#would (hylians) become a part of their character profiles? | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

drabbledragon · 4 years ago

Text

Linktober: Forest

It’s been a while since I had some free time to write and since exams are done and over with, I can now keep having that free time. So I present to you all, two months late, day 9 of Linktober. Also, please be cautious of the warnings: it does get a bit gory at parts and of course if you get too uncomfortable, you can always just skip this chapter.

AO3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26749021/chapters/68583117

Summary: Nearly every one of the heroes' Hyrule is peaceful. Just nearly.

Warnings: Minor (teenager) character death, description of (teenage) character burning to death, and swearing.

Day 9: Forest

The group looked curiously at the folded pile of cloaks Hyrule was offering them.

“If we’re heading into town, then you’re gonna have to wear one of these.”

The traveller didn’t miss the baffled glances he got in return, nor did he miss the hesitance they each displayed when reaching for their own part of the share.

“Why do we need to wear a cloak? We haven’t worn one in any other part of your Hyrule.” Sky questioned as he pulled the tattered piece of cloth over his head. The aforementioned apparel hung loosely around his body, falling just low enough to reach the top of his boots.

Hyrule opened his mouth to answer, thought better of it, and then just shook his head. “ We’ll need it here, trust me. Make sure you wear the hood on the back and whatever you do, don’t take it off until we’re alone.” He then proceeded to pull the hood of his own cloak up, and the others were quick to follow suit.

They wandered into town soon after, and they could immediately feel the hostile dread in the air. The place itself was a sea of uncontrollable weeds and messy dirt pathways, with abandoned buildings and makeshift homes placed haphazardly in crooked lines. Almost all the people they saw outside regarded the group with nasty and distrustful looks, with many of them going so far as to place a hand readily on the weapon hanging from their hips; they were anticipating some sort of attack, Twilight recognised, but he didn’t understand why.

The Hero of Hyrule eventually led them towards one of the bigger buildings in the back, and the broken door he opened wailed with a high - pitched creak. It appeared to be a run - down inn, and the young traveller promptly made his way to the front desk where a middle - aged woman eyed him with scrutiny.

“Hello, ma’am, four rooms, please.” Hyrule’s voice was soft and polite, and if he was unnerved by the woman’s gaze, he didn’t show it.

The tension in the air was nearly palpable, and the Links did their best to not let the innkeeper’s piercing gaze intimidate them. Once the woman had finally focused her attention back onto Hyrule, she questioned, “ What are you nine doing here?”

“We’re travellers, ma’am; we just came down from Darunia Town.”

“And your occupation?”

“We craft and sell instruments we make, ma’am.”

“Take off your hood.”

The group was nearly taken aback by the command, and a few of them were even ready to protest just based on the rude tone alone, but Hyrule didn’t care, and his fingers lingered at the edges of his hood for a moment before pulling it down. All of the heroes’s eyes widened at the sight before them: Hyrule’s usual brown hair had been colored a fiery orange and his eyes now shone with a light blue hue; his long and pointy ears had become rounded around the edges, making him appear more like a human and less like a Hylian. The hero looked to the woman expectantly, and after a few long seconds, she scoffed.

“20 Rupees for the rooms then.”

And so Hyrule paid, placing the gem delicately on the desk and accepting the keys. He led the group towards one of the rooms and locked the door without a word, and once he was sure that the nine of them were completely alone, he allowed his appearance to fade back to its usual self with a long, relieved sigh. He was bombarded with questions just a second later.

“Hyrule, what was that?”

“Seriously, what just happened?”

“Why’d you change your ears and eyes and hair, ‘Rule?”

“What’s that old lady’s problem? Why was she treating us like garbage?”

“What’s up with the people here? How come everyone’s looking at us weird?”

“Boys, enough.” Time had finally sounded over the fray, and when the rest of the heroes finally settled down, the eldest hero turned to the traveller and politely asked, “ Hyrule, what happened back there?”

