#this rage reblog is dedicated to you Grey

[professorrw]

All I Want, Remus Lupin Fanfiction

Chapter Sixteen

Warnings: fluff, eventual smut, death, violence, swearing, age gap, slight angst, major spoilers for Deathly Hallows

A/N: The last part and the next few ones will be about the Battle of Hogwarts so there will be fighting and killing. I hope you guys enjoyed this! If you did, like, comment, and reblog! If you would like to be added to my taglist (permanent or for this series) tell me and I’ll put you on there!

The Great Hall was anything but calm. All of the students had been ushered to the House tables and were listening to Professor McGonagall, who was giving orders left and right. She was explaining that all the students that weren't of age were going to be evacuated for their safety.

When McGonagall had finished speaking multiple students started asking questions. You didn't pay them any mind and instead noticed Harry wandering around the edges of the room. While you were watching Harry a cold and piercing voice seemed to be speaking from all directions.

"I know that you are preparing to fight. Your efforts are futile. You cannot fight me. I do not want to kill you. I have great respect for the teachers of Hogwarts. I do not want to spill magical blood," the voice boomed out, pausing for a second. At first many had screamed but now the Great Hall was silent. "Give me Harry Potter, and none shall be harmed. Give me Harry Potter, and I shall leave the school untouched. Give me Harry Potter, and you will be rewarded. You have until midnight."

The voice ceased. Everyone's gazes turned to Harry. He turned pale and unmoving. The only voice that spoke was Pansy Parkinson, who was seated at the Slytherin table, "There he is! He's right there! Take him!"

You never liked Pansy. She was always talking ill of others and draped herself across anyone willing to listen to her. You had no pleasant memories of Pansy from when you were a student at Hogwarts. "Bloody hell! Just shut it Pansy!" you yelled back. "We are not handing him over!"

She turned to you with a glare but sat back down as all the other tables stood up and pulled their wands towards her. It was a sight to behold. All the houses other than Slytherin had come to Harry's defense.

McGonagall smiled at you and the rest of the Hall and addressed Pansy, "Thank you Miss Parkinson. You and the rest of your house can do the honors of leaving first. Please follow Mr. Filch."

Remus, Kingsley, and the rest of the professors began to devise a plan of attack, dividing themselves up to different areas of the castle and grounds. Remus would be going to the grounds with students and you would be going with him. You were prepared to fight. You could feel Voldemort's defeat coming. You had confidence in everyone around you. Together, you would rid the world of the Dark Lord.

"Are you alright?" Remus asked from beside you.

"Yes. I'm just ready to fight. This has gone on for far too long. I'm ready for him to be gone."

"As I am. Y/N?"

"Yes?"

"I'm going to be with you the whole time. I won't let anything happen to you. I love you," he said. He leaned over and kissed your forehead, lips lingering for a while.

"I love you too Remus. I won't let anything happen to you either. I promise that we're both going to make it out of this."

"I admire your confidence, love."

After all the houses had been evacuated, a few Hufflepuff and Ravenclaws stayed behind, and half the Gryffindors. McGonagall had to pick out the underage Gryffindors that stayed behind and send them away. You had to hand it to them though, they were dedicated to the cause.

Kingsley rose to the front and began to speak, "We've got half an hour until midnight so we must act fast. A battle plan has been made between the Hogwarts teachers and the Order of the Phoenix. McGonagall, Flitwick, and Sprout are going to take fighters up to Ravenclaw, Astronomy, and Gryffindor towers for a good vantage point to do spells. Remus, Arthur, and I will be taking groups to the grounds. We need somebody to set up defense for the entrances of the passageways-"

"That's a job for us!" Fred said, indicating to himself and George. Of course the twins would want to do that. They knew every passageway like it was the back of their hands. When you were at Hogwarts you would sneak around with them and never get caught thanks to the secret passages.

Kingsley nodded and resumed talking, "Leaders up here and we'll divide troops!"

You followed Remus to stand next to Kingsley. The other professors lined up as well. You couldn't help but notice how determined everyone looked. Even Professor Flitwick looked menacing.

Kingsley began to divide the students, sending them to the different groups of adults. You noticed that Neville had been sent to Professor Sprout and Lee Jordan was sent with Fred and George.

Arthur, Kingsley, and Remus had a mixed group made up of mostly Gryffindors. You knew most of them and they acknowledged you as a leader as well, being two or three years their senior. One of the people in your group was Seamus Finnigan, who had been instructed to create explosions, which apparently he did often.

