#Secrets Of The Dragon's Tear

[skyloftian-nutcase]

TotK DLC idea!

The screen is black. You don’t hear anything for a long time. Then, faintly, in the distance, you can hear it.

Link. Link. Open your eyes.

While the line echoes familiarity, the voice does not.

Or. Well. It does. Because while it isn’t Zelda, it’s a familiar man’s voice speaking gently, so gently you almost don’t recognize it because there’s no way he ever spoke like this in the main game.

But he is now. And instead of a golden light being the first image you see before the screen shows Link awakening… you see gloom floating in the air. The image cuts to a Hylian waking up who… doesn’t look like Link from TotK?? He’s different, still small in stature, with slightly tanner skin, platinum light blonde hair, and red eyes. But… something’s wrong with his forehead. There’s a weird line on it.

This new character you apparently are gonna be playing in the DLC blearily blinks his eyes open, clearly groggy and too weak to really move. But then that line on his forehead moves a hair, it splits apart, and you realize it’s a freaking eye, red and yellow and it’s like the ones on gloom hands and oh gosh what the hell is it doing on his forehead—

Link realizes something is off and his eyes blow wide, his hands reach for his forehead and he screams in agony and terror, only for someone to scoop him into a hug to soothe him.

And suddenly you realize why that voice was eerily familiar.

It’s Ganondorf. He resurrected you from the era of the Imprisoning War. You, who have a history with him and his family. You, who he wants to protect, who he views as his kid, who he calls a prince and says he’ll keep you safe by controlling your body with his dark magic if he has to.

Welcome to Tears of the Kingdom: Hero’s Shadow.

You have to play a long gone Hero who was resurrected. Ganondorf, who is still recovering his strength in preparation for killing the current Hero, tasks you with finding your betrothed, his daughter, as well as his wife. They’re buried somewhere in the Depths like you were. He wants you to find their burial sites so he can use his secret stone to resurrect them like he did you, and control them as well. Which is doubly bad when you realize his wife was the original Sage of Lightning. He gives you free reign to wander once you go through a tutorial (he tests you to see if you’ve recovered enough strength), because he knows you love wandering and collecting things. Your own personal objective, however, is trying to help Hyrule from the Depths, to break free from Ganondorf’s control, because Link would rather set himself on fire than let Ganondorf resurrect and control the love of his life and his mother-in-law. Your best hope is to find shards of the shattered Master Sword to try and stab the eye on Dark Link’s forehead and break the control Ganondorf has on you. Until you can, though, the monsters are your allies, you can teleport across the Depths by manifesting out of the gloom created by gloom hands (just like what Phantom Ganon does), and the world below is your oyster. If you get too close to sword shards when gloom hands are nearby, Ganondorf can see your attempt and immediately takes control of your body, and no matter what button you press Link just walks back to Ganondorf’s location and stays there until you get a chance to try again.

You start with three hearts, all empty looking like when gloom hurts you, and if you get injured they just shatter. Whenever they all shatter, you respawn at Ganondorf’s location because his gloom hands came and rescued you from dying. The only way you can get more hearts is by collecting poes and offering them to the statues in the Depths. You can communicate with the spirits of soldiers, who may give you combat tips or info about the area. If you gain enough of Ganondorf’s trust, he’ll let you command monsters, and he might even let you wander the Surface (under his supervision) during a blood moon.

You learn of Link’s and Ganondorf’s history through discovering ancient relics/texts that trigger memories. This connection between you and Ganondorf stems back to time before the war, well over ten thousand years ago. Link was engaged to Ganondorf’s daughter, but during the Imprisoning War the family fought against the demon king. Ganondorf did love his family, but he loved power more. Link sacrificed himself, letting himself get mortally wounded to save Rauru from a killing blow. Gan held him as he died, and it allowed Link to both beg him to stop and stab him in the heart with a light shard. The shard didn’t kill him, but it was what Rauru connected with when he hit him in the chest, allowing him to seal Ganondorf away. Ganondorf still wants the world, but his love for his family is still present, though now twisted, so he thinks he can control Link and everyone else with his dark magic in order to keep them safe and in line. Once the threat of the current Hero is eliminated, the world will be his, and his family will be safe. As such, he treats you, Link, the player, like a stubborn child, reeling you in, but does so in a horrific way, torturing Link by controlling him.

You have to break free of this and stop him, and the only hope you have is the distant call of a sword spirit…

#tears of the kingdom #totk #I think it would be pretty neat to play someone who is “allies” with the bad guy #but you still have the objective of stopping evil #But you have to manipulate Ganondorf and work around his watch #So you get to play double agent #And possibly see a more complex Ganondorf #Like the dude is still being evil; he’s using his love for Link as an excuse to control him #He does care about him but he’s expressing it in the worst way #and he wants to do the same to his wife and daughter #So still a bad guy but a far more interesting one #One day you’re on the Surface with him and you see the Light Dragon and you’re not sure who it is #Because Link died before Zelda ate the secret stone #But Link can kind of guess #And Ganondorf almost noticed her so Link has to hug him or say something to get his attention #You have to manipulate Gan as best you can #idk how it would end #Like once you break free what do you do #But the idea tickled my mind so I wanted to write it down #Yes I’m just playing with my Imprisoning War blorbos #no I don’t care #legend of zelda #skye time travels through the queue #hero of shadow

[sootiver]

this is my love letter to totk, one of my favourite games of all time <3 after such a long wait for its release it's done NOTHING but impress me

#art #my art #totk #tears of the kingdom #tloz #the legend of zelda #legend of zelda #zelda #tloz: totk #gloom hands #rauru #king rauru #sonia totk #queen sonia #totk sonia #rauru totk #totk rauru #light dragon #zelda spoilers #secret stone #korok #the master sword #master sword #princess zelda #zelda totk #totk zelda #link #totk link #link totk #rkgk

[winterspellsfrozenkit]

Did the Zonai Stories Lie?

