#who is a sheikah normally but a zonai here

[veiledbyart]

My players also gave me some doodle suggestions to draw a bunch of my NPCs from our LoZ Campaign as different races.

It was very fun to do, though you can definitely see which ones I struggled with lol

Don’t use or repost my art without permission.

[fioreofthemarch]

Finding Her - a field log

Link makes notes, takes photos and keeps time on his quest across Hyrule, in the hopes of finding Zelda and staying sane until he does. [ Next | AO3 ]

Booting... Booting... The current date is: 999999–!!! Error: Memory exceeded !!! Please select calendar convention for date calibration.

> New Hylian Calendar

NHC convention selected. Calibrating… The current date is: 104 AC (After Calamity). 5th month, 12th day. This time of year is commonly known in Hylian nomenclature as Spring's End. Save settings?

> Yes

Date confirmed.

* Welcome to the Purah Pad *

The Purah Pad is a state-of-the-art, fully portable adventure-class Sheikah Slate. The Purah Pad can be used to:

View far-away objects using the Scope

Take photographic images

View maps and current location (requires Sky View data)

Teleport instantaneously to travel gates registered to the Purah Pad

Record materials, creatures, monsters, and other objects found in Hyrule

Log activities and requests received from fellow travelers

Take additional field notes, as required

The Purah Pad is currently in development. We are not accepting feedback at this time.

Please direct any complaints to Symin at Hateno Village Research Laboratory.

Log date 09:55. 5th month 12th day 104AC Location: Great Sky Island. Weather: Mild. Clear skies.

Arm hurts, really hurts. In a bad way. Master Sword is damaged, or worse. What the hell happened down there?

It's bright here, gotta be high up in the sky. Were there always islands here?

A green construct-type person (like Guardians but with a face?) had this Purah Pad. Looks in OK condition. Zelda would know more. No sign of her. Apparently she's nearby, in a temple.

Not sure how many logs to make. Normally Zelda’s thing. I’m used to her being here. Used to the sound of her voice. Will just take notes until she’s back. Not sure how, but will find her.

Have to find her.

Log is accompanied by a picture of a Zonai Steward Construct. Its large, see-saw head is angled slightly to the side, as if perplexed.

Caption: He seems friendly.

Log date 12:30. 5th month, 13th day 104 AC Location: Ukouh Shrine Weather: Mild. Partly cloudy.

A lot has happened. Arm still hurts, whole body hurts. Rauru (source of arm) has been helpful. Not sure if he's trustworthy but no choice. Have to find Zelda, no matter what.

There are Shrines here on this sky island - deja vu. Seem older than the Sheikah Shrines though.

This arm and its powers are something else. Made a raft with fans. Put them on the wrong way, fell off the raft. Tried again a few times until it worked. Repeat.

Two more Shrines left, maybe next time Rauru will give me the power to summon a hot meal. Click of the fingers and snap: fried eggs. But probably not.

A photograph of some roasted mushrooms beside a fire, slightly charred, as a Zonai Steward Construct looks on.

Caption: These will do for now.

---

Log date: 16:30. 5th month, 14th day 104 AC Location: In-Isa shrine Weather: Mild. Partly cloudy.

Stopping to catch my breath. Going to sit by this Shrine a while.

Got this Fuse ability. Feels good to have a sword even if it's made from a tree branch and bits of dead robot.

Sword arm is not what it used to be. Reflexes slower too. Can feel the gloom under my skin. Fought a Captain Construct, got hit one too many times. Some bad bad bruises but the Light of Blessing healed them up quick. Mostly pride hurt now.

Back to the Temple of Time tomorrow. Zelda’s not far, can feel it.

A photograph of a fused rock-hammer weapon, resting against the weathered structure of a Shrine of Light.

Caption: Using a rock to break rocks!

---

Log date: 20:55 5th month, 14th day 104 AC Location: Temple of Time Weather: Cool. Clear skies.

It doesn't make sense. She was here, and then she wasn't. In the Temple of Time. Or her spirit? A memory? An echo? That's what Rauru called it. Said it was Zelda's sheer will, but how can he know? He won't even say who he is.

She looked so different. She looked.. divine. And then she gave me something. I can feel the name of it on the wind - Recall

She’s gone. But where? What happened to her?

Gonna leave this place tomorrow, just need to find that last Shrine. The fire's burning low but the nights here are short. There's something up above, the Purah Pad compendium calls it a Light Dragon. Currently watching it swim circles in the air til sleep comes, and then will see what tomorrow brings.

Zelda’s out there somewhere. Gotta find her, and put everything right. Don’t know what I’ll do if I don’t. Hope wherever she is, it’s warmer than here.

A photograph taken from below of a golden dragon, floating peacefully through the air.

Caption: How's the weather up there?

