#since i wanted to make the sky into the shiekah area basically

[ganondoodle]

Hey there, just read your concept for how you would replace building in TotK with Hookshot mechanics and it sounds really cool!

Like, sure Building was fun, but as you said before, it really doe not fit this game/world and just broke to many parts of it.

To get to my actual question, would the Hookshot be aimable in slow-motion while falling, similar to how Bow & Arrows work?

Because I am now imagining Sky-Islands surrounded by lots of small floaty rocks, some of them so far from each other (or moving) that the player has to hook to the closest one, climb up, get a run up, jump, glide towards the next one, and then let go of the glider, whip out the hookshot, and hook onto the next rock.

Heck, you could have an entirely airborne Gleeock Bossfight this way, similar to som of the Bosses in Twilight Princess!

Thanks as always for sharing your ideas with us!

yeah! its not too hard to imagine right? and i feel like it would have fit so well and be much easier to balance for botws world

maybe you have seen it before but i did make an ability concept for it before (some info on this wouldnt be for the botw2 style rewrite im focusing on now bc i made this originally as part of the villain rauru idea, but the abilities and how they work remains the same)

maybe the way to pull yourself towards somethign or it to you wouldnt be a single button press but instead a holding one, so if you wanna hook and immedaitely be pulled there you can just streamline it via holding the button until you are there (i know holding down a button can be rly straining but botws control scheme doesnt have a lot of it so i think using it here wouldnt be too bad .......... less painful thatn the totk arrow menu thats for sure lol)

(can i just say i really like the the infusion idea for abilities too, like ... wouldnt it be so cool to find broken shiekah tech and using it just because and then it WORKS, like theres a guardian wreck and you get on top and use infuse and it springs to life to move out of the way of a doorway for example, other structers you could use similar to twilight princess copy-staff but in a more modern interpretation??)

the building jsut breaks the game too much, and imo not in a fun way like cheating in a way definitely not intended or glitched, its like a 10 piece picture puzzle but you are also given a button that assembles it for you and you get the same reward anyway, that doesnt count as multiple solutions like it worked in botw, its like they gave up and just gave you (multiple) skip buttons, since not only rocketshields but also the 'move thing and reverse it' are like that, and you cant tell me they didnt realize that (also id argue that even without skipping puzzles, alot of them arent fun either, like its mostly either insultingly simple building tasks the game tells you outright what to do .. or just hands it to you .. or you know what to do immediately and the puzzle part comes from you having to deal with clunkily glueing stuff together until it works, which i found pretty frustrating)

ANYWAY thanks for liking what im doing!!! if i wasnt so slow and art blocked so much id have way more to show already, and text alone usually isnt that interesting :,)

[the-unknown-storyteller]

Gentle Whispers

(Based on a prompt by @writing-prompt-s , Universe by @linkeduniverse )

Summary: Quiet voices lead you to a well. Don't look down at its bottom, avoid the horrors it holds there. Just sit down and listen to what they have to say. Because when you're lonely and cold, they give you the slightest bit of warmth and the company you crave.

____

When Wild tells them that he wants to show them something, they all immediately know that it must be something very important to him. They can tell from the look on his face and that underlying tone in his voice.

He looks at them with serious eyes that hold the kind of sadness, grief but also determination they once saw when they had first met him.

So they all nod, giving their approval, secretly overjoyed that he is opening up some more. Wild gives them a grateful smile in return and begins to pack up for their journey.

“I would like to go there as soon as possible”, Wild says and takes some fruit he has been drying in the sun and carefully wraps them up in cloth. There's enough food growing everywhere in Hyrule Fields, but it's nice to have something sweet prepared at all times. Legend would definitely approve, just not out loud. But everyone knows it anyway.

“It takes about a two day’s walk there, not taking into account that we have to take breaks, eat and sleep. So it'll probably be more like three and a half days. I'm really sorry that it is so far away, but- “, he trails off, letting the knife he was inspecting sink down to his side.

“It's fine, Wild”, Sky says, giving him an encouraging smile. “It's seems like this is something of great importance to you, so of course we will follow.” The others nod once again.

“It was getting kind of boring here anyway”, Legend says and shoots the plain fields before them a look filled with disdain. He can't stand staying in one place for longer periods of time. It makes him feel like he can and should be somewhere else.

“... then let's go”, Wild says and snaps his Shiekah Slate to his belt. They leave Hyrule Fields behind them after having spent the majority of their time in Wild's Hyrule there.