MAJOR SPOILERS FOR TEARS OF THE KINGDOM UNDER THE CUT.

So I have a theory about draconification. When Mineru explains the act, she says that the stories explain it’s forbidden because “To become an immortal dragon is to lose oneself.” 

However, I don’t think this is true. At least, not fully. 

My theory is that when a person draconifies themself, they give up any hope of future cognizance and become ruled by impulse, but whatever pushed them to commit the act becomes the biggest impulse or drive for their dragon form. For example, yes, Zelda draconified herself to save Hyrule from Ganondorf, but her biggest drive was to do it for Link. 

In fact, her last words were to Link directly. 

Now, notice how she serenely flies around the edges of Hyrule, protecting it in a passive way, but whenever Link’s involved, she becomes more ‘aware’. She seems to recognize him when he pulls the Master Sword and stops fighting him, gives him a ride to the Temple of Time which is not on her flight path, and never attacks him when he approaches like Dinraal, Naydra, and Farosh do. But my biggest piece of evidence for my theory is the final battle with Draconified Ganondorf AKA The Demon Dragon. Link was in his teeth, which would’ve killed him because the Demon Dragon gives Link Gloom illness just by Link walking on it, and Zelda came roaring and charging through the sky towards Link. Also, once Ganondorf dropped Link, she ignored Ganondorf growling and snapping at her to save Link from falling. She may not know his name, but she knows he’s important to her. 

I honestly think that because we only have three (likely) examples of Draconification before Zelda, that the subject was not very well understood. If Dinraal, Naydra, and Farosh draconified themselves as I believe they did (given their visual similarities to Rauru and Mineru), it could be that because they wouldn’t respond to their names or react to people trying to rouse them to a form of cognizance that it was believed a person was lost forever. But Zelda explains it as if she was sleeping, which makes me think of Fi’s Farewell from Skyward Sword. 

Fi is trapped in a forever sleep. She even says she feels her consciousness fading away.

Even so, no one except Link can ever wield the Master Sword and she can communicate with people, however, it’s not in the same form she used to when Skyward Sword Link was traveling with her. It’s faint and cannot be heard by everyone, just some people like when she talks to Zelda when Link needed to be saved in BotW and to tell Zelda that Link was OK in Tears of the Kingdom. 

I think draconification is much like Fi sleeping inside the Master Sword. The person inside can’t awaken fully unless the act of draconification is reversed, but they can somewhat communicate or act when they need to, even if it’ll never be as they were before they entered that eternal sleep. 

#totk spoilers #secret stone #dragons #draconification #zelink #dinraal #naydra #farosh #zelda #fi #loz skyward sword #legend of zelda #loz totk #loz tears of the kingdom

[flaskuwu]

At least there’s proof of my existence

#the legend of zelda #tears of the kingdom #legend of zelda #loz #light dragon #tloz link #princess zelda #zelda #secret stone #silent princess #totk spoilers #the legend of zelda tears of the kingdom #loz totk #totk zelda #taking whats not yours

[foldingfittedsheets]

Once you meet someone, you never really forget them.

#art #totk #loz totk #tears of the kingdom #loz tears of the kingdom #miyazaki #spirited away #link totk #light dragon #secrets from baby #my art

[okaytokay369]

I think an au where Link is sent to the time of Hyrule's founding instead of Zelda could be very fun. Like he still loses his arm but he happens to fall first and Zelda accidentally sends him back in time using the secret stone when she tries to save him, and Rauru ends up dragging her to the Great Sky Islands.

Zelda is stuck trying to solve the problems in Hyrule while investigating reports of her missing swordsman, and she doesn't have Sonia to teach her about her powers so she just kinda needs to figure it out herself. Link is trapped in the past with a decayed Master Sword and a corrupted right arm, and is so weakened that his attempt to stop Ganondorf alongside Rauru and the other sages is futile. Idk how anything gets resolved here but I think it's be fun for angst.

#the legend of zelda #tears of the kingdom #totk #totk spoilers #tears of the kingdom spoilers #link #zelda #king rauru #queen sonia #ganondorf #i wonder if link would end up turning himself into a dragon too #maybe not since he doesn't have a secret stone #but then again courage is represented by dragons in all the zonai ruins and texts so maybe somehow? #idk it's 0:40 in the morning

[therandomray-artz]

The light dragon

#art #fanart #drawing #tears of the kingdom #zelda totk #loz totk #totk #the legend of zelda #light dragon #zelda fanart #pencil #secret stone #zelink

[butter-and-too-much-bread]

I am personally offended that ToTK has been out for nearly 2 months, and nobody made dragon forms for the new champions yet. I can’t draw, people!