[skyloftsword]

In Defense of Tears of the Kingdom's Story

Hi, I just wanted to put this out because while there is a lot of valid criticisms about the story (even if I disagree with most of them personally), I've seen a bunch of people act like it isn't a sequel to BotW at all or barely feels connected. There are also other aspects that I want to talk about in here as well, but that's the big one I want to address because too many people seem to have missed the plethora of BotW references. If you still dislike the story after this though, that's totally fine, opinions are opinions. Anyways, spoilers of course.

Ok here's the elephant in the room, yes, Tears of the Kingdom is DEFINITELY a sequel to Breath of the Wild. The intro segment makes this very clear that Breath of the Wild had to have happened in order for this game to happen. Zelda talks about how after the Calamity, the castle went into neglect, which over time caused gloom to appear all over Hyrule. The Calamity caused Rauru's seal on Ganondorf to become extremely weakened only to finally fail when Link and Zelda see Rauru's hand and Ganondorf.

Not to mention the people remembering Link, yeah a lot of people forgot who Link was, but like do you think those people have any braincells? Bolson is tricky but to be fair, to him Link is just a customer. As for Link not being recognized by those that Zelda met in person, I don't think they'd care about a knight of the princess more than the princess who suffered for 100 years especially since he's always behind her. This even works for those who had side quests considering that most of the ones in BotW were really just small things. But the people who SHOULD remember Link DO remember him and even more remember him as well.

Also the Divine Beasts are mentioned several times, we just don't know where they went... However we can infer that the Sheikah have the ability to snap them in and out of existence thanks to Maz Koshia's arena in BotW's DLC. I highly doubt they'd want those things around anymore especially since they started breaking down in the True Ending of BotW. As for Guardians, they've been scrapped and used for stuff like Towers. The Shrines and Towers destroyed by Hudson's company. There are also things like Mipha Court, Kohga and the Character Profiles that prove BotW happened.

Now onto the timeline placement. At the end of one of the three timelines post-dragonbreak, all of the events from BotW and TotK, INCLUDING the Zonai coming down and the Imprisoning War, take place after the original Hyrule fell or got destroyed by the dragonbreak. Society starts to reform with all the races that are in BotW/TotK, eventually the Zonai come down and live peacefully with everyone, something happens to most of the Zonai, possibly warring with Ganondorf already, Rauru and Sonia then come together and form the new Hyrule Kingdom. They call it Hyrule and not New Hyrule because that sounds dumb probably. Then the events of the Dragon Tears happen, then like 100k years pass where the intro of Tears of the Kingdom happens, which is around 4-6 years after the end of Breath of the Wild. The events of Tears of the Kingdom happen and then the ending, which I will explain next.

The ending of Tears of the Kingdom is NOT a Deus Ex Machina, it is explained entirely in game. I highly doubt the Zonai ever tried to do an amplified Recall on a draconified person. So basically, according to the 6th memory/4th Dragon Tear, other stone users/Sages can amplify a stone's power even more by lending their power. Sonia and Rauru lent Link their power to boost his Recall to bring Zelda back, restore Link's body back to normal and to return Rauru's arm to him.

Update 1: Okay so people are saying this is an alternate timeline created by Zelda going back in time. This literally would contradict so much its insane how anyone could think of this incompetent idea. Zelda going back in time was FATE. She was always destined to go back in time in an endless cycle. There is no start, Zelda being the Sage of Time means she is out of time's restrictions. The murals that were blocked off at the beginning of the game prove this by showing Zelda becoming a dragon. The Light Dragon was always there in BotW above the sky barrier, which we've seen the dragons go through in that game.

Anyways I'll add more to this post later if I can think of anything else I want to address.

[sischan]

Echoes of the Past, Legend of Zelda BotW-TotK Au fan-fiction. Contains some spoilers.

Following in an Au fan-fiction of the series Legend of Zelda, Breath of the Wild & Tears of the Kingdom. with the Fan-fiction based around my personal play-through of the series, and how I’ve pieced together the series from the few games I’ve played. ^-^ Also events of this Fan fiction takes place after the main story of Totk.

Part One, Ocarina.

A gentle melody of an Ocarina whispers against the Lookout Landing, catching the attention of young Josha. A young student under Purah, who was busy in her lab in Hateno Village working on a new invention. With the help of the Zonai Survey team, she was able to have a team search the surrounding area for the source of the melody. With the gentle touch of the setting sun on her bright blonde hair as she stepped outside, noticing the young sheikah worry. With only a few months since the defeat of the ancient Ganondorf, Zelda acted like her normal self before the upheaval. With the secret stone from her time in the ancient Hyrule still worn around her neck. "Josha, what seems to be the matter?"

