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skyloftian-nutcase · 24 days

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A Heart Sealed in Stone (TotK: Hero's Shadow)

Someone save me from the brain rot please

Ganondorf had to admit it – there were benefits to being allies to Hyrule.

Although his end game was to get his hands on a secret stone, the perks of being in Rauru’s good graces were beneficial. Soon, he wouldn’t need Rauru’s blessing to enjoy such delights, though. He was looking forward to that.

In the meantime, he would enjoy a quiet moment with his family. The hot springs they’d settled at soothed his body like a massage in itself, and he sighed peacefully as he sank deeper into the water.

In a separate hot spring a few steps away, his wife and daughter relaxed. Hemisi was half asleep, arms wrapped around her mother’s left arm as she rested her head on her shoulder. Nabooru smiled at their daughter, gently kissing her head. When she looked over at Ganondorf, who watched both with a tender heart and a small smile, she winked at him, her lips pulling more. Ganondorf let out a small chuckle, silently communicating his love to his wife, and then her eyes drifted beyond him, motioning with her head.

Ganondorf followed her gaze, settling on the person in question.

Link stood at the edge of the springs, a gorge that bottlenecked any entry to the area. His sword was resting in his grip, settled on the ground while his hands were plopped on the hilt. It was a relatively relaxed posture, but a guarded one nonetheless.

“Link,” Nabooru called quietly so as not to awaken her daughter too much. The boy turned to look at them, a little confused. “Come here, sweetheart. You don’t need to keep guard.”

It was natural for the boy to do so, of course. He was a warrior, born of Sheikah and Hylian blood, bound by his people to serve the royal family. Ganondorf would have to start telling him soon that his loyalty would shift upon his marriage to Hemisi. The child seemed to know this already, spending steadily more and more time with the Gerudo, and it made Ganondorf smile. Hemisi was happy with Link, and he was a strong boy. He was as quiet as the breeze, simple in his words, but he would roar to life in battle. It made Ganondorf proud to see it, proud that this boy was soon to be part of his family.

Well. Relatively soon. Although by Sheikah standards the boy was of age, the age of adulthood among Hylians was seventeen, and to the Gerudo it was sixteen. The teenagers, in their youthful passions, had already promised themselves to each other and gotten engaged, but neither was at the age of consent by Ganondorf's reckoning, based on their dominant cultures. Their betrothal would last several years before Link was officially part of the family, but Nabooru seemed very keen to adopt him in sooner rather than later.

Ganondorf supposed there was merit to it. He was growing quite fond of the boy, and Link would likely not be of age when the war came. It was best to keep him close.

Link watched Nabooru hesitantly at her beckoning. He looked at Ganondorf next, seeing as the women and men were in separate pools. Ganondorf sighed, understanding the gesture, having started to grow used to the boy’s silent observations and questions. He held out an inviting hand. “Come here, Link.”

The fourteen-year-old walked with his sword in hand, eyes scanning the area constantly. When he reached the end of the pool, Ganondorf rose and walked until he reached the deeper center of the pool, eying him expectantly. Link hesitantly put his sword away, settling it on the ground, and stripped off his shirt and shoes. When he started to dip his toes into the water, he hesitated, gaze drifting back to the entrance.

Ganondorf swam over until his feet touched soil beneath him and held out both arms to the child. “You think I cannot protect all of us well enough, dear boy? Come on. You’re safe.”

Link stared at him a moment longer, debating the issue, debating whether to trust such a statement. Ganondorf almost felt a little insulted that it was even a matter to deliberate. But the boy gave in, reaching forward to take his hands. Ganondorf took a step towards him, slipping his hands under the boy’s shoulders, lifting him right off the ground and into the water in a careful hold. Link was stiff in his arms at first before relaxing into it. The two sank deeper into the water as Ganondorf carried him further into the spring – Link didn’t protest being ferried along in the water, as they both knew he wasn’t the strongest swimmer. Nabooru smiled lovingly when he locked eyes with her. Hemisi was out cold, making his heart swell with both love and amusement. His daughter felt perfectly safe with her parents around, even in such a foreign land. He… wanted Link to feel safe too.

Damn it all, he had grown attached to this silly child. But he was a good warrior, and though his gentle and kind heart was not exactly a strength in Ganondorf's eyes, he loved Hemisi dearly. Although he didn’t hold Ganondorf’s drive for power, he did have a fire in his soul, and the Gerudo king admired it. The boy would make a good prince.

Link hesitantly settled his chin on Ganondorf’s shoulder, looking out behind him. He was still keeping watch, though the Gerudo king felt the teenager’s body slowly ease up. It didn’t take long, with the moonlight casting a gentle glow that barely lit the world around them, before the boy had completely settled, his cheek pressed against Ganondorf’s skin, his breaths slow and steady in slumber…

It was curious, that such a memory would come to him now. On the precipice of his victory, Ganondorf had spent his time recovering his strength in the Depths of Hyrule. He knew it was only a matter of time before the light was snuffed out, before his blood moons stained the earth every night, before Hyrule was his. He rested with anticipation, but rarely with thoughts of the past. He supposed one could only envision victory for so long, though it was certainly entertaining. He could taste the salt of the sea, could feel the breeze of the valleys, could listen to the gentle pitter patter of rain in his mind, but what stopped his heart in its tracks were thoughts like these.

His family.

How strange, he thought, that they could possibly make his heart ache after all this time. How bizarre that, with victory so close at hand, with no one to stand in his way, the end goal felt almost empty in comparison.

How could it possibly feel like this? He had waited nearly his entire life for this moment. Perhaps he was simply disappointed that Rauru’s knight was so easily defeated. The Zonai king had placed such faith in him, after all – Ganondorf had been hoping for a challenge.

His heart stirred with restlessness. He scowled at it. Or, well, would have scowled if he had flesh on his face. He was certainly eager to regain enough strength to return to his original glory.

Perhaps he’d indulge in thinking about his family. He wasn’t sure what end it would lead to, or if it was even productive, but it wasn’t as if he had anything better to do while his minions chipped away at the world above.

He let his mind wander to his beloved wife first. Oh how he missed Nabooru. She’d had a fire to her veins, an iron will, a desire to fight and conquer just as he had. She had even helped him initially with the war – it wasn’t until he’d claimed the secret stone for himself that she’d turned against him. That thought alone soured his mood, but still… the challenge it presented, dueling his wife time and again as he had… he enjoyed that too. But perhaps he wished that she had eventually yielded, perhaps the thought that he would make her bend to his will made him more nostalgic than he had any right to be. As the Sage of Lightning, his wife had been formidable (and he certainly had felt a more than tad bitter that she had protested his supposed abuse of secret stones and then had willingly accepted one from Rauru). He doubted there was a Gerudo warrior, even now, who was her equal.

Next, he thought of his daughter. Hemisi was every bit her parents’ child, holding the fiery energy of her mother with the brashness of her father. She had been a skilled warrior in her own right, and though her ambitions did not match her parents’, she still had them. Hemisi had wanted to lead the Gerudo people, had wanted to bring her land to prosperty. More than that, though, she’d wanted a family – her relationship with Link and subsequent betrothal was evidence of that.

They certainly would have made quite the powerful couple.

That led his thoughts to Link. Bearing Sheikah and Hylian blood alike, he practically embodied every culture Ganondorf despised. It was the most ironic turn of events that the man had grown to love the boy. But how could he not? Link was strong, faithful, stubborn beyond all reason, curious and eager to learn, even playful at times. The boy could hold the innocence of a child and the resolve of a hardened soldier and balance the two perfectly.

Nabooru had tried to coddle the boy a little too much, but Ganondorf supposed that was simply what mothers did. He’d appreciated Link as the warrior he was. Most of the time. Very occasionally he might have babied him a little too. Very occasionally.

The memory of the hot spring came to mind, and he huffed. Technically, Nabooru had instigated it.

This train of thought was taking him nowhere. All he was doing was making himself feel emptier. He was soon to be king of all of Hyrule, and then spread his power beyond that land alone. This was not productive. Moping was ill-befitting a king.

Sighing, Ganondorf let the images of his family go. He stretched his senses to his minions. He could hardly tell what was going on with simple minded beasts, but his gloom hands and his puppets could show him images of the world both above and below. He felt amusement tickle him as his puppet of the Sage of Time continued to baffle and sabotage the fools of Hyrule. He let curiosity guide him as he followed the path of some gloom spawn in the Depths. It had discovered ruins of some sort.

Ganondorf had to admit, he was definitely interested in seeing how his era and those that had passed had been memorialized. While he was not much of a dilettante of history, this history included him and his people, which made it worth noting. Exactly how much time had passed anyway? He was still trying to ascertain that.

Judging by the state of the ruins the gloom spawn had found, it had certainly been a while. Also, where was everyone? The Depths were completely abandoned, and the mines down here had been thriving when he’d been sealed away. He had supposed that the area where he’d been held captive was restricted, but he hadn’t realized that they had evacuated everyone from the world down here. He wondered if anyone had set foot in the Depths since his battle with Rauru.

His battle with Rauru. He gritted his teeth a little. He had not expected the Zonai to be able to get so close to him, honestly, but he had always loved a good fight. The only thing that made it hurt was—

Rauru’s Light magic was powerful, to be sure. But Ganondorf would have expected such power to sap him of energy, to try perhaps even to destroy his secret stone. The main reason Rauru was able to seal him away, at the cost of his own life, was due to the anchor provided him by Link.

His face pulled in both fear and agony, tears glistening in his eyes as Ganondorf held him.

“Foolish child,” Ganondorf growled through a tight throat.

Link’s breath stuttered, making Ganondorf’s heart freeze. No. This was not happening. The fifteen-year-old reached forward with a shaking hand, grasping at what would have been Ganondorf’s cloak before the secret stone’s power had transformed him. For an instant he let the power recede, he let himself look as he had. Link’s eyes widened, and the tears finally traced down his cheeks. His gaze drifted down to Ganondorf’s chest, and he squeezed his eyes closed.

Ganondorf debated the matter, very aware of his surroundings. The sages were still there, as was the king. He could retreat with the child and try to save him, or he could push through and destroy all of them. He distinctly sensed Nabooru’s eyes on him, but he didn’t dare look.

“P-please,” Link whispered, barely audible above his gasping. Ganondorf stared at him, paralyzed for an instant, hating every second of it. “Please stop this.”

Stop? Oh, you foolish boy… He couldn’t stop. He wouldn’t. Not permanently. But, perhaps, this battle should end.

He wouldn’t have another opportunity like this, though. The sages were weakened, defeated even. They’d tried their best to fight him and had failed. If he let them regroup…

He was already giving the enemies too much time. Fighting them had been nearly laughable, though. He could give them a chance to regain a little bit of their strength, he supposed.

Before he could do anything, though, Link inhaled sharply, eyes opening with determination. Ganondorf grew confused, maybe even hopeful that the boy wasn’t quite as injured as he’d previously suspected, and then—

Link stabbed him.

Ganondorf yelled as the blade pushed true, releasing the boy, who fell and rolled down the stairs, staying motionless where he stopped. Enraged, he wrapped himself in his dark power once more, ignoring the cry from the others—the anguish from Nabooru—and the fight continued.

Ganondorf turned his head slightly, tasting bitterness in his mouth. He tried to distract himself, looking back at what the gloom hands had found, when he registered the sight of what they had stopped in front of.

A tomb?

Oh, he was certainly curious now. He urged his dark minion to find some kind of engraving. Whoever this person was, they had to be important to have such a memorial. It was familiar of those of the royal family, the Zonai flair and importance evident. It was a stone gazebo in the Zonai architecture, with a stone engraving in the center of the soil held within, marking the spot of the burial. All around it were flowers that thrived in the Depths, and a single, curious blue and white flower that was somehow thriving despite not being native to this region. As the gloom spawn crawled closer to the grave, the singular flower glowed brightly in response, almost in defiance.

Ganondorf ignored it, though. He sat up with a jolt.

He-- -i-s L--k

H-ro o- -yru-- and Rau-u’- El-te

Bel-v-d --- -nd ------

Prid- -f t-e Sh-i---

The air was still, his body frozen.

Could it be…?

For the first time since his awakening, breath escaped him with a shaky rasp and a singular word, thick with emotion.

“…Link?”

#writing #hero of shadow #tears of the kingdom #totk #legend of zelda #sigh #yet another wip #it's fine I'm sure this one won't develop into much #anyway hope y'all enjoy <3

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neoyi · 3 months

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I think I’m late to the ask game thing but if you’re still doing it… 002 for Puzzle Knight?

Never too late. I will answer as long as people send me questions because I'm a loudmouth with opinions.

002 | Give me a character & I will tell you

How I feel about this character: I'm not gonna lie, I don't think any of the newer characters from the SK spin-off games had the chance to ruminate in my mind on account of them being the most recent batch of games from the series. And this is speaking relatively, but Pocket Dungeon is not what I would consider high in the story department. Shovel Knight games have always been gameplay first, story second, but the latter tend to be semi-involved for a platformer, especially compared to its 8-bit predecessors that SK paid. lip service to. Fair, Pocket Dungeon is just following in the latter era's footsteps and for a game largely meant as an excuse to play as a bunch of your favorite SK characters in a puzzle roguelite, it's understandable that narrative and character motives would be even lighter than the norm. My interest in nerdy characters tend to go back-and-forth, and traditionally, I generally do not lean towards Absent Fathers because they've historically been forgiven for actions that do not justify their absences. Fortunately, Puzzle Knight DOES have a damn good excuse why he's been away for so long and for the most part, I do genuinely love it when fathers (or father figures) are portrayed as competent, adoring parental figures, something that is very clear with Prism Knight (their ending scene is utterly sweet.) And hey man, he only ended up in the cube because of a rumor of a great treasure (a magical telescope) that he had planned to gift to his daughter. So, not only do these two have a good relationship, it sounds like Prism takes after her father with potential interest in the field of science. I'm also quite fond of his helmet because its resemblance to a keyhole is such a clever, appropriate visual design that encapsulate his entire theme. I do wish that he had been the final boss of PD and only the final boss, a byproduct of his time in the Puzzle Cube that slowly worsen his mental condition that only the heroes can break him out of (well, that, and Puzzle realizing he went too far.) I've had grave issues on the lessening impact of The Enchantress as the series progresses. When you have a character portrayed as competent and utterly horrifying, involving her in these inane little plots only for her ass to routinely get kicked does little for her credit. Maybe that's the point (YCG seem keen to keep her as a reoccurring villain), but until the inevitable SK2 figures out a way to keep her fresh (ain't nothing wrong with a reoccurring Big Bad; Ganondorf's been doing it for approx. 56 games and he's almost always threatening), it really sucks she stuck her toes in a game that really didn't need her (outside of being an unlockable playable character just for the sake of filling a roster, which, no problem with that, she's somebody's favorite character and they should be allowed to play as her) when Puzzle Knight as the true baddie through and through would have more than sufficed. And he is, indeed, fascinating, because for all his pleasantness, he's a shady motherfucker. His original goal was to literally trick whichever PC you were playing to take his place so he could escape. I imagine time spent in the cube has rose his desperation and even the wisest of men is wont of immoral actions after a certain point, even if said action is just to escape. So you got a guy who misses his family and just wants to get the fuck out, but is at the point where he's willing to be secretive about it. (Actually, I'm not sure why Puzzle Knight played along with his plans and pretended to be a stranger even though she had no motive or recourse to do so, other than keeping the plot twist that she's his daughter till the end.) Huh, what do you know, I had a lot more to talk about this guy than I thought. But for how I FEEL about Puzzle Knight? He's alright. I have a reasonably neutral reaction to his character: he's fine, but I don't love him, and he doesn't do anything for me to flip tables either.