You and the rest of the group began to make your way through the castle, down to the grounds where Death Eaters were trying to get in. Students were following their group leaders throughout the castle as you walked by, getting into their positions. Remus was holding your hand as he led the group and walked briskly down the stairs. He had a determined stride and his eyebrows were furrowed.

Outside, the ground group began to split up, readying themselves for the incoming Death Eaters. Not only were there Death Eaters, there were gigantic spiders coming from the forest as well. You and the rest of the ground troops began to move forward, meeting Voldemort's followers in the middle. People on brooms swooped by overhead, and started to drop bombs on the groups of Death Eaters. You couldn't mistake the leader of the people on brooms, Oliver Wood.

Streaks of light began to pierce and color the air around you. Shouting came from all sides. You were shooting spell after spell at the incoming Death Eaters and spiders. Remus stayed by your side, also shooting out spells faster than you imagined possible. You stayed focused, watching your surroundings. The casualties had already started to rise on both sides. Bodies dropped and the Death Eaters began to converge onto the grounds. You and the others were trying your hardest to keep them at bay, but they wouldn't be held for much longer.

You kept sending out spells as fast as you could, hitting Death Eaters in any spot possible. Shouts of "Expelliarmus! Stupefy!" and "Avada Kedavra!" rang out in the night air. When you looked over you saw Remus dueling a Death Eater that you recognized, Dolohov. No Death Eaters were coming your way, most occupied with fighting others. Dolohov hadn't noticed you so you took the chance to shout out "Expelliarmus!" giving Remus the chance to stun him.

He nodded at you and breathed heavily, moving his eyesight to more incoming enemies. A man was headed straight for you, wand pointed at your chest. You lunged out of the way, the spell shattering a window behind you. Moving in on him, you yelled "Stupefy!" It missed him by inches, which he seemed to find amusing. He cackled and screamed "Avada Kedavra!"

You jumped out of the way just in time, the spell whizzing by your head. You got back to your feet, sending out another spell. That one hit him and he landed on the ground with a thud. As you ran towards the castle, where the Death Eaters were now getting inside, you whipped your head back and forth looking for Remus.

He was engaged in a tight battle. He overpowered his opponent and sent her flying into the wall. An explosion sounded somewhere to your left and rubble flew everywhere. Large pieces of cement fell on top of a few of Voldemort's followers and spiders. The remaining students took a breath, relieved from the hoard of Death Eaters that they were dueling.

The battle had mostly moved inside, Death Eaters working through the crowds of students and teachers alike. They were all a blur as you ran past, followed by Remus, who was panting.

You ran through the doors with him close at your side. Flitwick and Kingsley were already in the halls, each fighting furiously. Neville came into your line of sight, holding an armful of Venomous Tentacula.

You and Remus ran to the Great Hall, seeing a grey werewolf in your path. You had no doubt it was Fenrir Greyback and the sight infuriated you. He saw you and Remus at the same time you saw him. Picking between the two of you he lunged at Remus, sending him to the floor.

It was so sudden you didn't know it had happened. He was on top of Remus, rearing his head back to bite him when he was hit by a spell. His animal form went flying into the wall. He was getting back to his feet when you rushed at him screaming "AVADA KEDAVRA!" You were so filled with rage you felt no remorse seeing his limp, grey, werewolf body. After all, he deserved it for all he had done. He had killed and harmed many people, including your parents.

Overhead you heard Professor Trelawney shout, "Well done! That bastard deserved it!" She hurried away, holding crystal balls in her arms. She threw them with incredible force and then used her wand to direct them through the windows.

You ran over to Remus, who hadn't moved from the floor. You fell to your knees beside him. He didn't move when you shook him. Tears began to fill your eyes, "Remus? Remus! Remus wake up! WAKE UP!"

Taglist: @bellamy1998 @sxsalvatore @ottjord @lina1945

[wackygoofball]

To the non-anons out there, this message is also for you!

I feel really saddened that I am now dedicating the third post in a row already to this kind of stuff because I honestly thought we were on the same track as to what kind of a blog I am running, but oh well, it appears worth repeating.

As you can take from my previous post and the one before, I have gotten some unwanted negative attention I was not seeking. I have already typed up my reply to the anons, but now I also turn to fellows who are not grey circles with sunglasses. I am turning to my followers and those I follow, my mutuals.