"Princess!" Josha turned to face Princess Zelda as she walked up towards her, but another melody played slowly whispered throughout the Lookout. Catching Zelda's attention right away, as she heard the melody before. "Princess?" She asked in concern as Zelda's gaze seemed to freeze momentarily.

"Send word for Purah to come, please?" Zelda waved towards an overhead Rito as they flew past.

"Right away, Princess!" He hollered at her, before turning towards Necluda in a rush. Wind rustled through his feathers as he flapped his wings, vanishing behind the twin peaks. Zelda turned her attention to Josha.

"Until Purah gets here, let's keep trying to pinpoint the source of the sound." Zelda quickly turned to rush back inside, grasping hold of her Purah pad. "Without a doubt, Link will be here  soon once he hears..." She smiled as she rushed back out to Josha to join the search team.

Chimes of a bell filled Hateno village with joy as children empty the school house. Professor Link glanced out the windows of the school hall. Feeling a familiar sensation in his gut, one that he thought was close to being done. With the students off to their homes, Link began to walk up to Purah's lab. As of late, he began to enjoy helping with Purah and Robbie research. With them working on constructing a scuba gear device for non-Zora to travel underwater. Since gaining his memories of Mipha, and Sidon's marriage to Yona. A zora from outside the domain, Link wanted to one day visit one of these domains. With his mind imagining the joy on Zelda's face upon getting to explore brought joy to his face.

Upon readying himself to begin the walk up the hill to the lab, Link noticed a Rito rushing quickly from the distance. Uncommon for Rito to travel such a distance, especially one that he recognized from the Lookout. Link began to pick up his pace, concern started to peck at him. Hopefully Zelda was alright, or so he thought.

Upon reaching the lab, Link could hear a commotion coming from inside. "Are you sure you put it over here, Purah?"

"Of course I'm sure!" Link opened the door for Purah to fling a few items his way. Luckily for his reflexes, Link dodged as she threw  them until she finally stopped. Standing up with a piece of rebuilt Zonai tech, using items from Mineru's Construct. "Ah there it is!"

"Well hand it here! We can't get ready for the test run if we don't get it running first!" Robbie hollered at her, as his backpack had mechanical legs. Supporting him due to his age, making it easier for him to travel. With the upheaval giving Robbie more items to use towards upgrading his gear. "Oh, hello there Link! You are just in time, my boy!"

Purah scrambled around, pulling her goggles from her face. "Linky! Did you come to check out the progress so far?" She smiled as she placed the zonai tech inside a giant Whale device. With the tech set, Robbie began to reach for the power supply, but as he was about to flip it over the doors opened. Exhausted from his flight, the Rito caught his breath. "Oh? Is something the matter?"

"P-Princess Zelda has summoned your aid, mistress Purah." He crouched, stretching his wings before standing up to look her in the face. Purah sighed lightly, but turned her attention to the Rito.

"My aid? Right when I was about to use my new device too.." She glanced back at the device and then to Link. "I'll head that way shortly, but you'd best head that way before I get there." She smiled. "To ease any of these worries I know you must be having."

Robbie  chuckled, Link's ears began to turn a slight shade of red. Either from Embarrassment or from his feelings in regards to Princess Zelda. "Don't worry, my boy. We'll be right behind you once we load this up!"

"Load it up?" Purah turned to look at Robbie as he chuckled.

"We can use it at the moat surrounding Hyrule Castle for the testing area for the gear, plus  we don't have to worry about it sinking or drifting out by the sea current." Robbie began loading up his tools before moving out towards his air balloon.

"Who knows, it might come in handy with what Zelda is needing." Purah chuckled lightly as she glanced over. With Link long gone from the lab, with only the Rito standing by the door. Preparing himself for the flight back, before setting off Purah gave him a letter. "Here, give this to Princess Zelda. As well inform her that I'll begin setting out once we are all loaded up here."

"Yes, Ma'am." Upon placing the letter in his back pouch, he was off back towards the Lookout. Glancing from below in the village, Link stood with his  trusted horse by his side. His quiver filled with a fresh supply of carved arrows, he started his trip to Hyrule field. After the upheaval, Link built defenses around Hateno to keep the monsters from pushing into the village. With the fort coming into view, Link could hear the neighing of horses that began to live freely in the plains passing the fort. With the stable opening the Dueling Stable Ranch, with horses that the stable sell to travelers unable to tame their own. Link remembered much of his time since the final battle, tending to the horses that now roam the ranch. With him helping tame many of the horses that live within the ranch. With the sight of the newly Twin bridges coming into view, Link quickly reached to give his horse a carrot. Allowing her to pick up her speed as her hooves clanked against the metal boards of the bridge. After  the final battle, Link began to notice the decrease in monsters and the beasts that used to torment travelers.

With the sages using their secret  stones along with Zelda to help tend to the land of Hyrule, Link found himself taking it easy for the last few months. With him spending his days living not as the noble swordsman, but Professor Link.

