#linkeduniverse fanfiction

[occasionallyprosie]

"Hiding Behind Plaster and Ceremics"

Chapter 3

Wind reveals something. This marks the beginning of something new.

<<Previous

Read On AO3

Finally actually just ending this one, I've had this chapter drafted so long I feel bad not posting it but I really don't think there's much more to be added to this fic.

----

Legend really didn't like the new status quo. Twilight was very defensive of him, which he was on the fence about to be honest, and Warriors just kept giving him weird looks. Contrast that with the fact he couldn't get any space because Hyrule and Sky were trying hard to get close and he'd promised Twilight he'd try not to be as mean.

Which really just meant he couldn't force the others to just leave him alone. Even after he got over the sickness, they stuck close and he could feel his nerves turn to fire as he couldn't get time to himself.

He was biting down on his tongue, trying desperately to avoid them without breaking his promise to Twilight. Now, not only was he trying to avoid getting attached, he was also just trying to not snap as every nerve, every coil, every spring prepared to get set off because everything was just too close.

They were just starting to make camp when Wind chose his chore for it.

"I'm going on patrol!" He declared.

"Fine, but take someone with you," Warriors reminded him, the usual rule for leaving the larger group.

"Come on, Scholar!"

Legend startled as Wind grabbed his sleeve--not his arm, his sleeve--and dragged him off. He quickly pulled himself free but meeting Wind's eyes--Ocean's eyes, bright and expectant and far too smart--meant he was following him.

Wind happily moved across the rainforest floor, seemingly accustomed to brushing aside underbrush as tall as they were.

Legend decided not to ask why and just followed, letting a distance form between them and letting himself just... relax in the silence and space.

They did a number of expanding loops around the chosen campsite, only coming across some tektites at a nearby river and some Deku Babas here and there. As they turned to go back, having been silent the entire time, Wind spoke up.

"You need more time?" He asked, facing him with an overly knowing expression.

Legend frowned. "What?"

"More time alone and away from everyone?" He clarified, a wry smirk tugging at his lips. "Don’t tell me our ever-aware spitfire didn't notice I dragged him off so he wouldn't explode on everyone."

Spitfire. He'd been called that before by exactly one person, the kid in front of him. Not that he'd say it first.

"Oh," he responded, definitely with the eloquence of the scholar he was nicknamed for. "Why?"

Wind laughed. "Please, I could tell you were getting antsy, I just didn't want to find out if you getting overwhelmed by people is the same now as it was in Hytopia."

Legend stopped in his tracks, Wind noticed immediately and looked at him, a wryness in his eyes.

"You--"

"You think I couldn't recognize you?" Wind scoffed, as if insulted. "I recognized you when we met, but, well, you never said anything, and then you snapped at everyone and cursed out the Rancher when he tried to scold you for your language 'cause of the Smithy and I." He sighed. "It wasn't until you got sick and--" he grinned a bit, "you were hiding behind the Rancher, and his pelt-cloak thingie made you look so much smaller, that I knew I was right. You just didn't say anything."

Legend stared at him but Wind just smiled brightly.

"Which is okay," he said, still just as warm as when he'd asked if he was ready to head back. "I get things change... I get that you've changed and I can tell that something about all of this scares you--you haven't changed that much, Apple."

Legend grimaced. "I'm not scared."

"Can't be courageous without a bit of fear," Wind retorted with a still-wry grin. "But my point is, I noticed you were getting antsy and needed some time away from everyone. So do you want more time, more space, or what? We probably have another hour before we need to get back."

Legend ended up just backing up into a tree and slumping down to the ground, Wind hummed lightly as he followed and sat in the grass in front of him, a solid three feet of space, if not more, between them.

Silence settled, and if Legend closed his eyes, Wind was somehow so silent that as long as he ignored his magic, he could pretend he was in complete solitude.

They stayed like that for a while until Legend broke the silence. "Why aren't you mad at me?"

Wind made a confused noise. "What'd'ya mean?"

"I mean--For not telling, for not saying anything, why aren't you mad?"

Legend wouldn't admit he probably would've completely shattered if Wind was ever genuinely mad at him, Forest was their big brother, yeah, but it had been Ocean who he'd stared at and tried so desperately to mimic during Hytopia, from the casual singing of work songs to the way he fought. All of that had been Ocean, and even the blue cap he still wore to this day was the one Ocean had given him when they'd separated, sure it had been mended and resewn and altered to fit his larger head, but it was the same cap.

Wind laughed at his question though. "Why would I be? It's been years for you, I don’t think you realize how obvious it is that you've been through a lot, and what's probably only obvious to me is that it all hurt."

Legend opened his eyes and looked over at him, Wind gave him another warm smile.

"It's been years for you," he repeated, "but just over one for me. I think you've forgotten how well I know you, how well I can read you, and how little you've actually changed."

Legend stared at him. "It has been years, I'm not the same kid anymore."

Wind raised an eyebrow. "Well you have all the same tells as you did before."

"I do not."

"Oh yeah?" Wind leaned forward to poke his arm. "Then why did I know you needed to be away from everyone? It's almost as if you've been introverted since the day I met you and Hytopia was constantly getting on your nerves because of it, hmm?"

Legend couldn't help but smile a bit as he huffed and swatted him away. "I wasn't doing a very good job of hiding anything."

"And yet Forest didn't have a clue, the oblivious dumbass. I don’t know how he found out but I'd bet a gold rupee that it wasn't until you called him by his name or something."

