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pocketseizure · 3 years

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The Flower Thief

A young boy comes to Hyrule and meets a princess with a terrible destiny.

Or, Ganondorf visits Hyrule for the first time as a child and falls in love with the green and beautiful land, even as he is warned away by the woman who will become Zelda’s mother.

This story was written for Ties of Time, an Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask fanzine, which you can find on Twitter (here). The story is also (on AO3).

. . . . . . . . . .

Ganondorf had never been beyond the mountains separating the desert from the plains. The road from the fortress to the waystation was, if not well-traveled, safe enough for a child in the company of an escort. He’d crossed the bridge leading to the canyon pass a few times, always pausing to peer down through the railings at the great river rushing along the gully below, but this was the first time he was allowed to accompany a caravan through the Gerudo Valley pass and into Hyrule.

He thought he knew what to expect from Hyrule. He’d heard all manner of stories from travelers, and he was given Hylian books to study as he learned the language. Yet as the red earth and dry gravel gave way to healthy swards of grass, he could not open his eyes wide enough to take it all in. There was so much green, so much luxury.

The climate changed as the caravan traveled east. The mornings were cool but not cold, and the days were warm but not hot. The sun was veiled by clouds that drifted like floating islands across the blue sea of the sky, dappling the light into gentle shadows.

Ganondorf was not prepared for the rain. Everyone took notice when the afternoon became dark and the air grew heavy, but no one seemed concerned. He was familiar with the storms that pummeled the open desert, fierce and veined with jagged lightning, and he was afraid of what the blanket of clouds might portend. He was even more afraid of the disdain of the adults, however, so he held his tongue. If he cried when the first drops fell on his skin, each tiny splash as soft as the finest silk, his tears went unremarked.

Vast fields spread before him as they rode east. Brightly colored wildflowers pushed their way through the tall grass on leafy stems, and the wind was fragrant with the sweet smell of growing things. The caravan turned north at the first ranch they encountered, skirting along the low fence marking its perimeter. Ganondorf was amazed to find that the crooked and neglected fenceposts were made of wood. He realized that, to the local farmers, timber must be far more common than stone. As their party joined the main road, the trees grew larger and the flowers became even more colorful. The early summer greenery seemed almost blasphemous in its profusion. Stalks of young wheat swayed in the breeze, and cows dotted the rolling plains.

At last, upon ascending the crest of a low hill, Ganondorf saw Hyrule Castle, its spires stretching bravely into the sky. This architectural feat would have been impossible in the desert, where the gale winds would quickly strip the tiles from the towers if lightning didn’t strike them first. The town spilling down from the castle walls was just as bold. Roads and houses spread along the wide valley of a river with no regard for how disaster might strike and send the water roiling from its banks at any given change of the weather. Hyrule was, he thought, a miracle.

Once the road approaching the castle town began to grow crowded, one of Ganondorf’s aunts pulled him aside as they watered their horses. “You must dress as we do,” she said. “The people of this kingdom are guided by superstition, and they will not look kindly on someone that they cannot fit into the stories they tell themselves. You will be in danger if anyone learns that you are different from us, and we may not always be able to protect you,” she warned him as she twisted his hair into a high ponytail and secured it with a jeweled band.

Taking care not to be noticed, Ganondorf exchanged his robes for loose pants and a sleeveless tunic. He had learned to appreciate being seen as special, but there had always been a part of him that wanted to dress like the girls his age. The thought occurred to him that perhaps it was only in Hyrule that he could be normal. Ganondorf resolved to use this situation to his advantage. He would break off from the group as soon as it was expedient to do so.

The women shed their travel cloaks in Castle Town as they merged into the throng of people converging in the central market plaza. Zora and Gorons jostled for place among the Hylians in front of the stalls, and Ganondorf spotted the leafy foliage of a few Deku Scrubs and even the broad shoulders of a Moblin. Almost no one paid any mind to the group of Gerudo that gradually split apart as they went their separate ways. A few people paused to cast glances in their direction, especially men, and Ganondorf’s companions seemed to enjoy the attention.

Ganondorf kept his own cloak drawn around his narrow shoulders. The bearded faces of Hylian men were strange to his eyes. He was disturbed by their large and clumsy hands, whose thick fingers sprouted coarse hair. Ganondorf didn’t want to attract their notice, and he was much more interested in seeing than being seen. He watched a team of laborers eating at the base of a tree emerging from the paving stones of the plaza, throwing their breadcrusts into a bed of flowers overgrown with weeds. In an alley leading away from the market, a woman emerged from her townhouse to throw water onto the cobblestones before whisking the puddle into a drain with a broom. And then, wonder of wonders, a fountain burbled its lazy jet of water toward the sky with no other purpose than to provide a pleasant breeze for the cat napping on its stone rim.

All of this was fascinating, yet Ganondorf was not satisfied. He wanted to see something even more rare and beautiful. If the town below the castle was filled with marvels, he could scarcely imagine what treasures might be contained within the castle itself.

It was not difficult to sneak past the guards posted along the outer wall. They were slow and he was small. Just to be safe, Ganondorf used his modest measure of magic to quiet his footsteps while shifting the color of his cloak to reflect his surroundings. He had a fair amount of practice evading the watchful eyes of his mothers and aunts, and he liked to think he was skilled at avoiding detection. Or perhaps it was simply the case that the soldiers standing at the castle gates did not expect anyone to enter. Perhaps they assumed that no one would dare.

The courtyard on the other side of the outer wall was surprisingly pedestrian. Wooden crates were piled near the servant entrances, and a small moat ran between uneven patches of grass that had been trampled by men and horses alike. Ganondorf challenged himself to make his way beyond the castle’s inner wall, which was somewhat trickier but not beyond his abilities. There wasn’t much to be seen here either, nothing more than a few narrow walkways lined with mossy stones sunken into the spongy earth between overgrown shrubs.

Ganondorf was disappointed. The curving rows of proud cypress trees surrounding the Gerudo fortress and the tiled mosaics glittering under its shaded awnings were much more impressive. Ganondorf paused at a muddy puddle lingering in the shadow of the castle’s mold-spotted wall. He debated whether to continue on or turn back, wondering if perhaps Hyrule’s beauty lay more in its wilderness than its towns. He decided that he had seen what he’d come to see. There was no need to remain here.

As he turned, Ganondorf caught a breeze that carried a sweet fragrance unlike anything he’d ever encountered. Intrigued, he followed the scent along the inner wall of the castle until he found himself at the gate of a secluded courtyard garden.

Tall bushes with glossy leaves separated the garden from the bare stone of the castle walls. Each of the bushes bore a profusion of white flowers as large as his palm. The scent was stronger here – richer than jasmine and as fresh as the sky after the rain.

Before he was aware of what he intended to do, Ganondorf found himself slipping his knife from the sheath at his belt to cut the thick woody stem of one of the flowers, whose petals spread elegantly from the golden shimmer of the nectar at its center. He had never seen anything so beautiful before, and he wanted to hold it. He sliced through its stem and watched as tiny beads of sap welled from the incision. As he withdrew his hand, clutching the flower alongside his knife, Ganondorf heard the soft murmur of a woman’s voice, quiet but resonant.

“He’s a good man, I think,” the voice said as it grew louder. “My honored mother wouldn’t have chosen him if he weren’t, Hylia rest her soul. He’s kind, and he has a strong will. And that’s the problem; that’s precisely the problem. He will make a good king. But then what need will there be for a queen?”

Ganondorf watched as a young woman stepped into the garden. The deep chestnut of her hair was accented by her dress, which was dyed with an indigo as deep as the sky at twilight. A white-haired woman of the same age trailed along behind her, as silent as a shadow.

“Tensions are mounting at our borders,” the woman continued, “and Hyrule does not need a king. Hyrule needs peace. I will do what I can, yet I worry about the signs in the stars…”

Ganondorf knew he should flee, but the princess was so beautiful in her garden that he couldn’t help but stare. It was like a scene from a fairy tale. He was transfixed.

A moment later the spell was broken, but it was a moment too long. Ganondorf pulled his foot back to retreat, but the princess’s Sheikah attendant was on him like a cat at the slightest hint of movement.

“What have we here?” she murmured, her voice as soft as velvet. “Such a pretty girl, with such a sharp blade.” The Sheikah bent his hand so that the bones of his fingers twisted. Ganondorf dropped his knife but managed to hold on to the flower.

“A girl after my own heart,” the princess remarked with laughter in her voice. “Bring her closer, Impa, if you will.”

The Sheikah released Ganondorf, but not before giving his hand another painful squeeze. The warning in her touch was clear. Ganondorf understood that he was trapped, utterly and completely. He waited for panic to rise in his throat, but it never materialized. He realized that he might be forced to remain here, with soft grass under his feet and the delicate scent of white flowers lingering in the air. Perhaps such a fate would not be so terrible.

“On a tour of the castle, were you?” the princess prompted.

“Who sent you?” the Sheikah hissed with narrowed eyes. “Tell us and you might survive.”

The princess raised her hand, and the Sheikah fell back.

“How do you find my castle?” the princess asked as she gestured to the flower in Ganondorf’s hand. “Do the gardenias please you?”

Ganondorf knew that neither force nor speed could extricate him from this situation. Words were the only thing that had any chance of saving him, but his tongue was like lead in his mouth. He could only gaze at the princess, who seemed to glow in the pale sunlight. His fingers tightened on the flower.

The princess saw this and smiled. “It seems a shame for us to keep all of these gardenias to ourselves,” she remarked, switching to fluent Gerudo. “We can stand to part with one. I hope you will consider it a gift, but take care not to touch it. Its petals will blacken at the slightest contact with your skin. The flowers cannot survive after they’re removed from the plant.”

She began to reach out, perhaps intending to draw Ganondorf’s hood away from his face, but she allowed her hand to drop to her side. “We will release you,” she told him, “but you must not be caught on your way outside the castle. Nothing will protect you should one of the soldiers find you within these walls.”

The princess smiled again, but her eyes were like ice. “There is nothing here to be stolen that cannot be freely given,” she said, “but remember always, child – Hyrule does not take kindly to thieves.”

Ganondorf did not need to be told twice. He turned and ran, bending to snatch his fallen knife from the grass as he fled from the princess and her garden.

He was careful not to touch the gardenia as he made his scurrying and surreptitious way back outside the castle, but the flower’s petals were already tinged an unhealthy shade of gray by the time he was able to stop to catch his breath. They had begun to curl at the edges, and their sweet smell had grown sour.

Now there was no reason not to touch the flower. Ganondorf stroked its smooth white petals and touched his nose to the golden center of its blossom as he crouched against a dirty wall in a back alley of the market. Even as its petals spoiled before his eyes, the gardenia was divine in its beauty.

Ganondorf used his knife to cut away the rest of the wooden stem and tucked the flower into an inner pocket of his tunic. He wanted the fading flower and the memory of the castle garden to be close to his skin. The furious beating of this heart had slowed now that the danger of being caught had passed, but Ganondorf was still haunted by the cold eyes of the princess.

He would have to be more careful next time.

#Legend of Zelda #Ocarina of Time #Zelda's mother #Impa #Ganondorf #young Ganondorf #Zelda fic #my fic #Ties of Time

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hylianfury · 4 years

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I have to ask. How did Zelda and Ganon react when they found out Link was playing house with Sidon? Concubine AU.

Oh… on dear… “Playing house” Is certainly a nice way to put ‘committing murder-suicide’. Short fic incoming here, warning for heavy themes already touched in the fic (aka Link planning to kill Sidon and knowing he had no way out if he did.). I do plan to doodle for them but at the moment I don’t have access to my tablet so… on the other hand, Zelda DID notice how Sidon is looking at Link right now and that’s a whole different story…

Fair warning, this wasn’t planned NOR I took too long writing it so don’t expect high high quality…

- Concubine AU Extra chapter

Zelda and Ganondorf just exchanged the most confused glance as they studied their best friend tinkering with a line of pearls, he had been incredibly silent since the meeting with the Prince and they were expecting his first words to be about whatever was bothering him, not… well…

“No, Link, I can’t really teach you how to shave but… why?”

The centenar just hummed, slowly sliding another pearl in his long string of jewels, carefully counting them and not offering any explanation. He had that peculiar expression that meant his brain was working hard, Link was probably barely listening to them anyway.

“I can… I had plenty of sisters, wives and daughters before but I have to join Tete here in asking: why?”

Zelda couldn’t roll her eyes hard enough, she didn’t know how Ganondorf came up with the story of reincarnating over and over -Link said more than once that as far as he could remember the redhead always joked about it- but since their friend was acting weird… it wasn’t the best time to be weird.

“Good, I need to look convincing.”

“Convincing for what?”

There was a long moment of silence as the centenar slowly placed his tools down on the small, wooden table in front of him.

His lips pressed together in a very thin line and his hands turned white as he clenched his fists, Zelda and Ganondorf exchanged another worried look: whatever was bothering him had to be big, even if Link wasn’t really open about his problems he always talked with the two of them.

