#it would be so cool if we had stories of Zora that lived in the depths and changed from being in the dark for so long. like their scales | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

luimagines · 3 years

Note

the boys with a merperson s/o (or crushing on them) scenarios or headcannons?

Masterlist

MERMAIDS!! OCTMERS!! Crustacean mers? Shark mers?

...It's not mermay... It’s belated mermay since I’m sure I actually got this request by the end of it.

BUT I can do this regardless!

The possibilities are endless.

These are when they’re in their own Hyrule. Without the group, so to speak.

Headcanon time! but also like half scenario?

Content under the cut!

Legend

You are a mermaid or merman

Just a typical mer

Obviously you meet when he’s exploring with his mermaid tail.

You thought he was from far away because you’ve never seen him before nor was his accent similar with pods across the reef.

You ask your friends and neighbors if they knew him but no one could say where he was from.

And he wasn’t exactly forthcoming with any answers, always telling you something else to change the subject.

But regardless of his secrecy you enjoyed his company and his stories.

Sometimes you would find things from the surface and give them to him

You noticed he liked to collect things from above and thought it would make him happy

You were always trying to find things that would make him happy

He seemed to be full of hurt and bitterness

But you knew him to be a kind and sincere soul so you didn’t want him to hurt anymore than he already has.

But you get curious one day.

“Link, where do you live?”

“In land.”

“But if you’re a fresh water mer, how can be out here in the ocean?”

He stalls and blinks at you.

“I’m not a mer.”

That’s throws you for a loop.

“But... you’re tail....???”

You ask more questions

And Legend complies because he totally thought you knew he was Hylian.

That would explain why no one knew where he was from.

He was one of the dry dwellers.

You’re quick to ask him about his travels and he tells you

He finds comfort in someone else knowing what he’s been through and being able to talk everything out.

He also finds more comfort in the water and finds himself thinking about you even when he’s by rivers and lakes

But you wouldn’t survive in fresh water

He begins to bring over some of his more water worthy items to show you

And impress you

But he’s not being honest with himself

So he tries to keep you as close as he can and visit you as often as he can when his blacksmithing apprenticeship lets him get away from time to time

His feelings are slow going

But they’re there.

But he’s pretending they’re not there

Your feelings are also slow going

You confuse them with admiration and curiosity

So of course nothing is actually happening

You’re both being idiots

But your feelings are requited.

Everyone who’s witnessing this is in agony.

Hyrule

You are a fresh water mer!

Hyrule can’t swim so he’s got inclined to go out into the ocean any time soon.

Or into any lakes for that matter.

But he does spend a lot of time near rivers when he has to chance to relax for a change.

It’s where you see him first actually

You were swimming up river from your home to check out what may have been left behind.

You were intrigued by him

But he saw you and ran, not wanting to interact with you incase you were about to attack him

It hurt to see that but you were determined to get to know him

It took months

Mostly because he didn’t go back to that spot for a long time

Next time he appeared you were farther back and raised your hand, waving to him slowly

He stared at you like a deer in headlights

But you stayed your distance

It a reoccurring process.

Each time you’d get a little closer but try to be as non-confrontational as possible

When Hyrule felt at ease enough with your pretense that you could be right next to him, you finally told him your name

He told you his.

Your friendship was grow at a quicker rate than before and you thought he was incredibly interesting

With even more time, you manage to get him into the water and try to teach him how to swim.

You have to take a while to get around how his limbs work verses how you typically swim but somehow you both make it work

Hyrule is a little less afraid of the water now that you’ve been by his side but he still avoids it when you’re not with him

One day you get a little bold and take him to your lake

He’s quick to join you but he won’t go to where the water goes above his head.

It’s a little frustrating to you because you weren’t going to hurt him

You want to show him your home

Even if it was under water

You tell him such

And you can see him consider the option and the possibilities.

“You’ll lead the way?”

You grin and take his hand.

“It’s not like you’d know the way.”

“I can’t breath under water though.”

“I can help with that.”

There’s a magical ability your people possess that when gifted willingly will grant to recipient the ability to breath underwater.

You tell him such with a small blush on your face

It’s something you’ve been wanting to give him for awhile but...

You could see how long it took for Link to warm up to you

And you’d hate to ruin what you have

But your boldness speaks ahead of you.

“What is it?”

“We call it the Stolen Breath.”

“But what is it?”

“...”

You gulp and float on your back to avoid eye contact.

“A kiss.”

You can feel him stare at you in silence for a hot second before he takes a breath.

“Ok.”

Four

You were a river dolphin mer!

Because of Four’s job he’s mostly landlocked so he’s not exactly going to be going to the ocean any time soon.

But there’s plenty of rivers nearby for him to visit in whatever free time he can buy for himself.

When he first meets you it’s not because of those times though.

He actually heard about you through the minish first.

They talked about how you helped them and what you do to keep the place safe, and occasionally you let them ride on your back for a small fee.

The fee is stories of the land beyond.

Intrigued, Four visited your river in hopes of finding you

And he did.

As a minish.

He kept visiting you both out of curiosity and because well...

He thought you were cool.

That being said, you thought he was just another minish and had adored your new found little friend who always seemed so happy to see you.

When Four heard about your fee, he gladly told you about all his adventures, his friends and how he saved the world time and time again

You didn’t believe him at first but loved a good story when you could hear one so you let him talk

Some of the details seemed familiar, when the minish would talk about their savior and friend- The Hero of the Four Sword or The Hero of Men

You asked him about it- why he knew some details that the other minish left out

He stalls and hesitates to let you know the truth

With a small breath, he promises you that when he comes back, he’ll let you know why

You expect him to come back in a week or two like usual but he comes back the next day and leads you to one of the minish doors.

Before your eyes you see him hop through it and come back as a hylian

“Oh.”

“Oh?” Four winces and begins to nervously wring his hands together.

“Does that mean you’re the hero?” You grin and jump out of your river.

“Yes.”

That means all of his stories are true!

You stare at him and begin to feel a little giddy.

“Tell me everything!”

Four smiles a little to himself as he relaxes.

“What else haven’t I told you yet?”

“Well... What do you do when you’re not the hero?”

Four grins wider and sits down on the wet rock next to you.

“Not a whole lot.”

“Tell me anyway.”

Time

You were a hermit crab mer!

Time, similar to Four, is mostly landlocked and as such doesn’t get a lot of opportunities to go to the ocean

But Lake Hylia is definitely within his reach

And considering that you had your shell to keep you from drying out completely on dry land, you had the ability to travel on land for a day or two before you had to return

You were still chained to the water but so much as the others you knew to exist

Time had met you when he was younger, exploring the lake in its entirety with his Zora mask

That being said, he thought he was initially a zora

Your relationship was a little shaky at first.

He had attacked you at first, not knowing what you were or whether you proposed a threat or not

And you had attacked him in turn because the zora were never really welcome near your home- they looked down on you for claiming to be a superior species and they could keep that attitude away from you, thank you very much

When you disengaged, you yelled at him for being a prick and attacking you when you did nothing wrong- even throwing in some less than welcome zora stereotypes of the era toward his face

Later on you grow to really hate that moment- and it embarrasses you every time you think about it but Link laughs

Mostly because in his mind and how he remembers it- he deserved it 100%

It was weeks after when Link had enough of the guessing games and faced you head on to explain himself and apologize.

However you were in the water this time around and he was once again wearing the mask

It took nearly three years of your friendship for you to even learn that he was actually hylian

Which complicated your feelings somewhat

Because as a zora, he was quick to put down your inner prejudice against them by just being himself

Enough so that you thought that maybe there was something happening between you two

But knowing that he was hylian- and could not actually breath under water or spend any more time with you than his life expectancy would allow- hurt you a lot

You had distanced yourself from him for a while as you digested this

Link obviously took it wrong way entirely

He thought you had cut him off from your life and had nothing else to do with him

He wasn’t entirely sure of his feelings at the time

But thought of you cutting him off was painful

He wasn’t sure how to fix it- or even if he could

In the time you were stewing and trying to figure out if this actually changes anything in your relationship, Link was trying to find anything little thing he could get to impress you and express how much he cares for you

Coincidentally, you both look for each to make up on the same day

Link with something shiny and obnoxious for you to add to your steadily growing collection of nick nacks

And you with a confession on your tongue and your heart on your sleeve

Naturally, nothing goes to plan and you don’t confess

Link for his part feels infinitely better about you not shunning him in disgust or heartbreak

You’re glad that he still wants to spend time with you, even if you will eventually out live him

But you’re both young and tenderly feeling this out

There’s still a chance for you two, you think.

There’s still time to let him think about it and for you to try again

Keep going.

Warrior

You were a squid mer

The bioluminescent kind

Warrior actually thought that you were a weird type of zora

From an area that he had yet to see or experience

He was shocked at first when you made your appearance at the surface and screamed

A very manly scream

You shot back down into the water and kept only your eyes above the water

He stared with child like interest after the initial scare when you stared to glow

You stared at each other for a really long time

He was the first Hylian that you’ve seen

You thought that he was cute

Like newly hatched guppies or a jellyfish

You pulled yourself up onto the dock, your extra limbs carrying you with easy strength until you were face to face with him

He was smaller than you thought he would be and you thought that he was missing a few necessary limbs

Your arms caress him with piqued curiosity

He’s tense and panicked but you’ve shown no sign of hostility so he’s refraining from reaching for his weapon.

You pull back after a few tense minutes and plop yourself back into the water.

It’s warmer than you’re accustomed to so you’re uncomfortable and the sun is beginning to rise on the horizon, making it a little brighter than your eyes can handle

You have to leave

But you hope that you can see him again

And you do

He’s a on ship during a storm

And he falls into the water

You’re quick to push through the warmer waters and grab him before the current can

You swim as fast as you can to the surface and hold his head above the water

He’s a coughing mess and tries to swim away from you in his efforts

You hold him close, not trusting his personal strength to fight the ocean

After a brief moment, he notices you and calms down

You’re quick to try and find some land

But you’re too far out into the water and it would take a while

You frown, holding him securely and pick a direction to go.

You force this smaller creature onto your back as you swim

It takes all night and you’re sure would have blinded yourself if you had to stay out any longer than you did

Warrior lets go when land comes, and begins to swim the rest of the way

He says something in his native tongue that you don’t understand but he salutes you

You copy the move and duck under the waves once more

Over multiple weeks afterwards you try to find him again. Continuously resurfacing to try and find him but you’re low on luck.

Until one day

He finds you

You were caught up by some deep sea fisherman, the zora working hard to keep you from destroying their net.

He’s on the docks where they bring you.

The light is killer and blinding and the heat starts to dry your skin.

He saves you in your vulnerability and says, “You save me. I save you. My name is Link. What’s yours?”

It’s your language

You reply before you can question how he speaks it

It’s a special necklace that he had Lana make

You’re back in the water before you know it

Relief comes over you like a tidal wave and you say your thanks to your new friend

Warrior then finds you after that again

And again

You think you like him

He’s not so sure why he likes being around just yet

But he’ll get there

Twilight

You were a crayfish mer!

Here’s the thing, Twilight is also pretty landlocked himself

He’s not exactly going to be by the ocean any time soon and he’s more inclined to relax by a lake than on a riverbank.

That being said, you meet at Lake Hylia.

Since you had a shell, it protected you from the sun and from drying out too fast on land.

Twilight’s first inclination is to freeze up on the spot because he thought you were an aquatic version of the Oocca.

And he wasn’t happy about it.

But you seemed friendly and he wasn’t raised by wolves, so he makes polite conversation with you

He thought it would stop there but nope

You somehow found him no matter where by the lake he was sitting

After awhile he got used to you and even welcomed your presence.

You were none the wiser about his discomfort and just thought he was a nice guy you could talk to to get the news from the land beyond.

You crushed on him first

Your home was buried by a strong storm one day and he wasted no time in helping you dig it out and get it back in working order

That was a love arrow straight through your heart and you were smitten ever since

Twilight had just begun his process wanting to be by your side

At this point he would visit Lake Hylia- not to see you (he wasn’t there yet)- but he would hope you would come and spend some time with him

You knew that you two were from very different words so you tried your hardest to keep your feelings to yourself

Your friendship actually lasted years before Twilight had to come to terms with himself and the thought he might like you

He doesn’t like the idea of falling in love only to have it ripped away from him again

But you can wait for him just as long as he needs to

With time he brings you little gifts

Small things made of glass and stone- things that would survive underwater that he thought you would like

You keep them in a special place inside your burrow

Another storm struck

Late at night when everyone was still asleep, and your burrow collapsed with you inside of it

It was hard for you to move and dig yourself out

You could reach your little treasures that Link would give you

But that was about it.

Link, for his part, was coming to visit you

Not the lake

You

But what he found sunk his heart

A mudslide covered at least half of the shore line and went into the lake

He ran all the way to where he knew your burrow was but he couldn’t find the opening

He didn’t even think that calling your name would have worked

Link swallowed hard, concern and worry latching onto his whole being.

He ran all the way back to his house, getting his shovel and zora armor to go underwater.

Knowing that he was running low on time and you were running out of oxygen, he hitched up Epona and rode all the way back to the lake.

He jumped right into the thick of it and began to dig

Epona wasn’t sure what got Link all up in a tizzy but she pounded the ground by the shoreline nervously

It was hard work

All that would be moved away was replaced by by more mud that would slide over it.

Link was determined though

And terrified

He kept digging until he was able to make some progress with it and eventually he found you huddled where you would normally sleep, clutching your little nick nacks that he gave you.

The fresh water seemed heaven sent and you gulped down what you could, reaching for him to pull you out.

Link grabbed your hand swam with you to the surface, pulling you to the shoreline and washing off all the mud from your shell and your hair

His feelings had to take a step on the backburner for a moment

He had to see that you were ok first.

It may have been the first moment that you could see how much he cared about you

You were starting to suspect where his feelings were before he did

But you’d wait for him.

Sky

You were an Octomer!

But since it’s Hyrule, I’m saying that your have the immortality of a jellyfish. Like how Zora’s can live hundreds of years compared to hylians but longer.

The first time you meet, it’s when he’s exploring more of what the surface has to offer.

Now Sky isn’t like the others.

He doesn’t have the same perception of the others

So while the others would have perceived you as a threat- Sky is mostly confused by your lack of action toward him and the fact that he’s never seen something like you before

So if your species is new to him- and you’re not attacking him-

Then maybe you’re friendly?

You grin and he’s a little taken aback by your teeth.

Slowly you crawl to where he is, each arm pulling you toward him.

You greet him in an ancient language

It has been a while since you’ve seen his kind and you want to know where they’ve gone and what kind of lives they live now.

Unfortunately he doesn’t understand you

You frown and try again, reaching out your hand for him to take

He does take it and replies in a language you’re unfamiliar with

Maybe in the time they’ve been gone the language has evolved.

This can be a problem

While you’re contemplating this, you dip back into the water somewhat and fish out (no pun intended) a stick and begin to draw on the supple sand beneath the both of you

He’s quick to catch on to what you’re doing and uses the tip of his sword to draw in the sand next to you

Slowly but surely, you both come up with some degree of communication.

You learn that the literary aspect of their language has changed somewhat as well but it’s still comprehensible to your mind

He comes back

Time and time again

He begins to slowly teach you his language as it is now

And you answer his question of the world long past

Link is actually the first to fall between the two of you

You can’t seem to take whatever hint he gives you

When he finally gives up with gift giving and subtle sweet nothings, he tells you directly

Now before this, you hadn’t considered him in such a way

You didn’t think it was even an option

Link is quick to tell you what he’ll do if you give him a chance.

He’ll live out in the ocean.

He’ll learn how to man a boat

He can find an underwater cave to be there instead if you’d prefer

He’ll leave his people behind

You think this one in particular goes a little too far and you’re quick to tell him so

You turn him down

At first

Link comes back again and again because he still enjoys your company and he can get past his emotions to not make it awkward between you two

But now that you know it’s an option

You don’t stop thinking about him

Link is on your mind day and night with all sorts of possibilities and struggles you two would have together and how to get around them

Weeks go by

And the somehow, you talk away your sensible side- the idea of what you could be becoming more and appealing each day

You confess randomly on a sunny afternoon and it takes the both of you by surprise

It’s not what you wanted to say at all.

Link is ecstatic!

He had pretty much given up hope that you two could be an item but his feelings were giving him more trouble than he thought they would

But you liked him back!

So maybe this time things can go a little smoother.

Wild

You are a shark mer!

Because Wild has a type.

Now, you live just beyond Lurelin’s borders

Wild meets you when he’s pushing the limits of a deku leaf before it breaks on him and he’s forced to turn around with his second one because he doesn’t want to be stranded in the middle of the ocean with his dinky little raft.

You’re closer to the surface than you’re usually willing to be.

Seeing the raft was a new thing for you and you swim closer to it to inspect it.

Wild actually managed, somehow to throw himself over board and into the ocean

Coming face to face

with you!

Both of you shoot away from each other in shock and he scrambles to get back onboard the wood planks

For your part, you stall for a moment not used to seeing his king so far out into the deep waters.

Intrigued at this anomaly you break the surface and place your hands on the side of the raft, watching him as he catches his breath.

He begins speaking in a rapid fire language that you don’t understand and tell him as much

He jumps and spins over to you, pointing a finger in your direction and even growling

You tilt your head- not at all feeling intimidated by this smaller creature

You tell him your name and ask him for his

But he doesn’t understand you

He then makes a few hand gestures and you brighten

You know that!

Some sailors use that to communicate between each other when the storms get really bad

You recognize some of them but you don’t know the rest of it

You try to sign back to the best of your ability trying to tell him you don’t know that much and once again introducing yourself

He smiles and tells you his name is Link

It starts from there.

You find yourself swimming and spending more time in the shallows than you used to do

He visits regularly

Link is quick to even bring some of his friends over

You are quickly introduced to the Prince of the Zora, named Sidon and he’s been more or less a translator between you two since you speak similar languages from birth.

He visits you as well and teaches you sign on the side to help you communicate with Link without his help.

Link does not know this is happening

You wanted to surprise your friend and Sidon had his full approval of the plan

Because of Sidon’s duties however, there wasn’t a definitive schedule and you were learning at a snails pace

But progress is progress

Link is having some kind of crisis while he’s at home

Because he wants to show it to you but it’s too far inland

He’d also like to know what your home looks like, if you have one, or if you have a family or a community like the zora

There’s so many things he wants to know about you and he thinks he’s beginning to crush

And crush hard

On someone he can’t even communicate properly with no less.

He then asks Sidon to give him lessons on the language you speak

As if that would help in anyway shape or form

Sidon agrees- fully supportive of this idea

So he begins to teach Link on the side as well in order for you two to be able to talk to each other with ease

You do not know this is happening

Sidon knows what’s happening is waiting for the day for this to blow up in both of your faces

It’s a train wreck waiting to happen

Sidon is glad Link met you

This is the most excitement he’s had since Link showed up in the domain

He really hopes this ends well for the both of you

Wind

You were a stingray mer!

You meet when he goes flying overboard from a storm.

He goes deep

You find him unconscious and try your hardest to swim to the surface and to the nearest beach.

It’s hard for you to get a grip on him and swim at the same time but somehow- by someone’s grace and mercy, you manage

You have to get him away from the water without beaching yourself and that’s another challenge all together.

You think about leaving him there and hoping for the best but a strong waves comes through and nearly drags him out to sea again

You resolve to stay by his side until he wakes up

The sun feels nice and warm, but the problem is that you dry out incredibly fast compared to other mers and it’s very quickly an uncomfortable experience

Luckily- or unluckily if you ask Wind- there was a ship coming by and seemingly coming to whatever island this is.

You take your cue and push yourself backwards into the ocean, watching the ship and the boy you found and trying to see if they were actually going to come to his aid.

The ship does eventually come to the island and you think that the boy would be fine.

But out of curiosity, you do come up to the surface every now and then when you think there’s a ship going back- hoping to see him again- trying to see if he was actually ok.

You see him on what has to be a pirate ship.

You try to get close enough to see him but somehow get yourself caught up in a net and pulled up into the boat.

“Wait! Wait!” The boy calls out and runs over to help you out. “Put it back in the water!”

“What are you doing Link?” Someone from the crew yells. “This is the catch of the century!”

“This thing saved my life! It has to be in the water!”

“What if we don’t?”

“It’ll get sick!”

The boy begins to frantically cutting away the rope from you, throwing it to the side and lessening the pressure around you.

You sigh in relief and try to make your way to the side of the boat.

It’s not easy.

The boy lifts you up from one side but he can’t get a grip on you.

Someone else comes in and helps him, getting on your other side and together they throw you over board.

The relief is immeasurable.

The boy jumps over quickly and splashes next to you.

You grin and wave at him.

He waves back and swims up to the surface.

“Hi! I’m Link!”

You tell him your name in reply and swim around him.

“I’m glad you’re ok! I didn’t think you saw me when I saved you.”

“I woke up right as you got into the water. I saw you swim and dive away as I got back onto the boat.”

“Are you two friends or something?” Someone calls from the ship.

“I’d like to be.” You admit with a smile

“I’m Link.” He smiles. “I’d like to be your friend to.”

Your friendship skyrockets from there.

Wind was already on the ship to travel the great sea, so it was easy for you to spend time with him and get to know the rest of the crew and the pirate captain Tetra as well.

Everything about their stories of land excited you so much.

It was a world so different than yours.

In return you told them stories of everything under the water, of all the places you’ve seen and been to.

Every part of you wanted to impress Link and you cherished him.

You don’t have any one to tell you want your feelings but what you do know is that you like him. He’s a good friend and he cares deeply about his people.

You hope that maybe you can be someone he cares about too.

Link for his part wanted to find pretty things for you and show his home, his family, everything that is important to him.

Tetra figures out what’s going on before he does.

She waits a bit before telling Link to his face what’s up with him, wanting to see if you’ll make a move or if he’ll come to his senses.

Neither happens.

So she tells Link and he’s quick to talk to you and confess.

He cares about you more than you’d ever realize.

#linked universe #linkeduniverse #linked universe x reader

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mako-bones · 3 years

Text

Year Walk (A Zelpha Story)

I have this posted on AO3, but I'd like to post it here as well! This is the second chapter, and it's under a cut since it is kinda long.

