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anicomicqueen · 1 year

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Zelda Theory: Fi the Fairy Queen

Okay, so this post by @twilight-linkess inspired me to move forward with a theory I had. This got way too long. Ye who travel onward beware. Here there be theories.

The gist of my theory is that Fi is a fully matured Fairy Queen and that Fairy Queen is a specific species of fairy. I also think Fi and all fairies (Fairy Queens, Great Fairies, Fairies, etc.) are raised to help heroes with their magic. With Fi, I think she excelled as a fairy which ended with her earning the title of “Sword Spirit.” And maybe was specially chosen for her particular set of skills to be the Fairy that would inhabit the Master Sword for thousands of years.

If this is of interest to you, I have some more to say...A lot more to say.

So first things first.

Here is a Fairy Queen from The Wind Waker:

And here is an image of Fi from Skyward Sword:

These two look so so so so similar. Everything from base color palette to hair and nearly unreadable facial expression, with solid color eyes. The biggest difference being that the Fairy Queen from Wind Waker looks like a child but is apparently ��much older,” according to the ZeldaWiki.

But if Fairy Queens were a specific subspecies of fairies, they could potentially have a lifespan of tens of thousands of years, meaning even if she is “old” by Hylian standards or Zora standards, or what have you, she could theoretically still be a child by Fairy standards.

The Fairy Queen and Fi also have similar powers.

The Fairy Queen in Wind Waker has weapon based abilities. I have yet to play WW, but according to the wiki, her specific ability is she imbues arrows with ice or fire powers.

Maybe each type of fairy has their special magic category. Fairy Queens are weapon/item related. Great Fairies are health or armor related, depending on the refinement of their ability. Regular Fairies are healing powers only. Etc.

And going off that, maybe at a young age, Fairy Queens would still have elemental or weapon-based magic, but would only be able to supply a smaller bit of magic to weapons and items such as adding elemental attacks.

Then as Fairy Queens age, they refine their subset of powers and undergo some form of coming of age ceremony where they are finally able to adopt a weapon form or are able to more powerfully perform elemental attacks. Like I dunno, harnessing the wind perhaps? Which takes us to the Gale Boomerang.

First, take a look at some details on the Gale Boomerang:

And some details on the Master Sword:

And some details on Fi’s body:

These inlaid gems are notably missing from the child-like Fairy Queen from Wind Waker, supporting the theory that she has yet to undergo her coming of age to become an item or weapon meant to aid the hero.

Fi on the other hand would have already undergone her coming of age, and based on her very terrible social skills and obsession with percentages, she was probably a prodigy even among Fairy Queens, resulting in her being specially chosen by Hylia to be a Sword Spirit. Tasked with assisting Hylia in creating one of the most powerful type of weapons heroes will use: A blade that seals darkness.

In Fi’s case, she was to become the Goddess Sword/Master Sword. But maybe the Four Sword, Lokomo Sword, Phantom Hourglass Sword, Great Fairy Sword, and Fierce Diety Sword are also Sword Spirit weapons crafted by a god and a Fairy Queen.

Anywho, that was a bit of a tangent, so what about the Fairy of Winds? What do they have to do with this again?

Well, Fi is a spirit that inhabits the Master Sword, which can talk to Link (and Zelda).

And the Gale Boomerang is another weapon with a spirit that can also talk to Link (and probably Zelda).

If both of these items are weapons with spirits bound to help the hero and they can both talk to the hero who wields them, (given that they still have enough strength and energy to do so), isn’t it possible that the Fairy of Winds and Fi are the same type of being? In this case, Fairy Queens?

If so, the Fairy of Winds may have at one point been able to manifest a physical body like Fi’s does in Skyward Sword after they inhabited the Gale Boomerang. Which I think is a pretty neat idea.

And I like to think that if the Fairy of Winds were able to manifest, she would have similar diamonds on her chest and head, she would probably be dressed slightly different, and she would probably have different base colors.

And—

Wait...

There is another weapon that can do all these things as well now that I think about it.

I’ll be right back.

Okay.

Look ye upon Ghirahim:

Did you notice he also has those diamonds? And the hair? And the eyes? And he can turn into a weapon? And he can talk to the hero as well as the person who wields him?

Because he can!

Which means...

That’s right!

Ghirahim would ALSO have to be a Fairy Queen. Or a Fairy King, perhaps?

Ahhh!

((Okay, future Ani here. This all starts to devolve into pure insanity and headcanon from here on so like, if you’re anybody is still around and still reading, feel free to stop reading now. Or carry on. Thanks for reading this far. 😅 ))

Okay hear me out. But like, what if Fairy Queens/Kings are all inherently good from the beginning? Because their purpose is to help heroes. That would mean there is a chance that Ghirahim was at one point good. Possibly really good at performing Fairy Queen/King magic even. Maybe even a contender for being chosen as the spirit for the Master Sword. Maybe he resented the fact that Fi was chosen over him and Demise saw the opportunity to act, corrupting Ghirahim forever.

Or maybe Ghirahim was the first Sword Spirit, but was eventually forgotten after Fi came into being centuries later. The new and improved Ghirahim. And then Ghirahim and Demise both fell to the darkness of envy, corrupting both of them forever as Fi and Hylia took center stage among the gods.

Man, I have many new headcanons about an entire race of Fairy Queens and Kings that I need to make more notes about now.

All I can think is that they train for millennia to hone their skills as children, then as they get older they must undergo their own trials, just as Link must in the various games. This is turning into an anime in my head now...I have a problem.

But seriously!

Maybe the better they perform in their trials, the more glorious the weapon they turn into.

So for the Fairy of Winds, they weren’t the top of their class like Fi or Ghirahim who earned the Sword Spirit title, rather they earned the opportunity to be a magic item that would forever be passed down among heroes to aid them in their quest. Maybe they couldn’t be a Sword Spirit because their elemental magic was too good to be anything but an item tied to their area of expertise.

And like, what if as the years go by, the magic drains the fairy of their vitality?

Everything gets more difficult with age.

Even for fairies.

That’s why the Gale Boomerang speaks only once to Link in TP. She is old and tired, but still willing to help, even if this is the last of her magic.

The same problem can be seen with Fi in BOTW. It’s why Fi can no longer manifest a physical body and can rarely speak anymore. 10,000 years was a long time, even my Fairy Queen standards. She finds herself resting more frequently and for longer intervals, but she has a duty. What if she feels like Link falling was her fault in her old age? (I’ve seen fics on this and they have been great, btw.)

Maybe in the next game, Link will have to put Fi to rest and transfer a new Fairy soul into the Master Sword. Or maybe another sword will need to be forged with a new Sword Spirit.

Ya know....just some thoughts I’ve had. Definitely revamped after that comic.

I’m hyped.

Thanks for reading!

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science-lings · 2 years

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Magic in BOTW: A Study of Elemental Weapons

Breath of the Wild is kind of vague when it comes to magic compared to other Zelda games. There’s no magic bar or characters that are mentioned to specialize in it, (aside from the dragons and maybe the champions). In fact, the magic that tends to be used the most seems to be from the Yiga. Sure, great fairy's and forest spirits like the koroks and blupees kind of have their own thing but I’m focusing on Hyrulians today.

Rods:

Though mostly used by Wizzrobes, according to their descriptions, the monsters did not create them. Fire/ Meteor Rods are described as being ‘crafted by an ancient magician’, Ice/ Blizzard Rods are ‘crafted from refined ice found at the summit of Hebra Peak’, and Lightning/ Thunderstorm Rods have a ‘gem [that] contains electricity from the Hyrule Hills’.

Hebra Peak is made up of special unclimbable ice that can also be found in the cavern that entombs the hebra great skeleton, this could be the refined ice that the ice rods are powered by. While ‘Hyrule Hills’ aren’t a specific place in the game, maybe that’s what Farosh Hills were called, as they’re also the hills that surround Lake Hylia which has several other similar names. (Lake Hylia, Hylia Island, Bridge of Hylia, Hylia River) Perhaps before Farosh showed up, the eastern hills had a similar name, But Hylia Hills sounded like a dirty joke so it was changed to Hyrule Hills.

Now, what about an ancient magician? One that’s only associated with fire magic... My immediate thoughts would be Twinrova or a magically inclined Goron (which is more likely but we’ll get to that a little later), in any case, their name has been long forgotten but who’s to say we haven’t met them before?

Also there’s definitely an aspect with using elemental powered gemstones for both the rods and the weapons. Each of their designs feature it at the end of their hilts and it just makes sense for the gemstones to either assist in the generation of elemental magic or the regulation thereof.

Flame Weapons:

Descriptions of the flame weapons describe that they were made in the fires/ lava/ magma of death mountain. This makes sense, this is not a new concept, I mean its the whole plot to the lord of the rings. but what really is interesting is when we get to the description of the great flameblade.

‘by Goron smiths in an ancient age’. Now that’s Lore! So there’s magic gorons. I’m thinking this is in the ten thousand years before botw/ golden age of Hyrule unless we can attribute this to existing characters. Maybe Darunia was really into making fire weapons or something. He was the Sage of Fire, that had to count for something.

Ice Weapons:

Like the Ice Rods, they were made with the ancient ice from the hebra mountains, though in the great flameblade version it ‘was forged by smelting ore found in the Hebra Mountains’ permafrost’ so that’s a thing. Hebra is mostly inhabited by Rito, who aren’t known to be very magically inclined, but there are also some Hylians. The area is generally pretty desolite with not a lot of evidence of civilization so it’s hard to tell who could’ve been behind the magic in that area. There’s the Zonai labyrinth and the entrance to the ice cavern looked vaguely Zonai or ancient Hylian in origin (like the ruins around the springs and the forgotten temple and Lanayru Promenade, like sksw era ruins)

Anyway the Ice is magic, but only the Hebra ice, not like the ice around the goddess spring or the ice around the actual ice dragon, no that ice isn’t magic. The random ass ice in hebra is the special magic ice. No, I don’t get it either.

Lightning Weapons:

Now here’s where it gets interesting. You’d expect that the magic from the electric weapons would come from the Faron region. WRONG. But that doesn’t matter. We’ll get to that.

The Hyrulean Royal family is who is behind the thunder weapons. Which is odd, the royal family isn’t generally associated with weapons or lightning. or are they? One character comes to mind when I think of both Hylian royal family and lightning (and also making weapons), and that is Skyward Sword Link. So maybe the royal family could be linked to that but it still seems weird that they are the origin of them. Perhaps they had help from the sheikah, they had to do a whole lot of stuff with electricity just for Vah Naboris. Those metal orbs do remind me of the lightning enchanted metal...

This ball. the color is the same (but less bright) but still. Same vibes.

Lets get back to the Hyrule Hills thing. The thunderspear description clears this one up a little.

The lighting comes from Thundra Plateau, aka the place with the glowing balls and the eternal storm that I guess was going on for like ten thousand years, waiting for the shrine to be solved by the hero. This place is also heavily associated with the Zonai, as the ruins are the same as the ones around the spring of courage and in the dark shroud of Thyphlo.

Arrows:

The elemental arrowheads look different than the normal elemental metals. The only context that we get for them is that they are ‘imbued with the power of [insert element here]’ and while it would make sense that the arrowheads are just the same magical metals but cut up to be smaller but I would argue against it. There is probably a finite amount of elemental arrows and weapons that can have their metal harvested to make these arrows. Most vendors of these arrows claim to ‘find’ them rather than make them, and they also only tend to sell certain types rather than the entire roster. The arrow lady in Kakariko only sells fire arrows on top of their normal basic arrows, Rito Village and Hateno sell bomb arrows, etc. Only Tarrey Town and Gerudo Town sell packs of every type of arrows.

Anyway I’m absolutely convinced that the arrow lady in Gerudo Town is the creator of the elemental arrows. Gerudo Town is not new to enchantments, especially ones featuring gemstones, they’re also more associated with sorcery than the Rito kid who is the vendor in Tarrey Town.

I could talk more about magic in botw (the champions powers, the magic found in nature with gemstones and plants and animals, the sheikah and yiga abilities, magic in clothing, and also minor deities featured in botw, I will talk about these things if there is any demand or if I feel the inspiration to.) So this could be a series. So please tell me if you’d be interested in that because I would love to make more random in-depth analysis’.