You are entitled to your emotions, and I bet there are many of them right now, mostly bad, I am pretty sure. I can only repeat that. I find your emotions and thoughts valid, but I believe it’s not asked too much to demand the same from you when it comes to me. Anyone who’s been following my blog will know my general stand on the show and the books. Anyone who’s been following my rambling and hyping will know that I am a positive blog and that I want to keep things that way.

And that is why I am hereby asking you again to respect that choice I made and continue to make.

I do not want to engage in such conversation some of you may be eager to have. You will find plenty of others who want to have them in my stead. You don’t need to have ranting get-togethers with me. I would not be fun during those rounds, I am telling you! Because I would still insist on my viewpoints, and they are apparently different from a lot of those of other fellow JB shippers, Jaime and/or Brienne fans alike. But that’s okay.

Opinions are supposed to be different. No one has to share my views, but neither do I have to share yours. And in that same vain, we do not have to share in the same mode of communicating those views.

My mode is to write my thinkpieces, however much truth they may hold, to gif, to hype, to have fun, to talk about what confused me, what surprised me, what I would have liked differently, what I enjoyed, what I want to spec about for the rest of the series, and so on. I always try to do that in a calm and positive manner. If that is not your mode, then that is more than fine, but please respect that I won’t alter my mode to accomodate yours.

There is a lot to stomach about last episode. I have thoughts, a lot of them, which I still have to put into writing. It’s been a long night. I slept for like 3 to 4 hours and it already tires me to write up the third heads-up post for people who apparently haven’t gotten the core message of my very blog. This saddens me, in fact, much more than anything I could get negative emotions about that I saw in the last episode. 

Now. To my followers or those I follow, to my mutuals, to those who see that message, simple as that:

I won’t change into a blogger who will engage in the kind of discussions that are raging, ranting, bashing of the show, that cry “bad writing” before I have seen everything in the context of the last episode. This blog is not a sounding board for negativity. It is not a sounding board for angst. For rage. You have plenty of opportunity to seek out those who want to engage in just that kind of conversation, in just that kind of mode. And I wish you all the best in those discussions, but please, leave me out of them.

And leave my posts out of them in particular!

I don’t want to see my positive posts, some of which actually give people hope and good feelings in a time that is filled with sadness and fear about what’s to come next, being changed into something else just because you think you have to enforce your opinion over mine. My blog is for those people, to let them know that I share in that hope, that this blog is where they can come and enjoy positivity if they wish for it. My posts are not for you if what you are looking for is rage, fear, and sadness. But I don’t think that you will be lacking on Tumblr to find compensation. I will continue to post my thoughts, and I will do so in the manner I always have.

I am happy to get positive feedback on my initial post already. It tells me that, for those people, I am doing something right. It tells me that I am doing someting right for myself as this is the kind of engagement with fandom I am willing to make.

I look forward to have debate about the episode, but I will not engage in GoT Hate Talk. If you haven’t gotten that memo until now, my blog is really not the right place for you.

So. To reiterate:

I ask you not to hijack positive posts and spew in your negativity. No one asks you to engage with my posts. Quite on the contrary:

I welcome you to ingore me, unfollow me, block me or whatever else you feel you need to do in order to have the fandom experience you choose to have for yourself.

In fact, that is the advice I give to eveyone: be the master of your fandom experience. Take charge, take care.

I also welcome you to ignore me the same way I will be ignoring people whose viewpoints I don’t want to engage in. The wonder of Tumblr is that no one forces you to interact. You can just keep scrolling or updating your blacklist to include “got positivity” or “wacky rambles”. I won’t begrudge you for that at all. I applaud you if you do because it shows that you take care of yourself and others by navigating through the messy space of fandom with reason.

What I will begrudge you for is bringing negativity to a place that I want to keep positive.

Because that runs contrary to my belief in what is good tone, netiquette, and the pillars I see firmly established for the JB fandom. I don’t want to get replies or reblogs that try to tell people where they can find negativity instead, because I am sure they will know where to find it. They just have to update their dash. I don’t want to get replies and reblogs that change the meaning of what I wrote originally. You can make your own posts to tell people your opinions, to let them know what kind of a blog they will find with yours. But don’t make my posts about my blog about your blog.

There is a difference between disagreeing on something and having honest debate about it vs. being treated like someone’s positivity is not valid the same way other people’s negativity is. 