All the people I ship romantically with this character: I mean, probably his wife. I'm sorry, I don't think about this guy enough to wonder who else he'd fuck.

My non-romantic OTP for this character: In retrospect, I should have talked more about his familial relationship with Prism here since their overall relationship is very sweet. So, uh, see above. Actually, I love the idea of Puzzle maybe running into either Luan or King Mom at some point and just talking parenthood. I think it would be hilarious to witness a conversation on how Puzzle and Luan raised their children. Largely, I'm of the assumption Puzzle was traditional in his approach before he disappeared while Luan tried, but his habit of running off to steal (maybe to provide for Reize, who knows) with his boyfriend Donovan, meant HE was likely more of an absent father, necessitating him to place Reize in the Hedge family's care. Honestly, I love Luan a lot, but while circumstances are nebulous on how he parented, Reize is really independent for a child his age that I do wonder if a part of it is because his old man wasn't around as much. That's a lot to unpack, but not for this question session. King Mom would obviously talk about how she has overtly cuddled her child with hopeful delusions that he'll eventually achieve independence and go live his best life like she had (I still think she used to go on adventures), a dream that could only happen if she stopped coddling him and he, in turn, got over his own personal delusions. And then after all that chit-chat, Puzzle would just be like, "yeah, I think I'm doing a pretty decent job raising my child."

My unpopular opinion about this character: I mean, I don't think I have one.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: See above: he should have been the sole Big Bad of Pocket Dungeon.

my OTP: Uhhh, I mean, him and his wife????

my cross over ship: N/A (yeah, get use to this. I've done crossover ships, but not for any SK character except that one time with Propeller Knight and Drifter, Hyper Light, and that was just for funsies.)

a headcanon fact: Really boring one, but I think he teaches at a university. It's rare and I can't find the screencaps I took of some specific dialogues of his, but I recall they kind of imply Puzzle Knight is a bit of a pompous intellect. At his worst, he's condescending and boast about his brainsmart to whomever. His clothing, while not fancy in the way the nobles dress, seem to imply a higher status than most of the other medieval-lite denizens. At the least, it looks dignified and respectable. It's possible he got far purely for being a goddamn NEEEEEEEEEEEEERD. Also, his name is "Puzzle Knight." You would do well to rely on the guy who could crack every known mathematical riddle that likely earned him that title. He would absolutely be the type lecturing at a fancy ass school.

Fucking NERD.

⭐(Ask Me for my Hot Takes on fictional characters! https://neoyi.tumblr.com/post/739152893490364416/estelanel-001-send-me-a-ship-and-i-will-tell) ⭐

#shovel knight #pocket dungeon #neoyi talks

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lazuliquetzal · 2 years

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other deleted jokes from dotf

[Dawn of the Fourth is a fanfiction distributed by LazuliQuetzal and licensed under a Creative Nonsense Non-Commercial--]

OKAY so these bits are too short to warrant their own solo post, so I'm just gonna lump 'em all here.

you have NO clue how much stupid I was holding back for this fic.

1. Forbidden Noodle Incident

“But we’re not siblings,” Time said. “The last time we tried to tell people that we weren't related, somebody tried to kill you for being a child cult leader,” Wind said. “So we’re family, now.”

2. Legend Is Edgy

Legend scowled at Wild. “You did not just call me edgy.” “‘Boo hoo, I’m a lonely badass made of whining and sarcasm,’” Wild said, in a mockery of Legend’s accent. “‘Don’t touch my stuff! Everything I own can kill you in new and surprising ways!’” Hyrule choked on his spit. “Okay,” Legend said, laughing. “Fair enough. I don’t sound like that, though.” “You absolutely do,” Warriors informed him.

3. Wild Likes Potatoes --

Up ahead, something was forming out of the salt. It was a monster unfamiliar to all of them: several feet tall, vaguely humanoid. And worse, there were many of them. Right on cue, a flock of vultures flew in from the tree line and began to circle over the salt flat. The heroes drew their swords. “Okay, we’ve got time,” Warriors said, adjusting his grip on his weapon. He squinted out at the approaching creatures. “Salt monster, salt monster. What hurts salt?” “Potatoes,” Wild said. “I—what.” “If you have over-salted food,” Wild explained. “Toss in some potatoes. Lemon juice or vinegar would also work, but I’m a fan of the potato solution myself.” “Champ, if you find a useful way to incorporate potatoes into this fight, I will take all your night watches for the next two weeks.”

4. The Climactic Fight Could Have Been Much Worse [part 1]

"When you fight Ganondorf," Wind croaked, drained of energy, "make sure you get everything right the first time." The kid blinked at him. "I... already did that," he said. Wind whipped his head up. "What?" "I fought Ganondorf already," Time said. "He's gone." "But--you're a baby," Wind said, intelligently. "You can't be the Hero. I heard that the Hero has an eight-pack. That he's shredded."

5. The Climactic Fight Could Have Been Much Worse [part 2]

"You good?" Time asked, running to his side. He helped Wind straighten up and inspected his throat with a sharp eye. "Does it look like I'm fine?!" Not-Legend snapped, clutching his toes. "Literally, why would he be talking to you," Wind wheezed.

6. The Climactic Fight Could Have Been Much Worse [part 3]

“It’s not healing,” Time said, voice rising in pitch. “Sailor, why isn’t it healing? Why isn’t it healing?!” “Go smash a pot,” Wind ordered, biting his panic down. "You ever wonder why we smash pots?" Sky mumbled. "Isn't that weird?" "Hurry up!" Wind ordered, pushing Time away. "We're losing him!"

7. Nothing is original, I am a Meme

"Sorry!" Wind blurted. His ears burned. "It's the authority issues! But I think--we had a baby for five days. And it was--" daunting, panic-inducing, terrifying "--annoying as hell to see him do things." "He's eleven, so shut the fuck up."

8. Remember when Wind taught Baby Time the word 'fuck'? Wouldn't it be funny if that affected his vocabulary when he went back to being a normal adult

"I fought Ganondorf, too! So, if you could tone down the whole 'listen to me, I'm the leader' thing--" "Sailor, Time said, cutting him off. "The reason we don't keep your suggestions in mind is not because you're a kid. It's because you never give us a fucking explanation."

#lazuli writes #dawn of the fourth lu #i cut all three of the climactic fight scene jokes in order to justify keeping the cannibalism callback. you're welcome.#lazuli talks

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imaginethezeldaverse · 9 months

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So I was curious to see if there was any Demise x reader stuff, which there doesn't really seem to be (at least on Tumblr). If you would be interested, maybe that would be cool? Preferrably with a gender neutral reader, and preferrably just general headcanons, although that second one isn't too big of a deal. Thank you!

Oooooh Demise, there's so much and yet so little you could do with him. Okay, let me take a crack at it. So for these I will headcanon that Demise reverts into some form of a worldly being. Not quite The Imprisoned, not even close to full power (akin to a Ganondorf type, but he's very much just THE Demise, so he's a lot more brutish). Should you happen to stumble in the presence of the biggest evil known throughout the history of Hyrule:

Considering that humans are not beings of immeasurable strength or power as he is - it's not uncommon that his presence intimidates most. He's the embodiment of evil. Destruction is in his nature, it's what he is literally alive for. But...you're different.

After his downfall at the hands of Link, humans caught his interest; being these weak and fragile things that cowered beneath him to suddenly having a resilience that would withstand even him - the same resilience you had.

While you're no hero, you make it clear that his history and demeanor doesn't scare you. Most would think you're mad for that, but you just feel that he's so used to people being afraid of him that he doesn't know what to do with someone who isn't. You enjoy keeping him on his toes and he absolutely hates that he can't read you or terrify you. Still, you intrigue him so much that he never lays a finger on you, though try as he might to threaten to "smite" you.

He has an awful temper that you often like to quell by smacking that ripple in the middle of his forehead - serves as a reminder that he does have a weakness and you're not hesitant to remind of that when he thinks he's much mightier (despite being almost weak enough to be back in his imprisoned state) and he tends to scowl in silence when bonked there.

He finds that he likes learning about other civilizations aside from Hylians. Gorons, Gerudo, Zoras, the list goes on. There's richness in each culture that he absorbs and while he boasts it's for tactile purposes and to "know his enemies" you have a high suspicion that he just genuinely likes to learn and is being pig-headed about admitting that to you. You find the time to help him research and teach him everything you know from your own travels and the way he seems genuinely interesting makes him feel almost human.

When you get cold at all, he wraps an arm around you and it instantly makes you feel better. It's not surprising that he's extremely warm per se, but it does always come to you as a shock that he does it willingly considering he's grumpy almost always lol

#asks #oh i hope this was decent - demise is open to so much interpretation and yet almost none because of his true nature #legend of zelda #the legend of zelda: skyward sword #skyward sword #demise #demise x reader #zelda fanfiction #demise headcanons #zelda imagines #demise imagines #legend of zelda imagines #skyward sword headcanons

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gerudospiriit · 5 months

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Read to Me

[I'm sure I've posted this here before, but I'm on a kick of revisiting some of the ancient stuff I wrote and there's always time and room for a bit of soft Nabsgan. And since I'm soft for 'em rn, you all get to suffer the consequences of it. :'3]

Ganondorf had returned several hours ago, long before the sun sank beneath the horizon. Pride and the memory of their last spat before he left for one of his longer trips to Hyrule Castle still fresh on Nabooru’s mind prevented her from greeting the king as he passed through the front gate. Until that quarrel, she had planned to go with him, perhaps offer him better company than those stuffed shirt nobles. But, he ruined that notion quickly, a single day before their departure.

Despite her last minute decision, she rose with the sun and met him at the stables as she always did to see him off. The tension palpable, both of their bodies stiffened like a couple of animals ready to fend off a predator should the need arise. They managed to keep their farewell civil, though the couple remained silent until they reached the entrance to the valley. Once out of the guards’ line of sight, she slipped her foot into the stirrup on top of his, hoisted herself up, and planted a quick peck on his cheek before making him promise to come back safe.

Though grudgingly, he did. She even saw a tiny smile crack the too serious expression he donned more often than not these days.

And yet, she still couldn’t help the clenching of her jaw, watching from the sanctuary of the meeting room window, as he rode his black stallion back up to the fortress two weeks later. Several of the guards abandoned their posts to greet and escort him to the stables, circling around him and beaming at their king. Ganondorf even seemed to be in good spirits, smiling and chatting with them, not a single qualm with the questions they pelted him with.

Though this should have alleviated some of her fears, Nabooru couldn’t convince herself that another shouting match would not come within hours of the two making contact. As with many of their arguments, a calm always preceded the inevitable storm. Like a mirage of an oasis as you’re dying of thirst before the reality of barrenness becomes apparent.

Thus, she avoided Ganondorf for the rest of the afternoon, busying herself with even the most menial task she could think of. She did not return to her room until late evening after grabbing a quick dinner on the fly when she was sure he would not be around the meal hall. An insurmountable task, especially without raising suspicion.

She hummed a tune softly to herself as she began to remove her jewelry, toeing off her shoes as she padded over to the vanity mirror across from her bed. She slipped the ruby from her hair with a relieved sigh, crimson hair spilling over her shoulders as she picked up her brush. She only managed to glide it through the length few times before stopping short, bristles halfway down and her fingers gripping the ends.

After all the evasion and fear of either of them finding a reason to argue, she had truly missed the infuriating idiot, and she could not deny her desire to seek him out. One that she stuffed back time and again throughout the day, but with so little to distract her in quieter hours of the night, they gripped her mind with greater tenacity.

Setting the brush down, she groaned at her reflection and shook her head as if the image in the mirror would talk her out of what she was about to do.

“You’re a masochist, Nabooru…I hope you know that.”

Despite the self-scolding, she pushed herself up from the vanity and headed back out into the hallway. Rising in rank to Second in Command meant a new room, one closer to the king’s quarters in case anything should go awry. Just a right turn and a quick jaunt down a torch-lit hall brought her to her destination: an ornate, red door with gold embellishments surrounding their people’s symbol.

A familiar sight, as she often found herself in his room for one reason or another; sometimes business, other times pleasure. But recent visits always left her feeling a little colder than they used to. Hesitant to enter. The sensation was always strange as she stood in front of it these days, wringing her hands and holding her breath like a little girl, gathering up the courage to ask her instructor for permission to train with the older girls. And the ache in her chest…that desire for the warmth and comfort the couple used to enjoy with each other.

Before she could convince herself to turn back, she raised her fist to knock, but paused before knuckle struck wood. Rolling her eyes at her own stupidity, Nabooru lowered her fist to the knob instead, gripping it too tightly and turning it, slowly pushing the heavy wood forward.

The smoky-sweet scent of burning incense mixed with the smell of the lit torches on the wall immediately assaulted her nostrils. The crackle of fire and the low lighting soothed her anxiety a touch. She took a few seconds to admire how they made the shadows of the decorations and fixtures around the room dance in broken steps. It reminded her of graffiti she saw in the Market years ago: wild looking figures danced around their burning victim. She could not tell whether the garish figures were meant to be people or monsters.

At first, she deemed the room empty, a mixture of relief and disappointment causing her shoulders to slump. Though, upon scanning the room, she found the man in question at the other side of his large quarters, stretched out on one of his couches, one made specially for him considering his substantial size (though, somehow, it still looked incredibly small beneath him). In place of the black armor he had sported upon arriving home, he now donned a simple pair of pants similar to her own, only black in color. He held a book in one hand, expression calm as he scanned the pages, his other hand resting behind his head for extra support.

He did not even twitch as the mechanisms of the door clicked softly as Nabooru closed it behind her; he merely turned to the next page in his book, shifting his left leg off the couch, foot planted on the rug below him. She knew better; he was fully aware someone had entered his room and, because she hadn’t knocked, he knew very well it was her.

“Just got back and you’re already working?”

“This is hardly working, Nabooru,” he remarked, finally tearing his amber eyes from his book to watch her cross the room. The light of the torches flickered in his irises, mesmerizing the woman. “I’m relaxing after a long week and a half of negotiations. Not to mention a long, boring ride back here.”

She snorted softly at the rather pointed glare he shot her. As much as she wanted to inform him that it was his own fault she decided not to join him, she bit her tongue; he deserved a night of relaxation and she did not wish to ruin that for him (or herself) by inciting an argument. Plus, she grew tired of the fighting, the nonstop bickering. She knew lovers fought, but surely not as often as they seemed to lately…

Nabooru paused at the nearby bookshelf and hummed to herself, gliding her fingers along leather spines of volumes on any topic from history of Hyrule’s races to Gerudo fighting styles through the ages. She selected one at random, hardly concerned with the contents, and turned to face him. “Mind if I join you?”

Instead of a verbal answer, he merely shifted so that his back rested more fully against the arm of the couch, beckoning her over with a lazy wave of his free hand. Smiling gently, she strode over to him with her book selection and carefully rested between his legs, reclining so her back rested against his torso, head on his chest.

