#sh. zelink

[foraltruism]

mini tag dump.

#ooc. rubii #ch. link wilde #sh. zelink #sh. lipha

[dandyleyen]

Been unable to sit down for more than 15 min to draw anything lately bc I have a funky little medical issue rn that I’m getting an ultrasound for in uhhh 7 hours !! Cannot walk, sit, or lay down without pain <//3 so it’s also made drawing for long periods of time kinda unbearable

Hopefully will be free of this after this doctor’s appointment but sorry for lack of any completed works o7

#Besties it’s either a cyst or I have cancer again #genuinely the only two options they gave me #dandyleyen lore #I also have no health insurance but sh we’re ignoring that rn #ANYWAYS #I just wanna be able to draw #my silly zelink art #this is kinda a vent post lol #yeah it’s a vent srry

[ladyhoneydee]

30 Day Song(fic) Challenge: Day 1

Today’s fic for my homebrew Song(fic) Challenge is for the prompt “favorite album opener”, and I just had to go with the song “State of Grace” by Taylor Swift, for her album “Red”! The drums and guitar bring on a sensation of motion and autumn that is perfect for the rest of the album, in my opinion.

a gentle wildness

Game: Twilight Princess, post-canon

Pairing: Zelink

Word Count: 817

Keywords: introspection, healing, romantic

“Even if she were to have the gift of prophecy, as ancestresses past had held, she never would have seen him coming.”

Read the fic on Ao3, or under the cut!

She’d been told the stories before she was old enough to walk.

A princess would be born in a castle—that’s you!—and she would be filled with so much goodness and light that it would drizzle from her fingers like raindrops off of a forest leaf. She would sing and the birds would sing back; she would speak and the people would remove their hats just to hear her words a little more clearly. She would grow strong and beautiful and virtuous and full of glory, glory, and she would raise her kingdom—why wasn’t it a Queendom, if she had the blood of the gods? hush now, that’s just not how the story goes—to even greater heights, while she waited for the clouds of evil to cover the sun. 

But she wouldn’t be alone. Because a hero would be born, and he would emerge from the town next to the castle—or a small village on the coast!—or from the hamlet home of a family of royal guardsmen—or the mists of an ancient forest!—and he would walk to the castle with the wind on his back, and he would take her hand, and the gale of his might would drive away the darkening clouds. 

She had been carefully coached on the course her life would take. It was truly unfortunate that she had failed at every turn.

Life? Or death?! 

And the sword had clattered to the marble floor with the metallic toll of a funeral bell. 

Midna…I believe I understand now just who and what you are…

And the light she had so diligently clutched to her chest—even after her own body had vanished in twilight and she had crafted a facsimile so convincing even a feral wolf might stand down in awe—flowed freely from her palms and into the weak frame of a truly beautiful soul, leaving her emptier than a cracked glass. 

It stood to reason that the man who came to her aid would be different than the stories had told her, as well. 

A shepherd. A keeper of flocks, a defender of the weak. A man who had learned the bow to hunt wild rabbits and deer before he ever aimed it between the eyes of a bokoblin; a man who had learned the sword to please his father and entertain his brother, despite neither being a blood relation. He had come to her not tall and strong with the wind at his back, but furred and frenzied with a imp resting upon it; and he had returned to her again with a whine on his tongue and a begging tail between his legs and the imp on his back gone inky blue with pooling blood and shadow beneath her skin; and he had taken her hand like an equal when at last she saw him on two legs rather than four. 

He may have been blessed by the goddesses, but there was not a hint of their marble polish in his touch. His was a gentle wildness all his own. 

Even if she were to have the gift of prophecy, as ancestresses past had held, she never would have seen him coming. 

They had both been wrecked by the fallout of a kingdom crumbled. They bonded over hearts shattered into mosaics, like the mirror of their mutual beloved. Each night, she put herself to bed while tremulously imagining his room empty in the next morning’s light, and the door swinging on its hinges, as he returned where he belonged. Each noon, he took lunch with her in her office, and ferried papers from her desk to her council and back, and looked upon her with such steadfastness she thought she might be sick. 

She was the most warlike queen in an age. Her accuracy with her bow was greater than even the deadliest of her sharpshooters; she trained with a rapier until only the hero could best her. She incorporated armor into her daily dress, so that if she were ever trapped in her throne room again, she could fight her way out without the need to risk everything precious to her. She entered the council room with a savage grace that spoke her determination to do right by her people without a word lilted from her tongue. 

And yet, when he led her by the hand to a quiet room, and four blue eyes and two pairs of chapped lips met in the heartbeat-silence, that armor came crashing down with the wave of the greatest joy she’d ever tasted. 

She had been born to rule with a hand of gold, with her word law writ upon stone. She led instead with scarred palms and an open heart and a grace that came not from the skies above, but was cultivated within.

She walked forward into twilight and daybreak alike with love, a man of gentle wildness at her side. 

#loz #zelink #my fanfiction #tp zelink #fanfic #loz fanfic #30 day song(fic) challenge

[nights-flying-fox]

✨️ Hi hi hello, welcome!! I'm Nighty, and I reblog a lot of stuff*, sometimes draw and write too. Both fanart & oc art!! 💖

*if you don't want to see most of my reblogs block my queue tag: #a pie for you & a queue for me

💫 For more art: @nightsfoxart ♡ For more writing: @nightyslibrary 🐢 tmnt side account (still a wip): @eughboi

⚠️ pr*sh*p / neutral etc. DNI ‼️

🦊 Art Tag: nighty arty ▪︎ Writing Tag: nighty write -y

|☆ | ◇ | ♡ |

Linktree for more social media ig

💜 AU Tags:

🐀 Animaniacs: Toons (Storks AU) • There's a Beast in There • Pirates AU

🐢 ROTTMNT: Dimension Hopper Leo AU MASTERPOST • Where You Belong (Separated AU) • Let's Grab a Slice Together • Hopelessly Surviving AU (Resurrected Leo AU) • GENERAL AU MASTERPOST

🌟 Fandom Tags / Masterlist ⬇️

🪶 Some of the stuff that I find myself thinking about them 7/24: tmnt/rottmnt (rise leo is the blorbo), hazbin hotel (alastor & rosie friendship aaa), warrior cats (longtail, hollyleaf, hawkfrost my beloveds), kingdom hearts (khux & days), the legend of zelda (miphvali & botw zelink), linked universe (legend is fav), animaniacs, pokemon (unova ftw)...

tLoZ - Breath of the Wild

Art - Fics:

-Warmth (Zelink / One-shot) AO3

-Christmas Together (Multichapter Modern AU Xmas Fic / Ongoing / Includes Zelink and Miphvali) AO3 [currently on hiatus]

-Following the Silent Princess (Modern AU / includes Zelink and Miphvali / multichaptered ongoing) AO3 [currently on hiatus]

Zines: By Your Side Zelink Zine

tLoZ - Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity

Art | Fics:

-Mountain Walk (Miphvali / One-shot) AO3 | Chinease Translation (AO3)

-For You (Zelink / written for Fated: Through Time digital zine / one-shot) AO3

Animaniacs

Art | Fics:

-Welcome Back, Doc (Space Jam: New Legacy crossover fic / multichaptered ongoing / Dad Bugs) AO3 [on hiatus but might finish it before the end of may <3 ]

-Years Ago, A Winter Night (Wakko's Wish fic / a lot of angst & hurt/comfort / multichapter & completed / XMas fic) AO3 | Playlist

-Happy Allergies Dot!! (one-shot / Dot centered) AO3

-Guilt Is Eating Him Up (one-shot / lots of angst & hurt/comfort / Wakko centered) AO3

-Toons (Storks AU / multichaptered ongoing / kinda on hiatus??) AO3

-There's a Beast in There (Beauty and the Beast AU but without any romance / multichaptered ongoing / *holds it gently* this one is my fav) AO3

Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Art | Fics:

-A Friend Against Dark (Raph centered / fluff / pre-series / one-shot) AO3

-Finish the Tale, Ven, Please? (Where You Belong AU / fluff / one-shot) AO3 * tumblr

-finding your stellar association (for @/ashwii's Celestial AU / one-shot / fluff) AO3 * tumblr

-so I dive straight back in the ocean (hurt/comfort / post-movie / Leo centric / one-shot) AO3 * tumblr | playlist

-Little Talks with a Big Robot Turtle (for @/somerandomdudelmao's Cass Apocalyptic Series / Raph centric / fluff / one-shot) AO3 * tumblr

-Deep (Purple) Thoughts (and Realizations) (Donnie centered / post-movie / angst & hurt/comfort / multichaptered ongoing) AO3

-Last Resort (Mikey centric / bad future timeline / Let's Grab a Slice Together AU but you don't have to know about it to read it / angst (with a bit of comfort??) / one-shot ) AO3

Warrior Cats

Fics:

-One Last Night (Leafpool x Hawkfrost / one-shot) AO3 | Turkish Translation

#pinned #finally did something that's gonna satisfy me and help me find my stuff!! #yay!! #to be added: ask tag #☆ tags: #nighty arty #nighty write y #☆ #◇ #♡ #. #updated: march 26 2024

[blueskittlesart]

would love to hear any thoughts and feelings u have abt oot zelink (shink??)

YES. zelda and link in oot are so. AGH. sorry this is literally 5 paragraphs LOL good luck reading it

they first meet when they are nine years old. zelda is in this state where she is completely powerless and made to feel crazy and suddenly there is someone there who listens to her. someone who can understand how helpless she feels, because he's experienced helplessness in the worst way. and he promises to HELP her. she's gotten so used to being ignored and talked over and this quiet little boy LISTENS to her and for the first time in her life she feels heard. For that first segment of oot, when link is still a kid and his only job is to get through those 3 dungeons, it's truly him and zelda against the world. she is the only person in the world who TRULY understands him. (you can argue for saria, but she's kokiri, which puts a gap between her and link, who is slowly beginning to realize just why he didn't ever belong in the forest.)

zelda made mistakes, obviously. she was nine. she told link to go to the temple of time and that caused the destruction of her kingdom. It's important to me that link doesn't EVER blame her for that. i think he actually allows her a lot more compassion and understanding than he allows HIMSELF in that situation. when he looks back on that day, it's always "Why did I take the sword" and not "why did SHE tell me to take the sword." he recognizes her compromised position moreso than he recognizes his own. she was a child in need of help, but he was a child that should have known better. there's a disconnect there that is heightened by the adults around him and how they respond to the situation, too. That's partially why he works himself so hard, because as far as he's concerned, she's gone and he has destroyed everything she worked to protect.

zelda, on the other hand, blames herself for EVERYTHING. she becomes sheik because she is no longer WORTHY of being zelda, the ancestral name that denotes WISDOM. she was not wise enough to see that she was leading the only person who ever bothered to listen to her into this terrible fate. when link wakes up, there is a HUGE struggle on sheik's part over whether he is allowed to go to him. he makes this huge show of being mysterious, of getting just close enough to give hints, to be helpful, but of disappearing the second link reaches out to him. He remembers what happened the last time he got too close. he won't hurt link like that again. He's in this constant internal battle over the way things used to be vs the way things are. he remembers link as his friend, the little boy who offered him help when no one else would, and link still IS that boy, literally he is still mentally a nine year old boy, but his exterior has grown and hardened and sheik sees a hero that link never would have needed to be if not for his mistakes.

by the end of oot they both kind of drop those pretenses, both physically (in sheik's case) and mentally everything starts to come crashing down when sheik is revealed to be zelda. all of a sudden link realizes his mistakes didn't kill zelda, and sheik realizes that his mistakes didn't destroy link. they are alive and they are together and they are POWERFUL, more powerful than they were 7 years ago and when they face ganon together they WIN. but there's still that nagging thought in the back of sheik's mind that he ripped link away from the childhood he should have had. that neither of them were allowed to grow up at a normal pace, neither of them were allowed to really GROW together. so he asks link to go back and fix it all. and link agrees, because he can see that's what sheik wants more than anything. the chance to grow up together.

you all know how i feel about child-timeline zelink. I think they take the chance their adult selves worked so hard to give them, and they grow up together. link keeps his memories, and it does hurt sometimes that zelda doesn't share them, but as he grows older it gets easier and he begins to tell her about them. she's the only one who could ever really understand. and she does.

#THEY ARE EVERYTHING TO MEEEEEEE AAAAAGHHHHHHHHHFGDSFGHJKHGFDSDGHMJ #IMNNOT NORMAL. #zelda analysis

[watercubebee]

Tag 9 people you’d like to get to know better

ISKNDCJKNSJKDCNKDS Thank u for tagging mee!!! Was tagged by @hopefulpenance

Let´s seeeeeeee

3 ships (I wish there were more than 3 ships….I have tons…well not really but, yes, I do):

Pendleshend (Henry/Murphy form SH, THIS IS MY BIGGEST OTP TOTALLY TRUE OTP THE ONE AND ONLY FOR YEARS AND YEARS TO COME)

Dreamling (Like…. LIKE AMAZING AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA I LOVE CURRENTLY HYPEFIXATION I LOOOOOOOOVEEEEEEEEEEEEEE)

Namelessshipping/Red-Green (TIMELESS, ENDLESS, THE ANGSTTTTT)

First ever ship: Mmm this one is hard, but I guess Zelink(?) or KakaIru kajsnkjnakjsnckans omg…. AND BeastBoy/Raven, I think, yeah maybe those

Last song: ɐ  im im just listening to “The Plagues” from the Prince of Egypt ost, Spanish ver.

Last movie: GLASS ONION 🌊🖤🌧

Currently reading: FICS!!!! And was reading House of Leaves, BUT DREAMLING BRAINROT DIDN’T LET ME FINISH IT

Currently watching: mmm Im not watching something, I just finished Chainsaw man but Im still reading the manga, the second part

Currently consuming: A milkshake, choco milkshake

Currently craving: I wanna eat some ice cream, the yogurt ones that you can get tons of toppings like strawberry mermelade and almonds and all that stuff, I want, those are sooooo tastyyyy jsdncjksndkcj aaaaaaaaaaaaa

I will tag (if u want uwu) @fractalspaces @lulusolier @rockangelwicked @hotcocoabuns @wiild-roses

@lucid-dreamling @valeriianz

#tag game #anscjansjkdcnjksndjkcanjkdc s #taggi....

[skyview-temple-spring]

I am 100% serious when I say I love Peatrice and Link, it might be a joke but I want what's best for Link and he deserves this cute summer fling

Peatrice is his first gentle, no strings attached love. She is shy and flirty, he is even more so. He doesn't like her at first, she's rude and bored, but when she starts saying things like "Are you here to see me?" The spark is set in his mind that... Yeah... He is going to the item check more than he needs to, and she is cute. And it blossoms from there. It's not all perfect, Peatrice says "I love you" two weeks in immediately after Link goes to the past and he has a breakdown about what love really is (he panicked and said it back—but does he really love her? Does Zelda/Hylia really love him?)