Chapter One: The Walk Begins

Chapter Two: Since We Were Kids

Word Count: 2342

~~~

Oh, Jabu-Jabu, this may be the worst day of my life.

Mipha's face was flush with bright blue as the floor slowly receded, flooding out in murmurs and gossip per the request of King Dorephan.

"It IS about lunchtime...Let the Council take a recess and we will return tonight. Mipha? A word. In private, please."

Yes, this was quickly transpiring into the worst day of her life.

The two took a left, into a spacious room decorated in the abundance of silver and aqua blues. Narrow columns served as the only vague doors, but no one was around to think of eavesdropping on the King and Princess.

Dorephan stopped and faced his daughter.

Anxiously, Mipha wrung her hands together, debating between meeting her father's concerned eyes or easily focusing on the wall elsewhere. Although it was hard to ignore his deep, rumbling voice as he hummed.

"You look tired, Mipha-"

"Father, what day is it?" Mipha blurted out again. "What time is it? I-I can't seem to remember what happened yesterday, or the day before that. And I apologize in advance , but I don't know what's going on-"

"Mipha." Dorephan knelt down, resting a hand on her shoulder and squeezing gently. He lifted another hand to his chest. "Take a deep breath. In...And out..."

While her eyes closed, and she slowly inhaled a shaky breath, she missed the way Dorephan's gaze turned to great worry, but disappeared when she opened her eyes again.

"Could you tell me how you're feeling? You've never been one for bad mornings...And yet, I've never seen you so scared before."

Mipha ran her hands down her face, dropping them into her lap. Slowly, she recounted the events of her nightmare. Leaving out the grisly, goreish battle, and the deja vu paradox she seemed to have found herself in.

It was her and Ruta, against a fearsome enemy. Alone and afraid.

Dorephan scratched at his chin, staring intently at the floor as he listened. Eventually he sighed. "I knew this was a mistake."

"Father?"

"Mipha...You looked so happy when the Hylians and Zorans unearthed the Divine Beast. It was quite endearing, seeing how excited you were when you’re usually so serene. But...Is this truly what you want?”

“Not because it's expected of you, or thrown upon you.” He continued. “But deep down, I encourage you to consider what this truly means. Do you understand?"

Deep down, she did. And she also did not.

She had to be the pilot. Her family, her home, her entire world counted on her. No one would know what it meant to be killed by the monster inside the belly of the beast, and in a strange sense, it was hers to conquer. Again and again all alone, so be it. So long as no one else had to.

And she nodded. "Yes, I understand." She took another breath in and out. “If it’s alright, Father…”

“Go ahead.” Dorephan finished, nodding. “Be mindful of the time, however.”

Mipha’s grateful smile was wobbly and drained, but she dove forward to hug Dorephan tightly before finally taking off through the halls again.

This time, she went the back way, avoiding the flood of curiously wandering Hylians and Zora.

In the East Reservoir Lake, Vah Ruta sat in the same spot she did a year ago. Or was it yesterday? It was the same spot that Mipha had remembered.

Perched between sand and water, her trunk was lifted high into the air, her head tilted to peer at the sky. She did not move, not even as Mipha swam closer.

“Although this may seem like the first time, weren’t you there when the world ended? Was that really you, or was it your ghost and mine?”

No move.

Mipha raised herself from the water, turning and sitting on the shore. The elephant towered over her even more so, its silhouette casting a gigantic shadow over the Zora. Mipha kicked her feet in the water as she continued to ramble.

"Nightmare or not, something was real. Something happened, that much I believe. Though I'm not quite sure how...Or why...At least I have another chance. We have another chance. All the things we never got to say or-"

"Is that you, Princess? Ah, I would know that voice anywhere."

Grass and leaves crunched beneath high heeled shoes, brushed away by a long azure dress. Mipha jumped, eyes trailing up Zelda's dress until she met her dark brown eyes.

There was a look that Mipha couldn't recognize, paired with her smile that didn't quite reach.

"Are you feeling alright?" Zelda asked, finally stopping a few steps away. Her neck craned upwards and she squinted.

"And I thought you did not want to be a pilot. Yet..."

"I was just...Becoming familiar with her, that's all." Mipha said. "I don't really mean what I said at the Domain. I panicked."

"I know." Zelda flashed another smile. "I could see it in your eyes. What had you so rustled? Was it me? I know we haven't had much time to meet since we were kids, right?"

"Right." Mipha nodded, and slid back into the cool water. She gestured to Zelda to follow along the shoreline. "It was only a bad night, Princess. And a hasty morning--But now that you're here, it's becoming much brighter."

Zelda playfully rolled her eyes, kicking a small branch aside. "I can say the same about you."

She paused, and then quietly said, "You seem...Different, now."

"Different?"

"In a good way!" Zelda added quickly, raising her hands. She laughed in a short bark, tucking her hair behind her reddened ear. "I only meant that...Uh...It's just nice to see you again."

They had reached the end of the lake, where a wide pier was stocked with benches, beds under luminous stone canopies, and even snacks in chests nearby. Zelda plopped down on one of the benches while Mipha lingered in the water, leaning on her crossed forearms.

"I do hope I've changed since we were children. You...Also seem different." Mipha squinted, but she couldn't place it. Was it her hair, or maybe her blushing cheeks?

Speaking of blush...

"Have you and Link gotten along well enough?"

Zelda's eyes blew up wide. She looked horrified, confused. She sputtered and sat up straighter. "Link...?"

Mipha blinked, wondering if she should press on or backtrack while she was still ahead. "Your bodyguard, yes? The knight that--Is very skilled in his line of work."

"I-I haven't heard of anyone like that, Princess." Zelda cleared her throat. "Are you a fortune teller now, as well as a Pilot and future queen?"

Mipha sank into the water, cheeks dusting blue. "How do you know for certain that I'm a Pilot? I could easily say no, you know."

Suddenly a rumbling and grinding of stone made both women jolt up, Mipha spinning around to face the noise.

Vah Ruta began to raise her trunk, slowly backing into the water. Zelda tilted her head, ready to begin documenting as she noticed it sinking into the water. But only halfway...

It lifted its trunk, and spewed water like a broken fountain straight into the air. In only a few seconds, Mipha felt heavy raindrops beating down on her skin, rippling the water in a mini rip current.

"Ruta?!" Mipha lifted her head from the rough waters, a scowl on her face. "We talked about this, don't you remember? We are going to have another talk about this...Later. Oh, don't look at me like that, that was very rude!"

Mipha shook her fins out, huffing. To a Zora, it was hardly any different than a light shower. No clothes to ruin, no skin to prune and wrinkle. But for Hylians…

Oh, no. It was then that Mipha realized that Zelda was still standing, clothes ruined and her fingers no doubt beginning to wrinkle. Her face and expression was covered by her soaked hair, but she was staring up at Ruta. Then at Mipha as she quickly jumped out of the lake.

“Princess! Oh, I hope your dress isn’t ruined. Come with me--Surely there’s something at the Domain you can wear as your clothes are mended to. Is that alright?”

“Ah…” Zelda pulled apart her hair to reveal a dazed expression--She couldn’t believe what just happened, and neither could Mipha. “R-Right. Thank you, Mipha.”

As they quickly hurried to the nearby stairs, Zelda turned her head back to stare at Vah Ruta, still in shock. That had never happened before…

"It's not everyday I find something to be surprised about," Zelda mused as she pulled the silver comb through her hair--Short, brown locks that were beginning to bounce with lively curls.

"Is this about the water, Princess?" Mipha turned with another towel in hands, a scarce fabric in the Domain--But luckily there were a few on hand for the unexpected guests in the palace. "I apologize for-"

"Ahaha, no!" Zelda shook her head. "It’s just that...You spoke to the Divine Beast with such...Familiarity. And although it seemed rather playful, teasing us with that rainstorm...It obeyed you immediately."

Zelda rested her hands in her lap, staring at Mipha through the vanity's mirror. "...It just goes to show that there's more sentience to these machines than anyone could have assumed. It raises more questions about the relationship between a Divine Beast and its Pilot. It's fascinating, is all.

It makes me wonder how the rest of the chosen Pilots will follow..."

Mipha blinked, stopping short in her walk to deliver more towels. She had completely forgotten about the others. Revali, Daruk, Urbosa...Did they have the same nightmare, too?

"You're staring." Zelda's eyes flashed with worry, checking her own appearance again. "Did I forget a tangle? Is there a frizz where I can't see?"

"Oh, no, Princess. It's quite beautiful, if I may say." Mipha stepped forward, setting down the cloth to hover a hand near Zelda's head. "It looks...Different, than I remember. What did you do differently?"

And then it hit Mipha, right after the words escaped. At one point, she had remembered Zelda's hair being thick, and long. Always braided tightly down her back in a multitude of elegant braids, decorated in gold to match her dark brown skin. She gasped.

"You did cut your hair!"

Zelda's eyes widened, before she smiled. "Yes, I did." She laughed, a melodic sound that brought a faint blush to Mipha's cheeks.

"I...like it this way. I like it this way." Zelda repeated, nodding her head in confidence. "And there's plenty of hairstyles I can experiment with now. One for every occasion!"

Mipha hummed, and gently trailed her fingers through the ends of the curls.

"It fits you perfectly." She sent a warm smile to the mirror, and stepped back to give Zelda room, hands clasped together.

Zelda's cheeks flushed, but she quickly finished brushing her hair back and pulled it back out of her face. "There's something I'd like to ask of you, Princess."

When she asked, the entirety of the Domain was asking too. The King was waiting, subtle worry etched into his expression.

"Graceful Princess of the Proud Zora, will you accept the humble call to stand with me against the evil that may threaten my home and yours, and become the Pilot to steer Divine Beast Vah Ruta?"

The whole world was holding their breath, and Mipha's heart thrummed in her chest like it did the first time--The theatrics of it all never failed to give her stage fright.

"I accept."

And it was sealed. Mipha turned from the cheering crowd, looking up at her father who only smiled reassuringly with a small nod. He seemed like he was holding back many things, keeping it under a calm expression in the gaze of his only daughter.

"Father...You won't have to worry about losing me ever again. I swear it this time."

"I won't lie." Dorephan let out a sigh, drumming his fingers in a slow rhythm. "As a father, I'm always worried for the wellbeing of my children. But you rise to this challenge with such determination and courage that I cannot stand in your path, only walk next to you and pray that you'll return home safe and sound. In my heart, I know you will. Yet it is still hard to let you go."

Dorephan looked over Mipha's shoulder. "Princess Zelda."

Quickly, Zelda waved to another Zora guard she had been speaking to and stepped to the dais, bowing. "Your Majesty?"

"I understand that the plan is the same?"

"Ah--Yes, Your Majesty-" Zelda reached for the Sheikah device on her hip, flicking away droplets of water as it powered to life under her touch. She tapped away, focused and calculated. Mipha curiously glanced over, watching a detailed map of the land and its various landmarks flicker across the screen.

Colored lines and grids drew across the map, obviously hand-drawn in their wobbly

curves.

In the region over Zora's Domain, a tiny creature similar to Ruta animated its trunk on screen.

"Everything is still on schedule. Princess, tomorrow we'll head for Hyrule Castle to regroup our supplies and soldiers, and then begin our journey to the next region of Hyrule, in regards to the next Pilot."

"In that case...take good care of each other." Dorephan nodded to them both. "I have no doubts in my Mipha's abilities, but I surely do not mean to downplay your own strengths. I only ask that you watch each other's backs...Whatever the case may be...In and out of battle."

Zelda and Mipha both glanced at each other, a faint smile shared between them.

And Dorephan, sitting back and waving them off, his fears begrudgingly took the backseat as he nodded to himself. Of course there would be a flood of Hylian and Zora guards to accompany them; But there was always something special about placing your faith in a friend...And their faith in you.

#botw #breath of the wild #legend of zelda #mipha #fic time; year walk #fic time; mipha naphela #princess zelda #zelpha #age of calamity #hwaoc #fanfiction

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salemorbit · 3 years

Text

Little Lynel Man (part 14; BONUS)

[Tigo the Lynel AU]

MASTERLIST

~~~~~~~

hi!! so thank u so much @thebattlecats2001 for this extra request fleshing out more of tigo and reader and their place in the alternate timeline w the champion successors

i wanted to make it a little different since you've got such a great idea and this is wrapping up this version of the tigo au! the request is summarized down below :)

all credit to @thebattlecats2001 for the ideas presented in this!!

~~~~~~~

The fight with Ganon is over, so the warriors gather for one final banquet while they swap stories. The successors from the future tell about the brave efforts of Tigo and the reader from their timeline, and how they paid honor to them over the years.

~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~

Calamity Ganon was sealed away for good, which meant that it was time to celebrate!

The king arranged an impromptu banquet in what was left of the castle, gathering food and supplies and whatever they could. The heroes of Hyrule deserved only the best, of course.

You were ushered away from helping clear debris and aiding the injured by Zelda, intent on telling you about the celebration that would happen later. Once everything was tended to, you met with the Champions, their successors, Zelda, and Tigo in a courtyard lit by lanterns.

It was a truly beautiful sight, the worn and weathered smiles of your colleagues gleaming in the lamplight. The food on the spread makeshift table looked absolutely wonderful, making your stomach growl in anticipation.

You settled in next to Link with Tigo on your other side. You looked up at your Lynel, smiling at his bright eyes taking in the bountiful food and anxiously awaiting the chance to dig in.

"Before we begin," King Rhoam announced from the head of the table, "it would be my absolute pleasure to congratulate the Champions of Hyrule on their success at defeating Calamity Ganon!"

There was a loud round of applause as the Champions, including Tigo, nodded in acknowledgement.

"Lest we forget the wonderful help from their friends, as well!" Zelda stood up and gestured to the successors, most of whom looked bashful. "Without their strength, we would not be here to celebrate together."

There was another round of applause for the successors, and then the feast began. You and Tigo feverishly dug into the food in front of you, filling the cavern of your stomachs. It wasn't until you were well into the second course that Sidon spoke up from across from you.

"It's truly amazing that I have gotten to see you again, dear [Y/N]," he said, watching you as you dabbed a napkin around your mouth. "It's been quite a long time."

"So you've said," you smiled at him. "Tell me, Sidon, does anyone else remember us from your time? It's still weird to know that Tigo and I...well, we didn't make it in your time, right?"

"Correct," Sidon nodded solemnly. "You and your Lynel sacrificed yourselves alongside the princess and Link to stop Calamity Ganon. And when Link came back, we wished that perhaps you had survived the same fate as well. But we learned that such was not the case."

Tigo paused from eating, tuning in to Sidon's change in demeanor. Tigo purred softly, catching Sidon's attention and bringing a smile to his face. Sidon reached forward and patted one of Tigo's paws affectionately.

"Fear not, old friend," Sidon offered, "we still remember you. The Zora greatly appreciated everything you and [Y/N] did for the Zora and the entirety of Hyrule. There's a grand statue at the front of the Zora Domain to pay homage to you both, spear and all. The elders that fought alongside the two of you tell the young guppies of all your valiant efforts! Your memory will never be forgotten."

"That's absolutely admiring," Mipha looked up at her brother. She turned to you with a sure look in her eyes. "I'll make sure that construction on that starts right away. You two have done so much for the Zora, and we have only begun to thank you."

"Oh, that's not necessary," you blushed, waving the praise off. "Tigo just loves the Zora, and it was all no problem! Really."

"Don't the Gorons have something as well?" Sidon turned to Yunobo who blinked up, startled. All attention turned to the little Goron, making him sink into himself a little with a shy smile.

"Uh, yeah!" He squeaked. "Yeah, we do. Tigo has this huge statue right up by the statues of the other great Gorons!" His face fell momentarily: "From what I heard, the Gorons were devastated to hear of the passing of Tigo and his tamer, [Y/N]. He was a beloved warrior and strong soul, so it wasn't a question about paying some sort of homage to him."

Tigo brightened up, growling kindly and urging Yunobo to go on.

"There's this legend that Tigo's spirit gives the Gorons their fighting spirit," Yunobo explained, looking around animatedly. "It's the only reason why the Gorons survived as much of the Calamity as they did. Legend has it that we owe Tigo a lot, and from fighting next to him I can see why! Every half-moon we hold a ceremony and offer up the best rock roast to the statue of Tigo so that he gives us our fighting spirit to live on another day. It's a really cool time."

"That definitely sounds like something the Gorons would do," Daruk smirked, reaching over to pat Tigo on the back heavily. "You deserve it, little Lynel man!"

"It's hard to believe that the Rito would ever be as showy as that," Revali scoffed, crossing his feathers. He looked over at Teba. "Please tell me you're more refined than that."

"Actually," Teba began, making Revali throw his head back with a soft groan, "our statue for Tigo and [Y/N] is arguably the most attractive out of the others in Hyrule."

There was a moment of arguing between the successors, which just made you laugh and look over at Link who was also smiling at his friends. Tigo gave a soft roar, telling Teba to continue.

"First of all, it's made of the finest wood surrounding the Hebra Region," Teba leaned forward as he got into the story. "It's decorated with flowers and stands right at the entrance to Rito Village. Tigo's bow was recovered from the Calamity, and it's still kept with Revali's bow and the Rito Elder. Every year there's a competition between the younger Rito that takes place at the archery range, and whoever wins gets to take home Tigo's bow and is tasked with taking care of it."

"I'd have to argue that the Gerudo have a much more glamorous statue," Riju jumped in excitedly. "It's this massive stone statue in the middle of Gerudo Town, and it has the most lovely gems decorating it! I've heard such wondrous stories of [Y/N] and her bravery and strength when it came to raising and taming Tigo." She turned to you and Tigo, smiling widely. "I'm so grateful that I was able to witness your bond in person! It's much more amazing than just the stories. We have you riding Tigo's back and wielding your sword and shield, of course. It's the most adored object in the entire town, and I will make sure it stays that way."

You smiled, patting Tigo's hide and leaning on him. You were so glad that even though you had to sacrifice yourselves in the other timeline that it was done and acknowledged. You would have done it even if it wasn't praised, of course, but it was amazing to see how many lives you and your Lynel had impacted and for such a long time! Your heart warmed at the thought.

Sidon went on to continue how the rest of Hyrule took the passings of you and Tigo. You sadly learned that many of the surviving Hylians thought that you and Tigo were simply myths. They didn't seem to believe that taming a Lynel was even possible, mainly because the monsters had gotten so much more dangerous in their 100 years of Calamity.

The Sheikah, however, still tried to keep your memory alive. Sidon told you about Impa's attempts to pass along the stories of you and Tigo through the ages. Many of the elders in Karkariko were solely responsible for keeping your memory alive, and you had much to thank them for. You half wished that you could go back to their time and tell Impa how much you appreciated her efforts even after so long.

Sidon also told Tigo how he was a legend among blacksmiths in his Hyrule, and how Tigo's skills were incredibly sought after and the goal of many blacksmiths. There was even a myth that if you were a young apprentice to a blacksmith and were exceeding in your skills, you would get visited by the spirit of Tigo and given a blessing of strength to become one of the best blacksmiths in the history of Hyrule.

Of course there was no concrete evidence to this myth, but it made Tigo exceptionally excited nonetheless.

And that was that. You may have suffered a terrible fate in that separate timeline, but in this one you didn't. You were still alive to see another day with Link, Tigo, and Zelda, and surrounded by the best friends you could ask for.

The successors were summoned back to their time soon enough, and the goodbye was tearful but sweet. Both sides had gotten closure, and all there was to look forward to was tomorrow.

~~~~~~~

:,)

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botw-oneshots-and-other-bs · 3 years

Text

The Divine Beast

Chapter 2 - Vah Ruta

A/N: Chapter 1 is right here. I highly suggest you read it before this chapter. I hope you guys enjoy! <3

A full season had passed since Alyss decided to follow Robbie and Purah to the Ancient Tech lab and Alyss had to admit, she was having a lot of fun. The training that Robbie put her through was exhilarating and reminded her just how much she enjoyed fighting enemies. So far, she has only fought Moblins, Bokoblins, and Lizalfos, and her need for larger enemies grew by the training session. After every fighting session and at least once a month, Purah gave her a physical check up to make sure that nothing was changing drastically, or not going back to normal, which weirded her out at first but as their friendship grew she started to not mind them.

Alyss had become great friends with Purah over the months and often they would sit down and chat with one another over a nice cup of tea. Today was no different. As Alyss sat giggling with Purah over the latest bit of gossip they had heard about two Sheikah scientists hooking up the other night, Robbie came bursting in through the door to the study.

“It’s been found,” he all but shouted as he jumped up and down on his tippy toes. He looked like a gigantic toddler to Alyss and honestly it made her giggle a little at how insanely cute it was. Over the past season she had found herself lowkey crushing on the eccentric scientist. She would have told Purah but she wasn’t ready to face her emotions, and to be quite frank she wasn’t even sure if her feelings were romantic or platonic. In order to keep them under wraps Alyss would make sure she didn’t look at or spend too much time with him, but that didn’t stop the sideways glances she would give him or the double entendres she would catch him saying to someone while glancing at her.

Purah jumped up, almost knocking over her plate of honeyed fruit and ran to him, “oh snap no way,” she pointed a small finger into his face. “If you’re lying to me I will end you.”

Robbie laughed and threw his hands up in defence to the small woman’s playful aggression. “Purah, why would I lie to you about this?” He looked behind her to Alyss who he playfully raised his eyebrows at a couple of times. His goggles blocked most of his silly gesture, but he did notice the way her face lit up in a small pink blush and how she tried to hide it by taking another sip of her tea while pretending not to notice.

Purah jumped back and waved her hands happily as she turned to Alyss and grabbed her hand to roughly pull her up from her chair. “Well then we shouldn’t waste any time! Where are we going?”

“The Zora’s Domain,” he responded, leading the two women out of the study to prepare for the long trip.

After a long night of packing, Alyss, Robbie, Purah, and two Hylian Guards were packed and ready with their horses to head for the Zora’s Domain. Everyone was excited and ready to head out and get the field work under way. According to the letter Robbie received along with the news of Vah Ruta’s finding, they were to meet with the Princess, her knight, and her consort when they passed through Castle Town. Alyss wasn’t super excited about meeting with the Princess but not for any reason she had given her. Alyss knew it was selfish and unfair of her to treat the Princess of this time as though she was the one who sealed her away, but it was hard for Alyss to dis-associate her with her ancestor.

The small group of scientists rode in a comfortable silence the entire way from the Royal Tech Lab to the walls of castle town, but when they got to the town Alyss was the first to break the silence. “Do we have to go to the Castle?”

Robbie looked over from his beige stallion at her question. He studied her stoic face and heard the dread in her voice at her question. He moved his horse closer to hers while avoiding villagers who were going about their lives on the streets so that he could talk to her respectfully. “I do believe we are meeting them at the gates but you don’t have to go in if you don’t want to.”