As his horse was about to reach Hyrule field, a light howl caught his attention. Making Link turn his gaze towards the source. A wolf, with a fog of shadow shielding it, sat staring at Link. Glancing at  him and then towards Faron, but only for a moment until it vanished with another howl. Curious, Link returned his attention to Zelda, but he couldn't shake the feeling that something was familiar about that wolf. Only he was unable to fully recall how.

With the Lookout coming into view, Link's mind quickly jumped into action. Upon arriving at the mini stable, Link leaves his horse to rush towards the Lookout building. Zelda stood puzzled as she stared at the floor, with her chin in hand. "We searched, but we can't seem to locate the sources..."

Upon sensing his presence, Zelda smiled before turning to greet him. "Link, you made it! I somehow had a feeling you would show up!" She paused as she looked towards Hyrule Castle, "Recently Josha, and myself have begun to notice the sound of  an Ocarina. Although we are having difficulties  locating the source." She turns to Link, "So I've sent word to Purah for her assistance."

Link smiles as he explains to her the Scubagear, Purah and Robbie's recent experiment. Her face began to shine bright with excitement as he spoke to her, explaining the details that were shared with him.

"Oh how I look forward to seeing this device! I'm sure Mineru would be pleased to know her construct is being reused to help in Hyrule's restoration." As Zelda and Link were smiling at each other, Josha and a few members of the Zonai survey unit rushed towards her. She looked at them as Josha jogged over towards her.

"Princess, we were finally able to find where the sound might be coming from!" With her attention, Zelda followed behind her as they rushed to Hyrule Castle. Link followed  behind them as they rushed towards the location the team found. Upon arriving at the edge of the Castle gate bridge, Josha pointed in the direction of the water. "We looked all around the area, but thanks to one of the Zora we were able to locate the sound coming from there."

"Do we know what appears to be making this noise?" Zelda asked the Zora.

"It appears to be trapped under a grate, Princess." Swimming closer towards her, the Zora continued. "I was able to find it coming in the depths of the moat, but I'm unable to reach it. It's definitely an Ocarina by the looks of it."

"Strange, I didn't think instruments were able to play underwater." Josha looked at Zelda as her face started to sparkle, before looking back at Link.

"Oh this is indeed wonderful! It would appear that the new device, Purah and Robbie design will  indeed come to much use!" Returning her gaze to the Zora, "Until Purah arrives, would you please keep watch over the Ocarina?"

"Yes, Princess!" Responding with a quickness, the Zora swam under the water surface. Zelda joined Link back towards the Lookout, as the same Rito arrived. With the letter from Purah in his hand as he handed it towards Zelda, but as Zelda took the letter. Robbie's balloon soon came into view of the Lookout. While Purah appeared using her Purah pad to transport, a bundle of books was stuffed under her arms. Retrieving the letter from Zelda, as she noticed Link close to her.

"It would seem that this isn't needed, since Link must've told you by now." She smiled at the duo before walking to Josha's station. Placing down her books, Purah turned to some Hudson workers as they finished building the expansion of the Lookout. "Prepare to help unload the Scuba Gear from Robbie once he lands, please." With his balloon slowly descending as a large whale device that appeared to be strapped underneath. Robbie steered the balloon to land on top of a perch built for traveling Rito. Allowing the device to hang from the basket, workers rushed over to help unstrap the device. Robbie, using his mechanical legs hopped out of the basket, scaring a construction worker by his new legs. "I do hope you didn't damage it on your way here, Robbie!"

"I wouldn't dare do such a thing to this masterpiece!" Robbie's robotic leg stomped in protest. "Besides, I don't think this device is yet ready to be sync to the Purah pad."

"Did you at least bring the backup power supply?" Purah walked over, glancing at the device. Robbie reached into his satchel to pull out a large Zonai battery. Purah snatched it from his hand before reaching into the device, installing the battery in place. "If my calculations are correct from Linky's power belt data, and a few tweekings on my part. This device shouldn't consume any more than this." With the power supply installed, Purah jumped back before reaching for her Purah Pad. "Good thing I keep a backup boot system on here!" She smiled as she pressed a button.

Zelda could hear the gears turning inside the giant whale device, with a striking resemblance to that of a divine beast. Lights turned on from its eyes as the gentle roar of an engine could be heard humming slightly. However as the roar of the scuba gear began, another wave of gentle music from the Ocarina could be heard once more through the Lookout.  Catching both Sheikahs' attention, Purah looked over at Zelda. Remember her reasoning for traveling the device from the comfort of her Hateno lab. "Josha, did you hear that sound as well?"

