#whistle fishing is a thing in botw look it up

[uwudonoodle]

Word Search Tag Game

Rules: In a new post use the words below (or choose your own) to find where they appear in your WIP/s and share those parts.

My words are: sigh away upset

I was nominated my @physalian Thanks for giving me an excuse to finally share some of my writing!

This is all from my untitled Zelink long fic wip set between BOTW and TOTK. This is one of the first times I've ever shared my writing. Be nice to me, I'm a beginner.

Sigh:

Impa took a sip of her tea. "So, do you still feel the same way about him?"

Zelda looked at her hands, then nodded. "I thought, back then, we might have been growing closer. He was starting to open up more." She smiled wanly, then shook her head. "I was probably mistaken, and now he doesn't even remember me."

"Have you asked him how much he remembers?" Impa raised an eyebrow at her. Zelda didn't answer. "Ask him. I bet he remembers more than you think he does."

"What does it matter if he has a dozen more memories of me? You were married before, right? You know love is often in the little things. He doesn't have the complete picture anymore. All the conversations we had, the trust we built... He's different now. You see how much more unburdened and open he is than before."

"-and that's a bad thing?" Impa asked in surprise.

"No, it's not." Zelda stammered. She took a deep breath. "Whatever relationship we had before is gone now, and that hurts."

Impa sat looking thoughtful before continuing. "It's true that you can't go back to how things were before. He may never recover all his memories, but you two have also fallen into a friendly dynamic far faster than two strangers should. The future isn't written yet. Just because the past didn't work out the way you wanted, doesn't mean there's no hope for the future."

Zelda shook her head. "I'm not getting my hopes up. I've had enough disappointment to last me a lifetime."

Impa put her small wrinkled hand on top of Zelda's. "I won't argue with you on that."

"Hey, Zelda!" a shout came from below. Zelda stood and walked to the porch railing. Link was standing near the cooking pot holding a basket of eggs. "Are you ready to ruin your second omelet?" She smiled back at him, and held up a finger to say she'd be down in a minute.

Impa poked Zelda's ankle with her walking stick. "You love him." she teased in a sing-song voice.

Zelda sighed and closed her eyes. "Yeah, I do. I love him." She thought for a moment. "I don't think I've ever said it out loud before. And you keep it to yourself." she added with a warning finger. "Awe, I'm sorry. I didn't even drink my tea."

"Just go." Impa said with an exhasperated grin.

Zelda left her cold tea and ran down to him. As predicted, she did ruin her second omelet. They had so many eggs, Link encouraged her to keep trying, so she made a third and forth as well. On the fifth try, she finally got the perfect flip. The smile he gave her made her more happy than her success did.

Away:

Link sat down, removed his boots, and began rolling his pants up. "There should be a few fish in that marsh. Would you like to wade out with me?"

"I could, but I don't think I'll be much help."

"That's okay. You can stay here if you'd rather." Link said as he dipped his feet in the water.

Zelda sat in the grass near the edge of the water. It was twilight now. The strongest light came from the soft green glow of the fireflies that bobbed over the water. All she could see was Link's dark silhouette as he wandered through the shallow water some distance away. She wondered how he could see anything in this low light. She heard an unexpected sound, and leaned forward. Was he whistling? Zelda didn't know much about fishing, but she thought you had to be quiet so as not to scare the fish away.

Link's silhouette slowly wandered towards her, occasionally stopping to whistle. When he was just a few paces from her, he blew the loudest whistle yet. Suddenly, nearly a dozen small fish swam right up onto the dirt in front of her. Zelda was so shocked, she just sat there with her mouth hanging open.

"Quick!" Link shouted. "Grab them before they find their way back in the water."

Zelda wasn't sure what he expected her to do, but she jumped to her feet, and picked up the first fish she came to. It was cold and writhing and she wanted to throw it. Not knowing what else to do with it, she held her long skirt out in front of her like a basket, and dropped the slippery fish into it... and then another, and another... Soon, her dress was heavy with wriggling fish. She could feel them flopping against her legs. She ran towards the fire pit, shrieking her discomfort all the way. She let her skirt drop, and all the fish fell into the dirt, still flopping wildly. She shivered violently.

"Are you okay?" Link had finally caught up with her.

Zelda turned to look at him, a large wet stain on the front of her dress. Link started to laugh, and she eventually joined him. "What did you expect me to do?" she asked incredulously.

Link took a couple of breaths before responding. "I don't know, but it wasn't that. I never knew fancy dresses were so useful."

"When I was a kid, I watched the maids use their aprons to carry things from room to room. I got the idea to use my skirt to steal berries from the gardens. I always got caught though, as they often left red stains on the front of my nicest gowns. I guess I still have an instinct to use my dress to carry things." Zelda gestured towards to water. "What were you doing out there? How did you get all the fish to jump out of the water like that?"

"Since I couldn't see very well, I decided to try scaring the fish towards shore by making noise." he explained. "I wasn't even sure how many I'd rounded up. It looks like we'll have plenty for dinner though."

Upset:

When they'd finished lunch, they resumed pitting the cherries. Although it went much faster with two people, it still took some time. They worked together in silence for a while, until Zelda broke it by bursting into giggles. "What?" Link questioned, welcoming a distraction from the monotony in front of him.

"Nothing." she said. She pinched her lips together, pretending it hadn't happened.

"Hmm... because it sounds like something." he pushed. "Are you still laughing about what happened at the dye shop?"

She gave him an apologetic look. "It's not like my memory has faded much in the last hour." she said defensively. "I'm still grateful to you, by the way."

"For what? Sacrificing my own dignity to spare yours?"

She covered her face with her hands as she burst out laughing again. She peeked one eye out from between her fingers. "I am sorry for laughing. I can't help it."

Link felt his face soften. "Don't worry, I'm not actually that upset about it. I've never dyed a dress before, so that last drop was bit of a surprise for me too." Despite himself, he started to giggle along with her. What was there to do about it now but laugh?