“Comfortable?” he asked, his voice surprisingly genuine as he lifted his book to eye level once more.

She simply nodded in response, cracking her own hefty volume of…a quick glance at the cover informed her she chose a book about potions and their properties. Nothing she even remotely cared about, her eyes glazing over just reading a single sentence.

Boring subject matter aside, her focus suffered as his fingers danced absently along her bare side, from the top of her hip to just beneath her ribcage. She could not stop the pleased sigh that passed her lips as that simple touch disarmed her, any fears or trepidations dissolving. Her eyes slipped closed as she indulged in his warmth, soothed by the sound of his steady breathing and heart beat pumping next to her head.

“Potions too boring for you? Does seem like an odd choice…”

“Mm?” Nabooru blinked rapidly and tilted her head back. Her eyes met his, eyebrows furrowing in confusion; surely she hadn’t fallen asleep! Caught in her act anyway, she set the potions book aside. “Did I fall asleep?”

“No, but you were about to.” His gaze had returned to his own book, though his hand gravitated upward, resting just above the armband she only removed when bathing. His fingers occasionally stretched to trace the intricate metalwork and inlaid gem (his own design), dipping in between gold to caress tan flesh. Each few seconds of contact sent a tingling sensation through her body, and part of her swore he used magic. Though, deep down, she knew she just craved the contact. The intimacy. Something other than volatility.

Her eyes shifted to the book in his hand–an attempt to tear her focus away from such thoughts. The characters on the page were Hylian, the pages torn at the edges and discolored from age and use. As she skimmed through the page he was on, she deemed that it discussed the myths and history of Hyrule. She wasn’t surprised, but her heart still sank, mind flashing back to the disputes revolving around this very topic. The yelling. Spurned words spewed that she, at least, didn’t mean. Desperately holding back tears and stubbornly wiping them away when out of sight. The letters on the page seemed to taunt her in that moment, reminding her how tenuous their relationship had become because of this…this obsession. She thought to grab the book and tear those yellowing pages from their binding in that moment, as if that would snap Ganondorf back to his senses, release him from the spell he was under. To see how potentially dangerous his tentative plan could be.

Instead, Nabooru rested her head against his chest again, releasing a slow breath through her nose as he turned the page. His hand did not return to her arm, however, favoring her hair draped over her shoulder instead. His fingers combed through the locks, occasionally twisting stands about his fingers.

She relaxed once more. He must have sensed her discomfort, something the two had a knack for, at least with each other. Not that they paid it much mind these days, so he surprised her with the gesture, as he knew it was one that rarely failed to calm her. Though, judging how his eyes never left the pages of his book, the action most likely only served as a way to keep his free hand occupied, one of his preferences as he read, wrote, or merely as he lost himself in thought.

Still…she convinced herself it was the former.

Nabooru lifted herself up and sat on his thigh instead, draping my legs across his lap, bare feet hanging over the side. It wasn’t until moments like these she really noticed the difference in their size. Tall as she was, he still had a head and a half on her in height. Not to mention his muscular build which aided his ability to dwarf anyone who came near him. But, it never bothered her…except occasionally in sparring sessions.

“Will you read to me?” Nabooru tilted her head back to look at him.

“What?”

“Read the book to me? Out loud?”

His expression flashed from annoyance to amusement as he met her gaze. “Have you not been practicing reading Hylian? You’re my Second in Command, Nabooru. I can’t have you being all brawn and no brain.” He prodded her forehead with a light chuckle, the first sincere one she had heard in a long time, unmarred by malice.

She swatted his hand away, lower lip poking out. “I can read and speak Hylian just fine and you know it. Besides, I know how much you love hearing your own voice.”

He laughed again, draping his arm around her waist hand resting it on her thigh. “Very well. I’ll indulge you this time.”

Smiling at her small victory, she laid her head on his shoulder. He must have just bathed because she could smell the fresh scent of his favorite soap emanating from his skin; a spicy aroma but with a hint of freshness akin to the smell in Hyrule Field after a spring rain.

He began to read, his deep voice lowered to a soothing volume. His smooth tone never faltered over the Hylian words, as if it were his first language. Always a perfectionist, it did not surprise her; he had appearances to keep up to avoid the judgmental gazes of the more pompous Hylian nobles.

Though she preferred listening to their own language, she still found solace in his voice as he unfolded the story of the Triforce and iterated the author’s theories about it. The content did not interest her, however, so much as the voice relating it. The warmth currently in his tone was a rarity anymore as he preferred to adopt a colder, more indifferent timbre when dealing with her. Thus, she reveled in it for now. Lost herself in it.

Nabooru saw his eyes flick over to her–though it did not interrupt his reading–as she brushed her fingertips along his chest, tracing faded scars along the expanse of bare flesh. The fingers of her other hand walked along his back, shoulder blade to shoulder blade. Up the back of his neck and into his hair. The ends were still damp from his bath.

She allowed her eyes to shift to his face. She always admired his features, sharp and defined. The lids over his eyes were half closed over amber irises as he followed the words on the pages. His habit for precision showed once more in the perfect grooming of his sideburns, hair, and eyebrows. Her gaze then drifted to his lips, lingering there for several seconds, suddenly fascinated with how they formed each word with flawless precision.

“Hey.”

The first time his voice broke off since he started reading aloud. He turned his head, annoyance flashing across those handsome features. She couldn’t help the cheeky smirk that curled her lips; pushing his buttons was a bit of a guilty pleasure.

Before he could reprimand her for interrupting, Nabooru leaned forward, gently pressing her lips to his, hands on either side of his face. When she pulled away and opened her eyes, she was relieved to see that a small smile had replaced the exasperated grimace on Ganondorf’s face.

“I missed you,” she breathed, resting her forehead against his.

He didn’t respond, not with words. She felt him shift beneath her, hand holding the book dropping off the side of the couch as he reconnected their lips. She heard his book drop to the floor with a dull thump, muscular arms circling around her frame.

Smiling against his lips, she readjusted her position, placing her knees on either side of his hips. She looped her arms over his shoulders, one hand weaving into his hair and urging his head forward to deepen their kiss. His hands slid up the back of her top as he forced her body flush against his.

Nabooru opened her mouth to protest when his lips left her, but the disgruntled huff turned to a delighted moan as he kissed the corner of her lips, along her jawline to her chin. She tilted her head back, baring her throat to him which he eagerly latched on to. A breathy sigh escaped her throat, the alternating kisses, bites, and licks down the length of her neck sending a shiver down her spine as well as igniting the familiar heat of passion in her veins.

“Will you be staying here tonight, my love?” She shuddered as his breath tickled the sensitive skin dampened with a thin strip of saliva from his licks. She could feel him smirking as he nipped and kissed along her collarbone. She could have punched him for being so smug.

Instead, Nabooru returned her head to its normal position, smiling coyly at him. “If that is what my king wishes,” she purred, letting her fingers trace his jawline. She nipped at his lower lip. “I only want you to be happy, love.”

Grinning, she slipped off his lap. However, she only managed two steps toward the bed before Ganondorf’s arm snaked around her waist, yanking her back into his body. She yelped and laughed as he easily hoisted her over his shoulder, carrying her the rest of the way to the bed.

Nabooru squeaked as she was unceremoniously dumped onto the bed and immediately pinned beneath Ganondorf. He held her hands above her head, lacing his fingers with hers. “That wasn’t fair, you know,” she said, pretending to struggle beneath him. “Could have given me a little more warning.”

“Now, where would be the fun in that?” he responded, chuckling at her half-hearted struggle. “Maybe you shouldn’t have tried to escape me.”

Nabooru rolled her eyes with a grin, lifting her head from the pillow to peck his lips. The chaste gesture earned her a more passionate kiss, a content moan sounding in her throat as she arched her back up toward him.

Ganondorf parted his lips from hers, capturing her gaze with little effort. He released one of her hands in favor of caressing her cheek with his thumb. “I love you, Nabooru.”

She beamed upon hearing those words, her heart thudding so hard against her rib cage she was sure he could hear it. She never thought she would hear him utter those words to her again.

“I love you, too, Ganondorf. Always will.”

#[ ☀ ʰᵉᵃᵈᶜᵃⁿᵒⁿ ;; ⁱ ʷᵃˢ ⁿᵒᵗ ᵐᵃᵈᵉ ʷⁱᵗʰ ᵃ ᶠⁱʳᵉ ⁱⁿ ᵐʸ ᵇᵉˡˡʸ ˢᵒ ⁱ ᶜᵒᵘˡᵈ ᵇᵉ ᵖᵘᵗ ᵒᵘᵗ ]#still don't have a writing tag lol #nabooru #ganondorf #legend of zelda #loz #ocarina of time #oot #nabsgan #nabooruxganondorf #ganondorfxnabooru #i need to write new stuff for them #maybe someday

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matriarchsdevotee-archive · 2 years

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📔 MM!Gan?

That's Private! - Accepting

"Approximately July 14th, AP 1026.

If I was found immediately when I fell, I've been stuck in Termina for one hundred days. I'm willing to believe I was as my injuries likely would not have been treatable if I hadn't been found that day. I don't remember much of that day or those following it. Evidently I made several attempts on my rescuers' lives.

Not that anyone can blame me, nobody that actually knows what's going on. If I find someone who does, I have more than a few questions for them. I've almost given up on that, though. I'm not dead - if I was, my knee wouldn't hurt so badly. But no matter what I do, I can't forge a connection to the true world. No prayer is strong enough, nothing strange enough to trigger the same magic that sent me here.

I've settled into a kind of routine, if only to learn the swamp in case of attack. It's easy to see why someone would live here. Like Mother Desert, it's easy to protect from intruders. Even if it were traversable by foot, you need a specialized boat to cut through the weeds and muck. A rowboat would be bitten to pieces before it got half as close to the heart of the land - lucky that Ganondorf caught me before I put out to water. The raft was torn to shreds no more than four minutes after I'd sent it out, and all I had were a few days' rations.

There's another source of confusion. I'm content with the knowledge it isn't some shade pretending - at least, no more than I am. But that doesn't explain what he is. Right down to the scar along his left shin. The one I knew got that from a misstep during training. It was hard to tell whether he or Aveil was more embarrassed that day. Down here, though, he got it from an incident involving a snapper. As if Termina is a mirror of Hyrule, or vice versa? I don't want to think about having a twin down here, funny as it might be to put us both in front of my nurses. They still think I'm a pirate - how, I have no idea. I haven't dipped a toe in wild water since I came down here, and I can't imagine a sailor that can't swim is an effective thief.

No matter how identical they are physically, their demeanor couldn't be more different. I keep expecting the act to drop, but not even Ganondorf could hide his secrets this long, not in such close contact. I learned a few weeks ago that I've been sleeping in his bed and he was simply too polite to tell me! I have a bedroll and I've been more than well enough to use it for months now, he only needed to ask. There is still some of the Ganondorf I knew. Despite being largely untested, Termina's Ganondorf is still strong, both in bravery and body. I'm grateful I've not felt the conscious need to fight him, subconscious be damned.

Against my better judgement, we've become close. He is kind beyond most I've known. The closest I could compare is the Kokiri sage, Saria, but his kindness is much quieter. Shy, even, and using that word to describe this or any Ganondorf feels instinctively wrong.

But he is. Quiet, calm, steady. Such a far cry from the ball of anger and energy I ruled alongside for the better part of a decade. Disarming as it is, I've grown fond of it. I have to be gentle with him, as if I'm teaching an attendant, and I still accidentally hurt his feelings - sometimes I don't know until later. It feels like kicking a new foal, I feel terrible afterward. I can't help but wonder if this was how he was supposed to be. If, removed from the pressures of leadership and the pain of the past, he should have been so contemplative and gentle?

If that's true of him... I can't imagine what I look like here.

Penthislea's glory to those that believe -

end report"

#answered asks #A Terrible Fate #Vicious-Valor #she is SO perplexed gan #but ooooo she got a cwush

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itcantbe · 3 years

Text

Zelink Week 2021: Day 4

Hello and welcome to day 4 of @zelinkweek2021 (I remembered to tag it this time!). Today's prompt is "Trust: Broken/Forged." I tried to address both aspects in this chapter of "Under the Boardwalk." Just a reminder this story is rated M and will shift to E with the last chapter (but the E bit can be skipped if you want). This chapter takes place the night of the first chapter, if you're getting confused with the timeline. Yesterday's chapter took place sometime in the future. Enjoy!

chapter 1 | chapter 2 | Read chapter 3 on ao3

Under the Boardwalk: We'll be Fallin' in Love

Ice cream. Coffee. A movie.

“What’s in here?”

Dinner. Ice skating. Mini golf.

Link can’t help thinking of better date ideas than sneaking around the amusement park he works at after hours. He had hoped they might walk around a bit, Zelda would get her fill of the empty park and they could leave and go do something else. Though he holds out some hope that she might get a little scared, and maybe clutch his arm to her chest, crushing it between her breasts as she clings to him. He’s distracted by the idea for a moment, until he hears the rattle of a doorknob.

“Don’t — ! That’s an electrical room, it supplies power to some of the lights. It’s dangerous.”

“Then why isn’t the door locked?”

Link takes Zelda’s arm, hoping he can pull her away from the door plastered in signs that say WARNING! and DANGER! with pictures of little sad people surrounded by lightning bolts. He attempts a distraction.

“Why don’t we go look at The Molduga? We can sneak into the part in the middle where it’s like a little forest.”

He hears a little click before Zelda turns to him, flashing a brilliant smile that makes his insides go watery.

“Ooh yes! Let’s go!”

And then she does take his hand, and he feels a thrill, glad she can’t see the goofy grin that crosses his face as he turns to lead her into the park.

******

Link knew where there was an opening in part of the fence that surrounds The Molduga, the giant wooden roller coaster that’s the main attraction of Hyrule Castle Amusement Park. The Molduga has been the highlight of the park for decades, and over the years a mini-forest grew inside each of the loops and curves the ride takes as it sprawls around the north side of the park. Of course, they don’t want people going in there when the ride is open, so they put up a fence that surrounds the ride on all sides.

But the fence is nearly as old as the ride, and hasn’t been well maintained in all of its years of existence. Much like everything else at the park, regular maintenance was allowed to slide in the name of maximizing profits. The fence has developed several gaps and holes over time, and the wooded areas of the interior are a favorite place for park employees to hide out while on break, to have a smoke or a nip or just enjoy nature for a minute before you have to submerge yourself in the tourist hordes again. Link knows of a gap in the fence hidden in the backside of the ride, where the track runs by the main fence between the park and the parking lot.

Maybe she’ll get bored and we can leave, Link thinks as he leads Zelda there. Surely by now she has been satisfied with the relative spookiness of the park after closing and is willing to head off and do something that’s actually fun. He can barely see her in the darkness of this part of the park, the black ball cap she put on covering her golden hair, her dark shirt and pants hiding the rest of her. He had to admit he’d been hoping she would wear some night-time version of what she wore each time he saw her at the park, the little dresses that left her shoulders bare and showed off a lot of thigh. The dresses that often came to mind when he had some time to himself at night before bed.

He had been surprised when she arrived to meet him that night.

“You look … uh, you look nice,” he said, rather stupidly. She always made him kind of stupid.

Zelda saw right through him, smirking as he scrambled to seem gentlemanly despite his obvious disappointment.

