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webhead3345 · 11 months ago

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Hero of the Dunes chapter 3!

(Read on Ao3)

Newest chapter, in which we get to see how Link’s parents are handling this new situation, and a look into the past from Zelda’s POV!

Weeding out the Hero

“He was all shook up, so I s’posed I would come straight here,” Farmer Dull said, his lips pulled into a frown. “I didn’t guess by the look on his face that he’d take well to me tryin’ to make him stay.”

Lossa favored his bad leg as he stepped closer to accept the page the farmer offered. “Thank you. I’m sure it’s just a confusion. Link can be a quiet boy, you know…” He unfolded the paper and pressed his lips together.

“Now I didn’t read it,” Dull continued. “But I thought it was important by the way the lad wrote it out.”

I am leaving for a while. Please don’t worry, I’ll try to be safe. Keep yourselves safe and if all goes well we’ll all be back together again soon.

Lossa stared.

“What is it?” Narei asked at his sudden silence, creeping up behind him.

His heart and brain were pounding with confusion and questions as he handed the note over. “Link says he’s leaving.”

“Leaving?” Narei breathed the question as she took the page and read it for much longer than should’ve been necessary. Then the paper crumpled between her fingers and she flipped it over, examining all sides, but it was blank other than Link’s brief note. “Why would he leave?”

Lossa drew her closer with an arm around her shoulders at the way her voice squeaked. “Thank you for delivering this to us,” he addressed to Dull. “About when did you say you last saw him?”

“Just a few hours ago. Figured I’d come straight here when the boy was finished.”

Lossa nodded. “Which direction did he go?”

“Well… I can’t rightly say. There’s a lot of places to explore ‘round those parts. North at the least.”

“Thank you, Dull. Your haste is appreciated.”

Farmer Dull tucked his thumbs under his belt and rocked back on his heels as he did when he was bashful and he gave a steady nod before he turned to go.

Lossa let the door close as he turned to Narei. “I’m sure he’ll be back soon. This is probably some sort of game.”

Her hands gripped his sleeves tight. “We can’t just expect everything to be fine. We need to look for him. That note didn’t look like a joke. And have you ever know Link to play cruel pranks like that before?”

Lossa pressed his tongue into his cheek. He let out a hum. “No. He’s always been considerate and thoughtful in the past.”

The worry etched all over his wife’s face was contagious. His mind raced through new scenarios, each just as confusing and unlikely as the last. What am I thinking? Link would never run away to join an acting troupe. He hates being the center of attention!

He shook the thoughts away and pressed Narei’s shoulders. “I’ll go look for him. It shouldn’t take long to track him down if this is all some practical joke, and more likely than not he’ll be back before me.”

Her face was tight with concern. “And if he’s not?”

Lossa shrugged and leaned in to plant a kiss on her forehead. “Then I’ll just track him down wherever he is.”

His assurances hadn’t erased her concerns, and she pulled away quickly, rushing to their room.

Lossa heaved a sigh and hobbled to his chair where he sat and set to stretching his bad leg. It was a long way to Dull’s farm alone and if Link went further… Lossa would just have to get used to being on his feet again, regardless of the pain.

“They’re still in good shape,” Narei said as she returned, his old sword and shield in her arms. “They could use a little care, but they should serve well enough.”

Lossa pursed his lips as she set them on the table beside him. “I never thought I’d be using them again,” he said with a soft smile. “A part of me hoped not to.”

Narei wrung her hands, but she was clearly still to agitated to take a seat. “What about your injuries, Lossa? Will you really be able to make it that far?”

His grin grew wider. “If my leg gives out, I’ll just crawl the rest of the way.” He clawed a hand in the air in front of him, as if desperately dragging himself through the dirt. “Please… won’t you come back soon, Link? Your mother’s worried sick!”

She slapped his shoulder. “Lossa!” But she was smiling at least, as she turned to their stove. “You’ll need some food.”

“Mmm!”

“And don’t you be eating it until it’s really time, either.”

“Yes, sir!” Lossa used his best soldier voice and gave her a mock salute.

She rolled her eyes at him and turned fully away.

Lossa turned his gaze back to his weapons. They certainly could do with a little sharpening and a bit of polish. He’d grown lax in caring for them in the years since he’d left the military.