I'm nominate: @tr33fr0gg3r @mistresslrigtar @hurricane105 (Sorry if I missed any of my other writer friends. Feel free to nominate yourself.)

Your words are: eye glow door (Or you can pick your own words if you don't like these ones.)

[sweetsummercourier]

I finished Tears of the Kingdom, so here are my thoughts

I recently finished Tears of the Kingdom and wow... wow! The game was beautiful all the way through. As such, I'd like to talk about my experience and thoughts.

DISCLAIMER: this post contains spoilers for the game. Read at your own risk.

Additionally, please don't take my opinions too seriously. I'm just someone on the internet. You don't have to agree or disagree but please be respectful.

Without further ado...

Overview:

Tears of the Kingdom is a beautiful game. Absolutely beautiful, from the designs to the scores to the gameplay. All of it, beautiful.

That being said, it took some adjusting. I missed having the convenience of our elemental and bomb arrows, I missed not having to pay for every time I wanted armor upgraded, and I missed not having to fight against the RNG to get items I needed for upgraded armor. The map did have some changes that took getting used to, and some of my favorite ingredient/monster part hunting spots were no longer there, so that sucked.

But it fits the story, I find. I like how the weapons changed due to the Upheaval (though I'm a bit confused as to how bows aren't decayed), how the monsters evolved and the new monsters that came, and how the Great Fairies function — we learned in Breath of the Wild that rupees gave them power, and I found that it made more sense to pay for the upgrades instead of just a one time payment.

That being said, while TOTK takes place some time after the events of BOTW, there were some things that left me feeling empty. What happened to all the guardians? The Divine Beasts? The Sheikah towers and the shrines? The Sheikah Slate? It just seems weird to me that they would just vanish without an explanation... especially the Beasts.

On top of that, I missed the Champions. I was thrilled to see that Mipha was still a big part of Zora's Domain and with Sidon's plotline, and I love her water gardens, but I was so scared when I didn't see her statue at first.

But to continue, while it makes sense for the Zora to keep Mipha very much alive considering how beloved she is, it felt strange that the other three weren't mentioned at all. Teba has a Great Eagle Bow, and Tulin can create gusts of wind, but no concrete to homage to Revali. Riju had dual Scimitar of the Seven, which Urbosa wielded, but she's not mentioned. Heck, Yonobo is the grandchild of Daruk (source is the Creating a Champion artbook), yet Daruk's Protection has disappeared and he's not mentioned at all.

Don't get me wrong, I understand why they wouldn't be prominent. TOTK is not BOTW, and the Champions and Divine Beasts are no longer the center focus. Still, it feels weird that they were expunged entirely. At least we have those cool helms!

Regional Phenomenon Questline:

I'm going to break this down the way I completed them... which was in the exact same way as I did in BOTW! Why not, it was fun. And also, the first region will allow me to address a big elephant in the room...

Zora's Domain and the Water Temple

Zora's Domain was the first region I completed in both games, and I was so happy to be back. I love the score in the Domain, I just find it so soothing... and it's the home of my favorite fish people!

I found it super goofy that Bazz was trapped under sludge. Like sir, you didn't see that falling? You didn't look up? At least he was ok in the end. King Dorephan being alive gave me a lot of relief. Don't get me wrong, in the trailers I was stoked to see Sidon as king, but what happened to his big ol' dad? I also love his new outfit after he gives his son the crown. Also, I love how to reveal the new statue of Sidon and Link, you have to clean it and then boom — Link riding Sidon statue.

Can I just say I love Sidon's new attire? It looks so good on him. I love the little navy blue addition to his ascots and I'm very happy to see they kept the whistle. Sidon is a big comfort character of mine, so reuniting with him first was like chicken soup for the soul. I also love the water manipulation ability. It's a very cool ability to have and it's very fitting for the Zora (naturally). A little sad he doesn't dual wield spears like he had in AOC, but regardless, he's great. He's great. I love Sidon. He's a card.

Now, with the Water Temple, I found it just a bit underwhelming. It's beautifully designed, don't get me wrong, and I love his ancestor and how Sidon gets his secret stone on his glove and he gives Link his vow (I don't ship Sidlink but that was fruity). But what I found underwhelming was the boss. Compared to the others, having the goofy Mucktorok felt a little... hmm... it was a fun fight, however! I did have fun! For my, compared to Waterblight Ganon from BOTW and the Scourges in the other temples, to me, it felt a little subpar.

Now I've addressed this before but now that I've played through and can make a better statement than my previous one a lot better... let's talk about Yona.

I like her! She's super cute! I have grown attached to her style and her character, and she has such a sweet little theme. My only big issue with her is, I find her to be one dimensional. Now, I'm not attacking her or hating on her. I think Yona as a character has an immense amount of potential, the writing for her is just... a little bland. The romantic subplot with her and Sidon and her story feels lackluster. I think, if they wanted to show Sidon's fear of losing someone else, someone he loves, I have the perfect man for the job — King Dorephan. Dorephan is his father, and the last remaining family Sidon has left. With Dorephan actually injured, I find it would make more sense for that subplot to be about their father-son bond. Maybe after finding out Dorephan is injured and in hiding, Sidon goes to find his father and it's Dorephan who tells him to be strong and to help link. In my opinion, that's more plausible.

Back to my original thought, I wish Yona had more development as a character. It's very clear she means a lot to Sidon and vice versa, but I wish there was more instead of her just being thrown in. If she's his dearest friend since childhood, I would have loved to have heard more about her in BOTW. I just want to know more about her. I want to see more character in her. And yes, to address the whole marriage debate — yes, Sidon saw her as a sister, and yes his feelings "became difficult to quantify." Feelings are changing all the time. In my opinion, it feels weird to someone who considers another family to suddenly fall in love with them. But that's just me.

To the Sidona shippers: y'all rock. While I personally don't ship Sidona, I support y'all. I am in love with all the artwork and writing I have found of them, and the way I look at it, it's more art of Sidon I get to enjoy. This is a Yona hate free zone, I will not entertain Yona hate.