Alyss sighed heavily and shook her head at the mere thought of entering the castle once again. She had too many memories there. “No, if everyone else is going it would be rude of me not to…” she grumbled.

Silence passed for a second as they rode closer to the entrance of the Castle, but it was quickly broken as Robbie held his hand out to her. “I’ll wait with you. How does that sound,” he asked with a warm smile.

Alyss could tell that his crimson eyes were smiling with the rest of his face even through his brown goggles he was always wearing. Looking from the sincerity on his face to the hand held out in between their horses, Alyss smiled thankfully and placed her smaller hand in his. “Thank you Robbie,” she whispered, truly touched at his gesture of comfort. Little did she know that a certain eccentric scientist was listening to their conversation in front of them and smiling to herself. She knew that there was something going on with Alyss as she would catch her little glances here and there and how she would blush when he spoke to her directly, but she was starting to think maybe there was something there with Robbie as well. Making a mental note to herself, Purah continued to the Castle leaving the other Sheikah behind.

Alyss slid off of the saddle that was positioned on her teal horse’s back and searched through her bag to find a bright red, juicy apple for the horse. Walking to the front of her horse, Alyss rubbed her horse’s mane and face as she fed her the fruit. “Good girl Sea Foam, eat up. You need your strength.” Sea Foam gave a small nudge to Alyss’s hand happily as thanks for the apple before she walked to a nice patch of shade to lie down and cool off. The Summer sun shining over Hyrule had reached just past it’s peak, but that didn’t make the heat dissipate any.

“So, enlighten me,” Robbie started as he sat down in some shade and placed his hand behind his back to keep himself up right. He watched as she turned back to him from where she stood watching her horse. “Why do you not like the Castle? You said it yourself, it’s completely different from what you remember, so why avoid it?”

Alyss sighed and joined him in the shade. Pulling her knees to her chest, she rested her chin on them and picked at a small blade of grass at her feet. “I have some pretty bad memories here. That’s all.”

“Oh come on there has to be more to it,” he laughed, “but you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

Alyss looked over to Robbie for a minute and laid her cheek on her knees. “Well… I actually grew to call this place, er, the Castle I knew, home when I left Kakariko Village to train. All I wanted was to be a knight in service to the Princess, but when I offered myself to the King he turned me away. Princess Zelda interjected and said I could be of some use. That I could help defeat the Calamity.” She looked over to see Robbie looking right at her, egging her to continue.

“I was taken to a laboratory and undressed. The scientists took my blood - which hurt a lot - and laid me down on a gigantic slab of stone over a blue furnace. All I remember is being told that I was going to be their greatest invention yet and that Ganon didn’t stand a chance before everything went dark.

“When I woke up I felt normal, a little sore, but normal. The Princess stood next to my bed and treated me like royalty, and it wasn’t long until I grew to love her as I imagine I would have loved my sister. She was my best friend, my confidant,” Alyss smiled happily in fond remembrance as she continued, “I trained day in and day out here at the castle against all kinds of people. Great warriors from across Hyrule came to test my strength before they started pitting me against all kinds of monsters. I loved it as much as I love when you send me into battle, but it didn’t last long.”

Alyss took a deep breath and buried her head in between her knees. This was still hard for her to think about but she figured talking about it with someone she trusted might help take the burden off of her shoulders. With a shaky breath and clenched fists she continued her story, “I lost myself. The beast inside of me took over. All I heard was a sickening voice taunting me, telling me my friends and family would die, and I couldn’t save them. It drove me crazy, I couldn’t escape, and I almost killed someone,” she whispered. She could feel the familiar tightening sensation in her chest as her anxiety started to skyrocket. She felt her nails starting to dig into her legs and her skin started to bristle as it did before it turned scaly. “I tried to get away, to make it stop, but I almost killed the King,” she whispered, horrified at herself as tears started to form in her eyes again. “It was a mistake, I would have never done it on purpose, but the voice. That voice, it-” She was broken out of her trance when she felt a strong hand lay itself on her arm and pulled her sideways.

She didn’t register that Robbie had gripped her arm and pulled her into a warm and comforting hug until her face was pressed flush against his bare chest and the scent of his robes were gracing her nose. “R-Robbie,” she said in astonishment as her face blushed a bright red.

“Is this what was bothering you all those months ago?” he asked, trying to piece together how long she had been dealing with this information alone. He felt his heart break for her, he saw her skin turning and how tightly she held herself. This was not the first time he had seen her like this, but he couldn’t imagine the memories she held inside were that bad. Robbie got no vocal answer to his question, but he took the way she wrapped her arms around his neck and allowed him to pull her into a tighter hug as his answer.

Resting his forehead against the top of her head he tried to provide the most comforting hug he possibly could. “You have been alive a very long time according to the scroll we found, and Alyss from what I have personally seen in the past season is nothing short of someone who is an amazing and a wonderful person. Please don’t beat yourself up over something you did ten thousand years ago, especially if it was an accident.”

Robbie received no answer, but he was ok with that. He cared about this woman and he wasn’t sure just how much yet, but what he did know was how bad his heart hurt for her in this moment. It didn’t take long before he heard the voices of his colleague, the Princess, and Impa heading closer to them from the Palace. He watched as Alyss removed herself from his embrace before anyone could see and went to attend to her horse, picking herself up emotionally the best she could.

As they left Castle Town’s protective outer wall, Alyss listened to the Princess and her Consort, Impa, talk to the rest of the group about the newly found Divine Beast. She rode Sea Foam beside Link, who made sure he stayed in front of the Princess at all times, and stiffly stared ahead.

"Vah Ruta is an amazing Divine Beast," Zelda continued as she filled in Purah and Robbie. "It is absolutely breathtaking and I wonder what secrets it hides within it’s walls.” She was practically jumping out of her saddle with excitement, like a toddler presented with her favorite toy, at the discovery of this beast that it was impossible to not share her enjoyment.

“However,” Impa interjected, “when we used the Sheikah Slate to try and activate it, nothing happened. We tried everything we possibly could to get it up and running, but eventually we decided that you might have better luck.”

Purah touched her hand to her chin and snapped as though she had a eureka moment, “I wonder if Alyss would be able to activate it.” She looked back to Alyss who had perked up at the mention of her name in curiosity. “After all, she has ancient Sheikah technology residing within her. Maybe this is the reason she woke up at the start of our journey?”

Alyss shrugged, “I guess I could give it a try, but I don’t really know what I would do.”

“Oh don’t be so hard on yourself,” Purah cooed from in front of Alyss, completely missing the way her face deadpanned. “I’m sure you could think of something the rest of us haven’t. Besides, it doesn’t hurt to try.”

Alyss sighed and threw her hands up in defeat. “Ok, ok, I will do my best.” This seemed to satisfy the others as they all murmured different ideas and ways of going about activating this newly found ray of hope.

The moon was high in the sky by the time the company rode up to the gigantic horse head that resembled peace and restoration. The horse stables had come to be a welcoming sight as Alyss got more and more accustomed to this land and their ways. Dismounting her horse and giving Sea Foam a light pat to her silver mane she headed into the inn with the rest of the group. The mere thought of food was on nobody’s mind as the Princess paid happily for everyone to have the comfiest beds. Alyss stood next to Link and let out a yawn that turned into a smile as she watched Purah happily run to a bed and jump on it.

“Hey be careful,” her sister called out claiming the bed to the right of Purah. “These beds will break, you know!”

Robbie chuckled as he walked up to the group and wrapped each arm around Alyss and Link’s necks. “Oh I’m sure these beds have been through much more than Purah jumping on them. I bet they’re really sturdy, right Alyss?”

Alyss furrowed her brows as she tried to piece together his off handed attempt at flirting in her sleep deprived mind, but her thoughts were interrupted by a loud thud. Looking over at Purah laying on the floor, Alyss let out a hearty laugh as the eccentric scientist tried to pull herself back onto her bed. She barely noticed Link choking back his laughter and the light punch to the side he gave to Robbie as he removed his arm and took his bed closest to the entrance to the inn. It took her a moment to process his flirting, but by the time she had got it, Robbie had already moved to his bed on the other side of Purah. He was letting his hair down to it’s natural length and removing his backpack and goggles that would be uncomfortable to lay down on. Alyss blushed when he looked back to her and winked before laying down on his back with his arms behind his head.

The only bed left was beside Robbie and as Alyss moved towards it she could feel his eyes following her body. Alyss felt her hands and legs start shaking as though she was wet from head to toe and stuck in a cold breeze. What was this feeling? She was nervous, her hands were clammy, and the mere thought of what could possibly be going through his mind made her shiver harder. Why was she feeling this way? Turning her back to him she let her hair down and shakily placed the clips and rods on the bedside table.

“Are you ok?” she heard him ask in a taunting tone. It was almost as though he knew exactly what was on her mind. She felt as though she was as transparent as water and he could read every single emotion that ran through her body, every thought that passed her mind, as easily as he could see the rocks sitting at the bottom of a creek. Alyss turned and locked eyes with his. Opening her mouth she racked her mind for any possible retort, but she was exhausted and the only thing on her mind right now was confusion and him. Sighing, she shed her robe, leaving her in her blue tunic. She couldn’t sleep in her entire outfit like everyone else in the group could, but she knew she couldn’t get one-hundred percent comfortable like she could at the Royal Tech Lab as these were open inns and privacy wasn’t exactly a thing.

Alyss sat down on her bed and pulled her leg up to take off her stocking, ignoring the look Robbie was giving her the best she could and trying to not be so obviously affected. Mustering up some sort of courage, Alyss gave him a side-eyed look and lifted her chin in the air slightly. “Enjoying the show?” She asked to which she received a low hum in response. Alyss laughed softly at him and moved on to her other leg, exposing the soft skin she kept hidden day in and day out.

“You’ve got nice legs,” Robbie murmured lowly, trying to not wake any of the others on the other side of him.

“Thank you,” Alyss responded as she discarded the other stocking to sit next to the white one on the table. Laying down, Alyss turned onto her side and faced Robbie. The sleep she so desperately needed was quickly calling out her name, but she was determined to stay awake just a bit longer. She had finally gathered up the courage to ask her question that had taken over her mind. “What is this?”

Robbie raised an eyebrow and sat up intrigued by her sudden question. He could tell she was quickly falling asleep but if he could get some clarification he would. “What is what?”

“What is this feeling...” Alyss sighed as she slowly blinked. Her eyes barely registered his gaze upon hers, but still she continued her sleep induced thoughts. “I feel so weird around you Robbie. Are we friends or…” Opening her eyes she looked into his intense gaze and giggled happily, letting the intense wave of sleep she felt drag her further down. Little did she know that her words impacted Robbie deeply.

Once he was sure she was completely asleep, he quietly slid off his bed and grabbed the folded blanket by her feet, unfurling it, and placing it over her body. He took his time to allow himself to really study her features from the way her legs curled closer to her body when she slept, to the pieces of hair that fell down over her closed eyes. He gently kneeled down to be face to face with the Sheikah woman and traced her jaw down to her neck. “Good night Alyss,” he whispered before placing a gentle kiss upon her cheek and heading back to his own bed to sleep.

The next morning came bright and early for the company. Link made a delicious breakfast of Crepes and simmered fruit for them all as they got themselves and their horses ready for the rest of the trip up to the Zora’s Domain. As they walked, Alyss did her best to keep her distance from Robbie as the memories of last night came to her in bits and pieces. She was embarrassed at how easily he had affected her with nothing but his look and it did nothing to ease the frustration and fear she felt growing within her mind. This is why she found it best to just push herself away from the rebellious scientist and stick closer to Impa and Purah. This put her a little closer to the Princess but she was easy to ignore as well.

She noticed the confused glances he gave her the few times they had to look at each other as they stopped for breaks throughout the day, but she did her best to shrug them off and pretend as though nothing was wrong. By the time the sun had started its descent and the moon was rising into the sky, the Company could see the Zora Domain which was welcomed like a fresh cup of tea after a long day of hard work. Alyss was watching the full moon rise when the Company stopped halfway across the Luto Crossing. She almost ran her horse into the others but thankfully Sea Foam stopped and whinied.

“Goddess look at that,” Purah whispered in awe as she stared over the bridge down into the lake below. “It’s even more magnificent than I could have imagined.”

“I bet there’s loads of information and data on that Divine Beast that I’m dying to get my hands on,” Robbie commented as he rubbed his hands together like a starving man about to tear into the flesh of a perfectly roasted turkey. “Alyss, come take a look at this,” he called out as he looked over his shoulder at her.

Dismounting, she walked between Purah and Impa, not really paying attention to what was down below them, but when she saw it she gasped. Memories flooded her mind as she once again gazed upon the magnificence of the Divine Beast Vah Ruta. She remembered her mother and father helping make the layouts for the beasts. She remembered when her and Princess Zelda would sneak out late at night to mess around with the prototypes of the Divine Beasts. She remembered talking to the spirit of the Beast as though it was her sibling and the memories they shared as Vah Ruta would shower her with water from it’s trunk. “Ruta,” she whispered softly. Looking down at the water below, her stomach twisted, but she wanted to get to Ruta. She needed to touch her again, but before she could climb over the railing and jump down into the water below, Link had grabbed her hand and pulled her back.

She quickly turned around to snap at him and tell him to let her go, but when she saw his expression of warning she shut her mouth. Pulling her hand from his calloused touch she held it close and turned back to the Divine Beast giving it one last look.

“That water is treacherous if you aren’t a Zora or gifted Zora’s armor,” Princess Zelda started with a small smile towards Alyss. She knew how frustrating Link could be, but at the same time she also understood why he pulled her back from the railing. “Do you know Vah Ruta? Do you have any information you can give us?” She asked, trying to be friendly, but she was met with an annoyed expression from Alyss.

“I don’t remember much that would be useful,” the Sheikah said curtly and very obviously lying. Her expression said otherwise, but it was late and the Princess didn’t want to push just yet. They still had time and the questions could wait until they were safely near Vah Ruta. Alyss climbed onto her horse and squeezed her with her legs to tell her to move forward. The rest of the group followed not too far behind her, but Purah was quick to catch up with her.

“Alyss, you were there when they were built right?”

Alyss nodded her head. “My parents helped create their insides.”

Purah laughed and clapped her hands together once. Even though it was nighttime and everyone was starting to get tired from the long journey, the excitement of the Divine Beast provided a nice adrenaline boost for Purah and Robbie. “Insides,” she practically shouted out looking at Alyss and not where she was going anymore.

Alyss smiled at her and nodded. “I vaguely remember that the insides were extremely complex, but I was just a child when they were being built. Zelda and I would frequent the Divine Beasts as we got older and while she made sure they were holding up well and their pilots were adjusting well, I would talk to them.” Alyss had a far away look as they came upon the main bridge leading into the Zora’s Domain, but the current Princess Zelda’s voice broke her thoughts.

“Talk? They can talk?” She asked, expressing everyone’s question at this new found information.

“Well, not exactly,” Alyss continued. “It’s been so long I bet they’ve forgotten me. I had most of a connection with Vah Medoh to be honest, but it’s Champion didn’t really like anyone going up to his Divine Beast without his permission,” Alyss scoffed at the annoying memories of the Rito Champion, “What a frustrating man…”

“What about Vah Abyss?” Zelda asked which caused Alyss to slow down tremendously deep in thought. They had come upon the Zora’s Domain which was practically silent since most of the Zora were sound asleep in their beds, but as Alyss reiterated Zelda’s question as a question of her own, a Zora warrior approached them and bowed deeply to the Princess.

“King Dorephan has been awaiting your return, your Highness, Lady Impa,” the warrior stood back up and held her spear close to her body. “Shall I escort you to him?”

“Yes, thank you,” Zelda answered politely as the Princess of Hyrule was expected to do. Dismounting her horse and handing it off to another Zora to take care of while they did their work. Motioning to everyone else to do the same, she nodded to the Zora Warrior to lead the way. With this the Zora warrior seemed satisfied, turned, and started to lead the group of people into the Zora’s Domain.

Alyss looked around at the beautiful architecture of the Zora’s Domain. Everything from the dark blue foundation that had not changed one bit from the Zora’s Domain Alyss remembered, to the ginormous fish on the top of the King’s Throne room was beautiful. The waterfalls that cascaded down the sides of the main level of the domain added a soothing ambience that made the entire Domain feel at peace and untouchable by evil and wrong. Alyss followed the group as they climbed the light blue staircase that glowed under her feet. They were almost to the top of the stairwell when a small puddle of water caught Alyss off guard and sent her falling backwards. Alyss let out a small cry as she felt herself falling backwards, but was caught by a pair of strong arms.

“Careful my Lady, these floors are wet and can be dangerous.”

Alyss looked back and smiled kindly at the forest green Zora that had caught her fall. “Th-Thank you, um,”

“Councilman Muzu,” the stingray Zora responded with a warm smile. “I am the Royal Advisor to the King and teacher to the Princess and young Prince. It’s nice to make your acquaintance.”

Alyss smiled and thanked him as he helped her stand back up right. “Thank you, Councilman, it’s very nice to meet you.” Alyss watched as Muzu bowed and walked up the rest of the stairs to the group who stood with the King watching the two interact. Alyss joined as well but failed to see the frown that darkened Robbie’s face at the sight of Alyss in another man’s arms. He had no reason to feel this way, there was nothing between them except gratitude at him saving her from pain, but that didn’t make the annoyance any less. Was he angry that she should have watched where she was going or was he angry that he should have been there to catch him? Perhaps he was just annoyed she was ignoring him for some reason. No matter the reason, Robbie pushed it deep down to deal with at another, more appropriate time.

King Dorephan commanded the room with the clearing of his throat and spoke to the Company in his deep, time-worn voice, “Princess Zelda and friends, I assume you are here to research Vah Ruta am I correct?”

Zelda bowed slightly in respect to the King of the Zora, “Yes, King Dorephan. I have brought two of our royal scientists who have logged countless hours into their research to try and reawaken the Divine Beasts powers. I believe that we will be able to mount Vah Ruta and acquire some sort of knowledge that will help us, as long as we have the permission of the Zora people to do so of course.”

When King Dorephan chuckled, the floor underneath the group of Hylians and Sheikah rumbled. He leaned over and smiled down at the Princess. “Do as you need, Princess. We all have our part to play in defeating the Calamity. If you need anything from me or my people we will do all we can to aid you in your research.”

“Thank you King Dorephan,” Princess Zelda bowed. Shortly after their interaction with King Dorephan, the group was led down to the inn that resided in the Zora’s Domain. They were given beds free on orders of the King but the Princess insisted she give the innkeeper something for their trouble. The innkeeper thanked her for her generosity and led the group to their finest water beds. While everyone was preparing to head to bed, Alyss quickly found a bed near Purah and closed her eyes.

Robbie was confused by this. The entire time he watched Alyss head to bed, not even disrobe and get comfortable just lay down, he couldn’t help but entertain the feeling that she was avoiding him for some reason. What had he done to warrant her avoiding him he wondered as he laid himself down a few friends down from the girl in question. Robbie recounted everything that had taken place the last few days trying to find any reason she would be ignoring him until his eyes eventually closed from exhaustion.

“You wish Mipha to be the Zora chosen to pilot the Divine Beast?” King Dorephan asked Princess Zelda who stood before him.

“Yes, if you would allow it,” the Princess continued in her polite request.

“I’m sorry, Princess. The Divine Beast isn’t up and running and all efforts until now have failed to get it to work. Knowing this, coupled with the information that the Knight who will seal the darkness has not yet appeared, I cannot put my only daughter up against the Calamity. It is too dangerous.”

Princess Zelda turned to Impa who was behind her in a silent plea for any sort of help to which Impa could only shake her head and offer none. Turning back to the gigantic whale, the Princess nodded solemnly, “I understand your majesty. Thank you for allowing us your time.” With that, the Princess and her consort left the throne room of the King of Zora’s Domain and regrouped with Robbie and Purah in the middle of the common area.

“I take it he said no,” Purah asked, placing her hands on her hips to which Zelda could only nod. “Well… What do we do now?”

“I guess we do the only thing we can do,” Robbie continued. “Let’s go see if we can find out anything about the Divine Beast, but…” he looked around, “... has anyone seen Alyss?” When everyone shook their heads no, Robbie nodded and headed back towards the inn where he found Alyss sound asleep on the water bed she chose the previous night. He laid a strong hand on her shoulder and shook her gently so as to not spook her awake. The last time he did that he got smog to the face and it took him a good bit to recover from that blow. “Alyss.”

Alyss groaned and buried her face into the soft pillow clearly signifying she did not want to wake up.

Robbie pursed his lips and furrowed his brows as he decided how he should approach this situation. Apparently he wasn’t thinking straight as he gripped the bottom of her blanket and ripped it right off of her body. He watched as Alyss sat up and glared daggers at him, her eyes were purple but her pupils were slits. The area around her eyes was that of reptilian skin, but there was surprisingly no smog this time. Crossing his arms as though he was a stern father of a teenager, he tapped his foot and raised an eyebrow over his goggles. “Morning sunshine,” he spat a little more harshly than he meant it to come out as he was still a little sore over the events of last night.

“You have three seconds to tell me why you woke me up so early or you’re getting smog to the face Robbie,” she groggily groaned, rubbing her eyes to relieve them of their reptilian skin and slits.

“We need to go examine the Divine Beast, and for your information-” he began as he tossed her blanket back at her forcing her to remove it from her face and glare at him. “-it’s a little after noon.” He walked out of the inn leaving behind a very confused and very frustrated Sheikah.

It didn’t take long for Alyss to join the rest of the group excluding Lady Mipha and Link who were off doing their own thing together. That made Alyss wonder, did Link and Mipha have some sort of connection he never mentioned? Her thoughts were cut short as they arrived at the edge of a large cliff to the South of the Zora’s Domain and facing the Divine Beast Vah Ruta.

“Now, Alyss,” Impa started as they broke themselves out of their astonished stupors. The Divine Beast was much bigger than the scientists had anticipated it to be as it easily met their gazes on the top of the cliff. “All you have to do is take the Sheikah Slate and try to activate the Divine Beast, but the only problem is that you have to be able to board it and none of us have succeeded at that yet.”

Nodding Alyss took the Sheikah Slate into her hands and stared down at the inactive screen. With one tap the screen burst to life but so did Divine Beast Vah Ruta. Alyss’s head snapped up to look at the Divine Beast that had now turned blue and let out a loud trumpeting sound. This forced the company to cover their ears to not be deafened by the noise, but they didn’t expect it to be accompanied by a violent Earthquake that lasted only a few seconds and was forceful enough to throw everyone to the ground. A stunned silence befell the company as they watched Alyss stand up cautiously and walk as close as she could without falling off the cliff. “Vah Ruta,” Alyss whispered, receiving another loud trumpet from the magnificent elephant shaped machine. “It’s been a long time my friend,” Alyss said, smiling happily. Her infectious laughter rang throughout the air as Vah Ruta raised it’s trunk and proceeded to shoot water straight into the air causing it to rain freezing cold water down onto the group as a whole.

