#its so hard to fix in mobile and i hate doing it sm im so sorry

[pupika-samika]

A King is Nothing Without His People

Chapter 5

Long Awaited Encounter

CW: Minor mental breakdown

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After an eventful lunch with Bolson and Karson, Link decided to head inside. One, to check on Fostri, and two, to clean their dishes by hand. While he appreciated the slate cleaning everything that was put inside it, it was nice to do things by hand occasionally. When he looked at the table to where Fostri should have been he frowned when he didn't see his friend. The abandoned Hylian Cloak still sat on his table, this time not holding his Korok companion. Link set plates on the table and looked around, not seeing the Korok in the kitchen. A quick look behind the stairs showed the Korok wasn't hiding there either. Did something happen to Fostri or was he just hiding again?

If a look behind the stairs didn't show results then maybe looking at the top of them will, he thought as he began climbing the stairs. At first glance the Korok was nowhere to be seen, but at second glance the flower that dutifully sat on his nightstand seemed different. Where it once stood like a perfect guard, straight and unmoving for hours, it now sat more freely, like an invisible weight was lifted from its small leaves. There was a slight slouch to the stem and the leaves seemed to dance in an invisible wind. Its petals now fuller and a different color. It was the same kind of flower the Koroks hid in, a white beauty he adored. He always wanted to pick one but the Koroks never allowed him to do so, it was a wonder Bolson managed to find a similar flower. The flower, which usually held withdrawn, pale yellow petals, now held blooming pearlescent white petals.

Link walked over to the flower and hesitantly brushed a finger over the surprisingly soft petals. He never cared to touch the flower, always choosing to admire it from afar than view it up close. After a few seconds of petting the flower, he jumped back when a cloud of green smoke blew in his face. He had forgotten he was looking for the Korok. There stood Fostri, holding another flower. Though this one looked much less like a flower. "Yahaha, you found me!" He said and held the flower up to Link, letting him examine the plant. It wasn't any kind of flower Link had seen before, it almost looked like a pinecone but more flowery and plant-like. Instead of being hard like wood, the petals were soft yet thick and short, a dark pink coloring the petals instead of a comfortable wooden brown. "It's called a pine flower! It means hope and- it means hope!" Fostri quickly blurted out, almost like there was something else he wanted to say but was hesitant to say so.

Link didn't question the sudden cut-off in the sentence, instead walking closer to the nightstand. There was no stem to hold it so he had to carefully balance the flower in his palms. "What kind of flower is this? I've never seen anything like it in the wild," Link asked as he ran a thumb over the petals.

Fostri began hovering away from the nightstand, the yellow flower back in place. It was almost a sad sight to see now, a flowery soldier standing to attention. "It's a baby pinecone! Pinecones hold pine seeds so they grow as flowers! So you're holding a baby pinecone, not a flower. But I thought it'd be a good gift since I hope you're finally free of your adventures!"

Fostri let out a smile, hovering in front of Link as he held the flower in his palms. Below the two of them, there was an argument happening in Link's living room.

"Revali! Don't bring up such embarrassing moments!" Mipha yelled, her face hot with anger and embarrassment. "He's right here and he'll be able to hear us at any moment!" She covered her face with two delicate hands. You'd never guess she was a trained warrior with how small her hands were.

Revali continued with his teasing. A hundred years spent with the Zora taught him when he went too far. "Mipha you seem confused, I wonder why? You're not denying the truth now are you?" His teasing tone never once leaving his voice. He dodged the sharp nails that were sent his way, almost phasing into Link who was now at the bottom of the stairs. Urbosa had been the only one to follow him upstairs, the other three staying downstairs. Mipha and Revali stood bickering next to the stairs while Daruk sat in the table, watching the two go back and forth.

"Now now Blue Jay, what have I said about teasing our poor Princess?" Urbosa said as her heeled foot stepped off the last step, sending a disapproving look to the Rito. "I thought I told you not to tease her while I was away. Honestly Blue Jay, how could you leave me out of the fun?" She asked and walked closer to Revali, draping a dramatic arm over his shoulders.