He loves Zelda, yes, but Zelda's love is pushy and rough (in a good way!!!) and takes him out of his comfort zone. Zelda's love feels conditional now, that both his best friend and his goddess will only love him if he succeeds. That doesn't mean it is, but it's different from Peatrice's totally attainable puppy love that he thinks he doesn't have to work for, all he has to do is show up at the item check and go to her house a few times. For Zelda... He has to save the entire world to be loved. (and he will, but he doesn't need to)

Maybe he had a crush on Pipit when he was younger, but Pipit will always see him as a little kid (he's only a year older but he's got a bit of a superiority complex). Skyloft's not homophobic, but it is heteronormative, and Pipit's still straight. Link's young and he doesn't want to deal with it, he's not sure what he's feeling. Pipit is sweet, but condescending, and he will always have to strive to be better in his eyes. Zelda teased him about being lazy but accepted it and planned accordingly, Pipit thinks he could do better if he just tried harder. If Link is ADHD hearing that shit hurts. Pipit thinks everyone should just be like him, and doesn't see Link's way of doing things. Pipit's attention always comes with criticism, and while that sometimes helps him, it's not a good basis for a relationship.

And whatever he has with Ghirahim is not love and is nothing like it. If Zelda's love is rough and pushy, Ghirahim's is violent and possessive and toxic and he doesn't want it, but it's a distraction. He's always a second, third, fourth thought, he's a sidenote and an annoyance and an obstacle. Peatrice and Ghirahim are both distractions and/or coping mechanisms, but Peatrice is like excessive and empty self care that does nothing. Ghirahim is self harm. (I'm ghiralink trash so yeah that changes post game but in game let them be a dysfunctional toxic mess. They have to really be enemies first in order for there to be enemies to lovers)

Peatrice's love is too good to be true, but love isn't perfectly gentle and sweet and romantic all the time. It doesn't last, because Peatrice never really liked him, she liked the idea of a secret boyfriend, and as soon as it's not a secret she starts losing feelings (she didn't do it on purpose, she kind of fell for the first guy that showed her any attention—one way of thinking about this is they're both just gay and didn't realize it)

Peatrice and Link is GOOD it's not an OTP or whatever but it's very interesting to think about

#I still ship Peatrice/Groose and Zelda/Link so I think they're more bi than gay/lesbian #but the joy of fiction is they can be both (at different times in different worlds) #peatrice x link #peatrice #link #skyward sword #I'm going to tag the other ships. mostly for if they're on people's blacklists #zelink #piplink #ghiralink #Zelda #Ghirahim #Pipit #headcanons #I think I just. really like Link #long post #it's long I ramble #self harm mention #tw self harm #sh #tw sh #sh mention #cw self harm mention

[the-quest-for-orcristan-comic]

The MidWinter Festival

Word Count: 3170

Pairing: Zelink

The Quest For Orcristan bonus story, contains mild spoilers for the comic itself. Happy Holidays, from me to you!

Love Binkus 💖

The city of Acana was a far ways off and their resources were running low. Zelda was starting to worry as the snow was getting thicker for their bodies to keep trudging through. They had stopped to rest at a nearby stable, and Zelda had bought them both winter gear for the colder season approaching. After landing in the Isles of Orcristan with nothing to their names, the journey had taken longer than she had planned. Everything was supposed to be smooth sailing, Link was not supposed to be building rafts every time they reached the end of an island, they were supposed to be accompanied by a fleet of soldiers Zelda had hand picked to help in their quest, but they were alone. Goddesses above, it was a miracle they were both alive and together. She sighs, watching as Link digs his way through the snow towards the bushel of spicy peppers peeking out from a lonely branch. She could see the drool on the corner of his lips, and she knew that he didn’t know these peppers were spicy. The native plants and vegetables of Orcristan varied immensely from Hyrule’s more mild vegetation. Oh, she wishes to have her journals. All the work she had done, the recipes for elixirs, all of them had been lost to sea that fateful night and the ones on her person had no chance of surviving the waters that penetrated their delicate pages. She nearly cries from the thought alone but she looks at her fiance once more, who’s bitten into a pepper and was now shoving handfuls of snow into his mouth to cool the burning sensation on his tongue and lips. The sobs catch in her throat and her lip trembles at the sight of him.

Link, him being here with her made her feel a million times better. This situation could have been a lot worse, and she doesn’t know if she could survive without him. She does know, she wouldn't be able to make it. Book wise, Zelda was smart, she could tell you how to survive in a freak storm and could list all the steps in perfect order, but when it came down to it she would freeze in panic and terror. Link, bone headed as he was, may not know the steps and codes, but he was quick on his feet and took every challenge head on. His solutions may not be the best but they somehow always did the trick. Zelda was infinitely grateful for his sharp mind. A sigh tumbles from her lips, the cold air swirling in front of her face resembling the dragons from back home. Link is steaming in a heap in the snow, whining about how hot the peppers were. Giggling, Zelda joins him in the snow and wipes the tears from his eyes, pulling the flask of milk from her bag. She hands it to him and he accepts the offering with as much grace as he can muster up in his state of being. He tries not to drink the last of their milk, letting it sit on his tongue as he caps the flask.

“That should help reduce the side effects of the burns.” Zelda says softly, replacing the flask in her stachel.

“I believe that if cooked in a certain way these peppers can be used to create cold resistance elixirs. Maybe we should take some with us, it will be getting colder from here on out.”

Link fans his face with his mitten clad hands and pants after swallowing his milk. He gathers some of the peppers and places them in his own bag, Zelda gathers the leaves that remained on the plant. She looks around at their surroundings, they were quite a ways off from the stable, she wonders if there would be any towns or stables up ahead. She helps Link up from the snow, seeing as he’s sunken into it. They continue on their journey, not quite sure which was North anymore. All of her studies on the stars had been rendered useless when the skies were stormy and grey, or the view was obstructed by snow storms. Link at one point had a compass but it had gotten lost at sea, just like everything else had. The Master Sword and shield strapped to his back along with his bags were the only items that he had been able to salvage. He holds her hand as they wander, nothing but wearisome travellers in this vast land. Zelda didn’t quite feel like a Queen stranded here on the Isles, no, she felt down trodden and lost. Link, the adventurer, was completely in his element despite the bitter cold. He had a keen eye and sense of direction and his adventuring skills came in handy. Again, Zelda couldn’t begin to describe how thankful she was that he had made it safely to the Isles with her.

It’s been hours, everything had looked the same up until this point but Link had insisted that he smelt something different in the air, something aside from the pine trees lingering like a glinting of hope.

“Soup, or maybe a chili.” He had licked his lips, and of course the thing that would draw out his sense of direction would be food. The promise of a safe guard from the blistering winds that had picked up as they plowed through the snow. Sure enough Link had been right! Zelda had smelt it sometime after, a scent that could only be described as warmth and comfort. She lets Link’s nose guide them further along, he tugs on her arm and they stumble into a clearing. A town! An honest to Goddess town! Smoke rises from the chimneys of the stone houses and the scent that Link had been drooling over is ever apparent now, pumpkin soup. The chill in her bones melts away from the warmth of the cozy lamp glow above, the close proximity of the houses blocking out the harsh winds. Link looks just as relieved as she is, his cheeks bright red from the wind burn he had received. Her eyes are immediately on his cheeks in worry, the concern filling her weary bones with tension once more.

“Oh gods, Link, your poor face!” His cheeks squish in her hands and his skin burns slightly from her touch. He brushes her hands away, smiling, just happy to be somewhere that wasn’t the mountains of snow they faced to get here.

“I’m okay, let’s find an Inn. I’m sure they’ll have one!” He says, optimistically. Link leads her, taking her hand once more. Zelda takes in the decorations on the houses, the lamp posts outside, even within the windows at the shops. The town was bigger than she had expected when they stumbled into it, and she soon realizes that what she thought was a town was in fact a city. People pass them in the streets, dressed in festive garbs and children hold small books, singing and dancing together. Carollers. Zelda stops an elderly woman in their path, adjusting the hat on her head.

“Excuse me ma’am, I apologize for bothering you…” She starts as Link is tugged back to her side before he wanders off alone.

“My fiance and I seem to be lost, we were wondering where we might be.” She smiles nervously and the woman smiles wide.

“Why, you have found yourselves in the city of Eimburg and just in time for the holidays too!” Her cheerful voice is pleasant and Zelda smiles back warmly.

“Thank you, and if you’d be so kind, could you point us in the direction of the nearest inn?” The woman nods and gives them the directions they were looking for, she wishes them a happy holiday before carrying on her merry way.

“Holidays?” Link looks up to Zelda as she navigates her way through the streets towards the Black Dove Inn the old woman had spoken of.

“Hmm, yes. I believe that in the winter season in Orcristan, the residents of the Isles celebrate a holiday called Midwinter Festival. From what I remember it’s a week-long affair, with candles and gift giving and each day you light a candle on the mantle or the window sill.”

Zelda points to a window in a house where a menorah is on display. Seven candles are placed within it, each a different color. Link’s eyes are fixed upon the colors, the vibrancy of the wax candles, the polished gold of the menorah. He had never heard, or seen, anything quite like it; candles were seldom used in Hyrule thanks to modern technology such as the luminous stone lamps.

“During the Midwinter Festival, families will set up a tree in their homes and they will decorate it with orbs of color and precious gems. Wrapped gifts sit underneath the trees and they stay there until the seventh day when the festival comes to a head. They light the last candle on the menorah and they have a large feast and open their gifts. The festivities come to a close on the eight day.” She explains, Link���s eyes gazing further into the house to see the tree she had talked about. It was barren of decorations, but he assumes it will be decorated soon.

“They’re like small pine trees!” He exclaims, looking back at her. Zelda smiles, nodding.

“Yes, exactly like small pine trees!” She giggles. “There are several festive activities that happen within the week. Ariana had explained them to me once, in a letter years ago. She had sent me extravagant gifts and exotic plant clippings for my research.” Link joins her at her side again and they continue on.

“Maybe, we can afford to stay the week and witness the festival.” He suggests, filled with wonder and awe much like a child. They had been on the move constantly, he was achy and sore, they deserved a break. Zelda loosens the scarf around her neck and smiles.

“I think that’s a wonderful idea, my beloved.”

The inn was warm, and the staff was warmer. Link spoke to the maids and the cooks and everyone else he could find to gather information about the Midwinter Festival. He wanted to be able to participate in something so wonderful such as a holiday. He had bought a small tree from a store closest to the inn while Zelda was out gathering information on their whereabouts. She purchased a compass and a map from a local tourism guide, while Link had spent his money on a cheap menorah and the colored candles to go with it. He studied the menorah set up in the shop and when he got to their room in the inn, set it up the same way. The tree was placed in the corner, barren of decor like all the others he’s seen so far but he had a box of what looked to be what he thought the decorations would look like from what Zelda described. He didn’t know what else was needed for such a holiday but he was confident that he would be able to figure it out. It wasn’t much, but the stress from the journey had been whisked away as soon as Link had put his mind to other things. He wanders out into the hallway again, bumping into Zelda whose nose was buried in the map she bought, pinpointing their location and mapping their journey when they were to leave Eimburg.

“Link! Please, watch your step love.” She scolds a bit, stressed out. He tilts his head at her, pouting.

“We’re supposed to be taking a break, Zel. C’mon, I wanna go get some of that soup I smelt earlier.” He gushes, smiling wide. She can’t resist the adorable look on his face and she grants him the yes he so desperately wants to hear. She’s dragged down the hallway she emerged from in seconds, having little to no time to pack up her things. That nose of his once again guides them down the streets towards a restaurant, the smoke billows from the chimney above and Zelda looks to the sign above the door.

“The Lumpy Pumpkin?” She giggles and Link looks up, sure enough. He’s laughing too but he pushes the door to the restaurant open and they wander inside. The smell floods their noises and it’s been so long since they’ve had real, hot food. No, the pepper Link ate earlier does not count. They’re seated, served and Link eats with his usual gusto, causing Zelda to laugh. The soup is delicious, exactly what the two fatigued travellers needed. Link leans back in his seat and Zelda almost has to carry him back to the inn. They settle in for the night after she questions his holiday purchases with a giddy chuckle.

“I thought we deserved to have a little fun.” He yawns, snuggling into her as she wraps her arms around him. Kissing the top of his head, she smiles, thanking him softly. She falls asleep to the soft sounds of his snoring, dreaming of a soft holiday fire curled up next to him.

It’s warm underneath the covers and the morning sun rises as Zelda does. With a yawn she gently untangles herself from behind her sleeping partner. Link snores, his hair haloed around his head, the sun catching the golden strands. She stretches her arms above her head, today marks the first day of the Midwinter Festival and she knew when Link awoke he would want to light the candle with her. Maybe staying in Eimburg would be exactly what they needed in order to carry on to Acana. Still, Zelda couldn’t help but worry, Ariana was expecting them and they still weren’t any closer to the Kingdom’s capital city. A week was a long time, especially when her call was one of despair and desperation. The demise of Orcristan would not come to a halt for a celebration. The thoughts plague her mind as she puts on the kettle for a cup of tea. Her eyes flicker back to Link, a soldier who had been through so much already, he must be exhausted and sick of saving worlds. She wondered how he managed to stay so lighthearted with times of mayhem and deep sadness. Maybe she should be more like him, take it as it comes and figure it out later. The kettle steams and she pulls two mugs from the small cupboards overhead, dropping a tea bag in each before filling them. One she fills half way, she knew Link liked his tea with milk and honey, and if he awoke in time to fix it for himself she wanted to make sure she filled it to the right amount for him. Zelda looks out the window, snow gently falls, and from inside it looks so peaceful and cozy, one thing Hyrule didn’t have a lot of was snow. Unless you were on the mountains, then it was only snow for as far as the eyes could see. She notices Link roll over from the corner of her eye, stretching his arms high above his head with a mighty yawn. She smiles as she turns to face him.

“Good morning, sleepy head. Today is the first day of the Midwinter Festival.” Her smile is warm like blazing fire and her eyes glimmer in the morning sunshine. Link hums, rolling onto his side to face her.

“Good morning, kinda cold without you in bed with me.” He hums, a teasing smile on his face. She closes the gap between them, placing a kiss on his lips, holding her mug of tea.

“I fixed you a cup, would you like milk and honey?” Zelda asks sweetly, Link nods and she wanders off to finish his tea. They sit in the bed and drink tea, Zelda talks about the journey ahead and the routes she had planned out, trying to strategize which route would be easiest to get to their destination. Link only hums in response, sipping his tea and taking the time he had been given to relax. He sighs softly, leaning against his beloved’s shoulder.

“You worry too much, my love.” He says softly, his fingers lacing with hers. She looked down at him, she had no other choice! If he wasn’t to worry and neither was she, then who was to make sure they stayed on track? Who was to make sure they made it to Acana to meet with the Maiden herself? Zelda scoffs.

“I do no such thing, Sir Link. I am simply keeping us on track.” She rationalizes, though she knows the truth, he was right. Zelda worried too much. Enough for the both of them.

“Shall we light the first candle?” She changes the subject quickly, noticing her mug is empty and so is his. Link lights up at the mention of the candles.

“Which one gets lit first?”

