#[tw: blood from fighting] | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

bluevaractyl · 10 days

Text

I ended up splitting this one into two, so there will now be seven chapters total.

There was a soft rasping sound as the Shadow drew its weapon.

Sky felt a surge of fiery anger. It wasn’t right! This shouldn’t be how it ended, for any of them. He’d wanted to build something wonderful, grow old with Zelda, and die peacefully in his sleep. At the very least, he would have wanted to go out fighting for something. Instead, he was going to be executed in this dank dungeon, far from home, dooming his friends and their worlds and helpless to stop it.

Sky raised his head. His vision was blurred with tears. He glared defiantly at the monster before him. Somewhere in the distance, thunder rumbled.

The Shadow seemed to pause. It tilted its head at him curiously. “Courageous to the end, I see. It makes no difference. You’ll be dead either way.”

It raised its sword. Red fire seemed to dance along the blade. Sky refused to flinch.

The sword came down and crashed against Legend’s Tempered Sword.

Sky blinked uncomprehendingly. Where had Legend come from? How had he gotten there so fast?

Legend took advantage of the Shadow’s surprise to press forward in a blazing series of attacks. The Tempered Sword sang with power, driving the Shadow back step by step. Legend left an opening and the Shadow lunged, making Sky jolt forward in fear, but Legend had vanished. The Shadow overbalanced as its blade met no resistance.

Wind charged in from the side and smacked the still-reeling monster full in the face with his skull hammer. The Shadow was flung across the room.

“Sky?”

Four’s voice in Sky’s ear startled him badly. His head whipped around. Bad idea. The burn of the rope twisting almost made him pass out again. He bowed his head, panting shallowly.

“Sorry! Sorry, I shouldn’t have surprised you like that,” Four said apologetically. Sky looked up and was confused to find he couldn’t seem to focus on the Smith. Seeing his expression, Four explained, “I’m wearing one of the Old Man’s masks. It makes me unnoticeable. Here,” he said, suddenly coming into view. He was holding a lopsided grey mask.

Four put down the mask and walked to Sky’s back. Prickly discomfort filled Sky at the vulnerability of the position, but he fought down the panic. This was Four. Four wouldn’t hurt him. He was only trying to help.

“I’m going to undo these knots, alright? Try to hold still. I’ll be as quick as I can.” Four got to work fiddling with the knot at the back of Sky’s neck. He was being gentle, but every light tug and careful twist made pain and panic shoot through Sky. It was getting really hard to breathe.

Sky tried to distract himself by observing the fight. Legend kept appearing and reappearing, striking at the Shadow from all directions. His pegasus boots lent him impressive speed. Wind had exchanged his hammer for the Phantom Sword and was diligently keeping the Shadow from making any moves towards Sky and Four. At some point, Hyrule had also joined the battle.

Sky tried to check them over for any sign of injury, but in the dim light, and at this distance, he couldn’t tell. Still, seeing them soothed a little of the ache in his soul.

Under the clashing of steel, Sky could now hear the distant booming of explosions. That was probably the other four Links.

“Done! Just your hands, now,” announced Four behind him. He gently pulled the rope away from Sky’s neck. Instantly, a weight seemed to lift from Sky’s shoulders. He took a deep breath, savoring the burn of air passing through his damaged throat.

“Th-thank you,” Sky rasped, and coughed weakly. Red speckled the floor. His tongue felt heavy and uncooperative.

Four moved in front of him. His concerned gaze fell to Sky’s neck. “Hey, don’t try to talk yet. Do you think you could manage a potion?”

Sky considered. The nausea from earlier hadn’t quite disappeared, and swallowing was difficult and painful. Reluctantly, he shook his head. Pain spiked at the small motion. He grimaced.

“I’ll free your hands, then you can save your voice by signing.” Four moved behind him again and began working at the knots. Sky winced as his sprained wrists were jostled but kept quiet.

The Shadow was losing ground fast. Wind, Legend, and Hyrule continued to batter it with attacks from three sides, forcing it closer and closer to the edge of the room. Abruptly, it ducked low and spun, catching Wind with its sword. The Sailor cried out and fell back, one hand pressed to his side.

The Shadow’s motion continued and it grew, changing shape. Sky tried to shout a warning, but the sound was choked off. He wheezed.

The Shadow had transformed into a massive, armored beast wielding a ball and chain. It swung the ball toward Wind. Wind squeaked and dove out of the way.

