

The pair are interrupted by Artemis, returning to the table with the barkeep, Telma. She places her own bowl of soup in front of her while Telma serves Sun and Flora.

“Hope you girls enjoy,” she smiles, glancing over at Flora. “I made this special, I hear it’s supposed to help after a long day.”

“Thank you,” Flora responds automatically. She sits up slightly, eagerly yet carefully bringing a spoonful of soup to her mouth. There’s a buzz of excitement in her chest as she recognizes the blend of flavors; it can only be cream of vegetable soup. In fact, it’s almost like-

Wait.

Flora’s eyes go wide, and she almost drops her spoon. “Carrots and honey.”

“What?” Sun tilts her head at her.

“This is a carrot and honey cream of vegetable soup, I-” She remembers the night she first tried it. After one hundred years of fighting, she was so tired, and that night, Wild brought her to a stable. He showed her how to make it, explaining where he got every ingredient. And the way it warmed her stomach after so long, especially when he followed it up with a fruitcake dessert…

“This is Wild’s recipe,” she reveals, looking up at Telma. “Did he- how did you get it?”

Before Telma can respond, the door to the bar opens, and in steps a figure in a long, black cloak.

△ ▲△

Honestly, all Queen Zelda Elaine Hyrule wanted was to relax at Telma’s after a long day of courting nobles and other queenly business. She knew at least a few members of the Resistance would be there, and what better way to get her mind off things than to listen to Shad ramble on about the sky beings for hours?

What she didn’t expect, however, was a young girl looking like she was going to cry about her soup while grilling Telma about the recipe.

“Uh,” Artemis looks between Telma and the girl, befuddled.

Telma grimaces when she notices her. “Honey, why don’t you go sit with Shad and Ashei in the back? I’ll have this handled in a second.” The pair of them are standing just a few feet away, Ashei with a hand ready to draw her sword.

“How did you get Wild’s recipe?” the girl demands, standing as one of her companions tries to reach for her.

“I didn’t take it,” Telma counters. “He gave it to me-”

“Wild?” Zelda asks. “As in, Link’s friend, Wild?”

A silence passes over the girl, she and her friends staring at Zelda. One of the other patrons at the girl’s table, seemingly the oldest, speaks up. “You know Link.”

“He’s-” Zelda almost calls him her friend, but truthfully, she doesn’t know if he would call her such at the moment. “Yes. I know him. And how do you know Wild?” She raises a skeptical eyebrow.

“He’s my best friend,” the first girl says, crossing her arms.

“We’re friends of Link’s friends,” the older one says. “The ones he’s travelling with now.”

Very suddenly, it clicks in Zelda’s mind. These aren’t just any visitors, now are they?

“Ah, I see,” Zelda replies. “You all are quite far from home, are you not? Tell me, what is it that brings you to the Era of Twilight?” She slides up to their table, resting her hands on its wooden surface.

“Link and his friends may be in danger,” the last one, a girl with a feather on her belt, reveals. “We need to see this time period’s Zelda.”

“Well then, you’ve found her.” Zelda pulls down the hood of her cloak. She takes one of the empty seats at the table. With her hands folded in front of her, she narrows her gaze at her counterparts. “Telma, give us a moment. What’s wrong with Link?”

“Dusk, I presume?” the older one asks, receiving a nod in response. “I’m called Artemis, these are Sun and Flora.” She gestures to the other two. “We encountered a monster that could change shape, primarily taking the form of our heroes. He taunted us with their safety, and since we haven’t seen them in quite some time, we can only assume he’s done something to them.”

“That’s… concerning,” Dusk admits. “So why have you come to me, then?”

“We want your help,” Sun continues. “We’ve been going through the portals, and they’ve brought us… Zeldas? They’ve brought us all together.”

Flora plops back down in her chair. “The shadow creature is strong. We’ll need as many hands as we can get to defeat it.”

Dusk’s first instinct is to refuse them outright. Though she’s not sure about the rest of them, she has a kingdom to run! She can’t just leave on a journey across time on a whim, not when her people need her. She isn’t Link.

Oh.

But this is for Link, isn’t it? Link, who she let do everything while she was trapped in the twilight of Hyrule Castle. Link, who saved a land that wasn’t his without question. Link, who deserved more than she had given them.

“Ashei, Shad!” she calls out, beckoning the two Resistance members to her side. “Tomorrow, I’m going to make an announcement. As trusted advisors and saviors of Hyrule in your own right, I will leave you both, as well as Auru, in charge of all royal duties until further notice.” She turns her attention back to the other Zeldas. “I’m coming with you.”

“Thank you,” Sun smiles at her sweetly. “All of our Links mean a lot to us, I’m sure you understand.”

“Sorry you had to see me, er,” Flora gestures to her soup, which she stirs with her spoon. “It’s just… I haven’t had this soup in a while, you know?” She suddenly turns towards the bar, where Telma is cleaning some dishes. “And sorry for yelling at you, miss!”

“Don’t you worry, honey!” Telma calls back. “Tell Wild thanks for the recipe when you see him, alright? I think he could use the pick-me-up.”

“Pick-me-up?” Flora echoes quietly.