I am happy to have discussion - and by that I mean discussion, not ranting - about what went good and bad in this episode, based on the limited information we have, but always mindful of the latter being the big parameter that should weigh in on our analyses. That is the kind of discourse I am willing to have, that is the kind of discourse I will be having.

If I can’t have that with you, see above for options.

I hope that this post made clear what I think and what blog I want to run and how I want to see myself be treated in the future. I am looking forward to discussions that match my mode. I am happy to be part of this fandom. I made amazing friends there and I wouldn’t want to miss a thing.I am happy to share thoughts and theories, even at the risk fo being totally wrong all over. I am happy to have debate and write mad analyses. I am happy to ramble. And if any of my rambling and hyping helps people deal with their fears, insecurities, sadness, and anger, I feel all the better about what I am doing on my littel blog here. I find that the fun of the fandom experience, and no one will manage to take that away from me.

However, for those who have different expectations and wishes of what fandom life should be like for them, that is just as valid, just as okay. But I won’t engage in it, that’s all.

For all that I believe went wrong in a source material, I will always have my mutuals.

And I will always have fanfiction.

So really, what’s there to be negative about for Wacky?

Nothing much.

Wacky’s tiddies are calm.

Thanks for the attention and hopefully for the understanding.

[chainsawbettyloo]

Title: Family Isn't Always Deemed by Blood, but Sometimes by Choice, Ch. 1 

Pairing: Sidlink 

Tags: Angst, angst with a happy ending, minor depictions of violence, parenthood 

Summary: Adventuring often leads to stumbling across unfortunate, devastating discoveries but sometimes, there is a silver lining. During their traveling throughout the land of Hyrule, now freed from Calamity Ganon's terror, Sidon and Link slowly build a family made up of adopted children they rescue from the still harsh, unforgiving world 

A/N: Okay so...this prob wasn’t exactly what you were looking for but I just really liked the idea of Sidon and Link rescuing / adopting orphans from the multiple races and just building their own little family unit. Also, dedicated to the lovely @ponpox who gave me this awesome idea!  

Cross posted on my AO3 so if you’d like to read it there! Comments, reblogs, kudos and all that are very much appreciated! 

-

Sometimes, it hurt more than he could verbalize that no matter how hard he worked to keep the world peaceful, safe and happy, there would always be some evil, lurking somewhere, waiting to maim and kill.

Sitting at the edge of the river, Link gazed, unfocused, at the quick moving grey water. His eyes occasionally catching glimpses of the fish swimming hard against the current, their scales catching hints of the soft moonlight, glimmering like stars underneath the surface. Overhead, the sky was free and clear off all clouds. Hanging lazily, high in the sky, was the immense white moon, its face turned towards the earth in a constant, silent stare. The night was still with the only occasional chirp of a nearby insect and the undertone of noise from the rushing river. He supposed that most people would look around, pull in a deep breath of the chilly air and make a comment about what a peaceful, pleasant night it was.

Though, there was no doubt that that perception would change once they turned their gazes to what was behind him.  

Glancing over his shoulder, a cold shiver ran down his spine at the scene of wreckage behind him. What had been once most likely a small, humble hut was now just a pile of splintered ruins. Something at some point had caught fire, charring some of the flimsy beams to black and destroying nearly all trace of the tightly woven reeds that had probably made up the roof. Scattered about the site were the shattered remains of everyday life: cookware, clothing, scraps of food, books, fishing supplies and hand carved, wooden toys. In the air was a stench of rot and fire - it was overwhelming but not an odor he was unused to.

His eyes found their shapes, despite protests from his mind that he didn’t want to look again. Lying beside the wreckage were the remains of the three Zora that had lived here. He had covered their faces best he could with the scraps of fabric he had been able to find but they were still left out in the open, exposed and vulnerable. Guessing from their level of decomposition, he would guess that they hadn’t been dead for long; two days at the most. As for what had killed them, he couldn’t say for certain. Each had different types of wounds, indicating that there had been multiple assailants but that ruled out nothing and only added questions. He didn’t recall hearing anything about Yiga Clan members in the area, though they were gifted at keeping themselves out of sight and unknown, nor had any reports of bandits reached his ears. Monsters couldn’t be ruled out either - while their numbers were dwindling, that had only caused them to become more brazen so it wasn’t out of the question that they would wander this far in-land.     