Legend snorted. He couldn't even argue because Wind was exactly right!

For the remainder of the hour until Wind's necklace chimed with Wild's voice asking after them, they just talked and Legend didn't realize until that evening, just after dinner, that he hadn't even thought about his fear, about what was to come.

He'd reconnected with Ocean, he hadn't even thought twice about it either, which made it worse. He'd just forgotten exactly why he had been spending this whole quest sharpening his edges.

He'd forgotten that it was useless to reach out for them, as they were just going to be ripped away.

And as much as it hurt... he couldn't bring himself to regret it. Not when Wind joined him in his corner of the campsite and just laid down beside him, not chatting his head off, but quietly humming.

His heart felt softer, lighter, but even if he couldn't bring himself to regret it now, bringing his ocarina to his lips and putting a ringing tune to Wind's hums, he knew in his mind that it wouldn't last.

The quest would end and he'd be all alone again, whether or not it would be his breaking point was a different question, he thought Marin had been the breaking point but he still hadn't reached it even after her and then Ravio. What would he do then?

He didn’t know, but he’d have to concede here, wouldn’t he? He wouldn’t be able to fend off both his brothers, which meant… well, it meant he was done. It meant this was the beginning of a new chapter, at least with some of the other heroes. It meant he couldn’t keep running, and once this was over, the pitfalls of grief would catch up to him… but he couldn’t stop it, and he had to just accept that.

[squidos-goodies]

:D!!!!! IT’S TIME!!!!

[zarvasace]

Description and a bit more info under the cut. 

A series of green, blue, and red graphics using a nice sans serif font and a Zelda display serif font with white and gold as accents. 

First picture. 2024 Linked Universe Fandom AO3 Wrapped, presented by Mina, @zarvasace. (That's me!) 

As a fandom, we wrote 2,273 fics in 2024

That's over 6 a day every day this year! 

In smaller text below: Counting only fics tagged with “Linked Universe (Legend of Zelda)” on AO3. Counting all fics last updated from Jan 1, 2024 to Dec 31, 2024. Data pulled by hand on Jan 1, 2024 at ~2:00 AM GMT-7. 

Next picture. Our favorite tags this year were:

1, Hurt/Comfort with 432 tags

2, Fluff with 352 tags

3, Angst with 335 tags 

4, Not Beta Read with 260 tags. Here there is also a brief exchange in two handwriting styles. One arrow points to this tag with the remark, “perfectionists, much?” Another cursive hand replies “Be nice.” to which the first says, “no”

5, Legend-centric with 251 tags

At the bottom of this image is a piece of parchment. The scratchier handwriting says, “Ha, I'm the favorite. Take that.” and the curlier handwriting replies “Not so fast, Ledge… we aren't done yet.”

Next picture. Favorite tags continued:

6, Blood and Injury with 230 tags

7, Wild-centric with 204 tags 

8, Whump with 215 tags 

9, Emotional Hurt/Comfort with 181 tags

10, Good Older Sibling Warriors with 163 tags. Legend's handwriting says “Din give me strength—” to that. 

Section break, and a bit more: An average of 7.46% fics every month were tagged Whump. Except October, which saw a spike to 29.5%.

Next picture. Our favorite Links. This info is presented in a table, with names on the left and number of tags on the right, organized from most to least. 

Warriors, 1408 (his handwriting says: HA!! I won something!)

Legend, 1398 (his handwriting says: BY TEN.)

Twilight, 1371

Time, 1323

Wild, 1217

Hyrule, 1151

Wind, 1143

Sky, 1137

Four, 1027

At the bottom is another piece of parchment. Legend says: “JUST TEN.” Warriors says: “Jealous?” Legend replies: “I don't know if being the favorite is a good thing.”

Next picture. Our favorite secondary characters were Malon (176 tags) and Racio (160 tags)

Section break. and the most popular pairings were Malon/Time (161 tags), Legend/Racio (89 tags*), Sky/Sun (66 tags).

At the bottom is the asterisk footnote: it's no secret that our fandom tags are a little wonky sometimes. This number adds together the works tagged “Legend (Linked Universe)/Ravio” and “Link/Ravio” where the work was also tagged “Linked Universe,” assuming that people would only tag one. 

Next picture. 2024’s longest fic was: This is an Adjuration by @not-freyja (linked below). 

Editor’s note: linked here!

With a total of 312,547 words. That's almost 971 a day! 

Began July 14, 2023, Finished May 30, 2024. 

Screenshot of the tag summary from AO3, showing a Mature rating, Gen, an archive warning, and complete. 

Significant tags: Time Travel, the Chain as Family, Time Loop, Multiversal Time Travel, Temporal War Crimes, Chain Meets Chain, Chronically Ill Sky, Four Splits Into the Colors, Fairy Hyrule, Hyrule Has a Blood Curse. 

At the bottom, Legend’s writing says: “That sounds like a lot of time travel…”

Next four pictures are a set titled Fandom Trends by month. Each month has, in order, a Popular Link, Popular Duos, Popular Genre, and Unique Tags, along with occasional handwritten commentary. 

January: Twilight. Twilight & Wild. Hurt/Comfort. Crack, Soft Legend. Commentary: Warriors says “aww.” and Legend responds “I'm going to poison your milk.” 

February: Warriors. Twilight & Wild, Twilight & Warriors, Legend & Warriors. Angst. Febuwhump 2024. 