#long post #i am not going to add a read more #botw #botw lore #breath of the wild #loz breath of the wild #legend of zelda #zelda lore #botw headcanons #botw analysis #video game analysis #I literally could not function until I finished this and now that it's over I have no idea what to do with myself

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tad-ahrt · 10 months

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I decided to dedicate this new art book, I got it just the other day, to my Zelda ideas and studies- 'cause it's such a creative series, and also it's fun/stimulating to try and "modify" Totk (since we all know by now that it's not all that well thought out.. not to throw any shade lol) Info dump over

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I've heard many people talk about how they find the difference between Botw's Zonai and Totk's Zonai to be too jarring - Which I don't personally mind because I've also heard that the difference is because apparently Botw's Zonai structures were already ancient ruines (aka the beginning of Zonai civilization) by the time of Mineru and Rauru (aka the end of the Zonai civilization). Which is really interesting.

And also a shame why Totk didn't spend any major time giving us any insight beyond the Zonai devices being a major part of their culture. Or even how the Zonai managed to make whole islands float. And they never even explained how or why the Zonai just... Ascended into the sky???? 'Cause we know they were surface dwellers at one point due to the Zonai ruines in Botw.. But at the very least if Nintendo wanted them to have originated from the sky as like a holiness thing, they could've just said that they were Skyloftians that somehow never descended onto Hyrule, or that they come from the Wind tribe, or that they were crafted by Hylia Herself or something et cetera, at cetera. I feel like the lack of a clarification is just a major oversight in my opinion, because it would have become a welcomed addition to the Zelda lore. The Zlore...

So in order to elaborate on the divide, and also the sky-thing, I decided to delve into the theory that they were originally surface dwellers!

The post-ascension Zonai are basically just Totk Zonai but with the basic scale colours modified so they resemble the Botw/Totk dragons more, and the pre-ascension Zonai just flat out have dragon heads because of, y'know, the Zonai's whole shtick?

I wanted the Zonai, as a race, to be descended from dragons because:

1. It explains why they haven't shown up in any previous Zelda game. They're a relatively "new" "cross breed". (Though I haven't figured out what the dragons "bred" with yet- if at all. Sheikah, hylians, Rito, whatever the hell Kilton and Koltin's race is..)

2. It fits nicely with the ouroborous thing Totk has going on. What came first: the chicken or the egg? The dragons or the Zonai?

3. Dragons have already appeared in previous Zelda games like Ocarina of Time and Oracle of Seasons ( I think). And that only helps to link Botw/Totk's dragons to the Zonai.

×××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××

Anyway back to my drawings:

I used a achromatic colour scheme for my default zonai because I think it would be really interesting if the Zonai's colours were based on their "powers".

Mineru's design is purple due to her being the sage of spirit, Rauru's is yellow/white because of his light magic, and so on- but I hc the pre-ascension Zonai to be split into three (3) sub-tribes? clans? Based on the three Godesses: Din (power), Nayru (wisdom), and Farore (courage). So these pre-ascent Zonai will have red, blue, or green/gold colourings (unless they're too important I guess? Or just specialise in a different power like a sage would). So just swap out the black/grey for a different colour and you'll see what I'm trying to get at lol.

I also made their hair less scaly so there would be a more obvious connection to them and the Sheikah, just look at that 3rd eye man c'mon Nintendo, the theories!!..

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Side note: I don't think there would be much of a difference between male and female zonai, except that female Zonai are bigger because they follow reptile lore. (Also giant dragon women 👀👀👀).

I also believe that, the Zonai are a matriarchy (meaning women are expected to be in authority) because of the Godess/Goddesses being female, Zonai women being larger when they live in a warrior-heavy society (see: Botw barbarian armour). And this would also explain Botw/Totk's dragons (Dinraal, Naydra, and Farosh) having female pronouns and a very high status. Leaving credence for the theory that they were once Zonai and weren't always dragons. (This will feed into the 'plot' later).

However, Mineru's height is still considered "smaller" for a Zonai because she is trans. Hope this helps!

Essay Over

#did not realise this would be so long god-DAMN #was debating putting this in the main tag at first #but after writing and entire THESIS im not just going to just let all my hardwork marinate in my 3 day old art blog #totk #totk spoliers #<- kinda #forgot to tag my other dragon post- the one comparing the main three to the Botw dragons- as spoilers and felt bad after #so not doing that again lol #tad-ahrt #loz #zonai

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sheikah-simp · 5 months

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⭐star⭐ for Exile//Vilify :0

I know this ask was like FOREVER AGO but I was SICK forever ago and couldn't properly rant about Exile//Vilify in the way I wanted to.

For this particular Director's Cut, I want to focus not on one particular passage, but sort of just the whole progressing relationship between Astor and Rose, and how they are reflections of each other and the world that surrounds them.

Astor is in his first year at the abbey when he first sees her - just about thirteen years old - while she is having her seventeenth birthday, triumphantly making her way up Mt. Lanayru. And, incidentally, this is something that is brought up again from Astor's POV at the end of the Epilogue:

Tomorrow, Princess Zelda would be going up Mt. Lanayru, as her mother did before her, as did she with all the hundreds of goddesses with whom she shared a singular soul. ... She, unlike the others, would not be met with flowers and roars of thunderous applause. There would be no showers of trumpets and throngs of people lining in the streets. No, her journey instead was to be made in secret–almost in shame–as the kingdom, in the threat of Calamity, was well aware she had been unable to awaken her mother’s power yet. They had little hope remaining that she would.

But, of course, this passage is not about Rose, although Rose is clearly in his mind. This passage is about Zelda-Sparrow, Rose's "failure" daughter.

Astor spends what he knows to be his final day in "normal" Hyrule--the Hyrule before the Second Great Calamity--looming over the village of Hateno. This was his birthplace, the place that set his prophecy in motion, and the first place in the world that rejected him for his difference. It's the place he was forsaken from the start.

But. He also spends it there because it is in sight of Mt. Lanayru. He was watching Princess Zelda there. I wanted to get into this more, and somewhat had plans to, but there was going to be a portion of the book that just detailed Astor stalking Link, Princess Zelda, and the rest of the Champions while they set themselves up for their own failures. I was going to extend the things I summarized in the Epilogue into their own chapters, but the book was getting longer than I wanted it to be, and Astor's final line is already the pinnacle of the book proper for him:

“I am Astor, your oracle,” he said. “The last seer to the royal family, forsaken child of Hateno Village. Catalyst of the Great Calamity, and Prophet of Doom.”

Astor had owned his identity and his own fate at that point. That's the capstone of the book. There was no need for further chapters, as I thought they'd detract from the gradual progression of Astor's acceptance of his "evil personhood" -- his acceptance of his failures.

A sense of failure, a deep and unshakeable feeling of being damned by the gods, forsaken by Fate, a feeling that he shares with Rose's own daughter, Princess Zelda. Whom the whole kingdom, he knows, shall and already does regard her as a failure. As unable to live up to her legacy, and the legacy of her foremothers.

Rose, to me, and to Hyrule as a whole, is triumph. Even though she does have the inklings of the struggle that her daughter is about to face (she has blockages in her power, can't craft arrows, and ultimately dies because she steps into Malice and is unable to fend off the Stalfos with her light), this is not evident to anyone else in the kingdom. She is, and always would be, remembered as Hyrule's Rose, their beautiful bloom, with a sad, bitter thorn to have been taken so quickly from the world. Even though her power failed her too, this is never how she would be remembered. All of her memory is always joyful and triumphant, because she was chosen and blessed by Hylia, and incredibly, incredibly fortunate in her lifetime. And she is, of course, the inheritor of a kingdom that bears the name of the Goddess that dwells inside her. The Goddess who is always prophesied to win.

Astor, on the other hand, is failure. While Astor is a prodigy in his own right, and "chosen" by Fate in other ways, he is chosen to be favored by the inherent loser--the person in these prophesies that Link and Zelda are always fighting and winning against. The person the kingdom hates. I think that, had I explored Astor following Rose's daughter's journey more, this sense of failure is something he would have deeply empathized with her. Perhaps even developed a sense of love and paternal guardianship over her, especially since she is his last, living connection to Rose. To victory. I think he might have grown to love her the way he would have loved her had Rose still been alive. This is one of the many reasons that I joke that Astor is Zelda's real dad, aside from the fact that he is.

Astor does not know, at the end of the book, if he will live or die. If the Great Calamity - and therefore all his efforts, all his life - will be a success or failure. He knows the kingdom will be plunged into a long era of darkness, and I think he has his suspicions due to the history of the kingdom, but he has also surrendered completely. Because it's not actually about Hylia or Ganon. It is, and always was, about Fate toying with everything and everyone around it. And, having had the great privilege of knowing Fate and dispensing the words of Fate to others, and still considering himself to a degree to be Fate's right hand, he finds peace in the uncertainty. His sense of power and pride comes much less from being a servant of Ganon as it does in knowing that, whether good or evil, he was, in fact, one of those favored (or unfavored) by Fate.

TL;DR Exile//Vilify can be read as a big dissertation on what it means if you are literally, cosmically, pre-destinationally born to be a failure. And then of course there is the shadow of Thelem, haunting the entire narrative, calling out from the pre-destination of his own grave, calling out desperately to Astor that yes, your life and your story will matter, even if that.

Fanfic Writers: Director's Cut

#this didn't even get into Astor and Rose's more obvious good and evil thing #and the LOVE he has for her #just the PINING #but today i wanted to talk about the success/failure thing with them and with the whole book because i think it's evident once pointed out #but incredibly much more subtle #director's cut #exile vilify director's cut #astor #exile vilify #zelda rose #zelda sparrow #asks #fic director's cut #tldr astor is literally just a cosmic failure and that's the book

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shearlin · 6 months

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Something else I just remembered that might be significant is the fact that the Goddess Statues seem to refer to each other as if they were separate people, yet also refer to themselves as Hylia.

To me, that really only makes sense if the Bunshin theory is true.

Of course, it's possible that the Mother Goddess Statue houses a direct line to the actual Hylia, but if Hylia is using Bunshin, then it's also very possible that the entity inside the Mother Goddess Statue could instead be a Bunshin given a bit more power & governance than the others. Thus making it a sort of managerial Bunshin.

A Shōgun with Bafuku (administrators that carry out the Shōgun's orders), if you will, while Hylia, herself, represents the Tennō (Emperor).

Not that I don't understand what you mean. I just like talking about this sort of thing is all.

When it comes to the statues being autonomus from Hylia (treating themselves as seprate entities and explicitly as statues as seen in totk in fallen statues questline) I totally agree.

The Bunshin theory really holds strong in this one, if I understood it correctly (I recognise the terminology you're using but I am not familiar with it enough to be 100% sure)

I got a feeling from the bits of dialog in game that statues usually act as sort of silent mediatior just passing on the message from or to Hylia and have their own identity/sense of self, while still being capable of serving as anchoring points for Hylia to temporary inhabit and talk through directly.

That's my take from the games at least.

Your explanations are very interesting! I really like reading someone putting that into words since I struggle with translating my thought to paper. You giving me a terminology I can structure around is helpful in sorting my own theory-crafting.

#also #heh first ask :D #writing is hard #writing out thoughts and theories without writting it into a story is harder #lol

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miniscrew-anon · 1 year

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HSH Febuwhump Day 23 - “You’ll Have to go Through Me”

Continuation of Days 8 & 9 & 21

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The figure is imposing. Draped in simple black waist garb, the man’s fiery red hair and eyes stand out, nearly glow in the dark of the cavern. He’s tall and broad, made of pure muscle. His arms and chest are covered in black ink made to look like dragon scales, and his nails are sharpened into wicked points. An ‘x’ shaped scar covers his forehead and his face is twisted into blatantly cruelty and hatred. He holds a massive great sword in one hand, displaying his pure power.

Sky doesn’t feel an ounce of fear.

The knight raises his own blade, his personal sword that he helped craft and forge, and meets the man’s heated stare with an equally icy glare.