Regardless, whomever or whatever did this, they had no place in Hyrule. His gaze traveled down to the smallest body - a child, probably no more than 9, 10 yrs in Hylian age. Someone...something had put a blade right through his chest. They would have had to been looking straight into his eyes as they did...looking down into the eyes of a terrified, crying child as they impaled him. A surge of anger, white hot and tasting of bitter bile, roared in his chest. His free hand clenched into a fist as tears burned at the corner of his eyes. Curling instinctively around the small bundle in his arms, he choked back a sob. It wasn’t as though he truly believed that all evil had been eradicated from the world. That...he knew would never be a reality and all he could do was his best to keep the world as safe as possible but, even knowing that, it didn’t stop the pain. Calamity Ganon was gone! The world was supposed to be safer! Each day, the population of monsters dwindled, the Yiga Clan was becoming quieter by the moment, the land was repopulating so how?! How could this had happened?

His arm instinctively tightened around the bundle he cradled close to his chest, prompting a soft, displeased noise to issue from within it. Jumping slightly, he ripped his gaze away from the sight of devastation behind him, took a deep breath, loosened his hold and let his head drop down until his chin was resting against his chest. Exhausted didn’t even come close to explain how he felt. He wanted nothing more than to just lie down somewhere, curl up into a ball and let himself fall into a dark, empty sleep. Though, he knew he wouldn’t be that lucky. Without a doubt, only two scenarios awaited him: sleep plagued by nightmares or the night spent looking up at the ceiling, his mind hyper focused on the image of the wreckage and the still shapes that lay beside it.

“Link.” A soft, familiar spoke from somewhere above him.

Starting, he slowly raised his head up to discover Sidon standing in front of him. The Zora Prince had clearly just gotten out of the water as small droplets ran along his skin, dripping down onto Link and the sandy ground. Unsurprisingly, Sidon’s face wore an expression of slack jawed shock, his eyes focused solely on the wreckage before him. Without a word, he strode around Link, walked over to the deceased Zora and dropped to his knees beside them. Swallowing against the lump that had risen in his throat, Link turned away, gently squeezed the bundle in his arms and ignored the tears streaming down his cheeks.

“What happened?” Sidon quietly asked, his voice holding barely constrained anger.

“I don’t know.” Link replied haltingly, “It was like this when I showed up.”

Tense, deafening silence fell over them. Reaching up to brush away the traces of tears that had fallen, Link cleared his throat quietly enough so it, hopefully, didn’t seem like he was trying to get Sidon’s attention and let his eyes unfocus as he waited for the Zora Prince to speak again. In the meantime, he let the sounds of the river rushing down it’s path fill his mind. He could understand why the Zora family had picked such a spot to make their home. Just from his short time here, he could tell it was a fantastic place to fish. Not to mention, the view was fantastic and there were enough trees around to provide ample shade. It probably had seemed like a perfect place to raise a family - safe, chock full of potential food, with a beauty that no one could lift their nose at.    

“Goddamnit.” He snarled underneath his breath, fresh tears running from his swollen eyes. If he ever found what or who had done this to him, he was going to rip them apart with his bare hands. He wouldn’t stop until what remained of them mirrored the carnage behind him.  

Sniffing hard, he turned his head slightly as he sensed Sidon approach. There was the sound of shuffling before the Zora Prince sat down heavily beside him, his head bowed in mourning. His expression was neutral but Link knew him well enough to recognize the subtle hints of just how badly this was affecting him: the dullness in his usually bright, vibrant eyes, the way his mouth was turned down into a harsh, thin line, and just the way he held himself - hunched over, muscles clenched tightly, every inch of him tense. Carefully scooting closer to him, Link pressed his shoulder against his side, sighing in relief when Sidon leaned down to press a kiss against the top of his head.

“We need to return to Zora’s Domain.” Sidon said stiffly, his voice shaking.

Link nodded, though made no move to get up. Now that Sidon was here with him, his exhaustion had doubled, making it hard just to keep his eyes open. At that moment, he wanted nothing more than to curl up close to his side and stay there for a century. One of Sidon’s muscular arms snaked around his waist, tugging him easily into his lap. Snuggling close to his chest, Link let out a long, shaky breath as Sidon’s arms closed around him. For several moments, they simply stayed like that, silently comforting the other with their presence. Tears slid down his cheeks, dripping down onto the bundle in his arms. Sidon was shaking, though whether it was from grief, rage or the combination of both, he couldn’t say. Reaching up with his free arm, he gently took one of Sidon’s large hands into his own, entwined their fingers together and squeezed. He heard the Zora Prince let out a shuddering breath before his embraced tightened.