“Ruta, that’s cold,” she exclaimed as the elephant moved it’s trunk back down into the water and let out another loud trumpet. Water dripped off of her body as she held out her hand to touch the curve of Ruta’s trunk that was moved closer to the edge of the cliff. Once her hand made contact she felt a surge of sadness that Vah Ruta must have been feeling being buried for ten thousand years. “I’ve felt your pain,” Alyss started in a lower tone. She was trying to sympathize with the divine beast as she petted it’s trunk the way she used to do all those years ago. “They locked me away as well, but I’m here now and you’ll never be alone again.”

Zelda finished wringing out her hair and took a small step forward, astonished at the conversation that was taking place. “So this is what you meant when you said that you could talk to them. Alyss, can you ask it about a pilot?”

Alyss looked at the Princess and tried her best to not just straight up say no, but she knew this was important so turning to Vah Ruta, she asked, “Ruta, do you have a pilot?” She waited for a second but got no trumpet or response of any kind. Furrowing her brows, Alyss stroked Ruta’s trunk and turned to Zelda shaking her head. She turned back to the Divine Beast and asked it if they could board it to which Vah Ruta responded by moving closer to the edge of the cliff. Alyss looked back at Purah and Robbie and motioned with her head for them to follow her into Vah Ruta to which they gladly obliged.

Once stepping foot inside Alyss looked around in shock. “This is what they built,” she asked in awe. There were pools of water, there were podiums, she had come to recognize through Purah as terminals, placed in many awkward places. The number of spinning cogs that were of numerous sizes was outstanding to Alyss as she reveled in the work that her family did to create these beasts.

Purah raised the Sheikah Slate she had taken back from Alyss when they boarded and placed it against the terminal directly outside of Ruta’s body where they had entered. The light underneath her feet turned a bright blue she had come to associate with ancient Sheikah technology and with a glance at Robbie, she walked inside to join Alyss. “Holy crap,” she muttered in awe as she looked around with Alyss. “This thing is ginormous!”

Robbie walked in as well and furrowed his brows making a mental note of multiple pieces of technology he saw. Before he could say anything, Purah was trying out the Cryonisis feature on the Sheikah Slate to open the gate sitting in water. This caught the attention of the rebellious scientist and Alyss as they turned to follow her under the gate and to the terminal.

“I think we should activate as many of these as we find,” she spoke her thoughts as she placed the Sheikah Slate face down onto the terminal. It’s activation made the three Sheikah’s gasp as a detailed diagram of the inside of Vah Ruta was pulled up on the Sheikah Slate’s screen.

“This is aMAZING,” Robbie hollered out in excitement as he took one half of the Sheikah Slate in his hand and stared at the screen next to Purah. “What are we waiting for, let's get to it!”

Hours passed as the trio of scientists worked through Vah Ruta to activate the six terminals, but when it came down to activating the main control unit none of the scientists were able to. “I think we have to call it a day,” Alyss muttered as she placed the Sheikah Slate on the main terminal unit again making sure nothing would happen. Sighing, she walked back to Purah and Robbie with a dejected face.

“Hey, don’t look so down! We made great progress today and I bet we will make much more when we get a pilot for Vah Ruta. It’ll be a SNAP,” Purah shouted, throwing her hand to her face in a rock and roll hand sign. This made Alyss smile and laugh as she agreed with the progress they had made.

“Let me go tell Ruta goodbye and we can go give the Princess our findings,” Alyss said as she turned to walk towards Vah Ruta’s head.

Robbie tore his gaze away from Alyss and started walking back to the entrance of Vah Ruta where they entered earlier without a single word to either of the females, but he was quickly stopped by Purah who skipped to catch up to him. “Hey, hey, where are you going?” She had asked when she caught up to his side. Not sparing her a glance since it wasn’t her fault he was feeling this way, Robbie opened his mouth to speak until he was cut off by a loud trumpeting. This made him a little frustrated, but he continued talking, “Well, there’s nothing else I can do here.”

Purah furrowed her eyebrows in confusion and stepped in front of him only to be sidestepped, “Yeah, but our friend is still up here,” Purah said motioning to Alyss who was walking back towards them and taking her time. She turned back to see Robbie stepping out to the cliff from the entrance to the Divine Beast without saying another word to her. Purah scoffed in shock as she had never seen Robbie act this way before, however when Alyss joined her and asked what was wrong, Purah decided to drop the issue as it was none of her business. Shaking her head and smiling, she and Alyss left the Divine Beast.

As the sun rose again on their second day in the Zora’s Domain, Alyss had made her way back to the Divine Beast to sit and keep it company. As she reached the cliff they were at the day before, Alyss dropped to the ground with a sigh and put her chin on her knees. “Ruta, can I talk for a bit?” She waited for a brief second to see how Ruta would react, but when she got nothing out of the Divine Beast she continued, “I have all these memories from a long time ago, and I’m afraid to move on with my life. What if the Princess decides to follow in her predecessor’s footsteps and shut me back in that wet cavern? Ruta, they buried all of us under the ground and forgot about us, and now we are here to defeat Ganon yet again. How am I supposed to ignore the thoughts I have and do what’s expected of me?”

“Well, I think Vah Ruta feels the same way,” a sweet, quiet voice answered her rhetorical questions from behind her. When Alyss turned around she saw two red Zora walking her way, they both had silver headpieces adorning their heads, but one was much smaller than the other. “I’m sorry, not to be rude, but this is kind of a private conversation,” Alyss murmured as she turned back to Vah Ruta who still hadn’t made any attempt at responding to her. The red Zora stopped a little behind her, “ah, yes, I’m sorry to intrude. I came to introduce myself. My name is Mipha, I am the Princess of the Zora, and this here is my little brother Sidon.”

Alyss turned and stood up bowing slightly as she had seen was the custom of this land, “I am Alyss. It’s a pleasure. Pardon me for my previous rude attitude Princess. I have a lot on my mind.” Alyss looked down to the ground where she saw Sidon smiling back up at her sweetly. The sight made her heart warm and a smile grace her face as she has always had a soft spot for children.

“Well, I wish to not intrude. I will leave you to your conversation,” Mipha said as she turned and started to walk back the way she came, but Alyss stopped her.

“Wait,” Before Alyss could continue her thought Vah Ruta let out a loud, harsh trumpet making Alyss turn around. A large group of enemies were charging towards Zora's Domain from a distance which made Alyss’s eyes widen. Vah Ruta was not only warning them of the danger, but it said Mipha’s name. This gave Alyss an idea. Running to her and grabbing her hand, Alyss shoved the Sheikah Slate into her grasp. “Princess, take this. Board Ruta and make your way to it's inner chamber. There you will find a large terminal that resembles a flower bud. Use this Sheikah Slate and activate Vah Ruta. You can defend your people and defeat these enemies!”

Mipha turned her head to the side where she heard a loud growl. A large group of electric Lizalfos were charging the area where they stood.

“I will protect Sidon, you must go and Pilot the Divine Beast,” Letting go of Mipha’s hand, Alyss ran to Sidon and formed a ring of poisonous smog to surround the two of them. “Go!” Alyss shouted as she started taking out the Lizalfos.

The rest of the group stood in the throne room of the Domain going over the information they had gathered from the Divine Beast the previous day with each other, when a Zora warrior ran in shouting about a large group of enemies. Before anyone could move into action, a loud trumpet was heard from the side accompanied by loud shaking steps that everyone soon recognized was a result of the Divine Beast. Thinking it was Alyss they ran outside to check, but what they saw shocked everyone.

“Mipha,” King Dorephan cried out, but all he could do was watch as his daughter moved Ruta towards the enemies, shooting rays out of it’s tusks destroying multiple enemies at once. It didn’t take long at all for Mipha to wipe out every enemy attacking the domain, and everyone had to admit they were completely shocked.

“Where’s Alyss and Sidon,” Princess Zelda asked looking around. She didn’t see her anywhere and she knew that Mipha went to talk to her and introduce themselves.

Before Zelda could ask anything else, Link, Robbie and Purah were off to try and find the scientist and the young Prince. They ran into a good number of lizalfos and moblins that had come down from the mountains during the onslaught. With Link leading them, they were dead within seconds, but this didn’t do anything for Robbie’s nerves. Sure he was jealous and a little hurt, but she was important to their research and a good friend. When they arrived closer to the area, they could see a large ring of smog and a bunch of dead Lizalfos surrounding the two, but as Alyss’s main concern was the Prince and not hurting him, she was quickly becoming overwhelmed.

“Sidon,” she spoke as she kicked back a Lizalfos into the smog, “leave me!”

“What, no, I can’t!” He shouted back to her.

“Listen, you’re small enough to break through unnoticed! I will draw their attention, but you have to run and get help,” she tried to encourage him without scaring him. A moment passed as she knocked a Lizalfos back, it’s weapon grazing her arm resulting in a pained hiss. The moment, however, was enough for Alyss to let down the ring of smog. She growled, drawing all of the ugly bastard’s attention to her. She watched as Sidon escaped out of the corner of her eye but while knocking Lizalfos down she noticed Sidon had stopped. “Sidon, run! What are you doing!?”

“Alyss!” She heard someone shout out before another yell drowned them out. As this shout sounded out, multiple Lizalfos fell at her feet. She looked up to see Purah waving her towards them while Robbie and Link ran towards the young Prince to scoop him up and take him to safety. Smiling, Alyss ran with the rest of the group back towards the Zora's Domain. When they were far enough away from the ugly lizards, she stopped and turned to wrap the rest of the enemies in a large cloud of poisonous smog quickly choking them out.

After they started to fall, she turned and caught up with the rest of the group. The entire fight took an hour or so at most, but it was a big turn of events for almost everyone. When Mipha brought the Divine Beast back to a cliff easier for her to access and entered the Zora’s Domain once again to join everyone the first thing she did was hug her brother. “Sidon, I’m so glad you’re alright.” Sidon smiled a bright smile and brought his fist up to his face in an “alright” motion. Mipha turned to face the rest of the group and her father who had been quiet through the entire exchange. Bowing, she spoke, “Father, I’m so sorry, I-”

King Dorephan held up his hand and chuckled, “Mipha, it seems that I have been proven wrong. I’m certain you will make a fine pilot for the Divine Beast as long as you make one promise,” he finished looking at the Princess. “Keep my daughter safe.”

Princess Zelda smiled and bowed deeply to the King of the Zora’s Domain. “You have my word.”

#BOTW #breath of the wild #legend of zelda #robbie x oc #robbie aoc #robbie botw #revali x oc #revali botw #robbie x oc x revali

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loz-furbies · 2 years

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My ranking the four races

Since there’s a lot of repeating elements in the four peoples of the champions, it’s fun to compare them to each other.

Champions

Revali - Revali my beloved. Tsundere bird. Apart from Zelda has the most noticeable character arc. Creates tension in a story where most allies are friendly with you from the start. Best AoC theme (no contest here) and he gets two!

Mipha - Such a sweetheart and lovely voice, and I like the childhood friends thing she has with Link. Also has a great sibling relationship with Sidon.

Urbosa - Really cool, and the most mentally sound of the group. Suffers a bit from the fact that she’s already grown up and content with herself, so we don’t see her struggle with any personal obstacles. Also since a lot of her story related more to Zelda than Link, I felt a bit like a bystander as the player.

Daruk - Balances the cast nicely but doesn’t do much for me on his own, other than his friendship with Link. Like Urbosa is already an adult so we don’t really see much personal struggles from him. Too much of his focus is about food.

Champion successors

Sidon - Before playing the game I had the impression that Sidon would be very serious and stoic so the himbo energy took me by surprise. I really like how positive and friendly he is, especially when everything is always some kind of trial to Link where he has to prove himself. So it’s so nice that someone is enthusiastically on his side right away.

Riju - I really like Riju, she has a great design and the contrast between her age and still being one of the smartest and mentally sound of the cast is interesting. Which works well with her hidden more childlike side too. It’s like she got Urbosa’s great qualities, and also has weaknesses to overcome to make her easier to root for.

Teba - It’s nice that one of the characters is already an adult who has a family. He’s described as being quick to anger but I didn’t see that much and to me he came across as pretty reasonable. I would have liked to see more of this side of him (or more of him in general).

Yunobo - I don’t have anything specific against Yunobo but of the major characters he is the one I think the least about. He does have a decent character arc though.

Champion powers

Revali - Makes getting around so much easier and saves rainy days. The best (and only really) of the powers to in terms of character importance; Revali developing his on his own is very relevant to his character, while we don’t really get to know how the others feel about theirs.

Daruk - I can’t use shields so Daruk saves me from guardian lasers.

Urbosa - Useful since I also suck at combat. I like that the offensive ability was given to a female character.

Mipha - The first one I got and very useful in the beginning, but as you get more hearts and better armour it gets so easy not to die that I haven’t needed this in ages. Storywise super healing powers create issues by trivialising injuries.

Hometown

Rito Village - I’m a creature of North and feel at home in the middle of the snow and evergreen trees. Best music. I had a memorable experience stumbling here without a map.

Gerudo Town - Feels the most like an actual place where people live their lives outside the player’s actions and there’s a lot of little things to find. I especially like the secret clothing shop and how you can take part in the romance and cooking classes. And the marketplace is great as a gameplay element and I can easily imagine it bustling with people.

Zora’s Domain - I want to like Zora’s Domain more because it’s Sidon’s home but I have a lot of issues. The architecture is very pretty but it feels implausible and weird for an aquatic race, like I’d rather imagine canals and underwater locations. And the gameplay and story segregation here bothers me a lot; the Zora actually know Link and Sidon is supposedly his close friend but you still have to pay to heal at the hotel?

Goron City - Suffers from the fact that I don’t care much for the Gorons and there aren’t that many reasons to visit here (and when I do I’m forced to wear the uncute armour).

#ramble ramble #botw #I wrote a lot of bitching about Zora's domain but it's probably better off as its own post

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chibi-honey-cake · 4 years

Note

How about a drabble with Link having to adventure through cold water, and Sidon gives him a warm place to stay while travelling, said place being his belly?

Spare You The Cold- Prince Si.don x Li.nk

Okay, I put this off too long. Here's your request! TBH, I still haven't played BotW yet (because I knew it would eat literal days of my life lol) so I've been really trying hard to portray things right. I don't really know Prince Sidon well because he himself is a spoiler, but I could not avoid the internet's collective BiG fIsH bOyFrIeNd... ❤️ I really hope I got his character right, I had to look up cutscenes and dialogue. This draws a LOT of inspiration from @nom-central 's wondrous Vore Day story from this year, so if you wanna see the Sidon x Reader fic that inspired this one, click here~ Alright so I guess, here we go!

Contains: Soft Vore, Safe Vore, Half-Size Vore, Male Pred, Male Prey, Willing Prey (I'm also counting this as Protection Vore 'cuz Link needs protecting from his own silly self sometimes. XD) Word Count: 1.5K

=-=-=-=-=

Link knew he should have prepared for this outcome a bit more. Of course the waters would be treacherous when he was venturing this far north. Without protective clothing or equipment, this water would be freezing... But he needed to get beyond this river!

Stubbornness won out as the Hylian hero waded into the water, pausing to brace himself. It was already cold on his ankles and shins, let alone what it would be like in a moment. He had to do this, though. Link couldn't stop now. He took a deep breath, hoped for the best, then threw himself into the water.

Cold! So cold! The temperature was so shocking that it nearly stole his breath away. As soon as he surfaced, Link gasped and spluttered for air. This was one of his bad ideas, he realized immediately. This was not going to work! Gritting his teeth, he immediately gave up this attempt. He quickly paddled himself back to the shore, shivering and panting from the heat-sapping cold.

Well, that was a mess of a failure. Link wrapped his arms around himself, frowning and shivering as he tried to restore more warmth to his chilled skin. He needed to build a fire to warm himself before he caught cold or something.

But it wasn't more than a few seconds later that his plans changed. Apparently his splashing had drawn someone's attention. "Hello there, Link!" a familiar voice called from the river. The blond hero looked up to see the Zora prince waving to him from the water. Link's frown softened into a small smile at the sight, lifting a hand to wave back weakly. Prince Sidon grinned wide, displaying his sharp teeth as he easily swam to the shore. Water cascaded from the large Zora's body as he lifted himself from the water. Link leaned up to meet Sidon's gaze, idly noting that the cold water didn't seem to affect Sidon as much as it did him. In fact, it didn't seem to bother him at all.

"I'm glad I caught up with you," Sidon started as he approached, "You mentioned heading this way, but you traveled faster than I imagined! Especially without swimming." He chuckled, apparently impressed. But he didn't linger on the point for long, diverting when he looked over the shorter hero. "Link, you are not looking so well," Sidon noted, tapping his chin. Link's stance was huddled, his clothing was soaked, and he appeared to be holding back from shivering in an attempt to mask his problem. It clicked in the prince's head immediately. "You didn't actually attempt to swim this river, did you?"

Link winced, knowing his mistake was obvious. His frown twisted, lifting his arms with a stiff shrug.

Sidon's golden eyes widened in shock. "That was reckless!" he scolded gently, "Hylians aren't able to stand colder waters like Zoras! What were you thinking?"

Link couldn't really defend his decision, after all it was just an impulse. Just one of his 'I-bet-I-can-do-this' spur-of-the-moment choices that he always ended up regretting. He shrugged again, glancing guiltily at the ground.

Sidon sighed, running his hand over the shark-like crest on his head. "I think I understand," he murmured, thinking briefly, "You were hoping to go fast... So you figured you could make it, right?" Link agreed with another nod, thoroughly embarrassed by his misplaced confidence. Prince Sidon looked over the shivering hero once more, a mix of concern and respect in his heart. To be so determined to reach your task, even at risk of yourself... It was what being a hero was all about, they both knew that. But he couldn't just leave Link like this.

"I would offer to let you ride upriver with me but you already seem chilled, my friend," Sidon pointed out as Link rubbed his arms for warmth, "And I cannot stand by when I can help!" Sidon knelt down to Link's height, grinning sharply once more, "I can take you beyond the river and give you a chance to warm up, if you like?"

Link's gaze lifted to the Zora's as they shared a silent look between them. Link knew what he was asking- They'd already done this a time or two before. Sure, it was a little- strange, but... Prince Sidon was someone to be trusted. After all, he'd already shown that much. Link nodded in agreement, a shuddering breath leaving his chest.

Sidon's grin widened further, showing off his sharp teeth. "Perfect!" he laughed, reaching out as Link approached, "Always glad to help." The Zora Prince took no hesitation, his larger hands grasping Link's shoulders. His mouth parted wide, a mildly-intimidating sight with how imposing his figure was. But the Hylian trusted him, closing his eyes as he felt a warm breath against his face.

His broad, smooth tongue curled beneath Link's chin, guiding his head over Sidon's sharp teeth safely. His head easily fit into the prince's mouth, warmer saliva slicking his skin. Just the softer warmth of his mouth made the chill in the rest of the hero's body all that more obvious, making him wish that Sidon might go faster this time...

But Sidon paused for just a moment to taste him, his tongue sliding past his cheek. Sidon hummed appreciatively, his tongue turning to the young man's neck. He nudged Link's head towards the back of his throat and a strong swallow pulled him into the entrance of the throat.

Sidon rumbled another hum, swallowing again to push his shoulders down next. It was a good thing Zoras had adapted to being able to take live meals, though usually this method was used on fish. Thankfully their stomachs weren't very powerful, making this technique quite handy for other purposes.

The Zora prince kept his tongue between Link and his teeth, not wanting to harm his friend- and he could taste as he went, win-win. Taking more of the Hylian's torso in, Sidon noted that he was keeping still save for a subtle tremor. Considering how cold Link felt as he swallowed further towards his waist, he should probably hurry up to get the soaked hero out of the cool air.

Link held himself back from fidgeting even though the sensation was still a little strange to him. The muscles inside the Zora prince were smooth, slick, and strong- which, come to think of it, also described the outside of Sidon. His swallowing felt effortless, more of Link's chilled frame slipping deeper inside. He passing by the source of the Zora's powerful heartbeat in a hurry, massaged closer to his destination. Link let out a low sigh of contentment, the warmth of Sidon's larger, powerful body seeping into his and banishing the cold bit by bit. He felt gravity shift to aid his trip inside, limply allowing his frame to slide downward towards the warm belly of his friend.

Sidon lifted Link's shorter frame, both of them working towards their mutual end goal. Prince Sidon pushed the Hylian's legs up as he tilted his head back, the slick muscles inside making the act of swallowing merely a formality. It was over in a few quick gulps, the last of Link quickly slithering down Sidon's throat. He swallowed one last time, making sure to tuck all of the Hylian safely in his stomach before anything else.

He felt the smaller frame of the Hylian slip easily into his belly, a soft gurgle welcoming his arrival. Sidon placed his fingers to his smooth, rounded belly, pressing in slightly to guide Link's body into a more comfortable position. Link accepted his help gratefully, wriggling carefully to nestle into the crook of the Zora prince's tum. "There..." Sidon let out a pleased sigh, "Isn't that better? You'll be warmer in no time, my friend!"

Link's shivering inside had lessened; even though Sidon could still feel the chill from the Hylian's frame inside, he was quickly thawing. Even the lukewarm insides of the Zora were warmer than he had been. It would at least help warm him more slowly to keep Link safe from injury. Link didn't answer with words, but gave a friendly pat to the inner walls of his stomach.

Prince Sidon couldn't help but laugh, answering with his own soft pat. "Good then," Sidon crooned, turning to wade back into the river. He could insulate and help his friend to reach his destination without stress now. "I'll ferry you down the river, you just sit tight."

As Sidon dipped into the cooler waters, his hand caressed his warm tum gently. Another long gurgle rumbled loose as Link shifted to curl up inside. However, Link was still fairly cold... and no one said that he couldn't take his time getting there, did they? Prince Sidon hummed playfully to himself, pushing through the cooler currents with ease. Link needed rest and warmth; letting him stay inside was the least Sidon could do after all Link had done for him and his people.

#chibi writes a thing #anonymous #loz vore #extreme cuddling #v.ore #soft vore #safe vore #half size vore #male pred #male prey #willing prey #protective vore #Thanks again to nom-central for being a beta reader!#Thank you!#I was so worried I hadn't gotten his personality right

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queenof-literature · 4 years

Text

Signs

Hi all! I hope you enjoy part 4 of my Hero of Wild series. For more information on the signs, please click here if you’re interested.