“Now.” Artemis slams her hands on the table lightly. “Dusk, I should tell you. We had the worst experience with a pair of guards outside the castle, earlier today.”

“Oh, did you?” Dusk leans in, resting her elbows on the table. “Well, we’ll have to handle that.”

#linked universe #lu dusk #lu flora #lu artemis #lu sun #fanfic #rpita #rav's writing

17 notes · View notes

queenof-literature · 5 years ago

Text

Star Wars Linked Universe AU

Soooo I'm making a Linked Universe AU that's Star Wars themed and I'm super psyched about it. I decided to get some facts and headcanons out there because I'm so excited and I couldn't wait, and also because I want to get my ideas out there. The Linked Universe characters belong to @linkeduniverse but the specifics of the Star Wars universe such as lightsaber colors and fighting forms were thought of by me and I'm really excited to share some ideas before I get started actually writing the series!

Basic Facts:

Hylia is essentially the Force, which guides our heroes in the same way Hylia does, guiding the boys to meet and leading them to wormholes where they can switch to different places.

I know a lot about Star Wars and legend of Zelda, but combining the two needs compromise so not everything will be exactly the canon you know

Magic exists, but in different ways. It’s kinda branched out from the Force.

The Links are all Grey Jedi, because they have all been on very different paths in life and while they all want what is best for the galaxy, their paths would not meet while they were all at the Jedi Temple.

Order 66 did happen, but it was different in different timelines and was more spread or less devastating in some, but wiped out thousands in others.

Time:

Fight Style: Used to be Juyo (extremely powerful, only for the most force sensitive), but now sticks mainly to Soresu (A more modern version of the traditional Makashi, very strong defensive tactics)

Color: Blue. Used to be green, but he was very mad at the force for a time and lost the extremely strong connection he had.

Facts: Did not agree with the Jedi’s views on marriage, married Malon after he became a Grey. Order 66 killed his old master, Deku, who made sure Time escaped.

Twilight:

Fight Style: A modernized version of Makashi (emerged along with the Sith. Very strong against other lightsabers. Very graceful and calculated, but the traditional form was almost completely abandoned when blasters emerged)

Color: Orange. Midna’s old lightsaber, it turned a bit paler when he started using it. Orange represents pure strength, but only killing when necessary.

Facts: Grey Jedi don’t have padawans, but he is mentored by Time and mentors Wild. He still grew up in Ordon which has technology but is still farming and agriculture based. Very young when Ganon caused Order 66 in his world, not old enough to remember but he was smuggled away and ended up in Ordon with Rusl.

Wild:

Fight Style: Jar’Kai (Two lightsabers, mainly one forwards and one backwards). Used to have a traditional version of fighting, but turned more towards acrobatics and dual blades after his 100 year sleep. Not good with blasters, Ganon destroyed all tech except Sheikah tech 100 years ago, so his world is very rudimentary. Heck of an archer though.

Color: Yellow. From the old Jedi Knighthood, one is darker from his knight days, while the one he acquired 100 years later is paler.

Facts: Died during Order 66 and was put under the Jedi Temple in the Shrine of Resurrection and lost his memories. Dual wielding seemed the most natural to him for some reason when he woke up, so he self trained in that. Has never seen Space before since there’s no way to get off his Hyrule. Really likes hoarding uniforms from Ganon’s forces on his Hyrule and storing them in his slate but don’t tell Twilight.

Warriors:

Fight Style: Shii Cho and Makashi hybrid. Shii Cho is traditional for defense, while Makashi is a traditionalized offense/defense. Warriors was trained in this when in the royal army on his planet.

Color: Purple. This color is used by an aggressive and powerful fighter who leads others into battle.

Facts: The Jedi order isn’t as prominent in his time, so he holds no ill will towards them. The Grey Jedi stepped up to protect the Royal Family. Although some Grey, like the Grey Jedi Cia, are much darker and almost ally with the Sith when necessary.

Hyrule:

Fight Style: Djem So. Mainly uses the opponent's force against them, similar to Shein which uses blasters against them.

Color: Black. His old blue lightsaber was destroyed, and he had no other option but to take the one he found in the abandoned Temple near where he defeated the Sith Lord Ganon. He doesn’t mind it too much, he enjoys giving the blade a second chance after being forced to kill in cold blood so many times.

Facts: Comes from a world decimated by Order 66. He is force sensitive which he must hide or monsters will hunt for his blood. Unfortunately, some have already figured it out. Like Wild, he is self taught from old books that somehow didn’t get burned by Ganon’s forces. Found out he has the rare gift of force healing where did that come from?

Legend:

Fight Style: Ataru. Mainly used by the Sith, which makes him uncomfortable and untrusted by many which made him turn to the Grey side instead of the Jedi. He is the furthest thing from the Sith, he just excels in that style of fighting.

Color: Pink. Known for being a balance between the light and dark of the force.

Facts: Single handedly took down a death destroyer after it destroyed the planet of Koholint to avenge Marin. Although in his world some force users could be reborn into an animal. Something tells Legend that Marin was one of them. Not a hoarder, just likes collecting useful items from planets he visits.