The Hero of Time could tell the question bothered the other, if the sudden bite of his lip and darting green eyes were anything to go by; but after a few tense seconds, he finally piped up with, “ We needed a few rooms, so I got us a few rooms.”

“You need to elaborate on that. Why did you change your appearance? And why did you have us all wear cloaks?”

“Oh, well that’s, um ...” He struggled for a moment, and looked nervously to the floor as if the wooden boards would give him a sound answer. He could feel eight pairs of eyes boring right into his very being, and he couldn’t help but shrink under their anticipative gazes. “ It’s just a thing we need to do to … y’know, keep a low profile.”

“But why would we need to?” Warriors questioned next, taking an assertive step forward. “ Hundreds of other heroes have passed by here without any issues, correct? So with the exception of you, there really isn’t a need to go through the trouble of hiding ourselves; to them, we’re just ordinary Hylians looking for an overnight stay.”

“I know, I know, but it’s just -”

“We found another Hero of Hyrule!”

Their interrogation was abruptly cut short as a deep voice from outside suddenly caught their attention, and eight confused faces turned to look through the sole window in the room. From what little they could see, they were able to discern a large gruff man standing in the middle of the supposed town square, shouting the same message through cupped hands over and over again as he turned in all sorts of directions; just a few paces behind him stood three men, one of which was just a young boy with floppy brown hair, easily in his teens, and tightly bound around the wrists and ankles while the other two grown men supported him under the arms. Behind them was a slightly larger group that worked together to dig a large wooden pole into the ground, while others began piling sticks and wood around the structure as if to make a bonfire.

The heroes stood still, trying desperately to wrap their heads around the scene in front of them. That man … What did he keep calling out? ‘Another Hero of Hyrule’? But that made absolutely no sense: the Links all knew of one Hero of Hyrule and that was, well, Hyrule; but the man outside kept yelling out the title like it was something more than that - like it was some kind of breed rather than just one very specific person; couple that realisation with the strange structure the townspeople were setting up and that just released a whole new set of questions: what was so special about that one person versus everyone else in this town? Why was he tied up? What were the other people creating behind him? Why was there such a strong sense of bloodlust in the air?

“I don’t know what’s going on,” Twilight finally said, being the one to break the silence. “ But I do know that that guy needs help.”

He was about to take a step towards the door when a sudden hand clung fiercely to his pelt, and when he turned around, he was quietly surprised to find that it wasn’t a stoic Time stopping him, but rather an alarmed Hyrule.

“Twi, you can’t go out there right now.”

The ranchhand knitted his brows together. “ Huh? Why not?”

“It’s -.” He held his breath for a second before continuing in a small voice, “ It’s not safe there right now.”

“Well if you’re that concerned about safety,” The two heroes watched as Legend casually walked over to them before coming to a stop by Twilight’s side. “ Then I can stick with Farmboy here. One of us can make a distraction and the other can get the guy out; shouldn’t take more than ten minutes.”

The traveller only frantically shook his head in response, fixing his predecessor with a desperate look as he quickly said, “ No, the both of you can’t go either! It still won’t be safe!”

“Alright then,” Warriors added slowly as he made his way to the Ordonian in the same fashion. “ What about the three of us, then? Surely we’re enough to save that man now.”

But Hyrule only denied the group once again; and again when Wild offered to go, and again when Four offered to go, and again and again and again. Three faces had now become eight as the remaining heroes all looked to the Hero of Hyrule with a mix of confusion and impatience, each one of them asking a myriad of questions about what was so dangerous about the situation and why Hyrule of all people was preventing any of them from going. It was Wild who finally asked the key question with,

“‘Rule, are you hiding something?”

Those words made the traveller freeze, causing him to fall silent and fix the champion with a wide - eyed stare. It appears that the group had finally struck a chord in him, one that somehow instilled fear into their resident hero, and a few of them were starting to become worried at how quiet Hyrule had suddenly become at such a simple yet pivotal question. After what felt like hours, the traveller finally answered back:

“I’m sorry.”

Oh no.