I just wanted to be upfront and say that this is in no way an exact portrayal of ASL or the culture surrounding it. Hylians are fictional and would therefore have different signs. I based it off of vocabulary from ASL. I know basic sign to help my fellow peers in Special Education, but I am not fluent and am only basing it loosely off of ASL and putting a twist on it I think Wild’s Hyrule would have developed over the centuries. I of course don’t know Wild’s Hyrule’s sign, so these are just my personal headcanons for how I think it would be. Thank you!

“I think we need to make name signs for ourselves.” Twilight pitched his idea while Sky was off distracting Wild. They were currently in Sky’s Hyrule on the surface. Wild’s first time going through a portal went well enough. He went through last with his hand on his slate. Twilight assumed it felt a little bit like a trap, that a group he didn’t know very well told him to go through a mysterious portal. Wild seemed used to strange magic at least, or whatever his slate was. Wild had told Twilight it wasn’t magic but Twilight had a hard time believing that.

It seemed their new member was similar to their traveler in the fact they had to do their best to keep them from running away to explore. Still they both often ran off the path when they saw something interesting to them, Four and Wind joining them sometimes.

Twilight had told Sky his idea of giving signs to each of them for Wild to communicate better and quicker. If he needed a specific item from someone during a fight, quick and efficient would be key. Not to mention the kid shouldn’t have to be forced to finger spell one of their names everytime. Sky smiled and told him what a great idea that was, and that he would give Wild a miniature tour while Twilight brought it up to the group. He didn’t want to spring it upon both Wild and the other Links at the same time, that just seemed like a recipe for disaster.

“Name signs? You mean in sign language?” Legend asked curiously.

“Yeah for Wild. It makes no sense to have the kid continuously fingerspell out names.” Twilight confirmed glancing over to Time.

“I’ve been meaning to ask about that. Since our nicknames are more based on nature or objects, why doesn’t Wild just use his signs? Why doesn’t he just sign Sky?” Warriors asked carefully.

“That’s a slippery slope.” Four spoke for Twilight. “That could cause confusion based on context. It would be easier to assign specific names.”

“That sounds cool but how do we do that?” Wind asked with a tilted head.

“Well when I was working with my grandfather, a girl my age and her family came in. She couldn’t hear very well so her family learned sign. Her father talked to my grandfather about it. Apparently it’s easiest if you take a personality or a defining characteristic, like a personality or hair color or something, and have a twist to it. Her name was Lily, so they signed the sign for a lily flower with the sign for I think happy in front of it? I don’t remember very well but it’s like that.” Four spoke up. The others nodded in interest and began whispering about what their signs could be.

“That’s a good idea. Should we just do our hero titles and a defining trait?” Warriors asked.

“That sounds fine, but we should probably ask Wild what he wants since he will be the main person using them.” Time spoke up, to which the group all agreed.

“Okay well I sent Sky off with him. I didn’t want to spring this upon everyone at once.” Twilight stated, barely resisting beaming when Time nodded in approval.

“Good idea, Pup.” Time smiled as the group descended into evening chatter once again. It hadn’t been a hard day of travel, but it had been longer than usual to find a space Sky deemed safe enough. For now the group settled down for the evening.

Wild didn’t know why Sky was distracting him but he played along for now, doing well to hide his nerves. Maybe he had done something wrong? Something the group hadn’t liked? Sky seemed too nice to be leading him to his execution, but maybe that was the point. Sky seemed too nice in general. He was far too warm and accepting to him, especially right away. He wasn’t an idiot, he knew the others stared at his scars when they thought he wasn’t looking. Had the Master Sword told Sky of his failure? Perhaps the group knew of him dying 100 years ago, and they were going to take care of him before it happened again.

It was a shame. Wild liked them so far, especially Twilight. He seemed so warm and willing to help. And Hyrule seemed similar to Wild in their love of exploring. And Four was accepting of almost anyone, no matter what. Was it all a facade? Knowing Wild’s luck it certainly was. He didn’t think they were Yiga, the Master Sword soothed those fears and told Wild to trust them without using any words at all. Yet that was before they truly knew him. Had the Master Sword changed its mind?

If he was ambushed by the very group he was supposed to trust, fellow Heroes of Courage, he knew a part of him would die. Even if he didn’t know them very well, they were a part of his past, present, and perhaps his future. Incarnations of the same soul passed down and changed for millenia. If they deemed Wild unworthy, he would move on, but a deep part of him would remember and always feel pain that his own past incarnations hated him.

Still for now he listened to Sky talk about his Hyrule. If he wasn’t so deep in his thoughts he would find it more fascinating, but he had plenty to bring back to Zelda. If he made it back to her. Another wave of fear swept over him. What if the group was the only way to get to other worlds? He couldn’t make portals appear on a whim! According to Time, Hylia herself even seemed to struggle to put them in the right place! If they ambushed him, he would fight and he would run. But would he be trapped in a distant Hyrule forever, centuries apart from the Goron, Rito, Gerudo, Zora, and most importantly Zelda? If he had no way to return to his Hyrule that he knew and loved, he would be trapped in this warped reality, forever hunted by the real Link who lived here. Leaving Zelda to fix the kingdom he had a hand in ruining.

Wild (perhaps he wouldn’t have that name for long now, although he truly loved it), barely noticed them approaching their campsite for the evening. Wild readied his hand to launch to his slate. He wasn’t going down without a fight, but he would never attack these fellow heroes first. Wild was met with the curious eyes of the other Links around what would soon be a cooking fire.

This was it.

“So, Wild.” Twilight spoke up. Oh Hylia, why did it have to be Twilight? The very man who offered comfort after his first nightmare within the group. Had he forsaken Hylia that much? “We were talking, and we thought maybe you could teach us some more of your sign? Since it’s changed so much over the years. And maybe we could come up with name signs for each other to make communicating easier?”

Oh.

Wild looked genuinely shocked at the boys wanting to learn his language, which made Twilight feel far more sad than he was expecting. Between his distrust of any other Hylians and his shock at someone wanting to communicate with him in his own way, it was clear that there had been many people who had hurt Wild.

‘You don’t have to.’ Wild signed, snapping out of his shock.

“We want to Wild.” Wind reassured, along with the rest of the group. Wild could feel his face warming up, not knowing what to say. He thought they were going to hunt him!

“Um. Well we were thinking you could teach us how to say our hero titles, and then we could all choose a personality or physical trait that defines us? And we could combine them to make the name sign? It’s completely up to you, it’s just an idea.” Twilight pitched.

‘...are you sure?’ Wild signed hesitantly. He didn’t want to make any trouble within the group.

“Yeah Wild! It sounds fun anyway!” Wind exclaimed, attempting to dial up his excited tone to assure Wild they were happy to do it.

‘Okay. Thank you.’ Wild signed as heartfelt as he could. The rest of the team smiled at the boy’s acceptance.

“Are you okay with the idea we had to make them?” Time asked, to which Wild simply nodded. “Okay, we’ll have you combine them, but let us know if it’s too complicated and we’ll choose something else.” Wild nodded at Time once again, signaling that was fine with him.

“Okay! Who wants to go first?” Twilight clapped his hands, glancing around the group members.

“I can. I’m fine with anything that’s not insulting.” Legend volunteered, tacking on the end when he noticed Warriors’ large smile.

“Well that’s easy! You have a pink strand of hair, and your name is Legend! Let’s combine those!” Wind said excitedly. Legend simply shrugged in acceptance.

“Wild, how do you say those?” Wild paused for a moment. Legend was a person and not a fairy tale, so he should use the sign that leaned more towards legacy and not stories. He placed his left hand, the index finger straight up, the middle finger at an angle while the rest of his fingers curled down. Making a downward stroking potion with the curved finger on his chin, mouthing pink along with the sign. Wild then formed his hands into curved triangles, pinching his fingers together. Placing his hands in front of him with the left above the right, making two motions to shift the hands from the left side of his body to the right. To his surprise the rest of the group copied it to the best of their ability, including Legend who didn’t even seem to want to participate in this.

“I’m fine with that.” Legend stated simply, confirming the sign as his. No one brought up him practicing it close to his chest for far longer than necessary.

“I assume mine is going to be Time and Old Man?” Time asked in amusement.

“Nah, we can do better than that.” Warriors smirked. “How about your ocarina? We could combine Time and music?” Warriors pitched. Time nodded, he enjoyed that well enough. He silently appreciated that it also connected him to the Kokiri.

Wild nodded and mouthed time as he moved his right hand like a dial before shifting to the sign for music, moving his right hand in a sweeping motion above his left arm cradled to his chest. The rest of the group copied, Time nodded.

“If we’re in battle, you can sign these with one hand right? The rest of us should be able to know what you’re referring to.” Four asked Wild, who smiled and nodded.

“Let’s do Four next!” Sky spoke up.

“Isn't the sign for Four still just four fingers held up?” Four asked curiously.

“Ugh that’s boring. What if you’re ‘Colors’ instead because of your tunic?” Wind questioned.

“Wind! Don’t call the Hero of Four Swords’ title boring!” Sky chided, although Four looked oddly pleased at the idea of being deemed ‘Colors’ in sign.

“I like it. Maybe with metal or blacksmithing?” Four nodded to Wild. Wild’s nose scrunched up thought, before nodding brightly. ‘Color’ he mouthed as he spread his left palm out, facing his chin as he tapped the index and middle finger against it. The rest of the group copied. Wild then moved the ‘metal’ which shifted to the hand being in a hook shape, tapping the index finger on his chin once again.

“That’s easy enough.” Four’s small smile had grown the slightest bit wider at his sign. Four was sure it wasn’t as sophisticated as a group of people who were more involved with sign could come up with, but this worked perfectly for their new team.

“Me next!” Wind waved his hand. “Well there’s wind and then… something with music! No! Something with boats! Or pirates! No the sea! That incorporates it all!” Wind yelled out his ideas in rapid succession. Wild waited until the teen finally settled on wind and sea. Wild bit his lip. That would be sort of hard to combine. He used the sign for ‘Sea’, the left palm spread out and facing to the side, tapping his index finger on his chin. Although instead of finishing the sign in the normal fashion, he shifted it to the sign for Wind, keeping his palms spread and facing each other. He then moved his hands in two little circles.

“That's perfect!” Wind exclaimed while copying the motion many more times.

Wild pointed to Warriors next.

“Oh, me next?” Warriors asked. Wild nodded, he had a good idea for Warriors. He moved his right hand in a curly zigzag with three curves. “Does that not combine anything?” Warriors asked, seemingly hiding his disappointment that it seemed not much thought was out in it. Wild bit his lip, taking out the journal Four had given him for talking around the campfire when his signs were too complicated.

‘It combines the sign for sword fight and soldier with the sign for writing. You seem to like writing and drawing in your books. Do you want a new one?’ Wild wrote on one of the pages before passing it to Warriors. Realization dawned on him as he read the pages.

“Oh! Sorry Wild I was just confused. I thought it was just a sign for sword. No, I like it!” Warriors smiled at Wild as he passed the book around for the others to see. There were a couple comments about how it fit well and how Wild was good at this, which made Wild blush lightly.

“How about me?” Sky asked after a moment of silence, being careful not to speak over anyone else.

“What do you want your characteristic to be?” Four asked. “Maybe warm? You have a very warm personality.” Four smirked at Sky’s blush.

“I was thinking maybe red? My loftwing that I told you about is crimson colored.” Sky asked Wild. “If not that's okay I can think of something else.” Wild smiled and shook his head, this one would be easy! He mouthed ‘red’, stroking his chin twice with his left index finger, the rest of his fingers curled in a fist. He then mouth ‘sky’ as he swept his arm grandly upwards towards the trees above.

“That’s pretty! Will you understand it if we use a smaller motion for the sky sign? Just if we’re in a rush?” Sky questioned. Wild thought for a minute. It was slightly similar to other signs in different contexts if the motions were smaller, but having the red in front of it would solidify what they were saying. After a few moments of thought, Wild nodded.

“For mine, maybe we should do what we did for Four and not use my hero title? Just because my name is already confusing sometimes with Hyrule the land and Hyrule me.” Hyrule spoke up, looking slightly sheepish.

“If that’s what you're comfortable with ‘Rule.” Legend reassured. “How about Traveler?”

Wild started furiously scribbling before Hyrule could confirm that he liked that name, everyone pausing to let Wild finish.

‘I don’t know traveler in sign, I can’t remember and no one ever taught me again, it’s just blank. I would usually just say yes to being a traveler or say I’m a wanderer. Sorry Hyrule.’ As if to express his apology more clearly, Wild had drawn a large sad face next to the text he had written. Wild always wrote extremely small in his book, as if not wanting to overuse the gift Four had given him. It was a nice change of pace to see something larger on the pages.

“That’s okay, Wild! I’m okay with Wanderer too!” Hyrule laughed. “What about the other sign?”

“How about magic? No one’s better at magic than you ‘Rule.” Twilight suggested, causing Hyrule to burn red.

“I mean I just needed it for my journey. It’s fun though! I like being able to take out a bunch of monsters at the same time-” Wild tuned out Hyrule’s explanation to think of how to combine those signs. He tried to make them easy and short, for both battle and for conversation. He waited until the group quieted down, turning their attention to him. He mouthed ‘wanderer’ as he swayed his right index finger back and forth. He would replace the beginning of the magic sign with that, instead of clenching his fingers together. He then mouthed ‘magic’, quickly clenching a fist and releasing it with flare, as if casting a spell on the ground below.

“I love it!” Hyrule beamed as the others repeated the sign.

“My turn I suppose?” Twilight turned to Wild, who was writing on the page again.

‘I can’t say twilight, but I can say dusk.’ The page said.

“That’s alright.” Twilight reassured.

“What’s his other name going to be?” Wind asked the group.

“Country?”

“Goats?”

“Rancher?” Wild pondered all of these suggestions. Nothing quite fit together. An idea struck Wild’s brain like lightning when he had his royal claymore out in a storm.

‘Wolf.’ Wild wrote in large letters on half of the page so everyone could see. The others looked slightly confused, but Wild simply pointed to the pelt on Twilight’s shoulders.

“Wild, are you sure?” Twilight asked, gritting his teeth slightly.

“What Wild says goes. Besides, I think it suits you just fine, Pup.” Time spoke over the others, enunciating the word ‘Pup’ with all the teasing venom he had, causing the group to roar with laughter. Twilight couldn’t believe this! Betrayed! By his own mentor! Although all of Twilight’s rage dissipated when he looked over to see Wild silently shaking with laughter. As usual the boy made no noise with his mouth, but he didn’t have to. Twilight could see the joy on his face. It struck him that he had never seen Wild laugh like that before, but it seemed natural, like he should be doing it all the time. Twilight supposed if this was the result he didn’t mind the sign so much. Besides, he secretly liked it anyway.

Wild waited for the group to calm down before making Twilight’s sign. He mouth ‘wolf’ as he formed what looked to be a snout in front of his face, keeping his thumb and index finger together, he made a circle and brought it down. Twilight actually really liked his sign, he thought it reflected him very well.

‘Thank you.’ Wild said again once they were done assigning names, being met with a chorus of ‘no problem’ and ‘of course’. Wild started to stand to make the cooking fire for dinner tonight, committing all the signs to his memory. Ever since he had joined, he had taken over the cooking in the evenings. In the mornings a lot of people did their own thing. Some made themselves a full meal, while others just ate an apple on the road later when they were actually hungry.

“Wait, Wild!” Wind piped, causing Wild to freeze. Oh no had he forgotten someone? That would be so embarrassing.

“You forgot your name sign!” Sky finished. Wild’s nose scrunched up once again, picking up the journal once again.

‘I can just refer to myself?’ Wild was confused as to why he needed one. The others seemed to be alright at talking, but maybe Wild was mistaken.

“Well yeah, but you gave us all names, it’s our turn.” Hyrule began.

“And at this point it might as well be a team thing.” Four finished. Wild’s brain went blank for a moment. A team thing? He was a part of the team now? Officially? Wild didn’t expect anything to solidify that, he was just expecting to continue to trail along like a lost puppy. Wild bit back a smile and nodded.

“Okay we have to make this one really good.”

“It at least has to involve nature.”

“And destruction.”

“Really Legend?”

“What? You saw how the guy fought that Lynel. Make his name fire or something.”

“No! It has to be something cool like morning wood or something.”

“No no no no no no no no no.”

“What why? It’s cool?”

“Wind, no!”

“But why?”

“I’ll explain when you’re older.”

“Oh fuck you!”

“What about fire and grass?” Twilight called out, halting all conversations. The group looked at him curiously. “It shows his Wild title and his Hyrule. Also he lit a shit ton of grass on fire when we met him. The group all nodded, deeming this title fighting of their new member.

“Is that okay, Wild?” Sky asked gently. Wild nodded enthusiastically. Grass and fire, some his favorite things. He mouth ‘grass’ as he tucked his thumb against his right palm, sweeping his index finger over the side of his mouth once before dragging it down in front of his chest in a circle to imitate flames.

“Perfect!” Twilight resisted clapping his hand on Wild’s shoulder. The rest of the group was fine with casual touching, Twilight had to keep reminding himself that Wild was different in that aspect. That was fine, they were figuring it out one by one.

The group settled down once again to chat while Wild cooked dinner, signing as best as they could as they talked. Even though Wild could hear them fine, it was good practice. Overall, it looked to be a peaceful evening.

“Wait, can someone do the signs for me again?”

Thank you for reading! Once again, for more information on the signs, please click here if you’re interested.

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botwstoriesandsuch · 4 years

Note

I'd like love headcanons about the new champions. Specifically like how they would interact with their Divine Beasts, how they would socialize with the Champions' spirits, and how they interact with Zelda. I love your blog by the way, it's so creative and I love your stories!

Thanks a bunch! Sorry this took a bit, I had a ton of ideas for the Divine Beasts…

Anyway, let’s get into some

New Gen Champion Headcanons!

So Hyrule is saved and now we just got a bunch of giant mechanical beasts laying around

What to do, what to do…

No one can seem to really control the Divine Beasts as it requires a telekinetic connection, and the beasts have to recognize someone’s soul and spirit as worthy…yada-yada

Even Link was cheating a bit, as he only controlled the terminals of the Beasts with his Sheikah Slate. He didn’t have the power to actually tame them, he could only just tilt them around a bit. Hylia knows Link doesn’t need four giant machines capable of causing mass destruction anyway

Zelda, as usual, takes the initiative to find a solution. Who better to tame these Divine Beasts than the ones who helped defeat them!

Enter, the New Champions

Sidon was excited when Ruta responded to him. I mean, such a creature had judged his sister Mipha worthy of commanding it. So the fact that he could also control Vah Ruta resonated with him, as it meant that maybe he could live up to his sister…

Of course, some of the older Zora, including his father, were wary, considering the Divine Beasts were so closely linked with Mipha’s death

But Sidon is determined, he wants to be useful and help Link (aw) and all of Hyrule. He’ll convince everyone that it’s his duty as a noble to help everyone with the Divine Beast.

“Besides, my sister will be watching over me!”

Sidon and Ruta very helpful whenever there’s droughts or a bad harvest. People don’t even need to report anything. Sidon and Ruta just instinctively know if people need rain.

And Ruta does have a mind of her own. She (yeah we’re using she for all the beasts, like boats, ya know?) is sort of playful and just randomly splashes water on Sidon every now and then.

I also like to think the trunk doubles as a speaker, and Sidon just blasts music whenever he feels like it

It seem Yunobo was the only one bewildered that Rudania responded to him’

“W-what?! Why me? All I did was tag along with Link and headbut it a few times…”

It would take some convincing from the elders that he was up for the job

“Nonsense kid. You did what none of us could do. You’re the one who tackled that old lizard head on! Plus, you’re graced with Daruk’s protection. You helped save Goron City, You got this, brother!”

So Yunobo became a Champion, able to tame Divine Beast Vah Rudania. He’s a bit flustered with this new found fame, but he gets through it. After all, the whole ordeal with Link has made him a bit braver

I like to think Rudania’s personality is serious, an all work no play kind of guy. Purely because it clashes with the personality of both Daruk and Yunobo so much. (Hc that’s why Daruk was struggling with his Divine Beast originally)

Rudania moves on their own, without Yunobo’s input sometimes, so they can move out of the way of falling rocks and stuff. The lizard acts like a big old grump

Anyway, the Goron mining business is BOOMING, literally. Those turrets and drones that Rudania has? Super helpful when scanning dangerous areas by Death Mountain, and for identifying valuable ore.

Also Rudania’s fireproof-ness is great on checking on how active the volcano is, a super helpful asset under a slightly anxious Goron youth. Fun!

Teba takes up the job, no questions asked. No one’s that surprise that the best warrior is the successor for the Divine Beast, but he cares a lot about living up to Revali’s legacy. He gets Medoh to respond immediately, and he’s probably the most skilled out of the four new champions with his beast.

However, it takes time for him to warm up, to Medoh. The thing almost killed his best friend, and shot a laser at him after all. Teba does what’s necessary to maintain Medoh, and nothing more.

Vah Medoh basically is a mama bird. It uses its Sheikah tech to keep the inside toasty for whenever Teba comes, she glows warmly in the night, even the propellers are used to blow fast gusts of wind to help Rito get places fast.

Eventually, Teba gets along with Medoh when he practices archery with Tulin on Medoh’s back. The updrafts of the grates there are even better and faster than the natural ones at the flight range.

Vah Medoh’s cannons/turrets are helpful when dealing with the numerous monsters near the Hebra Range. Talus? Gone. Ice Lizalfo camp? Obliterated. Hinox? Dead. This part is probably something Teba enjoys too, he’s a warrior first and foremost anyway, so dealing with monsters so easily boosts his ego, just a bit.

Everyone was ecstatic for Riju. Everyone, especially Bularia, is so proud. Look at all those achievements under her belt! Youngest Chief, has a sand seal prophet, defeated Vah Naboris, oversaw the reclamation of the Thunderhelm and the Yiga Clan Hideout (although that last one was mostly Link, but no one knows that because, he’s a guy, scandalous)

Riju works well enough with her Divine Beast, the Thunder Helm pairs well, and she feels like she’s growing into it anyway.