A week may have been too long for the travellers to pause their journey to Acana, but a week was exactly what they needed in order to revive their depleted energies. Link was looking more alive, that usual hop in his step had returned and the lively smile on his face was bright enough to light up even the darkest of places yet again. As for Zelda? Well, she had stopped worrying so much, instead focused on her excitable fiance as they sang, ate, rejoiced in festivities with the people of Eimburg and gave gifts. It wasn’t much but Link had carved her a fox over the week, her favourite animal, and she cherished it. She had gotten Link a new tunic, he always needed more because some way or another he would ruin his. It was blue, and she had never seen him in blue before but she thought the color would make his eyes pop.

Yes, a week was a long time for the Hylian travellers, but they said goodbye to the friends they had made in Eimburg with full satchels and full hearts. The journey to Acana would seem less dreadful, and Zelda was thankful for that. They walked down the streets and came to the arched entry way of Eimburg, where a beautiful bunch of white flowers hung overhead. Link had it placed there, a little Hylian tradition to end their holiday, and he pulls her down for a kiss. Zelda gasps in surprise, but easily falls deeper into the kiss, lifting him so he wasn’t standing on his toes. Their lips pull away and she looks above them, shaking her head with a smile.

“Mistletoe...” She looks at him, wonder and love in her eyes. Link smiles, brushing the hair from Zelda’s face. She hugs him closer, and she’s never felt more at home with him in her arms. Their lips meet once more, passion and warmth spreading from her body to his. Link whispers against her lips, his hand on her cheek.

“Happy holidays, Zelda.”

#loz the quest for orcristan #the quest for orcristan bonus content #the quest for orcristan zelda #the quest for orcristan link #Zelink #tqfo #legend of zelda #link #Zelda #holidays #loz #legend of Zelda

[deiliamedlini]

Unmasked

This is for the ball/masquerade zelink prompt by @zelink-prompts !

Summary: When Princess Zelda’s older sister is betrothed to the Prince of Faron, Zelda sets out for information about the mystery man, only to find herself in a whirlwind romance with the handsome stranger she just keeps meeting. 

Expand at your own risk. The Word Count for this is 13,563. Or read at Ao3/FFN where it’s arguably easier to read

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The Kingdom of Hyrule was at peace.

That in and of itself was a rare thing. So, when King Rhoam Hyrule decreed that his daughter be married to a Prince of Faron, the kingdom was surprised. Such arranged marriages were often only performed during times of war and necessity. But Hyrule was a flourishing kingdom with little need for anything. Faron was smaller, but it was by no means poor or needing of Hyrule’s aid.

Thus, the speculation began.

Was Hyrule secretly in need? Was there an upcoming war? Was something wrong with the Princess herself?

That’s how Princess Zelda found herself sitting in the gardens with her sister, hands clasped as they awaited the arrival of the Faronian Prince and his mother who acted as his escort.

“Why is Father doing this?” Zelda asked, her grip on her sister tightening, afraid. “I don’t want you to go.”

And though the Prince would be arriving at any time within a few days, the wedding was still a long time away, and he and his mother were to be guests until then so they could learn about each other through a lengthy engagement. There were matters to be decided, such as whether the Prince and Princess would live in Faron or Hyrule, whose surname they’d each take, or if they’d change them at all.

Rae, Zelda’s older sister, pulled Zelda’s hand closer, bent over her entire arm, heaving with nerves, clutching to her sister like a lifeline. “I don’t know. This is all so sudden! I’m not even sure I’m ready! What if he’s cruel? What if, and pardon the Goddess for this thought, but what if he’s hideous?”

Princess Rae Hyrule, the oldest daughter of King Rhoam, had been inseparable from her younger sister since the day Zelda had been born. Though there were a few years difference between them, and Rae was nearing her mid-twenties while Zelda had just entered them, they spent most of their days together, hooked by the arm, laughing, crying, singing, reading, gossiping, or otherwise causing some level of mischief together.

Many affectionately called them the Twin Princesses. Not only were they close, but they looked very similar. Both had golden hair, though Zelda had let hers grow down her back and favored a practical braid each day if not tying it up and out of her face completely, Rae had cut her hair neatly above her shoulders. There was some discrepancy in their face shape, and Zelda boasted the most verdant green eyes while Rae had brilliant hazel eyes. But besides that, they were nearly twins.

When a feature didn’t match, it was mirrored. Rae often complained of new worry lines that had recently begun to crease on her forehead permanently, but she often teased Zelda for the deep creases that appeared just between her sister’s eyebrows anytime she made a disgruntled face. Zelda was taller, but Rae was more graceful when they walked. Rae was more politically minded, a genius of sorts whenever she sat in on council sessions, while Zelda was a born researcher, more apt with books and theory and logic than the manipulations of court intrigue..

Zelda patted her sister’s arm and wriggled herself free. “I’ll go see what I can find in town. You’re going to be watched far more than me until they arrive.”

“Don’t remind me,” Rae laughed, but it was forced and merely for her sister’s benefit. She stood up and brushed herself off.

Rae led Zelda back into the large palace, heading up the many grand staircases until they reached their rooms, both turning left down the hall to Zelda’s rather than right, to Rae’s room.

Rae flopped onto Zelda’s bed while Zelda rummaged through the closet, grabbing a dress that she’d hidden underneath the skirts of another that she never used. She pulled both off the hanger and replaced her decoy in the closet, changing as hastily as she could.

Zelda was no stranger to escaping the castle unnoticed. In fact, she did it so often that she had a hidden stash of items hidden in a hollowed-out tree just outside of town that she used for observational field studies. Rae had accompanied her once or twice, but it was often too difficult for her to escape the notice of guards for too long. But Zelda, the second child, was under far less scrutiny and managed much easier.

She donned a hooded cloak and her worn travelling boots. She undid her neatly braided hair, done perfectly by her lady’s maids, and redid the braid herself so it wasn’t nearly as pristine.

Both headed to one of the secret emergency exits that led from the castle and out into Hyrule Field. Rae gave her sister a kiss on the cheek before closing the door, off on a mission of her own to see what her favorite servants knew of this Faronian Prince.

Zelda, on the other hand, spent a long walk through the dark tunnel ruminating about the loss of her sister. They’d always been together, they spent most of their time together… what would she do without her?

Zelda crossed Hyrule Field wishing that there was something she could do to keep her sister with her. And she ended up lost in her thoughts as she walked along the path through a deeply wooded area that she’d been through many times before.

So, when she felt something hard crash into her, knocking her to the ground, she let out a surprised scream. Her mouth was covered by a hand, her scream muffled almost immediately as they both fell to the ground, rolling into the brush on the side of the road.

Zelda struggled to free herself, trying to scream and to break from the tight arms that held her down. She was a Princess of Hyrule, and she would not be mugged by a common thief in the woods outside of town! Her legs kicked, and the stranger threw his own leg over hers to stop her squirming.

But Zelda fell helplessly still when she saw that the man who’d crashed into her wasn’t the biggest threat.

Several large moblins thudded onto the path, banging their heavy clubs against the dirt. They each let out an enraged and frustrated scream, an inhuman noise that Zelda and Rae had attempted to imitate all their lives for fun, yet never came close to even a fragment of the actual terror they produced.

The man let go of her mouth, trusting that she knew not to scream now, and leaned over her to see through the thicket. His breath was rapid in her ear. She was sure he could feel her shaking. Never had she been this close to a moblin, let alone several.

The moblins turned towards them, and Zelda subconsciously cowed back into the man. He put a hand reassuringly on her arm, using the moment to get more of himself over her, like he was ready to jump out if he needed to.

After an endless moment of searching the area, the moblins grew bored as they realized that they’d lost their prey. Their weapons dragged in the dirt, leaving a thin line trailing behind.

One more moment to be sure, and the man let go of Zelda.

As soon as she was able, Zelda scrambled to her feet, brushing off her dress and checking her knee, revealing a scrape there and one on her palm.

The man followed her. “I’m so sorry, Miss. I didn’t realize someone else was on the path.”

Zelda looked up at him. He was stunning. His blue eyes pierced through the bright daylight, and his blonde hair reflected the sun. He was neatly dressed, if a bit disheveled from their tumble. And his accent… Zelda hated to admit that she swooned at the sound of his voice. Her first impression of him, the one where he’d collided with her, had been replaced by this true first impression: an apology, saving her, and his extremely good looks.

She cursed herself for thinking such shallow thoughts, but this was out of a storybook: a handsome man crashed into her so they could hide from moblins.

“That’s alright,” Zelda said, checking herself again. “I’d rather be knocked into a bush than killed by moblins.”

“Are you hurt?” he asked, noticing her hand. There was a friction burn, red and irritated, though there was no cut skin.

“No, I’m alright. You?” She looked him over more thoroughly. He had a small knife on his belt, but that was all she could see for weapons. His hand was scuffed as well, but he looked otherwise unharmed.

“I’m fine, thank you.”

“What made them chase you?” Zelda asked, looking down the path.

“Got in their way. I almost forgot how territorial they are. Won’t be making that mistake again,” he chuckled. He brushed himself off and glanced at his palm before extending his hand. “I’m Link.”

Zelda grinned as he spoke. “You’re Faronian, right?”

He chuckled. “What gave me away: the overused name or the accent?”

“Both, I’m afraid.” Nearly every boy in Faron was named Link out of respect for the roots of the Hero. “I’m Z—” she froze. He might be Faronian, but she looked like the princess, she sounded like she was raised on a formal education, and she was named Zelda. He might put it all together. “I’m—Sh—Hil—uh—Tetra. Sorry, I’m stuttering. I’m Tetra.”

“Tetra? Good to meet you.” He looked her over once and then stared at the tree line. “I’m sorry. I don’t remember if I apologized or if I simply asked if you were okay. But I’m sorry for crashing into you.”

“No, you apologized.”

“Right, good.” He scratched his nose and nodded. “I’m heading into town, so…”

“Oh, so am I.”

His brows perked up. “Are you? Would you like an escort? We’re headed that way, and it might be strange to just silently walk in the same direction and pretend not to notice the other.”

Zelda giggled. He was red, and clearly nervous. “Yes, that would be great. Thank you.” She started to walk and soon, they both fell into step beside each other.

“Any… exciting business in town?” Link asked awkwardly.

Zelda shook her head. “I’m just going to see what gossip I can catch up on. Your Prince is meant to be coming here soon, so I was curious if anyone knew more.”

“I do. Ask away.”

“Really?” Zelda asked, a smile creeping over her face.

“Of course.”

“Great!” Zelda cleared her throat and attempted to compose herself. “Sorry, I mean thank you. Do you know when he’s going to be here?”

“Tomorrow. He left several days ago and should be in time for the ball. His caravan with the Queen is less than a day outside the city, but they’re stopped. Looks like they’re just waiting out the night.”

“What does he even look like?”

“Like most Faronians, I suppose. Blonde, blue eyes. A swordsman in his spare time. A bit quiet, though. And short.”

Zelda turned suspiciously to him. “Short? Height-wise?”

“Yes. Though, rumor has it, he’s terribly self-conscious about it.”

“That’s what the public eye will get you: self- conscious thoughts, and doubts about everything.”

Link scoffed. “You speak as if you know.”

Zelda bit her lip and held out her arms. “Well, it’s obvious, isn’t it? That someone always being stared at and judged will feel that internally.”

He hummed, content with that answer. “That’s true.”

They walked down the long path to town. “How exactly did you attract that many moblins?” she asked after a long stretch of silence.

“They recognize one of their own,” he chuckled.

Zelda shot him a bemused look.

“Like I said, they’re territorial… I just forgot where their territory was. Crossed into it and the rest is history.”

“You’re fortunate,” she said, looking him over. Besides the scrapes from their tumble, he looked entirely unharmed. “Moblins are also very aggressive.”

“They are. We don’t have quite as many of them in Faron, so I nearly forgot.”

“I’ve been seeing quite a few people from Faron coming into Hyrule lately,” Zelda noted. “Your Prince among them.”

“And Queen.”

“Not the King?”

“No. He hasn’t been in travelling condition for a while, so he’s handling things back home.”

The walk passed quickly with them both deep in conversation with the other. It was trivial chatter, but engaging and interesting none the less. Zelda realized that she liked this stranger and wasn’t eager to be parted from him just yet.

So, when they arrived in town, she hastily offered to show him around. He accepted, and she led him through the streets that she’d familiarized herself with, keeping her hooded cloak up and her head down, though she hadn’t been in public as Princess for some time.

They ate together at her favorite hole-in-the-wall location, The Lumpy Pumpkin, and Zelda learned that Link had the appetite of a starving man. He barely chewed his food, swallowing pieces nearly whole at times.

He still had table manners, which surprised her for someone eating so aggressively as Link did. She imagined his parents must have drilled it into his brain as a child for the to stick so subconsciously.

He’d apologized, but Zelda found it almost endearing.

They’d stayed at the table long after the food had gone, just so they could speak a little longer. He told her of home, and she gushed about Hyrule. He listened while she griped about the pressures her father was putting on her and her sister, while he understood every bit of it, feeling the same from his mother.

She’d gladly paid for both their meals—especially because he’d brought the wrong amount of Faronian rupees, forgetting the conversion rate. And when she sat at the table with him, both ready to part and go their separate ways, he hesitated.

“Would you… are you doing anything… specific?”

Zelda grinned. “No, I’m not. Are you?”

A bashful look spread over his face. “I… don’t have any plans. I was just… I was coming into town and… and I didn’t…” he cleared his throat and shook his head, starting over. “Would you like to join me?”

---

“And then he said, ‘Zelda, I’m in love with you.’”

“That’s not what happened!” Rae shouted, slamming her palm on the mattress.

Zelda giggled and pulled the blanket up higher to engulf her in a cocoon.

“This isn’t fair!” Rae pouted. “You got a fairytale day, and I get some prince that I now know a whole four things about.”

And it was true; Zelda and Link had spent the whole day together.

They’d gone to several stalls, and Zelda had pointed out landmarks that he seemed unfamiliar with. He’d told her of Faron, and she’d described other areas of Hyrule to him.

At one point, they’d both found their hands interlocked, though neither knew who’d initiated it. Still, she felt indulgent, and rather than pulling away, she kept hold of him.

And when it came time to separate, the moon was already high. He offered to walk her back home, but she’d declined, needing to keep that much a secret. Besides, she was right near the cave that led to the passage back home.

It was with huge regret that she’d let go of his hand.

“Are you going to see him again?” Rae asked eagerly.

“I don’t think so. He had to head back, and I obviously have the ball today, so I couldn’t ask to meet him.”

“You should have just asked him to the ball.”

“He thinks I’m Tetra, remember?”

“Well, Tetra,” Rae teased with a sigh, “We have to get ready, unfortunately.”

Zelda pushed the thoughts of the stranger from her mind. “Today, for just a few hours, we can hide behind our anonymity. Be happy.”

“You literally went into town, crashed into an attractive stranger, and didn’t have to wear a suffocating mask for no one to recognize you. You get two days.”

Zelda stuck out her tongue and slid out from the blankets, returning to her room to get dressed.

Laid out for Zelda was a long blue ballgown, intricate with the patterning, but otherwise not indicative of her royal status. A masquerade was meant to be a guessing game, after all. Her dress showed little besides her family’s wealth, which anyone attending the celebrations tonight most likely displayed anyway.