Wind:

Fight Style: Shein. Uses the opponent's force against them, just like Tetra and her space pirates taught him. Shein focuses on using the opponent's blasters against them.

Color: A slightly darker blue. This shows he is more on the physical side of the force. No one he knows well (Like Aryll, his grandma, and Tetra and her pirate crew) are force sensitive so he learned how to get by without using it as much.

Facts: Very good with a blaster. His time with tetra and the pirates taught him very good skills like blasters, fighting, cursing, the things he needs. Visits his home whenever possible but he loves exploring the galaxy. He’s also a very good pilot.

Four:

Fight Style: Niman. This is a combination of many past Jedi arts. He incorporates different styles very well into his, so he is very adaptive and always changing his fighting.

Color: White. Represents neutrality. A white lightsaber somes when a red lightsaber is healed. Four healed a past enemy's lightsaber to give it a second chance.

Facts: Yes, Vio, Red, Green and Blue all exist and Four can still split up like in the Linked Universe, but the others don’t know yet. Niman fighting style because Four is adaptable? Sure, but also because the four assholes in his head couldn’t decide on a fighting style Blue I swear-

Sky

Fight Style: Juyo. Used to have the more classic style but he turned out extremely force sensitive so he started incorporating Juyo in.

Color: Green. Green lightsabers are for the diplomatic, very force sensitive Jedi.

Facts: Grew up in Skyloft, before Order 66. Has a very deep connection to the force, but still grew up as a Grey Jedi, although they weren’t called that. Jedi didn’t really exist in his time. It was just the knights academy which he was a part of.

Sorry if this is stupid, I'm excited to combine the world though. Wish I could draw so I could help people visualize it better but I can't at all lmao.

#linked universe #legend #hyrule #four #sky #time #twilight #warriors #wild #wind #star wars #alternate universe #AU #linkeduniverse #LU #LoZ #legend of zelda #QoL Announcement

125 notes · View notes

gman-003 · 8 years ago

Text

Legends - The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword Analyzed, Part Two

Levias is an even worse fit. He's supposedly a guardian spirit for Skyloft, but he's never mentioned until the part of the game where you have to go get a MacGuffin from him. After that, he never appears in the story again. I think he gets more total screentime in Hyrule Warriors than in Skyward Sword. He feels like a Link's Awakening reference that was tossed in at the last minute, when it was decided that Skyward Sword was to be the origin myth for the Legend of Zelda series. Games have become a very narrative-focused experience. When the Legend of Zelda series began, all you had was "you're the hero, go rescue the princess from the monster by getting all the magic things". You're still the hero, there's still a princess and there's still monsters and magic things, but the series has gotten a lot more story-focused as time has passed.

That's not, in and of itself, a bad thing. Early games skimped on the story because they didn't have the technical capability to tell it well. The NES basically didn't have the memory capacity for books' worth of text or minutes-long animations. And a story done well is always worthwhile.

But it has to be done well. Is the story of Skyward Sword good? Well... kind of. It has great bits, it has okay bits, and it has some bad bits.

Good: Zelda has agency, Groose has arc

Certain tropes have gotten a lot of flak for their prevalence. The "damsel in distress" trope, the helpless female character who you must rescue, gets some deserved criticism, and the Zelda series has used that trope pretty extensively in past games.

Not here.

Skyward Sword gives us a Zelda who takes action. She does things. In the earliest parts of the game, she sticks up to a bully to protect you. When she gets thrown to the surface world by a tornado, you go to rescue her, only to discover a) she's taking care of herself, b) she's on her own quest, and c) she's actually kind of busy right now, let's try to meet up later, k?

Even when she becomes trapped in a crystal thing... she was the one who put herself there. She had to do some weird magic stuff to keep The Imprisoned... imprisoned, and until you kill the thing for good, she's too busy to come have sloppy makeouts so get off your ass and finish the quest already, Link. Get it together, because she's got hers.

The complaint about the trope is often misused. Tropes are tools, and tools exist to be used (although yes, the extent to which that particular one is used is indicative of problems with our culture's gender roles). Using the damsel-in-distress trope to, say, give the broad strokes of a story because you're on the NES and putting a more detailed story in the game would require cutting out half your gameplay, is perfectly valid. Nintendo could have told a good story even while using that trope... but instead, they gave us a Zelda who felt like a real character, who did real-character things and had a real story of her own.

In Skyward Sword, Zelda has an arc. She has character development. She has growth. She feels like a real person, with internal conflict and personal change. She's an actual good character.

She's not the only one. Groose - who I had pegged at first as the annoying comic-relief character - has an arc. He starts off as a bully - childishly cruel to those weaker, but a coward to those who he can not or will not harm. He sobs inconsolably when Zelda goes missing... until, eventually, his grief is overwhelmed by his envy at Link's exploits, and he tries to usurp him as protagonist, trying to be the one to save Zelda and, he hopes, win her favor. But visiting the strange surface world changes him. He learns to respect others. He finds his courage, helping Link fight a demon. He uses his brain, and not just his brawn. And, eventually, he realizes that Zelda is her own person, that he's doing both of them a disservice by trying to win her.