“Well I don’t think strappy platform sandals would have been very practical for sneaking around, do you?”

No, but they did nice things for her legs and he liked the pretty pink nail polish she wore on her toes.

“I … uh … I guess not.”

He wasn’t an eloquent guy on the best day but this was getting pathetic. He was nervous, and she made him feel so flustered.

“Besides, this way I can blend into the shadows so we don’t get caught!”

She brought out a black ball cap with a flourish and put it on her head in one smooth motion before turning to him and winking.

“So let’s go!”

Link’s brain shut down when she winked at him, nothing but white noise for a moment, only coming back online once he saw her head off into the dark, and he scrambled to catch up with her.

Despite him being the supposed tour leader, it was Zelda who led him about the park, asking questions and taking off with “Ooh, what’s over there?!” so often that he felt like he was constantly just trying to keep up. He should be used to the feeling by now, he thinks. He’s always attempting to keep up, and never quite making it.

But this time he led her, pulling the fence open so that she could go in.

“Are there a lot of gaps in the fence like this?”

“Um … yeah. I only know about this one but there’s gaps all over. I don’t think they do a lot of inspections.”

“Isn’t that dangerous?”

“I guess.”

“Hmm.”

He followed her through, then took the lead again, hoping he remembered where the little clearing was that had the least amount of trash in it and had a fallen log they could sit on. It was a nice area, a little further in than most employees were willing to go, and so it was relatively clean and untouched. Maybe they could sit for a while. Maybe she would let him kiss her. Maybe she would kiss him. Maybe they could do a lot of kissing. Maybe she would push him down into the grass and let him run his hands up the inside of her shirt … Lost in his daydream, it was a minute before he realized she wasn’t behind him, and turned to see her jogging up to him.

“I stopped to tie my shoe,” she said by way of explanation.

“Oh,” Link said, confused. Why hadn’t she said anything? He would have waited for her.

“Just a bit more,” he told her.

He took a right where the tracks crossed each other, soaring a hundred feet over their heads, and followed the wooden framework that criss-crossed in a huge lattice to support the ride in the air around … and there they were. He stepped over a piece of the wooden framework that had fallen; there were a few of those around, pieces dropped off the antique ride frequently. Link realized what he’d thought was a log was actually one of the giant cross beams from the ride that had fallen who knows when and had grown soft and green with moss.

“Is this part of the ride?” Zelda asked as she sat next to him.

“Yeah, this ride is pretty old and parts fall off a lot.”

“That doesn’t seem safe!”

“Well, I’m sure they replace them.”

“When?”

How was he supposed to know?

“I dunno. I’m just. Sure they do.”

“Do they ever shut the ride down for any reason? Like for safety? Or if someone gets hurt?”

Link laughed.

“No, they never shut down the Molduga. It makes them too much money.”

She hummed thoughtfully at that.

It was a lovely night, the heat of the day having dissipated, a cool breeze soughing through the trees. Without the crowds of people, the noise of the cars and the roar of the rides, it was peaceful, the noise of the city distant and muted. It was, dare Link think it, almost romantic.

“Oh!” he heard Zelda exclaim next to him. “You can see all the stars!”

Link looked up. She was right, the sky twinkled with a number of stars that couldn’t be seen normally with the light pollution of the park and the city. He leaned in a bit closer to her. He could smell her perfume, the one she wore every time he saw her, the one that had rooted itself in his brain, that he thought he could smell every time he thought of her. Which was a lot. The scent pulled his attention away from the sparkling wash of the stars and back to Zelda, and he resisted the impulse to bury his nose into her neck and breathe her in.

“Zelda, can I k—“

“Do they ever shut down any of the other rides for repairs?”

They spoke at the same time.

“I’m sorry, did you say something?”

“Ah, forget it,” he mumbled, the moment gone. “Um, I don’t think so … Can’t we … can’t we talk about something else? Why do you even want to know?”

He could see her eyes widen in the dark as she looked at him.

“Oh … I was just curious!”

He’s struck with the realization that they rarely talk about anything else. Even before, when she would come and talk to him at his booth. Questions about the security at the park. About the rides. About the money. About Mr. Ganondorf, like Link would know anything about that. An icy tendril of dread began to worm its way through his middle, wrapping around his stomach and snaking its way up to his heart.

He stared at his hands, not really seeing them, but unable to look at her, either.

“You’ve been asking me a lot of weird questions. And wanting to look at a lot of weird stuff.”

Link began to feel very, very foolish. Foolish for ever thinking someone like Zelda would actually be interested in him. He should have known.

He squeezed his eyes shut tightly.

“What is this really about?”

Because it's not about me, is it, he thought.

He heard Zelda sigh.

“Link … I’m so sorry.”

He couldn’t help the groan of dismay that crawled out of his throat at her words, pushing his hands into his hair as he dropped his head onto his knees. He laced his fingers over the back of his head as if shielding himself from more disappointment.

It had been such a shitty year. After struggling through a few semesters of college, anxiety had finally gotten the better of him, and he dropped out when his grades slipped and he was in danger of failing. He had taken the amusement park job because it was easy, and he thought it might be fun, and it would keep his dad off his back. But it turned out standing in a game booth all day was really boring, yet also exhausting, leaving him with just enough energy to get on the bus home and collapse in his bed. Of course once he dropped out his student loans had come due, and all of his income went right into the payments. He had no degree, no goal in life, no energy, and no money. And no Zelda.

His voice was hollow and muffled as he spoke into his knees.

“Do you even have a sister?”

Her silence told him all he needed to know. Zelda had told him that her family had a season pass to the park and she was chaperoning her sister while she ran around the park, which is why she was there so much.

“No,” she whispered. “I’m an only child.”

Link sat up, covering his face with his hands as if he could hide from the truth. Zelda had been the bright spot of the summer, appearing at his booth one day like some gift from the goddess. She was so beautiful, and he couldn’t believe it when she came up to talk with him one morning, not long after he started working at the park. He had mumbled and stuttered, and yet, a couple of days later, she’d come back and talked with him some more. And then a few days later, again. Soon he was jumping at every blonde head of hair he saw, scenting the breeze like a dog seeking her perfume. It made coming into work bearable, almost exciting, the hope he might see her enough to get him through the day.

She had played him. She’d used her short dresses and big green eyes and played him for the horny idiot he was. Link felt like his heart was going to crack in half.

“Why?”

He jerked his hands away from his face and looked over to her. Zelda sat on the log next to him, shredding a dead leaf in her fingers. She continued to stare at her hands as she spoke, as if she couldn’t bring herself to meet his eyes.

“I’m a reporter with the Hyrule Star Fragment. I think something bad is going on in the park. I needed some way to get access to the inner workings of the park so I could gather evidence.”

“And I was that access.”

Link gave a bitter laugh.

“I should have known,” he said, as much to himself as to her. “I should have known someone like you wouldn’t really want someone like me. Well, I hope you got all the information you needed. I hope it was worth it.”

Link stood up to leave. He didn’t need to sit here and continue to be humiliated.

“Come on, I’ll show you back to your car.”

“Link, wait! Please, let me explain.”

He stopped, arms wrapped around his middle like he could hold all of his heartache inside of him. He turned around to look back at her, still seated on the log, face just a light blur in the deep shadows of the trees.

“Mr. Ganondorf is not a good person. This park is dangerous, and people are getting hurt.”

“So? What does that have to do with me?”

Zelda huffed in exasperation, then stood and came over to him. She stood close to him, so close he could feel the heat of her body. It seemed so intimate, like they were the only ones in the whole world, and he felt the stupid animal part of him react to it. He squashed it down and took a step back.

“People’s lives are ruined because they get hurt here and Ganondorf just covers it up. They are injured and he makes it out to be their fault and then they lose their jobs and their homes because of their medical expenses. That he should have paid for! The rides are dangerous and are in disrepair and it won’t be long before someone is killed!”

Link really didn’t want to listen. He didn’t want her to make him care. But the park employees talked. He’d heard some stories, stories about people getting injured, employees disappearing. He’d chalked it up to gossip, but maybe there was truth to it. Maybe it wouldn’t be long until he was next.

“I’m trying to gather evidence so I can write an exposé for the paper. Help people to learn the truth about this park and what happens here. But I can’t do it alone. I’m sorry I misled you—”

“Lied to me.”

Zelda sighed.

“I’m sorry I lied to you. I didn’t think … I didn’t think you’d want to help me. So I did what I thought would work. I didn’t think I’d …”

She dropped off there, leaving whatever she thought he’d do unsaid.

“You didn't think you'd what? You used me. How far would you have gone to keep me on a leash, telling you whatever you wanted? Would you have kissed me? Would you have fucked me? And then what, just dropped me once you got what you wanted?”

Link’s hurt and anger had boiled up so hot in him it made him nasty. He never talked like this to anyone, but it was as if all of his pent up rage at failing out of college, having to move back home, having his dad on his case at all times, had come pouring out. He hated himself more in this moment than he had all year. And he already hated himself quite a bit. But the words had been said and there was no taking them back now.

“No! I’d never!”

Link suddenly felt very weary, the rage flooding out of him almost as soon as it had filled him up.

“Then what?!”

Link had wanted to shout at her, but instead, his question came out as a quiet plea. His anger was quickly replaced with desperation. He just wanted to know how he fit into her grand scheme before they left the park and he never saw her again.

Zelda was silent for a moment, as if she battled over what to say to him. Or maybe she was just cooking up more lies to string him along some more.

“I didn’t think I’d actually like you,” she said, sounding defeated. “I thought I’d … I thought I’d just flirt with you, and ask you some questions, and maybe you’d show me around the park like you did. And once I knew where to go to get the answers I needed, I could disappear from your life and do what I needed to do.”

Link scoffed. He didn’t think his self loathing could get any worse but the way his heart lifted when she said she liked him proved him wrong. He just wanted so badly to have one right thing in his life.

“I hated lying to you, but by this time I didn’t think I could tell you the truth. I had planned to do as much as I could tonight and then …”

“And then drop me after that, right when I thought I had a chance.”

The fact that she wouldn’t meet his eyes confirmed that theory.

“Let’s just go,” he sighed, and started to walk away.

“Link, please!” she cried, and grabbed his hand. In his mind he yanked his hand out of her grasp and stalked away, indignant. In reality, he stopped, once again relishing the feeling of her hand in his.

“I promise, no more lies,” Zelda said, quietly and urgently. “But I do need your help. I need employee access into the park. Ganondorf cannot be allowed to continue to ruin people’s lives just to make himself richer. And I’ll try to make it up to you.”

He huffed a disbelieving laugh.

“How?”

“Let me at least buy you dinner, and I’ll answer any of your questions. And if you want to part ways after that, then fine. And if not … maybe we can do this together.”

He looked at her, her hopeful face bathed in the light of the newly risen moon. Despite the lies, despite all of the deception, he believed her. He still felt like he should say no, remain on his high horse and leave her behind, drop her just as she had planned to drop him, but as usual, he was weak to anything she asked from him. It was just one night, Link reminded himself. He wouldn’t have to see her again if he didn’t want to.

“Fine,” he said with a sigh. “But I pick the restaurant.”

Zelda exhaled in relief.

“Oh thank you, Link! I promise you won’t regret it!”

Before he knew what was happening, she’d leaned in and kissed him on the cheek before yanking on his arm and dragging him out of the trees, through the gap in the fence, and out of the park, all without being spotted by security, just as he’d said.

Link thought he probably would regret it. But in the end, he decided he didn’t care.

#zelink week 2021 #my writing #my fic #under the boardwalk #legend of zelda #zelink #zelink fic #modern au #theme park au #Poor Link #I'm sorry I enjoy making you sad #but it gets better I promise #zinkwink2021

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trashyswitch · 3 years

Text

The Irish Collaboration

Kevin and Daniel get together in person for the very first duel game of Super Smash Bros in the same house. Amidst the craziness, Kevin gets a great idea from the chat.

This is just a fanfic I whipped up in a matter of an hour. And don't worry: I felt like doing this. I'll be giving myself a break! I promise! I just really wanted to get this out!

Kevin had flown to Japan for a while to hang out with Daniel (Aka: RTGame) after COVID had been mostly eradicated. With both of them double vaxxed, Daniel and Kevin were allowed to hang out without needing to quarantine for 10-14 days!

Kevin and Daniel were now going to record their first videogame together. Well, obviously this wasn’t their first game together. But it would be their first game ever played in the same house! And wanna guess what they played?

If you guessed Super Smash Bros, then you are correct!

Daniel smiled and grabbed his switch controllers. “Alright. Let’s get this video started!” Daniel declared.

Daniel switched the live channel to the webcam and the video game Beside him, was Kevin trying to get his switch controller synced to the console.

“Alright, I think my controllers are synced.” Kevin told him.

“Perfect.” Daniel reacted. “Did you bring your baby too?” Daniel asked.

“You bet I did.” Kevin grabbed his wii baby and placed him in between Daniel and himself.

“Alright! Gilbert will sit beside your little cursed one.” Daniel decided.

“Yay! Awww, look they’re playing!” Daniel reacted as he started bashing Kevin’s Wii baby.

“Awww, how sweet.” Kevin responded.

Daniel sat his baby down beside the knocked over baby, and started choosing his character. “I think I’m gonna choose...Obama.” Daniel decided.

“Oooh! Hahahahaha! I’m gonna choose...Turg.” Kevin decided.

“Alright! Go Turg! I believe in you, Turg!” He joked.

“Awww, thank you, thank you.” kevin replied kindly. “Now DIE!” Kevin shouted right as the game started.

“NO!” Daniel yelled.

And: Kevin and Daniel were off!

[5 rounds later]

Kevin growled as he was beaten again.

“Curse you and your amazing gaming abilities!” Kevin joked.

“Oh, don’t sweat it. You’ll win one, I’m sure.” Daniel told him.

Then, Kevin turned to read the comments people were writing.

{TICKLE HIM!}

{Get him back! :D}

{Go for the ribs!}

{Tickle him till he pees!}

Kevin widened his eyes and laughed.

Daniel turned to him. “What’s so funny?”

“Oh just some stupid comments.” Kevin replied, before turning back to the camera and winking.

A new game had just begun! King Dedede! Vs. Ganondorf! The players immediately started smashing each other.

Kevin turned to the comments and read them rather quickly without seeming too obvious.

{is he gonna do it?}

{LOL Tickle his little tootsies!}

{Is Dan even ticklish?}

{Tickle your lad!}

Kevin smiled and wiggled his fingers towards the camera. Then, he returned to the game so he didn’t notice anything.

“Dude, you’re not really even fighting me.” Daniel reacted.

“I know, sorry.” Kevin told him.

“I might have another win under my belt!” Dan reacted.

“Yeah, maybe.” Kevin replied.

As it would turn out, Dan would win yet again.

“Oooh! Man, I am destroying you!” Dan reacted, cracking his back and smiling.

“Not for long!” Kevin declared.

The next game was on! It was very much the same characters as before: Ganondorf Vs. King Dedede! The fight started out rather normally.

“Yes! Take that! And that!” Daniel declared.

“No!” Kevin yelled.

Daniel and Kevin were halfway through the game when Dan had struck.

“I am so- GaaAAH!” Dan screeched like a dog, and curled in on himself. “KEVIN!” He yelled.