“I…” The man hid his face behind a hand and took a deep breath “I’m leaving the unit tomorrow.”

The three of them stood there in complete silence for what felt like an eternity. He was… what? Zelda didn’t know what to say and the gerudo seemed to be equally lost.

“I will move in with the Prince. This is why I’m… getting ready.”

“You are what, now?”

“I’ll officially be the first royal concubine of Prince Sidon, apparently.”

There was a second of shock and Ganondorf stood up, fists slamming hard against the little table between them.

“I’m murdering him.”

Zelda wanted to join in the outrage but barely managed to say a word. Link? Their Link? The little boy who never hesitated to offer dirty jokes but blushed like a maiden whenever the discussion moved to his own personal things? The same boy who, at 22, was embarrassed like a young teen admitting he hoped he’d get his first kiss from that kind Goron he seemed to like so much?

Link wasn’t even that attractive by Hylian standards: he had his growth stunned after the flood between lack of nourishment and between all the problems he had with his leg- it was true she had feelings for him but at the same time Zelda couldn’t deny Link still seemed too young for his age and wasn’t probably manly enough for a zora that was voiced to be gay.

As soon as those thoughts were over, realizations started to sink in: Link had been chosen to be a sex slave. Holy Hylia, it was no surprise he spent the whole day looking at the floor and looking like his death had just been announced.

“Let’s get you to Tarrey Town!” Even if the little man was already raising his hand in ganondorf’s direction to stop him and talk, probably to explain the situation, she couldn’t stay quiet “No one will be able to reach you there, the guardians are set to attack any non registered adult that tries to sneak in the Akkala region, you are going to be safe! I’m not letting a pretentious asshole shark have his way with you.”

“No no no…” Link just scratched his head “I… it’s not like that. Seggin told him about me, apparently, and… he wants me as his strategist or some shit like that, being a concubine it’s only the way for me to sneak in the council.”

He was clearly uneasy but at least Zelda felt a bit better at that, even Ganondorf’s tension washed away a little. It was the single most ridiculous thing both heard in a long while -and they worked with people of the caliber of Beedle and Bolson, they were used to weird shit- but it was slightly better than what they first suspected.

“Since when do you plan to help the Zora?”

“I’m not planning to…”

The fallen princess tilted her head, elbows leaning against the table. It was hard to read whatever was in Link’s head whenever he didn’t want to talk… and this was clearly one of those moments. When the man decided to speak once more it wasn’t to explain his plans, it was to give orders.

“Tetra? Once I get in you will be in charge, make sure you get ready to contact Urbosa, however you do it: you will need to tell her we’re switching sides, it’s going to be our first good chance to see the Domain fall and if we side with the winners and play the victim card well we may be able to get some Land back or some autonomy.”

“Are you planning to sabotage the war efforts? How long before you’re spotted and they kick you out?”

She didn’t like the bitter chuckle that came from the centenar’s lips, there was a deep resignation in it.

“I plan to throw the Kingdom in chaos, even if it won’t last long.” his fingers gently caressed the pearl string he put so much effort in and Zelda connected the dots: Link had a knack for poisons since he lost the ability to walk, of course he prepared a small gift for the Prince. The idiot wasn’t even going to notice it considering Zora swallowed their food whole.

“I see, that’s a great idea but… how do you plan to leave? All our efforts to reach either him or the rest of his family failed so far, if it’s hard to get in it must be equally hard to run away.” Especially in your condition, she wanted to add but kept for herself.

“Tete…” She felt Ganondorf’s warm hand against one of her shoulders and she raised an eyebrow looking at the man who somehow became a sibling for her as well “Don’t you see his face? He’s not planning to come back.”

It was like a cold shower, blood drained from her face as she turned white as a sheet. A glance at her friend, at his almost sheepish smile as he whispered a ‘sorry’ with a small shrug. How could he even suggest… how could he even think… how dared him to look like it was okay for him?

“No. You- you can’t!”

“It’s our best bet to hit the Zora where it counts, you can’t talk me out of this. I know I can’t walk out on my own but it will be fine, I have two pills: one for him, one for me. And it won’t even hurt me, I will just fall asleep…”

Zelda was horrified, for someone who never hesitated to take insane risks to protect others he sounded so ready to throw his life away…

“I won’t allow you-”

“I’m not asking for your permission.”

That tone of voice, the way he stared in her direction with determination and not even blinking… she knew Link well enough to know nothing she could say or do would change anything.

“But Link…” She didn’t even realize she started crying until she heard her own voice cracking as she tried to speak “I can’t… not without you.”

“You can do anything, my queen.” he reached forward, grabbing her hand and taking it to his lips for a quick, formal kiss “I believe in you and I believe in Gan: once the southern borders lose their current leader it will be the perfect time for him to reclaim the throne and for the two of you to move a Gerudo-Hylian offensive. The Gorons aren’t opening their gates, they can’t hide in Akkala and they will have their weakest border attacked by two tribes, not just one… Whatever will happen: destroy them. Okay?”

She was just sobbing at this point. There was no resistance when Ganondorf wrapped one arm against her and pulled the three of them in a goofy, warm hug, for once not even worrying about being careful of his leg.

For a long moment the only sound in the room was Zelda’s cry and the Gerudo was the first person to break their silence.

“I will miss you, little shithead. I don’t really regret not killing you in the crib this time, we had a good run. See you in our next reincarnation.”

Zelda’s hand slapped the red haired man but he didn’t even flinch, Link on the other hand started chuckling. The resignation in his voice, even in that, only confirmed there wasn’t going to be any way to change this.

“I will spend the next hours writing down what you will have to do once the prince is dead but… before that…” Link’s arms wrapped around both of them “I wanted to ask… just for tonight… I know we’re too old for that but maybe we could spend this last night together?”

The two didn’t hesitate before nodding. For the whole evening they barely spoke as Link worked and then they curled together on the hay bed of the centenar, mostly using the Gerudo as mattress, and slept together. When they woke up, Link had already left, he didn’t even allow them to say goodbye.

Zelda and Ganondorf spent the first days waiting to hear about the Prince’s sudden death by his concubine’s hand, mourning a person they both loved dearly. Ways became weeks, weeks turned in a month and they knew something was up. Link was still in the palace, at least for what they managed to hear, and both him and Sidon were just fine.

At the end of the second month the woman decided she had to do something. Pulling all her strings she could probably find a laundry job in the lower levels of the palace, no matter how many favors she had to ask or if she was going to be forced to beg for help.

She offered Ganondorf a hug, passed him leadership in front of their unit’s men and at the beginning of the tenth week she was running around the palace, no one wanted to work under Muzu due to his poor manners but she didn’t care: her goal was to find her beloved knight and nothing was going to stop her.

- - -

Zelda blessed her good luck, not only she ended up under one of the very few elders who openly despised the current Zora leaders, the ray was also close to the prince himself and she finally dared to speak openly with him when Link got hurt.

Seeing him again filled her with joy, no matter how angry she was, and even if they had little to no time to interact and he was drugged as she stitched him together. With the help of the elder she finally managed to see him on occasion and she was even given the chance to be around the prince’s chambers for a lot of ‘absolutely necessary’ cleaning duties… and she was glad to see Link was clearly no longer planning to kill himself and the red Zora.

Not a surprise, really, if he had better ideas and plans there was no way he was picking suicide over anything else.

What WAS a surprise was seeing, over time, watching how Prince Sidon’s attitude toward their common friend was starting to change…

“I think the prince is falling for our bro.”

Ganondorf raised his eyes from the mountain of paperwork that was piled over his desk, when Link was there he took care of it all but now it was all starting to pile up as no one was as organized as the tiny, wary man. He waited, sincerely expecting a punchline as the woman sat on the desk with crossed legs… but nothing came.

“Wait, seriously?”

“Yep…”

The Gerudo’s laughter could probably be heard in the whole building, Zelda rolled her eyes kicking him when he started wheezing, clearly out of air. He gasped a few times before finally finding his voice once more, no matter how he still sounded out of breath.

“He really has no luck in love.”

“Nope.”

“And how do you think he feels about it?”

“I don’t think he noticed, honestly, but then again… you know… Link is Link.”

“Well, my friend-” he got up, reaching for his large bed and pulling a bottle of wine from beneath it “-to our little hero not killing himself!”

“Goddesses above, will you ever stop with that bullshit?”

He didn’t even answer, pouring two glasses and offering one to Zelda.

“And to us: may we be allowed to enjoy the shitshow when he figures that one out.”

Both raised their drinks, grinning, and making their glasses chime together. Link had never been found of the Zora, whatever was going to happen… it was going to be fun.

#sidlink #barely hinted #Concubine!AU #because it's still one sided #the triforce trio #tw:suicide

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midzelink · 4 years

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all right I want to hear your post game headcanons

To start with: this was a response to the tags I made on this post about Zant, so for the sake of keeping this answer not too terribly long, I’ll focus on him. So! Post-game headcanons re: Zant. Let’s dive right in, shall we?

First and foremost, everything I’m about to write depends entirely on a post-game where Zant a) is still alive and b) isn’t totally an asshole, the possibility of which I discussed at length here (which, if you haven’t read yet, I definitely recommend reading before reading the rest of this post). In summation: Zant was used and manipulated by Ganondorf, but did the right thing in the end, severing his ties with the Demon King so that the latter could die and Hyrule would be saved...maybe for less than right reasons, but it was a good deed nonetheless.

But now let’s look at the post-game: Midna, having broken the Mirror of Twilight and returned to the Twilight Realm, seemingly for good, is now tasked with the tremendous burden of healing the wounds that Zant’s usurping has left on her realm...except Zant isn’t dead, and she catches glimpses of him in her dreams, nightmares, visions. Though his body was destroyed when Midna attacked him with her fragment of the Fused Shadow, his spirit lived on, and after some Shenanigans™ (that I won’t get into here) he’s able to regain his former self, pledging himself to serve under Midna’s reign to make up for all of the wrongs he’s wrought. She accepts, in part because she was able to catch a glimpse of his sincerity (those Shenanigans™ I mentioned), in part because of how much her own character has changed since the beginning of the game, and in part because...he’s her little cousin, and the two were incredibly close when they were young. Who woulda thunk it?

Anyways, fast forward a long-ass time, and Zant has done nothing but prove himself at every turn. Unfortunately, some real bad stuff starts to go down in the Twilight Realm (more Shenanigans™), and it reaches a point where they quickly begin to realize that unless something is done, no one will be able to live there for much longer. That’s...obviously bad, but at a loss of what to do and completely out of options, they decide to reach out to Hyrule for help... except the Mirror of Twilight is gone, and only one person has ever been able to successfully travel between the two worlds without the portal that the Mirror created...and that person is Zant.

So, Zant shows up in Hyrule a full ten years after the events of the game, in the middle of a celebration in Hyrule Castle, and everyone is like, “oh, shit, what the f**k,” because this is a man who killed countless people, including the Zora Queen and (in my headcanon) Zelda’s father, King Tyreon. Of course, nobody is happy to see him - but more Shenanigans™ happen, and to make a long story short, all of the Twili end up returning to live in Hyrule, no longer harmed by the light of day, and, yes, Midna is also there. Hurrah!

...Only, right after all of this happens - right after he helps save both the Twili and Hyruleans alike - Zant up and disappears. Because he’s super melodramatic, or something like that.

I want to write up a more detailed post about this in the future, but in short, it is my belief that time actually flows much, much faster in the Twilight Realm than it does in Hyrule; I’ve seen many headcanons about the reverse, but if you pay attention to the way Zelda talks about Zant’s attack on Hyrule Castle and its subsequent fall (as if it was something that happened ages ago), or the fact that the tapestry with the royal family’s crest in her room is so decrepit, it very much seems like the opposite is true. Basically, what happened a long-ass time ago from Zant’s perspective (i.e. all of the bad shit he did) was only ten short years ago for all of Hyrule, and he rightfully feels like he doesn’t deserve to embrace living in a kingdom he so recently wrought destruction upon. And Zelda still very much hates the dude, despite her faith in Midna’s word that he’s a different man now, so his misgivings aren’t entirely unfounded.

And yet, despite hating the dude, Zelda is like “hey, babe, you should probably go find your lost cousin or whatever the shit, before he starts killing people again maybe?” and Midna is like, “yeah that’s a pretty solid plan,” and so she sets out on an Epic Quest across Hyrule and beyond to find the dude and forcibly drag him back with her, on the conditions that he 1) live somewhere that Zelda would be able to keep an eye on him, and 2) actually try to learn about life in Hyrule. This means that he would need to live somewhere in Castle Town, with someone who would be willing to help him acclimate to his new life, and that someone would need to have some kind of relation with the Princess Queen of Hyrule...and...yeah, I know you saw that awful post...do you see where I’m going with this? : o)

Anyways, Shad is the one who ends up overhearing that there is a specific Twili in need of housing (the Resistance members are much more prominent players in my headcanon, and Zelda really appreciates everything they did to help save Hyrule!), and this man jumps at the opportunity because the dude is a scholar, and the Twili are fascinating! ...That, and no one tells him that this particular Twili was hugely responsible for all of that bad shit that happened ten years ago. Oof.