Behind the man, the bodies of his men are strewn along the floor, having been killed in their sleep.

Between them, Ghirahims fresh corpse lay cooling.

Behind Sky, Sun cradles her broken hand to her chest, watching the two stand off.

“So… you would stand before obliteration to defend your Goddess?” The man’s voice was timeless, neither young nor old. But it was strong and deep and echoed off the walls of the stone chamber.

“How interesting.” The man mused, lips curling up at the edges. He’s amused at the guardsman’s unwavering stare. Not many can meet his eyes without flinching. “The last chosen heroes I faced were nothing more than sniveling, cowardly worms who tucked tail and ran at the mere sight of me. They were hardly worth even chasing down.”

The man examined his blade, seemingly captivated with the obsidian-black metal. “I had thought back then that the Goddess had chosen her protectors poorly.”

His eyes raise to the princesses, gaze burning. “But it was I who had chosen poorly. The woman I killed was not the one who holds the Goddesses soul. She was nothing more than the bearer of the true Goddess.”

Sky hears Sun inhale sharply behind him. Not in fear. Anger.

The man points his sword at her, eyes glittering. “It’s you. Finally, Hylia Incarnate, we meet! How I’ve waited for this day! I thought it would be another rotation before we clashed, but what is a single day when I can feel my destiny before me? Quake in fear, little Goddess, as you stand before Demise!”

He laughed, all delight and anticipation. He bore his teeth savagely, a deep hunger clear on his face. Animalistic in his blatant desire. “I shall take your soul for sustenance and ascend tonight! Your power will be mine!“

“The hell you will!” Sky snarled, blade raised. “You’ll have to go through me!”

Demise grinned. “Of course, hero. There would be no victory if I don’t first tear the meat off your bones. As is foretold, the path to eradication of this pathetic world is through the broken bodies of the Goddess and her chosen one. Only after they lay dead at my feet will I finally gain the power to reshape the world into my vision.”

The man flourished his blade, showing off the clear skill he possessed. With one vicious slice, Demise severed the body of his underling in half. He kicked Ghirahim's pieces to the side, clearing the main floor of the circular room. Sun gasped when the top half of Ghirahim's body flew to the side of her, splattering both her and Sky in his blood. His bottom half went the other way, rolling down a small stone slope with legs twisted limply.

Sky didn’t blink or flinch. He just held his sword at the ready. He was not feeling the exhaustion of the days of searching, nor the pain of injuries from his fight with the Demon Lord just minutes prior. He only felt Sun’s eyes on his back, her anxious gaze tracing the tears in his armor and the blood staining through his uniform.

He felt her fear for him.

But also her trust.

He tightened his grip on his blade. He would not fail her again.

“Make this interesting for me, Hero.” Demise rumbled, taking his stance. “And know that when you fall, everyone and everything you love falls with you.”

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Skyward Sword, my beloved

Clearly Sky did something to be worthy of his title as “Godslayer” and this is my version of it. Sun in HSH is the leader of the church and some people think she’s the actual incarnate of Hylia. So I took Demise and made him into some insane religious figure who believes that he’s the incarnate of the Demon God, who needs to absorb Sun’s soul to properly ascend. Thus, when Sky kills him he’d be known as Godslayer.

Also i threw in that “Demise killed the last queen” to give a lil weight to his threat level.

#hsh au #townhouse au #St0rmyverse #febuwhump 2023 #hsh sky #hsh sun #hsh Demise

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emipon · 1 year

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FAQ

What program do you use?

Procreate. I use an iPad Pro and an Apple Pencil.

What brushes do you use?

Free sketching: Narinder Pencil

Lineart: Apple Pencil Crabfu

Base colors: G Rutkowski MH 8B Brush 5 7

Blending, etc: Grain Pencil Heavy Chanelle, Copic Marker Chanelle

Do you have a print shop?

I have an inprint which is up but technically not running. It’ll be fully functional one day (maybe idk I live in fear that no one will buy any prints so🙊)

Do you take commissions?

Yes, but rarely. I haven’t opened commission slots in years but if you really want a commission, send me an ask/dm/email and I’ll get back to you.

Can I use your art as an icon/header/wallpaper?

Sure! If you use it on social media then credit me, please. Don’t go printing out my artwork or using it for anything unsavory though…🙏🏻

Is this space safe for minors?

Yup. There will only be art and answered asks posted here. Nothing NSFW will ever appear here. All are welcome here (within reason lol). And I should say- I’m old and get older every year so if you’re scared of old people, don’t follow?

I found a repost of your art. What should I do?

You can send me a link and I’ll do something about it, maybe. You don’t need to fight my battles for me but you could also comment that it’s a repost and maybe to be cool and not do it again/ delete the post.

What projects/ zines are you in? I currently sometimes participate in Atelier Hylia with some Zelda artist friends! I have pieces in these zines: Hyrule Apocrypha, Hyrule Fashion Anthology, Force Fatale, Seal the Darkness, Goddess Reborn, Faces and Facades, ATLA Book of Seasons, AA Seasons, and Path of the Goddess.

Where’s your About/DNI, etc?

I don’t know what to say about myself so I don’t really post anything about that. I also like my privacy…

But here are the basics: I’m Emily (Emily/Emmy/ Em/ emi are all ok). I use she/they pronouns. I’m a hobbyist illustrator and now I have returned to cosplay (Star Wars only atm). I’m a translator and live in Japan with my husband (and hopefully a cat in the future!). My favorite things include LOZ, FF, obscure JRPGs, Star Wars, LOTR, cooking/baking, crafting, languages, and animals.

#Fyi #faq #im going to pin this ..! So that’s why it’s cut under the read more lol #If u have any further questions　ｈｍｕ！

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russeliarat · 1 year

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Here’s my ideas of the different religions around Hyrule for the TotK AU.

Three main religions take place in Hyrule for Hylians (and other affiliates), Zonai, and Gerudo. The Hylian religion began in its roots as a solely Hylian/Skyloftian religion, the Zonai religion being rooted in Hylian religion, and the Gerudo as a religion worshipping saints/heroes rather than any deities. Due to the huge influence of the Hylian monarchy, many races in Hyrule took on their religion, including the Sheikah, Zoras, Koroks/Kokiri, and Gorons. The most unique race are the Rito who are mostly atheistic.

The Hylian religion dates back all the way to the times of Skyloft, obviously, and was the main religion of Hyrule even back from when the kingdom was first instated. This religion is based around the idea of the Three Golden Goddesses Din, Nayru, and Farore wiping the planet of evil and giving the Triforce relic to mortals, which was looked after by the lone force of Hylia. After which, Hylia fought in the war against the god Demise, eventually leaving the finishing of said war to two Skyloftians, Link and Zelda who acted as her hero and her reincarnation. The Golden Goddesses, Hylia, and Demise were all seen as humanoids, notably with Hylia possessing the wings of an angel and the image of every Princess Zelda from legends being crafted specially after her. Hylia was seen to represent good and Demise evil, with the morality and aspects of the Golden Three fluctuating between neutrality and good. Over the Hylian monarchs reign, most alliances of other races across Hyrule such as the Zora are also heavily tied to the Hylian religion, though it hasn’t stopped certain subspecies of splitting away and going their own paths.

Canonically, the Hylian religion has no name as the games frame this as a kind of undeniable truth of life (though art/dev books say otherwise). However I don’t want to keep calling it ‘the Hylian religion’ because it’s a mouthful and so after looking up how existing religions name themselves, I propose Hyiafism from combining Hylia and the Old English word Iaf, meaning relic.

The Zonai people have a similar belief system to Hyiafism in its beginnings. Zonaism (as I’ll call it for now since I don’t have a proposed name yet) arose around the time between the timeline’s merge and about a century or two before the TotK AU due to supposed tensions between Hylians that resulted in a civil war. Zonaism, like Hyiafism, believes in the Three Golden Goddesses (completely neutral forces) descending upon the planet to cleanse it of evil and create it in their image, giving the mortals the Triforce before leaving to find another worthy planet. However, the Zonai also believe that before they left, Din, Nayru, and Farore created three deities to protect each piece of the Triforce from the demons still seeking vengeance for the destruction of their tribe, these deities being Hylia, Ekoza, and Kikias, who created complex temples and trials for their followers to prove their worth before each gave gifts representing courage (a sacred sword), power (an unbreakable shield), and wisdom (magic allowing them to thrive). Two Skyloftians embodying Wisdom and Courage used their respective gifts then went on to defeat the leader of the demon tribe while the Skyloftian embodying Power went on to protect those of the then unnamed Hyrule with their help. From then on, the Zonai have vowed to achieve the balance of all three with the assistance of each gods’ high priest who similarly achieved their respective virtues.

A big thing of note is that it is forbidden to look at Hylia, Ekoza, and Kikias without their explicit permission unless that person is their high priest, however most depictions see them as a large bird-like humanoid (Hylia), a half-pig beast (Kikias), and an eight-limbed dragon of all elements (Ekoza). Ekoza’s appearance is actually based on their dragon servants Dinraal, Naydra, and Farosh who are all very much beings allowed to freely roam Hyrule and be within mortal sights.

Gerudo religion works a bit differently to others however, as they follow and believe in heroes and heroines who resemble a similar concept to saints. The Gerudo tribe used to believe that the Goddess of the Sand created the desert and the sands the people live in, however after a long stint of prejudice and historical erasure, the modern Gerudo of the AU know very little about this goddess. Instead, they follow the beliefs of the eight heroines, who embody the virtues of endurance, spirit, skill, flight, motion, knowledge, gentleness, and power. The eighth heroine embodying power is later lost to time during BotW. Gerudo from across Hyrule would embark on a pilgrimage to gain their blessings. These heroines were real Gerudo women, all sisters who embarked across the kingdom and underwent extreme hardship, some succeeding and some succumbing. Nonetheless, each and every one of them gained their status as heroines for their feats. There are a number of other heroes that worked hard for their legends and are worshipped for a multitude of different reasons. Many tales of Gerudo kings made it through the ages (not all of them were about Ganondorf and his reincarnations as other males were born too) and most chiefs and kings are told to look to these tales for what to do and not to do when it comes to ruling. Because of this, Gerudo religion is moreso told to be a lifestyle with sets of legends and tales spearheading these beliefs.

#tears of the kingdom au #totk au #if anyone has suggestions for a title for the au it would be much appreciated #i am struggling with titles atm

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solibrie · 2 years

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wip wfriday

context: writing a thing based on the weekly prompt from the zelink community discord server for "grace." i struggle with single-word prompts, so this one is also inspired by the end of shakespeare's sonnet 28. this lil thing specifically is about botw zelda's century-long battle with the calamity.

⤵

During her time as the Bright Goddess’s vessel, Zelda came to understand that time is impossibly strange.

It must have been the war inside of her, the part that is Hylian versus the soul that is Hylia. A century is a long time to a Hylian, but it spans the blink of an eye to a goddess. And Zelda is both; divinity coursing through her mortal veins, and mortal love warming her divine heart. A demigoddess in her own right, like her mother and grandmother and so on before her.

Some decades felt like millennia—and don’t get her started on feeling. Zelda’s body changed into light, faded into the stardust that Farore crafted her out of, and became the Calamity’s prison. She could not feel so much as she could sense, and the first decades were torture on her newly divine sensibilies. She could feel the life of her kingdom dwindling—the first few days were like severe stabs in the gut with knives twisted for good measure. Huge amounts killed in hours. Lives snuffed out in seconds.

The fall of the Citadel in particular left Zelda anguished for weeks.

#wip wednesday #yes its 12:30am on a friday morning. no im not dissuaded from posting this anyway #zelda #botw #my writing

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bokettochild · 3 years

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request: sometimes time likes to be alone underwater. with his iron boots and zora helmet, it's easy to just take a stroll at the bottom of a deep enough lake, away from the rest of the world. he did not expect, however, to find legend relaxing inside a small hole in the stone. Mer Legend.

Oh boy! I was vibing with this one for a while, I just wanted to make it perfect!

I'm pretty happy with what I made too, but man is it long!

(I hope this makes you happy, anon!)

When he and Malon have kids, he hopes they don't have this many.