That was all the Ordonian needed to hear before he was suddenly sprinting out of the small room and down the cramped hallway, ignoring the sudden shouts of surprise and alarm from his fellow heroes. He knew it - he knew from the moment he saw that young boy being dragged across the worn dirt by those men that there was something deeply wrong. He should’ve said something sooner - maybe something about how much Hyrule seemed to be dodging their questions - but he stupidly played along with this pointless game like he was some dog chasing its tail.

He just hoped he wasn’t too late to save him.

He felt the rotten wood press against his shoulder as he barged his way through the inn door and out into the cold night air, stumbling as the terrain suddenly switched from wood to dry dirt and overgrown weeds. He silently thanked the goddesses when he was steadily back on his feet in an instant and rushed towards the crowd centered around the square at a breakneck pace. He suddenly felt his stomach plummet as he heard the gruff man from before shout out:

“Death to the Hero of Hyrule!”

That was it. That was the only warning Twilight got before a torch was haphazardly thrown into the pile of wood and the flames started to climb the stake. Everything became unbearably bright, engulfed in a swirl of bright orange and blinding yellow as brown wood burned to black ash in an instant and the fire climbed higher up the pole without any bit of hesitation, right up to the poor teen who was bound to the very top. It only took mere seconds for the agonised screams to fill the air, and even less for Twilight to smell the distinct scent of burning flesh as the flames mercilessly engulfed the body. Once - pale skin turned into blistering red, and the light - brown hue of the boy’s hair started to disintegrate and leave nothing behind but a memory of what used to be there. The Ordonian’s instincts told him to get over there and do something because he was supposed to be a hero - he was one of the few that Hylia had chosen to protect everyone - but all he could do was watch helplessly from the back of the crowd, his stomach churning threateningly as it promised to expel everything he had eaten in the past week.

Goddesses, the crowd. The crowd was thrilled at the sight of one of their own burning helplessly from where he was bound, his agonised screams appearing to be music to their ears. They watched him writhe and scream and plead to be released but they just watched him with some sort of maniacal fascination that only a true cold - blooded serial killer could have. The crowd was smiling, cheering, even echoing the same phrase of “ Death to the Hero of Hyrule!” as they watched someone burn to death, and perhaps what terrified Twilight the most was that some of the people in the crowd were literal children, and they seemed to be entirely fine with watching someone their own age burning right in front of them.

He jumped when he felt a rough hand gently touch his shoulder, and he quickly spun on his heels to find the source, relaxing just a bit when he saw his mentor’s face staring back at him.

Time looked pale. Had he just witnessed the same thing Twilight had just a moment ago?

“Let’s go.” His mentor said after a moment, nudging his head towards the direction that Hyrule was leading the rest of the heroes towards. Twilight wanted to protest - to firmly tell Time that “no, we need to do something” - but the only thing that came out was a shaky sigh. His whole body felt numb, and the remaining rush of adrenaline from before seemed to have sapped him of all his strength and left him with a hollow feeling in his chest, so he didn’t refuse Time’s firm grip around his wrist, and he didn’t protest as Time led him forward.

It didn’t take long for the group to reach the outer edges of the town, and it certainly didn’t take long for them to disappear into a nearby forest. They wove their way through overgrown bushes and drooping trees, and treaded through murky waters and destroyed campsites, and didn’t stop until they reached a dark and desolate clearing that was far from any type of civilization. It was quiet here, and it was a welcomed contrast from the deranged cheers that filled the small town.

Four was the first to speak up as he shakily asked, “ That … That wasn’t real, right? It was just some - some stupid trick, r - right?”

The only immediate response he received back was a heartbreaking whimper from Wind as he dug his face further into Warriors’s scarf.

“I’m sorry.” Came Hyrule’s eventual answer, but the sound was barely above a whisper and his throat strained to keep his voice level. Any hint of anxiety or desperation from before seemed to have been completely wiped away, his tone now a clear reflection of the guilt and regret that was no doubt plaguing his mind. A few heroes opened their mouths to respond, but Legend beat them all to the punch.