#ToTK #tears of the kingdom #loz tulin #sidon #tulin #botw riju #yunobo #riju #dragon #secret stone

[rikalovesrice]

Hello peoples

I really loved this post by @walrus-tusk-615bc and it inspired me to draw up some dragon noodles of my own so here we goooo

I very much love the idea of there being one "secret stone dragon" for each race in Hyrule so imagine an AU in which these guys are roaming about :3 Also BOTW and TOTK were my first Zelda games ever so don't come at me for lore stuff I'm just a wee baby in a green tunic ._.

The Golden Dragon of the Gerudo

Gender: Male

Description: The Golden Dragon can be seen soaring above the Gerudo Desert and Highlands. Rumors of legend suggest that the very first Gerudo King swallowed a secret stone and has continued to watch over the Gerudo people ever since.

Fuse Ability: Parts from the Golden Dragon will grant the base weapon its highest "Attack Up" boost.

The Earth Dragon of the Goron

Gender: Male

Description: The Earth Dragon's presence keep the land rich with precious minerals. It will emerge from lava lakes the night before a Blood Moon and slowly traverse Death Mountain. After 24 hours, it will burrow back underground.

Fuse Ability: Parts from the Earth Dragon (that aren't gemstones) will grant weapons the one-hit rock smash.

The Great Sea Dragon of the Zora

Gender: Female

Description: The Great Sea Dragon guards the waters of Hyrule and only rises from the ocean depths at night. Should Link come near, it will graciously keep its back above the waves.

Fuse Ability: Parts from the Sea Dragon will grant weapons the ability to create whirlpools during charged attacks, but will rapidly deplete stamina.

The Dragon Bird of the Rito

Gender: Female

Description: The Dragon Bird can be found gliding above the clouds of the Tabantha Frontier, a beacon of blessing to all who visit the skies. It will roost upon the mountainous perch of Rito Village, though this is an extremely rare occurrence.

Fuse Ability: Parts from the Dragon Bird will grant weapons the ability to create powerful updrafts during charged attacks.

~ BONUS ~

(Spoiler for the end of the game!)

Since Zelda is canonically no longer the Light Dragon, that leaves the Hylians without a dragon (that is, if the three original dragons were indeed Zonai). So I made another one for funsies :3 I haven't decided if this dragon is Link from another time or another ancient hero or soldier but I do like the mystery soooo yeah!

The Hero Dragon of the Hylians

Gender: Male

Description: The Hero Dragon can be seen circling the skies of Hyrule Field. It is said to watch over travelers and adventurers, the sight of it alone strengthening their hearts and determination.

Fuse Ability: Parts from the Hero Dragon will grant weapons maximum durability.

:D I love the dragonnnssss

#totk #the legend of zelda #tears of the kingdom #totk dragon #totk spoilers #botw #breath of the wild #totk fanart #secret stone dragons #noodles all of them #pretty noodles #i like to think the music for each dragon would correlate to the respective race but with the kokyu #yes it's actually NOT an erhu! #the regular dragon theme would work too #what would their names be i wonder #rika tries to draw

[tigertaurus22]

The Dragon of Destruction

Or: what if Omega ate a secret stone from Tears of the Kingdom? (accidentally or intentionally)

I feel like he’d only do this as a last resort, just as Ganondorf did (spoilers)

The pieces of his back spikes and scales, when attached to a weapon, greatly increase attack power.

It creates a shockwave similar to his ground pound attack when used as a hammer.

Talon and Horn shards allow blade weapons to essentially turn into beam weapons.

#MegaMan zero #omega zero #crossover #the legend of zelda #tears of the kingdom #dragon #secret stone #original concept #year of the dragon

[skyloftian-nutcase]

Ooooohhhh dude wasabi HURTS.

I love spicy food with a passion, but wasabi is different. I feel like it’s not even spicy, it’s just a punch in the nose but in paste form☠️

Fierce would absolutely be taken out by wasabi. No doubts. Immediate KO. May is would rest in peace

Draconification actually happens from wasabi, not secret stones. Zelda just ate a tablespoon of wasabi and BOOM light dragon.

Fierce’s mortal enemy is wasabi.

#you ask skye answers #lovely oma #totk #tears of the kingdom #it’s actually not at all but the secret stones are spoilers so #lol #now I’m imagining the cut scene of Zelda staring at the stone in her hands except it’s just like a wad of wasabi HAHA #fierce dragon would be an epic design #OH WAIT HERE4DRAGONS DID DESIGN THAT #AH if only I could FIND IT

[w1lmutt]

Idk why but when I played totk and got the memory discussing draconification I legit thought it would lead up to the sages who already had sworn to protect hyrule to become the og dragons from botw. Ancient guardians becoming ancient dragons. Idk but it’d been rad honestly

#w totk introducing new maps like the depths and the sky i though the purpose was to introduce more dragons #to make the number of sages and dragons the same. so we could figure it out #The secret stones that the new sages get could’ve been dropped from tears like the light dragon #idk where I’m going w this I just think dragon lore would’ve been interesting #and I like the sea of the sages having a different role story and lore wise from the botw champions #w1l says some stuff #edit: like the idea* not the sea hhhhhh #autocorrect is acting up again :/

[yoitsnor]

But why do the secret stones look like an odd cross between jolly ranchers and Haribo gummies? Like for something you're not supposed to eat, why do they look so edible???