The scene was calm and still, like a photograph. A family of four teasing the youngest of themselves, perfectly unaware of everything going on around them.

Link was now downstairs with a Forest Child, who soon left the scene to explore the area around Link's house. He began getting out his polishing supplies, humming tunes to himself. Revali and Urbosa continued to tease the lovely lady Mipha, sending the poor Zora red. She whipped around to look at Daruk, a pleading look in her eyes. "Daruk! Help me please!" She begged, moving to hide behind his body.

Daruk laughed, holding his arms up in surrender. "Sorry little sister, no can do! I don't want Urbosa so come after me next, you're on your own!" He spoke loudly, his whole body shaking. Mipha stares at him incredulously, disbelief on her face.

"You traitor! Oh if only Link could see us, he wouldn't allow me to suffer like this," she whined and covered her face again. The other three ghosts could tell she was only mildly upset, if even that. If anything she was just putting on a show to keep everyone entertained.

"Mipha you should be careful what you wish for. I'm pretty sure he can see us right now judging by how he's holding your trident." Revali called as he stared at Link, who was holding The Lightscale Trident in an offensive position. Mipha would have been ecstatic over how he correctly held the Trident… if the prongs weren't pointed directly at her.

Link lifted the Trident higher, a conflicted look on his face. He almost recognized these people. They seemed so familiar, like people he should know but can't quite remember. "Who are you? How did you get in here without me hearing you?" He asked and stepped closer to Mipha, knuckles turning white with how tightly he was holding the weapon.

Daruk suddenly stood up, everything below his waist still phasing through the table. "Woah there little guy, it's us! Your fellow champions! You freed us from our beasts so we gifted you our powers, that ring a bell?" He asked, his tone cautious. While being stabbed with the weapon wouldn't hurt it would definitely lead to a lot of explanation. "We can explain everything."

And so they did. The champions explained a hundred years ago. The fall of the champions, the rise of Calamity Ganon. They explained how they followed Link around since the very beginning and how they met all sorts of people along with him. They explained the adventures they had along with Link and they explained the near-death-again experiences they had.

By the time they were done, it was well into the evening. The sun was kissing the horizon and it was around the time Link would start making dinner, though he didn't want to leave the house. Not now.

"So... You guys have been with me this whole time?" Link asked. He wasn't sure if he should be amused, ashamed, embarrassed, or mortified. He knows he did stuff. He knows he did stuff he would never tell another soul. But having four souls witness the stuff he's done? He'd rather fight Ganon ten more times. Unfortunately, (for him at least) Ganon would not rise for another few hundred or thousand years. Long after he was dead. Truly a tragedy.

Revali let out a sigh, shaking his head in disappointment. "Is that not what we've spent the last nine hours explaining? Yes. We've seen you in your underwear, we've seen you climb a building just to jump off of it, we've seen you get bucked off of your giant horse- who I can't believe you named Midget! We've seen you sneak into Gerudo town, we've seen you fall down a hill, and we've seen you almost bomb yourself to death! Goddess we've seen you cry over a doe getting separated from her herd! We've been here for the past year and we've seen everything!" Revali ranted, clearly needing to let some unchecked aggression out.

A disapproving click was heard from Urbosa. "Revali. While I understand your frustrations, that was uncalled for. Link is still trying to adjust to us being here." She scolded the Rito, something she hasn't had to do in almost seventy years. "To answer your question, Link, it's difficult to explain. Our souls were following you but we weren't with you. We only followed you for short amounts of time as we couldn't be far from our beasts for long but there was always at least one of us with you at all times. When you freed us from our beasts and we gave you our powers, it was like our souls became infused with yours. At first, it was such a powerful feeling. We were- are- still extremely weak, nowhere near as strong as when we were alive. But after we took refuge in your soul it was like a major power boost."

Urbosa explained to the best of her abilities, but she wasn't entirely sure how it felt. Only Mipha knew how it felt to be completely free and alone. The other three ghosts appeared to have the same thought, looking over to the Zora. Mipha, uncomfortable with the sudden attention on her, began explaining what Urbosa hadn't.