Her mask was a full-faced porcelain abstract representation of the pale moon. There were golden designs all along it, etched into the mask itself, and forming a halo over the top. Personally, she thought it looked a little too much like the sun. She’d had hers altered so the mask was cut off by the time it reached her mouth, allowing her the ability to breathe and eat unobstructed.

She was only wearing this mask because Rae was going to wear the blood moon mask, one very similar to her own but fashioned in red like her dress, and since they were sisters, they agreed that they had to match.

Zelda’s hair was loose and in deliberate waves, which she figured would be good because of how rarely she kept her normally pin straight hair down at public events.

The ball was later in the evening. Rae and Zelda stayed together in one of the castle’s libraries, their identities known only by a few of the servants who helped them get ready. They were to be fashionably late to the party, that way no one would be able to assume that the hosts were among the first guests.

“You may enter now,” one of the ladies said, peeking her head into the library.

Rae pulled Zelda by the hand and linked their arms tightly together. “If you find someone who may be the Prince, you’ll have to let me know!”

“And if you find someone who can take my mind off Link, you let me know.”

Rae grinned and pulled her mask down. “My baby sister’s growing up.”

“Shut up.”

They could hear the music and the echo of chatter long before they reached the grand ballroom. They were led in through a casual door on the side, meant to avoid any grand entrance.

And so, they melded seamlessly into the crowd, still clutching the others’ arm to navigate without being separated. They were knocked into several times, which—while annoying—was almost refreshing. They were so used to the space that was given to them for their titles.

Zelda giggled as she took in all the incredible colors, bright and vibrant and intense. There were masks on every face, including those serving the food and drinks and entertainment. While the ballroom floor was packed and occupied, there were dancers off in the corners, there were performers in far more eccentric clothes standing in designated areas doing tricks.

Brushing past a woman in a white dress, Zelda pulled Rae to slow her down to avoid spilling the woman’s wine. She looked up and giggled harder. This was Lady Impa. Her mask went around her eyes, but hid no other part of her face. Zelda wondered how that was meant to accomplish any level of anonymity. But knowing Lady Impa, she probably wanted to be recognized, hence her choice.

Rae let go of Zelda once they were in the center of the room watching dancers spin with elegant grace. Dresses swished with the movement, almost giving off an ethereal quality to their motions as fabric seemingly moved without prompting.

The men were just as intriguing as the women, however. Lavish and outrageous colors were expected, so the typical boring, dull colors she was used to during a normal event were nowhere to be found.

Ducking, Zelda let go of Rae to avoid a rather large mask that stuck straight out like the snout of a Moblin. They giggled together before moving away.

Then, a man was in front of them, stepping backwards. And they walked straight into him.

“Oh! Forgive me!” Rae said, pushing Zelda back a bit as she grabbed the man’s arm apologetically before letting go.

He bowed his head. It had Zelda’s heart spike that they’d already been recognized, but quickly remembered that was just a typical greeting. “No, forgive me,” he said in a Hylian accent. Not the prince. “I just moved into the middle of this walkway. The fault is mine.”

Rae shook her head and went to reach for Zelda again when the man took a step forward.

“Would you be interested in an apology dance?”

Her hand froze in the air between her and Zelda. “Uh…” She glanced behind her and Zelda smiled, stepping back to give Rae some space. “Yes, a mutual apology then.”

The man held his hand out for Rae, and she took it as they walked onto the dancefloor.

Rae shot Zelda an excited smile before disappearing into the crowd of bodies.

And that’s where she stayed for three songs.

Zelda stayed on the edge of the floor, watching Rae twirl with unbridled grace as, dance after dance, a new partner replaced the last.

She felt a twinge of jealousy and embarrassment, as no one was asking her. She was so clearly alone and watching the dances. And a hit to her self-confidence had her wondering if the only reason people were ever interested in striking up a conversation with her was because she was a Princess of Hyrule.

It was that realization that had Zelda needing air.

She doubled away from the dance floor, pushing her way through the crowd. She needed privacy for a moment. She needed this stupid mask off just so she could breathe, but the ballroom was so crowded. There was no space. There was no room. There was no air.

She picked up the pace once she was out of the congested area, nearing a jog just to get away from this room of strangers.

And crashed directly into a man.

She heard him grunt, but that was all she could process before they both tumbled to the ground. She was on top of him, and a new level of embarrassment flooded her as she crawled off him, helped by a servant who’d seen the whole thing. He pulled the man to his feet as well before a wave of panicked hysteria burst from Zelda’s lips.

“I’m so, so sorry! I didn’t mean to… are you hurt? I wasn’t paying any attention, Goddess, that’s… I’m sorry! It was so crowded in there and I need to get out and then I get over here where there’s one person, and I run into you like a stampeding herd of animals. I’m so sorr—”

“Tetra?”

Zelda froze, stopping mid-sentence. There was only one person she’d used that name with.

She was finally able to take him in: he was wearing a green and gold ensemble, an expensive one. It almost looked like it was decidedly more embellished and expensive than hers. And his mask was a green dragon, Farosh. It jutted out over his face a bit for the dragon’s nose, and it fell into a point in the back, like a tail or a pointy hat.

“Link?”

He smiled, his mouth, part of his nose, and his eyes visible under his mask. “Yes.”

Zelda gasped and took a step back. “I… why are you here?”

“Why are you?”

Zelda stuttered and pointed dumbly to the ballroom, lost for words. The stranger from yesterday. Of all the thousands of people in that room, that great, packed room with several balconies just as crowded… of all those people, she ran into the one man she’d met yesterday, and the one man she’d tried all night to forget.

Because who’d ever expect to find the perfect stranger again in this lifetime?

Not Zelda. Not here. Not on the one day everyone’s face was hidden.

“I’m… I’m at the ball.”

He chuckled and pulled her off to the side, out of someone’s way as they walked through to another room. “Yes, so am I.”

“Right, but why?”

“Do you think it’s a bad thing that I’m here?”

“No!” she said too hastily. “I mean, it’s unexpected, but certainly not bad.”

“I thought I’d never see you again,” he admitted, adjusting his mask. “I’m glad the gods proved me wrong, tonight of all nights.”

“What’s special about tonight?”

She swore she could see him raise an eyebrow in amusement. “Well, a ball, for one. But really, it’s more than that. Now that I’m here in Hyrule, my life is going to change, and this is my last great goodbye to my old life, I suppose.”

“Why is your life changing?”

“Well, the very act of moving here, for one,” he said simply. But he cleared his throat. “I’m sorry, you were rushing off somewhere. Am I keeping you?”

“No! Not at all. I needed to get out of that crowd for a moment. I was… well, no. It’s so stupid, now that I think about it.”

“What?”

“I was just… people were dancing with my sister, and I wasn’t… I just… I don’t know. I suppose I’m used to people asking me to dance, and I sort of spiraled. These events are so easy to be consumed by.”

“Do you come here often?” he said with a crooked grin.

Zelda rolled her eyes. “Yes, actually. I… work here.” Not a lie. Princess of Hyrule was her job.

He hummed and cleared his throat. “You do?”

If Zelda didn’t know better, she’d say his voice cracked with nerves. “Yes.”

A vein in his neck bulged and he swallowed hard, quick to change the subject. “Why didn’t you just ask someone beside you to dance? I’m sure there was a partner who’d have obliged you.”

She turned to him and shook her head. “I’ve never asked someone. It’s just not something I’ve had to do.” She groaned. “That sounds so shallow of me.”

“Well, it’s the curse of frequenting a ballroom. People ask people they find attractive to dance.” His smile turned mischievous. “And while we’re on that subject, are you still eager to get away from the crowd, or would you honor me with a dance?”

Zelda was grateful for the mask covering her face, though she could feel everything heating up, and knew her neck had to be turning red if her cheeks were this flushed. “I would like that. But only if you tell me what you’re doing here as well. I told you why I’m here.”

Link offered her his arm. “Fair deal.”

She took it and they made their way back into the crowd. It was much too loud to have a normal conversation, so Zelda simply clung to Link’s arm as they pushed through the packed room, being jostled and elbowed, but their arms kept them from being separated in such a large area.

The previous song was ending, and they hurried to make it into place on the floor before the next could begin. Here, with some breathing room, it was easier to speak to one another.

“Do you know how to dance?” she asked.

And her heart skipped slightly when the music softly gathered, starting the tune to a familiar waltz, and she was answered by a wink.

He bowed to her, as every partner did, and she curtseyed back before Link moved in front of her again. His hand wrapped under her arm and rested perfectly on her back while he took her other hand in his.

Well, he knew how to stand, if nothing else.

And then they were spinning.

Zelda needed no help keeping up with this dance, as it was one she knew well, but she could feel Link’s hand on her back was tight and assured as he led her through a twirl before catching her again and resuming their easy 1, 2, 3 spinning with the entire group.

“Do I know how to dance,” he jokingly mocked into her ear when they returned together.

They stopped with the group and reversed directions, spinning fast and tight in the process. Link held her closer, and Zelda could barely breathe.

“Your hold is wrong now,” she managed to breathe out, despite how her stomach was being brutally assaulted with an onslaught of nervous butterflies desperately trying to find their way out of her.

He cocked his head, an attitude that she almost expected. “I know. I wanted you closer. Is that okay?”

She felt like she was just going to die. He was so unapologetic about his flirting, and each time he spoke, her heart beat faster than it already was. “Only if you finally answer my question.”

He nodded and Zelda spun out away from him before returning again. “I’m travelling with the Queen of Faron. Believe it or not, I am actually used to this sort of dancing as well.”

Once she was satisfied with an answer, she adjusted her hold on him so she was closer as well, their masks touching. “My surprise stems from you and I meeting while you were being chased by a hoard of moblins. That doesn’t seem much like someone travelling with a Queen. Are you a knight, then?”

He hesitated before nodding. “I am, yes.”

His hands were on her waist and he lifted her as they spun before setting her back on the dancefloor.

“You know,” he said when they were close again, “you and I are even now.”

“How so?”

“Well, I crashed into you yesterday, and you crashed into me today.”

Zelda chuckled. “True, I suppose. I am sorry, though. Did I hurt you?”

“I’ve taken far worse hits, believe me. Besides, I’m rarely graced with the run-in of a lifetime with a stranger I haven’t stopped thinking about.”

This time, they both missed their cue for a twirl, and Zelda’s grip tightened on him again. “Is that so?” He nodded and Zelda swallowed her nerves. “I feel the same. Though I have a confession to make.”

“Oh?”

“I used a fake name.” She shrugged. “You were a stranger, and I didn’t know you. And I was afraid you might know me if I said my name.”

Link didn’t so much as blink. “I can understand that. Though, I’m Faronian, and I can’t say I know the names of anyone who works here. May I know your real name, then? After a full day and a dance together, I’d say we’re hardly strangers.”

“We most certainly are still strangers. Close strangers, but strangers nonetheless,” she said, her hand so high up on his shoulder that her fingers could play with some of the loose hairs by his neck that had fallen from his low ponytail.

He arched into her at her touch and the front of their masks were touching again. “Is this how you treat strangers?”

“Only close strangers,” Zelda laughed. “My father wanted to name me after the late Queen to honor her.”

“So… Zelda?”

She nodded and hid her face by looking away, hoping she hadn’t given away too much. She’d truly told him very few lies, if any other than her name. Everything else just took some imagination to catch her true meaning.

“Zelda then,” he whispered just as the music ended.

It took far longer than it should have to let go of each other to clap for the orchestra. There was a brief pause for new dancers to join, old ones to leave, and for partners to change.

Zelda caught a glimpse of red looking her way, and squinted to make out the mask similar to hers. Rae was pushing her way through to see what was happening.

“Excuse me,” a new male voice said. Zelda turned, and it was the man from earlier, the one that Rae left to dance with.

“Yes?”

“We met earlier, and I danced with your friend as an apology for my clumsiness. I’d like to apologize to you as well.” He held out his hand, waiting for her to take it.

Zelda glanced behind her at Link. He was looking away, pretending to be interested in something else.

“I’m sorry,” she said gently as she turned back to the man. “I was just about to ask my partner for another dance.”

Link’s attention snapped back to her in surprise.

“Would you care for another dance, Sir Knight?”

His mouth fell open and a bashful grin spread along his face, his lips telling the entire story, despite the joyful squint in his eyes. “Yes, very much so.”

Zelda took Link’s hand and turned to the man. “Thank you for the offer, and I do accept your apology, though I don’t believe I have anything to forgive. Have a goodnight, sir.”

He looked shocked by her declining him, but he nodded, bowed, and left them alone.

There was still no music yet, so Link and Zelda stayed together, waiting to hear what it would be.

Link fixed the cuff on his sleeve, needing something to fidget with. “You’re a fast learner, for someone who’s never asked someone else to dance. I’d understand if it was just to get that man away though. I‘m quite good at sneaking off a dance floor, if you need me to.”

“No; I want to dance if you want to.”

His tongue snaked out to wet his suddenly dry lips. “Yes, of course.”

“It’s bad form to dance with the same partner in a row. I’d understand if you wanted out.”

“Not at all. And that’s a stupid rule for nobles and royals who’s faces are on display and everyone is watching them. That rule is moot when we are free behind these masks of anonymity.”

Zelda giggled. “Well, you certainly go to too many of these as well, don’t you?”

“Far more than you know.”

The orchestra played a few notes, and it signaled the dance. Zelda let go of Link, letting her fingers linger in his before heading to the other side of the dance floor.

Where she was accosted by a blood red moon.

“You’re dancing with him again?”

“Rae,” Zelda hissed, her voice the lowest whisper as she held her tight. “That’s the man from yesterday! Link!”

“Oh Goddess! How? Goddess, what?” Rae looked up at him before letting go of Zelda. “Nevermind! Go! Go!”

Zelda took her place in the line just a few away from her sister. Link followed her and took his place on his side.

This time, Zelda bowed first, and then Link. This dance was far more choreographed, and it took years of practice. She waited to see if he’d back out when he realized what it was—if he realized.

But he stepped in time with the music, matching each step perfectly, watching her all the while. His blue eyes pierced into her from where he stood, and she nearly forgot to move when it was her turn.

But they met in the middle, a fancy movement of their wrist led their hands to be pressed together as they spun.

“Is the one with the identical mask the sister you were telling me about?”

Zelda cleared her throat, praying, praying that he didn’t figure her and Rae out. But plenty of people had sisters. “Yes, she is.”

He hummed. “I’ve always wanted a sibling. No matter what anyone said, my mother always said she only wanted me.”

“What did ‘anyone’ say?” Zelda asked, intrigued by his choice in words.

He tensed and they separated for a while, stuck doing a few moves with another partner before they spun back together.

“My grandparents, specifically, wanted her to have more children. I don’t know, siblings seem like fun though, so as a young boy I always asked her to casually alter her entire life just to appease me and have more, you know?”

“I’m not surprised you failed,” Zelda laughed.

“No, neither am I.”

Zelda stepped to the side and their arms were intertwined as they moved. “My sister had a whole five years without me before I cam barreling into the picture. I was a terrible baby, apparently. I cried often.”

“Speaking from experience, you seem like a very welcome disruption to one’s life, regardless of your barreling in. And knocking someone over.”

“We’re even for that!” Zelda laughed, but her cheeks heated up all the same.

