#like the whole Mipha and her dad situation realization

[pigeon-wizard]

I need a super cut of OSP’s breath of the wild live steams but it’s just the parts where they point out beautiful and interesting parts of the story and lore

[katedoesfics]

Shadows of the Yiga | Chapter 20

Link ignored the security guards shouting behind him as he took the steps two at a time and burst angrily through the double doors. Zelda and Roham were both standing before him as he made his abrupt entrance, causing him to stop short and allow the guards to pull him backwards.

Zelda stared at Link in shock for a moment before turning her attention to the guards. “What's the meaning of this? Release him.”

Link pulled his arm angrily out of their loosened grips and moved towards Roham, a snarl on his face.

“Link,” he said cautiously. “You look like shit.”

Zelda’s gaze narrowed on him. “Where the hell have you been?”

But Link ignored her, getting in Roham’s face. “Oh, do I?” Link snapped. “Funny, I was just enjoying a nice vacation for the last couple of weeks.”

Roham raised a brow as Link continued.

“Yeah, we had a damn nice time with the fucking Yiga Clan.”

“What are you talking about?” Zelda said.

Link turned his attention to Zelda. “It was great. They ambushed us, kidnapped us, and tortured me, all thanks to you.”

Zelda’s eyes widened. “What?”

“How long were you going to lie to me?” he barked at her.

“Link -”

“You dare accuse your queen?” Roham snapped.

“The Yiga Clan tried to kill us,” Link spat. “And they had some nice stories to share, too.”

“Zelda did not lie to you,” Roham hissed at Link.

“You're the reason my father is dead!” Link barked.

Zelda looked between Link and her father. “What the fuck is going on?”

But Roham said nothing for a moment, holding his gaze on Link. “Perhaps we should discuss this in private.” He turned his gaze to the weapon in his pocket. “Leave it.”

Link held his gaze as he took the weapon out of his pocket. He let the clip drop into his palm, then released the bullet in the chamber. He dropped the weapon carelessly and it clattered loudly against the floor.

Without another word, Roham turned away from them and headed down the hall. Zelda hesitated, her gaze moving over her friends before she followed her father. Link turned to follow suit, hissing over his shoulder  to his sister as she too, tried to follow.

“Stay.”

Mipha stared at the weapon on the floor. Aryll stopped in her tracks and watched as her brother disappeared around the corner.

Link followed Zelda and Roham until they were alone in the nearby library, the double doors closed to outside listeners.

“Are you going to try to tell me that they lied to me?” Link said to Roham.

“No,” Roham said simply. “I'm sure what they told you is the truth.”

“They murdered him,” he snarled.

Roham hesitated. He spoke slowly. “Yes. They did.”

Link kicked at a nearby chair. “He lied to me. You lied to me!”

“I did what had to be done. The duties of the men in my army are of no concern to you.”

“The war was over!”

“The war is far from over, Link. The Yiga Clan are a threat that need to be dealt with.” He hesitated. “Your father did what he had to do to protect you and Aryll.”

But this did not calm the rage boiling inside of him. Link's hands balled into fists, his knuckles turning white. It took all his strength to keep himself from attacking the chair once more. He turned his attention to Zelda.

“Did you know?”

Zelda shook her head. “I swear, Link. I had no idea.”

“What are you going to do about this?” he said through gritted teeth.

Zelda hesitated. She turned her gaze to her father.

“Zelda,” Roham started. “Please understand -”

“Get out,” Zelda said, her voice strong. “You are not Hyrule's leader any more. This does not concern you.”

Roham held his gaze on his daughter. “Don't be foolish, Zelda.”

“Leave,” she said.

Roham met Link's gaze one last time before leaving them alone in the library. Once the doors were closed again, Zelda let herself relax, her hand flying up to her forehead.

“Link,” she started. “I'm so sorry. I had no idea what was going on. He kept this all from me.” She dropped her hand and met his gaze, her face apologetic. “Your father... I'm so sorry. I didn't know.”

Link turned his gaze away from her. “I need to know whose side you're on.”

“I'm on your side,” she said confidently. “I'm always on your side.”

“I don't care what it takes,” he said, his voice softer. “I will destroy them all.”

“Don't be rash,” she said. “We will figure this out, but we can't go in guns blazing.” She hesitated, looking him over. “What... what did they do to you?”

“Oh, you know,” Link muttered. “We had fucking tea.”