"I did, and thanks to a Zora we were able to pinpoint the location of the source. That being Hyrule Castle moat." Josha placed the paperwork on the Scuba gear back down, turning to look at Purah as walked towards her young student. "However, we aren't able to reach it due to it being behind a structure. Even the Zora couldn't reach it, but he was able to identify the source as being an Ocarina."

"An Ocarina?" She glanced towards the gear towards the castle. Still floating high above from the ground, but with a recent decline in monsters. Hudson construction has begun building a bridge towards the castle once more. However with the upheaval, Purah could imagine the original route to such a place must've been destroyed. "Hmm, I'm sure instruments can't be played underwater, but this will be the perfect test run!"

Turning towards Link and Zelda, "Oh yes, this should indeed help us retrieve it. So we can begin investigations further!" Zelda smiled at Link, with an excited twinkle in her eye for adventure. "Let's begin preparation right away, Link isn't this exciting!"

Without another word, Zelda dashed towards the Scubagear. Many of the Hudson workers began to help move the device closer to the moat, as the device didn't have any form of movement on land. Zelda carried a box of tools given to her by Hudson, a welcoming gift upon her first trip to Terry Town. With only grabbing a few tools that could be used it retrieved the device. As she was curious about Purah's newest invention, one that Link kept a secret even from her. Josha walked up behind her, stuck reading the instructions for the scuba gear that was written by Purah. She struggled to make out some of the words within the notes, but she followed along slightly. Helping Zelda pick out the appropriate tools. "It would seem that we are in need of something to at least make an opening, from the looks of it we can install attachments to the device."

Purah was busy leading the Hudson workers in the reinstalling of the device, but Robbie close by walked over towards the two as he began properly explaining the device. While the preparations began, Link began to stroll around the Lookout. Taking in the new improvements made to the once fortress. As it slowly started to turn into a village for the Monster control Unit and the Researchers, houses were slowly being built along the Lookout. With Expanded premiters stretching towards the old Ranch. With children running through the newly built roads of the Lookout. Link couldn't help thinking of his students, as his time without the duty of hero on him, was a nice reminder for his strength. A newly built restaurant sat close to the mini stable, along with an Inn for travelers. Despite the few bumpy roads, and  the final battle with the ancient Ganondorf. Hyrule's slow restoration had started to show  with the construction of Lookout Landing, and with the expansion brought more structure to the fallen kingdom. Rito flew overhead as they landed on houses built on the fallen sky islands that littered the kingdom. "Another order please!" Link heard the drunk hollering of one of the local farmers. Slamming down a jug that had a drizzle of milk dripping on the table.

"Sir, I think you had enough." A young barmaid smiled at him, with her hair parted in braids. "Besides, we need to make sure to have some for the other customers as well!"

"I want another though!" He whined before standing to his feet, placing a few rupees on the table. He left the building, but as he was passing Link. His feet gave out to his drunken state. Before smacking into the dirt, Link caught hold of the man. Relief hit him as he stood on his feet. Grasping hold of himself before letting go of Link's shoulder. "Thank you, brother..."

Link nodded his head as he helped the man to a nearby stool, allowing him to sit down. His drunk haze made his mind spin momentarily. Forcing him to lean against the restaurant wall as he looked up at the sky. As Link touched his shoulder to see if the man was alright, he fell asleep. Sighing, Link helped lean the man into the shade, keeping the sun from his eyes. "Link!"

Turning around, he noticed Zelda. Her face was covered in excitement as she rushed towards him, but he reached her first. Grasping his hand, she turned to lead him towards the castle.

"Come on! Purah says that the gear is ready to go!" As they rushed outside the Lookout through the ruins of the old Castle town. Another howl caught Link's attention, making him pause. Zelda turned to him with a concerned look covering the once excited smile, forcing Link to snap out of his gaze. Reassuring her that all was well, they continued towards the castle moat. Purah stood helping Josha install a device to help dig the Ocarina from under the water. Worried to cause any more of the castle to crumble on top of it before being able to investigate, Purah installed a hookshot device in the fins of the scuba gear. "Purah what are those?"

Noticing Link and Zelda as they approached, Purah lifted up the second set of hooks for them to see. Held with two hands, with a long chain coiled around a base, Purah made it look easy to hold. Handing it off to a Hudson worker, with another rushing to help keep it in place. Purah used  one of her tools to finish the last installment. " These are hooks that Robbie insists I install in these, but given the circumstances. I find that you two might need these if we want to retrieve that Ocarina in one piece." Upon tightening the last  bolt, she stood up before running her finger along her Purah Pad. "Let's see...Ah there it is!"

With a press, the back hatch of the device opened up. Inside sat two chairs and a steering wheel. "Where are the controls for the hookshot?" Zelda quickly sat into the device behind the wheel, her face was covered in excitement. She quickly looked around the dashboard, behind the steering.

"Don't worry, Princess." Robbie walked over, "I've finished the updates to the Purah Pad, so you should be able to use it to sync the controls."