And so, they spent several more songs together, chatting about anything that came to mind whenever they were close enough to hear the other. Zelda turned down several more potential partners in favor of Link.

Rae occasionally managed to make eye contact, offering excited encouragement to keep going while she accepted every dance that came her way.

Zelda, though she could have kept going, pulled Link with her when the music ended. He happily complied, holding her hand with a tight nervous energy, despite the entire time they’d just spent in each other’s arms on the dance floor.

She led him through the crowd and out into the hallway before opening the large door to an abandoned balcony.

Tilting her face into the night breeze, and lit only by the light in the hallway inside, Zelda shook her head in disbelief. “You and I found each other two days in a row in two of the most unrelated places. Do you think it was the Goddess’ plan?”

“In Faron, we have the four gods, not the Goddess, but I believe it might have been their design. A rather strange one, though. I’m on a path where you and I are unlikely to see anything further than what we’ve had for the past few days.”

Zelda knew that feeling all too well. “Yes, I fear the same can be said for me as well.”

He looked at her curiously. “Is that so?”

She smiled sadly. “What’s your secret, Link?”

He hesitated before shaking his head. “If we meet again tomorrow, I swear on the gods that I will tell you my biggest secret. But tonight, I just want to be the knight wearing the mask of Farosh before that too is over. And after that spiel, I gather I can’t ask you what your secret is?”

“I’ll tell you tomorrow.”

“Okay,” he conceded with a smile before he leaned against a pillar that blocked him from view of the door. It offered just a bit more darkness so he could look up at the stars. “The view from this castle is incredible. You can see town, the gardens, and the stars.”

Zelda joined him, leaving no room between them. Link didn’t seem to mind, and instead snaked his hand into hers.

“What’s the view from your home then?”

“Trees. The Faron Woods are just outside my window, and they’re massive. There’s no seeing the end.”

He adjusted his arm against the pillar so he was facing her instead, his hand running confusing but pleasant patterns along hers.

She turned to him, her brows scrunched, though he couldn’t see that. But her confusion disappeared when his blue eyes cast down on her lips and then back up. He leaned forward a bit and then waited.

Zelda barely managed to make her short-circuiting brain work long enough to nod.

Now, Zelda had been kissed before. She’d been kissed many times, in fact. Sometimes, it was from a presumptuous suitor. Sometimes, from the boy who worked in the kitchens she’d taken to for a time. Sometimes it was on the hand, and sometimes the cheek. Sometimes, even the lips.

So she was not unfamiliar with what to do. But Link, especially after what might have been hours on the dance floor, had her stomach in knots in ways that hadn’t been quite so powerful before.

Though they were perfect strangers who’d spent all of two days together—less even— though she felt like she’d known him forever.

He’d confessed he was hiding things from her. She said the same. She’d admitted that for a full day, he’d thought her name was something else. None of it phased the other. Perhaps it should have, but Zelda wanted this one night, and so did her, and who was she to ruin something perfectly good?

Link’s lips brushed hers, but they both immediately started to laugh as their masks bumped the other, keeping them at an odd angle that was both uncomfortable, and ill advised for a proper kiss.

“I’d kind of hoped the mask wouldn’t get in the way,” he admitted, tapping the large snout of his mask that hadn’t been a bother while dancing. But of course, now everything wanted to be in the way.

“We know what the other looks like. We can just take them off.”

Link hesitated again and turned to the door, despite them being hidden from it. “How private is this balcony?”

Zelda made a face. She hadn’t thought of someone walking in and seeing the Princess of Hyrule sticking her tongue down some strange man’s throat. She was glad he thought of it, for whatever reason.

But she was only allowed this night, and she wanted whatever she was allowed.

“We’re at a party with thousands of people all looking for a place to breathe. There’s some risk that someone will come out here.”

He nodded and took a breath before undoing the clasp behind his head and pulling his mask off, setting it on the ground. He was just as stunning as Zelda remembered from yesterday, though she wasn’t hesitant to admit that she somehow found herself more attracted after learning more about him.

She pulled hers off and set it beside his.

He took a deep breath and his eyes trailed all along her face, studying her fine features. She realized rather quickly that she was doing the same to him.

He chuckled. “I must have a line on my face from that thing. It was pressing down on me a bit.”

Zelda nodded and let the tip of her finger trace the deep indent in his skin, just under his eyes that went along the length of his face. Her nail tickled him, but he leaned into her until their foreheads were touching, finally unobstructed.

Zelda let her hand run the rest of the way down his face, trailing down his jaw, his neck, and his collarbone before sliding back up to wrap her arm over his shoulder, leaving just enough leeway so she could toy with his hair again. His eyes widened as he watched her, and Zelda realized that she could no longer see the piercing blue poking through. She could see and feel him breathing heavily, and it seemed that nervousness had taken over him, because he couldn’t move.

While, in fact, the opposite happened to Zelda.

She felt a rush of energy and bravery and kissed him.

It seemed that Link needed the push over the edge, because he recovered from his shock immediately, kissing her back with twice as much vigor.

If Zelda thought her chest was going to explode before, it’s because she’d never even imagined being outside on a balcony, her face exposed, being kissed as she’d never been before.

Her body was on fire, and not even the cool night breeze could cool her down. She was desperate, desperate for this stranger who didn’t know who she was. Desperate for this man that she’d come to like. Desperate for this feeling that she knew she’d become addicted to if she had it for too long.

They both pulled back for air before clashing again in the middle. This time, neither needed much prodding for it to go from passionate to a sloppy indulgence. It was tongues and teeth and clinging to the other just a little too hard, like letting go meant something far worse than distance. It was Link pulling away, leaving her lips cold before feeling his on her jaw and her neck over her racing pulse. It was her hand in his hair, and his gasp into her skin when she tightened her hold on him.

It was… a lot.

Zelda wasn’t one to keep track of time. She often wandered around town well past the time she knew her ladies would check on her at night. She’d been known to forget dinner and spend the time in the library. She’d once assumed it to be the wrong day, and she missed her father’s birthday, though Rae had bailed her out with a spare gift.

So for Zelda to be acutely aware of every second that passed, intent on drawing them all out as long as she could, it was a miracle. She didn’t intend to lose even a second of this time with Link before it was ripped away by the limitations of her title.

The only thing that could take her out of the moment now was—

“Zelda?” It was Rae’s voice. “You still out here? I saw—oh!”

Zelda broke away from Link’s lips and covered her mouth, as if that could hide what Rae had just clearly witnessed, and she squeaked out a sound.

Link turned his face away quickly, using Zelda almost as a shield to stay behind so as little of him showed as possible.

“Don’t worry, Link,” she said, chest heaving still as she patted him on the arm. “It’s just my sister.”

Rae bit her lip to try to fight back a smile. But she couldn’t hold her tongue. “So this is the dragon you’ve been dancing with all night?”

He finally turned to Rae and offered an embarrassed smile before holding out his hand. “Link.”

“Pleasure,” she said taking it with a firm shake, carefully avoiding her name. “Faronian accent? Is this the guy from yesterday, too?”

Zelda thought she’d been burning before, but now she was an inferno. She turned to walk away, but only crashed into Link without anywhere to go.

“You told your sister about me?” he asked smugly.

“Oh, she did,” Rae teased, knowing full well that Zelda already said this was the man from yesterday.

“Shut up!” Zelda hissed, though she felt Link’s hand reassuringly on her. He wasn’t weirded out by this embarrassing revelation, and that made Zelda feel only marginally better.

Rae’s smile faltered. “While I wholly support… whatever this is… you’re out here in the open, and father was just asking where you went. You’re lucky I saw you come this way before, and not him.”

Zelda shuddered at the thought and bent down to retrieve her and Link’s masks. He took his, but it wasn’t without regret, like their initial parting the night before.

“I should find my father. Let him know that I’m still around and see what he wants.”

“I should show my face to the Queen, lest she get the same idea to look for me.”

Zelda nodded, fiddling with her mask still. She turned to Rae. “I’ll be right inside in a second.”

Rae smirked and spun on her heel to wait in the hallway.

Which allowed Zelda and Link a final stolen moment.

Their kiss this time was soft and unhurried, but it was filled with a different kind of desperation than before. This was a goodbye, and they both knew it.

“Gods,” he whispered when they broke apart, though he didn’t move away. “I hate this.”

“Didn’t seem that way,” Zelda joked.

He shook his head, unable to find amusement. “Perhaps we can meet out here one more time before the night is up?”

“I’d like that.” She kissed him quickly once more and forced herself to don her mask once again. “After the second bell?”

“Has the first already rung?” he asked with a chuckle.

The bells signaled a break for the orchestra, and left a replacement in their wake to provide background music. The first was the start of their break. The second signaled their return, when more people were back on the dance floor again.

“No, unfortunately, I don’t believe I heard it.”

“Damn,” he muttered, running his hand along the exposed part of her face before nodding. “Second bell then.”

“Okay,” she grinned before regretfully letting go of his hand as she made her way back into the hallway to Rae. She glanced behind her, and saw him leaning against the pillar, watching her with a smile before she left.

“Goddess, tell me everything!” Rae hissed, locking Zelda in place beside her with a looped arm.

Zelda recounted some of the night as they walked, such as Link’s presence with the Faronian royals, but she stopped as soon as they stood in front of their father.

“Where have you been?” he asked Zelda. “Come with me, both of you.”

Zelda glanced at Rae, but she shrugged, unsure what was going on.

Their father led them into the library that they’d been waiting in earlier, and he sat down. They followed suit, though they still didn’t know why. But they knew their father: no amount of prompting would have him speaking if he didn’t want to.

Zelda was no longer with Link, and once again, time blurred. She listened carefully for the bells, and when she heard the first one, she began to panic. She had plenty of time, but even the thought of missing her final meeting with Link had her on edge.

But someone entered the library. “They are ready, Majesty.”

“Good.”

“Who?” Rae asked.

And to their blessings, he responded. “The Queen and the Prince of Faron. We’ve decided to move up the official announcement of your engagement to tonight while we have everyone here.”

“What?” Rae balked, grabbing for Zelda’s hand. Her grip was a vice, and she shook like a leaf.

“Yes, she and I decided. We’re making the announcement now.”

“Now?”

“Yes, so you wouldn’t have too much time to get worked up. Keep your mask on for now.”

“Then people will know who we are,” Zelda said, hesitating.

“They’d know from your dresses as well. You’re the royal family of Hyrule. Sometimes, you have to make a sacrifice for the family or for the kingdom.”

“Oh Goddess,” Rae choked out, holding Zelda for dear life as she struggled to stand, nerves and fear washing over her in waves.

“I’ve got you,” Zelda whispered, holding her sister tighter still, though some of that was nerves of her own. Link was about to find out her lie. And she’d really wished he didn’t have to find out this way. Their secret meeting couldn’t happen now. People would swarm her for another dance, or follow her for a conversation. Her guards would have to be on her more closely. This announcement turned a fairytale into a nightmare.

“Compose yourself. We’re going out there.” The King wore a mask of a Red Lion, one that obscured his entire face, yet somehow didn’t disguise him in the slightest.

Rae took deep breaths and pulled Zelda close before they made their way out into the hall to wait for the signal to move onto a short balcony overlooking the ballroom that was in such a place that it commanded attention when there were people on it.

Finally, the signal was given and the three of them stepped up into the light, standing at the railing so their hands were hidden, and Rae could hold Zelda as tightly as she wanted with no one noticing.

Their father held up his hand and the music stopped, and the room quieted.

“My people, I would like to first take this opportunity to thank you for coming here tonight for this masquerade celebration. And I do not seek to keep you from it for long. But as many of you already know, Princess Rae of Hyrule is set to marry the Prince of Faron. And today, they have arrived. We will begin a new era with our two kingdoms connected through their upcoming marriage as we celebrate this continued time of peace and prosperity!”

Rae tried not to look sick, but the thudding echo of heels on stairs had her turning to watch as the Queen of Faron ascended the back steps. She wore a deep, forest green gown and a Lizafols mask.

Rae and Zelda held their breaths. Because Rae’s fiancée was close behind.

And slowly, he came into view. He wore a…

Farosh.

A green and gold outfit.

Piercing blue eyes.

This time, it was Zelda who clung to Rae, both wide eyed in horror, both in pain from how hard they were gripping each other.

“Oh Goddess,” Zelda said, nearly throwing up as she did.

“Oh no,” Rae hissed, pulling her sister closer.

And the Prince stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the twin moon masks staring back at him.

“Oh gods…” he breathed, stopping in his tracks as his eyes met Zelda’s.

“Link, come on,” his mother whispered, urging him forward to stand beside her. Tentatively, he managed.

The King shook the Queen’s hand, and they turned out to the applauding crowd below. Both took off their masks, and signaled for their children to do the same.

Zelda’s hand shook as she pulled off her mask, praying, begging that the Prince just had the same exact intricate mask and outfit as Link.

Goddess, all the signs were there. In the same way that she kept slipping with the hints about her identity, he’d been doing the same, and she hadn’t even considered the possibility long enough to notice.

But taking off the mask revealed the blonde hair that she’d just had her hands in, the blue eyes that she’d just been staring into for the past few days, staring right back at her.

His mouth was hanging open, and he shook his head slightly, though she couldn’t reason out his meaning. Perhaps there was no meaning. Perhaps he was just in as much shock as she was.

“Link?”

“Rae.”

Both monarchs called their children up to the center.

If there was one thing that had been drilled into each of their minds since their very birth, it was that they needed to show no emotion, and to hold it in as much as possible. So, without charm or grace, without fear or anxiety, they wore a new mask of stone as they approached the other.

Link bowed stiffly, and Rae curtseyed. They took each other’s hand in solidarity for the sake of the crowd. Rae would later say that both their hands were covered in sweat, and that they could barely touch the other without an awkward mix of sticking and slipping right out of the other’s grasp.

“Please, continue to enjoy the celebrations! And may peace live in Hyrule forever.”

The moment the King gave the signal, Rae let go of Link and ran over to Zelda, pulling her from the balcony.

But there was someone on their tail.

“Zelda, I didn’t know!”

She stopped and closed her eyes before turning to him.

“That doesn’t make this any better, Link. Your Highness.”

Link’s eyes narrowed. “And you, Your Majesty. I never asked for a betrothal. I never asked for any of this. Not that your sister doesn’t seem like a fantastic person,” he added, giving her an apologetic look.

“No offense taken,” Rae said. “Let me talk to Father, Zelda. You’re a Princess as well. Perhaps you can take my place in this arrangement.”

“Marriage?” Zelda said, running her hands through her hair. “While yes, I most assuredly have developed feelings for this man in the past two days, I would hardly say I would like to drag him with me to an altar!”

“It’s a long engagement. Let me talk to him.” Rae tried to smile at Link, but it was forced. “I can’t marry you knowing my sister’s feelings.”

Link couldn’t find the words to speak. But he watched Rae turn to her father and his mother as they descended the stairs together.

“Father,” she said quickly. “I cannot marry Link.”

The King rolled his eyes. “Not this again.”

“No, no, the circumstances have changed. Could Zelda not take my place?”

“No,” he said bluntly, looking between his children. “What’s going on? What are you trying to pull?”