March: Twilight. Twilight & Wild, Time & Twilight. Fluff. One Shot, Linked Universe Discord Server’s 5th Birthday Gift Exchange.

April: Legend. Twilight & Wild, Twilight and Warriors. (Commentary from Legend: “wow Twi”) Fluff. Humor, Canon-Typical Violence.

May: Twilight, Warriors. Hyrule & Legend, Twilight & Wild. (Commentary from Legend, circling Hyrule’s name: “Finally some good taste.”) Fluff. Other Additional Tags to be Added. 

June: Twilight. Twilight & Wild, Time & Warriors. Hurt/Comfort. June of Doom 2024, Sky-centric, Twilight-centric. (Commentary from Warriors: “Wait, doom?! Oh, there's Sky”)

Editor's note: congratulations to @somer-writes who singlehandedly got June of Doom in the top 10 tags of June. :)

July: Warriors. Hyrule & Legend, Time & Twilight. Hurt/Comfort. Twilight-centric. (Commentary from Legend: “leave some for the rest of us”)

August: Legend. Hyrule & Legend, Legend & Warriors, Time & Twilight. Hurt/Comfort. Crack, Fluff and Angst. (Commentary from Warriors: “I'm concerned.”)

September: Legend. Time & Twilight, Twilight & Wild. Hurt/Comfort. Sicktember 2024, Legend Has a Bad Time. (Commentary from Legend: “Excuse me?!” Warriors says: “I suppose your immune system is awful now.” Legend responds with: “ha ha.”)

October: Warriors. Time & Twilight, Time & Warriors. Hurt/Comfort. Whumptober 2024, Warriors Has a Bad Time. (Commentary from Warriors: “oh no…” To which Legend responds: “HAHAHAHAH”) 

November: Warriors. Time & Warriors, Hyrule & Legend. Fluff. Crack, Good Older Sibling Warriors.

December: Legend. Hyrule & Legend, Twilight & Wild, Warriors & Wind. Hurt/Comfort. Families of Choice. 

Parchment at the bottom has Warriors saying, “That's a nice note to end on.” Legend responds, “Not so bad I guess.” 

Thanks for coming along with me on this fun stats journey! It's been a privilege to add to this fandom. 

I thought about adding a section for ratings or prevalence of Gen fics, but I think you can guess that we’re a Gen- and Teen-heavy fandom. You can see my raw data and some more charts over on the Google sheet right at this link. Ha, link. :) 

[skych1ld]

….oh my goddesses this is absolutely incredible i-

if you put this on ao3 i am SO bookmarking it-

Angst idea: the chain are in a dungeon and get trapped in the last room. No boss. Just a door and the knowledge that only the person with the most innocent blood on their hands can open.

[mischefous]

sooo, I read A LOT of whumpy LU fics, and I finally had the motivation to draw up my favorite part from one of my fave fics where poor Legend gets drugged and Warriors is the first to get to him.

(Also i sowwy i didnt get every detail exactly how it was in the fic, dis was the best i could do)

I would love to do more of these. But fudge knuckles my motivation is dogshit. that's also why this is super messy T3T

but anyways, i do hope yall enjoy, AND GO READ THE ORIGINAL FIC ITS AAAAH, AMAZING!!!! Give it sum big lov'n!

[starwolfie]

@la-sera here he is, I did it!

La-sera posted a sketch of Hyrule in chains ( that inspired me to write “Poison Dart”) and I colored it in.

So here’s our art collaboration! (Click on “more” to view picture, warning for blood)

[la-sera]

Happy belated birthday, RIV!! @glittercat34 or @across-violet-skies

Sorry for the late gift, I overdid it, your fic made me possessed. I planned to make 1 picture, but it grew to 2 comic pages, then now it's 4 comic pages in the end. My bad... haha

I really enjoyed this fic of yours since you first posted it on AO3, LAST YEAR, and at that time I was always waiting for the next chapter. I already had the idea for this picture in my head when I read your fic, but you didn't have a Tumblr account at that time, so I never drew it. And when you finally made a Tumblr account, you have no idea how happy I was!

I hope you have a great day!

Fic: When it Rains, it Pours by @glittercat34 or @across-violet-skies

Fanart from chapter 4

[twilightangel83]

Hello and good day to all my fellow Legend of Zelda fans!

As you may or may not be aware we in the Legend of Zelda fandom have been having some troubles when it comes to tagging on A03. Mostly that the only tags that seem to be available to tag various Links with was the Linked Universe specific tags. Which led to writers either trying to make their own tags (which no one knew how to find) or inaccurately using Linked Universe Tags. Neither of which were fair to creators writing outside of Linked Universe, or fair to the Linked Universe community (let alone JoJo herself!).

People trying to tag their non-Linked Universe fics were either scrambling to be found or blending their words in with Linked Universe works. And Linked Universe fans who were searching for Linked Universe fics ended up stumbling across fics they weren’t looking for.

So, with that in mind, I reached out to the A03 team in search of a solution. And they have gotten back to me! I am going to post a picture of their reply under the cut, but I will summarize it first.

There (now? I’m not clear if they’ve all existed before) are tags we can use for most of our various Links that aren't Linked Universe. They’re just not tags that go in the “Character” box. Instead, you put Link (Legend of Zelda) in the character box and then one (or more) of these tags into the “Additional Tags” box. The tags are ‘Link from X game’. So, for example: Link from Breath of the Wild/Tears of the Kingdom (Legend of Zelda) or Link from Twilight Princess (Legend of Zelda). If you try to put a specific Link in and they don’t exist already you’ll just have to fill it in unfortunately. And the more people use that tag the sooner it will be made into one that’s canonized.