“No. No, all of this is bullshit.” He claimed, anger and disbelief clear in his features. “ There’s no way in hell that a bunch of townspeople would just pick up a random kid off the street and burn him alive just for fun. He must’ve been a monster in disguise or - or a traitor that’s killed innocent people or just … just something.” He looked to his protege for some kind of assurance, but felt his resolve start to fall apart when Hyrule refused to meet his eyes. He took a shuddering breath as he said, “‘Rule, tell me this isn’t what people are really like here. Tell me that these are just some sick fucks who get a kick out of torturing people.” His voice took on an uncharacteristically small tone as he continued, “ Tell me this isn’t what I left behind for you.”

The traveller ducked his head even lower and hunched his shoulders as he repeated even quieter than before, “ I’m really, really sorry -.”

“Hyrule, I believe you owe us an explanation.” Time cut in, but instead of the stern and demanding tone the group was expecting, they were all surprised to hear his request as a quiet and gentle one. Perhaps he did it because they were all in shock, or perhaps he did it because Hyrule looked like he was one second away from a complete breakdown, or perhaps he did it because he was just so morbidly curious and he didn’t want to scare away the resident hero by forcing the answer out of him. Regardless of the reason, it got Hyrule talking.

“The people of my Hyrule want me dead.”

He let the air of initial shock settle for a moment before continuing.

“They’ve been hunting me down ever since they knew I was the Hero of Courage here because they all knew the legend: one drop of the hero’s blood on Ganon’s ashes will revive him. At first it was just a silly old wives’ tale that got passed down from generation to generation, but a group of villagers broke into Hyrule Castle one night and found out it was true through one of the books we have in the Royal Library. Word spread from person to person and that’s when people started to get … scared of me.”

The traveller bit his lip for a moment, the memory of first hearing that news all those years ago playing fresh in his mind.

“They thought I was a ticking time bomb - one slipup when fighting a Moblin or a Zora and the entire kingdom was pretty much doomed - so a few people started to hunt me down in order to lock me up or something like that; they just wanted me far away from danger - a place where no monsters would be able to get me. They found me eventually and told me about their plan, but I just ignored them because Zelda was in trouble, and if I didn’t reunite the Triforce in time, then the whole kingdom would be taken over by some prince. I needed to travel across Hyrule; I couldn’t just hole myself away somewhere when the whole kingdom was in danger, so I kept going. Weeks would go by without anyone seeing me, and the number of people that feared I was dead started to grow. More groups started to form in order to find me quicker, and they started to camp out in forests and by rivers just to keep a lookout, but they kept coming back empty - handed and that just made everyone more terrified. Eventually those groups just started locking up people that looked like me just to get rid of a potential Hero of Hyrule, so that’s why I -.”

“That’s why you changed your ears, eyes, and hair with magic earlier, and why you made us wear cloaks: to throw people off our trail.” Legend interjected, and Hyrule nodded in confirmation.

“Right. They knew the Hero of Hyrule was Hylian, had green eyes, and brown hair, so they just locked up anyone who fit the bill, but they wouldn’t even look twice at a human with orange hair and blue eyes. So I was taught how to change my appearance from a magic - user I met in a cave one day, and although that kind of magic took a lot out of me at first, I eventually got a hold of it and was able to pass under everyone’s radar. I travelled from town to town, learning whatever I could from other magic - users and getting whatever I needed to survive in the wild in order to look for Ganon. But because I was so good at hiding, the people that were trying to find me were getting more desperate.”

“They were tired of locking people up and asking if they were the Hero of Hyrule or if they knew where the Hero of Hyrule was, and as more monsters started to surround the villages and kill those who dared to travel, things started to become more serious. The groups started to kill Hylians that looked like me, skipping the whole interrogation part and going straight for the quickest and painless kill they could do in order to remedy a little bit of their guilt. Of course they regretted killing innocent people; nobody wanted to kill someone that was just living their lives and had nothing to do with being Hylia’s Chosen, but they justified themselves by saying that it was either the life of one potential ‘Link’ or the entirety of the Kingdom, and of course they would want to save the kingdom. But months went by, and the monsters kept coming closer, and the real Hero of Hyrule still hadn’t been found, and those villagers got to the point where they were too scared to harvest crops or go hunting or even step outside of their houses. They felt like they were living in a nightmare, and they needed to get out there and kill me or else they would never be able to live a normal life ever again.”