That's a story right there. That's an arc. It's not one that's well-suited to game form, honestly, but it's great character development. The low-level writing, the words and sentences of dialogue, is never particularly great in Skyward Sword, but the mid-level character crafting is on point.

For everyone except Link.

Okay: Proving your worth to be a hero, not being a hero

Link as a character has one big problem in *Skyward Sword*. He doesn't have agency. He never does things without another character, or several characters, pushing and prodding and guiding and dragging him through the story. His supporting cast is so supportive that he loses his protagonist status - because he gets told to do everything that he does, he becomes merely the pawn for other character's successes, rather than a hero in his own right. He's a bullet fired at Demise by Zelda. He's the dumb meat swinging Fi and the Goddess Sword around. He's the errand-boy of Impa, in two ways.

Link's character arc is barely an arc at all. It's all buildup for almost no payoff. Link spends the first three dungeons trying to prove to Impa that he's good enough to keep up, to not be a liability to her and Zelda. Then he spends three dungeons proving himself worthy of the sacred fires needed to forge the Master Sword. Then he has to go prove himself a hero to the three dragons. Link only "becomes a hero" at the very, very end, when he defeats Ghirahim and Demise - specifically, he becomes a hero when Demise gives him a chance to run away, and Link chases after him instead. So, about fifteen minutes before the credits roll, depending on how much trouble the final battle gave you. (It gave me a lot of trouble, by the way). Other games in the Legend of Zelda series did not make you wait nearly so long. In *Ocarina of Time*, Link gets his first hero moment when he first faces Ganondorf, and draws his sword against the king of evil. In *Wind Waker*, Link shows signs of heroism from the beginning, when he ventures into the forest to rescue a fallen stranger. Perhaps the writers of *Skyward Sword* intended that early moment where Link ventures to the surface in search of Zelda to be that moment where he shows even a sign of heroism... but they sapped it of any meaning by having him be so forcefully prodded into it, by not one but two characters. I was yelling at the screen for them to shut up and let me go on an adventure already, but the cutscene dragged on of Fi and Gaepora telling me how important it is to go on an adventure. (There may be a blog entry entirely about this scene, as well as the role of certain steps of the Monomyth in interactive media, if I feel like it's worthwhile). Link isn't really changed by his adventures. He's learned skills and acquired powers he didn't have before, but he's fundamentally the same character, as far as I can tell. Maybe it's just hard to show a player character developing self-reliance and confidence, because their actions are controlled by the player? But plenty of other games have pulled this off - the 2013 Tomb Raider reboot springs to mind.

That brings up an interesting aside: does the protagonist of the story necessarily have to be the player character of the game? I would argue that Zelda is the protagonist of Skyward Sword's story, even though she's never controlled by the player. Link doesn't take initiative. He starts the game doing things because Zelda told him. When Zelda's gone, he does things because Fi told him, or because a dragon told him, or because someone just asked nicely. Zelda has far more agency than Link, and honestly has a better character arc.

In the end, it was Zelda that defeated Demise, not Link. Link might have been the one swinging the sword, but the victory was arranged by Zelda. She (as Hylia) placed all the tools Link needed in the places he would get them, and kept The Imprisoned from escaping until Link had assembled all the pieces necessary to kill it.

And even though I'm not sure the Legend of Zelda gameplay formula would be the best fit for such a story... I kind of wish I had been playing as Zelda instead. Or maybe playing as Impa, since she had lots of action going on, but was more closely involved with the story's protagonist. Either one seems like it could have been a good game.

Bad: Elements out of place

While Link is a bad fit for the protagonist role, he's at least a good fit for the player character role, and his story isn't jarringly bad. But there are elements that seem much more out of place.

The story of Skyward Sword has an unfortunate tendency to bring new characters in without foreshadowing or justification - characters that, logically, ought to have been known to the player earlier, but were not.

Demise, the game's final boss, sort of comes out of nowhere. You never see him except in the bestial, non-sapient form of The Imprisoned. You never see art depicting him as a humanoid or writings referencing him as such. This isn't completely without foreshadowing, as you do know that The Imprisoned is not in its original form, and it was once a fearsome demon king, but it's still quite abrupt to see him standing before you, wielding a sword. It was clearly intended to be a surprise, but it comes off more as a "we made the final boss fight without telling the writers" than a "clever twist ending".

And the game's very status as an origin seems to contradict its internal story. Skyward Sword has an obsession with the past. You're fighting an ancient evil that was sealed away in an ancient battle by ancient peoples under the guidance of an ancient goddess. Time travel is a theme of one of the dungeons and is a major component of the story - and you always go backward to the past, never forward to the future.

The game does not feel primitive. You have plenty of advanced technology - rotorcraft and electricity are in active use on Skyloft, and the are friggen robots on the surface. That doesn't jive at all with the supposed placement at the head of the timeline. The technology of the series jumps all over the place - Skyward Sword has all this advanced, modern tech, but the next few games per the official timeline, Minish Cap, Four Swords and Ocarina of Time feature very little tech beyond that of medieval Europe. You can't even argue that all the technology we see in Skyward Sword is ancient, pre-apocalyptic tech, which will break down and be lost over the next century or so. Some of it was indigenous! Beedle had electrical generators and human-propelled aircraft, stuff we emphatically do not see in our visits to the past. He didn't salvage that from an ancient ruin, he invented it. So why isn't that seen in every other game, since they all take place after Skyward Sword?