Naboris is a show off. Stomping for no reason, hanging out in thunderstorms and sandstorms just to look cool? Yes. And Riju plays along with this because what kids doesn’t wanna look cool with a giant mecha beast? With Naboris, Chief Riju is starting to outgrow her fears of being seen as a bad leader, cause a Divine Beast is a pretty good testament to how hard you work for your people. (Aw, her mom would be proud)

Let’s talk about those Electric Generators. This Divine Beast can harness energy from the earth? And has natural electrical systems? So, so, helpful not just for the desert, but for everyone in general. Naboris’ electrical power is used to power other machines and technology, allowing for heating, water systems, lights, the whole sha-bang. And the fact that there’s a lightning rod to attract the lightning, which not only keeps people safe, but harnesses the natural elements of the land? *chef’s kiss*

You bet your ass Zelda hangs out with Naboris a lot too, reverse engineering portable electricity could help all of Hyrule get back on their feet. I’m talking Industrial Revolution baby, (but without the exploitation of the working class and poverty, ya know, only the good stuff)

But besides that, Riju uses Naboris to navigate the desert. You don’t need to worry about sandstorms and such when you’ve basically got a walking house. It’s lights also serve as good waypoints for travelers, or beacons for those that are lost.

Now as for the original Champions…. Well the ending of botw was pretty clear that they had passed on. They sorta disappear…cause they found peace…and all that. I know the point of fanfic is to ignore canon and create your own endings and ideas, but if I got into how I think the Champions would be revived this would be a much longer post, lol.

So we’ll just leave it at, everyone happy. Hyrule is prospering, Zelda and Link are leading a new generation of Champions and helping the people of the land. Everyone gets together and has a sleepover and Link’s house every now and again. And Teba adopts everyone because he is basically the only adult. Yay!

#botw #breath of the wild #legend of zelda botw #loz botw #sidon botw #yunobo #yunobo botw #teba #teba botw #botw riju #riju botw #zelda #zelda botw #link #link botw #botw champions #divine beast #botw headcanons

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muffintonic · 3 years

Text

Alright, I think i’m done BOTW 2 spamming for today. Anywho, time for some thoughts in general!

1) I hated how the shrines in BOTW were so cold and dark compared to the bright and lively nature outside (I wish they had all looked like the Master Trials challenge where there were trees and stuff incorporated inside), so I hope if we’re forced to have dungeons they’ll be more like the Wind Waker ones. 2) I hope they don’t make us use the grappling hook or anything like in Wind Waker to move around the sky islands (I hated that mechanic). 3) I’m probably one of the few people who wanted less Zelda and more of the Champions in HWAOC since i’m only really attached to BOTW (and we saw a fair amount of Tetra in Wind Waker)/apparently Zelda’s been sidelined in all the other games, so i’m hoping in vain that we get more Champions material in BOTW 2. Also, Link could stand to have some more cutscenes centered around him as well (the few we got in some of the sidequests in BOTW were great). 4) I only really somewhat care about Riju and Sidon, so I won’t mind if the new gang gets sidelined in BOTW 2 (I still think Nintendo wasted the found family/band of brothers aspect on the dead characters--I love them so much and they’re all I want!! The problem is, they’re dead and I don’t really care all that much about their replacements!!! I dunno, maybe i’m hampered by the fact that I can replay the original champions’ memories whenever I want/read their diaries, but I can’t rewatch the new gang’s cutscenes AKA i’ve forgotten their characterization since they don’t talk to me much now that the game’s over). It’d be great if they have some weaving storylines in BOTW 2 that will get me more invested in them, but currently i’m not that interested. 5) Speaking of which, I know it’s 100% not going to happen, but goddang if I don’t want the Champions to have been returned to life. Nintendo totally squandered HWAOC by not making it a true prequel/canon to BOTW (the Champions Ballad confirmed that the Divine Beasts had trials in order to be synced to the champs, so the new gen use of them wouldn’t have happened without that + Mipha thought Link had changed in BOTW yet says in HWAOC that he hasn’t changed + some scenes like “Champion Revali’s Song” never happened at all/got replaced with alternative scenes that really changed some dynamics + basically all of Revali’s time-relative characterization from his diary/pre-100 years of solitude got thrown out + I feel like Daruk got totally sidelined), so i’m still craving that Champions content. Also, I feel like it’s totally unfair that Zelda came out of 100 years totally unaged while everyone else died. Life seems to really suck for people in the LoZ universe who aren’t chosen by divine powers. 6) They’d better keep it open world and non-linear. I can’t go back to being forced to backtrack/trudge through things, I just can’t. BOTW was everything i’ve ever dreamed about in a game (truly open world + non-linear + interactive + meaningful story + lots of outfits + beautiful landscapes) with Skyrim previously being the only thing that came close to what I wanted, so I really hope BOTW 2 doesn’t deviate too much from that. 7) I really liked Kass in BOTW, but i’m not sure what direction they’d go with him in BOTW 2/i’d be fine if he sat BOTW 2 out. I worked so hard to complete all his quests in BOTW so he’d go back home to his family, GODDANGIT, KASS. 8) Someone mentioned that since the first trailer had underground aspects, we’re probably going to be playing as Zelda with the Slate there, and I agree. They didn’t make a playable model for her in HWAOC for nothing. 9) I want to be able to stable the deer and bears and stuff, but I know that won’t happen. Being able to ride the moose and rhino things from the Hebra area probably won’t happen either, but I want to ride them!!! 10) I hope there’ll be at least a few new buildings and stuff in the towns/they’ve started construction on some areas in Central Hyrule, but I guess that’ll depend on how long it’s been in-universe since BOTW. Or maybe not, considering how there’s still Karson and Hudson even though Bolson retired from Bolson Construction--insta-towns like Tarrey Town could totally be feasible if they wanted! 11) I have one foot in the camp that believes there’ll be time shenanigans in BOTW 2. HWAOC totally threw me off with it being an alternate timeline, so i’m not sure whether we’re going to be experiencing that again or time travel itself, but I definitely won’t be surprised this time around if Nintendo goes that route again (and it would be super interesting to see the Link from 10,000 years ago). I’m not entirely convinced that the Link we see exploring the sky in the second trailer isn’t our Link, mainly because he seems to still have on the blue boxers from BOTW. 12) I also heard that maybe this will be the last LoZ game ever since something something Demise something Skyward Sword something something lore from games i’ve only vaguely looked into (i’ve only ever played BOTW --> Wind Waker --> HWAOC)??? If so, it kind of sucks that I came in just when they started making games with playstyles palatable to me (I had to look up every single thing when playing Wind Waker, but BOTW let me solve things according to MY logic/I missed being able to explore in HWAOC), but at least it’ll end on a super high note/I won’t experience later disappointment, I guess. If BOTW 2 involves breaking the reincarnation cycle for the Triforcers, I would be really surprised. (On a related note, Nintendo making Ganondorf good would also be a 100% shock to me, but it would be great to end on that as a subversion. Yes, I want them to bring back the semi-complicated Ganondorf from Wind Waker.) 13) I hope they don’t rush releasing it. I heard they pushed back BOTW originally (I got it in 2019), but it came out fantastic for it! I know COVID’s been affecting things, so I really hope they’re treating their staff right and are mindful of crunch. 14) I want even more outfits (there seem to be at least two new ones, if the variant of the Hylian Tunic crossed with Link’s Champion’s Tunic counts). Give me all the outfits!!! Also, I hope we get even more hair variations in addition to the hair down option (which is all i’ve ever wanted since I saw the mod that altered the Ancient Helmet). 15) I wonder if we’re going to get a bonus for having both BOTW and HWAOC save data. 16) I wonder if we’re going to be keeping the Champions’ skills. I’m going to miss being super overpowered, if not. 17) I hope Nintendo doesn’t cave in and make surfaces climbable in the rain. Having that limiter is more realistic and Link would otherwise be too overpowered with a super climbing ability. 18) I liked BOTW’s scattered music that got more noticeable in populated areas because it was fitting for the post-apocalyptical/nature aspect. Hearing your footsteps in an open field and the buzzing of insects was super nice and prevented me from getting music fatigue (which i’d probably experience since whenever I play BOTW it’s for 5-10 hours at a time). I hope Nintendo either keeps that or makes audio options. 19) I heard that BOTW 2 is going to be super dark or something, and i’m okay with dark, but not GRIMdark, so I hope it doesn’t go that far. From what we’ve seen in the second trailer it still looks beautiful, but I hope it doesn’t do that thing that some games do where after the midpoint/a certain story point all the scenery permanently changes to be dark and scary (that’ll seriously hamper post-game playability for me if so). 20) If they expand on the Zonai, that would be super cool! Doubly cool if the time travel shenanigans involve them/ancient Link being one! 21) I kind of want windstorms to be a weather feature. We had lightning, heat, and cold, but no wind! No, I don’t count the wind geysers and the occasional breeze in Tabantha. 22) I want a chest in my house to hold more weapons than just the gear mounts. BOTW only had enough mounts for the champions’ gear, but it also had rare items like the Kite Shield and Forest Dweller’s Sword that you can’t get anymore once you use them up! 23) I want to be able to stable my horses at my house. What’s the point of that little area if you can’t stable your horse there! 24) Speaking of Link’s house: where is Zelda going to live? If the castle’s not reconstructed, it’d be neat if Link adds an extension to his house for her. 25) I hope they open up part-time jobs (think Mabinogi) as an option to earn rupees. Having to hunt for Luminous Stone deposits or feed Trott to make money can be such a chore. I think some of BOTW’s minigames/sidequests might count as those, but those minigames were either frustrating if your goal is to earn money (since most of them cost money to play in the first place and the mechanics weren’t always easy), or didn’t earn that much in general. 26) I wonder if Kilton is going to have updated items since the monsters seem to have changed. 27) I want to be able to dive underwater (mainly so I can explore the beautiful reefs over at Lurelin). A dive meter like the one from Super Mario Sunshine would be cool. Also, it’d doubly be neat if you had a separate stamina wheel for swimming and could permanently upgrade your swim/diving stamina (the speed+ swimming items just consumed your stamina faster, which was a pain)! 28) It’s definitely too late for this, but it’s a shame that the Hylians have so many face/body/hair and outfit variations, but the Zora, Rito, and Gorons don’t. The Gerudo were kind of okay with the hair and body variations, but the other races seemed to have a serious copy-paste problem. I guess technically some of the more important NPCs (ones with quests/cutscene triggers) had different coloring, but they were severely lacking in clothing variation. Also, the only old Rito was the elder??? At least the Gorons and Zora had some old folks besides their leader walking around. Very weird, but I don’t think BOTW 2 can fix any of this. 29) I wonder how they’re going to do the final boss battle, considering how epic/cinematic the BOTW 2x battle was. What can top fighting (on horseback, no less) a giant, flaming boar made out of malice? 30) I wonder what the Yiga are going to be up to, considering how Ganondorf seems to be somewhat kicking in BOTW 2.

#in other words: BOTW 2 HYPE REAL #i'm still going to queue things so there'll probably another BOTW 2 glut from me in a few days bwaha #(and probably some general BOTW stuff because MAN am i hyped)#i'm so glad i got into BOTW in 2019 because there's been content for me every year since and i am Living #botw 2

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simpingforthisonedeer · 3 years

Link

Chapter 6: Lips to the Pulse

Summary: Aika really forgot she isn't supposed to fall in love and get attached but does exactly that and breaks our favourite himbo's heart.

Notes: First of all, hi! It's been a while! sorryyy but this chapter is 7707 words long so I think i made up for it! This chapter also has actual smut! 🤺SO MINORS🤺STAY BACK🤺 I will post 2-4k every friday from now on but since its christmas next friday, i'll either post on the 23rd or the 26th

If you are a mutual of mine that reads this fic, it's on sight for you hoes if you don't even comment a rating😤 like even a -10/10 is appreciated TvT

“What?” Julius shook his head and gathered his wits.

“Wait, so you can commune with the dead? I mean yes, you can but it’s a forbidden spell. You have no weg though?” His eyes lit up with a revelation. “Could Time Magic be considered otherworldly magic? Because that is the only way you can avoid getting weg.”

“That’s what I thought too,” Aika agreed as she led him to the living room. “but I still get weg but I don’t need a talisman or a seal to conceal it. Time is a concept that otherworldly realms also have except the realm of the Gods, so I would assume it could be considered otherworldly.”

“But just because it exists in other realms doesn’t mean it’s considered otherworldly. Plants exist in other realms, but they’re not otherworldly. Do we know what was the first realm ever created?”

Aika stifled a sigh as Julius took off his boots as he sat next to her on the sofa.

“He sure likes to edge himself,” she thought wryly as she fetched the fluffy blanket on the armchair and threw it over their laps as they planted their feet on the coffee table in front of them.

“‘The realm of the Devils was the first to be created in order to obscure the light of Gods and bring about reality.’ It’s one of the first things you learn about otherworldly magic,” she explained as she moved closer to his side.

“Well, time would’ve existed first in the Devil’s realm then…You think I could use weg magic too if Time Magic really is otherworldly?”

“Julius! Don’t even think about it! Trying to do weg magic without a teacher is quite dangerous.”

“Hehe, I got a teacher right here,” he quipped as he shifted around feet in a futile attempt to move the blanket comfortably under his feet. Aika jumped when his cold feet touched her ankle.

“Woah, didn’t you just take your feet out of your boots?”

He rubbed the back of his head with an embarrassed smile.

“Haha, yeah. I’m always cold.”

“Well, it explains why you wear so many layers,” she grumbled as she shifted the blanket to cover his feet. She lit up when an idea struck her.

“Here,” she spread her arms. “I’m warmer.”

Julius stared at her, his mouth open in small “O” before his eyes crinkled at the corners and he let out an amused laugh.

Aika knew she was done for when her heart danced to the sound of his laughter. She controlled her breathing and prayed that he heard nothing as he burrowed into her arms. He wrapped his arms around her waist and threw his legs over her thighs and she instinctively hugged him closer and huffed at how tactile he was.

“Thank you!” He looked up at Aika through his lashes, making her catch her breath. “Would you still teach me how to do weg magic?” He asked softly.

She melted under his gaze and pressed her cheek to his hair.

“Why do you want to learn? Do you want to talk to someone in the After?” Then she remembered. “Do you want to talk to your mother?”

Julius stiffened in her arms and she immediately backtracked “Sorry, I didn’t mean—”

“Yes…” He admitted hesitantly. “She vanished the night I was born…”

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

“Nothing to be sorry about. My stepmother, my mom, raised me with love and I’m grateful for her, but I’m just curious about my real mother. She vanished the night I was born. I just sometimes wonder who she was, what happened to her…” His father had always cursed his mother’s name and barely looked at Julius because of how much he reminded him of her. It was a good thing his stepmother came along and raised him as if he were her own.

He yawned and nuzzled against her collarbone. She shivered at the tender gesture and pressed a kiss to his hairline as he giggled.

“I guess you would be,” Aika said understandingly. “I was curious about my own mother too.” Julius looked up at her in interest. “I was adopted. The men who found me, well, they found me next to my mother’s body.”

He winced in sympathy and hugged her tightly.

“It’s alright. I didn’t know her but I tried contacting her in the After but...She kept blocking the connection for some reason…” Aika looked down at him as she smoothed his hair.

Once upon a time, that rejection hurt, but she’s over it now. The men who found Aika found her freshly born, barely cleaned and the umbilical cord still uncut, lying in a misshapen basket next to her mother’s cooling body, whose throat was slit with a knife that was loosely held in the corpse’s hand. Something obviously happened to her and she didn’t want to talk.

“I can help contact your mother if she’s truly dead. You don’t have to do forbidden rituals,” she promised as she chased the dark thoughts away. While she didn’t remember anything about it, the story that they told her still haunted her.

Julius sat up as he pulled away and looked at her intently. His face was neutral but his eyes were searching. Aika grew nervous with the long silence.

Finally his eyes settled on her hairline as he asked, “Can you show me your weg?” A sharp sort of rejection zapped through her when he ignored her offer. She turned away, miffed. Of course she wasn’t going to show him her weg. Bringing it out meant having negative emotions at the forefront of her mind.

“That’s a very personal thing, Julius,” she grumbled to alleviate the seriousness welling up in her. He smiled with a huff. It would be a long while before they gained each other’s trust and Julius was a patient man. While it would be amazing to see what weg looks like first-hand, she wasn’t comfortable with it and that was okay. He can wait.

“There is another reason why I can’t teach you weg magic,” she began as she leaned on the armrest. “To use weg magic, you often need to channel and control your negative emotions to make it work, unfortunately. And the thing is,” Aika turned to him with a dark look. “I don’t sense much from you,” her eyes flickered down to his lap “except maybe frustration.”

Julius resisted the urge to sigh. There was no need for them to get so somber but it can’t be helped in the direction this conversation was going. He had asked her a lot of questions and made her reveal a lot about herself, but he said next to nothing about himself. That had to change if he needed her to trust him.

“You sensed right,” Julius confessed. “I am frustrated, but not in the way you think I am,” he stared melancholically at the faded crescent shaped scars in the palm of his hand. “I am frustrated by the way the elite think of other people, the way they get to control this kingdom to fit their selfish needs, the way they lack any compassion for people who are suffering. It may not seem personal but I’ve made it my duty to correct this kind of thinking.”

“See, that’s honorable and only frustration. Is there a memory or anything driving it? Like a traumatic event?”

Julius remembered Zara and his shining smile and how he was cut down by his own squadmates out of jealousy. He looked at his hand with a shaky breath.

“Yes.”

“Okay...Are you frustrated to the point of anger?”

“Yes.”

“Angry enough to kill?”

He remembered thanking the rain for hiding his tears as he laid the flowers over Zara’s grave. He remembered holding back from disintegrating the Purple Orca Knights where they stood as they celebrated Zara’s death. He thought of Zora, Zara’s son, and how bitter he turned out.

Julius turned to her with deadened eyes.

“Yes.”

Aika slackened as she sighed.

“That’s what I was afraid of,” she admitted as she cupped his cheek. “You’re a beautiful human being,” she whispered as she brushed his lashes with her thumb. He flushed under her gaze. “Killing is part of your job but it’s not driven by blind rage. Even righteous anger can be exploited by this magic. Weg will only encourage these negative emotions to fester and grow. I will not allow that to happen to someone I lo—”

She paused and desperately flipped through her mental dictionary. She hated that word.

“Someone I like.” There. That was better. She gave herself a mental pat on the back. While that was a good save, she quickly needed to change the subject or this was going to get awkward real fast.

“But I will help you in any way you need. You want a Clover Kingdom with no discrimination? I’ve got many ideas!” She pulled a small notebook and fountain pen out of nowhere. It might’ve been a little extra but too late. “Let’s start with education, what is taught in etiquette for noble children, and the rest of the kingdom, what kind of attitudes we are encouraging. Then we’ll move on to deliberate economic oppression and think about policy changes. Let’s see how we can convince people in power to be more empathetic and just. A lot of things can change if we change the way this country thinks. I heard the Kira prodigy was going to become the new chairman soon. I think we can start there...”

Julius parted his lips in shock as he stared at her with dazzled eyes. Aika continued listing off ideas as she scribbled them in her notebook, completely unaware of the awestruck man next to her.

He tackled her into a hug and wrapped himself around her again and moved her arm around his shoulder, encouraging her to hold him close. Julius didn’t know how to explain how grateful he was so he chose to show it instead.

Her book and pen slipped out of her hand as she hugged him back. Since Aika was already leaning on the armrest, he turned her completely to the side so he could lay half on top of her.

Julius worried for a moment that he was being too forward but she wound her fingers through his hair and allowed him to rest his head on top of her pillowy chest. Aika readily wrapped her legs around his torso as she sighed contentedly.

“Thank you,” he whispered at last. “No one believes that this kingdom could change.”

Aika resisted the urge to snort. “Any state can change with a revolution.” He looked up at her mischievously. She brushed his cheek with the back of her hand with a barely suppressed smile. “Your not-so-little dream is a revolution and you’re lucky I can’t resist one.”

They grinned at each other before making themselves comfortable again. Julius reveled in the warmth of her embrace and shivered pleasantly when she wrapped the blanket around his shoulders. She gently began massaging his head and he felt like melting.

A grin spread across his face when he realized that for the first time in his life, he didn’t feel any excitement tinged with lust, but rather excited to know that someone is ready to accept him, whether it was his touch, ideas, or his childish nature, someone who was ready to be a part of a bloodless revolution.

Julius turned his head and rested his chin lightly against her breastbone. Aika was already looking down at him with an affectionate look and he smiled back.

“Are you actually going to help me change this kingdom?”

“Of course. Why would I lie about such a thing?”

“I’m just making sure.”

He buried his face in her chest with a giddy smile.

“You’re a beautiful human being too.”

She scoffed lightly.

“Every part of that sentence is highly debatable.”

He giggled as he crawled up to her eye level. “No, I mean it,” he pressed a kiss to her forehead. “You are stunning. ”

Aika blushed fiercely.

“No, I’m not!”

“ And a human being too,” he continued as he peppered her face with kisses. “Absolutely kind, ferocious, wickedly smart.”

She slid down the armrest as she resisted the urge to hide her face.

“Stop it…”

He nuzzled her cheek with his nose. She looked so delectable under him.

“Can I kiss you?”

Aika turned and pressed her lips to his in unspoken permission. He slipped his tongue into her mouth and groaned at the delicious way they slid against each other.

“Let me touch you,” he whispered hoarsely against her lips.

“ Please, ” Aika gasped as cold fingers slid underneath her sweater. Julius rubbed circles into her sides before he raked his nails up, making her shudder. She wound her fingers tighter around his short hair and kissed harder as she willed her Mana Hands to explore him.

He let out a surprised moan as he pressed his forehead against hers. She ran her hands down his back and hooked her fingers into his belt and pulled him closer as she wrapped her legs around his waist, bringing him closer to her aching core.

Julius hissed in pleasure as he rut into her and moaned as nails raked down his most sensitive areas. She quickly undid the belt holding his outer tunic together and helped him shrug off the vest and ran her fingers under his shirt. She explored his toned stomach with a pleased hum as he ground into her desperately.

“ So needy, ” she whispered teasingly in his ear and gasped in surprise when his clothed length rubbed perfectly against her clit.

He groaned in reply and slowed down and pulled back to look down at her. Aika thoroughly enjoyed the image in front of her. Julius with his shirt hiked up, displaying a fit body, his lips red and hair all mussed up as he rolled his hips like an erotic dancer.

She teasingly ran a nail up the valley of his abs and he retaliated by pushing her shirt up past her bra. She watched with a pleased smile as he licked his lips at the sight before him. She wore a black, silk bra that barely hid the erect nipples standing at attention. He ran his hands up and squeezed her breasts lightly and pinched her nipples through the bra, smiling mischievously as he did. He noticed the clasp at the front and looked at her permissively. She nodded and let him undo it. As the silk fell, his jaw fell with it.