But it wasn’t Rae who answered.

Link’s mother narrowed her eyes on her son. “This is where you came yesterday, isn’t it?”

“No,” he said quickly. His eyes flashed to Zelda.

Everyone was quiet, trying to carefully phrase their words so no one was in undue trouble.

“I snuck out yesterday,” Zelda admitted, the silence crushing until one of them said something.

“As did I,” Link said. “We ran into each other, literally, and spent the day together.”

The Queen scoffed. “Is that all? You don’t want to marry Princess Rae because you spent one day running through the markets with Princess Zelda? Link, your position requires sacrifice. Your feelings are one of those sacrifices.”

That was familiar.

“Today as well,” Zelda added, taking a step closer to Link.

“Two days?” the King laughed. “You’re a child still, Zelda. One day you will learn to prioritize. Today is not that day. Link will marry Rae, they will learn to love each other, and these past few days with Link will fade from both your memories. I can even find you a suitor to speed along the process.”

“No!” she gasped in panic.

“This is settled, everyone. If we change it, we look like fools. Now, Rae, Link, get out there and share a dance. There’s no negotiating. The second bell is about to ring. Go.”

Link reached out and grabbed Zelda’s hand, his mouth open to speak. Not a second later, his mother walked between them and broke his hold. “Go, Link.”

Zelda felt a hand on her shoulder as everyone sulked out of the room.

“I have always told you to guard your heart carefully. This is why, Zelda.” Her father pulled her close for a hug, but she couldn’t bring herself to return it. “I wish neither of you had to do this, but you’re royals. I made the sacrifice. Your mother, too. We all did.”

“I don’t feel well. I’d like to go to my room.”

His grasp on her shoulder tightened. “We will watch their dance together, and then you may go. But you need to see. This is inevitable.”

“Please, don’t make me.”

“Come.”

Zelda felt dizzy as she watched Rae and Link, and it was not the same kind that she’d felt while she was up there spinning with him. And while they clearly knew each step—another blatantly obvious sign that Zelda should have picked up on—they were simply going through the motions. Zelda smirked ruefully. They were doing a good job of making others feel uncomfortable watching their forced moment, if nothing else.

The moment the dance was over, Zelda pulled herself free of her father and left the ballroom, hurrying upstairs to her chambers.

Slamming the door and throwing the mask to the ground, Zelda peeled the dress off of her and kicked her shoes off her feet and into a wall before crawling under the blanket and letting herself feel her frustrated tears.

If she hadn’t snuck out yesterday… if she hadn’t crashed into Link today… none of this would be happening. Rae and Link would have met as true strangers, and Zelda wouldn’t feel anything.

The knock at her door made her wish she’d locked it before crashing into her bed, because when Rae pushed the door open, Zelda didn’t want to talk.

Rae took in the shoes across the room, the dress fanned out on the floor, the discarded mask. She took off her own and set it on the desk before crawling into the bed behind Zelda, pushing her own red dress out of the way.

“We’ll figure something out.”

Zelda shook her head, resolving herself to watching Link with her sister every day for the rest of their lives.

“Zelda, please.”

“I can’t. Not tonight.”

“Okay,” Rae said, getting up. “You know where to find me.”

After a long time alone with her thoughts, Zelda slid out of bed and glanced out at the night sky. It was past midnight.

With renewed energy, she cleaned her room, setting the dress aside for her ladies in the morning with the shoes nearly beside the chair and set her mask on it. Then, she dressed in something simple: some pants and a loose shirt. She slid into far more comfortable flat shoes and made for the gardens.

But before she knew it, she’d taken a wrong turn and her feet unwittingly brought her to the guest wing instead.

She’d known which rooms were designated for the Prince and for the Queen and for their staff. She’d helped pick them out with Rae. So it didn’t surprise Zelda to find herself in front of Link’s room. What did surprise her was finding her hand raised, ready to knock.

“Stupid,” she muttered, lowering her hand.

And the door opened.

Zelda stared at Link in surprise, wondering if she had accidently knocked without realizing it.

“Zelda?” he gasped in surprise. “Are you alright?”

She looked at him. He was dressed in more casual clothes as well, shoes on, ready to leave for somewhere.

“I was headed to the garden and… I don’t know… I ended up coming here instead.”

“I was headed to the garden as well.”

She suddenly didn’t want to go. “Do you have a moment before you do?” she asked, making it clear that she was no longer going.

“Yes, of course,” he said, stepping aside.

She walked into his room as if she’d never been inside. Something about him being in there had changed the way the room felt. His own things were hung over a room dividing panel, his bags opened and his clothes scattered around, likely him looking for something to wear outside in a hurry. His crown neatly on a dresser.

“Sorry,” he said hastily, throwing his things back into the bag. “I wasn’t expecting you.”

“I know. I’m sorry.”

“No need to apologize.”

Zelda took a deep breath. “I just wanted to tell you about Rae. Things she’ll never tell you herself.”

“Zelda, don’t.”

“She’s a beautiful person. Everything about her is good, but she’s mischievous. She helped me sneak out the other day, so she likes that sort of thing.”

“Zelda… please…”

“And she’s stubborn. She can hold a grudge when she wants to. But there’s a really simple way around that if you don’t want to stay mad at her. Just give her a gift. Any thoughtful gift, and she’s over it almost immediately. She would never say she likes receiving presents, but she does.”

“Stop, Zelda.”

“You should get her a flower. She loves flowers, especially amaranth. The purple are her favorite. That’s not the flower I’d pick, but it’s her favorite.”

“What’s yours?”

Zelda stopped. “My… what?”

“Favorite flower? You said that’s not the flower you’d pick. What would you pick?”

“I’m not telling you that,” she said, starting to pace.

“A daisy? Violets? Saffina? Maybe you’re a nightshade person. Lillies? Sunflowers?”

“Silent princesses,” she snapped, spinning on him. She rolled her eyes at his smug expression. “Don’t look at me like that. Just get my sister some flowers tomorrow.”

“You came here to tell me that?”

Zelda’s throat tightened. “I’m going to do everything I can to make sure my sister has the best life she can. And if that means telling you the things she loves, then that’s what I’ll do.”

“You’re not going to fight this, then?”

Zelda sniffled once, hoping Link didn’t catch it. “I love my sister more than anything. She’s the world to me. And I’ll choose her over myself every time. Her happiness is what’s important to me now. Do you know where to find amaranths?”

“I do.”

“Good, so then you’ll want to—”

“Please,” he said, finally grabbing her. “Stop.”

Zelda sniffled again and turned to him, sagging in defeat.

“We can work on them. Your father, my mother, we can.”

“My father will never agree. He doesn’t change his mind. Whether that’s pride or stubbornness, I don’t know. But he will not change his mind on this just because we ask. He’ll double down harder. He made me watch you two dance. He’ll do worse until this is not a topic of discussion anymore.” Finally, a tear fell. “You were perfect, you know?”

With slow, deliberate movements, Link went to take her arm, then her other, then slowly pulled her to him and wrapped her in his arms. “So were you.”

Gesturing vaguely to his window, Zelda chuckled before she returned his embrace, tightly holding on. “You told me you’d tell me all your secrets if we ran into each other ‘tomorrow’. It’s tomorrow and I think I know them all. You’re a man of your word, Link.”

“I have plenty still to share,” he whispered before pulling away. “Come to Faron with me. My father might be able to help us.”

“No,” she said, cupping the back of his neck. “No, my sister needs this. She’s oldest, it has to be her.”

“She won’t be happy with someone who is constantly thinking about her sister.”

“What would you have done if I wasn’t her sister?”

“I wouldn’t have to know that you’re right there. I would have thought about you. I would have wished she was you. But she wouldn’t know that. It wouldn’t have been fair to her, but she’d never know, and I’d do my best to be sure of that. But Rae already knows, and she will always know. And you and I will always know. And everyone will know.”

Zelda shook her head. “Get her flowers. She’ll forget.”

“Zelda, please.”

She sat down on the bed, bouncing until she’d stopped and covered her face with her hands. “I’ve known you for two days. Why is this difficult?”

“Because it moved fast, and we fell hard.” When Zelda looked up at him, he shrugged. “You’re not the only one who felt it, Zelda. If you’d given me one more day, I juat might have been in love.”

They both chuckled, though it was laced with bitterness.

“Tell me something,” Zelda said, patting the spot beside her. “Anything.”

“Hrmm,” he hummed, turning closer to her. “I didn’t lie when I said I was a knight. Technically, I’m the commander of the army. I trained as a child, and my father prematurely passed the role to me when he got sick. So, I am a knight. And a good one at that.”

“Humble too,” she laughed.

She stayed all night, sitting on his bed against her better judgement, telling just as many stories as they had that first day together. This time, they weren’t laced with secrets. When talking about where he lived, he didn’t hesitate to say castle. When she mentioned her hobbies, she didn’t dance around how her hobbies affected the image of the crown.

And when the light from the window reached their faces, causing Zelda to blink awake, she realized she’d stayed all night against her better judgement. She was curled into him, and his face was pressed into her hair. One of his arms was under his pillow, and the other was draped over her. She was grateful for the weather, because neither was under a blanket.

She stretched out, and Link rolled off of her, yawning. He glanced at the window. “The servants will be here soon.”

Then he sat straight up, so fast it frightened Zelda.

Link looked between Zelda and the window. “The servants will be here soon. You have to go.”

In her room, the servants arriving to straighten her room and help her get ready for the day was simply another way to tell time. It meant it was seven in the morning, and the unfortunate time that they deemed she start her day. But here, it meant that she’d be caught.

Zelda looked around. She had lightly kicked her shoes off at some point and found them just under the bed. Sliding them on, she turned back to Link. She didn’t want to leave him. Not really.

Not at all.

“This was so bad,” she muttered, realizing her resolve to let things be was breaking.

“I know. We’ll figure it all out later. I promise.”

Zelda groaned at the thought that she’d have to see him again… every day. This would be a chronic pain in her chest, and she just needed to get used to it now.

She nodded and peeked her head through the door before scurrying back to her room.

She was there long enough to duck under the blankets when her door opened again.

“My Lady?” one of the servants asked. “My Lady, there’s a problem. Wake up.”

Zelda shot up. “What?”

Less than ten minutes later, everyone was gathered in the sitting room, Link and his mother included. Everyone except Rae. The King read the letter aloud for the sixth time. It was short and to the point, and very Rae.

Father, if you’re reading this, then I am gone. I left in the night with my lady, and I do not plan to return until you publicly reverse my place with Zelda, as we spoke of last night. This is a small favor that you will not grant. She is a Princess of Hyrule. There is no need for this. I know that forcing your hand is the least honorable option, but I love my sister more than I fear the repercussions of my actions. You will not find me, as I don’t even know where we’re going. And if you want me to return, you know what to do.

Love, Rae.

“Stubborn girl,” the King muttered, crumbling the letter once again before unfolding it and smoothing it out. And he spun to Zelda, who sat far from Link. “What is this coup?”

“Coup?” Zelda repeated, confused. “I had nothing to do with this. My sister just left in the middle of the night without saying goodbye! I’m upset! I want her back!”

“Where would she go?”

“Nowhere! She’s lucky she got out of the palace with how many people watch her constantly.”

“Link, darling,” the Queen said, touching her son’s arm to get his attention. “Lead your knights to find your betrothed. Bring her back safely.”

Link glanced at Zelda. “Where should I start? I don’t know Hyrule.”

“She doesn’t want to be found. I don’t know where to start.”

In truth, she had an idea. And it was only when everyone had been dismissed that Zelda snuck away and ducked into a hidden room in the attics of the castle and saw Rae with her most trusted Lady both nose-first in a book.

“That didn’t take you long at all,” Rae scoffed, impressed.

Zelda sat down beside her. “It was a good guess. You don’t know Hyrule well enough, but you know this castle.”

“And you know me.”

“All a circle.”

“Don’t you dare tell Father,” Rae said, threatening Zelda with the book in her hand. “I am staying here until he breaks. You know I’m safe. Just let this happen. I’ve got your back.”

“This is all so crazy.”

“I know. Of the two of us, I thought I’d be the one to find love at first sight. Not you. You’re so… practical.”

“I’m not in love with him,” Zelda muttered.

“It’s called ‘falling in love’, not ‘instantaneously in love’, Zelda. It’s a process, and you’ve already started it with him. Not me.”

Zelda rolled her eyes.

Rae nudged Zelda. “Where were you last night? I went to say goodbye.”

Burying her head in her lap, Zelda groaned. “I didn’t mean to! I went to encourage him to be with you, and then we were talking, and then I fell asleep.”

“Process.”

Zelda kicked at Rae’s leg. “He’s going out to look for you, you know.”

“Give it a few days. Our father will crack, okay?”

“You’re going to be in so much trouble. I can’t wait.”

“Shut up.”

And as the days passed, the King grew more worried, more nervous. He paced, he snapped, he commanded every soldier to go out and find his daughter.

Zelda spent some time with Rae, sharing how Link was suspicious of Zelda. He knew she was hiding something. And Rae’s eyebrows wriggled and dared Zelda to tell him, to see where he really stood in the scheme of it all.

And while Link had spent most of his days out riding, looking for Rae, he spent nights in the sitting rooms with Zelda. Neither wanted to take the risk of falling asleep or being caught, especially not now, but he’d figured Zelda out well enough to know something was odd about her perky demeanor most nights.

When she told him where Rae was, he sagged in relief.

“I thought you were in denial or something. You were so calm. You need a more convincing expression if this is going to work.”

A week passed, and Zelda had perfected the art of crying on command. Often, she let the waterworks flow at any mention of Rae’s name. But she had the feeling that her father was too upset to notice or care if she’d begun to spend more time with Link in public. Occasionally, it was under the guise of him comforting her.

But Zelda also had the feeling that his mother, who had no sentimental attachment to Rae, was seeing through their ruse far more than her father was.

A week and a half had him practically bedridden with grief in the belief that she’d been killed and would never be found.

Zelda passed a note along to her father from Rae, dropping it for a servant to find. It made its way to her father, assuring her of her safety and her resolve to stay hidden.

And it was then that he gave in.

When the announcement had been made, Rae returned to her father with a smug smile on her face. And he’d been so overjoyed to see her that he hadn’t remembered to indefinitely confine her to her room until several hours after her return.

That night, Zelda knocked on Rae’s door, Link in tow. Rae answered surprised, but not entirely. Her eyes lingered on their joined hands.

“I wanted to thank you for all that you’ve done,” he said.

“We make sacrifices in this family,” Rae chuckled.

Zelda let go of Link to hug her sister. “You know, if this hadn’t worked, Link and I only got closer while you were gone.”

“Because you found me ten minutes after I ran away! You knew I was safe, so you didn’t mind flirting with him!”

“I was not!”

“You were,” Link laughed. “You gave yourself away to me.”

“Because you already know me fairly well. You know I love my sister.”

And soon, plans were made for Link and Zelda’s wedding. They were allowed a long engagement, but once the planning had been done, Link’s mother went back to Faron while Link stayed behind.

Zelda and Rae snuck out still, though it was aided by Link often. He was especially good at causing distractions.