To the other shippers, Sidlink and all: it's canon, we cannot change it. But! AUs exist. Headcanons exist. Heck, if Yona bothers you that much, ignore her all together. Nothing is going to stop you from shipping Sidlink and Sidon with ocs, so please be positive and keep doing what you're doing. I myself will continue making art and writing of my oc/canon ship with Sidon and my OC, because that's what makes me happy. I have some art and stories of them I plan to share, and I really hope you like them too :)))

Rito Village and the Wind Temple

Now, back on track after my tangent about Yona. The Rito Village was the second location I tackled and oh my god, I got a kick out of the kids running the village. I love how they tried to help keep the town in order while the adults were trying to find the source of the blizzard and gather supplies.

I was super relieved to find Teba alright, I know we were all afraid that he was dead or something considering he wasn't in the trailer. But I love Teba very much, and I was thrilled to see him again.

Tulin is PRECIOUS. My little nephew. I love how he looks fully-fledged, and he's such a sweet li'l rascal... and the fact his quiver has his parents' feathers on there, it is such a cute gesture.

Quick aside, I love Penn, but I MISS KASS... where did he go... I miss hearing his accordion.

The Wind Temple, I find, was the most challenging to get to. I remember stacking three Zonai springs together at one point just to get to where I needed to go because for the life of me I could not get that one floating rock. I loved the bouncy sails on the ships. It gave me the kinda vibes a bouncy castle does.

The temple being the Stormwind Arc and not an actual building was delicious. A very nice touch. That being said, I love how different all the temples are: we have one in the sky that's actually a temple, the other is a flying ship, there's a temple in the depths, and then one on good ol' terra firma.

I LOVE the design of Colgera. Granted, I did do the temple at night, so it did scare me just a bit. It was a lot of fun to fight, and the cutscene of the sky becoming clear with Teba on Revali's Landing was perfect. It was a very sweet scene to add, when Tulin received his father's bow, the Great Eagle Bow, and the scarf as a nod to Revali. I wish the bow Teba made for me had the scarf...

Goron City and the Fire Temple

I personally miss that region flowing with lava. I felt it really drove home how hot the mountain is and the environment the Goron lived in, but it's much easier to traverse and it's nice to see there's still lava in the deeper caves.

I adore Yunobo, and seeing him become rude made me so sad. That's not my boy! I wanted my boy back! Making me fight him was not cool! He's such a good, kind character that it legit made me so sad to see him possessed by that mask.

I'll admit... I cheated the Fire Temple. I love the music score in that temple, and I had a lot of fun there, but I'll be the first to admit that I did not care for the mine cart system. I just climbed to where I needed to go. I'm sorry, that system really confused me and my ADHD was having none of it. So I figured I'd just cut to the chase and just climb.

I really like how the checkpoints were gongs, and having Yunobo barrel into them was very reminiscent of how we had to launch him to drive off Vah Rudania in BOTW.

The boss for the temple, left me feeling a little underwhelmed like the Mucktorok. Just break Marbled Gohma's legs and then beat the shit out of it. I can't say it wasn't entertaining though use Yunobo like that as if we were bowling.

The fist bump for the vow was such a quirky touch for Yunobo. I love it. It was really so sweet. And I love seeing Yunobo's resolve to become a stronger individual. His character growth from being a timid Goron in BOTW to now, I'm so proud of him. I feel like a proud mom.

Gerudo Town and the Lightning Temple

The gibdos absolutely terrified me. I ran into them not realizing the were there on my first time going to Gerudo town and I did not think to use elemental anything so when my most powerful weapons didn't make a dent, I panicked. Though admittedly, the moth gibdo wings are very pretty... still terrifying. I'm just glad we didn't have redeads.

Riju is SO pretty. I love her new hairstyle. At first I really missed her long hair, but she rocks her new short style. I've always loved Riju, and her reintroduction.

The Lightning Temple had to be one of, if not my favorite temple. I found it had the most difficult puzzles for me to solve, and I enjoyed that. I found I was using my brain a lot more for that temple than the others... and I died in a lot of stupid ways because sometimes the most obvious solution isn't that clear to me.

As someone who is very afraid of bugs, Queen Gibdo did not do it for me. She very much gave me the heebie jeebies... but it was nice to watch the sandstorm fade away from the Gerudo desert, for Riju to return to the throne room in the town, and for the Gerudo to leave the emergency shelter and return to their daily lives.

Overall the Regional Phenomenal questline was a lot of fun, and I enjoyed myself.

The Dragon's Tears Questline:

This fucked me up. Learning about Zelda's time in the past leading up to her becoming the Light Dragon actually made me cry. It was fun to discover the geoglyphs and have them become a permanent part of the map, but oof... my heart.

I cried when Sonia died, and it hurt so much when there was the scene of Rauru at her grave. All of it was just heart wrenching, especially Zelda became a dragon after Mineru "died" and found shelter in the Purah Pad. When Zelda screamed for Link to "protect them all" as her eyes changed... oof... ruin me.

Crisis at Hyrule Castle and the Sixth Sage:

I think it was pretty obvious for me that the Zelda we had been seeing wasn't really Zelda. Running around Hyrule Castle in an attempt to reach her, only to fight monster forces was not a very pleasant affair, and the Phantom Ganon fights were also a bit of a pain, albeit fun nontheless.

I loved how the Sages came to Link's aid in the end. It made the game feel a lot less lonely. It made me very happy to see them there protecting Link. It really gave you a sense of how much they care about him, and what he means to them.

Finding the Sixth Sage was a lot of running around that I made much more difficult because I forgot the mask when I found it, so I had to go all the way back to get it, and I didn't realize I had to put the mask in the construct, so cut to me spending an hour trying to get the limbs for the robot when the depots weren't activated yet... oops.

I absolutely adore Mineru. She is so pretty, and I love her voice. I love how her character ties in the past and present, and how she fits so well in the story. And riding her construct was a lot of fun... the boss fight for her secret stone took me a hot minute to figure out... I'm a bit slow on the uptake sometime, so when I pushed the Ganon-controlled construct into the electric fence, I was legit surprised that that was what I was supposed to do.