Mind you! These tags should NOT be used for Linked Universe fanfictions. JoJo has explicitly asked that Linked Universe fanworks NOT be tagged with general Legend of Zelda tags. And that is what these are. So please leave these tags for those of us writing outside of Linked Universe.

I did a little experimenting and there seems to be a tag for every game EXCEPT;

“Link from Four Swords Adventures (Legend of Zelda)”,

"Link from Triforce Heroes (Legend of Zelda)",

“Link from The Legend of Zelda (Legend of Zelda)”,

“Link from The Adventures of Link (Legend of Zelda)”, and

“Link from Age of Calamity (Legend of Zelda)”.

There is also no tag for:

“The Hero of Men (Legend of Zelda)” (or whatever title could be used for the hero before Link from The Minish Cap)

But there are Character tags for “Ancient Hero (Legend of Zelda)” and “Hylia’s Chosen Hero (Legend of Zelda)” (who I believe is the First Hero).

The more we, as a fandom, use these tags (especially the ones that aren’t currently searchable) the more readily usable they will be.

[mmelete]

Fanart for @imperialkatwala and @polynomialpandemic’s Fic! (Btw go read it on Ao3, it’s really good <3)

non-writing one beneath the cut:

[fourthcupofrice]

for @starlight-eclipsed and their doppleganger au. The image of Fate weaving Legato’s tale right as she’s talking to him was really vivid to me, i had to draw it. I also really like the kokiri outfit :)

link’s design is from starlight’s au.

close ups under the cut

fic link here: All Dolled Up

[occasionallyprosie]

"Hiding Behind Plaster and Ceremics"

Chapter 2

Twilight wasn't completely sure how to handle the situation, Legend was pretty delirious last time he was awake--to the point of revealing something Twilight was certain was meant to be a secret--but it seemed like his fever was going down at least, so maybe he would wake up soon and they could actually talk.

Febuwhump 2024 | Alt Prompt 2: "I love you"

<<Previous | Next>>

Event Masterlist

Read On AO3 Warnings: none

This one won the poll! So here ya go.

----

Legend actually woke up the next time light, though it was dim moonlight, flowed into the little underground river and cavern.

Twilight spotted him begin to rouse while he was trying to figure a way up and out of the cavern, he was almost certain a clawshot should get him up, but he'd have to wait until Legend was better because there was no way both of them would fit at the same time.

"Hnnn..." Legend grimaced, clearly uncomfortable. Twilight quickly moved over to him.

"Hey--How are you feeling?"

Legend shoved at him as he tried to sit up. Twilight backed off a bit, Legend slowly managing to sit up. He rubbed his face. "What... Where are we?"

"A cave, there's a river right behind you so don't move too much. There's a way out but only one of us can fit at a time, and only if you've got clawshots of your own since I'm not sure how well either of us can toss it back from where it is."

Legend nodded, and Twilight was near certain he wasn't completely back yet. The snappiness and aggression he expected from the collector wasn't yet there, but he was definitely on the defensive...

Was the aggression coming from a point of defense? Twilight wondered, he used to akin Legend to a territorial animal, like a mountain lion or something. If anyone dared to approach, he would snap and attack, always on the aggressive side of things. But with the knowledge... but knowing that Legend used to be Apple, a bright little kid who was unendingly kind, Twilight couldn't help but wonder where that aggression came from? Because that wasn't the kid he remembered.

"I've got hookshots, which I'm guessing is the same thing," Legend hummed, still scrubbing his face and adjusting the blanket around him. "Where's m' clothes?"

Maybe he was more coherent than Twilight thought if he wasn't on the attack due to not having most his clothes on, he must've been aware enough to understand why.

"Over here, I tried to get them dry but--they're still a bit damp. I didn't want to make a fire."

Legend nodded. "Give."

He did, and silence fell between them as the collector hero pulled his clothes back on.

Twilight decided to try again. See what would happen with him actually coherent and not borderline delirious. "Apple--"

Legend full-body flinched, jerking away from him, then as an afterthought he glared... he glared in Twilight's direction and snarled.

"Don’t you call me that."

He wasn't looking at Twilight, just... in his direction. Twilight suddenly noticed how his longer than average ears were flicking and swiveling, eyes shifting side to side as if... as if he couldn't see anything.

Twilight knew it was dim, but the current moonlight should've been enough to outline silhouettes.

"Why didn't you say anything?" Twilight asked, tabling that thought so he could focus on the one he was far more interested in.

Legend winced, then he seemed to pull that aggression back to the front. "Why does it even matter?" He bit out. "It doesn't change shit."

Twilight was suddenly certain that Legend had extremely limited vision in the dark or his own enhanced vision was more enhanced than he thought, because just then, Legend wiped his face in a way that could've only been wiping away a tear, right before he snapped again.

"Anything you think you know about me, forget it," he said. "That was years ago, and I honestly could care less for that fever dream, hallucination of a quest."

He spat the last word as if he hated it or something, and if Twilight couldn't see him, he'd believe him.

Except Twilight could see him, he could see the heavy inhales even if they were silent, he could see the swiping of tears, the shaking hands--

"I don’t believe that," he said, surprising himself.

"Well you can go fuck yourself," Legend spat and Twilight saw the shakiness increase.