______

Their journey has been a fairly peaceful one so far, barely any monster attacks and since Wild has told them an hour or so ago that they're almost there, everyone's been in a good mood.

Hyrule and Four are happily chatting away about the adventures they've been on, while Wind, Sky and Twilight are bickering about the logistics behind Wild’s paraglider.

“It's just a piece of cloth, how in the world is it supposed to carry his weight?!”, Twilight groans, accentuating his point by waving his hands through the air. “And the frame is made out of wood! Please tell me, how it lasted all throughout his journey and didn't slowly rot away?”

“Well, the paraglider Zelda made for me isn't any bigger than his. It doesn't even have a frame, but it can still carry my weight. It's never let me down so far”, Sky says, stroking the cloth that's hanging around his shoulders fondly. “Truly magnificent craftsmanship”, he whispers, distracted by the happy nostalgia running through his mind.

“Also, back home there were these seagulls that would help me in exchange of a fruit and they would help me cross great distances”, Wind intervenes.

“And how did they do that?”, Twilight asks, already so done with just everything. At this point, he doesn't even want an answer. He just doesn't. He wants to lay the awaiting demons to rest.

“Well, I just hang onto their little clawsies like so”, he lifts his arms straight up and grabs the air, “and they just kind of fly where I want them to.”

“So you're telling me that a seagull. A seagull that is a a sixth of your height at most and a fraction of your weight. Can carry you when you grab onto his feet?!” Twilight feels like he is slowly losing his marbles.

“That's what I said.”

“But-”

Meanwhile, Legend and Time are just watching them from afar, both with a grin on their faces.

Wild, on the other hand, is the only one not engaging in any of the conversations. He's actually not listening to anything being said (or yelled) behind him. His feet take one step after the other, his eyes scan the area around them, but his mind is somewhere else.

He finally snaps out of it when he sees that they've arrived. There is a small path adorned with lamps along the sides that winds up and around the small hill before them. All conversations cease and they just stare up to the top.

From far away, one might have mistaken them for a strange species of blue glowing fireflies. As they slowly get closer, though, the lights grow in size and take on, not the form of fireflies, but that of simple spheres.

The source of them seems to be a small well in the middle of the plateau. The shining bubbles smoothly ascend into the air until they are flying so high up, it is as if they were trying to reach the sky, before slowly sinking down to the ground and up again. They are performing their own little dance and Wild has invited them to watch.

_____

The air around them feels so incredibly calm and gentle, everyone is overcome by how somber and almost sad this scene comes across as.

Fascinated by these glowing spheres that are floating through the air all around and high above them, Hyrule steps forward and gives one of them a slight, curious touch.

The bubble bursts apart into little shards upon impact and with a surprised shout, Hyrule jumps back, bumping into Four who's standing behind him and giving him a questioning look.

Then, suddenly, they hear a quiet, young woman's voice and they all stand still and listen, wondering what is about to happen:

“They told me it's incurable”, the disembodied voice says. Four picks up on the way it has a miniscule shake to it. “They said I have a few months left to live at most, but only if I do barely anything and just stay at home and rest. What kind of life would that be? How can a woman like me, with the heart of a traveller, stay at home, probably reading about all the places I'd rather wish I'd be? It's unimaginable, so I did the most logical thing I could think of.” There’s a lot of bitterness in her tone now. “I decided to keep traveling, even if it kills me.”

“Wild, what are the-”, Wind starts, but is immediately shushed by Time who's realised that this is it. The thing significant to Wild.

Hyrule also tries to get him to quiet down a bit, invested in the woman's story. As a traveller who had also suffered a pretty bad injury once, he can very much relate to what she has to go through. Even if his case wasn't as severe as her condition seems to be.

There's a short pause where they all hold their breaths now, trying to keep as quiet and still as possible. Wild sits down on the ground cross-legged next to the well, picking at blades of grass. He looks to be deep within his own thoughts once again.

“My friend has told me that all over Hyrule there are these really beautifully made wells. She saw one of them on her own travels and has been constantly talking about their intricate design when she came back…” There isn't much left of the well in their present time. The basic body is the only part left of it and made of well-carved stone, giving them a glimpse of the skillful craftsmanship that once gave it life.

“But what she’s mostly told me about is its ability to take away your worries and quite possibly grant you a wish. And you only have to talk to it for it to work.”

After another short pause, the voice continues a lot softer now and fondness coats her words.