Zelda sighed softly and turned her gaze away from him. “Link -”

“I'm going home,” he said, turning to her. “I'm having a drink. I'm taking a shower. And then we can talk about this. I'll text you later.”

Zelda nodded. “Alright.” She followed Link out of the library back to where Mipha and Aryll were waiting.

Link grabbed his gun from the nearby guard, shoving the clip back into place in the weapon. Without another word, he turned away from them and made his way back outside.

Zelda met Mipha's gaze for a moment. “I'm glad you're both okay.”

Mipha averted her gaze, however. She hadn’t seen Zelda since… well, since she and Aryll apparently interrupted their plans of hooking up.

Aryll rolled her eyes. “If you ask Link, he'll deny it, but we were totally the heroes this time.”

Zelda forced a smile. She watched as Mipha pulled Aryll outside to follow Link.

They drove home in silence. Mipha sat uncomfortably in the front seat, casting her gaze onto Link every so often, but his expression was stone, focused only on the road. From the back seat, Aryll eyed the gun at his side wearily. She had never truly known what her brother was capable of, and the events of the last day proved to her that he was not the same man she had grown to know.

“Link,” she started softly, unable to forget what he had said to Roham. “What happened to Dad?”

Link did not answer his sister. He kept his hard gaze on the road, his knuckles whitening as he gripped the steering wheel harder than he realized. No one spoke again until they pulled into the driveway. Link cut the engine, but made no motion to get out of the vehicle. After a moment, he regarded his sister from the corner of his eye.

“Get in the house,” Link said, his voice hard. “Now.”

Aryll hesitated, turning her gaze to Mipha, before stepping out of the car and leaving them alone.

“Link-” Mipha breathed. It felt like she had been holding her breath the whole ride, and only now was she able to relax enough to speak.

“Listen,” he said, more harshly than he had intended. “Aryll doesn't need to know what happened to me.”

Mipha hesitated. “What happened?” she asked slowly.

Link kept his gaze ahead out the windshield. “I can't control it, Mipha. I'm sorry.”

Her heart thudded in her chest and her mind ran wild as she tried to guess at what had happened. “What? What is it?”

Link shook his head, his eyes closing for a moment. “I don't know. It's... complicated.”

“What did they do to you?” Her voice shook.

“They've been injecting me with... something dark. Something bad. I don't know, Mipha.” He hesitated. “It's supposed to... they mean to use me. To turn me against Hyrule. This stuff... it's supposed to darken the Triforce and turn me into one of their own. They plan to use me and Zelda to resurrect Ganondorf once more, then give him our pieces of the Triforce. They believe with the pieces darkened – without them being pure – it will allow Ganondorf to use its full power without the pieces breaking.” He paused for a moment. “I can't control what is happening to me. Eventually, I might not turn back to normal. I don't know how long I have until that happens.”

Mipha stared at him, unable to speak as she processed all that he told her. She turned her gaze to her feet, flinching slightly as he abruptly got out of the car. She quickly followed him outside where he paced for a moment in front of the car.

“What happened to him?” she asked softly.

His pacing stopped and he hesitated, looking down at the ground. He was sure now that his earlier interaction with his father was just a hallucination, since Roham admitted to his murder. “They murdered him. He went after the Yiga Clan and they killed him.”

Mipha hurried to him, wrapping her arms around him as she cried softly against him. He was stiff for a moment before his arms hugged her tightly.

“I… We could have stopped this.” His voice broke as he spoke. “We could have done something. But they went… they went behind my back.”

Mipha pushed away, wiped at her eyes, and met his gaze. “What are you going to do?” She was sure she knew the answer.

Link’s gaze hardened. “I will destroy them.”

Mipha hesitated and broke her gaze. “We can’t go back there,” she said. “We don’t stand a chance against them.”

Link said nothing. She was right, after all. He wiped at his eyes and made his way into the house where Aryll was anxiously waiting. She looked at her brother expectantly, but he did not regard her. Instead, he made his way to the fridge to get himself a beer.

“What… what are we going to do?” Aryll asked, her voice shaking.

Link’s brows furrowed. “I don’t know,” he said softly.

Aryll looked down at her wrist, inspecting it. She rotated it carefully and found it was as good as new, thanks to Mipha’s healing. Still, the events of the last week were scarred into her memory. And it was only now that she was safe at home did she start to feel the terror of the situation creep up on her. She looked up when she felt Mipha’s arm on her shoulder, only noticing then that she was shaking. She let herself drop onto the couch and Mipha pulled her into her arms. Aryll leaned against her and closed her eyes as Mipha ran her fingers through her hair.