After a year in Hyrule, Link knew the palace well, and he knew the kingdom as well. But Zelda was the younger Princess, and heir to nothing. It meant that they’d be moving to Faron. When the day came, halfway through their engagement, there were no tears, as Rae made the trip with them for a stay.

Link had been quite right: trees. Faron was full of trees.

He spent the first week alternating between giving them tours of his home, which was considerably smaller than the palace in Hyrule, and his favorite places in Faron. Sometimes, Rae tagged along, but she often opted to give them some privacy.

When the day came that her stay was over and she was to return to Hyrule, there most assuredly were tears. Zelda cried well into the night, realizing that for the first time in her whole life, she was away from her sister, her family, the people she’d grown up around.

Link had pulled her from bed that night, dragging her with him to a secret passage that led out of the castle and into town, much like the ones she knew back home had.

She kissed Link under the stars and beneath the trees. And that was when she realized that she might just have someone who was becoming her family as well.

Their moment was cut short by the rustling in the bushes of the forest, and they hurried back inside. It marked the first night that Zelda almost entirely stopped sleeping in her own room.

A few months later, Zelda was sitting with the Queen for one of her lessons about Faron when Link came in. “I’m sorry to intrude,” he said, though he didn’t look sorry at all. “I got you a surprise, and it’s just arrived.”

He held out his hand for Zelda, and she eagerly took it.

Thankfully. Because if she didn’t have it, she might have fallen over when Rae was standing in the middle of the room, arms wide and excited.

This happened from time to time over the next year. She and Link made trips to Hyrule, and Rae made trips to Faron.

This happened until the day of the wedding, two years after they’d met.

There were to be two ceremonies: one in Hyrule, and one in Faron. For the Hylian ceremony, they were married in the great ballroom, and danced until the sun rose. Then, when they’d returned, they had their masks brought out and hung the floral archway that they stood under in a more private, legally binding ceremony that offered her citizenship of Faron so she could officially rule with Link one day.

And that night, they lazed in bed, reliving the day they met, and the ball they anguished over.

“I got you a few things as well,” Link said, kissing her as he sat up. “First is in the other room.”

“It’s not my sister, right?” she joked, looking at what she was wearing. Link’s shirt wasn’t quite what she thought her sister would want to see her in.

“No. You’re good.”

She laughed and skirted past the armor and sword she’d gotten Link. Armor that he’d been drooling over for weeks and a sword that he hadn’t stopped talking about having for months. Something about it being blue had him all excited, and the wings on the hilt had him practically crying with joy.

Which was how Zelda felt when she saw a potted flower, a Silent Princess.

Link came up behind her. “Like it?”

“It’s beautiful, but you know it’ll die here.”

“Not this one. It has been fine for a few weeks. I wanted to make sure.” He led her closer and pointed to a small green sprout. “And another is on it’s way.”

“How?” Zelda gasped, her hand hovering over the perfect petals.

“It’s one of my secrets you still have to uncover.” He grinned and it earned him a playful backhand on the shoulder. “And the other gift is a promise. More than our vows, obviously. But I spoke to Rae, and she’s going to give us a new wing in the palace so we can stay longer. And there’s an open invitation. We don’t need to send word ahead. Not that that was ever an issue before, but still.”

“You go through a lot of effort for me, Link.”

“Well, I love you, so…”

She grinned. “I know you would rather be here, and you give up a lot of time so I can go back. Thank you.”

“You’re Princess Zelda of Hyrule and Faron. You should go home often still.”

Zelda pulled Link to her, kissing him softly. “I am home. Here.”

He closed his eyes and rested his forehead on hers. “I’m glad I crashed into you.”

“And I’m glad I knocked you over the next day.”

“I’m glad your sister didn’t listen to you.”

Zelda rolled her eyes. “Maybe I should go back to Hyrule,” she joked.

He grabbed her waist. “But Zelda, you might be a Princess, but you’re my Queen.”

“Oh, Goddess,” she snorted pushing him away as she laughed. “Get away from me, Link.”

“No.”

“Yes, get away. That was so bad I can’t even be near you.”

He grabbed her again, leading her back into the other room before kissing her again. She melted into it before remembering that she was trying to win something.

“There’s no living with you, Link,” she laughed before giving up and just kissing him back.

But this time, he pulled away. “I’m also glad you didn’t listen to yourself two years ago.”

“Because I can’t live without you and vice versa?”

Link rolled his eyes. “You say that with such conviction.”

Zelda laughed, pulling him down with her onto the bed.

Zelda was never good at keeping track of time. So for Zelda to be acutely aware of every second that passed, intent on drawing them all out as long as she could, it was a miracle. She didn’t intend to lose even a second of this time with Link, even knowing that now, they had forever.

#zelink #zelda #link #legend of zelda #masquerade ball #i got carried away #Also listened to classical music for the first time while writing. It fit #writing #oneshot #LoZ AU

[shnuggletea]

Chapter Fourteen is LIVE on Patreon!!

The general consensus on this chapter is ‘WOW’. No joke, every review starts with ‘Wow’ (and one holy sh*t). Subscribe to my Patreon today for full access to AWE as well as other SM fics you can only find on my Patreon!!

Summary: Usagi felt as if she was a curse on her friends and family, destined to disappoint. When she decides to face a Youna on her own one night, she wins, but it comes at a cost. Five years in a protective coma, Usagi faces a new world in which Beryl has all but won. And only she can stop the world from ending; Usagi has to figure out how? Starting with gathering her guardians.

Want to read more but not ready to commit? Check out the first four chapters on Fanfiction and AO3

@kagometaishostory @master-ray5 @sailorlolo @jayangel10 @zelink-inukag @malditamigs @liz8080 @infamousblueskies @jjwalla12 @gofoulpuppycollector @carbidopa-lynseydopa @witheykd @yeagro @preciouslyours @angelarin @pia-bartolini @blairex @reispinkoveralls @billyjbradshaw @littlemissinukag (Research done by a good friend told me if you’re not getting tagged, it’s because you haven’t made enough posts. Dumblr strikes again my friends, gotta make some posts for my tags to work on you. Why not reblog some of my stuff (winks)?)

#sailor moon #sailormoon #sailor moon fandom #sailor moon fanfiction #dystopian au #Beryl wins #for now

[shirokh]

THE POET OF THE COURT

“Alas my love you do me wrong

To cast me off discourteously;

And I have loved you oh so long

Delighting in your company.”

So was one of the more popular songs Damien, the sheikah poet used to sing for the court of Hyrule. Since he was a child, he always thought the queen was beautiful, and one of his goals was to sing in front of them just as he was now doing, and he did so since his father allowed him to acompany them at the age of twelve. The princess was a few years younger than him, but he always managed to find a nice lyric, story or poem to delight her with during special meals.

Even when he had to find some appropriate melody to her mother’s funeral, the sympathy he felt for the princess became more intense, as he felt the need to protect her from any harm, watching her child stoic self, and not allowing herself to cry in front of others. Was it perhaps his Sheikah blood, such as her guardian Impa, that he felt... whatever he was feeling...

Or maybe the songs he sang about romance were there for a reason, and from then on, every time he composed and sang, the princess came to his mind.

-“That must be what love is about... an impossible love... such inspiring” He told himself the moment he realised he just kept thinking a big percentage of the day on princess (goddess) Zelda, his muse. He didn’t eat, he didn’t sleep until he recognised on his heart that the love the songs described was little, compared to what he felt for his unreachable lady.

Or so he believed.

-“Damien! Could you keep playing that lullaby?” The princess asked him, it was already late and, as usual she kept working on her lab. Impa was half asleep sitting in a chair, and the princess was dissecting a peculiar full guardian arm.

-“You’r request is my pleasure as always, your highness” He said as he played a guitar version of Zelda’s lullaby. He loved when she called his name, it was like tasting honey.

-“You know that you are not obligued to keep working this late, right?” Impa told him, they knew each other since childhood, they were neighbours in Kakariko village, and their families also had a long friendship. Despite Impa’s parents and grandparents dedicated themselves to train in the arts of fighting as successors and guardians to the royal family, and all of Damien’s family were dedicated to music and served the royal family also.

-“It’s an honor to contribute to the princess investigations” he said as he began to play a different song, secretly this song was composed to express his feelings to the princess, it was a waltz he thought it would be better played with an accordion, but the violin gave it a soft and nice tone itself.

-“Such nice melody! I like when you play the violin also” The princes said, her hands were stained with oil from the guardian and half her face too. -“It always helps to have music, I think I can concentrate better”

-“Princess Zelda, It’s past midnight, we should get you to have a bath and prepare for tomorrow” Impa pleadingly asked, as she was tired herself.

-“I... Why can’t you come with me?! Instead of that perfect knight or whatever?!” Zelda left a heavy piece on the table, making a loud noise, Damien perceived her annoyance.

-“Princess... we already discussed it... it was a direct order from the King”

-“Impa! Or you could come along! I don’t think I need a knight to follow me around, it’s such a nonsense”

-“If I could be of any help, princess, I’d gladly contribute”

-“Thanks Damien, it’s just that I must part to the four regions to investigate the divine beasts, and my father insisted on me going with a knight he selected, instead of just me going alone...or with Impa” she said looking at her reproachingly.

“Mo! Princess! I told you already, all of us Sheikas are required to help with thecnology investigation, it could be an important part to defeat calamity... besides the sacred sword selected him”

-“Divine beasts are more important ! But my father is... worried that I can’t wake my power in time ..., so I must hurry, if I want to be able to pray to the goddess and have the Goron,Orni, Zora and Gerudo help with the beasts at the same time...”

-“I could come along if you allow me to, besides I haven’t been required in court for a while” Damien shyly suggested.

-“Could you do that?!” Zelda took his hands firmly, surprised the young Sheika blushed entirely, retreating himself from her.

-“I’m sorry... it’s just...” the princess began to apologise, it was a rush, but she liked the idea of going with a friendly face.

-“Please don’t apologise your highness, of course I’d love you... I’d love to go along with you...” he said stuttering a bit. Impa gave him a suspicious glance.

-“I’m watching you Damien, don’t try anything funny!” Impa said pointing at him with the guardian’s leg, and the three of them began laughing.

His hands were now also stained with oil. If he could, he wanted to keep them unwashed forever.

The knight was already waiting in the hall. He wasn’t a very tall man, even Damien was taller. He couldn’t help but compare himself to the boy, he seemed to be like his age, yet he had imagined a big and musculous guy, but instead there was this young man with an innocent and serious face, if he could say so.

Not that Damien considered himself ugly, even some girls had flirted with him, not because of his manly appearance, but because he took good care of his fragile self. Being a court musician didn’t involve much physical activity, yet he was trained in the proper way of the sigilous Sheikah. Demian had just packed some sheikah snaks, and of course his violin as well, it was better for travelling, the guitar would be heavy to carry.

The princess went down the stairs, and without even looking at Link, she went out her way, greeting Damien. Link bowed politely, getting on one knee.

“-Are you ready, master of music?”

-“On this tempestuous day,

Let me, beautiful princess

Show you all the way”

-“How is it you always have a verse?” She smiled and kept on going to the exit of the castle.

LINK’S POINT OF VIEW

He arrived early this morning. Rumour was that he was soon to be named the appointed knight for the princess officially. Yet now, the king entrusted him with the safety of his daughter travelling to the Rito Village. He used to be relaxed, but since that event where he obtained the master sword, he felt every one was watching him, so he was restless... “Was he good enough to carry the sword that repels the darkness?” Since childhood legends told that the hero would rise against evil, he used to love that stories, now he felt anxious about them, as he never imagined he would actually get to BE the hero himself.

A sheikah arrived and seemed to be waiting for something or someone. It was odd he carried a violin and Link felt observed. He nodded as a greeting.

The princess came downstairs. She was as beautiful as he remembered, and she had quite developed womanly features, Link scolded himself because of this thought, after all she was to become his Queen someday, so he owned every respect he could muster. Quickly he got in one knee and greeted her silently. After he stood up, he saw the princess happily greet the man with the violin, and how he took her hands and told her some words that made her smile.

“Why was he so close to the princess?” That though left his envious side arise, yet he had being training on not letting his emotions show anymore, after all, he had to be seen as a true hero chosen by the sword.

End of LINK’s POV

They began walking, followed by the knight and three more knights her father assigned to scort her. Damien thought that the sweet princess had also a different and more dark side, as she ignored and diminished the presence of the appointed knight, it was more than evident that she didn’t enjoy or even wanted his presence around her. Damien wanted to know every side of her, even the wrong sides.

The fact that the knight hadn’t said a single word about it was more entangling.

It was almost noon, they went on horse all the way, and only stopped to feed the horses and have a snack themselves. Zelda mainly spoke with Damien, as he also improvised some verses for her, and the other knights were entertained during meal by him. Link stood behind, always vigilant of the surrounding.

They went back on the horses, and when they got to Carock bridge Zelda looked at the map again.

-“So, I think that the way to Tabanta is this way to the north.”

Damien wasn’t sure, he barely traveled back and forth from Kakariko village, he had seen once or twice an orni merchant, but he was confident that the princess had the map with her.

-“It’s not”

A voice sounded from behind. Link had spoken. He had a soft and somehow masculine voice.

-“Speak, Link? Was it your name?”

-“The shortest way to Rito village is to the left. Unless you want to go trough the tundra, that would take us...”

-“We’ll take north” she interrupted him, not wanting to hear more of the chosen knight. And her horse obeyed the command to go north. Time after she would regret this decision.

-“... one more day...” he finished his sentence with a whisper. The other knights looked at him.

-“Well, if we are with you Link, I bet no monster would scare the sh** out of me”

The other knight scolded him for swearing, after all the princess may have heard them.

THIS WAS MEANT FOR A ONE SHOT, but the story kept on going 😬. Hope you enjoy it, Zelink story to the bones, and some jealousy involving the poet of the court (Main witness of Zelink) THANKS to Greenie for the name of the poet 💖

#zelink #fanart #legend of zelda #zelda botw #fanfic #breath of the wild #PoetOfTheCourt

[quillandink333]

Author Interview Game

Thanks so much for tagging me, @aurathian! I had fun with this!

Name: I go by Quill online ( ^ω^ )

Fandoms: Legend of Zelda - Breath of the Wild, BTS, Fantasy Life (haven’t posted any fics for it yet though), The Great Ace Attorney

Where I Post: Mostly Tumblr and AO3 (links are also in my bio). Now you can hear me talk about my WIPs and such on my Discord server for Great Ace Attorney self/OC x canon shippers too! (The link should be working now I’m pretty sure)

Complete: Here are the links to my masterlists for ZELINK (LoZ: BotW) and Kazuma Asougi (TGAA), see my bio for other info.

Current Most Popular Oneshot: Late-Night Reminiscence (BotW Zelink)

Current Most Popular Multi-Chapter Fic: Even if You Say ‘No’ (BTS J-Hope X Reader)

Favorite Fic I’ve Written So Far: That’s tough, but I’m pretty proud of Sunrise since I spent a LOT of time and effort on it (for a oneshot).

Fic I was Nervous to Post: All of them (but mostly the x reader ones).