Nayru knows he loves his boys, but they can get a bit much sometimes. They can get loud and overwhelming, and as a man who’s used to traveling primarily alone, with maybe a fairy trailing behind him or his trusted mount, it’s a bit overwhelming. He’s not used to being around people so much, Malon and Talon are his only consistent company and even then, the work they share means that often times it’s only him and his thoughts as he mucks, mends and tends things around the ranch.

Sometimes, when the boys get especially rowdy and playful, it’s just nice to get a moment of quiet to himself. Between Sky and Twilight he knows that nothing overly chaotic will go down, and he trusts the boys to keep each other in check.

So, when they come to the Pup’s Hyrule, their battle in this world over and most of their number restless as they wait for the next portal to arrive and whisk them away, Time allows his boys their space, and with a quick exchange with the only two he can trust to not burn something down (at least while the younger ones can still see them) he heads off into the forest to get a little space to himself.

Of course, he can’t really go far, not if he needs to hurry back, but he doesn’t really need to. His destination is Lake Hylia, which is only a short distance from their camp, maybe ten or fifteen minutes, and, when he gets there, he allows himself to actually breathe for once.

Wild, Warriors and Wind had been locked in a game of cards when last he left, the champion soundly beating the other two both at cribbage while Wars bemoans his poor luck, and Twilight and Sky were discussing wood carving with Hyrule, with the occasional comment from the smithy, who is only too happy to throw in something related every so often as he looks up from his book. That leaves himself and Legend, and he’s long since learned that the vet was one to disappear for his own space when possible.

He’s not overly worried. Legend has items and experience that far outmatch most of their group, and if he runs into trouble Time has little doubt that he’ll be able to get himself out of it to at least gather reinforcements, if not handle the issue by himself.

A deep breath of relief escapes him as the eldest of the heroes pulls a few items from his own bag. The boots are a familiar if not welcome weight as he slips out of his armor and dons the tunic and cap of the Zora, his breath bubbling softly as he steps into the lake before him with a contented sigh.

The cool water floods over the top of him, tugging at his hair and bubbling in his lungs, but it’s doesn’t burn the way that it should. He breathes easily beneath the rippling surface of Lake Hylia, the Zora tunic granting him freedom beneath the waves.

There is little sound beneath, only the muffled noise from above the surface, the flow of the water and-

Time’s ears prick forwards as a single blue eye turns to search the space around him.

Someone is singing.

It’s a haunting sort of melody, one that draws you in and makes you dazed, and Time finds himself stumbling over his own feet as he searches for the source. It is not a Cursed song, nor anything powerful from what he can recall, in fact, it’s almost familiar. It sounds similar to something he hears hummed about their camp at night while the boys take watch. He’d never been able to place which of the young heroes hummed the lilting melody, but he’s let it carry him off to sleep many a time before. Only this song, the one that twines about his head and whispers in his ears and makes his feet trek closer and closer to its source, this song is different, it’s haunted and Broken, and it is sung in a Voice.

Not a voice like most of those above the surface have, but a Voice like a fairy or spirit might have. One that pulls at your very soul and sings in your mind, un-hampered by wind or waves, able to carry across miles to be heard by those that it Sings too.

Heavy feet trod faster.

He’s under no spell, but he is a Link, and by now he has learned that all of their kind are blessed or cursed with courage and curiosity both, and to be without the latter is simply unthinkable for the young-at-heart hero. Something –the forest imp in him maybe- tells him to find the Voice, find the Singer.

He’s only made it part of the way across the lake, hasn’t even left the shoreline properly, when the song stops. Unease creeps over him as he looks around, alert and ready for trouble, only to see nothing but the peaceful stillness of the lake bottom around him.

There! His mind supplies as something pink flits in the corner of his vision, and he’s whipping around to come face to face with-

Long tangled hair drifts in the waves as glistening scales reflect the light pouring down through the waves. Too deep, too dark eyes stare at him in shock for a brief moment, and then-

The creature, the thing, is gone in an instant. Whipping away as it’s glimmer fades into the waves around him, speed no doubt granted by the brilliant tail of the thing sending it rocketing out of his grasp before he even has a chance to speak.

He tried to follow it. He does! But quite soon the adult part of his mind is reminding him how dangerous the thing could be, and that he still has his boys to return to back on the surface. It’s been exactly thirty-two minutes and thirteen seconds since he left them at their camp, and by now they usually would have sent someone to check and make sure that whatever member of their party had strayed off was alright.

Removing his boots is all it takes to float to the surface, despite the fact that he still holds the things in his hands, and it’s with no small amount of relief that he realizes that the bank of the lake is free of other heroes.

Time gathers his things together, wringing out his hair and clothes before returning to his normal gear and heading back to the camp.

Smiles and chuckles greet him as the young heroes tease.

“Go for a swim, Old Man?” Legend quirks a brow, staring up from his place by the fire.

Time doesn’t answer him, but he does shake his head violently enough to spray the younger heroes with water, earning shouts and shrieks from them as they try and shield themselves from the wet. “Seriously, Time?” Warriors moans, wiping lake water from his face. “What are you, a dog?”

Time smirks at the captain and, to everyone's surprise (which produces no small amount of delight for him), he barks.

“What sorts of people have you met in your adventures?” Sky asks a couple of days later, head cocked to the side as he watches his brothers. “You all talk about so many races, but I don’t think I've heard of most of them.”

“Well,” Wild smiles, there’s a glint in his gaze that isn’t quite mischief, but it’s a warning to be wary anyway, because they all know what a crack-pot their cook can be at times. “There’s Hylians, of course, and Sheikah, Yiga, Gerudo, Rito, Gorons, Zora and koroks! You’ve probably already met the Sheikah, since you mentioned knowing an Impa during your journey, and the Yiga are an offshoot of that group.”

Twilight blinks and stares, Warriors furrowing his brow as he two older heroes stare at the younger, but Wild seem entirely unaffected.

“Gerudo are a desert people. They’re really tall, and extremely strong! Most of their race have long red hair and slightly darker skin than the people around Hyrule. They are a society of all woman, with only one man being born to them every hundred years. They worship the goddess Din for the most part, and live out of an opulent city set in the desert where they specialize in the crafting of weapons and jewelry, and the farming of exotic plants.” The champion then proceeds to run down traits and knowledge about the other races, matter-of-factly, as if the details he is sharing are things that everyone from the surface knows.

“Wow.” Sky laughs as Wild finishes. “I had no idea.”

“There’s also the minish.” Four adds. “And the Wind Tribe, who are sky people, of course.”

Sky looks curious, but Four says nothing more, instead gesturing to the other heroes to share their thoughts, which they do.

“Terminans.” Time offers. “Very similar to Hylians.”

“Ordonians.” Twilight adds with a fond smile. No explanation is needed.

The others all nod along, but Legend rolls his eyes. “Humans, like, non-Hylian humans, Shifters,” The vet stares upwards with a light scowl as he ticks the races off of his fingers. “Technically they’re humans too, but Wild counted the Sheikah and Gerudo, so there’s also the Lorulians, Labrynninians, Holodrumese folks, Hytopians, Drablanders, Subrosians, Catalians-” Legend frowns. “I could swear there are more but I can’t really recall.”

Time, for whatever reason, he can’t really say why, cocks his head. “Any water people other than Zora?”

The vet snaps his fingers. “Mer-folk! Thank you, Time. I guess fae and animal folk count on that note.”

There’s a scoff and Warriors is leaning forwards with a smirk. “Fairies and animals, sure, but mer? Seriously, Legend? Have you even met a mer before?”

“Many times.” The veteran drawls, cocking a brow in the captain’s direction. “On multiple adventures. What about you, cap? Jealous you couldn’t snag one for your guild of brides?”

Warriors blusters about indignantly, earning laughter from the others as Legend smirks, but the man recovers quickly enough. “I do not have a guild of brides! That is- that is utterly disgusting!”

“Could have fooled me.” Legend teases, sipping some water from a flask.

“Give him a break.” Twilight snickers, shoving the vet playfully.

The unfortunate thing about Twilight’s shoves though is that the ranch hand doesn’t seem to know his own strength, and Legend is small enough that the light push is enough to send him scrabbling to not hit the ground. More laughter rings about their camp, but this time at the vet's expense, as Legend topples over into the dirt, spilling his drink and failing his arms as he goes.

“Yeah, yeah, laugh it up.” Legend huffs, pulling himself back up and dusts off his clothes, scowling at the water spilled on him. “Great.”

“Oh, come on, you came back soaked to the skin earlier, what’s a bit of water going to hurt you, huh, vet?” Warriors ribs, smirking.

Legend shoots him a half-hearted glare.

“Legend,” Time starts slowly. “How would you describe the mer?”

The vet pauses, gaze resting maybe a moment too long as his hands as he brushes off the hem of his tunic. He’s already done so and there’s really no reason for him to do it again, but he does anyway. “What you’d expect.” He shrugs haltingly. “Hylian on top, fish beneath. Tail, long hair, that sort of thing.”

The old man hums. Legends ears twitch, nose shivering slightly as violet eyes flit over their group. “Care to expand on your sky people story, Four?”

“I’m good.” The smithy replies lazily.

Time would pass it off as a strange one-time thing, he would, but there are... other factors at play.

They’ve traveled to Four’s time, fighting off monsters and solving puzzles the same as they’ve always done. The boys are taking some downtime, playing hide and seek, and just like the last time, Time takes himself down to the river they’ve made camp ear and dons his Zora gear.

He isn’t expecting to see the creature, the mer, again, much less hear them singing -after all, this is a Hyrule far before his Pup’s- but there the creature is. It- or they- frolic in the water, chasing fish and singing softly. The tune is lighter than the last one he heard, a different song entirely, but there is no denying that it is the same mer.

Gold flecked, petal pink scales shimmer beneath the twisted lights that invade the water, hair of the same colors flowing in the current as long fingers, tipped with pointed claws, reach out to swipe at the fish swimming wildly away. They don’t catch anything, but Time hears it giggle anyways, the tune of its voice bubbling in merriment as it rolls like and otter and turns to explore some other part of the river bed.

The cursed curiosity of a hero niggles in Time’s mind. How is the same mer from before in this timeline, ages before Twilight would even be born? And why do they play and explore as if they’ve never seen this river bed before in their life?

Long claws pull through sand, and although their hair blocks their face from his view, he can still hear the warble of delight as the creature removes something sparkling and bright from the river bed. The mer floats in place, turning the item over in their hands curiously before whisking it out of sight and returning to their search.

A mer that likes treasure, huh? Why is he unsurprised?

His own soft laugh startles them, and for a half of a moment, golden ringed, violet eyes, wide and bright and full of shock, meet his own.

The mer is gone before he can make a move.

He asks Legend about it the next day. As they travel along the path towards the nearest town, Time falls back to ask the vet more about mer.

“Do mer like treasure?”

Legend starts, eyes wide as they meet his own, and something in the back of his mind is nagging him that the look in the vet’s eyes is somehow familiar. “What?”

“Do mer like treasure?” He repeats himself.

Legend stares at him, blinking slowly as they continue along the path, but eventually the vet shakes his head and answers. “Depends on the mer. They’re people too, Time, they can have varying interests and hobbies. There is no standard for mer. None.”

“Don’t they all swim at least?”

Legend’s gaze is flat. “There are disabled Hylians aren’t there? Not all Hylians can walk, and not Mer can swim. Some just choose not to because they don’t like it!”

Time frowns. How does the vet know so much about mer culture? “How do you know this?”

The vet shrugs, eyes darting away. “I’ve been a lot of places and met a lot of people. Mer are no exception.”

“I thought you hated swimming and the water?” Wind breaks in, falling back to join the two of them with an odd look on his face. He looks like a puppy and it’s killing Time not to ruffle the kid’s hair.

“Didn’t always.” Legend returns, smiling wryly down at the sailor. “But enough of that. The real question here is if you’ve ever met one, sailor.”

“A mer?” Wind furrows his brow, looking away with a soft sigh. “The water in my world isn’t safe for the people who lived in it. There’s hardly even any fish in most places. The Zora in my time had to adapt to the air instead in order to survive.”