"I thought you said that the device wasn't ready to be sync yet, Robbie?" Purah looked at him, but he smirked at her.

"Come on, we both know that you've already got it in sync with yours." Purah chuckled at him as he continued. "Besides we both know the Princess will be able to use the controls for this device if her Purah pad was synced."

"Yeah, you do have a point there." Turning to Link as he started to get himself set inside the device. Being unable to travel on land, Purah had the device set to release into the water, but only once she made sure the two were seated. As she was unaware of how the ride within would be, with being the first test run of the device. After showing Zelda the controls, Purah pressed a button on her Pad that allowed the hatch to close. "Don't worry now, if all my calculations are correct. Once in the water you two should be able to sink, don't worry I made sure there were no cracks!" Despite being unable to hear outside the gear, Purah's voice echoed out the pad to them from her own. "Alright, begin raising for the dive!"

"Purah are you sure it's safe?" Josha's voice could be heard, in a questioning tone. "Will they be able to breath down  there?"

"Yep, made sure of it when I started building this baby!" Her voice sounded  confident, but Robbie's voice soon hollered out to her.

"But didn't you scrap that design for that one a few years ago?" Purah didn't respond for a moment to him. Zelda looked out the scuba gear window to see Purah looking away from him smiling. Trying to recall her memories, as her first attempts on the scuba gear were a whim in her early Seventies. Back before Link awoke from his long  hundred year slumber.

"Well I'm sure I used the same mechanics around this one!" Her voice didn't match her face as she spoke, but she continued. "Besides, I'm confident that all will work out!" Without any further delay, the scuba gear was sent off into the water. Purah quickly pulled up her Pad. "Testing, Princess Zelda, do you read me?"

Purah froze for a moment as Robbie and Josha quickly rushed to the edge of the moat. Worry covered their faces as they didn't receive a response. As Purah quickly began to pull off her jacket to jump in after them, ready to call the test a  failure. Zelda responded, "I read you Purah! You should see it down here! Link, look, there is the Zora!"

After a sign of relief, Pura pulled her jacket back on. "Well good, I'm glad to see all is going smoothly." Link held the steering wheel as he guided the gear deeper into the water. With the edge of the moat coming into view, the zora swarmed towards them. Zelda scanned around on her Purah pad. Finding the right software, with a press of the button she could hear the voice of the Zora as he spoke towards them. 

“This must be what was looking down at me from the top. Thank goodness, I was worried a monster was littering above.” He motioned his forearm across his forehead. 

Zelda looked at her Purah pad, before lifting to speak. “My apologies, would you be so kind and show us to the Ocarina?”

“Yes, right this way Princess!” Recognizing her voice, as he could only make out the set of eyes looking through the scuba gear device’s teeth. Turning downwards, he guided them. Following closely behind, with the light humming of the battery echoing as the edge of the stone side of the moat started to appear. A small grate started to become clearer, with Link noticing a soft melody coming through the Purah Pad. Zelda used the Purah pad, as Robbie instructed her beforehand, to open the hook shots from their resting position. “Right there, you can see parts of it from here.”

Pulling the gear in place as instructed by the Zora, Link noticed a reflecting light of blue. A gold triforce was imprinted on the mouth piece, but Zelda couldn’t recognize the instrument. Even from her time studying the royal family artifacts, but like the history of Hyrule’s founding. Many pieces of the Royal family were lost, even amongst the family itself. Meeting his gaze, Zelda turned to start using the hook shots to cling onto the grate. “Oh, I do hope this doesn’t cause the rest of the structure to collapse!” Worry covered her face as she pressed the button for the hooks to fire, with a loud noise, they attached. With the hooks looped tightly around the bars, Zelda began to slowly pull the chains back. Her finger slowly glides across the Purah pad, chains clinking back in place. Until they tighten, with the force of the final pull of the chains, breaking the bars of the grate. Despite the tight fit, the Zora  swam into the opening, reaching inwards pulling out the Ocarina. Zelda leaned towards the opening watching as the Zora slowly crawled back out. Holding in his hand the instrument. Relief hit Zelda as she turned to her pad once more, speaking. “Please take it to Purah, we’ll be returning back as well.”

“Yes, Princess!” He nodded his head, before swimming upwards towards the water surface. Leaning back down, Zelda smiled at Link as he began to steer the device upwards.

“Purah, do you read me?” Zelda spoked through her pad, with a stumble she received a response.

“Loud and clear, Princess!” 

“We’ve begun to ascend back to the surface, I’ve asked the Zora to deliver the Ocarina to you.” With the grate vanishing back into the water, Link continued to drive them back towards the surface.