I suspect, contrary to the claims of Aonuma, that Skyward Sword was not intended to be placed at the head of the series from the start of development. It feels like it was created either to be at a vague future point in the timeline, or with no concept of being a sequel or prequel at all. Before the three-branched timeline was made official, it was commonly argued that the series had no strict chronology, that it was literally a legend, in the sense of being the same story told over and over by different storytellers.

Under that paradigm, Skyward Sword fits well. It has the magic sword of power, it has the princess and her protector, it has the mentor, it has the companion, it has the demon king, it has the whale, it has all the stock locations. It has all the recurring nouns of the Zelda franchise, it just puts them together differently, as every game did.

With its focus on the past, I could even buy it being a distant sequel to another game, perhaps on the Wind Waker branch of the timeline. I have not yet played the games billed as direct or indirect sequels to Wind Waker, though, so that may have its own contradictions. It could even fit around the rest of the timeline - have the "past" of Skyward Sword come before every other game, and the "present" come after. There's tons of theories that could be made to fit - and all of them fit better than the actual way they chose to present it.

Overall, I just don't feel like Skyward Sword is a perfect, natural starting place for the Zelda series. I have a theory as to why it was made the Official First Zelda Story, but that will have to wait for another time.

#everyzeldaproject #the legend of zelda #loz #skyward sword #game writing

1 note · View note

raviotherabbit · 3 years ago

Text

royal pain in the ass - chapter 3

Chapter 3: Era of the Skies Zelda meets some new faces.

[first] - [previous] - [next] read it on ao3!

△ ▲△

Link—her Link, Sky—had told Zelda that his fellow heroes seemed to have… issues, with voicing their problems. Which, truth be told, didn’t make much sense to her. Skyloft has always been a very open environment. Everyone knew each other, and so knew when their fellow citizen was struggling.

Would there really be a time where not all of Hyrule was like this?

Zelda didn’t think much of it, not for quite some time. Not until her visit to the formerly Sealed Grounds, where she found the Hero of Legend staring up at the Statue of the Goddess. In retrospect, the whole thing seemed incredibly tacky. Who needs a hundred foot statue in honor of their worship?

Still, she found herself drawn to it. Of course she did. Things had been confusing ever since everything ended and construction of the kingdom had begun. Zelda still wasn’t quite sure what to make of herself.

She startled when she noticed Legend, having expected to be alone. It was a fresh and early morning, but there he was, arms crossed tightly with head tilted up at the statue.

“Hello, there!” Zelda called out, and the hero turned to face her. This one is a bit older than her Link, thank goodness. She’d grown a bit concerned by Wind and Fours’ appearances, even Wild and Hyrule looked a bit too young for her nerves. They all made her worry.

“Princess Zelda.” Legend nodded at her as she stepped up beside him. His gaze returns to the statue, eyes emotionless.

“There aren’t any princesses in this time, Legend,” she said. “At least, not yet.”

“Hm. Apologies.”

“It’s still early. I don’t even think your wolf is up, yet.”

“Let them be,” Legend told her. “I just- I couldn’t get back to sleep.”

“Well, what’s wrong?” she asked. At Legend’s scowl, Zelda continued, “I won’t tell anyone, I promise.”

Legend’s eyes shifted to Zelda, scrutinizing her. He sighed, looking up at the statue once again.

“I’m just thinking,” he said. “I mean, there are patterns to all of this, right? Evil rises, and so a hero and a princess work together to save the day.”

“It’s a nice thought, isn’t it?” Zelda smiled at him. “No matter how bad it gets, there will always be an end to it.”

“That’s not what I’m saying,” Legend countered her. “What I’m saying is, the evil always comes back. The seals break, or something new comes around. So Hylia calls upon someone new to fight, again and again.”

Zelda reached out, placing a hand on Legend’s shoulder, but he shrugged her away.

“No matter what we do, it gets worse. What’s the point?”

For a moment, Zelda paused, gripping at the cloth of her skirt. With a sigh, she sat facing away from the statue, motioning for Legend to sit with her.

“Has my Link ever told you about me?” she asked as Legend sat by her side.

“Just that you’re the best ever.” Legend rolled his eyes. “And that he loves you so much, and he can’t wait to see you again.”

Despite herself, Zelda giggled. “He’s sweet.”

But, truthfully, she was relieved. Sky has enough sense, at least, to keep her secret from those who have a bit of disdain towards their Goddess.

Without thinking, she placed an arm around the Hero of Legend’s shoulders. He tensed at first, glancing at her hand warily, and Zelda was almost afraid that she’d done something wrong. But then he relaxed, and even leaned his head against her.

“I can’t speak to the future of Hyrule,” Zelda told him, tracing patterns on his arm. “But I do know that the Goddess is not infallible.” She swallowed, her throat suddenly dry. “Do you know the story of the first hero?”