Awkward silence falls over them, the vet looking guilty for a half a moment before he settles a hand on the kid’s shoulder. “The goddesses aren’t always fair, Maliit, it’s not your fault.

Time hums his agreement, heart aching for yet another young hero and a world that suffered for Time’s failure to have properly saved it.

He sees the mer again. Not just when he’s in the water himself, but when he’s keeping watch during the night or on occasion when he goes fishing with Twilight. The Pup says nothing about seeing gold and pink beneath the water, but Time finds himself watching it all the same.

It darts beneath the dock they’re fishing on one time, and when Twilight’s line gets a tug, the rancher pulls it up only to find the one of his boots dangling from the other end.

Time can’t help it, he laughs.

So, this mer is a prankster, huh?

He takes to seeking them out, trying to catch their attention or try to talk to them, but nothing works. The minute that gold and violet eyes meet his own, petal pink scales flick deftly in the waves and the mer is swimming away.

But Time isn’t dumb.

He knows that the same mer cannot reasonably exist across all of time, not with all the changes that come to the world with each hero. He knows that this being is somehow following them, and h’s got a rather good idea exactly how it’s happening.

It’s a long shot, but he knows for a fact that Legend is always gone from camp before he sees the creature, and enough times startling the vet when asking about mer has taught him that the expressions between the two are the same. All he knows on the mer’s face is shock, but the vet’s eyes glimmer the same shade of violet, even if they are different in size and shape, and the petal pink hair that the vet comes out of the forest with one evening after their group was separated is uncannily similar to the shade of the mer.

They’ve made camp again, and rather than climbing into the water when he catches a moment alone, Time settles on the shore, not in the mood to be in the water but in need of its calming song. The air has been tense the past few days, and Time welcomes a brief moment to relax, forcing himself not to think of the gaping wound in his Pup’s side or the ragged breath that wheezes between the rancher’s lips.

Twilight will be fine, he reminds himself. Hyrule and Warriors had worked together to tend the wound and while it would definitely leave a scar, the danger of losing their beloved friend and brother (and maybe son?) is not so high anymore.

He welcomes a free breath, away from the hurt gazes of his boys as they try and process that their beloved canine friend and the rancher are one and the same. A chance to think without having to stop those who were out of the know from bombarding those who were in it with questions.

He’s glad to be free of the questions himself.

Legend seems to be too, if the glint of pink beneath the waves is to be believed.

He doesn’t approach this time, doesn’t try entering the water to speak. He’s tired and he wants his spae, and he imagines Legend would like his own too. So, instead, he sits on the bank, feet trailing in the water and ocarina on his lips as he plays softly.

The tune is a sweet one, one he’d written himself that lilts and dips softly, very nearly perfect for a dance, but far more suited to a night by a fire or watching the sunset. And sunset it is, fading light stretching out across the water, glinting of the surface and reflecting off of gold and pink-

He stops, eye wide as he turns towards the flash in his vision.

Gold and violet stare back at him, framed in curling pink as Legend freeze half-way through pulling on his tunic again.

Gold fades just as the scales dissapear and leave the vet siting on the shore, tunic still bunched around his shoudlers and violet eyes wide with fear as he regards his leader.

“I won’t tell.” Time forces, turning away his gaze and returning his focus to the instrument in his hand. He doesn’t play, but he doesn’t look up either.

“It’s an item.” Legend forces, strained. His voice is still tainted with whatever power had shifted him between forms, and it’s sweeter and more melodious than normal. “I found it on my third adventure. Got cursed.”

“Like the rancher?” Time hums softly, not having to look up to know that Legend is shifting nervously, foot tapping madly at the ground beneath him.

“Yeah.” Legend huffs.

“Okay.” And he does look up them, calm and as open as he can make himself seem as he meets the vet’s gaze.

“Just okay?” One brow cocks as Legend crosses his arms.

“Just okay. It’s your secret, Legend. I can’t change what I’ve seen, but I won’t tell the others either.”

Legend nods, wary bit willing to accept the words, if only for now. “If you say so.”

They’re on their way back to camp, Legend carrying an armload of fish and Time carrying both of their bags when the vet stops and glares at him. “I don’t want to hear any jokes, alright? I get enough of those from Twilight and Sky.”

“They know?” The old man tilts his head in question.

Legend flushes, ducking his head and setting off again at a speed some might label a scurry. “No. Hurry up, these fish are gonna rot!”

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Waves lap around his head and it’s all Time can do to break the surface, coughing and hacking as he struggles to remain above the water.

The portal had come at the worst time ever, and no one had been ready to be dropped into the center of the ocean.

Lightning crackles overhead as waves swirl and crash about him. The ocean rages and Time is again reminded how small Hylian’s are in the face of Mother Earth herself.

“Boys!” The shout rasps from his throat as he spins to look about, praying to every deity he knows that he’ll find the rest of them safe and sound, or at the very least together. Never mind that Twilight still can’t walk, much less swim. Never mind the smithy’s shattered arm and Wild’s fear of the water. He can’t panic about those right now, he has to find them!

“Over here!” Sky’s voice answers him. The Chosen Hero clings to the shivering form of the smithy, both are soaked and trembling, but they’re managing to stay above the waves.

“My Hyrule!” Wind calls out as Time strikes out towards them, and the sailor continues once he’s close enough to see that at least five of his boys are safe. “We’re near land,” Wind nods in a random direction and Time wonders briefly how the sailor even knows that. “It could be a challenge in these waves, but we can make it. Have you seen the others?”

Hyrule looks up at him hopefully, the water-logged traveler fighting madly to stay above the water but succeeding despite the waves. Time reminds himself to help the boy learn to swim more effectively later, and more importantly how to properly tread water, but for now he focuses on answering Wind. “You're the firsts. We’ll have to hope the others are alright, getting y’all to safety is my first concern.

“But Wild!” Hyrule splutters, choking on some water as Time swims over to give the traveler someone to cling to. Freezing fingers latch ahold of his armor as teeth chatter, the waves are neither kind nor warm and with their health as it is he’s certain someone is going to end up with a cold when this is all over. “And Twilight! A-and Legend and Wars! They’re out there somewhere!”

“We have to hope Legend and Warriors can elp the other two. We can’t do them any good if we’re fighting to stay above ourselves.” He tries to same calm, but his own mind and heart scream with the same message that Hyrule’s voice does, and its all he can do to push it down.

Thunder rolls overhead and waves beneath as they push off towards the shore, each of the older heroes aiding a younger one as Wind guides them all towrads the supposed island.

Time hs never been so relieved to see sand in his life, and as Hyrule pulls himself up the bach and Wind helps Sky to settle Four, Time can only pray that he’ll find his way back again. “I’m going to look for the otehrs. Wind, stay and help Sky.” The sailor looks as if he wants to hesitate, but he knows better than anyone how a small body can be lost to the waves much easier than an adult. “Make a fire, warm up as best you can. Keep an eyes out. I’ll come back if- when I find the others.”

He stops only to shed his armor and don his Zora gear, but a single dive beneath the water is enough to tell him that it’s for naught. Wind wasn’t joking about his water being toxic, and a single breath of the stuff leaves Time heaving as soon as he breaks the surface.

His chances of finding the boys have lowered considerably.

Nayru above, don’t let anyone have sunk beneath!

Time swims for all he is worth, pushing past weariness as he battles each and every wave. And he’s just beginning to lose hope when he catches sight of something silver reflecting in the water as lighting flashes above.

“Time!”

Blue whips around to meet its twins as Warriors comes to swim beside him. “Have you found any of the others?”

“Wind, Sky, Hyrule and Four.” he breathes back. “You?”

The captian looks rueful but nods to his side. “Legend.”

Time can’t help but start as Legend’s eyes peek above the surface. Golden and violet are glassy in the pale ace of the vet, but they’re there and that means that Legend is alive.

“I’ve officially met my first mer.” Warriors sighs, but there’s worry in the captains voice and face both.

“Split up.” Legend’s voice rasps, and there none of the melodic song that Time is used to hearing from this form of the vet.

Legend is pale, far too pale.

“What’s-”

“Wind’s world.” Warriors tells him. “Water here is toxic.”

The water is toxic. The water, which mer have to breath to stay alive, is toxic.

Time’s gaze shoots to the vet but there’s only a flick of gold and pink as he disappears beneath the waves. Warriors groans. “He keeps doing that! I swear, I have no way of knowing if he’s even still there, but he still insists on disappearing like the little shit he is.”

Usually, Time would scold his brother for such a tone, but he knows that Warriors is just sacred. He’s terrified, and it leaks into his voice and his actions, and the only way that the soldier knows how to hide the fear is by biting back with venom, not dissimilar to the vet’s own actions.

They swim together, searching and calling out for the two missing heroes. Hope is beginning to fade and Time can feel a gnawing fear eating away at his heart as he thinks of the gaping wound in his Pup’s side and the likelihood that Twilight would even be able to swim with it.

His pup’s chances aren’t high.

“Look!” Warriors shouts over the storm, jerking him from his thoughts as his eyes follow the captain’s pointing hand.

Pink bobs on the surface, backed by bedraggled and soaked black fur as Legend hauls Twilight’s limp form through the water.

“Pup!”

He’s taking the lad from Legend as soon as they’re in reach, and Legend seems to sag in relief as the weight is removed from his shoulder. “Was with Wild. Bring him to-” The vet wheezes and ducks beneath the water for a moment, coming up with a pained expression on his face. “Bring to shore. I’ll get Wild.” He gives them no time to respond, tail flicking as he disappears beneath the waves again.

Time and Warriors exchange a glance and head back to shore, supporting the weight of the rancher between them.

Wind and Sky have managed to get a virtual bonfire going on the shore, and the sailor has laid what blankets and bed-rolls he’s found of their equipment in front of it, allowing their dampened things to ry as he and the other three heroes bundle together for warmth.

It’s with a cheer that they al; greet Time and Warriors as the two emerge from the ocean, and Time can’t help but smile a bit in relief at seeing them all safe again. Only a little longer and Legend will be back with Wild, and then he can rest easy knowing they’re all out of the storm.

Rain still patters against already soaked skin and cloth, but with the fire flickering before them Time can’t bring himself to care over much.

Hyrule’s fingers shiver as they slide over the wound in Twilight’s side, cleansing it from the poisonous water that has soaked into the bandages, and while Twilight grits his teeth and winces, he’s at least conscious enough to do so, and that alone brings some peace to the others.

Warriors informs the others of the whereabouts of their two missing brothers, and Time helps to settle Twilight on one of the warming bedrolls. It made still be wet, but it’s better than getting sand in the pup’s wound.

They wait in tense silence, bundled together to share heat as nervous gazes watch the shore. Wind hasn’t stopped muttering under his breath and Four isn’t doing much better with his half formed sentences and steady murmurs.

It’s only when Wild’s golden hair can be seen on the shore that they all release a breath of air.

Cornflower blue is wide and glazed, likely from shock, but it doesn’t stop the champion from reaching back into the waves to pull out his companion.

Legend is a mess.

The veteran gasps and splutters for breath once he’s free, skin a sickly shade of white and eyes just as glazes as Wild's own as the two clings to each other, and when the two stand together Legend is leaning heavily against the shaking champion, and it’s only through sheer luck that Time and Sky get there in time to catch them before the duo collapses back into the waves.

Wild curls against Time’s chest, fingers shaking and eyes blank as the man carries him back to the fire. Legend doesn’t even stir, lying limp in Sky’s hold as the Skyloftian bustles back to join the other heroes.

Nothing is said about the glistening tail that fades into legs once Legend is warmed and dried, and even if anyone had dared the stern gaze of the first of their number would have been enough to silence them.

Violet blinks hazy and distant beneath the warmed fabric of Sky’s sailcloth, but they are all safe. They are all safe and they are alive.

“Thanks to Legend.” Wild whispers when he comes back, head resting against Times collar bone. “Without him I would have never got Twi back to shore.”

“Three cheers for the vet.” Wars forces a smile, and while the cheers are heartfelt and thankful, they do nothing to lighten the mood.

Legend doesn’t even seem to hear them.