Mipha turned a concerned gaze to Link. He frowned and pinched the bridge of his nose, then rubbed his face with his palms. He felt completely useless. Though he hated to admit it, he could not protect them. There was nothing he could do. He had to go back to Zelda for help. He needed to call on his friends.

He finished his beer quickly, then opted to take a shower in a desperate attempt to wash his problems away. Or, at the very least, not look as if he were on the brink of death. When he got out, he threw on fresh clothes, then made his way to his father’s bedroom where he stopped for a moment outside the closed door. He pushed it open, then headed directly for the closet, where he promptly dug through his father’s things until he found the safe he was looking for. He flipped the dial to enter the code and the door opened.

His eyes moved over the various weapons stashed inside. He selected two handguns and slipped a loaded clip into each one. He adjusted a holster across him, and just as Mipha and Aryll stepped curiously into the room, he placed the two weapons inside the holster, each under one arm. He let the door swing closed and pulled out his phone, ignoring their stares. He quickly dialed Daruk’s number, regarding them only as he brought the phone to his ear. He spoke as soon as Daruk picked up. “Hey. I need help.”

He could hear the concern in his friend’s voice. “What’s wrong?”

“Can you come over?”

“I’ll be right there.”

Link ended the call, then moved passed Aryll and Mipha with determination. They followed him quickly back down stairs.

“What are you doing?” Aryll hissed. “What’s going on?”

“We’re going back to talk to Zelda,” Link said simply.

“We are?”

He met his sister’s gaze. “Mipha and I are. You’re staying here with Daruk.”

Aryll hesitated. Her heart raced. “No. Wait. You can’t. I don’t… I don’t want to be alone.”

“You won’t be,” Link said. His tone turned to regret as he looked away from his sister. “Daruk will be able to protect you better than I can.”

Aryll’s voice lowered. “You’re… you’re coming right back, right?”

“Yeah.” He offered her a smile. “Of course. I promise.”

“We can go tomorrow,” Mipha said. “We need sleep tonight.”

Link hesitated. “We don’t have time to waste.”

“There’s nothing we can do about it tonight,” Mipha said. “We’re certainly not going back there. Not right now. For the love of Hylia, we just left that fucking hell.”

Link was too tired to argue with her. “Fine,” he said, turning to the fridge. He needed another beer. He sat himself at the table as he waited for Daruk to show. Mipha and Aryll settled on the couch where Aryll quickly fell asleep on Mipha. Not long after did Daruk walk into the house.

He sat himself in front of Link, staring at him hard. “Dude. Where the fuck have you been?”

Link shrugged and finished his beer. “Thought I’d go off the grid for a bit.”

Daruk’s gaze moved to the weapons on his friend. “And do some hunting?”

“Something like that,” he muttered.

His gaze hardened. “I want answers.”

Link shook his head. He rubbed his face with his palms. “I can’t right now,” he said. “I just need you to stay here with Aryll, alright?” He met Daruk’s gaze. “I need you to protect her.”

Daruk hesitated. “What the fuck is going on?”

“I’ll explain it later,” Link said as he got to his feet. He turned his gaze to Mipha, who was regarding him from over the couch. Her brows knit together.

“I thought you agreed to deal with this in the morning?”

“I changed my mind,” he said simply. He couldn’t stand to sit still in the house, and he just couldn’t waste time they clearly didn’t have any longer. He pulled his phone out to text Zelda, speaking to Mipha as he did so. “Are you coming?”

Mipha hesitated, but nodded. She carefully moved herself out from under Aryll, then joined Link at his side.

Daruk crossed his arms. “You know,” he started. “I will do anything for you, and I would never in a million years tell you you owe me, but man, you definitely fucking owe me an explanation.”

“Yeah,” Link said with a small smile. “As soon as I get answers, you’ll be the first to know.”

Daruk bit his lip. “Should I be expecting an attack?”

“I hope not,” Mipha said in an exhausted tone.

Link turned his gaze to his sleeping sister. “Keep an eye on her.”

“Two,” Daruk said with a nod.

[katedoesfics]

Breath of the Resistance: Chapter 3

Dorian’s suspicious phone call with the king left Link uneasy and sleep eluded him most of the night. His mind ran wild with scenarios and accusations. What was it that Dorian - and the king, for that matter - was hiding? Two things were clear: that Dorian was in fact hiding something, and that the king was aware of the situation. Link’s first instinct was to assume Dorian was perhaps a double agent working with the Yiga Clan. But if that was the ‘information’ that Dorian was referring to, then the king knew, as well, which only confused him more. If the king knew, was he, too, hiding the fact that Dorian was a double agent? Was the king conspiring against his own country? As Hyrule’s ruler, what could he possibly gain from turning against his people?