“Holy shit,” she heard him whisper as she cupped her tits with a wink.

Julius eagerly ducked his head as he covered her hands with his and licked a long stripe across her erect nipple and latched onto it greedily, sucking as he did. She arched into his mouth with a loud moan, glad that he was finally giving attention to her as well.

He switched to the other nipple, making sure that they both were completely erect before he pulled back to look at her with a dark look.

Aika squirmed under his gaze as her hand slowly inched towards her neglected clit. He observed voyeuristically as her hand disappeared under her skirt and cupped her mound. Julius locked eyes with Aika for an electric moment before she threw her head back as she pleased herself.

He watched for a few moments as she let out gaspy moans before he pulled her hand out and bit his lip at the sight of her glistening fingers. He took one lick of her fingers and groaned at the taste.

“Want to taste more?” Aika asked lowly as she spread her legs wider. He nodded as his nostrils flared at the smell of her arousal. She pulled Julius in for a featherlight kiss and touched his lips with her wet fingers and watched as he took them then into his mouth and sucked on them.

“Oh, you like using your mouth?” He nodded. She tightened her hold in his hair as he hissed and pulled him up for a sloppy kiss, a mash of tongue, teeth and lips.

“If you like using your mouth so much, how about you put it to a better use?” Aika growled as she guided his head down her body.

She hiked up her skirt and Julius’ breath hitched at the sight of her wet lace panties and the dagger strapped to her right thigh. He was completely pressed up against her just a few moments ago. How in the world did he miss that?

Before he could speak, she unbuckled it with practiced ease and threw it to the side. He could ask more questions later, but for now, he focused on the meal before him.

Julius quickly helped her out of the panties and stared at her glistening folds in fascination before he lapped up the juices at her entrance. Aika muffled a cry at the sudden sensations and the feel of his lips and tongue all at once. She was suddenly, gloriously alive, every fibre of her being seemingly electrified in an instant. She revelled in the hot currents of desire coiling through her core, as every muscle tightened, waiting for the trigger that would release her.

He then moved up and covered her clit with his mouth and suckled on it. He rolled it in circles, delighting in the noises pouring out from her mouth, before an idea struck him.

He held her hips down with his hands, languorously stroking her clit with his tongue before speeding his movements with a touch of his Time Magic. Aika bit back a scream and let out a litany of curses as she bucked and squirmed into his mouth. Her legs twitched as a delicious kind of pressure built up in her core. She fisted her fingers in his hair, eliciting a moan from Julius and sending vibrations through her body.

She looked down at the sight between her splayed legs and it was the last straw for her. His eyebrows were furrowed in concentration, his lips wet as his tongue flicked her clit in a near blur. She arched into his mouth with a loud groan as her orgasm crashed over her in an explosion of ecstasy; but Julius kept going on.

“Wait, that’s enough. Julius, please!”

He slowed down and let go of her clit with a pop. He looked up at her with a wolfish grin, satisfied with the mess he made of her. Her eyes were glazed over from, her baby hair was stuck to her forehead as she breathed heavily through parted lips.

Julius rested his head against her thigh and stared at her with a small smile as she came down from her high.

Aika sat up slowly and brought him up for a kiss, tasting herself on his tongue. She pulled her sweater over her head and began kissing along his jaw as she whispered praises.

“Gods, you were so good, you know that? Used your mouth like it was made to eat pussy.” Julius groaned at her words. “You were such a good boy. Good boys like you deserve a reward, right?” He nodded eagerly as her hand inched down his chest.

“Please,” he whined as her hand curled around the inside of his thigh, not quite touching him. She slid off the sofa and kneeled between his legs as she grinned mischievously at him, but inside she was drooling at the thought of finally having his cock in her mouth. He stared at her, wide-eyed as he breathed harder in anticipation.

Aika looked between his impressive bulge and his darkened eyes.

“Can I?” She asked as her hands slid up his legs, feeling the muscles flex under her touch.

“Please,” he whispered again.

She stopped teasing him, getting impatient herself, and unbuttoned his pants and slid his boxers down. Aika’s jaw dropped as his stiff cock sprung up. It was freaking massive. The head was turning a dark shade of purple from being neglected for so long and veins covered his length. It was as long as her head and thick enough to stretch her lips over her limits. It looked delicious.

She mindlessly helped him out of his pants and then looked up at him to make sure he was doing okay. His face was flushed a deeper red than before, waiting patiently for her next move.

“Please, Aika,” Julius humped at the air in front of her. “Please, I can’t take it anymore.”

Aika grew dizzy at the way he begged. She felt as if she was kneeling at the altar between his legs, praying up to the idol that lay in the middle. She was caught by the sudden urge to worship, to praise every inch of his skin. A bead of pre-cum gathered at the tip of his cock and all her restraint left.

Lush lips closed over the head of his cock and Aika sucked and sucked, moaning at the taste. Julius let out an incoherent yell as his hands flew to her head. He quite literally saw stars. It was an effort to hold back, to not thrust deeply in the hot cavern of her mouth as waves of pleasure enveloped him.

“Fuck!”

She bobbed her head down as far as she could as one hand played with his taunt balls. Tears gathered at her lashes as the tip hit the back of her throat every single thrust.

Aika pulled back and sucked the tip harder as she swiped her tongue around the slit. She used her warm hands to pump his length as her Mana Hands roamed his body, playing with his sensitive nipples, wringing his head back by pulling his hair.

Julius did not hold back with his words. All kinds of praises rolled off of his tongue as he lightly thrust into her mouth.

“Fuck, you look so hot with your lips around me. Ah-you use your tongue so well. Mmm, just like that,” he groaned.

Aika moaned when he twitched in her mouth. She understood that he was close, so she stretched her jaw wide, swiftly pressed forward and wrapped her lips around the base of cock as he came, whispering her name. Her eyes rolled back into her head as his thick load hit the back of her throat.

She swallowed thickly and pulled back with a sigh and held his softening dick in one hand as she pressed featherlight kisses to the head.

“Are you okay?” Julius asked softly as he brushed the hair out of her face. Aika smiled as she continued kissing lightly down his length.

“I’m more than okay,” she murmured cheekily, nuzzling the downy hair at the base. She quickly climbed into his lap and straddled him while avoiding pressing down. She hugged him tight and buried her face in his neck.

“I liked choking on your dick,” she giggled.

“Hey!” He exclaimed as her words sent a thrill down his spine. “I can’t do a second round yet!”

In the end, they were both too tired for a second round. They had quite an eventful day after all. The two made their way to the bedroom upstairs to settle in for the night as they chatted quietly.

Aika handed Julius a pale green nightshirt and fleece pants to wear and went to go freshen up in the bathroom. He quickly put them on and jumped underneath the covers and shivered. Despite the normal temperature in the room, Julius was always cold, much to his dismay, but it was quite nice to bury himself in blankets and keep a comfortable temperature.

He was staring pensively at the sheets when Aika walked out. She wore a shirt and comfortable shorts and had her arms behind her back as if she was hiding something.

When he looked at her curiously, she revealed a pair of fluffy socks with a huge smile and waved them at him.

“Ta-da!”

Julius sat up with a chuckle. That was quite thoughtful of her.

“Are those for me?”

“Yes,” she sidled up to him. “I could keep your feet warm for you, but I wanted to make sure you were comfortable.”

“That’s...very nice of you.” She was one of the few people who wasn’t intimidated by him and spoke so frankly with him. Being with someone just as himself felt so new and interesting. He gave her one of his bright smiles. “Thank you.”

Aika fought off a blush and busied herself by putting the socks on for him. He pulled her up for a hug and held her close. She wrapped both her arms around his neck and fell back onto the bed. Julius pressed little kisses on her collarbone and neck and settled his head on her shoulder with a big yawn.

“Goodnight, Aika,” Julius murmured.

“Goodnight, Julius,” she whispered back and pressed a kiss to his hair.

She stared up at the ceiling for a moment before she understood that she wasn’t going to fall asleep tonight either. She sighed heavily into Julius’ hair.

Using forbidden magic had cost Aika a part of her humanity: the part that sleeps. She needed to be incredibly tired or sedated with horse tranquilizers to be put to sleep, there was simply no other way. In the beginning, it was jarring to not be able to sleep and a little harsh on her eyes for being open so long. When she tried sleeping again, she would be constantly plagued by inescapable visions of the future, the far-off future, like visions of a dark tree and the world being overrun by darkness, and it all starts in this kingdom.

Aika was grateful she couldn’t see her immediate future unless she concentrated but visions of worlds ending and dead family weren’t good for her mental health either.

She preferred to focus on the upsides like more time available for her to get her paperwork done and focus on things she enjoyed doing during the day or even travel and check in on her departments as she did.

Working for one of only four international companies makes Aika a pretty busy woman so she was grateful for the extra time. The company began as a means to establish a global spy and information network but it quickly escalated into an operation that dipped its toes into nearly every industry. She was particularly fond of the R&D and Education & Career development departments and paid very close attention to them. In fact, she had to approve a big budget change for a major building project from R&D. Something about finally figuring out how to use a counterweight to construct tall buildings and be able to withstand winds.

She eyed her backpack which rested on the desk against the wall on her side. It had all the papers that she needed to look over and sign. The paper explaining the details was rather long, so if she could finish going over it by the end of the night, that would be perfect.

Aika could use Mana Zone to extend the range of her Mana Hands spell to get that backpack but she could wake Julius up. She checked to make sure he was asleep and he was, quietly snoring away with a little smile on his face.

She envied people who can sleep with a smile on their faces.

And just as she was about to reach for her bag, Julius shifted in her arms and looked up groggily.

“Wha—” He looked warily at the arm reaching out. “Go to sleep,” he sighed as he made himself comfortable again. “Let’s go on a date sometime. I’ll make a really good sandwich,” murmured sleepily before growing still again.

What? A date?

His words felt like she had been dunked with a bucket of ice water. Aika finally realized what she did, and more importantly what her drunk-self said. She really let him believe this was something romantic, didn’t she? Sure, she wished she could date, but in the end, she would screw it all up. All her past lovers had been amazing people, honorable people, but in the end, they’ve all just hated her. The aura of forbidden magic around just put them off. In fact, people closest to her, her family and friends, couldn’t spend too much time around her without their behaviour taking a turn for the worse.

It was one of the reasons why Holly couldn’t spend too much time with her. It’s the curse of using forbidden magic so much, for so long. Her aura changes good people to turn into someone they are not. The loneliness must be really catching up to her because she forgot herself for a moment and let him in. If she hung around him for another week or two, he would go from being this sweet, adorable man to being an utter asshole to her and everyone around him.

She can’t do this.

Aika looked down at his messy, blond hair and listened to him breathe. He tilted his head back, eyes still closed and a small smile spread across his face.

Her mind went blank. Her heart beat harder in her chest. Butterflies she thought had died years ago had suddenly roared back to life.

Her head hurt. She felt like crying.

She let herself be vulnerable too. She let herself fall for him, even if it’s just a little bit. She told herself to breathe.

It’s someone you barely know.

But Aika knew damn well that some strangers have affected her life a lot in the first few moments she had met them. She looked at him again. Was he one of them?

She craved the intimacy, but in the end it was all ruined because of her stupid decison to study and master forbidden magic. Of course it was very useful and empowering, putting her at the top of the chain, but at what cost?

Aika simply couldn’t be around another person nearly 24/7 like she would be if she was in a serious relationship. She let out a heavy sigh and rubbed her eyes. It’s just a crush. It doesn’t matter.

She gently slipped his arms off of her and gave him a pillow as a substitute. He snuggled into it with another one of his adorable smiles, causing Aika’s breath to hitch. She gripped the sheets as she looked away and emptied her head.

She had a lot of work to do.

Aika hummed tunelessly as she carefully pulled out the sfougato, a greek-style quiche-like omelette, from the oven. She finished reading the report from last night, washed Julius’ clothes, fixed the stone tablet protecting this house, destroyed the explosive token hovering in the living room, sent out her letters and even finished working out.

She smiled at the night well-spent, but her mood was quickly clouded over by the fact that she had to turn Julius down. Not only that, but she also had to somehow salvage it to resemble some form of professionalism.

If Aika was being honest, she liked Julius a lot. He was incredibly handsome, smart, strong and a Time Mage to boot. His most attractive traits were his kind eyes, his easy smile and most importantly, his willingness to be vulnerable. That sort of purity drew Aika in like a moth to a flame. She wasn’t kind, and she certainly didn’t smile often, but it was easy to be like that around him. Her guard did fly up once or twice but she wasn’t as high strung around him. She felt oddly safe.

She cut the quiche into slices and wiped her hands on her apron. She turned around and looked at the garden out her window. The rising sun felt warm and comforting on her skin, gently soothing the lump in her throat. She closed her eyes and breathed in deeply, soaking in the mana she could sense in the sun’s rays, mana that favored her because she raised a daughter born from its light. It was mornings like these that made her understand why her daughter worshipped the sun.

The sound of feet quickly bounding down the stairs broke her concentration. She turned around expectantly but she was quickly tackled by a hug before she could get a clear look at the man who had once again been plaguing her thoughts all night.

“Good morning, Aika,” he whispered into her hair as she reluctantly wrapped her arms around him.

“Morning, Julius.”

He pulled back and grinned down at her but she stared through him, eyes blank, knowing that once she truly processes the man she is talking to, her words would leave her and she wouldn’t be able to do what she needs to do.

And then he caught her lips with his, and with unprecedented passion that stole the breath from her lungs. Aika barely reciprocated, because just as quickly as he kissed her, he stopped. She licked her lips and tasted the faint coolness of mint. He was considerate enough to not kiss her with his morning breath…

“I feel well-rested despite only sleeping four hours,” he murmured as Aika blinked quickly, fending off the unexpected emotions that welled up within her.

“I used a spell of mine to give you extra time to sleep. Here,” she offered him a plate of the sfougato. It was a peace offering for what was coming really. “I hope you like it. I’ll grate some more feta on it if you want.”

“Wait,” Julius looked at his plate in shock. “is this sfougato?”

Aika hummed affirmative as she looked away. She couldn’t bear to look at him in the face. She knew that once she did, her resolve would fall.

He cupped her cheek with one hand and kissed her again, this time much more sweetly.

“Thank you! My mother used to make them for me almost every morning!” He furrowed his brows when she stayed quiet. “Is everything alright? You’re so quiet.” Julius blushed as a thought struck him. “Does your throat hurt?”

The memories of last night set Aika’s heart racing again.

“No! That’s not the issue! I’m just,” she clenched her fists. “Quiet in the morning.”

“Oh, that’s alright then.” He pressed a kiss to her cheek and moved to sit at the table. “Have you eaten yet?”

She turned and gripped the edge of the sink. Even his voice distressed her.

“Ah, no,” Aika answered nonchalantly. She could explain as they ate. She shrugged her apron off and turned around but she froze at the sight.

Julius cocked his head at her with a questioning look as he leaned on his hands. His face was half-illuminated by the morning sun, his violet eyes glittered like diamonds and his hair shone gold, casting an angelic halo.

He looked beautiful.

“Hey,” his expression grew worried and he set his plate down. “You are definitely not okay.” Julius quickly walked around the table and took her hands in his and wiped a stray tear. She blinked. She didn’t know she was crying. Usually, she would’ve been so embarrassed to cry in front of people, but why is she letting her guard down in front of him? “What’s wrong, Aika?”

His face was too close. She could clearly count the lashes framing his alarmed eyes.

“Nothing,” she said quickly as she wiped her face. “Nothing’s wrong.” She sat down in the nearest chair and sighed. Julius leaned against the table and waited patiently. He tucked a long strand of her dark hair behind her ear as she spoke.

“I don’t think we should keep doing this.”

His hand fell. What? He must’ve misheard her.

“This would be unprofessional in the long-run.”

“But last night you said—”

“Last night, I was drunk,” Aika gritted out. Julius crossed his arms.

“I’m talking about after, Aika. What about the talk of revolution? What about after?” His face hardened. “Was it all to just get into my pants?”

“What?!” she barely held back her shock. She was not that desperate. “No!”

Julius’ sighed. His aura usually helped people to open up quicker unless they really don’t want to tell him. He took her hands again, kneeled down in front of her and rubbed slow circles with his thumb.

“Then please tell me why.”

Aika still refused to look him in the eye. This whole thing felt strange.

“I will be your associate and it would be unprofessional. I also have a daughter and I don’t know if you’re okay with that.” She was giving him bullshit reasons at this point because he really didn’t need to know her true reasons. He didn’t need to know how lonely she was. “I have an incredibly negative reputation on the international stage that would damage any prospects for you to network with helpful people if you and I are closely associated. You are a public figure and your reputation wouldn’t benefit from associating with a forbidden magic user and a peasant.”

Julius gulped thickly. He really didn’t care about those. He didn’t mind at all but Aika seemed so intent on pushing him away.

“Aika, please, I don’t care.”

“Well, you should! You should think about the long-term!”

His voice took a panicked tone. He thought this was going well but something’s wrong. This was him being selfish. He didn’t want to be lonely anymore. He was guaranteed to become Wizard King so she wouldn’t be a distraction. He was so excited for someone like her to be at his side.

“I am thinking about the long-term and I absolutely do not care,” He put his hands together. “Please, I’m begging you—”

“Stop,” Aika growled “Don’t.”

Julius slackened at the dark look on her face.

“What?”

“Stand up.” He froze, unsure of her command. “Did I stutter?” He quickly scrambled to his feet and took a step back as she stood up.

“First thing’s first,” Aika crossed her arms as her face grew stern. “don’t ever beg unless you are in the bedroom.” A blush raced across his cheeks. “Second, you barely know me. Third, there’s a war, more importantly, the finale, so please forget about this. I have to go inspect the outposts at the southern borders today before the paperwork from my main job comes pouring in. I advise you to think about your own work as well,” she took a deep breath. “You deserve better than this,” she motioned at herself. Aika desperately held the tears at bay as her mind screamed,

You’re cursed! No one can love you anymore! And it’s all your fault!

“You are going to be the king of an entire kingdom. I promise to serve you to the best of my abilities. You’re going to need all the help you can get, but I can’t be your partner,” she hugged herself and looked away from his heartbroken face. Her words kept twisting a dagger in his heart. It was better to change the subject. “As I said, I’m not particularly a patriot but this continent, specifically Clover Kingdom, has been heading towards dark times. As a Time Mage, you can feel it too, right?” He gave her a nearly imperceptible nod though his eyes were still glassy. “You’re going to have to lead this country safely through those times, and out of respect for the country that had raised me, I will help you too.”

Julius closed his eyes and took a moment to compose himself. He wanted to run, his head hurt, he wanted to scream in frustration.

“I understand your reasons and they are valid,” he resisted the urge to clench his fists. “And thank you. I’ll appreciate the help. I have also sensed a dark future for this kingdom and...having a second opinion on my hunch would be nice...I—” He rubbed his eyes with the balls of his palms. He looked up and raked a hand through his hair, then looked down at her, his expression masked with a gentle smile. Even looking at her felt like torture to him, how could they ever collaborate on anything? She had given him such great hope, and then she dashed it all. “I had a lovely time.”

Aika smiled back hesitantly, though her nails dug into her arm.

“I did too...Your clothes are washed and folded on the vanity in my bedroom,” she mumbled. He noiselessly teleported away and he was instantly back, fully dressed. She opened her mouth to ask how? But snapped it shut when she remembered that she wasn’t the only Time mage around anymore. He looked regal and handsome, put-together like a leader as he adjusted his collar. But his carefully neutral expression barely hid the hurt glimmering in his eyes. He was still a man too, a man whom Aika had deeply hurt with her unexpected rejection.

She moved as quickly as he did and packed the slice of sfougato in a box.

“It’s for you.”

“Thank you.”

Aika nearly jumped when her fingers brushed with his. They were soft and cool to touch. For a moment, she wanted to reach out and hold his hand, cradle his face and watch him lean into her touch like he did last night.

“May I ask you one favor?”

Her lavender eyes flickered up to his violet ones when he spoke.

“Yes?”

He squared his shoulders and looked at her solemnly.

“May I have one final kiss?”

Her heart leapt to her throat as she stared at him in shock. Was that a good idea? She was struggling to push him away and this would not help her. But, it was too late because her hand was already reaching for his face.

Aika cupped his cheek and his hand covered hers with a deep sigh. Julius let her touch be burned into his memory. She stood closer to him and tugged him down. As their noses brushed against each other and when his yearning gaze met hers, her guard fell and she gave in.

Her lips crashed with his with a desperation she vowed to never stoop to, but here she was, her walls being struck down one-by-one with each passing second, consumed by his frenzied kisses. Julius wound one hand into her hair and another around her waist pulling her tight as he desperately prayed that she’ll change her mind.

Julius pulled back so they could catch their breaths and pressed his forehead against hers as he waited for a response.

“Julius…” Aika whispered.

“Yes?”

“I’m sorry.”

His arms tightened around her momentarily and then he let go. As she opened her eyes, the last thing she saw were tears that teetered on the edge of his lashes before he vanished, gone like he was never there.

Her hand reached out as if to catch him but it was too late. The moment he left, Aika could distinctly feel the hollowness in her chest, like something was missing. Though he was cold, the kitchen felt colder without him.

She stood frozen in her spot and lightly touched her chest when the regret set in. She replayed his smile, his dazzled eyes, the way his soft hair threaded between her fingers—

“Miss Aika!” A familiar voice broke jarringly through the misery that was clouding her mind.

Was that Jayce?

“We can see you in the kitchen, Miss!” Ellie exclaimed as she knocked on the door to the backyard. Her maid was here too…

Aika quickly changed gears, unconvincingly telling herself that everything from last night to a few seconds ago was just a fever dream, and threw on a pleasant smile before opening the door.

Jayce waved an envelope in front of her face with a boyish grin, too bright and awake for 6 A.M. Ellie and Evan on the other hand, look like they’ve been through it.

“Mister Arthur asked me to give this to you first thing in the morning!” Jayce explained as he swaggered in, gravitating towards the pan of sfougato. Aika plucked the envelope out of his hand as she took measured breaths to ease the tremors in her hands.

“It was weird that he came to the headquarters so late but he said it was urgent,” he explained.

“Good morning, ma’am,” Evan greeted with a slow bow of his head and Ellie gave her a simple hug, too tired to even speak.

“Good morning to you too, kids,” Aika looked between them suspiciously “but do all three of you need to be here to deliver an envelope?”