“What?” He asked, squeezing his sides more.

“NOho! Kehehevin yohohou cheheheateher!” He laughed quietly at first.

“You’re the one winning all the time!” Kevin reacted.

“Ihihit’s nohohot- OHOHO GOHOHAHAHAHAHAHA!” His laughter jumped a few octaves as he was tickled up in the armpits. “QUIHIHIT IHIHIT!” He laughed more.

“Then quit winning!” Kevin declared.

Dan was laying on the other side, kicking the babies as he tried to push Kevin’s fingers off him.

“Okay, he’s ticklish in the armpits! The armpits are a bad one! Where else do I go?” Kevin asked the chat.

“Wahahait whahahahat!?” Daniel asked.

“The chat wanted me to get revenge!” He told him. “And LOADS of people wanted it.” He added.

“WHYHYHYHY?!” He asked.

“Oho, you know why.” Kevin replied.

Kevin moved to his stomach to see if it was ticklish at all. And sure enough, it was!

“PLEHEHEHEHEASE STAHAHAHAHAP!” He begged.

“But tickling you is so much fun! And I’m not just saying that. Tickling you is actually more fun than I expected.” Kevin told him and the chat.

Daniel was squeaked and squealed the moment his belly button was even touched.

“NOHOHOHO FUHUHUHUCK!” He laughed.

“Just laugh it up, Dan. It makes the world a little more happier. Unless you don’t like happy, that is.” He joked, referring to his videos of destruction.

“FUHUHUCKING HEHEHEHEHELL! LEHEHEHET MEHEHE GOHOHOHO!” he begged.

“Let you go? And risk you beating me again? I don’t think so!” He teased. “Tickle tickle tickle tickle tickle!” He teased.

“YOHOHOU’RE SOHOHOHO WEIHIHIHIRD!” He reacted.

“Why thank you, Dan! I know I’m weird.” Kevin replied. “And the chat is also weird for suggesting such a thing.” He added.

Dan was wiggling around, laughing hysterically and flailing his arms around. He had dropped his controllers onto the couch by now, and had completely lost all composure.

“WHYHYHY AHAHAHARE YOHOHOHOU SOHOHO GOHOHOOD AHAHAHAT THIHIHIS?!” Dan asked.

“I have a sister, Dan! I’ve had countless tickle fights before!” Kevin responded.

Dan pushed him off. “Wehehehe’re on cahahamerahaha!” He told him.

Kevin grabbed his foot. “And that hasn’t stopped people before, has it?” Kevin asked.

“NOHOHOHO! NAHAHAT MYHY FEHEHEET!” He begged.

“Oh? Not the feet? Not these pair of feet?” He asked, tickling them with his fingers.

“NOHOHO FEHEHEHEHEET REHEHEHECOHOHORDIHIHING!” He begged.

“Oh…” Kevin stopped and moved to the bottom of the couch. “Here:” He sat down on the ground in front of the couch and held onto his foot. “No feet shots.” He promised before resuming back to tickling his foot.

Dan covered his mouth and squealed, trying to keep his laughter in.

“Ooooooh, being resistant now?” He asked.

Daniel shook his head, throwing his bouncy hair around in the process, and kept his hand on his whole mouth.

“I see, I see. Looks like I’ll have to pull your toes back…” He pulled his toes back, “And tickle your little footsie this way!” He declared, tickling his exposed toes.

Daniel squealed again and tugged on his foot. “NO!”

“Ohohoho YES!” He started scratching and skittering quickly to finally get him to break.

“BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! GAHAHAHAD DAHAHAHAMMIHIHIHIT!” He finally laughed. “IHIHIHIHIT’S SOHOHOHOHO BAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAD!” He screamed!

“Kitchy kitchy koo!” Kevin teased.

“DOHOHOHON’T SAHAHAHAY THAHAHAHAT!” He ordered.

“Don’t say what? Kitchy kitchy kitchy koo? A kitchy kitchy kitchy koo!” He teased more.

“NOHOHOHO!” He laughed.

“Your feet are surprisingly very ticklish!” He reacted. “I’m genuinely surprised.” he admitted.

“SHUHUHUHUT UHUHUHUHP!” Dan ordered yet again.

“Shut up?! You expect me, the man behind the baby abuse and Jim Pickens killings, to shut up?!” He reacted.

Dan shook his head.

“In fact, I am just gonna further annoy you by singing my favorite song while I tickle you!” Kevin declared.

“WAHAHAHIT!” He begged.

“Nope!” He started singing. ♫Country rooooooaaad! Take me hoooooome!♫ he sang proudly with a smirk.

“STAHAHAHAHAP THAHAHAHAT!” Dan ordered.

♫To the plaaaaaaace, I beloooooong!♫ He continued to sing.

“WHAHAHAHAT THEHEHE FUHUHUHUHUCK!” Dan shouted.

♫West virginiaaaaaaaa, southern maamaaaaaa!♫ He continued to sing.

“HEHEHEHEHELP CHAHAHAHAHAT!” He finally begged towards the chat.

♫Take me hoooooome, country rooooooaaaad.♫ Kevin finished.

“YOHOHOHOU’RE BEHEHEHEIHIHING CRAHAHAHAZYHYHYHY!” Dan fought.

“Well, looks like we have to start it aaaaaaall over again!” Kevin declared.

“NOHOHOHO!” Dan begged and pleaded. “CHAHAHAHAT PLEHEHEHEASE HEHEHEHELP!”

♫Country rooooooaaaad! Take me hooooooooome♫ Kevin started singing all over again.

And Dan would wind up never getting saved by the poor chat. In fact, the chat room would only encourage it further with their comments!

{YEEEESS!}

{This is such chaos...I love it}

{Someone get them both a record deal!}

{Dan could be the next Michael Jackson!}

{♫COUNTRY ROAD TAKE ME HOME♫}

{I just joined...Wtf?}

#ticklefic #irish lads #callmekevin #rtgame #ler!kevin #lee!daniel #fluff

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alyss-spazz-penedo · 3 years

Text

@w1lmutt I know I just did part nine of the unedited v!Wind fic but I crave validation had most of this tenth part done already, so, here you go! *hands you thing*

<<First Part 9 Next>>

The sound of battle draws the heroes like lightning to uncovered metal.

This is the scene they stumble upon: Phantom, limp on the ground, and Tetra, standing over his body, one hand upon the assembled Triforce.

“Go away,” she orders, and for a moment the heroes think she’s talking to them. “We don’t need you anymore.”

Then the Triforce pulses, once, an acknowledgment.

It’s like the world freezes. Like the very air stills in their lungs as they realize the magnitude of what they’re witnessing.

In that endless heartbeat, there is only the girl, and the power at her fingertips.

“We’re going to create a new Hyrule,” Princess Zelda declares to the Triforce—to the gods themselves. “And we don’t need an eyesore like you around to do it.” Her hand clenches into a fist. “You can come back to us when it’s done, if you must. But until the new kingdom built, I want you gone. Disappear, somewhere so far away that not even Ganondorf’s remnants can reach you. That’s my wish.”

The Triforce glimmers, one final blaze of gold, before lifting gently into the sky. It splinters. The pieces separate, Power and Wisdom and Courage, flying up and up and up, fallen stars returning to the heavens.

With one last twinkle of divine light, it disappears.

(That light will not reach mortal eyes again for many generations to come.)

~o0o~

In the aftermath, Time approaches Tetra first. “What was that about?” He prompts, direct, as unfazed as ever.

Tetra side-eyes him thoughtfully, righteous indignation simmering down, before closing one eye in a wink.

"Just Link being an idiot. He doesn't seem to realize," and here her words turn acidic, clearly directed at the dazed boy just beginning to sit up in the sand, "That I can just ask my first mate exactly how long I've been out for."

"Actually-" Phantom starts. Stops. Springs to his feet, sudden, eyes wide as saucers. "Oh shit, the pirates," he breathes, with no small amount of horror.

"What is it? What have you done now?" Tetra demands, the only one more exasperated than worried.

"I, uh..." Phantom backs away as subtly as he can manage, which is not very. "I kind of... forgot them in the cave?"

"The... cave.”

Phantom looks down at his feet. "...On the other side of the island?"

“Might this be the same place you mention had a way off Outset Island?”

The boy nods meekly. “I was using the ship for that,” he croaks.

“The same ship the monsters tried to lead us to?”

Phantom digs his toe in the sand.

With mix of amusement and bone-deep weariness, Time asks, "And might there be monsters in this cave of yours?"

"I'm sure they're fine," Phantom mutters in a tiny voice, hunching in on himself. "They can take care of themselves."

Tetra, who has been looking steadily closer to popping a blood vessel with every passing second, finally explodes. “YOU SUN-ADLED LAND-LUBBING CHUCHU-BRAINED MORON! What are you waiting for?! Go! Get! Them! NOW!”

~o0o~

“I got this,” Phantom assures them all as they stop before the edge of the cliff. He gives a testing swing of his sword and, finding it now too heavy to comfortably wield, fixes on a pair of power bracelets with a small dissatisfied noise. His second swing is much smoother.

Hewn into the stone of the cliff are crude platforms of wood, forming a path down to sea level. Patrolling the narrow walkways between those platforms are flocks of Kangarocs and curious little one-eyed creatures the two natives call “Miniblins.” According to Phantom, this is the only way to get to their destination by foot.

“We’re all experienced fighters, you know. We could help,” someone points out. Phantom snorts.

“I’ll keep that in mind if I think there’ll actually be a fight,” he says cockily, bringing his sword up to rest on one shoulder. “But for now, I got this.”

It would be more convincing if Phantom didn’t still have bruises on his face and scrapes on his hands. If there weren’t a paper-thin quality to the boy’s bravado. If it didn’t seem like he needed this on some level—this reminder that he was still capable, still powerful in his own right.

No one’s quite comfortable letting the teen throw himself at the monsters alone. But Time nods his assent, and the rest of them follow his lead, even Tetra.

Their agreement secured, Phantom proceeds to stalk down the planks in a disturbingly Ganondorf-like manner.

Before the incredulous eyes of their onlookers, the monsters scramble to get out of the boy’s way, clawing their way up the sheer rock or hopping down to the paths below, only to panic anew when Phantom reaches their level in his continued descent. A not insignificant number of the creatures just dive right into the ocean below, choosing to take their chances in the waves rather than before what is clearly the second coming of the apocalypse in Hylian form.

“...Think he could do that with monsters from other time periods?” Legend asks into the stunned silence.

“Fifty rupees says no,” Warriors quips back.

“You’re on.”

“Are you guys coming or not?” Phantom calls back from the first large platform, tapping his foot impatiently. The group trails down after him, picking their way cautiously—not all of them are quite so capable of flight, after all. Their guide waits for them to catch up, counting heads like a comically short school teacher making sure her students are all there, before he starts off again, terrorizing the monster anew.

It would be a more intimidating display, they all think, if Phantom didn’t cower whenever Tetra got too close like a child with an angry parent, or do his damnedest to keep at least one person between them at all times.

(Oddly enough, the shield he hides behind most often is Twilight. Phantom’s reasons for this are simple:

1) He’s tall

2) He’s usually the closest

3) He’s the most willing—in Phantom’s eyes—to murder a man in his sleep given sufficient reason, and therefore clearly the most dangerous of the lot.

All of this, unfortunately for Phantom, rather ignores the fact that Twilight will happily throw him to the wolves at far less prompting than a nasty look or two from Tetra.)

“So what exactly are we walking into?” Someone finally asks Phantom. “It’s been nearly two days since the curse was lifted. Are you sure these pirates will still be where you left them?”

Phantom huffs at the questioning. “They’ll be there. Jabun’s Cave only has one entrance, and they wouldn’t have been able to open the doors.” He nods down at the bottom of the path. Floating on the sea’s surface and anchored to the stone cliffs, the largest platform yet awaits them. A pair of enormous doors open onto that platform—shoddy things, little more than massive slabs of wood lashed together haphazardly, but more than big enough to give a crew of Hylians difficulty. There are gaps in the uneven planking, some big enough for a child to squeeze through, but nothing that could accommodate a boat; anyone who escaped would have nowhere to go but up.

Legend whistles slowly, as if impressed by the sheer level of the fuck-up he's witnessing. "Are you telling me you left these guys trapped for two days in a cave filled with monsters? I thought you were friendly with these pirates."

Phantom not-so-discretely steps to put another person between him and Tetra, shoulders hunching defensively. "They'll be fine," he insists. "There's enough provisions on the ship to last anyone a few weeks, and the monsters know better than... to..."

Phantom trails off with a frown as they approach the final landing. There are a great many Kangarocs dotting the cliffs around the door—too many. They prefer to nest inside; they should be tending to their young in the cave, not crowding each other off perches in the open air.

"Something's wrong," he concludes, and readies his sword.

#Vinked Universe #my writing #fanfic #I was never gonna Darkside Tetra but the fact that some people worried about it DELIGHTS me #Like you thought she would go evil? HER?#Oh ye of little faith (affectionate)#(...Though I hadn't thought about how cool a direction that might've been to go before)#(Maybe I'll do a spinoff someday)#Phantom is not as okay w things as he’s pretending btw #we’ll get to THAT part later #Now. how to cheese another fight scene I wonder...

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dinfeanoriel · 4 years

Text

Safeguard

Hey! I’ve been gone awhile, but I’m back with a little something!

~~~~~~~~~

His face was familiar.

Then again, all of their faces were familiar because they were their own. As strange as it was to say, the resemblance between the nine was uncanny and undeniable.

But his...His was far more familiar to Time. Something about it nagged at him. It was constantly poking and prodding, urging him to delve deep into his mind and strive to uncover, to find out, why he recognized him more so than the others.

With Twilight, it had clicked into place they were somehow related. A descendant of his from far down the line.

Could it be the same with him?

Remember.

Remember!

But he couldn’t. He wasn’t sure what he was trying to remember. Where he’d seen his face? That was a rather pointless endeavor and would undoubtedly lead to a fruitless search.

He recalled their first meeting vividly and both had experienced an eerie familiarity with one another for reasons they were unsure of. Time could tell from his carefully crafted expressions that Warrior recognized him also but was at a loss as to how and why.

This further confirmed to Time that they must have met once upon a time.

But when? How?

Surely, Time would have been able to recall such an extraordinary event. It wasn’t everyday one met an incarnation of themselves.

It also wasn’t everyday one met eight incarnations of themselves, and yet, here they were.

But, Time digressed

The resemblance between the two was striking. All of the Links had been taken aback and put off by it.

~~~~

“Are you two related?” Wind once asked. The Sailor was sitting between Warrior and Four, constantly looking between the Knight and the Old Man across from him.

“Thank you, Wind, for asking!” Legend expelled a breath, “I have been wanting to know for a while now!”

Wanting but never asking.

The others appeared to have wondered the same if their sudden interest in the conversation was of any evidence.

Twilight was certainly curious. While he and Time knew they were related, it was always possible for there to be more relatives.

Warrior gave a warm chuckle and shook his head, “No. We aren’t.”

He disheveled Wind’s hair for good measure, ignoring the Sailor’s indignant cry.

Time couldn’t help but frown at the answer. Something about it bugged him. Was it the forced sincerity behind Warrior’s voice? The frail conviction in his eyes? The bitterness and subtle scowl Warrior skillfully hid from the others?