“Don’t worry about that, Princess. I’ve just received it, Josha has already begun looking it over.” Her voice sounded upbeat as she spoke. “I’ve already got a docking system set in, so Linky should be able to just guide the device straight in.”

“Thank you, Purah.” Zelda smiled at Link, with him returning the smile as they continued upwards. With a set of floating balloons bobbing against the top of the water came into view. Guiding the device to line up with the balloons, Link began the final ascent. With the breaking of the water as the top lifted open, Zelda stretched upwards. Excited from her test run of the new device. Purah appeared to walk away, with the Zora standing on the edge of the moat. “Where did Purah go? I was sure she would be here waiting for us?”

“Mistress Purah went ahead with young Josha towards the Lookout, Princess.” Responding to her, reaching his hand outwards for the duo to exit the Scuba gear. “She asked that I tell you upon your arrival.”

“Thank you.” She smiled as she looked at Link. “Let’s go then, I’m most curious about this instrument, Link.”

He felt the same as her, curious, but he also felt something eerie about the instrument. With the gentle whisper of another howl. Link glanced around, while Zelda had begun to walk towards the Lookout. Feeling the same presence as before, but without wanting to cause Zelda’s joy to change. Link brushed it off as he chased after her. Part one End. Part Two

^-^ Thank you for reading the  first part! If I should upload the remaining part please let me know! As this mostly written for fun. ^-^

[breath-of-the-hobbies]

BOTW2 - A Return to Darkness

(I’ve never written fan-fic before in my life, but all of these new BOTW theories and art inspired me to write this idea out. Special shout-out to @autumn-sweet-fae for the idea about Link’s ability reset! [x])

The series of caverns beneath Hyrule Castle seemed to be a source of boundless interest and excitement for Zelda, who stopped to document every carving and luminescent gem with the Sheikah slate no matter how small or difficult to reach. Link felt the absence of Revali’s Gale acutely whenever Zelda lamented being unable see the carvings far above their heads, but Revali and all of the other Champions had long since moved on, taking their gifts with them.

The two Hylians, displaced in time, had initially begun exploring the newly uncovered cave system as a way to escape the realities involved in rebuilding a kingdom. Soon enough, though, it became obvious that there were important secrets tucked away beneath the ground, perhaps even older than the Sheikah. Zelda hoped that uncovering these secrets could help in the rebuilding process, and so their short, escapist trips had turned into full-fledged expeditions.

They had recently discovered a steeply descending path near an entrance by the Great Plateau. Although Zelda continued to record her findings as diligently as always, they both felt a strange sense of disquiet as they descended into the darkness. Though they had been seeking answers to their questions for months, this was the first time they were afraid of the response.

When they discovered Ganon’s mummified corpse, things began happening very quickly.

Perhaps it was the presence of all three people of legend in one space that activated the chain of events. Within moments of the Hylians stepping into the final cavern, the earth began to shake and malice oozed from the floor. A glowing turquoise light leapt like lightning from Ganon’s form to Link’s arm, which he had instinctively extended to shield Zelda as stalactites and whole chunks of the ceiling rained down around them.

The shock of the light touching his skin—no, entering his skin—was nothing compared to the acidic burning of malice as the slime piled up on itself and swarmed the glowing arm, as though with a single-minded purpose.

Zelda screamed his name over the thundering of stone, knuckles white on her sword grip. Neither of them had seen anything like this, and neither knew how to combat it. Link stepped backwards, tearing at the ooze and trying to keep it away from his princess, noticing how it seemed to be exclusively targeting him. Afterwards, he would remember that small step with piercing regret. If he had only been closer, if he could have moved a little faster…. The ground collapsed beneath Zelda’s feet. Link lunged forward, desperate, reaching—their fingers brushed, and then she was gone.

Link could barely process anything. The earthquake had stopped. Ganon’s corpse had disappeared into the yawning black mouth that now filled the cavern, the same mouth that had eaten the only person who mattered to him in this world. The malice had somehow shriveled and sunk into his arm along with the strange light, and now a black rot was crawling up towards his shoulder, rendering the whole limb dead. He was unable to handle a glider or climb down into the hungry darkness, and the gnawing, unnatural pain in his arm was enough to drive him to his knees.

Slowly, painfully, and with an involuntary cry of agonized frustration, he tightened a belt around his upper bicep in an attempt to stem the creep of malice and stumbled up the debris-filled path to the surface.

When he finally emerged into the calm summer evening, his horse startled and shied at his approach, registering the scent of his arm as a corrupted enemy. Nearly delirious with pain, fatigue, and fever, Link still managed to soothe it, leaning his face against its neck and pretending that it was sweat running into its fur. He could barely stand to look at Zelda’s beautiful horse, but forced himself to clumsily fasten its lead to his own horse’s saddle.