Four gave one last tug on Sky’s restraints and the ropes fell away. Pins and needles stabbed their way down both arms. His shoulders were screaming from holding the uncomfortable position for so long. He gritted his teeth and rolled them experimentally. They felt stiff and strained. His sprained wrists were even less amenable to movement, and he gave up on trying to stretch them out immediately.

Four patted him gingerly on the shoulder and shouted, “Traveler, trade me!” Then he leapt into the battle.

Hyrule ran over. Sky felt terrible about pulling him away. He longed to help them fight but couldn’t even hold a sword.

Hyrule’s hands hovered uncertainly over Sky’s neck. “I—I’m not sure where to start, there’s just so much. It’s a miracle you can even breathe right now,” he said, brows furrowed in concern.

Sky raised his right hand and whispered, “Heal my wrist. Need to fight. Th’ rest can wait.” He tasted metal.

Hyrule looked conflicted, but they both knew he didn’t have enough magic to spare for all of Sky’s wounds yet. They still needed to get out of here. Regret in his eyes, Hyrule finally took Sky’s right wrist and began to work. A cool sensation soothed the pain and eased the tension. He let go, and Sky flexed it and clenched his fist. It twinged, but the pain was much more manageable.

Hyrule laid cool fingers over Sky’s throat. Immediately, Sky tensed. The memory of excruciating pain mixed nauseatingly with the ache of the rope burns and deep bruising under Hyrule’s hand. Hyrule’s spell began weaving through him, lessening the swelling. It was helping, but at the same time, it was making everything worse. Sky could feel himself spiraling the longer the Traveler touched him. He gasped out, “Stop. Enough, save it.”

Hyrule withdrew. He met Sky’s eyes, somehow looking more worried than he had before. “Are you sure? I’ve hardly helped at all…”

“Move!” cried Four, and suddenly Hyrule was yanking Sky to his feet with impressive strength and pulling him out of the way of the Shadow’s giant ball and chain. It smashed into the ground where they had been, sending bits of cobblestone flying. The Shadow yanked the ball back towards itself and began swinging it again.

Wind, Four, and Legend were doggedly slashing and stabbing at the chinks in the Shadow’s armor near its knees and ankles, but it was clear they were tiring. Legend had stopped using his magic cape altogether. Every time the Shadow swung the ball, they all had to scramble, roll, and leap out of the way. They weren’t going to last much longer.

Gathering himself, Sky rasped to Hyrule, “Need my sword.”

Hyrule didn’t try to argue. He yelled, “Vet, the Master Sword!” Legend darted toward them in a flash, drawing the sword from his bag and tossing the sheath in their direction before rushing back in to cover for Wind, who was limping. Sky drew the Master Sword one-handed and gave Hyrule the sheath, since his sword belt was still missing. Then he charged forward.

At the sight of the Master Sword, the Shadow seemed to balk. In any other circumstances, this might have amused Sky; the monster was currently over twice his own height. Now, however, all he felt was a burning determination. He flew at it in a flurry of dancing slashes, slicing through its thigh almost to the bone. Inky blood gushed forth as the Shadow screeched. It swung at him with the chain. He ducked underneath it and came up behind it, quickly attacking its stout tail. It roared with furious pain and tried to stomp on him. He stumbled out of the way.

Time was suddenly beside him, stabbing at the unarmored tail. Looking past him, Sky saw Twilight wielding an identical ball and chain. He released the ball, sending it smashing into the Shadow’s wounded knee. It buckled. Time hurriedly yanked Sky out of the way as the beast went down. It tried to stand, but Wind and Legend were already tearing into its other leg.

Sky walked haltingly to stand facing the Shadow where it lay snarling, trying to rise and striking out at anyone close. Wordlessly, he raised the Master Sword skyward. Light illuminated the blade with a ringing chime. The Shadow’s red eyes widened. Sky brought the Master Sword down in an arc, sending a beam of light shooting toward it. Before it could make contact, the Shadow melted away, armor and all. There was no sign it had ever been there.

The Shadow’s escape left an eerie stillness behind. All the strength went out of Sky. He didn’t remember hitting the ground.

#fight time woooo #if you are curious #the Shadow took the form of Darkhammer from Twilight Princess #which is why Twilight had a matching ball and chain #blood tw #linked universe #blue writes

5 notes · View notes