Twilight moved carefully, Legend jumped as he caught his hand and brushed a tear away.

"You have awful night vision don’t you?"

Legend tensed up, he jerked back but didn't go far as Twilight pulled him back before he could fall into the river behind him.

"Fucking--let me--"

"You’re gonna fall," Twilight cut him off.

"I'd rather do that than deal with your--touchy-feely bullshit!"

"Stop lying, Collector."

"I'm not lying! Get away from me--"

"Apple stop!"

He did. He froze up and Twilight could see whatever facade he'd been trying to pull back on since he woke up crack.

"I'm sorry," Twilight breathed. "I'm so, so sorry."

Legend still didn't quite stare at him, but he was staring and clearly unsteady. Twilight swore he saw tears in his eyes.

"I don't know what happened to you and I don't need to know, but please don't lie to me and say that you’re completely unaffected."

His mouth opened and closed, a choked noise escaping him.

"I know you’re not the same kid, okay? It's obvious, alright? But you are still my brother. That's what we promised, remember? Before we left, I said that even if we'd never meet again, you'd always be my little brother and even if you actually are the total asshole you've been acting like, you’re still my little brother. Got it? So don’t you dare keep pushing me away, it's a waste of energy."

Legend stared 'at' him with wide eyes, something broken was in them that Twilight never noticed before, but to be fair, he'd never looked.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry for everything. You didn't deserve what's happened to you, but I swear, I promise that it'll get better. It'll be alright."

That was the breaking point, Legend made a painful noise as he curled into himself.

"Shut up. Shut up--I can't--Don't do this to me, please," he begged. "I can't do it again, Forest. I can't."

"Do what again?"

"Lose you! I can't--" He choked on a sob and Twilight felt his heart break for the hero in front of him. "I can't do it again. Not--you two, Cadence, Raven, Ravio, Marin--I can't, please don’t make me do it again."

Twilight reached out again. "Kid--"

"Don’t. Please," he begged. "Just let me be the asshole, it's easier. It's so much easier. Please. I can't... I can't do it again."

Let him...

Twilight caught his face in his hands, startling him again. "If I do, can you promise me--Can you swear that you'll be better for it? That it won't make things much worse--Me pretending we don’t know each other? If I, now that I actually know, treat you like I have been and not like the brother we both know you are to me... Would you be able to promise me it won't make things worse?"

Things being Legend's clear instability, how he definitely wasn't okay, how he had tried to be aggressive but everything he did whenever Twilight caught him off guard was defensive.

Things being the fact that he acted like a hurt animal, only just learning to snap back at threats, but still not yet sure of what all constitutes as a threat so it just snaps at everything.

And as Legend just seemed to break more, eyes fluttering as he pressed his too-warm face into Twilight's hands, and a hurt noise escaping him, Twilight knew that Legend couldn't promise that, and he knew that too.

"I... I can't do it again," Legend insisted weakly. "Everyone leaves, I can't--I can't take it, Forest, please. Everyone either dies or leaves. I can't keep doing this."

Twilight wanted to wrap him up in the blankets again, he wanted to wrap him up and hold him tight, to protect him from anything and everything that would ever harm him.

"I know, I know," Twilight promised softly. "Look, you can't just live to try and hide from pain."

"Watch me."

"But has it actually protected you from getting hurt?"

Legend faltered, then he whined painfully as he tried to hide himself.

Twilight didn't let him. "Kid, people die, we know that. People die, people move on, they leave even if they don’t want to."

"I can't. I can't--I don't want to hurt again. I-I--I just can't. This is bad enough! I can't--why does everyone leave?"

Legend's voice broke, a cry out to the world, a plea for an answer, a wish to just have someone.

And didn't Twilight understand that? Sure he had the villagers in Ordon to an extent, but between Midna and his family from before Ordon, Ilia, her memories, all of it, it sure felt like everyone he loved left.

But he had people, Ilia got her memories back, Uli and Rusl, Zelda, Colin, all of them. He had them...

Did Legend have anyone?

Before Twilight had the chance to ask or to even continue the conversation, the sobbing hero in his arms quieted and when he looked down, his chest constricted and he lowered his hand into unnaturally soft (no really, how, he was soaked with sweat from being sick and it was still so soft) hair.

Legend had cried himself to sleep, clearly his sickness had really drained his energy and the breakdown had sapped whatever else he had left.

"I'll stay," Twilight promised quietly. "I don’t care what the goddesses want, I won't leave you again, kid."

It was daylight next time Legend woke and Twilight gave him some mercy in that he didn't bring up his breakdown from before.

However he very clearly told Legend not to pretend to be what he isn't.

"I don’t know what you’re talking about," the collector insisted stubbornly.

Twilight gave him a deadpan look before remembering how bad Legend's night vision apparently was. "You know exactly what I'm talking about. You’re a lot of things but dumb isn't one of them, Apple."

"Don’t call me that," he bit out and it sounded more strained than snarled. "I mean it. Don’t."

"Promise me you'll stop being a prickly jerk and I will," Twilight bargained.

Legend was silent for a long minute. "I'll promise not to play it up on purpose."

"How about you promise to just be yourself?"

"And you won't call me that or bring... bring that up?"

Twilight sighed. "Yeah, I won't say a word about it and I won't call you Apple anymore."

Legend nodded slowly, eyeing him warily. "Deal. I'll... I'll try to cut it out."

That's all he could ask.

Legend used his hookshot to get out first and Twilight followed close behind.