Edit: added tags and added signature to drawing bec I forgot

#totk spoilers #tears of the kingdom spoilers #zelda totk #light dragon totk #totk fanart #digital art #also why did they call them “secret stones”? #you could've called them sage stones or sm #plus every time they're mentioned it breaks the immersion for me for some reason #totk #tears of the kingdom #fanart #art #yoitsnor art

[fandomloreblog]

🧊 🔥 ⚡️ DRAGON ORIGIN THEORIES BOTW/TOTK ⚡️🔥🧊

⚠️ SPOILERS FOR TEARS OF THE KINGDOM ⚠️

Gonna talk about Dragon Tears and their associated memories, along with the final boss, you have been warned!

So, everyone’s seen that cutscene where Zelda eats a secret stone and becomes a dragon. This is the ONLY confirmed way that someone can turn into a dragon/how dragons are created in the BOTW/TOTK universe.

So does that mean that Farosh, Dinraal, and Naydra were all human/hyrulian race at some point?

This is the only canon way for someone to become a dragon, or for dragons to be created. So that means at some point in time, 3 people consumed a secret stone, therefore becoming dragons. These dragons are Farosh (Lightning), Dinraal (Fire), and Naydra (Ice).

Transformation Theories

General

As of the time of this post, none of the dragons have been spotted in Rauru’s time, also known as the origin of Hyrule. The most recent spottings have occured in the BOTW game, and at the latest appearance chronologically, was before Link awoke in the Shrine Of Resurrection, 100 years after The Great Calamity. Now, there’s always the chance that the dragons were in hiding during the events of The Great Calamity, along with The Imprisoning War, but for the sake of clarity, im just gonna say that they weren’t around for Hyrule’s founding by Rauru and Sonia.

According to the Hyrule Compendium articles for each of the dragons, they are said to have existed since ancient times. Since there’s a likely chance that these dragons didn’t exist during Hyrule’s founding, the most likely time that they first were created was 10,000 years ago, during The First Calamity, in which the Zonai incarnation of Link (Link with the ancient heroes aspect) and the Zelda from 10,000 years ago, fought off Calamity Ganon with the Divine Beasts and 4 Champions for the first time. That is the most likely era where the dragons were first created.

🧊 Naydra 🧊

I think out of all of the dragons, Naydra would have been the first to become a dragon. Out of all of the 3 core dragons (Going to exclude the Light Dragon and Demon Dragon, since they either became dragons recently, or returned to human form), Naydra has the most emphasis and screen time, to the point where they even had their own side quest to purify them in BOTW, since Ganon himself deemed them as a threat and corrupted them with Malice.

Naydra mainly circles around the Lanayru and Necluda regions of Hyrule, even full on circling Hateno village in TOTK. Im going to assume that they were a Hylian, like Zelda, and perhaps circle their own hometown (Hateno) to watch over and protect it from Malice and evils after their encounter with Ganon in BOTW. Considering the ammount of effort Ganon went through to seal/impair them, Its likely that Naydra was a sage or priest towards Hylia, likely being a person of importance and immense power.

My idea as to why they swallowed a secret stone revolves around the sage idea. Perhaps during/after the events of the Great Calamity, fearing the return of Calamity Ganon, swallowed a secret stone in order to help the heroes in the future against Ganon, or maybe to just watch over their home. Some other ideas is that they were at the brink of death, injured during the calamity, or simply at old age, and wanted to keep fighting. Either way, they were likely a religious figure of great importance who wished the watch over their hometown.

🔥 Dinraal 🔥

Dinraal resides in Eldin and Akkala (along with a bit of Hebra in BOTW), and mostly hangs around Death Mountain in TOTK. I think Dinraal would have been the second dragon to transform into one. While they definitely don’t have as much focus as Naydra, there is an associated side quest involving the leviathan ruins that leads you towards their location.

Obviousl, Dinraal would have been a Goron, hanging around Eldin and Death Mountain, and mostly fire-related areas, except for traveling around Hebra during BOTW. Considering that Ganon himself ignored both Dinraal and Farosh, it’s likely that these two dragons weren’t sages or priests, but there is a likely chance that Dinraal was a sort of protector of Eldin, perhaps even being the Goron Champion during The First Calamity.

The reason as to why Dinraal became a dragon has to do with my theory of them being a protector of Eldin. In order to watch over their home, they swallowed a secret stone and became a dragon, fully devoted to watching over their home. But, as they were a protector of Goron City, it is likely they couldn’t travel far during their days before dragonization, which in turn results in them venturing towards Akkala and Hebra during BOTW, doing the exploring they never could.

⚡️ Farosh ⚡️

Farosh, of course, is the youngest dragon out of the 3. Compared to the other two dragons, Farosh is relatively ignored gameplay wise, with my only discovery of them being when they emerged from Lake Hylia during their route. Compared to the other two dragons as well, Farosh has the most diverse path across both games, from 3 seperate spawns in Lake Hylia, The Spring Of Courage, and the Gerudo Highlands, and later in TOTK circling around the lower Gerudo Desert, leads me to belive that they are the youngest of the 3.