He never dared to ask.

~~~~

Of course, it wasn’t only the Links who recognized the uncanny resemblance between the two. Time’s wife, Malon, had noted it. When Malon had first been introduced to the Links, her eyes were drawn to Warrior and then Twilight almost instinctively. Her eyes shuttered with something unknown, her heart tugging at something foreign yet more than welcome.

Time had already informed her of having met a descendant of their’s. At first, Malon believed it to be Warrior, then possibly Wind, only to discover later it was Twilight.

However, Malon appeared to be dissatisfied with something Time couldn’t pinpoint. She was overjoyed and exuberant from having learned they had a descendant. She’d been unable to quell her excitement and contagious, toothy, smiles for several days. She’d gushed to Time in a neverending stream of proud words and happiness about being able to meet Twilight.

~~~~

“That boy reminds me of you from when you were younger,” Malon once remarked to Time, drying a plate with a hand towel. “Sixteen, I’d have to say.”

“Warrior?” Funny how he knew exactly who she was referring to.

Malon hummed with a nod of her head, “He looks so much like you, it’s unbelievable! I was almost convinced I was staring at a younger version of you. As the Hero of Time, I wouldn’t have doubted it was.”

“You aren’t the first to make such a claim,” He’d informed his wife, instinctively searching for Warrior among the group of Heroes running about outside. They were indulging Wind in one of his favorite games, looking far more relaxed and at ease than Time had ever seen them.

He found Warrior nearest Twilight and struggled to hold back a laugh when a disgruntled Cucco leaped out from behind them, angrily flapping its wings and clucking furiously. The pure and unadulterated fear that crossed their faces and the comical widening of their eyes was something Time would forever remember.

To think a Cucco of all things was able to extract such sheer and absolute terror from those possessing the Triforce of Courage...

Wonders never ceased, Time supposed.

He’d never seen them move so fast before. Twilight and Warrior were gone before he could blink, kicking up a cloud of dust as they bolted across the ranch to safety. Legend, Hyrule, Wind, and Four were quick to drop everything and follow their example, fleeing for their lives and leaving behind an utterly baffled Sky.

Ever the bold one, Malon snorted,

“I believe it.”

Time hadn’t been able to shake those words from his mind ever since.

~~~~

It frustrated Time to no end that he was no closer to uncovering the answer he’d been seeking. It was so close yet so far away. Almost out of reach. Time wasn’t sure how to cross the distance without alerting Warrior.

When in the heat of battle, Time more-often-than-not found himself partnering with Warrior. The two made for an unbeatable duo who conquered the battlefield with hardly any effort.

They worked well together, adapting to one another’s style and technique without trouble and swooping in with a killing blow when the other faltered or stepped aside.

It pestered him.

A strange, niggling sensation told him this wasn’t the first they’d fought together. Nor would it be the last.

How was it possible?

What really took the cake was what occurred that night.

The Links were weary from a long day of travelling and exhausted from the three battles they’d partaken in. Setting up camp took longer than usual due to the bone-deep fatigue affecting each Hero. Still, Wild put together a wholesome meal for them to enjoy and the Links slipped into sharing a couple or so stories of their adventures.

Time merely listened, his stoic gaze slipping towards Warrior every-so-often. The Old Man had noticed something about the Knight. For as much as he loved to talk, his voice filling the silence and becoming something they were accustomed to listening to, they knew next to nothing about him.

Time mulled on this surprising fact, troubled. He sifted through a list of what he knew about the Knight:

1. He was a Knight 2. Obtained a nasty scar from the Dragon Knight Volga 3. Fought Ganondorf and a sorceress called Cia 4. Faced Dark Link 5. Fought a war 6. Has several sisters

The more Time thought, the steeper his frown became. He hardly knew anything about Warrior.

Why was this?

Warrior skillfully crafted each individual conversation he participated in. He manipulated the subject away from himself and slyly shifted the topic to others. When directly questioned about his adventure, Warrior gave a simple summary, skimmed over details, and wrapped it up promptly. None of them noticed for the way Warrior would speak, how he would draw them into a fascinating tale and keep them on their toes with suspense, distracted them from recognizing how he never directly spoke of himself.

Tonight, the Heroes were showing a few of their instruments to pass time until Wild finished cooking.

Legend and Sky compared their harps, Wind whipped out his baton and Spirit Flute, Hyrule revealed his recorder, and Twilight allowed Four to admire his Horse Call.

“What about you, Time?” Wind curiously asked, drawing the oldest Hero from his thoughts, “Do you have an instrument?”

Suddenly, Time found himself in the spotlight once more. He supposed it couldn’t hurt to join in just this once.

“I do,” Time replied, watching the Heroes perk up and look to him expectantly. He smothered a smile and shook his head, “I don’t suppose you would want to see?”

Wind bounded forward, “Oh yes!” he cried excitedly, “I want to see!”

Time huffed out a small chuckle, pausing long enough in his rifling through his pack to ruffle Wind’s already disheveled hair. Warrior would undoubtedly fix it later.

“Very well. It is a rare and incredibly important instrument.”

“Why is that?” Surprisingly, it was Legend who voiced the question. The snarky Hero drew closer, influencing the others to do the same. Before Time knew it, they had formed a crescent moon around him. Warrior sat across from him, Wind in his lap and arms loosely wrapped around the enthusiastic sailor. Twilight, Wild, and Hyrule were to their left with Legend, Sky, and Four to their right.

“It was given to me by Princess Zelda,” Time explained, carefully shifting through his pack to find his beloved instrument, “And it helped me greatly on my adventures.” Legend nodded in understanding.

At long last, Time felt the familiar outline of this beloved instrument and he delicately slipped it out for all to see. It was a tad amusing to see the awe and wonder appear in their eyes. Wind was especially amazed by the blue, peculiarly shaped and unfamiliar instrument.

“What is it?” Sky asked, briefly meeting Time’s eye.

“An Ocarina,”

Time stopped, mouth open but no words having escaped. The answer to Sky’s question lingered on the tip of his tongue, dissipating into nothingness the instant a different voice replied for him.

His gaze snapped to Warrior immediately. The Knight’s grip on Wind had tightened imperceptibly, his back and shoulders stiff, and disbelieving eyes glued to the Ocarina of Time. There was a strange, unrecognizable intonation to his voice Time told himself to pay close attention to.

He narrowed his own gaze, wondering at Warrior’s unexpected reaction. There was something more to it. The familiarity in which Warrior stared at the Ocarina of Time and the shock carefully hidden behind deep pools of blue.

Wind dropped his head back, peering up at Warrior quizzically,

“You’ve seen one before, Warrior?”

Upon hearing his voice, Warrior slowly blinked and shook himself from whatever daze had overtaken him. That infamous, charming, smile Warrior was known for stretched his lips and he answered, “I have, a long while ago,”

Time frowned at the vague response.

“They are incredibly rare, however,”��

And there he went, deflecting the attention from himself back to Time.

“They are indeed,” Time agreed lowly, studying Warrior intently, “To my knowledge, there are only two Ocarinas. There could be more, but I have yet to find another.”

Before anymore could be said, Wild declared dinner was ready and the Links were up and gone in a flash.

~~~~

Young Link sat idly on a boulder in Hyrule Field, small legs kicking in the air as he hummed a catchy tune to himself. The battle had long since ended and he took this precious little time to rest and regain his strength before they moved out once more. He knew the call to march would sound soon and sorrow swelled in his heart. Young Link had seen plenty of darkness, death, and despair. He had witnessed the world’s end many times over and struggled to rescue a land threatened by a looming moon and a Mask wielding a great and terrible, ancient, power. He’d traveled through time, back and forth and back and forth, until he’d put an end to the King of Evil, returned the Master Sword, and warned Princess Zelda of the oncoming storm.

Now, here he was, warped into another world and whisked away on yet another adventure to help beat back the darkness poisoning the lands of this Hyrule.

In his hands, Link gingerly held the Ocarina of Time. Princess Zelda had given it to him- claimed it might one day help him. A subtle way of telling Link he would need it someday. The thought terrified him.

Everything was doom and gloom nowadays and it saddened Young Link to know of the evils and horrors people were capable of. Of the atrocities and tragedies many would suffer down the road.

It was hard accepting not everyone could be saved.

The quiet shuffling of booted feet drew Young Link from his dark, restless, thoughts and the boy in green turned his head to find a familiar Hylian approaching. His face was blurred, his figure distorted in a way to hide his identity. He could recognize the color green and blue and the blonde hair, but other than that, nothing.

Hands rose and signed quickly, gesturing to the Ocarina curiously.

Young Link grinned, a tinge of nostalgia slipping into the gesture, and answered,

“This is an Ocarina. The Ocarina of Time,” He presented it freely, unafraid. He knew he could trust this stranger implicitly.

The blurred figure nodded to themselves, and Young Link could imagine an intrigued frown twisting their lips.

“It’s an instrument!” Young Link brightly elaborated, cradling the Ocarina and bringing it up for the other to get a better look. He knew the knight wouldn’t try to steal from him, “A beautiful one too. It was given to me.”

“Ocarina...” The ghost of a whisper caressed Young Link’s ear and the child snapped his head up in surprise. This was the first time he’d heard the other’s voice. It was surprisingly warm and soft. Amiable and kind.

“You should talk more,” Young Link chirped from where he was perched, startling his companion, “You’re voice...it’s...it’s nice to hear.”

A shy chuckle echoed in his ears before darkness ringed around the edges, closing in...

“Thank you...”

~~~~

Time blinked his eyes open drowsily, squinting when tendrils of sunlight pierced them for a blinding moment. The remnants of his dream lingered in his mind, troubling the Old Man as he pondered on it.

It felt...familiar.

Real.

Like a distant memory. Lost due to the passage of time and then found again.

He sat up, his mind foggy and thoughts whirling in confusion. He raked a hand through his golden hair, wondering at the dream. Had it been a simple dream? Or was there more to it?

The more he mused on it, the pesky sensation in the back of his mind became stronger- telling him this was a memory he’d somehow suppressed and had freshly excavated.

The voice...

It struck him as eerily familiar and yet unfamiliar. He’d heard it once before.

“Old Man?”

Time blinked slowly, raising his head to find Legend standing before him with an eyebrow raised.

“I’ve been calling to you for a while now,” The red-clad Hero huffed, crossing his arms and inclining his head, “You were staring into oblivion...”

Time would have smiled at the hidden concern behind Legend’s words. His extremely subtle way of expressing worry and asking whether or not he was okay.

“I’m alright,” Time said, suppressing a groan when he drew himself to his feet. He must be getting old. His body kept protesting against movement of any kind. He was no longer as agile and nimble as he once was, but he was stronger and wiser. The older Hero clasped Legend’s shoulder and looked to find the seven other Heroes efficiently packing up camp under Warrior’s guidance. The Captain’s scarf fluttered in the strong breeze and Warrior fumbled to keep it from unraveling.

Warrior...

~~~~

Young Link watched his friend care and wash his blood-stained scarf. He scrutinized every inch of the fabric, checking to make sure there were no rips or tears.

“You really like your scarf, don’t you?” The small Hero stated with a small smile. His friend reminded him much of himself and how he treated the Ocarina of Time as if it were the most precious item in the world.

It was to him, and he supposed his friend held similar sentimentality towards his scarf.

His friend paused momentarily, sparing him a glance. His face was soft and open. There was no harshness or sternness now that the battle was over and they were granted time for respite before they would start again.

His friend’s eyes glimmered with an unknown emotion as he regarded the scarf he held in his hands.

“Yes,” He softly murmured with a nod of his head, “I do...It reminds me of him.”

Whoever ‘he’ was, Young Link never did discover, but he knew whoever they were, they must have been important to his friend.

~~~~

Time pursed his lips at the Knight. It aggravated him that he couldn’t pinpoint why he found the Captain awfully familiar.

Legend shuffled in place, gaze flitting from Time to Warrior. The intense look on their leader’s face, the narrowing of his eyes and searching gaze... What could he possibly be looking for?

Time hummed to himself, uncertain and curious, “I suppose a few questions are in order...”

Legend quirked an eyebrow at him but Time said nothing more. Instead, he pat Legend’s shoulder and moved away to help Wind untangle himself from the shrubs he’d miraculously caught himself up in.

The Sailor was a giggling mess, a fondly exasperated Warrior and amused Sky hovering about attempting to tug him out.

“Of all things, Wind, and I just did your hair-” Warrior halfheartedly scolded the teen,

“Come now, Warrior,” Time interjected smoothly, slipping beside the Captain, “I recall a certain incident at a particular waterfall-”

Legend’s curiosity was piqued when Warrior turned a surprising shade of red, stuttering,

“I-I have absolutely no idea what you’re referring to!”

Time’s deep laughter encompassed the air, his shoulders shaking from the movement. The Links looked on with interest. It was rare for their leader to laugh so freely and with such unrestrained warmth and mirth.

“Wait, what incident?” Hyrule wanted to know. “Yes, do tell!” Four encouraged.

Warrior floundered desperately.

“No, don’t!”

~~~~

It was when they were abruptly transported to Warrior’s world that things took an unexpected turn.

Twilight’d thought Warrior would be thrilled to return to his home and give them a tour of his Hyrule but his keen senses told him otherwise. Warrior was displeased and reluctant.

His confident and sure stature had wilted and his booted feet thumped against the ground a little heavier than normal.

He plastered on a fake smile to fool the others, but Twilight saw right through it. The Knight did not appear at all happy to be here and it baffled Twilight. The forced cheer in Warrior’s voice when he would speak and the faux-prep in his step were a facade he kept tightly wound about himself. A vain attempt to convince the Links he was beyond enthused to be back.

Twilight ambled a little behind Warrior, off to the side. He caught sight of the dark frown twisting his companion’s features and the contemplative, almost strained and hesitant look on his face. He could practically see the gears turning nonstop in the Hero’s head. His eyes had dimmed, becoming dark and stormy.

Quickening his pace, Twilight moved to walk alongside the Knight. Warrior snapped out of his thoughts upon catching his movement and shot the Ordonian a questioning look.

“Something you need, Twilight?”

Twilight shook his head at the split-second transformation he witnessed steal over his companion. The amiable tone, weak smirk, and glad expression.

“You aren’t fooling me, Warrior.”

Warrior faltered. It was slight, not really noticeable, but Twilight noted it. His smirk faded, growing frail and crackly until it vanished completely and the grim expression from before replaced the faux-delighted one. He looked away- another sign that something was bothering him.

It had to be something serious if it affected Warrior this much.

“Sorry,” Warrior apologized a little gruffly, staring down the path they were on, “This road brings back some awful memories.” His demeanor visibly darkened, “And what lies at the end is worse.”

Twilight could understand. While he didn’t know Warrior’s story, he knew how it could be. How a simple object, place, or person could dredge up the worst of memories.

“Is there a different path we could take?”

Warrior looked briefly surprised by Twilight’s suggestion, but shook his head. “Unfortunately, no, or I would have taken one. But I cannot-” Warrior cut off, clenching his fists, “Will not,” He managed to say between clenched teeth, “Run from it. I was bound to face it one day. Might as well be this one.”

Twilight averted his gaze. He was never one for sentimentality or comforting, but he darn well tried.

“It might not be much, but we’re here with you.”