Defeating Ganondorf:

First off, I would like to say I miscalculated how thick the pillar was on the way down into the Depths from Hyrule castle and I shattered Link's body on the side of it the first time I dove down. It was honestly really funny. It also was a strange disconnect at first as I made my way down to Ganon, because I did not realize how DEEP underground Zelda and Link went to even find this formerly dehydrated prune to begin with.

I was... SO happy and excited that I got to fight alongside the other Sages before going to fight Ganon. It felt so euphoric, like the culmination of all our efforts was coming to fruition and we were all finally comrades in arms. It felt way more personal than the fight with Calamity Ganon in BOTW.

Being separated from them made me so sad. It felt really helpless, watching Link being trapped in the cave while the others fought. Like no don't leave me!

But the final fight, from the beginning to the end, was STELLAR. For the Sages to rejoin us and we fight him all together?! Yes please! Granted his second form's extended life bar def gave me Dark Souls vibes, which is one of my favorite franchises (including Bloodborne) so that was fitting. Though watching my friends be thrown to the side had me scared there for a second.

Watching him become the Demon Dragon, as an individual who recently graduated with a degree in animation with a specialty in effects, was so tasty. And to watch it emerge from beneath Hyrule castle... I can only imagine what it felt like to watch it like that... and for the clearly much smaller Light Dragon come to rescue us... chills. Literal chills. The score for that cutscene was perfect. And for Link, in the face of dragon, to draw the Master Sword like no big deal? Incredible.

Fighting the Demon Dragon alongside the Light Dragon, and to watch it be destroyed was incredible. And for Link to receive his arm back and Zelda returning to normal, for Link to finally grab Zelda's hand and hold her as they fell into the water only to carry her out again... I'm a huge Zelink fan, so that made my heart soar.

The Ending:

The ending itself was beautiful. I was so moved when the current Sages gave the same pledge to Zelda as their ancestors had to Rauru, and I legit cried when Mineru moved on to the afterlife. It was sentimental, and beautiful. I don't think I could have asked for a better ending.

Final Thoughts:

This game... was stunning. It was everything I could have asked for in a sequel to Breath of the Wild. And sure, there are plenty of things to nitpick about, but I had such a positive experience, I'm not even going to bother with all of that.

It was a thrilling and fresh experience, and I enjoyed myself very much.

With that being said, I know we're all looking for DLC and another game. In my personal opinion, I think Tears of the Kingdom did a very good job of wrapping up this story. I'm all down for DLC, but I personally think BOTW and TOTK doesn't need a third game. I think the story these two games portrayed, from the story of the Champions and Calamity Ganon to the climax of defeating Ganon and saving Hyrule, is completed with the conclusion of TOTK.

Of course, that's all up for Nintendo, but I am satisfied with this. I'm very happy. I could not ask for more.

If you made it this far, thank you for reading! I appreciate you sticking it out with my silly little ramblings. I really hope you all enjoy Tears of the Kingdom as much as I did, and I am always down for discussions and stuff in regards to this!

Just a little reminder: I'm just one person on the internet. Please be respectful of my opinions!

And with all that, in mind, I hope you all have a wonderful day. And now, to play both games all over again.

Courier out.

[bisexual-inuyasha]

Snow Drift

If snow can drift, so can leaves and dust and responsibilities. – Neil Hilborn, “Snow Theory”

A/N: BotW AU, where Ling is Prince of Xing. He’s supposed to be able to feel the Dragon Pulse, supposed to be able to stop what’s coming like his Father and his Father’s Father before him. He goes to the Spring of Power to see if he can trigger his abilities. His faithful Knight follows him.

Ling stared at the lump of rock. The scene was picture perfect: light filtered through the clouds to shine pointedly on the statue, silent princes glowed in the shadows, and his Knight stood with his back turned in an illusion of privacy. Ling had never been more miserable.

The rock remained a rock. No sweet voice called out to him. No power thrummed through the water. Nothing happened at all except that now his legs were wet. The dread gnawed its way up his spine. Fear clawed at his throat. He could feel the walls of expectation closing in on him. Suddenly the Spring was too enclosed. All the empty space above him meant nothing because he could not see the sky.

“Why can’t I hear anything? Why can’t I do this? What’s wrong with me?” His question bounced back to him, louder as it echoed off the rocks. He couldn’t even revel alone in his anguish successfully. Ed would have heard.

He took his time turning around. If he moved slowly enough, Ed would give up trying to sneak a look at him before Ling faced him. Then he could avoid his face for the rest of the day.

He dove under the water. White robes rose in a cloud above him. The water wasn’t deep enough to fully submerge into, but with his head between his knees, he couldn’t see or hear anything above the water.

He looked around. The Spring was peaceful. A frog pushed its way through the water with its powerful legs. The glow of a silent prince cast his voluminous robes in soft blues, completing the illusion he’d dove into a cloud. He wondered how long he could hold his breath. He started counting the stones on the bottom of the water until he could feel his lungs burning.

He’d reached sixty before a boot interrupted his counting. He didn’t have time to ready himself. A hand grabbed his robe and pulled him up to his knees. Water dripped down his forehead and nose, dribbled down to his chin. Like he’d planned, all the salty tears he’d cried had been left behind in the Spring.

“What were you trying to do, drown yourself?” Ed’s usually calm voice snapped. The Knight’s temper didn’t at up much, and almost never at Ling. Duty all but forbade it. When it did, a sticky embarrassment clung to Ling until he’d been properly restored to Ed’s good graces.

“Don’t be silly, there can’t be more than two feet of water here. I was just having a swim is all.” Ling waved Ed’s worry away and stretched his lips into a smile.

“You���re wet and we’ve got to get back to the palace. The air is freezing.” Ed squeezed one of Ling’s long sleeves. Water streamed between his fingers and splashed into the pool. “You’ll get hypothermia.”

“Not with your determination—I’m sure you’ve already got a plan to make me all better again.” The outfit was heavy and cold and cumbersome. His horse hadn’t like it anyway. He’d told his father he hadn’t liked the outfit, but the Spring of Power was sacred and so his clothes must be too. He should have brought a change.