Being squeezed even more closely to Sidon’s body caused the bundle held in his arms to immediately let out a soft sound of protest. Jolting in surprise, feeling slightly guilty for completely forgetting just what he held in his arms, Link slid an inch away from Sidon, far enough where he could clearly see what he was holding, offering up an apologetic look in response to his confused one, and said, “Sorry, I meant to tell you the moment you arrived but,” he chuckled sadly, “this entire thing has made it hard to think straight.”

With Sidon still looking at him confusedly, Link shifted the bundle a little so the Zora Prince could see better before shifting the soft cloth aside to reveal what, or rather, who was inside. Held in his arms, wrapped up safe and snug in what he was certain was either a blanket or a dish towel was an infant Zora, probably no more than a few months old. The little one had fallen asleep a while before Sidon had arrived, though now that cool night air was hitting his face, he slowly opened his eyes, blinked blearily before yawning widely, showing off his pink, soft gums yet to house the Zora trademark sharp teeth.

“I found him under some rubble.” Link explained, brushing the backs of his finger along the baby’s smooth forehead. “He was in what looked like a crib of sorts that was covered with a blanket. I think someone must have tried to hide him, and it worked. I almost didn’t find him, he was so quiet when I arrived - luckily, I knocked something over near where his crib was and that got him screaming. I dug him out, got him some water and immediately sent that call out to you.”

“Is he hurt?” Sidon asked breathlessly, reaching down to lightly stroke one of the baby’s fins, his large hands trembling.

“No, I don’t think so. Dehydrated and hungry, but otherwise okay. Little guy stopped screaming the moment I picked him up, hasn’t made hardly a peep since.”

The Zora Prince was quiet for a moment, his thumb gently brushing along the length of the baby’s small fins before asking, his voice strangled and thick with repressed sobs, “Can I hold him?”

“Of course!” Link immediately clumsily got onto his knees, shuffled forward and offered the tiny bundle to Sidon.

Placing the baby carefully into his muscular arms, he made sure he was secure before leaning back. Sidon fumbled for a moment, clearly unaccustomed to holding an infant, which the little guy clearly sensed as he began to flail in alarm, letting out soft mews of distress before the Zora Prince finally seemed to get him into a good position, cooing comfortingly to him as he held him close to his chest. Sharp pain began to spike in his chest as Link tried to focus on anything other than the obvious agony in Sidon’s eyes, the way his lips were trembling and how much his voice was quivering.

“It’s alright, little one.” Sidon breathed, his mouth tilting in what looked like an attempt to smile, “I’ve got you, I’m not going to let anything happen to-”

The Zora Prince’s voice cracked. Bowing his head, his shoulders bounced hard as a sob ripped its way from his throat. A sickening jolt rushed through Link’s body. Leaning forward, he placed his hands on Sidon’s arm as he hunched over, cradling the infant close. Tears streamed down his cheeks as he struggled to think of something to say, something that could of some comfort to his beloved Sidon but his mind could think of nothing. He understood perfectly what the Zora Prince was feeling - the absolute devastation of holding a child who had his entire family stolen away from him before he was even old enough to remember their faces. Because of someone’s or something’s cruelty, he would spend the rest of his life never knowing them. Not even old enough to hold up his own head and he was completely alone in the world.

His heart clenched in his chest. Squeezing his hands into tight fists, fingernails a little too long digging hard into his skin, he slumped against Sidon, tears streaming down his face as he pressed close to the comforting feeling of the Zora Prince’s skin. Struggling to hold back the sobs pressing hard at the back of his throat, he wrapped his arms about Sidon’s waist and squeezed tightly. Obviously picking up on both his and Sidon’s distress, the baby began to cry as well. His loud wails echoed through the still night, disturbing a flock of birds on the other side of the river. For several moments, neither of them could react, too overwhelmed by their own pain. It was Sidon who moved first. Still gasping with sobs, tears running from his golden eyes, he straightened his back, wrapped one arm snugly around Link and began to gently hush the little one. Struggling to get his own grief under control, Link reached over to brush his trembling fingers along the curve of the baby’s head.

Moving closer, he leaned down slightly and whispered, “It’s alright, it’s okay. Shhhh, shhh, shhh, everything's okay.”