“Isn’t that Sky?” Legend asked.

“No,” Zelda said, looking up and back at Hylia’s statue. “Sky is only the second hero. There was one who bore the Hero’s Spirit before him.”

Legend looked up at Zelda, so with a smile, she began the story of Hylia’s Chosen Hero.

△ ▲△

Flora and Artemis stumble out of the portal into a dense forest. The nausea sets in almost immediately as both queens double over, Artemis bracing herself with a hand on Flora’s shoulder. After a deep breath, Flora straightens herself out.

“You know, I think I’m getting used to it,” she remarks, offering a hand for her ancestor.

With a groan, Artemis accepts Flora’s hand. “I’m more used to standing on the other end of these things,” she admits.

“Don’t worry,” Flora assures her, gently guiding Artemis to sit below the closest tree. “How about…” She glances past the towering branches to the darkened sky above. “You rest here for a moment, and I’ll get started on our camp.”

Artemis lifts her weary head for a moment. “It’s later here than it was in my time.”

Certain that Artemis is fine on her own, Flora turns her attention to her preparations. The clearing they’re in can more accurately be described as a small gap between the trees, but since it’s just the two of them camping, that shouldn’t be much of a problem. She takes some wood out of her Sheikah Slate, the bundle materializing in her hand.

“What was that?” Artemis suddenly asks, bud eyed and staring at the wood. “Where did that come from?”

For a moment, Flora tilts her head in confusion, before the reality hits her. With a laugh she doesn’t mean to be mocking一though by Artemis’s face, she may have missed the mark on that一she holds out her Sheikah Slate once again.

“Storage,” Flora explains. To demonstrate, she pulls out a few pieces of flint as well, and Artemis gasps in shock. “Rather useful, isn’t it?”

“I know I’ve said it before, but that’s one strange relic.” Artemis notes.

“Oh believe me, I’m aware,” Flora jokes. She lays the wood out on the ground and strikes the flint together, igniting the fire. “Link insisted I stock up on supplies once we started travelling together again, so we’re lucky I haven’t been camping in a while.”

Artemis sighs wistfully, scooching closer to the fire. “The good old days. My Link and I must have run all over Hyrule back during the war.”

“I was a researcher, back in the day.” Flora brings her fingers to her chest as she speaks. “Link- Wild, he used to accompany me to all sorts of archeological sites.” Her hand shifts into a fist. “Of course, we’ve both been much too busy for that recently. But once reconstruction is done and he’s back home…”

A silence hangs over the two queens, both staring into the bright and searing fire. There’s a deep pit in both of their stomachs, twisting and cold. Flora draws her knees to her chest, resting her head on top of them. Artemis, however, places a hand on her descendant’s shoulder.

“They’re fine,” she insists, her eyes as hard as steel when Flora looks up at her. “Warriors, Wild, and all of the rest of them… They’ve come through so much worse than this. We will bring them back safe.”

Flora smiles. “Well, then I suppose we have a lot to do tomorrow. How about some dinner?”

△ ▲△

Zelda’s always been an early-riser. Every morning, she rises as the first rays of dawn break. And then, once she’s ready to start her day, that’s when the business begins. After all, if Link’s to be believed, she’s got a kingdom to establish.

Usually, she’s one of only a few to be awake this early, which she’s fine with. But, on this particular morning, she’s shocked by the presence of someone standing right outside of her tent.

With a scream, Zelda falls back into her tent, but she doesn’t have a chance to reach for a weapon to defend herself with before she hears the person speaking.

“Ah! Zelda!” the figure shouts in panic.

“Pipit!” Zelda pushes her head out of the flaps. “What are you doing outside my tent?!”

“I just- I,” Pipit stumbles over his words, folding under Zelda’s harsh glare. “I saw something when I was patrolling last night! But I didn’t want to wake you! But it’s also important, so I thought I should wait here?”

Zelda sighs heavily. “Pipit… you know you can wake me if something important happens, right?”

“Ah, well-” Pipit’s face grows red, and he awkwardly scratches the back of his head. “You’re in charge here, so…”

With a groan, Zelda stands and brushes herself off. “We can deal with that later. Now, what’s so important that it could either wait or not wait?”

“Well,” Pipit clears his throat. “There appears to be some… Hylians, camping out in the woods.”

Zelda tilts her head. “Alright?”

“I mean, they aren’t from Skyloft,” Pipit quickly adds. “I’ve never seen them before in my life.”

Zelda frowns. “It’s not Link and his friends?”

Pipit shakes his head. “There were only two of them, and I haven’t seen either with Link before.”

That’s… disappointing, sure, but also extremely concerning. Sure, Ghirahim was the only demon they’d ever seen, but Demise could still have followers out there. If these travelers pose a threat, then Zelda owes it to her people that she sees to it. The Surface must be kept safe, at all costs.

“Take me to them,” she commands.

△ ▲△

A breeze rustles past her, carrying the scent of blooming wildflowers. She takes it all in with a deep breath, sighing with relief. It’s a beautiful, crystal clear day. She and Link walk together, hand in hand, though Hyrule Field.

“This is it,” she says. “It’s finally over.”