Considering Farosh’s path, it is likely that they were either a Gerudo or Luerlin Village Hylian, hanging around the Faron and Gerudo regions mostly. However, considering Naydra’s Hylian background, along with Farosh’s lightning element, I am more inclined to trust the Gerudo bloodline more. Their inconsistent path, along with being relatively ignored story-wise, leads me to believe that Farosh wasn’t a well known figure during their life before before being a dragon.

Leading on from the fact that Farosh wasn’t well known, there is a high chance that they consumed a secret stone to become well known. Perhaps they wished for the attention and praise they never received, and thus became a dragon in order to compensate for the lack there of. Even if this theory isn’t true, there is a high chance that Farosh consumed their secret stone in an impulsive move, maybe to defend it from the Yiga Clan (If the Gerudo Bloodline is considered fact), or in a bid for praise and recognition.

Feel free to share your own ideas on this theory, along with your interpretations of how the dragons came to be!

#breath of the wild #legend of zelda #loz #legend of zelda breath of the wild #legend of zelda tears of the kingdom #tears of the kingdom #totk #botw #naydra #farosh #dinraal #dragons #secret stone #theory #light dragon #video games #discussion #loz theory #tears of the kingdom theory #botw theory #totk theory #breath of the wild theory #loz dragons #rambling #I realized this and had to share

[foldingfittedsheets]

In Breath of the Wild my betrothed would pick food well past what they needed. When I asked them why, they said, “Zelda’s gonna be so hungry.” They’d mine ore any time they saw it and said they wanted funds to help rebuild Hyrule once they saved Zelda.

Now they’re watching me play Tears of the Kingdom and when I pick up food they go, “Cause Zelda’s hungry!” And the light dragon flashes before my eyes and I hide my sadness and say, “So hungry.”

#secrets from baby #ramblies #totk #tears of the kingdom #loz #loz totk #Zelda #Princess Zelda #light dragon

[shivunin]

Pour Forth

F!Hawke/Fenris | 3830 Words | M | Cross-posted here on AO3

CW: Injury (broken bones, torn stitches, scarring), pregnancy/childbirth mention

(Expanded from the original prompt here c:)

        “Let me pour forth

My tears before thy face, whilst I stay here,

For thy face coins them, and thy stamp they bear,

And by this mintage they are something worth,

         For thus they be

         Pregnant of thee;

Fruits of much grief they are, emblems of more,

When a tear falls, that thou falls which it bore,

So thou and I are nothing then, when on a diverse shore.”

— “A Valediction: Of Weeping” by John Donne

The first time she said it, Fenris had just taken a crushing blow to his leg on the Wounded Coast. He supposed the joke was intended to take his mind off the pain while she healed him—though as far as he could tell, Hawke had never met a bad joke she didn’t love. She was always making them at the most inopportune times, for reasons that remained entirely beyond him. 

So, while she watched the bones of his leg knit themselves back together, Hawke had looked sidelong at him and said it:

“It’s alright to cry, you know.”

“What?” Fenris asked through clenched teeth. He could feel sweat beading on his face and arms with the effort of not reacting to the pain just above his ankle. There was little space in his mind left to understand whatever nonsense she was trying to say.

“It’s alright,” she said, “I wouldn’t judge you. This must be painful. Goodness knows I cry over the silliest things all the time. I won’t tell the others, either. Healer’s word.”

“Right,” Fenris replied doubtfully, and she winked at him. 

“Your bone density is top notch, you know. I’m sure it all fit together quite nicely before the incident with the warhammer.”

There was a horrible crack from the vicinity of his leg and Fenris gritted his teeth for the wave of pain that was sure to follow—only nothing did. Instead Hawke raised a hand and motes of pale blue spun forth, enveloping the break. 

“You’ll be right as rain soon enough,” she said, which might have been reassuring, except she kept talking, “I used to do this for the horses in town, you know. Creatures’ll panic themselves into a heart attack if you aren’t careful.”

“Am I to believe,” Fenris said, wiping away the sweat on his forehead before it could drip into his eyes, “That your primary means of practice was on farm animals?”

“Hmm? Oh, no,” Hawke said, and squinted at something on his leg. 

When Fenris moved to sit up, she set her hand on his shoulder and gently pushed him back. He didn’t have the strength to argue with the touch; he let her handle him instead, since there was little force behind it and she plainly meant no harm.

“Nothing you’ll want to see,” she said cheerfully, “You know I was a smuggler for a year, yes? Far more broken bones there than back home. I only meant that horse bones are much more delicate than yours and I still got them up and walking again. I’ve healed other bones, too, of course, and all manner of hurts.”

“Of course,” he muttered, and rubbed the shoulder she’d touched to dispel the sensation of her hand.

“Thank you,” he’d added reluctantly as the pain in his leg dulled to a throb.  

“Always,” Hawke replied absently, squinting down at his leg again.

As promised, he’d been on his feet moments later and more than capable of trailing along behind the rest of their group. Unlike her magic, the ghost of her touch lingered—though Fenris would not have admitted it for the world.