Thankfully, the storms had apparently stopped but that didn't stop Twilight from draping his pelt over Legend's shoulders.

"What the--no."

"You’re still a bit sick, kid," Twilight smirked and Legend visibly fumed, "keep that on."

"And you call me the jerk," Legend huffed, but Twilight didn't miss how he burrowed into the pelt a bit.

Twilight smirked and he ruffled his hair. "It's my job."

Legend squawked and shoved him, Twilight laughed. He saw the way his face and ears turned red and it only proved to make him laugh a bit harder.

"Hey I think... I see them! They're okay! HEY! RANCHER! COLLECTOR!"

Finally, they found the rest of the heroes who had apparently been searching for a second entrance to the cave the whole time, three days.

Warriors turned on Legend with a clear annoyance once they were assured neither were hurt from the cave-in.

"Why the hell didn't you move?! You could've gotten both you and the Rancher killed!" Legend, with his mask still broken and not yet remade due to his promise to Twilight, flinched.

He knew that. He hadn't even known there was a cave-in, he had been so out of it that he did almost get them both killed and he knew that was his fault. He should've sucked up his pride and admitted to needing to rest, he knew that objectively but not a single part of him would've actually done it.

Not to this group.

"I know you hate us and don’t want to be here but--"

"Back off, Captain." Twilight inserted himself between Warriors and Legend, startling the entire group. "You've no right to lecture him right now."

"He ignored--"

"He was sick and he still is."

Legend winced as shocked and worried expressions were immediately directed to him. He avoided eye contact, suddenly very interested with the fur of the pelt on his shoulders.

"He didn't react because he was so damned out of it that he didn't notice. How much you want to bet that when he fell behind the other day and fell down that he was sick then too? That we failed to make this group an environment that even the most distant of us didn't feel safe expressing that weakness?"

Legend found himself trying to hide behind Twilight from all the gazes. The worst part was that he wasn't wrong, Twilight hadn't even assumed that it was from a point of pride, he correctly claimed his actions came from a point of fear of displaying weakness, of making himself vulnerable in front of them. Sure, Twilight probably thought that the cause of that fear was not feeling safe when it was actually a fear of letting them come close, but he still had gone that route instead of the obvious assumption of pride.

"So back off," Twilight snarled and he sounded dangerous, protective, and Legend wasn't sure if he should be running from that or hiding behind it.

"You're sick?" Hyrule weaved around Twilight, and as per usual, stubbornly tried to get close to Legend despite all his past attempts to snap and make the other teenager leave him alone.

Legend tried not to recoil and snap to get him to just go away, he bit his tongue and glanced at Twilight. Twilight, though staring down Warriors, shot him a glance.

"I was," Legend said carefully. "'M mostly alright now."

Twilight's unsure glance turned proud and everyone else looked a bit surprised.

A pit grew in Legend's stomach as Hyrule's eyes lit up a bit and he began to ask questions about how he felt and how he could help, that he wasn't too familiar with illnesses but surely he could do something, right?

The olive branch had been extended by no choice of his own... and he was surrounded by heroes who were going to snatch it.

He stood no chance, didn't he? What kind of mask could he hide behind now? What kind of plaster could he slap over it? What ceramic was strong enough to protect him?

Why did he have to care so easily? Why did he let people in so quickly?

Why did he always lose the ones he did?

At camp that night, Legend had been... harassed--he honestly couldn't think of a better word--into sitting by the warm fire and eating a bowl of really good soup. All of it was courtesy of Hyrule, Sky, Wild, and Wind who had taken his blunted retorts and softened demeanor and ran with it.

He hated it, but the only reason he didn't snap was because Twilight was watching him and...

And goddesses, he looked proud, he looked happy that he was letting it happen and somehow that was the worst part of it. Something warm flickered in his chest as he hugged his legs by the fire and he hated it.

He didn't lay down though, as everyone moved to sleep, Twilight bargained with Four for first watch and Legend knew immediately why.

He felt exhausted, he really did, but something was curling in his chest and wrapping around his mind, his whole body tingled and he swore he had goosebumps. He couldn't sleep yet, not with the pressure behind his eyes and the weight in his throat.

"Hey," Twilight said softly, he sat beside Legend, facing opposite of him and their shoulders were almost touching. "Are you okay?"

The pressure turned into actual tears. Legend glanced at him and silently, barely, shaking his head.

Twilight tilted his head to the side questioningly, seemingly agreeing to the tacit form of communication.

Legend just shook his head again, then he glanced to a distant corner of their camp and nodded to it.

Twilight glanced around and he must've come to some kind of conclusion before he nodded. He got up first, offering Legend a hand that he stubbornly didn't take it.

He wasn't sure he could, but he did accept the help in moving over to the corner with his bedroll. He sat back down, now healthily distanced and not so surrounded, and Twilight knelt back in front of him.

"Better?" He asked, voice low.

Legend nodded. "Thanks," he muttered, accepting the distance as enough to be unheard.

"Are you alright?" Twilight asked again.

He hesitated, then sighed softly. "I hate you," he muttered. Twilight startled. "This would've been a lot easier if you just minded your own business."

Twilight stared at him and the hurt that had appeared turned into mirth and worry. "Sorry, kid," he chuckled, "you're stuck with me now."

If only, he thought bitterly, looking away and glaring at the ground. He tensed as another weight was set on his shoulders and then a hood was tugged over his head and blinded him.