A giddiness spreads throughout her whole chest, and she can’t help but laugh. Finally, finally! She’s free! Link is here, and he’s okay! They’ve done it!

“There’s so much for us to do!” she happily continues. “We have to visit Mipha, Daruk, Revali, and Urbosa! I’m sure Impa’s expecting us in Kakariko, not to mention the Ancient Tech Labs. Oh, and I’d love to see your home in Hateno, Link!”

Silently, Link’s hand slips from her own.

“Link?”

She turns around, expecting to find Link just a few steps behind her. But instead, the field behind her is barren. Her knight is gone.

“Link?!” she calls out. Desperately, she looks in every direction, trying to find the slightest clue of her friend. “Link, where did you go?!”

From somewhere beyond the castle, a darkness spreads over Hyrule Field like a blanket. She can’t see more than a few inches beyond her face, but still, she frantically yells out for Link.

Something cold grabs onto her wrist from behind, and she shivers.

Right at her back, she sees it. The monstrous, dark form of Link from the battle. He has a harsh grip on her hand, refusing to let go as she pulls away.

“Link is gone,” the shadow says. “Along with the rest of your precious Champions.

“No!” she shouts, trying with all her strength to escape the shadow. “No, not again!”

“You abandoned everyone you cared for!” he wheezes as he laughs. “It’s all your fault!”

The shadow leans right into her face, refusing to let her run away.

“You killed them all!”

Flora gasps awake, eyes snapping open. She barely has time to calm her thoughts before there’s something pointed at her face, and, with perhaps too much of a delay, she realizes it’s a gleaming silver sword.

“Don’t say a word!” the sword’s apparent wielder whispers loudly. Flora’s just barely able to see him out of the corner of her eye.

“Pipit!” another voice chastises him.

“Hey!” that voice is clearly Artemis, and in a second, she’s standing over Flora. She has her own rapier pointed at the threatening intruder. “Leave her alone!”

“State your business!”

Artemis abruptly drags Flora from her bedroll by her arm, keeping her rapier trained on the two strangers. Finally, she’s able to get a better understanding of who exactly disturbed their campsite. The one with the sword is dressed all in yellow, though the design of his uniform is vaguely familiar. He also has one of those long hats the heroes seem to favor.

The girl, though, is wearing a pink dress with a blue cloth attached to her side, and she seems to be trying her best to dissuade her companion.

“Pipit, stop!” She points at him as she yells, as if scolding a child.

“They’re clearly dangerous!” the man, Pipit apparently, argues. “That one has a sword!”

“You’re the one who threatened us!” Artemis shouts, her grip on Flora’s arm tightening slightly.

The girl suddenly shouts, “I said stop!” and reaches for his sword. When she does, two things happen.

One, her hand begins to glow a familiar, warm and holy light.

Two, a symbol appears on the back of Flora and Artemis’s hands.

It’s been a long time since anything has caused Flora’s power to stir. She hasn’t seen this symbol since she sealed Calamity Ganon away, all that time ago. And now, though she can still feel its weakness, it’s here.

With a gasp, the girl draws her arm back, clutching it with her other hand. With it, the Triforces fade away from the other two’s hands.

“You…” Flora turns her hand, looking for any trace of the golden light. “The power…”

Artemis starts, “Then you must be-”

“Oh, I see!” she claps her hands together, a slight nervous energy about her. “Pipit, would you please run ahead and let everyone know we have guests again?”

Pipit, blinking away his confusion, looks over at her with concern. “Zelda, are you sure?”

Ah, that explains it.

“Of course I’m sure,” Zelda explains, and she turns to the queens with an excited grin. “You two are also Zelda, correct?”

Flora and Artemis share a glance. “Well, yes-” Artemis says as Flora offers a nod.

Zelda’s smile grows even brighter. “That’s wonderful!” With a deep breath, she steps forward, hands crossed behind her back. “It’s an honor to meet my descendants.”

△ ▲△

There’s a part of Sun that’s delighted to meet Flora and Artemis. In fact, it’s a very large part. She’s already heard so many great things about them from their heroes, even if Wild had been a bit withdrawn during their last visit. Oh, but the stories she’s heard about them both. From Flora’s incissent drive to Artemis’s reliability, she can hardly believe she’s been afforded the opportunity to meet them.

But, then again, there’s another part of Sun. It’s small, much smaller than the first. When she looks at her descendants, she thinks ‘Why are they here?’

The moment they step onto the construction site, Flora gasps in awe before sprinting ahead of her two predecessors. She looks upon the meager foundations of houses, with walls barely a foot high, as though she were a child being offered her favorite dessert.

“Is this truly the founding of Hyrule?” her fists shake up and down as she speaks.

“Well, it’s supposed to be, yes!” Sun calls ahead. “I know it’s not much now, but-”

“Not much?!” Flora’s taken aback, one hand clutching at her chest. “Sun, this is everything! These stones will mark this location for thousands of generations! You, right now, are building a land that will stand strong for hundreds of years!”

Wow! Great! No pressure or anything!

Feeling a bit hot around the collar, Sun decides to direct her next comment to Artemis, who’s remained by her side. “She’s really passionate, isn’t she?”