Ed watched him for a moment, hands resting back on their sword. His metal fingers twitched every few seconds, though Ed didn’t seem to notice. Ling noted Ed’s flesh hand had no such tics. He had noticed too many things too often about Ed. His contemplative eyes at dinner when he ate with his brother and brainstormed strategies to defend the Palace. His heavy smile whenever he returned from Zora’s domain with new Winry tales. His silent anger in meetings where Revali spoke over Ling in favor of the bird champion’s own ideas. The King would not approve.

Princes did not fall in love with Knights. Certainly not a Prince whose destiny was very clear. He would defeat Ganon. There was no time for anything else.

“It is my duty to protect you. Understand?” Ed’s face burned red.

Ed took off his tunic. There were scars beneath. Old ones, like the rugged edge of his automail and the small cut under his eye. Ling saw newer ones, too. Fresher, pinker than the others. A long scar across his side—a misstep with the Master sword—was the newest. Ling thought he could still see a few marks where the stitches had only just healed.

Ling had been so concentrated on Ed’s chest and arms he hadn’t fully recognized what Ed was offering. It wasn’t until he saw the arm outstretched, tunic hanging from the ticking fingers, that Ling registered what he was meant to do

“You want me to wear that?”

“The robes are the heaviest thing you’re wearing, which means they’ll take the longest to dry. We don’t have that kind of time. With that much water freezing on you, you wouldn’t make it three steps.”

Ling frowned. “What will you wear?”

Ed gestured over his bare torso. “I’ll be fine.”

Arguing would be fruitless. Ed had done this sort of thing before. Ling suspected acts of pointed selflessness made him feel heroic. He’d had few chances to prove himself so far but the King said that would be changing soon. Ling had no doubts Ed would be more than ready. Already the Knight was proficient in sword work, had proven himself to a begrudging Revali, endeared himself to Armstrong in Goron. In a matter of time, Riza would tell Ling about some amazing feat he pulled in Gerudo.

“Why do you look like that?” Ed didn’t turn around while Ling took off his robes. But he didn’t watch him either.

“Like what?”

Ed was silent for a moment. Ling could hear the ticking. He’d hear that sound forever. He was certain of it. “Like you’re hollow,” Ed finally turned to look at him when the tunic fell over his head. “All the way through here.”

Ed poked Ling’s chest with an automail finger.

Ling’s mouth fell open. A whirlwind of emotion spun through him at once but only one thought fought its way up his throat. “How do you see?”

Ed must not have expected him to answer. He took a step back, cleared his throat, and turned towards the exit. “We should hurry, before the night gets too cold.”

The snow fell lazily outside the Spring. Small piles of new and clean white covered their dirty footprints from their long trek. They wouldn’t be getting home tonight—not if this was any indicator of how the weather would go. Ling shivered, but didn’t say anything about the cold. With Ed’s automail, they couldn’t spend long in the open.

“I think I saw a cabin a little way up the hill.” Ed waved a hand toward a hill among hills. Ling never knew where his Knight was taking him when they went off route. He’d learned Ed would take care of things, as long as one didn’t question him too much.

Ling plucked silent princes as they climbed, tucking them into the wrap around his torso. He stumbled when the ice on his legs began to numb his feet. After the third time, Ling tripped over a stone hidden beneath the snow. He landed with all his limbs splayed out, his face crunching frostbitten grass and twigs.

Ed sighed and doubled back. They had an awkward few minutes where Ed struggled to position Ling on his back but that didn’t last long. Ed put his fingers in his lips and blew out a whistle that rung in Ling’s ears.

They hadn’t gone more than a few yards before the horses showed up. Ed lay Ling across his and set to work tying them together. “I wanted to avoid using the horses. They’re big and noticeable. We don’t have a lot of cover. I just don’t think either of us will get very far like this.”

Ed talked to him steadily on the rest of the trip. Ling trembled. His hair froze to his face. His hands shook. He grew so tired, so ready to be home and warm and asleep before the next day’s worries. He stayed awake so he could hear the rest of Ed’s story.

It was a pleasant story—one Ling had heard before. Ed’s brother had been a royal guard before him. Alphonse was good enough to lead his class. They’d all expected the sword to choose him as the hero. Instead, it hadn’t reacted at all to Al’s touch. The relief was palpable as it rolled off him in waves. The relief lasted for weeks while they scrambled to test the sword with every knight. None of them worked.

Then Ed came to visit Al from his travels in Goron city. His skin was bronzed in those days. Months out of the scorching heat had made him pale again, like his brother. Ling knew then he’d be the one. A coil had begun to tighten the day Ed came into the Palace. It tightened with every step they took towards the Calamity. Ling had brought Ed to the weapon’s room. He’d disguised the sword as a plain weapon, wrapped in an unremarkable cloth.

The cloth, oiled and browned with dirt, hadn’t hidden the gleam. Ed’s fingers wrapped around the hilt and they’d hurtled toward the end.

It had taken another three weeks for Ed to realize he’d been lured into the weapon’s room by the Prince of Xing.

Al was the one who’d told him after he saw Ed and Ling drinking late into the night in Ed’s small cabin, the Master sword resting in the corner after Ling had “gifted” it to him.

Ling remembered Al walking in that night. Ling wasn’t nearly as drunk as he’d pretended to be. Al thought he was revealing an amazing secret. Ling felt as though the young knight had stolen a precious gift.

Ed’s laughter had faded that night, and had never fully returned.

He must have dosed. The next thing he knew, Ed was jostling him awake in front of a fire.

“I know you’re tired, Prince.” Ed poked some fish with a stick. He had his shirt back. Ling’s robes had been freed of their long sleeves and half their length to hang over a fire. The cabin was more shack than cabin. Ling counted only one room and no amenities.

They must be in a town lost to the Lizalfos. Ed had cursed a dozen times when they’d discovered the new breed of monsters with horns that gave off electric currents.