Of course, that wasn’t the only time; if there was something Hawke loved, it was repeating a foolish joke. So several years later, during an ill-advised visit to some lowbrow theater in Lowtown, she leaned over the armrest between them and repeated it. 

“It’s okay to cry, you know,” she whispered directly into his ear. 

Fenris resisted the urge to lean into the words and shook his head, as if unaffected by it all. 

In truth, the actress wailing over her dead lover’s body onstage was little more than background noise. If asked, Fenris likely couldn’t have explained what the play was even about. He’d been distracted for the duration, because for some reason Hawke had chosen to come to this event in a dress Isabela had chosen for her—which meant it draped low in the front and exposed both of her shoulders to the smoky air of the theater. 

Hawke’s arms, Fenris had realized when he’d arrived late to their group’s seats, were covered in freckles. 

He couldn’t explain why the sight of them, strewn across her collarbones like a half-finished star map, had struck him most of all.

“I saved you the aisle seat,” she’d whispered as the lights went down, and Fenris hadn’t even thanked her. He’d just sat there, stiff as a statue, and bent every ounce of his focus to not actually turning his head to stare at her. 

Fenris’s self control was iron under most circumstances. It ought to be good enough not to gawk at his friend’s decolletage, at least. 

But not when she leaned over like that to whisper in his ear and the scent of her wrapped around him like—like it had a mind of its own. So:

“It’s okay to cry, you know,” she whispered as the play reached its climax, “I won’t tell anyone.”

“Hawke,” he managed, his voice thankfully chiding instead of—of—anything else.

She laughed slightly and angled herself closer so he could hear her over the screech of violins. Against his will, his eyes dropped to her bodice. 

Fenedhis, he could see all the way past her cleavage to the swell of her stomach beneath. 

Fenris squeezed his eyes shut. 

“I know,” she said into his ear, “It’s all very touching. I’m genuinely shocked I haven’t heard you laughing at the thing since that awful bit where they drank out of the boot. Shameless.”

“Shameless,” Fenris repeated, his voice rough even to his own ears, “I couldn’t agree more.”

But—time passed, and things between them changed. He grew closer to her, then too close, botched things horribly, and for a long time kept a very, very careful distance between them.

A distance he could not hold when she’d been near-gutted at the Arishok’s hands. 

Fenris had seen her, briefly, dead in her bed at the manor; he had seen her brought back by Anders’ hands and luck alone. He wondered often now if he would ever forget watching her face go lax and bloodless, the way her chest had refused to rise with breath, in the very bed where they’d lain together. There was nothing he could do—he was not a healer—but he could be there when she finally sat up under her own power, when she could at last be helped from the bed to take a turn about the room. 

When, not two weeks later, she’d insisted on strapping herself into this ridiculous dress and dragging herself to some absurd gala at the Viscount’s Keep. 

“Stop being so grumpy,” Hawke panted now, one arm slung over his shoulder, “It could have happened to anyone.”

Fenris clenched his jaw until he felt the muscle jump, shooting her a scathing look. Her dress was too red to see how bad the bleeding was. Still, he knew it must be bad; he’d felt the tacky blood seeping through the structured bodice when he’d picked her up. He was certain the wound had not improved while he hurried back across Hightown to the manor.

“Oh,” Maria—no, Hawke, he would call her Hawke—said, chagrin coloring her tone, “I understand.”

“Do you?” Fenris said through his teeth. She hadn’t understood when they’d taken turns convincing her not to go to this party in the first place. He’d be surprised if she understood now, even after she’d ripped her stitches open dancing; she was stubborn like that.

They rounded the corner at a jog, the lantern beside her door coming into view at long last. The walk was not long, but he felt as if he’d been walking for hours. It bothered him beyond words to know that his speed might determine how well she came out of this absurd situation. 

“Yes,” she said, and Fenris kicked the door twice instead of knocking.

“It’s alright,” she said, hissing between her teeth when he kicked the door again and jostled her, “I can have the dress cleaned. It’ll be good as new.”

Fenris, who’d been listening for footsteps on the other side of the door, stared down at her incredulously. Hawke blinked up at him, her eyes guileless. 

“But,” she said, “It’s okay to cry, really. I won’t tell anyone. It is a really, really good dress.”

He would gladly throw it in the fire if it would keep her from doing something this foolish again. Fenris wisely chose to ignore her and kicked the door again just as it opened, connecting with Anders’ shin instead of wood. 

“Ow! Watch it,” the mage said, scowling, but immediately refocused his attention on Hawke. 

“What is it?” he said, “Bring her in, quickly.”

“Anders!” Hawke said, but there was an awful thickness to her voice that belied the cheer in it, “You know, I was thinking this thing wasn’t quite red enough, so I thought I ought to add a bit more dye. You know—ah!—for…aesthetic’s sake.” 

Fenris carried her up the stairs, abruptly grateful for the amount of time that he spent hauling a greatsword around and wielding it in combat. Such things had given him arms strong enough to carry her home, had allowed him to ensure she was not stranded amongst strangers in her moment of weakness. She had not even asked him to do this; she’d only told him to go fetch Anders for her. What might have become of her if he’d left her behind, wounded or incapacitated in that den of wolves?

He lay her down on her bed now, careful not to drop her too suddenly. Hawke grimaced anyway, then propped herself on one elbow. 