“So being the amazing friend she is, she took to one of these wells and encouraged me to just talk. Here I am, then.” A laugh, neither joyful nor humorless. “I think I've been sitting here for quite some time now, actually. At first it was so hard to talk and now it's like I'm having a conversation with an old friend.” A quiet sigh.

“I just wish-”, a choked noise makes her stop, they can hear her breathe and try to regain her composure, “I just wish I could at least do something. I'm not ready to die yet! I just have so much that I still want to see and experience first and-” Her voice was definitely shaking now, choked from the tears that were clogging up her throat.

A new more calm and gentle voice talks to her in quiet, hushed whispers. “Hey, hey, don't cry. You'll be ok, I'll stay with you. You won't go through this alone. I'll stay with you till the end”, the voice gets quieter and quieter until it's gone.

They all breathe in again. Twilight turns to Wild to ask him about these… things, when a child's laughter interrupts him.

“Dad told me that we’re gonna go to the market plaza tomorrow!”, a little boy’s voice yells. Another bubble must have popped without them noticing. “It's close to Hyrule Castle, so maybe I'll get the chance to see the princess! And if I'm really lucky, maybe I'll even see Link!”

Time glances to his right where Wild is sat and looks for any kind of reaction. The blank look on his face is only betrayed by the glint of guilt in his eyes which are pointed downwards. Twilight sees it too and frowns.

“Link is so cool. When I'm big, I wanna be just like him. Do you think I can be like him, mom? I'll train everyday and I'll let my hair get a bit longer, then I can tie it back too!” They can hear him squeal in delight and some rustling, then a kissing noise. His mother probably picked him up and gave him a kiss on the nose.

“Sure thing, buttercup. But before you do that let's eat-” The voices promptly fade out and disappear, only leaving behind the sounds of happiness and laughter.

It's quiet once again. Suffocatingly so. Nobody utters a word.

Then, Wild slowly stands up, gaining everyone's attention, and pulls out a bow and arrows in the blink of an eye. He takes aim with three booked at once and releases.

The arrows soar through the air, each hitting at least three spheres or more. They all shatter with a gentle clink and voices begin talking again.

Only bits and pieces of conversations can be heard, as they are all talking at once in quiet and hushed voices.

“Look, this new chainmail would be perfect for my son! He just recently started his training to become part of Hyrule’s guards and I couldn't be more prou-”

“Think fast!” A distant plonk and then shouting. “Ha! Not fast enough. If you wanna beat me, then you need to get better reflexes-”

“Ugh, you may be stronger than me, but I'll definitely beat you in the archery part of the games tomorrow, just you wait-”

“We should really find shelter and get out of the rain! Goddess, why didn't you tell me that you've already got a cold? I would've come over and helped you recover! Look, I'll go to the market plaza tomorrow and get you some medicine-”

“Do you think that will be enough? The journey from here to Hyrule Castle is pretty far. There are some towns along the way, but-”

After some time, the voices finally quiet down, the group of Links turn towards Wild who avoids their gazes.

“I found them a few month back. I was traveling alone and exploring the area when I stumbled upon one of these wells”, he signs. Speaking only brings him pain right now. His eyes flicker towards the others every few seconds before he diverts them again. His hands shortly fidget with his blue cloak, then he brings his hands up to continue signing what he has to say.

“There weren't any monsters around this part of the hill, so I thought it to be the perfect place to set camp. Night set and I was about to drift off to sleep.”

“A child's laugh shocked me awake. Jumped to my feet and looked where it was coming from, then I saw this around me”, he gestures at the scene around them. “And I was amazed by what I had found. There were so many voices and each was telling me a story. Whether it was intentionally shared or not, I enjoyed the feeling of company… I always spend at least two days around these wells, when I find one.”

They all wait for Time to finish translating.

And then, there's silence. They exchange looks. No one knows how to respond, but they know that they have to say at least something. Most of them know that feeling of loneliness that can sometimes be soothing and other times viciously rip into your chest.

“And why did you decide to show us one? What's the point?”, Legend asks, effectively breaking the silence that had settled onto them. He receives a sharp glare from Twilight and Time.

“... I guess, I just felt like I had to share this... with all of you”, Wild responds, talking slowly, but talking again nonetheless. He smiles at him. “And I wanted to compare and find out.”

“Find out what?”

“If I could bear it to lose you guys and only live with that kind of company like before.”

“So? Did you find out? Would you be able to go on?”, Sky asks with a gentle tone of voice, similar to the voices of the spheres, but so much more alive and-

“I would not. Because you guys are real… and those are just the gentle whispers of the dead.”