“You never answered my question.” Ed flipped a sizzlefin trout into the embers. The skin would taste like char and the meat would be unevenly cooked. But Ling appreciated Ed had listened the last time he’d talked about his research.

“You never answered mine.”

Ed hummed. It was a sweet sound. From what Ling gathered, it was an old lullaby his mother had used to play for him. He’d told Ling, in their fleeting time as just two people who’s met by chance, that when his mother sang to him time stood still. The severity of the memory, the suffocating sorrow in the memory, had knocked Ling breathless.  

Ed covered the fish in embers. He finished his song and set his eyes on Ling. “I watch you. You separate yourself from the other Champions. You are fiercely protective of all of Xing, and of the others, but you refuse to get close.”

Ling smiled. His thoughts were groggy and slow but he knew he didn’t want to answer that question. Not really. “I am meant to die, aren’t I? What is the point of getting too close?”

Ed nodded. “I understand. All I can think of when I hold this sword is how likely I am to lose my brother. I’ll never be able to punch my dad in the face like I want to.”

Ling snorted. “You want to punch your dad in the face?”

“Don’t you want to punch yours?”

Ling laughed. Snow flurried in through a window. The cold outside could not reach him through the fire. “My dad is the King.”

“And yet, despite his divine rule, he can’t seem to grasp the value of your research.”

Ling curled into a tight ball.

Ed had been stationed outside his door the night his father had come into his room. Ling hadn’t gone to his meetings that day. He’d spent the day studying hearty salmon instead. He’d found that combining salmon and truffles could produce a meal that significantly reduced one’s chances of becoming mortally injured in a fight. He’d had the best knights testing out his meals for weeks now. He’d had even greater luck with elixirs.

The elixirs had been the final straw for his father.

Don’t you think you risk his life enough having him accompany you to all of your trips out to the abandoned camps? He should be here, training! Not gathering up lizard tails and octorok eyeballs for your childish playing!

His father had been right. Like he would be right when he was angry with Ling for being late coming home. How could he take his destiny if he couldn’t stop playing with bugs and frogs and critters?

“My brother had one of those hasty elixirs. You know, the ones with that frog you showed me? He was able to outrun a Moblin just as it turned the corner. It saved his life.” Ed pulled the fish from the embers. “It’s about to save ours.”

Ling ate the fish greedily. The skin was unseasoned, and more than once he bit into a spot that was soft and undercooked. As he ate it, he could feel warmth return to his skin. His stomach burned like a hot coal, but his muscles and bones were pleasantly warm. Ed finished two in the time it took Ling to eat one. When they’d finished, they sat back happily.

“Well, now that we don’t have to worry about freezing to death for the next several minutes, we can relax.”

Ling laughed. The sound started as a chuckle, then spread until it boomed through his chest. He couldn’t remember a time he’d ever relaxed. The closest he’d come had been when he was lying to Ed.

“Tell me, Ling.” Ed rested his head in his hands. “Why don’t you ever speak of your mother?”

Ling’s laughter stopped. He tried to recall the woman. He sensed kindness, sorrow, worry. He remembered a tiredness he could feel deep inside her. Her face, he couldn’t remember. She just looked generic in his mind—dark hair, average weight and height. Faceless. “I don’t remember her well.”

“Oh. I’m sorry.”

“It’s ok. She didn’t die when I was young. She just. Was always busy. What I’m supposed to be able to do is usually guided by a friend or relative. Mother was supposed to be mine, but a stray bokoblin got her when she was on the way back from Gerudo. She was supposed to help me come into whatever power I have, but so far, nothing has happened. I think my father suspects they got it wrong this time. Shiekah people wrap themselves in their mysteries and never consider how rude it is to other people.” Ling shrugged. He tried to keep the motion easy and lazy, but his shoulders were too heavy. “Maybe my father is right.”

Ed frowned. “Maybe the sword is wrong, too. I’d never considered being a night before this. I was always intent to be a traveler.”

“Are you kidding me? I had my doubts when we first started—not of you, mind, but of all of this. But you’ve picked up sword fighting almost overnight. The other knights are jealous. You are excelling at your destiny.”

Ed gave a dissatisfied grunt. He pulled Ling’s dismantled robe down from the fire. “It’s warm. We should try to get some sleep. We’ve got to head out tomorrow.”

Ling nodded. He feared he’d somehow insulted his Knight, and he wasn’t sure how. He’d meant to be encouraging. Complimentary even. He decided not to risk speaking any more.

Ed lay on his back. The shack had nothing in the way of a bed or cushion. Likely, the people had taken what they could carry and the Lizalfos had destroyed the rest. Ling’s earlier nap hadn’t done much in the way of rest, but even still, he found himself unable to keep his eyes closed.

Instead his gaze drifted to Ed laying restlessly, fingers tapping out a soft rhythm on the stone floor. After a while, he looked out the window to the silvery moon. They were lucky the moon hadn’t turned red. It had taken to doing so the last few months, at random. And when it did, the monsters seemed to come out in droves.

“Tomorrow we could take the long way around, if you’d like. I know you’ve been running low on hot-footed frogs. We could catch some. Maybe some of those hearty lizards, too.” Ed’s tapping stopped.

“The King would be—”

“And I could try to practice fighting these lizard fellows. We could see about making Al some more of that potion.”

“It’s an elixir.” Ling’s lips twitched into a smile of their own accord. In the dark, the smile was for no one but himself.

“After all this is over, and Ganon is defeated…” Ed’s tapping resumed. “Do you have any plans?”

Ling remembered the fate of every Prince in his role. There would not be an after. Not for a long time. “Not really, no.”

Ed moved across the fire, until his body was inches from Ling’s. “We should go see Goron city together. They eat rocks there. Shaped like meat. I don’t know how it works exactly, but you may be able to get Daruk to show you.”

Ling closed the gap. If his Knight was offering to keep him warm and speak of future plans, he’d not turn him away. It would be nice, for once, to imagine a future where he was not smothered under the weight of Xing. Or any future at all, for that matter.

“What is Goron city like? What were you doing there?”