“People started to come out of their houses, daggers and swords in their hands, and got to killing any ‘me’s they could find. The killings weren’t painless anymore: people who were scared of Ganon coming back to full power again started to release all their frustration and fear on innocent people by killing them in the most gruesome ways possible; it was an outlet to them, and now all that guilt from before was starting to turn into satisfaction. To them, it was just getting revenge on the Hero of Hyrule for all the pain and suffering I’ve caused them. Every person, even if you were a salesman or a farmer, started to have weapons by their side just in case I happened to walk into town, and everybody started to become more suspicious of any travellers because they knew the Hero of Hyrule was one. Whether you were a little kid or an old man just passing through, as soon as people saw that you had brown hair and green eyes, then you immediately became a target. They’ll stab you to death, drown you, burn you alive - whatever they needed to do to get rid of the Hero of Hyrule, just so they could make sure that Ganon never comes back. It’s been like that ever since.”

It was a terrible story, the other heroes had silently agreed - like a morbid fairytale gone wrong. It was ironic: the very people Hyrule was chosen to protect were now actively out to get him just for the sake of quelling their own fears.

“...So you’re just letting this happen?”

Eight startled faces all turned to the group’s ranchhand, who looked to the traveller with a deep frown and crossed arms. His lip curled upwards as he snarled out, “ You’re just letting innocent people die because you’re too much of a coward to go and save them?”

Twilight wasn’t actually sure what compelled him to say something like that. Maybe it was because the thought of innocent people dying struck a very strong chord in him, or maybe it was because the people dying were those as young as Talo and Malo and Colin, or as old as Rusl and Mayor Bo; maybe it was a combination of both, and just the knowledge that Hyrule was refusing to do anything about the situation made his blood boil.

The resident hero looked to the other with a mixture of confusion and hurt, but an underlying wave of anger made his tone a little more clipped than he wanted it to be. “ I know I’m a coward, but I’m not just letting them die because I want them to. The people here are aggressive: once they think you’re the Hero of Hyrule, there’s no way you can back yourself out of that situation. Having someone to come and rescue you will only make things worse, and there’s a pretty good chance that you’d be the next one to die.”

“Well if you know all of that, then why aren’t you doing anything to stop all of that from happening? We saw you change your appearance, and you gave us all cloaks to - what? Be less suspicious? - so why aren’t you doing any of that for the people passing through town? You could’ve saved hundreds of lives here, Hyrule, but you’re just staying quiet and watching people die in front of you.”

“I’m not!” Hyrule answered back sharply. His nails dug painfully into his palms. “ I always try to help them when I can, but I can’t be in a hundred places at once. It’s not just Nabooru Town who’s doing this, but literally every other town in this kingdom. People will be dying whether I’m there or not, and there’s no way I can rescue everyone who’s been accused of being me and protect Zelda and the castle.”

“Then think of some other solution!” Twilight threw his hands up, letting all of his pent up rage and disgust finally get the better of him. “ Have your Hyrule Castle give them a safe place to live or create some group to find the people that want you dead and put them in prison! I don’t know, kill them if you have to! Those villagers there are no better than monsters, so there’s nothing left to salvage.”

The Ordonian said that last bit with complete and utter conviction as his subconscious flashed him that same memory of that boy burning to death, and the villagers around him smiling and cheering as they watched the scene with absolute glee. They really were no better than monsters at this point, were they? Cold, cruel, heartless monsters.