“It’s uncanny, really.”

Link took his eyes off the road for a moment and met Zelda’s gaze. Her voice had taken him out of his thoughts. He refocused his attention onto the road. “Hm?”

“Were you even listening?” She narrowed his eyes at him.

“Not really.”

Zelda crossed her arms. “Of course not,” she started. “Like I said, you’re just like -”

“My father.” Link’s knuckles whitened as he gripped the steering wheel. That was another whole matter in itself. He was feeling more and more aggravated with all the secret keeping. He was in the SFU to find the truth, not to be lied to day in and day out. And that only made him want to find the truth even more.

But there was an unsettling feeling in the pit of his stomach that suggested he may not like the truth.

“Are you usually this grumpy?”

Link bit his tongue in an attempt to keep back a snappy comment. She was the king’s daughter, after all, even without her typical royal attire, which usually consisted of clean cut, solid color dresses that hugged the frame of her body and flared out just slightly at her knees. From time to time, she’d even don a sundress of sorts, with pale colors and flowery patterns. She was always a bright figure at her father’s dark suited and serious side.

“Are you high?”

“What? No. Of course not.”

Zelda didn’t seem convinced, however. She inspected Link closely from the passenger seat. “You don’t seem with the program.”

She was right, of course. He needed to get his head out of the clouds. They had a job to do, and he couldn’t afford to be anywhere else. He needed to be focused and aware of his surroundings, now more than ever.

“Yeah,” he muttered. “Sorry.” He wasn’t much for conversation, especially with her, but he supposed he had to put their differences aside and make the best of the situation. He sucked in a breath and attempted to push away his concerns for the time being.

“You don’t have to try to be on professional around me,” Zelda said casually, leaning back against the seat. “We’re going to be working together a lot. Might as well get used to it.”

“You don’t sound very thrilled about that.” Link could feel her eyes studying him once more.

“Well, if we’re being honest,” she said, turning her eyes back out towards the horizon, “I don’t appreciate the fact that my father made the newest member of the force my handler.”

“Yeah,” Link muttered. “Must be a real buzzkill.”

“I thought my life was more valuable,” she continued, ignoring him. “Yet, he gives me this inexperienced boy.”

“I’ll remember that if you ever find yourself in trouble.”

Zelda’s eyes moved back to him, then down to the weapon under his arm. “And how proficient are you, exactly, with that weapon?”

“Proficient enough.”

Zelda settled back into the seat, but her stature remained stiff. “That’s reassuring,” she muttered.

“Don’t listen to what any Ritos say,” Link said. “I could out shoot them any day.”

Zelda smirked. “Ritos like Revali? He is a very skilled fighter, you know.”

“Ha.”

“Though he does seem to dislike you.”

“He dislikes anyone who challenges his authority and skill.”

“Not necessarily a bad trait for this kind of job.”

“Well,” Link started. Without realizing it, his grip relaxed on the wheel, though his fingers felt stiff. He stretched them for a moment. “When we get back, you can ask to have Revali as your handler.”

Zelda turned her gaze out the window. “I don’t know,” she said. “He’s a little too arrogant. He’d drive me crazy.”

“Welcome to my life,” Link muttered. He turned off the highway onto the road that wound through the country and up towards the mountains where they would find Goron City.

“The others speak highly of you, though,” she said. “Especially Mipha. I didn’t realize how close you two are.”

“I guess.”

“I think she likes you.”

This woman sure was blunt. Did she ever keep a thought to herself?

“Do you like her?”

“What’s with all the damn questions?” Link growled. “Stop interrogating me.”

“Just making conversation,” Zelda said. “Note to self: don’t question his love life.”

Link sucked in a slow breath in an attempt to remain calm. He was starting to like her less and less. What did he ever do in life do deserve such horrible karma?

“What about your childhood?” Zelda continued. “Where did you grow up?”

Link sighed. “The country.”

Zelda nodded. “Did you like it?”

“Better than the city.”

“What was it like?”

Link shrugged. “It was quiet,” he said. “No one interrogated me.”

Zelda ignored him. “Did you have any pets?”

“Sure.”

“Like what?”

“Dogs. Goats. Couple of horses.”