"I mean it," Twilight said softly, Legend pushed the hood up to meet earnest green eyes. "I let you go once, it ain't happenin' again, Link. Not with how it hurt you."

Legend couldn't even feel sad at that, he just felt... tired.

"Good luck," he said honestly. "It won't work though."

"Why not?"

"I'm not allowed to keep the people I love."

And I love you, went unsaid but implied.

Twilight made a quiet noise, then he reached up and tugged the hood back over Legend's eyes, as if his night vision wasn't bad enough.

Legend huffed and pushed it back again. "Would you stop that?"

"I'm so sorry," Twilight said and it startled Legend into freezing. "I'll prove it though. I'll figure out a way to prove it, I swear kid."

"I didn't agree to this stupid deal just so you could call me kid," he grumbled, not acknowledging the promise he knew was made to be broken. "I'm not a kid."

"How old are you? How long has it been?"

He scowled and avoided eye contact.

"Collector."

He hated that voice. He hated that tone. He hated how he felt guilty for staying silent. He hated everything about this.

"Seventeen," he whispered.

"Seven years?" Twilight breathed. "How... How many more?"

"...five."

"Five--That's... seven quests?"

Legend nodded hiding beneath the pelt hood now. "Seventeen, and seeing as most of you barely got two quests, my seven makes me a real veteran of this whole hero business thing."

"Don’t call yourself that," Twilight whispered, more of a croak really. Legend dared to peek up at him, having to push the hood back again to see just how pale and worried Twilight looked.

He sighed softly. "Why not? It's true."

"But--It makes it sound like that's all you have going for you. All you are is a hero, is your quests."

He shrugged. "Like Scholar and Collector is any different? Where do you think I got my information and items from? And we both know Hoarder is meant to be an insult."

Twilight winced but he didn't argue. Silence settled again and Legend let the pelt block out his vision.

He felt and heard Twilight move to his side and press their shoulders together briefly. He sighed and dropped his head against his shoulder, humming softly as the pressure somehow helped the headache that continued to pulse.

The thick pelt hid the tears that slipped free, but even then he was falling asleep again. Finally, he knew full well that he needed to rest if he wanted to stop being fretted over.

"I love you too," Twilight muttered quietly and Legend felt the hold of sleep disappear as he tensed. "You said earlier you always lose the people you love, an' you counted me and Ocean as one'a them... I love you too, and I don' break m' promises to my little brothers."

Legend really hated it when his mask broke, especially when he couldn't fix it. He felt himself shake as tears soaked into the soft pelt around his shoulders.

"Damn you," he croaked. "You don’t get to say that."

He couldn't say that, he couldn't promise that. Nayru was strict with her domain, even if that was possible, Nayru wouldn't allow them to return to an era not their own. Twilight couldn't promise that but he did because he actually thought he could do that.

Somehow that made it all that much worse.

"I love you," Twilight repeated as he held Legend tighter. "And you can't stop me from saying that or doing anything."

That broke him.

He wished he could say the same, he wanted to say the same, but the fact was that his heart was reaching and clinging it to everyone they met while his mind begged it to just stop getting them hurt.

"Honestly?" Legend forced out, his voice shaking and hitching with every breath. "The fact that you think that makes it just so much worse."

Because, goddesses, Legend loved him. He loved Forest, and Ocean, if he let himself he knew he would fall victim to Wild's chaotic charm, to Hyrule's inescapable orbit of simultaneous sass and warmth, to Sky's unending patience and kindness, he knew he would.

But he also knew there was no way they could stay together when it was over, and by the three, he just wanted to complete one quest without his heart torn to shreds by the end of it.

Next>>

[firefliesnightcore]

Legend: you ever feel like you just wanna punch someone?

Sky: no

Legend: never?

Sky: *remembers the time Legend ate his entire box of pumpkin doughnuts, but Sky chose peace*

Legend: Sky?

Sky:

Sky: don't test me, little man

[sleepyheadnat]

"...do you remember who you are?" Twilight asked tentatively.

The dragon was unfazed, all-seeing eyes staring right past him. "I am the Light Dragon. I have roamed the skies of this land for centuries."

"Sure, right, yeah." He gulped uncomfortably. "But do you remember who you were before?" No recognition flashed in the dragon's eyes. Twilight briefly turned to look at his brother, standing a few feet behind him. He took in a shaky breathe. "Do you remember him?"

For once, there seemed to be the shadow of something, some emotion swimming behind those multi-colored eyes. The dragon turned its stare to Wild who felt uncomfortably transparent and desperately hopeful under its gaze.

"This is the Hero of Hyrule, his spirit the guardian of the land for almost as long as I have roamed its skies. He visits me sometimes. Brushes my mane. Talks to me of things I do not understand and memories I cannot recall. He says that he loves me. He is kind."

[luna-loveboop]

Wait...

It's November. It's November first. Yesterday was October 31st, so October is over. ...it's over. Is it over?

Inktober, artober, whumptober, flufftober, linktober, every tag ending with -tober that's been circulating for the past month... is it over? I don't know why it's just hit me but...

This matters. So I will try to get the message across, even though I'm not the best at it sometimes

Fanartists, fan writers, artists, fic writers, people making comics, every single one of you that has created art for the past month...

Thank you

This is my first October on tumblr. When I started seeing the "tober" tags, seeing the posts from artists with wips, saying they were going to make something every day to a prompt, making masterposts to update with each day, I thought "cool"

But every day this month, I have gotten on here and smiled.