"We were bound to our bodies which had long decayed. It took a few years for us to learn how to separate with our bodies, perhaps around ten or fifteen. But by then the damage was done. Ganon had already taken you down and Princess Zelda had sealed herself in the castle. After you freed me I thought that was it, I would disappear. When my soul became infused with yours I felt... I'm ashamed to admit it but I felt so powerful. Your soul was so strong. The longer I spent hidden within your soul the stronger I felt myself become. It was addictive.

"I sometimes spent weeks in your soul, growing stronger and stronger. I had to stop myself when I noticed how much of a toll it was for your health. Occasionally we rest within your soul but only for a day or two at most, usually when we're drained of energy." Mipha rambled on as she grew more and more anxious. She hadn't even realized how off-topic she'd gone, she was so guilt-ridden with how much she had hurt her childhood friend.

Link frowned and moved closer to the Zora, gasping in shock when his comforting hand phased through the Zora. He hesitantly withdrew his hand but put it palm up on the table. "Mipha, it's ok. I don't even remember so I'm not mad. I should've taken a break anyway, I was probably pushing myself too hard." He reassured, putting on his best comforting smile when Mipha looked over at him.

She laughed and brought a hand up to her eyes, gently wiping the tears from her eyes. "Thank you, Link. I needed to hear that." She said and flushed when she noticed everyone was looking at her in various degrees of concern. "O-Oh! B-but this isn't about me! We should be talking about you! Where do you plan to go first while Lady Impa travels here?" She asked to get the attention off of her. They all knew it was a ploy to change the subject and unfortunately, it worked.

"I plan to head to Gerudo Town tomorrow, spend a day or two there, then Rito Village. I want to go to the Lost Woods too, talk to the Great Deku Tree and let Fostri talk with some of his friends. Then it's Goron City and I'll finish up with Zora's Domain." Link explained, ignoring the fact that he had two remaining days. He didn't want to tell them he planned to go to the Castle, even if they would find out eventually. He didn't... He didn't want them to be reminded of how pathetic he was.

The ghosts shared silent glances before wisely keeping their mouths shut. "Speaking of that cursed Forest Child, where is it? We've been talking for a few odd hours so he should've been back by now." Revali asked no one in particular, looking around the small area. Link and Mipha had taken up one of the table heads, Daruk moved so he now sat on a long side of the table instead of inside of it, Revali himself sat at the other head and Urbosa sat opposite of Daruk. There was no korok insight.

Link whipped his head around, surprise and concern filling him. "He hasn't come inside so he must still be outside. I'll go look for him..." Link trailed off when he stood up and noticed the ghosts followed him up. Urbosa stood up while the other three seemed to sit or lay on air. He decided not to question it, guessing it was a ghost thing. He walked to the door and opened it, relieved to see Bolson and Karson making their way across the bridge. "Goodnight!" He called out as he closed the door, getting two goodnight's back.

His first stop was the stubborn rock that stood in front of his house. He lifted it and waited for a cloud of green to follow but was disappointed when nothing came. He turned around and walked over to the pond near the side of his house where he was met with the sight of Mipha sitting in the pond between Urbosa's legs. Urbosa was dipping her legs in the water and running a hand over Mipha's head fin, keeping her gaze on Link as he walked closer. Daruk was leaning against the giant tree while Revali looked up at the tree branches. Link couldn't see his expression but he had no doubt the Rito was thinking of flying. "You guys look relaxed, do you always do this when I come to Hateno?" He asked as he walked over to the giant tree that sat behind his house. Maybe Fostri decided to take a nap up there? He thought as he began climbing the tree. His question was soon answered when he got to the top and noticed a little green lump sat in the middle.

Revali gave a huff and looked away from Link, turning around so he could lean on the tree. "We didn't have anyone important to look after in Hateno so we took a break while we were here. We found out that water is one of the few things we can touch and enjoy, so we relax by this pond most of the time." He explained as he watched the girls quietly talk amongst themselves, both of them keeping a spare eye on Link. They were all a little cautious of his health with what happened a hundred years ago.