“I’ve always wanted to ride a horse.”

Link made a sound through his nose.

“When did you come to the city?”

“I don’t know. I was pretty young. I guess around the time my dad started working in the SFU.”

“What about your mother? What does she do?”

“She’s dead.”

“Oh.” Zelda shifted in her seat and turned her gaze back to the road. It was uncomfortably quiet for a long moment after that.

“My turn,” Link said. “What was it like growing up in the palace?”

Zelda kept her gaze on the horizon. “Really boring.”

“Yeah, right,” Link said. “I bet you could do whatever you wanted.”

“Not really. I had an image to uphold, and as a kid, that’s pretty shitty. I never got to go out and explore or play or anything a kid should be able to do. My mother was constantly teaching me how to act the part and telling me stories of our ancestors and this supposed power that I have.” Zelda sighed. “When she died, I was pretty much on my own. My father always seemed too busy, or only focused on my own training.”

“I didn’t sign up to be a therapist,” Link muttered.

“You asked,” Zelda snapped at him.

Link started to feel guilty. He always assumed she was some spoiled little princess, but she was really just forced into some role as he was.

“I’ve got some friends in the country,” he said in an attempt to change the topic. “Next time we get a day off, I’ll show you how to ride.”

Zelda’s gaze fell on him once more and a smile tugged at the corner of her lips. “I’ll hold you to that.”

*****

The drive to Goron City only took them a few hours, but conversation between Link and Zelda felt forced, and uncomfortable silence often followed soon after. They were too happy to get out and stretch their legs when they finally arrived, and Daruk was the first to greet them happily. He let his large hand come down hard on Link’s shoulder as he often did, not knowing his own strength.

“I gotta admit,” Daruk started, leading the way towards the Divine Beast. “It’s good to be home where the bars are better suited for Gorons.” He pointed a large finger towards a smaller mountain peak where the ancient Sheikah machine slept. “There she is, Vah Rudania,” he said proudly. “Everyone’s been quite curious about her, you know.”

“She?” Zelda repeated. She cocked her head to the side slightly as she followed Daruk’s gaze.

“How are you going to activate her?” Daruk asked.

Zelda pulled a device from her back pocket. It resembled a tablet of sorts. An ancient tablet, if such a thing were possible.

“This Sheikah Slate is supposed to be connected to the Divine Beasts and the Guardians,” she said. “It worked in activating the Guardians, so I suspect it will work on the Divine Beasts as well.”

“A Sheikah Slate, huh?” Daruk said. He scratched at his head. “Those Sheikah sure are… mysterious.”

“Hmph.” Mysterious was an understatement. Link found his mind on Dorian once more.

“Impa gave it to me,” Zelda said to Link. “I trust she knows what she’s talking about.”

Link was familiar with Impa, meeting her several times before. She was the leader of the Sheikah tribe and was probably as old as the Sheikah themselves. Was it possible that she knew about Dorian as well? Or was she being played just as Link was?

He wanted to tell someone about the conversation he had overheard, but he knew now that he couldn’t trust anyone, even his own comrades.

Vah Rudania loomed above them as they approached and Link was amazed - even slightly intimidated - by the size of the Divine Beast. The three of them climbed their way to the top where the control panel stood and Zelda set to work activating it with the Sheikah Slate. Within a moment, the two devices seemed to sync, and Vah Rudania came to life, moving and seemingly stretching its body beneath them.

“Well, whatta ya know,” Daruk said in awe. “To think they had this kind of technology so long ago.”

While Zelda instructed Daruk on how to operate the Divine Beast, Link found himself standing at the edge, looking out over Goron City and even beyond, out into the countryside of Hyrule. In the distance to the south stood the palace, the bustling city just below. Though he couldn’t see it from there, he knew just past the palace would be the smaller towns and villages that dotted the countryside, including the small farming town where he was born. Now, many of those small towns were slowly being replaced by larger cities in order to keep up with the growing population, and the countryside was growing smaller and smaller. Link couldn’t help but to wonder what life in Hyrule was like thousands of years ago.

“Ready?” Zelda said, standing at his side. “Everything seems to be in working order here. Daruk’s got a good handle on the controls, so I think we can make our way to Rito Village, now.”

“Sure,” Link said simply. He was in no hurry to deal with Revali, but the sooner they finished the job with the Divine Beasts, the better. After they were all activated, Link was determined to find the pieces to the puzzle with Dorian. Something about the situation just did not sit right with him and it only made him grow more and more anxious.