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science-lings · 2 years

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Magic in BotW: Gemstones

My other magic focused botw lore posts: Elemental Weapons, Elixir Medical Study,

The thing about the precious stones in botw is that they are (mostly) imbued with mysterious elemental power. It’s not like it’s unusual for gemstones to be associated with magic, mostly through magical rings, but it’s never really explained where this power comes from. Rocks just be like that I guess. They’re well utilized as tools for magic power, I mean, Ganondorf himself has a big one glued right to his forehead. I doubt it’s just for aesthetic purposes. I think that gemstones contain magic from the creation of Hyrule, specifically from Din who is known to be the creator of earth and easily the most associated with rocks. Also it would make sense that power includes different kinds of magical enchantments.

Gems are also a major part of clothes for the great fairies, though this seems to be specific to botw, whether that be because the previous fairies were more connected to nature and thus wanted to be covered in only leaves, or were in a toon link game and weren’t allowed to have their tits out, or they’re in twilight princess where she only wears a miniskirt and that’s it. At least in botw, precious stones adorn the great fairies and are explicitly pointed out to contain certain kinds of magic. Also it’s worth mentioning that in Age of Calamity where they’re playable characters, their weapons are their jeweled magic bracelets so I guess that’s worth mentioning.

Now let’s get into specifics.

Amber: ‘it has been valued as a component in decorations and crafting since ancient times’, ‘a gem that harnesses the power of the land to increase your defense’, I don’t think “the land” just means the physical earth or the ground and rocks, I think it means the innate magic in Hyrule as a whole. In Skyward Sword, carved amber relics could be collected by Link, whether they were left behind by the predecessors to Hylians or the goddess herself is unknown, though the goddess seems to leave behind things in that purple metal. The reincarnation of Hylia slept in a prison of amber, I think there is some connection between amber and the goddess herself. It’s also the gem that you use to upgrade the hero of time outfit set (and the Hylian set) which could be interesting to think about. Perhaps amber is symbolic of being forced to sleep for a really long time.

Opal: ’Contains the power of water’ when used in jewelry it increases swim speed. (also used to upgrade the Zora and the Hero of the Winds sets) The hero choice makes sense, he’s the little ocean guy, and he’s definitely the one most associated with water. It’s one of the few gems with an effect that can’t be replicated with elixirs, it’s water magic is only found among the Zora. Perhaps they’re the origin of the opal's magic, as the Zora lose their power, the stones absorb it. Mipha was the only Zora we see with any kind of power, so it’s assumed that at the very least their power over water has diminished over the eons.

Luminous Stone: Now this one is really interesting! Its blue glow is said to originate from ‘the souls of the dead’ which tracks because the spirit flame is a very similar color. The game actually has contradicting information on how it makes its way onto the radiant set (the only clothes it can be used to upgrade btw), the description for the stone itself states that it can be used as a ‘base for special clothing’ while the radiant set itself says that it’s both a dye and a paint made from the crushed up glowy rocks so I thought that was funny. Now back to the idea that these stones are connected to the dead to the point where some believe that they literally contain the souls of the dead. Are the spirits simply attracted to the stone? Are they trapped in them? Is there an energy that ghosts have that changes maybe flint into this mysterious rock? Join me next week for my theories on the Hylian afterlife. Also, it seems like Zora’s domain is at least partially made out of Luminous stone, as you help make repairs with them, but the stones don’t quite match up and there is some shiny blue rock in that area that’s more likely to be the real origin but it’s hard to know for sure. When used in the Radiant set, it gives the wearer the additional effects of being a disguise against monsters and an attack bonus with bone weapons. Funnily enough, the only other set with the same effects is the Phantom Ganon outfit which also features the bone aesthetic. Spooky…

Topaz: ‘contains the power of electricity/lighting’ This one is less interesting, there isn’t a whole lot else to go off of, it’s used to upgrade the twilight hero set (I guess it matches that game’s color scheme? The twilight liked its use of gold…) and it’s used to upgrade the rubber armor, which could just be because it has the whole shock resistance thing or we could reach for a connection with the Zonai but there really isn’t a whole lot of evidence.

Ruby: ‘contains the power of fire’ obviously, are you guys picking up a pattern here? Not only are the heating effects of the gem used in the circlet from the Gerudo, but it’s also featured in the snowquill headpiece, which I thought was interesting. The Rito aren’t known for their magical prowess, but I guess they don’t need to use it for themselves and only for travelers who don’t have feathers. It’s also used to upgrade the Hero set, (aka the one that imitates the look from the first games, the one with the short shorts that feature a little pixilated octorok), I actually think that version of Link is least associated with fire so this information probably isn’t important at all. Probably…

Sapphire: Guess what? It contains the power of Ice! Who could’ve guessed! This one seems like it’s the most used in clothing, it’s featured in all parts of the Gerudo Voe set with their descriptions pointing to that being how it stays cool. I mean it has to be something magic, I don’t think it’s a good idea to go out in the desert sun wearing that much metal. I also think that the Gerudo utilize unrefined sapphires in the stonework of the town to keep it cool, it can’t all come from the spring. Sapphires could also be how they keep the ice cool in the ice house. They’re also used to upgrade set for the Hero of the Sky. Why? Who knows, there wasn’t even an ice section in Skyward Sword, maybe they just thought, ha! Blue! The sky is also blue! Brilliant! Oh, also the three elemental gems are featured at the ends of the elemental weapons, maybe they assist in powering them with elemental magic or something. I also think they have something to do with the elemental tips of the arrows. Like they have a very different effect from other elemental things in the game? The arrowheads just don’t look or act the same as other elemental magical items and it’s frustrating to me, they have the same thing as the gems where they’re mysteriously ‘imbued with’ the element but there's nothing else about them like there are for the weapons. Also, they only activate when you draw them rather than being on and empowered all the time. It troubles me… There is definitely something weird going on with the arrows, I can tell you guys that much.

Diamond: FInally another interesting one. Diamonds utilize the power of Light to defend against guardian attacks. You need them to remake the champion's weapons and I have a feeling it’s not just because their hard and highly valuable. I think that the champion's weapons were specifically upgraded to be used against the calamity with the only thing that contains the power of light that they had access to. I wish they had expanded upon diamonds and their connection to light magic, the only things with much association with light are dlc items from past games or Zelda’s bow of light. I think a crystalline aesthetic would be cool compared to what we got. Whatever I can add diamonds to my own designs that have to do with Hylia and light stuff, so if I design a light bow made of diamonds you know what inspired that decision lol.

#long post #lore post #botw #botw lore #breath of the wild #loz #loz breath of the wild #loz botw #legend of zelda #zelda lore #botw analysis #botw headcanons #video game analysis #now... to record the rest of the materials...#idk how im gonna make it a reasonable length or how to seperate it into multiple posts #I was thinking about adding visual aids but I don't think this one needs it #it did allow me to come across some amazing great fairy reaction images #i just need a reason to use them...

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lorelylantana · 4 years

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Savageries of the Heart Chapter 1: Courtship

SFW

Zelda always hesitated outside of the King Daphnes’ door. Bracing herself for the twinge of disappointment that always came when she entered the room to find her father’s chair occupied by her uncle, she straightened her spine and stepped into the room with a schooled expression and a head held high.

“You called for me, your Majesty?” she asked, folding her hands in front of her abdomen as she stood in front of his desk. He didn’t acknowledge her for a moment, signing off one last document before looking up at her with a radiant smile that sent a chill down Zelda’s spine.

“Excellent news, my darling Zelda, I’ve found a husband for you.”

She sucked in a breath, “My husband?”

“Yes, my dear, at long last you're getting married! It was a challenge, mind you, but I’ve arranged for you to marry quite the accomplished Zonai warrior.”

She was speechless. As the first born of the royal family, Zelda harbored no false hopes of marrying for love, but she had at least hoped to stay within Hyrule’s borders, where she could at the very least continue her research.

“The temple will never allow it,” she insisted with a voice that shook in tandem with her beating heart. The smile on his face spread wider, though his eyes grew colder.

“The temple has always put too much stock on a bloodline bedtime story. Your mother was a gifted mage, but if present company is anything to go by,” he stood to walk around his desk and loom over her, “it was hardly a divine inheritance.”

“Zonai authority is established through combat prowess,” Zelda pointed out, “I fail to see why they would be interested in marrying me for my blood.”

“It doesn’t matter why they want you!” he snapped, the pleasant veneer of politeness cracking. He took a breath before placing heavy hands on Zelda’s shoulders, forcing them down into a slouch.

“What you don’t understand, Zelda dearest,” the King pushed through his teeth, “Is that we are vulnerable. Our military has been in shambles for an age, and ever since that wretched coup we have been surrounded by factions that refuse to fall in line. With the Zonai on our side, those other races will think twice before moving against us.”

In the ten thousand years since the continent was fractured there was never one incident that pointed to ambitions of conquest from any of the other five nations, but that didn’t matter to Zelda’s uncle, who had moved to a map of the continent. He stood in front of the east portion of the map, where the Akkala, Faron, and Necluda regions were painted Zonai green.

“My fool of a brother didn’t see the threats, but I do,” he whispered, frowning. He spun around to face her once again, “All you need to know, sweet Zelda, is that in a month’s time you will cross the Bridge of Hylia and make your home in the quaint woodlands that were once a part of our great nation.”

Zelda opened her mouth to protest, but he cut her off.

“Everyone wins!” he proclaimed, “We get the support of the largest nation on the continent, and at long last you can finally do something to help your country. As princess.”

Zelda sighed at her defeat, “I don’t know their language.”

“A month should give you a decent enough head start,” he insisted, sweeping a hand towards the door, “I suggest you get started.”

Zelda rushed out the door, desperate for a moment to process. Her plan was momentarily foiled by the arrival of Nohansen. The young prince was an unfortunate reflection of his father made all the clearer by his sinister smile.

“Ah! Have you heard the news, dear cousin? You must be ecstatic! The biggest day in any young woman’s life is her wedding day, and yours is a mere thirty days away!”

“I fail to see how we’re to organize a royal wedding in one month,” Zelda muttered. Nohansen’s smile sank into a smirk. He ruffled her hair, knocking her tiara off in the process.

“Oh, the wedding won’t be held here” he laughed, twirling the gold in his hands, “Of course not, we can’t have those barbarians running around our castle now, can we?”

Zelda took a breath to speak-

“No,” he said, holding up a finger to stifle whatever she was about to say, “We will be taking you to them. Your glorious wedding shall take place deep in the savage Zonai wilds. They even have a little spring said to be protected by a goddess. Does that not please you, O Daughter of Hylia?” he ended with a sneer.

Zelda snatched her crown back, the gold biting against her grip as she pushed passed him to rush through hallways stained burgundy with banners bearing her uncle’s crest to climb her tower, rushing up stairs and crossing the bridge to her study, the most remote room in the entirety of Hyrule Castle. She slammed the door and locked it before kicking off her shoes and climbing her desk to open the window high above it. She lifted her face to the breeze that rushed in. It was here, away from prying eyes, that she could truly relish in fresh air. She stood there a moment to relish the stillness before lowering herself to the floor and taking a seat in front of her carefully cultivated collection of samples of Hyrule’s most elusive flower, the Silent Princess. Despite her best efforts, she couldn’t get one to sprout within the confines of her study.

Her study was cluttered with several clay pots hosting their own samples. Stalks of Saffline and flowering Blue Nightshade gently glowing against the shadows. She also had several vials full of elixirs her uncle refused to consider implementing into the kingdom’s resources, citing a lack of reports backing her claims. Of course, any reports written by Zelda herself were disqualified because of a conflict of interest.

That didn’t mean her work went unnoticed. Zelda had built quite a rapport with servants and soldiers alike when she managed to concoct a working contraceptive elixir with ingredients common enough to distribute. From that point on Zelda became an unofficial medic to the people of Castle Town. Those employed at the castle had full access to the infirmary, but the same could not be said for their families. Since her activity outside the castle was heavily restricted most of her specimens were given to her by grateful family members who consulted her.

She was reviewing her notes on the Silent Princess when a knock at the door brought tension to her shoulders.