"Few things you can touch? What else can you guys touch?" Link asked curiously as he took the little Korok in his arms. His breath hitched for a second when he saw that Fostri wasn't moving- wasn't breathing. He carefully cradled the body in his arms, reminding himself that this body was still alive and he wasn't breathing because Koroks don't need to breathe and oh god he's having flashbacks to yesterday. Her malice-covered skin and her hatred-filled eyes glaring up at him. Now is not the time for that! He has to focus and be strong! The champions will see something wrong and will know he's weak! He let out a shaky breath and tried focusing on what the Rito- what anyone would say next. He could have a breakdown later when he got back on the ground, or back in his house, or tomorrow or never. Never sounded pretty good. He'd like to never have another panic attack

No one said anything for a few seconds, sharing another glance Link couldn't see. "Link would you... Would you like to talk about yesterday? It's ok to cry some more, we won't judge you for showing your emotions." Mipha gently coaxed as she made her way over to the tree. "I'm sure crying with Impa helped greatly but you should talk about it, either with us or someone you trust. Trauma is trauma no matter how insignificant it is," she said and stopped at the edge of the pond.

Link slowly inched himself to the edge of the tree and allowed himself to drop, bending his knees upon impact. It wasn't that far a drop, he's fallen from worse and survived. "I'm-" he started, taking a deep breath to keep the tremble out of his voice. "I'm fine Mipha. I just need a few days... to process everything. I'm going to bed, feel free to follow me or stay here." He wouldn't admit it, but he wished they'd leave him alone. Just for tonight. Just for an hour. He could leave Fostri downstairs in the kitchen with his cloak and cry himself to sleep. That sounded nice.

No one made a move to follow Link as he headed inside, instead staying outside to enjoy their last night in Hateno before they headed off to adventure again. Link did exactly as he wanted to. He fixed up his Hylian Cloak, which he had forgotten to put away hours earlier, sat Fostri on the fabric, went upstairs, got comfortable, and promptly let a few tears loose. He took care to keep his sobs quiet, burying his face in his pillow to do so.

The champions waited a while before they started talking again, speaking in hushed voices. "So Mipha, how do you propose we get him to talk? Because I'm more than willing to hold him at bow-point and force him to cry it out," Revali snarked out as he sat down next to Daruk.

"Revali that would be less than optimal. If anything that would cause him to curl further into himself," Mipha said with a disappointed look. "Wait- why am I the one that has to come up with a plan?"

"Because you've known him for the longest. Besides, you two are technically engaged if I remember correctly," Urbosa replied as she made her way over the pond. She floated over the water and remained floating when she was at a close enough distance. "I'd think you would know your fiance best."

Mipha turned a scarlet shade, hiding her face in her hands. "Urbosa! I never asked him so he couldn't have accepted! If anything he's engaged to my father but my father didn't properly ask him and-!" Mipha cut herself off out of shame when she heard Urbosa laugh, her face almost painfully hot.

"Little sister, you're engaged to Link? I never would have guessed that!" Daruk innocently chimed in. He'd never admit it but he too liked teasing the Zora. After a hundred years it was almost too easy.

Mipha whipped her head up and glared at everyone present before sinking further into the cool water. "I'm going to sleep. I refuse to be the center of your amusement any longer." She huffed out and swam to the center of the pond so she could comfortably drift to sleep.

After a few hushed conversations between the remaining three, they decided to head to sleep as well. It was late, the moon was almost at the center of the sky and they had a long week ahead of them. With a quiet goodnight passed around, the four Champions finally went to sleep.

A good thing they weren't awake to witness the Blood Moon passing overhead.

#ive given up on fixing the formatting #im sorry if it looks weird because of that #its so hard to fix in mobile and i hate doing it sm im so sorry #akinwhp #legend of zelda #linked universe #wild linked universe #linkeduniverse #linked universe fanfic #zelda fic