At any rate, it takes quite a while for Zant to adjust even a little bit (and I can totally imagine him eating a hard-boiled egg whole, no f**ks given), but he eventually stops calling Shad “the scholar” and “the purple one” in favor of his actual name, and the two develop this real appreciation for each other (even after Zant tells Shad about his past, which, yeah, is a real damn doozy). Their greatest shared interest is their love for books (there were never many books in the Twilight Realm; Zant admittedly loves what Hyrule has to offer), and they eventually end up opening Hyrule’s first-ever public library together! Meanwhile, Ilia and Ashei are big gay married, as well as King Ralis and his childhood friend Colin, and it looks like Zelda and Link both have something they’d like to say to one particular Twili...

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powdersurgar · 5 years

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The Twin Blades (Zelda Fanfiction.)

Long ago,

Hylia, the goddess of Light and Sound, and Zylia, the goddess of Twilight and Time, blessed the land with their childrens grace.

Hylia’s children,

Din, created land and mountains with a heart that burned with fire.

Nayru, gave water that could reach everything it touched

Farore, sprouted life that cleansed the air.

However… Zylia’s child

Oden, gave the land the wind of HOPE

As Hylia and her children name spread across the lands, Zylia’s jealousy grew due to her child’s vanishing.

So they decided to choose champions that would forever remember the gods for centuries.

Nayru chosen a princess, who was the wisest person in a place called Hyrule

Din chosen a Man in the Gerudo desert, who had a strong will for power

Farore chosen a boy who was courageous against all odds

And Oden…

He Chosen the boys weak twin sister, who was always hopeful and believed in possibilities.

This angered the goddess Zylia

But Hylia accepted the choice Oden made and created the Dual swords

However Zylia wanted more and ask a demon to get inside the mind of one of the champions and bring her the tetra force.

Chaos within the champions and their clans, spread wars across the land.

the dual blades sealed away the demon and brought back peace, Giving birth to the master sword.

But the true story is now only a forgotten legend for the youthful ears.

Chapter 1: Whispers in the wind.

The land of hyrule is vast place with a proud and magnificent castle that stood in the middle, as it watched over its people. The west scorched with the sands of time, the Gerudo village. The north burned with fierce power known as Death Mountain. East, is the forbidden forest, where creatures lurk within the shadows and finally South where the Zoras guard the waters. They say there’s a place in the sky where angels fly… but I’ve never seen it.

There are a few towns beyond this place and a few shrines that are recently built for the gods. However those are just stories I hear from my brother Link. He’s always off adventuring somewhere or goofing around with the farm animals. I was always jealous of the fact that he could go outside so sometimes, like tonight, whenever the moon is full, I go out for a stroll.

“Linkle!” I could here link in the distance as I sat on top of an abandoned well. As my brother emerges from the forest like a while animal, I gave a troubling smile. I knew he was seriously upset as he held his wooden sword in his hand tightly.

“Linkle!”, His voice relief to have found me, “Do you not know how dangerous it is for you to be out here? Father and mother are worried sick!”

“But I-” I tried to explain.

“Common, the doctor is waiting for you in your room!” He commanded as he pulled me down from the well and started back towards home. I snatched my hand away in frustration.

“You don’t have to shout! I’m doing just fine on-”

“You’re not doing fine!”

There was a moment of silence between us and the forest sang it’s silent tune to the wind. Both of us knew what those words meant but neither of us wish to hear them.

“I just wanna see the world like you do. I’m always stuck in the house and unless we find the fairy Queen I’ll-”

“Don’t say that! I’ll find her for sure. So let’s just go back inside?” Links face looked so determined, that I knew that my brother loved me so much so.

“Alright, but you’ll have to teach me how to use a sword when I’m better!”

“In your dreams, haha, we all know that you’re only good at the bow and arrow!”

“That may be true”, I gave a smirk as I pass him up, “but someday we’ll need each other’s skills for survival”

“Right, still not teaching you” Link said sarcastically.

“First one to the house, is a loser!” I said as I took off running, leaving Link behind.

“Hey! wait up!”

[In sleep]

“Strange, I’m back at the well, Didn’t we went home?” I thought as I slowly looked around. My eyes than looked up at the moon only to catch a glimpse of a shadowy figure standing over Link’s lifeless body. I backed away slowly, wishing I had a way to defend myself.

“Who are you? Why are you here?”

Suddenly, three more shadowy figures emerged from the tree tops. The moon shone behind them as their laughter filled the forest with evil. It seemed as if they were approaching me and suddenly I tripped into the old water well. Falling deeper into the cold darkness.

The last thing I heard was,

“Look for Hope..”

[The Next Day]

“Linkle! Wake up!” I jumped at the sound of links voice. His eyes were concerned but then he sighed in relief. “I thought for sure, something had happened to you.” He said as he patted my head.

“What do you mean?” I asked, even though I desperately wanted to tell him my dream.

“You passed out last night and…. nothing,” he paused. Just as I was about to speak, Link continued on talking.

“oh, yeah! Guess what?”

“What?” I asked out of curiosity

“Today’s the day!” He whisper

“What do you mean?” I whispered back

“We found it! We found the fairy queen!” He shouted

“Wait really?!” I exclaimed.

“Hey, calm down, that’s not all good news. Meet me on the training ground by the northern gates. Oh and be sure to stop by a shop for supplies. Here’s a list of things that you’ll need.”

“Hmm.. sturdy clothes, boots, bow and arrow, wooden shield, and a wooden sword… Wait, you don’t mean…?”

“Who knows, you better hurry up if you wanna find out.” Replied Link as he stood up. He than headed out the door leaving me in complete shock.

“Yeeeeesssss!” I shout along with a new burst of energy as I quickly hopped out of bed.

“Okay, first I need to put on some clothes for traveling, my archers armor should do.” I walked towards my closet door but it was gone. “That’s strange? Where’s my armor? Maybe I should ask around….”

As I walk out of my room, I turned to the left and into the restroom. I figured that I should grab something for the journey so i searched inside the cabinet only to find my hair bands and some herbs. “At least I could finally braid up my hair in pigtails…”

I walked back into the hallway and wandered into my parents room but there was no one there. Finally, I searched down stairs for my armor only to find a honeycomb and a couple of apples in the kitchen. After giving up searching inside my home, I decided to look outside. As I walked out the door, my mother was just returning home.

“Mom, have you seen-?” I started to ask but my mother interrupt me.

“Your armor right? Well you wouldn’t believe this, but I was washing your armor at the end of the creak. Just as I was drying it out, an owl swooped down and took it!”

“Mom?!” I exclaimed in disbelief.

“ I’m sorry, but unless we have a reef, we can’t call the owl back. Oh but there are some at the other side of the lake. Too bad that your brother has already left.” My mother than went inside the house, but I was determined to get back my armor. Besides how hard can it be to swim across a lake?

It was really hard. A carpenter guarding the lake told me that the dam had been broken and unless the boss was found, no one could swim across it. The only hint to his location was usually by the southern gate but he was nowhere to be found.

I thought that was indeed quite unusual, so I decided to try and look for the boss carpenter in his last location myself.

When I arrive at the southern gate, there was no one there at all. However something did caught my attention. I never told Link this, but I sometimes can see the passing of shadows. Kinda like footsteps people leave behind. Only problem is the longer I attempt to do that the more I get terribly ill. Still…. I wanted my armor and to journey out badly so I attempt it anyways. The boss carpenter shadow appeared underneath a tree. It seems that he was in a deep sleep. His body suddenly awoke in a shock stood up and ran outside the gate.

“This is bad…” I looked for the nearest weapon I could think of only to find a stick. “Better than nothing… I guess”

I ran out the gate into the woods, following the shadow before it disappeared behind a bush. When I walked through it, I fell down into a pit.

“Gaaaaaahhh!!!???? Uff?!” I landed on a large flower, in front of me was the boss carpenter. “Ahh! I found you! Hurry, let's go!”

“I can’t, my son wondered out of the gates and now a moblin took him away, what am I to do?!” Asked the panic boss

I hesitated but somebody has to do something, “alright, let’s go.”

“What?! Are you seriously going to help me?! You’re the best!”

As we traveled in the cave, beating up bats and spiders we were able to find a chest with a travelers bow within it. “I guess this’ll work well for us?”

“With that bow we don’t have to sneak around anymore. Here take these arrows I found” said the boss, “ whew… I’m beat, I’m sorry, let me rest here and I’ll catch up with you soon.”

“Alright.” I said. My thoughts were everywhere, and I’m sure the boy must be close by now. However I don’t think I can save him alone. For now, I'll just give it my all and hope for the best.

When I arrived, it was worse than I thought. The boy was inside a moblin camp.. “o-okay, I can do this.”

I attempted to aim at a moblin at the gate but my hand had slipped and missed. Of course, I was too weak to fight in combat than there’s the fact I’ve been following shadows for awhile. Finally I defeated one, but just as I stood up a moblin aimed to strike me from behind. Time slowed, and my brother appeared and stuck the moblin down.

“Link?!”

“Linkle!”

“What’re you doing here?!!” We said at the same time.

“I saw a girl ran into the woods and went to help her before a moblin kidnapped her. But to imagine it was you?! Linkle, you’re not supposed to be here!” Scold my brother.

“I know, but there was the boss carpenter's son and he ran in here and also got captured. There wasn’t enough time so we went to save him.” I explained.

“Wait he has a son? So that explains why i saw him earlier… he was the one who told me to help you… anyway, I’m here now so go back to the village.”

“What?! No!! I started this mission and I’m going to finish it, one way or another!” I barked back.

“Fine… you’re going to be out in the wild soon anyway so i guess this would be a great way to test your skills. I see you got a bow and arrow on your back… you can be my lookout, I trust you can cover me, yes?”

“Ha! Of course i can! I can shoot an arrow like the wind itself!” I spoke proudly

“Good, climb up that tree and whistle when you’re ready. I’m going to sneak inside and rescue the kid, MAKE SURE NO MOBLIN SPOTS ME! If they do they might harm him.” Warned link

“Got it.” I said in determination. Link suddenly reached for his pocket and pulled out a bag.” What’s that?”

“It was hard to find since they are pretty rare but this is a bag of holdings. Inside is a whispering stone i found on one of my journeys. With this we can communicate with each other.” Link than pulled out a pair of green emerald earrings wrapped in gold.

“Wow... but how am I to communicate back with you if you don’t have one?” I asked. Link than took one of the pairs and wore it on his left ear.

“ you’re right handed, right? Put the other on your right ear. When you wish to speak with me just touch it.” Link instructed.

Once I was done I climbed up the tree and whistle to inform link that i was ready. Link ran in as if there was nothing that could stop him. He then took a barrel and placed it over his head. I taped the stone.

“Wow, so hidden are we… hehe!” I said jokingly.

“Hey they won't be able to tell if you do your part” replied link

“Yeah, yeah… alright, go left… stop, go right…” after directing and clearing his path, we came to a problem. “Link! get out the barrel!” Link leaped out the barrel just before the moblin boss smash it to pieces. Link had to battle him head on.

“Linkle! I'll distract him, take out that siren before they call for help than get to the cage where the boy is located!” Shout link

“On it!” I shot down the siren as I jumped down from the tree. “Cough?!!!!” My body wasn’t fit enough so I took a moment to breath.

“This isn’t good but i have to hold on.” I whispered.

I ran through the maze, shooting down any moblin that would try to stop me. When i got to the cage, the boy was in tears and without a key I couldn’t get him out.

“Link, key!!” I shouted across the arena.

Since the mobbing boss wore armor, link had to roll around and cut the straps. He than kept back to doge the counter attack only to leap into the air and split the helmet off. This left the moblin boss dizzy for a few seconds, since it was surprised.

“Catch!” Shouted Link as he slid besides the boss moblin’s hip and cut of the key with enough force to send it flying. But with link not paying attention, the moblin boss had regained consciousness and was about to hit link. So I drew my bow and shot an arrow through the keyhole of the airborne key. The arrow went into the moblin, staggering him, which bought link some time to resume fighting.

I then caught the key and set the boy free. Link also had just finished off the boss by knocking the moblin boss down and land a finishing blow to the chest. Suddenly a minion came rushing at link, I reached for my arrows but I had none, so I grabbed a nearby sword and activated my ability to see the movement of shadows. Than i noticed it… link was also special... we both ended the minion with a jump into the air, our swords clashing together as we landed.

“Link… you can…” before I knew it , I passed out. The last thing i saw was link rushing me back home with determination once more in his eyes.