“They’re not monsters.” The traveller replied just as firm. “ They’re only the way they are because they’re scared. They know the Hero of Hyrule is still out there - that I’m still out there - and they know that one little slip up could cost them and their entire family their lives, so if they have the chance to control that, then they’ll try everything in their damn power to do so, even if it means killing innocent people. It’s not their fault that they think like that; it’s because they’re all - because Ganon’s - I’m just -.”

“It’s because of mass hysteria.” Warriors interjected, and when the group’s collective attention was brought to him, he hardened his features and explained. “ Consider this: the people of this kingdom know that Ganon could be revived at any second as long as his followers had Hyrule in their possession. If you were a simple villager who hasn’t seen your Hero for weeks on end, wouldn’t you start to panic and fear for the worst? Like the traveller said, a single drop of blood on Ganon’s ashes would be enough to bring him back to life, and even more would bring him back to full power, so I understand the people’s worry for having Hyrule wander alone in a territory riddled with monsters. One wrong move, and their entire livelihoods would disappear, and they most likely won’t have a hero to protect them if Ganon does go too far.”

Hyrule nodded with a grim look on his face, and then redirected his attention to the ranchhand. “ They’re not monsters, Twilight,” He repeated, his voice softer and more controlled than before. “ They’re scared. They’re scared because they don’t have any control over anything, so they do whatever they can to make them feel in - control, even if it’s something as horrible as killing their friends. I know I’m causing this, and I know I’m not doing anything to stop this, but the sooner I get to Ganon and defeat him once and for all, the sooner things can get back to normal.”

It was strange to hear one of their own so conscious and accepting of the horrors around them. Twilight knew that Time and Wild both have regrets about the past and refuse to accept it, and he was sure that Legend and Warriors were both hiding something as well based on all those times they woke up screaming in the middle of the night, but to hear Hyrule, a meek and timid teen that rarely spoke at all, so readily admit that his land was nearly beyond saving and that it was all his fault, was something breathtaking in and of itself. The traveller knew that monsters and his own people were constantly after him, and he knew that if he let himself relax for just a second, the chances of him getting captured and killed would skyrocket to an unbelievable level, but despite all odds, he still chose to defend a kingdom that didn’t even show him an ounce of gratitude. To press forward when the whole world is against you takes a great deal of dedication, and perhaps Hyrule was more of a selfless hero than he made himself out to be.

The Ordonian let his shoulders sag with defeat. “ You’re right: I don’t know anything about what you’re going through, and it was wrong of me to be angry at you.”

Hyrule’s features softened, and any indication of outrage melted into quiet understanding. “ It’s okay, I know you didn’t mean any of it; you were just upset at what you saw and I don’t blame you, but there’s more to the story than whatever you see on your first night in one of the towns here.” He met the ranchhand’s eyes and tried for a tiny smile. “ Things will get better - I know they will - but until then, I have to do what I need to.”

The group had decided to set up camp for the night, all of them silently agreeing that a spot among the trees and dirt was the only safe place left in Hyrule’s era. Most of the heroes turned in for the night without a word, and barely any of them had the courage to look at the dancing flames of the small campfire they had started. It was ironic: how could a thing that brought the group warmth and light and a place to sit and chatter every night kill an innocent person without hesitation? Would it bring them that same sense of comfort ever again, or would they constantly relive that memory of their night in Nabooru Town, watching an innocent child burn to death at the hands of those he considered family?

In the end, it was just Time and Hyrule left at their makeshift campfire, both of them silent as they were lost in their own thoughts; that is, until a success of long howls filled the night air.

The traveller tensed, breath catching in his throat for a second, before realisation dawned on him. “ That’s Wolfie, right?” He questioned, and when he received a nod of confirmation from the other, he knitted his brows in worry. “ But he sounds … really sad tonight ...”

“I think he’s crying.”

Hyrule turned to the elder hero with genuine confusion. “‘Crying’? Why would he be crying?”

Time stared absently at the bright orange flames in front of him. “ I think he’s crying for all those who’ve lost their souls to such a cruel fate.”

#linkeduniverse #LU Hyrule #LU Twilight #fanfic #linktober2020

22 notes · View notes