“We came here for breakfast,” Ellie said bluntly as all three of them sat down at the table. “The chefs at the headquarters are too busy because Master Raymond is stress-eating again.”

“Oh, alright,” Aika sighed as she pressed a hand to her forehead. “You three can join me,” she said as she stared at the wax seal. It was the official Pascere Syndicate logo. She rolled her eyes. It was probably information or an assignment, but going by the thin envelope, it was probably an assignment.

“Save me a slice,” she warned as she turned away to read the letter.

Her eyes skimmed through the obnoxiously elitist greetings that Arthur loves to write “ironically” and she came to find that yes, it was an information-gathering and networking assignment as her side-job as a Special Envoy to the Syndicate, and it was on—

The threesome jumped in alarm when the letter in Aika’s hand exploded into flames. They quickly surrounded her in concern as Evan stamped the fire out but froze when they noticed the dangerously blank look on her face.

Aika controlled her magic, lest she suffocated her associates. She had unfortunately set the letter on fire before she could read the clear details of her assignment, so she would have to go ask Arthur for the details herself. While she was at it, she might as well set him on fire too.

The subject of her assignment was Heir Presumptive to the Wizard King of Clover Kingdom, Julius Novachrono...The last person Aika wanted to see right now.

Notes: Next chapter, depending on the length, it will for sure include a brief scene or two from the final battle and Julius' coronation, the aftermath and a sneaky assassination attempt, this time, for Julius ;)

btw this is the picture I drew for this chapter!!!

#julius novachrono #julius novachrono x oc #julius novachrono x reader #oc: aika tolliver #demons run #demons run chapter 7 #julius & aika #damn this got angsty

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hyliangrace-a · 4 years

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oh, i ended up spending so much time on this, but - it’s done ! it’s far from perfect but i’m pretty satisfied that there’s a visual guide to my idea of hyrule, post-seven years war. & now, god help you all, i’m gonna talk about it lmao. click here if you want to see a full-sized version of the map, but i’m also gonna put it under the cut in this post with the original map for comparison, & go on for a bit about how hyrule has, in my interpretation, changed under zelda’s rule.

( this gets long. like, really long. like, over 4,500 words long. read at your own risk. i’d say i’m sorry, but i’m really not. & fuck drawing water features forever. )

first thing’s first - the map !

( apologies for the giant watermark underneath it all but i’ve had my shit stolen before & i’m not enthused at the idea of having it happen again. clicking it open in a new tab should make it bigger if the link above doesn’t work. )

so, it’s slightly bigger than the original map which is featured in the game, haha. here’s a comparison of the two, actually, with my map over the top of the original so you can see what’s been changed or added & where. i’ll talk about what got added & why in a bit, i want to speak just about the actual map, first.

i did my best to keep the main locations of hyrule as specified in the game in the same place, & i think did an okay job, tbh ! my biggest nitpick was just how many dang cliffs & rockfaces there are on the original map. i know they serve a purpose in-game, which is completely fair, but they limited worldbuilding a little by making the map so small, so i took some liberties. not with every cliff, of course - i kept some in the southwest to keep the border between gerudo valley & hyrule field intact, & kept the ridge the river runs through - partly for the sake of continuity, & partly because i’ve always loved the fact that falling into the river in the valley washes you down to the lake. expanding them into a new area was fun, too, because at least then they go somewhere, rather than just locking you in to a certain place.

my main point of contention, to be honest, was the giant rockface in south hyrule field. again, i understand why it was there, but, come on ! so i ended up just doing away with it all, letting it lead a path to two new areas i’d like to work into zelda’s canon. the map just fades out in certain places, too, particularly the gerudo desert, so i ended up expanding that a little more & having it lead into the cliffs above lake hylia - the river already runs from the valley to the lake, so why not have more of the desert lead into the mainland ? the mountains, too, got their range expanded, because they just seem so ... small, in canon, when they aren’t being used specifically as dungeon locations. i’d say the only place on the map i didn’t expand in some way is that little gap between zora’s domain & the kokiri forest - the forest is so hemmed in & the domain is literally inside a mountain, hidden behind a waterfall, so i was happy to just let that be empty space. if you manage to climb over the cliffs surrounding the domain, or break through the treetops in the forest, you get a view of the ocean, & that’s that !

it was fun to look at the maps of the games that came chronologically before this one & see how the position of things in hyrule change, but i’m kind of glad that there was only the three before ocarina of time, because the mountains alone move across the map at their leisure, good god. there was a bit of freedom in it, too, because in zelda’s canon timeline, the gods are going to flood hyrule anyway, so i could make whatever changes i wanted because it’s all gonna end up underwater & unseen in the end - plus, it meant i could add in more mountains to take up empty space on the map, because the hylians have to flee somewhere to escape the flood, & i don’t think the peak of death mountain could hold them all. most of the new locations were inspired by the minish cap, more than any other, so i’m going to start at the top of the map & move down to talk about them.

i always loved royal valley & the royal crypt in the minish cap, to be honest. it was spooky & cute, & i’m surprised it, or a concept like it, hasn’t made much of a comeback in later zelda games. the royal family’s tomb being in kakariko village never bothered me much as a kid ( other than the fact their headstone gets utterly destroyed & you get assaulted by what we can only assume are the zombies of previous hylian rulers ??? & then it’s just left open for anyone to stumble in & possibly loot slash get murdered by said zombies ??? actually, y’know what, this bothers me a lot more as an adult, what the fuck - ) but kakariko was a village founded by the sheikah, originally for the sheikah, so i did always find it a little strange that at some point, a ruler of hyrule went ❛ that’s cool, you do you, but make space for us in your graveyard. ❜ i know the history between the hylian royal family & the sheikah is implied to be murky ( thank you, shadow temple ) but that’s a meta for another day, so i’m not gonna go into too much detail, but it’s still something that sticks out as strange to me. call it the sheikah continuing to guard the royal family in death or whatever, but, hm. weird. anyway !

the point is, after the seven years war ends, zelda decides that what originally belonged to the sheikah should be given back to the sheikah. kakariko village was opened up to non-sheikah by impa prior to the rise of ganondorf, & that’s her perogative & not something zelda would ever dream of interfering with, but that applies to the living, & those who die within the village deserve to be buried in the same place. it takes time to get around to the rebuilding of hyrule castle & its’ town, but when it’s time to plan for it, zelda chooses to utilize the abandoned valley which lies behind the castle as the new home for the royal crypt, but not solely for that ! she establishes & sponsors a university on behalf of the royal family, with special consideration going to the preservation of hylian history ( a lot was lost in the hyrulean civil war prior to her birth, nevermind the seven year war following that so quickly, & we can see in other zelda games, such as twilight princess & breath of the wild, historical preservation within hyrule is ... terrible, to say the least. of course, it will all be washed away when the goddesses flood hyrule, but fuck, at least she tries. ) the university also covers a range of other subjects, but history is the one zelda takes an active interest in, & she spends a lot of time with scholars who specialize in it. the royal crypt lies at the very back of the valley, the university being closer to the castle, & then ... watch this space ! i’m likely to add more things to areas around the map in the future.

hyrule castle & hyrule castle town i’ve left in the same spots, pretty much - i imagine the castle is rebuilt to be something like the one we see at the bottom of the ocean in wind waker, but i intend to put my own spin on that, too. zelda wouldn’t be focused too much on getting a castle up agaiin ( i’ve mentioned in a thread before that two years post-ganondorf, she is still sheltering at impa’s house in kakariko village, as rebuilding for the civilians is her main priority, & whilst i haven’t figured out exactly how long that lasts for, it’s a safe bet to say a good few years ) & she definitely wouldn’t want to be living anywhere especially y’know, grandiose & opulent, if her people were still struggling day to day. the castle town bounces back better than ever, expanding a little more to the left over time, but that’s a gradual thing. no real change except a distinct lack of redeads, which is always a bonus !

death mountain & its immediate surroundings, i was happy to leave as they are - it’s marginally wonky in place compared to the original map but it’s not a severe drift from canon, so lets just pretend it sits a little more to the left, shhh. it’s a volcano built into a mountain with a network of caves both inside & adjacent to it, plus a place of worship built into the heart of it, & you can’t really go wrong with that, so i focused on all that empty space beyond them left on the map. minish cap came in clutch again, because by fuck, did they have a mountain range, so i ended up dipping in to it for the names of this one. the gorons are clustered at the forefront of the mountain because everything beyond their city has been mined to the absolute death by those who came before for its resources, & abandoned by the same in turn, but they still send patrols to make sure it’s fine.

there’s a story of how, before the gorons settled into the mountain, a man of great strength climbed the mountain alone to make his home within it - he faced eruptions from a then-hostile death mountain, fought off the creatures who called the range home & weren’t fond of sharing, & forged on to what was said to be the edge of hyrule itself. it wasn’t, not quite, but it was far enough away from the central provinces of the kingdom that the mountains became capped with snow, contrasting the temperate mountains to the west. the story goes that the adventurer decided to call the furthest reaches of the mountain home, & singlehandedly carved out what would become the beginning of the mines, in order to gather materials for his forge. it’s been disputed whether said man was hylian or goron, as the biggoron family claim lineage from him, but the mountains he once inhabited are named for him now, & are one of the places zelda hid whilst on the run & masquerading as sheik - despite the extreme temperatures playing havoc with her & nearly killing her, it’s one of the harder to reach spots in hyrule, so it provided a measure of safety that other places could not. melari’s hold lies in the northeast, but the cold spot on the mountain travels further south than would be expected, resulting in a cold spot - the ice cavern - to the north of zora’s domain.

real quick, fuck zora’s domain. there was no way to make the water feature coming from here look decent, or properly portray the types of cliffs it’s surrounded by, so please don’t judge it too harshly. at the end of ocarina of time, zora’s domain is still said to be frozen, but recovering from the curse ganondorf placed on it, which, great ! i’m gonna say, i could be completely off here in how it works, but i wanted to change things up a little, so if i am, i don’t mind that much. i like a bit of artistic license. also, if we can have literal fish people, a genderless species made of rock, children who don’t grow up in a magical forest which horrifically warps those who don’t belong, & a giant fucking overworld field where the skeletons of what look like fucking children come out to fight you at night ? i’m okay with this reckoning being off a little.

so, eventually, zora’s domain unfreezes. i personally imagine, as ganondorf’s power ebbed from hyrule, that the process started slow, until one day, it wasn’t. it’s said that zora’s fountain is the source of all water in hyrule, with the domain lying under the mountain it rests on top of, & a few secret passageways here & there, which is fine, usually - the fountain never froze, just the domain beneath it. that becomes a problem, though, when the magical freeze put in place by ganondorf wears off, & the excess water from the melt ends up flooding the domain. not a problem from those who live within it, with the zora being essentially amphibian in nature, but when that excess water begins seeping out into the fountain, through cracks in the mountain, through the entrance granted to those affiliated with the royal family ? that all goes over the fountain, down the sleepless waterfall, through the river, & that river completely bursts its banks. the water level of the river rises significantly, washing away much of the path previously taken by those who wished to go to the domain on foot, causing minor flooding in hyrule field as it travels downstream, & resulting in the waters of lake hylia rising when the overflow reaches it, hence the lake being larger in my version of the map. the rebuilding of a path to zora’s domain ends up becoming one of the earliest projects zelda undertakes as queen but it’s a bit of a logistical nightmare for a while, considering that, with princess ruto ascended as a sage, zora’s domain is now in a succession crisis. does it have much bearing on zelda’s life ? not especially, but i thought it was a nice bit of worldbuilding, so here it is.

kokiri forest, the lost woods, & everything within doesn’t change much. with the dark magic vanquished from the forest, & the great deku sprout able to thrive, the forest continues to grow, & overgrow. it’s still dangerous to outsiders to go within, still dangerous for anyone to enter the lost woods without a fairy companion to guide them & save them from a grim fate, but the children of the forest do grow somewhat braver about stepping out from their home to see the rest of hyrule. it never lasts long - not all of the kokiri are as brave as link was, after all, & hyrule is so vast compared to what they’re used to - but it sparks their curiosity & their desire to explore hyrule which eventually trickles down to the wandering koroks.

the area to the south / southwest of the kokiri forest is entirely my invention. as i said, in-game, it’s just cliffs to hem you in & prevent you from breaking the boundaries of the world, but there’s none of that in roleplaying, so i just … did away with them entirely. part of this is lake hylia not being as hemmed in by these walls as it is in-game, opening up into a new river & streams which travel through the south & southeast. crossing this river leads to three paths - take middle path, & you may find yourself in what’s known as the rito village. now, i’ll say here, i know that the rito don’t technically appear in hyrule until after the great flood, when the zoras somehow sprout wings, but nintendo’s strange decisions don’t change the fact that there are many wonderful people in the zelda rpc who play rito characters with crossover verses that let them interact with those who play characters in other parts of the timeline. in order to better facilitate interactions with these roleplayers, i decided fuck it, rito village in ocarina of time. canon can be easily bent. if, however, i’m writing with someone who wants to adhere to strict canon, then it’s just other hylians who live within the village, & rito is just the name chosen for the village, with no connection to the as-of-yet-unevolved race, just a nice little coincidence. regardless of who lives in it, though, the village & its name are fixed here in a southern woodland, with the village nestled amongst the hills within.

cross the bridge to the south & take the third branch in the path, you’ll find yourself inside the bremen woods. i honestly haven’t got much to say about the bremen woods here, but it’s not because i don’t have ideas for it - i have another headcanon brewing concerning myths, fables & fairy tales within hyrule, because … i am just that type of nerd. about eighty percent of my blogs before this one involved fairy tale characters in some way. it is, as the kids say, extremely my shit, & i’d like to tie the bremen woods into that, so i’m going to save what i have to say for that headcanon, but don’t worry. it’ll probably be a lot smaller than this one. ( thank god, i hear you say. i know, i know. i’m still not sorry. )

cross the bridge, then, & take the first branch in the path, & you better have a sword with you. the castor wilds are a lawless place, which is fitting for the corner of the world where the last remnants of ganondorf’s forces lie. any that weren’t killed during the restoration of the kingdom were beaten back to the edge of the world, & it’s not a friendly place. the last of the monsters shelter in a run-down settlement known as dragmire’s hold, the last place where those who sympathize with the king of evil can speak freely, & it’s murder to get to. the entrance to the wilds is a marshy swamp, thanks to the run-off of lake hylia, but if you manage to get through the mire, the land begins to dry out until you reach the hold, where the earth struggles to bear fruit & it seems the grass refuses to grow. it is, in a few words, fucking grim, & as a result, the go-to place for banishments within the kingdom. zelda isn’t a fan of harsh punishments, but she’s no fool, not anymore, & she won’t abide those who plot to throw the kingdom back into chaos, be it in service of ganondorf, or their own selfish natures. it’s rare that anyone actually finds themselves wandering the castor wilds, unless they actively choose to adventure there, but it is a very good threat, considering its reputation as the land where the devils live.

jumping across the map entirely, we come to the cliffs of coroa to the left of lake hylia. another spot on the map which is notorious for being hard to reach, the cliffs are an inviting challenge to those who want to boast of their climbing skills & durability. if getting up the cliffs doesn’t kill you ( & there is a very real possibility that it will, especially if you fall, ‘cause this water ain’t soft ) the journey down might do it instead, & that’s if you survive your trip at the top. there has been rumours of a great treasure hidden away in the cliffs for years, though the debate on what it might be was pretty intense, if you got into it. for a time, some thought the legendary blade rested within the cliffs, & only those who could brave the rockface would be able to lay a hand on it; others argued that it contained more mundane, but still desirable, treasures, such as a great haul from a band of thieves, left behind when they were hunted down by the crown, growing only more valuable by the minute. some, with sense, said that the only thing atop the cliffs was certain doom for the morons who tried to make their way up them. the truth ? there’s nothing up there. sometimes, cliffs are just cliffs, & those who try to scale the ones facing lake hylia truly are fools. the gerudo people, however, had the right idea of how to get to them.

again, another aspect of canon i was happy to leave as it was. the gerudo desert is a vast, harsh swathe of land, continuously assailed by sandstorms, bordered to the north by what is called ❛ the great sand sea ❜ & to the south by the haunted wasteland, & it’s not hyperbole. spirit guides appear to those who seek the temple of the goddess of the sand, but very few have ever made it through the wasteland if they enter in pursuit of something else. one of the few who did was the gerudo heroine, ashai. a well respected warrior amongst them, ashai was the younger sister to the exalted rishika, the chief of the gerudo at the time, & one of the first to vow to conquer the wasteland & see what lay beyond the storm. though her sister cautioned against it, as tales of people becoming lost in the wasteland were not uncommon, ashai was a headstrong young woman, & she could not be swayed. she took with her a party of twelve, & in time, three returned to tell their story. ashai had forged a path through the ever-shifting sands & left it well enough marked that her companions were able to find their way back. it’s said that some succumbed to madness during the journey, tormented by the ghosts of the wasteland, whilst others fell ill whilst they traveled, choking on the sand which gathered in their lungs. seven of them made it through the wasteland to the valley which lay beyond, but ashai had grown sick during the crossing, & knew she would not make it back. instead, she spent the time she had left exploring the valley, & found a way through it to the peak of the cliffs of coroa. the legend says that is there she died, watching the sun rise atop the cliffs, speaking only of her sister, & her companions laid her to rest within the valley, which her sister then named in honour of her. whilst the gerudo are happy to let those who have proven themselves attempt the journey to the desert colossus, no outsiders are permitted to walk the valley of ashai, where a shrine was built for its namesake - it is considered sacred to them, & the journey to pay respects to ashai is now part of the trial given to those who wish to become chief of the gerudo, should the bloodline of the previous chief die.

that covers just about all the main areas & landmarks of hyrule, i think, so to move on to the last thing, the various settlements, villages, hamlets you see across the map. hyrule is a big place. yes, quite a few of the races are localized to certain areas, & yes, it’s entirely plausible the hyrulean civil war could have decimated the population, with the seven years war exacerbating that problem, but hyrule field just looked so … empty, once everything else was finished. so, rather than stick to a number of locales i can count on one hand, i threw a few more settlements across the map to try & make hyrule feel more like a real kingdom. not to breath of the wild’s extent, of course, but just something a little more than what was given. all those who survived the fall of hyrule castle town apparently fled to become refugees in kakariko village, which was opened to all by impa, which is fair, but i imagine as the world returned to something close to normality, & families started growing again, the village would quickly find itself overwhelmed. as queen, zelda would make it a priority to make sure none of her subjects go homeless - she knows all too well that struggle - & so she would begin a program to make sure there was enough villages or townships for every one of her subjects. those who volunteered would be given a set amount of money & plots of land across hyrule to build a home, which zelda would then personally visit to inspect, to make sure her people were thriving.

there’s little to say in detail about them all as of right now, as i’m still fleshing them out, but i have a few basic ideas. most of the settlements were named after the first to attach themselves to the project, but the names have the potential to evolve over time. they certainly won’t retain the hamlet / settlement status, that’s for sure. the offer wasn’t restricted to hylians, either - any other race in the land was free to join, though only a small number of gerudo accepted it, the others preferring to stay in their homes & travel as they need. ciela’s settlement was the one spearheaded by the gerudo who accepted zelda’s offer, hence its proximity to the valley. a lot of young men volunteered to go to this settlement, but zelda was happy to let ciela make her own call, & many were knocked back - only those with what ciela deemed viable skills were allowed in, & still, it’s very much a female dominated settlement, but it is thriving under her leadership, & blossoms into a successful village as time goes on. lon lon ranch is, well, lon lon ranch. with funding from the crown, talon was able to take on more staff & expand it at his leisure, but it is one of the very few places in hyrule which has stayed constant over time, & he was quite content to keep it that way, & zelda content with his decision.

to the south of lon lon ranch lies damia village, the largest of all the settlements from its inception. led by a fearless young man who gave his name to the village, it is a hub of activity which could rival hyrule castle town. with damia came many like-minded people, all eager to forge their own path in the world & prove themselves as he had, as he had been part of the group which volunteered to help beat back the remnants of ganondorf’s forces. many of the families within damia village are the families of soldiers who work at the castle & it has gained a reputation for being a village full of strong, capable, trustworthy people. arborwood, which lies further to the south in a more rural location, is an outlier in that the one who volunteered to lead in this settlement didn’t wish to put their name to it - they didn’t want glory, just a place to call home where they could finally live in peace. arborwood is an agriculturally focused village, filled with farmers & those who possess green thumbs. a lot of trade is done between arborwood & all the other villages - everyone in hyrule became proficient at growing & hunting their own food in the past thirty years, as was necessary to survive, but it’s nice to have a place to get food from which specializes in high quality meat & crops. why hunt rabbits, when arborwood can provide venison ?

last but not least, lynna’s hamlet, which settled at lake hylia at the request of the owner of the lakeside laboratory. as he was getting on in years, he wished to find someone to continue his work, & so specifically requested that any like-minded hylians settle close to the lake so that he could impart his wisdom & let them take over. he got quite a few more people volunteering than he bargained for, be they scientifically inclined, interested in cataloguing the history of lake hylia, or just desirous of a change in scenery. the smallest of the new settlements, lynna’s hamlet never truly flourished the way others did, but the buildings were never empty - as time went on & people began to move elsewhere, it became a popular spot for those who traveled the land to rest at when they came to the lake, with a very successful inn eventually being run by the lakeside, its doors open to any who wished to visit.

it’s not a lot of worldbuilding when it all comes down to it, compared to other things, but this is something that i’ve wanted to do for a long time. as i’ve mentioned in the section regarding the bremen woods, more headcanons are likely to follow regarding places on the map & how they change & evolve as time passes during zelda’s rule, but for now, there’s this ! something which makes hyrule feel less empty than what it was before, whilst still respecting canon, somewhat which was the goal all along. if you’ve made it this far, holy shit, go outside & feel the sun on your face. it’s been eighty-four years - but i can’t thank you enough for reading ! at least next time, the headcanon won’t be so long. i hope.

#⌜ ❛ ʏᴏᴜ ʙʀɪɴɢ ʏᴏᴜʀ ʜɪsᴛᴏʀʏ & ʏᴏᴜ ʀᴇᴀᴅ ɪᴛ ɪɴ ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴏᴡɴ ᴛᴇʀᴍs. ❜ ⌟ ✦ ( headcanon. )#( eight. eight pages & 4700-odd words of rambling in google docs #i can't believe i spent so much time on this oh my GOD #but it's done !! it's one am & i'm going to bed but i have to get this out into the world before i go #tomorrow i swear i'll get more actual roleplaying done but for now have ... eight fucking pages of THIS i guess #if this is incoherent please let me know good god )

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