#zelda fanfiction #the legend of zelda

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thescrapbookingscientist · 2 years

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Biweekly Media Roundup

- Epithet Erased (Web Series) - Watched through this little web series about people who have weird super powers, and had a fun time! I was especially fond of Zora, a badass cowgirl assassin who has the ability to slow down or speed up the aging process of whatever she’s touching. She had a really cool design and was a cocky asshole, which I for one think are traits more female characters should have. There’s a sequel in the form of an audio novel coming up, which I’m looking forward too. It’s a pretty short show that’s free on youtube, so if you’re a fan of wholesome cartoon villains and witty banter, check it out.

- Lord of the Rings (Movies) - Watching all the extended films again with my buds. I’m not a big drinker myself, but they are playing a drinking game where they drink at all the memes, and boy are there a lot of them. I haven’t watched them in quite awhile, so I’m finding the juxtaposition between most of the fellowship- who are going on great adventures and bonding as friends - and Frodo - who is having just the worst time you can possibly have - very funny.

- Lot’s of Monster Anime (Multi-Anime) - I’m doing a thing where I’m watching a whole bunch of monster related anime episode by episode, with the goal of ranking them by the end. So most of my TV time is devoted to this. As a placeholder, Shadows House was one of the standouts, with cute designs and a genuinely intriguing and unique premise.

- Yu Yu Hakusho (Anime) - YYH I love you but omg your tournament arc is so long. We finally reached the final battle and yet we somehow have like 5 episodes of just that battle left. Boy.

- Spy X Family (Anime) - This is cute! Obviously, there’s not many episodes out yet, but I already really like the family dynamic, this could be turn out to be quite a fun love/family story. Also, I’ve always loved the “2 spy’s getting married without knowing the other is also a spy” idea, it’s nice to see it outside of Mr. and Mrs. Smith.

- Pathologic (Video Games) - As one can probably tell from my blog, Pathologic has been my big hyperfixation this month. I really like the central characters (Daniil is such a likable little twat, Artemy’s personality is Tired, Clara is hilarious) and I love how each of their respective endings manages to reflect their personal circumstances and philosophies so well. I’d have to say I agree with Playheead North’s analysis videos in that I don’t think that Artemy’s is the “best” ending despite it being the fan favorite (Though tbf, it is the best for shipping purposes-Haruspex route Daniil is thirsty as hell). To be clear it’s not really that I think Daniil or Clara’s are better, so much that they are all designed in such a way keep any of them from being a black/white, morally right/wrong situation. I can see why so many analysis-lovers adore this game, it would have been so easy to streamline the opposing sides into a progress vs preservation situation, but instead they bring up the complexities of classism/limits of conservativism that would happen if you actually tried to bring these ideas into reality. So yeah. Neat!

- Schitt’s Creek (TV) - Yup.

- Arcane (TV) - Finished up my rewatch with my family, was hyped for my Dad to hear the “Is there anything as undoing as a daughter?” Line as I knew he would dig it. I was also able to appreciate Mel more this time around knowing more about her in hindsight (not that I disliked her the first time, was just apprehensive). Really hope you’re alive in S2 Queen.

- Golden Kamuy (Manga) - One more chapter till It’s over. Seems like it’ll be bittersweet, though I’m shocked and thrilled that my boy Tsukishima looks like he’s gonna live. Noda thank you so much it’s what he deserves.

Listening to: Twilight Princess OST, Oh Ana by Mother Mother, Shadow of the Day by Linkin Park, Fairytale by Alexander Rybak, Two Evils by Bastille, All You Wanna Do (SIX), Rasputin by Boney M, Kaibutsu (Beastars OP), A Good Song Never Dies by Saint Motel, Rather Be by Clean Bandit, Famous Last Words by MCR

#weekly roundup #My posts

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punishandenslavesuckers · 7 years

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She has no throne. Girls without thrones should not have knights, but hers won’t go. Princess Zelda – the girl who killed Calamity – would love to fade into legend, but Link’s bought a house, he’s fighting off monsters, and he’s selling giant horses to strangely familiar Gerudo men. She’ll never have any peace now. (ao3)

(chapter one) (chapter two) (chapter three) (chapter four) (chapter five)

(chapter six)

She is walking across a desert.

Her hands are soaked with gold. They run with it – like rainwater from an unseen storm – from her palms and from her feet. She leaves a winding line of damp, luminous footprints along the thin spine of the dune. In one hand is a bow. Platinum and mathematically curved. In the other hand – four arrows. Gold as well, hollow, and fletched with silver. She climbs a hill slowly. She knows with no context that she is going to the Arbiter’s Grounds to find the execution circle – the abandoned ruin at the foot of the desert colossus and then, having thought that, she is there.

She stands at the top of sandstone steps under a granite arc facing the colosseum circle – pale curves of stone built over and over atop one another so the diameter of the arena stands three stories tall. Rotted banners waves from the battlements. The floor is grainy, wind worn, and hot beneath her bare feet. A pool of silvery light gathers and evaporates on the stone where she stands, dripping, her clothes wet, her lips running with rain, her hair caught up in slow eddies behind her.

There are two people standing in the ruined arena.

Link is there. He’s wearing armor she’s never seen – a green tunic and chain mail. She can see his breath in the desert night; it glows gold, as though he is exhaling from some kiln burning steady within, the endless smoke rolling over his tongue and dissipating into the dark. In his hand – the blade, burning silver. It shivers the air around them with every breath it breathes in sync to the soul of the Hero. He doesn’t look at her when she mounts the steps. He only has eyes for the man on the other side of the arena.

The other man in the arena is Draga.

She’s never seen the armor he’s wearing. It fits too close – black metal and old Gerudo script tooled in leather. He’s crouching, massive and dark, across from Link. There’s a claymore smithed of black steel in his hand, resting point down against the sand-eaten stone. The ground beneath Draga’s boots is glowing, pulsing a slow gold vibrato through the earth, like the heartbeat of some great animal and when Zelda descends the first stair he looks up at her.

She can’t see his face. It’s dominated entirely by the steady hell-red burn of light in the sockets of his skull.

When she sees the glow – it cleaves through her like a butcher’s blade, laying her heart open and she begins to weep immediately, tears running gold from her eyes and cooling against the skin like a mask. She’s standing over him suddenly, looking down into a familiar face made black with shadow. The sacred bow lies shining on the ground. She cups her friend’s jaw in her hands and tries, with her thumbs, to wipe the darkness away – like you wipe dirt from a boy’s cheek.

She wipes gold where the shadows are, smearing it like oil, leaving it like gold-leaf against his cheek.

She bends down. She can smell his breath – iron oxide and alkali earth.

She kisses him, gold over flowing from her lips, melting down his jaw and filling his mouth, his throat, his lungs. She is drowning him but he doesn’t move – still as a statute and warm as a hearth stone as she –

She wakes up.

The moon overhead hangs heavy and bright – caught up in the warming sky. Constellations spark like pin pricks of bright fire in her mind and for a reeling moment she can’t recall if these were the stars in that desert or if there were stars at all in that old ruin or if she ever looked at the sky. She groans, rubbing hands over her face, feeling her belly pitch and yaw with the aftermath of Draga’s flask. Her mouth tastes sticky and sour. There’s a residue of sweat on her face and her hands feel cold, like they’ve run through glacial streams. She can hear voices talking in the distance. One voice speaking low, coming into focus as she begins to listen and hear…

“What do you mean you ‘rode him’?”

There’s a murmur.

“Link,” Draga says, “I know you don’t speak out loud very often so I say this with the gentlest of criticism, but you cannot just say the crown prince of the Zora –who is over a century old and known in the land for slaying mountainous sea creatures – let you ride him. That sounds very…” He struggles. “…offensive? Is that offensive to Zora? It sounds offensive, to say nothing of somewhat suggestive…”

Zelda rolls over to squint toward the edge of the canyon where Link and Draga are seated at the edge of the cliff, bodies framed by the faint edges of dawn beginning to spread along the horizon. Just enough light that Zelda can make out the open-mouthed look of mortification on Link’s face – all blue-eyed, blond, and offended. Draga shrugs, facing forward, one long leg hanging off the cliff, the other drawn up so he can drape an arm over his knee.

“You said it. I’m just telling you…”

Link hisses something.

“I know you well enough to assume as much, but most people know you as a madman so it would not take much for them to make very different assumptions. That one fellow thought you sold your soul to a mountain lord. God knows what he might think if he heard a Zora Prince let you mount him…”

Link immediately swings around and kicks Draga in the ribs. Hard.

“He’s Mipha’s brother!” Link says, horrified, loud enough that Zelda can hear.

Draga, lying on his side, drawls, “I apologize. That was rude.”

Link settles a little.

Draga props his chin in his hand, lounging. “You also share a bed with the crown queen of Hyrule so there’s that too.”

Link kicks Draga again, repeatedly.

“What?” Draga is laughing over the thump of Link’s boot knocking into his thigh, hip, and lower ribs. “A misguided bard could have a field day with it. This is what happens when you don’t come forward and tell your own story.”

Eventually the furious kicking lets up (mostly because Draga catches his boot in one massive hand) and they both sits straight again. There’s a sociable quiet and Zelda hunkers down against the blanket, pressing herself flat to the rumpled wool, afraid to disturb that quiet lest she derail its pleasant trajectory. The wind rising from the canyon makes a riot and a mess of Link and Draga’s hair respectively and, side by side, the difference in their size seems exaggerated – Link no more than a shadow beside a monolith – and its only then, in the contrast, that the residual anxiety crawls forward again.

Zelda squeezes her eyes shut and it’s there: The desert. The shadow. Gold dripping like honey and nightshade. She opens her eyes. Draga is shoving Link with a companionable brutality. Link elbows his arm away. Her heart races in her breast – quickened by unfathomable instinct. Like she needs to stand up. Move. Go to them, immediately and… and what? Warn them of what? The dread crawling through her belly like a trapped salamander? Her premonition of a desert and symbolic dangers? She lies, paralyzed and afflicted, by her own promise to Link only months before: I swear it. I would tell you if we were in danger.

Draga says, “When is your dragon coming?”

Link shrugs.

“Is it true they’re wardens to the Goddess Springs?”

Link nods.

“What are dragons like? In case none come.”

“Indifferent.”

That seems to surprise Draga who glances at Link.

“Like a storm is indifferent,” Link goes on calmly.

Draga says nothing to that for a moment. Then, “Which dragon are we waiting for?”

“Dinraal. Lord of fire.”

“Hmm.”

Draga sits forward, setting his elbows against his knees and looking out into the void beyond, boots braced against the cliff face while the wind gets pieces of his bangs loose. Zelda has this theory he cut his hair too short, too fast, and after years of classic Gerudo coiffures (based entirely in volume and length and elaborate restraint) was at a loss for how to style it. And so, he makes due wrangling it into half braids and gold clips. She hasn’t told him lately that it suits him. She should do that.

Zelda can hear his smile, even if she can’t see it.

“I would be disappointed to not see Dinraal.” He laughs. “For all that I’ve traveled… there is much I’ve not bothered to see.”

Link cocks his head.

“My circumstance was too urgent for that, you understand. I had to… acquire power quickly. This journey back to my home country – winding, unfocused, lackadaisical as it is – it’s the longest stretch of time I’ve spent actually seeing this land. Doing what it is our pilgrimage is supposed to be.”

Link fidgets. Then, after a moment, he asks, “Will they bar us from entering because we’re voe?”

“They won’t bar me. I’m returning from pilgrimage and I’m of the People.” He shrugs. “As for you, any voe can ask for a circumstantial pardon if you’re there on business. You just need someone to vouch for you and –” He stops. He looks at Link. “Are you saying Riju hasn’t already given you a pardon?”

“A what?”

“A pardon. You can come as a voe into Gerudo Town if you have one. It just means the Gerudo who sponsored you must be with you. In this case, I would be your sponsor, but I assumed you had pardon already.”

“I didn’t have that.”

“So how did you get into the city?”

A pause.

Link must answer quietly because all Zelda hears is Draga’s loud, belligerent rejoinder.

“You did what?”

Link squirms physically, hot with embarrassment.

Draga stares Link dead in the eyes, a soul-crushing judgement. “Gerudo Town is a trade post, not a central stronghold. The vai-to-vai commercial traditions date back eons, yes, but they aren’t life-or-death. It’s a trade practice to protect our merchants.”

Link signs, ‘Really?’ with one hand.

Draga growls. “I understand going under cover as a vai once to meet with Riju, provided the guards didn’t believe your admittedly ridiculous story, but after that you could have claimed sanctuary and gone as voe with escort. Either Riju assumed you identified both ways or knew you didn’t and thought it was hilarious. She is thirteen so…”

Link thinks about it. “Oh,” he says after a long while, softly.

Draga looks disgusted. “You idiot.”

“Oh,” Link says, covering his face.

Draga sighs, relenting a little. “This does not… improve upon your actions, precisely, but the actual writ of the law is that you must act in accordance with Gerudo norms while within the city. This interpretation is… very subjective, intentionally, so we may bar whoever we like from the city provided they are disruptive or disrespectful. Even if a guard suspected you might be a Hylian male in form, when dressed as a vai, you are vai.”