“What is it?” she asked, wary of her cousin coming in to gloat once again.

“You’ve been invited to dinner by his Majesty King Daphnes, he requests you come down immediately.”

“I’ll be right there,” she huffed, fixing the golden band on her head and straightened her hair before making her way down to the dining hall. To her aggravation, everyone had already been seated and turned to look at her as she walked in. Another one of her uncle’s tricks.

She sat at the last open seat at the head of the table. Her uncle intended to make a spectacle of her in some way, but she didn’t find out exactly how until dessert was served and the King knocked a spoon against his glass to call for the attention of the other nobles in attendance.

“It is my tremendous pleasure to inform you all as of today that our lovely Crown Princess,” he waved to a servant, who brought over a package “is officially engaged to be married!”

There was a round of polite applause before King Daphnes cleared his throat, continuing after they quieted down. The attendant placed a solid wooden box in front of Zelda after a maid cleared her unfinished cake away.

“In honor of this momentous agreement the groom in question was so kind as to send a gift to his beautiful bride to be and I thought it only right to share this celebration with you all by letting you bear witness to the first gift between our dear Zelda and her fiance!” the King turned to her then, laying another heavy hand on her shoulder.

“Don’t be shy now. Open it.”

At first glance Zelda thought the box itself was the gift. It was finely crafted, polished wood with a reddish tinge that she hadn’t seen before, and the various symbols and runes carved into it had her itching to go to the library. Zelda lifted the lid and reached in, pulling out a knife crafted by some creature’s polished jaw bone.

The room burst out in raucous laughter.

“My word!” a woman’s voice yelled, “I knew they were backwards, but to think they would present a young lady with the remains of some animal!”

“Well of course,” cried another, “If they couldn’t fashion a proper metal blade, what hope could they have of crafting jewelry?”

Zelda fingered the spiral carved into the lid’s center as she considered pointing out that the handle was made from silver wrapped in silk, but she doubted it would make a difference.

“Well she can always wear it about her neck if she wants to show off her engagement!” Prince Nohansen laughed.

Zelda did not wear the knife around her neck, but she did take to wearing it on a sash tied at her waist. The morning after the engagement was announced Zelda descended to the lower floors of the castle to reach the laboratory. Diplomatic relations between Hyrule and Zonai were nonexistent, but there was one researcher that spent a fair amount of time in Faron to study some of the plants there, and Zelda had gotten quite acquainted with him upon his return to the castle.

“Owlan!” she called, a smile growing on her face as the old man came into view, working diligently on documenting the fruits of his research.

“Come to glean Zonai secrets, your Highness?” he asked with a raised brow and his ever present gentle smile.

“You’ve heard the news then?” she asked.

“There’s not a soul in this castle who hasn’t. It’s the talk of the town,” he closed the book he was writing in and turned to face her, “Would you like a tutor in their language?”

“I would, but that’s not the only reason I’m here,” Zelda set the box she’d received the night before on his workspace, “What do you make of this?”

He took the box in his hand, giving the intricately carved lid, “If nothing else, you know that he’s a gifted carpenter.”

“You think he made the box himself?”

“Rather than a ring, Zonai engagements are marked with a dagger. Typically the suitor in question will present said blade with a personal touch. A seamstress would wrap it in a sash for her beloved, a gardener might send flowers along with the blade itself, and your betrothed,” he tapped the box lid, “sent a carved box. Would you mind terribly if I took a look at the knife in question?”

“Go ahead,” she said, taking an empty seat beside him. She turned back to him holding the knife in question with a frown.

“What is it?” she asked.

“It’s common for particularly capable warriors in the Zonai nation to slay a beast and have a bone fashioned into the blade. It’s a way of showing off, you see,” Owlan said with a mischievous smile, “but I can’t tell what creature it’s from.”

Zelda took the dagger in her own hands, running a ringer across the large fang at the point. Now that she had a closer look, she could see etchings on the bone as well, depicting a long horned serpent curling under the teeth.

“What should I send back?”

“I’m sure a reciprocal blade would be appreciated,” he said, a twinkle in his eye.

Zelda left shortly after to visit the blacksmith to have a dagger commissioned before heading to the library. After consulting a librarian she had several books on the Zonai language sent to her room while she perused the shelves until she came across the tome she was looking for.

The Hylian Bestiary was one of the oldest books in the castle’s collection, the original copy was written back when the kingdom encompassed the entire continent. She hefted the book onto one of the empty tables and flipped through the illustrations of beasts both alive and of their remains. She rested her head on her fist, nearing the end of the section and still at a loss. She turned a page, a little discouraged until she scanned it’s contents.

There wasn’t much information on this beast, apart from reports of different colors and different regions it had been spotted in. There wasn’t a live illustration either, but there was a careful sketch of a skull. Zelda opened her box and took out the dagger just to be sure. She held it up to the page.

Her fiance had sent her a Lynel’s jaw.

If his intent was to impress, he’d certainly succeeded. She had never seen one herself, but there had been occasions where her uncle had dispatched knights to slay one that had wandered a bit too close to hylian villages. It was one of the few times the King would approve of Zelda’s assistance of the medical staff, because they always needed extra hands afterwards. Zelda returned the book to its shelf and entered her study. The books she’d asked for were stacked on her desk, but she bypassed them for her cabinet of finished elixirs. She opened the doors and considered, wondering which one she should send to her betrothed. She considered a poison she’d extracted to coat the dagger in, but decided against it. With the language barrier as high as it was, she didn’t want to risk him drinking it. She ended up making a defensive concoction that would give him an extra layer of protection, which he might need if he made a habit of facing Lynels.

She was called down to the blacksmith’s a few hours later to approve of their handiwork. The blade was serrated, as she’s requested, and a fair bit longer than the knife around her waist, but she gave her approval and had it shipped off with her elixir to her fiance before returning to her study and reading through the basics of the Zonai language.

A week after she sent her own engagement dagger she had received another gift from her fiance. Unlike the first, this gift was contained within a basket. Zelda had the good fortune to intercept the servant on the way to deliver her gift to her uncle. The maid in question was a regular consumer of one of her contraceptives, so it didn’t take much convincing before she was walking back to her room with the basket tucked under one arm. She sat on her bed, and somewhat excitedly opened the lid of the basket-

And slammed it back down again. She stared at the basket as though it might combust for a moment, heart slamming against her ribcage. Not wanting to jump to any conclusions, Zelda gingerly picked up the basket and placed it on her desk, ond once she put a few paper weights over the lid, paid Owlan a visit.

“Good afternoon your Highness! Are your studies going well?” he asked, looking up from the medication he was crafting.

“How do the Zonai feel about snakes?” she asked by way of greeting.

“Well I would say they’re quite fond of the little creatures,” Owlan explained, “Snakes in general are held in high regard due to their resemblance to one of their guardian deities. The Faron Python in particular is a common pet.”

“A snake is a common pet?”

“Contrary to popular belief, they can be quite friendly. The Faron Python is known for being affectionate and gentle, that coupled with their penchant to hunt pests earned them a spot in many a Zonai household.”

Zelda found herself in the library once again looking for answers regarding the nature of an engagement, and returned to her room with an illustrated guide to Faron Pythons and their care. Once she was once again seated on her bed with the basket placed in front of her. She made sure to turn to the page to a diagram of the snake’s physical characteristics to make sure she could verify her suspicion. Not wanting to spook the creature, she took the lid off slowly, giving the snake a moment to adjust to the light of her room before taking a closer look.

The serpent itself was shockingly beautiful, bright white scales with splashes of blue along its body that looked almost translucent reflecting the light filtering through her windows. After a few tense moments, Zelda carefully reached in the basket. The serpent didn’t shy away, so she felt secure enough to tuck her hand underneath a section of its body to gently lift it. First it was only a few inches, giving the sweet creature a chance to escape, but it only curled around her hand in an embrace that felt softer then it looked. The snake slowly turned to look at her. A tongue flicked out of an upturned mouth, and Zelda was lost.

From that day forward, it was common to see the Crown Princess of Hyrule walking through the castle with a serpent coiled around her neck. She liked the reaction her new friend had on those around her, even her uncle and cousin seemed to give her a wide berth whenever they caught sight of the python leisurely draped around her shoulders. She never mentioned the snake’s name because she liked the watchful respect she acquired and refused to undermine it by advertising that the intimidating serpent’s name was Noodle.

With this new edge to her authority Zelda made doubly sure that any gifts from her mysterious groom came directly to her hands. The benefits to this policy were two fold, the first being insurance that her uncle wouldn’t make a further mockery of her engagement or perhaps keep the gift if he took a liking to it. The second was the prevention of any diplomatic incidents. As much as she loved Noodle, Zelda was well aware that a snake in a basket could be interpreted as an assassination attempt.

As thanks for her new friend, Zelda sent one of her old journals she thought had a thorough description of how she made some of her earlier, more basic elixirs. She knew there was a chance he might not understand Hylian, but she thought it would be a good way to get to know her. She had tried translating the recipes, but gave up after the first few and sent the incomplete list rather than spend her remaining month translating a single journal. Her Zonai vocabulary was primarily conversational and sadly didn’t include scientific vernacular.

She must have gotten her point across, however, as just a week later she was delighted to find a few vials full of her fiance’s attempts to recreate her recipes.

Zelda was also surprised, quite a feat after Noodle’s auspicious arrival, to find a Silent Princess pressed into glass. At first she was perplexed, wondering if her fiance had simply ventured a lucky guess, but then she recalled the day she began researching the flower and attempting to foster it on her own was also the day she filled that journal, suggesting her fiance had read to the last page of her journal before preparing his third gift.

Her elation at this discovery was fueled by a torrent of relief. She had heard the stories of arranged marriages gone wrong. She had considered countless times in the past weeks that the gifts sent could be a ploy to gain her affections only to have such generosity evaporate as soon as the final wedding vow was spoken. Yet the Silent Princess in her hands whispered tales of a considerate husband, who took the time to read through all she had written and took the time to learn her interests. Deep in Zelda’s chest, she felt hope flicker, foolish as it might have been.

#zelink #zelink botw #botw au #link botw #the legend of zelda #the legend of zelda breath of the wild #zelda botw #arranged marriage au #zonai link #fanfic

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pastelsandpining · 3 years

Text

The Greatest Gift (Freebie)

The twelfth and FINAL prompt in 12 Days of Christmas by @zelink-prompts!! Thank you so much for all the support! Happy Holidays!

Prompt List

Words: 2917

Summary: Very fluffy. Link pops the question. Proposal fic. Can’t get any better than that folks

BotW Post Calamity Zelink

Zelink-mas 2020 l Masterlist

There were many words that could describe how it felt to have Zelda back by his side. He could call it wonderful, magical, amazing--just about every word in the book. None could fit better, however, than natural. Natural was how it felt when she’d appeared before him, glowing in a gold far richer than the ores beneath the surface could ever produce. Natural was how it felt when she smiled at him, striking his heart with an arrow of warmth he’d forgotten how to know. Natural was how it felt when he hugged her, holding onto her as if his life depended on it. And natural was how it felt to love her, like he’d done it a thousand times over and would do it a thousand times more.

It felt natural to celebrate every little thing with her, whether it be her new haircut, or a holiday, or an advancement in the reconstruction of Hyrule. It felt natural to follow her back into the heart of the kingdom, where he would spend the rest of his days as her knight attendant because the thought of not being with her made him feel empty. Everything he did with her, even if it meant to just exist within her presence, felt so incredibly familiar and natural, and perhaps that was why they fell into a rhythm so quickly.

Perhaps that was why most nights, Link only fell asleep after Zelda did. He liked to see her curled up underneath the covers, tucked into his arms, with the peaceful expression of a sleeping goddess visible in the silver moonlight. Perhaps that was why he found every reason to accompany her wherever she went, so that he could see the way she lit up and smiled when things were working out. Perhaps that was why he took his job so seriously, even now, simply because he liked to be around her.

Admittedly, it’d be problematic if he didn’t like to be around the very princess he was courting. That would never be an issue though, even in times like these, when she was trying to use him as a test subject for her new, trial-and-error elixirs.