This time, Warrior stopped briefly, lifting his head to stare at Twilight for a moment before a small, genuine, smile curved his lips and he started walking again.

“That’s more than I could ask for,” He admitted in a quiet murmur. Twilight recognized it for the thanks it was.

He stayed next to Warrior for the remainder of the trip and never strayed even as the sun began to fall and the moon gradually ascended.

~~~~

He walked alongside a tall, intimidating, Dragon Knight, swallowed up by his shadow. Volga had surprisingly taken a role as his protector- though Young Link had little need of one. He could hold his own quite well, thank you.

Their fellow soldiers were grim-faced and determined.

This tale was drawing to an end.

At least, he hoped. He didn’t want his friend to suffer more than he already had. He didn’t want him to experience the same horrors he himself had. If he could spare his friend that, Young Link would. It was a vow he kept close to his heart and strove his hardest to achieve.

The road was long and dark. The roiling clouds above thunderous and ominous, instilling a sense of foreboding in the armies trudging beneath them. Already, Young Link recognized the wavering resolve in some of the soldiers and he scowled.

Would there be more turncoats? Traitors? Those hurt his friend more than any physical wound ever could.

Speaking of his friend...

Cobalt blues scanned the faces of the nearby Knights, searching for one in particular. He spotted him marching up ahead, accompanying the Princess and General Impa discussing strategy.

Without a word, Young Link bounded away and hopped to his friend’s side. He could see the steely resolve in his face- so alike his own. Young Link had no doubt that his friend would succeed in ridding this world of the Sorceress’s curse and consequently saving Hyrule.

Hyrule was, in his empirical opinion, useless when it came to times likes these. It always fell upon the shoulders of the Hero to struggle, suffer, and strive to save her.

There was also a look in his friend’s eyes that Young Link found he didn’t like. Ever since his friend had retrieved the Master Sword, he’d grown reckless and prideful. Never a good combination.

Young Link feared for his friend. The upcoming battle would no doubt be the most difficult and trying and he knew if his friend didn’t snap out of it, he would wind up getting himself killed.

Well then, Young Link would just have to stick to his side and make sure he didn’t. It would be easier said than done, but more than worth it.

Without much thought, Young Link reached and tugged on his friend’s sleeve, drawing his attention from the Princess and the General. Then, grasping his hand, Young Link looked up to him.

“We’re almost there,”

His friend, Link, smiled and nodded curtly. His eyes- no longer hidden from sight or blurred- glinted with a strange light and Young Link found he didn’t like it.

He was far too confident. Far too sure now that he wielded the Master Sword.

“Cia’s house...” He murmured.

Once, Young Link celebrated and reveled in the rare moments his friend would speak for himself rather than through his fairy, but now...

He wished Proxi had spoken instead.

~~~~

“There it is,”

It was Warrior’s solemn voice that brought Time back to the present. His brow creased from the fickle memory that had come unwarranted to him. He wasn’t sure what had triggered it, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that this road they had taken was known to him.

The Links took in the sight before them.

The dark, foreboding Fortress Warrior knew they would have to seek shelter in for the night loomed in the distance. Time wandered closer to where Twilight and Warrior stood on the edge of a cliff. The instant his gaze fell on the building, Time knew where they were before Warrior told them.

“Cia’s House,”

The aloof tone unsettled the Links and they discreetly shot looks of concern towards Warrior. From the guarded look on his face, they knew he had some kind of history with this grand and eerie place.

And not a good one.

Legend thought he sensed dark magic poisoning the air and the ground and wondered at it. Warrior was strongly opposed to magic- especially dark magic. Had something happened here that served to influence the fierce hatred he bore against it?

Time frowned deeply.

Cia’s House...The place from his memory. He’d been here once before. But when? How? Why couldn’t he remember?

He looked long and hard at the structure as if it held all of the answers he sought. For some reason, he felt a stirring of anger, an odd coiling of fear, and fierce protection well up inside of him.

Protect...

Protect.

Protect!

Time winced when the word thundered in his mind, ricocheting off the walls and fading into nothingness.

Protect?

Protect what? Who?

A hand settled on his arm and Time turned to find Wild worriedly peerkng at him from beneath his hood.

“You doing alright, Pops?” He asked upon recognizing the pain and confusion minutely distorting the older Hero’s features.

“I...yes,” Time nodded slowly, a strong hand giving Wild a couple reassuring pats on his shoulder.

Wild clearly didn’t believe him but he knew better than to press. Something was frustrating Time yet the teen couldn’t tell what. He’d been watching the Old Man closely. Lately, he’d been absentminded and earlier, when they first started down the path after Warrior, he’d withdrawn into himself, eyes far away and mind distant.

It was as if he was recalling something- a faint memory of sorts. Wild knew that look well. He’d worn it more times than he cared to count.

“Look after Warrior,”

“Huh?” Wild blinked at the sudden words. Time didn’t appear to realize he’d spoken at all, instead starting forward and following the group down the cliffside to Cia’s House. “Look after Warrior..?” He repeated, bewildered. He scratched the back of his head and shrugged to himself.

Warrior had been acting odd. Perhaps Time was concerned for him?

~~~~

It was General Impa’s gruff cry that alerted Young Link to the fact that something was severely wrong. The genuine worry she didn’t bother to hide alarmed the small hero.

“Link, wait- that idiot!” She tripled her efforts, her large, sharp blade viciously swiping enemies and sending them sailing in all directions.

A sharp pang of pure, unadulterated fear raced through Young Link’s veins. His friend had run on ahead, just as he’d suspected he would do.

The Dragon Knight Volga slammed his weapon into the ground, flames encompassing his form as fury tinged with concern distorted his masked features. He scowled, fangs flashing in the light,

“That boy is going to get himself killed!”

Young Link snapped his head toward the displeased Dragon Knight, eyes wide with unrestrained worry.

Without waiting for Volga, Young Link shot off, a trail of destruction left in his wake.

“I have to find him!”

The urge to use the Fierce Deity Mask festered within the young hero, but he valiantly quashed it. He effortlessly destroyed any enemies that got in his way- the need to make sure his friend was safe and sound feeding this newly found strength and sudden rush of adrenaline that kept his legs pumping.

A burst of hot air slammed into his back and past him as Volga sprinted along side him,

“You are just as reckless,” Came his guttural growl, flames brilliantly bright.

“Link is surrounded!” Came the Princess’s powerful, reverberating, voice, and another blast of sheer terror stole Young Link’s very breath away, “There are Dark Links appearing everywhere!”

Young Link willed himself to go faster. Dark Links? As in plural? His friend had no experience facing an evil incarnation of himself! How could he face more than one?

He desperately clung to the hope he would reach him in time.

~~~~

When Time next stirred, it was a handful of hours before dawn. Heaving a quiet sigh, the oldest Hero drew himself up into a sitting position and turned his head to appraise the slumbering Links around him.

Wind was curled into a tight ball underneath his blanket, Four calmly sleeping nearest him with his hands folded on his chest. Hyrule had one arm and leg cast out from underneath his thick cloak, and his head pillowed on his left arm.

Twilight and Wild were back-to-back, the former of the Heroes having chosen not to transform for the night. They slept near identical to one another, with an arm curled beneath their heads and cushioning them from the unforgiving, stone, ground and blankets drawn past their shoulders.

Sky was a mess of sprawled limbs. Time huffed out a quiet laugh at the ungainly sight. For such an amiable, kindhearted, and soft-spoken hero, Sky moved an unbelievable amount during the night and often awoke with his arms and legs haphazardly thrown here and there.

Legend was lying on his stomach, his pack shoved underneath his head and an arm bent close to his face. His face was smoothed over in his sleep, the typical scowl and moody furrow creasing his brow absent. He looked young, untroubled, and unburdened. Sorrow tugged at Time’s heart. He knew Legend had experienced much- more than most of the others combined and he wondered why the Goddess had chosen to send him on one adventure after another.

Yet, Time also held admiration and respect for the teen. Despite everything he’d gone through, Legend still persevered and pressed on. He had become almost detached to life and did his best to avoid making connections, but little by little, he was starting to open up and establish a strong, unbreakable, bond with the rag-tag group of wayward Heroes.

A troubled frown pulled at Time’s lips. What would happen after this adventure was over? What would become of the Heroes? Would they still be able to contact one another? Or would they never see one another again, left only with memories they would forever treasure and cherish?

He stubbornly silenced the thoughts in his mind and looked to the Knight still on watch...

Only to find Warrior gone.

Time stiffened and turned every-which-way in search of the Captain.

He was nowhere to be found.

The Old Man stood immediately, ensuring the make-shift campsite was secure before heading off to find the missing Link. Where could he have gone? Why had he abandoned his post? It was unlike Warrior to do so. Even if he went to investigate something, Warrior knew better than to go alone.

What had prompted him to leave on his own without waking one of his companions?

Time didn’t know but he was going to find out.

He left the campsite and turned down the vast corridor towards the main room of Cia’s House. His feet moved instinctively, knowing exactly where they would find the Knight.

It might have been ages ago, but he still remembered...

Brief flashes and blurred images flickered across his mind the deeper into the House he went, and Time realized he did know where he was heading.

He’d been here before...

Long ago.

In a time long forgotten and newly remembered.

~~~~

“He’s in trouble!” Young Link cried, bolting down the corridors and racing towards where his friend was trapped.

Volga chased after him. They were joined by a determined Ruto and seething Midna, both racing to reach Link before anything ill befell him.

“He’s more of an idiot than my idiot,” He barely overheard Midna hissing in displeasure.

“We can lecture him later,” Ruto peacefully intervened before the Twili could continue, “Right now, we have to reach him before the Dark Links do!”

~~~~

Time’s lips curled back in a grimace at the paintings decorating the walls. He certainly did not miss the sight of those.

The Sorceress had been wholly and utterly obsessed with the Bearer of the Triforce of Courage. It was disturbing.

The Hero of Time continued on his short trek through Cia’s House, slowing to a stop almost instinctively when he reached the room he dreaded to see.

~~~~

Young Link couldn’t describe the onslaught of emotions and feelings that took him captive when he skidded around the corner to find his friend surrounded by Dark Links.

His heart leaped into his throat and his eyes went impossibly wide with terror when they lunged at him simultaneously.

“NO!” The desperate, heart-rending cry ripped from his throat.

“You IDIOT!” Midna practically screeched.

“LINK!”

“We won’t reach him in time-” It was the Dragon Knight’s terse declaration that shattered Young Link’s world completely and made him understand.

They had arrived too late.

~~~~

Time peered into the vast chamber he knew Warrior would be in.

The Knight stood only a few feet inside, not daring to move any further. His face was a blank canvas, carefully shielded, and eyes dark and stormy as he recalled those terrible days.

He was silent. Grave and solemn.

It was a sight Time had never before seen. Not with Warrior.

He was small. Insignificant compared to the expansiveness of the room they were in.

“I almost died here...”

Warrior’s voice was quiet. Steady and collected but his tone shook with an unknown emotion. He swallowed thickly, a fist pressed to his chest.

“I thought I would...”

- The unbridled fear. The widening of cobalt blues, swimming with undiluted terror and horrified understanding-

The Old Man was reminded of a time not too long ago in which Sky allowed Hyrule to wield the Master Sword. The words Warrior had stated so simply and nonchalantly back then lingered in the back of his mind, troubling the Hero...

~~~~~

“Just a beauty, isn’t she?” Warrior remarked as the Links watched Hyrule admire the Master Sword he held in his hands. The beauty and craftsmanship took him aback. They could recognize the awe and wonderment in his dark eyes.

“I’m at a loss for words,” Hyrule admitted in a respectful whisper, a smile splitting his lips as he pointed the Master Sword forward. She moved with such grace and elegance. A fine blade. No other could hope to surpass her.

“With that blade, you feel invincible,” Warrior said, wagging a finger in Hyrule’s direction. Twilight’s gaze flicked to him, a slight frown on his face,

“That’s a dangerous way of thinking,” The Ordonian remarked, voicing Time’s thoughts aloud.

Warrior said nothing to defend himself.

“Almost cost me my life,”

~~~~

“You were reckless,” Time’s low voice quietly broke the silence encompassing the room.

Warrior didn’t startle. He’d likely sensed Time’s presence before the Hylian had spoken. A self-deprecating laugh fleetly followed.

“I was overconfident,” The Knight agreed, lowering his head with shame, “If it hadn’t been for the others...For Lana...I wouldn’t be here.”

Time moved swiftly, coming to stand beside Warrior.

“Sometimes, I wonder what might have happened,” Warrior continued, lifting his gaze and staring ahead, unable to look Time in the eye, “If I had fallen- if Lana had been a second late and the Darks succeeded... what would have become of Hyrule if I had failed?”

Time shook his head with a stern frown, grasping Warrior’s shoulder gently but firmly,

“No one can give you an answer to that, Warrior. There is no way to know and you will never find out. Dwelling on what-ifs is a wasteful endeavor- and one that does more harm than good. Because of Lana, because of your friends and allies, you still live. You are still here.”

“And for that, I am forever grateful,” Warrior earnestly told Time, clenching his fists, “But that doesn’t change the fact that because of my foolishness and pride, my overconfidence, I could have cost Hyrule everything.”

Time hummed, “That is a possibility, but that is all it is- a possibility. There are things all of us wish we can go back, erase, and start anew,” The Hero smiled wanly, “But if it weren’t for those experiences, for the lessons we learned, or the struggles we underwent, none of us would be where we are now. There are regrets. There will always be lingering regrets we will never truly rid ourselves of...” Time knew this well. It was and always would be the harsh reality, “You have learned and grown since then, Warrior, and have taken to teaching the others what you yourself have learned.”

Now Time felt he had an understanding of Warrior.

“Almost cost me my life,”

The simple statement that had bugged Time for months now made more sense. He was issuing a warning. It was subtle but it was there. He was telling the others not to allow the power of the Master Sword to go to their heads. He was making sure none of them would take the Blade of Evil’s Bane for granted. A lesson he had learned and taken to heart.

“I suppose,” Warrior conceded with a slight nod.

Time appraised him somberly.

“Forgiving one’s self is the most difficult and arduous task we will all experience in our lifetime,” He squeezed Warrior’s shoulder, “Some will succeed and some will not, but, Warrior, though it may amount to nothing, I never held it against you. Nor did any of the others.”

Warrior’s head snapped up at record speed. For a second, Time believed he might have given himself whiplash. Stunned cobalt blues bored into Time’s own, confusion mingled with a faint trace of hope easily recognizable.

“You..?”

Time released another warm laugh, “I thought I recognized you from somewhere,” He told the Captain, “But for the life of me, I could never pinpoint from where or when. During the past few days, I started to remember. That little boy in green you met on the battlefield? The one wielding the biggoron sword?”

Why on Hylia’s green earth Time had chosen to use that blade was still beyond him. It had been far too big for him then.

Warrior could have choked, “That was you?!” Then his expression brightened and a brilliant, beaming, smile broke out. It was a most welcome sight for Time to see. The genuine happiness, shock, and relief Warrior sported meant more than the Captain would ever know, “Of course it was you! I thought- I couldn’t bring myself to believe it-” He trailed off, raking his fingers through his hair as he attempted to wrap his mind around this unexpected revelation, “The Ocarina was a dead give away but I thought it was mere coincidence you had one.”