Link’s less embarrassed now. “I didn’t know that.”

“Almost no one outside of Gerudo culture does. That’s the point, but that does not apply to you, Hero.” He calls him ‘hero’ like you call someone ‘idiot’. “When we get there, you should ask Riju for a formal pardon outside merchant law.” A beat. “Unless, you do feel as a vai…?”

Link looks up, blinking. Draga’s squinting at him and it’s then he must realize the Gerudo is legitimately asking. “Oh! No, I’m… I’m voe.”

“All the time?” Draga says, like that’s surprising.

Link kind of stares for a moment, then gives it some thought. He nods.

Draga shrugs. “Blessed for you that it’s so easily known.” A pause. “You know Draga is not my birth name, do you not?”

Link gives no sign this surprises him.

“Not every Gerudo comes home with a new name, but I am. It is… uncommon. As is my trade. When I stand before Chief Makeela Riju and her council, it will mean something if you and Zelda are there for it as witness. It will… assure people.”

“Why that name?”

“I don’t know. It felt correct.”

“Mer Draga,” Link says, using his Gerudo surname. He nods, as if he likes the sound of it.

Draga smiles. “It’s reversed in Hylian, is it not? Surname and given name?”

Link’s smiling. He begins to say –

And that’s when, all at once, something erupts from the canyon directly below them. A geyser of molten red exploding from a gap in dimensions and the displacement of otherworldly air knocks Link and Draga flat to the ground. Zelda, in her instant of panic, thinks of Death Mountain: That a dormant vein from the core of the great volcano has come awake in the canyon. But even as she thinks it, the volcanic eruption snakes like a great, red-black ribbon in the sky overhead and resolves, finally, as something else entirely. A hovering twist of magma suspended in the atmosphere.

And then, slowly, the dragon’s head – horned in flaming iron, maned like a lion, muzzle the color of ash on cherry red metal – rises from the loops of its body and stares down at them.

Its eyes are gemstone and older than comprehension. The sight alone garrotes the functions of Zelda’s lungs. But the dragon isn’t even looking at her. It’s staring directly down at Link and Draga.

Link’s already up on one knee, blade in hand, his fist snagged in the collar of Draga’s tunic. Frozen with the potential energy of flight but illuminated in the furnace glow of the dragon… he doesn’t even breathe. Draga lies stunned, just… staring as the dragon-god Dinraal (fire wyrm, guardian of the sacred flame, beast that eats the falling stars) twists upward suddenly, breaches the low-hanging clouds… and begins to dive.

By then, all three of them are sprinting away.

They run toward the long open flatlands leading back toward the road, stumbling in the dark over unseen divots in the grass, breathing fast and ragged. They say nothing to each other. Running close to one another. Link’s crushing her hand in his. The moon illuminates the way before them, illuminates Link’s shoulders, angled back, the blue-gold scabbard strapped to his spine, the blade in his hand and – Too familiar. Too familiar. She’s been here before.

“We can’t outrun it.” Draga’s voice is unnervingly calm. “Link? I can route her. I can hold her, but I need your sword.”

“You think we can kill Dinraal?” Link sounds stunned. When he looks over his shoulder, Zelda feels a momentary spike of fear – the unrecognizable rage in his face. “You’re that arrogant?”

“I know you believe it’s a servant of your Goddess –”

“No.”

“–but your blade might get through.”

“I can’t!”

To which Draga says, “Well, I can.”

Then the air sucks inward, pulls impossibly – like gravity gone amiss – then snaps back in the empty space where Draga once stood. Zelda shouldn’t be surprised. If the Yiga can manage it, then of course Draga can pull it off. She and Link stop running immediately. Panic taking them both.

“There.” Link points.

She follows his arm and, standing at the peak of Mount Rhoam and facing the beast in Tanagar Canyon, is Draga.

The air shimmers. A smell like hot metal rising from the earth. There’s a rumble in the veins of stone beneath their boots. Draga coils two loose fists at his sides. The air around his fingers smears with heat. There’s a fist in her belly – Draga. He’s pulling paths of power like roots from the earth – their ends grafted somehow in the wellspring of his soul and conducted there by sheer force of will.

“Draga! No!”

She’s sprinting up the mountain road.

“Don’t!”

She feels it before it happens.

With terrible, almost unimaginable, force… Draga drives both hands together and Zelda watches in horror and awe as three enormous stone pillars erupt up from the ground, slamming against a section of Dinraal’s flank, its jaw, and belly. Like ribs bursting from the chest of the planet, they push and push outward – bones from a horrific wound ensnaring the great beast. Dinraal scores the earth with its claws, scarring the stone. The impact knocks scales like cooled magna from its body. Link is beside her. He’s screaming something.

He’s yelling at Draga to stop.

The blade in his hand is awake – burning like a sheet of involuntary starlight.

Zelda is not sure what evil has whet its edge.

Dinraal rolls, shoved onto its side by the sudden obstacles, a half-mile of sinuous lower body sliding off the cliff into the canyon even as its back legs claw for traction – like Draga is shoving an enormous cat from the desk. The entire stone shelf where it writhes begins to crumble then fall into the canyon but the dragon doesn’t seem frantic. It claws the ground two forearms, digging in, then grabs hold of the stone columns. It nudges one with a strangely doggish nose, cat-like curious. Then it takes hold of the pillar blocking its shoulder, like a person might grip a loaf of bread…. then it rips the stone apart. Shatters it.

Zelda feels the break. Physical and spiritual. Feels every line of power sever itself at the wrist from Draga’s soul. He staggers, doubles over –

By the time he recovers, Dinraal is on top of him.

It’s impossible. The speed. Interdimensional. Snapshots of motion. (It moves like Link moves.) In an instant Dinraal tears a path up and around the mountain top, coils around the summit like a field snake around a rabbit until its great body lies looped in a barrier. It breathes like a furnace. The air around it is on fire. The mountain is shaking, vibrating in the bones of the earth and Zelda can’t hear anything over the roar of the wind. She can’t even hear Link, who is yelling.

All she sees is Draga, standing there looking up at god-beast. He doesn’t move a single step back as the dragon rises over him like a cobra before the strike. Blotting out the moon until the only light left is the hell-red glow breathing beneath its scales. And Draga doesn’t move. Not even when the beast opens its jaws, great mouth yawning volcanic and indifferent and –

Zelda panics.

She closes one fist and a golden curve of light flashes there, solidifies, becomes the second sacred weapon in her hand. From nothing she fashions three silver arrows and in that instant (she learned this before the Twilight came, she knows this, how to kill the darkest of men with nothing but a bolt and bow) she looses a blazing shot.

The arrow disintegrates inches from the dragon’s face.

It stops. It looks at her.

The Bow of Light evaporates in her hand.

Then she knows – sees clear as a premonition – that if Link draws his blade against the beast that the sacred sword will not just dim and dull. It will turn its impossible edge back on it holder. So, when Link starts to move, time shifting around him like wind along an angled plane, Zelda grabs his arm and wrenches him back into the present, holding him there.

“You can’t!”

“What?!”

Link’s eyes in the dark – panicked and blue, the wind ripping at his clothes and hair. She lets him go but he stares at her.

“Why?”

Link is shouting. But she’s looking at the sky.

“Goddess.” She doesn’t know if she’s cursing or praying. “Why? Why is this –?”

And then the back of her right hand ignites gold.

It hurts – like lightning coursing through her bones. Zelda screams and grabs her wrist, falling to her knees, panting, choking back her voice because this pain is familiar, infinite, indifferent. She focuses through it, lives inside the river of shrieking nerves. Red on red on white – the holy nail driven through her palm – and she forces herself up on one knee, then to her feet. It hurts so much. Why does it hurt so much? She can barely stand it. Draga. She can save him. Just like before, just like Link. That’s why. Isn’t it?

Isn’t that why?

The world is glowing, is blurring, is hyper-focused in segments. The sky, the ground, her fingers, a sword gleaming on the roadside. She blinks and it takes an eternity. She focuses. Sees… Link. He’s on the ground too. He’s on his hands and knees. He’s got one arm curled in the dirt, his forehead pressed against it, his other hand flat against the stones in front of him. For a second she thinks he’s praying or hiding his eyes or…

It takes her a moment to realize he’s screaming. His right hand, like hers, is lit up from the inside – a three-sided section of sunlight burning in his palm and it’s the agony that has him on his knees, not faith.

She can’t focus on him. She has to… save Draga. She has to…

Zelda can’t see anything now. Everything is burning light and blinding. She’s staggering through the maelstrom. Her blood is boiling. She’s dying. Surely. She screams and looks at the sky and to her wonder and agony there are dragons – green and silver, indifferent and immortal, distantly circling like sea serpents swimming in atmosphere. She can’t fathom what’s happening to her. To Link. To all of them. She can’t feel her skin. She can’t move or speak. Link isn’t moving anymore, just lying on the ground while the divine power bleeds across his body like fire, possessing every inch like its possessing immolating her. She staggers forward, toward the mountain, toward Link. She’s burning. Like a thing on an alter.

And in the distance -- Draga’s there, standing in the coils of the dragon. He’s clutching his right arm. There’s gold light eating the world.

She loses consciousness.

“Zelda.”

Someone says her name.

“Zelda, please. Please, wake up.”

Someone is cupping her head in their hands, their fingers sunk into the braids at the back of her skull. Someone is leaning their body against hers, sitting over her, holding her. She feels their thumbs run against her temples, pushing hair or dirt or blood from her eyes and that someone presses their forehead against hers. They are breathing so close to her, she can taste their words on her tongue. She can feel them shaking, hear the shudder in their breath. Someone is praying over her without speaking, their lips almost and sometimes catching against her nose and mouth as they speak.

Someone kisses her, desperately, like you kiss the dying and says, “You can’t.”

She opens her eyes.

Link is kneeling over her. He’s staring at her in a way… she doesn’t have a word for that look.

“I’m here,” she says.

He yanks her into a hug.

“Ow,” she says.

Link doesn’t say anything; his face is pressed into the curve where her neck meets her shoulder. He’s holding her so tightly his arms shake a little with the effort. She swallows, uncertainly raises her hands to smooth them across his back then up behind his head. His hair’s singed. Her nails tangle a little in it. She says it’s okay a dozen times. She says it half a dozen times more before he lets go. He tries to say something, but his voice is gone again so she just tugs his forehead against hers until he calms down.

“Link, where is Draga?”

He doesn’t have to speak – his blank, terrified face mirrors hers.

Link pulls back and pulls her to her feet. She fists her hair back from her face and turns an unsteady circle. The mountain is empty – the stones scorched at the head of the hill, great loops of black wherever the great beast laid its body. And yet, there’s fresh lichen growing, mountain flora and grass pushing up through the ash, flowers blooming before her eyes. Death and resurrection. She starts to walk up the hill, toward the top. She starts to jog, then to run, stumbling as she clambers the uneven stones. Link races past her, bounding up the path like a mountain cat, then turns to help her up a steep rock.

Wordlessly, they run for the top of the hill. Link’s hand in hers.

When they reach the head of Mount Rhoam, they stop.

Zelda is the first to move. Link’s gone rigid. She steps around him. She knows how to do this. She’s done this already. Muscle memory guides her to her knees (just like before) where she lays one hand on Draga’s shoulder and one on his hip. This time, she’s not crying. She’s not capable of it. She tugs him gently. He’s so much heavier than Link was, but he’s the same – the same lifeless momentum, head rolling to the side, his arms slack. She pulls him onto his back. He’s not burned. The rest of the mountain is scorched, but he looks perfect – like the day she met him at Highland Stable.

“Draga,” she says softly.

She starts to touch his face, hesitates, hand hovering, before she lays it against his forehead.

“Draga, please.” She shakes her head. “I can’t do this again. So wake up.”

She feels Link standing behind her – the intensity of his fear shivering off his skin, electric and conductive. She lays her head against Draga’s chest, but she can’t hear anything through his armor. She places a hand against his throat, searching for a sign, a breath, anything. She tries again, leans down, cupping Draga’s head, her thumbs hooked behind the hinge of his jawline and staring into his seemingly sleeping features. Peaceful and eerie.

Her kingdom if he would just scowl at her.

“Come back,” she says steadily.

Her palms glow gold, but the light won’t diffuse into the skin like it would if she were healing a person and not… not an object.

“No,” she says. “Draga. You have to come back, stupid idiot. Who tries to fight a dragon?” Her eyes are dry but stinging. “Who does that? You can’t run around trying to do whatever foolish thing Link does, that’s just a bad idea. Okay? So, wake up.” She feels Link kneeing beside her. She shakes her head and drops her forehead, gently, against Draga’s and begs, “Please, come back. Come back. Come back…”

She kisses Draga. Once, carefully, turning her head just a little – like you kiss someone for the first time because you’re not sure how you will fit, if your noses will accidentally bump or how the other person might like it. She kisses him like Link kissed her, as though that were the thing to break the curse. And it’s only in that horrible nightmarish instant that she realizes some part of her had vaguely hoped to do such a thing under much better circumstance.