“You know I trust you with my life,” he said, holding her wrists as gently as ever. “But I’m not putting that in my body.”

“I promise you’ll be okay,” she replied with a pout that almost swayed him. But Link stood his ground and shook his head, chuckling softly at her antics.

“You’re ridiculous, Zel.”

“I know what I’m doing, Link. I wouldn’t willingly feed you something that could harm you.”

“Uh huh. And what’s the elixir supposed to do?”

“Well, if all goes according to plan--which it should, it would boost the natural defense of a person against any sort of attack or condition.”

“You’re brilliant, but I’ll still have to pass.”

Zelda huffed, then uncapped the vial and brought it to her lips. Link was quick to snatch it from her hands and cap it again, shaking his head.

“Nope,” he said, “We’re not doing that either.”

“Then how are we supposed to know whether or not it’s effective?” she argued, crossing her arms over her chest.

“I’ll find you a volunteer,” he replied, which she knew was code for I’ll be your test subject later, and it was enough to satisfy her into smiling. “Can I make our dinner now?”

“It’s all yours, sir knight,” she answered, handing the slate over and lifting her hands up in defense.

“Thank you, Princess.”

It was far from the first time he called her that, and it was a proper title anyone could use. But Zelda still smiled with a pink on her cheeks, and Link could do nothing but watch her. Watch the way crinkles formed by her eyes when she smiled, and the way her freckles became more prominent in the sun, and the way her golden hair bounced when she moved, and the way she furrowed her eyebrows whenever she was confused.

“What?” she asked.

“You’re beautiful,” he said, like it was the simplest thing in the world. She ducked her head and laughed, and he smiled in return.

“So you’ve said, many times,” Zelda replied, giving his arm a gentle shove.

“And I’ll keep saying it until the end of time. You’re divine, ethereal, gor-“

He was fairly certain the kiss was solely to stop him from talking, but he was happy to return it nevertheless.

She tasted sweet, like the berries they’d eaten for a snack earlier in the afternoon, and if sunlight had a taste, he imagined it would also taste like her.

“If you don’t get to cooking, I’ll take the Slate back,” Zelda warned with a poke to his chest.

“Alright, alright,” he replied with a laugh. He truly enjoyed cooking, but not even that could keep his mind off of the girl besides him, who was busy scribbling away in a journal. His thoughts always drifted to her. Her, and his love for her, and just how much they’d survived together.

And without thinking about it—well, it’d been on his mind, but he didn’t think before speaking:

“Would you ever want to get married?”

“Yes,” Zelda replied, too quickly and too casually for him to think she’d really heard him. He looked over to her with furrowed eyebrows, but she was staring right back with wide eyes, like she couldn’t believe it either. It took Link a minute to find his voice.

“Are you serious?” he asked in a voice just barely above a whisper.

“Are you?” she asked.

“Yes,” Link said with a nod, reaching for one of her hands. “Of course I am.”

“I— you do mean us, right? You would want to marry me?”

“Yes. Without hesitation.”

“Is this..?”

Link shook his head quickly.

“No! I mean, no, I just— I kind of want to.. plan something..? I mean, the princess of Hyrule deserves a grand proposal.”

Zelda’s cheeks were as red as a rose. He could imagine he looked very similar, with the way his heart was racing.

“You better not,” she said with a smile.

But he did. He spent the next few weeks planning a perfect proposal. It didn’t have to be a surprise, but he did want it to be special. Zelda was special, in so many different ways. She was so very special to him, and he wanted to convey that, but he was stumped.

Link didn’t want to put her on the spot in front of their friends or a crowd of any sort. He didn’t want to pressure her with grand gestures or gifts, but what else could he do?

He’d written and scratched out so many ideas.

Should he bring her to the Sanctum and make it the place of a happy memory instead of what it had become? Should he take her on vacation to Hateno and ask in the privacy and comfort of his house? Should he be clever about it and slip the ring into a book, or a journal, or on a guardian piece? Should he have a friend help him?

He tried asking said friends on their opinions, but he had pretty limited options. Riju was a child, and she’d take pleasure in sending him straight to a Voe and You class that he did not want to participate in. Yunobo didn’t seem like the type to talk to anyone, much less do something as outgoing as propose. It didn’t feel right to ask Sidon, even if he would give good advice. His best bet was Teba and Kass, or any of the families he’d come to know in Hateno.

Kass had suggested a song, but Link didn’t think he had a musical bone in his body outside of an appreciation for it. It would be a decent last resort, if anything.

So the days came and went, and he remained clueless, but the ring, carefully crafted in Gerudo Desert with diamonds and sapphires and emeralds, stayed in his pockets. Just in case.

“Could you pass the sugar?” asked Zelda from beside him. Hylia’s Day had come around again and three years after their first celebration full of friends, they were spending the day in solitude. He was trying, key word, trying to help her bake a fruit cake. The kitchen staff were hesitant to let them, but he managed to convince them.

Link used it as an excuse to hug her from behind and place the sugar in front of her.

“You’re ridiculous,” she said, but turned her head to kiss his cheek anyway.

“Careful not to use too much,” he warned, giving her a gentle squeeze. “It’ll be too sweet.”

“If I can put up with you, then I think I can handle a little ‘too sweet’.”

“I can’t tell if that’s a compliment or an insult.”

Zelda snorted and dumped the measured sugar into the bowl. Link hid his grin in her shoulder. He loved the way she laughed, and the way her nose scrunched up when she did.

“There. Now I can stir them all together, right?” she asked.

“Clever girl,” he replied with a kiss into her shoulder. She threw some flour into his hair, and he shook it off all over her shirt.

“Oh, you just wait until this is in the oven.”

“Is that a threat, my princess?”

“Absolutely.”

Though she didn’t need help pouring the cake batter, Link set his hands over hers and did it anyway. It was nothing more than an excuse to touch her, but she clearly didn’t mind.

“See? You’re a professional,” he said as he took the trays and slid them into the oven. She’d burned herself once, years ago, and he never let her touch it since.

“I can give up the crown and turn the castle into a bakery instead,” she replied, leaning against the counter with crossed arms. He shut the oven and set his hands on either side of her, trapping her where she stood.

“We could be Hyrule’s most successful sweet shop. Specialty is fruit cake, made by and for the former princess herself.”

“Maybe we’ll just run a side business.”

“Ah, Princess and army general by day, bakers by night.”

“Exactly.”

Link laughed and pressed a kiss to her forehead. Zelda brought her flour covered hands up and stuck them onto his cheeks.

“Why do you insist on starting a food fight with me?” he asked with a sigh, before sticking his hand in flour and dragging a finger down her nose, leaving her with a flour streak of her own.

“You’re cute when you’re covered in flour,” she replied before ducking out from under his arms and darting away from him. When he turned to grab her again, she tossed a handful of flour in his face. “See?”

“Princess of Hyrule, Daughter of Hylia, spends her day assaulting her escort with flour,” he said with a huff, then turned back to the counter to scoop up some flour of his own.

“Are you seriously pouting over it?” she asked. Now that she’d moved closer, he spun around and dropped the handful onto her head.

“You know me better than that,” he replied with a grin. Zelda let out a sound somewhere between a gasp and a scream, and Link took the opportunity to make a mad dash across the kitchen and out of her reach.

Maybe they should’ve cleaned up the ingredients when they were done, because Zelda grabbed an egg and chucked it in his general direction. He ducked, then darted to one side of the table. She took the other and mirrored every move he made with a grin of her own.

“Your aim is getting better,” he teased, nodding towards the splatter of egg on the wall. “But I will again offer training-“

“If you hadn’t ducked, it would’ve hit you!” she defended.

“A lovely Hylia’s Day gift that would’ve been. Egged by my princess.”

“I think it’s fitting!”

“I got you an empty kitchen and a day to try whatever you want, and you egg me!”

“Because you’re an egghead!”

“Unbelievable. She’s the Daughter of Wisdom and the best she can come up with is egghead.”

Zelda sputtered a response, then made a break for him. Instead of running in the opposite direction, like any sensible person, Link jumped clean over the table and waved with a smile.

“Ugh! Show off.”

“I could teach you,” he offered.

“I’m perfectly capable of jumping over a table on my own!”

“Prove it.”

Zelda glared at him, but it was filled with a playful love that made it hard to stop smiling. She pulled herself up onto the table with all the grace of a goddess blood princess, then scooted across it to meet him.

“Very impressive,” he teased, grabbing her by the waist to pull her close. She only rolled her eyes and stuck her fingers into his hair, effectively spreading more flour.

“High praise coming from you,” she said. Link only hummed and tilted his head to meet her in a quick kiss.

“Come on, let’s clean up a bit,” he replied as he scooped her up off of the table in a bridal hold, and she leaned her head against his shoulder.

“Yeah, we probably should.” But she’d tilted her head up and was pressing kisses along his neck.

“Are you trying to distract me?” he asked, glancing towards her with a lifted eyebrow.

“Now why would I do that?”

The warmth of her breath tickled his neck and, well, it was certainly working. He almost wanted to forget about cleaning their mess and instead give his full attention to Zelda, but his foot hit a pile of flour on the floor.

The wind was knocked out of him immediately upon impact with the floor, but no harm had come to Zelda, and that’s what mattered. He tried to laugh through the pain.

“Are you okay?!” she asked as she scrambled off of him and helped him sit up. He nodded, but she checked him over anyway. Only when he could breathe again did she relax, then burst into a fit of giggles. “You’re an idiot.”

“I’m being bullied by the love of my life,” Link said with a hint of exasperation as he dropped onto his back. Zelda leaned over him with a smile as soft as a cloud.

“Am I really?” she asked, running her fingers through his hair again.

“Of course,” he replied with a smile, lifting a hand to rest on her cheek. “You’re my sunshine.”

Zelda scoffed and shook her head, but Link took her free hand and pressed a kiss to her fingertips. Even covered in flour, she was absolutely divine. And she looked so happy that his heart could burst. He decided there was no moment he loved her more than when she was smiling at him, with a warmth in her eyes and a sweetness in her smile that was reserved only for him. He loved her most when she was happy. He couldn’t keep the smile from his face and the words from his mouth.

“I love you,” he said as he sat up, cupping her face with both hands. “So much. You are everything to me and I want to do all I can to make you happy, for the rest of our lives.”

“Link,” she replied, her voice choked full of emotion.

“I want to marry you, Zelda.”

Even though they’d had this discussion before, there were tears building in her eyes. She looked like she didn’t know what to say, so Link took the opportunity to dig into his pocket and pull out the velvet box. And right there, on the floor of the castle kitchen, covered in flour, Link opened the lid and revealed the ring. Zelda burst into tears and, goddesses, when she nodded, he let out a watery laugh. She tackled him backwards, burying her face in his shoulder, and he hugged her close.

“I love you,” Zelda said, and repeated it probably a hundred times over.

“I love you,” he answered, pressing a kiss to her head.

“Can we have fruitcake at our wedding?” she asked in a wobbly voice. Link laughed again and if he could hold her closer, he would’ve.

“We can have whatever you want.”

And a few hours later, when the future queen and Hyrule’s army general stepped out of the (now clean) kitchen covered in flour, hand in hand and glowing with a happiness that suggested they’d seen Hylia herself, no one questioned it. But their engagement was no secret, because the ring on their princess’s finger had the castle staff whispering excitedly to one another mere minutes after the couple was gone.

That very night, as Link watched Zelda fall asleep in his arms, he could swear he felt King Rhoam smiling down on them, and he thought he could hear Urbosa’s laughter echoing on the wind.

They would celebrate tomorrow, he decided. For now, he would be grateful for how their solitary Hylia’s Day had gone.

He must’ve been the luckiest man in the entire world.

“I’ll take care of her,” Link whispered into the night air, a quiet promise to all those who cared about her. She didn’t need his protection, but goddesses, she’s all he could’ve ever wanted.

To have the pleasure of falling in love with her over and over again, perhaps that was the greatest gift of all.

#zelink #botw zelink #post calamity zelink #zelink prompts #christmas prompts #zelink proposal #proposal fic #link in love is my favorite thing to write #in case you couldn't tell

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