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skyloftian-nutcase · 2 years

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Rituals (Wind Waker Zelink)

@zelinkweekofficial

“Today is a very important day,” Tetra said as she paced on the deck. “So you’d better take it seriously!”

Link flinched a bit, caught off guard by the ferocity in her tone, but then he gave a hard, affirmative nod.

Tetra crossed her arms, staring him down. “You get your ears pierced today – do you have any idea how important that is—”

“To a pirate’s identity and all the traditions that go behind it, yes, Tetra, I know,” Link finished for her, impatience and excitement mixing in his belly and jostling with the rocking of the sea. “Let’s just get to the piercing already! I’ve been ready my whole life for this!”

Tetra sighed in exasperation. “There is a ritual involved, you know, you don’t just cut to the chase.”

“Since when were either of us ones for rituals, anyway?” Link asked, skipping over to her. “Come on, pierce ‘em and let’s get going!”

Tetra gave him an unamused look and then grabbed his arm, dragging him back to the center of the deck. “We are doing it right, Link. It’s bad luck otherwise.”

Link bit his lip, sufficiently schooled. Bad luck was no joke.

But still.

“Okay, but how bad is the bad luck?” he inquired, enjoying her irritated growl.

“The same bad luck that the Hero of Time had! The very same one!”

“Tetra, come on, I already had that bad luck. And Ganondorf’s dead for it!”

“Mighty Three!” Tetra yelled, facing away from Link and raising her arms in an attempt to ignore him. “I call upon you to look out for our newest pirate in his journeys and bring him good fortune.”

“Or, ya know, keep bringing me good fortune since I’ve got plenty of it,” Link supplied.

“And now I stab his heart and throw it to sea so that he can forever be part of it!”

Link jumped. “Wait, what?”

Tetra turned towards him slightly with a wink. “Got you.”

Link stomped irritably. “Not funny!”

“I thought it was.”

“What’s next with the ritual?”

Tetra held out her hand. “You kiss my pirate ring.”

Link scrunched his face. “Ew. Your hands are dirty.”

“And your whole face is dirty!” Tetra yelled, blushing. “Just do it!”

Link rolled his eyes, grabbing her hand. “Fine, fine.”

Leaning in, he gave it a quick peck and tasted the cloth wrapping on the pummel of her sword, the gentle scent of perfumed water from when she washed her hands, and the salt of the sea. He stared at her hand briefly, mesmerized by the duality of softness and callouses, before running his thumb over her fingers with a small smile.

Tetra yanked her hand out of his grip with a grumble. “Okay. Now I can pierce your ears.”

Excitement blazed through Link’s blood, and he nearly bounced in place as Tetra approached with a needle.

“First thing I’m gonna do is get the best wax to hang off it,” Link said happily.

“It’s definitely helpful for plugging your ears from the gong,” Tetra agreed with a smile, reaching for his ear.

“And, ya know, plugging them so I don’t hear annoying captains, too.”

Tetra swatted his arm, making him laugh. Then she pulled him over and held an ice cube to his ear lobe, drenching it in alcohol, and then stabbed it through with the needle. It didn’t really hurt at all, not like he thought it would, and certainly not in comparison to wounds he’d received in the past. Tetra did the same sequence for the other side, and Link automatically reached up to mess with the new earrings.

Smacking his hands down, Tetra snapped, “Don’t touch them, stupid!”

“I wanna feel them!”

“You can feel them when they’re better healed!”

Link groaned, rolling his eyes. “Tetraaaaa.”

“Tell you what,” Tetra continued. “I’ve got a great distraction for you.”

Link perked up, though he gave her a suspicious look. “What?”

Tetra smiled in some direction behind him, and before he knew it he was scooped up and over someone’s shoulder and then unceremoniously plopped into some kind of confined space.

Link blinked, dazed. Then he looked around and recognized the tight space as a barrel.

A… barrel… wait a second—

“The last part of the ritual is the catapult!” Tetra announced delightedly. “You’ll land on Outset Island.”

“This isn’t part of the ritual and you know it!” Link yelled, his eyes wide.

“I think it’s appropriate, though,” Tetra replied, winking.

“I liked kissing your hand better,” Link protested softly.

Tetra jolted. “What?”

Link felt his own cheeks blush, and he backtracked. “I mean—well your nasty hand is better than being in a musty barrel, though not by much! And for another thing—”

Tetra thrust her hands onto her hips. “That’s it! Launch him!”

Maybe I should’ve thought of something better to say, Link grumbled to himself as the catapult tossed the barrel and him into the sky, his screams filling his newly pierced ears.

#I've never played wind waker but that Link strikes me as fairly likely to be a troll #at the very least he seems mischievous and delightful #and full of a ton of energy #and how can you not love the idea of Zelda as a pirate captain #Tetra is awesome #I have no idea if I got their characterization right I just guessed based on fan content and the few clips I've seen #this was inspired by listening to the pirate ship theme from ww #and from looking up pirate traditions around earrings #they actually did put wax on their earrings for hearing protection during cannon fire #and had a lot of superstitions around them #wind waker #wind waker link #ww link #tetra #wind waker zelink #tetlink #zelink week 2022 #legend of zelda #zelink #writing

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