Ed began to tell him stories about a stone and the power to ward off attacks. Ling listened, mainly to the cadence of his voice, and watched the snow drift outside. He pretended not to notice Ed’s hand reach for his. Despite his efforts, Ling drifted off in the middle of Ed’s story.

The Knight didn’t seem to mind.

They both deserved a long rest.

 A/N: I know crossover day is a different day, but I saw royalty in the prompts for today and couldn’t help myself. SO. Here’s a BotW au. I’ll do another fanwork or crossover thing for that day. I just got to the Slumbering Power part of Captured Memories, and was so inspired!

@edling-week

[sobdasha]

Do This: List some of the things you’re currently working on in as much or as little detail as you’d like, then tag some friends to see what they are working on. This can be anything! 

tagged by @adirotynd (you forgot me at first but then you remembered I’m so happy!)

tagging @kixboxer

I’m always currently working on everything.......somewhat.........

1) that Yuki and Machi and Who Does Mutsuki Take After prompt for anon

Mutsuki has been baby-snatched. He's been switched in the delivery room. What the nurse hands Machi to feed is not her baby boy, but someone else's several-month-old television model infant. Machi's seen newborns. Her little brother, for example. Other people's bundles of joy, shared around the office email by her various proud coworkers. Her niece Michi, whom she actually got to hold in the hospital. So Machi knows what babies look like. Newborn babies are ugly. Newborn babies are red, wrinkly little hellspawns. They are faces only a mother (or proud papa or other doting relative) could love, all red, toothless mouths in red, scrunched up faces. And the screaming, although you don't get that so much from pictures. And the stickiness, that mixture of drool and snot and tears that pools in every crease. That's what Mutsuki should be. This thing in her arms is some kind of weird alien monstrosity, in comparison. Perfect smooth skin and a creamy-pale complexion. Soft, wispy fluffs of fair hair in just the right amount. It cries, Machi will give it that, and loudly. And its face does get a bit splotchy at those times. But the way its nose crinkles up is like a cute bunny rabbit's, and instead of snot and spit there's just tears, which sparkle. "I don't know," Yuki says, tilting the baby a bit under the hospital lights, "I don't really see any sparkles."

2) Tumblr kiss meme for supes, I have only... 12 - chest kiss and 19 - forceful kiss and 20 - any of the above (I think it’s some kind of cheek or forehead or something kiss?? I...didn’t...write that bit down...) left!!! (no wait, upon further investigation I did note down basically that) since supes wanted to hear more about that last prompt, I’m posing the rough notes of it, since it’s once again in need of a rewrite to find its proper shape

anyway Link is enjoying a dip in one of those hot springs right now, eyes closed, and there's a splash and he figures it's Link the Goron getting back in until a hand that is definitely not made of rock takes his chin and Impa says “Goddesses, Link, what did you do to your face?” and Link kind of startles because suddenly Impa, and he kind of forgets about it you know until people remind him, and he's still pretty self-conscious about it and Impa is, “And I didn't mean that as badly as it sounded. It's good to see you again, Link,” she says, and she smiles warmly and adds, “You look well.”

(Impa and Zelda bathing in Sheikah body suits, and Link is either just in his leggings or else he's in fully Zora tunic because he's just so used to wearing it in any and all water pffft)

and then somehow Zelda joins them, this time around her father's still alive and still on the throne so she gets to do things like ~diplomacy~ which suck sometimes but sometimes they involve getting out of the castle and traveling and saying hi to ppl like the Gorons and that part's pretty great, so she's definitely taking advantage of Darunia's invitation to the hot springs and Zelda notices too and she's kind of “does it look gross?” and Link's sort of yeah, that's why he's wearing the eyepatch still, and Zelda is “can I see?” and Link forgets sometimes that gross scary things don't really bother her that much, so he lifts up the eyepatch so she can see and she kind of makes agreeing noises and eyelid/forehead/nose smooches, MAYBE ALL OF THEM

3) tp zelink4lyfe 95 - advertisement 97 - safety first

these are also both in a state of perpetually needing rewrites hahaha Safety First is supposed to be about swordsmanship competitions during the Festival of Farore, okay, but then a couple days ago I thought WHAT ABOUT WILLIAM TELL so now it’s either going to have a plot overhaul, or else there’s going to be sword version and outtake archery version

4) park ranger zelda AU (her park is her kingdom and link ACTUALLY RAISED BY WOLVES maybe???)

is going to be Breath of the Wild verse so NO SPOILERS FOR SUPES YET I meant to do Twilight Princess always, but never got inspiration....until I suddenly thought of changing the verse

5) link raised by rito

is also going to be Breath of the Wild! so I’m sparing supes the deets! I would have done Wind Waker but I somehow forgot about this prompt constantly?? I don’t know why else I wouldn’t have had any ideas about it?? But BotW will be fun and evil I think so.....yes

6) Link raised as a witch like Maple but more doof less sass (something like that it was too much work to quote the original prompt verbatim)

Link hasn’t been to one of Nayru’s performances in ages. And she used to give Link harp lessons, back before he got too busy being a Junior Apprentice. He wonders if these people have come a long way to hear Nayru sing. Their clothes all look weird and foreign. Another young woman, tall and dark-skinned, laughs aloud. “Well, it’s something like that!” she says. She twirls, the ribbons on her outfit and her long hair whipping with the movement. “We’re a troupe of traveling performers, you see. And when we heard about Nayru--Marin here’s a singer too.” She jerks her thumb at the first girl, who nods and inhales and opens her mouth. Link doesn’t know the language the song is in. But he knows Marin’s voice is pretty, and her notes are clear and pure and steady, and he likes the tune of the ballad. He claps, when she finishes, and she curtsies. “I'm sorry you're busy. But thank you for the directions,” Marin says, before she and the rest of the troupe get their caravan turned around and leave Yoll Graveyard. Link sighs and waits behind the counter for Maple to return from her Important Witch Business, even though it’s going to be too late for him to attend the duet that Marin is going to sing with Nayru, even though Maple comes back whistling something that sounds a lot like Marin’s Ballad of the Goddess.