How I Choose My Titles: I usually wait until I’m about halfway through writing a fic or until I’ve finished it to pick a title, and when I do, I like to give it a kind of deeper meaning that makes my readers think about its relation to the story (Sunrise being a great example). Also, like with writing in general, I usually try and make it roll off the tongue as best I can.

Do I Outline? I don’t do too much outlining with my oneshots or drabbles, but with series’? Ohohohoooohhhh boy you bet I outline the sh*t out of those things.

In Progress: Series-wise, I’m not working on anything at the time I’m posting this. I’m still cranking out oneshots one by one though, so stay tuned for those!

Upcoming Work that I’m Excited About: I’ve always got a few ideas for some saucy sauce up my sleeve that I’m looking forward to starting.

Do I Accept Prompts/Requests? Well, sure, but keep in mind I might not want to go through with writing it. Usually I just write whatever I feel like writing, but if someone suggests something that really resonates with me, then you bet!

#my writing #tag game #botw #botw zelink #bts #dgs #tgaa #pinned

[embyrinitalics]

—Antumbra—

Part Five Word count: ~1500 Rating: T Premise: Sheikah!Link AU, Zelink Previous | Next | FFN | ao3

—

Serving the princess was becoming a game of compromise. And the princess didn’t much care for compromise.

He preferred the dark, but she needed the heat. So he lit the fireplace, and she put up the screen. He wasn’t supposed to speak, but she liked the sound of his voice. So she took to hiding all her notebooks and inks in locked drawers and pocketed the keys, and he talked. Which wasn’t so much compromise as it was capitulation.

She seemed to like capitulation much better.

It was the winter solstice, and while this had most of the world in high spirits, Link had taken to grumbling. But the sun had gone down, and the snow flurries blanketing town were catching the lantern light, and Zelda just couldn’t see his point of view.

“It’s the shortest day of the year,” she reasoned, fastening the clasps at the front of her cloak. “It’s pitch black outside and it isn’t even supper time. I would think a Shadow would be celebrating.”

“It’s nice for now,” he groused. “But what’s there to look forward to? Longer and longer days until the equinox, and then a gradual descent into imprisonment until the dead of summer, when the sun only goes down for a handful of hours—”

“Won’t it be glorious?” she beamed, pulling her hood back and shaking her hair free. She turned back to the room with something between a scowl and a smile twisting at her lips, and for just a moment the bleak future that awaited him was forgotten. “Come on, Link. Celebrate with me tonight.”

Her heart was speeding in his chest, betraying her excitement, and he could hardly say no to that. But he made a point of sighing loudly.

“Fine.”

She leapt to her feet with what was very nearly a squeal and dashed for the door.

The streets were lined with lanterns, perched prettily atop the snow and casting rings of candlelight and shadow every few feet like a parade of bobbing, sunset-colored fairies. The square was full of bonfires, figuratively chasing away the night. There was hot cider and hot chocolate with Goron spice, sugarmakers pouring syrup over the snow and twisting it into taffy candies, and the smell of hot buttered apples wafting from cooking pots set up around the fountain. There were games to play, and when a familiar voice from amidst the throng of onlookers would urge her to throw now or aim for the red one, she always listened.

But the princess didn’t spend much time there. She knew it was too bright for him to stay close.

She followed the trail of lanterns up the hill again, lingering near the edge of the street instead of near its middle, where the lights and shadows crisscrossed and shuddered in patterns and colors she was convinced only ever existed on this night. She stepped off the road and leaned her shoulder into the brick of a quiet corner shop, closed a long time ago so its purveyor could secure a good spot in the square, and watched the festival twinkle below. She had two syrup taffies in her hands.

“Isn’t it lovely?”

“There’s a lot of shadows,” he admitted grudgingly.

“Eat your taffy,” she scoffed, tossing one into the shadows and then dutifully turning her back so he could retrieve it. She listened for him, but he never made a sound, even in the snow. It was gone when she finally checked again, and he hadn’t left so much as a footprint. “It’s lovely, and even you can’t stay grumpy forever.”

Link perched himself on the roof of the adjacent building, where the awning was casting a perfect veil for him, and tasted syrup taffy for the first time. It was strangely earthy and far too sweet.

“I don’t understand this festival,” he finally decided, rolling the taffy on the teeth.

“It’s about banding together. Driving back the night. Celebrating longer days.”

“Aren’t you all getting a bit ahead of yourselves?”

She turned to smirk at him through the shadows, and though she couldn’t have known, she met his eyes. It made his heart stammer.

“What about you?” she asked, green eyes sparkling in the snow and lantern light. “What would you like to do, on this shortest of days?”

“Exactly I am doing,” he answered quietly. “Watching you.”

“Babysitting me, more like,” she scoffed. “Take a day off.”

“You don’t know what you’re asking.”

“I guess I don’t.” Wind snaked up the thoroughfare, spiraling in white trails of snow and stardust and pulling at her hood. She didn’t right it when it slipped off her head. “Do you want some cider?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never had cider.”

A smirk was playing on her lips again. “I’m going to get you some.”

Link sprang nimbly from rooftop to rooftop as she moved, shadowing her back towards the square, and watched from a distance as she meandered back into the lights. The fires blazed hot and bright, ringing her with orange light until all he could make out was her silhouette, reaching with willowy hands to take a steaming mug from a stallkeeper and dropping rupees into his hand. He stared after her when she left; starstruck, no doubt, or something like it. It wasn’t every day the princess of Hyrule visited your shop, adorned with rosy cheeks and snow instead of her tiara, and asked to buy some cider.

She brought the cup to her mouth and breathed in the steam and spices as she left the square behind, the fires and lanterns dappling behind her like a spray of flickering stars, and he let himself get caught up in staring. She was cast in full antumbra. And it was lovely. It was the loveliest thing he had ever seen.

And then her breath yanked out of his chest, and her pulse spiked so hard he choked on it, and the cider spilled all over the snow. Another silhouette grappled with hers, pulling where he had her at the wrist and then at the throat of her cloak. Another shadow. The noise from the festival drowned out her cry, leaving only a few who turned at the sound, and they were too far away to be of any real assistance. But none of that was what truly pulled him from his hiding place. It was the fact that her scream had been his name.

Link was diving for her before he could think, before he could breathe, unsheathing his eightfold blade and shivering when it caught the firelight and gleamed in his hands.

An instant later there was blood spilled over the snow along with the cider, and he grabbed her hand and fled the bloom of the firelight. He dragged her through the alleys, through shadows and shadows and shadows until he found something deep enough to hide them both, and melted into it and pulled her back against him, gasping.

Both their hearts galloped in his chest. Her hands were clasped around his forearm where he was holding her across the shoulders, and he had his face pressed into the back of her neck, taking solace in more than her breathing and her heartbeat as he tried to catch his breath—taking solace in the feel of her in his hands, in the taste of her cool skin brushing his lips.

He couldn’t stop shaking. Not just from the adrenaline of the battle, or the fact that his own lack of focus had put her in so much danger. But from the fact that he had broken the last binding rule, surged headlong into light and let himself be seen, and now touched and held and felt, and if she turned in his arms she would see more than they had seen, more than a blur of shadow rippling through a hazy bloom of firelight.

But she held still, her breath and her pulse calming long before his. For the first time in a long time, his breath, his heart, threatened to drown her out. He dropped his hands, suddenly, panicking, remembering himself, realizing what he had done. And she was stone still, giving him time to hide.

But he couldn’t bring himself to do it. He couldn’t bring himself to leave her, to deny himself the assurance that she was fine and she was here, by stepping away. And then, realizing her hadn’t gone and curious, electrified, burning to know his face, she steeled herself with a breath and slowly turned around.

Their eyes met in the dark, his two shades darker than blood, and hers the glittering emerald of a forest. Her fingers, still warm from the mug of cider, lifted to trace the scar on his left eye, the triangles etched into his brow and the teardrop beneath. If she could see the terror in them, she didn’t say.

She whispered, “Link.”

He never thought he would run from anyone, least of all her.

But he ran from her then.

#Zelink #Legend of Zelda #BotW #Sheikah!Link #Antumbra #fanfiction #my writing #embyr writes

[fatefulfaerie]

Distance

Zelink Week 2019 prompt #9/10

“I’ve seen that look before.”

Link looked over to his right and, sure enough, he was there.

Crossed arms, with that signature Linebeck smirk, his back leaning against the rails of the stairwell.

“Aren’t you supposed to be steering the ship?” Link asked, his eyebrows furrowing.

Linebeck chuckled as he came off the rails, approaching Link.

“You didn’t even notice that the ship had stopped?”

He was right, the boat was no longer rocking, no longer at the mercy of every stray wave, no longer chugging forward. The floor beneath them was as stable as the house that was once his in Outset.

“I…” Link stammered, “I guess not.”

“We’re stopped at Mercay,” Linebeck added, his eyes narrowing as Link glance changed back to Tetra.

The young hero had been sitting on a crate for the past hour, staring at the girl before him frozen in stone. Petrified, cold, and unmoving, it was like she never existed, like she was some likeness, carved out of a rock face.

Linebeck pulled a crate next to Link before sitting down on top of it.

“So, you’re in love with her, huh?”

“What?!” Link exclaimed, his head turning quickly to Lineback, “No! Of…of course not!”

“Mhm,” Linebeck mused, obviously unconvinced.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, anyway,” Link said a bit too quickly.

“Okay,” Linebeck said, Link finally detecting the fact that Linebeck didn’t believe him.

“I…I mean I like her fine, sh-she’s my friend,” Link started nervously, starting to ramble at this point, “and, I…I care about her a lot…like I care about Aryll, but…it’s just different. Not to say she’s not pretty, I…I mean she’s beautiful…and she’s smart, too. She’s…we just…well…it’s always felt like there’s something special between us…some bond…”

“Not that I love her, of course,” Link tried to clarify,  “I mean I do love her, but—”

Link gasped, bringing a hand to his mouth, his eyes wide with surprise at what he said.

Linebeck tried not to laugh as he stood up, soon making his way up the stairs.

“Linebeck, wait,” Link said, prompting the sailor to stop mid-stair.

“Do…?” Link started to ask, “do you think she can hear me?”

“I wouldn’t worry about it Link,” Linebeck said, turning his head, “the truth would have come out sooner or later.”

There was a silence as Linebeck’s head turned back to the exit atop the stairs. He looked as if any second he would leave Link alone, yet he didn’t move a muscle.

“I’m sorry,” Link heard him say.

He must have heard him wrong.

“I’m sorry that you two have had to go through all this,” he continued, Link surprised at hearing something sincere from this sailor, “this world is cruel. I have lived most of my life and known that to be true, but…”

“In all my life, I’ve never seen it be as cruel as it has been to you two.”

He didn’t say another word as he walked up the rest of the stairs and closed the door behind him.

Link stood up as his glance fell on Tetra, her expression unmoving as Link interlaced tis fingers in her outstretched hand.

He wanted so much to feel her fingers move and clasp onto his hand, but he knew that warmth was distant.

Right before him, but so far away.

“I hope you don’t beat me up too bad if you heard that, but…”

“It is the truth.”

#zelink #zelink week #zelink week 2019 #phantom hourglass #zelda #link #tetra #telink #linebeck #tloz #the legend of zelda

[punishandenslavesuckers]

(/1) for the commentary meme: “Zelda just sobs and drops her forehead against his shoulder, lets Link loop his arms around her and just… hold her there for a moment. He lays his cheek against the top of her head and his shirt smells like cotton and grass and the pressure on her ribs and shoulders will never be enough.

(/2) The quick, brotherly kiss in her hair will never be enough. If she put her lips on his, put her mouth on every inch of skin, her hands on every part of him, it would never be enough to explain this phantom pain – like she was supposed to be him. Like they were supposed to be something else, together. There’s not a word for that" (not sure if you're only doing SH commentary but anyway thank you xoxo)

Nah, anything I’ve written I’m doing commentary on. :) This is really early in the story and it’s, I believe, one of the first sections where I address the nature of the divine connection that exists between the Triforce trio and how that manifests. Namely: that the three incarnations that hold the triforce are physically drawn to one another in a way that wants for the triforce to be whole. What Zelda is describing here is that pull. 

I made a little effort here to show Zelda is self-aware, in some fashion, of the difference between the divine pull and any other attraction she might have for Link. While Link doesn’t talk about it, its assumed he also feels some degree of this pull. Draga actually mentions it to Zelda, though he’s not aware at the time it’s the Triforce. He just thinks these little sons of bitches are magical as fuck and he’s also pretty magical and magic likes magic. 

Really, you can boil down the entire story’s main conceit to implication in this one paragraph: Namely, where does the divine destiny influence bullshit end and their own agency as people begin? Do they care? Does it matter? Should they defy it?

Which, you know, is something Zelda and Link have been dealing with since they were, like, little kids but not something Draga has had to think about until just recently. So he's like “THIS SUCKS” while zelink is just like “lol right?” 

[legendofzeldasilentprincess]

Admittedly, part of me is a bit unsure about the Zelink in this game, kinda because of the whole tsun thing, but after reading some of your stuff (Zelda's diary and Link's dad; my feels), I've kinda come round to it! Kinda a LeiaxHan Solo thing going on (bonus points if she ended up calling him a scruffy nerf-hearder, lol).

ANOOOON!!!! HII omg you kinda killed me with the LeiaxHan Solo comment because they’re one of my top otps lol. i’m kinda weak to those hate/love relationships no lie hahaa.but i do get what you mean though, a few fans felt that way too! i admit, i kinda did as well at the beginning felt that Zelda was going too far being a tsundere and all BUT after re-watching the cutscenes a couple of times it’s understandable why Zelda would be acting that way towards Link ESPECIALLY after reading her diary entries (shout out to chained-prometheus for finding and posting that up! (: ) because she was so frustrated with herself that she couldn’t wield her powers and every time she sees Link especially with the Master Sword behind his back, it would remind her of her failure of what she can’t do although she tries so hard to (which is pretty deep). she couldn’t accept him at first because of that, the fact that he’s known to be the chosen appointed bodyguard knight for her and is doing his duty and job right, but for her as the princess she just wants to go explore the open world and study the sheikah like artifacts around but her father and others are telling her to do HER duty as being the princess and focus on training on a way to release her power within her rather than being ‘childish’ and being curious about the guardians and divine beasts. but after warming up to Link after he saved her, she then realized she wasn’t the only one going through hardships herself but him as well and then understood the deep connection they both have. she was able to get Link to open up to her too T____T like bRUH?? I NEED MOREholy sh*t sorry i went on too far LOL! WOOOO ANYWAYS! BASICALLY Zelda being a tsundere is cute. all sassy one moment then a scientific nerd the next and puts up a front again. i’m pretty sure that’s how Link fell in love with her LOL AND she would’ve definitely called him a scruffy looking nerfherder (and then Link would reply with “exCUUUUUSE ME, PRINCESS”okay wait, did nintendo read a fanfic somewhere and turned it into the breath of the wild plot? LOL

OH!! and I forgot to thank you anon! glad this blog could help you come around to liking the Zelink in BotW :D

#cuteanon #kreeshareplies #i give my anon asks nicknames #i don't know why #but i like answering these asks ^___^ #botw spoilers #zelink #breath of the wild spoilers #loz spoilers #legend of zelda spoilers