He stood and strapped them over his back, the familiar weight drawing his mind back to cold nights near the border. To rowdy gatherings around campfires and stories of daring or of home. Of that painful heartache that reminded him just how much he missed his own.

He smirked at himself. Getting sentimental? You’re getting old, Lossa.

“Maybe I should go with you,” Narei said suddenly, where she was putting bread and fruits into a bag. “I could help you along and cook, and make sure that you don’t push yourself and-“

“And leave the house empty if Link were to return.”

She wilted again, but she turned around to offer him the provisions sack without more argument. “You promise you’ll be careful out there?”

He took the bag and smiled at her. “Of course. I’ll bring our boy back safe and sound.”

She stared a second longer, then she pressed her hands against the straps over his chest, holding his weapons on his back. “You look just like the dashing knight I married.”

He grinned and leaned down, giving her a kiss. “And you look just like the beautiful maiden I fell for.”

===

3 Years Ago

Zelda tapped a finger over her folded hands. Her mind was whirling, but she didn’t let it show on the outside. Her handmaidens were following her and chatting about matters in the court, but Zelda had little patience for petty politics right now.

She’d had the dream again. The urgency was only growing. The Dark Beast Ganon was soon to rise in the desert—she could sense it.

Her lips pressed even tighter as she turned a corner, passing a banner with her family crest embroidered in gold.

It was said that her bloodline was descended from godhood. That through her veins ran more than a birthright to this kingdom, but a holy claim.

Zelda grew up with the histories and stories from their past. She’d only torn through them more when the symbol of the Triforce had appeared on her hand. A symbol of wisdom, it was said, though she felt no wiser save for the haunting dreams that now followed her even into the waking world.

She would stop history from repeating itself. She would save her kingdom from destruction at the hand of a desert tyrant, even if she had to wage war preemptively to do so.

She stepped through a door that led out only one of the exterior walkways above ground level. Below she could hear the soldiers training.

Her handmaidens quieted, as they always did when they stepped foot out here. They had no idea why Zelda recently had begun coming up here to watch the soldiers, but they stopped solemnly beside her nonetheless.

Her mark, the Triforce of Wisdom, had not been revealed to any save her parents and a few higher nobles by Zelda’s request. She knew it might be good morale for the people of Hyrule to see their princess so singly blessed, but for now she had other ideas.

She would not lose her element of surprise and she would explore the possibility in all paths set before her. For now, that meant searching out the Hero with the Spirit of Courage.

She stepped to the palisade and set a dainty hand on the carved stone, quietly looming over the edge as her soldiers trained.

There were new recruits, and there were old recruits, but as always there was one specifically that drew her attention.

A strong build for a young man, golden blond hair that tufted around his ears, and piercing blue eyes. There was something about him, something about his serious gaze, or the point of his nose, or the lay of his hair that called out to her.

There was something that was familiar.

She folded her hands on the stone, marked hand beneath, and she watched as the soldier went through his motions, then snapped to attention at the command of his captain.

The familiarity struck even stronger today, her dream of the Dark Beast still fresh in her mind, and she narrowed her eyes at him.

That was him, then. She could feel it crawling up inside her, some foreboding. He was here already which could only mean the time was drawing nigh.

This could be no other than the Hero who would face Ganon and bring peace to their lands wielding the Triforce of Courage.

If she really had found him first, before the monster had even reared its ugly head, perhaps there would be a chance for her success after all. Perhaps she could nip her dreams in the bud and use this “wisdom” for the purpose it was granted.

“That one,” she said, pointing down at him amidst all the men standing at attention while their captain paced their ranks and examined them. “Third row, sixth column.” She lifted sharp eyebrows and looked to Impa, her dutiful Sheikah handmaiden. “What is his name?”

Impa pulled out some papers. She’d been keeping track of all the knights since she saw the interest that Zelda was expressing in them. She shuffled through the pages for a moment, and Zelda turned to her other companion.

“I want a meeting with the captain. I am in want of a personal bodyguard, and I think that I have chosen the one I desire.” She glanced back at Impa just as she grunted in triumph.

“His name is Rift.”

Zelda’s lips quirked into smile. It had a nice ring to it. Rift. The Hero of Courage.

#webhead originals #hero of the dunes #legend of zelda #loz #loz fanfic #loz au #oc zelda #Rift #Lossa #Whaaaat?#Of course that’s the Hero of Courage Zel #Good job finding him so fast!

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