(I’ve got SS OST going on in the background and just as I copy-pasted this, Zelda singing Ballad of the Goddess came on lol) (”Marin” is Zelda, because I decided that can be just as good an alias as Sheik and also for extra feels)

7) Neko Zamurai AU for Fruits Basket (quoting from the notes, which are kind of sparse SHAME ON ME but the important part is Hana-chan gets hired to kill a cat and steals it instead)

arisa questions her about the color "u kno it's not black right??" and Saki sighs and is "I would have preferred black, yes, but this was all they had…" 5 ryo and one free cat, not bad for an hour's work

she meets Tohru when she comes back to get cat food ("Man, this cat's even pickier than you, Saki!" won't eat fish, veggies, meat…), as she is raiding the house, and Tohru tearfully gives it to her because they used to have a cat until it was killed a few days ago, it's so terrible, who could do that to a cat! And Saki hugs her and pats her "Yes you're right, whoever would kill a cat is truly a terrible person" and then "is this for your cat?" and Saki says yes, she did in fact just get a cat recently, but she doesn't know how to take care of it at all and maybe Tohru would like to escape this ridiculous place and come help her? And Kyou gets dragged along too

8) halfway house for hellspawn it’s actually a collection of emails which I greatly enjoy, but I wanted to write them up more....formally and and chronologically and with less shameful caplocks etc, but that’s going veeeeeeery slowly have some of the original emails!

DOES KURAMA EVER COME OUT TO HIS FAMILY POST MANGA THO I mean on one hand I'm pretty sure he intends to take that TO THEIR GRAVES but on the other hand /how the fucking hell can he possibly keep this secret with the barrier between worlds down/

to rub the salt in, Shiori probably get, like, proactive about demons. Like at first everyone's like "um nope no thanks humans discriminate it's what we do" and "haha okay 'demons' yeah this is Japan home of weird youth trends and other shit" but then it's probably kind of unavoidable that you'd have to deal with them and. like. Shuuichi has a weirdly large amount of delinquent friends. And they're very nice! Urameshi and Kuwabara and Hiei and all, they're quite good people under their rough exteriors. Demons are kind of like delinquents, right? You just have to treat them as people!

While Kurama is on the side, KIND OF LIKE MERLIN FANFICS, going "mom pls mom no mom don't get unnecessarily involved with demons mom just don't" while Shiori is "young man I do not know what your problem is but this is most unlike you, you do not need to worry"

BETTER YET LIKE

SO DEMONS ARE TRYING TO INTEGRATE INTO THE HUMAN WORLD. And they can chill at Genkai's old place, but like, that's way the fuck up in the mountains there aren't really any humans. To really integrate you need to like INTERACT WITH HUMANS. OKAY. AND LIKE. WHO IS THE ONLY HUMAN MOST DEMONS HAVE HEARD OF. ASIDE FROM CELEBRITIES (NOT. NOT THAT DEMON WORLD PIRATES A LOT OF HUMAN WORLD MEDIA. NOPE.) THAT WOULD BE. "KURAMA'S HUMAN MOM."

SO IT BECOMES A FUCKING UNOFFICIAL RITE OF PASSAGE. GO HAVE DINNER AT THE HATENAKA HOUSEHOLD. IF YOU ARE STILL ALIVE AFTER A WEEK, YOU PASSED. YOU CAN PROPERLY INTERACT WITH ANY HUMAN YOU CHOOSE. YOU ARE FREE TO MOVE ABOUT THE HUMAN WORLD WITHOUT UNDUE STRESS THAT YOU'LL FUCK UP.

and inevitably it's always like "uh I'm a friend of your son Shuuichi he's really good at reforming ppl???" and everyone assumes it's just that Shuuichi must volunteer helping ppl become productive members of society and Shiori approves, isn't that nice, what a good boy, it's the same as all his other delinquent friends

while Kurama is like "YOU DON'T HAVE TO LET THEM IN THE HOUSE. MOM. YOU DON'T. PLEASE. MOM. M O M."

and every demon who comes to the house probably fucks up regularly and /how is Kurama supposed to keep his secret under these conditions when he is a super-famous demon fuck u all/ either the Hatenaka family is universally really bad at reading the atmosphere, the rule of funny has come into play, or they're just patiently waiting for Kurama to come out to them, SOMETHING, YOU DECIDE

still it'd be REALLY FUNNY if they were TOTALLY OBLIVIOUS and as Kurama scrambles to cover his secret they are all just "really Shuuichi it's not like you to be this judgmental of ppl what have you got against demons they are perfectly nice"

9) well there’s SUPPOSED TO BE a Neko Zamurai AU for YYH too but I guess that’s on paper somewhere??? I certainly don’t see it on my computer. Okay then....

the important thing to note is that Kuwabara steals the cat, obviously.

10) Pearl and Garnet and writer's preference ("You did all of this for me?") or, the one where Steven introduces Pearl to Things Organized Neatly and it all predictably goes downhill from there what I have written is gonna need some tweaking so have this bit of the notes lol

(something about blog numbers, here or later? And pearl's like "if that's what a blog is, I could make a blog" and Steven with star-eyes is "o. omg. Pearl. WILL YOU MAKE A BLOG AND BECOME INTERNET FAMOUS. AND THEN CAN I TELL EVERYONE WE'RE FRIENDS.")

11) 3 suitors Lieutenant Awn had (knowingly or not) and what One Esk had to say about them.

TECHNICALLY HAVEN’T STARTED WORKING ON IT YET and this kind of prompt is not really my strong point ON THE OTHER HAND I DO LOVE ME THOUSANDS OF BABY LIEUTENANT TEARS SOAKING JUSTICE OF TOREN’S JACKETS so you can probably expect to see some baby lieutenants weeping into One Esk’s soothing arms after they crushed on but then were crushed by part-time oblivious heartbreaker Lieutenant Awn

anyway I’ve got tons of other WIPs everywhere but those were the easiest to dredge up and pretty recent