“I suppose so,” Artemis admits. Flora remains a few feet ahead, holding a strange tablet that makes a clicking noise. “She didn’t really get to go sightseeing when we were in my time, so she may be making up for that.”

As if proving her point, Flora scampers off out of sight with a joyful laugh.

“When did you two arrive?” Sun asks. “I hope you weren’t out there too long.”

Artemis waves a hand dismissively. “It was only a night. I think I learned a lot about ‘roughing it’. Not too bad.”

Sun can’t help but giggle at that. “Well, we can get you set up somewhere much nicer tonight.”

Just like that, she’s able to get a slight chuckle out of Artemis. “I’d appreciate that.”

There’s a brief pause before Artemis speaks up again. “You made our Triforce pieces glow.”

Sun clears her throat. “I did, didn’t I?”

“Well, it makes sense.”

Goddesses, Sun doesn’t like where this is going. None of the Skyloftians know about her, not really, not except for a few. And if Artemis were to figure it out, blab to someone that Hylia isn’t exactly immortal right now, then-

“If you’re founding Hyrule,” Artemis reasons, “then you must be a much closer descendant of Hylia than us. That is to say, you’re a bit more holy.”

Mentally, Sun breathes a sigh of relief. For now, at least, she’s still just Zelda.

“I never thought of that,” she professes.

“I’m only theorizing, of course,” Artemis elaborates. “But with the way things are going, it seems Flora and I may be seeing more of our relatives.”

Before Sun can ask about that, they come upon the Skyloftian’s campsite, just outside of the Sealed Temple. The first of the Hylians to migrate back down to the Surface situated themselves between the temple and the Goddess Statue not too long ago. It’s a good temporary first home, if a little outdoorsy. But it’s perfect, at least until the first buildings go up.

“Zelda!”

And there’s her father, a wide grin on his face as he notices her. Flora is right by his side, and she’s almost shocked to see them.

“I thought you two were right behind me,” she mutters to herself.

“Hello, father,” Sun greets him.

Gaepora finally catches sight of Artemis. “Oh, and there’s another one, too!” Without much discretion, he leans towards his daughter, though he cups his mouth with his hand as he wonders, “Is it true that they’re our descendants?”

Sun nods. “Yes, they’re the future queens of Hyrule.”

“Queens! How exciting!” Gaepora announces, suddenly pulling both girls into a hug, much to their surprise. “It’s wonderful to meet my granddaughters!”

“Ah, y-yes,” Flora stutters. “It’s an honor to meet you, as well.”

Artemis chimes in with a similar energy. “Likewise.”

“Father, please!” Sun laughs. “Give them some space. I need to talk to them now.”

“Oh, if you insist.” Gaepora releases his hold on the queens, who sigh in relief. “Though I want to hear more from you two, later.” He pats Sun’s shoulder, and when she meets his eyes, she finds that they’re full of pride. “For now, though, I’ll leave you to yourselves.”

Sun lets out a breath as her father leaves.

“Well,” she says sharply. “Come into the temple with me.”

△ ▲△

Despite all the work happening outside, the Sealed Temple remains as untouched as it did for years. Link’s Life Fruit tree still grows nearby, swaying gently in the sunlight. For the most part, though, it’s quiet, and it’s the perfect place for this conversation.

Sun keeps a watchful eyes on the back of the temple, on the ancient doors she once slept behind. “So,” she says, back to her descendants. “Tell me, why have you both travelled to this time?”

Flora and Artemis are both silent, almost startled, for a moment. Sun can practically feel their hesitation.

“It’s the heroes,” Flora finally speaks up. “They’re in danger.”

“Link?” Sun whips around to face them. “What’s wrong with Link?”

Flora taps her fingers together nervously. “Well, you see-”

“It’s an entity by the name of Dark Link.”

In shock, both turn to look at Artemis. She continues with a stern demeanor. “We’ve encountered something like him in my own time, but he was more of a conjuration than whatever this form is.” She raises an eyebrow at her two counterparts. “I take it you have no equivalents?”

“None that I’ve heard of,” Flora taps at her chin. “But it does sound familiar…”

“I haven’t seen such a thing, either,” Sun admits. “Last time he was here, Link told me they were pursuing a shapeshifter.”

“Flora and I witnessed that firsthand yesterday,” Artemis explains. “He took the form of several of the heroes as he fought.”

“Sun,” Flora draws her attention. “Perhaps you could say, when was the last time you saw the Links?”

Sun frowns. “A little more than two months. You haven’t seen them, either?”

“I’m afraid not,” Artemis sighs.

Well, that isn’t good. Sun glances between her descendants, Flora anxiously playing with her fingers, while Artemis does her best to avoid catching anyone’s eyes. And then, there’s the anger. The anger so fiery, so righteous, that it drowns out both the excited and fearful parts of herself, because these are her girls, those are her heroes, and how dare anyone hurt them?

“Then it’s decided.” Sun straightens herself, standing tall and proud, all the goddess she might still be. “I’m coming with you.”

#linked universe #lu sun #lu artemis #lu flora #fanfic #rpita #rav's writing

11 notes · View notes