And I don't mean smiled. I mean I smiled at least 20 times every time I got on the app because I saw all the art and fics. I got to see artists/writers connect stories through different day prompts. I saw people having the most brilliant ideas and creativity, flowing from their hands into their posts. I saw artists responding to continuous asks, telling them how amazing they are. I saw artists getting behind, and keeping going.

I saw Free. Beautiful. Emotional. Amazing. Original. Creative. Art.

Every day

I haven't committed to anything of this before, so I can't directly relate to what you guys were thinking and feeling. But I'm willing to guess; I think you probably enjoyed it, because most won't do such a huge project unless they enjoy it. I think you probably saw it as a challenge you were willing to fulfill, and an opportunity to grow and develop your skills.

... but I'm also willing to bet you did it for us. For people like me, who love art, but don't do this specific type, who are in fandoms, who love tracking and watching you art and sending you compliments, who take joy in your work. For the other artists (and writers!) who admire each others styles and love to learn from each other.

If anyone ever tries to tell me that humans are inherently evil again, I will strap them to a chair, pull up these posts and say look. Look at what these people did. Look me in the eyes and tell me these sorts of actions don't come from the most loving hearts. Tell me these people don't want to make others happy, that they aren't inherently good. And I will tell you you're wrong.

I have so much going on, yet somehow it slipped into my life that I was constantly looking at your art for the joy of it without me even noticing.

And how is it possible. That we have such a beautiful community of people here that we will share. And communicate. And exchange compliments. And literally do things and send asks solely for the purpose of making someone smile.

I'm almost crying by now. God I can't express it well enough! But I am so. So. Grateful

You guys brought me a month of joy! You gave headcanons, and art, and stories!

Even yesterday, Halloween, I was blown away. Because I had expected... I didn't expect anything. And then I log on and see people sending happy halloween asks, exchanging doodles of candy, and headcanons and gifs.

And some are still catching up to the schedule or whatever, and that's ok! But at the beginning of this post, when I was simply realizing it was November, I asked myself "is it over?"

Is it over?

... I don't think so. I've seen artists say they're going to continue and expand on a piece they made and especially liked this month. Some people are still continuing, catching up to a voluntary deadline. All those masterposts with your whump/fluff/link/ink tober art? I know many as well as myself will be going through, looking over your posts with smiles, catching up on some things they missed this month... it will continue in the people and artists I didn't know existed before, but now follow. In the skills and growth in creativity! In the community we've grown, and art you've made, and the art to come, at a normal rate like every other month, even if it's not October anymore!

But my artists, writers... thank you so much. I don't know if you guys know how valuable and amazing you are. How incredible it is that you exist! People say it's amazing we exist under a sky of such stars, but how incredible is it that you made a stranger on the internet smile every day! Your life is so. So. Valuable. I can't even express how grateful I am that you exist, that you somehow are selfless enough to share the most beautiful parts of yourself simply to create, and to create joy. Thank you so so much.

(And this applies to all artists, in any fandoms, not just mine. And I'm just as grateful to people who couldn't do something every day, or only one day! You still share your art, you're just as... incredible. You are incredible.)

Okay.

So I'm gonna do this, and if others want to do it in the reblogs that's great! I do not care at all about reblogging or likes, but I want to make the people that have brought me such joy some appreciation- I hope I can bring you even a smidgen of the light you have brought into my life. So I'm gonna tag all the artists/writers I know of/can think of that have done any sort of October challenge, all of you creators that have made me smile. If people wanna want to tag others in the reblogs or replies to spread love that's cool.

(Basically I don't know social customs or anything at all, so if you don't want me to tag or if I was supposed to do something different or something let me know I have no idea what I'm supposed to do)(if I like accidentally tagged someone who isn't an artist/writer or forgot someone I follow... sorry)

@skyward-floored @kikker-oma @adrift-in-thyme @blueskittlesart @zeldaseyebrows @smilesrobotlover @bahbahhh @soso-dedeck @lennsart @arecaceae175 @illcamp @breannasfluff @solarfire-art @26kabeuchi @cathianemelian @truffeart @scribbly-z-raid @uniquevoidflowers

To all the artists and writers out there: thank you so much!!! You are amazing and I'm glad you exist. Your life is precious, and you matter. Thank you so much for sharing your beauty with us, we love you too!!!!!

... yeah. Just want yall to feel loved... because you are. Again, thank you. Thank you so so much to my beautiful creators who create joy as well as art, who keep storytelling alive. Just... thank you.

:)

[mischefous]

OOGHHHH- man this fic, this fic I come back to very often to re-read. especially chapter 2. When FanJoyJuly was announced I was like this one. this is the fic I wanna draw for.

the whump, the emotion, the recovery was so painful but so rewarding. everything that was described was so tangible. I could feel everything Four was experiencing in such heart-wrenching detail. I felt the unbridled fear of the Chain when they were helping him through everything. this is one of my top favorite fics in my little hoard that I love coming back to.

just be mindful of the tags in this fic. but give it a read! IT'S SO FREAKING GOOD! thank you to @cluelessmoose for this amazing fic💙

[wildsolareclipse]

I very literally never do this but honestly I'm too invested in this AU to not sooo I have to admit the strings of fate concept is one I am DEEPLY in love with as a general thing so I simply could not resist playing around with that for Legato Full credit for this design and this AU goes to @starlight-eclipsed and I HIGHLY recommend checking out their fics here because they have had me in a chokehold for such a long time now