But where to go? His champion allies were gone. The castle was still largely abandoned, the guardians erratically active and monsters as yet un-eradicated. The closest source of help was days away, and the slate had been with Zelda, so there would be no teleporting.

Purah’s not going to be happy about this. He thought nonsensically, and set his horse’s nose towards Hateno Village.

***

He did his best to cling to the horse’s mane, but as the familiar village appeared in the distance, his sense of relief overpowered the adrenaline that had kept him going for the past several days. Slowly, gently, darkness clouded his vision and he slipped from his mount’s back, falling into the ditch on the far outskirts of Hateno Village. The horses, exhausted themselves, barely registered the change in weight and continued on to the place where they knew that apples and good hay could always be found.

The children of the village, who had frequently begged rides from Link and clung to him on past visits, immediately recognized that something was wrong when they spotted the tired creatures trudging up the cobbled street. They ran to the eccentric scientist up in her tower, and joined Symin, her chief researcher, in a frantic search of the area. The sun was beginning to set when they finally found the unconscious Link. Symin scooped the small hero up in his arms, a knot of fear in his stomach, and carried him to his lady.

***

Link opened his eyes to sunshine streaming through a window, birdsong, the warm scent of hay and machine oil. The agonizing, corrupted, wrong pain in his arm had faded, but in its place was a weak and draining numbness. Remembering Zelda’s fall, he sat up with a gasp, and immediately crumpled, spots swimming in his eyes, heartbeat rushing in his ears. As he panted, head between his drawn-up knees, he heard soft steps as someone came up the ladder to this bedroom.

“I would have thought you’d slept long enough the last time, Linky.” Said Purah dryly, but not unkindly. “You’re really pushing my skills here. I had to research tech that hasn’t been used since the Zonai disappeared.” Link slowly lifted his head to look down at his arm. The rot was still there, shriveled black skin stretched over tendon and bone. Two things were different: there were engraved metal bands that clasped his arm from wrist to bicep, softly buzzing with energy, and there was a Sheikah emblem tattooed on the back of his blackened hand.

Purah remained uncharacteristically quiet, letting Link take in the changes, before starting up again to enthuse about the tech. “I’m going to keep optimizing it, of course. It’s wildly inefficient at the moment but I needed to get something on you or you’d lose the arm. Currently the runes are drawing directly from your energy just to stop the procession of the corruption, but I plan to improve that. As such I think it’s going to take you a while to get your strength back. I saw you lost your slate—“ her voice hardened in sudden anger “—but until you get it back I’ve got plans to add some capabilities to this tech in the meantime.”

Link finally found his voice. “Zelda.” he croaked, his defeated, exhausted gaze rising to meet Purah’s.

Her face softened. “We were worried why she wasn’t with you, why you were in that state. We sent some people to the tunnels, but they haven’t returned.”

The half-hoping, half-pleading look in Link’s eyes disappeared immediately, replaced with stubborn determination as he placed his feet on the floor and rose, legs visibly shaking.

Purah sighed, as though she had expected this. “You’re in no shape to go after her now. Zelda has held her own in this world for longer than you have, and she can handle herself. You, on the other hand, need to build your strength back up or you’ll be knocked over by the first bokoblin you meet. Or the first gust of wind.”

Link ignored her, taking slow and unsteady steps towards the ladder. “Link, your clothes!” She yelled after him in exasperation just as he missed the second rung and disappeared from view. A loud thud and a startled exclamation from Symin rose back up through the hole in the floor. “Hylia, why me?” She asked the air.

***

Link glared at the straw monster in front of him, sweat running into his eyes. It took all his effort to raise the stick in his right arm, the numbness of the limb and unfamiliar weight of the tech making every movement sluggish. He had been hacking at the doll for hours and yet it looked fresher than he did.

Symin watched from the window, sipping a cup of tea. “Should we stop him?” He asked. It was several weeks now since the scrawny hero had picked himself up off the floor and legged it out the door, only to collapse less than halfway down the hill. Since then, he had spent every waking moment making his best attempt at training.

Purah didn’t glance up from her book. “The man just lost everything he cares about for a second time. In many ways he’s worse off than he was when he woke from the century’s sleep. At least that time he had his strength, if not his memory. Let him work things out his own way.” Unspoken between them was the knowledge of reports from central Hyrule that the castle was once again filled with malice and making the ground tremble day and night. Link had not told them the details of his encounter, nor indeed spoken hardly at all, but his grim determination said more than enough.

Only a few days later, the morning after Purah had successfully implanted the first upgrade into Link’s arm, Symin slammed open the door to her tower study, panic and worry twisting his face. “He’s gone! Link’s gone!”

Purah turned to gaze out her window. She didn’t look surprised, but her normally boisterous personality was briefly extinguished. She shook herself and turned back to her notes with renewed vigor. “He’ll be back. Let’s be ready for him.”

Chapter 2