It didn’t take long to quiet him, with both Sidon and Link gently cooing at him, he seemed to calm down in no time at all. Wiping snot away from his mouth, Link let out a long, shaky breath. His head was pounding, his eyes felt itchy and what little energy he had left was now completely gone. The baby was having an easier time staying awake than he was. Leaning back, he looked up at Sidon, “You okay?”

The Zora Prince was silent for a moment, his expression pained, before slowly shaking his head, “No, I’m not.” Reaching forward, he gently wiped away the tears from Link’s cheeks, “And I imagine you aren’t either.”

“No,” Link replied honestly, “not even close. What do we do now?”

“We go back to Zora’s Domain. My Father needs to be alerted to this attack so we can spread the word to other settlements and advise them to be on alert. And I want one of our healers to check him out as soon as possible. He seems alright, but I don’t want to take any risks.”

Nodding in agreement, Link shuffled backwards, shakily pushed himself to his feet then took a moment to make sure he wouldn’t fall back over when dizziness swamped him. Once the world had stopped tilting, he held his arms out to take the baby from Sidon so he could have an easier time getting up. Cradling him carefully in his arms, he hugged the little one to his chest, smiling wearily when the baby reached forward with his tiny hands to inspect Link’s chin. Turning his head so he could kiss one of those little fists, he cooed softly, “We’re going back to Zora’s Domain, and when we get there, I’ll be sure to find you the tastiest, yummiest food they have. Then, it’s a nice, soft, safe bed for you.”

“Healer first.” Sidon gently reminded him.

“Yes, yes but the promise of a nice bed and good food is much better than a promise of being poked and prodded by someone.”

With a slight smile, the Zora Prince nodded, “True.”

Standing up himself, Sidon turned to look at the scene behind them once more, his shoulders tense, his hands hanging uselessly by his side. Reaching forward, Link placed his hand on Sidon’s back and said softly, “There’s nothing more we can do here.”

Though the words were coming from his own mouth, he couldn’t place any conviction in them. He knew they needed to leave, that the best thing for them to do was go to Zora’s Domain but, at the same time, it felt wrong to leave the three behind. Left out in the open where any predator or scavenger could stumble across their bodies, no one and nothing to protect them, the act felt like a grave sin. But, they had the little one to look after and he knew strongly in his heart that his parents would have wanted him taken care of first. They had already departed the world - what happened to their bodies wasn’t as important as their son being safe.

“Sidon.” Link said firmly, reaching down to tug lightly on his arm.

“I know.” He replied softly. Pulling in a deep breath, he let it out slowly, whispered something that sounded like a short prayer before turning back around to face Link. There were fresh tears on his face. His golden eyes were solemn and pained. Leaning down, he bumped his forehead gently against Link’s, took in another deep breath and said, “I’ll carry you on my back. The Domain is some distance from here but the current goes in our favor.”

“Okay.” Stepping back, away from Sidon, Link moved towards the river, took a couple of cautious steps into it to make sure there wasn’t a sudden drop before turning back. The Zora Prince had followed after him and as he swam a little ways out, looking for the right place where Link could safely climb onto his back with the child in tow, Link let his eyes settle on the lifeless figures one more time. They had left this world not even knowing if their child was going to be safe. All they could do was hide him away and hope that someone found him before whatever had attacked them, starvation, dehydration or the elements could take him. He couldn’t even imagine how that must have been to experience...your life slipping away while your child lay helpless, unable to run or defend himself.

“Do you think their spirits are still here?” He asked softly.

“It’s possible.” Sidon replied, “We’ve seen before that those with strong attachments to this world, whether out of rage, love or duty, can stay behind to finish what they had started or do what they felt they needed to.”

Link was silent for a few moments, his eyes never leaving the Zora bodies before he called out, “I’ll protect him! I’ll keep him safe! I promise! I won’t-” his voice cracked, a lump raising once more in his throat as the tears he thought were dried up started to burn the corners of his eyes once more. Bowing his head, trying desperately to keep the tears from falling, he focused intently on the baby in his arms. The little one was looking up at him with tired eyes, though when their gazes met, he once again reached out towards Link’s face with his tiny hands. Sobbing silently, he let his eyes fall closed, tears slipping free from behind the confines of his lids. With trembling lips, he gasped out, “I won’t let anything happen to him. I swear that to you.”

There was no way for him to know whether his words were reaching them or just being carried away in the gentle breeze. All he could hope was that somewhere, somehow, they were at peace, knowing their son was safe. Clenching his teeth together tightly, he forced himself to turn away, leaving behind the destroyed home and family.