Link puts a hand on her shoulder.

When she turns her face up to look at him, he’s blank-faced and calm. He lets go of her shoulder and carefully takes Draga’s hand between his palms and just… sits there until she reaches along his arm and lays her hand on top of theirs. Insanity feels like a fever, you know. Zelda knows it. Malarial. Contagious. Shimmering and unreal. She hasn’t known that disease in one-hundred years kneeling in a muddy field, but she feels it now, sitting here with Link, letting reality settle into them like cancer eating into the marrow.

Then…

“Link,” Zelda whispers. “Your hand.”

He looks at it.

He’s wearing thin swordsmen’s gloves, fingerless soft leather, but there’s… light. Soft and gold, superimposed against the back of his hand. Link stares. She knows he’s seen the like of it before and when Zelda bring her right hand up, fingers spread, it’s there on her too. A small dull triangle of light, like a tattoo, but humming with warm luminance. Like there is a tiny lamp just under her skin. They look at each other – conflicting emotions – confusion, grief, warring for majority because it’s too familiar. It’s just like before. It’s happening again and Zelda can feel Link seeing it on her face –

Link shakes his head, losing his blank calm to rage, to despair, to disgust –

“Link, wait. Don’t –” Don’t what? Hate what’s killing us? Why not? “Open your hands.”

Because there is light bleeding between his fingers. Link forgets the fleeting blasphemous hatred she saw (just a shadow of it) that began in him. He opens his hands from around Draga’s palm and there’s more light – from Link’s hand, from her hand, almost too bright to look at now, but there is a blinding, mathematically perfect triangle shining also from the back of Draga’s hand. Shimmering gold in the dark of his skin, pulsing like a heartbeat.

And that’s when Draga groans and opens his eyes.

The two heroes of Hyrule, the destined souls who struck down Calamity – stare, stricken, illuminated in light.

Draga grimaces. His eyes are old jade set against the rest of his face. When he starts to sit up, the light dims in their fingers and fades.

“What happened?” He notices how tightly both Link and Zelda are gripping his palm, almost entirely encasing his hand in theirs. He frowns at them. “What?”

To make a fortifying pumpkin stew you need a few things: A Kakariko pumpkin (one will do, they’re small for a gourd), fresh milk (fresher the better), Tabantha wheat flour, goat butter, carrots, onions, leeks, salt, pepper, thyme, garlic, and a bit of Goron curry powder if you like a little kick. Link has all of these things in his travel pack. Which would seem odd if it wasn’t preposterously enchanted. At one point, Zelda caught Link up to his shoulder fishing around inside what is essentially a shoulder satchel only to eventually pull an entire breast plate of armor from the depths. So his casually producing the ingredients for comfort food is less impressive and they’re all used to it by now.

Draga watches Link sauté the onions, leeks, and carrots then transfer the sizzling contents into a pot of bubbling pumpkin and spice.

The communal cookpot and fire is free. Courtesy of there being virtually no other customers in the whole stable and the fact Link’s cooking at 4am in the morning out of pure nervous reflex. Draga and Zelda are sitting side-by-side observing his practiced culinary hand in silence, the crackle of the fire and the pop of cooking food filling the void where they should be talking about what happened. Instead, they enjoy the smell of home cooking, despite being far from any home at all.

They watch Link prep and cook in wordless inertia.

They all, Zelda knows, look like hell but none of them have made a move toward getting a bath or changing clothes or anything that might require them to separate even briefly for reasons of privacy. They just huddle together by the fire.

Eventually, the soup’s ready.

“Are we going to talk about it?” Zelda says after staring into her bowl and not eating it for five minutes.

“I see no point,” rejoins Draga, who’s on his second bowl, his appetite apparently unafflicted by his near-death experience, “since we don’t know what it means.”

Link doesn’t say anything. He also hasn’t eaten anything.

He hasn’t said a word, aloud, since the mountain.

Zelda glares at Draga. “Not talking about it will not make it go away, as you’ve well reminded me time and again.”

“Maybe,” Draga snaps, “I’m tired because we almost died on some godsforsaken mountain because your holy Goddess let a bunch of mad dragons chase us down like field mice. Perhaps that’s my hesitation, Princess.” Then, after a moment. “That was uncalled for. Apologies.”

Another silence.

Link’s sitting cross-legged, back to the fire, staring intently at a section of grass a few feet in front of him. His hands are resting on his knees, curled lightly into fists and at this angle, his bangs eclipse his eyes. The pumpkin soup is sitting in the grass beside him, untouched. It smells phenomenal. Like home. Zelda toys with her spoon, then carefully eats a single mouthful from her own bowl.

“This is good,” she says.

Link nods.

“You remember the first time you made it for me?”

He says, “Mhmm.”

“After the Yiga attack, I was… so shaken up it took two bowls to calm my nerves. It’s been one of my… one of my favorite meals ever since. I didn’t know you were carrying the ingredients with you all this time. When, uh, did you get a chance a pick them up?”

He doesn’t move to answer for a moment.

Then he signs, ‘I ordered some of it delivered.’

“That’s a lot of trouble.”

‘Yes.’

“I appreciate it.”

Draga drops his bowl and spoon in the grass beside him.

“Enough. You want to talk about it? Fine.” He stands up to face them, animated with his anger. “What do you want to talk about?”

Link looks up and breaks his silence, finally. “I think you should go to Gerudo Town without us.”

Which, apparently, wasn’t what Draga thought either of them were going to say. Zelda, in fact, wasn’t expecting him to say that. But now, hearing it, she agrees. Draga stares at Link, a micro-flash of confusion and hurt that catalyzes immediately into anger. He tilts his head, hands tight at his sides.

“Why?”

Link never breaks eye contact. He stares calmly at Draga. Then just shrugs. Draga’s glare deepens.

“Yesterday, you were desperate to break my curse. Now you want me gone?”

“Yes.”

“You’re a bad liar.”

Link glares.

“It’s not the dragon that scared you, is it?” Draga calmly rolls his right sleeve up, inspects the back of his hand. “Was it this?” He touches a faint, triangular scar. Like a burn. Perfect and three sided just below his middle knuckle. “We all have one now. Does it mean something to you? Have you seen it in a past life, Link?”

“Yes,” he says.

“On the hand of your enemies?”

He tenses, but for a second he breaks eye contact.

“Is that it?” Draga moves to crouch directly in front of Link, face-to-face. “You think I’m your enemy?”

Link’s jaw is clenching.

“Do you think you’re mine? You want to be? You’ve thought of killing me?”

“I have,” Zelda says quietly.

A deafening silence follows. Draga, who was likely just being dramatic to get a rise from Link, seems a little horrified to get an answer. Both of her friends stare at her, sitting there, with a bowl of soup in her lap and her knees drawn together, fingers curled carefully around the smooth clay bottom. She thumbs the lip of her bowl.

“I have nightmares, Draga. Not always, but sometimes, I dream about fighting you. About…” She trails off, watches their faces until she’s sure she’s conveyed the violence of it. “And sometimes when I look at you and Link, I feel like I’ve seen you together before but I don’t know where or in what context. I feel like we’re… moving along a pre-determined path. Which wasn’t a problem before because you and I noticed it and we all decided we didn’t care if there was something strange about our meeting but now…”

She uses one hand to quickly wipe her face.

“That dragon came for you. I’m afraid of where we’re going. More afraid of that than the possibility that it could be good. I fear we’re destined to… I don’t know. But I don’t like it. I think you should get away from us before we…” She wipes her eyes again. “I’m sorry. I don’t want to say this to you but I keep having visions where you’re dying and I don’t know what it means! Maybe it’s the demon. Maybe we’re too close and if we fight it, we’ll kill you. I just don’t know…”

“Then don’t fight it,” Draga says quietly.

“I’m scared though! I’m scared something is going to happen!”

“Why?” Draga says. “You’re the girl who killed Calamity. How can you be afraid? You see one vision and run?”

“Not just one –!” Link bites his tongue. Holds it.

Draga stares. “Oh?”

Link says nothing.

“You’ve thought about fighting me before?”

Link says nothing.

Draga leans forward. “I ask you again, do you want to kill me?”

“No.”

“Then stop fretting about figments from past lives,” Draga snaps. His face is very close to Link’s. “I’m sick of telling you this. Do you know how to be anything to others but the role Hylia gave you? The Hero to everyone you meet? Zelda at least has the spine to hate it and defy it. You let it take everything from you up. Everything, Even own goddamn voice. Like the Goddess owns you. You act like it.”

Link stares, eyes wide, expression empty as a bell jar.

“I’ve seen myself,” he says, “fighting someone with that mark on their hand…”

Draga shoves him with one hand, forcing him to catch himself with one hand in the grass.

“You’re not going to kill me, you moron! Your sainted Goddess herself could come down and tell you to take up your sword but you don’t have to. That’s the point, Link, you can tell the gods to fuck off. So even if there is some divine plan between the three of us, it doesn’t matter. We can say ‘no’. We can walk away. How is it that you two don’t understand something so fundamental about the roles you play – that they hinge on your willingness? You never had to fight.”

His expression softens a little.

“Which is why is matters that you decided to. That’s why you two are so impressive to me. Do you understand?”

Link is getting angry. “You’re my friend, Draga. I don’t want to–”

“Is that what I am?’ Draga angles his head. “Your friend?”

Link never breaks eye contact. “I don’t –”

Draga doesn’t move fast, but he didn’t have much distance to cover.

He just leans forward – rather like he’s done it a hundred times before in this or another life – and hooks a finger under Link’s chin and kisses him. Calmly. Easily. Like it’s the most obvious thing the world. So obvious it’s almost unromantic were it not for the small uncharacteristic spot of hesitation in the curl of Draga’s fingers. His touch along Link’s jaw. How he tilts the other man’s head just slightly so he can fit their mouths together without any awkwardness in angle and having done that, he does nothing else. He initiates no further – like he’s asking a question in an entirely new language. Hoping for an answer.

Link’s shock freezes him for a heartbeat.

He – Goddess above – he looks at her, his mouth caught against Draga’s, parted on the last word he’d been trying to get out and there’s something about that. There’s something about her knight errant holding still, his shaky breath against Draga’s mouth, how blue his stare looking at her through his touch-tangled hair, how he won’t move a fucking muscle even though she can see it in every line of his body that he wants to but he keeps staring at her. Like he’s waiting until she, herself, makes a move but she doesn’t know what. Something races down her body. Link is still looking at her. She feels hot. Aching. Why is he looking at her?

She…

She nods, once, terrified but hypnotized.

Link closes his eyes and his hands go immediately to back of Draga’s neck and pull him down.

Draga’s hands close reflexively on Link’s shoulders, fingers digging into his biceps, thumbs pressing into the curve of his collarbone. Link doesn’t let go. He’s half the other man’s size and, yet, he’s indestructible in Draga’s grasp. Unmovable. He slides his hands up into the shorter hair at the back of Draga’s neck, fingers threading up into the thicker braids and gold beading. He’s kissing Draga now. Breathing raggedly and rapidly between instances of urgency, his mouth guiding Draga’s to open against his and allow him for just a second. He pushes his tongue into Draga’s mouth. Once. Twice. Again. Link bares pale teeth and catches them just once against Draga’s lower lip and the Gerudo makes this… sound in his throat.

Link groans, frustrated, and jerks back.

“Fuck you,” he says, so close to Draga it’s like a second kiss when he says, “That’s not fucking fair.”

He pushes away and gets up, walking out of the light of the campfire. Zelda can hear him swearing like a solder as he goes down the hill.

Zelda stands to go after him. Stops because Draga is just sitting there, staring after him, with his hair messed up where Link has his fists closed in it.

“I don’t know what to do,” she admits.

“Why are you looking at me?” Draga says, laughing. “I don’t know.”

“Shit,” Zelda says. She starts to go down the hill again. Stops. She darts back to Draga and, ignoring his bemused expression, plants a kind of angry kiss on his forehead and hisses, “He’s right. This doesn’t change anything. We need to talk about this. You… cheater.”

Then she runs down the hill after Link.

go to chapter eight...

#botw #breath of the wild #legend of zelda breath of the wild #loz #legend of zelda #link #zelda #ganondorf #post game botw story #where the cycle starts over again immediately #but no one warned link and zelda #so maybe they make friends with their destined enemy #platonic until its not #oh boy #interim #interim chapter #rae writes #raewrites

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hopenobodyeverfindsthis · 7 years

Text

I’ve loved Breath of the Wild so much. Zelda is best girl. Link is my fave nature photographer/chef. (Give Link the fish husband he deserves.) They both deserve a happy ending, so here’s my version. May or may not be slightly canon divergent.

Being the hero of legend has never suited Link.

Or, well, maybe it has. He took on the duty stoically, never complaining or bowing to cowardice and fear. Through sheer grit, he managed to bring Hyrule back from the brink, even if it took a second chance for him to succeed.