“Take it off, please; cut the strings if you must, but leave the thing intact. It did cost a fortune, it’d be a waste to ruin it now.” 

Fenris reached for her, then drew back, casting an agonized look at the mage. Anders rolled his eyes and pulled a small knife from his pocket. 

“I’ve got it,” he said, “You and your vanity, Hawke.”

“Yes,” she said, her face tightening sharply when Anders tugged on the ties at her back, “V-vanity.”

There was little Fenris could do here but get in the way; it would go faster if he left them to it. He took a step back, abruptly aware of her blood on his hands, but he paused when Maria reached for him.

“Wait,” she said, panting, “Wait. Stay.”

Anders made an indeterminate noise at her back, not quite an objection, and Fenris narrowed his eyes. Her hand still hung in the air between them, beseeching. 

It was a lost cause; they both knew that. Even so, he could not leave her, for it felt worse to leave than it did to linger. Fenris inclined his head to her, then settled against the wall with his arms folded over his chest. Hawke glanced at him periodically, as if unsure he was still there, and he met her eyes steadily every time.

A lost cause; but he stayed with her that day, and the days that followed, until years had gone by and a peace settled into the hole they’d left between them. 

Hawke, as he knew all too well, could never abandon a lost cause. Fenris should have known that this applied to the two of them, as well.

So: here she was now, years later, drifting in and out of sleep in his bed, with not a stitch of clothing to cover her. Fenris traced the scar over her abdomen, faded to silvery-brown, raised from the surface of her skin. The mark was nearly straight, though jagged along the edges where the Arishok’s weapon had ripped back out of her. 

“Hmm,” she said, snuggling more firmly against his side, “See something you like?”

“No,” Fenris said without thinking, then grimaced, “I mean—”

She dragged one eye open and glanced down, taking in his hand against the swell of her belly. 

“Ah,” she said, adopting the theatrical tone she took sometimes when she was about to make one of her dramatic speeches, “Fair. It is impossible to ignore, isn’t it? Alas, it was once flawless, but its beauty is marred forever by circumstances beyond its control.”

“Hawke—” Fenris began, frowning, but she was still talking. 

“It’s alright to cry about it, you know,” she said, and he groaned, letting his head fall back against the pillow, “I won’t tell anyone. I am certain you must grieve the memory of how it used to—”

Fenris took the fastest road to ending this conversation and darted forward, catching her lips mid-word and cutting off the end of the sentence. He’d already heard enough, anyway; sometimes her joking danced far too close to her true thoughts for his comfort, and this was certainly one of those times. If he didn’t stop her now, she could go on for half an hour, and he’d far better ideas about how he’d like to spend that time. 

“Nothing is marred,” he said firmly when their lips parted at last, “I thought only of how I might have made myself more useful to you, then. I do not doubt that keeping my distance made things more difficult for you.”

“Oh,” Hawke said more quietly, searching his eyes, “It’s alright. Really. And—thank you.”

“Do not speak of it,” Fenris told her, leaning his forehead against hers and adjusting himself until they were pressed too closely together to see either of their scars at all, “And—for my sake, please—find another joke to make.”

“Oh,” she said earnestly, “I’ll try my best, but no promises. I only know three jokes, you see, and it’s ever so hard to think of others.”

Fenris sighed and might have said more, but she kissed him again, half laughing against his lips. Suddenly, there were far better things to do than try to pry her from her mischief.

And—here they were at last, the many years tucked neatly in their wake, fighting side by side on the Wounded Coast again. Time had altered both of them almost beyond recognition; he could not have known in those early days that six years later they may yet return to this place as lovers rather than the reluctant allies they’d once been. 

He could not have predicted that watching her fall in battle would hurt him far more than the broken leg once had. 

“I will not allow it,” Fenris growled, and raised the blade she’d given him for a blow that would have felled a dragon. The battle had been fairly routine for them until that moment, but now he threw himself into it with renewed ferocity. These bandits had been an obstacle before, a task they’d needed to complete, but now they had hurt his Hawke. More, they were keeping him from her side when she needed him; that, too, was something Fenris would not allow.

When at last their foes had fallen and the others began to pick through their pockets, Fenris strode back to Maria and tucked his hand beneath her neck.

“Hawke,” he said roughly, smoothing her black curls away from her forehead. 

Blood had stuck them to her skin; it would be a task to get it all out later. He knew now exactly how onerous that could be; though he would never have told anyone else, he took great pleasure in the quiet intimacy of bathing together. There was a simplicity and serenity to going to her home together, making sure both of them were well and whole, and cleaning the day off before they read or ate or lay together. 

These days, Fenris was often the one who would rinse her curls, comb out anything tangled there, and ensure that she went to bed clean and safe and well. Maria could do these things for herself; he knew that well. But it was a pleasure and a privilege to do them for her instead, after so many years of denying both of them even the smallest of touches.

Not that any of that mattered when she was lying so still in his arms. 

Maria was not even unconscious; just dazed, blinking up at the dull sky. He didn’t like the way her eyes looked, the unfocused way they wandered past his face to the clouds. After a moment, she took a sharp breath and parted her lips. 

“Fenris?” she said. 