“That was the first time I heard your voice,” Time found himself saying. Warrior chuckled faintly, rubbing the back of his neck.

“I can’t believe it...” Still, the smile never left Warrior’s face. “It was you all along.”

“You would think the title The Hero of Time would have given it away,” Time mused, a hint of teasing in his tone.

Warrior turned red and floundered pathetically, “Yes- well- I-um...” He deflated, grumbling moodily, “There is nothing I can say in my defense.”

Time ruffled his hair. Then, without warning, he cuffed the back of Warrior’s head. The Knight cried out indignantly, leaning away from Time and shooting him a mild glare,

“What was that for?!”

The Knight rubbed at his head with one eye squeezed shut and the other locked on the Old Man.

“That was for being an idiot,” Time promptly answered, “I was too short to knock you on your head last time.”

And too relieved.

But as Time listened to Warrior’s unrestrained, if a bit embarrassed, laughter and shaky apologies, the Old Man knew deep down in his heart, that he would have done anything to safeguard the Captain. He would have given anything if it meant saving Warrior.

~~~~

The instant Lana’s barrier fell and the Darks were taken care of, Young Link dropped everything he held and spun around to throw himself at his friend. His poor, frantically beating heat did not slow, unable to handle the terrible scare it had suffered.

His friend crashed to his knees, catching him in his strong arms and crushing him close. Young Link threw his own around his neck, clutching tightly and he screwed his burning eyes shut against the tears gathering within them.

Both refused to let one another go.

Young Link feared if he did, his friend would disappear. What had nearly happened, the close call his friend had experienced, did not release its hold on him. He’d almost lost his dear friend. He’d almost borne witness to his gruesome demise.

If they had been a millisecond too late...

His small body trembled and Young Link realized his dear friend, Link, was also shaking. His breathing was uneven and hitched every now and then and the boy in green understood his friend was only now realizing what the true cost of his pride and overconfidence could have been.

“Don’t ever do that again!” Young Link fiercely whispered in one pointed ear, tightening his hold. He might be choking his friend, but he was too relieved to care at the moment. “Ever! I thought-” His voice caught on a sob, droplets of silver rain falling free, “I thought I was going to l-lose you!”

The blue-scarfed Hero exhaled shakily, burying his face in his hair and murmuring tremulously,

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry!”

His hands trembled violently, his body quaking and Young Link pulled back to give his friend a wobbly smile.

“Don’t be,” He hiccuped, dragging his arm across his eyes and meeting his dear friend’s watery gaze. There was deep regret, heart rending remorse, and unfathomable guilt swimming in them and he shook his head, “I’m just...happy you’re still here.”

He was given a similar, shaky, smile,

“Me too.”

~~~~

#Linked Universe #linkeduniverse #Legend of Zelda #Time #Warrior #Din writes

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jinmukangwrites · 4 years

Note

71 with Twilight!

71) “It’d be a shame if someone you loved got hurt, I know how much your friends mean to you.”

**Requests closed**

-o-o-o-o-

He's walking through nothing.

His boots echo on emptiness with every step, and his eyes see nothing but a endlessness you can really only find while staring into the pits of a deep dark cave. He holds a lantern, the smell of the flame nauseating, though he's used to the stench of burning chu jelly being used instead of normal oil.

"Hello?" He asks, because he's alone and there's nothing. He can't think of where he is or what he's doing, just that he has a quest. A place to go. He has to get there, the world is counting on him...

"Link?"

He turns around and smiles, the green grass brushes against his bare feet and the breeze threatens to bring goosbumps onto his bare arms. At the shore of the Ordon Lake sits Ilia, dipping her feet in the river from the makeshift dock that's sat here for longer than what he can remember. Behind her, the cat plays with a rabbit, and he thinks it's cute. "Hi, Ilia, here to watch me fish?" He asks, and she rolls her eyes as he approaches, setting down the bucket of bait and his fishing pole (what happened to the lantern?) And sits besides her, spreading his toes in the water and enjoying the coolness.

"No," Ilia answers, her voice chipper. "I'm just waiting for everything to end."

"What do you mean?" Twilight asks, turning towards her, and a warm feeling settles in his chest at the sight of Midna, sitting there. He wonders where Ilia went, but he forgets about that when Midna turns towards him and smirks.

"It's been awhile, mutt," she says and he nods in agreement, tossing the line into the river... just a small bit away from a particularly large fish he's spotted.

Twilight tugs on his rope slightly. "Yeah, I missed you."

"You need to stop missing me," she says, placing a hand on his shoulder and turning him to look at her. The castle walls stand tall around them, reaching towards the sky in grays and blues, the stained glass windows showing a golden wolf howling to a falling moon. "I'm not here anymore," she says.

Link shakes his head, the sword in his hands so much heavier than a fishing pole, and shield on his back almost too weighty for him to bear. "I miss you," he repeats.

A small, sad smile crosses her lips. "But I'm dead."

"No, no you're just gone-"

"As good as, then, you mutt."

And it hurts. He can see lightning spreading on her skin, her red hair growing dimmer. He surges forward, desperate to keep her, but he crashes through a high window and stumbles towards the shore Lake Hylia, the rocky shore digs into the soles of his boots.

The glass hurts, his skin aches, and he falls to his knees breathing hard. Then, he notices it, the threads of a blue scarf. He blinks and leans forward so he can see into the water better, and his stomach jolts at what he sees.

Warriors... Just under the surface.

Dead. Just floating there.

Then he sees a smaller body, with blond hair and a scarred face. Another with colorful clothes. Another and another and he scrambles back until his back hits a heavy body. He whirls around, raising his sword but all of a sudden he's knocked off his horse, laying on the ground as Ganondorf towers over him, his giant sword pointed down and resting on Twilight's neck.

“It’d be a shame if someone you loved got hurt, I know how much your friends mean to you.”

"Leave them alone!" Twilight snarls, and Ganondorf smirks.

"You can't protect them all forever," he says, "someday, something will tear you down and kill them all right in front of you."

Twilight snarls and grabs his sword, scrambling up from the earth and stabbing his weapon forward, only to shove the blade though something he wasn't expecting.

Someone gasps into his neck and Twilight stares over Wild's shoulder in shock. His hands are warm from blood. He steps back, terrified and sick. Wild stares at him with pained eyes, betrayed eyes, before he falls to his knees and becomes still. Twilight stumbles back more, his hands gleaming like rubies in a Gerudo desert sun, bringing them to his hair so he can fall to his knees and weep.

He couldn't protect them... He couldn't protect them... Everyone leaves and it's all his fault and-

He wakes up with a hand on his shoulder, shaking him awake. He blinks, the nightmare fading ever so slowly, and he swallows.

"You okay, pup?" Time asks and Twilight sits up and rubs his eyes, willing his heart to quit pounding as loudly.

Before he answers, he looks around the camp and settles his eyes on a certain boy that he's not sure how he will ever recover if anything bad ever happens to him. Just the thought of killing him himself...

He places his hand in Wild's hair, who has been using Twilight as his pillow for the night. Wild hums in his sleep and shifts to get more comfortable. Twilight releases a sight.

"Yeah. Yeah I'm fine."

#linked universe #hero of twilight #jin writes #ask #drabble fic #lu drabble fic #fanfiction #guardedchild

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captmickey · 3 years

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Hey uh.... if it’s not too much trouble, could you possibly write another short 3ADV ficlet that takes place in Puppet King AU where Guybrush and Link first meet Manny? When you have the time and inspiration of course! No pressure to churning this request out quickly or at all if you don’t want too. I just imagine that Manny would a little (a lot) condescending towards Link the “supposed” Hero of Hyrule and especially towards Guybrush the infamous pirate who “supposedly” defeated LeChuck who are also Graham’s “closest” friends. (I’m using quotations cuz I feel like Manny would say that towards them.)

(P.S. And I feel like Link would like to just pull out the Master Sword for Manny just to prove him wrong, and to possibly (definitely) use it on him, since he kinda reminds him of Ganondorf also)

I couldn’t exactly pass up that request since it involves the trio and an AU of @goddessoftechnology that I’ve been SUPER head over heels with.

---------

One of the few things the trio had agreed upon once the adventure came to an end was to always keep in touch, and that connection was kept in the form of writing letters to each other as often as they could. However, those three-way letters from Daventry that used to be in abundance came to a staggering crawl to eventually halting all-together. Neither Guybrush nor Link knew what could be the reasoning. Perhaps it was training? Graham did mention that he was under extensive training under one of the Royal Guards. Perhaps he was out on some local adventure, it wouldn’t be a first for him based on one of the last letters he wrote. Perhaps... perhaps something terrible happened. Maybe he was ill.

It worried them something fierce.

It was after the Hylian requested permission to speak with Graham that the letter arrived approving an audience with the newly crowned king of Daventry, Link and Guybrush decided to not waste any time and quickly made way to speak to King Graham.

The air in Castle Daventry felt still, perverse. Try as he might, Link just simply could not shake off the feeling that something was wrong. He knew that Daventry as a whole had a way of constantly keeping him on his toes, a feat that not even Hyrule did, but the deeper he went inside the castle, the more unnerved he felt. The guards that were leading the two adventurers down the hallway were uncharacteristically quiet, it was unnerving. He looked at Guybrush who looked to be tense, almost like he was holding his breath. Link didn’t need to assume if Guybrush was feeling that something about the atmosphere felt... wrong. He knew.

“This way.” Royal Guard Number One said in his monotonous tone (neither of them could ignore how even that sounded so lifeless), stepping to the side as the other guards opened the door, letting the two walk in, closing it once inside.

There was a routine whenever they came to visit Graham: The two would enter, Guybrush would crack some quip or another as a means of greeting Graham. Graham, in his endless hopeful, compassionate optimism, would leap from where he was and rushed towards them in a blur of brown and red, grabbing them into a tight embrace as he goes off on his never-ending burst of questions before offering them a seat or tea.

Now though, it was painfully different. That terrible nagging feeling... it wouldn’t let up. Something was wrong, but Link just simply couldn’t put a finger as to what as he and Guybrush looked ahead, spotting their friend sitting in his throne, not budging once as he stared ahead, eyes unflinching. A quick glance at the pirate was enough to confirm that something really truly was off with how that usual relaxed demeanor of his was no where to be found.

“Either you’re sleeping with your eyes wide open, or you’re really feeling under the weather today, Graham.” Guybrush greeted, breaking the silence in the room as he stepped closer. The Hylian followed close by, not wanting to stay behind. “You alright, Graham?”

“That is no way to speak to a king.” A voice curtly spoke.

Link and Guybrush stopped in their tracks as they saw the small knight step forward.

“How long was he standing there for?” Guybrush leaned to Link and whispered for only the Hylian to shrug as he wasn’t sure either. The pirate stood back up and cleared his throat. “Sorry about that, but you must be new, see, Graham--”

“His Majesty.” The knight cut off before muttering under his breath ‘brainless pirate’.

“Right.” The corner of Guybrush’s lip twitched slightly, choosing to ignore the remark he heard clearly. “His Majesty Graham, is a friend of ours and we came here to talk to, you know, our friend? So you can run along now, kid.”

“Ha! Like I can leave the King here with the likes of you.”

“What’s that suppose to mean?!”

“You don’t know the proper terminology or etiquette. One must kneel before His Majesty and wait until spoken to.” The knight continued. “Especially someone as lowly as a pirate would know that, perhaps all that grog has made you forget how to be a basic functioning and respectful professional which is improbable for, again, a pirate.”

Link caught Guybrush’s hand curl into a fist and quickly moved a hand on his shoulder to calm him.

“Our apologies.” Link spoke, taking a knee and pulling Guybrush to follow (hearing his low growl but nevertheless following suit). He eyed the knight who had his arms behind his back. “We were not aware of the change of... procedures, I wasn’t briefed and therefore unable to inform Guybrush.” He eyed Graham, noting that his expression remained unchanged. Something was wrong, that nagging feeling intensifying.

The short knight scoffed. “I’m surprised you’re taking accountability, I wouldn’t expect that from the supposed Hero of Hyrule. Here I thought you were just some muscle head with a sword.”

“It’s like he said.” Guybrush said through gritted teeth, noting Link flinch just slightly at the remark. “He wasn’t informed. That’s actually why we’re here.” He then stood up. “We haven’t heard from Gr-- His Majesty and we were worried. Besides, who the heck are you?”

“Took you long enough to ask for my name. Honestly, your parents must be truly ashamed of you by your lack of decorum.” The knight mocked. “As for who I am? I’m Manny, the king’s advisor.” Manny bowed. “And sorry to say, but you worried over nothing. Everything is perfectly fine.”

“I’m glad to hear that, but with all due respect, we requested an audience with the king.” Link said firmly. “Not the king’s advisor.”

“Unfortunately, you request has been denied, as it would be unwise to leave His Majesty unattended with a couple of strangers.” Manny said, stepping more and more between then. “Basic procedure, you understand.”

“We’re not strangers, we’re his friends.” Guybrush countered, taking a step forward. “Graham, c’mon, say something! Prove this little twerp wron--”

“That’s enough, pirate.” Manny interrupted quickly, reaching for the hilt of his bludgeon.

“I don’t believe this... do you really think I’m going after Graham to hurt him? Why would I do that? I’m his friend!”

“I can’t take just your words, Threepwood, after all, aren’t you the ‘supposed’ pirate to have inflicted a pox all over the Great Seas? Killing many in your path for some undead pirate? You think I’ll allow someone like you near the King of Daventry?”

“Why, you little...!”

Link stepped between the two of them, his fingers itching to grab the hilt of his sword but refraining. “Look, we only ask for a private meeting, I can promise you as a knight of Zelda, that we’re not here to harm him. All we want to do is have a conversation, that’s it. We have the letter from Graham-- His Majesty, to prove it.”

“Impossible, His Majesty has been far too busy to respond to something as trivial as letters. He has his own kingdom to deal with, unlike a certain monarch’s knight who abandons his own to frolic about.” Manny placed his arms behind his back.

“W...what? I-I don’t...”

“If you’re really his ‘closest’ friends, then you would understand that he simply doesn’t have time to speak with either of you. He has a far more important task ahead of him and as his advisor, it would behoove him to remain focus at the task as oppose to a supposed hero and a low-life pirate.”

Link looked at Manny and then to Graham who remained still and unmoving. “Graham...? Do you really think that?”

Graham remained quiet.

“Graham, please... say something.”

“Graham! Hey!” Guybrush shouted, frustration bubbling when the king didn’t even look his way... but noticed his fingers twitch, just slightly.

“I think we’re done here. Guards!” Manny summoned. The doors opened and in marched Royal Guards One and Two. “Escort these two out, His Majesty needs some rest now, isn’t that right, King Graham?”

“...Yes.” Graham slurred.

“Of course.” Royal Guard Number One nodded and stepped to the side. “Gentlemen, if you please follow me.”

The two looked at each other before looking at Graham. The first word they heard from him and it was barely audible. Link’s hands curled into a fist as he took one more look at Graham and turned around to follow the guard. Guybrush, however, stood and stared down Manny.

“I’ll be back.” The pirate threatened in a low tone before following everyone else.

“Doubtful.” Manny scoffed and watched as they left the room, unaware that the two blonds were already calculating and theorizing what to do next.

#mickey writes #The Three Adventurers #Special shoutout to Vee because this is an AU that is terribly delightful!

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