But while he understood the importance of his role, it’s not the life he would have chosen. Zelda has always known this, even when her own jealousy and bitterness clouded her judgment of his character.

Under his strong and unflappable exterior, Link had only ever been a soft and sensitive young man, far more fascinated by the fawns grazing in an open field and the gentle glow of an evening sunset than he’d ever been by perilous adventures. Perhaps he’d been a little reckless, a little too curious for his own good, but he’d never asked for such a heavy responsibility.

Which is why she can’t say she’s surprised by his answer when she asks him if he has any idea what he wants to do now.

They’re sitting together in a grassy field, taking in the final warm rays of mid afternoon sun. Link’s loyal white mare grazes beside them. Hyrule is at peace for the first time in more than a century, and all they have is time.

Link takes a moment to ponder her question, a flush rising up his neck, before quietly admitting that he does.

Zelda’s eyes widen, curious for details. Link still prefers to speak as little as possible, but it only takes a bit of prodding from her to learn that he has accumulated a long list of aspirations on his adventures. He wants to complete the Hyrule Compendium, try out the many fishing spots he’d marked on his map, adopt a dog, beat the Gerudos at sand surfing, share his cooking expertise with the Zora children, make a fancy bridal for his horse, maybe even buy his own house.

But even the innocent excitement on his face isn’t enough to explain the flush high in his cheeks or the unmistakable sparkle in his eyes.

Zelda bites her lip.

“There wouldn’t happen to be anyone out there waiting for you?”

The way Link glances away and tugs shyly on his ponytail is answer enough.

Zelda’s smile softens. It would be a lie to say she didn’t want Link here with her, but she couldn’t keep him caged at her side either.

She reaches out, placing her hand over Link’s. He glances up at her, eyebrows pinched together curiously.

“I’m happy for you. Thank you for all you’ve done for me. For this land. For everyone.”

Link blinks at her, his eyes misty, before stuttering out that of course this doesn’t mean he plans on going anywhere now. He will stay with her as long as she needs him. These are all just silly little goals. Nothing that means abandoning his duty.

And Zelda knows it’s true. Her poor, selfless hero. He’d die by her side if she asked it of him, without a second thought.

He already has.

But she only shakes her head, letting out a soft laugh. She may never be free of her birthright, but Link has surely fulfilled his.

“Go. I’ll be fine here. Hyrule is safe. If I need you, I know you’ll never be too far away.”

Link opens his mouth to protest, but Zelda quiets him, craning her neck to place a soft kiss on his forehead.

“Just promise me you won’t forget to write,” she whispers, lips tilting up into a smile.

Months pass by in a rush. Zelda is left preoccupied with rebuilding her kingdom, a task far greater than any one person could possibly manage. She’s almost too busy to miss Link.

Almost.

Ruling a kingdom can be rather lonely, especially when all your friends and family have long since passed.

Yet, she’s not really alone. Link keeps his promise, loyal and dependable as he’s ever been. His letters arrive every week without question.

They’re usually short, just a few lines of anything interesting he has found in his travels, but Zelda treasures them with all her heart.

While at first his letters arrive from all over Hyrule, it isn’t long before she notices his travels becoming more and more limited. Increasingly, all of his stories are of the antics he’s experienced in the Zora Domain. Nor does it take her long to notice how one character sticks out more than all the others:

Sidon, Mipha’s younger brother. Zelda had met him once, when he was still a young little guppy running circles around Mipha’s ankles. Though she never asks, it is no stretch to imagine he’s the ‘someone’ Link had grown so flustered over, with how fondly he writes of him.

From how Link describes him, he sounds nothing like his deceased older sister. But Link seems drawn to him all the same, just as he had been to the Zora Princess. Zelda learned long ago not to distrust Link’s judgement.

Link invites her to visit the Zora’s Domain many times, but it’s nearly a full year before she can find time to fit in such a long excursion.

She sets off with perhaps a little more hop in her step than usual. The journey to Zora’s domain is long and arduous, but she’s no stranger to travel, and it’s nice to take a break, see the world again for a change.

The sun is bright overhead when the sweeping towers of Zora’s Domain begin to appear in the distance. Zelda smiles to herself and pats her stallion’s neck, urging him on.

She leaves her guard at the city entrance, nodding to the Zora soldiers as she walks by. A small pack of curious Zora children stare at her in awe from a distance, too nervous to come greet her. She smiles at them and offers a friendly wave, which causes them to giggle shyly and scurry away.

A statue of Mipha stands in the center of the courtyard, dutifully watching over everyone there. Zelda pauses to stare up at the likeness of her old friend.

Mipha had been kind and selfless, never uttering a word of complaint in all the time Zelda had known her.

She had loved Link. Zelda could never have been blind enough to miss that. Whether Link had returned those feelings, she could never be sure. Her knight was much less forward with his emotions back then. Now, it matters not.

With a sigh, she places a hand on the base Mipha’s statue, tilting her head up to stare at her friend’s gentle face. She misses the champions, misses the world that died a hundred years ago with them. Sometimes surviving can be incredibly lonely.

A high-pitched wave of laughter breaks her from her reverie. She whips around, face softening instantly when she spots Link on the level above her. He’s laughing loudly, hanging from the shoulders of a Zora more than twice his size. The Zora holds what appears to be a squirming frog in his hands, staring down at it in wonder.

Link leans over the Zora’s shoulders, holding the Sheikah Slate in front of him in an attempt to get a good picture, only for the crafty frog to wiggle free at the last second.

Zelda laughs aloud at that, feeling a surge of fondness well up in her chest. Link looks so at ease here, more carefree than she’s ever seen him. It makes some of the pressure on her own shoulders fall away as well.

Link must have heard her laughter, because he glances down in her direction, mouth half open. She barely has time to lift her arm in greeting before he’s leaping from the stairs, gliding toward her with a wide grin on his face.

Zelda shrieks in a way that is quite undignified for a monarch as Link tackles her into a warm embrace. She returns it desperately, feeling her eyes welling with tears. She’s missed him, more than she can admit.

“It’s so good to see you, old friend,” she whispers, digging her hands into his shirt. He sweeps her off her feet to spin her around, the broad grin on his face echoing her sentiment.

“Greetings!” A loud voice booms, right as Link sets Zelda gently back on her feet.

The Zora whom Link had been hanging off moments before is already hovering over her, smiling excitedly.

“You must be Queen Zelda! I am Prince Sidon! It is wonderful to finally meet you! Link has told me so much about you, and of course, I have grown up learning of the heroic and beautiful princess of Hyrule. I am so excited to get to know you more! Welcome to Zora’s Domain!”

Zelda blinks up at the large Zora, a little taken off guard by how forward he is when compared to his generally quiet and timid older sister.

Still, she returns his enthusiasm with a warm smile. “It is a pleasure to meet you, Prince Sidon. I’ve heard much about you, as well,” she says, not without sneaking Link a knowing glance.

Link flushes, but Sidon only beams.

“You have? Only good things, I hope.”

Zelda crosses her arms, tilting her head to the side playfully. “Well, Mipha did tell me you were a rebellious child. You once dyed her scales blue in her sleep.”

Sidon blinks at her, before throwing his head back with laughter.

“I can’t deny that,” he admits. “Though I’m afraid my duties have taken up much of the time I used to have for pranking my family members.”

Link snorts and Sidon spares him a mischievous smile.

“Mostly.”

There’s a story there, but Zelda finds herself more intrigued by the way Link and Sidon are looking at each other. It makes her chest feel warm.

“But where are my manners?” Sidon says suddenly, throwing his hands up. “My father is eager to meet with you! We will take you there, if that’s okay.”

He takes Link’s hand, seemingly without thinking anything of it. It’s Link who turns around and beckons her to follow, expression a bit sheepish.

Zelda only offers a knowing grin.

“Lead the way.”

#princess zelda #link #breath of the wild #sidon #sidlink #kinda #okay like #admittedly i haven't gotten around to beating the final boss yet so #i dont actually know how the ending goes #im trying to collect all the shrines okay i am taking my time it is too much fun #my writing #my fics

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nycttophilic-a · 5 years

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Kira Black~

=BASIC INFO= FULL NAME: Princess Jezilia of the Twilight Realm NICKNAME(S)/ALIAS(ES): Kira Black PRONUNCIATION(S): Kee-ra / Jez—ee—lee—a AGE: 21 (verse dependent) GENDER: Female SPECIES: Hybrid (Half Hylian and half Twili) BIRTH DATE: November 3rd (self selected, Hylian dates are very different from human ones) SEXUALITY: Bisexual, leaning strongly more towards men =PERSONALITY= PERSONALITY: Kind, serious, mysterious, gentle, harsh, cold, warm, bipolar EMBODYING QUALITY/IDEA: The daughter of both light and darkness, both sides battling over dominance of her soul. Because of this, she’s bipolar, but in the human sense. She switches from light to dark. Environmental factors can contribute to this, as well as what type of magic she uses LIKES: Magic, adventuring, alchemy, singing, sketching, her loved ones, quiet places, reading DISLIKES: Monsters, princess lessons, humans, being a princess FEARS: Whips, losing her loved ones WEAKNESSES: Short tempered at times, as well as being a tsundere. STRENGTHS: Kind, compassionate, serious, a natural born leader SPECIAL/SIGNIFICANT BELONGINGS: She wears her deceased mother’s cloak, which was a gift given to her by her older sister. Other than that, she typically wears black dresses underneath. =PHYSICAL AND HEALTH INFO= HEIGHT: 5’2 feet WEIGHT: 82 pounds BODY TYPE: Short and skinny, but she uses her small form to her advantage. She looks really weak because of her lack of muscles, but she’s actually quite strong. Also, she doesn’t have much curves, but they still are very defined and match her porcelain doll like appearance perfectly. JEWELRY: Black earrings occasionally PIERCINGS/TATTOOS: Normal ear piercings SCARS/DISTINGUISHING MARKS: Whip scars litter her back from her abuse as a child. She also has very obvious and strange eyes, bluish green orbs that are always changing. The more green the more light in her soul. The more blue the more darkness. =RELATIONSHIP INFO= RELATIONSHIP STATUS: Verse Dependent PARENTS: Queen Minerva [Twili] (Mother, deceased); Christopher [Hylian] (Father, deceased) SIBLING(S): Princess Midna [Twili] (half-sister) – BEST FRIEND(S): Link, Midna, verse dependent FRIENDS: Verse dependent, various people in Hyrule ACQUAINTANCES: Verse dependent, her subjects (some) ASSISTANTS: Castle servants GUARDS: Castle guards ALLIES: Her sister, Zelda, Link, verse dependent PETS/SPECIAL ANIMALS: Will sometimes have a pet cat – ENEMIES: Ganondorf, Zant, monsters, herself, some of her subjects, verse dependent MAIN ENEMY(IES): Herself, verse dependent MOST HATED: A bit Zelda, mostly Zant, verse dependent =STORY INFO= STORIES THAT THIS CHARACTER APPEARS IN: Legend of Zelda, but travels to other worlds often STATUS: Alive BACKSTORY: Kira is the illegitimate child of a Hylian knight and a Twili Queen, the very first product of a forbidden love. Twili hate Hylians, and most Hylians know nothing of Twili, so it wasn’t safe for the little girl—especially with her mother gone, dying in childbirth. So, her father, with the Hylian royal family’s help, managed to transport little Jezilia to the human world and left her on the doorstep of a childless couple. They hoped that she would live a happy life there. They were wrong. The couple never wanted a child and abused her, treating her like a slave. They dehumanized her and whipped her if she disobeyed them. She endured this torture until she was almost 13, when she killed her “adoptive father” with her magic. She fled the house of nightmares in fear of what would become of her, as well as for answers as to what that thing was that killed the evil man. She soon found herself in Hyrule, where she learned about who she was and went from a fearful and horrid child to the beautiful and strong woman she is now. – PLACE OF BIRTH: Twilight Realm Palace PAST LIVING QUARTERS: London, England CURRENT AND FUTURE HOMES: Hyrule, Twilight Realm, verse dependent – NATIVE LANGUAGE(S): English (since she was raised in London) LANGUAGES SPOKEN: English, Spanish, French, German, Hylian, Ancient Hylian, Goro, Zora Script, Twili, etc. =TALENTS/OCCUPATION/EDUCATION= OCCUPATION/JOB: Princess, adventurer, sorceress, verse dependent BOSS: N/A TALENTS: Her magic, being brilliant, compassionate, alchemy, singing, etc. YEARS OF EDUCATION: Self taught and always seeking to learn more LEVEL OF EDUCATION: No formal education =COMBAT= SKILLS/TECHNIQUES: Just without using her magic, she’s a very dangerous enemy because of how small she is. She is inhumanly agile and fast, and will dart circles around you and just beat the shit out of you with her fists and feet alone. But she’ll also use her two katana in combat, and maybe even her magic if the foe is hard enough. SPECIAL POWERS: As the daughter of a Hylian and a Twili, she can use both light and dark magic. She’s excellent at doing so, and her powers are incredibly strong, even though she has only unlocked a minimal part of it. She also is amazing at healing people, and she can easily tell if someone’s lying or not. (There ARE loopholes, ask me about them if you want to know) WEAPON(S) OF CHOICE: Kira tends to use her dark magic to make two katana made out of pure darkness and will dual wield with them. She also sometimes makes daggers made out of darkness and will use those. STRENGTHS: Along with her magic, Kira is very lithe with her movements. She’s fast and agile, and is an excellent fighter as a result. WEAKNESSES: Kira’s magic comes from the air around her, but when she uses up the darkness or light in the immediate space around her, she has to use her own life essence. This means that if she over exerts herself, she can easily die. However, her magic is like a muscle in the sense that the more she uses it, the stronger it gets and the more she can use it. =VERSES=

~hσld чσur вrєαth αnd cσunt thє dαчѕ; wє‘rє grαduαtíng ѕσσn~ [High School Verse]—In this Verse, Kira is just a normal girl in high school with no magic. Very smart, taking college classes outside of high school, most likely to be valedictorian.