He frowned and leaned closer. Was she injured more gravely than he’d thought? Did she need—

“It’s okay to cry, you know,” she said, her voice piteous, her eyes round and entreating, “I won’t tell anyone if you do.”

“Hawke,” he said roughly, and dipped his head to kiss her forehead over and over, speaking in between each touch, “You utter fool.”

“No,” she said. 

Fenris didn’t much care that he was getting her blood on his mouth—only that she was well enough to make her awful jokes again. His heart, which had been hammering uselessly against his ribs, began to settle down at last.

“I’m your fool,” Maria finished triumphantly. Fenris huffed. 

“As you say,” he murmured, and sat back to offer her a potion from his belt, “Drink this and stop your joking.”

“Never,” she said with a smile, and drank it down. 

Fenris held her until she could rise on her own. Even then, the touch lingered, their fingers brushing but not quite tangled together. 

“You are certain you’re well?” he said, frowning when she shifted and winced. 

“Oh, of course,” she said, “You worry too much. I’m not all that delicate, you know.” 

Fenris narrowed his eyes at her, eyeing the healing wound on her shoulder. 

“Let’s go,” Hawke laughed, “I’ll let you check me over when we get home. We should move on.”

She was right; they would be easy prey from some other group of bandits if they lingered too long. Even so, he kept pace with her until they reached the other two, their fingers linked as long as possible. 

Neither of them really wanted to let go. 

|

Slaves learned early to keep their emotions contained. 

That was what Fenris had told her, if not in so many words. Maria had grown to be good at listening to what he didn’t say as much as what he told her. Fenris never lied to her, but he often chose to omit particulars. What he left out, she guessed for herself, and it painted a bleak picture—not that she’d ever supposed otherwise. The brutality of his early life was beyond her understanding. The gentleness he showed her despite it all was not. 

A slave did not weep where others could see; a slave did not have a family—not one they would be allowed to keep, at least. 

But Fenris was not a slave. 

The past few days had been long and she was still exhausted, but Maria had enough presence of mind to watch him at the bedside now. This was—this was something she would engrave in stone if she could, something she wished she could save forever. 

Her love sat in the wooden rocking chair to her right, his bare feet braced on the matching foot rest. Their son was cradled in his lap, and the hand he’d tucked behind the infant’s head for support looked huge in comparison. His lovely green eyes were fixed on the babe now, a quiet smile curling the corner of his mouth, and his left forefinger was clasped firmly by much smaller hand.

Impossible as she may have once thought it, tears streaked down Fenris’s cheeks. They fell in unchecked droplets to darken his soft linen shirt, as if he didn’t notice that he was crying at all.

Hawke had seen infants before—she’d been old enough when the twins were born to recall what it was like—but she’d forgotten the indeterminate vagueness babies had, as if they could be anything at all, as if nothing was decided for them yet. What a thing to think about—that they had made the little fellow together, woven of love and time, and now he could be just about anything. The whole world lay before him still, and the two of them would guard this little corner of it for him until he was ready to set out for himself. 

There would be no child safer or more loved in all of Thedas than their son. Watching Fenris with him now, she’d never been more certain of anything in her life. 

It’s alright to cry, she thought, watching them, but she held the words on her tongue instead of speaking them aloud. Fenris did not need her to lighten this moment for him, for whatever pain he might feel at the newness of this was surely outweighed by the joy she saw in his eyes. 

“Fenris?” she said instead, and he slowly dragged his eyes from their child to look at her. 

“Yes? Do you need something?” 

His voice was uncharacteristically thick with emotion, but he watched her with that same focus he’d always had. It would be silly to tell him all of it in a rush now: that she was endlessly grateful he’d found her, that he was free and here, still at her side, that he already loved their child with all of his heart, or that she thought he was even more handsome with a babe in his arms. It would be too much right now—and didn’t get the heart of things at all, did it? No. She would keep it simple instead. 

“Thank you,” Hawke said, smiling at him and shifting more comfortably into her pile of pillows. 

His forehead creased in confusion, but his eyes held hers. His hair was mussed, and there were deep circles under his eyes. The birth had been long, and he’d been by her side for all of it. He must be exhausted. Even so, Maria thought he’d never looked more lovely to her than he did just then, cradling their son with the utmost delicacy and care, tears streaking down his cheeks and catching the sunlight through the open window.

It’s alright to cry. I won’t tell anyone.  

She didn’t need to tell him; he already knew his secrets were safe with her.

Fenris didn’t ask her what her thanks was for, nor what thoughts had led her to speak. Instead, he said simply:

“Always.” 

Always—yes, she thought as she began to drift off to sleep, still smiling, I like the sound of always.

#maria hawke #f!hawke #hawke #fenris #fenris dragon age #fenhawke #fenris x hawke #da2 #da fanfic #my writing #needlessly dramatic poem in the opener? check! #but it's poetry month and i enjoyed it c: #hawke has the worst sense of humor lol everyone groans when she tells jokes over cards #i like to think 'it's okay to cry' was something malcolm used to tell her when he'd bandage her knees #but i couldn't work it into the fic #consider this a secret little headcanon instead #maria tearing her stitches and needing to be carried home: :D #fenris who tried to convince her not to go in the first place but can't give in to the urge to shake her until she sees sense: >:| #shivunin scrivening