~tαkє mє thrσugh thє níght; fαll íntσ thє dαrk ѕídє~ [Villain! Verse]—This Verse is based off of My Hero Academia. Here, Kira never went to Hyrule and learned of her magic. Instead, she lived on her own for years, her hatred for humans growing and torturing her inside. And once she learns of her “powers,” she decides it’s time to make humans suffer. (Can be My Hero Academia Verse.)

~whєrє thє runαwαчѕ αrє runníng thє níght~ [Phantom Casino Verse]—Starts the same as the villain verse, but here Kira joins the Phantom Casino, lead by Zach Rhys over at @siireniis. She works as a singer/performer.

~ѕσund σf mч hєαrt; thє вєαt gσєѕ σn αnd σn~ [Band Verse]—Kira is a normal human with an incredible voice. What is she to do with such a talent? Become a world renowned singer, of course!!

~í’m α crєαturє whσ‘ѕ up tσ nσ gσσd; í‘ll lσvє чσu líkє α vαmpírє wσuld~ [Vampire Verse]—This verse is very simple and the same for all of the muses that have it: the character is a vampire. This verse is very flexible, so if you have ideas please let me know so we can incorporate it into the thread!! But it’s nothing major, I just love vampires lol

~tαkє mє tσ wσndєrlαnd~ [Wonderland Verse]—An AU where Kira is basically Alice from “Alice in Wonderland”!!

~í cαn вє hαppч wíth чσu; вut í cαn‘t вє hαppч íf í‘m dєαd~ [Simulation Verse]—Do you want to ship your muse with one of my four girls? Then this is the verse for you!! That is, if you’re prepared for some REALLY messed up shit and triggers like suicide, abuse, murder, blood, and many others. This verse is not at all for the faint of heart, and it’s best if you don’t really know what you’re in for. If you want to learn a bit more about this verse, you can find it here.

Demon Verse TBA—Everything you think you know about Kira has changed!! Now, she’s a demon of over a million years old, and she does NOT like humans. Her past shall remain a secret until she decides to spill it—or have one of her demon “friends” tell your muse—but I will tell you she previously worked for a certian Earl of Phantomhive and devoured his soul long ago. Now she’s just a cold, uncaring, and selfish demon in need of probably a thousand Snickers.

~wє‘vє вєєn ѕpєndíng mσѕt σf σur lívєѕ lívíng ín thє gαngѕtα‘ѕ pαrαdíѕє~ [BSD! Verse]—Previously, Kira was supposed to have died when Lia was a baby. I changed that. In the attack that everyone believes killed Jezilia’s mother, Kira actually survived but was taken away from the scene without her baby. Sebastian came and collected the child without Kira’s knowledge, and from then on she spent every waking moment looking for her lost daughter. That brought her to join the Order of the Clocktower, and she is an excellent member. Her ability is “Twilight’s Lament” and is similar to Mori’s in the sense that it manifests itself in a physical form that will protect Kira and do as she asks (the ability is Midna, as this is her BSD verse too.) Kira’s been searching for her daughter for roughly 20 years (now 40) by the time the anime has begun. There is also a verse available for her where Kira is just a normal young woman in the Order. No Lia, no mom-ing everyone, just a quiet girl with a book, an imp, and two swords.

~íf í tσld чσu whαt í wαѕ wσuld чσu turn чσur вαck σn mє?~ [Monster! Verse]—An AU where the world is humans/monster hunters vs. monsters. Here, Kira is a siren—a hybrid between the two opposing races of siren, the Sea Siren and the Sky Siren. As a daughter of both, she’s hated by her own kind and was abandoned in the ocean. She washed up on shore and was found and sold by hunters to the government, where they performed experiments on her. She finally broke free at 12 years old, and has hated humans ever since. More information can be found here.

like this post if you have read it and agree to it, please.

#Kira Black #~🥀I’m super bored (OOC)🥀~

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sage-nebula · 7 years

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Not meme, but headcanons about Link's and Zelda's lives post-game? I like to think they just stuff Zelda's library in the Hateno home eventually since I don't think they'd spend much time in the house anyway, Link would be out there helping people and Zelda would be in Purah's or Robbie's labs, or otherwise warping around with the Sheikah Slate (or not, idk if it would allow non-Hero to warp. Regardless, she'd be out there for her archaeology passions). (I still need to finish 😅)

Sure!! I have lots of headcanons about this. ♥ I do include some information from the Golden Ending, so I’ll put that bit under a cut to give you the option of whether or not you want to read it. As for the non-spoiler stuff:

I do think they actually live in the house in Hateno. In my headcanon, Link bought it not only so that he would have a place to store the special weapons / a place to rest when he got tired, but also with the thought in mind that he and Zelda could possibly live there together once all was said and done. He was still regaining his memories of the past at the time, and they were disjointed and out of order; but the more he remembered, the more he remembered how close they once were, and aside from that, he figured (correctly) that Zelda wouldn’t want to live in the castle when all was said and done. She did spend one hundred years in there with Calamity Ganon, after all. Wouldn’t she want to spend her days somewhere else?So after the events of the game, he brings her back to Hateno. He already has his horse there with him thanks to the Dark Beast Ganon fight (in my headcanon this is Keith, but it could be any horse for any others), and so he helps Zelda onto the back of the horse and brings her back to Hateno. He blindfolds her with a scarf when they get near, leads Keith over to the little mini stables and puts him in the stall (next to the royal white horse, named Allura in my headcanon, but again, the name is irrelevant), and then when he goes back over to where Zelda is in front of the house, he removes the blindfold … and lets her see the house.“Ta-da!”Zelda blinks, staring at the house for a moment before she says, “… It’s a house.”“Yeah. It’s our house. I bought it.”“You … bought a house?” Zelda turns to look at him, staring, and Link laughs a bit awkwardly.“Yup. They were going to tear it down, so I bought it for 3,000 rupees and some wood. And, uh, some other stuff inside—it’s all decorated. Here, come see.”He takes her hand and leads her inside. Shows her the Champions’ weapons on the wall (“I figured it’d be best to honor them, instead of breaking their stuff in combat”), the table, the desk and bed on the second floor. He stutters and stammers over getting a bigger bed, or a second bed, before Zelda laughs and says it’s all right, she doesn’t mind sharing. They’ll need a bigger one, of course, but for now this one will do.“Really?” he says, his blush fading, but his heart still racing.“I’ve spent one hundred years alone, with only a brutish pig-beast for company,” she says, and Link’s heart cracks as Zelda wraps her arms around her middle. “I wouldn’t mind having someone soft and warm to lay next to at night.”They’re both blushing, now, their cheeks pink and indeed warm, so Link clears his throat. “All right. Well, then, I’ve got one last thing to show you.”That’s when he takes her hand again and leads her back outside, to the stable beside their house, where their two horses each have their own individual stalls. Zelda is in shock; she goes to the white horse and tentatively reaches out her hand. The horse sniffs, and then bumps her snout against Zelda’s palm.“That’s a descendant of your old horse, I think,” Link says. “I’ve been calling her Allura, but you can call her whatever you like.”“Allura is a nice name,” Zelda says, and she turns to look at Link in wonder. “Where did you … ?”“Plenty of time for that story later,” Link says, mostly because he has just remembered the room in the back. “Come on. One last thing, for real this time.”

The shed / room in the back of the house becomes Zelda’s new study. Link never minded her intellectual curiosities; aside from the incident where she almost made him eat a frog (Zelda pls), Link was actually always impressed by how smart and studious she is, and loved seeing how passionately happy she got when talking about her interests. So after he helps clean the room of spiders and cobwebs, they install nice lights and move the desk from the second floor of the house to the back room, so that can be Zelda’s study. She still does study with Purah, Symon, and Robbie, but she also has her own study at their house where she can go for private thoughts and reflections, just as she did at the castle.

Link does most of the cooking, because he’s gotten rather good at it over the course of his adventure, and Zelda—being a princess—never actually learned. She does have Link teach her, though, and he’s happy to show her new recipes. He’s less happy when she tries to add actual monster parts to food.“Zelda, no,” he says.“What? Monster parts can be used in elixirs. It stands to reason that they could be mixed into food as well. It’s worth a try, at any rate.”“No, it’s not. That’s disgusting.” Link pulls a face. “You should go hang out with Kilton. He’d love to lick Lizalfos with you.”“Who’s Kilton?”“I’ll introduce you sometime.”

They go horseback riding a lot. Since my headcanon gives them Keith (my black horse, my beautiful and brave and best boy) and Allura (the royal white horse), they actually make quite the striking pair. Only Link can warp with the Sheikah Slate (given that he’s the Hero), and he does warp them around sometimes, but Zelda also enjoys seeing the world by traveling on horseback, and Link can’t blame her. Even if there’s so much reconstruction to be done, Hyrule is still a beautiful place. So they go horseback riding a lot, either because they have somewhere to be or simply because they want to enjoy riding for the sake of it. One hundred years has not done very much to diminish their love of riding.

Although only Link can warp with the Sheikah Slate, Zelda is the one who carries it the most often. It was originally hers, after all. That said, they more or less share it now. Zelda was very thrilled to see all of the information Link had added to the Compendium. He, meanwhile, is very pleased that she’s so happy.

After showing Zelda the house, Link took Zelda to Kakariko so that she could reunite with Impa. Both Impa and Zelda cried at this reunion.

Now that she can actually practice and learn without King Rhoan being all D:

With that said, Link ends up taking her by Jini’s Mounted Archery Course, so that she can drill and get good at mounted combat. Jini is excited to have a new pupil, and warms up to Zelda just as quickly as he had warmed up to Link.

And then the kind of #spoilers things:

Although Link takes Zelda to a variety of other places for fun reasons as well (diving in Zora’s Domain, sand seal racing in the desert, listening to Kass’ kids sing in Rito Village, et cetera), they are still focused on reconstructing Hyrule. They maintain upkeep on the Divine Beasts and are actively working to try and unite Hyrule into one kingdom again, given how splintered the various settlements have been ever since the calamity. They do a lot of traveling for this reason, so even though they do return home when they can (either by warping or otherwise), they do spend nights out in the world as well, either by campfires or at inns, stables, et cetera.

Zelda, as mentioned, doesn’t want to live in the castle, ever again. But that said, she is still the kingdom’s princess (queen, now), even if she’s not sure she’s ready for that responsibility, either. Link thinks she is—she has always been a magnificent princess, and will be an amazing queen—but Zelda herself isn’t sure. Even so, she knows that if Hyrule is to be united and truly come together as a kingdom again that she’s going to have to start introducing herself as the queen, and so—with the help of their allies—they do start spreading that word. Zelda formally introduces herself to King Dorephan, Riju, et al as the Queen of Hyrule shortly after she is freed from the castle and is able to travel again. At least by starting with the leaders of each place, it can make it easier for people to see her for the queen she now is, whether she’s ready to be or not. (Although, running a kingdom out of a house in Hateno Village will be tricky, but …) So there’s a lot of political stuff to figure out, but Link assures Zelda that they can take it one step at a time.“We still have to figure out what those steps actually are,” Zelda tells him. “We can’t just … fly by the seat of our pants!”“Why not?” Link asks, and as Zelda gapes at him, adds, “It’s worked pretty well for me so far. Well, actually I was flying by the handles of my paraglider, but—”Zelda swats his arm.

They don’t come together romantically right away. It’s been one hundred years, after all, and things were complicated even back then. So for a long while they live together as friends, platonic roommates even as they share a bed and cuddle and find comfort in each other. Romance builds up slowly over time, and they don’t actually come together romantically until about another year has passed. That said? No one is surprised when they announce this. “Splendid! I must admit I thought you were already together, but even so, superb! Well done!” Sidon gushes.“Were you not … already together?” Kass asks, confused.And so on and so forth.

And that’s all for now!

#tofukitten #loz spoilers #botw spoilers #legend of zelda spoilers #breath of the wild spoilers

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